Psalm 27 Confident

Okay guys, Psalm 27, let's just read it together.

Reading from the NIV.

Reading from the NIV.

Reading from the NIV.

Reading from the NIV.

The Psalm has three parts.

The first part is from 1 to 6, and it expresses confident trust in the Lord.

Then it goes from 7 to 12, pleading out to God for help, because David seems to be in some kind of trouble.

And then the last few verses, verse 13 actually, reiterates that confident trust in the Lord.

I love the way it says it.

I'm still confident of this. I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart. Wait for the Lord.

So if you want a title for today's teaching, it's confident.

Confident, confident, and confident basically means to be collected, to be cool in all circumstances.

Why? Because you know that you will see, as in you will experience, the goodness of God in the land of the living.

In while you are alive. While you are alive.

That's where the confidence comes from. To be confident in God is to be collected, calm, cool in all circumstances.

Which doesn't mean you don't plead for help, like David does from verse 7 to 12.

But then you start with this confidence, you end with this confidence.

Because you know that the goodness of God is something that you will experience. You will experience.

And why am I picking on this right now?

Because sometimes when you go marching out against the adversary, you have to realize that the first place you have to march out.

Before you go marching against the adversary, before you go marching against the adversary, make sure that you go marching into his presence.

Things are only going to heat up in the months ahead guys for us as a church because of what God wants to do globally.

So before marching against the adversary, march boldly into the presence of God.

Because confidence is critical during times like this.

Because an increasing confidence in God's desire and God's ability to protect us is essential during times like this.

An increasing confidence in both God's desire. I must be convinced of his desire.

The problem with us Christians is we are convinced of the promise but we are not convinced of his desire.

We are convinced of his promise so we have to hold on to it for dear life.

When you are convinced of God's desire, you don't have to hold on to the promise.

You just know that the promise works. Big difference eh?

So an increasing confidence in God's desire and God's ability to protect me is essential.

I wouldn't attempt half the things I'd attempt if I wasn't confident and increasingly confident of both God's desire and God's ability to protect me.

And this is where Proverbs 18.10 kicks in.

Especially at a time like this, the name of the Lord is a strong tower.

The righteous run into it and they are safe.

The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and they are safe.

It's amazing how anybody under 45 knows that scripture by heart.

Guys, songs can be critical in learning scripture.

Which is why songs like the inheritance song will help us see how God wants us to see ourselves and how we need to see God.

The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and they are safe.

I must be more and more confident of God's desire and ability to protect me.

I've said this ages ago and I repeated ages ago so I've stopped. So let me start again.

You inhabit what you think.

You inhabit what you think.

If this is the God you think he is, you begin to inhabit that which he now offers.

I inhabit what I think.

And so global God exploits will only happen through a secure people who hang out in his presence.

Global God exploits, global God exploits will only happen through a secure people who hang out in his presence.

Global God exploits, as in a global revival that we are talking about that is going to wash the world.

Wash the world over the next two to three years.

Will only happen through a secure people.

Secure not in their finances, secure not in the size of their church, secure not in great teaching, secure simply in God.

It will only happen through a secure people who hang out in his presence.

Acts chapter 4 verse 13.

Acts 4:13

You should read it.

These were uneducated people who hung out with Jesus and therefore had a boldness or a confidence that took people by surprise.

Acts 4 verse 13.

Acts 4:13

When they saw the courage or the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled ordinary men,

they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

What gave them courage? What gives you boldness? What gives you courage? What gives you confidence?

Strangely, it's not learning verses, it's not holding on to a promise, it's not past exploits.

What gives you courage, confidence, boldness is when you hang out with Jesus.

And hanging out with Jesus is simply another way of saying,

I've spent so much time in the presence of God that I have a boldness that I never had before.

That is what our statement should be.

Because the real battle guys is always for intimacy.

The real battle is always for intimacy, it's not for territory.

The real battle is always for intimacy.

And so therefore the attack, the real attack will always be in the area of your intimacy with God.

If that can be taken away, then what is the real battle?

Your warfare is ineffective.

The real battle, David was who he became because of his intimacy with God.

The real battle is always for intimacy, therefore the real attack will also be in the area of intimacy.

And therefore what you need to guard most and cultivate most and grow in most is intimacy, not territory.

Because the enemy can lure us into feeding the city while we are starving ourselves.

The enemy can lure us into feeding the city while we are starving ourselves.

And it's only a matter of time then before the war is lost.

This is why Jesus would not take away from Mary what she was receiving from him.

And the ideal combination is to be Mary first and then Martha.

So as we go about undoing the works of the enemy and advancing the kingdom,

always remember that warfare, when it comes to Christianity, warfare is always relational.

Warfare is always relational, as in you can only stand up against Satan after standing in the presence of God.

You stand in the presence of God and then resist the devil.

You stand in the presence of God and resist the devil.

Warfare is relational.

There is no question of...

This is why the demon said, Jesus we know, Paul we know, but who are you?

Warfare is relational.

You resist Satan by standing in the presence of God.

People without presence are not a threat to the enemy.

People without presence are not a threat to the enemy.

They are just target practice.

It's unfortunate but it's true.

People without presence are not a threat to the enemy.

They are just target practice for the enemy.

So when your work, when ministry, when tasks, when commitments begin to rob you of intimacy,

when it begins to rob you of presence, we render ourselves important in a sense because we are no longer a threat to the enemy

and we become target practice.

The enemy seeks to draw me out from who God has put me in.

The enemy seeks me to draw me out from who God has put me in.

The enemy tries to draw me out from who God has put me in.

The enemy tries to draw me out from who God had put me in.

So who has Got put me in?

God has put me in Christ.

and in Christ's body.

Who has God put me in?

God has put me in Christ and in Christ's body.

And so the enemy tries to draw me out of Christ

and out of Christ's body.

And every time that attempt is made,

and there are hundreds and hundreds of Christians

to whom this is happening,

and sometimes through, not sometimes,

almost 50% of the time through

the way leaders deal with people.

But it's a ploy of the enemy to draw out,

to draw Christians out from who they are placed in,

and who are they placed in?

They are placed in Christ

and they are placed in Christ's body.

And the attempt is to draw them out.

And if it's not through strife and hurt and bruising,

then it is through circumstances and work and ministry.

And the intent is, can I draw Jacob out into striving?

Into bitterness.

Into aloneness, as in lone ranger-ness.

Into fretting.

Into worrying.

Into anxiety.

Because of all the tasks, because of all the ministry,

because of all the circumstances,

because of all these things,

can I draw him out into a place of fear?

Because if I can,

then I can render him pretty tame.

We think it is wise to show a little worry.

It is not wisdom to show worry.

It is self-reliance and sin.

Worry is a sign of self-reliance in my life and of sin.

Anxiety, worry, fretting is a sign

of my self-reliance and sin.

Anxiety, worry, fear, fretting,

these things happen when I set the course of action

based on either my desire or my plans.

When I calculate things without God,

when I calculate things without God,

when I calculate things without God,

and when I have a lack of confidence,

when I have a lack of confidence

in God's power-bound goodness,

I know I haven't used this word before,

but I'll talk about it today,

God's power-bound goodness.

His goodness is power-bound.

It's bound in power.

His goodness is not just a passive kind of a goodness.

His goodness is wrapped in power.

It's like when you wrap a sausage in a strip of bacon,

it's like that.

I don't know why that image came to mind.

Erase, erase.

We can think of other things that are wrapped.

I just have to grab my coffee.

Where's my coffee?

Oh, pardon?

I can't hear you, Brandon.

Okay, Kevin has a question.

Kevin, why do you have questions?

Does being in the presence of God

always mean participating in one of the spiritual disciplines

or is it possible to seek God's presence

in an unconventional way?

I would answer it by saying,

Kevin, I'm just using you and Sandy as an example,

would being in the presence of Sandy

always mean participating in one of the marital disciplines

that will make your marriage better

or is it possible to seek Sandy's presence

in an unconventional way?

And the answer would be absolutely yes.

You could seek it in an unconventional way,

doing something absurd like jumping off a plane,

free-falling for the first 80 meters

and then letting the parachutes take over

and stuff like that.

Don't try that.

Yeah, so you can do it unconventionally.

Most of my best times with God

have been through unconventional ways.

Guys, remember something, discipline is only,

discipline is only, this is the process

of how it should work.

First should come delight.

Delight leads to discipline,

which creates a habit,

which then cycles back to create more delight.

What has happened through this whole practice

of spiritual discipline is we start here

and then hope we will get this

and we definitely get this.

So we definitely get a habit out of discipline,

but we get no delight.

Every time God wants me to cultivate a discipline,

he first gives me delight.

This is why good athletes enjoy what they do.

Good athletes enjoy what they do.

They really delight in their sport.

And so when they run 10 kilometers or do 80 pushups,

it's because they actually delight in their sport.

Even when they're not playing, they still practice.

Why?

Because delight has to come first, then discipline,

then that creates a habit.

But what we've done in Christianity

is we've paid so much attention to discipline

that all we create is a habit, we create no delight.

May says that one of the unconventional ways

that she connects with God,

I don't fully agree with what May is doing,

but is by biking.

And when she bikes, his presence is always with her.

Different strokes for different folks.

What can you say?

Biking is her thing.

Mine is driving.

Whenever I drive, I feel the presence of God.

This is like taking chariots of fire

and using it wherever you want to.

Yeah, so remember this, guys, this is so important.

Fretting, worrying, anxiety, fear

are a result of me setting the course,

where it's my desire that I'm pursuing,

where I determine my own course or my desire.

Two, I calculate without God.

And three, I think I lack a confidence

in God's power-bound goodness.

That is when worrying, fretting, anxiety and fear come.

When people come and say to you that I'm not confident,

when people come and say to you that,

oh, I worry a lot, please pray for me,

take them down this road.

Because you can pray for them all you want, man,

but if this ain't broken, it just keeps repeating itself.

When you set your course based on what God has said,

when you calculate things with God in the picture,

and when you have a confidence

in God's power-bound goodness, you sleep well.

You're not checking your phone every time it buzzes

to see what the answer is.

We'll talk about that a little more.

And it's my mind, not my heart,

where I need to receive the goodness and the love of God.

We've learned how to receive the goodness of God in our heart.

Problem is, it creates feelings, and feelings go away.

We must go from a place of faith and feelings to knowledge.

Knowledge is a great place to have these things realized.

If my mind can comprehend the goodness of God,

then I begin to think correctly about God.

And the moment I start thinking correctly about God,

the lens that I use to look at life is correct.

Charismatic Christians in particular are caught up in,

I know the goodness of God in my heart, great,

but tomorrow it may disappear, and then what do you do?

But I need to know the goodness of God.

Once I know it, once I have the knowledge of it,

you don't need faith anymore, man.

Not do you need feelings.

When was the last time you needed feelings of faith

for gravity?

Or for breathing?

Why?

Because you know that gravity works,

and you know that without knowing you're inhaling,

even through that mask of yours, Don.

Guys, don't think that just because you wear a mask

that I cannot see you yawn.

I can still see you yawn.

My mind is the place to receive the goodness of God,

because if I think correctly about God,

I will then have the right lens to view the world.

And then once I think correctly about God,

the image of God that I project

is what people will be attracted to.

This is why it is so critical that at an early age,

people be taught to experience the goodness of God,

and to experience stepping out for God,

to experience huge leaps of faith,

to experience miracles, or to expect miracles.

Teach them while they are young.

This is critical, guys.

It makes more and more sense to see why God wants to

have this revival touch the young first.

Because if an 18-year-old, a 13-year-old, a 21-year-old

can experience God as a miracle worker,

promise keeper, way maker, not in a song,

but as in stepping out because this is who I believe God is,

then for the rest of their lives,

it doesn't matter whether they got results or not,

they're convinced in their heart like gravity that it works.

Never changes.

I remember when I was in college,

I was in the religious.

I remember about six months after I became a believer,

I was in six months or one year, sorry, go ahead.

What about those of us that suffer from mental illness

and the worry, et cetera,

it's part of the body that we inhabit?

That's different.

We are talking about external circumstances, not sickness.

Like there are people that have certain paranoid conditions

that can be frightening.

We're not talking about the sickness part of it.

We are talking about fretting, worrying, anxiety, and fear

that come from external circumstances because we do this.

I think it was six months or a year into being a Christian.

This was in Bahrain, and I remember going to this hospital

because there was a 13 or 14 year old kid called Shahzad,

Muslim boy, who was in a coma.

And someone connected me to his parents.

And so I would go every day to the hospital

at a certain time, and the parents had heard that

I believe that God heals.

Because those are the people that I grew up under,

not the parents, I grew up in a church

where healing was normal.

It was expected.

So they heard that God heals, that the Christian God heals.

So they would allow me to come into the hospital,

sit with this boy, and pray.

And I remember praying every day.

Then I would sit and read chapters from the Bible.

The parents would listen.

And I knew the boy's spirit was alive,

even though he was in a coma.

Fourth day, he died.

And I remember going up to the pastor,

and the pastor was Chantel's dad.

I remember going up to him when I heard

that the boy had died.

And my immediate response was,

I just heard Shahzad died.

And so here was the immediate response.

We gotta go raise him up.

It was the most natural thing to think.

We gotta go raise him up, why?

Because Jesus does that, so we gotta go raise him up.

And so, instead of telling me to think sanely,

to think sanely, instead of telling me not to go overboard,

Chantel's dad, who was a pastor then, said,

okay, and this man who pastors at church

saw my tiny little desire and faith and said,

let's go, so we go to the hospital.

We go to the hospital, and they are taking

his body to the mosque.

So I say to Bonnie, we gotta go to the mosque.

And now it's a Muslim country, so we go to the mosque.

And so the boy's body is laid out,

and so I go to the parents and say,

do you want me to pray for him

and try to raise him from the dead here?

And they said, it's not such a good idea.

Because it wouldn't be smart to do that.

So I said, okay.

And so we wait for him to be buried.

And I remember standing over his grave

after they buried him.

And the burial place was not too far

from where I used to live.

And I remember turning to the pastor and saying,

we gotta go and pray, even though he's buried.

So he said, okay.

And so I stand over the grave and I'm saying,

father, this is no big deal for you,

because dead is dead, whether it's underground

or overground, it's no big deal for you.

So tonight, after everybody's gone,

could you just raise him from the dead

and perhaps send an angel so he can know

how to come to my house?

And then I'll take care of him from here on.

Just bring him at night so he's not in trouble

and nobody knows it and we'll deal with it, Jesus.

So in the name of Jesus Christ, I command

that after some time, may you come back to life

and may God lead you to my place.

It's not too far.

This was what I was praying.

And this pastor stood there and agreed,

as in encouraged and agreed.

This story is not to tell you about how foolish

or how naive I was.

The story is to tell you how had that man stopped me,

then I don't think I'd ever had had the courage

to continue going down this road that I've gone.

You've got to catch Tate, Finn, Eri,

Isaiah, Maya, Jocelyn, Phoebe.

You've got to catch them young and tell them

this is the only God we know.

And if that isn't your faith,

if your faith doesn't match the Jesus of the Bible,

be quiet.

But in the places that it matches the Jesus of the Bible,

speak, encourage the young adults.

I'm glad I got them at this age.

Can you imagine if they came at my age?

They'd be so stuck up.

Confidence increases.

This is a loaded line, so I have to write it down.

Confidence increases, confidence increases

as you entwine yourself with God,

entwine yourself with God.

Entwine yourself with God.

Confidence increases as you entwine yourself with God

and wait with anticipation,

wait with anticipation, obeying his goodness,

not trusting his goodness, but obeying his goodness.

Obeying his goodness, even when Samuel is late

to the sacrifice.

So confidence increases as you,

don't need to underline that, increases as you entwine,

as in the idea of entwining is the whole idea

of the more time I hang out in his presence.

Confidence increases as you entwine yourself with God

and wait with anticipation.

You do not wait with passive resignation,

you wait with anticipation.

I've said this before, but the idea of the word wait

in the Old Testament is always that of a person

whose neck is craned out in anticipation

as if something is gonna happen.

The waiting is never passive, never resigned,

never tolerant, it is so full of anticipation.

Confidence increases as you entwine yourself with God

and wait with anticipation, obeying his goodness.

It's one thing to trust his goodness,

it's another thing to obey his goodness.

What's the difference?

Trusting his goodness is saying,

yeah, I trust you, you are good.

Obeying his goodness is, we're not even talking about

whether I trust your goodness or not, that's given.

I obey your goodness, as in I'm obedient to the fact

that you are good and it doesn't matter

how long you tell me to wait.

It doesn't matter that nothing has happened,

that today is the third day, today is the fourth day,

today is the fifth day, it does not matter

because I obey your goodness.

You're a good God, you're watching out for me.

I have absolutely no doubt in my head that you are good.

Days, time does not change who you are.

I obey your goodness.

Trusting goodness is to say, I trust you, okay,

no, obeying is different, man.

It's like there's no choice.

I don't have to even argue about your goodness

because that's a given.

A child never goes up to its parent and says,

I trust you that you will give me breakfast today.

It's a given.

The child goes, sits at the table,

doesn't matter that the parent has woken up late,

it doesn't matter the parent had a late night,

the parent got busy, the parent is on a call,

the child sits at the table

because the child knows that breakfast is gonna come.

He obeys the goodness of his parent

because he's already there on time.

And it doesn't matter that it's taking time.

Obeying is goodness even when Samuel is late

to the sacrifice, that's where Saul messed up, right?

In 1 Samuel 10, eight it says, Saul, wait for seven days.

Seven days go by a little longer, not by much,

and he doesn't wanna wait any longer.

He falls into the pressure of people

and his soldiers deserting him

and so he offers a sacrifice.

Then 1 Samuel 13, eight, Samuel turns up.

He turns up a little late, so what?

So what if God said nine months and it's taking 10 months?

Does that make you doubt his faithfulness and goodness?

Man, when you look back at your life,

all you see is faithfulness.

God sometimes allows or restricts in his wisdom

what he can prevent or permit in his power.

God sometimes allows or restricts in his goodness

what he can permit or prevent in his power.

God allows or restricts in his wisdom

what he can permit or prevent in his power.

God allows or restricts in his wisdom

what he can prevent or permit in his power.

As soon as you write the sentence down,

the immediate question that rises in all our minds

or some of our minds is, does that mean God can allow

or permit harm to me?

That's the immediate question that rises up.

Deuteronomy 32, 10.

I found you in a windswept wasteland

and I drew you to myself and I said,

you're the apple of my eye.

Zechariah 2, 8.

Zechariah 2, 8.

Anyone who touches you touches the pupil of my eye.

God's saying it.

Anyone who touches you.

I'm just giving you two scriptures, just two scriptures.

But we got to, once we understand power bound goodness,

our confidence increases, are we not too bothered

that certain things that we thought were going to come

our way hasn't come yet?

That God could easily do it.

Why isn't he doing it?

We're not caught up in that.

Our confidence is not zapped because something

that was supposed to happen yesterday hasn't happened yet.

Why?

Because sometimes God allows or restricts in his wisdom

what can be prevented or permitted in his power.

And we'll talk about it some more.

But this question that does God allow harm,

will he permit harm to me?

Destroy that with these two verses.

If he says that I found you Jacob in a windswept wasteland

and I drew you to myself and you're the apple of my eye

and in Zechariah 2, 8, he's talking about Jerusalem

but it applies to you and he says Jacob,

anyone who touches you touches the pupil of my eye.

Is there harm going to come?

Is he a self-inflicting God?

Does he harm himself?

Well if he doesn't harm himself, he ain't gonna harm you

because he says anyone who touches you

touches the pupil of my eye.

You think he's exaggerating, he's just being poetic?

Power bound goodness.

Let me explain that.

Power bound goodness.

It's a very...

His goodness is a reality

cause his power is absolute.

Sela.

His goodness is a reality.

You may wanna do good.

You may wanna do good to every Canadian

that lives in this land

but there's squat you can do about it

cause you got zero power.

Forget Canada, you may wanna do good to Acts 29

but there's not much you can do about it

because of that pastor who at present leads the church.

You got power but he's got a little more.

He who has power decides what can be done.

Point is, God's goodness is a reality

cause he has absolute power.

This is why he can be good.

This is why you receive his goodness.

This is why you can be sure of his goodness.

There is nobody, nothing that can stop him from being good

cause he's the one who has absolute power.

This is why I call it power bound goodness.

It should create a certain confidence in your heart

that he is good and nothing can stop him

from being good to me

or from that goodness reaching to me.

Cause very often we know that he is good

but we're not sure if his goodness will come to you.

Who can stop him?

He ain't gonna stop himself

cause he said that I am gracious and compassionate,

full of mercy and rich and loyal love.

So he ain't gonna stop himself

cause if he did, he wouldn't be true to himself.

So who can stop him?

You think you can stop him?

Try, you'll succeed for a while.

But loyal love overwhelms.

Never separate the lamb from the lion guys.

If the lamb is good, the lion is powerful.

Do not separate the lion and the lamb.

I heard this story recently on I think 700 Club.

It's about this boy who was from a Muslim background

and he goes by the name Raymond now I think.

So he,

he started drinking, became alcoholic

and at a very young age started

stealing cars and stuff like that.

And then one day in just being completely drunk,

he got into an altercation with someone at a pub

and before he knew it, he had stabbed the guy nine times.

And obviously he went to prison.

Surprisingly the man survived so it wasn't a murder.

And he was in prison for a while, came out of prison

and then two of his cousins took him to a young adult

or youth group meeting.

For the first time he realized that this God

is very different from anything or anyone he's known

and he began to reach out to God by the name of Raymond.

But still couldn't give up alcohol,

couldn't give up his ways.

And one night he was driving a car

that wasn't his with a fake ID

and a false set of insurance papers.

And he was not supposed to be in a vehicle

because he was not allowed to drive.

And he's driving this car and he comes to a stoplight

and a police car pulls up behind him

and he knows he's going back to prison,

that he's violated the conditions of his release.

And as he's sitting there just so scared

of this cop car behind him, he hears his voice

and it says to him, they can come as close

as they want to you, but unless I give the word,

they cannot touch you.

And he kind of knows this is a God

that he had reached out to, but he thinks to himself,

really, can he do this?

And the light turns green, the cop car follows him,

turns off and goes off and then he begins to say to himself,

ah, just my imagination, not true.

And as he's heading home, he comes to another traffic light

and this time there's another cop car pulls up behind him.

And now his heart sinks and he regrets what he did earlier,

saying I should have, now I don't have hope.

And then he begins to call out to God

and while he's calling out to God,

the cop car turns on its lights and siren

and he just gets so bitter that this God didn't help him out.

And he's just waiting for the cop to come out

and the car pulls out and goes chasing after somebody else.

And that is when he steps and as he's waiting there

and the lights are going off, he hears that voice again

and the voice says, they can come as close

as they want to you, but unless I give the word,

they cannot touch you.

And that's when the car speeds off and goes off.

And he just steps out of the car, starts bawling

and surrenders his life to Jesus Christ so completely

that today he is working with prisoners and young people

and it's got such an amazing story.

What blew me away about the story is the power that God has

and the goodness that comes wrapped in that power.

You've got to see his power as, see his goodness

as wrapped in power that the reason he can be as good

as he wants to is because he's got absolute power

over everything.

This kind of goodness nobody has and nobody can stop.

I've been condemned to goodness by a God

who has tremendous power.

I'm condemned to goodness.

Hear me, hear me.

I am condemned to goodness.

Hear me, I am condemned to the goodness of God.

And it is a goodness that reaches me, that comes to me

that is full because he has absolute power

and there is nothing or nobody that can stop his goodness

from washing over me every day

because this is his nature every day.

You inhabit what you think.

You inhabit what you expect.

This then begins to give you the confidence to step

into massive God exploits unafraid

because you have heard him.

You should not need any convincing or persuasion

after this guys.

We may fall off this or we can jump back on this

but we should never need to be convinced or persuaded

of this.

This is as clearly as God can speak to you and me.

Don't think this is Jacob saying it to you.

I plead with you.

I plead with you.

I plead with you.

I plead with you.

I plead with you.

I plead with you.

I plead with you.

I plead with you.

I plead with you.

I plead with you.

I plead with you.

I plead with you.

This is as clearly as God can speak to you and me.

Don't doubt it for the rest of your life

and even if you fall off the wagon, climb back on.

You know, trusting in his goodness,

trusting in his goodness,

allows wisdom,

allows his wisdom

to have full access,

to have full unrestricted access,

to have full unrestricted access

to shape and direct your life,

to shape and direct

your life.

I'll explain that, but it is a beautiful line.

Trusting in his goodness allows,

trusting in his goodness allows his wisdom

to have full unrestricted access

to shape and direct your life.

And so you don't prematurely short circuit

what he's trying to accomplish.

You don't prematurely short circuit.

You don't prematurely short circuit the process.

So examples from the Bible,

then perhaps you can relate to it a little better.

John chapter 11.

John 11 · chapter mention

Jesus trusted God's goodness.

So it's okay for him to hear about Lazarus' death

and know that his father is good

and not go immediate, Lazarus' sickness

and know that his father is good.

And in the,

despite the clamor of his best friend's sisters,

come do something, he stays back.

Because he allows, he trusts in the goodness of God

and it allows the wisdom of God

to have full access to shape and direct lives,

not just your life.

And so he goes four days later.

Wisdom has its, wisdom, wisdom has its own way.

Wisdom matures in my, the wisdom of God

has full effect on my life,

full effect in my life when I trust his goodness.

And therefore I am sure that it's okay.

It's okay that I don't go today.

It's okay that news didn't come today.

It's okay that things have been delayed.

It's okay that, why?

Because I know you are good, you are taking care of this.

Now God says, all right, now that you know that I'm good

and you can wait with anticipation,

let my wisdom go to work

and I will bring you to completion.

I will make everything full and complete.

All of us are in such a hurry to get things done

either because of peer pressure or parental pressure

or the demands of the world or the demands of ministry

or the demands of this or the demands of that or deadlines.

This is a God who holds time in his hands

and slows it down or hurries it.

One of the signs of mature Christianity

is the ability not to rush things.

Exodus 33, another instance

where Moses is on the mountain

and he's not happy that God is going to send an angel with him.

He's not, he is not,

he is willing to wait till God shows his glory to Moses

and in the process Moses gains so much wisdom, so much wisdom.

Any other leader would have said, all right, you send an angel with us,

great, I'll go with an angel because your angels are pretty powerful.

We settle for less when we do not know his goodness.

We play divine stock markets when we do not know his goodness.

Oh, the price is high, let's buy it.

Oh, we may never get this opportunity again.

Or you take Acts 27, that's such a cool passage.

Paul is telling them, listen, I know my God is good.

Why don't you just trust me?

Let's not abandon, let's not jump off this bus

and let's not get into the business of God.

Trust me, let's not abandon, let's not jump off this boat.

No harm will come.

He is trying to preserve 276 lives

because his God has said to him,

no harm is going to come to you Paul, you're going to get to Rome.

And none of those traveling with you will either come to harm.

Trust in the goodness of God and he lets the wisdom of God take over.

He breaks bread with them.

All 276 survive.

When you trust the goodness of God,

the wisdom of God has unrestricted access to your life

and through your life affecting a whole lot of people.

This is not about being cautious.

This is about being so confident of the goodness of God

that you are okay as God works things out.

Destroy false deadlines, destroy false expectations,

destroy false demands.

Let me close with my last 16 points.

Pray with maturity guys, learn to pray with maturity.

And what do you mean by learning, learn to pray with maturity?

Find out what God wants, find out what God wants,

then ask him to do it.

I sometimes feel bad that my prayers are very short.

Like I feel guilty because pastors are supposed to pray long,

especially when you have a request and I pray only for a minute.

I feel kind of guilty.

I try to come up with other things to say about you that are nice

or that are pleady kind of things.

But what do you do when you kind of find out what God wants

and then ask him to do it and that's the end of prayer?

But I would suggest that we learn to do that

because it gives you a whole lot of time to do other things.

Once you hear him clearly, then know that, okay,

you know what God wants you to do, you've asked him to do it.

Now begin to step out with confidence knowing that

God will only demand that which he has already deposited in you.

God will only demand that which he has already deposited in you.

There's nothing that God asks of you that he hasn't already put in you.

You may not know the extent of it, but he knows it.

Even with this global revival that we are talking about

and the costs that we may have to pay for it,

be it financial or physical or spiritual,

God has already given us all that we need

and so he will only demand that which he has already deposited in us.

God only demands that which he has already deposited in us.

Sixteen years he's been depositing things at Acts 29.

Now he's saying, I'm demanding it.

It's already there.

Learn to adventure with the spirit, guys.

Learn to adventure with the spirit.

And I know this is a double negative,

but learn to adventure with the spirit by not being scared of nothing happening.

Learn to adventure with the spirit by not being scared with nothing happening.

Sometimes we are so scared that we will go pray,

we will do this and nothing will happen.

Don't be scared of it.

Nor be scared of getting it right.

Maturity is not getting it right.

Maturity is the ability to live out of confidence.

Getting it right is just getting it right.

But living out of confidence, I mean when you look at Hebrews 11,

there were so many people who did what they did out of sheer confidence.

They never got what they were looking for.

Don't worry about getting it right.

Don't worry about nothing happening.

Live out of confidence.

You cannot adventure with God unless you live out of confidence.

And if you look at what we've spoken about,

you will learn some of the ways of confidence.

Sometimes, guys, God will delay answering some of the things we ask for

just to ensure our future.

Because for Him, learning and timing is everything.

So sometimes answers are delayed just because He has to ensure your future.

I look at certain things happening in my life right now,

and I think to myself,

But I asked for this 20 years ago and it's happening now.

Why? Because I'm only ready for it now.

The problem with the prophetic nowadays is as soon as someone prophesies,

you think it's going to happen tomorrow morning when you wake up.

But when you look at the Old Testament,

every time someone was prophesied on,

they went through a process so that they would be ready to go.

Every time someone was prophesied on,

they went through a process so that they would be ready to walk in the prophetic.

Take Joseph, take Abraham, take David.

I think in the Old Testament, people were afraid of being prophesied on.

You will be king.

Alright, let's start running like a refugee.

You will be the prime minister of Egypt.

Alright, I will be sold as a slave.

You will be the father of faith.

Alright, I'll be important for the next 25 years.

You will save the earth and start creation again.

Alright, I'll be building a boat for the next 30 years.

I will live at least a year with animals all around me, including cats.

So every time there was a prophetic word,

people would, I guess, half dread it.

It's us that, it was prophesied that I'd get married tomorrow morning,

I'm getting married.

No!

Derek, no!

The point is this, guys.

Sometimes God delays answering to ensure your future,

because learning and timing is everything.

Sometimes God delays answering to engage me in a conversation

to reveal His heart and to reveal my heart.

Sometimes God delays answering to engage you in a conversation

to reveal His heart and to reveal your heart.

And so here's the key.

If you suspect or if you detect that there is a process in the answer,

as in, if you detect that, hmm, been asking and he hasn't been doing much about it,

if you detect that, if there is a process,

if you detect that there is a process in the answer,

there's a process in the answer,

if you detect that there's a process in the answer,

the key is relationship.

The key is relationship.

And so what you need to do is revisit the pause in the answer without resentment.

Get a sense of what God is trying to do.

Get a sense of what God is trying to do.

Get a sense of what God is trying to do.

Get a sense of what God is trying to do.

Get a sense of what God is trying to do.

And match His stride or pace.

So there are many times where I have received a sure word, an absolute promise from God

that I do not have to doubt, but it's taking too long to come to pass.

Sometimes it's taking one and a half years to come to pass, sometimes two years.

And so I realized then that He's not stopping me, He's not rebuking me,

but it's not coming to pass and you begin to suspect,

there's other things He wants to do.

So that is when you know there's a process in the answer that you have to go through.

And whenever you suspect that, the key is relationship.

The key is not more prayer, the key is not more fasting.

Man, we do so many Christian things that are so sucky.

What we really need to do is go back into this place of relationship.

Because if there is process in the answer, the key is relationship.

And you revisit the pause or the place where you stopped without resentment.

That's another hard thing.

And we go back to the place and we write lamentations.

But revisit the pause without resentment because you are engaged in a relationship.

And you are engaged in a relationship.

And you are engaged in a relationship.

And you revisit the pause without resentment because you are engaged in a relationship.

You get a sense of what God is trying to do.

I won't share the story, but when I immigrated to Canada, it took a year and a half.

It was a sure promise.

Five times I had to go to get this done.

It was a sure promise.

But my God, there was a process and the process was brilliant.

The key was relationship.

There was never resentment.

Till it came to pass.

And you see the same thing with Joseph.

His hands were put in shackles, his legs were put in shackles.

And the word of the Lord tested him and proved him.

And then he rose from here to here.

Guys, I assure you because God is far too interested in you.

How far too interested in the influence you have, you will have on people.

You try to bypass this.

It's just pointless.

Moses tried to bypass it.

Killed an Egyptian in the bargain.

Last point.

Yeah, and when you match his stride and pace, do it without fretting.

Without fretting.

Yeah, that word is without fretting, just in case.

You can't make it out.

I could write better, but then I would have to bend and that would be too much work.

So that's what you get.

It's Gaelic for without fretting.

Last point.

Recapture childlike wonder.

Recapture childlike wonder.

The Shehzad story that I shared was something I shared a couple of, ten days ago somewhere.

But that's why it's so fresh in my mind.

But after I shared that ten days ago, I thought to myself, man, I'd like to recapture childlike wonder.

Where at this age, having pastored a church for a while, I must still return to childlike wonder.

Not heavy stuff.

Because there's a lot of heavy stuff at Axe.

What if I could recapture childlike wonder and yet do heavy stuff?

Childlike wonder.

Because without an immediate sense of wonder about God, without an immediate sense of wonder about God,

as in without an immediate sense of wonder about God, I will be dull to his long-term mandates

and I will be blind to his short-term maneuvers.

Without childlike wonder.

Because God at the end of the day is very fatherly and very simple.

You should still relish the little things with God that only come through intimacy and relationship.

Little things that he does for you.

Like my dad would take me to the marketplace.

It was an outdoor marketplace and then I had to carry the bags.

That was my job.

But at the end of the day, after I've carried the bags, he'd take me to this place where they would make sugarcane juice.

You take these sugarcane, put it through a machine and someone spins like this, out would come fresh sugarcane juice.

Or he'd take me to a favorite restaurant where I liked a particular thing.

I never knew what to expect when I went out with my dad to an outdoor marketplace.

Because I knew there would be something that would be waiting.

Little things.

And so every marketplace experience would be,

Ashak, what's going to happen? This is worth carrying the bags for.

Because he never knew.

Recovered childlike wonder.

Without an immediate sense of wonder about God.

Without an immediate sense of wonder.

Not when we worship.

Hey, we can never capture the wonder of God in worship if we don't know how to see it.

In the little things that he does for us every few minutes of the day.

Without an immediate sense of wonder about God, I will be dull to his long-term mandates and blind to his short-term maneuvers.

Dull to his long-time mandates and blind to his short-time maneuvers.

Diana says, can he please repeat the statement?

Without an immediate sense of wonder about God, I will be dull to long-term mandates and blind to short-term maneuvers.

Kevin Ray, does going back into relationship mean seeking God's presence more?

No.

Going back into relationship means leaning back into what you already have with the Father.

Every situation at present can only be handled with what I presently have.

Tomorrow I can increase in it.

But what I work with today is what I have.

Every crisis, every problem only exposes what I presently have.

I can't become friends with you while I'm drowning.

I can only trust that I am friendly enough with you and that you will save me.

Let's pray.

Ah shucks, it's 9.27.

Sorry, not really.

Father, I got three minutes to pray.

Thank God we don't all turn into pumpkins at 9.30, Father.

Father, so that is a really bad joke.

Father, there are so many little tidbits in today's teaching.

Actually, I didn't know what title to give it because it's all over the place.

I wanted to call it random thoughts.

But then that sounded so un-churchy that I went with Psalm 27, confident.

But we just touched on the last verse of Psalm 27.

And I'm going to read it again.

I'm going to read it again.

I'm going to read it again.

I'm going to read it again.

I'm going to read it again.

lay so my dad is now 19.27, confident, but we just touched on the last verse of Psalm 27.

So the title is just totally wrong.

My dad will confess it now, Father.

These are random thoughts that are brilliant.

I please ask, Father, that some of these may become part of my life.

power bound goodness that what I said some time ago father I don't even have

it in my notes that really affected me and I pray that I can hold on to it I

pray that all of us can find these random nuggets from today's teaching it

it's basically that it wasn't anything else father I will see you tomorrow

Palm Sunday tomorrow Jesus good to relive what you went through so we'll

see you tomorrow morning strange thing is you'll see us continuously then we

get together yeah I don't know how to end anyways father see ya bye

Oh this is the word the Lord created I am the God who stood before