1 00:00:02,160 --> 00:00:04,480 Hey, welcome to the City Point Church podcast. 2 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:07,280 Thanks for joining us. Every day is an opportunity to 3 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:10,280 take hold of. So we hope this message inspires 4 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:13,560 you and build your faith, but it helps you have more of a God 5 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:15,880 perspective for your day. Enjoy. 6 00:00:17,240 --> 00:00:19,880 I want to speak this morning on God's will. 7 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:25,200 What is it to have God's will? What is it to be and live in his 8 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:27,920 will. So we've all had the the message 9 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:29,840 this morning is your will be done. 10 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:35,360 So you've all heard the the passage in the Bible that says 11 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:40,720 your Kingdom come your your will be done found in Matthew 6. 12 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:44,240 So I want to speak around the biblical meaning of will. 13 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:47,360 I am a CHC student at ministry college. 14 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:54,240 Thank you Alex, a little bit teachy. 15 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:59,000 OK, so the biblical meaning of will, it is actually the Greek 16 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:02,880 word called thelema. If anyone here is Greek, just 17 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:04,879 have a giggle at my pronunciation and move on. 18 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:12,840 So the word dilemma, God's will is actually deeply centred in 19 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:18,400 what he desires and what gives him great pleasure. 20 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:27,440 When we pray your Kingdom come, your will be done, Your thelema, 21 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:32,440 we're actually praying, Lord, we pray for what's going to bring 22 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:38,400 you the most amount of pleasure. We want to pray, Lord, for your 23 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:43,080 deepest desires to be done. It's a little bit different, 24 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:46,280 isn't it? Can you hear the personal 25 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:53,920 aspect, the relational aspect in that it is Thelema. 26 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:57,880 So when we pray, it's what is the deepest, what's going to 27 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:01,520 bring you the deepest level of pleasure here, Lord, in this 28 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:08,039 moment, in this decision, or in this outcome, what will bring 29 00:02:08,039 --> 00:02:12,400 you pleasure? You see, to know God's will, 30 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:20,360 it's actually to know God. Great authority and power comes 31 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:24,560 from deep intimacy with Jesus. And Jesus was the one who 32 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:27,280 demonstrated this for us time and time again. 33 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:30,920 How many times do you hear of him taking off and spending time 34 00:02:30,920 --> 00:02:34,080 with the Father? Deep intimacy, knowing Him 35 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:36,600 produces great authority in your life. 36 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:42,400 So I want to speak around 3 points on what it is to know 37 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:47,400 what God's will isn't. That'll be point #1 #2 what 38 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:52,560 God's will is and #3 we're going to speak on the power of your 39 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:54,920 will be done. Feel good this morning. 40 00:02:56,080 --> 00:03:02,400 So .1 what God's will is not, and I said there is not because 41 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:05,000 in CHC you're not allowed to say isn't you have to do the 42 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:08,920 extended version of is not just a heads up for those of you 43 00:03:08,920 --> 00:03:12,040 considering to sign up. You're welcome because you will 44 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:18,840 get marked down on that. Let's talk about what God's will 45 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:24,040 is not, and it is not your assumptions. 46 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:30,640 God is not who you think he is. He's simply who He says He is. 47 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:37,440 Years ago, I was out to dinner with friends who I'd spent some 48 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:40,800 time with and they were all ordering dinner. 49 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:46,080 And I noticed it was decided for me that I wouldn't partake in 50 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:48,680 what they had ordered because apparently I didn't like that 51 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:51,400 food. And I, I sat there for a minute 52 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:54,800 and I went, actually the, the food that you've ordered is in 53 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:58,560 my top three favorite foods. And they went, really, we've 54 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:01,400 never seen you enjoy that kind of food before. 55 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:07,840 They had spent some time with me and so they assumed that I 56 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:10,960 didn't like this food, but I was right there. 57 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:16,360 They could have just asked, but we do this with God. 58 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:22,360 We assume that because we've spent some time with Him that we 59 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:25,880 know what he likes and what he doesn't like, but he's right in 60 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:29,520 the room and we can actually just ask. 61 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:36,800 I, I want to give you some examples of this because I think 62 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:40,600 people can flow out, throw out what they like to call fleeces 63 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:44,520 to God and taken completely out of context of what it was 64 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:46,960 originally used for in the Old Testament. 65 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:53,080 But they might throw things out and say things like if the Lord, 66 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:58,480 if the pastor wears green today, I'm going to take that as a sign 67 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:01,440 that you're totally OK for me to leave my job. 68 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:11,120 We can assume that we know what God wants, like we just we throw 69 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:15,640 these things out. Another one might be if I get 70 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:20,600 approved for that line of credit, I will take that as your 71 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:24,720 word that you want me to have that money or you want me to 72 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:28,200 have access to it even though I've completely overextended 73 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:32,080 myself. It's so hard to get a rental, 74 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:34,840 Lord. So if I get approved for that 75 00:05:34,840 --> 00:05:38,080 house, then that must be you telling me that you want me to 76 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:42,800 move in with my boyfriend, that you want me to move in with my 77 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:46,480 girlfriend. Honestly, God must look at us 78 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:49,320 sometimes and go. I didn't say that. 79 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:51,960 Why do I say this? Michael? 80 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:56,000 Are you adding words to here? It's like, is Kurong ripping 81 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:57,800 you? What, did they leave pages out? 82 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:01,960 Are they trying to save money? Where do we get this stuff from? 83 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:08,200 Because I don't read it in here. God's not who you think he is. 84 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:11,640 He's simply who you he says that he is. 85 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:19,200 So what God's will is not, it's not everything that happens. 86 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:22,960 It's not everything that happens. 87 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:26,240 Have you ever heard, oh, what happened that way? 88 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:31,680 So it must have been God's will kind of thinking. 89 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:34,360 I actually see a lot in Christianity. 90 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:41,240 I didn't get a high school, I didn't get that grade, and so I 91 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:44,160 didn't get into that course. That must mean that God doesn't 92 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:47,240 want me to pursue that career, right? 93 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:52,720 We didn't get the loan. And so God must not desire us to 94 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:57,120 ever own our own home. I was late to get out of bed 95 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:01,240 this morning. So God mustn't want us to be at 96 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:06,080 this particular meeting. Come on now. 97 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:11,320 You've all said that at some point, not everything that 98 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:15,640 happens is God's will. Think about it. 99 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:22,120 If everything that happens is God's will, we can chill out. 100 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:26,960 Pastor Chris, come and take. We can just take a seat. 101 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:33,920 If everything that happens is God's will, then why bother? 102 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:36,120 Like, we don't need to do a Christmas production. 103 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:41,960 We don't need to come here every Tuesdays and all of the other 104 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:45,240 extra meetings and do it. Pastor Mill, you can chill out 105 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:47,040 with me. Come take a seat. 106 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:50,360 It's OK. There's no need for all of the 107 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:52,960 tantrums and the late nights with children. 108 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:57,560 We can just chill because I'm here to sing. 109 00:07:57,560 --> 00:08:02,360 Hey Sarah, Sarah, whatever will be will be God's will. 110 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:09,920 This is actually quite comfortable and then super 111 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:12,720 annoying. But I read in God's word it says 112 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:19,760 Jesus actually asks us to please pray for God's will to be done. 113 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:25,960 Why would he ask us to please pray for God's will to be done? 114 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:32,240 If everything that happens is God's will, we need to think 115 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:35,200 things through. God's will is what brings him 116 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:40,360 great pleasure, great desire with intention. 117 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:43,280 Think of the words pleasure and desire. 118 00:08:43,919 --> 00:08:46,840 When we think about pleasure and desire, it reminds me of buying 119 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:50,440 a gift for someone. Imagine you go out and to to buy 120 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:53,520 a gift for your wife. You think what brings her great 121 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:55,920 pleasure? What does she desire? 122 00:08:55,920 --> 00:09:00,600 What's going to make her smile? You don't give your son 2 bucks 123 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:03,720 to go to the supermarket and go just get her whatever. 124 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:06,040 She's be stoked with that. And he comes back with chewing 125 00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:08,720 gum and goes, Mom's kind of love this aces. 126 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:14,720 There's got to be thought like there's no, there's no thought 127 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:17,920 in that. There's no intention, there's no 128 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:23,040 cost, there's no sacrifice, there's no consideration. 129 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:28,520 God's will is Lord. What brings you pleasure? 130 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:33,280 What do you desire to see in this? 131 00:09:40,370 --> 00:09:41,530 I'm just reading through my notes. 132 00:09:41,530 --> 00:09:42,690 I got through the que. Sarah. 133 00:09:45,890 --> 00:09:51,640 Just thank you, Holy Spirit. Not everything that happens is 134 00:09:51,640 --> 00:09:56,920 God's will. Not everything that happens he 135 00:09:56,920 --> 00:10:00,520 desires, and certainly not everything that happens gives 136 00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:05,120 him great pleasure. The girl who was repeatedly 137 00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:08,440 raped growing up was not God's will. 138 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:15,200 The spouse who cheated on their family was never God's will. 139 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:20,280 The young man who was felt backed into a corner and took 140 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:24,680 his own life was never God's will. 141 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:33,960 A brilliant brother in Jesus being assassinated in cold blood 142 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:38,680 in front of his family is not God's will. 143 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:43,360 There's no pleasure or desire. In that moment. 144 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:50,880 God created man in his own image, thus giving him his own 145 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:56,360 will and his own desires. And in so doing, God actually 146 00:10:56,360 --> 00:10:59,680 sort of removed himself from that involvement. 147 00:10:59,840 --> 00:11:04,720 He's not controlling. He didn't make us robots, which 148 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:09,480 is why people are allowed to exercise their own will, even 149 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:13,640 though sometimes it's rooted in deep wickedness and it's why we 150 00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:17,440 see it in the world. Do you ever hear the saying 151 00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:21,920 everything happens for a reason? Does it? 152 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:28,600 Is the reason sometimes just that someone was being allowed 153 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:32,800 to be operate in their own deep seated wicked will? 154 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:39,720 This is good right here now you might say, but I thought that 155 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:42,360 with God everything works out for good. 156 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:48,000 So here's your tension. Will and purpose are not the 157 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:54,760 same word, OK? God's will is His thelema, what 158 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:59,320 gives Him great pleasure? What is, what is his desire? 159 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:02,560 In a moment we're going to have a look at the word purpose. 160 00:12:02,560 --> 00:12:06,920 And the word is prosthesis, and we find it in Romans 828. 161 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:09,160 I think because I don't have my glasses on. 162 00:12:09,680 --> 00:12:11,880 Could be 26. Just read the whole thing, it's 163 00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:14,440 fine. It's a good book. 164 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:21,240 Romans purpose, it's associated with the table of showbread. 165 00:12:21,680 --> 00:12:28,080 OK, it's actually about looking at what's in front of you kind 166 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:32,520 of at looking what is stay with me. 167 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:39,440 God is saying here that because of His grace, because of His 168 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:44,920 mercy, because of His nature, because of His beauty, He will 169 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:48,840 look at what's on this table, what's on your showbread, and 170 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:50,800 go. I know that this wasn't my 171 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:53,200 intention. I know that this act and this 172 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:56,120 decision over here really didn't bring me great, great pleasure, 173 00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:58,200 but here it is. I don't want to punish you for 174 00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:00,120 that. I'm not into that. 175 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:02,800 I want to pour out my love and my mercy. 176 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:06,360 I want to pour out forgiveness. I want to cover and wash you 177 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:08,280 with my blood. So here it is. 178 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:10,560 It's on this table. So here's what I'm going to do. 179 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:14,720 I'm going to take this mess of yours and I'm going to turn it 180 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:17,000 into a message. I'm going to take this 181 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:20,120 loneliness and I'm going to pour my love in. 182 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:24,240 I'm going to take this tragedy and I'm going to use it for my 183 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:34,160 glory in Jesus name. This is the beauty of the cross. 184 00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:41,080 It's the great exchange, and it gives God great pleasure to do 185 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:46,000 so. He wants to pour out his 186 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:49,040 forgiveness. He wants to see you healed, 187 00:13:49,680 --> 00:13:56,160 whole, restored, set free. He wants to see you in life and 188 00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:59,400 life more abundantly. And do you know how I know that? 189 00:13:59,960 --> 00:14:06,560 Because I know God's will, which brings me to point to what God's 190 00:14:06,560 --> 00:14:10,960 will is. This is a short point, but a 191 00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:18,120 long study. Romans 218. 192 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:23,680 It says you know what He wants, what He desires, you know what 193 00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:28,480 is right because you have been taught His law. 194 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:34,520 You know what He wants, you know what He desires, you know what 195 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:39,640 gives Him great pleasure because it's all being written out for 196 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:47,080 you. In John 11, it says that the 197 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:52,040 Word was with God and the Word we, we have students in the 198 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:52,880 room. Well done. 199 00:14:56,160 --> 00:15:01,920 When we take God's word, it's it's the literal God speaking to 200 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:05,240 us. When we bring God's word into 201 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:10,400 prayer with him, it's literally inviting the person of God into 202 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:12,920 the room. You are literally having a 203 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:16,960 conversation with the life giving God. 204 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:23,400 It's Him speaking to us. This is where deep intimacy with 205 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:26,920 Jesus is developed. This is where we find out what 206 00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:30,000 He wants. He wasn't shy about it. 207 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:33,960 He wrote it all down for us. And so if you're not sure what 208 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:38,040 God's will is in any situation, just ask. 209 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:42,480 If you're not sure how to find that, go and speak to one of the 210 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:45,480 pastors or one of the leaders to help you find out what God has 211 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:49,560 to say on specific subjects, right? 212 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:51,920 Communicating through him in his Word. 213 00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:57,080 It brings intimacy, but it also brings authority and power. 214 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:01,440 So .3 and this is a a longer point. 215 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:04,360 I want to talk about the power in your will be done. 216 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:08,840 OK, so we have established that God's will is not just 217 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:12,240 everything that happens. I don't get to sit on a lounge, 218 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:15,640 Neither does Pastor Mel, neither does Pastor Chris and Rich, 219 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:19,720 neither to any of you and say ka, ka, Sarah, Sarah. 220 00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:22,200 Whatever will be will be God's will. 221 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:28,040 No, we are invited to partner with God in what he desires. 222 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:33,440 We get to partner with him and actively be involved in bringing 223 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:37,200 about his purpose, in bringing about his desire, what brings 224 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:43,320 him great pleasure. So in Romans 12/1 to two, I 225 00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:47,240 wanted to speak on this, which is a really powerful way to see 226 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:50,520 God's will being brought about, it says. 227 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:54,440 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to 228 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:58,440 give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. 229 00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:02,760 Let them be a living and holy sacrifice. 230 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:05,960 This kind he will find acceptable. 231 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:07,040 Sorry. The kind he will find 232 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:09,599 acceptable. This is truly the way to 233 00:17:09,599 --> 00:17:12,480 worship. Don't copy the behaviour and 234 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:17,200 customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new 235 00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:20,000 person by changing the way you think. 236 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:25,920 Then you will learn to know God's will, God's dilemma, God's 237 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:31,400 desire for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. 238 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:38,760 Did you hear it in there? It was to present your body as a 239 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:43,120 living sacrifice, allowing yourself to be transformed. 240 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:48,000 When you place something on an altar, it doesn't actually 241 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,240 belong to you anymore. It belongs to God. 242 00:17:53,120 --> 00:17:57,320 And there's a a picture of this. Can you give me my fire stick, 243 00:17:57,320 --> 00:17:59,720 please? This would have been so much 244 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:02,040 more fun if Pastor Mel would have let me do a live 245 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:05,200 demonstration. I wasn't allowed to. 246 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:09,920 It's called submission. Anyway, we're going to come and 247 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:12,280 have a look at these two pictures up here. 248 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:14,720 It wasn't just a random pretty picture. 249 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:18,040 There was purpose here. So here we have. 250 00:18:18,120 --> 00:18:19,360 Oh, no. I've touched it. 251 00:18:19,360 --> 00:18:20,920 I'm going to get all my clothes wet. 252 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:25,240 Have you got a baby wipe? Yeah. 253 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:30,160 All right. Here is the altar of sacrifice. 254 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:36,360 This was a daily sacrifice. Did you hear in that verse 255 00:18:36,360 --> 00:18:41,920 before that the God's will was about being a living sacrifice? 256 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:45,920 It's not a one moment. It's not a one moment where you 257 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:49,120 give your life to Jesus and go, Jesus, I invite you into my 258 00:18:49,120 --> 00:18:50,680 heart. Thanks so much that you live 259 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:53,400 there, walk out of the doors and never come back. 260 00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:58,480 It's not a single occurrence. It's a daily sacrifice. 261 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:03,000 So here we've got the daily sacrifice and over here this is 262 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:05,080 what's called the altar of incense. 263 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:09,480 Now when you hear about incense in God's word, what does it 264 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:15,560 remind you of? Incense aroma. 265 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:19,440 Call it out prayer. I heard prayer. 266 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:23,960 So at the incense, the altar of incense is daily prayer. 267 00:19:24,360 --> 00:19:26,080 The reason I've got a fire stick. 268 00:19:26,360 --> 00:19:31,840 So in the Bible it talks about this was actually lit by God 269 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:35,960 himself. That's called holy fire. 270 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:43,680 The holy fire was then to be taken from the daily sacrifice. 271 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:51,760 Daily sacrifice, right? And used to light the altar of 272 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:54,880 incense. Here's what I want to pull from 273 00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:56,360 this. I'm going to do an exchange 274 00:19:56,360 --> 00:19:59,160 here. Baby wipes, Baby wipes. 275 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:03,040 They're so great. Thanks friend. 276 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:08,680 If you need to find those scriptures as well, they're in 277 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:14,800 Leviticus 1612 to 13, Exodus 37 to 10, and Leviticus 924. 278 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:22,000 So what I want to pull from this daily sacrifice combined with 279 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:25,360 intimate prayer, it carries holy fire. 280 00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:36,080 Your daily sacrifice combined with daily prayer carries holy 281 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:40,400 fire. Holy fire is power. 282 00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:46,400 Holy fire is the power that sees people set free, sees people 283 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:49,600 delivered, that brings salvation, that sees legs grow, 284 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:55,360 and it's carried through daily sacrifice and daily prayer. 285 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:06,560 It positions you in power and the enemy does not want you to 286 00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:11,480 understand the power that you have in laying things down. 287 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:17,800 It's laying down your will and picking up God's will, what 288 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:21,280 brings him pleasure, what he desires. 289 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:26,560 It's a, it's laying down what we want and aligning it with what 290 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:31,520 God wants. I, I just want to bring up a 291 00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:36,520 story in the Bible. It's in Numbers 22 and it's a 292 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:39,960 man named Balaam, deeply wicked man. 293 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:43,120 I'd say I'd have a conversation within heaven, but I don't think 294 00:21:43,120 --> 00:21:44,440 we're going to see this man in heaven. 295 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:49,480 He was, he was not a nice guy. So we had the children of Israel 296 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:52,280 and you had the King Balak and he was terrified that they were 297 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:54,280 coming like, Oh no, the Israelites are coming. 298 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:56,200 We've heard about this God and what he does. 299 00:21:56,360 --> 00:22:00,360 So he goes and he hires Balaam. He's basically the big fat witch 300 00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:03,000 doctor of the day. And he's got all of his, you 301 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:06,120 know, he's wearing his things and his blood on his, on his 302 00:22:06,120 --> 00:22:08,480 chest. He's, he's got all of the powers 303 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:12,320 of, of darkness and evil. And so the king, he's known 304 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:15,680 amongst all of the kings of the region as being the guy that if 305 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:19,120 he blesses someone there, if he curses someone, they're cursed. 306 00:22:19,360 --> 00:22:23,920 So what comes Balaam and, and the kings are like, right, curse 307 00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:27,480 Israel and Balaam, who's actually heard from God. 308 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:29,600 Just because you hear from God doesn't make you a prophet of 309 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:30,960 God. It actually made him a very 310 00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:40,120 disobedient and rebellious man. But he, he heard, he actually 311 00:22:40,120 --> 00:22:41,920 knew that he wasn't going to be able to curse. 312 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:43,960 And it was very frustrating for him. 313 00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:47,520 And so whenever he opened out his mouth, out would come 314 00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:52,000 blessing instead of cursing. And so the king was like, come 315 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:54,240 on, you know, like, try it here, do it here. 316 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:58,400 And he's so irritated and frustrated because he's the guy 317 00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:01,640 hired to bring a curse. And with all of his powers of 318 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:05,320 darkness and with every methodology that is accessed to, 319 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:13,600 he can't get through. Let's pick up the story numbers 320 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:17,840 3115 to 16. This is what happened after. 321 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:23,600 Have you allowed all of the women to live? 322 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:28,360 They were the ones who followed Balaam's advice and enticed 323 00:23:28,360 --> 00:23:32,400 Israel to be unfaithful to the Lord in the Peor incident so 324 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:34,640 that a plague struck the Lord's people. 325 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:39,720 Now this is interesting. Balaam lived in this deeply 326 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:45,360 spiritual, volatile environment, but was unable to curse Israel. 327 00:23:45,360 --> 00:23:47,120 He was blocked, couldn't get through. 328 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:54,920 So, frustrated at his inability to invoke a curse, he looked to 329 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:57,480 one of the most powerful thing to walk planet Earth. 330 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:10,320 He looked to God's people. He looked to God's people. 331 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:14,520 He enticed the Israelites to be unfaithful to the Lord through 332 00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:17,800 the Moabite woman and then brought a court, brought a curse 333 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:22,880 on them that way. What was impossible to curse 334 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:27,760 through extremely volatile spiritual means was brought 335 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:34,520 about through a compromise of God's People understand that 336 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:36,600 this is actually a negative story. 337 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:40,200 But church, do you understand who you are? 338 00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:45,960 Do you understand the power that you actually possess? 339 00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:49,000 Because I promise you, the enemy does. 340 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:57,000 And the enemy loves it when we are passive and unaware of the 341 00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:03,640 power that we carry every day. But we don't always recognize it 342 00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:05,720 because you know what it looks like for us. 343 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:12,720 It's mundane. It's a daily sacrifice combined 344 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:18,200 with daily prayer. It's mundane, but it carries 345 00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:20,520 power. If you could just imagine with 346 00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:23,280 me for a moment. Now look there, there is no 347 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:26,120 condemnation in Christ. Whatever's on that table of 348 00:25:26,120 --> 00:25:29,600 showbread for you, God's mercy is at work in there. 349 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:33,280 But I want to, I want to invite you into a moment of imagination 350 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:38,520 for our region. Can you imagine if every family 351 00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:42,840 in our region, maybe for three generations, did these few 352 00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:48,080 things, got up in the morning and fed their kids, sent them to 353 00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:54,160 school, gave them a hug and told them that they loved them and 354 00:25:54,160 --> 00:26:00,680 stayed? If every family just went, I 355 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:03,560 really don't like my spouse right now, but I'm just, I'm 356 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:06,400 going to work through it. If every family in our region 357 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:08,880 had done that for three generations, what would it? 358 00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:16,800 What would it look like? We don't understand the power in 359 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:21,360 the mundane, in the everyday daily sacrifice, daily prayer. 360 00:26:21,360 --> 00:26:26,720 It carries holy fire, but we don't always recognize it 361 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:32,240 because it's so mundane. And the thing about sacrifice is 362 00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:37,400 it's a sacrifice. It's usually the very opposite 363 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:45,560 of what we want to do, right? It's the opposite of what we 364 00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:52,320 want to do, and it hurts. It's often the very thing that 365 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:57,120 we're like, no, like study. Studied for 20 years. 366 00:26:57,120 --> 00:26:59,320 Lord, Are you sure? You said you wanted me to study. 367 00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:01,240 Yes, Rachel, I said I wanted you to study. 368 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:03,840 But don't you understand? They make you reference. 369 00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:12,040 Where's the holy fire in that daily sacrifice? 370 00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:15,080 Laying it down with daily prayer. 371 00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:19,880 It positions you in power. It carries holy fire. 372 00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:26,040 Sometimes we want the the sparklers and the fireworks in 373 00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:28,640 in ministry. Let me Adam, God, show me the 374 00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:31,000 multitudes. I'm ready to see legs grow and 375 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:34,160 God's like I'm so with you. Could you just maybe forgive 376 00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:37,160 your parents? Hang on a second. 377 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:42,880 What? Daily laying it down. 378 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:46,000 Have you said sorry to your spouse yet? 379 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:51,640 No, I was right. I am right, ladies. 380 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:53,400 I am a lady. So I'm going to just pick on you 381 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:55,440 for a moment. Do you know how to say sorry? 382 00:27:59,960 --> 00:28:03,560 Does it come out of your mouth? Is it a normal part of your 383 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:06,920 vocabulary? Is it a daily sacrifice? 384 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:11,400 The words that you don't want to say, the words that are the 385 00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:15,040 struggle? I will say anything else, just 386 00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:20,160 not that word. It's the opposite often of the 387 00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:26,760 very thing that you want to do, but it positions you in power. 388 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:35,280 Think of Daniel for a moment. Daniel was a man who was known 389 00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:38,920 for daily sacrifice and daily prayer. 390 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:41,600 It says that he prayed 3 times a day. 391 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:47,400 His life was a life of daily sacrifice. 392 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:50,480 It was nothing for him to fast for years. 393 00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:55,160 All of the King's delicacies. It was nothing for him to show 394 00:28:55,200 --> 00:29:01,480 up to work again. But he was positioned in power. 395 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:04,960 Those light mouths of the lion were closed. 396 00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:08,480 Dave. Sorry, Daniel. 397 00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:10,200 Did I say David? It's Daniel. 398 00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:16,160 Lived nearly 85 years. There's a lot of mundane in that 399 00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:19,440 story. Think about it. 400 00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:22,800 He served a wicked king. He probably got home from the 401 00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:25,240 lion's den and they're like, well, you've had a day off in 402 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:26,960 the lion's den. Now you've got twice as much 403 00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:34,720 paperwork to do. It's mundane, daily showing up, 404 00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:39,600 doing I, I love to pray, right? I love to pray. 405 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:43,960 I don't always feel like showing up and teaching people how to 406 00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:46,200 pray on a Monday night after working all day. 407 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:51,280 Sometimes it's the very opposite of what I feel like doing. 408 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:57,440 It's a daily decision to keep showing up, to keep laying down, 409 00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:00,920 to keep allowing Holy Spirit to press on those areas of your 410 00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:04,400 heart, to keep checking your attitudes, to keep aligning 411 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:07,400 yourself back in submission, which is often the opposite of 412 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:11,320 what you feel like doing. Just putting this out there. 413 00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:14,280 Submission isn't true submission until you're disagreeing with 414 00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:15,760 someone. Otherwise you're just going 415 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:18,040 along with the flow. It's that moment where you hit, 416 00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:20,200 oh, I don't actually really like what you're. 417 00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:22,600 I don't even think I really believe what you're saying here. 418 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:24,720 And then there's an aligning anyway. 419 00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:28,200 It's the opposite of what you want to do. 420 00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:34,680 It's laying it down. Daily sacrifice combined with 421 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:41,840 daily prayer carries holy fire. It positions you for power. 422 00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:46,920 I will end with this with Stephen was a man full of the 423 00:30:46,920 --> 00:30:50,680 Holy Spirit, chosen and anointed to be apostle. 424 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:54,840 To do what? Work with the dishes. 425 00:30:57,040 --> 00:31:01,760 He was anointed full of Holy Spirit because they needed 426 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:03,920 someone to help distribute the food. 427 00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:12,400 He showed up daily, daily sacrifice, daily prayer. 428 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:18,960 And as he was being a martyr and stones were being thrown at him 429 00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:23,640 and he was giving his literal life as a sacrifice, he comes 430 00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:28,080 out with this prayer and says Lord, don't hold this against 431 00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:32,160 them. Sacrifice, prayer, holy fire. 432 00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:38,800 Guess who was in the audience? Soul, it's where we get our 433 00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:44,240 great apostle Paul. God went OK Stephen, sometimes 434 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:48,240 we miss the power and the authority that we walk in 435 00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:53,920 because it looks mundane. Pray only Lord, I need to read 436 00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:56,840 some more. I need to keep showing. 437 00:31:56,840 --> 00:32:01,080 You want me to go to work. You want me to love my children 438 00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:03,840 and my spouse? You want me to be that good 439 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:05,880 friend? You want me to serve dishes? 440 00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:10,200 Really, Lord? Whatever he's pressing on, lay 441 00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:13,560 it down. It positions you in power. 442 00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:24,800 Your rights, your hurt, your attitudes, your control. 443 00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:31,800 What brings you pleasure, Lord? What is your will? 444 00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:36,160 What is your deep desire in this moment? 445 00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:44,200 Decision, outcome. Jesus. 446 00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:51,680 Jesus was the ultimate example, the ultimate example of 447 00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:55,320 sacrifice. It says in Galatians 1/4 that he 448 00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:57,720 gave himself to die for our sins. 449 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:01,680 He did this so that we could be saved from the sinful world. 450 00:33:02,040 --> 00:33:04,640 And this is what God wanted to do. 451 00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:13,400 It's what God wanted to do. You might be here this morning 452 00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:17,400 and have heard this message. Some of you might have just come 453 00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:20,200 back. Like Alex was saying this 454 00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:24,720 morning. He wrestled with the with the 455 00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:29,120 sacrifice. So he left because it was easy. 456 00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:31,880 Some of you might have walked back in here this morning and 457 00:33:31,880 --> 00:33:35,320 going, no, I need to get my relationship with Jesus back. 458 00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:39,400 He was the one who first gave, he sacrificed everything. 459 00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:43,520 It's why we have free will, because the most important thing 460 00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:47,760 in the world to God is when we choose Him back.