✝️ How to Have Intimacy with God - Dan Mohler

Everybody good? Hey, what an intimate, sweet time he led us in, huh? You know, I was thinking about just how important that would be for all of us to continue to have those kind of times when just nobody else is around, just you and Him. Seriously, that's when, that's when He gets really, really real. Like, like you can learn so much about the Lord. You can sit under sermons, you can sit under messages, you can belong to a really cool church and amazing church. But it's, it seems like it's not until you, and you can have encounters with God and touches and, but it's not until you really get alone with Him and really take the time to be with Him that you really get to know Him.

And I mean, just, just that. Like, some of those songs we were saying, you know, you could just sing some of them just to Him and just then begin to open your heart and pray. I use the scriptures a lot too, to stir my heart. I might read a psalm out loud in my bedroom and just sit back on my bed and, and, and just start talking to the Lord through the psalm. Or I might just read a section of Scripture, something Paul wrote, and, and just start talking to the Lord. And it's just really cool because you're one of two things when you're in there doing that. You're either, He's not real and you're wasting your time and you should get a hobby, or He is real and when you draw near to Him, He's gonna draw near to you, and when you seek Him, you're gonna find Him. Yeah.

So I'm just saying, like, like in the years I've been around and the time I've spent with folks, I would, I would venture to say, this is just my thought and my observation, that the number one thing, if we're lacking anything, the number one thing we're lacking is really intimately knowing Him as individuals. We know all about Him, we know what scripture says about Him, but I'm talking about really knowing Him. Like growing to a place where you're just driving in your car and you just say, "King Jesus, I love You so much," and you just know He's there. You could just know He's there. Are you with me? Yeah. Is this really good?

So you're not gonna get to do that without spending time with Him. You know, if we're married, you know, you probably didn't just, you hear about your spouse, you see a photograph. I mean, I guess it happens, but you know, "Hey, just get married." But you spend time, you get to know each other, you hang out. It's like, you guys, like, you know, I'm staying in their home. So I met you all at the Outpouring Conference last year, Michigan. But now I'm in their home. So I didn't really know you guys well, other than, "Hey." And I think you were with the kids a lot in the Michigan thing, right? And then Shannon, I got to talk to him a little bit. But now we drove together, we're hanging out. So who knows that just in a little bit of time we're together, I can start saying that I'm knowing him a little bit more.

Ethan, the son-in-law, I mean, I got to meet him last year. He's hanging out, he's here. We spent a lot of time together in the car and giggling and laughing about some things too, just having fun. It, who knows, when I hear his name, let's have a little more tender affection and a little more knowing when I hear his name. And I know that I know him a little more than I even knew his name before. You see what I'm saying? Man, it's no different with the Lord, guys.

It's like, like I don't know, I'm just gonna stay here. I hope we're okay. Like, sometimes we could do a daily devotion because you're reading the word and it seems right to read the word and know the word. We say we're filling a heart with a word, but you can actually read your daily devotion and never make personal contact or be intimate toward the Lord. You see what I'm saying? Like, like you could do church, you could do Christian things, you can serve in a ministry, and all those things can slowly, subtly take the place of knowing Him and being with Him. And the reason I'm talking about it is because it's knowing Him that changes your life, not knowing about Him. Knowing about Him isn't what changes your life. It's knowing Him that changes your life.

I'd use my neighbor all the time. She's passed now. She passed away two summers ago, but she was 94. And she was our neighbor the whole time we lived there. And her husband passed the first year. She woke up and he was beside her and he had a heart attack in the middle of the night. And, and it was way before I knew Jesus. But she saw me get changed. And I'd sit out on her bench and talk to her about the Lord. But I mowed grass, I traveled all the time, but I mowed her grass and loved it. I trimmed her hedges. I'd climb up on a ladder and clean her gutters. And she was just my neighbor. She was a little lady and she was my neighbor.

We had some work done on our overhangs and stuff one time. And, and we had a little sign out there. They were the people that did the work, put the sign out there to advertise the business. She looked out her window and thought it was a "first sale" sign. And it's pretty cool when your neighbor comes running across the grass crying. She said, "I didn't know you were moving." I said, "Honey, when I move..." It was, well, you got the sign. I said, "No, I saw her in the yard." But see, I live, we live beside each other for what, 30 years? And, and, and after a while, just being around her, just observing and just being around, I could have probably, if I had to talk about her, I could have probably stood here and talked for 15 minutes about details, 20 minutes solid details about her. And she had to like, read, or jackets were always red. She, she was, she was frugal. She wore a jacket, so there was actually noticeable holes in that thing. And then she'd come out with a brand new red jacket. When she still drove her car, it was bright red. Friday, the lady that picked her up had to take her to get her hair done. It must have been hair day because she'd come back and she looked really nice. She definitely loved McDonald's coffee because in the mornings another lady would drop her off and she'd have the big old M in their cups and she'd be heading into the house. Took two walks a day. So I could tell you a lot about her. But until I knock on her door and we look in each other's eyes and exchange names and touch hands, I can't tell you I know her. I could observe her. I could be right next door. I could be where she is.

Jesus said to some people in the Bible, "You don't know me." And they said, "But weren't we there when you spoke? Weren't we in the streets with you? Didn't we eat with you?" He said, "You know, I never knew you." Just make sure you don't let that happen to you. Because the biggest blessing and gift that I see that Jesus did was get us back to the Father. I know we make it heaven, but He's the way back to the Father. This is the biggest thing He did. He got us back to the Father. Yeah. It's why we live forever. We're one with the eternal One. He's never gonna die, so neither are you. So God never made man to die. He said, "The day you eat the tree, the day you surely die." Which means death wasn't in the picture until man sinned. Death came. So Jesus swallowed it all up through the cross and restored all things. So we're not gonna die. We weren't made to die from the beginning. Yeah. But we're made to be with Him. So just pursue relationship, pursue knowing Him. And that might look a little different with you than it looks with me. Sometimes I play soft music, sometimes I don't play anything, I just lay and meditate. Sometimes I get loud and go bonkers, and sometimes I'm really quiet.

I was so bonkers one day in my bedroom, my mother-in-law came over. And she took off, sneak into her car. She thought I lost it. "Fell off the wagon," that was her phrase, because she was an AAA lady, you know. And she said, she said, "I thought you fell off the wagon." But not that I had ever substance abuse. I was just abuse. I was just a bad guy. I just was not loving and insensitive. And I was mean a lot. And I didn't even feel like I had a natural love for my kids before I was saved. It was awful. And I was so, so mean to my wife. And when she came over, I was upstairs. She heard me yelling at the top of my lungs from the outside at the back door. And she thought, "He is freaking out on them guys." And she got scared. Instead of running in to their rescue, she snuck away to the car. And when she got to the car, she realized my wife's car wasn't even there. And she thought, "Jim's not even home. Who's he yelling at?" So she came around a house. It really impacted her. She told my wife, "It meant so much to her to know that nobody was home and I wasn't on a platform and it wasn't anywhere around anybody. It was just me and Jesus in a room and I was going bonkers." Like, I stayed calm for you guys. I do. I'm very controlled. Sometimes people think I'm a little out there. But when they think I'm a little out there when I'm getting excited, I am barely scratching what I am when I'm with Him. When you ain't looking. See, because right now, I'm supposed to make sense, not just manifest. It's supposed to make sense. I mean, I do no good to just sit here and scratch the fleas behind my ear. It's supposed to speak truth and make sense. But if I'm besides myself, it's for God. There's a place where I'm just alone with Him and it's real.

And so she'd come around a corner and was listening. I was probably, probably yelling stuff like this: "Thank You for saving me! Thank You for changing my life forever! I'm so grateful! My life is Yours! Do me what You desire, God! I'm all in on Yours! Use every aspect of my life for Your glory!" Just freaking out, screaming. "Why do you gotta yell, brother?" Because I was pumped and excited about making sure I heard myself. Yeah. Come on. It's just okay to be okay like that.

Wonder if you just, just learn to wake up and believe the gospel every morning? Just wake up in the morning and before you think about your day and what's on your plate and when your meeting is and how you got these four errands and how are you even gonna squeeze in this to lunch and, you know what I'm saying? We're gonna be amazing to just be with Him. Wouldn't it be amazing? Just open up your eyes and know you're His. Not try to be His, know you're His. I'm gonna be amazing to wake up and know you're right. Just know. Try to be righteous, know you're righteous because of the blood of Jesus. Just wake up and be forgiven. Just wake up and be His. Be washed, be clean, be pure and holy and blameless in His sight. Colossians 1. Just because He is who He is, wouldn't it be amazing to wake up every day and just believe that and start your day in that truth? Well, that would take away guilt, condemnation, low esteem, self-consciousness. Come on. It would take away all that stuff. It would take away you thinking less of who you really are. Because the reason you think you're that is because of past practice, your own assessment. You've taught yourself, "Foo." Others have suggested who you might be, and we buy into that. And then Jesus comes along and says, "No, if this is who you are, this is who I paid for you to be. And this is how I see you." Love you. If you don't start where He finished, what you ended up when He was done, what you were when He was done doing the work He did, what you were when He was finished, if you don't start there, you'll never run well. You'll try to accomplish things that are already done.

Watch how simple this is. Are you okay? Are we okay on this topic right now? Are you guys okay? I'll just go and wherever I'm going here, I don't have a strong plan, so I'm just trusting. We'll be right. Did you know how people, they, that's knowable, it seems noble and committed, like they wake up and they think their goal is to like, maybe try to do better today, or try not to sin, try to make it till ten o'clock before their conscience is violated? Or some, because some people have this belief, they're just prepared to sin. They're taught that, they believe they're sinning why they're breathing, in their sins that are committing, that they have no awareness of. Now, I understand you can grow in sensitivity, stuff, but it does the Christian no good to believe that. It's not a humble mindset. It's very deceived. Because the Bible says you're to reckon yourself dead indeed unto sin, not boast in your ability to commit it, or dare think that you're walking perpetual sin. How can you reckon yourself dead to sin and then talk about your ability to commit it? Why is the thought of sin in our conversation a lot? When people talk on righteousness, people's minds shift and go away. Yeah, but nobody's perfect, brother. We all make mistakes. We're all gonna, we're always gonna sin, brother. Do you ever hear Christians feel like they have to talk like that? The gospel, the Bible teaches you to not talk like that. And it's the way we tend to talk a lot that you can hardly talk about righteousness because we feel it's humble to talk about our ability to sin. No, it's humble to believe what He accomplished and paid for. Come on. If Romans 6 says, "Reckon yourself dead indeed to sin," how can you reckon yourself dead indeed to sin and talk about your ability to commit it and call it humility? Are you guys okay? Some of you are looking at me funny. I see it. It's all right. Not bothered by that.

If you wake up and try not to sin, where's your consciousness? Sin? You're gonna be taking your own tests. You're gonna be great in your own score. And by the end of the night, you'll see yourself the way you performed. And the reason you performed the way you performed is because your consciousness was towards weakness and inability and sin. And that was probably gonna be the level of your fruitfulness or assessment. And at the end of the day, instead of looking how you've grown or what seed you've sown, you're probably more conscious of what you could have done better. So there's no life in that assessment. So you don't even afford yourself the ability to grow up into Him. Are you with me? And then because that becomes true, you don't see yourself clear. You don't see yourself well. In time, you don't feel good about yourself. You don't even know if you're for real sincere. You question your own heart. So if that's the case, how would you ever have confidence to go be alone with Him and do what we were just talking about, be with Him? If you don't see yourself clearly, if you don't have a good view of who you are in Him and towards Him, and you don't see how He sees you, how would you have the conscious awareness and confidence to be with Him? You see what happens to folks? I'm talking good folks. I'm not talking to room hypocrites. I'm talking to His kids. I'm talking to people that wake up and desire to do the best they can do, that love God the best they understand God. They come to a conference like this to grow and learn and increase and experience whatever they can in the Lord. I am NOT talking to a room of hypocrites. But the things that I'm talking about are happening to people in this room where all of a sudden your identity gets infringed on because of wrong thinking and believing. And then it hinders your ability to be with Him. And I'm telling you, the strategy, the enemy, one of his main goals is to keep you from Him. He doesn't mind you going to church, attending a conference. He doesn't even care if you sing loud and raise both hands. He cares when you start being with Him and you start believing what the blood is speaking, when you start believing what He's saying about you through the crucifixion of His Son. That's when He gets a little nervous. When you actually start believing you're loved by God, that you're priceless, that you're treasure, that you're empowered by His Spirit, that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you, but you're lacking no good thing. When you start believing those things, He gets a little nervous. Yeah. You start loving one another. You start slapping your neighbor. I thought, "Man, I better get up and preach on peace and restoration." We all slapping each other. They said, "Slap three people." I'm thinking, "I hope somebody don't have unresolved conflicts in the church and use that for an excuse." Hey, hey, that was a little hard. Oh, I just pictured a spouse facing the other way. I was, oh, wow. He said it was funny.

There's a power in waking up. One of the first things Holy Spirit taught me when I got saved was to receive what Jesus paid for and to say yes to every yes of the Father and to talk to Him personally about it. Saying stuff like this: "Father, thank You for loving me. I so appreciate that You valued me so much that You sent Your Son. That You never changed Your mind about me, no matter how lost I was, no matter how mean I lived, no matter how redundant and, and, and, and just over and over repetitive willfulness seems to be in my life up until this point. Like, You never let go of my potential. You never reassessed Your evaluation of my purpose. No matter how lost I was, it never changed why I was here in Your eyes, God. I love You so much. No one has ever loved me like this." Now, I've talked to a lot of people that never really think that way, let alone talk that way to Him. Good Christian people that are faithful in their churches. I've counseled a lot of people in my life and I ask a lot of questions. Uh, I'm a talker, but man, I'm a real good listener. And I know how to find out where people are. And I ask a lot of questions. And I, I've learned that a lot of people haven't even comprehended this or considered or thought to have that kind of communion. Like, like they've lived for 15 years a Christian and never stopped in the middle of the room or in the middle of the moment and just said, "Thanks for loving me." Christian 15 years, had never just said, "Thanks for loving me." It's just so powerful because it's receiving His love. And, and, and you're rooted and grounded in love. And faith working through love. And when you see how He sees you, it begins to train your eyes to look the same way. When you start seeing how He values you, you'll start seeing how He values everyone. Because we're all the same in Him. Like, like we all are loved and treasured. He died once for all. All of a sudden, I get a good view of who I am in Him. And now I love Him with all my heart, my soul, of my strength. And then I love my neighbor as myself. Wonder if you don't have a good view of yourself? Wonder if you're loving your neighbor that way? Love your neighbor? Wonder if you see another the way you're seeing yourself? And the way you're seeing yourself isn't through Him? Wonder if you're nitpicky and fault-finding? Wonder if you're self-condemned? Wonder if you're trapped in works? And then all of a sudden, you look around and you notice what's wrong in people instead of see what they're called to and created for? Wonder if your eye gets skewed like that? All of a sudden, you see what's wrong in people. When you pick out their weaknesses, why? Because you got your weaknesses. And now that's what you see. Yeah.

Now, when the greatest things are getting free, getting free from yourself and free from living for you. And being a Christian for you. You're a Christian for His great name. You're Christian for His glory. And you're a Christian for the sake of others. Man, when you get that settled in your heart through relationship and communion, you just lay it on your bed in the early morning. You don't even have to turn anything on. You don't have to yell. You don't have to shout. You can even do it in your heart. I promise. Some people think you have to talk always out loud. You can just do it in your heart, man. It's just before the Lord. And you could just be laying there and starting your day like that. "Lord, I thank You that the whole reason I'm alive is to shine and walk in Your image. God, no one owes me a thing today. God, I am NOT positioned to be disappointed. I'm positioned to love God. I am so positioned to live by the Spirit, to walk in Your grace, and to manifest Your great name in Your wisdom. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for living in me and empowering me. I'm so excited to be alive. Thank You for another day." Come on. That sure beats dreading the moment. That sure beats waiting for somebody to give you your due. That sure beats just waking up and hoping your spouse just acknowledges you the way you've been bragging. Be careful with that stuff. I'm telling you, a lot of it is just borderline idolatry stuff. You're letting where people are and people aren't decide where you are. And it's not cool. Because the truth, the whole time, the truth is the same. And the truth hasn't changed. The whole time they're failing to love you, the whole time they're failing to say the right words, the whole time they're failing to acknowledge you, Jesus is the same. And He wants to be Lord through your life. And you're putting your eyes on other things and letting that matter more. Are you with me?

I'm telling you, this personal relationship thing, this intimacy with God, and it's probably talked about more nowadays than it's ever been talked about. But I think in the last 15-20 years, it hasn't been talked about like it could. A lot of demonstration of power, a lot on healing, a lot on prophetic, a lot on gifting. But what about you knowing Him? What about being molded and shaped by the beauty of who He is in His presence so that who He is begins to be your expression? So actually, you're living from the place that He dwells. You're looking through His eyes. You see, and for the first time, maybe in your life, clearly, what He's always beheld. And when you look at people, you actually see what was always there. See, before I was a Christian, I used to think if God tweaked you, life would be better. I used to think people were weird a lot. Most people are borderline weird. And if God would just tweak them a little, life would be better. And I'd think, "God, if You're out there, why don't You take Your little tweak gun and just, and just make people better?" Like, "Why are they weird?" And I never considered He wanted to transform me. And I never thought that I could be part of the problem. Because you're proud in your own mind, your own opinion. You're proud in your own preferences. And you know, you just, certain people you like and certain people you don't like. And we get used to that. And it's not heaven. It's not the Lord. That's the fall of man. Yeah. Picking and choosing who you like and who you don't like. "Well, they just bother me." "Well, run that by Jesus and see if He feels the same way." And you ought to be glad He's who He is, or He might say, "No, you're actually the one that really bothers me." I've been praying to the Father, "You change any day now." No, I'm just having fun with you. But seriously, some of these things we have just learned by, we think they're normal. We've just learned by living in life. And when you really look at Jesus, He's not that way, is He? So some of these meetings, of some of these things we do, we just talk about this stuff because I don't know about you. I don't know how you think when you're all alone. I don't know what you do when you're sitting in a room alone with Him. I, I'm not saying what you do is right or wrong. I'm, I just know He's taught me some of the stuff.

Where I'll sit on my bed and now, how do you even get emotional sometimes? I see the beauty of grace. Grace is God's empowerment. My grace is God giving you His ability. Grace is something that comes from God that makes you what you can never be on your own. Yeah. And, and, and grace is something He paid for through His Son. Yeah. And you receive grace through faith. So every time I release faith in the truth, grace comes to make that truth my reality, not just my theology. Are you with me? So I sit on my bed and I'll just talk to Him about grace. I'll say, "Father, I just want every ounce of grace that You paid for to come on my life. And in no way let one drop of grace miss my life. Don't position me, Lord. Give me wisdom and teach me how to be in a place to receive everything You accomplished to become everything You've seen and desired." When you talk like that, it's so intimate. You're actually believing He loves you and has purpose in your life. You're actually believing He's willing to reach down His mighty hand and empower you with who He is. Yeah. So it's just another way I said, "I know You love me." Yeah. And being real about it. And, and, and I remember, it's the Holy Spirit used to teach me things in the beginning, how to pray intimate and personal like that. I'm just giving you some illustrations. Don't go try to copy them or quote them. Just talk to Him from your heart.

Don't, don't say they had some ladies in a conference. It's a real story. It was cute. It was cute, but it was, it was sadly funny. It was like, "No, no, no, ladies, I'm not telling you a thing." Stop. They were so sincere. There's three of them. They ran up, middle-aged ladies. Had their little pens and their pads and they said, "We love you so much. We listened to you on YouTube and we watch you." And they were just being sweet. And they said, "Do you have a minute message here?" And they said, "We're so excited to be here. We were hoping we could get some personal time with you just to talk to you." I said, "Okay." And they said, "We want you to tell us what your day looks like when you wake up. Like, your time with the Lord. Like, how much of it is prostrate kneeling? How much is singing? How much is praying?" Like, and I thought, "I was gonna be like producing a Christian aerobics video or something, you know? Like, communion aerobics video." I'm like, "No, no, I'm not telling you. I spend X." I don't even know how to answer that question. What's relationship look like? Like, we hang out. And sometimes the overwhelms me and I can't get off my face. Sometimes I'm standing with Him. Some, sometimes I'm just sitting on my bed and weeping. Sometimes I'm just sitting soft and tender and giggling. And whatever. And you would think I'm flaky if you're looking in. You know, how do you describe relationship? It's not, we're not robots. It's not a method. It's not a blend. It's not, "Do this, this, and this, and your heart will go ding, ding, ding, ding, ding." Just be with Him. Accept what He says. Say yes when He says yes. If He puts Jesus on a cross and says, "Love you," don't say, "I can't imagine how He could love me." Say, "Wow, thank You." When He raises Him from the dead and He gives Him the keys of hell and death, hell and the grave, and says, "I'm for you. I'm not against you. I'll never leave you and never forsake you." Don't say, "Well, I sure hope God doesn't let me down. I just feel alone." No. Thank God. "You're always here. Thank You. Always have wisdom in the moment. Thank You, Father, that Your teaching and training me in the midst of life." God's so good to me. Yeah.

I'm telling you, if we would just embrace that kind of, go to Him that way, in our own way, but what's real to us, it would empower us. And we would stay like this. And we would be impacting people all around us without knowing it, without knowing. And I get so many testimonies through my life. But people that were watching from the sidelines, that were noticing from a distance, that in time, consistency, and, and something just broke. And now their ear could finally hear again. Yeah. I've had people tell me, "Man, I just saw your life and I was watching and I gave up on Christianity. And I was touched. Strong. And I used to go to church, but, you know, there's something about your life and just watching you and listening." And I know we haven't talked much. I've had this at work. And the one got called me at my, at my church office when I was pastoring after I left and said, "You caused my ears to hear again." And we didn't have any one-on-one. He just watched my life from a distance. He stated a distance because he didn't understand. He was a little frustrated, mad at God because his mom died of cancer. He saw a lot of things from Christians. He actually told me something that wasn't a compliment. And it's not your fault, your, this isn't weighing on you. He does, this was his experience. He said, "You're the first Christian I've ever met that lived what he said." And how he responded. And wasn't just like anybody else. See, a lot of people aren't impressed by you going to church. Because that's not what makes you a Christian. Christ's likeness is what makes you a Christian. Christian doesn't mean church attender. Christian means little Christ-like one. No, it's right to gather yourself together. It's right to assemble together. Do I believe going to church is awesome? Yes. Why? So we can sharpen, train, and equip, and stir up for love and good works, and keep our hearts encouraged and not grow weary in well-doing. And know we're going to reap if we don't lose heart. So the life never sneaks up on us and starts speaking louder than truth. And we never get waylaid by stuff that's an importance of gathering together, cheering each other on, staying sharp. Yeah. But, but gathering together isn't what makes you a Christian. Christ's likeness is what makes you Christian.

I think what we do to our children, don't get condemned by this. Don't get condemned by this. Think what we do to our children without even realizing it at a young age. We say, "Well, my babies are growing up in church. My kids are growing up in church." So we get ourselves together and we go to church. And we might not even went to church before we had the children. But we talked about it. But we know. But now the children motivate us. We thought, you know, "I want them to grow up in church." Who's ever felt that way or had parents talk that way or think that way? Right? But here's the paradox. We take the kids to church and we're faithful at that Vacation Bible School and in their little programs. And, and then they come up on Mother's Day and it's all sweet and it's all, "My babies in church." But watch. If you're not pursuing to be more and more like Him when you're not at church, then what you're inadvertently doing without even realizing it, you're teaching your children that Christianity is church attendance instead of living Christ. So if you're just at home, unresolved conflicts, screaming at each other, putting each other down, shouting them down, "Johnny, I told you how many times, get to your room!" "Just get your room!" "But Dad!" "But Mom, just get to your room! I'll deal with you later, boy!" But then we're gonna go to church. It's not cool because you don't realize inadvertently what you're teaching them. You're teaching them Christianity is what you do in church, not what you become in Him. Don't get condemned by that. Be challenged by that. And if that shoe fits, just kick it off. Just scream and kick it off. Don't be Cinderella, your perfect fit. Just kick the thing off and say, "Not anymore." Wow. That was so, "Bird." Let that be a "haha" moment. You know why? Was repentance rather than guilt, condemnation, and shame. I wish true repentance would just be like, "Duh, duh, what was I thinking?" And then, "Yeah, that's repentance." I wish we'd have more "duh" instead of, "Oh man, I really feel crummy now. I've been messing up my kids." Okay, so now what? Suffer again? Go to hell? No. Make change. Invest good seed. Get a new crop. Get a new harvest. Teach your children the beauty of change and repentance. All of a sudden, your little child saying, "Mommy, Daddy, how come I remember you guys don't fight like you used to fight? I remember you used to yell at Mommy and I didn't like that, Daddy. But I'm thankful you don't even yell at Mommy like you used to." Who knows? Kids will be straight raw and talk like that. What a joy. If they say something like that, it's not, "Oh yeah, I know I used to really smell it, your mom." No. "Well, I can tell you exactly why, honey." And then you share the beauty of what you're becoming and the beauty of your relationship. And all of a sudden, your little girl realizes, "Wow, we can grow up into Him in all things. And we might not be doing everything right, but we can get a hold of truth and we can go after it. We can become..." What if your co-workers need to see that? Wonder if your co-workers say, "Well, Auntie ain't paying you for the last three years, pal. Where has Jesus been in your life?" All of a sudden, you live in Jesus for the next six months. So true that they forget the last three years because the last six months is right. And finding their face. Oh, that's just so good. Yeah.

So don't find a way to talk around this or out of this. This is your calling. Whether anybody in your life wants to run this way or not, you still have to answer what you're gonna do with the gospel. Like, when you stand before Jesus, you're not gonna have your whole peer group around you. Your spouse isn't gonna be there. They're not gonna be able to say, "You know, I don't really believe in you. If it wasn't for her, you know, Lord, I'd have followed You more. If it wasn't for him, I prayed about him. How much you never answered me." You won't be able to even think that. You'll just look into His fiery eyes of love and the light and truth of who He is. And you go, "Oops. I've been tricked and deceived. I've let my husband and where he is, or my wife and where she was, matter more than who He is in me." Wow. I've been determined by my spouse, not the Lord. And you're probably just gonna go, "Oops," and cry and follow His mercy. And hopefully, you'll just dry every tear and things will work out okay in the end. But why would you want to lose your fruitfulness? And this, the Father is well pleased that you bear much. Watch. Not that you get much blessing, that you bear much fruit. You know what true blessing is? When you bear much fruit. When you see somebody's life touched and changed because your life had a part in it. And your change helped change them. What a payday. You think if you think I'd hate a promotion or more money or a nicer car or favor from people? That's favor. That's blessing. That's purpose. That's like, "Woohoo!" You got a spouse coming up and crying and telling you they were absolutely gonna leave their husband and they had nothing in their heart for their husband. And they listened on YouTube to one message and cried their little eyes out and said, "I've been deceived. I've allowed my husband to decide my heart. I've been blinded." They lifted their hands, start praying. God illuminates them, pulls off the veil. They looked at their husband and have a whole new desire. I get that testimony a lot. Yeah. That's exactly how I feel. That's a payday.

And He did a payday last year. I had two people win a couple month period come to me. They were legally divorced by the courts. One for a year and a half, and one for two years. They didn't find a significant under. They didn't go out and get remarried, didn't grab another person. Did you ever notice? Don't get condemned by this. Did, if you're in this room and you fit this scenario, did you ever notice how quickly when people split up, they rejoin to somebody else? How quickly? That's alarming sometimes to me. Because because we got it, we're living this way, we got to feel valued. We got to get, you don't want to be lonely. You've got to. So as soon as this is over, this is started. Yeah. The ones that really concern me is when this is started before this is over. And this starting is what makes this over. Don't get tricked like that. If you've ever been tricked like that, say, "Duh," and don't do it again. Yeah.

But they were together a year and a half, and two years, two separate couples. And this, this is amazing testimony. This, because this, this first couple ended up coming to a service together and they got water baptized together. And the pastor remarried him. It was just bizarre. It was so fun. But, but she was on YouTube a year and a half after the court finalized their divorce. And they hadn't talked to each other one time. Shannon went their ways, they just went their way. So it was no children involved. So he didn't need the parent. They just divorced. "See ya, see ya, good riddens." By year and a half later, she gets on YouTube. I don't know how I popped up there. She's watching YouTube. She said she was crying senseless. She just felt like truth was flooding her. And she wasn't like, "I wish my husband would have heard that." She was like, "I've been deceived. I've allowed my husband to determine me. I'd allow my heart to be ticked off by his life. And, and, and in that season, I was just a hurting, hard, unforgiving woman. And even though he had plenty of issues, I let his issues roll over on me. While my husband formed my life, I'm a product of what I've detested. I've turned out of this thing. Deceive. This is the truth." She fell in the mercy of God, crying, asking God to forgive her. Kept listening. All of a sudden, this desire to see her husband and to talk to her husband started to birth in her heart. A year and a half later, she didn't know where he was. She wasn't sure how to get ahold of him. But she figured all that out somehow. Probably still a little Facebook surge. It's not hard nowadays, I guess, to find people. She found him. I'd be hard for me, a caveman, but I am. Unless Jesus told me where you were, I'm probably lost. So, uh, but she tracked him down. She's called him. And when he answered, she said who it was. And he immediately began to cry. And she's like, "Why are you crying?" And he said, "I've been thinking of you and it's been on my mind so heavy. If we made a big mistake." And she said, "Oh, we did." She said, "I'm gonna send you a link. You got to listen to this." He called her back, sobbing and slobbering. And she said, "This man's gonna be down in Alabama. Do you want to meet me there and sit under the services and just get washed in this truth?" He said, "I would love to." They sat there for four or five sessions and just sobbed. And then they come up and said, "Would you, would you baptize us together?" And they just recommitted their lives to God, forgave each other, did some marriage counseling, and got their license together and got remarried. They're not fun. I just think that's fun.

The testimony right after that, they were, they were separated two years or divorced legally divorced two years. And the messages turned their heart around and turned her life around. See, it's your eye, guys. It's your eye. That's the lamp of your body. Scripture teaches us at its Matthew 6, it's Luke 11:34. The eye is the lamp of your body. Where you live from, right here, your mode, if your perspective, your reason for being, your will, where you're living from, right here, determines exactly how you'll be. If your eye is single, your whole body's flooded with light. If your eye's not single, there's darkness. It says, "If the light in you is darkness," do you hear that? If the light has become darkness, perversion, just how great is that darkness? What's He saying? Just where is your view? Just how twisted is your vision, your view? Where are you living from? Because the Bible says, "If my eye is single, healthy, looking through truth, my whole body is flooded with light." It doesn't say, "Unless, of course, your spouse just did the unthinkable. Unless you just lost the loved one." See, because your eye can be single in all those arenas too. And you can already settle it. It's not about you. It's about His great name. And people, the honor of that, the integrity of living that way by faith, where you really actually believe your life is for the honor of His name. And that you're gonna leave a legacy for all time that's gonna speak on His behalf with this little window called life. Or you can get hurt, frustrated, disappointed. Yeah. But, and He said, she said, and time, I'll just slip by. Or you can settle in your heart, you're gonna live for the glory of His name. Yeah. See, whether just live by faith, you better wrap faith around this stuff, or your feelings will swallow you up. And what somebody said will eat you alive. And you'll play it over in your head ten times till you're hurt. Well, all of a sudden, you have a reason for being whatever you are. But whatever you are, does it look like Him? And you'll be justified because you thought about it so long and found two friends that agree with your pain. And then you're sentimentally connected with them because they're the only ones that really understood in your dark season. On it, right now, I might be in trouble. I'm backing up. I didn't know anybody was throwing anything. We do it a lot better than you. That is a dead giveaway if you're living that way. Are you doing anything for the glory of His name? Nope. You might be singing in His name. You might be praying in His name. What you live in for yours. You will take no account of the wrongs you suffer when you understand and become loved. And the reason you'll do that is because love doesn't seek its own.

So this intimacy, communion thing I started with, wonder if you would just wake up every morning and talk to Him like this? Just a little bit. Just you say, "Oh, I don't have that much time. I can't spend hours." Don't. Relationship is being with Him anyway. Okay? If these guys made appointments and spent an hour in the morning together and then didn't talk the rest of the day and at night just said, "Hey, good night," and then the next morning they did their hour appointment, would they be very close? No. They got to do life together. You see? Well, I don't have time. "I'm a mother and I got a job and I'm, I can't always be praying." No, it's developing in a relationship. It's a communion with the Lord. It's co-union. So when is He not in you? When's He not with you? When's He not His closest? The mention of His name. Boy, soon. The midst of mothering and four children running. And you say, "Five." "Five." Somebody's at six. Six, I guess. Exactly. Seven, I guess. Seven is all right. Hey, kids running around, man. It's not that you have to be on your knees praying. You're conscious of the Lord. "Father, I thank You for the wisdom, mother, in these children."

You're doing wash, and you're pulling out the wash. And instead of saying, "You know, I'd be married to this washing machine. This is four loads of wash in two days. It seems like all I do is wash, wash, wash, wash. Gone! I don't know why I had all these kids. I thought it's gonna be a blessing to have all these basketball cats, but I'm married to this washer. Come on!"

At the same time, the husband's driving. Husband's driving to work, and it's 95, and the roof's gonna be hot, and he's just mad that he has to feed all these mouths and be on that hot, scorching roof and do roof. One more day.

See, the Bible says, "Whether you eat, whether you drink, whatever you do, you do it all to the glory of God." How do you do four loads of wash every two days to the glory of God when your attitude is selfish? And every time you pull out a piece of clothing, "Oh man, that's little Jenny's. God bless her heart. Oh, she's so gifted. God, I just thank you." And all of a sudden, you're speaking life over as you're throwing the clothes.

You pull out little Bobby's shirt, and that thing is straight up inside out, like you told him ten times not to do to Mommy. And the little guy's only five, and you said, "If you do that one more time, I'm just gonna wash them like that and put it in your drawer. You're gonna be wearing it inside out." And he's five, and he's like, "Whatever, Mom. I don't even know what you're talking about."

And we try to instruct and teach our kids, which we should. But, but, but don't be gathering with your girlfriends and praying in the morning and blessing your kids, and then they have to wash. You're cursing them because the shirt's inside out. Because that's where the rubber meets the road. Anybody can open their little Bibles and sip their tea and play. Well, what about when little Bobby didn't do what you asked? Then where's he stand in your sight?

Then you can turn that into a God moment. You could say, "Oh, that little guy, man, he seems like sometimes he's so stuck in his way. Sometimes God seems like I talk to him, and he doesn't even hear. But I know there's a component in him that you're gonna use so mightily. He's going to be so unmovable and unshakable, and his truth gets ahold of his heart. God, nobody will be able to tell him different. That boy is rock solid. I declare Bobby rock solid, unmovable, and unshakable like his God." And now you're forgetting to do wash, and you're praying for five, ten, fifteen more minutes. You might even throw a few shabbos in there. And shabbos, they might get good.

And then you pull out your husband's shirt, and instead of going, "Now, that man, I think he wore this shirt for five minutes. Five minutes. He tried it on and decided he went where he didn't put it back in his drawer. He put it in this vest." What does he think? I'm his slave. Bad enough I'm raising these eight kids. Now wash his shirt that he wore for five minutes.

Oh, I'm not that far off. That's why you're laughing. So uncomfortable, but it's true. Wonder if we really lived in the spirit, lived by faith, and seized the moment. Wonder if we turned to everything into the glory of God. "Whether you eat, whether you drink, whatever you do, do it all." Well, you're not going to do that if you're not truly surrendered. You're not going to do that if you're not living for His great name. If it's about you at all, you're gonna stumble in these things. And little things are gonna sneak up and trip you. And you'll still do church, and you'll still sing loud, you'll still serve in ministry. But where it really matters.

I'm actually, I feel really happy in my heart. So smile with me. And I'm not picking on the ladies. The guys run the same risks with their responsibilities and stuff. And the Lord said this to me, for what this is worth, and how this will help you. He said to me this personally years ago. I used the word "responsibility" in prayer, and he whispered to me. It was so clear. He interrupted me and said, "And I was like, 'Yeah.'" He said, "Instead of that word 'responsibility,' I know why you said it. And I switch that. Flip that. And every time you think you need to use that word 'responsibility,' exchange it for 'privilege.'" And I went, "He is so wise."

So I started doing it. My hair just kept changing. And so white. You ought to listen to me. Look at my hair color. No, I don't even know what I'm doing right now. I'm having so much fun. But he didn't. He said, "Take that word 'response' because it was something. It was an integral thing. It was a responsibility. I'm gonna live up to my response." What he's saying, "Switch that out. Replace that with privilege." That changes things. What an honor, what a joy to lay down your life for another. Instead of finding out why they don't deserve it, why they're using you, why it won't matter anyway. It'll matter before the Lord. It'll matter before your conscience. And the sooner you kill that thing, the better you are.

But if you allow that thing to live because of justifications based on others, "I'm not gonna lay down my life because, because they might not appreciate it." Okay, so where's that lay with Jesus and dying on the cross? Things looked a little bleak. What do you have at the cross? A few mourning women. He healed countless. The books of the world wouldn't contain the things he did if they were written one by one. And at the cross, he had a few mourning women and a late show apostle or two. Yeah, that's all he had.

He shows up in an upper room. There are 120 people that are gathered. For the cause, we try to give him a church growth program. We'd probably try to teach Jesus how he could be more effective and impact and multiply his numbers. He's here for three years and does miracles beyond count. I'm talking miracles like some of us have never seen in our lives. Born blind, born maimed and lame, 40 years from birth, stuff like that. 38 years by a pool. There are sections in your New Testament scripture where it says, "All that they brought to him in that day, that one moment, that time, that day, wherever he was, were healed." Oh, whoever, whatever intense situations that we haven't seen change in our lives. You know, you look at a young man. You look at, I saw one yesterday, a young man that was born in the condition. We've prayed guys a lot over some of this stuff, and we haven't seen it change. Jesus saw it change every time. And they saw it change too. And there was still only 120. That stuff should speak.

He feeds all their bellies, and they go out of their way to find him. He goes to try to find a little quiet time. Just he just crosses and gets on another shore. He's a little sudden, the masses coming here. They all are. They found him. They all got in their little boats and they all came. He said, "You only pursued me and found me because I fed yesterday." What's he calling them on? You're just coming for what I can do for you. But you're not really paying attention. "Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no part of me." And then I did. We just want lunch. And they got weirded out and they walked away. He was talking about discipleship. He was talking about completely given. You know, about not missing the moment. The message. Remember what he said? "Woe to you, woe to you." Yeah.

See, if the miracles were done in you that were done in Tyre, Sidon, he said they would have been in sackcloth and ashes. I believe in that section, he said Sodom and Gomorrah, they'd have been here today if I'd had done in them what I've done in you. You're missing the point. He's saying you're just reaping the benefit of what I'm doing and missing what I'm calling you to become. Man, you gotta listen soberly and seriously here. Don't get condemned. Be challenged. Be convicted. Be inspired. But, but hear me. Watch this. Just for a second. Because we're whole. We're one. We're family. But just for a second, hear me as an individual. And know that you can take personal what I'm saying. No matter what that you, in the end, are going to be answering for how you stewarded this truth in your life. Period. No matter what factor you were faced with, or who chose to do what. You still have to decide from faith in your heart, "What am I doing with this truth?"

You see how awesome Jesus is? We know he's awesome. It goes without saying. But when you really look at it, do you see how awesome he is? Like, like people that he healed. I believe I think there were people that saw him do healings in the last day. And that last day turned and were yelling, "Barabbas!" There were people that heard his message. There were people that were laying out palm branches and crying out, "Hosanna in the highest!" And now, several days later, they're crucifying him. Had to be. Had to be. If Jesus wasn't who he was, if he wasn't solid, if he wasn't here for his great name, and them, he's pretty shook up by now. Or take him back. What do you think it would feel like if you're not living where he's living? And all of a sudden, you're standing, and you're so beaten, bruised, and battered, and you can hardly stand there. And the pilot's trying to let you go. Then the people are doing their best to make sure he's killed. Pilot's wife is trying to do her best. I mean, pilot was a ruthless man, apparently. When you read scripture, look at history. Pilot didn't have a lot of mercy. And yet, he was afraid of Jesus. And he was afraid of the stories. And his wife had a dream. And he's thinking, "I don't want nothing to do with this guy." And he's trying to find a way to compel the people to just be at peace and let him slide. Imagine what it would feel like if you didn't understand what he understood. And if you weren't what he was. And then you did all the good you did, and those same people are out there with vengeance screaming, "You've done nothing wrong!" And they're screaming, "Barabbas! Barabbas! Barabbas!" Killed a man. Jesus raised the dead. It's Barabbas. Cause conspiracy. Jesus is trying to make peace. Something is crazy. You know, you know if Jesus had the ability to be analytical and think like a human in the fallen nature, he's thinking, "Barabbas? Are you kidding me? This is the straw that's breaking the Savior's back. Now I've had enough. If they didn't change by now, they ain't changing. Like, do all this good, and they wouldn't release him? He kills a man, and I raise the dead, and I'm the bad guy? I've had enough of this. Ain't hit me no more. They put me on the cross." You said we couldn't do that. He's Jesus. He couldn't do it because he's loved. It's because he's loved. That's the difference. Don't miss that. Nobody took his life. He laid it down. Yeah. And he said, "Follow me."

You be very careful you don't get pulled into this American kind of gospel out there, just blessing you, provision, breakthrough, protection, to where your joy is resting on your circumstances and God breaking through and showing up when you need him most. Make sure that isn't what decides your disposition. Go deeper than that with him. Have a covenant with him where all that is yours is mine, and all that is mine is yours. Yeah.

I've just seen too many discouraged people go to church. When you're discouraged, where's your focus? On you. What didn't work out for you? What didn't go the way you hoped would? Can go the way you prayed? When you're discouraged, you're very self-focused. You know what Hebrews 12:3 says? "Consider him." Consider who? Him. You know, when it says that, right after it says he's the author and the finisher of our faith, it says, "Looking unto Jesus, who is the so who started our faith, who authored it, who's going to seal the book and sign this thing." Yeah. So we're not gonna get finished in our faith if we don't keep looking to him. So it says, "Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, lest you think you have a reason." It doesn't say think of a reason. That was my paraphrase. It says, "lest you be weary and discouraged in your own souls."

What's he saying? Discouragement is not Christianity. Why? Because it has to do with self-centeredness. Guess what else is in Christianity? I can show you two places. Complaining. Complaining is never acceptable. It is zero Christian. Because when you complain, you reveal you're not happy. You're not satisfied. Wonder if God complained? He'd probably have a reason in our eyes. But here's the beautiful thing about him. He has no reason in his because he's loved. And he's just bigger than turning you into what you appear. He believes he can make you what he intended. Yeah. And he's not gonna let where we're not determined where he is. He's going to let the power of who he is determine us. So man, for generations has never had the ability to change God. That's why God's been changing men all these generations. Are you with me? Come on. Don't you want a gospel this awesome? Or do you just want your blessing? Your blessing. And then if it doesn't come, you're gonna be POW and then looking for attention and hoping for somebody to come be sentimental and say, "They're praying for you. The rent's paid." You're like, "And then the rent's not paid, and you're like, 'How you doing, man?' 'All right.' 'What's wrong?'" No, you ever see that? Don't get tricked into that stuff. Yeah. You know, "I live by faith." You know, "Keep your eyes on him." And he's good. Amen. Amen.

Some of us. Some of us. I'm not gonna stay here long. Don't get too nervous. Some of us over budget and then get sad when God doesn't fit the gap. Some of us spend more than we have, and we take out loans we can't pay. And then we pray and intercede like crazy. And when the bills don't get paid, we're wondering where God was. And then we throw this big giving thing into a basket, believing it's going to increase a hundredfold because that was the faith on that night. So you got five, spend ten, and then you put a piece of it in the basket, hoping God fits the gap. And then he's responsible if it doesn't work out. Somewhere along the line, you're gonna find out you were wrong.

Okay, so I told you I wouldn't stay there long. I was probably a little, a little too long anyway. So I'm all for that. Now, I'm all for that. Oh, where's time go? It flies when I'm having fun. Anyway, are you having fun? Are you okay? You know what's so awesome? We can live this. We can live this. You have to settle in your heart what you're going to go after. And, and no, this isn't some motivational rah-rah thing. I try not to even do that. I try to speak enough stuff to empower you to go after this thing. Lay a foundation of truth and expose these lies so we can say, "You know what? This makes a good run for it. Go for it." But without the intimacy, without the relationship, you're not gonna walk in the strength of what I'm preaching.

I preach this a lot. It makes people restless but nervous. But as 1 John 4:7 and 8, "Beloved, let us love one another because love is of God. And everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God." So the only reason you can love is because love has revealed itself. And you love God first. You see that? He first loved you. So when you see God's first love in your life, which is important to preach the gospel to where people see his first love. Why do we make the goal heaven? Why don't we reveal his first love? Don't we teach people that when they were this and this and this, God never changed his mind and saw them for what they were created for? And God never marked him and labeled him and judged him for what they did. He marked him for what he did. And God never changed his mind. Come on. That's good news. That's love.

You show me one family member that treated us that way. Even though, even we all have the sweet somebody in her life, a grandmother, somebody that just was kind no matter what, but they still were concerned for you and saw you for your trouble. Probably. They just, they just were sweet. I had grandparents that were amazing like that. I had a cousin that was in girls' homes, but by the time she was 13, she was pregnant. Pride before she was 16, and she was considered a black sheep. They never treated her bad. They, they always treated her like she never was in a girls' home. So we do see family members that are that are gracious like that. But still, they, they're still worried. And when they're alone, or when they're with my aunt and uncle, they're still saying, "Oh, she's got herself in so much trouble." But around her, they treated her sweet.

But see, God doesn't even see you for that stuff. Like, God sees you through his Son, through the death of his Son. When you come to him and you repent, and you come to him and say, "God, would you wash me clean?" He, in a moment, makes you holy, blameless, and above reproach. It's just nobody's loved us like this, guys. So you got to see his first love. And then you, what you begin to love. So this love place that I'm talking about, I read it. I read it in 1 Corinthians 13. When though, that it was the first morning I was saved, the Lord said, "If you have not love, you have nothing." I saw it, and it was like, "Wow." And I read the four, four verses, four through eight of what love was in the Bible. But I remember seeing that it said, "It does not seek its own." And right then, so the Holy Spirit revealed to me, "That's the biggest problem in my life. I've been living for me." When I made for His image, and it gives me tons of unvalidated cry.

One thing out to you today. Learn in the secret place to put that thing away called self. "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. Everyone who is born of God and so the only reason you love is because you've been privileged to know him. Because without him, there's no love on the earth. You don't know love without him. He's the source of love because he's the source of life." So watch, if you, verse eight, "If you love, if not, he who loveth not." Know if he doesn't say you don't go to church. He didn't say you don't pastor. I realized he didn't say you're not born of God. He left that out. But he doesn't emphasize anything. He just says, "He who loveth not, what? Knoweth not God." It leaves that thing wide open. It doesn't say you don't lead worship. It doesn't say you don't go on a mission trip once here. It doesn't say you don't show up on Thursday to feed the hungry. I mean, it doesn't say you do, but it doesn't say you don't. But it does say this: If you don't love, there's one not to one reason not to one. You don't know him. Doesn't say you don't see your need for a savior. It doesn't say your name's not written in the book of life. But the goal isn't going to heaven. The goal is becoming love.

And if we don't get this, thanks, man. Thoughtful. If we don't get this, the goal is becoming love. The goal is not going to heaven. The goal is becoming love. Now, I don't know about you. Nobody ever taught that to me. Holy Spirit taught that to me in my bedroom. No preacher ever taught that to me growing up. The goal was going to heaven. There's very self-focused and self-centered. And it was blessings and provision and protection. Yeah. And people lived up and down based on their circumstances. And when things were going good, they were doing great. When things weren't, they were crying out in prayer and in despair and wondered if God was going to show up.

You've learned this. When you ask a person how they're doing, they tell you their two biggest challenges and say, "Keep me in prayer." "How's it going, man?" "I haven't seen you for a while." "I mean, I'm getting behind. Just keep me in prayer, man. It's a bit tough on my job and, yeah, and so and so." You remember. Yeah. It's not, but I mean, I'll be all right. Yeah. I mean, doing all right. It's like we always have to talk about what's wrong because ultimately that's where we identify how we're doing by how it's going instead of who he is in us. And why? And then the only other option, option of answering, is usually the total opposite spectrum. It's the Christian robot. "How are you doing?" "Bless coming in, going out. Praise God on the head." Not to tell when I'm doing a video. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And it's like, "Okay, yeah. Amen, brother." No, but, but, but how many people would genuinely just answer you because it's where they're, they're at? Where they say, "You know, thanks for asking, man. You know, there's just a lot of things on position for and, and faith for. But man, I'm learning God is good, and he doesn't change in midst of anything, and he is just so faithful. I'm learning, and he's so faithful. And then, yeah, there's a couple things I'm just, I'm just believing I'm gonna totally turn around. But you know, it's cool in the midst of it. I found I myself haven't changed that God has grown me in some areas. Man, I can tell you, I've honestly feel like I'm doing as good as I've ever been doing." Would that be a refreshing answer from a Christian instead of, "Well, I'm hanging in there, brother. Hope when his sandal strap, at least, you know, hanging in there." What is that? In there? Does not sound fruitful. Hanging in there sounds like survival and almost done. [Laughter]

"Let us love one another, for love is of God. Everyone who loveth is born of God and not some who loveth. Everyone who loveth is born of God and knoweth God." That means you cannot love without knowing him. Eternal life is knowing him, not knowing about him, knowing him. "He who loveth not just doesn't know God." It's not condemning. Sobering. It's convicting. So I guess our goal was to get to know him, right? Goes on and talks about he is loved. And if he loved us this way, ought we not love one another? And it gets down to verse 17. And it says, "This is when we know love is perfected in us, that in the day of judgment, we have boldness in that day." Why? Because that day is a day of darkness and gloom. The Bible says that's a day of fear and trembling. That's a day when men are crying out for rocks and trees to fall on them and consume them, at least they face the glory of who he is. The Bible calls it a day of gloom, the day of the Lord, a day of terror. But it says for the man that's walking in love, it says, "Here's how love is here." Some we know love is perfected, that you have boldness in the day of judgment. Why? Because as he is, so are we now in this world. Now talking about church attendance. Talk about how you live. Talk about not having a hurt heart, not having unresolved conflicts, not being issue-driven, not being offended, not being full of animosity. It's talking about you walking in love. No account of a suffered wrong because you consider not your own life. Boldness in that day. Why? Sassie. Yes. The whole chapter. He is love. His love. He is loved. As he is, so are. What's that mean? He comes on that day, and he looks at you, and he sees who he is in you. And you're sealed for that day by the Spirit of God in you. And you have boldness because you're one with him. And as he is, so are you in the world. Let's sure beats just an impersonal, "Oh yeah, you're on the list. Yep. I'll see you prayed that prayer eight years ago on a Sunday afternoon. Wow, you were crying hard. It's marked in the side notes. You were really crying hard. You seemed sincere. Yep. But the last eight years, up and down. Question if you're saved. Pray me through this, brother. Hey, ain't feelin' your pray. I don't know what's wrong. Just feel like something's blocking my line. But man, I prayed that day, and I'm on the list." No, it's gonna be a lot more personal than that. As he is, and that's when you'll have boldness. I don't know about you. I'd rather have boldness on that day than be saved by the skin of my teeth. I'd rather have boldness than everything burned with fire and yet still be saved. It just sounds better. You're good.

Okay, I got to close. I think we're supposed to be coming back and doing this again, man. I hope I didn't run out of things to preach. No, I think we'll be all right. Okay. I just feel so empty right now. You see, that's a flat-out lie. Like I tell people, I don't land. I just stop. So I'm just stopping right now. I'm not a real smooth guy when it comes to this stuff. So I don't know how to really just kind of land. So I'll just stop that way when we pick up again, we already fly. I mean, I could get smooth, but I've never. I got one of these on. It looks like I'm in touch with the control tower. But, but I've never heard the control tower say, "Bring it in, Dan." I've never heard it, man. I've never heard. Yeah. Yeah. I've never heard the Lord say, "Bring it in, Dan." I mean, ox. Sometimes I can see the runway. I see the airport. I see the people. I just never hear, "Bring it in, Dan." So I just keep flying. You say you're not gonna run out of fuel? Not a chance. Just keep flying. But I'm gonna stop in midair today. I know you're taking something with you on this. I stayed in the same tone today. I kind of said the same thing 20 times over, different ways. It's really just God calling you and me to live from a pure heart and a pure motive where it's really, really, really all about him. Where it's not just our song, it's our life. Why? Because the pure in heart shall see God. Hate that. Awesome. So you just hear the Father fathering us into that place of purity, just living from the right places, thinking from the right places. You with me? I promise you, now's not the time to have unresolved conflicts. It never was in the first place. Animosity, issues, insecurities, tit for tat, nitpick. Stop. Throw it all away. Do not be deceived in this hour. This man shared it this morning. This is the greatest hour to be alive. Why? Because it's our hour, and we can live this gift called life for His glory. And we can make it matter for the long run. Or you can get caught up, time slipped by, and whatever, and regrets. And one day you wonder where time went. That would be a bummer. When you were given this little window called life, and it's a gift.

Do you know why life feels like a grind to people? You know, people say, "Life's a grind. Life's really tough." And life's a bleep in a blank. It's because they wake up every day and live life outside of why they're here. So they have no grace or empowerment to live it. So it always feels rough and dry. I'm not being self-righteous, presumptuous. I'm not preaching myself. I don't even know what you mean when you say life is a grind. I am having the time of my life. Yeah. And sometimes on the outside, people seem to be farther off in their mindsets than ever. Sometimes people seem to be more individualistic than ever. None of that determines your faith. It's his love for people. You handle all that and live all that in him, in the Spirit, and you don't let that dictate your "why." Yeah. And in the long run, we're gonna see God turn all that because we didn't let that turn us. Are you with me? So please be encouraged in this hour. And please know that you were called, like Esther, to a time like this. Are you with me? So live in peace in your homes. And even if your spouse doesn't want peace, you pursue peace. And you make peace. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they are the sons of God." So what is the son of God? Somebody that sings a song that says it, or somebody that makes peace? Somebody that loves their enemy, prays for those who persecute, and gives those who spitefully use you. Why? He says, "Do it so you shall be sons of your Father in heaven." See, sonship is not a confession, it's an expression.

We can lift the swam. We'll pray this over you, okay? This kind of grace right now. It's that little impartation thing Shannon was talking about. We're gonna do it. And then we're gonna pray one more quick thing. And this was just a real teaching time, and I hope you got something out of it. Father, I just thank you for grace in this room. Now, now, just grace to be that. That your grace would come and meet a whole room full of "yeses." That there'd be sincere "yeses" all over this room. God, that people would say, "You know what? I do want to walk in love. I do want to show mercy. I do want to make peace. I want my heart to live in the purest place." So would you come and meet every single person and father us in those places? God, and would you keep this word right in front of us, fresh in our heart and fresh in our understanding? And I'm asking this, Lord, that if anything would interfere, anything would try to distract or get in the way of the heart cry in this room right now of "yes," I pray that you yourself would expose it and remove it by keeping the truth right in front of our understanding. Lord God, I ask that hearts would be stirred. I ask that we would go forward in this hour like no time before and never look back. I thank you, Lord God, that this would be a day of establishing. This would be a day of settling and reckoning. That this would be a line, or a point of no return for so many in this room, that no matter what the case, all those scenarios would be fleshed out right here in this room. That this was a day that I got settled and established. This was a day that I decided, "I'm never looking back." This was the day I gave my "yes" to God. This was the day I released the person I was troubled with and realized it was my "I" that needed changed. God, I thank you for the right to be a peacemaker. And I thank you for the honor of being sons and daughters of God. So I pray that you establish these things in us by the power of your Spirit, and let your grace prevail. Holy Spirit, I'm asking you to come in some unique and special way and just begin to empower each individual right where they're at. Yeah, very personal. Just an empowerment today. And just let them have the ability to take a big step in you. And God, I thank you for it in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

Hey, yeah. Hey, man. We, we prayed for the sick last night. And and there was people that that wouldn't have known and right away. And then there was some people that didn't receive complete restoration in things, who didn't even see any change. Then we, we did what we did. Who was here last night? And we saw some things happen like that. The one young lady, she's right here. Yeah. She come up and shared with me that she had a hernia activity in her body. And yesterday she just really believes. She said, "You know, I just really believed that no matter what, God was healing the accelerator." And she shared it so sweet, like she just locked her heart on him, like, "Yep, He loves me. He's for me. Yay, God." And and she said she's eaten several times since then. She's had no protruding, no symptoms, or no evidence of her knee activity or pain. And she just came and shared that with me. Didn't that cool? She's sitting right there. And I just thought that was the sweetest testimony because she was having this trouble for a while. Is there anybody else that since we prayed that didn't get to testify that you said, "You know, since the last whatever hours, I just feel like I've, I was here last night, I was prayed for, and I feel like my body's changed." I don't even know who that would be if you'd even be here. I'm just asking because I like these testimonies. When she told me that, it was just a beautiful thing. So it's just prompting me to ask, is there anybody else that you didn't share last night, but you're here and you felt like something changed since you left or since we prayed for you? Anybody? Yeah, something happened. Changed. Hang on. He's coming back there so we can all hear you preach. No, I'm just saying you're gonna testify, honey. Thing. Go ahead. I had some compressed disc discs in my back. And I also went on vacation and had a deep tissue massage in my neck like four years ago, and my neck has never been the same. And the lady who prayed over me last night, my neck and my back, I couldn't stand for more than two hours without my back hurting. And now I can stand and worship without any pain. And I don't have any pain in my neck. I could move my neck. That's really, really good. Is there anybody else quickly? I just felt like we needed to give opportunity, just in case somebody and get a chance to share. For the last couple of days, I've had some pain in my right side, in my right chest. Everything kind of for me happens on the right side. Right neck pain, like pain. But for the last couple of days, I've had some really weird pains in my right side of my chest. I haven't even said anything to my family. And I thought, "Well, maybe it'll go away." But I was one of those in the first group. And like I had nothing last night. And I had the best night's sleep. I didn't wake up with any pain today. I felt great. So thank you, Jesus. Beautiful. Yay, God. Thank you, Lord. Yeah, I was actually healed during the service. My spiritual mom here, Sharon, just prayed for me. And I was, I was in a car accident a couple of years ago, and I had really bad whiplash. And now I can move. You feel that? Yeah. Pain is gone completely. That's so beautiful. Hey, I love it. So good. Yeah, go ahead. You just gotta stand up. Well, I've been having trouble with my left knee, and it's been giving a little bit of pain. And last night when we prayed, I had my sister Linda pray for me. And God has healed my left knee. Wow. So hang on. Give him the mic back. Hi, just watch. So how do you know that? Like, you just explained that too. So we've really grasped it. Like, what would take this morning? I had no pain in my knee. Last night it was starting to go away, but it wasn't immediate. Okay. This morning it was gone. Gone. So normally when you wake up, it's there. It's really there. It's really. This really. See, I try to get people to share their experience because we can't totally relate sometimes when it's not you. But see how he answered me? He said, "All this really there." It's usually really there. So it was a painful experience almost every morning. Every morning I'd get up in the morning, and my knee would hurt. And this morning, this morning, there's no pain. Okay. Now watch. Now watch. If we drew conclusions and spun our minds, you got analytical last night. "Well, wonder why I didn't get healed. Something must be blocking my healing. Wonder what I'm doing wrong. What if the person prayed for me wasn't really qualified?" You could say a hundred things. Or you could say, "Father, I thank you. You're so good. And I so appreciate the work you're doing on my life and the grace that you're pouring on me. And thank you for making all things new." And all of a sudden, you go to bed in thankfulness. You wake up in joy. Next thing you know, you don't even have pain in your knee. But when you got prayed for, nothing seemed to change. But nothing changed here. Why? Because nothing changed here to get it. Come on. It should be the only Christian response we ever have. Yeah. Anybody else wanna share? Got a lady back there. This is good. We opened a bag of popcorn. I like it. You got something. Yeah, my name is Phyllis. And I have had a severity of gut issues. And I just went and got a colonoscopy, and they have done some biopsies on my bowel wall. Anyway, I have been showing non-functional capability. It's kind of like bowel paralysis, or I just cannot feel a bowel movement. And so I got prayer last night. And hallelujah. I know this is terrible, but I've had two bowel movements in one day. Hey, totally normal. Yeah. What's she saying? She pooped. Then she knew it. Yeah. Jesus, bring that thing alive. That's the best testimony. Anybody else? We all good? Let's do some. There's, there's, there's, there's two things. Omaha, right now, we're just gonna pray, okay? Let's do this. First is just listening. Is there anybody in this room? I haven't done this for a long time. I don't know why. I just do things when they come on my heart strong. You could do things because you want to, and God will honor and bless it. But he usually puts this stuff on my heart. But there was a season where I was doing this all the time. I came to tell you last time we've done this, but it's really on my heart now. And that's exciting to me. Most of the time when he tells me to do this, I see 100% results. Now, I won't really get to weigh that probably this weekend, maybe somewhat by tomorrow, because we only have one night yet tonight. But who's in this room? It has to be in the room, or I wouldn't be here in it. It has to be. It's probably more than we think. You're having trouble at nights sleeping, and you take some kind of sleep aid, whether it's prescriptive or over-the-counter. You have trouble sleeping at night, and you use a sleep aid to sleep. Let me see. Let me see your hands. Okay. Where are you? Okay. Well, this is exciting to watch. Oh, it's so beautiful. Now watch. I know we do a lot of things through prayer. This isn't even a prayer thing. Watch tonight when you go to bed. Okay? Are you all listening? The people who raised their hands. I've checked into this. I don't tell people to not take their meds. But with sleep stuff, even prescription stuff, it, there's no side effects if you don't. There's nothing they prescribe that would hurt you if you didn't take it, except you just wouldn't be able to sleep in the natural. So it's not dangerous to not take your sleep pass tonight. And if you're just taking it over the counter thing, here's what I want you to do. Before you go to bed tonight, you be with him. Now watch this. I'm telling you, you are gonna sleep tonight. It's gonna be so fun across the board. You people who raised your hands, you watch. You give yourself to this truth. You take the thing that you were taking and say, "Lord, I know I've been taking this. I know it's been helping at some level, or it hasn't been helping at all. But either way, I've been taking it. But tonight, I'm just gonna sit it right here." And you shut the bathroom door, get alone, just be with him. Don't even be with your spouse. Just be alone. Just be with him. Shut the door to the bathroom or something and just say, "You know, tonight I was gonna be with you. And I just know you love me. Your hands are so strong in my life. And because of you, I'm gonna sleep undisturbed and get as much rest as necessary. And I'm gonna be fresh in the morning and very aware of your love." And you just commune like that with him. You put that thing aside. Thank him that tonight I'm just gonna put this aside. And I just trust that you're the reason that I'm gonna sleep tonight. Don't strive and I'm struggling. I'm gonna lay my head down. I'm just gonna be with you. And I'm telling you, you're gonna sleep tonight. Okay? So just be with him. Let me see your hands again. You were, you were taking some of the. Okay. It's a bunch of you. Y'all go and be with him. You're gonna do that. You're gonna sit that thing aside and have a little personal moment with the Lord, just you and him, and talk to him. Yeah, it's gonna be fun. All right. Now listen. I don't normally do things this way, but I just feel like this in my heart. I'm just gonna pray a corporate prayer for healing. Anything that hasn't changed in our bodies, or any visitors, or anything. Just if you're sick in your body right now, I just want you to put your hands somewhere, maybe where there's a sickness, or even just on your heart, just a contact point of faith that God, he's praying over me right now, and I'm believing you're touching me, and I believe you're doing a work right now. So Father, I'll thank you for healing all through this room. And God, I just thank you right now that you paid a price through your Son, and you make all things new. Every pain, every disease, every sickness, you leave the people in Jesus' name. Father, I thank you for a restoration and a regeneration in joints and muscles and bones. God, I thank you for strength swallowing up weakness. God, and I just thank you for organs that are healthy and functional. God, I thank you for hearts that are restored and made strong in the natural, that are working. Uh, okay. I just believe that right now you're putting years on some hearts that are in this room. Years of function. I just saw it. I heard to say it. You're putting years of function on hearts. People that were told that their condition would limit them. Some years will find no limit in the end. And Lord, I just declare that over them right now. And I just thank you. I thank you for lungs that are strong, kidneys that are working well, livers that are whole. Lord God, I just thank you that digestive. If you've had bowel issues, just put your hand right there on your abdomen. And I just thank you going right now for touching everyone in that area of the bowels. And no more diverticulitis, no more digestive dysfunction. God, I thank you. No Crohn's disease or symptoms in Jesus' name. God, I thank you right now. No allergies, no reactions to things. God, I thank you for total healthy function the way you intended from the beginning. I'll bless this house and I thank you for holding us over it because you're good. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.