WEBVTT

NOTE
Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver
Episode: Favouright
Publishing Date: 2023-05-14T06:00:44-07:00
Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca
Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/favouright/

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a visited topic that I think should be visited every year.

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And no, it's not faith, it's favor.

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Yeah, favorite, instead of favorite.

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So some of the things we have to look at every year

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are things like faith, but this is another thing

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that we are so not used to, and so we need to

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look at it again.

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In Matthew 11, 28 or thereabouts, Jesus says,

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take my yoke upon you.

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And I often used to wonder why Jesus wears a yoke

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or why he's offering me a yoke,

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because a yoke is supposed to be a burden.

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So why would Jesus offer me a yoke?

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And so one has to ask the question,

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so what is the yoke that Jesus wears?

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What is the yoke that Jesus wears?

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Why is he saying to us, take my yoke upon you?

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Wear the yoke?

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Because Jesus doesn't wear anything

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that his father doesn't give him.

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He only wears what his father gives him.

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So what is the yoke that Jesus wears?

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And if you look at his life right from,

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you can't look at his life right from the beginning,

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because he does not have a beginning,

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but if you look at his life,

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some of the things you'll notice is that the three things

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that he's been wearing ever since the beginning of time,

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that he wore when he was on earth,

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that he still wears are affection,

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intimacy,

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trust.

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These are three things that he and the father always share.

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There's tremendous affection from the father towards him.

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He's very aware of it,

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and the father would often speak about it.

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So he, during baptism, spoke about it.

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This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased.

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Later on, he says it again,

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and it sounded like thunder to some people

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in John chapter 12, I think.

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And at that point he said,

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this is my beloved son, listen to him.

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And so affection then leads to intimacy,

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because the father and son have a very unique,

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intimate relationship.

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In Matthew 10, in the message it says,

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this is a unique father-son operation

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that comes out of father-son intimacies and knowledge.

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This is a unique father-son operation

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that comes out of father-son intimacies and knowledge,

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and that leads to a degree of trust

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where the father trusts the son

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and the son trusts the father,

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to the extent that even Jesus quoted David

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from the Psalms when he says,

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I know that my father will not abandon me to Sheol.

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He knew that he would rise up from the dead

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even if he died.

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These three things are what we struggle with.

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We get this right, and our lives will be highly successful

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in any condition.

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These are the three things that will always be opposed,

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that will always be stolen,

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that will always be dismantled.

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It is critical that we get this right.

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Affection.

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Affection, intimacy, trust.

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This is the yoke that Jesus wears

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from the beginning of time.

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This is the yoke that he's saying he wants us to take on.

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Take my yoke upon you.

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Take this that I wear with my father.

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He and I have a strained affection for each other.

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He and I are intimate.

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He and I trust each other.

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This is the yoke that I want you to take

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so you can walk with me just like I walk with my father.

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It is light, it is easy to bear,

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and I will teach you how.

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These are ingredients of another word called favor,

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which is what we want to examine today.

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Because the father wants,

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I need a little more volume

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because the father wants

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the same relationship.

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The father wants the same relationship with me

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that he has with Jesus.

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The father wants the same relationship he has,

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the father wants the same relationship with me

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that he has with Jesus.

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I struggle with this because I do not know

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the relationship that the father has with Jesus,

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so it doesn't necessarily make sense to me.

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I do not know the intensity of the relationship

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that the father has with Jesus.

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You catch glimpses of it when you read the gospels,

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but it's not real to me.

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So how do you then deal with this?

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One of the ways that perhaps you can deal with this

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is to think of someone you highly favor or you highly love,

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or think of someone who loved you tremendously

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and showed you great favor.

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And when you begin to think like that,

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it can become a little more real

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because favor is not a theological construct.

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Favor is not a faith thing.

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Yes, faith is involved, but favor is something tangible.

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So it makes it much easier for me

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when I think of someone that I highly favor

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or when I think of how I have been highly favored.

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And then I begin to think, if God was like that,

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that itself would be satisfying,

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but God is not like that, he's many times more.

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But if I don't have an understanding of this,

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affection, intimacy, trust is a non-starter.

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Feelings are involved in this.

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Faith is involved in this.

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Truth is involved in this.

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Thank God truth is a person.

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Jesus is involved in this.

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If you don't wrap your heart around it,

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because you cannot wrap your mind around it first,

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you have to wrap your heart around it.

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If you don't wrap your heart around it,

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you will need a lot of faith to live the Christian life.

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We are supposed to be loved before we can exert faith.

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Faith is exerted because we are loved

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and we can trust the one who loves us.

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If we are not loved, it is very hard

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to exert faith because now you have to stand on scriptures,

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not stand on a person.

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When you're loved, you stand on the person that loves you.

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When you're not loved, when you don't understand

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how much you're loved,

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then you have to stand on the words they say.

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One of the biggest shifts that Christians have to make

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is move from the promises of God to the nature of God.

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Sometimes I love it when God says to me,

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I'm not gonna give you a promise,

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I'm gonna give you my nature.

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I love that.

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Now I don't have words to stand on,

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I only have to depend on his nature.

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A promise is realized through reading and faith,

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nature is realized through relationship.

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A promise is realized through reading and faith.

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Faith comes by hearing the word of God.

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Nature is realized through relationship.

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This is what God is inviting us into.

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This is what every Christian life is supposed to be.

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This is what Adam and Eve were supposed to have

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and did have.

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Even after they lost it, they still had it.

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This is the embrace that he wants us to come into.

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And therefore, think of those that you highly favor

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and think of how your heart pours out towards them.

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Some of the words that we, and guys, remember this,

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every attempt of the enemy is to dismantle faith.

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Every attempt of the enemy is to dismantle favor,

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affection, intimacy, and trust.

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Since he knows the battle is lost

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in terms of getting you unsaved,

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why not make your life miserable and unfruitful

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by removing these four things from your life?

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Because he can't take you away from him

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whose hands you are held in.

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You are saved.

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Christ lives in you.

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Satan does not have the power to remove Christ from you.

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Or you from Christ.

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So what can he do?

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The only thing he can do is,

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can I strip you of affection, intimacy, trust, and favor

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so that your life here in Christ is miserable?

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Or is an exertion?

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So wrap your hearts around it.

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If you try to wrap your mind around it first,

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it's not possible.

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Because our minds have not experienced favor here on Earth.

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This kind of favor we haven't experienced.

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So let me define favor.

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Before I go there, every time you talk to God,

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every time you talk to God, just remember this,

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every time you talk to God,

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it will be in the context,

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it will be in the context of how you think he sees you.

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Hey, that's a really cool song.

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The blind man stood by the road and he cried.

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The blind man stood by the road and he cried.

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He cried, oh, oh, oh, oh,

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show me the way, it's too high.

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Every time you talk to God,

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it will be in the context of how you think.

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Who's leading the song in?

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Yeah, sounds really good.

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It's very distracting.

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Every time you talk to God,

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every time you talk to God,

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it will be in the context of how you think he sees you.

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How you perceive he's towards you.

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This is something you need to recognize,

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that every conversation you have with God

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is based out of the context of how you think he sees you.

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And therefore, when affection, intimacy,

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and trust and favor are not your context,

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not the matrix that you operate out of,

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it is very hard, it's very hard.

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We literally have our own wailing walls

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and our own days of atonement every day.

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But if I get it right, if I get this right,

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then the father begins to have the same relationship

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with me that he had with Jesus.

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God is dealing with you not in terms of how you should be,

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but how you presently are in Christ.

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He's not dealing with you as you should be,

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because if you don't have the right relationship

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with him, he's not dealing with you as you should be.

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Because if he did that, he would never get to have you

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till you got to heaven.

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He deals with you as you are in Christ.

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So my deficits are made up in Christ.

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So let me define the word favor in many different ways

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so that we get the hang of it.

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So how about approval?

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But doesn't it say in the Bible

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that you should study to be approved?

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Yes, it does.

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Doesn't it say in the Bible that obedience

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is met with approval from God?

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Yes.

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Doesn't it say that if you overcome, God approves you?

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Yes.

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All that is true.

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Approval operates at different levels,

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but the bottom level of all approval is you are approved

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because you are in Christ.

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That's where it starts.

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Everything else is built on top of that.

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What we do as Christians is we are so not used

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to being approved without doing anything

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that we begin to measure our approval

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based on what we have done.

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None of us are used to being approved

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without doing anything.

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It's in the very nature of parenting

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to not approve your child unless the child measures up.

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It is sad, but that's how we parent our children.

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If some of you young dads and moms who presently have kids

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that are less than a month or two months old,

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if you could begin to help that child understand approval

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before the child has done anything,

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you already give that child an advantage

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that very few of us have had.

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Words that explain approval.

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High esteem.

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This is why I said, if you have shown someone favor like this,

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you will understand this.

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If you have received favor like this,

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you will understand this.

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And if you haven't, then we must begin to do this

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so that someone else can experience it.

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And you can be made richer by it.

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One of the things we Christians should do

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is behave like God,

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even if we haven't received this kind of behavior.

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So maybe you've never received this kind of favor.

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Maybe you haven't gotten it from parents,

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from pastors, from anybody.

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You've not received this.

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Well then, time for you to start doing it

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because someone will receive it

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and you will know what it is to give it

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and someone else will know what it is to receive it.

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If you haven't got favor,

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they click on immediately because their heart wraps around it.

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But how can I give this if I haven't received it?

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You've got God in you, you can start.

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Approval, high esteem.

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Delight.

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Love that makes you laugh.

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Guys, even these first five or six,

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do you realize how alien it is to our experience?

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This is the poverty of humankind.

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That this is not a common experience.

00:14:48.980 --> 00:14:51.500
Maybe we can't do it for 20 people, 30 people,

00:14:52.220 --> 00:14:53.980
how about two people, three people?

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I can't think of God constantly stamping me with approval.

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I can't see God highly esteeming me

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when sometimes I don't esteem myself highly.

00:15:10.500 --> 00:15:13.700
I can't see God absolutely delighted with me

00:15:13.700 --> 00:15:15.900
because there are things that are not delightful about me

00:15:15.900 --> 00:15:20.660
and I can't see God who loves laughing over me.

00:15:20.700 --> 00:15:22.140
These things are so alien.

00:15:25.300 --> 00:15:26.900
I'm praying God that as I speak,

00:15:26.900 --> 00:15:28.420
the Holy Spirit will start doing something

00:15:28.420 --> 00:15:31.380
in my heart and yours because I can't do this for you.

00:15:31.380 --> 00:15:32.980
No words will make this happen.

00:15:34.020 --> 00:15:36.140
I can try and present a picture

00:15:36.140 --> 00:15:40.380
but he can take the picture and emboss it.

00:15:43.740 --> 00:15:46.220
And if you're not a feeling person,

00:15:46.220 --> 00:15:48.340
then it is not the way God made you.

00:15:50.860 --> 00:15:51.900
It is the way you have become

00:15:51.900 --> 00:15:54.860
because of your environment, background, situations

00:15:54.860 --> 00:15:56.860
and God can change that too.

00:15:56.860 --> 00:15:58.260
Some of the most amazing miracles

00:15:58.260 --> 00:15:59.380
are the change of personality

00:15:59.380 --> 00:16:00.980
that sometimes happens overnight.

00:16:02.860 --> 00:16:03.700
Overnight.

00:16:07.300 --> 00:16:09.060
When fear goes, it's a miracle.

00:16:09.060 --> 00:16:09.900
Overnight.

00:16:09.900 --> 00:16:12.460
When personality changes happen, overnight.

00:16:14.140 --> 00:16:15.220
What does he want from you?

00:16:15.220 --> 00:16:16.540
A little bit of cooperation.

00:16:16.540 --> 00:16:17.700
What does that look like?

00:16:17.700 --> 00:16:19.540
A little bit of water that you allow

00:16:19.580 --> 00:16:21.420
onto the hard clay of your life.

00:16:22.580 --> 00:16:23.660
That's all.

00:16:23.660 --> 00:16:24.660
That's all it takes.

00:16:30.300 --> 00:16:31.740
Love that makes you laugh

00:16:33.060 --> 00:16:35.780
or makes the person who is showing you a favor laugh.

00:16:36.780 --> 00:16:38.060
Targeted kindness.

00:16:38.980 --> 00:16:41.020
Targeted kindness.

00:16:41.020 --> 00:16:46.020
As in, this is kindness that is especially towards you,

00:16:46.820 --> 00:16:47.980
that you understand.

00:16:50.060 --> 00:16:51.060
Access.

00:16:51.060 --> 00:16:52.700
Favor gives you access.

00:16:52.700 --> 00:16:55.540
As in, if I favor someone, they have access.

00:16:59.860 --> 00:17:01.100
Whenever you favor someone,

00:17:01.100 --> 00:17:05.540
you give them access to life, to things in your life.

00:17:05.540 --> 00:17:06.540
You give them favor.

00:17:09.380 --> 00:17:13.740
I don't know your bank pin code.

00:17:13.740 --> 00:17:16.100
I mean, Dawn to 7777.

00:17:16.100 --> 00:17:19.620
But besides that, most of us, we don't know.

00:17:20.540 --> 00:17:22.420
Have you changed it since you got married?

00:17:22.420 --> 00:17:23.540
It must be the first four.

00:17:23.540 --> 00:17:24.380
Okay.

00:17:24.380 --> 00:17:25.220
Okay.

00:17:25.220 --> 00:17:26.060
Yeah.

00:17:29.660 --> 00:17:30.740
Usually once you get married,

00:17:30.740 --> 00:17:33.180
it's the first four digits of your wife's birthday.

00:17:33.180 --> 00:17:36.300
So once you figure out Kezia's birthday,

00:17:36.300 --> 00:17:37.460
you have all their money.

00:17:37.460 --> 00:17:38.300
Yeah.

00:17:40.780 --> 00:17:41.620
Access.

00:17:43.420 --> 00:17:44.780
I love this word.

00:17:44.820 --> 00:17:46.220
Intentional bias.

00:17:48.140 --> 00:17:49.780
Intentional bias.

00:17:49.780 --> 00:17:52.820
God, favor is intentional bias.

00:17:52.820 --> 00:17:54.660
Favor is intentional bias.

00:17:59.100 --> 00:18:00.580
Doesn't compute, huh?

00:18:00.580 --> 00:18:02.780
That God is intentionally biased towards me.

00:18:09.740 --> 00:18:11.380
It's extra benefits.

00:18:12.380 --> 00:18:13.700
Extra benefits.

00:18:15.020 --> 00:18:17.500
If you're favored, you will get extra benefits.

00:18:20.340 --> 00:18:21.500
If you're favored,

00:18:22.660 --> 00:18:26.340
your debts and deficits will be settled.

00:18:32.100 --> 00:18:35.140
If you're favored, you have tailored goodness,

00:18:35.140 --> 00:18:37.420
which is the same as targeted kindness.

00:18:37.420 --> 00:18:38.580
Tailored goodness.

00:18:38.740 --> 00:18:39.820
Tailored goodness.

00:18:46.340 --> 00:18:48.300
Because of God's furious love,

00:18:48.300 --> 00:18:50.980
because of God's furious love for me,

00:18:50.980 --> 00:18:53.140
because of God's furious love for me,

00:18:56.780 --> 00:19:00.180
favor is,

00:19:02.020 --> 00:19:05.180
and favor is an I am pleased with you.

00:19:08.580 --> 00:19:13.580
Or you are special to me position.

00:19:22.100 --> 00:19:22.940
In Christ.

00:19:27.260 --> 00:19:30.380
If the only thing you did this week was go over this

00:19:30.380 --> 00:19:31.540
again and again and again,

00:19:31.540 --> 00:19:35.540
perhaps your life could change for the next little while.

00:19:36.460 --> 00:19:37.300
Any questions?

00:19:43.980 --> 00:19:45.700
It'll be impossible to escape favor

00:19:45.700 --> 00:19:47.020
when you think like this, eh?

00:19:47.020 --> 00:19:49.340
It'll be impossible to escape favor.

00:19:49.340 --> 00:19:51.700
It'll be impossible to escape favor

00:19:51.700 --> 00:19:52.740
when you think like this.

00:19:52.740 --> 00:19:54.900
You'll anticipate favor in situations.

00:19:54.900 --> 00:19:56.980
You'll expect favor in situations.

00:19:58.500 --> 00:20:00.820
It's not a matter of favoring or not.

00:20:00.820 --> 00:20:02.380
It's a matter of favoring.

00:20:02.380 --> 00:20:03.700
It's a matter of favoring.

00:20:04.260 --> 00:20:06.780
It's very, very hard to think like this.

00:20:06.780 --> 00:20:08.380
It's not a negative confession.

00:20:08.380 --> 00:20:10.020
I'm just telling you the truth.

00:20:10.020 --> 00:20:13.500
The ground has become so hard after 30, 40, 50 years

00:20:13.500 --> 00:20:18.500
of not being most favored in any relationship.

00:20:18.980 --> 00:20:20.460
It becomes very hard.

00:20:20.460 --> 00:20:22.980
It is our responsibility to act like this

00:20:22.980 --> 00:20:25.580
towards those around us.

00:20:25.580 --> 00:20:27.660
Pick two or three or four or five.

00:20:27.660 --> 00:20:29.100
It's our responsibility.

00:20:29.100 --> 00:20:30.940
Pick your spouse, pick your children,

00:20:30.940 --> 00:20:32.540
and then pick two or three more.

00:20:33.700 --> 00:20:38.700
They must know what this is like.

00:20:42.340 --> 00:20:44.660
If they know, then it is so easy for them

00:20:44.660 --> 00:20:45.580
to connect with the father.

00:20:45.580 --> 00:20:47.820
Do people a favor.

00:20:47.820 --> 00:20:49.820
Help them connect with the father faster.

00:20:54.420 --> 00:20:55.260
Approval.

00:20:56.100 --> 00:20:58.100
Highly esteemed.

00:20:58.100 --> 00:20:59.260
Delight.

00:20:59.260 --> 00:21:02.460
Today I was going over people that have favored me.

00:21:02.460 --> 00:21:04.420
Over the last few days I've been going over this.

00:21:04.420 --> 00:21:06.260
People that favored me and how they showed me favor

00:21:06.260 --> 00:21:08.660
and people that I favor and how I show them favor.

00:21:10.140 --> 00:21:12.620
I'm trying to put God in the picture.

00:21:15.540 --> 00:21:18.700
I seem to be able to give favor and receive favor

00:21:18.700 --> 00:21:20.620
much easier from people than from God

00:21:20.620 --> 00:21:23.220
because that is not the God that I always think of.

00:21:25.380 --> 00:21:26.980
I struggle with this.

00:21:26.980 --> 00:21:29.220
I would suggest that you struggle with it too.

00:21:32.460 --> 00:21:37.460
What if I approved you always?

00:21:38.340 --> 00:21:42.260
What if I thought of you with high esteem?

00:21:42.260 --> 00:21:44.700
What if I delighted in you?

00:21:45.580 --> 00:21:50.580
What if just watching you makes me laugh out of love?

00:21:53.300 --> 00:21:56.300
What if I could target you with my kindness?

00:21:56.300 --> 00:21:59.300
What if I could be a good friend?

00:21:59.300 --> 00:22:01.300
What if I could be a good friend?

00:22:01.340 --> 00:22:03.540
What if I could target you with my kindness?

00:22:03.540 --> 00:22:05.420
What if I gave you access?

00:22:06.500 --> 00:22:09.980
What if I had an intentional bias towards you?

00:22:09.980 --> 00:22:14.020
What if you were always the recipient of extra benefits?

00:22:14.020 --> 00:22:15.380
What if your debts and deficits

00:22:15.380 --> 00:22:17.420
were my pleasure to wipe out?

00:22:17.420 --> 00:22:20.780
What if I tailored goodness towards you?

00:22:20.780 --> 00:22:22.100
What would your life be like?

00:22:22.100 --> 00:22:23.500
What if you did that for me?

00:22:24.820 --> 00:22:27.900
Then every time I'm in your vicinity

00:22:27.900 --> 00:22:29.980
there's an expectation of favor.

00:22:30.020 --> 00:22:32.420
Every time I'm anywhere near you

00:22:32.420 --> 00:22:34.940
or even if I know that your influence spreads

00:22:34.940 --> 00:22:36.220
and you're nowhere near me,

00:22:36.220 --> 00:22:39.140
I will still anticipate this.

00:22:39.140 --> 00:22:41.180
This becomes my life.

00:22:41.180 --> 00:22:42.780
This becomes my life and things are tough.

00:22:42.780 --> 00:22:44.660
This becomes my life and things are easy.

00:22:44.660 --> 00:22:45.820
This is what I expect.

00:22:48.180 --> 00:22:49.860
What is the opposite of it?

00:22:49.860 --> 00:22:54.220
Self-hatred, anxiety, self-condemnation, fear.

00:22:57.620 --> 00:22:59.900
And despite these two extremes,

00:23:00.820 --> 00:23:03.020
an honest question to all of us, including me,

00:23:03.020 --> 00:23:07.300
how many of us will actually spend time

00:23:07.300 --> 00:23:09.140
to make this happen for ourselves?

00:23:09.140 --> 00:23:11.740
How many of us will try to figure this out with our minds

00:23:11.740 --> 00:23:14.300
and will fail by tomorrow and abandon it?

00:23:15.820 --> 00:23:17.940
How many of us will live under our privilege

00:23:18.980 --> 00:23:22.300
in a world of instant gratification?

00:23:24.420 --> 00:23:28.380
We find it very hard to spend time figuring this out.

00:23:28.460 --> 00:23:32.980
And so what do we dilute it down to?

00:23:32.980 --> 00:23:35.140
If God answers my prayer, I'm favored.

00:23:35.140 --> 00:23:37.460
If God doesn't answer my prayer, I'm not favored.

00:23:37.460 --> 00:23:40.820
We become like spoiled children.

00:23:40.820 --> 00:23:42.740
That is a measure we use for favor.

00:23:45.780 --> 00:23:47.940
Spoiled children do that.

00:23:48.940 --> 00:23:51.660
That he didn't give me, he doesn't love me.

00:23:51.660 --> 00:23:52.500
Really?

00:23:52.500 --> 00:23:53.820
That means he does.

00:23:55.820 --> 00:23:56.660
Yeah.

00:24:02.500 --> 00:24:03.340
Any questions?

00:24:09.580 --> 00:24:12.140
Yeah, we can show this to non-believers too.

00:24:12.140 --> 00:24:14.300
Because this is a God who sends rain

00:24:14.300 --> 00:24:16.700
on both the good and the evil.

00:24:16.900 --> 00:24:18.140
Any questions guys?

00:24:21.540 --> 00:24:24.180
When you don't know how God thinks of you,

00:24:25.300 --> 00:24:26.460
when you don't know how God thinks of you,

00:24:30.780 --> 00:24:35.900
you are 들어�, uniform, siafe,

00:24:35.900 --> 00:24:38.620
and you don't share desires with God.

00:24:38.620 --> 00:24:41.180
Only when you know God will find peace for you.

00:24:42.580 --> 00:24:45.300
All the people who are hearing talented people

00:24:45.300 --> 00:24:59.300
You're a product of your past, you're a product of your past, you are a product of your past, present or future.

00:25:04.300 --> 00:25:08.300
Or the perception of others.

00:25:08.300 --> 00:25:19.300
When you don't know how God thinks of you, then you're either a product of your past, as in what happened yesterday, your present, as in what may be happening today, or your future, as in what may be happening tomorrow.

00:25:19.300 --> 00:25:25.300
So there might be some days that you think well of yourself and some days when you think really lousy of yourself.

00:25:25.300 --> 00:25:35.300
Because it's based on your struggle. Your struggle becomes your identity. Never let the struggle become your identity, because it wants to do that.

00:25:35.300 --> 00:25:48.300
Your struggle becomes your identity. And then everything I do when I pray, when I exert faith, everything comes out of the identity that I have now taken on, which is my past, present or my future.

00:25:48.300 --> 00:25:54.300
Because I do not know how God thinks of me. Because this is so hard to wrap my head around.

00:25:54.300 --> 00:26:03.300
But this is how he thinks of me in Christ. And this is not cheap grace. This is not some kind of cheap grace message.

00:26:03.300 --> 00:26:11.300
No, I'm just telling you how the Father thinks of the Son, and because I'm in the Son, how the Father thinks of me.

00:26:11.300 --> 00:26:19.300
This is the kind of favor that has showered on me, but it's like wearing a raincoat and never getting wet.

00:26:24.300 --> 00:26:29.300
Any questions?

00:26:29.300 --> 00:26:39.300
This is why we need to visit favor and faith and things like this every year, man, or maybe twice a year, because it's very hard to remember.

00:26:39.300 --> 00:26:43.300
Any questions?

00:26:43.300 --> 00:26:51.300
What are some of the ways you can move from not living this to living it? What are some of the strategies?

00:26:51.300 --> 00:26:57.300
I think one of the biggest ones is to go over it again and again and again, until you at least begin to get some hang of it.

00:26:57.300 --> 00:27:08.300
Or receive it from ones that are showing you favor, or give it to someone so that you have some context to place it in.

00:27:08.300 --> 00:27:15.300
If I show someone favor, at least I know what it tastes like. If I have been a recipient, and either am or no longer a recipient,

00:27:15.300 --> 00:27:25.300
at least I can go and remember the favor I used to have and think, wow, that is what it feels like.

00:27:25.300 --> 00:27:32.300
And then try to bring God into it, because really when people say to you, God loves you as much as he loves Jesus,

00:27:32.300 --> 00:27:41.300
sometimes it's hard to compute because you really don't know how much God loves Jesus.

00:27:41.300 --> 00:27:46.300
And then the next one is, he loved Jesus and he sent him to the cross, so maybe he'll send me to the cross even though he loves me.

00:27:46.300 --> 00:27:54.300
That doesn't help at all.

00:27:54.300 --> 00:27:58.300
I don't think he sent him to the cross, I think Jesus took him to the cross.

00:27:58.300 --> 00:28:04.300
Yeah, but my mind kicks in other ways.

00:28:04.300 --> 00:28:16.300
Very hard, man.

00:28:16.300 --> 00:28:25.300
We behave like that because we are like God, but they will not be able to receive it like we receive it.

00:28:25.300 --> 00:28:30.300
Yeah.

00:28:30.300 --> 00:28:38.300
Yeah, yeah, just like forgiveness is present, but an unbeliever cannot wrap their head around it.

00:28:38.300 --> 00:28:43.300
Because remember guys, we are actually two different spirits.

00:28:43.300 --> 00:28:49.300
It is in us and them. The difference is that we all have distorted lives and someone restored our lives.

00:28:49.300 --> 00:28:56.300
We have a different spirit and therefore this is the only way you can behave.

00:28:56.300 --> 00:29:01.300
But just as a note, they do recognize it.

00:29:01.300 --> 00:29:14.300
I didn't hear your question a total time, but I have a sister who's cut herself off from us with him, but she sees something in me that she doesn't see in others.

00:29:14.300 --> 00:29:16.300
Others, yeah.

00:29:16.300 --> 00:29:20.300
So they do recognize it.

00:29:20.300 --> 00:29:25.300
Go ahead, Vivian.

00:29:25.300 --> 00:29:32.300
Sorry?

00:29:32.300 --> 00:29:37.300
Okay, where does favor come to play when you're under spiritual attack or are bound?

00:29:37.300 --> 00:29:39.300
That's your question?

00:29:39.300 --> 00:29:48.300
Yeah.

00:29:48.300 --> 00:29:57.300
If I favored you and I saw you under spiritual, under physical attack, if I favored you and I saw people ganging upon you,

00:29:57.300 --> 00:30:07.300
if I favored you and I saw you being surrounded and intense towards you are harmful,

00:30:07.300 --> 00:30:12.300
then if I favored you, something would rise up in me and that's the word I use.

00:30:12.300 --> 00:30:17.300
Furious love would rise up in me to protect you.

00:30:17.300 --> 00:30:22.300
So most of the time we don't even recognize furious love.

00:30:22.300 --> 00:30:24.300
We just say Jesus loves us.

00:30:24.300 --> 00:30:26.300
It is a furious love.

00:30:26.300 --> 00:30:34.300
It is the love that spouses have for each other even though they've had two months of fighting every day.

00:30:34.300 --> 00:30:40.300
You go try to harm to one of those spouses and something in the man leaps up and says,

00:30:40.300 --> 00:30:47.300
she may have bashed my head in 30 times this month, but my God, if you touch her, I'll bash your skull in.

00:30:47.300 --> 00:30:53.300
I know it sounds violent, but it's just to show you the intent is not that you bash people's heads in.

00:30:53.300 --> 00:30:59.300
The intent is furious love.

00:30:59.300 --> 00:31:05.300
Furious love is the kind of love that rises up and will do anything to protect its own.

00:31:06.300 --> 00:31:08.300
Do anything to protect its own.

00:31:08.300 --> 00:31:19.300
But because I don't think God is like that, I think of God taking his own sweet time to set me free.

00:31:19.300 --> 00:31:27.300
I think of God coming up with different loopholes that I have to jump through before he will set me free.

00:31:28.300 --> 00:31:35.300
I think of God bringing out a list that he typed up on a computer saying this, this, this, and this is wrong.

00:31:35.300 --> 00:31:39.300
Get this fixed, this fixed, this fixed, and I'll help you.

00:31:39.300 --> 00:31:46.300
It may well be that he has to go through that list, but I must operate from this place of I am favored with furious love,

00:31:46.300 --> 00:31:48.300
and therefore there's an intentional bias towards me.

00:31:48.300 --> 00:31:51.300
There's tailor-made kindness and goodness towards me.

00:31:51.300 --> 00:31:56.300
That is the confidence that one should operate from, and that is the confidence we do not have.

00:31:56.300 --> 00:32:05.300
And pastors are part of the problem because this is not what is presented.

00:32:26.300 --> 00:32:33.300
Yeah.

00:32:33.300 --> 00:32:45.300
Yeah.

00:32:45.300 --> 00:32:48.300
Yeah, so there is favor that keeps, eh?

00:32:48.300 --> 00:32:52.300
Favor keeps. Otherwise we'd be completely wiped out by now.

00:32:52.300 --> 00:32:58.300
Just take the seed we have sown. If those crops actually grew, our lives would be destroyed.

00:32:58.300 --> 00:33:01.300
So there is a keeping power of God.

00:33:01.300 --> 00:33:06.300
But wrap your heart around this.

00:33:06.300 --> 00:33:10.300
Favor gives you access. Favor gives you access.

00:33:10.300 --> 00:33:14.300
Favor gives you access. Whenever you're favored, you have access.

00:33:14.300 --> 00:33:16.300
Whenever you're favored, you have access.

00:33:16.300 --> 00:33:21.300
Favor is access to the ultimate place of relationship.

00:33:21.300 --> 00:33:36.300
Favor is access to the ultimate place of relationship.

00:33:36.300 --> 00:33:39.300
Favor is access to the ultimate place of relationship.

00:33:39.300 --> 00:33:45.300
What do you mean by that?

00:33:45.300 --> 00:33:49.300
Jesus favored John.

00:33:49.300 --> 00:33:52.300
It doesn't mean that he did not rebuke John.

00:33:52.300 --> 00:33:55.300
It doesn't mean that he didn't make life tough for John.

00:33:55.300 --> 00:34:04.300
Usually those you favor are the ones that probably have to really go through the wringer.

00:34:04.300 --> 00:34:09.300
But Jesus favored John, perhaps because John was the youngest among the disciples.

00:34:09.300 --> 00:34:11.300
He might have been 15 or 16.

00:34:11.300 --> 00:34:17.300
And he lived the longest. You find him on the island of Patmos years later.

00:34:17.300 --> 00:34:20.300
He's the same guy who brings his mother to a fight.

00:34:20.300 --> 00:34:24.300
So he's a young kid, 15 or 16 years old.

00:34:24.300 --> 00:34:26.300
And so Jesus favored John.

00:34:26.300 --> 00:34:30.300
And in John, I don't remember the scripture,

00:34:30.300 --> 00:34:35.300
John himself used to say, Jesus is beloved disciple.

00:34:35.300 --> 00:34:39.300
I mean, what audacity.

00:34:39.300 --> 00:34:42.300
John had the same problem that Joseph had.

00:34:42.300 --> 00:34:45.300
I'm my father's favorite.

00:34:45.300 --> 00:34:47.300
I'm my father's favorite.

00:34:47.300 --> 00:34:50.300
And John does that where he, in his gospels, he writes in John,

00:34:50.300 --> 00:34:54.300
he writes, and Jesus, he's writing the book and he's saying,

00:34:54.300 --> 00:34:58.300
and then Jesus turned to his favorite disciple, his beloved disciple.

00:34:58.300 --> 00:35:04.300
Peter, when he read it the first time, must have thought, my God, this guy.

00:35:04.300 --> 00:35:08.300
And so in John 13, 23, you see how the favor is playing out.

00:35:08.300 --> 00:35:13.300
If you read John 13, 23 from the message, it really captures the essence of it.

00:35:13.300 --> 00:35:18.300
John 13, verse 23.

00:35:18.300 --> 00:35:22.300
It says there,

00:35:22.300 --> 00:35:27.300
one of the disciples, the one Jesus loved dearly,

00:35:27.300 --> 00:35:30.300
that's John writing, one of the disciples, the one Jesus loved,

00:35:30.300 --> 00:35:32.300
I really like John.

00:35:32.300 --> 00:35:34.300
Yeah, there's something there.

00:35:34.300 --> 00:35:36.300
One of the disciples, the one Jesus loved dearly,

00:35:36.300 --> 00:35:41.300
was reclining against him, his head on his shoulder.

00:35:41.300 --> 00:35:44.300
Beautiful, eh?

00:35:44.300 --> 00:35:47.300
Favor gives access.

00:35:47.300 --> 00:35:50.300
Favor is access to the ultimate place of relationship,

00:35:50.300 --> 00:35:53.300
and it inevitably leads to intimacy.

00:35:53.300 --> 00:35:55.300
You cannot enter intimacy.

00:35:55.300 --> 00:35:56.300
Hear me.

00:35:56.300 --> 00:36:03.300
You cannot enter intimacy if you do not understand favor.

00:36:03.300 --> 00:36:07.300
You cannot enter intimacy if you do not understand favor.

00:36:07.300 --> 00:36:10.300
Not possible.

00:36:19.300 --> 00:36:24.300
You can see why children are robbed of it.

00:36:24.300 --> 00:36:27.300
Do not let your children earn their way.

00:36:27.300 --> 00:36:30.300
Do not give them medals or take them to the white spot

00:36:30.300 --> 00:36:33.300
just because they ran in a race and came last.

00:36:33.300 --> 00:36:46.300
But do not approve them because they did something.

00:36:46.300 --> 00:36:50.300
They must be so confident of this.

00:36:50.300 --> 00:36:51.300
We are the products.

00:36:51.300 --> 00:36:54.300
I look around and I see our lives,

00:36:54.300 --> 00:36:56.300
starting with mine and looking at yours,

00:36:56.300 --> 00:36:59.300
one of the reasons we struggle, one of the reasons we've had to use

00:36:59.300 --> 00:37:02.300
so much faith and to break habits to come through

00:37:02.300 --> 00:37:06.300
is because our parents didn't know any better, man.

00:37:06.300 --> 00:37:08.300
Our teachers didn't know better.

00:37:08.300 --> 00:37:11.300
Our pastors didn't know better.

00:37:11.300 --> 00:37:21.300
That's why that child can keep crying and Aaron won't even move a muscle.

00:37:21.300 --> 00:37:24.300
Favor is access to the ultimate place of relationship,

00:37:24.300 --> 00:37:28.300
and it always is an open door.

00:37:28.300 --> 00:37:33.300
Open door to intimacy.

00:37:33.300 --> 00:37:37.300
Any questions, guys?

00:37:37.300 --> 00:37:40.300
Okay, favor is the fullness of permission.

00:37:40.300 --> 00:37:42.300
Favor is the fullness of permission.

00:37:42.300 --> 00:37:44.300
I don't want to make these sound profound.

00:37:44.300 --> 00:37:45.300
I want to simplify it.

00:37:45.300 --> 00:37:47.300
Favor is the fullness of permission.

00:37:47.300 --> 00:37:53.300
As in, you can go anywhere in Christ.

00:37:53.300 --> 00:38:02.300
You can go anywhere in Christ.

00:38:02.300 --> 00:38:05.300
So let's assume my favor, Tooni,

00:38:05.300 --> 00:38:10.300
and so now I'll give Tooni the keys to my apartment.

00:38:10.300 --> 00:38:13.300
I'll give him the buzzer so he doesn't have to buzz.

00:38:13.300 --> 00:38:18.300
Oh, this is so funny.

00:38:18.300 --> 00:38:21.300
I told Evan, meet me at 11.15.

00:38:21.300 --> 00:38:25.300
On Friday, I texted him saying, meet me at 11.15.

00:38:25.300 --> 00:38:28.300
Need to talk about Victoria.

00:38:28.300 --> 00:38:30.300
And I'm in my PJs and I'm about to go to bed,

00:38:30.300 --> 00:38:34.300
and suddenly someone's opening my door.

00:38:34.300 --> 00:38:38.300
I'm thinking to myself, who's coming to my whole door?

00:38:38.300 --> 00:38:40.300
I mean, I've taken off my wig and my dentures,

00:38:40.300 --> 00:38:42.300
and I'm just sitting watching TV.

00:38:42.300 --> 00:38:45.300
And I'm thinking to myself, who just walked in?

00:38:45.300 --> 00:38:46.300
And I panicked in there.

00:38:46.300 --> 00:38:49.300
It was Evan, 11.15 at night.

00:38:49.300 --> 00:38:54.300
What do you do with people like this?

00:38:54.300 --> 00:38:56.300
Thank God I didn't say one, eh?

00:38:56.300 --> 00:38:57.300
Because if you'd have come at one,

00:38:57.300 --> 00:39:00.300
that would have really freaked me out.

00:39:00.300 --> 00:39:03.300
So...

00:39:03.300 --> 00:39:06.300
So...

00:39:06.300 --> 00:39:09.300
Pardon?

00:39:09.300 --> 00:39:10.300
The wig and the denture?

00:39:10.300 --> 00:39:11.300
Yeah, that too.

00:39:11.300 --> 00:39:14.300
Okay.

00:39:14.300 --> 00:39:16.300
So...

00:39:16.300 --> 00:39:19.300
So let's assume I favor Tunis.

00:39:19.300 --> 00:39:22.300
So now I give him my keys, I give him my buzzer.

00:39:22.300 --> 00:39:24.300
He has access.

00:39:24.300 --> 00:39:25.300
He has access.

00:39:25.300 --> 00:39:27.300
It's an open door now.

00:39:27.300 --> 00:39:33.300
And so he now has permission to go and get anything anywhere.

00:39:33.300 --> 00:39:36.300
This is how it works.

00:39:36.300 --> 00:39:38.300
Favor allows you to do this.

00:39:38.300 --> 00:39:43.300
But till you get into that space where you understand this is how God is,

00:39:43.300 --> 00:39:44.300
it's not possible.

00:39:44.300 --> 00:39:46.300
You would not dare.

00:39:46.300 --> 00:39:50.300
You would not dare.

00:39:50.300 --> 00:39:56.300
Most of the things that we ask for in faith is basically for the things of life.

00:39:56.300 --> 00:40:01.300
We do not dare step into greater things.

00:40:01.300 --> 00:40:14.300
Because to even ask that would be unworthy.

00:40:14.300 --> 00:40:18.300
Favor is the fullness of permission.

00:40:18.300 --> 00:40:23.300
That's why you see guys like Joshua, guys like Moses, guys like Abraham,

00:40:23.300 --> 00:40:27.300
asking for things that no human should ask for.

00:40:27.300 --> 00:40:29.300
They didn't need faith for it.

00:40:29.300 --> 00:40:31.300
They first had favor.

00:40:31.300 --> 00:40:33.300
Out of their favor they ask.

00:40:33.300 --> 00:40:36.300
It is out of favor that you ask for the son to stand still.

00:40:36.300 --> 00:40:41.300
It is out of favor that you bargain with God and reduce Sodom down to five.

00:40:41.300 --> 00:40:45.300
It is out of favor that these things happen.

00:40:45.300 --> 00:40:48.300
It is out of favor that Moses is lying before God,

00:40:48.300 --> 00:40:54.300
knowing that I have enough favor to stop Israel from being destroyed.

00:40:54.300 --> 00:40:57.300
It is not faith.

00:40:57.300 --> 00:41:04.300
When you have these things, why do you need faith, man?

00:41:04.300 --> 00:41:09.300
When you have these things, faith is so easy.

00:41:09.300 --> 00:41:14.300
If you know you're approved, if you know you are highly esteemed,

00:41:14.300 --> 00:41:19.300
if you know he delights in you, if you know that he laughs out of his love for you,

00:41:19.300 --> 00:41:23.300
if you know that he targets you with kindness, if you know that you have access,

00:41:23.300 --> 00:41:26.300
if you know you have intentional bias towards you,

00:41:26.300 --> 00:41:30.300
if you know you have extra benefits, that your debts and deficits will be settled,

00:41:30.300 --> 00:41:35.300
if you know that there's tailored goodness towards you,

00:41:35.300 --> 00:41:39.300
first, you wouldn't care about the things of life.

00:41:39.300 --> 00:41:44.300
Two, knowing all that, you would be able to ask for the moon.

00:41:44.300 --> 00:41:50.300
When you ask for the moon, it's not for yourself.

00:41:50.300 --> 00:41:57.300
None of the guys who exerted great faith ever did it for their own sakes.

00:41:57.300 --> 00:42:03.300
None of the guys in Hebrews 11 who exerted great faith ever did it for their own sakes.

00:42:03.300 --> 00:42:07.300
But they knew they had favor, this kind of favor.

00:42:07.300 --> 00:42:12.300
Why is it that I can't wrap my heart around it?

00:42:12.300 --> 00:42:16.300
I think it's because we don't understand what holiness is.

00:42:16.300 --> 00:42:19.300
Perhaps.

00:42:32.300 --> 00:42:36.300
Got to wrap our hearts around it, man.

00:42:38.300 --> 00:42:40.300
Favor is the confidence I have.

00:42:40.300 --> 00:42:44.300
Favor is the confidence I have.

00:42:47.300 --> 00:43:06.300
That deficits or flaws will be filled by Christ

00:43:07.300 --> 00:43:15.300
and will not be reason to fall out of favor.

00:43:21.300 --> 00:43:23.300
God of the gaps.

00:43:25.300 --> 00:43:27.300
God of the gaps.

00:43:32.300 --> 00:43:33.300
God of the gaps.

00:43:33.300 --> 00:43:38.300
If you are supposed to bridge the gap, if you're supposed to fill the gap,

00:43:38.300 --> 00:43:40.300
fill it with favor.

00:43:40.300 --> 00:43:42.300
God of the gaps.

00:43:46.300 --> 00:43:50.300
This is not a humpty dumpty wall that you fall off.

00:43:50.300 --> 00:43:54.300
You can't be a little bit of a coward.

00:44:02.300 --> 00:44:05.300
Favor is being condemned to generosity.

00:44:05.300 --> 00:44:08.300
Favor is being condemned to generosity.

00:44:08.300 --> 00:44:13.300
Favor is to be condemned to generosity.

00:44:13.300 --> 00:44:18.300
Favors being condemned to generosity.

00:44:18.300 --> 00:44:23.300
What if every time you meet someone, you condemn them to generosity?

00:44:23.300 --> 00:44:28.300
What if you go anywhere near them,

00:44:28.300 --> 00:44:33.300
and they're thinking of, how can I be generous? How can I be extravagant? How can I be lavish?

00:44:33.300 --> 00:44:38.300
How can I embarrass this person with more?

00:44:38.300 --> 00:44:43.300
Let me say that again. Favor is to be condemned to generosity.

00:44:43.300 --> 00:44:48.300
What if you're around a person who's looking for ways to be extravagant,

00:44:48.300 --> 00:44:53.300
who's looking for a way to embarrass you with more, who's looking for how to be generous?

00:44:53.300 --> 00:44:58.300
How can I do something else that will make this person blessed?

00:44:58.300 --> 00:45:03.300
That is being condemned to generosity. This is your God.

00:45:08.300 --> 00:45:13.300
Where are our eyes going as we speak about this?

00:45:13.300 --> 00:45:18.300
To our circumstances. It's okay. Let your eyes go to your circumstances.

00:45:18.300 --> 00:45:23.300
But at least know this before your eyes go to your circumstances.

00:45:23.300 --> 00:45:28.300
Let your heart know what your eyes can't see. Let your eyes see after your heart knows.

00:45:28.300 --> 00:45:33.300
Let your eyes see after your heart knows. If your eyes see before your heart knows,

00:45:33.300 --> 00:45:38.300
then your heart will also see what your eyes see.

00:45:38.300 --> 00:45:43.300
I can't allow that. Let your eyes see what your heart...

00:45:43.300 --> 00:45:48.300
Know in your heart this before your eyes see. Otherwise your circumstances will become your identity.

00:45:48.300 --> 00:45:53.300
Your circumstances will become how you think God sees you.

00:45:53.300 --> 00:45:58.300
Everything is measured by our circumstances. Everything is measured by your circumstances.

00:45:58.300 --> 00:46:03.300
The one thing that having Jesus in your heart changes that. They had a physical Jesus in their boat,

00:46:03.300 --> 00:46:08.300
and their circumstances took over. They had Him in flesh and blood.

00:46:08.300 --> 00:46:13.300
They had seen His power, and there was nothing that He could do in their lives in the middle of circumstances.

00:46:13.300 --> 00:46:18.300
Because in their heart they did not know.

00:46:29.300 --> 00:46:34.300
Repent, eh? We need to repent. Repent is to change our minds.

00:46:34.300 --> 00:46:39.300
So let's just pray a prayer of repentance right now. Father, we repent of our hard hearts

00:46:39.300 --> 00:46:44.300
and our stiff-necked minds.

00:46:44.300 --> 00:46:49.300
We repent. We repent, O God. Repenting is metamorphosis,

00:46:49.300 --> 00:46:54.300
which is a changing of the mind. Metanoia, sorry, Father.

00:46:54.300 --> 00:46:59.300
A changing of the mind.

00:46:59.300 --> 00:47:04.300
So Jesus, we repent. I repent of my hard heart that has an ability to resist

00:47:04.300 --> 00:47:09.300
a highly favoring God.

00:47:09.300 --> 00:47:14.300
It doesn't matter how many times you say it, I always come up with a reason not to walk in it

00:47:14.300 --> 00:47:19.300
or fall out of it. And I repent in my mind, my stiff-necked mind

00:47:19.300 --> 00:47:24.300
that just switches to senses and my thinking and my feeling and my sight

00:47:24.300 --> 00:47:29.300
and I just shut you out. I repent of it. Jesus, corporately we repent of it.

00:47:29.300 --> 00:47:34.300
We want to come into this matrix called favor, out of which we can operate, out of which

00:47:34.300 --> 00:47:39.300
in which we swim, in which we drown, and then see circumstances after that,

00:47:39.300 --> 00:47:44.300
knowing something in our hearts.

00:47:44.300 --> 00:47:49.300
In Jesus' name.

00:47:49.300 --> 00:47:54.300
Please try this throughout the week. Please go over and over it.

00:47:54.300 --> 00:47:59.300
Because all of us are going through difficult circumstances in our lives.

00:47:59.300 --> 00:48:04.300
Some of us are sleep deprived. Some of us are money deprived. Some of us are peace deprived.

00:48:04.300 --> 00:48:09.300
And it's not one day or two days. Some of us have been going through it for a while.

00:48:09.300 --> 00:48:14.300
I must be buried in this.

00:48:21.300 --> 00:48:26.300
Favor is being condemned to generosity, condemned to

00:48:26.300 --> 00:48:31.300
preferential treatment.

00:48:31.300 --> 00:48:36.300
It is undeserving,

00:48:36.300 --> 00:48:41.300
so what? And it is heart-stirring.

00:48:41.300 --> 00:48:46.300
I spent most of my mornings going over this

00:48:46.300 --> 00:48:51.300
for the last little while. Affection, intimacy, trust, favor.

00:48:51.300 --> 00:48:56.300
Just sit on my armchair and think of this, think of different situations

00:48:56.300 --> 00:49:01.300
where I have received and I have given favor, and then move into receiving it

00:49:01.300 --> 00:49:06.300
and giving it from God. And then when I get into that sweet spot,

00:49:06.300 --> 00:49:11.300
after that, everything else is easy peasy.

00:49:26.300 --> 00:49:31.300
If you look at Isaiah 61,

00:49:31.300 --> 00:49:36.300
which talks about the year of favor, or in other words,

00:49:36.300 --> 00:49:41.300
Jubilee. It talks about, he has

00:49:41.300 --> 00:49:46.300
come to announce a year of favor. What does a year of favor entail?

00:49:46.300 --> 00:49:51.300
Look at what it entails. Provision is supplied.

00:49:51.300 --> 00:49:56.300
Security is restored.

00:49:56.300 --> 00:50:01.300
If you read Isaiah 61, 5 to 11, security is restored.

00:50:01.300 --> 00:50:06.300
Double honor is bestowed.

00:50:06.300 --> 00:50:11.300
Promises fulfilled.

00:50:11.300 --> 00:50:16.300
Debt reversed.

00:50:16.300 --> 00:50:21.300
Debt reversed.

00:50:21.300 --> 00:50:26.300
Clothed.

00:50:26.300 --> 00:50:31.300
Fruitful.

00:50:31.300 --> 00:50:36.300
Generations blessed. This is what favor looks like

00:50:36.300 --> 00:50:41.300
in Isaiah 61.

00:50:41.300 --> 00:50:46.300
Don't look for money, look for favor.

00:50:46.300 --> 00:50:51.300
After you stand in favor,

00:50:51.300 --> 00:50:56.300
then it's different. We look for money first,

00:50:56.300 --> 00:51:01.300
and then we measure favor by the money we receive.

00:51:01.300 --> 00:51:06.300
And if it comes fast, we are highly favored. If it doesn't come fast, then we go to faith.

00:51:06.300 --> 00:51:11.300
It's not very good.

00:51:11.300 --> 00:51:16.300
It's the same with healing. It's the same with everything. We don't stand in favor.

00:51:27.300 --> 00:51:32.300
For some reason, I'm scared to abandon myself to thinking like this.

00:51:32.300 --> 00:51:37.300
Someone asked, so how do we go about it?

00:51:37.300 --> 00:51:42.300
What are some of the things we can do? One of the things you can do is, guys,

00:51:42.300 --> 00:51:47.300
we said focus on it.

00:51:47.300 --> 00:51:52.300
Focus on it. Then the next one is

00:51:52.300 --> 00:51:57.300
indulging God-directed self-talk, which is the definition of meditation.

00:51:57.300 --> 00:52:02.300
God-directed self-talk.

00:52:02.300 --> 00:52:07.300
That is what meditation is.

00:52:07.300 --> 00:52:12.300
God-directed self-talk. As in, this is what God says.

00:52:12.300 --> 00:52:17.300
These are the things I have learned. I will now engage in something called God-directed self-talk.

00:52:17.300 --> 00:52:22.300
Words, voice, talk,

00:52:22.300 --> 00:52:27.300
God-directed, indulge in it.

00:52:27.300 --> 00:52:32.300
God-directed self-talk.

00:52:32.300 --> 00:52:37.300
Father, though things are difficult today, as I look at the rest of the day,

00:52:37.300 --> 00:52:42.300
I just come and sit and imagine what it is to be highly favored by you.

00:52:42.300 --> 00:52:47.300
You actually fully approve me and right now you delight in me.

00:52:47.300 --> 00:52:52.300
Father, you have an intentional bias towards me.

00:52:52.300 --> 00:52:57.300
I'm special to you

00:52:57.300 --> 00:53:02.300
and I please you. You know my name. You trust me.

00:53:02.300 --> 00:53:07.300
I know how I show favor towards others and have affection for others.

00:53:07.300 --> 00:53:12.300
If that is the intensity with which I can show affection towards them,

00:53:12.300 --> 00:53:17.300
I kind of know the intensity of the affection towards me. If I didn't multiply it at all,

00:53:17.300 --> 00:53:22.300
I just took it as that. Father, I want to sink into this

00:53:22.300 --> 00:53:27.300
where I know that I have your favor,

00:53:27.300 --> 00:53:32.300
that you are for me, you're not against me, that you already know the answers to my problem.

00:53:32.300 --> 00:53:37.300
I don't know where these things are going to come from, but I suddenly think of Peter

00:53:37.300 --> 00:53:42.300
and there was nothing. That's how I feel right now. But my God, those boats began to sink

00:53:42.300 --> 00:53:47.300
in that movie, Chosen, because there was an overabundance. When have you not been like that?

00:53:47.300 --> 00:53:52.300
When have you been miserly? When have you been stingy? When have you not provided?

00:53:52.300 --> 00:53:57.300
When have you? Has there ever been a time? All my days you have been faithful. All my days you have been so, so good.

00:53:57.300 --> 00:54:02.300
With every breath that I am able,

00:54:02.300 --> 00:54:07.300
I will speak, sing, voice the goodness of God as I'm doing now.

00:54:07.300 --> 00:54:12.300
As I begin to do this, something begins to stir in my heart. Suddenly, instead of praying from a distance,

00:54:12.300 --> 00:54:17.300
I have my head on a shoulder. I begin to think to myself, what in the world

00:54:17.300 --> 00:54:22.300
were you so upset about? Why were you so troubled? Why are you so

00:54:22.300 --> 00:54:27.300
distressed? Put your hope in God, for I will yet

00:54:27.300 --> 00:54:32.300
praise him, my Savior and my God.

00:54:32.300 --> 00:54:37.300
This is God-directed self-talk.

00:54:37.300 --> 00:54:42.300
Scripture is weaving, your thoughts are weaving, your feelings are weaving, your heart wraps around things, your mind begins to

00:54:42.300 --> 00:54:47.300
change. Why? Because as you speak these words, the Spirit of God takes what is alive and

00:54:47.300 --> 00:54:52.300
begins to make your mind the student. He becomes the teacher. And as your mind changes, your heart is

00:54:52.300 --> 00:54:57.300
wrapped around God. What is left? Your body will get up and say, bring it on.

00:54:57.300 --> 00:55:02.300
Because this God is my God.

00:55:02.300 --> 00:55:07.300
This is not positive confession. This is the truth.

00:55:07.300 --> 00:55:12.300
God-directed

00:55:12.300 --> 00:55:17.300
self-talk. Third one is very similar.

00:55:17.300 --> 00:55:22.300
Speak the favor you have

00:55:22.300 --> 00:55:27.300
back to God.

00:55:27.300 --> 00:55:32.300
Speak the favor you have back to God in agreement.

00:55:32.300 --> 00:55:37.300
Because it propels you forward.

00:55:37.300 --> 00:55:42.300
I agree with you, God.

00:55:42.300 --> 00:55:47.300
I agree with you, God. This is how you see me. What I indulged was in God-directed

00:55:47.300 --> 00:55:52.300
self-talk. Now, can you stay out of it, Father, because I want to talk to you.

00:55:52.300 --> 00:55:57.300
It's your turn to listen. You don't need to direct me.

00:55:57.300 --> 00:56:02.300
Because now my heart is going to sing. Because I am convinced. So listen to me now, Father.

00:56:02.300 --> 00:56:07.300
I agree with you. I am so approved. I am

00:56:07.300 --> 00:56:12.300
highly esteemed. I can't believe that. But I am highly esteemed. I am someone you have an

00:56:12.300 --> 00:56:17.300
intentional bias towards. And I feel like laughing to think that I have, you have an

00:56:17.300 --> 00:56:22.300
intentional bias towards me. That you absolutely delight in me. I am very sure of this.

00:56:22.300 --> 00:56:27.300
That you are pleased with me. I am special to you. I heard that

00:56:27.300 --> 00:56:32.300
said by a guy 20 years ago and it still stands true. That you know my name.

00:56:32.300 --> 00:56:37.300
What do you really call me? And now you are having a conversation back to him. You are agreeing with him

00:56:37.300 --> 00:56:42.300
and throwing at him the very words that he spoke. Only you are throwing it as kisses.

00:56:42.300 --> 00:56:47.300
Back at him.

00:56:47.300 --> 00:56:52.300
Don't you love it when somebody you favor acknowledges it? Or do you say, oh please,

00:56:52.300 --> 00:56:57.300
no, no. It wasn't really favor. You love it when someone acknowledges favor.

00:57:02.300 --> 00:57:07.300
Where did we go wrong, guys?

00:57:07.300 --> 00:57:12.300
Why is it that after a child turns one and a half,

00:57:12.300 --> 00:57:17.300
this disappears? Till one and a half, that child can poo on your head and you are happy.

00:57:17.300 --> 00:57:22.300
And then suddenly it stops.

00:57:22.300 --> 00:57:27.300
You are not going to give me an explanation.

00:57:27.300 --> 00:57:32.300
Sorry, go ahead.

00:57:32.300 --> 00:57:37.300
Yeah.

00:57:37.300 --> 00:57:42.300
So when we say generosity, in my notes I put generosity

00:57:42.300 --> 00:57:47.300
and in brackets I put dollar signs and cut it. Meaning we think of generosity

00:57:47.300 --> 00:57:52.300
as money. Do not think of generosity as money. So when we think of faith

00:57:52.300 --> 00:57:57.300
as favor as generosity, think of someone you really like.

00:57:57.300 --> 00:58:02.300
How your heart attitude towards them is generous.

00:58:02.300 --> 00:58:07.300
It could be as simple as they like eggs, so in their curry I am going to add

00:58:07.300 --> 00:58:12.300
an extra egg. They don't like walking, so instead of dropping them off

00:58:12.300 --> 00:58:17.300
at the intersection, I will drop them right at home.

00:58:17.300 --> 00:58:22.300
They like brown leather shoes,

00:58:22.300 --> 00:58:27.300
so let's get them brown leather shoes. You are constantly thinking of them.

00:58:27.300 --> 00:58:32.300
You go to a bakery and you see a muffin and it's a blueberry muffin and you think to yourself,

00:58:32.300 --> 00:58:37.300
I already have six muffins, but because of my generous favoring heart, I will buy an extra blueberry muffin for them.

00:58:37.300 --> 00:58:42.300
You are constantly thinking of this person

00:58:42.300 --> 00:58:47.300
with brown shoes who likes blueberry muffins

00:58:47.300 --> 00:58:52.300
and who does not like walking and likes eggs in anything.

00:58:52.300 --> 00:58:57.300
And this is how it is.

00:58:57.300 --> 00:59:02.300
And the person knows, the person knows and it begins to

00:59:02.300 --> 00:59:07.300
expect it. Begins to expect it. One of the coolest ways you know that someone

00:59:08.300 --> 00:59:13.300
has begun to walk in favor is when the person expects favor.

00:59:13.300 --> 00:59:18.300
That is when you realize, see there is a difference between self entitlement and expectation.

00:59:18.300 --> 00:59:23.300
Self entitlement is when an expectation is not met and now your entire

00:59:23.300 --> 00:59:28.300
life is dismantled or ruined by it. That's self entitlement because you now think

00:59:28.300 --> 00:59:33.300
it is your right and if it is not given, then something is wrong. No, this is expectation

00:59:33.300 --> 00:59:38.300
of generosity. There is a very fine line,

00:59:38.300 --> 00:59:43.300
very fine line. This is what

00:59:43.300 --> 00:59:48.300
favor-filled generosity looks like.

00:59:48.300 --> 00:59:53.300
We actually practice this with the ones we love.

00:59:53.300 --> 00:59:58.300
And if we don't, we should.

00:59:58.300 --> 01:00:03.300
If we don't, we should.

01:00:03.300 --> 01:00:08.300
Open our hearts to receive from the favor of God.

01:00:08.300 --> 01:00:13.300
I'll wrap up.

01:00:28.300 --> 01:00:33.300
See you Victoria guys.

01:00:33.300 --> 01:00:38.300
Guys,

01:00:38.300 --> 01:00:43.300
initially favor will have to be

01:00:43.300 --> 01:00:48.300
extracted. We'll end with that.

01:00:48.300 --> 01:00:53.300
Favor needs to be extracted because

01:00:53.300 --> 01:00:58.300
we don't know it yet. So we'll have to go and

01:00:58.300 --> 01:01:03.300
extract it as in fight for it as in we'll have to

01:01:03.300 --> 01:01:08.300
learn how to pull it because we don't know how to

01:01:08.300 --> 01:01:13.300
walk in it.

01:01:13.300 --> 01:01:18.300
So,

01:01:18.300 --> 01:01:23.300
so let's assume you've shown me favor in some

01:01:23.300 --> 01:01:28.300
area, okay? So let's assume that

01:01:28.300 --> 01:01:33.300
I know that you favor me, but I've fallen out of it because

01:01:33.300 --> 01:01:38.300
either I haven't walked in it for a while or

01:01:38.300 --> 01:01:43.300
haven't kept in touch with you and I've fallen out of favor. Now to get back

01:01:43.300 --> 01:01:48.300
into it, I have to remember. I have to dare to take

01:01:48.300 --> 01:01:53.300
advantage of the favor that you have for me because your favor towards me

01:01:53.300 --> 01:01:58.300
never changes. It is my coldness that makes me think that I do not have it

01:01:58.300 --> 01:02:03.300
anymore, that I have to work my way back. Yeah. So with God,

01:02:03.300 --> 01:02:08.300
sometimes we have to fight to extract it again. His heart hasn't changed,

01:02:08.300 --> 01:02:13.300
but mine has gotten cold. And so then I have to

01:02:13.300 --> 01:02:18.300
extract it. I have to fight. I have to literally be shameless and

01:02:18.300 --> 01:02:23.300
say, give me what is mine.

01:02:23.300 --> 01:02:28.300
And that's when we go into

01:02:28.300 --> 01:02:33.300
stuff like I am a worm. Prodigal son, that's exactly

01:02:33.300 --> 01:02:38.300
what is happening. He lost favor because he literally stole his inheritance,

01:02:38.300 --> 01:02:43.300
wanted his father dead and walked away.

01:02:43.300 --> 01:02:48.300
Because in asking for his inheritance, he's saying that's usually given when

01:02:48.300 --> 01:02:53.300
a father dies, but he's asking for it much ahead of time. So his father doesn't

01:02:53.300 --> 01:02:58.300
matter, the inheritance matters. Give it to me. I can't wait till you die. Takes it, squanders it, comes back.

01:02:58.300 --> 01:03:03.300
What he doesn't know, he has never lost favor with his father.

01:03:03.300 --> 01:03:08.300
But what is he coming back as? He's coming back as a servant.

01:03:08.300 --> 01:03:13.300
That's our approach to favor. Our approach is that of servants.

01:03:13.300 --> 01:03:18.300
So we come and we say, I'm only a servant, would you please grant me this?

01:03:18.300 --> 01:03:23.300
That's not the posture. There is a posture of servitude before

01:03:23.300 --> 01:03:28.300
God in different areas. There's a posture of worshipper. There's a posture of majesty and subject.

01:03:28.300 --> 01:03:33.300
There's also a posture of father and son in favor. And we have to know

01:03:33.300 --> 01:03:38.300
postures because otherwise we can just mess the whole thing up.

01:03:38.300 --> 01:03:43.300
There's a posture of faith.

01:03:43.300 --> 01:03:48.300
Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally.

01:03:48.300 --> 01:03:53.300
And so the son thought he was self-entitled to the inheritance,

01:03:53.300 --> 01:03:58.300
so he took it before time. That self-entitlement where he should not have been like that.

01:03:58.300 --> 01:04:03.300
But when I approach God with favor, I'm not going there as a servant.

01:04:03.300 --> 01:04:08.300
When I sit in the morning and talk to him about favor, I'm not talking to him as a servant because a servant does not have favor.

01:04:08.300 --> 01:04:13.300
Sons have favor.

01:04:13.300 --> 01:04:18.300
Servants give obedience.

01:04:18.300 --> 01:04:23.300
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:04:23.300 --> 01:04:28.300
Yeah.

01:04:28.300 --> 01:04:33.300
If you were convinced of how much I favor you,

01:04:33.300 --> 01:04:38.300
you would not look or measure what is happening to you

01:04:38.300 --> 01:04:43.300
or what is happening in your relationship with me based on whether something works out or not.

01:04:43.300 --> 01:04:48.300
It would not come in between.

01:04:48.300 --> 01:04:53.300
If you know that I highly favor you, then you also know

01:04:53.300 --> 01:04:58.300
that there is nothing that Jacob will do within his influence or his power

01:04:58.300 --> 01:05:03.300
that will not be to my advantage or benefit.

01:05:03.300 --> 01:05:08.300
It would not even occur to you.

01:05:08.300 --> 01:05:13.300
Every time there's a disappointment, you would run to the one place where you know you are safe, and that is the place of favor.

01:05:13.300 --> 01:05:18.300
There has to be an ax that is brought

01:05:18.300 --> 01:05:23.300
to the connection between answered prayer and favor.

01:05:23.300 --> 01:05:28.300
They are not connected. It's the product of one.

01:05:28.300 --> 01:05:33.300
But favor is the real thing.

01:05:33.300 --> 01:05:38.300
I know that if I favor someone, there's nothing I will do.

01:05:38.300 --> 01:05:43.300
I will work hard at it. I will write to people. I will email.

01:05:43.300 --> 01:05:48.300
I will call them. I will not abandon them. I will stand with them.

01:05:48.300 --> 01:05:53.300
I will make sure that what is mine has to be theirs also.

01:05:53.300 --> 01:05:58.300
If it does not work out, it doesn't mean my favor ends.

01:05:58.300 --> 01:06:03.300
I won't shrug my shoulder and say, well, too bad, Emmanuel. It didn't work out.

01:06:03.300 --> 01:06:08.300
No. Now the next thing will be, alright, now that it hasn't worked out, what do I have to do?

01:06:08.300 --> 01:06:13.300
That is a finite Jacob. How much more?

01:06:13.300 --> 01:06:18.300
An infinite, highly influential, loving, powerful, whatever I will shall happen, God.

01:06:18.300 --> 01:06:23.300
And therefore, this idea of favor is so important because

01:06:23.300 --> 01:06:28.300
our idea of favor is based solely on circumstances. Your question is so valid

01:06:28.300 --> 01:06:33.300
because that's how we think. So valid.

01:06:40.300 --> 01:06:45.300
Yeah. If you know that you are highly favored, Betty,

01:06:45.300 --> 01:06:50.300
and you have asked me something, you're not going to harass me about the answer

01:06:50.300 --> 01:06:55.300
because you know you're highly favored. That is always going to be something that Jacob will make happen.

01:06:55.300 --> 01:07:00.300
So the answer is something that you now will follow after you

01:07:00.300 --> 01:07:05.300
because you dwell in favor. The answer is something that follows you.

01:07:05.300 --> 01:07:10.300
It's not something you're running after. The answer is not something you're running after.

01:07:10.300 --> 01:07:15.300
This is the hard part of Christianity. This is the hard part of charismatic Christianity.

01:07:15.300 --> 01:07:20.300
This is the hard part of faith-based Christianity. Faith-based Christianity makes the answer

01:07:20.300 --> 01:07:25.300
or the outcome the main thing. Favor is the nature of God.

01:07:25.300 --> 01:07:30.300
Answers are outcomes of promises. Both are important.

01:07:30.300 --> 01:07:35.300
One is more important.

01:07:35.300 --> 01:07:40.300
Promises must come to pass. Therefore, if God promises something, there is an outcome to it.

01:07:40.300 --> 01:07:45.300
So I'm not dissing that. Faith is rewarded. Faith must have expectation and hope.

01:07:45.300 --> 01:07:50.300
So you must expect an answer. Please don't think you shouldn't expect an answer.

01:07:50.300 --> 01:07:55.300
But it should not be trumping favor.

01:07:55.300 --> 01:08:00.300
It is a relationship that I dwell in. The answer is then something that happens.

01:08:05.300 --> 01:08:10.300
I just wanted to share a quick question.

01:08:10.300 --> 01:08:15.300
Daniel had this week. There were seven monogamous where he tried to meet the church.

01:08:15.300 --> 01:08:20.300
He didn't even do that anymore.

01:08:20.300 --> 01:08:25.300
He was still worshiping with us.

01:08:25.300 --> 01:08:30.300
He was very young.

01:08:30.300 --> 01:08:35.300
If we don't practice this every day, we won't live in it.

01:08:35.300 --> 01:08:40.300
You have to practice this every day.

01:08:40.300 --> 01:08:45.300
Let's stop there because there's plenty more.

01:08:45.300 --> 01:08:50.300
Let me stop at this sentence. In today's instant gratification

01:08:50.300 --> 01:08:55.300
Christian culture, we have neither the time or the discipline or the strength

01:08:55.300 --> 01:09:00.300
to explore God's favor.

01:09:00.300 --> 01:09:05.300
In today's instant gratification Christian culture, we neither have the time

01:09:05.300 --> 01:09:10.300
nor the discipline nor the strength to explore the favor of God.

01:09:10.300 --> 01:09:15.300
Time is not enough. There is time and discipline.

01:09:15.300 --> 01:09:20.300
And then the strength to hold on to that conviction that has been forged

01:09:20.300 --> 01:09:25.300
in time and discipline and say, this is where I dwell.

01:09:25.300 --> 01:09:30.300
This is what is upon my head. This is the crown on my head, the crown of favor.

01:09:30.300 --> 01:09:35.300
In a world of instant gratification, this isn't happening.

01:09:35.300 --> 01:09:40.300
And therefore then we are like spoiled children who delight or despise

01:09:40.300 --> 01:09:45.300
favor based solely on answered prayer.

01:09:50.300 --> 01:09:55.300
Let's kind of pray.

01:10:00.300 --> 01:10:05.300
How to pray, man.

01:10:10.300 --> 01:10:15.300
You pray quietly and I'll try and figure out how to pray.

01:10:15.300 --> 01:10:20.300
Pray for this favor thing, eh?

01:10:20.300 --> 01:10:25.300
Why is it so hard, Father, to wrap my head around?

01:10:25.300 --> 01:10:30.300
You know,

01:10:30.300 --> 01:10:35.300
when I went to Israel and

01:10:35.300 --> 01:10:40.300
was sitting opposite the garden

01:10:40.300 --> 01:10:45.300
that's supposed to be Gethsemane,

01:10:45.300 --> 01:10:50.300
they point out a tree that was

01:10:50.300 --> 01:10:55.300
a tree that Jesus sat under and then they've taken another tree

01:10:55.300 --> 01:11:00.300
and they've grafted them together so they're intertwined.

01:11:00.300 --> 01:11:05.300
And that's perhaps where Jesus sat in, which may or may not be true.

01:11:05.300 --> 01:11:10.300
But why am I bringing this up?

01:11:10.300 --> 01:11:15.300
Ungraft the intertwining of the trees.

01:11:15.300 --> 01:11:20.300
Ungraft the intertwining of the trees.

01:11:20.300 --> 01:11:25.300
Set circumstances and answered prayer aside.

01:11:25.300 --> 01:11:30.300
If that is the one thing we can do today, let's just start there.

01:11:30.300 --> 01:11:35.300
Father, I unwind. What is intertwined I unwind.

01:11:35.300 --> 01:11:40.300
I separate favor from everything else. I just want to be

01:11:40.300 --> 01:11:45.300
one tree. I don't want things to intertwine. If that is the only thing we can ask the Holy Spirit to do,

01:11:45.300 --> 01:11:50.300
then let that be the only thing we do. Let's start there.

01:11:50.300 --> 01:11:55.300
Separate it from circumstances. Separate it from answered prayer.

01:11:55.300 --> 01:12:00.300
Just sit under the tree of favor.

01:12:10.300 --> 01:12:15.300
Ungraft the intertwining of the trees.

01:12:15.300 --> 01:12:20.300
Ungraft the intertwining of the trees.

01:12:20.300 --> 01:12:25.300
Ungraft the intertwining of the trees.

01:12:25.300 --> 01:12:30.300
Ungraft the intertwining of the trees.

01:12:30.300 --> 01:12:35.300
Ungraft the intertwining of the trees.

01:12:35.300 --> 01:12:40.300
Ungraft the intertwining of the trees.

01:12:40.300 --> 01:12:45.300
Ungraft the intertwining of the trees.

01:12:45.300 --> 01:12:50.300
Ungraft the intertwining of the trees.

01:12:50.300 --> 01:12:55.300
Ungraft the intertwining of the trees.

01:12:55.300 --> 01:13:00.300
Can you bring me to a Christianity, oh God, where

01:13:00.300 --> 01:13:05.300
I'd be satisfied with

01:13:05.300 --> 01:13:10.300
knowing what it is to

01:13:10.300 --> 01:13:15.300
knowing what it is to

01:13:15.300 --> 01:13:20.300
have the favor of the Creator and the King of the Universe upon my life.

01:13:20.300 --> 01:13:25.300
Can I not connect

01:13:25.300 --> 01:13:30.300
my circumstances and my desire to have prayer answered to it.

01:13:30.300 --> 01:13:35.300
and my desire to have prayer answered to it.

01:13:35.300 --> 01:13:40.300
All those songs, the Aaronic blessing,

01:13:40.300 --> 01:13:45.300
All those songs, the Aaronic blessing,

01:13:45.300 --> 01:13:50.300
All those songs, the Aaronic blessing,

01:13:50.300 --> 01:13:55.300
make His countenance and make His face shine upon you.

01:13:55.300 --> 01:14:00.300
It's a face, that's what He meant by favor.

01:14:00.300 --> 01:14:05.300
That is the idea of favor.

01:14:12.300 --> 01:14:17.300
Can you help me find favor?

01:14:17.300 --> 01:14:22.300
It's already upon me, but I lose it.

01:14:22.300 --> 01:14:27.300
I don't know where it is. Can you help me find favor?

01:14:27.300 --> 01:14:32.300
Can you help me grow in it?

01:14:37.300 --> 01:14:42.300
Spirit of God, words can't do this, but life can do this.

01:14:42.300 --> 01:14:47.300
Can you bring life all across this church right now?

01:14:47.300 --> 01:14:52.300
I can't do more than this.

01:14:52.300 --> 01:14:57.300
When we leave here, can we walk away with a constant

01:14:57.300 --> 01:15:02.300
pebble in our shoe called favor?

01:15:02.300 --> 01:15:07.300
Always aware of it, annoyingly, irritatingly aware of it, until it becomes part of our shoe.

01:15:12.300 --> 01:15:17.300
Can you bring back memories of people that favored us?

01:15:17.300 --> 01:15:22.300
Can you bring back memories of people that favored us?

01:15:22.300 --> 01:15:27.300
Can you bring back memories of people that favored us?

01:15:27.300 --> 01:15:32.300
People that we show favor to.

01:15:32.300 --> 01:15:37.300
How our hearts long to show favor, how our hearts were satisfied when favor was shown to us.

01:15:37.300 --> 01:15:42.300
Can you remind us

01:15:42.300 --> 01:15:47.300
of perhaps mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends?

01:15:47.300 --> 01:15:52.300
Can we then superimpose that on you and you'll be a million times better?

01:15:57.300 --> 01:16:02.300
There's a scripture in 1 Peter 5, 7.

01:16:02.300 --> 01:16:07.300
It says, He cares affectionately for you

01:16:07.300 --> 01:16:12.300
and He watches over you carefully.

01:16:12.300 --> 01:16:17.300
You care affectionately for me and You watch over me carefully.

01:16:17.300 --> 01:16:22.300
You care affectionately for me

01:16:22.300 --> 01:16:27.300
and You watch over me carefully.

01:16:32.300 --> 01:16:37.300
Can you help our hearts receive that?

01:16:44.300 --> 01:16:49.300
Jesus, work a miracle in my life, Jesus.

01:16:49.300 --> 01:16:54.300
Jesus, work a miracle in my life, Jesus.

01:16:54.300 --> 01:16:59.300
This is all I need to live here on Earth.

01:17:02.300 --> 01:17:07.300
So I receive, Father, Your love.

01:17:07.300 --> 01:17:12.300
So I receive, Father, Your love. I receive Your affection.

01:17:12.300 --> 01:17:17.300
I exchange things, I exchange condemnation,

01:17:17.300 --> 01:17:22.300
self-hatred, fear,

01:17:22.300 --> 01:17:27.300
failure, repeated failure,

01:17:27.300 --> 01:17:32.300
failure, repeated failure, anxiety.

01:17:32.300 --> 01:17:37.300
I exchange it.

01:17:37.300 --> 01:17:42.300
I throw it away.

01:17:49.300 --> 01:17:54.300
Can you give us each before we leave right now?

01:17:54.300 --> 01:17:59.300
Can you please come to each of us

01:17:59.300 --> 01:18:04.300
and give us a robe of favor as you did Joseph?

01:18:16.300 --> 01:18:21.300
Eat in it, sleep in it, walk in it, laugh in it,

01:18:21.300 --> 01:18:26.300
do it with circumstances in it. Never take it off.

01:18:26.300 --> 01:18:31.300
It's self-cleaning so we don't have to worry.

01:18:31.300 --> 01:18:36.300
So I wrap that around us, Father, as a church right now.

01:18:36.300 --> 01:18:41.300
In Jesus' name, Amen.

01:18:41.300 --> 01:18:46.300
See you guys when I see you. Oops!

01:18:46.300 --> 01:18:51.300
I wrapped it around, it slipped a little.

01:18:51.300 --> 01:18:56.300
The robe of favor.

01:18:56.300 --> 01:19:01.300
Bless you guys.
