Threshold - Obedience

Cool, guys. So this is the last week we'll be talking about threshold because remember

what we said that we'll go back to talking about revival once Derek comes back and it

has nothing to do with Derek, but it's just the timing of things. And there were others

in this church who felt we should go back to it too. They'd mentioned it. So next week

on we go back to talking about reviving the nations, reviving this city. Today is the

last bit on threshold. Here I need the echo kind of taken off. It's beginning to echo

again. So just for those of us who weren't there for the previous threshold sessions,

we are saying that every so often there is a threshold that God wants us to cross because

we live in rooms that he has created for us, but he doesn't want us to stay in the place

that he has created in the past. He wants us to come to the threshold of a new room

or a new territory or a new phase in our lives and we need to cross the threshold of the

new room where we get to explore God all over again because there's plenty to discover

about God. And the strange thing is over the last six or seven weeks many of you have talked

to me about how you've entered into new rooms in God. And new rooms in God is just a way

of, just a phrase. What it means is a new place in God or a new phase in your life or

a new facet of God that you're beginning to discover or a new assignment from God or

a new nation from God. For some of us it's nations. And so it depends on where each of

us is at. And so today we're going to talk about threshold and how obedience plays a

massive role in crossing thresholds and entering new places in God because God is always on

the move. Why are there 28 chapters in Acts and why have we named ourselves Acts 29? Simply

because God is constantly moving. He's opening up new doors. I mean one of the statements

that was a giveaway was when Jesus said in Matthew 28, Jerusalem did hear some area ends

of the earth. I remember going up to this guy called Joshua Fowler. He was a very apostolic

kind of guy from Florida and everybody who had prophesied on me would tell me that I

was called to the nations and that you have a nation anointing and all this stuff. And

I didn't know what that meant. So I went up to him and thought, okay, this guy can pray

for me and I'll start going to nations. And so I went up to him and said, I have a nation

anointing on me so could you just pray for me? He said, start in Jerusalem and then come

back another time. I thought to myself, that is not what I wanted to hear. But what he

was basically saying is, where you are, start. First Jerusalem, finish Jerusalem, then step

into Judea, then into Samaria, then the ends of the earth. The ends of the earth don't

happen first. You start with Jerusalem. Once you establish things in Jerusalem and people

around you who know you well see that you have changed, now you step into Judea. So

right off the bat when he gave the great commission, Jesus revealed that there are new places I'll

take you into, new territories, new phases of life that I'll take you into. And every

person goes through it. Abraham went through it. David went through it. Joseph went through

it. Moses went through it. Jesus went through it. Paul went through it. There's nobody,

Peter went through it. There's nobody who doesn't go through it. And by the way, just

on the side, the U.S. is opening up like never before. We had no, at least I personally had

no desire for the U.S. It's not my favorite nation in the world or anything of that sort,

but suddenly it's beginning to open up like crazy. So this, a week from now I'll be meeting

another guy from Atlanta in New York and they're starting something in Atlanta. The guy from

Nashville who came to New York is starting something. We'll be going to Nashville in

January 15th or 17th. There's an echo right now. January 15th, okay, I'll stay behind.

January 15th or 17th we'll be going to Nashville. So you're talking about New York, L.A., Dayton,

Atlanta, Nashville, inside a matter of two months, two and a half months. Something is

happening there and we need people who can go. So if you ever feel like spending some

money and going to the U.S. and getting an antigen and a PCR test and flying nine hours

one way to get to a place that's only four hours away, let me know and we'll set it up

for you. Yeah? So that's on the side. Okay, so we're going to talk about obedience and

how critical that is to crossing thresholds and entering into new places. So here's the

thing, guys. We measure success by the outcome of our efforts and that has to go if you

want to step into past thresholds into new places. We measure success, we measure success

based on the, we measure success by the outcome of our effort. We measure success by the outcome

of our effort. We measure success by the outcome of our effort. And if we don't replace

that by obedience, obedience has to replace outcome. And if you don't, if you don't take

your focus of outcome and place the focus or the emphasis on obedience, you cannot transition

through thresholds. And this is harder than we think. I'm not talking about the world,

I'm talking about Christians, I'm talking about churches. How do we measure things?

We measure things by stats, we measure things by size, we measure things by numbers, we

measure things by quick results, we measure things by responses or hands that go up in

a meeting. That's how we measure things. Why do we count these things? Because it is a

measure of whether things are a success. And yet to cross thresholds, the emphasis

has to be on obedience and it has to shift from outcome. You can't have outcome as a

measure anymore if you want to transition through thresholds and step into new places.

Any questions on that? Yep?

Is obedience effort though? Obedience is... One way to define obedience

is obedience is doing the revealed will of God. Obedience is doing the revealed will

of God, doing the revealed will of God. Obedience is doing the revealed will of God by relying

on grace and proceeding from faith. That's one of the better definitions of obedience.

So it's doing the will of God. But you do the will of God by relying on grace because

most of the things that God asks you to obey are not easy. So you rely on his grace because

you may mess up, you may need help to just walk in it. It's doing the will of God by

walking in it. It's doing the revealed will of God in reliance on the blood-bought grace

of Jesus. The blood-bought grace of Jesus. As in, Jacob, as you obey me, you'll make

mistakes. Jacob, as you obey me, you'll find it a struggle sometimes. It's not become your

default yet. But you can rely on my grace as in all my ability to help you obey because

I know your heart. And it must proceed from faith because the Bible says that anything

that is not of faith is sin. So even when I obey, I must have faith involved in it.

Most of the guys who obeyed in the Bible had to obey things that were pretty drastic, man.

How come they were able to step out because they used faith? So it has to proceed from

faith. It has to rely on grace. And it is doing the revealed will of God. The emphasis

is on obedience, not on outcome, which is why you see in the case of Saul, King Saul,

in 1 Samuel 15, he was so focused on the outcome that he abandoned obedience. He was told,

wait for Samuel to come. When Samuel comes, offer the sacrifice. Six days went by, seven

days went by, Samuel ain't there. Saul panics. He's scared of the outcome. And what's the

outcome? The enemy army may take us. The soldiers may leave because the soldiers were getting

antsy and they were beginning to leave. Even if there was no soldier left, God would have

still won the battle. But he was so focused on the outcome and we are that way too, guys.

Outcomes become so important to us that we would rather disobey than obey. And so another

definition of obedience is listening under the word. Disobedience is listening around

the word. And we are experts at that too. We know what God is saying, but we create

enough room to listen around. It's like kids. You see the kids doing that. I want you to

go and sit there. Won't sit. I told you to sit there. But I'm sitting. See my knee is

on the chair. It's that kind of thing where kids do this often and we do it too. Where

you're told something but you'll add another piece to it. Or you'll say, but what if? Or

why not this way? Or what if this is? It just gets so blooming messy, man. God knows how

to see in the gray and find black and white. We can't, but he does. Obedience, the word

shama, obedience is the idea of living under the word. And disobedience is actually living

around the word. And we do that so well. At least I do that well. That's another definition

of obedience. Where disobedience is to listen around the word and listen around the Holy

Spirit. The Holy Spirit is saying this. I'll just create a few more options so that in

case I need to choose another option, I have that. Yeah. So in God's infrastructure, Jesus

on the other hand was so brilliant at obedience. This is why he had that whole story unfold

in John chapter 11 where Lazarus is sick. And any good pastor, any good rabbi should

John 11 · chapter mention

go and pray for someone who is sick. And he's on his way to pray for someone who is sick

because Lazarus was a good friend of his and Mary and Martha were particularly close to

him. And they send word saying, Jesus, your friend is sick. Please come and heal. And

they send word saying, Jesus, your friend is sick. Please come and heal. And Jesus is

on his way when God says to him, do not stay in Bethany. And so he stays in Bethany. He

doesn't go. Sorry, he stays in Jericho. He doesn't go to Bethany. And not one day, not

two days, not three days, four blooming days, he stays in Jericho till Lazarus dies. And

now he goes. And what are the words that God tells him to say when he goes and they say,

Lazarus, your servant is dead? He has to say words like, he's not dead, he's only sleeping.

But because of John chapter 11, we have these marvelous words that are life to us. I am

John 11 · chapter mention

the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will never die. So there is this thing

with obedience that we have to focus on. And we've got to abandon outcomes if we want to

cross thresholds at a rapid rate. Because the world and Christianity measure success

in terms of outcomes. So in God's infrastructure, it's impossible to measure success by outcomes.

In God's infrastructure, it's impossible to measure success by outcomes. In God's infrastructure,

it is impossible to measure success by outcomes. And if you do, it will drive you to striving,

it will drive you to inadequacy, or it will drive you to delusion because it's antithetical

to kingdom living. This is why Jesus said, the kingdom is like leaven. Someone takes

a little bit of it, it's invisible. To begin with, it's just a pinch. And you take that

pinch and you hide it in three scoops of flour. It disappears completely now. It's

not visible. There's nothing to measure. What happens is much later when the leaven leavens

the dough and you have bread. But nobody sees what happened during the process. The outcome

is much later. Christianity today cannot afford long-term outcomes. Everybody wants instant

short-term quick fixes. You cannot raise children in one year. You cannot. It takes

very long. And so therein lies the problem, guys. We cannot measure success by outcomes.

If you do, it will either drive you to striving as in, I've got to produce an outcome, I've

got to make this church at least 80 people. It's just crazy, man. When I started Axe

for Nehru, some of the guys who were helping us in the first six months asked me to give

them a plan. You should have seen my plan, man. It was amazing. It was like in the first

– it was embarrassing and amazing. Because that was 17 years ago and we still haven't

gotten to the first stage. So in six months, my plan was we'll be at 80 people. 80. You

don't have to laugh that loud. By year two, we'd be at 240. After 16 years, we're barely

making 72 if all of you turn up and none of you turn up always. There's always someone

missing. There have been rare occasions when we've hit 72 and there's this annoying guy

in Shillong in India. Every time I go there, he'll ask, so how many people now? It was

very deflating because you'd go back after two years and you've only gone from 50 to

54 and it wasn't very helpful. So I told the pastor there, I told Ishan, don't let your

strata come anywhere near me and ask me how many people in the church.

You've got to add all the churches together.

Yeah, but then – yeah. You can spin it. But the point is, guys, success cannot be measured

in terms of outcome. If you do, it'll drive you to striving, it'll drive you to inadequacy

or it'll drive you to delusion because it has to be like Levin. Here's the other thing.

Kingdom living is the evidence of things unseen. Kingdom living is the evidence of things unseen.

The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen. Kingdom living is the evidence

of things unseen. And yet, we are caught in a trap in Christianity where we want to see,

we want to measure, we want to catalog, we want to parade in front of others and you

cannot. The sooner you abandon this, the quicker God will take you past thresholds into new

places. The sooner you abandon it, the quicker God will take you past thresholds into places

because now he realizes that you have abandoned measure and you do not use success and outcome

as your plumb line or standard to determine what he's doing in you and through you. And

now he begins to move.

Jacob, if kingdom living is the evidence of things unseen, what kind of evidence?

No, evidence of things unseen.

Evidence of things unseen. So what kind of evidence are you looking for?

Long-term, you will find that it'll be Abraham not seeing any nations, not even seeing his

twelve tribes of Israel, but knowing that one day he'll be the father of nations. It's

Joseph not seeing the promised land. It's Moses not even stepping into the promised

land. I mean, in terms of outcome, Jesus was such a colossal failure. There was only John

at the cross, nobody else. So, Livia, God wants you to know and one of them will translate

for you later. James, you want to translate it while I speak? Okay, Livia's English is

very good. So, God wants you to know that in your entire family, this land is meant

mainly for you. For them, it is something they learn and they'll go back and they'll

come back and they'll go back. But for you, this land, you're the only one in this family

for whom this land was made. You learn languages very fast. So, starting today, you'll find

that you will pick up languages faster than anybody else in your family. So, God wants

you to know that in your entire family, this land is meant mainly for you. Because of you,

this church will have a young people's group. Because all the young adults are now actually

quite old. Because of you, a young people's group will start in this church. And because

of you, you will be like a plumb line or an example as we keep growing our young group.

You'll know every young singer that's on TV, every young dancer on TV, yet you will also

know the standards of God and you will be able to separate one from the other. So, God

is so welcome. Yeah? Even if they all go home, you stay. Some of these old adults will take

care of you. Results do not automatically mean we have been obedient, guys. That's the

other thing with results. We think that if we produce results, it means we are being

obedient. Now, God can use my disobedience and produce results and it doesn't mean anything.

Like Moses, he was supposed to speak to the rock. What does he do? Strike the rock. Did

water flow? Yes. Moses disobeyed. Water flowed. People's thirst was quenched. There were consequences,

but disobedience still resulted in results. So, we cannot connect results to obedience.

And usually, with God, it's usually long obedience in the same direction. Long obedience in the

same direction. It's not short. The beautiful thing about obedience with God is it needs

that obedience to God requires patience and persistence. Most of the time you'll see that

obedience to God requires patience and persistence. Patience and persistence. Patience because

it takes time. Persistence because there will be opposition to what you're obeying. And

so, it's critical for me to understand this if I want to cross thresholds. So, in Numbers

Numbers 20:6–13

20, verse 6 to 13, you read about Moses not obeying and yet water flowing, people's thirst

being slaked, and yet Moses disobeyed. So, the results, Numbers 26 to 13. 20. Any questions,

guys? Patience and persistence. Patience because sometimes with God, things take time. Because

he's not into trying to get results. He's trying to do two things at one time. I want

your character to improve so that I can get the results I want. I want your character

to become something else so that I can get the results I want. If I wanted results, I

can do it without you. But I'm so invested in you, so interested in you, that I also

want your character to change. And if your character doesn't change, I can give you the

results, but you'll still be as poor. This is why I'm really scared when churches grow

fast or when pastors get famous overnight. That's why I'm really scared when guys like

Mark or Leah or anyone new come to Axe Venion and think that they can change in three or

four weeks. It takes time, man. This church is the result of 16, 17 years of plodding.

Anyone new who comes in catches it quickly. So Mark can change quickly. Leah can spend

three weeks here and get things that have already grown. Mark can stick around for six

months and get some of it. But if Mark thinks he can get his answers in six months and everything

will change, this church can't do it for you. God wants patience and persistence. That's

how you produce results. Farmers know it. This is why the idea of instant coffee...

I didn't complete my sentence. It's just that a shudder went through me before I could finish

the sentence. Yeah. I'm taking the fifth sentence. I'm taking the fifth sentence. I'm taking

the fifth. Oh no, they're coffee. Oh, okay. Their coffee is terrible. So to go back to

defining obedience, obedience is to listen under. Disobedience is to listen around the

word and the Holy Spirit. We obey not because we have to. We obey because we want to. And

we want to because we like him. We obey. And keep checking that because sometimes you may

obey even though you don't want to just because your heart just wants him more than anything

else. Isaiah 1 verse 19 says, if you're willing and obedient, you lead the good of the land.

Isaiah 1:19

So there is this willingness and obedience that goes hand in hand. And that kind of obedience

is brilliant, which is important to understand because Jesus, yes, he was a sacrifice, but

he's the one who goes up to the Father and volunteers saying, sacrifices and offerings

you did not want. You want someone with a body to go lay down their life. Here I am.

Send me. Hebrews chapter 10. And therefore Jesus goes. And he does it not because he's

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

been forced into it, but because he wants to. And why does he want to? He wants to for

two reasons. One, because he likes me a lot and two, because he likes his father a lot.

It's just nuts. Jesus obeyed not because he had to, but because he wanted to. And he wanted

to because he liked me a lot and he liked his father a lot. That is what motivated him

to obey. When that becomes my reason, ah, it's brilliant. Now nothing is a sacrifice.

I mean, when I was in LA, I'd freely sacrifice my food to Evan. Why? Because I can't eat

for him. Everyone who goes to LA, I just want to warn you, there's a ritual. And the

ritual involves a burrito that first the pastor eats and then he passes to me and I take a

bite of it. And then it goes to the newbie who's now coming for the first time to LA.

Evan went through it and he went through it bravely, but you should have seen Sheldon.

Sheldon was like shrinking in his back. So anyone who wants to come to LA will be going

through that just so you know. And a burrito is as messy as it can get when three people

eat it. I think it's an LA thing. Oh, and I had this really horrible drink. It's called

chlorophyll. The last time I tasted something like that was when I drank ink by mistake

when I was four. It was so bad, man. And they pay a high price for it and it comes in little

bottles and they're supposed to swig it down and I don't know what it does. It was horrible.

You heard that Evan. Obedience, like I said, is doing the revealed will of God in reliance

on the grace of God proceeding from faith. Romans 14.23 says, Jacob, anything that you

do that is not faith is sin. So when I obey, there must be faith involved. So always check

these three things. As you obey, if grace is absent, it is easy to go from obedience

to legalism. Romans 14.23. So when I obey without grace being involved, as in I obey

me having conversations with God saying, Father, this is really tough. I'm scared. Or me not

insisting that what I obey now become what she obeys. That grace is involved. That certain

things that I'm asking someone else to do or God is asking me to do will be difficult.

You need to rely on his mercy and his grace and his care. It's like you asking a kid to

do something and you know it's difficult for the kid. What does the parent do? Grabs the

kid's hand and helps the kid to do it. That's how we teach kids how to do difficult things.

Same with God. And so there is grace involved in obedience and then there is faith involved

in obedience. God is asking you to step out and do something that is obedient. Are you

sure you have enough trust in him to begin to step out? Because otherwise what will happen

is obedience will become like a chore. God will become your employer. God will become

your employer. He'll be like a boss who's telling you to do something and there's no

faith involved. And you're scared you're going to mess up. When faith and grace are involved,

obedience becomes fun. Or at least there's this, you might even be a little afraid but

it's like, but I know something good is going to come out of this. Disobedience has consequences.

God still loved Moses but Moses was forced to pass the torch to Joshua because of his

disobedience. Disobedience has consequences. Please don't think that there are no consequences.

There's no lack of love. God will be gracious. He'll love you. God still loved Moses. But

what happened is Moses was forced to hand over the torch to Joshua and in Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 3:26–28

3, verse 26 to 28, it's a conversation that I don't like reading because it feels unfair

though God is not unfair. Where Moses says, please can I go into the promised land? And

God says, enough of this. Don't bring up this conversation again. You're not going. Get

Joshua ready. He's the one who's going in. Disobedience has consequences. Surprising

how this God is. When we think of consequences there's always penalty. When God thinks of

consequences the grace and the love are still there. It's very hard for us humans to put

this together.

How can I tell the difference between failing and disobedience?

You cannot fail till you obey. God says something, you try it and you fail. But you know you

tried it before you failed. You chickened out. It was too much. There was something

else that was far more attractive and you wanted to go after that option. Your nature

kicked in. Simple thing. I heard a lot about certain Christian musicians on this trip and

at some point the Lord said to me, listen, you're beginning to gossip about these musicians

and everywhere you go you're telling people how bad they are. I need you to stop it. They

might be corrupt in their ways but it's not your job to go tell everybody that they're

corrupt. But two days later I was in another conversation and there I was bringing the

very same people again. Why? Because suddenly talking about these musicians seemed very

attractive to me. It was an outright act of disobedience where I had to wrap my knuckles

again and say stop it. Just because you know the truth about something doesn't mean that

you have to publish the truth about something.

Sometimes our nature kicks in and that's why we disobey. Not our nature. Our nature is

a godly nature. Our flawed personality kicks in. Our sinful ways kick in. Guys, we are

wired to make plans. Humans, not humans, we are wired to make plans, expect results, expect

goals, control and manage outcomes, control and manage outcomes. And these would be highly

prized qualities in the world and even in church life today and yet these things will

make it very difficult for you to eternalize what you

all know about this bad temperament right?

I've always thought about it and I've seen transmission across the influx of other

affects in the world. Because of the new messenger system, the way we are usingchtequ newer

life today. And yet these things will make it very difficult for you to obey God when

he doesn't give you a plan, a goal, a result or an outcome. And often he doesn't.

This becomes a problem then. We are wired to have plans, to have, to accomplish goals,

to expect results, to control and manage outcomes. But it becomes very difficult to obey God

at times like this if this is who you are and this is how you're wired. All of us are

wired like this but we have to unwire it because it becomes very difficult to obey God when

God does not give you a plan, does not give you goals to accomplish, does not give you

results, does not give you results or does not give you an outcome. And now you're stuck

because he ain't giving you none of this and he's asking you to obey and then it becomes

really difficult. And he often does this. And he's asking you to obey and then he's

late. Or sometimes he gives you all this but he doesn't give you a time frame and he doesn't

turn up, he's late. Where God gives you a promise or a command but he's late. Why is

God late sometimes? Here are some reasons why God is late. Any questions on this before

we go on? Do you realize that we are wired like this? He didn't wire us like this. We

are wired like this but he didn't wire it. Man, linger and this have nothing in common.

God used to linger in the cool of the evening in the Garden of Eden chilling with Adam and

Eve. And this is something that happened outside of Eden. And this is something that happened

in the Garden of Eden. This happened later. And in today's world, this is so important.

If you're not like this, I mean this is what we put down on our resumes. Great planner.

Work towards expecting results. Goal accomplisher. Control and manage outcomes. And that is what

gets you a job. Oh Chawa does. Is that what he said?

It's like God said, we want to give like say our devotion time. I do this first and then

I'm going to go accomplish all this stuff. And he says, today I want you to wait.

Yeah. Because what if he doesn't? There are times when he gives us plans. He called Moses

up Mount Sinai and gave him a plan for the entire temple. It wasn't, hey pick up a rock

and start chipping away and eventually you'll get a temple. No. There was a plan there.

But there are times when there are no plans that he gives, no goals to accomplish. And

that is when you think. That is when if you don't have a relationship you're sunk. He

does that because he wants a relationship. He doesn't want his dealings with us to be

simply a set of do this, do this, do this. He already did that in the Old Testament.

He gave them a set of rules to follow. They would follow and they would get whatever

they wanted. Never made it anyways. But this is so that you enter into a relationship.

Plus the other thing is, if he gave you a plan you would not be able to accomplish it

anyways. Why? Because his thoughts are higher than mine and his ways are higher than mine.

So anyways, at least we would think we are doing it but you would never get there. But

this way he enters into a relationship where he now takes you along in the journey. He

does all the work. When he gives you a plan and you get really hung up with the plan you

do all the work. And the results are terrible anyways. Like I said, my plan was 80 people

in 6 months. 240 by the second year. We'd be a mega church by now. Look around you.

Yep. Yeah, stumbling, there's one additional item that needs to be added to disobedience

and failure. Stumbling also comes because of stubbornness. Stumbling and stubbornness

are often related in the Bible. So two, disobedience and failure just add stubbornness to. Stubbornness

causes a lot of stumbling. Stubbornness is contrary heart. It's not even disobedience.

It's a heart that is contrary. You see kids who are stubborn and you see kids who are

disobedient and it's two different things. Kids who are stubborn, oh my God, God help

the parents. Kids who are disobedient, bribes can help. So, it's a lot of stubbornness.

Many of the temptations, why is God late? I think we need to just look at it because

some of us have been trusting on promises from God or commands from God. And you're

in good company like guys like Abraham and people like that. And why is God late? Here

are some reasons why God is sometimes late according to us. One of the first ones is

1 Samuel 15 where God said in seven days Samuel will come and offer a sacrifice and Samuel

took eight days. And so, 1 Samuel 15, sometimes God is late to test you. Sometimes God is

late to test you. Hey Jacob, so I said I'll come and help you in seven days and I took

eight. Did you just decide that? Okay. What was the condition of your heart? Were you

waiting on me or were you waiting on an outcome or a result? Were you so desperate for this

promise to materialize or were you so desperate for me to materialize? Which one is it? Hey,

when you're in love with somebody and she doesn't turn up, when she said she'd turn

up and you're sitting alone in a very expensive restaurant and there's Uber waiting outside

charging you for the minute, you will still wait if you like her man. You will say it

doesn't matter how long I have to wait. I'll take up a second job. But I'll wait. Two hours

go by. Three hours go by. Finally, Pawan says I'm done and he gets up and leaves.

First Samuel 15, sometimes God is late just to test me and see, okay, who were you waiting

for? For the promise? For what you were after or after me? When you like somebody you'll

wait man. When you don't like somebody, five minutes is the longest time you can spend.

So when May said sometimes she has to wait for Jacob, I didn't understand it at all.

Second one is sometimes God will be late for the sake of greater glory. So Jesus doesn't

turn up for four days at Lazarus' town when Lazarus was sick for a very simple reason.

There'd be a display of glory like the world hadn't seen before. It wasn't even raising

the son of the widow in Nine where they were taking him for burial and he was raised up.

This was a man who had now been dead for four days. Sometimes God is late so he can put

on the wreaths and show the world something through you that is so brilliant that he wouldn't

have been able to do had he turned up on time. Third reason he's late, he's actually not

late, okay. He's perfectly on time. It's just that God has multiple opportunities to turn

up earlier and he doesn't. That's all. But he's never late. Third one, sometimes he wants

you to persist. Sometimes he wants you to persist and so he'll delay a little just to

see what he told you you'll persist with. So he tells Abraham, listen, I want you to

take a hypha, cut it into two. I want you to take a bird, cut it into two and eat it

here. I'll pass through it and I'll make a covenant with you. And then God disappears

and Moses is there and this happened in the morning and now it's afternoon and now it's

dusk and the birds of prey are circling around because they can see cut meat and Moses watches

as the sun goes down and now he takes a branch and he starts chasing the birds away but he

will not give up on the covenant that God is supposed to make with him. Abraham, Genesis

15 and so finally there's this darkness that descends upon both the earth and upon Moses

and that is when God comes with a torch and walks through. Sometimes it's just persistence.

Hey Jacob, can you persist a little longer? Yeah. Fourth reason for God being late is

just character. James 5 talks about it. James 5.7 says a farmer knows that it'll take time

before the seed will mature and so sometimes it's just a maturing of character. Maturing

of character. When it comes to marriage guys, this is sometimes critically, we all want

to get married at a certain age and then God will say, hey can I take some more time

because if I can help you mature in this area you won't have to struggle with it for the

next few years after getting married. But don't hone in only on marriage. Another one

is fame, his fame. Psalm 40 puts it brilliantly. I waited patiently for the Lord. He turned

and heard my cry. You have to sometimes wait patiently. He's a little late, you wait patiently.

And then it goes on to say in the verse 5 or 6, many will see and many will fear and

put their trust in the Lord. As in, it's okay, so you waited. People are wondering why your

God didn't turn up. David would write stuff like, do you hear them mocking? They are saying,

where is this God of yours? And people begin to gather saying, Jacob you said this is going

to happen, how come it hasn't happened? Well, let them gather because once they all gather

then your Mount Carmel happens. And when that Mount Carmel happens, people decide that your

God is God. And at the end of the day, to sum this all up is Habakkuk 2 verse 3 which

Habakkuk 2:3

says, this vision is for an appointed time. It will come to pass. It will not tarry. It

will happen. I mean, Satan used temptations in the desert to try and entice Jesus to manage

outcomes. Hey, you want food? You got the power, why don't you manage this outcome?

You want the world? You got the power, why don't you manage this outcome? Just worship

me. Everything you want will be yours in a second. You're hungry, why don't you manage

this outcome? You can create food, surely these stones can turn into bread. I know who

you are, you can do this. Managing outcomes is what we do very well, eh? If you want to

step past thresholds into rooms to explore with God, stop managing outcomes. Absolutely

abandon this idea of results. It sounds so contrary to how we should live, but it's the

only way to live. Really, it's the only way to live, eh? You guys don't have a choice.

What choice do you have? Really, what choice do you have? You don't have a choice. Isn't

that wonderful? You don't have a choice. Life becomes very simple when there are no choices.

It's not like going to Starbucks. Guys, another thing about God's commands and promises is

this. Very often in God's commands and promises, details are often withheld. Very often in

God's commands and promises, details are withheld. Details are withheld. He won't give you all

the information you need. It's a very annoying habit he has, but it works out really well.

In God's commands and promises, the details are often withheld, and there's an unspoken

trust me. There's an unspoken trust me that you know he's inviting you into, and details

are withheld. He'll go up to Abraham and say stuff like, I want you to leave your clan,

your country, your people, and I want you to just go, and I will make you a father of

nations. That's not much detail, man. It's natural to have valid concerns like, okay,

go where? How long? How far? With whom? What about here and what I'm doing here? What

about what I'm doing here? These are all valid concerns that are met with silence or go unanswered

What for? Why? I mean, you have no idea how far diany has come. I mean that in a very

genuine complimentary way. Because these are very natural questions for us, and then to

abandon all this and just say, okay, you've withheld the details. I'm not even going to

ask you this because I'm just going to step out now. Thresholds happen so quickly. Rooms

are explored so fast, one after the other. God keeps opening stuff, saying, okay, come

into this. All right, you've seen this. Man, you did that at breakneck speed, Jacob. You're

almost becoming like the guy I wanted you to become. Let's step into the next room.

And you keep exploring. You keep traversing past thresholds because you're not asking

these questions anymore. These are legitimate valid questions that God doesn't entertain.

Awesome, eh? This God is tough to follow and is worth following. So in a sense, Jehovah

Jireh can be rephrased as, God will provide an outcome even though I don't see the plan.

So Jehovah Jireh can be rephrased as, not just the God who provides, but the God who

provides even though I don't know how. So, I'm going to go back to the beginning of

the book. Meanwhile, my questions and the fear of potential consequences will neither

delay nor prevent me from obeying. Meanwhile, my fear of potential consequences and my questions

that are unanswered will not delay my obedience, will not stall my obedience, will not delay

my obedience. I'll still do what he asks me to. So obedience then becomes your responsibility.

Results become God's. And meanwhile, this is the other thing. While you're obeying and

you spend six months in the hospital, you're not going to be able to do anything. You're

a priest that

is

Then along comes someone who goes and says,

do you want to accept the Lord?

And the person says, yes I do.

And you're thinking to yourself,

six months I spent with you and you didn't respond.

And now you're crying and receiving Jesus.

You do all the hard work, someone reaps the results.

So remember that too.

Obedience is my responsibility.

The results are Jesus's responsibility.

And sometimes the fruit of your labor

is gathered by someone else.

What a strange, wonderful kingdom.

Who wants to live in the world?

It's easy living in the world.

No such challenges.

You just have to be politically correct, that's all.

Yeah.

Many Bible heroes didn't see results guys.

And the short term outcome of their lives was failure.

Many Bible heroes didn't see results.

And the short term outcome of their lives was failure.

If someone wrote a biography on them

immediately after they died, it would be failure.

Remember one thing and I've said this before.

The intent is, can I take a seed

and plant it deep enough in the ground

so that nobody can pull it out and it will germinate.

And the mustard seed now becomes a tree

that birds can dwell in.

That is the intent, that is our intent.

Father, make us seed planters that will plant the seed

so deep that nobody can even,

no one will even attempt to unearth it

because it's so deep.

And now there's only one consequence that will happen.

Doesn't matter who sees it, I may see it, I may not see it.

Doesn't matter who sees it, someone will benefit

because that tree will grow and the birds will sit on it.

When that becomes how you think.

Yep.

So how do you train your mind to accept that eventuality?

Yeah, how do you train your mind

to accept that eventuality?

By abandoning any pleasure that you take

in outcomes, results, plans, goals.

It's no longer important.

The only important thing is,

can I just do what this one that I love wants me to do?

When that shift happens, everything else is unimportant.

I mean, you with Danny,

you're not looking for some quick result by tomorrow.

You're looking for 18 years from now,

what kind of a man will he be?

And that is how we will judge you.

We will not judge you because Danny runs around

and maybe grabs your phone and throws it up

and gravity works and your phone shatters.

That's not how we'll judge you.

We'll judge you at 18, what have you become?

That's 18 years, man.

This is why Paul put it this way.

He said that, listen, I don't even judge myself.

I have a master, he judges me.

And he will figure out whether I met requirements or not.

Acts 29 by any standards after 16 years

is a colossal failure in terms of numbers.

But my God, you heard these three people who came up.

This church is one of God's success stories, man.

Yeah, so Subin's question to answer that, guys,

it's a shift of the way I think.

And here's the odd thing.

When you begin to live like this,

all your goals are accomplished.

All your desires are still something that follow you.

Only it's not important now

because they're following after you.

They're not something you're running after.

They're following after you

and they are not as important.

Do you really think any married couple

actually is terribly interested

in the tins behind the car?

Just married and they tie those tins

and goes rattling behind the car.

You think they're excited, think,

look, we got married, look at the tins.

No, nobody's bothered about the tins

because the tins don't matter.

Because these things are in the back

and it's brilliant when it's in the back.

Whenever you want, you can reach a tin and open it

and have your soup and throw the tin away.

It's like that.

Those tins are never full, right?

Okay, just checking.

Just in case.

That's how this works, guys.

We don't miss out on anything.

One of the things that Satan convinces us

is that if you live like this, you will miss out.

That is such a lie.

Such a lie.

If you live like this, you will miss out.

If you don't ask, if you don't plan,

if you don't accomplish goals,

if you don't have ambitions.

I mean, I've said this before and I'll say it again.

Ambitions are a really bad idea.

Why?

Because your ambitions are so tiny

when God's dreams are so huge.

Moses was the prince of Egypt.

If there was anyone who had ambitions, he had ambitions.

When you compare it to who Moses became,

what does it compare?

It's like rags and riches, though he became poor.

This is what I mean by ambitions are so tiny,

abandon them, they're useless.

Ambitions are what my gray matter creates.

It drives me.

But what when God gives a dream?

When God gives a dream, it is suddenly,

oh shucks, this is impossible.

I am inadequate, don't have the resources for it.

Whoa, I am undone.

And now God says, finally that you've gotten it.

Let me help you get to these dreams.

And then he begins to bring the dreams to pass.

And everything that you thought was an ambition

now becomes so limited.

Hi, God, good to see you.

Come right in, it's a pleasure seeing you again.

Yeah.

Any questions on this?

Guys, just demolish these things.

This is a brilliant way to live.

And guys, here's the other thing.

We are at a place right now where there are enough of us

to show that this works.

10 years ago we had, what, 20 people?

That ain't enough.

Now we have 25, now it's enough.

The point is this.

Now we have enough people that can display

that this kind of living works.

Because once people see that it works,

everyone wants to see whether it'll work, right?

Be the, be the, there are two words.

One is,

there are two words.

One is prototype.

One is archetype.

A prototype is the first sample of something

like a Tesla prototype.

The archetype is that it's an amazing electric

car that is revolutionary.

An archetype is what you draw the design from.

The prototype is the first example of the design.

We are, we must be an archetype.

We should show people that, hey, this works.

Now you can take the idea and adapt it to your life

wherever you live.

Whether you be single, whether you be married,

whether you be rich, whether you be poor,

this now is a design that can apply across the earth.

It doesn't need roads to run.

You can run it up the hills, you can run it in the valleys.

This is what I'm praying that the threshold thing

will help us do.

And that's why we need to think differently.

And you will not miss out.

Satan is a liar.

One of the lies he uses with Christians is,

hey, don't go down this route,

because you're gonna miss out on all the good things

of life that God wants to bless you with.

Read 1 Timothy 6.

God says, listen, I don't want you to pursue riches

because you will get yourself shot in your foot,

but I want you to know that everything I've made

is for your pleasure, for you to enjoy.

Very odd, 1 Timothy 6, verse 6 and 7.

1 Timothy 6:6

On one hand, he says, anybody who runs after riches

is gonna shoot themselves in the foot.

Have you tried that, Evan?

Don't.

No, just reminded of the gun.

So, on one hand, if I pursue riches,

pursue success, pursue prosperity,

I'm gonna shoot myself in the foot.

On the other hand, everything that God has made

is for my pleasure to enjoy.

It's not one or the other, it's both.

Let me begin to conclude.

Well, we forgot to put on the sign

that the service goes on for two and a half hours.

Oh, you were, ha ha ha, Sue, you're supposed to be.

Oh my Lord.

And you blame me for church growth.

No doubt I didn't get to 80.

Sue was there in the beginning.

Listen to this quote by a guy who really tasted

the upper echelons of success, Charles Colson,

the guy who was Nixon's advisor.

He writes this in one of his books, After Watergate.

Knowing how susceptible we are to success's siren call

and the fact that we are not just a group of people

who are not just a group of people

as God does not fully allow us to see

what is done through us.

For success's siren call,

God does not fully allow us to see

what is done through us.

The very nature of obedience he demands

is that it be given without regard

to circumstances or results.

Knowing how susceptible we are to success's siren call,

God does not allow us to see what he is going to do

through us.

be given without regard to circumstances or results.

Let me conclude.

When I say let me conclude, it usually means seven points, just so you know.

What time is it?

Oh, shucks.

Okay, let me conclude with just one point.

Did you turn off my mic?

I'll put you guys on ramp duty, eh?

Morning here.

Guys, obedience is more important than getting it right.

Obedience, this is a hard one again.

Obedience is more important than getting it right.

We'll just end with this point.

Obedience is more important than getting it right.

We said obedience is doing the revealed will of God.

Doing the revealed will of God is more important than getting it right or it making sense.

Just remember that, eh?

Because Christians get hung up in getting it right or it making sense.

Nah, just do what you are told.

I mean, if you told your child to set the table up, does it really matter to you as a parent

if the fork is on the whichever side it's not supposed to be?

Of course.

No, I didn't want to.

It depends on, yeah, forget it.

So, yeah, if the fork is not on the right side of the table when your child sets up a dinner table,

does it really matter to you?

You just told your five-year-old to set the table and the child obeyed, went and set the table.

Are you going to get hung up about something not being in the right place?

You think God is hung up about it?

He knows how difficult it is for a people to listen to an inaudible voice and an invisible God

and actually obey him.

You think he's concerned about getting it right?

He's thrilled every time I obey.

And he keeps adjusting saying, take a weld-in.

Let me show you how this is done.

And then he'll tell me the fork should go on the left and the knife should go on the right.

He'll tell me.

But it isn't important and it does not have to make sense.

You can eat dessert with a fork.

It's okay.

You don't need a dessert spoon.

These are not important things.

Guys, we've got to abandon this idea that he's some strict master.

He's a father.

He loves obedience.

Loves obedience.

Along the way, he can then adjust things.

He can adjust things.

Just take the first step.

When getting it right becomes more important,

when success becomes more important,

when making sense becomes more important,

when the approval of people becomes more important,

then you become an unreliable servant.

You become an unreliable servant.

Galatians 1.10 says that the moment I begin to look for the approval of men,

I cannot be a servant of Christ.

Just see how stark that is.

Jacob, the moment you look for the approval of men,

you cannot be a servant of Christ.

I cannot look for your approval as much as I want it.

I cannot look for my parents' approval.

I cannot look for my friends' approval when it comes to obedience.

It gets in the way, man.

I cannot look for family approval.

The sooner I get used to this,

the less I will end up preserving things that God wants to move on from.

One of the cool stories that maybe I should conclude with is Elijah.

He's just got a brook that he's told to camp by,

and ravens come and feed him meat and bread every day.

And then the brook dries up.

Instead of praying that the brook starts flowing again,

he doesn't pray.

The ravens don't turn up.

Instead of calling the ravens, he just waits for the next command.

One of the things that happened, and this is super important,

which is why I can't stop without saying this point,

because it will mean something to people in this room.

You were told something by God, and you are holding on to it.

And God is saying, great, you obeyed.

Now can you stop preserving what I said to you earlier,

because I want to send you from the brook to Zarephath.

And if you're going to hold on to this brook and make me about this brook,

then you will not be following me.

You will be following something that I was doing.

Just remember that.

It's critical, guys.

You see this in Israel's history.

They held on to the Torah.

They held on to Moses.

Who did they miss out on?

Jesus.

God said something to you.

Good, Jacob.

You obeyed.

Great.

Well done.

Now that you obeyed, can I now free you from the ravens,

free you from the brook, because there is a widow in Zarephath

who will die with her son if you don't let go of this miracle that I'm doing in your life.

And if you hold on to it, then the widow will die and her son will die.

But if you obey, I'll send you into Sidon, which is pagan territory,

which Israel doesn't enter, and you will go there.

Years from now, the Son of God will use you as an example and say,

do you remember that Elijah was sent to just one widow, not in Israel, but in Sidon?

Time to let go of something that God said.

You hold on to it for dear life.

You know what you're holding on to?

You're holding on to an idol.

Moses put up a snake.

You know what that snake was later called?

Nehustan.

It became an idol, because Israel would carry it through the desert.

That was a one-time offer.

Look at the snake.

It will represent the cross later.

You look at it.

You will survive snakebite.

And they carried it with them for the rest of their lives until it became an idol.

Let go of the miracles that God has done in your life because they are idols.

Savor them.

Talk about them.

Use them as testimonies.

Move on, because there are more rooms waiting, greater thresholds to cross,

greater God to explore.

Your God will never stay a mid-sized God.

Yesterday's miracles make your God a mid-sized God.

Move on, because there are greater things He wants to do.

The water keeps increasing.

Up your ankle, up your knee, up your waist, till you cannot even stand.

That is the God we are talking about.

That is what threshold crossing looks like.

That is what a bigger room looks like.

That is what He is inviting us to.

This is where we are going, guys.

We will talk about revival next week.

Let's just pray.

Father, why do we always run out of time?

Thank you, Father.

It has been a good day.

We lingered with you.

It was fun.

I love this threshold topic about teachers to obey without thinking of outcomes and results.

Part of the reason we are supposed to cross thresholds is so we can enrich the lives of others.

Elijah crossed this threshold of Brooke, Jared, and the ravens,

stepped into Sidon, and what happened?

Abedah and her son were killed.

These big rooms we explore with you is not for our benefit.

It is for enriching others.

So, Father, we say please, yes, separate us from the approval of men,

from success, from outcome, from goals, from plans, unless you supply them.

Allow us to step into this response to the Holy Spirit as He leads us.

Make us the archetype for the earth, Abba.

Let the earth learn from us, nobodies.

That's the advantage you have with us.

Nobody knows us.

You got to go, Father, for now.

See you guys when I see you.

Thank you.

The things you've done before

In greater measure

You will do again

Cause there's no prison

While you can't break through the mountain

You can't move all things that cross it all

There's no broken body

You can't raise no soul

That you can't save

All tears are possible

The darkest night