WEBVTT

NOTE
Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver
Episode: Permission
Publishing Date: 2022-05-08T06:00:44-07:00
Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca
Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/permission/

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So last week we talked about from everywhere to everywhere and how we'll change the way we go to different places across the earth

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because it's not an Antioch model anymore, it's an Ephesus model.

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But those are things we talked about last time, so I'll continue with that maybe next week.

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But this week we want to talk about permission.

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So let me begin by defining permission.

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Guys, permission is an invitation into a greater measure of God that He plans to manifest through you.

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So permission is an invitation.

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So, I mean, we'll only be focusing on permission today.

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As in, Father, so why is permission so important?

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Why do I need to grasp this idea of permission?

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Because it's not something that most of us think about, most of us think is needed.

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And yet the Bible is so full of permission, as in God giving people in the Bible permission to be what they could have never been on their own,

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what they never were in the past, but needed to become.

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And so permission, some of the ways we can define permission is it's an invitation.

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It's an invitation to a greater measure of God that He plans to manifest through you.

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So it's an invitation.

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You can't step into permission without God inviting you, saying,

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hey, I know this is who you are, but I've got something else that I've been planning all along, even before you were born.

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These were written into your plan from me.

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And so I want you to step into this, but I need to give you permission.

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And once I give you permission, things will have to happen so that you're ready for it.

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But it's always an invitation, eh?

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An invitation to a greater measure of God that He plans to manifest through you.

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Another way to define it is to know what is allowed.

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Permission is to know what is allowed.

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To know what is allowed.

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Permission is to know what is allowed.

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What do you have license for?

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What do you have license for?

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The extent of your liberty and your authority in that area.

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That's another way of defining permission.

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And so when we don't have an idea of the extent of authority or the extent of the liberty we have,

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we either walk in presumption and get into trouble because we step into things we had no right stepping into,

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or we hold ourselves way back from how far we can go and never get to be what God wants us to be.

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So another way of defining permission is to know what is allowed,

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to know what you have license for,

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and to know the extent of your authority and the liberty you have.

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In fact, I'd say Romans 12, 2, where it talks about...

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So the second part of Romans 12, 2 says,

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find out the good and perfect will of God.

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You can't find the good and perfect will of God if you don't know what He has been calling you to have permission in.

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Romans 12, 2 says, do not be conformed to the world, but be renewed, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

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Part of the renewing of my mind is to constantly know what God is calling me and giving me permission in.

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I've got to know this, otherwise I will not be able...

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How can I renew my mind if there is nothing unfamiliar, no challenge?

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The renewing of the mind doesn't come through reading.

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The renewing of the mind comes through reading and then doing.

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But I can never step into it or discern His good and perfect will unless I know what God is giving me permission to step into.

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It is an action that comes after thinking, yeah.

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Yeah, and it is an action that responds to an invitation.

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And this is normal for God.

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This is not something He does for special people or does once in a while.

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For us to find His good, acceptable and perfect will is something He always desires.

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He's always willing to give.

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There's nothing that God asks me to ask of Him that He is grudging about.

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The thing is to now find out, Father, so what do I have permission for this year?

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What does Acts 29 have permission for?

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What nations do we have permission for?

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Once we have that, it gives us so much more to work with, man, and that's what we'll talk about.

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One more definition and then we... if you have any questions, you can ask.

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Guys, in a rebellious culture that we presently have, we don't realize the criticality of permission

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because we are highly individualized and permission is not something we want to ask unless it's going to cost us.

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People don't take permission, but that's because of the culture we live in.

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But if you look at scriptures, you find that permission was something that people were very aware of and that God is aware of.

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And worse, the demonic realm is really aware of it.

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And they love the fact that their Christian opponents are not aware of it.

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I mean, Genesis 41, verse 44, Pharaoh is saying to Joseph,

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listen, you only have to report to me and nobody here will raise their finger if you don't give them permission.

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In all kingdoms, permission is normal.

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Doesn't matter whether it's a satanic kingdom or a kingdom of the world.

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And where do you think they got it from? They got it from the kingdom of God.

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In Mark 5.13, the demons that come out of legion can't leave till Jesus gives them permission.

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Will you allow us to go into the pigs?

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In Jude chapter 1, verse 6, it says that those that left their abode, it's talking about demonic beings again,

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those that did not have permission but left their abode and began to step past their boundaries are now locked up in dark dungeons.

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Because we've gotten so used to not needing or seeking permission,

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we step into things willingly, not knowing the cost that we sometimes pay because permission is an important pillar in the kingdom.

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Any questions before we go on?

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Jude 1.6. Sorry, go ahead, Betty.

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I guess one of the things, maybe another definition is we're not talking about asking if we can.

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We are talking about knowing what we can.

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We're not talking about asking if we can.

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We are talking about knowing what we can.

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It's not asking if we can do, it's knowing what we can do.

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That's the kind of permission I'm talking about where God says, hey, but this is what I've given you Acts 29, this is what you have permission for.

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Step into it.

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It's not so much me asking you, can I do this?

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It is knowing what I can do.

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That then allows me to explore the land because I know how far I can go without stepping into presumption.

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Go ahead.

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Yeah, so God loves it when you leverage permission to test the limits.

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God loves it when you leverage permission to test the limits.

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He likes you to go and see how far you can go.

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Completely surrender to Him. He likes it.

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Trusting that He'll stop because you have no desire to go out of bounds.

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You just want to see how far have you given me this?

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So He doesn't have a problem with that.

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But He also knows how to stop you.

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So He knows that Paul wants to go to Bithynia or Mycea or Lystra.

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And He knows that, okay, Paul will test.

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And when He tests, if the Spirit forbids him, He turns around and He returns.

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He never goes on presumption.

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God loves it when I leverage the permission that He has given me to see how far He and I can walk together.

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Because it teaches me more obedience and more hearing, man.

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Yeah, and when you ask, it's not like the plan will be clearly given.

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I mean, think of Peter.

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The guy is being told to go to a Gentile household.

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It's the last thing the guy should be doing.

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I hope he didn't leave in daylight because his Jewish friends would have watched him

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as he marched along with some Gentile servants to go meet Cornelius' home.

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And yet, no picture is clear.

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God could have told him the entire thing beforehand.

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Listen, you're going to the Gentiles, the Holy Spirit is going to fall.

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Nothing.

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So asking is great.

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All Peter knows is he has to go to the Gentiles.

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He was sent to the Gentiles.

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He has to go there.

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That's all he knows.

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So sometimes asking for the length and breadth of it is quite pointless because God decides not to give you any info.

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And then he's standing there and then he says, I perceive that just as the Spirit of God fell on the Jews,

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so it has now fallen on the Gentiles.

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And then he calls out scripture and says, this is that.

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This isn't difficult, guys.

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It's hard work, but it's not difficult.

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Like, yeah.

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I was going to say like cutting an apple.

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It's not difficult, but it's hard work.

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I knew it wouldn't fly.

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So when it comes to permission, you've got to first see what God is giving you permission in.

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Then it's a good idea to name it.

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As in, ah, so let me phrase it, oh God, this is what you're saying.

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Then it's good to agree with God.

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Alrighty, I named it Father, and so I'm going to agree with you that this is what you and I will be doing together.

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Then it's good to sometimes identify it with something symbolic.

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Not necessary.

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So sometimes someone would build an altar or someone would set up something that would remind them that

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this is what God did at this stage in my life.

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It's not important. That's not critical.

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Once you do that, you must expect things to happen in the area that God is giving you permission.

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You must expect to resist cultural family ties that will prevent you from stepping into it,

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because almost nothing that God asks of you or gives you permission is intellectually sound or logically reasonable.

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Any intellectual reasoning comes after the process, not while you're in the process.

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So there will be resistance from people who wish you well.

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Then you've got to step out into action.

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You've got to enter and explore, because what you've been given is so massive that you've got to enter and explore.

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You've got to subdue whatever tries to overcome you or has been struggling.

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You begin to multiply, because what you now have entered into must increase.

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You finish what you're supposed to. You empty yourself.

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You finish what you're supposed to. You empty yourself.

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You move on to repeat the whole process again, till you die.

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Isn't Christian life fun?

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So if the father says, okay, I'm giving you permission to now, let's take something big and something small,

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I'm giving you permission to now affect Wally, the city that we've started doing things in.

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I'm giving you permission to affect Wally.

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So I'm going to see what God has for us in Wally.

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I'm going to name it. This is what God wants us to do.

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And we picked on two things when it came to Wally.

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One, that we would work with those that were being trafficked sexually,

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and two, that we would help the homeless.

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Those were two things.

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We began to agree with God.

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You set up a symbolic thing that identifies it or not. It's up to you.

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You begin to expect that God will give you fruit in that area,

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because it's permission that he's giving, saying, listen, I've given you Wally.

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Why don't you start doing something?

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You know that there'll be people who say this is a bad idea, this is not a good idea.

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I'm sure, Mohini, when I told somebody that she had someone from Wally come and stay at her house,

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because there was no place in the shelter,

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any sane person would have given her reasonable advice, saying this is a really bad idea.

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But she's got two sons who do not understand reasonable advice, so they didn't advise her.

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So there's resistance from the culture around you.

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But you still learn how to step out, because you know you have permission.

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Guys, we never know till we step out.

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Armchair Christianity is splendid.

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Read as many books as you want.

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Enter and explore.

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Subdue what needs to be subdued.

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Begin to multiply, because once someone does it, others follow.

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Finish what you're supposed to do.

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Empty yourself.

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Having completely spent yourself, start all over again.

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So, any threshold you cross, and we've talked about thresholds before,

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any threshold you cross where God is saying, okay, you're done with this chapter in your life, let's move on,

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any threshold you cross comes with new permission.

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Hey Jacob, this is how you used to function.

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Now let me show you how you can function now.

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If you don't discover your new function, your new permission, you operate, you continue with old operating systems.

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You continue with old operating systems.

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You keep doing the old in the new, and eventually the new turns into the old.

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Guys, God's not interested in the, when he says forget the former things, look for the new thing I'm going to do,

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he doesn't mean I'm going to do a variation of the old thing.

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He's talking about I've got plenty in me as a God who is highly creative to do a brand new thing,

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so could you please let go of the former things?

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Not do a variation of the former thing.

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Which is why we have to continuously innovate in this church, and let go of things that we really like.

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That's working well, we've got to let go of it.

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And who struggles with letting go of things the most? The guy who runs the church.

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I'm not talking about Jesus now, I'm talking about me.

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Any questions?

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Otherwise we go back to old operating systems, eh?

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I have to trust that Derek knows what happens in Wally, because I'm not as good as he is at it.

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I've got to trust that Jane knows how worship should go, and that it should be new.

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I'm good at worship, but I've got to trust her.

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Any questions?

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Once we agree with this guys, it's like we get propelled into a new dimension of living, which is so much fun.

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So remember when it comes to permission, and some of you are right now in the throes of this, eh?

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Where God is saying, hey, I want to give you permission for new things.

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Once you receive it, man, don't look back, because it's like a door that's shut.

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You can open it, that's the problem.

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Permission is God calling you into greater measure because of how he sees you.

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It's God calling you into greater measure because of how he sees you.

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It's really not about how you see yourself into greater measure because of how he sees you.

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So this is why it is so hard to walk in, because it's easier to walk in a title.

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It's easier to walk in a title.

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It is easier to walk in a role.

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It's easier to walk in a structure.

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But my God, how do you walk in something you are not?

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How do you walk in something that he sees you as, but you are not?

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This is why I'd rather be called something.

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Give me a title, I'll walk in it, because I can figure out what the job description is.

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Give me a role, I'll walk in it.

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Give me a structure and I'll fit in it.

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But how do I walk in something I don't even see myself as?

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And yet this is what permission looks like.

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Permission requires exploration, permission requires faith, permission requires leaving the old.

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We'll talk about that.

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It is so difficult because it is who he sees you as and has very little do with who you are at present.

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This is where the prophetic really kicks in, where it gives you an idea of who you are.

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When you silence the prophetic, all you have to live with is the present and your past.

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And that is sucky.

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I've got a whole page on my phone, not a whole page, like about eight or nine points.

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And the title of that page is, Do You Believe?

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Not, Do You Believe that Jesus is Lord or anything.

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Do you believe that this is what I have asked you to do?

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Do you believe this that I say about you?

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I've got a list of eight or nine things and I have to go over them because most of the time I don't believe that about myself.

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It's a Do You Believe list.

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This is the hard work.

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It's not difficult, but it's hard work.

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Any questions?

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Hey, and here's the difficult thing.

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If someone says something about you that you are not, how do you even say stuff like, let me go pray about it?

00:20:14.500 --> 00:20:17.500
What are you going to pray about?

00:20:17.500 --> 00:20:22.500
Am I this? Of course you're not.

00:20:22.500 --> 00:20:23.500
Does it resonate?

00:20:23.500 --> 00:20:26.500
Not at all because it's freaking you out.

00:20:26.500 --> 00:20:31.500
If freaking out is resonating, then great, go for it.

00:20:31.500 --> 00:20:37.500
But one of the things we have to do when we know that something is dangerous, solid, impossible, is to actually embrace it.

00:20:37.500 --> 00:20:42.500
And if you fail, at least you fail doing something really dangerous.

00:20:42.500 --> 00:20:46.500
But if you're going to pray about it, you're going to reduce it.

00:20:46.500 --> 00:20:50.500
You're going to redact it.

00:20:50.500 --> 00:20:54.500
Pardon?

00:20:54.500 --> 00:21:00.500
Because the moment we pray about it, wanting God to give us some confirmation about what is going to happen,

00:21:00.500 --> 00:21:03.500
He ain't going to give you nothing because you got to walk in it.

00:21:03.500 --> 00:21:06.500
The only way you find out is by walking in it.

00:21:06.500 --> 00:21:12.500
And the only thing you can look at is, Father, what have been the things you've been saying to me?

00:21:12.500 --> 00:21:15.500
Yeah, I guess that's where I'm kind of going to come in.

00:21:15.500 --> 00:21:19.500
It's like if you just step away, you know, you just need to see a fish stepping on you.

00:21:19.500 --> 00:21:20.500
Yeah, no.

00:21:20.500 --> 00:21:21.500
Permission is very different.

00:21:21.500 --> 00:21:26.500
Permission is you stepping into something you've never stepped into that you have never been.

00:21:26.500 --> 00:21:31.500
But when you look at your past, you realize, ah, shucks, this is a setup.

00:21:31.500 --> 00:21:33.500
So let's take any of the characters in the Bible.

00:21:33.500 --> 00:21:35.500
Take Moses.

00:21:35.500 --> 00:21:37.500
He had no idea what he was going to do.

00:21:37.500 --> 00:21:42.500
I mean, bad enough he's going to Pharaoh and God is telling him, don't worry, I'll harden his heart.

00:21:42.500 --> 00:21:45.500
Like, it wasn't like God was helping, eh?

00:21:45.500 --> 00:21:48.500
He's going up against the most powerful person on the earth.

00:21:48.500 --> 00:21:56.500
And instead of saying, I'll help you, God's response is, don't worry, I'll harden his heart so that every time you go and speak to him, it'll get really difficult.

00:21:56.500 --> 00:21:59.500
And so, but Moses can look back and he can see different things.

00:21:59.500 --> 00:22:10.500
He can see, born in a basket, taken by Miriam, grew up in an Egyptian royal house, fled, burning bush.

00:22:10.500 --> 00:22:14.500
And as he looks back, he knows, I can trust you going forward.

00:22:14.500 --> 00:22:18.500
So had he prayed about it or had he gone with his amistamera thing?

00:22:18.500 --> 00:22:21.500
I mean, thank God, God doesn't get angry nowadays, eh?

00:22:28.500 --> 00:22:37.500
So when I say, don't pray about it, I'm not trying to take away responsibility from you and put it on someone else who, like she said, may prophesy a rhino in the light or a fish in a tank.

00:22:37.500 --> 00:22:38.500
I'm not talking about that.

00:22:38.500 --> 00:22:40.500
I'm talking about permission.

00:22:40.500 --> 00:22:44.500
You look at the past and you look at the words spoken over you and it gives you an idea of where you're going.

00:22:50.500 --> 00:22:53.500
Where do you start of hearing and everything is new to you?

00:22:53.500 --> 00:22:54.500
You don't have that past.

00:22:54.500 --> 00:23:01.500
I would suggest that if you're, I'm being super serious, I would suggest that you join a place where this is normal.

00:23:01.500 --> 00:23:07.500
Because to not have the voice of God, but only the sound of God occasionally, is not going to help in this process.

00:23:10.500 --> 00:23:14.500
One of the reasons I ask people to connect with Acts 29 is not because we want more members.

00:23:14.500 --> 00:23:16.500
Look, we're running out of space.

00:23:16.500 --> 00:23:21.500
It's because you might get an advantage or two that helps you down this path.

00:23:26.500 --> 00:23:27.500
Yeah, it does.

00:23:27.500 --> 00:23:29.500
You can't do this alone.

00:23:29.500 --> 00:23:31.500
It's relational right through and through.

00:23:31.500 --> 00:23:33.500
Permission is, and we touch on that.

00:23:33.500 --> 00:23:47.500
But the thing is, if you don't have the background of hearing together or hearing individually or knowing what God wants, then yeah, it becomes really difficult.

00:23:47.500 --> 00:23:48.500
How do you operate in this?

00:23:53.500 --> 00:23:54.500
Yeah.

00:23:54.500 --> 00:23:58.500
And at the end of the day, it's a very simple definition, revelation.

00:23:58.500 --> 00:24:06.500
It is who God is, who God wants to be right now for you or in the next few months for you and who he wants to present himself as.

00:24:07.500 --> 00:24:11.500
He never presented himself as, I am Jesus Christ, the son of the living God.

00:24:11.500 --> 00:24:12.500
He presents himself as that.

00:24:12.500 --> 00:24:17.500
Comes from the Father, comes at the right time, shows you who he is and what he wants to be.

00:24:24.500 --> 00:24:27.500
It is hard work, but it is not difficult.

00:24:27.500 --> 00:24:29.500
You have a Father who talks.

00:24:33.500 --> 00:24:40.500
Let me go back to Jill's point because it's a question that all of us need to consider.

00:24:40.500 --> 00:24:44.500
When something is said, Father, how do I not pray about it and step into it?

00:24:44.500 --> 00:24:47.500
By looking at, again, I'm reiterating what I said.

00:24:47.500 --> 00:24:48.500
Look at the past.

00:24:48.500 --> 00:24:53.500
Look at what you have heard and it will give you an idea of what awaits.

00:24:53.500 --> 00:24:56.500
Otherwise, to pray about it, your mind cannot.

00:24:56.500 --> 00:25:02.500
If you want to pray in tongues, great, it might help, but your mind cannot handle the impossibilities that await you.

00:25:02.500 --> 00:25:08.500
Or if not the impossibility, the absence of any reference point.

00:25:10.500 --> 00:25:14.500
We're going to Dublin on the 29th.

00:25:14.500 --> 00:25:18.500
A few people are going to Dublin from this church and from a couple of other places.

00:25:18.500 --> 00:25:20.500
Why are we going to Dublin?

00:25:21.500 --> 00:25:23.500
I have absolutely no idea.

00:25:23.500 --> 00:25:25.500
What is the only thing God has said?

00:25:25.500 --> 00:25:28.500
Ireland is going to awaken again.

00:25:28.500 --> 00:25:29.500
Be there.

00:25:29.500 --> 00:25:31.500
Ireland is going to...

00:25:31.500 --> 00:25:33.500
I have no idea where...

00:25:33.500 --> 00:25:37.500
I mean, the only Dublin that I know is Dublin Crossing that has amazing burgers.

00:25:39.500 --> 00:25:41.500
Other than that, I know nothing about Dublin.

00:25:43.500 --> 00:25:48.500
But all I know is Ireland is going to awaken.

00:25:48.500 --> 00:25:49.500
Be there.

00:25:49.500 --> 00:25:51.500
So we go on the 29th.

00:25:51.500 --> 00:25:53.500
What happens thereafter?

00:25:53.500 --> 00:25:55.500
We'll find out along the route.

00:25:55.500 --> 00:25:59.500
But there's nothing I can do to pray about it and ask God.

00:25:59.500 --> 00:26:03.500
When God says go and he's not giving anything else, what do I pray?

00:26:07.500 --> 00:26:11.500
But the thing is, as you walk, Jacob, we will let you know.

00:26:13.500 --> 00:26:15.500
That's a scary part.

00:26:19.500 --> 00:26:23.500
And once you start walking in permission, you open the door for others.

00:26:23.500 --> 00:26:27.500
Once you start walking in permission, you open the door for others.

00:26:30.500 --> 00:26:32.500
You open the door for others to follow.

00:26:33.500 --> 00:26:35.500
You create momentum for others.

00:26:39.500 --> 00:26:42.500
And you help them experience the impossible.

00:26:43.500 --> 00:26:45.500
You help them experience the impossible.

00:26:45.500 --> 00:26:48.500
And you help them experience the impossible.

00:26:48.500 --> 00:26:50.500
You help them experience the impossible.

00:26:55.500 --> 00:26:58.500
So there are people coming to Dublin from other parts of the world.

00:26:59.500 --> 00:27:02.500
And their question is always, so what are you doing in Dublin?

00:27:02.500 --> 00:27:04.500
And what's the answer?

00:27:04.500 --> 00:27:05.500
We don't know.

00:27:05.500 --> 00:27:07.500
All we know is Dublin is going to awaken.

00:27:07.500 --> 00:27:09.500
And we need to be there.

00:27:09.500 --> 00:27:12.500
But it is creating momentum for others.

00:27:12.500 --> 00:27:14.500
It's opening the door for others.

00:27:14.500 --> 00:27:15.500
They are experiencing the impossible.

00:27:15.500 --> 00:27:17.500
They will experience the impossible.

00:27:18.500 --> 00:27:20.500
How that pans out, don't know.

00:27:20.500 --> 00:27:22.500
But really it doesn't matter.

00:27:28.500 --> 00:27:29.500
Any questions?

00:27:33.500 --> 00:27:35.500
How do you know if you heard wrong?

00:27:38.500 --> 00:27:41.500
I would go verify it with people that I trust.

00:27:41.500 --> 00:27:42.500
I would be one way.

00:27:42.500 --> 00:27:44.500
Two, I would keep checking.

00:27:44.500 --> 00:27:45.500
Are you sure, Father?

00:27:45.500 --> 00:27:47.500
This is going to cost me a lot.

00:27:47.500 --> 00:27:50.500
And this might end up making me look really bad if it doesn't work out.

00:27:50.500 --> 00:27:54.500
And so there's this desperate, please, please, oh God, please get it right.

00:27:54.500 --> 00:27:57.500
And please can you send me another confirmation even though you're not going to?

00:27:57.500 --> 00:27:58.500
Please, I'm going to ask.

00:27:59.500 --> 00:28:02.500
So I know this sounds churlish to answer that way.

00:28:02.500 --> 00:28:04.500
But that's exactly what I do.

00:28:04.500 --> 00:28:05.500
Sorry.

00:28:08.500 --> 00:28:09.500
Agreed.

00:28:09.500 --> 00:28:12.500
So that could be one of the things you're saying to God.

00:28:12.500 --> 00:28:14.500
Father, pray about it.

00:28:15.500 --> 00:28:16.500
Keep asking.

00:28:16.500 --> 00:28:18.500
Father, please, please.

00:28:18.500 --> 00:28:21.500
Sometimes the praying about it may not get you an answer.

00:28:21.500 --> 00:28:24.500
But the praying about it will at least make you feel better.

00:28:27.500 --> 00:28:28.500
Yeah.

00:28:28.500 --> 00:28:29.500
Yeah.

00:28:29.500 --> 00:28:32.500
He's opened a box of worms, but...

00:28:35.500 --> 00:28:37.500
Oh, then let's just move on.

00:28:40.500 --> 00:28:42.500
See, here's the other thing, guys.

00:28:42.500 --> 00:28:46.500
And this, we talked about this last time.

00:28:46.500 --> 00:28:48.500
And I'm going to say it again.

00:28:48.500 --> 00:28:50.500
I'm going to say it again.

00:28:50.500 --> 00:28:52.500
I'm going to say it again.

00:28:52.500 --> 00:28:54.500
I'm going to say it again.

00:28:54.500 --> 00:28:56.500
I'm going to say it again.

00:28:56.500 --> 00:28:58.500
We talked about this last time.

00:28:58.500 --> 00:29:03.500
And sometimes when I say it from here, it sounds self-serving, but it's not.

00:29:08.500 --> 00:29:10.500
Do I say it nicely or brutally?

00:29:11.500 --> 00:29:12.500
Brutally.

00:29:12.500 --> 00:29:14.500
I think you're used to both.

00:29:14.500 --> 00:29:16.500
You're used to both. Okay.

00:29:20.500 --> 00:29:23.500
So Nathan, because this is your first time, I'm going to be nice.

00:29:24.500 --> 00:29:28.500
So guys, one of the things we have to figure out is,

00:29:28.500 --> 00:29:32.500
do I trust the authorities that have been...

00:29:32.500 --> 00:29:35.500
spiritual authority that has been placed over my life?

00:29:35.500 --> 00:29:37.500
Is that authority abusive?

00:29:37.500 --> 00:29:39.500
Can that authority take advantage of me?

00:29:39.500 --> 00:29:42.500
Does that authority hear God right or do they hear wrong?

00:29:42.500 --> 00:29:44.500
Will they jeopardize my situation?

00:29:44.500 --> 00:29:49.500
Or have I come to a place where I can trust spiritual authority placed over me

00:29:49.500 --> 00:29:53.500
and trust that when I'm told, like Paul says to Timothy,

00:29:53.500 --> 00:29:56.500
go to Ephesus or go to Crete, that I will go?

00:29:57.500 --> 00:30:00.500
That's a hard one for us, because we live in, again,

00:30:00.500 --> 00:30:03.500
highly individualized society where people make mistakes.

00:30:05.500 --> 00:30:08.500
Paul was as susceptible to making mistakes as you are.

00:30:14.500 --> 00:30:17.500
But like I said last week, you never hear this argument of Timothy saying,

00:30:17.500 --> 00:30:19.500
you know what, Paul, let me pray about it.

00:30:19.500 --> 00:30:21.500
Ephesus, eh, not resonating.

00:30:22.500 --> 00:30:25.500
That doesn't happen in the New Testament.

00:30:27.500 --> 00:30:30.500
But Jacob, you're not Paul. Absolutely.

00:30:33.500 --> 00:30:36.500
I'd like to say to you, you're not Timothy either.

00:30:48.500 --> 00:30:50.500
Why can't you just do what I ask you to?

00:30:57.500 --> 00:31:02.500
So there's that part too, eh, where because you are part of something

00:31:02.500 --> 00:31:07.500
that we talked about last week, which is MMM,

00:31:08.500 --> 00:31:10.500
make the Father known,

00:31:12.500 --> 00:31:14.500
make disciples,

00:31:15.500 --> 00:31:17.500
multiply churches,

00:31:19.500 --> 00:31:22.500
and because all the assignments we have in life

00:31:22.500 --> 00:31:26.500
fall under this magnificent obsession that God has

00:31:26.500 --> 00:31:30.500
and purpose that God has, that everything falls under that.

00:31:34.500 --> 00:31:35.500
So,

00:31:38.500 --> 00:31:40.500
there's nothing that Mark has to be afraid of.

00:31:41.500 --> 00:31:44.500
Because if that is the over-arcing purpose,

00:31:44.500 --> 00:31:48.500
make the Father known, make disciples, multiply churches,

00:31:48.500 --> 00:31:51.500
and that is what we as a people commit to.

00:31:51.500 --> 00:31:54.500
And does it matter where I go and where I'm sent?

00:31:58.500 --> 00:32:03.500
Yes, it matters because it forces me to give up my right of self-determination.

00:32:03.500 --> 00:32:08.500
It matters because I am now surrendering my will to a group of people

00:32:08.500 --> 00:32:10.500
or sometimes a group of leaders.

00:32:10.500 --> 00:32:13.500
It matters because I've heard a lot about leaders abusing

00:32:13.500 --> 00:32:16.500
and leaders taking advantage and exploiting.

00:32:16.500 --> 00:32:20.500
Hey, but if that is a concern, then wait, don't volunteer.

00:32:20.500 --> 00:32:23.500
But if that is not the concern, you run out of excuses.

00:32:23.500 --> 00:32:26.500
This is getting more and more brutal, so moving on.

00:32:27.500 --> 00:32:32.500
You've got to trust us guys, and you have to check the track record of your leaders.

00:32:33.500 --> 00:32:36.500
And their heart and attitude towards you.

00:32:36.500 --> 00:32:40.500
And that takes time. It needs the building of relationship.

00:32:42.500 --> 00:32:45.500
But we are trying to build exactly what God wants,

00:32:45.500 --> 00:32:49.500
and we can't bring our individuality and our North American-ness into it.

00:32:49.500 --> 00:32:51.500
It doesn't apply. Doesn't apply.

00:32:51.500 --> 00:32:54.500
Your culture doesn't count. It is secondary.

00:32:54.500 --> 00:32:56.500
Permission contends.

00:32:56.500 --> 00:32:58.500
Permission contends.

00:33:00.500 --> 00:33:02.500
Permission contends.

00:33:05.500 --> 00:33:11.500
God loves it when we leverage His permission and His power for His cause.

00:33:11.500 --> 00:33:12.500
It contends.

00:33:12.500 --> 00:33:15.500
Once I'm given permission, know that there will be resistance.

00:33:15.500 --> 00:33:16.500
Know that there will be resistance.

00:33:16.500 --> 00:33:18.500
Know that there will be resistance.

00:33:19.500 --> 00:33:21.500
Know that there will be resistance for His cause.

00:33:21.500 --> 00:33:22.500
It contends.

00:33:22.500 --> 00:33:24.500
Once I'm given permission, know that there will be resistance.

00:33:24.500 --> 00:33:26.500
Know that there will be spiritual resistance.

00:33:26.500 --> 00:33:28.500
Know that there will be traditional and cultural resistance.

00:33:28.500 --> 00:33:30.500
Know that there will be resistance from the soul.

00:33:30.500 --> 00:33:32.500
Know that there will be resistance that...

00:33:33.500 --> 00:33:37.500
I mean, to begin with, you know where resistance starts.

00:33:37.500 --> 00:33:40.500
It's surprising. Inconvenience.

00:33:40.500 --> 00:33:42.500
That's the first place.

00:33:43.500 --> 00:33:46.500
That's where it starts. You know where it starts next.

00:33:47.500 --> 00:33:49.500
Money.

00:33:49.500 --> 00:33:51.500
It's... You know where it starts again.

00:33:51.500 --> 00:33:53.500
Time.

00:33:53.500 --> 00:33:57.500
These are things for family.

00:34:04.500 --> 00:34:07.500
And yet, permission must contend.

00:34:07.500 --> 00:34:11.500
Forget spiritual powers. They come down here.

00:34:12.500 --> 00:34:16.500
The first four are our own internal battles.

00:34:16.500 --> 00:34:21.500
Once we get over them, then we got another Goliath waiting.

00:34:30.500 --> 00:34:32.500
But it begins here, eh?

00:34:37.500 --> 00:34:39.500
I love the way Joshua leveraged permission.

00:34:39.500 --> 00:34:44.500
I love the way Joshua leveraged permission in Joshua 10 verse 13 where

00:34:44.500 --> 00:34:46.500
he knows that God had said,

00:34:46.500 --> 00:34:49.500
Hey, I want you to undo this enemy, completely destroy the enemy.

00:34:49.500 --> 00:34:51.500
And he looks around and there's still thousands left.

00:34:51.500 --> 00:34:53.500
So what does he do? He says,

00:34:53.500 --> 00:34:57.500
Can I just ask the son to stand still so I can complete the slaughter?

00:34:59.500 --> 00:35:01.500
Leverage this permission

00:35:03.500 --> 00:35:05.500
for a cause that God had.

00:35:06.500 --> 00:35:09.500
And God loves it when you try that out.

00:35:11.500 --> 00:35:16.500
When you go into a city or a nation and you know that certain things need to be put back in place,

00:35:16.500 --> 00:35:18.500
certain things need to be removed.

00:35:19.500 --> 00:35:21.500
And no one's done it before.

00:35:24.500 --> 00:35:27.500
And you go and ask God, Father, can I do this?

00:35:28.500 --> 00:35:33.500
Be it in India, be it in New York, be it in Puri, where we went.

00:35:33.500 --> 00:35:35.500
Different places.

00:35:40.500 --> 00:35:42.500
Ephesus comes alive.

00:35:42.500 --> 00:35:44.500
Babylon comes alive.

00:35:44.500 --> 00:35:48.500
Egypt comes alive, as in the stories that happened there begin to happen again.

00:35:54.500 --> 00:35:55.500
Yep.

00:35:55.500 --> 00:36:01.500
How do you know if you're not operating the permission versus that?

00:36:02.500 --> 00:36:04.500
Can you rephrase the question?

00:36:04.500 --> 00:36:07.500
How do you know if you're not operating it?

00:36:09.500 --> 00:36:12.500
So, let's take Sam.

00:36:12.500 --> 00:36:15.500
You have given him permission in something.

00:36:16.500 --> 00:36:24.500
And one of the best ways that Sam can find out if he's operating it or not is to come to you and ask.

00:36:25.500 --> 00:36:30.500
Two, when he does, you'll give him not requirements to meet,

00:36:30.500 --> 00:36:33.500
but you'll give him an idea of this is what I expect you to.

00:36:33.500 --> 00:36:35.500
Now he has a measure.

00:36:35.500 --> 00:36:40.500
Three, there are things that you've said to Sam are going to happen over the next four weeks.

00:36:41.500 --> 00:36:43.500
Because you know his capacity.

00:36:43.500 --> 00:36:45.500
Four weeks from then nothing has happened.

00:36:46.500 --> 00:36:48.500
So you go back to the source.

00:36:48.500 --> 00:36:51.500
Sometimes the source is God himself, sometimes it's the sources, the body,

00:36:51.500 --> 00:36:55.500
sometimes the sources, the one through whom God conveyed what he needed to convey.

00:36:57.500 --> 00:36:59.500
And that's the only way Sam can know.

00:37:00.500 --> 00:37:01.500
Initially.

00:37:01.500 --> 00:37:05.500
But then it gets to a point where Sam himself knows how to connect and ask.

00:37:07.500 --> 00:37:09.500
But he still verifies with everybody.

00:37:13.500 --> 00:37:15.500
Permission will disrupt your life.

00:37:21.500 --> 00:37:25.500
Once you know permission, you'll also question when events go wrong.

00:37:25.500 --> 00:37:27.500
Once you know that God has given you permission in something,

00:37:27.500 --> 00:37:30.500
when things go wrong, you won't say, Kayser-as-sara.

00:37:30.500 --> 00:37:32.500
You'll begin to question, why did this happen?

00:37:32.500 --> 00:37:34.500
How come you said I had permission in this?

00:37:34.500 --> 00:37:35.500
What went wrong?

00:37:35.500 --> 00:37:37.500
Where did I miss it?

00:37:37.500 --> 00:37:39.500
How come you weren't there, oh God?

00:37:42.500 --> 00:37:47.500
I mean, obviously he was there, but the questions can sound a little upset.

00:37:47.500 --> 00:37:50.500
But the questions can sound a little upset.

00:37:51.500 --> 00:37:53.500
And he can handle that.

00:37:53.500 --> 00:37:56.500
So Joshua is told, hey, I want you to take I.

00:37:57.500 --> 00:38:01.500
But every time he goes and tries to take I or A or whatever, A, A or I.

00:38:01.500 --> 00:38:03.500
Anyways, depending on...

00:38:03.500 --> 00:38:04.500
AI.

00:38:04.500 --> 00:38:05.500
AI, yeah.

00:38:05.500 --> 00:38:06.500
No, that gets worse.

00:38:06.500 --> 00:38:09.500
There's artificial intelligence now, so you can't go there either.

00:38:09.500 --> 00:38:11.500
So that place that we're talking about now.

00:38:11.500 --> 00:38:14.500
So Joshua is given permission to go take that place.

00:38:14.500 --> 00:38:15.500
But he's getting beaten every time.

00:38:15.500 --> 00:38:18.500
Every time he goes to fight, he says, AI, AI, AI.

00:38:18.500 --> 00:38:19.500
And he comes back.

00:38:19.500 --> 00:38:21.500
Because it's like getting really bad.

00:38:21.500 --> 00:38:27.500
And so at the end of the day, he has this thing with God saying, but you told us.

00:38:27.500 --> 00:38:29.500
How come we're losing every time?

00:38:29.500 --> 00:38:32.500
And then God points out Achan and what he's told.

00:38:32.500 --> 00:38:36.500
Just for a few miserable Babylonian garments, people are losing their lives.

00:38:37.500 --> 00:38:42.500
So once you know you have permission, you always have the ability to question and correct.

00:38:43.500 --> 00:38:46.500
If you don't know you have permission, you are scared because you think

00:38:46.500 --> 00:38:50.500
they're saying something I should step into because I got slapped the first time.

00:38:52.500 --> 00:38:58.500
There's such confidence in this man once I know what I'm appointed to at any specific time in my life.

00:38:58.500 --> 00:39:00.500
It works at work.

00:39:01.500 --> 00:39:06.500
So you're appointed as the guy who burns down the forest or whatever.

00:39:06.500 --> 00:39:08.500
Sorry?

00:39:08.500 --> 00:39:10.500
Oh, sorry, the guy who saves forests from burning.

00:39:10.500 --> 00:39:11.500
Sorry.

00:39:12.500 --> 00:39:17.500
So I thought you burn forests down to prevent fires from spreading or something?

00:39:17.500 --> 00:39:18.500
No?

00:39:18.500 --> 00:39:19.500
Sometimes, okay.

00:39:19.500 --> 00:39:22.500
That was the one that really caught me burning the forest down.

00:39:22.500 --> 00:39:27.500
So as he's given permission, he knows what he can do.

00:39:27.500 --> 00:39:29.500
It's the same way at work.

00:39:29.500 --> 00:39:33.500
We just don't think it works this way with God.

00:39:33.500 --> 00:39:35.500
So in every advance, locate your permission.

00:39:35.500 --> 00:39:37.500
Every time you advance, locate your permission.

00:39:37.500 --> 00:39:41.500
As in, Father, this is what you told me about this city.

00:39:41.500 --> 00:39:42.500
Or this church.

00:39:42.500 --> 00:39:43.500
Or this person.

00:39:43.500 --> 00:39:44.500
Or this people.

00:39:44.500 --> 00:39:45.500
Or this life of mine.

00:39:45.500 --> 00:39:46.500
Locate your permission.

00:39:46.500 --> 00:39:47.500
Find out what it is.

00:39:47.500 --> 00:39:49.500
Once you do, you'll hear God laughing.

00:39:49.500 --> 00:39:52.500
You'll hear God laughing over you.

00:39:52.500 --> 00:39:55.500
When God laughs over you, two things happen.

00:39:55.500 --> 00:39:57.500
It emboldens you.

00:39:59.500 --> 00:40:01.500
And it emasculates the enemy.

00:40:11.500 --> 00:40:13.500
Know the permission you have.

00:40:13.500 --> 00:40:15.500
Doesn't matter which country you're flying into.

00:40:15.500 --> 00:40:19.500
When you know you have permission, you know that God is laughing over you, saying,

00:40:19.500 --> 00:40:22.500
Ha! There goes my warrior.

00:40:22.500 --> 00:40:26.500
Or there goes this Gideon of mine who was so scared until two minutes ago,

00:40:26.500 --> 00:40:29.500
and now he's acting like he owns the place.

00:40:29.500 --> 00:40:30.500
And he begins to laugh.

00:40:30.500 --> 00:40:33.500
And as he begins to laugh, it emboldens you.

00:40:33.500 --> 00:40:35.500
And it emasculates the enemy.

00:40:38.500 --> 00:40:40.500
Know your permission.

00:40:41.500 --> 00:40:52.500
In difficult circumstances, lock into this extraordinary permission you've learned.

00:40:52.500 --> 00:40:59.500
In difficult circumstances, lock into permission.

00:40:59.500 --> 00:41:02.500
I love what David does in 1 Samuel 30.

00:41:02.500 --> 00:41:05.500
He just went attacked.

00:41:05.500 --> 00:41:07.500
Town comes back.

00:41:07.500 --> 00:41:10.500
All their wives and children are taken away.

00:41:10.500 --> 00:41:13.500
And so he quickly pivots and he asks God, what do I do?

00:41:13.500 --> 00:41:14.500
Do I go after them?

00:41:14.500 --> 00:41:17.500
And I love what God says.

00:41:17.500 --> 00:41:20.500
You will recover all.

00:41:20.500 --> 00:41:22.500
Go.

00:41:22.500 --> 00:41:24.500
And what does God do on the way?

00:41:24.500 --> 00:41:29.500
He has one servant of the army commander fall sick,

00:41:29.500 --> 00:41:30.500
and he's just lying there.

00:41:30.500 --> 00:41:33.500
He tells him where to go and get the wives and the children back.

00:41:33.500 --> 00:41:35.500
He goes and gets them back.

00:41:35.500 --> 00:41:41.500
Permission gives you the boldness to go do things you would otherwise not do.

00:41:41.500 --> 00:41:46.500
Lock into, when your circumstances get tough,

00:41:46.500 --> 00:41:49.500
lock into the permission that you have,

00:41:49.500 --> 00:41:54.500
and you will be able to navigate it without panicking,

00:41:54.500 --> 00:41:57.500
because you know the outcome.

00:41:57.500 --> 00:42:00.500
It doesn't matter whether it's where this church must go.

00:42:00.500 --> 00:42:02.500
It doesn't matter whether it's a nation, a city.

00:42:02.500 --> 00:42:04.500
It doesn't matter whether it's a nation, a city.

00:42:04.500 --> 00:42:08.500
It doesn't matter some of the things that you have been given as personal assignments from God to fulfill.

00:42:08.500 --> 00:42:10.500
It doesn't matter whether it's giant or little.

00:42:10.500 --> 00:42:14.500
It doesn't matter whether it's things of the earth or things of heaven.

00:42:14.500 --> 00:42:16.500
It doesn't matter whether it's money related

00:42:16.500 --> 00:42:19.500
or whether it's responsibility related or future related.

00:42:19.500 --> 00:42:24.500
Everything now is based on, hey, but Jacob, I gave you permission for this.

00:42:24.500 --> 00:42:28.500
Come walk in it, son, because I'm walking with you in this.

00:42:32.500 --> 00:42:34.500
Any questions?

00:42:42.500 --> 00:42:44.500
Okay, so let's go.

00:42:44.500 --> 00:42:49.500
Yeah, okay, smaller than a nation.

00:42:51.500 --> 00:42:58.500
So, let me take a really small one.

00:42:58.500 --> 00:43:00.500
I've got too many small ones.

00:43:03.500 --> 00:43:07.500
Yeah, let me go to something from a while ago.

00:43:07.500 --> 00:43:10.500
So this was when we moved to Ross Street.

00:43:10.500 --> 00:43:14.500
Some of us were there at Ross Street, the church on Ross Street.

00:43:14.500 --> 00:43:17.500
It's right at the corner of Ross and Southeast Marine.

00:43:17.500 --> 00:43:21.500
And so we used to meet in a coffee shop till then.

00:43:21.500 --> 00:43:23.500
And it was super cheap, eh?

00:43:23.500 --> 00:43:29.500
And then God would say, listen, I'm giving you permission to move into a larger space.

00:43:29.500 --> 00:43:32.500
I know you don't have the money for it, nor do you have the people for it.

00:43:32.500 --> 00:43:35.500
But I'm giving you permission to move into a larger space,

00:43:35.500 --> 00:43:41.500
even though the space we were in was completely okay for double the size.

00:43:41.500 --> 00:43:44.500
Viva Java Wars.

00:43:44.500 --> 00:43:46.500
Viva Java Wars.

00:43:46.500 --> 00:43:48.500
Yeah.

00:43:51.500 --> 00:43:54.500
Okay, so we'll have to move on with that one.

00:43:54.500 --> 00:44:00.500
Yeah, so we could have continued there at $900 or something.

00:44:00.500 --> 00:44:03.500
And then God says, I give you permission.

00:44:03.500 --> 00:44:08.500
So we go and find this place that is twice as large, but needs a lot of work.

00:44:08.500 --> 00:44:10.500
We didn't have money for it.

00:44:10.500 --> 00:44:12.500
We had $3,000.

00:44:12.500 --> 00:44:14.500
But we had permission.

00:44:14.500 --> 00:44:16.500
$3,000 in an empty place.

00:44:16.500 --> 00:44:17.500
We had permission.

00:44:17.500 --> 00:44:22.500
I remember going to Jeremy's dad, because Jeremy's dad used to have furniture shops.

00:44:22.500 --> 00:44:26.500
I'm going to Jeremy's dad and asking him, can we have some furniture for this place?

00:44:26.500 --> 00:44:28.500
I was expecting chairs.

00:44:28.500 --> 00:44:32.500
Jeremy's dad pulls out a bag of yellow sticky notes and gives it to me and says,

00:44:32.500 --> 00:44:34.500
I've got to go for a meeting.

00:44:34.500 --> 00:44:37.500
Take the sticky note and put it on whatever you want.

00:44:37.500 --> 00:44:41.500
And so I'm holding these sticky notes, and I have absolutely –

00:44:41.500 --> 00:44:44.500
I mean, the only thing I can match is black and black.

00:44:44.500 --> 00:44:46.500
So I've got no idea what to do with furniture.

00:44:46.500 --> 00:44:49.500
And this is like high quality top-end furniture.

00:44:49.500 --> 00:44:53.500
I'm holding the sticky notes and I'm saying, father, what do I need to do?

00:44:53.500 --> 00:44:55.500
And do I go conservative or do I go berserk?

00:44:55.500 --> 00:44:58.500
And God says, I gave you permission, go berserk.

00:44:58.500 --> 00:45:02.500
And so I'm taking these yellow sticky notes and sticking it on everything.

00:45:02.500 --> 00:45:03.500
Everything.

00:45:03.500 --> 00:45:06.500
Like anything that I could lay my hands – eyes on, stuck it.

00:45:06.500 --> 00:45:10.500
And then he comes back and I say, I've stuck stuff.

00:45:10.500 --> 00:45:13.500
I have no idea of how color combinations work, so let me know.

00:45:13.500 --> 00:45:14.500
He says, okay, take it all.

00:45:14.500 --> 00:45:15.500
I said, no, no, no.

00:45:15.500 --> 00:45:17.500
I only got $3,000.

00:45:17.500 --> 00:45:19.500
I expected him to give me more than $3,000,

00:45:19.500 --> 00:45:23.500
but I didn't expect him to look at everything I'd stuck on and he says, take it all.

00:45:23.500 --> 00:45:30.500
And he says, I'll get three trucks for you and we'll make sure that it's given.

00:45:30.500 --> 00:45:33.500
We took with us beds.

00:45:33.500 --> 00:45:37.500
I stuck stuff on bed.

00:45:37.500 --> 00:45:41.500
There was a sofa that would open up into a bed.

00:45:41.500 --> 00:45:52.500
Beds, lamps, armchairs, dining tables, high chairs, bar stools.

00:45:52.500 --> 00:45:56.500
The first time they brought a piano into that place, the movers thought it was a poker joint.

00:45:56.500 --> 00:45:59.500
So they even asked, do you guys play poker here?

00:45:59.500 --> 00:46:00.500
And I said, no.

00:46:00.500 --> 00:46:03.500
And this was what happens when permission happens.

00:46:03.500 --> 00:46:06.500
You've got to keep testing how far you can go with permission.

00:46:06.500 --> 00:46:11.500
Same with homes.

00:46:11.500 --> 00:46:16.500
My mom was coming the first time and I'm thinking to myself, okay, where do I go, father?

00:46:16.500 --> 00:46:18.500
And he's saying, I don't want you to look for houses.

00:46:18.500 --> 00:46:20.500
I'll get you a house.

00:46:20.500 --> 00:46:21.500
You leave it to me.

00:46:21.500 --> 00:46:24.500
I'm going to get you a place for you and your mom.

00:46:24.500 --> 00:46:27.500
Seven days, five days, four days, still don't have a place.

00:46:27.500 --> 00:46:30.500
My mom's calling, will I have a place to stay?

00:46:30.500 --> 00:46:32.500
And I'm saying, it'll happen.

00:46:32.500 --> 00:46:37.500
But once God says that, listen, this is what I want you to step into, it'll happen.

00:46:37.500 --> 00:46:38.500
A guy calls.

00:46:38.500 --> 00:46:40.500
He had a home.

00:46:40.500 --> 00:46:44.500
He needs someone to stay there because otherwise the insurance is too high.

00:46:44.500 --> 00:46:47.500
And he says, hey, here's a house.

00:46:47.500 --> 00:46:52.500
Stayed there for one and a half years, paid the insurance.

00:46:52.500 --> 00:46:55.500
Mom was blown away.

00:46:55.500 --> 00:46:58.500
Permission at the end of the day is disability.

00:46:58.500 --> 00:47:03.500
Permission at the end of the day is disability where God says, I've got something for you.

00:47:03.500 --> 00:47:04.500
Step into it.

00:47:04.500 --> 00:47:08.500
Don't do nothing that I'm not asking you to do exactly what I tell you.

00:47:08.500 --> 00:47:09.500
It'll be illogical.

00:47:09.500 --> 00:47:11.500
It'll be unreasonable.

00:47:11.500 --> 00:47:14.500
Step into it and I will give you everything you need for this.

00:47:14.500 --> 00:47:16.500
Explore it as long as you want.

00:47:16.500 --> 00:47:17.500
Enjoy it.

00:47:17.500 --> 00:47:18.500
Go this way.

00:47:18.500 --> 00:47:19.500
Go that way.

00:47:19.500 --> 00:47:27.500
And then when you're done, make sure that just as I gave it to you for free, you give it away for free and you step into the next thing.

00:47:27.500 --> 00:47:30.500
Permission is supposed to teach you how to function with God.

00:47:30.500 --> 00:47:32.500
Permission is supposed to teach you how to hear him better.

00:47:32.500 --> 00:47:34.500
Permission is to teach you how to depend on him better.

00:47:34.500 --> 00:47:39.500
Permission is to have you get out of all these.

00:47:39.500 --> 00:47:42.500
Permission is to make sure that inconvenience will never stop you.

00:47:42.500 --> 00:47:46.500
That money becomes an absolute zero problem.

00:47:46.500 --> 00:47:49.500
Time becomes his.

00:47:49.500 --> 00:47:51.500
Family becomes secondary.

00:47:51.500 --> 00:47:53.500
I'm not talking about a spouse.

00:47:53.500 --> 00:47:54.500
I'm talking about the other family.

00:47:54.500 --> 00:47:58.500
The fathers, the mothers, the brothers, the sisters, and everyone else who wishes you well.

00:47:58.500 --> 00:48:01.500
And spiritual powers too will have to be dealt with.

00:48:01.500 --> 00:48:07.500
These are things that Jesus had to deal with and every disciple of Jesus that had any salt to his name had to deal with this.

00:48:07.500 --> 00:48:08.500
You don't deal with this.

00:48:08.500 --> 00:48:12.500
There is no question of being a disciple or making disciples.

00:48:12.500 --> 00:48:14.500
Hey, hear me again.

00:48:14.500 --> 00:48:17.500
If this is not dealt with, you cannot be a disciple.

00:48:17.500 --> 00:48:20.500
Luke chapter 9, 52 to 59 talks about exactly this.

00:48:20.500 --> 00:48:23.500
Foxes have holes.

00:48:23.500 --> 00:48:25.500
My dad needs to be buried.

00:48:25.500 --> 00:48:27.500
I've got to divide the property.

00:48:27.500 --> 00:48:28.500
This is where it falls.

00:48:28.500 --> 00:48:32.500
And if this is not overcome, then here's the bad news.

00:48:32.500 --> 00:48:50.500
You ain't a disciple.

00:48:50.500 --> 00:49:04.500
Permission at some point moves from asking God to acting with God, moves from asking God to act to participating in God's action, where you get to walk with him instead of...

00:49:04.500 --> 00:49:08.500
Yeah, it gets to a point where you ask less and you participate more.

00:49:08.500 --> 00:49:11.500
You almost know because of your walking with him.

00:49:11.500 --> 00:49:14.500
Ah, I know where you're going with this next.

00:49:14.500 --> 00:49:15.500
He begins to engage you.

00:49:15.500 --> 00:49:18.500
Shall I hide from Jacob what I'm about to do?

00:49:18.500 --> 00:49:19.500
Come on, man.

00:49:19.500 --> 00:49:21.500
This is so worth it.

00:49:21.500 --> 00:49:26.500
Permission brings you into friendship with God that is so ridiculous that he begins to say stuff like that.

00:49:26.500 --> 00:49:35.500
Shall I hide from Jacob what I'm about to do?

00:49:35.500 --> 00:49:51.500
You should ask Derek some of the things that God tells him about Wally before Wally knows it.

00:49:51.500 --> 00:49:54.500
When your boss gives you permission over a certain area, what do you think?

00:49:54.500 --> 00:49:56.500
I trust you.

00:49:56.500 --> 00:49:57.500
Here, Remy, I trust you.

00:49:57.500 --> 00:50:00.500
Here are the keys to this, this and this.

00:50:00.500 --> 00:50:02.500
I trust you.

00:50:02.500 --> 00:50:06.500
That's what permission looks like.

00:50:06.500 --> 00:50:10.500
And if he trusts you, then it does not matter that you need to know everything.

00:50:10.500 --> 00:50:12.500
You know he trusts you.

00:50:12.500 --> 00:50:14.500
You're awake day and night.

00:50:14.500 --> 00:50:18.500
Your ears are alert.

00:50:18.500 --> 00:50:22.500
Any questions?

00:50:22.500 --> 00:50:33.500
I got to wind up because there are too many guests here who didn't know that we go on until 1.30.

00:50:33.500 --> 00:50:34.500
Your permission will be contested.

00:50:34.500 --> 00:50:35.500
We already talked about that.

00:50:35.500 --> 00:50:37.500
Guys, sometimes symbolize permission.

00:50:37.500 --> 00:50:43.500
Sometimes symbolize permission as in do something symbolic that reminds you, ah shucks, this is what I walk in.

00:50:43.500 --> 00:50:45.500
I mean, God gave Moses a staff.

00:50:45.500 --> 00:50:46.500
He called it the staff of God.

00:50:46.500 --> 00:50:52.500
It was with that staff that he had the serpents devoured, that the magicians threw down.

00:50:52.500 --> 00:50:54.500
It was with that staff that he parted the Red Sea.

00:50:54.500 --> 00:50:58.500
It was with that staff that was held up that the Amalekites were defeated.

00:50:58.500 --> 00:51:06.500
The staff had no power, but my God, it was symbolic of what Moses was stepping into.

00:51:06.500 --> 00:51:11.500
So think of that as something that perhaps you can do.

00:51:11.500 --> 00:51:12.500
Permission always comes with promises.

00:51:12.500 --> 00:51:15.500
Permission comes with promises.

00:51:15.500 --> 00:51:22.500
Permission comes with promises and provision and provision.

00:51:22.500 --> 00:51:24.500
Sometimes you get the provision before.

00:51:24.500 --> 00:51:26.500
Sometimes you get the provision while you're walking towards it.

00:51:26.500 --> 00:51:28.500
But it always comes with promises and provision.

00:51:28.500 --> 00:51:32.500
Permission for anything that God is giving you is larger than you can handle.

00:51:32.500 --> 00:51:33.500
You do not have the resources for it.

00:51:33.500 --> 00:51:35.500
You do not have the ability.

00:51:35.500 --> 00:51:38.500
You do not have even the thinking that you are capable of it.

00:51:38.500 --> 00:51:42.500
Therefore, it comes with promises that will be reiterated again and again.

00:51:42.500 --> 00:51:46.500
God is a great reassurer, but he knows the timing of reassurance.

00:51:46.500 --> 00:51:48.500
And it always comes with provision.

00:51:48.500 --> 00:51:53.500
So you never need to be afraid of, will I have what I have when I need it or when I get there?

00:51:53.500 --> 00:51:55.500
It's never in question.

00:51:55.500 --> 00:52:03.500
But we don't know it because we haven't tried or experimented with it often enough.

00:52:03.500 --> 00:52:11.500
The more we experiment with it, the more we realize, oh shucks, this is the least of my worries.

00:52:11.500 --> 00:52:16.500
Any questions?

00:52:26.500 --> 00:52:33.500
Elijah, that guy knew how to walk in greater and greater permission.

00:52:33.500 --> 00:52:35.500
And there was always provision for him.

00:52:35.500 --> 00:52:39.500
Ravens, widows, there was always provision for him.

00:52:40.500 --> 00:52:42.500
Okay, let me conclude.

00:52:42.500 --> 00:52:49.500
Do not live below your permission.

00:52:52.500 --> 00:52:58.500
Please, if you've been in the church for more than six months, you know how to do this.

00:52:58.500 --> 00:53:01.500
Please work at it.

00:53:02.500 --> 00:53:11.500
Please go back to those first notes where name it, see it, name it, agree with it, identify it.

00:53:11.500 --> 00:53:12.500
Do the hard work.

00:53:12.500 --> 00:53:18.500
Take two days off work and do the hard work.

00:53:18.500 --> 00:53:21.500
Do not live under your permission.

00:53:21.500 --> 00:53:25.500
Once you name it, share it with somebody.

00:53:25.500 --> 00:53:29.500
If you dare to, share it with me.

00:53:29.500 --> 00:53:34.500
But share it with someone so that someone else knows what God is saying to you,

00:53:34.500 --> 00:53:40.500
which might be really ridiculous or which may not be ridiculous enough.

00:53:40.500 --> 00:53:43.500
Share it.

00:53:44.500 --> 00:53:46.500
Put it into words.

00:53:46.500 --> 00:53:51.500
As long as it's tweety birds circling around the head, it's very hard to catch one of them.

00:53:51.500 --> 00:53:53.500
Put it into words.

00:53:53.500 --> 00:53:56.500
Phrase it.

00:53:57.500 --> 00:54:00.500
Do not live below your permission.

00:54:00.500 --> 00:54:03.500
You're missing out on God.

00:54:03.500 --> 00:54:06.500
The next thing is permission requires letting go.

00:54:06.500 --> 00:54:09.500
Permission requires letting go.

00:54:13.500 --> 00:54:17.500
It's death by installments.

00:54:20.500 --> 00:54:22.500
It's death by installments.

00:54:22.500 --> 00:54:29.500
You have to die to how you were before to step into what God is calling you into.

00:54:29.500 --> 00:54:33.500
Permission requires letting go.

00:54:33.500 --> 00:54:36.500
It is death by installments of what?

00:54:36.500 --> 00:54:43.500
Of mindset, of method of operation, of modus operandi, of perception.

00:54:43.500 --> 00:54:49.500
These things have to be let go of.

00:54:52.500 --> 00:54:56.500
Future fruit only comes from present death.

00:54:56.500 --> 00:55:00.500
Future fruit only comes from present death.

00:55:00.500 --> 00:55:05.500
I have to die to my present mindset, my present method of operation, my present perception.

00:55:05.500 --> 00:55:12.500
As I am given permission to step into something else, I have to die to my old ways of doing things.

00:55:12.500 --> 00:55:16.500
Otherwise, I carry into the new, old operating system.

00:55:16.500 --> 00:55:18.500
But aren't some of them really good?

00:55:18.500 --> 00:55:20.500
Yes, they are good.

00:55:20.500 --> 00:55:26.500
And take some of the stuff, but don't assume that that's how you need to go.

00:55:26.500 --> 00:55:32.500
Just begin with this idea that, Father, whatever new things you need to introduce as I'm getting older,

00:55:32.500 --> 00:55:38.500
please help me to make sure that this wine skin doesn't get so blooming, dry and old

00:55:38.500 --> 00:55:41.500
that any time you pour anything new, it starts bursting.

00:55:41.500 --> 00:55:45.500
Please, oh God, don't let that happen to me.

00:55:45.500 --> 00:55:49.500
Let me not become one of those older people.

00:55:49.500 --> 00:55:53.500
And I am older people.

00:55:53.500 --> 00:55:58.500
So, if Chad is in this place where I'm deliberately picking on him,

00:55:58.500 --> 00:56:03.500
where he is stepping into new permission, he'll require to let go of things that are old

00:56:03.500 --> 00:56:13.500
so that he can die by installments, so that he can be fruitful in the future.

00:56:13.500 --> 00:56:17.500
Almost done.

00:56:17.500 --> 00:56:23.500
It's only one o'clock.

00:56:23.500 --> 00:56:33.500
Permission requires recovering rhythm.

00:56:33.500 --> 00:56:56.500
The problem is you can't recover rhythm if the constraints of structure, time, grids, schedules is overwhelming.

00:56:56.500 --> 00:56:59.500
None of these are bad. All of them are necessary.

00:56:59.500 --> 00:57:05.500
If you initially step into something that God is giving you permission in that is new and fresh,

00:57:05.500 --> 00:57:10.500
these will have to take the backseat for a while because I have to get into this new pace

00:57:10.500 --> 00:57:13.500
or the new stride that God has for me.

00:57:13.500 --> 00:57:20.500
And therefore, I must, unfortunately, abandon the structure, the grids, the time, schedules that I have,

00:57:20.500 --> 00:57:23.500
which are overwhelming. I've got to let go of that initially.

00:57:23.500 --> 00:57:27.500
And it's very difficult because our lives are so carefully, precariously arranged

00:57:27.500 --> 00:57:30.500
and it becomes very difficult to do this.

00:57:30.500 --> 00:57:33.500
But once I get the hang of the rhythm, I can reconstruct this.

00:57:33.500 --> 00:57:44.500
But you cannot get the rhythm without deconstructing it.

00:57:44.500 --> 00:57:47.500
Yeah, because it's a new stride that God is walking with in the new place.

00:57:47.500 --> 00:57:59.500
It's not the same. You can't have the same pace. You can't have the same input. You can't eat the same things.

00:57:59.500 --> 00:58:03.500
I mean, you think Don's life is going to be the same? You think Prashan's life is going to be the same?

00:58:03.500 --> 00:58:10.500
They're going to have a stride that they can't match. Their entire life is going to fall apart.

00:58:10.500 --> 00:58:14.500
So this is the good news about marriage. Yeah.

00:58:14.500 --> 00:58:21.500
And then they'll at some point return to a new structure, a new schedule, a new grid.

00:58:21.500 --> 00:58:29.500
They can't roll off any side of the bed anymore.

00:58:29.500 --> 00:58:35.500
Simple things like that change. Forget the major things.

00:58:35.500 --> 00:58:42.500
So they say, yeah.

00:58:42.500 --> 00:58:52.500
Permission is relational. Permission is relational.

00:58:52.500 --> 00:59:01.500
As in, if my elbow is what is receiving permission from God, my elbow cannot function on its own. It is relational.

00:59:01.500 --> 00:59:05.500
Its way of functioning is so dependent on everything else it's connected to.

00:59:05.500 --> 00:59:15.500
Therefore, even if I am giving permission in something, I have to see how it is connected with the rest of what God is doing with the people that I belong to.

00:59:15.500 --> 00:59:19.500
Because that communion thing doesn't end with communion.

00:59:19.500 --> 00:59:26.500
How does it fit with everything else that is happening?

00:59:26.500 --> 00:59:30.500
You cannot live life together alone in the kingdom.

00:59:30.500 --> 00:59:33.500
And if you are doing that, you are dying.

00:59:33.500 --> 00:59:35.500
Let me say that again because that sounded brutal.

00:59:35.500 --> 00:59:40.500
You cannot live life together alone once you're part of the church.

00:59:40.500 --> 00:59:45.500
And if you are living life together alone, then I want you to know that you are dying.

00:59:45.500 --> 00:59:48.500
It's not possible for you to survive.

00:59:48.500 --> 00:59:54.500
Physically, you might live another hundred years. Spiritually, you're dry as a twig.

00:59:54.500 --> 01:00:00.500
I felt like the Old Testament prophetic suddenly.

01:00:00.500 --> 01:00:05.500
Permission is relational and it's relating to Christ in the body.

01:00:05.500 --> 01:00:07.500
It's relating to yourself.

01:00:07.500 --> 01:00:08.500
Hey, and remember one thing.

01:00:08.500 --> 01:00:14.500
Every time God gives you new permission, there'll be this undercurrent of impurity that'll come looking for you.

01:00:14.500 --> 01:00:22.500
Every time you step into new permission, there is always this undercurrent of impurity that'll come looking for you.

01:00:22.500 --> 01:00:29.500
Because if permission can be corrupted, diluted, contaminated, it is brilliant for the enemy.

01:00:29.500 --> 01:00:32.500
You can never get over it then.

01:00:32.500 --> 01:00:41.500
Be very careful of impurity, especially of sexual impurity when new permission is being given.

01:00:41.500 --> 01:00:45.500
Because it's an undercurrent that always comes with permission.

01:00:45.500 --> 01:00:51.500
Too many people have been unseated by it.

01:00:51.500 --> 01:00:54.500
And if you're not relational, pride will hit.

01:00:54.500 --> 01:00:59.500
When you're relational, people like Diana humble you.

01:00:59.500 --> 01:01:02.500
But otherwise, pride will hit.

01:01:02.500 --> 01:01:05.500
It's good to belong to a body. People keep you humble.

01:01:05.500 --> 01:01:16.500
They don't laugh at your jokes always.

01:01:16.500 --> 01:01:18.500
Okay, last one.

01:01:18.500 --> 01:01:21.500
And then a story from the Bible.

01:01:21.500 --> 01:01:42.500
Permission grasps new vision, but does not subvert order.

01:01:42.500 --> 01:01:52.500
Or throw off restraint.

01:01:52.500 --> 01:01:59.500
So Derek may have permission for something in Wall-E, but it doesn't mean that, ah, I've got new vision.

01:01:59.500 --> 01:02:02.500
It doesn't mean that he'll subvert order or throw off restraint.

01:02:02.500 --> 01:02:05.500
He tries to work in relationship with the body.

01:02:05.500 --> 01:02:08.500
He doesn't become his own king or master.

01:02:08.500 --> 01:02:14.500
Just because I have new vision doesn't mean that I have the right now to say, ah, if you don't agree, forget it.

01:02:14.500 --> 01:02:16.500
And this will happen with our spouses too.

01:02:16.500 --> 01:02:21.500
Sometimes you have new vision and your spouse is still struggling to come to grips with it.

01:02:21.500 --> 01:02:26.500
You'll have to wait.

01:02:26.500 --> 01:02:29.500
You'll have to wait till it catches on.

01:02:29.500 --> 01:02:33.500
Because otherwise, it becomes really difficult.

01:02:33.500 --> 01:02:36.500
And so we end with that story from 2 Kings, Chapter 2,

01:02:36.500 --> 01:02:40.500
was 9-14 where Elijah and Elisha are walking together.

01:02:40.500 --> 01:02:49.500
And just keep persisting, eh, because one of the things Elisha did was he knew something was waiting for him.

01:02:49.500 --> 01:02:51.500
He knew it.

01:02:51.500 --> 01:02:58.500
He knew that if I keep pace with Elijah, there is something new that is waiting for me.

01:02:58.500 --> 01:03:00.500
I will be given permission.

01:03:00.500 --> 01:03:02.500
So he starts walking with him.

01:03:02.500 --> 01:03:05.500
Elijah tries his best to say, hey, listen, stop at Jericho.

01:03:05.500 --> 01:03:06.500
Stop at Gilgal.

01:03:06.500 --> 01:03:07.500
Stop at Jordan.

01:03:07.500 --> 01:03:08.500
Stop at Bethel.

01:03:08.500 --> 01:03:09.500
He doesn't.

01:03:09.500 --> 01:03:11.500
He keeps persisting.

01:03:11.500 --> 01:03:21.500
And then he knows that God is inviting him and he asks Elijah, listen, can you give me twice as much as you have?

01:03:21.500 --> 01:03:28.500
And Elijah says, if you see me leaving, then I know you can have it because it's not mine to give, it's God's to give.

01:03:28.500 --> 01:03:31.500
So Elisha knows that he's being invited into the process.

01:03:31.500 --> 01:03:32.500
He won't leave.

01:03:32.500 --> 01:03:34.500
So he persists on sticking with Elijah.

01:03:34.500 --> 01:03:36.500
At some point Elijah is taken away.

01:03:36.500 --> 01:03:38.500
He sees what is going to happen to him.

01:03:38.500 --> 01:03:44.500
Once he sees what's going to happen to him, the first thing he does is he takes his mantle and he begins to tear it.

01:03:44.500 --> 01:03:48.500
Part of the reason he's tearing it is because he's sorrowful that his spiritual father has left the earth.

01:03:48.500 --> 01:03:51.500
Part of the reason he's tearing it is because it no longer fits.

01:03:51.500 --> 01:03:53.500
The old has to be let go of.

01:03:53.500 --> 01:03:54.500
And then what does he do?

01:03:54.500 --> 01:03:57.500
He realizes that there's a mantle that's lying on the floor.

01:03:57.500 --> 01:03:58.500
He picks up the mantle.

01:03:58.500 --> 01:04:01.500
Now he has to begin to explore the whole idea of I've got a mantle in my hand.

01:04:01.500 --> 01:04:02.500
What do I do with it?

01:04:02.500 --> 01:04:06.500
And so the first thing he does is he realizes, let me try out this new permission he has.

01:04:06.500 --> 01:04:07.500
I have.

01:04:07.500 --> 01:04:09.500
So he takes the mantle and he strikes the water.

01:04:09.500 --> 01:04:11.500
When he strikes the water, the water's part.

01:04:11.500 --> 01:04:14.500
And for the first time, 51 others that are standing on the other show begin to say,

01:04:14.500 --> 01:04:18.500
aha, the God of Elijah is with Elisha now.

01:04:18.500 --> 01:04:20.500
And then Elisha begins to move in it.

01:04:20.500 --> 01:04:26.500
And as he begins to move in it, he sees that he ends up doing really twice as much as Elijah did.

01:04:26.500 --> 01:04:30.500
God is still known as the God of Elijah, but my God, there's a young kid now

01:04:30.500 --> 01:04:36.500
who's beginning to operate in permission that it's so vast that none of his predecessors were able to walk in it.

01:04:39.500 --> 01:04:43.500
It applies to tiny little areas and it applies to nations.

01:04:43.500 --> 01:04:48.500
Now Emily said, give us a small example and then give us the example of a large nation.

01:04:52.500 --> 01:04:54.500
Any questions? I'm done.

01:05:01.500 --> 01:05:03.500
No questions?

01:05:03.500 --> 01:05:07.500
Okay. Let's conclude.

01:05:07.500 --> 01:05:09.500
So Father, how do you want us to conclude this?

01:05:17.500 --> 01:05:20.500
Father, we'll conclude with laying down these things.

01:05:20.500 --> 01:05:23.500
Man, these things need to be laid down every time, Father.

01:05:23.500 --> 01:05:26.500
They're just painful things that we don't lay down.

01:05:26.500 --> 01:05:28.500
So Father, these are the things we look at.

01:05:28.500 --> 01:05:30.500
So Father, these are the things we look at.

01:05:30.500 --> 01:05:32.500
Inconvenience, money, time, family.

01:05:32.500 --> 01:05:36.500
Four, the spiritual powers are easier to deal with because you deal with them.

01:05:36.500 --> 01:05:42.500
The other things we deal with, with your help, but my God, we got our own will.

01:05:42.500 --> 01:05:46.500
So Father, we just come to deal with inconvenience, money, time and family

01:05:46.500 --> 01:05:50.500
so that you can now give us permission to step into new things.

01:05:50.500 --> 01:05:54.500
So Father, I'm just going to leave it to the church to pray this.

01:05:54.500 --> 01:05:57.500
Maybe three or four can pray into this.

01:05:57.500 --> 01:06:03.500
I'll ask Derek to pray and then whoever else wants to.

01:06:05.500 --> 01:06:07.500
Derek can wrap it up.

01:06:07.500 --> 01:06:13.500
I'll ask Jane to start and Derek to wrap it up and a couple of people in between.

01:06:21.500 --> 01:06:24.500
Father, we want to start with Derek and Jane.

01:06:24.500 --> 01:06:25.500
Yeah.

01:06:26.500 --> 01:06:31.500
It's not a worry or a motion.

01:06:31.500 --> 01:06:38.500
It's more of a fear that we want to get out of.

01:06:41.500 --> 01:06:43.500
There's so much joy in the body.

01:06:43.500 --> 01:06:45.500
We're really getting into it.

01:06:45.500 --> 01:06:48.500
We're growing and growing up and training.

01:06:48.500 --> 01:06:54.500
But no, you're already learning that there's joy and excitement.

01:06:54.500 --> 01:06:59.500
So Father, we just say yes.

01:06:59.500 --> 01:07:01.500
We say yes to that.

01:07:01.500 --> 01:07:04.500
That we want to enter it this time with joy.

01:07:04.500 --> 01:07:08.500
Seeing your delight, your excitement.

01:07:08.500 --> 01:07:17.500
We want to lay down inconvenience, money, our time and our family.

01:07:17.500 --> 01:07:20.500
And we want to lay it down in new ways this time, Father.

01:07:20.500 --> 01:07:22.500
Show us Holy Spirit.

01:07:22.500 --> 01:07:25.500
Show us Holy Spirit how to lay it down in new ways.

01:07:25.500 --> 01:07:26.500
I want to add another one.

01:07:26.500 --> 01:07:30.500
We want to lay down past ways of doing things.

01:07:30.500 --> 01:07:33.500
The familiar.

01:07:33.500 --> 01:07:38.500
We want to lay these down at your feet, Jesus.

01:07:38.500 --> 01:07:45.500
Because we're in it for your cause, your heart, your kingdom on this earth.

01:07:45.500 --> 01:07:49.500
Your family of families just spreading across the globe.

01:07:49.500 --> 01:07:51.500
This is so much bigger than just us.

01:07:51.500 --> 01:07:56.500
It is worth it, Jesus.

01:07:56.500 --> 01:07:58.500
It is worth it, Jesus.

01:07:58.500 --> 01:08:03.500
So Spirit, I specifically ask you to show us new ways of laying these down this week.

01:08:03.500 --> 01:08:05.500
Let it begin now in our hearts.

01:08:05.500 --> 01:08:09.500
In Jesus' name.

01:08:09.500 --> 01:08:12.500
Two more before Derek.

01:08:21.500 --> 01:08:44.500
Father, I speak of breaking of mindsets.

01:08:44.500 --> 01:08:50.500
That we choose to change our mindsets, to change our structures, to change our schedules.

01:08:50.500 --> 01:08:53.500
That's the first thing with inconvenience.

01:08:53.500 --> 01:08:57.500
We have to be able to let go of our way of doing things.

01:08:57.500 --> 01:09:04.500
Of our comforts.

01:09:04.500 --> 01:09:10.500
And Father, as we look at these four, it can be easy to say, but this is my personality.

01:09:10.500 --> 01:09:11.500
This is just how I was made.

01:09:11.500 --> 01:09:13.500
This is how I was created.

01:09:13.500 --> 01:09:19.500
But Father, we come back to that it has to become less of me and more of you.

01:09:19.500 --> 01:09:24.500
So may we say maybe this is my personality, but this is not the Father's heart in this situation.

01:09:24.500 --> 01:09:26.500
So I'll put aside my personality.

01:09:26.500 --> 01:09:29.500
I'll put aside how I've always done it.

01:09:29.500 --> 01:09:33.500
So that it becomes less of me and more of you, Father.

01:09:33.500 --> 01:09:39.500
So that each of these things, inconvenience, money, time, family, our past ways, things that we're familiar.

01:09:39.500 --> 01:09:40.500
We put them aside.

01:09:40.500 --> 01:09:42.500
We put aside our personalities.

01:09:42.500 --> 01:09:43.500
Father, I add personalities.

01:09:43.500 --> 01:09:47.500
This no longer will our personalities dictate how we function.

01:09:47.500 --> 01:09:53.500
But we will put them aside so that we function in more of you, in your personality, Father.

01:09:53.500 --> 01:10:02.500
No longer tainted with our own personality, but in purity of your personality, Father.

01:10:02.500 --> 01:10:12.500
One more before Derek.

01:10:12.500 --> 01:10:14.500
Heavenly Father, I'm just speaking to myself.

01:10:14.500 --> 01:10:31.500
Dear Lord, Lord, help us to lay our crowns before you and to embrace the inconvenient truth.

01:10:31.500 --> 01:10:46.500
We speak against any spirit of fear that we can't embrace the unfamiliar Lord.

01:10:46.500 --> 01:11:01.500
Lord, help us to just step on board this adventure and move forward with you as our guide.

01:11:01.500 --> 01:11:02.500
We pray this in your Son Jesus' name.

01:11:02.500 --> 01:11:03.500
Amen.

01:11:03.500 --> 01:11:19.500
Father, as we contend for these things, Abba, remind us that we must first contend with you.

01:11:19.500 --> 01:11:29.500
That we must contend with you in such a way that in all those areas written above, we come to the end of ourself.

01:11:30.500 --> 01:11:37.500
As we contend with you, Abba, we come to the end of ourselves and we begin to realize the beginning of you.

01:11:37.500 --> 01:11:40.500
And in the beginning of you, you multiply.

01:11:40.500 --> 01:11:45.500
And multiplication, you said before, is the life of God in each situation.

01:11:45.500 --> 01:11:52.500
So over each of these areas and in each of these situations, Abba, I breathe your life and I speak your multiplication.

01:11:52.500 --> 01:11:57.500
And so as we contend with you, we lose ourselves, but we gain all of you.

01:11:58.500 --> 01:12:02.500
We gain all of you in these areas and in that we find ourselves again.

01:12:02.500 --> 01:12:06.500
And that is the joy, Abba, to find you and to find ourselves.

01:12:06.500 --> 01:12:08.500
We're splendid in your glory.

01:12:08.500 --> 01:12:20.500
So I speak this over every person, listening every person in this church right now, that we will begin to contend with you for these things, for your permission, so that we can find you, all of you.

01:12:20.500 --> 01:12:23.500
Jesus, in your precious name.

01:12:27.500 --> 01:12:34.500
Abba, we...

01:12:34.500 --> 01:12:45.500
These prayers that we've been praying, Abba, it's not a one-time prayer, but as Jane said, all through this week we'll continue, Abba, to lay things down at your feet.

01:12:45.500 --> 01:12:50.500
So first, we just want to express to you that we're not done.

01:12:50.500 --> 01:12:56.500
We are beginning on this path that you have laid out for us to lay things down.

01:12:57.500 --> 01:13:09.500
So Father, I pray that you will remind me, remind us all through the week and onwards, all of these things that are obstacles or are pulling us back, so that we can lay them down.

01:13:09.500 --> 01:13:15.500
Father, I'm reminded of the story of Peter where you gave him the keys to the kingdom.

01:13:16.500 --> 01:13:19.500
So you're giving us the keys to the kingdom.

01:13:20.500 --> 01:13:26.500
But then Peter had to, at one point, walk into it and stand up.

01:13:26.500 --> 01:13:28.500
In the next chapter one, he stood up.

01:13:29.500 --> 01:13:34.500
So Father, if we have... and Jacob talked about symbolic things.

01:13:34.500 --> 01:13:41.500
So if we have a key with us, we want to take up the key because laying down always leads to picking up what you have for us, Abba.

01:13:41.500 --> 01:13:50.500
So symbolically, because we've been laying down in our hearts and we've been asking you, we pick up keys, physical keys, in our hands.

01:13:54.500 --> 01:14:00.500
And these keys that we are picking up, Abba, is in line with what you're asking us.

01:14:00.500 --> 01:14:03.500
Hey, I have permission that I'm giving you.

01:14:03.500 --> 01:14:06.500
And so as I take this key, as we take these keys,