✝️ Dan Mohler - 1/2 - Intimacy is where you are changed

Thank you. Sit down so I can recover. Jackie, you got me so good! I always teased her our whole relationship how easy she is to make cry, and I always seem to get her. And she really turned the tables on me this morning, I'll tell you.

There's so much on my heart. I was thinking of that story when we're sitting there. It's just remarkable how the Lord is on details. I'm sitting there thinking about the first time I met Jackie, before I even knew any of this is going on. I'm sitting there laughing, thinking, "Oh, I couldn't tell that story; she'll cry and cry." But the purpose of some of these stories is that we change, and we can all change. There's a time where we don't see and we don't understand, and we're sure we're right. But when you see what your thoughts are producing, and your attitude and your life is producing, when you look back, you know it's not right because it doesn't produce anything that's life-like.

Like that whole story when Todd... Todd, like yours, Todd. He's Todd Scott, this university. Jackie's here, she's closing out worship. Like, you got to understand, I was here from the beginning. Like, I was here from the day he walked in the church. The two days later, he pulls up at a church with her, or it might have been the following Wednesday. It wasn't soon far in, but his motives were so wrong. Like, she didn't want anything to do with him. She's giving him the cold shoulder because she's saying, "I had enough." But yet, she's still there. She's been through this cycle a thousand times over, and she's had enough. But yet, she's still there. She's hurt, she's frustrated, she's mad at him. They got a baby together, a little girl together, which she's not supposed to have any children, and they weren't married or anything. And they had this baby, so they named her Destiny because they realized, "I'm not even supposed to have a baby, and I carried this baby and delivered this baby." So that's her little baby, but it's to this guy, the baby's to this guy.

So she... so he gets saved, water baptized. I'm doing a healing service. It's open to the public two times a week. You just come in, we'd preach, pray for the sick. Did it for years, phenomena where Todd actually... where you came and saw people get healed. And he saw... yeah, I think you were there at the time when the leukemia situation... and eighty... eighty... I'm sorry, I was... I think in the eighty percent. Regardless, it was... oh, there was only eighty cases of that strain of leukemia ever diagnosed, and there was... it was a death sentence. And Todd was there. We prayed for him. It was kind of... it was kind of amazing because they weren't believers. They just came 'cause they're desperate, and somebody said, "Go." Who knows? That doesn't offend the Lord. Don't get caught up in where people aren't; get caught up in who He is. Like, don't find a reason why not when you have a reason why. So don't look for a why not when you have a why. So, because I remember, ready to pray for them, she was crying, and I just figured it was the emotions of a wife 'cause we feel like this is crunch time, okay, now or never. And I'm ready to pray for husband. She starts breaking down crying, and I just said something about, "It's okay. Are you okay?" And, "It's okay." And she said, "Well, I need to ask you something." And she said, "We're skeptical about all this. Like, is that going to matter?"

And I mean, that is so cute. If you don't... if you have too much teaching in your background, you're probably going to say that matters. You're going to sit her down for an hour and try to talk her into faith. I just remember smiling and then saying, "Honey, it ain't gonna stop a thing. The train's rolling. We're just gonna try." And we just pray. They come back the next week with the email from the doctor. Todd was there and shared that they can't find any leukemia, tumor matter, or anything in his bone marrow, and he was completely clean.

So Todd, that's when Todd ran up to me crying. He said, "Dude!" That was his word to me. "Dude, dude!" He said, "If this works like this here, it ought to work out there." And I said, "Well, it's not that it works; it's who He is." Yeah, I mean, yeah. And Todd just said, "Dude." And that was history. That was it.

But before all that happened, I was doing healing service one night, and I was 15 minutes in, greeting visitors, people that aren't even saved, people that are terminal. And I'm just pouring out my heart. We're ready to have a healing service. And Todd just comes. He's not churched, you know? And your motives... you can get... you can get saved and, quote, "water baptized," and you can still have wrong motives. See, God wants to change our lives, and I'm gonna talk about it so strong this morning. That's why all this happened, because I'm sitting there, and I know where we're supposed to go as a school. And then I'm thinking of this story, and then Jackie shares it, and I'm like, "Are you kidding me?" See, something sharing his story 'cause didn't that come over and say, "I was... I said I was thinking of the first time we met, and I was going to tell that story," and you said, "That's what I'm telling, huh?"

And Todd says he's coming down the aisle, and I didn't know, but he's coming fast. He's coming, and I'm teaching. I'm starting the healing school. So the services happened, and the people were there. Todd just comes right down the middle aisle. It was set up different than this was an hour down there. He's coming right down the middle, and he just walks right up to me while I'm sharing and teaching. And I was like, "Hey!" He says, "Dude, I got... I got Jack in the car. You gotta meet her! You gotta meet her! I got Jack in the car!" [Laughter] And I said, "Okay." I said, "You know, I'm doing a service." I said, "I... I'm right in the middle of a service right now. We got a healing service." He's saying, "Oh, yeah. Hey, guys!"

So, so let me ask you, was he totally out of order? Technically, he's way off the block. Like, he's totally out of order. But there's something about God that's different than just rules and right and wrong and immature and do. There's discernment and perception. You have to understand where people are, no matter how far off the page they are in that moment, and you got to work with things and earn, right? So, but he's like, he turns to the people and he says, "Guys, oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. Really, I didn't. I'm just, man, I really need him to meet someone, and it's so important. So if you guys don't mind, like..." And I'm like, this is really funny. And I just kind of stepped in, "Hey, guys, I'll be very... I'll be right back." And I did it. I actually did it. And it's probably against all rules, but when you look at the fruit that love brings, when you look at... you make exceptions sometimes. You don't get so rigid that it's this way or no way. You get what I'm saying? You gotta...

So I remember running out there with him. But here's the thing, I'm going to squeal on him because he was just barely saved. His motives were so wrong. The only reason he wanted me to meet Jackie because he was thinking I would set her straight and make sure she would stay with him. Like, he wanted her to get touched so she sees... 'cause you gotta understand, in my position, I need to discern this stuff. People come to you when you're in leadership and you're a pastor, you're a leader. They come to you crying. They pray, "Please, my spouse left. Can you pray God bring them back?" Or, "My girlfriend," or, "My boyfriend." And I'm like, "How about if we just focus on Christ, be informed in you?" Maybe the urgent need isn't that your spouse comes back today yet. Maybe that you just take a deep breath and go this way and begin to get formed in Christ. Because why is God even compelled to answer some of these heart cries? Why would He be compelled to bring somebody back into somebody's life if He doesn't see Himself strong there? He's not here to meet our flesh surface needs. He's here to mold us and shape us into the beauty of who He is in us. So you pray that Christ gets formed in people so that when He sees who He is in that person, then He has something to bring them to Him in that situation. You see?

So I was very aware of Todd's motives. They were like, way out in left field, right? He's thinking, you know, "Smiley Pastor Dan's gonna lean in, say a couple magic words to Jackie, and she's gonna go, 'What was I thinking, babe? Get in the car!'" So, so when we got outside, discernment. I told Todd, "Do you remember?" I said, "Stay away! Get over there, like, way over there. Go! Don't you... don't you eavesdrop! Don't stand at the window!" So I got him over. He's back behind the car. He's standing, and he's like... And I leaned in the window, and Jackie has... she wants nothing to do with me. She's not mad at me. She doesn't even know me. She just knows him, and she felt trapped, controlled. She felt a lot. Hi. And I know all that. So I leaned right in, very soft and general. I said, "Hey, I'm sorry." I said, "I realize he's pushing." She's like, "Yeah." He's giving me all these outward gestures. He's looking straight ahead. And I... and I... I do. I remember the conversation pretty much like it was yesterday. And I said, "Listen, I can't even imagine." It's just being sensitive, being humble, saying, "I can't even imagine what it's been like, you two together, with the way he's been living and the choices." And I can't even count. And she's like... and she just, see, she's hurt. I leaned in, and I got my voice in a whisper, and I said, "But honey, here's what I do see. Here's the truth: you're still here, and you got this little baby together, this girl." She's not a baby, she says, like eight. And I said, "But somewhere deep in your woman heart, you're holding on to hope that something could change, and I'm telling you, people change." And she's at odds over there. He sees her bawling, and he sees her in there, shaken. He's like... So I just reached in, and I just, you know, and I prayed with her, and backed out, came over to Todd, strongly corrected him for his motives and not to push her, and not... And he said, "Okay, okay." It's called pastoring.

So you think this stuff isn't a strategy? You don't think we're in a war? Todd leaves for Teen Challenge. His best in life buddy, in what, two days? Day two? How long it was, you just there a couple days, passes away, or he has an aneurysm. He's in a coma, actually. He didn't pass away immediately. And Jackie gets a sheriff sale within days because she called me, and she was a little hostile then. She said, "It's always on me, all this pressure, and bam, and earn, here he is again." I don't know if you remember what you said. She said, "Here he is, sitting in a resort, praying and reading his Bible, getting three meals a day, and I'm carrying the weight, this family. Cut me a break!"

And I said, "Well, honey, let me put a different perspective of that." And they actually... you didn't know a lot that it's just that they had so much trouble over the years because of his lifestyle that I guess they were just done working with the white family. So they were like, "If you have any back thing over two months," it was, "they were done working with you guys." That's how Jackie explained. So they were only like two payments, two-month payments behind on some things of actually, I think it was the property. And she... you said you had some bills. She just didn't have the money. It wasn't that much. So we covered that. And I remember going to the house. I... I surprised her. I had that in an envelope, remember? Just came up and showed up with the check. And she said... she was like that patented Jackie, just you see it coming. But see, that's all Jesus. It's not just preached to him; it's lived the life. Show him who he is. Show him what he looks like. It never says that men'll know you because of your language; they'll know you because of your fruit. So you're not in the school to learn the language. We're in this school to keep sharpening in becoming what he paid for. Amen.

But I remember Jackie's words. She was on the steps of the trailer, and she said, "But why would you do this?" And I... I was like, 'Cause Jackie was, "I don't believe in God." That's where she came from. That was her stand. "I don't believe in God." Now she's wearing a sweatshirt, "My life belongs to Jesus." It's just pretty cool. But she was on the porch. I handed the envelope, and she said, "What is this?" And I said, "Well, I made it out to the... I made it the amount. You'll have to put in who it goes to, but I put the amount you told me on the phone on here." And she just like, "Why would you do this?" I said, "Honey, it's what Jesus does. It's what He does." And she's like... So we prayed, and then she ended up coming to services, and then she got really touched in a church service and just got up. I think he just went to the front, I don't know, but she just officially... well, he was at Teen Challenge. It's not an accident the sheriff sale showed up right when he left.

You have a thousand opportunities in life to react, to make it all about you and how you feel and what you think. But I promise you, taking that road will never produce life. It'll never produce who He is in you. At best, it'll make you right, and that's a lonely, sad place most the time anyway. What's the need to be right if you're not looking like Him? If there's no redemption? If you can't look and actually catch a vision to see Todd's life restored, where you're actually praying and believing and seeing your own life growing up in Him? And whether he's restored or not, you're gonna get to know Him. Why is it always contingent? Why do we always have these little strings attached? I wonder if we could just grow to the place where we're so surrendered, was so in, or so in, that whether people want Him or not, we're going after Him. Are you following me?

And that's the kind of stuff you teach and you talk to people when they're in those situations, and you shift their perspective. I remember having a wife on the phone, and she said, "But why am I the one that always has to pray? Why do I have to stand strong? When is he gonna step into his role?" This isn't them, this is another couple. And she just freaked it out on the phone. She was just like, "I just can't take it anymore!"

And but see, here's the thing: you're not doing it as a rule. You're not fulfilling a commandment. Your life's in Him. It's relationship. It's a joy to live in Him. You're not doing your part. Are you following me? Because that one little perspective, God, in that life, and all of a sudden, she gave herself away. Her whole motive is, "I'm doing the Christian thing, hoping he finally changes." Are you with me? Come on, this is the stuff we don't talk about a lot, but it's the stuff we all have to handle and walk through. Your motive, where you're really living from, your purpose, your reason for being, waking up in the morning, why, the why behind your life. So this wife gives herself away with her outburst that she's just trying to do the Christian steps of a wife in hopes that her husband changes instead of being in love with Jesus, and whether he changes or not, "This is who I am." Because if it's contingent on individuals, you'll only grow as strong as the weakness of men. Are you with me? If it's contingent on individuals, your motive, your purpose, you'll only be as strong as the weakness of men.

Just important stuff because I want to talk about with you guys 'cause you're here, man. It's just the hunger, the commitment, the excitement that you're here. It humbles me. It's awesome. It just blesses me that you guys are here, so I go talk freely since you're here. And I want you to bear with me. I'm going to teach a little bit and stuff. But here's... here's my point: we're growing, we're learning, we're changing, but we need a standard.

These guys cry a lot. I'm just humbled that I was involved. I'm just humbled that God brought Todd to the church. He could have went to another church. There's 586 churches at that time in our town, but he came to... he came to our church. So I'm humbled by that. I do believe... get a little emotional, but I do believe that God knows what He can entrust you with. I believe God does know your life. He does know your heart. He knows what you'll give someone. He knows your consistency. God knows you through and through. He can give you a stewardship of things and trust you with things. That's humbling, yeah.

'Cause because they didn't need words; they needed demonstration. They didn't need a sermon; they didn't need somebody to preach to them. Jesus didn't come and just preach to us. We beheld Him in grace and truth. He embodied love in the word. He was the love and the word made flesh, right? He's the word made flesh. So we saw Him. We beheld Him. His life modeled what we preach, and that's the goal for every one of us.

So are things supposed to change? Yeah. Is it legalistic? Is it biting your lip and trying to do better? Never. But you have to be careful in Christianity that you don't embrace a language that accepts His love and forgiveness but empowers you to stay wherever it is you are. You have to be very careful. I hear it all the time, the language. It makes me nervous all the time because sometimes I understand He meets us where we're at, and He loves me for who I am. But that's like right now, in the beginning, when He meets you. And then His goal is to raise you up out of darkness and into the light, to separate you from that thing and deliver you from the power of darkness, right? And convey you into the kingdom of the Son of His love. Yeah, that's Colossians. Come on, it's transformation. There's no way around it. It's not legalism, it's not works, and it's not the risk of failing. It's the privilege of becoming. So you're not stepping out in a journey destined to fail; you're growing up into Him, Ephesians 4, into all things. So you don't be afraid of a message like this because I'm hearing in my heart, I'm going to just read scripture. Though the Bible is full, especially Paul's writings are amazing, what a father heart, full of exhortation, spirit, encouragement, to move us into what He paid for, right?

So it's not just about doing the stuff and walking the streets and getting a word of knowledge. It's living in the character of Christ, staying consistent from beginning to end, walking in the light as He's in the light, having your motive pure because the pure in heart shall see God, right? So that in situations you have discernment. See, if you're hurt by what people are telling you, how can you minister to the situation if you get caught up in the saga, in the soap, in the... in the soap opera part? If you can't believe He did that to you, you're no good to help them. All you're doing is consoling them and empowering them to stay there. You can't even relate to hurt and pain. But yet, you can be super sensitive. Like, I didn't give her a chance to stay where she was in the car, but she didn't feel overwhelmed by me, controlled by me, or some insensitive pastor, "What does he think? Come in. I don't need his two cents in my life right now." You never felt that way. Why? Because I totally understood where she was at, totally realized, totally got it. Didn't expect anything else out of her, but wanted to give her a higher answer and go after her heart. And the little key motive of what God showed me is as a woman, as a woman, He just showed me as a woman, she's holding onto this glimmer of hope deep down inside that somehow, someday, someway, they could be a family because that was the daddy of her little girl, Destiny. And boom, just touched it a little bit, just gave her a little hope that people can change. Yeah, she had a lot of growing to do, right?

The goal is not just to keep her there and just keep pacifying her there. The goal is to show her a new perspective and a new way to look. To show up at the house, "Well, that's what Jesus does, honey." Hmm. All of a sudden, now she's carrying a new conviction. Well, since she has a whole new lens, all of a sudden she sees another way, and all of a sudden she realizes it's the way. Yeah, because the other way that we all live before, though, way produced hurt, pain, loneliness, rejection, rightness, frustration. "Well, they should that. Well, how come? Will you? Why didn't you?" And nobody's ever prospered there. Nobody's ever done well there. So that's not... call it normal and be deceived. Let's call it deception, and it's what we were never created to be. That attitude, that mindset, that motivation, that thing that I saw going on, his motive walking into the middle of the church service, looked bold, looks unashamed. No, it was out of order. It was self-centered, and it was manipulative. But I still went outside. Yay! Isn't that cool? That sure beats just trying to set him straight in the moment and give him a chance to think, "What an insensitive pastor. He doesn't even stand out on hurting I am. He ain't got time. He's just busy doing his service. He don't really care about people." I don't... I know people can choose to believe what they want to believe. I want to make sure of my... and then I give them every chance to see truth. You see what I mean?

So I don't have strong set rules in my life. I have discernment. I believe I live by the Spirit. I believe I do. One day I'll find out if I did, but I believe I do. You see what I'm saying? I don't live by strong set rules like, "Well, he shouldn't have did that. Was he? Well, he and her. Well, I'm not even talking to her because his motive is wrong." No, no, no. I'm not gonna let where he's not determine my access to her. My access to her as a gift. She don't even want to be sitting there. I'm not threatened by that because I have no need to set Jackie straight. I have no need to compel her back to Todd. But man, the love of God sure wants to touch her heart and let her know how He sees her and who she really is. And however that looks in that little brief moment, we can start somewhere. Yeah. So everything about it was out of order, but He's amazing, and He loves her and him, right?

So here we are all these years later, and it's done a lot, and this is fun. And I've been... I was there for the whole ride. Like, I watched the whole thing, and this is the most remarkable transformation, turnaround, restoration, beautiful thing you're ever going to see. But it's what He does. It's just what He does. And not in a bad way, I'm not putting people down, but it's just a reality. It was hard for people to see. It was too many people wanted to just correct, set straight, fault find, and point out what these two needed to do right in the beginning and what they were doing wrong. And you felt that in the beginning by some leaders and people. I think we're too busy trying to set people straight instead of walking like Jesus. Just too busy going by the book and correcting what's wrong and trying to tell people to do better instead of really bringing out the best of Jesus in them, you know what I mean? So they've always stayed close to me because that's all they've ever gotten from me. And I didn't have a... I wasn't in a total position of authority in that setting in those days, but they still saw that in me. But yeah, just be careful you don't get caught in troubleshooting and fault finding and nitpicking. Yeah, I want my heart to be so like Him that where sin abounds, grace abounds more and much more, not to empower the sin, but to separate people from it. I don't want to see people for what they're doing wrong. I want to see people for what they can be, what they're called to, what they're created for. If you just take some of those simple things as precepts, as foundational perspectives, man, it'll take you a long way. You'll find that you don't get rubbed wrong by people. People don't wear you, weary you. You don't run out of gas on folks. That's a common belief, you know, "Well, I just got a lot on my plate, and they're hitting me too tough time, and I'm just a little overwhelmed. I don't know, they just somehow they're just getting on my nerves right now." No, I'm talking about you getting a brand-new nervous system where it has nothing to do with them and where they're not. It has to do with Him and who He is. I'm telling you, it's so dominant, you can live from that place.

Like now I'm coming at you almost 24 years in with a lot of... a lot of fun things I've watched. I was... I didn't want you to hear a proud. I was just say with a lot of fruit, actually. I can say that. Thank you. The Lord... the Lord gave me a glimmer a while back. I can't explain it. It was spiritual yoke. My Isaac gave me a glimmer of fruit, and the little glimmer He gave me felt like it was... it was so amazing, it was good that I didn't even feel like I could take the awareness of it. I felt like it was going to overwhelm me. I like I could die. It was so overwhelming. And He just said, "That's... that's a glimpse of what I'm doing through your short Christian life." And the whole... have to go into detail why that happened and why He did that. But He did that in a place I was worshipping, and I was kneeling, and I was actually in a corporate setting. God came up, and it felt like He wrapped His arm around me. He spoke some things to me, and then He started to open my eyes to fruit and how this things happened. And if He wouldn't shut it down in a couple of seconds, I think I would have went unconscious. I was so overwhelmed.

That's not gonna happen. You're not gonna have that kind of fruit if you don't get into agreement with His love and His why and His wisdom. And you don't need to be right. You're not setting nobody straight. You just want to look through His eyes. You just want to see every situation through Him. When you get really serious about that and sincere and talk to Him about that, I promise you what He sees becomes your vision. You can always weigh whether you're in that place or not by how your interpretation of a situation and where it's taking you and the fruit it's producing in your own heart. Like, you can always weigh a thing and see what it's producing. Do you follow me? It's so simple. That's not deep. But man, it's important. Weigh your attitude. Who's ever felt like you got into this attitude, and after a while you just weren't feeling okay? That's a warning, man. As soon as it's not life and life more abundantly, and I'm not talking about you just having to be like... I'm just talking about genuinely encouraged, just genuinely moving forward, just enjoying your life in Jesus, and just a cool faith perspective. I'm not just talk about freaking out and happy-go-lucky and backwards somersault flips or whatever. I'm just talking about you being okay and being free, not self-conscious, not bothered. But you know when you're... when something shifts, it's usually when you embrace a mindset that's not life-giving, a belief about a situation or someone, and you camp there for a little, and it just starts you... I call it graying you out. But the problem is you get facts wrapped around that belief that empower the belief to remain. And there are the facts that Jesus never considers. He always looks for destiny and purpose and created value and end result. Are you with me?

It's just a simple, practical example. When Todd's running down the middle aisle, he is so out of order. But in his mind, in his heart, he's got a motive and go. Isn't it amazing that even grace can step in there and doesn't even have to correct him? You say, "Well, you're just empowering him then and enable him to..." I don't think he was enabled to stay the same. I think he's changed since then. Fair? Yay! I think he's different. He's definitely different than the man that walked in the back door that day. And it's not because I said, "Shape up or ship out," or, "You need to get it straight," or, "Until you get your life in line, keep your hands down and don't sing loud." That stuff happens in churches all the time. You be your best accountability partner, would you please? You be your own best accountability partner because you live with you. You have to live with your conscience, your heart.

It's honestly what... what... what Miss Annie was saying. It was really powerful. She said, "You... you... you don't have trouble believing He loves a person on the right and the left or loves the world. The reason people have trouble sometimes believing they love them personally is because of their view of them personally, because they know them personally in detail, and we base our value based on what we know about ourselves. He bases your value on what He created you for and what He's calling you to." Yeah, your value comes from your created purpose, from your destiny in Him. We know the ins and outs, the secrets, comings and goings of our life, some of the things that no one knows. We tend to weigh our value through the things we've done, and yet God's sitting there looking at you in a totally, completely different view, and mercy is triumphing over judgment. He's never ready to give you what you deserve. He wants to give you what He paid for. Come on, this is the life-giving, freeing gospel.

So this is this... do you think this is just some love story to make us feel, "Oh," or is it supposed to be so powerful that it brings the best out in us, that it actually empowers us and goes deep into the core of who we were created to be and pulls out the fruit of Christ in our life? You see what I'm saying? This isn't just so we can walk around and be forgiven and claim that we're loved by God. It's so we become the people that He desired from the beginning, so that we truly do live sanctified lives and come out of darkness into the light. But you can't get there by works. You can't get there by legalism or law. You get there by the working power of His spirit through truth and understanding. It's the truth that makes you free.

Okay, so that's what I'm going to talk about this morning, and about lives changing, and how... because I know Todd hits righteousness really hard. I think he just hit it really hard. It's... it's you... you ought to... is that the kingdom of God? What makes the gospel so amazing, whether the foundation of its power and fruit is the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus, the fact that He makes men that were wrong stand right before Him? You gotta take that place He made for you. We were wrong, and He made us right. That's supposed to matter. Like the goodness of God touches me and brings me to change. I'm not like, "Hey, wow, thanks, pal." These comments that I hear, "Well, God just loves me for where I'm at," they're dangerous comments. What you're saying is, "I got things in my life I'm convicted by, and I'm trying to claim the love of God to cover them instead of be changed in them." Be very careful with your language. Your language would give you away in that thing. "Well, God just loves me no matter what." They're usually cop-out phrases. It's people that have stuff in their life, and their consciences are violated, and their hearts are convicted, and they're trying to find a language to keep moving forward without receiving change in that area. And it's a trap because what it does is it grays your conscience out, and it shipwrecks your faith, and it veils you from intimacy, and intimacy is where you're changed. So suddenly you get stuck in a language without knowing Him and being in Him and with Him.

So corporate worship sometimes is the greatest experience of God for people because when they're alone, they're not going towards Him because they don't feel connected. They feel less than. They... they don't... they see themselves apart from the way He sees them, and He is longing for you to just unveil yourself and sit down somewhere in a quiet place and just lift your hands and begin to just be His. That's where those things will start to change. And I want you to go to the man of the word of God. Is amazing. Is just full of expectations and encouragements to live and walk a certain way. Don't ever be afraid of this kind of message. This, I mean, it just talks about walking in a manner worthy and let your conduct be worthy. And if you don't hear it in grace and understand the power of the Spirit behind the language, then that's where legalism came in. That's where some of these holy in this movement places and things that come in, and where it's all about almost like being a holy robot or something. And people are living failed and condemned and feel like they can't live up to what the word says. So then what do they do? They draw back and either give up, or they draw back and embrace a language that empowers them to keep believing without receiving change. And all those are zero. Are you with me?

They know... you'll know them by their fruits. So fruit must be important in our lives. Don't be afraid to talk about this thing. He says... he says we're in Him, right? We're in the vine, and He's the vine dresser. It talks about the Father in John 15 that we're... He's... well, He's pleased that we bear much fruit, and then He's gonna prune the ones that are bearing much fruit. Why? So they bear even more. Why? 'Cause He has your heart. You're in the flow, man. You bear much fruit. He can work with you. He's good. Trim you, prune you. Why? 'Cause you're in relationship. You're yielding to Him, and He's fixing. He's the vine dresser. He's pruning and tying up a limb, and well, some fruit just everywhere, new branches shooting up out of the prune, and now you got three coming up and more fruit. And it's like, "Wow!" He's in the fruit. Why? Because He wants to manifest who He is through His people, right? He's not just here to love us and make us feel fulfilled through the night. Come on, some of us wanna camp there just so He loves me. No, no. He wants to shape you and mold you and transform you into what you were from the beginning. He wants to restore that truth and bring transformation to our lives. Yeah, and love you the whole way through. And it's okay. He'll rock you anyway, you know what I mean? I just feel like a big baby in His arms most of time. But I understand the why behind it all. It's not so He pampers me and gets me through a hard time. I've known for 20 long years, 24 years, probably the whole time, really just hit me in my heart. It's not even ever about feeling good. It's not even about my circumstances going the way I hope. It's about being more like Him and looking through His eyes and living from His heart. And that perspective, that motive has made a difference in my personal life. So for whatever it's worth, even if you don't know me well, that's what happened in the beginning. Those kind of motives got big in waking up and living for the reason that He came and what He paid for. And it wasn't about things going my way. It was about me becoming more like Him. So in the face of all things, I had discernment and could walk in His love and minister wisdom. You followed me?

And I found that in that place you don't know how to throw people away. Even if you feel like you can't help them, you don't give up on nobody. Even if somebody doesn't give you a voice in a season, you can still pray from the right place. Do you know many times we've prayed because we were hurt? You might as well redirect your heart before you pray. Your prayers are falling flat to the ground. You're just praying because you're in pain. You're praying that they change because they hurt you, and you're praying so they don't hurt somebody else. And it sounds so just and noble. There's a higher spiritual place. You're praying because you're hurting for them, because you know there's so much more than what they're living, and if they'd ever step into truth, their lives would be changed, and they would be producing fruit in the kingdom, right? You never pray because somebody bothers you. You pray because they're walking less than what they're created to be. It's... it's like a law of love, man. It's... it's... it does no harm to a neighbor. It'll see people clearer. Doesn't highlight on what they're not. It highlights on what they're created for. Don't ever lose sight of that in your life, please, or you'll let some little nitpicky, little thing that means nothing in the end actually change your disposition. Are you with me on the way? I feel slow on that, just I could sink that in a little. But please bear with me on those things. Like, if we don't walk those things out, how can we say we're going to be free? How can we live free?

So you're moving a word of knowledge, and you see somebody healed. That is not the goal. Transformation's the goal. Word of knowledge and somebody healed is the fruit of transformation. You're not pursuing a gift; you're pursuing Him. The world's not going to benefit as much as you think when you're moving in your gift but you're not living in the character of Christ and walking in the light as He's walking in the light. Because what people interpret even in the churches, "Yeah, but God's flowing through him. You can't deny the fruit, man. That was a miracle." And then all of a sudden, the things about a life just gets accepted, and we just get done. We say, "Well, that's normal. A man will be a man." But man, God is moving. That gets twisted. How about a man will be a man of God, live sanctified, and walk upright? I could show you in 1st John chapter 2. It's there. It says, "If any man says he abides in Him, he ought to walk even as He walked." That's pretty intense. Invite that. The grace of God is willing to meet if you say yes. If anyone says they abide in Him, it'll walk even as He walked. Well, He impresses me because they treated Him really wrong, and He stayed good and did a whole lot of right. And right up until His last breath, He didn't even flinch or change His mind.

I've heard preachers say, "God proved His love because He didn't come down off of the cross," and they say, "He could have came down if He wanted." And I'm like, "No, He couldn't have." Love doesn't fail. He's not changing His mind. Coming down from the cross is never an option. He doesn't know how to be self-centered. He doesn't know how to say, "This is ridiculous. They're doing this to me, and I've done nothing but good. I've had enough, Lord. I'm packing it in. I'm calling on the legions of angels that are gonna snatch me out." Pharisees are there in a dark place, man. They're like, "Saved others, you can't even save himself. Let him come down from the cross if he's the Son of God." Missing the whole point, making it all about men and self-centeredness. He's not here to save Himself; He's here to save them. And if He had an ounce of that in Him, and He perceives them saying that, who knows? He's... He's, "Okay, I'll show you who I am." Paul coming off the cross... this option was never to come off the cross. He was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. This is the moment He came for. This is His highest moment. He's redeeming mankind. It's so phenomenal. And we got to see that and go, "Ah, I think I need a different view of myself. I think He doesn't see what I've been squirming about. I think He sees me empowered, filled with Him, and walking in love, and I think I can get there because grace is gonna work with me 'cause I'm not gonna grow weary in well-doing and look back and draw back. I'm coming after Him. And if He loved me why was yet a sinner, He's certainly working with me now that I'm saved." Yeah.

So you're not risking failing; you're privileged to become. It's in all that condemnation creep in. And on the flip side, don't use a language knowing that you're just staying the same. The things that aren't God in your life, the things that feel like weakness, the things that gray you out and make you feel like sometimes almost feel like you're unacceptable even though you're accepted, those things, those little things, those cycles, those things, those... those things that are flesh driven, sensual driven, the things that people cry about and talk to me about and ask for prayer from, those things, you have to make sure you never let them gray you out to a place where you stop pursuing Him, coming after Him, and just settle in and say, "Well, this is the way we are. It's amazing. He loves me." That's not Christianity. That is not the finished work. He wants all that stuff gone so your conscience is crystal clear. Yeah.

It's not talked about much, so a lot of preachers won't talk this because some of that stuff is accepted in their lives. I know that sounds strong and bold and can almost be called proud. I've been talked to by leaders, "Be careful about this. Well, you can't just tell people, 'Well, everybody has their stuff, brother. We're all dealing with our stuff.'" When a pastor's telling me that, it means he's aware of his stuff. So how's his conscience clear? Now he's reduced to doing ministry and hoping the gift shows up. But when he looks in the mirror, he sees his stuff. Then you tell me he's having intimacy with God? Are you following me? See, can you see how bold my speech is? It's because I live with me, and I'm not ashamed to talk like this. It's the grace of God. It changes us. We don't have to be the people we were. We'd be the people we become in Him. We're paid to be different. We're paid for to be different. It's not works.

Go to... did I turn you anywhere yet? Okay, well, I'm on Ephesians 4 'cause that's where we're going. You see all that purple? Can you see that? It's really pretty. It's all purple. Everything purple is a spiritual exhortation. It's like a commandment. It's what He's calling us to. So when you look in this chapter, just look at this purple, guys. This is just everything we're called to in Christ. So this is... this is hardly pray a prayer and get your name in a book called life and make sure you attend a word preaching church. Hello! There's a... there's a calling here, man. There's a goal. This is just a couple pages in my Bible. In my Bible, pretty. Look at that. That's all exhortation, man. That's all what He called me to be. The reason I do that, I could just open up my Bible if I feel like just reading the things He's calling me, drag to just scroll through and just read all the purple for like an hour.

Just purple. Read the purple. Yeah, so you can do that in your own Bible. And people ask me for my color code. I say, "Like, come on, come up with your own color code. Be original." I don't know why I put purple for that. It did justice, but it, but then Holy Spirit brings those things up to me when I'm reading and it just, wow, it's really good.

Okay, let me back you up. Let me back you up. I won't read. I don't think I'll read all this. I might just read and not preach. I know that's hard, but I think I'm supposed to do that. So it won't be hard. Let's look at Ephesians 3. So I want you to bear with me. I just kind of intro'd you a little bit. I'm gonna be in the word a whole bunch the rest of the session. Okay? Is that good? I hope you guys really, really like the word. If you came to this school, you better like the word.

Right. Todd would be driving the car beside me. We'd go into meetings in the early years and you're just hanging out. And I'd go pick him up from work. And Jackie said it was good, you know. Hey, she liked him going to the meetings. And so I would pick him up and he would just be reading his Bible, sitting in the car, reading his Bible. We'd sweep in. He's like, "Buddy, so good." He just read. Just always in the word. Stuff that he never saw, he was seeing. It was changing his life and he couldn't get enough. Right? You want to always stay in that fresh place. Please, please learn to honor the word and understand that you're not reading your Bible to know what it says. You're reading the Bible to know Him. And when you really get to know Him, you'll find yourself in Him. That's the part I didn't understand. I was seeking the reading the word to know Him, but I found myself in Him. I found out who I was and it changed everything.

Let me just jump in right here. Paul, in verse 8 of Ephesians 3, he said, "To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." Watch this. Verse 9. "And to make all see what is the fellowship, the relationship, the Koinonia of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ." So what he was saying is, this thing was always here, but it was hidden. And now I'm anointed to bring it out. The cat's out of the bag. To make all see. So we're supposed to see. We're supposed to understand and know why we're saved, what we're saved to, what we're here for. Because if you're not, if you don't have that kind of purpose and motivation in your life, well, then you're just gonna settle with a Christian confession. You'll see, "Oh yeah, I'm a believer. I'm saved. Oh, I prayed. I can tell you when I prayed that prayer, I got baptized today." That same dad is he's saying, "Man, that's way more than that. You're not just on a list now. You have purpose and meaning behind your life. You wake up for different reasons." See, that's what's supposed to distinguish us. That's actually the power, and you'll see in a minute, that sanctifies us in the earth. Which sanctifies you in the earth isn't you biting your lip trying to do what the words telling you to do. It's you understanding why you're alive and who you are now and having a whole different view. Yeah, come on. The gospel wants to change why we're alive. And you got this one little life. It's a gift. It's one that's here today and gone tomorrow. It's a whisk and a vapor. Come on. We're sitting in this room and we couldn't wait till we were a teenager. And then we couldn't wait till we were 16 and could drive. Then we couldn't wait till we were 21 and some of us just so we could drink. And then we could. And then we got up to about 25 and didn't see a whole lot past my lady breaks. And now we're 45 or whatever we are. Yeah, this is flying. This is flying. I tell stories and they're 40 years ago and I'm like, "Well, see, man, I remember when we, when we did this." And I'm like, "It was 35 years ago." Time just flying. It's not time to dread. It's not time to go full of yourself and caught up and overwhelmed. You know what I've been through, brother? Well, you don't know what they did when I was in high school. You don't know how it wasn't my home life. You don't know. And all of a sudden, you're given all these things, opportunity to identify you. When the truth about you is found in Christ alone. So at some point, you got to step out of darkness, believing you are anything in this picture lie. Now that He's come, the light's turned on. Life came into you. Boom. Brand new day. New creation. Old things pass away. All things new. Come on. Don't sell cheap. You're not for sale. You've been bought.

Okay, it's going to be real strong, I'm sure in this school. What you've been through is not your story. What He's been through is your story. What you've been through is the strategy sent by hell to suck you in, to get a hold of your heart, and to fashion you and sculpt you, mold you outside the Potter's hand. And get you to hold on to a fact, a natural fact, that you come through that fact and look less than Jesus. And that's a lie. Well, brother, I just struggle sometimes because we're okay. Just stop right there. Just stop. Just stop and catch your language. "I just struggle." Why? Why do you struggle when that has nothing to do with right now in Christ inside of you? So see, I don't even. I just want to kill it right there. The reason we struggle is because we keep it alive. Because they were important people in life. Because we're trying to find identity. We have needs. We have vacuums. But all that changes when Jesus comes. He's the one that fulfills you. So if you're trying to find fulfillment anywhere else, you'll always have a reason to believe these things. And they'll seem real, but they're not. And one day you'll go, "Oops." So don't go, "Oops." Change it now. Do you get what I'm saying?

Look, I'm just gonna talk plain. And we all have a horror story of some sort. Some stories are way worse than others. Some of us have had a harder run than others. But, but you be honest. Everybody's testimony choice, "Well, I was this. I got into drugs only because it is. And I was this. I started sleeping around." And, and we always let what we've been through decide our responses. Well, it never produced anything good. And it put us in a bad place. So why would we think there's any truth there? So it has nothing to do with truth. That's because there was no truth on scene, on sight. But now the light has come. Truth has sprung out of the ground. Right? His name is Jesus. He's the way.

So see, because here, if we get into the, the whole, "But I've been through. But brother, you don't know. But it was really tough at home for years and it's just seemingly affected me." Well, you're the one confessing that. So you're not even in denial. You're not even deceived. So you need to say, "Okay, why is that affecting me?" And you got to stay strong in your heart. You know what? This is silly to let that affect me. There's nothing that I need now in that that I don't have in Him. You can't make up for lost time. People can't give you what they never gave you. It's not gonna matter. Just start new. Because if not, we'll have to go around the room and find what we've all been through. And when we get through the room, the only thing that will establish us is the list of who's been through the most hell on down. And then what? Get the worship team up here to sing. It's all about heaven. Yeah. Come on. I don't know. Anyway, easier than just going, "Oh, I'm glad you made it." So, Brad, look, I have a story too. You say, "But brother, you're being unjust. My dad was never there for me." Yeah. "But I was touched at a young age." Yeah. "But so..." I mean, see, we just throw this stuff around like it's supposed to matter more than Him.

Look, I want to be. What's it matter if I was touched wrong? That's dead anyway. That's just sin trying to get over on me and make me a product of whatever injustice and get me all caught up and on some tangent. And now I have another label like a child abuse victim or a. And then there's all these psychological initials and labels. Not Christ in me. This guy right here, you're looking at, he ain't never been touched. Strong. I was touched. So changed everything. There were strategies. There were strategies set against me, just like against you, to stop the kingdom. The strategies are designed to stop the kingdom. We take them personal, internalize them because we don't know Him or understand the kingdom. We're our own little narrow, shallow world. And it's all about me. And that is hell. And that's a trap. And it's not the truth. He wants to burst you out of that thing and put you, like the psalmist, in a broad place. Yeah. None of that. None of that. My dad being an alcoholic and saying I'd never be nothing and cursing me. And my mom being sick and dying. And none of that has nothing to do with who I am and who He is in me. Zero. It is. And if I get my eyes there, I'll come out looking something like whatever I believe people say. "Well, I'm only this way because." No, no. You're letting that matter more than what matters most. You should. People should look at you and say, "Why are you that way?" "I'm only this way because He rose from the dead and put His life inside of me. And even though sin was committed against me, and I committed sin, it is no more as far as the East is from the West. He has forgiven me and I am clean and I'm ready to roll now. I'm ready to live now. I'm ready to be now." Yeah. Come on. Don't make anything else matter. That's what faith does. Faith says, "This is where life is. This is where He is. This is where I find myself."

Yeah. I'll ask the Lord a long time ago. Price Sheridan, apparel, in love. I said, "Lord, it was a little while back, actually. It wasn't a terrible long time ago. It wasn't way back. It was actually within a year." I said, "Why are people clinging to their past and their quote story so much? Why are so many people writing books about their story without a strong redemption punchline?" You know what I'm saying? And the Lord said, "Because their story is the only place they've ever found any sense of identity, whether good or bad." Why? Because you're born into zero identity because Adam lost it in the garden. So none of us, from day one when we were born, knew who we were. So we found ourselves along the way. But what we found wasn't the truth. You became the person you became, who however you responded to whatever you went through is who you became. But it's not you in Him because He wasn't the factor that was deciding you. That's why. That's why the new creation has to put off the old. And friends, when He says, "Put it off," He means put it off. Put off the old and put on. Come on. That. That. The Bible is so clear. He's so good to us. He. That's even a contact point of faith. You put it off. You put it on. Man, I'm not a child abuse victim. Man, I'm not a sexual assault victim. Man, I'm not somebody that didn't have nobody to love me. I just didn't see who was loving me. I was trying to find love here and here. And I would sort of think my parents are supposed to love me. And if they don't love me, I sure mustn't be lovable. If they don't see my value, I mustn't have any value. And the whole time, the cross and the blood. Sound wrong, wrong. And all of a sudden, we find ourselves trying to drink out of all these dry cups. No wonder we're so thirsty. And then we got someone coming and saying, "You know what? If you'd asked Me for a drink, I would have given you one." And that drink that I would give you is life-giving water. And it'll spring up in you like a well springing up into everlasting life. And if you'll drink it, you will never thirst. What's He talking about? You'll see who you are. You'll find yourself in Me. You'll have healthy identity. And you'll never be longing again. Yeah. You see how excited I get when I talk? I try to communicate. So I calm down enough to communicate. But could you tell I'm ramped up about what I'm saying? Do you know why? Because I'm not thirsty. I understand what He says now. I'm thirsty for more. I get that. But I'm not longing. My childhood, my upbringing, my mistakes, the mistakes against me, it's been rendered irrelevant. I have never found myself in those things. Did they happen? Yes. They were all demonic strategy to keep me from truth. Once it came to give me an analytical reason not to believe when I had Him to believe in. Are you with me? And all of a sudden, I have a, "Yeah, but brother." Instead of a, "Wow, thank you, Jesus." "Yeah, but you don't understand, brother." "Yeah, but you don't know." "If you're being a little insensitive to my situation." Stop. You gave yourself away to me. Your situation. Don't single yourself out. Don't make your situation unique. It's the same strategy. Peter said, "Don't think it's strange. Your brothers all over the earth are going through the same things." Don't single yourself out. Yeah. Don't. Don't get so deceived and be Elijah in the cave. And right over the ridge, there's thousands that haven't bowed their knee. You can get in that individual thing where it's just you and you think you've had it worse than anybody. And there's somebody in the row that's seen it worse than you in the very road you're in, probably. Are you with me, man? So, yeah, let's just keep moving forward in this whole school and for the rest of our lives. This is. You got every reason to be excited about that and keep growing up into Him in all things. Yeah.

He wants to make all see. I wasn't gonna preach. So I don't know where I got off track there. Look at verse 10. "To the intent." We're in. We're in visions three. It's scary because I'm trying to get to the end of, of probably Ephesians five. Yeah. Who said, "Wow, was that my buddy's voice?" Yeah, that was so unbelief, wasn't it? Wow. It was. I felt unbelief hit me from the side like, like it was like an unbelief taser. Wow. [Laughter] It's okay, brother. I love you. It's getting to me right now. My own brother. He just. Wow. Did you ever? You ever preached and got tasered with unbelief? No. I. I'm probably the reason for the unbelief because honestly, in my heart, I'm going, "Wow." [Laughter] We'll be alright. I got three days. I do. I got three days. I'm glad you're happy because I have three days. So whether you're. So I am glad that some of you are. We're okay. Wise Paul wanna make all see? Why is God revealing this thing? Why do you even have it before the ages prepared beforehand? Why? Verse 10. You'll see the intent of God in verse 10. It's incredible. This is why you're a Christian. Come on. "To the intent that now the manifold, multi-faceted, many-sided wisdom of God would be made known by the..." Oh, that's amazing. We're directly involved. So we didn't just pray a prayer to go to heaven someday when a trumpet blows. Yeah. That the manifold wisdom of God, too many cited, many faceted depth of the wisdom of God would be revealed through our lives. Is what He's saying. Come on. "By the church to the principalities and powers in heavenly places." Let me just give you a little nutshell what He's talking about. He saw my living sanctified and being set apart. You used to have selfish intention and now you're kingdom-minded. You think that used to think for yourself, but now you think for others. To lay down your life. Used to live at the expense of others with your attitude and your motive. And now you're surrendered to bring Christ out in all men. Yeah. You have issues and hang-ups and agendas. And now you have kingdom and passion and motivation. Yeah. Come on. It's real. It's right here. The manifold wisdom of God made known by His people to the principalities and powers in heavenly places. Those things that ate your lunch and ruled you and whispered to your mind and said, "Well, you ought to be mad. They should have never did. Well, if they said it, it was no wonder. Well, they don't love you. Ain't no. Well, you can't trust nobody. Put up walls. Stole that nobody in you need to isolate." You can't trust no way. Next thing you know, you are an individualistic mess and empty inside. And you think you're surviving and you think you're making it. Nope. You're deceived and being ruined of your calling, destiny, and purpose because you believe in lies. Paul wants to reveal this thing by the Holy Spirit to make known to all that all might see. And he just writes the most amazing letter to the Ephesians, which was, according to history, a very strong and amazing church that understood love. To the intent that the manifold wisdom of God being made known by the church, the principalities, powers in heavenly places, according to the eternal. That's good. It's eternal. So this good news is never changing. His purpose. He transformed me. I'm always going to be transformed. And someday when I seem like He is, I'm gonna be like Him. And I'm just gonna be forever with the Lord. So I'm never gonna die. So that's not the issue. I'm alive in Him forever. Yay. Come on. Faith would really come in handy right there. Instead of feelings and self and "Who am I? What are we gonna do now?" I think we think Shabbos the magic word. Shabba. According to the eternal purpose in which He already accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. You're in. Guys, you're accepted in the beloved. Probably be good to wake up the way you're righteous in the sight. Probably be good to start off in the morning like that. You're forgiven. You're clean. You're holy, blameless, and above reproach. Probably be good to approach Him that way and believe that. Do you see how He's given us access through the truth of what He accomplished? If you don't understand these things and put these things on, how will you go close to Him? You can't see yourself for where you've been and what you've done. You got to see yourself for what He's been and what He's done. And what that causes you to be now. That's what begins to transform the everyday details of your life. That's what begins to change attitudes, familiar emotional makeups. See, just because you think something in your life doesn't mean you're missing it. Sometimes it's just past practice. Sometimes it's just familiar stuff. Sometimes it's. The key is that you catch it and see it for what it is. And it starts getting exposed. That's what happens as you walk in the light. Light exposes darkness. Some people think because they had a feeling of frustration just start to come over them that they failed. No. It's when you let the frustration become your heart and your life and your expression. Are you following me? Who's ever caught themself in something and go, "Ooh, this is yucky. I don't want this. This isn't who I want to be." Who's ever had that happen? Okay. So that's an amazing thing. You ought to rejoice in the truth that's working in your life because you're seeing this thing for what it really is. And you used to get pulled into it and have the right to be there. And you'd even camp there. You'd pitch again, have a little cookout. And then your friends would say, "Well, don't tell me." "Well, you get off my back." "Well, how would you feel if they..." "Well, don't school your does." You let somebody do that to you. And see how you. You get off your high horse and stop preaching to me. People pitch a tent, man, and find every reason to stay on that campground. But see, what happens to us now? We start growing. And true. That we start realizing. And we say, "Wow. Oh my goodness." So the biggest mistake you can make is just thinking every time that you bump into one of these familiar things that you're failing. Notice when you let it become the manifestation of your life that you're missing truth. Right? And I'd encourage you, even get off the whole "failing" thing, condemnation. It's too easy. There finds a landing strip. It's just becoming. "I'm becoming." And not that frail. "Well, we're all in process, brother. We're all processing." And ten years later, we're processing. Brother, I understand what we could be saying. But most of the time, what we're saying is, "I'm still the last five years the same. But hey, God's doing a work on me." No. These things can change. When you catch yourself doing this stuff, thinking this stuff, walking in stuff, you see it. "Whoa. What a time to rejoice in truth. What a time to say, God, thank you for the way You're working in my life. Show me these things for what they really are." Oh my goodness. It wasn't long ago I would have had a right to stay here. And now I see what's trying to happen to me. Man, that is so not my art because it's not yours. And God. And now you're preaching life. You're praying life. And now the situation you're actually speaking lies, saying, "And I didn't fail at all. I actually, the truth caught me in something and revealed it to you. And you're walking in the light as He's in the light." And all of a sudden, wow. Who knows that after a couple times, something like that in a situation, that thing could be swallowed up with truth. And next thing you know, you're not even bumping into it. Why? Because your whole perspective has changed. And it doesn't have a platform. You just wake up every day. Just wake up every day. "Father, I thank You. My life is not my own. I thank You. No one owes me anything this morning. I thank You today, Father. I haven't set me enough to fail me with expectations. But God, my expectation is the Lord. And You're in me. And You're in me vibrantly. And I thank You that You live in me, shine through me, look through me, and love through me. God, I so appreciate that I can wake up and love not my own life." You just start talking like that and mean it. Just, "God, I thank You that You set me free from self-centeredness. God, let the joy and the love of Your kingdom just live in me and flow through me. Thank You that the eyes that You look at the world through are the eyes that are inside of me. Thank You for letting me see what You behold." God, You're doing a work in me. Just starting to believe. God, You're doing a work in me. Sure beats fault-finding and nitpicking. And I got a long way to go. I've never seen anyone prosper in that mindset. I've never heard and seen anyone do well that says, "Oh boy, I got a long way to go." No. I got somewhere to go. And You put a light on the trail in front of me. And through that message, God, I got direction. Why? Because your heart's sincere. You're not in this school because you're hypocrites. Are you kidding me? You're not in this school making whatever it is to get here because you're looking for a way to miss God and get away with it. So I'm real safe talking to this crowd like this. Yeah. I mean, I might bump into that in the average church service. I might bump into a few of the holes. But I don't try to figure that out. I just preach the message. But in this school, I'm pretty safe to say I think you're here because you love God the best, you know Him, and you want to grow up into Him more and more. And you just wanna live productive and be fruitful. And yeah. So it's never about failing. It's about becoming. So when you step out, you're not stepping out into the risk of failure. You're stepping out into the knowing Him more and the manifesting Him more. And if you bump into an old thing, recognizing it is a big deal. And going, "Whoa," and cutting off every reason for that thing to be remaining. Right? So people, people say, "I need you to pray for me. I just get so angry. I got an issue with anger." I just need. No, no. Every time you realize you're thrown into that place of anger and you catch it and you realize it, don't go, "Oh, here I go again. I don't think I'll ever change." Stop that. That's like. That's exactly what the devil would love you to believe. No. As soon as you bump into it, "Wow, Father, thank You that I'm changing. Man, there was a time I would have never even considered the state right now of my heart. But I realize where it's at. And it'll produce nothing good. That is not my call. That is not my place." Man, and all of a sudden, your eyes start seeing the situation different. All of a sudden, this mercy and compassion starts coming towards the other party. And next thing you know, you're not even sitting there angry. Why? Because you're walking in the light. You're catching it. And you're not taking personal responsibility in a way that's called condemnation. Cross him a lot. Are you following me? And in short time, you realize, "My goodness, I've put off anger." Just like Colossians 3 has said. I've put it off. I didn't need prayer at a prayer line. It wasn't a spirit attacking me. It was a wrong perspective. It was a mindset. It was a motive. And God realigned and brought salvation to my soul. And anger no longer has dominion in my life. Are you with me? And then you're just saved by the joy of grace. And it's like, "God is so good." Yeah. But if you assess yourself and go, "There I go again, slippin' in anger again. Boy, I've done that two times this week already. I must be an angry. There must be a deep root of anger in me. I must have some hidden issues. I must need healing on the inside." That's what we say. It's not cool. Don't take the long road. That's no road. You separate yourself from it by seeing truth in that moment. And that's how it'll go away. Promise. Yeah. Because I think we all had our share of issues before we knew Jesus. And I think we all had a lot of valid reasons to be a lot of things that didn't look like Him. But He's just a clean sweep. He takes away all those validations and gives you every reason to shine. Yeah. So let's learn to walk this thing out. You guys good?

Okay, let me just read. I'm just gonna read. I'm not gonna preach anymore. And I'm no. I am. I'm gonna read too. So I get to chapter 4 and we'll read until I feel like I need to preach. But the rest of this chapter, I'm just gonna read. Oh, I know you're laughing in unbelief. I feel the tasers. Okay. "According to the eternal purpose in which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. Therefore, I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulation for you. It is for your glory." And for this reason. Oh, I should be able to preach. For this reason. Let me just read it three times without preaching. You'll get the point. "For this reason, I'm bowing my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Okay, let me. I can't do it. Okay. Well, no, no, I can't. I'm just telling you, I can't. What you got to catch this in verse 10, "to the intent." In verse 14, "for this reason." You have to understand the kingdom of God is driven by purpose, motive, and intention. And if we miss those things, we won't find the grace in those things. Are you following me? Like Paul said, "I'm not bowing and praying 'cause it's the right thing to do to pray. I'm praying because I'm inspired by your call, your purpose, your vision, your accomplishment. And I want the people to walk in this and see this and bear the fruit of this. And that's why I'm praying." You get it? And when he prays, this is refrigerator/stuff people have this prayer. Remember refrigerators? He's saying, he's saying, "We've got to become loved. We've got to be empowered. Our lives has to be different because He has a plan. He accomplished it. He has an intention. And He's going to manifold make manifold wisdom known through the church. We got to get this. We can't just do church." So I'm gonna bow my knees to the Father and pray that this be manifested in our lives so we walk in what He paid for. Are you with me? You can't miss this stuff. In your mother, it's motive and purpose. Yeah. Oh, it's so good. Okay, not gonna preach the rest of them. Just kidding. Let's probably throw that out. That's not gonna happen, huh? It's too good. "For this reason, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man." He didn't. He didn't say that He would grant you through the restoration of your background, your past, your history, and all the wrongs done to you, that you could finally be strengthened by all the wrong things made right. No, no, no. Honestly, honestly. Ah, I wish this wasn't true, but some of our dads lived and died and never said, "I love you." Some of them may never say, "I love you." And then you can believe that that changes. But don't make them saying they love you or not contingent on who you are and how you are and what you live. Why? Because then you're making a man Lord. You're making a person Him. You're letting your be decided by one, and His name isn't Jesus. It's idolatry and deception. We do the stuff in churches and straw because we get driven. So we call it. And I'm gonna get in so much trouble. I'm gonna get in trouble. I'm gonna get in trouble. No, I feel that. I'm gonna get in trouble. We line everybody up. We line everybody up that didn't have a loving dad. And then we get all the men and daddy figures to hug them and hold them. And they're all crying their eyes out. And we say, "It's a move of God." Why do we keep reflecting on the hurt and the pain of not having a dad? This does not change that. And the only reason they're crying is because they're face to face to the reality that daddy was never there. So we're trying to fill the gap and jump a hoop apart from the blood. Why don't we just teach them? "Sorry it was that way, but it really doesn't change a thing right now. Doesn't matter. You don't need a man to hug you and replace your dad when no man is inside of you." Yeah. Don't let it matter. Da da. Sorry. I've been around enough. I see this stuff like, "Oh, God is moving." No. Your emotions and your sentiments are being tampered. And it's not changing you. [Applause] That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory. Oh, yay. See, see, my dad never said he loved me in my life growing up. Never said he was proud of me. He never complimented me. In fact, as I grew and got good in certain things, he'd never acknowledge that. He almost appeared jealous. Why? Because deep in his heart, he needed love. He was hurting because he knew he lived an alcoholic the whole time. And there's this thing that just builds and builds. The next thing. No, you're so self-conscious. You're so full of regret. You know you missed that season in your life. And, and if you don't have Jesus, you don't have an answer. So it just gets worse and more embroiled and more nasty and mixed messages and wrong conveying of things. And, and if you're not secure in Christ and you're finding yourself through others, you're only as strong as the weakness you're surrounded by. So my dad saw my life changed. He didn't hear my sermon. He saw my life changed. And he came to me one day, crying his eyes out. He grabbed my arm and cried on his front porch and he said, "Look me right now." And isn't for the first time in my life, I heard it come out of my dad's mouth. And here's the coolest thing about the story. I didn't need him to say it at all. [Music] Yeah. I wasn't in my bedroom. God, if this is legitimate and I'm really saved and You value me, then that my dad say that he loves me. And then my whole ambition is getting someone in the natural to make up for the deficit. That's weakness. That's deception. When he says that, if he has to say it for me to be okay, how do we call it supernatural in the Lord? It's actually idolatry. If I need him to say it, how can it be from the Lord? Do you know in Jesus' life, ministry, that his family thought he was loco? Do you know that his brothers were being spiteful and being sarcastic and cynical to him about the feast? And, "Well, if you're..." Mmm-hmm. Do you know they came to get him out of the thronging in the mobs? Because for days he's wronged and he's just. And they came to get him. And he says, "Who is my mother?" But he wasn't dishonoring and respecting. He found his identity through the Father. But you know at that time that they weren't looking upon him well, like they weren't like, "Jesus, He is all that. I am so honored to be His sibling." None of that mattered. That doesn't have anything to do with anything. He made it so clear. He said, "Who is my mother? My father? My brothers? You." See, that does the will of Him who sent Me. This is my mother, my father, my brothers. That's like, "Wow, that's so spiritual. It's amazing. It's life-giving. It's, whoa. It's not unreachable. It's something we're to learn from." He said, "Call no." It's Matthew 23:9. It's like they're called no man on earth your father. What's He saying? It's wrong to give your dad a Father's Day card. Now, He's saying, "Don't limit, regulate, and identify your life through natural, biological, hereditary means. You have one Father." And the word father there means come forth from. You've come forth from one. Know that. That knowledge. And be fulfilled in that. So my dad grabs me by the back of the arm. And I turn and I look. And he's crying. That's not normal. And he said, "Dad, are you okay? What's going on?" "Because Mom's sick. I don't know what's going on." And I don't know if he's overwhelmed. He's carrying her to bed. I go in to help. I carry her to bed. I just want you to know, I've been watching your life for these last four months or whatever it was. You are not the same man. And I want you to know, I'm so proud of you." Well, my dad never said he was proud of me. If I was living for that, I'd have been a busboy. I'd have just been on the floor. If that's my response, it's not good for him to say he's proud of me. It's a need in my life. It's idolatry. It's. So when he said he's proud of me, I looked at him. I said, "Well, that's awesome, Dad." He said, "No, I mean what you said in the beginning. Dinner. It's your life and I see it." Not just, "Wow." I said, "I put my hands right in the shoulder, the back." And I said, "Well, good, Dad. Then what about you? What about your life? If you see to me, what about in you?" I went right after him. Why? Because I wasn't there like, "Oh, my dad finally acknowledged me. I've been living with this vacuum all this time." [Laughter] What's this? The reason it's awesome that my dad said is for him. Because it was a sign of humility, repentance, and change. I would never need to hear my dad say that to me for the rest of my natural life. Irrelevant. I do not wake up for my dad to say, "Proud of me." I wake up to shine. You follow me? And if my dad didn't agree with me shining now, I got a real issue. If I need Dad to. Because next thing you know, I'm compromising my faith a little here and there just to keep surface peace. Next thing you know, I'm not living my convictions just to stay right on holidays and be accepted because it's my family. You know. Oh, I'm touched in some stuff right now, a little bit. Next thing you know, you'll find in a gray zone, which there is none, and a place of compromise to keep surface peace. I think it's awesome that he said that. I think it's awesome that he got saved. I think it's awesome I wasn't living for the day for him to acknowledge that. I just living in Jesus. And he was seeing something that I wasn't even aware that he was seeing. I'll just be me. Ain't that awesome? I watch. Catch this. So those whole four months, I wasn't ministering to my dad. I just lived in Jesus. I didn't even know what he was seeing. I wasn't ministering to my dad. That's where people get real self-conscious. And they get funny. They send messages they don't even want to send to their loved ones because they always have an agenda to save their family. Why don't you just live saved? You just live saved and watch how God will save your family. Yeah. I watched my brother. Just turned. My brother is so sensitive. And he'll weep in no time over the Lord. It was not that way before I got saved. Him and his wife go regularly to a church. And the pastor is a friend of mine. And he said, "Your brother and wife are so committed. And they are just so on board." And I went, "Yeah." He got really touched. And she got touched with him through him being touched. And he had a good heart talk as a husband and wife. And she said, "Yeah, I'm all-in." And that cool? Yeah. I wasn't trying to save my family. I was having fun living saved. It was convicting him. You know what happened to my brother? He was seeing it. And then he was sitting one day. And he opened his heart on the lawn chair in the yard to the Lord. And the Lord just came to help. And the rest was history. Ain't that some? God was waiting for him to approach Him. He's landed on him right away. Boom. It's just so sweet. And he called me crying and told me about the encounter. I'm like, "Wow." Because you could just hear him. That was my brother. You could just hear in his voice. He can do something happened in his heart. Here he is. All these years later. Straight ahead. And that fun? Yeah. I am so messing up. It's good. I got three days, buddy. Yes. My goal was to get through Ephesians 5. And I didn't even get to four. So much trouble. Why is He gonna grant us according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man? So that Christ, He purposed. That word. That is purpose and intention. Please. I want you to begin to learn to read your Bible to find out the why behind things. So it never just becomes scripture. Are you with me? Come on. Don't be bored by that. This stuff is so important. It's the things that get missed. Because we could get caught up in strengthening us according to the riches of the glory and be strengthened with might in the spirit. And we could have songs that are sung like that. And we could have a whole weekend pursuing His glory and not even understand why it's coming. Why's He want to do that? That Christ may dwell in your heart through faith. And that you being rooted and grounded, not shifting and shaken, rooted and grounded in love. Yeah. Rooted and grounded in love. You know what love is? Love doesn't seek its own. That's why it takes no account. No account of the wrong that's done to it. And love will never fail. That you being rooted and grounded in love. Wonderfully is not just talked about being loved. One of. He's talked about being loved is the goal. To be loved by God. There's the goal. To become the love of God. That's how He reveals His manifold wisdom by the church. We were all self-centered through Adam. And now we're born again through Christ. And what was self-centered got swallowed up in love. Because we denied our self, picked up our. No wonder we just try to get people to heaven. And it sounds like the gospel. We're not trying to get people to heaven. We're calling people to become loved. Yeah. First Timothy 1:5. The goal of your instruction is that your name gets written in a book called life. No. The goal of your instruction is love. It's First Timothy 1:5. The goal of your instruction is love. The purpose of the commandment is that we all get found in the book of life. No, no, no. The goal of the commandment is that you be restored back to love. Because that's what you were from the beginning when God made you in His image. Yeah. And He said, "I give you a new commandment." But it's not a new commandment. It's the one you had from the beginning. I'm restoring you back to purpose. Why you're here and why God made man in the first place. Yeah. You didn't come from a Big Bang. You didn't come from a rock, a monkey, a puddle, a tadpole. You came from Him when He said, "Let Us make man in Our image." And He's restoring the image. Colossians 3. Put off the old man in his deeds. Put on the new man who's restored and renewed in knowledge according to the image of the one who made him. Think that's something, Dad? Why is He granting us all this riches of His glory to be strengthened and in with might an inner man so weakened? So Christ will dwell in our hearts through faith. And that we being rooted and grounded in love. May be able. Now, this is powerful. May be able to comprehend with everybody else that believes. Comprehend with all the saints. Right? This sounds like one goal. This sounds like a narrow view from the Lord. Like this sounds like the reason He came. So if we're not pursuing this, what are we pursuing? He. He said that we're able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and the length and the depth and the height to know the love of Christ. That's a heart knowing. That's an ear experiential word as far as relational, not manifestation experiential knowing. Inner heart, inner man. Epignosis versus gnosis. One plus one is is two. Gnosis. He loves me. No, He ever knows. Did you get it? See, I could say, "Hey, God loves you." And I'm always right. It's a whole other view when you're being loved by God. That's a whole different place. Hey, God really loves you. You taking that truth and and growing towards God. We're all of a sudden you're being loved by God. That's different than me saying, "God loves you." Are you with me? Yeah. To know the love of Christ which passes just knowledge. That you may be filled with. Oh, what's this even mean? Yeah. I wish I could boldly tell you I totally know. I just know it sounds really, really enough. That you may be filled with all the. Of God. Being filled with the fullness of God doesn't seem like you need your dad to make up for lost time. Being filled with all the fullness of God doesn't seem to think like you'd have to sit there with your arms crossed waiting for the day your mom or your sibling says they're sorry. I looked up the word fullness. It means a house with no empty rooms. It means a town with no empty houses. It means a ship so completely full of cargo there's no place to put another box. You know what it means? No vacancy. Fully and completely occupied. She did it. Where's that come from? Knowing the love of Christ. He strengthens you in the inner man so that you can know Him through faith and comprehend His love. That establishes you for good. You get it? So all of a sudden, life can no longer speak louder than truth because truth has made you free. And all of a sudden, you're not only doing as good as things are going, you're doing as good as He is in you. And all of a sudden, you're in a whole different place. And all of a sudden, circumstances could be trying you all around and you don't even feel tried because you're responding in here. All of a sudden, you're carrying your cross and you're never letting sin against you have the right to produce sin in you. You're overcoming evil with good. Are you never sitting down crying with the counseling session? "I just need help because you don't know what I'm going through and this is so unfair and I don't know how much I'm supposed to take." And all of a sudden, that language gets sober. And who knows if somebody's in that place? We're not making fun of them and saying they can't be helped. Sure, they can be helped. And I hope they sit down and talk before they get deceived. But who knows that that language can be taken from your belief system to where you don't even know how to think that way anymore. Are you with me? For it'd be good to not even be able to think that way anymore, wouldn't it be amazing to let the gospel fashion you where you never know how to feel sorry for yourself again? Wouldn't that be amazing? So lonely as party we've ever attended, you feeling sorry for yourself. It's a bad party. Probably the only two people that hung out there with you are the people that understood how you felt. You called them friends. Okay, moving on. "That you may be filled with what? All the." That means complete. You're not for sale. A house with no empty rooms. No occupancy in my life. No cavities. No closets. No vacancies. No place for anything else to move in because He's in me. Yet. What I'm saying. This is a powerful chapter. Now, "To Him, to who? To Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly." What's the writer saying? On the heels of something so amazing, he's saying, "You better take this to the bank because He's able." That's what exactly what he's saying. He's given Him glory. He's saying He's able. And He will do this thing and establish this in this thing. He's giving God due honor right now. After he unveiled what he was anointed to make all see, he was saying, "You better believe it because He'll make it possible." You see? And watch now. "To Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think." According. Now, here's where he. He marries the two. What he said and the glory of who God is. Watch. "As we think according to the power that works in us." See, that's you walking in this truth that we just read. And you're gonna make no new manifold wisdom of God to the powers and principalities and have any places because your life's transferred. Not because you're living in secrets. Not because you're the same way you used to be and you're covered by grace. No. Because you're out of darkness into the light, walking in a manner worthy. And He has transformed you. And, wow. I got time. Man, you guys give me a lot of time. That's, uh, that's. Regis, finish this. And then I'm gonna let you guys take a quick little quick break. And we're gonna come back and I'm gonna just start on some things. Now, "To Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." To Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." Okay. I don't think. I think if you guys just take a quick stretch, I can nail this thing down for the last half hour. Jump into something. I'm gonna kind of set this up for tomorrow. Is that okay? Go ahead. Take your stretch break. Use the potty. Hug somebody. Do whatever you need to do.