WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Psalm 27 Confident Publishing Date: 2021-03-27T06:00:44-07:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/psalm-27-confident/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.000 Okay guys, Psalm 27, let's just read it together. 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:08.000 Reading from the NIV. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:32.000 Reading from the NIV. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:02.000 Reading from the NIV. 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:32.000 Reading from the NIV. 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:53.000 The Psalm has three parts. 00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:58.000 The first part is from 1 to 6, and it expresses confident trust in the Lord. 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:04.000 Then it goes from 7 to 12, pleading out to God for help, because David seems to be in some kind of trouble. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:10.000 And then the last few verses, verse 13 actually, reiterates that confident trust in the Lord. 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:12.000 I love the way it says it. 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:16.000 I'm still confident of this. I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:19.000 Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart. Wait for the Lord. 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:23.000 So if you want a title for today's teaching, it's confident. 00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:32.000 Confident, confident, and confident basically means to be collected, to be cool in all circumstances. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:47.000 Why? Because you know that you will see, as in you will experience, the goodness of God in the land of the living. 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:55.000 In while you are alive. While you are alive. 00:02:55.000 --> 00:03:08.000 That's where the confidence comes from. To be confident in God is to be collected, calm, cool in all circumstances. 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:14.000 Which doesn't mean you don't plead for help, like David does from verse 7 to 12. 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:19.000 But then you start with this confidence, you end with this confidence. 00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:26.000 Because you know that the goodness of God is something that you will experience. You will experience. 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:31.000 And why am I picking on this right now? 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:38.000 Because sometimes when you go marching out against the adversary, you have to realize that the first place you have to march out. 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:56.000 Before you go marching against the adversary, before you go marching against the adversary, make sure that you go marching into his presence. 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:07.000 Things are only going to heat up in the months ahead guys for us as a church because of what God wants to do globally. 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:11.000 So before marching against the adversary, march boldly into the presence of God. 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:15.000 Because confidence is critical during times like this. 00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:24.000 Because an increasing confidence in God's desire and God's ability to protect us is essential during times like this. 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:30.000 An increasing confidence in both God's desire. I must be convinced of his desire. 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:35.000 The problem with us Christians is we are convinced of the promise but we are not convinced of his desire. 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:40.000 We are convinced of his promise so we have to hold on to it for dear life. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:43.000 When you are convinced of God's desire, you don't have to hold on to the promise. 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:49.000 You just know that the promise works. Big difference eh? 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:56.000 So an increasing confidence in God's desire and God's ability to protect me is essential. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:05.000 I wouldn't attempt half the things I'd attempt if I wasn't confident and increasingly confident of both God's desire and God's ability to protect me. 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:08.000 And this is where Proverbs 18.10 kicks in. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:13.000 Especially at a time like this, the name of the Lord is a strong tower. 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:16.000 The righteous run into it and they are safe. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:20.000 The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and they are safe. 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:24.000 It's amazing how anybody under 45 knows that scripture by heart. 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:28.000 Guys, songs can be critical in learning scripture. 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:37.000 Which is why songs like the inheritance song will help us see how God wants us to see ourselves and how we need to see God. 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:41.000 The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and they are safe. 00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:46.000 I must be more and more confident of God's desire and ability to protect me. 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:51.000 I've said this ages ago and I repeated ages ago so I've stopped. So let me start again. 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:57.000 You inhabit what you think. 00:05:57.000 --> 00:06:00.000 You inhabit what you think. 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:06.000 If this is the God you think he is, you begin to inhabit that which he now offers. 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:10.000 I inhabit what I think. 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:16.000 And so global God exploits will only happen through a secure people who hang out in his presence. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:29.000 Global God exploits, global God exploits will only happen through a secure people who hang out in his presence. 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:36.000 Global God exploits, as in a global revival that we are talking about that is going to wash the world. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:40.000 Wash the world over the next two to three years. 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:43.000 Will only happen through a secure people. 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:53.000 Secure not in their finances, secure not in the size of their church, secure not in great teaching, secure simply in God. 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:59.000 It will only happen through a secure people who hang out in his presence. 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:03.000 Acts chapter 4 verse 13. 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:04.000 You should read it. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:12.000 These were uneducated people who hung out with Jesus and therefore had a boldness or a confidence that took people by surprise. 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:14.000 Acts 4 verse 13. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:22.000 When they saw the courage or the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled ordinary men, 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:27.000 they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:32.000 What gave them courage? What gives you boldness? What gives you courage? What gives you confidence? 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:38.000 Strangely, it's not learning verses, it's not holding on to a promise, it's not past exploits. 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:43.000 What gives you courage, confidence, boldness is when you hang out with Jesus. 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:46.000 And hanging out with Jesus is simply another way of saying, 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:52.000 I've spent so much time in the presence of God that I have a boldness that I never had before. 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:55.000 That is what our statement should be. 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:59.000 Because the real battle guys is always for intimacy. 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:04.000 The real battle is always for intimacy, it's not for territory. 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:08.000 The real battle is always for intimacy. 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:16.000 And so therefore the attack, the real attack will always be in the area of your intimacy with God. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:24.000 If that can be taken away, then what is the real battle? 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:28.000 Your warfare is ineffective. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:37.000 The real battle, David was who he became because of his intimacy with God. 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:45.000 The real battle is always for intimacy, therefore the real attack will also be in the area of intimacy. 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:51.000 And therefore what you need to guard most and cultivate most and grow in most is intimacy, not territory. 00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:57.000 Because the enemy can lure us into feeding the city while we are starving ourselves. 00:08:57.000 --> 00:09:02.000 The enemy can lure us into feeding the city while we are starving ourselves. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:06.000 And it's only a matter of time then before the war is lost. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:15.000 This is why Jesus would not take away from Mary what she was receiving from him. 00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:21.000 And the ideal combination is to be Mary first and then Martha. 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:37.000 So as we go about undoing the works of the enemy and advancing the kingdom, 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:47.000 always remember that warfare, when it comes to Christianity, warfare is always relational. 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:57.000 Warfare is always relational, as in you can only stand up against Satan after standing in the presence of God. 00:09:57.000 --> 00:10:01.000 You stand in the presence of God and then resist the devil. 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:06.000 You stand in the presence of God and resist the devil. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:08.000 Warfare is relational. 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:10.000 There is no question of... 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:16.000 This is why the demon said, Jesus we know, Paul we know, but who are you? 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:20.000 Warfare is relational. 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:27.000 You resist Satan by standing in the presence of God. 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:30.000 People without presence are not a threat to the enemy. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:33.000 People without presence are not a threat to the enemy. 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:35.000 They are just target practice. 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:38.000 It's unfortunate but it's true. 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:43.000 People without presence are not a threat to the enemy. 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:46.000 They are just target practice for the enemy. 00:10:47.000 --> 00:11:04.000 So when your work, when ministry, when tasks, when commitments begin to rob you of intimacy, 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:14.000 when it begins to rob you of presence, we render ourselves important in a sense because we are no longer a threat to the enemy 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:16.000 and we become target practice. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:28.000 The enemy seeks to draw me out from who God has put me in. 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:34.000 The enemy seeks me to draw me out from who God has put me in. 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:40.000 The enemy tries to draw me out from who God has put me in. 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:46.000 The enemy tries to draw me out from who God had put me in. 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:48.000 So who has Got put me in? 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:55.000 God has put me in Christ. 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:00.160 and in Christ's body. 00:12:03.040 --> 00:12:04.680 Who has God put me in? 00:12:04.680 --> 00:12:08.480 God has put me in Christ and in Christ's body. 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:11.640 And so the enemy tries to draw me out of Christ 00:12:11.640 --> 00:12:13.200 and out of Christ's body. 00:12:14.700 --> 00:12:16.440 And every time that attempt is made, 00:12:16.440 --> 00:12:18.200 and there are hundreds and hundreds of Christians 00:12:18.200 --> 00:12:19.780 to whom this is happening, 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:23.200 and sometimes through, not sometimes, 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:25.480 almost 50% of the time through 00:12:25.480 --> 00:12:27.260 the way leaders deal with people. 00:12:28.680 --> 00:12:33.680 But it's a ploy of the enemy to draw out, 00:12:35.280 --> 00:12:39.040 to draw Christians out from who they are placed in, 00:12:39.040 --> 00:12:40.400 and who are they placed in? 00:12:40.400 --> 00:12:41.240 They are placed in Christ 00:12:41.240 --> 00:12:43.480 and they are placed in Christ's body. 00:12:43.480 --> 00:12:45.280 And the attempt is to draw them out. 00:12:46.840 --> 00:12:50.760 And if it's not through strife and hurt and bruising, 00:12:50.760 --> 00:12:54.800 then it is through circumstances and work and ministry. 00:12:54.800 --> 00:12:57.980 And the intent is, can I draw Jacob out into striving? 00:12:58.980 --> 00:13:00.500 Into bitterness. 00:13:02.580 --> 00:13:07.580 Into aloneness, as in lone ranger-ness. 00:13:11.260 --> 00:13:14.140 Into fretting. 00:13:15.340 --> 00:13:16.740 Into worrying. 00:13:18.360 --> 00:13:21.580 Into anxiety. 00:13:21.580 --> 00:13:23.940 Because of all the tasks, because of all the ministry, 00:13:23.940 --> 00:13:25.580 because of all the circumstances, 00:13:25.580 --> 00:13:27.140 because of all these things, 00:13:27.140 --> 00:13:30.740 can I draw him out into a place of fear? 00:13:30.740 --> 00:13:32.020 Because if I can, 00:13:38.580 --> 00:13:41.660 then I can render him pretty tame. 00:13:44.060 --> 00:13:46.860 We think it is wise to show a little worry. 00:13:46.860 --> 00:13:49.140 It is not wisdom to show worry. 00:13:49.140 --> 00:13:52.020 It is self-reliance and sin. 00:13:52.020 --> 00:13:56.580 Worry is a sign of self-reliance in my life and of sin. 00:13:56.580 --> 00:14:01.140 Anxiety, worry, fretting is a sign 00:14:01.140 --> 00:14:06.140 of my self-reliance and sin. 00:14:07.920 --> 00:14:11.780 Anxiety, worry, fear, fretting, 00:14:11.780 --> 00:14:16.780 these things happen when I set the course of action 00:14:16.900 --> 00:14:19.560 based on either my desire or my plans. 00:14:21.660 --> 00:14:23.940 When I calculate things without God, 00:14:23.940 --> 00:14:26.260 when I calculate things without God, 00:14:30.460 --> 00:14:33.180 when I calculate things without God, 00:14:33.180 --> 00:14:35.540 and when I have a lack of confidence, 00:14:38.420 --> 00:14:40.420 when I have a lack of confidence 00:14:40.420 --> 00:14:44.820 in God's power-bound goodness, 00:14:44.820 --> 00:14:46.380 I know I haven't used this word before, 00:14:46.380 --> 00:14:48.500 but I'll talk about it today, 00:14:48.500 --> 00:14:51.320 God's power-bound goodness. 00:14:51.320 --> 00:14:52.860 His goodness is power-bound. 00:14:52.860 --> 00:14:54.540 It's bound in power. 00:14:54.540 --> 00:14:57.380 His goodness is not just a passive kind of a goodness. 00:14:57.380 --> 00:14:59.660 His goodness is wrapped in power. 00:14:59.660 --> 00:15:03.700 It's like when you wrap a sausage in a strip of bacon, 00:15:03.700 --> 00:15:04.760 it's like that. 00:15:04.760 --> 00:15:06.820 I don't know why that image came to mind. 00:15:06.820 --> 00:15:08.540 Erase, erase. 00:15:08.540 --> 00:15:10.660 We can think of other things that are wrapped. 00:15:10.660 --> 00:15:12.220 I just have to grab my coffee. 00:15:14.380 --> 00:15:15.220 Where's my coffee? 00:15:15.220 --> 00:15:16.740 Oh, pardon? 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:20.440 I can't hear you, Brandon. 00:15:23.020 --> 00:15:24.880 Okay, Kevin has a question. 00:15:24.880 --> 00:15:26.580 Kevin, why do you have questions? 00:15:34.520 --> 00:15:35.960 Does being in the presence of God 00:15:35.960 --> 00:15:39.720 always mean participating in one of the spiritual disciplines 00:15:39.720 --> 00:15:42.780 or is it possible to seek God's presence 00:15:42.780 --> 00:15:44.380 in an unconventional way? 00:15:44.380 --> 00:15:46.060 I would answer it by saying, 00:15:47.780 --> 00:15:51.020 Kevin, I'm just using you and Sandy as an example, 00:15:51.020 --> 00:15:53.300 would being in the presence of Sandy 00:15:53.300 --> 00:15:57.260 always mean participating in one of the marital disciplines 00:15:57.260 --> 00:15:58.820 that will make your marriage better 00:15:58.820 --> 00:16:01.980 or is it possible to seek Sandy's presence 00:16:01.980 --> 00:16:03.500 in an unconventional way? 00:16:03.500 --> 00:16:06.260 And the answer would be absolutely yes. 00:16:06.260 --> 00:16:08.120 You could seek it in an unconventional way, 00:16:08.120 --> 00:16:13.120 doing something absurd like jumping off a plane, 00:16:16.660 --> 00:16:19.360 free-falling for the first 80 meters 00:16:19.360 --> 00:16:22.280 and then letting the parachutes take over 00:16:22.280 --> 00:16:23.280 and stuff like that. 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:26.200 Don't try that. 00:16:30.600 --> 00:16:33.200 Yeah, so you can do it unconventionally. 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:36.060 Most of my best times with God 00:16:36.060 --> 00:16:38.760 have been through unconventional ways. 00:16:38.760 --> 00:16:41.480 Guys, remember something, discipline is only, 00:16:41.480 --> 00:16:44.100 discipline is only, this is the process 00:16:44.100 --> 00:16:46.000 of how it should work. 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:47.620 First should come delight. 00:16:48.620 --> 00:16:52.340 Delight leads to discipline, 00:16:52.340 --> 00:16:56.180 which creates a habit, 00:16:56.180 --> 00:17:01.180 which then cycles back to create more delight. 00:17:01.460 --> 00:17:06.460 What has happened through this whole practice 00:17:06.500 --> 00:17:09.420 of spiritual discipline is we start here 00:17:09.420 --> 00:17:11.300 and then hope we will get this 00:17:11.300 --> 00:17:12.840 and we definitely get this. 00:17:13.720 --> 00:17:16.500 So we definitely get a habit out of discipline, 00:17:16.500 --> 00:17:18.420 but we get no delight. 00:17:18.420 --> 00:17:21.780 Every time God wants me to cultivate a discipline, 00:17:21.780 --> 00:17:23.300 he first gives me delight. 00:17:23.300 --> 00:17:26.740 This is why good athletes enjoy what they do. 00:17:30.740 --> 00:17:32.260 Good athletes enjoy what they do. 00:17:32.260 --> 00:17:35.220 They really delight in their sport. 00:17:35.220 --> 00:17:40.220 And so when they run 10 kilometers or do 80 pushups, 00:17:40.980 --> 00:17:45.420 it's because they actually delight in their sport. 00:17:45.420 --> 00:17:48.180 Even when they're not playing, they still practice. 00:17:48.180 --> 00:17:49.020 Why? 00:17:49.020 --> 00:17:51.200 Because delight has to come first, then discipline, 00:17:51.200 --> 00:17:52.300 then that creates a habit. 00:17:52.300 --> 00:17:54.380 But what we've done in Christianity 00:17:54.380 --> 00:17:56.640 is we've paid so much attention to discipline 00:17:56.640 --> 00:17:59.140 that all we create is a habit, we create no delight. 00:18:04.460 --> 00:18:06.900 May says that one of the unconventional ways 00:18:06.900 --> 00:18:10.700 that she connects with God, 00:18:10.700 --> 00:18:12.700 I don't fully agree with what May is doing, 00:18:12.700 --> 00:18:14.100 but is by biking. 00:18:15.740 --> 00:18:20.740 And when she bikes, his presence is always with her. 00:18:20.820 --> 00:18:22.660 Different strokes for different folks. 00:18:22.660 --> 00:18:24.380 What can you say? 00:18:24.380 --> 00:18:25.860 Biking is her thing. 00:18:25.860 --> 00:18:27.540 Mine is driving. 00:18:27.540 --> 00:18:29.780 Whenever I drive, I feel the presence of God. 00:18:31.700 --> 00:18:33.460 This is like taking chariots of fire 00:18:33.460 --> 00:18:35.260 and using it wherever you want to. 00:18:36.740 --> 00:18:39.340 Yeah, so remember this, guys, this is so important. 00:18:45.780 --> 00:18:47.780 Fretting, worrying, anxiety, fear 00:18:47.780 --> 00:18:50.580 are a result of me setting the course, 00:18:50.580 --> 00:18:53.100 where it's my desire that I'm pursuing, 00:18:53.100 --> 00:18:56.100 where I determine my own course or my desire. 00:18:56.100 --> 00:18:58.460 Two, I calculate without God. 00:18:58.460 --> 00:19:03.460 And three, I think I lack a confidence 00:19:03.460 --> 00:19:05.900 in God's power-bound goodness. 00:19:07.020 --> 00:19:11.380 That is when worrying, fretting, anxiety and fear come. 00:19:11.380 --> 00:19:14.020 When people come and say to you that I'm not confident, 00:19:14.100 --> 00:19:15.820 when people come and say to you that, 00:19:15.820 --> 00:19:18.340 oh, I worry a lot, please pray for me, 00:19:18.340 --> 00:19:19.860 take them down this road. 00:19:19.860 --> 00:19:21.740 Because you can pray for them all you want, man, 00:19:21.740 --> 00:19:25.220 but if this ain't broken, it just keeps repeating itself. 00:19:28.260 --> 00:19:31.580 When you set your course based on what God has said, 00:19:31.580 --> 00:19:35.020 when you calculate things with God in the picture, 00:19:35.020 --> 00:19:36.220 and when you have a confidence 00:19:36.220 --> 00:19:39.140 in God's power-bound goodness, you sleep well. 00:19:44.380 --> 00:19:46.340 You're not checking your phone every time it buzzes 00:19:46.340 --> 00:19:48.300 to see what the answer is. 00:19:48.300 --> 00:19:50.740 We'll talk about that a little more. 00:19:50.740 --> 00:19:53.140 And it's my mind, not my heart, 00:19:53.140 --> 00:19:56.900 where I need to receive the goodness and the love of God. 00:19:56.900 --> 00:19:59.980 We've learned how to receive the goodness of God in our heart. 00:19:59.980 --> 00:20:03.340 Problem is, it creates feelings, and feelings go away. 00:20:04.460 --> 00:20:07.660 We must go from a place of faith and feelings to knowledge. 00:20:07.660 --> 00:20:11.300 Knowledge is a great place to have these things realized. 00:20:11.340 --> 00:20:14.220 If my mind can comprehend the goodness of God, 00:20:14.220 --> 00:20:17.460 then I begin to think correctly about God. 00:20:17.460 --> 00:20:20.180 And the moment I start thinking correctly about God, 00:20:20.180 --> 00:20:23.020 the lens that I use to look at life is correct. 00:20:26.740 --> 00:20:30.060 Charismatic Christians in particular are caught up in, 00:20:30.060 --> 00:20:32.380 I know the goodness of God in my heart, great, 00:20:32.380 --> 00:20:34.900 but tomorrow it may disappear, and then what do you do? 00:20:34.900 --> 00:20:37.220 But I need to know the goodness of God. 00:20:37.220 --> 00:20:40.380 Once I know it, once I have the knowledge of it, 00:20:40.380 --> 00:20:42.100 you don't need faith anymore, man. 00:20:42.100 --> 00:20:43.140 Not do you need feelings. 00:20:43.140 --> 00:20:46.300 When was the last time you needed feelings of faith 00:20:46.300 --> 00:20:47.140 for gravity? 00:20:50.300 --> 00:20:51.340 Or for breathing? 00:20:52.340 --> 00:20:53.180 Why? 00:20:53.180 --> 00:20:54.260 Because you know that gravity works, 00:20:54.260 --> 00:20:56.740 and you know that without knowing you're inhaling, 00:20:56.740 --> 00:20:58.660 even through that mask of yours, Don. 00:21:01.020 --> 00:21:03.300 Guys, don't think that just because you wear a mask 00:21:03.300 --> 00:21:04.980 that I cannot see you yawn. 00:21:04.980 --> 00:21:06.740 I can still see you yawn. 00:21:10.380 --> 00:21:15.380 My mind is the place to receive the goodness of God, 00:21:15.980 --> 00:21:18.060 because if I think correctly about God, 00:21:18.060 --> 00:21:21.540 I will then have the right lens to view the world. 00:21:21.540 --> 00:21:24.020 And then once I think correctly about God, 00:21:24.020 --> 00:21:26.180 the image of God that I project 00:21:26.180 --> 00:21:28.260 is what people will be attracted to. 00:21:28.260 --> 00:21:33.260 This is why it is so critical that at an early age, 00:21:33.260 --> 00:21:36.460 people be taught to experience the goodness of God, 00:21:36.460 --> 00:21:41.460 and to experience stepping out for God, 00:21:41.460 --> 00:21:44.260 to experience huge leaps of faith, 00:21:44.260 --> 00:21:49.260 to experience miracles, or to expect miracles. 00:21:49.260 --> 00:21:50.860 Teach them while they are young. 00:21:54.700 --> 00:21:56.380 This is critical, guys. 00:21:56.380 --> 00:22:00.700 It makes more and more sense to see why God wants to 00:22:00.700 --> 00:22:03.660 have this revival touch the young first. 00:22:03.820 --> 00:22:07.580 Because if an 18-year-old, a 13-year-old, a 21-year-old 00:22:07.580 --> 00:22:10.860 can experience God as a miracle worker, 00:22:10.860 --> 00:22:13.820 promise keeper, way maker, not in a song, 00:22:14.700 --> 00:22:18.060 but as in stepping out because this is who I believe God is, 00:22:19.980 --> 00:22:21.620 then for the rest of their lives, 00:22:21.620 --> 00:22:23.700 it doesn't matter whether they got results or not, 00:22:23.700 --> 00:22:26.500 they're convinced in their heart like gravity that it works. 00:22:28.420 --> 00:22:29.260 Never changes. 00:22:30.380 --> 00:22:31.940 I remember when I was in college, 00:22:32.220 --> 00:22:33.420 I was in the religious. 00:22:33.420 --> 00:22:36.540 I remember about six months after I became a believer, 00:22:38.620 --> 00:22:41.660 I was in six months or one year, sorry, go ahead. 00:22:42.700 --> 00:22:45.020 What about those of us that suffer from mental illness 00:22:45.020 --> 00:22:47.380 and the worry, et cetera, 00:22:47.380 --> 00:22:49.100 it's part of the body that we inhabit? 00:22:49.100 --> 00:22:49.940 That's different. 00:22:49.940 --> 00:22:54.900 We are talking about external circumstances, not sickness. 00:22:54.900 --> 00:22:59.900 Like there are people that have certain paranoid conditions 00:23:00.300 --> 00:23:02.220 that can be frightening. 00:23:02.220 --> 00:23:04.220 We're not talking about the sickness part of it. 00:23:04.220 --> 00:23:07.860 We are talking about fretting, worrying, anxiety, and fear 00:23:07.860 --> 00:23:10.940 that come from external circumstances because we do this. 00:23:15.100 --> 00:23:18.140 I think it was six months or a year into being a Christian. 00:23:23.100 --> 00:23:26.980 This was in Bahrain, and I remember going to this hospital 00:23:27.020 --> 00:23:32.020 because there was a 13 or 14 year old kid called Shahzad, 00:23:32.020 --> 00:23:35.420 Muslim boy, who was in a coma. 00:23:35.420 --> 00:23:38.300 And someone connected me to his parents. 00:23:38.300 --> 00:23:40.620 And so I would go every day to the hospital 00:23:40.620 --> 00:23:45.380 at a certain time, and the parents had heard that 00:23:45.380 --> 00:23:47.900 I believe that God heals. 00:23:47.900 --> 00:23:50.180 Because those are the people that I grew up under, 00:23:50.180 --> 00:23:52.020 not the parents, I grew up in a church 00:23:52.020 --> 00:23:54.460 where healing was normal. 00:23:54.460 --> 00:23:55.860 It was expected. 00:23:55.900 --> 00:23:58.820 So they heard that God heals, that the Christian God heals. 00:23:58.820 --> 00:24:00.900 So they would allow me to come into the hospital, 00:24:00.900 --> 00:24:04.020 sit with this boy, and pray. 00:24:04.020 --> 00:24:06.660 And I remember praying every day. 00:24:06.660 --> 00:24:08.780 Then I would sit and read chapters from the Bible. 00:24:08.780 --> 00:24:09.940 The parents would listen. 00:24:09.940 --> 00:24:11.460 And I knew the boy's spirit was alive, 00:24:11.460 --> 00:24:12.900 even though he was in a coma. 00:24:12.900 --> 00:24:15.660 Fourth day, he died. 00:24:17.940 --> 00:24:21.260 And I remember going up to the pastor, 00:24:21.260 --> 00:24:23.100 and the pastor was Chantel's dad. 00:24:23.660 --> 00:24:26.860 I remember going up to him when I heard 00:24:26.860 --> 00:24:27.980 that the boy had died. 00:24:27.980 --> 00:24:29.460 And my immediate response was, 00:24:31.660 --> 00:24:33.420 I just heard Shahzad died. 00:24:33.420 --> 00:24:35.740 And so here was the immediate response. 00:24:35.740 --> 00:24:36.980 We gotta go raise him up. 00:24:38.060 --> 00:24:40.060 It was the most natural thing to think. 00:24:41.100 --> 00:24:42.500 We gotta go raise him up, why? 00:24:42.500 --> 00:24:45.180 Because Jesus does that, so we gotta go raise him up. 00:24:45.180 --> 00:24:50.180 And so, instead of telling me to think sanely, 00:24:50.220 --> 00:24:55.220 to think sanely, instead of telling me not to go overboard, 00:24:57.460 --> 00:24:59.460 Chantel's dad, who was a pastor then, said, 00:24:59.460 --> 00:25:03.780 okay, and this man who pastors at church 00:25:03.780 --> 00:25:07.220 saw my tiny little desire and faith and said, 00:25:07.220 --> 00:25:09.220 let's go, so we go to the hospital. 00:25:09.220 --> 00:25:14.020 We go to the hospital, and they are taking 00:25:14.020 --> 00:25:16.060 his body to the mosque. 00:25:16.060 --> 00:25:21.060 So I say to Bonnie, we gotta go to the mosque. 00:25:21.580 --> 00:25:23.860 And now it's a Muslim country, so we go to the mosque. 00:25:23.860 --> 00:25:25.220 And so the boy's body is laid out, 00:25:25.220 --> 00:25:27.540 and so I go to the parents and say, 00:25:27.540 --> 00:25:28.580 do you want me to pray for him 00:25:28.580 --> 00:25:30.580 and try to raise him from the dead here? 00:25:30.580 --> 00:25:32.980 And they said, it's not such a good idea. 00:25:32.980 --> 00:25:37.020 Because it wouldn't be smart to do that. 00:25:37.020 --> 00:25:38.380 So I said, okay. 00:25:38.380 --> 00:25:40.540 And so we wait for him to be buried. 00:25:40.540 --> 00:25:43.700 And I remember standing over his grave 00:25:43.700 --> 00:25:45.020 after they buried him. 00:25:45.020 --> 00:25:47.820 And the burial place was not too far 00:25:47.820 --> 00:25:49.460 from where I used to live. 00:25:49.460 --> 00:25:52.540 And I remember turning to the pastor and saying, 00:25:52.540 --> 00:25:54.660 we gotta go and pray, even though he's buried. 00:25:54.660 --> 00:25:56.020 So he said, okay. 00:25:56.020 --> 00:25:58.180 And so I stand over the grave and I'm saying, 00:25:58.180 --> 00:26:00.980 father, this is no big deal for you, 00:26:00.980 --> 00:26:03.140 because dead is dead, whether it's underground 00:26:03.140 --> 00:26:04.980 or overground, it's no big deal for you. 00:26:04.980 --> 00:26:07.500 So tonight, after everybody's gone, 00:26:07.500 --> 00:26:08.980 could you just raise him from the dead 00:26:08.980 --> 00:26:12.100 and perhaps send an angel so he can know 00:26:12.100 --> 00:26:13.660 how to come to my house? 00:26:13.660 --> 00:26:15.980 And then I'll take care of him from here on. 00:26:15.980 --> 00:26:18.300 Just bring him at night so he's not in trouble 00:26:18.300 --> 00:26:20.780 and nobody knows it and we'll deal with it, Jesus. 00:26:20.780 --> 00:26:23.140 So in the name of Jesus Christ, I command 00:26:23.140 --> 00:26:25.340 that after some time, may you come back to life 00:26:25.340 --> 00:26:27.180 and may God lead you to my place. 00:26:27.180 --> 00:26:28.100 It's not too far. 00:26:28.100 --> 00:26:29.460 This was what I was praying. 00:26:29.460 --> 00:26:32.980 And this pastor stood there and agreed, 00:26:32.980 --> 00:26:35.100 as in encouraged and agreed. 00:26:35.100 --> 00:26:37.700 This story is not to tell you about how foolish 00:26:37.700 --> 00:26:39.340 or how naive I was. 00:26:39.340 --> 00:26:44.180 The story is to tell you how had that man stopped me, 00:26:44.180 --> 00:26:48.060 then I don't think I'd ever had had the courage 00:26:48.060 --> 00:26:50.500 to continue going down this road that I've gone. 00:26:56.460 --> 00:26:59.020 You've got to catch Tate, Finn, Eri, 00:26:59.020 --> 00:27:02.100 Isaiah, Maya, Jocelyn, Phoebe. 00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:04.580 You've got to catch them young and tell them 00:27:04.580 --> 00:27:06.140 this is the only God we know. 00:27:10.340 --> 00:27:12.180 And if that isn't your faith, 00:27:12.180 --> 00:27:15.620 if your faith doesn't match the Jesus of the Bible, 00:27:15.620 --> 00:27:16.460 be quiet. 00:27:19.740 --> 00:27:22.900 But in the places that it matches the Jesus of the Bible, 00:27:22.900 --> 00:27:26.020 speak, encourage the young adults. 00:27:26.020 --> 00:27:28.140 I'm glad I got them at this age. 00:27:28.140 --> 00:27:30.620 Can you imagine if they came at my age? 00:27:32.900 --> 00:27:34.300 They'd be so stuck up. 00:27:39.420 --> 00:27:40.900 Confidence increases. 00:27:42.180 --> 00:27:45.980 This is a loaded line, so I have to write it down. 00:27:51.780 --> 00:27:56.780 Confidence increases, confidence increases 00:27:58.020 --> 00:28:03.020 as you entwine yourself with God, 00:28:03.780 --> 00:28:07.140 entwine yourself with God. 00:28:07.220 --> 00:28:10.140 Entwine yourself with God. 00:28:10.140 --> 00:28:15.140 Confidence increases as you entwine yourself with God 00:28:15.300 --> 00:28:20.300 and wait with anticipation, 00:28:26.100 --> 00:28:29.800 wait with anticipation, obeying his goodness, 00:28:29.800 --> 00:28:33.720 not trusting his goodness, but obeying his goodness. 00:28:34.560 --> 00:28:39.560 Obeying his goodness, even when Samuel is late 00:28:47.640 --> 00:28:49.040 to the sacrifice. 00:28:54.440 --> 00:28:59.440 So confidence increases as you, 00:28:59.560 --> 00:29:02.840 don't need to underline that, increases as you entwine, 00:29:02.880 --> 00:29:06.440 as in the idea of entwining is the whole idea 00:29:06.440 --> 00:29:08.680 of the more time I hang out in his presence. 00:29:08.680 --> 00:29:11.920 Confidence increases as you entwine yourself with God 00:29:11.920 --> 00:29:13.600 and wait with anticipation. 00:29:13.600 --> 00:29:17.560 You do not wait with passive resignation, 00:29:17.560 --> 00:29:19.720 you wait with anticipation. 00:29:19.720 --> 00:29:22.200 I've said this before, but the idea of the word wait 00:29:22.200 --> 00:29:25.560 in the Old Testament is always that of a person 00:29:25.560 --> 00:29:28.700 whose neck is craned out in anticipation 00:29:28.700 --> 00:29:29.800 as if something is gonna happen. 00:29:29.800 --> 00:29:32.120 The waiting is never passive, never resigned, 00:29:32.120 --> 00:29:36.080 never tolerant, it is so full of anticipation. 00:29:41.280 --> 00:29:44.000 Confidence increases as you entwine yourself with God 00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:47.220 and wait with anticipation, obeying his goodness. 00:29:47.220 --> 00:29:49.000 It's one thing to trust his goodness, 00:29:49.000 --> 00:29:50.480 it's another thing to obey his goodness. 00:29:50.480 --> 00:29:51.400 What's the difference? 00:29:51.400 --> 00:29:52.440 Trusting his goodness is saying, 00:29:52.440 --> 00:29:53.840 yeah, I trust you, you are good. 00:29:53.840 --> 00:29:57.400 Obeying his goodness is, we're not even talking about 00:29:57.400 --> 00:30:00.920 whether I trust your goodness or not, that's given. 00:30:00.920 --> 00:30:04.680 I obey your goodness, as in I'm obedient to the fact 00:30:04.680 --> 00:30:07.120 that you are good and it doesn't matter 00:30:07.120 --> 00:30:08.520 how long you tell me to wait. 00:30:08.520 --> 00:30:10.560 It doesn't matter that nothing has happened, 00:30:10.560 --> 00:30:12.360 that today is the third day, today is the fourth day, 00:30:12.360 --> 00:30:14.480 today is the fifth day, it does not matter 00:30:14.480 --> 00:30:16.520 because I obey your goodness. 00:30:16.520 --> 00:30:18.680 You're a good God, you're watching out for me. 00:30:18.680 --> 00:30:22.160 I have absolutely no doubt in my head that you are good. 00:30:22.160 --> 00:30:25.560 Days, time does not change who you are. 00:30:25.560 --> 00:30:27.100 I obey your goodness. 00:30:28.280 --> 00:30:30.760 Trusting goodness is to say, I trust you, okay, 00:30:31.600 --> 00:30:33.160 no, obeying is different, man. 00:30:34.800 --> 00:30:36.960 It's like there's no choice. 00:30:36.960 --> 00:30:40.160 I don't have to even argue about your goodness 00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:41.320 because that's a given. 00:30:44.720 --> 00:30:47.240 A child never goes up to its parent and says, 00:30:47.240 --> 00:30:50.880 I trust you that you will give me breakfast today. 00:30:53.260 --> 00:30:54.100 It's a given. 00:30:56.800 --> 00:31:00.300 The child goes, sits at the table, 00:31:00.300 --> 00:31:02.220 doesn't matter that the parent has woken up late, 00:31:02.220 --> 00:31:04.460 it doesn't matter the parent had a late night, 00:31:04.460 --> 00:31:06.300 the parent got busy, the parent is on a call, 00:31:06.300 --> 00:31:07.580 the child sits at the table 00:31:07.580 --> 00:31:09.700 because the child knows that breakfast is gonna come. 00:31:09.700 --> 00:31:11.580 He obeys the goodness of his parent 00:31:11.580 --> 00:31:13.820 because he's already there on time. 00:31:13.820 --> 00:31:15.980 And it doesn't matter that it's taking time. 00:31:16.900 --> 00:31:19.460 Obeying is goodness even when Samuel is late 00:31:19.460 --> 00:31:21.940 to the sacrifice, that's where Saul messed up, right? 00:31:21.940 --> 00:31:25.100 In 1 Samuel 10, eight it says, Saul, wait for seven days. 00:31:25.100 --> 00:31:28.220 Seven days go by a little longer, not by much, 00:31:28.260 --> 00:31:30.460 and he doesn't wanna wait any longer. 00:31:30.460 --> 00:31:33.320 He falls into the pressure of people 00:31:33.320 --> 00:31:35.260 and his soldiers deserting him 00:31:35.260 --> 00:31:36.820 and so he offers a sacrifice. 00:31:36.820 --> 00:31:39.580 Then 1 Samuel 13, eight, Samuel turns up. 00:31:39.580 --> 00:31:41.780 He turns up a little late, so what? 00:31:41.780 --> 00:31:44.680 So what if God said nine months and it's taking 10 months? 00:31:44.680 --> 00:31:47.380 Does that make you doubt his faithfulness and goodness? 00:31:54.160 --> 00:31:55.740 Man, when you look back at your life, 00:31:55.740 --> 00:31:57.220 all you see is faithfulness. 00:31:58.220 --> 00:32:03.220 God sometimes allows or restricts in his wisdom 00:32:14.780 --> 00:32:18.180 what he can prevent or permit in his power. 00:32:18.180 --> 00:32:23.180 God sometimes allows or restricts in his goodness 00:32:23.300 --> 00:32:26.300 what he can permit or prevent in his power. 00:32:26.300 --> 00:32:31.300 God allows or restricts in his wisdom 00:32:36.700 --> 00:32:41.700 what he can permit or prevent in his power. 00:32:46.700 --> 00:32:49.700 God allows or restricts in his wisdom 00:32:50.700 --> 00:32:53.700 what he can prevent or permit in his power. 00:33:03.100 --> 00:33:05.900 As soon as you write the sentence down, 00:33:05.900 --> 00:33:08.700 the immediate question that rises in all our minds 00:33:08.700 --> 00:33:11.980 or some of our minds is, does that mean God can allow 00:33:11.980 --> 00:33:13.900 or permit harm to me? 00:33:13.900 --> 00:33:15.620 That's the immediate question that rises up. 00:33:15.620 --> 00:33:17.620 Deuteronomy 32, 10. 00:33:17.620 --> 00:33:21.140 I found you in a windswept wasteland 00:33:21.140 --> 00:33:23.460 and I drew you to myself and I said, 00:33:23.460 --> 00:33:25.020 you're the apple of my eye. 00:33:33.420 --> 00:33:34.900 Zechariah 2, 8. 00:33:38.500 --> 00:33:40.060 Zechariah 2, 8. 00:33:42.060 --> 00:33:46.360 Anyone who touches you touches the pupil of my eye. 00:33:48.100 --> 00:33:48.940 God's saying it. 00:33:52.580 --> 00:33:54.220 Anyone who touches you. 00:34:01.940 --> 00:34:04.780 I'm just giving you two scriptures, just two scriptures. 00:34:06.220 --> 00:34:09.460 But we got to, once we understand power bound goodness, 00:34:09.460 --> 00:34:12.860 our confidence increases, are we not too bothered 00:34:12.860 --> 00:34:16.020 that certain things that we thought were going to come 00:34:16.020 --> 00:34:17.460 our way hasn't come yet? 00:34:18.460 --> 00:34:20.140 That God could easily do it. 00:34:20.140 --> 00:34:21.340 Why isn't he doing it? 00:34:23.660 --> 00:34:25.620 We're not caught up in that. 00:34:25.620 --> 00:34:29.140 Our confidence is not zapped because something 00:34:29.140 --> 00:34:32.660 that was supposed to happen yesterday hasn't happened yet. 00:34:32.660 --> 00:34:33.500 Why? 00:34:33.500 --> 00:34:36.660 Because sometimes God allows or restricts in his wisdom 00:34:36.660 --> 00:34:39.340 what can be prevented or permitted in his power. 00:34:39.340 --> 00:34:40.700 And we'll talk about it some more. 00:34:40.700 --> 00:34:45.220 But this question that does God allow harm, 00:34:45.220 --> 00:34:46.700 will he permit harm to me? 00:34:46.740 --> 00:34:48.820 Destroy that with these two verses. 00:34:50.180 --> 00:34:54.220 If he says that I found you Jacob in a windswept wasteland 00:34:54.220 --> 00:34:56.940 and I drew you to myself and you're the apple of my eye 00:34:56.940 --> 00:35:00.300 and in Zechariah 2, 8, he's talking about Jerusalem 00:35:00.300 --> 00:35:02.180 but it applies to you and he says Jacob, 00:35:02.180 --> 00:35:04.380 anyone who touches you touches the pupil of my eye. 00:35:04.380 --> 00:35:06.220 Is there harm going to come? 00:35:06.220 --> 00:35:08.180 Is he a self-inflicting God? 00:35:08.180 --> 00:35:09.700 Does he harm himself? 00:35:10.860 --> 00:35:13.540 Well if he doesn't harm himself, he ain't gonna harm you 00:35:13.540 --> 00:35:15.500 because he says anyone who touches you 00:35:15.500 --> 00:35:16.980 touches the pupil of my eye. 00:35:16.980 --> 00:35:19.580 You think he's exaggerating, he's just being poetic? 00:35:36.220 --> 00:35:37.660 Power bound goodness. 00:35:39.860 --> 00:35:40.980 Let me explain that. 00:35:42.420 --> 00:35:44.100 Power bound goodness. 00:35:44.100 --> 00:35:45.140 It's a very... 00:35:49.260 --> 00:35:54.260 His goodness is a reality 00:35:56.260 --> 00:36:01.260 cause his power is absolute. 00:36:05.300 --> 00:36:06.140 Sela. 00:36:09.540 --> 00:36:11.140 His goodness is a reality. 00:36:11.140 --> 00:36:12.380 You may wanna do good. 00:36:13.340 --> 00:36:16.820 You may wanna do good to every Canadian 00:36:16.820 --> 00:36:18.540 that lives in this land 00:36:18.540 --> 00:36:20.420 but there's squat you can do about it 00:36:20.420 --> 00:36:21.900 cause you got zero power. 00:36:24.060 --> 00:36:27.460 Forget Canada, you may wanna do good to Acts 29 00:36:27.460 --> 00:36:29.380 but there's not much you can do about it 00:36:29.380 --> 00:36:32.660 because of that pastor who at present leads the church. 00:36:35.660 --> 00:36:38.260 You got power but he's got a little more. 00:36:39.260 --> 00:36:42.300 He who has power decides what can be done. 00:36:45.140 --> 00:36:48.420 Point is, God's goodness is a reality 00:36:48.420 --> 00:36:51.860 cause he has absolute power. 00:36:51.860 --> 00:36:54.220 This is why he can be good. 00:36:54.220 --> 00:36:56.180 This is why you receive his goodness. 00:36:56.180 --> 00:36:58.180 This is why you can be sure of his goodness. 00:36:58.180 --> 00:37:02.180 There is nobody, nothing that can stop him from being good 00:37:02.180 --> 00:37:04.740 cause he's the one who has absolute power. 00:37:04.740 --> 00:37:07.220 This is why I call it power bound goodness. 00:37:07.260 --> 00:37:09.660 It should create a certain confidence in your heart 00:37:09.660 --> 00:37:11.020 that he is good and nothing can stop him 00:37:11.020 --> 00:37:11.940 from being good to me 00:37:11.940 --> 00:37:14.500 or from that goodness reaching to me. 00:37:15.940 --> 00:37:17.580 Cause very often we know that he is good 00:37:17.580 --> 00:37:20.180 but we're not sure if his goodness will come to you. 00:37:22.820 --> 00:37:23.660 Who can stop him? 00:37:26.140 --> 00:37:27.660 He ain't gonna stop himself 00:37:28.740 --> 00:37:32.620 cause he said that I am gracious and compassionate, 00:37:32.620 --> 00:37:35.180 full of mercy and rich and loyal love. 00:37:35.180 --> 00:37:36.300 So he ain't gonna stop himself 00:37:36.300 --> 00:37:38.140 cause if he did, he wouldn't be true to himself. 00:37:38.140 --> 00:37:39.140 So who can stop him? 00:37:40.620 --> 00:37:41.660 You think you can stop him? 00:37:41.660 --> 00:37:43.980 Try, you'll succeed for a while. 00:37:45.820 --> 00:37:48.020 But loyal love overwhelms. 00:37:50.620 --> 00:37:54.420 Never separate the lamb from the lion guys. 00:37:57.700 --> 00:38:02.660 If the lamb is good, the lion is powerful. 00:38:02.660 --> 00:38:04.700 Do not separate the lion and the lamb. 00:38:06.300 --> 00:38:11.300 I heard this story recently on I think 700 Club. 00:38:24.540 --> 00:38:27.980 It's about this boy who was from a Muslim background 00:38:27.980 --> 00:38:31.260 and he goes by the name Raymond now I think. 00:38:31.260 --> 00:38:34.020 So he, 00:38:34.540 --> 00:38:39.420 he started drinking, became alcoholic 00:38:39.420 --> 00:38:41.140 and at a very young age started 00:38:44.820 --> 00:38:47.220 stealing cars and stuff like that. 00:38:47.220 --> 00:38:51.940 And then one day in just being completely drunk, 00:38:51.940 --> 00:38:55.220 he got into an altercation with someone at a pub 00:38:55.220 --> 00:38:59.340 and before he knew it, he had stabbed the guy nine times. 00:38:59.340 --> 00:39:01.740 And obviously he went to prison. 00:39:01.740 --> 00:39:06.740 Surprisingly the man survived so it wasn't a murder. 00:39:06.740 --> 00:39:10.060 And he was in prison for a while, came out of prison 00:39:10.060 --> 00:39:15.060 and then two of his cousins took him to a young adult 00:39:15.380 --> 00:39:17.540 or youth group meeting. 00:39:17.540 --> 00:39:19.820 For the first time he realized that this God 00:39:19.820 --> 00:39:23.140 is very different from anything or anyone he's known 00:39:23.140 --> 00:39:28.140 and he began to reach out to God by the name of Raymond. 00:39:29.340 --> 00:39:33.780 But still couldn't give up alcohol, 00:39:33.780 --> 00:39:36.780 couldn't give up his ways. 00:39:38.180 --> 00:39:42.100 And one night he was driving a car 00:39:43.260 --> 00:39:48.060 that wasn't his with a fake ID 00:39:48.060 --> 00:39:50.660 and a false set of insurance papers. 00:39:52.140 --> 00:39:54.140 And he was not supposed to be in a vehicle 00:39:54.140 --> 00:39:56.860 because he was not allowed to drive. 00:39:56.900 --> 00:40:01.140 And he's driving this car and he comes to a stoplight 00:40:01.140 --> 00:40:03.700 and a police car pulls up behind him 00:40:03.700 --> 00:40:05.540 and he knows he's going back to prison, 00:40:05.540 --> 00:40:09.540 that he's violated the conditions of his release. 00:40:09.540 --> 00:40:13.340 And as he's sitting there just so scared 00:40:13.340 --> 00:40:17.140 of this cop car behind him, he hears his voice 00:40:18.420 --> 00:40:21.460 and it says to him, they can come as close 00:40:21.460 --> 00:40:25.380 as they want to you, but unless I give the word, 00:40:25.380 --> 00:40:26.460 they cannot touch you. 00:40:26.860 --> 00:40:31.860 And he kind of knows this is a God 00:40:35.100 --> 00:40:39.220 that he had reached out to, but he thinks to himself, 00:40:39.220 --> 00:40:41.180 really, can he do this? 00:40:41.180 --> 00:40:46.180 And the light turns green, the cop car follows him, 00:40:46.380 --> 00:40:48.980 turns off and goes off and then he begins to say to himself, 00:40:48.980 --> 00:40:51.580 ah, just my imagination, not true. 00:40:52.580 --> 00:40:57.580 And as he's heading home, he comes to another traffic light 00:40:57.580 --> 00:41:00.580 and this time there's another cop car pulls up behind him. 00:41:02.460 --> 00:41:07.100 And now his heart sinks and he regrets what he did earlier, 00:41:07.100 --> 00:41:10.300 saying I should have, now I don't have hope. 00:41:10.300 --> 00:41:12.260 And then he begins to call out to God 00:41:12.260 --> 00:41:13.740 and while he's calling out to God, 00:41:13.740 --> 00:41:17.060 the cop car turns on its lights and siren 00:41:17.300 --> 00:41:22.300 and he just gets so bitter that this God didn't help him out. 00:41:22.300 --> 00:41:24.460 And he's just waiting for the cop to come out 00:41:24.460 --> 00:41:27.980 and the car pulls out and goes chasing after somebody else. 00:41:27.980 --> 00:41:31.260 And that is when he steps and as he's waiting there 00:41:31.260 --> 00:41:33.780 and the lights are going off, he hears that voice again 00:41:33.780 --> 00:41:35.580 and the voice says, they can come as close 00:41:35.580 --> 00:41:39.020 as they want to you, but unless I give the word, 00:41:39.020 --> 00:41:41.420 they cannot touch you. 00:41:41.420 --> 00:41:43.820 And that's when the car speeds off and goes off. 00:41:44.420 --> 00:41:47.620 And he just steps out of the car, starts bawling 00:41:47.620 --> 00:41:52.620 and surrenders his life to Jesus Christ so completely 00:41:52.620 --> 00:41:57.620 that today he is working with prisoners and young people 00:41:57.620 --> 00:41:59.820 and it's got such an amazing story. 00:41:59.820 --> 00:42:04.820 What blew me away about the story is the power that God has 00:42:06.220 --> 00:42:10.020 and the goodness that comes wrapped in that power. 00:42:10.140 --> 00:42:13.620 You've got to see his power as, see his goodness 00:42:13.620 --> 00:42:17.620 as wrapped in power that the reason he can be as good 00:42:17.620 --> 00:42:21.020 as he wants to is because he's got absolute power 00:42:21.020 --> 00:42:22.620 over everything. 00:42:24.620 --> 00:42:29.620 This kind of goodness nobody has and nobody can stop. 00:42:30.420 --> 00:42:33.220 I've been condemned to goodness by a God 00:42:33.220 --> 00:42:35.020 who has tremendous power. 00:42:35.020 --> 00:42:37.020 I'm condemned to goodness. 00:42:37.020 --> 00:42:38.420 Hear me, hear me. 00:42:38.420 --> 00:42:39.620 I am condemned to goodness. 00:42:39.620 --> 00:42:43.420 Hear me, I am condemned to the goodness of God. 00:42:43.420 --> 00:42:47.020 And it is a goodness that reaches me, that comes to me 00:42:47.020 --> 00:42:51.020 that is full because he has absolute power 00:42:51.020 --> 00:42:55.020 and there is nothing or nobody that can stop his goodness 00:42:55.020 --> 00:42:59.620 from washing over me every day 00:42:59.620 --> 00:43:03.620 because this is his nature every day. 00:43:05.220 --> 00:43:07.020 You inhabit what you think. 00:43:07.220 --> 00:43:09.220 You inhabit what you expect. 00:43:13.620 --> 00:43:16.820 This then begins to give you the confidence to step 00:43:16.820 --> 00:43:21.020 into massive God exploits unafraid 00:43:22.620 --> 00:43:24.020 because you have heard him. 00:43:25.020 --> 00:43:28.020 You should not need any convincing or persuasion 00:43:28.020 --> 00:43:29.020 after this guys. 00:43:29.020 --> 00:43:33.020 We may fall off this or we can jump back on this 00:43:33.020 --> 00:43:35.620 but we should never need to be convinced or persuaded 00:43:35.620 --> 00:43:36.620 of this. 00:43:36.620 --> 00:43:40.020 This is as clearly as God can speak to you and me. 00:43:41.020 --> 00:43:43.020 Don't think this is Jacob saying it to you. 00:43:43.020 --> 00:43:44.020 I plead with you. 00:43:44.020 --> 00:43:45.020 I plead with you. 00:43:45.020 --> 00:43:46.020 I plead with you. 00:43:46.020 --> 00:43:47.020 I plead with you. 00:43:47.020 --> 00:43:48.020 I plead with you. 00:43:48.020 --> 00:43:49.020 I plead with you. 00:43:49.020 --> 00:43:50.020 I plead with you. 00:43:50.020 --> 00:43:51.020 I plead with you. 00:43:51.020 --> 00:43:52.020 I plead with you. 00:43:52.020 --> 00:43:53.020 I plead with you. 00:43:53.020 --> 00:43:54.020 I plead with you. 00:43:54.020 --> 00:43:55.020 I plead with you. 00:43:55.020 --> 00:43:58.020 This is as clearly as God can speak to you and me. 00:43:59.020 --> 00:44:00.420 Don't doubt it for the rest of your life 00:44:00.420 --> 00:44:05.020 and even if you fall off the wagon, climb back on. 00:44:16.020 --> 00:44:18.020 You know, trusting in his goodness, 00:44:18.020 --> 00:44:20.020 trusting in his goodness, 00:44:23.020 --> 00:44:28.020 allows wisdom, 00:44:29.020 --> 00:44:31.020 allows his wisdom 00:44:33.020 --> 00:44:35.020 to have full access, 00:44:37.020 --> 00:44:40.020 to have full unrestricted access, 00:44:42.020 --> 00:44:45.020 to have full unrestricted access 00:44:45.020 --> 00:44:47.020 to shape and direct your life, 00:44:47.020 --> 00:44:51.020 to shape and direct 00:44:51.020 --> 00:44:53.020 your life. 00:44:54.020 --> 00:44:57.020 I'll explain that, but it is a beautiful line. 00:44:57.020 --> 00:45:00.020 Trusting in his goodness allows, 00:45:01.020 --> 00:45:06.020 trusting in his goodness allows his wisdom 00:45:08.020 --> 00:45:10.020 to have full unrestricted access 00:45:11.020 --> 00:45:13.020 to shape and direct your life. 00:45:13.020 --> 00:45:16.020 And so you don't prematurely short circuit 00:45:16.020 --> 00:45:18.020 what he's trying to accomplish. 00:45:18.020 --> 00:45:20.020 You don't prematurely short circuit. 00:45:21.020 --> 00:45:26.020 You don't prematurely short circuit the process. 00:45:26.020 --> 00:45:28.020 So examples from the Bible, 00:45:28.020 --> 00:45:31.020 then perhaps you can relate to it a little better. 00:45:31.020 --> 00:45:33.020 John chapter 11. 00:45:33.020 --> 00:45:36.020 Jesus trusted God's goodness. 00:45:37.020 --> 00:45:40.020 So it's okay for him to hear about Lazarus' death 00:45:40.020 --> 00:45:42.020 and know that his father is good 00:45:42.020 --> 00:45:45.020 and not go immediate, Lazarus' sickness 00:45:45.020 --> 00:45:47.020 and know that his father is good. 00:45:47.020 --> 00:45:48.020 And in the, 00:45:50.020 --> 00:45:54.020 despite the clamor of his best friend's sisters, 00:45:54.020 --> 00:45:57.020 come do something, he stays back. 00:45:57.020 --> 00:46:00.020 Because he allows, he trusts in the goodness of God 00:46:00.020 --> 00:46:02.020 and it allows the wisdom of God 00:46:02.020 --> 00:46:05.020 to have full access to shape and direct lives, 00:46:05.020 --> 00:46:07.020 not just your life. 00:46:08.020 --> 00:46:10.020 And so he goes four days later. 00:46:11.020 --> 00:46:16.020 Wisdom has its, wisdom, wisdom has its own way. 00:46:17.020 --> 00:46:20.020 Wisdom matures in my, the wisdom of God 00:46:20.020 --> 00:46:23.020 has full effect on my life, 00:46:23.020 --> 00:46:26.020 full effect in my life when I trust his goodness. 00:46:26.020 --> 00:46:29.020 And therefore I am sure that it's okay. 00:46:29.020 --> 00:46:31.020 It's okay that I don't go today. 00:46:31.020 --> 00:46:33.020 It's okay that news didn't come today. 00:46:33.020 --> 00:46:34.020 It's okay that things have been delayed. 00:46:34.020 --> 00:46:35.020 It's okay that, why? 00:46:35.020 --> 00:46:38.020 Because I know you are good, you are taking care of this. 00:46:38.020 --> 00:46:40.020 Now God says, all right, now that you know that I'm good 00:46:40.020 --> 00:46:43.020 and you can wait with anticipation, 00:46:43.020 --> 00:46:45.020 let my wisdom go to work 00:46:45.020 --> 00:46:47.020 and I will bring you to completion. 00:46:47.020 --> 00:46:50.020 I will make everything full and complete. 00:46:51.020 --> 00:46:54.020 All of us are in such a hurry to get things done 00:46:54.020 --> 00:46:57.020 either because of peer pressure or parental pressure 00:46:57.020 --> 00:46:59.020 or the demands of the world or the demands of ministry 00:46:59.020 --> 00:47:02.020 or the demands of this or the demands of that or deadlines. 00:47:04.020 --> 00:47:07.020 This is a God who holds time in his hands 00:47:07.020 --> 00:47:09.020 and slows it down or hurries it. 00:47:15.020 --> 00:47:18.020 One of the signs of mature Christianity 00:47:18.020 --> 00:47:20.020 is the ability not to rush things. 00:47:26.020 --> 00:47:29.020 Exodus 33, another instance 00:47:29.020 --> 00:47:34.020 where Moses is on the mountain 00:47:34.020 --> 00:47:38.020 and he's not happy that God is going to send an angel with him. 00:47:38.020 --> 00:47:42.020 He's not, he is not, 00:47:42.020 --> 00:47:52.020 he is willing to wait till God shows his glory to Moses 00:47:52.020 --> 00:47:57.020 and in the process Moses gains so much wisdom, so much wisdom. 00:47:58.020 --> 00:48:01.020 Any other leader would have said, all right, you send an angel with us, 00:48:01.020 --> 00:48:05.020 great, I'll go with an angel because your angels are pretty powerful. 00:48:05.020 --> 00:48:08.020 We settle for less when we do not know his goodness. 00:48:08.020 --> 00:48:11.020 We play divine stock markets when we do not know his goodness. 00:48:11.020 --> 00:48:13.020 Oh, the price is high, let's buy it. 00:48:13.020 --> 00:48:16.020 Oh, we may never get this opportunity again. 00:48:20.020 --> 00:48:24.020 Or you take Acts 27, that's such a cool passage. 00:48:24.020 --> 00:48:27.020 Paul is telling them, listen, I know my God is good. 00:48:27.020 --> 00:48:29.020 Why don't you just trust me? 00:48:29.020 --> 00:48:32.020 Let's not abandon, let's not jump off this bus 00:48:32.020 --> 00:48:35.020 and let's not get into the business of God. 00:48:35.020 --> 00:48:38.020 Trust me, let's not abandon, let's not jump off this boat. 00:48:38.020 --> 00:48:40.020 No harm will come. 00:48:40.020 --> 00:48:43.020 He is trying to preserve 276 lives 00:48:43.020 --> 00:48:45.020 because his God has said to him, 00:48:45.020 --> 00:48:48.020 no harm is going to come to you Paul, you're going to get to Rome. 00:48:48.020 --> 00:48:51.020 And none of those traveling with you will either come to harm. 00:48:51.020 --> 00:48:55.020 Trust in the goodness of God and he lets the wisdom of God take over. 00:48:55.020 --> 00:48:58.020 He breaks bread with them. 00:48:58.020 --> 00:49:00.020 All 276 survive. 00:49:00.020 --> 00:49:02.020 When you trust the goodness of God, 00:49:02.020 --> 00:49:06.020 the wisdom of God has unrestricted access to your life 00:49:06.020 --> 00:49:09.020 and through your life affecting a whole lot of people. 00:49:13.020 --> 00:49:15.020 This is not about being cautious. 00:49:15.020 --> 00:49:18.020 This is about being so confident of the goodness of God 00:49:18.020 --> 00:49:22.020 that you are okay as God works things out. 00:49:22.020 --> 00:49:26.020 Destroy false deadlines, destroy false expectations, 00:49:26.020 --> 00:49:28.020 destroy false demands. 00:49:32.020 --> 00:49:51.020 Let me close with my last 16 points. 00:49:51.020 --> 00:49:58.020 Pray with maturity guys, learn to pray with maturity. 00:49:58.020 --> 00:50:01.020 And what do you mean by learning, learn to pray with maturity? 00:50:01.020 --> 00:50:06.020 Find out what God wants, find out what God wants, 00:50:06.020 --> 00:50:12.020 then ask him to do it. 00:50:16.020 --> 00:50:19.020 I sometimes feel bad that my prayers are very short. 00:50:19.020 --> 00:50:23.020 Like I feel guilty because pastors are supposed to pray long, 00:50:23.020 --> 00:50:26.020 especially when you have a request and I pray only for a minute. 00:50:26.020 --> 00:50:28.020 I feel kind of guilty. 00:50:28.020 --> 00:50:31.020 I try to come up with other things to say about you that are nice 00:50:31.020 --> 00:50:33.020 or that are pleady kind of things. 00:50:33.020 --> 00:50:37.020 But what do you do when you kind of find out what God wants 00:50:37.020 --> 00:50:39.020 and then ask him to do it and that's the end of prayer? 00:50:39.020 --> 00:50:45.020 But I would suggest that we learn to do that 00:50:45.020 --> 00:50:49.020 because it gives you a whole lot of time to do other things. 00:50:49.020 --> 00:50:56.020 Once you hear him clearly, then know that, okay, 00:50:56.020 --> 00:51:01.020 you know what God wants you to do, you've asked him to do it. 00:51:01.020 --> 00:51:05.020 Now begin to step out with confidence knowing that 00:51:05.020 --> 00:51:08.020 God will only demand that which he has already deposited in you. 00:51:08.020 --> 00:51:12.020 God will only demand that which he has already deposited in you. 00:51:12.020 --> 00:51:15.020 There's nothing that God asks of you that he hasn't already put in you. 00:51:15.020 --> 00:51:18.020 You may not know the extent of it, but he knows it. 00:51:18.020 --> 00:51:22.020 Even with this global revival that we are talking about 00:51:22.020 --> 00:51:25.020 and the costs that we may have to pay for it, 00:51:25.020 --> 00:51:28.020 be it financial or physical or spiritual, 00:51:28.020 --> 00:51:31.020 God has already given us all that we need 00:51:31.020 --> 00:51:35.020 and so he will only demand that which he has already deposited in us. 00:51:35.020 --> 00:51:38.020 God only demands that which he has already deposited in us. 00:51:38.020 --> 00:51:41.020 Sixteen years he's been depositing things at Acts 29. 00:51:41.020 --> 00:51:43.020 Now he's saying, I'm demanding it. 00:51:43.020 --> 00:51:45.020 It's already there. 00:51:45.020 --> 00:51:49.020 Learn to adventure with the spirit, guys. 00:51:49.020 --> 00:51:51.020 Learn to adventure with the spirit. 00:51:51.020 --> 00:51:53.020 And I know this is a double negative, 00:51:53.020 --> 00:51:57.020 but learn to adventure with the spirit by not being scared of nothing happening. 00:51:57.020 --> 00:52:03.020 Learn to adventure with the spirit by not being scared with nothing happening. 00:52:03.020 --> 00:52:06.020 Sometimes we are so scared that we will go pray, 00:52:06.020 --> 00:52:08.020 we will do this and nothing will happen. 00:52:08.020 --> 00:52:10.020 Don't be scared of it. 00:52:10.020 --> 00:52:12.020 Nor be scared of getting it right. 00:52:12.020 --> 00:52:14.020 Maturity is not getting it right. 00:52:14.020 --> 00:52:18.020 Maturity is the ability to live out of confidence. 00:52:18.020 --> 00:52:20.020 Getting it right is just getting it right. 00:52:20.020 --> 00:52:23.020 But living out of confidence, I mean when you look at Hebrews 11, 00:52:23.020 --> 00:52:26.020 there were so many people who did what they did out of sheer confidence. 00:52:26.020 --> 00:52:29.020 They never got what they were looking for. 00:52:29.020 --> 00:52:31.020 Don't worry about getting it right. 00:52:31.020 --> 00:52:34.020 Don't worry about nothing happening. 00:52:34.020 --> 00:52:37.020 Live out of confidence. 00:52:37.020 --> 00:52:40.020 You cannot adventure with God unless you live out of confidence. 00:52:40.020 --> 00:52:42.020 And if you look at what we've spoken about, 00:52:42.020 --> 00:52:45.020 you will learn some of the ways of confidence. 00:52:45.020 --> 00:52:50.020 Sometimes, guys, God will delay answering some of the things we ask for 00:52:50.020 --> 00:52:53.020 just to ensure our future. 00:52:53.020 --> 00:52:59.020 Because for Him, learning and timing is everything. 00:52:59.020 --> 00:53:04.020 So sometimes answers are delayed just because He has to ensure your future. 00:53:04.020 --> 00:53:08.020 I look at certain things happening in my life right now, 00:53:08.020 --> 00:53:09.020 and I think to myself, 00:53:09.020 --> 00:53:12.020 But I asked for this 20 years ago and it's happening now. 00:53:12.020 --> 00:53:16.020 Why? Because I'm only ready for it now. 00:53:16.020 --> 00:53:20.020 The problem with the prophetic nowadays is as soon as someone prophesies, 00:53:20.020 --> 00:53:24.020 you think it's going to happen tomorrow morning when you wake up. 00:53:24.020 --> 00:53:29.020 But when you look at the Old Testament, 00:53:29.020 --> 00:53:32.020 every time someone was prophesied on, 00:53:32.020 --> 00:53:35.020 they went through a process so that they would be ready to go. 00:53:35.020 --> 00:53:37.020 Every time someone was prophesied on, 00:53:37.020 --> 00:53:42.020 they went through a process so that they would be ready to walk in the prophetic. 00:53:42.020 --> 00:53:45.020 Take Joseph, take Abraham, take David. 00:53:45.020 --> 00:53:49.020 I think in the Old Testament, people were afraid of being prophesied on. 00:53:49.020 --> 00:53:50.020 You will be king. 00:53:50.020 --> 00:53:53.020 Alright, let's start running like a refugee. 00:53:53.020 --> 00:53:55.020 You will be the prime minister of Egypt. 00:53:55.020 --> 00:53:58.020 Alright, I will be sold as a slave. 00:53:58.020 --> 00:54:00.020 You will be the father of faith. 00:54:00.020 --> 00:54:03.020 Alright, I'll be important for the next 25 years. 00:54:07.020 --> 00:54:11.020 You will save the earth and start creation again. 00:54:11.020 --> 00:54:14.020 Alright, I'll be building a boat for the next 30 years. 00:54:14.020 --> 00:54:20.020 I will live at least a year with animals all around me, including cats. 00:54:20.020 --> 00:54:25.020 So every time there was a prophetic word, 00:54:25.020 --> 00:54:29.020 people would, I guess, half dread it. 00:54:29.020 --> 00:54:33.020 It's us that, it was prophesied that I'd get married tomorrow morning, 00:54:33.020 --> 00:54:34.020 I'm getting married. 00:54:34.020 --> 00:54:35.020 No! 00:54:38.020 --> 00:54:39.020 Derek, no! 00:54:44.020 --> 00:54:46.020 The point is this, guys. 00:54:47.020 --> 00:54:50.020 Sometimes God delays answering to ensure your future, 00:54:50.020 --> 00:54:52.020 because learning and timing is everything. 00:54:52.020 --> 00:54:56.020 Sometimes God delays answering to engage me in a conversation 00:54:56.020 --> 00:54:59.020 to reveal His heart and to reveal my heart. 00:55:02.020 --> 00:55:06.020 Sometimes God delays answering to engage you in a conversation 00:55:06.020 --> 00:55:09.020 to reveal His heart and to reveal your heart. 00:55:09.020 --> 00:55:10.020 And so here's the key. 00:55:10.020 --> 00:55:18.020 If you suspect or if you detect that there is a process in the answer, 00:55:18.020 --> 00:55:24.020 as in, if you detect that, hmm, been asking and he hasn't been doing much about it, 00:55:24.020 --> 00:55:27.020 if you detect that, if there is a process, 00:55:27.020 --> 00:55:31.020 if you detect that there is a process in the answer, 00:55:31.020 --> 00:55:33.020 there's a process in the answer, 00:55:36.020 --> 00:55:39.020 if you detect that there's a process in the answer, 00:55:40.020 --> 00:55:42.020 the key is relationship. 00:55:47.020 --> 00:55:49.020 The key is relationship. 00:55:49.020 --> 00:55:57.020 And so what you need to do is revisit the pause in the answer without resentment. 00:56:06.020 --> 00:56:08.020 Get a sense of what God is trying to do. 00:56:09.020 --> 00:56:11.020 Get a sense of what God is trying to do. 00:56:11.020 --> 00:56:13.020 Get a sense of what God is trying to do. 00:56:13.020 --> 00:56:15.020 Get a sense of what God is trying to do. 00:56:22.020 --> 00:56:24.020 Get a sense of what God is trying to do. 00:56:25.020 --> 00:56:32.020 And match His stride or pace. 00:56:32.020 --> 00:56:36.020 So there are many times where I have received a sure word, an absolute promise from God 00:56:36.020 --> 00:56:41.020 that I do not have to doubt, but it's taking too long to come to pass. 00:56:41.020 --> 00:56:45.020 Sometimes it's taking one and a half years to come to pass, sometimes two years. 00:56:45.020 --> 00:56:52.020 And so I realized then that He's not stopping me, He's not rebuking me, 00:56:52.020 --> 00:56:56.020 but it's not coming to pass and you begin to suspect, 00:56:56.020 --> 00:56:57.020 there's other things He wants to do. 00:56:57.020 --> 00:57:02.020 So that is when you know there's a process in the answer that you have to go through. 00:57:02.020 --> 00:57:06.020 And whenever you suspect that, the key is relationship. 00:57:06.020 --> 00:57:09.020 The key is not more prayer, the key is not more fasting. 00:57:09.020 --> 00:57:14.020 Man, we do so many Christian things that are so sucky. 00:57:14.020 --> 00:57:19.020 What we really need to do is go back into this place of relationship. 00:57:19.020 --> 00:57:22.020 Because if there is process in the answer, the key is relationship. 00:57:22.020 --> 00:57:27.020 And you revisit the pause or the place where you stopped without resentment. 00:57:27.020 --> 00:57:29.020 That's another hard thing. 00:57:29.020 --> 00:57:34.020 And we go back to the place and we write lamentations. 00:57:34.020 --> 00:57:40.020 But revisit the pause without resentment because you are engaged in a relationship. 00:57:40.020 --> 00:57:42.020 And you are engaged in a relationship. 00:57:42.020 --> 00:57:44.020 And you are engaged in a relationship. 00:57:44.020 --> 00:57:50.020 And you revisit the pause without resentment because you are engaged in a relationship. 00:57:50.020 --> 00:57:53.020 You get a sense of what God is trying to do. 00:57:53.020 --> 00:58:02.020 I won't share the story, but when I immigrated to Canada, it took a year and a half. 00:58:02.020 --> 00:58:03.020 It was a sure promise. 00:58:03.020 --> 00:58:06.020 Five times I had to go to get this done. 00:58:06.020 --> 00:58:07.020 It was a sure promise. 00:58:07.020 --> 00:58:10.020 But my God, there was a process and the process was brilliant. 00:58:10.020 --> 00:58:11.020 The key was relationship. 00:58:11.020 --> 00:58:14.020 There was never resentment. 00:58:14.020 --> 00:58:17.020 Till it came to pass. 00:58:17.020 --> 00:58:20.020 And you see the same thing with Joseph. 00:58:20.020 --> 00:58:23.020 His hands were put in shackles, his legs were put in shackles. 00:58:23.020 --> 00:58:25.020 And the word of the Lord tested him and proved him. 00:58:25.020 --> 00:58:27.020 And then he rose from here to here. 00:58:33.020 --> 00:58:36.020 Guys, I assure you because God is far too interested in you. 00:58:36.020 --> 00:58:40.020 How far too interested in the influence you have, you will have on people. 00:58:40.020 --> 00:58:43.020 You try to bypass this. 00:58:46.020 --> 00:58:48.020 It's just pointless. 00:58:52.020 --> 00:58:54.020 Moses tried to bypass it. 00:58:54.020 --> 00:58:56.020 Killed an Egyptian in the bargain. 00:59:07.020 --> 00:59:09.020 Last point. 00:59:11.020 --> 00:59:15.020 Yeah, and when you match his stride and pace, do it without fretting. 00:59:15.020 --> 00:59:17.020 Without fretting. 00:59:20.020 --> 00:59:23.020 Yeah, that word is without fretting, just in case. 00:59:23.020 --> 00:59:25.020 You can't make it out. 00:59:27.020 --> 00:59:31.020 I could write better, but then I would have to bend and that would be too much work. 00:59:31.020 --> 00:59:33.020 So that's what you get. 00:59:33.020 --> 00:59:36.020 It's Gaelic for without fretting. 00:59:41.020 --> 00:59:43.020 Last point. 00:59:43.020 --> 00:59:46.020 Recapture childlike wonder. 00:59:46.020 --> 00:59:49.020 Recapture childlike wonder. 00:59:49.020 --> 00:59:56.020 The Shehzad story that I shared was something I shared a couple of, ten days ago somewhere. 00:59:56.020 --> 01:00:00.020 But that's why it's so fresh in my mind. 01:00:00.020 --> 01:00:07.020 But after I shared that ten days ago, I thought to myself, man, I'd like to recapture childlike wonder. 01:00:07.020 --> 01:00:16.020 Where at this age, having pastored a church for a while, I must still return to childlike wonder. 01:00:16.020 --> 01:00:18.020 Not heavy stuff. 01:00:18.020 --> 01:00:20.020 Because there's a lot of heavy stuff at Axe. 01:00:20.020 --> 01:00:24.020 What if I could recapture childlike wonder and yet do heavy stuff? 01:00:26.020 --> 01:00:28.020 Childlike wonder. 01:00:28.020 --> 01:00:34.020 Because without an immediate sense of wonder about God, without an immediate sense of wonder about God, 01:00:34.020 --> 01:00:42.020 as in without an immediate sense of wonder about God, I will be dull to his long-term mandates 01:00:42.020 --> 01:00:46.020 and I will be blind to his short-term maneuvers. 01:00:46.020 --> 01:00:48.020 Without childlike wonder. 01:00:48.020 --> 01:00:52.020 Because God at the end of the day is very fatherly and very simple. 01:00:52.020 --> 01:00:59.020 You should still relish the little things with God that only come through intimacy and relationship. 01:00:59.020 --> 01:01:01.020 Little things that he does for you. 01:01:03.020 --> 01:01:07.020 Like my dad would take me to the marketplace. 01:01:07.020 --> 01:01:12.020 It was an outdoor marketplace and then I had to carry the bags. 01:01:12.020 --> 01:01:14.020 That was my job. 01:01:14.020 --> 01:01:21.020 But at the end of the day, after I've carried the bags, he'd take me to this place where they would make sugarcane juice. 01:01:21.020 --> 01:01:28.020 You take these sugarcane, put it through a machine and someone spins like this, out would come fresh sugarcane juice. 01:01:30.020 --> 01:01:33.020 Or he'd take me to a favorite restaurant where I liked a particular thing. 01:01:33.020 --> 01:01:38.020 I never knew what to expect when I went out with my dad to an outdoor marketplace. 01:01:38.020 --> 01:01:41.020 Because I knew there would be something that would be waiting. 01:01:42.020 --> 01:01:44.020 Little things. 01:01:46.020 --> 01:01:48.020 And so every marketplace experience would be, 01:01:48.020 --> 01:01:51.020 Ashak, what's going to happen? This is worth carrying the bags for. 01:01:53.020 --> 01:01:55.020 Because he never knew. 01:01:55.020 --> 01:01:57.020 Recovered childlike wonder. 01:01:57.020 --> 01:02:00.020 Without an immediate sense of wonder about God. 01:02:00.020 --> 01:02:02.020 Without an immediate sense of wonder. 01:02:02.020 --> 01:02:04.020 Not when we worship. 01:02:04.020 --> 01:02:09.020 Hey, we can never capture the wonder of God in worship if we don't know how to see it. 01:02:09.020 --> 01:02:14.020 In the little things that he does for us every few minutes of the day. 01:02:19.020 --> 01:02:25.020 Without an immediate sense of wonder about God, I will be dull to his long-term mandates and blind to his short-term maneuvers. 01:02:25.020 --> 01:02:30.020 Dull to his long-time mandates and blind to his short-time maneuvers. 01:02:33.020 --> 01:02:37.020 Diana says, can he please repeat the statement? 01:02:38.020 --> 01:02:42.020 Without an immediate sense of wonder about God, I will be dull to long-term mandates and blind to short-term maneuvers. 01:02:50.020 --> 01:02:55.020 Kevin Ray, does going back into relationship mean seeking God's presence more? 01:02:58.020 --> 01:03:00.020 No. 01:03:00.020 --> 01:03:07.020 Going back into relationship means leaning back into what you already have with the Father. 01:03:07.020 --> 01:03:12.020 Every situation at present can only be handled with what I presently have. 01:03:12.020 --> 01:03:15.020 Tomorrow I can increase in it. 01:03:15.020 --> 01:03:18.020 But what I work with today is what I have. 01:03:20.020 --> 01:03:24.020 Every crisis, every problem only exposes what I presently have. 01:03:24.020 --> 01:03:29.020 I can't become friends with you while I'm drowning. 01:03:29.020 --> 01:03:34.020 I can only trust that I am friendly enough with you and that you will save me. 01:03:48.020 --> 01:03:50.020 Let's pray. 01:03:51.020 --> 01:03:55.020 Ah shucks, it's 9.27. 01:03:57.020 --> 01:03:59.020 Sorry, not really. 01:04:01.020 --> 01:04:04.020 Father, I got three minutes to pray. 01:04:06.020 --> 01:04:09.020 Thank God we don't all turn into pumpkins at 9.30, Father. 01:04:09.020 --> 01:04:12.020 Father, so that is a really bad joke. 01:04:12.020 --> 01:04:16.020 Father, there are so many little tidbits in today's teaching. 01:04:16.020 --> 01:04:20.020 Actually, I didn't know what title to give it because it's all over the place. 01:04:20.020 --> 01:04:23.020 I wanted to call it random thoughts. 01:04:23.020 --> 01:04:28.020 But then that sounded so un-churchy that I went with Psalm 27, confident. 01:04:28.020 --> 01:04:31.020 But we just touched on the last verse of Psalm 27. 01:04:31.020 --> 01:04:33.020 And I'm going to read it again. 01:04:33.020 --> 01:04:35.020 I'm going to read it again. 01:04:35.020 --> 01:04:37.020 I'm going to read it again. 01:04:37.020 --> 01:04:39.020 I'm going to read it again. 01:04:39.020 --> 01:04:42.020 I'm going to read it again. 01:04:42.020 --> 01:04:47.020 lay so my dad is now 19.27, confident, but we just touched on the last verse of Psalm 27. 01:04:47.020 --> 01:04:49.020 So the title is just totally wrong. 01:04:49.020 --> 01:04:51.020 My dad will confess it now, Father. 01:04:51.020 --> 01:04:54.020 These are random thoughts that are brilliant. 01:05:00.020 --> 01:05:04.020 I please ask, Father, that some of these may become part of my life. 01:05:04.020 --> 01:05:10.020 power bound goodness that what I said some time ago father I don't even have 01:05:10.020 --> 01:05:15.340 it in my notes that really affected me and I pray that I can hold on to it I 01:05:15.340 --> 01:05:21.140 pray that all of us can find these random nuggets from today's teaching it 01:05:21.140 --> 01:05:29.220 it's basically that it wasn't anything else father I will see you tomorrow 01:05:29.220 --> 01:05:37.380 Palm Sunday tomorrow Jesus good to relive what you went through so we'll 01:05:37.380 --> 01:05:43.580 see you tomorrow morning strange thing is you'll see us continuously then we 01:05:43.580 --> 01:05:51.740 get together yeah I don't know how to end anyways father see ya bye 01:05:59.220 --> 01:06:28.900 Oh this is the word the Lord created I am the God who stood before