Times Like This

1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,800
Welcome to a Word in Season with Doug Stringer and friends.

2
00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:09,320
We share good news and godly wisdom to empower you to be salt and light in every season of

3
00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:10,320
life.

4
00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:15,240
After a weekend of ministry in Corpus Christi, Texas, he concluded with a Sunday evening

5
00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:18,280
intimate gathering with next-gen leaders.

6
00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:22,260
Doug shared principles of the Kingdom of God for present-day times.

7
00:00:22,260 --> 00:00:26,280
This Word in Season was extrapolated from a fireside chat.

8
00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:27,280
Let's listen in.

9
00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:31,080
There's something about when we gather together, groups of people that really have that kind

10
00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:34,560
of passion, that God does something very unique.

11
00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:39,280
When you think about even Bill Bright and Billy Graham and so many others, they were

12
00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:44,240
actually being discipled in a Bible study and God did a move in that little Bible study

13
00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:48,960
that they began to be movers and shakers and a whole movement that touched the nations

14
00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,520
of the world and multi-generational impact.

15
00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:56,640
Sometimes the most important things that happen come out of moments like this.

16
00:00:56,640 --> 00:01:00,600
I've been sancted in the last few years and I've written about this in different articles

17
00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:05,280
and I really feel like the Lord has been preparing the church for at least the last 10, 11, 12

18
00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:11,040
years in preparing the church or the bride for the coming of the Lord.

19
00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:16,040
Now how that looks, it could be 100 years from now, but I just believe that every day,

20
00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:23,640
if it's one day, one week, one month, 100 more years, every day is eternity for someone.

21
00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:29,200
What I really sense has been this exponential thing that God has been doing throughout scripture

22
00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:35,520
to a moment in time and God is raising up a prophetic generation that he is raising

23
00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:40,840
up a multi-generational prophetic generation preparing the way for a move of God that he's

24
00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:46,080
given great than we've seen before and for his outpouring, but also ultimately to prepare

25
00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:52,000
a people for the coming of the Lord with a message of consecration, commitment and action.

26
00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:55,520
Maybe you already know the story probably, but even your pastors, we are going to reminisce

27
00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:56,520
of today.

28
00:01:56,520 --> 00:02:00,080
How many of you saw the movie about the Jesus Revolution, Jesus Movement?

29
00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:04,440
Your pastor and I have interconnections of people that are actually a part of that, but

30
00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:10,000
simultaneously what was happening in California, what we call the Jesus Revolution or the Jesus

31
00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:15,520
Movement, God was not just moving there, that's not a lot of attention, but simultaneously

32
00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:19,320
God was moving in pockets across the United States.

33
00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:23,120
Another place where God was moving, it wasn't called Jesus Revolution, it was called Youth

34
00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:28,040
Quake, was happening in Houston, Texas around the same time.

35
00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:29,040
The late Dr. C.E.

36
00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:33,440
Buddy Hicks, your Buddy Hicks as we affectionately knew him as, because he's with the Lord now,

37
00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:36,160
in fact he passed while he was preaching.

38
00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:41,600
Can you imagine he lived his life serving God and he was preaching and teaching when

39
00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:42,960
he went to be with the Lord.

40
00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:45,040
Your pastor was a part of Youth Quake.

41
00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:47,240
You were a teenager back then.

42
00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:50,360
We were young.

43
00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:56,600
And there was about two or three churches that was being touched in Houston around the

44
00:02:56,600 --> 00:02:59,000
same time the Jesus Movement was happening and it spread.

45
00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:03,600
In fact there was stories of when even at the Vances of Temple where you were that Buddy

46
00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:07,480
came to church one night and the lights were on and wondered if some people broke into

47
00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:09,040
the church.

48
00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:11,680
And when he went in, they didn't break in.

49
00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:15,440
They're putting their paraphernalia and their stuff on the platform having church without

50
00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:19,880
any preacher because God was moving in that kind of way.

51
00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:24,080
And we hear stories like that all over Houston, all over the country.

52
00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:27,680
And I believe that we're in a percolating moment where God's about to do something like

53
00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:28,680
that again.

54
00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:29,680
Amen.

55
00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:32,560
That in the most difficult of times God shows up.

56
00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:35,600
And so I really feel like we're in a place where God is also saying don't just prepare

57
00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:39,200
people for the coming of the Lord with a message of consecration, commitment and action.

58
00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:44,120
But he's also speaking to the church I believe for the last 10, 12, 14 years, at least in

59
00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:47,760
my perspective, he's been moving quicker than before, exponentially.

60
00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:52,200
Because I sense something that God was saying even back in the early 80s that he was about

61
00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:56,920
to do something in greater measure than the Jesus movement and greater than you think.

62
00:03:56,920 --> 00:04:01,800
But it has been a process through the crucibles of experience and preparation for what God

63
00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:05,600
was doing to get the church ready to handle what he wanted to do.

64
00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,840
That he wanted the church to be an ark of refuge.

65
00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:12,720
Just like it says in Hebrew chapter 11 about the chapter on the faith and the people of

66
00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:18,480
faith, but he also says by divine warning Noah built an ark.

67
00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:22,400
Giving the story of what Noah did when people said there's not a rain cloud in the sky,

68
00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:23,400
but he kept on building.

69
00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:26,480
He just obeyed God and he kept on building.

70
00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:29,400
Can you imagine how ridiculous he must have felt?

71
00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:32,720
It was preparation, preparation, preparation.

72
00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:35,880
In over 100 years and finally the floods came.

73
00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:40,400
I believe this time what God wants to do is get the church ready to be an ark of refuge

74
00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:46,280
so that when the shakings continue and come they'll know where to go to find that place

75
00:04:46,280 --> 00:04:51,280
of protection and they'll find that place of purpose and that place of right perspective

76
00:04:51,280 --> 00:04:56,400
in their lives because they'll find those who truly are pressing into the presence of

77
00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:57,400
God.

78
00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:01,600
The other thing I sense is the Lord has been saying for the last even five years or so,

79
00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:06,240
six years, is that he is summoning his bride, his church.

80
00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:11,200
If you think about the story of Esther, the queen before, the king summoned his bride

81
00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:15,640
Vashti and she resisted him for whatever reason.

82
00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:21,360
I believe in some ways we the church have been resisting the presence of God, resisting

83
00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:25,960
to obey him because obedience is the highest form of worship.

84
00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:33,520
When we do not obey God we are denying him the right to be the Lord of our lives because

85
00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:34,800
we're purchased with the price.

86
00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:36,520
The price by the bloodshed of Jesus.

87
00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:38,400
We are the temples of the Holy Spirit.

88
00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:41,040
We don't belong to ourselves anymore.

89
00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:44,440
Before I became a Christian I was a young boy, six, seven years old.

90
00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:48,040
I went to an aging church over in National City, California.

91
00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:50,640
I didn't care if it was Baptist or Assembly of God or whatever.

92
00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:55,280
If a van came in the neighborhood or a neighbor was going to church I just felt like I wanted

93
00:05:55,280 --> 00:05:56,280
to go.

94
00:05:56,280 --> 00:05:57,280
I just wanted to be around Christians.

95
00:05:57,280 --> 00:06:02,780
I wasn't serving the Lord but it was in that moment I remember there was a missionary working

96
00:06:02,780 --> 00:06:07,520
with the Eskimos and working up in Alaska and they were speaking at Sweetwater Assembly

97
00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:12,280
of God and I remember sensing the presence of God and felt the call of God at a young

98
00:06:12,280 --> 00:06:13,280
age and began to weep.

99
00:06:13,280 --> 00:06:14,280
Didn't totally fully understand.

100
00:06:14,280 --> 00:06:18,040
People even looked at me and said, I don't think he really understands what he's doing.

101
00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:19,040
I was weeping.

102
00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:23,840
Went to the altar but I sensed God was speaking to me as much as I knew who God was.

103
00:06:23,840 --> 00:06:28,840
I knew the name of Jesus and I knew that I had to call on him and it was a long journey

104
00:06:28,840 --> 00:06:31,280
in that process.

105
00:06:31,280 --> 00:06:37,040
But even looking back then God was already preparing a generation, my generation for

106
00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:38,880
what was to come.

107
00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:42,400
And there comes that moment of revelation and so finally through all the things I went

108
00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:46,280
through and lived through and every time I was almost overdosing on a drug or having

109
00:06:46,280 --> 00:06:51,440
a gun pulled in my face or having a threat in my life, Jesus helped me.

110
00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:52,440
He was always bailing me out.

111
00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:54,760
Anybody been like that before?

112
00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:57,040
But then I go right back to living like the world.

113
00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:01,160
I remember one day one of my closest friends was killed over a drug deal.

114
00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:02,800
I was living in sin.

115
00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:06,840
And I remember calling on the Lord and saying, God, I can't take this anymore.

116
00:07:06,840 --> 00:07:12,000
I was in my office in my exercise studio and I heard the Lord speak, not audibly but a

117
00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:17,440
strong deep conviction that said, don't call me Lord anymore unless you're willing to live

118
00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:18,440
for me.

119
00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:22,080
And of course the first thing I did was, Jesus, I'm not perfect.

120
00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:24,080
You're my savior but not my Lord.

121
00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:25,880
I know I'm saved by grace.

122
00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:28,480
I know Jesus is the son of God.

123
00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:30,980
And again, it wasn't audible but so deep.

124
00:07:30,980 --> 00:07:34,280
And I didn't realize until I started to get the fear of the Lord came in that moment and

125
00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:38,280
I said, God, if you can do anything with someone like me that has broken your heart and brought

126
00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:41,960
shame to your name, I'll make myself available the rest of my life.

127
00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:45,800
Now I probably said something like that multiple times.

128
00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:50,240
And I probably was honest and legitimate with it but I went right back to the pigsty, so

129
00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:51,240
to speak.

130
00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:54,360
But something happened in that moment of accountability.

131
00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:59,000
And that moment, something happened in the way I cried out to God that God heard that.

132
00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:00,520
And he began to turn my world upside down.

133
00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:01,680
It wasn't changed overnight.

134
00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:02,680
I wasn't perfect.

135
00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:06,280
I still had issues I had to work through but there was this deep conviction I could no

136
00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:12,240
longer justify my flesh and justify by excuses my actions.

137
00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:14,200
I felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

138
00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:19,000
In fact, I didn't even know, really fully understood the gifts of the Holy Spirit but

139
00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:21,240
I began to also speak the words of knowledge.

140
00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:25,000
I read in the Bible, get a word of knowledge and tell people about it.

141
00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:26,480
They begin to cry, how did you know that?

142
00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:29,080
I don't know.

143
00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:32,160
I began to read the word, soak the word up.

144
00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:36,800
Began to read the word and I found where Jesus actually said, don't call me Lord, Lord anymore.

145
00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:40,640
I found the place where it says even the demons in hell know who I am.

146
00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:45,200
Wow, this is pretty cool and God was really speaking to me.

147
00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:49,360
But the reality was in that moment I had to come to the conclusion when I said, I know

148
00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:50,920
you're my savior but you're not my Lord.

149
00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:55,880
Then I realized the Lord began to speak to my heart and say, I can't be your savior if

150
00:08:55,880 --> 00:08:57,640
I'm not your Lord.

151
00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:03,240
So we tried to come up with all this verbiage and all these semantics and he says, I can't

152
00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:08,200
be your savior if I'm not your Lord because he is the Lord of our lives.

153
00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:11,520
We no longer belong to ourselves when he's true the Lord of our lives.

154
00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:16,600
The three words in the Old Testament that represent sin and let me clarify something

155
00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:24,120
as Pastor and I were talking, not all sin God hates but not all sin is the same.

156
00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:28,000
How many of you ever heard people say, well God hates sin and all sin is equal?

157
00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:34,880
Well from a biblical standpoint that God hates all sin but not all sin is the same.

158
00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:39,120
And then there are different consequences to those different sins.

159
00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:47,120
The three words used in the Hebrew for sin was hata, avang, and pesha.

160
00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:48,960
Hata means missing the mark.

161
00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:53,200
If you went out to the shooting range or shooting bow and arrow and you're in archery and you

162
00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:57,920
missed the mark, it just means missing the mark.

163
00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:00,520
How many of us just miss the mark all the time?

164
00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:01,520
I know I do.

165
00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:03,480
I'm going, man I can't believe I said that.

166
00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:04,480
I can't believe I did.

167
00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:05,800
It wasn't intentional.

168
00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:07,300
It wasn't malicious.

169
00:10:07,300 --> 00:10:09,440
It wasn't like I was trying to do it.

170
00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:12,400
But we all miss the mark all the time.

171
00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:13,960
God covers those sins.

172
00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:16,880
But it's not something we're trying to justify our sin.

173
00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:18,360
It's where we just missed the mark.

174
00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:19,360
It's called hata.

175
00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:21,680
The second word is avang.

176
00:10:21,680 --> 00:10:24,440
It's spelled like avon, but it's avam.

177
00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:25,880
And it means iniquity.

178
00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:28,120
Many of us have iniquities of our hearts.

179
00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:32,480
There's things that fester in our spirit that we hold on to things that we don't even realize

180
00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:36,520
until pressure comes and begins to expose the iniquities of our heart.

181
00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:40,440
How many of you have ever had to deal with evil thoughts and evil thinking and copying

182
00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:41,440
attitudes?

183
00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:43,120
We all have iniquities, don't we?

184
00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:47,880
And sometimes, many times, people don't even see those iniquities in us because they're

185
00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:49,440
not reading our mind.

186
00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:53,600
They don't know what our heart is, and we can be very expressive of being a Christian,

187
00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:57,200
sound like a Christian, talk like a Christian, smell like a Christian, on the outside, whatever

188
00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:00,000
a Christian smells like, but anything on the outside.

189
00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:04,880
And yet, it's easy to have that what we call compensatory facades.

190
00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:09,000
We compensate on the outside for the lack on the inside.

191
00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:14,520
So when pressure comes, those iniquities begin to surface, and we have to deal with them.

192
00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:18,040
I don't want to go around the mountain for 40 years and have to keep dealing with it.

193
00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:22,440
I want it to be rid of it and be free and be liberated because who the Lord sets free

194
00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:25,120
is free indeed.

195
00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:26,120
So we deal with those iniquities.

196
00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:29,720
And then the third thing is the word called pesha.

197
00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:33,000
Pesha is direct, out, not rebellion to God.

198
00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:36,760
In other words, it would be similar to know to do right, not to do it.

199
00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:44,720
Or Hebrews 10, 26, for those who sin willfully or habitually, intentionally, there remains

200
00:11:44,720 --> 00:11:51,160
a fearful expectation of fiery judgment because they've trampled underfoot the spirit of grace.

201
00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:56,760
We all claim grace, but when you trample the spirit of grace as if it was unholy, if it's

202
00:11:56,760 --> 00:12:02,240
profaning the holy, then what we've done is we've then called the holy things of God as

203
00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:03,520
common.

204
00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:07,600
We've trampled underfoot the spirit of grace and the bloodshed of Jesus.

205
00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:11,120
Now I'm not walking around afraid like, did I miss the mark again?

206
00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:15,440
I know now that I've missed the mark all the time, I know there's iniquities God wants

207
00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:17,000
to cleanse out of me.

208
00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:20,320
And part of that is by the washing of the word, by the renewing of the mind, by the

209
00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:25,000
washing of the word because I'm bombarded with junk all day long.

210
00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:29,440
And you can walk in a supermarket and not even intentionally pick up on the subliminal

211
00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:33,280
music or suggestions or the jib or things that we see.

212
00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:34,600
That's why we need the word of God.

213
00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:37,640
And here's how powerful the word of God is.

214
00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:44,080
It's so powerful that all day long at work, at school, going to the supermarket, going

215
00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:50,000
to the gym, wherever you might be, you're bombarded with all these sins and a few minutes

216
00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:53,840
a day getting into the word and really getting into the word.

217
00:12:53,840 --> 00:13:00,600
Spending time with Him literally washes our minds and cleanses us of all this unrighteousness.

218
00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:06,120
That's the grace of God, the abounding great and amazing grace of God.

219
00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:11,000
So I don't want to be a person though who is willfully disobeying God and sinning because

220
00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:13,040
I know to do right and I don't do it.

221
00:13:13,040 --> 00:13:17,680
I don't want to have that place of knowing I'm trampling underfoot the spirit of grace

222
00:13:17,680 --> 00:13:23,600
and causing a common thing, considering it common, the very blood that was shed for me.

223
00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:26,520
Especially since I'm the temple of the Holy Spirit and I've been purchased by the blood

224
00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:27,520
of Jesus.

225
00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:33,720
Why would I want to profane the holy, the holy, holy, holy God?

226
00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:38,000
Isaiah 6, woe is me from a man of unclean lips.

227
00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:44,640
When you've been in the presence of a holy, holy, holy God, you're undone.

228
00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:50,120
You're undone because you realize all of our excuses, all of our opinions, all of our compromises

229
00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:55,600
are brought to the very presence of that holy, holy, holy God, the God that the heavens of

230
00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:57,600
the heavens cannot even contain.

231
00:13:57,600 --> 00:13:58,600
Wow.

232
00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:03,440
And yet He chooses us to live in us.

233
00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:07,240
Think about what Solomon said when he was dedicating the temple.

234
00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:13,880
All the known world was impressed with the incredible temple he had built for God in

235
00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:14,880
the name of God.

236
00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:19,440
The cedars of Lebanon, the best of the treasures and gold and silver and bronze.

237
00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:21,880
Talk about the best of the best.

238
00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:25,080
It was a great wonder of the world and everybody was impressed.

239
00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:29,200
Even kings and queens of other nations were so impressed by what He had done.

240
00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:31,840
It's a magnificent place.

241
00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:36,400
And even in that, He says, who do I think I am?

242
00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:38,640
He knew the world was impressed.

243
00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:41,600
He did this beautiful thing for God.

244
00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:46,880
And yet He says, who do I think I am to think that the God that the heavens of the heavens

245
00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:51,280
cannot contain would dwell in this place that we have built?

246
00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:53,720
He recognized it.

247
00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:58,720
Even what He's done that the world was impressed with is not worthy of the creator of the heavens

248
00:14:58,720 --> 00:14:59,720
and the earth.

249
00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:04,600
But nonetheless, He humbled Himself, He did an offering in the temple, and it says that

250
00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:11,160
the fire of God came and consumed the sacrifice on the altar and the glory filled the temple.

251
00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:14,000
How much more important are you and me?

252
00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:18,280
We were built by the hands of men.

253
00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:24,080
We were made by the greatest cedars of the world and of Lebanon and with bronze and silver

254
00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:25,080
and gold.

255
00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:32,120
We were hand made, beautifully and wonderfully made by God Himself.

256
00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:34,120
So we are the temples that man built.

257
00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:39,320
We are the temples purchased by the God that the heavens of the heavens cannot even be

258
00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:41,920
worthy to contain.

259
00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:45,760
And yet nonetheless, God still honored Solomon and filled that temple.

260
00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:50,000
The fire consumed the sacrifice of the altar and the glory filled the temple.

261
00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:54,200
How much more does God want to fill us who have yielded ourselves to Him?

262
00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:59,160
Remember I said yesterday that the highest form of worship is simple obedience to God.

263
00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:05,040
The first time the word worship is ever mentioned in scripture, the point of first reference,

264
00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:10,120
is not in the act of singing like we did tonight beautifully, the singing or the instruments

265
00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:12,280
or what we do on stage.

266
00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:16,600
The first time the word worship was ever mentioned in scripture is in the context of obedience

267
00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:18,280
to God.

268
00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:24,160
When Abraham offered Isaac on the altar, that was called worship.

269
00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:27,600
The highest form of worship is our simple obedience and yielding ourselves to God saying,

270
00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:30,840
God, my life is on my own, it belongs to you.

271
00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:36,560
But let's go to the scripture in Mark chapter 5 verse 25 through 29.

272
00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:41,320
Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for 12 years, had suffered many things from many

273
00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:42,760
physicians.

274
00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:46,840
She had spent all that she had had and was no better but rather grew worse.

275
00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:51,400
When she heard about Jesus, she came behind him in the crowd, touched his garment, for

276
00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:55,960
she said, if only I may touch his clothes, I shall be made well.

277
00:16:55,960 --> 00:17:02,080
Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up and she felt in her body that she

278
00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:04,400
was healed of the affliction.

279
00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:09,760
Now I know in the English translation we talk about it being that if I could just touch

280
00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:12,280
the hems of his garment.

281
00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:20,240
But the original Greek for what it means is to touch the dangling tassels, the tzitzis.

282
00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:24,400
It's not like she had to get in a space, she goes, if I can just get to the crowd and touch

283
00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:28,360
the lowest of the lowest of his garment where the dangling tassels are, if I could just

284
00:17:28,360 --> 00:17:32,400
touch that, then God will do a miracle for me.

285
00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:37,040
There is something about the passion and the desperation in which she was pursuing the prince

286
00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:42,400
of God, Jesus, that she found her healing.

287
00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:43,760
She knew there would be a miracle.

288
00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:48,560
She didn't have to get in a conversation with him, she didn't have to somehow beg him.

289
00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:53,480
We don't have to take by force what God already wants to give to us.

290
00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:56,120
And that's when the disciples said, when he said, who touched me?

291
00:17:56,120 --> 00:17:58,320
Because he felt virtue leave, who touched me?

292
00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:01,160
They said, Jesus, everybody's here for you.

293
00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:05,160
But he knew the difference between those who are just coming to hear the word, do a Bible

294
00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:06,160
study, worship.

295
00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:09,880
We can be in stadiums of professional Christian worship.

296
00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:10,880
That's fine.

297
00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:13,560
We can go to concerts where Jesus is being mentioned.

298
00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:14,560
That's fine.

299
00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:17,880
We can go to large gatherings in Jesus' name and that's fine.

300
00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:24,640
But there's something different about those who are pressing in to meet Jesus.

301
00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:28,680
I remember when my daughter was young, there was times that she started teaching herself

302
00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:32,680
how to play guitar and write music when she was 12 years old.

303
00:18:32,680 --> 00:18:35,600
But I'd hear her upstairs in the middle of the night.

304
00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:39,560
And she'd been dealing a lot with, we weren't sure what it was back then, but a lot of,

305
00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:43,640
we found later was gluten intolerance and IBS and so many other things.

306
00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:46,880
It was just physically painful for her.

307
00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:49,680
In those moments, rather than getting mad at God, she was pressing in.

308
00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:52,920
And so I'd hear her upstairs and thinking, what is she doing?

309
00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:55,080
I need to go up there and tell her to go to bed.

310
00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:59,880
But I'd find that she was up there actually crying out to Jesus.

311
00:18:59,880 --> 00:19:04,600
And out of that place of her own adversity, that place of her own pain, she was calling

312
00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:05,600
upon the name of the Lord.

313
00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:08,080
God began to give her dreams and speak to her.

314
00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:09,400
God began to give her words.

315
00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:14,380
God began to give her lyrics and music that she ended up doing two different LPs or albums

316
00:19:14,380 --> 00:19:17,640
and working on another project now since she was 12 years old.

317
00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:18,640
She's 22 now.

318
00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:24,200
But it all came out of difficult times, times of having to press in.

319
00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:27,880
And when she pressed into the Lord, God did in turn what the enemy meant for harm and

320
00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:32,320
turned it for good and opportunity to minister to other people.

321
00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:36,280
Many of you today may have gone through a lot of difficulties and challenges and have

322
00:19:36,280 --> 00:19:38,280
questions.

323
00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:42,520
But God wants to do a work in and through you, even through the adversities and difficulties

324
00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:48,200
and pains and struggles that what seems humanly impossible, God wants to do for you.

325
00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:49,560
We press in.

326
00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:54,000
And then I feel like the Lord has been speaking for the last five or six years that if we're

327
00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:59,000
going to make it through this season that we were coming into before 2020, and starting

328
00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:03,560
back in 2017, I started writing about this, that if we're going to get through the next

329
00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:09,400
season and to walk in the fullness of God's promises, keeping His perspective and His

330
00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:13,640
protection and finding His purpose, that I didn't know what it was going to look like.

331
00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:18,840
I just knew I had this sense of urgency that He was summoning His bride, His church, to

332
00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:21,640
prepare herself as an ark of refuge.

333
00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:25,640
And then I sensed getting up one night over and over, reoccurring dream.

334
00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:27,880
And in that dream, I would keep waking up and go back.

335
00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:30,360
It was the same dream over and over in these words.

336
00:20:30,360 --> 00:20:35,680
He would keep saying, stay low, stay low.

337
00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:37,800
Draw near to here.

338
00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:41,640
And the third thing He would say is move quickly when I speak.

339
00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:45,400
I really sense that the Lord has been, as I unpack that, the Lord is saying, I need

340
00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:48,960
my people to understand the authority that I want to give them comes out of that place

341
00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:52,960
of posture of humility, not arrogance, but humility.

342
00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:58,200
If we stay low in the posture of humility, stay low and draw near to hear what the Spirit

343
00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:02,760
of the Lord is really saying so that when He speaks, we can move quickly, obey and move

344
00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:03,760
quickly.

345
00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:10,360
A friend of mine considers me a spiritual father, is a chaplain with the NBA, the Houston

346
00:21:10,360 --> 00:21:11,360
Rockets.

347
00:21:11,360 --> 00:21:16,520
He tells me that they practice over and over and over the same shot, three pointer, lay

348
00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:17,520
up, over and over.

349
00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:23,960
They do the thing repeatedly, repetition, over and over, so that in the game, they don't

350
00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:26,240
have to stop and think about what they're going to do.

351
00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:27,960
It needs to be instinctive.

352
00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:29,120
And that's what I got out of this.

353
00:21:29,120 --> 00:21:33,360
I really sense the Lord was saying, there comes a time I need you to keep drawing near

354
00:21:33,360 --> 00:21:38,840
to hear what I have to say so that when I do speak, you don't have to go, let's see,

355
00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:39,840
how do I do that?

356
00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:41,880
We move instinctively.

357
00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:45,560
We respond instinctively because that's what the Spirit of the Lord is already teaching

358
00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:47,600
us, what He's already preparing us to do.

359
00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:52,560
We move quickly when He speaks because we've been spending time with Him.

360
00:21:52,560 --> 00:22:00,600
The Lord wants to give us, I believe, perspective, protection, peace and purpose.

361
00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:05,480
I think about perspective in Psalm 61, verse one and two would be an example because I

362
00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:10,480
was actually speaking a few years ago, two different sessions for what's called the NRB,

363
00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:11,800
the National Religious Broadcasters.

364
00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:16,680
I remember between sessions, I had a few moments to go back and get a power now.

365
00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:19,960
I was getting ready for the second session, I fell asleep for a few minutes.

366
00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:26,400
And in that kind of a half-wake, half-sleep state, I was crying out because I felt overwhelmed

367
00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:31,800
of where things were about to go in our generation, in this nation.

368
00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:34,960
So in the dream, I was in this kind of turmoil.

369
00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:41,000
But then all of a sudden, I saw myself as a little boy in a crowd of all these big people.

370
00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:44,840
I could only put it to be like at a carnival or at a parade.

371
00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:47,880
And when you're a little kid and you get lost and all of a sudden, you're looking for your

372
00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:53,360
mom and your dad and you're so overwhelmed with fear because you're so small, you don't

373
00:22:53,360 --> 00:22:57,520
know what's happening all year, there's a bunch of loud noises and voices all around

374
00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:02,600
you and you feel like you're in a claustrophobic moment and you're desperate and you're in

375
00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:04,840
fear and you're crying out for your mom or dad.

376
00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:08,000
Well, in this dream, I realized I had to call on Abba.

377
00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:10,120
I was going, Abba, Abba.

378
00:23:10,120 --> 00:23:12,120
I realized I needed the help of the Father.

379
00:23:12,120 --> 00:23:13,120
Abba, Abba.

380
00:23:13,120 --> 00:23:19,680
And it was like the enemy was trying to lie to me, says, God doesn't care about you.

381
00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:20,680
Why are you calling him Father?

382
00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:21,680
He's not a father.

383
00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:22,680
He doesn't care about you.

384
00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:28,760
And I realized I was the enemy lying, so I began to cry to him in the lower, Abba, Father,

385
00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:29,760
I need you.

386
00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:32,400
And in that dream, it was like he came down.

387
00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:37,440
I didn't see a face, but I saw these big hands come down into the crowd and I felt like a

388
00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:38,440
little boy.

389
00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:42,600
And he picks me up and puts me on his shoulders.

390
00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:47,360
What used to be fear, looking up at the circumstance and not knowing what's happening, gave me a

391
00:23:47,360 --> 00:23:49,800
different perspective.

392
00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:52,520
Now I'm on the shoulders of the Lord.

393
00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:57,840
No longer afraid because he's now protecting me on his shoulders and he gives me an insight

394
00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:00,540
onto what's really happening.

395
00:24:00,540 --> 00:24:05,800
And since I'm on his shoulders, Psalm 61, 1 and 2 says, hear my cry, O God, attend to

396
00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:07,200
my prayer from the end of the earth.

397
00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:09,360
I will cry to you when my heart is overwhelmed.

398
00:24:09,360 --> 00:24:11,800
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

399
00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:17,080
In other words, put me on your shoulders.

400
00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:21,280
When you're on the shoulders of the rock of our salvation, the rock of all ages, when

401
00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:26,240
all of a sudden we look at the world and the giants and the obstacles and circumstances,

402
00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:29,680
from that perspective, of course we'll be afraid.

403
00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:33,320
But when we allow the Lord to pick us up and put us on his own shoulders, the rock that

404
00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:40,380
is higher than us, and puts us on his shoulders, he gives us a different discernment, a perspective

405
00:24:40,380 --> 00:24:41,880
that we don't have to lose peace.

406
00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:48,560
Now we have the shawm of God because we know Abba is giving us his perspective.

407
00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:53,480
And I believe we can get a greater sensitivity and discernment of what God wants when we

408
00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:59,920
stay low and we draw near to hear what the Spirit of the Lord is saying and to be able

409
00:24:59,920 --> 00:25:02,720
to move quickly when he speaks.

410
00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:04,100
How do I do that?

411
00:25:04,100 --> 00:25:05,360
By getting in his word.

412
00:25:05,360 --> 00:25:09,320
The written word has no life without the living word.

413
00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:14,960
But the written word is like a school book that if I ask the Holy Spirit to fill me and

414
00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:20,280
then have a relation with the living word himself, Jesus, then these words come alive.

415
00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:24,920
Because now I understand it by the spirit of the intent of who God is, not just words

416
00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:25,920
to be legalism.

417
00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:28,040
The letter of the law kills, right?

418
00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:31,440
But the letter of the law kills in two different ways.

419
00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:35,840
Not just because we use it as a way to be legalistic.

420
00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:39,160
Legalism and license both kill.

421
00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:40,720
The letter of the law can either do...

422
00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:44,280
We can do two things with the constitution, two things with God's constitution.

423
00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:48,600
What we can do is begin to find legalism, letter of the law, or we can begin to find

424
00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:54,640
justification and license through the law to somehow fit us.

425
00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:57,920
Either way, it causes death.

426
00:25:57,920 --> 00:26:03,200
Legalism or license becomes the letter of the law that kills.

427
00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:08,280
If we try to justify our actions, to excuse our actions, then that will begin to become

428
00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:12,320
liberty into license into licentiousness.

429
00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:14,880
And we see the result of that in our society.

430
00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:17,240
The answer still rests on us.

431
00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:22,600
So God wants to give us his perspective, his protection, his peace that comes from his

432
00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:25,480
shoulders, the shalom of God.

433
00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:27,520
And then he wants to give us his purposes.

434
00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:31,480
I believe that in a world where everything can be shaken is being shaken, it's easy to

435
00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:35,160
be overwhelmed, but we have to keep our eyes fixed on our destination.

436
00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:41,320
See, the thing about the children of Israel for 40 years, they lost their vision of destination.

437
00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:42,320
They had a revival.

438
00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:45,200
When all the plagues came, let my people go revival.

439
00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:46,600
Boy, they were all excited.

440
00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:48,880
Yeah, let my people go, let his people go.

441
00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:49,880
They were all excited.

442
00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:51,560
The Red Sea crossed in revival.

443
00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:52,560
All these different revivals.

444
00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:55,040
They were experiencing God.

445
00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:57,520
They heard the voice of God in the desert.

446
00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:02,760
They were given manna, heavenly food from heaven, and they began to loathe it and detest

447
00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:03,760
it.

448
00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:07,840
How many times do we take God for granted and begin to loathe the blessings of God?

449
00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:09,880
There's something about appreciation.

450
00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:11,480
Then they got clay on it.

451
00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:13,800
They got water out of a rock.

452
00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:19,560
Moses picks up a serpent, turns in a stick, and hits the rock, and water comes out of

453
00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:20,560
a rock in the desert.

454
00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:23,240
Talked about experiencing the miracles of God.

455
00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:25,520
And let me just say this.

456
00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:31,240
All the people who run around to get another miracle, to have another experience, to be

457
00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:34,520
a part of the crowd, are missing out.

458
00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:38,040
Because miracles don't keep us in the way.

459
00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:42,800
It's God's signposts, it's God's way of blessing us, but what keeps us is a passion for his

460
00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:45,200
presence.

461
00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:47,560
Miracles are the byproducts of his presence.

462
00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:49,480
It's not what we try to go for.

463
00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:50,480
It's what God does.

464
00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:52,880
How about somebody shouldn't seek God for miracles?

465
00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:53,880
I do.

466
00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:54,880
I believe in miracles.

467
00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:56,200
But we don't go after the miracle.

468
00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:58,560
We believe God is the God of miracles.

469
00:27:58,560 --> 00:27:59,960
We don't worship the miracles.

470
00:27:59,960 --> 00:28:01,560
We don't worship the worship.

471
00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:03,060
We don't worship the preacher.

472
00:28:03,060 --> 00:28:04,720
We don't worship Christianity.

473
00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:06,360
We worship the God of Christianity.

474
00:28:06,360 --> 00:28:12,040
We worship God of his own house, the El of Bethel, the God of the house, not the institution

475
00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:13,040
itself.

476
00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:18,080
I believe that God wants us to get to that place and finding our purpose beyond our circumstances

477
00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:23,000
and realizing, just like when they saw all the miracles, they lost their vision of destination

478
00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:27,920
because it says in Numbers, they became discouraged in the journey.

479
00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:30,640
Sometimes we can become discouraged as Christians.

480
00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:35,480
Remember those days when you got saved at Youthquake and God did a work?

481
00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:37,800
The Lord showed me how to keep my passion.

482
00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:41,160
It's not always easy because we go through life and we go through discourage and we go

483
00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:42,160
through heartache.

484
00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:44,840
There's nothing more debilitating than a broken heart.

485
00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:45,840
We've all been there.

486
00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:47,740
It's so disheartening, isn't it?

487
00:28:47,740 --> 00:28:48,840
Some of us, we can't eat.

488
00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:49,840
We can't sleep.

489
00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:50,840
We can't function.

490
00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:51,840
We're miserable.

491
00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:53,840
God knows those things.

492
00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:55,940
I had some friends.

493
00:28:55,940 --> 00:28:56,940
He was a Vietnam veteran.

494
00:28:56,940 --> 00:28:59,760
He and his brother twins both joined his Marines.

495
00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:03,760
Roger Helly ended up getting blown up by a hand grenade, shot twice and bayoneted all

496
00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:04,760
in a few minutes.

497
00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:09,440
He had 72 major shrapnel wounds and they took him to a mass unit.

498
00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:12,280
When his brother came in, he walked right by his brother Roger.

499
00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:13,880
He didn't recognize him.

500
00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:17,320
They had to open up his wounds every day because they were afraid of gangrene.

501
00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:20,800
They thought they would have to amputate an arm and a leg.

502
00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:24,160
They didn't think he was going to survive with 72 major shrapnel wounds.

503
00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:27,920
They would open up those wounds and take the bandages off and scrub it open two and three

504
00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:32,320
times a day because they could not let the infection set in.

505
00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:37,640
But he said eventually the infection leaves and soon they were able to sew up the infection,

506
00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:40,720
to sew up the sores and the shrapnel wounds.

507
00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:46,360
Eventually all I had left was the scars and the memory, but the pain was gone.

508
00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:48,400
The infection was gone.

509
00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:55,760
God wants to give us his perspective, his peace, his protection and his purpose.

510
00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:59,760
God wants us to be reminded that no matter what we've been through, out of the most difficult

511
00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:06,480
of our times, God can do a work in and through us beyond what we ever thought he could do.

512
00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:08,000
God wants to heal your hurt.

513
00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:09,800
God wants to heal your brokenness.

514
00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:13,120
God wants you to be a part of the kingdom of God that's bigger than what you're going

515
00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:14,120
through.

516
00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:18,800
God wants you to realize that no matter where you've been, if we're honest with him, yes,

517
00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:20,440
we missed the mark.

518
00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:23,800
Yes, God's purging the iniquities of our heart.

519
00:30:23,800 --> 00:30:28,520
Yes, we have to be obedient to God, not because we're forced to, and it's by the grace of

520
00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:30,640
God we ask him to do whatever you need to do.

521
00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:34,200
God, I don't want to be an out and out sinful rebellion against you.

522
00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:35,680
I want to say yes to you.

523
00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:36,680
I want to stay low.

524
00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:38,440
I want to draw near to here.

525
00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:41,080
I want to move when you say move.

526
00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:43,920
I want to obey you when you say to move, God.

527
00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:49,080
I want to be a man or a woman of simple obedience, which is the highest form of worship.

528
00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:52,440
I want you to be my Lord of every part of my life.

529
00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:57,120
Finally, the thing that God's been speaking to me in the last couple of years is God said,

530
00:30:57,120 --> 00:30:59,560
I'm going to bring an exposure.

531
00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:04,680
Zephaniah says, go through Jerusalem with lamps and expose those who are settled in

532
00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:09,120
complacency or compromise.

533
00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:16,200
God is exposing in us first His people, the areas of compromise, the areas of complacency,

534
00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:19,960
not because He wants to hurt us, but because He wants to get us ready to be in the fullness

535
00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:24,760
of the Godhead body, to be used by Him for this outpouring of God that God wants to bring

536
00:31:24,760 --> 00:31:29,280
in the midst of a world that desperately needs what you have and what I have.

537
00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:34,600
He said, I'm going to expose that which is in compromise, but I'm also going to set my

538
00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:41,880
spotlight on those who are not putting up with the corruption and the wickedness in

539
00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:43,560
the house of the Lord.

540
00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:49,040
In one way, He's exposing sin, and the other way, He's also spotlighting those who say,

541
00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:51,960
God, I don't want to settle in any compromise.

542
00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:56,400
The detestable things that we see happening in the church, God, we're not projecting our

543
00:31:56,400 --> 00:32:00,720
judgments, but we are discerning, and we want to be a people of righteousness because you

544
00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:03,480
are a God of holiness and righteousness.

545
00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:07,040
Then He said, I felt strongly, what's in Ottawa?

546
00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:08,040
Exposure implosions.

547
00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:14,560
This has been the last couple of years, we've seen over and over again the words being used,

548
00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:19,920
institutions in our country being imploded, financial institutions, banking institutions,

549
00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:24,960
housing institutions, governmental institutions, church institutions, everything, there is

550
00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:29,920
an implosion happening, but it's not a place where it's just going to be destruction.

551
00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:35,000
I believe it's time for the shaking for God to rebuild foundations for us to build, not

552
00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:40,240
faulty foundations, but build on the foundations of the Lord, so that the third thing He's

553
00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:42,920
been speaking is explosions.

554
00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:46,800
Not explosions in the sense, yes, there'll be some of that where we see things going

555
00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:50,600
on in the streets and we've seen that kind of explosions throughout the country and around

556
00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:55,880
the world and all the craziness we're seeing, things that seem like should be evil is considered

557
00:32:55,880 --> 00:33:02,120
good and good is evil, but at the same time, God is going to bring the explosions of His

558
00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:03,120
presence.

559
00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:09,840
That in a moment, what seems like a suddenly to you and to me is not suddenly to God.

560
00:33:09,840 --> 00:33:12,520
God is about to do what we think is a suddenly.

561
00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:16,960
All we have to do is posture ourselves at high noon with God, where there's no shadow

562
00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:17,960
of turning.

563
00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:21,360
Posture ourselves and getting on the shoulders of God in His perspective.

564
00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:26,040
Keep our visions of destination and hope and not look at the circumstances and the valleys

565
00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:30,520
and the mountains and all the distractions, but realize that even in the desert, God is

566
00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:32,480
providing heavenly provision.

567
00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:37,000
He's directing us, guiding us, protecting us as long as we keep His perspective.

568
00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:41,280
And then when we see the giants and the promises of God, that the giants are not bigger than

569
00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:45,480
God, but God is bigger than the giants, so that now when we prepare our hearts and yield

570
00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:51,840
our hearts to God, when God moves in your life, in our lives, it will seem like a suddenly,

571
00:33:51,840 --> 00:33:56,600
but it's all been preparation of our hearts as we get in His word, keep our posture of

572
00:33:56,600 --> 00:34:01,960
humility, stay low, draw near to hear what the Spirit of the Lord is saying, and move

573
00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:03,440
when God says to move.

574
00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:06,960
The highest form of worship is simple obedience to God.

575
00:34:06,960 --> 00:34:09,560
What a great time for us to be living right now.

576
00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:15,000
What a great opportunity that God would take us out of our place of difficulties and challenges

577
00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:16,000
if we keep our perspective.

578
00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:21,440
See, I believe that God gives us the strength to overcome every obstacle, no matter what

579
00:34:21,440 --> 00:34:22,440
we've been through.

580
00:34:22,440 --> 00:34:27,560
We can't change our past, but the decisions we make today determine our future.

581
00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:33,640
If we never forget the moment of when we received the revelation of God's love and grace and

582
00:34:33,640 --> 00:34:38,320
the work of the cross, power of the resurrection, if we never forget that moment and don't forget

583
00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:42,520
the landmarks along the way where He's been faithful there and faithful there and faithful

584
00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:47,160
there and faithful there, if I don't forget those, then no matter what I go through, I

585
00:34:47,160 --> 00:34:52,880
remember the moment and all the landmarks along the way that I know God can be faithful

586
00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:56,320
whatever I'm going through today to get me through tomorrow.

587
00:34:56,320 --> 00:35:01,880
I can't change my past, but the decisions I make every day determine my future.

588
00:35:01,880 --> 00:35:06,240
We hope you enjoyed this episode of A Word in Season with Doug Stringer and friends, and

589
00:35:06,240 --> 00:35:11,400
ask you to prayerfully consider supporting the ministry at SomebodyCares.org or by texting

590
00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:17,320
your donation amount to 805-422-7348.

591
00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:37,320
Please join us again for A Word in Season with Doug Stringer and friends.