My "YES" Is On the Table

Thank you for listening to the river.

Bend Church podcast Reverb in church exists to lead all people

to know love and live New Life in Jesus Christ.

We hope that you enjoy this message.

We are this week in week, 3 of the series, your will not mind

and this has been a guide through 21 days of fasting and

prayer. And so, today is day, 8 of 21,

so give it up for yourself, if you made it Through the first

week. This week of this, thank you,

Jesus, for your help. There's been a lot of battle

going on this week, right? A lot of you've been feeling

that the battle, and so, if you've not joined yet, but you

considering it, don't let the fact that we're on day 8, stop

you, there still 14 days and so you can jump in.

And, and begin praying, you begin fasting, you can find the

info online. If you want to go to our

website, you'll find a downloadable PDF.

I think we may have run out of the devotional guides because

you guys took those, but that is online.

Now you can grab it. And you can jump right in with

us during this season of fasting and prayer.

But one of the questions I asked myself this week, why am I doing

this? Why do this?

Why do we give up food or social media or things?

We love to seek God. Why are we serious about going

out of our way to spend time with the Lord?

And really, the simple answer is this, it is the most tangible

way to say Jesus. I want more of you and less of

me, more of you, less than me. I want 20:23 to be about more of

you in my life and so it's a way to bring ourselves to full.

Surrender, but only give you a new way to think about fasting

and prayer. It's just how I've been thinking

about it, as I meditated on it this week fasting.

A here's what it says. I want all of you, Jesus, and I

want you to have all of me. I want all of you.

It's not just about getting from God, it's about giving ourselves

to God's. They wouldn't God gets all of

you. That's where you're going to

live your best year yet. It's not when you get all your

prayers answered, I know, that's what we think.

God will answer some prayers and it'll be a great.

Here. When the Lord pours out his

favor and blessing but you know what would be the best year yet?

Is really a line underneath. The surround this idea of God

you have all of me. I'm not holding back.

Anything anymore. 20:23 will be my best year yet.

If I live it under the lordship of Jesus, that's saying Jesus,

you get all of me. I'm not gonna hold anything back

from you. Wherever you tell me, that's

what I'll do. Whatever you lead me to go.

I will wherever you leave me to go.

I'll go what your voice says. I'm gonna I'm gonna go whatever

you want to do in my life in 2023.

Bring it. I'm here for it.

And so it's just joining our hearts with the Heart of Jesus

in that prayer, he prayed the night before he would go to the

Cross. When he said, father, your will

not mine. Why don't we pray that again?

Because God loves us more than we know how to love ourselves.

He knows what's best for us. He does, what's best for us, so

we can trust him when we say God, I don't know, all the

answers. I'm just going to trust you,

your will flow through my life. And so, this season of prayer is

not just about getting what we want.

It's about aligning ourselves with God so that he Can give us

what we need. So as I prayed about this week's

message, God really led me to do something that I have not done

in four years since I've been here.

The lord always asked me to do some first.

Well, here's a first for you today, I've never preached the

message twice, as since I've been here.

The Lord took me back to his same, passage a lot of the same

ideas. Exactly the same ideas that I

preached almost two years ago now.

So some of you are here and you're going to go, that sounds

familiar in this some of your here and you're going to go,

I've never heard that before. But you were here that day, you

just forgot and so I like you. But that's It works right?

But the Lord really impresses. So, my heart several weeks ago

was like, I want you to come back to this message that you

shared because it's somebody needs it.

You know. You know why I'm sharing it

today? It's for somebody that's

struggling with the faster with the prayer season.

Maybe you're not even praying and fasting.

You just find yourself in January 20, 23 wrestling

wrestling with, you know, spiritual attack or battle in

your life or wrestling with, you know, anxieties wrestling with

what does God want me to do in this new year just wrestling.

And so this word has an encouragement and also a

challenge with it today and here is the message I want to share

with you today. I am putting my yes, on the

table, my yes, is on the table, Lord, literally my yes, is on

the table. I've had this little deal here

for a lot of years. I've used it in a lot of

different messages just to come before the Lord and say, God my

yes. Is on the table, The Secret of

fasting and prayer is not a much about getting what getting God

to say, yes to you. It's about getting us.

Us to say yes to him. Take that in for a minute.

It's not as much about twisting God's arm and showing him that

were so sincere that God just going to say yes to everything

we want. He will he tells us, pray, you

seek me, you will find me. You knock the door will be open.

Like God tells us, I'm going to say yes to you, on some things,

I'm going to answer your prayers, but but more than

anything, the secret to this season, it's about getting us to

say yes to him. And there's no greater place in

scripture outside of Jesus saying yes to the cross.

No greater place than Isaiah. The book of Isaiah in your

Bibles to Isaiah. Chapter 6, is where we're going

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

to be today. My yes is on the table.

Here's what it says, Bible says this, it was the year King,

Uzziah say Uzziah, it's just fun to say it was I who was like,

kind of like Isaiah. If you were Australian, who's

Lea King, Uzziah died, that died that I saw the Lord.

And so, this is Isaiah speaking. He says, he was sitting on a

lofty, throne. And so this is a vision that the

Prophet Isaiah had in prophet, Isaiah was a spokesperson to

God's people, God would send him messages he would in turn go and

share it with God's people. The Jewish people, he was

sitting on a lofty, throne and the train of his robe, filled

the Temple. And so, in the setting, the

stage here, for what, we're going to look at.

Historically, this event happened in 740 BC, we know that

because King Uzziah who's iodide in 47, 40 BC, the book of first

and second chronicles, and first Second Kings in your Bible, they

actually tell you the story of all the kings will.

You will find whose eye is story in there.

Here's what we know about this Ayah, he started raining at 16

years old, so you can imagine that.

I mean over God's people, he becomes king at 16 years old,

and the deal is, he's one of the rare good Kings.

Most of the guys, you read about that served as kings.

They were terrible. They didn't last long, they were

ungodly. He was a Godly young king.

He reigned in, he reigned over guys who for 52 years, one of

the longest rains in the history of of God's people, and people

prospered under his leadership. But he was a good king with a

tragic ending because near the end of his life, he got

prideful, he went into the temple and in the place of a

priest and he burned incense before the Lord God has

specifically said, only the priest can do this and he got

prideful. He went in God, allowed him to

contract leprosy and he would die separated from his people.

In a basically, a lepers Camp. He would die in isolation.

And so, it caused people to question a lot in the culture.

You got to, you got to They have to say the year King Uzziah

died. It described a year where people

were going God, where are you? Didn't you see the 52 years of

faithfulness or you know, the 50 years of faithfulness?

And you're going to strike this guy down from one little

mistake. God is serious about his

Holiness. But you know what?

People were probably in a little bit of chaos.

If you look at the hit the track record any time a king died.

It was chaotic. Is there going to be a coup?

It's going to be an is the Sun going to take over what's going

to happen and it's always a chaotic and nervous time in.

In society when a king died. And so people were probably

saying God where are you? Why would you allow our leader

to die? Our good leader in his in the

prime of his late years of leading us?

Why would that happen? And so, do you know there's a

lesson for someone here today? I want us to learn from Isaiah's

experience. For here's the first thing I saw

even in this verse verse when the circumstances on Earth calls

us to ask God, where are you? Where are you?

Lord, we can trust that he's on the throne.

Isaiah gives us a picture of this.

It is okay to ask. Where are you God?

It's okay to ask God, are you here in my prayers?

Because it doesn't feel like you are.

It's okay to feel that way, but Isaiah gives us a picture.

There was some chaos going on on the earth and in heaven.

The Lord was still sitting on the throne.

Do you know why that can bring peace to our hearts, a little

bit. Just to know that if God is

allowing some pain in our lives, some pain in our culture, it

doesn't mean that he's out of control, he is sitting on the

throne, the gear is iodide. Isaiah, Isaiah cease cease.

He's the Lord sitting on the throne and you know, sometimes

when God delays, the answer to his prayers, this because the

delay is because his best is actually on the way.

In the case here he was doing a work in Isaiah.

He was doing a work of Deliverance and healing and new

life and that's what it'll do to us sometimes.

Before God answers the prayer, it seems like he's out of

control, he's sitting on the throne.

Where are you, God? But he is actually answering the

prayer. He's actually doing a work in

you before he gives you what you're praying about.

You know. One of the things I've learned

Learned to focus in on when I feel like the moments first,

like, God, where are you? Are you hearing my prayers?

Lord, it, you know, sometimes you may even feel like this, if

there was a God, why would he not be answering by?

Now, I'm not saying I don't have faith and I'm not Amanda tries

to believe the word of God, but I mean sometimes you get to that

point where you're going. God I have prayed, I have

fasted, I have sought you. Where are you Lord?

There's a couple of things that I've learned to do first, I ask

myself the question. Did the sun come up today?

If so, I can go back to the beginning when God set things in

motion. And also, I'm reminded of this

verse that the mercy of the Lord is new Every Morning.

God's Mercy is new. Another question.

I ask myself, do I have air in my lungs?

Can I breathe right now? God provided that he met up.

He answer my prayer right now, but he is sustaining me.

He sustaining me until he can give me the answer.

Do I have someone that loves me? That's another question.

I asked and I hope you do. There actually is somebody that

loves you and you may not know it, but there are people that

Love you. There's a God, that loves you

but if you have somebody that loves you, then that's a

reflection of the love of God. And that's just a reminder, you

know, I don't have all my prayers answered yet, but it's

sun came up. I have air in my lungs and I

have somebody that loves me. If you have those three things,

that's a picture of God's grace poured out on you.

Even when the circumstances of the world are out of control, we

can be reminded, you know what? God still in control.

So next there is a picture of worship painted in the book of

Isaiah. Now, for some of you guys that

grew up in a, maybe a more traditional church wedding, You

didn't clap and you didn't get loud.

Listen, I'm about to blow your mind Heavens, gonna be crazy for

some of us, some of y'all right now.

You have a hard time singing. Use kind of like you got a

little movement going on when we're worse, when I like it,

some of you singing hands up. But let me show you what Worship

in heaven. Looks like some of us gonna be

like, holy smokes. What did I just walk into?

Look at this picture, he saw the Lord sitting on a throne and it

says the tending him were Mighty seraphim, seraphim each?

Having six wings. And so, this is a beast with six

wings worshipping for the Lord. If we brought one Of those in

today. Everybody would leave you be

like that. Listen, I liked Joe and I liked

Riverbend until they brought the six winged beast in like I'm

out. Can't do it anymore.

It says that the seraphim had six wings two Wings.

They covered their faces with two, they covered their feet and

with two, they flew. So, now you're in the flapping

of wings, they were calling to each other, just like the song

We were singing. You're worthy of it all.

Here's what they were singing. Holy holy.

Holy is the Lord of Heavens armies.

The Earth is filled with his glory.

Now here's the here's the Shocker.

Their voices shook the temple to its foundations.

I don't know if they had subwoofers in microphones.

I don't know if it was just their voices, but they add

something and it was shaking the building.

The worship was shaking the building, the neighbors were

knowing what's going on in there, like, man, they're at it

again over there shaking the foundations and the entire

building was filled with smoke, you may be okay with a loud

speakers but as soon as the smoke came in your like I knew

it, I'm out of here. I'm not taking that.

That it's in this, in this picture of worship in heaven.

Blowing your mind though like this Beast worshipping before

the Lord flapping its wings saying, holy is the Lord.

And as they sing their voices, the music is so loud.

That the ground is shaking the foundation of the temple is

shaking and then smoke starts to fill the room.

They have Hayes machines in heaven, come on, and this Beast

is seraphim. We don't know a lot about them

because we don't have them on Earth.

But here's what we do to, they had six wings and two of them

they took and covered their faces.

As they were in the presence of God Almighty.

As if to say, I can't look on his majesty with two, they

covered their feet as if to say I humble myself before the Lord,

it would be in a sign of humility to cover their feet.

And with two, they flew crying out to the Lord.

So listen, the Earth circumstances were not good at

this time but Heavens worship was not interrupted.

See, here's the lesson that we can learn.

Heavens worship isn't interrupted by our circumstances

and neither You should hires be. Listen no matter what 20:23

brings our way we get to decide if we're going to worship our

king or not. You and I get to decide it.

Nothing can decide it for us. There are some things that

cannot be taken out of the hands of people and one is what we

choose to worship. No matter what 2023 brings

listen. I'm praying that God brings

healing because I know a lot of you have reached out to me via

email, you text me, you've dropped up that prayer cards to

us and said, I'm praying for healing, for myself, for my

family, for others. And so I'm praying.

And listen, when the healing comes, we're going to worship.

I'm praying that God will pour out blessings and listen as he

does. Going to praise him, we're going

to worship. But listen, when God brings

difficult, things to mold us, and perfect, us, and make us the

people of God that he wants us to be.

We're also going to worship Him church.

That's when we're going to need each other to lift our arms up,

when somebody's going through a hard season, you need somebody

to come alongside you and lift up your arms, you know, do you

know who gets how one the way you can decide how you going

worship and what you're going to worship each day?

No matter what circumstances comes?

It's all about. What worship soundtrack?

You listen to every day. Courtney got me are pods for

Christmas. I never had any more so I'm

like, you know, I'm looking at him like, well, you know, I'm

learning all these noise-canceling.

I don't have to hear anybody. I don't want to hear it too

great. And so I'm learning though, you

know, I've had earbuds before but I've never had any nice with

it. So when I put this in, guess who

gets to decide what I pump into this thing, I do I get to decide

what I pump into this earpod nobody else gets to decide what

I'm going to put into it. Do you know, one of the best

ways you can decide apart from your circumstances, how you

going to worship? What soundtrack?

Are you going to play into your head every day?

What do you listen to? Because whatever you pump in

determines, how easy or not, it is for you to worship you pump,

Jesus, send you pump worshipping.

It's crazy how it changes your day.

Courtney, Austin in the mornings especially with even Kids were

in school, she would get up, go to work really early and she

would turn her phone on in first you'd hear a phone come on in

the bathroom would like some, you know, you are worthy of it

all and you here, you're not, here she goes.

And boy about the second line. She's singing to the top of her

lungs in the whole house is awake now because she is setting

her tone for the day. Instead, he her tone in worship

for the day and I love it. Listen, you get to decide if

circumstances are going to change how you worship or not,

nobody else can. You get to decide it as we move

for listening as we fast and pray.

We're going to learn to set our worship.

Antennas towards the Lord. God, I want to, I want to set my

worship station on you Lord, fill me up today.

And so Isaiah standing here watching this worship service

happen and surely, he's blown away, because they never seen

anything. He'd never seen anything like

this. But look what he says here.

Then he says this, it's all over.

I'm doomed for I am a sinful man in the presence of the Lord, he

recognized it immediately. I have sinned, he says, I have

filthy lips. And I live among people with

filthy lips. I don't know exactly why he

brought out the filthy lip service probably other lip.

Maybe he just said something he really regretted right before he

went into this Vision, you do that before listening.

Come on, I know some of y'all driving to church this morning.

I know some of those conversations in the car yelling

at the kids. You know, I wouldn't get out and

cook a morning Pastor. So good to see you today.

Work so good to be at church. I'm not saying I was riding in

your car. I'm saying listen I got a car

to, I brought my kids to church at one time but I don't know why

he felt convicted but he was like, I've been I've been

cussing. I've been I don't know what he's

been doing. It.

But like here you guys, I have filthy lips and I live among

people of them. Filthy lips yet.

I have seen the king, the Lord of Heavens are, you know, you

know why? One reason I think he said that

because he heard these beasts and you know what they were

using their lips to do, glorify the Lord.

Holy holy, holy is the Lord, the whole earth is full of his

glory. I think it was a conviction

because that wasn't what he was using his words to do.

But he said yet I have seen the king the Lord of Heavens armies.

And so what it means is it's all over for me.

Isaiah was a Jewish young man and so he knew the scripture, If

anybody saw God, they were taught, he would die.

And so he said, you know, I know that God is Holy and I'm seeing

God in this Vision, I'm going to die.

It's all over for me. Admit that I'm a sinner, see, in

the presence of Jesus, he became aware of his sin.

For some of us, do coming back to church for the first time in

a while, or maybe tune in online, maybe Oakwood, you're

coming in for the first time in a while.

The first thing you feel, hopefully is love and in fact

that you matter because we work hard at that, but if you hang, A

long enough, the holy spirit of God is going to start working on

your heart and you're going to start feeling some conviction.

It's not a bad thing. It's not God hating on you, it's

not god pushing you away. It's actually his grace calling

you hire saying there's a new life version of you.

To be lived in 2023, God's got more for you and better for you

than you lived in 2022. And you gotta decide if you're

going to step into it or not. But here's the thing, just like

Isaiah. Here's the lesson for us.

When we enter the presence of Jesus Through worship, it'll

make us aware of our Our sin, but here's what we learned from

Isaiah, don't run from God. Don't run away from God, listen

in the presence of Jesus makes Isaiah hyper aware.

He goes, God, it's all over for me.

I'm a sinner. And I'm doomed and see for us,

here's the beauty. Jesus already took our sin debt

on the cross, and so when you feel conviction, do you know,

all God is doing. He's not trying to push you down

and push you away. He's trying to get you to submit

to Jesus. Who's already paid the cost for

you? He's already paid the price for

you. He's saying submit to him.

You can change and live. New Life in him.

But you know our gut reaction is to run when God starts working

in our lives. We start praying and singing and

fasting. We get around other believers

community of people. Sometimes we will feel

conviction in our gut is to run. But listen, when God brings sin

to the surface in our lives and by sin, I mean any wrong thing.

You've done Bible calls that sin when we sin against God, we do

wrong against the person. We do wrong against ourselves or

we do wrong against God himself. When we do wrong, that's called

sin when God brings that sin to the surface of our hearts.

He's not trying to judge you. You, he's trying to cleanse you.

God wants you to walk out free, you know, one of the

frustrations that I have as a pastor, I see people walking

bondage that don't have to There is new life for you.

People give up on themselves because their past is so painful

and the mistakes they've made or so, but they give up on

themselves and they assume God can't heal you anymore or maybe

you just have a personality trait or a tendency and you feel

like God, you can't heal this. How could you forgive it?

Because it's such a struggle for me and yet the crawl says you

are forgiven. There is Grace for you if you

will lean into it. But our gut reaction is to run.

You know what? Sometimes that's the voice of

the enemy trying to shame you when God's trying to cleanse you

he says if you confess it to me I'll cleanse you Isaiah

confessed, it right there in the presence of God, I'm a sinful

man, I have filthy lips, lean in, don't run, you know what I

believe. I believe that this is the

pivotal moment in Isaiah's Ministry, I think if Isaiah In

This Moment, instead of confessing had tried to run away

from God, at that moment, God would have probably raised up

another Prophet that would say, yes to him.

M, how many times do we miss? The blessing of God on our

lives? Because we run when he starts

trying to convict us about something.

You know what you got to do? Maybe, maybe 20 23 in this.

This season is coming back to the Lord and just lay in your

heart out and saying, God, I know there's some things you

were convicted me about it one time and I got numb to you, I

got none to your voice because I wanted to hold on to those

things in my life. And Lord, you were trying to

strip it out so that you could make me the man and the woman

you wanted me to be. And so, as a addicted, not run,

he responded right there with with opening himself up to

Cleansing the presence of Jesus will make us aware of our sin

but we shouldn't run. That's his love and conviction.

Look at this. Then one of the seraphim flew

over to me with a burning coal, he had taken from the altar.

Listen, not just the again, mind blown in worship here.

All of a sudden this heavenly creature starts flying towards

you. At that point, I wouldn't have

blamed to do for running. Just going to say It says a

burning coal, he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs,

he touched my lips with it and he said, see this Cole has

touched your lips. I can't help it.

Say man, why did he have to tell him it touches lift?

He just touched your face with a burning coal from the altar.

He didn't have to say that he knew that, right?

This coal has touched your lips. Now and your guilt is removed in

your sins are forgiven. Can I just say this?

We can clean this up, but in this Vision, it had to be

painful. We don't get that whole pit,

Isaiah didn't go on and on about how much pain he went through.

When the guy put all he gives us gives us as the end result.

But don't you know, if somebody takes a hot coal and they put it

on your lips, you probably want to do that.

You know, my mama probably want to do that.

To me a few times. I'll say that.

But cleanse that mouth boy who, you know, but look at this,

there was pain in the cleansing. I don't like this reality IMA be

real. I do not like this reality when

God starts doing a cleansing work.

Can you guess what? There's Don't be paying, you

know why it's so hard to pray and fast.

Pain discipline we have to choose to overcome our own pride

and our own desires so that God may do a greater work in us but

the Lord sent this messenger and it was painful.

Listen, if you've been in a painful season with the Lord

maybe for a while maybe God hadn't been answering like you

want it. Listen, this word gives us much

hope. God is not hurting you, he's

trying to heal. You God is Not destroying you.

He's preparing you for for a wholeness and renewal and

restoration, let me give you the lesson that we learn here.

Confession leads to Cleansing and it may be painful, but it's

always powerful. I don't know about you but I

want the anointing of God on my life, like, if I'm going to live

as a follower of Christ, if that's my path.

For this life, I want to live under the anointing of God,

meaning I want the spirit of God to be on my life.

I want to everywhere. I step, I want God to use my

life, I don't want him to be with me, but here's the thing

until I'm willing to confess confess and be cleansed.

I can't get to that place. God doesn't want to pour His

anointing on dirty vessels. He'll love us, and it'll take us

to heaven, but if you want to live in the power and the

anointing, God, at some point you got to say God, I am a

sinner. I still have messed up saying,

Lord, I want to confess it to you and I know it's going to be

painful to walk through it. But Lord I know the power comes

to that see the fasting a season will not bring God's best for us

unless we confess. In this season we can't just

ask. We also have to confess.

You know, this verse but it's a powerful truth that we need

today. says this, if we confess our sin to him, Now, the next

piece of this could say, once we tell him, he'll never look at us

the same and how we do each other.

Come on. I mean, sometimes that's how it

feels once I tell you how rotten I really am and how messed up?

I really am. You'll never look at me the same

again, it's not really true because all of us have our sins

struggles and if we're all really honest and we would all

go. Oh you're just as bad as me like

you need Jesus just as much as I do but if we confess our sins to

him, look at this. He is faithful and just to do

what forgive us and to cleanse us.

Do you know what this means? Cleanse us from wickedness is

the cleansing of the guilt off your life.

Only the Lord. Can do this, you can't right

your wrongs enough to get cleansed of your guilt people

tried every day. I've done so much wrong.

So I got to do a lot of right to write it in.

The Lord says this, if you'll confess it to me not only will I

forgive you so you can come be with me forever.

I will also cleanse you right where you are.

I'll somehow give your conscience the ability to start

over by the power of my spirit. See what this season of prayer

is really about, is God, finally getting you and me to be real

with him. To be real with him.

We don't have healing because we keep hiding Church.

I'm speaking looking, I can come out here and amen.

Myself this morning, we don't get the healing that we need

because we keep hiding things. We think from God, Oh God, you

saw that. I don't want to talk about that.

Can I just go raise my hands and worship?

Let's just not talk about that. If you want freedom.

Freedom will. Come cleansing will come.

When you finally get to the point where you're going.

God, you got me. I'm going to confess it to you

and say, here's what we talked scripturally forgiveness and

cleansing can come when we confess to God, but James tells

assist, you should also confess the when you're walking through

a difficult, maybe you're trying to get out of a Sim battle

confess it to a trusted brother or Her in Christ and they then

you can actually find Freedom through that.

So, listen, what is the holy spirit?

Trying to free you up from in your life right now?

You automatically know, probably in your mind, you go, there's

something I know God wants to free.

He wants to cut that out, because that's not who I'm

created. That's not the new life version

of me. That's not who the Lord created

me to be. I know there's something needs

to go. Is it pride?

Well, sure, for all of us. Is it porn?

Maybe. Is it secret sin?

Is it bad attitude? Is it hate?

Is that addiction? Is it?

something else rule your life instead of God listen I'm just

telling you we serve a God who can If I didn't believe that he

could rid us of these things and cleanse.

If those he thinks I couldn't stand with the authority and

preach but we have to get down to the root of it.

Healing comes when we stop hiding get to the root.

Pray about your anxiety. But what is the route?

I mean, tell God you want to get rid of it but getting down to

the root of it and confess it to him.

What are you scared of what's driving?

It doesn't mean it'll go all the automatically away, but listen,

he can work on it. What about that section will

send struggle. You have that's holding you

back. Back from the anointing of God

in 2023. It took you out in 2022.

If you're really honest. I'm not saying you weren't a

believer in that. God didn't love you.

I'm just saying, impacted your life, and impacted your mindset,

and how you view people, and it pulled you in.

So closely. What if the Lord says you get

real with me about it, let's get down to the root.

What do you really want? What's driving that I want to

free you up? I want to cleanse you.

I don't want to, I want to crush you.

I crushed my son on the cross. That's what the father says for

that sin. If you Want to change and live

New Life listening to key. Is this get real with God?

My prayer is in Jesus name, over Oakwood over Gainesville over

those tuned in today. May the spirit bring boldness to

say yes to confession because it's hard.

In the moment, we make up our mind.

You know what? God, I'm not going to play games

with you anymore, man. Get real with you.

You just met walk out free. Uncaged from the sin that's been

holding you back. See it was after confession and

cleansing. That Isaiah is ears were open to

hear God. There was never another time

that he heard God here he heard what was happening?

He heard the Sarah from worshiping, he heard the ground

shake. He saw the smoke coming in but

it doesn't say that he heard God until after what the cleansing

after. The cleansing took place after

the confession. The repentance took place.

Saying God you got me. It was at that point, so I

wonder maybe God is waiting today on somebody to say yes.

Us to confession. Yes to getting real with God

before he's going to answer and give you the answers that you

want. Look at this point he heard the

Lord saying it says I heard the Lord asking then I heard the

Lord asking whom should I send as a messenger to this people

who will go for us? And this us here is just an

indicator of the Trinity. God the Father God, the son, God

the Holy Spirit, having a conversation in heaven 33 in

one. God he said that Isaiah says he

hears this conversation and Isaiah's pipes up and says here,

am I send me now? Here's the interesting thing

before. Isaiah knew what the assignment

was, he put his yes on the table.

Again, something I'm really uncomfortable with.

I know that I'm preaching. I'm going.

Hey, trust God, he knows what's best for you.

He's going to do what's best for you.

But when it comes down to saying, God, I will say yes to

you, no matter what you say, I'm going to go ahead and put my yes

on the table. That's a difficult task in it

because see what we like to do is pray and fast and God, what

do you want? And then we want to hear it.

And then we want to make up our minds, whether will obey or not.

God, that's too much. You're asking, I don't want to

do that. Okay God, that sounds pretty

good, I'll do that. But what if men and women of God

got so powerful in their faith and in their prayer lives that

we just took our yes with us everywhere.

We went, God, what do you want me to do today?

Here's my yes. How do you want?

What do you want me to give today?

God, who do you want me to love on minister to how do you want

me to treat my family today? God hears, my yes.

What do I need to change out of my selfish life so that I can

see life change come to my Homer or to my friend group or maybe

to my dorm room? Lord, here's my yes.

I don't want to live. Like I've been living anymore.

God, I'm just gonna go ahead and put my yes on the table before

you even say it because I know you love me.

Listen this season of your will not mind.

That's really what it is. I want to put my yes on the

table. Do you want to hear God, though?

Here's the secret. If I want to hear God, I have to

get near God. You don't want to say this.

We often want God to shout at us.

Lord, not. You see me, praying and fasting.

Can't you just shout out to me from Heaven.

Lord, make your message. Clear.

Give me my answers. But throughout scripture, do you

know how God often speaks a whisper?

The calm Whisper of the Holy Spirit.

He doesn't yell. He whispers, he speaks softly.

You know, you know what you have to do, if you want to hear

someone, when they're Whispering, you have to lean

near to him. I'm convinced that God is

speaking. We're just not leaning close

enough to hear the whisper of the spirit of God.

Oh Lord, speak to me. God, I want to hear your word.

Lord, I want to hear what you want me to do for 2023.

I need your answers. What if he's trying to answer,

but we refuse to lean in close enough.

Listen, Isaiah teaches us this, when you repent and you confess

and you lay your heart out before the Lord and you lean in

this at that moment, you can finally begin to hear God

speaking to you. Here's what Jeremiah said.

If you look for me wholeheartedly, you know what

that means? Full surrender to my lordship.

All my heart. God I'm not holding any piece

back. Nothing.

If you look for me wholeheartedly, here's the

promise. You will find me this season of

fasting and prayer. It's not just about giving God

all getting all of God. It's about us giving all of

ourselves to him, but we have to go out at wholeheartedly.

See, look at this, Isaiah said, this again, here I am send me.

You know what he was saying? Here's what he was saying.

Lord my yes is on the table, there it is.

God, what do you want? To do before he knew the

assignment. Now we don't have time to get

into it today but you can go read Isaiah's assignment.

It wasn't a really fun assignment.

But he signed up anyway and he did it for his entire Ministry,

his entire life. He said, yes, Lord, here I am

send me, my yes, is on the table.

I don't know how long he had prayed for this Encounter of

God, encounter with God, maybe he was going God show up in my

life. I just need you guys show up in

my life, but I think he had made up his mind ahead of time when I

get that encounter with God, I'm gonna say yes to what if God is

waiting on your yes, before he shows you the rest of what he

wants for you. See when God sees your yes, he

will show you the rest but often he may be holding back because

he knows that you're not going to do what he says.

Anyway, usually when I talk about yes I'm talking about

serving. Sometimes you may hear a message

like this and it's like who wants to go to the mission

field? Far away and praise the Lord.

There are people that are called to do that and then people here

probably called to do that. There are many they already.

Are you going to go far away and tell people about Jesus and love

people in his name? But I want to shift the

perspective a little bit today, today?

Yes, is not just about like going and doing for God.

It was for Isaiah. Do you know what?

Yes, this is today. It's about God.

Doing a work in me. And you, God, I'm not going to

hold anything back in this season of fasting and prayer

from you. Lord.

I'm letting you deal with my sin.

That I think, I've been holding onto behind the scenes to spend

killing me, literally, killing me behind the scenes.

I'm tired of holding on to the Lord.

Here's my yes. Deal with me, Jesus.

I'm ready to be cleansed. Lord, will you deal with my

addiction listening? Are some good people that God

loves and you know what the enemy keeps trying to come back

over you with this addiction. And circumstances.

Keep trying to push. You back in that direction.

Can I just say? Just keep saying yes to him

again. Let him take it again.

Let him work on it again. Let him cleanse you again.

Yes, Lord change. How I treat my family.

Yes, Lord deal with my hate in my anger and my pride Lord deal

with any racism and me deal with any unforgiveness in me, deal

with any Brokenness in Me. God, I'm tired of trying to hide

it and make sure everybody else thinks I'm fine when I got all

these struggles going on. Lord my yesterday is about you

bringing healing see maybe yesterday is about you.

Finally surrendering your life to Christ.

There are some that hope for whatever reason, they know the

love of God, and they hear a message like this, but they hold

back on God, they refused to let him have everything.

So, maybe, yes, today, for you is saying, Jesus.

I'm ready to let you be the Lord of my life.

I'm ready for the first time to surrender under your lordship.

See, here's the question. Is it time for you today?

To put your yes, on the table? Freedom is on the other side of

surrender. So here's what I want to do.

Right here in Gainesville and in Oakwood, I want you to bow with

me all over the house. Stay with me, Oakwood, just bow.

Listen, if you, if you lose attention when you close your

eyes because I don't want you disconnect and yet we're not

done, you can look at me, that's fine, but I want you to stay

with me for just a moment and think about this, if freedom is

on the other side of surrender, just like Isaiah said, yes,

maybe it's time to say yes, to let God do the work in you, so

then he can do the work through you.

So here's what I want to ask you today.

Both here and at Oakwood, if you would go, Joe, I know that I

need to put my yes on the table before the Lord.

Today, I want you to stand up right where you are.

You everybody else? Just keep your head down.

If you go Joe, I know there's a work in my life.

I know this will work through my life.

I want you to stand right? Where you are.

Oakwood you to thank you, come on, stand up right, where you

are? That shoe.

I won't pray for you this morning.

That's all we're going to do. I'm going to pray that the Lord

will put because of your boldness.

Thank you. Anybody else?

If you go Joe I'm putting my need to put my yes on the table

before the Lord today. Thank you.

Come on. Do you 20 quid?

Would stand up right there where you are because I want to pray

for you and then we're going to worship as we close this place

out today. Maybe you standing today is used

to signify and I Surrender my life to Jesus Christ today.

I'm not holding back anything anymore.

I'm not holding it back. I'm ready for the Lord to deal

with my sin. I'm ready for the Lord to deal

with these things that are trying to press me down right

there where you are listing. Many of us standing here in

Gainesville and Oakwood. I want to pray over you this

morning if that's you. So father, I thank you for those

that are bold to stand and say my yeah.

Is on the table today and got on to praise you, that they had the

courage to do. So right here where we are in

order to ask you. Now in Jesus name God will use

you hear their? Yes, Lord.

They stood up with their feet in front of everybody.

They just stood in the room and said, Here I Am Lord, here's my

yes. So God whether it's a Sim battle

whether to surrender to you whether its submission to your

will, whatever it may be. God, I pray that you would see

it and you would accept it and Lord.

Now, you would pour out your You're cleansing.

Lord that they would continue to follow through, continue the

conversation of cleansing and healing and repentance and

confession with you. And God, we're going to look for

great things. You can do across your church

through this. So father, pour out your grace

on everyone. Thank you that you don't convict

Us in order to push us away, you can victis to pull his clothes

so that we can lean in and we can accept that love of Jesus

poured out. So God today I'm going to give

you glory for what you're going to do here and Oakwood and all

those tuned in today, God we're going to give you the glory.

Here is our yes Father as a church.

I'll just say is as the pastor of this church that I get

privileged to be Lord. Our yes, is on the table.

Lord Riverbend churches. Yes.

Is on the table. What do you want God?

When you want it, where you want it, how you want, it load, it is

your church. Lord, we are stewards and we

were blessed to get to do what we do.

So God, with all my brothers and sisters standing across the

room. Now I say, Jesus.

Thank you. We go. 2023 bless this year with

your presence. God, have all of us in.

Jesus name. Thank you for listening to the

river. Bend Church podcast.

Learn more about who we are as a church and how to connect you

can head over to our website Riverbend Church dot life.