Eagle Eye Part -2

Am I good to go? Stephen?

Oh, Raphul is here. Okay. All right. So we'll do part two of Eagle Eye.

And so quickly to introduce what we started last week, we said that Eagle Eye is just a phrase.

You could use any phrase you want.

Basically what we are talking about is eyes of faith or spiritual sight, which is critical to living an unlimited God life.

That's what we said last week.

This is basically about eyes of faith or spiritual eyesight, a spiritual sight that is critical to living an unlimited God life.

You must have eyes of faith and spiritual sight.

And it's based on the premise that God is spirit and everything begins in the spiritual realm.

And that all things of God are conceived in the realm of the Word and the Spirit.

Therefore, it's a great idea to be someone who knows how to see things in the Spirit.

So that's what we started with last week and now we continue.

So guys, here's the thing.

Seeing things in the Spirit or seeing things with spiritual eyes isn't some huge mountain we have to climb.

It's not some kind of esoteric special knowledge that you have to have where, oh, you've got to really get into the zone.

No, nothing like that. It's so simple because God always hides things in plain sight.

God always hides things in plain sight.

It's not some deep realm experience that only a few super Christians can engage in.

There's nothing, there's nothing in Christianity that is meant for super Christians because there is nothing in Christianity called a super Christian.

Everything is available for everybody.

And therefore, this is no deep knowledge. This is not some specialized skill you have to learn.

God hides things in plain sight.

So the question then is, why does God hide things? Why does God hide things?

The thing is, guys, God conceals his splendor. God conceals his wisdom with one intent, that he may reveal it.

These are things if you understand about God, life becomes so simple.

Everything he hides, he hides with the intent of revealing.

He conceals his wisdom. He conceals his splendor. Why? So that it may be revealed. To whom? To anybody who searches.

The equation is very simple. I hide things because I love revealing them.

I hide things because I love revealing. That's the kind of God we serve.

When you read the book of Isaiah, you see this again and again. He says, do I speak in riddles?

Am I nebulous in what I say? Don't I make things very clear?

He says that. So when God hides things, he hides things so that he may reveal them.

And who does he reveal it to? To anybody who searches.

If you go to Proverbs 29, 29, sorry, Deuteronomy 29, 29, Deuteronomy 29, 29,

it says there, the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever,

that we may follow all the words of this Lord. That's the other beautiful thing.

Why is he hiding stuff so that we may search it? Why search it so that we may live according to his nature and his principles?

That's the beauty of this. This is not a God who gives us a list of things.

Because guys, if your wife, the day she got married, soon after you say I do, pulls out a list from her pocket,

and it's a long list, it's almost the length of her, whatever that thing is that goes behind her, the trail, yeah.

What if she pulled out a list as long as that and said these are the things you now have to do?

I just want you to know honey that there's no mystery to me, read this and you'll know all about me.

That's not how it works. You're supposed to discover who she is.

Because she doesn't know either.

The point is that at the end of the day, God who knows himself well and knows you well hides things so that you discover them.

Why? So that you may walk in his nature and his ways.

This should be a passion for us.

It's a shame that Christianity has been reduced to his ways are higher than our ways, his thoughts are higher than our thoughts,

so he's out there and we are here and we shall just somehow meander through life saying if it be God's will.

That is so sad.

It is true that his ways are higher than our ways, his thoughts are higher than our thoughts,

but then he says I have given you Christ and I have given you the mind of Christ and I have given you the Holy Spirit

so that you may know my higher ways and higher thoughts.

Awesome eh?

So make it a passion to discover him.

Because there is no discovery without searching because he hides things.

Deuteronomy 29, 29 again,

the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever.

And that's the crazy thing.

It's not just for you, it's for your children too.

If we discover something today, our children will not have to go spending time searching those things out

because we are talking about an infinite God.

We could spend the rest of eternity figuring him out and we still wouldn't scratch the surface.

If you do that any louder we'll have to put you on probation.

No kidding, you can go right ahead.

Next time bring more so we can check.

It's embarrassing when that happens.

Be it a restaurant or a church, you go slurping and then suddenly everybody.

And then someone highlights it and begins talking about it.

And records it too.

Moving on.

Proverbs 25 verse, Proverbs 25 verse, Proverbs 25, what was it anyway?

What was it anyway?

Proverbs 25 verse 2.

Proverbs 25:2

Guys, this is a great verse.

It says, it is the glory of God to conceal a matter, to search out a matter is the glory of King.

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, to search out a matter is the glory of King.

He calls us that.

He calls us King.

Not because he wants us to have a whole lot of money and stuff like that.

He calls us Kings because we come from the same line.

It's the glory of God to conceal a matter.

To search out a matter is the glory of King.

Meaning it is our prerogative birthright.

It is supposed to be our right of passage to find out the very things that God concealed.

Through the word and through the spirit, both are willing.

And how does God then begin to reveal things when you begin to search for them?

It's disclosed in perfect timeframes.

It is disclosed in perfect timeframes as we search for it.

Just because you go searching doesn't mean that God will say,

Alright, I saw you searching for the last two minutes.

Let me tell you the whole truth.

No, as you begin to search, he discloses things in perfect timeframes.

Why? Because you can only handle so much of his splendor as you keep growing.

I'm fascinated with the things that I keep learning over the last 28 or 29 years.

And I know that I would not be able to handle it had I learned it the second day after I got born again.

You're talking about him who lives in unapproachable light, whose radiance is brilliant.

You're talking about someone like that, who is the beginning and the end of all wisdom.

To be able to handle the things he gives happens in perfect timeframes.

Even as a church, forget us as individuals now.

Now think about us as a church.

As a people of God, God will still reveal things, disclose things over a period of time as the church matures,

just like you would do with your kids.

You would not allow your kids to handle crystal.

Because they just don't know how to.

Keep searching guys. If you go to 1 Peter, 1 Peter 1, 10 to 12, 1 Peter 1, 10 to 12,

a really cool verse, 1 Peter 1, 10 to 12.

Here's what it says, 1 Peter 1, 10 to 12.

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who spoke of the grace that was to come to you,

searched intently and with the greatest care,

trying to find out the time and the circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing

when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that follow.

It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you

when they spoke of the things that have now been told you

by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.

Even angels long look into these things.

The point being, prophets who were much smarter, much holier, much sharper than us in figuring out the mind of God

were told things that they had diligently began to search

but they were told that listen, you're being shown a little so that a future generation may know the fullness of it.

And the cool thing about having spiritual sight is you begin to see things about God

that you can leave to generations that come after you, not one generation,

generations that come after you.

I think it's so awesome to carry this huge deposit that God reveals to you

and you live it out and you pass it on to generations after.

Even the angels seek to look into it but someone searched for it diligently

and they were told by God that listen, you're not serving yourself, you're serving the people yet to come.

So what if we don't fully understand things right now?

We keep searching, keep searching, keep opening doors.

Any questions before I go?

That's why I said God hides things in plain sight.

God hides things in plain sight.

I mean think of Hagar in Genesis 21 verse 19.

Genesis 21:19

God opens Hagar's eyes and right before her she sees a well of water.

It is ever-present guys. We got the Spirit of God in us.

God creates everything.

He doesn't say you're not serving yourself.

He doesn't say you have to go up a mountain to find me.

He doesn't say you got to go down into the depth to find me.

It is there before you.

Only as we become alert to the Spirit of God,

He begins to show us these things. They are in plain sight.

Everything you need for life and godliness is present

but if only we can see it before it actually materializes,

then we will be able to walk without fear or concern,

without becoming ones who panic not knowing where help will come from.

When David says I look up to the hills from where comes my help,

he's not talking about looking up to the hills.

He's talking about looking to the one from whom his help come.

Yep.

So God opens Hagar's eyes, she sees a well of water.

God opens Balaam's eyes and he sees the angel that the donkey saw.

God opens Elisha's eyes and then Elisha goes and opens the servant's eyes

and see the sky full of chariots of the armies of Israel.

God opens the eyes of the two guys who are walking down the road to Emmaus

and suddenly the same guys who couldn't see Jesus see him as clear as daylight.

These were the two guys who were walking down the road to Emmaus

These were people that God had to go and catch their eyes literally to open them.

We are talking about oh God as it says in Ephesians 1.18,

would you enlighten my eyes so that I may begin to walk

and see things without you having to open my eyes because you've opened them.

I just see things now as you present them.

I don't see things as you open my eyes, I see things as you present them.

Different.

Different.

Psalm 119 verse 18 says in the old, in the KJV or NKJV probably say,

Psalms 119:18

open thou, KJV obviously, open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

Listen to how the message puts it.

The message says, open my eyes so I can see what you show me of your miracle wonder.

Open my eyes so I can see what you show me of your miracle wonder.

And it absolutely resounds out of your law because in his law, in his word, our miracle wonder.

Open my eyes. This was David's cry.

And it's the same cry that Paul then repeats in Ephesians 1.18, which we'll end with.

Where he says in Ephesians 1.18, your eyes focused and clear

so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to and grasp the immensity of the glorious way of life he has for Christians.

Did you hear that?

So that we may grasp the immensity of the glorious way of life he has for us Christians.

So that we may grasp the immensity, not an average Christian life,

because there is really nothing called an average Christian life.

So that we may grasp the immensity of the glorious way of life that is reserved for us Christians.

And glorious, not by earthly standards, glorious as in the splendor and the nature of God.

Whatever that might mean in different times of my life.

Any questions?

Some 119 verse 18.

The strange thing is guys, if you go to Deuteronomy 29, 2-4,

Deuteronomy 29, 2-4, there's this very sad verse there.

It says, you have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes,

but to this day the Lord has not given you a mind to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear.

You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes.

But to this day, the Lord has not given you a mind to understand, eyes to see, or ears to hear.

Deuteronomy 29, 2-4.

So it's possible for God to be doing things, but for us not to see.

For God to be doing things that my eyes not seeing, my ears not hearing, my mind not understand.

Strange, huh? That's possible.

And so, I want to look at what do we have to do to not fall into that trap.

So here are some of the things we can begin to practice.

One, to see things, practice awareness.

Practice awareness of the Spirit.

As in, stay within the earshot and the vision range of the Spirit of God.

Stay within range and earshot of the Spirit of God.

As in, begin to practice being aware of the Spirit of God.

Begin to practice being aware of the Spirit of God.

Where it doesn't matter what you're doing, doesn't matter how intensely you're involved in programming,

or in cooking, or in washing dishes, or in work, or in driving, or in preparing a message.

It doesn't matter how engaged you are.

You have begun to practice this way of living, where you're constantly aware of what the Spirit of God may say, may show at any moment.

When you begin to live like this, within the earshot of the Spirit of God, and within his vision range,

you're like a child who is in a play park with swings and stuff like that,

and the mother sits on one of the benches with another mother that's visiting with her child,

and these kids will start playing on the seesaw on the swing.

And every time they go to the swing, they look up at their mother to see if their mother approved.

And if the mother approves, then there's a smile, the kid sits on the swing, and they begin to swing.

And as the swing gets a little swingier, they again begin to look at the mother to see if it's okay.

And if the mother doesn't grimace or doesn't have any other expression on the face, they keep doing it.

Kids do that, eh? They look at their parents' face to check whether it is safe and it's okay.

And if it's okay and it's safe, they begin to do what they do.

You'll see them standing on some high thing and wanting to jump off.

But before they jump off, they look at you to figure out, is this a good idea?

And if your face is poker face, they'll jump.

If there's even a slight tingling of the brow, they'll stop.

Then they'll only threaten.

Why give this example? Because that is how it works with the Spirit of God.

You're within his earshot, you're within his vision range, and you begin to practice this life of,

it doesn't matter what you're doing, you'll begin to hear.

So the coolest things that happen to me is when I hear when I'm not even speaking.

Like I'll be doing something, watching TV sometime, and in the middle of watching Trump, the Spirit of God can still speak.

And you hear him clearly. Why? Because your ear is tuned to it. It's the art of double listening.

Practice this. Any questions on that?

I mean, I was, just a few days ago, I remember I was doing something that was so unrelated to anything Christian.

And as clear as daylight, you hear God saying, hey, by the way, this year, make sure you're here on all the days of peace,

or stuff like Good Friday, Sunday, or Resurrection Sunday, peace to tabernacles, any cause, be here, don't travel.

Because every year for the last four years, I've been away.

Out of the blue. And so I made a mental note of it and decided, okay, out of the blue.

So now I don't have to worry about it for the next 10 months.

I wasn't asking him. He was telling.

The more we practice this, the more it becomes conversation.

The thing is, guys, when someone asks you, hey, do you pray a lot?

Your answer should be that I have ceaseless relational conversations with God.

And out of these ceaseless relational conversations, I now fuel deliberate,

woven, effective, times of set aside prayer.

That's how this works, guys.

It begins with ceaseless relational conversation.

Where you're always conversing. There's never a time when you're not conversing with him.

Ceaseless relational conversation.

This is why Paul suggested pray without ceasing.

He didn't mean go down into your closet, sit there on your knees, and just pray, pray, pray.

It'll drive you crazy, man.

What he meant is have ceaseless relational conversation.

Like you would with a good friend if you were seeing him or her for the first time, and you really like him or her.

You have ceaseless relational conversations about every blooming thing that you can think of.

And out of these ceaseless relational conversations that you have with God,

some things begin to stand out and you realize, oh, Chuck, this needs work.

And so that is when you pull aside and have deliberate, fervent, effective times of prayer, and now everything works.

Otherwise, we choose one or the other.

We get hung out here, and this becomes a chore because we don't know what to say after a while,

or we get hung out here, and this is not necessarily discipline, so there is no intensive, fervent time of prayer.

Can't be one or the other. One should fuel the other.

There are two different things of the same thing. They're continuous.

So I might have a conversation with Gisela, and I'm just talking to her, and I tell her how much I like sauerkraut jam.

And so, never make it from here.

So in my conversations with her, I tell her that I really like sauerkraut.

So that, no, I don't, I don't, I don't. Just an example.

No, no, no, it's okay. So, no, it's okay. Scalloped potatoes are good, but not sauerkraut.

So I say that to her. And so now, those come out of ceaseless relational conversations.

She now goes home, and she knows that she has to meet me again tomorrow.

She goes and makes sauerkraut. That's the intense time.

One or the other. Everything comes out of relationship, then it becomes intense, fervent time.

Elijah didn't figure out how to hear God because of being on his knees.

Elijah would be walking, talking. He would realize that the bread was disappearing, the ravens, sorry, the brook had dried up, the ravens ain't bringing me.

And so, in his conversations with God, he knows he's got to go now visit the widow of Barisba.

And so he goes. There'll be intense times of prayer, where he'll be up on Mount Carmel, and seven times he'll go down on his knees saying,

Oh God, where is that token-sized cloud? And finally, it comes.

Any questions on that?

Yep.

Yep.

Yep.

Second thing is, yep, second.

Amen.

Second thing is know when you're out of relationship. Know when you're out of relationship.

As in, if you want to practice awareness of the Spirit,

and if you want to begin to see things that the Spirit of God is saying or hear things that you're doing, then know when you're out of relationship.

And guys, the thing about knowing when you're out of relationship is that if your relationship isn't getting more and more intense and intimate with God, then you are out of relationship.

The definition of relationship when it comes to God, aim the definition that you and I have.

How are you doing with Sheldon? Doing well. Doing well with God ain't relationship.

With God, you're out of relationship if your relationship isn't increasing.

We must get this guy. You're out of relationship with God. I'm not saying your relationship is broken. I'm saying you're not relating to God.

You're out of relationship with God if your relationship is not increasing. You're out of relationship.

There is no stagnancy in this infinite alpha and beta.

Therefore, if I am not moving, increasing in intimacy and intensity of my relationship with God, then I'm out of relationship with God.

Case in point, Samson, guy had the anointing of God upon him, had the Spirit of God resting on him, but he is now lulled into languishing on Delilah's lamp.

Delilah itself, the word itself means language. And this guy is lying on Delilah's lamp.

And she wakes him up suddenly and says to him, Samson, Samson, the Philistines are upon you.

And he, assuming that he could wake up the same way as he's done six times before, shake his locks and walk off, doesn't realize that his locks have been shaved.

And the scripture says, and that God had left him.

In our case, God won't leave us. But if you want to increase in your insight in terms of spiritual side, then know that one of the ways we really ruin it is when we are out of relationship and we don't even know it.

Till Delilah wakes us up and then we realize our shucks are bald.

Sometimes guys, and I find this quite, yeah, sometimes I don't know how to deal with it.

I'll ask to meet with you and when I meet with you, I'll say, Hey, in this area, I think you need to do this.

And you're responsible, but I'm doing quite well in this area.

I've just told you that you need to, this is what the law is showing.

And in this area, I think this is happening.

But I'm doing quite well in this area. Then I don't know where to go.

So I just be quiet because what sometimes God wants to do is prevent languishing before it happens.

So when God says, Hey, maybe in this area, you need to pull up a doctor and this area is raining.

What God is trying to do is, Hey, before it rains fully, why not salt?

So sometimes when someone you trust, perhaps hearing from God tells you something, don't resist it.

Just take it in and be happy.

Because there are people who correct me on things I haven't done yet.

I think to myself, it's like Minority Room.

But somewhere inside me, I'm in that movie, Tom Cruise.

And so inside me then, I take it and hold it thinking, God is seeing something that might be planned.

And therefore, He's heading it off before it happens.

And you feel very foolish when the person says, No, in this area, I'm fine.

Now where do you?

It just happened to me a few times this week.

You know, I'm not even looking at you.

Third thing you need to do is zeal or eagerness, zeal or eagerness to stand at the door of the tent.

Lying to the God.

Joshua, classic example, Exodus 33, Moses has gone into the tent of meeting.

And what does Joshua do?

Joshua is standing.

Everybody else is within their tents.

Why?

Because they know that Moses will hear God and come and tell them what they need to.

But there is this one young man who's standing at the door of the tent.

Like, I mean, he was driven by the desire to stand at the door of the tent.

I mean, he was drooling.

Bible says, but he must have been drooling because he's like, Oh, my God, when will my turn to see God?

There's an eagerness, there's a zeal that consumes.

Discovery of God should be all consuming.

Nothing, no situation on earth, no death, no devil, no sword, no famine, no loss should ever dull.

Your desire to discover God.

Nothing.

Nothing.

That is one of Satan's favorite weapons.

Can I make him stagnate?

Can I make him stagnate?

Can I divert his attention so that having learned enough, he stays here?

But then nothing dulls that discovery.

And so, a stoke, S-P-O-K-E, the zeal of searching for God.

And that usually happens if you have someone's footsteps.

Someone has to go before you into the tent of meeting and come out with their face glowing.

And when they come out with their face glowing, you want to.

And there is nobody here who cannot do it for someone else.

And there is nobody here who cannot find someone else to talk to.

Crazy, eh? What kind of setup is this?

Where there is no one here in this room presently that will not find someone else that they can follow in this pursuit.

And there is no one here in this room who cannot be an example to someone else who's following in your footsteps or can follow in your footsteps.

This is such an amazing setup.

But that is why this is called a family.

In a family, there's always this generational, relational thing that happens.

That's a classic thing about a family.

A family will always be able to transfer the knowledge of God through generational and relational means.

Always.

I mean, where do you think Abraham got his knowledge of the flood of Adam?

He got it from Noah. Why?

Because Noah was alive when Abraham was a kid.

If you actually wrote down the years each patriarch lived, you'll find that Abraham was alive when Noah was very old.

They'd be sitting around fireplaces and Noah would be telling them of this crazy thing that appeared in the sky that looked like an ark.

And the voice of God that he heard.

And you can imagine this little boy sitting there listening to it.

Knowing that this is a God of covenant.

And then this very same God of covenant makes a covenant with Abraham.

And you think he can forget what his great-great-great-great-great-grandfather said to him?

What a heritage.

Talk about. Talk about. Talk about.

Keep this coming. Keep coming.

The thing is though, seeing means nothing.

Seeing means nothing.

If you can't put it in the context of God's nature or God's children.

As in I might see something, but if I don't know the word well, I don't know what it's supposed to parallel.

I may see something, but if I don't know the nature of God, I can end up being deceived.

So seeing means nothing.

And God told me, I can't see anything.

I can't see anything.

But if I don't know the nature of God, I can end up being deceived.

So seeing means nothing.

If I don't know the context of God's stories or God's character, I will not be able to place it.

It would be like giving me...

I remember I had this friend called Sean.

He's still my friend and he was 15 or 16 years younger than me.

And so he would take my watches.

Any watch that was working, he would take and say, I'll fix it.

Then he would open the entire watch.

And then he'd put it back and then come to me and say, is this one part?

I don't know where it goes.

I'd look at that part.

I'd look at my watch.

I'd look at him because I didn't know what to do with that one part.

He's very good with his hands, fixes amazing things right now.

But all credit to me because number of watches that I lost in the process of helping him.

But the point is, once you give me a part, I don't know where to put it.

It doesn't matter how great the watch.

You can have a Rolex, it doesn't work.

You got to know where.

That is why you need to know where to put it.

As they say in German,

Feschlingen die Bibel.

Oh, I just went back to my roots.

Wasn't that right though?

No?

Well, I tried.

Maybe it's Lithuanian.

Feschlingen means devour.

Devour means to give.

Maybe it's Lithuanian.

Feschlingen means devour.

Gisela is not very impressed.

Oh, what do you know about German?

Guys, any questions on these?

Okay.

This takes time.

Oh, this is not an overnight thing.

Oh my God, if you start practicing it tomorrow.

Quite tomorrow.

So ask for eyes of faith to see.

And then ask for feet to walk.

Ask for eyes of faith to see.

And then ask for feet to walk.

Because faith without work is dead.

I know you know that.

And obedience to what you see,

once you verify it is God,

obedience to what you see is critical.

Because one of the things God does

is when I don't necessarily want to follow the first

two or three steps that he gives me,

but I love seeing stuff and talking about it

and writing about it,

then what God does is he says,

let me see your obedience before I throw you in.

So ask for eyes of faith to see,

but ask for feet to walk.

And we're not talking about seeing angels and demons

and stuff like that.

Both should frighten you initially.

We're not talking about seeing spooky stuff.

We're just talking about seeing what God wants us to live as,

walk as.

As it says in Ephesians 1.18,

that you may be able to see the glorious way of life

that he has for us as Christians.

That's what we're talking about.

Nowadays, people want to see spooky stuff.

I saw an angel.

Big deal.

Hey, James, can you put up your hand?

Which one?

The third one?

Third one is zeal or eagerness to stand at the door of the tent.

Longing.

Only good people can see the end.

Longing to search for God.

Yeah, longing.

Watching people laugh.

Guys, obedience to what you see,

once you verify it,

verify that it is God,

is physical, and to verify,

you need the patience to verify something as God.

You need the patience to let it develop.

So, to verify that something is God,

verify, oh.

To verify something is God,

one, we need context of God's nature

and the stories of the Bible.

Two, you need patience to let it develop.

Three, you need a multitude of counselors.

Four, you need

the persistence

and faith

to walk it alone.

This is how you verify things when you see them.

I love people here who have been Christians for 10, 15, 20 years,

and I love the humility that they possess

to after they die,

the humility that they possess,

to after having seen something that is of God,

go to others, sometimes call me and say,

hey, Jacob, this is what I saw.

What do you think?

When you already have 20 years under your belt,

I still do that.

Where the intent is,

first, can I put it in the context of God's nature?

Just what I have seen

match the nature of God.

Two, can I draw parallels either from

this picture of stories of God

where God has done this before

so that it's not some extra biblical mumbo jumbo?

Two, do I have the patience to let it develop

or am I too immature still

that as soon as I say something,

I just send it out on SMS to all the groups that I'm part of?

Three, will I then go verify it with other counselors

who I trust, who have walked before me in hearing this?

Four, now that I have done that,

will I, like Paul, say that I know this is of God,

I will no longer confer with flesh and blood,

but I will do what God has said

and will walk this alone

because faith is always tested when you walk alone,

not when you walk with somebody

because they can carry you on their faith.

You can piggyback on their faith.

A point comes where God will not allow you

to piggyback on your husband's faith,

on your mum's faith, on your dad's faith.

You'll say, enough, walk on your own,

you're getting heavy.

So this is how you verify.

And it's not important to understand the entire process.

God will not shut up and may not award us a foot.

And it's not important.

The believing obey the obedient belief.

The believing obey the obedient belief.

And nowhere in that equation is understanding important.

If he wants you to understand,

he'll give you what you need to understand.

But you're talking about a God who's brilliant.

You must be confident once you know

that God has shown something.

You must be confident of the work of the Spirit through you.

And that it'll happen in perfect time.

I mean, just two weeks ago,

we guys went to Dubai, right?

And we were in Dubai,

and we were in Dubai,

and we were in Dubai,

and we were in Dubai,

and we were in Dubai,

and we guys went to Dubai, right?

And I sensed God saying,

Derek and Isaac,

who's not even part of the church with me to Dubai.

And then Josh wanted to come along,

so we said, Josh, come too.

But Derek and Isaac going,

and I still don't know what I'm supposed to do

when I meet this guy from Indonesia.

And I'm flying and I'm saying,

thank God it's a 14-hour flight.

That's enough time for God to speak.

Seven hours into the flight,

there's still no hint of what's going to happen.

And then at some point,

close to landing in Dubai,

God says, here is what I want you to say.

And I write it down on my phone as fast as he can speak,

or as fast as I can write.

And now I know what I've got to say

to this governor who's coming from Indonesia.

It worked out so brilliant.

And then Derek and Isaac have,

I mean, you thought I was clueless.

They were like...

And they go in there and they don't know what to say.

And yet they come out with business deals

by investors.

How does this happen, man?

Trust the Spirit of God once you've seen something.

Trust the Spirit of God.

And what promise did we have?

We had promises when we prayed here in church

that this will amount to something,

that this is for the future,

that doors will open.

That's all you sometimes have,

but that's what you run with.

Blessed are you when you walk like this.

And almost everybody here has had an experience like this,

which is great.

Let's keep growing in it.

Keep growing in it.

I mean, I'm thinking of Azanuk.

I remember telling them that,

listen, Calgary is not the place for you.

You should move to Vancouver.

And they actually believed it.

And they moved to Vancouver.

It was not easy,

but there's nobody here who hasn't done this before.

But once we do it,

we don't think that this is a daily practice.

We think it's a practice once every time

when God wants to move us.

No, no, no, no, no.

Live like this daily, guys, daily.

Live like this daily.

And then at some point,

as you begin to live like this,

God will give you authority,

and you will develop purity.

Why is purity and authority important?

And I'll end with this.

The reason authority and purity is important

is as you begin to go into places,

because God is telling you to go.

Sometimes you will need authority to undo that which you want.

You will need purity to handle that.

Neither the demonic cannot be handled well

if you don't have authority.

One of the things that happens in Christianity today,

people have learned authority.

I'm talking about really famous people.

They've learned authority,

but they haven't learned purity.

So what happens when you only have authority and purity

is you may be able to drive something,

but it'll come back and take you back because of purity.

It is our morality, our right standing

that now act as a breastplate.

Otherwise, you might use a sword to drive something,

but from a distance,

because your breastplate is completely dislodged,

they can't.

Authority ain't purity.

Otherwise, what happens, we'll see well.

We'll have the faith to walk it,

but we'll not end up doing the mighty exploits

that Daniel talks about.

Those that know their God do mighty exploits.

Those will not happen because anytime you want to engage

in mighty exploits requires that there be a dealing

with our addressee.

Possession is always through this position.

Purity and authority.

The older you grow, the more you should be pure.

I'll stop.

I was going to talk about, okay,

so how do we move into expectancy

now that we've learned how to see?

Because sight increases your expectancy.

The more you see, the more you will expect.

Think of this, eh?

Jesus would gauge people's expectancy by asking,

what do you want me to do for you?

What do you want me to do for you?

What was he trying to figure out?

I mean, why would you go and ask a blind man,

what do you want me to do for you?

Why? Because he wanted to gauge the man's expectancy.

Look at what the blind men have seen.

The blind men just saw Jairus' daughter being raised.

The verse, Matthew 9.28 says,

and as he left Jairus' house, two blind men followed him.

And Jesus asked them, what do you want?

And they said, we want to see.

Why wouldn't they call out to the son of David?

Because the son of David had just raised

a 12-year-old back to life.

You think they have any doubt as to whether they can see?

And so they go and ask, can we see?

And Jesus says, according to your faith,

let it be done to you.

And they begin to see.

The point being, as you see better,

your expectancy increases.

As you see better, your expectancy increases.

Hey, I'm saying to 65 pluses here.

I'm not part of that elite group yet.

But if you're 65 plus, you need to see very, very well,

because otherwise you will get old.

And you will retire yourself before God retires.

I say both as a warning and as an encouragement,

because I see far too many people over 65

that have stopped seeing clearly

because they think they do not have the strength

to walk in what they see.

Strength does not come through physical ability,

but through faith.

If you stop seeing clearly, you will retire yourself fast.

Look at that woman at 90, man.

I'm talking about Dagmar.

Her problem is she doesn't want to get

a 10-year-old passport,

because she might turn 100 by then.

That's a strange problem to have.

I plead with those over 65.

Begin to plead with God saying,

open my eyes again that I might see your miracle wonders

so that I might begin to live a life of faith

till the day I die.

Kill me in my boots.

No, not kill me in my boots.

Take me in my boots.

Yeah.

Otherwise, you'll go bastard-some.

On that happy note, let's end.

I've got more to say,

but I've got this thing called time.

Father, what are you doing there, man?

You should be there.

Let's go.

Ephesians 1.18.

There's a glorious way of life that's reserved for us, guys.

Don't forget to grasp it with both hands.