1 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:12,560 Hi and welcome to the We Are Zion Sermon Podcast. 2 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:15,840 We are a local church based here in Chennai, India. 3 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:19,240 We are so glad you are with us and hope that this will 4 00:00:19,240 --> 00:00:23,440 encourage, inspire and instill fresh faith in you. 5 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:28,120 We continue our series titled All Roads Lead to Rome, which is 6 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:31,960 a study in the book of Romans. As we study this letter written 7 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:35,160 to the Jewish and Gentile believers in the city of Rome, 8 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:39,520 we ask that you put yourself in their shoes, for our context is 9 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:43,160 not that different after all. Our hope is that through this 10 00:00:43,160 --> 00:00:47,280 series you would experience the fullness of knowing who God is, 11 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:50,840 what He did for you through Jesus, and how you can live a 12 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:53,320 life that honours Him and blesses others. 13 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:57,000 Hi, Chad. It's just a joy and a privilege 14 00:00:57,120 --> 00:00:58,680 to be bringing God's Word to you today. 15 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:03,640 I am so glad that we are coming to the last part of the series 16 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:05,880 on the book of Romans that we've been seeing. 17 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:08,040 We've been seeing this entire series called All Roads Lead to 18 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:11,960 Rome, and I believe God's been really doing something in and 19 00:01:11,960 --> 00:01:16,440 through us as we've been seeing this series week after week. 20 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:20,200 I know in the last two weeks Tina had spoken from Romans 12 21 00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:23,960 and 13 and 14. And this time, even as we come 22 00:01:23,960 --> 00:01:26,520 to the conclusion we'll be looking at Romans 15 and 16. 23 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:31,280 I in fact had the honor of recording the sermon on 24 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:35,920 Wednesday for both those parts as I was travelling in those two 25 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:38,080 weeks. And I got to listen to it and 26 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:41,680 even dwell on it through the week and was excited because I 27 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:45,640 really felt what she was talking about in those last two weeks 28 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:48,280 were meant for us to really apply that into our lives. 29 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:51,080 Even as you saw from Romans 12, we saw that the Holy Spirit 30 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:53,960 transforms US. And one of the keywords that we 31 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:58,640 saw that stood out from that part, especially from part 32 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:01,080 number seven, was they're not conformed, but they're called to 33 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:05,360 be transformed, which causes the work of the Holy Spirit to be so 34 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:08,000 evident in our lives. When we allowed Him to, when we 35 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,520 allowed Him to, He moves in and through this so that He can do 36 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:13,280 that work. We also saw that the work that 37 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:15,440 He does is more or less inside out. 38 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:19,160 It's not outside in a lot of times we strive for the outside, 39 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:22,760 but He works within us so that we can be transformed inside. 40 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:27,360 We saw that the toughest part that for us to change many of 41 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:30,680 times is our mind, and that's where He starts working in and 42 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:33,080 through us. We saw that fire cleanses and 43 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:35,880 purifies us last week when we read it through 13 and 14, we 44 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:39,000 saw the application part of those potholes that are evident 45 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:41,160 in our lives. It's one of those chapters which 46 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:44,360 we constantly keep going back to because that's where we realize 47 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:46,040 God who has. Redeemed. 48 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:50,200 US wants us to live by faith and our dependence should be solely 49 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:51,840 on Him. We don't allow culture to 50 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:56,320 dictate those things for us, but we allow His Word of God to work 51 00:02:56,320 --> 00:02:58,440 in and through US, His Spirit to work in and through our 52 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:00,440 circumstances. All of us are coming from unique 53 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:04,160 families, from unique situations and He wants us to come to a 54 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:05,840 place where we identify these potholes. 55 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:08,200 What does that look like? First we saw a rebellion against 56 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:10,680 authority. We saw the dislike of certain 57 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:13,440 people. We saw undisciplined living and 58 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:16,960 self-imposed traditions and restrictions even as we heard 59 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:19,080 these four different things about these different potholes 60 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:22,720 that we'll have to identify, Allow the Holy Spirit to work so 61 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:24,880 that they don't become just potholes for us. 62 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:28,280 But many a times we leave it back so that others who are 63 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:31,360 following us, others who are close to us, we try imposing 64 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:34,200 that on others. And God wants to work in and 65 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:38,640 through so that we rely on Him. Alone, we rely on His guidance, 66 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:42,080 on what His word tells us. So even as we continue to these 67 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:45,200 last two chapters, even as I was meditating, I was wondering, 68 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,360 God, what is it that you want us to really pick out of these last 69 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:50,880 two chapters? Because Paul concludes the book 70 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:52,880 of. Romans in a place where he's 71 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:56,760 calling us to move forward. He wants us to take that step 72 00:03:56,760 --> 00:03:59,680 because after knowing all of these things, when we'll go back 73 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:03,840 and see the way God's LED him to talk to the Roman church, we see 74 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:08,600 that he this becomes too heavy. This becomes sometimes it's too 75 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:10,680 it becomes a burden more like that. 76 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:13,240 We decide, you know what, this much is enough and we stay put. 77 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:17,320 But Paul's encouraging these last two chapters to say, hey, 78 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:21,640 rise up, take this. Move ahead because God is 79 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:24,400 calling us to move ahead. And what does that look like? 80 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:27,440 And as we read from Romans chapter 15, I want us to have 81 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:32,160 open hearts so that we'll be able to take it and move 82 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:33,960 forward. For those of us who've been in a 83 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:38,360 constant space of slumber would be rise up so that we can serve 84 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:40,840 God more better. For those of us who've been 85 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:45,400 marred and, you know, charred by the by the heaviness of this or 86 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:48,600 by what's happened around or by what others have dictated 87 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:51,960 around, maybe rise up to say we are here to please God and God 88 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:53,840 alone. So even as I read from Romans 89 00:04:53,840 --> 00:04:56,600 15I pray that our hearts would be open so that we'll be able 90 00:04:56,600 --> 00:04:57,360 to. Move. 91 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:01,000 Forward and this is what it says in NIV for everything that was 92 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:04,560 in the past was written to teach us so that through the endurance 93 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:07,960 taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide, we 94 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:09,960 might have hope. And I've highlighted this verse 95 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:13,600 as the key was for us to conclude because these are 96 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:16,600 evidences of what we need to hold onto. 97 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:19,160 One of the first things that we see is for everything that was 98 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:21,960 written in the past was written to teach us everything that we 99 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:25,240 hold onto the word of God was written so that we can learn 100 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:27,480 from it. Not that we can just skim 101 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:29,560 through it and realize, oh, this is what happened in the past, 102 00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:32,240 but this is not my present. So it doesn't make sense. 103 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:36,520 No, it was meant so that we'll be able to learn from it and 104 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:39,880 apply it into our lives. And so as we expound on this in 105 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:42,880 the next couple of minutes as we go through this, I would love 106 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:46,520 for us to see areas which God highlights when the Holy Spirit 107 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:48,600 has to work in our lives. He'll start highlighting these 108 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:49,920 areas. Hey, this is the area where I 109 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:52,720 need you to work on this coming week, this coming six months 110 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,320 this year. And even as we have our entire 111 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:58,600 theme for the year as a church has set apart, I believe this 112 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:03,000 will propel us to take that step of faith in the amplified. 113 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:05,640 It goes on to say, for whatever was written in earlier times was 114 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:08,600 written for our instruction so that through endurance and the 115 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:11,400 encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope and overflow 116 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:15,920 with confidence in his promises. The God who promised will make 117 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:21,520 it come true, but are we on that same path of where the promise? 118 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:23,880 Is. Because many a times we are 119 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:27,320 giving up midway, we are taking AU turn, we are taking another 120 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:31,400 path entirely different. Because sometimes the promises 121 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:34,880 look different entirely from what God intended for us. 122 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:37,480 And then we are chasing after something thinking that that 123 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:39,280 will be something that we want. To do. 124 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:43,400 Even as I was reading this in verse four, I was assuming that 125 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:46,200 you know this probably is continuing from the previous 126 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:48,680 last two chapters and ends over here and it starts here. 127 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:52,240 But as I went to Romans chapter 15 verse three, this particular 128 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:54,920 word highlighted it said for even Christ did not please 129 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:57,040 himself. But as it is written in 130 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:00,600 Scripture, the reproaches of those who reproached you, the 131 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:05,560 Father fell on. Me and it got me thinking. 132 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:09,840 This has to be. The baseline for which we 133 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:12,960 operate our Christian life. And I think Paul really wanted 134 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:16,200 to conclude with that because you don't have to do this just 135 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:19,800 because I'm telling you, you have to do this because Christ 136 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:22,080 did. This And so today, what did 137 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:24,200 Christ do? Christ was selfless. 138 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:27,760 And so today, if we have to say we are a Christian and we are 139 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:30,600 followers of Christ, selflessness has to be that 140 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:35,200 nature that rubs onto US. Selflessness has to be something 141 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:39,720 that we live by. We are so caught up in 142 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:43,280 selfishness that we think we need to do certain things our 143 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:45,560 way that has be comfortable for us. 144 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:48,080 We've made church so comfortable. 145 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:53,120 We've made church so convenient. But if selflessness was the 146 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:56,840 nature of Jesus. We need to take it out of the 147 00:07:56,840 --> 00:08:00,320 four walls of the church into our everyday, into our Mondays, 148 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:03,920 Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and be 149 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:06,320 selfless in everything God's calling us to be. 150 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:10,160 Why was Jesus selfless? So that He'll fulfill the 151 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:13,880 purpose He was sent when He was here on earth in human form. 152 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:18,640 He submitted to the will of the Father, selflessly doing all 153 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:22,760 that God had ordained him to do. And today when we are redeemed 154 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:26,200 and when we say, when we read that verse in Romans chapter 10, 155 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:29,080 if we declare with our mouth and believe with our heart that 156 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:32,240 Jesus Christ is Lord, we are submitting to the lordship and 157 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:34,120 saying Lord, if you've. Placed me here in Chennai. 158 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:35,679 I'll do what you're calling me to do. 159 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:38,480 If you've placed me here in this job, I will do what you're 160 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,200 calling me to do. I'll be selfless in the call 161 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:43,960 that you've given me. I'll be selfless in the call 162 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:45,320 that you've given me as a husband. 163 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:48,160 You're I'll be selfless in the call that you've given me as a 164 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:50,320 wife. I'll be selfless in the call 165 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:52,280 that you've given me as a son and a daughter. 166 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:55,480 And what does that look like? That looks like us being 167 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:57,440 obedient to the call of God on our lives. 168 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:01,880 We a lot of times you're trying to be obedient to the blessing 169 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:04,040 that will come. But God saying, will you be 170 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:07,640 obedient to the call that I've given you on your life blessing 171 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:10,080 is an outpouring of what we've decided to walk on. 172 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:13,800 There'll be so many blessings that come in our lifetime and 173 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:17,160 again that cannot take the high picture. 174 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:20,720 The picture is God, your call. I will run after that. 175 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:25,640 The prize is eternal life. The prize is different. 176 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:28,560 The prize is something which God will time and again fulfill 177 00:09:28,560 --> 00:09:30,720 promises again and again in our lives. 178 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:34,760 But will we remain selfless so that we can fulfill all that 179 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:37,360 He's called in Matthew 20 verse 28? 180 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:39,880 There's a verse which says just as the Son of Man did not come 181 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:42,280 to be. Served, but to serve and to give 182 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:47,840 his life as a ransom for many that Jesus gave an understanding 183 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:51,040 to his disciples as to what he came. 184 00:09:51,560 --> 00:09:55,120 He didn't come to be served. So today, if you are wondering, 185 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:57,800 you know, I have to come into church and I have to be served, 186 00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:00,760 You're mistaken. No, it's an honor for me to come 187 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:04,880 into the room where other believers are because I'm here 188 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:08,440 to be participant of what God is going to do when two or three 189 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:11,120 are gathered. I'm going to be participant of 190 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:14,440 what God is going to do with us as we hear God's word. 191 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:17,720 What is God going to do and birth out of here so that we'll 192 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:20,120 be able to do all that he's called us to do. 193 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:24,440 And there's this beautiful thing that Paul, I think concludes 194 00:10:24,560 --> 00:10:26,760 with 15 and 16 about finishing the race. 195 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:31,440 A transformed person is thinking about finishing the race, not 196 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:34,560 about starting the race. A transformed person is thinking 197 00:10:34,560 --> 00:10:38,440 about running the race well, about leaving a legacy. 198 00:10:38,680 --> 00:10:40,320 When we are living this transformed lies. 199 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:43,080 We are thinking, God, what is it that you wanted to fulfill in my 200 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:46,840 lifetime? You suddenly are raising others 201 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:49,720 up so that they'll be able to fulfill the call of God and the 202 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:52,280 mission of God. You suddenly are thinking, God, 203 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:54,480 what have what the skill set you've given me? 204 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:59,360 What was it for? Have I used it only to satisfy 205 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:00,800 myself? Have I used it only to, you 206 00:11:00,800 --> 00:11:03,280 know, come to a place where people recognise, oh, I have 207 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:06,200 this gifting or am I using it so that it will glorify you? 208 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:10,640 And I want to draw three things which are going to be pivotal in 209 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:15,360 US finishing well, if we need to finish this race well where we 210 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:19,120 do the daily transformed life well, there are three things I 211 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:23,640 would like to 1st is live the selfless life and not the selfie 212 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:25,680 life. I know it sounds very 213 00:11:25,680 --> 00:11:29,400 colloquial, but I think we are called to live the selfless life 214 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:32,360 and not the selfie life. Even as I pointed out earlier 215 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:36,880 from the starting of 15 where Paul identifies and says we are 216 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:39,640 doing this because Christ was selfless, so we are also going 217 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:43,040 to be selfless today. As much as we learn and 218 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:45,600 understand that we need to operate with boundaries. 219 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:48,200 We need to operate with understanding. 220 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:50,720 This is how the Christian household has to function. 221 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:53,400 This is how we as Christians have to function. 222 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:56,640 It all operates out of a place of selflessness. 223 00:11:57,240 --> 00:12:00,480 The minute it operates out of a place of selfishness, you will 224 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:05,120 soon realize it'll all become about our comfort and not about 225 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:06,920 what Christ wants to do through us. 226 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:10,480 We have to make that move intentionally. 227 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:13,800 As I read in the previous verse in Matthew, it said and He came 228 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:16,000 to be. He came to serve and not to be 229 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:18,840 served. Which means today when I move 230 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:22,080 into any position, how can I serve rather than being served, 231 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:24,600 Lord? If in my area of finances, how 232 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:27,680 can I serve you God? In my area of my understanding 233 00:12:27,680 --> 00:12:29,440 of the scriptures, how can I serve you God? 234 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:32,400 In my area of graphic design, how can I serve you God? 235 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:33,600 In my area of video, how can I serve you God? 236 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:35,360 In my area of video, how can I serve you God? 237 00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:37,720 In my area of worship, how can I serve you God? 238 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:39,840 In my area of care, how can I serve you God? 239 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:42,480 In my area of hospitality, how can I serve you God? 240 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:46,480 We understand, you know, we are we, we understand you're part of 241 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:48,880 a bigger body. But if you're understanding our 242 00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:52,600 part in the body, you'll realize the function we are called to do 243 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:57,040 also very clearly. And a lot of us have made it a 244 00:12:57,040 --> 00:12:59,280 habit to make it all about ourselves. 245 00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:03,840 I'm talking to all of us here who make it all about ourselves. 246 00:13:04,680 --> 00:13:07,920 If we are called to run this race, we are called to run this 247 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:11,760 race, which is selfless because Christ planned. 248 00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:15,880 That has to be a template, not someone else. 249 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:18,920 Don't make it about anyone else. Everything else is staged. 250 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:22,920 The selfie life is staged. The selfie life focuses on me, 251 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:26,480 on my calendar. Hey, this works on my behalf. 252 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:27,680 These are the dates I'm available. 253 00:13:27,680 --> 00:13:32,760 I'll do it only on my terms. If it's selfless, he'll come to 254 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:34,160 a place. You know what, If this is for 255 00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:37,360 his body, I'll be able to move certain things around. 256 00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:42,960 I'll make certain things possible and many a times God 257 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:47,880 honours those sacrifices. God honours those sacrifices 258 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:51,360 done quietly. God honours those things done in 259 00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:55,000 private because he sees the heart and not what you're doing. 260 00:13:57,240 --> 00:14:01,480 The selfie life is directional. It chooses to showcase what we 261 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:03,920 want to show, which we think is the best side of us. 262 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:08,440 But a selfless is one where we're denying our own pleasure, 263 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:11,720 we're denying our own comfort, we're denying our own self to 264 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:14,840 say, God, this is what you're calling us to do. 265 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:19,880 I will do it joyfully denying and joyful come hand in hand, 266 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:22,080 because the joy of the Lord is my strength. 267 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:25,080 I don't have put on a sackcloth and say no. 268 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:27,880 I come up in my best. I come happy. 269 00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:31,640 I don't come, you know, broken down and you know, weary and 270 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:33,800 tired. It has to come. 271 00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:38,360 I love my wife when she shows up to church, when I'm travelling. 272 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:43,760 She still is the best. She still comes when how she 273 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:48,120 would come if I'm there. That's how passionate she is for 274 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:50,840 the House of the Lord. Today a lot of you are coming to 275 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:53,440 the House of the Lord really tired. 276 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:56,520 When you don't have things going your way, show up because it 277 00:14:56,520 --> 00:14:59,880 means business. You don't show up only because 278 00:14:59,880 --> 00:15:02,320 when you have a blessing in your life and you've got a promotion 279 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:04,080 or don't come happy to the house, the Lord. 280 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:06,640 When things are working your way, even when things are not 281 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:10,560 going your way, come show up to the House of the Lord. 282 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:14,040 And the reason why I'm saying this is, who are you learning 283 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:17,400 off from matters? If you're thinking, you know 284 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:19,320 what, I want to have a pity party. 285 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:22,680 Jesus didn't have a pity party for himself at all here on this 286 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:25,800 earth. So don't expect people to have 287 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:30,800 pity party for you. You expect God to move in and 288 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:32,840 through. You deny, and the joy of the 289 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:36,240 Lord will be your strength. It comes out of a place of 290 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:38,120 obedience. Selflessness comes out of a 291 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:41,040 place of obedience. You're doing it out of obedience 292 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:45,040 because you have a deep love for God, deep love. 293 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:48,480 The love causes you to obey. The love causes you to what? 294 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:49,920 You know what, God, I will do this. 295 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:52,280 I don't know what the reward is, but I know this is a part of 296 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:53,720 your Kingdom. I'll keep doing it. 297 00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:57,520 I'll keep doing it. The third thing is you're 298 00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:00,840 focused on his body rather than your own body. 299 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:04,240 Selflessness causes you to focus on His body rather than your 300 00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:06,480 body, making it all about yourself. 301 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:11,600 This whole selfie thing, you want to show your your true 302 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:15,880 side, but when you make it about his body, you start pointing it 303 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:17,400 out to something that is far bigger. 304 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:19,680 You start pointing it out to His Kingdom. 305 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:23,080 You start point pointing out what He wants to accomplish and 306 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:26,600 then through you. So today would you work in 307 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:30,120 living the selfless life and focus on that? 308 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:33,280 A deep sense of awareness of fools crisis has to come into 309 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:35,840 each and every one of us. This happens only when we 310 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:37,840 quietly allow Him to work in and through us. 311 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:41,520 As those potholes are being revealed, as those areas are 312 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:46,800 being transformed, you will soon realize selflessness becomes 313 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:48,760 second nature to what God's calling you to do. 314 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:52,640 What God's calling you to do. Suddenly even your workplaces 315 00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:55,080 will start shifting. Suddenly the love and the 316 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:57,360 concern and the care, the language that you use will start 317 00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:01,280 shifting. And that's where you will come 318 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:02,360 back. You have to come back to the 319 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:04,240 scriptures because that's where you will learn. 320 00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:05,960 What does selflessness look like? 321 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:07,880 How did David do it? How did Abraham do it? 322 00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:10,119 How did Elijah do it? How did Gideon do it? 323 00:17:10,119 --> 00:17:12,839 How did Hannah do it? How did Esther do it? 324 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:15,680 How did Ruth do it? How did Naomi do it? 325 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:21,000 How did each? How did Sarah do it in her 326 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:22,920 Baroness? That's. 327 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:25,359 Where we learn. And that's where Paul points out 328 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:28,680 in Romans 15, four, that it is written to teach us. 329 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:32,720 It's not written so that we'll just, oh, OK. 330 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:35,040 Oh, it's a nice story. No, it's written so it'll teach 331 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:38,520 us. Every story is to teach about 332 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:40,720 us. When we read about Joseph, about 333 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:45,480 how he stood his ground and did not waver in terms of fooling 334 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:48,680 around with a married woman, he stood his ground. 335 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:53,840 He ran to the hills when he had to go and do what was required. 336 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:58,640 Even when he was the favorite child for his brother, he went 337 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:00,080 there and he did what was called. 338 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:03,120 He was selfless. There was always a selfless act 339 00:18:03,120 --> 00:18:07,640 because the joy of the Lord, the obedience which had a deep love 340 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:11,040 for God and he was able to think beyond himself. 341 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:15,720 He was always about something far bigger his body. 342 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:18,080 Jesus is calling us for his church. 343 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:21,640 So today you and I have to go back to each and every lesson 344 00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:24,360 and see God. Which area of this life should 345 00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:26,760 lesson should I take an appropriated in my life? 346 00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:31,880 We are to go back to the scriptures because it's inspired 347 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:34,960 by the Holy Spirit. Today I hear a lot of people 348 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:37,800 talking about you know what I'm being inspired by the Holy 349 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:40,160 Spirit. But the inspiration of the Holy 350 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:41,920 Spirit will always cause you to do something. 351 00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:45,480 Every person was written the book in the Bible was inspired 352 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:47,800 and was allowed them to write and, and mind you, when you have 353 00:18:47,800 --> 00:18:50,200 to write, you need to be in that constant communication. 354 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:52,120 You, there's no going back and forth. 355 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:54,360 You're just listening and you're obeying and you're writing. 356 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:57,080 So today as you're being inspired, what are you doing? 357 00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:00,880 Don't tell me he's inspiring you, but you're sitting in your 358 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:03,360 corner and crying. You're sitting in your corner 359 00:19:03,360 --> 00:19:05,880 and just doing nothing. God, the Holy Spirit will 360 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:08,280 inspires you, will cause you to do something. 361 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:11,160 He'll ask you to move into action. 362 00:19:12,360 --> 00:19:14,680 Psalm chapter 86 verse 11. This is what happens. 363 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:18,280 Teach me your way, O Lord, I will walk and live in your 364 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:20,680 truth. Direct my heart to fear your 365 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:24,960 name with awe inspired reverence and submissive wonder. 366 00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:27,760 And the reason why I took it from the amplified was these two 367 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:31,560 words awe inspired reverence. Today, whenever I go back into 368 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:34,560 that quiet place of being with the Holy Spirit, there is a 369 00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:39,480 renewed awe inspired reverence. Every song that I start singing 370 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:43,120 has an awe inspired reverence because it's taking me closer 371 00:19:43,120 --> 00:19:46,280 into the throne room of holiness, which I really don't 372 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:49,160 deserve. I see my feeling so blatantly 373 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:52,440 and I ask God, God, I need your grace and your forgiveness. 374 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:56,760 And there's this beautiful thing about submissive wonder. 375 00:19:56,960 --> 00:20:01,920 But when I love God to and I submit myself to Him, He shows 376 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:04,040 me. He shows me this word glimpse. 377 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:06,680 He gives me a glimpse of what His body will look like. 378 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:09,200 He gives me a glimpse of what unity looks like. 379 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:12,120 He gives me a glimpse of what God is doing around the world. 380 00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:18,000 He gives me a glimpse of understanding what His plan is 381 00:20:18,360 --> 00:20:22,480 for us. And so today can we come into an 382 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:29,000 awe inspired reverence and a submissive wonder or inspired 383 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:30,520 reference because we don't deserve it. 384 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:33,560 Submissive wonder because it'll only glorify God and no one 385 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:36,280 else. You know, when I remember, I 386 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:39,320 think Tina had preached earlier once from this passage of 387 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:41,120 Deuteronomy 6 verses four to seven. 388 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:45,600 And this is what every household they would say here, O Israel, 389 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:47,520 the Lord is God, the Lord is one. 390 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:51,280 And it's that one verse in that which talks about an entire 391 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:54,960 being. When today Paul is emphasizing 392 00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:58,680 the Roman church to take that step forward and move, he's not 393 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:00,920 asking just for a spirit to be connected. 394 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:05,240 No, he's asking for our entire being, our mind, our heart, our 395 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:07,840 spirit man, our soul, our physical body. 396 00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:10,960 So today the transformation that works, works entirely. 397 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:14,920 The word, the the work that the Holy Spirit does inspires us is 398 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:18,560 entirely so that we'll be able to move forward wholly. 399 00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:22,400 When I'm moving to a place of doing God's plan and purpose, my 400 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:25,080 heart is in it. My mind is conceived it because 401 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:28,360 the Holy Spirit has inspired me. It causes my emotion and will to 402 00:21:28,360 --> 00:21:31,240 react and my body moves ahead to do all that goes. 403 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:35,080 And when discouragement comes, I go back to God and I ask him to 404 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:38,480 strengthen me so that I'm strengthened all over again. 405 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:42,120 So today the first thing as I mentioned, if you have to finish 406 00:21:42,120 --> 00:21:47,080 this race well, would be for us to live the selfless life and 407 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:50,760 not the selfie life. The second thing for us is to 408 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:54,600 live a life of relentless endurance. 409 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:57,400 Relentless endurance. What is endurance? 410 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:00,480 The ability to withstand hardship or adversity. 411 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:03,440 A lot of us have come through in life with a lot of hardship. 412 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:07,640 The scars on our faces, the marks on our body shows the 413 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:11,320 marks on our heart, on our on our strength, shows that we've 414 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:13,480 been through hardships. Today, a lot of us have 415 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:17,160 endurance just to make. Sure that we have enough so that 416 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:21,160 we have food, we have enough to do whatever we want to do, but 417 00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:25,560 God's calling us to live this transformed life well so that 418 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:29,360 we'll have relentless endurance. What is relentless endurance? 419 00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:35,120 Relentless is unceasingly intense, which means life is 420 00:22:35,120 --> 00:22:36,640 going to be hard. It will hit you. 421 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:40,880 You get up, you're like, man, I'm going to push forward that 422 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:43,240 relentless. Your love is relentless. 423 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:46,160 Love is relentless. I will have to have a mirror 424 00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:51,360 image of that in my working so that I'll be able to work with 425 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:55,040 endurance that is relentless. Romans chapter 15, verse four. 426 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:57,960 The second-half says so that through the endurance taught in 427 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:02,080 the Scripture, every man of God, every woman of God in the Bible, 428 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:05,280 a love, the Holy Spirit. Even as we saw last week, we are 429 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:09,000 clothed by the Holy Spirit. What happens when Samson was in 430 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:11,440 his pit where he was there saying, God, give me the 431 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:14,320 strength every time it says the Spirit of God came upon him. 432 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:17,760 There is an evidence of the Spirit of God coming in 433 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:22,000 different parts in patches. But today when we who in the new 434 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:25,400 covenant, when we have allowed the Holy Spirit to invade us, 435 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:29,280 when he invades us through that fire, that experience that was 436 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:32,080 there in the upper room, and we all have our own personal upper 437 00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:35,720 room experience. What happens is when he invades, 438 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:38,040 He gives us a relentless endurance. 439 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:42,480 He gives us a strength to face each new day, to face each new 440 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:45,800 mountain. And the reason why Paul talks 441 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:49,840 about this to the Roman church and he encourages them to have 442 00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:52,600 relentless endurances because for what is going to come ahead. 443 00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:55,480 Paul was addressing to the Roman church. 444 00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:59,600 Paul was heading towards Rome, Peter came there. 445 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:04,160 After a couple of years, persecution arose and you won't 446 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:07,120 believe it, the Church of God. Christians were being 447 00:24:07,120 --> 00:24:10,000 persecuted, but they all stood for their faith. 448 00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:13,840 They all were being burnt alive. They all were put into those 449 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:16,600 colosseums where they allowed lions to go and eat them. 450 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:21,520 It was savage in terms of what people were wanting out of 451 00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:25,480 humanity at that time, but the people stood strong for their 452 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:27,880 faith. Church, we are going to go 453 00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:32,880 through seasons of tribulation, seasons of persecution, but will 454 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:35,640 we have the faith to stand our ground? 455 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:39,440 Will we be able to have endless endurance? 456 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:42,920 Endless endurance? There have been too many people, 457 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:46,360 too many people that we've journeyed with in the last five 458 00:24:46,360 --> 00:24:49,800 years who stepped out of faith saying I don't want Jesus 459 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:52,880 because it's too hard. And today I'm going to ask you, 460 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:59,480 would you be relentlessly enduring whatever comes my way? 461 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:04,120 I choose to follow you, God, whatever comes my way. 462 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:07,320 The sense of physical endurance a lot of us go through. 463 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:11,840 If you're going to the gym, you will soon realize that you start 464 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:16,000 with five, you add 10, you add 15 if you go. 465 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:18,280 Immediately and you just put 20 and you pump. 466 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:20,680 What happens? Your muscles, which aren't used 467 00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:22,560 to anything, become sore and then you're not able to do 468 00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:24,400 anything. You become stiff. 469 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:27,800 But there's a sense of physical endurance that we keep building 470 00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:31,520 up time and again. You each have an amount of 471 00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:32,920 endurance you're able to handle with. 472 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:35,800 Regard to work for those of you who are lazy, this. 473 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:38,760 Doesn't make sense, but. For those of you who are pushing 474 00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:43,080 yourselves, you are able to You first take this one job as a 475 00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:45,120 freelancer. Then you're able to manage time. 476 00:25:45,120 --> 00:25:47,920 When you take two, you're able to manage that well. 477 00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:50,400 You suddenly see there's a steady amount of increase that 478 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:52,480 happens. For those of you in your work 479 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:56,360 spot, no one loves just being in the same position within the 480 00:25:56,360 --> 00:25:58,680 span of two years. You're trying to achieve more, 481 00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:00,680 you're trying to see more. You're upgrading mode. 482 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:03,320 Nowadays, you do upscaler and all of those things and you're 483 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:05,880 honing these skills to do much more. 484 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:08,360 There's a certain level of endurance you're able to happen. 485 00:26:08,360 --> 00:26:11,040 After you've gone through one dev project and that's gone 486 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:13,640 live, you suddenly are like able to handle a couple of more 487 00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:16,400 releases. Well, you don't have the anxiety 488 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:19,880 that you thought enveloped you. Suddenly you're overcoming it 489 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:22,160 time and again. A lot of you're able to bring. 490 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:24,280 There's a certain allow of physical endurance. 491 00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:26,520 You're able to handle family hardships. 492 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:30,200 A lot of us have grown, woken up and walked through a lot of 493 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:31,520 hardships. A lot of us have walked through 494 00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:34,440 their fathers, have walked out where fathers have lost jobs and 495 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:37,280 you've gone through a sudden season of poverty where there's 496 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:41,600 been hardship for money. Some of us have to work early in 497 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:43,760 life so that we can provide for our families. 498 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:49,480 Physical endurance shapes us, but the same has to translate to 499 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:53,560 a physic spiritual endurance because if a spirit man weakens, 500 00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:56,960 everything crumbles. We suddenly are striving for a 501 00:26:56,960 --> 00:27:00,920 physical means but we fail to achieve what we have to achieve 502 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:03,360 for eternity. And Paul wants to set that 503 00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:08,520 record straight because he wants his people to have the will, the 504 00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:14,120 endurance to finish the race well, the transformed race well. 505 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:17,520 And I came across this article, it says in the according to the 506 00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:19,840 National Institute of Health Sciences, what is physical 507 00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:23,120 entrance measured? The gold standard measure of 508 00:27:23,120 --> 00:27:28,520 cardio respiratory endurance is maximal aerobic power VO2 Max, 509 00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:31,720 the greatest rate at which a person is able to consume oxygen 510 00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:34,600 during sustained exhaustive exercise. 511 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:39,760 And even I say that that I just highlighted these words, consume 512 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:43,320 oxygen during sustained exhaustive exercise. 513 00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:48,160 And today, God's reminding us, what are we consuming in our 514 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:52,640 physical, sustained, exhaustive exercise, in our pursuits, in 515 00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:55,280 our pursuits of doing God's work, in our pursuit of doing 516 00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:58,240 our family work, in our pursuit of doing all of this because all 517 00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:00,840 of this is combined together. Nothing is isolated, nothing is 518 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:04,080 compartmentalized in our Christian work. 519 00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:07,600 Everything is together. What I do in my work bleeds into 520 00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:09,760 my personal life, bleeds into my spiritual life. 521 00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:15,440 So in this entire thing, what is, what oxygen am I consuming? 522 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:18,520 What is if? And I pray that all of us will 523 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:23,480 say that we are consuming the Holy Spirit because it's in that 524 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:26,960 we will soon realize an overflow of each trickling into one 525 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:30,240 another. If it is money, you will soon 526 00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:32,480 realize the pursuits of money will. 527 00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:34,320 Your job will look entirely different. 528 00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:36,880 Your family values will look entirely different. 529 00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:40,760 A lot of us have placed our family values so much that we 530 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:44,040 have suddenly just isolated ourselves entirely. 531 00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:48,720 But Paul's saying here, your endurance matters go back to the 532 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:51,440 Scripture. Your endurance has to come to 533 00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:54,080 the one who inspired the Scripture, which is the Holy 534 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:56,120 Spirit. And so today I pray that we will 535 00:28:56,120 --> 00:29:00,480 consume the Holy Spirit more so that in a sustained exhaustive 536 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:05,600 exercise, we will develop an endurance that will be 537 00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:09,600 relentless. Today our endurance has 538 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:14,040 Christians have to be 1 where our Holy Spirit consumption 539 00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:16,640 should be far bigger, far bigger. 540 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:18,520 Let us take the Holy Spirit into our work. 541 00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:21,800 God, give me discernment. God, how do I handle this 542 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:24,280 employee who I'm who I'm overseeing? 543 00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:27,640 How do I speak life into him? He's not doing I know he's 544 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:29,840 cheating right now. He's saying he's done the work 545 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:32,200 he's not doing. How do I take him on that 546 00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:35,320 journey of making sure give me the right words, give me the 547 00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:39,280 right amount of level of words to say so I can correct them in 548 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:42,080 kindness and in love so that that will be able to make a 549 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:44,840 difference in their life. Let's take the Holy Spirit in. 550 00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:47,920 For those of us who are managers in the company, selling thing, 551 00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:51,280 laying off, God give us you need the Holy Spirit's guidance, 552 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:54,600 otherwise you will break. For those of you who are walking 553 00:29:54,600 --> 00:29:59,480 into areas and seasons of heavy demand, God give me your grace 554 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:02,600 and peace so I'll be able to sustain this journey. 555 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:07,680 Are we wholly dependent on this Holy Spirit? 556 00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:13,000 We are all fragile people who God has to set apart to do His 557 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:15,680 mighty work. We are not people who are 558 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:17,600 strong. We are people who are fragile. 559 00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:19,560 When God sets us apart, we are fragile. 560 00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:22,600 We are dependent wholly on Him. That's what it says in Second 561 00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:24,960 Corinthians chapter 4, verses 7 to 10. 562 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:26,480 Paul tells us to the Corinthian church. 563 00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:30,680 He says we now have this light shining in our hearts, but we 564 00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:33,840 ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great 565 00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:36,280 treasure. This makes it clear that our 566 00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:39,680 great power is from God, not from ourselves. 567 00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:44,240 Was eight we a lot of have read this was but I want us to take 568 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:47,320 this if we are going to live relentlessly enduring lives. 569 00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:50,760 This is something we are pressed on every side by troubles, but 570 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:53,280 we are not crushed. We are perplexed but not driven 571 00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:55,480 to despair. We are hunting down but never 572 00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:58,200 abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are 573 00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:02,000 not destroyed through suffering. Our bodies continue to share in 574 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:06,920 the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen 575 00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:11,840 in our bodies. So today, if you want to have 576 00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:16,640 endurance, relentless endurance, remember this is what the life 577 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:20,400 of a transformed person looks like in Jesus, pressed by 578 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:22,200 troubles, but you're not crushed. 579 00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:25,720 Perplexed. Confusion will come in, but we 580 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:28,080 are not driven to despair because the Holy Spirit will 581 00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:30,120 give us clarity. We are hunting down. 582 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:33,280 It feels like everyone is targeting us, but we won't feel 583 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:36,120 abandoned because the God of the Angel armies is with us. 584 00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:39,400 It'll feel like you're knocked down time and again. 585 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:42,400 You're rising up, you're getting knocked on, but he's saying you 586 00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:46,320 will not be destroyed. So trust the Holy Spirit that as 587 00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:49,520 the enemy knocks you down time and again, you will rise up. 588 00:31:49,600 --> 00:31:52,600 You will rise up. You will feel like you're 589 00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:54,840 suffering, but he's saying you will have life. 590 00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:58,440 Suffering will be there, but you will have eternal life. 591 00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:01,360 You will have prosperous life here on this earth. 592 00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:06,680 You will have the joy which comes from Him today. 593 00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:11,160 Let endurance cause me to get up again and push through my 594 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:14,600 Christian life because I'm breathing the Holy Spirit. 595 00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:17,760 I'm consuming him. I'm consuming Him alone. 596 00:32:18,560 --> 00:32:21,880 If you have to go back to the scriptures, we need to go back 597 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:23,800 to the person who gave us the scriptures. 598 00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:27,480 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with the Word, 599 00:32:27,480 --> 00:32:30,880 and the Word was God. So today, don't think you can 600 00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:36,160 endure by just taking a post from Instagram, by reading that, 601 00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:38,160 or by just listening to the 32nd reel. 602 00:32:38,320 --> 00:32:41,920 It won't help you. It might move you away from what 603 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:44,680 God's calling you to do. Don't run after every other 604 00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:47,640 prophetic voice. Be discerning of what God's 605 00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:50,600 calling you for. Every season I, me and Tina have 606 00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:53,880 had prophetic people speak over our lives, but those are all 607 00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:58,000 prophetic words spoken over us. But it has taken time for it to 608 00:32:58,000 --> 00:32:59,880 come through. And when it comes through, it's 609 00:32:59,880 --> 00:33:01,840 like something in your journey where it comes through. 610 00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:03,920 It's a milestone. You're like, God, thank you 611 00:33:03,920 --> 00:33:06,680 Lord, I didn't know, but thank you that I was able to stand 612 00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:08,920 along in this journey. And as you push through, those 613 00:33:08,920 --> 00:33:12,800 become marks where those are markers in your life, which says 614 00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:15,800 this is what the Lord did. He spoke to me this in 2010, He 615 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:19,040 fulfilled in 2020. Are you still running the 616 00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:22,520 transformed life? Are you running it because God 617 00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:26,320 wants to build endurance, relentless endurance. 618 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:31,280 So I pray that you will be strengthened by that. 619 00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:33,320 You won't give up. You won't give up. 620 00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:34,560 And that's why we need community. 621 00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:37,920 That's why we need people. We come alongside people so that 622 00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:41,000 we can strengthen one another. That's why church is important, 623 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:42,480 even as you're listening to this online. 624 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:45,200 Even as you're. Watching this, I pray that you 625 00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:47,680 would find people around you who you can go. 626 00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:51,120 One of the words that we constantly use is as his 627 00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:53,360 children, our homes. What does it mean to be 628 00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:55,880 selfless? Open those longer tables. 629 00:33:56,320 --> 00:33:59,800 If you want to live this life that God's calling you transform 630 00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:02,360 life. You will live it with doors 631 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:06,720 opened longer tables because you will see in selflessness and in 632 00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:10,120 relentless endurance. God is fulfilling all that he's 633 00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:13,719 called you to do. The third thing that we see in 634 00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:18,480 Paul as he encourages the Roman church, I love how he concludes 635 00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:23,080 Romans chapter 16 but he gives a warning and I want to 1st read 636 00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:25,320 that warning before he goes on to exalting. 637 00:34:25,840 --> 00:34:28,360 Paul gives a warning to the church and it says in Romans 16 638 00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:31,960 was a 17 to 18I urge you brothers and sisters to watch 639 00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:34,400 out for those who cause divisions and who put obstacles 640 00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:37,719 in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learnt. 641 00:34:38,159 --> 00:34:42,040 Keep away from them, for such people are not serving a Lord 642 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:46,520 Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery, 643 00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:48,960 they deceive the minds of naive people. 644 00:34:49,199 --> 00:34:52,440 Even as we did this, I pray and urge that each and everyone of 645 00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:56,400 us will be mindful of who we are allowed to speak into our lives. 646 00:34:57,080 --> 00:35:01,080 I can boldly say that God's constantly moving people out who 647 00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:03,360 we think have to be hearing from. 648 00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:06,320 But then He says no, their their intentions aren't right. 649 00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:09,720 They're coming from this small mindset. 650 00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:12,240 When I've called you for something bigger, don't settle 651 00:35:12,240 --> 00:35:14,840 for something small. It says here for such people are 652 00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:17,280 not serving the Lord Jesus Christ, but their own appetites. 653 00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:20,640 Find out clearly who's telling what to you. 654 00:35:21,240 --> 00:35:24,040 If it is from the Lord, it will be tested in their own life. 655 00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:27,240 Ask them have they tested God and seen in that? 656 00:35:27,600 --> 00:35:30,680 If they are not, you don't have to take it because God who's 657 00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:34,760 walking in and through US will cause us to testify of what he's 658 00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:37,960 done. A lot of times we are gathering 659 00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:41,240 people around based on a particular hurt, particular view 660 00:35:41,240 --> 00:35:44,400 of thinking, particular thinking, you know what, or this 661 00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:46,960 happened to me or this happened to you And we are move. 662 00:35:46,960 --> 00:35:50,320 We we gather people around certain things that have 663 00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:54,840 happened in our lives, but God saying gather and around those 664 00:35:54,840 --> 00:35:59,040 who are overcomers and not those who have been hurt because 665 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:03,320 hurting people will hurt others. Hurting people will, will, will 666 00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:06,240 feed their own appetites. Hurting people will see things 667 00:36:06,240 --> 00:36:09,040 only through a selfish lens, but move toward those who are 668 00:36:09,040 --> 00:36:11,600 overcomers because they have allowed the Holy Spirit to walk 669 00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:14,920 in and through them. What we've seen in the last two 670 00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:17,720 weeks is allow people who are living the transformed life to 671 00:36:17,720 --> 00:36:21,440 speak into your lives. Don't be flattered by their 672 00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:26,480 smooth talk as the Korean band BTS sang that song Smooth Like 673 00:36:26,480 --> 00:36:28,560 Butter. Don't be. 674 00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:31,040 If you're wanting flattery, take it. 675 00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:33,880 You'll realize that they have wrong intentions for you. 676 00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:38,200 If their intent is to divide, runaway. 677 00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:42,080 If they're not about unity, move away. 678 00:36:42,840 --> 00:36:46,520 If it is not about fulfilling what God's called them to do for 679 00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:49,760 the global body, runaway. Because if it's causing them to 680 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:54,640 just fulfill their own need, their own presence, their own, 681 00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:57,240 their own selfish things, move away. 682 00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:00,840 Move to what God's calling you to do. 683 00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:03,560 Because what God is calling you to do will always be about his 684 00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:05,960 body. If they're wanting to benefit 685 00:37:05,960 --> 00:37:09,080 for themselves, keep away. Because many a times, a lot of 686 00:37:09,080 --> 00:37:10,680 times you're trying to align ourselves. 687 00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:13,280 Our alignment matters. We saw that in our youth service 688 00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:15,600 two weeks back. Our alignment matters because 689 00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:18,800 when we align, the trajectory of our alignment is completely 690 00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:21,200 different. Paul goes on to emphasize in 691 00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:24,480 chapter 16 that we have to find these people to journey along 692 00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:27,240 with the life journey, along with people who are aligned with 693 00:37:27,240 --> 00:37:32,800 God, with faith is tested, who have proved to be selfless, who 694 00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:35,920 continue to live with relentless endurance. 695 00:37:37,320 --> 00:37:41,160 And I love how he concludes it because those are the people who 696 00:37:41,160 --> 00:37:44,960 will mark your journey of salvation and your pursuit of 697 00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:48,480 eternal life. In Roman 16, chapter one, we see 698 00:37:48,480 --> 00:37:51,680 he introduces this person called Phoebe, who's the Deacon of the 699 00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:54,760 church. He says welcome her as the one 700 00:37:54,760 --> 00:37:58,320 who's worthy of honor among God's people, help her in 701 00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:01,680 whatever she needs for she has been helpful to many and 702 00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:04,600 especially to me. He's attesting that she's been 703 00:38:04,600 --> 00:38:07,600 selfless. She's attesting, he's attesting 704 00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:11,280 to the fact that she's been relentlessly enduring running 705 00:38:11,280 --> 00:38:14,720 the race of endurance. And he says go ahead. 706 00:38:14,720 --> 00:38:16,720 And he talks about Phoebe. He talks about Priscilla and 707 00:38:16,720 --> 00:38:18,960 Akila. My Co workers in the ministry of 708 00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:22,400 Christ Jesus, They once risked their lives for me. 709 00:38:22,920 --> 00:38:26,080 I am thankful for them and so are all the Gentile churches. 710 00:38:26,720 --> 00:38:29,120 This is the testimony. These are people who are 711 00:38:29,120 --> 00:38:33,920 overcomers, people who are. Which means we don't negate of 712 00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:37,080 what did not happen. We don't negate the pain, but we 713 00:38:37,080 --> 00:38:40,360 rise above it. We know that this is part of 714 00:38:40,360 --> 00:38:43,800 God's will and plan for me, but we rise up because God is 715 00:38:43,800 --> 00:38:47,800 calling us to see things bigger, see things further. 716 00:38:49,080 --> 00:38:52,640 My dear friend Ephenitus, he was the first person from the 717 00:38:52,640 --> 00:38:55,040 province of Asia to become a follower of Christ. 718 00:38:55,840 --> 00:38:58,720 Mary, who has worked so hard for your benefit? 719 00:38:59,720 --> 00:39:03,160 Adronicus and Junior, my fellow Jews were in prison with me. 720 00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:06,000 We are highly respected among the apostles and became 721 00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:07,680 followers of Christ before I did. 722 00:39:08,200 --> 00:39:11,080 Today. Who are your friends who are 723 00:39:11,080 --> 00:39:14,560 overcomers? Don't find friends who will 724 00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:17,760 accompany you and sit alongside with you and have a pity tea 725 00:39:17,760 --> 00:39:21,960 party. Find those overcomers, Rufus, 726 00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:26,000 whom the Lord picked out to be his very own, and also his dear 727 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:28,040 mother who has been a mother to me. 728 00:39:28,640 --> 00:39:32,080 And I have taken certain characters here from those. 729 00:39:32,080 --> 00:39:34,960 But I would encourage you to read because you'll soon see 730 00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:38,720 this is a picture of a body. This is not a picture of just 731 00:39:39,320 --> 00:39:42,000 all musicians alone or all creatives alone. 732 00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:45,760 No, it's across the spectrum. Those who are older became 733 00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:49,160 mothers and fathers, those who are younger challenged and 734 00:39:49,160 --> 00:39:52,200 championed along others, those who are in different stages of 735 00:39:52,200 --> 00:39:54,520 life, those who have gone through persecution, those who 736 00:39:54,520 --> 00:39:56,480 have gone through imprisonment, everything. 737 00:39:56,480 --> 00:40:01,040 They've all been overcomers. And so today, as we conclude, I 738 00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:04,560 would ask you, what are we today? 739 00:40:04,560 --> 00:40:09,960 Are we an overcomer or are we rallying people across who will 740 00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:13,200 feel sorry for us, who will sympathize with us? 741 00:40:13,600 --> 00:40:19,520 Because honestly, the Church of Jesus has room for people to 742 00:40:19,520 --> 00:40:22,520 come. It's it, it addresses the people 743 00:40:22,520 --> 00:40:25,840 who are broken. It causes us to identify that we 744 00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:28,880 are hurting. But the power of God, the 745 00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:32,320 clothing of the Holy Spirit transforms us and we move to 746 00:40:32,320 --> 00:40:35,840 become an overcomer. And so today as a church, we 747 00:40:35,840 --> 00:40:39,520 will move towards overcoming. We all will be overcome us 748 00:40:39,520 --> 00:40:40,880 because that's what God wants us to. 749 00:40:41,440 --> 00:40:43,160 Is the temptation going to be hard? 750 00:40:43,160 --> 00:40:44,960 Yes, that's what it says. We have the oppressed, not 751 00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:47,320 crushed, persecuted, not abandoned. 752 00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:50,880 And I believe that's where our focus has to be. 753 00:40:51,560 --> 00:40:56,040 So today church, I would ask you, would you rise up together 754 00:40:56,040 --> 00:41:00,680 with the members of his body, Christ's body, and saying God, 755 00:41:01,080 --> 00:41:05,240 we all want to be overcome us because he has overcome. 756 00:41:05,800 --> 00:41:08,800 He went ahead. He went ahead selfless. 757 00:41:09,080 --> 00:41:12,000 He went ahead with relentless endurance. 758 00:41:12,320 --> 00:41:14,520 He pursued whatever came his way. 759 00:41:14,800 --> 00:41:16,880 And Paul has LED this by example. 760 00:41:17,880 --> 00:41:20,880 And we saw that he was encouraged by overcomers. 761 00:41:20,880 --> 00:41:24,200 Today I would love for each of us to be an overcomer and 762 00:41:24,200 --> 00:41:27,120 encourage one another. We all will go through 763 00:41:27,120 --> 00:41:29,640 hardships. We all will go through different 764 00:41:29,640 --> 00:41:34,880 stages of suffering, grief, pain, but God wants us to rise 765 00:41:34,880 --> 00:41:38,520 up to be an overcomer so that we'll encourage someone else 766 00:41:38,520 --> 00:41:41,080 nearby. We'll encourage someone else. 767 00:41:41,160 --> 00:41:45,400 For far too long we've had people just complain and 768 00:41:45,400 --> 00:41:48,640 complain and complain. Honestly. 769 00:41:48,880 --> 00:41:51,200 Today the church is going to move ahead. 770 00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:55,840 God is calling us to move ahead. We won't move ahead complaining. 771 00:41:55,840 --> 00:42:00,400 You'll move ahead, overcoming. We will move ahead knowing that 772 00:42:00,560 --> 00:42:03,400 all that we've been through was part of his plan and purpose. 773 00:42:04,200 --> 00:42:07,440 And today I'll be an overcomer, which means I'm not coming to 774 00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:10,000 church for others to understand my pain and suffering. 775 00:42:10,280 --> 00:42:13,200 I'm coming to church to tell God, God, in spite of my pain 776 00:42:13,200 --> 00:42:15,760 and suffering, I've come here. So I'll be an overcomer. 777 00:42:16,120 --> 00:42:18,760 I'll be an overcomer. I just want to conclude this. 778 00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:22,480 Two weeks back, I was. In Calcutta and I, my dear 779 00:42:22,480 --> 00:42:25,800 friend Rohan, I spent a day with him and I was just talking with 780 00:42:25,800 --> 00:42:28,040 him. I had other work, but I just 781 00:42:28,040 --> 00:42:30,280 caught up with coffee and we spent close to three hours 782 00:42:30,280 --> 00:42:33,240 talking. And I remember sitting in that 783 00:42:33,240 --> 00:42:40,440 same coffee shop years back, 8-9 years back, and we were dreaming 784 00:42:40,440 --> 00:42:44,440 about some of the things that we wanted to do 8-9 years later. 785 00:42:45,160 --> 00:42:48,280 We've had different journeys, we've had different pathways. 786 00:42:49,280 --> 00:42:52,960 He went on to do extensively great stuff in media. 787 00:42:52,960 --> 00:42:56,680 I went on to set up the media company and do things like that 788 00:42:56,680 --> 00:42:59,320 and church plant and all that. But today, when we both are 789 00:42:59,320 --> 00:43:02,760 looking back, we are still in that same place where God's 790 00:43:02,840 --> 00:43:05,120 asking. Us, Would you move forward? 791 00:43:06,240 --> 00:43:08,960 Would you move forward? Which means I can't become 792 00:43:08,960 --> 00:43:10,960 selfish. And as I was sharing what God's 793 00:43:10,960 --> 00:43:14,200 been doing in our lives and as I was hearing him share, there was 794 00:43:14,200 --> 00:43:17,960 so much of interjection. And it gave us an idea of what 795 00:43:17,960 --> 00:43:22,600 the body is going to look like and why we need each other and 796 00:43:22,600 --> 00:43:25,680 why we need to encourage one another and why we are saying we 797 00:43:25,680 --> 00:43:30,120 have to be an overcomer. Encourage us each other through 798 00:43:30,120 --> 00:43:32,880 our stories of overcoming, of overcoming our disbelief, of 799 00:43:32,880 --> 00:43:36,000 overcoming our faithlessness, of overcoming the struggles that 800 00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:38,640 we've gone through. And to say God is doing 801 00:43:38,640 --> 00:43:41,640 something marvelous. Let's journey along together. 802 00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:45,480 And I and I and I am thankful for friends who God has brought 803 00:43:45,480 --> 00:43:48,840 into the life of Weazen. This year alone, 2024 has been a 804 00:43:48,840 --> 00:43:52,960 year of all those encouraging overcomers who've walked 805 00:43:52,960 --> 00:43:56,000 alongside with us. There have been seasons when 806 00:43:56,120 --> 00:43:59,000 we've sat alongside dining tables and we've asked them how 807 00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:00,520 do we do this? This is what happened. 808 00:44:00,520 --> 00:44:03,480 It's brought us down and they've encouraged us. 809 00:44:03,480 --> 00:44:07,080 They've told us to be an over, which required us to be selfless 810 00:44:07,240 --> 00:44:09,800 because we had to clear our calendar out to say no, we need 811 00:44:09,800 --> 00:44:13,120 time to be minister too, even as you're ministering. 812 00:44:14,200 --> 00:44:17,080 And today I want to ask you, can you clear your calendar so God 813 00:44:17,080 --> 00:44:20,600 can bring in those overcomers to share their testimony so that 814 00:44:20,600 --> 00:44:22,720 you will become an overcomer today. 815 00:44:23,240 --> 00:44:29,200 I don't want each and anyone of you to go out of this feeling 816 00:44:29,200 --> 00:44:31,600 you're less than. You are called to be an 817 00:44:31,600 --> 00:44:33,680 overcomer. The Holy Spirit wants to walk in 818 00:44:33,680 --> 00:44:37,040 and through you. But can we today start off 819 00:44:37,040 --> 00:44:41,160 saying, God, I want to be living this transformed life selflessly 820 00:44:42,440 --> 00:44:44,480 so I can imitate how you did it for us. 821 00:44:45,160 --> 00:44:47,040 I want to have relentless endurance. 822 00:44:47,040 --> 00:44:50,520 So I'll push through whatever because my dependence, my oxygen 823 00:44:50,520 --> 00:44:54,320 is you and you alone, you and your word, Your word, which is 824 00:44:54,320 --> 00:44:56,560 being inspired, will be my oxygen. 825 00:44:56,920 --> 00:45:00,040 The third, I would be encouraged by overcomers. 826 00:45:00,040 --> 00:45:03,400 And in turn, my testimony will become one of an overcomer where 827 00:45:03,400 --> 00:45:08,360 I'll be able to testify. So today, as I pray, I pray that 828 00:45:08,360 --> 00:45:10,760 the Holy Spirit will move in and through you right now. 829 00:45:11,320 --> 00:45:13,440 Thank you for this time, Lord. I pray for all those who are 830 00:45:13,440 --> 00:45:16,840 listening that the Holy Spirit would fall of flame right now. 831 00:45:16,840 --> 00:45:20,360 A fresh fire would fall, a wind would blow. 832 00:45:21,200 --> 00:45:23,440 It would transform us. It would shape us, Lord, 833 00:45:23,960 --> 00:45:27,200 Landscape us, Lord, remove those unnecessary weeds. 834 00:45:27,960 --> 00:45:30,840 Shape us to be who you've called us to be so we can bear a fruit, 835 00:45:30,840 --> 00:45:34,840 not just 1000, but thousands. That we'll bear fruit in season 836 00:45:34,840 --> 00:45:38,480 and out of season because we are planted by the water of life, 837 00:45:38,480 --> 00:45:41,440 which is you, Lord. I pray that you would go before 838 00:45:41,440 --> 00:45:43,800 US, strengthen us, take charge of us. 839 00:45:43,800 --> 00:45:46,280 I pray in everything that we'll give thanks to you, Lord. 840 00:45:46,880 --> 00:45:49,320 I pray that, Lord, we'll be selfless so that we'll be able 841 00:45:49,320 --> 00:45:52,600 to see you more clearly. Because when we are selfish, 842 00:45:52,800 --> 00:45:56,880 it's like this opaque mirror, but when we are selfless, it's 843 00:45:56,880 --> 00:46:00,400 this transparent mirror where we can see through and see what God 844 00:46:00,400 --> 00:46:02,800 is doing. I pray even right now, Lord 845 00:46:02,800 --> 00:46:05,800 Jesus, for that relentless endurance. 846 00:46:05,800 --> 00:46:09,920 I pray for my friends and people around who have slowly starting 847 00:46:09,920 --> 00:46:11,880 to give up. Lord, inject faith. 848 00:46:11,880 --> 00:46:14,440 Lord, adrenaline. Faith will be injected so that 849 00:46:14,440 --> 00:46:18,360 Satan and his vices and every disruptive spirit will be cast 850 00:46:18,360 --> 00:46:21,840 out, Lord, that they'll be able to step out in boldness and do 851 00:46:22,040 --> 00:46:25,720 all that you call them to do. Lord Jesus, endurance to stand. 852 00:46:26,080 --> 00:46:29,080 I pray for those who are being pressed, persecuted, abandoned. 853 00:46:29,080 --> 00:46:32,600 They all will rise up, Lord Jesus, rise up to know that you 854 00:46:32,880 --> 00:46:35,600 are calling us, Lord Jesus, who are haunted down, knocked down, 855 00:46:35,600 --> 00:46:38,040 who feel like suffering, that they'll have relentless 856 00:46:38,040 --> 00:46:41,440 endurance to push through. And I pray that, Lord, we'll be 857 00:46:41,440 --> 00:46:44,200 encouraged by overcome as I pray all those who are speaking 858 00:46:44,200 --> 00:46:46,840 negatively will be, Lord, you'll silence them. 859 00:46:46,840 --> 00:46:50,200 Our ears won't even pick up those frequencies, Lord, that 860 00:46:50,200 --> 00:46:52,000 we'll be encouraged by overcomers right now. 861 00:46:52,000 --> 00:46:55,720 I pray Holy Spirit, move in right now, Lord Jesus, move in 862 00:46:55,720 --> 00:46:58,640 their homes, move in their spaces, move in the cars, move 863 00:46:58,640 --> 00:47:01,720 into the through their earpieces that they're listening into that 864 00:47:01,720 --> 00:47:03,560 they will be flourishing right now. 865 00:47:03,560 --> 00:47:06,840 Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, may they break out speaking in 866 00:47:06,840 --> 00:47:08,600 tongues. May they break out, Lord, 867 00:47:08,600 --> 00:47:10,960 knowing that you're moving in and through their lives right 868 00:47:10,960 --> 00:47:12,840 now. Lord Jesus, every demonic 869 00:47:12,840 --> 00:47:15,840 activity be broken. Lord Jesus, every past be 870 00:47:15,840 --> 00:47:18,000 broken. Lord Jesus, every lie of the 871 00:47:18,000 --> 00:47:21,720 enemy be broken right now. Lord, everything that Satan has 872 00:47:21,720 --> 00:47:24,200 plagued them with will be broken in the name of Jesus. 873 00:47:24,200 --> 00:47:29,040 Every dominion, every power that is not of you will bow down to 874 00:47:29,040 --> 00:47:31,440 the name of Jesus. We thank you. 875 00:47:32,360 --> 00:47:36,800 Go before us, take charge. I pray that Lord, your word will 876 00:47:36,800 --> 00:47:40,440 bear a rich harvest in our lives for the Most Holy, namely, pray, 877 00:47:41,040 --> 00:47:41,840 Amen. Amen. 878 00:47:42,800 --> 00:47:46,000 Church, Can you believe it? We've completed the series, but 879 00:47:46,000 --> 00:47:49,560 I pray that the Holy Spirit will be with you as you step out this 880 00:47:49,560 --> 00:47:51,920 week. His Holy Spirit will guide you 881 00:47:51,920 --> 00:47:55,720 and strengthen you, cover you, but at the same time that you'll 882 00:47:55,720 --> 00:48:01,800 be anointed to find strength in your everyday move into a 883 00:48:01,800 --> 00:48:04,640 disciplined way of learning from what God has to say. 884 00:48:05,000 --> 00:48:07,480 Dive deep into His word. Hold on to Him. 885 00:48:08,560 --> 00:48:11,400 And I pray that in time you'll bear a harvest. 886 00:48:12,200 --> 00:48:15,680 I pray that you'll be encouraged that you won't be alone. 887 00:48:15,760 --> 00:48:17,720 Allow the Holy Spirit to clothe you. 888 00:48:18,400 --> 00:48:22,480 He's a close friend. He's a counsellor, he's a 889 00:48:22,480 --> 00:48:26,320 Redeemer, and he's one who's willing to journey along with us 890 00:48:26,600 --> 00:48:29,720 as long as we give him access. So I pray that you'll be able to 891 00:48:29,720 --> 00:48:31,760 experience this today in your life. 892 00:48:32,200 --> 00:48:33,640 God bless you all. Have a blessed week. 893 00:48:35,280 --> 00:48:37,120 Thanks for listening to this message. 894 00:48:37,480 --> 00:48:41,560 We hope you were blessed to hear more messages like this, make 895 00:48:41,560 --> 00:48:45,320 sure to subscribe and check out our podcast channel for past 896 00:48:45,320 --> 00:48:47,640 episodes. If you like what you are 897 00:48:47,640 --> 00:48:52,200 hearing, consider rating us, subscribing and even sharing it 898 00:48:52,200 --> 00:48:54,760 with friends. That would really help us. 899 00:48:55,480 --> 00:48:59,840 For more content from We Are Zion and to connect with us, go 900 00:48:59,840 --> 00:49:05,240 to viazion.in. Remember, whoever finds Jesus 901 00:49:05,520 --> 00:49:06,280 finds life.