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May 1, 2024
The Secret of Friendship with God Part 1
Unlocking The Secret of Friendship with God: Join us on a journey of spiritual exploration in Part 1 of our podcast series as we delve into the profound essence of divine connection and the transformative power of friendship with the divine.
Transcript
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You pray it and he can answer it.
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The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
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God will put the prayer in your heart to pray
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so that he can answer it.
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Goes into the hearts of the people.
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Does it return void?
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It produces results.
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It's a beautiful day.
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When they were talking about,
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or someone maybe Michael was talking about all the green,
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what came to my mind was all the pollen.
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I had to spray off of my deck last night.
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How do you know what I'm talking about?
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But you don't know how long it's gonna last,
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but I am thankful for spring and summer and the seasons.
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You know, the Bible says even in our own lives,
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everything there is a time and a purpose
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and a season under heaven.
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And I think every one of us are in a season of new beginnings.
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So we're just gonna go with the flow.
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We're just gonna be where we need to be.
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God's lining things up.
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He's aligning your lives.
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He's aligning your hearts.
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He's setting people up for success.
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Thank you, Jesus.
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He's putting people together
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for the purposes of building his kingdom.
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And I'm just really excited about living
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in the times that we live in today.
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I am a part of Crossroads Worship Center.
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My name is Margie and welcome to everybody who's online.
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I would like to invite you to visit my website.
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I have tons and tons of books
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that we really need to get out of my storage.
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And with a pandemic and everything going on,
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we just haven't been promoting the books.
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But I'm gonna be speaking to you today
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about the secrets to friendship with Jesus.
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And I actually have a book called Encounter God Through Prayer
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that I would encourage you to purchase off of my website,
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MargieFlorantMinistriesIthink.org.
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So I'm just going to highlight some things today.
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And I really enjoy sharing my heart with you on this subject
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because it's something that I have used in my own life
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and that's why I'm able to teach it.
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And I have not arrived,
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we're all developing in our walk with God,
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we're all developing friendship with Jesus,
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we're all learning the ways to communicate with Him
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and the ways He communicates back to us.
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But I really feel in my heart,
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like I have the heart of a mother,
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even for those of you that are listening online,
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that the Lord is calling His people unto Himself.
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And the Bible says, draw near to God
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and He will draw near to you.
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But what I have found by experience
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and just by talking to people
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that oftentimes people don't know how to draw near to Him.
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They view God as a God who is distant,
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He's far away, He's up in the sky somewhere.
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Well, He's actually very reachable.
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And He longs for fellowship and intimacy
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with each and every one of you.
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There's just secrets to getting there.
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So I'm just going to share with you this morning
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a very simple message,
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the ways that I've learned to connect with Jesus.
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And when we talk about the secrets to friendship with Jesus,
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we're not talking about going to church.
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We're not talking about, you know,
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a religion or a religious way of approaching God.
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We're talking about a real God
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who really wants to be intimate with His people.
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We're going to read out of Genesis at some point,
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but when God created Adam and Eve,
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He created them because He longed for friendship.
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And intimacy and community and family.
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And so He's still looking for that today.
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You know, the Bible says that the eyes of the Lord
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run to and fro the whole earth to show Himself strong
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on the behalf of those whose hearts are perfect towards Him.
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Now, the beauty of God is that He's not looking
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for perfect human beings.
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You know, the Bible says He knows our frame.
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He remembers that we are dust.
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So none of us are perfect.
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As a matter of fact, the Bible says there is none righteous.
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No, not one.
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We all have shortcomings.
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We all have issues.
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We all say and do things we normally wouldn't say and do.
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I could testify to that.
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And so could my friends.
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So I had a very hard year last year
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and I just was not totally myself.
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And so what?
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You know, God does not expect us to be perfect.
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But what He wants from us is a perfect heart towards Him,
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meaning He wants us to have a desire to know Him,
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to understand His heart.
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And when we draw near to Him,
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we will be changed from glory to glory to glory.
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And the things that used to be a problem in your life
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will start to just eventually just disappear
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or go away or whatever you want to call it.
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Because the Lord is the strength of our lives.
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Whom shall we fear?
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We need Jesus.
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So I want to talk to you today
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about the secrets of friendship with Jesus.
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And my opening verse is actually going to come
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from Ephesians chapter three.
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And again, I really am going to really enjoy sharing this
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with you.
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I've been wanting to do a Facebook live on this subject
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and I'm still going to do it.
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That I have this message burning in my heart
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for people to know and understand.
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Because oftentimes we think that,
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and I will get into this maybe,
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that we have to go into a closet,
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we have to shut a door,
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we have to have this whole thing going on.
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And that's part of intimacy with Jesus.
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But there's other ways to stay connected to Him.
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Are you listening?
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So let's look here at Ephesians chapter,
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or Philippians chapter three.
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Paul is speaking.
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And at the end of his life,
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we find in verse eight or seven,
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you know, first of all, Paul was in the natural,
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like from a work standpoint, he was perfect.
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He said, I did everything right.
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I even persecuted the church,
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trying to do what was right,
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even though it was, we know he was doing the devil's work.
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But at the very end of his life,
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Paul found his purpose.
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And you know, we think about that purpose driven life
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by Rick Warren, is that who wrote that book, Diane?
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You know, that book sold, I don't know,
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it was one of the top, top, top selling books,
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because everybody's looking for their purpose.
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We all wanna find the meaning of life,
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and we wanna know why we were born.
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And what I love about the verses
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that we're gonna read today is that
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at the end of Paul's life, he found his purpose.
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Okay, he found his purpose.
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And it wasn't writing two thirds of the New Testament,
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it wasn't all these outward things,
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it was something that was hidden in his heart
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that only he could have with his savior,
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the Lord Jesus Christ.
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You see, you are as close to God as you want to be.
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There are heights and depths and breaths and lengths
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of intimacy with God.
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And I truly believe that one day we'll all stand before God
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and we know that.
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And I know that when that day comes,
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we will still have more to know
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about who Jesus is in his heart.
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As a matter of fact, one of my prayers,
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you know, this is actually a prayer that I made up.
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It's like three pages.
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But one of the things that I pray in this prayer
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is Lord, I wanna know your heart.
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Show me your heart.
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You know, Moses prayed, show me your glory.
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And I don't really totally understand what that means
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when somebody says show me your glory,
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even though I teach, I preach,
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and we've talked about the glory and the glory of this.
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But I just wanna know God's heart.
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And the interesting thing about Moses,
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if you go into, I think it's Exodus three,
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we find that Moses, when God first appeared to him
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in that burning bush scene, how many remember that?
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Are you listening online?
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How many remember that?
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You know, he was afraid of God.
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He was afraid to look at God.
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He was terrified, okay?
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But when you go all the way into Exodus 33,
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and you see the journey of how he developed friendship
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with God, I said to the Lord,
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what changed from Exodus three to Exodus 33?
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And I really felt like the Lord said to me,
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he got to know my heart.
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He became deeply and intimately acquainted with me.
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He understood who I was.
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He understood my character.
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He saw how I love the people.
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And I think that that's what you and I need.
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That's why it's very important to study the scriptures.
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You know, the Bible says,
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study to show yourselves approved unto God,
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workmen that need not to be ashamed,
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rightly dividing the word of truth.
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Why?
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Because if we really want to know God,
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we want to know his heart,
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we've got to find him in the word of God.
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That he's the same yesterday, today, and forever.
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He's not up and down.
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He's not schizophrenic.
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He's very consistent.
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He's very trustworthy.
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He's very loving.
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He's very patient.
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He's very kind.
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He doesn't boil over with jealousy.
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He is not rude.
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You know, he is a good God.
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And I think that that's what happened to Moses.
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And all the fear, and all the shame,
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and all the terror that he had
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turned into intimacy with God.
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To the point where, if you read Exodus 33,
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the Bible says that Moses knew God
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face to face as a man would speak to his friend.
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And I have to be honest with you.
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I can't be anything other than who I am.
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That is my desire.
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That is my quest.
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I want to know God face to face
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as a man speaks to his friends, his friend.
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I can remember teaching this.
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I used to do an extra session when I taught in fits
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because I wanted to just really emphasize prayer
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to the ministry leaders that were up and coming.
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And I remember telling them that, you know,
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it's one thing to just know the God of, you know,
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the Bible, and it's another thing,
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and we want to know him in the Word,
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it's another thing to also know him
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in the place of prayer and intimacy.
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To have that face to face encounter with him.
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To not just know him through the scriptures,
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but know him by the spirit.
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And I'm just gonna be honest.
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That only comes through prayer.
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And there's different ways to pray,
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different kinds of prayer.
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We're gonna get into this.
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But it only comes through a conscious decision.
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I am gonna put God first place in my life.
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What does the scripture about Martha and Mary talk about?
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Martha was working, working, working, working, working,
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working, and they got Jesus right in their own house.
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You know, and you know, to be honest,
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you have Jesus in your own house.
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You just can't see him.
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He's there, and he's waiting for you to come unto him.
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So many of you are laboring, and you're burdened down.
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He says, you come to me, I'll give you rest.
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So you think about Martha and Mary, you know,
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Mary, you know, Martha is working, working, working,
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and there's nothing wrong with working.
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But if you've lost touch with Jesus Christ,
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or you've lost touch with that,
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I wanna call it a feeling, or a burning, or a knowing,
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then you gotta get back.
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And let me tell you, it happens to all of us.
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I get really busy, and then I'm like, Lord,
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I don't want this for me.
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This is not what I want for my life.
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I wanna be intimate with you.
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I wanna be like Mary, you know,
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or I'm sitting at the feet of Jesus,
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and I'm wanting to hear what you have to say.
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And he wants that from us.
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Just like he wants it from us,
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but he wants to be close to us as well.
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Friendship with Jesus.
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You know, I wanna be friends with him.
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Say that with me, I want to be friends with Jesus.
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So let's read out of Philippians.
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So Paul, at the end of his life, he said,
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yet indeed he said, all these things, who I am,
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how gifted I am, how smart I am,
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how much money I am, I wrote 2 thirds of the New Testament.
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Now here at the end of my life,
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and he didn't even brag about all the visions that he had.
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You know, so many people brag about all that stuff,
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makes me wanna, you know, it nauseates me.
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You know what, if you have a real intimate encounter
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with Jesus Christ, would you really wanna put it all out
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on the internet?
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I thought was just free, I had to say that.
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He said, at the end of my life, everything that I counted,
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that was gained to me, I've counted loss for Christ.
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Yet indeed I also count all things lost
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for the excellency of the knowledge
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of Jesus Christ my Lord.
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He said, who've I've suffered the loss of all things?
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And count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ
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and be found in him, this is New King James,
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not having my own righteousness, which is from the law,
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but that which is through faith in Christ,
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the righteousness which is from God by faith.
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And then he says, verse 10,
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and then we're gonna read out of the amplified,
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I'm sure Lorraine put that up for us.
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He said, that I may know him.
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And the amplified says that I may become more deeply
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and intimately acquainted with him perceiving
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and recognizing the wonders of his person.
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Now think about it, how many people do you know
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are bored in church or bored with their walk with God?
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But here this scripture says, you know,
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we wanna, there's so much to know about God,
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we can't even perceive the wonders of his person.
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There's heights and depths and lengths, like we said prior.
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So this was the quest of the apostle Paul and I love this.
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And so then he goes on to say,
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he said, perceiving the wonders of his person
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more strongly and more clearly,
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and that I may in the same way come to know
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the power outflowing from his resurrection,
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which it exerts over believers,
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and that I may so share in his sufferings
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so to be continually transformed in spirit
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into his likeness into his death.
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So what keeps us from being close or intimate with Jesus?
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Now, we're to get into that.
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And some of these pertain to me in how I was raised,
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because I was raised thankfully for me as a Catholic girl.
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And I loved God my whole life and I loved being Catholic
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and I loved going to church every day.
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As a matter of fact, my first encounter
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with the presence of God was when I was confirmed.
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That may be a surprise to you.
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You had an encounter with God in the Catholic church
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when you were being confirmed as a child.
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I absolutely 100% did because I took the scriptures
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and the things that I was being taught
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and I took it to heart.
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I took it deeply.
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I wanted to be close to Jesus.
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And so when they said at confirmation,
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you know that the Holy Spirit's gonna come on you,
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I don't exactly know what they teach, I forget now,
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but I just remember going up to be confirmed.
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And I remember like oil being poured all over me.
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It was the presence of the Holy Spirit.
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Who says God can't show up in a Catholic church?
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He showed up on me as a little girl.
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Who says the children can't have encounters
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with Jesus Christ?
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They have.
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And so I remember like going back to my seat,
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sitting down and going, he's here with me.
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And some of the other kids were just playing and laughing
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and I go, don't they feel this?
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Don't they have this?
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That presence stayed on me for three days.
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I don't know about you, but I wanna know
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how to maintain the presence of God.
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And that's what we're talking about,
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friendship with Jesus.
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Brother Lawrence, if you ever read his book,
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I haven't, but I have it in my bookshelf.
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It's supposed to be a good book.
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But his book is about maintaining the presence of Jesus.
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And he was so close with Jesus
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that he carried a presence with him.
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Now, doesn't the Bible say that we are a fragrance
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to the world?
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Do you know that when you pray or you walk closely
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with Jesus, you have a continual fragrance,
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Revelations 5.8, that goes up before the throne of God.
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So how many of you have ever had people say to you,
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I could sense that you have God in you?
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My daughter and her husband and I were in a mall
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in Bridgewater and I just knew the lady was a Christian.
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How did you know?
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You sense it.
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How many of you know what I'm talking about?
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After a long story short, you know how you could kind of
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wean your way into talking to people about Jesus?
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Because you know, you gotta be wise
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when you're trying to win somebody over.
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But I sensed she was a Christian.
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So, you know, somehow the subject came up to you,
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because oh yes, I'm a Christian.
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She was so excited.
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I said, well, I could sense it.
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And she was actually surprised.
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You know why?
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Because she condemns herself, puts herself down,
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lives in shame, lives in fear.
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She didn't even know that she was a fragrance
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in that department and that people could actually
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pick up on it.
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See, those are the things that keep us down.
400
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And she said to us, she said, you know,
401
00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:12,480
I was so encouraged that you sense that I was a Christian
402
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because she was beating herself up.
403
00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:16,880
But I'm telling you friends,
404
00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:18,840
people are gonna know that we're Christians.
405
00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:22,480
But what keeps us from true intimacy with God?
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I'm only gonna give you three Cs.
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00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:28,680
Number one is we need to have confidence in prayer,
408
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or confidence before the throne of God, confidence.
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00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:34,800
Now you look here at Adam and Eve,
410
00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:36,480
and I know you know this verse,
411
00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:39,480
but there's many people that were raising up in these days
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that have never heard these verses.
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00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:44,120
And as leaders, I believe we need to get back
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to some of the basics.
415
00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:48,960
Because doesn't the scripture say we ought to give
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a more earnest heed to the things that we have learned
417
00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:56,000
less at any time we want?
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Anybody know how to complete that?
419
00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:01,160
We let them slip, and we get back into religion.
420
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We get back into how we were raised.
421
00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:05,160
So let's look at Adam and Eve,
422
00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:07,840
the fall of Adam and Eve, Genesis 3.
423
00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:10,160
You know the story, when the woman saw
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that the tree was good for food,
425
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that it was pleasant to the eyes
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and a tree desired to make one wise,
427
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she took the fruit and she ate it.
428
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She messed up, didn't she?
429
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She disobeyed God.
430
00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:25,880
She did exactly what the Lord told her not to do.
431
00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:27,640
How many of you have ever done that?
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Now look at me like you're perfect.
433
00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:36,280
She also gave it to her husband with her and he ate,
434
00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:39,080
and the eyes of both of them were opened.
435
00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:40,600
You know I used to think, well what did that mean?
436
00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:43,000
I just think that their eyes were opened,
437
00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:45,440
they realized their humanity.
438
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Whereas before they were divinity.
439
00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:51,040
They were created in the image and in the likeness of God.
440
00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:53,880
They had 100% dominion over the earth
441
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because God gave it to them.
442
00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:58,360
They were so smart they named all the animals.
443
00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:01,800
That was a good word, I never thought of that.
444
00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:06,520
There was a very beautiful anointing in here.
445
00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:08,640
You know that, right?
446
00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:10,480
Okay.
447
00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:13,440
Because Jesus likes this kind of talk,
448
00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:15,720
because this is why we were created.
449
00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:18,960
We were created to be intimate with him.
450
00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:20,840
So the eyes of both of them were open,
451
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they knew that they were naked,
452
00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:24,200
and they saw their humanity,
453
00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:25,920
and they sewed fig leaves together
454
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and made themselves coverings,
455
00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:31,000
and then they heard the sound of the Lord God
456
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walking in the cool of the day,
457
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and Adam and his wife hid themselves
458
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from the presence of the Lord God
459
00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:39,320
among the trees of the garden,
460
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and then the Lord called Adam.
461
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Isn't that interesting?
462
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They know that the Lord is calling you.
463
00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:48,480
He knows you by name.
464
00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:51,720
He knows how many hairs you have on your head.
465
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That's, he knows that you're fearfully
466
00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:54,880
and wonderfully made.
467
00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:56,760
He's so intimate with you.
468
00:21:56,760 --> 00:21:59,520
I had some hairs falling on the dresser today,
469
00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:02,400
my Lord Jesus, I got a few less hairs on my head,
470
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but only you know how many.
471
00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:10,200
He said, Adam, where are you?
472
00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:13,920
Can you hear the heart of God in this?
473
00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:15,840
Where are you?
474
00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:20,040
So he said, Adam said, I heard your voice in the garden,
475
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and I was afraid.
476
00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:25,120
So the trust and the confidence that he had
477
00:22:25,120 --> 00:22:27,720
with the Father turned into fear.
478
00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:33,040
I was afraid because I was naked,
479
00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:34,200
and then what did he do?
480
00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:36,440
He hid himself.
481
00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:38,680
And then the God said to him, you know,
482
00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:40,200
who told you that you were naked?
483
00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:41,280
Have you eaten from the tree,
484
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which I commanded you not to eat?
485
00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,760
And the man said, oh, the woman you gave me,
486
00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:47,360
you know, she gave it to me and I ate.
487
00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:49,200
That's a whole other Bible study.
488
00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:53,720
And the Lord God said to the woman, what have you done?
489
00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:56,040
And the woman admitted her wrongdoing.
490
00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:59,080
She said, the serpent deceived me and I ate.
491
00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:03,600
This is fear, guilt, and shame,
492
00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:06,640
and as a result, they hid themselves
493
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from the presence of God.
494
00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:10,880
How many of you have ever done that?
495
00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:15,440
You do something, you say something, you're a certain way,
496
00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:17,480
and then you're starting to hide from God.
497
00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:19,840
So instead of looking onto Jesus,
498
00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:22,160
the author and the finisher of your faith,
499
00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,400
you look away from him in distraction,
500
00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:29,920
and your distraction is fear, worry, guilt,
501
00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:32,640
and you're hiding yourself from the presence of God,
502
00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:36,360
and God, Jesus is just saying, if you'll just come to me,
503
00:23:36,360 --> 00:23:39,560
I'll restore you, I'll heal you of your brokenness,
504
00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:42,640
I'll heal you of your disease, come unto me.
505
00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:45,320
If you're tired, I'll give you rest.
506
00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:47,040
Listen, I say this to people,
507
00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:49,200
and especially in the day and the season we live in today
508
00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:52,600
in this world, don't run from Jesus.
509
00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:56,760
If you got stuff going on in your life, run to him.
510
00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:03,360
See, but that's where confidence comes in,
511
00:24:03,360 --> 00:24:05,640
confidence in the presence of God.
512
00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:08,760
When you know that you know that you know
513
00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:13,160
that God loves you, he will in no wise cast you out.
514
00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:16,160
When you know he loves you,
515
00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:18,440
and he's knocking at the door of your heart,
516
00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:21,840
and he's saying, would you please stop hiding from me?
517
00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:26,400
When you know he loves you, you'll turn back to him in faith,
518
00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:29,400
and you'll look at him once again,
519
00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:32,600
and then you'll go up and go on your merry way.
520
00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:34,040
I know people, you know,
521
00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:36,480
I think actually I heard Kenneth Copeland say this,
522
00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:40,000
he used to like, I think he used to eat like four loaves of bread
523
00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:41,480
with two sticks of butter,
524
00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:43,200
it's kind of funny to see that now, right,
525
00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:45,080
because he's so skinny and fit.
526
00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:48,160
But you know, he was bogged down by gills,
527
00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:49,360
and so he would be like, well,
528
00:24:49,360 --> 00:24:52,800
it may mean about three days, I'll look at Jesus,
529
00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:55,600
and I'll have that connection with him once again.
530
00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:58,720
And one day the Lord said, and what are you doing?
531
00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:02,840
Listen, if you sin, and you confess your sin,
532
00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:07,600
he is what, faithful and just to forgive you of your sin,
533
00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:10,360
and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
534
00:25:10,360 --> 00:25:12,080
You don't have to wait three days
535
00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:14,240
to get rid of all the guilt.
536
00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:19,240
Just pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and move on.
537
00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:25,760
There is no fear in love.
538
00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:31,080
But perfect love drives out fear.
539
00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:35,200
When you know that God loves you, you have nothing to fear.
540
00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:37,520
So think about John 3.16,
541
00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:40,520
he so loved the world that he gave his son.
542
00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:42,000
He would have given his son
543
00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:44,200
if it was just for you and you alone.
544
00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:46,800
You need to have that mindset,
545
00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:49,960
and it'll give you confidence in the presence of God.
546
00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:52,280
So we have a righteousness consciousness,
547
00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:55,000
and we have a sin consciousness.
548
00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:57,320
What is sin consciousness?
549
00:25:57,320 --> 00:25:59,240
You cover yourself, or Adam covered,
550
00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:01,360
and he covered themselves, they were afraid,
551
00:26:01,360 --> 00:26:03,000
they were naked, therefore they hid.
552
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:05,080
What is righteousness consciousness?
553
00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:10,760
2 Corinthians 5, 17 through 21 says,
554
00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:13,480
if you're in Christ, which we are,
555
00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:16,000
we're hidden in him.
556
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:18,440
We're hidden behind the cross.
557
00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:20,440
If we are in Christ, what are we?
558
00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:21,960
We're a new creation.
559
00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:26,160
All things pass away, all things become new.
560
00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:28,520
The sin nature is gone.
561
00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:32,880
The sin that passed from Adam to humanity is gone.
562
00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:37,160
Jesus was the second Adam, correct?
563
00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:39,840
So that sin nature is gone.
564
00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:42,840
So when the father looks at you,
565
00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:47,840
he sees his son, and he sees the finished work of the cross.
566
00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:51,400
So you could have confidence in him,
567
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:53,360
confidence in his presence,
568
00:26:53,360 --> 00:26:56,400
confidence that if you ask anything according to his word,
569
00:26:56,400 --> 00:27:00,000
he hears you, and you know that you have the petitions
570
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:00,840
you desire.
571
00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:02,840
See, I know that I know that I know that I know
572
00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:04,000
that God's got me.
573
00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:07,520
And I have little examples all around my life,
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00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:09,120
popping up everywhere.
575
00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:11,960
God's got you.
576
00:27:14,120 --> 00:27:16,760
He loves you, he's got you,
577
00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:19,560
but you've gotta have that righteousness consciousness,
578
00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:21,920
and that righteousness consciousness will give you
579
00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:24,720
confidence in the presence of God.
580
00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:25,680
Are you listening?
581
00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:27,560
Hebrews 11, six.
582
00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:32,280
But without faith, it is impossible to please him.
583
00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:36,800
So you think about it like, okay, secrets
584
00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:40,800
of friendship with God, it's all by faith.
585
00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:45,800
Blessed are those that believe
586
00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:48,040
and have never seen him physically.
587
00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:51,920
Kenneth E. Hagan had multiple visions of Jesus,
588
00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:55,840
but he still had to exercise his faith.
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,240
You pray it and he can answer it.
2
00:00:02,240 --> 00:00:07,240
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
3
00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:11,040
God will put the prayer in your heart to pray
4
00:00:11,040 --> 00:00:12,320
so that he can answer it.
5
00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:14,080
Goes into the hearts of the people.
6
00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:15,440
Does it return void?
7
00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:17,120
It produces results.
8
00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:23,320
It's a beautiful day.
9
00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:24,520
When they were talking about,
10
00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:27,920
or someone maybe Michael was talking about all the green,
11
00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:31,480
what came to my mind was all the pollen.
12
00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:35,080
I had to spray off of my deck last night.
13
00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:37,840
How do you know what I'm talking about?
14
00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:40,120
But you don't know how long it's gonna last,
15
00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:45,120
but I am thankful for spring and summer and the seasons.
16
00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:50,600
You know, the Bible says even in our own lives,
17
00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:53,880
everything there is a time and a purpose
18
00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:56,080
and a season under heaven.
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00:00:56,080 --> 00:01:01,080
And I think every one of us are in a season of new beginnings.
20
00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:04,800
So we're just gonna go with the flow.
21
00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:07,520
We're just gonna be where we need to be.
22
00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:09,040
God's lining things up.
23
00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:10,560
He's aligning your lives.
24
00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:12,520
He's aligning your hearts.
25
00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:16,360
He's setting people up for success.
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00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:20,640
Thank you, Jesus.
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He's putting people together
28
00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:25,040
for the purposes of building his kingdom.
29
00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:26,720
And I'm just really excited about living
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00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:28,800
in the times that we live in today.
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I am a part of Crossroads Worship Center.
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00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:35,040
My name is Margie and welcome to everybody who's online.
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00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:37,920
I would like to invite you to visit my website.
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00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:39,560
I have tons and tons of books
35
00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:44,200
that we really need to get out of my storage.
36
00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:46,920
And with a pandemic and everything going on,
37
00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:48,600
we just haven't been promoting the books.
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00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:51,040
But I'm gonna be speaking to you today
39
00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:55,040
about the secrets to friendship with Jesus.
40
00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:58,920
And I actually have a book called Encounter God Through Prayer
41
00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:05,000
that I would encourage you to purchase off of my website,
42
00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:09,680
MargieFlorantMinistriesIthink.org.
43
00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:13,520
So I'm just going to highlight some things today.
44
00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:18,520
And I really enjoy sharing my heart with you on this subject
45
00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:23,520
because it's something that I have used in my own life
46
00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:26,360
and that's why I'm able to teach it.
47
00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:28,160
And I have not arrived,
48
00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:30,600
we're all developing in our walk with God,
49
00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:32,920
we're all developing friendship with Jesus,
50
00:02:32,920 --> 00:02:36,920
we're all learning the ways to communicate with Him
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00:02:36,920 --> 00:02:40,160
and the ways He communicates back to us.
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00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:42,600
But I really feel in my heart,
53
00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:43,960
like I have the heart of a mother,
54
00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:46,320
even for those of you that are listening online,
55
00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:51,320
that the Lord is calling His people unto Himself.
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00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:56,480
And the Bible says, draw near to God
57
00:02:56,480 --> 00:03:00,040
and He will draw near to you.
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00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,280
But what I have found by experience
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00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:05,160
and just by talking to people
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00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:10,160
that oftentimes people don't know how to draw near to Him.
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00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:13,880
They view God as a God who is distant,
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He's far away, He's up in the sky somewhere.
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00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:21,120
Well, He's actually very reachable.
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00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:25,640
And He longs for fellowship and intimacy
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00:03:25,640 --> 00:03:27,720
with each and every one of you.
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00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:30,280
There's just secrets to getting there.
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00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:33,120
So I'm just going to share with you this morning
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00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:34,600
a very simple message,
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00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:38,080
the ways that I've learned to connect with Jesus.
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00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:41,960
And when we talk about the secrets to friendship with Jesus,
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00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:45,400
we're not talking about going to church.
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00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:48,360
We're not talking about, you know,
73
00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:53,360
a religion or a religious way of approaching God.
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00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:56,280
We're talking about a real God
75
00:03:56,280 --> 00:04:00,160
who really wants to be intimate with His people.
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00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:03,360
We're going to read out of Genesis at some point,
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00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:05,600
but when God created Adam and Eve,
78
00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:10,600
He created them because He longed for friendship.
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00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:15,600
And intimacy and community and family.
80
00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:19,840
And so He's still looking for that today.
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00:04:19,840 --> 00:04:22,680
You know, the Bible says that the eyes of the Lord
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00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:27,160
run to and fro the whole earth to show Himself strong
83
00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:30,560
on the behalf of those whose hearts are perfect towards Him.
84
00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:34,840
Now, the beauty of God is that He's not looking
85
00:04:34,840 --> 00:04:37,440
for perfect human beings.
86
00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:40,480
You know, the Bible says He knows our frame.
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00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:43,520
He remembers that we are dust.
88
00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,320
So none of us are perfect.
89
00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:49,280
As a matter of fact, the Bible says there is none righteous.
90
00:04:49,280 --> 00:04:50,400
No, not one.
91
00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:52,080
We all have shortcomings.
92
00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:53,840
We all have issues.
93
00:04:53,840 --> 00:04:57,120
We all say and do things we normally wouldn't say and do.
94
00:04:57,120 --> 00:04:58,360
I could testify to that.
95
00:04:58,360 --> 00:04:59,720
And so could my friends.
96
00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:01,920
So I had a very hard year last year
97
00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:04,560
and I just was not totally myself.
98
00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:06,280
And so what?
99
00:05:06,280 --> 00:05:09,480
You know, God does not expect us to be perfect.
100
00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:14,200
But what He wants from us is a perfect heart towards Him,
101
00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:19,200
meaning He wants us to have a desire to know Him,
102
00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:21,440
to understand His heart.
103
00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:24,360
And when we draw near to Him,
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00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:29,080
we will be changed from glory to glory to glory.
105
00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:33,040
And the things that used to be a problem in your life
106
00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:38,040
will start to just eventually just disappear
107
00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:40,920
or go away or whatever you want to call it.
108
00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:43,200
Because the Lord is the strength of our lives.
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00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:44,120
Whom shall we fear?
110
00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:46,040
We need Jesus.
111
00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:47,560
So I want to talk to you today
112
00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:49,640
about the secrets of friendship with Jesus.
113
00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:51,560
And my opening verse is actually going to come
114
00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:53,800
from Ephesians chapter three.
115
00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:57,440
And again, I really am going to really enjoy sharing this
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00:05:57,440 --> 00:05:58,280
with you.
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00:05:58,280 --> 00:06:00,680
I've been wanting to do a Facebook live on this subject
118
00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:02,920
and I'm still going to do it.
119
00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:05,760
That I have this message burning in my heart
120
00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:07,840
for people to know and understand.
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00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:12,040
Because oftentimes we think that,
122
00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:14,200
and I will get into this maybe,
123
00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:16,000
that we have to go into a closet,
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00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:17,680
we have to shut a door,
125
00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:20,480
we have to have this whole thing going on.
126
00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:22,960
And that's part of intimacy with Jesus.
127
00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:25,840
But there's other ways to stay connected to Him.
128
00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:28,360
Are you listening?
129
00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:30,560
So let's look here at Ephesians chapter,
130
00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:33,720
or Philippians chapter three.
131
00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:35,320
Paul is speaking.
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00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:37,080
And at the end of his life,
133
00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:41,400
we find in verse eight or seven,
134
00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:44,280
you know, first of all, Paul was in the natural,
135
00:06:44,280 --> 00:06:47,640
like from a work standpoint, he was perfect.
136
00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:49,560
He said, I did everything right.
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00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:51,880
I even persecuted the church,
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00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:53,200
trying to do what was right,
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00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:56,960
even though it was, we know he was doing the devil's work.
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00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,280
But at the very end of his life,
141
00:07:00,280 --> 00:07:02,520
Paul found his purpose.
142
00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:05,000
And you know, we think about that purpose driven life
143
00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:07,920
by Rick Warren, is that who wrote that book, Diane?
144
00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:10,400
You know, that book sold, I don't know,
145
00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:13,160
it was one of the top, top, top selling books,
146
00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:16,080
because everybody's looking for their purpose.
147
00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:18,120
We all wanna find the meaning of life,
148
00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:20,720
and we wanna know why we were born.
149
00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:22,200
And what I love about the verses
150
00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:23,640
that we're gonna read today is that
151
00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:28,280
at the end of Paul's life, he found his purpose.
152
00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:30,760
Okay, he found his purpose.
153
00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:33,440
And it wasn't writing two thirds of the New Testament,
154
00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:35,480
it wasn't all these outward things,
155
00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:38,960
it was something that was hidden in his heart
156
00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:42,560
that only he could have with his savior,
157
00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:44,440
the Lord Jesus Christ.
158
00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:49,280
You see, you are as close to God as you want to be.
159
00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:55,200
There are heights and depths and breaths and lengths
160
00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:57,640
of intimacy with God.
161
00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:01,360
And I truly believe that one day we'll all stand before God
162
00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:02,760
and we know that.
163
00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:06,920
And I know that when that day comes,
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00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:10,000
we will still have more to know
165
00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:12,600
about who Jesus is in his heart.
166
00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:14,560
As a matter of fact, one of my prayers,
167
00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:18,360
you know, this is actually a prayer that I made up.
168
00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:19,680
It's like three pages.
169
00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:22,600
But one of the things that I pray in this prayer
170
00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:26,160
is Lord, I wanna know your heart.
171
00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:28,480
Show me your heart.
172
00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:31,720
You know, Moses prayed, show me your glory.
173
00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:34,600
And I don't really totally understand what that means
174
00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:36,120
when somebody says show me your glory,
175
00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:37,640
even though I teach, I preach,
176
00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:39,640
and we've talked about the glory and the glory of this.
177
00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:42,800
But I just wanna know God's heart.
178
00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:46,120
And the interesting thing about Moses,
179
00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:49,000
if you go into, I think it's Exodus three,
180
00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:53,280
we find that Moses, when God first appeared to him
181
00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:56,160
in that burning bush scene, how many remember that?
182
00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:57,200
Are you listening online?
183
00:08:57,200 --> 00:08:59,120
How many remember that?
184
00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:01,920
You know, he was afraid of God.
185
00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:05,120
He was afraid to look at God.
186
00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:07,880
He was terrified, okay?
187
00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:11,400
But when you go all the way into Exodus 33,
188
00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:15,200
and you see the journey of how he developed friendship
189
00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:18,080
with God, I said to the Lord,
190
00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:22,600
what changed from Exodus three to Exodus 33?
191
00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:25,280
And I really felt like the Lord said to me,
192
00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:28,080
he got to know my heart.
193
00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:32,720
He became deeply and intimately acquainted with me.
194
00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:35,480
He understood who I was.
195
00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:37,600
He understood my character.
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He saw how I love the people.
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And I think that that's what you and I need.
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That's why it's very important to study the scriptures.
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You know, the Bible says,
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study to show yourselves approved unto God,
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workmen that need not to be ashamed,
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rightly dividing the word of truth.
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Why?
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Because if we really want to know God,
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we want to know his heart,
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we've got to find him in the word of God.
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That he's the same yesterday, today, and forever.
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He's not up and down.
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He's not schizophrenic.
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He's very consistent.
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He's very trustworthy.
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He's very loving.
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He's very patient.
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He's very kind.
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He doesn't boil over with jealousy.
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He is not rude.
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You know, he is a good God.
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And I think that that's what happened to Moses.
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And all the fear, and all the shame,
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and all the terror that he had
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turned into intimacy with God.
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To the point where, if you read Exodus 33,
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the Bible says that Moses knew God
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face to face as a man would speak to his friend.
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And I have to be honest with you.
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I can't be anything other than who I am.
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That is my desire.
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That is my quest.
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I want to know God face to face
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as a man speaks to his friends, his friend.
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I can remember teaching this.
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I used to do an extra session when I taught in fits
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because I wanted to just really emphasize prayer
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to the ministry leaders that were up and coming.
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And I remember telling them that, you know,
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it's one thing to just know the God of, you know,
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the Bible, and it's another thing,
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and we want to know him in the Word,
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it's another thing to also know him
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in the place of prayer and intimacy.
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To have that face to face encounter with him.
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To not just know him through the scriptures,
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but know him by the spirit.
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And I'm just gonna be honest.
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That only comes through prayer.
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And there's different ways to pray,
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different kinds of prayer.
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We're gonna get into this.
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But it only comes through a conscious decision.
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I am gonna put God first place in my life.
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What does the scripture about Martha and Mary talk about?
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Martha was working, working, working, working, working,
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working, and they got Jesus right in their own house.
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You know, and you know, to be honest,
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you have Jesus in your own house.
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You just can't see him.
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He's there, and he's waiting for you to come unto him.
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So many of you are laboring, and you're burdened down.
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He says, you come to me, I'll give you rest.
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So you think about Martha and Mary, you know,
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Mary, you know, Martha is working, working, working,
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and there's nothing wrong with working.
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But if you've lost touch with Jesus Christ,
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or you've lost touch with that,
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I wanna call it a feeling, or a burning, or a knowing,
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then you gotta get back.
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And let me tell you, it happens to all of us.
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I get really busy, and then I'm like, Lord,
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I don't want this for me.
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This is not what I want for my life.
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I wanna be intimate with you.
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I wanna be like Mary, you know,
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or I'm sitting at the feet of Jesus,
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and I'm wanting to hear what you have to say.
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And he wants that from us.
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Just like he wants it from us,
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but he wants to be close to us as well.
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Friendship with Jesus.
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You know, I wanna be friends with him.
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Say that with me, I want to be friends with Jesus.
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So let's read out of Philippians.
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So Paul, at the end of his life, he said,
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yet indeed he said, all these things, who I am,
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how gifted I am, how smart I am,
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how much money I am, I wrote 2 thirds of the New Testament.
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Now here at the end of my life,
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and he didn't even brag about all the visions that he had.
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You know, so many people brag about all that stuff,
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makes me wanna, you know, it nauseates me.
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You know what, if you have a real intimate encounter
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with Jesus Christ, would you really wanna put it all out
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on the internet?
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I thought was just free, I had to say that.
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He said, at the end of my life, everything that I counted,
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that was gained to me, I've counted loss for Christ.
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Yet indeed I also count all things lost
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for the excellency of the knowledge
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of Jesus Christ my Lord.
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He said, who've I've suffered the loss of all things?
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And count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ
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and be found in him, this is New King James,
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not having my own righteousness, which is from the law,
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but that which is through faith in Christ,
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the righteousness which is from God by faith.
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And then he says, verse 10,
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and then we're gonna read out of the amplified,
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I'm sure Lorraine put that up for us.
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He said, that I may know him.
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And the amplified says that I may become more deeply
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and intimately acquainted with him perceiving
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and recognizing the wonders of his person.
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Now think about it, how many people do you know
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are bored in church or bored with their walk with God?
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But here this scripture says, you know,
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we wanna, there's so much to know about God,
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we can't even perceive the wonders of his person.
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There's heights and depths and lengths, like we said prior.
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So this was the quest of the apostle Paul and I love this.
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And so then he goes on to say,
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he said, perceiving the wonders of his person
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more strongly and more clearly,
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and that I may in the same way come to know
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the power outflowing from his resurrection,
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which it exerts over believers,
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and that I may so share in his sufferings
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so to be continually transformed in spirit
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into his likeness into his death.
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So what keeps us from being close or intimate with Jesus?
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Now, we're to get into that.
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And some of these pertain to me in how I was raised,
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because I was raised thankfully for me as a Catholic girl.
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And I loved God my whole life and I loved being Catholic
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and I loved going to church every day.
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As a matter of fact, my first encounter
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with the presence of God was when I was confirmed.
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That may be a surprise to you.
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You had an encounter with God in the Catholic church
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when you were being confirmed as a child.
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I absolutely 100% did because I took the scriptures
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and the things that I was being taught
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and I took it to heart.
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I took it deeply.
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I wanted to be close to Jesus.
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And so when they said at confirmation,
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you know that the Holy Spirit's gonna come on you,
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I don't exactly know what they teach, I forget now,
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but I just remember going up to be confirmed.
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And I remember like oil being poured all over me.
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It was the presence of the Holy Spirit.
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Who says God can't show up in a Catholic church?
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He showed up on me as a little girl.
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Who says the children can't have encounters
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with Jesus Christ?
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They have.
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And so I remember like going back to my seat,
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sitting down and going, he's here with me.
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And some of the other kids were just playing and laughing
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and I go, don't they feel this?
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Don't they have this?
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That presence stayed on me for three days.
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I don't know about you, but I wanna know
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how to maintain the presence of God.
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And that's what we're talking about,
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friendship with Jesus.
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Brother Lawrence, if you ever read his book,
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I haven't, but I have it in my bookshelf.
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It's supposed to be a good book.
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But his book is about maintaining the presence of Jesus.
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And he was so close with Jesus
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that he carried a presence with him.
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Now, doesn't the Bible say that we are a fragrance
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to the world?
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Do you know that when you pray or you walk closely
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with Jesus, you have a continual fragrance,
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Revelations 5.8, that goes up before the throne of God.
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So how many of you have ever had people say to you,
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I could sense that you have God in you?
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My daughter and her husband and I were in a mall
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in Bridgewater and I just knew the lady was a Christian.
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How did you know?
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You sense it.
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How many of you know what I'm talking about?
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After a long story short, you know how you could kind of
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wean your way into talking to people about Jesus?
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Because you know, you gotta be wise
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when you're trying to win somebody over.
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But I sensed she was a Christian.
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So, you know, somehow the subject came up to you,
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because oh yes, I'm a Christian.
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She was so excited.
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I said, well, I could sense it.
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And she was actually surprised.
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You know why?
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Because she condemns herself, puts herself down,
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lives in shame, lives in fear.
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She didn't even know that she was a fragrance
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in that department and that people could actually
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pick up on it.
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See, those are the things that keep us down.
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And she said to us, she said, you know,
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I was so encouraged that you sense that I was a Christian
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because she was beating herself up.
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But I'm telling you friends,
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people are gonna know that we're Christians.
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But what keeps us from true intimacy with God?
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I'm only gonna give you three Cs.
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Number one is we need to have confidence in prayer,
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or confidence before the throne of God, confidence.
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Now you look here at Adam and Eve,
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and I know you know this verse,
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but there's many people that were raising up in these days
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that have never heard these verses.
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And as leaders, I believe we need to get back
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to some of the basics.
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Because doesn't the scripture say we ought to give
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a more earnest heed to the things that we have learned
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less at any time we want?
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Anybody know how to complete that?
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We let them slip, and we get back into religion.
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We get back into how we were raised.
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So let's look at Adam and Eve,
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the fall of Adam and Eve, Genesis 3.
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You know the story, when the woman saw
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that the tree was good for food,
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that it was pleasant to the eyes
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and a tree desired to make one wise,
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she took the fruit and she ate it.
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She messed up, didn't she?
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She disobeyed God.
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She did exactly what the Lord told her not to do.
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How many of you have ever done that?
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Now look at me like you're perfect.
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She also gave it to her husband with her and he ate,
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and the eyes of both of them were opened.
435
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You know I used to think, well what did that mean?
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I just think that their eyes were opened,
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they realized their humanity.
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Whereas before they were divinity.
439
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They were created in the image and in the likeness of God.
440
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They had 100% dominion over the earth
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because God gave it to them.
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They were so smart they named all the animals.
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That was a good word, I never thought of that.
444
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There was a very beautiful anointing in here.
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You know that, right?
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Okay.
447
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Because Jesus likes this kind of talk,
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because this is why we were created.
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We were created to be intimate with him.
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So the eyes of both of them were open,
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they knew that they were naked,
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and they saw their humanity,
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and they sewed fig leaves together
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and made themselves coverings,
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and then they heard the sound of the Lord God
456
00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:32,960
walking in the cool of the day,
457
00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:35,800
and Adam and his wife hid themselves
458
00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:37,600
from the presence of the Lord God
459
00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:39,320
among the trees of the garden,
460
00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:41,520
and then the Lord called Adam.
461
00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:42,760
Isn't that interesting?
462
00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:45,680
They know that the Lord is calling you.
463
00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:48,480
He knows you by name.
464
00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:51,720
He knows how many hairs you have on your head.
465
00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:53,720
That's, he knows that you're fearfully
466
00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:54,880
and wonderfully made.
467
00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:56,760
He's so intimate with you.
468
00:21:56,760 --> 00:21:59,520
I had some hairs falling on the dresser today,
469
00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:02,400
my Lord Jesus, I got a few less hairs on my head,
470
00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:04,080
but only you know how many.
471
00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:10,200
He said, Adam, where are you?
472
00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:13,920
Can you hear the heart of God in this?
473
00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:15,840
Where are you?
474
00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:20,040
So he said, Adam said, I heard your voice in the garden,
475
00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:22,240
and I was afraid.
476
00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:25,120
So the trust and the confidence that he had
477
00:22:25,120 --> 00:22:27,720
with the Father turned into fear.
478
00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:33,040
I was afraid because I was naked,
479
00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:34,200
and then what did he do?
480
00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:36,440
He hid himself.
481
00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:38,680
And then the God said to him, you know,
482
00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:40,200
who told you that you were naked?
483
00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:41,280
Have you eaten from the tree,
484
00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:43,000
which I commanded you not to eat?
485
00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,760
And the man said, oh, the woman you gave me,
486
00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:47,360
you know, she gave it to me and I ate.
487
00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:49,200
That's a whole other Bible study.
488
00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:53,720
And the Lord God said to the woman, what have you done?
489
00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:56,040
And the woman admitted her wrongdoing.
490
00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:59,080
She said, the serpent deceived me and I ate.
491
00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:03,600
This is fear, guilt, and shame,
492
00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:06,640
and as a result, they hid themselves
493
00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:08,800
from the presence of God.
494
00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:10,880
How many of you have ever done that?
495
00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:15,440
You do something, you say something, you're a certain way,
496
00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:17,480
and then you're starting to hide from God.
497
00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:19,840
So instead of looking onto Jesus,
498
00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:22,160
the author and the finisher of your faith,
499
00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,400
you look away from him in distraction,
500
00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:29,920
and your distraction is fear, worry, guilt,
501
00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:32,640
and you're hiding yourself from the presence of God,
502
00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:36,360
and God, Jesus is just saying, if you'll just come to me,
503
00:23:36,360 --> 00:23:39,560
I'll restore you, I'll heal you of your brokenness,
504
00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:42,640
I'll heal you of your disease, come unto me.
505
00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:45,320
If you're tired, I'll give you rest.
506
00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:47,040
Listen, I say this to people,
507
00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:49,200
and especially in the day and the season we live in today
508
00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:52,600
in this world, don't run from Jesus.
509
00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:56,760
If you got stuff going on in your life, run to him.
510
00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:03,360
See, but that's where confidence comes in,
511
00:24:03,360 --> 00:24:05,640
confidence in the presence of God.
512
00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:08,760
When you know that you know that you know
513
00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:13,160
that God loves you, he will in no wise cast you out.
514
00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:16,160
When you know he loves you,
515
00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:18,440
and he's knocking at the door of your heart,
516
00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:21,840
and he's saying, would you please stop hiding from me?
517
00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:26,400
When you know he loves you, you'll turn back to him in faith,
518
00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:29,400
and you'll look at him once again,
519
00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:32,600
and then you'll go up and go on your merry way.
520
00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:34,040
I know people, you know,
521
00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:36,480
I think actually I heard Kenneth Copeland say this,
522
00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:40,000
he used to like, I think he used to eat like four loaves of bread
523
00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:41,480
with two sticks of butter,
524
00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:43,200
it's kind of funny to see that now, right,
525
00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:45,080
because he's so skinny and fit.
526
00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:48,160
But you know, he was bogged down by gills,
527
00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:49,360
and so he would be like, well,
528
00:24:49,360 --> 00:24:52,800
it may mean about three days, I'll look at Jesus,
529
00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:55,600
and I'll have that connection with him once again.
530
00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:58,720
And one day the Lord said, and what are you doing?
531
00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:02,840
Listen, if you sin, and you confess your sin,
532
00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:07,600
he is what, faithful and just to forgive you of your sin,
533
00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:10,360
and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
534
00:25:10,360 --> 00:25:12,080
You don't have to wait three days
535
00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:14,240
to get rid of all the guilt.
536
00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:19,240
Just pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and move on.
537
00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:25,760
There is no fear in love.
538
00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:31,080
But perfect love drives out fear.
539
00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:35,200
When you know that God loves you, you have nothing to fear.
540
00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:37,520
So think about John 3.16,
541
00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:40,520
he so loved the world that he gave his son.
542
00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:42,000
He would have given his son
543
00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:44,200
if it was just for you and you alone.
544
00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:46,800
You need to have that mindset,
545
00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:49,960
and it'll give you confidence in the presence of God.
546
00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:52,280
So we have a righteousness consciousness,
547
00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:55,000
and we have a sin consciousness.
548
00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:57,320
What is sin consciousness?
549
00:25:57,320 --> 00:25:59,240
You cover yourself, or Adam covered,
550
00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:01,360
and he covered themselves, they were afraid,
551
00:26:01,360 --> 00:26:03,000
they were naked, therefore they hid.
552
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:05,080
What is righteousness consciousness?
553
00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:10,760
2 Corinthians 5, 17 through 21 says,
554
00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:13,480
if you're in Christ, which we are,
555
00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:16,000
we're hidden in him.
556
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:18,440
We're hidden behind the cross.
557
00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:20,440
If we are in Christ, what are we?
558
00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:21,960
We're a new creation.
559
00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:26,160
All things pass away, all things become new.
560
00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:28,520
The sin nature is gone.
561
00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:32,880
The sin that passed from Adam to humanity is gone.
562
00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:37,160
Jesus was the second Adam, correct?
563
00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:39,840
So that sin nature is gone.
564
00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:42,840
So when the father looks at you,
565
00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:47,840
he sees his son, and he sees the finished work of the cross.
566
00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:51,400
So you could have confidence in him,
567
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:53,360
confidence in his presence,
568
00:26:53,360 --> 00:26:56,400
confidence that if you ask anything according to his word,
569
00:26:56,400 --> 00:27:00,000
he hears you, and you know that you have the petitions
570
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:00,840
you desire.
571
00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:02,840
See, I know that I know that I know that I know
572
00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:04,000
that God's got me.
573
00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:07,520
And I have little examples all around my life,
574
00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:09,120
popping up everywhere.
575
00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:11,960
God's got you.
576
00:27:14,120 --> 00:27:16,760
He loves you, he's got you,
577
00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:19,560
but you've gotta have that righteousness consciousness,
578
00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:21,920
and that righteousness consciousness will give you
579
00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:24,720
confidence in the presence of God.
580
00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:25,680
Are you listening?
581
00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:27,560
Hebrews 11, six.
582
00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:32,280
But without faith, it is impossible to please him.
583
00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:36,800
So you think about it like, okay, secrets
584
00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:40,800
of friendship with God, it's all by faith.
585
00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:45,800
Blessed are those that believe
586
00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:48,040
and have never seen him physically.
587
00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:51,920
Kenneth E. Hagan had multiple visions of Jesus,
588
00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:55,840
but he still had to exercise his faith.
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