Feast of Rest

One of the things He said is that it is beneficial to you that I leave so that I can be with all of you instead of some of you.

Because the moment you want sight, you limit God to a place unless He fills the entire heavens, which will not change people.

Because you see in the book of Revelation that after plague after plague after plague, after display after display after display, after event after event after event,

people still lift up their fists—I'm quoting scripture—and shake it at Him saying,

Who do you think you are to control our lives?

So we go back to this, should we who have God living in us—not living in our midst, not living at Richmond Center, but living in us—should we who have God living in us,

should we not seize from self- striving? What does self- striving look like?

Here are some other words for self- striving.

It would mean refusing to live by human strength, human wisdom,

self-sustenance, sweat of our brow, machinations, scheming, conflict of thoughts,

self-effort.

If you notice, all the things listed here are the very things that the world says are the ways that we must live.

And as I'm saying this to you, in your mind is rising the question, but that's so unreasonable.

If you don't do that, it's like being lazy.

Those are the questions that rise in your mind, and we will address them.

But this is what God was hoping we would pick up from the story in the desert in the Old Testament.

Any questions before we go on?

Conflict of thoughts meaning, should I do this, should I not do this?

Maybe I should have a plan B. What if plan A fails?

What if the deadline comes and nothing happens? I'm trusting, but what?

And so there's this war in our minds usually, indecisiveness, hesitation.

So inside us, we begin to scream, saying, but I've got to do something.

It's almost exactly like the disciples in the boat.

To a point where we then turn to Christ and we say, Christ, do something.

Don't just sleep. At least help us with bailing out some water from the boat.

Oswald Chambers calls it careful unbelief. Careful unbelief.

This is the extreme to which Christ calls us.

And when he walked the earth, this is how he lived.

And to accomplish what we want to in Richmond, in Europe, in any place that he sends us out to,

in anything that he asks you to do, it is not possible to see full fruit unless it is he at work and not me at work.

It's an extreme form of living, but it is a Jesus form of living.

It's not the absence of a work ethic, guys.

So don't think this is laziness. We'll talk about it as we do. It'll get clearer.

Paul asks this question in Galatians chapter three, verse two and five.

He says, hey, did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?

How did he receive the Spirit?

Then he goes on further in verse five to say, he who lavishly supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you,

does he do it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?

Is it effort and keeping rules or is it the work of the Spirit

because you listen with ears of faith to the word or the promise of God?

If two of you can accomplish this in the next year, you'll be stars, man.

Galatians three, two and five.

Paul's asking, hey, so how did you get to where you are?

Did you work at it? Did you work for it or was it by the Spirit?

Did things happen in your life, Jacob, because of the effort you put in and keeping rules or was it the work of the Spirit

because you learned how to listen with ears of faith to the word and to the promise?

What do you mean listen with ears of faith?

A lot of things are said in the Bible that we hear differently.

So, Vibi, me and Jane can be sitting and you can be reading the scriptures to us.

And as we're listening, Vibi may hear something and it'll just do something in his heart because that's how he's listening.

While I might be sitting there listening to it and it's like, yeah, yeah, I've heard this before.

Or, yeah, yeah, not right now. Right now is the time for common sense.

There'll be a time when we can do this.

Jane might be just sitting and listening and not hearing.

Hearing with faith is the ability. It's a practice. It's a practice.

Hearing with faith is a practice that students have in a class.

You'll have some students who seem to behave like they're not listening,

but you look at the notes and they've got everything scribbled, man.

It's a practice, listening by faith.

And when I like a teacher or a preacher that I'm listening to,

especially when I know that the person I'm listening to carries grace, my God, I listen with ears of faith.

Why? Because I know there'll be things the person says that will be said in a way that'll do something in my spirit and I'll get it.

And it's not a one-off. You train yourself for 35, 40 years. You keep listening to that and it gets it.

That's what listening with faith looks like.

And if you cultivate that, you'll find some truths just leaping inside you,

which is why you'll find in a room like this, there'll be some people who with some verses seem to know so much more than you,

even though they're younger than you and haven't spent all that time studying it, because they get it.

It's an aptitude that is given to everyone.

This is where you get that scripture alive in a different context.

Many are called, but few are chosen. Why? Because many here, but few here with faith.

It's fascinating. Sometimes I see husbands and wives, and the wife has been a believer for 40 years,

and the husband has gotten serious about believing for just five years,

and the husband suddenly begins to gallop like a horse because he's hearing with faith while his wife is just hearing.

For the Holy Spirit to move in us, or for us to move with the Holy Spirit, you need to hear with faith.

Because when you do, it preserves seed when you hear with faith.

It preserves seed, meaning whatever God says, it's preserved in your heart.

It burns in your heart.

It burns the impossible.

Brandon, Diana can't see what I'm writing.

So when you hear with faith, it preserves seed, meaning whatever God says gets deposited.

Now, Dilna, it doesn't just say, I'm going to give you a seed, I'm going to give you a seed.

So when you hear with faith, it preserves seed, meaning whatever God says gets deposited.

Now, Dilna, it doesn't matter what's happening in his life, Dilna can't pull it out.

It births the impossible. Everything impossible is born in the spirit of a man.

And that is where he first begins to envision what must be brought to pass.

If you don't see it inside you, you will not be able to bring it to pass.

God shows you, he births the impossible inside you.

The impossible is never produced outside you.

The impossible is always produced inside you.

Please understand this, it's critical.

Any dream, any vision, any prophetic word that does not, or the word of God,

any principle in the word must, the impossibility of it must be birthed inside you.

Once it's birthed inside you, that's when it begins to become, oh shucks, it's gone.

Speedy Gonzales.

It births the impossible. It subdues attacks.

When people attack it, when the enemy attacks it, it subdues attacks.

Why? Because you heard with faith.

It identifies open doors. It identifies open doors.

Once you hear with faith, your eyes are like those R2D2,

and you locate the door.

I thought that was good.

It gives you endurance. It gives you endurance.

And it gives you boldness.

These are the things that happen when you hear with faith.

It's the first step towards living out of rest.

Read Hebrews 11, Hebrews 4. Read backwards, yeah?

Read backwards, yeah? Hebrews 4, 11 to 9.

Hebrews 4, 11 to 9.

Don't worry if you read the scriptures backwards, no harm will come to you.

Hebrews 4, 11 to 9.

Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest

so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

For anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their works,

just as God did from his.

There remains then a Sabbath rest for the people of God.

Let me start again.

Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest

so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

So if you don't enter rest, if you try striving on your own,

it is actually seen as disobedience.

Verse 10, for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their works,

just as God did from his.

Verse 9, there remains then a Sabbath rest for the people of God.

It's a travesty when we take the idea of Sabbath and confine it to one day.

That's terrible.

You can argue that Jacob, are you saying one should not rest?

No, I'm not saying that.

I'm just saying it's a travesty when people take the idea of Sabbath

and confine it to a Sunday or if you are a pastor on Monday or whatever.

Oh, I won't be meeting you because it's my Sabbath.

There's such a holy glow around it.

As we talk about rest and Sabbath, you'll realize that it is so much more.

That if we actually practice rest, we may not need a Sabbath,

but we'll take one anyways.

Tearing with faith is the first step towards living out of rest.

So God took six days to create everything.

God took six days to create everything.

And when he created man, he concluded creation.

God took six days to create everything.

When he created man, he concluded creation.

God created only one thing for himself.

The only thing that God created for himself was the seventh day, the Sabbath rest.

Six days he created things, he created it for humanity.

On the sixth day he created things, on the sixth day he stops.

He's created man, creation is done.

And then what does he do? On the seventh day he creates something,

but he creates it only for himself.

On the seventh day, God creates what's called the Sabbath or rest.

And it says, and then God rested from all his creation.

This is why in Hebrews chapter 4, it's saying, God has entered into rest.

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

You need to also, so stop striving and enter into the rest that God has already entered into.

Any questions before we go on?

Yep.

Yeah.

Yeah, so hearing with faith.

What does the book of Proverbs say when it comes to walking outside the home of a woman whose husband has gone away

and she's waiting at the door to seduce you?

And what does Proverbs say about a woman called wisdom who is waiting to spread a feast for you?

I hear and after I hear, it is very simple.

Now I don't go down the wrong road saying, close your eyes, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, do not sin, do not sin.

No, it's very simple.

I hear with faith and I go down the road where the woman with the wisdom lives.

So at the end of the day, what are we doing when we hear with faith?

We are only doing what God tells us to, not an iota more.

Hearing with faith is this idea that I will not do an extra bit than what God has commanded.

That is so difficult for us because we think that we can add or tinker with what God does perfectly and make it better.

You don't know what it felt like for Joshua.

He's fought wars, guys.

He was the war chieftain for Moses.

He's seen what it is to take cities.

And then just when he's given leadership, he has to do the unthinkable.

He has to act like a non-warrior.

He has to follow a bunch of singers.

And so here he is quietly following singers and everything in him is screaming because he's a strategist.

It's screaming saying, come on, man, just being quiet and walking around silently, how's this going to cut it?

And it's not just one day.

It's Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.

You know how frustrating that is?

He is a commander and he has to do that.

But he insists on doing that. Why?

Because he knows how things are won.

Things are won through rest.

And we don't have the ability not to get involved.

And so it's not the absence of a work ethic.

It is doing nothing more than you're asked for.

Another example.

Saul sees the little boy who wants to go up against a giant.

And the least Saul can do, knowing David has an amazing harpist and a guy who has such anointing when he leads worship,

the least he can do is give him his armor.

And the king's armor was good armor.

So he gives him his armor.

David refuses.

He says it doesn't fit, but that's not the real thing.

He refuses because he knows how this must be done.

It must be done through picking five stones from a brook.

Rest is the ability to enter into a place where all striving, self-effort, sweat,

trying to plan machinations end because human wisdom ceases,

human strength is withdrawn because you use all these things I have mentioned only to do what he's asked you to,

not an iota more.

That is when God can say, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.

That is why we don't hear it too often because he can't say that because Jacob is busy making sure other arrangements have come into place

in case God is sovereign, which simply means in case God fails.

It's a tough place to live, guys.

Rest is not an attitude where you live in denial, where you pretend you're not busy,

when your reality may include Goliaths, there are waves, there are mountains like finances and other insecurities.

Rest is not pretending they do not exist.

Rest is not ostrich living where you live in denial.

But Psalm 23, again, another David Psalm,

you prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies.

That's crazy.

You should be fighting instead.

Instead, you have a banquet table and you're sitting at a banquet table in the presence of your enemies.

Why are you sitting at a banquet table in the presence of your enemies?

Because you're sitting with the king of the universe and the enemy knows it.

And that becomes a threat to the enemy then.

Rest threatens Satan because he can take on human wisdom and human strength.

He did that right off the bat in the Garden of Eden.

He dealt with human wisdom and human strength.

And by the way, he dealt with human wisdom and human strength.

That was pure.

It wasn't even corrupted.

It was before the fall.

He knows how to deal with human wisdom and human strength.

He knows how to deal with Jacob's human wisdom and human strength.

If that is what Jacob is going to use to lead the church, he can deal with that.

But what he cannot deal with is the foolishness of God.

Yep, Hebrews chapter 4 talks about it.

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

They had the promise, but they were not able to mix it with ears that hurt it with faith or actions that would involve faith.

So God took six days to create everything.

When he created man, he concluded creation.

God created one thing for himself, Sabbath rest.

God entered the rest.

And now he's saying, can you guys enter it too?

How do we know he actually said that?

Here's how.

This is fascinating.

So first, he says, Israel, I command you to enter into my rest one day a week.

In other words, we need to look at command my rest one day a week.

This was serious business for God.

If you violated the Sabbath in the Old Testament, you would be killed.

You'd be stoned to death.

Because the breaking of Sabbath was a violation of a serious relationship dynamic that God had with Israel.

And so look at those words.

I command you.

So that's the first thing.

The second thing is enter into my rest.

My rest here is not just chilling your hammock.

My rest as in one day a week, can I take over taking care of you?

That's what it means.

Just hear me.

Rest actually means, can I take over taking care of everything in your life?

That is nuts, man.

And he's asking for one day a week.

And Israel could not give him one day because they kept breaking it.

In fact, there was never a time when Israel was able to keep the Sabbath for a sustained period of time.

So he asked him for one day a week.

And then he even says, listen, you can rely on me to provide for you.

And so to prove it, on the sixth day in the desert, he would send twice as much manna.

He would send it ahead of time so that they wouldn't have to worry about food.

I'm saying to you, prove me, says the Lord, test me and see.

Prove me, says the Lord, test me and see.

I want some New Testament believers to rise up and show the world that I am still the same.

And he would give them twice the amount of manna so that they wouldn't have to worry about how am I going to feed my children tomorrow.

God is a father.

You ain't got nothing on him.

Then he decided that the reason he would do this is for Deuteronomy 8.2 talks about it.

Deuteronomy 8.2 says, I humbled you.

What do you mean humbled you?

What he means there is I taught you how to rely on me.

Why did he give them manna in the desert?

Why did he give them manna in the desert?

Very simple.

Because all nations baked bread.

All the nations baked bread.

It was a self-generated means of sustenance.

And God is saying, I don't want you to live for the next 40 years through self-generated means of sustenance.

I am going to be your sustenance.

That's what he's saying.

So he says, I don't want you to bake bread.

And he says, I humbled you in the desert by giving you manna.

What's he trying to say?

He's trying to say, Jacob, I brought you to a point where you realized that you don't need to rely on yourself to keep your life.

I humbled you.

You began to rely on me.

You began to depend on me.

To the point where it became normal for them.

Beautiful, eh?

When God says I humbled you, he doesn't mean I made you small.

He means I made you lean.

Not lean as in lean.

Lean as in lean.

Made you lean would work for me.

I did tell you about Isaiah 17, verse 4, right?

Isaiah 17:4

When I had severe back pains once, I went and asked the Lord to heal me.

And he said, go read Isaiah 17, 4.

And I go read it.

And here's what the scripture says.

And Jacob's fat shall grow thin.

There's a verse like that.

Jacob's fat shall grow thin.

I got the message immediately.

I stopped asking for healing.

I started walking.

Sometimes your name in the Bible is not a blessing.

So he asks for once a week.

Now he decides that he'll up the ante.

So in Leviticus 25, verse 11, he says, every 50 years, can you give me one ear?

Leviticus 25:11

One ear where I get to take care of everything.

And so in the Jubilee year, you were not supposed to sow.

You were not supposed to reap.

You had to be for an entire year reliant on him.

If that happened to us, we would say, get thee behind me, Satan.

We wouldn't believe it's God.

And today what is he asking?

He's saying, I mean, check Leviticus 25, verse 11 out there.

Leviticus 25:11

It says so there.

It says, do not sow, do not reap, do not work.

I'll take care of you for an entire year.

And now what's he asking?

Now he's saying, can you give me every day of the rest of your life where you rely on me

and the only way you operate is by doing what I tell you to, not doing anything else.

No common sense, no human wisdom, no human strength, no machinations, no self-effort, no striving, no sweat.

What a God.

And you can't wait till you retire to do this because by then you stashed away stuff.

You've got to do it now, man, so that by the time you get to retirement, you know how to live and you stashed away stuff.

Imagine living like this, guys.

At least in a few areas.

The idea of Shabbat is to be still.

Everyone likes saying the word Shabbat, Shabbat, Shabbat because it sounds very Hebrew.

But at the end of the day, you can say Shabbat and shake your head a million times and yet not, it doesn't mean much.

Hebrew words are wonderful.

Oh my God, they got far too much meaning, man.

Shabbat is to be still, to desist from self-exertion.

Hello, to desist from self-exertion.

Psalm 46 verse 10.

Psalms 46:10

Be still and know that I am God.

As in desist from exertion.

Let me do my stuff.

We hear it said, you do your best, God will do the rest.

God says, let me do my best, why don't you rest?

Good the children are not here because they'll think, but what did my parents tell me?

They told me you do your best and then God will do the rest and you're telling us God will do his best, you just go into rest.

But that is so unscriptural.

You do your best, God will do the rest.

No scripture like that.

Unless it's in the Indian Bible because I remember hearing that every time.

At the end of the day, what do you think Galatians 2.20 is saying?

What do you think Galatians 2.20 is saying?

That I was co-crucified with Christ.

I no longer live.

My old identity does not exist.

But a new life you see me living in this flesh is not mine.

It's the life of another.

What is another way to look at rest?

Living, living the life of another.

That's what rest is.

Living the life of another.

It's at the heart of Galatians 2.20.

The new life you presently as you're watching right now, the new life you see me living in this flesh, it's not mine.

It's the life of another.

For the anointed one, Christ lives in me.

Live his life through me.

My new life is lived by faith in the Son of God and empowered by the faith of the Son of God.

Hear me.

This life that I live, my new life is lived by faith in the Son of God and empowered by faith of the Son of God.

Galatians 2.20 is supposed to bring us into a place of rest where you begin to live the life of another.

When they hook someone up to one of those machines that breathes for you,

the first thing they do is ask the patient not to keep breathing and competing with the machine.

Jonathan, turn me back up.

I saw what you did.

Sneaky guy?

I won't shout. I'll bring it down.

So...

You're fired.

So one of the things that happens is the patient is told not to compete with the machine that is going to breathe for you.

If the patient doesn't agree, they take the bedpan and smack it over his head and he's out, and then the machine takes over.

At least it used to be that way in the good old days. I don't know how it is now.

And then the machine takes over, and now the machine breathes for you.

This is what Jesus' intent is.

Can I breathe for you?

Can you stop trying to breathe with me?

Can I breathe for you?

Galatians 2.20 is the life of another.

The day even two or three of us get this, you will find that many things of Christ will start flowing through you.

Many things that are of Christ will begin to start flowing through you.

In every area.

Don't think this is limited to some church activity or signs and miracles.

It's available for sowing and reaping.

It is available for parenting.

It is available for marriage.

It is available for teaching.

It is available everywhere.

It's available for doing church.

Hey, I want to say to you that there's very little that is done at Acts 29 that is not sourced from this very place of rest.

Everything that happened here today, the way Tuni leads, what happens, the guys who come, everything is usually sourced out of rest, not out of striving.

We've touched it in one area, but we've got to spread it in different areas.

What do you do when Eliakim is awake in the middle of the night?

Jesus, show us what it is to parent and carry this boy who you've given.

There's no doubt to that.

When you hear Keds speaking today, you will hear it.

What does it mean, O God, to source what we need to do now so that Don and I can live the way we are supposed to and Eliakim can grow up the way he's supposed to show us from that place so that we enter into rest.

It doesn't mean that they won't have to stay awake at night at times, but it'll bring a totally different dynamic.

If you're not married, source it from rest.

If I'm struggling with dealing with you, source it from rest.

What do you mean, source it from rest, Jacob?

It means, Jesus, how do you want me to deal with Diana?

Show me.

The first thing he might say is, she's a daughter, treat her like your own.

Suddenly, so many conflicts disappear.

He has these keys, man.

He gives you those keys.

We need to just sometimes spend time finding those keys, and they will be given.

They will not be held back.

This is how rest works, and it's a beautiful thing in every area.

Jesus, I need a promise.

I need a key.

I want to walk in rest.

What is walking in rest?

I want your life to take over.

I want to live the life of another.

I want to live the life of another.

Let me wrap up.

God's covenants are active, guys.

You know, when a farmer sows his seed, or when I jump off this step,

Judah will jump from the third one, I'll jump from here.

When I jump off that step, and when I sow a seed, what is happening?

Two things are happening.

Genesis 8.22, which said that as long as the earth remains,

there will be summer and there will be winter.

There will be times of sowing and there will be times of harvest.

A farmer knows it.

When I jump off, I know gravity works.

That will go into effect.

God's covenants are active.

You just have to find the covenant in your area.

If she's doing her PhD, find God's covenant with regards that is tailor-made for Jane.

And her PhD.

It's not how Dr. Tony did his PhD.

But let me tell you how Dr. Tony did his PhD.

His supervisor came and said, Tony, in those days it used to be Tooney.

So he comes up and he says to him, Tooney, you seem to have a lot on your plate.

You've got this and this and this and this and this.

And I don't think you'll be able to do your thesis successfully.

And Tooney's response, and this is the whole rest aspect, was,

I understand what you're saying, but these two or three things,

I will not give up because they are a priority to me.

And I will do these and do my thesis.

And so he did not give up some really important time-consuming things.

And guess what?

He submitted his first draft two weeks ago.

Rest is tailor-made for us.

What is it for Jane?

If she finds it, she's got it made.

It's the same for all of us, guys.

We need to find the time to do this.

And then show the world that what God is doing does not need to be tinkered with

because he's doing a perfect job.

Come see how it's working.

Come see how it's working.

That's when people will come and say, some 40.

Many will see, many will fear and put their trust in the Lord.

That's the intent.

God is trying to say, show them that when I am in your camp,

when my pillar of cloud and pillar of fire is that which is in the core of you,

show them how you're taken care of, Jacob.

Our lives cannot be just bookended with prayer.

Our lives should display the presence of someone so superior

that people will ask, who is he or what is he?

I want people to know that every time they come to this church,

that there is something here that flows from a place that's not Tony

or not Jacob, but flows from another place.

How wonderful if our kids got it.

Establish in your lives the principles, the patterns, and the promises from the Father

so that they can go to work for you and we can enter into rest.

So that they can go to work for you and we can enter into rest.

Many, many, many, many moons ago, I found out that the covenant of healing that God has works for me.

Many years ago.

What have you found out?

What is your place with God where you've discovered something

that is so sure that you can stand there even if the rest of the world falls?

Psalm 46.

Even though the waves are turbulent, even though the mountains collapse,

I will be still and know that you are God.

What is it in your life or what are the multiple areas in your life

where you are so sure that this is God and this covenant will always work?

Where you can always stand there absolutely unperturbed by the things around you.

And people look at you and scratch their heads saying,

but don't you know there's COVID all around?

And you're not denying the reality of COVID.

You're wearing a mask following the rules, but you also know something.

Come on, man.

Maybe we won't all be able to show everything at the same time.

What if George showed what it is to stand when he doesn't have a job?

What if Dilnas showed what it is to stand when he doesn't have a job?

What if to stand when things are going wrong with a child?

What if, for me it is, to stand when sickness is ravaging?

What if, for Prashant, it is, I know God will provide.

He prospers me financially.

Find these areas, guys, covenants that go to work for you,

where you go into rest and God begins to work really hard.

Striving Caesars.

In Ezekiel 44, verse 17, here's what it says.

Ezekiel 44:17

It says, God is speaking to ministers, priests.

He says to the ministers and priests,

when you come before me, I want to make sure that you do not wear anything

but linen turbans and linen loincloths.

Because when you come and minister before me,

I do not want you to sweat and be in a hurry.

I do not want you to sweat or perspire.

How nuts is that?

It's the Middle East, by the way.

So he's not so concerned about perspiration because he made the sweat pose.

But what he was trying to say was, when you come and minister before me,

the turban always represented human thinking

and the loins always represented human strength.

And he's saying, I do not want you to sweat before me.

When you come and minister to me, may I flow through you,

not you striving to make things happen.

How did Moses know how to construct the tabernacle?

How did David know how to construct the temple that he allowed his son Solomon to build?

When I read it, it just blows my mind.

It says, both of them, both Moses and David say this.

It says, and then I went up the mountain where God showed me the pattern and the blueprint for.

How did it happen?

There was no internet, there was no downloading stuff.

This was elaborate patterns and David said, I got it on the mountain.

And then Moses said, I got it on the mountain.

Was there hard work involved? Yeah, that's why you have sons.

Solomon had to do all the hard work.

And Moses, hard work.

Moses had Bezalel and Oholoyab and other names that can't be pronounced that did the work.

But they got the pattern on the mountain.

Guys, we must get the pattern on the mountain.

It's the definition of rest.

So what frustrates rest?

What frustrates rest?

Get ready.

What frustrates rest?

Looking good.

If you want to look good in the eyes of men, you cannot enter into rest.

Feeling good.

If you want to feel good and avoid pain, you cannot enter into rest.

Being right.

You want to be right?

Usually cannot enter into rest.

Staying in control.

Staying in control.

You want to stay in control?

Let me assure you.

Impossible to enter into rest.

Personal advantage.

Where you want to work the system for yourself.

Cannot enter into rest.

This applies to jobs.

This applies to work.

This applies to work situations.

This applies to angling your way through.

Oh my God.

Sometimes we are just like the world in the rat race.

If you want to remain undisturbed, as in safe, you cannot enter into rest.

None of these are conducive to rest.

Someone said this.

A controlled culture has distinct advantages, such as low risk, stability, and manageable outcomes.

Rest is denied.

You will get all that, but you won't get rest.

Cultivate a violence against these people.

You cannot enter into rest.

You cannot enter into rest.

You cannot enter into rest.

You cannot enter into rest.

You cannot enter into rest.

Cultivate a violence against these.

Cultivate a violence against these things, which are basically the fear of man, fear of security, or insecurity.

The fear of foolishness.

You've dealt with this before.

The unadulterated power of God and the unadulterated grace of God must go to work in Richmond without us striving, but out of sheer obedience and dependence.

A part of me deeply desires for a breakthrough or breaking out of everything we've expected.

A part of me hears its faith and has the ability to preserve the seed, endure, see open doors, wait because he is faithful.

And then part of me knows that there is nothing you and I can do.

Nothing you and I can do.

And yet, as we lean back on the life of another, he begins to do.

Acts 4, verse 28, you almost see the disciples saying this, and now Jesus, ask me, stretch out our hands.

Acts 4:28

Will you stretch out the hand of your holy servant Jesus and do signs, miracles, and wonders?

It's almost like they're saying, as we stretch out our hands, we really know it's you who's stretching out your hand to do signs, miracles, and wonders.

Live the life of another because your life was done.

There's a song we wrote long ago, I live the life of another for the life I used to live was terminated at the cross.

I live the life of another for the life I used to live was terminated at the cross.

Remain undisturbed as when we want life to be calm.

We want safe harbor.

It is impossible to walk in rest in safe harbor.

It's incompatible.

On the last day of the feast that we are talking about, which would be Friday or Saturday, on the last day of the feast, Jesus cries out.

And on the last day of the feast, they're singing songs from Psalm 113 to Psalm 118.

And when they get to Psalm 118, which is a Psalm that so many of our songs are taken from, that we sing today.

When he gets to Psalm 118, as they begin to sing it, the priest is waving palm trees, people are waving palm trees, and the priest gets water from the pool of Siloam.

And he brings it, and as they sing Psalm 118, he pours it over the altar.

And it's always done on the last day of the feast.

And Jesus was there on the last day of the feast.

He said he wouldn't turn up, and he turns up.

And the moment they pour the water, you hear him crying in the temple.

And he cries saying, if you are thirsty, come and drink.

I will give you water without pay.

And the water that I give you, here's what's going to happen.

It's going to start flowing out of you.

The water that I give you will start flowing out of you.

And then it goes on to say in verse 38, Jesus was talking about the time when the Holy Spirit would come.

And the Holy Spirit hadn't come yet, but we have received him.

People then didn't know what he was talking about, but we know it of today.

So this is the last sentence you need to write down, that the Holy Spirit is the author and the finisher of rest.

Now you understand Zechariah 4.6.

What did Zechariah 4.6 said?

It said, it is not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit.

It is the definition of rest.

That Jacob, it's not by Jonathan turning up your volume or turning it down that you will be impressive.

It's not by singing proper songs that you will be impressive.

It's not by might, it's not by power, but it is by the sheer leaning on the life of another.

And who is that life?

The Spirit of God.

Come, kids.

So yeah, we've been wanting to share this story.

It's been such a blessing to be able to do this today.

So as you all know, we have our baby, Eli Kim, with us.

And sometime in the end of last year, I had two different dreams on separate nights.

One, and both of them, when I woke up from both those dreams, I wasn't puzzled.

I was very certain of what it meant, and Don and I both prayed.

And we were certain that it meant that we were going to have a baby boy.

And the second dream revealed the name to us, Eli Kim.

And again, that's just so amazing because the name Eli Kim wasn't something that was, that had ever stuck with me, even when I read the Bible.

So reading about it and knowing the significance of Eli Kim in the Bible was just so amazing.

And the way God revealed it to us was just so special.

So of course we were so excited and we were looking forward to the day that we would know that we were expecting.

And lo and behold, a month later we got to know we were pregnant.

I mean, I was pregnant.

And the name part was fun because it was always a fun little thing to do, suggest names.

At least maybe it was just fun for me. I don't know about Don.

But yeah, so the name and everything was great.

And we got to know we were pregnant and we were just so happy, so excited, so thankful, so all the great emotions that you can think of.

And that was also the time around when we were moving.

We were moving into our new place.

So Jacob had come to our place to pray for the house.

And you know, Don, because he was very excited, he was showing every room and he told, oh, this little room is the nursery.

And then Jacob just looks at us and asks, oh, is it like, are you going to have to use it very soon?

And then we just look at each other and then we confirm.

We're like, yeah, Jacob, we are pregnant.

And yeah, he's also happy about it.

And then he prays for the house.

And after praying for the house, he also prays for the baby.

And he also, without us telling anything, he says that it's going to be a baby boy.

And he tells that, you know, you have to name the baby.

You don't have to name him David, but name him something that is related to David.

And like him in the Bible, holds the keys to the house of David.

And it was just, you know, it was like a moment of like we had goosebumps where, wow, God, you're really confirming this.

And so we had the name, we had the gender already in mind without even having a test.

It was all great.

And the first scan, you know, when you go for the first scan, for those of you who know, it's almost nothing, but we were so excited just looking at nothing even.

And for the second scan when we went, that's again, for those of you who know, it's the more detailed scan.

It's also the one where you know the gender.

But at this point, we're very convinced that it's a boy.

So we didn't really need that.

So we walked into the scan.

It was a pretty long one.

We walked out of it just and the person asked me like, do you want to know the gender right away or do you want it in an envelope?

And I said we wanted it in an envelope because we were planning to do a gender reveal, which Iris would plan for us.

So we had that. We were going home and an hour or late, like an hour or so after that, I get a call from the doctor saying,

Hey, you don't have nothing to be worried about, but you know, there's an irregularity in the heart rate and in the rhythm.

So, you know, we just want to rule out any possibilities.

So we would want you to go into Peacearch Maternity Clinic for just a closer look.

Just you don't need to be worried about anything, but just so you can have a closer look.

So in just a couple of days, the appointment was booked.

And that is again, like that's not pretty common in Canada, at least so far from what I've seen so far to get appointments that quickly.

So I was like, oh, things are happening pretty quickly.

And we were taken aback, but we weren't too like we weren't too broken.

We were praying. We were hopeful because we knew what God had promised.

But still there were there were there were these thoughts in our mind of what this was going to be.

We go into Peacearch Maternity Clinic and then the doctor says a doctor again does the scan and the scan is pretty primitive.

I would say it's not it's not the most advanced technology that was being used.

And she says, you know, I'm hearing a gallop in the heart.

I wouldn't say that it's not a problem at all.

But again, I don't want to scare you guys.

So let's just do one thing.

We are going to refer you to maternal fetal medicine.

That's a special wing that's for that looks into the that looks into like the organs and the development of the baby in the womb.

And it's like a special wing that's that's only there at like Jim Patterson's and BC Women's Hospital.

So we were booked at Jim Patterson's a few days later.

So this is again now like this has started to bring in some sort of like, you know, OK, why are things like what's happening?

And again, that was booked again in a matter of three to four days.

So we could sense and we could sense the urgency that these doctors were showing.

And we we were telling all we were updating Jacob and our families of all of this and they were like praying for us.

And we were also praying.

The day comes when we are at maternal fetal medicine and that that day that appointment was very if you go into the room, it's a very somber room because everybody there.

They're all high risk pregnancies or they're potentially looking for something like it's a very somber atmosphere.

We walk in praying.

We're hoping that, you know, we're going to come out like every possibility ruled out.

We're going to come back positive with everything positive.

Right. And we go in the sonographer does her thing and she does it for around 40 minutes.

She doesn't really say anything.

And so before this.

Oh, yeah. So we had the gender all the time.

And we're already in an envelope.

I'm just going to tell that now so that it comes up later.

So we go in and then the doctor comes in.

The doctor does his and this is a specialist.

And, you know, when you see specialists, you're like you're already like your feet starts getting a little cold.

And he takes a very like long and it was very dreadful.

It was a dreadful like 45 minutes or so.

And after that, he just looks at me and he's like, Don is also by my side.

And he asks, Have you been diagnosed of a certain type of illness or disease?

And have you been taking any medication for it?

And I answer, No, I've never been diagnosed and I don't have any symptoms for it either.

So he's like, In that case, we would have to monitor and investigate.

Maybe you do have the disease or maybe like it's something else, but we need to investigate.

Because what we're seeing is fetal arrhythmia, which is there are benign ones which can be sorted after a couple of like it just takes some time and the heart rate gets back to normal.

But this one is very low heart rate.

So a normal healthy baby should have a heart range of heart rate of around 110 to 160 beats per minute.

But we're seeing only 70.

And that was the first thing.

And the second thing was like, he goes on to say that there's a second or a third degree block in his heart.

And, you know, when you hear and it's not like it's not like his skin has a problem.

It's one of the most vital organs in his body.

And that really shattered me when and he just goes on to say things.

And he just goes on to say things.

And there was no hope.

He didn't say anything.

He didn't say anything like, OK, you know what?

In a matter of time, things are going to get better.

We've heard cases where it gets better.

He said it's a second degree or a third degree block.

Either you get on medication if you're diagnosed with the disease or you have to be closely monitored because the heart rate can drop to a point where there is no survival.

Or even if the baby miraculously like survives, the baby would need a pace maker.

So at that point, I doctor was saying these things.

I'm sorry.

I'm emotional.

But the doctor was saying these things.

And, you know, I could I couldn't I was like, you know, I could just hear some words and nothing was making sense to me.

And I started like choking up.

And I was like, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

And I started like choking up and just tearing up.

But the doctor just started spitting out facts in his spitting out facts in his world.

And Don is also really sad at this moment.

And then the doctor is like, you know, you need to get tested immediately.

And the doctor takes his I've never seen this happen anywhere else.

But the doctor, the specialist doctor comes with us to the ground floor to the lab.

And he starts doing these.

He goes to the desk and he says, you know, she needs to be tested immediately.

And there was a line up there.

And one lady is like, you know, it's going to take forever.

We've been waiting here forever.

And this doctor in front of us tells us this is a matter of life or death.

And so this doctor made statements that sounded like there was no hope.

You know, it was either life or death.

And we were now because there was no vacancy there.

We were immediately shifted to Surrey Memorial Hospital and we had to go there in the night.

And we called Jacob, we called our families and I in the car just started wailing.

I was like, I saw this promise.

I saw like people have spoken over my like our child.

Why is this happening?

And I didn't know how to I didn't know what to think.

We were at Surrey Memorial.

We did the test.

We got back home and then we get on a call with Jacob and then Jacob tells, you know,

this is the moment to have faith.

And this is a moment where you need to practice your faith.

And if you can know the gender, let me know what the gender is.

So the gender was in an envelope and we were planning for it to be pretty glamorous, like, you know, balloons and stuff.

And that night we were like, you know, we just need to know the gender right away.

We just opened up Don Warrick Canucks jersey because it was blue, the only blue shirt that he could find.

And we made a video and we just and we opened it and said it's a boy.

And the moment we saw that it wasn't because it's not like I wanted to be a boy mom or anything, but it was more like this is what God showed us.

And, you know, this is what we're going to cling on to.

This promise is what we're going to cling on to.

And we were there was some sort of strength encouragement that just swept our hearts that we were hopeful.

We didn't care about what the doctor said.

And for the next following weeks, I can't tell you that, you know, the kind of the kind of the manner in which we got to experience God and his presence was unlike any.

And the way we drew scriptures from the back of like when we started in sixth grade or something, scriptures would come to our minds and encourages and the spirit would just empower us to go through this, to hold on to the promise that, you know, you are going to have a baby.

He is going to become he is going to be healthy because there was a moment where I thought, Father, I just need the baby in my hands.

It's OK if he comes with it.

It's OK if he has to be attached to a pacemaker.

But I just need him in my hands.

From that point, God told me, you know what?

I'm going to do much more than that.

So I am Don and I are praying and we are hoping that, you know, things are going to change.

But because I'm doing close monitoring every three days, I'm going in the same.

It's again, it's a dreadful place to be.

I'm I'm hoping, you know what?

God is going to make things better.

Nothing happens.

Second week, nothing happens.

Third week, nothing happens.

And now they're saying that you need to be referred to B.C. Women's Hospital in Vancouver and you need to be seeing a cardiologist.

Again, we see this as a battle and we start battling it.

We come to church and there are weeks that are weeks where, you know, the songs are about battle and victory.

And we really cling on to it.

And I've never told this to Anne, but Anne one one day in that one Sunday, she comes up to me and she says, while we're going through this, she says like your children will be beautiful.

And I she's not really told me much ever before or after that even.

But she comes and tells me that and, you know, things like that just gave me so much hope.

And I we we knew that, you know, there is going to be a light at the end of the tunnel and it's not going to be this way.

So now we go to the B.C. Women's Hospital.

And that morning we woke up because we were we just immersed ourselves in scripture and prayer and worship.

And, you know, we understood what how beautiful marriage is actually in those in that period because, you know, the times when I was low, Don would encourage me.

And in times when dawn was low, I would encourage Don.

And we really loved each other a lot more in that period.

And we went to B.C. Women's Hospital with we both were like happy that day.

That morning we woke up and we're like, you know, something's changed and we're happy.

But this this is like three days before this appointment.

We've already heard 70 averaging heart rate is at around 70 second degree, third degree heart block, fetal arrhythmia.

Rhythm is problematic. Everything is wrong with the heart.

Nothing good. We go into B.C. Women's Hospital.

We do the initial test and scan and then the sonographer, she tells, oh, to my eyes, it looks fine.

But you know what? I'm not the specialist.

Let's go to the maternal like the specialist that comes in.

He comes in and he does a checkup.

And just so you know, it's been weeks now and we're hoping, OK, maybe this, you know, like it can get a little better.

He says, I don't know why you're here.

He says, I don't know why you're here.

And he says, so we're so confused.

Like, you should be you should be knowing better than us.

And then he says, I don't see any issues with the heart, like absolutely no issues with the heart.

And he goes on to say that the heart looks great.

He says the heart looks great. And I asked him what and Don and I are just like confused and we're thankful.

We're like, Don says, praise Jesus in front of this doctor.

And when I asked him, OK, what's the heart rate?

Because there were bigger problems. I'm, of course, relieved at all of that.

But I wanted to know the heart rate because, you know, this number was really stuck in my head.

And it was at 70.

Three days before it was at 70.

He says the heart rate is now at 140, exactly double of what was initially told to us.

And this wasn't an improvement of sorts.

This wasn't, you know, a slight something that, you know, slightly got better.

This was as healthy as healthy a heart could be.

And we walk out of we walked out of this room.

The doctor said, oh, you need to know.

Let me check if the cardiologist has to do anything.

He takes the reports to the cardiologist and he comes back saying there's nothing the cardiologist should do about this.

Like what it's just going to waste their time.

We walk out of that room. They say that, you know, we still need to because we saw this irregularity.

You need to still be checked the following weeks.

But we walk out of that room with complete confidence and complete knowledge that the victory was ours.

And this wasn't something that we need to strive for.

This wasn't something that we need to be needed to be worried about, but that the victory was ours and the victory was the Lord's.

And we had to go in continuously for a period again.

Every checkup that we went to, the heart looks great.

The heart looks great. The heart looks great.

And it got to a point where our final visit, there was a student doctor who said that there was a student doctor with him and the doctor.

The student doctor asks the training doctor.

So what's the reason behind, you know, this just disappearing, like the problem just resolving like this?

So the doctor says, you know, experts have no clue on why this happened.

And we have no idea why this has happened, how it was also quickly.

We have no clue. He stopped there.

And then they go on to say, you know, this is such a beautiful anatomy of the heart.

So it wasn't just a heart that was functioning.

It was a beautiful heart.

And we knew that the enemy tried to attack us at the core of who he is, the heart.

And even like David is a man after God's own heart.

And it wasn't the brain. It wasn't the kidney. It wasn't the liver.

It was the heart that the enemy tried to attack.

But because I want to really thank Jacob, I thank Jacob, but the words that Jacob shared with us, the prayers that our wonderful families prayed for us.

And all of you, even knowingly or unknowingly, I know that you've kept us in prayers.

And that's why we are able to be here with the baby and no pacemaker required.

Nothing of that sort.

And yeah, through this experience, we now know God so much more intimately, not just as an almighty God who miraculously heals,

but also as a present father that is there to wipe our tears when we were at our lowest, that was a shoulder to lean on in the nights and in the days.

He was not an abstract idea. He was a tangible father to us.

So yeah, I give him all the glory and all the praise.

And yeah, thank you.

Let me ask you a question.

How do you feel that your dear mom, Rita, comes here?

It's nice to have your mother here when you're giving birth or when the baby is born.

There's a familiarity that comes with that and it's quite helpful.

They were plied upon for a visa for the month.

And it's such a strong plan to be untapping and ask for your favor to untapping.

We ask for your favor to untapping to get this mom's visa so she can come here and be with her daughter and her granddaughter, her grandson, and her son.

So, please, we ask that you untapping publicly so that when you do it, we pay you publicly.

Please, grant us your favor.