Start Here

[SPEAKER_01]: And so what I want to talk with you today about is start here.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's the topic of our message today.

[SPEAKER_01]: So if you're taking notes, it's start here.

[SPEAKER_01]: So let's just open up in a word of prayer.

[SPEAKER_01]: Father, we know that you are already here.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so we thank you.

[SPEAKER_01]: We thank you for your presence.

[SPEAKER_01]: Holy Spirit, I give way to you.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because it's not about me.

[SPEAKER_01]: is about you.

[SPEAKER_01]: And giving opportunity for you to do with you, always do.

[SPEAKER_01]: You speak to our hearts in ways that go far beyond what is said because you have a message for us as a church, but then you have a message for us individually.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so Lord, we just want to hear directly from you.

[SPEAKER_01]: through the Spirit's leading.

[SPEAKER_01]: So we just thank you for what you are going to do.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we thank you and expecting great things.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes Lord, thank you Father.

[SPEAKER_01]: Amen.

[SPEAKER_01]: Amen.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_01]: So when I was thinking about starting here, I was taken back to how difficult the simplicity of our walk is for a lot of us.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I can't really speak from you, but this is actually a time of reflection.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not one of those

[SPEAKER_01]: I grew up Baptist, but I'm not a Baptist preacher.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't like to black Baptist on if you've ever been in one of those churches, so they can sing their message.

[SPEAKER_01]: I know how to do it, but that's not where God has me right now.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, hope it inhaler.

[SPEAKER_01]: But God's little, my heart is just a time for us to really reflect.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so my hope is, as I'm sharing, that it will start to spark questions.

[SPEAKER_01]: And the time that you're taking notes, write down those questions.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so that you can go back and reflect on them with God.

[SPEAKER_01]: because God speaks to us in a different way in different settings.

[SPEAKER_01]: So when we come to church, that's why it's important because God has a different opportunity to speak to us than He does when we're by ourselves.

[SPEAKER_01]: So coming together gives God a different insight as we start to interact with each other.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then, and further on, when I was thinking about it, I think, if I would ask a lot of you, you know, where do we start?

[SPEAKER_01]: You would say, oh, we start with salvation.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's a half truth, because salvation is part of our journey, but it is not what we need in order to draw closer to Him.

[SPEAKER_01]: Salvation is what God offers, and so that we can have an understanding of how to connect with Him.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that connection is made perfect through the process of learning how to connect stronger with Him.

[SPEAKER_01]: And our strength comes through the interaction.

[SPEAKER_01]: And the interactions are not difficult.

[SPEAKER_01]: They're simple.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is remembering, taking time just to remember that I'm God's child.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is Him who has brought me here.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is Him who is keeping me.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is Him who's watching over me.

[SPEAKER_01]: And how I interact with that, I think it goes beyond salvation because salvation, when we think about it, is a ticket to heaven.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I know a lot of churches, they focus in on the salvation.

[SPEAKER_01]: We must get people saved.

[SPEAKER_01]: If we get enough people saved, then we can all go to heaven.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I think that's sad because there's so much more to our Christian walk than seeing people go to heaven.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because if that was the case, I think as soon as you said, confess with your mouth and believe in your heart.

[SPEAKER_01]: And really believe that Jesus is Lord that he rose again, that you would just take your last breath and fall over.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because that will be your ticket out.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because it's like, why go through all the rest of it if all we need to do is go to heaven.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I mean, if there's more to this journey,

[SPEAKER_01]: And there's some place that we, there's a destination that God's trying to get us to.

[SPEAKER_01]: And there is a, in that journey, the journey starts with the first step.

[SPEAKER_01]: And what that first step is is really, really, really simple.

[SPEAKER_01]: I would say, it's God was pointing it out to me and he gave me a few of them.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I want to get to his meetings I can.

[SPEAKER_01]: The first one that came up was honesty.

[SPEAKER_01]: So the first one is honesty.

[SPEAKER_01]: What do I mean by honesty?

[SPEAKER_01]: Because it's only when we are truthful, can we make our start the process?

[SPEAKER_01]: So honesty is about being truthful with ourselves about where we are, what we're struggling with, what I see before me, the difficulty, even when it's to the point that it's just like, hey, God, I'm really struggling with your word.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, it says, did you provide, but I don't have enough money.

[SPEAKER_01]: You say that I'm healed, but I'm hurting.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it is in that honest,

[SPEAKER_01]: confession that God can start to work.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because I've seen in a lot of churches not saying here, but in a lot of churches, we will take scripture and believe that we're standing in faith as we're lying to ourselves, lying before God and lying to others.

[SPEAKER_01]: And why do I use such a strong term as lying?

[SPEAKER_01]: Because I learned that God's world is binary.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is, or it isn't.

[SPEAKER_01]: And there's no one between.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think it is, I know for myself, I'm more of the artsy kind of person, so I see color.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I'm always on the chipper side, if you ask me how I'm doing, I'm always looking at the positive.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I try my best to look at the positive when I'm doing it.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I try my best to see the positive and other people.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm always doing that, but God's like, yes, he sees the positive.

[SPEAKER_01]: but he also sees the struggle and he's okay with both.

[SPEAKER_01]: And when we get to the point that we can be okay with both, okay with still struggling with our faith, okay, that we don't know the answer, okay, that it's difficult and we can go before him and be honest, then he can have a talk with us.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because now we're not saying, oh, if it's about my healing and I need to do this or do that, you know, that God can't tell us to do anything because we're standing in faith.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so it has to be this way.

[SPEAKER_01]: And the only thing that's going to happen is I'm going to get a touch from God.

[SPEAKER_01]: And God could be telling you something really simple.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because I remember one time that my truck broke and it actually set there for about a month because I was thinking I'll get to it because it was really busy with classes and everything I was just like, it's just not working.

[SPEAKER_01]: And you know, the funny thing is you know that I'm not a car guy.

[SPEAKER_01]: The only thing that was wrong with my truck was that the wire for the battery came loose.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so

[SPEAKER_01]: I couldn't believe that, but I feel a lot of times in our walk with God when we're looking for answers, because we've made such a big show of it, and we're just like, oh, he has to be like this!

[SPEAKER_01]: That when God is ready to give us a simple answer, is like, oh, you're back shirt, and you need to go buy a new mattress.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, you've been sleeping on that thing for twenty years, you know exactly where your body goes, because it kind of leans into that spot.

[SPEAKER_01]: And you're just like, oh, but will you hear that?

[SPEAKER_01]: No, because you're so focused on

[SPEAKER_01]: The Holy Spirit's going to touch me and God's going to come down with the lightning and He's going to like, whoa, and I'm going to feel like all new.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to feel like I'm fifteen again.

[SPEAKER_01]: And guys like, no, you just need a new mattress and you'll be good.

[SPEAKER_01]: But we can only hear those is when we're being honest with ourselves.

[SPEAKER_01]: When we're being honest with ourselves.

[SPEAKER_01]: And this thing turned off, hold on.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not used to doing computer, I decided I'd be more like my pastor, and have electronics up instead of using a book, but I did bring it.

[SPEAKER_01]: I did print it out, so if it gets too much for me, I will.

[SPEAKER_01]: I will go in and do that.

[SPEAKER_01]: Look at it.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, and there was a scripture that God gave me for honesty, and you may think, oh, how does this really go together?

[SPEAKER_01]: And we all know the scripture is Amus III III.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it says, can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction?

[SPEAKER_01]: You may be used to the King James version, which says, can two walk together except they be agreed?

[SPEAKER_01]: When I, I mean, I've known this first for many years.

[SPEAKER_01]: I grew up in the church.

[SPEAKER_01]: My father was a pastor.

[SPEAKER_01]: He became a pastor really yet when I was really young.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I've been in church and I've done that whole thing.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I've her scripture over and over.

[SPEAKER_01]: But as I've gotten older and learned how to be honest with God and start asking questions, God should be something interesting about this scripture.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because I always thought about it, it's, you know, how I relate to people around me.

[SPEAKER_01]: And one time God says, how can you move forward if you don't agree within yourself?

[SPEAKER_01]: And I was like, dang, that's good and that's hard.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because then I had to really start looking at what my spirit is saying, because our spirit is renewed when we said, yes, our spirit came alive.

[SPEAKER_01]: But now my soul, my emotions, my mind, my heart is, am I always in agreement with what God says?

[SPEAKER_01]: Am I believing, no, actually believing?

[SPEAKER_01]: Not kind of pretending what's being brought before me when I listened to messages, when I listened to what God has to say?

[SPEAKER_01]: And honestly, I would say no.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I get emotional.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, it becomes the cessation of what it feels good.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's like, wow, this is really good.

[SPEAKER_01]: I love that message and then come Monday, it's like, what was that message?

[SPEAKER_01]: And then Tuesday, Wednesday, and then the next week, it's like, oh, wow, that's really good.

[SPEAKER_01]: That really passed to that really hit home.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it's like, wait, what did it hit?

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, because because of just being honest, and I think a lot of times it happens because

[SPEAKER_01]: It's easily stolen by the enemy because it can't take root.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it's not that we're missing the ability for to take root, but it's the conflict within ourselves that causes us to reject it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because I'm sure we can all remember when our parents gave us a little bit of advice.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, you shouldn't be talking to her.

[SPEAKER_01]: She's not a good girl.

[SPEAKER_01]: Or you shouldn't give that guy the time of day because he's nothing but trouble.

[SPEAKER_01]: You think, oh, you don't understand anything.

[SPEAKER_01]: You don't know who you will.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, it's not like the same as it was when you were a kid.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then you start getting to know that person.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that person turns out to start to lead you astray and they start doing other things and you find yourself trapped in that.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's like, whoa, where did I get myself?

[SPEAKER_01]: And I think the same thing happens to us in our relationship with God.

[SPEAKER_01]: God will tell us something.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we hear it, but we reject it because it conflicts with what we are believing.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because our true belief comes out in times of pressure.

[SPEAKER_01]: So when we are pressed and the response in which we make when we are pressed is the truth of what we're believing.

[SPEAKER_01]: I say that one more time.

[SPEAKER_01]: When the pressure that we feel, when we are pressed, the truth comes out by what we say, by how we act.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I've learned that when I see something I don't like in myself, it's like driving down the street so when cuts me off and I'm ready to give a finger or I'm ready to say a couple of choice words, but can't because the kids are in the car.

[SPEAKER_01]: What that shows me is I shouldn't be afraid of that, but I need to take that back to God and have a conversation with Him so that He can show me why am I feeling this way?

[SPEAKER_01]: What is my belief that's caused me to react?

[SPEAKER_01]: Because my reaction is really what I'm believing.

[SPEAKER_01]: So when the money gets funny, are the card isn't work.

[SPEAKER_01]: how I react to that says what I'm believing.

[SPEAKER_01]: If I'm worried, if I'm staying up, I can't sleep.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think that I really don't believe what God's word says, I believe more in what I see, the situation that I'm in.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm not, I should say I'm not trying to condemn anyone.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is just a conversation.

[SPEAKER_01]: We're having a discourse.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because if you know my situation, I have been without a job for two and a half months.

[SPEAKER_01]: My car has been broke for about five months.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I'm still standing.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm still here.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm still learning how to walk with God.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because I understand that he hasn't left me.

[SPEAKER_01]: He hasn't forsaken me.

[SPEAKER_01]: Even when I feel down, even when I struggle with it, it doesn't change the position that God is in.

[SPEAKER_01]: And when we can take hold of that and be honest with how we feel and what's going on, we're able to move forward with him.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because it's interesting when we start to lie to ourselves, we end up lying to other people.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we understand who is the author of lies.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so that says that we start to interact in the devil's court.

[SPEAKER_01]: And if we continue to lie to ourselves as humans, we start to believe the lies that we hear.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then we start to take them on as truth.

[SPEAKER_01]: And if we're trying to walk a Christian walk and saying, OK, God, where are you?

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't see you.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't feel you.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know you.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's because we're way over here in Satan's court, not saying that you guys are in Satan's court.

[SPEAKER_01]: But just illustration.

[SPEAKER_01]: So that we're way over here in Satan's court, when guys like right there,

[SPEAKER_01]: And he's always reaching out, but I reach out when I am able to be honest.

[SPEAKER_01]: And God is not afraid of our tears, our anger, even our screams.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because if you remember,

[SPEAKER_01]: out of if you have children or have been around children and you seem them throw a tantrum and they're going full blast, added yelling and screaming and then the next thing you know, the parent does something and the child comes down.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's what God wants to do with us because it has to do more with our perspective.

[SPEAKER_01]: How we are seeing the situation is how we were acting to it.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so if we were acting in hysterics, it's because we haven't unloaded all that we're believing to him and so that he can help us sort through it and be honest.

[SPEAKER_01]: Then that brings me to the next point, which is trust.

[SPEAKER_01]: We have to be able to trust him.

[SPEAKER_01]: And what do I mean by trust?

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's giving God permission and space to work.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because when we trust something, like the cheer you're sitting in, most of you look relaxed, you know, half sleep, half awake, just kind of like, oh, this is good.

[SPEAKER_01]: I like these soft seats.

[SPEAKER_01]: When we get to that point with God, that we're not afraid to go to Him, to talk with Him, and to hear what He has to say, that helps us on this journey that we're able to take the right steps and the right direction.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because the word says that we're the ones that make plans.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, thoughts come in our heads.

[SPEAKER_01]: But it is him.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is he who directs our steps.

[SPEAKER_01]: And how can we allow him the director steps if we don't hear what he has to say?

[SPEAKER_01]: Or if we don't want to hear what he has to say.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because I mean, honestly, sometimes I'm just like, OK, God, I know what I should be doing.

[SPEAKER_01]: But this really feels good.

[SPEAKER_01]: I know what I should be doing.

[SPEAKER_01]: But can we do that tomorrow?

[SPEAKER_01]: And we can put tomorrow off and put it off.

[SPEAKER_01]: And put it off in the ten years later, the thing that God has asked us to do, we have left it undone.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because we didn't want to take the stuff.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then we're like, oh, I don't understand.

[SPEAKER_01]: Why is my life in shambles?

[SPEAKER_01]: God, are you still there?

[SPEAKER_01]: Do you still hear me?

[SPEAKER_01]: And God's like, yeah, let's go revisit what I told you before.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because contrary to some people, I've learned that the things that God tells us to do, He always gives us opportunity to fulfill it.

[SPEAKER_01]: And if He didn't want us to fulfill it, He would have already taken us out.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because He has a plan for us.

[SPEAKER_01]: He had that plan from the day that we were born, and even before we were born, before we were even a thought in our parents' minds that they were going to have a kid or could have a kid.

[SPEAKER_01]: God had already ordained, meaning that he set it aside.

[SPEAKER_01]: He made a Simon, especially for you.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that the season may change in your life.

[SPEAKER_01]: But the assignment is still there.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, there are a lot of little assignments that he may give you, because he has a big goal, and he may give you little assignments to start to take.

[SPEAKER_01]: And those little assignments is leading you, being able to transform you to be able to do what he wants done.

[SPEAKER_01]: So when we are able to trust him, we're able to give him the permission, because we understand that God is

[SPEAKER_01]: A gentleman, you hear that all the time, especially when you talk about salvation, you know, he's not going to force you.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's not going to make you do anything.

[SPEAKER_01]: But the same thing is true when it has to do with our lives, our day to day.

[SPEAKER_01]: He will be involved as we want him to be, and he will be disinvolved.

[SPEAKER_01]: Uninvolved as much as we want him to be.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because his desire is that we would end up like Christ.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we understand that Christ was fully human.

[SPEAKER_01]: He was fully man.

[SPEAKER_01]: But the only difference is he understood the power of the Yes and he understood the importance of working with God, spending time with God and how to spend time with God.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because I mean, we have a few glimpses, probably the easiest one to look at is the Garden of Cassimity.

[SPEAKER_01]: When Jesus was so anguished by the weight of the Simon that he had, that blood started oozing out of his pores, because he was

[SPEAKER_01]: It was so intense for him.

[SPEAKER_01]: It wasn't a question that he wasn't gonna do it.

[SPEAKER_01]: It was just so intense.

[SPEAKER_01]: And sometimes in our own lives, we may have given a yes, but it's intense.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's just like, okay, we don't see the solution.

[SPEAKER_01]: We don't understand what's going to be next.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so I have to ask myself, do I trust him still?

[SPEAKER_01]: while I still give him room to work.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because sometimes the answer comes around through people.

[SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes the answer comes directly from him.

[SPEAKER_01]: He decides how to do it.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so that means that it's not up to me to try to figure out how it's going to work or the win.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's going to happen.

[SPEAKER_01]: But it's just up to me to believe.

[SPEAKER_01]: What he told me is true.

[SPEAKER_01]: And for me, this came really to a head, probably about three weeks ago, because I was filling down and depressed.

[SPEAKER_01]: I started job in a week.

[SPEAKER_01]: My job is like thirty miles from where I live.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't have a car.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm just like, okay, Lord, do you know what you asked me to do?

[SPEAKER_01]: I know you asked me to be at this job.

[SPEAKER_01]: The job prayed about me being there.

[SPEAKER_01]: They were so excited.

[SPEAKER_01]: They like, yes, this is where you should be.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm like, okay, God.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, what should I do?

[SPEAKER_01]: And I started growing, like, scanning the internet, going back and forth, looking for, what's the best deal?

[SPEAKER_01]: Should I get a new car?

[SPEAKER_01]: I can take out a loan.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think my credit's decent enough to do that.

[SPEAKER_01]: I can do this.

[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, someone has a car that they're selling.

[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, I can do that.

[SPEAKER_01]: I can get a loan just for use car.

[SPEAKER_01]: And the more I started down that road, the worse I felt, the more anxious I became.

[SPEAKER_01]: until the point that I even reached out to, to some of my men groups and said, hey, pray for me, because I need a car.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that was my cry because I stopped trusting God and that moment.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it wasn't until I stopped long enough, stopped searching and trying to figure out and started asking God, going back to asking God.

[SPEAKER_01]: What do you want me to know in this moment?

[SPEAKER_01]: And God, we just like, trust me.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm thinking, what do you mean trust you?

[SPEAKER_01]: What does that look like?

[SPEAKER_01]: That looks like believing that he's going to provide.

[SPEAKER_01]: Believing that his word is true.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know where it's going to come from.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know how it's going to come about, but I believe it's going to come.

[SPEAKER_01]: And if it comes through transportation, because when my car broke, I never missed a day of work until that job ended.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it was a travel job.

[SPEAKER_01]: It wasn't just like, oh, I go to the same office building every day.

[SPEAKER_01]: No, it was that I went to, you know, down to Waco.

[SPEAKER_01]: I was in Dallas.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I would go out to Denton on the far side of Denton.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I was driving an hour, two hours, you know, one direction.

[SPEAKER_01]: God always provided.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it was the kind of work where if you, if I didn't work, I didn't get paid.

[SPEAKER_01]: So because it was a government job, I had to see my clients in order to build for them.

[SPEAKER_01]: and God provided.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so he took me back to those moments.

[SPEAKER_01]: So usually when we start to trust, God will start to take us back to those moments that he has been speaking in your life, that he has shown himself to be faithful.

[SPEAKER_01]: But if we start to get all round up and really focus on the situation, we start to, we stop looking at God and noticing what He's saying or what He's doing.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I taught me this interesting thing is what you magnify is what you glorify.

[SPEAKER_01]: And what you glorify is what you praise.

[SPEAKER_01]: So what you magnify is what you glorify and what you glorifies, what you praise.

[SPEAKER_01]: What does that mean when I look at the situation, I'm magnifying it.

[SPEAKER_01]: My perspective on the situation becomes like a magnifying glass.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's all I see.

[SPEAKER_01]: I see how bad it is.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I start to figure out, as a human, because that's what we do.

[SPEAKER_01]: We try to figure out, okay, how am I going to do this?

[SPEAKER_01]: What am I going to do?

[SPEAKER_01]: What's my next step?

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, especially as a man, can't speak for women, but I know what it is to be a man.

[SPEAKER_01]: We want to be in charge, and we want to know what the next step is.

[SPEAKER_01]: We don't like it when we don't understand it.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so because a lot of times we don't understand it, we'll act like we understand it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Oh yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: But what God wants from us is to be honest, Lord, I don't see it.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't understand it.

[SPEAKER_01]: But will you trust me?

[SPEAKER_01]: And it takes us to one of the verses that we know very well in its Proverbs three, five and six.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it says, trust in the Lord with all that heart and lean not to thy own understanding and all thy ways, acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path.

[SPEAKER_01]: The first part of that is trust in the Lord with all your heart.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now sometimes people get stuck on the word all because you just like, I don't even know all my heart.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't even know what it's in my heart.

[SPEAKER_01]: How can I trust God without my heart?

[SPEAKER_01]: It's trusting God with all you know.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's trusting God with who you are in that moment at that time and having no reservation to move forward with him.

[SPEAKER_01]: And when we do that, we go beyond our own understanding.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because with my car situation, I don't understand it.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I don't have the money in the bank for the type of car I would like.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't even have the money in the bank, you know, for, for, for, for, for anything because I, you, you gave me money.

[SPEAKER_01]: You told me to save.

[SPEAKER_01]: And now I'm living off of that.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_01]: So what now?

[SPEAKER_01]: This is stop thinking about it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Stop trying to understand it.

[SPEAKER_01]: but trust in Him.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then acknowledging Him means it just when it starts to getting heavy.

[SPEAKER_01]: Lord, I know you got this.

[SPEAKER_01]: Lord, you were told me that you are my provider.

[SPEAKER_01]: You are Jehovah Jairan.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't feel that right now.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't believe that right now, but your word says, and I'm going to trust your word, because your word is directly from you and I'm going to do my best.

[SPEAKER_01]: Holy Spirit, strengthen me.

[SPEAKER_01]: Holy Spirit help me.

[SPEAKER_01]: I need help in this moment.

[SPEAKER_01]: You see what I'm talking about?

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm just being honest in the moment.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not trying to spiritualize it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, I know you got me and Hallelujah.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's going to be all right.

[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to have a good time.

[SPEAKER_01]: No, it is.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, that's that Baptist coming out of me.

[SPEAKER_01]: But it is about being honest where we are.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that is how we're able to trust Him.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, if you see between these two that I've just brought up, it is making a connection with God because we are all connected with Him.

[SPEAKER_01]: But our connection may be rough around the edges.

[SPEAKER_01]: So when the Bible tells us that he prunes us, why does he prune us?

[SPEAKER_01]: He prunes us until we can grow fruit because so that we can be connected better.

[SPEAKER_01]: The better the connection, the greater the fruit.

[SPEAKER_01]: The better the connection, the greater the fruit.

[SPEAKER_01]: So when we are being connected with him and greater measure, we're having, we're being honest with him and trusting him more, we're able to have bigger

[SPEAKER_01]: and better fruit.

[SPEAKER_01]: And the fruit is for the nations.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is for the people out there.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so that they can be drawn into God.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so that they can understand who He is.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so as we start to learn and trust in Him, we are able to really connect on a deeper level.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that leads me to the next point.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that is humility.

[SPEAKER_01]: Humility.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: So in James, four, ten, it says humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so how humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up in honor and honor.

[SPEAKER_01]: I chose that first God, I didn't even choose it, sorry.

[SPEAKER_01]: Refraise that God highlighted that verse to me, because about honor, because honor is when you show respect.

[SPEAKER_01]: Honor is when you esteem a person as worthy.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I was just thinking, wow, when I humble myself is when I become worthy.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because I'm letting go of everything that I thought it was going to look like, of what it was going to be.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I've stepped out in my yes.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I have decided to honor him.

[SPEAKER_01]: I decided to trust him.

[SPEAKER_01]: And now I'm just like, OK, Lord, here I am.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know, but because you know, I'm going to listen to you and I'm going to say not my way, but your way, not my will, but your will.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it is that idea of submitting to God.

[SPEAKER_01]: because also in James four, it talks about if we submit ourselves before God and resist the devil, he will flee.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think a lot of times we quote that for us and say, you know, I need to do us, resist the devil.

[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, I'm going to resist the devil.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to resist the devil and know you can't be here.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't allow you, but we forget the first part of it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Humble yourself.

[SPEAKER_01]: We have to start with humbling ourselves because it is again that connection to God and order to move forward in order to make those, to make that connection stronger.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's a meeting to God because that is how we can show honor and he honors us and makes us worthy for what he has and where he's moving us.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm just going to go through the last two really fast.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because the last two is willingness, that is just a state of our heart, where we are, because we are, it makes a way to receive what God has for us.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that is the blessing.

[SPEAKER_01]: So our willingness makes a way to receive what God has for us.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I think the scripture for that is Isaiah one and nineteen.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it says, if you be willing and obedient, you show eat the good of the land.

[SPEAKER_01]: So if we're willing and obedient.

[SPEAKER_01]: So willingness, it's dealing with the state of our hearts.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because we can do something and not be willing to do it.

[SPEAKER_01]: We can do it unwillingly, purgurigently.

[SPEAKER_01]: There's the word, that's the word I want it.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I don't know about you, but my parents are really strict, especially my mom.

[SPEAKER_01]: And if she saw that she's like, Eric, you need to take out the trash in the wire.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I kicked an attitude.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'd needed to duck because there was going to probably be a hand that was coming at me to correct that attitude because she had a way of noticing or recognizing it.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I think that God also, I know God also recognizes our attitude because when our attitude is regression, when we are

[SPEAKER_01]: not willing to do what he's calling us to do, then he's not able to give us everything that he wants to give us.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because as a state of our hearts, because if we are saying, OK, I'm going to do it, but I really don't like that woman.

[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, but I'll go see her.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'll go talk with her, because you just put her in my heart.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'll go and pray with her.

[SPEAKER_01]: But Torn really has to spend more than thirty minutes, because after about thirty-five, I start feeling, you know,

[SPEAKER_01]: put God wanted to do more to use you in that moment to minister to that person.

[SPEAKER_01]: But he can't utilize you to the fullest because we are always blessed to be a blessing.

[SPEAKER_01]: And in order to get that blessing, we have to be willing.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then the last one is that I have up here is just is obedient and it's still the same scripture because if we were willing an obedient and almost didn't use those two because they're like they're so close together.

[SPEAKER_01]: But it is the state of our heart and our mind that it it calls us as to action.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because if you remember with Paul talks about that about works and he talks about faith that we cannot work our way to faith.

[SPEAKER_01]: But if you don't have faith, you can't do the works.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that has to do with our willingness and our obedience to what God has called us to do.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think the fun thing about God is that He has called each of us differently.

[SPEAKER_01]: He has called us together as a body, a local body here at the church of the city.

[SPEAKER_01]: But he's also called us individually.

[SPEAKER_01]: There are giftings that are in each of us.

[SPEAKER_01]: And those giftings that are in each of us is a glimpse of God, a unique side.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because it reminds me of when we read in the scripture in Revelation that

[SPEAKER_01]: The angels are constantly around the throne of God singing holy, holy, holy because they, as they go around, they get a different glimpse.

[SPEAKER_01]: They start to understand him more and more and that goes on for eternity.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is what happens in the body when we're able to shine forth.

[SPEAKER_01]: The truth that God has planted in our hearts.

[SPEAKER_01]: When we're able to shine forth, the reality

[SPEAKER_01]: of eternity that is in our spirits and we learn to say yes to the spirit and yes to the spirit and our yes becomes strong and our yes becomes powerful because we start to depend on the spirit.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he says that the Spirit will lead us to all truth.

[SPEAKER_01]: And the truth of who we are is only found through the interaction of God.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is not out there.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's not in what our parents said about us.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is not in with your husband or wife said about you.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's not what your boss says about you.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's not what your coworker says about you.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's about what God says.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he speaks.

[SPEAKER_01]: He speaks two man ways.

[SPEAKER_01]: He speaks through his word.

[SPEAKER_01]: He also speaks to us directly.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now how he speaks directly may vary depending on the type of person we are and how much we're willing to let him work in our lives.

[SPEAKER_01]: And what do I mean by that?

[SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes because we're a little fearful, it may be just a peace.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's all he can give us.

[SPEAKER_01]: Other times it can be an a word that is spoken within us that we hear and we know that, oh wow, that was God.

[SPEAKER_01]: And if you're questioning, does God speak to me?

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, think about all the conversations that you've had within yourself that have been negative.

[SPEAKER_01]: You never questioned about where that came from.

[SPEAKER_01]: But yet, when something good comes to your mind, you're like, hmm, that can't be God, because God doesn't speak.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we start to reject that.

[SPEAKER_01]: But God speaks to us and how do we know if it's God, because God is always bringing life.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is always bringing life.

[SPEAKER_01]: He never condemns us.

[SPEAKER_01]: He can fix us.

[SPEAKER_01]: The difference, you know, conviction has to do with understanding that I did something wrong and being shown how to correct it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Condination is about shame and guilt and has no end.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I share this with you, so you can start to understand, is it God speaking to me?

[SPEAKER_01]: Or is it the enemy speaking to me?

[SPEAKER_01]: Because your flesh can be your enemy, your flesh can be your friend.

[SPEAKER_01]: The enemy is always the enemy, and he uses people, you know, kind of like Peter in Jesus, he told him that you are the Messiah, and the next thing he just like, no, you can't die.

[SPEAKER_01]: If we're not careful, we can be the same way.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we need to understand that we are not wrestling with other people, but it is a spiritual battle.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that we are spiritual beings.

[SPEAKER_01]: And as we

[SPEAKER_01]: Lean forward into the truth of who God is.

[SPEAKER_01]: We start to understand and connect in such a deeper level.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, there are so many levels to understanding the truth of God as there are of understanding God himself.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because the truth is not one-dimensional, it's multi-dimensional.

[SPEAKER_01]: Meaning that it doesn't counsel out each other, but it takes us to a higher level.

[SPEAKER_01]: Let me give you an example if you're wondering what in the world is there talking about.

[SPEAKER_01]: So let's talk about gravity.

[SPEAKER_01]: We wouldn't understand gravity works.

[SPEAKER_01]: Whatever you throw up is going to come down.

[SPEAKER_01]: But then you have a law of lift that allows a plain to soar a few hundred or thousand pound aircraft to soar through the air like a bird.

[SPEAKER_01]: The same is true about truth.

[SPEAKER_01]: It has so many different levels.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_01]: Salvation gives us the ability to connect with God.

[SPEAKER_01]: It makes our souls come alive.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we are assured that we are going to heaven.

[SPEAKER_01]: But that's not all there is.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because when we start to be honest with ourselves, then we're honest with God.

[SPEAKER_01]: And hopefully getting to the point that we're honest with other people,

[SPEAKER_01]: because I remember, you know, talking with Robert once and he asked me how I was doing.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I wasn't doing very well, but, you know, first thing on my mouth is, oh, I'm good.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, everything's great.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then, the Lord's like, is that true?

[SPEAKER_01]: I was thinking, no.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it's like, but I don't want to go tell him because if I tell him, then he's going to ask me why and if he asks me why, then I have to have a conversation with him and then I have to be all vulnerable.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it's like, totally want to do that because I don't want to deal with what I'm dealing with.

[SPEAKER_01]: And God's like, well, you don't have to.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's like, that's the wrong answer.

[SPEAKER_01]: because that calls me to like, okay, all right, I guess I have to, because for me when he says, well, you don't have to, that means that there are worse consequences than being honest in that moment.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so I was honest in that moment and the way that Robert ministered to me, it was powerful because God was able to move because I said, yes,

[SPEAKER_01]: So the yes that we give, the invitation that we accept from the Holy Spirit is not just so that we can give out, but it's also so that we can receive.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that invitation goes two ways, because we're not just being invited by the Holy Spirit, but we have an opportunity to invite God into our lives.

[SPEAKER_01]: into our situations.

[SPEAKER_01]: And as we invite God into those situations and into our lives, it draws a tighter, stronger connection with Him.

[SPEAKER_01]: And through that stronger connection, we're able to even do more.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because only God knows how far we can go.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we limit ourselves.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we limit God because God wants to do it through us, but He wants us to have a choice.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that choice is evident from Genesis, the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Good and Evil, because why did He put it there?

[SPEAKER_01]: Because love has a choice.

[SPEAKER_01]: And in order for us to show that choice, we are choosing constantly

[SPEAKER_01]: how much of God we want in our life.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm going to last point I want to make is just when we say yes to God, that is when we say no to the devil.

[SPEAKER_01]: When we say yes to God, that's when we say no to the devil.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because there's only two choices.

[SPEAKER_01]: I see the yes or no.

[SPEAKER_01]: So when I'm saying no to God, that means I'm saying yes to the devil.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because that makes me open and vulnerable and able for him to start to work.

[SPEAKER_01]: And whatever crack I've created by my no.

[SPEAKER_01]: But every time, and it also does, our yes draws us closer to God, and our no draws us away from God.

[SPEAKER_01]: Our yes opens the door, our no closes the door.

[SPEAKER_01]: And why do I try to make this clear cut distinction?

[SPEAKER_01]: Because three weeks ago, I learned when I'm trusting God, it needs to be black and white.

[SPEAKER_01]: I can't add all these different shades of gray.

[SPEAKER_01]: I can't add all these other possibilities because all those other possibilities are still no.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's still saying no to God.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I's only one yes, and there's only one way to God.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, we see that clear in salvation, but a lot of times it gets muddled when we go in from day to day.

[SPEAKER_01]: So when we're here and God wants to take us there, we start by our attitude by the way in which we are honest, our trusting, the we're humbled, that we're willing and that we're obedient.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for listening to today's message.

[SPEAKER_00]: We pray you were inspired, challenged, and marked by the word you heard.

[SPEAKER_00]: If this message blessed you today, we encourage you to subscribe to the Church of the City podcast.

[SPEAKER_00]: There you can find more faith-filled messages to uplift you and help you on your journey of faith.

[SPEAKER_00]: For more information about Church of the City, head on over to www.cotcdfw.com.

[SPEAKER_00]: And until next time, remember this, the best is yet to come.