Sermon
Don Crum & Bill Byers
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Hi. This is Dave Olson.
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I'm the senior leader of Hartman church located in Ankeny Iowa.
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I hope the following message, challenges and courage's and
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ultimately changes you. Thanks for joining us.
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Good morning. What a great day it is to be in
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the presence of the Lord. And I appreciate so much about
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this house in the short time I've been here just remarkable
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and you know, when I feel the audience is right, and hungry, I
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just open up. So I told you a lot of stuff
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yesterday and, you know, I had a guy come up to me one day in a
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conference down in Texas and he said, dr.
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Crumb, you won't remember me, but I was in one of your
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meetings, 25 years ago, and you told a lot of stories Out of
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Africa and your time and tenure in in West Africa and he said,
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you told a few of those stories again tonight, 25 years later
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and he says, I know you tell the truth and I looked at him, I
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said well, how could, you know he said?
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Because the details were exactly, like they were 25 years
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ago and he said, I know, Because nobody can remember how they
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tell an embellishment or a lie and say it again the same way,
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25 years later. So to me, I took that as a
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compliment but I'll I do like this share testimonies of what
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God has done because they teach, you know?
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And the other interesting thing the guy said was, I don't
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remember a thing you preached on that night, but he said I
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remember your stories and I guess we'll Jesus figured that
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out. To write because he used
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Parables a lot of stories. But anyway, it's been a joy to
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be here. I'm so excited about just being
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able to come along with Bill buyer and Faye.
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These are wonderful Servants of the most high God getting to
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know them more and more for the past four years.
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They've served on a special governmental team that I'm the
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head of and they are some of the most mature People that I know
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and what I would say would be, they are truly, truly genuinely
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a true mother and father in the Lord.
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So I just encourage you to recognize how special it is for
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you to be able to have that kind of connection with them as sort
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of an Apostolic voice into this house.
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So I really confirm them. Before you today one quick thing
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and I'll hand the Mike back to Bill or are you Bill?
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Okay just stay near stay close not long ago.
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I just started thinking about the word amen.
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And you know it's the last word in the Bible, not the end but
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amen. It's the last word in the Bible
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and it's the last word in the Lord's Prayer and I thought, you
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know, there's got to be More to the amen than just encouraging
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preachers when they're preaching.
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Right now, we preachers love to hear amens because it lets us
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know that people somewhere in the crowd or still awake.
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So you know I like it the amen, it's encouraging but God gave
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the amen to the church, not just to encourage preachers.
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In fact, he gave it to the Equus Sia to his Remnant Church, his
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body of believers. Is as a word of having a final
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word in every matter because it is the final word.
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In the word of God, it is a word that literally means so be it
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it's actually a governmental term.
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It's like being in a court of law and the judge sounds the
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gavel. At the beginning of a hearing to
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announce the beginning, the jury is seated.
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The trial has begun or the proceedings have begun.
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But it is the sound heard in a court room.
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That is the final sound of conclusion and completeness,
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because when the gavel sounded at the end, there's no more time
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for lawyers to present evidence or their side of the story, The
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Judge sounds, the gavel as a amen.
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And last word that Seals Everything God gave the amen.
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Not to the angels, He didn't give the The amen to the
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unbelievers, he gave the amen to the church to have the last word
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in every matter, God never intended for sickness and
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disease, to have the last word in your life and even those that
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have gone before on to be with the Lord.
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And that a disease, may have been that part that led to that
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promotion to Heaven. It still never has the last
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word. Listen.
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Don't let the enemy have the last word in your situation,
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whether it be sickness or Finance or whatever
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relationships, God gave the church, the word, amen.
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And in American English, my British friends, say, don't say
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you guys speak English over there, you speak American and,
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but in American English, it's a men in Spanish.
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A man in Russian. I mean, it's almost It's the
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same word in every language but it is a word of finality.
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It's interesting that in the Old Testament.
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Amen was always used at the end of what God said to come into
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agreement and to seal what God has said.
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But in the New Testament, it's interesting because amen is used
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before God does something, or before he says something.
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Because when Jesus said verily, verily are truly truly.
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Essentially, the word, amen. So he would say, Amen, before he
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said it, God not only gave the amen to the church in this hour,
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to have the last word in every matter that matters, but he also
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gave it to us as a prophetic decree to say.
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Amen. And agree with what God has not
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yet done. So we speak in agreement to what
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he's going to do, but we've not yet.
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Seen the evidence of Of it. So use the amen for both.
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Amen. Everybody said, amen.
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God bless you. Thank you.
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We need to take another offering and bring an altar call after
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that. That's good.
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Every matter that matters. Got your Bibles.
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Can you turn with me quickly to the Book of Proverbs chapter 25?
Proverbs 25 chapter mention
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Verse 2. It's the glory of God to conceal
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a matter. but the Glory of Kings is to search out A matter, every
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matter that matters, The word matter.
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Is word. It's the glory of God to conceal
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a word. It's the Glory of Kings to
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search out a word. God.
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God is the is the Divine originator of the game of
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hide-and-seek? I've heard preachers almost all
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my Christian Life say God doesn't play games.
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Yes he does. And he is a master player.
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And you're not going to outsmart him, he's going to win every
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time. I guarantee you that but he
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likes the game. Yeah, I figured every man in
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this room would say Amen to that.
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He likes it and he likes concealing things, but we have
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to understand that he does not. He does not hide things from us.
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He hides things for us. He conceals it to preserve. he
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puts the, he puts the, he puts the most precious Hidden
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Treasures in a place, For his children to fight.
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They're not accessible by anyone else.
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There only accessible to his children to you to me.
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And so when God God sets, this in motion when he conceals a
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matter when he conceals a word, He sets it there for the purpose
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that we engage in the Heavenly game of hide-and-seek and
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seeking out that which he hides because it is precious, it is
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precious. It is precious.
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The reason that gold is so valuable is, it's not easily
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found, right? And the reason that the word of
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the Lord is so valuable is, it's not easily found.
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You're going to have to search or going to have to wait.
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You're going to have to speak the Which of Tears you're going
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to have to, you're going to have to give your heart.
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You're going to have to give your mind.
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You're going to have to give your body.
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You're going to have to give everything, that's the cost in
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the kingdom is everything. It's always everything.
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It's never short of everything. It's always everything.
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And and when we begin to understand these things, and we
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begin to understand what matters to God, and when what matters to
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God, matters to us. Then you've got a wonderful,
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wonderful. Wonderful impetus.
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That's released in. That's moving forward.
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God himself loves hiding. He loves it, he loves mystery,
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he loves standing right in front of your face and you not even
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know he's there. Hmm.
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I guarantee you, he's this way. I guarantee you and some people
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think he's not around, but he's there.
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He's there. He sees he hears.
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He knows to some people that would be intimidating and even
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fearful two other people. It's very comforting.
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He sees he hears, he knows. Listen to this.
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In the beginning was the word? Remember he conceals a word in
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the beginning was the word. The word was with God.
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The Word was God. He was in the beginning with
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God. All things were made through him
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and without him nothing was made.
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That was made in him was life. And the life was the light of
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men and the word became flesh. Dwelt among us.
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And we beheld, his glory, the glory, as of the only begotten
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of the father full of grace and truth.
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And so God brought this this this this hidden hidden Heavenly
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reality into a material world and yet he Still hidden.
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They were very few that were privileged to have the
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sensitivity to actually come to Bethlehem.
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Yes, yes, yes. This is class participation.
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Very few. In fact, if you look at it it's
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a little bit embarrassing, quite frankly.
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The only ones that really, really had a clue where these
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guys that at best were, were astronomers and at worst were
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astrologers and they got invited, they picked up on it,
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they saw something and they had the courage to engage in what
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they saw and they moved on what they saw.
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And it took them a long, long, long time.
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They left, they left their homes.
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Long before Jesus was born. Just to get there.
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They saw they saw a star, they saw a light, they saw something
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that nobody else saw somehow someway.
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God, God, God got into their hearts and got into their lives
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in such a way that they, they wanted to engage in.
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They wanted to seek and then you have Shepherds that nobody
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wanted to sit next to in the synagogue.
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Because they smelled like sheep. Are there any sheep herders in
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the house? I prefer cattle myself.
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It was a lady in North Platte Nebraska that preferred sheep
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and she rebuked me at the end of the service but quite frankly
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sheep stink. They don't smell nice.
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And these are the guys that were invited in to look at the Lamb
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of God. Because they valued.
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They valued what everybody else passed over and what everybody
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else took for granted. And God called them and God drew
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them. He's given us.
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Clear instructions and Jeremiah, you know, this this scripture
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very well, I'm sure verse chapter 29, it says, for I know
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the thoughts that I think toward you says the Lord thoughts of
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peace and not of evil to give you a future and a hope.
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And in in, in this time of personal pronouns, Listen to
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these. Then you will call upon me.
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And you will go and pray to me. And I will listen to you and you
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will seek me. And you will find me when you
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search for me with all your heart.
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Those are the pronouns that matter.
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And he says, when you do this, he says this, he gives this
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promise. I will be found of you.
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I'm going to jump out and say here I am.
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Right here, I am. So many times, you know, the
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Lord has this in his hand, in life, puts us in his hand and
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here we going and we're having this sweet communion with him
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and and we're just looking upon the Lord and loving him.
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And and then all of a sudden, some difficult time, some
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difficult season comes and he still got us in his hand but
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because of his great grace and his great love, he'll take his
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other hand and he'll put right over the top of us and we go
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crazy. Where are you?
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Lord. What are you doing?
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I can't find you. Oh, Jesus, please speak to me,
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don't leave me. Oh, please people even please.
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It's okay. Oh, there you are.
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There you are. Oh Jesus.
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You I don't know what happened to her.
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I do something wrong. Where have you been all this
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time? I'm right here.
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I'm right here. I love you so much.
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I love you so much. Older little bit of trouble.
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Jesus, Jesus. What?
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A wonderful sense of humor, God has.
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It's going to be Comedy Hour when they review my life in
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heaven, all the times that I've freaked.
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I mean, just freaked out. Lord, where are you?
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I couldn't feel him. Couldn't see him couldn't sense
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him. And he hid me in his hands.
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He was there all the time. And he was closer than I even
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dreamed. He covered me below above
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around, north-south-east-west top, bottom, everything he's got
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us, He's got us. He says I'll be found by you.
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It's when he opens up that other hand here I am.
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It's going to be okay. He says, I'll be found of you.
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Turn with me to the book of Song of Solomon.
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This Living Word. Draws near to our heart and we
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search for him and we, and we discover this on this amazing,
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amazing mystery. That we only really begin to
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seek him. When we begin to sense that he's
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been seeking us. He's the one that initiates it.
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He was there all the time he was never not there.
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Papa Jack would say, I don't know how many times I heard him
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say this. I, when I started studying the
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kingdom, I discovered that the kingdom was already studying me.
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God is the one that searches God is the one who seeks God is the
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one who puts the desire inside of our hearts, the longing
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inside of our hearts. He initiates that you can't take
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credit for that. He's the one that initiates it
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all. He's the one that puts the
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desire to pray, he's the one that puts the desire to fast.
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He's the one that puts the desire to get off of your bed,
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and take your head off of your pillow on Sunday morning and get
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out in the cold and come here. When your pillow was shouting to
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you the whole no, no don't leave me.
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Stay here with me. We will have such good communion
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together. I'll whisper in your ear.
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I love, oh you back to sleep. And is, it would be so easy.
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Yes, to turn over and just close your eyes and go back to sleep
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on a Sunday morning, especially a cold one.
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And yet, here you are. How'd that happen?
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Yes, of course, you cooperated. I understand that because God's
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done a good measure of work inside of your heart and inside
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of your life, that you have an understanding on the inside.
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No, I need to be there. I want to be there.
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There's something going on there.
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That's better than what's going on here, right?
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And the kids get drug along in the process.
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And little bit by little bit painfully.
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They learn. Wait a minute.
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There is, that's Mom and Dad are right.
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When you get up, we need to get going.
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Well, we never gave our children an option, you know?
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We just we just got them up many of the many was the time that
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they were asleep and we dressed them in their sleep.
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They wake up in church. I'd make sure of that because I
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was the pastor. truth is, if we have any desire to seek the Lord
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It's only because he's already been seeking us.
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Song of songs 1:2. Let him kiss me with the kisses
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of his mouth. For your love, is better than
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Wine because of the fragrance of your good ointments.
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Notice the pronouns again, your name is as ointment poured
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forth. Therefore, because of this the
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virgin's. Love you.
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Draw me away. Listen to the prayer of her
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heart. Draw me away.
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We will run after you. The King has brought me into his
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Chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in
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you. We will remember your love more
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than one rightly. Do they love you?
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And so she's consumed with only him.
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She's not consumed with answers. She's consumed with the answer
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singular. He is the answer to everything
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that we have. He is the answer to every
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question that we have. He is the answer to the, to the
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conundrums of our life. These problems that just seem
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like they've got 14 and 11 different sides to them and we
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can't figure anything out. He's the one. he is the one that
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when we search for him with all of our heart, when we seek him
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and him alone He States, I'll be found.
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I'm going to jump out from my Hiding Place.
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I'm going to make myself known to you.
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I'm going to reveal myself to you and God has done it with me
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and the most unusual places and he is so gracious, and he is so
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kind There goes on. In verse 8, the voice of my
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beloved behold, he comes leaping upon the mountain skipping upon
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the hills. He he will dance upon the most
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difficult challenges of our life.
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I don't know if you've ever climbed any mountains, but let
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me tell you something, it sounds really romantic and its concept.
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But the moment that you start having to climb something, let
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me tell you honey, It Ain't Easy.
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Mountains, often speak of yes, Great accomplishments.
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But they often speak also of great challenges And I mean
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great challenges. I remember hearing the testimony
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of a man that ran from coast to coast in the United States. and
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he ran every single day and he ran and he ran, and he ran, and
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he ran and he ran Coming from the east coast to the West Coast
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and after many, many many, many, many many days of running he
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sees off. In the distance, the Rocky
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Mountains, And his heart just sank.
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Dear God help me get over these. Can we get there?
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And then help me climb them, right?
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Yeah, it's one thing to to romanticize, Mountaintop
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experiences. But you have to measure that by
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all of the journey to get there. And God comes leaping upon the
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mountains and skipping on the Hills there.
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Nothing to him. Then he says, she says, my
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beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag behold notice this?
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This is this is where I'm going behold.
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He stands behind our wall. He is looking through the
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windows gazing through the lattice and my beloved spoke and
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said to me, rise up my love, my fair one, and come away.
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God is looking at Iowa. He's just behind your wall.
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He's just at your window, the place where you receive light
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the place where you receive the spirit of wisdom and Revelation
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in the spirit of wisdom and Revelation functions.
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In this place called a window. It's where Daniel went to pray
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every day. He went to his window in the
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open, the window up, he wanted as much light as he possibly
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could, could could Garner and he and he opened up his heart and
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he opened up his life and he at the risk of his own life.
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He opened his heart and he sought the Lord and he cried out
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unto God because because something was going on with his
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heart and something was going on with his life, that God was
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present in his window, and God was there in, God was drawing
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him and God was looking at him. And the Lord said his eyes upon
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him in the Lord, would not take his eyes off of him.
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There's something about the eyes of the Lord.
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You go through the scriptures in the eyes of the Lord scatter,
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his enemies, just his eyes, just the look of the Lord.
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You don't have to say anything. He didn't have to lift a little
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finger. He doesn't have to do anything
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at all. He just looks had fathers and
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mothers in my life and I and they had what I would call the
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look, Somehow, someway, Spirit of the Lord transpose the look
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into my wife. And she can give me the look.
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And I recognized it sometimes in my stupidity I just move along
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but there's the look it's there it's there and I'd better
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recognize it right right. The Lord was looking at the
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bride. And here she is in her house.
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And the interesting thing is that he's looking through the
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lattice work. And latticework is placed upon
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windows for privacy and latticework is usually made up
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in our lives with our excuses. It's usually made up in our
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lives with our fears. It's the things that we it's the
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things that we put up in that we hide behind.
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To ensure privacy, we all have it.
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You might not, you might not admit it but we all have it,
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right? Latticework is oftentimes seen
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as I as the image that we want to project so that people will
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receive us and accept us. Latticework is there.
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It's put there for privacy. It's put there for the reason
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that I want to let some light in but I don't want anybody else
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in. It's a place where I can hide.
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And here he is standing. At the window and looking
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through the lattice work. And I don't know how many times
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it's happened in my heart and in my life that I went to seek the
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Lord, only to discover that there was a pair of eyes.
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Looking right back at me before I even got there.
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He was there waiting for me. Became a shift in the service
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this morning. The Lord took this message and
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there's more to it. And dear Lord, I can go for what
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is it? It's only 85 pages.
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I have a tendency to over prepare. and, and And as we were
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singing this morning, there's a shift that came in the
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atmosphere and I heard it first, and then I saw it.
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And then, and then I heard clearly again.
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God is looking through the lattice work, at the state of
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Iowa. His Eyes Are Fixed upon you.
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Now, she went about her job, she went about her duties.
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She went about all the things that women can do.
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And I, my wife will tell you, you get royalties off this.
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She didn't like this, but she, if she's on a, she'll tell you,
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if she feels comfortable with your Shield, she won't.
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She won't divulge. She will divulge this.
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She would put a name into this and that is that sometimes
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sometimes I just watch her. I watch how she moves because I
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like it. I watch.
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I watch how she puts her makeup on.
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I like it. I watch how she attends to her
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hair. I watch how she looks at herself
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in the mirror. I watch.
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I watch her. And there's not a woman on God's
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green earth that cannot feel the eyes of a man.
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And pretty soon. She feels a little fidgety and
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comfortable. And she looks around and there I
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am. What are you doing?
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I'm watching you. Why are you watching me?
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Because I love you. I like what you look like.
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I like the way you move. I like the way that you look at
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yourself. I like it.
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Jesus was looking through the lattice work.
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And he's looking through the lattice work of your individual
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life. He's looking through the lattice
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work of your marriage. He's looking through the lattice
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work of your family. He's looking through the lattice
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work of the congregation and he's looking through the lattice
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work of the state of Iowa. Why?
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Because he loves you. That's why Because he has plans
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for you. That's why Because he wants his
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eyes set upon you until you begin to fidget.
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And you begin to think, I don't know.
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Something's to feel something. Shining on me.
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I'd there's something happening. There's some movement somewhere.
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I don't know how to and I can't discern and I can't see it or
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not. Something.
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I feel like somebody's looking at me. we've all been in a crowd
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of people and suddenly we felt someone looking at us and we
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turned her head and they were The human soul is quite amazing.
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Actually, it's much bigger than our bodies.
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So an interview one time of a of a professor.
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And, and they were, and they were asking this question, where
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is the human mind? What a brilliant question.
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I mean this that that's that's a lot of people would say well
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dumb. It's in your head.
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No, it's not. That's just a central processing
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unit. That's just the computer.
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That's just the physical, the physical place, where things are
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processed. And the professor was a woman
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professor and she sat there and they said, where is the human
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mind in the human body? And and, and, and the professor,
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you could just they thank God they didn't edit this.
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They just kept the camera right on her and she you could see the
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wheels turning in her mind. She was her eyes.
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It was coming through. There was this movement in her
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and she was there was this thought process and finally, she
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said after maybe I don't know 30 seconds of Silence, that's a
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long. Time in video and radio.
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And finally, she said, well, well, we know that, it's at
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least inside the human body. And I thought, oh my God,
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they're beginning to actually find out the secrets of the
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Lord. Out of the issues of the heart,
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the mouth speaks. As a man thinks in his heart, so
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is he? So God is looking and he's
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searching and he's watching, and he's got his eyes fixed Upon Us
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on every one of our hearts on every one of our lives so that
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we can come to the place where we begin moving and we're
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getting in touch with a part of our being that we don't normally
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operate in and we can feel his eyes and we start looking
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around. Where is that coming from?
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Hmm. and then suddenly you go to your window of prayer, or you go
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to your window of worship, or your goal, your window of the
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word, or you go to the window, wherever you're getting your
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light from, And you start looking out for more light and
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lo and behold, there's a pair of eyes looking right at you.
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And as soon as you recognize those eyes and soon as you lock
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eyes with him, the light that is in your soul comes through your
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eyes and the light that is in his soul comes through his eyes.
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And when they meet together, an atomic explosion goes off inside
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of us. And that's when the word of the
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Lord comes forth. And he says, Come Away With Me.
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Let everything else just fall to the ground.
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Stop worrying about your makeup. Come on and just come with me
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now. Now.
-
I've been several times in our marriage.
-
Here's another royalty for my wife.
-
I've been several times in our marriage that I watched this
-
woman get. I mean she was dolled up.
-
Dialed in. Her face is beginning to glow
-
red now. And and she was gorgeous.
-
I mean she was knockout gorgeous and we're going out of the
-
house. To which I would say to her Wing
-
going anywhere. This is just too good.
-
We're not going to go anywhere. We're going to stay home
-
tonight. No.
-
No. She says, we have to go out.
-
I said, no, we don't. We don't really have to be
-
there. I don't want to share you with
-
anybody. Yeah, yes.
-
Who are we living for? Hui dressing for who are we
-
preparing for? Who's the number one?
-
I ministered in Japan for many, many years and and the Japanese
-
divulge Secrets. They've got a gazillion Secrets.
-
Dear Lord, they got seven levels, they got seven levels of
-
their language and most Japanese, don't even know.
-
All the levels of the language of Japanese.
-
They are excellent hiders. They they they conceal things
-
better than anybody. I think at least they try to And
-
one day we were talking I was talking with some pastors and
-
they said to me, you know, you know the word love is not in our
-
language. When someone actually loves
-
someone else, they look at that one and they say you're my
-
number one. Your first priority your top
-
priority for me. Nobody else comes in the game.
-
Just you your number one in. There's only one.
-
It's not 1 of 2. It's one of one.
-
And I thought, oh Lord. Increase their language.
-
But the question remains, who is your number one?
-
I mean, really. He knows, you know.
-
He knows. He knows.
-
And he comes and he positions himself at our window and he
-
looks at us through the latticework and he's looking on
-
us, not with condemnation. He's looking on his not with the
-
idea of shaming us. He's looking on us, not with the
-
understanding that he's going to condemn us.
-
He's looking on us because he loves us because it's the
-
pleasure of his heart and it's the pleasure of his life and he
-
doesn't want to be anywhere else.
-
He just wants to look through the latticework of our window
-
and it doesn't really matter to him.
-
If the This work is there because he's looking Beyond it.
-
He's looking through it, it doesn't hold him out.
-
And he looks at our hearts and he looks at our lives.
-
And, and we're there, and then suddenly become aware of the
-
eyes of the Lord, that is set upon us.
-
And then he speaks. He waits he's patient.
-
He's not in a hurry. You might even say that he's got
-
the whole time in his hand. So he's got time and he knows
-
it. But something happens when we
-
begin to realize he is looking at me.
-
And he's waiting for that moment to call us away, and he's
-
waiting for that moment. And his heart is pounding in his
-
chest, and his, and I'm using human terms, forgive me?
-
But his heart is pounding inside of his being.
-
And his longing inside of his heart and patience is operating
-
and functioning and joy. He's looking with joy at the
-
very first moment that we stop. What we're doing, and we turn to
-
him. because when we stop, what we're doing, And we turn to him.
-
That's when he reveals himself to us.
-
That's when he says to us. Okay, let's get out of here.
-
Come on, just you and me. Let's go.
-
I know a place. Come with me.
-
Let's go. And while we were singing
-
earlier this morning, I just felt of the spirit of the Lord,
-
that his eyes. I felt his eyes looking upon
-
Heartland church and I felt his eyes looking upon and canny
-
Iowa, and I felt his eyes looking upon the central portion
-
of this state. And I felt his eyes looking upon
-
the whole state. And I found, I found words in my
-
heart that God gave all the way back to 1998 for the heartlands
-
of the United States of America. And I felt that they lifted up
-
from where I thought they would be and they They were looking
-
for a place to land. And then the holy spirit's so
-
graciously reminded me of the story of Noah.
-
And Noah at the end of the flood.
-
He opened up the window. And he let out the dove.
-
And the dove flew and the dove was searching for a place to
-
land and could not find one. And then the dove returned and
-
he held out his hand, and he took her in inside and then it
-
says, seven days later. He let her out again.
-
And she went, and she looked and she searched but there was no
-
place to land, no place to light.
-
There was only, there was only a small little Olive Branch.
-
She picks that and and she brings that olive branch of Hope
-
back to Noah. Something's changing out here.
-
I just wanted you to know. And then seven days later, he
-
opens up the window sword, approximately 21 days of this.
-
He opens up the window and finally she goes and she does
-
not come back because she found a place to rest.
-
I want to say to you this morning that the holy spirit is
-
released the, Holy Spirit has lifted up and lifted off.
-
And the Holy Spirit is looking upon the heartlands for a place
-
to land. Are you willing to let his eyes
-
fall on? You?
-
Are you willing to let him look at you until you become uneasy?
-
Are you willing or you willing to let him divinely?
-
Disturb you to the degree that you that you lay everything else
-
down and you just come back to him.
-
And you say Lord where where are you?
-
I can feel your eyes but I cannot see you.
-
And you're looking, you're looking.
-
You look because of latticework trellis work.
-
Often has a Vine growing on it. And it's sometimes difficult to
-
see his eyes looking at you. And then you make the connection
-
Bang. I was in Mullen Nebraska.
-
Mullen Nebraska is a Crossroads. In fact, in that day and time, I
-
don't even realize I don't even think that there was a stop sign
-
there. Much less a traffic like forget
-
that Just a Crossroads small little Community tiny.
-
But in Mullen Nebraska, They've got a couple of Bucket List,
-
golf courses. and I got an invitation, I got a bucket list
-
invitation To go play at a golf course called Dismal River in
-
Mullen Nebraska. It's just that it's outside.
-
It's quite a ways X is actually outside of Mullen.
-
That's just the closest Little community that they could attach
-
it to. And it was this bucket list
-
course, where you go there. And and I was, I was, I was
-
treated to this. I, it was a gift to me and
-
otherwise, I would have never had the money to go to a place
-
like this. I mean, you go there and it's,
-
and it's rustic five-star facilities.
-
They have they have a restaurant but they have no menu.
-
You just tell the chef what you want, and he will cook it.
-
That kind of place. I didn't even know those things
-
to existed, but they do It was an all-inclusive thing.
-
So I ordered ribeye every night. Cuz I like the fat content and I
-
want to see Jesus sooner. And besides that, it tastes
-
good. It's the best cut in my opinion.
-
And we went to the Pro Shop, when we arrived and the director
-
of golf, the god that's above the head pro, the director of
-
golf metis. And he looked at us and he says,
-
I don't know what you guys have done, right?
-
But you are the only four men on this golf course, for three
-
days. No one else is coming.
-
You've got the place to yourself.
-
And oh, did we play golf? It was great.
-
Beautiful In The Sand Hills of Nebraska, just beautiful there.
-
This desolate place and yet it's got a beauty that's that's
-
almost non-descriptive. You have to go there and see for
-
yourself. And we played golf for three
-
days and the afternoon of the second day.
-
I got tired, really tired. Abnormally tired, after lunch.
-
And I looked at the guys and I said, I know this sounds crazy,
-
guys, but I'm going to go back. I'm just going to go back to my
-
room. I'm going to go back to my room,
-
I'm going to rest a little bit, so I go back to my room.
-
And what do I do? I turn on the Golf Channel.
-
Case. You didn't know I like playing
-
golf. There are days that I'm pretty
-
decent at it, shot my age about a year ago.
-
And I'm old. And I'm there, and I'm watching
-
the Golf Channel. And there comes on the Golf
-
Channel, a documentary on a on a professional golfer Hall of Fame
-
golfers life. His name's Ben Crenshaw.
-
It's from Texas. And Ben Crenshaw had this father
-
Mentor in his life. By the name of Harvey Penick who
-
was renowned for his teaching ability and and the great ones
-
would go to Harvey Penick, if something was wrong with their
-
game and he could straighten them out really quick.
-
It didn't take him long, he could see.
-
Just had that kind of vision that kind of eye for the golf
-
swing. And Ben Crenshaw had been having
-
a really, really difficult time in his game.
-
And and so he had won the Masters.
-
It's a Wonderful Tournament down in Augusta.
-
Georgia. I've been there.
-
It's just incredibly beautiful there and it's almost it's
-
almost the Holy Grail of all golfers would be to play there
-
are and professionals to play in that tournament.
-
That's that's the tournament, right?
-
And and been in really he won the tournament.
-
Once before and so but he was having a really, really
-
difficult time with his game, and he just couldn't get
-
anything, right. I mean, just couldn't get
-
anything, right? Nothing was going right?
-
And and on one of his one of his afternoons.
-
His, his caddy helped him with a small little tiny adjustment in
-
his swing and he just started hitting it dead solid.
-
Perfect. It just came that quack touch
-
bang immediate. And he was out on a practice
-
round and he was given a message someone came out from the
-
clubhouse and said Harvey died. And and Ben's whole countenance,
-
his whole being just just changed, it was like his father,
-
his mentor, the one that raised him in his profession.
-
The one that had sewed, everything into him and had made
-
him what he was had died suddenly, And Ben's I have to go
-
I have to go back to Austin. He was he was he lived in
-
Austin, Texas. Ben got on a flight flew, back
-
to Austin for the funeral. And and professional golfers
-
from all over the world, went to Harvey P nk's funeral, they just
-
stopped what they were doing. And they went to his funeral to
-
honor, a man that they loved because he was a father And
-
after the funeral, they went from the from the sanctuary into
-
of the reception hall. And all of these, all of these
-
professional golfers were going from one building to the next
-
building. And there was a, there was a,
-
there was a golf. There was a sports caster.
-
That was interviewing as many people as he could grab.
-
And they got, they got bin somehow.
-
They somehow, they got bin just to stop for just a moment.
-
And the, and the and the broadcaster said Then what did
-
Harvey Penick mean to you? And his eyes were red and tears
-
were flooding down his face unashamedly.
-
And he looked into the camera and he said Harvey, Penick was a
-
great Christian man. And when I, when I heard that on
-
this, this broadcast there in my room at Dismal River, Golf Club,
-
Something happened in my heart and I broke on the inside of my
-
heart and I said to the Lord that's enough for me.
-
That's enough of a testimony for me.
-
I'll take that one. and I don't know how to describe this to
-
you, but my door of my cabin opened and Jesus walked into the
-
room. And I rolled off of my bed and I
-
fell on the floor. And he just looked into my
-
heart. And there was a dimension of
-
Glory that he has never ever taken me and ushered me into and
-
it happened at a golf course watching a golf documentary.
-
He stands at the window of our life.
-
Looking for us, waiting for us to just stop what we're doing
-
and open up her eyes and say, I love you Lord, where are you?
-
You're the one that I'm looking for.
-
I don't need any more answers. I just need you.
-
Just just you just you and my focus of my prayer life gets
-
extremely laser-like and narrow and all the other things that I
-
pray about and all the other things that I longed for in all
-
the other things that he has promised me and all the other
-
thing, and they just seem to just lose meaning the moment
-
that I find him, the moment that I find him, When is the last
-
time that you've gone to your window?
-
Could I just suggest to you? Maybe it's been a little too
-
long. Maybe we need to set aside.
-
This this time of tremendous turmoil all around us, economic
-
upheavals, political upheavals This prophetic word, that
-
prophetic word, another prophetic word in Dear God, in
-
heaven profits, that aren't even prophets are prophesying.
-
Just set it down. I'm just speaking to you as a
-
father, this morning, just set it down.
-
You don't need that. What you need is.
-
Just open your window up and look out your window because
-
he's waiting there for you. When he's waiting there for you
-
and you see him, I guarantee you.
-
What's going to happen? He's going to say, come on.
-
Come with me. Come with me.
-
And then every single question that you've got in your soul
-
will be answered in a twinkling of an eye.
-
Suddenly you won't have any more questions.
-
Suddenly, you just want to be quiet and you just want to hear
-
what he's got to say, and you don't want to Cloud the time
-
with him with your own thoughts. Bob Jones years ago, you may
-
know the story. He was told by an Angel, you
-
need to get ready for any in the angel named a month.
-
I'm going to use January. I don't remember what it was.
-
I'd have to look back. And the angel said, look you
-
need to get ready because in January Jesus is going to come
-
and he's going to he's going to bring a visitation but he
-
himself is he's coming to you he's going to meet with you.
-
So have your questions ready? The angel said?
-
So, Bob labored over it. And he labored and he labored in
-
the labor, what questions? What it, what kind of what do I
-
need to ask him? What I need to have ready, and
-
it's just man. I mean and January we came and
-
January went and Jesus didn't show up. so, we thought Well,
-
you know, you didn't tell me what year.
-
That's Faith, right? Did you tell me what year maybe?
-
It's next January and so he prepared himself all year long
-
for that January. Jesus didn't come.
-
And it went for several years like this but Bob never gave up
-
hope and he never dropped it and he never disbelieved it.
-
He believed it from his heart. And so, he was preparing for
-
every single January, just come. Come come, come like a clock.
-
Jesus wouldn't show within its next year.
-
Then, it's next year. Then it's next year, then it's
-
next year quite a few years. Then one day the angel popped
-
into his room. Oh, by the way, it's this coming
-
January. Get your questions ready by now?
-
Bob had all kinds of questions. So he starts going through his
-
questions. Comes closer to January closer.
-
King, he starts taking questions, out taking questions,
-
at taking questions. Out taking question.
-
No, no, not this. No, no, not that.
-
No, no, no, no, no, not this. And he came down to this short
-
list of questions. It was almost time for January
-
to roll around. And he felt so empty with the
-
questions that he had left. And sure enough January came and
-
Jesus walked into the room. He believed that it was
-
physical. And Jesus was, there he is.
-
Jesus, and Jesus with his wonderful wonderful.
-
Wonderful sense of humor says, Bob, do you have your questions
-
ready? And Bob answered him.
-
And he said, I don't want to waste our time together with my
-
questions. Would you just talk to me about
-
whatever you want to talk to me about?
-
I will listen. I think that's important.
-
God is calling Heartland Church. The Holy Spirit has risen over
-
the heartlands of the United States.
-
And he's looking for a place to light, he's looking for a place
-
to land. You have promises in this house.
-
You have prophetic words in this house but I'm going to reaffirm
-
them even this morning and I don't even know them, but I can
-
tell you this, Holy Spirit has lifted up and the Holy Spirit is
-
flying and the Holy Spirit is looking for a place to land.
-
So that when he lands Or when she lands.
-
Or when he she lands. Because they're both there.
-
In the language itself. No, ma feminine.
-
That'll get your theological panties Twisted wanted.
-
She's looking for a place to land.
-
And when she lands, she has purposes that we never dreamed.
-
Because God wants to speak to the heart of this country that I
-
can tell you, I've known it since 1998.
-
I've been prophesying since 1998.
-
I've been coming into these Heartland since 1998.
-
October of 1998. With a vision with a heart, with
-
an a, seeing of everything that God showed me, that he was going
-
to do in the heartlands of the United States of America.
-
And I have not yet seen it fulfilled.
-
And so, I since Holy Spirit brooding, Brooding over the
-
heartlands of the United States. And he's looking.
-
Holy spirit's looking for a place to land.
-
It's like he's got his eyes. She's got her eyes.
-
Set on us. I feel the eyes of the Lord this
-
morning. I feel his gaze.
-
Something has grown to attention inside of my heart and my life.
-
Even the short time that I've been with you, there was so much
-
resistance for Fay and I the past two weeks before we came
-
here. The resistance level was
-
honestly, it was painful. Mental torments emotional,
-
torments. All kinds of Temptations, 2222
-
not come. All kinds of opportunities that
-
this known to do that. No, no.
-
But my heart was set. And I've walked with him long
-
enough to know this that when I come to the end of myself and
-
when I come to the end of my strength that in my weakness,
-
his strength then takes over in his strength is made perfect in
-
my weakness and I've discovered through the years.
-
Just stay, the course. Bill.
-
Just stay the course, even if you don't have the strength to
-
take, but one more step, just stay the course and go and he'll
-
give you the strength and you can do it.
-
There have been so many times in my life and faces life that I
-
was sicker than a dog on Sunday morning.
-
I mean, throwing up sicker than a dog.
-
It's a Texas saying I think Cats could probably get sick, too.
-
but the saying sicker than a dog, And I would say to my wife,
-
just get me to the pulpit. I'll be all right.
-
If I get there, just just help me get behind the pulpit and
-
when I get there, it's going to be okay.
-
And I cannot tell you how many times that that happened in our
-
life. 44 years of marriage, coming up on 45 really quick in
-
the fast lane. Stay the course, Heartland
-
Church. Stay the course congregation.
-
Don't be surprised in. The passing of 21 days that Holy
-
Spirit doesn't breathe over you. Looking for a place to land.
-
That was through 21 days of dealing right there with Noah.
-
I've Got a Feeling, I've just got this feeling, I've just,
-
I've just got this feeling, we need to lift our eyes up, to be
-
whole the king. And the lover of our soul.
-
And look out the window. So in this 21 days of prayer and
-
fasting, this is a 21-day window for you.
-
Come. Come and do whatever you need to
-
do while you're in it. Because I know that there's a
-
lot of things that you need to take care of.
-
There's a lot of things that you need to do.
-
There's a lot of things you need to dress, but somewhere in this
-
21 days, don't be surprised. If you come to the window in
-
this house and another pair of eyes is looking back at you.
-
And when he looks at you, open your eyes and gaze upon him.
-
Gaze upon him. When the, when the shepherd said
-
this. After the Angels left, the
-
shepherd's looked at one, another and said, let's go to
-
Bethlehem. This is paraphrase.
-
Let's go to Bethlehem, and let's see this thing.
-
And the word thing is Rhema. let's go to Bethlehem and let's
-
see this Rhema This matter, this word.
-
And the word see is the keyword, it's horrible.
-
And her 0 means to see with the eyes go deeper, see with the
-
mind, go deeper to perceive, go deeper to see and experience,
-
intimately. What you're looking at?
-
And so those Shepherds went to look upon the Lamb of God and
-
they didn't give him a casual glance, they looked until there
-
was an experienced heart-to-heart and then it says
-
they went out and they told the whole city and everyone was
-
blessed and everyone was amazed and Mary and Joseph were amazed
-
and Mary pondered these things. In her heart, God's going to do
-
something for you and 21 days. Get Ready.
-
Get Ready, Get Ready. Get Ready.
-
Get Ready. Father I thank you.
-
I, thank you for the Simplicity of this word.
-
I thank you. Lord, that you are able to take
-
a weak vessel and bring forth transformation word.
-
I ask you Lord look into through the latticework of Heartland
-
Church. I ask you now.
-
Lord, looking through the window look through the latticework
-
look through the failures of the past.
-
Look through the insecurities, look through all of the, all of
-
the things that we all put up. To protect ourselves.
-
Look through them, just get close enough to the window and
-
look through them to whether the latticework doesn't even, it
-
doesn't even come into play. And keep looking at us until we
-
are divinely Disturbed. Until we stop what we're doing
-
and we turn looking where we don't even know.
-
And so we look outside the window only to find you there.
-
Speak to our hearts. Give us the secrets of your
-
heart for this season. Calls us to come and do a place
-
where we are riveted by your spirit and we seek only you.
-
You and when we are, when we, when you are found of us and we
-
are found of you, you will take care of all of the minutiae.
-
Of details of problems of issues of everything that even seems
-
impossible to us to deal with that, we don't have answers for.
-
You are the answer and so we invite you into Our problems are
-
Ministries. Our Praises, our worship, our
-
prayers, our fastings are everything.
-
Come, come, Holy, Spirit. Come lover of our souls. and
-
gaze Upon Our Hearts until we feel your eyes and we start
-
searching for just you Just you. Just you.
-
I thank you for this father. Hallelujah.
-
Go ahead and stand. I want to pray over us this
-
morning. I believe this is an invitation
-
from the Lord into this 21 days. Remember years ago, reading an
-
article about two Russian artists.
-
They were sculptures, they had been commissioned by their
-
government to carve some carving and this husband and wife team
-
got to discussing how they couldn't do what they did
-
without a thumb. And in their discussion, they
-
came to the conclusion, there must be a god, they began to cry
-
out for the god, the creator of the thumb to reveal himself to
-
them. They came to the conclusion of
-
the goodness of God because of his their thumbs and I've often
-
thought the goodness of God is revealed in food.
-
You know what? I could worship God just for the
-
jalapeno. That God gave you taste buds in.
-
Just the right place to experience an array of different
-
flavors. Isn't that good of him?
-
You know, he could have made everything tastes like spinach
-
or like would he could have done that but he didn't do that
-
because he loves us. And fasting among other things
-
is us saying, God we thank you for food.
-
We thank you for the gift and all the different flavors, but
-
what we're really hungry for is you Lord we set aside the
-
satisfaction of our physical appetites for this short season
-
and Lord, we ask let us Feast on you.
-
Let us Feast on the goodness of who you are and so Lord.
-
We ask even now Lord, for Grace, to fall upon us, and Lord, I ask
-
that you to wake in our spiritual appetites as Bill
-
stood up here, and read the menu of Heaven.
-
Lord, let our spiritual appetites begin to be awake and
-
let us salivate in the spirit. And Lord, we look over the, the
-
banqueting table of the next 21 days.
-
And Lord, we ask for one thing that you'd release more of you
-
to us. Lord release more of you to us.
-
Lord, God, we are hungry for you.
-
Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus.
-
Jesus. We thank you.
-
Hallelujah, on our last trip to Colombia.
-
We went to this one barbecue spot and they brought out these
-
big bibs and they made us put bibs on before they're brought
-
the food. And I just saw that picture.
-
When I was praying over us, get your bib on.
-
There's some feasting going to happen.
-
I'm serious. Get your expectations up, get
-
your spirit you. Jewel utensils.
-
Get your fork in your knife in hand.
-
Get you big old plastic Bib and belly up to the table.
-
It's going to be a time of feasting on him.
-
Amen. Bill fade on.
-
Thank you so much. Thanks for taking time out of
-
your busy schedules. Yeah, we love you guys that.
-
These have been the hors d'oeuvres and out of the feast.
-
He begins. Thanks for listening to our
-
podcast. If you'd like to help more
-
people hear this message, you can get the word out by
-
subscribing and sharing it on social media.
-
If you'd like to support the Ministries apartment church, you
-
can do. So at Heartland Church,
-
online.com give These have been the hors d'oeuvres and out of
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the feast. He begins.
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Thanks for listening to our podcast.
-
If you'd like to help more people hear this message, you
-
can get the word out by subscribing and sharing it on
-
social media. If you'd like to support the
-
Ministries apartment church, you can do.
-
So at Heartland Church, online.com give