WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Presence – What it Aint Pt. 2 Publishing Date: 2023-05-07T06:00:44-07:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/presence-what-it-aint-pt-2/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.000 Ladies and gentlemen, let me present to you Joseph, the newest Canuck fan. 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:10.000 Yay! 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:14.000 Feel sorry for you buddy. 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:29.000 Okay, I don't like this Victoria thing. Half the church is empty. 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:39.000 So we continue with last week's topic. Last week we talked about presents, what it ain't. 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:46.000 But then when I looked at the notes, I'm not sure whether it's the right title, so I've left it this way. 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:52.000 Presence, what it ain't, or perhaps what it is, or whatever. So if you want to give a title, you can. 00:00:52.000 --> 00:01:01.000 So we said last week that on one hand, and I won't recap the entire thing, I'm just touching on the beginning. 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:09.000 We said last week that on one hand, periodic awareness of presence was never God's design. 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:22.000 On the other hand, we can start feeling the pressure of being aware of God's presence to the point where it will begin to smell of guilt. 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:29.000 It will begin to feel like nothing is ever enough. Failure will become something that we'll have to get used to, 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:37.000 because somehow this idea of becoming aware of the presence of God gets to become a monster on our back. 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:46.000 We don't want that. So the intent was, how can I seek out the presence of God and not drown in the exclusion of all the other things in life? 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:55.000 Because otherwise it will be, oh, I've got to be aware of the presence, and then you drop a cake you were baking on the floor. 00:01:55.000 --> 00:02:03.000 You don't want that kind of guilt. You want to be able to flow with God, because God made everything in the secular and the sacred. 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:09.000 And you don't want to get stuck pursuing one thing at the expense of another, because that's not how God intended it to be. 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:18.000 We said that last week. So some of the ways we can develop this is first, love the awareness of the presence of God. 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:31.000 Love the awareness of the presence of God. Love the awareness of the presence of God. 00:02:31.000 --> 00:02:42.000 Love the awareness. Think of someone that you really love. And even though you're not talking to the person, you're aware of that person. 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:50.000 Remember, the presence of God is God himself. When we talk about the presence of God, we're not talking about a feeling. 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:59.000 We're talking about him. But because he is not visible, because he's not audible, that's why we are even giving this term called presence to him. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:08.000 Because he's invisible and inaudible. Otherwise we wouldn't even use the word presence. 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:20.000 But just as you become highly aware of someone you love, one of the first things that would help towards living life with God while we're doing everything else is to love the awareness of God. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:30.000 You see this in newly married couples or old married couples that are in love. That they're aware of each other even when they're busy doing stuff. 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:42.000 I'd say to you that people are aware of dogs that way. Where you have an owner who loves his dog and they're aware of the dog. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:51.000 If you can have that kind of a relationship with dog, then it's very possible with God. We won't go there. 00:03:52.000 --> 00:04:00.000 So this idea of loving the awareness of the presence of God is critical. 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:08.000 So if you take away this word from here, when you go into I love the presence of God, awareness becomes easier. 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:12.000 So the question is, do you love the presence of God? 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:23.000 And the answer could often be no, or not important, or indifferent, or not yet. 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:29.000 And that's okay. But one of the problems with Christians is we never start where honesty begins. 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:34.000 We always start with Christian-ese. Start where you're honest. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:39.000 If you're indifferent to the presence of God, admit that you're indifferent to the presence of God. 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:47.000 Or no, I'm not in love with the presence of God. I know he's there. I know he lives inside me. It's a truth. It's a fact. 00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:50.000 I know it in here. But no, I'm not in love. 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:55.000 Start at the place where you're starkly honest and build from there. 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:59.000 Christian-ese is such poor foundation to build on. 00:04:59.000 --> 00:05:06.000 Because as I begin to love the presence of God, I become aware of him even when I'm doing other things. 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:12.000 And sometimes I want to be married just so I can prove to you that this really works. 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:16.000 But it's too high cost to pay. So we will continue as we are. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:24.000 But I remember times when I'd be so highly aware of this person that I really liked 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:30.000 that I would tell her, hey, I smelled your perfume in the elevator. It wasn't somebody else. 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:33.000 It didn't smell like you, but my God, it reminded me of you. 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:41.000 How crazy is that? I was so aware of her. 00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:45.000 She didn't break my heart. Don't worry. Didn't write any songs, no poems, no nothing. 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:47.000 It was a healthy relationship. 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:53.000 The point is this. Once you love the presence of someone, you're not going to be able to get away with it. 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:59.000 But once you love the presence of someone, you're aware of that person even when they are not next to you and even when you're doing other stuff. 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:01.000 It's just very natural. 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:05.000 Next one. 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:10.000 Love the presence of God. Next one is enjoy. Enjoy the presence. 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:13.000 Enjoy the awareness of God. 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:17.000 As in, do you really enjoy it or is it a chore? 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:23.000 Is it like, what was that little thing we had to take care of? 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:28.000 Otherwise the alarm would go off on your watch? 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:33.000 Some little toy that, what was it called? Was it Pokemon? 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:37.000 Yeah, yeah, that thingy. 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:41.000 Yeah, it's a pet and you had to feed it or you had to do something. Yeah. 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:43.000 What was it called? 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:44.000 Tamagotchi. 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:48.000 Yeah. For those of you who are younger, you wouldn't know what we are talking about. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:53.000 But Tamagotchi, you had to continuously feed it. You had to pet it. You had to do things. 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:58.000 And it became a pain until you threw away your watch because Tamagotchi was on your watch. 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:02.000 But the point is this. I must enjoy my awareness. 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:08.000 Do you enjoy your awareness? Do you enjoy taking care of God? 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:11.000 That's such an odd way to say it. 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:15.000 Do you enjoy taking care of God? 00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:18.000 Abraham enjoyed taking care of God. 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:22.000 He recognized that the three guys coming into his tent were God and two others. 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:24.000 And he enjoyed taking care of them. 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:28.000 Like he had the entire, I mean, the family had just finished cooking breakfast 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:34.000 and everyone had settled down for a lazy siesta in the hot Middle Eastern sun. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:36.000 And then Abraham sees them and now he gets excited. 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:40.000 Now everybody has to cut calf and make more cake and bake stuff. 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:45.000 The entire, ooh, someone's completely missed the start of the service. 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:47.000 But welcome anyways. 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:50.000 We were church shopping. 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:52.000 Okay. 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:56.000 Put an offering in there before you come further. 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:05.000 We are church shopping in Burnaby too. 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:06.000 Okay. 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:08.000 Yeah, we might go there. Yeah. 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:12.000 So enjoy the, so if you don't enjoy the awareness, 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:16.000 if you don't enjoy taking care of God, this is going to be difficult. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:20.000 Abraham loved being a host to God. 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:22.000 Abraham loved being a host to God. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:29.000 The activity he went into, the whole household was frantic to now please the one who was there. 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:32.000 Do you enjoy taking care of God? 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:34.000 We don't even phrase it that way, right? 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:36.000 Because we are the ones who are always taking care of. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:41.000 We don't think of taking care of God. 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:44.000 If you enjoy it, then we go to the third place, 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:50.000 which is do you parent your awareness of God? 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:53.000 Do you parent your awareness of God? 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:57.000 Do you parent your awareness of God? 00:08:57.000 --> 00:09:01.000 Hey, if you love your child and you enjoy your child, you will parent your child. 00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:06.000 If you love your child and you enjoy your child, you will parent your child. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:11.000 As in, now you'll be aware of when your child is at the edge of a cliff. 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:17.000 You will be aware when your child is picking things off the floor and this time it's an earthworm. 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:21.000 And before you can put the earthworm in your mouth, you'll prevent it. 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:26.000 So when you parent your, do you parent your awareness of God? 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:30.000 If you love God and you enjoy God, you will parent your awareness of God. 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:36.000 As in, when you realize that you're flagging off or when you realize that you are wearing off, 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:44.000 you will be able to see it and you will be quickly able to parent your awareness of God. 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:48.000 I mean, parents, like you should see as he walks in, 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:51.000 there'll be times when he'll be nodding off on his chair 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:56.000 and suddenly he'll become aware that Joseph is his aunt and he'll shake himself awake. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:10:00.000 Or he'll watch the Avs play and suddenly it's back to normal. 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:08.000 So that's what I mean by parenting awareness, where as you flag off or as you begin to lose interest in the awareness of God, 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:16.000 can you parent it back? But you cannot parent it back unless you love God and unless you enjoy taking care of God. 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:20.000 Many can pick on this phrase and say, Jacob, this is blasphemous. 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:27.000 It's not. Hosting God means enjoying having him in your home life. 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:39.000 We must think in these terms because a God without emotions or feelings is not possible to relate to. 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:47.000 Always remember, he could have made this entire world black and blue, two of my favorite colors. 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:50.000 I was late today because I wore these pants. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:55.000 And then I don't know what matches these pants because I know what matches black and I know what matches blue. 00:10:55.000 --> 00:11:01.000 And I wore these pants and I had to change three times because every time I looked, it looked like a rainbow. 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:07.000 So God could have made everything black and white, but he didn't. Why? 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:11.000 Because he provokes emotions even through colors and the things he does. 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:18.000 So parent your awareness of God. And finally, if you can do these three, then you must share your awareness with others. 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:21.000 Only then can you share your awareness of God with others. 00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:27.000 Love, enjoy, parent, share. Now you get to share it with others. 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:36.000 Where you are aware of God's work in someone else's life, they are aware of God's work in their lives. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:42.000 Where you are aware of God's work in someone else's life, they are aware of God's work that he wants to do in your life. 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:44.000 You begin to share the awareness of God. 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:52.000 Then the prophetic becomes sharing the heart of God, not the will of God. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:55.000 Because the heart of God is the will of God. 00:11:55.000 --> 00:12:02.000 You begin to share the heart of God. You're able to convey to somebody else the heart of someone you love and that you have begun to thoroughly enjoy. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:05.000 The prophetic takes on a different nature. 00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:14.000 Those that can convey the heart of God in the prophetic are the ones that are really prophetic. 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:17.000 Because it's not words anymore. It's the very nature of God you're conveying. 00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:23.000 Any questions? 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:31.000 Okay. 00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:34.000 Awareness must lead to oneness. We said that last time. 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:38.000 Awareness of God must lead to oneness with God. 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:44.000 That is the goalie. It's not I want to be aware so I can know what to do. 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:49.000 I want to be aware so I can figure out the future. I want to be aware so I can be powerful. 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:53.000 No. Awareness of the presence of God must lead to oneness with the presence of God. 00:12:53.000 --> 00:12:56.000 Awareness of the presence of God must lead to oneness with the presence of God. 00:12:59.000 --> 00:13:04.000 So awareness must lead to mutual experiential conversations. 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:22.000 Mutual experiential conversations, engagement, arguments, walking together. 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:29.000 Bargaining for Sodom. 00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:38.000 Asking for hills where the anach dwell. 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:47.000 For a mantle or double portion. 00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:54.000 Should involve all this. Awareness of God is mutual experiential reciprocal conversations. 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:59.000 Can you imagine how rich a people will be when they do this? 00:13:59.000 --> 00:14:04.000 Or how rich you will be when you do this? 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:11.000 This is why David says, better is one day in your courts than a thousand. 00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:18.000 This is why David says, better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:23.000 Because for him the courts were where you meet the presence of God. 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:29.000 That's why he says, better is one day. I'd rather be a sentinel standing at the entrance of your temple than anywhere else. 00:14:29.000 --> 00:14:32.000 Because better is one day than a thousand elsewhere. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:36.000 Because for him the presence was everything. 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:40.000 Stop using the child as an excuse to leave the service. 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:51.000 As in presence must be experienced. It must be mutual. It must be experienced. 00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:58.000 It must make you laugh and weep and feel under pressure and feel relieved. 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:03.000 Any real relationship with somebody has to be experiential. 00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:09.000 It can't be prayers. This is when you start praying unceasingly. 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:16.000 It's not just praying for something. You'll find your prayer times are very different. 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:25.000 Struggle is okay. We said this last time. 00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:33.000 Yahweh's relationship as a groom towards Israel was always as a groom that was dealing with a struggling bride. 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:38.000 And that's okay. He's okay with that. 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:43.000 He's okay with that. 00:15:43.000 --> 00:15:51.000 So struggle is okay. Struggle is okay. Please, please embrace that. 00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:56.000 Please embrace that. Please don't think that struggle is not a good thing. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:16:01.000 You are struggling to embrace the presence of an invisible God. 00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:03.000 Come on, man. 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:08.000 You should be committed as an institution. 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:14.000 But we go down this route and struggle with it. 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:17.000 Grapple with it. You will win. 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:21.000 We said this last time. God is the one who desires this. 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:27.000 You think he won't respond? He's a whisper away. 00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:32.000 You let your circumstances overcrowd this and you lose. 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:38.000 You let presence always overcrowd the circumstances. 00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:50.000 Why do you think Enoch disappeared? 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:55.000 Why do you think Enoch disappeared? 00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:59.000 How did a man do that in the Old Testament? 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:01.000 In Genesis 5.24 it says, 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:05.000 And Enoch walked with God and then he was not. 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:10.000 A man in the Old Testament, after the fallenness of the world, 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:15.000 was able to connect with God, with a corrupt spirit. 00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:17.000 He didn't have a new spirit. 00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:20.000 What kind of love was it? 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:23.000 What kind of enjoyment was it? 00:17:23.000 --> 00:17:26.000 That a man who does not have a regenerated spirit, 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:28.000 who did not have the Holy Spirit, 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:35.000 loved Yahweh so much that he walked with God and then he was not. 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:44.000 Sometimes oneness with God will make you not because he becomes very evident. 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:46.000 I'm not saying you'll be raptured. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:51.000 It'll be like you are not because he is. 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:53.000 Go ahead. 00:17:53.000 --> 00:18:07.000 Just thinking, how did you differentiate one man with God with the New Age as one person? 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:09.000 Yeah. 00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:22.000 The problem with everything New Age is that God is not outside of creation. 00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:24.000 He is always in creation. 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:27.000 That's one of the significant differences between Christianity, 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:30.000 the God of Christianity and the God of every other religion. 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:34.000 Every other religion has God not separated from the universe. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:38.000 Our God is out of this universe, separate from this universe, 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:41.000 and we relate to Him by His Spirit. 00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:44.000 In all New Age philosophies and theology, 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:50.000 God is part of the tree, part of the stone, part of the animal, part of the cockroach. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:54.000 That is how He becomes a part of us. 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:59.000 It's almost like our Atma, which is our soul, dissolves into the Parmatma, 00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:02.000 which is the ultimate God. 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:03.000 We dissolve into Him. 00:19:03.000 --> 00:19:05.000 Here there's no dissolving. 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:10.000 Here we are separate, but He allows us to partake in His divine nature. 00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:16.000 With every religion, and some things in Christianity God has preserved, 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:18.000 He won't give it away. 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:22.000 There are things that Satan uses as counterfeit, but there is a limit. 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:24.000 Remember, Satan is always in accountable rebellion. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:26.000 He cannot do what he wants. 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:28.000 There is a philosophy he can come up with, and then God will say, 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:30.000 You can't cross this line. 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:37.000 He won't dare, because He's a created finite being. 00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:40.000 So there are certain lines God draws, and this is one of the lines He's drawn, 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:42.000 and no religion dares cross that. 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:50.000 Fascinating. 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:52.000 Presence is attentiveness and curiosity. 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:54.000 Presence is attentiveness. 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:57.000 These are essential elements of presence. 00:19:57.000 --> 00:20:04.000 Presence is attentiveness and curiosity. 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:09.000 Without these, it's very hard to walk into the awareness of the presence of God. 00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:12.000 Presence is attentiveness and curiosity, 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:16.000 which is why circumstances are used powerfully by the world, 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:25.000 by the flesh, and by the enemy to have us flailing and drive us out of presence. 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:27.000 You see it every morning. 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:31.000 Everybody here has a desire to connect with God at some point during the day, 00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:33.000 but what happens? Circumstances take over. 00:20:33.000 --> 00:20:36.000 Flailing happens. 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:42.000 Messages come. Sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, bosses, job, money, bank account. 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:44.000 I refuse to look at my bank account in the morning 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:50.000 because it can either encourage me unnecessarily or discourage me unnecessarily. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:54.000 The first thing you behold in the morning is usually what sets you up for the day. 00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:57.000 If you don't behold Him, and if you behold anything else, 00:20:57.000 --> 00:21:00.000 it'll bring you to a place where you're seeing face to face something 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:03.000 that'll bring you either to shame, ruin, fear, 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:08.000 or it'll bring you into a place which is glory to glory, strength to strength, faith to faith. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:11.000 When we wake up in the morning, if the first thing that you want to connect with 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:17.000 is your schedule, your roster, your job, your things that you have to do, 00:21:17.000 --> 00:21:20.000 then that is what then begins to govern. 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:25.000 Because in 1 Corinthians 3, 18, and I'm extrapolating the scriptures, 00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.000 which is another nice way of saying I'm taking it out of context, is this. 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:34.000 It says, whatever you behold, that you become. 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:37.000 Whatever you behold, that you become. 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:43.000 So what do you behold in the morning? 00:21:43.000 --> 00:21:49.000 And then you can't figure out why your entire day is run by what you behold. 00:22:01.000 --> 00:22:08.000 We need attentiveness and curiosity to dive into presence. 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:12.000 Moses was curious about a burning bush. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:15.000 He was at work. He wasn't worshipping. He was at work. 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:18.000 And he sees a burning bush. He had seen many such burning bushes. 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:22.000 It's a normal occurrence in the desert where bushes just burst into flame 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:24.000 because of the heat and stuff like that. 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:27.000 But here was a bush that was burning differently. 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:30.000 He could see it at a distance and it was burning, but it wasn't being consumed. 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.000 There was curiosity, attentiveness. 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:39.000 One of the things I do, and I'm marvelous, this is something I was taught years and years ago, 00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:43.000 where I'll be driving and I'll see a tree or I'll see a sign. 00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:46.000 And it means nothing. 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:52.000 All God wants me to do is look at it and register it and put it in my library. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:55.000 Four years later, I'll be prophesying on someone. 00:22:55.000 --> 00:23:00.000 And God will show me that tree or that sign, and I know exactly where he wants to go. 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:05.000 Attentiveness to the things of God must be done without trying to understand them. 00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:12.000 Man, some of us are so messed up because of our intellect or our scheduling that we miss out. 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:17.000 Both trying to understand something and trying to put things within a time frame 00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:19.000 will ruin attentiveness and curiosity. 00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:23.000 This is why kids have wonder. 00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:34.000 Because the two things kids don't have is a schedule to follow and what is the other one? 00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:37.000 Intellect. 00:23:37.000 --> 00:23:41.000 I have to understand everything. It's not important to them. 00:23:41.000 --> 00:23:46.000 Days of wonder. That's what young children are, days of wonder. 00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:53.000 And in case you think that, no, but we are grownups, Jesus got pretty indignant when they stopped bringing children to him. 00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:59.000 The word says, and Jesus was indignant that they didn't allow the children to come to him, Mark 10. 00:23:59.000 --> 00:24:05.000 And he said to them, let the little children come because of such as made the kingdom of heaven. 00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:11.000 In my grownupness, I must preserve some childlikeness, not childishness, childlikeness. 00:24:11.000 --> 00:24:18.000 Days of wonder. That's what takes us to this place of attentiveness and curiosity. 00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:25.000 Don't let your understanding and your schedule rob you of the most important thing in the world, 00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:30.000 which is awareness of the presence of him who you thirst after. 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:47.000 Because once we have this and this, you'll find that he is the ultimate distraction. 00:24:47.000 --> 00:24:52.000 He is the ultimate distraction. 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:57.000 Look at the Bible. Look how easily he caught people's attention. 00:24:57.000 --> 00:25:02.000 He is the ultimate distraction. 00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:08.000 Every time you think, oh, every time I worship God, I feel so distracted, remind yourself he is the ultimate distraction. 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:13.000 You begin to think of him like that, he has a way of pulling you right back. 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:18.000 He is the ultimate distraction. 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:23.000 See, we don't think like that. We think that we can easily be distracted from God. 00:25:23.000 --> 00:25:28.000 You don't think that about your wife. You found out that it doesn't work. 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:33.000 Doesn't matter whether you like the Avs or like the Canucks. 00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:38.000 When wifey says come, you come. 00:25:39.000 --> 00:25:44.000 Look at Mike. He is absolutely nodding his head and agreeing. 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:49.000 I don't mean that in a nasty way. I'm just saying that when we are in love, 00:25:49.000 --> 00:25:54.000 the one that we love is the greatest distraction. And are you telling me that you do not love God? 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:59.000 You wouldn't survive in this church if you didn't love God. 00:25:59.000 --> 00:26:04.000 Simply because it's too long. 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:13.000 We love God. We must see him as the greatest distraction. 00:26:13.000 --> 00:26:18.000 He has the ability to draw me back. Your child is sometimes your greatest distraction. 00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:32.000 Remember, attentiveness and curiosity is more about appetite. 00:26:39.000 --> 00:26:44.000 What you have an appetite for, you'll always be curious for. 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:49.000 Be a child. Days of wonder. Days of wonder. Days of wonder. 00:26:49.000 --> 00:26:54.000 C.S. Lewis said that the real work 00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:59.000 is to attend or pay attention. 00:26:59.000 --> 00:27:04.000 The real work is to attend or pay attention. 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:09.000 The real work is to attend or pay attention. 00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:14.000 To come awake. 00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:19.000 And to remain awake. 00:27:19.000 --> 00:27:24.000 He was talking about the presence of God and he says that the real work is to attend or pay attention. 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:29.000 To come awake and to stay awake. To remain awake. 00:27:29.000 --> 00:27:34.000 Get into the habit of it. You'll enjoy it. 00:27:41.000 --> 00:27:46.000 So the task of paying attention is demanding. 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:51.000 Even when you're in love, it is demanding. 00:27:51.000 --> 00:27:56.000 It is demanding. But here's the odd thing. 00:27:56.000 --> 00:28:01.000 This is so true. 00:28:01.000 --> 00:28:06.000 The greater your freedom, 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:11.000 the greater your freedom, and this is in essence the definition of love. 00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:16.000 The greater your freedom from 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:21.000 self-importance and self-concern, 00:28:21.000 --> 00:28:26.000 the greater your awareness of others. 00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:31.000 The greater your awareness of someone else. 00:28:31.000 --> 00:28:36.000 Crazy, eh? 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:41.000 And isn't that the essence or definition of love? 00:28:41.000 --> 00:28:46.000 The greater your freedom from self-importance and self-concern, 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:51.000 the greater your awareness of someone else. 00:29:01.000 --> 00:29:06.000 Mothers do this every week. 00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:11.000 Renny is doing this. Iris is doing this. 00:29:11.000 --> 00:29:16.000 Derek and Aaron are doing this for their spouses. 00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:21.000 The things that are important to you become less important. 00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:26.000 Concern for yourself becomes less so that concern for someone else can become more. 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:31.000 And you become aware. 00:29:31.000 --> 00:29:36.000 Or they examine your life on this basis 00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:41.000 and many things that you hold sacrosanct as, 00:29:41.000 --> 00:29:46.000 no, this is who I am, this is my personality, will come crumbling down. 00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:51.000 Because sometimes the things we hold on as this is who I am and this is my personality 00:29:51.000 --> 00:29:56.000 is simply consumed self-importance and self-concern. 00:29:56.000 --> 00:30:01.000 And when that goes, 00:30:01.000 --> 00:30:06.000 the awareness of someone else increases. Any questions? 00:30:13.000 --> 00:30:18.000 No? Okay. 00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:23.000 If you lose awareness of God, where do you go? 00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:28.000 Go find him first 00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:33.000 in the Father's house. 00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:45.000 Where did Mary and Joseph go when they lost Jesus? 00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:50.000 They went first to their relatives, then went around looking in the streets, then decided, 00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:55.000 hmm, let's go back to the temple. They went back to the temple, they found him there. 00:30:55.000 --> 00:31:00.000 They ran to the Father saying, Father, 00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:05.000 you found me but I can't find you. 00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:10.000 You found me but I can't find you. Please help me locate you. 00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:15.000 I've said this before, but in hockey, as soon as a goalie 00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:20.000 has to get himself ready, the first thing he does is he looks at where his goalposts are 00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:25.000 and then sets himself up based on where the goalposts are because if he loses a goalpost, 00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:30.000 he might be too much to one side or too much to the other side. One must locate. 00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:35.000 So one of the things we do is locate God. 00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:40.000 He finds you easily because he's got a tracker on you. You've got to locate him. 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:45.000 And sometimes it takes time if our mind is crowded with circumstances, but fight through it. 00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:50.000 Sometimes you would fight to locate your child. You're in a crowd and you can't see your child. 00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:55.000 Your child is walking ahead. What do you do? Everything in you just leaps into fierce 00:31:55.000 --> 00:32:00.000 Mother Bear or Papa Grizzly mode and you go rushing through the crowd 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:05.000 like Schwarzenegger to locate your child. 00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:10.000 That's how we should plow through circumstances and schedules 00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:15.000 and rosters. Man, I hate it when I settle for less because I sometimes settle for less 00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:20.000 saying I've got too much to do later. That is like the woman in Song of Songs. 00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:25.000 I got into my PJs and I'm wearing my socks. I can't open the door right now. 00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:30.000 Fight through it. It's fun. It's a game. 00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:35.000 He doesn't lose track of you, but he desperately wants you to find him so that you can enjoy him 00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:40.000 and he's enjoying you. 00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:45.000 Awareness of God is for our benefit, not for his 00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:50.000 because he's aware of you. You're forever present before him. 00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:55.000 There's not a moment when you're hidden from him. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. It's very real for him 00:32:55.000 --> 00:33:00.000 because you're 24-7 before him. But this is for our enjoyment, 00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:05.000 not for his. It's like, come on, you've got to be aware of me too so you can enjoy this. 00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:17.000 But we often postpone it or we look somewhere else 00:33:17.000 --> 00:33:22.000 or we have excuses. Sometimes we even hide from his presence. Sometimes we hide from his presence. 00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:27.000 Why? Why do we hide from his presence? Adam started the trend, 00:33:27.000 --> 00:33:32.000 hide and seek. Great game he invented. We hide from his presence. Why? 00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:37.000 Sometimes it's because we feel guilty because we didn't do well yesterday or for the last one month. 00:33:37.000 --> 00:33:42.000 Sometimes it's because we like our sin and to go into his presence will mean having to 00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:47.000 not like our sin. Sometimes 00:33:47.000 --> 00:33:52.000 ages ago 00:33:52.000 --> 00:33:57.000 if I wanted to do something sinful, I'd go hide my Bible 00:33:57.000 --> 00:34:02.000 or put it in the cupboard or put it away from my sight because if the Bible was there, it was like 00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:07.000 I can't go ahead and do what I'm planning to do. So hide it. 00:34:07.000 --> 00:34:12.000 So instead of hiding from God, I would hide the Bible. 00:34:12.000 --> 00:34:17.000 Because I used to do all kinds of strange things with the Bible when I was a kid. I thought, what if I could just put the 00:34:17.000 --> 00:34:22.000 Bible under my pillow and sleep on it? 00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:27.000 I'd still know the same words that I knew the day before. It would never work. 00:34:27.000 --> 00:34:32.000 So that's just on the side. It was not important. 00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:37.000 So we hide from the presence. But we hide from the presence. 00:34:37.000 --> 00:34:42.000 We hide from the presence. We hide from the presence. 00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:47.000 That's just on the side. It was not important. 00:34:47.000 --> 00:34:52.000 So we hide from the presence because of guilt or because we sometimes like sin. 00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:57.000 Sometimes it is labor intensive to enter his presence, so why not just avoid the thing? 00:34:57.000 --> 00:35:02.000 Sometimes it requires time. Identify what your reason is to hide from his presence. 00:35:02.000 --> 00:35:07.000 Sometimes if you, we hide from his presence 00:35:07.000 --> 00:35:12.000 we won't get invited into something we don't want yet. 00:35:12.000 --> 00:35:17.000 We won't get invited into something we don't want yet. 00:35:17.000 --> 00:35:22.000 What if you enter his presence and the Lord said to you, 00:35:22.000 --> 00:35:27.000 this morning Jacob will speak to you, do what he asks you to do. You would rather avoid it. 00:35:27.000 --> 00:35:32.000 Here's another thing. 00:35:32.000 --> 00:35:37.000 The presence of God, if you notice in the Bible, the presence was always for the bride, 00:35:37.000 --> 00:35:42.000 for the family of God, 00:35:42.000 --> 00:35:47.000 and for the sake of the kingdom. He said if I'm in your midst, know that the kingdom has come. 00:35:47.000 --> 00:35:52.000 He said in Revelation 22 that now I'm going to dwell with my family, my presence will be with them. 00:35:52.000 --> 00:35:57.000 As a bridegroom, his presence is for the bride. 00:35:57.000 --> 00:36:02.000 So if I am not consumed with these, 00:36:02.000 --> 00:36:07.000 my engagement with presence is limited. 00:36:07.000 --> 00:36:12.000 My engagement with presence is limited. 00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:17.000 The more you're consumed with bride, family and kingdom, 00:36:17.000 --> 00:36:22.000 the more likely it is that you are able to freely engage his presence, because his presence is for the bride, 00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:27.000 his presence is for the family, his presence is for the kingdom. 00:36:27.000 --> 00:36:32.000 Have a lukewarm relationship with the family of God, with the bride of Christ, which is the church, 00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:37.000 or with the kingdom, and you will find that your engagement is also limited. 00:36:37.000 --> 00:36:42.000 And some of us can be satisfied with that because we still have God. 00:36:42.000 --> 00:36:47.000 Any questions? 00:36:47.000 --> 00:36:52.000 So one of the signs of someone who is really 00:36:52.000 --> 00:36:57.000 connecting with the presence of God is that the presence of God 00:36:57.000 --> 00:37:02.000 always leads to co-dependence. 00:37:02.000 --> 00:37:07.000 The presence of God leads to co-dependence, 00:37:07.000 --> 00:37:12.000 and it usually reveals or exposes concealment in my life 00:37:12.000 --> 00:37:17.000 and it exposes isolation in my life. 00:37:17.000 --> 00:37:22.000 Because the presence of God always leads to co-dependence. 00:37:22.000 --> 00:37:27.000 Why? Because the presence of God is for the bride, the church. 00:37:27.000 --> 00:37:32.000 The presence of God is for the family, that's where he plans to dwell for the rest of his life. 00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:37.000 The presence of God is for the kingdom, because of his presence the kingdom has arrived. 00:37:37.000 --> 00:37:42.000 When I do not think highly of these three or keep myself 00:37:42.000 --> 00:37:47.000 in a relatively neutered position with these three, then I'll find that, yeah, 00:37:47.000 --> 00:37:52.000 sure I'm aware of presence, but I'm not able to engage. 00:37:52.000 --> 00:37:57.000 The presence of God always leads to co-dependence, and it exposes my isolation and my 00:37:57.000 --> 00:38:02.000 concealment, as in things that I conceal. 00:38:02.000 --> 00:38:07.000 Any questions on that? 00:38:07.000 --> 00:38:12.000 Yeah, so co-dependence is, 00:38:12.000 --> 00:38:17.000 we are supposed to be God-reliant and body-dependent. 00:38:17.000 --> 00:38:22.000 God-reliant and body-dependent, that's how a Christian is supposed to be. 00:38:22.000 --> 00:38:27.000 You can't be one or the other. If you're body-dependent and not God-reliant, 00:38:27.000 --> 00:38:32.000 it's only a matter of time before you become like an anchor that prevents the ship from going forward. 00:38:32.000 --> 00:38:37.000 If you're God-reliant and not body-dependent, you will not move forward 00:38:37.000 --> 00:38:42.000 because you need a family to survive. This is going to sound odd, 00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:47.000 and it's not meant to be what it'll sound like. God ain't enough. 00:38:47.000 --> 00:38:52.000 Why? Because Christ is ahead and he has a body. 00:38:52.000 --> 00:38:57.000 So whenever we become God-reliant or body-dependent, 00:38:57.000 --> 00:39:02.000 it's time is our progress. We have to be both. 00:39:02.000 --> 00:39:07.000 So that's what I mean by co-dependence. 00:39:07.000 --> 00:39:12.000 At work, 00:39:12.000 --> 00:39:17.000 look for presence. At work, look for presence. 00:39:17.000 --> 00:39:22.000 Work consumes so much of our time. So how do we handle him at work? 00:39:22.000 --> 00:39:27.000 At work, look for presence. How? By, one, recognizing where you've been placed 00:39:27.000 --> 00:39:32.000 as a garden. Recognizing where you've been placed 00:39:32.000 --> 00:39:37.000 as a garden you are given to tend. 00:39:37.000 --> 00:39:42.000 As a garden, you are given to tend. 00:39:47.000 --> 00:39:52.000 But Jacob, you have no idea how difficult the place I am at work is. 00:39:52.000 --> 00:39:57.000 Well then, one, why did you take it? 00:39:57.000 --> 00:40:02.000 Two, 00:40:02.000 --> 00:40:07.000 why can't you leave it? 00:40:07.000 --> 00:40:12.000 Three, 00:40:12.000 --> 00:40:17.000 now that you're there, can you look at it 00:40:17.000 --> 00:40:22.000 as a garden that you've been placed in? 00:40:22.000 --> 00:40:27.000 Recognize it 00:40:27.000 --> 00:40:32.000 as such and recognize it. 00:40:32.000 --> 00:40:37.000 If your answer is I didn't have any choice, that's 00:40:37.000 --> 00:40:42.000 not a good enough answer for a believer. I'm not saying it's not a good answer. 00:40:42.000 --> 00:40:47.000 I'm saying we need to change those kind of answers. 00:40:47.000 --> 00:40:52.000 Absolutely. 00:40:52.000 --> 00:40:57.000 Which brings in the second point that 00:40:57.000 --> 00:41:02.000 can I see, can I include 00:41:02.000 --> 00:41:07.000 my work life 00:41:07.000 --> 00:41:12.000 as part of my life work? 00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:17.000 Can I include my work life as part of my life work 00:41:17.000 --> 00:41:22.000 so that hard places have purpose? 00:41:22.000 --> 00:41:27.000 Yep. 00:41:27.000 --> 00:41:32.000 Yeah. 00:41:32.000 --> 00:41:37.000 Yeah. 00:41:37.000 --> 00:41:42.000 Some principles that I established in Eden and in Genesis 1 00:41:42.000 --> 00:41:47.000 continue. So one of the things God does is he separates 00:41:47.000 --> 00:41:52.000 livelihood from work. He says I'll provide for you. 00:41:52.000 --> 00:41:57.000 Work is not how I provide for you. I provide for you. I also give you work. 00:41:57.000 --> 00:42:02.000 These things have to be clear in your head, Jacob. So that's the first thing 00:42:02.000 --> 00:42:07.000 he does. The second thing he does is he puts me to work because he's a God who works. But he puts me to work 00:42:07.000 --> 00:42:12.000 in a certain area, a garden. Call it a garden or call it whatever you want. 00:42:12.000 --> 00:42:17.000 The place that I'm supposed to choose as work is supposed to be things that I'm 00:42:17.000 --> 00:42:22.000 good at, that I was created for. Some of us, it might be 00:42:22.000 --> 00:42:27.000 in art, some of us might be in science, some of us might be inventions, some of us might be 00:42:27.000 --> 00:42:32.000 math, some of us might be teaching. There are talents that were given to me 00:42:32.000 --> 00:42:37.000 even before I was born because all my days are written. But occasionally 00:42:37.000 --> 00:42:42.000 we find situations where we don't have a choice so we have to take up something. 00:42:42.000 --> 00:42:47.000 We sometimes can't leave it because of circumstances. And then it becomes a difficult place 00:42:47.000 --> 00:42:52.000 but now you're there. You have to see that garden as something that you are supposed to tend 00:42:52.000 --> 00:42:57.000 or keep while you call out to God saying Father can I have something else that is more suited to 00:42:57.000 --> 00:43:02.000 who you made me. Who you made me. 00:43:02.000 --> 00:43:07.000 May 1st, 2001, I have a job 00:43:07.000 --> 00:43:12.000 that was offered by the Providence newspaper and I have a job for 00:43:12.000 --> 00:43:17.000 $550 at a church as a worship leader. 00:43:17.000 --> 00:43:22.000 Even in 2001, $550 wouldn't get you much. 00:43:22.000 --> 00:43:27.000 And this is my choice. And I'm good at both. I'm good at writing and I'm good at this and I have a choice. 00:43:27.000 --> 00:43:32.000 I remember standing, I used to live in Richmond and I felt God saying 00:43:32.000 --> 00:43:37.000 go read Isaiah 49 verse 6 or something like that. 00:43:37.000 --> 00:43:42.000 I go read it and it says, 00:43:42.000 --> 00:43:47.000 you are saying to yourself I have worked so hard but I have nothing to show for it 00:43:47.000 --> 00:43:52.000 but I the Lord say to you that your work is with your Lord and he will be your reward and recompense. 00:43:52.000 --> 00:43:57.000 I thought to myself okay so I've got to choose this $550 thingy. But this is what I was made for man. 00:43:57.000 --> 00:44:02.000 I do this so effortlessly, so brilliantly. 00:44:02.000 --> 00:44:07.000 I mean that in a very modest way. I do. 00:44:07.000 --> 00:44:12.000 Why? Because this is what I'm gifted for. 00:44:12.000 --> 00:44:17.000 This is what I mean by life work. Life work is a sum total of all the things you really are 00:44:17.000 --> 00:44:22.000 and that you were meant for. 00:44:22.000 --> 00:44:27.000 When I was a believer, when I was 7 or 8 years old, I remember sitting to this kid who came from an untouchable community. 00:44:27.000 --> 00:44:32.000 Nobody would sit with him. My mom would pack me extra lunch 00:44:32.000 --> 00:44:37.000 and I'd go sit with him and I'd begin to tell him who he is and how well he can do in life. 00:44:37.000 --> 00:44:42.000 It had nothing to do with Christianity. It wasn't a believer, it wasn't anything. 00:44:42.000 --> 00:44:47.000 But I had the ability even then to talk to someone and bring out of them what is good in them. 00:44:47.000 --> 00:44:52.000 There are certain things you're made for. You don't even have to be a believer for it. 00:44:52.000 --> 00:44:57.000 When we become believers, there's a whole new element that is added to it. 00:44:57.000 --> 00:45:02.000 Can I see my work life as part of my life work? 00:45:02.000 --> 00:45:07.000 Suddenly hard places become a little easier because I'm not there 00:45:07.000 --> 00:45:12.000 just to earn a living. I'm there to transform one or two plants in that garden forever. 00:45:13.000 --> 00:45:18.000 And that doesn't even mean leading them to salvation. 00:45:18.000 --> 00:45:23.000 That just means sometimes conferring dignity and worth on someone or healing a broken heart 00:45:23.000 --> 00:45:28.000 or helping wash someone's feet so that they will feel clean again. 00:45:28.000 --> 00:45:33.000 This is called purpose. The other one is just called pennies, man. 00:45:33.000 --> 00:45:38.000 But we are so obsessed with pennies that places become hard. 00:45:39.000 --> 00:45:44.000 Include work life as part of your life work. 00:45:44.000 --> 00:45:49.000 And places that are hard will suddenly have purpose. 00:45:49.000 --> 00:45:54.000 The other thing is mostly at work we think we are smart enough, qualified enough, 00:45:54.000 --> 00:45:59.000 skilled enough to handle it, and therefore we usually don't need God. 00:45:59.000 --> 00:46:04.000 And that's why we're called the people of God. 00:46:04.000 --> 00:46:09.000 We usually don't need God. 00:46:09.000 --> 00:46:14.000 Enough to handle it. 00:46:14.000 --> 00:46:19.000 So just remember that if He has planted you in a garden, 00:46:19.000 --> 00:46:24.000 He knows how to help you. 00:46:24.000 --> 00:46:29.000 So even though you're skilled enough, qualified enough, 00:46:29.000 --> 00:46:34.000 good enough, just keep defaulting. 00:46:34.000 --> 00:46:39.000 Learn how to default or just defer to Him. 00:46:39.000 --> 00:46:44.000 Even though you're skilled enough, good enough, smart enough to do this. 00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:50.000 There are five brothers. 00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:55.000 I don't know if I'll recall all five. 00:47:03.000 --> 00:47:08.000 Hi guys. 00:47:08.000 --> 00:47:13.000 I don't remember the fifth one. 00:47:13.000 --> 00:47:18.000 These are the five brothers. 00:47:18.000 --> 00:47:23.000 One of them will try to get you. 00:47:23.000 --> 00:47:28.000 The first one is Maman So. 00:47:28.000 --> 00:47:33.000 And these are all related to work or security or stability. 00:47:33.000 --> 00:47:38.000 And so Maman is one. 00:47:38.000 --> 00:47:43.000 It's a tyrannical master, but a great servant. 00:47:43.000 --> 00:47:48.000 So when Maman leads, and if Maman does it, then Kronos does it, which is time. 00:47:48.000 --> 00:47:53.000 These things will rob us of God. 00:47:53.000 --> 00:47:58.000 The first one is Maman, which is not really money. 00:47:58.000 --> 00:48:03.000 It gives us security or stability. 00:48:03.000 --> 00:48:08.000 The second one is Kronos, which is time. 00:48:08.000 --> 00:48:13.000 Huberus is pride. 00:48:13.000 --> 00:48:18.000 Pathos is getting really passionate about something other than God. 00:48:18.000 --> 00:48:23.000 And Metrios is mediocrity. 00:48:23.000 --> 00:48:28.000 And so these are the things. 00:48:28.000 --> 00:48:33.000 These are the cares of the world that choke out the seed of God. 00:48:33.000 --> 00:48:38.000 Just be aware of that. 00:48:38.000 --> 00:48:43.000 I know guys who overcame Maman, but they got so involved in their work that they did not have time. 00:48:43.000 --> 00:48:48.000 They were able to overcome the lure of money. 00:48:48.000 --> 00:48:53.000 They became really generous, but then work took over and work was so consuming. 00:48:53.000 --> 00:48:58.000 And they were workaholics and they loved their work. It was not that they didn't like their work. 00:48:58.000 --> 00:49:03.000 But work became so consuming that they had time for nothing else. Kronos will get you. 00:49:03.000 --> 00:49:08.000 The actual symbolic picture of Kronos is a serpent that's curled around the earth and trying to crush it. 00:49:08.000 --> 00:49:13.000 And if Kronos doesn't get you, then Huberus, as in pride, tries to get you. 00:49:13.000 --> 00:49:18.000 And if Huberus doesn't get you, then it's Pathos where you get so passionate about things other than God. 00:49:18.000 --> 00:49:23.000 And then the last one is mediocrity. Complacency will get you. 00:49:23.000 --> 00:49:28.000 So that's just on the side. 00:49:28.000 --> 00:49:33.000 We said this last time. Just remember that just like in the garden, 00:49:33.000 --> 00:49:38.000 the fruit of my labor, as in the work I do, 00:49:38.000 --> 00:49:43.000 is a direct result of a recognition of his presence at work. 00:49:57.000 --> 00:50:02.000 The fruit of my labor is a direct result of recognition of his presence. 00:50:02.000 --> 00:50:07.000 The more we acknowledge him, the more fertile the soil is. 00:50:07.000 --> 00:50:12.000 The more the fruit. 00:50:12.000 --> 00:50:17.000 So what does recognizing him at work look like? 00:50:17.000 --> 00:50:22.000 Or let me talk about the lack of recognition. What does lack of recognition look like? 00:50:22.000 --> 00:50:27.000 Do I forget, like in Deuteronomy 6, 10, 00:50:27.000 --> 00:50:32.000 do I forget who provided, who sustains, who gives, has a change? 00:50:32.000 --> 00:50:37.000 Am I consumed with self-effort or striving? 00:50:37.000 --> 00:50:42.000 Do I control or have I yielded control 00:50:42.000 --> 00:50:47.000 so that he can do what he wants with my work? 00:50:54.000 --> 00:50:59.000 As in no longer am I governed by my work. If he wants to change it tomorrow, 00:50:59.000 --> 00:51:04.000 do I see work as security? The moment I see work as security, I replace him. 00:51:04.000 --> 00:51:09.000 Is there pride? Is it a big deal to be the pastor of Acts 29? 00:51:09.000 --> 00:51:14.000 Is there silence when it comes to acknowledging him? 00:51:19.000 --> 00:51:24.000 This is lack of recognition. 00:51:24.000 --> 00:51:29.000 Any questions? 00:51:29.000 --> 00:51:34.000 That's what lack of recognition looks like. This can happen to me at church 00:51:34.000 --> 00:51:39.000 where I forget how we arrived here and think that it is by my 00:51:39.000 --> 00:51:44.000 own brilliance that Acts 29 is what it is. 00:51:44.000 --> 00:51:49.000 Self-effort, where it's no longer sustained or inspired or sourced by the Spirit of God, 00:51:49.000 --> 00:51:54.000 but it is a lot of ra-ra-ra control where everything 00:51:54.000 --> 00:51:59.000 is controlled so that I am not surprised, so that I am not 00:51:59.000 --> 00:52:04.000 taken aback. Most of us engage in control. 00:52:04.000 --> 00:52:09.000 You can do it in church, you can do it anywhere. Security? Is this my security? 00:52:09.000 --> 00:52:14.000 If you take this away from me, what's going to happen to me? Pride. 00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:20.000 How much pride do I take in what has been built? Silence. 00:52:20.000 --> 00:52:25.000 Do I actually acknowledge God when things happen or do I kind of deflect the glory to myself? 00:52:25.000 --> 00:52:30.000 How am I outside when I'm done here and I'm outside? 00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:35.000 Do I speak of God or do I pretend to be someone else, not a pastor because that's not sophisticated enough? 00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:40.000 Any questions? 00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:45.000 Not making sense? 00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:50.000 Making too much sense and you're stunned into silence. 00:52:50.000 --> 00:52:55.000 Okay, stunned into silence. 00:52:55.000 --> 00:53:00.000 One has to encourage oneself. There's a verse in the scriptures which says, 00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:05.000 And David went into his stronghold and encouraged himself. I shall do what is scriptural. 00:53:05.000 --> 00:53:10.000 Thanks. Thank you. 00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:15.000 I prefer listening to your wife sometimes. 00:53:15.000 --> 00:53:20.000 Same with relationships. 00:53:20.000 --> 00:53:25.000 Relationships consume a lot of time. Children, wives, husbands. 00:53:25.000 --> 00:53:30.000 Know that companionship, know that he loves being wonderful counselor 00:53:30.000 --> 00:53:35.000 in your companionship. 00:53:35.000 --> 00:53:40.000 Wonderful counselor in your companionship. 00:53:40.000 --> 00:53:45.000 Wonder if Adam really had any problems with Eve before the fall, 00:53:45.000 --> 00:53:50.000 but there must have been things that he didn't understand. 00:53:50.000 --> 00:53:55.000 There was no sin, but it was not like he was a being who understood everything. 00:53:55.000 --> 00:54:00.000 Be a wonderful counselor in places of companionship. 00:54:00.000 --> 00:54:05.000 Seek God, what is best for her, what is best for him. 00:54:05.000 --> 00:54:10.000 Involve him in it. We try to solve it with self-help books or we go to Jane. 00:54:10.000 --> 00:54:15.000 Try getting him first and then go to books and then go to Jane. 00:54:15.000 --> 00:54:20.000 I wish I could turn this thing off for a couple of moments, but don't turn it off. 00:54:20.000 --> 00:54:25.000 Sometimes the values or the 00:54:25.000 --> 00:54:30.000 sometimes the measures that the world sets for us have to be 00:54:30.000 --> 00:54:35.000 superseded by the measures that sometimes God sets for us. 00:54:35.000 --> 00:54:40.000 For instance, if the world says, hey, your nose should be 2 inches long 00:54:40.000 --> 00:54:45.000 and God says your nose should be 2.3 inches long, go for 2.3 inches. 00:54:45.000 --> 00:54:50.000 If the world says your baby should be 265 grams on day three 00:54:50.000 --> 00:54:55.000 and God says your baby should be 235, settle for 235. 00:54:55.000 --> 00:55:00.000 We are so driven by the expert opinion of people that changes every two years. 00:55:00.000 --> 00:55:05.000 Mothers find this out by the third baby, then they don't care. 00:55:05.000 --> 00:55:10.000 I think that's the problem. 00:55:10.000 --> 00:55:15.000 They don't care. 00:55:15.000 --> 00:55:20.000 But there are measures I must set for myself and these are measures that I derive from God. 00:55:26.000 --> 00:55:31.000 I'm not here to give you medical advice. I'm just telling you there is a person who is much better 00:55:31.000 --> 00:55:36.000 than all the experts in the world and it is good to go seek his counsel too 00:55:36.000 --> 00:55:41.000 before you conclude where you want to locate yourself. 00:55:41.000 --> 00:55:46.000 That's all I'm saying. 00:55:46.000 --> 00:55:51.000 There is someone who has a final say with regard to who you are and who is yours. 00:55:51.000 --> 00:55:56.000 Either that or you can learn it by common sense 10 years from now. 00:56:06.000 --> 00:56:11.000 How do you distinguish between your say, God's say and someone else's say? 00:56:11.000 --> 00:56:16.000 Three quick methods. One, if you are pursuing him 00:56:16.000 --> 00:56:21.000 he will help you get it right when you get it wrong. 00:56:36.000 --> 00:56:41.000 Noisy church downstairs. 00:56:41.000 --> 00:56:46.000 What do I mean by that? Let's assume I'm Dilna's son. 00:56:46.000 --> 00:56:51.000 For once I'm the younger one. Let's assume I'm Dilna's son. 00:56:51.000 --> 00:56:56.000 But my desire is to pursue Dilna, be like my dad. As I begin to pursue him I'll get things wrong. 00:56:56.000 --> 00:57:01.000 But because he knows my intent is to pursue him, what does he do? Slap me around? Abandon me? No. 00:57:01.000 --> 00:57:06.000 My heart is to become like him. What does he do? Even when I get it wrong he finds ways to get it right. 00:57:06.000 --> 00:57:11.000 So it could be sending Derek to help me with something. 00:57:11.000 --> 00:57:16.000 It could be waking me up in the middle of the night and telling me how to do things. 00:57:16.000 --> 00:57:21.000 So that's one. Always know that the father is more interested in you than you are in him. 00:57:21.000 --> 00:57:26.000 And it is his intent to help you get it right. But the one thing that is required is pursuit, nothing else. 00:57:26.000 --> 00:57:31.000 I can never imagine me running after God and trying so hard to get it right and getting it wrong and him saying, 00:57:31.000 --> 00:57:36.000 Well, too bad, try harder. That is not the nature of a father. 00:57:36.000 --> 00:57:41.000 So that's the first one. 00:57:41.000 --> 00:57:46.000 Second, ask others. 00:57:46.000 --> 00:57:51.000 Verify. 00:57:51.000 --> 00:57:56.000 Paul, who could hear God well and who actually saw Christ based on what he says in Galatians, 00:57:56.000 --> 00:58:01.000 says, Even though I received what I received from God, I went up to Jerusalem to meet with the Apostles 00:58:01.000 --> 00:58:06.000 so that I could verify if what I was doing or running was actually of God or was it my own. 00:58:06.000 --> 00:58:11.000 On one hand he says stuff like, I did not confer with flesh and blood. 00:58:11.000 --> 00:58:16.000 On the other hand he says, I went to figure out if what I was hearing was right. 00:58:16.000 --> 00:58:21.000 Ask others. We do this every day we do this. 00:58:21.000 --> 00:58:26.000 When I need to fix a car, I want to ask Derek. 00:58:26.000 --> 00:58:31.000 Do you go to people who are experts? 00:58:31.000 --> 00:58:36.000 The third one. 00:58:36.000 --> 00:58:41.000 If you are not sure, 00:58:41.000 --> 00:58:46.000 wait and check again. 00:58:46.000 --> 00:58:51.000 And there's a whole checklist that we can talk about another time. 00:58:51.000 --> 00:58:56.000 So if you lose your way, your Navi isn't working because it's old 00:58:56.000 --> 00:59:01.000 or your Wi-Fi is not working, what do you do? 00:59:01.000 --> 00:59:06.000 You find ways to find the closest. If you're a guy, it takes you a while, 00:59:06.000 --> 00:59:11.000 but if you're a girl, you find the closest person and ask them 00:59:11.000 --> 00:59:16.000 which way is home. If you're a guy, you spend some more time roaming around until you do it. 00:59:16.000 --> 00:59:21.000 So these are the three surefire ways to learn. 00:59:21.000 --> 00:59:26.000 Almost foolproof. 00:59:26.000 --> 00:59:31.000 So work through companionship. 00:59:31.000 --> 00:59:36.000 First, with your spouse, with relationships, with the ones that are in the church. 00:59:36.000 --> 00:59:41.000 I mean last week there was a time when I 00:59:41.000 --> 00:59:46.000 spoke really harshly to the sound guys because they were recording stuff and I told them not to record. 00:59:46.000 --> 00:59:51.000 And I stood up here and I said, guys, I said not to record. It was really harsh. It was ugly. 00:59:51.000 --> 00:59:56.000 And so then I had to work through that. 00:59:56.000 --> 01:00:01.000 I can't just say, I told them many times and the pastor so I have the right. 01:00:01.000 --> 01:00:06.000 So then I had to call each of them individually and apologize to each of them personally. 01:00:06.000 --> 01:00:11.000 Why am I bringing it up right now? Because you need to hear it. 01:00:11.000 --> 01:00:16.000 But my initial reaction was, well, I told them many times. 01:00:16.000 --> 01:00:21.000 And then you go to the counselor and the counselor sends someone to point out to you that, listen, 01:00:22.000 --> 01:00:27.000 you were harsh last Sunday. 01:00:27.000 --> 01:00:32.000 And then you begin to adjust what is required to fix the relationship with Sade, with Jeremy, with Bishop. 01:00:32.000 --> 01:00:37.000 Did that last week. And then know that at some point today I'll have to say it publicly 01:00:37.000 --> 01:00:42.000 because I treated them harshly publicly. 01:00:42.000 --> 01:00:47.000 The counselor has brilliant ways of fixing companionships, much more so with your spouse, which is a critical 01:00:47.000 --> 01:00:52.000 relationship with them because it's the only relationship where you become one with her. 01:00:58.000 --> 01:01:03.000 Explore your talents, your creativity. 01:01:03.000 --> 01:01:08.000 It was given to you so that you could do stuff with it. Not to make money off it sometimes. 01:01:08.000 --> 01:01:13.000 Sometimes it's just so, hey, I gave you this ability. So go sing. I gave you this ability. Go paint. 01:01:17.000 --> 01:01:22.000 I gave you this intellect. Read something that most Christians don't. 01:01:22.000 --> 01:01:27.000 Christians are the most unread people in the world. They only read the Bible. 01:01:27.000 --> 01:01:32.000 Can't understand that. 01:01:32.000 --> 01:01:37.000 We were given these. We are supposed to be the ones who leave the charge, not follow behind. 01:01:37.000 --> 01:01:42.000 Go watch a hockey game. If you haven't watched a hockey game, go to an opera. 01:01:42.000 --> 01:01:47.000 Get stunned by the voices there. Go listen to some Bollywood music. 01:01:47.000 --> 01:01:52.000 Or if you don't, if you're already Bollywood, go listen to a group that comes and rocks GM plays. 01:01:52.000 --> 01:01:57.000 Go expose yourself to things that are art and creative and not be so blooming stuck as Christians. 01:01:57.000 --> 01:02:02.000 Go expose yourself to things that are art and creative and not be so blooming stuck as Christians. 01:02:02.000 --> 01:02:07.000 Go to a jazz concert. June 22nd to July 28th, TD Jazz Concerts, open air free jazz concerts. 01:02:07.000 --> 01:02:12.000 Gosh man, we don't enjoy life. 01:02:12.000 --> 01:02:17.000 We don't enjoy life. 01:02:17.000 --> 01:02:22.000 We don't enjoy life. 01:02:22.000 --> 01:02:27.000 We don't enjoy life. 01:02:27.000 --> 01:02:32.000 Gosh man, we don't enjoy life. 01:02:32.000 --> 01:02:37.000 Spend some money, dress well. Dress like this. 01:02:37.000 --> 01:02:42.000 Dress like this. 01:02:42.000 --> 01:02:47.000 Yeah. 01:02:47.000 --> 01:02:52.000 Guys, you think I'm joking, but you need to understand 01:02:52.000 --> 01:02:57.000 this is what God was trying to teach Adam. 01:02:57.000 --> 01:03:02.000 He created an entirely beautiful world with such diversity. 01:03:02.000 --> 01:03:07.000 And if he hadn't fallen, I don't know where... 01:03:07.000 --> 01:03:12.000 Musk is still trying to send a rocket to Mars. Adam would have done it ages ago. 01:03:12.000 --> 01:03:17.000 We were supposed to explore this. 01:03:17.000 --> 01:03:22.000 One of the things I... 01:03:22.000 --> 01:03:27.000 One of the reasons I mean this very respectfully, not in a dissy kind of way, 01:03:27.000 --> 01:03:32.000 one of the reasons I refused to live in Surrey as soon as I came to Vancouver 01:03:32.000 --> 01:03:37.000 is because I did not want to be only Indian. 01:03:37.000 --> 01:03:42.000 That doesn't mean you shouldn't live in Surrey. It's a great place. 01:03:42.000 --> 01:03:47.000 Also they say. 01:03:47.000 --> 01:03:52.000 I'm sorry, I just had to slip that in. I couldn't give a straight face. 01:03:52.000 --> 01:03:57.000 But we have to get out of this, man. 01:03:57.000 --> 01:04:02.000 Our talents, our creativity, your little talents that don't... 01:04:02.000 --> 01:04:07.000 Your hobbies. What hobby do you have? 01:04:07.000 --> 01:04:12.000 This is a terrible question. What hobby do you have? 01:04:19.000 --> 01:04:24.000 If you have one, praise God. If you don't have one, feel bad. 01:04:24.000 --> 01:04:29.000 So test your talents, test your intelligence, test your creativity, test your hobbies, test the exertion of free will. 01:04:29.000 --> 01:04:34.000 See what is permissive, see what is beneficial. 01:04:34.000 --> 01:04:39.000 You will see him laugh at his brilliance through you. 01:04:39.000 --> 01:04:44.000 You will see him laugh at his brilliance through you. 01:04:44.000 --> 01:04:49.000 He was laughing every time Adam named those animals. 01:04:49.000 --> 01:04:54.000 As in, boy, this guy is brilliant. I will call him the same thing that he calls him. 01:04:54.000 --> 01:04:59.000 He didn't name Eve Eve. 01:04:59.000 --> 01:05:04.000 He waited for Adam. 01:05:04.000 --> 01:05:09.000 There is permission. 01:05:09.000 --> 01:05:14.000 There is permission. As in, please, sometimes God is saying that I'm standing here so you can see me in case I wasn't tall enough. 01:05:14.000 --> 01:05:19.000 Guys, there is permission. As in, there are times God is saying, please try something and fail. 01:05:19.000 --> 01:05:24.000 Because I'm not about success. I just want you to try and fail. 01:05:24.000 --> 01:05:29.000 Try and fail. 01:05:29.000 --> 01:05:34.000 I want to assure you, not every table and chair he made was perfect. 01:05:34.000 --> 01:05:39.000 Occasionally, one leg was about a quarter of an inch shorter. 01:05:39.000 --> 01:05:44.000 And they would bring it back to him saying, this leg is a little shorter. 01:05:44.000 --> 01:05:49.000 Try and fail. 01:05:49.000 --> 01:05:54.000 Try and fail. 01:05:54.000 --> 01:05:59.000 I'm not wasting my time talking about this. 01:05:59.000 --> 01:06:04.000 This is how the awareness of presence begins to touch every area of life. 01:06:04.000 --> 01:06:09.000 Run. 01:06:09.000 --> 01:06:14.000 It begins to touch every area of your life. 01:06:14.000 --> 01:06:19.000 And then you start knowing the presence of God in our little Christian oyster shell. 01:06:19.000 --> 01:06:24.000 Making Christian pearls. 01:06:24.000 --> 01:06:29.000 We'll stop because I've got another page to go. 01:06:29.000 --> 01:06:34.000 All right. 01:06:34.000 --> 01:06:39.000 So last few things that you can think of is 01:06:39.000 --> 01:06:44.000 take awareness breaks. 01:06:44.000 --> 01:06:49.000 Take awareness breaks. As in, when you realize... 01:06:49.000 --> 01:06:54.000 There was a reason that Daniel would pray three times a day. 01:06:54.000 --> 01:06:59.000 Or was it five times? I don't remember. 01:06:59.000 --> 01:07:04.000 Five? Three, five? Five, huh? 01:07:04.000 --> 01:07:09.000 He would pray five times a day. 01:07:09.000 --> 01:07:14.000 Take awareness breaks. 01:07:14.000 --> 01:07:19.000 A and W. No, that would be... 01:07:19.000 --> 01:07:24.000 Take awareness breaks three times a day. 01:07:24.000 --> 01:07:29.000 I'm going to just take two minutes to become highly aware of you. 01:07:29.000 --> 01:07:34.000 Speak in tongues. 01:07:34.000 --> 01:07:39.000 If you are able to speak in tongues, speak in tongues. Why? Because it brings an awareness of God. 01:07:39.000 --> 01:07:44.000 It charges you up. 01:07:44.000 --> 01:07:49.000 Three, try not to be late to places. Whenever you're late to places, 01:07:49.000 --> 01:07:54.000 you lose awareness. 01:07:54.000 --> 01:07:59.000 Because I couldn't match my clothes, I was late. 01:07:59.000 --> 01:08:04.000 I texted...Normally I'll drive like a maniac and shake my head at every guy who's not driving like a maniac 01:08:04.000 --> 01:08:09.000 even when I'm late. 01:08:09.000 --> 01:08:14.000 Today I decided, no, I'm going to be late. But I refuse to undo this. 01:08:14.000 --> 01:08:19.000 So I texted Jane saying, regardless of whether I'm there or not, 01:08:19.000 --> 01:08:24.000 you started this time. 01:08:24.000 --> 01:08:29.000 I said, okay, being late is your fault, Jacob. You shouldn't have been late. Especially to the church you pastor, 01:08:29.000 --> 01:08:34.000 which is terrible. Usually pastors come an hour ahead of the service. 01:08:34.000 --> 01:08:39.000 And then I decided, drive leisurely, be aware of God and aware of people. And my God, it was so pleasant. 01:08:39.000 --> 01:08:44.000 Whenever you're late...this might sound like a silly point. 01:08:44.000 --> 01:08:49.000 But being aware of God affects an awareness of presence. 01:08:49.000 --> 01:08:54.000 And you cannot be aware of God without being aware of people. 01:08:54.000 --> 01:08:59.000 Just remember that. The moment you're aware of God, he'll deflect you to be aware of people. 01:08:59.000 --> 01:09:04.000 Because he's about others. The moment you're aware of God, you'll be aware of people. 01:09:04.000 --> 01:09:09.000 When you're aware of God and not aware of people, it is not really an awareness of his nature. 01:09:09.000 --> 01:09:14.000 Very odd. 01:09:14.000 --> 01:09:19.000 People that are aware of God are always aware of people. Why? Because self-importance and self-concern becomes less important. 01:09:19.000 --> 01:09:24.000 Lateness always has you... 01:09:24.000 --> 01:09:29.000 It overtakes. It makes you want to be there more than anything else. 01:09:29.000 --> 01:09:34.000 That becomes the main concern. 01:09:34.000 --> 01:09:39.000 Unless lateness has become a habit. 01:09:39.000 --> 01:09:44.000 If lateness has become a habit, then you need a different kind of help. 01:09:44.000 --> 01:09:49.000 But if lateness is not a habit yet, then being late to places will always cause you to have only one intent. 01:09:49.000 --> 01:09:54.000 I have to somehow get there as soon as I can. And whenever that happens, everything else becomes less important. 01:09:54.000 --> 01:09:59.000 I actually read an interesting article about lateness last night. 01:09:59.000 --> 01:10:04.000 There were different reasons that all legitimate and somewhat questionable. 01:10:04.000 --> 01:10:09.000 But it's not just because you're not aware of people. 01:10:09.000 --> 01:10:14.000 No, I didn't say it's about awareness of people. I said lateness has you focused on getting to some place to the exclusion of other important things. 01:10:14.000 --> 01:10:19.000 So why not be there in time? 01:10:19.000 --> 01:10:24.000 So if it's doing something, then it's not an awareness of people. 01:10:24.000 --> 01:10:29.000 Okay. 01:10:29.000 --> 01:10:34.000 So these are simple unimportant ways to get better. 01:10:34.000 --> 01:10:39.000 Simple unimportant ways to get better. 01:10:39.000 --> 01:10:44.000 If I come in here... 01:10:44.000 --> 01:10:49.000 We're done. You can switch off the thingy. 01:10:49.000 --> 01:10:54.000 Let's say I'm supposed to conduct the service. If I come in here last minute...