and Abraham gave the name Ishmael to the son she had born. Abraham was 86 years
old when Hagar bore him Ishmael. 17.1. When Abraham was 99 years old the Lord
appeared to him and said I'm God Almighty. Strangely there are 13 silent
years that passed between Genesis 16.16 and Genesis 17.1. 13 years it's almost
like Abraham has no visit from God. Abraham has no voice from God for 13
years. Genesis 16.16 ends with Ishmael was born and then it takes 13 years
before Abraham hears from God again. It's not that God was upset. God had already
credited to Abraham his fate as righteousness but sometimes things birth
from the flesh have to be taken care of before you can move on and birth things
of the spirit. Hear me again. Sometimes things birthed from the flesh need to be
taken care of and God will give us time to nurture that which we have brought in
flesh because that is still something that needs to be taken care of. Before
God can now begin to renew birthing things by the spirit. Ishmael was born
Ishmael needed to be taken care of. Once Ishmael was born Sarah turned. When Ishmael
was once Ishmael was born Hagar's attitude changed. Once Ishmael was born
Sarah wanted Hagar removed. Once Ishmael was born Abraham had to stand up for
Hagar and Ishmael every so often but that boy had to be taken care of because
out of that boy would come a nation. Sometimes we think God's silence in a
situation is because he's upset he's angry maybe you made a mistake.
Sometimes it's not a mistake or anger it is simply Jacob you have birthed this
I'll help you take care of it but till we are done with it I cannot go ahead
with other things of the spirit because you have birthed something in the flesh
but I will take care of that too. But what happens in the process is that you
do not hear about the things that have to be birthed of the spirit for the next
little while. We've got to beware of that. I've got to beware of that both with
the church and with what happens with what God is doing globally. The moment I
start birthing things in the spirit if you have a business be careful that you
don't start birthing things in the flesh because you will have to take care of it
and while you're taking care of it God will be on pause because he'll help you
take care of it. He doesn't abandon us because we birth a mistake.
What an odd God eh? He doesn't cut you off because you made a mistake but there's
still a consequence and the consequence is now I have to take care of what has
happened and then after that's taken care of I can get back to the things of
the spirit. I don't know how Abraham felt through 13 years of not hearing and not
having visitations from God and then suddenly in Genesis 17 it starts again.
I think it's too high a cost to pay.
As we step into what God is doing across the earth in terms of this revival and
what God is doing with the young ones between the ages of 12 and the late 30s
so that generations can be affected in the future of the earth we have to make
sure that what we birth beat in a simple service like this or beat in actions in
other parts of the world is birth from the spirit and is not flesh that it is
not sustained by flesh but we do not breathe into it we breathe the breath of
the spirit into it.
And then in Genesis 17 one God appears again as El Shaddai. The word El Shaddai
El Shaddai means there's two there's two sides to the El Shaddai coin. The first
one is the one who is sufficient the one who is sufficient and the other side is
the one who overpowers and destroys and out of these two we've come up with God
Almighty but the idea of God Almighty comes from on one hand the the fact that
he is sufficient there's nothing beyond him you don't need anything past him in
him everything is taken care of contained so on one hand you have God
Almighty he who is sufficient now the other hand you have he who can over
power and destroy nothing stands in his way and out of that comes his idea of
El Shaddai God Almighty that is the God who's involved with us and churches
connected with us in this global movement takes courage and faith for me
to say global movement because when we look at ourselves we look so small and
so ragtag and yet there is this one who is sufficient and who is someone who can
overpower and destroy everything that stands in the way and bring to pass what
he wants to and so El Shaddai appears to Abraham and then he gives Abraham a charge
just as he did us now what is the charge he gave us let me read it out and if you
have it on the screen the do you have the word on the screen that we can read
together yeah
let's read out the word that he gave us the charge that he gave us it's a charge
sometimes in thinking things are prophetic we forget that it is a charge
it's a charge as in this is what I'm charging you with so here's what it says
and let's read it together it's on dawn okay and here's a charge he is giving me
he's a charge he's giving you so don't be afraid I am with you for I will pour
water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground I will pour out my
spirit on your offspring and my blessing on your descendants I will bring your
children from the east and gather them from the west I'll send orders north and
south I'll say to the north give them up and to the south do not hold them back
return my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth I
want them back every last one of them who bears my name every man woman and
child whom I created for my glory how wonderful and beautiful they will be the
young men will thrive on abundant grain and the young women will flourish on new
wine they will spring up among the grass like willows by watercourses you will
raise up young men and young women bishops and strong apostolic ministry
strong teachers going out from your company and they will reproduce this
anointing your young people will freely join you at the break of dawn with all
the vigor of youth resplendent and holy armor on the day of your conquest that
is a charge he's given us when you're given a charge and when God is saying
he'll do it the way you receive a charge is to read it as if you were saying it
so one of the ways you read this is to change it as if you were saying it as
in I'm gonna bring children from East and gather them from the West I am
saying to the north and the south give them up I'm saying this to the south do
not hold them back I'm saying return the sons from afar and daughters from the
ends of the earth I'm saying I want them back every last one who bears the name
of Jesus every man woman and child created for its glory you begin to
declare it because it's a charge given to you whenever a charge is given to it
is I'm giving this to you so that you can steward it so God gives Abraham a
charge and there are two imperatives in this charge and I'm gonna just write
them down and it's the same thing that's being given to us today so Genesis 17 is
a pattern for us so here are the two imperatives yeah how do you know you
have birthed something from the flesh it doesn't profit it needs a lot of taking
care of in terms of your own sweat things that are birthed by the spirit
the question is how do you know things that are birthed by the flesh here's how
we distinguish it one we look back and see how it was produced what it produced
by the word of God and nothing that is when you know something is off the
spirit most things that are produced of the spirit are the word of God and
nothing second things that are produced by the spirit have very little of your
sweat involved in it your work is the diligence that you show in fulfilling
what God has asked you to do there's no striving no self-effort no
manipulation no creating a bread out of stones even though you have the power to
the most significant aspect of things that are created by the spirit is that
everything that is created by the spirit is made up of just two things the
word of God and nothing either the word in Logos form or the word in Rhema form
and nothing else when things are made of anything else put in the mix then you
will have to sweat to sustain it when things are made of the spirit there is
the life of the spirit that sustains it that brings it to fruition that brings
it to completion you're so helpless when things are birthed by the spirit that
you are only a participant as you are directed because there's nothing you can
do your diligence and work ethic is seen in your obedience and your ability to
endure the long haul that aside what results from the flesh has to be
sustained by the flesh you have to put in the work you'll also find that things
that are birthed in the flesh have a tendency to decay John 6 63 the flesh
profits nothing it decays the spirit gives life you'll find that the things
produced in the flesh will turn upon the things produced by the spirit you see
this in churches you see this in denominations you see this in
Christianity you see this in the kingdom the very things produced by the flesh
now turn against the things produced by the spirit because things produced by
the flesh are slave to the world things produced by the spirit get their orders
from somewhere else a whole different system things produced by the flesh do
not require faith things produced by the spirit require oodles of faith
things produced by the flesh are dependent for survival on the systems of the earth and on
things produced by the flesh create fear things produced by the spirit create helplessness
there are two imperatives it was any other question or just one okay done it okay so
God charges Abraham with two imperatives the first one is walk before me and the second
is be blameless these are the two imperatives given to Abraham and it's the same thing that's
being given to us today walk before me be blameless walk before me be blameless and if we do then God
says there are two resultant God actions and the God actions are I will establish my promise I
will multiply you or I will make you fruitful and with regard to this global movement where
at least two generations are going to be affected because of the thousands and thousands and thousands
of ordinary 12s to late 30s that will be drawn into the kingdom city by city nation by nation
church by church that will suddenly recognize that will suddenly taste and recognize God is
so absolutely attainable so present that promise that God wants to establish and that promise
that he wants to multiply across the earth while not dependent on us if we walk before him and if
we are blameless before him we will be able to participate in it fully and I have every intention
of us doing that and so let's look at the two charges that have been given to us guys although
God's covenants are unilateralism as in he's the one who initiates it he's the one who establishes
it and sustains it although God's covenants are unilateral it needs accountability from both partners
it needs accountability from both partners so here is what God is saying to Abraham Abraham if
you conduct yourself this way I will establish and multiply you and he's saying that to Acts
29 Acts 29 if you conduct yourself this way I'll establish the promise I've given you and multiply
you and you can be full full-fledged partners with me in what I'm doing I'll do it anyways because
I'm gonna avert disaster on earth I'm gonna rescue generations I'm giving you first dibs at this but
if you conduct yourself like this I'll have you as full partners walking with me so let's look at
walk before me first what does it mean to walk before me it's not walk behind me it's not follow
me it's not walk with me it is walk before me what do you mean walk before me to walk before me
means walk faithfully before my eyes walk faithfully before my eyes before my eyes walk faithfully
before my eyes as in someone walking in front and God is watching as you walk and he's saying
walk before me and the idea is that of a devoted faithful servant devoted faithful servant to
king devoted faithful servant to the king that's Bronx the idea servant to the king that's the
sense of the word walk before me like a devoted faithful servant to the king the word faithfulness
has perhaps three components to it and here are the three components fidelity as in the best way
to describe fidelity is to think of what infidelity is and then think of the opposite fidelity obedience
endurance fidelity obedience endurance that describes faithfulness to be faithful is to
have a fidelity to someone that you are being faithful to not out of fear but out of an alignment
of heart obedience is part of faithfulness because you cannot be faithful without being obedient
because if you are not obedient what are you being faithful to and the third one is endurance
because it is insufficient to be obedient or to have fidelity for a certain period of time or during
a time when things are really going well what about the times when things are dry when nothing
is happening these are the three things that make up faithfulness and to walk before me God is saying
hey can you walk faithfully before my eyes like a devoted faithful servant walks before the king
just walk faithfully before my eyes let me give you examples to help you understand people like
this first example that comes to mind Elisha guy knew how to walk before Elijah I tell you these
names and you'll get an idea of what I mean by walk when God says walk before me Elisha won't
leave man second Kings chapter 2 being told again and again stop go back you've come as far as
Jericho you've come as far as Gilgal you've come as far as the Jordan leave but he will not leave
he walks before him saying come what may I am not leaving I'm gonna walk with you it is this
commitment that is so intense that nothing phases you you leave family possessions wealth work to
follow the one that you have committed to is this a big ask not really when compared to what Jesus
did for us but is it a big ask in today's world yes the strange thing is even though we call it
radical Christianity the Bible says once you've done this you should sit at the table and say to
the Lord but we are nothing but unprofitable servants who have just done our duty this idea
radical Christianity exists because the rest of Christianity is very non radical
Elisha is the first example ponder on this a later another guy that you haven't perhaps read or
heard of for a while is John a dab or Jehoene a dab he's in Jeremiah 35 John a dab of the
recobites John a dab of the recobites Jeremiah 35 Jeremiah 35 these people give flesh to the
word walk before me in faithfulness Jeremiah 35 this is the word that came to Jeremiah from the
Lord during the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah go to the recabyte family invite
them to come to one of the side rooms of the house of the Lord and give them wine to drink
verse 5 then I said bowls of full of wine and some cups before the men of rec the recabyte family
and said to them drink some wine but they replied we do not drink wine because our forefather John
a dab son of recab gave us this command neither you nor your descendants must ever drink wine
was 12 then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah saying this is what the Lord Almighty the God of
Israel says go and tell the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will you not learn a lesson
and obey my words John a dab son of recab ordered his sons not to drink wine and his command has
been kept to this day they do not drink wine because they obey their forefathers command but
I've spoken to you again and again yet you have not obeyed was 18 then Jeremiah said to the family
of the recubites this is what the Lord Almighty the God of Israel says you have obeyed the command
of your forefather John a dab and I followed all his instructions and I've done everything he
ordered therefore this is what the Lord Almighty the God of Israel says John a dab son of recab
will never fail to have a man to serve me this is the idea that here is Jeremiah one of the greatest
prophets that lived and he calls the recubites on the command of God and says hey guys here have a
drink and they said no despite being told by a man who is supposed to be the ultimate prophet that
was alive at that time why because they had committed to obedience to a command given to
their father by God for them as a tribe to keep this is what walk before me faithfully looks like
another picture is that of John the only disciple that was there at the cross John's gospel is the
only gospel that is a true witness account of the crucifixion everybody else had to get their
version from somewhere else but John what he says about the crucifixion and what happened from
Jerusalem to the cross and thereafter was a true eyewitness account because he was the only one
who was there man which is why in John chapter 19 verse 27 Jesus has the ability now to hand his
mother over to John and say mother here is your son woman here is your son son here is your mother
and he hands her over walk before me here was an allegiance or an affinity of heart in this young
man's life that had him stand there even though he ran from Gethsemane he finds his way way back
into the very thick of things where everyone else had disappeared and he was the younger of the
bunch a the youngest probably and then there is Paul that guy was something else man once he would
have a heavenly vision he would not budge from it guys remember one thing and I remind myself
again and again and again Jacob once you have received something you know is of God it is not
open to amendment the only one who can amend it is the Holy Spirit no one else has the right to
amend it neither your mentors nor your friends nor the church nor the world nor any pressure
your mentors can ask questions and say but why are you doing this how does it line up with
scripture how does it line up with how the kingdom works but once you have clarified how
it works and you just can't say oh God said now anything God says must match up with scripture
but you can't amend it I love what Paul says in Acts chapter 26 Acts 26 he's talking to King
Agrippa and he says at one point in the message it says tell me King Agrippa how can I be disobedient
to the heavenly vision so let me read Acts 26 verse maybe 14 to 20 Acts 26 14 to 20 we all
fell to the ground and I heard a voice I'm reading from the NIV and I heard a voice saying to me in
Aramaic Saul Saul why do you persecute me it is hard for you to kick against the goats then I
asked who are you Lord I'm Jesus whom you are persecuting the Lord replied now get up and stand
up on your feet I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have
seen and will see of me I will rescue you from your own people from the Gentiles I'm sending you
to them to open their eyes turn them from darkness to light from the power of Satan to God so that
they may receive forgiveness of sins in a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me so
then King Agrippa I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven let's read the same thing from
the message starting at verse 14 we fell flat on our faces then I heard a voice in Hebrew Saul
Saul why are you out to get me why do you insist on going against the grain I said who are you
master the voice answered I'm Jesus the one you're hunting down like an animal verse 16 but now up on
your feet I have a job for you listen to this acts 29 these are words for us these are words for us
these are words for us church listen to this but now up on your feet I have a job for you I've
hand-picked you to be a servant and witness to what's happened today and to what I'm going to
show you I'm sending you off to open the eyes of the outsiders so that they can see the difference
between dark and light and choose light see the difference between Satan and God and choose God
I'm sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven and a place in the family inviting them
into the company of those who begin real living but believing me what could I do King Agrippa I
couldn't just walk away from a vision like that I became an obedient believer on the spot I started
treating this life change this radical turn to God and everything it meant in everyday life right
there in Damascus and then went on to Jerusalem and the surrounding countryside and from there to
the whole world this should be like an anthem for us it's not possible man to be disobedient to the
heavenly vision once it is given that this is what is meant by walk before me faithfully so that's
what walk before me faithfully means let's look at what it means to be blameless
what does it mean to be blameless so the first thing is blameless is not sinless blameless is
not sinless take that to heart blameless is not sinless blameless is a reflection of God's
character so it would be like you're looking into a pool of fresh crystal water and you'll
see a reflection of God's character reflection of God's nature that's what blameless looks like so
how do we define blameless then we define blameless as very little gap between profession and
practice very little gap in God's case it's no gap very little gap between what you profess
and what you practice very little gap and I've said this before at least many of you have heard
this before but the word sincere comes from a Latin word sign seer which basically means
without wax and the way the word came about is in those days they used to sculpt beautiful statues
and some were done by master craftsmen and then they would be taken and they would they would just
try to make copies of this and people who are not skilled at making statues would make statues out
of clay and eventually once they've made it cracks would appear in the clay and the way they would
cover the cracks the cracks was to take wax and put it on the cracks so that it doesn't look like
there are cracks and then what would happen is you would take these statues home and you would put
them next to your fireplace but you didn't have light then and halfway through the night you would
see the wax begin to melt off the statues and so statues made by master sculptors would carry a
tag which said sign seer which means without wax and that's how the word sincere came to pass I
love the story because we are called to be without wax blameless without wax there must be very little
gap between what I profess and what I practice I must bridge that gap I must bridge that gap in
any area where I think and know something and where I am NOT that we'll talk about that but the idea
blameless is one very little gap between what you profess and practice to a transparent honest life
a transparent honest lifestyle very hard eh both these words are so hard to live out a transparent
honest lifestyle this was what was said of job the job was a blameless man what it means when it says
job was a blameless man was to say job one one says that job was a blameless man hasn't there was
something about him where what he said was what he practiced that he was honest and transparent
that he was unblameable in the way he lived a life according to the standards of holiness that
existed then the same thing is said of Enoch so much so that in Genesis 524 Enoch was so blameless
in his ways that he got rescued from the process of death that is his 524 and then Enoch walked with
God and he was not because of how blameless he was this is highly valued in the eyes of God the
same thing is said of Noah Genesis chapter 6 verse 9 that Noah was blameless before God and he got
rescued out of the flood there is something that connects blamelessness with salvation and therefore
a blameless people are really good at at serving salvation to not only do they experience salvation
when you whatever you experience you can then distribute otherwise you've got to go buy it from
somewhere there's a connection between being blameless and enjoying the benefits of salvation
so the thoughts that I had with regard to how to then Jacob begin to act blameless is
Micah 6 8 Micah 6 8 how will this church learn how to walk blamelessly practice Micah 6 8
act justly show mercy do justly show mercy and what's the last one walk humbly beautifully
act justly or do justly show mercy walk humbly or Philippians 2 14 and 15 I learned this when
I used to teach Sunday school in Bahrain there was a song by I forgot the name of the group kids
group it says do everything without complaining do everything without arguing so that you may
become blameless and pure children of God without complaining and arguing do do everybody together
now everything the point being one of the ways that we can walk in blamelessness and this is
so fascinating is by not complaining and not arguing very odd a that complaining and arguing
unravels blameless living these are practical ways you can begin to work out and then the last one
is Psalm 15 Psalm 15 verse 1 & 2 what I found fascinating about Psalm 15 verse 1 & 2 is that
blamelessness in Psalm 15 verse 1 & 2 is absolutely connected with the words I speak it says hey
Jacob are you someone who lies are you someone who deceives are you someone who speaks harshly
are you someone who uses your words to slander to gossip are you someone who does that because if
you don't do that can someone open the door for Jane if you don't do that then you are blameless
there's something that our words have to do with blamelessness try practicing this church
bridge the gap a wherever you find a gap between what you profess and what you practice bridge the
gap blessed are you if you have people who will point it out if you don't have people who you who
will point it out ask yourself the question why don't I have people that pointed out let me say
it again bridge the gap between what you practice and what you profess and if you do not have and
blessed are you if you have people that pointed out and if you don't have people that pointed out
then ask yourself the question why don't I have people that pointed out stop there
bridge the gap bridge the gap between what I know and how I behave bridge the gap between
what I know and how I behave bridge the gap between what I face and how I respond and bridge
the gap between what I know God is calling me to become and where I am presently these are three
areas where it'll be great to be blameless one bridge the gap between what I know and how I
behave I know I have to be kinder I'm not pulling out examples out of the air and trying to do a
hypothetical I'm talking about real stuff in my life because I went through this list so I know
I need to be kinder I'm part of kindness includes being patient but it is one thing to know it Jacob
how you doing in terms of behaving and when I catch myself finding knowing that yeah I know
I should be kinder but I'm not behaving kindly I realize there's a gap and that gap if it's not
bridged doesn't bring me into a place of blamelessness please examine yourself you know have you noticed
how when I tell you a fault in my life hunt I usually tell you a fault that presently exists
I don't tell you a fault that existed six months ago that I have fixed that's a tendency we have
we talk about faults that we fixed six months ago and now you have come to a place where you're
godly nothing wrong with that that's a good thing but sometimes it's important to pinpoint
faults that presently exist because now people know whether you're actually changing or not
otherwise people know only after you have changed and then they doubted too the next one is stimulus
response how am I doing with things that come against me and am I responding to it correctly
I find that there are so many situations that are coming in my life where when the stimulus comes
I am not in a place of rest and therefore I'm not able to exert the kind of faith I want to and I'm
working hard at it so that anything that comes my way the first place I'll go to is rest so that I
can exert faith and respond it is impossible to exert faith without moving into a place of rest
faith that does not come out of rest flails like crazy quoting scripture hanging on for dear life
hoping that God will come to that in faith man that's a desperate Hail Mary and then there's
a prophetic and the present bridge that gap what has God said about who he is saying you are what
he's calling into and then you look at your present and I have a word called disco doubt that's a
mixture of this discouragement and doubt not important it's just something that I occasionally
use disco doubt is when I'm both discouraged and I'm beginning to doubt because what God said it
ain't happening and I'm thinking to myself did God really say this man because nothing is happening
what the prophetic my prophetic and the present don't watch a match and it begins to become
discouraging and I begin to doubt it and that is something that I want to bridge the gap between
where I do not go here where I will not be discouraged I will not doubt I'm just giving
you three areas in my life bridge the gap I'm excited about being blameless because I know
being blameless go ahead Jane you can still go through without being on camera yeah Jane is
passing by can you see her can you see her can you see her can you see her no you can't okay
so whenever there's a gap invite sorry whenever there's a gap identify it after you identify it
confess it as and tell someone about it I tell God yes but if you have someone you can tell tell
them about it so they are aware of it invite the Holy Spirit into it invite the Holy Spirit into
it and then delight in repairing it delight in repairing it delight in repairing it delight in
repairing it guys gaps you must you must be delighted to repair it I'm delighted to be
blameless in these three areas I'm delighted to be kinder delighted to walk into a place of rest
delighted to not be discouraged when things take time always remember guys when it comes to
Christianity delight must proceed discipline delight must proceed discipline if you first say
oh I've got to be disciplined in this I've got to practice this without delight in it man it'll
turn to sawdust in your mouth you know why athletes are able to discipline themselves the way they do
because they delight in the sport they are playing they love their hockey or they love their running
or they love their swimming and the love is so intense that any amount of discipline does not
hurt it's only in Christianity it seems like oh I got to do this somehow because the Lord will
bless me or the Lord will do this for me I got to if there is no delight discipline sucks because
it's so not fun doing it it's like recycling unless you're delighted in recycling which some
people strangely are they'll have these neat bags a brown bag a green bag a red bag I'm so
confused by the bags right now let me conclude one of the ways we repair gaps is by finding out
father is there a principle I can introduce into this gap is there a promise that I can introduce
father can you give me the faith I need to restore myself to a place of absolute kindness
where out of me will flow Micah 6 8 show mercy walk humbly show mercy walk humbly show mercy
walk humbly oh God there's a principle there there's a promise there I'm going to exert faith for
restoration in that area and then immediately start practicing it eh and if necessary seek the
help of others but bridge the gap why is this important because there are two imperatives God
is giving us one he's saying hey guys walk before me second be blameless and what will happen if
we follow these two things I will establish my promise and I will make sure that after
establishing my promise I will multiply you three things happen to Abraham after this incident one
instead of God promising him a son God promises him thousands and thousands of descendants and
then promises him a son in Genesis 15 God promised him a son and then said there'll be thousands of
descendants in Genesis 17 God reverses it he says I'm going to give you thousands and thousands of
descendants and then he says I'm going to also give you a specific son I think that's some of
the one of the things God wants to say to accident actually and it's really not about you I'm going
to create thousands and thousands of people that come out of what you will be doing oh and by the
way I'll bless you too go ahead yeah say that again yeah how can we depend on God to show up
when we are how can we depend on God how can we depend on God to show up when we are learning
to rest in something that has a short worldly timeline yeah so when things have a short worldly
timeline I do two things one I regardless depend on God and except him expect him to show up because
he knows it's a short worldly timeline and then the second thing is I diffuse the short worldly
timeline and do not accept the pressure of the short worldly timeline because that makes me
frantic and then the third thing I do is having done everything I now make the decision as best
as I can because the decision has to be made and I trust God for the outcome because I've done
everything I'm required to do I'm not resting this is a very hard statement to make and it's
often untrue of me but in the back of my head I know this I'm not resting and walking in faith
because I want an answer I'm resting and walking in faith because it pleases my father it's easier
said harder to walk it but here's the thing I'm not resting how walking in faith because I deserve
an answer now that I've met that contractual obligation I am resting and walking in faith
because I know that it pleases my father the outcome then is usually splendid because he
says that I let the lines fall in pleasant places it's one of the hardest Christian disciplines
to be able to trust the father and not get the results you want and not be upset about it
resentful about it regretting the trust you put or questioning the trust you put it is one of the
hardest things to do it's legitimately hard they Jesus at one point said if it is your will can
you let this cup pass but at least in the back of our heads if we establish that as a as a solid
bedrock we can always go back to it one of the things God does to Abraham after he gives him
this promise as he changes his name it's in Genesis 17 that his name changes from Abraham to
Abraham I want to say to us that there is a name change coming for us I'm not talking about changing
the name of Acts 29 I'm just saying a name change is coming our way there will be a difference in
character there will be a difference in the way we worship the flavor of our worship the flavor
of our approach to the world the flavor of our mission our work how we engage things will change
there is a name change coming our third thing Abraham has happened to him with God is God
confirms the agreement that he has signed with a mark and in Abrams case it's circumcision and
God does that a whenever he starts something new he always confirms it with a sign be it the rainbow
be it circumcision be it the mark on Cain's head when Cain rebelled and fled to the desert
God put a mark on him or be it Aaron's staff that budded so people knew who had authority
God always gives a confirming sign my desire is that God give us corporately a sign of his intent
I've personally experienced so many unmistakable undoubtable signs over the last three or four
weeks in my life some of them is the reason I'm saying things like global movement revival I
wouldn't dare say these words man if it wasn't for the fact that God has confirmed these things I
remember after God showed up and did something that I that makes it hard for me to doubt his
intent I remember writing down you have kept your side of the bargain Lord and now you can have my
money my time my will my strength and do as you please with it and I will obey I have no reason to
hold back from you you must have all of me all the time oh gracious God oh sovereign one I wrote
that down after I was so sure that shucks God you're up to this and you're involving us I pray that
we have a corporate witness that we can look back and said we remember the day God did that and we
know that for sure yeah we might have a midweek meeting just wanted to give you a heads up on
that I don't know when during the week but we most likely will have a midweek meeting and then
we'll have the speak services on Saturday otherwise we are done so let me just pray
gosh man it's only two hours what's happening to me okay
changes changes okay let's pray
father I want us to say to you that we want to walk before you like Elisha did like John
like John your disciple did I like Paul obedient fidelity because of a heart-to-heart alignment
endurance unable to amend or disobey the heavenly vision that you have given us that you have given
me I want to walk before you I want to walk before you with your eye on us I want to give
you what you deserve I want us to give you what you deserve it's a privilege it's an honor thank
you for as it says in the message version of acts 26 thank you for choosing us for this we're grateful
and then we want to be blameless you want to be blameless could you look at all the the entirety
of the church and those connected with us and could you give us this gift to God Holy Spirit
could you give us this gift of a desire for blamelessness could you could you give me this
gift of being transparent of being honest of the gap between what I profess and what I practice
becoming so narrow that even Jeremy wouldn't be able to squeeze in between could you do that ABBA
I want this blamelessness I want for acts 29 what it means to be like job my god that guy
had audacity he sat there for days on end covered with sores and boils under the barrage of words
that were legit that his friends were speaking but yet were not legit because he knew he was
blameless before you what courage about what audacity but I am blameless I'm blameless I'm
blameless job 29 or job 19 he talks about his blamelessness oh god if I could begin to say
those words or like Enoch who walked with you father it is that desire it is a burning desire
to walk with you not being absent but being present walking with you or like Noah called
to build things that can rescue the earth Jesus grant your people see you are the one who's
initiating these desires so I'm quite confident that you can complete these desires too we put
down complaining and arguing I put it down we put down unjust acts unkindness lack of mercy
lack of humility we put down our words that do not honor people honor you oh god give us
blamelessness what would it look like if my life was actually transparent and honest ah if I'm
already a sweet smelling offering my godfather what would it be like if these things were added
and offered could you do this for us as a church please so that you can change our name happily
so they can change our name happily but more than that so that you can do the two God actions that
result when a people walk before you and are blameless and the two God actions are I will
establish my promise and I will multiply you thousands upon thousands upon thousands because
you said that we will be for bringers of a revival that will be followed by the wind and
the fire of the spirit this revival will be different because it will not just be about
power but it'll be about a purity and a devotion that the earth has not seen two words you use
purity and devotion blamelessness and walking before you
Sheldon could you sit on the keyboard and we'll sing an old song called
for it's only in played on D your will that I am free Jesus all for Jesus all I am and have
and evermore shall be should we sing that
church sing it a let it be a prayer closing song
Jesus all for Jesus all I am and have and evermore shall be
Jesus all for Jesus all I am and have and ever hope to be
all of my ambitions hopes and plans I surrender these into your hand
all of my ambitions hopes and plans I surrender all into your hand
for it's only in your will that I am free for it's only in your will that I am free
Jesus all for Jesus all I am and have and ever hope to be
here's the benediction perhaps you should rise up to your feet even at home and in here why
because it says so that's the only reason why Acts chapter 26 verse 16 to 20 from the message but
now up on your feet I have a job for you I've hand-picked you to be a servant and a witness
to what's happened today and to what I'm going to show you but now up on your feet I have a job
for you I have hand-picked you to be a servant and witness to what's happened today and to what I'm
going to show you I'm sending you off I'm sending you off to open the eyes of the outsiders so they
can see the difference between dark and light and choose light see the difference between Satan and
God and choose God I'm sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven and a place in the
family inviting them into the company of those who begin real living but believing in me what
could I do King Agrippa I couldn't just walk away from a vision like that I became an obedient
believer on the spot I started preaching this life change this radical turn to God and everything
it meant in everyday life right there in Damascus then went on to Jerusalem and the surrounding
countryside and from there to the whole world bless you guys keep an eye out for the midweek meeting