Connected

Teaching is called connected is because

that was the first word I saw in my notes.

It does, you could put any word there

and it would still make sense.

So don't put too much stock in the word connected.

Just didn't want to spend time

trying to come up with a title.

So that's why it's called connected.

That's a great start to a sermon, huh?

So here's the thing, guys.

I want to talk about some of the things we can do

to really be at the cutting edge with God.

These are really simple things.

When it comes to cutting edge with God,

it's nothing techie, nothing expertish.

It's very simple, basic stuff.

And so I'll list five things

and then we'll start with the last one

and then see if we have time to work the first four.

So first thing that you've got to be mindful of

is that I will be connected to my life source

and that's where the title came from.

I will be connected to my life source,

my life source, me being God.

I'll be connected to my life source.

There is this whole idea of being really aware of

and really letting God help you process the world every day

through his filter, his heart, his mind,

his habits, his attitude.

And that's this whole idea of being connected

to my life source.

I won't explain it much

because I want to do the fifth point first.

But just like you would filter everything to,

let's assume you fall in love tomorrow,

you would filter your entire life

through the person you've fallen in love with.

You would change your schedule,

you would change your work habits,

you would change your dressing,

you would change how you spend your money,

you would change the nature of your phone calls,

you would change your cologne.

You would change everything

so that you could filter it through this person

that you have fallen in love with.

Everything changes around.

And that person becomes your,

literally the one around whom your life revolves.

And that's the whole idea of,

I'll be connected to my life source.

And the more you are able to do this unconsciously,

the better off you are.

The more you do it consciously,

you know you're on the way,

but you're not there yet.

When it gets to a point where you're connected

to God in a very unconscious or subconscious way,

you know that, ah, shut, something is clicking.

Because you aren't even aware of it.

It's become very normal.

Two.

I will practice self-forgetfulness.

I will practice self-forgetfulness.

Self-forgetfulness.

I will practice self-forgetfulness.

I mean, if you read John chapter 13,

John 13 · chapter mention

you'll find that Jesus excelled in this.

In the first, the first point is from John 13 to,

John 13, three I think,

where it says Jesus, knowing where he came from

and knowing where he was going

and knowing that he had charge over everything.

This is the whole idea of being connected.

Then it doesn't matter whether you're fat, short,

thin, smart, good-looking, not good-looking.

It doesn't matter what you are.

Once you know where you draw your life from,

where you'll be going, like this guy was saying,

like Prashant was saying,

knowing that I'll either be with my father instantly

and see him face to face,

or I'll be with my father here.

Either way, I'm not there or here.

I'm always in his presence.

Once you are connected to your life,

then things become much simpler.

There is a confidence you have inside you

that has nothing to do with your externals.

But it is so hard to develop

because the world demands that our confidence

be connected to things external.

Second one is I'll practice self-forgetfulness.

Self-forgetfulness is when you are not the center

of your life, when you are not the center of your life.

Things don't revolve around you.

We'll talk about that later.

Jesus practiced that so brilliantly

in John chapter 13, verse 12.

John 13:12

He so seamlessly would move from being Lord and Messiah,

the King of the universe,

to a bond servant who's washing their feet

with a towel around his waist,

and then he'd get up and wear his robe again

and continue being who he is.

The seamless transfer from one thing to the other,

from one person to the other,

from one role to the other,

without any thought for himself.

Self-forgetfulness.

Very difficult, guys.

But if you can get this, it's amazing.

Third one.

I will be a lifter of other people's head.

I will be a lifter of other people's heads,

of other people's,

and it's a clumsy sentence,

but you'll get the hang of head,

because he is the lifter of my head.

Within these few sentences,

almost the entire gospel is encapsulated.

I will be the lifter of their head,

as in, it doesn't matter who I meet,

I'll lift their head up.

I'll lift their head up,

because most people aren't in that place.

I mean, I think the only people who have the ability

to lift their heads up is ones who have Christ in their lives

because Christ is the only one who lifts your head up.

Nobody else can lift your head up.

No amount of money, no amount of fame,

nothing lifts your head up.

We are a people who have necks

that have been broken by sin.

We have props that support our head,

but the only one who really lifts our head up,

what does lift our head up mean?

What does it really mean?

It means that, my God, I'm taken care of.

I have someone whose countenance shines brightly on me.

That's the whole idea of Numbers, Chapter Six,

where it says, the Lord bless you and keep you.

This is called lifting up your head.

May the Lord bless you and the Lord keep you.

May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you.

May he give you grace, may he give you peace.

This is the lifting up of a drooping head.

Nobody can do that.

No dad, no mom, no pastor, no church can do that,

but Christ alone can do that.

And if we are the only ones who have our heads lifted up

by Christ and his nail scarred hands,

and I'm not trying to make it dramatic.

I'm just saying he has nail scarred hands

that you will feel as he lifts your head up.

If we are the only ones that have that done to us,

then our role on earth is to lift the heads of others up,

letting them know that there is a God

whose face is shining down on them.

His countenance is lifted up on them,

that they are no longer enemies,

but can be made friends through the blood

and through the cross.

And then the last one is,

I will expect,

I will expect

hand depend

on God

for the seven essentials

of life.

What are those seven essentials?

One, dignity.

Two,

security.

Three, provision.

Four,

purpose.

Five,

companionship.

Six, freedom.

And seven,

sorry?

Yeah, and there was one more, authority.

That's the one, companionship and intimacy are together.

I actually missed out on authority

last time I talked about this.

These are the seven things

that I will be dependent on God for.

These I will not seek outside of God.

These I shall not derive from any other source.

Not my pastoring, not from Acts 29,

not from the money I have, not from the business I run,

not from the job I have, not from the spouse I hold dear.

Not from anything will I derive these seven essentials

from.

These essentials were promised to me in the Garden of Eden

and God hasn't rescinded these things

that he promised man in the Garden of Eden.

I will expect it from you.

I will not derive it, extract it,

depend on anybody else for it, but you, oh God.

And if we get these things right,

you'll find yourself on the cutting edge

of everything God does.

Christ lived like this.

Because these are the very things that Jesus said

the pagans chase after and unfortunately

his children chase after too

and they chase after these things outside of him.

And then the last one which we'll be talking about is

I will

I will

I will live under order.

I will live under order.

I will live under order.

That's the last one.

I want to start there and then if I do a good job

of finishing it, then we'll do the first four.

Because at some point or the other,

I've talked about the first four,

but I haven't talked about order since 2012.

I felt that given where we are at present,

it really would do us good if we as a church

just enjoyed God's order.

It'll keep us safe.

Because the more we deal with disorderly elements,

the more it is important to live in order.

The more we deal with chaos and disorder,

the more it is, I hate using the word behoove,

but I'm gonna use it.

It behoves us to operate under order.

Any questions on these before we go on?

Any questions before we go on?

Oh, by the way, Derek is in charge

when they're going to Sao Paulo,

so pray for him that he has the smarts

to discern and know how things need to be done.

Any questions on these guys?

Cool.

Okay.

Okay, so what does it mean to live, go ahead.

Living under order.

To begin with Colossians 1, 16 to 19,

and so I'll start there,

and then there'll be a few more scriptures.

So Colossians 1, 16 to 19,

from the message, puts it this way,

and I'm paraphrasing what has already been paraphrased.

So there is order in the kingdom of God,

and Colossians 1, 16 to 19 puts it this way.

For everything, and then it goes on

to explain all the everything,

for everything God started in him finds its purpose in him.

So spacious is he, so roomy,

that everything of God finds its proper place in him

without crowding.

Everything of God, this is from the message,

everything of God finds its proper place in him

without crowding.

Meaning that at the end of the day,

God has a certain order that he has established on earth,

and this order is an arrangement

that has nothing to do with greater or lesser,

but has everything to do with function in the present.

So even in the Godhead,

though father, son, and Holy Spirit are equal,

there is an order where Jesus always says,

I will submit everything to the Father.

The Holy Spirit says, I will glorify Jesus.

Even in the Godhead, there is order,

and it is not because one is greater or one is lesser,

because that is impossible in the Godhead,

because God the Father, the Son,

and the Holy Spirit are co-equal.

Yet there is an arrangement of order,

and the intent of that order is so that the function

of the Godhead can be fulfilled,

where God the Father sends Jesus Christ to the earth

to die for man and rise up again,

and Jesus Christ then sends the Holy Spirit

from the Father to his body so that they may be empowered.

So submission, let's put it this way.

The one who covers first,

and the one who covers all,

one who covers all is God.

So any time I submit to his order on earth,

I'm really submitting to him.

There is only one who covers first.

I mean, he's the first who covers everything,

and there is only one who covers all.

And therefore, every time I submit to an arrangement

that he has established on earth,

I'm actually submitting to him first,

and then to whoever he has put in place.

So God's order does not touch upon

the matter of who is greater.

It's simply an arrangement in the way that God functions

and God administers things.

It's just that.

Any questions?

And this is not, we're not talking about church, guys.

Please, please understand that this is not

some kind of a power trip where I want you to submit

to certain people or certain things,

or if Derek is the head of the group going to Sao Paulo,

now everybody has to polish his shoes.

It's highly unlikely.

I can't see Jeevan and Sheldon doing that anyways.

But, Kerry's bag is different, yeah.

But the point is this.

This order thing does not just apply to church.

Church is just a part of order.

There is, let me talk about how many different things there

are.

So there is order in man, woman, wife, citizen, son,

employee, pastor, apostle, worshipper, church.

There are different areas where there is order.

And all these orders or arrangements,

God has prescribed in the Bible,

go to the end of every episode that Paul writes.

And what is he visiting?

The order of the family, the order of employee, employer,

the order of master, slave, the order of household,

the order of church.

He keeps visiting this.

Why?

Because one of the fundamental things

that he wanted to emphasize is,

hey guys, if you do not manage your lives well

in the order that I have established in these institutions

that I have created,

then you are no different from the watching world.

So to become a community that is distinct,

that is counter to the world,

we must learn how to joyfully jump

into the arrangement of God.

And the reason there are no hallelujahs at present

as I say this, is because it goes against the grain

of everything we grow up as in the pursuit

of liberty, happiness, and equality.

Because all those words are so opposed

to you being my boss.

And yet if I can happily jump into God's order,

my God, man, God placed order here on earth

so that you could prosper

and so that your dominion could grow.

Just think of that.

God placed order here on earth so that you could prosper

and so that your dominion could grow.

What do you mean by dominion?

Not dominion, domain.

Yeah, domain and dominion can grow.

That's why he placed order.

So find out from the Bible the order of things

for man and woman, for husband and wife,

for older and younger, for citizen and country,

for son and daughter, for employer and employee,

for leader and those that are being led,

for pastor and those that are in the church,

for the church, for households, for worshipers,

for the different functions in the church

like apostle, prophet, teacher, evangelist.

How about those?

Why do they use words like first apostles?

Why do they use words like this and that?

Why?

Because there's an order.

It's not one that is greater than the other.

Unfortunately, because it has been abused, we are scared.

The moment anyone says, I'm an apostle,

what's your immediate thought?

He's gonna boss over me.

And unfortunately, that has happened enough times

where you're scared of it.

But someone has to correct it.

Why not us?

Any thoughts, any questions, any arguments?

Oh, let's not even go thoughts, questions, arguments.

Any smiles?

That's a relief.

Step beyond the hedge of your present boundaries.

So this was just the good news.

Now the other side of the story.

So step beyond the present,

step beyond the hedge of our present boundaries.

And Ecclesiastes 10, eight says,

you will get bitten by the serpent.

Step beyond the hedge of your present boundaries

and you will get bitten by the serpent.

Jacob, why are you preaching something like this now?

Because I don't want any of us to be bitten by the serpent

as we go battling the serpent.

Because that is gonna happen, guys.

That is where we are going.

And it doesn't matter whether it's six people going in,

the rest of us staying here,

one person going in, the rest of us staying here.

This is a group endeavor,

whether it's one who goes or six who goes or two who goes.

And so that is why I'm revisiting this.

This was not my choice.

I would rather avoid this topic.

I like happy topics.

So much sifting, much distress, much confusion,

much affliction is the result of breaking the hedge.

You want me to repeat that?

Okay.

Much sifting, much distress, much confusion,

much affliction is the result of breaking the hedge.

Uzzah and Ahio are examples where they decided

that there was a protocol that God had given.

They weren't the one who decided it.

David was the one who really messed it up.

There was a protocol that God had prescribed

that decided not to go with that.

And in the process, they broke the hedge.

And in the process of breaking the hedge,

Uzzah and Ahio were not able to enjoy

what the Ark of the Covenant was supposed to do for them.

That's just one example.

Our intent is let's avoid breaking the hedge.

Let's enjoy order,

because God is the only one who keeps expanding our domain

and he causes us to prosper

when we flourish in his arrangement.

Yep.

Can you explain what sifting is?

Sifting.

Sifting is what Jesus said to Peter.

When Peter said, I'll never deny you and stuff like that,

Jesus said, Satan wants to sift you,

as in cause a wind to come and uproot him

from his so-called strong stance.

And then Jesus said, Satan is trying to sift you,

but I'm praying that after you get sifted,

that you actually stand.

So sifting is when,

yeah, you guys live in a different generation.

When I was young, they used to have this thing,

I don't know what it's called,

but they would put grain in it

and they would shake it like this.

When they shake it.

Oh, it's called a sifter?

What do you know?

It's called a sifter.

And so you sift it and the grain and the chaff separate.

Yeah, that's called sifting, where it separates.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I've been looking for a CD player for my mom in India.

I couldn't find one.

Yeah.

So, much sifting, much distress,

much confusion and affliction

as a result of breaking the head.

And one of the things you must figure out for yourself

as we approach this stage in the life of the churches,

know your ranking in the spirit realm.

Know your ranking in the spirit realm.

As in, know what you are presently able to do

with absolute confidence in the person of Christ

and stay within it and do not step into presumption.

Know your ranking in the spirit realm.

What am I confident of in Christ?

I'm not here to do what someone else does.

I'm not here to mouth off scriptures

and pretend to be bold and brave.

I'm not here to pull out people's teeth

or do things to demons, this or that.

No, I know what I am presently confident of doing in Christ.

I intend to grow more in it tomorrow.

But present, this is where I'm at.

And therefore, it is within these boundaries

that I operate.

Because whenever you begin to imitate or copy someone

or step into pet phrases that are being bandied around

in churches, then you step into presumption

and the enemy is just waiting for brute beasts

who do not know what they are saying

and begin to touch things that are spiritual

that they have no idea of.

Jude, I'm quoting from Jude.

Well, not Jude, from Peter or Jude, one of them.

Jude.

Yeah.

Whenever we step off the page,

there is always a movement beyond the comfortable level.

Yeah.

There is a stretching in the sense of

from what you previously used to a comfortable

with your campus, to a comfortable with your campus.

Yeah.

How do we do that?

Guys, whenever you're invited,

whenever there's a stretching of faith,

it's usually because, I pray God that we have come

to a place where whenever there's a stretching of faith,

you know it's because of an invitation from God.

Faith is only stretched by God

because he knows that Jacob thinks

he is capable to stand behind this pew.

But I know God says that he can take two more steps,

but he doesn't know it.

So what God does is he sometimes orchestrates circumstances

or puts me in situations where I find myself without help.

I'm alone at Penny Hill,

and I now have to wrestle something

that I didn't think I was ready for.

And in the process, I find that,

oh shucks, I have the muscle for it.

So I'm stretched, but God is the one who does the stretching.

He even arranges adversaries that I can beat.

They look more powerful than me,

but God knows that these are adversaries I can beat.

He selects your opponents because he knows your strength.

The one who doesn't know your strength is you.

So whenever faith is stretched,

it is stretched because he's inviting you,

and that is the best way to grow your faith.

Otherwise, you step into things

that you necessarily were not invited into,

and then you can't understand

why you were not fully successful.

Both have happened to me.

And one of the things is, guys,

if you want to know your ranking in the spirit,

you have to walk with others who are better than you.

Only then will you find out how good you are.

I mean, I have won so many 100-meter sprints in my life

when I've run alone, meaning there's no competition.

I always win those races.

But put another guy with me,

and now I'm struggling because they always beat me.

Any race that you run alone, you will always win.

You only know your ranking when you are with a few others.

Mediocrity is always exposed when passion shows up.

Mediocrity is always exposed when passion shows up.

So how do I know I'm mediocre

when I begin to run with people

who are more passionate than me?

But if I run with people who are not as passionate as me,

I always think I'm top dog,

till I suddenly find that there are other dogs

better than me.

So I'm not a top dog.

I'm a top dog.

I'm a top dog.

No, you're ranking in the spirit.

Sometimes when I step into things that I'm not sure of,

I'll even go and ask people around me saying,

hey, I just spoke that out, I just said that.

What do you think?

Do you think that is foolish?

Because it might be something I've never attempted before,

but I want to be sure.

Any thoughts, any questions?

Or whatever you want to say.

any questions. I'm not trying to instill fear, I'm trying to instill prudence.

Because otherwise the spirit realm can engage a fool who is walking in

presumption to drown. It's not too difficult to understand guys, God will

invite you into things that are beyond you. Walk in confidence in what you know

and when he puts you in situations where now it is beyond you, trust that just

like Prashanth did, you will have everything that you need to say, do, think

that it will be present and you'll come out victorious because he wears the

victors crown. But be confident of whatever you do because anything that

is not done in faith is sin and faith is rooted in a person and so your

confidence comes from what you know of that person, your relationship with the

person, how you've tried that person, tested that person, what you know of that

person, the amount of his substance in you, that is what you base things out of.

When you step beyond that, that's when it's foolish. It's not complicated, we

just think it's complicated. Yeah and this is so common in Christianity where

we imitate someone who says something or does something without actually having

the knowledge of it. I love Caleb, the guy knew what he was made of. There was

another guy called Barzilai. Barzilai was 80. David says to Barzilai, hey Barzilai

come I'm gonna be king, you can come and reign with me. Barzilai says I'm just an

80 year old, leave me alone here, my tongue will not taste your food and my

eyes will not see those pleasures and so the guy stays behind and David says okay

I'll take your son with me and his son's name is Kim Ham and he takes Kim Ham

with him and so now along comes Caleb. Caleb's 84. Caleb's 84 and he goes up to

Moses and he says give me those hills. Why? Because in those hills are the

anachs and who are the anachs? They're about twice my height and what else do

they have? They've got chariots with wheels that have like iron that will cut

other chariots asunder. Give me those hills, I'll take them. Oh to

Joshua, sorry not to Moses, thanks I do. Someone is awake and so and Joshua

gives them the hills of Anak. This man knew what he had inside him and based on

that it wasn't a presumption, it was a stretch at 84. This is when you

can walk further and take what is yours and is waiting to be taken. Guys we'll

get there, shucks we'll get there but we have to get there. Here are some

critical steps to staying within bounds.

First step, discover and discern the prophetic word over the church you

belong to or the house you belong to and over your life. Discover and discern the

prophetic word over your house as in the church you belong to and over your life

or even over your family. It'll give you an idea of the grace that God has given

you, the location you're supposed to operate in and the things you're

supposed to do. Camp by your own standard. Each tribe they would arrange

themselves in a shape like this, there would be three tribes here, three tribes

here, three tribes here, three tribes here, each would have a standard that they would

camp by. So Judah would be the one who is right up here north and they would

always be on the forefront. They knew what they were called to. When you go

into Deuteronomy 33 and Exodus 49, no, yeah, let's assume it's somewhere there.

It is, you will find that each tribe had its standard, each tribe had its trait

and so if you can discover and then discern that this is what God has said

over this church that I belong to and this is what God has said over this

family that I'm raising up, this is what God has said over my life, then you're

able to know that, ah, so during this time in my life this is what's gonna happen.

I will be able to function here in this location, operate this way. Things will

work out guys. You know, last year I told you this, I'm leaving Mongolia and this

guy, big guy, huh, like this is a big Mongolian guy and he looks like he just

came riding out of the hills and he comes and he gives me a white stone and

a sling and he says I don't know why I'm giving you this white stone and this

sling but all I know is that this white stone and this sling are a prophetic

action. I don't even know what prophetic action I'm, this is supposed to convey

but here is a white stone and here is a sling and I'm talking about an actual

sling like that he made with his own hands. The kind of sling that you go, that

sound comes when you turn it and you let go of that stone and it'll hurt man. I've

not tried it in my house because it's too small but I even last night I was

swinging that sling and I've left it on my center table because I know what it

means. I know what slings bring down but ever since it was given to me I know

what has transpired in my life in terms of what I can take down and what I could

not do before I can do now. But why give this anecdote just so that you understand

that there are things that are happening in your life, things spoken over your

life, things spoken over the church you are part of, things spoken over your

family that if you could treasure they will change you inside so that you now

will not break boundaries. You know that this is the area allocated to me at

present and in this area I'll function really well. This happens every day at

work, in your school, in your office, it happens every day. Your principal comes

and tells you this is the area that you're supposed to operate in. You've

been here for seven years this is now what you can do. You can now copy free on

the photocopy or whatever you want or you can eat in the staff room or you can

play the piano whenever you want. Your boundaries expand. It's one really cool

way of staying within boundaries. Camp by your standard because everybody in this

church has an idea of it. There's nobody who doesn't. Embrace it. You will know

where you will be located and it'll always be beyond you, always be beyond you,

always be beyond you. You think I wasn't scared that night in Jodhpur? I woke up

twice and then I went to sleep because I knew there was no need to be scared. You

think Prashant wasn't fearful his initial response was yes I was fearful.

Any questions? Please guys sometimes things may not, if it is really not clear

ask questions. If it's kind of hazy don't ask questions because it will become

clearer later. Hazy is good. Murky is bad. There's hardly any difference.

Okay it must be hazy right? It's all good.

The next. Your inheritance is connected to someone and some people. Your

inheritance is connected to someone and some people that God has brought into

your life. That God has brought into your life. It's impossible to get all that

God has reserved for you till you're connected to someone and to a people

group because that's the only way you can begin to receive the inheritance

God has for you. If you don't have a house, a person who has many houses

doesn't get an inheritance. An orphan doesn't get an inheritance. Find your

house and find your father and you will thrive in your inheritance. And my

father I'm not talking about me. I'm not talking about some pastor. I'm not

talking all I mean is connect with guys who can pour into your lives like

fathers do. Just leave it at that. I'm not even talking about fathers and sons

and stuff like that. Connect yourself to a people group because you have to have

a house that you belong to. It's so critical. Everybody knows that in the

natural but somehow when it comes to the spiritual we take liberties and yet God

very clearly says in 1 Corinthians 15 first the physical then the spiritual.

What are we trying to say here? In the physical we know that you can belong to

multiple houses and yet if you don't have a family name you do not get an

inheritance. You also know that an orphan does not have an inheritance

because he does not have a father. Well then if that is how it is in the

think that physical institution came from from what God had already established

and that is why it's critical that I keep repeating the word critical too

often that your inheritance is connected to a group of people or a house and your

inheritance is connected to ones who like fathers can pour into your life and

what do you mean by inheritance? Everything that God has for you here on

earth will become yours when these aspects align. Challenge me on that

question me on that. I'll give you story after story in the Bible where this is

true story after story after story. There won't be a Paul without a Barnabas

there won't be a Timothy without a Paul there won't be an Elisha without an

Elijah there won't be a Peter without a Jesus there won't be a Barnabas without

a Paul there won't be an Isaac without an Abraham there won't be a Jacob

without an Isaac it is just continuous the Bible is full of people to the

extent that God says in Psalms that I put the solitary in families one must

have these two connections they are vital for our fullness of inheritance

and once you have this you know aha this yesterday Aaron and I were talking

about our family names he's got a funny family name mine is funnier but the

point is this that because of that unless Jeevan goes and steals both our

inheritances which he is very capable of because he has his amazing ability of

going and speaking to your mom and taking your inheritance away just

warning you guys but if you can prevent that from happening it is likely that

because you have a family name certain things will come to you and therefore

find your house and find ones that you can connect to as fathers who can pour

into your life and if it not be in this church find it somewhere else you can be

a part of this house and find people who pour into your lives because you will

get your inheritance you must and what do I mean by inheritance I know I'm

repeating myself it is what God has for you here on earth to fulfill to complete

to enjoy that was allocated before you even born but someone has to come and

help you discover it you have to do nothing inheritance is a never worked

for they're always obtained and they obtained through one simple thing

relationship that is a mind-boggling part of it you have to do nothing to

it is obtained through relationship and that is why it is so hard to get it

because we'll have to cultivate relationship

so if you don't know your inheritance what happens is you start moving ancient

landmarks and you cross boundaries because you don't know what is yours

right so if this is tasty you'll go and take some of that if that's tasty you'll

go to someone take some of this and the Bible says do not move ancient landmarks

those fences I have allotted are meant for you meant for you work in them as

you do I'll expand your boundaries but don't keep going into third don't let

your impatience your inability to say no especially for us Canadians your

empathy or your tendency to take up causes provoke you to cross boundaries

let me read that again don't let your impatience with the process ah this is

taking too long they're offering me this ah this is taking too long I can go take

that ah this is taking too long now don't let your impatience don't let your

inability to say no don't let your empathy and don't let your tendency to

take up causes provoke you to cross boundaries I think of Jehoshaphat who

almost lost his life because he did not know how to say no to Ahab in first

Kings 22 Ahab asked Jehoshaphat to join him in the battle

Jehoshaphat knew better he was known as a godly king but he did not know how to

say no to Ahab and so Ahab then gets him to dress up like Ahab and so now

there are people pursuing him want to shoot arrows at him and Jehoshaphat

escapes by the seat of his pants because he agreed to go into an alliance and

did not know how to say no now the guy that I really feel bad about in Luke

Luke 15 · chapter mention

chapter 15 is Barnabas here was a man who in Acts 13 the Holy Spirit said set

aside for me Barnabas and Saul but his empathy for John Mark who had left them

in an earlier journey his empathy for John Mark resulted in an argument that

had Barnabas disappear from the New Testament never hear of him again

let not your empathy let not your impatience let not your inability to

say no and let not your tendency to take up causes provoke you into

crossing boundaries because Jehoshaphat nearly lost his life and got deceived by

lying spirits that were active in Ahab's life any questions which one oh do not

let your empathy your inability to say no this is something so many of us

struggle with inability to say no your impatience or your tendency to take up

causes tendency to take up causes tendency to take up causes result in

you crossing boundaries examples sometimes I wonder and this is just a

wonder so I could be completely wrong sometimes I wonder if John the Baptist

had left Herod and his wife and the marriage alone then would he have had

his head cut off was that something he was supposed to do or not supposed to do

just a thought I don't know I got to know the causes I'm supposed to take up

now what I said about John the Baptist's supposition I could be completely wrong

but take up causes that you're being asked to take up fourthly regardless

regardless of flattery where people flatter you regardless of invitation

regardless of the excitement of doing something regardless of the pressure

that a pastor may put on you regardless of circumstances regardless of leadership

that may be defective when you know that this is what God is at present calling

you to then don't break the boundaries of the Holy Spirit that the Holy Spirit

has placed around you come nicely and say to me if I ask you to do something

that you know you are very sure is not your cup of tea that hey Jacob this is

what I feel the Lord saying and trust me if it is God and I pray God that I

recognize it I won't push you

sometimes you just have to know and you got it's a very fine line between

stubbornness and confidence because one shifts into the other easily but

regardless of how much someone flatters you how much summer regardless of

invitation regardless of excitement regardless of pressure regardless of

fame regardless of circumstances regardless of leadership that may be

defective don't break boundaries that the Spirit of God has presently set

around you in Jude chapter 1 verse 6 and 9 Michael the archangel knew his

Jude 1:6

boundaries with Lucifer so they're arguing about the body of Moses and even

then Michael the archangel the chief of angels who has far greater power now

because Lucifer has been cast out Michael the archangel does not cross

boundaries in his addressing of Lucifer and yet we also see in verse 9 that

there were angels that left their boundaries and God put them in chains

and locked them up it is a transgression that is committed long ago but it is a

fatal angelic transgression and many of them are locked up because of it and if

that is how God deals with angels how does he deal with his own because

judgment first begins in the house of God

I was invited three months ago to this meeting in New York where a very famous

guy is coming I was invited to lead worship there and sit with a guy and do

some other stuff and the guy was inviting me was a really good friend and

I had to say no because I know the boundaries that I'm not supposed to

cross and I know the boundaries I'm not supposed to enter into and yet think of

this guys you've heard me talk about how one day there will be a time and we will

set up something in New York you know that I've I went there and spent two

days there and despite all that it doesn't matter that an invitation comes

that them flatly might come that people will pay a ticket for it it doesn't

mean squat if it is crossing boundaries that are set for you by God or crossing

into boundaries that you know which is Greek for something is wrong with the

whole thing yeah don't worry that was just a Hindi phrase fifthly the fourth

point is it doesn't it doesn't matter that people may flatter you people may

invite you know that if this is the realm I'm supposed to at present stain

then I'll stay within it because in this realm I'm confident until till it's an

invitation that I know is from God and you usually know it is from God because

he speaks before anyone else speaks about it or he's already started stirring

it up inside he hasn't said anything but when someone says it you know that

something about this is yeah clicking you haven't heard it before no one said

it to you before but when it is being told you know that so for me when I'm

talking to people over the last 10 days about something set up in the Amazon

something set up in Africa and then she pulls out the song and says it I'm

thrilled that she's leading worship today because I wouldn't have ever

attempted that song so in the Amazon rainforest and the African plains if

believers can for me that is like confirming something that I've been

holding in my heart for a while has God spoken directly to me no but has it been

stirring absolutely yes so a song like that does wonders for me some of us are

going through really difficult situations right now really difficult

situations but the thing in difficult situations is to quickly latch on to old

rhythms of God and your difficult situations will fade away just like that

song says guys I'm telling you in really difficult situations find yourself in

the eye of the storm head for the eye of the storm because that's where there is

no storm head for the center of that storm stand there and recover the face

of God and you do that and that song goes into effect turn your face upon

Jesus look full at his wonderful face and the things of the earth will go

strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace I guarantee you I guarantee

you this external factors are supposed to rob us of God what if in the external

pressures that are on you they chase you to God's face again can you imagine

what happens to the stone I got a close so yeah an invitation to ministry or a

God project or opportunity is not a divine commission you must know your

Macedonian call and remember whenever you're given a mandate the devil will

try to tempt you to short-circuit it he did that with Jesus and whenever you're

given a mandated by God the devil will try to short-circuit it stop me if I

told you the story have I okay I went and prophesied on someone in a certain

country and the guy gave me some money and I told you the story

no this happened yeah happened six months ago prophesied on this guy and

felt that the guy was not a straight guy he was a little crooked but he gave me

some money and insisted that I take it as a gift he's a very wealthy person so

took the money went back to that city six months ago and the guy called again

said you're in town could you come and pray and I'm asking God should I go or

should I not go and God is not answering and then the guy is giving me the choice

you can come home and pray or I can come to you and I'm asking God should I go to

his house or should I stay and God's not answering and inside me I also know that

if I go and pray for him it's going to give me money and I'm asking God and he's

not answering so I asked these friends of mine to drive me to this guy's house

and I pray for him and he's still not straightened out his ways and I know as

I'm praying there that something about this is not right I finished praying and

this time he gives me three times the money that he last gave me and I knew he

would do it and I did my usual no thank you no thank you but he gave it and I

took it and soon as I got back to Vancouver I for seven days was in such

horrible pain that I've never been in my life before I'm standing in faith I'm

praying for healing I'm doing this I'm doing that nothing is happening I'm

saying God what is happening and then I just felt that in some strange way I had

peddled a gift because I and I suddenly realized that the one of the reasons God

wasn't saying anything was for this one time he wanted to test my heart just

like Hezekiah's heart was tested and I failed I remember soon as I realized and

took me seven days to realize soon as I realized I took the entire money send it

to someone in that country and told them go return it to this man and tell him

that I just want to bless him and use it for his ministry and I added a little

more than he gave me and send it back and the moment I called this guy and

told him to do it my pain ended break the hedge and the serpent will bite I've

learned both ways guys you guys have to go okay you can get up and go and I'll

make my usual announcement oh that's what I meant have a safe flight sorry so

when are you back I did this time okay and then when are you leaving again is

this a shopping trip to Germany yeah break the head in the serpent will bite

guys stay within boundaries they know your know when God is inviting you when

it's not God because every time you're given a mandate Satan will try to help

you short-circuit it and he tried this with Jesus bow to me and I'll give you

everything that you want without you having to go to the cross I'll give you

everything you came to make the kingdoms of the world the kingdom of God well

take it just bow to me you have the power turn the stones into bread and you can have what you want

yep don't do something unless don't respond to invitations just because

you know it's God please understand that this message is important at this time

because of what this church is heading towards you'll have to trust me on that

one you'll have to trust me on that one lastly God's grace keeps you and

sustains you when you operate within your boundaries but while you're

operating within it keep preparing diligently keep studying keep

apprenticing keep practicing keep order God's grace will keep you and sustain

you when you operate within your present domain but prepare for it

diligently study apprentice practice submit as you do he'll expand things

like nobody else can guys and by the way don't step out of what God has asked you

to do just because you think the job is done God may say polish this chair right

this what do you call these things pew polish this through here and so you

polish it and you polish it right till where he told you to then you look at it

and say great job and you walk off he didn't ask you to walk off stick with it

if he doesn't tell you to stop keep polishing it Karate Kid keep doing it

nobody asked you to quit so but father it's shining like I can see my face in

it well shine it some more Sun you have no right to quit the divine mandate

because it is not yours to quit it is divine I can't quit acts 29 regardless

of how things may happen out of the places still I'm told to quit I cannot

Elijah did and he went to heaven a little early

let's avoid adversaries we have one adversary let's just deal with him as

God shows us how to deal with him why why deal with unnecessary flights fights

let's avoid adversaries let's avoid affliction because the spirit of

affliction is one of the spirits that waits to take advantage of those that

break order Saul King Saul broke order in offering the sacrifice in first

Samuel 13 8 and 9 and he took matters into his own hands in first Samuel 14

and he was afflicted by a distressing spirit Saul King Saul broke order in

offering sacrifice in first Samuel 13 and he took matter into took matters into

his own hands and in first Samuel 14 he's afflicted by a distressing spirit

and guys this is for some of us break alliances that you know are causing a

breach in the heads break alliances cast Jonah out cast Jonah out

I'm done cast even no sorry not even cause Jonah out sorry even the J&J just

got mixed up cast Jonah out break alliances some alliances are a breach

that won't be fixed till you cast Jonah out for a time for a time any questions

guys I'm done any questions let's pray father