Core Strength Workout - Joy Pt. 4

Let's go.

I was talking to Wayne this week and so we were talking about the series we are doing

right now and how enjoying God is so critical to our existence and how it's impossible to

enjoy God without intimacy with him and so Wayne mentioned the name of someone in the

Bible who was pretty intimate with God so my question to you is if you could throw out

three or four names of people that were intimate with God who would come to mind?

David Abraham?

Who else?

Enoch?

Jonathan?

Jonathan?

See, I would never have come up with Enoch because he was there for two lines and then

he disappears and so I'd have never thought of him but Wayne mentioned Enoch.

Nice job on your husband's hair though, Karen.

I didn't think it was redeemable but it looks pretty okay.

So Enoch is a guy who was just ridiculously intimate with God so much so that he would

walk with God to the point where he disappeared and he's not a name we often think of.

We think of David, we think of Abraham, we think of people like that or Paul if you think

of the New Testament.

So you don't normally think of Enoch and in Jude 1.14, you find that Enoch really knew

God, eh?

Brandon?

Is Evan here?

Evan, what's the name of your company?

Connor Stone.

Evan's got a new company, eh?

Maybe we should hire his company to do this.

Call his name.

Anthony, we are usually highly organized and skilled.

You just sat here on the wrong day, man.

And so are you, Auxilia.

We might get through this message.

No, the title for today is Co-strength.

How do you enjoy God and what do you need faith?

I mean enjoying God and faith, that's what it's called.

Okay, so if you go to Jude 1.14, you'll find that this was a guy who actually knew God.

He knew God well enough to even at that time in his life prophesy.

He was the seventh from Adam.

So it wasn't like Yahweh had really revealed himself.

It wasn't like he met him like he did Moses.

It wasn't like he met him as he did Abraham.

And yet, in Jude 1.14, we find that Enoch, who was seventh from Adam, actually knew God.

He prophesied in Jude 1.14 saying, look, the Lord comes with thousands of holy angels to

judge.

And here was a guy who lived in his times, knew what God was up to, and had the ability

to prophesy.

If you go to Jude 1.14, it says there, Enoch the seventh from Adam prophesied about these

men.

See the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones or his holy angels

to judge everyone and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in

the ungodly way and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

And it gives you just a quick clip of what life was pre-flood.

And then, strangely enough, he names his son Methuselah, and the word Methuselah basically

means at his death, it will come.

At his death, it will come, or at his death, it will be released, or at his death, it will

erupt.

That's what it means, the word Methuselah.

And he names his son Methuselah, almost predicting the flood that is to come that will fulfill

this prophecy.

So for a guy who was seventh from Adam, it's fascinating that he knew God the way he did.

And then if you go to Genesis 5.24, Genesis 5.24, you'll find that it says there that

Enoch lived 365 years and he walked in close fellowship with God.

Enoch lived 365 years and he walked in close fellowship with God.

Depends on the version you're reading.

And then it says, and then one day, he was simply gone, God took him.

And then one day, he was simply gone, God took him.

So he lives for 365 years, he walked in close fellowship with God.

How?

How did this guy have the ability to?

When there was not yet a revelation of who Yahweh was or who God was, how did he know?

At least Abraham had an advantage.

Jacob had an advantage.

God would turn up in some form or the other.

And so Enoch lived 365 years, walking in close fellowship with God.

And then one day, he was simply gone, God took him.

Here's the crazy thing though, guys.

To answer the question how, Enoch was a great, great, great grandson of Seth.

the boy born to Adam and Eve after Cain murders Abel and Cain is thrown out into the wilderness.

And when Enoch was born, Adam was still alive.

When Enoch died, his great, great, great, great grandfather Seth was still alive.

Not Enoch died, when Enoch was taken.

God got his revelation of who God was from Adam.

It's fascinating that this man who walked with God got his revelation of who God was

from the first man who walked with God, pre-fall.

What were the stories like?

When you actually look at how long Adam lived, you suddenly find out that Enoch was alive

when Adam was alive.

Adam dies before Enoch is taken.

Enoch was around when Seth was alive.

Seth was the first son after Cain and Abel of Adam.

Seth must have told him what it was like.

But he gets a straight download from the man who walked with God pre-fall in perfect Eden.

And then it is said of him in Genesis 5, 24, that he walked with God too, till he was

not.

Any questions before we go on?

Genesis 5, 24, these are the scriptures we just called out.

When Enoch is taken, his great, great, great, great grandfather Seth is alive.

Enoch surely would have had conversations with Adam on pre-fall accounts of God walking

with them in Eden.

I mean, wouldn't you?

If you met someone who was perhaps one of the guys who went to the moon, just so happens

that Neil Armstrong is your great grandfather, or some famous guy, wouldn't you sit and talk

to him?

It would be so many conversations about seeing God real.

He would walk with them.

What was it like?

So on one hand, there's that, and then on the other hand, we've got to think of it this

way, guys.

What is it like if someone sits with you?

To hear your stories about the God who is as alive in you as he was then, what is it

like?

One of the things God's really interested in is representation.

That's what he's really interested in.

Why does he tell us not to sin?

He tells us not to sin because he wants to be represented well, and he wants you to represent

him as he is.

And what is he?

He is holy.

So represent me well because I live in you and you are holy.

His mind is not on sin.

His mind is on representation.

Can you represent me?

Will it be said of you and I that some people, when they come and sit with us, they leave

saying, man, that was like sitting with God?

How crazy would that be the day that happens?

So representation is precious to God, eh?

What is it like when people come and sit with you?

What stories do you tell them?

And then we go to Hebrews 11, and that's where we'll start what we want to talk about today.

It says, it was by faith, it was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without

dying.

It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying.

He disappeared because God took him.

He disappeared because God took him.

He disappeared because God took him.

We know on the basis, we know on the basis, I'm just quoting scripture, we know on the

basis of reliable testimony, we know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he

was translated, before he was translated to the heavenly realms, I'm just putting different

versions together, heavenly realm, his life had become, I love this next line, had become

a pleasure to God.

So it was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying.

He disappeared because God took him.

We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was translated to the heavenly

realm, his life had become a pleasure to God.

And it's from this place that now the writer of Hebrew makes the Hebrews 11, 6 statement

that we are so aware of, that without faith it is impossible to please God.

Hebrews 6 comes out of the context of verse 5.

Now listen, there was a man called Enoch.

He by faith lived a certain way that brought pleasure to God and then one day he was not.

And so Hebrews 11, 6 draws out of the context of Hebrews 11, 5 where it says without faith

it is impossible to please God.

And that's what we'll be looking at.

How do you enjoy God and what does faith have to do with it?

We've been talking about this for the last four weeks, eh?

If you listened last week, we were talking about how it is impossible to long for someone

unless you are loved.

It is impossible to long for someone unless you are loved.

It is impossible to say what David said.

That oh Lord, you are my God, early will I seek you, my soul thirsts for you, my body

longs for you like a man who's caught in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

That kind of longing cannot happen unless one is loved.

You can only long for something when you're loved by someone.

You can only long for someone when you're loved by someone.

Longing is a result of being loved.

If longing is a result of being loved, then it is critical that I learn how to actually

taste what it is to be loved by God.

Because if I don't know what it is to be loved by God, and it can't be a spiritual thing,

because David can't say what he said if it was a spiritual thing.

And so it's important that I know what it is to be loved by God.

And when I begin to be loved by God, I begin to long for him.

That's what we were talking about last week.

It's the same with your spouse.

It's the same with your child.

Any child that is loved by his parents, longs for his parents.

Any spouse that is loved by a husband or wife will long for the spouse.

Because when you are loved, you long.

One of the things that is so sad about us as Christians is we do not know what it is

to be tangibly loved by God.

Spiritually, yes.

What about emotionally?

What about mentally?

What about the longing of the heart?

Body, soul, spirit.

How does it react?

How does it leap up?

We don't know.

And so the best we can do is 30 minutes of worship.

And yet we know it in every other human relationship.

We know it with dogs.

Cats, no.

We need to have a talker file.

So Hebrews 11 6 says it's impossible to please God without faith.

That's what Hebrews 11 6 says.

And based on what we've been doing over the last three weeks, I want to add it and put

it this way.

It's impossible to please God without faith and without enjoying him.

And that I suggest is the definition of intimacy.

It is impossible to please God without faith and without enjoying him.

It's impossible.

How can I please God without these two things?

It's impossible to please him without faith.

And we'll talk about that.

And without enjoying him.

How can you please him without enjoying him?

You must enjoy him.

But how do you join someone if you don't long for the person?

How do you long for the person if you don't know that they love you?

How do you receive their love if I don't have the time to sit and receive their love?

Let me say that again.

It's a simple equation, but we find it so hard to practice this.

How do I enjoy someone?

How do I long for someone if I'm not loved?

How do I enjoy someone if I'm not loved?

But if the person loves me, how do I receive their love if I don't spend time?

And at the end of the day, this idea of waiting on God, this idea of lingering,

this idea of David saying, I'd rather be here as a sentinel than anywhere else in the world,

these are thoughts that will not happen in my life unless there is time.

And I know we go over this every week for the last four weeks,

but it doesn't make much of a difference, guys.

Because we still don't have time.

And someone asked a question, I don't know who it was, they asked a question,

so how do you create this time?

Simple, you create time through prioritizing.

Anything you prioritize, you have time for.

But, pardon?

Yeah, anything you value or you prioritize, you have time for.

And if that's the case, how do I prioritize God?

It comes back to the same thing.

Can you begin to taste him?

When you taste him, you find that you will prioritize him.

Without tasting, there is no prioritizing.

This is why David and others in this, Paul in Ephesians 1.18,

David many times in the Psalms keeps saying,

guys, taste and see, taste and see, taste and see, taste and see.

Sometimes taste and see in a corporate setting,

sometimes taste and see in your personal setting,

sometimes taste and see, but being childlike.

And we can talk about that.

One of the things that's so critical to our existence is awe and wonder.

When I look at Judah, when I look at Joey,

sometimes when I look at Vibi, where's Vibi?

He's down there?

He's outside.

Vibi is another guy.

He's grown up, but he's got awe and wonder.

He's got such curiosity.

It's a precious quality, guys.

If I want anything from Vibi, it's definitely not his looks or his height.

I have that.

There he comes.

But there's awe and wonder.

It's precious.

And without that, this thing is very hard to get to.

And so how do you create time?

You create time by prioritizing.

How do you prioritize?

By tasting.

And God spreads out banquets, taste, what do you call those things

when you go taste a whole...

tasting menus.

Yeah, all those things.

Basically, a table full of nice little coffee mugs and wine glasses

that you can taste from and you say, oh, this is good.

God does this every day.

Every day, he gives us an opportunity to sit at his banqueting table

and say, hey, do you want to taste and see how good I am?

Who is interested in doing this?

He.

There's nobody else who wants this so badly like him.

Every morning, Psalm 23, you prepare a table for me.

Every morning.

Every morning.

And if I taste and see, if I have time to taste and see,

this is not a cereal breakfast.

They quickly throw something.

No.

The only thing I spend time on every morning is cleaning my coffee machine.

Because that is important.

You clean it, you get amazing coffee.

You should taste and see.

You taste my coffee, you'll get hair on your chest.

The point being, it is...

Tony's been trying this, but nothing's happened here.

So the point being, guys, taste and see.

Taste and see.

When you taste and see, you can prioritize.

When you prioritize, you create time.

When you create time, you are loved.

When you are loved, you can long for.

Once you start longing for, you run towards it.

Once you run towards it, you begin to enjoy it.

And you do all this by faith because you're dealing with an invisible God

who can absolutely, absolutely be tangibly loving.

To say that it's not possible, why is it that you miss your wife

when she goes away?

Why does your dog miss you when you are away?

Who do you think created those happenings, those feelings?

He's a God who can do this.

We must explore this.

Because these are the stories we get to tell.

This kid thinks the church is his.

No, Remy, don't worry about it.

I was just kidding.

Guys, what story can we tell others than this?

They should envy us, man.

We are supposed to show the world what it is for man to be in relationship with God.

Not how you get into heaven.

What it is for man to be in relationship with God.

Okay.

One of the problems with faith and trust is that when it comes to God,

and even when it comes to your spouse or someone that you want to marry,

to trust or to have faith requires abandon.

And without this, neither is really complete.

And this is the same with God and with people.

To trust with abandon is scary.

To trust with abandon is scary because it's actually fearful,

a fearful, scary thing to do.

But it's vital for intimacy.

It requires completing other serenities.

It requires you letting go.

I love the word abandon.

Because it's even more real.

So abandon is vital for intimacy.

It's not a requisite for functionality.

And so I say to couples here that perhaps need to look at things again.

I don't have any of you in mind.

But think of it this way.

But think of it this way.

You can be a highly functional spouse without being intimate,

but you cannot be an intimate spouse without abandon.

The scary thing about abandoning yourself is that it requires trust,

and there is the likelihood that you may be let down,

that you may be hurt again.

But it is impossible to step into any kind of intimacy

with any human relationship without abandon.

I was watching a guy on TV talk about how when he walks down the street,

he always carries seven or eight one dollar bills in his pocket.

Because he says his attitude to life is give.

And so as he walks to his office, he carries these dollars in his wallet

and when he meets people, he starts handing them out.

He says he doesn't care whether he's going to be exploited or not.

He doesn't look at someone and say,

are you going to use this money for good or are you going to use it for bad?

Are you going to get drunk? Are you going to buy drugs?

He says it is well possible that a guy may exploit him.

It is well possible that the guy may take his whole wallet.

But he says when you get to heaven,

God is not going to say to you,

well done good and faithful servant,

you were shrewd most of the time and you didn't get dipped.

He's going to say, well done good and faithful servant,

you were exploited 50 to 60% of the time,

but the 40% of the time that you weren't exploited,

their lives changed.

He said your attitude should be one of give.

And so he takes these dollar notes and then he gives it to someone

and after giving it, he says, can I have three minutes of your time?

And I thought, yeah, of course.

And then you'll tell him about Jesus.

No, he doesn't tell them about Jesus.

He gives them the money and says, can I have three minutes of your time?

And he knows the names and the stories of everyone

who sits down that road over a period of weeks

because he wants to know them before he tells them about Christ.

These are attitudes to life,

where when it comes to relationships,

can I get to a place where there's a degree of abandon?

You can't do it with everybody.

But with the ones that matter and with ones like your spouse,

this is critical even if

you've had bad experiences in the past.

Jacob, that's too extreme a demand.

Hey, Christ placed it on you, not me.

You should have chosen to be single and happy, otherwise.

Which is possible too.

Moving on.

Otherwise, our relationships will be functional.

They will not be intimate.

And people can thrive on functional relationships

because everything is working.

But it's not how God wants it.

Faith is critical to enjoying God.

Faith is critical to enjoying God.

Faith is critical to enjoying God.

And it often...

Why do we say that?

Why is faith critical to enjoying God?

Because in difficult circumstances,

in difficult circumstances,

can you still...

know his presence?

Can you still know his presence?

Can you still trust him through the day?

Can you still look for him and find him?

This is why we go back to being children.

What do children do in difficult circumstances?

They immediately look for the presence of their parents.

They immediately start looking to find.

They immediately start trusting.

Faith is critical to enjoying God.

Because circumstances will challenge you

to abandon enjoying God.

And the moment I stop enjoying God,

I'm on my own and I would not know what to do.

To relish God in trouble

is the greatest sacrifice you can give him.

To relish God in the middle of trouble,

things are breaking down.

Money is low.

Body is not working well.

Friends are abandoning you.

Tomorrow looks bleak.

And in the middle of that,

you begin to enjoy the only one

who has the ability and the answer

to everything for tomorrow.

To enjoy him.

You're not even enjoying him for an answer.

You're enjoying him simply because of who he is.

Because you have so thoroughly begun to taste him

that you can't imagine life without him.

This is how children are.

Children require practice.

Children practice, you know.

And then they fall out of practice.

Oh, what a shame that our children grow up into people.

Children practice this.

These are the stories then we can tell

of what it is to walk with God every day in Eden.

One of the tricks that I use every morning

I start with me hearing God say,

I am right here, son.

I have not gone anywhere.

It makes it so easy to find him if you believe this.

This is why we require faith to find God and to enjoy him.

Every day I start with,

not, oh God, I come to you.

It's from the place that I'm right here, son.

I have not gone anywhere.

And then why go through a song and a dance

to get connected to him?

He's right there.

I haven't gone anywhere.

Well then if you're here,

surely I can start speaking immediately.

And start speaking genuinely.

And start speaking without praise and worship.

It's not even our father who art in heaven.

I'm right here, son.

Christ brought God down.

All brought us up.

Whichever you want to choose.

Both are true.

When you don't feel like you can connect,

when the heart is struggling and striving

to make a connection with him,

because of sin or because of just sleep

or because of lack of sleep,

it doesn't matter what.

I am right here, son.

I haven't gone anywhere.

You saved so much time, eh?

Any questions before we move on?

Any questions?

I'm not sure if you're listening.

You might want to...

I feel like you often like to speak

in short, like a kind of simple way.

But what if you have like a complicated problem?

Like how do you know how to address that?

Yeah, so Mark's question is,

God speaks in simple ways,

but if you have a complicated problem,

how do you address that?

I'm saying that there is a teaching

in complicated problems.

But I'm saying, what if your primary concern

is not the complicated problem,

but the amazingly simple God

that you want to completely disappear into?

That's the best way to put it.

Enoch disappeared, right?

Before I deal with the problem,

can I disappear into him?

And once I disappear into him,

it's like a child who's disappeared

into the embrace of his dad or mom.

That place is a place of great safety.

And out of that place of peace,

you look at your problem

and suddenly it's not as complicated anymore.

Because which one do you want to choose today?

God will ask you.

Do you want me to be Nisi, Rafa, Yaira or Shama?

Or Shalom?

Which one do you want?

Because now you're sitting in the embrace of Islam.

This is real, we should try it.

I'm sure Mark has tried it.

I'm sure you've tried it.

But it's just that we don't practice it every day.

Because our usual approach,

and I absolutely agree with Mark,

you get up in the morning

and the first thing you think is of the two problems

that you have to solve that day,

which are critical because if you don't,

you are khalas day after tomorrow.

Khalas is Greek for kaput.

Kaput is German for broken down.

So that's kaput, right?

So what happens then is

what if I don't confront the problem first?

I've said this before,

2 Corinthians 3.18,

whatever you behold, you become like.

Whatever you behold, you become like.

That's a principle you can draw out of 2 Corinthians 3.18.

Whatever you behold, you become like.

Either to your restoration or to your shame.

And so when I wake up in the morning,

what I first behold is critical to the rest of the day.

And when I wake up thinking of the things that I have to do,

the problems that might go worse,

the predicaments that are hanging over my head

like a sword that's going to really perhaps shatter my day.

The more I look at that, the more I become like it.

What if I don't confront the problem first?

What if I don't confront the problem first?

What if I don't confront the problem first?

What if I become like it?

What if I can instead go into the arms of this one

What if I can instead go into the arms of this one

who has the ability to take me in?

Once I do that, everything else becomes simple.

But do we have the time for that?

Problem solving is easy,

falling in love is difficult.

Problem solving is easy,

falling in love is difficult.

One requires methods,

the other requires time.

I have time for methods,

but I don't have a method

to find time for this thing of being intimate.

to find time for this thing of being intimate.

Please change, if not for yourself,

for the ones that are going to come

who will ask, what was it to walk with God in the garden?

who will ask, what was it to walk with God in the garden?

We all have enough faith to locate God, guys.

We all have enough faith to locate God, guys.

All you need is a simple statement like this

or any statement you can write down

or any statement you can write down

based on the promises of God.

What promise is this based on?

You want to take Matthew 28.20?

You want to take Matthew 28.20?

Lo, I'm behold, I'm with you till the end of the ages.

You want to take Isaiah 40?

I will carry you like a shepherd carries his lamb in his arms.

I will carry you like a shepherd carries his lamb in his arms.

There are 100 promises that are in the Bible.

There are 100 promises

and a thousand hallelujahs for this one.

I'm right here, son.

But put it in your own words.

Be, be Davidic.

Be, be a psalmist.

Put it in your own words.

Start with that.

Because all of us have faith to locate him.

Because all of us have faith to locate him.

If you're a believer

you have enough faith

to locate God

every morning.

Every morning.

Believe he is present.

Believe he is present

based on the statement that you come up with.

These are very simple ways.

Believe he is present

and your mind

will open up

to him

and what he wants to do.

Try it, guys. It works.

At any hint of trouble

to answer Mark's question

at any hint of trouble

burrow a seed.

Burrow a seed.

Burrow a seed.

Burrow a seed.

Burrow, I know I spelled trouble wrong.

Burrow, but it's too much work

to correct it.

Burrow deeper

into the nature

of God.

Like, you know, kids do this, eh?

You'll ask the kid to come and

lie down with you in bed

as a mom and dad

and the kid will just crawl in.

Like, there's enough space. It's a big bed.

But if someone wants to crawl into that

tiny little space, they burrow in.

Learn how to burrow into God.

It's called another word for burrow.

A Christian word for burrow is abiding.

But burrowing sounds so much more real.

Burrow into God.

As soon as trouble comes, burrow into God.

These are the things that are habits.

These are the things that are habits.

Because one of the things Satan always does

is can I remove him from the rest

of his father's embrace

by creating situations

that will cause him to flail

and not rest.

And from that place,

you look at solutions. You don't look at solutions from outside.

Enjoy him

and then look at solutions.

It takes time.

We are instant cravers with God.

One of the things God often does

is that he commits you to a process.

In the

in the

in the sequence of how he'll rescue you,

he'll commit you to a process.

He'll say, listen, I can rescue you in an instant

and I know I've done that before

and that's what you want now.

But I'm saying to you, I'm committing you to a process.

During that process, I'll keep you.

But during that process, you will learn what it is

to be in relationship with me.

Again and again and again,

you take Israel,

you take Moses, you take David,

you take Noah, you take any of those guys.

God could have done what he did in a second

but he chooses not to because he commits you

to a process and in committing you to

the process, now he says,

I will keep you. I am Israel's

keeper. I know how to keep you.

While you're being kept, I

will show you who I am

and who you can be simply through

relationship. So son, please walk with me.

I desperately want to teach you because I

got only one aim in your life and that aim

is, can I make you like

Jesus? It's his only aim.

Can I make you like

Jesus?

Even Jesus was committed to

process. God will do

this again and again and every so often,

for the fun of it, he'll say,

no process this time.

Do something instantly.

You do that with your children.

You commit them to process. My dad

would commit me to process every time I had

an algebra problem.

Just drive me nuts. Just give me the answer.

And algebra never helps

you in life, just so you know.

These are facts of life.

When he commits you to process,

when he commits you to process,

and

two things happen.

One, you see

what his life is like.

And two,

your confidence begins to

surge.

Your confidence begins to surge.

And three,

you end up standing

in the place

God wants you to.

And four,

you will not

bend till

he releases you.

That's the kind of guys God wants.

Sorry?

Are you asking me?

No.

Go ahead.

Sorry?

I was talking about

algebra.

I didn't say answers don't help us

in life, so I'm contradicting

you on that one. I was saying

I wish he would just give me answers in algebra.

It would have been much easier.

My life would have been far more pleasant as a child

if I had answers in math.

But otherwise, my dad did a great job

sometimes giving me answers,

and sometimes not giving me answers because he would commit me to

process.

Sometimes when I teach, it will be

hard sometimes for me to cover everything,

so there will be sentences like this,

which you will have to parse and say,

I know Jacob, I know what he really means.

That simplifies everything. Cool?

I will never touch algebra in a message again.

When he commits you to process, you see what his life is like.

Your confidence begins to surge.

You end up standing in the place God wants you to.

You will not bend till he releases you.

Guys, next year,

Feb, will be 20 years of Acts 29.

I can't believe

we've been around for 20 years and yet

we are less than 100 people.

This is our first time in the world.

We are the first

people to be in the world.

This is our first time in the world.

We exemplo,

we have been around for 20 years and yet we are less than 100 people.

This is a highly unsuccessful church

and a terribly unsuccessful pastor.

20 years and you've got 100 people.

Sorry?

Not even 100, thank you.

I mean,

thanks.

If I needed confidence

and a morale boost,

I will turn to you, Mae, every time.

Not even 100 people after.

Sorry, go ahead, Marie.

We should add online.

Yeah, we should add online.

Thank you, Marie. You are welcome in this church.

So,

sorry, Brandon,

you were saying something?

Did anyone ask you?

Did anyone ask you?

Did anyone ask you?

My God.

Tough crowd.

Yeah, so,

thank you. No, Vignesh, I'm not letting you speak.

Yeah, but the thing is,

over 20 years,

God has committed us to

a process where anybody here

has the ability

to go and stand and start things.

Anyone who's been here

for a sufficient amount of time

can go stand and start things.

It's slow building, but you perpetuate

what you learn, eh?

You perpetuate what you learn. Really.

If 98 of us disappeared

and were raptured, and you two were the only ones left,

you could go and start this again.

There would be questions as to why you were not

raptured. That's different.

But,

it would still hold

that you could start this again.

Yeah, and that's what happens

during process. What happens during process

is you see what his life is like.

Your confidence begins to surge.

You end up standing in a place where God

wants you to. You will not bend till he

releases you. You're able to perpetuate it.

That's something

that happens.

As in, just

because opposition comes, you won't

chicken out.

Yeah. You can stand for long.

Endurance is a quality that God

builds into you when he commits you

to process and you don't

walk off.

Next,

you need faith

to savor.

You need faith

to savor

and be filled

with

awestruck wonder.

Oi, Joey!

What did you do to him, Aaron?

You don't want to know?

Faith to savor

and be filled with awestruck wonder.

Yeah?

This needs faith too.

If

you don't taste God with the same

awe and wonder that comes

with childlikeness,

it is not

possible to enjoy God.

Ask God,

Father, could you give me childlike

simplicity? Ask God.

Can you give me childlike

simplicity again?

It's one of the things

that gets lost

as we get older as Christians.

Childlike simplicity.

The awe and wonder.

I love that song.

Worthy is the lamb that

was slain. There's a verse that says

filled with wonder.

Yeah, filled with wonder.

Ostruck wonder at the

mention of your name.

Of your name.

Worthy is the

lamb who was

slain.

Holy, holy

is he.

Sing a new song

to him

who sits on

heaven's

mercy seat.

Lamb who was slain.

Him who sits on

heaven's mercy seat.

Do you remember the Ark of the Covenant

and the two angels and there was a thing

called the mercy seat?

Awe and wonder.

Where we don't skip over things.

You pause, you look.

Holy, holy,

holy

is the Lord God Almighty

who was

who was and is

and is to come.

With all

creation I sing

praise to

the King of Kings.

You are my

everything and I

will adore

you.

Adoration needs childlike simplicity, man.

Filled with wonder.

Ostruck wonder

had the mention

of your name.

Jesus, your

mispower.

Breath and living

water.

Such a marvelous

mystery.

Holy,

holy, holy

is the Lord God

Almighty

who was and is

and is to come.

With all creation

I sing

praise to

the King of Kings.

You are my

everything and I

will adore

you.

You know the strange thing is

because of our busyness

we rush our

children to

the church.

We rush our children to

from times of awe

and wonder.

Gotta go, gotta go.

There was a time when life wasn't

busy. When there were no

microwaves, no cell phones.

Things that are supposed to make it easier.

And there was time

for your child to play with mud.

Make a paper boat.

And now we rush them.

You lose

childlikeness when you don't have time.

There's one thing that we can draw

out of all these teachings

we've done over four weeks. It's

can I create time?

We'll go back to that diagram one

last time before we finish.

If I create time

there's awestruck wonder.

I find it fascinating when I meet couples

that have been together for 20 years

and they're still quite fascinated

at discovering something about the other

person. Oh I found a mole

on your left wrist.

Didn't know that for the last 20 years.

I get very excited

about it too.

Faith to savor and be

filled with awestruck wonder.

Don't you find Vibi like this?

I find him quite simple, quite intrigued

by little things.

Yeah, Zia and Vibi live together.

Yeah.

Or Judah.

It's a beautiful thing guys.

Cry for it eh?

He is like this.

God is like this.

We're not asking to be childish.

We're not asking to be babies. We're asking to be

like Christ.

Oh and wonder.

Childlikeness.

Do you see why he says stuff

like unless you become like a

child you cannot enter into

the kingdom of God.

He doesn't want intimacy. He doesn't want

functionality first. He wants intimacy

first then functionality.

Like I said last time,

what would you prefer? A spouse

who is highly functional first

and not intimate or a spouse

who is intimate first and then

functional.

Duh.

What do you think Christ wants?

A bride who is highly functional?

Or a bride who is intimate first

and then functional?

And if we don't craft that here on earth

what are we building? What are we drawing

people into? Into a well functioning,

smooth functioning church?

What does that do to your heart?

It makes it beat well but it doesn't

go boom boom boom.

It should be. Your heart should

do that every time you're intimate.

It used to happen to you when you used to

sit on your bike.

Same thing.

It's called atrial

tachycardial fibrillation.

You wouldn't understand that.

Often what happens is

we get

jaded.

Intrude.

Self protective.

Afraid.

Over analytical.

And in the process

we lose out

on childlikeness.

Childlikeness, another word for childlikeness

is transparency.

How do we fix this?

Learn to translate

your insecurity

into

vulnerability towards

God.

Learn to translate your insecurity

into vulnerability

towards God.

That's what kids do.

That's what kids do.

Every time they're insecure,

as they grow up they begin to pretend

but every time a kid is insecure,

what do they do? They immediately take

that insecurity, translate it

into vulnerability and run

to their parents.

How cool would it be if we did that?

How cool would it be if spouses did that?

Learn to translate your insecurity

into vulnerability towards

God. Father, I'm really

scared about.

Let's end.

If you want to enjoy God

you can't enjoy God

if you don't

rest from your works.

You can't

and you can't please God

without resting

in his works.

The day I actually get the hang

of this will be a great day.

You can't enjoy God

if you don't rest from your works.

The moment you rest from striving,

the moment you rest from trying

to make it happen, the moment you rest

from the machinations and the conflicts

in your head, the moment you rest

from that, that is when you get

to the beginning of

enjoying God.

You can't enjoy God

till you rest from your works.

Yeah, yeah, totally.

But I'm a more half

empty, negative kind of guy

so I thought I'll go with this.

I'm kidding. You can't

enjoy God

if you don't rest from your works.

If you don't rest from

your works, you can't.

It's a curse of mankind.

We still try to

try to enjoy God

but we can't

enjoy God

because of mankind. We still try to

earn a living

by the sweat of our brow.

It was a curse.

And so in everything, in relationships,

in everything we do, we are still doing that.

Some of you guys who are students here,

I mean, this is

the definition of your life.

Thank God that

you've arrived here. Now, take on a different

focus, man.

There are so many expectations

placed on you.

There are so many obligations that you've taken on.

There are so many responsibilities

that you feel you can't

back off from.

There are so many people who are looking forward

to what will happen. There's so much

money invested in you and now you're

crushed under its weight.

Now all you do is strive, strive, strive,

work, work, work, work, and you

cannot enjoy God except when

he does a miracle.

Where some of the fees paid or

somehow you get good marks or somehow

nah.

You, forget

students, take

grown-ups like me.

You can't enjoy God if you don't rest from

your works. From your own

striving, unlimited

self-effort,

sweat, machinations,

conflict of mind,

till I withdraw from that.

Psalm 131

Psalms 131:2

verse 2. Beautiful words.

Read it from different versions.

It says, I am like a child

that is weaned at his mother's breast

and now that I have been weaned

my soul is content.

That's what

it says.

Psalm 131

Psalm

Psalms 131:2

131 verse 2.

Yeah. Psalm 131

Psalms 131:2

verse 2.

Can someone read it?

Here's what it says.

I'm humbled

and quieted in your

presence like a

contented child who rests

on its mother's lap.

I am like a child

who rests on its mother's lap.

I'm your resting child

and my soul is content

in you.

I have calmed and

quieted my soul like a

weaned child with its mother.

Like a weaned child is my soul

within me. This is what I mean by those

two sentences. Say, if you want to enjoy God,

you can't enjoy God if you don't rest

from your works.

Second, you can't please God

without resting in his works.

You can't please God.

As in, you can't bring in pleasure

unless you begin to say,

Oh God, I'll do what you

want me to do and nothing else.

Enjoying and pleasing

both require faith.

The second part is you can't

please God without resting

in his works.

Without resting in his works.

You can't please God without resting

in his works. What is faith at the end

of the day? Faith is finding out what God

wants to do and then doing it.

It's his works. How do you want

me to take down Jericho? Watch around it

seven days.

How do you want me to retrieve

the axe head? Throw a stick

where the axe had sunk.

How do you want it to

deal with this snake that's around

my arm? Shake it off.

How do you want me to feed

five thousand? Bring the bread,

lift it up to God, pray,

watch it multiply.

How do you want me to open the Red Sea? Stretch out

your stuff. It's absurd.

It's absurd. It goes against

all grain of thinking, which is why

he says, you cannot please me

if you

do not rest in my

works and do it my way

as I tell you to. In that,

I'm highly pleased and without faith,

it is impossible to please me

and faith is just doing what he wants

you to do. It is partnering him

in his action.

And I've said this before, we are

taught right from when we were kids that

you do your best, God will do the rest.

That is a lie from the pit of hell.

And the reason I say lie from the pit

of hell, because it has been

so ingrained in us and we teach that

to our children. You do your rest, God

will do the best. It's a lie.

What God says is,

I'll do my best, you just

go into rest and wake up when I tell

you to wake up and do exactly what I tell you to do

and not an iota more.

How crazy is that?

You want to see rest?

Watch Joshua.

What kind of strategy is that for war?

You enjoy God and you please God.

It's a habit, we are creating

habits.

Yeah, why do we gravitate towards

when the

words are so simple, be still and know that

I am God, why do we gravitate towards other

things? The three main

reasons would be, be still and know that

I am God requires

not doing anything.

And that is difficult. Second,

be still and know that I am God

requires knowing what he wants you to do.

And sometimes we can't hear.

And third, be still

and know that I am God requires

that you do not listen to

the people around you who

are begging you to be more responsible.

Classic example,

Mark chapter 6, there's a boat,

Mark 6 · chapter mention

the boat is filling up with water.

There are 12 fishermen and one carpenter.

The carpenter is asleep.

They don't want to disturb him because they know

this guy is highly capable and could be the messiah.

At some point

as the boat begins to sink, they wake him

up. And what is their cry to him?

It's a very polite cry.

But it is, carest thou not

that we are about

to die?

That's what they say

because at some point it gets to you.

And then Jesus has to wake up

and has to do what he did.

He didn't need to do it.

That boat would have reached the shore

because Jesus said

we will go there. It would have.

But it scares the heck out of you, man.

And then people begin to put pressure.

These are the three reasons

why I panic.

I wish we could get to a place where we

feel the fear come.

I feel the fear come, but

I'm not afraid.

These are the three main reasons I fail.

One, be still and know that I am God.

What?

You have no idea how deadlines here on Earth

work.

Two,

be still and know that I am God. What do you want me to do?

I sometimes can't hear.

I sometimes read the scriptures

and there's nothing that's coming out of me saying do this.

And it is required.

Remember what it says

in Hebrews chapter 4.

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

If you don't mix hearing

with believing,

you will not enter into rest.

Hearing, believing

and obedience is critical to enter into rest.

So I can't hear.

And the third one is when you begin to put pressure

on me saying Jacob, you've got to be

responsible. You've got to do this. You've got to do that.

How are you going to do this? This is terrible.

And then it's like

And then you lose some hair here

and some hair here.

And that's why

we panic. What if we didn't?

This is why it says of David,

David entered into his stronghold.

It's a very

cool place to go to. Not too many

people who don't, not too many people

then get to say things

that will panic you.

You know who Enoch's

great grandson was?

Yep.

Enoch's great grandson was Noah.

You know what Noah means?

Crazy, eh?

Enoch's son's name was Methuselah

which means at his death

it will come.

Methuselah lived the longest.

If you want to, yeah,

yeah, it's not a good name for your child.

Methuselah lived the longest.

But

Methuselah had a son and his son's name

was Noah. And Noah then brings

rest after the flood.

Off?

What does Enoch mean?

Let's ask Nellie.

Nellie, you've been doing

Hebrew at Regent. What does the word Enoch mean?

Maria, I don't know.

Yeah.

I can find out but I don't know.

But I could

share a knock-knock joke with you.

Knock-knock, who's there?

E. E who? Enoch.

No, okay.

Okay.

Okay.

No, okay.

Sorry, as I get older these

dad jokes begin to come up.

Let's stop.

What does rest do?

It

moves

from striving

and

it moves from

striving to

letting

the promises of God,

the covenants of God,

the word of God,

the rama of God,

the nature of God

to go to work

for me

while I rest

and do

only

what

he asks.

This is a

hard

discipline to learn.

It's a hard

discipline to learn.

Can I move from striving

to letting the promises he's given me,

letting the covenant that he's established

with me and with the earth

and with the church,

with people, with people groups,

can I let his word

and the

just the simple faithfulness to the

word that he has, can I let

the rama that he gives,

where it's specific to you,

can I let the nature

of God, kind,

gentle, loving, loyal,

intentional, can I let his

nature, can I let all this go

to work for me while I

lean back and rest

and do only

what he asks me to

in every area

of life. Can I do this?

When I do this,

then we

end up here.

Here.

You can't

enjoy God. You begin to enjoy

God. You

begin to enjoy

God, cause

you rest

from your works

and you begin

to please God,

cause

you are

resting in his works.

And what do you need for this?

Faith.

And so then we have faith,

pleasing God,

and enjoying

God come together.

And that

is what intimacy

looks like. When a couple

can please each other.

Just imagine me

let's take Sheldon

and Jane. What if Sheldon

decides that he'll do

everything in his power to please Jane?

What if Sheldon also decides

that he

will learn to enjoy

Jane?

And what if he decides that

doesn't matter whether she's having a good day or a bad day,

doesn't matter whether we're both having a good day

or a bad day, doesn't matter whether it's rain or shine,

that I have enough

trust in her

to abandon myself in a way

to her, where I have faith

that even if things go wrong, they'll be

sorted out. Now you have

a couple that know how to walk together.

I feel like I'm in a marriage seminar right now.

Let's visit that

last one.

Yeah.

This week,

like last week, taste and see.

How do you start?

Don't go looking for him. Start with the

line where he says to you,

I'm right here.

I haven't gone anywhere. Start there.

Once you do,

taste and see.

To taste and see, you'll need

time. Create time. Please, please, please.

Taste and see.

When you taste and see, you will prioritize.

When you prioritize, you'll create time.

When you create time, you

will learn to be loved by him. When you

are loved by him, you will long

for him. When you long for him, you will

run towards him. When you run towards him,

you'll begin to enjoy him. Once you begin

to enjoy him, you mix it with faith.

And then you begin to walk with him

like Adam did.

Any questions, guys?

Okay. My question

to you. Is there anything impractical in this?

Anything impractical?

Anything that is

just fantasy and is not real?

Yep.

What is the best way to

let's say,

to really learn from the

A-con and spend a lot of time

learning from the A-con

and spend a lot of time

in every area of your life?

Yeah. 24 hours, don't even try.

Try 24 minutes.

Really.

I don't

think if you aim at

24 hours, this will work. Take 24 minutes.

And start with 24 minutes.

And say, Father,

I just want to start

with 24 minutes.

What does it look like? Taste and see. Taste and see

what, God? I don't even know what that means.

Yeah. It's not doing

nothing. It's doing what he asks you to.

And if he doesn't ask you to do anything,

be still. It's a

crazy way of living.

Jesus does nothing in the boat.

Jesus does nothing

when Lazarus is dead.

He just waits for orders.

So in a sense, we are doing

nothing. But we are so ingrained

that we got to do something. We got to do something.

That silence kills you.

So it's not doing nothing.

This is the meaning of the word waiting.

When your wife is arriving at

YVR, and you

haven't seen her for four months,

like Tuni,

and you're wasting away

because you haven't eaten.

And so Anilay has now arrived at the airport,

and Tuni is waiting there.

And like

he's not very tall, and there are tall

people in front of him, and he's craning.

He's looking.

That's what waiting is like.

It's not inactive, it's not passive.

It is so active.

It is so active. It's the same thing that

one does when one is looking for

pleasure, or looking for someone that's lost,

or kids looking for each other when they play hide and seek.

It's that kind of waiting.

If you ask, what are you doing? I'm running around

looking for something.

It doesn't seem like much.

But my God, if you were in Tuni's heart

that day,

you would hear

atrial tachycardial fibrillation.

You would hear it.

So when we think of nothing,

it's a whole different nothing. We think it's like

this. No, it's full of anticipation.

Full of anticipation.

You should watch eagles.

They seem to be doing nothing.

A couple of crows

running after them, trying to bite them, and they're just

circling. And you think to yourself,

these guys are doing nothing. They're not doing nothing,

man. They're looking for a thermal

current.

And they just know how to feel

it with their wings. And they're suddenly

located. And the moment they're located,

these crows are like

eh.

Because these things enter the thermal current, and within

seconds they're high up.

We are not

talking about waiting by doing nothing.

It's looking for God, man.

It's Bartimaeus

waiting, saying,

Son of David, have mercy on me. They try to quiet him.

He will not quiet down.

Because he is looking for something.

There's so much

anticipation in this.

I love it when sometimes

I'm in a situation and there's no way

out. And I've

gone to every post and pillar and I can't

find help. And now you're in

Peniel.

And in Peniel, you may be wrestled

to the ground, but you will not let go. Because

without a name change, God ain't going nowhere.

So I will look for you, and I will stay

through the night. Because come morning,

even if I have a limp, I will go with

a new name and what I want.

So put up your fists, Nick.

That's what God is saying to Jacob

at Peniel. Hey,

put your fists up. I'm not here to give you

an answer. I'm here to fight you.

I'm here to change you.

That's what we are

talking about.

Guys put themselves through this every day.

I mean, you should go to one of these football fields.

They've got these big bags

that you throw yourself against.

Fifty times a day.

You ask me, they're doing nothing.

They're just trying to pulverize a pillow

that won't be pulverized. But out of that

comes strength.

That's what we are talking about. So to answer

your question, Nick,

it is not nothing.

It is so filled with anticipation.

You would think before Derek got married to Iris

that he was doing nothing when he would flip through

the website.

He was going through one name after the other

on Shadi.com.

It seemed like he was just flipping.

He wasn't.

That wasn't doing nothing.

Because he knew that when he sees her,

he will know.

And once he knows, he was out of here.

Like I asked him,

Derek, are you still in Vancouver?

He says, up here?

I'm already there.

It's active in here, man.

Let's pray.

Sorry Derek, Iris was out so I thought

I could take the shot at you.

Jesus,

please help us create habits.

This is the fourth week

we are talking about it.

So many things come to mind immediately.

Longing for you.

Enjoying you.

Like friends enjoy friends.

Like lovers enjoy lovers.

Like children enjoy their parents.

Walking intimately with you.

Walking with you.

Walking intimately with you.

Being let into things that

the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit

converse about.

Sometimes things of a global nature.

Sometimes things that are small.

To have an abandon

when it comes to you.

To trust you.

To rest from

just natural self-striving.

Hebrews 4, 10 puts it this way.

Labor

to enter into rest.

You'll have to work at it, Jacob.

So that you don't keep striving

that you'll enter into rest

just as God has entered into rest.

To jump into what you're doing.

Just like the eagle does

with the thermal currents.

Gosh, Lord, there are so many of these

connections.

Perhaps this is why

you endorsed algebra.

Makes all these connections

possible.

I plead

for us, O God.

Not for myself. I don't want to

walk this alone. I want to walk it with

everybody here. I plead for myself

that you would help us to enter

into this virtuous cycle.

That this week

we somehow have the ability

to taste and see.

And when we find it is good

to be able to prioritize

and create time.

Create time for what? To serve you?

No! To be loved, Father!

By who? By you

and the Son and the Spirit.

You said this in the book of Revelation.

We stand at the door and knock.

You open the door and the Father

and Son will come and sup with you.

Jesus, there's nobody

who doesn't want it.

But we don't know it so we don't

crave after it.

This week, can you cause a

craving to begin to arise?

So that at least eight or nine of us

begin to break out and run after this.

And then the rest will follow.

To long after you.

To run towards you.

To enjoy you.

And then tell others

hey, this is what it is

to walk with God.

Gosh, Lord! It's a dream, Father.

Perhaps this is what

revival looks like for some.

Granted, Abba.

In Jesus' name I ask for all of us, yeah?

Amen.

Cool, guys.

If you need prayer, there'll be people here to play with you.

You