When it comes to God, He said there is no maximum.
When it comes to God, there is no maximum.
There is no upper limit. There is no ceiling.
There is no maximum.
If you want a title for today, that's a title.
There is no maximum.
There is no measure.
You can't look at the Gospels or the Book of Acts and say, that's all.
There is no maximum.
Infinite, unlimited.
And in a sense, God's limitlessness underlies all His character attributes.
God's limitlessness underlies all His character attributes.
You take His power, you take His knowledge, you take His love, you take His mercy.
There is no measuring any aspect of God.
The problem is we measure everything.
We measure everything.
And yet, I love this quote by Reinhard Bonnke, there is no maximum.
You can somehow embrace it.
That regardless of how old you are or how young you are, when it comes to God, there is no maximum.
Not just in His words, but what He can do with you, for you, in you, through you, there is no maximum.
There is a term that fighter pilots use, it's called kavus.
It means feeling and visibility.
Unlimited.
That's when you have clear skies.
There is no maximum.
But are you able to embrace it?
And if you're not able to embrace it, if it doesn't ring true, we must ask the question, why doesn't it ring true?
Does Dilna want to live an unprecedented life?
Does he want to live a life no human being has ever lived?
You must ask yourself that question.
Do you want to live a life no other human being has yet lived?
Not for your own sake, but for the sake of King and Kingdom.
Everything in God is an extreme. There is no balance.
Christians seek balance. God doesn't.
Everything is an extreme.
There is no maximum.
These mics are off.
The Bible says the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation.
But in 1 Thessalonians we find out that that power is the Holy Spirit.
Because it says, when we came and preached the word to you, let me read from 1 Thessalonians.
1 Thessalonians 1.5.
It says here, for we know, brothers, loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our Gospel came to you not simply with words,
but also with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with deep conviction.
So the Gospel may be the power of God, but the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation for all human beings.
But we must realize that every time someone turns to God, every time you speak about God to somebody,
it is the sheer power of the Holy Spirit that begins to affect them.
The words are just absolutely useless without the power of the Holy Spirit.
The power of the Holy Spirit is the power of God. And we possess it in His fullness.
If you go to John 3, verse 34, it says,
Whenever I send anyone to represent and speak my words, I also provide them with the Spirit unlimited.
It's talking about Jesus. But after Jesus left, He gave us the Holy Spirit to the same measure that He has.
There is no junior Holy Spirit. There is no smaller measure of the Holy Spirit.
He's a person. And in John 3, 34, it says,
Jacob, when I send you out to represent me and speak my words, you have the Spirit in unlimited measure, just as Jesus did.
Unlimited measure.
That is how the supernatural gospel then becomes supernatural in its works.
This is the stuff we know. I just want to deal with one thing and we can go home.
And that is...
Yeah, really, I can literally take the first half of this notes and tear it, because I think everything else we know.
We don't need more teaching, right? People are saying that again and again in prayer.
Didn't particularly make me happy, but I can live with that.
So, why is... why is... why are works being held back?
Why are works being held back? Why is it that we are not stepping into this thing that we were crying out for?
Is He holding it back? Can't be. So why is it being held back?
Let's look at Acts chapter 4, verse 29 and 30. Acts 4, 29 and 30.
I'll regret having toned that up. Suddenly I want to put it back together.
Once I did this long ago and Diana had to go and put it together, and I toned it into many small pieces.
She's always good at games and puzzles. For once it was useful.
So, go to Acts chapter 4, verse 29 and 30. Acts chapter 4, 29 and 30.
It says there...
Now, Lord, consider their threats. So let's make it consider our circumstances, or consider my circumstances.
Then it goes on to say enable. But before it says enable, it calls us a certain name.
It says enable your servants. So it talks about servants.
The actual word used there is dulos, which actually means slaves.
Consider my circumstances. And we as your servants, could you please enable or empower us?
Could you please enable or empower us to speak your words with great boldness?
That's a prayer, eh? That's verse 29. Acts 4, 29. Consider my circumstances.
Whatever your circumstances may be. Sometimes you're afraid at work.
Sometimes you and I are too concerned with our reputation.
Sometimes we lack the courage. Sometimes we are just cowards.
Sometimes we don't have the words to say.
Sometimes speaking up might cause us to lose dignity or lose our jobs, lose money.
Sometimes it's just plain inconvenience. Sometimes it's laziness.
Sometimes it's beating around the bush.
There's a market trend right now. And the market trend is very simple.
Man is at the center. What can your God do to help?
J.I. Packer put it that way. Packer said that it is no longer God at the center and God's ways towards man.
It is man at the center. And what can your God offer to help man's problems?
That's how it works. And you and I are under that pressure, eh?
Never able to say things straight out like God wants it said.
Always kowtowing, always going around.
So whatever my circumstance may be.
I was thinking of the three things that God put his finger on in my life.
And it was convenience.
So one was convenience. The other one was a reticence or a hesitation to lose all dignity for the sake of Christ.
As in lose reputation, lose sophistication, lose dignity.
Be probably laughed at. Be mocked.
To lose my dignity or my reputation completely and convenience are the two things that God put his finger on.
What was it for you? Don't say it. I'm just telling you.
And so whatever your circumstances be, consider your circumstances.
Second, know that you're a servant.
First Thessalonians 2 verse 4 talks about how everybody in this room, if you're a believer,
you've been appointed as a servant and entrusted with the gospel.
You have been appointed as a servant and entrusted with the gospel by whom? By God.
Now think of this. He actually appoints you and entrusts you because he thinks you're able.
He's not saying one day when you qualify.
He's saying I appoint you, Aaron, and I entrust you with the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation.
And the word used there is actually doulos, which is slave, not even servants.
For Jesus, the holy servant, it's a different word.
For us, it's doulos, which is basically slave, which is a little lower than servants.
Not a term we like using right now.
So consider your circumstances, understand your servants.
And once you understand your servants, you're crying out to God saying, can you enable me or empower me?
Can you enable me or empower me? To do what? To speak your words.
To do what? To speak your words.
How? With great boldness. That's a prayer.
Speak your words.
It is not possible to speak his words in a crisis.
Speak his words, speak your words, speak words to someone sitting by the side of the road.
Speak words to someone you bump into and you begin to feel the sense that you have to do something.
It's not possible to do that till we practice because boldness has to be practiced.
Someone asked me what's the difference between boldness and courage.
Courage is the ability to...the way I explain the term is boldness is the expression of what courage decides to do.
Boldness is the expression of what courage decides to do.
So if you want a definition for boldness, here it is.
Boldness is not a personality trait.
So please don't think that because you're introverted, because you're shy,
because you grow up in a culture where it's better to stay quiet,
or because you think a woman should have a certain place or a man should have a certain place,
boldness is not a personality trait.
So there's nobody here who can claim that as your Fifth Amendment.
Boldness is not a personality trait.
So let me define boldness according to God.
Boldness is acting with courage, acting with courage by the power of the Spirit
on an urgent conviction in the face of resistance or opposition.
That's what boldness is.
Boldness is acting with courage by the power of the Spirit with an urgency of conviction
or on an urgent conviction in the face of resistance and opposition.
That's what boldness is.
And they are calling out saying,
Oh God, could you please see us as your servant, approved by you and trusted with the Gospel?
Can you please help us to now, despite our circumstances,
speak your words with great boldness?
And this is what boldness looks like.
Boldness is not a personality trait.
It's acting with courage by the power of the Spirit on an urgent conviction in the face of resistance and opposition.
So there are three words here that you need to look at.
One is conviction.
The other one is courage.
The other one is urgency.
All three are by the power of the Spirit.
And here's the clincher.
All three will be opposed by the flesh.
Not by the devil, not by people, but by the flesh.
We'll talk about that.
Boldness is acting with courage by the power of the Spirit on an urgent conviction in the face of resistance or opposition.
Conviction is something that you begin to feel deeply.
Many of us may not feel things deeply.
Many of us may not feel an urge to go and speak to people.
Many of us would rather sit quietly.
And that's fine.
That's where you start.
You start from a place of coldness.
In anything with God, you always start from a place of coldness
or non-feelingness or non-interest.
You start from there.
You go to him and say, I'm really not interested.
I would rather sit here alone with my AirPods on, listen to some amazing teaching by this famous guy called Jacob, and just enjoy these moments with God.
And so that's where you start.
You start with that baseline.
And from there, the Spirit goes to work, saying, OK, now let me bring in conviction.
That's where it begins.
Conviction then leads to courage.
I've got to do something because this is so strong a feeling now that courage will begin to rise.
Courage doesn't rise if there is no conviction.
That's why people stand up, man, and say stuff, because they are so convicted by it that, and for so many different reasons, people stand up and speak.
I'm not talking about believers.
I'm talking about any human being on earth.
When they're deeply convicted, they stand up and speak.
Courage comes.
Urgency, urgency makes your feet do something about it.
Because nowadays, you can have conviction, you can have courage, but you don't have to do anything.
You just have to tweet on X.
That's it.
But urgency puts feet to it, which goes back to what Derek was saying.
There's no point asking if there is no intent of going.
There is no point asking if there is no intent of going.
And going does not mean Wally.
And it's all brought about by the power of the Spirit.
That the Spirit of God alone can do this.
Any questions before we go on?
We'll deal with the last bit.
Any questions before we go on?
So what does it mean?
What does it?
You're saying it doesn't mean this.
Sorry, I didn't ask again.
When you say it doesn't mean Wally, what does it mean?
It means your own Wally in Richmond or your own neighbor in White Rock.
It doesn't mean Wally.
This is not an attempt to get us all to go to Wally.
But there is a going required.
Wally provides an opportunity, an intentional, deliberate opportunity to do something
that most of us find highly inconvenient and would rather not be part of every week.
That's the great thing about Wally.
It provides you an avenue.
It's like what do you do when there's a gym under your building?
You can still not go.
I know there's a gym under my building.
The next thing is a part that really you need to figure out and we need to somehow come back.
The flesh will oppose conviction, courage, and urgency by the power of the spirit.
Your flesh.
Your flesh will oppose it.
Galatians 5.17.
The desires of the spirit will always be contrary to the desires of the flesh.
The desires of the spirit will conflict with the desires of the flesh.
It happens to us every day.
Even today it happened.
There were many of you or there were some of you that wanted to break out of the shell that you have so carefully constructed
and everything inside of you is saying break out of it, break off it.
But there is a flesh that says don't.
What are we talking about when we talk about the flesh?
A way of thinking?
And just the pleasure of sitting in my old nature that doesn't want to pay a cost, doesn't want to take a risk.
Let me read from Galatians 5.17.
The flesh opposes the desires of the spirit so I don't do what I want to.
Galatians 5.17.
For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the spirit and the spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.
They are in conflict with each other so that you do not do what you want.
Let's just look at it for a second.
Everybody here wants God to break out into signs and wonders and works.
Nobody here does not want that.
You desire that with all your heart.
And then the flesh kicks up. Why?
Because to do that I must go.
The spirit really wants to.
I mean not even talking about the Holy Spirit.
I'm talking about your spirit. You desire to.
But to go, do you know how much you'll have to change to do that?
Everything in you will begin to oppose it.
What is the way around it? We'll talk about that and then end.
God is willing to give me boldness.
But what will I do with that boldness if I cannot overcome the flesh?
Guys, this is not some particular problem that is yours.
It is a problem with Christianity in general.
Which is why you have to have professional missionaries, professional evangelists, professional people.
They are paid to do this.
They do it out of love but they also get paid for it.
So our enemy is not really the devil. He comes later.
Our enemy is not the devil. He comes later.
He meets us only after we go.
He doesn't touch you till you go.
It's that kind of thing where let barking dogs lie.
Like let them learn as much as they want. Let them be taught as much as they want.
Don't touch them. Don't stir them up.
They'll just lie there by the fire like a lazy dog.
The spirit is willing but their flesh is super weak.
Don't even provoke them.
It is after you go that you actually meet the enemy's opposition.
And the enemy's opposition will come in different forms.
It may come in people rejecting you, in people scoffing you, in people mocking you,
in people being violent with you.
Like remember the guy that went up to Power and Derek and said,
I have two choices right now. I can either be violent or I can ask you for help.
The flesh is the first thing that needs to be overcome.
Not even subdued, overcome.
And the flesh is a whole slew of things.
It is my schedule, the things I have to do, my responsibilities, valid legitimate things.
My laziness, my convenience, my hesitation, my reticence, my inability, my inadequacy,
my lack of time, other distractions, sin, pleasures, the need for money,
this fear of losing my reputation, my dignity by going out there on the street and talking
and suddenly you find someone sophisticated who comes by who knows you
and then Jesus becomes friend and not savior anymore.
And it's not even winter yet. It gets worse in winter.
And even that's not the devil.
Any questions?
The devil doesn't touch you till you go out.
Pardon?
Yeah, we would like to think that it is the devil that's preventing us.
It's not. It's just sheer flesh.
Go and then you'll meet the devil.
So how do we beat it?
Galatians 5.17 is the flesh opposes the desires of the spirit.
Guys, it's so evident that the desire of the spirits in each of our hearts is to go.
It is so evident.
I saw you while we were praying.
It is so evident that you wanted.
You wanted not for your sake but for his.
You want to see.
You want to show. You want to see and you want to show them that this is true.
You should read that scripture.
The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak from the message.
It's quite funny.
Can you tell me where it is?
Matthew?
Oh, okay. Sorry.
I'm so sorry. That is so uncalled for.
This is why people don't call out stuff in church because when they call out something they're made fun of.
Matthew 26, what? Now that you've shown us the chapter.
Now it better be Matthew 26.
Oh yeah, Matthew 26, 41.
Stay alert. Be in prayer so you don't wander into temptation without even knowing you're in danger.
And here's the thing that I like.
There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God.
But there's another part of you that's as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.
There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God.
But there's another part that's as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.
Matthew 26, 41 message.
Maybe we should have titled this lazy old dogs.
If you notice the animal used here is not a cat. Yeah.
So what shall we do about this? How do we overcome this?
You've got to recognize what the problem is guys. That it is your flesh.
I have a question. Before you go out, should you have an understanding of the kids?
Maybe laying them on their hands. Just some sort of feeling because otherwise you're sort of going out without knowing.
Yeah.
So one of the easiest ways to overcome it is to go with someone else who's done this before and learn on the job.
So like we do shadowing at work, someone shadows you, they learn.
And so to overcome my inadequacy, my not sure of what to say, what to do.
I mean the Jehovah's Witnesses do it. They always take a junior guy with an older guy.
They never let the junior guy out of their sight because he can get converted to Christianity.
So they always go like that. So one of the things we do is shadow.
That's one easy way to learn. That aside, most of us in this room, I think have enough to lead anyone to Christ.
And so what do you mean by I think you have enough to lead anyone to Christ? You have him. Who? The Holy Spirit.
You can have the finest spiel to get someone saved.
And it might work. And then you can have zilt and it works wonders because of the Spirit of God.
So face up to the fact that most of us sitting in this room, our biggest problem is not the devil.
It is the laziness of an old dog that does not allow the desires of the flesh to be overcome by the desire of the Spirit.
And the Spirit of God wants this almost daily. He doesn't want you to go out and speak to someone daily.
But he wants you to train yourself this way so that when he calls, it's an easy go.
So you know what to repent of. Forget repenting. You know what to discipline yourself in.
You know what to discipline yourself in. Two quick ways to get everybody to start going out and preaching and doing the works of God.
Either offer them a million dollars or tell them they're going to die in a week.
And if they go, that dying will be canceled. Like in the movie, Sholey, suicide canceled.
Forget it. Forget that reference. Sorry.
It is this idea of either people learn when there's enough threat of fear or people learn when there's enough reward.
It's always like that. People either learn because of great reward or people learn because of great fear or pain.
God is trying to say, can I not use any of those worldly ways of doing things?
Can I just help you do it because you love me?
Otherwise, people only learn through pain, fear or through reward.
People will change when there's enough reward or when there's enough pain and fear.
I mean, you're interrupting me. Yes.
So here are some methods to overcome it. Efficient 619, Efficient 619, Efficient 619.
Try and try and beat this with scripture and what scripture say. Efficient 619.
Here's what it says.
Pray also for me that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly in some versions boldly,
I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains.
Pray that I may declare it fearlessly as I should.
So one is to pray for someone's boldness.
Look around this room. Try to see if you can pray for someone's boldness this week.
And let it not be me. I'll ask someone to pray for me. Think of someone else.
Someone that you will pray that they have boldness. Efficient 619 talks about it.
I'll pray for you that you have boldness.
Someone in this room pray for this week.
Maybe you won't get to pray for them every day, but what if you got two days right?
Second one.
Romans 813.
If you live according to the sinful nature, you will die.
But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the cose, you will live.
If you live according to the sinful nature, you will die.
But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the cce, you will live because those that are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.
Romans 813, guys.
If we are able, by the power of the Spirit, who is sufficient to overcome the desire of
my flesh to continue being as I am, then I promise you that you will be led by the Spirit
of God into the same kind of adventures that we read about.
It will begin to happen in your life.
We'll meet the devil on the road and beat him.
Because it is only when you meet the devil that you find out how big your God is.
You only find out how big your God is when you meet the devil.
You do not know the size of your God till you meet Goliath.
How do you learn to war?
You learn to war by going to fight.
How do you know how strong your enemy is?
By fighting the enemy.
No amount of studying will help.
Put to death, put to death the laziness of my body, of my schedule, of my way of thinking,
of my convenience, of my reticence, of my inadequacy, of my unwillingness to change.
Begin with smaller things.
Does it say in the scriptures, lift up your holy hands and praise the Lord?
Well, don't do it because you're feeling like it.
Do it because the Bible tells you.
These are small things.
Does it say, open your mouth and speak?
Do it.
These are simple, obedient things.
We don't need to start with big things.
It's always the small things that eventually lead to greater things.
You don't need to do it throughout.
You don't need to do it for a fast song or a slow song.
Try different forms of obedience throughout the week, quietly.
Does the Bible say, be joyful?
Try being joyful and try it, especially on a day when there's real sadness in your life.
I think she was talking about it.
When we meet circumstances, help us to know how to deal with those circumstances.
The joy is already given.
Help us to express the joy.
These are realities that I must not allow my flesh to subdue and lock in.
And then a strange thing will happen.
It says in Romans 8.13, put to death the misdeeds of the body.
Because those that are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.
You will find yourself being told, all of us here.
It is not even about hearing God.
It is just God saying, my God, this is perfect for me.
This person is so willing to subdue the flesh now and let the Spirit of God take over that
I'm going to send them.
And so, Diana, go stand by the road there and there'll be an Ethiopian driving down
in a Mercedes.
And when he does, go and speak to him.
And he happens to be the finance minister of Ethiopia.
These stories will become the stories of Acts 29.
And they are not happening.
They are few and far between.
Like Jonah was praying, sick of it being an occasional here and occasional there.
That is not the God that I know from the Bible.
That is not the God I wanted.
Not that our individual lives don't have testimonies.
But I'm talking about us as a collective.
I can stand here and share testimonies.
This happened, that happened.
You can do that too.
But that's our individual lives.
What about us as a collective people?
Last scripture.
Galatians 5.16.
So I say, live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
So the first one said, pray for me that I might be bold.
The second one said, put to death the misdeeds or the desires of the flesh so that you can
walk directed by the Spirit and walk like actual sons of God, which you already are.
And then the third one says, hey, walk in the Spirit.
Walk in the Spirit.
One of the simplest ways of translating walk in the Spirit is, walk in the awareness of
his presence.
Practice the awareness of his presence.
Remember the statement we always make.
It was never God's design for man to have periodic awareness of his presence.
The periodic awareness of God's presence was never God's design for man.
Any person whose greatest treasure is the presence of God will find himself beginning
to live the kind of life that Adam lived in Eden.
Silla.
Anyone whose greatest treasure is the presence of God, as in you're locked onto this treasure,
there is nothing that distracts you from it.
Nothing that distracts you from it.
Locked onto it.
Once that happens, you will find yourself returning to how life used to be in Eden.
Why?
Because you will begin to get all the essentials of life from him.
And it has never been revoked.
Security, companionship, intimacy, provision, freedom, blessing.
Seven or eight different things that were given to him.
Dignity, worth.
And then others begin to participate in the life that is yours.
To walk in the spirit is to walk in continuous awareness of presence.
It cannot be cultivated in a day.
But today is Rosh Hashanah.
Start today, man.
I'm not into Jewish holidays and stuff like that.
I'm just using it to our advantage.
That it is the New Year.
It is the Jewish New Year.
Use it to your advantage.
Because presence will give you boldness.
If you knew, when you meet a man sitting by a store asking for alms, like happened in
Acts 3, if you knew that God was standing at your right hand with infinite power and
with his right hand on your shoulder, he's egging you on, you would be bold as a lion.
If you knew that God was standing at your right hand and has his right hand on your
shoulder saying, hey, go ahead.
And that is what Acts chapter 4 verse 30 is saying.
Oh God, this is what we want.
Now stretch out your hand or stretch out the hand of your holy servant Jesus in signs and
wonders.
Stretch out your hand.
At the end of the day, after having done all this, we come back to the one simple thing.
We got nothing but the Spirit.
And when we have the Spirit, there is no maximum.
At the end of the day, after everything we've learned, after all the praying is done, you
still got nothing.
And you go back to Jesus in John chapter 14 and 15 and go back to that simple verse, apart
from you.
I can do nothing.
But with you, oh Spirit of God, there is no maximum.
The book of Acts, hey, remember always, the further you go from the throne, the greater
the level of water keeps rising.
If Acts was ankle deep, you're supposed to swim deeper.
This is what...
Yeah, let's just stop there.
And the place shook.
They were filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the word of God boldly.
Here's the thing, guys.
Can I ask people here, can I pick people here to pray that we subdue our flesh?
Not subdue, we put to death the deeds of our flesh.
Turn it on.
Can you hear me?
Not yet.
I'll start.
I think you can hear me.
I tried not to share the story, but I'll share it later.
Should I give him this or take this?
All good?
Go ahead, go ahead.
It's working.
Hello.
Yes.
I really felt like I should come up and share the story.
Mark, Pawan and I were walking a couple of weeks ago and we felt like we should go to
this park.
We went there, there's a man who is from Fiji.
We begin to talk with him.
We talk with him, we find out about his life, his story.
We have, you know, Emily had good Bibles with us, so we told him, hey, why don't you read
this when you go back?
He said, you know what, my house, I have too many things in my house.
I don't want to read it.
This is just another book.
I don't want it.
So while we're talking, there's a guy in the backdrop on the ground.
He's sleeping, he's tired, and there is another guy who comes and puts a jacket over him.
I can see some movements at the back while this conversation is happening.
We finished talking with this Fijian person and just about when we were about to leave,
the guy in the background, he comes up and he immediately gets angry.
He's almost like, who are you?
He heard what we were talking.
We were talking about Jesus with the other guy and he said, your God, he does not care
about people.
Your God, he is not real.
Your God, he's not, he causes bad things to happen.
Don't think that you're a goody-goody guy and goody-goody people coming and sharing
these things when people like this, he points to the man on the ground, when people like
that are on the ground, you didn't even put a jacket over him.
You ignored him, didn't put a jacket over him, and you went and talked with this other
guy.
How dare you?
So he went on like that for a couple of minutes and I did notice a knife in his pocket and
I had to at one point go to Pawan and at one point go to Mark and say, just so that you
guys know, I can see a knife.
Don't go too close to him.
Be aware.
While this is happening, the guy started yelling, started saying things and he said, you have
no idea what I've done in my life.
I'm from Guatemala.
I used to belong to a gang.
I'm a gangster.
Stay away.
You have no idea who I am.
Started going on like this.
At one point we said, please know this.
We would like to help if we can.
We said we'd like to help, you know, this apparently the man on the ground, he is his
friend and they used to drink together and he came to help out this friend.
So we said, we want to do this.
We want to help you a friend.
Eventually we help him get a cab, go to the shelter.
So we end up having, so Pawan left with the man.
Mark and I are left with this other guy, the guy who said he's from Guatemala and that
he's a gangster.
We have about five, 10 minutes there to talk with him.
He's really aggressive.
When Jacob wrote down their opposition and people trying to oppose, he really wants to
do harm if he can.
He's saying, stay away from me because if you come close, you have no idea what I may
do to you.
There is a part of me, on one hand I'm looking at him and there's a part of me that can see
what's exactly in front of me, which is a man who could do anything.
And then there is another view that I have while I'm seeing this, which is from above,
which is that man, something is about to happen.
God is here, speak.
So he comes very close to Mark, looks Mark in the eye and he says, you know Jesus?
So Mark says yes, he then pulls to my side and he said, you really know Jesus?
I said, yes I do.
He said, how do you know him?
How do you know Jesus?
So I get about two, three minutes to quickly share my story.
The thing is, whenever someone asks you who Jesus is, it's always good to share your story.
I don't have a story like Pawan.
Man, you hear a Pawan story or Jacob story, it's something else.
But my story is different.
My story does not have the great wow moments like Jacob or Pawan has, but I have a story
that's unique to me.
That's my story in terms of where I come from, what God did in my life and where God took
me.
And I begin to tell him who God is to me, how God brought me out of land in India, how
God brought me here.
As I am saying, at one point he says stop.
When he says stop, you stop.
He said stop.
So I stopped and I said what?
He said, you know him.
I said what do you mean?
You know him.
I said yes I know him.
It's evident that you know him.
I said absolutely.
So I now get even more hope and the power inside me is like go for it, this is it, go
for it.
So I begin to go for it and I tell him that God is a father, that God cares.
All of these things, with the time I have I go at it.
And in a couple of minutes he says stop again and then he says, I am a son of the war, the
war that happened in Guatemala.
My dad left me.
I was born to a woman who raised me.
I jumped trains to get to Canada because no one cares for me.
I wanted to knock on the door of my father who left my mother in Guatemala, came here.
He had his own family.
I said in my mind, he told us, I will never let the man live that way, his father.
So I knocked on his door, tried to do stuff.
He kept on sharing a little few details about his life and then he said, you have no idea
what just happened.
I said what?
He said, you're a preacher.
I said, yes, I am a preacher.
He said, the guys here, they are surrounding me.
I said, yes, they are surrounding you.
Then he said, 10 years ago, 10 years ago, my mom, who was a believer, the mom said at
one point, hey, you can live this life of gangsterhood, whatever you want to live.
But at one point you will have a man come to you and there will be three men surrounding
you and at that point, you know that God is calling you back.
And as soon as he said it, now we're like, yeah, man, let's go.
Let's do this.
So we begin to talk to him more and more at a point, guys, when Jacob wrote down, when
you speak with conviction, the conviction of sin happens in man.
When you speak with conviction that what you know is what you know is true, that this is
who you are.
It creates conviction of sin in people.
Here's the thing that I really liked in the entire story.
I tell him, can you pray?
And he said, no, I won't pray.
I said, why can't you pray?
He said, I can't pray because as soon as you guys are done here, I'm going to take that
bottle and I'm going to drink again.
I thought to myself, amazing, honest man.
If we can be this honest, the church will be so far greater than where the church is
today.
I said, that's okay.
You feel like you're a sinner and that you can't do it.
This is exactly where Jesus comes into play because in your sin, you can touch him.
In your sin, he'll talk to you.
In your sin, he'll deal with you.
In about a couple of minutes, we began to talk more to him about how to pray.
He recognized that God is father.
He recognized that Jesus died for him.
He recognized that in his sin, he can speak to God.
At the end of the whole thing, he said, we said, we want to give you this Bible too because
he doesn't want to exchange his number or anything because there's a whole lot happening
in his life.
It's very clear.
We gave him the Bible and he said, can you write down your names and the date because
I don't want to forget what happened right now.
We wrote down our names, wrote down the date.
We hugged away from there.
The man who wanted to almost harm us, he said, hug me.
Hug me.
I'd like that.
His posture changed.
His demeanor changed.
Everything that Jacob said, guys, is so true because when we open our mouth with confidence,
with boldness of who God is and what he has done for us, the thing is the spirit of God
will always back you.
There is a backing of the spirit, which is so real because the spirit of God, when you
are trying to be foolish for him, he likes it and he will back you up.
Always he will back you up.
If you're willing to open your mouth, sound as foolish as you can be, trust me, there
is a backing of the spirit.
There is absolutely a backing of the spirit because the spirit of God, as Jacob said,
is the power unto salvation.
I just felt like I should share that story.
Leaders, leaders in prayer, come guys.
Just desire this.
It's such a cool, amazing story.
This is being led by the spirit.
Those that are led by the spirit are the sons of God.
Pray that our flesh is subdued so that we can walk out like this.
And there's plenty of opportunity.
The world is our play field.
Yeah, come.
Join him in praying.
Don't just listen to him.
Yeah, it's our hearts that are crying out.
Abba, we come as your sons and daughters, rightful heirs, Abba.
Rightful heirs.
There is no sin in us, no shortcoming in us, no past of us that can stop us from pursuing
our path in you.
So Father, first of all, before we even go further, we say no to the voices of the enemy
that tries to condemn, that tries to say that you're not good enough, that this is not for
you, that there are others who can do this.
Look at your past.
How dare you can speak like this?
No.
Father, we say a big no to voices of condemnation.
We recognize that we are sons and daughters.
We are sons and daughters, rightful heirs, Abba.
We thank you, Jesus, that you now live inside of us.
That your spirit is not somewhere out there.
Your spirit lives inside of us.
Your spirit gives life.
Your spirit gives boldness.
Your spirit gives us strength to do the impossible.
So Father, we recognize as a people that we are those people who have no maximum.
We do not have a maximum.
The power has no maximum because the spirit of God is greater than any other spirit out
there.
He is greater than the spirit of slavery.
He is greater than the spirit of poverty.
He is greater than the spirit of infirmities.
He is greater than every spirit out there.
Father, we recognizealo your spirit lives inside of us.
We cry Abba because your spirit lives inside of us.
We cry strength Abba.
With strength we cry because Mechanize We know, we know, we know that your spirit is
inside of us.
I may be wrong, but maybe this year Jacob said this is the year of the Holy Spirit.
This is the year of the Holy Spirit.
So we recognize, father, we also come to you and we say, you've been asking us to lay things
down here.
We are about, we really mean this.
We recognize that Jesus, if you really died for me, if you really died for us, then this
is a cause for each of us.
You did not die for them and not me.
You did not die for the other and not me.
You died for me.
If you died for me, then all of what you have is for me as well.
I will contend for it.
We will contend for it as a church father.
We will because this is a rightful position in you.
We're not trying to do something that's way out there and that's not for us.
This is the exact thing, exact thing that he called us to.
This is the thing.
There is nothing beyond it to carry your name, to wear your badge, to go with your authority
and to say scorpions and lions, I'll trample over you.
To say to the sick, I know someone who heals.
To say to the ones who are in bondage, I know someone who can set you free.
Father, we want to speak these words.
We have had times when we have fallen about, when it didn't happen, when it didn't go the
way we planned, the way we purposed it.
But those times and those days will not stop us because the power, this power has no maxima.
There is no maxima.
So father, as a body, as a people, we say and we decree and we decide in our hearts
that because Jesus, you died for me, I will live for you.
Because you died for me, I will live for you.
There is a cost that is worthy for all these things that I carry on myself to be laid down
at your feet and for me to say, Jesus, I carry your presence inside me.
I carry your spirit inside me.
You make me able.
You make me your heir and therefore I can do this.
This is not something meant for a few select people.
This is not something meant for a few ministers.
This is not something meant for evangelists.
This is meant for the body of Jesus Christ to take on and walk because this is your rightful inheritance.
If you believe this, you can walk in it.
If you believe in this, this is for yours to march in.
If you believe in this, he will bring a bandhood of brothers and sisters around you and you
will march out as an army.
Because guys, this is our rightful inheritance.
It doesn't matter what result you see.
It does not matter.
It matters that we obey.
It matters that we struggle in our faithlessness.
It matters that in that we say, I doubt, help my unbelief.
In that it matters that we say, I need you Jesus because I can't do it here.
We're not trying for results.
We're trying to obey everything that he asked us to.
And we can guys because this is for all of us.
There is not one person sitting under this roof who is not qualified for this.
If you have his spirit inside you, you have the full measure and maximum power and beyond
available for you.
We thank you about because you are stirring us up in this path, in this journey that you
have for us and we're willing to go together in Jesus name.
Bless you guys.
Go well eh?
Go well.
If you need...