WEBVTT

NOTE
Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver
Episode: Take Your Rightful Place – Part 1
Publishing Date: 2024-01-07T05:00:44-08:00
Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca
Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/take-your-rightful-place-part-1/

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We said last week, can I have the volume down a little?

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Because it's echoing out here.

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Yeah, last week we said we'd start with this new series

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called Take Your Rightful Place.

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And so we started that today.

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We can't get that TV to work and connect with the iPad,

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so you won't see any notes there unless Matt Dirks or Jeremy

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fixes it.

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So I'll speak kind of slowly and see if we can still

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have the notes written down.

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But I can't write them and you won't see them.

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Yeah, so Take Your Rightful Place

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is the series we'll be doing for the next little while.

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Let's just pray.

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Father, New Year, new series.

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Trying to establish where we should stand, not where we stand,

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where we should stand.

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Take Your Rightful Place.

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It's a command.

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It's an invitation.

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It's both.

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On one hand, you're inviting us saying, hey,

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come take your rightful place.

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On the other hand, you're commanding

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because you have the right, because you bought our lives.

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If we call you Lord, then you are master.

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You're saying, come take your rightful place.

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So as we start these series, open our hearts, open our minds,

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open our spirits, open my mouth so that I may speak things,

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Father, that are from you, and so that we may hear things

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that are from your spirit.

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We ask for this, Father.

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In Jesus' name, amen.

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OK, so guys, today we are only going

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to talk about taking your rightful place with the Father.

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Taking your rightful place with the Father.

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How should we position ourselves with the Father?

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Taking your rightful place with the Father.

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That's what we'll talk about today.

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So it isn't enough that we know that God is love.

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It isn't enough that we know God is love.

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The question is, are you drowning in it,

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or are you wading in it?

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Wading ankle deep.

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Most of us are either ankle deep or knee deep or waist deep

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in His love.

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And if you're waist deep, you're doing really well.

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Almost none of us are drowning in His love.

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Because if I was drowning in His love,

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my very way would be different, and you would notice it.

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So none of us are drowning in His love.

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We may at best be wading ankle deep,

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or some of us may be wading waist deep, but not drowning.

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And if we don't drown in His love,

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then we can't show what His love is.

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And so to take your rightful place, hey, Daddy Nee-ee.

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How are you?

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We showed the picture earlier on today of Anna.

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So some of us may even hesitate to plunge into God's love.

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We've gotten a taste of it when we got saved.

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Strangely enough, not everybody here

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has experienced first love with God.

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We just assume it, that everybody

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knows what first love is.

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More and more, first love is becoming rarer,

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because nowadays people get saved because they say a prayer.

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You need so much more than a prayer to experience first love.

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Salvation is not a prayer.

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Salvation is sickening sorrow about sin,

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and then great relief because of someone

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who is saving you from it.

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It is the same thing that happened to the woman who

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comes into Simon's house and begins to weep.

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And Jesus' comment is, she has much forgiven.

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Therefore, she has been extravagant with the way

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she has responded.

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That's first love.

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So neither should we assume that we know first love.

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And it doesn't mean that just because you're older,

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you know first love.

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Was there sickening sorrow?

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And was there great relief?

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And if not, at some point in our lives,

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we need to feel it again.

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Only then can we begin the process

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of going from wading ankle deep to wading knee deep

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to actually drowning in his love,

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taking a plunge recklessly into that love.

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That song, Reckless Love, has had so much backlash,

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because people don't like the word reckless.

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I mean, the stuff we get stuck about, eh?

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Revolving in pursuit of your thing in So Will I

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and Reckless Love.

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People don't like it.

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Look at the rest of the song.

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The way God loves is reckless.

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He has no caution in his love.

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He has no caution in his love.

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He would be wise to be cautious because of the grief

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that we cause him.

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But he is reckless.

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Don't worry, Betty.

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I won't ask you to sing it right now.

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But at the end of the service, it's a possibility.

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In Song of Songs, there's this.

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And so that's what we want to talk about.

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Take your rightful place.

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And so it's not me saying take your rightful place.

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It's God saying, hey, guys, take your rightful place

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in my love.

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Hey, Emmanuel, you just said earlier on, says God,

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that nothing is better than me.

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Well then, take your rightful place

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and begin to drown in my love.

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In Song of Songs, chapter one, verse six,

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there's this great shepherd king who falls in love

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with a common peasant woman.

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That's the story of the Song of Songs.

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There's this great shepherd king who falls in love

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with a common peasant woman.

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And he begins to look at her.

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And she's uncomfortable with his gaze.

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She's uncomfortable with his gaze.

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She's uncomfortable with his gaze.

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And she feels unworthy.

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At some point during the Song of Songs,

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she begins to protest.

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And she says, don't gaze at me because I am dark.

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That's her statement.

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Don't gaze at me because I'm dark.

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And his response is, but you are my fair one.

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You are beautiful.

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And the very idea of the Song of Songs

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is the way to us that there'll be so many times in a day

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that you think you are not worthy.

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And because you think you're not worthy,

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you can't stand my gaze.

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And you will say stuff like, don't gaze at me

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because I'm dark, she says.

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And his response, the shepherd's king responses

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in chapter one, verse 15 is, but you are my fair one.

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You are beautiful.

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Our response is, but it's not real.

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Others have said that and let me down.

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But the thing is, guys, when it comes to God as father,

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a damaged or distorted copy does not

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and cannot destroy the original.

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A damaged or distorted copy cannot

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and will not destroy the original.

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It's not possible.

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We can't superimpose a father, a mother,

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a pastor, a parent onto God.

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We can impose God on them,

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but we can't impose them on God

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because the original never is distorted.

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And so when you start measuring God by your experience

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with your father or your pastor or your spiritual mentor

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or your dad or your mom or someone that you trusted,

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God's always gonna come out looking ugly

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because your pastor, your father, your mother,

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your spiritual father or mother is definitely ugly.

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So here are some statements God wants to make to us.

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And in these statements,

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I mean, before we go there,

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one of the things we have to ask and please be,

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one of the problems with charismatic Christianity

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is we have this thing called, I'm a child of God.

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Nice, that's good, you are.

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But how do you really feel inside?

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There are days when you don't feel like I'm a child of God.

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Not because you are not, but because nothing feels right.

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Times like that, we have to be starkly honest

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and not maintain a positional integrity,

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but I am a child of God.

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No, your statement should be, I am a child of God,

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but I just want you to know that I don't feel like that

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at all and you are very distant.

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It doesn't change the truth,

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but it at least expresses how you feel.

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There is no decent relationship without honesty.

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There is no decent relationship without honesty.

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And with God, if we are not honest,

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who can we be honest with?

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Because he's the only one

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who really knows the condition of our hearts.

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Pardon?

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Not really.

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According to Paul, my conscience itself

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is not good enough.

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Paul says, my conscience may not condemn me,

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but it means nothing,

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because the only one who knows my heart is me.

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The only one who knows my heart is God,

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because even my conscience,

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if it says I'm clean, doesn't mean I'm clean.

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Yeah.

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Sometimes even when I think,

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this is why in Book of Proverbs, it puts it this way.

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Man thinks his ways is right,

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but God weighs his ways

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and knows whether he's right or wrong.

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So if I'm not able to be honest in my relationship

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and tell him what I feel,

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because he has the ability to take blows.

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It's just like you as a parent.

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When you as a parent have your child sometimes saying,

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no, you don't love me and all this stuff,

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it doesn't end your life,

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because you're a parent, you know better.

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We have to be starkly honest with God.

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So one of the questions we have to ask is,

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really, how are we functioning?

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Am I functioning 40%, 50%, 60% of the day as an orphan,

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or am I functioning 40, 50, 60% as a son?

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On a daily basis, if I took 12 hours of a day,

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how am I really functioning?

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Is my identity that of a son or that of an orphan?

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Just take 12 hours that you're awake

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and compare yourself to Judah or to Emmanuel or to,

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it's amazing.

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By the time they get to Phoebe and Mia's age,

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things begin to change.

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It's crazy what's happened to the earth,

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because of one man's sin.

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By the time they get to Mia and Phoebe's age,

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things begin to change.

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By the time they get to Phoebe's age,

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things begin to change.

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But Judah, Emmanuel, they don't know better.

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That's what 24-7 son or daughter looks like.

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So is my identity that of an orphan or that of a son?

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If you could write down how you think,

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if God was saying this to you,

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if you could write down how you think I think of you,

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what would it really sound like?

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Past the Christianese, past the cliches.

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If you could actually write down

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how you think I think of you,

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what would you write down?

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If we could sing no song,

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if we could borrow nothing from Bethel

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or Elevation or Hillsong,

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if you could use none of their words,

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but you wrote down,

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and we can't use phrases and cliches like,

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I'm a son of God, I'm a child of God.

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What do you really feel?

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What would you write down?

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And it'll be different for different people.

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And it'll be different at different times.

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That's the other thing.

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There'll be times after worship where you're weeping,

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and you can say the splendidest things.

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And then there are other times where,

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like an orphan, I feel abandoned.

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I know it's not true,

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but the feeling is one of where are you or God?

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That's orphanhood.

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Abandonment at any moment,

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any time of the day in your life

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is an identity of an orphan.

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Jesus had it on one occasion,

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not because he was an orphan,

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but because he was cut off.

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Where he cries out,

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my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

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Because he actually knew he was cut off.

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It wasn't a feeling, it was a knowing

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that at this moment he is absent

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because I am bearing everything that is sinful.

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He became sin that,

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he became sin, who knew no sin,

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that I might become his righteousness.

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I was trying to write this down

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at different times in my life.

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I write down what I actually think of him.

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And then, I've said this before,

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try writing Psalms like that, eh?

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On days when you're feeling not all that good about God,

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start writing a Psalm.

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Start off with, oh God, where are you?

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I feel like you're very distant.

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I feel this, that, and the other.

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And then, as you keep writing,

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promises begin to come up.

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The truth of God begins to come up.

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And as you go towards the second half of the Psalm,

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already things are rising in your heart like David does.

00:14:30.920 --> 00:14:32.720
By the time it gets to the end of the Psalm,

00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:36.360
oh God, how foolish of me to think that you were distant.

00:14:36.360 --> 00:14:37.360
You are right here.

00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:40.600
You are someone who I care for, someone who loves me.

00:14:40.600 --> 00:14:42.880
I experience a love.

00:14:42.880 --> 00:14:46.200
Just as I experience the feeling of not being there.

00:14:46.200 --> 00:14:48.840
Right now, there's nobody else that is closer than you.

00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:52.480
I mean, when I think of what David did,

00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:55.960
I was reading 1 Samuel recently.

00:14:55.960 --> 00:14:59.040
The guy actually is walking around,

00:14:59.040 --> 00:15:02.400
and he sees a woman, and he wants her, he takes her.

00:15:02.400 --> 00:15:06.360
After he takes her, he then hopes

00:15:06.360 --> 00:15:09.160
to get her husband to sleep with her.

00:15:09.160 --> 00:15:10.760
I'm in the height of deception.

00:15:10.760 --> 00:15:14.200
He gets her husband home from the battlefield,

00:15:14.200 --> 00:15:15.560
says, you need to go home.

00:15:15.560 --> 00:15:16.920
The guy doesn't go home.

00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:18.440
The guy doesn't go home,

00:15:18.440 --> 00:15:21.320
because he says, I can't live a life of comfort

00:15:21.320 --> 00:15:25.160
when my comrades are fighting on the front.

00:15:25.160 --> 00:15:28.360
So he gets him drunk, hoping that if the guy gets drunk,

00:15:28.360 --> 00:15:30.080
he'll go home and sleep with his wife.

00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:31.560
Ain't happening.

00:15:31.560 --> 00:15:32.680
What is David trying to do?

00:15:32.680 --> 00:15:36.080
Cover up the fact that he has now gotten

00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:37.960
another man's wife pregnant.

00:15:37.960 --> 00:15:39.000
So what does he do?

00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:40.720
Write a letter.

00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:42.160
And what is the letter?

00:15:42.160 --> 00:15:44.080
Hey, listen, make sure you station him

00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:46.680
right where the arrows are, right up front,

00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:49.560
so that he will definitely be killed.

00:15:49.560 --> 00:15:51.560
And then when you send me news,

00:15:51.560 --> 00:15:53.320
wrap it up in a lot of jargon,

00:15:53.320 --> 00:15:55.960
so it looks like, ah, the poor guy died.

00:15:55.960 --> 00:15:57.400
This is a height of deception.

00:15:57.400 --> 00:15:59.800
Why am I talking about David in these terrible terms?

00:15:59.800 --> 00:16:01.920
How does a man like that still be called

00:16:01.920 --> 00:16:03.880
a man after God's own heart?

00:16:03.880 --> 00:16:07.400
Because there was something deeply honest about David.

00:16:07.400 --> 00:16:09.240
Deeply honest about David.

00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:13.360
It wasn't that he was someone who,

00:16:13.400 --> 00:16:17.360
I mean, how does a guy plan such deception,

00:16:18.680 --> 00:16:20.640
enter into a sexual relationship,

00:16:20.640 --> 00:16:22.480
have the husband killed?

00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:25.440
How does a guy like that get a title like that?

00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:27.480
A man after God's own heart.

00:16:27.480 --> 00:16:28.880
That's not a title thrown around.

00:16:28.880 --> 00:16:31.600
It's only thrown around once in the Bible.

00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:34.480
It is because this man had a depth of honesty

00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:35.960
that we can't even fathom.

00:16:38.160 --> 00:16:41.680
Therefore, God says, he ran after me.

00:16:42.640 --> 00:16:45.760
And yet, when it came to building the temple,

00:16:45.760 --> 00:16:46.600
God did not allow him.

00:16:46.600 --> 00:16:49.120
He said, you're a man of blood.

00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:50.560
You've got bloodshed on your hands.

00:16:50.560 --> 00:16:51.920
And God wasn't meaning wars,

00:16:51.920 --> 00:16:54.360
because Solomon went in war too.

00:16:54.360 --> 00:16:55.440
It was a different kind of blood

00:16:55.440 --> 00:16:56.880
that he had on his hands.

00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:02.680
But a man after God's own heart.

00:17:02.680 --> 00:17:04.200
Why labor this point?

00:17:04.200 --> 00:17:07.800
Get starkly honest with the father.

00:17:08.800 --> 00:17:10.800
And one of the best ways is to talk,

00:17:10.800 --> 00:17:13.120
or to write, or to put into words.

00:17:17.240 --> 00:17:21.840
He began this practice sitting in the fields with sheep,

00:17:21.840 --> 00:17:22.800
and he would write.

00:17:25.560 --> 00:17:26.400
Any questions?

00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:29.400
So the question is, orphans, if you,

00:17:29.400 --> 00:17:33.240
if I was an orphan, can I stop sinking into the quicksand

00:17:33.240 --> 00:17:35.440
of I have abandoned you?

00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:38.040
We have different phrases for I have abandoned you.

00:17:38.040 --> 00:17:39.800
It will be like, I don't know, man,

00:17:39.800 --> 00:17:41.040
God hasn't been answering.

00:17:41.040 --> 00:17:43.120
I don't know, I prayed nothing is happening.

00:17:43.120 --> 00:17:45.720
I don't know, it seems like nothing is working.

00:17:45.720 --> 00:17:48.480
All these are different ways of looking at it.

00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:51.160
And I think that's why I'm asking you to think,

00:17:51.160 --> 00:17:53.840
because I think that's why I'm asking you to think,

00:17:54.120 --> 00:17:55.320
because it seems like nothing is working.

00:17:55.320 --> 00:17:56.720
All these are different ways

00:17:56.720 --> 00:17:59.000
of saying you have abandoned me.

00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:02.640
Can we remove that from our way of thinking?

00:18:08.040 --> 00:18:09.360
Yes, your feet is hurting.

00:18:09.360 --> 00:18:11.840
Yes, your elbow is hurting.

00:18:11.840 --> 00:18:13.240
Yes, things haven't happened.

00:18:13.240 --> 00:18:14.920
Yes, the job hasn't come through.

00:18:14.920 --> 00:18:17.600
Yes, but not abandonment.

00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:20.600
It's an evil thing, guys.

00:18:20.600 --> 00:18:22.640
Let me put it very plainly.

00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:26.960
It is evil.

00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:30.800
It is taking and putting God on God, something wicked, something evil,

00:18:30.800 --> 00:18:33.040
to begin to think along the lines of,

00:18:33.040 --> 00:18:37.880
you are someone who begins to let go, abandon, cannot trust you,

00:18:37.880 --> 00:18:40.320
can't depend on you, you've not come through before,

00:18:40.320 --> 00:18:41.680
you will not come through again.

00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:44.440
These are evil ways of thinking.

00:18:44.440 --> 00:18:47.480
This was exactly the method used in the Garden of Eden.

00:18:47.480 --> 00:18:50.120
And you saw where it got the first couple,

00:18:50.160 --> 00:18:52.680
and it is the same thing happening again.

00:18:52.680 --> 00:18:55.600
Every time it comes, know where it comes from.

00:18:55.600 --> 00:18:58.360
Imagine being in a garden with a beautiful looking serpent

00:18:58.360 --> 00:19:01.400
coming and hissing away at you so that you begin to believe this.

00:19:07.720 --> 00:19:10.760
Take your rightful place, God is saying, by abandoning these things.

00:19:10.760 --> 00:19:14.320
The second thing orphans do is they are self-reliant.

00:19:14.320 --> 00:19:16.400
Orphans are self-reliant.

00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:20.480
If you adopt someone and the person has grown up as an orphan,

00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:23.560
you will find that for the first little while,

00:19:23.560 --> 00:19:27.320
they'll struggle to be anything but self-reliant

00:19:27.320 --> 00:19:29.920
because they've survived because of self-reliance.

00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:38.760
Orphans are self-reliant, you trust yourself,

00:19:38.760 --> 00:19:42.400
you suspect the ones around you,

00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:44.680
you suspect that God may not come through

00:19:44.680 --> 00:19:46.880
and you try to control the things in your life.

00:19:46.880 --> 00:19:48.960
One of the best ways to control things in your life

00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:51.840
is to take charge of them and be self-reliant.

00:19:59.320 --> 00:20:03.760
Chris Vallotton writes of a child that he adopts,

00:20:03.760 --> 00:20:08.360
and he brings the child into his home, treats the child brilliantly,

00:20:08.360 --> 00:20:10.960
loves the child like his own.

00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:12.360
But for the first few months,

00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:15.480
every time they would come and sit at the table,

00:20:15.480 --> 00:20:18.560
and there were bread or bun or chicken on the table,

00:20:18.560 --> 00:20:20.280
this child would go and grab all of it

00:20:20.280 --> 00:20:22.760
and quickly take what is necessary and keep it.

00:20:22.760 --> 00:20:27.560
Why? Because the child does not know whether the child will get more.

00:20:27.560 --> 00:20:29.760
He hasn't lived that way.

00:20:29.760 --> 00:20:31.640
And he would gather it all to himself

00:20:31.640 --> 00:20:35.200
because he wanted to make sure that he had taken care of himself.

00:20:39.600 --> 00:20:41.600
It took years before he changed.

00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:45.000
Because that's the way we grow up.

00:20:54.400 --> 00:20:57.640
Which is basically the next point.

00:20:57.640 --> 00:21:02.960
Orphans try to make sure of their own provision and security.

00:21:02.960 --> 00:21:07.760
Orphans take care of their provision and take care of their security first.

00:21:07.760 --> 00:21:09.560
It is critical to them.

00:21:09.560 --> 00:21:12.280
They've been through such difficult times before.

00:21:12.280 --> 00:21:15.320
That to not take care of one's own needs

00:21:15.320 --> 00:21:19.360
and to not protect or secure one's life is unthinkable.

00:21:22.320 --> 00:21:25.160
Can you stop being careful?

00:21:25.160 --> 00:21:28.200
Can you helplessly become dependent?

00:21:28.200 --> 00:21:30.400
Can you stop being careful?

00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:32.800
Can you helplessly become dependent?

00:21:32.800 --> 00:21:35.560
This is why Jesus got pretty upset

00:21:35.560 --> 00:21:38.280
when they started rebuking the children from coming to him.

00:21:38.280 --> 00:21:40.360
He calls one of them to his side and says,

00:21:40.400 --> 00:21:43.920
unless you become like one of these, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.

00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:46.680
And you parents know that one of the things about your children

00:21:46.680 --> 00:21:48.760
is they are helplessly dependent.

00:21:48.760 --> 00:21:53.600
And the kingdom of God is explored and is revealed

00:21:53.600 --> 00:21:57.560
to the ones that have that kind of helpless dependence,

00:21:57.560 --> 00:21:59.960
both on God and on others.

00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:07.600
Take your rightful place.

00:22:07.640 --> 00:22:10.320
He's inviting us to this. He's commanding us.

00:22:13.320 --> 00:22:16.720
Another thing orphans do is they resist being part of the family.

00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:18.840
They resist being part of the family.

00:22:18.840 --> 00:22:20.560
And one of the things God wants to say to us is,

00:22:20.560 --> 00:22:22.240
hey, this is my family.

00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:25.480
Live life openly, be loved and love.

00:22:25.480 --> 00:22:27.920
Hey, this is my family.

00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:33.920
Live life openly, be loved and love.

00:22:33.960 --> 00:22:35.880
Won't work out well always,

00:22:35.880 --> 00:22:39.200
because guys like me are in the church.

00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:40.680
But this is the family.

00:22:40.680 --> 00:22:42.840
And if it is not,

00:22:42.840 --> 00:22:45.840
then make it known that this is not your family.

00:22:49.240 --> 00:22:52.320
Orphans resist being part of a family.

00:22:52.320 --> 00:22:54.240
These are true measures.

00:22:54.240 --> 00:22:57.080
This is the actual litmus test of Jacob.

00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:01.000
All the other things he says are just fluff

00:23:01.000 --> 00:23:03.000
if these things don't measure up.

00:23:04.920 --> 00:23:08.920
I struggle with abandonment at times.

00:23:08.920 --> 00:23:10.440
When I've done...

00:23:10.440 --> 00:23:14.040
I mean, I sometimes sound like some of those guys who write in the Bible saying,

00:23:14.040 --> 00:23:17.840
oh God, I did this, this, this, and where were you when it comes to helping me?

00:23:17.840 --> 00:23:18.600
Where are you?

00:23:18.600 --> 00:23:21.640
Yeah, sometimes feels like that.

00:23:21.640 --> 00:23:23.760
That I did this and this, but why is this happening?

00:23:23.760 --> 00:23:25.440
Oh God, where are you?

00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:27.920
It's okay to ask, oh God, where are you in a psalm?

00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:31.160
But if it comes from a place of you have let me down, I cannot trust you,

00:23:31.160 --> 00:23:33.840
then it is wicked and evil.

00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:37.840
Just because something is honest doesn't mean it is not evil.

00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:44.680
Don't confuse honesty with it being pure.

00:23:44.680 --> 00:23:47.280
I'm just saying to God, this is how I feel now.

00:23:47.280 --> 00:23:49.680
As I write, bring me to another place.

00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:58.400
We have to name things evil,

00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:01.000
because that might frighten us.

00:24:01.000 --> 00:24:03.400
We cannot name it human experience.

00:24:04.840 --> 00:24:08.520
Because a lot is swept under that carpet.

00:24:08.520 --> 00:24:12.200
Next one, orphans are transactional.

00:24:12.200 --> 00:24:14.880
Orphans are transactional.

00:24:14.880 --> 00:24:20.680
Transactional relationships have existed since the beginning of time.

00:24:20.680 --> 00:24:26.280
In Genesis 4, when Cain was angry with God, why was he angry?

00:24:26.280 --> 00:24:30.360
He was okay till God didn't respond the way he felt he deserved,

00:24:30.360 --> 00:24:32.720
when he brought his sacrifice.

00:24:33.400 --> 00:24:37.320
Strangely enough, Satan is a transactional trader.

00:24:37.320 --> 00:24:40.200
Satan is a transactional trader.

00:24:40.200 --> 00:24:41.760
What does he go do with Eve?

00:24:41.760 --> 00:24:44.640
Hey, if you eat this, you will get this.

00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:46.440
What does he do with Jesus?

00:24:46.440 --> 00:24:49.000
Thousands of years later, he's doing the same thing with Jesus.

00:24:49.000 --> 00:24:52.640
Hey, if you do this, I will give you this.

00:24:54.200 --> 00:24:56.880
There is nothing transactional about God.

00:24:56.880 --> 00:24:59.960
His blessings are not transactional.

00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.640
Yes, in the Old Testament, it was a law.

00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:06.080
Do this, this, and this will happen.

00:25:06.080 --> 00:25:07.800
Don't do this, and this will happen.

00:25:07.800 --> 00:25:09.520
Now, it's not transactional.

00:25:09.520 --> 00:25:12.520
It is, you are in Christ.

00:25:12.520 --> 00:25:16.400
There will be times where I will lovingly disciple you,

00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:19.280
like you lovingly disciple your child.

00:25:22.080 --> 00:25:23.360
But because you are in Christ,

00:25:23.360 --> 00:25:27.680
everything that was transactional in the Old Testament changes.

00:25:30.600 --> 00:25:33.560
You can walk away from Christ and miss out on things,

00:25:33.560 --> 00:25:35.680
but Christ will not remove himself

00:25:35.680 --> 00:25:37.240
so that you miss out on things.

00:25:41.400 --> 00:25:44.880
You can walk away from Christ and thereby miss out on things,

00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:47.080
but he cannot walk away from you

00:25:48.040 --> 00:25:49.840
and cause you to miss out on things.

00:26:00.840 --> 00:26:04.040
In transactional relationships, and this is so important, guys,

00:26:04.040 --> 00:26:07.600
in transactional relationships, there is a lurking suspicion

00:26:07.600 --> 00:26:12.360
that God is withholding or punishing you when things go wrong.

00:26:12.360 --> 00:26:16.560
In transactional relationships, there is a lurking suspicion

00:26:16.560 --> 00:26:19.920
that God is withholding or punishing you

00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:22.000
because you did something wrong.

00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:26.280
We are so steeped in it, so steeped in it.

00:26:26.280 --> 00:26:30.880
Because sometimes, on certain days, it's the first place I go to.

00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:33.080
When things don't work out, first thing,

00:26:33.080 --> 00:26:35.880
oh, God must be upset, I must have done something wrong.

00:26:35.880 --> 00:26:37.880
It's a terrible way to live.

00:26:41.440 --> 00:26:43.680
That shouldn't be the first place I go to.

00:26:49.160 --> 00:26:52.480
Because it's not perfect love, there's something wrong there.

00:26:52.480 --> 00:26:53.680
Perfect love casts out fear,

00:26:53.680 --> 00:26:56.200
that's not the first fear that would come out.

00:26:56.200 --> 00:26:57.600
And yet, that's how we think.

00:26:57.600 --> 00:27:01.400
Yes, there is seed and harvest, all that is there.

00:27:01.400 --> 00:27:05.000
The strange thing about Christianity is it's not either or.

00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:07.800
It's held in tension, we've talked about this.

00:27:07.800 --> 00:27:10.600
But if the first place I go to when things don't work out is,

00:27:10.600 --> 00:27:15.800
oh, shucks, God must be upset, that is not how a child thinks.

00:27:20.080 --> 00:27:21.600
Job thought like that.

00:27:22.600 --> 00:27:25.400
As soon as things began to go wrong, his first thing was,

00:27:25.400 --> 00:27:28.400
I must have done something wrong, let me offer a sacrifice.

00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:37.200
You either did something wrong or didn't do something right.

00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:40.200
You either did something wrong or didn't do something right.

00:27:40.200 --> 00:27:45.200
In transactional relationships, circumstances color God and distort his character.

00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:50.800
In transactional relationships, circumstances color God and distort his character.

00:27:50.800 --> 00:27:53.200
And I was beginning to look at this last week.

00:27:53.200 --> 00:27:55.000
One of the desires I had for myself,

00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:58.800
and I pray, God, that it be a desire I have for you and you have for yourself,

00:27:58.800 --> 00:28:04.800
is that, oh, God, can I end every minute, second hour

00:28:04.800 --> 00:28:07.600
of transactional relationship with you this year?

00:28:07.600 --> 00:28:09.600
That I will never think like this.

00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:17.000
That I will never think along the lines of, why aren't you here?

00:28:17.000 --> 00:28:19.000
Why haven't you answered me?

00:28:19.200 --> 00:28:21.200
Why haven't you answered me?

00:28:25.800 --> 00:28:30.200
That there will never be a time when my first place that I go to will be,

00:28:30.200 --> 00:28:33.000
oh, shucks, I've done something wrong.

00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:34.600
Oh, God is upset.

00:28:34.600 --> 00:28:36.800
No, not the first place I go to.

00:28:36.800 --> 00:28:38.800
That will never happen.

00:28:43.800 --> 00:28:45.400
Is this something that you don't experience at all?

00:28:45.400 --> 00:28:47.400
Am I only preaching to myself?

00:28:47.400 --> 00:28:52.400
Or am I just checking because either you're super tired or it doesn't apply to you?

00:28:58.400 --> 00:29:00.400
Here's how God really thinks.

00:29:00.400 --> 00:29:02.400
Here's how God really thinks.

00:29:04.400 --> 00:29:08.400
I can, if he was speaking, he would speak like this.

00:29:08.400 --> 00:29:10.400
I can be grieved.

00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:12.400
I can be displeased.

00:29:12.400 --> 00:29:14.400
I can be exploited.

00:29:14.400 --> 00:29:17.400
I can be defied and I can be hurt by you.

00:29:17.400 --> 00:29:22.400
But I never condemn you and I never lash out at you.

00:29:25.400 --> 00:29:27.400
I can be grieved.

00:29:28.400 --> 00:29:30.400
I can be displeased.

00:29:32.400 --> 00:29:34.400
I can be hurt by you.

00:29:36.400 --> 00:29:38.400
I can be defied by you.

00:29:40.400 --> 00:29:42.400
I can be exploited by you.

00:29:43.400 --> 00:29:49.400
But Jacob, I will never condemn you.

00:29:51.400 --> 00:29:57.400
And I will never lash out at you or do anything in anger.

00:30:00.400 --> 00:30:01.400
I can be grieved.

00:30:01.400 --> 00:30:03.400
I can be displeased.

00:30:03.400 --> 00:30:04.400
I can be hurt by you.

00:30:04.400 --> 00:30:06.400
I can be defied by you.

00:30:07.400 --> 00:30:11.400
You can exploit me and take advantage of me again and again and you do.

00:30:12.400 --> 00:30:17.400
But this, I assure you, Jacob, I will never condemn you.

00:30:17.400 --> 00:30:19.400
Never condemn you.

00:30:20.400 --> 00:30:25.400
And I will never do anything out of anger to you.

00:30:28.400 --> 00:30:29.400
Never.

00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:39.400
Here's another one.

00:30:39.400 --> 00:30:46.400
When your actions have consequences, I'll be there with a toolkit to repair things.

00:30:46.400 --> 00:30:50.400
When your actions have consequences, can we believe this, guys?

00:30:50.400 --> 00:30:52.400
Can we believe this?

00:30:52.400 --> 00:30:55.400
It's so hard sometimes to believe this.

00:30:57.400 --> 00:31:04.400
It's because our relationship with people is a certain way or we have been treated a certain way that we keep superimposing it on God.

00:31:04.400 --> 00:31:06.400
Can I actually believe this?

00:31:06.400 --> 00:31:10.400
That when I have done things that are wrong and there are consequences,

00:31:10.400 --> 00:31:18.400
that he's not waiting there till I get to a place where I'm really, really, really sorry before he helps.

00:31:19.400 --> 00:31:21.400
It is not the way of a parent.

00:31:26.400 --> 00:31:32.400
And so, when your actions have consequences,

00:31:33.400 --> 00:31:35.400
and actions do have consequences,

00:31:35.400 --> 00:31:40.400
God is not taking away the reality of the fact that there are consequences

00:31:40.400 --> 00:31:43.400
and that he loves disciplining because he's a father,

00:31:43.400 --> 00:31:47.400
because he doesn't want children to harm themselves in the future.

00:31:47.400 --> 00:31:49.400
Those things are real.

00:31:49.400 --> 00:31:56.400
But he wants this part first so that he can do that part without us getting scared of him or us being afraid of him.

00:31:56.400 --> 00:32:04.400
When your actions have consequences, I'll be there with a toolkit to fix what is broken.

00:32:04.400 --> 00:32:11.400
When your sin makes you feel dirty or guilty, I'll be there with water.

00:32:11.400 --> 00:32:18.400
When your sin makes you feel guilty or dirty, I'll be there with water.

00:32:18.400 --> 00:32:25.400
When your sin makes you feel guilty or dirty, I'll be there with water.

00:32:25.400 --> 00:32:32.400
When you resent me, I'll be there with persistent kindness.

00:32:32.400 --> 00:32:37.400
When you resent me, I'll be there with persistent kindness.

00:32:37.400 --> 00:32:47.400
When you are dull to my presence, cold, I'll come as blazing light.

00:32:47.400 --> 00:32:53.400
I will counter whatever is happening in your life.

00:32:53.400 --> 00:32:56.400
I know what is going to happen before it happens,

00:32:56.400 --> 00:33:03.400
and I will be there immediately as any mother or father is there.

00:33:04.400 --> 00:33:10.400
When a child, regardless of whether it's their fault or not their fault, gets into any kind of trouble,

00:33:10.400 --> 00:33:15.400
just as a parent is there, I am already there.

00:33:15.400 --> 00:33:18.400
But can you begin to believe this?

00:33:18.400 --> 00:33:25.400
If you can believe this, Jacob, you will see things with greater clarity.

00:33:25.400 --> 00:33:32.400
If you can't see, you cannot hear.

00:33:32.400 --> 00:33:38.400
A child that is afraid of the parent's frown usually does not hear,

00:33:38.400 --> 00:33:43.400
because you are scared to look at the parent.

00:33:43.400 --> 00:33:47.400
And if you can't see, then you cannot hear.

00:33:47.400 --> 00:33:49.400
And it gets more confusing.

00:33:49.400 --> 00:33:51.400
And as it gets more confusing, what do we do?

00:33:51.400 --> 00:33:53.400
We behave exactly like orphans.

00:33:53.400 --> 00:33:57.400
We go into self-reliance, we go into abandonment, we go into control,

00:33:57.400 --> 00:33:59.400
we take over and we decide we can fix this.

00:33:59.400 --> 00:34:05.400
And then after that, go into a prayer of repentance when everything is done.

00:34:05.400 --> 00:34:10.400
I hate prayers of repentance.

00:34:10.400 --> 00:34:14.400
I want to love first before I repent.

00:34:14.400 --> 00:34:17.400
I want to love before I repent.

00:34:17.400 --> 00:34:20.400
I want to be in love when I repent.

00:34:20.400 --> 00:34:27.400
I don't want to repent without being in love.

00:34:27.400 --> 00:34:30.400
Draw me back to you, O God.

00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:36.400
I will cry my eyes out and say, I am so sorry.

00:34:36.400 --> 00:34:39.400
What if I am not drawn back?

00:34:39.400 --> 00:34:42.400
My repentance is just a prayer.

00:34:42.400 --> 00:34:45.400
I am not interested, O God, and neither are you.

00:34:45.400 --> 00:34:47.400
Neither are you.

00:34:47.400 --> 00:34:52.400
One of the things he wants to convince us, convince us really, not even reassure us,

00:34:52.400 --> 00:34:56.400
persuade us, is that this is how I am always.

00:34:56.400 --> 00:34:59.400
So don't delay when things are going wrong.

00:34:59.400 --> 00:35:00.400
Don't delay.

00:35:00.400 --> 00:35:14.400
Get this part right and all the other parts will work out.

00:35:14.400 --> 00:35:16.400
Here are a few more lines from him.

00:35:16.400 --> 00:35:25.400
I am incapable of hurting you, failing you, rejecting you, ignoring you.

00:35:25.400 --> 00:35:27.400
I'm incapable of it.

00:35:27.400 --> 00:35:32.400
I, God, am incapable of failing you.

00:35:32.400 --> 00:35:35.400
I'm incapable of hurting you.

00:35:35.400 --> 00:35:39.400
I'm incapable of rejecting you.

00:35:39.400 --> 00:35:42.400
Best of all, I'm incapable of ignoring you.

00:35:42.400 --> 00:35:44.400
We can believe that he won't fail.

00:35:44.400 --> 00:35:46.400
There are enough songs that say that.

00:35:46.400 --> 00:35:52.400
Like Don always says, God hasn't failed him yet.

00:35:52.400 --> 00:35:53.400
Not God.

00:35:53.400 --> 00:36:03.400
It's like Don always sings, God hasn't failed him yet.

00:36:03.400 --> 00:36:04.400
Yeah.

00:36:04.400 --> 00:36:06.400
The failing part we know God won't.

00:36:06.400 --> 00:36:08.400
Rejecting part we kind of know God won't.

00:36:08.400 --> 00:36:12.400
But the thing that we are not sure of is ignoring.

00:36:12.400 --> 00:36:18.400
And he wants to reassure us today that I am not capable of ignoring you.

00:36:18.400 --> 00:36:21.400
I'm not capable of ignoring you.

00:36:21.400 --> 00:36:25.400
You are present before me 24x7.

00:36:25.400 --> 00:36:28.400
I'm not capable of ignoring you.

00:36:28.400 --> 00:36:37.400
I may be absent in your life, Jacob, for large chunks of time in a day.

00:36:37.400 --> 00:36:40.400
But there is not a moment when you are not present before me.

00:36:40.400 --> 00:36:46.400
It is not possible for me to ignore you.

00:36:46.400 --> 00:36:50.400
So when things are delayed, can you trust that it's not being ignored?

00:36:50.400 --> 00:36:55.400
Can you trust that there's no grip?

00:36:55.400 --> 00:36:58.400
That you don't have to delve into some mystery of what needs to be known?

00:36:58.400 --> 00:37:05.400
If you love, you will find it so much easier to walk to here, to see, to wait.

00:37:05.400 --> 00:37:16.400
Waiting gets so much easier when you know you're loved, because it will come.

00:37:16.400 --> 00:37:26.400
When you're loved, you know he or she will come.

00:37:26.400 --> 00:37:29.400
At the young adults camp, I think it was Jeremy who said,

00:37:29.400 --> 00:37:33.400
Oh God, show me your worth.

00:37:33.400 --> 00:37:41.400
No, may I see your worth and may I draw my worthiness from your worth?

00:37:41.400 --> 00:37:46.400
And he usually comes up with some nice lines like that.

00:37:46.400 --> 00:37:49.400
But it is so true.

00:37:49.400 --> 00:37:52.400
If you go to Songs 1-6, that's what's happening.

00:37:52.400 --> 00:37:57.400
This peasant woman is saying, do not gaze at me because I am dark.

00:37:57.400 --> 00:37:59.400
And she feels like she's not worthy.

00:37:59.400 --> 00:38:01.400
And what does he go and say?

00:38:01.400 --> 00:38:03.400
He says exactly the opposite.

00:38:03.400 --> 00:38:06.400
You are my fair one.

00:38:06.400 --> 00:38:08.400
You are beautiful.

00:38:08.400 --> 00:38:11.400
And the way he says it is absolutely convincing.

00:38:11.400 --> 00:38:13.400
That's the great thing about God.

00:38:13.400 --> 00:38:19.400
He's the only one who can say things that you will actually believe it.

00:38:19.400 --> 00:38:22.400
You can come and tell me, Jacob, you're a lean, mean fighting machine.

00:38:22.400 --> 00:38:24.400
And I will laugh at your face.

00:38:24.400 --> 00:38:28.400
Oh my God, if he says it, I'll believe it, man.

00:38:28.400 --> 00:38:37.400
I'll even go and buy pants that are four inches tighter at the waist.

00:38:37.400 --> 00:38:43.400
That's one thing about God, when he says something, you can be sure that you will believe it.

00:38:43.400 --> 00:38:44.400
He has that ability.

00:38:44.400 --> 00:38:49.400
He made you.

00:38:49.400 --> 00:38:50.400
And she believed it.

00:38:50.400 --> 00:38:55.400
She believed it because the rest of the chapters are about her running after him.

00:38:55.400 --> 00:38:58.400
Behold, you have come over the mountains, upon the hills.

00:38:58.400 --> 00:39:01.400
To you I will run, my beloved, you've captured my heart.

00:39:01.400 --> 00:39:09.400
The same woman who could not bear to be gazed at is now running over hills and mountains because he has captured her heart.

00:39:21.400 --> 00:39:23.400
Next one.

00:39:23.400 --> 00:39:25.400
You are the object.

00:39:25.400 --> 00:39:27.400
It's so hard to fathom this one.

00:39:27.400 --> 00:39:29.400
It doesn't matter how many times I say it.

00:39:29.400 --> 00:39:32.400
You are the object of my extravagant love.

00:39:32.400 --> 00:39:39.400
I think it was Anna, George Ann, who said that this morning, this evening.

00:39:39.400 --> 00:39:42.400
You are the object of my extravagant love.

00:39:42.400 --> 00:39:43.400
Very hard for me to believe that.

00:39:43.400 --> 00:39:45.400
Very hard for you to believe that.

00:39:45.400 --> 00:39:46.400
Extravagant love?

00:39:46.400 --> 00:39:49.400
No.

00:39:49.400 --> 00:39:52.400
It's very easy to believe in extravagant love.

00:39:52.400 --> 00:39:58.400
All you have to do is remove that one thing you are waiting for God to do.

00:39:58.400 --> 00:40:09.400
Do you realize that the reason we stop short of believing everything about God splendidly is because of some temporal thing we are praying for that hasn't come to pass?

00:40:09.400 --> 00:40:15.400
Remove that and you suddenly begin to believe it.

00:40:15.400 --> 00:40:17.400
It's crazy.

00:40:17.400 --> 00:40:29.400
And it can be something as small as getting a ticket to a show and something as big as praying for someone who may be dying.

00:40:29.400 --> 00:40:33.400
But remove that and suddenly you can believe in his extravagant love.

00:40:33.400 --> 00:40:41.400
Because of these little things that keep coming up, you keep getting blinded to his extravagant love.

00:40:41.400 --> 00:40:45.400
Always find out what's blocking your vision.

00:40:45.400 --> 00:40:49.400
And then do the Tom Cruise thing in Mission Impossible.

00:40:49.400 --> 00:40:56.400
Peel it away.

00:40:56.400 --> 00:41:08.400
I know you didn't get that mic. It's okay.

00:41:08.400 --> 00:41:12.400
You're the object of my extravagant delight or love.

00:41:12.400 --> 00:41:16.400
You're the target of my reckless delight.

00:41:16.400 --> 00:41:18.400
Target of my delight.

00:41:18.400 --> 00:41:25.400
That I target you.

00:41:25.400 --> 00:41:27.400
With my delight.

00:41:27.400 --> 00:41:29.400
I said this last year.

00:41:29.400 --> 00:41:32.400
A year ago I said this.

00:41:32.400 --> 00:41:35.400
You inhabit what you think.

00:41:35.400 --> 00:41:39.400
Can you think that you are the target of his delight?

00:41:39.400 --> 00:41:43.400
And that you are the focus of his laughter-filled favor?

00:41:43.400 --> 00:41:47.400
That you're the focus of his laughter-filled favor?

00:41:47.400 --> 00:41:50.400
I'm not the parent of any of the children in this church.

00:41:50.400 --> 00:41:55.400
Oh my God, I sometimes delight in them.

00:41:55.400 --> 00:42:04.400
And if I can, then surely he can.

00:42:04.400 --> 00:42:08.400
The focus of his laughter-filled favor.

00:42:08.400 --> 00:42:11.400
The target of his reckless love.

00:42:11.400 --> 00:42:15.400
The object of his extravagant delight.

00:42:15.400 --> 00:42:25.400
Each of those words is so hard to actually believe in.

00:42:25.400 --> 00:42:28.400
And if I lived like this, you would notice.

00:42:28.400 --> 00:42:30.400
It would change me.

00:42:30.400 --> 00:42:31.400
It would change me.

00:42:31.400 --> 00:42:33.400
I wouldn't be this way.

00:42:33.400 --> 00:42:35.400
It would change me.

00:42:35.400 --> 00:42:42.400
And it would change you.

00:42:42.400 --> 00:42:44.400
Next one.

00:42:44.400 --> 00:42:47.400
I placed in you the Abba cry.

00:42:47.400 --> 00:42:50.400
So you can instinctively have the privilege of intimacy.

00:42:50.400 --> 00:42:55.400
I placed in you the Abba cry.

00:42:55.400 --> 00:43:02.400
So that you can instinctively have the privilege of intimacy.

00:43:02.400 --> 00:43:03.400
Instinctively.

00:43:03.400 --> 00:43:07.400
Meaning, hey, it is impossible for me to ignore the Abba cry.

00:43:07.400 --> 00:43:08.400
I put it in you.

00:43:08.400 --> 00:43:11.400
I put it in you so that Jacob, when you're in trouble,

00:43:11.400 --> 00:43:14.400
when you have sinned, when you're in the middle of fear,

00:43:14.400 --> 00:43:18.400
when you're anxious, when you're joyful, when you're scared,

00:43:18.400 --> 00:43:21.400
when you don't know how to escape out of the pit that you have dug,

00:43:21.400 --> 00:43:24.400
when you've been thrown into a pit by others,

00:43:24.400 --> 00:43:27.400
listen, there's something that I've put in you

00:43:27.400 --> 00:43:29.400
that gives you the privilege of intimacy.

00:43:29.400 --> 00:43:30.400
And it is instinctive.

00:43:30.400 --> 00:43:32.400
It is the first thing that comes out.

00:43:32.400 --> 00:43:35.400
Do not let the world, do not let your circumstances,

00:43:35.400 --> 00:43:39.400
do not let theology, do not let religion,

00:43:39.400 --> 00:43:42.400
crowd out that cry.

00:43:42.400 --> 00:43:44.400
It is a cry I always respond to.

00:43:44.400 --> 00:43:46.400
Cry it out.

00:43:46.400 --> 00:43:48.400
If the only thing you said in worship is,

00:43:48.400 --> 00:43:55.400
Abba, Abba, Abba, it is the most pleasing sound in heaven.

00:43:55.400 --> 00:43:57.400
Because at the end of the day,

00:43:57.400 --> 00:44:00.400
the one thing he came to restore was fatherhood.

00:44:00.400 --> 00:44:03.400
So why would that not be the first word you spoke,

00:44:03.400 --> 00:44:06.400
just like a child says, Papa, or nowadays Mama?

00:44:18.400 --> 00:44:19.400
Next one.

00:44:19.400 --> 00:44:21.400
I may be absent in your daily life,

00:44:21.400 --> 00:44:24.400
but you're always present before me.

00:44:24.400 --> 00:44:26.400
And you're super loved.

00:44:26.400 --> 00:44:29.400
I may be absent in your daily life,

00:44:29.400 --> 00:44:32.400
but you are always present before me.

00:44:32.400 --> 00:44:34.400
You're always present before me.

00:44:34.400 --> 00:44:37.400
Don't go through the Psalm 100,

00:44:37.400 --> 00:44:39.400
enter his quotes with thanksgiving and praise.

00:44:39.400 --> 00:44:41.400
All that is Old Testament.

00:44:41.400 --> 00:44:42.400
Don't go there.

00:44:42.400 --> 00:44:44.400
There is no protocol for you.

00:44:44.400 --> 00:44:46.400
You're always present before me.

00:44:46.400 --> 00:44:48.400
Don't come hesitantly.

00:44:48.400 --> 00:44:51.400
Did you read Hebrews 10, Throne of Grace?

00:44:51.400 --> 00:44:55.400
Freshly slain blood pathway into my presence.

00:44:55.400 --> 00:44:57.400
You're always present before me.

00:44:57.400 --> 00:44:58.400
Turn.

00:44:58.400 --> 00:45:00.400
You don't even have to turn actually,

00:45:00.400 --> 00:45:02.400
because I'm always in your face.

00:45:02.400 --> 00:45:04.400
I'm a face-to-face God.

00:45:07.400 --> 00:45:09.400
Don't even go into repentance.

00:45:09.400 --> 00:45:10.400
First go Abba.

00:45:10.400 --> 00:45:15.400
And your heart which runs after me will melt and you will repent.

00:45:16.400 --> 00:45:17.400
Don't wait.

00:45:17.400 --> 00:45:18.400
Don't wait.

00:45:18.400 --> 00:45:21.400
Don't jump through hoops you've created for yourself.

00:45:22.400 --> 00:45:24.400
Oh, I'll have to first confess all my sins.

00:45:24.400 --> 00:45:28.400
And then I'll have to really convince him that I'm really sorry for it.

00:45:28.400 --> 00:45:32.400
Like really demean myself and so he might think better of me.

00:45:32.400 --> 00:45:34.400
And then go through, oh Jesus, your blood.

00:45:34.400 --> 00:45:36.400
Wash this, wash that, wash that.

00:45:36.400 --> 00:45:37.400
My God, man.

00:45:43.400 --> 00:45:44.400
Brilliant.

00:45:44.400 --> 00:45:47.400
1 John 1, 9 says, if you confess your sins,

00:45:47.400 --> 00:45:49.400
I'm faithful and just to forgive.

00:45:49.400 --> 00:45:51.400
Do not mess with that.

00:45:51.400 --> 00:45:52.400
Confess your sins.

00:45:52.400 --> 00:45:55.400
Confess your sins, but confess your sins because you're sorry for them.

00:45:55.400 --> 00:45:57.400
Don't confess your sins to get a clean slate.

00:45:59.400 --> 00:46:03.400
That is the difference between loving and not loving.

00:46:06.400 --> 00:46:13.400
I, let this church end a desire to have a clean slate.

00:46:13.400 --> 00:46:20.400
Let this church greatly desire a repaired, wholesome, thriving relationship.

00:46:22.400 --> 00:46:23.400
Because here's a fact.

00:46:23.400 --> 00:46:27.400
The slate is already clean because his blood has paid for all my sins.

00:46:28.400 --> 00:46:31.400
Our confession is not so that we inform him.

00:46:31.400 --> 00:46:34.400
Our confession is an admission that there is broken relationship.

00:46:38.400 --> 00:46:41.400
The strange thing is in the story of the prodigal son,

00:46:41.400 --> 00:46:44.400
he does not even give his son time to confess.

00:46:46.400 --> 00:46:49.400
The guy is planning his confession prayer.

00:46:49.400 --> 00:46:52.400
And he's coming from a distance and he's got the whole thing in his head.

00:46:52.400 --> 00:46:57.400
But unfortunately, he doesn't get a say because his father sees him at a distance.

00:46:57.400 --> 00:47:01.400
And as his father comes running to him, what do you think is happening to the son's heart?

00:47:01.400 --> 00:47:08.400
Oh my God, he must be weeping buckets saying, shoot, I can't even remember the words, but this is overwhelming.

00:47:08.400 --> 00:47:12.400
And out of that will come a song for his dad that will show repentance.

00:47:13.400 --> 00:47:20.400
One of the things Jesus said to his disciples was, hey, I give you the right to forgive sins.

00:47:20.400 --> 00:47:23.400
If you don't retain them, I will not retain them.

00:47:23.400 --> 00:47:29.400
And one of the things he says in the letters and in the gospel is, try and see it at a distance.

00:47:29.400 --> 00:47:32.400
Try and see someone repentant at a distance.

00:47:32.400 --> 00:47:35.400
Sometimes one doesn't have to go through a repenting prayer.

00:47:35.400 --> 00:47:36.400
You can see it.

00:47:43.400 --> 00:47:50.400
It's not that we have to suddenly become like the Catholic Church and forgive people and do a confessional and a few Hail Marys.

00:47:50.400 --> 00:47:51.400
That's not what I'm saying.

00:47:51.400 --> 00:47:57.400
I'm saying that sometimes repentance is a condition of the…

00:47:58.400 --> 00:48:01.400
Not sometimes. It's always a condition of the heart.

00:48:01.400 --> 00:48:05.400
Let the words come from the heart, not the words. Inform the heart.

00:48:08.400 --> 00:48:10.400
The heart must inform the words.

00:48:12.400 --> 00:48:13.400
Next one.

00:48:13.400 --> 00:48:17.400
Don't jump through hoops that you have constructed for yourself.

00:48:17.400 --> 00:48:21.400
My love is already yours. My love is already yours.

00:48:21.400 --> 00:48:25.400
Run. Run. Run into my arms. Find relief.

00:48:25.400 --> 00:48:27.400
Don't jump through hoops.

00:48:29.400 --> 00:48:32.400
My love is already yours. Run. Run into my arms.

00:48:32.400 --> 00:48:35.400
In the safety of my arms, begin to speak.

00:48:36.400 --> 00:48:40.400
In the safety of my arms, go to 1 John 1.9.

00:48:40.400 --> 00:48:44.400
In the safety of my arms, tell me your frustrations.

00:48:44.400 --> 00:48:47.400
In the safety of my arms, tell me your sin.

00:48:47.400 --> 00:48:51.400
In the safety of my arms, tell me that you find it impossible to escape sin.

00:48:51.400 --> 00:49:00.400
Tell me that you know that even if you ask for forgiveness, tomorrow you will again go and watch something on TV or on internet you shouldn't.

00:49:00.400 --> 00:49:02.400
That you will again go and drink.

00:49:02.400 --> 00:49:04.400
That you will again go and this, do this or that.

00:49:04.400 --> 00:49:06.400
Tell me in my arms.

00:49:07.400 --> 00:49:14.400
You tell me that in my arms and I will bring you into a place of freedom that you can never get through Christian Hoopla.

00:49:21.400 --> 00:49:28.400
One of the coolest things is when children can run into the arms of their parents and then begin to tell them what's wrong instead of running away.

00:49:28.400 --> 00:49:30.400
Children do that.

00:49:37.400 --> 00:49:43.400
Despite what you think, I don't stand by silently when bad things happen to you.

00:49:43.400 --> 00:49:46.400
It's so natural for me to work on your behalf.

00:49:46.400 --> 00:49:50.400
It's so natural for me to work on your behalf.

00:49:50.400 --> 00:49:52.400
I don't stand by silently.

00:49:52.400 --> 00:49:55.400
Stop thinking like that.

00:49:55.400 --> 00:50:00.400
When things are going really bad, you think to yourself, where is me?

00:50:00.400 --> 00:50:02.400
As in where is God?

00:50:02.400 --> 00:50:16.400
He's saying to us, can you first get this through your head and heart that I'm very different from what you superimpose on me.

00:50:16.400 --> 00:50:19.400
Once you get that, you'll be able to hear clearly.

00:50:22.400 --> 00:50:26.400
God put Christ into me and me into Christ.

00:50:26.400 --> 00:50:28.400
It says so in John 14.20.

00:50:28.400 --> 00:50:37.400
In John 14.20, it says God put Christ into me and put me into Christ so that his presence was no longer dependent on me.

00:50:37.400 --> 00:50:40.400
So that his presence was no longer dependent on me.

00:50:40.400 --> 00:50:43.400
His presence is no longer dependent on me.

00:50:43.400 --> 00:50:47.400
He put me in Christ and he put Christ in me.

00:50:47.400 --> 00:50:50.400
His presence is no longer dependent on me.

00:50:50.400 --> 00:50:55.400
This is why Psalm 100 is no longer applicable.

00:50:55.400 --> 00:50:59.400
I don't have to enter his presence a certain way.

00:50:59.400 --> 00:51:02.400
I don't have to do anything in this church for him to enter.

00:51:02.400 --> 00:51:05.400
When I say church, I'm not meaning building.

00:51:05.400 --> 00:51:06.400
Don't have to do anything.

00:51:06.400 --> 00:51:10.400
He put himself in me and he put me in himself.

00:51:10.400 --> 00:51:13.400
So that presence is no longer an issue.

00:51:13.400 --> 00:51:15.400
It's no longer dependent on me.

00:51:15.400 --> 00:51:20.400
As a son or a daughter, you draw my presence.

00:51:20.400 --> 00:51:23.400
You don't have to grovel for it.

00:51:23.400 --> 00:51:25.400
You don't have to perform for it.

00:51:25.400 --> 00:51:27.400
I will not repel you.

00:51:27.400 --> 00:51:34.400
As a son or daughter, you now draw my presence.

00:51:34.400 --> 00:51:36.400
You draw my presence.

00:51:40.400 --> 00:51:48.400
One of the ways we know that we have drawn his presence is sometimes our ways of worshiping.

00:51:48.400 --> 00:51:53.400
If you need to warm up before worship becomes something that really touches you,

00:51:53.400 --> 00:51:56.400
know that there is a distance.

00:52:02.400 --> 00:52:07.400
You should be able to connect with his presence instantly because he draws you.

00:52:07.400 --> 00:52:08.400
You're not drawing him.

00:52:08.400 --> 00:52:13.400
May not a song be sung in this church to draw him.

00:52:13.400 --> 00:52:17.400
May every song be sung because he draws you.

00:52:26.400 --> 00:52:33.400
Our experience of God's nearness or God's distance is not an actual description of proximity.

00:52:33.400 --> 00:52:36.400
It's just our experience of intimacy with him.

00:52:36.400 --> 00:52:40.400
When we feel he's distant or when we feel he's close,

00:52:40.400 --> 00:52:43.400
it's not a definition or description of his proximity.

00:52:43.400 --> 00:52:46.400
It's just an experience of intimacy.

00:52:46.400 --> 00:52:49.400
May you always therefore be able to say,

00:52:49.400 --> 00:52:51.400
Ah shucks, he's here.

00:52:55.400 --> 00:52:57.400
And sometimes may you see more.

00:52:57.400 --> 00:52:59.400
And may it not be during times of worship.

00:53:00.400 --> 00:53:04.400
May it be at times when you read scripture, like the peasant woman.

00:53:04.400 --> 00:53:09.400
May it be at times when you're driving and you begin to shout and cry and sing loudly.

00:53:10.400 --> 00:53:20.400
May it be with a friend at a restaurant where you cannot escape the urge to now ask the waiter for some bread and break bread openly.

00:53:23.400 --> 00:53:29.400
May it be in times of deep distress where suddenly he begins to tent in your infirmity

00:53:29.400 --> 00:53:32.400
and 2 Corinthians 12 comes to pass.

00:53:32.400 --> 00:53:35.400
That my grace is more evident in your weakness.

00:53:35.400 --> 00:53:39.400
How many of us have actually experienced that on a monthly basis?

00:53:39.400 --> 00:53:41.400
The sad truth is not so.

00:53:42.400 --> 00:53:53.400
In the deepest distress, how did guys like Paul immediately know how to not pray but know presence?

00:53:55.400 --> 00:53:56.400
They just knew.

00:53:57.400 --> 00:54:01.400
Therefore, he says, I now boast in my weaknesses and my infirmity.

00:54:01.400 --> 00:54:04.400
Because whenever I'm weak, then I'm super strong.

00:54:04.400 --> 00:54:07.400
Where was the fourth man? Always in the fire.

00:54:11.400 --> 00:54:13.400
That's another thing I desire for us.

00:54:13.400 --> 00:54:18.400
That every time things go wrong, we immediately get more intimate.

00:54:19.400 --> 00:54:20.400
How crazy would that be?

00:54:21.400 --> 00:54:22.400
That'd be so nuts.

00:54:23.400 --> 00:54:29.400
Every time things go wrong, every time things are beginning to unravel, in the unraveling, there he is.

00:54:29.400 --> 00:54:31.400
And then, what do you do, man?

00:54:31.400 --> 00:54:35.400
That situation becomes so overcomeable.

00:54:36.400 --> 00:54:38.400
Practice this, guys. It won't happen overnight.

00:54:38.400 --> 00:54:40.400
These are not miracles that'll happen.

00:54:40.400 --> 00:54:42.400
These are learned things.

00:54:42.400 --> 00:54:45.400
A miracle will happen and it'll help you once, but it doesn't teach you.

00:54:46.400 --> 00:54:48.400
Miracles supplies a solution.

00:54:48.400 --> 00:54:49.400
It doesn't teach you.

00:54:52.400 --> 00:54:56.400
If it taught you, then the ten lepons are going to be your enemies.

00:54:57.400 --> 00:55:00.400
If it taught you, then the ten lepons would have all come back.

00:55:05.400 --> 00:55:08.400
I was created to enjoy what Jesus has with the Father.

00:55:09.400 --> 00:55:13.400
I was created to enjoy what Jesus has with the Father.

00:55:13.400 --> 00:55:15.400
What does Jesus have with the Father?

00:55:16.400 --> 00:55:18.400
What does Jesus have with the Holy Spirit?

00:55:18.400 --> 00:55:23.400
A certain kind of oneness and intimacy and affection, a trust that is ridiculous.

00:55:24.400 --> 00:55:26.400
In Christ, I'm included in the Trinity.

00:55:27.400 --> 00:55:32.400
Take it and if you want to think that's bad theology, that's fine.

00:55:32.400 --> 00:55:36.400
I'm just trying to tell you what it looks like.

00:55:37.400 --> 00:55:43.400
In Christ, I'm now included in the same relationship Jesus has with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

00:55:44.400 --> 00:55:46.400
It is a strange oneness.

00:55:47.400 --> 00:55:48.400
It's deep intimacy.

00:55:48.400 --> 00:55:50.400
It's heartfelt affection.

00:55:50.400 --> 00:55:52.400
It's deep trust.

00:55:52.400 --> 00:55:55.400
And he's saying, hey, I want you to enjoy this too.

00:55:55.400 --> 00:55:57.400
I'll go over it line by line with you.

00:55:58.400 --> 00:55:59.400
Jesus says that.

00:55:59.400 --> 00:56:06.400
In Matthew 11, he says, this is a unique father-son operation that comes out of unique father-son intimacies.

00:56:06.400 --> 00:56:12.400
Can I therefore go over it line by line with you so that you can partake in what I have?

00:56:13.400 --> 00:56:14.400
Matthew 11.

00:56:14.400 --> 00:56:15.400
Matthew 11.

00:56:20.400 --> 00:56:23.400
We must show the world how to live out this intimacy with the Father.

00:56:24.400 --> 00:56:29.400
We must, hey, remember, Jesus came, why did Jesus come?

00:56:29.400 --> 00:56:31.400
Yes, we say he came to die for our sins.

00:56:31.400 --> 00:56:34.400
But what's the fundamental reason Jesus came?

00:56:34.400 --> 00:56:36.400
Jesus came to show us the Father.

00:56:38.400 --> 00:56:40.400
Jesus Christ came to show us the Father.

00:56:40.400 --> 00:56:43.400
We must show people our intimacy with the Father.

00:56:43.400 --> 00:56:44.400
It makes them...

00:56:47.400 --> 00:56:50.400
which basically means hungry after the same thing.

00:56:50.400 --> 00:56:55.400
In every man is a desire to know God.

00:56:55.400 --> 00:56:56.400
In every man.

00:56:56.400 --> 00:56:58.400
That's why there are religions.

00:56:58.400 --> 00:57:01.400
Religions wouldn't fly if man didn't need something.

00:57:04.400 --> 00:57:07.400
We've got to show them what it is to be intimate with the Father.

00:57:07.400 --> 00:57:08.400
Make this one of your chief aims, eh?

00:57:08.400 --> 00:57:11.400
You know what the theme was for the Young Adults Retreat?

00:57:11.400 --> 00:57:16.400
It was, it is our assignment to make known publicly here,

00:57:16.400 --> 00:57:22.400
openly displayed, the will of heaven on earth and the ways of heaven on earth.

00:57:22.400 --> 00:57:29.400
And to achieve that, there's a process of wisdom, of prayer and of radical obedience

00:57:29.400 --> 00:57:32.400
that has to be learned so that we can show that.

00:57:32.400 --> 00:57:36.400
Where are the Enoch's that walk with God in such intimacy that they disappear?

00:57:38.400 --> 00:57:39.400
You got a question?

00:57:39.400 --> 00:57:43.400
Can I just ask a question on this topic of growing in the Christian?

00:57:43.400 --> 00:57:47.400
I know you mentioned how David was raised by the Holy Spirit.

00:57:47.400 --> 00:57:52.400
Are you able to elaborate on the practice of growing in the Christian?

00:57:55.400 --> 00:57:59.400
I was thinking David's story, I think, is a little bit more of a...

00:58:00.400 --> 00:58:03.400
I was thinking David's Psalms is an example.

00:58:03.400 --> 00:58:13.400
I think the point I was trying to make was that stark honesty is a requisite for intimacy.

00:58:13.400 --> 00:58:17.400
Without honesty, there is no intimacy.

00:58:17.400 --> 00:58:22.400
And it is so hard to be honest either because I want to hide something

00:58:22.400 --> 00:58:25.400
or because I don't want to enter into that kind of a relationship.

00:58:25.400 --> 00:58:30.400
We think with God it should be easy and surprisingly for some strange reason it's not.

00:58:35.400 --> 00:58:37.400
I am sure there is but...

00:58:43.400 --> 00:58:47.400
The strange thing about intimacy, guys, it's never method.

00:58:48.400 --> 00:58:50.400
It's not method.

00:58:50.400 --> 00:58:53.400
Intimacy is not achieved through methods.

00:58:56.400 --> 00:58:59.400
It's not achieved through methods.

00:59:07.400 --> 00:59:09.400
Spiritual disciplines are different.

00:59:09.400 --> 00:59:11.400
Methods are different.

00:59:11.400 --> 00:59:12.400
Intimacy is different.

00:59:12.400 --> 00:59:15.400
Spiritual disciplines teach you the ways of Christ.

00:59:15.400 --> 00:59:17.400
Methods teach you religion.

00:59:17.400 --> 00:59:19.400
Intimacy is different.

00:59:19.400 --> 00:59:21.400
It neither uses spiritual disciplines.

00:59:21.400 --> 00:59:24.400
Spiritual disciplines can help intimacy grow.

00:59:24.400 --> 00:59:27.400
But intimacy is something that comes from one place.

00:59:42.400 --> 00:59:43.400
Yeah.

00:59:46.400 --> 00:59:48.400
When Paul is talking about it, he is saying,

00:59:48.400 --> 00:59:53.400
Can I bring you into a maturity, George and Anne, where you are conformed to the stature of Christ?

00:59:53.400 --> 00:59:56.400
So if you want to be conformed to the stature of Christ,

00:59:56.400 --> 01:00:01.400
one of the things you'll have to become is someone deeply in love with the Father.

01:00:01.400 --> 01:00:04.400
For that intimacy is required.

01:00:04.400 --> 01:00:08.400
To grow in intimacy, I must know what I'm getting intimate with.

01:00:08.400 --> 01:00:13.400
Worship is absolutely pointless in a church if teaching is not done.

01:00:13.400 --> 01:00:16.400
You cannot worship what you do not know.

01:00:16.400 --> 01:00:19.400
When churches think worship is the main thing they should do,

01:00:19.400 --> 01:00:25.400
I'm saying to you, it's unbiblical because you cannot worship what you do not know.

01:00:25.400 --> 01:00:30.400
You have to teach the truth and then worship in spirit and in truth.

01:00:32.400 --> 01:00:38.400
And therefore, to become mature, I must be one who loves the Father like Christ loved the Father.

01:00:39.400 --> 01:00:46.400
And to do that, sometimes I have to sit at his feet and ask him to tell me what he's written,

01:00:46.400 --> 01:00:51.400
ask him to tell me about himself till he himself gets so fed up and says,

01:00:51.400 --> 01:00:54.400
I'll never take this portion from you but, Kenan, you leave me alone for a while.

01:00:54.400 --> 01:00:57.400
He won't say that. But that's what we're talking about.

01:00:57.400 --> 01:01:00.400
That woman was intimate.

01:01:01.400 --> 01:01:06.400
Intimacy frees you to do things in public that you would never do.

01:01:09.400 --> 01:01:15.400
When one is intimate with somebody, they are not afraid of expressing their intimacy publicly.

01:01:17.400 --> 01:01:20.400
I want to say to you that it doesn't matter which country you come from,

01:01:20.400 --> 01:01:23.400
which background or ethnicity you come from,

01:01:23.400 --> 01:01:30.400
this thing is true that when one is deeply in love, one is not afraid of public display.

01:01:30.400 --> 01:01:33.400
It doesn't mean we'll all display it all the same,

01:01:33.400 --> 01:01:38.400
but it does mean that there will be public display because intimacy is never hidden.

01:01:38.400 --> 01:01:42.400
It was so not hidden that Jesus would talk about his dad as if he was present there

01:01:42.400 --> 01:01:47.400
and by the same token, the dad would loudly announce in the presence of people

01:01:47.400 --> 01:01:51.400
that this kid is mine and he's beloved. Listen to him.

01:01:54.400 --> 01:01:58.400
When I first became mature, I was a little bit scared.

01:01:59.400 --> 01:02:04.400
When I first became a believer, the old-timers here know this.

01:02:04.400 --> 01:02:08.400
When I first became... I think that's what we'll call the... No, no, forget it.

01:02:10.400 --> 01:02:12.400
No, no, no. I'm moving on.

01:02:12.400 --> 01:02:18.400
When I first became a believer, I used to go to this church that was run by the US Navy.

01:02:18.400 --> 01:02:24.400
And there was a pastor there. I met him just once. His name was Sid Spain.

01:02:25.400 --> 01:02:28.400
I've Googled him, trying to find him. I haven't been able to find him.

01:02:28.400 --> 01:02:36.400
If you arrived for the service early, you would hear him having conversations

01:02:36.400 --> 01:02:41.400
and you would look for the other person here and you wouldn't find him. Why?

01:02:41.400 --> 01:02:44.400
Because he was having conversations with God and it was crazy.

01:02:46.400 --> 01:02:50.400
And I would hunger for it, saying,

01:02:50.400 --> 01:02:54.400
Gosh, I wish I could talk like this with someone invisible.

01:03:00.400 --> 01:03:04.400
Intimacy is public. Intimacy doesn't care about being foolish.

01:03:15.400 --> 01:03:17.400
Okay, so what do we do about this?

01:03:17.400 --> 01:03:23.400
Here is voice and you will hear his heart. Every morning, hear his voice and you'll hear his heart.

01:03:23.400 --> 01:03:26.400
Hear his voice. His compassion is new every morning.

01:03:26.400 --> 01:03:29.400
His compassion is new every morning.

01:03:29.400 --> 01:03:31.400
Hear his voice and you will hear his heart.

01:03:31.400 --> 01:03:35.400
Let his words frame your day. Let his words frame your day.

01:03:35.400 --> 01:03:37.400
Hear his voice, you will hear his heart.

01:03:37.400 --> 01:03:40.400
His compassion is new every morning. It won't be the same thing.

01:03:40.400 --> 01:03:45.400
Let his words frame your day. Let his words frame your day.

01:03:45.400 --> 01:03:50.400
Please, I beg you and if you don't, then find it another time.

01:03:50.400 --> 01:03:54.400
And if you fail, don't shy away.

01:03:54.400 --> 01:03:57.400
Go running into his arms saying, I failed. I didn't have time for you.

01:03:57.400 --> 01:04:00.400
You were like a pigeon in the park that I threw scraps to.

01:04:00.400 --> 01:04:02.400
I did not have time for you.

01:04:02.400 --> 01:04:07.400
But here I come running because I will sit in your arms and tell you that I failed.

01:04:07.400 --> 01:04:09.400
But I refuse to stand at a distance.

01:04:11.400 --> 01:04:12.400
Won't be at a distance.

01:04:12.400 --> 01:04:13.400
Won't be at a distance.

01:04:19.400 --> 01:04:20.400
Sorry.

01:04:22.400 --> 01:04:23.400
What did you say? Okay.

01:04:26.400 --> 01:04:29.400
So, hear his voice and you'll hear his heart.

01:04:29.400 --> 01:04:32.400
It'll change your life. I assure you it'll change your life.

01:04:35.400 --> 01:04:36.400
Carve out time.

01:04:36.400 --> 01:04:39.400
Again, we say, let his words frame your day.

01:04:40.400 --> 01:04:41.400
Carve out time.

01:04:41.400 --> 01:04:43.400
Again, we said this as a younger adult.

01:04:43.400 --> 01:04:53.400
If you begin to carve out time, all I'm asking of you, all I'm asking of you as a pastor, as your pastor, is carve out 16 minutes.

01:04:53.400 --> 01:04:55.400
16 minutes of your time.

01:04:55.400 --> 01:04:58.400
Why 16? Because it's more than 15.

01:04:58.400 --> 01:04:59.400
No other reason.

01:05:01.400 --> 01:05:04.400
Carve out 16 minutes early.

01:05:05.400 --> 01:05:07.400
Don't be a night person saying I'm a night.

01:05:07.400 --> 01:05:09.400
No, God has made me a night person.

01:05:10.400 --> 01:05:13.400
Exactly. You usually fall asleep when you start praying then.

01:05:13.400 --> 01:05:14.400
So, carve out time.

01:05:14.400 --> 01:05:17.400
Just take 16 minutes because daily bread can be finished in 15 minutes.

01:05:17.400 --> 01:05:18.400
Take a little more.

01:05:20.400 --> 01:05:28.400
And if you start at 16 minutes, I assure you, as this begins to happen, the 16 will become 18, will become 25, will become 30,

01:05:28.400 --> 01:05:36.400
until sometimes you will become an addict and you will have withdrawal symptoms when you do not do this for a day or two.

01:05:37.400 --> 01:05:38.400
It'll unravel your life.

01:05:40.400 --> 01:05:43.400
It'll be like nothing is working because I haven't had my.

01:05:53.400 --> 01:05:57.400
Forgive me for repeating this, but hear his voice and you'll hear his heart.

01:05:57.400 --> 01:06:00.400
It's hard to practice, but his compassion is new every morning.

01:06:00.400 --> 01:06:02.400
Let his words frame your day.

01:06:03.400 --> 01:06:04.400
He'll be different every day.

01:06:04.400 --> 01:06:06.400
One day it'll be because you're hiding.

01:06:06.400 --> 01:06:07.400
He'll say, Adam, where are you?

01:06:07.400 --> 01:06:11.400
Another day you'll be sad that you haven't been able to connect with him.

01:06:11.400 --> 01:06:13.400
And he'll say, Mary, who are you looking for?

01:06:13.400 --> 01:06:17.400
And she'll turn around and she'll say, Rabbanai, is it you?

01:06:17.400 --> 01:06:23.400
Another day it'll be you kind of disappointed that yesterday things didn't work out.

01:06:23.400 --> 01:06:25.400
And he'll be by the beach and he'll have a fire going.

01:06:25.400 --> 01:06:28.400
And he'll say to you, boys, do you have some fish?

01:06:28.400 --> 01:06:33.400
Another day it'll be changing the name of Rachel's second born Benoni to Benjamin.

01:06:33.400 --> 01:06:35.400
You know what Benjamin means?

01:06:35.400 --> 01:06:41.400
It says in Deuteronomy 33 verse 2 that Benjamin is the one who sits between God's shoulders.

01:06:42.400 --> 01:06:45.400
Do you know what it is to start the day like that?

01:06:47.400 --> 01:06:49.400
Imagine Matt carrying Shiloh on his shoulders.

01:06:49.400 --> 01:06:50.400
Imagine Sheldon.

01:06:50.400 --> 01:06:51.400
You don't have to imagine.

01:06:51.400 --> 01:06:52.400
He actually does it.

01:06:52.400 --> 01:06:55.400
Imagine carrying Phoebe on his shoulders.

01:06:55.400 --> 01:06:59.400
Imagine, what's his name, carrying Cowboy on his shoulders.

01:07:02.400 --> 01:07:04.400
Sorry, what's his name is Vivek.

01:07:04.400 --> 01:07:06.400
The Cowboy is Emmanuel.

01:07:06.400 --> 01:07:12.400
He has that little scarf and he walks around like a Cowboy who's just gotten off his horse and isn't familiar with the ground.

01:07:17.400 --> 01:07:19.400
Sit between his shoulders.

01:07:19.400 --> 01:07:20.400
You should read it.

01:07:20.400 --> 01:07:21.400
Deuteronomy 33.

01:07:22.400 --> 01:07:24.400
Deuteronomy 33.

01:07:24.400 --> 01:07:25.400
I'm so excited.

01:07:25.400 --> 01:07:27.400
I'm full of life suddenly.

01:07:28.400 --> 01:07:29.400
Deuteronomy 33.

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Verse 12.

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Deuteronomy 33, 12.

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About Benjamin he said, Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long.

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And the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.

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In other words, in that carried between his shoulders, it puts you up here, man.

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What if you could start your day like that?

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16 minutes.

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Kill it, man.

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I'm not talking about reading your Bible during that time.

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Just 16 minutes of getting his words into your heart.

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And don't worry if every day it is, I love you, I love you, I love you for the first 16 days.

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It's okay.

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You'll get the hang of it.

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Those words are life changing.

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Do not fear.

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I love you.

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Again, these are things old timers know.

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At the worst time in my life, which was shortly before 2001, because everything in my life was broken.

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I go with Pastor Mike to Seattle and I enter a house where there's a prayer meeting.

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And there's a guy called Ira sitting there, hasn't seen me.

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And I go in and the word he's asking me is, what's your name?

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Jacob.

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And he says, Jacob, you are special to the Lord.

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I cried for the rest of the meeting.

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Like on any other day, if you tell me I'm special, I'll either say, yeah, I know, or I'll say, sorry, totally arrogant.

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On any other day, it wouldn't make much of a difference.

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But that day, it just ripped my heart out of, man.

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You're special to the Lord.

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You're special to the Lord.

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Suddenly, all the pain of seven, eight months of everything being broken in my life began to get repaired.

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Do not think that words like I love you or you are special to the Lord.

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When God speaks it, it will do what it needs to.

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16 minutes every day.

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Last couple of sentences and then we're done.

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Hey, can you, Sere, can you get your guitar?

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What you think about him and who you perceive him to be towards you affects your personality, your identity, your self-awareness, your interactions every day.

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What you think about him and how and who you perceive him to be towards you.

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What you think about him, how you think he thinks about you, who you perceive him to be towards you affects your personality, your self-awareness, your identity, your interactions every day.

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What you think about him.

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Many times we don't think anything about him, nothing bad, nothing good.

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We think he's neutral.

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What you think about him.

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How you think he thinks of you.

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And who you perceive him to be towards you affects your identity, your personality, your self-awareness and your interactions.

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But hearing him is so difficult, his sight is blurred.

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God is saying, go wash your face in the word.

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Intimacy is by faith, emotions are secondary.

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Never reverse that, never flip it.

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Intimacy is by faith, emotions are secondary.

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They do kick in, but intimacy is by faith.

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Emotions are secondary.

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Do not reverse the order.

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Do not flip it around.

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It will come together, but intimacy is by faith.

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Emotions are secondary.

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Every day, find his presence.

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Find his face, find his face.

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The word presence comes from a Hebrew word called panim.

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Panim means face.

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Every day, find his face, find his presence.

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16 minutes.

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I feel like I'm promoting a book.

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Find his presence every day and you will find his heart towards you.

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Find his presence, find his face every day and you will find his heart towards you.

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Find his face every day and you will find his heart towards you.

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And if you will practice it, here is God's guarantee.

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Here is God's guarantee.

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Jacob, how can you guarantee something on behalf of God?

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Because he says so, because he said so to me, and because the word says so.

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Three things.

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Here's what he says.

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Find my face every day, Jacob, and you will find my heart.

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And if you practice this, I guarantee you, Psalm 16, verse 11.

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I guarantee you, Psalm 16, verse 11.

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I guarantee you, Psalm 16, verse 11.

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These are guarantees at the beginning of the year.

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Take your rightful place.

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Come, take your rightful place.

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Be loved, then love him, then love others.

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Did he bring the guitar?

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Ah.

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Can you put that song up?

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What's your name sitting behind, next to what's your name?

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Oh, sorry.

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Hey, Jane, do you have the pic anywhere here?

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This is a song we used to sing long ago.

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But it's a cool song to conclude with.

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Any questions?

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Before we sing.

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Do you want to play?

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Okay.

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Don't need a difference, not necessary.

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Okay, if you don't know this song, it's easy.

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You are my father, you are my father.

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We'll wait for the words to come up behind.

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Hey, you'll go and practice all these things, no?

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Be super helpful, man.

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Really affect the way you are.

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It'll change you. We'll see it.

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You'll see it in me, I'll see it in you.

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Make sure the pews are stacked up on the side before we leave, yeah?

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This piano is as old as Mike.

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It was here when he was here.

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Older?

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Oh.

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You are my father, you are my father.

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You hold my future and destiny.

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You are my father, you are my father.

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In you I find my identity.

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You are my father, you are my father.

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You hold my future and destiny.

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You are my father, you are my father.

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In you I find my identity.

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Lay your hands on me.

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Tell me who I am.

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I can do all things.

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If you say I can.

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Show me I am free.

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Free to accomplish your plans for me.

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You are my father, you are my father.

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You hold my future, my destiny.

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You are my father, you are my father.

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In you I find my identity.

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Lay your hands.

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You've laid your hands on me.

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You've told me who I am.

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I am a covenant son.

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Your will is my command.

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One more time, you've laid.

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You've laid your hands on me.

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You've told me who I am.

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I am a covenant son.

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Your will is my command.

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One last time, you've laid your hands.

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You've laid your hands on me.

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You tell me who I am.

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I am a covenant son.

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Your will is my command.

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You have set me free.

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Free to accomplish your plans for me.

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You are my father, you are my father.

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You hold my future, my destiny.

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You are my father, you are my father.

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In you I find my identity.

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In you I find my identity.

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Father, as we go from here,

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may there be no gap between what we heard and what we practice.

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Spirit of God, I know you've done this in our lives before.

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Can you do it again, where at some point tomorrow morning

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you lay an urgency, a demand on my heart, on every heart here,

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saying, hey, 16 minutes.

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Regardless of how sleepy we are, we'll somehow scramble up.

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Why?

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Because there's someone coming over the mountains, coming over the hills

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who has captured my heart.

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I cannot go back into my PJs, put on my socks, and not answer the door.

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Please come knocking.

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I'm asking for the entire church.

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It's pointless for just a few of us to do this.

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I want all of us, Father.

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Behold, you have come over the hills, upon the mountains.

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To you I will run, my beloved.

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You've captured my heart.

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Please, Jesus, tomorrow, come knocking.

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And then if some of us fail because it's been a tiring weekend,

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when we wake up instead of feeling guilty,

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just go looking for you and run into your arms and say, shh, feeling really guilty.

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Allow us to start this year from a place inside your arms,

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between your shoulders.

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Please, Lord, grant this.

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It's a hunger and a thirst.

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Please grant it.

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In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

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Hey, there'll be people to pray for you here on this side.

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So feel free, oh, not on this side, on this side.

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Feel free to come up and they'll pray with you.

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And this is a decent place, right?

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I took a photograph so that we can fill it.

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I wish we had taken a photograph of the young adults from 2018.

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There were about 15 or 16 of us.

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When I looked, there were like too many men.

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So, pardon?

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Betty. It all depends on Betty.

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She's disappeared. She knew I would call her up for reckless love.

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Alrighty, let's go home.

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Oh no, she didn't disappear. She was sitting, but too late.

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Pardon?