Sandals and Crowns - Part 2

Are we live? Oh yeah. Okay guys, so we're going to talk about, it's the second part

of what I started about two weeks ago, sandals and crowns. And we'll go through a bunch of

stuff that I did not get a chance to talk about that day. Plus we'll cover the crowns part. This

teaching is really about a posture that we are supposed to maintain as sons of God. It's a

posture that is demanded of us because we are in the kingdom. It's a posture that we are supposed

to carry on a daily basis. So sandals and crowns, it will touch on both and it's really getting a

sense of on a daily basis Abba, how do you want me to posture so that I am doing what I need to in

the kingdom. See when Jesus resurrected and before his ascension, he talked about one thing

and one thing more than anything else. What was it? Kingdom of God. So the intent that Jesus had

was to really allow us to understand when we live on earth, we've got to be mindful of the kingdom

and this is the thinking that we must have. And if we understand the kingdom and we think about

the kingdom, it's great. But how do we really take all of that and live out our lives daily

so that we align our lives with the heavenly call? That's what we're going to look at today. Now

there are two things. I touched on this earlier. When we are in the kingdom, we can take one or

two positions. I can either be on the sidelines or I can be on the front lines. I can either be

on the sidelines or I can be on the front lines. And the demand that's being placed of us by the

Holy Spirit is for us to be on the front lines of the kingdom because there is a clash of two

kingdoms and the Lord is looking for a people who are ready to be on the front lines of that kingdom.

And it's already in us. The seed is in us. It's about nurturing that which is in us so that we are

readied more and more and we walk and talk and sleep and wake up and eat and work and sleep and

wake up again as men and women of the kingdom. We were talking about this even a couple of nights

ago in one of the meetings. Our father is like this big, huge water tank filled with water and

we try to relate to him one way or the other and more often than not, we relate to him through

the small pipe that's connected to us, our mind. We try to perceive everything that he does,

everything he is able to do, perceive who he is based on the small pipe connection when we rely

on our mind to perceive who he is. But his desire, his yearning for us is for us to recognize that

I'm so big, Derek. I want you to think of me differently. Derek, if you ever put me in the

limits of your mind, then you will never see me fully. Can you begin to see me differently,

Derek? Because I am everything you want me to be and I have a plan for this world, a plan that I am

releasing to you so that you and I, so that we can walk together and accomplish that plan. By the way,

I don't need you but I want you. And are you interested in this, Derek? Because if you can

lay your mind down and the limitations of your mind down, then you can begin to catch me as I am.

Then you'll see me as I am rather than limiting me to the perceptions of your mind. So we started

last week by talking about Moses and we said Moses spent first 40 years in Egypt, next 40 years in

Midian. And 80 years into his life, he has an encounter with God. 80 years, 40 years he spent in

Midian. We talked about the sandals part where in verse five or three, maybe five, God says,

Moses, Moses, Exodus chapter three, remove your sandals off your feet for the place on which,

the ground on which you stand is holy. Moses, Moses, remove the sandals off your feet for the

place on which you stand is holy. And oftentimes we think, well, this is God saying, I don't want

you to come near to me because I'm holy and you're unholy. It's more than that in that, yes, he is a

holy God and yes, he demands holiness of us but he's also a welcoming father who says, I needed to

know this one thing. As you are, there are things in your life that you need to throw away, put behind

you and I welcome you in into my presence because Moses, this is a journey that I'm taking you on.

This is not a one-time thing that I'm welcoming you into. This is day one of the rest of your life.

This is day one for the rest of your life and this is the cry of heaven over us that we see day ones

in our lives. That we begin to wake up certain days and we know it's the birth pain, it's the

beginning of certain things that the father has been dreaming to release to us and we recognize

that in our spirit because it's way beyond our mind and then we say, Abba, I am ready, Abba,

I am willing, pour it out, pour it out as Tuni was singing, pour it out because what I am meant to do,

what you're meant to do is beyond the limitations of our minds. And so when God said, Moses,

leave these sandals away, remove these sandals. One thing, among other things that he was telling

Moses is these sandals carried you throughout your time in Midian. The meaning of the word

Midian is strife or judgment. Here is a man who had big hopes for his future but everything he

did turned out not okay and then he ended up in this land for 40 years. I mentioned this last week

or two weeks ago, he even named his son Gershom meaning I am a sojourner in a foreign land. For

a man to name his son a certain way, you have to know how much he's affected by what had happened

to him. But the father said, I can't have you be like this if I am to send you back to Egypt. I

need you to be different if I am to have you go back. And because of that, lesson number one,

Moses, take the sandals off your feet because the weight that you carried the last 40 years,

the weight of your mistakes, the weight that you carried in the last 40 years, the weight of your

failures, the weight that you carried, the weight of fear because you ran away from a Pharaoh who

was powerful, who is powerful. You ran away from those things and you now live in the land of

Midian. How can I send you back like this? Let me do a work in you. Let me do something in you so

that you are changed as a man and then I'll put everything you need inside you to have you go back

to Egypt. So when God said take the sandals off, it was more than just holiness because we limit

ourselves. Our life sometimes smells like Moses smelled the sandals and the sandals had the smell

of Midian. Our life smells certain things. Our life sometimes smells the places we've been. It

smells failures in the past or from the past. It smells certain things. We are so used to it.

You may be 40 years, 45 years, 35 years, doesn't really matter. There are things that you know

happened in the past that doesn't align with what God says, but you can't escape the truth that it

happened in the past. And for people like us, the Father says, are you willing to take the sandals

off? Are you willing to lay behind the things from the past? Are you willing? Because 35 years you may

have tried everything in your power to be a certain way, but let me show you what the next 35 can look

like with me. The last five years you knew me and you tried your very best to do certain things,

but let me tell you what you and I, when you give into my ways, what that looks like. Why are you

looking around in Midian? Because you don't have anyone in Midian that looks like what you need to

look like. I need you to see what I am showing you. I need you to believe what I have already

spoken over you. And when your heart begins to align with what I have spoken over your life,

and you say yes, yes to my calling on your life, then it doesn't matter what your limitations are.

I need you to know that I am a big father, this water tank full of water that can cleanse anything

and everything away, and I can prepare you for the path that is ahead of you. See, my father,

our father, equips us in his presence. All these things that I talked about in Moses's life were

real things. Joshua probably asked Moses, what did it feel like on encounter day? What did it feel

like for you? He may have said, I was wandering, 40 years of wandering, not really sure where I

was going even though I had a desire in my heart. It was not for the lack of a desire in my heart,

but I did not know I couldn't do it. And then he showed up and his presence equipped me. His

presence equips you and I. His presence equips us. It equips us. Valleys will be made level in him.

Mountains that do not allow you to go forward, move forward, it will be brought down. His

presence equips me. What is it that you're afraid of? What is your Pharaoh? What is your past?

What are your failures? Our God can deal with every one of those things. He did it in Moses's

life and he wants to do it in my life. He wants to do it in your life. See, this is not a one-time

thing that happens when we are born again. This is what he is after every single day of my life.

You can be 50 years after you're born again, but still live with baggage. This isn't about

being born again. This is about surrendering everything that we have inside of us and our

failures and limitations to say, I am prepared to carry these things anymore because I am ready

to now take on what you want of me. I am ready to take on what you have for me. Guys, I really want you to think about your life.

Think about your life. Think. What are these things that we keep hearing on every Sunday after the other?

Running with horses. Hebrides 2.0. Out of Acts 29 will come certain type of people spoken over by, spoken by people who we don't know yet or we don't know.

We came long after that. These prophetic words spoken over the church, the direction in which we are heading, looking for a, and waiting for a global revival.

How do those things align with your life today? Is there a gap? Because what our father is going to do is to bridge the gap between the man and the mission.

Bridge the gap between the woman and the mission. And his presence can do it. When I say, Abba, that looks so far out there.

And I look at my life. Look at this Abba. Do you not know me? I am not able to get there. But you seem to be going there and you seem to be calling me there.

I am not able to. Then he steps in and he says, since when did I ask you to do it alone? My presence is equipping you. My presence will equip you.

My presence doesn't leave you. See for Moses it was different because he had to encounter God like that. For us it's different because he lives inside of us.

The spirit of God lives inside of us. And so as I submit my soul, my thinking, my emotions, my mental capacity, which is limited, as Tuni was saying, then I begin to see more of what the spirit has for me.

The truth is, over this church, over this body, there are so many assignments waiting for us to walk into.

And our father is not a, hey, I have a project that I want you to do kind of father. He is not a professor. Our father is someone who has seen the end from the beginning.

And he has good works that he has prepared for us. He has dreams for his children. He created us in unique ways so that we can be instrumental for his purposes wherever we are, wherever he sends.

And this is true for every single one of us. And the outcry of our father's heart is for us to catch it so that we don't limit ourselves in this.

It's the same for every single one of us. And the thing that happens is when we begin to walk this way, there is another generation who is not here yet.

And some of them are. They're just too little. They can't see and hear these things just yet. They will start from a very new place, a much higher place when it comes to their walk.

There is a reason why we are at the place where we are at at 35 because others walked ahead of us to get us to this place in life when you're at your 20s and you're at your 30s and 40s and 50s.

There is a godly inheritance that we leave behind for those some of those we have seen and some we haven't seen.

And there is this perspective of heaven that we are supposed to have that Abba is releasing certain things to me.

And I can't say no to these things. When I say I'll embrace these things father, even if I don't know it.

And your presence is always equipping. He releases me into those very things that I'm sometimes maybe afraid to jump into.

But then his equipping presence assures me that I've got you and you see what I can do with you.

So his presence is equipping. It equips me. It makes me ready for what my life is about.

So the presence is not just for me to enjoy in my secret place.

It is an equipping presence that launches me into the next orbit of his purposes for me.

The presence of God is not just for me to enjoy in my secret place.

It is an equipping presence that launches me into the next orbit of his purposes for me.

Can you read this verse with me? 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 18.

2 Corinthians 3:18

2 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 18.

2 Corinthians 3:18

I'll read it.

And we all with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.

From one degree of glory to another.

Certain translation says from glory to glory.

Because Moses in Exodus chapter 3 saw one type of glory.

Exodus 3 · chapter mention

A few passages later you see him differently.

Because now he is at the mountaintop and he has met with God for 40 days and 40 nights.

He hasn't eaten anything because he doesn't need it.

He hasn't drank anything because he doesn't need it.

Glory to glory to glory.

That is the inheritance of the saints.

It is always supposed to be from one realm of glory, one level or tier of glory to another level of glory.

It means that his rule over my life as my life progresses in him, his rule becomes far more advanced than where I started.

That I have given more of my life to him.

That I have, I'm not controlling my life, my thoughts, my desires, my emotions.

All of these things I am giving to him more and more.

So that I move from one level of glory to another level of glory.

And then he always has the next level of glory waiting for me to step into.

And I step into that.

And I step into the next one.

And I step into the next one to a point where you begin to look yourself back at where you were a year ago, three years ago.

And you begin to understand that you are unrecognizable.

We must be unrecognizable for those around us as we walk this faith.

Because we are supposed to be carriers of his glory.

Moving from one level of glory to another level of glory.

It's very practical, right?

It's not a verse that says, well, one form of glory to another.

It means that there are tangible things that others can experience in my life and in your life.

As we walk in this direction, where people begin to say, he is very different.

So this is what happened to Moses.

On one hand, the burning bush was a contradiction.

The burning bush, well, any bush that burns, you know what would happen.

It was a contradiction.

And that's what caught Moses' eyes.

But the thing is what the father was also saying is, Moses, you look at this, it has caught your attention.

Now you are going to be the burning bush.

A holy contradiction for those around you to see.

Because the very people who know for a fact that you ran away from Egypt because you're afraid,

you're going to march back in there saying, God asked me, the great I am asked me to go and tell Pharaoh to let my people go.

It is a holy contradiction.

I think we sometimes use the word radical for this.

Radical living.

I think another way to think about it is our lives are meant to be a holy contradiction.

It's not supposed to make sense.

It's not supposed to make sense.

And his presence in me transforms me into the mold of my destiny.

His presence in me transforms me into the mold of my destiny.

His presence in me transforms me into the mold of my destiny.

I certainly am not using words like destiny and these words just so that I can throw a nice sounding word in there.

I really mean it.

We are meant to go a certain place or places.

Our father has specific plans for us and he's in the process of making me fit into what he has already planned for me.

Because sometimes I have certain things in me that do not allow me to align with those things.

And so this transforming presence will mold me into that very thing, into that very man,

into that very woman that the father wants you to be.

His presence is transforming.

Did it not happen with Peter?

Did it not happen with Peter?

A guy who was afraid, a guy who was not sure about himself,

but also a guy to whom the Lord said, I give you the keys.

But it was a contradiction in that, well, that's what Jesus said, but today I can't, I don't think he is, he is in the, he is being caught up by the royal guards.

And no, I know I have the keys, but I just can't accept and admit to the fact that I've been with him.

That's how he started.

But did his presence not change that man to then stand up on a day

and preach so that thousands would hear him?

What changed was the equipping presence.

What changed?

It was the equipping presence.

The equipping presence transforms you.

The equipping presence takes out all of the garbage that needs to be taken out when I say yes to the garbage being taken out.

And it fills me in with all the things that is needed to be taken out.

And it fills me in with all the things that is needed for my journey.

So there should be really no one amongst us who says I can't because I don't have it.

Because we all have what is needed for the journey ahead.

Age is not a problem.

Work is not a problem.

Work or the lack of it is not a problem.

He meets every need.

This is what he is after.

And when I am willing to align my steps because for the greater good rather than the immediate benefits of certain choices,

I am already aligning myself for what is to come into my life.

See, that's the temptation sometimes.

Because sometimes there is a need or there is something in front of us.

If we do it a certain way for the next five months, it will be taken care of.

But sometimes what the father is asking is, Derek, can you see the great grand picture

and not jump into this thing for five months because it takes away from what I have planned for you?

You know what?

I would have said it later, but I'll give you an example.

Our church has changed a lot over the last many years because we now have very young guys going to school and working.

Here is one thing you can think about.

It doesn't matter how much money you get paid on a Sunday, you resist it and you say no.

You may have tuition fees to pay in six months' time.

And you can calculate if I work on a Sunday for the next six months, I'll get this money so that that could be paid.

You go to God and say, I ain't willing to do that.

I'll trust in you and you see what happens.

Because I know the need is real.

And it makes sense from every other standpoint to work hard and to just get that done.

But the place you're going to requires of you to be a certain way.

Can you make sure that the immediate need, can you hand that over to Christ?

And can you say, I am in it for the long haul and I know where you're leading me?

So these are simple things like this, eh? Practically when it comes to it.

All these things have tangible decisions to be followed with.

And for each of us in different places in our lives, it looks different.

It happened with Paul for the wisdom he needed.

With Timothy, who was too young.

And the same presence equipped him with the maturity beyond his years.

Next, the equipping presence in you will also equip others through you.

The equipping presence in you will also equip others through you.

The equipping presence in you will also equip others through you.

As I begin to say, Abba, I'm yielded for this.

And as I allow him to equip me, now I have keys that are needed to unlock people's lives.

Now I have keys that are needed to lock certain things in people's lives.

They don't know it yet, but you begin to be given the very keys that they need

because they are not at a place to have it yet.

But as soon as you help them, now they begin to be able to use keys too.

So the equipping presence in me, it equips others.

And again, this is for all of us.

There are so many lives around each one of us

who are supposed to be transformed by the equipping presence in us.

And as this equipping presence gives us what we need,

there are also keys for other people.

So think about it for a second, because you are given keys

for those who don't know yet.

You are given keys for people's situations.

You are given keys to unlock, to bind certain things because they will be bound in heaven.

You are given things to lose certain things because they will be loosed in heaven.

And some people, they're not at a place yet because they may not know Christ.

They may know Christ, but haven't gotten to a place where they understand the truth.

But the equipping presence in you readies you for that.

So that just like many others did things for us, we can do the very same things to others.

Freely I have received. Freely I'll give it.

Freely have I received it. Freely will I give this to you.

See the world is designed to create wandering orphans,

but the presence of God develops sons and daughters.

The world is designed to create wandering orphans,

but the presence of God develops sons and daughters.

Now the second part of sandals.

Removing our sandals is also a response to be holy as I am holy.

The more obvious one. The one we think about when we read that passage.

Removing our sandals is also a response to be holy as I am holy.

This has been in my mind for the last few weeks.

As I think about these things, sometimes when I'm walking to drive my car away for work,

I tell myself that I am the holy ground.

I am the holy ground.

You are the holy ground.

You are the holy ground.

Because the spirit lives inside of me.

Fully.

You are the holy ground.

Go to 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 20 onwards.

2 Timothy 2:20

2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 20 onwards.

2 Timothy 2:20

Actually just the first two verses are good enough.

Verse 20 and 21.

In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay.

Some are for special purposes, some for common use.

Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes,

made holy, useful to the master, and prepared to do any good work.

I'll read it again.

Think about it as I'm reading this.

2 Timothy chapter 2, 20 and 21.

2 Timothy 2 · chapter mention

In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay.

Some are for special purposes, and some for common use.

Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes,

made holy, useful to the master, and prepared to do any good work.

See, clay and wood did not go through the process of purification.

Silver and gold did.

Clay and wood did not go through the process.

And with the revival too, if you remember one of the first things that we started talking about is

this revival is a purifying fire.

And even if you keep Hebrides 2.0 there for one second, our God is holy, so we ought to be holy.

Put this back in the picture for Hebrides 2.0 and everything else.

He requires us, He demands of us that these things that are in us that aren't holy,

that aren't useful for His purposes be taken out.

That we go through a process of purification.

Which is why sometimes you have to hit a button and say,

hey, I've been running fast over the last little while, I need to stop for a day, for two days, for a week,

to make sure that I'm aligned in everything that I'm doing with Him.

Sometimes not all good things are the right things to do.

Not all good things are the right things to do. It's good to work as an example.

But at certain times, God may say, I need you to look at it this way, differently.

You know what, I also want to read out verses 22 to 26.

Just listen to me.

Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace,

along with those who call upon the Lord out of a pure heart.

Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments,

because you know they produce quarrels.

And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome,

but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.

Opponents must be generally instructed in the hope that God will grant them repentance,

leading them to a knowledge of the truth,

and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil,

who has taken them away from the Lord.

How is an angry murderer, how did he became the meekest man on earth?

Moses, purification.

Can we give ourselves to this thing, not on a Sunday, not every now and then,

but this lifestyle of removing our sandals,

this lifestyle of removing our sandals,

this lifestyle of removing our sandals,

a lifestyle where we say you are holy,

and I must be holy.

Where the bar is set very high,

the bar is set where Jesus set it.

And it's not a life of strife,

it's not a life of strife,

and it's not a life of struggle,

but it's a life where he empowers us.

That's the difference.

Because sometimes when we say these things,

it becomes a struggle, oh, how can I?

But think about it differently, not with the small pipe,

but his thinking, hey, Derek, I put my spirit in you,

and I need you to know that my spirit can do, can break any chains.

My spirit can break any patterns.

My spirit can provide a solution to any problems from your past

that are pulling you back.

Derek, I need you to see this differently.

Remove the sandals.

Remove the sandals.

Presence makes ordinary the divine.

Presence makes ordinary the divine.

Exodus chapter 4, verse 2 onwards, it says,

Exodus 4:2

Then the Lord said to him, what is that in your hand?

So it's really the same encounter.

And the Lord asks him, what do you have in your hand?

And Moses says, a staff, he replied.

The Lord said, throw it on the ground,

Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a snake,

and he ran from it.

Presence makes ordinary the divine.

We are never meant to have ordinary days.

Every day is a divine day.

Every, everything we do is divine.

The world speaks another word, which is,

this is all ordinary, this is how it is.

Well, you start working.

Moses actually met God at work.

He was looking after the sheep when he met work.

And how will we look at our lives on a daily basis?

There are times when we think it's ordinary.

It's the mundane, it's the regular, it's the ordinary.

And the Father wants to look at all of that and say,

everything you do is divine.

Presence makes ordinary the divine.

Because the very staff that Moses had been using until then,

he uses it every day.

It's the only thing he has in his hands.

Very normal for him, very ordinary for him.

It's my staff. I use it every day.

Moses throw that on the ground.

Well, this ground is different because it is holy ground.

If you throw it on this holy ground,

it becomes something that God then equips Moses with

as he goes back into the Pharaoh's palace.

Because this is one of the signs that Pharaoh will get.

Guys, you know how, there are tons of riches that we don't access

because we have ordinary things in our lives.

But if I change my thinking to,

I don't have ordinary things in my life.

I stand on holy ground. His spirit is in me.

I am the holy ground of God.

There is nothing ordinary about anything you do.

See, we're not going to go from zero to hundred day one.

But we can absolutely go from wherever we are at

with respect to this thinking to a completely new advanced way of living

in a matter of seconds, if you understand this.

Hundred will come as we continue to work like this, live like this,

that I don't have any ordinary days.

I have divine days, divine moments, because his spirit is always in me.

His purposes over me are always there, real.

He always is engaging with me in a conversation.

Sounds impractical almost when I say that.

But let's worry about the hundred later. Let's first pass the test.

We'll score in the ninety percentile two years later or a year later.

Let's first get an immediate result.

Because then we'll begin to see that, oh yeah, I can be doing this.

And at the same time, my heart is in the throne room of God.

It's the most ordinary thing that I am doing.

But my heart is in the throne room of God.

And when I am in the throne room of God, the way I see everything changes.

My perception of people change. My relationship with people change.

My perception of my future changes.

Because the throne room perspective is different from my perspective.

And I can be in the throne room, meaning, see, we are all seated at the right hand.

Of the Father, because we are seated in Christ.

While that's true, we don't think like that all the time.

And that's the truth too.

So begin to think of it differently.

I need to have a throne room thinking.

With every situation.

I could be, I don't know why I won't say walking the dog.

I don't have a dog.

But if you are walking the dog, you can have a throne room moment walking the dog.

Hey, Dilla.

You can have a throne room moment like that.

See, that's when we realize that there are things awaiting us when we think like that.

Because as you are walking the dog, which sometimes we just categorize as,

I just need to get that thing done because I can move on to the more important things in life.

But there is something waiting.

Just like God waited for Moses while he was at work.

There is something waiting that sometimes we just push away because we don't want him to even come into the confines of those areas.

Because it's just ordinary. It's just me.

I just need to finish it and move on to the most important things in my life.

But can we give him access to all such things in life?

Everything.

You can be on the soccer field and have the most amazing time with the father.

There is no mundane.

There is no ordinary.

Presence makes the ordinary divine.

Presence makes the ordinary divine.

And sometimes you have to lay down the old.

Moses, throw it on the ground.

I know you're so used to it.

I can make this a serpent right now, but I don't want you to.

I need you to just throw this on the ground.

Can you throw it?

Can you put it on the ground so that now when you pick up,

well, you don't want to pick it up because it's moving, you'll run away and you did.

But you will hold it as you go back to the Pharaoh's palace.

Moses, can you think differently?

Sometimes you have to lay things down to pick up new things.

Lay down the old to make room for the new.

Lay down the old to make room for the new.

Peter had to lay down his old understanding of the Gentiles

to be able to receive a new revelation from God.

If Peter hung on to his old understanding of what Gentiles are and who they are,

he would never be able to do everything that he accomplished on earth.

So he had to lay it down to be able to receive something new.

And what is the old that you are prepared to throw away?

What is it? Write it down.

Think about it.

What is the old that you are prepared to throw away?

What is it? Write it down.

Think about it.

Think about it.

What is the old and the used to aspects of your life that you want to throw away?

Because you will make room for the new when you do that.

Write it down.

Do you want to lay down confusion and struggle?

Do you want to lay down your methods?

Because we have our methods that we use to help us to be able to receive the new.

We have our methods that we use to help us to be able to receive the new.

Do you want to lay down your past and how things worked out or did not work out?

Do you want to lay down your present?

Do you want to lay down your future?

Can you remove certain things from your life?

Can you remove certain things from your life?

Can you remove certain things from your life so that you make room for the new?

See, the two disciples when they were walking to Emmaus, it's a road that they had previously taken.

But when with Jesus, the road to Emmaus looks different.

They only understood that a little later, but their hearts were burning as Jesus began to open the Word, break the bread.

The same trip to Emmaus and at Emmaus, everything changed.

They've been on that same road journey, road trip, whatever you call it, many times over.

But with Christ, it was different.

See, the fishermen and the disciples, when they went to the Gadarenes, it's a place that they had previously gone to.

But this time around, with Jesus, the trip to the Gadarenes is different.

Because this time around, there is a territorial spirit that Jesus brought down.

And they've made that trip before, but they never even knew.

But with Jesus, it's different.

With Jesus, our eyes begin to open further more.

With Jesus, our understanding of what's happening in the spiritual and the physical changes.

And it must be a cry, I said this a couple days ago too, it must be a cry of our hearts to say, Abba, open my eyes.

Open my eyes.

Because I'm so limited in my sight.

Can you please open my eyes, Abba, so that I can see clearly?

Abba, I'm not satisfied with how I am seeing.

I want you to open my eyes.

I want you to open my eyes.

I want you to open my ears.

Let me see clearly.

Because sometimes we are like that man who was healed and he saw and he began to see again.

And he saw people like trees and we are happy with people like trees.

But there is a different dimension of seeing that's available for us.

Let's not be happy with seeing men like trees.

Because we haven't seen before, it seems good.

But there is a completely different way of seeing that the Father can release upon us.

Ask for it. And when a church begins to ask for it together, it will be precious.

Let's talk about crowns and we'll wrap it up real quick.

So, what are we talking about? It's a way of life.

It's a posture to have on a daily basis as a kingdom man and as a kingdom woman.

Leave your sandals off. Remove your sandals.

So all the stuff, the smell of the sandal with past experiences, past places, the limitations, the current limitations.

When you look at your future, all the limitations that come with it, the inability to do things, the same struggles for years.

All those things you are saying, I remove this.

You are also embracing the purification, embracing the process of being refined by your Savior.

You are embracing that because you are responding to the cry in a greater way.

When you say, you are holy, I will be holy. I will conform myself more and more to your Son.

I don't look like Him quite yet, but I am so interested, Jesus, in changing in these ways.

Some of this is so difficult for me, but your Spirit, I entrust myself to your Spirit.

Entrust yourself to the Spirit of God to do the work in you.

And you will be amazed by what He does when you have struggled on the same thing for the last 20 years.

He can come in and in a day, day, day, change it forever.

So that the key that He now gives you, you can go and give it to someone else and say,

I freely received, I will give this key to you so that you freely receive.

So that's removing your sandals, laying things down so that you can pick up a new thing.

See, the sandals that He wore again, it did not wear off.

Because something changed and He was prepared for the path ahead.

Crowns. Crowns symbolize significance or responsibilities or titles.

Crowns symbolizes or symbolize responsibilities or significance or titles.

It's sometimes an achievement or an honor or a place of honor.

Something you've done well and the very things you've accomplished.

The Bible talks about different types of crowns. Crown of life, crown of glory, crown of rejoicing.

And when you're a kingdom man or a kingdom woman, as you remove your sandals,

there is another posture that becomes more and more prevalent in your life.

It is the attitude, a posture of casting crowns at His feet.

It's a posture of casting crowns at His feet.

See, sometimes it's a crown of, crown others may have placed over your life that you never wanted to take on.

Sometimes it's a good crown.

You know what, Emily, do you want to come up and read what you had?

During worship today when Tuni was talking about surrendering and we were worshiping in that spirit for a couple songs,

this is a word that I felt was for the church.

When we lay things down on the altar and when we surrender, it isn't an altar where we will have grief and loss.

It's an altar, but it's an altar and it's called joy, goodness, love and peace.

Where we lay things down and surrender them to Christ and then He takes them.

And just like with the fish and with the bread, He uses it to multiply.

It's an altar of transformation and multiplication.

So we don't need to fear about laying things down on this altar because God will take them and move them from where they are to where He wants them.

From what we can do to what He can do.

And I felt like it was really important for us when we're singing about surrendering,

that it's not a surrender that comes from a place of fear, of giving up, of lack of insecurity.

But actually we're taking things that God has given us, maybe good, maybe bad, maybe hardships, maybe the past, maybe the future, maybe worries, anything.

But we're laying them down and it's not before a God who doesn't care, but it's before our Father.

It's before the Christ.

So when we put them on this altar, then He takes them and He can renew them.

He'll break them and then take them and multiply them to move them from where things are to where He wants them.

So the second poster, Semile said, is laying things down.

Crowns, things that it's the responsibilities and there are certain things that you may have accomplished or it could be labels that people gave you,

some good, some wrong, because not all crowns are good.

Some crowns are good, some crowns are not.

Our Savior was given a crown of thorns.

And it's this daily posture of laying these things at His feet.

It's a daily posture.

It's a daily posture.

It's not a one-time thing.

It's not a once in a week thing.

It's a, everything that I'm talking about, it's a daily posture.

The good and the bad and the ugly, it's all at His feet.

It's all at His feet.

And something happens in your spirit as you surrender these things.

Something happens in your spirit as you just lay it all at His feet because He is worthy.

He is worthy.

He is worthy.

He is worthy to open the scroll of your life so that you can see His face.

He is worthy.

He is worthy.

He is worthy to open the scroll of your life so He can take all of the bad stuff and the ugly stuff

and turn it into good things.

He is worthy because He has granted you everything you have.

As we sang today, the very breath in our lungs, He put it there.

He is worthy.

He is worthy.

See, when we begin to have this posture of laying crowns at His feet, we become so much more dependent on Him.

When we lay down our crowns, when we have this posture on a daily basis, we become dependent on Him.

You know what happens then?

What happens is that you and I do not limit ourselves to be taken care of by the systems of the world.

Because think about it.

How many times in a day do we first think about help from the systems of the world before we go to Christ

or before we even think of Christ?

Because those very things sometimes shut down the possibilities of what it could be.

Dependency on the systems of the world deprives you of the supernatural.

Dependency on the systems of the world deprives you of the supernatural.

Dependency on the Father unlocks heavenly supplies.

Dependency on the Father unlocks heavenly supplies.

See, David was anointed as a king, and then David finds out that the Israelite army, they're fearful and afraid of Goliath.

And once Saul finds out that David is prepared to go and fight Goliath, Saul brings the full armor and gives it to David.

And he says, now you're set. Go and fight him, and you'll come back victorious.

David wore it. He was prepared to receive it.

He put it on him, and he walked around and he realized he's not used to it.

And he says, I don't need this. I'll lay it down.

Instead, there is something that I'm very used to.

I'll take the very thing that I'm used to, and I'll go and fight.

He did not rely. See, think about him.

He has been anointed.

There are thousands of guys here waiting to see what's going to come out of him.

What will happen to him?

He's in a place like that.

Wouldn't it make sense when you've never fought Goliath, and when the king of Israel gives you an armor to take that on and then go?

Wouldn't it make sense?

Especially having looked at Goliath to see how big he is, how tall he is, how strong he is, wouldn't it make sense?

It makes sense in the natural. It makes its common sense to take the armor and go. It's common sense.

But the way of the kingdom is not common sense.

Here is a man who said, I know another way because it's a way I have lived my life.

Two days ago, Friday, there was Euros happening.

Some of us watched it together. England played Switzerland.

Sorry, Tuni and Aichi are for the same team.

England played Switzerland.

Here's what happened with England in the last many years.

They're supposed to win every championship because they always have the best of individual players, but they never win anything, which is why we are rooting for England.

Anyway, the game proceeds to the penalties.

In the penalties, which is something England is notorious for losing because they have lost many cups because they have done such a poor job of penalties.

There are five guys who are supposed to take penalties.

One of those guys is a guy named Ivan Tuni, who plays for a smaller club in England.

The weight of the country is on his shoulders.

He plays very little because he's brought in at the 90th minute.

The guys are all very excited after all with all the soccer stuff.

The five guys are in the field and Ivan Tuni is now going to take the kick.

He places the ball here. It's a penalty kick and he takes a stand like this.

A lot of people are thinking, how is he going to take the kick?

Ivan Tuni's kick is special. He doesn't look at the ball while he kicks.

He doesn't look at the ball and then do this.

He has a way of just looking straight and he kicks the ball in.

That's what he's used to doing at the club level. That's what he's used to doing all his life.

The question that everyone has is, dude, are you going to do the same thing at the Euros?

Because this ain't your regular club game. This is the Euros. You've got to make it happen.

The whole country is asking the question, what is he going to do? Will he mess it up? Will he not?

While he is there, he looks straight without looking at the ball, kicks it and it's a goal.

And a country cheers for him.

And they later ask him, why did you do it this way? Did you not think of just changing it up?

And he said, I'm doing it this way because it's my routine.

It's my routine.

See, the father is looking for shepherd boys with a routine.

He is looking for shepherd boys with a routine.

He is looking for shepherd girls with a routine.

A routine of the kingdom where one day when Goliath shows up, you've been prepared by him day in and day out.

You've been prepared by him in the secret place.

You've been prepared by him for months on, years on, and now you're ready to take on the stage.

Now you're ready. And some people won't even see it, but you know in your spirit that he has been preparing you,

that these songs he's been giving you was all to this end, that these dreams he has been giving you is all for this purpose.

And it won't make sense for others around you perhaps, but it'll make sense for you because it has been the routine of your life.

It has been the routine of your life. And the father is looking for shepherd boys with routines.

Can we cast down our crowns?

Take off our sandals and make this a daily practice where we wake up not with the idea of let me pray,

where we wake up with a hard attitude, Abba.

I want to remove everything and anything in my life that doesn't belong to you.

I throw away limitations. Can you then submit every good thing that you have to him at his feet?

Any labels that may or may not be good, can you throw it all at his feet?

Can you cast those crowns? And can this be a daily way of living?

Because you're not interested to be on the sidelines, you're interested to be on the front lines.

Yeah? It's a daily posture.

And if we can live like this consistently and in a steady way, the difference lies therein.

Tuni, can you sing?

I don't know what song you're going to sing, but guys, we have a couple more minutes.

Can you stand up? And in your spirit, begin to speak to Jesus.

And tell him in your words what you want to do, what you're deciding for your life.

Not a one-day thing, but a lifestyle of removing sandals and casting down crowns.

All yours, Tuni.

That's a new one, because there's a line that says, I lay down my old flame.

Yeah.

So whatever that needs to be.

Whatever that needs to be pressed, whatever that needs to be crushed, any habits that needs to be crushed.

Yeah? It may not be a sinful habit, but habits that chips away.

God live in you.

Any habits that slows, that delays the God things in your life.

Can we take this moment and allow it to surrender at the feet of Christ and say in the crushing, in the pressing,

and do the exchange right here, right now.

Not a day later, not a moment later.

In the crushing, in the pressing, you are making new wine.

In the crushing.

In the crushing, in the pressing, you are making new wine.

In the crushing.

In the crushing.

In the pressing.

You are making new wine.

In the soil I now surrender.

You are breaking new ground.

So I yield to you and to your careful hand.

When I trust you, I don't need to understand.

So make me a vessel.

Make me an offering.

Make me whatever you want me to be.

I came here with nothing but all you have given me.

Jesus bring new wine out of me.

In the crushing.

In the crushing.

In the pressing.

You are making new wine.

In the soil I now surrender.

You are breaking new ground.

So I yield to you and to your careful hand.

When I trust you, I don't need to understand.

So I yield.

So I yield to you and to your careful hand.

So I yield.

So I yield to you and to your careful hand.

When I trust.

When I trust you, I don't need to understand.

So make me a vessel.

Make me an offering.

Make me whatever you want me to be.

I came here with nothing but all you have given me.

Jesus bring new wine out of me.

Where there is new wine, there is new power.

There is no freedom and the kingdom is here.

I lay down my old flames to carry your new fire today.

Where there is new wine, there is new power.

There is no freedom and the kingdom is here.

I lay down my old flames to carry your new fire today.

I lay down my old flames.

I lay down my old flames to carry your new fire today.

I lay down my old flames.

I lay down my old flames to carry your new fire today.

So make me a vessel.

Make me an offering.

Make me whatever you want me to be.

I came here with nothing but all you have given me.

Jesus bring new wine out of me.

Jesus bring new wine out of us.

So Father as we go we want to take hold of this inheritance.

It's an inheritance that's reserved for each one of us.

It's an inheritance Father that's not, it doesn't perish, it doesn't go away.

It doesn't fade.

This is what you're asking and how do we tap into it?

But like what Derek was saying, not going through that little stream,

but being aware that there's a water tank above us.

Can we change how we function?

And as we tap into this tank Father, you just wash us with your purifying water.

You wash us clean.

You give us a new heart.

You change our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh.

You give us a spirit that's one with you Father.

A spirit that's one with you.

That hears your will and steps into it.

This is what this new wine is.

So may we take hold of it.

May we not go away saying oh this is nice.

But may we take hold of it.

May we grab hold of it and say hey I want to live this way every day.

I want to posture myself this way every day.

I don't want to live in the old ways.

I don't want to keep wearing my old sandals.

I want to discard them.

I want to come to you saying Father Abba what do you have today?

How do I walk this today?

If I'm holy because you've made me holy because you've given me a new spirit.

Your spirit is within me.

So we take hold Abba.

We take hold.

We don't want to be the same.

We want to discover you afresh.

We want to discover you deeper than we ever have before.

This is our cry Abba.

This is our cry.

If anybody needs prayer there will be people up front to pray.

Music