1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,520 Now listen to me. When I first heard this 2 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:06,520 statement, it exposed the greatest idol in my life. 3 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:09,920 And before I tell you what my idol is, first listen to the 4 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:12,520 statement. The first thing that a man or a 5 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:16,000 woman does when they wake up consistently, day after day, 6 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:19,600 tells a lot about what their greatest priority is in life. 7 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:24,880 You need to know this about me. 2019 was the hardest year of my 8 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:27,720 life. In one year, we lost our house 9 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:31,360 and all of our possessions because a great fear, a great 10 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:35,280 anxiety, overwhelmed us, and so we ran away from everything. 11 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:37,920 Where did we run? We ran to live with my mom and 12 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:42,760 dad, and at 28 years old, I felt like I'd become a child again. 13 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:46,280 I was relying on my mom and dad to wash my clothes, to feed me, 14 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:49,600 to put a roof over my head. And I'd been married since 22 15 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:52,760 years old that had independence. And suddenly I felt like I'd 16 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:55,240 lost everything. But there's something I forgot 17 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:56,920 to tell you. And it's this. 18 00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:01,520 My wife was nine months pregnant with our first born son, Samuel. 19 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:03,280 So here we are. We're living with my mom and 20 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:05,040 dad. I can't provide for my wife 21 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:07,000 anymore. I can't put a roof over her head 22 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:08,840 anymore. And we're about to have our 23 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:13,440 first child, Samuel. And then 2020 quickly came in. 24 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:16,840 And can anybody remember what happened in 2020? 25 00:01:16,960 --> 00:01:19,360 Well, I think we all can remember what happened in that 26 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:21,240 year. So we're living with my mum and 27 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:22,760 dad. We're all cramped, we're all 28 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:25,160 stuck together for one year. We're only able to leave the 29 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:27,840 house once a day. And me and Emma have basically 30 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:29,520 only got the clothes on our back. 31 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:31,920 But I want to tell you something, even in that 32 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:35,400 difficult year and that difficult period of time, God 33 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:37,800 did something I will never forget. 34 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:42,600 Someone gave me a book called The Man God Used by Oswald 35 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:45,320 Smith. And in that book, Oswald Smith 36 00:01:45,320 --> 00:01:47,920 describes something called prayer pacing. 37 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:51,640 It's this idea where you pace up and down in a room or you walk 38 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:54,280 in a garden or anywhere to make sure that you're able to 39 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:57,960 concentrate as you pray. And so I decided that I was 40 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:01,280 going to really seek the Lord's face, and I was going to try 41 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:05,720 this thing called prayer pacing. And so every morning at 6:30, I 42 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:10,120 made it my goal to walk up and down in my parents garden and to 43 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:12,760 pray to the Lord. And guys, some of you will think 44 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:17,280 I'm crazy when I tell you this, but on those mornings I walked 45 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:22,360 with God, I knew what it was to walk with the Lord God and to 46 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:24,600 have a fellowship. In fact, one morning in 47 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:29,640 particular I remember God's love was so really it was so tangible 48 00:02:29,640 --> 00:02:32,640 in front of me that if all of the population of earth looked 49 00:02:32,640 --> 00:02:35,640 me in the face and said God doesn't love you, I would say to 50 00:02:35,640 --> 00:02:39,160 them you're a liar. Because I know the God of Heaven 51 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:42,240 loves me to pieces. And then what happened? 52 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:45,320 In April 2020, I released one video. 53 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:48,400 It was actually my dad's back garden of all places, where I 54 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:51,560 took a £10 note and I dipped it in pond water. 55 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:54,760 And you know what happened? That video gained a lot of views 56 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:57,520 in a very short period of time. The Lord blessed it. 57 00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:01,760 My and suddenly this big audience started watching my 58 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:03,880 videos. For a long time, I didn't get 59 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:06,520 many views on my videos. In fact, I sort of chuckle when 60 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:09,680 I hear Youtubers sort of saying, oh, it took me a full year to 61 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:13,360 get 1000 subscribers. Well, it took me 15 months to 62 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:16,200 get my first 100 subscribers on YouTube. 63 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:19,640 I really saw a lot of slow growth for a long period of 64 00:03:19,640 --> 00:03:22,160 time. So here I am, this ordinary St. 65 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:25,680 preacher who was over the moon when just one person would stand 66 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:27,760 and listen to him when he's preaching on the street. 67 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:31,360 And suddenly all these people are watching my videos. 68 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:33,760 And then something very sad happened. 69 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:37,920 All of these gifts that the Lord God gave me started to distract 70 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:40,120 me from the Lord God. If you like. 71 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:42,720 I fell in love with the gifts more than the giver. 72 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:45,800 Why do I tell you that story? Well, I tell it you because when 73 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:49,560 my son Samuel was first born, when any child is first born, 74 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:52,400 the thing they long for, the thing they hunger for more than 75 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:56,320 anything is their mother's milk. And my dear precious believer, 76 00:03:56,560 --> 00:04:00,240 when you first were brought forth, when the Lord God gave 77 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:04,160 you new life and you were born, there was nothing you longed for 78 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:08,160 more than the spiritual milk that the Lord Jesus Christ gave 79 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:10,560 you. But now today is the question 80 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:13,920 I've got to ask you. Has the devil stolen that milk 81 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:15,840 from you? And has he fed you another 82 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:18,480 poison? Because whatever that poison is, 83 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:21,959 you and I have got to be prepared to lay it aside and to 84 00:04:21,959 --> 00:04:26,080 seek Jesus Christ again. Jesus said Blessed are those who 85 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:29,960 hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be 86 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:32,480 filled. And Jesus Christ isn't talking 87 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:35,840 about a sort of mild hunger. In England we call it being 88 00:04:35,840 --> 00:04:38,760 peckish, where you just want to snack to sort of satisfy a 89 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:42,520 little urge of hunger. No, Jesus is talking about utter 90 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:46,360 starvation, where a man or a woman is so hungry they're 91 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:49,560 desperate for food, like a starving man in a desert. 92 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:53,080 If you offer them diamonds or rubies, that won't satisfy them. 93 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:55,680 No, they need bread. They need sustenance. 94 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:59,320 And so Christ is talking about a man, man or woman, who is so 95 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:03,520 hungry, who is so desperate to be filled with the grace of God, 96 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:06,120 to be filled with the righteousness of Christ, that 97 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:10,040 that person will be filled, that person will be satisfied. 98 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:13,080 Oh, it bothers me. It really bothers me that for 99 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:17,280 such a long time I was satisfied with spiritual lollipops. 100 00:05:17,280 --> 00:05:21,440 What happened to the rachels of the Bible who cried out, give me 101 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:24,600 children, or I died. She knew what it was that she 102 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:27,760 wanted to be a mother, and that was all that consumed her. 103 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:30,240 And yet, can we cry out like Rachel? 104 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:35,200 Give me Christ or I die. Give me a touch of God today or 105 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:37,640 I die. I can't keep walking through 106 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:40,360 this world. Just absorbing myself in the 107 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:43,640 pleasures of this world, Absorbing myself in trivial 108 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:46,880 matters when the God of the universe is out there and so 109 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:50,600 much I've been contented, paddling in shallow water when 110 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:53,640 there is great depths of God to discover. 111 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:58,040 My dear friends, can we not say how I need thee every hour? 112 00:05:58,040 --> 00:05:59,920 I need it. I don't just need you every 113 00:05:59,920 --> 00:06:02,120 minute. I need you every second of every 114 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:04,200 day. How many of you watching this 115 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:07,560 video could eat one meal and then last for the rest of the 116 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:10,440 week on just one meal? How many of you watching this 117 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:14,080 video could drink just one glass of water and then for the rest 118 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:18,200 of the month drink nothing else? And yet that is how we treat our 119 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:21,080 spiritual life. Just a little drop of the living 120 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:24,200 water, just a little bit of the bread of life and just a little 121 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:27,760 nibble and that's all I need. No, Every single day we should 122 00:06:27,840 --> 00:06:30,680 be continually feeding on the word of God. 123 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:34,360 Because I don't know about you, but I am not contented anymore 124 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:38,480 to drink from these broken systems that do not hold water. 125 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:41,960 I want to drink from the water that the Lord Jesus Christ 126 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:44,240 gives. And I know you want to drink 127 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:46,960 from that water too. So what do we need to do? 128 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:49,920 We need to get a sacrificial mindset. 129 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:52,920 There's a reason why I use the illustration of climbing a 130 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:56,840 mountain, because to seek the Lord's face every day requires 131 00:06:56,840 --> 00:06:58,880 effort. It wise discipline. 132 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:01,600 You see, when your alarm goes off in the morning, there's 133 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:05,000 nothing your flesh wants more than to just lie in bed for a 134 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:08,440 little bit longer just to get another half an hour of sleep. 135 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:11,720 But no, you need to get up and you need to study the word of 136 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:15,920 God and seek the Lord's face. Perhaps mornings don't work for 137 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:17,560 you. Maybe you really do have to get 138 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:20,280 up very early for work. So how does this apply to you? 139 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:23,320 Well, when you want to come in and you want to just watch TV 140 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:26,840 and unwind, no, you need to sacrifice that time and say no, 141 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:31,200 this time belongs the Lord God. And right now I'm going to seek 142 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:33,760 his face. But not only that, we need to 143 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:36,440 allow God to restructure our lives. 144 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:39,400 I wonder if there's anyone from Chicago watching this video 145 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:42,640 right now. If you live in Chicago, you live 146 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:45,840 next to one of the most fascinating rivers in all of the 147 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:48,640 world, the Chicago River. Did you know this? 148 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:52,600 In the 1800s, some really intelligent engineers actually 149 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:55,280 reversed the flow of the Chicago River. 150 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:58,360 So in other words, this river now flows backwards. 151 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:01,400 Why did they do that? Because it was a way of flushing 152 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:03,840 out all of the pollution from the river. 153 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:08,680 And my dear friends, we need to allow God to flush out all of 154 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:13,000 the pollution from our lives, to reverse the flow of our lives so 155 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:16,040 that way the living water can flow through it. 156 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:18,520 But Joe, I'm not sure you understand. 157 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:22,160 I have very little desire to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. 158 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:24,400 In fact, I have very little appetite. 159 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:26,320 I have very little hunger for him. 160 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:29,640 Well, let me say this to you. Maybe you are doubting that you 161 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:33,080 are a true Christian. But if a man, if a man's pulse 162 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:37,280 is so faint, but it's still there, is that man still alive? 163 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:40,520 Of course he is. And if there's still a little 164 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:44,240 faint heartbeat that loves the Lord Jesus Jesus Christ, take 165 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:46,760 courage. You are saved and you just need 166 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:50,160 to strengthen that heart. You need to exercise yourself 167 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:54,120 onto godliness, that He might strengthen you and bring about a 168 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:58,160 new life, a new energy, where you really do hunger and thirst 169 00:08:58,160 --> 00:08:59,520 after righteousness.