The Father's Heart

So, last week we were talking about how we need to examine this thing about growing in the father

and we said if you want to grow in the father, and the reason we titled it growing in the father

is because we have to move through three stages. The first stage is I am the father's child,

then I come to a place where I get to know the father's heart, and then I get to a place where I am the father's son.

We said there is a difference between being a child and a son. We said how in Isaiah 9,6 it says unto us a child is born,

but unto us a son is given. I will try not to move around too much so that the feedback is a little less.

Anyway, so you start where you begin as the father's child, and guys this is not a phase that you leave and move on

and never come back to. Throughout my life I will go through this cycle of being the father's child,

learning his heart, becoming the father's son, growing in maturity, coming back to being a father's child,

learning his heart some more, growing in maturity. It's a cycle that continues, eh?

Because I am supposed to be childlike, and I am supposed to walk the earth as a mature son.

And what changes me from child to son is knowing the father's heart. That's what changes me.

So don't think we leave this stage behind. That's why today during the time of worship, if you heard what was being said,

it was that father there are times when you don't need worship, when all you need is that I come to you as a child.

I come running to you with the eagerness of a child, and just don't have anything to say.

Maybe give you a hug while that's all I can give you, and that's all I give you.

And those things are worth a million words. Those things are worth a hundred Matt Redmond songs and fifty Chris Tomlin songs.

So it doesn't matter, eh? What he sometimes wants us to do is come as a child. Just remember that.

You know, may I say something? Yes.

Chris got a little girl, she played the lullaby for outside. I was having, she came in, she got all the other two here.

And I hugged my back there, and then she went out again. Yeah.

And that's sometimes all that one needs to do. Sometimes I see posts from Rhonda about little things that Tate does,

where out of the blue he'll suddenly turn around and say to Rhonda that,

you're the most beautiful mum I know. And mums just fall for stuff like that, eh?

But it makes your day. This is how the father is. The father is not looking for worship.

That is something we look for. Because worship is a way of expressing our heart towards him.

Do not get stuck in worship. Worship is an avenue for expression. That is why we can't confine it to music.

But the heart of a child approaching a father, he's always welcoming. His arms are always open.

But I have to keep learning the father's heart so I can move from being the father's child to learning the father's heart to being the father's son.

And that's huge, eh? We haven't even touched it. I would suggest to you that none of us have really explored it.

Being the father's son as opposed to just being the father's child. I'm so looking forward to it.

And the father's heart is unchanging. The father's heart is unchanging. It's non-negotiable. It's non-negotiable.

The father's heart never changes. See, sometimes Hebrews 13, 8, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

We sometimes take that scripture and we adopt it to ourselves. No, no, no. You are supposed to change.

But the father is unchanging. Don't make that scripture yours. I am the same yesterday, today and forever. I do not change.

That's really dumb, eh? You must change. The father should stay unchanging.

He is non-negotiable. All his attributes are non-negotiable. They do not change. That's what makes him God.

I have to change. And so we talked about some of the father's heart attitudes two years ago.

I mean, some of them stand out and I try them out every week sometimes.

One of them was that, Father, I stand in your unadulterated goodness.

I stand forever, constantly in your unadulterated goodness. That was one of them.

The next one was, Father, you are embarrassingly lavish and extravagantly kind.

Father, you are embarrassingly lavish and extravagantly kind.

And I have said this many times, as I say these things about the father, you are thinking and I sometimes think,

who are we talking about? Is this the same God or some other God?

Because the God I know doesn't seem to appear like this because this is not our experience of him.

But like I said, it's non-negotiable. These are his attributes from the Bible and they don't change.

You and I haven't experienced space. We don't know what it is to float without gravity.

But there is a place like that. You're experiencing it or not experiencing it doesn't make it real or unreal.

It exists. This is who the father is.

The third one was, exceeding great reward and shield.

Father, you are my exceeding great reward and shield.

Fourth one, see what I am doing closeness.

Father, you are always saying, come see Jacob, come see what I am doing.

I want to show you, come close, I want to show you what I am doing.

Another one was, Jacob enjoying God.

As in he is a God who enjoys Jacob and his face is full of favor.

These are some of the attributes of the father.

We talked about that two years ago. I won't go there right now.

But let me sum up almost everything that the father is.

In one verse that David uttered and it was,

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

Nothing. Wow.

Nobody dares say that here on earth.

Because we haven't gotten there.

I don't know how David got there.

I don't know how David got there.

But if the father is someone whose heart I have learned,

then I will begin to say this.

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

The moment I say I lack nothing, we immediately think of measurables.

The moment I say I lack nothing, our minds are going to

things that can be measured that we lack.

I don't have the Stanley Cup yet.

I don't have millions in my bank account.

I don't have my own four bedroom house.

I don't have a Land Rover yet.

I don't have the iPad Pro.

I don't have the iPhone 7.

I don't have a cat. Sorry, that was not a prayer request.

That was a praise report. I don't have a cat.

These things, I mean, you can think of a hundred things

that you can come up with because these are all measurables.

The moment we say I lack nothing, we go and start seeing the things that we don't have.

And the moment you think of measurables, guys,

God is seen through lenses of deficit.

The moment we say the Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing,

you start thinking of all the things you lack.

And the moment you think of all the things you lack,

you begin to see God through glasses that show him through an array of deficit.

And he doesn't come out as the God he says he is

because we are measuring him through these lenses of

how much is in my bank account? Do I have a Land Rover?

Do I have the Stanley Cup yet? Do I have my own apartment?

Do I have as much as Sue does?

And the moment you do that, you're finished, eh?

It's a perfect thing to be said.

Guys, we have to go after the essentials

and then the measurables will be added to you.

And I'll explain that.

Go after the essentials and the measurables will be added to you.

You see this in Daniel chapter 1.

Daniel 1 · chapter mention

Here is Daniel. He's been taken with 19,000 other young men

to Babylon, which is like New York and Los Angeles and London put together.

It's the ultimate place to be in.

They're given scholarships. They're separated.

And they're separated for these reasons.

They are handsome. They have great aptitude.

They're well-groomed. They're from noble families.

They seem to learn fast. They're intelligent.

They have all these qualities.

And yet look at what Daniel does in verse 15 to 20.

Daniel goes up to the king's servant and he says,

Could you do us a favor?

Could we just throw away all these measurables?

Could we just stick with the essentials?

And here are the essentials.

We are Jewish boys.

We have a certain diet that we have to stick to.

I know the king has set up these fancy things before us.

We want to say no to this.

We want to stick to the essentials of what God has told us.

God can do and how we have to respond.

If we stick to this, why don't you test us for 10 days?

After 10 days, if you find us less than the others,

then we'll go back to eating what you want us to.

Ten days later, they check them out.

These boys look more brilliant than the rest.

The king calls all of them in.

And out of all of them, Daniel and the three boys were 10 times better

than the rest of the 18,956 people put together.

Ten times better.

Ten times better.

So what are these essentials?

We talked about these essentials some time ago.

Let me write them down.

Here are the essentials, seven essentials that God said he would provide.

Seven essentials that God said he would provide.

And my lack is always in these areas.

And these areas of lack will be taken away when we are in need.

And these areas of lack will be taken away when I find it

in the constancy and the attributes and the nature of the Father.

So here are the seven essentials.

The first one is dignity or worth.

The second one is authority.

The third one is blessing and provision, and we take each one apart.

Blessing and provision.

The fourth one is security.

The fifth one is freedom within order.

Freedom within order.

The sixth one is companionship and intimacy.

Companionship and intimacy.

And the seventh one is purpose.

These are seven essentials that God has promised right from the Garden of Eden to provide man.

Man cannot exist without these. God knows that.

And he said, I your Father.

Because remember, Adam is always known as the Son of God.

They trace the genealogy of Jesus and they call him the Son of God with a big S.

And they trace it up to Adam and when they come up to Adam in Luke 3.38,

I think it's Luke 3.38, it says, and Adam was the Son of God.

Adam's father, who is God, decided that I have made you, I know what you need.

And I will provide these seven essentials for you throughout.

When we say the Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

We immediately go to bank accounts, cars, apartments, the basic needs of life.

And God is saying, sure, that's part of it.

He's not dissing or diminishing that.

But he's saying there's something far greater than that that I want to give you.

I want to give you these seven essentials.

Dignity and worth, authority, blessing and provision, security,

freedom within boundaries, companionship and intimacy and purpose.

These seven essentials God intends to always provide.

Always provide.

This is what, as we look at this, you will realize,

it is possible for me to find these things in God.

And that I can get to a point where I will say, the Lord is my shepherd.

I lack nothing.

Any questions before we go on?

How do you need some pens?

Hockey was my favorite game, not basketball.

Any questions on this?

What a statement, the Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

I've been struggling with this over the last few days.

Father, I cannot say this.

There are areas in my life where I can say, ah, good, good Father.

Good, good Father is great.

I can sing it, I can say it, because I know this is Him.

But it's a whole different ball game when you move from good, good Father to I lack nothing.

I wanted to call up the kids and see them here at some point today.

And I wanted to ask them, so where do you go when you are scared?

What do you do when you need food?

What do you do when you're afraid at night?

What do you do when you have a math problem you cannot solve?

What do you do when you have a nightmare?

What do you do when you want some money to buy something?

What do you do when you have an owie?

What do you do when you have some bully beat you up?

What do you expect of your father to do?

And if I asked them that question, if they answered like children,

you'd be surprised at how the one thing that would continuously keep coming up was,

I lack nothing. I lack nothing. I lack nothing.

They'd either talk of their father or their mother.

It doesn't matter. Kids don't necessarily separate that.

It's only when we get a little older that we separate it.

It's one thing to say good, good Father. It's one thing to sing good, good Father.

It's another thing to come here.

This is huge, man.

The Lord is my, if you want to change the Lord is my shepherd, change his name.

God is my Father. I lack nothing.

And actually mean that because you lack nothing.

Sorry?

I would say it's contentment based on sufficiency.

Not contentment based on I have learned how to be content when I have plenty and when I have lack.

That's different. That's valid.

Paul does say that. Paul says, I have learned in plenty and in lack to be content.

We're not talking about that contentment because that is valid.

We're talking about a different kind of contentment where your contentment comes out of your sufficiency in God.

The strange thing is these children who would have sat here and answered

would still not have received the pocket money, would still not have received the breakfast,

would still not have the hurt of the owie go away, but they would be confident that they have it.

This is a different kind of contentment.

It's a contentment that comes out of sufficiency,

which should then combine with a contentment that learns how to be content in plenty and in lack.

Absolutely. These are the seven.

When I lack in these seven, I find myself having,

I find the deficits in my life are magnified so much so that they become the cares of the world that drown me.

But these seven essentials he's willing to provide.

It's been a great pleasure getting up in the morning over the last few days going over this,

saying, aha, this one I know a little bit, this one I'm not strong enough in it yet.

I got to work on and slowly begin to come to a place where I pray God that this whole church is able to say,

God is my father and I lack nothing.

All the Lord is my shepherd and I lack nothing. I lack nothing. Wow.

So the first one is dignity or worth.

The first one, I'm going to erase this.

I have asked even to put up these seven essentials on the website.

So you'll find it under notes maybe two or three days from now.

I had someone from India email saying, acts 29 website notes have to be updated.

The last time you put up notes was on December 28th. Could you please look into that?

Yeah. So guys, the first one is dignity or worth.

Heidi, we don't need pen.

Dignity or worth?

Guys, more than trying to figure out I'm made in the image of God, dignity.

Your dignity or worth may be summarized in three things which you have to work on for the rest of your life.

Because the world will attack this again and again and again and it attacked Jesus on this too.

And it's very simple.

The first part of dignity is if you want dignity or worth, I'm a much loved child.

My spirit has become one with God's spirit.

And the third one is I am the son that the father is raising up for himself.

In this is all dignity and worth recaptured.

This is the only place guys, nothing else will give you dignity and worth.

No position, no amount of money.

Because there will always be someone who will strip away your dignity.

Always be someone.

Doesn't matter how big and...

I mean would tabloids exist if they weren't rich and famous people who strip their dignity?

That's the only reason they exist.

TV channels would dry up if we didn't do that.

Satan is called the accuser.

Accusations fly like crazy.

But there's one accusation he cannot make.

He tried it with Jesus.

He said, if you are the son.

He would attack Jesus on his very essence, his sonship.

If you are the son.

This is one thing that you must build up on a regular basis.

Doesn't matter how young or how old you are.

Or how often you've done this.

This is under constant attack and this must be built again and again and again.

I'm a much loved child.

Who can take that away?

Where do children run when their dignity is stripped?

Back to the one place where their dignity is restored.

And where is that?

Into the arms of their mums and dads.

I'm a much loved child.

My spirit and his spirit have become one.

As in the spirit of God and my spirit have become one.

I am the temple.

It gives my body dignity.

It gives me dignity.

The Holy Spirit actually thinks that this body belongs to him.

You know what that does to someone who has no ministry credentials.

Has no degrees.

Is not a pastor.

Is nothing.

Your body belongs to God.

He thinks it's his own body and uses it as if it's his own body.

You know what it does to you?

And thirdly, I am the son the father is raising up for himself.

Psalm 80 11 or Psalm 84 11.

I am the son the father is raising up for himself.

Not for anybody else.

For himself he's raising me up.

You are the stalk my right hand has planted.

You are the son I'm raising up for myself.

Herein lies my dignity and worth.

Guys sometimes when I go for these really large conferences and really famous preachers come there.

If I don't run here no I'm finished.

Because I get scared, nervous, inferior, not good enough and all that stuff.

Because these are such high funder preachers that they've written books.

People are in awe of them.

And then along comes Jacob.

And thank God for this eh.

This is where all dignity lies.

You don't need position.

You don't need anything once you have this.

Pardon?

Anything that is added onto this is a fig leaf.

And there's nothing wrong with fig leaves.

But if you need a fig leaf for dignity then it's very easy to strip it off.

Yeah when Eddie first heard me speak he actually said to me that listen.

Don't try to copy others.

At best you will be a bad copy.

Why don't you be yourself?

Because I so badly wanted to be like the other speakers because they were so good.

At best he said you'll be a bad copy.

The second thing guys is authority.

Authority.

Find this guys.

If you don't find this you'll find yourself a loggerhead with the rest of the world.

Because every time my dignity is not found in God I'll set myself up as an idol.

I'll be an idol that requires dignity to be given to me.

I will require you to honor me.

Respect me.

Give me dignity.

And guess what?

Among 50 people there will be at least one or two who will laugh at me.

And when that happens I'm at loggerheads with them always.

Strife enters.

Because my dignity depends on how you treat me.

When I don't get the respect that I demand from you trouble happens man.

It doesn't mean we get walked over by people.

It just means I derive my dignity from here.

The second one is authority.

May I define authority this way?

It's the sound minded right.

The sound minded right.

As in one should have a sound mind when exerting authority.

A sound mind comes from God.

God says I have not given you a spirit of fear but a spirit of love and power and a sound mind.

So that's why I call it a sound minded right.

Authority is the sound minded right to enforce obedience.

Let me rephrase that.

Authority is the sound minded right to command and enforce obedience under God.

To command and enforce obedience under God.

Authority is the sound minded right to command and enforce obedience under God.

What are we talking about here?

That when God is my father I lack nothing.

These are seven essentials God said he would provide.

And one of the essentials was Jacob.

When I place you as a man on earth I give you authority.

And what is that authority?

Sound minded right to command and enforce obedience under me.

I give you that.

That is part of who you are.

When man was placed on the earth that was one of the first mandates given to man.

First mandates given to man.

What this requires is guys that I know what is under God.

You know when I was reading this I was walking around thinking really father?

So everything that is under you I must learn how to now exert authority over.

So father when Prashanta and Derek come up I can pray for the correction of their bodies

and the rebuking of their conditions because I have your essential given to me

to command and enforce obedience under you.

Sickness is something that is supposed to be enforced obedience over.

So I'll call them out father and we as a church will pray.

This is a God given right that we haven't fully embraced because we don't think it works.

Because we tried it a few times and it took five days.

So learn it.

Learn it.

I got another 50 years or 40 years to learn this.

I'm willing to learn it.

Guys I am not the man I was 10 years ago when Acts 29 started.

And I'm happy for the progress that has happened.

And I look forward to the progress again.

Why should we ever chicken out from these seven essentials just because it isn't happening in a week?

Keep at it.

Authority is a sound minded right to command and enforce obedience under God.

And so one must know what is under God.

And one must constantly train themselves by practice to distinguish between good and evil.

Hebrews 514 says those that are mature practice what they are taught.

And they constantly train themselves so that they can distinguish between what is God and what is not.

And once you do that you have this ability that.

Hebrews 514.

Let me give you an example.

Simple example that everybody knows.

Banks tell us feel money.

They know what is real and what is not.

How? Through constant practice.

To do what? To distinguish between good and evil.

Only then can you enforce authority over what is right and what is wrong.

Otherwise without practice it doesn't happen.

One can read the word for years and never practice it.

This is why the Bible says Jacob be a doer and not a hearer.

We can take these notes and never do anything with them.

Or do it for two days and then say another set of notes.

Great notes. Great preacher.

Put it away and never learn it.

Then you know what happens.

The other scripture from Isaiah comes to pass.

Hearing you do not hear.

Hearing you do not hear.

When do we become ones who hearing do not hear?

When we do not practice or become doers of what we hear.

That's when it happens.

Now what is happening to Israel and so that's what happened to their condition.

The third one.

Blessing and provision.

Blessing and provision.

Blessing and provision.

Any questions on these before I move on?

Any questions on those before I move on?

Blessing and provision.

Blessing and provision.

Blessing and provision.

These are basically spiritual and physical needs.

Spiritual and physical needs and wants.

Spiritual and physical needs and wants.

Spiritual and physical needs and wants.

Furnished out of his lavish kindness.

Furnished out of his lavish kindness.

Towards what end?

For life and godliness.

Both.

First Peter, second Peter talks about this.

What's blessing and provision for?

God is saying, hey Jacob, when I put you on earth, I as your father, your good good father,

your father who is perfect, your father whose attributes do not change,

I as your father, regardless of whether you were born in India,

Nandigama, Mexico, Brazil or Vancouver, regardless of where you were born,

I as your father decided that I would provide you this essential.

And here is this essential.

Do you see now why David says that, oh god, don't make me too rich in case I forget your ways,

don't make me too poor in case I go begging, but give me sufficiency.

This is a place of sufficiency and the next place after sufficiency,

there's lack, sufficiency and plenty.

This is a place of sufficiency.

And this is an essential god decided to provide.

Anytime you doubt god's intent, go back to Genesis 1, 2 and 3

and see what was provided in the garden and you will know god's intent.

He is the same unchanging god, yesterday, today and forever.

Anytime you doubt god's intent, look at what he planned for Adam and you will know.

Sin did not change god.

Sin changed man.

Stay with me on today, right to the end.

Try not, yeah, stay with me to the end because it will be good.

Meaning it will be good for us.

Meaning it will be good for us.

Spiritual and physical needs and wants furnished out of his lavish kindness

for life and godliness.

This is an essential he said he would provide.

So what if I'm not there yet?

I begin to have conversations with god about the saying,

father, this is an essential and I believe that you are both willing and able to do this.

Not just willing, you're able, not just able, you're willing.

Able and willing to do this.

So here I come, here I come.

Bring me from a place of present lack to a place of sufficiency.

When we get to the end of these seven, you will find that some of this will need a change of my thinking.

If god wants to bring me from lack into sufficiency, he may need to tweak a few things here.

And I'm willing.

I'm willing.

Any questions before we go on to the next one?

Okay.

Okay.

I was talking about this to the ladies at the ladies conference when we were talking about shames and reproaches.

One of the shames and reproaches that I used to really struggle with was this shame or reproach or condition of poverty

that I was in a few years after I came to Vancouver.

Where there were days when I'll give you these three instances that will show you where I was at and how this god proved himself true.

There were days when I would feel really terrible because I had a dollar for a junior whopper, but it needed a dollar six.

I forgot the tax and I didn't have it.

There were days when I would have three dollars in my pocket and I would go to the gas station and pretend that I'd forgotten my wallet

because it's embarrassing to ask the gas attendant to fill three dollars worth of gas.

But I needed to get to the next place.

And I would do desperate things.

Yet at some point this began to kick in.

That, oh God, you are someone who says you will provide us essentials.

And spiritual and physical needs and wants are furnished out of your lavish kindness.

There is a place for sowing and reaping and we talk about that in terms of money.

But know this, that God said before he talked about sowing and reaping, Jesus says in Matthew 6,

that look at the birds, they do not even toil or sow.

So as much as sowing and reaping is a principle that is valid, remember that everything comes out of his lavish kindness.

For what? For life and godliness.

Are these two things that God wants for every child of his here on earth?

Absolutely, life and godliness.

And as God began to change the way I thought and the way I lived, provision began to come.

Where some days I'm poorer than Jason and some days, because he's a kid,

and some days I'm richer than all of you put together.

But sufficiency.

Next one.

That's if we don't add Ryan to the mix because he's got a million in the bank.

Next one, security.

Security.

This is another essential God said he would provide.

Security.

Security as in what? As in he's my cleft in the rock that I can hide myself in.

My hiding place.

There are times when unfortunately we are afraid. Jesus wasn't, but we are.

That's the place we start, the cleft in the rock that I go hide myself in.

That's okay. We'll move from there to the next place, but we can start by hiding in the hiding place.

Though Jesus didn't need to because he was so confident of his father.

You can see why he's called the son of David.

David wrote, I lack nothing. Jesus lived, I lack nothing.

Started the cleft in the rock, then move on to the rest in the storm.

That's the next place.

You move from the cleft in the rock to the rest in the storm,

where even though the boat is being tossed about by waves, the carpenter is asleep at the stern.

Rest in the storm.

Where it's very hard to perturb you, you seem to have this ability to within 20 to 30 seconds to 2 minutes to 5 minutes

come to a place of rest regardless of what comes your way.

Rest in the storm.

And then the third stage after that is fearlessness in the face of Goliath,

where when you see Goliath you run towards him.

Go figure.

You run towards him.

Go figure.

You run towards him.

Can you imagine the number of businesses that would go kaput if we began to live like this?

Insurance, it would dry up.

Security would dry up.

All those things would dry up.

How can we live cleft in the rock, rest in the storm, fearlessness in the face of Goliath?

We live like that when suddenly God does become my life source and my shield.

My life source and my shield, where nothing else is my life source.

The moment something becomes my life source, I now have someone who can move me around like a puppet on a chain

because my security is in something else.

If my security is in Acts 29, Acts 29 can make me dance to its tune.

If my security is in the ministry I do, it will make me dance to its tune.

My security is in the money that I get, it will make me dance to its tune.

But when he is my life source, security then becomes a moot point.

We met with someone who was finding their security in $500 and was in the pro...

and might just block their destiny because of $500.

You'll be surprised at how in desperate times small amounts affect us.

I was staying in a place once for $500 and I was in a place where I was like,

I was staying in a place once for $550.

I couldn't bear the thought of letting it go because it was the only thing I had.

Man, if we can learn this when we are young, we will grow older much slower.

Blessed are May and Betty and Rachel and Matt and Jillian and Dawn and Crystal

and let's just leave it at that.

And Ryan and Max, not you Derek anymore.

Next one.

Next one.

Freedom under order.

Surprising this one, that this would be an essential that God is providing.

God is saying, hey Jacob, I want you to be so without any limitation.

I'm putting no restraint on you.

I'm putting no restriction on you.

Nothing.

All things are permissible.

Not all things are beneficial.

So I'll put around you this thing called order.

Within order you will learn how to function.

But I am putting no restraints on you.

No restraints on you.

I put you in this garden called Eden.

It's really wide.

You can run for days and you won't get to the end of it.

All of it is yours.

But let me introduce a little bit of order.

Don't eat from that tree.

Everything else is yours.

Do what you want.

Don't even think about it.

Do what you want.

Don't even wear clothes.

Just roam around.

I mean he didn't say that.

But talk about absolute no restraint, no limitations.

That's how they live, man.

God is saying this is what I want you at 29 to enter into.

My spirit is the spirit of absolute, absolute liberty.

Any ceiling, Jacob, that you put on yourself is not from me.

Any limitation you put on yourself is not from me.

I want you every year to be like an emergent butterfly

that breaks free from the pupa or the cocoon of the last year

and emerges vibrant, brilliant, unto the Father.

Unrestricted, limitless.

It'll open our minds to dream, guys.

The only covering is order.

Wherever you're functioning.

This is an essential given to man.

It'll be, it'll be.

As long as I live and I pray God that a true sun in this house

rises up to take over this house wherever the time is.

May we have this as one of our primary characteristics.

There'll be no restraints or limitations, no policies,

but great, great freedom.

Yeah.

Yeah, order is basically divinely ordained structures.

Like in a family it is father, mother, children.

Among siblings it's older brother and so on.

In a church it's the pastor and then leaders and so on.

Actually it's not.

In a church it's elders.

There's no pastor as a head.

In the work it's the boss and employees.

In the country it is the head of the state and people under.

On the road it's the traffic cop.

Everywhere God has ordained structures.

And the moment these structures are broken,

you and I will not prosper.

Our problem is when these structures are broken,

we either continue under it or we patch it up and say it's okay.

This is how we have to do.

Both are completely wrong.

You'll never prosper under it.

Every God ordained structure was given for one reason alone,

to allow my freedom to prosper.

To allow my freedom to prosper.

That's why all God ordained structures were given.

To allow my freedom to prosper.

Your children will not prosper if they did not have order at home.

And haven't we seen that?

Don't we see that?

But it's starting in the home.

It's not starting in the school.

Yes, it was wrong to take away...

Not wrong.

Yes, it was secular to take away prayer from school.

But far before that it disappeared from the house.

It's not taking away prayer from the house.

It's not taking away prayer from the house.

It's not taking away prayer from the house.

But far before that it disappeared from the house.

But at least they learned the fear of God in school.

Gisela, but where I learn things is in my home.

Yes, I do.

And therefore it's in the home that these things are built.

But you know the thing is, most children don't get born in those Christian rooms.

Probably.

Yes, that's true.

And they come from England.

I want to dance under the Son of God.

I want to dance under the Son of God.

I want to have such limitless imagination.

I want to have such limitlessness to my life.

I want it.

I want it.

The world is my oyster.

Whatever thingy.

That's how I want to think.

Not because I want to become something,

but because I want to be everything God wants me to be,

whenever he wants me to be, without even being known.

Without even being known.

Limitlessness, guys.

Freedom within order.

Sometimes when I see you and I see the potential in you,

my heart bursts.

I'm not exaggerating.

I'm not getting dramatic.

I'm not getting emotional.

Look, I'm absolutely plain faced.

My heart sometimes bursts because I can't rip you apart

and pull out what is within you.

So instead my heart bursts.

And it is not because I have eyes to see anything,

but because I do have the grace to see with the eyes of God

and see what is within you.

Freedom under order.

May this church increase in it.

These are essentials given to man.

It was given to Adam in the Garden of Eden.

What do you want to be?

You want to be Darwin for a change?

Go ahead, name all the animals.

But at least you know they came from me and you didn't come from a monkey.

So that was settled.

What else do you want to do?

Do you want to attend the garden?

Sure.

Go ahead, grow roses.

What do you want to do?

Want to learn about me?

Come.

What do you want to learn?

I'll come down every evening.

I'll come down every evening.

They got used to the sound of the rustling in the garden.

God was there.

Limitlessness.

Time for us to return.

If someone has to show the world, why not you?

Next one.

Ah, this is such a cool, enjoyable teaching.

Next thing is companionship and intimacy.

Companionship and intimacy.

Essential given to man.

Towards what?

This was towards why companionship and intimacy?

Towards holiness, purity, pleasure.

Holiness, purity, pleasure and maturity and oneness.

A whole lot of things there.

Maturity and oneness.

Why companionship and intimacy?

Towards holiness, towards purity.

We never think of marriage in terms of,

one of the reasons marriage was ordained is so that

we walk further in towards holiness.

Where does it say so?

Read Ephesians 5.25-30.

Makes it very evident.

Towards holiness, towards purity,

towards the pleasure of each other's company,

physical, emotional, relational, all those realms.

Towards maturity and towards oneness.

What are we talking about when we talk about companionship and intimacy?

We're talking about with somebody,

as in, again, within the order of marriage

or within the order of companionship as God has ordained it.

With somebody, with the body,

with your family, with the family of families,

which is a church, which is a family business actually.

The church is not just a family.

The church is a family business.

When it's just a family, we fellowship.

When it's a family business, after the fellowship,

we go out and are profitable.

With the Father, intimacy, companionship,

pleasure, purity, maturity, oneness with the Father.

Jesus kept saying this.

Father, John 17, his testament prayer,

he says, Oh Father, could you make Jacob and,

could you show Jacob how you and I are one

so that he can become one with us?

And then, fathers and sons,

fathers and sons within a household,

it's brilliant, guys.

I don't know, you'll have to ask the ones that

can stand up and say, okay, we are sons in the house.

You'll have to ask them, but I'll tell you something.

The way I have poured my life into sons here in this church

and in the world around,

it's worth something, man.

I've spared nothing.

I've poured my life, my money, my time.

I've poured everything.

You know why?

Because of these things.

It's towards holiness, it's towards purity,

it's towards pleasure, because I so enjoy it,

towards maturity.

Whose maturity?

Both mine and theirs, and towards oneness,

and towards this happening with the Father.

So absolutely nothing else wanted in return.

When does Marcus do anything for Ryan saying,

Ryan, I'm doing this for you, but you've got to take care

of me and Laurie when we get old.

He never does that.

What the son does is up to him.

Any questions before we go on to the last one?

Okay, last one is purpose.

Purpose.

Purpose is basically stewarding god-crafted seasons,

stewarding god-crafted seasons,

sorry, stewarding seasons of god-crafted works,

stewarding seasons of god-crafted works,

prepared before time, prepared before time.

And released now.

And released now.

That's what purpose is.

That's what purpose is.

Stewarding seasons of god-crafted works.

Guys, what god does in our lives,

one of the things I've found much to my irritation sometimes

is God will say, okay, for the next two years at Acts 29,

do this, and so I'll all be excited about it.

And so we'll have the State of the Union,

and we'll tell people this is what we're going to do.

And then eight months later God will say,

okay, and I also want you to do this.

And my mind is like, we haven't finished the first thing,

you're bringing a second thing.

And I've realized that God doesn't care too much

for my neatly arranged boxes and charts and stuff like that.

And just because he's told me to walk till Richmond

doesn't mean that I won't have to stop in Burnaby in between.

I'm learning that.

Many don't, eh?

I just got a WhatsApp from a pastor of a very large church

in another country who literally went in and gave in his resignation

because things were not working out.

And one of the questions I asked him was this.

Is it possible on your way to Jerusalem

to stop at Jairus' house at the well in Samaria

to speak to the Samaritan woman

and at the jarrison to cast out two demons

before you get to Jerusalem?

Or have you set your faith like Flint so towards Jerusalem

that people don't matter, nothing else matters.

There's a target, there's a goal that has to be achieved.

Let's go there.

That is how we work here on earth.

Jesus' journey was very different.

He's supposed to go and God says go to Samaria.

So he's sitting at a well, meets a Samaritan woman.

Then on his way someone else stops him and says,

Jairus' daughter has died so he's got to go there.

While he's going there a woman with an issue of blood touches him.

Now he's got to stop here.

And now as he's going they say leave that blind man alone

but now he has to stop with the blind man too.

Finally he gets to where he needs to get

because God is the marvelous orchestrator

and you will never be late

if these essentials are being provided by God.

You will never be late.

So purpose then is not I have to become this

or I have to do this and I have to finish it in this.

Purpose is now stewarding seasons of God.

Hey, yesterday didn't it feel like winter?

I almost had to turn the heat on.

And it's summer.

Stewarding seasons of God.

Can I be as excited every morning getting up

regardless of whether it's rain, snow or sun

and not expecting it to be a certain type?

Learning that, learning that.

Seasons of God crafted words.

God crafted words. Ephesians 2.10.

Prepared before time.

Prepared before time.

Before I was born these things were prepared for me.

And release now.

Release now.

I was absolutely sure that Acts 29 would only go to three places.

Mongolia, Vietnam, Nandigama.

What in the world is Nepal doing in between?

I don't know.

Seven essentials.

Guys, essentials God promised to provide.

This is important. Seasons of God crafted work.

We get so stuck with one thing that we cannot let go of it

till we finish it.

God's saying, stop being so controlling Jacob.

I learned a new word

at the Chris Tomlin concert last week.

It's called the obligal clap.

The obligal clap is when you clap in obligation.

It's called an obligal clap.

Why it comes to mind is much of what some of us are doing right now

is coming not out of obedience but out of obligation.

Much of what some of us are doing right now

is coming not out of obedience but out of obligation.

And sometimes you may need to step back and say

I know this is an obligation and I've been trying to fulfill it

but it is sucking me dry.

I need to step back from this, come back into a place of obedience

before I start obliging again.

Nothing wrong with obligation.

I hope that makes sense to some of you.

So let me conclude.

Jesus had no lack.

None of us can say that yet

but none of us walk here. That's why we can't say that yet.

But Jesus had no lack.

Because these seven essentials he knew his father would provide.

He was after all the last Adam.

He knew how this works.

Jesus had no lack.

Second point is none of these essentials are realized in independence or isolation.

None of these essentials are realized in independence or isolation.

As in, I've written it down this way.

The humility of mutual dependence is the avenue through which God banishes lack.

The humility of mutual dependence

is the avenue through which God banishes lack.

The humility of mutual dependence

is the avenue through which God banishes lack.

Take any of these and they don't work

on themselves. You would not need dignity or worth if you were living on Mount Everest.

You would have no authority to exert you if you were living on Mount Everest.

You wouldn't need freedom under order, order wouldn't exist if you were living alone.

Companionship and intimacy, I'm reminded of what Eddie said. Someone came and said to Eddie's

father, you know I'm a very spiritual person and Eddie's father said, who with?

At the end of the day none of these can be practiced in isolation.

Third point we already made, we will move from lack to sufficiency to plenty but first the

thinking must be changed. How do we change the thinking? By journeying deep into the father's

heart, by journeying deep into the father's heart. That's how we get to this place.

I've been doing that every morning saying I didn't know this the way I see it now. Help me to get to

a place where I can say the Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing because these seven essentials you

will provide I just have to keep diving into, diving into, keep going up the diving whatever

they call that thing till you get to the top and dive right in plunging into the father's

attributes and nature because all these things are provided by him. And the last thing is guys

hear his voice through all this, hear his voice, hear his voice when you're feeling like your

dignity is stripped, hear his voice, hear the father's voice calling his much-loved child back

when there is lack in your life hear his voice as he says hey when was the last time you were a

giver or hey why don't you invest it in this hear his voice or when you're scared hear his voice

come running I'll surround you with songs of deliverance I am your hiding place

here is voice it's a matter of seeking it seeking what seeking relationship

seeking the word seeking answers

and not seeking to please oneself think of this guys this is not in my notes but I'm just saying

this for every situation in my life and your life and in life in general God has already provided

the answer there is nothing on the face of the earth that I will meet for the rest of my life

that God is not aware of that God has not furnished in Christ and his finished work and answer nothing

and therefore when I'm standing here and I have a situation happening I can go this way or I can go

that way and I have to stand here and do just one thing and God will wait and watch because he's

provided me the answer and I have to seek him and I better have a relationship with him that's vibrant

I have to seek his word and I better be doing that I have to seek father which way is it the math way

I have to seek father which way is it the math way or is it the Gillian way which way because you have already provided me an answer

the only thing I have to be aware of is I won't seek this for myself I'll seek his pleasure Jesus

said the reason I make just judgments is because I have no desire to serve myself but to serve him

therefore my judgments are always right and so I stand here and God watches so let's assume that

it's a person who is lame God is provided for it and I'm standing and I'm about to say okay let

me see how you go about it this Jacob I'm thinking to myself all I have to do is hear how he wants to do it

sounds terribly simple it is Jesus got it right every time

and this is the way I'm supposed to do it and I hear God saying do this this and this

and I do it and without any effort without any drama without any Christian mumbo jumbo the guy starts walking

silver and gold have I none but such as I have I give thee in the name of Jesus Christ rise up and

walk and he rose up and walked acts three she talked about it two weeks ago really at the end

of the day it is a matter of getting it right in terms of God's judgments by just learning how to

hear better hear better hear better and remember one thing you can only do it for yourself

everybody else has to do it for themselves you have a degree of authority over those placed in

your charge and you can help them but even that you can do nothing about till they step up

till they step up nobody learned under a better teacher than Judas

and nobody saw love personified like those 12 nobody heard wisdom that the world longs for that

Solomon couldn't replicate as Judas did and nothing changed

at some point remember not to take on the responsibility of the lives others leave

but release them into the hands of God

thank you for listening I wanted to finish this I pray God that we go home and begin a practice

I pray God that we go home and begin a practice this thing it is rich it is far more than I have

preached as you go look at it the spirit of God will bring out things that I don't know

that you will find out so that you and I can stand very quickly and say the Lord is my shepherd I

lack nothing it's a huge thing it's one thing to say good good father it's another thing to say

I lack nothing bless you guys thank you yeah