Intents of the Holy Spirit

And so here's the first statement I want to make.

Today we are going to talk about the intents of the Holy Spirit.

The intents of the Holy Spirit.

What are his intents? What are his primary intents when it comes to us?

That's what we'll talk about.

Guys, to begin with, interest attracts intent.

Interest attracts intent.

As in, it is only when I'm interested that I can attract your intent.

If I'm not interested, it doesn't matter how intentional you are,

I may not be interested.

So my interest creates room.

My interest creates room for God's intent.

My interest creates room for God's intent.

This is important, eh?

Because one of the things that God really messed up in was that he gave us free will.

Had he not given us free will, this would be so easy.

But now that he's given us free will,

it is up to us to begin to respond, engage, interact with him.

And interest attracts intent.

And my interest creates room for God's intent.

It's a common thing with life.

I remember once putting a business card in a restaurant bowl

where they pick out a card and they give you a prize.

And guess who got picked out?

Me. I've only won something twice in my life and this was the first time.

And they picked out my name and I won.

Guess what I won?

A gym membership.

Excuse me, I don't see the reason for that kind of laughter.

So gym membership.

And so I thought to myself, should I, should I not?

I mean, this is the first time I've won in Canada.

Let's just go.

And there was this guy who looked just buff like me

and he came out and he started taking me through the gym

and he's telling me how this machine works and how when you pull this,

he began to explain things about muscles that I didn't know I had.

And so for about 20 minutes he took me through the gym.

I was so not interested, man.

And he could see it, eh, because he began to cut short certain machines.

And so what you realize then is your interest attracts intent

and my interest creates room for God's intent.

And if I'm not interested, the strange thing with God is he'll keep coming back and trying.

He doesn't give up.

He just keeps coming back again and again and saying, hey, Jacob, interested.

I find that so humble about God.

I find it so humbling that the creator of the universe who made each of us

comes and knocks on a door and knows how to deal with my rejection of him.

It's both bothersome and yet endearing.

To begin with the idea that Jesus Christ is the only true living God

and he can come knocking at your door as he says in the Bible

and you can turn him and walk away and he comes back again and again and again

and again and again and again and again and again and again.

So that's one part of it.

The second part of it is those of us who at some point open the door of a life

when he came knocking and said, Jesus, you can have my life.

And then he begins to try and bring in intents that he has for you

and we can still keep resisting it saying no.

So for intent to ignite into passion for intent for you, sorry,

for your interest for your interest to ignite

for your interest to ignite into passion

for your interest to ignite into passion.

You got to know what God's intent is.

You got to know what the process is.

You got to know how he wants to engage.

And you got to know what the rewards of the payoff is.

And in every aspect of Christianity all four exist.

Whenever God comes with an intent and he says,

hey, this is what I want to do with your life.

All these four things go into play.

All these four things go into play.

One, God tells you what he wants to do.

He tells you what he wants to do.

Two, he gives you the process.

This is how I'm going to go about it.

Three, what's the last word?

Engage.

Engage.

Three, he tells you how he wants to engage you.

What's he going to come to you as?

What will it look like?

And four, he tells you the rewards because he wants you to know

that at the end of the day, this is what you'll be rewarded with.

This is what Jesus Christ came to do.

Hey, let me tell you my intent.

My intent is to bring you from a place where you are sinful

and wrong and hostile to God.

I want to tell you my intent.

My intent is to bring you to a place where you are no longer

an enemy of God.

Oh, the process.

The process is pretty gruesome, but I'll tell you.

I will die in your place, brutally hung on a cross

to pay the punishment for your sins.

And then I will be buried and I will rise again.

Engagement, I will not leave you as orphans.

I will send my Holy Spirit to live in you so that you will be

able to communicate directly to God.

He will no longer just be your creator.

He will be your father.

Reward, I will begin to live with you forever here on earth.

And when life here on earth is done, as you physically know it,

eternal life will continue and eternity will be forever

with God.

Do you understand now how easily he builds it?

And who does he use in our lives to bring this to pass?

The Holy Spirit.

What an amazing God, eh?

I mean, sometimes these are not rhetorical questions.

What an amazing God, eh?

Okay.

Any questions?

Okay.

So your response, whenever you begin to suspect that God is

approaching you with an intent, your response should be,

all right, I'm going to cause my interest now to be directed

towards God's intent.

And I'm going to ask him these questions or I'm going to listen

as he goes through these questions with me because my

interest will flame into passion as I begin to understand.

In every situation this applies, guys...

Oh, my intent, Peter, my intent is that I take you a fisherman

and make you a fisher of men.

What's the process?

You get to hang around with me for the next three and a half years.

How do I engage with you?

Come and see.

Let me take you home.

Once you come home, we'll start talking there.

I'll take you with me.

I'll sometimes rebuke you.

I'll say, Satan, get behind me.

Other times I'll say, this revelation did not come from anyone

else but from the Father.

I'll give you the keys of the kingdom.

What are the rewards?

There is a day coming where you will stand before the entire earth

and I will give you the keys of the kingdom and you will get up

and speak and you will open the gates of the kingdom and the

first day he does that 3000 come to God.

And God approached him with intent.

Where did that happen?

When he was fishing and he had caught nothing.

How did God get his interest going?

Cast your net on the other side.

What is Peter's response?

Get away from me, Jesus, because I'm a sinner and that begins a journey.

Guys, it's again and again and again the same.

It doesn't matter whether you're 13 year old Eva or whether you're

50 year old Jacob or whoever.

This is an amazing God.

He's very logical.

Times like this, you just marvel at his brilliance.

And he's very simple.

These are these are simple keys.

He's saying use them guys.

Guys, there's nothing like knowing the mind of God.

Sure love the love of God, love the power of God, love the wisdom of God,

but there's nothing like knowing how his mind works.

Go over your notes again and again.

Pull out notes like go and then pull out something from five weeks ago

because I do that.

I'll go over my files and I'll just go open a note that I did in 2017

and I'll start reading it.

Why?

Because I can't remember what I taught last week, man.

And don't tell me you do.

Maybe you do.

I'm getting older.

So every week I go and pull out some old teaching from 2017, 2018,

2019 and I go over it.

The Bible says in Matthew 13,

be like a man who has in his storehouse new things and old things.

The kingdom of God is like a man who has a storehouse in which are new

things and old things.

And he's saying,

I'm going to go and look at the Bible and I'm going to look at the Bible

and I'm going to look at the Bible and I'm going to look at the Bible

and old things.

Go pull out new things.

Go pull out old things and practice them.

Next week,

I'm going to give the mic to Toonie while we are in free worship and

you will hear him singing free worship behind there.

Right Toonie?

It'll be a lot of fun.

Anila is encouraging him.

So that's good enough.

So the Holy Spirit has intents too.

The Holy Spirit has intents.

Let's take four of them.

Four intents that the Holy Spirit has in your life.

Four intents that the Holy Spirit has in your life.

First, guys,

it is not the Holy Spirit's intent to make you a better Christian.

It's not.

He just doesn't do stuff like that.

But here are his four primary intents.

The intent of the Spirit is to one,

make you confident,

make you confident

of how

God thinks of you and sees you.

God thinks of you

and sees you.

That's one of his first intents.

Hey, can I make you confident of how God sees you and

thinks of you?

Romans 815, one of the first things that happens when the

Holy Spirit comes into you, your life because you receive

Christ as your Savior is that immediately born in you is

an intimate Abba cry where the creator of the universe

suddenly becomes your father.

We just think that

Yeah, we won't go there right now.

That's the first thing that happens.

He wants to make you confident of how God thinks of you and

how he sees you.

Most of us live between

most of us live between Luke 4.3

and

Matthew

Matthew

16

13 to 15.

Most of us live here.

Luke, most of us live between Luke 4.3 and Matthew 16,

13 to 15 and Luke 4.3 says this and the devil came and

said to Jesus if you are the Son of God.

Right from when we are kids, that's a voice that constantly

comes to our ears.

Jacob, you really think you are this or that?

Jacob, you really think you have a ministry?

Jacob, you really think you're a good pastor?

Jacob, you really think you are worth anything?

Jacob, you really think that you have good pedigree?

Jacob, you really think you're intelligent?

Jacob, you really think you're good-looking?

Jacob, you really think people think well of you?

Jacob, you really think you'll amount to anything?

The intent is can I bring reproach into your life?

Oh my God reproach sinks deep into your psyche where

once we grow up it is so hard to get out of it, eh?

You really think you're a man enough?

You really think you're a woman enough?

You really think you know how to function?

It's this constant barrage of you really think.

Protect your children, Josh and Charlene.

And the other part is Matthew 16, 13 to 15 where Jesus asks

this question, who do you say that I am?

Who do you think that I am?

Who do they say that I am?

And right from when we are kids, we have such an inaccurate

picture of God.

Who do you say I am?

You're a God who can occasionally be trusted.

Who do you say I am?

You may heal, you may not heal.

You're inscrutable, you are sovereign, you do what you want.

Very hard to be confident about you.

Who do you say I am?

Occasional healer.

Who do you say I am?

Well, you do save because heaven is guaranteed, but nothing else is.

Who do you say I am?

You have power, but you don't stop bad things from happening.

Who do you say I am?

You are responsible for both good and evil.

Who do you say I am?

Well, I better serve you because I need to go to heaven.

Who do you say I am?

It's such a jaundiced picture of God.

And one of the things the Holy Spirit wants to do when he comes

on the earth is to show you once again how God thinks of you

and how God sees you.

And if that isn't established, then we'll never get to John 13.

3.

That's the place to live.

John 13 3.

Knowing where he came from and knowing where he was going,

he took off his outer robes, wrapped a towel around him, knelt

down and began to wash the feet of his disciples.

It's my quest.

Oh God, bring me to this place in John 13 3 where I know where

I came from and I know where I'm going and then it does not

matter.

Oh God.

Till then.

I'm dependent on your applause.

And I'm ruined by your

disapproval.

I'm your puppet.

I know you've I've said this before but it's worth saying

it for the sake of the recording.

There's a man in the UK who walks around the streets of

London with an A board on him and on the front of the A board

it says I am a fool for Christ and people who see him walking

around with those words.

I'm a fool for Christ laugh at him and then he walks past

them and on the back of the A board.

Other words whose fool are you?

Whose fool are you?

Because if you don't believe in Jesus Christ, you are somebody's

fool.

You're either the fool of your culture or you're the fool of

some stone idol or you're the fool of someone who holds the

strings and makes you dance for them or you're the fool of

some drug addiction.

I've been through all this or you're the fool of money.

You're somebody's fool because you're dancing to someone's

tune.

And as Christians we need to make sure that once we become

Christians, we still walk in a way that makes us look really

foolish for Christ and for nobody else.

A.

The second intent of the Holy Spirit.

Guys, remember this Luke 4 3 Matthew 16 30 15.

Luke 4 3 when when the enemy speaks, he doesn't speak directly.

Satan never comes with horns and a tail.

He uses people.

This is not who you are.

Let me tell you who you are.

Is that what they said about you?

But let me tell you how you really feel.

Protect your children.

I look at Eliana and Ruben protect them.

Let them grow up not knowing what we had to go through.

Let them grow up in a matrix where early in life they figured

out how God sees them and how God thinks of them.

Otherwise, you'll have to come for therapy to a church for

40 years.

Why are we not confident of God?

Like I said, failed expectations.

He's inscrutable.

His sovereignty is so iffy.

There are prolonged delays with his promises.

He doesn't do things he could because even though he has the

power, what do you do with stuff like that guys always default

to his nature default to his nature.

If you want to be confident of God default to his nature,

if you want to be confident of God default to his nature,

every promise of God is actually a revelation of his nature.

Every promise of God is a revelation of his nature.

Whenever God says I promise you this what he's saying is hey,

this is my nature.

I'm just putting it in words so that you can hold on to it.

Every promise of God is a revelation of his nature.

Whenever you are not confident of God, don't try to convince

yourself in your head immediately default to his nature

because it's the only sure standing thing in the universe.

Hear me again.

There is nothing else that stands firm that is unshakable

than the nature of God and every promise of God is actually

a revelation of his nature put into words.

And is the only unshakable thing in the universe.

So when I begin to lose my confidence in God given the

circumstances around me given my past experience given my

question marks over his very character then the only place

that is safe and unshakable is his nature.

The nature of Jesus Christ because if you look at Jesus,

you see who God is run there and then let them

bring bulldozers before they can pull you out of there.

The word conviction according to US law is a belief that

you will go to prison for.

When you say in a US code of law that you have a conviction

what you're saying is I am willing to go to prison for this.

Christians do a lot of believing they do very little conviction.

According to US codes of law a belief is something that

you can change because it might be an opinion a conviction

is something you will go to prison for.

Die standing on the hill of God's nature.

Any questions?

What I mean by that is if you want to choose a hill to die on

die on the hill of God's nature.

Any questions any disagreements?

Any anything you want to add?

Shallow what is that?

Hey, that's a

We still on sorry, sorry shallow.

Any questions?

Did someone say question?

Second.

That's the first intent the second intent.

Once you find his nature guys life becomes much easier.

So when I come for a service like this, I can prepare the best

notes possible.

I can try and sing as best as I can and do all that stuff for

Jane can try her best.

But what if we actually defaulted to his nature?

What's his nature with regard to a service or a meeting?

I'm there.

I walk in your midst.

I find it delightful to be with my people.

My spirit of good is here.

I'm your advocate.

I'm your friend.

I'll teach you.

I'll reveal everything to you.

I inhabit the praises of my people.

I'm not a formal God.

I'm your father.

I'm not your CEO.

This is my house.

I'm glorified when you worship me.

I'm a healer.

I can be anything.

I want to be when I'm with you.

Turn to me once you default to his nature.

Now you don't have to worry about how the service will go.

Long ago.

I found this out and I realized that I don't have to work anymore.

Before that you had to prepare the songs.

You had to prepare notes.

You had to prepare bullet points.

You had to prepare things.

You had to make sure that there was time written next to each

other two minutes of this four minutes of this three and a

half minutes of this.

And with some people when they would speak you would hold the

mic.

And so I still do that with Derek.

The point being guys once you know his nature once you default

to his nature everything becomes simple.

So whatever situation you find yourself in default to his

nature what is and how do you find his nature look at Jesus

Christ and you will know his nature and then go for the

promises of God because they are actually a revelation of his

nature.

So it's impossible to really stand in a promise unless you

stand in God's nature people who stand in a promise and not

in the nature of God are people who think faith works God works

man.

Sometimes because of faith sometimes even when there's no

faith.

Write down things God says they this is his temple you are his

family.

This is his house.

This is his body.

Why do I need to ask him to show up?

He's just hoping you will show up.

So write down things God says from his word write down things

that he says to you directly write down things that he

speaks to you prophetically write it down.

The only reason you should not write it down is because you

are here with your spouse and your spouse is writing it down

if your spouse ain't writing it down write it down.

Write down things that stand out.

Are you guys writing things down because I don't see your

spouses here.

Keep an album of God's faithfulness, but the reason we

keep albums at home is so that we can pull it out when guests

who haven't shown up for a while come and you don't know

what to talk.

No, no, these are albums of God's faithfulness that you pull

out every so often because you want to remind yourself Psalm

Psalms 42:3

42 verse 3 these things I remember as I pour out my soul

how you how I used to praise the Lord among the happy crowd.

Keep an album of his faithfulness.

I go over these pictures a 1970 a big man with a big hand

comes and puts his hand on my head and says this boy will

be a man of God.

1983 or 1977 I was 13 Eva's age a guy comes and says you need

Jesus and Jesus will change your life and I'm bawling like

a kid because I don't know what it means, but I know that he's

right.

1999 in Seattle Pastor Mike and I walk into a house and a

man says, what's your name?

I said Jacob.

He said Jacob.

I want you to know that you are special to God and then he

begins to say stuff and as usual bowling is my favorite

thing to do when God says anything.

Go over your album remind yourself.

I want you to know that you are special to God and then he

begins to say stuff.

Go over your album remind yourself.

I could go on man.

I've got an album but why go there right now?

If you aren't confident about God then can I help you start

right now?

Confidence of belief in God begins with believing in Jesus

Christ his son and so why believe in Jesus Christ his son

because he why believe in Jesus Christ his son because he

makes God visible.

He makes God visible.

It's a historical fact that Jesus Christ was a historical

figure who died on a cross that cannot be contradicted.

He makes God visible.

He takes away your wrong.

He takes away your wrong.

He moves you from creation to child.

God becomes your father.

He becomes the master or Lord of your destiny and life.

He lives with you forever.

And you live with him forever.

Now watch this.

I say watch what happens when you do not want God in your

life.

You do not know God because he's no longer visible because

you're not willing to recognize him.

Your sins or your wrongs are not taken away and you die with

guilt and sin.

You stay a creation of God.

You never move to that place where you're a child of God

your creator God.

You do not know him and he does not become your father.

Your life is no longer under the control of God.

Your destiny is at the mercy of people and circumstances.

And God is not someone you will live with forever because

you choose not to have him in your life.

It's crazy the price that Christ paid to make things

possible.

So I'm just going to pray right now and if you are here and

you do not know Jesus Christ as Lord then I suggest that you

pray with us because sometimes a prayer is just an introduction

like introducing you to a friend of mine and then from

there on you can decide what you want to do with the

friendship.

Can we pray?

Let's all pray guys.

Oh God.

Can you be a little more audible?

I can speak in English if you want.

Okay.

Oh God.

Before I can ask you to rescue me from my sins.

I have to acknowledge that I'm a sinner.

So right now I say that I have done wrong.

I have sinned and I cannot make it go away.

But you paid the price for my sin.

You died in my place.

So that I might live.

It was almost like a life transplant.

So right now could you please forgive my sins?

I recognize you as someone who can save me from my sins.

When you died on the cross.

Your blood was shed for me.

Now cleanse me.

I opened my life to receive you into my life.

I recognize you as my Lord and my master.

Jesus from this day on.

Help me to live a life that pleases you.

And I know that from this day on.

I will live with you forever.

When life here is over.

It's just a fraction of a second.

And I'll be alive and with you for an eternity.

So I thank you Jesus.

Let your spirit now begin to live in me.

In Jesus name I pray.

Amen.

If you prayed that prayer for the first time or the second time

or the 15th time, but sincerely, please feel free to come and meet me after.

Can you please pray for me?

Please feel free to come and meet me after.

Okay, the second thing that God does.

The second intent of the Holy Spirit is that he elevates you.

To the same richness of relationship.

That Jesus had with the father.

That's the second intent of the Spirit.

Can I elevate your relationship to the same richness that Jesus had with the father

when Jesus walked the earth?

Guys, it doesn't matter where you are at right now.

Do not settle.

Do not settle.

You can have the same relationship that Jesus Christ had with the father.

Can you put up Matthew 11, 27 and 28?

From the message?

Matthew 11, 27 and 28.

Matthew 11, 27 and 28.

Look at what it says.

And this was when Jesus was walking with his disciples and he suddenly starts praying out loud.

And look at what he says.

Jesus resumed talking to people, but now tenderly.

The father has given me all these things to do and say,

this is a unique father-son operation.

Coming out of father and son intimacies and knowledge.

No one knows the son the way the father does, nor the father the way the son does.

But I'm not keeping it to myself.

I'm ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen.

Are you tired?

Worn out?

Burnt out on religion?

Come to me.

Get away with me and you will recover your life.

I'll show you how to take a real rest.

Walk with me and work with me.

Watch how I walk with you.

I'll show you how to take a real rest.

Walk with me and work with me.

Watch how I do it.

Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.

I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.

Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and light.

Beautiful, eh?

Guys, please don't settle for the present relationship you have with God.

It is not good enough.

It is not good enough.

Ask yourself this question.

Why is it that you are refusing to move out of this circle of relationship with God into

a new broad place that you haven't experimented with?

Why is it?

Why is it that you aren't moving out?

What are you scared of?

Because there are genuine things to be scared of.

Do you know how disastrous a marriage is where a husband has decided that this is how much

I'm going to love her and it doesn't matter.

The next 20 years I promise her I'll give her this love every day.

That marriage is pathetic.

It's supposed to increase.

I don't want to come back next Sunday and say,

It's supposed to increase.

I don't want to come back next Sunday and have the same relationship I have with Christ today,

next Sunday.

It's not even year to year.

It's week to week, day to day.

I cannot be the same place I'm at next Sunday as I am today.

It must increase.

He's infinite.

And it never happens in isolation.

Guys, remember this.

I've said this before.

Passion always exposes mediocrity.

Passion exposes mediocrity.

The more you hang out with someone more passionate than you in any area,

the more you will find out, oh shucks, I thought I was good but I suck.

Passion exposes mediocrity.

Do not isolate yourself.

The other thing guys, if you find a better place where you can eat good food,

go eat it from there.

I don't know why we, I mean in real life we never stick with restaurants where the food is crappy.

Why is it when it comes to things like this,

why is it when it comes to things of God that we refuse to move from our grandfather's background

because grandfather said this is the best place for you.

Your grandfather is in heaven weeping saying, I'm so sorry I told you that.

Please, please move on.

Passion exposes your mediocrity.

Do not come back next week the same way you were here today.

Come back engaged with God more.

Come back more passionate about God.

It requires time.

Find the time.

Find the time.

Relationships are built based on time.

First love is not a lack of love, it's a lack of time.

I know God better now than I did in 1989 when I became a Christian.

I did love him tremendously then.

I love him much more now because I know him better, therefore I can love him better.

But here's what I don't have.

In 1989 I had oodles of time for him.

Now I don't have the same amount of time for him.

First love is measured in time.

Ask any wife she'll tell you.

Next one.

Hey, so what I'm trying to say with Matthew 11, 27 and 28 is this.

The Holy Spirit wants to bring you into the same intimacy, the same knowledge,

and the same trust that Jesus had with the Father.

This is the yoke that Jesus wears.

What's the yoke that Jesus wears?

The yoke of intimacy, the yoke of knowledge, the yoke of trust.

And he says, hey, come walk beside me.

Wear this yoke.

It's life.

It's life.

It's life.

It's life.

And he says, hey, come walk beside me.

Wear this yoke.

It's light.

It frees you.

It teaches you the rhythms of grace.

I've been wearing this yoke right from the beginning of time.

Before time existed I used to wear this yoke.

It fits me well.

It'll fit you well.

Wear the yoke of intimacy.

Wear the yoke of knowledge that I can give you.

Wear the yoke of trust so that you can walk with me and with the Father.

And the Holy Spirit will increasingly bring you into it.

Third one.

Third one is the intent of the Spirit is to bring you

into

the maturety

of Christ.

Maturity of Christ.

Meaning His intent is

can I make you as mature

as Christ.

as Christ. His intent is, this is the third primary intent of the Holy Spirit.

Hey Jacob can I make you as much, excuse me, I don't know why she always starts at

350. Okay I'll finish in five. Okay he wants to bring you into the same

maturity that Christ has. Why? Here's the crazy thing, why does the Holy Spirit want

me to be as mature as Christ? Very simple guys, so that when you see me you will see

the Father. It's nuts, his intent is nuts. Hey Matt Rachel can I turn your marriage

into such a mature marriage that when people will see your marriage they will

see the Father. Hey Chris can I turn your work life into a place of such maturity

just like Jesus used to work so that when they see you at work they'll see

the Father. Hey Jacob can I turn your life into a life that is as mature as

Christ so that even when people aren't listening to you preaching they look at

your life and say oh shucks this is what God the Father looks like. That's the

intent. What an amazing job the Holy Spirit has. And that's why you see him

called names like helper. I mean you want to see what helper looks like? Look

at these two kids and you'll realize what you are like. Look at the parents

and you'll realize what helpers are like. Those kids are helpless. The parents are

helpers. That is who the Holy Spirit is. Jacob I know this is way beyond you. I

know this is above your pay grade. I know you don't have the wisdom for it. Let me

be helper. Let me be advocate. Let me be friend and I'll bring you into all these

things because this is what I'm on the earth for. I'm really good at this

because I know the Sun like nobody else does. Guys maturing is a process. It's

like vintage wine. It's not overnight. Maturing requires others around you.

Perfection is just childish craving of an infant. If you are a perfectionist

know this you are infantile. Perfection is a childish craving of infants.

Perfection is a childish craving of infants who want results without

relationship and who want the letter of the law without the joy of learning.

Perfection is the childish craving of an infant who wants results without

relationship. It's impossible to make vintage wine without a process.

Perfectionism is getting an amazingly old-looking bottle with wine inside it

perfectly poised with a little bit of caviar and some other stuff that they

have with wine on the side on a nicely laid out table and you feel everything

is right but the stuff inside the bottle hasn't gone through the process.

Go ahead Josh. I answered it right? Yeah. Perfectionism is the childish craving of

an infant who wants results without relationship. When you demand

perfectionism from people under you, you're doing exactly the same to them.

You don't want relationship with them. You just want results.

It's a letter of the law without the joy of learning. It's a letter of the law

without the joy of learning. It is a letter of the law without the joy of

learning. I'll stop here. I had just a little more to go but I realized

someone's got a birthday thing happening today. Got to create time for that.

You know how you'll know whether you're growing in these things? I'll just read

it out. One, if you really knew God's heart towards you and if you were

increasing in relationship with him, you would know no fear. I often ask myself

this question when I'm afraid. Hey Jacob, how would you live this movement if, how

would you live this moment if you had no fear? Very often when I suddenly get a

pang of fear grip my heart or when I'm suddenly aware that, oh shucks, this could

go wrong and I could lose big time. One of the questions I ask myself at times

like that is, hey Jacob, how would you live this moment if you had no fear?

And if I pause and think of it, I think of the myriad possibilities of how I

could live this moment if I had no fear and then the only place to go to undo

the fear is run back to the default nature of God and say, father, the spirit

of God is here to show me how you see me, how you think of me and I'm gonna settle

myself, nestle myself in the crook of your arm right now and I'm gonna try and

live this moment without fear. I'm telling you guys, occasionally when you

hit that sweet spot it is liberating and when you don't try again.

We'll do the rest later. Let's just pray.

Do you think you can help us go over these questions this week, Holy Spirit?

How do you actually see me? How do you actually think of me? Could you give me

a glimpse? I love it when you give me glimpses of how you actually think of

me. Either through a prophetic word or through some scripture that jumps out at

me or even through preaching right now.

You're so capable of doing this.

Could you help me this week, Holy Spirit, to step into a place of deeper intimacy,

of deeper knowledge of who you are and deeper trust? It won't show in a week

but I'll make that attempt this week. Spirit of God, for my sake and for the

sake of the church, I can't come back next Sunday the same. I got to increase

in you this week. A week is seven blooming days, Father. That's a lot of

time. And Spirit of God, in areas where there are deficits, where there are

holes, where there are flaws in my maturity, where I don't look at tall like

Christ. Could you point out one or two areas this week so that work on those

potholes can begin? So that others will look at Jacob and say, yeah, we knew that

guy. Man, every time you walked with him, you just couldn't escape the fact that

God was with him. Every time we saw this area in his life, it was like seeing the

Father. Father, that's the richest compliment anyone could give me. That's

what I should put on everybody's gravestone. When we saw him, we saw the

Father. Ah, shucks.

Holy Spirit, please grant us these things for Christ's sake. Please. We are

desperate for this. We are really hungry, really hungry. Father, we're not a very

expressive people, but we're gonna really express our hunger for this right now.

Church, use your own words. Please ask. You must understand that the Bible says that when things are being taught, that the

spirit world actually hangs around to listen. It's in the book. It says that

angels stoop to hear and they marvel at what is being taught. Angels stoop to

hear. I would suggest to you both the angels of God and angels from the other

side. And therefore, when something is taught and there is no response to nail

down or anchor down what has been taught, birds come to pick the seeds that have

been dropped. One of the easiest ways to cause seeds to grow roots in your life

is to respond. Roots spring up immediately when you respond. How did you

get saved? You believed in your heart and then what happened? You had to confess

with your mouth. If you only believed in your heart and did not confess with your

mouth, you realize by Christ's definition you are not saved, right? Again, feel free

to respond.

Responding and anchoring things with our words gives seeds roots so that birds

can't come and pick them up before you get home. And so I'm not saying say amen

or say yes and all this stuff. I'll get my yeses whenever I want by saying

something like what I just said. I'm just saying as we conclude now, let's anchor

this thing by actually opening our mouths and saying to God what we need in

terms of hunger. Let's do that because that's the way these seeds suddenly

start germinating. And if you don't, you carry a whole set of seeds home and they

never grow on your shelf.