WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Orphan Mentality Publishing Date: 2024-12-31T05:04:44-08:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/orphan-mentality/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:13.400 Music 00:00:13.400 --> 00:00:28.400 Okay, strange topic to talk about today, but whenever you, if you want to cross any threshold 00:00:28.400 --> 00:00:51.800 or gap in your life into something new, it's very difficult, at least for Christians, if we struggle with either a poverty mentality 00:00:52.800 --> 00:01:05.800 or an orphan mentality. Just want to see if we can not take that into the next year. 00:01:05.800 --> 00:01:16.800 And both these are very similar and the reasons can be sometimes generational, sometimes experiences we've been through, 00:01:16.800 --> 00:01:30.800 where once bitten, twice shy, sometimes it's emotional, sometimes it's our upbringing, sometimes it's cultural. 00:01:30.800 --> 00:01:43.800 All cultures come with this. So what if we could drop it? What if I could drop it and not, what if I could manage not being an orphan 00:01:43.800 --> 00:01:54.800 for days on end in 2025, but I don't behave like an orphan. My mentality is not a poverty mentality. 00:01:55.800 --> 00:02:13.800 The thing is when God first started, the culture that he and Adam established, the culture he and Adam established was the culture of a father and son. 00:02:13.800 --> 00:02:19.800 That's the culture he and Adam established. He was the father, Adam was the son. 00:02:19.800 --> 00:02:28.800 And God's great desire was, could you, Jacob, continue with that when you live on earth? Could you perpetuate that culture? 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:33.800 Could you make sure you don't slip into orphanhood every so often? 00:02:33.800 --> 00:02:40.800 At the end of the day, the base definition for an orphan is one who does not have a father. 00:02:41.800 --> 00:02:50.800 And are there moments in 2024 when I behaved as if I did not have a father? 00:02:50.800 --> 00:03:02.800 And if I did, is it possible to go into 2025 and try not to have long moments like that? 00:03:03.800 --> 00:03:15.800 Crossing thresholds is very difficult if a poverty mentality and an orphan spirit interrupts life every so often. 00:03:15.800 --> 00:03:21.800 So the culture that was established between God and Adam was that of a father. 00:03:21.800 --> 00:03:29.800 You see that in Luke 3.38 where in referring to the genealogy of Adam, he was the son of God. 00:03:29.800 --> 00:03:39.800 And at some point, this culture was subverted by Satan, was subverted by the serpent. 00:03:39.800 --> 00:03:50.800 And what was the first thing that happened? Adam hid from his father. Adam hid from his father. 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:57.800 Is it possible this year not to have a moment where I hide from the father? 00:03:57.800 --> 00:04:10.800 Where I hide from the father's piercing questions, where I hide from the father's putting me out on the water without a boat? 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:15.800 Where I hide from the father because of my shame, because of my guilt? 00:04:15.800 --> 00:04:20.800 Where I hide from the father because I absolutely messed up? 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:24.800 Is it possible not to hide from the father? 00:04:25.800 --> 00:04:30.800 Can nakedness be a virtue again? 00:04:31.800 --> 00:04:45.800 Where I stand before him, just absolutely unashamed, guilty perhaps, sin perhaps, but not hiding. 00:04:45.800 --> 00:04:58.800 Is it possible to live in the glare of its holiness and surprisingly mixed in that holiness, favor and the smile of God? 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:07.800 It's an odd combination. We cannot imagine a God who is holy and a God who shows favor and a God who smiles combined into one. 00:05:07.800 --> 00:05:13.800 But is it possible to stand and never hide in 2025? 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:24.800 What if, I mean the year will be transformational if I was able to pull that off. 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:35.800 But when the culture was subverted by the serpent and Adam hid from the father, the shift was so total that man did not have a father and he became an orphan. 00:05:35.800 --> 00:05:43.800 And once he became an orphan, since then it's been perpetuated till today. 00:05:45.800 --> 00:06:05.800 And the systems of both the world, systems of the world and unfortunately even the church to an extent keeps me in an orphanage. 00:06:05.800 --> 00:06:12.800 Keeps me away from sonship. 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:40.800 What if this year in 2025, sonship was critically important to me and there would not be a moment, awake or asleep, when I for a moment forget, lose, dilute, stray away from the fullness of sonship to the father, even right now. 00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:54.800 And when I speak to you, when I meet you, when you talk to me, when you say things to me, when you applaud me, when you disapprove of me, that I never lose this one thing called sonship. 00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:57.800 Do you know how well I would be able to handle life? 00:06:57.800 --> 00:07:03.800 But this is a challenge because this was also what was being done to Jesus. 00:07:03.800 --> 00:07:11.800 If you are the son was the attack on Jesus. 00:07:11.800 --> 00:07:18.800 At the end of the day, Matthew chapter 5 and 6 where Jesus says, why are you so concerned about things? 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:20.800 About what you wear? 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:22.800 About where you stay? 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:23.800 What's he going back to? 00:07:23.800 --> 00:07:24.800 What are you going back to? 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:29.800 That don't you know you have a father? 00:07:29.800 --> 00:07:32.800 It has been from the beginning of time till today. 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:37.800 The intent is always, can I remove you from a deep sense of sonship? 00:07:37.800 --> 00:07:47.800 Because if I do, you will build your own fires to warm you by. 00:07:47.800 --> 00:07:52.800 Any questions on that before we go on? 00:07:52.800 --> 00:08:01.800 If Jesus was challenged, all I'm saying is, I will be challenged too. 00:08:01.800 --> 00:08:10.800 And is it possible for me to now not slip? 00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:23.800 Is it possible to have a year when sonship is never violated? 00:08:23.800 --> 00:08:46.800 The very fact that you and I have a disconnect sometimes with God or are unaware of the Father is a result or a function of orphanhood. 00:08:46.800 --> 00:08:48.800 Is a function of orphanhood. 00:08:48.800 --> 00:08:54.800 Even, I mean, Brielle is always aware of her parents. 00:08:54.800 --> 00:09:06.800 When she spills a glass full of water over you, when she is in your lap, when she's not in your lap, she's always aware of her father. 00:09:06.800 --> 00:09:11.800 Orphanhood is a condition that makes me unaware of my father. 00:09:11.800 --> 00:09:15.800 And there are so many moments in a day when I'm unaware of the father. 00:09:15.800 --> 00:09:20.800 Is it possible to be like Jesus, where you're not unaware of him? 00:09:20.800 --> 00:09:24.800 And I'm saying it is possible. 00:09:24.800 --> 00:09:30.800 It's a stretch, but you can only take it moment by moment, minute by minute, hour by hour. 00:09:30.800 --> 00:09:32.800 That's how everything works. 00:09:32.800 --> 00:09:35.800 Moment by moment, minute by minute, hour by hour. 00:09:35.800 --> 00:09:39.800 And in that awareness, you will find yourself behaving like God. 00:09:39.800 --> 00:09:43.800 In that moment, you will find yourself thinking like God. 00:09:43.800 --> 00:09:59.800 Can you imagine a visible flesh people, mortal, thinking and behaving like God, simply because they have become acutely aware of God for sustained periods of time? 00:09:59.800 --> 00:10:01.800 It's just brilliant. 00:10:01.800 --> 00:10:04.800 Just imagine that. 00:10:04.800 --> 00:10:16.800 How is it possible for me to be aware of God and treat her badly or receive her offensively or think of you in a way that is polluted? 00:10:16.800 --> 00:10:18.800 Impossible. 00:10:18.800 --> 00:10:19.800 I can't do both. 00:10:19.800 --> 00:10:22.800 I'll have to leave one to do the other. 00:10:22.800 --> 00:10:34.800 The greater your time in his awareness, the harder it is to leave because it becomes difficult. 00:10:34.800 --> 00:10:40.800 So the disconnect we feel is because of our orphanhood, but can't that change? 00:10:40.800 --> 00:10:41.800 Yes. 00:10:41.800 --> 00:10:45.800 Here are some of the ways that an orphan behaves. 00:10:45.800 --> 00:10:50.800 And I pray, God, that these will be things that I'm able to change. 00:10:50.800 --> 00:11:00.800 As an orphan, I find it hard to belong. 00:11:00.800 --> 00:11:03.800 As an orphan, I find it hard to belong. 00:11:03.800 --> 00:11:21.800 And so I restlessly seek place, position, purpose, recognition, identity. 00:11:21.800 --> 00:11:29.800 Unfortunately, as an orphan, I seek it outside of God. 00:11:29.800 --> 00:11:39.800 Otherwise, anybody who wants purpose without first being aware of the Father will not be able to accomplish the purpose. 00:11:39.800 --> 00:11:50.800 Purpose, identity, destiny, vision are meaningless without an awareness and a connection with the Father. 00:11:50.800 --> 00:11:58.800 An orphan can never get to purpose, destiny, identity, vision. 00:11:58.800 --> 00:12:00.800 So it will have to be manmade. 00:12:00.800 --> 00:12:04.800 It will have to be a golden calf. 00:12:04.800 --> 00:12:10.800 The first thing that happens to Joseph is he begins to dream in his father's house. 00:12:10.800 --> 00:12:16.800 The first thing that happens to Jesus is he begins to live in his father's house. 00:12:16.800 --> 00:12:17.800 Do you not know? 00:12:17.800 --> 00:12:18.800 Why did you go looking for me? 00:12:18.800 --> 00:12:24.800 Didn't you know that I'd be in my father's house? 00:12:24.800 --> 00:12:27.800 This is critical. 00:12:27.800 --> 00:12:28.800 It is your heartbeat. 00:12:28.800 --> 00:12:30.800 It is your pulse. 00:12:30.800 --> 00:12:32.800 It's your heartbeat. 00:12:32.800 --> 00:12:37.800 You get this right, everything else begins to fall into place. 00:12:37.800 --> 00:12:43.800 So as an orphan, I find it hard to belong. 00:12:43.800 --> 00:12:45.800 We find it hard to belong. 00:12:45.800 --> 00:12:50.800 Now part of the reason we find it hard to belong is to belong will require trust. 00:12:50.800 --> 00:12:54.800 To belong will require suspending suspicion. 00:12:54.800 --> 00:12:57.800 To belong will require friction. 00:12:57.800 --> 00:12:59.800 And an orphan is not used to it. 00:12:59.800 --> 00:13:02.800 All his life he's had to fight to belong. 00:13:02.800 --> 00:13:08.800 And then once he gets to a place where he can belong, there's this fear. 00:13:08.800 --> 00:13:11.800 And only a father can take away the fear. 00:13:11.800 --> 00:13:16.800 And then the people the father brings along. 00:13:16.800 --> 00:13:18.800 And it's a restless seeking. 00:13:18.800 --> 00:13:20.800 It's like Cain. 00:13:20.800 --> 00:13:22.800 Cain was marked by God. 00:13:22.800 --> 00:13:23.800 Nobody could kill him. 00:13:23.800 --> 00:13:24.800 Nobody could touch him. 00:13:24.800 --> 00:13:26.800 But he was restless. 00:13:26.800 --> 00:13:29.800 He roamed the wilderness of Nauv. 00:13:29.800 --> 00:13:31.800 Just restless. 00:13:31.800 --> 00:13:32.800 Marked by God. 00:13:32.800 --> 00:13:33.800 Nobody can kill him. 00:13:33.800 --> 00:13:34.800 Nobody can touch him. 00:13:34.800 --> 00:13:42.800 But restless. 00:13:42.800 --> 00:13:48.800 A sense of belonging does not come because people are nice to you. 00:13:48.800 --> 00:13:53.800 A sense of belonging comes because you have a father who is good. 00:13:53.800 --> 00:13:56.800 And he picks a place for you. 00:13:56.800 --> 00:14:05.800 And you decide at hell or high water I will stand here, stick here, endure this till he says move. 00:14:05.800 --> 00:14:19.800 As I write these points down, if it is an issue, I pray God that towards the end of this hour we'll be able to spread it, cast it aside, put it in the rear view. 00:14:19.800 --> 00:14:28.800 Another thing that happens is because we're not in the middle of the war, we're not in the middle of the war. 00:14:28.800 --> 00:14:30.800 So that's the first thing that comes to mind. 00:14:30.800 --> 00:14:33.800 And then the second thing is the third thing is the fourth thing. 00:14:33.800 --> 00:14:35.800 And then the fourth thing is the fifth thing. 00:14:35.800 --> 00:14:37.800 And then the fifth thing is the sixth thing. 00:14:37.800 --> 00:14:39.800 And then the sixth thing is the seventh thing. 00:14:39.800 --> 00:14:41.800 And then the seventh thing is the eighth thing. 00:14:41.800 --> 00:14:43.800 And then the eighth thing is the eighth thing. 00:14:43.800 --> 00:14:45.800 And then the ninth thing is the tenth thing. 00:14:45.800 --> 00:14:47.800 And then the tenth thing is the tenth thing. 00:14:47.800 --> 00:14:49.800 And then the tenth thing is the tenth thing. 00:14:49.800 --> 00:14:51.800 And then the tenth thing is the tenth thing. 00:14:51.800 --> 00:14:53.800 And then the tenth thing is the tenth thing. 00:14:53.800 --> 00:14:55.800 And then the tenth thing is the tenth thing. 00:14:55.800 --> 00:14:58.800 I'll build barriers that will not allow close interaction. 00:15:00.800 --> 00:15:03.800 You can be friendly, but don't get too friendly. 00:15:03.800 --> 00:15:08.800 I'll build barriers so that I can always have an exit clause. 00:15:08.800 --> 00:15:10.800 I can always have an escape. 00:15:21.800 --> 00:15:23.800 What if I wasn't like that? 00:15:23.800 --> 00:15:25.800 What if I could change it? 00:15:32.800 --> 00:15:36.800 There are some that you will find in certain relationships, 00:15:36.800 --> 00:15:40.800 they are fine as long as the – I'm not talking about just friendships. 00:15:40.800 --> 00:15:42.800 I'm talking about real intense relationships, 00:15:42.800 --> 00:15:47.800 where you're fine in these intense relationships as long as it's on the outside. 00:15:47.800 --> 00:15:49.800 The moment it gets into the depth of the soul, 00:15:49.800 --> 00:15:51.800 you will do things to damage the relationship, 00:15:51.800 --> 00:15:54.800 because now the person is getting too close. 00:16:02.800 --> 00:16:04.800 This is how orphanhood works. 00:16:07.800 --> 00:16:09.800 If the hat fits, wear it. 00:16:09.800 --> 00:16:15.800 If the pebble hurts, take a shoe off. 00:16:15.800 --> 00:16:17.800 Are you convinced of the Father's love? 00:16:17.800 --> 00:16:19.800 Always. 00:16:21.800 --> 00:16:23.800 Are you convinced of the Father's love? 00:16:24.800 --> 00:16:26.800 Always. 00:16:30.800 --> 00:16:40.800 Is it easy to imagine yourself as a father? 00:16:40.800 --> 00:16:51.800 Do you imagine yourself as beloved son or beloved daughter? 00:16:55.800 --> 00:16:57.800 Do you relate to that term? 00:17:01.800 --> 00:17:03.800 Or do you have to imagine it? 00:17:03.800 --> 00:17:05.800 Nothing wrong with imagining it. It's a start. 00:17:05.800 --> 00:17:07.800 Do you have to imagine it? 00:17:07.800 --> 00:17:10.800 Or if God turned to me and said, 00:17:10.800 --> 00:17:14.800 beloved son Jacob, I instantly know, oh my God, 00:17:14.800 --> 00:17:16.800 there's this shockwave that goes through my heart, 00:17:16.800 --> 00:17:19.800 because it's an instant intimate connection. 00:17:21.800 --> 00:17:25.800 You have words for your wife or for your child or for your husband, 00:17:25.800 --> 00:17:30.800 words that the moment you say it, it's like, oh my God, something happens to them. 00:17:31.800 --> 00:17:36.800 So how does it work when God says beloved son or calls you by the name? 00:17:36.800 --> 00:17:40.800 Is it an instant physical emotional reaction? 00:17:43.800 --> 00:17:47.800 Or is it hard to imagine myself as a beloved son? 00:17:50.800 --> 00:17:57.800 One of the outworkings of orphanhood is that Christians know how to be servants. 00:17:58.800 --> 00:18:03.800 But the negative side is a servant who is not first a son 00:18:03.800 --> 00:18:09.800 will be a servant who at some point will feel exploited, burnt out or overused. 00:18:09.800 --> 00:18:11.800 Let me say that again. 00:18:12.800 --> 00:18:20.800 One of the outworkings of orphanhood is that you will enjoy being a servant, 00:18:20.800 --> 00:18:23.800 because it's easy to relate, master servant. 00:18:23.800 --> 00:18:24.800 There are rules. 00:18:24.800 --> 00:18:25.800 There are parameters. 00:18:25.800 --> 00:18:27.800 There are functions. 00:18:27.800 --> 00:18:28.800 There are things to do. 00:18:28.800 --> 00:18:30.800 There are boxes to stay within. 00:18:32.800 --> 00:18:34.800 That's the outworking of an orphan spirit. 00:18:34.800 --> 00:18:36.800 It's easy to be a servant. 00:18:36.800 --> 00:18:42.800 But the flip side, the negative side is anybody who is a servant of the Lord 00:18:42.800 --> 00:18:46.800 without first absolutely understanding what it is to be beloved son 00:18:46.800 --> 00:18:50.800 will at some point feel exploited, overused or burnt out. 00:18:50.800 --> 00:18:52.800 It's just a simple thing. 00:18:52.800 --> 00:18:55.800 But it's just impossible to avoid it. 00:18:55.800 --> 00:18:56.800 Why? 00:18:56.800 --> 00:18:59.800 Because Jesus was first a son and then a servant. 00:18:59.800 --> 00:19:01.800 You can never change it. 00:19:01.800 --> 00:19:03.800 You change it and you're done. 00:19:03.800 --> 00:19:07.800 That's one of the major things in churches, right? 00:19:07.800 --> 00:19:10.800 We have servants of the Lord. 00:19:10.800 --> 00:19:15.800 You cannot be a servant of the Lord without first being a son or a daughter. 00:19:16.800 --> 00:19:18.800 And so one must ask these questions. 00:19:18.800 --> 00:19:21.800 Do I keep a distance from people? 00:19:21.800 --> 00:19:23.800 Do I... 00:19:23.800 --> 00:19:27.800 Is suspicion always the first reaction? 00:19:27.800 --> 00:19:32.800 Have I been hurt and therefore now it is impossible for me to go back? 00:19:33.800 --> 00:19:38.800 Do I damage relationships sometimes because it's getting too close? 00:19:42.800 --> 00:19:45.800 God created us to be an actual family. 00:19:45.800 --> 00:19:50.800 A family is a messy, hurtful, offensive, offending. 00:19:51.800 --> 00:19:54.800 And so the world never sees a full picture. 00:19:54.800 --> 00:19:56.800 But can fight people do it? 00:19:56.800 --> 00:19:58.800 Work through offense. 00:19:58.800 --> 00:20:00.800 Work through hurt. 00:20:01.800 --> 00:20:06.800 You're trying to build on earth the perfect model of what heaven was supposed to be. 00:20:06.800 --> 00:20:08.800 Fight people. 00:20:08.800 --> 00:20:15.800 Or is this offense going to be always on and off and on and off and it's just so pointless. 00:20:15.800 --> 00:20:18.800 Any questions before we go on? 00:20:19.800 --> 00:20:22.800 Any questions? 00:20:22.800 --> 00:20:25.800 We must throw this aside. 00:20:31.800 --> 00:20:33.800 Why must we throw it aside? 00:20:33.800 --> 00:20:42.800 Because the earth does not know what it is for man to be in relationship with God as father. 00:20:42.800 --> 00:20:45.800 The earth does not know it. 00:20:46.800 --> 00:20:48.800 May I go one step further? 00:20:48.800 --> 00:20:56.800 The church does not know what it is to be, what it is for man to be in relationship with God as father. 00:20:56.800 --> 00:20:58.800 The church does not know it. 00:20:58.800 --> 00:21:03.800 Can you see it in my interactions with heaven? 00:21:03.800 --> 00:21:07.800 Will you see it in your interaction with Dilna? 00:21:07.800 --> 00:21:11.800 Can you see it in your prayer to God when you stand here? 00:21:11.800 --> 00:21:15.800 Can you see it in the intimacy that is displayed during worship? 00:21:15.800 --> 00:21:18.800 Can I see it in your tears and your laughter? 00:21:21.800 --> 00:21:31.800 Because you do see it with Joey and Aaron, with Briel and Iris, with Yahya and Judah and Hamari, with Phoebe and Jane. 00:21:31.800 --> 00:21:33.800 You do see it. 00:21:33.800 --> 00:21:37.800 Then shouldn't I display the same thing? 00:21:37.800 --> 00:21:41.800 Must I not return to child-likeness? 00:21:41.800 --> 00:21:44.800 That is what we are begging each other today. 00:21:44.800 --> 00:21:46.800 Can we return to child-likeness? 00:21:46.800 --> 00:21:58.800 Can I throw down the suspicions, the fears, the things that have happened in the past to me or to my dad or to my mom, my past church experience? 00:21:58.800 --> 00:22:00.800 Can I throw that down? 00:22:00.800 --> 00:22:03.800 Can I forgive those that hurt me? 00:22:03.800 --> 00:22:10.800 So that once again I can return to child-likeness because if I don't return to child-likeness, the father cannot be seen. 00:22:10.800 --> 00:22:13.800 For the kingdom is made up of such as these. 00:22:13.800 --> 00:22:16.800 The kingdom is made up of such as these. 00:22:16.800 --> 00:22:18.800 The kingdom is not made up of adults. 00:22:18.800 --> 00:22:21.800 The kingdom is not made up of highly functioning people. 00:22:21.800 --> 00:22:24.800 The kingdom is not made up of gifted, talented people. 00:22:24.800 --> 00:22:26.800 The kingdom is made up of these. 00:22:26.800 --> 00:22:28.800 These meaning who? 00:22:28.800 --> 00:22:30.800 Ones that are like children. 00:22:30.800 --> 00:22:32.800 Not childish, children. 00:22:32.800 --> 00:22:34.800 Children. 00:22:40.800 --> 00:22:42.800 This is why I like Vibi a little. 00:22:47.800 --> 00:22:49.800 Yes, only a little. 00:22:55.800 --> 00:22:57.800 This is why I like Judah. 00:23:02.800 --> 00:23:15.800 I came on Sunday, had a brand new pair of shoes that I got for Christmas because he's the height of my shoes. 00:23:15.800 --> 00:23:19.800 He walks past me and says, new shoes. 00:23:19.800 --> 00:23:22.800 And you know how he walks, right? 00:23:22.800 --> 00:23:24.800 And off he goes. 00:23:24.800 --> 00:23:29.800 And I'm thinking to myself, I wish I could be like him. 00:23:32.800 --> 00:23:47.800 When I am not child-like and when I don't know what I should do when God calls me beloved son, 00:23:47.800 --> 00:23:54.800 when I'm a servant, that's when legalism and religion is required for me to maintain relationship. 00:23:54.800 --> 00:24:01.800 Legalism and religion is a method to maintain relationship with God when I do not know sonship. 00:24:03.800 --> 00:24:12.800 Legalism and religion is a method that I need to maintain a relationship with God when I do not know what it is to be like a child, 00:24:12.800 --> 00:24:15.800 what it is to relate to him as a father. 00:24:15.800 --> 00:24:21.800 We have our own versions of legalism and religion, but we always think others are legalistic, not us. 00:24:24.800 --> 00:24:32.800 If I'm an orphan, I'm a self-made man. 00:24:55.800 --> 00:24:59.800 The thing has disappeared. 00:24:59.800 --> 00:25:09.800 If I'm an orphan, I'm a self-made man, and I'll find it very hard to receive things from you. 00:25:09.800 --> 00:25:12.800 If I receive anything from you, I'll have to return the favor. 00:25:12.800 --> 00:25:15.800 Are you like that? 00:25:15.800 --> 00:25:22.800 Where if I do something for you, you'll somehow have to return the favor. 00:25:22.800 --> 00:25:26.800 You can't bear owing someone something. 00:25:26.800 --> 00:25:31.800 You always have to return the favor. 00:25:31.800 --> 00:25:35.800 That's a quid pro quo basis. That's not kingdom. 00:25:39.800 --> 00:25:41.800 I'm a self-made man. 00:25:41.800 --> 00:25:49.800 You know the Stoics, the Greek Stoics used to say that every man should learn how to be self-sufficient 00:25:50.800 --> 00:25:55.800 so that in times where there are difficult circumstances, you can resist them. 00:25:55.800 --> 00:26:00.800 God says different. God says that I do not expect you to be self-sufficient. 00:26:00.800 --> 00:26:04.800 I expect you to be God-dependent and body-reliant. 00:26:04.800 --> 00:26:07.800 I do not expect you to be self-sufficient. 00:26:07.800 --> 00:26:09.800 God hates self-sufficiency. 00:26:09.800 --> 00:26:14.800 Self-reliance and self-sufficiency are actually what hollows out faith. 00:26:14.800 --> 00:26:20.800 A person who is self-reliant and self-sufficient is a person who will not exert faith. 00:26:20.800 --> 00:26:24.800 It's a classic display of orphanhood. 00:26:27.800 --> 00:26:32.800 Instead, what God says is, I am the all-sufficient one. 00:26:32.800 --> 00:26:35.800 Be God-dependent and body-reliant. 00:26:35.800 --> 00:26:39.800 So orphanhood expresses itself in that area in two ways. 00:26:39.800 --> 00:26:47.800 One, in returning any favour shown or two, in not taking any help so that you owe no man nothing. 00:26:49.800 --> 00:26:52.800 Both should be spat on. 00:26:55.800 --> 00:26:56.800 Spat on. 00:27:01.800 --> 00:27:04.800 If this is how I am, I must change. 00:27:09.800 --> 00:27:16.800 As an orphan, this is something that I struggle with and I'm sure you struggle, I think you would struggle with it too. 00:27:16.800 --> 00:27:21.800 As an orphan, I strive to be acceptable. 00:27:21.800 --> 00:27:24.800 I strive to be accepted. 00:27:24.800 --> 00:27:27.800 I strive to be accepted. 00:27:27.800 --> 00:27:34.800 Because my identity is not accepted. 00:27:35.800 --> 00:27:43.800 Because my identity is tied to acceptance. 00:27:46.800 --> 00:27:52.800 And your disapproval can ruin me. 00:27:57.800 --> 00:27:59.800 I want to escape this. 00:27:59.800 --> 00:28:03.800 This is what causes people pleasing. 00:28:04.800 --> 00:28:06.800 I want to escape this. 00:28:07.800 --> 00:28:14.800 Where you matter, what you say matters, but my identity is not derived from it. 00:28:14.800 --> 00:28:19.800 This is why I like John chapter 13, verse 1-3, where it says, 00:28:19.800 --> 00:28:25.800 Jesus, knowing where he came from and knowing where he was going, 00:28:25.800 --> 00:28:32.800 took off his robe, tied a towel around him, bent down on his knees and washed the feet of his disciples. 00:28:32.800 --> 00:28:39.800 The king, knowing where he came from and knowing where he was going, couldn't care less about what he would become. 00:28:39.800 --> 00:28:49.800 His identity did not come from the work he does, what he's asked to do, the applause or the disapproval of people. 00:29:02.800 --> 00:29:08.800 So when disapproval happens, I'm embittered by your disapproval. 00:29:08.800 --> 00:29:12.800 I'm embittered by your disapproval. 00:29:15.800 --> 00:29:20.800 When I'm embittered by your disapproval, I start devouring you. 00:29:22.800 --> 00:29:30.800 People pleasing is one of our biggest struggles, guys. 00:29:32.800 --> 00:29:35.800 Somehow, if we can escape this. 00:29:42.800 --> 00:29:50.800 The Bible says that when in a church, believers start getting bitter, they devour each other. 00:29:50.800 --> 00:29:56.800 In our bitterness, we devour each other, meaning we begin to think things about each other. 00:29:56.800 --> 00:29:59.800 We begin to sometimes whisper things about each other. 00:29:59.800 --> 00:30:02.800 We begin to then say things about each other. 00:30:15.800 --> 00:30:21.800 And that's when I go from house to house, leader to leader, 00:30:25.800 --> 00:30:28.800 movement to movement, conference to conference. 00:30:29.800 --> 00:30:38.800 It just is endless. It's just a cycle. 00:30:43.800 --> 00:30:52.800 Orphanhood deeply affects finances. Orphanhood deeply affects finances. 00:30:52.800 --> 00:30:59.800 One, because an orphan has to fight for everything he earns, I hold for the future. 00:31:02.800 --> 00:31:04.800 I hold for the future. 00:31:08.800 --> 00:31:13.800 Here's two statements that I read that were pretty powerful. 00:31:13.800 --> 00:31:24.800 A man is not measured by what he has, but by what has him. 00:31:27.800 --> 00:31:29.800 And the second statement was, 00:31:29.800 --> 00:31:39.800 when a pauper or an orphan gets a lot of money, 00:31:40.800 --> 00:31:42.800 and the second statement was, 00:31:44.800 --> 00:31:54.800 when a pauper or an orphan gets a lot of money, 00:32:01.800 --> 00:32:07.800 the question is, did God gain a fortune? 00:32:10.800 --> 00:32:12.800 Or lose a man? 00:32:14.800 --> 00:32:16.800 Very troubling questions. 00:32:26.800 --> 00:32:30.800 An orphan mentality absolutely affects how we deal with our finances. 00:32:32.800 --> 00:32:36.800 A man is measured not by what he has, but what has him. 00:32:37.800 --> 00:32:41.800 Is it my job? Is it my bank account? 00:32:42.800 --> 00:32:45.800 And the second thing is, when a pauper or an orphan gets a lot of money, 00:32:45.800 --> 00:32:50.800 the question is, did God gain a fortune or did he lose a man? 00:32:53.800 --> 00:32:56.800 Because an orphan has to fight for everything he has, right? 00:32:56.800 --> 00:33:00.800 Once he fights it, he'll hold it. 00:33:00.800 --> 00:33:03.800 Because one of the things that scares us is lack. 00:33:03.800 --> 00:33:05.800 That's another question, eh? 00:33:05.800 --> 00:33:09.800 Is it possible for me not to be afraid of lack next year? 00:33:13.800 --> 00:33:15.800 Not to be afraid of lack. 00:33:24.800 --> 00:33:28.800 I wish I could get there, but I'm not afraid of lack. 00:33:34.800 --> 00:33:36.800 Any questions? 00:33:36.800 --> 00:33:38.800 I mean, sorry, go ahead. 00:33:42.800 --> 00:33:51.800 Saving for the future is okay if it is so that you have savings to do with it 00:33:51.800 --> 00:33:55.800 as either you please or as God pleases. 00:33:55.800 --> 00:34:00.800 But saving for the future because there are rainy days ahead 00:34:00.800 --> 00:34:04.800 and there is a likelihood that your money will save you because God won't. 00:34:04.800 --> 00:34:08.800 Or saving for the future because you're afraid of what will happen 00:34:08.800 --> 00:34:13.800 when a job is lost or a car is damaged or stuff like that. 00:34:13.800 --> 00:34:16.800 That has fear as its basis. 00:34:16.800 --> 00:34:20.800 And as long as savings have fear as their basis, 00:34:20.800 --> 00:34:24.800 savings will take the wings of a bird and fly away. 00:34:25.800 --> 00:34:31.800 Because again it goes back to the simple truth that I have a father. 00:34:36.800 --> 00:34:41.800 Most Christian stewardship is fear or unbelief disguised. 00:34:54.800 --> 00:34:59.800 If I wasn't afraid of lack, I assure you my life would be very different. 00:35:05.800 --> 00:35:10.800 It's almost the statement that nothing is impossible for God 00:35:10.800 --> 00:35:14.800 only comes into full play when I'm not afraid of lack. 00:35:14.800 --> 00:35:17.800 That's how closely this is connected, guys. 00:35:44.800 --> 00:35:47.800 Go ahead, Pawan. 00:35:55.800 --> 00:36:00.800 Yeah, how do you come out of an orphan mentality when you owe people a lot of money? 00:36:00.800 --> 00:36:02.800 It's so much pressure, right? 00:36:02.800 --> 00:36:05.800 Where now you have to pay off your credit cards, you have to pay off bank loans, 00:36:05.800 --> 00:36:08.800 when you have to pay off debts, you have to pay off the lease. 00:36:08.800 --> 00:36:10.800 You know how much you earn during the month. 00:36:10.800 --> 00:36:13.800 How in the world are you going to face next year? 00:36:13.800 --> 00:36:15.800 How in the world are you going to face next month? 00:36:15.800 --> 00:36:19.800 See, those responsibilities are real. 00:36:19.800 --> 00:36:24.800 But what scares me then, Pawan, is the lack that I absolutely believe in. 00:36:24.800 --> 00:36:27.800 And so will it go away magically in a month? 00:36:27.800 --> 00:36:28.800 No. 00:36:28.800 --> 00:36:37.800 But the starting point for everything is the loss of the fear of lack. 00:36:37.800 --> 00:36:42.800 And then going to the father and beginning the process of father, 00:36:42.800 --> 00:36:46.800 so much for the bank, so much for the credit card, so much for the house, so much for this. 00:36:46.800 --> 00:36:48.800 Where is the wisdom I need? 00:36:48.800 --> 00:36:52.800 I need wisdom. I need miracles. I need magic. 00:36:52.800 --> 00:36:58.800 I know magic is not a Christian word, but I'm just saying I need this. 00:36:58.800 --> 00:37:00.800 I need this. 00:37:00.800 --> 00:37:09.800 But the starting point is always, father, I am so scared, and what scares me is lack. 00:37:09.800 --> 00:37:19.800 And if that doesn't go away, everything starts and stops, starts and stops, starts and stops. 00:37:19.800 --> 00:37:22.800 God doesn't give you according to your needs. 00:37:22.800 --> 00:37:26.800 God gives you according to His riches in glory. 00:37:26.800 --> 00:37:30.800 According to His riches, not according to your needs. 00:37:30.800 --> 00:37:32.800 These are true facts. 00:37:32.800 --> 00:37:36.800 God gives you according to His riches, not according to your needs. 00:37:36.800 --> 00:37:47.600 to your needs and part of his riches is his wisdom. If you're an accountant, pray 00:37:47.600 --> 00:37:59.200 even more because you're stuck in those books. You see numbers, we see birds and 00:37:59.200 --> 00:38:15.640 butterflies, you see numbers. Sometimes numbers and cats. As an orphan, I find it 00:38:15.640 --> 00:38:20.040 difficult to see someone like me succeeding or prospering. When you see 00:38:20.040 --> 00:38:24.720 someone in the same category as you, succeeding and prospering, 00:38:25.160 --> 00:38:31.680 you begin to think to yourself, how come them? Everybody is making it big but me. 00:38:31.680 --> 00:38:39.520 There used to be a song when I was young. And when someone else receives something, 00:38:39.520 --> 00:38:51.760 it's almost as if now that they've got it, I won't get it. As an orphan, and this 00:38:52.040 --> 00:39:01.840 one of the things I want to do in 2025 is that I want to make sure that I don't 00:39:01.840 --> 00:39:10.080 shame or guilt you, even in jest. What if we could spare each other shame and guilt? 00:39:10.080 --> 00:39:16.880 An orphan thinks in terms of shame and guilt, driven by shame and guilt. Another 00:39:16.880 --> 00:39:21.280 thing, and I have to end because it's close to night, another thing an orphan 00:39:21.280 --> 00:39:26.000 doesn't. Please guys, as these words come out, if this is you, we'll take the next 00:39:26.000 --> 00:39:29.680 four or five minutes to say, father, please help. Another thing an orphan does 00:39:29.680 --> 00:39:38.480 is an orphan, an orphan is so afraid of failing, so afraid of failing. An orphan 00:39:38.480 --> 00:39:46.520 will only do average things that they are good at. The idea of failure, the idea of 00:39:46.680 --> 00:40:03.640 oh my god, I am not as good, is like scary. It's okay, it's fine. Hi, Joey. 00:40:09.000 --> 00:40:12.040 There's childishness and childlikeness. I was only talking about childlikeness, 00:40:12.040 --> 00:40:19.240 just so you know. Guys, an orphan is so afraid of failing, and therefore you will 00:40:19.240 --> 00:40:24.920 never risk mammon, never risk anything new. You will never risk mammon, you will 00:40:24.920 --> 00:40:30.920 never risk anything new, because the last thing you, I mean, everything an orphan 00:40:30.920 --> 00:40:36.360 does is to create an image of I am like this, I am successful, I am this. The idea 00:40:36.520 --> 00:40:48.040 of failure is so scary. Perfectionism is the playground of an orphan. Childlikeness 00:40:48.040 --> 00:40:56.440 is so different. Childlikeness and perfectionism are so miles apart. 00:40:56.440 --> 00:41:09.720 So, let's step into 2025 without this, eh? 00:41:09.800 --> 00:41:13.000 Okay. 00:41:13.000 --> 00:41:25.000 Risk, mammon is a guy in Kerala, sorry. No, because in Kerala you have people with 00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:31.000 the name M-A-M-M-E-N, and so this is slightly different. It's mammon, M-A-M-M-O-N. 00:41:31.480 --> 00:41:39.880 Mammon is basically a Greek for security that comes from wealth, security that comes from 00:41:39.880 --> 00:41:47.800 wealth. So, we won't risk our security and we won't risk failure as long as we are 00:41:47.800 --> 00:41:54.680 orphans, because we have worked so hard to gather it together. And the crazy thing is, 00:41:55.320 --> 00:42:01.000 because I have earned everything, I don't have any inheritance, what I give forward 00:42:01.000 --> 00:42:05.320 is only my sweat and blood. I don't have anything that I receive from others, right? 00:42:09.080 --> 00:42:16.040 Find your father in heaven and find the person here on earth who can raise you or be like a 00:42:16.040 --> 00:42:20.760 father to you, and you will find your prophecy, you will find your destiny, you will find your 00:42:20.760 --> 00:42:26.440 genealogy, and you will find your purpose. Avoid that. Let me repeat it again, because 00:42:26.440 --> 00:42:32.520 this applies to some of us here, and I'm not looking at you. I'm looking at the TV screen. 00:42:34.840 --> 00:42:44.200 Find your father in heaven and find a person here on earth that can raise you up and love you or 00:42:44.200 --> 00:42:49.880 care for you, for you, not for anything else but for you, as a father would, and you will 00:42:49.880 --> 00:42:55.960 find your prophecy, as in what awaits you in the future, you will find your genealogy, as in what 00:42:55.960 --> 00:43:05.640 stock you come from and where you need to head. You will find your purpose. You will find all these 00:43:05.640 --> 00:43:11.240 things. And if you don't want this, cross your hands like this and resist it. 00:43:19.960 --> 00:43:28.440 So, just, I definitely have these traits, guys. I'm not even being humble. 00:43:30.680 --> 00:43:35.080 It's not part of my, it's not a chief characteristic in my life. 00:43:36.600 --> 00:43:43.400 I'm not even being humble. I'm just being honest that there are so many orphan-like traits that 00:43:43.400 --> 00:43:49.400 keep coming up. I want, I don't want to enter 2025 like that. You cannot rule, you cannot shepherd, 00:43:49.400 --> 00:43:53.000 you cannot relate, you cannot walk with him like that. It's impossible. 00:43:55.160 --> 00:44:00.360 So, if you're willing, just take two minutes and ask the Lord, 00:44:00.360 --> 00:44:02.280 Father, I come to you like the prodigal returns. 00:44:06.280 --> 00:44:07.160 Can you give me a robe? 00:44:10.360 --> 00:44:11.240 Can you give me a ring? 00:44:13.720 --> 00:44:14.840 Can you give me new shoes? 00:44:14.840 --> 00:44:17.880 Can you slaughter a fatted calf for me? 00:44:19.560 --> 00:44:23.080 Can your spirit fall on me? Because your spirit is a spirit of adoption. 00:44:26.840 --> 00:44:33.880 If your prayer is sincere, your father hears it. If your prayer is sincere and he desires nothing 00:44:33.880 --> 00:44:40.760 else, you know why he calls himself father? Because he has sons. Come on, man. You think he's going to 00:44:41.720 --> 00:44:52.120 not listen to this? Come out of the pigsty of orphanhood. That food is lousy. It doesn't taste good. 00:44:57.160 --> 00:45:00.600 The moment you make this prayer, he'll see you at a distance and he'll start running towards you. 00:45:01.400 --> 00:45:06.200 Yeah? So let's just take the time and ask God, Father, could you clothe me again with a robe 00:45:06.600 --> 00:45:13.800 that gives me back belonging to you first and then to others in your family? Can you give me a ring 00:45:13.800 --> 00:45:22.200 so that I begin to walk as one restored to full sonship? Can you give me shoes so that I can walk 00:45:22.200 --> 00:45:27.480 into places you send me? Because I have a father and he is good. I will risk mammon. I will risk 00:45:27.480 --> 00:45:35.000 everything for him. Can we please enter into this thing called fun? Can we please enter into this 00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:45.000 thing called fun? Children like fun. Do you like fun? Fun is not going for a movie. Fun is not 00:45:45.000 --> 00:46:03.560 Facebook. Fun is ha ha. I really mean it. Yeah. Really? Ho ho ho is funny. I knew a pastor who 00:46:03.560 --> 00:46:06.920 used to make his church go ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. 00:46:06.920 --> 00:46:15.640 I won't do that to you. But if you try it, try it. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. 00:46:15.640 --> 00:46:18.200 See, it's funny. But let me get back to the point. 00:46:23.160 --> 00:46:26.120 So Father, we come. 00:46:33.640 --> 00:46:38.120 I don't want to spend any more time in the pigsty of orphanhood. 00:46:46.280 --> 00:46:50.200 I'm not praying on my behalf. I'm praying on all our behalf and mine. 00:46:53.240 --> 00:46:57.240 Jesus, I want to return to childlikeness. 00:46:58.200 --> 00:47:03.960 Uncomplicated childlikeness. 00:47:10.200 --> 00:47:17.800 Jesus, deliver me from shame and guilt. It doesn't live here anymore. 00:47:19.080 --> 00:47:23.480 Your word was spoken. Your name brought healing to me. 00:47:27.880 --> 00:47:38.040 Jesus, I want to know intimacy. I need your robe to be wrapped around me and be held close to your heart. 00:47:39.240 --> 00:47:48.280 Need it. I won't squirm away. I won't get out. If I do, I know you'll come after me. Reckless love. 00:47:48.280 --> 00:47:55.320 Jesus, thank you as you run towards people right now. 00:47:55.320 --> 00:47:57.320 You run towards us. 00:47:59.320 --> 00:48:01.320 Then you begin to kiss us. 00:48:02.840 --> 00:48:06.840 Head, cheek, forehead, kissing us like you did the prodigal. 00:48:09.720 --> 00:48:17.320 Precious, wasteful, extravagant father who was born in the year of the pig. 00:48:19.000 --> 00:48:23.640 Can you take all of us and wrap us in your robe? Each person individually. 00:48:30.200 --> 00:48:34.760 Jesus, can childlikeness become an important trait for us? 00:48:35.960 --> 00:48:41.320 Please. I want to return to that I used to be like that. 00:48:49.160 --> 00:48:55.880 Jesus, can you put a ring on our finger? Full sonship. Full sonship. 00:48:57.240 --> 00:49:02.840 Not a servant. Servants are not given rings. Sons are given rings. 00:49:07.240 --> 00:49:12.120 So that in the near future, we can speak and do things on your behalf. 00:49:12.120 --> 00:49:14.120 Could you shod my feet again? 00:49:16.280 --> 00:49:28.040 Spirit, lead me where that ocean song, where I will risk mammon, where I will risk failure 00:49:33.080 --> 00:49:35.080 on the offensive with faith. 00:49:35.080 --> 00:49:37.080 On the offensive with faith. 00:49:45.080 --> 00:49:47.080 Jesus, bring me into fun. 00:49:57.080 --> 00:49:59.080 Bring me into fun. 00:50:06.040 --> 00:50:11.080 And lastly, spirit of God, you're the spirit of sonship. 00:50:15.080 --> 00:50:19.080 As you hover over us, can you enter our lives? 00:50:35.080 --> 00:50:43.080 That's all, Lord. Somehow you can maintain your resolutions. So could you maintain this one for us? 00:50:49.080 --> 00:50:57.080 I pray that each of us will find something in our wallet or our pocket that we leave behind. 00:50:57.080 --> 00:51:05.080 I pray that each of us will find something in our wallet or our pocket that we leave behind. 00:51:05.080 --> 00:51:15.080 As a little sign saying, I'm no longer an orphan, something in our wallet could be just a bill, could be a hundred dollar bill, 00:51:15.080 --> 00:51:23.080 or a receipt we no longer need, or a safety pin. Something left behind. 00:51:23.080 --> 00:51:27.080 Not on the chairs here because then someone else will have to clean it. 00:51:27.080 --> 00:51:33.080 In the garbage. Just leave it behind saying, I'm done with this. 00:51:35.080 --> 00:51:39.080 This is what we ask for now. In Jesus' name, Amen. 00:51:41.080 --> 00:51:43.080 Bless you guys as you go.