Permission

So last week we talked about from everywhere to everywhere and how we'll change the way we go to different places across the earth

because it's not an Antioch model anymore, it's an Ephesus model.

But those are things we talked about last time, so I'll continue with that maybe next week.

But this week we want to talk about permission.

So let me begin by defining permission.

Guys, permission is an invitation into a greater measure of God that He plans to manifest through you.

So permission is an invitation.

So, I mean, we'll only be focusing on permission today.

As in, Father, so why is permission so important?

Why do I need to grasp this idea of permission?

Because it's not something that most of us think about, most of us think is needed.

And yet the Bible is so full of permission, as in God giving people in the Bible permission to be what they could have never been on their own,

what they never were in the past, but needed to become.

And so permission, some of the ways we can define permission is it's an invitation.

It's an invitation to a greater measure of God that He plans to manifest through you.

So it's an invitation.

You can't step into permission without God inviting you, saying,

hey, I know this is who you are, but I've got something else that I've been planning all along, even before you were born.

These were written into your plan from me.

And so I want you to step into this, but I need to give you permission.

And once I give you permission, things will have to happen so that you're ready for it.

But it's always an invitation, eh?

An invitation to a greater measure of God that He plans to manifest through you.

Another way to define it is to know what is allowed.

Permission is to know what is allowed.

To know what is allowed.

Permission is to know what is allowed.

What do you have license for?

What do you have license for?

The extent of your liberty and your authority in that area.

That's another way of defining permission.

And so when we don't have an idea of the extent of authority or the extent of the liberty we have,

we either walk in presumption and get into trouble because we step into things we had no right stepping into,

or we hold ourselves way back from how far we can go and never get to be what God wants us to be.

So another way of defining permission is to know what is allowed,

to know what you have license for,

and to know the extent of your authority and the liberty you have.

In fact, I'd say Romans 12, 2, where it talks about...

So the second part of Romans 12, 2 says,

find out the good and perfect will of God.

You can't find the good and perfect will of God if you don't know what He has been calling you to have permission in.

Romans 12, 2 says, do not be conformed to the world, but be renewed, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Part of the renewing of my mind is to constantly know what God is calling me and giving me permission in.

I've got to know this, otherwise I will not be able...

How can I renew my mind if there is nothing unfamiliar, no challenge?

The renewing of the mind doesn't come through reading.

The renewing of the mind comes through reading and then doing.

But I can never step into it or discern His good and perfect will unless I know what God is giving me permission to step into.

It is an action that comes after thinking, yeah.

Yeah, and it is an action that responds to an invitation.

And this is normal for God.

This is not something He does for special people or does once in a while.

For us to find His good, acceptable and perfect will is something He always desires.

He's always willing to give.

There's nothing that God asks me to ask of Him that He is grudging about.

The thing is to now find out, Father, so what do I have permission for this year?

What does Acts 29 have permission for?

What nations do we have permission for?

Once we have that, it gives us so much more to work with, man, and that's what we'll talk about.

One more definition and then we... if you have any questions, you can ask.

Guys, in a rebellious culture that we presently have, we don't realize the criticality of permission

because we are highly individualized and permission is not something we want to ask unless it's going to cost us.

People don't take permission, but that's because of the culture we live in.

But if you look at scriptures, you find that permission was something that people were very aware of and that God is aware of.

And worse, the demonic realm is really aware of it.

And they love the fact that their Christian opponents are not aware of it.

I mean, Genesis 41, verse 44, Pharaoh is saying to Joseph,

Genesis 41:44

listen, you only have to report to me and nobody here will raise their finger if you don't give them permission.

In all kingdoms, permission is normal.

Doesn't matter whether it's a satanic kingdom or a kingdom of the world.

And where do you think they got it from? They got it from the kingdom of God.

In Mark 5.13, the demons that come out of legion can't leave till Jesus gives them permission.

Will you allow us to go into the pigs?

In Jude chapter 1, verse 6, it says that those that left their abode, it's talking about demonic beings again,

Jude 1:6

those that did not have permission but left their abode and began to step past their boundaries are now locked up in dark dungeons.

Because we've gotten so used to not needing or seeking permission,

we step into things willingly, not knowing the cost that we sometimes pay because permission is an important pillar in the kingdom.

Any questions before we go on?

Jude 1.6. Sorry, go ahead, Betty.

I guess one of the things, maybe another definition is we're not talking about asking if we can.

We are talking about knowing what we can.

We're not talking about asking if we can.

We are talking about knowing what we can.

It's not asking if we can do, it's knowing what we can do.

That's the kind of permission I'm talking about where God says, hey, but this is what I've given you Acts 29, this is what you have permission for.

Step into it.

It's not so much me asking you, can I do this?

It is knowing what I can do.

That then allows me to explore the land because I know how far I can go without stepping into presumption.

Go ahead.

Yeah, so God loves it when you leverage permission to test the limits.

God loves it when you leverage permission to test the limits.

He likes you to go and see how far you can go.

Completely surrender to Him. He likes it.

Trusting that He'll stop because you have no desire to go out of bounds.

You just want to see how far have you given me this?

So He doesn't have a problem with that.

But He also knows how to stop you.

So He knows that Paul wants to go to Bithynia or Mycea or Lystra.

And He knows that, okay, Paul will test.

And when He tests, if the Spirit forbids him, He turns around and He returns.

He never goes on presumption.

God loves it when I leverage the permission that He has given me to see how far He and I can walk together.

Because it teaches me more obedience and more hearing, man.

Yeah, and when you ask, it's not like the plan will be clearly given.

I mean, think of Peter.

The guy is being told to go to a Gentile household.

It's the last thing the guy should be doing.

I hope he didn't leave in daylight because his Jewish friends would have watched him

as he marched along with some Gentile servants to go meet Cornelius' home.

And yet, no picture is clear.

God could have told him the entire thing beforehand.

Listen, you're going to the Gentiles, the Holy Spirit is going to fall.

Nothing.

So asking is great.

All Peter knows is he has to go to the Gentiles.

He was sent to the Gentiles.

He has to go there.

That's all he knows.

So sometimes asking for the length and breadth of it is quite pointless because God decides not to give you any info.

And then he's standing there and then he says, I perceive that just as the Spirit of God fell on the Jews,

so it has now fallen on the Gentiles.

And then he calls out scripture and says, this is that.

This isn't difficult, guys.

It's hard work, but it's not difficult.

Like, yeah.

I was going to say like cutting an apple.

It's not difficult, but it's hard work.

I knew it wouldn't fly.

So when it comes to permission, you've got to first see what God is giving you permission in.

Then it's a good idea to name it.

As in, ah, so let me phrase it, oh God, this is what you're saying.

Then it's good to agree with God.

Alrighty, I named it Father, and so I'm going to agree with you that this is what you and I will be doing together.

Then it's good to sometimes identify it with something symbolic.

Not necessary.

So sometimes someone would build an altar or someone would set up something that would remind them that

this is what God did at this stage in my life.

It's not important. That's not critical.

Once you do that, you must expect things to happen in the area that God is giving you permission.

You must expect to resist cultural family ties that will prevent you from stepping into it,

because almost nothing that God asks of you or gives you permission is intellectually sound or logically reasonable.

Any intellectual reasoning comes after the process, not while you're in the process.

So there will be resistance from people who wish you well.

Then you've got to step out into action.

You've got to enter and explore, because what you've been given is so massive that you've got to enter and explore.

You've got to subdue whatever tries to overcome you or has been struggling.

You begin to multiply, because what you now have entered into must increase.

You finish what you're supposed to. You empty yourself.

You finish what you're supposed to. You empty yourself.

You move on to repeat the whole process again, till you die.

Isn't Christian life fun?

So if the father says, okay, I'm giving you permission to now, let's take something big and something small,

I'm giving you permission to now affect Wally, the city that we've started doing things in.

I'm giving you permission to affect Wally.

So I'm going to see what God has for us in Wally.

I'm going to name it. This is what God wants us to do.

And we picked on two things when it came to Wally.

One, that we would work with those that were being trafficked sexually,

and two, that we would help the homeless.

Those were two things.

We began to agree with God.

You set up a symbolic thing that identifies it or not. It's up to you.

You begin to expect that God will give you fruit in that area,

because it's permission that he's giving, saying, listen, I've given you Wally.

Why don't you start doing something?

You know that there'll be people who say this is a bad idea, this is not a good idea.

I'm sure, Mohini, when I told somebody that she had someone from Wally come and stay at her house,

because there was no place in the shelter,

any sane person would have given her reasonable advice, saying this is a really bad idea.

But she's got two sons who do not understand reasonable advice, so they didn't advise her.

So there's resistance from the culture around you.

But you still learn how to step out, because you know you have permission.

Guys, we never know till we step out.

Armchair Christianity is splendid.

Read as many books as you want.

Enter and explore.

Subdue what needs to be subdued.

Begin to multiply, because once someone does it, others follow.

Finish what you're supposed to do.

Empty yourself.

Having completely spent yourself, start all over again.

So, any threshold you cross, and we've talked about thresholds before,

any threshold you cross where God is saying, okay, you're done with this chapter in your life, let's move on,

any threshold you cross comes with new permission.

Hey Jacob, this is how you used to function.

Now let me show you how you can function now.

If you don't discover your new function, your new permission, you operate, you continue with old operating systems.

You continue with old operating systems.

You keep doing the old in the new, and eventually the new turns into the old.

Guys, God's not interested in the, when he says forget the former things, look for the new thing I'm going to do,

he doesn't mean I'm going to do a variation of the old thing.

He's talking about I've got plenty in me as a God who is highly creative to do a brand new thing,

so could you please let go of the former things?

Not do a variation of the former thing.

Which is why we have to continuously innovate in this church, and let go of things that we really like.

That's working well, we've got to let go of it.

And who struggles with letting go of things the most? The guy who runs the church.

I'm not talking about Jesus now, I'm talking about me.

Any questions?

Otherwise we go back to old operating systems, eh?

I have to trust that Derek knows what happens in Wally, because I'm not as good as he is at it.

I've got to trust that Jane knows how worship should go, and that it should be new.

I'm good at worship, but I've got to trust her.

Any questions?

Once we agree with this guys, it's like we get propelled into a new dimension of living, which is so much fun.

So remember when it comes to permission, and some of you are right now in the throes of this, eh?

Where God is saying, hey, I want to give you permission for new things.

Once you receive it, man, don't look back, because it's like a door that's shut.

You can open it, that's the problem.

Permission is God calling you into greater measure because of how he sees you.

It's God calling you into greater measure because of how he sees you.

It's really not about how you see yourself into greater measure because of how he sees you.

So this is why it is so hard to walk in, because it's easier to walk in a title.

It's easier to walk in a title.

It is easier to walk in a role.

It's easier to walk in a structure.

But my God, how do you walk in something you are not?

How do you walk in something that he sees you as, but you are not?

This is why I'd rather be called something.

Give me a title, I'll walk in it, because I can figure out what the job description is.

Give me a role, I'll walk in it.

Give me a structure and I'll fit in it.

But how do I walk in something I don't even see myself as?

And yet this is what permission looks like.

Permission requires exploration, permission requires faith, permission requires leaving the old.

We'll talk about that.

It is so difficult because it is who he sees you as and has very little do with who you are at present.

This is where the prophetic really kicks in, where it gives you an idea of who you are.

When you silence the prophetic, all you have to live with is the present and your past.

And that is sucky.

I've got a whole page on my phone, not a whole page, like about eight or nine points.

And the title of that page is, Do You Believe?

Not, Do You Believe that Jesus is Lord or anything.

Do you believe that this is what I have asked you to do?

Do you believe this that I say about you?

I've got a list of eight or nine things and I have to go over them because most of the time I don't believe that about myself.

It's a Do You Believe list.

This is the hard work.

It's not difficult, but it's hard work.

Any questions?

Hey, and here's the difficult thing.

If someone says something about you that you are not, how do you even say stuff like, let me go pray about it?

What are you going to pray about?

Am I this? Of course you're not.

Does it resonate?

Not at all because it's freaking you out.

If freaking out is resonating, then great, go for it.

But one of the things we have to do when we know that something is dangerous, solid, impossible, is to actually embrace it.

And if you fail, at least you fail doing something really dangerous.

But if you're going to pray about it, you're going to reduce it.

You're going to redact it.

Pardon?

Because the moment we pray about it, wanting God to give us some confirmation about what is going to happen,

He ain't going to give you nothing because you got to walk in it.

The only way you find out is by walking in it.

And the only thing you can look at is, Father, what have been the things you've been saying to me?

Yeah, I guess that's where I'm kind of going to come in.

It's like if you just step away, you know, you just need to see a fish stepping on you.

Yeah, no.

Permission is very different.

Permission is you stepping into something you've never stepped into that you have never been.

But when you look at your past, you realize, ah, shucks, this is a setup.

So let's take any of the characters in the Bible.

Take Moses.

He had no idea what he was going to do.

I mean, bad enough he's going to Pharaoh and God is telling him, don't worry, I'll harden his heart.

Like, it wasn't like God was helping, eh?

He's going up against the most powerful person on the earth.

And instead of saying, I'll help you, God's response is, don't worry, I'll harden his heart so that every time you go and speak to him, it'll get really difficult.

And so, but Moses can look back and he can see different things.

He can see, born in a basket, taken by Miriam, grew up in an Egyptian royal house, fled, burning bush.

And as he looks back, he knows, I can trust you going forward.

So had he prayed about it or had he gone with his amistamera thing?

I mean, thank God, God doesn't get angry nowadays, eh?

So when I say, don't pray about it, I'm not trying to take away responsibility from you and put it on someone else who, like she said, may prophesy a rhino in the light or a fish in a tank.

I'm not talking about that.

I'm talking about permission.

You look at the past and you look at the words spoken over you and it gives you an idea of where you're going.

Where do you start of hearing and everything is new to you?

You don't have that past.

I would suggest that if you're, I'm being super serious, I would suggest that you join a place where this is normal.

Because to not have the voice of God, but only the sound of God occasionally, is not going to help in this process.

One of the reasons I ask people to connect with Acts 29 is not because we want more members.

Look, we're running out of space.

It's because you might get an advantage or two that helps you down this path.

Yeah, it does.

You can't do this alone.

It's relational right through and through.

Permission is, and we touch on that.

But the thing is, if you don't have the background of hearing together or hearing individually or knowing what God wants, then yeah, it becomes really difficult.

How do you operate in this?

Yeah.

And at the end of the day, it's a very simple definition, revelation.

It is who God is, who God wants to be right now for you or in the next few months for you and who he wants to present himself as.

He never presented himself as, I am Jesus Christ, the son of the living God.

He presents himself as that.

Comes from the Father, comes at the right time, shows you who he is and what he wants to be.

It is hard work, but it is not difficult.

You have a Father who talks.

Let me go back to Jill's point because it's a question that all of us need to consider.

When something is said, Father, how do I not pray about it and step into it?

By looking at, again, I'm reiterating what I said.

Look at the past.

Look at what you have heard and it will give you an idea of what awaits.

Otherwise, to pray about it, your mind cannot.

If you want to pray in tongues, great, it might help, but your mind cannot handle the impossibilities that await you.

Or if not the impossibility, the absence of any reference point.

We're going to Dublin on the 29th.

A few people are going to Dublin from this church and from a couple of other places.

Why are we going to Dublin?

I have absolutely no idea.

What is the only thing God has said?

Ireland is going to awaken again.

Be there.

Ireland is going to...

I have no idea where...

I mean, the only Dublin that I know is Dublin Crossing that has amazing burgers.

Other than that, I know nothing about Dublin.

But all I know is Ireland is going to awaken.

Be there.

So we go on the 29th.

What happens thereafter?

We'll find out along the route.

But there's nothing I can do to pray about it and ask God.

When God says go and he's not giving anything else, what do I pray?

But the thing is, as you walk, Jacob, we will let you know.

That's a scary part.

And once you start walking in permission, you open the door for others.

Once you start walking in permission, you open the door for others.

You open the door for others to follow.

You create momentum for others.

And you help them experience the impossible.

You help them experience the impossible.

And you help them experience the impossible.

You help them experience the impossible.

So there are people coming to Dublin from other parts of the world.

And their question is always, so what are you doing in Dublin?

And what's the answer?

We don't know.

All we know is Dublin is going to awaken.

And we need to be there.

But it is creating momentum for others.

It's opening the door for others.

They are experiencing the impossible.

They will experience the impossible.

How that pans out, don't know.

But really it doesn't matter.

Any questions?

How do you know if you heard wrong?

I would go verify it with people that I trust.

I would be one way.

Two, I would keep checking.

Are you sure, Father?

This is going to cost me a lot.

And this might end up making me look really bad if it doesn't work out.

And so there's this desperate, please, please, oh God, please get it right.

And please can you send me another confirmation even though you're not going to?

Please, I'm going to ask.

So I know this sounds churlish to answer that way.

But that's exactly what I do.

Sorry.

Agreed.

So that could be one of the things you're saying to God.

Father, pray about it.

Keep asking.

Father, please, please.

Sometimes the praying about it may not get you an answer.

But the praying about it will at least make you feel better.

Yeah.

Yeah.

He's opened a box of worms, but...

Oh, then let's just move on.

See, here's the other thing, guys.

And this, we talked about this last time.

And I'm going to say it again.

I'm going to say it again.

I'm going to say it again.

I'm going to say it again.

I'm going to say it again.

We talked about this last time.

And sometimes when I say it from here, it sounds self-serving, but it's not.

Do I say it nicely or brutally?

Brutally.

I think you're used to both.

You're used to both. Okay.

So Nathan, because this is your first time, I'm going to be nice.

So guys, one of the things we have to figure out is,

do I trust the authorities that have been...

spiritual authority that has been placed over my life?

Is that authority abusive?

Can that authority take advantage of me?

Does that authority hear God right or do they hear wrong?

Will they jeopardize my situation?

Or have I come to a place where I can trust spiritual authority placed over me

and trust that when I'm told, like Paul says to Timothy,

go to Ephesus or go to Crete, that I will go?

That's a hard one for us, because we live in, again,

highly individualized society where people make mistakes.

Paul was as susceptible to making mistakes as you are.

But like I said last week, you never hear this argument of Timothy saying,

you know what, Paul, let me pray about it.

Ephesus, eh, not resonating.

That doesn't happen in the New Testament.

But Jacob, you're not Paul. Absolutely.

I'd like to say to you, you're not Timothy either.

Why can't you just do what I ask you to?

So there's that part too, eh, where because you are part of something

that we talked about last week, which is MMM,

make the Father known,

make disciples,

multiply churches,

and because all the assignments we have in life

fall under this magnificent obsession that God has

and purpose that God has, that everything falls under that.

So,

there's nothing that Mark has to be afraid of.

Because if that is the over-arcing purpose,

make the Father known, make disciples, multiply churches,

and that is what we as a people commit to.

And does it matter where I go and where I'm sent?

Yes, it matters because it forces me to give up my right of self-determination.

It matters because I am now surrendering my will to a group of people

or sometimes a group of leaders.

It matters because I've heard a lot about leaders abusing

and leaders taking advantage and exploiting.

Hey, but if that is a concern, then wait, don't volunteer.

But if that is not the concern, you run out of excuses.

This is getting more and more brutal, so moving on.

You've got to trust us guys, and you have to check the track record of your leaders.

And their heart and attitude towards you.

And that takes time. It needs the building of relationship.

But we are trying to build exactly what God wants,

and we can't bring our individuality and our North American-ness into it.

It doesn't apply. Doesn't apply.

Your culture doesn't count. It is secondary.

Permission contends.

Permission contends.

Permission contends.

God loves it when we leverage His permission and His power for His cause.

It contends.

Once I'm given permission, know that there will be resistance.

Know that there will be resistance.

Know that there will be resistance.

Know that there will be resistance for His cause.

It contends.

Once I'm given permission, know that there will be resistance.

Know that there will be spiritual resistance.

Know that there will be traditional and cultural resistance.

Know that there will be resistance from the soul.

Know that there will be resistance that...

I mean, to begin with, you know where resistance starts.

It's surprising. Inconvenience.

That's the first place.

That's where it starts. You know where it starts next.

Money.

It's... You know where it starts again.

Time.

These are things for family.

And yet, permission must contend.

Forget spiritual powers. They come down here.

The first four are our own internal battles.

Once we get over them, then we got another Goliath waiting.

But it begins here, eh?

I love the way Joshua leveraged permission.

I love the way Joshua leveraged permission in Joshua 10 verse 13 where

Joshua 10:13

he knows that God had said,

Hey, I want you to undo this enemy, completely destroy the enemy.

And he looks around and there's still thousands left.

So what does he do? He says,

Can I just ask the son to stand still so I can complete the slaughter?

Leverage this permission

for a cause that God had.

And God loves it when you try that out.

When you go into a city or a nation and you know that certain things need to be put back in place,

certain things need to be removed.

And no one's done it before.

And you go and ask God, Father, can I do this?

Be it in India, be it in New York, be it in Puri, where we went.

Different places.

Ephesus comes alive.

Babylon comes alive.

Egypt comes alive, as in the stories that happened there begin to happen again.

Yep.

How do you know if you're not operating the permission versus that?

Can you rephrase the question?

How do you know if you're not operating it?

So, let's take Sam.

You have given him permission in something.

And one of the best ways that Sam can find out if he's operating it or not is to come to you and ask.

Two, when he does, you'll give him not requirements to meet,

but you'll give him an idea of this is what I expect you to.

Now he has a measure.

Three, there are things that you've said to Sam are going to happen over the next four weeks.

Because you know his capacity.

Four weeks from then nothing has happened.

So you go back to the source.

Sometimes the source is God himself, sometimes it's the sources, the body,

sometimes the sources, the one through whom God conveyed what he needed to convey.

And that's the only way Sam can know.

Initially.

But then it gets to a point where Sam himself knows how to connect and ask.

But he still verifies with everybody.

Permission will disrupt your life.

Once you know permission, you'll also question when events go wrong.

Once you know that God has given you permission in something,

when things go wrong, you won't say, Kayser-as-sara.

You'll begin to question, why did this happen?

How come you said I had permission in this?

What went wrong?

Where did I miss it?

How come you weren't there, oh God?

I mean, obviously he was there, but the questions can sound a little upset.

But the questions can sound a little upset.

And he can handle that.

So Joshua is told, hey, I want you to take I.

But every time he goes and tries to take I or A or whatever, A, A or I.

Anyways, depending on...

AI.

AI, yeah.

No, that gets worse.

There's artificial intelligence now, so you can't go there either.

So that place that we're talking about now.

So Joshua is given permission to go take that place.

But he's getting beaten every time.

Every time he goes to fight, he says, AI, AI, AI.

And he comes back.

Because it's like getting really bad.

And so at the end of the day, he has this thing with God saying, but you told us.

How come we're losing every time?

And then God points out Achan and what he's told.

Just for a few miserable Babylonian garments, people are losing their lives.

So once you know you have permission, you always have the ability to question and correct.

If you don't know you have permission, you are scared because you think

they're saying something I should step into because I got slapped the first time.

There's such confidence in this man once I know what I'm appointed to at any specific time in my life.

It works at work.

So you're appointed as the guy who burns down the forest or whatever.

Sorry?

Oh, sorry, the guy who saves forests from burning.

Sorry.

So I thought you burn forests down to prevent fires from spreading or something?

No?

Sometimes, okay.

That was the one that really caught me burning the forest down.

So as he's given permission, he knows what he can do.

It's the same way at work.

We just don't think it works this way with God.

So in every advance, locate your permission.

Every time you advance, locate your permission.

As in, Father, this is what you told me about this city.

Or this church.

Or this person.

Or this people.

Or this life of mine.

Locate your permission.

Find out what it is.

Once you do, you'll hear God laughing.

You'll hear God laughing over you.

When God laughs over you, two things happen.

It emboldens you.

And it emasculates the enemy.

Know the permission you have.

Doesn't matter which country you're flying into.

When you know you have permission, you know that God is laughing over you, saying,

Ha! There goes my warrior.

Or there goes this Gideon of mine who was so scared until two minutes ago,

and now he's acting like he owns the place.

And he begins to laugh.

And as he begins to laugh, it emboldens you.

And it emasculates the enemy.

Know your permission.

In difficult circumstances, lock into this extraordinary permission you've learned.

In difficult circumstances, lock into permission.

I love what David does in 1 Samuel 30.

He just went attacked.

Town comes back.

All their wives and children are taken away.

And so he quickly pivots and he asks God, what do I do?

Do I go after them?

And I love what God says.

You will recover all.

Go.

And what does God do on the way?

He has one servant of the army commander fall sick,

and he's just lying there.

He tells him where to go and get the wives and the children back.

He goes and gets them back.

Permission gives you the boldness to go do things you would otherwise not do.

Lock into, when your circumstances get tough,

lock into the permission that you have,

and you will be able to navigate it without panicking,

because you know the outcome.

It doesn't matter whether it's where this church must go.

It doesn't matter whether it's a nation, a city.

It doesn't matter whether it's a nation, a city.

It doesn't matter some of the things that you have been given as personal assignments from God to fulfill.

It doesn't matter whether it's giant or little.

It doesn't matter whether it's things of the earth or things of heaven.

It doesn't matter whether it's money related

or whether it's responsibility related or future related.

Everything now is based on, hey, but Jacob, I gave you permission for this.

Come walk in it, son, because I'm walking with you in this.

Any questions?

Okay, so let's go.

Yeah, okay, smaller than a nation.

So, let me take a really small one.

I've got too many small ones.

Yeah, let me go to something from a while ago.

So this was when we moved to Ross Street.

Some of us were there at Ross Street, the church on Ross Street.

It's right at the corner of Ross and Southeast Marine.

And so we used to meet in a coffee shop till then.

And it was super cheap, eh?

And then God would say, listen, I'm giving you permission to move into a larger space.

I know you don't have the money for it, nor do you have the people for it.

But I'm giving you permission to move into a larger space,

even though the space we were in was completely okay for double the size.

Viva Java Wars.

Viva Java Wars.

Yeah.

Okay, so we'll have to move on with that one.

Yeah, so we could have continued there at $900 or something.

And then God says, I give you permission.

So we go and find this place that is twice as large, but needs a lot of work.

We didn't have money for it.

We had $3,000.

But we had permission.

$3,000 in an empty place.

We had permission.

I remember going to Jeremy's dad, because Jeremy's dad used to have furniture shops.

I'm going to Jeremy's dad and asking him, can we have some furniture for this place?

I was expecting chairs.

Jeremy's dad pulls out a bag of yellow sticky notes and gives it to me and says,

I've got to go for a meeting.

Take the sticky note and put it on whatever you want.

And so I'm holding these sticky notes, and I have absolutely –

I mean, the only thing I can match is black and black.

So I've got no idea what to do with furniture.

And this is like high quality top-end furniture.

I'm holding the sticky notes and I'm saying, father, what do I need to do?

And do I go conservative or do I go berserk?

And God says, I gave you permission, go berserk.

And so I'm taking these yellow sticky notes and sticking it on everything.

Everything.

Like anything that I could lay my hands – eyes on, stuck it.

And then he comes back and I say, I've stuck stuff.

I have no idea of how color combinations work, so let me know.

He says, okay, take it all.

I said, no, no, no.

I only got $3,000.

I expected him to give me more than $3,000,

but I didn't expect him to look at everything I'd stuck on and he says, take it all.

And he says, I'll get three trucks for you and we'll make sure that it's given.

We took with us beds.

I stuck stuff on bed.

There was a sofa that would open up into a bed.

Beds, lamps, armchairs, dining tables, high chairs, bar stools.

The first time they brought a piano into that place, the movers thought it was a poker joint.

So they even asked, do you guys play poker here?

And I said, no.

And this was what happens when permission happens.

You've got to keep testing how far you can go with permission.

Same with homes.

My mom was coming the first time and I'm thinking to myself, okay, where do I go, father?

And he's saying, I don't want you to look for houses.

I'll get you a house.

You leave it to me.

I'm going to get you a place for you and your mom.

Seven days, five days, four days, still don't have a place.

My mom's calling, will I have a place to stay?

And I'm saying, it'll happen.

But once God says that, listen, this is what I want you to step into, it'll happen.

A guy calls.

He had a home.

He needs someone to stay there because otherwise the insurance is too high.

And he says, hey, here's a house.

Stayed there for one and a half years, paid the insurance.

Mom was blown away.

Permission at the end of the day is disability.

Permission at the end of the day is disability where God says, I've got something for you.

Step into it.

Don't do nothing that I'm not asking you to do exactly what I tell you.

It'll be illogical.

It'll be unreasonable.

Step into it and I will give you everything you need for this.

Explore it as long as you want.

Enjoy it.

Go this way.

Go that way.

And then when you're done, make sure that just as I gave it to you for free, you give it away for free and you step into the next thing.

Permission is supposed to teach you how to function with God.

Permission is supposed to teach you how to hear him better.

Permission is to teach you how to depend on him better.

Permission is to have you get out of all these.

Permission is to make sure that inconvenience will never stop you.

That money becomes an absolute zero problem.

Time becomes his.

Family becomes secondary.

I'm not talking about a spouse.

I'm talking about the other family.

The fathers, the mothers, the brothers, the sisters, and everyone else who wishes you well.

And spiritual powers too will have to be dealt with.

These are things that Jesus had to deal with and every disciple of Jesus that had any salt to his name had to deal with this.

You don't deal with this.

There is no question of being a disciple or making disciples.

Hey, hear me again.

If this is not dealt with, you cannot be a disciple.

Luke chapter 9, 52 to 59 talks about exactly this.

Luke 9 · chapter mention

Foxes have holes.

My dad needs to be buried.

I've got to divide the property.

This is where it falls.

And if this is not overcome, then here's the bad news.

You ain't a disciple.

Permission at some point moves from asking God to acting with God, moves from asking God to act to participating in God's action, where you get to walk with him instead of...

Yeah, it gets to a point where you ask less and you participate more.

You almost know because of your walking with him.

Ah, I know where you're going with this next.

He begins to engage you.

Shall I hide from Jacob what I'm about to do?

Come on, man.

This is so worth it.

Permission brings you into friendship with God that is so ridiculous that he begins to say stuff like that.

Shall I hide from Jacob what I'm about to do?

You should ask Derek some of the things that God tells him about Wally before Wally knows it.

When your boss gives you permission over a certain area, what do you think?

I trust you.

Here, Remy, I trust you.

Here are the keys to this, this and this.

I trust you.

That's what permission looks like.

And if he trusts you, then it does not matter that you need to know everything.

You know he trusts you.

You're awake day and night.

Your ears are alert.

Any questions?

I got to wind up because there are too many guests here who didn't know that we go on until 1.30.

Your permission will be contested.

We already talked about that.

Guys, sometimes symbolize permission.

Sometimes symbolize permission as in do something symbolic that reminds you, ah shucks, this is what I walk in.

I mean, God gave Moses a staff.

He called it the staff of God.

It was with that staff that he had the serpents devoured, that the magicians threw down.

It was with that staff that he parted the Red Sea.

It was with that staff that was held up that the Amalekites were defeated.

The staff had no power, but my God, it was symbolic of what Moses was stepping into.

So think of that as something that perhaps you can do.

Permission always comes with promises.

Permission comes with promises.

Permission comes with promises and provision and provision.

Sometimes you get the provision before.

Sometimes you get the provision while you're walking towards it.

But it always comes with promises and provision.

Permission for anything that God is giving you is larger than you can handle.

You do not have the resources for it.

You do not have the ability.

You do not have even the thinking that you are capable of it.

Therefore, it comes with promises that will be reiterated again and again.

God is a great reassurer, but he knows the timing of reassurance.

And it always comes with provision.

So you never need to be afraid of, will I have what I have when I need it or when I get there?

It's never in question.

But we don't know it because we haven't tried or experimented with it often enough.

The more we experiment with it, the more we realize, oh shucks, this is the least of my worries.

Any questions?

Elijah, that guy knew how to walk in greater and greater permission.

And there was always provision for him.

Ravens, widows, there was always provision for him.

Okay, let me conclude.

Do not live below your permission.

Please, if you've been in the church for more than six months, you know how to do this.

Please work at it.

Please go back to those first notes where name it, see it, name it, agree with it, identify it.

Do the hard work.

Take two days off work and do the hard work.

Do not live under your permission.

Once you name it, share it with somebody.

If you dare to, share it with me.

But share it with someone so that someone else knows what God is saying to you,

which might be really ridiculous or which may not be ridiculous enough.

Share it.

Put it into words.

As long as it's tweety birds circling around the head, it's very hard to catch one of them.

Put it into words.

Phrase it.

Do not live below your permission.

You're missing out on God.

The next thing is permission requires letting go.

Permission requires letting go.

It's death by installments.

It's death by installments.

You have to die to how you were before to step into what God is calling you into.

Permission requires letting go.

It is death by installments of what?

Of mindset, of method of operation, of modus operandi, of perception.

These things have to be let go of.

Future fruit only comes from present death.

Future fruit only comes from present death.

I have to die to my present mindset, my present method of operation, my present perception.

As I am given permission to step into something else, I have to die to my old ways of doing things.

Otherwise, I carry into the new, old operating system.

But aren't some of them really good?

Yes, they are good.

And take some of the stuff, but don't assume that that's how you need to go.

Just begin with this idea that, Father, whatever new things you need to introduce as I'm getting older,

please help me to make sure that this wine skin doesn't get so blooming, dry and old

that any time you pour anything new, it starts bursting.

Please, oh God, don't let that happen to me.

Let me not become one of those older people.

And I am older people.

So, if Chad is in this place where I'm deliberately picking on him,

where he is stepping into new permission, he'll require to let go of things that are old

so that he can die by installments, so that he can be fruitful in the future.

Almost done.

It's only one o'clock.

Permission requires recovering rhythm.

The problem is you can't recover rhythm if the constraints of structure, time, grids, schedules is overwhelming.

None of these are bad. All of them are necessary.

If you initially step into something that God is giving you permission in that is new and fresh,

these will have to take the backseat for a while because I have to get into this new pace

or the new stride that God has for me.

And therefore, I must, unfortunately, abandon the structure, the grids, the time, schedules that I have,

which are overwhelming. I've got to let go of that initially.

And it's very difficult because our lives are so carefully, precariously arranged

and it becomes very difficult to do this.

But once I get the hang of the rhythm, I can reconstruct this.

But you cannot get the rhythm without deconstructing it.

Yeah, because it's a new stride that God is walking with in the new place.

It's not the same. You can't have the same pace. You can't have the same input. You can't eat the same things.

I mean, you think Don's life is going to be the same? You think Prashan's life is going to be the same?

They're going to have a stride that they can't match. Their entire life is going to fall apart.

So this is the good news about marriage. Yeah.

And then they'll at some point return to a new structure, a new schedule, a new grid.

They can't roll off any side of the bed anymore.

Simple things like that change. Forget the major things.

So they say, yeah.

Permission is relational. Permission is relational.

As in, if my elbow is what is receiving permission from God, my elbow cannot function on its own. It is relational.

Its way of functioning is so dependent on everything else it's connected to.

Therefore, even if I am giving permission in something, I have to see how it is connected with the rest of what God is doing with the people that I belong to.

Because that communion thing doesn't end with communion.

How does it fit with everything else that is happening?

You cannot live life together alone in the kingdom.

And if you are doing that, you are dying.

Let me say that again because that sounded brutal.

You cannot live life together alone once you're part of the church.

And if you are living life together alone, then I want you to know that you are dying.

It's not possible for you to survive.

Physically, you might live another hundred years. Spiritually, you're dry as a twig.

I felt like the Old Testament prophetic suddenly.

Permission is relational and it's relating to Christ in the body.

It's relating to yourself.

Hey, and remember one thing.

Every time God gives you new permission, there'll be this undercurrent of impurity that'll come looking for you.

Every time you step into new permission, there is always this undercurrent of impurity that'll come looking for you.

Because if permission can be corrupted, diluted, contaminated, it is brilliant for the enemy.

You can never get over it then.

Be very careful of impurity, especially of sexual impurity when new permission is being given.

Because it's an undercurrent that always comes with permission.

Too many people have been unseated by it.

And if you're not relational, pride will hit.

When you're relational, people like Diana humble you.

But otherwise, pride will hit.

It's good to belong to a body. People keep you humble.

They don't laugh at your jokes always.

Okay, last one.

And then a story from the Bible.

Permission grasps new vision, but does not subvert order.

Or throw off restraint.

So Derek may have permission for something in Wall-E, but it doesn't mean that, ah, I've got new vision.

It doesn't mean that he'll subvert order or throw off restraint.

He tries to work in relationship with the body.

He doesn't become his own king or master.

Just because I have new vision doesn't mean that I have the right now to say, ah, if you don't agree, forget it.

And this will happen with our spouses too.

Sometimes you have new vision and your spouse is still struggling to come to grips with it.

You'll have to wait.

You'll have to wait till it catches on.

Because otherwise, it becomes really difficult.

And so we end with that story from 2 Kings, Chapter 2,

2 Kings 2 · chapter mention

was 9-14 where Elijah and Elisha are walking together.

And just keep persisting, eh, because one of the things Elisha did was he knew something was waiting for him.

He knew it.

He knew that if I keep pace with Elijah, there is something new that is waiting for me.

I will be given permission.

So he starts walking with him.

Elijah tries his best to say, hey, listen, stop at Jericho.

Stop at Gilgal.

Stop at Jordan.

Stop at Bethel.

He doesn't.

He keeps persisting.

And then he knows that God is inviting him and he asks Elijah, listen, can you give me twice as much as you have?

And Elijah says, if you see me leaving, then I know you can have it because it's not mine to give, it's God's to give.

So Elisha knows that he's being invited into the process.

He won't leave.

So he persists on sticking with Elijah.

At some point Elijah is taken away.

He sees what is going to happen to him.

Once he sees what's going to happen to him, the first thing he does is he takes his mantle and he begins to tear it.

Part of the reason he's tearing it is because he's sorrowful that his spiritual father has left the earth.

Part of the reason he's tearing it is because it no longer fits.

The old has to be let go of.

And then what does he do?

He realizes that there's a mantle that's lying on the floor.

He picks up the mantle.

Now he has to begin to explore the whole idea of I've got a mantle in my hand.

What do I do with it?

And so the first thing he does is he realizes, let me try out this new permission he has.

I have.

So he takes the mantle and he strikes the water.

When he strikes the water, the water's part.

And for the first time, 51 others that are standing on the other show begin to say,

aha, the God of Elijah is with Elisha now.

And then Elisha begins to move in it.

And as he begins to move in it, he sees that he ends up doing really twice as much as Elijah did.

God is still known as the God of Elijah, but my God, there's a young kid now

who's beginning to operate in permission that it's so vast that none of his predecessors were able to walk in it.

It applies to tiny little areas and it applies to nations.

Now Emily said, give us a small example and then give us the example of a large nation.

Any questions? I'm done.

No questions?

Okay. Let's conclude.

So Father, how do you want us to conclude this?

Father, we'll conclude with laying down these things.

Man, these things need to be laid down every time, Father.

They're just painful things that we don't lay down.

So Father, these are the things we look at.

So Father, these are the things we look at.

Inconvenience, money, time, family.

Four, the spiritual powers are easier to deal with because you deal with them.

The other things we deal with, with your help, but my God, we got our own will.

So Father, we just come to deal with inconvenience, money, time and family

so that you can now give us permission to step into new things.

So Father, I'm just going to leave it to the church to pray this.

Maybe three or four can pray into this.

I'll ask Derek to pray and then whoever else wants to.

Derek can wrap it up.

I'll ask Jane to start and Derek to wrap it up and a couple of people in between.

Father, we want to start with Derek and Jane.

Yeah.

It's not a worry or a motion.

It's more of a fear that we want to get out of.

There's so much joy in the body.

We're really getting into it.

We're growing and growing up and training.

But no, you're already learning that there's joy and excitement.

So Father, we just say yes.

We say yes to that.

That we want to enter it this time with joy.

Seeing your delight, your excitement.

We want to lay down inconvenience, money, our time and our family.

And we want to lay it down in new ways this time, Father.

Show us Holy Spirit.

Show us Holy Spirit how to lay it down in new ways.

I want to add another one.

We want to lay down past ways of doing things.

The familiar.

We want to lay these down at your feet, Jesus.

Because we're in it for your cause, your heart, your kingdom on this earth.

Your family of families just spreading across the globe.

This is so much bigger than just us.

It is worth it, Jesus.

It is worth it, Jesus.

So Spirit, I specifically ask you to show us new ways of laying these down this week.

Let it begin now in our hearts.

In Jesus' name.

Two more before Derek.

Father, I speak of breaking of mindsets.

That we choose to change our mindsets, to change our structures, to change our schedules.

That's the first thing with inconvenience.

We have to be able to let go of our way of doing things.

Of our comforts.

And Father, as we look at these four, it can be easy to say, but this is my personality.

This is just how I was made.

This is how I was created.

But Father, we come back to that it has to become less of me and more of you.

So may we say maybe this is my personality, but this is not the Father's heart in this situation.

So I'll put aside my personality.

I'll put aside how I've always done it.

So that it becomes less of me and more of you, Father.

So that each of these things, inconvenience, money, time, family, our past ways, things that we're familiar.

We put them aside.

We put aside our personalities.

Father, I add personalities.

This no longer will our personalities dictate how we function.

But we will put them aside so that we function in more of you, in your personality, Father.

No longer tainted with our own personality, but in purity of your personality, Father.

One more before Derek.

Heavenly Father, I'm just speaking to myself.

Dear Lord, Lord, help us to lay our crowns before you and to embrace the inconvenient truth.

We speak against any spirit of fear that we can't embrace the unfamiliar Lord.

Lord, help us to just step on board this adventure and move forward with you as our guide.

We pray this in your Son Jesus' name.

Amen.

Father, as we contend for these things, Abba, remind us that we must first contend with you.

That we must contend with you in such a way that in all those areas written above, we come to the end of ourself.

As we contend with you, Abba, we come to the end of ourselves and we begin to realize the beginning of you.

And in the beginning of you, you multiply.

And multiplication, you said before, is the life of God in each situation.

So over each of these areas and in each of these situations, Abba, I breathe your life and I speak your multiplication.

And so as we contend with you, we lose ourselves, but we gain all of you.

We gain all of you in these areas and in that we find ourselves again.

And that is the joy, Abba, to find you and to find ourselves.

We're splendid in your glory.

So I speak this over every person, listening every person in this church right now, that we will begin to contend with you for these things, for your permission, so that we can find you, all of you.

Jesus, in your precious name.

Abba, we...

These prayers that we've been praying, Abba, it's not a one-time prayer, but as Jane said, all through this week we'll continue, Abba, to lay things down at your feet.

So first, we just want to express to you that we're not done.

We are beginning on this path that you have laid out for us to lay things down.

So Father, I pray that you will remind me, remind us all through the week and onwards, all of these things that are obstacles or are pulling us back, so that we can lay them down.

Father, I'm reminded of the story of Peter where you gave him the keys to the kingdom.

So you're giving us the keys to the kingdom.

But then Peter had to, at one point, walk into it and stand up.

In the next chapter one, he stood up.

So Father, if we have... and Jacob talked about symbolic things.

So if we have a key with us, we want to take up the key because laying down always leads to picking up what you have for us, Abba.

So symbolically, because we've been laying down in our hearts and we've been asking you, we pick up keys, physical keys, in our hands.

And these keys that we are picking up, Abba, is in line with what you're asking us.

Hey, I have permission that I'm giving you.

And so as I take this key, as we take these keys,