Consider Your Ways

Aba, it's great for us to get together. We really enjoyed worshipping you. It's amazing

for us to experience you moving amongst us. Thank you for the words that you spoke over

people. You are so real, so alive, so wanting to disrupt our days in a good way. So Aba,

we thank you. We thank you that we get to experience you like this. We don't need to

climb up a mountain. We don't need to drive hours. We can be where we are and we can experience

you. And every time Aba, you make it so evidently clear to us that you love us so much, that

you care of us. So thank you Aba. We just want to enter into this teaching with that

in mind that you care, you care, you care, you love and you direct us. Thank you Aba.

We love you. We love you. Jesus, we love you. Nothing makes sense without you Jesus. Nothing

makes sense without you. So it's such a privilege for us to carry your name. Such a privilege

for us to trust you, to know you, to love you. Thank you Aba. Thank you.

About 600 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, the Babylonians came and they attacked

Jerusalem. So they came, it was a large army. They took over Jerusalem. The temple that

Solomon had built, they tore it down and they took a bunch of people as captives to Babylon.

That was 600 years before Jesus arrived on earth, before he was born to Mary and Joseph.

600 years before that it happened. A large army came. They took the temple down. It was

really special for Israel, the temple, where they brought it down. And the group of people

who were taken captives who went to Babylon, about 50,000 of them returned from Babylon

about 70 years later. So think of it. In your mind there is 50,000 people out of many who

were taken. King Cyrus was his name. He decided that because the Babylonian kingdom was taken

over by his kingdom, a Persian kingdom, he decided that Cyrus decided that I'm going

to let these guys go back. Whoever wants to go back can go back. And 50,000 of them decided

that they were going to go back to Jerusalem. And so they came, they arrived. The idea was

that they will rebuild the temple, the same temple that the Babylonians destroyed. The

idea was that these 50,000 guys will come together and that they would rebuild the temple.

So that's the context. And so they came, they started rebuilding the temple. The foundations

were laid. So this is about 520 years before Christ. The temple foundations were laid.

And then there is opposition. So the opposition, what does that look like? There's people around,

nations around that doesn't like what's happening. And then there is opposition. So when the

opposition comes, the work gets delayed. And then day by day, by day, by day, time just

moves on. And about 15 years later, you see in Haggai, the prophet, Haggai is speaking

to the Israelites. And there is one thing that he says, and he repeats it multiple times.

That is, hey, you guys came from Babylon back to Jerusalem. You came to rebuild the temple.

You came to rebuild your lives in your city, Jerusalem. But some of you actually think

that it's not time yet to rebuild the temple, but now is the time. And then God begins to

speak to the people of Israel. And there is three words I want all of us to think about.

God says, consider your ways. He says it again, consider your ways. You came here for this.

You came here for the rebuilding of the temple. You came here so that you can have your lives

here. But 15 years later, what you started, you haven't completed. 15 years later, the

temple hasn't been rebuilt yet. It looks like how you left it. So that's the context for

everything I have to say today. Consider your ways. Obviously, we live today. There is no

temple that we need to rebuild. But the idea that God in his prescriptive wisdom speaks

things. So he always tells his people, here is what I want you to do. And when God said to them

back then, consider your ways, those are words we can use today. Because it's the same prescriptive

wisdom of God that comes to us and says, consider your ways. Consider your ways. Think about

your life. So when I say consider your ways, what do I mean by that? It's a careful inspection

of my life. It's sort of like an audit of my life. Yeah? When you do an audit every year,

you know what comes in, you know what goes out. You know how money flows. You know how

money flows. So if you are a financial auditor, you'll know that. Because every penny that

comes in is important. Every penny that goes out is important. So considering your ways,

considering my way, looks like it's an audit. And it's an audit that I do with the Holy

Spirit. It's not like I just decide to think of what I did. It's more so, Lord, I want to

know what I did. I want to carefully review it. It's a retrospective, it's a looking back at

what happened. See the last eight months. See the last ten months. See the last twelve

months. Two years, three years maybe, to work with the Holy Spirit and say, I want to consider

my ways. Yeah? Yeah? So consider your ways. Consider your ways. So even as I speak a few

things, I only have five or six things that I really believe God wants to speak to us. So

we'll go through those things one by one. Keep this in mind. You have to open up your heart

and your mind to the Holy Spirit to speak to you. Because it's going to look really different

for each of us. I went through this process a few weeks ago. And as I went through this process,

my eyes were opened to my own life in ways that I did not know before. So my prayer for you is

that as you consider your ways, as you sit down even now, as you hear me, or if you're hearing

later, that you're doing it with the Holy Spirit. You're doing it with the Holy Spirit because

the Holy Spirit will inform your mind. He'll inform you about how he sees things. Oftentimes

we see things a certain way. But then when he shows us how it really is, things can look

different. So these are things where you may have done really well that he takes pleasure in.

There may be things where he says, I actually want you, Derek, to be a little bit more

different. I want you to be different. I want you to be different.

So let's look at a few scriptures. I want to set some scriptural precedents,

so to speak, so that we look at a few scriptures together and then we'll look at how we can do it.

So here are a few verses to think about.

Second Corinthians, Chapter 13, verse 5. Second Corinthians, Chapter 13, verse 5.

2 Corinthians 13:5 2 Corinthians 13:5

Second Corinthians, Chapter 13, verse 5.

2 Corinthians 13:5

Second Corinthians, Chapter 13, verse 5. Here is what it says.

2 Corinthians 13:5

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in faith. Test yourself.

So I want to take the first two words. What does considering your ways mean?

It means you're examining yourself with the Holy Spirit. Lamentations, Chapter 3,

Lamentations 3:40

verse 40. Lamentations, Chapter 3, verse 40.

Lamentations 3:40

You see the same theme again. Let us test

and examine our ways. Let us test and

examine our ways. So you see this multiple scriptures in the Bible that talk about

the same thing. Test your ways. Examine your ways.

Have introspect. Looking at your own life with the Holy Spirit

to see what He wants to show you. First Corinthians, Chapter 11,

1 Corinthians 11 · chapter mention

28-32. First Corinthians, Chapter 11, 28-32.

1 Corinthians 11 · chapter mention

Let a person examine himself. In that particular passage,

it's about the communion, but you can still see the same theme

over and over again. Examine yourself.

Romans, Chapter 12, verse 3. For by the grace given to me,

Romans 12:3

I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly

than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment. So again, in other words,

that talks about think of yourself with the Holy Spirit to see how He sees you,

not the way you see yourself. So it doesn't mean good or bad.

It means you have to go through a process of considering your ways. You have to go

through a process to really hear and understand how the Holy Spirit thinks of

certain things that you're doing. How the Holy Spirit thinks of certain things you speak.

The Holy Spirit thinks of certain relationships that you have. How He sees the last 12 months.

How He sees the last two years. That matters.

So that's really the few scriptures to go with what I have to say.

So let's look at five or six different things depending on time.

Practically how this applies now to you and I.

The first thing that you can do as you consider your ways is

Number one, to build a recabyte list.

R-E-C-H-A-B-I-T-E. Jeremiah chapter 35.

Jeremiah 35 · chapter mention

So I'll explain that. Build a recabyte list.

R-E-C-H-A-B-I-T. Recubites. So if you go to Jeremiah chapter 35,

Jeremiah 35 · chapter mention

you don't have to read it. I'll try to explain the story. You see,

God speaks to Jeremiah, the prophet, and God says, I want you to go to the

recubites. So it's a family. It's a bunch of people who live in a particular place.

And so you go to the recubites and once you go there, I want you to tell them,

come with me, take them to the temple, and

have them sit there and give them wine to drink. So Jeremiah goes.

Jeremiah goes and he finds the recubites and he says, come with me. This is the prophet.

This is not anyone. This is the prophet. The prophet of God

goes and calls the recubites. The prophet says, come with me to the temple,

to the side room in the house of the Lord. And so they go and they're all there and the

prophet takes the wine, multiple bowls of wine.

He puts it all on the table. He sets it up there and he says, please drink.

That's the prophet saying, please drink. But the recubites have a response.

They say, my forefathers, our forefathers, I think his name,

one of his, his name is Jehonabad. My forefathers, my forefathers

said, don't drink wine. And along with it, he said, you're never to

build your own house. You're never to sow seeds. You're never to plant vineyards.

I want you to move from place to place, live in tents. And if you do it this way,

then you'll have prosperity. You'll live long. This is what our forefathers

told me, told us. And so even though the prophet of God is in front of them

and the prophet says, drink wine, they said, no.

We can't. Why? My forefathers said, no.

And so none of us will drink wine. And then God speaks to Jeremiah

and says, if the recubites can listen to

their forefather and make sure that they live a certain way,

how much more me and you, how much more what I have to say, how much more

what I care about and how you respond. So building a recubite

list is really thinking about

the different commitments that you have taken in the last 12 months, 16

months, two years, different covenants that you made with God. Sometimes we

drive, we pray, we talk to God and we say, God, I want to do that. And God

says, he takes you at face value for what you tell him. So when I tell him, hey,

Abba, I really mean this, you know, this particular person and you just showed

this to me and I'm going to do it two weeks from now. He really trusts me.

So when I tell him I'll do it in two weeks, he really trusts that I'll do it in two weeks.

And so in all of our lives, there are things that we've committed to, things that we have told him.

Sometimes over and over again, sometimes just this idea

that you know came from him, but you then told him back, yeah, I

hear you, I understand, I want to do that. But then when you begin to

reflect upon your life, when you begin to now build your own recubite

list, you sometimes realize that you committed it, you said it, but you haven't

followed through on it. And so the Holy Spirit comes alongside and he says, because he cares about us,

he cares about what we do. He comes and says, hey, do you remember this conversation

that you had? Do you remember when you said you would do this?

So I have on my phone over the last little while I've been doing this and I'm,

on one hand, before I did this, if you asked me the question, I would have said, yeah, quite a few things that the Lord

said I did it, but now I have a whole page of stuff that I realized that I haven't done.

Build your recubite list. Build your recubite

list. So important, guys, because we can go through life sometimes and things

are happening, things are good. You feel like, you know, you're obeying God.

Sometimes, you know, here's something to think about. Delayed obedience is not obedience.

Sometimes when God tells you to do something, you've got to do it then

because there is a reason why he is asking you to do it that way.

So while it may still reap benefits and while it's good that you still remember to do it,

let's, as a people, try to be, Abba, if you said it, I want to do it now.

If I can't do it now, then I'll still work with you. I'll still hear you.

I'll still want to talk to you so that you can tell me how to go about it.

Because sometimes we hear something, we don't know the next step.

We don't know what to do about it. He just told us you were convinced that he said that.

I'm convinced that he said it, but at that very time, we don't know what the next step is.

And so we say, yes, I'll do it. But then days go by, weeks go by,

months go by, maybe years go by, and we still haven't done it.

Build your recabyte list. Build your recabyte list.

So important, guys, because once you begin to do this, you'll realize that there are certain things

that the Lord has always wanted you to do. And it's just that next thing that you need to do

to do that. I was,

three, four weeks ago, I think I was driving, Iris and I were driving and felt one day,

I wasn't feeling well at all that day. I was not feeling well, so not physically.

It's just inside me. I wasn't feeling good that day. And I remember telling Iris

while we were driving, can you pray for me? So Iris begins to pray for me and she

begins to speak a few words that the Lord was telling her

for me. And so we are now going into a

parkade and we begin to park the car and Iris begins to say, it's like

there is an open door in front of you, but you will only know that the door is open

once you walk to the door. If you sit where you're sitting, you're not going to know

that there is an open door. So as she said this, she's sitting here, I look, because we have

to go into HomeSense and I literally see a lady from inside the

HomeSense store walking out and so the door is open as she approaches the door. And in my

mind I'm like, oh, timely, interesting. I have to think about what you're telling me,

but yeah, I need to walk closer to the door for the door to open. Makes sense,

makes sense. So I register it in my mind and I tell him that and we spend a few more minutes

and we walk out to the same HomeSense store and as I get

very close to the door, the same door I was looking at for the last five

minutes, I realized that there is a side door that has always been open

the last five minutes, but I did not see it. When I got there, I realized

that the door is open. I was looking at the other door, which I thought is what God is, you know,

as a symbolic representation of what I was hearing. I thought that's the one, that I go close and the door

opens, but the five minutes that I looked at this place, I didn't see that door. What's the point?

The point is this. Build your recabyte list, because sometimes you don't need a key.

He just told you to do something. You're waiting for a key to come to you

and so you're praying, Abba, I need a key for this. Can you give me a key? I just don't know how

to do it. All you've got to do sometimes is take the next step and the next step and the next step and the next

step and you're actually right in front of the door and you realize that you don't need a key

because he's already opened the door for you. All you've got to do is take the next step

and you're inside. Because sometimes we can walk around with,

you've seen the construction, in the construction industry, you see guys with

these belts and they've got all sorts of keys hanging around. Sometimes we're like that, we've got too many keys

on us. Too many doors, too many keys, because sometimes you don't need the key

because he's kind enough to have opened the door for us, but you've got to walk in.

Build your recabyte list. Build your recabyte list.

And so, however you want to do this,

you may want to do this on your phone where you start writing things down, maybe your journal.

It doesn't matter. Start doing it though. There is a picture that Brandon, I don't know if I sent

it to the Ax29 email. Yeah, so if you,

maybe about a month ago or something, there's this older

gentleman that I really look up to and he posted

this on his Instagram. And I really loved it because he said

his dad, he's about 80 years old, his dad, when his dad was 67 years old,

printed this and then he found it in his dad's Bible.

And this is a list of things at 67 years old that his dad committed to do.

At 67 years old, he said,

Lord, this is how I want to live the rest of my days.

These are things that I want to do. So it's something that, you know,

I loved reading it because you can see things like, you know, at 67 years old,

back then his grandfather, who was a minister, he said, in everything I do, I want to give you glory.

And then he said, I want to confess my sins and do a thorough job of repentance. So this is unique

for that person at that time. He wrote it. Him and his father, him and his Lord.

And so he made a covenant that I want to live this way.

And then three, I don't want to say anything slanderous or destructive against

God's children. Again, very unique to him.

Can you zoom in, Brandon? Maybe make it a little bigger?

What about Brandon says?

We can't do anything else. So it says he doesn't want to own anything.

So multiple things. What's your list? Build your recubite list.

Make covenants with God because he really loves when you make a covenant with him.

He believes that he does it, that you'll do it, and then he'll help you to get to that stage.

Ooh, got a clap. Brandon.

There you go.

So God equates spiritual depth with your obedience.

God equates spiritual depth with your obedience.

And one step forward in obedience is

it's worth the years of studying about it. We can study about something for so long,

but sometimes the Lord says, I just want you to move. I just want you to take the next step.

Next one.

Examine your relationships. So number one was

build your recubite list. Number two is

examine your relationships.

Actually, let me go back. There's something

that happened a few weeks ago. The reason I'm sharing these stories

is because I want this to be real. I don't want to talk about something

that, you know, recubite list. What does recubite list look like? Because this is a real thing for you and me.

As you begin to inspect your life, and I'll give you another example from my life that I noticed.

Maybe three, four months ago, I woke up one day and I heard

Anishka. And it just happened to me. As I opened my eyes,

I didn't hear it audibly. I just felt inside me Anishka.

And Anishka is not a name that I don't know anyone by the name Anishka.

And so I laid there on the bed for

two minutes-ish wondering. Because things, you know, it's happened before where God would say things like this.

And so the next thing he said, you know, the last name.

And I was like, wow, there could be a person. But it's a very unique last name and a first name.

So I wasn't sure. So I said, okay, what do you do when God tells you something

and you're not sure about it? You Google it. So I go and Google this person.

And I find out there is actually a person like this. It's a unique name.

But, you know, this person lives in the US. I tell Iris about this. And I was like,

Abba. And I also had a sense waking up what it was that God had for this person.

I had a sense. I kind of knew what he wanted to say.

That's how I woke up. And so while I went through this exercise of building my

recubite list, I realized that I did nothing with it yet.

Isn't it interesting that God has these things that

he is really trying to tell you, hey, do it, do this. And sometimes

you can go through life and it takes sometimes if you don't go through this

exercise, you just put it off for tomorrow. It's real, guys.

So real. And if he can go on a journey where you work with the Holy

Spirit to do this, he will make sure that everything he wants accomplished will

happen. Second thing, examine your relationships.

Examine your relationships. See, after God,

people have the most influence on us.

Think about it. After God, people, those we surround

ourselves with, they have the most influence on your

life. You can ask Lot and he'll tell you Abraham,

Abram, he had the most influence on my life.

You ask Elijah, he'll tell you Elijah had the most influence on my

life. You ask Jonathan, Jonathan will tell you you won't

believe David. David had such enormous impact on my

life. You ask Samson, Samson will warn you, Delilah

can be... So people have, after God,

people have the most impact on our lives.

And so when you examine your life, it is important

that you also examine your relationships. Because these days when you say

relationships, it's just sometimes think the girl and the boy, that's not what it is, obviously.

It's way more than that. All your relationships.

Because there are different types of relationships, right?

There is general relationships where every day you take the transit, you see

these two people. You know their names, you know where they work, you know them.

There is seasonal relationships where for the duration of

time you're in school, you know them. You graduate and then you don't know them.

And then there are people around our lives who

hang around us for much longer. And even

within that group there are divine relationships that the Lord

has ordained for you. Relationships where he has said

there are certain things that you need and I choose to give those

things through these people. That's the way God works.

You can't remove people

from his work. You can't remove people

from his work. So if you feel, you know, someone who thinks, you know,

if you think of it as, why do I need people? I'm straight with God, God loves me,

I really know he cares for me. Why do I need people? God works

through people. While he can speak to you directly and he does, there are

certain things in your life where it is important for you to rely on

people around you. So here are some things to think about in terms of relationships.

Okay, number one, some relationships

are to nurture, not just maintain. Again, think of your relationships.

Sometimes you just maintain a relationship. It's continued on like the way

it has been for the last three years, five years, ten years. And it's the wisdom of God

to tell you, hey, you see that and that, I want you

to nurture it. I want you to give more to it. And it goes without saying, husband-wife

relationships, but this is way beyond that. Relationships where, you know,

this person has been in your life for a while, but you haven't really

understood why. And the Lord sometimes says, there is a reason and I want you to

nurture that relationship. I want you to, and in relationships, Jesus made it

really evident. How do you work with people in relationships? The only thing that

Jesus said is this, be selfless. So you give rather than wanting.

You give rather than wanting. And that applies to everything. It applies between

husband and wife. It applies between friends. It applies everywhere you go. You

give. You give. You give. So there are certain relationships where the

Lord says, I want you to nurture them, not just maintain them. And look

for divine relationships in your life. It's not a big word, right? For us,

it's not, because we believe this. There are certain God-ordained people

that God has placed in our lives. And those people,

they have to give things to us. Meaning they have things to give to us.

And it's not just a one-way street. It's two ways.

So one of the things you should think about, even as you do this exercise, is

who are the people who came to your life and who has been in your life?

Who came to you? So let's say Sen is Abraham.

There was one point in Abraham's life where he

defeated an army and someone stepped into the scene.

Melchizedek. He broke bread, he brought wine and gave to Abraham.

And as soon as Abraham received, Abraham realized this is the

priest of the Most High God. This is someone that God sent to me.

And you'll see the significance of this, because the verse below this, it's Genesis 14 or something, I think.

The verse below this, King of Sodom comes to Abraham and says something, but

God in his wisdom knew that a priest has to appear before, and a priest meaning

human, this right, like us. A priest had to appear before,

I know with Melchizedek it can be interpreted differently, but let's go back to this now.

A priest had to appear before Abraham to say something,

where he said, the Lord, possessor of heaven and earth, is the answer

that Abraham then gave to the King of Sodom.

If the priest, Melchizedek, did not enter the scene

at that time, you don't know how Abraham would have

responded to the King of Sodom. It's very interesting. Priests,

they come at the right time. They break bread,

they give you wine. These are heavenly supplies that God has

released to you through people. And so even as you look at your

life, you've got to identify the Melchizedek in your life.

So for me, as I went through this exercise, there are two, three people from before when I was in India,

when I am here, who have brought me bread,

who have given me wine. And I wouldn't be where I am at today

without those people. Honor Melchizedek

in your life. It's important, guys, because one thing that

isn't enough

is honor. It's never enough.

So if Tunis is someone who I relate to and Tunis is someone who is a priest to me,

I can never honor him enough.

You've got to get that. You don't know how much this matters.

Because in the ways of God, honor matters. I don't want to talk about it

more, but think about Melchizedeks in your life. People, you can take this

down, Brandon. Thank you. Think about Melchizedeks in your life. Who has brought you

bread? Who has brought you wine? Honor them. And sometimes when you hear honor, you just think

money. You can give money, because Abraham did.

That's a scriptural thing, but you know it's way more than that. Sometimes you can give money without

having honor in your heart. You can give money

without having honor in your heart. Never be like that.

Honor, it can flow through you multiple ways. Words are important.

And whenever you have people like that in your life, know this.

You've got to do well to communicate to them what they have done for you.

It's important, guys. So important. Find words to tell

Melchizedeks in your life. Thank you. Thank you for bringing me bread.

Thank you. At that time I did not know. Thank you for the wine you brought me.

That's a blessing.

Now,

going back to divine relationships. Look for divine relationships

in your life, where there may be more to something, and you haven't explored it yet,

but hear the Holy Spirit. Ask him, Abba, is there more to it? Proverbs chapter 13,

Proverbs 13:20

verse 20. Go with wise men and be wise.

Go with wise men and be wise.

Go with wise men and be wise.

If you look at my life, if you look at your life, the people you hang out with

the most, they often will tell you where you will end up 10 years later.

It's true. Wise men, what did the scripture say,

Proverbs chapter 13? Go with wise men and be wise. Go with foolish men

Proverbs 13 · chapter mention

and be foolish. Go with wise men and be wise.

So, carefully inspect those who you are surrounding yourself with.

You know, our church is, it's interesting, it's very different from five years ago,

because five years ago it was a certain way, and now we have much younger crew,

and you have so many friends I can imagine at school, you know, places you go to,

where you have to know what are the relationships that God wants you to be in,

what are the relationships where, you know, it's not just where God wants you to be in,

it's more so what do you have to give?

What do you have to receive from select people that God has ordained in your life?

And three, or four, whatever that was, what are the relationships where

it's time to pack up and leave?

What do I mean by that? Multiple people in the Bible had to do it, Abraham had to do it,

he had to leave, Elisha had to do it, he had to leave,

because for the next thing sometimes you have to move on from

certain relationships. And so, inspect your life, examine your relationships

to know what is what.

Number three, identify patterns that prevent you

from flying. Identify patterns that prevent you

from flying. So number one was build the recubite list, two was

examine your relationships. Number three, as you consider your ways,

identify patterns that prevent you from flying.

Isaiah chapter 40 verse 31, very familiar scripture, right?

Isaiah 40:31

Isaiah chapter 40 verse 31, but those who trust in the Lord will renew their

Isaiah 40:31

strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will

run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.

But those who trust in the Lord will receive new strength. They will fly

as high as eagles. They will fly

as high as eagles. Identify patterns

that prevent you from flying. Couple of examples, let's make it

real.

Let's say there is a person and the person, every time they seem

to do well in life, something happens. And that thing has the

power to somehow pull them down. Every time they feel like

they're going ahead in life, they feel like they're making progress, they feel like

things are changing. And as soon as they feel like they're in that place,

something happens and it pulls them back. It makes them, it makes them

discouraged. So it could be relationships where, you know, family

or it could be friends, people who you really care about. It could be people who tell you,

hey, there are certain things that's happening. They may say one

word or two words, and that's all it takes for you to be affected. That's all it takes

for you to be affected. Listen to me, guys.

That's my daughter.

Where was I? Someone heard it. What was it?

Okay, I'll go back to what I was saying.

Yes. So let's take this person's example.

Every time they feel like they're doing things well, something happens. And let's assume that's

people around them. And, you know, they say certain words, they speak

accusations perhaps, and sometimes it's done in a friendly way even, but it just has the

power to pull the person down. And they go through the cycle

of doing it. Right? This is done to them. Because why? The devil knows for each

one of us what are the things that get us. And so

he uses those things to

pull us back down when we are meant to fly. Based on

that scripture, Isaiah chapter 40, we are meant to fly, meaning we are meant

Isaiah 40 · chapter mention

to soar. We are meant to move from glory to glory. One level

of existence to a superior level of existence to a much

more superior level of existence. That is how Christians are to be on

earth until we are caught up in glory with him. And the

devil who knows that this is the Lord's plan for us tries everything he

can to pull down, to bring you back to earth. Because

once you're here, you're like everyone else. So it could be

another person, another example where it could be something habitual. It could

be doubt. Devil knows that

just when this person tries to climb up, just insert

doubt into their mind. And then they start doubting people around them. They start questioning

motives of people. Sometimes the people around them have no problem whatsoever, but

there are these things that the devil has somehow identified works with certain

people. And so what you've got to do is look at your life to

see what are the patterns that the devil has used in the past

to bring you back or to pull you down. What are the patterns

that the devil has used in your life to pull you down? Once

you identify them, the response is you break those patterns

with divine patterns. You break

those very patterns with divine patterns. So if there are, you know,

let's assume these guys are my buddies and we hang out and somehow

I've given them so much power to tell me whatever they want to tell me. And every time I meet with them

and I go back, I cry. Let's just assume that's the case.

What do I do? Well, I've understood this is what's happening.

What do I do? Every time I go to them, I am prayerful. So inside me I

know this is what's happened, but I am going to fall for it this time. I am prayed up

or even as I talk to you in my mind, I'm like, Abba, help me. I just don't want to go back to

this. God gives you strength. Real things, guys, because

wisdom is knowing what's happened in your life and then using what he has given you

to overcome it. Because there is nothing that the devil has done to you

that can't be overcome. There is nothing that the devil has did

that can't be overcome. Nothing. So all you've got to do sometimes

is recognize what happened and then you break that pattern.

If it's discouragement, you wake up and you realize that you can be like

David, that you wake up shouting praises, you wake up singing

praises, and you do that day one, day two, day three, day four,

and you get to day twenty maybe, and you realize the same thing that did attack

you for the last three years, it stopped. It happens. You break

patterns with divine patterns. You break those things

because God has given you everything you need to break those things.

Yeah. Number four.

I think, what's the time?

Fifteen minutes. So identify patterns that prevent you from flying.

Let me add one more thing, guys, because it's slightly related, but sometimes it's important.

When you talk about David, you always think about Saul,

who was king before him, and you think about what is it that this guy did wrong?

And it's often easy to think about him having lost

obedience. It's easy to think, I should get the other thing.

It's often easy to think that he did these things, he lost the anointing,

but there is one thing about Saul that I want you to see. It's important.

It's not directly related to it, but as I wrote it down, I felt like I should share it.

First Samuel, chapter fifteen, verse seventeen.

Samuel said to him, though you are little in your own eyes,

are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? Wow.

He was a man who God took from a crowd and said, I'm anointing you.

You are the king of this people. But sometime later,

the same prophet spoke to him and said, you consider yourself too little.

That's not something we think of when we think of Saul.

What am I trying to say? If there is anyone hearing what I am saying,

and if there are thoughts that come to your mind where you feel like you're inferior,

you feel like you're not enough, you feel like you need to do something

to get people's attention.

Know this on one hand, of course you know it's from the devil.

So differentiating thoughts that this is not from God, this is not from my father will help.

One. But two, don't discount the significance of what's happening.

Because things like this can keep you for life.

That's what I wanted to say. Because sometimes you think that it's okay.

Sometimes you think that I feel insecure about this and you just live through life like that.

You don't know what's being robbed off you.

Don't allow it. One day you decide,

that's it.

We don't have time so I have to move on. Number four.

If I can find number four.

It's a question. Number four.

What are the fears you have been allowing in your life?

Identify the giants you've tolerated in your life.

What are the fears you've been allowing in your life?

Part two. Identify the giants you've tolerated in your life.

Again, I love this exercise of considering your ways.

Because again, if you do it with the Spirit of God, there is a good chance

that the Holy Spirit will tell you, have you seen this?

You've actually allowed for this way of thinking into your life.

Have you thought about this, Derek? Because really, it wasn't the case,

but now you are okay with this way in your life. So it could be a health situation.

It could be a health situation where it's nothing major, it's a small thing,

and you've actually carried on with him for longer.

It could be a particular attack, sleeplessness.

And you've gotten used to being sleepless.

Examine your life. Consider your ways.

Are there giants that you've tolerated? Are there fears

that you've said okay to?

Because this is what happened with the people of Israel, right?

Saul and his army, they were there. There is a Philistine.

So for every day in the morning, every morning, there is a giant that steps in.

Like Tuni prophesied over. What's your name? James?

Just like that, right? Every day, 40 days, this giant will enter the scene.

And what happens to the people of Israel? They're afraid.

Until one day, David realizes it must stop.

So as you go through this exercise, you have to say some things

I'm not okay with. It can't be like this forever.

I've tolerated you, my bad, but it's not happening anymore.

I've accepted it to be like this, never again.

Because like David, today is the day I rise up.

Like David, I've determined that it can't continue on anymore.

And there are things in your life where you must take a stand

and say never again. You must say

what happened, happened. But from now on, I come against you

in the name of my Lord. And with that, it's dealt with.

And if you don't see, and here's the other thing, because you can do the exact same thing,

but two days later, the same thing is there. But if you don't see the result right away, you don't stop.

Because you've taken a stand against it.

You keep at it. Because God is the one who fights for you,

those fears will go away. I had this thing in my life a few years ago where

man, I was just terrified of... The best way to say it would be

I had fear of man. I had certain things I'd calculated so much so that

before I went into a place, I'd be like, if it happens this way, then if it doesn't happen this way, then the other way.

So I'd be pre-calculated in my thing and then I'd go into certain settings.

Until one day I realized that it's all consuming me.

Like this thing is... It started off as a small thing, but

three years, four years down the line, this has been a part of my character.

And then you begin to say, no. No, Aba. This is not you.

This is not how I was built. This is not for me. And so, fear of man, yes,

I have that today, but I don't want this fear anymore. And so I had to take a stand against it

at one point in my life. This is years ago. And so I remember

feeling very bad in some circles, some situations where I'm like,

I wish I can get out of this. But then you go back home and you realize the same thing happened again.

Just when you thought you were out of it. And it makes you discouraged.

Makes you feel bad. But then one day I said, Aba,

I want enough. This is enough of it. No more fear of man in my life.

I recognize I have this fear. It really pulls me down, but

I want out of it and I know you can do it. And so nothing changed the next day.

Nothing changed the day after. But I had made a stunt.

I had said, that is done. I remember one day I go back home

and I was so affected by something that happened and I literally

throw myself on the bed and I am crying.

Crystal is laughing. I don't know why.

Okay, don't imagine me crying. That's not the point.

So I'm on my bed and I'm crying because I could feel the heaviness of this thing

because it's not allowing me to move forward. It's like a shackle that's like pulling me back.

And I remember crying and I felt like I should just

sit on my knees and just and pray.

And I prayed. And as I was praying, I had never felt this before.

I literally felt like chains falling down.

I just felt like it. I just felt like something just happened.

I was like so refreshing, so good.

That was then. Now, that's not a problem for me.

Giants can be taken down.

Giants that try to pull you back. They are real spirits, sometimes real,

not sometimes, real spirits and real entities that don't like your advancement.

You take a stand against them and you say never again. Never again.

Two things. We'll wrap up.

As you examine these things in your life, begin to amend your ways,

begin to change your ways. So it's not enough to just

examine. Once you understand what God wants you to do, you then make

changes to your daily life. You make changes to the way you live. There are scriptures that talk about

changing your life.

I examined my heart and I turned. I turned from some ways because if I keep going down that path,

it's not helpful for me. So I turned.

Turn away from certain things. Get new strategies from God for certain things. So important.

Last thing. Let's go back to the story. In the same story that I started with,

the people of Israel who came back to Jerusalem with the whole idea that they wanted

to rebuild the temple. They started it 15 years later. They hadn't

continued on and they had stopped. God said, consider your ways.

I want you to think about, you can write it down if you want, 2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles 6 · chapter mention

Chapter 6. 2 Chronicles Chapter 6. There is a temple being

2 Chronicles 6 · chapter mention

built. Actually already built by the time it gets to Chapter 6.

In that temple, Solomon with the Israelites is

standing there. He is dedicating a temple. So this is actually the first temple. So the

temple that we read about, the reconstruction of the temple in Haggai is

the second temple. So the first temple that Solomon built, he is there, he is dedicating it.

And in 2 Chronicles Chapter 6, you see, I want to read it out like this.

2 Chronicles 6 · chapter mention

2 Chronicles Chapter 6. There is this beautiful

2 Chronicles 6 · chapter mention

verse. Now it was in the heart of David my father,

Solomon is saying, to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

Hear that. It was in the heart of David my father

to build a house for the name of the Lord. But the Lord said to David my father,

whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name,

you did well that it was in your heart. I will read that again. But the Lord said

to David my father, whereas it was in your heart to build a house

for my name, you did well that it was in your heart.

Wow!

See, I...

In a separate meeting,

I took the Bible and I said,

can I have the Bible for a second?

This is the Bible, right?

So, in this Bible,

you have a lot of things that God has for us.

It keeps telling us,

you know, here are the blessings for you.

Here is the way you should walk.

Here are my words for you.

Here is how you need to live.

So many different things.

But it's very little is about what

he actually wants.

This book has a lot about what he wants to give us.

This book has only little about what he wants.

It's true, guys.

He's a father like that.

Dawn and I, we often say,

my dad, I know it's 6.15.

Today, I am, because last three times, I've been a good boy,

and I finished at 6.15 start,

but I have something in my heart I need to say.

So, Dawn and I, we...

Growing up, our dad,

when we ask him something, he'd always give us whatever we ask.

So, if you say, you know,

we need this, he would buy it for us.

So, we grew up like that.

By the time you're 18, you move out of the house,

you, you know, we traveled here,

we married, we have families,

and years later, now he comes to visit us.

And so, if he's visiting, or when we are going back to India,

we often ask him, what would you like?

Would you like something?

And he never says he wants anything.

He just never says it.

But we have understood that even though he doesn't say that,

he likes things that are electronics, gadgets.

He just loves it.

So, we know that even though he doesn't speak of it,

this is something he likes.

But because we want to please him, we do it.

It's the same way our father is.

All through that Old Testament,

you see one man who actually understood what he wanted.

David.

David said, I'm going to build you a house.

You know who you need.

You wanted to dwell with us.

I'm going to build you a house.

And then, 2 Chronicles chapter 6, a few verses down,

2 Chronicles 6 · chapter mention

you actually see Solomon, the wisest man on earth,

he is saying something along the lines of,

you know what, I actually built the whole thing,

but you are bigger than this.

It just occurred to him.

And then you see in Revelation chapter 21,

Revelation 21 · chapter mention

the dwelling place of God is with man.

He is looking for a people.

Man, this should burn in your heart like anything

because he's a good father like we sang.

He cares about us.

He loves us.

And the people of Israel in Haggai chapter 1,

Haggai 1 · chapter mention

they came, they wanted to build the temple,

but they spent all their time building their own houses.

They did not build the temple.

They spent all their time building their own houses.

They missed the plot.

Let us not be like that.

This is a father who loves dwelling with us.

So my life is for him.

Your life is for him.

He loves to be with me.

He loves being with you.

And there is a world out there that doesn't know him.

And your job and my job, it's not a job,

it's a privilege is to go into the world to build a house for him here on earth.

It should burn in your heart.

Because if we say, I want to be like David,

I want to have your heart,

this is something you can't miss.

There is nothing that can take away from this.

This is so critical that you build a house for him,

meaning you build people's lives.

You build your life.

You build your family's life.

You build lives out there,

so that they can all be a dwelling place for God.

Let's pray.

Aba, thank you.

Thank you because you love us.

We want to love you back.

We examine our lives.

We'll go through this process, Aba,

so that he can pinpoint things in our lives

where you want us to change,

things that you take pleasure in.

We will feel the pat on our back.

We give our lives to you.

Jesus, you love your bride.

And we want to build a dwelling place for you, Father.

In our lives, you're already there.

You're already here.

But there is a world out there

where you choose to invade those lives

and build your residence in them.

And so we want to do that with you.

So here we come, Aba.

Throughout this week, I pray that we'll think about these words that we heard,

that we'll do the things that you want us to do.

In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

If you guys need prayer, there'll be someone up here

to pray with you.

Thank you.