WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Taking Control Publishing Date: 2017-05-14T06:00:44-07:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/taking-control/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.840 Pardon? 00:00:02.160 --> 00:00:05.440 Yeah, sorry, it's not try not to, please don't. 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:06.880 Yeah, yeah. 00:00:09.200 --> 00:00:14.200 Okay guys, it's strange, we've already reached almost 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:15.680 the midpoint of the year. 00:00:16.600 --> 00:00:17.440 Can you imagine that? 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:20.000 I mean, we just had New Year's just a little while ago 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:21.940 and we were already in June. 00:00:21.940 --> 00:00:24.200 And soon, it'll be June 21st, 00:00:24.200 --> 00:00:26.680 which is the longest day of the year, sorry. 00:00:27.720 --> 00:00:29.120 No, soon it'll be June. 00:00:30.720 --> 00:00:34.640 Yeah, soon it'll be June 21st, then it'll be July 17th, 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:37.320 then it'll be September 4th, then it'll be December 25th, 00:00:37.320 --> 00:00:39.360 and it just comes rushing, eh? 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:45.320 I think it was Azza's birthday on May 3rd, right? 00:00:45.760 --> 00:00:46.600 Yeah. 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:51.280 So I just thought we need to visit this whole idea 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:54.000 of taking control of life. 00:00:55.400 --> 00:00:58.560 And so some of it you've heard before, 00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:02.120 but it's just trying to visit something midpoint 00:01:02.120 --> 00:01:04.640 to take back life again, to take control. 00:01:05.560 --> 00:01:07.800 So that's what I thought we'd do. 00:01:07.800 --> 00:01:08.920 And some of the stuff is new, 00:01:08.920 --> 00:01:10.200 some of the stuff you've heard before, 00:01:10.200 --> 00:01:14.680 but I'm always surprised at how much we cover in a year 00:01:14.680 --> 00:01:16.480 and we hardly have time to practice it. 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:18.820 We go from one new topic to the other to the other. 00:01:18.820 --> 00:01:20.680 This will allow us to go back and look at something 00:01:20.680 --> 00:01:22.680 so that we can take control of life. 00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:26.560 So to begin with guys, control is to have power over. 00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:29.240 Control is to have power over. 00:01:29.240 --> 00:01:30.440 That's what control means. 00:01:30.440 --> 00:01:32.180 I have power over something. 00:01:32.180 --> 00:01:33.560 That's what control is. 00:01:33.560 --> 00:01:37.760 And as far as we humans are concerned, 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:39.800 control is an illusion. 00:01:39.800 --> 00:01:40.840 Control is an illusion. 00:01:40.840 --> 00:01:42.460 You have no power over nothing. 00:01:43.560 --> 00:01:44.880 Control is an illusion. 00:01:44.880 --> 00:01:46.540 You have no power over nothing. 00:01:48.520 --> 00:01:50.480 There's nothing you have control over. 00:01:51.760 --> 00:01:52.700 It's an illusion. 00:01:56.760 --> 00:01:58.880 Yep, go ahead. 00:02:02.240 --> 00:02:03.220 Say that again. 00:02:06.040 --> 00:02:09.280 And your statement is that it is true or it's not true? 00:02:11.200 --> 00:02:12.520 It is a necessity. 00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:14.840 So I'm not saying control is not a necessity. 00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:17.200 I'm just saying control is an illusion. 00:02:17.200 --> 00:02:19.160 Even when we try to have control over people 00:02:19.160 --> 00:02:20.240 that may do us harm, 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:22.820 we find that even that sometimes doesn't work. 00:02:22.820 --> 00:02:25.040 There's a law and the law can't sometimes 00:02:25.040 --> 00:02:26.460 prevent things from happening. 00:02:27.380 --> 00:02:29.580 If we did have control over everyone who did us harm, 00:02:29.580 --> 00:02:32.780 this world would be less. 00:02:32.780 --> 00:02:36.140 Yeah, I mean, either there'd be half the number of people 00:02:36.140 --> 00:02:38.580 that exist because we would take care of them 00:02:38.580 --> 00:02:40.780 or the wars would decrease. 00:02:40.780 --> 00:02:44.100 But at present, control is an illusion of sorts. 00:02:44.100 --> 00:02:47.780 I mean, never works out, eh? 00:02:47.780 --> 00:02:49.300 The only one who has control is God. 00:02:49.300 --> 00:02:50.140 Go ahead. 00:02:51.780 --> 00:02:55.380 Control over ourselves is perhaps the only thing 00:02:55.380 --> 00:02:59.100 that people who have God in their life can exert 00:02:59.100 --> 00:03:00.660 because willpower doesn't work. 00:03:00.660 --> 00:03:01.700 I tried it, eh? 00:03:01.700 --> 00:03:03.060 And the world has tried it. 00:03:03.060 --> 00:03:04.060 Willpower doesn't work. 00:03:04.060 --> 00:03:07.820 Sin would disappear if man had control over his will 00:03:07.820 --> 00:03:08.660 and he doesn't. 00:03:08.660 --> 00:03:11.740 As believers, we have some degree of control over our will 00:03:11.740 --> 00:03:14.140 because we have the Spirit of God helping us. 00:03:14.140 --> 00:03:15.340 And the strange thing is, 00:03:16.580 --> 00:03:18.720 even though people have a tendency, 00:03:18.720 --> 00:03:21.580 Christians have a tendency to say God is in control, 00:03:21.580 --> 00:03:22.660 God is in charge. 00:03:22.660 --> 00:03:24.260 He does not control everything. 00:03:25.700 --> 00:03:26.940 God is in charge. 00:03:26.940 --> 00:03:29.020 He does not control everything. 00:03:29.020 --> 00:03:30.140 If he controlled everything, 00:03:30.140 --> 00:03:32.380 he could save the world in an instant. 00:03:32.380 --> 00:03:35.620 But the moment he takes control of our will, 00:03:35.620 --> 00:03:37.900 suddenly what happens is we become robots 00:03:37.900 --> 00:03:41.900 and our moral will is removed. 00:03:45.500 --> 00:03:47.900 So going back to the point, I forgot your name, man. 00:03:47.900 --> 00:03:48.740 Conrad. 00:03:48.740 --> 00:03:49.580 Conrad. 00:03:49.580 --> 00:03:51.100 Going back to what Conrad is saying, 00:03:51.100 --> 00:03:54.940 I'd love to exert control over people who do me no good. 00:03:55.460 --> 00:03:57.700 I'd love to exert control over people who do me harm, 00:03:57.700 --> 00:04:00.740 but I find that even there, there's no guarantee. 00:04:02.420 --> 00:04:03.940 There's no guarantee. 00:04:03.940 --> 00:04:06.460 I can control what I do 00:04:06.460 --> 00:04:08.940 and that only with the help of the Holy Spirit. 00:04:08.940 --> 00:04:11.180 Because otherwise we'd be sinless by now 00:04:11.180 --> 00:04:13.980 if we knew how to control every impulse in our lives. 00:04:14.940 --> 00:04:17.300 I mean, when that lie comes bubbling up 00:04:17.300 --> 00:04:18.540 and it's on the tip of your tongue, 00:04:18.540 --> 00:04:20.260 you have the ability to control it, 00:04:20.260 --> 00:04:21.580 but it's not like we do. 00:04:22.540 --> 00:04:24.700 And so God is in charge. 00:04:25.500 --> 00:04:28.700 Heretic, heretical, but God is sovereign, yes. 00:04:28.700 --> 00:04:30.780 He's absolutely in charge, yes, 00:04:30.780 --> 00:04:33.660 but he does not control everything though he could. 00:04:34.700 --> 00:04:37.500 He does not control everything though he could. 00:04:37.500 --> 00:04:39.980 He could easily do it by taking away free will. 00:04:41.020 --> 00:04:43.740 Because it is his desire that everyone be saved 00:04:43.740 --> 00:04:45.020 and none perish. 00:04:45.020 --> 00:04:47.340 So if he wanted to exert his will, he could. 00:04:49.820 --> 00:04:50.740 So he is in charge, 00:04:50.740 --> 00:04:53.020 but he does choose not to control everything 00:04:53.020 --> 00:04:54.660 even though he can. 00:04:54.660 --> 00:04:57.020 So make sure that you don't tether 00:04:57.020 --> 00:04:59.860 the will of God to your experience. 00:04:59.860 --> 00:05:01.900 Make sure that you don't tether 00:05:01.900 --> 00:05:03.940 the will of God to your experience, 00:05:03.940 --> 00:05:04.780 but to the word of God. 00:05:04.780 --> 00:05:06.300 For instance, people say, 00:05:06.300 --> 00:05:09.340 oh, if someone doesn't get healed, 00:05:09.340 --> 00:05:10.620 the immediate response is, 00:05:10.620 --> 00:05:13.900 oh, it's not God's will that we get healed. 00:05:13.900 --> 00:05:16.300 If a hurricane comes, 00:05:16.300 --> 00:05:19.220 oh, it's God's will to send a hurricane on those people 00:05:19.220 --> 00:05:21.180 because they deserve to be punished. 00:05:21.260 --> 00:05:24.540 We just take our understanding and our experience 00:05:24.540 --> 00:05:27.980 and tether it to God and say that this is his will 00:05:27.980 --> 00:05:29.860 because this is how he chooses to control 00:05:29.860 --> 00:05:30.700 and not to control. 00:05:30.700 --> 00:05:32.460 No, that's not the way it works. 00:05:33.420 --> 00:05:35.500 It really messes up theology. 00:05:35.500 --> 00:05:38.660 When we take our experiences and then tether God to it 00:05:38.660 --> 00:05:40.260 and say, this is who God is, 00:05:40.260 --> 00:05:41.700 when the word says otherwise. 00:05:42.820 --> 00:05:44.380 So when the tsunami came, 00:05:44.380 --> 00:05:48.740 I mean, it was God wanted to punish anyone 00:05:48.740 --> 00:05:49.580 who was not a Christian. 00:05:49.580 --> 00:05:52.220 Hey, judgment begins in the house of God first. 00:05:52.220 --> 00:05:53.700 He's really merciful. 00:05:53.700 --> 00:05:54.860 If he wasn't merciful, 00:05:54.860 --> 00:05:57.100 you and I wouldn't be sitting in church. 00:05:57.100 --> 00:05:59.740 We'd be swallowed up in tsunamis about 40 years ago. 00:06:01.820 --> 00:06:03.100 He's super merciful. 00:06:04.260 --> 00:06:06.820 He's in charge, but he does not control everything. 00:06:07.860 --> 00:06:09.540 Because a common question asked by people 00:06:09.540 --> 00:06:13.460 who either don't like God or don't understand him is, 00:06:13.460 --> 00:06:16.460 if God was so good, why can't he prevent evil? 00:06:16.460 --> 00:06:18.260 And books have been written about it. 00:06:19.580 --> 00:06:24.580 But he's willing to be in charge and in control 00:06:28.740 --> 00:06:31.100 of your life if you allow him to. 00:06:32.100 --> 00:06:33.300 That's how this works. 00:06:34.340 --> 00:06:36.820 Because he does not take away free will. 00:06:36.820 --> 00:06:38.540 The day he takes away free will, 00:06:38.540 --> 00:06:40.660 I know this will be a problem for Calvinists, 00:06:40.660 --> 00:06:42.740 but the day he takes away free will, 00:06:43.860 --> 00:06:47.500 you might as well stop existing. 00:06:47.500 --> 00:06:49.020 You're lower than an animal then. 00:06:49.020 --> 00:06:51.700 Because even animals have a degree of free will. 00:06:51.700 --> 00:06:53.100 You're lower than a dog then. 00:06:54.100 --> 00:06:55.300 Free will is taken away. 00:06:57.100 --> 00:06:58.580 Any questions before we go on? 00:06:59.420 --> 00:07:00.260 Go ahead, Carmen. 00:07:00.260 --> 00:07:03.260 Will he accept the way the world is? 00:07:03.260 --> 00:07:06.220 Will he just accept the way it is? 00:07:06.220 --> 00:07:07.060 If we? 00:07:07.060 --> 00:07:10.340 Will he just accept the way it is? 00:07:10.340 --> 00:07:12.980 Do we accept the world the way it is? 00:07:13.940 --> 00:07:16.260 That would be one way, but perhaps there's a more excellent 00:07:16.420 --> 00:07:20.580 way, which would be to go with what Jesus teaches us 00:07:20.580 --> 00:07:22.860 in Matthew six or Matthew 11, where he says, 00:07:22.860 --> 00:07:25.940 your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 00:07:25.940 --> 00:07:29.900 So one of the ways we can go is to accept the fallenness 00:07:29.900 --> 00:07:33.740 of the world as is and try to do the best we can 00:07:33.740 --> 00:07:35.500 in this world and be salt and light. 00:07:35.500 --> 00:07:39.180 The other, I think more excellent way would be to see, 00:07:39.180 --> 00:07:42.300 so what is this will in heaven that I can now begin to? 00:07:43.140 --> 00:07:47.940 I'd be a distributor off on earth. 00:07:47.940 --> 00:07:51.620 And that requires something which most Christians 00:07:51.620 --> 00:07:53.460 won't aspire for. 00:07:53.460 --> 00:07:56.100 It'll require that I figure out the will of God. 00:07:57.100 --> 00:07:58.540 And that is a hard party. 00:07:58.540 --> 00:07:59.900 That's something Christians avoid. 00:07:59.900 --> 00:08:02.580 We don't want to figure out how God wants to do things. 00:08:02.580 --> 00:08:03.940 So case-a-rass-a-ra. 00:08:05.300 --> 00:08:06.580 Whatever will be, will be. 00:08:08.060 --> 00:08:11.980 But it's great when we look at the fallenness of the world, 00:08:12.140 --> 00:08:14.580 recognize what's happening, but then decide 00:08:14.580 --> 00:08:15.940 that there is a more excellent way 00:08:15.940 --> 00:08:17.700 where now I figure out the will of God 00:08:17.700 --> 00:08:20.940 and I don't impose it, I don't enforce it, 00:08:20.940 --> 00:08:22.420 except on the enemy, but I begin 00:08:22.420 --> 00:08:24.740 to become a distributor office. 00:08:24.740 --> 00:08:25.580 Goodness. 00:08:27.660 --> 00:08:31.820 So how do we go about then taking control? 00:08:31.820 --> 00:08:34.100 Guys, if you want to take control of your life 00:08:34.100 --> 00:08:37.060 midway through the year, then one of the things 00:08:37.060 --> 00:08:39.820 that we've talked about often is put first things first. 00:08:39.820 --> 00:08:41.660 Put first things first. 00:08:41.660 --> 00:08:45.980 Put first things first. 00:08:45.980 --> 00:08:47.180 Start here. 00:08:47.180 --> 00:08:48.420 Put first things first. 00:08:50.180 --> 00:08:53.940 Your life is determined by your priorities, eh? 00:08:53.940 --> 00:08:56.780 Your life is determined by your priorities. 00:08:56.780 --> 00:09:01.060 Your affection is what draws your attention, 00:09:01.060 --> 00:09:03.020 is what sets your direction. 00:09:04.100 --> 00:09:05.820 We've talked about this before, 00:09:05.820 --> 00:09:08.820 but midway through the year, you've got to look again 00:09:09.180 --> 00:09:12.980 at where did you want to be at this time in your year? 00:09:12.980 --> 00:09:15.140 What were the things you were hoping 00:09:15.140 --> 00:09:16.540 you could have accomplished? 00:09:16.540 --> 00:09:19.900 What were the things that God had asked you to be about? 00:09:19.900 --> 00:09:21.660 And if you aren't there, then go back 00:09:21.660 --> 00:09:22.660 to putting first things first. 00:09:22.660 --> 00:09:25.060 You'll be surprised that half the church, 00:09:25.060 --> 00:09:27.460 and you don't know which half I'm in, 00:09:27.460 --> 00:09:29.500 and I'm not willing to confess, 00:09:29.500 --> 00:09:31.860 but half the church still hasn't, 00:09:31.860 --> 00:09:33.420 half this church I'm talking about, 00:09:33.420 --> 00:09:35.940 still hasn't developed a simple practice 00:09:35.940 --> 00:09:37.540 of reading the word on a regular, 00:09:37.540 --> 00:09:39.220 consistent basis every day. 00:09:41.580 --> 00:09:43.820 And some of us have been Christians for 30 or 40 years, 00:09:43.820 --> 00:09:44.660 and we don't, eh? 00:09:45.980 --> 00:09:46.820 We don't. 00:09:46.820 --> 00:09:48.460 It's not a consistent practice. 00:09:48.460 --> 00:09:50.340 And yet, God starts off with David saying, 00:09:50.340 --> 00:09:51.980 hey, want to walk well? 00:09:51.980 --> 00:09:55.780 Want to have my word as a lamp and a light to your feet? 00:09:55.780 --> 00:09:57.580 Want to make sure you don't sin? 00:09:57.580 --> 00:09:59.180 Cherish my word in your heart? 00:09:59.180 --> 00:10:00.340 Want to meditate? 00:10:00.340 --> 00:10:03.460 He says to Joshua, it's again and again the same theme, eh? 00:10:03.460 --> 00:10:06.180 And most of us haven't gotten that right. 00:10:06.180 --> 00:10:09.820 Or half of us, let's say, putting first things first. 00:10:09.820 --> 00:10:11.620 Because where your affection is, 00:10:11.620 --> 00:10:13.300 there your attention will be, 00:10:13.300 --> 00:10:15.100 and that will set your direction, eh? 00:10:17.340 --> 00:10:18.940 I mean, I was looking at stuff in my life 00:10:18.940 --> 00:10:21.220 where I need to put first things first again, 00:10:21.220 --> 00:10:23.620 and there are so many things that have fallen 00:10:23.620 --> 00:10:25.980 by the wayside over the last five months, man. 00:10:27.580 --> 00:10:30.140 I'm basically first, especially in terms of time, 00:10:30.140 --> 00:10:34.180 treasure, talent, time, treasure, talent, 00:10:34.180 --> 00:10:36.540 strength, relationships. 00:10:36.540 --> 00:10:38.620 Regardless of the clamor of demands, 00:10:38.620 --> 00:10:40.740 in these five areas, put first things first. 00:10:40.740 --> 00:10:42.700 And what do I mean by putting first things first? 00:10:42.700 --> 00:10:47.020 Put God principles first, or put your time into stuff. 00:10:47.020 --> 00:10:48.700 If you want your marriage to be better, 00:10:48.700 --> 00:10:50.180 put first things first, as in, 00:10:50.180 --> 00:10:54.460 Kamal, spend more time with Anne. 00:10:54.460 --> 00:10:58.860 Stop looking up her nose, but spend more time with Anne. 00:11:00.860 --> 00:11:02.220 Spend more time with Anne. 00:11:02.900 --> 00:11:07.340 Guys, anything that requires first requires time, 00:11:07.340 --> 00:11:08.380 requires time. 00:11:11.740 --> 00:11:16.540 Time, talent, treasure, relationships, strength. 00:11:16.540 --> 00:11:20.020 As in, where do I put, how do I use my strength? 00:11:20.020 --> 00:11:22.980 My intellectual, physical, emotional strength. 00:11:22.980 --> 00:11:25.900 How do I, where am I investing it? 00:11:25.900 --> 00:11:27.340 Put first things first. 00:11:28.460 --> 00:11:31.460 Time, how much time is spent by us? 00:11:31.460 --> 00:11:33.140 I mean, these are basics, eh? 00:11:33.140 --> 00:11:35.660 But it's fascinating how it's the little things 00:11:35.660 --> 00:11:39.980 that are gnawing away, or hollowing out the tree of our life. 00:11:39.980 --> 00:11:42.620 How much time do I spend in front of television? 00:11:42.620 --> 00:11:45.380 How much time do I spend by myself, 00:11:45.380 --> 00:11:47.220 and not with people or with God? 00:11:47.220 --> 00:11:50.340 How much time do I, I mean, you measure your time, 00:11:50.340 --> 00:11:53.980 and you will see where your attention and your affection is. 00:11:53.980 --> 00:11:55.180 How much time do I sleep? 00:11:56.780 --> 00:11:57.700 Don't answer that. 00:11:58.380 --> 00:12:01.940 You look at how you invest time, 00:12:01.940 --> 00:12:03.540 and you will know what the most important thing 00:12:03.540 --> 00:12:04.380 in your life is. 00:12:06.780 --> 00:12:09.060 At the end of the day, it's, when you come, 00:12:09.060 --> 00:12:11.740 and when I come here to worship on a Sunday, 00:12:11.740 --> 00:12:15.860 guys, worship can only be given to that which you enjoy. 00:12:15.860 --> 00:12:18.140 And whatever you enjoy, you will idolize, 00:12:18.140 --> 00:12:20.820 you will elevate, you will pour your time into. 00:12:20.820 --> 00:12:23.180 And so the question is, in the 20 or 30 minutes 00:12:23.180 --> 00:12:26.500 of worship here, are you continuing what you've been doing 00:12:26.500 --> 00:12:29.380 throughout the week, where the center of your attention 00:12:29.380 --> 00:12:32.780 was this relationship you have with the Father and the Son? 00:12:32.780 --> 00:12:36.300 If that is so, then your worship here is a continuation 00:12:36.300 --> 00:12:37.980 of what you've been throughout the week. 00:12:37.980 --> 00:12:41.900 Otherwise, there's something seriously wrong. 00:12:41.900 --> 00:12:44.540 Why do we struggle with worship when we come to church? 00:12:44.540 --> 00:12:46.020 One of the reasons we struggle with worship 00:12:46.020 --> 00:12:49.940 is throughout the week, we've idolized a golden calf or two. 00:12:49.940 --> 00:12:51.620 And then we come here, and for 40 minutes, 00:12:51.620 --> 00:12:53.140 we've got to focus on this Father 00:12:53.140 --> 00:12:54.740 who was missing during the week. 00:12:55.740 --> 00:12:57.780 That's why worship becomes difficult. 00:12:59.580 --> 00:13:03.580 You idolize, elevate, look up to, enjoy, 00:13:03.580 --> 00:13:07.300 and are satisfied with whatever grabs your attention. 00:13:07.300 --> 00:13:08.820 And if it ain't God during the week, 00:13:08.820 --> 00:13:10.500 it's gonna be very hard for God to turn up 00:13:10.500 --> 00:13:11.980 for 40 minutes on a Sunday. 00:13:16.980 --> 00:13:18.580 So put first things first. 00:13:19.500 --> 00:13:20.340 Put first things first. 00:13:20.340 --> 00:13:23.180 Go back to, Father, where do I need to invest my time? 00:13:23.740 --> 00:13:24.820 And you gotta think of two things 00:13:24.820 --> 00:13:26.580 when you're putting first things first. 00:13:26.580 --> 00:13:29.100 What am I heading towards, and what am I missing now? 00:13:29.100 --> 00:13:29.940 Two things. 00:13:29.940 --> 00:13:30.780 What am I missing now? 00:13:30.780 --> 00:13:32.740 Why is my life the way it is right now? 00:13:32.740 --> 00:13:35.220 What do I need to adjust in putting first things first? 00:13:35.220 --> 00:13:36.380 So let me pick on Jeevan. 00:13:36.380 --> 00:13:38.940 Let's assume Jeevan's life is super busy. 00:13:38.940 --> 00:13:41.140 It's not, or maybe it is. 00:13:41.140 --> 00:13:42.580 Maybe I'm telling the truth and I know something, 00:13:42.580 --> 00:13:44.500 or maybe I don't, but let's move on. 00:13:45.900 --> 00:13:48.740 Now that I have Jeevan completely confused. 00:13:48.740 --> 00:13:50.620 Let's assume Jeevan's life is really busy. 00:13:50.620 --> 00:13:52.580 So Jeevan has to figure out, 00:13:52.620 --> 00:13:54.700 am I going from meeting to meeting to meeting, 00:13:54.700 --> 00:13:56.260 preaching here, preaching there, 00:13:56.260 --> 00:13:58.220 preaching wherever people call me, 00:13:58.220 --> 00:14:00.340 or do I have to streamline my life 00:14:00.340 --> 00:14:02.060 so that I put first things first 00:14:02.060 --> 00:14:04.500 and know what God is calling me for 00:14:04.500 --> 00:14:05.700 in terms of the future 00:14:05.700 --> 00:14:07.740 and in terms of how I manage time right now? 00:14:07.740 --> 00:14:08.980 And the moment he does that, 00:14:08.980 --> 00:14:10.660 everything else falls into place, 00:14:10.660 --> 00:14:12.620 because the moment he put first things first, 00:14:12.620 --> 00:14:14.820 everything else gets governed by it. 00:14:14.820 --> 00:14:17.620 So Jeevan decides that I will only go places 00:14:17.620 --> 00:14:20.220 where this is what I'm being called for, 00:14:20.260 --> 00:14:22.740 and suddenly he finds that he's got oodles of time 00:14:22.740 --> 00:14:24.700 to spend with Don and Derek and Jacob. 00:14:28.100 --> 00:14:30.260 And he only goes for these certain assignments. 00:14:30.260 --> 00:14:31.780 This is how Jesus worked, eh? 00:14:31.780 --> 00:14:33.460 For 30 years of his ministry, 00:14:33.460 --> 00:14:34.860 he put first things first. 00:14:34.860 --> 00:14:35.940 And what was first? 00:14:35.940 --> 00:14:37.420 His family. 00:14:37.420 --> 00:14:38.260 Crazy! 00:14:38.260 --> 00:14:40.180 This is the son of God who's supposed to save the world, 00:14:40.180 --> 00:14:42.380 and he's a carpenter sitting in a little shed 00:14:42.380 --> 00:14:45.260 taking care of his mother and six brothers and two sisters. 00:14:46.380 --> 00:14:48.460 That was his priority. 00:14:48.460 --> 00:14:51.100 And at 12, it suddenly changes. 00:14:51.100 --> 00:14:52.780 Well, there's little, not at 12, 00:14:52.780 --> 00:14:54.980 at 30, it suddenly changes, 00:14:54.980 --> 00:14:56.820 and he becomes a completely different person. 00:14:56.820 --> 00:14:59.460 Because whatever you put your affections to 00:14:59.460 --> 00:15:02.500 will draw your attention and will set your direction. 00:15:07.380 --> 00:15:09.020 We'll talk about it in a moment. 00:15:11.140 --> 00:15:12.740 And the thing is, the moment you put first things first, 00:15:12.740 --> 00:15:17.740 guys, you'll notice that it gives God control 00:15:19.340 --> 00:15:20.540 over your life. 00:15:21.540 --> 00:15:23.860 When you put first things first, 00:15:23.860 --> 00:15:27.980 you'll suddenly notice that it gives God control 00:15:27.980 --> 00:15:29.820 over your life. 00:15:31.700 --> 00:15:32.860 You wanna take control? 00:15:34.100 --> 00:15:35.180 This is one of the first things you do. 00:15:35.180 --> 00:15:36.620 Any questions before we go on? 00:15:40.020 --> 00:15:40.860 Guys, go check this. 00:15:40.860 --> 00:15:42.420 You don't know how basic this is, 00:15:42.420 --> 00:15:45.100 but it revolutionizes the way you function. 00:15:49.460 --> 00:15:52.100 Okay, second point. 00:15:52.100 --> 00:15:53.420 Learn is hard. 00:15:53.420 --> 00:15:54.500 Learn is hard. 00:15:56.460 --> 00:15:58.740 Midway through the year, 00:15:58.740 --> 00:16:00.500 there might be things that you didn't expect 00:16:00.500 --> 00:16:02.260 have happened now. 00:16:02.260 --> 00:16:04.260 January 1st looked so bright and suddenly 00:16:04.260 --> 00:16:05.740 there are new problems, 00:16:05.740 --> 00:16:08.540 new situations that make your heart go turbulent. 00:16:08.540 --> 00:16:10.580 So are you afraid, are you confused, 00:16:10.580 --> 00:16:12.900 are you worried by turbulence in your life? 00:16:12.900 --> 00:16:15.340 One of the easiest ways to take control. 00:16:15.340 --> 00:16:17.300 Guys, here's what we usually do. 00:16:17.300 --> 00:16:18.140 We start worrying. 00:16:18.820 --> 00:16:20.780 If you try to worry your way out of a problem, 00:16:20.780 --> 00:16:23.420 you destroy Jesus' effectiveness. 00:16:23.420 --> 00:16:26.060 When you try to worry your way out of a problem, 00:16:26.060 --> 00:16:29.060 you destroy Jesus' effectiveness. 00:16:29.060 --> 00:16:31.660 When you try to worry your way out of a problem, 00:16:31.660 --> 00:16:34.500 you destroy Jesus' effectiveness. 00:16:35.420 --> 00:16:38.340 As in, it's literally like tying his hands 00:16:38.340 --> 00:16:41.220 and saying, not right now, let me finish worrying 00:16:41.220 --> 00:16:42.500 and trying to solve this myself, 00:16:42.500 --> 00:16:45.100 and then when I get really helpless, you can come in. 00:16:45.620 --> 00:16:47.740 That's our usual method. 00:16:47.740 --> 00:16:49.740 The first place you go to in trouble 00:16:49.740 --> 00:16:51.140 must be the heart of God. 00:16:51.140 --> 00:16:53.860 The first place you go to in trouble 00:16:53.860 --> 00:16:55.740 must be the heart of God. 00:16:55.740 --> 00:16:58.260 The first place you go to in trouble 00:16:58.260 --> 00:17:00.260 doesn't matter what kind of trouble, 00:17:00.260 --> 00:17:02.060 trouble that's caused by your own mistakes, 00:17:02.060 --> 00:17:04.140 sin and its consequences, problems, 00:17:04.140 --> 00:17:05.460 assaults from outside, 00:17:05.460 --> 00:17:08.220 people who are trying to overpower you, sickness. 00:17:08.220 --> 00:17:10.020 Doesn't matter what kind of an assault, 00:17:10.020 --> 00:17:12.500 the first place I must go in trouble 00:17:12.500 --> 00:17:14.100 should be the heart of God. 00:17:14.140 --> 00:17:14.980 The heart of God. 00:17:14.980 --> 00:17:17.260 Because there, I'll find what I need. 00:17:17.260 --> 00:17:20.820 Otherwise, my default as humans is to worry, 00:17:20.820 --> 00:17:22.580 and the moment I start worrying, 00:17:22.580 --> 00:17:25.060 I destroy his effectiveness in my life. 00:17:25.060 --> 00:17:27.100 And it might happen 15 times a day, 00:17:27.100 --> 00:17:29.140 but tomorrow may it happen only 10, 00:17:29.140 --> 00:17:30.820 and day after may it happen only five, 00:17:30.820 --> 00:17:33.020 till you completely eradicate the problem. 00:17:37.380 --> 00:17:39.820 I am his child, I will not be afraid. 00:17:39.820 --> 00:17:42.620 And I will not be afraid of being forsaken or abandoned. 00:17:44.780 --> 00:17:46.980 Doesn't matter whether it's small or big things. 00:17:46.980 --> 00:17:48.860 I had a flight on Thursday 00:17:48.860 --> 00:17:50.860 from Seattle to Vancouver at 2.20. 00:17:52.300 --> 00:17:57.300 And the flight from Dubai landed at 1.45. 00:17:59.360 --> 00:18:02.700 At 1.45 you land, you gotta now collect your baggage, 00:18:02.700 --> 00:18:04.940 you gotta go through security again. 00:18:04.940 --> 00:18:08.900 Then you gotta go from one satellite terminal to another, 00:18:08.900 --> 00:18:10.900 and then of all the gates they could pick, 00:18:10.900 --> 00:18:13.300 A1 is the closest to where you get off. 00:18:13.300 --> 00:18:15.780 They chose A14, there's nothing after A14. 00:18:17.300 --> 00:18:20.260 And so I think I knocked one old woman in two chairs, 00:18:21.180 --> 00:18:22.220 trying to get to the flight. 00:18:22.220 --> 00:18:23.740 But by now, it's impossible, 00:18:23.740 --> 00:18:26.020 because the flight leaves at 2.20. 00:18:26.020 --> 00:18:28.060 And for hours on the 14 hour flight, 00:18:28.060 --> 00:18:28.940 because they had WiFi, 00:18:28.940 --> 00:18:31.300 all I'm doing is trying to check and see 00:18:31.300 --> 00:18:32.740 what other flights I can book, 00:18:32.740 --> 00:18:34.620 because I'm sure that I won't catch this flight. 00:18:34.620 --> 00:18:39.220 Because it's impossible to make it across in 35 minutes. 00:18:39.220 --> 00:18:40.620 It's impossible. 00:18:40.620 --> 00:18:42.540 So I'm spending time worrying, 00:18:42.540 --> 00:18:45.340 I'm figuring out should I pay this, should I not? 00:18:45.340 --> 00:18:47.380 Because everything is in US dollars. 00:18:47.380 --> 00:18:49.220 And then at some point I remembered, 00:18:49.220 --> 00:18:52.560 man, you are behaving exactly like you preach, 00:18:52.560 --> 00:18:53.820 people should not behave. 00:18:55.280 --> 00:18:56.940 And so I remember switching off the WiFi and saying, 00:18:56.940 --> 00:18:58.580 father, I don't know how you're gonna do this, 00:18:58.580 --> 00:19:01.340 but I'm not gonna make any attempt to fix nothing 00:19:01.340 --> 00:19:05.020 till I get to the gate and find that the plane has left. 00:19:06.580 --> 00:19:07.960 And that might sound silly, 00:19:07.960 --> 00:19:10.180 Jacob, you should use your logic. 00:19:10.180 --> 00:19:15.060 Yeah, but it wasn't working at 40,000 feet anyways. 00:19:15.060 --> 00:19:19.140 So I get off the plane and I make this mad dash 00:19:19.140 --> 00:19:21.940 and I get there after the flight time. 00:19:21.940 --> 00:19:25.900 So it's 2.20, I get there on 2.23 or 2.24 or 2.25. 00:19:25.900 --> 00:19:27.640 And the flight's been delayed. 00:19:29.300 --> 00:19:31.340 And I'm the last one on board, 00:19:31.340 --> 00:19:33.940 everyone else is boarded, and then it's me. 00:19:33.940 --> 00:19:36.260 And I get on the plane and I come home. 00:19:36.260 --> 00:19:38.820 I'm sitting on the plane and writing to God on my phone 00:19:38.900 --> 00:19:43.220 saying, father, I wish I'd learned these lessons faster. 00:19:43.220 --> 00:19:46.660 Where I run to your heart instead of running to my mind 00:19:46.660 --> 00:19:49.780 and trying to figure out and worry and fix things. 00:19:49.780 --> 00:19:52.020 I wish I could run to your heart first. 00:19:53.580 --> 00:19:56.200 So difficult to do, eh, after all these years? 00:19:56.200 --> 00:19:58.440 I hate it when stuff like that happens. 00:20:01.660 --> 00:20:06.420 Feelings, that's another thing that we need to deal with 00:20:06.420 --> 00:20:07.940 if you're taking control. 00:20:07.940 --> 00:20:10.980 If you wanna take control of your life, feelings, 00:20:10.980 --> 00:20:13.800 I mean, we experience feelings, 00:20:13.800 --> 00:20:17.380 but we can't afford to inhabit or pitch tent 00:20:17.380 --> 00:20:20.060 either in the valley or on the mountain. 00:20:20.060 --> 00:20:24.860 We experience feelings, but we can't afford to pitch tent 00:20:24.860 --> 00:20:28.380 or inhabit the valley or the mountain. 00:20:28.380 --> 00:20:29.220 Can't. 00:20:31.560 --> 00:20:33.980 God had this smart idea for Israel. 00:20:33.980 --> 00:20:37.180 When people would die or some famous leader would die, 00:20:37.260 --> 00:20:39.500 he'd give them a specific time of mourning. 00:20:40.720 --> 00:20:44.940 Cause unlike the Canaanites and the nations around 00:20:44.940 --> 00:20:47.020 who would go into cutting themselves, 00:20:47.020 --> 00:20:51.540 who would hire mourners, who'd go into hysterical crying 00:20:51.540 --> 00:20:55.420 and funeral rites, God prescribed to them 00:20:55.420 --> 00:20:57.540 the way one was supposed to be buried 00:20:57.540 --> 00:20:58.780 and the time of mourning. 00:20:58.780 --> 00:21:01.140 And after that, God wanted them to move on. 00:21:07.580 --> 00:21:10.140 I remember Pastor Mike saying this to me, 00:21:10.140 --> 00:21:12.060 Jacob, every time you do really well, 00:21:12.060 --> 00:21:14.700 pat yourself on the back for one day, 00:21:14.700 --> 00:21:16.520 savor the feeling, and then move on. 00:21:17.580 --> 00:21:20.940 Just one day, enjoy it for one day, and then move on. 00:21:20.940 --> 00:21:23.780 Doesn't matter whether it be the valley or the mountain, 00:21:23.780 --> 00:21:26.360 do not pitch your tent or inhabit that place, eh? 00:21:26.360 --> 00:21:30.420 Because if you do, then feelings begin to take control 00:21:30.420 --> 00:21:34.340 instead of you allowing God to direct your paths, 00:21:34.340 --> 00:21:35.680 your feelings begin to direct it. 00:21:35.720 --> 00:21:37.220 I love the scene in John chapter six 00:21:37.220 --> 00:21:39.280 where Jesus is doing really well, 00:21:39.280 --> 00:21:41.000 revival's going really well. 00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:44.120 He's the main speaker, crowds have gathered, 00:21:44.120 --> 00:21:45.780 and they come to crown him king. 00:21:46.880 --> 00:21:48.600 And Jesus does something very simple, 00:21:48.600 --> 00:21:50.680 he just disappears up the mountain 00:21:50.680 --> 00:21:52.680 cause he refuses to be crowned king. 00:21:52.680 --> 00:21:54.680 Doesn't matter how good a thing is going. 00:21:56.520 --> 00:21:59.080 When things go well, it is not evidence 00:21:59.080 --> 00:22:01.160 that God wants you to continue. 00:22:01.160 --> 00:22:03.060 All it means is things are going well. 00:22:04.060 --> 00:22:08.420 And he has the audacity to leave and go to other towns 00:22:08.420 --> 00:22:09.980 and saying, don't want this. 00:22:11.660 --> 00:22:14.340 I love this line which I've repeated quite a few times here. 00:22:14.340 --> 00:22:17.060 Guys, I have a choice, magnify the Lord 00:22:17.060 --> 00:22:20.460 or magnify the situation that I'm currently embedded in. 00:22:20.460 --> 00:22:22.740 I have a choice, magnify the Lord 00:22:22.740 --> 00:22:26.500 or magnify the situation that I'm currently embedded in. 00:22:26.500 --> 00:22:28.940 I have a choice, magnify the Lord 00:22:28.940 --> 00:22:33.940 or magnify the situation that I'm currently embedded in. 00:22:33.960 --> 00:22:36.340 And we have this choice every time, eh? 00:22:38.300 --> 00:22:39.140 Every time. 00:22:39.940 --> 00:22:41.420 I'm me, you and I, and I said this 00:22:41.420 --> 00:22:42.620 at the beginning of the service, 00:22:42.620 --> 00:22:44.100 may this church be known as a church 00:22:44.100 --> 00:22:48.260 that trusts God so implicitly for every little thing, 00:22:48.260 --> 00:22:53.260 from a boil in the nose to major things. 00:22:54.580 --> 00:22:57.700 I'm sorry, I might be referring to that nose very often now 00:22:57.700 --> 00:22:59.500 and for the next couple of Sundays. 00:22:59.500 --> 00:23:01.860 Because somehow Kamal and that, 00:23:02.900 --> 00:23:04.700 it's stuck in my head, Kamal, sorry. 00:23:09.260 --> 00:23:12.140 And go from what you're feeling to what is true. 00:23:12.140 --> 00:23:14.900 Go from what you're feeling to what is true. 00:23:14.900 --> 00:23:16.380 This is what you feel, 00:23:16.380 --> 00:23:19.000 and this is so important for so many of us here. 00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:21.820 This is what you feel, this is what the truth is. 00:23:21.820 --> 00:23:26.820 Go from feeling to truth and use words to get there. 00:23:28.300 --> 00:23:31.180 This is a common biblical practice, 00:23:33.260 --> 00:23:35.340 which you will see repeated again and again. 00:23:35.340 --> 00:23:38.300 Where I feel this way, I perceive things this way, 00:23:38.300 --> 00:23:39.460 but this is the truth. 00:23:39.460 --> 00:23:43.280 But how do I go from what I feel and what I perceive 00:23:43.280 --> 00:23:44.580 to what is the truth? 00:23:44.580 --> 00:23:46.220 I use words to get there. 00:23:46.220 --> 00:23:48.420 And throughout the Bible, every prophet, 00:23:48.420 --> 00:23:50.900 at some point or the other, uses this method. 00:23:50.900 --> 00:23:54.700 One of the most obvious scriptures 00:23:54.700 --> 00:23:57.340 is in Habakkuk chapter three, verse 17 to 19, 00:23:57.980 --> 00:24:01.060 where it says, though the fig tree has not blossomed, 00:24:01.060 --> 00:24:02.700 though there be no cattle in the stall, 00:24:02.700 --> 00:24:05.200 though the olive tree has shed its fruit, 00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:06.820 though there be no herds, 00:24:06.820 --> 00:24:09.940 yet I will do cartwheels of joy, 00:24:09.940 --> 00:24:11.660 I will rejoice in the Lord, 00:24:11.660 --> 00:24:14.260 who gives me the feet of a deer. 00:24:15.500 --> 00:24:18.780 And he goes from what he's feeling to what is the truth, 00:24:18.780 --> 00:24:19.820 and he uses words. 00:24:19.820 --> 00:24:23.740 It actually says, Habakkuk three, 17 to 19, is a song. 00:24:23.740 --> 00:24:25.020 It is set to a tune. 00:24:25.020 --> 00:24:28.100 It's supposed to be set to a tune and you sing it. 00:24:28.100 --> 00:24:31.240 You must use words to get from feelings to the truth. 00:24:32.920 --> 00:24:33.760 Use words. 00:24:33.760 --> 00:24:36.020 And those words can't be spoken in your mind. 00:24:36.020 --> 00:24:37.960 You must speak them loud so that you hear it 00:24:37.960 --> 00:24:39.140 and the enemy hears it. 00:24:39.140 --> 00:24:41.340 God is the only one who can read minds, guys. 00:24:43.900 --> 00:24:44.940 Use words. 00:24:45.980 --> 00:24:46.980 Use words. 00:24:49.820 --> 00:24:51.020 Questions? 00:24:51.020 --> 00:24:51.860 Comments? 00:24:55.700 --> 00:24:56.540 Okay. 00:24:56.540 --> 00:24:57.380 Next one. 00:24:57.380 --> 00:25:00.380 On the last verse, we get ready, set, go. 00:25:00.380 --> 00:25:01.220 Yep. 00:25:01.220 --> 00:25:02.060 Yep. 00:25:03.180 --> 00:25:04.020 Next one. 00:25:04.020 --> 00:25:06.980 Guys, first the natural, then the spiritual. 00:25:06.980 --> 00:25:09.660 This might seem like, really, Jacob, this works. 00:25:09.660 --> 00:25:11.380 You'll be surprised. 00:25:11.380 --> 00:25:13.500 First the natural, then the spiritual. 00:25:13.500 --> 00:25:14.340 What do I mean by that? 00:25:14.340 --> 00:25:17.340 In 1 Corinthians 15, 46, it says, 00:25:17.340 --> 00:25:20.980 the spiritual did not come first, but the natural. 00:25:20.980 --> 00:25:22.940 And after that, the spiritual came. 00:25:23.100 --> 00:25:24.300 But the natural. 00:25:24.300 --> 00:25:26.180 And after that, the spiritual. 00:25:26.180 --> 00:25:29.860 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural. 00:25:29.860 --> 00:25:31.060 And after that, the spiritual. 00:25:31.060 --> 00:25:31.900 And there's, 00:25:33.580 --> 00:25:36.540 I understand the context that Paul is using it in, 00:25:36.540 --> 00:25:38.560 but I'm drawing a principle out of the simple scripture. 00:25:38.560 --> 00:25:43.560 Guys, your natural physical environment 00:25:45.060 --> 00:25:49.140 affects how you deal with things spiritually. 00:25:49.140 --> 00:25:50.220 Let me put it this way. 00:25:50.220 --> 00:25:52.180 Change your physical environment 00:25:52.940 --> 00:25:53.780 change, 00:25:55.260 --> 00:25:57.420 change your, and I'll explain it, 00:25:57.420 --> 00:26:01.060 change your physical environment. 00:26:01.060 --> 00:26:04.060 This is one of the ways we take control. 00:26:04.060 --> 00:26:06.960 Change your physical environment intentionally, 00:26:09.980 --> 00:26:11.100 systematically, 00:26:14.820 --> 00:26:15.940 intentionally, 00:26:17.140 --> 00:26:18.880 systematically, symbolically. 00:26:23.100 --> 00:26:26.100 And it will order, and it will order, 00:26:30.540 --> 00:26:32.420 and catalyze, 00:26:33.820 --> 00:26:36.820 it will order and catalyze 00:26:38.220 --> 00:26:39.460 your spiritual life. 00:26:40.460 --> 00:26:42.580 Your spiritual life. 00:26:47.860 --> 00:26:50.860 And that's the way we take control. 00:26:50.860 --> 00:26:51.700 Life. 00:26:53.700 --> 00:26:54.540 I'll explain that. 00:26:57.140 --> 00:27:00.860 Change your physical or natural environment intentionally, 00:27:00.860 --> 00:27:03.700 sometimes systematically, sometimes symbolically, 00:27:03.700 --> 00:27:06.680 and it will order, as in bring into order, 00:27:06.680 --> 00:27:10.420 or catalyze, as in propel your spiritual life. 00:27:10.420 --> 00:27:11.260 Guys, 00:27:14.380 --> 00:27:17.740 often your natural environment 00:27:17.740 --> 00:27:21.940 reflects the condition of your life 00:27:21.940 --> 00:27:23.820 and your spiritual makeup. 00:27:23.820 --> 00:27:27.220 If I come to your house and look into your bedroom, 00:27:27.220 --> 00:27:28.940 look into your drawers, 00:27:28.940 --> 00:27:31.340 look into the rooms that you don't allow me in, 00:27:32.560 --> 00:27:34.680 it'll often be, not always, 00:27:34.680 --> 00:27:38.140 it'll often be a reflection of your spiritual life. 00:27:43.420 --> 00:27:44.660 And every now and then, 00:27:44.660 --> 00:27:47.980 it's a great idea to intentionally, 00:27:47.980 --> 00:27:50.900 or systematically, or symbolically, 00:27:50.900 --> 00:27:52.980 change your natural environment. 00:27:53.940 --> 00:27:56.700 And you will find that it gives you a sudden 00:27:58.780 --> 00:28:02.040 thrust forward in terms of how you live spiritually. 00:28:02.920 --> 00:28:04.380 For some of us, this doesn't compute. 00:28:04.380 --> 00:28:05.300 You should try it. 00:28:06.300 --> 00:28:08.000 You should try it. 00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:09.780 God does this through seasons, eh? 00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:13.020 Trees will have leaves, and then the leaves will shed, 00:28:13.020 --> 00:28:15.520 and the rain will come and wash away the leaves. 00:28:16.620 --> 00:28:19.100 Symbolically, it was common for God 00:28:19.100 --> 00:28:20.460 to change natural environments. 00:28:20.460 --> 00:28:23.100 He would ask people to do things symbolically 00:28:23.100 --> 00:28:25.060 so that it would give them a new start. 00:28:27.100 --> 00:28:28.100 Jacob had to do it. 00:28:28.100 --> 00:28:29.060 Moses had to do it. 00:28:29.060 --> 00:28:30.260 Abraham had to do it. 00:28:34.740 --> 00:28:36.700 The very places that you wouldn't allow me 00:28:36.700 --> 00:28:38.440 to enter in your house are the very places 00:28:38.440 --> 00:28:39.780 that you need to start with. 00:28:39.780 --> 00:28:42.780 You'll find that every time you intentionally clean up 00:28:42.780 --> 00:28:45.780 your natural environment, there will be a cleaning up 00:28:45.780 --> 00:28:47.780 that will follow in your spiritual environment. 00:28:47.780 --> 00:28:51.780 It's like a ramp being cleared so that you can take off. 00:28:54.340 --> 00:28:55.780 If you don't believe me, try it. 00:28:58.780 --> 00:29:00.780 In the world, people call it spring cleaning. 00:29:00.780 --> 00:29:02.780 God just calls it something else. 00:29:04.780 --> 00:29:05.780 I'll give you examples. 00:29:05.780 --> 00:29:08.780 Every time you clean up your house, 00:29:08.780 --> 00:29:13.780 every time, when I find, I'm not speaking out of, 00:29:13.780 --> 00:29:16.780 I'm not trying to use anecdotes in my life 00:29:16.780 --> 00:29:18.780 as reason for you to do it. 00:29:18.780 --> 00:29:21.780 I'm just saying there is this pattern where 00:29:22.780 --> 00:29:27.780 when I decide that, okay, I will systematically live a life 00:29:27.780 --> 00:29:31.780 that is both clean spiritually and clean physically, 00:29:31.780 --> 00:29:34.780 I find that there is a consistency to my life 00:29:34.780 --> 00:29:35.780 that begins to develop. 00:29:36.780 --> 00:29:39.780 That's the first thing they teach you in the military. 00:29:39.780 --> 00:29:42.780 They teach you how to do your bed, how to make your sheets, 00:29:42.780 --> 00:29:44.780 how to fold things, and it stays with people 00:29:44.780 --> 00:29:45.780 throughout their lives. 00:29:45.780 --> 00:29:48.780 It goes to an extreme with them, but it gives them a pattern. 00:29:48.780 --> 00:29:50.780 And it's something that's completely lost 00:29:50.780 --> 00:29:51.780 on this generation. 00:29:51.780 --> 00:29:54.780 And by this generation, I mean anyone my age and below. 00:29:56.780 --> 00:29:57.780 Completely lost. 00:29:57.780 --> 00:30:01.780 But you will find a consistency entering your life. 00:30:01.780 --> 00:30:04.780 Second, symbolically begin to do things. 00:30:04.780 --> 00:30:06.780 Symbolically be, I remember the first time 00:30:06.780 --> 00:30:09.780 when I told you about that story in Borneo 00:30:09.780 --> 00:30:11.780 when I came back from Borneo and God said, 00:30:11.780 --> 00:30:13.780 ascend and enter because I'm taking you to the next level. 00:30:13.780 --> 00:30:15.780 And the first thing I did after coming back 00:30:15.780 --> 00:30:17.780 is I went to the landlady in the building 00:30:17.780 --> 00:30:19.780 and I said to her, I want to move. 00:30:20.780 --> 00:30:23.780 I want to move to an apartment that is better. 00:30:23.780 --> 00:30:25.780 I've stayed here for nine years. 00:30:25.780 --> 00:30:28.780 God is asking me to move into a new place in him. 00:30:28.780 --> 00:30:30.780 And I know that is a spiritual thing, 00:30:30.780 --> 00:30:33.780 but I want to match what is going to happen in the spiritual 00:30:33.780 --> 00:30:35.780 through a physical act. 00:30:35.780 --> 00:30:37.780 And it was going to cost me $200 more. 00:30:37.780 --> 00:30:39.780 Couldn't care because I knew it was something 00:30:39.780 --> 00:30:40.780 that had to happen. 00:30:44.780 --> 00:30:45.780 And I did. 00:30:46.780 --> 00:30:47.780 Everything changed. 00:30:47.780 --> 00:30:48.780 Everything changed. 00:30:49.780 --> 00:30:51.780 You'll be surprised at the stuff that is 00:30:51.780 --> 00:30:53.780 hoarded in your houses that you need to get rid of. 00:30:58.780 --> 00:31:00.780 And it's often a reflection of how your 00:31:00.780 --> 00:31:01.780 spiritual life is too. 00:31:01.780 --> 00:31:03.780 Have you noticed how things begin to stagnate? 00:31:07.780 --> 00:31:10.780 And the older you get, the worse it gets. 00:31:11.780 --> 00:31:13.780 And if that is not your situation, blessed are you. 00:31:15.780 --> 00:31:16.780 Any questions before we go on? 00:31:17.780 --> 00:31:20.780 Symbolically, systematically, intentionally change things. 00:31:20.780 --> 00:31:21.780 Questions? 00:31:25.780 --> 00:31:26.780 Disagreements? 00:31:26.780 --> 00:31:27.780 Disagreements? 00:31:33.780 --> 00:31:36.780 Yeah, symbolically, I would need the Holy Spirit 00:31:36.780 --> 00:31:37.780 to tell me what to change. 00:31:38.780 --> 00:31:42.780 So whenever God wants me to set up something symbolic 00:31:42.780 --> 00:31:46.780 on Earth, it always has to be led by the Spirit of God. 00:31:46.780 --> 00:31:52.780 So every time, I mean, why did Jacob cut those spots 00:31:52.780 --> 00:31:54.780 on the trees that he planted when the animals came to? 00:31:54.780 --> 00:31:55.780 Feed, it was symbolic. 00:31:56.780 --> 00:32:01.780 Why did Moses ask Aaron and her to hold up the rod 00:32:01.780 --> 00:32:04.780 while Joshua went and fought? 00:32:04.780 --> 00:32:05.780 It was symbolic. 00:32:05.780 --> 00:32:09.780 Why did Ezekiel go through the 101 different things 00:32:09.780 --> 00:32:14.780 that he did when he was praying for Jerusalem? 00:32:14.780 --> 00:32:15.780 That was symbolic. 00:32:15.780 --> 00:32:18.780 So when it's symbolic, God has to ask you to do it. 00:32:18.780 --> 00:32:22.780 And most symbolic actions are prophetic in nature, 00:32:22.780 --> 00:32:25.780 and it announces to, not to God, but to the world 00:32:25.780 --> 00:32:27.780 and to the enemy that something is afoot. 00:32:29.780 --> 00:32:33.780 So stuff that is symbolic, you might have to get God's lead on. 00:32:33.780 --> 00:32:36.780 But systematically and intentionally taking care 00:32:36.780 --> 00:32:43.780 of your physical environment will affect your spiritual life. 00:32:47.780 --> 00:32:49.780 Okay, next one, wrestling control. 00:32:49.780 --> 00:32:51.780 Wrestling control. 00:32:52.780 --> 00:32:55.780 As in W-R-E-S-T-L-I-N-G. Wrestling control. 00:32:55.780 --> 00:32:57.780 If you want to take control of your life, 00:32:57.780 --> 00:33:02.780 watch against incitement from the enemy and repetitive snares. 00:33:02.780 --> 00:33:06.780 Watch against incitement from the enemy and repetitive snares. 00:33:06.780 --> 00:33:09.780 As in, have you noticed how there are some snares 00:33:09.780 --> 00:33:12.780 that are always set for you after certain incidents 00:33:12.780 --> 00:33:15.780 or times or seasons in your life? 00:33:15.780 --> 00:33:18.780 There'll be the snare or trap that you always step into, 00:33:18.780 --> 00:33:21.780 that you keep sinning in, that you keep falling into. 00:33:22.780 --> 00:33:25.780 Sometimes it's triggered by visiting a certain place, 00:33:25.780 --> 00:33:28.780 certain group of friends, having a certain victory, 00:33:28.780 --> 00:33:31.780 having some success, having a failure, 00:33:31.780 --> 00:33:33.780 having someone speak to you nastily, 00:33:33.780 --> 00:33:38.780 and it sets off this cycle that you haven't been able to escape. 00:33:38.780 --> 00:33:40.780 Nobody knows about it, only you know about it. 00:33:40.780 --> 00:33:43.780 It could be an addiction, and it always has a trigger. 00:33:44.780 --> 00:33:46.780 Wrestle control. 00:33:46.780 --> 00:33:50.780 Be aware of these repetitive snares, 00:33:50.780 --> 00:33:52.780 and be aware of the incitement of the devil. 00:33:52.780 --> 00:33:54.780 What do you mean, incitement of the devil? 00:33:54.780 --> 00:33:57.780 The devil, very often in mature Christian's lives, 00:33:57.780 --> 00:33:59.780 doesn't come out with a frontal attack, 00:33:59.780 --> 00:34:02.780 but provokes you to do something that will eventually lead to sin, 00:34:02.780 --> 00:34:03.780 as he did with David. 00:34:03.780 --> 00:34:06.780 David was a man after God's own heart, doing really well. 00:34:06.780 --> 00:34:08.780 Battle after battle he wins. 00:34:08.780 --> 00:34:11.780 And then it says that Satan provoked David, 00:34:11.780 --> 00:34:14.780 or incited David to take a census. 00:34:15.780 --> 00:34:17.780 That's all he did, to take a census. 00:34:17.780 --> 00:34:22.780 So he goes about counting the number of people in his army. 00:34:22.780 --> 00:34:24.780 And one of the generals comes and tells him, 00:34:24.780 --> 00:34:26.780 really, do you need to do this? 00:34:26.780 --> 00:34:28.780 Don't you know that God is the one who gives you victory? 00:34:28.780 --> 00:34:30.780 Whether by a few or whether by many, 00:34:30.780 --> 00:34:31.780 it's God who gives you victory. 00:34:31.780 --> 00:34:32.780 So why go about counting? 00:34:32.780 --> 00:34:33.780 Nope, David insisted. Why? 00:34:33.780 --> 00:34:38.780 Because he wanted to be exactly what Israel had said ages ago to Saul. 00:34:38.780 --> 00:34:41.780 We want a king like all the other nations. 00:34:41.780 --> 00:34:45.780 And all the other nations had kings who would count their army to proclaim that. 00:34:45.780 --> 00:34:46.780 Might. 00:34:46.780 --> 00:34:48.780 And David falls into the same trap. 00:34:48.780 --> 00:34:53.780 It actually says, and Satan incited or provoked David to take a census. 00:34:53.780 --> 00:34:56.780 And after that follows a plague that does great harm. 00:35:02.780 --> 00:35:04.780 Guys, the strange thing is we are aware of this, eh? 00:35:04.780 --> 00:35:08.780 Every time I know an incitement is coming, I'm aware of it. 00:35:08.780 --> 00:35:11.780 I can sit in a church sometimes and know, 00:35:11.780 --> 00:35:13.780 ah, I'm being provoked to react a certain way. 00:35:13.780 --> 00:35:15.780 Or I'm being provoked to despise the one who's speaking. 00:35:15.780 --> 00:35:18.780 Or I'm being provoked to think, ah, this guy's not intellectual enough. 00:35:18.780 --> 00:35:20.780 Or this guy's too charismatic. 00:35:20.780 --> 00:35:23.780 And the moment I do that, I know what is happening, eh? 00:35:23.780 --> 00:35:28.780 And we fall into the same trap again and again and again and again. 00:35:28.780 --> 00:35:31.780 You want to take control? 00:35:31.780 --> 00:35:36.780 One of the ways to take control over the snares of the enemy and incitement 00:35:36.780 --> 00:35:40.780 is to be able to go to somebody and say, I got this problem, 00:35:40.780 --> 00:35:43.780 but man, some of us are so proud that we won't do it. 00:35:52.780 --> 00:35:54.780 Two simple things. 00:35:54.780 --> 00:35:58.780 We can never fight the devil on the same plane, guys. 00:35:58.780 --> 00:36:00.780 I told you that story, which I really like, 00:36:00.780 --> 00:36:07.780 about this pilot who was flying a test piloting this prototype. 00:36:07.780 --> 00:36:09.780 This was during the Second World War. 00:36:09.780 --> 00:36:14.780 His test flying this prototype that had just been built. 00:36:14.780 --> 00:36:19.780 And he's flying and suddenly finds a rat in the cockpit. 00:36:19.780 --> 00:36:21.780 And he doesn't know what to do, 00:36:21.780 --> 00:36:26.780 because the rat's beginning to chew at the cables in the cockpit. 00:36:26.780 --> 00:36:31.780 And he calls the control tower, 00:36:31.780 --> 00:36:34.780 but they don't have a manual on what to do when rats start eating your cables. 00:36:34.780 --> 00:36:37.780 So they're telling him to do this and do that and all. 00:36:37.780 --> 00:36:41.780 And he does something so, in my mind, amazing. 00:36:41.780 --> 00:36:42.780 True story. 00:36:42.780 --> 00:36:48.780 He just flies it to about 35,000 or 40,000 feet, 00:36:48.780 --> 00:36:53.780 where the rat dies of lack of oxygen. 00:36:53.780 --> 00:36:56.780 He puts on his mask, and he flies it to an altitude 00:36:56.780 --> 00:36:58.780 where there isn't enough oxygen. 00:36:58.780 --> 00:37:02.780 And now his only challenge is to get the rat to go to the cockpit. 00:37:02.780 --> 00:37:04.780 And now his only challenge is, 00:37:04.780 --> 00:37:08.780 I've got to bring the plane down before the rat comes back to life. 00:37:08.780 --> 00:37:10.780 Because he can't get to it, he can't unstrap himself, 00:37:10.780 --> 00:37:14.780 so he takes it to an altitude where the rat dies because it cannot breathe. 00:37:14.780 --> 00:37:19.780 And now he has to hurry back to land it before it starts breathing again. 00:37:19.780 --> 00:37:22.780 I read that story and I thought to myself, 00:37:22.780 --> 00:37:26.780 you never try to undo traps and snares at the same level that you fly. 00:37:26.780 --> 00:37:28.780 You stand at a much higher place, man, 00:37:28.780 --> 00:37:34.780 because most battles are won in God when you stand in him. 00:37:34.780 --> 00:37:40.780 Which is why 1 Peter 4.7 says, I think it's 1 Peter 4.7 or James 4.7, I'm not sure, 00:37:40.780 --> 00:37:46.780 where it says, submit to God, James 4.7, submit to God, resist the devil. 00:37:46.780 --> 00:37:49.780 There is this platform called Submit to God that I need to stand on. 00:37:49.780 --> 00:37:54.780 Resisting the devil cannot be done, cannot be done on the same level as the enemy. 00:37:54.780 --> 00:37:55.780 Submit to God first. 00:37:55.780 --> 00:37:57.780 And now you stand on a different platform. 00:37:57.780 --> 00:37:59.780 And from there you begin to resist the devil. 00:37:59.780 --> 00:38:02.780 And then what does it say? He will flee from you. 00:38:02.780 --> 00:38:05.780 It's one of the simplest ways of spiritual warfare. 00:38:05.780 --> 00:38:07.780 Everything starts and ends there, guys. 00:38:07.780 --> 00:38:10.780 Any other kind of spiritual warfare is just a whole lot of drama 00:38:10.780 --> 00:38:14.780 without the key ingredient, submit to God, resist the devil, 00:38:14.780 --> 00:38:18.780 and he will flee from you. Very simple. 00:38:18.780 --> 00:38:22.780 And the other one is what Prashant was talking about when he said Ephesians 6, 10 to 20. 00:38:22.780 --> 00:38:24.780 Which one day we'll start looking at again. 00:38:24.780 --> 00:38:26.780 The whole idea of this armor that we wear. 00:38:26.780 --> 00:38:28.780 It's fighting from a different place, eh? 00:38:28.780 --> 00:38:30.780 When we need to fight. 00:38:30.780 --> 00:38:33.780 I'll probably start on that sometime next month. 00:38:35.780 --> 00:38:38.780 Another thing that I just wanted to throw in, guys. 00:38:39.780 --> 00:38:43.780 If there is anything that you need to pay attention to in the armor of God, 00:38:43.780 --> 00:38:45.780 it's the belt of truth. 00:38:45.780 --> 00:38:48.780 And by that I mean a transparent honesty. 00:38:48.780 --> 00:38:51.780 That is so acute 00:38:51.780 --> 00:38:57.780 that it's very easy for people who are transparently honest 00:38:57.780 --> 00:39:00.780 to win every battle here on earth. 00:39:00.780 --> 00:39:03.780 Our problem is we're not transparently honest. 00:39:03.780 --> 00:39:06.780 At least I can't claim to be transparently honest. 00:39:06.780 --> 00:39:08.780 I can say I'm honest. 00:39:08.780 --> 00:39:11.780 I can say I don't like lying. 00:39:11.780 --> 00:39:15.780 But could I call my life transparent? Not yet. 00:39:16.780 --> 00:39:18.780 Let me go a step further. 00:39:18.780 --> 00:39:19.780 Not not yet. 00:39:19.780 --> 00:39:21.780 Not yet by a long shot. 00:39:24.780 --> 00:39:27.780 When people are transparently honest, 00:39:27.780 --> 00:39:30.780 it's like the light of God blazes through you, man. 00:39:30.780 --> 00:39:33.780 And darkness cannot stand. 00:39:35.780 --> 00:39:37.780 May you be like that, eh? 00:39:37.780 --> 00:39:41.780 Because the odd thing in the armor of God is the belt of truth. 00:39:41.780 --> 00:39:43.780 Look at the stuff that is attached to it. 00:39:43.780 --> 00:39:45.780 The breastplate of righteousness. 00:39:45.780 --> 00:39:48.780 The sword of the spirit. 00:39:48.780 --> 00:39:50.780 So many things are attached to it. 00:39:50.780 --> 00:39:52.780 Girds your waist. 00:39:52.780 --> 00:39:56.780 That one item is what holds so many things together 00:39:56.780 --> 00:40:00.780 that if you and I were to focus on any item 00:40:00.780 --> 00:40:02.780 that you wouldn't want to lose, 00:40:02.780 --> 00:40:03.780 it would be the belt of truth. 00:40:03.780 --> 00:40:04.780 It's critical. 00:40:04.780 --> 00:40:06.780 Blessed are the transparently truthful, 00:40:06.780 --> 00:40:09.780 for light always overcomes Satan. 00:40:09.780 --> 00:40:10.780 And the transparently truthful, 00:40:10.780 --> 00:40:12.780 one of the things you will notice about them 00:40:12.780 --> 00:40:14.780 is they are super simple, man. 00:40:14.780 --> 00:40:16.780 They're not complicated. 00:40:16.780 --> 00:40:21.780 I look around this church 00:40:21.780 --> 00:40:23.780 and I know some of you are transparently truthful. 00:40:23.780 --> 00:40:26.780 That's one of your finest qualities. 00:40:26.780 --> 00:40:29.780 But unfortunately, I don't know if you're humble, 00:40:29.780 --> 00:40:31.780 so I won't call your name out. 00:40:36.780 --> 00:40:38.780 Transparently truthful. 00:40:38.780 --> 00:40:40.780 It's a beautiful place to be. 00:40:40.780 --> 00:40:42.780 I kind of know what it tastes like. 00:40:42.780 --> 00:40:44.780 I would love to be there. I'm not there. 00:40:44.780 --> 00:40:46.780 And it bothers me because I want to be there 00:40:46.780 --> 00:40:49.780 because I can taste it and it feels so pure. 00:40:59.780 --> 00:41:01.780 And there are a couple of young guys here 00:41:01.780 --> 00:41:03.780 who are transparently truthful. 00:41:05.780 --> 00:41:07.780 And young could mean anything over 50. 00:41:07.780 --> 00:41:11.780 So any questions, guys, before we move on? 00:41:14.780 --> 00:41:17.780 It's an admirable quality you have, Matt. 00:41:18.780 --> 00:41:20.780 It's an admirable quality you have. 00:41:20.780 --> 00:41:22.780 Hold on to it, eh? 00:41:23.780 --> 00:41:26.780 It's precious. Hold on to it. 00:41:29.780 --> 00:41:31.780 Hold on to it. 00:41:32.780 --> 00:41:34.780 You'll find yourself winning battles 00:41:34.780 --> 00:41:36.780 when you build up some more muscle. 00:41:36.780 --> 00:41:39.780 You'll find yourself winning battles with relative ease 00:41:39.780 --> 00:41:41.780 because of this one quality that you hold on to. 00:41:42.780 --> 00:41:44.780 Precious it is, man. I envy you. 00:41:47.780 --> 00:41:49.780 There are others too, but I just thought 00:41:49.780 --> 00:41:51.780 Matt needed to hear that. 00:41:51.780 --> 00:41:53.780 Guys, the next thing, if you want to take control, 00:41:53.780 --> 00:41:55.780 abandon anger. Abandon anger. 00:41:55.780 --> 00:41:58.780 Most of us Christians know how to disguise anger by now. 00:41:58.780 --> 00:42:00.780 If you've been a Christian for 10 years, 00:42:00.780 --> 00:42:02.780 you've learned the art of disguising anger 00:42:02.780 --> 00:42:04.780 and forgiving about two months later. 00:42:04.780 --> 00:42:07.780 But abandon anger, eh? 00:42:07.780 --> 00:42:10.780 Because Proverbs 25, verse 28 puts it this way. 00:42:11.780 --> 00:42:14.780 Anger is like dripping acid. 00:42:14.780 --> 00:42:16.780 It erodes control. 00:42:16.780 --> 00:42:19.780 Because you become like a city with no doors and no windows 00:42:19.780 --> 00:42:21.780 which anyone can ravage. 00:42:21.780 --> 00:42:23.780 You lose absolute control. 00:42:23.780 --> 00:42:27.780 And because we've learned not to spew anger, 00:42:27.780 --> 00:42:29.780 it festers, eh? 00:42:29.780 --> 00:42:32.780 And because it festers, it becomes like acid drip 00:42:32.780 --> 00:42:34.780 and begins to erode. 00:42:34.780 --> 00:42:38.780 It begins to create secret tunnels into your body and soul. 00:42:38.780 --> 00:42:40.780 And that's a sad thing. 00:42:40.780 --> 00:42:42.780 The world has the option of spewing anger 00:42:42.780 --> 00:42:45.780 or taking a baseball bat and beating up a pillow. 00:42:45.780 --> 00:42:47.780 I don't think it helps. 00:42:48.780 --> 00:42:51.780 But we don't even have that, eh? 00:42:51.780 --> 00:42:53.780 So it festers. 00:42:53.780 --> 00:42:55.780 And it erodes. 00:42:55.780 --> 00:42:58.780 Anger is a door opener to other sins. 00:42:58.780 --> 00:43:01.780 Anger is a door opener to other sins. 00:43:01.780 --> 00:43:04.780 I was reading the story about Da Vinci 00:43:04.780 --> 00:43:08.780 when he was painting the Lord Supper thingy. 00:43:09.780 --> 00:43:11.780 And while he was painting it, 00:43:11.780 --> 00:43:15.780 he had this quarrel with another painter. 00:43:15.780 --> 00:43:18.780 And they had this really bad spat. 00:43:18.780 --> 00:43:22.780 And it was during that time that he was painting the Lord Supper. 00:43:22.780 --> 00:43:26.780 And he begins to paint Judas. 00:43:26.780 --> 00:43:28.780 And he realizes as he's painting Judas 00:43:28.780 --> 00:43:32.780 that when he finishes, Judas looks like this guy 00:43:32.780 --> 00:43:35.780 who he has a quarrel with. 00:43:36.780 --> 00:43:40.780 And so he moves on. 00:43:40.780 --> 00:43:44.780 And now he's come to this place where he's painting Jesus. 00:43:44.780 --> 00:43:47.780 But as hard as he's trying to paint Jesus 00:43:47.780 --> 00:43:50.780 the way he thinks Jesus looks, 00:43:50.780 --> 00:43:53.780 he's not able to capture Jesus' face. 00:43:53.780 --> 00:43:56.780 There's no kindness in Jesus' face. 00:43:56.780 --> 00:43:58.780 And he struggles with it. 00:43:58.780 --> 00:44:01.780 And finally realizes he needs to do something. 00:44:01.780 --> 00:44:04.780 And he blots out the face of Judas. 00:44:04.780 --> 00:44:08.780 Goes back to the man that he had a quarrel with. 00:44:08.780 --> 00:44:11.780 And asks for forgiveness. 00:44:11.780 --> 00:44:13.780 Sets things right. 00:44:13.780 --> 00:44:15.780 And then comes back 00:44:15.780 --> 00:44:18.780 and begins to paint the face of Jesus. 00:44:19.780 --> 00:44:21.780 I don't know whether this is legend 00:44:21.780 --> 00:44:23.780 or whether this is true. 00:44:23.780 --> 00:44:26.780 But the story serves a purpose, man. 00:44:26.780 --> 00:44:28.780 That anger has the ability 00:44:28.780 --> 00:44:32.780 to bore tunnels into my soul and my body. 00:44:32.780 --> 00:44:35.780 In my body, it begins to cause disease. 00:44:35.780 --> 00:44:38.780 In my soul, it is like acid drip eroding things. 00:44:38.780 --> 00:44:41.780 And it causes me to lose control, eh? 00:44:41.780 --> 00:44:44.780 Only I've been a Christian for 30 years, 00:44:44.780 --> 00:44:46.780 so I know how to disguise it. 00:44:46.780 --> 00:44:49.780 And strangely enough, it affects my imagination. 00:44:49.780 --> 00:44:52.780 And if you're married, or if you're not married, 00:44:52.780 --> 00:44:55.780 it affects your sexual behavior, too. 00:44:56.780 --> 00:45:00.780 You'll be surprised at how angry men and women 00:45:00.780 --> 00:45:03.780 are so different in their bed 00:45:03.780 --> 00:45:06.780 than when they are talking to you. 00:45:06.780 --> 00:45:09.780 Anger affects your sexual behavior, 00:45:09.780 --> 00:45:12.780 and it affects your imagination, both. 00:45:12.780 --> 00:45:14.780 I'm not talking about sexual imagination. 00:45:14.780 --> 00:45:16.780 I'm just talking about normal imagination 00:45:16.780 --> 00:45:18.780 and sexual behavior. 00:45:18.780 --> 00:45:20.780 Both are affected by anger. 00:45:20.780 --> 00:45:23.780 So how do we go about fixing it? 00:45:23.780 --> 00:45:25.780 The advantage that you and I have 00:45:25.780 --> 00:45:27.780 is we have the Spirit of God, 00:45:27.780 --> 00:45:30.780 and therefore we have things like kindness 00:45:30.780 --> 00:45:33.780 that are easily accessible. 00:45:33.780 --> 00:45:35.780 There's a well of salvation inside me 00:45:35.780 --> 00:45:39.780 that I can draw water out of, as Isaiah 12 says. 00:45:40.780 --> 00:45:43.780 But is this choice, eh, magnify the fruit of the Spirit 00:45:43.780 --> 00:45:45.780 or magnify the situation? 00:45:45.780 --> 00:45:48.780 You know, something strange happened. 00:45:48.780 --> 00:45:52.780 I don't know why I say these things to you. 00:45:52.780 --> 00:45:58.780 I was angry with someone, 00:45:58.780 --> 00:46:04.780 and I was speaking to them in measured tones, 00:46:04.780 --> 00:46:06.780 but I was angry inside. 00:46:06.780 --> 00:46:08.780 But because I'm a pastor and a Christian, 00:46:08.780 --> 00:46:11.780 you can't show them exactly how you feel. 00:46:11.780 --> 00:46:14.780 So I'm speaking to them in measured tones, 00:46:14.780 --> 00:46:16.780 and then after I finished, 00:46:16.780 --> 00:46:21.780 I went into a room that was adjoining, 00:46:21.780 --> 00:46:23.780 and as I went into the room, 00:46:23.780 --> 00:46:28.780 I just became myself as in normal, 00:46:28.780 --> 00:46:31.780 and there was a mirror in the room, 00:46:31.780 --> 00:46:34.780 and I caught a sight of my face. 00:46:34.780 --> 00:46:40.780 I was so surprised at how angry my face looked. 00:46:40.780 --> 00:46:44.780 You could literally see anger on my face. 00:46:44.780 --> 00:46:47.780 I remember going to God immediately after saying, 00:46:47.780 --> 00:46:50.780 Father, if that is the face that happens on me 00:46:50.780 --> 00:46:52.780 when I harbor anger, 00:46:52.780 --> 00:46:56.780 then you've got to help me get rid of this. 00:46:56.780 --> 00:46:58.780 Because it wasn't a good face, man. 00:46:58.780 --> 00:47:02.780 It didn't have any reflection of what Christ is like. 00:47:02.780 --> 00:47:04.780 The person who I spoke to wouldn't know it, 00:47:04.780 --> 00:47:06.780 but as soon as I left the person, 00:47:06.780 --> 00:47:10.780 everything that I was holding began to show on my face. 00:47:10.780 --> 00:47:13.780 I remember telling God, I'm so sorry. 00:47:13.780 --> 00:47:16.780 I can't afford to have a face like that. 00:47:16.780 --> 00:47:19.780 I can't afford to have a face like that that has anger on it. 00:47:19.780 --> 00:47:22.780 That's not the kind of face that Jesus had. 00:47:22.780 --> 00:47:24.780 I'm not trying to touch your emotions or anything. 00:47:24.780 --> 00:47:27.780 I'm saying that anger has the ability to cripple you inside, 00:47:27.780 --> 00:47:31.780 and it shows outside when no one's watching. 00:47:31.780 --> 00:47:33.780 May you never go red with anger. 00:47:33.780 --> 00:47:35.780 May that be a color that is not yours. 00:47:35.780 --> 00:47:37.780 Stay white or brown, 00:47:37.780 --> 00:47:41.780 or whatever color you were born with. 00:47:41.780 --> 00:47:46.780 Kindness is the antidote to anger, 00:47:46.780 --> 00:47:50.780 and it allows the uninhibited flow of the Spirit. 00:47:50.780 --> 00:47:53.780 It allows the uninhibited flow of the Spirit. 00:47:53.780 --> 00:47:55.780 Two more points, and then we are done. 00:47:55.780 --> 00:47:57.780 And each point has six subsections. 00:47:57.780 --> 00:48:00.780 So the next one, he should have given me more chocolates. 00:48:00.780 --> 00:48:02.780 Numbering your days. 00:48:02.780 --> 00:48:04.780 We've talked about this in the past. 00:48:04.780 --> 00:48:06.780 Psalm 90 verse 12. 00:48:06.780 --> 00:48:08.780 If you want to take control, 00:48:08.780 --> 00:48:10.780 you've got to number your days. 00:48:10.780 --> 00:48:12.780 Guys, some of us are over 50. 00:48:12.780 --> 00:48:14.780 You're entering the second half of your life. 00:48:14.780 --> 00:48:19.780 You do not have all the time you had when you were 25. 00:48:19.780 --> 00:48:21.780 People die. 00:48:21.780 --> 00:48:23.780 You're going to die. 00:48:23.780 --> 00:48:25.780 What's the good news? 00:48:25.780 --> 00:48:29.780 The good news is that you've got a limited number of years 00:48:29.780 --> 00:48:32.780 to accomplish everything that's left, man. 00:48:36.780 --> 00:48:38.780 We've got to number our days. 00:48:38.780 --> 00:48:40.780 Psalm 90 verse 12 puts it this way. 00:48:40.780 --> 00:48:42.780 Teach me to number my days, 00:48:42.780 --> 00:48:44.780 that I may get a heart of wisdom. 00:48:44.780 --> 00:48:46.780 Teach me to number my days, 00:48:46.780 --> 00:48:48.780 that I may get a heart of wisdom. 00:48:48.780 --> 00:48:50.780 Teach me to number my days, 00:48:50.780 --> 00:48:52.780 that I may get a heart of wisdom. 00:48:58.780 --> 00:49:01.780 If you're over 50, please, it applies to everybody, 00:49:01.780 --> 00:49:03.780 but if you're over 50, 00:49:03.780 --> 00:49:05.780 let these two things drive the rest of your life. 00:49:05.780 --> 00:49:07.780 Let the love of God and love for others 00:49:07.780 --> 00:49:11.780 be the driving force behind a disciplined, 00:49:11.780 --> 00:49:13.780 intentionally planned life. 00:49:13.780 --> 00:49:17.780 Let the driving force behind the disciplined, 00:49:17.780 --> 00:49:19.780 intentionally planned life be this, 00:49:19.780 --> 00:49:23.780 that I will spend the rest of my life doing two things, 00:49:23.780 --> 00:49:25.780 learning how to be a much loved child, 00:49:25.780 --> 00:49:28.780 loving the father with reckless abandon, 00:49:28.780 --> 00:49:30.780 and two, loving others. 00:49:30.780 --> 00:49:32.780 Because I've spent the last 50 years paying attention to me. 00:49:32.780 --> 00:49:34.780 It is time to shift now, 00:49:34.780 --> 00:49:36.780 because I have limited time. 00:49:36.780 --> 00:49:38.780 Nothing else can take precedence. 00:49:38.780 --> 00:49:42.780 I was placed on this earth to function this way, 00:49:42.780 --> 00:49:44.780 and I don't have enough time left. 00:49:44.780 --> 00:49:46.780 Think like this, guys. 00:49:46.780 --> 00:49:48.780 And if you're under 50, start thinking like this, 00:49:48.780 --> 00:49:50.780 and you won't have to think like this at 50. 00:49:56.780 --> 00:49:58.780 I almost want to beg, but I won't. 00:49:58.780 --> 00:50:00.780 I say to you, 00:50:00.780 --> 00:50:02.780 just because you've followed a certain pattern 00:50:02.780 --> 00:50:04.780 of doing things for the last 10 years, 00:50:04.780 --> 00:50:06.780 and because it's working well, 00:50:06.780 --> 00:50:10.780 does not mean that it is supposed to continue this year. 00:50:10.780 --> 00:50:14.780 Please go and examine what you're doing, 00:50:14.780 --> 00:50:16.780 and do not continue in it, 00:50:16.780 --> 00:50:18.780 assuming that it's gone well for the last 10 years, 00:50:18.780 --> 00:50:20.780 so this is what I'm supposed to do in the future. 00:50:20.780 --> 00:50:24.780 Don't, because numbering your days requires 00:50:24.780 --> 00:50:27.780 that you figure out God's new game plan. 00:50:27.780 --> 00:50:29.780 What is God's new game plan? 00:50:29.780 --> 00:50:32.780 What is my present call, and what is tomorrow's invitation? 00:50:32.780 --> 00:50:35.780 Where is God leading me into deeper waters? 00:50:35.780 --> 00:50:38.780 If what you're doing is not leading you into deeper waters 00:50:38.780 --> 00:50:40.780 for the last five years, 00:50:40.780 --> 00:50:42.780 check, because it's not God. 00:50:42.780 --> 00:50:44.780 Why is this in the way? 00:50:44.780 --> 00:50:46.780 Kisle, I told you. 00:50:49.780 --> 00:50:51.780 If you're not moving into, 00:50:51.780 --> 00:50:54.780 if you haven't moved into deeper waters in the last five years, 00:50:54.780 --> 00:50:56.780 then check, because God ain't involved. 00:50:59.780 --> 00:51:01.780 But Jacob, how can you say that? 00:51:01.780 --> 00:51:03.780 How can you make a judgment like that? 00:51:03.780 --> 00:51:07.780 Because everything in God takes you deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper. 00:51:07.780 --> 00:51:09.780 And even in the last five years, 00:51:09.780 --> 00:51:11.780 if you haven't been stepping into deeper waters, 00:51:11.780 --> 00:51:13.780 then know that you're living a Christian life. 00:51:15.780 --> 00:51:17.780 I'll put a full stop after that. 00:51:25.780 --> 00:51:27.780 Show me a story in the Bible. 00:51:27.780 --> 00:51:29.780 Show me one story in the life of any of them. 00:51:29.780 --> 00:51:31.780 Take any of them. 00:51:31.780 --> 00:51:37.780 Joseph, Gideon, Joshua, Moses, David, Peter, Paul, Jesus. 00:51:37.780 --> 00:51:40.780 Show me one life that didn't keep entering into deeper water. 00:51:40.780 --> 00:51:43.780 Because the only way I can fathom God and begin to trust him more 00:51:43.780 --> 00:51:45.780 and see the size of who God is, 00:51:45.780 --> 00:51:47.780 is only if I step into deeper water. 00:51:47.780 --> 00:51:49.780 Otherwise, it's not going to happen, guys. 00:51:53.780 --> 00:51:55.780 Yeah. 00:51:55.780 --> 00:51:57.780 Deeper water would be, 00:51:57.780 --> 00:51:59.780 today if you need May's help to do something, 00:51:59.780 --> 00:52:02.780 tomorrow may you not need May's help to do something, 00:52:02.780 --> 00:52:05.780 because you have attained a certain boldness on your own. 00:52:05.780 --> 00:52:07.780 Today, if you think of God a certain way, 00:52:07.780 --> 00:52:10.780 tomorrow may your understanding of God expand, 00:52:10.780 --> 00:52:12.780 where you see God differently. 00:52:12.780 --> 00:52:14.780 Today, if you love God this much, 00:52:14.780 --> 00:52:17.780 in a year's time if you only love God that much, 00:52:17.780 --> 00:52:20.780 then there's something seriously wrong with your relationship. 00:52:20.780 --> 00:52:24.780 Today, if I need five days to overcome a problem, 00:52:24.780 --> 00:52:27.780 tomorrow I should need three days to overcome a problem. 00:52:27.780 --> 00:52:30.780 Today, if I need eight minutes to come to a place of peace, 00:52:30.780 --> 00:52:34.780 tomorrow I should need only three minutes to come to a place of peace. 00:52:34.780 --> 00:52:37.780 Today, if God can trust me to take care of five people, 00:52:37.780 --> 00:52:41.780 next year he must trust me to take care of two cities. 00:52:43.780 --> 00:52:45.780 This is what is meant by entering into deeper waters. 00:52:45.780 --> 00:52:47.780 It's not just a question of faith, 00:52:47.780 --> 00:52:49.780 it's a question of faith and faithfulness. 00:52:49.780 --> 00:52:51.780 Faith and faithfulness. 00:52:51.780 --> 00:52:52.780 It's never faith alone, 00:52:52.780 --> 00:52:54.780 because one can step into places of faith 00:52:54.780 --> 00:52:56.780 and you'll have this meteoric rise 00:52:56.780 --> 00:53:00.780 and you'll see an amazing feat and that's about it. 00:53:00.780 --> 00:53:05.780 But faithfulness is when you see feet plodding, persevering, stepping, 00:53:05.780 --> 00:53:07.780 long obedience in the same direction. 00:53:08.780 --> 00:53:10.780 Faith and faithfulness, ah! 00:53:17.780 --> 00:53:19.780 John Piper, no, someone else. 00:53:19.780 --> 00:53:20.780 I don't know who said this. 00:53:20.780 --> 00:53:23.780 Every night, if you went and asked God, 00:53:23.780 --> 00:53:25.780 did I live well today, would he say, 00:53:25.780 --> 00:53:27.780 yep, well done good and faithful servant. 00:53:32.780 --> 00:53:34.780 Last point. 00:53:35.780 --> 00:53:36.780 We're talking about taking control 00:53:36.780 --> 00:53:38.780 and we're talking about different things that can be done 00:53:38.780 --> 00:53:41.780 to take control of our life midway through 2017. 00:53:41.780 --> 00:53:44.780 One of the ways we take control is by losing control. 00:53:44.780 --> 00:53:48.780 One of the ways we take control is by losing control. 00:53:50.780 --> 00:53:53.780 God is always inviting you to lose control. 00:53:53.780 --> 00:53:56.780 God is always inviting you to lose control, 00:53:56.780 --> 00:54:01.780 because losing control allows God to help himself to more of your life. 00:54:01.780 --> 00:54:06.780 Losing control allows God to help himself to more of your life. 00:54:06.780 --> 00:54:11.780 Losing control allows God to help himself to more of your life. 00:54:11.780 --> 00:54:14.780 So one way to take control of my life is to lose it. 00:54:14.780 --> 00:54:17.780 It's an old scripture that Jesus quoted. 00:54:17.780 --> 00:54:19.780 You want your life? Lose it. 00:54:19.780 --> 00:54:21.780 You want to keep your life? You will lose it. 00:54:24.780 --> 00:54:25.780 Sorry? 00:54:31.780 --> 00:54:33.780 I want you guys to be a certain way, 00:54:33.780 --> 00:54:36.780 so I begin to control you, dominate you, 00:54:36.780 --> 00:54:38.780 force you to behave a certain way. 00:54:38.780 --> 00:54:40.780 And every time I do that, 00:54:42.780 --> 00:54:45.780 one of you will keep defying me. 00:54:45.780 --> 00:54:48.780 Chris will do something, and when Chris doesn't do it, Don will do it. 00:54:48.780 --> 00:54:50.780 Don doesn't do it, Elmer will do it. 00:54:50.780 --> 00:54:55.780 And so I want everything to align and follow and be under me. 00:54:55.780 --> 00:54:59.780 But the moment the devil finds out that Jacob wants to control and dominate 00:54:59.780 --> 00:55:01.780 and set all his bottles straight, 00:55:01.780 --> 00:55:05.780 all the devil will do is he'll keep coming and touching one or the other. 00:55:05.780 --> 00:55:09.780 Because he knows that this is the easiest way to get Jacob irritated. 00:55:09.780 --> 00:55:11.780 Just touch something. 00:55:11.780 --> 00:55:14.780 And he'll be consumed with anger, he'll be consumed with prayer, 00:55:14.780 --> 00:55:16.780 he'll be consumed with fasting, 00:55:16.780 --> 00:55:18.780 because he wants to make all the bottles line up. 00:55:18.780 --> 00:55:21.780 I know people who've been doing it for 40 years, 00:55:21.780 --> 00:55:24.780 and all they do is pray, and nothing changes. 00:55:24.780 --> 00:55:26.780 Because you want everything to line up. 00:55:33.780 --> 00:55:35.780 Which Jacob are you talking about now? 00:55:35.780 --> 00:55:37.780 Which Jacob? 00:55:37.780 --> 00:55:39.780 Oh, this Jacob. Right on. 00:55:39.780 --> 00:55:40.780 Yeah. Yeah. 00:55:40.780 --> 00:55:43.780 But the moment Jacob tries to dominate or control things, 00:55:43.780 --> 00:55:48.780 there is an active enemy that will come and keep touching the very thing he wants to control. 00:55:48.780 --> 00:55:52.780 And all he has to do is just every now and then. 00:55:52.780 --> 00:55:55.780 One of the things they would force us to do, 00:55:55.780 --> 00:55:58.780 when I was in my first year at college, 00:55:58.780 --> 00:56:01.780 they were the Hayes junior students, 00:56:01.780 --> 00:56:03.780 they would take us on these trains, 00:56:03.780 --> 00:56:06.780 and your job was, you know those things that you hold on to? 00:56:06.780 --> 00:56:10.780 The hand, whatever you call them, hand handles. 00:56:10.780 --> 00:56:13.780 And so there's this long compartment, and they have this thing. 00:56:13.780 --> 00:56:16.780 And my job, throughout the entire one hour journey, 00:56:16.780 --> 00:56:20.780 was to make sure that all of them are aligned in a train that's moving. 00:56:20.780 --> 00:56:22.780 So I'd spend an entire hour making it, 00:56:22.780 --> 00:56:26.780 and if one of them was not aligned, you got wrapped. 00:56:26.780 --> 00:56:29.780 And so you would run up and down trying to make all of them line up. 00:56:29.780 --> 00:56:31.780 It was such a futile thing. I knew it then. 00:56:31.780 --> 00:56:35.780 But strangely enough, when it comes to normal life, we don't think so. 00:56:35.780 --> 00:56:37.780 The train is moving, and you're trying to straighten out everything. 00:56:37.780 --> 00:56:40.780 It ain't going to work, and it will be touched. 00:56:40.780 --> 00:56:43.780 Any time you try to control anybody, 00:56:43.780 --> 00:56:50.780 you are just preparing yourself for a life of a lot of pain and disappointment. 00:56:50.780 --> 00:56:53.780 Even if it's your spouse. 00:56:53.780 --> 00:57:03.780 Losing control is yielding your right to keep things under you. 00:57:04.780 --> 00:57:07.780 Yielding your right to make things serve you. 00:57:07.780 --> 00:57:13.780 Yielding, as in, I surrender my right to keep this under control. 00:57:13.780 --> 00:57:16.780 Mothers must learn it with their children. 00:57:16.780 --> 00:57:18.780 Husbands must learn it with their wives. 00:57:18.780 --> 00:57:20.780 My wives must learn it with their husbands. 00:57:20.780 --> 00:57:23.780 Pastors must learn it with their congregation. 00:57:23.780 --> 00:57:27.780 Classroom. 00:57:27.780 --> 00:57:30.780 God doesn't do it. 00:57:31.780 --> 00:57:34.780 God doesn't control. He's in charge, but He doesn't control. 00:57:34.780 --> 00:57:37.780 He does everything to help us make right choices. 00:57:37.780 --> 00:57:39.780 He then helps us with the bad choices we make. 00:57:39.780 --> 00:57:43.780 He pushes us forward as we make right choices. 00:57:43.780 --> 00:57:45.780 But He does not control everything we do. 00:57:45.780 --> 00:57:49.780 Otherwise, we would not need a savior. 00:57:49.780 --> 00:57:53.780 If God was controlling everything, we would not need Jesus Christ. 00:57:53.780 --> 00:57:57.780 There's no need of a savior if everything is being controlled by God. 00:57:57.780 --> 00:58:02.780 Sin would not happen. 00:58:02.780 --> 00:58:04.780 So yielding control, and the strange thing is this, guys. 00:58:04.780 --> 00:58:09.780 Yielding control is evidence of a growing relationship. 00:58:09.780 --> 00:58:12.780 Yielding control is evidence of a growing relationship. 00:58:12.780 --> 00:58:19.780 You only give control over to somebody when you have a relationship with them. 00:58:19.780 --> 00:58:23.780 I mean, if Ann allows Kamal to look up her nose, 00:58:23.780 --> 00:58:29.780 it's because there's evidence of a growing relationship. 00:58:29.780 --> 00:58:35.780 I mean, have you noticed you don't come to me and say, look up my nose? 00:58:35.780 --> 00:58:37.780 And if you do, I wouldn't either. 00:58:37.780 --> 00:58:44.780 Just in case you thought this was pastoral, it's not. 00:58:44.780 --> 00:58:54.780 I mean, I now trust Derek with my keys, even though he's lost it twice. 00:58:54.780 --> 00:59:01.780 Yielding control is evidence of growing relationship, of growing intimacy, of growing trust, and it has high rewards. 00:59:01.780 --> 00:59:05.780 Abraham had to yield control, and as he yielded control, 00:59:05.780 --> 00:59:10.780 he moved from one altar to the other, calling on the name of Yahweh, 00:59:10.780 --> 00:59:16.780 showing us revelation after revelation of who he was as Jaira, as Rohi, as Rafa. 00:59:16.780 --> 00:59:23.780 He kept moving, and as he did, he became the father of many nations. 00:59:23.780 --> 00:59:26.780 I'm telling you something, guys. 00:59:26.780 --> 00:59:31.780 We have, at Acts 29, by the sheer grace of God, 00:59:31.780 --> 00:59:37.780 the privilege of being ones who can actually, for the lack of a better word, 00:59:37.780 --> 00:59:43.780 rock certain things in the world, rock certain things in the world, 00:59:43.780 --> 00:59:53.780 as in change them from inside out so that they last past Matt and Rachel's grandchildren. 00:59:53.780 --> 01:00:04.780 I pray, God, that you will realize the privilege you have of belonging to each other this way and to God. 01:00:05.780 --> 01:00:10.780 And the nation, city, people changes that you are. 01:00:10.780 --> 01:00:12.780 You've never heard me say stuff like that. 01:00:12.780 --> 01:00:15.780 I'm not one of the guys who says, and, oh, we are world changers. 01:00:15.780 --> 01:00:19.780 I've never used that word before, but I'm telling you, you have such a rich privilege. 01:00:19.780 --> 01:00:22.780 So much is deposited in us by God. 01:00:22.780 --> 01:00:26.780 And if you notice, I'm not even saying by Jacob, because really it's not. 01:00:26.780 --> 01:00:32.780 But we belong to each other, and we have this amazing privilege in this little group. 01:00:32.780 --> 01:00:35.780 And it doesn't matter whether you're here for the first time or the last time or whatever. 01:00:35.780 --> 01:00:38.780 You have a rich privilege. Do not squander it. 01:00:38.780 --> 01:00:42.780 Do not squander it, because you will be asked. 01:00:42.780 --> 01:00:45.780 You will be asked. You will be asked saying, hey, you got all that. 01:00:45.780 --> 01:00:47.780 What did you do with that? 01:00:47.780 --> 01:00:53.780 And may you be asked, because there's not a single person who's brought here 01:00:53.780 --> 01:01:00.780 who does not have the potential to actually drastically, radically, from the root, change things. 01:01:00.780 --> 01:01:06.780 Not one has come to Acts 29, because if they did, they were not able to survive. 01:01:06.780 --> 01:01:10.780 And it's got nothing to do with me. 01:01:10.780 --> 01:01:13.780 Why? I don't know why. 01:01:13.780 --> 01:01:21.780 God chooses people of no pedigree, of no substance, of no heritage, of no spiritual lineage. 01:01:21.780 --> 01:01:27.780 And He decides that I'm going to pick a Kamal and a Wain and a Ryan, and I'm going to put them together. 01:01:27.780 --> 01:01:31.780 I'm going to use them to affect the root of things in this earth. 01:01:31.780 --> 01:01:38.780 If you're young, look forward to your life on the earth, not in Vancouver, on the earth. 01:01:38.780 --> 01:01:44.780 And if you're old, use wisdom. Use wisdom now. 01:01:44.780 --> 01:01:50.780 I'm so convinced of this. 01:01:50.780 --> 01:01:53.780 That if I told you what I was telling God the day before yesterday, 01:01:54.780 --> 01:02:01.780 you'll think to yourself, Jacob is so full of himself, which you already do, but when you hear this, you'll really think that... 01:02:13.780 --> 01:02:16.780 Well, let's just stop there, guys. 01:02:16.780 --> 01:02:22.780 Yielding control, let me end with this. Yielding control is active surrender, followed by active seeking. 01:02:22.780 --> 01:02:27.780 Yielding control to God is active surrender, followed by active seeking. 01:02:27.780 --> 01:02:33.780 Because sometimes what happens is we yield control and resign ourselves to whatever needs to happen. 01:02:33.780 --> 01:02:39.780 No, no. Yielding control is active surrender, followed by active seeking. 01:02:39.780 --> 01:02:43.780 I surrender. Now that I have surrendered, what do you want me to do? 01:02:43.780 --> 01:02:45.780 Because I will do what you ask me to do. 01:02:45.780 --> 01:02:49.780 Because I need to surrender before I can even ask you the question, what do you want me to do? 01:02:49.780 --> 01:02:50.780 What do you want me to do? 01:02:50.780 --> 01:02:57.780 Any person who asks the question, what do you want me to do, without active surrender, is asking a question he will not be able to obey. 01:03:05.780 --> 01:03:12.780 Active surrender. If you come to me and say, Jacob, I want to do anything you want me to do in this church, and you walk away, 01:03:12.780 --> 01:03:15.780 you leave just as you came. 01:03:15.780 --> 01:03:21.780 But if you come to me and say, I'll do anything you want in this church, and then you wait, and you wait, and you wait, 01:03:21.780 --> 01:03:23.780 and I turn to you and say, why are you waiting? 01:03:23.780 --> 01:03:30.780 And you'll say, I just surrendered myself to do anything in this church, I'm waiting for you to tell me what I should now do. 01:03:30.780 --> 01:03:35.780 Because I'm not just surrendering and walking away, I'm surrendering and I want to know what to do. 01:03:35.780 --> 01:03:39.780 That is active surrender, followed by active seeking. 01:03:39.780 --> 01:03:42.780 Otherwise we will sing, I surrender all and walk away. 01:03:42.780 --> 01:03:44.780 How many times have you done that? 01:03:49.780 --> 01:03:51.780 That's great bread.