Presence – What It Aint

Okay, guys, so, I want to talk about, we've been talking about presence for a while.

Today I want to talk about what presence, what it ain't.

As in, sometimes this idea of presence and pursuing the presence of God can get so difficult

that you feel more guilt than pleasure.

So, I want to talk about what presence is not, or how not to go about it,

because otherwise we'll drown in presence, in our pursuit of presence.

So, on one hand we said that the periodic awareness of presence,

on one hand we say the periodic awareness of the presence of God,

the periodic awareness of the presence of God is not God's design,

was never God's design.

That's what we've been saying for a while, that it isn't enough to be aware of Him

when we gather together and sing together, it isn't enough to be aware of Him once a week,

twice a week, three times a week.

The periodic awareness of the presence of God was never His design.

That's one statement we've been making for a while.

So then, the pressure that we as passionate believers can put on ourselves to be aware,

the pressure we put on ourselves to be aware of His presence,

to be aware of His presence, can soon reek of guilt,

can soon reek of guilt, of failure,

and then the sense of it's never enough.

Because there are so many things that happen in life,

besides Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus.

Because that's where we normally go, that she chose a better portion,

she sits at the feet of Jesus, Jesus said this will never be taken away from her,

that's how I should be, I can't be like that, there's hardly any time that I spend like that.

And so it begins to reek of failure, of guilt, and of this it's never enough sense.

And so seeking out the presence of God, seeking out the presence of God,

seeking out the presence of God should not drown me,

should not drown me to the exclusion of all things,

to the exclusion of all things else, to the exclusion of all things else.

This is not a fair comparison, it doesn't really help, this analogy may not, you cannot stretch it,

but you meet guys who suddenly meet a girl, and they've hardly met her for one day,

and they're so head over heels that the rest of life stops.

It can't be like that, God never meant the pursuit of the presence of himself

to drown us to the exclusion of everything else, and we'll see that from the scriptures.

And so the intent is to look at the distortions of pursuing presence,

or look and say this ain't it, and this is it, so that all of life can be lived together.

Any questions on that before we go on?

Do you understand where we're going with this?

Because otherwise there's guilt and it's never enough.

When will we ever get to that place where we can say, aha, it's all good now?

Any questions? Hey Jill, good to see you. Heard you were in Japan recently.

Where's Evan?

Okay. Any questions?

So let's start with the whole idea of language.

Guys, one of the things we have to change is how we use language.

Our language can distort the process of perceiving him, perceiving presence.

So we've got to, you know, one of the things we stopped using in this church

is we are going to church or let's meet for church and stuff like that.

It is very deliberate because language does distort perception.

It's been used powerfully by people to change how a nation thinks.

And so one of the things we have to make sure is that language does not distort

the process of perceiving presence.

And so we've got to stop saying stuff like, man, God really showed up.

Worship was so powerful, God really showed up.

Or didn't feel his presence.

Or let us invite his presence with praise.

This is normal Christian language and it's not biblical.

So why would I use unbiblical language?

Ooh, I feel his presence right now.

That is just my feeling.

But his presence is here anyways.

May I, are you trying to raise your hand or no?

Okay, just checking.

No, no, really, I thought you were asking a question.

So language distorts the process of perceiving presence.

Yeah.

So stop using language like that.

Stop using stuff like I feel the presence of God.

I didn't feel the presence of God.

Oh, he's powerful in this place.

Stuff like that, we've got to stop that.

Oh, let's just invite him with our praise.

Let's come early and pray over each of these pews

so that the presence of God settles on the pews.

It's just a lot of wasted time.

Yeah.

We would rephrase as, Father, whether I like it or not, you're here.

And now, please, could you help me become aware of your presence?

By the way, I just want you to know I don't feel nothing.

But I still want to acknowledge that you are here.

You start from the truth and then work.

When I don't feel anything, take truth and voice it.

When you don't feel anything, take truth and voice it.

It's always been the way the Bible has worked.

Habakkuk 3, 17 to 19 is the perfect example of it.

Though the fig tree shall not blossom, though there is no cattle in the stall,

though the olive tree has cast its truth, yet I will do cartwheels of joy,

because I know that you are this, this, this, and this.

Whenever you don't feel anything, take the truth and voice it.

And so we are taking the truth and voicing it.

We are saying, God, I don't feel anything, but I know that you are here.

That's how we go about this.

That's where we start.

So often our language fails to grasp the central truth of God's presence.

Often our language fails to grasp the truth of God's presence.

And language does color our mind.

Words are used to change our mind.

It's always been that way.

Words are used to change our mind.

One of the things I forgot to say when we were talking about Israel,

one of the keys to Israel is what Jesus said when he said,

The Greeks look for arguments and intelligence, the Jews look for a sign.

Any church that rises up there that is made up of the one new man of Jew and Gentile

must be a church that just relishes and thrives in signs, miracles, and wonders.

So even the people that we are now associating with and beginning to connect with

are people that we are hoping we can put an emphasis on,

signs, miracles, and wonders, because it's always been...

Cultures have a certain way of behaving.

It's just normal.

So often our language fails to grasp the truth of God's presence.

So that is one thing that has to change.

In reality, God is always present.

In reality, God is already present.

Not just always, God is already present.

God is already present.

And His presence surrounds us.

This has been one line I've been going over again and again.

His presence surrounds us, surrounds me, surrounds us.

His presence surrounds us and me.

It's not something I can create.

It is not something I can create.

It is not something I can create.

As in, intensive worship is not creating the presence of God.

Intensive worship opens my eyes to the presence of God that is already present

before we even start at worship.

No song, no music, no anointed leader can do anything to make the presence of God come.

Ooh, get an anointed worship leader, the presence of God will come.

Oh my God.

That's like a magic trick.

No. Worship opens my eyes to the presence of God.

That's all.

And so it can take two lines, it can take no music, it can take no lines,

and you can be aware of the presence of God.

So we've got to completely shred those myths, Christian myths, Christian charismatic myths.

It is not something I can create.

It's a gift.

It's a gift.

It is God's gift.

I know we've been over this, but it's always good to refresh because we keep learning so many things.

It is God's gift. What do you mean it's God's gift?

What was lost in the Garden of Eden? Presence.

What was restored? Presence.

That's the beauty of this.

The one thing that was lost in Eden was presence.

And what is instantly restored when one becomes a child of God? Presence.

We are even given words as soon as we are born again so we can connect with presence.

What are those words?

The abacry that comes with the Spirit of God.

Soon as we are born again, inside us rises an intimate abacry.

Why? Because now we have presence and the presence must be connected to it.

How do we connect with presence?

You always connect to presence with words.

Intimacy that does not express itself in words is not real intimacy.

Intimacy that does not express itself in words is not real intimacy.

It's a trick that has been spun on Christians, especially non-charismatic denominations.

Whether it's silent meditation, it will be the end of you men.

There is a time for silence, but there is also a time for expression.

Go with Ecclesiastes. A time for everything.

We don't choose one over the other.

It is God's gift and it's independent of us.

It is independent of what we do.

It is independent of what we do.

It is independent of what we do.

Icabod does not happen.

Icabod does not happen.

As in, Icabod is the glory of God departed.

It does not happen in...

That usually happens in buildings.

It does not happen to a people in whom he is a child.

That usually happens in buildings.

It does not happen to a people in whom he dwells.

It's not possible.

The only thing that happens is now the glory of God does not depart, but you get dull to his glory.

There's a dullness to his glory, but the glory does not depart.

So David's words do not count anymore.

Cast me not away from your presence, O Lord.

Take not your spirit from me.

It's not scriptural for a New Testament Christian.

It is an Old Testament scripture that must stay in the Old Testament.

It does not transfer into the New Testament.

What happens is though, I can get dull to the presence of God, but I do not lose the presence of God,

because the presence of God is present independent of me,

and there is nothing I can do to make him appear or make him disappear, because I'm not a magician.

These are facts and truths.

They're not just truths.

They are facts.

As in, they can be tested out.

His kindness then brings awareness.

So one of the things we should realize is his kindness brings us an awareness of him.

His kindness brings us an awareness of him.

Most of the work in terms of the presence of God is done by him.

His kindness brings us an awareness of him.

It is the same kindness that you show your child when your child is suddenly woken up,

is in a room that is perhaps dark or perhaps not dark,

and suddenly goes into cry mode or suddenly looks for you,

and you just, out of your kindness, even though you're in the next room,

you know that the child must see your face or the physical presence must be there,

and you go to the room and you say some gibberish over the child and the child becomes calm.

Your kindness is what brings about an awareness.

God's kindness is what brings about an awareness, and he does this every day.

Every day he's willing to do this.

So just be aware of that. Most of the work is done by him.

This takes the pressure off us.

Otherwise we'll be pursuing the presence of God, feeling pretty guilty when we don't connect.

Every time you don't connect, remember there is someone who wants to connect.

He's the one who saw the connection fail, he's the one who reconnects,

and he's the one who reconnects every day.

The chase is fun, but let him, he likes being caught.

The chase is fun, he likes being caught.

This is so important. The chase is fun.

Don't stop chasing, but he's the one who likes being caught.

It's like when dads play with their sons or daughters,

and you run and the child tries to catch you and you don't let yourself be caught,

and then you realize, my God, if I keep this on, the child is going to fall down

because it can't sustain it anymore, and then you stop and the child touches you

and feels like she or he is a champion.

I don't do that with children anymore because I feel like I'm a champion.

I don't do that with children anymore because I find myself getting exhausted before the child.

But the point is, his kindness brings us an awareness of him.

Enjoy the chase, but he's the one who wants to be caught.

If you can understand that, sometimes the simplest things are the most profound.

If you can understand that he wants to be caught, you will enjoy this.

You're not chasing to catch him. You're chasing because it's a game.

Yep.

Yeah. I pray God that he doesn't have to do it with us.

God needs to revive because nothing is happening.

But what if people are revived, that it is so easy to distribute it?

Yeah.

Yeah. Okay. So let's talk about Hebrides.

So here were people praying that God would touch the town.

It is a pagan town. Nobody would even go anywhere near it.

And suddenly God's presence comes and even unbelievers are aware of the tangible presence of God.

So revival literally makes God's presence tangible.

But for us, his presence, whether it's tangible or intangible, should be as real.

It shouldn't be an event that makes his presence tangible.

So there will be times when we are worshipping God and we are very aware of his presence,

when suddenly something hits you like a bolt of lightning, which is unusual.

Or where suddenly you see something of God that knocks you to the floor.

Or suddenly you are so aware of the Spirit of God doing something that you're weeping,

not uncontrollably, but almost uncontrollably.

Or you go down on your knees because you know that you have to take your shoes off because the Holy is in the place.

Those are times when God moves from, yes, I am present, to yes, I am tangibly present.

And so in Hebrides what happened was when the revival came, his tangible presence was so evident

that things would shake, that people would cry, they wouldn't know why they were crying.

And blessed is a city or a town or a church that is visited that way.

So we are not going to despise that, we are not going to shut those to that.

We are not going to say we don't need that. But that is not how we live.

We live with this presence always.

And then there are times when he will show up in ways that are crazy.

And when he does, ah, you try to grasp onto his foot and have him change your name before you let him go.

Whenever the tangible presence of God turns up in a place, you've got to grab his legs and not let go.

Because he didn't show up just to tickle you. He showed up to see how bad do you want him.

And when you hold him that way, get a name change man. And get a name change without a limp.

Every time, I mean there have been times in my life where God has tangibly shown up where, where it is.

And here is the other thing, if he shows up tangibly, you won't be dancing and shouting.

You will be laying down flat on the floor saying, get away from me, oh God, for I am a sinner.

That's usually the response to the tangible holy of God.

It's never, wow, welcome, come sit with me. No, it's not usually that.

It's usually great fear where you hear the three most amazing words, fear not Jacob, or whatever your name is.

I realize it should be two words, but then I throw in Jacob.

Or do not fear. That's usually his response.

And so there have been times where I've, two or three times in my life where I've known the tangible presence of God.

And all of them were scary and wonderful.

And when that happens, there must be a name change. There must be a name change.

One of the things that kind of began to affect charismatic Christianity is people would get slain in the spirit.

They would fall over. They would shake and then they would get up and be the same.

So that was an experience, but we're not looking only for experience.

So his kindness brings us into an awareness of him.

And then what is the other line? Pardon? Yeah.

Yeah, he likes being caught.

So where do we start with this whole thing, guys?

One of the books that we rarely read, because it's so you don't know what to do with that book, is The Song of Songs.

And just remember, just like there is the mother of all battles or the tallest building,

there is a reason that book is called The Song of All Songs.

Like this is like the, I mean, billboard was discovered much later.

Top of the Pops existed in the ancient times. Song of Songs.

It was like, this is the ultimate song, guys.

And we don't read it very often because we don't know what to make out of it.

But when you read The Song of Songs, the ultimate song,

you realize that there are some things that are so conducive to what we're talking about.

For example, how will you ever get into and get out of the world of music?

For example, how will you ever get into and get out of and enjoy presence if you don't believe in,

I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine.

I am my beloved and my beloved is mine.

Or it actually says, I'm my beloved and his desire is for me.

If I don't get this, I will have conflict in pursuing the presence of God.

If I don't get this, I will have conflict in pursuing the presence.

You know, there's nothing as painful as chasing someone who you know you will not catch.

Like if I tried catching Prashant, it's unlikely.

They will say of Jacob, he died pursuing.

This amazing thing happened two days ago.

So with the LA group, they are a bunch of really fit people.

What they do for fun is go walking, like, go figure.

I go driving, they go walking.

So we want to pray over the city because in Isaiah 62, it talks about praying over the walls of the city.

Wanted to find a spot because very specifically we had a prayer that we needed to pray.

And so they said, let's go to Mount Olive.

So I thought Mount Olive must be a little hill.

But Mount Olive is actually a mount.

And so we start praying.

And the other thing with people who walk, never believe them because they always say, it's just a little more.

I hate that.

It's just a little more.

And that little more is not even half way.

And so thankfully, Hansel from Bahrain and Jimmy from the US, they are not going to believe that.

And so thankfully, Hansel from Bahrain and Jillian from Vancouver, at least, were walking slow enough so that they still are aware that I'm there.

And we are trudging and the others are far ahead.

And Chad, because he's on keto, can walk a little faster now.

And so they're walking up.

And then I get not even half way through, maybe one quarter of the way, and I know I can't go.

And by the way, Mount Olive is full of graves of people.

People bury them there because they think that when the Messiah comes, the people will rise out of the grave.

I'm looking at the graves thinking, they'll have to bury me here.

Because I ain't making it to the top.

Because by now I'm panting and there's this vet walking with me.

Hansel is a vet.

He's saying, Jacob, don't mean this in the wrong way, but you sound like a dog right now.

So nothing is working for me.

And I've got to go there and pray.

We are a quarter of a way up and I'm just completely out of breath.

And I'm saying, I can see well enough from here.

I'm going to pray from here.

And just then, pardon?

Yeah, he's present.

And so the presence is not up there.

And just as we are praying this, along comes this guy in a golf cart.

It is like my ram in the ticket, man.

And all I could think was Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Jireh.

And he comes and says, anyone needs a ride?

Million dollars, million dollars.

So I said twenty and then I brought it down to fifteen.

And then he took us up and then he waited there, eh, till everything was done.

Then he took us down.

I'm so thankful.

I don't know why this story is at all important, but if you don't know that you can catch somebody,

what's the point of pursuing them?

Because you would die halfway through.

One of the things God wants us to know is that I am my beloved and his desire is for me.

The idea of presence is his desire is for me.

I will find his presence.

His desire is for me.

I will find his presence.

There are ways he'll do that, but his desire is for me.

I will find his presence.

These are truths that should be established so that you don't run his helter-skelter.

His desire is for me.

I will find his presence.

I will not lose out on his presence.

So, otherwise you'll have conflict, eh?

And just so you know, awareness of presence is just not so that, ah, I'm aware of God.

Awareness of presence must lead to, must lead to oneness with the presence of God.

Oneness with the presence of God.

Oneness with the presence of God.

Awareness of the presence of God must lead to oneness with the presence of God.

Song of Songs is always about that.

She hears a knock on the door.

She says in, ah, I think chapter 5, she says, ah, I hear my lover knocking on my door,

but I've already chained into my robe.

Must I now dress up again?

I've already washed my feet.

Must I now soil them again?

And so she doesn't get up.

Awareness is not enough.

Awareness must lead to oneness.

Otherwise you're aware of God knocking on the door.

So what?

And then finally when she comes to her senses and says, okay, I'm going to open the door, he's gone.

And so she's roaming the streets looking for him.

Awareness of God must lead to oneness with the presence.

And so remember that the game is not to chase and catch him.

The game is to chase and catch him and become one with him.

As in the way he talks, Father, you are in me and I am in you.

We have become one.

Awareness of the presence must lead to oneness with the presence.

Oneness only happens in the context of relationship.

Oneness needs relationship.

Relationship requires chasing.

Relationship triggers a chase.

And then it can be reciprocal.

Then it can be mutual.

Then it can be experiential.

Where you are the junior partner learning the skill.

Always think of yourself as a junior partner.

Do not take on the responsibility of this upon yourself.

You will exhaust yourself.

Remember you're the junior partner.

He's the senior partner.

He's the one who knows how to go about this.

He knows you.

He made you.

He knows what makes you tick.

He knows what distracts you.

He also knows what attracts you.

He'll use everything in the book.

Why?

Because his desire is for you.

This is the one thing that's destroyed in Eden.

That when husband and wife began to blame each other,

it said the woman no longer...

The woman wanted to dominate the man, it says.

But here it's changed again.

It goes back into the normal place where his desire is for you.

Any questions?

It's not too complicated.

When you think of it in terms of love, it's very easy.

Now you see why God says in Isaiah 62, verse 4 and 5,

Isaiah 62:4

he says, from now on I will not call you Hepzibah.

I will not call you Abandoned One.

I'll call you Hepzibah and Beulah.

You'll be like one who's married to me.

You will not be one that is forlorn or left.

Who is the one chasing whom?

God is chasing Israel.

And he's renaming her.

Why is he renaming her?

One of the things that happens in the chase is

he'll call you names so that you know where he's hiding.

And as you hear those names, your heart will begin to beat.

You need to do this with your children.

You have some funny name, a babushka for them,

and you'll be hiding under the pillow and you'll say,

Babushka!

And the child will come running.

Let me try babushka again and see if you sneeze.

Babushka!

There we go.

Sorry, Roshan, we are usually more serious than this.

I believe you.

So always remember, God is a loving groom to a struggling bride.

God is a loving groom to a struggling bride.

God is a loving groom to a struggling bride.

It is okay. The struggle is okay.

God is a loving groom to a struggling bride.

The struggle is okay, guys.

The struggle is okay.

Struggle!

God is a loving groom to a struggling bride.

He's always been this way.

Philip, you're leaving?

How could you do this, Philip?

I'm kidding, man.

Philip is leaving the building.

Let's say it.

Yeah.

Struggle is okay.

The other thing we talked about before is presence is a return to first love.

Presence is a return to first love.

Presence is a return to first love.

It's all day.

You always struggle happily through first love.

You struggle happily through first love.

Look at Don.

Can you see that he's struggling? You can't because he's struggling happily.

You don't know what to say now.

You struggle happily because it's not a big deal.

Making adjustments, getting up early, eating the wrong thing.

Everything becomes... It's easy.

So remember that with God.

Take the pressure off.

You put the pressure on him.

But first love does require stuff like time.

First thing first love requires is time.

And that time must be in the shape of convos, in terms of the word, in terms of adoring.

What does adoring look like?

Like when you look at someone's nose and then one's forehead and then drown in her eyes.

And stuff like that.

This adoration is just looking at someone's nature, exterior and interior.

Just thoroughly enjoying it.

You do that with your children.

You do that with your spouse.

You do that with anyone you love.

You're so aware.

And that comes through time.

First love requires time.

There is just one thing that first love requires is time.

Without time, there is no first love.

So every time I'm told to repent and see how far I've fallen, what God is saying is,

hey, you've lost out on time with me.

First love requires time.

And that time may be counted in conversations, in reading, in adoring.

Adoration can take different forms.

Adoration can be a walk through nature.

Adoration can be sitting back and drinking a really good cup of coffee and talking to God.

It's so non-religious.

The other thing we need to understand is when...

We don't believe this, but God can be the biggest distraction in the room.

God knows how to be a distraction.

God knows how to be a distraction.

God knows how to be a distraction or he knows how to use circumstances to distract you back to him.

Like in Songs, chapter 3, verse 6 to 11, here's how she pictures her lover coming.

She talks about, I see columns of smoke.

I see my lover coming, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense.

I see him covered with the fragrance of merchant aroma.

So the intent is he's impossible to ignore.

He is impossible to ignore.

To anybody who loves him even a little, he is impossible to ignore.

To anybody who loves him a little, he is impossible to ignore.

He's impossible to ignore.

It's not a question of whether I can see him, what I feel.

It's always a question of appetite.

It is a question of appetite.

It is a question of appetite.

It is a question of appetite.

One of the things we should ask for every day, Father, let me have an appetite for you.

Appetite is what leads you to, appetite leads you to be attracted to that which you hunger after.

If you love God, you actually want him.

Most people sitting in this room, especially if you're here for three hours, it's because you love him.

Remember to ask for appetite.

It's an appetite that is dulled.

What did Joshua have that the rest of Israel did not have?

They would all stand at the front of the tent when this Shekira would appear.

But there was one man who would stand by the tent and even after Moses leaves, his face blazing, Joshua would not leave.

In Exodus 33, verse 19 or 20, it says he would stand by there.

Exodus 33:19

Why? Because there was an appetite in this man for the things of God and he would stand there.

The Shekinah wouldn't fade immediately.

If it didn't fade on Moses' face, it didn't fade in the tent either.

He would wait there while the rest of them would go back into their tents.

Ask for an appetite.

These are very simple prayers that we don't need to forget.

We just need to lodge them.

We don't even need to sometimes say them.

Oh God, what an appetite, Father.

For what? For you.

If I have an appetite, I will have sight.

I mean, in that busy marketplace, I had an appetite for something meaty.

I found the place.

Whatever you have an appetite for.

I can walk miles for a good coffee.

Whatever you have an appetite for.

You have the feet and you have the feet.

Whatever you have an appetite for.

You have the feet and you have the eyes for.

But the appetite must begin again every day as if nothing happened yesterday.

Hear me. This is super important.

The appetite must begin again every day as if nothing happened yesterday.

As in, don't eat stale manna from yesterday.

Oh my God, what a wonderful time with the Lord we had yesterday.

That is not what is supposed to sustain me today.

That was yesterday.

Today I start afresh because God is infinite.

I do not eat the stale manna of yesterday.

Most institutions, most denominations, most conferences,

most important events in a Christian's life is always built on some grace that happened yesterday.

What of it today?

I've got to start with this appetite thing as if it is new today.

Every day you begin afresh as if yesterday was not.

Why? Because he says in the Bible, my mercies are what?

New. New. New.

As in, there is nothing in him that is new but for new it will be new.

Why? Because he is infinite and every day you can pull out of him something that is so different.

This is how the presence thing works man.

And then the pressure is off you.

Another thing that really helps presence.

If you notice the song of songs happens in a garden in Jerusalem.

In a family home.

I don't have scripture to back this up from the song of songs.

But I know this.

That any man or woman who pursues the bride, the body or the kingdom will find presence.

If that is not your magnificent obsession, it is hard to find the son.

Because this is the magnificent obsession of the father, son and the holy spirit.

What is the father's magnificent obsession?

His son.

What is the son's magnificent obsession?

His bride.

What is the holy spirit's magnificent obsession?

The bride and the son.

How does he go about it?

He creates a family.

There is a family called, the family of God.

What is the drive?

Magnificent obsession is the son.

What is the magnificent obsession of the son?

The bride and the?

I know I am speaking really fast.

But if you want to find the son, you must have the same obsession as the son.

And the son is obsessed with his bride.

It is almost impossible to find the son if you aren't interested in the bride.

Yeah, his obsession is the loss, but the intent is to form them into the bride.

Yeah.

Because the end game is not saving the lost.

The end game is, can I bring them into the maturity of Christ?

Yeah.

What about the presence of God in all the things I have to do in a day?

There are so many things in a day.

How do I go about it?

Genesis 2, man.

You will see that there were so many things to do.

We have got either maybe because we teach it wrong and we make presence such a high commodity that we think,

oh my God, if I do this, I won't be able to do anything else.

But when you look at Genesis 2, you find that in Genesis 2.15,

God takes man and puts him in a garden, places him in a garden.

And why does he place him in a garden?

Why does he place him in a garden?

So that he can work it and keep it in order.

So there was work to do, then he gives them instructions on how to do the work.

Then he realizes, hmm, presence is great,

but this guy really needs someone in flesh and blood who can be his companion.

So he gives him a companion and gives her a companion in him.

He realizes that presence is great, but this guy needs a helpmate.

So he gives a helpmate.

Then he realizes that he needs to get to know her, so he's getting to know her, getting to know each other.

And even to form her, Adam was involved in her creation.

He didn't have to do anything, but he's put into a deep sleep and she's formed.

There's a process that he's involved in.

Then there was the development of free will.

He had to choose. That had to be taught him.

There was an exertion of free will.

There was time spent in intelligence.

We're here to classify every living being that exists.

And he wasn't grunting every time he saw an elephant.

He didn't go, hmm, hmm.

No, he gave them actual names.

He was a user. Intelligent classification and conversation.

Then he began to exert dominion because he remembered what God had said in Genesis 1.28.

These are things that are missing in Genesis, but it's so implied.

Then there was the habitual sound of God walking in the garden in the cool of the evening.

Habitual sound.

The word there is not that God used to walk in the cool of the evening that day.

There was this habitual sound of God walking in the cool of the evening.

So we think the presence of the idea of pursuing presence was when God would come walking in the evening in the garden.

That's when they had this presence.

No, it was presence throughout the day, but in different things.

Look at the things they had to do.

There's work to be done.

We think that somehow while I'm typing in the computer, I have to think of God, God, God, God, God, God, God.

And then you wonder why God is on the screen.

It's not like that.

You can do your work without thinking of God.

But you have to realize that your work is sustained by God and that if you...

We'll get there later.

We might not get there today, but there's a whole thing on presence and work.

But you have to understand the different things that are happening in the garden.

There is work.

There's keeping things in order.

It's part of what God gives me.

Then there is instructions that he gives to how to do the work.

If presence was enough, he wouldn't have given a companion, man.

Isn't God enough?

But he knows God is not enough and he gives a companion.

Because he knows I made them in physical form in human flesh and they need companionship.

He gives them companionship.

But once he gives them companionship, there's responsibilities on each other.

This is all part of pursuing his presence.

Each of these can be taken apart.

We won't do it today because it's already 1.15.

Then there is knowing each other.

Then there is... I love this.

He needed to learn how to exert his free will.

God deliberately brings the animals and puts them before him and says,

Hey, what do you want to call these things?

I've given you dominion.

What do you think?

There was a process.

There was an actual intelligent process through which Adam named animals.

There was a reason animals were called certain things.

We don't even understand what that was.

And it was in English, by the way.

So what was it? What was the process?

Why even include that line that all the animals were brought before him

and he had to exert his intelligence?

He was a brilliant man.

This man was made in the image of God.

You don't understand his intelligence.

He could have written volumes on just earthworms.

This is what is happening in the Garden of Eden.

He's not thinking, God, God, God, God, God.

Sometimes presence can become like a guru sitting on Himalaya.

Then you hear the habitual sound.

And what is this habitual sound of God?

Through all this, there are times when God is not listening to you.

He is not listening to you.

He is not listening to you.

And what is this habitual sound of God?

Through all this, there are times when God wants one-on-one intimacy.

So find that time, too.

Through all this, there are times when God wants one-on-one intimacy.

Where He says, hey, I saw you at work and I know you kept tabs on me during work.

Hey, I saw you really loving on your spouse and you were aware of how you need to love her.

And there were times when you thought of, I should do this, I should do that.

You even sent up a prayer when she got angry.

Or I saw you doing something intelligent.

You had to code a program and while you were doing that, there was a time when you hit a block and you remembered me.

And He says, I'm aware of all that. Thanks for including me.

Because I'm the one who actually gives everybody work.

I did that in the garden. I still do it today.

And every time you recognize me as a provider of work, as a sustainer of work, something strange happens.

The land begins to produce fruit.

Every time you do not recognize me as part of the work, you find that you have to till the ground and it is hard.

And you do it by the sweat of your brow.

Listen to me on this, please.

It doesn't matter whether I'm a pastor, pastoring a church, or you're in front of a computer or an accountant, whatever you are, remember this.

When you begin to recognize God in your work, you find that your work, the ground, is not hard.

When you do not recognize Him in your work, the ground becomes hard.

And you have to work by the sweat of your brow.

When you do recognize Him in your work, you find that the fruit of your labor is something you begin to enjoy.

It is exactly what happened to Adam.

So what does it even mean to recognize God in work?

To recognize that He is the source and that the work is not how you get your livelihood.

If you don't get past that, you will work for your livelihood all your life.

Let me say that again.

To recognize Him at work is to recognize that He is the source of your livelihood, not your work.

Second, you have to remember that if you are someone who recognizes Him in your work,

then you will speak about Him at work because you see your work as part of the bigger picture of what He is doing.

So please be silent about Him at work.

Three. We'll stop with this, I think.

Three. When things begin to go well at work, we have a tendency to forget Him.

Deuteronomy talks about this.

When I have brought you into vineyards you haven't cultivated, when I have brought you to wells you haven't dug,

when I have brought you into homes that you haven't built, then you will forget me.

It's very natural. Try not to.

Four. Self-effort.

Every time I go into self-effort, it is when I do not recognize that He is the one in charge.

Self-effort is self-striving.

I've got to do this. I've got to do this.

Four.

The reason I enjoy my work so much is because these things are easy now.

Most pastors don't, eh?

For most pastors, Sunday is a day of pressure.

Habitual sound of His intimacy, and then He would say,

hey, now that you've done everything during the rest of the week, let's just sit together.

Let's you and I talk.

Those times are super important, eh?

The sound of Him walking in the garden is times of intimacy that He says He wants,

because He wants to share presence with you, share things about Himself with you,

share things that He's never shared with anybody else in history.

Just imagine that sometimes you are privy to the secrets of God

that He hasn't shared with Daniel, Joseph, Adam, Eve.

Just think of that.

Sometimes He's inviting you to step into something He wants to do on earth that nobody else has done.

One of the things God always likes doing,

and I'm telling you this so that you believe it and are able to walk in it one day,

one of the things He wants you to have is an unprecedented life.

You know what an unprecedented life is?

An unprecedented life is a life that no one has ever lived before.

An unprecedented life is a life that no other human being has ever lived before.

Stepping into something or someone that He can make you that has never existed before.

With all your failings, failures, flaws, unprecedented life,

this will become a burning desire,

okay God then, hi, you want intimacy? I'll give you intimacy.

During work I'll recognize you.

Self-effort I'll lessen.

Presence becomes so powerful when men and women walk in rest.

Presence becomes so powerful when men and women walk in rest.

Because what is the definition of rest?

That in hostile terrain, when the sun is beating hard down on you,

when enemies are pursuing you,

when there are scorpions and snakes crawling around,

when there is no water,

then I will recognize that you are present.

And because I recognize you are present when my boss is challenging me,

when I have to go to work,

when colleagues are not going to help me,

in the middle of that I will recognize the presence of Yahweh, the Alpha and the Omega right there.

And out of Him will now come water out of a rock,

out of Him will come birds that fly at two feet off the ground,

out of Him will come coriander looking manna,

out of Him will come shade,

out of Him will come blazing sun when it is cold,

out of Him will come water,

out of Him will come water,

out of Him will come water,

when it is cold, out of Him there is no end to this.

That is what rest looks like.

Rest is an acknowledgement that the presence of God is here

and I do not need to do anything except the one thing He tells me to.

This is the yelling part.

We live like this, ah!

People around you will eat presence.

You live like this and people around you will eat presence.

You don't live like this and they eat the fruit of your labor.

Nothing wrong with that.

But my God, I would rather eat presence than the sweat of your brow.

Why do you sometimes eat more of God here than other places you have been to?

It is not because of the depth of teaching.

That may be one of the things.

It is because there is more room for the presence of God to move here

because we do not intervene.

We do not intervene.

We let Him do what He wants to.

Walk and rest and the presence of God is more evident.

Why?

Because when you walk and rest,

God gets to do whatever He wants to,

how He wants to.

Hear me again.

When you walkということで,

God gets to do what He wants to,

how He wants to,

the way He wants,

when you don't walk properly,

God gets to do what He wants to,

but not the way He wants to.

Now, when He doesn't get to do what He wants to,

the results do not have the aroma of Yahweh.

They don't have the fragrance of Yahweh.

They've got the fragrance of Christianity.

But they don't have the fragrance of Yahweh.

Alrighty, let's back it up.

Just be careful not to designate certain times as spiritual

and certain times as secular.

Don't do that, eh?

It's all one and the same.

I'm telling you something,

if Mary just kept sitting at his feet,

he'd have rebuked her.

Next time he came home,

Mary says, oops, Jesus has come.

Martha is slogging away.

Jesus would have at some point said,

Mary, now you're making this like a habit,

you're taking this up as an excuse,

go help Martha in the kitchen.

There are times of intimacy,

like the cool of the evening.

But otherwise, for ones who love God,

His desire is over you.

If you don't find Him, He will find you.

And as we begin to believe these truths,

you'll find that the gap between you not being aware of Him

and you being aware of Him keeps decreasing,

just keeps decreasing.

Ah, they're such good points.

If you insist.

Just think of the points we'll talk about next week.

Parent your awareness.

Parent your awareness.

Love your awareness,

enjoy your awareness,

share your awareness.

So that's one section.

Parent your awareness.

How do you parent this awareness?

How do you love your awareness?

How do you enjoy your awareness?

How do you share your awareness?

Next one, presence is attentive

and presence is attentiveness and curiosity.

Presence is attentiveness and curiosity. It'll make you curious about things God

does. Moses is working and he sees a bush burst into flame. It is natural in the

desert for those things to happen. But this man is so tuned to God that

something arises in him of curiosity. Where is it happening at work? But let me

not go on. Why don't you get up and go before I start teaching it again? See you

guys. Oh yeah, Diana has an announcement.

Thanks James. Hello. Thank you. This is not actually an announcement as much as

it is a request. This will take a couple of minutes. I'm sorry guys. A few years

ago when we were on Main Street, Jacob gave an assignment to two of us to write

in response to his teaching. And one of the things that I had the privilege of

writing about was about God's kindness and about God's heart. And I

discovered to my amazement that the prodigal son was not the only prodigal

in the story. There's also the prodigal father. And God is a prodigal father.

In the same way that the son was extravagantly lavish in spending, the

father was extravagantly lavish in loving in his kindness and is welcoming

the son back. So what I'm doing now, I want to collect God stories. I want to

turn God stories into a book. And I want them to be told in the voices of the

people that experience the God stories. So what I would like from all of you and

from anybody you know who has God stories, please, please let me know. And I

will talk to you and I will, I want to have it in your own voice. And I don't

want it a written voice because people write way different than they speak. I

wanted a spoken voice. So I want to hear your stories. And one of the, one of the

hopes I have for this book is that other people who don't know God will learn

about his heart. For example, I have, I have siblings that don't know God. And I

spent two evenings last night and the night before my sister, who really is not

a Christian and really is very angry at Christians because of the way they act

and the way they treat others. She will read the book. I can promise you that she

will read the book if I write it. So I really, really, really would like, I covet

your, your, your stories. So feel free to contact me and I'll figure out ways of

contact you guys as well because I'm sure, put up your hand if you've never,

ever, ever had a God story to tell. Put up your hand if you've had at least one

God story to tell. Thank you. Yes. Jacob, I don't see your hand.

So, so the other, I just want to add with a caution and this is based on a

conversation I've had with my sister and it ties in with what we've been, what

Jacob's been teaching and what, what we've been learning. God's heart is full

of love for his people. God's heart is full of love for the lost. His heart is

against the enemy. He's not against people. But what my sister has been

seeing, because she's not a believer and she's very, very into politics and the

way people interact with each other, she's been seeing Christians voiced in

the news and everywhere else as being really against things. Really against

things. They're not showing God's heart. So please be really cautious if you're

against a policy or an action or something. Make sure that you're not

threatening Christians. Make sure that you're not, that you're, that make sure

you represent Christ well. Make sure you represent God's heart of love and

compassion and forgiveness even to those who are perpetrating horrible things.

Because if you don't, you're alienating my sister and I don't like that. So

that's very personal. But anybody not understand it or have a question about

that? That's all. So thank you. So please, please, please tell your God stories.

Yeah, yeah. Hey guys. So yeah, last year, I think myself, Derek, and there was a

few of us all together and we were trying to find a shelter for a homeless

person. And what happened was you had to call 211 so how the system works is you

will call 211. They will go ahead and call other people, the shelters basically,

and they will, you know, ask them how many beds and then they have to wait. So

whenever you call 211, what happens is you basically have to wait on the phone

for what, 30 minutes, one hour, even more sometimes, right? Derek, we have done

that. And Pawan and everyone who's been in Bali. So we were like thinking in this

age, why is not there app to basically upload everything so that the time is,

the shelters available is in real time. So what we decided to do is we decided to

basically develop an app. So last year we started working, Emmanuel's on the

project as well and then these various people and Emmanuel is, you know, he's in

mobile and app development at Lingera so it works really well. So he has been

developing and we decided to basically apply for a grant to be able to develop

the app. So the grant is with Spark BC, it's Social Planning and Research Council

of BC, I think. Yeah, there you go. It's a huge acronym. But anyways, we applied for a grant and it was cool

because when we applied, the director, so they're based in Burnaby, the director

actually reached out and we had a quick zoom call and they were very interested

in it. And we applied and we got the grant by the grace of God. So yeah, we'll

be working on it for the next year and a half and the testing will be like,

basically it will come down from the government, like kind of like telling

them that some of the shelters and B's. It's basically three, Surrey would be one

of the locations, but Burnaby and Langley because things have been changing

in Langley. There's more homelessness growing in Langley as well. So and the

directors like this might be first of many things because shelters is not the

only thing homeless people are looking for. You know, they're always looking for

food and other things. So by the grace of God, this might be something.

I mean, I dreamt of a church that was involved with city and government, never

thought it would be possible. This is a huge thing. So bless you guys for even

attempting to go down this route. And then the last announcement is starting

May 7th, we'll have services in Victoria. So next week you'll get a call this week

saying you, you, you, you, you, you and you are going for the evening service in

Victoria. So we'll be starting a service in Victoria May 7th. Yeah. So prepare for

a picnic in Victoria next Sunday evening. And if you are the lucky one that's

picked for the first one, yeah, you get to pay a ferry and go to Victoria. I can

see you're very enthusiastic. That's a good sign. All righty, please leave.