WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Open Eyes - 2 Publishing Date: 2026-01-25T02:04:44-08:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/open-eyes-2/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:23.000 I just want to say hi to people here for the first time. Hi. What's your name? Aditya. 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:32.000 Welcome, man. Who did you come with? Prashanth. Okay, welcome. That's Aditya. That's Danielle. 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:46.000 She is what's-his-name's friend and his friend. And Janelle? Chloe. Chloe, welcome. 00:00:46.000 --> 00:01:03.000 Anyone else? No. Okay, let's pray for Danielle. Andrea was telling me that she has a—can I talk about it and ask the church to pray? 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:11.000 She has a benign tumor that causes her to not be able to sleep at night and causes pain because it presses down. 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:25.000 And before we go into the 20th year next month, let's just pray for another miracle that surprisingly it will shrink and disappear and that benign is good enough, let it not be there, 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:36.000 and that she finds that she begins to sleep really well and there is no pain and it doesn't affect her hearing. Yeah? So let's ask for that miracle. Yeah? 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:49.000 Jesus, we just sang that song about you. Yahweh Rafa heals my body. And we are confident that you are here right now. 00:01:49.000 --> 00:02:00.000 You can look around this room, Jesus. There are many hearts here that actually believe you are here in our midst. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:13.000 Here are the things we are confident of. We are confident that Danielle is your daughter and that your heart towards her is the heart of a father who has all power. 00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:23.000 We are confident that you love healing. You enjoy it, that you were brutally striped, your back was open for her healing. 00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:28.000 We are confident that if you were here in flesh, actually it's better having you here in spirit because you can be everywhere, 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:37.000 but if you were here in flesh and this was one of the gospels, she'd be healed instantly. I'm also confident that you haven't changed. 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:46.000 Your nature and your heart is always, I will. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:58.000 You said if you come agreeing concerning anything, and so we come agreeing concerning your nature and we come agreeing concerning this benign tumour. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:07.000 Mark 11 comes to mind where you walked past a tree that wasn't bearing fruit. You cursed it and it dried up from its roots. 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:15.000 That's what I think you're suggesting. Are we doing right now, Holy Spirit? So in the name of Jesus Christ, I curse this tumour, 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:20.000 regardless of its size, regardless of how long it's been there. In the name of Jesus Christ, I curse this tumour, 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:29.000 commanded it to shrink and disappear, and let the evidence of its disappearance be seen in her sleeping, in her hearing, and her absence of pain. 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:35.000 This is what we agree on. I mean, thank you, Jesus, that you are who you say you are. 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:41.000 We have washed our faces in the word and the word says you are Jehovah Rapha, our healer, 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:48.000 and we thank you for your presence here to do what we have just been prompted to do by the Spirit in Jesus' name. 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:56.000 So we thank you and bless you, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:04.000 Okay, we have been talking about open eyes. Are May and Heidi back? 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:10.000 That's good. They have been distracted by certain things, but I'm glad they are back. 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:24.000 The password has been changed on my iPad. Would Brandon or Jillian come and please put in the password? 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:27.000 It's my iPad, but... 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:38.000 Thank you. 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:51.000 Pardon? 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:59.000 Okay, Brandon, can you do it while I start? If it's not the password or something else. 00:04:59.000 --> 00:05:10.000 Guys, we were talking about open eyes and we started with 2 Kings 6, 17-20, and we talked about how Elijah opened first 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:22.000 the physical eyes of the Syrian army that had marched into Samaria, and then he opens his servant's spiritual eyes, 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:32.000 and that's when the servant sees the chariots of fire and the horsemen, chariots of Israel and the horsemen, 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:40.000 and the horses on fire, the chariots of fire and the horsemen of Israel. He sees that. 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:48.000 And so we said last time, and I'm just summing it up in 2 sentences, that God wants to give me spiritual sight and open spiritual eyes. 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:59.000 God wants to give me. God wants to give us. God wants to give us. 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:12.000 God wants to give us spiritual sight, and he does that by opening spiritual eyes, and when our spiritual eyes are open, these are the 3 things that happen. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:21.000 Guys, today I was talking to the Lord about teachings like this, and his intent is that we all become like this, not just a few. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:34.000 He's not elitist, he's not survival of the fittest, he's not exclusive. His words in the Bible in John are, 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:41.000 hey, if you want to learn, I'll go over things that are important line by line, precept by precept. 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:45.000 And he wasn't excluding anybody. He wants everyone to learn it. 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:55.000 So this is not for someone who's highly educated or highly spiritual. It's for all of us. And it changes us, eh? 00:06:55.000 --> 00:07:06.000 So the reason God wants to give us spiritual sight, the reason God wants to open our spiritual eyes is for these 3 things. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:17.000 1. To see who he really is. 2. To see who he wants you to become. 3. To see what he is doing. 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:24.000 Okay, first one. See me as I really am. I want to show you more of who I really am. 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:31.000 2. I want you to see who I want you to become. 3. I want you to see what I really am planning to do. 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:36.000 These are the 3 reasons why he opened spiritual eyes. We talked about this last time. 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:43.000 We took examples, about 8 or 9 examples from the Bible that proved that, so you'll have to go listen to it. 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:58.000 And we also said that it is a perpetual, meaning it's not hearing for an answer or trying to discover direction for your life. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:07.000 It's a perpetual vantage position, meaning it's a position that you can occupy because it's become a practice or a habit in your life 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:12.000 to walk with eyes that are open to what God wants to show you. 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:23.000 So it's a perpetual vantage position from where you can see a kaleidoscope. 00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:29.000 You can see a kaleidoscope of God's thoughts and intents. 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:34.000 You can see, he begins to show you why he's doing things, what he's about to do. 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:41.000 And he begins to show you the workings of heaven. The workings of heaven behind the scene. 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:52.000 Behind the scene realm. The workings of heaven behind the scene and behind the scene realm. 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:59.000 That's his intent. That's what happens to the servant that Elisha says, hey, I want to, oh God, can you open his eyes? 00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:10.000 And what happens when he opens Elisha's servant's eyes? Elisha's servant now beholds chariots of fire and the horsemen of Israel. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:18.000 He begins to see them and he realizes that though he's surrounded by an army full of chariots and horses, that they are no match, 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:27.000 which is why then Elisha makes the comment that those who are with us are greater than those that are with them. 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:32.000 And then the servant calms down. 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:39.000 This is just a servant that was serving Elisha. He wasn't a prophet. He wasn't a to-be prophet. 00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:43.000 He's just an ordinary servant. 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:45.000 Just like you and I. 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:51.000 But these are the eyes he wants us to have so that he can show us things that he wants to do. 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:58.000 He can show who you are going to become and he can show who he really is, which we haven't even scratched. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:04.000 We'll spend an eternity and we'll still not figure out all of who God is because he's infinite. 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:06.000 There's no end to him. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:14.000 The discovery of God should just both grab you and frighten you that there's never going to be a time when you will sit before God and say, 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:16.000 I finally got here. 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:18.000 Never. 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:21.000 Infinite in nature. 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:26.000 Never going to get to the depths of him. 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:28.000 So that's why God gives open eyes. 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:35.000 When I say a kaleidoscope of God's thoughts and intents, sometimes we're not able to make out how they fit together, 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:38.000 but it'll burst on your eyesight and say, ah shucks, this. 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:42.000 Now I understand that and it just builds itself together. 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:46.000 Any questions on that before we go on to today's? 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:49.000 Any questions? 00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:52.000 Okay. Remember, this is for all of us. 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:54.000 Don't sit this out. 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:59.000 Don't think, I'm not this, so this doesn't apply to me or I'm not doing too well. 00:10:59.000 --> 00:11:00.000 This doesn't apply to me. 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:04.000 Sometimes all you need to do well is catch a glimpse of God. 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:15.000 When you're stuck in tradition, when you're stuck in legalism, when you're stuck straddling two boats and you don't want to really leave either, 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:18.000 that's when a glimpse of God can change you. 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:28.000 Sometimes he opens your eyes just to change you, but to begin to develop this habit, wow, life changes. 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:31.000 So let's go to 1 Kings 22, 17. 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:35.000 1 Kings 22, 17. 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:43.000 1 Kings 22, 17. 00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:44.000 That's where we start today. 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:46.000 1 Kings 22, 17. 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:48.000 There was this guy called Micaiah. 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:55.000 Not too many people know him as a well-known prophet, but he was quite well-known to both Jehoshaphat and Ahab. 00:11:55.000 --> 00:12:01.000 And so Micaiah the prophet was asked to prophesy by Ahab. 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:08.000 And let's start at verse 17. 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:09.000 16. 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:55.000 As you read the rest of the passage, then the question will obviously come, does God send lying spirits? 00:12:55.000 --> 00:12:57.000 The answer is no, but we're not going to talk about that today. 00:12:57.000 --> 00:13:03.000 I'm just trying to show you that here is a prophet that sees the workings around the throne. 00:13:03.000 --> 00:13:05.000 He's not just prophesying from his mind. 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:12.000 Micaiah actually sees heaven open and he begins to see what happens around the throne. 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:15.000 You might think this is not an experience for New Testament believers. 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:18.000 You go to John chapter 1, verse 10, and you see it again. 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:23.000 I, John, was on the island of Patmos and suddenly I heard a trumpet. 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:28.000 And as I heard the trumpet, I looked and behold, it was one who looked like the Son of Man. 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:31.000 And Jesus begins to speak and John begins to hear. 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:33.000 Revelation 4.10. 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:38.000 And he says in Revelation 4.1, he starts with the verse. 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:42.000 And then I heard the same voice I heard when the trumpet was blown. 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:45.000 And I heard a voice saying to me, come up higher. 00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:47.000 Let me show you what is to take place. 00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:51.000 And I looked and heaven was open. 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:53.000 It happens to John. 00:13:53.000 --> 00:13:55.000 What I'm trying to say is this. 00:13:55.000 --> 00:14:05.000 God wants us, if we are faithful, to show us, he wants to show us the workings behind what he is doing. 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:08.000 He wants to show us why he thinks a certain way. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:13.000 He wants to show us what he wants to do so that you can participate in it while it's happening. 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:16.000 It's in the unfolding that it is fun. 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:20.000 He wants this for all of us. 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:24.000 I'll keep saying for all of us because that's a point God wants to emphasize. 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:26.000 Listen, none of you are left out. 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:27.000 You can be part of this. 00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:29.000 Are there certain conditions? 00:14:29.000 --> 00:14:32.000 They are easy to meet when something this exciting is happening. 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:47.000 And so, 1 Kings and Revelation 4.1 and Revelation 1.10 begin to point towards the fact that the workings around the throne are something that God wants to do. 00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:49.000 Look at Acts 10. 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:50.000 Verse 11. 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:51.000 Acts 10. 00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:55.000 Verse 11. 00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:56.000 This is Peter. 00:14:56.000 --> 00:14:58.000 We talked about it briefly last time. 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:00.000 Reading from verse 9. 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:06.000 About noon the following day, as they went on their journey approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:08.000 He became hungry and wanted something to eat. 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:11.000 And while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:18.000 A trance is not some kind of Eastern mysticism thing where you go, and then you suddenly go into some kind of realm. 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:20.000 We're not talking about a trance like that. 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:26.000 Trance is simply setting into a place where suddenly you begin to see things of God. 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:33.000 It is not some chanting of mantras or some liturgy from an old Christian ancient book that will sink you into stuff like this. 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:43.000 There's no similarity between a trance in some other Eastern religion and what Acts 10 is talking about here. 00:15:43.000 --> 00:15:51.000 And then it goes on to say, he saw heaven open in something like a large sheet being let down to the earth by its four corners. 00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:54.000 And then begins this whole passage about what Peter sees. 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:56.000 He's not seeing a dream. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:16:02.000 He's actually seeing a vision where, again, heaven is open. 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:07.000 And so, open eyes. 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:12.000 This sentence may be a little hard to understand, but I think we can do it. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:15.000 Open eyes. 00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:24.000 Open eyes see heaven open 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:47.000 so that obedient feet can activate an open heaven. 00:16:47.000 --> 00:16:49.000 Let's think of that for a second. 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:59.000 Open eyes meaning if God opens my eyes and I'm able to see what God is planning, wanting to do, showing from the heavens. 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:07.000 Open eyes see heaven open so that obedient feet can begin to do what God is asking you to do. 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:16.000 And as obedient feet begin to do what God is asking you to do, you activate an open heaven over wherever the place you are. 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:18.000 So, let's take Jesus for example. 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:22.000 Jesus, guys, there's a lot of talk about open heavens nowadays. 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:27.000 They talk about portals. They talk about angels. They talk about special places where God appears. 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:30.000 There's no biblical evidence for that. 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:34.000 Open heavens are only opened by obedience. 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:36.000 And what does an open heaven mean? 00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:43.000 All it means is in that particular place, because somebody obeyed, God decided he was going to burst things open 00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:48.000 and just come upon that place in this huge heavenly deluge. 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:50.000 That's what it means. 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:56.000 Look at Jesus. Look at every open heaven in the Bible and you'll see one common thing, obedience. 00:17:56.000 --> 00:18:00.000 So, Jacob obeys at Luz. What happens? 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:04.000 The heavens open and he sees the ladders set up to heaven. 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:07.000 Jesus obeys at the waters of baptism. What happens? 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:11.000 The heavens open. And what happens? A dove alights from heaven. 00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:14.000 Elijah obeys at Carmel. What happens? 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:17.000 The heavens open and fire comes down. 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:21.000 You take any place in the Bible where the heavens are open, 00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:27.000 and it is always because somebody saw what God was showing and decided to obey, 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:32.000 so that in that place they are in, God would begin to just break things open. 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:34.000 That's how it works. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:39.000 So, whenever people talk about open heaven over any place, it's because some people obeyed. 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:44.000 You will find that if we continue obeying, there will be an open heaven over Richmond. 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:46.000 What does open heaven mean over Richmond? 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:51.000 The favor of God, the jubilee of God, the healing of God, the salvation of God, 00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:56.000 the freedom of God, the kindness of God, the presence of God, the supply of God, 00:18:56.000 --> 00:19:01.000 the provision of God, the things being made new. That's what it is. 00:19:01.000 --> 00:19:05.000 What is an open heaven over a place? Jesus turning up in his glory and his splendor. 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:08.000 What happens? Everything is changed when the glory of God comes. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:14.000 Every time there is a revival, what do you think is really happening? 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:21.000 What is revival? It is the closeness and the greatness of a God shown in closeness to a people. 00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:28.000 That's what a revival is. The greatness of God suddenly appearing amongst a people. 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:33.000 How does it happen? Because he sovereignly decides it and because of obedience. 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:39.000 And so if you look at this line again, open eyes, see heaven open. 00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:45.000 Once you see what God is doing, if you have obedient feet that can activate it, 00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:49.000 you create an open heaven. You can do that for your family, you can do that for your church. 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:54.000 Hey, there are times here when because I obey on a particular song or because Tuney obeys on a particular song 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:59.000 or because I call Crystal up to sing a song or because I have Mia come and share something, 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:07.000 it opens up hearts in this place man. You may not know it, but because she talks about courage as a seven year old, 00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:14.000 someone else's heart is touched here. This happens on a regular basis in this church just because of obedience. 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:21.000 And the freedom for obedience is present in this church. It's not that people don't want to obey, 00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:26.000 but it is not possible to obey if you put structures and God wants to change it. 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:39.000 So if God wants us to start with wash your face in the water of the word and the spirit so that your eyes are clear 00:20:39.000 --> 00:20:43.000 and he gives a vision to Remy beforehand, there must be room created for it. 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:55.000 That's what this looks like. So it's available to everybody and you don't need to come on a Sunday to receive it. 00:20:55.000 --> 00:21:00.000 It happens 24 seven. I'll tell you stories. I'll tell you stories from last week. 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:10.000 Leave alone stories from the scriptures, which are much richer because anecdotal evidence is not really evidence. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:25.000 It is obedience that creates an open heaven personally and corporately, be it Jesus at Jordan or Jesus at Calvary, 00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:35.000 be it Abraham at the, Abraham. Do you know how we benefit because of one man's obedience? 00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:41.000 Can we even imagine what that one man did for the nations of the earth? 00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:48.000 Just think of that for a second, guys. Imagine a mark. Imagine a dinner. Imagine a Rachel. Imagine a mat. 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:54.000 Imagine ordinary people with ordinary lives and four or five children and a dog. 00:21:54.000 --> 00:22:03.000 And now imagine them having the guts to do what Abraham did. And in the process, nations, nations benefit. 00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:08.000 How in the world does that happen? Why should nations benefit through one Dilna? 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:12.000 But all it takes is for one Dilna to be obedient to God. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:19.000 And sometimes the demand is huge saying, give me Sam, your child, sacrifice him. 00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:24.000 And he goes ahead with a knife and he's stopped before he stabs his son Sam. 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:30.000 And because of that, even today, we are called sons of Abraham by faith. 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:41.000 What we don't realize is how ordinary it was. It says of Abraham that he was the son of a pagan who worshipped idols. 00:22:41.000 --> 00:22:49.000 We just have elevated into such a place and he rightly deserves that, but we forget his background. 00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:59.000 And so James has to remind us that Elijah was a man just like you, Jacob, with the same frail teeth. 00:22:59.000 --> 00:23:07.000 That's why we must understand it's for all of us. 00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:17.000 Obedience is characterized. Oh, sorry, I keep getting stuck. Peter and Joppa, the story we were just reading. 00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:22.000 Obedience is characterized by hearts that don't have to understand or wait for conditions. 00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:45.000 When we say obedient feet, what does obedient feet look like? Obedience is characterized by hearts that don't need to understand. 00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:59.000 Hearts that don't need to understand or wait for conditions to be optimal. 00:23:59.000 --> 00:24:04.000 That's what obedience looks like. 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:11.000 All the guys who met Jesus in Luke chapter 9 verse 54 onwards, where they say, I've got to go bury my dad. 00:24:11.000 --> 00:24:15.000 Can I just settle this? All of them were willing to be obedient guys. 00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:20.000 Please don't think that they were trying to get excuses of being disobedient. Jesus didn't say, man, you're lying. 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.000 You're making excuses. You really don't want to. He didn't say that at all. 00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:34.000 All of them had valid reasons. But sometimes obedience is characterized by being able to step into something with all your heart 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:41.000 and a heart that does not need to understand nor needs conditions to be optimal. 00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:48.000 And that's a hard thing. If that's the kind of mind you have, it'll become difficult. 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:59.000 You'll have to basically chop your head off and stick a cabbage there. 00:24:59.000 --> 00:25:05.000 Any questions? 00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:10.000 Okay. 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:21.000 When you go to Acts chapter 10 verse 17, it says Peter was perplexed, as in confused, as in what in the world is he asking me to do? 00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:27.000 I'm a practicing Jew. I don't eat stuff that was just lowered on the sheet. And he's asking me to eat it. 00:25:27.000 --> 00:25:34.000 I'm not going to eat it. Three times God had to tell him, kill and eat. He was unwilling to. 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:42.000 Because at the end of the day, it's okay to be perplexed. It's okay to be unsure. But it shouldn't prevent obedience. 00:25:42.000 --> 00:25:48.000 It shouldn't prevent obedience. And obedience must persevere through the night. 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:54.000 It must persevere through the night, meaning fear and the illogicality of things always stop us. 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:59.000 Fear and the illogicality of things always stops us. 00:25:59.000 --> 00:26:09.000 Obedience must persevere through the night of fear and through the night of illogicality. 00:26:09.000 --> 00:26:16.000 I say this at least once every three weeks, but it's so necessary to repeat it. 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:23.000 You cannot follow Jesus if you want logic. You cannot. 00:26:23.000 --> 00:26:31.000 You cannot follow him anywhere if you want him to be logical. You cannot. 00:26:31.000 --> 00:26:36.000 It's not possible. 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:52.000 He's not reasonable. He's not logical in the demands he places on you or the things he asks you to do. 00:26:52.000 --> 00:27:07.000 And so must, it is important that we persevere. Perseverance is, go to Hebrews 11, 27, read it from the message or read it from the New English translation. 00:27:07.000 --> 00:27:12.000 You'll see what perseverance looks like. Hebrews 11, 27. 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:17.000 These are scriptures we sometimes miss when we read chapters like Hebrews 11. 00:27:17.000 --> 00:27:23.000 Hebrews 11, verse 27, read it from the message or from the New English translation. 00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:30.000 NET. Hebrews 11, verse 27. 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:35.000 By an act of faith, he turned his heel on Egypt, indifferent to the king's blind rage. 00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:42.000 He had his eye on the one no eye can see and kept right on going. 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:48.000 He had his eye on the one no eye can see and he kept right on going. 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:59.000 When I read it from the NET, it says, by faith he left Egypt without fearing the king's anger, for he persevered as though he could see the one who is invisible. 00:27:59.000 --> 00:28:05.000 He persevered as though he could see the one who is invisible. 00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:16.000 Crazy. The only way you can persevere with anything that God asks you that is impossible or illogical or unreasonable is to see the one who is invisible. 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:22.000 That itself doesn't make sense. How do you see the one who is invisible? 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:25.000 The very idea of invisible, he ain't visible. 00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:32.000 But this is open eyes. 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:38.000 So desire this, guys. 00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:46.000 Go to Ephesians 1, 18 and 19. It says, I pray that your eyes may be open so that your hearts may be enlightened. 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:50.000 Or go to Psalm 119, verse 118. 00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:55.000 Open my eyes that I may see your miracle wonders according to the message. 00:28:55.000 --> 00:29:02.000 We must ask for this. It changes you. 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:10.000 And it is available to everybody. 00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:15.000 Any questions before we go on? 00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:35.000 Okay, let's read Acts chapter 10, verse 9 to 28, Acts 10, 9 to 28. 00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:43.000 Again, about noon the following day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 00:29:43.000 --> 00:29:46.000 He became hungry and wanted something to eat. 00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:49.000 While the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 00:29:49.000 --> 00:29:54.000 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 00:29:54.000 --> 00:29:58.000 It contained all kinds of four footed animals as well as reptiles and birds. 00:29:58.000 --> 00:30:01.000 Then a voice told him, get up, Peter, kill and eat. 00:30:01.000 --> 00:30:04.000 Surely not, Lord. So he's having this conversation now. 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:08.000 Surely not, Lord, Peter replied. I've never eaten anything impure or unclean. 00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:13.000 The voice spoke to him a second time. Do not call anything impure that God has made clean. 00:30:13.000 --> 00:30:17.000 This happened three times and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven. 00:30:17.000 --> 00:30:26.000 While Peter was still wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon's house was and stopped at the gate. 00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:29.000 They called out asking if Simon, who was known as Peter, was staying there. 00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:35.000 While Peter was still thinking about their vision, the spirit said to him, Simon, three men are looking for you. 00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:39.000 So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I've sent them. 00:30:39.000 --> 00:30:43.000 Peter went down and said to the men, I'm the one you're looking for. Why have you come? 00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:47.000 The men replied, we have come from Cornelius, the centurion. 00:30:47.000 --> 00:30:51.000 He's a righteous and God fearing man who is respected by all the Jewish people. 00:30:51.000 --> 00:30:56.000 A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say. 00:30:56.000 --> 00:31:00.000 Do you see the orchestration of divine supernatural things happening? 00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.000 There's a guy called Cornelius who's not a believer who sees an angel. 00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:07.000 There's a man who was hungry who falls into a trance. 00:31:07.000 --> 00:31:10.000 There's a Holy Spirit saying to him, there are three men waiting downstairs. 00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:15.000 This is in the New Testament. 00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:32.000 I'm saying that it is for all of us, not for a few elite, because we need a whole group of people functioning like this. 00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:36.000 Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests. 00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:41.000 The next day Peter started out with them and some of the believers from Joppa went along. 00:31:41.000 --> 00:31:43.000 The following day he arrived in Caesarea. 00:31:43.000 --> 00:31:47.000 Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:51.000 As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. 00:31:51.000 --> 00:31:54.000 But Peter made him get up. Stand up, he said. I'm only a man myself. 00:31:54.000 --> 00:31:58.000 While talking to him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. 00:31:58.000 --> 00:32:04.000 He said to them, you are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile, 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:08.000 but God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. 00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:11.000 So when I was sent, I came without raising any objection. 00:32:11.000 --> 00:32:13.000 May I ask why? 00:32:13.000 --> 00:32:18.000 And then he goes on to preach and then in the last verse you see, verse 44, 00:32:18.000 --> 00:32:23.000 while Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:27.000 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit 00:32:27.000 --> 00:32:29.000 had been poured out over the Gentiles. 00:32:29.000 --> 00:32:34.000 What fascinates me about this whole thing is God could have easily sent someone who was friendly with the Gentiles. 00:32:34.000 --> 00:32:39.000 Who does he choose? He chooses a Jew who does not associate with Gentiles. 00:32:39.000 --> 00:32:42.000 And then what does he do? He opens heavens. 00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:44.000 And before he opens heavens, he opens Peter's eyes. 00:32:44.000 --> 00:32:48.000 Peter's eyes are opened. He sees an open heaven. He sees a sheet being lowered. 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:51.000 He knows God is saying, kill and eat. 00:32:51.000 --> 00:32:55.000 He should not associate with Gentiles. He decides that there needs to be a heart change. 00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:58.000 But for that heart change to happen, there needs to be a conversation. 00:32:58.000 --> 00:33:00.000 I will not. You will. I will not. You will. 00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:03.000 But the law says, I should not. Who wrote the law? You. 00:33:03.000 --> 00:33:05.000 Okay, well then go ahead and do it. 00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:07.000 This conversation is happening. 00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:11.000 And then after the conversation, he decides, okay, now what do I do? 00:33:11.000 --> 00:33:15.000 I know what God wants me to do, but do I have obedient feet? 00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:18.000 And he hears the Holy Spirit saying, the guys are waiting downstairs. 00:33:18.000 --> 00:33:21.000 He goes, meets them. Great. Brings them in. 00:33:21.000 --> 00:33:24.000 But now he has to go. He has to go from Joppa to Caesarea. 00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:26.000 So he begins to walk. Obedient feet. 00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:29.000 And as he begins to walk, what happens? Heavens open. 00:33:29.000 --> 00:33:32.000 Heavens open over who? Heavens open over the Gentiles. 00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:35.000 For the first time, for the first time in the history of man, 00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:39.000 the God of Israel becomes the God of mankind. 00:33:39.000 --> 00:33:43.000 No longer is it Jerusalem. No longer is it Judea. 00:33:43.000 --> 00:33:45.000 No longer is it Samaria. All that is over. 00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:50.000 Now you come to Samaria and the ends of the earth. 00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:53.000 And who opens that door? Just like he stood in Acts chapter 2 00:33:53.000 --> 00:33:55.000 and opened the door to the Jewish believers. 00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:58.000 Now he stands in a Gentile's home. 00:33:58.000 --> 00:34:00.000 And he opens the doors of heaven. 00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:03.000 An open heaven over the rest of the earth. 00:34:03.000 --> 00:34:08.000 And the Gentiles become the one new man with the Jew and the Gentile. 00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:12.000 This is what happens when open eyes see an open heaven, 00:34:12.000 --> 00:34:15.000 active obedient feet begin to walk. 00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:19.000 You have an open heaven over people. It's people who benefit. 00:34:19.000 --> 00:34:22.000 We've got to become like this. Not just one or two. 00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:27.000 Not for a job, not for a visa, not for monthly rent, 00:34:27.000 --> 00:34:30.000 but for more important things. 00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:36.000 We've got to stop spending the currency of faith on job, visa and provision. 00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:39.000 Those things God provides. 00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:43.000 And he blessed us today with a blessing. 00:34:43.000 --> 00:34:46.000 By the time we spend faith on those things, 00:34:46.000 --> 00:34:49.000 we are so exhausted that we don't have time for anything else. 00:34:57.000 --> 00:34:59.000 Capish? 00:35:09.000 --> 00:35:11.000 Guys, when God wants you to... 00:35:11.000 --> 00:35:13.000 Remember this, eh? 00:35:13.000 --> 00:35:18.000 When God wants to draw you... 00:35:18.000 --> 00:35:21.000 My handwriting is kind of nice today. 00:35:21.000 --> 00:35:26.000 I think once Tooney became a doctor, my handwriting improved. 00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:33.000 When God wants to draw you into a new, unfamiliar place, 00:35:33.000 --> 00:35:40.000 when God wants to draw you into a new, unfamiliar place, 00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:43.000 he doesn't use logic or reason. 00:35:43.000 --> 00:35:46.000 He doesn't use logic or reason. 00:35:49.000 --> 00:35:52.000 You know, the only time God says, come reason with me, 00:35:52.000 --> 00:35:54.000 is in Isaiah when your sins are red as scarlet, 00:35:54.000 --> 00:35:56.000 but I will make them white as snow, 00:35:56.000 --> 00:35:58.000 but if you have an argument, come reason with me. 00:35:58.000 --> 00:36:01.000 Otherwise, he doesn't use it too often. 00:36:01.000 --> 00:36:03.000 God wants to know... 00:36:03.000 --> 00:36:07.000 When God wants to draw you into a new, unfamiliar place, 00:36:07.000 --> 00:36:09.000 he doesn't use logic or reason. 00:36:09.000 --> 00:36:13.000 What he usually uses is imagination. 00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.000 Imagination forged by the Spirit. 00:36:21.000 --> 00:36:25.000 Imagination forged by the Spirit, rooted in the Word. 00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:28.000 Rooted in the Word and in His nature. 00:36:34.000 --> 00:36:36.000 He uses imagination. 00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:39.000 You know, there's nothing that has been created in the world 00:36:39.000 --> 00:36:41.000 that is revolutionary, 00:36:41.000 --> 00:36:44.000 that wasn't the result of someone's imagination. 00:36:46.000 --> 00:36:53.000 Be it Steve Jobs, be it Elon Musk, or be it any of those guys, 00:36:53.000 --> 00:36:55.000 they had the ability to imagine. 00:36:58.000 --> 00:37:03.000 Christians are the ones that seem to suspend imagination 00:37:03.000 --> 00:37:04.000 once you become a believer. 00:37:04.000 --> 00:37:06.000 Till then, it was great imagining, 00:37:06.000 --> 00:37:08.000 but once you become a believer, you stop imagining. 00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:13.000 Imagination is a tool that God uses 00:37:13.000 --> 00:37:17.000 to fertilize your mind with impossible things. 00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:32.000 Before I became a believer, 00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:36.000 I would imagine living in this house overlooking the beach 00:37:36.000 --> 00:37:40.000 in California somewhere, and I was the Times Editor. 00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:42.000 And all my friends said, 00:37:42.000 --> 00:37:43.000 yeah, how big is the house? 00:37:43.000 --> 00:37:45.000 I said, five bedrooms. There's enough room for all of us. 00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:46.000 We'd be like a commune. 00:37:46.000 --> 00:37:48.000 Hippies growing our hair, 00:37:48.000 --> 00:37:50.000 but when we go to work, we'll tie it up properly. 00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:53.000 And that was imagination. It was fun. 00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:57.000 Once you become a believer, your imagination is, 00:37:57.000 --> 00:37:59.000 no, no, no, no, no, we don't imagine like that. 00:37:59.000 --> 00:38:00.000 We have to... 00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:01.000 Come on, man. 00:38:01.000 --> 00:38:03.000 This is what children thrive in. 00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:07.000 And God uses imagination, eh? 00:38:07.000 --> 00:38:09.000 He uses imagination. 00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:13.000 If you have children, enjoy their imagination. 00:38:17.000 --> 00:38:18.000 This is an important point. 00:38:18.000 --> 00:38:19.000 That's why I'm making a pause. 00:38:19.000 --> 00:38:21.000 I'm stopping and explaining it. 00:38:21.000 --> 00:38:24.000 So let me tell you a story that happened last week. 00:38:24.000 --> 00:38:26.000 We started talking about open eyes, right? 00:38:27.000 --> 00:38:29.000 And so during the break, 00:38:31.000 --> 00:38:34.000 Joey, Aaron and Rennie's son, comes running up to me, 00:38:34.000 --> 00:38:36.000 and he stands in front of me and says... 00:38:38.000 --> 00:38:40.000 And so I thought, okay, he's showing me his shirt. 00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:43.000 And I said the patronizing things that grownups say to kids, 00:38:43.000 --> 00:38:45.000 ah, it's a wonderful shirt. 00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:46.000 How are you, Joey? 00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:48.000 Give him a fist pump, and he went away. 00:38:48.000 --> 00:38:50.000 And then just before the break ended, 00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:53.000 he comes running up to me again and goes like this. 00:38:53.000 --> 00:38:54.000 Like this. 00:38:54.000 --> 00:38:57.000 And again, I did the same thing. 00:38:57.000 --> 00:38:59.000 Great shirt, yeah, good shirt. 00:38:59.000 --> 00:39:00.000 Didn't even look at it. 00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:03.000 After the teaching, he comes a third time. 00:39:03.000 --> 00:39:06.000 And he comes to me, and he shows me his shirt again. 00:39:06.000 --> 00:39:08.000 He comes and stands in front of me this way. 00:39:08.000 --> 00:39:10.000 The crazy thing is I'm teaching on open eyes, 00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:11.000 and my eyes are shut. 00:39:11.000 --> 00:39:13.000 And so he stands there and he shows me his shirt. 00:39:13.000 --> 00:39:18.000 And what he doesn't know is that the day previous to that, 00:39:18.000 --> 00:39:20.000 my conversation with God was, 00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.000 Father, I've got one flight credit with Air Canada 00:39:24.000 --> 00:39:27.000 that I have to use by January 24th. 00:39:27.000 --> 00:39:29.000 I don't need to use it. 00:39:29.000 --> 00:39:30.000 It's a free thing. 00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:33.000 I can let it be, or I can use it. 00:39:33.000 --> 00:39:36.000 And it can be anywhere between Vancouver and India. 00:39:36.000 --> 00:39:39.000 I can go anywhere, one way. 00:39:39.000 --> 00:39:41.000 And I'm asking the Lord. 00:39:41.000 --> 00:39:43.000 And this kid is coming up each time to me 00:39:43.000 --> 00:39:45.000 and showing me his shirt, and I have no idea why, 00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:47.000 until you look closely at the shirt. 00:39:47.000 --> 00:39:50.000 And it says London, and it says Paddington. 00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:53.000 And the third time he did it, I took notice. 00:39:53.000 --> 00:39:56.000 So I asked Aaron to take pictures and send me. 00:39:56.000 --> 00:39:58.000 So Aaron took pictures and sent me. 00:39:58.000 --> 00:40:00.000 So now I'm thinking to myself, all right, 00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:02.000 so if you are saying, oh, God, 00:40:02.000 --> 00:40:04.000 because I've been asking you for the last two days, 00:40:04.000 --> 00:40:07.000 and this kid has tried desperately to let me know. 00:40:07.000 --> 00:40:11.000 But after preaching on open eyes, my eyes are closed. 00:40:11.000 --> 00:40:14.000 But the third time, it says London and Paddington, 00:40:14.000 --> 00:40:16.000 so I decide, okay, Father, if this is you, 00:40:16.000 --> 00:40:18.000 I'm willing to go, I don't even know why. 00:40:18.000 --> 00:40:22.000 And so on Wednesday, I booked my ticket, 00:40:22.000 --> 00:40:24.000 and on Thursday, I flew to London 00:40:24.000 --> 00:40:30.000 and decided I'll go and stay in Paddington. 00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:33.000 And so I went near Paddington Station, 00:40:33.000 --> 00:40:36.000 and I took up a hotel there, and I stayed in Paddington. 00:40:36.000 --> 00:40:37.000 What do you do there? 00:40:37.000 --> 00:40:39.000 So I decided I'll go to Paddington Station, 00:40:39.000 --> 00:40:42.000 so I went to Paddington Station and sat there. 00:40:42.000 --> 00:40:43.000 Even the beggars got used to me. 00:40:43.000 --> 00:40:44.000 One of the beggars came and said, 00:40:44.000 --> 00:40:46.000 oh, I've already taken money from you. 00:40:46.000 --> 00:40:47.000 So... 00:40:47.000 --> 00:40:53.000 And as I sat there, things began to happen, 00:40:53.000 --> 00:40:59.000 where to cut a long story short, 00:40:59.000 --> 00:41:04.000 at the end of the day, there's going to be a song 00:41:04.000 --> 00:41:10.000 that is very soon going to be found on podcasts in London, 00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:15.000 which will, in my opinion, be super popular or go viral, 00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:19.000 because the singer is going to take the song about London, 00:41:19.000 --> 00:41:23.000 just like the Paddington Bear song called The Rhythm of London, 00:41:23.000 --> 00:41:25.000 and he's going to create a song that will have elements 00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:30.000 of really good music with Bhangra rap, with Arabic lilt, 00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:33.000 and it's focused entirely on immigrants. 00:41:33.000 --> 00:41:37.000 After that, there'll be a podcast called The Paddington Podcast. 00:41:37.000 --> 00:41:40.000 After that, there'll be a Paddington Planters session, 00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:42.000 where at Paddington Station, we found a place 00:41:42.000 --> 00:41:47.000 where church planters can be trained at Paddington Station twice a week. 00:41:47.000 --> 00:41:49.000 And after that, there'll be a worship night at Paddington, 00:41:49.000 --> 00:41:54.000 once a month, where people will be invited 00:41:54.000 --> 00:41:56.000 to participate in a worship night. 00:41:56.000 --> 00:41:59.000 And while all this is happening, the church in Windsor got... 00:41:59.000 --> 00:42:02.000 And I'm writing down everything, because in First Chronicles, 00:42:02.000 --> 00:42:07.000 it says that David received blueprints as to what God needed to do. 00:42:07.000 --> 00:42:08.000 You should read that. 00:42:08.000 --> 00:42:11.000 First Chronicles 20, verse 18 or thereabouts says, 00:42:11.000 --> 00:42:15.000 David says, listen, the temple that I want you to build, Solomon, 00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:17.000 I received these blueprints directly from God. 00:42:17.000 --> 00:42:19.000 He gave it to me. He wrote it for me. 00:42:19.000 --> 00:42:23.000 How in the world does God write blueprints for an elaborate temple, 00:42:23.000 --> 00:42:25.000 give it to David so he can hand it over to Solomon? 00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.000 I don't even know the process, but you can begin to write down things. 00:42:29.000 --> 00:42:31.000 As you begin to write down things, God says, 00:42:31.000 --> 00:42:33.000 listen, don't worry about Windsor. 00:42:33.000 --> 00:42:36.000 And then he reminded me, in 2023, people from this church, 00:42:36.000 --> 00:42:40.000 Evan, Jillian and others, went to London to deal with the powers of London. 00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:44.000 In 2024, went to London, stayed at Canary Wharf, 00:42:44.000 --> 00:42:47.000 and there God said, listen, can you start four churches in London 00:42:47.000 --> 00:42:50.000 at four corners of the M25 and start in Windsor? 00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:52.000 And now God is saying Windsor is established, 00:42:52.000 --> 00:42:56.000 start doing other things in London. 00:42:56.000 --> 00:42:59.000 And when all this was over, and I'm thinking to myself, 00:42:59.000 --> 00:43:01.000 how in the world is this going to happen? 00:43:01.000 --> 00:43:04.000 How in the world is God going to keep his promises? 00:43:04.000 --> 00:43:06.000 How am I going to commit to these promises? 00:43:06.000 --> 00:43:08.000 Along comes a man. His name is James Spendle. 00:43:08.000 --> 00:43:11.000 I found out later. James Spendle comes up to me and says, 00:43:11.000 --> 00:43:13.000 hi, would you like a free poem? 00:43:13.000 --> 00:43:16.000 So I said, sorry. He said, I do free poetry. 00:43:16.000 --> 00:43:19.000 If you want a poem, I'll recite a poem right now. 00:43:19.000 --> 00:43:21.000 And so I said, okay. 00:43:21.000 --> 00:43:23.000 He starts reciting a poem by Robert Frost, 00:43:23.000 --> 00:43:26.000 stopping by the woods on a snowy evening. 00:43:26.000 --> 00:43:28.000 And guess what the last two lines are? 00:43:28.000 --> 00:43:31.000 And I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep. 00:43:31.000 --> 00:43:34.000 And I'm literally wanting to cry because I've just been talking 00:43:34.000 --> 00:43:37.000 to the Lord about how in the world are you going to keep your promises? 00:43:37.000 --> 00:43:39.000 How long is this going to take? 00:43:39.000 --> 00:43:42.000 And out of the blue comes a poet who stands and begins to relate lines 00:43:42.000 --> 00:43:47.000 from Robert Frost's poems that speaks to the questions you ask. 00:43:47.000 --> 00:43:50.000 How does this work, guys? 00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:57.000 First, you need open eyes to see what God wants you to see. 00:43:57.000 --> 00:43:58.000 And what does he want you to do? 00:43:58.000 --> 00:43:59.000 Go all the way to London. 00:43:59.000 --> 00:44:01.000 Can't he do it with someone in Britain? 00:44:01.000 --> 00:44:03.000 Yes, he can. Why take you along? 00:44:03.000 --> 00:44:04.000 Exactly what Mia was saying, 00:44:04.000 --> 00:44:10.000 because he likes taking his children on an adventure if they have courage. 00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:13.000 Fun adventure. 00:44:13.000 --> 00:44:16.000 And so you hop on a plane and you go to London and you go to Paddington Station. 00:44:16.000 --> 00:44:18.000 I've got my niece in London. I've got my sister. 00:44:18.000 --> 00:44:19.000 They had to come to me. 00:44:19.000 --> 00:44:24.000 Guess where they met me? At the station. 00:44:24.000 --> 00:44:27.000 Spend the entire day at the station. 00:44:27.000 --> 00:44:33.000 I know more about the Paddington Bear than anybody here right now. 00:44:33.000 --> 00:44:42.000 But once the song gets this thing, it'll change what we do there. 00:44:42.000 --> 00:44:46.000 On the way back, I stopped in Calgary, said hi to Jason. 00:44:46.000 --> 00:44:48.000 Remember Jason Duhek, song of you do. 00:44:48.000 --> 00:44:57.000 And met a man from Ethiopia who's just on his he plants churches all over Africa. 00:44:57.000 --> 00:45:00.000 He came to let's bridge. 00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:03.000 I don't know why everyone goes to let's bridge. 00:45:03.000 --> 00:45:04.000 He came to let's bridge. 00:45:04.000 --> 00:45:08.000 And I really liked him because he said, take a I can't understand something. 00:45:08.000 --> 00:45:10.000 People preach here for half an hour. 00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:12.000 Why can't they go for two hours? 00:45:12.000 --> 00:45:20.000 And I thought this man, this man is a man after my heart. 00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:23.000 And so he'll be here next week. 00:45:23.000 --> 00:45:25.000 Be nice to him and treat him well. 00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:28.000 I should tell you something else on the side. 00:45:28.000 --> 00:45:31.000 I met a sort of Aaron and Daniel yesterday. 00:45:31.000 --> 00:45:33.000 And so I asked Aaron a question. 00:45:33.000 --> 00:45:39.000 Aaron, when you first came to this church, didn't it bother you that the services were so long? 00:45:39.000 --> 00:45:42.000 And Daniel immediately nodded, saying, yeah, yeah, it bothered me. 00:45:42.000 --> 00:45:43.000 It bothered me. 00:45:43.000 --> 00:45:46.000 And Aaron's answer was the best. 00:45:46.000 --> 00:45:47.000 It's the first time I've been to church. 00:45:47.000 --> 00:45:52.000 I didn't know better. 00:45:52.000 --> 00:45:59.000 So Daniel's the problem. 00:45:59.000 --> 00:46:00.000 And so this was Joey. 00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:03.000 And then Anne and Jaren were there. 00:46:03.000 --> 00:46:06.000 I went and took a picture with the Paddington Bear. 00:46:06.000 --> 00:46:08.000 Yeah. 00:46:08.000 --> 00:46:11.000 And she also had a Paddington bag that she had gotten. 00:46:11.000 --> 00:46:14.000 So it was Paddington all the way, yeah. 00:46:14.000 --> 00:46:19.000 Any stories you need about Paddington, come to me. 00:46:19.000 --> 00:46:22.000 Any questions before we go on? 00:46:22.000 --> 00:46:25.000 This is just an example that was live. 00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:29.000 Went there on Thursday, came back yesterday. 00:46:29.000 --> 00:46:30.000 Does it cost you? 00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:33.000 Yes, because the flight credit was only one way. 00:46:33.000 --> 00:46:34.000 But so what? 00:46:34.000 --> 00:46:37.000 It's the funnest adventure you can be on. 00:46:37.000 --> 00:46:43.000 And to think that Joey was responsible, the boy doesn't know what he's doing. 00:46:43.000 --> 00:46:48.000 We must see these little things, guys, that God has the power to orchestrate a three-year-old. 00:46:48.000 --> 00:46:50.000 Is he three yet? 00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:54.000 Less than three-year-old to come and stand before you and do this. 00:46:54.000 --> 00:46:58.000 Not once, not twice, because he's thinking, when will this grown-up open his eyes? 00:46:58.000 --> 00:47:00.000 Three times. 00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:10.000 This is what I mean by open eyes, to see heavens open so that you can activate an open heaven with obedient feet. 00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:12.000 And it happens every week. 00:47:12.000 --> 00:47:13.000 And it is for all of us. 00:47:13.000 --> 00:47:21.000 It's not a special thing, but others benefit. 00:47:21.000 --> 00:47:29.000 Heidi and May, if you need to go and prepare stuff in the back, feel free, yeah? 00:47:29.000 --> 00:47:32.000 Go. 00:47:32.000 --> 00:47:36.000 Okay. 00:47:36.000 --> 00:47:39.000 I had a Pittsburgh Penguins game today. 00:47:39.000 --> 00:47:42.000 It started at 3 p.m. 00:47:42.000 --> 00:47:46.000 So guys, God hides things in plain sight. 00:47:46.000 --> 00:47:48.000 God hides things in plain sight. 00:47:48.000 --> 00:47:51.000 And so anyone who seeks him sincerely can find. 00:47:51.000 --> 00:47:53.000 Matthew 7, 7. 00:47:53.000 --> 00:47:57.000 Ask and you shall be given. 00:47:57.000 --> 00:48:01.000 Knock and you shall have the door open. 00:48:01.000 --> 00:48:03.000 Seek and you shall find. 00:48:03.000 --> 00:48:05.000 Asking is important. 00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:07.000 And he hides things. 00:48:07.000 --> 00:48:09.000 He hides things deliberately. 00:48:09.000 --> 00:48:16.000 God conceals his splendor, his wisdom, and he's willing to reveal it to those who seek his face. 00:48:16.000 --> 00:48:17.000 Please understand. 00:48:17.000 --> 00:48:26.000 He's willing to reveal it to those who seek his face. 00:48:26.000 --> 00:48:29.000 Psalm 27, verse 8. 00:48:29.000 --> 00:48:31.000 David is having a conversation with God and he says to God, 00:48:31.000 --> 00:48:33.000 Oh God, you said to me, seek your face. 00:48:33.000 --> 00:48:41.000 So here I come to seek your face. 00:48:41.000 --> 00:48:44.000 When you go about doing this, there must be childlike wonder. 00:48:44.000 --> 00:48:46.000 Childlike wonder. 00:48:46.000 --> 00:48:48.000 Childlike awe. 00:48:48.000 --> 00:48:50.000 If you go to Romans 11, 33. 00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:52.000 Romans 11, 33. 00:48:52.000 --> 00:49:01.000 Romans 11, 33. 00:49:01.000 --> 00:49:05.000 Oh, the depth of the riches of wisdom and knowledge of God. 00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:11.000 How unsearchable his judgments and his paths beyond tracing out. 00:49:11.000 --> 00:49:15.000 Reading from the message. 00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:17.000 Have you ever come on anything quite like this? 00:49:17.000 --> 00:49:21.000 How unsearchable the wisdom, the savagant generosity of God. 00:49:21.000 --> 00:49:23.000 This deep, deep wisdom. 00:49:23.000 --> 00:49:25.000 It's way over our heads. 00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:27.000 We'll never figure it out. 00:49:27.000 --> 00:49:31.000 And then you have to go to 1 Corinthians 2, 16. 00:49:31.000 --> 00:49:33.000 1 Corinthians 2, 16. 00:49:33.000 --> 00:49:35.000 On one hand, Paul, the writer of Romans, is saying, 00:49:35.000 --> 00:49:41.000 the inscrutable, unsearchable wisdom and the depth of God. 00:49:41.000 --> 00:49:43.000 How in the world are we going to figure it out? 00:49:43.000 --> 00:49:45.000 And then you go to 1 Corinthians 2, 16. 00:49:45.000 --> 00:49:54.980 answer there. And in 1 Corinthians 2.16, he says, who has known the mind of the Lord so 00:49:54.980 --> 00:50:01.280 as to instruct him, but we have the mind of Christ. That's how you figure it out. You 00:50:01.280 --> 00:50:11.020 connect both and you realize that our shucks, this can be figured out. Can be figured out. 00:50:11.020 --> 00:50:16.380 I was confident when I sat at that station that I will get everything that God wants 00:50:16.380 --> 00:50:29.260 me to get. That there'll be nothing left out. Everything will be gotten. Relationship and 00:50:29.260 --> 00:50:36.220 wonder, you have to have that. You have to have childlike wonder and awe. And the unsearchable 00:50:36.220 --> 00:50:43.860 riches of his wisdom. If we lose that, then it's going to be different and difficult. 00:50:43.860 --> 00:50:53.060 I want you to look at two other scriptures. Deuteronomy 29.29. Deuteronomy 29.29. Deuteronomy 00:50:53.060 --> 00:51:04.200 29.29. The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to 00:51:04.200 --> 00:51:10.480 us and to our children forever. That we may follow all the words of this law. Look at 00:51:10.480 --> 00:51:14.400 the whole thing man. The secret thing belong to God. So there are two categories. There 00:51:14.400 --> 00:51:18.840 are secret things that belong to God. And then there are things revealed that belong 00:51:18.840 --> 00:51:24.500 to us. So there are two things that are always present for all believers at all times. Secret 00:51:24.500 --> 00:51:28.840 things that belong to God. Things that are really revealed that belong to us. And then 00:51:29.840 --> 00:51:35.600 it goes on to say, the things revealed belong not just to you, but to your children also. 00:51:35.600 --> 00:51:44.300 Why? So that we may follow him. Follow his instructions. So that's Deuteronomy 29.29. 00:51:44.300 --> 00:51:50.480 Things revealed. Things revealed where? Things revealed in the word. Things revealed in Christ. 00:51:50.480 --> 00:51:57.320 In Christ you see the brilliance of the living God. The visible image of the invisible God. 00:51:57.320 --> 00:52:04.200 You see things revealed by the Spirit. This is why in John 16 verse 12 to 15, what does 00:52:04.200 --> 00:52:08.480 Jesus say? Jesus says, listen guys, I'm giving you the Holy Spirit. He's going to be your 00:52:08.480 --> 00:52:12.320 guide. He's going to teach you. He's going to tell you about me. He's going to take from 00:52:12.320 --> 00:52:17.300 me and share it with you. He's going to bring you into the truth so that everything that 00:52:17.300 --> 00:52:23.720 I have gotten from the Father can be yours. So things revealed. John chapter 16 verse 00:52:23.960 --> 00:52:29.040 12 to 15. So things revealed belong to us. So we've got to understand that there are 00:52:29.040 --> 00:52:32.960 things revealed in the word. Then we need to understand that there are things revealed 00:52:32.960 --> 00:52:39.960 in nature. Psalm 19. The heavens declare the handiwork of the living God. Day after day, 00:52:42.720 --> 00:52:49.720 night after night, nature speaks. And this is a speech that goes forth over all the earth. 00:52:50.200 --> 00:52:54.680 I'm quoting Psalm 19. These are not my own words. This is a speech that goes over all 00:52:54.680 --> 00:53:01.680 the earth and people listen to it. There are secrets that have been revealed through nature. 00:53:02.160 --> 00:53:08.680 And then there are secrets revealed through, to people. You read it in first chronicles 00:53:08.680 --> 00:53:13.680 about the tribe of Issachar. It's revealed to people through times and seasons. It was 00:53:13.680 --> 00:53:20.680 said of the tribe of Issachar, the tribe of Issachar knew times and seasons and had an 00:53:22.680 --> 00:53:28.920 understanding of times and seasons. You should know your times and seasons. You should look 00:53:28.920 --> 00:53:32.880 at what is happening in a country. You should look at what is happening in the world and 00:53:32.880 --> 00:53:36.940 have an idea. Jesus put it this way to the Pharisees. He said, you look at the sky and 00:53:36.940 --> 00:53:40.720 you say it's going to rain. You look at the sun and you say it's going to be cloudy. If 00:53:40.760 --> 00:53:44.480 you can look at the things of the earth and determine what's going to happen, how come 00:53:44.480 --> 00:53:50.880 you can't determine the times of the kingdom? So there are certain things that are revealed 00:53:50.880 --> 00:53:57.880 that we already know. And then there are things that are hidden. Go to Proverbs 25. Proverbs 00:53:57.880 --> 00:54:04.880 25, verse 2. Proverbs 25. So before we read that, guys, the way to find things that are 00:54:12.080 --> 00:54:17.040 concealed is to find the things that are revealed first. Anybody who wants to find mysteries 00:54:17.040 --> 00:54:21.600 of God without first obeying the simple revealed things of God will not find the mysteries 00:54:21.600 --> 00:54:28.600 of God. You start with what is already revealed. When people want to go here without doing 00:54:29.520 --> 00:54:36.520 here, you don't get here. How do we find out things that are concealed? We find out things 00:54:38.280 --> 00:54:42.520 that are concealed by first doing the things that are revealed. When I was a kid, my parents 00:54:42.520 --> 00:54:47.720 would do the treasure hunt for Christmas and it would always start with one clue. That 00:54:47.720 --> 00:54:51.280 clue would be revealed. It would be there. When we wake up in the morning, there would 00:54:51.280 --> 00:54:56.720 be this paper on the ground, one for my sister, one for me, and on it would be the first clue. 00:54:56.720 --> 00:55:03.720 That would then lead to the thing that was concealed. Proverbs 25, verse 2. Proverbs 00:55:11.080 --> 00:55:18.080 25, verse 2. It says there, it is the glory of God to conceal the things that are concealed. 00:55:21.280 --> 00:55:27.080 To conceal a matter. To search out a matter is the glory of kings. Beautiful. God is 00:55:27.080 --> 00:55:32.240 saying, listen, I do conceal things. That's my privilege. That's my splendor. That's my 00:55:32.240 --> 00:55:36.800 way of doing things. But I want you to know that everything that I'm concealing, I also 00:55:36.800 --> 00:55:41.760 want you to know that I want you to come and find out the things that are concealed. I 00:55:41.760 --> 00:55:45.760 want you to seek them out. I'm a God who's a father. I want to teach you everything I've 00:55:45.760 --> 00:55:50.120 had. When I created Adam and placed him in the garden, my intent was not to just let 00:55:50.120 --> 00:55:56.440 him grow mangoes and apples or name giraffes and zebras and elephants. There was more to 00:55:56.440 --> 00:56:02.920 that. I wanted to teach Adam everything. Everything about creation. I wanted Adam to explore the 00:56:02.920 --> 00:56:07.400 universe. I wanted Adam to name the stars. I wanted Adam to learn everything there was 00:56:07.400 --> 00:56:14.400 about science, about every blooming subject that exists today. I wanted Adam to find out. 00:56:15.240 --> 00:56:20.480 The intent was one day I would even get him to participate in eating of the tree of life. 00:56:20.480 --> 00:56:23.760 I would give him the knowledge of good and evil at a stage when he was mature enough 00:56:23.760 --> 00:56:29.520 to handle it. There is no mystery that I wouldn't have shared with Adam. Why? Because he was 00:56:29.520 --> 00:56:34.360 my vice regent on earth. He was supposed to rule on my behalf. Why wouldn't I share things 00:56:34.360 --> 00:56:41.360 with him? But a day is coming when you sitting in this church will be doing that. Where you 00:56:41.360 --> 00:56:45.960 will judge angels. Where you will rule over things. Where you will have authority given 00:56:45.960 --> 00:56:52.960 to you. You can't even imagine that right now because your idea of heaven is so skewed. 00:56:57.800 --> 00:57:02.880 But this was what he wanted to do with Adam. And his plea to you and I is, listen, can 00:57:02.880 --> 00:57:06.440 you begin to search out some of the things that I'm concealing? I sometimes show it to 00:57:06.440 --> 00:57:11.840 you. But I feel disappointed when Jacob after I show it to you, you nod your head and go 00:57:11.840 --> 00:57:18.840 back to Instagram. You showed this much interest. You'll be surprised at how quickly God comes 00:57:18.840 --> 00:57:25.840 floating in. You have children, right? You have animals. Your animal shows a little interest 00:57:38.880 --> 00:57:45.880 in a tennis ball that does not look like a ball anymore and you go buy him a ball. Your 00:57:46.880 --> 00:57:53.880 cat turns its body like this and you go buy a big tower to turn its body around. Your 00:57:57.160 --> 00:58:02.960 children, a little bit of interest. When I find a kid who's even remotely interested 00:58:02.960 --> 00:58:09.960 in planes, I take them to the McDonald's next to the south terminal. Then quickly realize 00:58:10.360 --> 00:58:17.360 it was a passing phase. But the point is, show a little bit of interest and you'll be surprised 00:58:20.200 --> 00:58:25.200 at how passionate God is about sharing. What is he sharing? Is he sharing mysteries? Is 00:58:25.200 --> 00:58:32.200 he sharing secrets? No, he's sharing his mind. About everything. He wants to share 00:58:40.920 --> 00:58:47.640 things about money with you. Why? Not so that you do well, so that you can tell others how 00:58:47.640 --> 00:58:54.640 to do it. He wants to share about healing with you. Why? Not so that you live in healing. 00:58:55.640 --> 00:59:00.880 He's okay with that. He's always doing it so that someone will take what is... This 00:59:00.880 --> 00:59:07.880 is why Paul said it this way. Find trustable men that you can take and deposit the teachings 00:59:08.880 --> 00:59:14.880 into so that they can do what? So that they can teach others. Where did Paul find all 00:59:14.880 --> 00:59:21.880 the things he wrote? 14 years in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and then sitting and finding 00:59:22.880 --> 00:59:29.880 out, searching the mind of God. Come on, man. Okay, time to conclude. I can see people 00:59:30.880 --> 00:59:37.880 wriggling in their seats, which doesn't do anything to me. Cultivate the ability to search 00:59:50.840 --> 00:59:57.840 out the things of God. It's your privilege. It adds to your purpose. It reveals his glory. 00:59:57.840 --> 01:00:03.280 The whole Hebrides 2.0, Richmond, Paddington, bride in army boots. These are things that 01:00:03.280 --> 01:00:07.440 have not been created because suddenly I want to topic it is because of the time I spent 01:00:07.440 --> 01:00:12.880 seeking the mind of God, not for myself because it doesn't benefit me. I seek it out so that 01:00:12.880 --> 01:00:19.880 we benefit as a people, guys. And then when more of us start doing it, you will find that 01:00:19.960 --> 01:00:26.960 more can be added to this group and more can be done. 01:00:28.640 --> 01:00:34.560 Some of the things you have to be careful of. Know when you're out of relationship. Like 01:00:34.560 --> 01:00:40.160 I said, these are small things that you have to be mindful of so that you don't miss out 01:00:40.160 --> 01:00:44.320 on this glorious invitation that God is giving us. Remember, the room that we are entering 01:00:44.320 --> 01:00:51.320 into next month is called Open Eyes Day. If you don't know what I'm referencing, you'll 01:00:52.320 --> 01:00:59.320 have to go listen to the teachings from the past because Karen said it's been an hour 01:01:00.360 --> 01:01:06.080 now. So things you have to be careful of. Know when you're out of relationship with 01:01:06.080 --> 01:01:13.080 God because relationship and wonder are critical for God showing you things. When you're out 01:01:13.240 --> 01:01:18.920 of relationship, get back. Find out what's sapping your strength. Fix it. And strength 01:01:18.920 --> 01:01:24.200 sappers can be many things. It can be sin, it can be distractions, it can be priorities, 01:01:24.200 --> 01:01:29.200 it can be busyness, it can be tiredness. Fix it. 01:01:29.200 --> 01:01:36.200 Second, know what to share and reveal when God shows things. Know what to share and reveal 01:01:37.640 --> 01:01:43.480 when God shows things. When God shows you something, sometimes it's meant only for you. 01:01:43.480 --> 01:01:48.240 Jesus got transfigured on the mountain in Matthew 17. He specifically tells them, listen, I 01:01:48.240 --> 01:01:54.760 don't want you to share it with anybody. I want you to share it only after I'm gone. 01:01:54.760 --> 01:02:01.280 So be careful what you share when God shows. I don't know whether Jesus knew that once 01:02:01.280 --> 01:02:05.920 you come down the mountain of transfiguration, there was a demoniac waiting down to be healed. 01:02:05.920 --> 01:02:12.920 I don't know whether he knew that or not. But he told them not to. And yet in 1 Peter, 01:02:12.920 --> 01:02:17.840 Peter writes about it and shares it openly. So be careful and know when and who and what 01:02:17.840 --> 01:02:20.040 to share. 01:02:20.040 --> 01:02:27.040 Third, if this is something that isn't your experience, then pray that the rust and the 01:02:27.040 --> 01:02:33.920 mildew and the dullness of the spirit and the mind are removed. Ask God, Father, I'm 01:02:33.920 --> 01:02:40.040 so sometimes unaware, so dull, so blind, so deaf to the things you do. Can you remove 01:02:40.080 --> 01:02:47.080 my blindness? Ask. Ask God to remove it. 01:02:47.080 --> 01:02:54.080 Four, be aware that if God shows you something and you don't have obedient feet, then over 01:02:55.720 --> 01:03:02.720 a period of time the heart gets hardened and you stop looking. 01:03:02.760 --> 01:03:07.920 Deuteronomy 21, verse 4, it says, you have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes, 01:03:07.920 --> 01:03:13.280 but to this day the Lord has not given you a mind to understand or eyes to see or ears 01:03:13.280 --> 01:03:14.160 to hear. 01:03:14.160 --> 01:03:20.240 Or they, you have seen it but you don't understand. One of the dangers of attending a church like 01:03:20.240 --> 01:03:27.240 this is let's just assume for a second that most Sundays what is spoken is a God thing. 01:03:28.920 --> 01:03:32.640 Let's just assume that because there are some Sundays that it's Derek and Tooney. I'm kidding, 01:03:33.120 --> 01:03:40.120 I'm kidding, I'm so sorry, Doctor. I don't even know why I went there. Gosh, yeah, humility 01:03:44.160 --> 01:03:49.920 I have to cultivate. It's what I'm working on. 01:03:49.920 --> 01:03:56.920 So let's assume most Sundays that what is taught here is from God, yeah? Then the more 01:03:57.920 --> 01:04:03.800 I refuse it and the more I resist it and the more I spurn it or scorn it, the harder the 01:04:03.800 --> 01:04:10.800 heart gets. Just be aware of that, eh? It's just the way it works. 01:04:20.040 --> 01:04:26.160 Two more and we're done. Next one is stay with it even when you struggle. When God shows 01:04:26.160 --> 01:04:29.960 you something and you begin the process and you find obstacles, you find hindrances, 01:04:29.960 --> 01:04:34.200 you find things not working out, you feel the pressure, stay with it, stay with it. 01:04:34.200 --> 01:04:41.000 I love what Job says in Job 19. He says, even if my flesh decays, this I know that my Redeemer 01:04:41.000 --> 01:04:43.480 lives and I will see him. 01:04:43.480 --> 01:04:50.060 Beautifully, even though my skin is decaying, I know that my Redeemer lives and that even 01:04:50.100 --> 01:04:56.380 if my flesh wears away, I will see him. I will see him in my flesh, struggling through 01:04:56.380 --> 01:04:58.020 it. 01:04:58.020 --> 01:05:03.820 And then the last one, make sure you don't, especially as you get older, make sure you 01:05:03.820 --> 01:05:10.820 don't lose out on your zest for life. Barzilai's syndrome. Barzilai was 80. David says, come, 01:05:11.740 --> 01:05:16.140 come with me. I'll take you to my palace. I'll give you a great life. He says, oh, but 01:05:16.140 --> 01:05:21.820 why should I come along? These teeth can't taste food anymore. Even if people sing, I 01:05:21.820 --> 01:05:27.100 can't make out whether it's men singing or women singing. And I just don't have any pleasure 01:05:27.100 --> 01:05:29.780 in life. And so he remains. He sends his son. 01:05:29.780 --> 01:05:36.220 The point being, zest for life is a critical part of the awe and wonder of discovering 01:05:36.220 --> 01:05:42.300 God. Don't lose that. Every time you begin to lose a zest for life, go to someone who 01:05:42.340 --> 01:05:49.340 can help you. Go to someone who can help you. Any questions? When zest languishes, it's 01:05:53.660 --> 01:05:56.660 very hard. Any questions? 01:05:56.660 --> 01:06:03.660 Yeah. So if God shows something, first, one of the things that I think is important is 01:06:12.420 --> 01:06:16.920 that we are so excited about sharing this with people. And sometimes when you share 01:06:16.920 --> 01:06:21.980 it, what if the picture is not complete? Two, what if the person pooh-poohs what you're 01:06:21.980 --> 01:06:28.980 saying because they think you're nuts? What if what you say is for a time, maybe a year 01:06:30.820 --> 01:06:37.820 from now? And so when you begin to share things as soon as they happen, it's sometimes like 01:06:37.820 --> 01:06:44.780 sometimes like throwing pearl before swine. And so keep it. I gave you a 01:06:44.780 --> 01:06:48.940 synopsis of what happened at Paddington. I didn't give you all the ins and outs. I 01:06:48.940 --> 01:06:53.140 have to find out what should I present and what should I not. God begins to 01:06:53.140 --> 01:06:57.500 trust you as He realizes that there are things that He will keep within and 01:06:57.500 --> 01:07:00.980 there are things you won't. When He healed a guy and He told him don't tell 01:07:00.980 --> 01:07:05.140 anybody, what did the guy do? He went and told everybody and the next verse says 01:07:05.140 --> 01:07:12.220 Jesus could not enter that town again. Hundreds lost out because a man refused 01:07:12.220 --> 01:07:19.840 to listen to what Jesus had commanded him to. And so when you begin to see like 01:07:19.840 --> 01:07:23.980 this guys, you begin to frame your world not based on the circumstances around 01:07:23.980 --> 01:07:29.340 you. You begin to frame your world based around what God has shown you. It is 01:07:29.340 --> 01:07:34.780 huge. Let's assume God shows you something that needs to be done. Promises 01:07:34.820 --> 01:07:38.420 to keep, miles to go before you sleep. Now you can frame your world based on 01:07:38.420 --> 01:07:42.100 what God has said. Not frame your world based on the circumstances around you. 01:07:42.100 --> 01:07:48.740 You see this playing out in 1 Kings 18. There's not a single cloud in the sky 01:07:48.740 --> 01:07:54.460 and Elijah keeps telling his servant, listen I want you to go and check the 01:07:54.460 --> 01:08:00.060 sky for clouds. That poor fellow has to go up the mountain. I mean I would have quit 01:08:00.060 --> 01:08:02.700 after the full time. I don't want this job Elijah because you're going up the 01:08:02.700 --> 01:08:07.860 mountain checking for clouds coming down. No cloud. Go up again. While he's 01:08:07.860 --> 01:08:11.700 just praying while the servant goes up and down. By the sixth time I'd have 01:08:11.700 --> 01:08:15.660 jumped off the cliff but he goes back a seventh time. He goes back a seventh time 01:08:15.660 --> 01:08:21.100 and every time he comes and says there's no cloud. But how does Elijah frame his 01:08:21.100 --> 01:08:27.620 world? Elijah frames his world simply by what he saw. And what did he see? He saw 01:08:27.780 --> 01:08:34.980 clouds of rain so thick that Ahab would have to run into his chariot and get 01:08:34.980 --> 01:08:41.780 home before the rains come. That's what happens when you see. That's what 01:08:41.780 --> 01:08:44.900 happens when you see about your personal life, about your church life, about your 01:08:44.900 --> 01:08:49.180 corporate life. Sometimes he shows you 10 years, 20 years down the road. That is 01:08:49.180 --> 01:08:52.660 just nuts waiting for 20 years for something to happen because you've seen 01:08:52.660 --> 01:09:02.220 it. Come on man don't you want this kind of living hope? Otherwise you'll have to 01:09:02.220 --> 01:09:09.580 stagger from day to day. Most things in the Bible happened over a period of time 01:09:09.580 --> 01:09:14.480 but someone inspired, as in God inspired heart saying this will happen and they 01:09:14.480 --> 01:09:18.820 would stay with it so much so that Joseph even knew he was going to die but 01:09:18.820 --> 01:09:21.780 he would see the promised land because his bones would be buried in the 01:09:21.780 --> 01:09:31.660 promised land. A people without vision perish. What's your vision? Is it dictated 01:09:31.660 --> 01:09:41.340 by your boss, by your work? Or is it much greater and grander and more impossible? 01:09:43.460 --> 01:09:47.460 In the context of that now you can put your marriage, put your work, put your 01:09:47.460 --> 01:09:51.300 money. Why? Because there's a grand vision and everything begins to serve that 01:09:51.300 --> 01:09:57.620 vision. Paul put it this way to King Agrippa, I could not be disobedient to 01:09:57.620 --> 01:10:01.540 the heavenly vision I received on the road to Damascus. How can I be 01:10:01.540 --> 01:10:08.220 disobedient to that? Because if I don't have a vision someone will hijack my 01:10:08.220 --> 01:10:12.860 life and have me follow their vision. 01:10:12.860 --> 01:10:25.100 When I live with open eyes I'm not moved by what I see. I'm not moved by what I see 01:10:25.100 --> 01:10:31.300 with my physical eyes but I frame the world around me by what I see with my 01:10:31.300 --> 01:10:38.660 spiritual eyes in the word and by the spirit. I frame the world by what I see 01:10:38.660 --> 01:10:45.020 and hear from his spirit from the word. Then you can say with Job, I love this 01:10:45.020 --> 01:10:52.700 line from Job 42 verse 5, every Paddington experience enriches you guys. 01:10:52.700 --> 01:10:57.380 You'll have your own Paddington experiences. Every Paddington experience 01:10:57.380 --> 01:11:02.780 enriches you. Job put it this way in verse 5, but now I say, he's talking to 01:11:02.780 --> 01:11:08.420 God and he says, but now I say, I had heard about you before but now I have 01:11:08.420 --> 01:11:18.060 seen you. I had heard about you before but now I have seen you. If you need 01:11:18.060 --> 01:11:23.300 prayer there'll be someone to pray with you. Remember church starts at 3.30am 01:11:23.300 --> 01:11:30.380 are we going to turn up at 3.20am. Dress well.