Power Surge Part 5 - Essentials

in ramencubines.com

We'll start a new church called Pavlov's.

Pardon?

Oh really?

Okay, let's go.

Guys, I want to talk about some essentials if we want to walk with the Spirit.

So if you want to title it Power Surge,

which is a topic we've been speaking about for the last little while,

and today we talk about the essentials.

Some of the things that God guarantees.

Some of the things that God guarantees.

So that's what we want to talk about.

Okay, my preacher is here.

Some of the things that God guarantees.

So here are some things that you can take for granted.

Here are some things that you can take for granted.

That's present 24-7, all the time, always for us.

Always for us from God.

It never goes away. Never.

And if you can take advantage of guarantees that God places,

then we can do things without ever thinking that these things will disappear.

And so here are the guarantees from God.

One, ever-present love.

Ever-present love.

This is a guarantee.

He says that my love for you will be present always.

It will never be withdrawn.

Ever-present love.

Ever-present love.

So if you were to divide your life into a box,

most of the time is spent here where there's guilt, fear, shame, uncertainty.

Rejection.

Lack of acceptance.

Lack of belonging.

Tit for tat, as in we've got to do something to get something.

Not good enough.

Betty is upset with me.

These are the list of things that we have on one side of our life.

On the other side is this huge pool.

It's the largest swimming pool you can think of.

And in that swimming pool is this thing called ever-present love.

This is where we live.

This is where we live.

The thing is this may not stop, but what you've got to try and do is every time you find yourself here,

you've got to take a dive.

You've got to jump in.

It's a guarantee.

It's always present.

It's just the ability to dive into the other place.

Some of these statements I've made are statements that are not always present.

Some of these statements are actually thought of even today.

But it's almost like he's surrounded you with a matrix called ever-present love.

And so one of the things I'm called to do is to still my or stir myself in ever-present love.

Either still my soul in ever-present love as in when it's turbulent, when it's full of turmoil,

love, either still my soul in ever-pressing love as in when it's turbulent, when it's

full of turmoil, to still my soul in ever-pressing love. It's literally like diving into that

thing. And there I begin the recovery process or to stir up my soul in ever-pressing love

where it's dull, where nothing is happening and I dive into that pool and it is... So

what do you mean, Jacob, dive into the pool? The love of God is how he created things.

It's not visible but it is tangible. It's the same thing kids know. Kids know the love

of their parents. Even when the parent is upset, the kid knows the love of the parent.

Doesn't matter that the kid may have been scolded two minutes ago. When the kid is in

trouble, when the kid is scared, when the kid has an owie, when the kid's stomach is

hurting, what does the kid do? Doesn't analyze what I got scolded two minutes ago. Jumps

into ever-pressing love because it's settled in the heart that here is my place of safety.

So when we try to describe it, it's hard to describe but if you practice it, you will

find it's real. You're not jumping into an empty pool where you hit the cement. You jump

into a pool where you find yourself once again surrounded by God. Ever-present love. The

trick is to do it every time you find yourself here. And sometimes it will take time because

every time you try to cross over, you'll still think it didn't happen. We have gotten so

used to living here that this is our default. We do need collars. Any question on that one?

These are guarantees. It will always be there. It has never been absent. Perhaps the one

place that I would dare to say it was absent was when Christ hung on the cross. Maybe there

was an actual forsaking of Christ so that we may be grafted in, accepted. But only one

man experienced it. But the earth has never experienced the absence of the love of God.

Never experienced it. It's odd. You can take an orphan. You can take a child that has been

brutalized. But that child who has never known love will recognize love. How? Thanks man.

This is Davant. He wanted to be on TV. How's that, Davant? Thanks, Davant. You'll never

do that again, right? Yeah. Thank you though. I'll give you a ride home. So ever present

love. Any questions on this? It's always there, guys. It's just getting into the habit of

it. It's so difficult. Like I said earlier on in a teaching, sometimes you have to come

up with some kind of an action or a gesture or a symbol where you pause and you, I mean

it's better than snapping the elastic band. Where you pause and you say, Jesus, I need

to step into this because right now I'm just driving myself on turbo engines that are mine.

Can you take the echo off, Bishop? Any questions, guys? Yeah. Even when a child has been abused

or harmed or has been an orphan, the child has the ability once love is shown to immediately

gravitate towards it because we are created that way. We are created in the image of God.

So it's very natural for us. But because of practice, practice, practice of being on the

other side, we do not know what it is to step into love. One of the questions I asked, I

don't know whether it was this church or somewhere else, do you even know? And it's an aggressive,

provocative question. Do you even know what it is to receive love without doing something

back? Do you even know, as human beings here, Christians here, I'm asking myself, I'm asking

you, do you even know what it is to receive love without reciprocating? Can you just receive

love from your spouse, from your dad, from your mom, from your friend, from your lover?

Can you receive love and just receive and bask in it without saying anything back, doing

anything back, reciprocating it? Do you know how incapable we are of even receiving love?

As soon as we start receiving love, what do we do? We try to somehow do something that

can express our love back. It's strange how we don't even know how to receive love without

doing nothing. This is why children can be quite irritating, and cats.

And cats, Jeremy. You thought you could hide behind that mask? You show those two creatures

love, and both of them just receive it and don't respond. But you can't get rid of your

kids, but you can get rid of cats. Moving on, we don't want to, we don't want to, I'm not

an anti-catite. Second thing that is guaranteed, he's always drawing you to himself. He's always

drawing you to himself. Fundamental truths that we miss, he's always drawing you to himself.

So when I talk about diving into the pool of love, I'm not asking you to dive into that

pool of love so I'll stay up. I'm not asking you to dive into the pool of love. Is this

a deliberate thing to prevent me from going down that you turn on the echo? No way. Okay.

So can you lower it a little? Because I'm hearing myself. Yeah. The idea of diving into

the love of God is so that you can receive it, that's all. It's not to make you sing,

it's not to make you pray, it's not to make you worship, it is just to receive it. David

put it this way. He said, he says this in Psalm 37 I think, when I place the pieces

of my life before you, you put them back together with your love. When I place the pieces of

my life before you, you put them back with your love. Psalm 37, just turn to it. I think

it's Psalm 37. I think it's Psalm 37. I think it's Psalm 37. I think it's Psalm 37. I think

it's Psalm 37. Message version. Nope, it's not. Psalm 18. Yeah. Psalm 18, starting at

verse 19. Oh, starting at verse 18. 17. That enemy chaos, the void in which I was drowning,

they hit me when I was down, but God stuck by me. He stood me up on a wide open field.

I stood there, saved, surprised, and I was so happy. I was so happy. I was so happy.

I was so happy. I was so happy. I was so happy. I was so happy. I was so happy. I was so happy.

They hit me when I was down, but God stuck by me. He stood me up on a wide open field.

I stood there, saved, surprised to be loved. God made my life complete when I placed all

the pieces before him. When I got my act together, he gave me a fresh start. Now I'm alert to

God's ways. I don't take God for granted. Every day I review the ways he works. I try

not to miss a trick. I feel put back together. I'm watching my step. God rewrote the text

of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes. Beautifully, God rewrote the

text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes. That's what we're talking

about. The second part is that he's always drawing you to himself. He's always drawing

you to himself. He's actively drawing you to himself. Right now, every moment, he's

actively drawing you to himself. It's not you who's trying to draw him to you. It's

he who's drawing you to him. Who seeks who first? The child, the father or the father

of the child? It's always the father of the child. Who seeks who first? The sheep, the

shepherd or the shepherd, the sheep? The shepherd, the sheep. Who seeks who first? The teacher,

the student or the student, the teacher? The teacher, the student. So he's constantly seeking.

You've got to know that every time, regardless of whether you're doing well or you're not

doing well, he's seeking you out. Always seeking you. What does this do to you? It makes you

confident that it does not matter what your condition is, there is someone looking for

you. The parable of the coin is very simple. The parable of the coin is if you went and

lost a penny under your sofa, you won't look for it. Why? Because it has no value to you

anymore, particularly because you can't even use it at TNT. So what do you do? You let it

lie under the sofa. If I moved your sofas, we would have enough money for a whole month's

rent here. But the reason we let it remain is because there's no value to those coins,

to the five cents, to the ten cents, to the penny. What gives a coin value is the one

who looks for it. And that's the story of the parable of the coins. The one who looks

for a coin is the one who puts value on it, ascribes value to it. And there's someone

who's constantly trying to draw me in. Constantly trying to draw me in. And he's drawing me

into what? Not into I want you to sing, I want you to worship, I want you to be holy.

He's drawing me into himself. All he wants is a relationship, which is why he made me.

He keeps drawing me into a relationship. When will it end? When my relationship with him

is as perfect as Jesus' with him. So when will it end? It won't end here on earth. Be

constantly aware of his drawing. Third thing, these are guarantees. They are 24-7 active

from the morning till the evening and it will continue like this till the earth ends. And

then it will continue in the new heaven and earth. Third thing, guarantees that you can

live by. His tangible presence, his tangible presence does not dissipate one bit. Tangible

is the first word we want to work with. Tangible means something that can be sensed, felt.

So when you talk about God's presence, you have to have both feeling, sensing, emotion,

and truth to it. It all comes together. You can't separate it. How can this be real Jacob?

I don't feel him. Do you feel your white body? Do you feel your white body? Do you feel your

belief when she's not around? Yes, you do. When she's missing, why is there an absence?

Sometimes when you get up in the morning and she's already gone to work, what do you do

first? You feel around to see if she's there and then you realize it's only the pillow.

He is always there. He wakes up late but she is busy. The point being, you can tangibly

feel the absence of people. You can. Once you've lost a parent or a child, once you've

lost a child, you can feel the pain of a lost child for years on end. Spouses who lose their,

I mean husbands and wives that lose their spouses can feel the pain. If that is how

it is with created things, how much more with the creator? Here's what's happened guys.

Our minds have forgotten or don't have any recollection of living like this. Therefore,

it's not the way we think and we settle for less. We are Cinderella with amnesia. Not

only does she not realize that she's lost her shoe, when you bring her to the shoe,

she still doesn't recognize it's her shoe. And so now it's time to go back to realizing

that there's something called presence, yes, but it's tangible. Are you aware of it? Are

you aware of it as you're listening now? Because I'm aware of it as I speak. Sometimes my heart

cries out. I want to like heave sometimes because of sobs or sighs inside me because

I know he is present and that he can change lives in a second. That if this becomes real

as it is right now, when I'm doing things that are just normal, that I'll live a life

that will affect so many. Tangible presence and it never dissipates, it never lessens,

it never goes down a little, never goes down a little. Tangible presence when you're making

jokes about cats, tangible presence when you're talking about the holiness of God. This is

how it works. And it's for every one of us always all the time. These are 24 7 guarantees

that will never change. In eternity all this will be more heightened because you don't

have to deal with the wrestling of the soul that we do right now. We don't have to deal

with the decaying body that we have right now. These things will only get heightened.

And that's why I should start practicing it now. Any questions? Jesus lived this way.

Any questions? Okay, fourth guarantee. There are things he desires to do. He desires to

say to you today. For him it's always today. It's always today. There are things that he

desires to say to you today. Is that the expectation? Is that the, I mean when Remy and Hamari wake

up, they expect Riyaya to say things that sound legible and Judah to say things that

sound absolutely illegible and thrill with both. Yesterday I watched Judah and Emmanuel

having a deep discussion. It is fascinating. They talked a language that nobody in the

world understands, including them, but it was a conversation. One is three, one is two,

okay. So they're born under two and they're having this intense discussion with each

other. Every parent wants to speak and children expect their parents to speak. Can you imagine

a child not expecting a parent to speak? You know what that'll do to a child? Do you know

what that does to grown up children? You should hear a song called Cats in the Cradle. It's

a song about that. He desires to speak to me today. He expects. There are things he desires

to say to me today. Every day today. Every day. But Jacob, I haven't heard yet. I haven't

heard yet. Here's the question. Is this your expectation? Most things are born. One of

the greatest things given to humans, I'm not talking about Christian, I'm talking about

humans. One of the greatest things given to humans is hope. It is the one thing, regardless

of whether you're Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, it doesn't matter. Hope is the one

thing that has resulted in inventions, in creation, in the progress of man, in rising

up from situations that would completely destroy anybody. It's always expectation.

Any of you know who Hulk Hogan is? Praise the Lord. Hulk Hogan was a wrestler. There's

been nobody like him. And so he would wear yellow. And he would be totally pinned to

the mat. And you would think he was out. And then he'd be lying there. People are clapping

and saying, yeah, Hulk Hogan's down. And then his little finger would start moving.

And as his little finger starts moving, the whole stadium starts erupting because there

is hope. His little finger is moving. And then Hulk Hogan would rise and he would then

be the pulp out of everybody else. Point being, hope is like Hulk Hogan's little finger.

So the question is this, is this your hope? Is there an expectation that God will speak

to you every day? The moment you think he's father, you must have that expectation. Otherwise,

it's a distorted image of a father. When expectation comes, attention comes. What you expect, you

pay attention to. What you pay attention to now focuses you on that one thing. And when

focus is intentional, you begin to hear, regardless of whether it is Zia saying, oh God, please,

I want to play soccer. He didn't say, oh God, please, heal me so I can go to church on Sunday.

He said, oh God, please, heal me so I can go and play soccer on Saturday. Regardless.

Regardless. So regardless, there are things they desire to say to you today. Please, is

this your expectation? These are guarantees. These are guarantees. Any questions? Yep.

How do you differentiate, repeat the question. The question is, how do you differentiate

between God wanting to talk to you and your own thoughts? You actually don't differentiate

it because God speaks to us sometimes through our thoughts. Sometimes our thoughts reflect

his heart. So I would not try to clinically differentiate it, but start having conversations.

Like when you have conversations with your son Sam, sometimes you're speaking his thoughts

out. And he's surprised that dad is not opposed to me going to Hawaii. In fact, dad's paying

for it. May he listen to this? And so what happens is sometimes we shouldn't differentiate

our thoughts. And the closer you walk with God, you will find that your thoughts are

his thoughts. Delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. What's

he trying to say? As you and I get to walk closer, your thoughts become my thoughts,

your likes become my likes, your dislikes become my likes, dislikes. Just like a spouse

that is in love with his wife. I mean, have you noticed how Derek wears exactly what Iris

is wearing? Look at them. Could you just stand for a second? It's blue and blue. How do they

match this? The Derek I knew was colorblind. He was a very, very, very, very, very, very

stylish. And now, oh my God, he's styling. Yeah? So, I mean, if the other brother is

not there, pick on you. The other brother was in Spain yesterday, not attending a service.

He was at the Real Madrid game. And he was wearing a red shirt. And he was wearing a

paper towel. So, he called Ravensea. He calledpotters. You had to talk to him about his idols when

he comes back. The next guarantee is his fullness, or full person, living and breathing in you.

Living and breathing in you. His fullness, his full person living and breathing in you.

It's something we are not aware of and oddly enough on one hand you should not be aware

of it, on the other hand you should be aware of it. Like when you breathe you are not aware

of it but you know you are breathing. It's the same way if you go to Romans chapter

Romans 8 · chapter mention

8, go to Romans 8 again the message version, Romans 8, Romans 8, verse 11ish, yeah verse

11 from the message. It stands to reason doesn't it that if the alive and present God who raised

Jesus from the dead moves into your life he'll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus

bringing you alive to himself. When God lives and breathes in you and he does as surely as he did

in Jesus you are delivered from that dead life with his spirit living in you your body will be

as alive as Christ. When God lives and breathes in you and he does as surely as he did in Jesus.

That's a beautiful thing eh? When God lives and breathes in you and he surely does as he did in

Jesus. Guaranteed, never going away. So when I want to sink into God's glory I have to not

seek it somewhere there or in some some authentic or false manifestation out there. The place where

I find the fullness of God is in me and how do we do that? I don't know but we got to begin to

practice this. When you realize that God is fully alive and breathing and living in you just as he

did in Jesus. Colossians 2.9, the fullness of God dwelt in Christ and now by the Spirit he has

imparted that same fullness to us. The fullness of God dwelt in Christ and now Christ lives in us by

the Spirit. So God lives in us by the Spirit. The more I realize this the sooner I'll become what

John the Baptist said of himself. May I decrease and may he increase. The reason I'm still very

present and he is in the background is because I'm more aware of me. To become aware of his

presence is to become less aware of yourself. To become aware of his presence is to become less

aware of yourself. Awareness of his presence? Not out there, not in something here. Christ in you,

the expectation of glory. Colossians 1.27. These are essentials and truths that will stay forever,

inviolable, as normal as oxygen, as the sky, as gravity these things are. It'll only end when the

earth ends or when you die and then immediately you get back into living a heightened life that's

even crazier. And the last thing that we can talk about for now is he is holy and he is holy and

he is holy. You know there's nowhere in Isaiah 6 verse 3 it says that when Isaiah saw God and he

Isaiah 6:3

heard scenes from heaven one of the things that he kept hearing that shook the very foundations

of the temple was holy, holy, holy. You never hear God is love, love, love. You never hear God is

mercy, mercy, mercy. You never hear God is grace, grace, grace. But the one thing you always hear is

God is holy, holy, holy. And he'll always be like that. We need to preach a holy God who is loving,

not a loving God who forgives. We've got a shift in this, eh? We've got to stop preaching that we

have a loving God who forgives. We have to start preaching we have a holy God who loves. And when

that becomes something that's intrinsic to me then I will desire holiness more than forgiveness.

We have a holy God who is loving. At resurrection a holy God moved into this person by the Spirit.

But we have a holy God who is loving not a loving God who is forgiving. One comes after the other.

And so the way to function on earth is to understand that we are holy people who will be loving.

First, not loving people who will be forgiving. It just messes up everything. And this is another

24-7 guarantee. I'm always going to be holy Jacob. If you want to know my secrets, if you want to

always walk in closeness, yes I've provided all this for you so that you can participate in it.

But you can never fully grasp it unless you become the substance that I am. And the substance that I

am is holy. My love is holy. My truth is holy. My grace is holy. My mercy is holy. My judgment is

holy. My relationship is holy. The way I think is holy. The way I act is holy. And what does holy

really mean at the essence of it? Separated. Unlike the rest. That's the very meaning of the word

ecclesia, the church. Called out, separated. We get this right. God won't know what to do.

So find me, God says, in every moment, in every situation. Try to use these six things. Try to

use these six things. In every moment, in every situation, can you quickly default to this? Can

you quickly deflect to this? Can you quickly just drift to this? Can you still yourself in my love?

Every morning, do you have the ability to listen with expectation? Can you stay aware of my presence?

Hey guys, there's another thing when it comes to connecting and being aware of presence. You can

stay aware of his presence. You can stay connected to his presence. But then after that, you have to

come into agreement. It's okay to know the presence of God. It's okay to stay connected to it. But the

question is, once you are aware and you are connected to his presence, are you in agreement

with what he is asking you to do? You'll find couples that can be very loving. They're very

aware of each other and so connected, but they don't agree on anything. What's the point then?

Salvation is about a holy God who loves, not a loving God who forgives. God put the holiness of

his Son in me by the Spirit and it's the Spirit who produces holiness in us. Go to 1 Peter 1-2.

If you have the NIRV version, try reading from that. NIRV. So NIRV, read 1 Peter 1-2. Here's what it says

in the NIRV. You have been chosen in keeping with what God the Father had planned. That happened

through the Spirit's work to make you pure and holy. God chose you so that you may obey Jesus

Christ. He wanted you to be made clean by the blood of Christ. May more and more grace and peace be

given to you. Let's take another scripture. 2 Thessalonians 2.13, again from the same version.

2 Thessalonians 2.13 from the NIRV. Brothers and sisters, we should always thank God for you. The

Lord loves you. God chose you from the beginning. He wanted you to be saved. Salvation comes through

the Holy Spirit's work. He makes people holy. It also comes from believing the truth. Beautiful,

eh? It's his work, man. Any questions? So when it feels like God's presence is

absent or lifting, God's presence is absent or lifting, when it feels like you are frustrated,

or when you feel like the awareness of God is suffocating, awareness of God is suffocating,

then do a U-turn and dive into the six essentials.

Is it there now? Okay. When it feels like God's presence is absent or lifting, and it can be for

different reasons, sometimes circumstances, sometimes sin, sometimes distractions, do a U-turn.

So what's the key here? The key is how quickly can you do a U-turn? That's the key. God does the

rest. He's always drawing you back. The trick here, the key here, the key to this entire thing is how

quickly will you do a U-turn? That's all. You know how it is, yeah? You're driving and the

Navi says you're going the wrong direction. Your wife is saying you're going the wrong direction.

Everything is saying you're going the wrong direction, but somehow you feel like, no, no,

I'm sure it will work out. And then you find that if you're in the US or it's on a highway that will

take you to Alaska before you can do a U-turn. Or otherwise, if you're smart, you do a U-turn quickly

and you head back the right way. How quickly will you do the U-turn? That's the question. I want to

do this U-turn fast, man. The moment this happens, to quickly do a U-turn. So that's one trick. The

other trick is, are you aware, you aren't aware of love, presence, spirit, voice, direction,

holiness? Are you aware? That's the second question. One is to do a U-turn. The second one is,

are you aware? I would say we are all aware. Every person knows when the person is out of

sync. It's a question of whether we've gotten used to it or not. Or how desperate we are to go ahead

and do what we know is wrong. Are you aware? And if you're aware, can you do a quick U-turn? If you

don't do the U-turn, you'll continue down that road. Any questions?

Yeah. So I was in Bahrain recently and while I was there, I had an opportunity to do something

that would, through an investment, have me make some money. And I decided I'll go ahead with it.

And as I'm going ahead with it, I realized that the laws of the land don't really clearly define

whether I can do what I should do. But part of me is thinking, there's enough money here. The law

doesn't say this way or that way. It's gray. So let's just go ahead with it. And so I'm stepping

into an area which I know is wrong. But my heart wants it so badly that I'm heading that way. And

then I hear the voice of the Spirit saying, it's gray. I do not live in the gray. And I remember

doing an immediate U-turn saying to the person sitting next to me, saying, can't go ahead with

this. Sometimes it is sin circumstances that sometimes you have to stop and do a U-turn. And

once I did it, where do I jump? Not into great holiness, but Father, I just want to return to

your love because I'm shocked that I was willing to go ahead with something that I knew wasn't

clearly black or white. I'm just appalled that I even considered it. What I need right now is a

return to knowing how loved I am and a return to being in a place where I know your presence again.

I was appalled at how easy it was. That's one instance. Another instance is even something

like watching something that I shouldn't watch. Not something evil, but just knowing that the jokes

that are being spoken or the insinuations that are being made or the dialogue is coarse, is not what

one should watch or listen to. And the rest of it may be okay, but there's that part that I'm

listening to and I'm thinking to myself, this is not the way to go. So do a U-turn, jump back into

the presence of God. And so it's how long one takes. Then the question is Jacob, will you do it

immediately or will you not? Or what if you have already done something wrong and now you're in

that place where you're guilt-ridden, shame-ridden, feeling lousy, you know you have a service to go

to, you've got to preach and you know there's guilt in your heart. You ask the Lord for forgiveness,

nothing seems to change because there's a sword hanging over your head saying you're still

messed up, Pastor Jacob. And then I never called myself that, but let's assume. And so you messed

up and you're thinking all that. And then what do you do? You go diving into that place where you say,

father, stand naked before you, just needing you to clothe me with your love. Because that's the

only thing I have. I got nothing else but that. And in your love could you restore back to me

everything that I so hunger after. And what do I hunger after?

What do I hunger after? I hunger after a mic that will work right now.

Do I, what do I hunger after? I hunger after, there are two things that I hunger after at times like

that. One, oh God, I just want to live a blazingly holy life because I really enjoy it. It allows me

to connect with you in a way that nothing else does. And two, I hunger after presents. I want to be

aware of you continuously. It's the way humans were supposed to live. It is the way humans were

supposed to live. Guys, what's our biggest call? Our biggest call is can you show the world what it

is for man to be in relationship with God? Can you show the world what it is for a man to be in

relationship with God? Show them man. The earth is thirsting for it because they don't know how.

Why do you think there are idols and there are gods and there are religions? Why? Because man is

desperately in need to connect with something bigger than him.

And so the father of lies, the devil supplies enough for man to worship while the father who

is true says, show them what it is to be in relationship with me.

I want to touch on one more verse and then we'll close by 6.15.

Go to John chapter 3 verse 8.

John 3:8

John 3, 8.

We won't finish it today, but I'd like to start it. John 3, 8.

John 3, verse 8.

John 3:8

John 3, verse 8.

John 3:8

John 3, verse 8.

John 3:8

John 3, verse 8.

John 3:8

John 3, verse 8.

John 3:8

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from

or where it's going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. The wind blows wherever it pleases.

You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it's coming from or where it's going.

So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. Once we have these essentials set in place,

now the next thing is to follow the Spirit of God. And if you notice there, we always misread this

verse. This verse isn't saying that the Holy Spirit is like the wind. This verse is saying

those born of the Spirit are like the wind. Very often when we read this verse, we think,

it says the Holy Spirit is like the wind. You don't know where he's coming from. You don't

know where he's going. That's not what it's saying. What it's saying is those born of the Spirit are

like the wind. You don't know where they're coming from. You don't know where they're going.

And if you are born of the Spirit, it simply means that you are born again. If you are born

of the Spirit, this is the way you're supposed to live. I want to just introduce that thought today.

Think about that. What does it mean to be someone who is like the wind? And we'll continue it next

week. What does it mean that you're supposed to be someone who is like the wind? Comes one way,

goes another way. You have no idea where the person is going, where the person is coming from.

The wind may change direction sometimes. All you see is the evidence that it passed by. What does

it look like to live like that? And it is not an invitation to some pastors or some teachers or some

evangelists or some prophets or apostles. It's not to some leaders, some young people, some missionaries.

It is to every person sitting in this room. It does not count your age. It does not say,

if you're 60, this applies to you. This applies to everybody sitting here to live like this all the

time. Any questions on that one?

I love scriptures. You can't challenge it.

What does it mean to live like that?

Any questions, guys?

One of the things that will happen if you begin to live like that is people will misunderstand you

like crazy. One of the things that will happen if you live like that is God will suddenly begin to

actually take you at face value and will begin to treat you like he treats the wind. You know,

in ancient times, the understanding based on say Psalm 137 verse 5 or certain verses in Jeremiah,

Psalms 137:5

people used to think that God had chambers where he used to store the wind and that whenever he

wanted, he would release the wind and the wind would go and it would drive the clouds and make

things happen. You see this in Job chapter 37, verse 12 and 13. Just go to Job 37, 10 to 13,

Job 37:12

read it from the message. Job 37, first go to Psalm 137 verse 5. Psalm 137 verse 5.

Psalms 137:5 Psalms 137:5

Nope, not Psalm 137 verse 5. Shoot, let me just get the word.

Psalms 137:5

Psalm 135 verse 7. Psalm 135 verse 7. Psalm 135 verse 7. And there are other scriptures like this

Psalms 135:7 Psalms 135:7 Psalms 135:7

in Jeremiah and Isaiah too. Psalm 137 verse 5. Psalm 135 verse 7. Psalm 135 verse 7. And there are

Psalms 137:5 Psalms 135:7 Psalms 135:7

other scriptures like this in Jeremiah and Isaiah too. It says in 135 verse 7,

he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and he brings

out the wind from his storehouses. So that was how in the ancient days people imagined it to be.

It's not a geographical, meteorological explanation of the thing, but it was how people

used to think. But now go to Job 37. Job 37 verse 10 to 13 or 11 to 10 to 13. Job 37, 10 to 13,

Job 37:10–13

reading from the message. Job 37, 10 to 13, reading from the message. This is what people born of the

spirit are like. Job 37, 10 to 13. It's God's breath that forms the ice. It's God's breath

that turns lakes and rivers solid. And yes, it's God who fills the clouds with rainwater

and hurls lightning from them every which way. Now listen to 12 and 13. He puts them through

their paces. First this way, then that. He commands them to do what he says all over the world,

whether for discipline or grace or extravagant love. He makes sure they make their mark.

This is the idea of people born of the spirit. Can I now take you Jotna? Can I take you Emily?

Can I take you Sheldon? And release the wind of the spirit underneath your wings so that you are

completely at my command to bring at times extravagant love, other times discipline,

other times grace to different places, different people across the street and across the oceans.

Whenever I so please, can I use you like that? Because that is the nature of those that are born

of the spirit. I love the demands God places on us. And these are demands he places on everybody.

He is aware of your situation. Whenever we talk like this, we immediately get scared,

but I've got a job, I've got three kids, my husband will be away during those days. I don't

have vacation. You don't know the condition of my bank account. I can't take that many days off. I

have an ache in my back. I can't go there. I don't have a visa. I don't have a passport.

You think God doesn't know? Knowing all that, he wants you to say,

here I am. And then once he knows the heart and the mind that is yielded before him,

he is so aware of your circumstances, just like a father is aware of a child.

You may have three children. You won't ask them all to do the same thing. But for all three of

them to line up and say, dad, what's next, papa? Where do you want us to go? And then based on the

strength, based on the ability, based on experience, you will tell them where to go. But can you imagine

your three kids lining up early morning? You've just had your oatmeal because you're old now,

and then you're standing there and these three kids line up and they say, what's next, papa?

Where do you want us to go? And you'll send one of them to the backyard to just dig aimlessly. To

another, you'll send him to get money from the bank. The third one you might send to buy a car

based on their age and their ability. This is the same way God behaves with you.

Trust him. He is not like me.

He's so nice.

I'm just nice. He is so nice. He takes everything into account. He knows your fears. He knows my

hesitations. He knows where I've fallen, how I might fall again. He knows everything.

Yeah. Where's Tuni? In the crushing.

Derek, the service ends at 6.15, not 6.30.

Can you give the intro?

In the crushing.

In the pressing.

You are making new wine.

In the soil I now surrender.

You are breaking new ground. 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 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.

You've given me ever-present love. You've given me your constant drawing me to yourself.

You've given me tangible presence. Tangible presence that never dissipates.

You've given me an expectation that you will speak to me daily.

You've given me all of yourself breathing and living in me right now.

You've given me a tangible presence right now in me, around me, amongst us.

You've given me yourself as a holy God.

You've given me all these things. I came here with nothing.

But all that you've given me, you've given me all this through Christ and through the Spirit who lives in me.

I'm the richest man. We are the richest people on the face of the earth.

A people who have God. Hallelujah. A people who have God.

A people who have been brought to God.

So make me a vessel. Can you sing that? Sing it with great appreciation, guys.

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.

Did Jesus bring new wine out of me?

Where there is new wine, there is new power.

There is new 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 new freedom and the kingdom is here.

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

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.

Check, check, check.

Quick announcement.

20 year olds. How many here are in their 20s?

20s?

Alrighty.

Okay, if you're in your 20s, 7 to 9 pm this Friday, May 31st, drop in at Jacob's place and it'll be a party you won't forget.

If you're in your 20s, 7 to 9 pm, drop in at Jacob's, Friday, May 31st, it'll be a party you won't forget.

you