WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Attrition Publishing Date: 2023-09-24T06:00:44-07:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/attrition/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.800 All righty. Hey, God does not fail when it comes to faith, but the quality of faith 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:14.760 can. And we've been talking about accrediting ourselves. Like Christ, it 00:00:14.760 --> 00:00:20.680 says in Acts chapter 2 22, was accredited by God, by the Spirit, and he went around 00:00:20.680 --> 00:00:28.880 performing science miracles and wonders. And yet our faith often erodes. So I want 00:00:28.880 --> 00:00:40.800 to talk about what causes the attrition of faith. So God does not fail, but the 00:00:40.800 --> 00:00:49.280 quality of faith can fail. But the quality of faith, but my quality of faith 00:00:49.360 --> 00:01:02.880 can fail. And what does failure of faith look like? What does failure of faith, 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:10.840 what does failure of faith look like? Here are some of the ways it looks like, 00:01:10.840 --> 00:01:17.840 and I think it's common to all of us. We are waiting and nothing is happening. 00:01:19.840 --> 00:01:27.200 Nothing is happening. Sometimes it's worse. The opposite begins to happen. You are 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:35.760 exerting faith as well as you know it, but the opposite begins to happen. You 00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:40.520 find that guys who are not using any faith at all are prospering. Non-faith 00:01:40.520 --> 00:01:48.840 people seem to be doing really well. As in, they live with a case or 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:53.400 address or attitude, and yet they seem to be prospering really well. While you're 00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:57.000 standing in faith and nothing is happening or worse, the opposite begins to 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:02.440 happen. Hey Brandon, if you're anywhere here, can you make my pen light darker? 00:02:02.440 --> 00:02:07.320 This is part of what we pay you for. 00:02:07.320 --> 00:02:09.320 Four. 00:02:14.320 --> 00:02:21.320 Hard to find good help. There. Heidi, could it double his weight? 00:02:21.320 --> 00:02:30.320 Four. You see early fruit, it's not raining at all now. 00:02:31.320 --> 00:02:34.320 Heidi. 00:02:42.320 --> 00:02:50.320 Okay. Sometimes what does the failure of faith look like? You see early fruit and 00:02:50.320 --> 00:02:54.320 looks like, ah shucks, and you begin praising God, and it suddenly aborts and 00:02:54.320 --> 00:02:59.320 you don't have anything or withers away, and you think to yourself, what was that? 00:02:59.320 --> 00:03:05.320 Was it a mirage? After a while, when this thing begins to keep happening, promises 00:03:05.320 --> 00:03:19.320 that you get from people, from God, are hard to believe and sustain. And in the 00:03:19.320 --> 00:03:24.320 end, what happens is uncertainty because you feel like, can I trust this, can I 00:03:24.320 --> 00:03:29.320 not? And that leads to sufficient amount of confusion, and that leads to an 00:03:29.320 --> 00:03:35.320 inability or a perceived inability to hear God because you think, am I really 00:03:35.320 --> 00:03:42.320 hearing God? Is this just my experience or is it common to you also? Ah, so it's 00:03:42.320 --> 00:03:46.320 my experience. So we shall talk about my experience today. So this is what the 00:03:46.320 --> 00:03:51.320 failure of faith looks like in my life, where these things begin to happen. 00:03:51.320 --> 00:03:57.320 Sometimes when I'm doing the best I can to walk in faith, nothing seems to 00:03:57.320 --> 00:04:04.320 happen. Just nothing. It's like there's no progress. And then the next thing is 00:04:04.320 --> 00:04:07.320 sometimes the opposite begins to happen. When you're really trusting and you 00:04:07.320 --> 00:04:11.320 think things are going to break open, instead the reverse begins to happen. It 00:04:11.320 --> 00:04:17.320 gets worse. Third, people who aren't exerting faith at all, who ksira sira 00:04:17.320 --> 00:04:23.320 through life, seem to have everything working out for them. Four, I see early 00:04:23.320 --> 00:04:27.320 signs of, oh shucks, ah praise God, man, you won't believe what happened and then 00:04:27.320 --> 00:04:32.320 nothing happens after that. It's almost like the balloons without air. Oh, when 00:04:32.320 --> 00:04:37.320 you, you know what I mean. And then the fifth one is now I begin to think these 00:04:37.320 --> 00:04:44.320 promises, I find it hard to believe. I'm not able to sustain my ability to believe 00:04:45.320 --> 00:04:52.320 it with everything I have. I leave enough room for doubt. It's almost like be 00:04:52.320 --> 00:04:57.320 careful, don't put all your eggs in this basket. And then the last one is that 00:04:57.320 --> 00:05:04.320 leads to uncertainty, confusion, and an inability to hear. And so this is what 00:05:04.320 --> 00:05:11.320 failure of faith looks like. And if it's not your experience, blessed are you. But 00:05:11.320 --> 00:05:17.320 if it is your experience, then hopefully we can work around it. Yeah. No, this is 00:05:26.320 --> 00:05:30.320 what failure of faith looks like. So it's not my faith has failed. This is what 00:05:30.320 --> 00:05:35.320 regardless of how much I'm trying to exert faith to the best that I know, but 00:05:35.320 --> 00:05:39.320 these things are happening. And so it almost feels like a failure of faith, but 00:05:39.320 --> 00:05:43.320 it is not a lack of exertion of faith. Today at some point when we were singing 00:05:43.320 --> 00:05:49.320 oceans and the song before that, I just felt that this room, there were so many 00:05:49.320 --> 00:05:54.320 people with so much faith. So many people with so much faith. When you get to that 00:05:54.320 --> 00:06:05.320 bridge that says spirit lead me where my feet may. Yeah, where you go into places 00:06:05.320 --> 00:06:10.320 that you any, any sane person will fail. And that's where you want to go. And 00:06:10.320 --> 00:06:14.320 that's the other thing. It's easy to practice faith that does not fail by 00:06:14.320 --> 00:06:20.320 staying in shallow waters. Remember that if you haven't experienced this, either 00:06:20.320 --> 00:06:24.320 you are someone of tremendous faith or you are someone who stays in the 00:06:24.320 --> 00:06:31.320 shallows. Either you're someone of tremendous faith, like you only know 00:06:31.320 --> 00:06:36.320 victory and success and you've never been through those things. Or you're in 00:06:36.320 --> 00:06:39.320 the shallows because you don't have to worry about this because it doesn't 00:06:39.320 --> 00:06:46.320 require mystery. It doesn't require feet may fail. This is a progression. We all 00:06:46.320 --> 00:06:52.320 go through this and we're supposed to overcome it. Yeah. Yeah, so it's not that 00:06:52.320 --> 00:06:55.320 we're not exerting faith. These are things that are happening to people who 00:06:55.320 --> 00:06:59.320 exert faith. If you stay in the shallows, this won't happen. So why does this wreck 00:06:59.320 --> 00:07:04.320 you? Why does this wreck you? Because it does affect us. It affects how we deal 00:07:04.320 --> 00:07:15.320 with life. Why does this wreck you? One, because you are sure you heard God and 00:07:15.320 --> 00:07:20.320 now you don't know what to make out of it. Why am I going through this? Because 00:07:20.320 --> 00:07:25.320 all of us here have been through this at some point or the other, right? And to 00:07:25.320 --> 00:07:31.320 pretend that faith always is working for you. I'm not saying it's impossible. 00:07:31.320 --> 00:07:38.320 I'm saying it's not the common experience. Why does this wreck you? Because you're 00:07:38.320 --> 00:07:42.320 sure you heard God and now you don't know what to do with it because you're so 00:07:42.320 --> 00:07:54.320 sure you heard God. Now what do you do? Second, you expected. You prayed. You 00:07:54.320 --> 00:08:11.320 trusted and weren't rewarded or were disappointed. Or were disappointed. Do you 00:08:11.320 --> 00:08:16.320 think the disciples didn't have faith? Oh my God, three days have gone by and now 00:08:16.320 --> 00:08:22.320 Jesus is still dead. They were beginning to think that this wasn't happening. On 00:08:22.320 --> 00:08:26.320 the road to Emmaus, if you actually joined Jesus while he walked with his 00:08:26.320 --> 00:08:32.320 disciples, all he could hear was resignation. Three days had come and gone. 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:38.320 So you expected, you prayed, you trusted, you weren't rewarded and you were 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:44.320 disappointed. And disappointment is really sucky. It's not fun. Third one, a 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:49.320 question we often ask. I have heard this asked so many times, especially when 00:08:49.320 --> 00:08:54.320 something terrible happens. This is a question that is always asked. When he has 00:08:54.320 --> 00:09:10.320 the power, why doesn't he as a father intervene? I don't know. I mean, every 00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:15.320 month I get this asked by someone or the other. If he had the power, you say he's a 00:09:15.320 --> 00:09:20.320 good father. If he had the power and if he's a father, why didn't he intervene? 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:30.320 If he has the power and he's a good father, like you say, he is, why didn't he intervene? 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:36.320 Another thing that causes you to be reckless, you're speaking faith, you're 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:42.320 standing in faith and now you feel shamed. Some of us, these are different things 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:47.320 that apply to different people. Some of us feel shamed before others because 00:09:47.320 --> 00:09:51.320 people are beginning to question your trust, eh? As in did you really hear? What are 00:09:51.320 --> 00:09:59.320 you standing on? Sometimes it wrecks you because you're scared inside you that 00:09:59.320 --> 00:10:11.320 you may be let down again. You're scared you may be let down. By who? By God. 00:10:11.320 --> 00:10:17.320 Because you have had it happen once before and now you're scared and it begins to 00:10:17.320 --> 00:10:23.320 create a room for doubt, for maybe lowering your expectations. This is why we 00:10:23.320 --> 00:10:27.320 lower our expectations. We lower our expectations because we were burnt once or 00:10:27.320 --> 00:10:31.320 twice before. Now we lower our expectations because we don't want to aim as 00:10:31.320 --> 00:10:39.320 high as we were. If you don't face the problem, we won't have solutions for it. 00:10:39.320 --> 00:10:41.320 Go ahead, Marcus. 00:10:41.320 --> 00:10:44.320 Are we putting faith in what we've heard or are we putting faith in the word of God? 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:50.320 Yeah, so are we putting, valid question. What are we putting our faith in? Are we 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:56.320 putting faith in what we hear or what we read? Here's the autic. As we read, we 00:10:56.320 --> 00:11:02.320 begin to hear him speak because he's a father and he can speak through the word, 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:07.320 through dreams, through prophetic words, through visions. How do we know that? We 00:11:07.320 --> 00:11:13.320 know that because the word says so. So that's the thread. So you can't hear him 00:11:13.320 --> 00:11:16.320 without, I mean you can hear him without the word because he can do whatever he 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:20.320 wants. But his normal way of functioning is can you know the word so that you 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:24.320 know my nature? Now that you know my nature and you know me as a father, know 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:28.320 that I will speak to you through different means. Sometimes in your heart, 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:31.320 sometimes through someone, sometimes through a prophetic word, sometimes 00:11:31.320 --> 00:11:34.320 through a dream, sometimes through a nudge, sometimes through circumstances. 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:42.320 He'll speak any number of ways. So it is not only the word, it is however God 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:45.320 wants to speak and you know him through the word. If you don't know him through 00:11:45.320 --> 00:11:50.320 the word, then you're on shaky ground. I mean I have known non-believers who've 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:55.320 heard God, I mean the living God. They didn't know anything. But usually it will 00:11:55.320 --> 00:12:01.320 be through knowing the father through the word. And that's what makes it so 00:12:01.320 --> 00:12:07.320 dangerous, right? Because it would be so much easier if we only decided that 00:12:07.320 --> 00:12:12.320 everything we hear is through the, what is the written word? And yet we need to 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:20.320 realize that the written word is not Christ. The written word is not Christ. 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:26.320 You can't contain Christ in a book. John himself wrote it. You can't contain him, 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:30.320 sorry not John, Luke wrote that you can't contain even his three and a half years 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:35.320 you can't contain within a book. There is a written word and there is the living 00:12:35.320 --> 00:12:43.320 word. The written word launches us into the living word. Many churches play it safe 00:12:43.320 --> 00:12:51.320 by only depending on the written word for anything to be spoken. So hearing would 00:12:51.320 --> 00:12:55.320 be something they would not encourage. 00:12:55.320 --> 00:12:57.320 But 00:13:03.320 --> 00:13:10.320 Yeah, 14 minutes 23 seconds. Because this is only the problem. What is the solution 00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:18.320 we'll have to see. Yeah, patience and faith, timing, it all works together. This won't 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:21.320 get over today. We'll have to take it into the next week. Three pages. Today it'll be 00:13:21.320 --> 00:13:26.320 either really short or really long because I've been traveling for the last 32 hours 00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:36.320 so this could go really long. If it goes long just enjoy it. If it's short express your 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:38.320 disappointment. 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:59.320 Yeah, so there'll be so many things that will not be backed by the word. So if God 00:13:59.320 --> 00:14:07.320 says for instance, hey Jacob you're special. You know it's the nature of a father. You 00:14:07.320 --> 00:14:12.320 know that Isaiah 43 he talks about Israel as special but coming to me and saying I'm 00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:21.320 special. It'll be very hard to prove that that this is God or you see a dream and in 00:14:21.320 --> 00:14:25.320 the dream God speaks to you. You can't prove it through the word but you know his nature 00:14:25.320 --> 00:14:29.320 as a father and you know what he's saying to you in the dream as being the nature of 00:14:29.320 --> 00:14:36.320 God. So the book will. Pardon? I didn't understand the question. 00:14:37.320 --> 00:14:47.320 Yeah. A question like this. A question like this that it does the written word is the 00:14:47.320 --> 00:14:53.320 written word. Won't the written word always back up what God is saying. No. So many times 00:14:53.320 --> 00:14:57.320 you hear things when you heard about your house. Well you couldn't back it up with the 00:14:57.320 --> 00:15:06.320 written word. I mean you can say Israel was told do not build houses. I will give it to 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:12.320 you free but if you shouldn't that it would be a little difficult. No vineyards, no wells, 00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:18.320 no houses. Yeah. So that would make it difficult. This is tenuous ground guys. This is why it 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:24.320 is so much easier just reading the word and hoping that your answers will come from that. 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:34.320 But that is a limited relationship. It is a limited relationship. That frightens me. 00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:40.320 And we can't live in limited relationship with the one person in the entire universe who is your 00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:56.320 father and who loves talking. Or let's put it this way. How did Jesus operate? When does he know 00:15:56.320 --> 00:16:03.320 how to spit on the clay and heal a blind man's eyes? No Old Testament scripture gives you that 00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:13.320 permission. How does he know when to pay taxes by going fishing? Who told him he could walk across 00:16:13.320 --> 00:16:22.320 the water? An axed can, not a human. So he began to operate by the Spirit by being dependent on the 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:41.320 Spirit. But he knew the nature of his father. Davant, you're good? So, and then the last one that really 00:16:41.320 --> 00:16:51.320 wrecks you is, you thought faith should be easy but faith seems exhausting sometimes. Oh brother, 00:16:51.320 --> 00:16:57.320 I'm standing in faith. How long are you going to stand? You look like you're going to totter. So these are 00:16:57.320 --> 00:17:05.320 the reasons why we feel wrecked. And yet we have to work around this because the church that needs to 00:17:05.320 --> 00:17:14.320 walk in easy faith, in restful faith, in faith that may disappoint, though it's not supposed to because 00:17:14.320 --> 00:17:19.320 the Bible says in Romans chapter 5 that faith never disappoints. Anyone who puts their trust in the Lord will 00:17:19.320 --> 00:17:28.320 be rewarded. But what when you feel like the reward is not there? What do you do then? How do you work 00:17:28.320 --> 00:17:38.320 around that? That's why this will take time and we won't finish it today. How do you respond normally 00:17:38.320 --> 00:17:46.320 when these things happen? How do you respond when these things happen? Here are some responses. One, 00:17:46.320 --> 00:17:56.320 very simple. I find it then hard to trust God in a certain area because I'm not able to muster what it needs 00:17:56.320 --> 00:18:02.320 to walk in faith in that area because it didn't work out a few times. I find it hard to trust God in that area. 00:18:02.320 --> 00:18:21.320 Two, I won't attempt to have supernatural expectations. I'll lower my expectations. This is one of the 00:18:21.320 --> 00:18:28.320 coolest tricks in Christendom. One of the ways we completely bypass faith is by lowering our expectations. 00:18:28.320 --> 00:18:41.320 This makes it very easy to have faith. One of the easiest ways to do this is to say whatever God wills. 00:18:41.320 --> 00:18:53.320 There are times when you're sincere about it, but usually when you say it, it is just a way to avoid finding out 00:18:53.320 --> 00:19:01.320 what he wills. Very clearly he says, your kingdom come, your will be done here on earth as it is in heaven. 00:19:01.320 --> 00:19:11.320 You've got to know what his will is. Romans 12, find out the good and perfect will of God. We have to find it out, 00:19:11.320 --> 00:19:23.320 search it out. If that isn't our human experience, then we're just being Christians, which still gets you to heaven. 00:19:23.320 --> 00:19:32.320 The other experience is when you're sons of God. Why? Because the sons of God are led by the Spirit of God. That's different. 00:19:32.320 --> 00:19:43.320 I want us to know that it's impossible in a sense for us to continue in this church without already having tremendous faith. 00:19:43.320 --> 00:19:50.320 You do. I've seen it in your lives. Long ago, this was about seven or eight years ago, we asked people in the church, 00:19:50.320 --> 00:19:56.320 many of you weren't there, we asked people in the church to stand up and share stories of either healing or of faith. 00:19:56.320 --> 00:20:04.320 There were at that time about 40 people in the church. There were about 40 stories. And people were trying to limit it to one story. 00:20:04.320 --> 00:20:15.320 So there's no absence of it. But then why let these things block our way? I want to attempt to have supernatural expectations. 00:20:15.320 --> 00:20:22.320 Many of us have lowered our expectations in certain areas. Three. 00:20:22.320 --> 00:20:35.320 Resentment, suspicion, lament. 00:20:35.320 --> 00:20:41.320 This begins to happen against God. 00:20:41.320 --> 00:20:52.320 Guys, please understand this is real. You want to see how real it is? Go to Job. Go to Jeremiah. Go to Elijah. This is real. 00:20:52.320 --> 00:21:00.320 This is real. Lament, suspicion, resentment. Against who? Against God. 00:21:00.320 --> 00:21:09.320 Jeremiah chapter 15, verse 18 says, you're like a deceptive brook. Can't trust you. 00:21:09.320 --> 00:21:17.320 I'm not saying Jeremiah is a poster child that we should follow. I'm just saying it is real. 00:21:17.320 --> 00:21:23.320 Jeremiah 15, 18. 00:21:23.320 --> 00:21:30.320 And especially when you belong to a people who show faith, this becomes even more difficult because you've got to hide this. 00:21:30.320 --> 00:21:35.320 Because everyone else seems to be gung-ho about their faith. And everyone comes up with a story. 00:21:35.320 --> 00:21:42.320 I texted the landlady and she said, come, even though the house was gone. And I went there and Ann and George got their house. 00:21:42.320 --> 00:21:50.320 Hallelujah. What about the rest of us who didn't get a house? So that begins to happen. Sorry, I'm just speaking on you and your house because you asked a question. 00:21:50.320 --> 00:22:02.320 Resentment, suspicion, lament against God. Next one. 00:22:02.320 --> 00:22:14.320 We can stop at this, or you can add to it later. Discouragement that jades the heart. That jades the heart to promises. 00:22:14.320 --> 00:22:24.320 As in, it's like you develop faith fatigue saying, don't give me another promise, please. 00:22:24.320 --> 00:22:32.320 I've been hearing this for years and nothing has happened. Don't give me another one. 00:22:32.320 --> 00:22:40.320 Any questions, guys? I thought we'd start with the bad news. 00:22:40.320 --> 00:22:48.320 We could end on this note, but then it's supposed to be a good news. 00:22:48.320 --> 00:22:53.320 Okay. 00:22:53.320 --> 00:22:59.320 Why does this happen? 00:22:59.320 --> 00:23:04.320 I'll probably end with that and then do the rest next week. 00:23:04.320 --> 00:23:17.320 Some of the reasons this happens, guys, is one, is my faith contractual? 00:23:17.320 --> 00:23:24.320 Is my faith contractual? And what do I mean by contractual faith? Contractual faith sounds like this. 00:23:24.320 --> 00:23:30.320 Oh God, you said it in your word. Therefore, I believe that you will do it. 00:23:30.320 --> 00:23:35.320 Oh God, I'm standing on your word. You said it. You're not a liar. You will do it. 00:23:35.320 --> 00:23:44.320 That's contractual faith. It is still faith. It is still in the Bible. Jeremiah chapter 1 talks about it. 00:23:44.320 --> 00:23:52.320 What do you see, Jeremiah? I see a boiling an almond tree. You have seen well. I will watch over my word to perform it. 00:23:52.320 --> 00:23:58.320 Numbers 23-23. I'm not a man that I should lie. I'm not a son of man that I should deceive. 00:23:58.320 --> 00:24:05.320 Have I not said it and will I not do it? So it's actually scriptural, but it's still contractual. 00:24:05.320 --> 00:24:11.320 It's Old Testament faith. You have said it, oh God, and you will do it. 00:24:11.320 --> 00:24:17.320 It's nice, but it ain't the most excellent way. 00:24:17.320 --> 00:24:23.320 It is faith. It is biblical, but it's not the most excellent way. 00:24:23.320 --> 00:24:27.320 How does that differ with? 00:24:27.320 --> 00:24:35.320 Yeah, so if I tell you what we should replace contractual faith with, then we can go to the wrestling God question. 00:24:35.320 --> 00:24:45.320 So this is contractual faith. Well, the faith that we are supposed to have is faith that is born of father-son intimacies. 00:24:45.320 --> 00:24:50.320 Faith that is born of father-son intimacies. 00:24:50.320 --> 00:25:04.320 Faith that is born of father-son intimacies. 00:25:04.320 --> 00:25:09.320 Intimacies. This is different. 00:25:09.320 --> 00:25:13.320 It's not, dad, you said you would buy me a bike. 00:25:13.320 --> 00:25:19.320 Recently, I had to talk to someone who felt that they did the exams well. 00:25:19.320 --> 00:25:25.320 So where's my iPhone? You said that if I do my exams well, I'll get an iPhone. I'll get a laptop. 00:25:25.320 --> 00:25:30.320 You said it. You've been saying it for the last two years. And look at my results. 00:25:30.320 --> 00:25:36.320 Where's my iPhone? That's contractual. This is between a father and a son. 00:25:36.320 --> 00:25:41.320 There's nothing that is so self-entitled to this kind of faith. 00:25:41.320 --> 00:25:50.320 It doesn't come out of relationship. It comes out of you are a faithful God. You said this. You will be faithful. I receive it now. 00:25:50.320 --> 00:25:58.320 It is good, but it is not the most excellent way. And we should always aim for the more excellent way, even when it comes to faith. 00:25:58.320 --> 00:26:05.320 This is what the faith movement was based on. And it eventually implodes. 00:26:05.320 --> 00:26:13.320 Because at some point, when contractual faith is not delivered by God, everything will go wrong. 00:26:13.320 --> 00:26:19.320 Because you didn't have a relationship. You only had a promise. 00:26:19.320 --> 00:26:24.320 It just implodes. 00:26:24.320 --> 00:26:30.320 And so what we have to learn, this is how you can prevent your faith from being wrecked. 00:26:30.320 --> 00:26:34.320 Can it come out of father-son intimacy? 00:26:34.320 --> 00:26:40.320 You want nothing because it's a promise. You want everything because you know his heart. 00:26:40.320 --> 00:26:44.320 You want nothing because he gave a promise. You want everything he has for you. 00:26:44.320 --> 00:26:52.320 Because every time you want something, let's assume I was his dad, he and I get into a conversation. 00:26:52.320 --> 00:26:55.320 Where first I give him the word and he begins to look at the word. 00:26:55.320 --> 00:26:59.320 Two, I begin to visit him in the morning and begin to talk to him. 00:26:59.320 --> 00:27:02.320 Three, I begin to give him hints of what it is that I want for him. 00:27:02.320 --> 00:27:05.320 Four, he begins to see why I desire that for him. 00:27:05.320 --> 00:27:10.320 Five, as he sees that I desire it for him, he looks at it and says, it is impossible. 00:27:10.320 --> 00:27:15.320 Six, he begins to read the word and gets encouraged by who I am. 00:27:15.320 --> 00:27:22.320 Seven, he begins to know the length and the breadth and the height and the depth of not just my power but my love for him. 00:27:22.320 --> 00:27:26.320 Eight, he begins to take tiny steps saying, I can believe this. I can believe this. 00:27:26.320 --> 00:27:32.320 Nine, he looks for assurances and promises saying, dad, I'm scared. Tell me what to do. 00:27:32.320 --> 00:27:36.320 Help as he begins to think. And then he begins to walk. 00:27:36.320 --> 00:27:39.320 And as he begins to walk, the limbs begin to strengthen. 00:27:39.320 --> 00:27:45.320 And as the limbs begin to strengthen, he knows that he can stand for as long as it's needed. 00:27:45.320 --> 00:27:52.320 Not because it's a promise that has a delivery date, but because it is the intimacy that he has with his dad, his relationship with his dad. 00:27:53.320 --> 00:27:59.320 He knows his dad now. And what comes now is not from a promise. It is from knowing the heart of his dad. 00:27:59.320 --> 00:28:04.320 That is different. That's not contractual. That's not transactional. 00:28:04.320 --> 00:28:09.320 That comes out of intimacy. And that does not disappoint. You know why? 00:28:09.320 --> 00:28:12.320 Because you now have a relationship with someone who does not disappoint. 00:28:12.320 --> 00:28:17.320 In the contractual faith, you have a relationship with a promise. 00:28:17.320 --> 00:28:26.320 In this case, you have a relationship with the one who says, I cannot even swear by anything on earth because I am God. 00:28:28.320 --> 00:28:33.320 He cannot disappoint. He cannot let down. 00:28:34.320 --> 00:28:42.320 Now we get to that place in that song which says, so I yield to you and to your careful hand. 00:28:42.320 --> 00:28:47.320 I will trust you even if I don't understand. 00:28:49.320 --> 00:28:54.320 This is so hard, guys, because everything in our world is instant. 00:28:54.320 --> 00:29:02.320 Everything is contractual, binding, promised, disclaimers, clauses, fine print. 00:29:02.320 --> 00:29:07.320 We can go here. We can avoid that whole set of things I wrote down. 00:29:10.320 --> 00:29:16.320 This is what Abraham had in the Old Testament. Sure, he tried to help God along. 00:29:16.320 --> 00:29:21.320 But he had this. 25 years, the guy is waiting, man. 00:29:21.320 --> 00:29:25.320 And after 25 years, when he has him, he has him for about 16 years. 00:29:25.320 --> 00:29:27.320 Now he's going to kill him. 00:29:27.320 --> 00:29:32.320 Why? Because he has a relationship with a God who he knows can bring back the boy to life. 00:29:45.320 --> 00:29:49.320 Is my faith contractual? If it is, beg God. 00:29:49.320 --> 00:29:53.320 You know, again, I have a relationship with God. 00:29:53.320 --> 00:29:55.320 If it is, beg God. 00:29:55.320 --> 00:30:00.320 You know, again, like I said a couple of weeks ago, 00:30:00.320 --> 00:30:08.320 please shift from addressing God as God to addressing Him as Father or Son or Holy Spirit. 00:30:08.320 --> 00:30:11.320 It makes a massive difference. 00:30:11.320 --> 00:30:18.320 You see Him as Father, it becomes very difficult for you to think of Him as anything. 00:30:18.320 --> 00:30:20.320 We're absolutely embracing. 00:30:20.320 --> 00:30:27.320 You see Him as Holy Spirit and you can see Him as nothing else but amazing counselor, amazing comforter. 00:30:27.320 --> 00:30:36.320 This afternoon when I was flying, there was something that I was struggling with and I was trying to find scriptures for it. 00:30:36.320 --> 00:30:41.320 And then at one point I said to myself, Holy Spirit, I just want to close my eyes and rest in your comfort. 00:30:44.320 --> 00:30:45.320 Rest in your comfort. 00:30:45.320 --> 00:30:48.320 And out of that, whatever may come, I don't want an answer. 00:30:48.320 --> 00:30:50.320 I just want to rest in your comfort. 00:30:52.320 --> 00:30:54.320 And did I get an answer? No. 00:30:54.320 --> 00:30:58.320 But did I get rest in comfort? Yes. 00:31:00.320 --> 00:31:03.320 Till Derek called me in the middle of the flight. 00:31:05.320 --> 00:31:09.320 And I refused to answer because you're not supposed to do voice over calls in the flight. 00:31:13.320 --> 00:31:16.320 This is our go to Jesus Christ. 00:31:16.320 --> 00:31:22.320 I mean the one who had nails run through his hands, when he caresses you, you feel the scars. 00:31:23.320 --> 00:31:24.320 That kind of Christ. 00:31:24.320 --> 00:31:30.320 But often when we go to God, like I said, sometimes Christians worship not a triune God but a quadruune God. 00:31:33.320 --> 00:31:35.320 God is the one who is the scapegoat always. 00:31:36.320 --> 00:31:39.320 But it's impossible to do that to the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. 00:31:39.320 --> 00:31:41.320 That's why He's so personal, right? 00:31:43.320 --> 00:31:45.320 No other religion can claim that, man. 00:31:45.320 --> 00:31:48.320 For all of them, their God is so nebulous. 00:31:51.320 --> 00:31:55.320 Which is why we cannot afford to hide behind whatever His will. 00:31:56.320 --> 00:31:59.320 That's not how you work with someone you have a relationship with. 00:32:07.320 --> 00:32:14.320 So contractual faith that is not born out of Father-Son intimacies is not a good idea. 00:32:15.320 --> 00:32:18.320 It shouldn't prosper in your life and my life, guys. 00:32:24.320 --> 00:32:27.320 I mean look at the way it says this in James, I'm reading from the message. 00:32:28.320 --> 00:32:30.320 If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. 00:32:30.320 --> 00:32:31.320 He loves to help. 00:32:31.320 --> 00:32:35.320 You'll get His help and He won't be condescending to you when you ask for it. 00:32:36.320 --> 00:32:37.320 He loves to help. 00:32:38.320 --> 00:32:39.320 He loves to help. 00:32:40.320 --> 00:32:42.320 James chapter 1 verse 5 from the message. 00:32:43.320 --> 00:32:45.320 If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. 00:32:45.320 --> 00:32:46.320 He loves to help. 00:32:46.320 --> 00:32:49.320 You'll get His help and won't be condescending to you when you ask for it. 00:32:52.320 --> 00:32:53.320 Next one. 00:32:54.320 --> 00:32:58.320 Because of past experiences, experiences, what are we dealing with right now? 00:32:58.320 --> 00:32:59.320 Why does it happen? 00:32:59.320 --> 00:33:00.320 Why does what happen? 00:33:00.320 --> 00:33:03.320 Why does faith sometimes fail? 00:33:03.320 --> 00:33:04.320 Why does it wreck you? 00:33:04.320 --> 00:33:06.320 Why is my response so skewed? 00:33:06.320 --> 00:33:07.320 Why does that happen? 00:33:07.320 --> 00:33:12.320 Sometimes experiences can affect so deeply 00:33:16.320 --> 00:33:18.320 that it becomes a stronghold. 00:33:22.320 --> 00:33:24.320 That it becomes a stronghold 00:33:26.320 --> 00:33:27.320 and a hideout 00:33:29.320 --> 00:33:30.320 for spirits 00:33:31.320 --> 00:33:32.320 to torment. 00:33:38.320 --> 00:33:42.320 Something so difficult happens to you 00:33:42.320 --> 00:33:46.320 and you may not have even thought there was a need for faith in it. 00:33:46.320 --> 00:33:49.320 You prayed like you normally pray 00:33:49.320 --> 00:33:52.320 and then it's such a reversal that it really affects you. 00:33:52.320 --> 00:33:54.320 It affects you to a point where 00:33:54.320 --> 00:33:57.320 over a period of time, brick by brick by brick, 00:33:57.320 --> 00:33:59.320 a stronghold is built. 00:34:02.320 --> 00:34:04.320 I can give you many examples. 00:34:04.320 --> 00:34:06.320 Let me pick one from my life. 00:34:06.320 --> 00:34:09.320 I went to a certain country and when I went to that country, 00:34:09.320 --> 00:34:13.320 I had everything prepared, all my documents, 00:34:13.320 --> 00:34:17.320 and then I had prayed 00:34:17.320 --> 00:34:20.320 because I knew what I was going to the country for. 00:34:20.320 --> 00:34:24.320 And I get to the immigration, I provide them everything, 00:34:24.320 --> 00:34:27.320 and suddenly this guy comes and he pulls me into a room. 00:34:27.320 --> 00:34:32.320 And he begins to interrogate and ask questions 00:34:32.320 --> 00:34:34.320 and turns nasty, man. 00:34:34.320 --> 00:34:38.320 I get so scared because it's not a country that is necessarily 00:34:38.320 --> 00:34:40.320 in a good relationship with Canada. 00:34:40.320 --> 00:34:44.320 And so it's not a friendly country. 00:34:44.320 --> 00:34:46.320 I got so scared. 00:34:46.320 --> 00:34:49.320 And he went on and he said he would send me back, 00:34:49.320 --> 00:34:53.320 that he was going to put me in a plane and send me back and stuff like that. 00:34:53.320 --> 00:34:58.320 And all this is happening and I'm so scared that I can't even pray. 00:34:58.320 --> 00:35:00.320 All I'm saying is, somewhere in my mind is, 00:35:00.320 --> 00:35:02.320 oh God, help me get out of this. 00:35:02.320 --> 00:35:04.320 And suddenly the guy gets a call. 00:35:04.320 --> 00:35:07.320 And he starts talking on the phone. 00:35:07.320 --> 00:35:09.320 And it's a long conversation. 00:35:09.320 --> 00:35:12.320 And then he looks at me, he's seeing me there, go, go, go, go. 00:35:12.320 --> 00:35:14.320 So I get up and run. 00:35:14.320 --> 00:35:18.320 But after that, every time I would go to this country, 00:35:18.320 --> 00:35:23.320 as I would approach the immigration desk, I could feel fear. 00:35:23.320 --> 00:35:26.320 I hated it. 00:35:26.320 --> 00:35:31.320 Because when you can feel fear, you know you have a problem. 00:35:31.320 --> 00:35:34.320 I could feel fear. 00:35:34.320 --> 00:35:38.320 I'd start quoting scriptures. 00:35:38.320 --> 00:35:41.320 I'd start standing in faith. 00:35:41.320 --> 00:35:43.320 I'd declare open doors and all. 00:35:43.320 --> 00:35:45.320 And then I remember twice I went to the country after that 00:35:45.320 --> 00:35:47.320 and each time there was fear as the plane was landing. 00:35:47.320 --> 00:35:51.320 And so the third time I decided, okay, I'm going to quote nothing. 00:35:51.320 --> 00:35:53.320 I've got to change the way I work. 00:35:53.320 --> 00:35:56.320 There's quoting scriptures and standing in faith. 00:35:56.320 --> 00:36:01.320 If it's making you sweat, something is wrong. 00:36:01.320 --> 00:36:03.320 I decided not to. 00:36:03.320 --> 00:36:07.320 I started instead calling out to God for help to remove this fear 00:36:07.320 --> 00:36:09.320 because it had become a stronghold. 00:36:09.320 --> 00:36:11.320 That is a minor thing. 00:36:11.320 --> 00:36:15.320 In our lives there have been sometimes things that are far more traumatic 00:36:15.320 --> 00:36:18.320 than a guy shouting at you in a language you don't fully understand, 00:36:18.320 --> 00:36:21.320 except you know he's not happy. 00:36:21.320 --> 00:36:23.320 And when that happens, a stronghold is built. 00:36:23.320 --> 00:36:26.320 A stronghold is where spirits begin to torment. 00:36:26.320 --> 00:36:30.320 It is like this is what happens as soon as you come into that same circumstance, 00:36:30.320 --> 00:36:32.320 the same thing begins to happen. 00:36:32.320 --> 00:36:33.320 Fear grips you. 00:36:33.320 --> 00:36:35.320 Certain ways you begin to react. 00:36:35.320 --> 00:36:38.320 And that's, they begin to torment. 00:36:38.320 --> 00:36:43.320 And sometimes that kind of faith is not very good faith. 00:36:43.320 --> 00:36:47.320 It's actually faith that is built on fear. 00:36:47.320 --> 00:36:50.320 Faith is often built on fear. 00:36:50.320 --> 00:36:53.320 Faith is sometimes used as an antidote against fear. 00:36:53.320 --> 00:36:56.320 It should not be an antidote against fear. 00:36:56.320 --> 00:36:58.320 Faith is supposed to be the base, the platform, 00:36:58.320 --> 00:37:02.320 the stuff that you put at the bottom of the tree when you bake. 00:37:02.320 --> 00:37:05.320 Whatever that is. 00:37:05.320 --> 00:37:08.320 The crust. Yeah. 00:37:15.320 --> 00:37:17.320 Examples from the Bible. 00:37:17.320 --> 00:37:19.320 Why is it that every time Goliath came out, 00:37:19.320 --> 00:37:23.320 an entire army that had just offered a morning sacrifice to God 00:37:23.320 --> 00:37:25.320 would run into their foxholes? 00:37:25.320 --> 00:37:26.320 One man. 00:37:26.320 --> 00:37:28.320 One man would come out and he would simply say, 00:37:28.320 --> 00:37:33.320 I dare you who believe in the God of Israel, come out and challenge me. 00:37:33.320 --> 00:37:38.320 And an army of Israelites who had seen victories under Saul 00:37:38.320 --> 00:37:41.320 would go scampering into their foxholes. 00:37:41.320 --> 00:37:46.320 This is a people who would see the visible presence of God. 00:37:46.320 --> 00:37:49.320 Another one. 00:37:49.320 --> 00:37:54.320 Forever Israel would believe that they were bred before the enemies. 00:37:54.320 --> 00:37:59.320 Only two had the way to understand that they were like grasshoppers 00:37:59.320 --> 00:38:01.320 and we were the giants. 00:38:01.320 --> 00:38:04.320 But in Israel's history, till that generation died, 00:38:04.320 --> 00:38:07.320 they always thought they were bred to be eaten. 00:38:07.320 --> 00:38:11.320 They had just seen him deliver them from the greatest, strongest, 00:38:11.320 --> 00:38:15.320 most fierce army in the world, the Egyptian army. 00:38:17.320 --> 00:38:19.320 And now they are at the brink of conquest 00:38:19.320 --> 00:38:21.320 and they go back into the bred mentality. 00:38:21.320 --> 00:38:24.320 Why? Because the slave mentality persisted. 00:38:26.320 --> 00:38:28.320 What do you do with this when you go home? 00:38:28.320 --> 00:38:32.320 You've got to take those areas in your life where you have these issues, guys. 00:38:32.320 --> 00:38:35.320 You've got to take those areas in your life where you have these issues, guys. 00:38:35.320 --> 00:38:40.320 Because otherwise this is just a whole lot of really good notes. 00:38:41.320 --> 00:38:46.320 You have areas in your life where these issues exist. 00:38:47.320 --> 00:38:52.320 You have areas in your life where these issues exist. 00:38:52.320 --> 00:38:55.320 Totally. 00:38:55.320 --> 00:38:58.320 How do we find something that's totally irrational 00:38:58.320 --> 00:39:01.320 by first admitting that I have a problem with this? 00:39:01.320 --> 00:39:06.320 something that's totally irrational by first admitting that I have a problem here. 00:39:06.320 --> 00:39:12.320 Okay, so now you've admitted that you have an irrational fear. 00:39:12.320 --> 00:39:17.320 Okay, so now that you've said you have an irrational fear, 00:39:17.320 --> 00:39:20.320 find out what you normally do to deal with it. 00:39:20.320 --> 00:39:26.320 Okay, write down what you normally do to deal with it, 00:39:26.320 --> 00:39:29.320 because it's become your default. That's how you're always reacting to it. 00:39:29.320 --> 00:39:35.320 You have either offensive mechanisms or defensive mechanisms that are scriptural to deal with it. 00:39:35.320 --> 00:39:41.320 Okay, so the second step is over. 00:39:41.320 --> 00:39:44.320 The third step is to go to Derek and say,それで de la casa, 00:39:44.320 --> 00:39:46.320 I'm going into the same situation, come with me. 00:39:46.320 --> 00:39:51.320 The fourth step is to go again to Derek and say, 00:39:51.320 --> 00:39:53.320 I'm going into the same situation, come with me. 00:39:53.320 --> 00:39:55.320 The fifth step is to again go to Derek and say, 00:39:55.320 --> 00:39:57.320 I'm going into the same situation, come with me. 00:39:57.320 --> 00:39:59.320 The sixth step is to say, Derek, I want to go alone. 00:39:59.320 --> 00:40:03.320 And while you're walking with him into the situation, 00:40:03.320 --> 00:40:08.320 you realize that your very ways of dealing with it have changed. 00:40:08.320 --> 00:40:20.320 The only way to strengthen muscles in my shoulder that are sagging is to have people who can support it. 00:40:20.320 --> 00:40:24.320 Faith is contagious, guys. Faith is contagious. 00:40:24.320 --> 00:40:27.320 You put someone in a room full of faith, 00:40:27.320 --> 00:40:38.320 and you will find that without knowing, they start talking different. 00:40:38.320 --> 00:40:44.320 You put someone in a room full of people who absolutely believe that Jesus always heals, 00:40:44.320 --> 00:40:50.320 and you will find that slowly they are beginning to think differently. 00:40:51.320 --> 00:40:53.320 So what do you mean by faith is contagious? 00:40:53.320 --> 00:40:58.320 Anything that is born of the spirit is contagious. 00:40:58.320 --> 00:41:03.320 If it is born out of father-son intimacies, then what comes out of your heart, 00:41:03.320 --> 00:41:07.320 because it is out of the abundance of the heart that my mouth can speak on a consistent basis. 00:41:07.320 --> 00:41:10.320 Otherwise it can sing a few verses. 00:41:10.320 --> 00:41:14.320 But you will know a person by their consistency. 00:41:14.320 --> 00:41:17.320 That's how you know what is real and what is not. 00:41:17.320 --> 00:41:24.320 There will be consistency in what their heart sings and their mouth expresses. 00:41:24.320 --> 00:41:29.320 Church is the easiest place to fake faith. 00:41:38.320 --> 00:41:46.320 If you find others who walk like that, my God, man, this is easy to overcome irrationality. 00:41:46.320 --> 00:41:48.320 To overcome irrational fears. 00:41:48.320 --> 00:41:50.320 My fear was irrational. 00:41:50.320 --> 00:41:54.320 It will never happen again. 00:41:54.320 --> 00:41:56.320 I've gone to that country many times since. 00:41:56.320 --> 00:42:00.320 It never happened again. 00:42:00.320 --> 00:42:03.320 I would suggest to you, and this is an odd thing to say, 00:42:03.320 --> 00:42:08.320 for believers, this is an extreme statement to make because it's almost not true. 00:42:08.320 --> 00:42:14.320 For believers, every fear is irrational. 00:42:14.320 --> 00:42:19.320 Hebrews 13, 6. 00:42:19.320 --> 00:42:22.320 But is that the reality in my life? 00:42:22.320 --> 00:42:24.320 No, I'm afraid. 00:42:24.320 --> 00:42:29.320 And if you say you're not afraid, you're either lying or you're not dead. 00:42:39.320 --> 00:42:42.320 The only man I think who was not afraid, 00:42:42.320 --> 00:42:46.320 the only man that we should aim for in every area that I'm afraid, 00:42:46.320 --> 00:42:50.320 chip away, chip away, chip away, till I become like him. 00:42:50.320 --> 00:42:58.320 Because one day I will have the same glory that he has, but I don't have it today. 00:43:02.320 --> 00:43:06.320 I can speak verses that say I have it today, 00:43:06.320 --> 00:43:10.320 but the reality is I do not have his glory yet. 00:43:10.320 --> 00:43:15.320 Tomorrow I'll be one degree closer to his glory than I am today. 00:43:15.320 --> 00:43:17.320 Because one day we're going to share his glory. 00:43:17.320 --> 00:43:20.320 We shall be like him. 00:43:20.320 --> 00:43:23.320 But what is the use of being like him then? 00:43:23.320 --> 00:43:25.320 I mean, there is great use. 00:43:25.320 --> 00:43:27.320 What is the use in these areas? 00:43:27.320 --> 00:43:32.320 Why not become like him? 00:43:32.320 --> 00:43:35.320 Chipping away at fear, chipping away at fear, chipping away at fear, 00:43:35.320 --> 00:43:40.320 that's irrational. 00:43:40.320 --> 00:43:43.320 This is our thesis left. 00:43:43.320 --> 00:43:46.320 Any questions? 00:43:46.320 --> 00:43:54.320 I've got to give you one area to start with. 00:43:54.320 --> 00:43:56.320 Just one area to start with. 00:43:56.320 --> 00:44:00.320 I've got so many different areas that need repair and help in my life 00:44:00.320 --> 00:44:05.320 that I go and ask him, so which area would you like to work on this week or this month 00:44:05.320 --> 00:44:10.320 or sometimes this year, because sometimes it takes me a year to overcome it. 00:44:10.320 --> 00:44:13.320 Not because he's a bad teacher, I could be a slow learner. 00:44:13.320 --> 00:44:17.320 I'm speaking on your behalf, eh, but I'm taking the blame on myself. 00:44:17.320 --> 00:44:20.320 I'm getting into trouble for this, but so what? 00:44:20.320 --> 00:44:23.320 So I would say, go and ask. 00:44:23.320 --> 00:44:41.320 I know the areas of fear in my life when it comes to faith. 00:44:41.320 --> 00:44:46.320 I asked this question many years ago. 00:44:46.320 --> 00:44:52.320 What would your life look like if today you had no fear? 00:44:52.320 --> 00:45:03.320 What would a decision look like if today you had no fear? 00:45:03.320 --> 00:45:05.320 Here's what it would look like. 00:45:05.320 --> 00:45:10.320 You would send Hagar off with Ishmael. 00:45:10.320 --> 00:45:14.320 You would part ways with Barnabas. 00:45:14.320 --> 00:45:19.320 You would leave your country, clan and people. 00:45:19.320 --> 00:45:26.320 You would endanger your life like Jason did for Paul. 00:45:26.320 --> 00:45:33.320 You would turn your back on Egypt and your job as the Prince of Egypt. 00:45:33.320 --> 00:45:42.320 You'd refuse to compromise on any truth because you owe Potiphar your loyalty. 00:45:42.320 --> 00:45:44.320 You would drop your nets. 00:45:44.320 --> 00:45:50.320 Your job, your work, you would drop your nets in a second, say goodbye to your father and walk away. 00:45:50.320 --> 00:45:54.320 We think when we talk about fear, we're talking about fear of sickness or fear of disease. 00:45:54.320 --> 00:46:00.320 I'm talking about fear that keeps us in a place immovable in terms of the kingdom. 00:46:00.320 --> 00:46:03.320 Those are bigger fears because these little fears are easy. 00:46:03.320 --> 00:46:07.320 Those bigger fears are what keeps us where we are. 00:46:07.320 --> 00:46:13.320 We're not dealing with fears of a fear of a motor accident or fear of getting a cold or a sickness. 00:46:13.320 --> 00:46:17.320 No, no, no, no. There's enough scriptures to deal with that. 00:46:17.320 --> 00:46:24.320 I'm talking about a fear of life itself, but it doesn't matter. 00:46:24.320 --> 00:46:37.320 That is what we're looking for. 00:46:37.320 --> 00:46:44.320 Why do you think the rich man did not put his riches at the feet of Jesus? 00:46:44.320 --> 00:46:54.320 Love for riches or fear of losing it all or both? 00:46:54.320 --> 00:47:10.320 We're playing for much bigger stakes than the fear of sickness or the fear of losing grades at school or a job. 00:47:10.320 --> 00:47:19.320 Much bigger stakes. 00:47:19.320 --> 00:47:27.320 So fear-filled faith can't trust. Remember that. Fear-filled faith can't trust. 00:47:27.320 --> 00:47:34.320 So you know what that means now. Fear-filled faith can't trust. 00:47:34.320 --> 00:47:38.320 What's your problem? FFF. Ah, okay. 00:47:38.320 --> 00:47:42.320 Fear-filled faith. Fear-filled faith. Say it fast if you get it right. 00:47:42.320 --> 00:47:47.320 Fear-filled faith can't trust. Why? Because it's double-minded. 00:47:47.320 --> 00:47:52.320 James 1, verse 6-8 talks about it. 00:47:52.320 --> 00:47:56.320 Here's another reason why sometimes we have problems with faith. 00:47:56.320 --> 00:48:11.320 Faith without works is actually dead. Faith without works is dead. 00:48:11.320 --> 00:48:21.320 Show me your works and I'll know you're a man of faith. Faith without works is dead. 00:48:21.320 --> 00:48:36.320 Whatever God is asking you to do, you'll have to do something that shows that you have evidence before there is even fruit. 00:48:36.320 --> 00:48:46.320 There are many stories here where you guys did something even though there was nothing on the horizon to prove that you were right, that anything would work out. 00:48:46.320 --> 00:48:51.320 You went ahead and did something because you wanted your works to show how much you trusted them. 00:48:51.320 --> 00:48:59.320 First fruits. Another way of expressing faith when it comes to money. 00:48:59.320 --> 00:49:03.320 Works must give evidence for your faith. 00:49:03.320 --> 00:49:08.320 And if it doesn't, then know your faith is dead. These are some of the reasons faith fails. 00:49:08.320 --> 00:49:12.320 Next one. We got three more and then I'll stop. 00:49:12.320 --> 00:49:22.320 Did not fight the good fight of faith. 00:49:22.320 --> 00:49:26.320 Paul says to Timothy, hey, fight the good fight of faith. 00:49:26.320 --> 00:49:37.320 This is where that whole thing of your will be done absolutely neutralizes anyone who wants to fight the fight of faith. 00:49:37.320 --> 00:49:42.320 Because you don't need to. As long as you don't know what to fight. 00:49:42.320 --> 00:49:51.320 Fight the good fight of faith requires that I know what he wants and then go stand in the middle of a lentil field with just a sword in my hand. 00:49:51.320 --> 00:49:58.320 And I slay 300 Philistines that come at me from every direction till the sword is stuck to my hand. 00:49:58.320 --> 00:50:00.320 That's what it looks like. 00:50:00.320 --> 00:50:08.320 Oh, that's a story from the Bible. David's mighty three and mighty 30. 00:50:08.320 --> 00:50:16.320 So if it is, this is where I'm going to say this and it's going to sound completely wrong and yet it's completely right. 00:50:16.320 --> 00:50:22.320 This is where hiding behind the sovereignty of God gets your squat. 00:50:22.320 --> 00:50:27.320 Because there's a tendency to say, God is sovereign. He'll do whatever he wants. 00:50:27.320 --> 00:50:32.320 This is true, but he's also your father and he's also your Lord and Savior who leads from the front. 00:50:32.320 --> 00:50:40.320 And he's also the Holy Spirit who is your wonderful counselor, mighty in power, in wisdom, in counsel, in strength. 00:50:40.320 --> 00:50:42.320 This is the God you and I serve. 00:50:42.320 --> 00:50:50.320 And so it is required that there are times when I have to fight the good fight of faith to bring a result. 00:50:50.320 --> 00:50:55.320 Otherwise, why did he give us a shield in our armory? 00:50:55.320 --> 00:50:59.320 Why did he give us a breastplate and a helmet? 00:50:59.320 --> 00:51:02.320 We'll go into that later. 00:51:02.320 --> 00:51:09.320 Everything in that armory is so meant to walk in faith because there are fiery arrows going to come. 00:51:09.320 --> 00:51:11.320 You're going to use the shield of faith. 00:51:11.320 --> 00:51:13.320 That's the way you think. 00:51:13.320 --> 00:51:21.320 How a man thinks, especially in battle or in terms of faith, is how a man will behave. 00:51:21.320 --> 00:51:24.320 Helmet of salvation as in helmet of victory. 00:51:24.320 --> 00:51:31.320 The word salvation and victory are equated in that scripture. 00:51:31.320 --> 00:51:34.320 Loins guarded with truth. 00:51:34.320 --> 00:51:37.320 A sword connected to the belt so that you can pull it out. 00:51:37.320 --> 00:51:44.320 Belt is torn, sword is missing. 00:51:44.320 --> 00:51:49.320 Guys, what a brilliant religion we have, eh? 00:51:49.320 --> 00:51:59.320 This is not for namby-pamby wimpy kids. 00:51:59.320 --> 00:52:02.320 Did not fight the good fight of faith. 00:52:02.320 --> 00:52:10.320 Many lose because of this. 00:52:10.320 --> 00:52:15.320 Two more. 00:52:15.320 --> 00:52:32.320 Compromised or diluted the outcome through plan Bs. 00:52:32.320 --> 00:52:36.320 Ishmael is a classic example. 00:52:36.320 --> 00:52:40.320 Compromised or diluted the outcome through plan Bs. 00:52:40.320 --> 00:52:43.320 Ah, this is one of our favorite things to do, isn't it? 00:52:43.320 --> 00:52:49.320 When this doesn't work, quickly make sure that there's a plan B that you can quickly deflect to 00:52:49.320 --> 00:52:54.320 so that you at least get some of the things you are standing in faith for. 00:52:54.320 --> 00:52:58.320 I must construct a plan B if I'm asked to construct a plan B. 00:52:58.320 --> 00:53:04.320 Otherwise, I must fall flat on my face if plan A doesn't work. 00:53:04.320 --> 00:53:07.320 After you fall flat on your face if plan A doesn't work, 00:53:07.320 --> 00:53:13.320 get up, clean the wound, and then ask God for another plan. 00:53:13.320 --> 00:53:16.320 But don't have a plan B before. 00:53:16.320 --> 00:53:18.320 Abraham had a plan B before. 00:53:18.320 --> 00:53:22.320 Plan A was complete and it just goes on and on. 00:53:22.320 --> 00:53:27.320 It's a gift that keeps giving. 00:53:27.320 --> 00:53:30.320 So I'm not saying there is no plan B because one of the things Jesus would find was 00:53:30.320 --> 00:53:34.320 he was going somewhere and then there'd be a plan B, there'd be a detour, 00:53:34.320 --> 00:53:38.320 because he's got to stop and take care of the woman with the issue of blood. 00:53:38.320 --> 00:53:40.320 Then he's got to deal with another demoniac. 00:53:40.320 --> 00:53:43.320 Meanwhile, Jairus' daughter is dead. 00:53:43.320 --> 00:53:45.320 Same with Lazarus. 00:53:45.320 --> 00:53:47.320 There was a plan A. I've got to go and heal the guy. 00:53:47.320 --> 00:53:49.320 He's almost near dead. 00:53:49.320 --> 00:53:53.320 And then plan B is, nah, wait in Bethany. 00:53:53.320 --> 00:54:00.320 Why? Because the guy has to die. 00:54:00.320 --> 00:54:05.320 Plan B will always result in... 00:54:05.320 --> 00:54:07.320 Here's the problem with the plan B in my life. 00:54:07.320 --> 00:54:13.320 If I have a plan B, it always costs more. 00:54:13.320 --> 00:54:15.320 I'm not just saying in terms of money. 00:54:15.320 --> 00:54:17.320 In different ways it'll cost more. 00:54:17.320 --> 00:54:22.320 Two, it will be a construct of the flesh. 00:54:22.320 --> 00:54:25.320 And therefore it will not be all spirit. 00:54:25.320 --> 00:54:28.320 And therefore it will decay. 00:54:28.320 --> 00:54:30.320 Anything that is born of the spirit is spirit. 00:54:30.320 --> 00:54:32.320 Anything that is born of the flesh is flesh. 00:54:32.320 --> 00:54:34.320 Flesh decays. 00:54:34.320 --> 00:54:36.320 Spirit gives life. 00:54:36.320 --> 00:54:40.320 Plan B, that is the problem with plan B too. 00:54:40.320 --> 00:54:42.320 There'll be flesh involved. 00:54:42.320 --> 00:54:46.320 It's a golden calf you create with your own hands. 00:54:46.320 --> 00:54:50.320 It'll make you dance for it. 00:54:50.320 --> 00:54:52.320 It'll decay. 00:54:52.320 --> 00:54:54.320 It won't be life-giving. 00:54:54.320 --> 00:54:59.320 But you'll get small rewards because it's your plan. 00:54:59.320 --> 00:55:04.320 But the cost is always going to come. 00:55:04.320 --> 00:55:09.320 Ishmael cost Abraham. 00:55:09.320 --> 00:55:11.320 Ishmael cost Abraham a lot. 00:55:11.320 --> 00:55:15.320 You must understand, for him to send his son away, 00:55:15.320 --> 00:55:19.320 who was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, man, 00:55:19.320 --> 00:55:25.320 he was a blood son. 00:55:25.320 --> 00:55:32.320 Last point. 00:55:32.320 --> 00:55:40.320 Sometimes the reason these things happen is because we do not have 00:55:40.320 --> 00:55:45.320 a group of people, a group of people with courage and courage 00:55:45.320 --> 00:55:59.320 or a group of guys tearing the roof open. 00:55:59.320 --> 00:56:07.320 Sometimes because we don't have a group of guys who can tear the roof open 00:56:07.320 --> 00:56:11.320 and we don't have a group of people with Jesus there, 00:56:11.320 --> 00:56:15.320 or because we don't have encouragers, 00:56:15.320 --> 00:56:18.320 we're not able to sustain faith for long. 00:56:18.320 --> 00:56:23.320 One of the things that we perhaps have to do is when we are going through 00:56:23.320 --> 00:56:27.320 a difficult situation, you don't have to spill out all the details, 00:56:27.320 --> 00:56:31.320 but tell a few people the difficult situation you're going through 00:56:31.320 --> 00:56:34.320 so that they can watch how you handle it 00:56:34.320 --> 00:56:40.320 and how you're going to handle it. 00:56:40.320 --> 00:56:47.320 Being neutral and quiet and reserved and I'll do this on my own, 00:56:47.320 --> 00:56:53.320 it might be very Canadian, but it's not Christian. 00:56:53.320 --> 00:56:56.320 Maybe you grew up in a home like that. 00:56:56.320 --> 00:57:03.320 Well then, grow up in another home now. 00:57:03.320 --> 00:57:06.320 I'm not asking us to wear our hearts on a sleeve 00:57:06.320 --> 00:57:09.320 and spill blood all over the place, 00:57:09.320 --> 00:57:13.320 but involve some people in your story. 00:57:13.320 --> 00:57:16.320 Don't involve sympathizers. 00:57:16.320 --> 00:57:25.320 Involve those that will kick your backside. 00:57:25.320 --> 00:57:27.320 I remember this pastor's wife coming to me long ago 00:57:27.320 --> 00:57:31.320 when I was sitting with my face hanging to the ground thinking, 00:57:31.320 --> 00:57:32.320 how will I do? 00:57:32.320 --> 00:57:35.320 Her comments to me were, does your God speak? 00:57:35.320 --> 00:57:38.320 She's a believer. She's a pastor's wife. 00:57:38.320 --> 00:57:42.320 And she's sitting, seeing me sit there with this face of all is lost, 00:57:42.320 --> 00:57:43.320 woe is me. 00:57:43.320 --> 00:57:44.320 And she says, does your God speak? 00:57:44.320 --> 00:57:46.320 So I said, yes, he speaks. 00:57:46.320 --> 00:57:48.320 Does your God hear or is he deaf? 00:57:48.320 --> 00:57:50.320 Yes, he hears, he's not deaf. 00:57:50.320 --> 00:57:52.320 Well then, get off your backside and go ask him what to do 00:57:52.320 --> 00:57:54.320 instead of sitting here moping around with your chin 00:57:54.320 --> 00:57:57.320 so long that you can mop the floor. 00:57:58.320 --> 00:58:02.320 Those are not exactly the words you want to hear at a time like that. 00:58:02.320 --> 00:58:06.320 My God, it changed everything. 00:58:06.320 --> 00:58:12.320 Can we end on that note? 00:58:12.320 --> 00:58:21.320 Next time we'll do how doubt affects, how unnatural... 00:58:21.320 --> 00:58:23.320 doubt we kind of know, 00:58:23.320 --> 00:58:26.320 but it'll be fascinating how seriously doubt affects us. 00:58:26.320 --> 00:58:30.320 Two, how do patience and faith work? 00:58:30.320 --> 00:58:33.320 How does the timing of things work? 00:58:33.320 --> 00:58:35.320 You have to have faith and you have to have patience. 00:58:35.320 --> 00:58:37.320 Both work in tandem. 00:58:37.320 --> 00:58:39.320 There's an immediacy and there's an eventuality. 00:58:39.320 --> 00:58:42.320 Both have to not collide, but they have to run together. 00:58:42.320 --> 00:58:44.320 How does that work? 00:58:44.320 --> 00:58:46.320 Then natural. 00:58:46.320 --> 00:58:49.320 We have a natural way of functioning. 00:58:49.320 --> 00:58:51.320 The natural has to be sacrificed. 00:58:51.320 --> 00:58:55.320 Everything that God demands that is great in faith will require 00:58:55.320 --> 00:58:58.320 that your natural tendencies be laid down. 00:59:02.320 --> 00:59:06.320 Everything that God demands will go against your natural self. 00:59:06.320 --> 00:59:10.320 Faith does not operate with the natural person. 00:59:10.320 --> 00:59:12.320 1 Corinthians 2 puts it this way. 00:59:12.320 --> 00:59:13.320 1 Corinthians 2 says, 00:59:13.320 --> 00:59:19.320 hey, know this, that no natural man can understand the things of the spirit. 00:59:19.320 --> 00:59:22.320 That only a spiritual man can understand the things of the spirit. 00:59:22.320 --> 00:59:24.320 Faith is a spirit thing. 00:59:27.320 --> 00:59:29.320 So the demand that will be made on you 00:59:29.320 --> 00:59:33.320 will be opposed by everything that is natural about you. 00:59:33.320 --> 00:59:37.320 By natural I mean who Jacob is, what his background is, 00:59:37.320 --> 00:59:39.320 what his preferences are. 00:59:39.320 --> 00:59:43.320 Those things will oppose great acts of faith. 00:59:43.320 --> 00:59:45.320 They won't oppose stuff like healing. 00:59:45.320 --> 00:59:50.320 Guys, do you realize that most of our faith currency is spent on personal things 00:59:50.320 --> 00:59:52.320 like healing, job, money? 00:59:57.320 --> 01:00:01.320 Most of our faith currency is spent on healing, job, money. 01:00:01.320 --> 01:00:04.320 That is not the intent of this teaching. 01:00:04.320 --> 01:00:08.320 Go to Hebrews 11 and we'll read that and end with that. 01:00:08.320 --> 01:00:09.320 Hebrews 11. 01:00:12.320 --> 01:00:13.320 Hebrews 11. 01:00:13.320 --> 01:00:14.320 Hebrews 11. 01:00:18.320 --> 01:00:20.320 It's around verse 35. 01:00:22.320 --> 01:00:24.320 Hebrews 11, 35. 01:00:30.320 --> 01:00:32.320 I could go starting at 32. 01:00:32.320 --> 01:00:35.320 I could go on and on, but I've run out of time. 01:00:35.320 --> 01:00:37.320 Really I have. 01:00:37.320 --> 01:00:40.320 There are so many more things in my notes. 01:01:10.320 --> 01:01:11.320 Resurrection. 01:01:40.320 --> 01:01:44.320 This is rarely preached because it almost goes against the very grain of faith 01:01:44.320 --> 01:01:46.320 that every promise must be rewarded. 01:01:48.320 --> 01:01:52.320 But these are promises for much greater things than healing and job and money. 01:01:54.320 --> 01:01:58.320 These are the things that people will die for, that here we will die for. 01:01:58.320 --> 01:02:02.320 I'm telling you, give someone here a cause worth dying for 01:02:02.320 --> 01:02:05.320 and you will live and you will die for it. 01:02:06.320 --> 01:02:08.320 Come on man, you are that kind of person. 01:02:10.320 --> 01:02:15.320 But to both step into that cause and to walk in that cause requires this kind of faith. 01:02:16.320 --> 01:02:21.320 Otherwise we'll just be going around doing healing jobs and money. 01:02:21.320 --> 01:02:24.320 That's so blooming self-serving. 01:02:24.320 --> 01:02:26.320 You don't die for that. 01:02:26.320 --> 01:02:28.320 You just come up for prayer for that. 01:02:29.320 --> 01:02:32.320 But this you will die for, even if you can't get your hands on it. 01:02:32.320 --> 01:02:36.320 Why? Because tomorrow someone will pick up the baton you've laid down 01:02:36.320 --> 01:02:39.320 and run and get exactly what you dreamt of. 01:02:41.320 --> 01:02:43.320 Yeah, let's pray. 01:02:44.320 --> 01:02:45.320 Thank you Father. 01:02:45.320 --> 01:02:47.320 You're a God of faith. 01:02:47.320 --> 01:02:49.320 You're a God of faith. 01:02:50.320 --> 01:02:51.320 That's the God you are. 01:02:51.320 --> 01:02:55.320 Everything you do, you said so clearly in Hebrews 11.6. 01:02:55.320 --> 01:02:58.320 Without faith, church, it is impossible to please me. 01:02:59.320 --> 01:03:01.320 Father, we are God-pleasers. 01:03:01.320 --> 01:03:05.320 And if we are God-pleasers, then we are people who will walk in faith. 01:03:06.320 --> 01:03:08.320 Oh God, you have given this church a cause. 01:03:08.320 --> 01:03:10.320 You have given individuals causes. 01:03:10.320 --> 01:03:12.320 I say renew them again. 01:03:12.320 --> 01:03:15.320 Because here before you sitting under this roof, 01:03:15.320 --> 01:03:19.320 are people who if they are given a cause, are willing to do anything for it. 01:03:19.320 --> 01:03:20.320 I've seen it Abba. 01:03:20.320 --> 01:03:22.320 Do it again, oh God. 01:03:23.320 --> 01:03:27.320 Bring us back to that place of great faith, mighty exploits. 01:03:27.320 --> 01:03:31.320 Not for our sake, like we said last week, 01:03:31.320 --> 01:03:34.320 but for the sake of King and Kingdom. 01:03:35.320 --> 01:03:38.320 So that someone else, someone else from TW, 01:03:38.320 --> 01:03:43.320 will pick up what someone else who's 20 years, 30 years older than them has dropped. 01:03:43.320 --> 01:03:45.320 And pick it and go to the finish line. 01:03:45.320 --> 01:03:48.320 So that you will have what you deserve. 01:03:48.320 --> 01:03:56.320 And you will not get what you deserve if your people here won't walk in faith after a God who has always done things by faith. 01:03:56.320 --> 01:03:58.320 Hebrews 11 starts that way. 01:03:58.320 --> 01:04:03.320 That God spoke and by faith he created the universe. 01:04:05.320 --> 01:04:06.320 This is who you are. 01:04:06.320 --> 01:04:08.320 This is who we come to be. 01:04:08.320 --> 01:04:11.320 Here on earth, as it is in heaven. 01:04:11.320 --> 01:04:13.320 Bless this your people Abba. 01:04:13.320 --> 01:04:15.320 They are people of faith, Father. 01:04:15.320 --> 01:04:17.320 Hear our stories about what you've done. 01:04:17.320 --> 01:04:18.320 Bless us. 01:04:18.320 --> 01:04:19.320 Bless them. 01:04:19.320 --> 01:04:20.320 Bless them I pray. 01:04:20.320 --> 01:04:23.320 To walk well in faith in Jesus name I ask. 01:04:23.320 --> 01:04:24.320 Amen. 01:04:24.320 --> 01:04:25.320 Bless you guys. 01:04:25.320 --> 01:04:26.320 Thank you. 01:04:26.320 --> 01:04:27.320 If you need prayer guys, 01:04:27.320 --> 01:04:30.320 for healing and job and money and everything else, 01:04:30.320 --> 01:04:32.320 feel free to come up and we will pray for that. 01:04:32.320 --> 01:04:35.320 Because God is interested in meeting those needs, 01:04:35.320 --> 01:04:37.320 but he's not interested in staying there. 01:04:37.320 --> 01:04:38.320 He wants you to be well, 01:04:38.320 --> 01:04:40.320 and then walk the other out.