thankful if you are new to next level, new to who Pastor
Charlotte is. She is an author speaker, She is
a prophetic voice to the global church.
She loves leaders. She pours into US year round and
we are just so honored. She doesn't just speak to women,
she speaks to men too. So lean in and listen.
We are in for a word from God today.
So we put your hands together and welcome Pastor be in the
house. I'm going to keep you on your
feet just for a few seconds longer.
First of all, happy Mother's Day.
From my heart to all the women in the room, wherever Mother's
Day finds you. I just want to say that Mother's
Day for some is a joyous day. For some, it's a hard day.
I remember there were years where Steve and I, my husband,
we were told we would never have children.
And I remember being in services on Mother's Day, aware of my own
lack of being able to be a mother.
And it was a hard day, but I knew I served a good God.
And I want to remind you if today is a little harder for you
that we serve a good God. I now I'm the God rewrote the
story of the doctor's report, and he can rewrite your story
too. And so I celebrate you mums.
We do a lot and expect little. So I pray today that God
overwhelms you with his kindness and his goodness.
And I pray today that you realise you're doing way better
than you think you are. We're the hardest on ourselves,
but you do way better than you think you are.
And I get to open the word just in these next few moments.
I love this house. I love you pastors.
They're incredible people. And I'm thankful that I get to
come back and pour into this house and this location and all
the other locations. And I loved being with the
women, but I love being with the church because this is where we
get to build right family and home.
And and so I want to help you receive.
And maybe sometimes we just need a picture to help us receive.
And you know, I've been saying this to the services because I
think it's important we get ourselves in the right posture
to receive what God has. I really believe we sometimes
miss things because we're not in the right posture.
We're not in the mode of receiving.
You know, in the worship just a moment ago, you lifted your
hands. Many of you, we lift our voice.
Why? Because we're giving God our
worship. Worship is your opportunity to
give God something. He doesn't need anything, but we
get to give Him our worship. We get to give Him our thanks.
We get to give Him our gratitude.
But when it comes to the Word, this now is not about us giving
God something. The Word is actually about God
giving you something. Which blows my mind that God
wants to give us something right back after we just worshipped
Him. So what that means is that your
posture has to change. The worship we're giving.
But now we have to go into a posture of receiving.
And I don't know much about your game, football.
I don't even know why you call it football because that would
mean you use your feet. But if you were on my team and I
had the ball in my hand and I know this is a good pass, I know
if you catch it right now, we're about to win.
I know if you catch this ball, the whole game is about to
change. So I get ready to throw the ball
and you're on my team and I know your job brief is you're the
receiver. And I get ready to throw the
ball that I know can change the game.
And I look at the receiver and his hands are in his pockets or
he's on his cell phone. He's chatting to somebody on the
sidelines. I'm thinking to myself, what are
you doing? Don't you understand?
All I need you to do right now is receive.
And this whole thing changes. And I feel like when it comes to
the Word, it's like God's given me a ball.
He's given me some truth, He's given me a revelation and I've
just got to throw it out into the room.
But I'm just looking for the receiver that realises if I
catch this, it could change my marriage.
If I catch this, it could change our family.
If I catch this, it could change my future.
I'm going to receive, so let's shift our posture before we take
our seats. God, we thank you that you want
to give us Your Word. God, you're aware that our lives
are filled with many people's words, but none of them can do
what your word can do. The God I pray today that we
would put ourselves in the seat of the learner, the God.
Today, no matter how long we've been alive on this planet, we
would sit in these next few moments saying, God, teach me,
God, the things I need to learn. There are things I don't know
that you do know. God, I pray today we'd be so
hungry for your Word, so desperate for your Word, that we
would leave here knowing we just received something that can
change the rest of our life. And God, I pray as always that I
would get out of the way. God, I want to be invisible so
that you can be fully visible today.
So God, have your way in these next few moments and we'll give
you all the glory in Jesus name, Amen and Amen.
You may take your seats. I don't know how you begin your
years. I hope that there's some prayer
in it. I hope there's some devotional
time in it. For me, at the beginning of
every year, I lean in. I pray.
I'm really. I'm just asking God.
OK, God, what is it that's on your heart for this year?
What is it that you would have me lean into this year?
That's where I found myself in January of this year.
And as I was praying, I felt such a sense of excitement,
honestly, such a sense of passion to run after God with
all my heart. I was a little surprised because
when you've done something, as long as I've done what I'm doing
now, you can almost go into, you know what, maybe God, I'm over.
Maybe it's time for me to retire.
I mean, I started preaching the word of God at age 21 and I'll
be 53 this year. I'm like God, maybe it's time
for me to put the book down. Maybe it's time for me to do
something else. But I honestly started this year
feeling feeling just excited about preaching as I was when I
was in my 20s. I was so passionate to get out
and do what God needed me to do. And so I felt this urgency at
the beginning of the year to go for it, to serve God, to open
his word, to teach, to preach like I am doing now.
But at the same time, I felt something I'd never felt before.
And I felt God say to me, Charlotte, I don't just need
your urgency this year. I need your accuracy this year.
I don't just need you to run with passion.
I actually need some precision this year.
I don't just need speed. I actually need some specific
things doing this year. And if you're running too fast,
you're going to miss the things that will be more effective
because there is an accuracy that I want to put alongside
your urgency. And I was reminded when I was
praying had something that we went through as a family years
ago, years ago, I needed to see a doctor, a specialist, but the
doctor and the specialist that I needed to see in England was
really hard to get an appointment with.
So I had been on a waiting list to see this doctor for over 18
months. That's how long it was taking
just to get an appointment with him.
And I knew seeing this doctor, this specialist, it literally
could change the rest of my future health wise.
I knew that he could help me in a way that no one else could.
So we waited. So you can imagine the
excitement when we finally got the letter saying you've been
accepted. He's going to see you.
He's going to be in your region. This is the date.
This is the time we rearranged our entire schedule so that I
could be at that appointment. On the day of the appointment, I
was up early, early. I was not going to let anything
get in the way. I'm not, I'm not going to get on
a traffic jam. I'm not going to get caught in.
I'm going early, early. And so I was at the appointment
way before my time. So I realise I'm here, you know,
nearly 3040 minutes early. So I'm just going to sit and I'm
just going to wait until it's my time.
And I'm waiting and I'm hearing people's voice names get called
over the voice tanoi, and they're saying a name and then
they're saying the room for this person to go to, then another
person's name and the next room to go to.
But I know I'm early, so I'm not waiting for my name yet.
So then it gets to the time of my appointment.
And so now I'm like, OK, it should be me next.
And so I'm waiting, but it's taking a while.
And I'm thinking to myself, like you would think to yourself,
well, he's busy. These people have been waiting
as long as me to see him. Appointments are probably taking
a little longer. So I'll have a little patience.
I'll have a little grace. Well, now we're 5/10/15.
Now we're 20 minutes past my appointment time.
So I just go to the desk at the front and I just say to the
lady, Hey, just wanted to let you know I am here.
I, I, I, I have not heard my name yet.
I've heard everybody else's name, but I've not heard my name
yet. So I'm just letting you know I
am here in case you forgot to Call My Name.
So she said, well, just let me know.
Remind me your name, your time on all the things.
And so I gave her the details of my appointment.
And she goes on her computer and then she gets on the phone.
And then she looks at me and she says, Mrs. Gamble, I'm really
sorry to tell you this. She said, you do have an
appointment with that doctor and it is today and you have the
right time. But did you not get the updated
e-mail? I said, what e-mail?
She said the one that would have let you know his office is no
longer in this building. He's a good 30-40 minutes all
the way across town. And I realized in that moment I
have been sat here getting angry and frustrated that no one is
calling my name when the reality was 40 minutes away.
Someone was calling my name, but I was not in the right room.
See, I had part of the equation, right?
I had the day right. I had the time right?
I had the doctor right? I just had one part off and that
was I was in the wrong building. But how many of you know it
doesn't matter if I had 3/4 of it, right?
That one part that was off meant I missed the entire appointment.
And that's what I felt God remind me of in the beginning of
this year. Charlotte, I don't need you to
get 3/4 right. I don't need you to get just the
time right or just the person right.
I need you to get the space right.
I need you to get the accuracy that I require from you this
year. And I was reminded of Two Samuel
11, which is a story about David, King David, chosen by
God, anointed of God. But the Bible says in Two
Samuel, at a time when kings go to war, David is a king.
David, it's letting you know you're the king.
This is the time and this is the place you should go to war.
But the Bible says that David decided he would not go to where
he should be, but instead he would stay home.
It seems like a small decision. It seems like an insignificant
choice until you realise all the enemies waiting for is for you
to get one part of the equation wrong.
Because if you're not where you should be doing what you should
be doing, he will wait till you where you shouldn't be, and then
he will give you something to do that you shouldn't be doing.
And in that one decision to stay home, Bathsheba shows up.
And the Bathsheba became the temptation that David did not
resist, and the whole trajectory of David's life was changed just
because he refused to be in the right place at the right time.
So I don't want to overlook this today.
I don't want to downplay the seriousness today of us
positioning ourselves where God needs us to be when He needs us
to be there. There is a verse in Galatians
that says this. It says, since we live by the
Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
That is a small, short sentence to read, but that is a huge
revelation to wrap your mind around.
What's it saying? It's saying, hey, I need you to
know that you actually can live out of step with the Spirit.
You have to choose to live in step with the Spirit.
I don't know if you've ever danced with someone that's not a
great dancer, but when they're out of step with the step they
should be in, you get your toes trodden on.
It's a painful experience. And some of you right now are
having a painful experience in your walk with God, but it's not
that His step is off, it's that your step is off.
See, when you get in step with someone, somebody has to
surrender. And just in case you wondered,
it ain't God. You don't have to surrender, You
do. So let me illustrate and get my
helper up here to let you see what it is that Galatians is
trying to help us understand. It's telling us we've got to
live our lives in a way that stays in step with the Holy
Spirit. When you stay in step with
someone, it means that you have to be attached to that person.
In order to stay in step with someone.
It means my life has to be In Sync with whoever I'm trying to
stay in step with. The problem is that a lot of us
come in services like this or go to conferences like this weekend
and we're like, I'm in step with you, Lord.
I'm in step with you, Lord. But then we get in the car and
we're like, and now I'm not in step with you.
I don't want your step in my business.
I don't want your step in my relationships.
I don't mind it in services. I don't mind it in church, but I
don't want it on Wednesday. I certainly, I really don't want
it on Friday. I don't want it at the party on
Saturday. So I'm just letting you know
Sunday I'll be in step. But the rest of the time I'm out
of step. Because here's the thing, when
you're in step with the Holy Spirit, he don't, don't want to
do what you want to do. So you're like, I'm just going
to say that. And the Holy Spirit is like, no,
I don't think so. I'm just going to put that on
Facebook. He's like, I don't do Facebook.
Well, they said a mean thing. So I'm going to say a mean
thing. Holy Spirit is like, we don't do
mean things back. We don't retaliate.
Well, I'm angry. I don't do angry.
See what I'm saying? When you are In Sync with the
Holy Spirit, it kind of cramps your style because you want to
do something over here. And the Holy Spirit's like we're
not doing that. That's why we come to church and
we have a moment where we sync up, but then we leave church and
we detach because I don't want you to confront me on Friday.
I don't mind on Sunday, but leave alone my Friday.
But the Bible says you've got to keep in step with the Spirit.
So you've got to start working at this awkward relationship
that God wants you to get in step with.
But the more you do it, the more you find a rhythm.
And all of a sudden what was awkward becomes quite normal.
And now it's not just you walking, it's the Holy Spirit
walking with you. There's a sink into what you're
doing, and that's what this Scripture is appealing for.
It's saying, hey, since you live in the Spirit, why don't you
keep in step with the Spirit? See, you always have God on the
inside. If you've said yes to Jesus,
he's going nowhere. He's on the inside of you.
He's not leaving you. He's not forsaking you.
Thank you. He's on the inside of you.
But just because he's on the inside of you doesn't mean
you're in step with him. It's like having power in your
house. You have power in your house,
but just because you have power in your house doesn't mean it
works. Until you flip a switch that
connects the power to the light bulb and all of a sudden the
power has a purpose. You have the power on the inside
of you, but until you get in step, that power has no purpose.
I think one of the places where we often detach, where we say
God, you know what, I don't mind you speaking into this, but I
don't want you speaking into that, is when we get into
seasons where we feel hurt or upset or offended or pained.
Something happens and we don't like what just happened.
It's in those moments that we often want to detach from the
Spirit because the Spirit wants to move on and your feelings
want to stay. I've discovered something about
God. He don't care much about my
feelings. You don't care about your
feelings. God's not a feeling driven God.
Thank the Lord he's not feeling driven.
Because if he was feeling driven, most of us in here would
be dead by now. He'd be like, I ain't giving you
no more breath because you keep wasting it on dumb stuff.
I have a feeling you've been rebellious enough.
We're done. We wouldn't have woken up with
breath this morning if he was feeling driven.
So thank the Lord that he's not driving our lives through his
feeling. So God doesn't we care much
about our feelings. He'll let us have them, but he
won't let us live in them. And some of you are out of step
with what God wants to do because you've got stuck in a
feeling. You've got stuck in an emotion.
You got stuck in something that happened.
And today God wants to get you unstuck because there's
something greater for your life, but you can't get to the greater
until you let go of what you're in right now.
There's a story in the Bible where there's a potential woman
that's about to get stuck. She loves Jesus, She followed
Jesus, she went with Jesus and the disciples to many places.
This woman's name is Mary, and we're about to bump into this
story that Mary is in, in John 20.
And we're about to see that Mary has got stuck and she needs a
little help to get unstuck. Mary, who loves Jesus, has just
a few days earlier, before we jump into John 20, just a few
days earlier, Mary has had the greatest loss.
She just watched Jesus be crucified.
I mean, Jesus was everything he was.
He was her hope for the future. Jesus, she knew was a good man.
She knew there was nothing bad in Jesus.
And yet she had watched him be brutally crucified.
She'd watch people accuse him of things that he was not guilty
of. She was distraught.
And so she is deep in her grief, and she's grieving, and she is
crying, and she is overwhelmed with the loss she is facing.
And so now, after the Sabbath has passed, she knows I can now
go to the body. I can go to where the body is
laid. I just need to go grieve some
more. I just need to go cry some more.
And she even was going to the tomb with embalming fluids to
embalm the body. I'm going to go embalm the body.
I'm going to build a monument here at the body.
I'm going to build a memorial at the body.
She was on her way to grieve a little longer.
And I sense when I was putting this message together, I sense
the Holy Spirit say, there are so many of you that entered this
year going to embalm the body from last year, going to embalm
and going to cry a little more about what happened last year,
about what happened three years ago.
Going to the side of the tomb to go and grieve a little longer
over the thing that happened so far back in your past.
You are crying still about what happened.
And I just need you to know that maybe God's going to ask you a
few questions today because Mary was about to be asked some
questions. It says Mary is at the tomb in
John 20. So now Mary stands outside the
tomb and she's crying. And as she wept, she bent over
to look into the tomb and she saw 2 angels in white seated
where Jesus body had been, one at the head and the other at the
foot. Here comes the first question.
And they asked her woman, why are you crying?
It feels an insensitive question.
I mean, really. I mean, just a few days earlier,
I watch Jesus be beaten, I watch Jesus be mocked.
I watch Jesus be crucified. I watch Jesus take his final
breath. And I'm just a few days on from
my grief and you, I have the audacity to ask me why I'm
crying. That's why.
We don't like sometimes keeping in step with the Spirit because
he feels insensitive to our emotions, but he's asking the
question because he's trying to help her move from where she was
to where she now is. See, I need you to understand
something. All throughout Scripture, when
this story is recorded, there is no recording of anyone asking
Mary why she is crying at the cross.
No one asks her why are you crying at the cross?
Because at the cross the tears make sense.
At the cross, the tears are an offering.
At the cross, the tears are beautiful.
At the cross, the tears are appropriate.
Ecclesiastes 3 says everything is beautiful in its time, even
grief, even pain, even anger. It's beautiful in its time, but
out of time it's no longer beautiful.
And I know over here there were tears because of your loss, but
we're not over here anymore. We're now over here, and this is
not the cross. This is an empty tomb.
That should be a clue, Mary. We don't need to cry because
there's no body in the tomb. There's something took place
between where you were and where you now are.
But your emotions are keeping you in the past, and some of you
are in the present, but you're living in your emotions of the
past. And you can't see the miracle
that God's trying to do because you're trying to embalm the body
of what what happened last. Why are you crying?
Maybe the question is not why are you crying?
Maybe the question is this, why are you still offended?
Get over it. But you don't know what they
said. I don't need to know what they
said. All I know is your life is stuck
at a place called offence, which means you can't move into the
blessing of your future because you're parked up at a fence.
The enemy loves it when we get stuck in our feelings, get stuck
in our emotions, But everything is beautiful in its time and out
of time. It is ugly, and right now some
of the ugly in your life is not to do with anyone else, but it's
to do with you because you've got out of step with the Spirit
of God. The best way I can describe this
moment is by telling you a story of what happened in our lives
several years back. We were in England, it was
Christmas Eve, we were all having fun as a family upstairs
hanging out. But it came to the point in the
evening where the kids were going to bed and mum and dad
needed to go and be Father Christmas's helpers, if you know
what I'm saying. There were things to do, there
were presents to bring, there was organization that needed to
happen. So the kids go to bed and we go
down to the basement where everything is stashed.
There's a, there's a living area down there, there's a games
console and couch, sofa down there.
So we'd hidden stuff down there. So we go down to the basement.
I take a step down into the basement, but as I go to put my
foot on the step, my foot hits water.
I'm like, wait a minute, there shouldn't be water on the
basement step. And it's not just a little bit
of water, it's all the way up to my ankles.
And I suddenly begin to have the horrific realisation that while
we've been upstairs with our family having a good time, a
pipe had burst in our basement and everything was ruined.
This is 11:00 PM on Christmas Eve.
There is no rescuing Christmas. There is no fixing this problem.
Every present is destroyed, everything is gone.
I would like to stand here and tell you that I stood on that
step and said the joy of the Lord is my strength.
He is my provider, He is my waymaker.
But I did not say any such thing.
I would be a liar if I told you that I stood on that step and
said things that I should not have said.
I said words that I had to repent from saying after I had
said them because I was angry and I was frustrated and I was
mad. Our whole Christmas was ruined.
Everything was ruined. I went to bed crying.
I woke up crying. I didn't stop crying the next
day or the day after that. I was getting madder and I was
crying more tears. A week gone. 7 days gone. 10
days gone. Two and a bit weeks after this
happened. There's a knock on the door.
I go down the stairs. I open the door.
There's a gentleman standing there in a suit with a
briefcase. He said, are you Mrs. Gamble?
I said, yes, I am. He said, well, I'm so sorry.
It's taken me a while to get here.
It's been the holiday season, people on vacations.
We've been down a few staff members, but I'm here now and I
believe you had a flood. I'm like, yes, he goes, oh, I'm
from your insurance company, He said.
They sent me because my job brief is I'm the loss adjuster
and my job today is to come and see what you lost so I can write
you a cheque for what we owe. How many of you know I ain't
crying anymore. I ain't crying One tear.
I'm thinking to myself, I hated that sofa that my granny gave
me. I'm thinking to myself, we
bought our kids some cheap rubbish, we're about to get a
whole upgrade on what they're getting for Christmas.
I'm thinking to myself, we didn't light Nintendo.
We're about to get a PS4. I'm thinking to myself, things
are about to go up in this household.
Why? Because the loss adjuster just
showed up. So when God asks you a question
that seems insensitive, I need you to remember the knock.
Because what he's saying is hello.
I just need to ask you, why are you crying?
Because I'm from your insurance company.
You have a policy. You have a policy in heaven.
And last time I checked, there is no loss that he did not
adjust at the cross. There is no pain, there is no
shame, there is no sin, there is no betrayal, there is no
offence, there is no hurt. There is nothing that he did not
fully pay the price to adjust the loss in your life.
So I'm just asking you, Mary, why are you crying?
Because the loss has already been adjusted that you are
crying over. Why are you crying?
Why are you angry? Why are you frustrated?
He's asking you the question because he's trying to move you
into your future. It gets worse because when you
act crazy and think crazy, you say crazy things and some of you
are Cray Cray in the house today and you need a deliverance today
from your craziness. And you need to get in your
right mind and stop saying the wrong things because your
feelings are driving your tongue.
And instead let faith begin to speak instead out of your mouth.
And so Mary has already been asked this question once, but
God himself sends Jesus to ask the question again.
And so now as she's standing there and she's asked this
question, she says, well, they've taken my, the Lord away
and I don't know where they put it.
At this, she turns around and Jesus is standing there.
But she did not realise that it was Jesus.
Why? Because when your head's in the
wrong space, you can't even see who's in front of your eyes.
So now he asks her. Sounds familiar, woman, why are
you crying? He's going at it a second time.
Why are you crying? I'm going to repeat the
question, but watch this second part of the question.
And who? Who is it?
What is it that you are looking for?
She says. Well, watch this thinking He was
the gardener. How in the world can you think
that Jesus is a gardener? I have no idea.
He didn't have a what? Wheelbarrow and Wellington boots
on that. This is like her crazy mind is
imagining crazy things. She can't even recognise the one
she knows so well. So thinking he was the gardener,
she says, Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where
you put him and I will get him back.
She's accusing Jesus of stealing.
Jesus. This makes no sense.
And some of you make no sense right now.
The plan makes no sense. What you're saying makes no
sense. What you're accusing makes no
sense. And Jesus is asking her, what
are you looking for, woman? What is it you think is going to
fix this situation? That's what he's asking her.
She's like, I need a body. I need I need a body.
I need the body and I need to take control.
Hello to all my control freak friends in the house this
morning. You are bastard God does not
need you to control the situation.
You need to resign from your control freak tendencies.
I don't know who told you that you have to fix everything, but
I have good news for you today. You can't fix everything, so you
ought not to keep trying to fix everything.
And he's asking her in this moment, what is it that you
think will make this better? Like, what is it that you're
looking for, Mary? Because I'm right here talking
to you. And it seems that you're looking
for something that that you think somehow is better than the
one that's talking to you right now.
She's like, I need the body. Tell me where it is and I'll go
get it. I'll fix it.
I remember when we were going through a crazy season in our
church back in England, COVID had just happened.
And COVID in England was a whole different scenario than it was
over here. I mean, we were locked down, not
allowed to leave our home for 19 months.
It was crazy. People were crazy.
I remember pastoring through that scenario and people were
just posting stuff and being weird and saying crazy stuff
like they've lost their minds. And I remember just being so
angry and frustrated thinking what is wrong with you all?
And I remember some people posted some stuff that was
personally offensive. And I remember just in that
moment, everything in me, the control freak in me, wanted to
sort it out. And I remember God saying,
Charlotte, what is it you want right now?
And my honest answer that I gave to God because I don't know any
other way but to be honest, I'll tell you God exactly what I
want. I want them to crawl on broken
glass to my feet and say they're sorry for the lie they just
posted. I want them to admit to their
sin. I want them to put this right.
And I felt God say to me, Charlotte, I'm asking you a
question. Do you want a resolution or do
you want a solution? Well, those words sound similar,
so I had to go to the dictionary and look up the difference.
But a resolution means when I get the outcome that satisfies
me, a resolution is well, they stole from me, so I want them to
pay me back. Well, they lied about me, so I
want them to tell the truth. Well, you know what?
They betrayed me, so I want them to apologise.
You know what? They said some mean things.
I need them to unsay the mean things.
You know what? They were the one that were
wrong, so they need to say sorry first.
That's a resolution. And I heard God so clearly say
to me, Charlotte, I never promised you a resolution, never
promised your resolution. I never promised they'd say
sorry. I never promised they'd pay you
back. I never promised that it would
all be put right. I never promised it would go
back to the way it was. I never promised you a
resolution because people don't often do what they should do.
But I did send you a solution. So you can either spend the rest
of your life waiting for the resolution that you feel will
justify the situation, or you can realise like Mary needed to
in that moment. I know you want a resolution,
but you're talking right now to the solution.
That's why when you read your Bible, he gives you solutions.
I know we don't like them because I'd rather have as a
resolution, but he gives you solutions like hey, I know you
want a resolution where they say they're wrong, but here's the
solution. Forgive.
Anyway, I don't like that solution any more than you do,
but it is the solution because you know what it does?
It moves you on from the offence into the life that God has
waiting for you. Your resolutions keeping you
stuck in your past whilst your present is calling you into your
future, but you're stuck. You're camped out.
I know. So we want a resolution that
says, hey, that person that was mean to me that they're going to
come and they're going to do good to me.
But the Bible says I've got a solution for you.
Even the person that is your worst enemy.
Wrap up your best coat and give it to them as a gift.
You're like, what in the world is that?
It's a solution. It's a solution to free your
life from where you've been stabbed for so long.
Why are you crying? Why are you angry?
Why are you frustrated? And you might have a million
answers to that question, but after you've given me all the
answers, after you've given God all the answers, I'm just
wondering whether you're willing to say I don't care about the
resolution as much as I care about the solution.
I want to put my head on the pillow tonight and have peace
back. I want to have joy back.
I want to get that sense of vision for my future back.
You'll only ever get that when you get back in step with the
Spirit that can lead you to it. So in her crazy mind with her
crazy mouth accusing Jesus of stealing, Jesus, not seeing that
the answer is right there in front of her, Jesus does one
thing and this is the one thing He does.
He simply says her name, Mary, And the minute that she hears
her name on those lips, she realizes in an instant, Jesus
Rabboni teacher, it's you. It's me, Mary.
This whole while while you've been freaking out, I've been
right here This whole while while you're looking for a body,
I'm hearing my resurrected glory.
This whole while while you're trying to solve it, I already
have brought the solution to it. And my prayer today for you as
individuals and as families is that you would be centred again,
that you would reconnect again, that you get back In Sync again
with the Holy Spirit and you would hear your name on his lips
calling you today back to centre, calling you today.
Out of all of the feelings and the emotions, it's Mother's Day.
And for some of you it's just another year where you feel your
headache has got deeper and your pain has got worse.
And I'm just asking you today, maybe you need to talk to the
solution instead of holding on for your A resolution.
Maybe today you have to pick up a phone or let something go or
have a conversation. Maybe today you need to free
yourself from the trap that you've allowed yourself to live
in for the last 5-6 years. God has so much for you, but He
can't lead you to it unless you get in step with Him.
Which means you're going to have to step out of step with some
feelings that you've become very attached to.
It's all across the house today. I'm going to ask us to stand to
our feet and just right where you're at.
I'm just going to ask you to close your eyes and just think
of that picture that I started with that illustration of
joining your life to another, of attaching your heart to another,
of letting the Spirit lead you. Where are you out of step today?
Where do you need to answer the question?
Why are you still upset? Why are you still offended?
Why are you still grieving? Why are you still angry?
Where do you need to answer the question today?
What is it you're looking for? Where is it today that you need
to let go of your desired resolution and instead say, God,
I receive your solution, I'll love anyway.
I'll forgive anyway. I'll move anyway.
I'll believe anyway. I'll dream anyway.
Your loss adjuster is in the room and I don't care how bad
the loss is. He paid for every single one of
them on that cross. So God, I pray for healing
today. I pray today for conversations
that would lean to the solution instead of the resolution.
I pray today for families to find a peace again.
I pray today for marriages to find a space where they can have
a conversation that moves things forward.
I pray today that there would be a reawakening of some things
that have been dormant for too long.
I pray today that we would wipe the tears and we would let go of
the anger. We would let you be our loss
adjuster and there's eyes are closed in every location.
If in this moment you know that you are not where you should be
with God, that you've been drifting or maybe you've never
asked him to be Lord. Maybe he got dragged here on
Mother's Day, but God brought you here not just because it's
Mother's Day, but because He has a plan for your future.
He wants to adjust the loss. Without Him, we're going to
hell. With Him, our eternity is secure
in heaven. He does not want the loss of
your life in sin. He wants to redeem it with His
grace and His goodness. And today all he asks is that we
say yes to him, the loss of justice.
So as eyes are closed, if today you know, I need God to be first
in my life, I need to come home today.
I need to make Him Lord. I've been a prodigal today.
I adjust that loss. If that's you, his eyes are
closed, just lift your hand at right where you are.
I'm going to see it. That hand saying that's me
today. Include me in this prayer that
you're about to pray. I know I need to adjust some
things today. I love these moments because I
know what's at the other side of this.
Obedience feels like just a hand, but I'm telling you, it is
more than a hand. It's acknowledgement that God, I
don't want to do this my way anymore.
My way is not working. Put that same hand on your heart
and I'm going to pray this prayer and I pray you make it
your prayer right now. God, I thank you that you love
me and I thank you even though I don't deserve it.
Your grace flows towards me and I thank you that you have
adjusted every loss that I have faced.
And so today I receive your grace, and God, I ask for your
forgiveness. Would you adjust the loss of my
sin and my shame? Would you adjust the loss of my
grief? And my Baroness, would you
adjust the loss in my heart of rebellion and anger?
God, today I receive from you a new beginning, a fresh start.
Thank you Jesus, that you went to the cross to adjust the loss
for my eternity. Today I receive you as Lord.
Today I come home. Today I say thank you God for
seeing me and receiving me. And God will give you all the
glory. And all God's people said Amen
and Amen.