WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Attrition 3 – Part 2 Publishing Date: 2023-10-15T06:00:44-07:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/attrition-3-part-2/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.000 children about five weeks ago. 00:00:03.000 --> 00:00:06.000 So different people will take turns, 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:10.000 but there's a part two that Jillian's going to share now. 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:13.000 And then we'll continue after. 00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:15.000 So you want to come up to the end and grab a mic? 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:30.000 Hello? 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:34.000 Oh yes, it's working. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:35.000 Am I good? 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:37.000 Okay. 00:00:37.000 --> 00:00:40.000 So when we talked about this five weeks ago, 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:45.000 we were talking about what are expectations 00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:48.000 that we have of our kids. 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:51.000 And then, so this week we just want to talk about, 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:54.000 okay, we talked about how we're shifting our expectations 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:57.000 of our kids, but we want to talk about two points of 00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:00.000 what are expectations of parents or the adults 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:03.000 within this room and how we treat the kids. 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:06.000 And so first, are we raising them to honor 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:08.000 and respect those around them? 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:12.000 Am I aware of how I talk and speak with others 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:15.000 when I have children around who are listening? 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:18.000 We must stop excusing ourselves 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:22.000 with their perceived lack of understanding. 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:24.000 And where is this coming from? 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:26.000 Christ does not ask anything of us 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:29.000 that he himself won't walk in. 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:34.000 What must I change in my speech and my conduct 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:37.000 in order that the children may imitate me 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:39.000 as I imitate Christ? 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:42.000 And so really our question is, hey, what do we as adults 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:45.000 need to change so that the kids can imitate us 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:48.000 and in how they imitate us, they're actually learning 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:52.000 from infancy how to reflect Christ. 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:55.000 Two, what does discipline and instruction look like? 00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:58.000 If we're called and commanded to train up our children 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:02.000 in the way they should go, this requires discipline, 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:04.000 boundaries, and expectation. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:08.000 In Hebrews 12, 11 it says, for the moment, 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:12.000 all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:16.000 but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:19.000 to those who have been trained by it. 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:22.000 Do our children know what is expected of them, 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:25.000 both in public and in the private of our homes, 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:29.000 and the consequences that we will follow through on? 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:33.000 Can we sit down with our kids and clearly talk it through? 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:36.000 Can we raise them up to reflect Christ, 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:40.000 to speak kindly, to filter their words correctly, 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:43.000 to treat each other with respect and love, 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:46.000 to guard their eyes and ears, to know within them 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:50.000 what is of God and what is of the world? 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:53.000 In Deuteronomy 11, 19 it says, you shall teach them 00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:56.000 to your children, talk of them when you are sitting 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:59.000 in your house and when you are walking by the way 00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:02.000 and when you lie down and when you rise. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:05.000 So back to what we said a couple weeks ago. 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:08.000 Can we be more stubborn than our children 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:11.000 and follow through on our discipline and correction? 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:14.000 Why? Because our kids are worth it. 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:17.000 And it is our Father in Heavens, 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:20.000 it is how our Father in Heaven interacts with us. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:23.000 Can we get down to their level? 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:26.000 We must be face-to-face parents and adults 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:30.000 in order to raise up our children to meet a face-to-face God 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:35.000 who is both a God of extravagant love and gracious consequence. 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:38.000 Can we get down to their level? 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:41.000 We must be face-to-face adults in order to raise up our children 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:46.000 to meet a face-to-face God who is both a God of extravagant love 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:49.000 and gracious consequence. 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:57.000 What do we expect of our kids? 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:00.000 We expect that they respect all adults 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:04.000 and the environment and circumstances within the room. 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:08.000 That they participate and are taught to engage in worship. 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:12.000 That they have brilliant little minds that grasp far more 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:14.000 than we give them credit for. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:16.000 Where do we see this? 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:19.000 We see this in the stories of Joash and Samuel in the Bible. 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:22.000 They had high expectations placed on them 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:25.000 and they grew into wonderful, godly adults. 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:28.000 We can no longer have a double standard for our kids. 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:31.000 Where we expect them to learn to read and write 00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:33.000 and all things kids do. 00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:36.000 But when it comes to behaving and understanding, 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:39.000 we think this is too much for them. 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:42.000 We set boundaries that will create safe environments. 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:44.000 We create it for adults. 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:46.000 It's time we create it for our kids 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:49.000 so they can learn and discover in safety. 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:51.000 Can we be more stubborn than you? 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:54.000 It doesn't matter how much they push or pull 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:56.000 or try and sneak around. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:58.000 Will I be more stubborn than them? 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:00.000 Will I follow through? 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:02.000 Will I not change on them? 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:04.000 Will they realize that they can count on me? 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:06.000 Because I love them enough to stick it out 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:08.000 through the tough, through the pain, 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:10.000 through the tantrum, through the tears. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:12.000 Awesome. Thank you. 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:14.000 I'm hoping to finish this today. 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:17.000 So, if not, it'll be at Trition 5 next week. 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:20.000 It's all based on Acts, 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:22.000 chapter 2, verse 22, 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:26.000 where it said that Jesus was a man accredited by God. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:29.000 And how did God accredite Jesus? 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:31.000 And how did God make him a man? 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:33.000 And how did God make him a man? 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:35.000 And how did God make him a man? 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:37.000 And how did God make him a man? 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:39.000 And how did God make him a man? 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:41.000 And how did God make him a man? 00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:43.000 And how did God accredite Jesus? 00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:46.000 By having signs and miracles and wonders 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:48.000 performed through him. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:51.000 Brandon, do you have those pictures? 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:54.000 Or is it too late for that? 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:57.000 Okay. Next time. 00:05:57.000 --> 00:06:04.000 And so, for deeds of power, deeds of wonder, 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:07.000 deeds that are signs, faith is required. 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:11.000 And the faith is best practiced every day in your life 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:13.000 so that it can be practiced through your life. 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:15.000 So, guys, here's what we're saying. 00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:22.000 Faith is best practiced every day in your life. 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:32.000 And if that becomes how your life is, 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:51.000 then it is easy for signs, deeds of power, wonders, miracles 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:57.000 to happen through you. 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:14.000 And it is a way that God accredits you in Jesus. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:16.000 We see this in Luke chapter 9. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:18.000 In Luke chapter 9, there's a man who has a son 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:21.000 who gets thrown into the fire, thrown into the water. 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:24.000 The devil's trying to kill him in Luke chapter 9. 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:26.000 And they bring him to Jesus as disciples. 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:28.000 And one of the things that happens is this man's saying, 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:31.000 Jesus, I brought him to your disciples, 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:32.000 and they couldn't do nothing. 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:36.000 It was almost like, so what have you taught them? 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:42.000 And so one of the ways that God accredits us in Christ 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:46.000 is by saying, hey, can I bring someone who has need 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:48.000 for a powerful intervention of God, 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:51.000 an act or a deed of power, can I bring them to you? 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:52.000 And if I brought them to you, 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:56.000 will you be able to do something about it? 00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:00.000 And to live like that, I have to rise to a place 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:05.000 where faith is best practiced every day in my life. 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:07.000 Faith is best practiced every day in my life. 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:09.000 That's what we've been trying to figure out, 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:17.000 so that in season and out of season, you can be called upon. 00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:26.000 It doesn't matter whether you're waking up and sleepy, 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:28.000 whether you're having a bad day or a good day, 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:30.000 whether you didn't have things work out for you, 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:31.000 it doesn't matter. 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:36.000 That in season and out of season, I can turn to Emmanuel 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:37.000 and I say, I have this need. 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:39.000 Can you do a sign or a wonder? 00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:43.000 Can you approach your God and ask him to work on my behalf? 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:45.000 That's what people did in the Gospels. 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:47.000 That's what people did in the book of Acts. 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:49.000 They brought them, laid them out on the street, 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:51.000 hoping that something would happen 00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:53.000 as the disciples of Jesus walked by. 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:57.000 And if you call your church Acts 29, it's your fault. 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:02.000 Questions? 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:04.000 I mean, this is a basic hypothesis, 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:07.000 so is there any argument against this? 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:17.000 This is a false statement to begin with. 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:21.000 Okay? 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:30.000 It's impossible to have faith practice every day in your life 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:41.000 if a life of faith is not your preference. 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:47.000 This is an important statement because most of us 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:51.000 don't think that the life of faith is the life that we choose 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:53.000 as our preference. 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:55.000 Most of us live a life of faith 00:09:55.000 --> 00:09:59.000 because we are necessitated to live a life of faith. 00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:01.000 It is not our preference. 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:03.000 As long as something is not your preference, 00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:06.000 you cannot practice it every day. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:08.000 Yes? 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:10.000 As... 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:13.000 So it seems like, like, say, you gave the example 00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:20.000 of the Father in Christ that there was a struggle with the disciples. 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:26.000 With faith, is there some, like, 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:29.000 is there sometimes when you're supposed to, like, 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:32.000 struggle in that, like, to persevere? 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:36.000 Because I see some churches, like, 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:40.000 they seem to believe more that you need to, like, 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:43.000 strive to see things happen. 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:44.000 Yeah. 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:47.000 So we will talk about it in detail a little later, 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:52.000 but to answer your question, there's persevere. 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:54.000 There is struggle. 00:10:56.000 --> 00:11:00.000 And so persevere is when you need patience to see results 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:01.000 or an outcome. 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:04.000 Struggle is sometimes not with faith, 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:10.000 but it's with why it is not working. 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:13.000 That's where the struggle should be. 00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:19.000 Because everything about faith should be restful 00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:24.000 because it is done by the presence of God in a place 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:26.000 that you trust. 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:28.000 It's not your work, right? 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:30.000 So it should be restful. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:35.000 So perseverance is patience where I wait for an outcome to happen. 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:38.000 That is understandable because there are times where it says 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:41.000 with patience one obtains results. 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:43.000 It says so in Hebrews. 00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:45.000 But struggle is not the struggle with faith. 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:47.000 Struggle is why isn't it working? 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:49.000 That is where the struggle is. 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:51.000 And that is a good struggle. 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:54.000 It's the same struggle that a mechanic has with a car, 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:59.000 that a computer genius has with coding and software 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:05.000 that Tooney had today with playing a simple song like Happy Birthday. 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:07.000 There's a struggle. 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:13.000 He couldn't find the chord. 00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:19.000 So that's how you differentiate it, and we'll talk about it some more. 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:23.000 And so when churches say one must struggle through with faith, 00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:26.000 faith is always supposed to be restful. 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:29.000 It's not supposed to be... 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:34.000 If you hear someone saying, I'm hanging on, then there's a problem. 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:38.000 I shared this story long ago, but it's so worth sharing 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:44.000 where a man was at an airfield where they're having an air show 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:47.000 and they have this huge blimp tied down. 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:51.000 People are looking at the blimp and suddenly because of the upward buoyancy, 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:54.000 the pegs start coming off and this blimp begins to rise. 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:56.000 One of those Goodyear blimp kind of things. 00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:57.000 True story, eh? 00:12:57.000 --> 00:13:02.000 And so as it begins to rise, marines come and try and hold it down. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:06.000 But the upward buoyancy is so tremendous that it starts rising, 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:08.000 and as it starts rising, guys are holding on to it, 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:10.000 and the hands are beginning to chaff. 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:13.000 Some begin to fall, and they let go. 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:19.000 Others now are at a height where if they let go, they will break bones. 00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:21.000 There are three or four left, and it keeps rising, 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:23.000 and they can't hold on anymore. 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:25.000 The hands are beginning to chaff, and they let go. 00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:28.000 Two or three of them die. 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:33.000 And then there's one guy left, and it goes to 60 feet, 80 feet, 200 feet, 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:34.000 and the guy is still there. 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:37.000 People are taking their kids away because they know the inevitable is going to happen. 00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:40.000 At some point, this guy has to let go. 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:42.000 And then after a while, it begins to lose altitude. 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:44.000 It comes and settles at the far end of a field, 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:48.000 and they go, and the guy just steps out gingerly and starts walking towards them, 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:50.000 and there's not a scratch on him. 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:53.000 The hands are not chaffed, and they ask him how he did it, 00:13:53.000 --> 00:13:54.000 and he said it was very simple. 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:59.000 At some point, I realized if I wrap the rope around me, I'll be okay. 00:13:59.000 --> 00:14:03.000 So instead of holding on to something and clinging on to it for dear life, 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:05.000 he takes the rope and begins to wrap it around him. 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:07.000 So he wasn't holding on to the rope. 00:14:07.000 --> 00:14:10.000 The rope was holding him up. 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:14.000 When I first heard the story, the guy explained that that's how faith is supposed to be. 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:18.000 I'm supposed to take what God has said, the trustworthiness of God, 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:22.000 and wrap it around me so that I'm not holding on for dear life, 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:24.000 that it is holding me. 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:27.000 Then I can start singing. 00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:32.000 As long as I'm holding on, faith is a struggle, and it's a miserable struggle. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:38.000 You're dealing with the invisible, and sight is all around you. 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:41.000 I must be able to take either a promise of God or the word of God 00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:44.000 and wrap it around me so that it holds me up. 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:49.000 Otherwise, it's going to be very difficult. 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:53.000 I remember once going through a disease that killed my dad, 00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:57.000 and I had all the right symptoms, and I'm thinking to myself, 00:14:57.000 --> 00:14:59.000 gosh, man, how am I going to get out of this? 00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:00.000 There was fear. 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:04.000 I remember taking a huge card paper and writing two simple phrases on it. 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:08.000 One was, faith is anchored in the invisible. 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:11.000 Unbelief is anchored in the visible. 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:14.000 I stuck it on the window that I always would go and look out of. 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:17.000 Every morning I would get up, and I would go to that window, 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:19.000 and I'd see these two phrases. 00:15:19.000 --> 00:15:22.000 Faith is anchored in the invisible. 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:25.000 Unbelief is anchored in the visible. 00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:28.000 It would keep reminding me, Jacob, do not look at what is happening to you. 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:32.000 It will freak you out. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:36.000 Look at that which God has spoken. 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:38.000 He speaks life. 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:40.000 He speaks things into existence. 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:42.000 He calls things that are not as if they already are. 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:44.000 I must wrap it around me. 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:46.000 It's my only safety. 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:49.000 Otherwise, it's always going to be a struggle. 00:15:49.000 --> 00:15:53.000 And so we talk about what else can be struggle, 00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:55.000 but persevering is something different, 00:15:55.000 --> 00:16:03.000 where it does say in Hebrews that patience and faith have to plow in tandem. 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:09.000 Patience and faith have to plow in tandem, and we'll talk about that. 00:16:09.000 --> 00:16:12.000 So if faith is not your preferred method of living, 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:15.000 then it cannot be a daily practice. 00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:18.000 I want to say to you that faith is not my preferred method of living. 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:20.000 I don't mind living by faith. 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:23.000 I kind of enjoy it, but it's still not my preferred method. 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:26.000 I'd like everything without faith. 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:29.000 And occasionally when I need to, I have enough faith to use it. 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:31.000 But Jesus didn't live like that. 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:35.000 Jesus' preferred method of living was I live by faith. 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:37.000 What does it mean by living by faith? 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:40.000 All it means is I live by what God tells me to, 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:42.000 and I behave and obey and practice that. 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:44.000 I don't live any other way. 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:46.000 I don't live any other way for my provision, for my marriage, 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:49.000 for my peace, for my comfort, for my healing. 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:50.000 I don't live any other way. 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.000 The preferred method of living is I live by what he says, and that's what I do. 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:57.000 It's an extreme form of living, 00:16:57.000 --> 00:17:00.000 but those that begin to live like that do mighty exploits, 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:02.000 and their God is recognized. 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:06.000 Those that don't live like that, you have a godly existence here on earth, 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:08.000 and you go to heaven, and you always have to sell heaven, 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:11.000 because you can't sell your god. 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:14.000 Faith allows you to present God. 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:19.000 A lack of faith allows you to present heaven. 00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:22.000 You can always tell them about going to heaven and getting born again, 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:27.000 but my god, man, start living by faith, and they will see your god. 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:29.000 That's a huge difference. 00:17:29.000 --> 00:17:34.000 Every time anybody in this room has lived by faith, people have seen your god. 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:40.000 They applaud you, but they do recognize your god. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:42.000 All good? 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:50.000 Living by faith out there? 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:53.000 Any questions? 00:17:53.000 --> 00:17:54.000 Okay. 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:59.000 So, last time we said that some of the disciplines we can cultivate to begin to live like this 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:07.000 is one, refuse to be defeated by time. 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:10.000 Refuse to be defeated by time. 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:13.000 Time is a weapon used powerfully by the enemy, 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:20.000 where he makes wait time become worry time. 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:24.000 Wait time becomes worry time. 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:28.000 Wait time becomes worry time, because initially it's fine, 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:39.000 but at some point as I wait, doubt and fear creep in, and wait time becomes worry time. 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:45.000 This is when I have to go to Numbers 23, verse 19, which says, 00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:48.000 God does not lie. 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:50.000 He's not man. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:53.000 What he says won't he do it? God does not lie. 00:18:53.000 --> 00:18:57.000 Which also means then that I must examine the promise that I am holding on to. 00:18:57.000 --> 00:19:01.000 Examine the promise that I am wrapping around me, not holding onto. 00:19:01.000 --> 00:19:08.000 Examine the promise I am wrapping or wearing. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:13.000 And this can either be a promise that was given to you from the word, 00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:22.000 from knowing the nature of God, from a prophetic word, and so on. 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:26.000 What is a promise? 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:30.000 This is when you need to examine it. 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:37.000 Examine the promise, because wait time will turn to worry time 00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:39.000 if you don't examine the promise. 00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:43.000 Abraham would keep going and looking at the promise, and he was fully persuaded. 00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:48.000 I mean, if there is a guy who had to wait and watch his body rot 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:53.000 and believe that he could produce a son, then Abraham is a classic case. 00:19:53.000 --> 00:19:57.000 My body is rotting, decaying. I'm becoming more and more important. 00:19:57.000 --> 00:19:59.000 And yet I must look at the promise. 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:05.000 I must begin to look at the promise and gain strength from it. 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:06.000 That's how you do it. 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:08.000 And some of the promises are not prophetic. 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:11.000 Some of the promises are not something you heard God say. 00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:13.000 They're in the word. 00:20:13.000 --> 00:20:18.000 Those are the absolute things you can stand on. 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:20.000 At least when you hear things you can say, maybe I heard wrong. 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:22.000 But what about stuff in the word? 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:24.000 You can't even write it. 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:34.000 I've never seen someone drink chips. 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:40.000 But there's a first time with you, Sheldon. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:51.000 So know this that, and this is, there are some, see, God is not, 00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:56.000 you cannot predict what God will do, but you can predict his nature. 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:59.000 You cannot predict what God will do, but you can predict his nature. 00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:02.000 As in, he's pretty predictable because he's faithful. 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:04.000 When someone is faithful, they're predictable. 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:07.000 It's just that you don't know which route they'll take. 00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:11.000 But if they say they're going to turn up, they'll turn up because they're super faithful. 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:19.000 So there are certain things that you can know about God that will always happen. 00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:23.000 So in your impossibilities, in your impossibilities, 00:21:23.000 --> 00:21:25.000 and you can look at the Bible, Old Testament or New Testament, 00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:30.000 and you'll find that whenever there are impossibilities, there's always assurance. 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:33.000 There's always assurance. 00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:39.000 One of the things God is really good at, and if you can internalize this, 00:21:39.000 --> 00:21:42.000 that in every impossibility, in every difficult situation, 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:47.000 if you are a believer, that your God is a God who reassures. 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:51.000 It is unmistakable. It is predictable. 00:21:51.000 --> 00:21:53.000 You can take it to the bank because he's faithful in this. 00:21:53.000 --> 00:21:56.000 In the Old Testament and the New Testament, he is always reassuring. 00:21:56.000 --> 00:22:00.000 Not once, not twice. He'll reassure as many times as required. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.000 Not based on how you think reassurance should work, but based on how he thinks. 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:10.000 He'll keep coming through prophets and say to Israel, 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:12.000 Israel, don't worry, I know it's been 300 years. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:16.000 I know it's been 400 years, but on the 400th year, I'll take you here, or I'll take you there. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:20.000 Gideon, don't worry. I know you're the smallest of your tribe. 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.000 Paul, don't worry. I know I said to you when you first became a believer 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:26.000 and your eyes were open that you would go to the Gentiles. 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:27.000 I'll take you there. 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:31.000 And yes, you will face opposition, but I want you to know that in every city there'll be people. 00:22:31.000 --> 00:22:35.000 And yes, in every city there'll be people, and you think you can't make it further, 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:37.000 I'm saying to you, you will go to Rome. 00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:42.000 Again and again and again. He used to reassure his own son. 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:43.000 Go ahead, James. 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:52.000 In that case, it was to a nation. It was not to a person. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:55.000 Yeah, it was to the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. 00:22:55.000 --> 00:23:01.000 But that was to a nation so that they could keep remembering that, listen, I will deliver you. 00:23:01.000 --> 00:23:04.000 But when it came to people, yeah, it was within their lifespan 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:07.000 where he would say, it's going to happen, it's going to happen. 00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:10.000 With Abraham, he would show them the stars sometimes, sometimes the sun. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:13.000 And he'd say, listen, I will come through. 00:23:13.000 --> 00:23:16.000 So your God has this nature of being reassuring. 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:18.000 It's just that we don't think so. 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:21.000 What we look for is not reassurance. We look for confirmations. 00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:27.000 We've got to stop this thing of confirmation. 00:23:29.000 --> 00:23:34.000 Confirmation is when you want another sign, another sign, another sign. 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:36.000 That'll help you continue. 00:23:37.000 --> 00:23:39.000 It's very Old Testament-y. 00:23:39.000 --> 00:23:41.000 It's very Old Testament-y. 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:45.000 It's very not Spirit of God people. 00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:51.000 The last time fleets was used in the Bible to figure things out 00:23:51.000 --> 00:23:55.000 was when they had to choose a disciple to replace Judas. 00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:57.000 They drew lots. 00:23:57.000 --> 00:23:58.000 And then the Spirit of God comes. 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:01.000 And the moment the Spirit of God comes, that system ends. 00:24:01.000 --> 00:24:04.000 I'm not saying that God will not use signs. 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:06.000 But let him use signs. 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:08.000 But you don't go looking for it. 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:12.000 Because when you look for it, you're looking at every license plate, every billboard, 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:17.000 every person's open Bible, every verse that comes up on your iPhone. 00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:21.000 And you're hoping there'll be something there that'll reassure you 00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:26.000 that this girl is for me, or this car is for me, or this house is for me, 00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:27.000 or this visa is for me. 00:24:27.000 --> 00:24:29.000 It doesn't work like that. 00:24:29.000 --> 00:24:32.000 And when it doesn't work the first time, then you do best of three. 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:34.000 And it still doesn't work. 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:37.000 I've done best of sevens and still didn't work. 00:24:37.000 --> 00:24:39.000 She just walked away. 00:24:39.000 --> 00:24:41.000 So... 00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:45.000 So, this is when I was very young. 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:51.000 So, look for reassurances. 00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:53.000 God reassures. It's His nature. 00:24:53.000 --> 00:24:57.000 So in your impossibility, in your impossibility, 00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:01.000 a promise will be given. 00:25:01.000 --> 00:25:03.000 A promise is usually given. 00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:06.000 It's almost always given. 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:12.000 And why does He give the promise? 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:16.000 Because He wants to give guaranteed outcomes. 00:25:19.000 --> 00:25:22.000 He wants to give guaranteed outcomes. 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:24.000 He wants to give guaranteed outcomes. 00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:26.000 That's why assurance comes into play. 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:33.000 And if I can then examine the promise, 00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:38.000 only then can I even begin the process of rejoicing in it. 00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:47.000 We said last time, last Sunday, 00:25:47.000 --> 00:25:50.000 that try to find joy before doubt finds you. 00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:54.000 Or try to find people a joy before doubt finds you. 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:56.000 Because once doubt finds you, it's very difficult. 00:25:56.000 --> 00:25:58.000 But if you can find joy before doubt or fear, 00:25:58.000 --> 00:26:01.000 then joy and doubt, joy and fear are incompatible. 00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:05.000 So, promises are guaranteed outcomes. 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:09.000 And so begin the process of rejoicing in it. 00:26:09.000 --> 00:26:11.000 Because that's what Abraham does in Romans 4. 00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:13.000 We read that yesterday. 00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:17.000 And as you begin to rejoice in it, 00:26:17.000 --> 00:26:24.000 you usually receive favor or more reassurances. 00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:30.000 You see fist-sized clouds. 00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:34.000 Like Elijah did. 00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:39.000 These are things that God provides. 00:26:39.000 --> 00:26:43.000 It's not you who have to go looking for stuff. 00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:49.000 The other thing I must do when I know I have a promise from God is, 00:26:49.000 --> 00:26:51.000 don't be tempted. 00:26:53.000 --> 00:26:56.000 Don't be tempted to figure out how the promise will be realized. 00:26:56.000 --> 00:27:01.000 Don't be tempted to figure out how it will be realized. 00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:09.000 Because usually when we try to figure it out and don't know how, 00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:12.000 we begin to manipulate circumstances. 00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:19.000 Don't try to figure it out. 00:27:19.000 --> 00:27:22.000 When you manipulate circumstances, you get Ishmael. 00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:25.000 Don't try to figure it out. 00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:28.000 Go with the initial promise and if anything, ask God, 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:30.000 do you want to develop this further? 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:32.000 Because I really want to stick with this. 00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:34.000 Don't be tempted to figure it out. 00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:36.000 Figure out how it will be realized. 00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:45.000 At the end of the day, his trustworthiness is my shield. 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:51.000 His trustworthiness is my shield. 00:27:53.000 --> 00:27:56.000 That's where you go to when you start feeling resentful, 00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:58.000 when you start feeling nothing is working, 00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:01.000 when you start feeling time is beginning to take its toll. 00:28:01.000 --> 00:28:03.000 His trustworthiness is my shield. 00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:05.000 It's my defense against these things. 00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:07.000 His trustworthiness. 00:28:07.000 --> 00:28:10.000 Trustworthiness is a word we understand. 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:12.000 Faithfulness, not so much. 00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:14.000 Trustworthiness, yes. 00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:16.000 Know that when God gives you a promise, 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:19.000 when God gives you a promise, 00:28:19.000 --> 00:28:21.000 here's what is actually happening. 00:28:21.000 --> 00:28:22.000 I hope you remember this. 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:23.000 I hope I remember this. 00:28:23.000 --> 00:28:26.000 When God gives you a promise, 00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:34.000 what he's doing is he is announcing his presence 00:28:34.000 --> 00:28:36.000 into your situation. 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:41.000 He's announcing his presence into your situation. 00:28:41.000 --> 00:28:42.000 He's saying, 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:45.000 Oi, just so you know, I've descended into the furnace. 00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:46.000 I'm the fourth man. 00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:52.000 That's what he's doing. 00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:54.000 Every time he gives you a promise, 00:28:54.000 --> 00:28:56.000 you're going to be the fourth man. 00:28:56.000 --> 00:28:58.000 You're going to be the fourth man. 00:28:58.000 --> 00:29:00.000 You're going to be the fourth man. 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:02.000 You're going to be the fourth man. 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:04.000 You're going to be the fourth man. 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:06.000 Every time he gives you a promise, 00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:08.000 be it something from the word, 00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:09.000 be it from his nature, 00:29:09.000 --> 00:29:10.000 be it from a prophetic word, 00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:12.000 be it through him speaking to you, 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:16.000 and you know without a shadow of a doubt that this is God. 00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:18.000 Now what happens is you step in, 00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:20.000 you know that in giving you a promise, 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:25.000 he's announcing his presence into your situation. 00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:28.000 And when his presence enters your situation, 00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:30.000 it's only a matter of time. 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:34.000 The furnace, it doesn't matter how hot the furnace is. 00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:37.000 Thousands and thousands and thousands of people have proved this 00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:40.000 over the last many, many, many, many years. 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:43.000 You need to prove it too in your own furnace. 00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:51.000 Others might die coming even close to your situation, 00:29:51.000 --> 00:29:52.000 but not you, 00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:55.000 because someone else has entered the furnace. 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.000 And so living by faith in your situation, 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:07.000 living by faith in your situation, 00:30:11.000 --> 00:30:16.000 is to be preoccupied by presence in that situation. 00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:20.000 Living by faith in a situation is to be preoccupied with the presence of God in that situation. 00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:22.000 This is my situation. 00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:25.000 If I take my eyes away from him who is with me in this, 00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:28.000 I will begin to flounder. 00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:32.000 So I'm going to be preoccupied with presence in this situation. 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:33.000 When I wake up in the morning, 00:30:33.000 --> 00:30:35.000 and it's the first thing that hits my mind, 00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:39.000 I'm going to be preoccupied with the presence of God in that situation. 00:30:39.000 --> 00:30:43.000 I'm going to be preoccupied with the presence of God in that situation. 00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:44.000 When I wake up in the morning, 00:30:44.000 --> 00:30:46.000 and it's the first thing that hits my mind, 00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:50.000 I will shift my eyes from what I'm seeing and behold him. 00:30:53.000 --> 00:30:55.000 And how long will I do this? 00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:58.000 I will do it as long as it takes till I'm out of this. 00:30:59.000 --> 00:31:02.000 I give you praise because you deserve it. 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:05.000 I give you praise for what you've done. 00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:08.000 I give you praise when the battle rages. 00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:12.000 I give you praise till it works out right. 00:31:13.000 --> 00:31:18.000 This is the hard part. 00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:21.000 Consistency is our greatest enemy, right? 00:31:21.000 --> 00:31:24.000 We can do it today, but what about Wednesday? 00:31:27.000 --> 00:31:29.000 This is where if you have one person, 00:31:29.000 --> 00:31:32.000 be it your spouse or your dog, 00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:35.000 the other animal doesn't usually help in this. 00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:42.000 If it's your spouse or your dog, usually you can do this. 00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:44.000 Someone needs to egg you on in this. 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:47.000 Just one other person if you have. 00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:50.000 It's like running. Who likes running? Nobody. 00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:54.000 Okay. There are exceptions. 00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:57.000 There are some weird people. 00:31:58.000 --> 00:32:00.000 Sorry, there are no... 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:04.000 You must feel so welcome in this church, right guys, every so often? 00:32:13.000 --> 00:32:15.000 One last thing before we move on. 00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:17.000 Provision will be contested, guys. 00:32:17.000 --> 00:32:19.000 Provision will be contested. 00:32:21.000 --> 00:32:25.000 Because usually, vision is shackled 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:34.000 when provision is lacking. 00:32:37.000 --> 00:32:41.000 And so one of the ways the enemy often stops things from happening 00:32:41.000 --> 00:32:45.000 is by trying to restrict provision. 00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:47.000 Provision will be contested, 00:32:47.000 --> 00:32:50.000 and that is why God loves giving promises. 00:32:51.000 --> 00:32:53.000 God loves giving promises. 00:32:59.000 --> 00:33:01.000 Because these promises... 00:33:03.000 --> 00:33:06.000 Whenever God gives a promise, the consequence of the promise is provision. 00:33:06.000 --> 00:33:10.000 The consequence of a promise is provision. 00:33:11.000 --> 00:33:13.000 The consequence of a promise is a provision. 00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:22.000 The consequence of a promise is a provision. 00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:27.000 He wants you to trust what he is going to do 00:33:27.000 --> 00:33:32.000 so that you know that he will supply what is required for you to do it. 00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:36.000 Sometimes you're looking for a promise that says, I'll give you money. 00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:43.000 When God is saying, hey Mark, I want you to go and build a hospital in Kiev. 00:33:47.000 --> 00:33:52.000 And so Mark is now thinking of going to Kiev in the middle of a war 00:33:52.000 --> 00:33:54.000 to build a hospital and he doesn't know how. 00:33:54.000 --> 00:33:56.000 And then provision begins to happen. 00:33:56.000 --> 00:33:59.000 The promise is what... 00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:02.000 Provision is a consequence of a promise. 00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:07.000 I know a guy who tells a story of going to an African country 00:34:07.000 --> 00:34:13.000 where he has to buy a piece of land and start an orphanage. 00:34:13.000 --> 00:34:15.000 And so he lands in that country. 00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:17.000 There's only one problem. 00:34:17.000 --> 00:34:19.000 He doesn't have the money to buy the land. 00:34:19.000 --> 00:34:23.000 The land is there, but he goes to the registrar's office 00:34:23.000 --> 00:34:25.000 and he gets the title deed and the registrar says, 00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:29.000 come back tomorrow and pay the money and the land is yours. 00:34:29.000 --> 00:34:33.000 And it took him hardly 10 minutes to walk to the registrar's office 00:34:33.000 --> 00:34:35.000 to get the title deed. 00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:38.000 And now he's waiting, there's no money and it's time now, noon, 00:34:38.000 --> 00:34:41.000 he has to give him the money and he's dragging his feet. 00:34:41.000 --> 00:34:44.000 And God is saying to him, it took you just 10 minutes to get there today. 00:34:44.000 --> 00:34:47.000 Today it's 25 minutes and you're still walking super slow. 00:34:47.000 --> 00:34:49.000 And he says, I don't know what to do. 00:34:49.000 --> 00:34:50.000 I don't have the money. 00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:51.000 This is going to look really foolish. 00:34:51.000 --> 00:34:53.000 Finally, about 25 minutes he gets there. 00:34:53.000 --> 00:34:57.000 And there's this Dutch guy waiting there, guy from... 00:34:57.000 --> 00:35:00.000 Netherlands and he's pacing up and down, businessman. 00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:04.000 And he looks at him and he says, I was going to leave. 00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:06.000 I've been waiting here forever. 00:35:06.000 --> 00:35:08.000 And then he takes out a check and gives it to him and walks away. 00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:10.000 He says, I couldn't sleep last night. 00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:13.000 I'm supposed to stand here and give this to a man who looks like you. 00:35:13.000 --> 00:35:14.000 And that's all I know. 00:35:14.000 --> 00:35:15.000 I've got a flight to catch. 00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:18.000 And he gives it, he's very brusque, very rude and walks away. 00:35:18.000 --> 00:35:22.000 And he's the guy who then makes a statement that I love, 00:35:22.000 --> 00:35:25.000 that provision will be contested. 00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:29.000 But a promise when given, provision is a consequence. 00:35:29.000 --> 00:35:31.000 And provision doesn't mean money. 00:35:31.000 --> 00:35:36.000 Provision means how does Mark get to Kiev in the middle of a war? 00:35:36.000 --> 00:35:37.000 How's he going to get there? 00:35:37.000 --> 00:35:39.000 Who does he have as a contact? 00:35:39.000 --> 00:35:40.000 How's he going to fly there? 00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:41.000 There are no flights there. 00:35:41.000 --> 00:35:42.000 There are no flights. 00:35:42.000 --> 00:35:43.000 There are no flights. 00:35:43.000 --> 00:35:44.000 There are no flights. 00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:45.000 There are no flights. 00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:46.000 How does he get there? 00:35:46.000 --> 00:35:48.000 Where's the money going to come from to build a hospital? 00:35:48.000 --> 00:35:50.000 How does he get permission? 00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:53.000 Step by step by step by step. 00:35:53.000 --> 00:35:58.000 Strangely enough, much of the work that we have done in some very strange 00:35:58.000 --> 00:36:00.000 countries has come because of this. 00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:02.000 Indonesia is a classic example. 00:36:02.000 --> 00:36:05.000 Seven years of fully funded work. 00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:07.000 And we've been doing this for a long time. 00:36:07.000 --> 00:36:09.000 We've been doing this for a long time. 00:36:09.000 --> 00:36:11.000 We've been doing this for a long time. 00:36:11.000 --> 00:36:19.000 Seven years of fully funded work. 00:36:19.000 --> 00:36:21.000 Where you take it step by step. 00:36:21.000 --> 00:36:23.000 When there's a promise, there's a provision. 00:36:23.000 --> 00:36:25.000 Start working in Indonesia. 00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:27.000 Start in certain parts of the world. 00:36:27.000 --> 00:36:30.000 You just go. 00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:34.000 And you meet a man, and the man says, come and pray for my business. 00:36:34.000 --> 00:36:35.000 We went from here. 00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:38.000 There were four people that went from here. 00:36:38.000 --> 00:36:41.000 And you don't want to go and pray for his business. 00:36:41.000 --> 00:36:45.000 Because everybody wants you to pray for their business, and you don't go. 00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:47.000 And then God says, I need you to go. 00:36:47.000 --> 00:36:48.000 And you go. 00:36:48.000 --> 00:36:52.000 God says, tell him that he's an adulterer. 00:36:52.000 --> 00:36:56.000 That if he doesn't repent of his adultery, I won't be able to help him. 00:36:56.000 --> 00:36:58.000 So you tell him he's an adulterer. 00:36:58.000 --> 00:37:00.000 You expect to be booted out of his office. 00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:02.000 Instead he repents. 00:37:02.000 --> 00:37:05.000 And God turns his fortunes around. 00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:08.000 Makes him a multimillionaire. 00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:10.000 Nine months later he calls. 00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:12.000 He's built a stadium. 00:37:12.000 --> 00:37:16.000 And he wants to do meetings in the stadium. 00:37:16.000 --> 00:37:19.000 Thousands of people come. 00:37:19.000 --> 00:37:21.000 Charms are burned. 00:37:21.000 --> 00:37:25.000 Witches come on stage and they fall because they cannot approach. 00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:27.000 The whole thing is recorded on TV. 00:37:27.000 --> 00:37:30.000 The island watches the power of God. 00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:34.000 The man says, anything you want, you can have here. 00:37:34.000 --> 00:37:36.000 Please let me know. 00:37:36.000 --> 00:37:37.000 Seven years. 00:37:37.000 --> 00:37:40.000 He builds a Bible school on a hill. 00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:42.000 Why does he build a Bible school on a hill? 00:37:42.000 --> 00:37:44.000 Because he decides to buy a hill. 00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:50.000 He buys a hill and a valley. 00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:57.000 And then he lets us use it for seven years. 00:37:57.000 --> 00:38:00.000 With a promise comes the consequence. 00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:02.000 And what is the consequence provision? 00:38:02.000 --> 00:38:08.000 Places, timing, raw material. 00:38:08.000 --> 00:38:12.000 And when you work this out through and in your life, 00:38:12.000 --> 00:38:14.000 people begin to see your God. 00:38:14.000 --> 00:38:25.000 And anybody who sees your God is affected by your God. 00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:30.000 Next we go on to what Mark brought up in terms of, 00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:32.000 what about perseverance? 00:38:32.000 --> 00:38:45.000 Guys, faith and patience have to plow together. 00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:50.000 Hebrews 10.35. 00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:55.000 Hebrews 10.35. 00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:58.000 Hebrews 10.35. 00:38:58.000 --> 00:39:01.000 I think. 00:39:01.000 --> 00:39:15.000 Yeah. 00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:18.000 Do not throw away your confident trust in the Lord. 00:39:18.000 --> 00:39:20.000 Remember the great reward it brings you. 00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:22.000 Patient endurance is what you need now. 00:39:22.000 --> 00:39:25.000 So that you will continue to do God's will. 00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:27.000 Then you will receive all that he has promised. 00:39:27.000 --> 00:39:30.000 Sometimes it's not enough to have this. 00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:32.000 This has to be coupled with this. 00:39:32.000 --> 00:39:37.000 Not always, but you need to be aware that they work together. 00:39:37.000 --> 00:39:42.000 Because this carries immediacy. 00:39:42.000 --> 00:39:47.000 This carries eventuality. 00:39:47.000 --> 00:39:50.000 And these two have to sometimes work together. 00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:54.000 How can immediacy and eventuality work together? 00:39:54.000 --> 00:39:56.000 How do you combine these? 00:39:56.000 --> 00:40:02.000 Here, anything you ask God, anything you ask God in his will, 00:40:02.000 --> 00:40:10.000 anything you ask God in his will, 00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:28.000 you must learn how to receive it in your spirit immediately. 00:40:28.000 --> 00:40:32.000 So my question to you is, do you know how to do this? 00:40:32.000 --> 00:40:35.000 When you ask God for something that's in his will, 00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:37.000 1 John 5, 14 to 16 says that. 00:40:37.000 --> 00:40:41.000 You ask any... let's read it so that I don't paraphrase it. 00:40:41.000 --> 00:40:53.000 1 John 5, 14 and 15. 00:40:53.000 --> 00:40:58.000 And we are confident... let me read it from the NIV. 00:40:58.000 --> 00:41:02.000 This is the confidence you have in approaching God. 00:41:02.000 --> 00:41:05.000 That if you ask anything according to his will, he hears you. 00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:08.000 And if you know that he hears you, whatever you ask, 00:41:08.000 --> 00:41:11.000 you know that you have what you asked of him. 00:41:11.000 --> 00:41:15.000 That's nuts. 00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:16.000 So where do you receive this? 00:41:16.000 --> 00:41:19.000 If he says you already have what you asked for. 00:41:19.000 --> 00:41:24.000 I must learn as a spirit man, anything I ask, I must in my spirit know 00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:28.000 that it is impossible to ask something off the will of God 00:41:28.000 --> 00:41:34.000 that I do not receive immediately based on the word of God. 00:41:34.000 --> 00:41:37.000 We don't think like this. 00:41:37.000 --> 00:41:40.000 We are waiting for the feelings to kick in. 00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:42.000 We are waiting for our minds to comprehend. 00:41:42.000 --> 00:41:45.000 But there is a place beyond that that I am supposed to live from 00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:47.000 where Christ lives, which is my spirit. 00:41:47.000 --> 00:41:52.000 And in my spirit, I must receive what I have asked for in the will of God immediately. 00:41:52.000 --> 00:42:02.000 As in I know in my knower that this is something God has said I can, will, must have 00:42:02.000 --> 00:42:05.000 because it is his perfect will for me. 00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:12.000 And once you lock that in, now you are in a position to combat what you can see, cannot see, 00:42:12.000 --> 00:42:16.000 can think, cannot think, can feel, cannot feel. 00:42:16.000 --> 00:42:18.000 That is the eventuality of things. 00:42:18.000 --> 00:42:25.000 But the immediacy is always here with healing, with provision, with adventure, with risk, with promises, 00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:27.000 with anything that you're attempting. 00:42:27.000 --> 00:42:32.000 Have you learned how to receive it in the spirit first? 00:42:32.000 --> 00:42:37.000 And if you haven't, then you will only be able to receive it in your mind, 00:42:37.000 --> 00:42:49.000 which is a blooming mind field, and in your emotions, which is like roads in India. 00:42:57.000 --> 00:43:02.000 We end up shaking our heads because that's how the roads are, man. 00:43:02.000 --> 00:43:05.000 There's no other reason. 00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:08.000 South India, yeah. 00:43:08.000 --> 00:43:13.000 No, no, no. I lived in Bihar, not India. 00:43:13.000 --> 00:43:16.000 Sorry, that's a terrible state. 00:43:16.000 --> 00:43:19.000 Stop making such racist comments. Stop it. 00:43:19.000 --> 00:43:22.000 Okay, moving on. 00:43:22.000 --> 00:43:27.000 Guys, learn how to receive things in your spirit. 00:43:27.000 --> 00:43:29.000 Any questions? 00:43:29.000 --> 00:43:34.000 If it's not practical, ask questions, because it's biblical, even if it's not practical. 00:43:34.000 --> 00:43:37.000 Things that are biblical can be made practical. 00:43:37.000 --> 00:43:42.000 Okay. 00:43:42.000 --> 00:43:44.000 How do you examine the promise? 00:43:44.000 --> 00:43:49.000 You examine the promise by going and digging it out, because sometimes we forget what God has said. 00:43:49.000 --> 00:43:52.000 Then we go and examine what the scriptures say about it. 00:43:52.000 --> 00:43:55.000 Then we write it down and break it into little pieces. 00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:58.000 Then we try to figure out what is God trying to say to me in this? 00:43:58.000 --> 00:44:00.000 What's he assuring me of? 00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:04.000 Then you phrase it in your own language, because sometimes you're trying to say, 00:44:04.000 --> 00:44:07.000 I don't know what you're saying, but I'm trying to say, 00:44:07.000 --> 00:44:10.000 I don't know what you're saying, but I'm trying to say, 00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:14.000 You phrase it in your own language, because sometimes NIV just doesn't work for you, 00:44:14.000 --> 00:44:16.000 and messes it up even more. 00:44:16.000 --> 00:44:19.000 So you write it in your own language. 00:44:19.000 --> 00:44:22.000 And now after writing it in your own language, you learn it. 00:44:22.000 --> 00:44:26.000 You learn it by heart, so that at any moment someone can wake you up, 00:44:26.000 --> 00:44:28.000 and out comes what God has said. 00:44:28.000 --> 00:44:30.000 And now you begin to speak it. 00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:32.000 As you begin to speak it, you hear it. 00:44:32.000 --> 00:44:35.000 As you begin to hear it, if it is God, and if it is life, and if it is a word, 00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:40.000 your spirit leaps, and your heart becomes encouraged. 00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:43.000 And this is how you examine. 00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:54.000 Because your spirit is where Christ dwells, where the spirit of God dwells. 00:44:54.000 --> 00:44:58.000 And it is just so... 00:44:58.000 --> 00:45:04.000 It is like a magnet for the word of God and the life of God. 00:45:04.000 --> 00:45:07.000 It is impossible for your spirit not to receive it. 00:45:07.000 --> 00:45:13.000 It is just that we do not have the practice of receiving anything of God in our spirit. 00:45:13.000 --> 00:45:15.000 I'll give you a simple example. 00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:19.000 This may happen to all of us at some point, and I hope it doesn't happen too often. 00:45:19.000 --> 00:45:23.000 You come in here for worship, and you don't feel like it. 00:45:23.000 --> 00:45:27.000 The mind is not in the right place. 00:45:27.000 --> 00:45:29.000 The emotions are dull. 00:45:29.000 --> 00:45:34.000 Haven't slept because my baby kept me awake for seven hours. 00:45:34.000 --> 00:45:37.000 At least that is what Derek says. 00:45:37.000 --> 00:45:43.000 And then that is where you are operating from, and then something else happens. 00:45:43.000 --> 00:45:46.000 You suddenly realize that you are a spirit man. 00:45:46.000 --> 00:45:48.000 And it doesn't matter how your body feels. 00:45:48.000 --> 00:45:50.000 It doesn't matter how your mind feels. 00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:52.000 It doesn't matter how your emotions feel. 00:45:52.000 --> 00:45:54.000 Something begins to rise up. 00:45:54.000 --> 00:45:56.000 It doesn't matter that you are jet lagged. 00:45:56.000 --> 00:45:58.000 It doesn't matter that you haven't slept. 00:45:58.000 --> 00:46:05.000 There is something in a Christian called the spirit of God that dwells in the spirit of man, a renewed spirit. 00:46:05.000 --> 00:46:13.000 This is not some spit and polish spirit, a brand new spirit saturated with the Holy Spirit that I have that is indefeatable. 00:46:13.000 --> 00:46:16.000 You must realize the kind of life you actually have inside of you. 00:46:16.000 --> 00:46:22.000 It is the same life that Christ possesses right now, which is his private resurrected life. 00:46:22.000 --> 00:46:27.000 His private resurrected life is the same life I have. 00:46:27.000 --> 00:46:37.000 That life instantly recognizes, yearns for, attaches itself to, becomes one with anything that is of God, especially the word. 00:46:37.000 --> 00:46:45.000 But because that is not how I receive things, it's my mind and emotions that have to fight with it. 00:46:57.000 --> 00:47:08.000 So it's not that the emotions or the thinking is bad. 00:47:08.000 --> 00:47:14.000 So I must receive things of God first in my spirit, then I must begin to think about it. 00:47:14.000 --> 00:47:17.000 And then my emotions should come up. 00:47:17.000 --> 00:47:24.000 But what happens is we always approach things first with emotions and thoughts, not with our spirit. 00:47:24.000 --> 00:47:27.000 That becomes a problem. 00:47:27.000 --> 00:47:30.000 How it works is spirit, soul, body. 00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:37.000 So spirit, thinking and emotions, and then the body responds. 00:47:37.000 --> 00:47:43.000 Rationally, because how irrational are some of the things God is asking us? 00:47:43.000 --> 00:47:52.000 Go raise the dead? How? Go heal her neck? How? 00:47:52.000 --> 00:48:02.000 Because his power doesn't operate in rational, logical constraints. 00:48:02.000 --> 00:48:12.000 And so I'll have to receive it in my spirit, then think about it, and work out my emotions, and then cause my body to do what it needs to do. 00:48:12.000 --> 00:48:18.000 It's just that we are such soulish creatures ever since Adam fell. 00:48:18.000 --> 00:48:24.000 And we don't know how to react to things without first going soul. 00:48:24.000 --> 00:48:29.000 This is why it's a practice every day. 00:48:29.000 --> 00:48:37.000 So it's like you don't worship and praise him because of how I'm feeling right now? 00:48:37.000 --> 00:48:44.000 Because of who he is. Once we recognize that, the spirit immediately feeds into that. 00:48:44.000 --> 00:48:50.000 Like there are many times parents would come here, say hey, I'm feeling good. 00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:56.000 And then they're like, oh my, I don't know how the students said hey, I'm feeling good. 00:48:56.000 --> 00:49:04.000 So I'm not feeling it, but you are our spirit, our might God, and that's just like that. 00:49:04.000 --> 00:49:12.000 Here I'm dancing, I have like crazy, horrible headache, like five minutes before I die. 00:49:12.000 --> 00:49:21.000 It is amazing what can happen when the spirit man begins to lead your life because the Holy Spirit dwells there. 00:49:21.000 --> 00:49:32.000 That's how immediacy and eventuality works, which is why Jesus said, whatever you ask in my will, know that. 00:49:32.000 --> 00:49:39.000 He said this in Mark 11, 23, behave as if you already have what you asked for while you wait for it. 00:49:39.000 --> 00:49:58.000 Beautifully. Behave as if you already have what you asked for while you wait for it. 00:49:58.000 --> 00:50:08.000 What's the caveat? If it is in my will, would. 00:50:08.000 --> 00:50:23.000 My will, would. 00:50:23.000 --> 00:50:30.000 And if you're waiting for something guys, divine waiting is like when you see a relay race, 00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:36.000 be the Canadian four into a hundred or the Caribbean four into a hundred, 00:50:36.000 --> 00:50:42.000 the guy who's waiting to get the baton from the guy below isn't like, yo man, run, run. 00:50:42.000 --> 00:50:48.000 No, no, he's like straining. Every muscle in him is tense. 00:50:48.000 --> 00:50:53.000 He just wants to go, but he's got to get that before you go. That is divine waiting. 00:50:53.000 --> 00:50:59.000 Divine waiting is not some caesarasura. 00:50:59.000 --> 00:51:07.000 It is so tense. It's so straining to break out. That's divine waiting. 00:51:07.000 --> 00:51:14.000 So if you tell me I'm waiting for the Lord and I don't see the straining, then you're not waiting. 00:51:14.000 --> 00:51:26.000 You're just resigned. 00:51:26.000 --> 00:51:31.000 Yeah. Great question. 00:51:31.000 --> 00:51:36.000 The difference between straining and resting is straining is full of anticipation. 00:51:36.000 --> 00:51:41.000 It is not a straining as in a striving. It is anticipation. 00:51:41.000 --> 00:51:46.000 I'm going to get it now. I want to get it. I have to run. It is that sense. 00:51:46.000 --> 00:51:51.000 It's like Ahima is saying to Joab, please, can I run with this news and tell David? 00:51:51.000 --> 00:52:08.000 It was not his job, but he was. It's an anticipation. It's that sense. 00:52:08.000 --> 00:52:18.000 Next one. If you want to practice this on a regular basis, soak your life in the Word and people of the Word. 00:52:18.000 --> 00:52:24.000 In the Word and people of the Word. 00:52:24.000 --> 00:52:30.000 In the Word and people of the Word. Choose your tribe carefully. 00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:42.000 Choose your tribe and your teachers carefully. Choose your tribe and your teachers carefully. 00:52:42.000 --> 00:52:45.000 Choose your tribe and your teachers carefully. 00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:52.000 Academia and denominational ways of approaching faith can absolutely shut the door on you. 00:52:52.000 --> 00:52:56.000 Jesus said to the Pharisees, you have the key of knowledge. 00:52:56.000 --> 00:53:01.000 You cannot use it and you don't let others enter in either. 00:53:01.000 --> 00:53:04.000 Choose your tribe and your teachers carefully. 00:53:04.000 --> 00:53:10.000 If you belong to a tribe or a church that does not believe in faith, I assure you, you're not going nowhere. 00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:15.000 If you don't have teachers in your life that walk in faith, you will not be able to enter into faith. 00:53:15.000 --> 00:53:18.000 It's impossible. 00:53:18.000 --> 00:53:25.000 Academia and denominational hangups can absolutely block you from walking in faith. 00:53:25.000 --> 00:53:30.000 Because someone always has a key that they are supposed to use to open a door for you. 00:53:30.000 --> 00:53:48.000 And if they don't enter in themselves and they do not give you the key, you ain't entering in. 00:53:48.000 --> 00:53:59.000 One of the things that sometimes happens to me, and maybe it doesn't happen to you, is I sometimes think I don't doubt. 00:53:59.000 --> 00:54:12.000 But what I do is I sometimes avoid the responsibility of believing. 00:54:12.000 --> 00:54:20.000 And I want to say to you, avoiding the responsibility of believing is the same as doubt. 00:54:20.000 --> 00:54:24.000 This is critical because many of us do this. 00:54:24.000 --> 00:54:29.000 It is not that we actively doubt or that we encourage doubt. 00:54:29.000 --> 00:54:32.000 Instead we shift to something else. 00:54:32.000 --> 00:54:39.000 We actively avoid the possibility, sorry, we actively avoid the responsibility of believing. 00:54:39.000 --> 00:54:42.000 As in, it's okay, whatever God wants. 00:54:42.000 --> 00:54:44.000 Tomorrow. 00:54:44.000 --> 00:54:47.000 Right now it's too much work. 00:54:47.000 --> 00:54:48.000 Let life happen. 00:54:48.000 --> 00:54:51.000 This is handleable. 00:54:51.000 --> 00:54:56.000 You never can switch faith on in a crisis. 00:54:56.000 --> 00:55:01.000 You only operate at the level that you've been operating in. 00:55:01.000 --> 00:55:04.000 Tomorrow, that you've been operating for the last 12 months. 00:55:04.000 --> 00:55:08.000 One of the sad things is people who want a lot of ministry, a lot of activity, 00:55:08.000 --> 00:55:17.000 but do not want to take on the responsibility of working faith out. 00:55:17.000 --> 00:55:22.000 An opportunity will be provided for you, but faith will not be provided for you. 00:55:22.000 --> 00:55:30.000 20 years from now you'll be doing the same ministry, only doing it better, but you will do nothing else. 00:55:30.000 --> 00:55:34.000 This is a problem amongst us. 00:55:34.000 --> 00:55:40.000 I see this happening in my life and I slap myself saying, stop being lazy. 00:55:40.000 --> 00:55:47.000 Avoiding the responsibility of believing. 00:55:47.000 --> 00:55:49.000 Any questions on that one? 00:55:49.000 --> 00:55:58.000 I hope it really smacks you. 00:55:58.000 --> 00:56:05.000 Cool. 00:56:05.000 --> 00:56:11.000 There's a quote by, yeah, you don't need to understand everything when it comes to faith. 00:56:11.000 --> 00:56:15.000 You obey everything, you don't need to understand everything. 00:56:15.000 --> 00:56:20.000 Kerkgaard, Soren Kerkgaard, a theologian, had this brilliant line, 00:56:20.000 --> 00:56:24.000 life is always lived forward but understood backward. 00:56:24.000 --> 00:56:27.000 Life is lived forward and understood backward. 00:56:27.000 --> 00:56:30.000 Life is lived forward, understood backward. 00:56:30.000 --> 00:56:36.000 Do not try to figure out how this is going to work, what's the eventual outcome. 00:56:36.000 --> 00:56:37.000 Life is lived forward. 00:56:37.000 --> 00:56:42.000 You keep taking one step forward in obedience and it's always understood backwards. 00:56:42.000 --> 00:56:45.000 Then when you look, you realize, oh, shucks. 00:56:45.000 --> 00:56:46.000 Look at your own life, man. 00:56:46.000 --> 00:56:48.000 Look at any exploit of faith in your life. 00:56:48.000 --> 00:56:49.000 What do you see? 00:56:49.000 --> 00:56:56.000 That you had the courage, the illogical courage to keep moving forward, keep moving forward. 00:56:56.000 --> 00:57:00.000 You did not understand what was happening but you kept moving forward. 00:57:00.000 --> 00:57:02.000 And now when you look back, you can tell stories. 00:57:02.000 --> 00:57:04.000 Why are you telling stories? 00:57:04.000 --> 00:57:08.000 The only reason you are telling stories is having moved forward, you can look backward and understand it. 00:57:08.000 --> 00:57:14.000 But when you were in it, you didn't know squat. 00:57:14.000 --> 00:57:17.000 This is the brilliance of God and faith. 00:57:17.000 --> 00:57:20.000 It is the only way to know God. 00:57:20.000 --> 00:57:24.000 Faith is the only way to know God because faith is an action word. 00:57:24.000 --> 00:57:27.000 As in, you may say, but isn't the word the way to know God? 00:57:27.000 --> 00:57:31.000 The word that is not practiced is not going to be learned. 00:57:31.000 --> 00:57:42.000 And the only way one practices the word is by working the word out in faith and you begin to know your God. 00:57:42.000 --> 00:57:50.000 Last point. 00:57:50.000 --> 00:57:56.000 Guys, apply this not just to faith but in every area of your life. 00:57:56.000 --> 00:58:04.000 Revive the fire in your life. 00:58:04.000 --> 00:58:08.000 Desire it, desire it, desire it, desire it. 00:58:08.000 --> 00:58:13.000 Oh God, this life that I live at T.W.U. is so blah. 00:58:13.000 --> 00:58:18.000 This life of me being a teacher at R.C.S. is so blah. 00:58:18.000 --> 00:58:22.000 This life of me running August Music is so blah. 00:58:22.000 --> 00:58:26.000 This life of me going pam pam pam is so blah. 00:58:26.000 --> 00:58:32.000 This life of me pastoring Acts 29 is so blah. 00:58:32.000 --> 00:58:40.000 There is more to it than this. 00:58:40.000 --> 00:58:42.000 There is so much more. 00:58:42.000 --> 00:58:49.000 One of the ways we get to that place is asking God, please Lord, revive that fire in me again. 00:58:49.000 --> 00:58:55.000 Revive something that just burns every morning you get up and you're thirsting for, 00:58:55.000 --> 00:59:00.000 you're not thirsting for give me another adventure, you're not thirsting for give me some mighty exploit. 00:59:00.000 --> 00:59:11.000 But it is this, it is that I will never settle at a cap. 00:59:11.000 --> 00:59:15.000 That you cannot put a ceiling on me, you cannot put a cap on me. 00:59:15.000 --> 00:59:19.000 And my circumstances cannot be limitations. 00:59:19.000 --> 00:59:31.000 It cannot. I must always hunger, dream, thirst, look. 00:59:31.000 --> 00:59:36.000 Ask yourself this question, do you have a horizon? 00:59:36.000 --> 00:59:41.000 Do you have a horizon where heaven meets earth that was crafted by God? 00:59:41.000 --> 00:59:46.000 That you're always reaching out to and cannot get to but you're constantly reaching out. 00:59:46.000 --> 00:59:51.000 What is it in your life, Dilna? What is it in your life, Nick? What is it in your life, Emmanuel? 00:59:51.000 --> 00:59:58.000 What is it in your life, Jacob? 00:59:58.000 --> 01:00:06.000 If I have a horizon, I have a heading that I can arrange on my instrument panel so the plane begins to fly that way. 01:00:06.000 --> 01:00:09.000 What is that horizon? 01:00:09.000 --> 01:00:12.000 Four spots, great, have four spots lined up. 01:00:12.000 --> 01:00:16.000 You can choose which one you want, God will be waiting there for you. 01:00:16.000 --> 01:00:23.000 But a man who does not have a horizon is a man at the mercy of his circumstances, 01:00:23.000 --> 01:00:35.000 a man who does not have a horizon that God has crafted is a man at the mercy of his circumstances. 01:00:35.000 --> 01:00:39.000 How do you revive the fire in your life? 01:00:39.000 --> 01:00:43.000 1 Kings 18 begins to show you brilliantly. 01:00:43.000 --> 01:00:50.000 First, you revive the fire in your life by rebuilding the altar. 01:00:50.000 --> 01:00:51.000 That's what Elijah does first. 01:00:51.000 --> 01:00:55.000 He looks at the altar in verse 30 and he says it's in disrepair. 01:00:55.000 --> 01:00:57.000 What does he do? He begins to rebuild it. 01:00:57.000 --> 01:00:59.000 What does it mean to rebuild the altar of your life? 01:00:59.000 --> 01:01:02.000 Hey, very easy. 01:01:02.000 --> 01:01:04.000 How do you rebuild the altar? 01:01:04.000 --> 01:01:08.000 Examine your life. 01:01:08.000 --> 01:01:13.000 Remove things that are made of bricks because God doesn't build with bricks. 01:01:13.000 --> 01:01:15.000 God only builds with stone. 01:01:15.000 --> 01:01:16.000 Each builds with bricks. 01:01:16.000 --> 01:01:18.000 Remove the things that are Egyptian. 01:01:18.000 --> 01:01:22.000 Remove the things that are of the world that are still so prevalent. 01:01:22.000 --> 01:01:24.000 What do you do after that? 01:01:24.000 --> 01:01:26.000 Arrange the stones well again. 01:01:26.000 --> 01:01:28.000 Find out the ones that don't fit. 01:01:28.000 --> 01:01:33.000 What is it? Is it doubt? Is it fear? Is it anger? 01:01:33.000 --> 01:01:39.000 Is it severe negativity in your thinking whenever things go wrong? 01:01:39.000 --> 01:01:44.000 Is it resentment? Is it pride? 01:01:44.000 --> 01:01:48.000 Is it wanting to do things alone? 01:01:48.000 --> 01:01:50.000 What is it? 01:01:50.000 --> 01:01:57.000 Remove that brick. Rearrange the stones. 01:01:57.000 --> 01:02:00.000 How do you revive the fire in your life? Rebuild the altar. 01:02:00.000 --> 01:02:03.000 Then what? Prep the sacrifice. 01:02:03.000 --> 01:02:05.000 That's what Elijah does next. 01:02:05.000 --> 01:02:06.000 He prepares the sacrifice. 01:02:06.000 --> 01:02:08.000 What does that look like? 01:02:08.000 --> 01:02:10.000 Very simple. 01:02:10.000 --> 01:02:12.000 Keep aiming at greater purity. 01:02:12.000 --> 01:02:17.000 Not that you'll be faultless, but you have this desire for blazing purity. 01:02:17.000 --> 01:02:22.000 Decide that you will not depend on the weak arm of flesh. 01:02:22.000 --> 01:02:23.000 Jeremiah 17, 5-8, 01:02:23.000 --> 01:02:26.000 Cursed is the man who depends on the weak arm of flesh. 01:02:26.000 --> 01:02:29.000 He shall be like a shrub that dries up in the desert. 01:02:29.000 --> 01:02:33.000 But blessed is the man who depends on the hand of God, 01:02:33.000 --> 01:02:36.000 for he shall be like a tree planted by the waters. 01:02:36.000 --> 01:02:40.000 It doesn't matter what season he's in, he keeps being fruitful. 01:02:40.000 --> 01:02:42.000 That's how you prepare a sacrifice. 01:02:42.000 --> 01:02:45.000 It's you saying, I will not live by any other means, 01:02:45.000 --> 01:02:51.000 but by the means of God, because it is to him who I belong. 01:02:51.000 --> 01:03:04.000 Authorized by him, resourced by him, sustained by him. 01:03:04.000 --> 01:03:05.000 And you proclaim, eh? 01:03:05.000 --> 01:03:08.000 Part of sacrifice is proclamation. 01:03:08.000 --> 01:03:11.000 Part of readying the sacrifice is proclamation. 01:03:11.000 --> 01:03:14.000 In 2 Corinthians 4.13, 2 Corinthians 4.13, 01:03:14.000 --> 01:03:16.000 you must read it from different versions. 01:03:16.000 --> 01:03:18.000 Here's what it says, 01:03:18.000 --> 01:03:23.000 The reason I speak is because I have read in the Psalms, says Paul, 01:03:23.000 --> 01:03:25.000 that whoever believes speaks. 01:03:25.000 --> 01:03:29.000 I believe, therefore I will speak. 01:03:29.000 --> 01:03:32.000 The fruit of my lips is a sacrifice. 01:03:32.000 --> 01:03:37.000 We don't realize how important it is to revive a fire 01:03:37.000 --> 01:03:40.000 by proclaiming. 01:03:40.000 --> 01:03:42.000 2 Corinthians 4.13 says it, 01:03:42.000 --> 01:03:45.000 Because I have believed, therefore I will speak. 01:03:45.000 --> 01:03:50.000 Not after it has happened, but while it is happening. 01:03:50.000 --> 01:03:58.000 No man who spoke after the victory finds his way into Hebrews 11. 01:03:58.000 --> 01:04:01.000 Anybody who is in Hebrews 11 is there, 01:04:01.000 --> 01:04:07.000 because before something happened, they began to declare the intent of God. 01:04:07.000 --> 01:04:09.000 So that God could be true and faithful. 01:04:09.000 --> 01:04:13.000 For I look to and fro to see someone on whose behalf I can be faithful. 01:04:13.000 --> 01:04:17.000 But how will people know that God is faithful on your behalf 01:04:17.000 --> 01:04:27.000 if you haven't told them what God is going to do? 01:04:27.000 --> 01:04:30.000 But once you tell them what God is going to do, 01:04:30.000 --> 01:04:33.000 now he will show himself faithful on your behalf. 01:04:33.000 --> 01:04:46.000 He will prove. 01:04:46.000 --> 01:04:48.000 You do this, the fire falls. 01:04:48.000 --> 01:04:50.000 When the fire falls, things ignite. 01:04:50.000 --> 01:04:52.000 When things ignite, people see. 01:04:52.000 --> 01:04:56.000 Set this hall on fire and see what happens to Burnaby. 01:04:56.000 --> 01:05:02.000 Also see what happens to Karen and Mike. 01:05:02.000 --> 01:05:05.000 We will end on that note. 01:05:05.000 --> 01:05:14.000 Next week we return back to our summer palace. 01:05:14.000 --> 01:05:23.000 Thank you for being so adaptable and flexible. 01:05:23.000 --> 01:05:25.000 It's great. 01:05:25.000 --> 01:05:27.000 Before we go for the potluck... 01:05:27.000 --> 01:05:29.000 No, I'm okay. 01:05:29.000 --> 01:05:35.000 Before we go for the potluck, guys, I don't know how difficult it is to organize these things. 01:05:35.000 --> 01:05:38.000 All I know is I don't want to organize it because it looks really difficult. 01:05:38.000 --> 01:05:48.000 And so I just want to acknowledge Hamari who for some strange reason... 01:05:48.000 --> 01:05:52.000 who for some strange reason does this happily. 01:05:52.000 --> 01:05:54.000 I do not understand that. 01:05:54.000 --> 01:05:56.000 Oh, we are talking about you. Nothing. 01:05:56.000 --> 01:05:58.000 And so thank you. 01:05:58.000 --> 01:06:01.000 And yeah. 01:06:01.000 --> 01:06:05.000 I'm going to ask Lenny to come up and pray for the food. 01:06:05.000 --> 01:06:08.000 And then we can eat.