WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Kingdom Faith Publishing Date: 2015-03-29T06:00:44-07:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/kingdom-faith/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.740 about faith again today. I talked to a couple of pastors this weekend, surprisingly, even 00:00:05.740 --> 00:00:10.460 though it's supposed to be Hosanna Sunday, which would be the ideal message to speak 00:00:10.460 --> 00:00:14.860 on a day like this, for whatever reason there are two or three pastors and perhaps more 00:00:14.860 --> 00:00:19.480 in the city who today are talking on faith. And none of us met with each other and said 00:00:19.480 --> 00:00:23.500 we got to talk about faith. But when I met with them during the week, all of them are 00:00:23.500 --> 00:00:29.120 for some strange reason teaching on faith. And we were laughing because no one ever coordinated 00:00:29.520 --> 00:00:33.680 so don't know what God is trying to say, but thought I'll talk on faith today instead of 00:00:33.680 --> 00:00:40.680 Hosanna. So if you want to turn to Deuteronomy 31 6, Deuteronomy 31 6, Deuteronomy 31 6. 00:00:48.960 --> 00:00:55.960 It says there, be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them. 00:00:59.120 --> 00:01:03.520 Or sometimes you can put in the word it because sometimes it's not people who terrify us, 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:10.520 it's situations that terrify us. Deuteronomy 31 6, be strong and courageous. Do not be 00:01:11.960 --> 00:01:17.500 afraid or terrified because of them. For the Lord your God goes with you. He will never 00:01:17.500 --> 00:01:23.080 leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. I mean, whenever God says 00:01:23.080 --> 00:01:26.760 stuff like this, it just washes over us so quickly. But if you actually think of it, 00:01:27.400 --> 00:01:31.760 it is the God of the universe saying, Jacob, I'm speaking too fast today. Let me slow it 00:01:31.760 --> 00:01:38.760 down. The God of the universe is saying, Jacob, be strong and be full of courage. Why? Because 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:47.500 you look too afraid and terrified of people and situations. But I want you to know this, 00:01:47.500 --> 00:01:54.020 that I will go with you and that I won't abandon you or forsake you or leave you or desert 00:01:54.100 --> 00:02:01.100 you. I won't do that. And then the same thing is echoed in Hebrews 13 verse 6 where God 00:02:01.100 --> 00:02:08.100 says, Jacob, I am your helper so don't fear because what can man do to you when I am your 00:02:08.540 --> 00:02:14.380 helper? And we talked about this. When God says he's your helper, he's not your secretary. 00:02:14.380 --> 00:02:19.860 What he means when he says you're helper is not that he's an aid or some kind of an assistant. 00:02:19.860 --> 00:02:25.740 What he's saying is you are so helpless, Jacob, that you need someone to help and I am that 00:02:25.740 --> 00:02:32.740 helper. So Hebrews 13 verse 6 says, Jacob, I, God, am your helper. Don't be afraid. What 00:02:35.540 --> 00:02:39.860 can they do to you now that I am your helper? What can the situation do to you now that 00:02:39.860 --> 00:02:46.760 I am your helper? Guys, half the time we are afraid is because our human faith is limited 00:02:46.760 --> 00:02:51.800 and influenced by five senses. We do have this thing called human faith. Do you realize 00:02:51.800 --> 00:02:58.800 that you time and again step into a 60 meter cylinder that travels at 900 kilometers per 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:04.760 hour and is piloted by two guys you haven't even seen? I mean, you heard what happened 00:03:04.760 --> 00:03:09.600 with that German wings flight. But we have human faith. We step into that cylinder traveling 00:03:09.600 --> 00:03:15.520 at 900 kilometers per hour at 8,000 meters and trust that the two people sitting behind 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:19.240 a door that we cannot enter know how to handle this thing and to take it up and bring it 00:03:19.240 --> 00:03:24.000 down. So there is this thing called human faith. The world operates by it. But human 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:29.720 faith is limited to five senses. It's influenced by the five senses and limited to the five 00:03:29.720 --> 00:03:36.720 senses and that's why God said, hey, you need to have this God faith thing because you are 00:03:37.600 --> 00:03:44.600 continuously submerged. We are continuously submerged or engulfed in reasoning, understanding 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:53.520 in speculative thinking, in speculative thinking, reasoning, speculative thinking and calculated 00:03:58.320 --> 00:04:05.320 response, calculated responses, calculated responses. This is why we need faith guys 00:04:06.760 --> 00:04:13.760 because the way humans are, we're continuously trying to reason things out. We're continuously 00:04:14.160 --> 00:04:20.440 engaging in speculative thinking and in calculated responses, reasoning as in trying to figure 00:04:20.440 --> 00:04:26.880 out whether what we are going to do or what faces us can be rationalized and worked out 00:04:26.880 --> 00:04:32.280 with our minds which are so limited. Because our minds are fed by five senses. All that 00:04:32.280 --> 00:04:37.720 we know is fed by the five senses. Then there's speculative thinking. Speculative thinking 00:04:37.720 --> 00:04:42.720 is what if or what does this mean or what could it be? This happened to that person. 00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:47.400 How is it going to be for me? It's speculative thinking where you're speculating on something 00:04:47.400 --> 00:04:52.840 that you have no control over, absolutely no control over. It's fascinating. I remember 00:04:52.840 --> 00:04:59.480 sitting in a hotel room once and speculating for two hours and I looked at my watch and 00:04:59.480 --> 00:05:06.480 I thought you just spent 7200 seconds speculating on something you can't control. I was so irritated 00:05:07.640 --> 00:05:11.520 with myself for spending two hours thinking about something that I didn't know how it 00:05:11.520 --> 00:05:16.160 would work out, how I could control it. Guys, we spend half our time sleeping, half our 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:23.160 time speculating and then the other half we live. It doesn't work out that way. And then 00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:30.920 there's calculated responses where we try to figure out what is the best option given 00:05:30.920 --> 00:05:36.960 our reasoning and our speculative thinking. What can we respond to after calculating all 00:05:36.960 --> 00:05:43.960 the odds that will make things work out? And all three are ways that are from the world. 00:05:46.440 --> 00:05:53.440 And this has to now be replaced by faith as in biblically prescribed faith which gives 00:05:56.880 --> 00:06:03.880 you a singular eye to see what God wants. So that's the way it works. 00:06:07.960 --> 00:06:14.960 You-to-do. That's the thing, eh? Faith helps me draw back from rationale which is limited. 00:06:20.680 --> 00:06:24.880 I'm not saying rational is always bad but it's so limited because it's dependent on 00:06:24.880 --> 00:06:31.880 my soul, on my five senses which is again so corrupted by the environment I grow up 00:06:32.280 --> 00:06:37.360 in. It gives me a singular eye where it draws me back from speculative thinking. It draws 00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:41.720 me back from trying to reason things out. It draws me back from trying to calculate 00:06:41.720 --> 00:06:48.320 the best odds. It gives me a singular eye to see what God wants me to do. It gives me 00:06:48.320 --> 00:06:54.440 a singular eye and it helps override the questions in my mind. Gosh man, when you begin to go 00:06:54.440 --> 00:06:57.720 down this road the number of questions that come up, how will this work, who should I 00:06:57.720 --> 00:07:03.400 meet, what? To override those questions and to have a single eye to see things the way 00:07:03.400 --> 00:07:10.400 God sees things, faith is required. Any questions? Any questions? Or any challenges to this? 00:07:10.400 --> 00:07:17.400 Any questions? Any challenges? Which one are you looking at, Ruth? Prescribed. Whenever 00:07:17.400 --> 00:07:24.400 you write the word prescribed you have to write it like a doctor. It should be completely 00:07:24.400 --> 00:07:31.400 illegible. Guys, so faith is a very important part of the human being. It's a very important 00:07:39.800 --> 00:07:46.800 part of the human being. It's a very important part of the human being. It's a very important 00:07:54.400 --> 00:08:01.400 part of the human being. And faith, Heidi, what are you looking at now? To see what God 00:08:02.040 --> 00:08:09.040 wants you to do. You're a nurse. You write like this. To see what God wants you to do. 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:17.140 Guys, one of the definitions of faith that we rarely hear is faith is entering into what 00:08:17.140 --> 00:08:23.540 God wants to do with you and for you. Faith is entering into what God wants to do with 00:08:23.540 --> 00:08:30.180 you and for you. What a cool definition, eh? Faith is entering into what God wants to do 00:08:30.180 --> 00:08:37.180 with you and for you. Faith isn't this thing that we decide, ah, this is what we want to 00:08:38.780 --> 00:08:44.100 do and then there's this struggling. No. God gave us faith so that we could enter into 00:08:44.100 --> 00:08:49.940 what God wants to do with us and for us. It's a risky embrace of His action. It's a risky 00:08:50.140 --> 00:08:57.140 embrace of His action. It will always be beyond your abilities, eh? But He is the story writer. 00:09:00.140 --> 00:09:03.940 He's the author and the finisher of faith. So He's writing the story. But He's saying, 00:09:03.940 --> 00:09:10.180 hey Jacob, before you were born, I prepared these mighty exploits for you to do and these 00:09:10.180 --> 00:09:15.340 were authored by me and I got the power to finish them. So why don't you enter and embrace 00:09:15.420 --> 00:09:21.420 this risky venture that I'm wanting to engage you in and let's you and I enter into what 00:09:21.420 --> 00:09:27.820 I want to do through you, for you, come. That's what faith is. Suddenly it becomes an adventure 00:09:27.820 --> 00:09:32.340 that you look forward to, not some kind of a struggle that you're engaged in. It's so 00:09:32.340 --> 00:09:37.220 sad that faith has become a thing that when I go through a struggle I need faith. No. 00:09:37.220 --> 00:09:43.740 When I walk through adventures I need faith. Faith is entering into what God wants to do 00:09:43.940 --> 00:09:50.940 with you and for you. It's a risky embrace of what God wants to do. And it will always 00:09:53.940 --> 00:09:59.140 be beyond you. And by the way, all of us start with faith, eh? To begin with, isn't it a 00:09:59.140 --> 00:10:06.140 fruit of the spirit? And if you have the spirit of God, I'm suggesting you have faith. We 00:10:07.780 --> 00:10:13.300 all have been given faith to start with. Romans 12.3 talks about it. Galatians 5.22 talks 00:10:13.300 --> 00:10:18.840 about it. Ephesians 2.8 talks about it. Romans 10.17 says, now that this faith has been 00:10:18.840 --> 00:10:24.220 given to you, cultivate it. Cultivate it. How? Through hearing and doing. Everybody 00:10:24.220 --> 00:10:29.520 here who is a believer has the faith that God requires and wants him to have to enter 00:10:29.520 --> 00:10:33.380 into adventures with him. Guys, think of it again. Think of that line again. Faith is 00:10:33.380 --> 00:10:40.380 entering into things that God wants to do with you and for you. So even when a struggle 00:10:41.380 --> 00:10:45.900 comes, God is saying, hey, I want to do something with you and for you in the middle of the 00:10:45.900 --> 00:10:50.100 struggle. Want to come in? Want to walk with me? Want to take this risky embrace of this 00:10:50.100 --> 00:10:55.660 venture that I'm leading you into? Want to see how I'll deliver you? Come walk. That's 00:10:55.660 --> 00:11:02.460 what he's saying. And we know that the enemy is someone who keeps shooting fiery darts. 00:11:02.460 --> 00:11:07.540 And what do we block that with? The shield of? Faith. Again, it goes back to the same 00:11:07.540 --> 00:11:10.860 thing. Oh, he's really shooting fiery darts at you, having a tough time. Want to come 00:11:10.860 --> 00:11:14.460 with me? Pick up the shield of faith and you and I can go and walk this together. Walk 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:19.100 into a venture that will help you get through this because I'm the author and not the half 00:11:19.100 --> 00:11:24.380 writer, but the author and the finisher of your faith. I know the story. I'm writing 00:11:24.380 --> 00:11:30.180 it. I know how to get you out of it. And boy, will they read it and say, oh shucks. That's 00:11:30.180 --> 00:11:37.180 how this works. Any questions on that? Guys, feel free to challenge this and question it. 00:11:37.940 --> 00:11:44.940 Hey, were you waiting for me to move for you to go this way? That's very nice. Oh, okay. 00:11:51.020 --> 00:11:58.020 Any questions guys? Any difference of opinion? Okay. Honk honk. Faith is not a means to an 00:12:02.100 --> 00:12:07.220 end. It is the end in itself. Faith is not a means to the end. We often use faith as 00:12:07.220 --> 00:12:13.620 a means towards an end. As in, if I exert faith, I will obtain this. True. We need to 00:12:13.620 --> 00:12:19.300 have a result or an outcome that we know God is taking us towards. But faith is not a means 00:12:19.300 --> 00:12:23.940 towards an end. Faith is an end in itself. And why do I say that? Because here is what 00:12:23.940 --> 00:12:30.940 the end of faith is. Faith makes you a God recognizer. As in Hebrews 11, 5 or 6 says 00:12:31.940 --> 00:12:38.940 that one should believe that God exists before you can even start. Faith helps you become 00:12:38.940 --> 00:12:45.940 a God recognizer. The end of faith, the end of faith, besides the outcome, besides the 00:12:46.020 --> 00:12:53.020 outcome is that you become a God recognizer, you become a God partner, and you become a 00:12:53.260 --> 00:13:00.260 God pleaser. Without faith it is impossible to please God. So you become a God recognizer. 00:13:07.820 --> 00:13:13.620 Faith allows me to now recognize God as more powerful than, greater than, bigger than any 00:13:13.620 --> 00:13:20.180 situation, any enemy, any mortal that comes my way. It recognizes God. Faith that does 00:13:20.180 --> 00:13:25.860 not recognize God will not survive. Faith recognizes God. Faith recognizes God. We'll 00:13:25.860 --> 00:13:32.860 talk more about that again later. Faith makes me a God partner. Where in 2 Chronicles 16, 00:13:33.900 --> 00:13:37.700 9 or 1 Chronicles 16, 9 it says that the eyes of the Lord roam to and fro looking for those 00:13:37.700 --> 00:13:43.700 that he can show himself mighty on behalf of. God is looking for partners. God is looking 00:13:43.740 --> 00:13:50.740 for partners to show himself off through. Jesus put it this way. He said, Oh God, you're 00:13:53.620 --> 00:13:57.620 in me and I'm in you. So will you do your works through me so that they may know that 00:13:57.620 --> 00:14:02.540 I am sent by you and they may recognize that you work in me and they recognize you. So 00:14:02.540 --> 00:14:06.460 two things are happening in what Jesus is saying. Jesus is saying, you're in me, I'm 00:14:06.460 --> 00:14:12.580 in you. Could you do works through me so that they acknowledge that you sent me? And once 00:14:12.580 --> 00:14:19.580 I start doing the works you want me to do, they'll also acknowledge you. A God partner. 00:14:20.460 --> 00:14:24.660 The end of faith, besides the outcome, is you become a God recognizer, a God partner 00:14:24.660 --> 00:14:31.660 and a God pleaser. Because without faith it is impossible to please God. What a cool thing 00:14:31.980 --> 00:14:37.580 faith is, man. In every little thing, and I asked this question before when we did faith 00:14:37.580 --> 00:14:43.900 long ago, do you prefer to live by faith? And the answer usually is no, I use it when 00:14:43.900 --> 00:14:50.900 I have to. But the correct answer to the question, do you prefer to live by faith is absolutely, 00:14:50.900 --> 00:14:57.900 is there any other kind of living? But Christians use faith as, oh I've got to use faith again 00:14:58.640 --> 00:15:05.640 because I'm in a situation. Jesus preferred to live by faith. Yep? 00:15:07.580 --> 00:15:13.540 Absolutely, and we'll talk about faith degraders. What degrades faith? And when we come to that 00:15:13.540 --> 00:15:20.460 we'll touch on what Diana just said. So let's talk about faith degraders. Faith degraders, 00:15:20.460 --> 00:15:24.100 I like the word degrade because nowadays you keep hearing that from the White House. We 00:15:24.100 --> 00:15:28.300 are degrading ISIS in Syria. And we don't know what that means but I like the sound 00:15:28.300 --> 00:15:35.300 of degraders. So faith degraders. So what are faith degraders? Faith degraders are the 00:15:38.300 --> 00:15:42.860 basically things that come against faith. So here's the thing guys. The opposite of 00:15:42.860 --> 00:15:49.860 faith, the opposite of faith is doubt. The substitute for faith is self-reliance. So 00:16:07.580 --> 00:16:14.580 the substitute for faith is self-reliance. The detractor of faith, the detractor of 00:16:19.620 --> 00:16:26.620 faith is expectancy. I'll explain that. Low expectancy. The failure of faith, why does 00:16:26.620 --> 00:16:33.620 faith not have power? Why is there a blackout of faith? The failure of faith is ignorance. 00:16:37.340 --> 00:16:44.340 The failure of faith is ignorance. And the tormentor of faith, and the tormentor of faith 00:16:44.340 --> 00:16:51.340 is fear. These are basically what we can term as faith degraders or you can call it whatever 00:16:52.340 --> 00:16:59.340 you want. Faith degraders. The opposite of faith is doubt. The opposite of faith is fear. 00:17:03.340 --> 00:17:10.340 Faith degraders are the opposite of faith. Faith degraders are the opposite of faith. 00:17:14.340 --> 00:17:21.340 The opposite of faith is doubt. The substitute for faith is self-reliance. The detractor 00:17:27.300 --> 00:17:34.300 of faith is low expectancy. As in it detracts from faith. It minuses, subtracts faith. The 00:17:36.260 --> 00:17:41.500 detractor of faith is low expectancy. The failure of faith is ignorance. The tormentor 00:17:41.500 --> 00:17:46.860 of faith is fear. And boy, do these things sometimes assail us. Just keep assaulting 00:17:46.860 --> 00:17:52.900 us. So the opposite of faith is doubt. So when doubt comes in, guys, it's pointless 00:17:52.900 --> 00:17:57.340 when we have doubt to try and go to somebody who will make us feel better. Because that's 00:17:57.340 --> 00:18:04.340 what we do. When we have doubt, we sometimes want prayer just so we feel better. But it's 00:18:04.580 --> 00:18:09.780 not feelings that will help you. The opposite of faith is doubt and the only way to handle 00:18:09.780 --> 00:18:14.900 doubt is to go back into the word. There's no other way around that. The substitute for 00:18:14.900 --> 00:18:21.900 faith is self-reliance. This is our specialty as humans. Self-reliance. We substitute faith 00:18:23.940 --> 00:18:28.460 with self-reliance. So what does Saul do? He goes to the witch of Endo. What does Abraham 00:18:28.460 --> 00:18:35.460 do? He goes back to Egypt. What does King Asa do? He goes to his physicians. So what 00:18:39.980 --> 00:18:46.980 does Peter do? He goes back to fishing. What does Jacob do? He goes to someone who can 00:18:47.860 --> 00:18:54.860 help him. I'm talking about this Jacob. So the substitute for faith is self-reliance. 00:18:58.380 --> 00:19:02.700 Where we become self-reliant because it's much easier to do it our way, with our rational 00:19:02.700 --> 00:19:06.500 and hope it works out than trust God who is invisible, whose word we have to depend on 00:19:06.500 --> 00:19:11.500 and he seems to take his own sweet time when I can fix it in two minutes. Third one, the 00:19:11.500 --> 00:19:16.540 detractor of faith is low expectancy. Guys, we'll talk about this some more later on. 00:19:16.540 --> 00:19:23.540 But here's the thing. Many of us have small faith because our expectancy is small. The 00:19:28.700 --> 00:19:34.820 largeness of faith is not determined by the size of your faith, by the size of your expectancy. 00:19:34.820 --> 00:19:38.500 The largeness of faith is not determined by the size of your faith, but the size of 00:19:38.500 --> 00:19:43.540 your expectancy. What do you want? What do you want? Jesus keeps asking people, what 00:19:43.540 --> 00:19:50.540 do you want? I mean a blind man comes up, what do you want? Why? Because once my expectations 00:19:51.820 --> 00:19:58.820 are low, it detracts faith, it destroys faith. We hide behind the sovereignty of God so 00:19:59.820 --> 00:20:06.820 that we don't need to exert faith. Let me say that again. There's a tendency in Christianity 00:20:06.820 --> 00:20:10.820 to hide behind the sovereignty of God as in saying, let God do what he wants to do. 00:20:10.820 --> 00:20:17.820 And that way I don't have to exert faith. Faith always has expectancy. The very definition 00:20:17.820 --> 00:20:23.820 of faith in Hebrews chapter 11, one word, the hope of things unseen. As in I have to 00:20:24.820 --> 00:20:31.820 see something which is unseen and begin to expect and hope in it for faith to even exist. 00:20:32.820 --> 00:20:38.820 Low expectancy detracts faith, guys. Be aware of that. And the difference between small 00:20:38.820 --> 00:20:45.820 faith and large faith is just expectancy. We'll talk about that a little more. It's 00:20:45.820 --> 00:20:52.820 so important. The fourth one is the failure of faith. The failure of faith is ignorance. 00:20:53.820 --> 00:21:00.820 The more I'm ignorant of the word, the less there is a chance of my faith succeeding. 00:21:00.820 --> 00:21:07.820 Because Romans 10.17 puts it this way, faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. 00:21:07.820 --> 00:21:11.820 Be ignorant of the word, have a failure or a power failure of faith. Because what do 00:21:11.820 --> 00:21:16.820 you base it on? On someone else's experience? That doesn't help you grow. It encourages 00:21:16.820 --> 00:21:23.820 you, but it doesn't help you grow. And the last one is the tormentor of faith. Fear. 00:21:23.820 --> 00:21:29.820 The tormentor of faith is fear. And the tormentor of faith comes through what? Sound, sight. 00:21:29.820 --> 00:21:35.820 Two highly used phenomena. We rarely smell fear. Dogs do. But we don't necessarily smell 00:21:35.820 --> 00:21:42.820 fear. But we hear fear and we see fear. And boy, does that become a source of torment 00:21:42.820 --> 00:21:50.820 which begins to eat away from faith. So whatever is your weakest area, begin to work on that. 00:21:50.820 --> 00:21:55.820 Because I'm sure that all of this happens to us at different times. But there are certain 00:21:55.820 --> 00:22:03.820 areas in this that are particularly our thing. And work on that first. Work on that first. 00:22:04.820 --> 00:22:06.820 Any questions, comments? 00:22:17.820 --> 00:22:21.820 We'll talk about that. Talk about that. In six minutes. 00:22:25.820 --> 00:22:29.820 No, ladies, you've got to be kinder. 00:22:30.820 --> 00:22:36.820 Guys, part of the reason God starts with his Deuteronomy 31.6 where he says, be strong 00:22:36.820 --> 00:22:40.820 and courageous and don't be afraid, is because he wants us to be fearless when it comes to 00:22:40.820 --> 00:22:47.820 faith. And one of the first requirements for fearlessness is what I said last week. Write 00:22:47.820 --> 00:22:51.820 it down. It's Sunday school stuff. But write it down and read it every day if you can. 00:22:51.820 --> 00:22:59.820 He owns everything. He controls everything. He's very kind and he's intentionally looking 00:22:59.820 --> 00:23:06.820 for ways to do me good. It is so comforting, guys. He owns everything. He controls everything. 00:23:06.820 --> 00:23:13.820 He's very kind and he's intentionally looking for ways to do me good. Sounds so simple, 00:23:14.820 --> 00:23:21.820 I have to repeat it a third time. He owns everything, controls everything. He's very 00:23:22.820 --> 00:23:28.820 kind and he's intentionally looking for ways to do me good. Guys, this one statement will 00:23:28.820 --> 00:23:34.820 prevent you from questioning or being disappointed when things don't work out like you want. 00:23:36.820 --> 00:23:41.820 This has helped me so much when I'm expecting something standing in faith and it doesn't 00:23:41.820 --> 00:23:45.820 happen. Everything in me kind of shrinks up where you feel like your stomach and your 00:23:45.820 --> 00:23:49.820 heart is kind of shrinking. It would be good if it actually happened, but it's just inside 00:23:49.820 --> 00:23:53.820 that it happens. And then you're thinking to yourself, man, this is so sad because I did 00:23:53.820 --> 00:23:58.820 everything I felt I was standing in faith and everything has just crumpled. And that 00:23:58.820 --> 00:24:04.820 is when I quickly go to my iPhone and not read this, read what I read. That he owns 00:24:04.820 --> 00:24:10.820 everything. He controls everything. He's very kind and he's always intentionally looking 00:24:10.820 --> 00:24:14.820 for ways to do me good. So I'm not seeing what needs to happen here, but there's something 00:24:14.820 --> 00:24:19.820 that I need to see because it's not a lack of faith that sometimes causes things to fall 00:24:19.820 --> 00:24:24.820 apart. There are so many other factors, guys, but I know that he's intentionally good. I've 00:24:24.820 --> 00:24:27.820 got to trust that and it'll begin to come up again, especially when you're standing in 00:24:27.820 --> 00:24:33.820 faith for someone else, guys. There are so many factors involved. So many factors involved. 00:24:33.820 --> 00:24:38.820 I remember a pastor once whose wife used to be falling sick quite often and he'd go lay 00:24:39.820 --> 00:24:44.820 hands on her and she'd get healed every time he'd pray for her. And then a time came about 00:24:44.820 --> 00:24:48.820 four or five years into the marriage, and this is a very well-known guy. He wrote it 00:24:48.820 --> 00:24:52.820 in his book, one of his books he wrote. Five years into his marriage, he went to pray for 00:24:52.820 --> 00:24:57.820 his wife and she didn't recover. And so he goes and asks the Lord saying, Father, how 00:24:57.820 --> 00:25:02.820 come? I've been praying. You always heal my wife. I prayed for her. She's not recovering 00:25:02.820 --> 00:25:07.820 and God's answer was very simple to him. He says, she's got to stop piggyback riding on 00:25:07.820 --> 00:25:14.820 you. It's time for her to step into maturity and exert her own faith. When I read that 00:25:14.820 --> 00:25:19.820 many years ago, about 24 years ago, I read that and I thought, huh, there are times when 00:25:19.820 --> 00:25:25.820 you've got to stop carrying people on your back because they have had enough time to 00:25:25.820 --> 00:25:32.820 develop their faith. Three years ago or four years ago, my sister wanted to put Leah in 00:25:33.820 --> 00:25:39.820 a private school in Bristol. And they asked me what I thought and I was asking the Lord, 00:25:39.820 --> 00:25:43.820 Father, what do you think? And I felt the Lord saying, go ahead. Because their main 00:25:43.820 --> 00:25:50.820 concern was private schools are super expensive, so will they be able to handle it? And I felt 00:25:50.820 --> 00:25:54.820 the Lord saying, don't worry, tell them to go ahead and I'll take care of it. So I went 00:25:54.820 --> 00:25:59.820 and told my sister, listen, you asked me and I sensed God saying this, but they still didn't 00:25:59.820 --> 00:26:04.820 have the peace or the comfort to go ahead and do it. And so then I was asking the Lord, 00:26:04.820 --> 00:26:08.820 Father, now what do you do? I told them what you want. And the Lord said, that's fine. 00:26:08.820 --> 00:26:12.820 At present they don't have the faith. Tell them to try again next year. And so I told 00:26:12.820 --> 00:26:16.820 them, don't worry about it. It's no big deal. God's not upset with you or disappointed 00:26:16.820 --> 00:26:22.820 with you. So between now and the next year admission deadline, build up your faith. And 00:26:22.820 --> 00:26:27.820 so for one year they actually took it seriously. The next year came and the craziest thing 00:26:27.820 --> 00:26:32.820 happened. My brother-in-law got an increase in salary. He had back pay that was supposed 00:26:32.820 --> 00:26:38.820 to be given to him for four or five years and it came together. And my sister got some 00:26:38.820 --> 00:26:42.820 kind of a promotion at work and the money was no issue. But by now they had built up 00:26:42.820 --> 00:26:46.820 their faith to a point where they could. Right. Guys, sometimes remember when we are standing 00:26:46.820 --> 00:26:51.820 in faith for others, you can only have them piggyback on you for so long. Because what 00:26:51.820 --> 00:26:57.820 if Tavis is now 20 years old and Jason still has to carry him to church? That won't be 00:27:01.820 --> 00:27:07.820 fun because Tavis would be bigger than Jason. Tavis could carry Jason. So that's what I 00:27:12.820 --> 00:27:16.820 mean guys. Just be aware of it when you're praying for somebody else. Because the only 00:27:16.820 --> 00:27:19.820 person you really know well and you really know the exertion of what you're doing is 00:27:19.820 --> 00:27:25.820 you. You can't say it for anybody else. Another way to stay fearless is to go back to 00:27:28.820 --> 00:27:34.820 Deuteronomy 31.6. The Lord goes with me. When? When I'm holy? No, no, no, no. The Lord goes 00:27:35.820 --> 00:27:40.820 with me period. He doesn't say when you're holy I'll go with you. When you're not holy 00:27:40.820 --> 00:27:46.820 you're on your own. Thank God he doesn't say that. The Lord goes with you. The Lord goes 00:27:47.820 --> 00:27:53.820 with me. Second statement in Deuteronomy 31.6. He will not abandon me. He will not disown 00:27:55.820 --> 00:28:01.820 me. He will not leave me alone. He will never forsake me. He's my absolute helper. So Jacob, 00:28:08.820 --> 00:28:14.820 give me a good reason for you to be afraid. I'm not afraid of anything. I'm not afraid 00:28:16.820 --> 00:28:22.820 of anything. I'm not afraid of anything. I'm not afraid of anything. I'm not afraid of 00:28:22.820 --> 00:28:28.820 anything. I'm not afraid of anything. I'm not afraid of anything. I'm not afraid of anything. 00:28:42.820 --> 00:28:48.820 Okay, the next thing which we talked about a lot in this church is gauge which direction God is going in. 00:28:48.820 --> 00:28:53.820 How do you figure out which direction God is going in? Through his word, through a 00:28:53.820 --> 00:28:59.820 Rhema word which God sends, through a prophetic word that God sends, through dreams, through visions, 00:28:59.820 --> 00:29:05.820 through asking, through seeking. Know which way he's traveling. He uses circumstances. Look at the 00:29:05.820 --> 00:29:11.820 circumstances he used in Jason's life to bring about this house. I mean we go for a pastor's 00:29:11.820 --> 00:29:17.820 retreat which is really not our favorite place to go. And we went there and I'm talking to this lady 00:29:17.820 --> 00:29:23.820 and she says she's from Lethbridge and I think you had talked to her before that and then she connects 00:29:23.820 --> 00:29:28.820 the thing and the house happens. God uses circumstances, dreams, visions, prophetic words, Rhema, Rhema 00:29:28.820 --> 00:29:33.820 words, the word of God, every which way to show you the direction he wants you to take. Guys, he says 00:29:33.820 --> 00:29:39.820 I do not speak in obtuse riddles. I speak plainly. And when I speak plainly I do so so that you can 00:29:39.820 --> 00:29:44.820 understand what I'm saying. I speak in parables to people who are not necessarily once connected with 00:29:44.820 --> 00:29:50.820 me but with you I speak things plainly. We've talked about it a million times so I won't talk about 00:29:53.820 --> 00:29:59.820 that right now. But one of the ways you can be fearless is when you know the direction God wants you to 00:29:59.820 --> 00:30:05.820 travel in and once that happens the next door neighbors of us, like the kids, they're going to be talking 00:30:05.820 --> 00:30:11.820 today about shameless boldness. Once you know God has said something you can be shamelessly bold. 00:30:11.820 --> 00:30:17.820 Shamelessly bold. Because you've heard God. Now what does it matter? Now even the outcome doesn't matter 00:30:17.820 --> 00:30:23.820 because faith is now about entering into an adventure and trusting and obeying. Hey guys, it's because 00:30:23.820 --> 00:30:29.820 our focus is on the outcome that we feel disappointment. If our focus was on God and not the fig tree, the 00:30:29.820 --> 00:30:37.820 fig tree will blossom in time. Because our focus is not on God but on the fig tree, the fig tree 00:30:37.820 --> 00:30:45.820 because our focus is not on God but on the fig tree that has not blossomed yet. Habakkuk chapter 3. 00:30:45.820 --> 00:30:51.820 What happens is we get disappointed when we don't see fruit on the fig tree immediately. When the, if the 00:30:51.820 --> 00:30:56.820 focus is on God then we don't have to worry about the outcome. Well because the fig tree will blossom. I'm 00:30:56.820 --> 00:31:01.820 called to trust and obey and enter into an adventure because God is saying come I've planned this before the 00:31:01.820 --> 00:31:05.820 foundations of the earth, walk with me in this. 00:31:13.820 --> 00:31:19.820 If you say you have faith and we go back to that whole question of expectancy. If you say you have faith, one must ask the question 00:31:19.820 --> 00:31:25.820 that God asks, what do you want me to do for you? In Mark chapter 10 verse 51 a blind man comes up to Jesus 00:31:25.820 --> 00:31:31.820 and Jesus asks him such a foolish question by human standards. A blind man comes to him and he says what do you want? 00:31:35.820 --> 00:31:44.820 But Jesus wants to know what is your expectancy? What do you want? He wants to know your expectations. Guys, vagueness 00:31:44.820 --> 00:31:53.820 or whatever will be will be is not faith. Vagueness is not faith. Whatever will be, do with me as you will is not 00:31:53.820 --> 00:32:04.820 faith, is not faith. Jesus says that. The Bible says that. What is your expectancy? Guys the capacity of your 00:32:04.820 --> 00:32:11.820 expectation determines the largeness of your faith. The capacity of your expectation determines the largeness of your 00:32:11.820 --> 00:32:22.820 faith. Peter has eleven others in the boat. Why do we say Peter was a man of bold faith? Because he, look at his 00:32:22.820 --> 00:32:28.820 expectancy. If you can walk on water and you are my master and we recognize you and I recognize you as Jesus, son of the 00:32:28.820 --> 00:32:33.820 living God, then why can't I walk on water too? So can you tell me to come? Because once you say come then I know that the 00:32:33.820 --> 00:32:41.820 word has been spoken and I can jump on this water and start walking on it. Is that large expectancy? Walking on water I'd suggest 00:32:41.820 --> 00:32:50.820 to you is large expectancy. I remember when I was a kid, I had this friend who had an uncle who was a scientist and he told 00:32:50.820 --> 00:32:56.820 us he could walk on water. So we were all excited and he said three days it will take before he can do it. So we were all waiting 00:32:56.820 --> 00:33:01.820 for three days. Then after the third day he takes us into the washroom and then he pours some water on the floor and he walks on 00:33:01.820 --> 00:33:15.820 it. It was so disappointing man. We were just kids, like six and seven year olds and waiting for three days saying, oh he's going to do 00:33:15.820 --> 00:33:27.820 that. It was like after three days to pour some water on the floor and walk on it. So Tavis don't let anyone pull that one on 00:33:27.820 --> 00:33:49.820 you now. Expectancy increases as one recognizes who the father is. Expectancy increases as one recognizes who the father is. 00:33:49.820 --> 00:34:07.820 Expectancy increases as you live life as a much loved child. Expectancy increases as you live life as a much loved child. Expectancy 00:34:07.820 --> 00:34:18.820 increases as you walk on water and find that it works. Now you begin to have a greater expectancy. The more you experience God the 00:34:18.820 --> 00:34:27.820 greater your expectancy. Guys at the end of the day it's not your grasp of Greek or your guts or your gumption that allows you to trust God. It's the 00:34:27.820 --> 00:34:36.820 depth of the revelation of the father. You get to know what the father is like and you begin to act like a much loved child and bold faith is 00:34:36.820 --> 00:34:46.820 basically faith that expects giant things of a gigantic God. Because God is saying, hey this is what I have for you. Do you want to 00:34:46.820 --> 00:34:59.820 step in? Guys let me assure you every time throughout your life you will always be stretched beyond what you have been stretched today because God is more aware of your 00:34:59.820 --> 00:35:09.820 capacity than you are. There is never going to be a time when God will stretch you as much as he stretched you two years ago. He will always stretch you beyond because he 00:35:09.820 --> 00:35:29.820 knows that Jacob has the ability after all these years to venture into bolder faith where I think my limits are is almost never where God thinks my limits are. And it will always stretch me but it will always be in my grasp. This is the way faith works. 00:35:29.820 --> 00:35:58.820 Might as well enjoy it and make it your friend than fight it as if it is an eventuality of life. You know you hear sermons on dream big. You cannot dream big till you have great expectancy and you cannot have great expectancy till you know the father, till you are a much loved child, until you experience faith on a regular basis. That's what makes expectancy grow man. 00:35:58.820 --> 00:36:27.820 Got to get this right. When will you start if not today and who if not you? And I am not talking to you I am talking to me. Remember when I say you I always mean me. No I am not. But you are not excluding us. I said no I am not. But when when guys? When when? When? Today. Today. 00:36:29.820 --> 00:36:45.820 See this is what will happen. We listen to this message and we have a particular situation happening in our life right now that we have been waiting for that we have been disappointed in that we have been praying for and it hasn't worked out and we use that as a filter for the rest of life. 00:36:45.820 --> 00:37:08.820 And what a shame because we are missing out on everything because of that. You are taking once this message is done Chris can say but my ear. Wayne and Bernice can say but Wendy. Kamal and Ann can say but this. I can say but this. Mariana can say but this. 00:37:15.820 --> 00:37:43.820 In the ground we bury the richness of who God is because our circumstance begins to frustrate the truth and denies us this banquet that God is setting before us. What a shame eh. We cannot allow this to happen. We can't allow incidents to determine the face and the faithfulness of God. 00:37:45.820 --> 00:38:14.820 Every one of us Jacob has something that we are standing for. Yeah and for each of us it's super difficult. Now I may think that ah Wayne and Bernice are going through a difficult time with Wendy in the hospital and it bothers me. But guess what the same degree to which it bothers them is perhaps what bothers Chris when it comes to her ear because she's been handling that for the last few years. 00:38:15.820 --> 00:38:37.820 For the last seven or eight years. You know it doesn't matter what our problem is to us it is the largest thing that is happening. All of us in this room are having it guys. We can't let what God is saying go to not because of a circumstance and particularly when the circumstance has to deal with faith for somebody else. 00:38:37.820 --> 00:39:00.820 You have less control guys because there is another life involved another will involved another exertion of faith involved another degree of obedience involved. You cannot control someone else's life. They make decisions and those decisions and have different results and you can only do your best but you can't do more than that guys. 00:39:00.820 --> 00:39:20.820 Can't do more than that. Let me kind of begin to conclude. Guys one of the things with faith it always hears and sees what God is saying and then it names the journey or the outcome. It names the journey or the outcome. 00:39:20.820 --> 00:39:33.820 One of the things that we have learned to do well is we'll exert faith but we won't tell anybody about it. Why just in case it doesn't work out then it's not a problem. That's that's not necessarily the way faith works from the stories in the Bible. 00:39:33.820 --> 00:39:49.820 Abraham changes name to Abraham. I'm not saying wear what you're doing on your sleeve and let everybody know but don't hide it to the point where it's not known either. I know mothers who are pregnant and they won't tell anybody that they're pregnant. You know why because they're scared that they may lose the baby and so they don't want to tell anybody. 00:39:49.820 --> 00:40:05.820 Now I can understand the fear because they must have lost babies in the past but sometimes faith requires that I name the outcome. Name the outcome. I'm not saying that you should be afraid of the outcome. I'm saying that you should be afraid of the outcome. 00:40:05.820 --> 00:40:31.820 I can understand the fear because they must have lost babies in the past but sometimes faith requires that I name the outcome. Name the outcome. Joseph said listen don't bury my bones here. My bones need to be buried in the promised land. He was talking 400 years in advance or something like that. 00:40:31.820 --> 00:40:41.820 Yeah 400 years in advance. Abraham changed his name to Abraham when he was 75 and spent the next 24 years wondering why he changed his name. 00:40:41.820 --> 00:41:01.820 But faith names the journey or the outcome. Why did I tell you about that woman in Indonesia that I was going to visit? I could have kept it quiet because what if nothing happened? Then you wouldn't know and my testimony would still be intact. 00:41:01.820 --> 00:41:17.820 But I told you ahead of time so that you know that there is a possibility that I'll go there and that this was a woman's condition so that you would know whether it failed or not. Or rather in my mind really in a sense of speaking there was never a question of failure. I knew it would succeed. 00:41:17.820 --> 00:41:32.820 The point being name the journey. Name the journey. By keeping it quiet it's not necessarily helpful. Two, guys this might sound like such an odd sentence. The ideal environment for faith is when there is no human reason for hope. 00:41:32.820 --> 00:41:48.820 It recognizes the impossibility of what you have just named and it dares to trust God instead of seeing what can't be done. I mean you see this in Abraham's life. He names the journey. He looks at his condition and he says listen I'm important. Then he begins to say but I'm fully persuaded that what God said he can. 00:41:48.820 --> 00:41:58.820 Abraham means father of many nations. The other thing faith does is it grasps the journey as a present possession. It grasps the journey as a present possession. As a present possession. As a present possession. 00:41:58.820 --> 00:42:28.820 As it says father this is what you said. This is what I believe you will do. And so I at present receive it in my spirit immediately. It makes me feel like I'm in a place where I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there. I can't be there 00:42:28.820 --> 00:42:37.820 It may take a minute for it to happen or it may take a year for it to happen. But I just want you to know that I really believe what you've said and I receive it in my spirit right now. 00:42:40.820 --> 00:42:53.820 Yeah. Faith has the ability to grasp as present possession what God has said. Faith has the ability to grasp as present possession what God has said. 00:42:54.820 --> 00:43:17.820 As in father you said it. I now receive it in my spirit immediately. I agree with you right now. It may take a minute for it to happen or it may take a year for it to happen. But I want you to know that I fully believe you and I receive it in my spirit right now because you're a now God and I believe it fully that it's your desire. And so I receive it. I thank you for it. 00:43:18.820 --> 00:43:31.820 And now father I mean when when mothers get pregnant what do they say? Yeah, there's some strange feeling inside my belly, but don't know what it is. Two months later. Yeah, it's the belly is kind of swollen up. Don't know what it is. That's not what mothers do. 00:43:33.820 --> 00:43:39.820 They begin to say right off the bat that they've got a baby. People celebrate that a baby is on the way. 00:43:39.820 --> 00:43:57.820 Got to do the same thing with things that we have received in our womb from God saying my womb is full with what God is saying I'm going to birth. It may take nine months or it may take 24 months or it may take 36 months, but I know it's in the womb of my spirit. 00:43:57.820 --> 00:44:10.820 The period of gestation varies guys and it depends on so many different factors. But nothing can kill the seed of God. Nothing can kill the seed of God. Nothing can kill the seed of God that which is born of Hagar will be of flesh. 00:44:10.820 --> 00:44:30.820 But nothing can kill the seed of God. Nothing can kill the seed of God. Nothing can kill the seed of God that which is born of Hagar will be of flesh. But that which is born of promise will be full of laughter like Isaac and it will come forth because you can't kill the seed of God. 00:44:30.820 --> 00:44:50.820 But the seed of God stays dormant if it's not received in the womb of your spirit. Receive it in the womb of your spirit as in father I know you said it and I don't trust my five senses or my feelings. I receive it in my spirit saying God has said it. I believe it and that settles it for me and from here on I move. 00:44:50.820 --> 00:45:06.820 Awesome when we begin to think and walk like that guys. You birth things in your lifetime. Not just for you but for others too. For others too. 00:45:06.820 --> 00:45:27.820 Faith acknowledges reality guys and it bypasses feelings. It acknowledges realities and it bypasses feelings. The question is not what am I feeling. The question is what is the confession of my faith. The question is not what am I feeling. The question is what is the confession of my faith given what I know from God. What is the confession of my faith. Oh you're feeling really low Jacob. Oh sorry. Sorry. 00:45:27.820 --> 00:45:44.820 But now what is the confession of your faith. Come sympathize with me. Make me feel better. But what is the confession of my faith. And faith speaks guys. Faith speaks. Faith rebukes. Faith commands. Faith speaks what God has said. Faith speaks. 00:45:44.820 --> 00:46:00.820 I remember when I was boarding a flight from Hong Kong to Malaysia and I got no problems flying Malaysian Airlines and even though they've had two crashes in the last one year and so this guy is walking me to the gate and he says, oh shucks if they reverse the number you're going to get a ticket. 00:46:00.820 --> 00:46:20.820 I remember when I was boarding a flight from Hong Kong to Malaysia and I got no problems flying Malaysian Airlines and even though they've had two crashes in the last one year and so this guy is walking me to the gate and he says, oh shucks if they reverse the number you're sure you want to take this flight because the flight that went down was flight 370 and I'm flying flight 073. 00:46:20.820 --> 00:46:37.820 And so the guy who's walking with me looks at 073 and he says look at the number. I'm looking at the number and I can't find anything wrong with it. He's saying but look at it read it this way. So now it reads 370. And he's saying you sure you want to take this flight. This is what I meant by speculative thinking and this and that and the other. 00:46:37.820 --> 00:46:53.820 And it was such a silly incident but it was important for me to say guys that I've asked God how to fly. I've asked the Lord what choices I have where to go and all this stuff. God's going to keep this safe and so you don't need to worry about this. This is another believer but a young believer. 00:46:53.820 --> 00:47:03.820 Speculative thinking. By the way if you want to fly in Asia take Malaysian Airlines. It's dirty because they're trying to win back your favor. Yeah. 00:47:03.820 --> 00:47:16.820 Faith does not tiptoe around God's promises. Faith does not tiptoe around God's promises. Plunges right in. There's no tiptoeing around it. 00:47:16.820 --> 00:47:32.820 And then here's what happens guys. Your focus is not on the victory as in the outcome. Your focus is on God. You are obsessed with God. You're obsessed with God and therefore your eyes are not on the victory. You're obsessed with God. 00:47:32.820 --> 00:47:42.820 You're obsessed with God. Guys sometimes you can enjoy something so much that you don't care about the outcome. Faith should become like that. 00:47:42.820 --> 00:47:52.820 You begin to enjoy something so much that your eyes are not on the outcome. You begin to enjoy something so much that your eyes are not on the outcome. 00:47:52.820 --> 00:48:07.820 Guys sometimes you can enjoy something so much that you don't care about the outcome. Faith should become like that. You begin to enjoy something so much that your eyes are not on the outcome. 00:48:07.820 --> 00:48:26.820 Second, now you have the ability to be foolish. Where you face Goliath with five stones. 00:48:26.820 --> 00:48:42.820 Then you begin to function well because you act on your faith and give feet to your belief. 00:48:42.820 --> 00:48:55.820 And the last stage is you finish what you've started. How? By being steadfast. Why? Because you're obsessed with God. You're obsessed with God. You're obsessed with God. 00:48:55.820 --> 00:49:19.820 And the last stage is you finish what you've started. How? By being steadfast. Why? Because steadfastness brings you into maturity. Who said so? God. Where? James 1. What did he say? 00:49:19.820 --> 00:49:33.820 Count it all joy, Jason, when you go through trials. Why? Because the testing of your faith will bring perseverance and steadfastness. And steadfastness will bring you into a place of maturity. 00:49:33.820 --> 00:49:58.820 James 1.3. Let's just stop there. Any questions guys? Any questions? The first one is focus. Focus takes your eyes off. 00:49:58.820 --> 00:50:13.820 Guys, adjust along the way. When you're pursuing something, there'll be times when God will say, yeah, I told you to start here, but now I want you to take a left turn. But Father, why didn't you tell me before? Well, you wouldn't have listened then, so take a left turn now. So take a left turn. 00:50:13.820 --> 00:50:34.820 And then after you take the left turn, he'll say take a right turn. Take it. Make adjustments along the way. Make adjustments along the way. Paul had to do this. And so God said to Paul, go to Asia Minor. So he starts going. When he gets to Mycea, the Holy Spirit says, can't let you through. So he goes to Phrygia and he says, can't let you through. So he goes to Macedonia and then he has a vision. Make adjustments along the way. Keep moving. 00:50:34.820 --> 00:50:59.820 Focus is not on the fig tree because faith is usually for all the fig trees and blossoming father please make it blossom and we put all our strength into it. All our strength into it. Guys, one of the things Jesus said in John 530, so cool. He says that I hear accurately and judge things that my father is saying accurately because I'm not seeking my own vision. So focus is not on the fig tree. 00:50:59.820 --> 00:51:05.860 and judge things that my father is saying accurately because I'm not seeking my own will but the will of my father. 00:51:07.260 --> 00:51:12.980 The secret to hearing accurately is not desiring your own 00:51:13.340 --> 00:51:20.420 will. We so desperately want things to work out for everybody and we stand in faith and we don't necessarily hear. One of the 00:51:20.660 --> 00:51:22.660 saddest things I have done is 00:51:24.260 --> 00:51:26.660 on two occasions when people were sick 00:51:27.580 --> 00:51:32.900 didn't go to pray for them because I felt the Lord saying they're gonna die so don't pray let them come home. 00:51:34.700 --> 00:51:38.740 And to have to call up the daughters and say hey, I 00:51:39.780 --> 00:51:41.780 just want you to know that 00:51:41.780 --> 00:51:43.780 your father is going to die 00:51:44.140 --> 00:51:50.460 in the next couple of days and so why don't you start preparing for their death and they started screaming saying 00:51:50.460 --> 00:51:52.820 how can you even say that and all this stuff? 00:51:53.180 --> 00:51:54.700 This was 00:51:54.700 --> 00:51:58.100 yeah, and I felt so bad man. 00:52:00.980 --> 00:52:04.060 And in a day and a half he died. 00:52:08.220 --> 00:52:10.220 And 00:52:11.820 --> 00:52:15.660 the same thing happened to someone else and this time they kept the body for six seven hours 00:52:16.420 --> 00:52:19.980 wanting to revive it when God had said it's time to come home. 00:52:20.740 --> 00:52:28.380 And the disappointment that just swept across the room because we so desperately want some things to happen that 00:52:28.540 --> 00:52:30.780 it clouds our judgment and we don't necessarily 00:52:31.900 --> 00:52:39.620 hear and Jesus said the reason I judge and see things accurately is because I do not seek my own will but the will of my 00:52:40.420 --> 00:52:42.820 father and therefore he could hear correctly. 00:52:42.820 --> 00:52:47.340 I long to be in a place where it's not my desire that drives my faith 00:52:47.460 --> 00:52:53.660 but the desire of the father that drives my faith. I long for that. Certain things are established. 00:52:54.340 --> 00:52:58.220 We don't even have a doubt it but there are certain gray areas that we don't know. 00:52:58.260 --> 00:53:03.780 Those are the areas we find disappointment in but in areas that God has already mentioned in the Bible, we don't need to doubt it. 00:53:06.340 --> 00:53:08.340 But in other areas yes. 00:53:08.340 --> 00:53:10.340 And 00:53:16.860 --> 00:53:23.500 then despite everything when you are disappointed at how it did not turn out remember 00:53:25.300 --> 00:53:27.300 he's very kind 00:53:28.060 --> 00:53:32.140 he's always intentionally looking for ways to do me good. 00:53:32.940 --> 00:53:34.780 I know his nature. 00:53:34.780 --> 00:53:37.980 He's really loving he cares for me like crazy. 00:53:39.380 --> 00:53:41.380 I'm a much-loved child. I 00:53:42.020 --> 00:53:46.580 can't understand him, but I know that he's always fair and perfect. 00:53:47.140 --> 00:53:49.380 So even though it hurts Abba, 00:53:51.540 --> 00:53:53.540 I raise my arms and say 00:53:54.380 --> 00:53:57.780 that blessed be the name of the 00:53:58.820 --> 00:54:02.980 glorious Lord and then this doesn't 00:54:03.460 --> 00:54:06.980 prevent us from exerting faith the next time. We dust ourselves off, 00:54:07.500 --> 00:54:12.580 check if we are smelling of smoke and no it's not smoke and then we start again. Why? 00:54:13.580 --> 00:54:17.180 Because faith is full of hope man. It's got nothing to do with disappointment. 00:54:18.980 --> 00:54:24.980 And Satan will again and again use disappointment as a means to prevent the children of God from exerting hope. 00:54:25.780 --> 00:54:27.780 He uses that so well, so well. 00:54:27.780 --> 00:54:30.980 And how does he do it? He doesn't make us faithless. He just 00:54:31.780 --> 00:54:36.380 helps us lower our expectancy and depend on the sovereignty of God 00:54:36.780 --> 00:54:41.980 so that we are like a married couple who don't know the nature of our spouse, but just live in the same house. 00:54:45.180 --> 00:54:50.780 Happily married, but don't ask me what color she wants or how much sugar she takes in a coffee. Those things I don't know 00:54:51.380 --> 00:54:53.380 because we live sovereignly in one house. 00:54:53.900 --> 00:54:55.900 That's the condition that we should avoid. 00:54:56.380 --> 00:55:02.180 Satan attacks us by lowering our expectancy and once expectancy can be lowered, faith can be small.