Vision 2

Okay, I'm ready.

Okay. Oh, hi. Good to see you guys.

Guys,

the message last Sunday was vision and this is the second part of the teaching.

I've taught vision before but last Sunday when it was taught, it really had the hand of God on it.

And I've been, I mean people listen to some of these things we put online in different parts of the world and

some of them have been responding. So

even though I've spoken

and taught it a couple of times before in the last 14 years,

there was something about last Sunday's teaching where you know it's a hand of God

because otherwise, why would it be different from any of the other times I've preached it before?

And so I really think the second part just completes what God wants to do.

So if you haven't listened to the first part, go listen to it. It might be

what gives you a ramp into 2020 like nothing else has given you a ramp.

So if you haven't listened it just because you're used to Acts 29, don't bypass it.

Listen to it because I'd really suggest you do.

For some of you 2020 is really going to be new

and that's not a cliche statement. It's because I know some of the things happening in your life.

So today we go to vision, the second part of vision.

And so here are some things that you and I can do to help

transition into 2020 really

brilliantly with God.

If you go to Deuteronomy chapter 1 verse 6, here's what it says.

Deuteronomy 1:6

It says in Deuteronomy 1 6 that you've stayed long enough on this mountain. Take your tents down.

Go into Amorite country. You've stayed long enough on this mountain.

Take your tents down.

Go into Amorite country. So this is a continuation from where we stopped last time.

So in Deuteronomy 1 6 Israel is poised at a place of a new beginning.

They've finished 40 years in the desert and now is the first chapter in Deuteronomy.

Moses is summing up things and he says you stayed long enough on this mountain.

Take your tents down. Go into Amorite country.

Guys,

sometimes God can bring you to a mountain and you can live in the afterglow of

his presence.

Afterglow of his presence.

So it's not like his presence has passed. It's still there.

And so God can bring you to a mountain and it carries the afterglow of his presence.

And so we stick there. We stay on.

I met somebody yesterday who I was talking to and it was the same situation.

God brought them to this amazing place and they're doing well there. There's nothing wrong.

People are still benefiting tremendously from where they've been brought to.

But they are now basking in the afterglow of God's presence, not where he is actually present.

The same thing happened in the

Old Testament during the time of David where at one point David had moved the ark to

a small hill called Zion and put it under a tent and yet

worship would continue under the high priest Zadok at another place called Gibeon or Gibea in

1st Chronicles 1639.

And so one of the questions you have to ask is are you basking in the afterglow of what God

did or have you moved down to where God presently is?

Yeah?

Just ask that question of yours. Of course guys at the end of the day

what should happen if you're dwelling in the afterglow is this thing called holy frustration.

But what happens is most Christians are not able to figure out when it is holy frustration.

So they continue in it.

Not everyone recognizes holy frustration.

The prophetic can birth it

But you must marshal it as in once you know that there is a frustration that is rising up in you

not because things are not going well, not because things are breaking down.

You just know that everything is going well and yet there is something in you that is

frustrated that is dying and most of us don't recognize it unfortunately because we measure things by whether they are successful and whether they are working.

And that is such a lousy measure.

In Mark chapter 1 was something Jesus is

Mark 1 · chapter mention

gone off into the mountains because he's gone off to pray.

People are gathering and Peter goes up to Jesus and says where are you Jesus?

People are clamoring for you. What are you doing here?

People need you down there and Jesus replies

I have other places to go to because success was never the measure of whether he should stay or go.

I remember some months ago going through this process of

holy frustration where I knew that Acts 29 is doing well, the leaders are doing well,

countries are being affected. All the things were right and yet I remember telling some guys here and then going seeking help.

Guys, there is no way of navigating the future and the ways of God without seeking help.

It's so amazing.

It's so absurd when we don't.

When I began to sense this thing of gosh, Lord, things are going well, but why is it that I feel like I'm dying?

I remember going to different people.

One of the guys I went to was Pastor Mike and met him at

White Spot and

I told him what I was feeling and then he begins to pray.

I just want you to hear a bit of it so that you get a sense of what it's like.

Yes, he has my God, that ability. He can stay at this cap.

He can stay at this level and live out his life or he can develop a deep hunger

and a deep thirst and a deep desire and a deep cry.

And Father, today we ask you, my dear God, you are the one who has the power to do this.

Today we ask you, my dear God, you have heard him out of his own mouth say that there is a dissatisfaction as to where he's at, my God.

You know why? Because there's something calling him forward.

There's more calling him, my God. There's a deep call.

And Father, you know what we know? Here's what we know.

Here's what we know. Father God, to break through into the next realm, we have to go where we have never gone before.

There's more to it. There's about 13 or 14 minutes of it.

But this is what I'm talking about. This happened earlier this year.

And if you go back to the time when this happened, you'll notice a sea change, as in a radical change in the way I teach.

Why? Because I knew that things were going well. But if I don't break into the next place in God, then I will die.

And by die, I mean just begin to wither away.

I want to say to you that, my God, avoid the afterglow of his presence.

Where you are may be a healthy place, a good place, a successful place, but it still can be a place that you're supposed to move on.

And that is why in this verse it says, you have stayed long enough at this mountain.

God brought them to this mountain, guys.

Take your tents down. Go into Amorite country.

Basically, what he was saying is break camp, advance, take possession of what is given.

Break camp, advance, take possession of what is given.

Not everyone recognizes holy frustration.

It can be birthed or stirred up prophetically where you begin to hear things that God is saying prophetically and then it begins to cause something to happen.

But you don't know how to marshal it.

You don't know what to do with it.

Marshaling is the ability to take things and shape it so that it's directed a certain way.

And that is where you need help.

And that is why I started looking for help.

I looked for help in this church.

I looked for help in this church.

I looked for help in this church.

I looked for help in this church.

I looked for help in this church.

I looked for help outside this church.

Why?

Because if I can put it all together, I can get to a place that becomes a benefit for everybody.

My God, man, this is to do not with your life.

This is to do with the benefit that you are to people.

Pull out the stops, man.

Any questions before we go on?

On that?

And by the way, as we go through these points, you can't take these points in isolation.

But if you take them in isolation, they may work for you.

But I would suggest you take the whole gamut of it in tandem, and then you'll begin to get an idea of,

ah, shucks, this is how it works.

Though they will stand alone too.

Any questions?

Okay.

Next one is from Jeremiah 6.16, where God says, through Jeremiah,

he says, stand at the crossroads and look.

Stand at the crossroads and look.

The thing about the vision is there is a need to look.

Vision doesn't drop into your lap without looking.

Habakkuk, we talked about the same thing.

That in Habakkuk, Habakkuk says, I'll climb the watchtower and I will look for his response.

So there is a looking involved.

So in Jeremiah 6.16, it says, stand at the crossroads and look.

Then it says, ask for the ancient paths.

Ask where the good way is.

Walk in it and you will find restaurants.

Ask for the ancient path.

Ask where the good way is and walk in it and you will find rest for your souls.

It's odd that to go forward, God is saying, look at the ancient path.

I've said this before, but Israel, Israel always faced the future backwards.

Israel faced the future backwards.

Israel faced the future backwards because they were not going to be able to do it.

They faced the future backwards, meaning if that was the future, Israel would walk towards the future this way.

Why? Because what they knew was the faithfulness of God.

So when you walk into the future backwards, your eyes are fixed on the faithfulness of God.

It's the only thing you have guys.

You got zero idea of the future.

But you know the faithfulness of God over the last one year.

Everything you read in the, I mean look at the book of Deuteronomy, which we just talked about.

Go to Deuteronomy chapter 1 to Deuteronomy chapter 6.

Deuteronomy 1 · chapter mention Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

You know what Moses is doing?

He's recounting the past.

He's recounting the faithfulness of God.

Almost all the books in the Old Testament are written with the intent,

Can I help you recount the faithfulness of God so that as you look at the past,

you will have the strength without even looking at the future to keep walking backwards

because you have proven God as faithful.

What do you think David was doing?

Guys, and remember the word I'm using, recount the past.

Recount the past requires putting into words the faithfulness of God.

We don't put into words the faithfulness of God.

If you're sleeping, wake up because this is not a teaching you want to sleep through.

I meant that not in some kind of spiritual sleep.

I'm just talking about physical sleep because some of us might feel sleepy.

And I meant that in the nicest way because you'll miss out and it's never the same listening to the tape,

though it's still pretty good.

Recounting requires putting into words what we want to do when we talk about the faithfulness of God.

How did David handle Goliath?

What did he say to Saul?

Hey Saul, just want you to know that I've dealt with a bear and I've dealt with a lion.

What is he doing?

Recounting the past.

Look at the Psalms.

You'll find him saying again and again,

These things I remember as I pour out my soul.

Man, when we come to the end of the year and you get an opportunity to recount the past,

do it with a flourish.

So what if it sounds the same as somebody else?

Recount the past.

When you go to Deuteronomy 4.32, you see a change.

Deuteronomy 1-6 is the recounting of the past.

Why? Because in Deuteronomy 7.1,

Moses is saying you need to go into the future.

Read Deuteronomy 7.1 and you'll see that.

Deuteronomy 7.1.

Now Moses is saying,

When the Lord your God brings you into the land you're entering to possess and drive out before your many nations.

He's talking about the future, but go to Deuteronomy 4.32.

Deuteronomy 4.32.

Look what it says.

Ask now about the former days long before your time.

From the day created man on earth,

Ask from one end of the heaven to the other.

Has anything so great ever happened?

Has anything like it ever been heard of?

Has any other people heard the voice of God speak out of the fire and lived?

Has any God ever tried to take for himself one nation out of the other nations?

By testings, by miraculous signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand,

By an outstretched arm, by great and awesome deeds,

Like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes.

What's the point? The point is my God, Jacob.

Look what I did for you in 2019 and then walk happily back.

Because you can't see the future anyways.

You know what?

When we begin to do this, we won't even need prophetic words.

Because you're so convinced of the security of God because you've proven him in 2019

that you don't need the prophetic to lead you.

You just know how to walk backwards.

Any questions?

You've got to practice this, eh?

I love practicing what I find.

That, so for the last little while,

doesn't matter who I get, I'll start recounting things from the past.

Why? Because as I recount what has happened in 2019,

I get the strength I need for 2020.

Any questions?

And was faithful to fulfill them.

Yeah.

So in the beginning of 2019, God had given promises.

And I have proven those promises one by one by one.

They have been proven and God has been found faithful.

As I reach the end of 2019, I look at how faithful he has been

to all the promises he gave me in 2019.

And I can now say that I can keep walking backwards

even if I didn't receive a single prophetic word.

Because God who gave me promises in 2019 and proved all of them faithful

will now take care of me as I go into the past.

This is how Israel walked.

Israel walked into the future backwards.

If you get a chance in this church to share how God has been to you in 2019,

don't pass upon it, man.

Let me have to stop you saying, please stop.

We can't take anymore. I've got to teach too.

Okay, next one.

Joshua 3 verse 4.

Joshua 3:4

Joshua 3 verse 4.

Joshua 3:4

Joshua 3 verse 4.

Joshua 3:4

Joshua 3 verse 4.

Joshua 3:4

They're taking the ark into the Jordan.

And God says through Joshua,

make sure you keep a proper distance between you and it,

about half a mile.

Make sure you keep the distance

and you'll see clearly the route to take.

You've never been on this road before.

So you have to be careful.

The people are at least half a mile away,

600 meters away from the ark.

Not 600, 800 meters away from the ark.

Because this is a road you haven't gone before.

And so one of the things you have to learn to do as you go into 2020 is,

guys, there's this intimacy,

there's the,

there's the,

there's the,

there's this intimacy,

there's the Apostle John-like head on the chest intimacy

that you must cultivate.

John leaned his head on Jesus' chest.

So there is that intimacy that you need to cultivate.

But because many of you will in 2020

be going down a road you haven't gone before,

you've got to create

enough room to see God's sovereign move

because it won't be like it was in 2019.

Maybe you did well in your business in 2019.

Maybe you did well in your employment.

Maybe you did well in church.

Maybe you did well in the move of your house.

Maybe you did well financially.

And you are thinking,

well then, that is exactly what I will do in 2020

because it worked so well.

And God is saying, I'm sovereign.

Like Aslan says in the Caspian thing,

what is the movie?

No, no, not, it's a second movie.

Prince Caspian.

Aslan says to, what's the little girl's name?

Lucy. Aslan says to Lucy,

hey Lucy, things don't happen the same way twice.

That's what he says to her.

Two times he repeats that.

Things don't happen the same way twice.

This God is so creative

that he will do things very differently.

Give him room.

Watch him from a distance

to see which way he's leading.

If you get too close, intimacy is one thing.

Lean your head on his chest.

Listen to his heart.

But then after that, allow him to show you

the way he is traveling

because it ain't going to be the same way.

It happened to Acts 29 a month ago.

Remember when we stood out there?

Out in the parking lot?

During the conference?

All of us went and stood out there.

Why did we stand out there?

Because it was a symbolic gesture

where we were all standing outside

and we are saying that for the last 14 years,

God has shaped us into a people.

Stand outside as the sun sets.

Take a last look at the prototype that he has built.

Because from this day on,

you guys ain't going to be this way.

Yeah. Yeah.

Head on chest, intimacy fosters trust.

Head on chest, intimacy fosters trust.

So you lean your head on Jesus like John did

and it fosters trust.

You know that this is someone who cannot let me down.

It fosters trust.

You know that even if we were to blind you,

blind you as in blindfold you,

you would still walk knowing that he takes care of you.

So head on chest, intimacy fosters trust.

But obedient reverence for his sovereignty

frames your pathway.

Obedient reverence for his,

obedient reverence towards his sovereignty

frames your pathway.

Next time I go to New Zealand,

next time Dano starts a business,

next time you find an employment,

next time you get a house,

you are not going to go the same way

you went last time just because it was successful.

You're going to say,

Oh God, I love trusting you.

I know I'm safe in you,

but I will not take advantage of my intimacy

and change it into something called familiarity

because I love your wisdom.

I love your sovereign ways.

And I will watch from a distance as you go.

And then I'll keep a healthy distance

so I know you're out.

Do you know something?

One of the reasons that people had to keep

800 meters away from the priest

is because when the priest stepped into the water,

the people witnessed a miracle.

It was then that the water started piling up

and started drying out.

You will see God things,

let me put it this way,

half the time when I meet with you

and I tell you something that God is going to do in your life,

what do you think I've been doing during the week?

Figuring out,

okay, so what's the next step that you have for Dano?

What's the next step you have for Mark?

What's the next step you have for Betty?

What's the next step you have for Derek?

I don't know the whole picture.

All I can show you is a glimpse from a distance

of what God is about to do.

And once you receive it,

and some of you do receive it with faith,

God begins to hatch a plan.

It's the same with Acts 29.

It's the same with my life.

Father, what are you showing from the distance?

I don't need to know the whole picture,

but if I get a glimpse of it,

I know which way to travel.

I don't want to get so pally with God that He becomes my buddy

and I exchange intimacy for familiarity.

This is the same Joshua, same Moses

who used to go to the tent and see him face to face literally,

and Moses would come out of the tent with his face glowing.

And to the same Joshua who's now appointed in the place of Moses,

God is saying, make sure you tell the people,

and you too, because you're not a priest, you're a warrior.

Let the priest go in first.

You keep a distance and I'll show you what I'll do

when their feet touch the water.

Let God walk ahead and you will see things opening for you.

When we are only intimate,

we are like little children being carried by their parents.

There has to be intimacy with this amazing reverence and obedience

for His sovereignty.

And then you begin to walk as a child who is born and a son who is given.

Otherwise you end up being unto Him a child is born.

The child's name is Jacob.

He loves intimacy, he loves being cuddled, loves being carried.

But unto us a son is given.

Where is that son of mine who begins to watch from a distance

and sees how I walk and then follows me?

And you need to do this for others.

When you begin to do this for others, guess what happens?

The lame begin to walk.

The ones who don't have direction begin to follow

because they see you walking ahead of them.

If you don't see me walking ahead of you,

how can Acts 29 go into the next thing?

And don't say the Holy Spirit will tell us.

He will but He does it through people.

The same applies to anybody who is in charge of anything.

God will direct you so that others can watch.

Moses had to be directed, Joshua had to be directed,

Paul had to be directed, Peter had to be directed,

Jesus had to be directed.

People are directed so others can walk.

Take Shiloh.

You think Shiloh can just march breezily onto Southwest Marine and cross it?

No.

A time will come when he will cross the street

without his father holding his hand.

But he will walk at a distance knowing that when his father steps on the road,

that's when he steps on the road.

I'm belaboring this point because these are things we don't talk about.

You know, when you find out God at a distance,

when you wake up in the morning and seek Him

or when you wake up in the night and seek Him

or when you sleep late at night and seek Him.

I don't know what time you seek Him but He's fine

because it's morning at some point somewhere in the world.

So, yeah.

I've been operating on New Zealand time for the last 24 years.

So, I'm asleep and I should be awake.

But the point is this guys,

seek Him and you will see Him in the distance

and you will know the pathways He's creating.

It is so much fun. So much fun.

Because you don't even know what you know.

I wish I could ask Dano to share some things that happened,

some things that have happened in his life over the last one year.

When I was writing this, I was thinking of that.

How God showed him glimpses and then you have to go

and you don't know whether it will happen.

Then it happens and so on.

Why am I not asking Dano?

Because he will take up my time.

So, the best thing to do is go and ask him yourself.

Next one. Genesis 4, 7. Genesis 4, 7. Genesis 4, 7.

And Genesis 4, 7 says this,

Sin crouches at my door. Sin crouches at your door.

Don't allow it to master you.

Sin crouches at your door. Do not allow it to master you.

Sin crouches at your door. Do not allow it to master you.

What is the sin that in 2019, or what are the sins in 2019

that kept crouching at your door because they did master you occasionally?

What are the sins that were crouching at your door?

What were the sins that were crouching at your door in 2019?

All of us have them.

What were the sins that were crouching at your door

that continue to crouch at your door because it had some success in mastering you?

Was it laziness? Was it lust? Was it some kind of an addiction?

The problem with addictions is we don't call them that.

We just call them habits that we can break tomorrow if we needed to.

And it's been 18 years.

Is it laziness? Is it lust? Is it addiction? Is it fear?

Is it disdain? Is it anger?

Guys, Babylon will say otherwise, but divine inheritance requires cleanness.

Divine inheritance requires cleanness.

In Babylon, you don't need that. In the world, you don't need that.

You can get your inheritance even though you are unclean and corrupt.

But when it comes to the kingdom of God, divine inheritance requires cleanness.

There is a requirement for greater purity every year

so that God can allot to me the inheritance that is due me.

It's the same principle that parents use when they go from a plastic glass to stainless steel

to Swarovski crystal when they serve their kids.

Some kids never get to touch Swarovski crystal even though they are 27 and 28

because their parents are still scared that they'll break it.

But with every passing year, there is a requirement of greater purity

because with that comes greater inheritance.

There are three ways to overcome sins that are crouching at your door.

The first one is flee from it.

The second one is subdue it.

The third one is die to it.

These are the three methods.

Choose the one that is at present working the best for you.

Either flee from it, as in you know that there are certain things that trigger off certain habits.

You know that there are certain things that always catch you at certain times during the week.

Man, flee from it. Flee from it like Joseph did.

Like Paul said, flee from youthful lusts.

Flee from it. That's one way to avoid it.

The other way to avoid it is to subdue it.

Where you now have the power, you've learned how either to subdue it because it's demonic,

you've learned how to break it and subdue it because you have practiced the word in certain ways

that makes it effective to cut through certain habits.

And then the third thing is the most beautiful.

You die to it where it no longer is able to affect you.

Once you're dead, nothing affects you.

In areas, I love what Michael W. Smith once said in an interview.

They asked him, what do you want to accomplish this year?

And he says, one of the things I want to accomplish before I die is I want to get to a place where I never take offense.

I thought, shucks, what a thing to desire.

That I will never take offense.

Can you imagine what will happen if I never took offense?

I take offense.

This is when you guys should say, no, you don't.

I take offense.

Great.

Okay.

Thanks.

Yeah.

So the point is this, guys.

This is a way to beat sin that crouches at you.

This is a way to beat sin that crouches at you.

Because in Joshua 3.5, it said, God is saying to Israel, listen, I'm taking you into the new land that I promised you.

So consecrate yourself.

As in set yourself apart.

As in give yourself unreservedly to me.

And then see the miracle wonders that I will do.

Some of the young adults met with me a couple of days ago.

And here was their greatest fear.

They're turning 30.

I mean, I don't want to tell you who it is.

But these young adults, and there was more than one, they were just scared that they were turning 30.

It's like, you have no idea how it feels.

And I was trying to tell them that I didn't go to the no.

I was trying to tell them, guys, if you're actually passionately pursuing Christ, then every added year is such a bonus.

Because you get so much richer.

Your body doesn't decay like it should.

You begin to get onto the wisdom of God and the smarts of God.

You do in less time what used to take you much longer.

You have overcome far too many sins.

You find that you are diving into the infinity of God and finding out that he gets better and better every year.

What is the disadvantage here?

I don't understand what the disadvantage is.

If you're pursuing God, my God, look forward to your 30s, man.

I do not know how someone who's pursuing God can ever regret growing older.

Because as you grow older, you get to know him better, man.

When Gisela sits here and says, for the last 60 years I've been following God, we think to ourselves, that's just Gisela.

No, man. For the last 60 years she's been following God.

Actually, not last 60 years, last 74 years.

There is something to being rich in God.

It makes you much wiser in the way you do things.

And by the way, if you begin to believe like I've often talked this church should believe,

then we don't even have to worry about bodies dismantling and going into decay.

Because the more you make yourself available for the resting of the Spirit of God, the more he quickens your mortal body.

Often when songs here talk about how Jesus has destroyed death, I also throw in the word decay.

Any questions?

Not on what I just said, because you can argue about that.

Not on the 30-year-olds who are lamenting turning 30 this year.

But any questions on this whole idea of sin crouches that you do?

Guys, if it has mastered you in 2019, pick one or two that you are not going to allow to master.

By either fleeing from it, subduing it, dying to it.

One or the other, whichever works for you.

Any questions?

I'm building a ramp for us to take off from.

That's what I'm basically doing.

Man, you're freaking me out with that t-shirt.

But I can still concentrate on you.

No, I don't want to be that freaked out.

I can handle the t-shirt.

Go ahead.

Last week, it seemed to be about getting vision for the future, going into 2020.

This week, you talked about the idea of the future.

What's the idea of the future?

What's the idea of the future?

What's the idea of the future?

It's going to be about getting vision for the future, going into 2020.

This week, it seems to be about talking about the past.

So you just do both, and you're both good.

What are we doing? We're walking backwards.

How do you think we're going to end this service?

All of us are going to exit the church walking backwards.

Yeah, it is.

One of the ways we leave 2019 well and enter 2020 well is to practice these things.

It's one thing to get what God has for us as a vision,

and now to be able to enter into it requires this.

Step one, step two.

Yeah.

Let me read out something, and you should identify the author of these words.

Let's see how good you are at it.

So I'm going to read it out, and you tell me who's saying this.

Okay, here goes.

Why are you treating me this way? What did I ever do to deserve this?

Why did you dump this responsibility on me?

Why tell me to carry them around like a nursing mother?

Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people?

I can't do this by myself. It's too much for me.

If this is how you intend to treat me, do me a favor and kill me.

I've seen enough. I've had enough. Let me out of here.

This is Moses with his glasses on.

I mean, when I read this in the message, I thought to myself,

man, this is whining, but this was a grown-up whine.

Let me read it again.

Moses said to God, why are you treating me this way?

What did I ever do to deserve this? Did I conceive them?

Was I their mother? Why dump the responsibility of these people on me?

Why tell me to carry them around like a nursing mother?

Carry them all the way to the land you promised to their ancestors?

Where am I supposed to get the meat for all these people who are whining to me?

Give me the meat to eat.

I can't do this by myself. It's too much.

All these people, if this is how you intend to treat me,

do me a favor and kill me.

I've seen enough. I've had enough. Let me out of here.

That's Moses.

And what triggered this?

Just go a few verses before that. This is in Numbers 11.

Here's what it says.

The riffraff among the people had a craving,

and soon they had the people of Israel whining.

Why can't we have meat?

We ate fish in Egypt and got it free to say nothing of the cucumbers and melons and the leeks.

I wouldn't be part of that.

I mean, what I'm trying to say is this.

A man like Moses, who was the meekest human on the face of the earth,

the greatest leader of the face of the earth, ended up whining worse than the people.

So the point that we need to understand as we go forward is let go of resentment,

regret, and the people of Israel.

Let go of resentment, regret, complaint.

Ryan, there's a picture there that I, if you can pull up, you can put it up any time you pull it up,

that I had sent.

Let go of resentment, regret, and complaint against people, against God,

against us, against circumstances, against missed opportunities, against being overlooked.

Maybe I overlooked you.

How long are you going to resent it?

Maybe someone else overlooked you.

Let go of resentment, regret, and complaint.

I refuse to take into 2020.

I mean, this is what happens, man.

I mean, the intent of putting this up was not to show you how wonderful graphics are.

It's a pretty bad graphic.

But the point is, this is what happens.

Let go of resentment, let go of regret, let go of complaint.

You cannot move into 2020 carrying this.

This is how we go into 2020 if you're carrying this.

It's like a ball and chain that begins to give you a limp.

It doesn't matter what kind of ramp you set up, you will not be able to take the ramp.

I can't go into 2020 with my regrets, with my complaints, with my resentment.

Because you may have caused them, but you won't be there to help me.

Let go of resentment, regret, and complaint against people, against God, against circumstances,

against missed opportunities, against being overlooked if you want to move forward.

Otherwise, you will end up with a ball and chain limp.

Let go of resentment against people who've done you harm or hurt you.

I was listening to the Gator Gospel Choir on TV yesterday.

They were interviewing Gloria Gator on the song, I Then Shall Live.

I was listening to the song again.

I loved the line where it says,

So greatly pardoned that I'll forgive my brother.

So greatly pardoned that I'll forgive my brother.

So do not go into 2020 carrying this baggage.

So Jacob, so what do you mean, I got eight days to settle it?

No, you've got more than that time to settle it.

Guys, here's the thing, we are so hasty about settling things before the New Year that it's never settled.

I remember once there was a guy I wronged and I didn't get time to meet him.

I told myself, you should get and fix things in December.

And now it's December 31st, New Year's Eve.

And I'm desperate, I've got to settle this.

I can't take this into the New Year.

So I go to his house and gate crash his party.

Why? Because I need to get it off my chest.

And poor guy sat and what choice does he have when I tell him,

Hey, I did you wrong, you forgive me.

And so he forgave me and I went home happy.

Really? That's how this works?

No. If there is resentment against someone that is still outstanding,

you've got to begin the process in 2019 and complete it in 2020.

But my God, there is no question of resentment being settled unless you talk about it.

You've got to talk about it. It doesn't settle without talking.

But begin the process. God delights when you begin the process.

When did he delight in the prodigal son?

At least in the story.

When the boy is already making up his mind, I'll go tell my dad that I'll be a servant in his house.

And the father sees him and doesn't even let him get into the speech

because God knows your heart before you even use the words.

Any questions?

This is a simple one. We all know it.

But please don't try to settle things by New Year's Eve.

I think I told you that story of a pastor I used to really dislike.

And I was feeling very guilty that I disliked him.

So just before he goes up to preach, I write a note and give it to him saying,

I just want you to know that I really hate you.

But I don't know why I dislike you.

I don't have a good reason, but I just thought I'll just confess that I hate you.

And God bless you.

And so just before he goes up to speak, I go and give him that letter.

I've never seen him preach as badly as he did.

Because I mean, what was I trying to do?

I was trying to get off my chest my guilt.

I couldn't care about what he thought and how he felt.

Work through it, guys.

Any questions before?

Okay.

Hey, if there are people who are not in church right now,

they need to listen to this message, please tell them,

hey, guy preached an amazing message.

You've got to listen to it.

There's this hockey player called Patrick Laney.

He plays for the Winnipeg Jets.

I really like his interviews.

Because when you ask him, how did you score that goal, he's very honest.

Yesterday he scored a pretty decent goal.

So they asked him, how did you, what do you think about this goal?

Usually most hockey players will say, he just passed and it was a great pass.

And I just shot in and I don't know how it went in and it went in.

That's how people usually speak.

So they asked him, how did you shoot this goal?

He said, it was a brilliant shot.

There was no way the goalie could have stopped that.

And it was so refreshing to hear a guy say the truth.

That is a brilliant shot.

I shot it.

I don't know how the goalie could have stopped that.

So it was a great goal.

This is a great message.

So make sure you tell people who are not in church about this,

because it will really help.

Because I'm telling you, there is a need to let go of resentment, regret and complaint.

Resentment not against people, man.

Resentment against God.

Resentment against missed opportunities.

Resentment against circumstances.

You can't hold that and go on.

It's this picture.

Not only does it make you limp, it just dulls your mind because the shackle is around your mind.

Next one, guys.

Savor 2019.

Savor 2019.

Some of you had really good 2019s.

Lick your lips.

Before the end of the year, have another good taste of 2019.

Pat yourself on the back.

If you have a wife, ask her to pat your back.

And once you're done, take off your armor, get rid of your kingly robes, go back into linen.

And I'll explain that.

But Savor 2019, I've had a great year and you are partly responsible for that.

But now that I've savored 2019, I want to take off my kingly robes if I'm wearing them.

I want to take off my armor, set them aside, don linen garments and return to again working with God without sweating.

Ezekiel 44.19 puts it this way.

The priests that minister before me, make sure that they wear linen clothes only because I don't want them to sweat.

And the whole idea of not sweating was, I don't want you to strive.

So Jacob, did you have a great year? Great. Let go of it.

If you don't let go of it, you will either thrive in the old or strive in the old, one or the other.

If you don't let go of 2019 and its glories and its wonderfulness, then one of two things will happen.

You will either thrive in the old or you will strive in the old.

David did this. David wore his kingly robes and at one point he decided the ark is coming in.

The ark was always in the temple. It's a new beginning.

It was at Beth Shemesh in Obed Eden's house. I'm bringing it into Jerusalem.

For the first time in the history of man, the presence of God will be housed in a tent and it will be housed on a small hill.

Great. I'm not going to bring this ark into the city dressed as a king.

I'm going to take off my kingly garments though I've had a great reign.

I'm going to wear priestly garments. I'll just wear linen as Moses prescribed and I'll bring it in.

I look forward to linen garments starting again without striving and without thriving in the old.

I get to again let God work and me enjoy the benefits.

Any questions on that? If you have questions, if it's too abstract, ask.

No? If you don't ask, Nick is going to ask anyways because Diana is not here.

Okay, Pawan.

The first step is to write it down and actually look at what your regret or complaint or resentment is.

If I dislike you, I have to very clearly state to God, Father, I strongly dislike Pawan.

And I have been helpless about it for months on end. That is where it first begins.

Everything begins in this place of confession. It is not that God doesn't know it.

You're not doing it for his benefit. You're doing it for your benefit.

And honest without reason, without justification, confession of this is what I really feel, O God.

And then the mercy of God begins to kick in.

And after confession comes the idea of now how do I turn?

And once I begin to turn, then comes the next idea of what have I deprived him of that I must return?

And only after that comes restoration.

We go quickly from, I've confessed my sins, everything is fine and dandy.

Confession, repentance as in turning, restitution as in giving back to him what I robbed from him in the process of hating him.

And finally, there is a place of restoration.

Next one. It's from 2 Kings 13-19. I got three more. So this is the third.

Then I got two more after that and we'll finish by 4-15.

Next one. Ross, did they tell you how long this thing goes?

They did, eh?

Sam, who did you come with?

Okay. Yeah. If it wasn't for the Sunday School play, we'd have been finished by now.

But because of this... You were looking at your watch. Yeah, I noticed.

Yeah.

Guys, in 2 Kings 13-19, I know you know the story, but it highlights the need for something that needs to be done as we go into 2020.

Elisha is with, I think, Jehoash. And he says, take an arrow, strike it on the ground, shoot it.

And Jehoash takes his arrow, strikes it three times and shoots it.

And in 1 Kings 13-19, Elisha is angry. He said, why did you strike it only three times?

Why didn't you strike it five or six times?

Because now you will only have victory over Syria three times when you could have completely demolished them.

Guys, one of the things that God loves giving, if you ask, is holy passion.

Holy passion. Cloak yourself in the zeal of God.

Ephesians 3-20 says, ask and he will give beyond what you can imagine.

Any endeavor of God, any vision of God, the first thing you should ask for is,

Oh God, could you give me a fervency, a passion, a zeal for this that I can be cloaked in so that when I am done,

when my mind cannot think further, when my body cannot go further, when things are not working out and my spirit begins to sag,

I have one thing going for me which is a holy zeal and passion of God that keeps saying,

No, just a little longer, just a little longer. And it gives you perseverance, man, like nothing else.

The zeal of the Lord consumes you. When you begin to do things you would not dare to do in the vision that God has set you.

And all the visions of God are impossible to do because if it is possible to do, it ain't from God.

Any vision that is possible to do without a cost isn't from God.

Any vision that does not require cost, that is not beyond your present ability and resources isn't from God.

Vision from God is always beyond you.

Cloak yourself in holy passion. You know what happens when you cloak yourself in holy passion?

It increases your expectancy and faith.

That's what happens when you cloak yourself in the zeal of God.

Suddenly your expectancy increases. It isn't, well,

your God stops being a mid-sized God. Your God is a hunking SUV that is huge.

Because most of our Gods, the God we serve is usually mid-sized.

He's a compact little God who can handle your little things.

You will find that when you're cloaked with the zeal of God your expectancy increases and your faith increases.

And when your expectancy increases, guess what increases? Your capacity increases.

Your capacity leads to expectancy and faith, which leads to capacity,

which leads to greater pouring out.

Beautifully.

The more zealous I am, the greater my expectancy. Oh God!

Like Caleb I say, not like Barzilai like we said last week,

but like Caleb I say, give me those hills where the anach dwell.

That's expectancy and faith. What happens? Suddenly this 84-year-old's capacity expands.

And what happens when capacity expands? You've got more to pour out.

Why? Because the larger the bucket, the more the water. And who benefits? Whoever you're pouring out on.

When I first went to Kenya, I was staying with Mushiri.

I wanted to take a shower and he gave me this much water and a cloth.

I'm thinking to myself, how does this work? Because you've got to take the cloth and dab.

That's one way of showering there. And I'm looking at the water and thinking to myself,

okay, so if I use this water and I put soap on, then it will be a problem.

And so I just washed my face and went out. But the point is,

the greater the capacity of your bucket, the greater the amount of water that goes in,

the greater the people benefit.

Two more.

Fan passion, eh? Fan passion. I plead with God.

Father, as I go to preach this, Father, I know the notes are there.

I know the notes are there. I can teach, I can remember verses, but my God,

could you cloak me with zeal so that when my words come out, they have the ability to set on fire.

When I meet with you one on one, and ten minutes before I meet with you, I don't have anything,

that's the only thing I ask for. Father, give me a passion for this guy so that when I'm there,

whatever needs to come through, will come through and I'll set him or her on fire.

Next one.

Vision is shackled when provision is absent.

Vision is shackled when provision is absent.

Vision is shackled when provision is absent.

It's from the Bible, eh? You can have tremendous vision,

but if you don't have the provision that must come with it,

then you do not get to see it come to fruition.

And so, in 2 Corinthians, chapter 9, verse 10,

2 Corinthians 9:10

it says, God supplies seed to the sower and bread for food.

God supplies seed to the sower.

God supplies bread for food.

And then it goes on to say, and it increases the results of your good work.

Of good works. That's how it says it in the NIRV.

So, one of the ways you can really unshackle vision and cause provision to come through

is be like God, man. Be like God.

In terms of supplying seed to people so that they can sow and get a harvest

and supplying bread to people so that they can eat.

And when you do that, you will live in the light of provision

and your vision suddenly begins to take wings.

I need to speak to Mike and Mark after this.

One of the ways you can unshackle vision,

because vision is shackled when provision is absent,

one of the ways you can unshackle vision is by doing what God does.

He supplies seed to the sower, 2 Corinthians 9 and 10,

and he supplies food for the bread as food.

And so, when you begin to do that here on earth, a strange thing happens.

As you begin to act like God, God begins to supply to you seed,

and God begins to supply to you food so that you have enough to eat

and you have more to sow.

And in the process, you increase in your good works.

You increase in your good works.

Or you increase in life work.

Not in your work life, in your life work.

There's an increase in the results of your life work.

And so, what then happens is when you begin to live in the light of this kind of generosity,

of this kind of God action, you find that your vision begins to take wings

and begins to reach orbits that you never thought possible,

because you never thought that there would be this kind of provision

to furnish your vision.

I've seen this, man.

Like, guys, every month, every year, every week, doesn't matter.

We've got to get rid of this idea of tides.

We never talk about money here.

We don't take up an offering.

One day, we'll talk about it just so that those of us who have come in the last four or five years

can hear how these things work.

On an average, and I can only speak of my life because it's the only life I know well,

there's giving to the church.

I wish Heidi was here.

She can back all this up.

Giving to the church, and it's never, never 10%.

It's always more.

Why?

Because 10 is just the beginning.

After that, you've got to go further.

What about alms to the poor?

Yes.

What about giving to poor churches?

Not through Acts 29.

I'm talking from your own.

What about giving to those that have, giving first roots,

which is basically giving to those that have plowed and sown into your life?

What about giving for the sake of the gospel?

What about giving charity for causes across the world, be it Christian or non-Christian?

This is what it looks like when we start sowing in terms of seed to the supply seed and food.

This is what it begins to look like.

And you can't then say that, okay, I'll take one, two, three, four, five, six, 10% divided by six.

That would be one point something.

No, it doesn't work like that.

Get to a point this year where you slowly begin to lose control of what you're giving.

And there are people like that in this church.

You'll be surprised at how vision is unshackled when provision is present.

Any questions before I go to the last one?

So, where is the shift in talking about giving?

Yeah.

I thought there was...

Giving.

...sustaining the church.

Yeah.

You know, the confidence that I can teach this with in this church is so great because we don't even take an offering.

And yet there's been enough money in this church, which gives me great confidence to teach this because this is not a money grab.

Okay, last one.

Last one is Hebrews 5.8.

Hebrews 5.8.

And Hebrews 5.8, it says, though he was a son, he learned obedience through suffering.

Though he was a son, he learned obedience through suffering.

So here's a question.

Do you have the grace to carry the vision God has for you?

First question.

Second question.

Do you have the character...

Do you have the character to bear its weight?

And I want to say to you that if I were to take what God has in store for me, offer Acts 29 in 2020, and I was asked the question,

do you have the grace to carry the vision?

Do you have the character to bear its weight?

My answer is no.

I don't.

Because if I did, then it's an old vision, man.

I neither have the grace to carry it, nor do I have the character to bear its weight.

And therein now begins the process of muscling Jacob up so that Jacob is able to carry the vision and bear its weight.

And may I suggest to you that it's the same with you, that you do not have either the grace to carry it or the character to bear its weight.

And now begins an entire year of training for you to step into a place where you can carry it.

So which then begs the third question.

Do you have people in your life who can pour cement into your foundations so you can carry its weight?

Do you have grace carriers in your life who, like Mike Scantleberry, can help me in times of my need?

And if you don't, then you think you'll be able to carry it?

I think I'll be able to carry it?

No way.

Because any vision that God is giving you will face unrelenting pressure from the world, from your own frailty, and from the devil.

Any vision God gives you will face unrelenting opposition and pressure from the world, from financial systems, from the devil, and from your own frailty and weakness.

What are you going to do then?

Guys, it's always, you know the difference between visionaries and missionaries is this thing called the process of maturity.

You have visionaries who can dream.

Joseph was a dreamer.

He had to be proven, man.

In 41st Palace, in 41st Prison, and in Pharaoh's Palace, he had to be proven.

Suddenly he moved from visionary to missionary.

And by missionary I mean he is someone who fulfills a vision.

Mission. A visionary is someone who dreams.

That's great, man.

Dream all you want.

But it's the process of maturity that takes you from dreaming to doing.

And if you and I think that we have the grace to carry the vision of God, then the vision is too small.

And if you think you have the character to bear its weight, then your vision is too small.

I don't have it, but I look forward to being trained by him.

Although he was a son, he learned obedience through suffering.

What do you mean by suffering?

The opposition that Jesus faced, the unrelenting opposition that Jesus faced from the world he lived in,

from the fact that he was constrained in flesh from the devil, was enough to make this man learn obedience to the point that he was obedient unto death

and therefore has been given a name that is above every other name.

And that begins to happen now, eh?

And if you don't have people to pour cement into your life, and grace carriers who can stir up the grace within you,

then you might as well collapse a ramp and go watch a circus, because it ain't going to happen.

Oh my God, thank God for grace carriers and cement pourers in this church.

May you not be a visionary man.

May you end up being a missionary at the end of the year.

Joseph was that way.

Moses was also that way.

Moses was a visionary, so what did he do?

He went and killed an Egyptian and then fled, was in the desert for 40 years and became a missionary.

Let's just pray.

Father...