1 00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:10,680 We welcome you to the We Are Zion sermon podcast. 2 00:00:11,120 --> 00:00:13,560 We are a church based out of Chennai, India. 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:17,080 We are thrilled that you tuned in today and hope that you will 4 00:00:17,080 --> 00:00:20,760 be refreshed, revived, and energized by what you hear. 5 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:24,240 Our desire is that you will live life with a renewed sense of 6 00:00:24,240 --> 00:00:27,840 purpose that stems from a vibrant faith in Jesus. 7 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:33,640 The year 2025 is 1 where we will be positioned by God to possess 8 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:37,200 our promise. We are celebrating all that God 9 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:40,600 has done and has promised to do over the next few weeks. 10 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:44,400 Every word that God has spoken will come to pass. 11 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:48,840 Everything that you have sown into will begin to reap its 12 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:51,640 fruit. The harvest is here and it's 13 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:54,240 plentiful. Can we lean into the Lord of the 14 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:57,240 harvest and hear what He has to say to us? 15 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:01,280 And in keeping with that, last week at church we had a harvest 16 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:03,240 festival. We had an amazing time. 17 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:07,120 We had so many stalls, food and games and we had a thrift. 18 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:09,560 Store. We had arts and crafts being 19 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:13,880 sold by our very own church people and we raised money for 20 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:15,920 missions. It was such an amazing time. 21 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:19,160 More than anything else, I think the fellowship, just having 22 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:23,080 people eat together, you know, there was so much of laughter. 23 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:24,760 We had a lot of games that were happening. 24 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:29,240 We had a hamper that they had to guess the weight of and there 25 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:31,640 were a lot of games, prizes to be won. 26 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:33,080 We had an auction which happened. 27 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:38,000 So much fun all around. And so we had for breakfast we 28 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:41,000 had something different. We had a dosa, a live dosa 29 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:43,080 counter. So one of our friends runs a 30 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:46,400 catering business so he came and set up a counter for us. 31 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:50,800 We had live dosas that were just being made fresh on the go. 32 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:54,320 We had so many options of dosa. There was something like 8 to 9 33 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:56,480 varieties of dosas that were been offered. 34 00:01:56,480 --> 00:02:00,160 There was also eggs that were being made with it and different 35 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:03,840 gravies, different chutneys and basically everyone who had it 36 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:06,920 said they enjoyed it. You know, and it was just this 37 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:11,039 beautiful start for the day. And so we had given this person 38 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:14,320 to set up his dosa stall. We had given him the place just 39 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:18,760 outside of our church space because, well, it had a live gas 40 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:21,320 stub and we wanted to be safe and he preferred something 41 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:23,240 without an AC. So he said I want the place 42 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:24,440 outside. So we gave it to him. 43 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:27,120 But we felt bad for him because this is Chennai heat. 44 00:02:27,640 --> 00:02:30,160 It is not the heat is not reducing now that it's 45 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:33,360 September, it's still as bad. And so as much as we have 46 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:35,800 windows there and he would have had a bit of breeze, we we 47 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:38,120 didn't want to be so still that he would sweat and get tired. 48 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:41,320 So we, we bought this fan for him and we said, hey, you know 49 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:43,360 what, we want to make sure you're comfortable. 50 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:44,960 So this fan's going to be in a corner. 51 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:47,600 It's going to circulate air. But he was very clear. 52 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:50,720 He told me and told the other people who were asking him, He 53 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:54,400 said, I don't want a fan in that space because this fan will run 54 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:57,720 so fast that the flame for the stuff will keep going off. 55 00:02:57,720 --> 00:02:58,720 And we can't be dealing with that. 56 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:00,560 I'd rather sweat it out, is what he said. 57 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:05,400 And it got me thinking in, in terms of today's world. 58 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:07,600 We're going to be talking today about winnowing. 59 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:11,280 And when you look at these videos of winnowing, most of the 60 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:14,480 time it's done with a huge fan, sometimes an industrial sized 61 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:18,600 fan where the grains are actually grown up in this tray 62 00:03:18,920 --> 00:03:21,200 and the fan is kept on in front of it. 63 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:25,120 And as they, you know, throw this grain up and down the fan 64 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:29,280 which is on pushes all the shaft far away while the grain is left 65 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:31,600 behind on the trail. Right. 66 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:35,480 And it got me thinking that so many times in my. 67 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:38,840 Life. I have rejected the wind of the 68 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:42,040 Holy Spirit based on a similar situation of Ohio. 69 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:45,600 He probably come in too strong and I might get overwhelmed or I 70 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:48,560 might look, you know, foolish to my friends and family. 71 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:50,520 I would rather keep him toned down. 72 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:52,920 Many times I don't. I have the Holy Spirit in my 73 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:55,040 life. I've had him for so many years, 74 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:58,200 ever since I experienced Jesus as my Lord and Saviour in Grade 75 00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:00,840 8. But he has just been relegated 76 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:03,320 to this companion who stands there unplugged. 77 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,760 But I believe God is calling us in the season of harvest to plug 78 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:11,880 in because the Holy Spirit can't just be like a pedestal fan left 79 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:13,360 there for. Sure, he needs to be. 80 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:16,480 Plugged in, we need to be plugging into him, and many 81 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:19,800 times we plug in, but we keep his level at zero. 82 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:22,280 Well, like you know what, Holy Spirit, I know you're there. 83 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:25,760 I need your wisdom for this. But this other thing, I've got 84 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:29,240 it covered. I feel like I'm deficit in this 85 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:32,800 space, but this, I'm operating out of strength. 86 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:36,320 Don't worry about it, but I believe God is calling us into a 87 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:39,600 place where we just don't have Him as this fancy companion that 88 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:40,560 we. Speak of or. 89 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:41,960 Sometimes don't even. Speak of. 90 00:04:42,280 --> 00:04:45,640 But it's somebody that we are plugged into constantly and he's 91 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:48,800 not just on the red button, but he's at level 4. 92 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:51,800 He has got. Full freedom to do what He 93 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:54,880 desires to do in US. And with that in mind, I want to 94 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:58,200 step into this. The word today that is winnowing 95 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:01,120 the harvest has so many things that are happening. 96 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:03,840 Grain is being harvested, is being cut. 97 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:06,360 Right. And then it's been threshed and 98 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:09,280 then it's been winnowed. Winnowed is so winnowing is so 99 00:05:09,280 --> 00:05:12,760 important because it actually leaves the grain ready for 100 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:16,280 what's next. Many times we we allow ourselves 101 00:05:16,280 --> 00:05:18,440 to be in this place of just quiet. 102 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:21,200 Numbness. We don't want the holy. 103 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:25,400 Spirit to disrupt our seemingly ordinary in control lives. 104 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:29,240 But I want to ask. You today, would you be willing 105 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:33,240 to be winnowed? And to be disturbed a little, so 106 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:36,640 that what is important stays, and what is unimportant leaves. 107 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:40,480 Proverbs 20 verse 8 says when a king sits on his throne to 108 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:44,120 judge, he winnows out all evil with his eyes. 109 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:46,960 I want to. Take a direct correlation to the 110 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:50,120 King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, Jesus himself seated on 111 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:52,800 the throne. When he looks at our lives, when 112 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:56,840 he looks at all humanity, in his discernment, in his infinite 113 00:05:56,840 --> 00:06:01,800 wisdom, with his vision for every human being, he can winnow 114 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:04,920 out what is evil and retain what is good. 115 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:08,840 And so I want to ask you, are you open to what the King wants 116 00:06:08,840 --> 00:06:13,600 to do in your life? The King desires to winnow us so 117 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:17,880 that what is pure remains right. Everyone of us, you know, 118 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:22,200 without exception, everyone of us have these traits that are a 119 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:29,240 tad ungodly, even the the most, you know, kind and. 120 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:34,400 Good of the lot of mankind has a spark of something that isn't 121 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:37,400 right and that's just the way we wire it says the Bible says we 122 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:40,800 were conceived in sin. You look at a newborn baby looks 123 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:45,520 so pure and untouched by evil. But then it's interesting. 124 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:49,640 I was watching this meme of this little child and she's just 125 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:52,600 purely acting. She's about 3 months when her 126 00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:54,240 mum comes over. The crib, she. 127 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:56,320 Pretends to cry just to get her attention. 128 00:06:56,760 --> 00:06:59,800 When the mum moves away, she figures no one's paying 129 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:01,320 attention. She stops crying. 130 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:03,440 There's a huge. Amount of acting that's going 131 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:04,960 on. Who taught that to a three month 132 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:08,200 old child? It's the way we are wired. 133 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:13,120 There is so much of stuff in US that is just inbred into US. 134 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:15,720 And I believe that the Holy Spirit, when He is given 135 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:18,960 permission and room at the time of our salvation and henceforth 136 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:23,080 He begins to come and disrupt those things and and unsettled 137 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:26,160 those things that have settled into our very psyche and settled 138 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:29,040 into our character to set us. Truly free. 139 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:33,040 Maybe it's those small lies that you've been labeling. 140 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:36,960 White lies when a lie is a lie. Maybe it's that cuss word that 141 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:40,880 just slips out when you stub your toe on the on a shelf. 142 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:45,800 Maybe it's that hateful glance. Maybe it's that contemptuous 143 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:48,320 expression, the disdain you show for someone. 144 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:52,160 What is it that you have been overlooking? 145 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:54,560 But you know hard of us that probably doesn't. 146 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:57,560 Please God, let's not kid ourselves. 147 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:01,080 Try as we might, we are not able to change some of these things 148 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:04,640 because they're so hard wired into us, right? 149 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:07,800 But the beautiful thing is that the Holy Spirit, like I likened 150 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:11,240 him to this fan, he's not only about the superficial, he's not 151 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:14,440 just about behaviour change. He comes in and does an internal 152 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:18,640 reset, which eventually shows up in our behaviour and attitudes 153 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:21,280 and all of that, but he does an internal job first. 154 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:24,240 And so I want. To come to John chapter 20 where 155 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:27,840 Jesus has risen from the dead. He's meeting with his disciples. 156 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:29,720 They're all huddled together afraid. 157 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:33,000 When he has risen from the dead, He comes and meets them and this 158 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:35,679 is what he says. John 20 verse 21 to 23. 159 00:08:36,039 --> 00:08:39,120 Again Jesus said peace be with you as the Father. 160 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:42,480 Has sent me, I am sending you. And with that he breathed on 161 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:45,320 them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. 162 00:08:45,560 --> 00:08:48,840 If you forgive anyone's sins and their sins are forgiven. 163 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:50,840 If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven. 164 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:52,360 But what does? He do. 165 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:55,120 In the middle of that, he says he breathes on them. 166 00:08:55,760 --> 00:08:58,320 And says receive the Holy Spirit. 167 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:01,080 The word for Holy Spirit here is Ruach. 168 00:09:01,560 --> 00:09:05,240 He's a wind, he's a breath in certain translations, he's a 169 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:08,200 whirlwind. But the word here that I want 170 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:11,320 you to focus on is, he breathed on them, it says. 171 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:13,600 So before the upper. Room experience where the 172 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:16,520 tongues of fire came on each of them and they began to speak in 173 00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:19,440 different languages. They had this experience where 174 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:23,320 the where Jesus in a very understated moment just breathes 175 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:25,200 upon them and says receive the Holy Spirit. 176 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:28,240 I, I don't know if they even, you know, knew the weightage of 177 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:32,920 that moment, but the word for breathe into or blow upon is 178 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:36,640 emphusao. Emphusao, which actually means 179 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:41,400 to blow out or on to puff. And Jesus was what was he 180 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:44,240 basically doing? He was basically imparting to 181 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:45,400 them his. Spirit. 182 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:49,080 The Spirit that was on him. What was the Spirit that was on 183 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:50,680 him? Isaiah talked about it 184 00:09:50,680 --> 00:09:53,080 repeatedly. In Isaiah 61, he talks about it. 185 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:57,920 Isaiah 11, he talks about it. He talks about the Spirit that 186 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:01,480 would be given to this person that would set him apart from 187 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:04,320 everyone else, that would help him to judge peoples, that would 188 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:06,600 be that would enable him to restore people. 189 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:10,400 This was the Spirit that was on him and this is what Jesus was 190 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:12,600 doing. He was breathing the Spirit upon 191 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:16,280 them, so that He was imparting to them what He had on him, and 192 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:19,080 what He had in him had He not done. 193 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:21,680 This we sometimes can overlook the small little detail and the 194 00:10:21,680 --> 00:10:25,520 words and continue to the ascension, but had Jesus not 195 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:30,680 breathed on them his spirit, I'm afraid these people would have 196 00:10:30,680 --> 00:10:34,800 been exactly the same way when that that they were at when 197 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:37,160 Jesus died. How were they when Jesus 198 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:38,760 actually died? They were doubting, they were 199 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:42,360 fearful, they were incapable, they were inconsistent. 200 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:48,000 Yet He breathes upon them. And I think something began to 201 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:51,600 happen that prepared them for the upper room experience. 202 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:53,920 Something began to stir within them. 203 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:56,240 I'm sure each of them were grappling with their inner 204 00:10:56,240 --> 00:10:57,800 demons. Each of them were dealing with 205 00:10:57,800 --> 00:10:59,440 stuff that was bogging them down. 206 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:01,880 Each of them was struggling with regrets or doubts. 207 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:06,080 And the Holy Spirit was now breathed upon them, and he says 208 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:09,080 receive it, and I'm sure something. 209 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:11,480 Shifted. So before we go to actually the 210 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:15,560 book of Isaiah to understand what this winnowing looks like 211 00:11:15,560 --> 00:11:18,960 practically right, I want to ask you this question. 212 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:22,840 Have you allowed God to breathe his spirit into you? 213 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:27,000 The very breath we take in in our lives today, every single 214 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:29,640 day is a gift. The breath in our lungs is the 215 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:32,600 breath of God. He breathed into Adam in the 216 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:34,400 same breath exists in each of us. 217 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:37,520 It keeps us going. But the you know, this new life 218 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:40,000 in Christ, this Zoe life requires. 219 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:42,360 That we have the. Spirit of God breathing afresh 220 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:44,840 every day upon us. It can't be a one and done 221 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:46,520 thing. I can't just have received the 222 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:49,480 Holy Spirit in that one situation when I was in grade 8 223 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:52,000 or grade 10. But I need the Holy Spirit today 224 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:55,640 more than I did yesterday. I will need him more tomorrow 225 00:11:55,640 --> 00:11:59,320 than I did today. And for that I need to have this 226 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:02,760 place of saying, Lord, bring your breath every day into me. 227 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:09,560 Blow your breath M Fusao daily. It should be that kind of a 228 00:12:09,560 --> 00:12:13,680 desire that we have. Are you open to God displacing 229 00:12:13,680 --> 00:12:17,760 evil thoughts from your life? Are you OK with God displacing 230 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:21,960 and winnowing out wicked desires, selfish ambition, 231 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:26,120 deceit, hypocrisy? Are you OK if you was to winnow 232 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:27,160 those things? Out. 233 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:31,680 Ruach, Ruach. Hakodesh. 234 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:35,760 He's the Holy Spirit. He is God in spirit form. 235 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:39,520 He knows the mind of God. He's the one who was with Jesus, 236 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:43,120 enabling him to do the things he did on earth, and he's the one 237 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:46,280 that we receive. The minute we say yes to Jesus, 238 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:49,680 the Holy Spirit comes to make his presence known in our lives. 239 00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:53,160 And if you look at the Bible right as a whole, anyone who did 240 00:12:53,160 --> 00:12:56,960 anything remotely impactful for God needed to have the Holy 241 00:12:56,960 --> 00:12:59,200 Spirit's in filling and the leading. 242 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:02,760 You couldn't have done it without the Holy Spirit, right? 243 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:04,920 And so therefore today I want to leave this with you. 244 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:09,840 If you want to even be able to do the basic, you know, the 245 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:12,360 things, small things you think that you need to do for God. 246 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:15,760 I believe there are very existence, not just doing things 247 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:20,320 for God, but are very existence is dependent on the wind of the 248 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:22,640 Holy Spirit. And I believe that this wind is 249 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:25,720 not just a wind that comes howling and creates a bit of 250 00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:28,240 drama. No, this wind is very specific. 251 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:31,800 It's very, very purposeful. It is very intentional because I 252 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:33,760 believe there. Are three reasons why we need 253 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:37,880 this wind of winnowing the wind wind of winnowing has three 254 00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:41,960 purposes right and before we get into the three purposes I want 255 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:44,280 to. Show you this quick clip of what 256 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:45,640 we're knowing actually looks like. 257 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:48,640 Just for those of us who are completely city bred, we have no 258 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:50,080 clue. What we're knowing is I want you 259 00:13:50,080 --> 00:14:08,500 to watch this. So you had a glimpse of what it 260 00:14:08,500 --> 00:14:10,940 looks like to winnow. Wheat. 261 00:14:11,020 --> 00:14:13,380 To winnow grain, you see the process. 262 00:14:13,500 --> 00:14:18,900 The process is very simple. The grain is absolutely safe in 263 00:14:18,900 --> 00:14:21,020 the hands of the farmer who's winnowing it. 264 00:14:21,260 --> 00:14:25,340 What is removed is that which is light and nutrition less and 265 00:14:25,340 --> 00:14:29,400 absolutely worthless, right? With that in mind, the Holy 266 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:31,760 Spirit's wind is a wind of winnowing. 267 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:34,800 And first of all, it's a wind that brings identification. 268 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:38,560 Wind of identification. Matthew chapter 3, verse 12, it 269 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:41,880 says his winnowing fork is in his hand and he will clear his 270 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:46,480 threshing flow, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning 271 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:48,600 up the shaft with unquenchable fire. 272 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:52,800 I want you to highlight, He will gather his wheat. 273 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:57,600 God is identifying with the wheat. 274 00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:00,080 He's saying it's his. It belongs to him. 275 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:05,520 The Spirit of God, we knows us, moves in us so that we are more 276 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:08,760 sure than ever before of our identity in Christ. 277 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:12,680 See, the problem is many times we go by the identifiers that 278 00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:16,560 the world gives us. We, we go by the labels the 279 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:19,720 world gives us. We go by these things of, oh, 280 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:21,360 you know what? Many times when you sit in 281 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:24,080 groups, people say, oh, you know what, I'm a recovering 282 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:25,960 alcoholic. That's a label. 283 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:29,920 It's a genuine one, but it's a label that we have assumed over 284 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:31,520 time because of a certain struggle. 285 00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:36,280 We could say my label is that of a single mother, fatherless 286 00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:39,160 child. What is the label that you have 287 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:42,600 been putting on yourself and identified it with the point to 288 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:46,840 which your actual identity in Christ has gotten diminished? 289 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:50,160 God is calling us into this place where we allow the Holy 290 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:54,560 Spirit to come in so that He brings in the fresh and real 291 00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:58,280 identification of who we are today globally. 292 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:01,760 Globally with the LGBTQ movement, people say they 293 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:06,320 identify themselves as pansexual, asexual, transsexual 294 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:10,560 and all kinds of identifiers, but I won't bring it back to 295 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:15,320 this. Your identity is found in Christ 296 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:17,640 and it is found in who God says you are. 297 00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:20,080 It is not based on your sexuality. 298 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:24,840 It is based on your adoption into the family of God. 299 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:27,880 When you say yes to Jesus, you become a son and a daughter of 300 00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:31,400 the most high God. You are adopted into his family. 301 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:33,760 Ephesians one verse 13 says this. 302 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:36,680 And also you were included in Christ when you heard the 303 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:39,600 message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. 304 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:42,720 When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the 305 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:44,400 promised holy. Spirit. 306 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:48,240 Who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the 307 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:50,840 redemption of those who are God's possession to the praise 308 00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:53,520 of his glory. The Spirit of God literally 309 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:56,360 brands us. The wind of God, the breath of 310 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:59,280 God brands us. If you've watched any cackle 311 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:03,040 shows, a cackle that belongs to a particular landowner is 312 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:07,480 branded with hot iron, right? They take this stamp and they 313 00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:10,400 stamp it on the calf who's about, you know, two years or 314 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:13,359 something. They stamp in or out so that 315 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:18,359 they stamp the animal with a brand so that the if ever the 316 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:20,920 cattle gets lost, they know who it belongs to. 317 00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:25,040 Sounds familiar? The Holy Spirit in you and me 318 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:30,520 brands us, makes us visibly different so that when someone 319 00:17:30,520 --> 00:17:33,480 sees us, they know we are a child of God. 320 00:17:34,120 --> 00:17:36,880 Too many of us have gotten confused with the identifiers 321 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:39,840 that people have given us, that the world has given us, that we 322 00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:43,760 have forgotten our identity in Christ and the enemy finds us as 323 00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:46,000 prime targets when our identity is shaky. 324 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:49,680 When the minute you are thinking, you know what, I'm all 325 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:53,280 alone, I'm solitary, no one loves me, no one cares for me. 326 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:56,240 I don't have a family, I don't have anyone that cares. 327 00:17:57,200 --> 00:17:59,360 You set yourself up for disaster. 328 00:17:59,360 --> 00:18:03,760 If you look at these videos on Nat Geo, when tigers and 329 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:08,200 lionesses are hunting, they're always seated low in the in the 330 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:10,160 Savannah grass and they're observing. 331 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:13,040 These. Huge herds running or grazing 332 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:17,560 and they never go for the the cow, the khaki which the 333 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:19,800 wildebeest, which are in the center of the herd. 334 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:22,680 They're always watching for the ones that wander off alone. 335 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:25,040 Because they make for ripe pickings. 336 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:28,720 And the problem with this is this, if we, the Holy Spirit 337 00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:31,320 does not brand us with the identity as children of God, if 338 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:33,600 you don't give him the room, because he does, he wants to, 339 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:38,320 many times we don't accept that we become solitary isolated 340 00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:41,320 Christians and we are right pickings for the enemy. 341 00:18:42,360 --> 00:18:45,760 I want to ask you, will you allow the Holy Spirit, his wind 342 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:50,320 of identification to fill you so that you know exactly whose you 343 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:52,040 are? Too many of us are trying to be 344 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:55,960 so self aware of who we are, we have misplaced the idea of whose 345 00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:58,440 we are. You are a child of God. 346 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:03,440 Your Father, your heavenly Father owns the world, He owns 347 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:07,000 the cattle on 1000 hills, He owns the wealth of every mind. 348 00:19:07,080 --> 00:19:10,080 He can do anything for you. He is omnipotent, He's 349 00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:15,640 omniscient, He is beyond our imagination in wisdom, in 350 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:18,280 knowledge. He is boundless in power. 351 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:22,760 Why are we living afraid? Why are we living so, you know, 352 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:26,040 scared of things? Why are we living so confined 353 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:30,280 when the God of the universe is our heavenly Father? 354 00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:34,120 And like a good father, maybe you have a bad experience with 355 00:19:34,120 --> 00:19:36,520 the Father. This is a father that he doesn't 356 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:38,200 deny good things to his children. 357 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:41,960 All we need to do is ask. But how would you ask if you 358 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:47,040 don't know who you are in him? When the Holy Spirit fills you, 359 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:50,680 you know without a doubt. That you are a child of God. 360 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:53,120 You don't have. To feel unwanted, you don't have 361 00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:54,560 to feel unloved. You don't have to feel 362 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:57,480 overlooked or rejected because you were worth dying for. 363 00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:01,200 He gave his one son for you so that you could come into the 364 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:05,880 family of God you now have. The same inheritance that Jesus 365 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:07,720 had, you have the same inheritance. 366 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:11,680 You have access to peace, You have access to joy. 367 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:14,880 Everything you thought you don't have, you now have because 368 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:19,840 you're a child of God. Don't allow the enemy to isolate 369 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:22,480 you. The beautiful thing is that when 370 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,320 you have the wind of identification moving in you, 371 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:27,480 you experience a sense of belonging. 372 00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:32,320 It's amazing to have a family of God, you know, wherever we 373 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:35,880 travel in the world. As a family, when we were in, 374 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:38,800 you know, different parts of the world, studying, ministering, 375 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:41,480 we've always found ourselves in a church on Sunday. 376 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:44,440 We've made sure of that. And the beautiful thing is we 377 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:47,960 may not know people there, We may not know the pastor, but we 378 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:51,360 fit right. In just by virtue of the fact. 379 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:55,680 That this is the family of God. It doesn't matter what our skin 380 00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:57,840 colour is, it doesn't matter what background we come from. 381 00:20:57,840 --> 00:20:59,520 The minute we walk in, we feel at home. 382 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:03,280 That's the sense of belonging that the Holy Spirit, the wind 383 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:07,160 of identification, does to us. And before we carry on, I just 384 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:10,000 want to pray this over someone. If you've been struggling with 385 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:11,880 this, identifying. If you've been. 386 00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:13,360 Saying I don't know what who I am. 387 00:21:13,360 --> 00:21:15,720 I don't know whose I am. I just want to pray this over 388 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:19,440 you, Father. I pray if they're struggling 389 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:23,360 with their identity today that they will lay every label down. 390 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:27,040 And they will believe that they are a child of God. 391 00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:29,760 And I pray that they will walk in the confidence with their 392 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:33,520 head held high, shoulders back, knowing that their Father owns 393 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:38,000 the universe, knowing that their Father is unlimited in power and 394 00:21:38,360 --> 00:21:41,280 in love. And I pray that Lord, they will 395 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:45,000 walk with their confidence. I pray that you would Holy 396 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:49,840 Spirit come in, bring in that identification that only you can 397 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:53,080 in Jesus name, Amen. Amen. 398 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:57,160 The second thing that the wind of winnowing does is it brings 399 00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:01,840 in the wind of consecration. You look at that, the video of 400 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:05,800 the winnowing process, something flies off and something stays 401 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:07,880 right. Matthew Chapter. 402 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:09,760 Three verse 12. Same verse, but I'm reading it 403 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:12,280 from the Passion translation. It says he comes with a 404 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:15,880 winnowing fork in his hands and comes to his threshing floor to 405 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:18,640 sift what is worthless from what is. 406 00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:21,000 Pure. Now what is a winnowing? 407 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:22,920 Fork, you might ask? Because the last time we saw it 408 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:25,240 wasn't a winnowing fork. I just want you to look at this. 409 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:28,480 Quick quick bit which helps you understand what a winnowing. 410 00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:57,640 Fork does. So you notice that a bunch of 411 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:00,800 farmers, they're throwing up the grain with the winnowing folks. 412 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:04,320 So it helps them to handle more grain at a time and then the job 413 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:07,000 is done quicker. Now here's the thing. 414 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:12,400 It says over here to sift what is worthless from what is pure. 415 00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:17,360 And many times in our lives, the minute we say yes to Jesus, I 416 00:23:17,360 --> 00:23:20,360 think the first few weeks or months are the honeymoon period 417 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:22,200 when we're just walking on clouds. 418 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:24,840 We're experiencing his love, we're loving this new life. 419 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:26,800 We're free of certain addictions. 420 00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:30,040 We're the free from the need to do certain things because we're 421 00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:33,040 really experiencing that Zoe life, that life that the Lord 422 00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:36,680 gives us, the new life that faith in Christ brings us. 423 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:40,960 But gradually, you know, it starts to get old and gradually 424 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:43,480 the old stuff starts to return. That tendency to do that 425 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:45,480 particular thing that you used to do before. 426 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:48,320 Or it could be just an attitude that hasn't changed. 427 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:52,480 Or it could be just certain relationships that are so just 428 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:54,000 burdensome because. You. 429 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:55,840 Know they don't fit in this new life with you. 430 00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:59,360 Certain habits, but the beautiful thing about the holy. 431 00:23:59,360 --> 00:24:03,480 Spirit is He comes in and He doesn't leave us the way we wear 432 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:05,200 it. At the moment of salvation, He 433 00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:08,440 starts to transform us, and the first way of doing that is 434 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:12,600 through consecrating us. Consecration is a setting apart. 435 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:16,040 It is removing the things that are weighing us down, that are 436 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:21,840 harmful for us, that are not of God, and retaining what is pure, 437 00:24:22,360 --> 00:24:24,880 what is holy. And the way He does that is 438 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:28,000 allowing us to walk into these different situations of our 439 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:31,440 life, handling certain relationships, having certain 440 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:33,960 confrontations. And it is in those that He 441 00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:36,440 consecrates us. The Holy Spirit does not 442 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:38,400 consecrate you and me in isolation. 443 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:41,440 He does not do it in a little bubble in this little scientific 444 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:43,160 laboratory. Which is completely sterile. 445 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:48,040 No, we are in a dark and dirty world and it's in the midst of 446 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:50,600 these everyday reactions. It could be with a spouse, with 447 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:52,920 our children, with our maids. It could be with with friends, 448 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:56,320 it could be at work, it could be with our passion projects, 449 00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:58,760 whatever it is. It could be with our financial 450 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:01,760 crunches. He meets us there and 451 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:07,520 consecrates us on the job every. Single day consecration 452 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:11,960 separates in US. What is worthless and retains 453 00:25:12,120 --> 00:25:15,040 what is pure? Because God's desire is not to 454 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:17,280 wipe us out. God's desire is not to just 455 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:20,200 annihilate my personality completely and just recreate a 456 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:22,520 new figure, a figurine. No God. 457 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:26,200 God created me with a purpose. He, He put certain traits in me 458 00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:28,680 which are innate to me. He's given me certain strengths. 459 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:31,720 He knows my weaknesses. But what He wants to do in 460 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:34,200 consecration is take me and make me whole. 461 00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:36,720 Because so many parts of me are broken. 462 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:40,320 So many parts of me are not pleasing to Him. 463 00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:44,200 Let's be honest. And he wants to refine that. 464 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:48,240 So I want to ask you, what are some things that have been 465 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:53,480 adding impurity to your life? Has it been envy, falsehood, 466 00:25:53,960 --> 00:26:01,800 pride, discontent, breed, lust, fear, insecurity, anger? 467 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:04,880 You read the episodes and they help you. 468 00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:07,840 Paul writes to Titus and Timothy and to the Corinthian church. 469 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:10,160 And when you're reading those, you realize that could be me. 470 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:12,520 He could be writing to me, right? 471 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:17,760 But the beautiful thing about consecration is that the end 472 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:22,400 result, the end result is not to decimate us. 473 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:24,800 It's not to remove our personality and make us like 474 00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:28,000 zombies. No, it's to bring out the best 475 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:32,600 within us and to separate us and make us holy unto God. 476 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:37,800 Isaiah 11 versus 2 to 4. The Spirit of the Lord will rest 477 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:41,400 on him, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of 478 00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:44,360 counsel and of might, the spirit of the knowledge and fear of the 479 00:26:44,360 --> 00:26:46,240 Lord. And he will delight in the fear 480 00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:48,640 of the Lord. He will not judge by what he 481 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:52,560 sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears, but 482 00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:54,840 with righteousness. He will judge the needy. 483 00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:57,240 With justice. He will give decisions for the 484 00:26:57,240 --> 00:26:59,960 poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with 485 00:26:59,960 --> 00:27:03,080 the rod of his mouth. With the breath of his lips he 486 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:07,480 will slay the wicked. I told you about how Isaiah 487 00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:10,880 spoke repeatedly about the Spirit that would be on Jesus, 488 00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:14,560 and he didn't leave it there. Isaiah somehow could see because 489 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:16,240 he was a prophet, the Holy Spirit. 490 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:17,680 Was. Revealing to him that this 491 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:21,280 spirit that was on Jesus would be passed to those who accepted 492 00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:23,480 Jesus, but they would also have the Spirit. 493 00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:27,280 But what is the Spirit? The Spirit there is wisdom and 494 00:27:27,280 --> 00:27:31,080 understanding, if you have seen. Someone who walks in genuine 495 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:33,680 wisdom and understanding, you will see that they are set 496 00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:35,840 apart. They don't talk like the people 497 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:37,800 of the world. They don't plot and plan like 498 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:40,600 the people of the world. They operate in another realm. 499 00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:43,440 The Spirit of. Counsel and might. 500 00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:47,880 It's different when the Holy Spirit is working in you. 501 00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:51,040 You are not. Looking to people you have, 502 00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:54,760 people that you listen to for wise counsel you you have. 503 00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:57,680 People who provide you with, you know, strength in terms of 504 00:27:57,680 --> 00:28:01,680 encouraging you and all that, but your primary source is God 505 00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:05,080 himself and that in itself consecrates you. 506 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:09,720 He says he will the spirit of knowledge and. 507 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:12,760 Fear of the Lord. He will delight in the fear of 508 00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:15,000 the Lord. He will not judge by what he 509 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:18,240 sees or what he hears, but he with the righteousness he will 510 00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:20,560 judge the Spirit. That was on Jesus had 511 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:24,120 consecrated him. Jesus was God himself, but when 512 00:28:24,120 --> 00:28:26,080 he came to earth he was 100% man. 513 00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:29,360 But he had the spirit. Of God in him, and this had 514 00:28:29,360 --> 00:28:33,200 consecrated him and set him apart from other 33 year old 515 00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:35,280 men. He was not the same as others. 516 00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:38,040 Because of this. Wisdom because of this 517 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:39,600 understanding, how do. You think he healed? 518 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:42,040 People. He had a knowledge of them from 519 00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:45,000 the time they were A1 celled Organism in their mother's womb. 520 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:49,320 He knew everything about them, superior might, superior 521 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:52,400 counsel, knowledge, fear of the Lord Jesus walked in. 522 00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:54,880 The fear of the Lord Jesus walked in such a way that could 523 00:28:54,880 --> 00:29:00,920 honour His Father on earth. Consecration is a byproduct of 524 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:04,000 the anointing. When the Holy Spirit fills you, 525 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:07,440 you are automatically receiving the consecration that the Holy 526 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:10,040 Spirit brings. You are not the same you were 527 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:11,880 one year back. You're not the same. 528 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:14,840 You're not the same you were one week back because He is working 529 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:16,320 in you and you are. Aware of it. 530 00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:23,160 Jesus judged not by what he saw like we humans do. 531 00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:24,840 He didn't judge by what he heard. 532 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:29,600 He had an understanding which was beyond He was righteousness 533 00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:33,600 personified. That being said, Jesus hated 534 00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:37,160 evil. Jesus hated evil and he kept 535 00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:39,440 speaking to those who are unrepentant of the evil they 536 00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:40,520 did. He said they would face 537 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:43,640 consequences. Let's not confuse ourselves on 538 00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:47,400 that. You know, many times in this 539 00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:51,120 Christian journey we find it more comfortable to coexist with 540 00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:52,960 the defilement. You know what? 541 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:55,360 Yeah, I am selfish. I do live for myself, but that's 542 00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:56,720 because my childhood was like this. 543 00:29:56,720 --> 00:29:59,400 I had to grasp. So this is OK, Lord, you know, 544 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:02,440 you understand. But God is bringing me to this 545 00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:06,520 place of saying that was. Then, but now you have me. 546 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:10,320 I want you to live for others. I want you to be selfless. 547 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:13,360 You see that the contentment with the old defilement has to 548 00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:15,240 change. And that is what the Holy Spirit 549 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:18,400 brings in. And many times we, we, it's not 550 00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:20,440 even an apathy. Sometimes we're just exhausted 551 00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:23,280 from trying. Not I really want to kick this 552 00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:25,520 envy and you know, in the knees and get it out. 553 00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:27,680 But it's something I struggle with. 554 00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:30,160 I'm always envy from the time I was a child, if someone had a 555 00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:33,520 better eraser, I wanted that. If someone had better clothes, I 556 00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:36,360 wished I had that. I don't know how to change this. 557 00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:40,640 The Holy Spirit, He can do anything. 558 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:44,680 He can do it anyhow. But the point is, would I allow 559 00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:46,520 him? Would I first of all call it 560 00:30:46,520 --> 00:30:48,560 like it is? What I say, This is a part of me 561 00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:51,520 which is unholy, Lord. This is a part of me which is 562 00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:53,840 unrefined. This is a part of me which is 563 00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:55,520 unsanctified. I need help. 564 00:30:56,400 --> 00:30:58,200 I need help. That's the first step. 565 00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:01,440 The next step is actually allowing Him to do what He does. 566 00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:07,560 You know, today in today's world, holiness and purity, 567 00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:10,560 modesty. Words like this are like bad 568 00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:11,960 words. People are like you know what 569 00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:14,880 it's my life. You know, this is I'm living in 570 00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:17,000 my zone. I I it's my life. 571 00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:19,440 It's my story. I can do what I want with it's 572 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:22,480 my body. These are words that are 573 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:28,760 considered I'll fitting for any human, but God's word is 574 00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:31,600 timeless irrespective of the era we are in. 575 00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:36,600 If he said be holy as I am holy, holiness is a requirement. 576 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:39,280 If he said blessed are the pure and heartful, they will see God. 577 00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:42,520 You're wondering why you cannot see God in your daily life if 578 00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:45,600 you're not able to see Him in situations, it's possibly 579 00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:50,360 because there's a huge amount of impurity, huge amount of. 580 00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:52,040 Defilement. Sometimes it could be even a 581 00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:54,960 little defilement. That's causing a lack of vision, 582 00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:58,280 and God is. Calling us into this place of 583 00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:01,360 consecration, he's saying, Will you let my wind come in and 584 00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:05,320 consecrate you? You remember that story that 585 00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:08,680 Jesus said about this person who had a evil spirit, and then he 586 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:12,520 said it gets driven out and the place is swept clean. 587 00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:18,160 But then he says this demon returns, finds it so clean, he 588 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:20,840 brings seven other demons and they make the person go upside 589 00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:23,800 down even worse. What is he talking about that 590 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:27,800 many times in our salvation experience, we experience this 591 00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:29,680 deliverance. We are, we're free of the things 592 00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:33,520 that were, you know, shackling us, but we forget to involve the 593 00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:38,640 Holy Spirit in that space. We forget to invite him in or we 594 00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:41,960 overlook inviting him in and we leave it unoccupied. 595 00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:45,560 And that's a dangerous place. Anything unoccupied is up for 596 00:32:45,560 --> 00:32:47,960 grabs. And God is calling us into a 597 00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:50,960 place where he says, you invite me in like a whirlwind. 598 00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:54,440 I come in, I will take away the things that are not meant to be, 599 00:32:54,440 --> 00:32:57,280 because a lot of the things that we retain as definement, even in 600 00:32:57,280 --> 00:33:01,480 a swept clean house, can become seeds for bitter roots, can 601 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:04,680 become seeds that grow into ugly trees of dysfunction. 602 00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:06,840 And the Holy Spirit wants to remove it. 603 00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:11,600 He wants to remove it. So I want to ask you, is it your 604 00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:16,920 desire to live consecrated? Is it your desire to live in 605 00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:20,560 such a way that sets you apart? This past week, we heard the 606 00:33:20,560 --> 00:33:23,480 tragic news of Charlie Cook dying. 607 00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:25,600 And I was just sitting and watching a lot of his videos. 608 00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:26,960 I didn't know anything about him. 609 00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:29,720 My son came down that morning and said, mum, I watch him on a 610 00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:32,200 lot of podcast. He's an incredible speaker. 611 00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:35,040 He defends the faith and this is what has happened to him. 612 00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:38,360 So I, I sat through the day. I was listening to his, you 613 00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:40,720 know, debates with college students. 614 00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:44,880 He was able to address things that many pastors have not been 615 00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:46,760 able to address. He was able to address things 616 00:33:46,960 --> 00:33:52,400 with such boldness, with such courage, and that's because of 617 00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:54,760 the Holy Spirit's work in consecrating him. 618 00:33:54,760 --> 00:33:57,480 He was set apart in a culture where anything goes. 619 00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:02,560 He was able to say no, I will stand against abortion, I will 620 00:34:02,560 --> 00:34:06,000 stand against premarital sex. I will stand for what is the 621 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:11,400 right to honour God in His Word. And consecration is costly, but 622 00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:14,800 God is looking for a man and a woman who will be consecrated. 623 00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:17,840 God is looking for those who will say, Lord, do with me as 624 00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:20,679 you will, remove the impurity so that what is pure remains. 625 00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:24,960 God is not looking for those who will live these hybrid lives 626 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:27,120 with the old and the new, wrestling constantly. 627 00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:31,560 He is looking for those who are all in who are saying, Lord, we 628 00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:35,440 know me so that I'm consecrated Holy for you. 629 00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:38,560 Can I just? Pray that for you before we 630 00:34:38,560 --> 00:34:40,960 progress. Father, I just pray for each of 631 00:34:40,960 --> 00:34:44,080 us. We welcome the Holy Spirit to 632 00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:47,880 come in and do this work of consecration deep within us. 633 00:34:48,679 --> 00:34:51,960 That, Lord, holiness and purity will no longer seem like a bad 634 00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:55,960 taste in our mouth, but it will come so naturally to us that You 635 00:34:55,960 --> 00:34:58,080 will make us holy as You are holy. 636 00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:03,000 That Lord, we will be so pure in heart that each of us will begin 637 00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:05,360 to see you and hear you like never before. 638 00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:08,480 In Jesus name we pray, Amen. Amen. 639 00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:14,240 The beautiful thing about consecration is that you know, 640 00:35:14,240 --> 00:35:16,640 you start to live different, that people notice it. 641 00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:19,760 And it doesn't have to be a life that you publicize, you talk 642 00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:21,240 about. You don't say I'm living a holy 643 00:35:21,240 --> 00:35:22,480 life, that that would be terrible. 644 00:35:22,480 --> 00:35:24,560 You won't be different than any of the God men out there. 645 00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:29,480 Consecration is such a private process, but it will be seen 646 00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:31,520 publicly. You won't be always welcome into 647 00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:33,960 every circle. You will have those who rise 648 00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:38,840 against you, but you will have the God of all, the living God, 649 00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:41,640 Yahweh, who backs you up with all of heaven. 650 00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:45,680 He surrounds you, He'll protect you, He'll lead you, He'll have 651 00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:49,000 a purpose for your life. And that leads me to the third 652 00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:51,600 wind of winnowing. What it does, the wind of 653 00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:53,880 winnowing is a wind of restoration. 654 00:35:55,240 --> 00:35:57,840 Isaiah chapter 61 verses one to four. 655 00:35:57,840 --> 00:36:00,680 It says the spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me because 656 00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:04,280 the Lord has appointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. 657 00:36:04,280 --> 00:36:07,840 He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim 658 00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:10,400 freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the 659 00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:12,080 prisoners. To proclaim the year of the 660 00:36:12,080 --> 00:36:15,000 Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God. 661 00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:19,280 To comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve in 662 00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:21,680 Zion. To bestow on them a crown of 663 00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:26,080 beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and 664 00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:28,880 a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. 665 00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:32,000 They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the 666 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:33,800 Lord for the display of His splendor. 667 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:36,920 They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places 668 00:36:36,920 --> 00:36:39,480 long devastated. They will renew the ruined 669 00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:42,840 cities that have been devastated for generations. 670 00:36:44,120 --> 00:36:48,160 It's unbelievable the kind of transformative power that the 671 00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:51,920 Holy Spirit has. You know, I was just, you know, 672 00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:57,920 revisiting my years as a pastor's wife, as a mother, and 673 00:36:57,920 --> 00:37:00,160 I've just been seeing how God has worked in me. 674 00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:04,880 So many things that I started out doing wrong, God has had to 675 00:37:04,880 --> 00:37:06,880 shape. Sometimes the wind has been 676 00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:10,520 rough, certain things. He's been very gentle with me. 677 00:37:11,200 --> 00:37:16,200 But the point is this, over 41 years, I'm not the same as I was 678 00:37:16,240 --> 00:37:19,640 years back. God has been changing me and 679 00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:22,520 transforming me every year, every season there's been a 680 00:37:22,520 --> 00:37:24,720 shift. And I'm sure you can say the 681 00:37:24,720 --> 00:37:28,080 same for yourself. And I believe that when we allow 682 00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:31,000 the wind of winnowing the Holy Spirit to breathe into our 683 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:35,280 lives, it is inevitable that we experience restoration. 684 00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:39,520 It is inevitable. That he will restore things in a 685 00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:44,440 way you and I never imagined it. You might be looking at the. 686 00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:48,200 Ashes of your life. He can restore it in a minute. 687 00:37:48,800 --> 00:37:51,480 He prefers the process. He prefers the process where he 688 00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:55,560 works on US, changes us, but he can do anything you feel you're 689 00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:58,120 running. Against a clock, he can turn 690 00:37:58,120 --> 00:38:02,280 back the clock in a minute. And I believe that he is 691 00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:05,040 restoring to us in the season things that we have thought 692 00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:07,960 lost. He's restoring lost causes. 693 00:38:08,320 --> 00:38:12,040 He's restoring lost finance. He's restoring the lost years. 694 00:38:13,080 --> 00:38:16,400 He's bringing us. Freedom because where the Spirit 695 00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:20,760 of the Lord is. There is freedom and restoration 696 00:38:20,760 --> 00:38:24,360 is actually breaking free from bondage, breaking free from 697 00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:28,600 brokenness, breaking free from sadness and stepping into joy, 698 00:38:28,600 --> 00:38:32,880 stepping into abundant places. Stepping into blessing and I 699 00:38:32,880 --> 00:38:35,320 believe God is doing that with us. 700 00:38:36,720 --> 00:38:39,040 And the beautiful thing is, you know, the Christian life is 701 00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:41,560 amazing. If you're contemplating it, I 702 00:38:41,560 --> 00:38:44,000 would. Highly recommended because when 703 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:47,560 you get restored, you become an agent of restoration for someone 704 00:38:47,560 --> 00:38:48,680 else. Because the Holy Spirit is 705 00:38:48,680 --> 00:38:52,360 stirring up this restoration within you, you can't help but 706 00:38:52,360 --> 00:38:55,120 share it with someone else. You want to journey with them. 707 00:38:55,120 --> 00:38:59,880 You want to see them restored. Two Corinthians chapter 3, 708 00:38:59,880 --> 00:39:03,080 verses 17 to 18 says now the Lord is the Spirit, and where 709 00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:04,960 the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 710 00:39:05,280 --> 00:39:08,560 And we all who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's 711 00:39:08,560 --> 00:39:12,200 glory are being transformed into His image with ever increasing 712 00:39:12,200 --> 00:39:15,480 glory which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 713 00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:20,440 We are being transformed. Whether we like it or not, we 714 00:39:20,440 --> 00:39:23,080 are being transformed. But the thing about restoration 715 00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:25,920 is this. It is not just a one month 716 00:39:25,920 --> 00:39:27,640 process. It is not just a one year 717 00:39:27,640 --> 00:39:29,280 process. It is lifelong. 718 00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:33,880 Restoration is ongoing and it doesn't because you know, 719 00:39:33,880 --> 00:39:37,640 truthfully, when I look at my life even now, I am nowhere 720 00:39:37,640 --> 00:39:41,200 close to being like Jesus. Let's face it, He's shaping me 721 00:39:41,200 --> 00:39:45,240 into the image of His Son. But I'm so far from the image 722 00:39:45,640 --> 00:39:48,720 that I really do need a lifetime to even be remotely close to 723 00:39:48,720 --> 00:39:51,960 Jesus. And so restoration is so long 724 00:39:51,960 --> 00:39:54,160 winded. But the beautiful thing is it's 725 00:39:54,160 --> 00:39:56,240 literally day by day, one day at a time. 726 00:39:56,240 --> 00:39:59,480 You take it, you invite the Holy Spirit in for the day. 727 00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:02,960 And you know, each day he sets us a little more free. 728 00:40:03,720 --> 00:40:06,880 He unravels certain things that need to be unraveled. 729 00:40:06,880 --> 00:40:10,480 He breaks off certain small micro chains that are holding us 730 00:40:10,480 --> 00:40:13,600 down. And when God's Spirit breathes 731 00:40:13,600 --> 00:40:17,680 upon us, we begin to experience a restoration that's not only 732 00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:20,640 for us. But is a blessing for others. 733 00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:25,680 The thing is where God meets you and heals you and restores you 734 00:40:25,960 --> 00:40:29,280 is usually the point of greatest breakthrough that you can use 735 00:40:29,280 --> 00:40:33,120 for someone else. And I want to believe with you 736 00:40:33,120 --> 00:40:36,600 that the Holy Spirit, when He breathes upon your life today, 737 00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:39,840 that He will begin to start this work of restoration. 738 00:40:39,840 --> 00:40:42,240 It's already begun. You may have missed it, but it's 739 00:40:42,240 --> 00:40:46,640 happening because He desires to bring wholeness. 740 00:40:47,200 --> 00:40:48,920 Into our lives like never before. 741 00:40:48,920 --> 00:40:52,720 And not just wholeness. He desires to bring purpose. 742 00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:57,240 He desires to bring purpose. Maybe your life has been lacking 743 00:40:57,240 --> 00:41:01,160 in purpose. You might just need the wind of 744 00:41:01,160 --> 00:41:05,320 restoration so that as you are being restored, He helps you 745 00:41:05,560 --> 00:41:09,400 restore others. So as I just I want to just. 746 00:41:09,400 --> 00:41:12,200 Quickly pray for those who need this wind of restoration because 747 00:41:12,440 --> 00:41:15,640 I really believe God is in this. He's on the move. 748 00:41:16,280 --> 00:41:17,720 God is moving in hearts and minds. 749 00:41:17,720 --> 00:41:20,240 He's moving in our situations. You may not see anything in the 750 00:41:20,240 --> 00:41:23,760 physical realm, but in another realm, in the spiritual realm, 751 00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:27,000 He's doing so much. And I believe that we need to 752 00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:30,320 open our lives up and say, Lord, these are the barren places of 753 00:41:30,320 --> 00:41:32,440 my life. It could be your marriage, it 754 00:41:32,440 --> 00:41:35,600 could be your parenting, it could be your career, it could 755 00:41:35,600 --> 00:41:37,600 be your finances. It could be all the debts you've 756 00:41:37,600 --> 00:41:40,520 accumulated. God, I need your Holy Spirit, 757 00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:45,040 the Spirit of restoration. To blow up on these places and 758 00:41:45,040 --> 00:41:48,440 bring life once more. To bring hope once more. 759 00:41:48,440 --> 00:41:50,720 To restore the things that I have thought were lost. 760 00:41:50,920 --> 00:41:53,800 Father, we are praying over wombs that have been barren for 761 00:41:53,800 --> 00:41:56,560 years to be opened in the name of Jesus. 762 00:41:56,760 --> 00:41:58,880 Lord, we are praying for restoration of health. 763 00:41:58,880 --> 00:42:02,000 Lord, that original design will be brought back into bodies. 764 00:42:02,240 --> 00:42:04,360 I pray for minds that need restoration. 765 00:42:04,360 --> 00:42:08,280 Spirit of God, will you move in minds and heal them right now? 766 00:42:09,240 --> 00:42:12,840 We thank you Father, for you are a God who restores all things 767 00:42:12,840 --> 00:42:16,920 and makes all things new. In Jesus mighty name I pray, 768 00:42:17,560 --> 00:42:18,760 Amen. Amen. 769 00:42:20,240 --> 00:42:22,600 This past week we had such an interesting experience. 770 00:42:22,600 --> 00:42:24,320 It's something I've never experienced before. 771 00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:26,360 So as you know, we have one dog at home. 772 00:42:26,360 --> 00:42:29,440 We have Mocha, who's a retriever and she's an indoor dog. 773 00:42:29,440 --> 00:42:31,720 She is pointless as a. Watchdog, which is. 774 00:42:31,720 --> 00:42:34,760 Such a sweet house guest. Loves everyone who comes. 775 00:42:34,760 --> 00:42:36,680 She's a pastor's dog. She loves everyone of our 776 00:42:36,680 --> 00:42:39,240 friends who walk in, loves church people. 777 00:42:39,640 --> 00:42:42,240 And so this week on Tuesday, we woke up. 778 00:42:42,480 --> 00:42:46,040 I went out for a walk. I come back in when my cook 779 00:42:46,040 --> 00:42:48,400 says, did you notice the puppy under your car? 780 00:42:48,680 --> 00:42:50,760 You ran near our car. We have a bunch of benches. 781 00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:52,400 She said, did you notice the puppy there? 782 00:42:52,400 --> 00:42:54,960 And I said, what puppy? We didn't see a puppy. 783 00:42:55,520 --> 00:42:58,520 So my husband and I went back out and there was this small 784 00:42:58,520 --> 00:43:03,560 little brown indie puppy, adorable, sleeping under the car 785 00:43:03,920 --> 00:43:07,360 near the benches. And we were confused for a few 786 00:43:07,360 --> 00:43:09,320 seconds because our house is right in the middle of our 787 00:43:09,320 --> 00:43:11,920 community. How did this dog get past the 788 00:43:11,920 --> 00:43:14,040 security? How did no one else see it 789 00:43:14,040 --> 00:43:16,560 wandering in for such a long walk for a little puppy? 790 00:43:17,360 --> 00:43:20,600 How did it land up in our house? There are 8, there are actually 791 00:43:20,600 --> 00:43:23,760 16 houses that she would have had to cross before she got got 792 00:43:23,760 --> 00:43:26,080 to us. Why did she make it into our 793 00:43:26,080 --> 00:43:26,640 garage? You know? 794 00:43:26,640 --> 00:43:28,440 So I'm like, you know, racking my brain. 795 00:43:28,440 --> 00:43:29,880 In the meantime, our kids come down. 796 00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:33,160 They were on holiday. They walked down, they see her 797 00:43:33,160 --> 00:43:35,880 and they're like convincing me that this is God, that we need 798 00:43:35,880 --> 00:43:39,680 to adopt this dog. Fast forward, we took her to the 799 00:43:39,680 --> 00:43:42,800 vet, we got her checked up. When she came to us, she was. 800 00:43:42,800 --> 00:43:46,000 Ridden with ticks. And she was so undernourished. 801 00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:48,040 She was shaking from some sort of trauma. 802 00:43:48,040 --> 00:43:49,960 She had wounds all over her body. 803 00:43:50,720 --> 00:43:54,280 She had her ribs poking out. And but still, you know, in the 804 00:43:54,280 --> 00:43:57,480 midst of it, she was so friendly with us, ate whatever we gave 805 00:43:57,480 --> 00:43:59,520 her. And so the doctor gave us a 806 00:43:59,520 --> 00:44:03,080 bunch of instructions and stuff. So we brought her back home and 807 00:44:03,080 --> 00:44:07,520 it's been 5 days now, right? It's been 5 to 6 days since 808 00:44:07,640 --> 00:44:09,880 she's come home. She's adopted herself. 809 00:44:09,880 --> 00:44:13,920 Into our home and the doctor told us to keep her away from 810 00:44:13,920 --> 00:44:16,440 Mocha for the time being till the takes and, you know, she's 811 00:44:16,440 --> 00:44:20,880 dewormed and all of that so I watch her just enjoy our garden, 812 00:44:21,000 --> 00:44:24,240 enjoy our backyard. She sleeps in the shade of 813 00:44:24,240 --> 00:44:26,480 things. She's, you know, sniffing all my 814 00:44:26,480 --> 00:44:29,560 plants. And she's the picture of 815 00:44:29,560 --> 00:44:31,960 adoption. You know, I was watching her and 816 00:44:31,960 --> 00:44:36,000 thinking, this is what it's like when I entered the family of 817 00:44:36,000 --> 00:44:39,880 God, when I said yes to Jesus, I came into this walled, safe 818 00:44:39,880 --> 00:44:43,320 space of salvation. And my heavenly Father just 819 00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:45,920 welcomed me with open arms. And I've been struggling with 820 00:44:45,920 --> 00:44:48,360 the fact that, you know, I can't welcome her with open arms yet 821 00:44:48,360 --> 00:44:49,960 because she hasn't got her rabies shot. 822 00:44:49,960 --> 00:44:53,120 She's too young for it. She needs it in a week that I 823 00:44:53,120 --> 00:44:55,000 haven't been able to, that I have to keep her away from the 824 00:44:55,000 --> 00:44:58,720 other dog and all of that. But I've just been reveling in 825 00:44:58,720 --> 00:45:04,880 the fact that my God accepts me, ticks and all, and that he 826 00:45:04,880 --> 00:45:07,360 doesn't cordon off places and say you just stay. 827 00:45:07,360 --> 00:45:12,000 There while we stay here. But he invites me into all that 828 00:45:12,000 --> 00:45:15,760 is his. And as I was watching her, we 829 00:45:15,760 --> 00:45:19,400 came up with a name for her. She's so spindly and thin that 830 00:45:19,400 --> 00:45:22,080 we named her Maggie because our kids love Maggie Noodles. 831 00:45:22,440 --> 00:45:24,880 We named her Maggie September because she walked into our 832 00:45:24,880 --> 00:45:29,520 lives in September and she still doesn't respond wholly to her 833 00:45:29,520 --> 00:45:30,720 name. But when she's sleeping and one 834 00:45:30,720 --> 00:45:33,440 of us called Maggie or Mags, she comes running. 835 00:45:34,560 --> 00:45:40,440 The power of identification. She knows who's she is, whether 836 00:45:40,440 --> 00:45:42,720 she recognizes her name. She knows when someone calls 837 00:45:42,720 --> 00:45:47,120 aloud, it's for her. And when the Spirit of God comes 838 00:45:47,120 --> 00:45:50,360 in, he gives us that ability to know who's calling out to us. 839 00:45:50,920 --> 00:45:53,560 If you've been listening to the wrong voices, I would urge that 840 00:45:53,560 --> 00:45:56,200 you come into this place of knowing your heavenly Father, 841 00:45:56,200 --> 00:45:58,760 because my sheep know my voice, he says. 842 00:46:00,160 --> 00:46:04,640 And the beautiful thing is, Maggie came in dirty, wounded, 843 00:46:05,800 --> 00:46:09,480 loaded with ticks. The doctors treated her. 844 00:46:09,480 --> 00:46:11,920 We've been giving her antibiotics, giving her a lot of 845 00:46:11,920 --> 00:46:15,280 nourishing food. We gave her a bath. 846 00:46:15,440 --> 00:46:19,040 She's clean. She's being, you know, freed of 847 00:46:19,040 --> 00:46:22,520 all the worms and the ticks and all of that consecration is 848 00:46:22,520 --> 00:46:23,880 happening. Of course, it's on a very 849 00:46:23,880 --> 00:46:27,520 physical realm, but the beautiful thing is that our 850 00:46:27,520 --> 00:46:32,200 adoption and the presence of the Holy Spirit in us, the 851 00:46:32,200 --> 00:46:35,560 consecration work begins. And when I was looking at her 852 00:46:35,560 --> 00:46:40,440 this morning, before I left and came to speak, she was sitting 853 00:46:40,440 --> 00:46:42,880 beside me, and I was doing some work, and she was just sitting 854 00:46:42,880 --> 00:46:46,160 beside me. And I was just thinking how her 855 00:46:46,160 --> 00:46:50,280 ribs are no longer poking out. She's already grown taller. 856 00:46:51,120 --> 00:46:53,600 She's already got a stronger voice. 857 00:46:55,000 --> 00:47:00,520 And restoration happens in the most uncanny ways because that's 858 00:47:00,520 --> 00:47:03,080 what God does. God is a God of constant 859 00:47:03,080 --> 00:47:05,880 movement. He's a God of transformation. 860 00:47:06,280 --> 00:47:09,120 He doesn't. Leave us the way he finds us. 861 00:47:10,120 --> 00:47:15,440 Things change in his presence. And the beautiful thing is the 862 00:47:15,440 --> 00:47:17,200 beauty. This is a picture of Maggie, by 863 00:47:17,200 --> 00:47:20,080 the way, how she looks now. But I want to just. 864 00:47:20,080 --> 00:47:25,040 Encourage you in this process of the harvest and the season of 865 00:47:25,040 --> 00:47:26,880 the harvest. The process of winnowing is very 866 00:47:26,880 --> 00:47:29,720 important and winnowing literally has to be an everyday 867 00:47:29,720 --> 00:47:33,280 thing where we allow the Holy Spirit to breathe into our lives 868 00:47:33,560 --> 00:47:37,040 so that everything that is not a substance He takes out and what 869 00:47:37,040 --> 00:47:40,480 is of great worth is. Retained and I want to. 870 00:47:40,480 --> 00:47:45,800 Just leave this with you. Why does winnowing not leave you 871 00:47:45,800 --> 00:47:47,160 and me injured? You know, when you look at 872 00:47:47,160 --> 00:47:50,160 threshing, threshing is painful. Like I talked about it. 873 00:47:50,600 --> 00:47:53,200 There's there's a painful experience with threshing, but 874 00:47:53,200 --> 00:47:56,000 we know on the other hand, doesn't harm us. 875 00:47:56,000 --> 00:48:01,480 You know why 2 Corinthians chapter 3, verses 7 to 11 and 17 876 00:48:01,480 --> 00:48:04,440 to 18, the greater glory of the new covenant. 877 00:48:04,440 --> 00:48:08,080 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in 878 00:48:08,080 --> 00:48:11,240 letters on stone, came with glory, so the Israelites could 879 00:48:11,240 --> 00:48:14,360 not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, 880 00:48:14,760 --> 00:48:18,520 transitory though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit 881 00:48:18,520 --> 00:48:21,880 be even more glorious? If the ministry that brought 882 00:48:21,880 --> 00:48:25,320 condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the 883 00:48:25,320 --> 00:48:27,160 ministry that brings righteousness? 884 00:48:27,680 --> 00:48:31,400 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the 885 00:48:31,400 --> 00:48:35,080 surpassing glory. And what if what was transitory 886 00:48:35,080 --> 00:48:38,640 came with glory? How much greater is the glory of 887 00:48:38,640 --> 00:48:41,440 that which lasts? What is he talking about? 888 00:48:42,160 --> 00:48:45,160 What am I talking about? So when you when you saw that 889 00:48:45,160 --> 00:48:49,280 video of the husk being winnowed, the shaft flying away 890 00:48:49,280 --> 00:48:51,840 and the grain being left behind, the reason the grain made it 891 00:48:51,840 --> 00:48:54,840 back on the sieve is because the grain was heavy, it was 892 00:48:54,840 --> 00:48:58,240 nutritious. It was dense and therefore the 893 00:48:58,240 --> 00:49:01,720 wind didn't drive it away. It stayed in our lives. 894 00:49:02,160 --> 00:49:05,280 The reason winnowing doesn't destroy us is because of the 895 00:49:05,320 --> 00:49:09,360 indwelling presence of God. And the beauty is that glory. 896 00:49:09,360 --> 00:49:12,440 The word for glory here in the New Testament. 897 00:49:12,440 --> 00:49:15,080 In Greek it is doxa. And in the old. 898 00:49:15,080 --> 00:49:17,720 Testament. It's Cabot which both mean 899 00:49:18,080 --> 00:49:22,280 weightiness. The reason you and I are weighty 900 00:49:22,280 --> 00:49:25,640 enough to withstand winnowing is because of the presence of the 901 00:49:25,640 --> 00:49:29,840 Holy Spirit within us. When Moses went up to the went 902 00:49:29,840 --> 00:49:32,960 into the Tabernacle, he spent hours with God face to face, 903 00:49:32,960 --> 00:49:36,400 talking as with a friend. When he came out, his face was 904 00:49:36,400 --> 00:49:39,040 aglow. It was shining so much that 905 00:49:39,040 --> 00:49:41,120 people couldn't look at him directly that he had to put a 906 00:49:41,120 --> 00:49:44,320 veil. He says now in the new covenant, 907 00:49:44,840 --> 00:49:47,920 you no longer have a mediator like Moses going in and meeting 908 00:49:47,920 --> 00:49:49,920 for you. You meet with him directly. 909 00:49:50,320 --> 00:49:54,720 You have relationship access to God himself and not even better 910 00:49:54,720 --> 00:49:56,600 than that, you have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you. 911 00:49:56,600 --> 00:50:00,200 So you you begin to understand how God thinks, how God works. 912 00:50:00,200 --> 00:50:03,560 You're beginning to have this deep relationship with God. 913 00:50:03,560 --> 00:50:08,120 So he says the. Word here is what was transitory 914 00:50:08,120 --> 00:50:10,600 came with glory. How much greater is the glory of 915 00:50:10,600 --> 00:50:14,200 that which he lasts? The word for lasts is abides. 916 00:50:14,960 --> 00:50:18,200 We have the abiding presence of Jesus in us through His Holy 917 00:50:18,200 --> 00:50:22,360 Spirit, because of which the glory of God is so rampantly 918 00:50:22,360 --> 00:50:27,080 evident in our lives. Unfortunately, unfortunately, 919 00:50:27,080 --> 00:50:31,120 when we don't live with our identity secure and who Christ 920 00:50:31,120 --> 00:50:35,040 is and who we are in Christ. When we don't live consecrated 921 00:50:35,040 --> 00:50:39,280 to Him, desiring holiness, desiring purity, when we don't 922 00:50:39,280 --> 00:50:43,880 want to live restored, the glory of God is submerged, it's 923 00:50:43,880 --> 00:50:45,720 diminished. People don't see it. 924 00:50:46,160 --> 00:50:49,640 All they see is our flesh. All they see is our emotions. 925 00:50:49,840 --> 00:50:53,000 All they see is is our humanity at its worst. 926 00:50:53,200 --> 00:50:56,680 But when we begin to live in the new identity that is in Christ, 927 00:50:57,240 --> 00:51:00,120 when we live with the confidence that I'm a child of God, when I 928 00:51:00,120 --> 00:51:03,120 begin to live with a sense of belonging, when I start to live 929 00:51:03,560 --> 00:51:07,440 in this place of consecration where Lord, how I live, how I 930 00:51:07,480 --> 00:51:10,320 act, how I stay, how I am in my marriage, everything is 931 00:51:10,320 --> 00:51:14,480 consecrated. It begins to show the way 932 00:51:14,480 --> 00:51:18,760 restoration begins to happen, the way I begin to reach my 933 00:51:18,760 --> 00:51:22,560 hands and feet to help others. The glory of God cannot be 934 00:51:22,560 --> 00:51:26,240 withheld. It begins to glow through us. 935 00:51:26,240 --> 00:51:31,160 It is so obvious. And I want to ask you, are you 936 00:51:31,160 --> 00:51:33,720 willing to let God's glory show through you? 937 00:51:34,440 --> 00:51:36,520 For too long? Christians have got a bad rap. 938 00:51:36,520 --> 00:51:38,640 Oh, that Christian, he cheated me of money. 939 00:51:38,840 --> 00:51:40,720 Oh, that Christian, he cheated on his wife. 940 00:51:41,320 --> 00:51:43,520 Oh, that Christian, she's like that at work. 941 00:51:43,520 --> 00:51:48,000 She's terrible. We've got a bad rap because we 942 00:51:48,000 --> 00:51:51,120 have not been consecrated. We've had a bad rap because 943 00:51:51,120 --> 00:51:55,000 we've not lived as sons of God. We've got a bad rap because we 944 00:51:55,000 --> 00:51:57,040 prefer living in an unrestored state. 945 00:51:57,520 --> 00:52:02,000 But it's about time that changes because the weight of God's 946 00:52:02,000 --> 00:52:04,120 glory, you know, the Cabo, there's the weight. 947 00:52:04,120 --> 00:52:08,280 Glory adds weight, and it's this beautiful weight that's makes us 948 00:52:08,280 --> 00:52:12,320 stand apart in a crowd. It's a beautiful state when His 949 00:52:12,320 --> 00:52:16,080 glory is evident because of your sonship, because of your 950 00:52:16,080 --> 00:52:18,760 identity. So even as I close, I want to 951 00:52:18,760 --> 00:52:24,120 pray that for us, that each of us will display God's glory in 952 00:52:24,120 --> 00:52:28,400 the places we go in we enter. To work, to rest. 953 00:52:28,600 --> 00:52:32,280 To holiday wherever it is that God's glory. 954 00:52:32,960 --> 00:52:36,880 Will fill the earth like it was prophesied that we would be 955 00:52:36,880 --> 00:52:40,000 carriers of glory. And the glory will never be us, 956 00:52:40,160 --> 00:52:42,720 it belongs to Him. But we would be carriers of that 957 00:52:42,720 --> 00:52:47,440 glory because of how we live, because of how we actually live 958 00:52:47,440 --> 00:52:50,760 this life on earth. So can I pray that for us, 959 00:52:51,360 --> 00:52:53,240 Father? I just pray that each of us, me 960 00:52:53,240 --> 00:52:56,800 included, that we will be carriers of Your glory, that 961 00:52:56,800 --> 00:52:59,760 Lord, we will live in such a way that Your glory is evident. 962 00:53:00,000 --> 00:53:03,080 We pray that Lord, our consecration will be deep. 963 00:53:03,880 --> 00:53:06,720 We pray, O Lord, that our identity will be sealed in who 964 00:53:06,720 --> 00:53:09,320 we are in Christ. Lord, we pray that Your 965 00:53:09,320 --> 00:53:13,280 restorative power will course through our bodies so that Your 966 00:53:13,280 --> 00:53:15,880 glory is made evident to all around. 967 00:53:16,200 --> 00:53:20,240 That many will see Your glory and come to a saving knowledge 968 00:53:20,240 --> 00:53:23,560 of You. Father, we thank you and we love 969 00:53:23,560 --> 00:53:24,920 you. In Jesus name we pray. 970 00:53:25,480 --> 00:53:26,480 Amen. Amen. 971 00:53:27,640 --> 00:53:29,480 Thanks for listening to this message. 972 00:53:29,840 --> 00:53:33,320 We hope you were blessed to hear more messages like this. 973 00:53:33,640 --> 00:53:37,680 Make sure to subscribe and check out our podcast channel for past 974 00:53:37,680 --> 00:53:40,000 episodes. If you like what you are 975 00:53:40,000 --> 00:53:44,560 hearing, consider rating us, subscribing and even sharing it 976 00:53:44,560 --> 00:53:47,120 with friends. That would really help us. 977 00:53:48,000 --> 00:53:52,440 For more content from Via Zion and to connect with us, go to 978 00:53:52,440 --> 00:53:57,600 viazion.in. Remember, whoever finds Jesus 979 00:53:57,800 --> 00:53:58,640 finds life.