Embracing Immanuel — God With Us, Part 2

When you rebel, it seems like you're so far off where God wants you to be.

But when you repent, you realize, like Jonah did, that fish was actually his underwater

uber ride to get him to where God wanted him all along anyway.

So when he repented, he just ended up where he should have been all along, amen?

This is to somebody here, you think you're so far gone, you're not that big and that bad,

I'm sorry to break it to you.

Welcome to the CityLight Church Podcast, thanks for joining us today, as we look into God's

Word and discover the hope and truth that he has for us.

If you want to connect with CityLight Church, feel free to visit us at citylightnyc.com,

that citylightnyc.com.

Pastor Boyan Jansik and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already

working in our hearts and minds.

As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you

are surrounded by His grace, and that He has a real hope and a future for you.

Welcome to those of you joining us online.

Before I continue ministering, can I just ask a small favor, this is just a personal thing,

I feel like Moses came and split the church, and so there's this like canyon, you see

it, right, right in the middle, and if you're a flexible individual and you're not already

married to the seat that you picked, maybe you're like, I didn't pick this seat, it picked

me and I will stay here, but if you're not married to your seat, I'd love it, yeah,

if you could, some people could just fill up that center spot.

Otherwise I have to be like a chameleon, you know, that has the eyes on the sides of

its head, and then all of you are on the sides.

Thank you, man, I'm, wow, hallelujah, let's keep drawing on the presence of God.

We're celebrating Christmas, so Merry Christmas everybody.

We're celebrating Emmanuel, God with us.

We're celebrating the incarnation of God being made flesh, dwelling among us.

One of Jesus's names is Emmanuel, God with us, and of course Emmanuel, he provided

a way for it to be Emmanuel all the time.

By going to the cross and dying in place of us, receiving in his body the punishment for

sin.

That's a great deal, I should be punished for my own sin.

Yet Jesus took my punishment on himself, and he did the same for you.

And so because of that and his death, burial and resurrection, the Holy Spirit came.

The Holy Spirit is available, and to every believer the Holy Spirit is available all the

time, so God is with you.

So because of God becoming with us, giving his life for us, now it's Emmanuel all the time.

So we're celebrating Christmas and really pursuing the presence of God, because the presence

of God is the answer to every single problem that you have, hallelujah.

The presence of God is everything, the presence of God satisfies you, it causes a divine contentment

to percolate out of your spirit, the presence of God delivers you, the presence of God

heals you.

The presence of God meets every need.

How many of you have doubt that if Jesus came to your house, he'd meet every need that

you have?

Of course he would.

He's come to your house, amen.

It's about tapping into his presence.

And it's important to be a church that doesn't just give lip service to the presence of God,

but actually host the presence of God, pursue the presence of God.

I don't want Jesus to be outside the seven golden lamp stands of city light, knocking,

saying, hey, will you let me in?

He should be Emmanuel, God with us all the time.

And so that's like number one.

That is so important.

And that is why Satan makes it his assignment to attack churches so they put the presence

of God on the back burner because your breakthrough, your promotion, your life's contentment,

satisfaction, you receiving your destiny from the Lord and walking in it.

It's all contingent on the presence of God.

So what does Satan do?

He comes in and he makes churches void of the presence and they get caught up in all

the other stuff and believe me, there's plenty of other stuff.

So you can just schedule the presence of God right out.

There's no waiting in his presence.

There's no lingering.

God forbid somebody lift their hands.

God forbid somebody get a breakthrough.

Usher's come and quiet him down right away.

I mean, you can't be a church and say you're actively pursuing the presence, but you haven't had any

laying out of hands in the last six months.

There's a laying out of hands.

Why is laying out of hands so important?

The Bible in Hebrews 6 actually says it's a principal doctrine.

It's very important.

You look at Jesus' ministry at a very touchy ministry, laid hands everywhere he went.

The Bible says Joshua was full of the spirit of wisdom because Moses laid hands on him.

Laying out of hands is a way of transferring the beautiful presence of Jesus.

That's why Satan attacks that.

That's why it's always so mocked in movies and culture, but the presence of the Lord comes

through the laying one of the ways it comes is the laying out of hands.

So every single service, we have a ministry team.

There's laying out of hands, hallelujah.

That's why we've taken these weeks and we are going into an extended time of worship.

And when we come into that worship, we've got to come with our best.

Remember, I taught a few weeks back on the first fruits and I was talking about how in the

book of Malachi, see every time.

In the book of Malachi, Malachi chapter 1, the prophet is rebuking the people because

Malachi 1 · chapter mention

they were bringing like their worst animals to give as an offering to the Lord.

Like they're going to fool God.

Like they have 20 sheep and they find the blind one with the wobbly ears, with the limp.

They're like, well, I'm going to sacrifice this one to the Lord.

What's the big deal?

It's going to die anyway.

And God said, no, I want your best.

That's not just about the offering, it's about your worship as well.

When you come into God's house, bring your best.

You sleepy, slap yourself.

Go use one of our bathrooms.

The water's always ice cold.

There is no hot water.

There's just some, you know, as contemporary of a city in New York is, right?

You always got all these buildings, hot water, maybe, sometimes if you're blessed, if you're

lucky.

Things of the time, though, it's like Moldova.

My wife has been all over the world.

You'd never guessed it, but when she was young, she went, spent six months in Moldova, six

months in Argentina, six months in Italy.

She said, she's still traumatized in Moldova.

You know that there is a country called Moldova, okay, yeah, right?

She's like, I'm traumatized there.

No hot water ever.

It was just ice water.

You know what, get that ice water on your face.

Whatever you got to do to come passionately to the Lord and bring him your best, because

that's how you're going to receive God's best.

I'm after your breakthrough.

I'm after you receiving all that Jesus has for you.

And if you come in and you're like, whatever, whatever, you know, you know, I mean,

what are you waiting for?

God to attack you?

Because that's the attitude.

Some people have, to me, if you're going to wake up and come all the way here, why then

come with a case, Sarah, Sarah, whatever will be, will be attitude.

Come aggressive, give God your best.

My family, they know the kids.

We actually never had to teach them, but you get them to pray.

They're not going to pray weak, man be pamby prayers.

They don't pray like they're bored, they're Lord.

We just want to thank you.

We just, because you're just so good, and we just, that we just, we just, just, just,

just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just as the most often word used in boring

prayers.

They come to God with passion.

There's something alive in them.

That's how they're going to tap in.

Where did it, they learned that from me and my wife.

Amen.

If we're going to pray, I don't care if I'm blessing the broccoli at dinner time, I'm

going to be talking about it and thinking, I'm like, I'm in fact talking to the living

God.

Amen.

It's a release of faith.

So why wake up and go through all that and then come in and just, like, all right, I'm

here.

Get what you need to get.

It starts in praise and worship.

Forgive him your best.

We make it so easy.

Like even if you don't know anything about anything, all you've got to do is read the

words.

You said, do I have to know how to sing?

No, you have me as an example.

Can I have an anti-innointing when it comes to singing?

Just read the words.

You said, well, I try that.

It doesn't do anything.

Try longer.

Keep reading the words.

Then as you're reading them, read them to Jesus.

Then add your version of some melody and harmony to it.

And you're real.

Oh, by like the third song, oh, something's happening here.

My heart is coming alive.

I'm sensing something.

The wind, the God is coming in and you see He's forming you and making you alive on

the inside.

All of a sudden, 20 minutes later, you're like, man, that crud that was hanging on me.

It's like hooks, nasty, medieval, rusty hooks that were in my back, got dislodged and

I feel better.

I feel stronger.

Later, I'm alive with the Zoey life of God.

Hallelujah.

Oh, I didn't know what to do.

I was worshiping.

Boom.

All of a sudden the answer is crystal.

Where did that come from?

I'm so glad you asked.

The Holy Ghost.

It happens in worship, amen.

But He's not going to attack you.

Some people are waiting for that.

You know why?

Because you're not that special.

Hallelujah.

I'm not that special.

No, because people look at the Apostle Paul.

The Apostle Paul got attacked.

When he was saw, mining his own business, actually it wasn't mining his own business, it's

on his way to kill some Christians.

Right in the donkey.

Got attacked him.

Blast him off his beast of burden.

Reveals himself.

Now, you could argue Paul really was hungry.

He said I was zealous, but in ignorance, but he was very zealous for Yahweh God.

And God attacked him with his presence, turned his whole life around.

In other words, when I say God attacked, God initiated.

But you know why he did that?

Because Paul's pretty special.

But you look at all the other examples in the Bible.

You never see Jesus running after somebody and say, please, let me bless you.

Can I lay hands on you, please?

Just come here for a second.

Can I just pray for you real quick?

No.

They chased after him.

In other words, God is a God that must be sought.

You do the pursuing.

Your life will be a miracle.

A series of miracles.

Hallelujah.

There's nothing like when you're living with one foot in the world because you've got

it in your life, but one foot in heaven, one foot in the supernatural, and you're walking

in beat with God's drum, and it's just like a portal of divine goodness is over you.

That comes from His presence, but it comes when you pursue Him.

So when we come together, come early, give your best, open your mouth.

That's always a good start, opening your mouth.

Don't let the worship team do the worshiping for you.

Hallelujah.

Thank you, Jesus, and then learn how to cultivate the presence of God.

You learn that as you pursue Him.

He will teach you one of the best ways, because there's lots of ways to get the anointing

in a place.

You can give the anointing into the place.

Because when you give and you give sacrificially the anointing, you can obviously sing to

the Lord and worship the anointing upon you.

You can read the word of God, and the anointing comes upon you.

Lots of ways.

But if you were to ask me, what's the best way to become susceptible to the Holy Ghost,

to like open myself up so that I'm tapping into God's presence all the time, I personally

would say soaking in God's presence, soaking, also known as waiting on the Lord, also

known as meditative prayer, aka contemplative prayer, aka sitting at his feet and hearing

his word.

You get what I'm saying.

I'm using a lot of synonyms describing the same thing.

Many blessings are promised to the person who will wait on the Lord, and yet your typical

Christian doesn't even know what weight means.

Like how do you wait on the Lord?

Somebody's like, I've been waiting for the Lord for six years.

When is He coming?

It's not weight like you wait for the F train.

Waiting on the Lord, one of the root words of that word, weight is tassel.

You see how Jews have those tassels coming up?

That tassels as a reminder, it means to intertwine like two chords, and it's hard to even put

into words.

That's why you have a tassel to remind you what it is.

It's hard, but when you've experienced it, you know exactly what it means.

When you're just not speaking and you're waiting on the Lord, and it's like your spirit

is being intertwined in His and His in Yours and He's right there, and now you're waiting

on the Lord.

That is a powerful thing.

That's why it's so uncomfortable, because it's so powerful.

It's excruciating at first, right?

No, we just got people who wait on the Lord three, four hours a day every day.

God bless you.

One day I'll be like you, but for me, I find it's painful when I haven't waited on

the Lord.

You know why it's painful?

Because you're used to doing stuff.

And when you wait on the Lord, you're doing nothing.

You're not even speaking.

He's like, I want to talk, don't talk.

Just wait.

Just soak.

Aaron's rod butted when he threw it down on the floor, and it just butted and produced

life when it was doing nothing and laying still on the floor.

The Bible says it gives us beloved gifts when they sleep, when they're in rest.

When you see everything about you and me as humans, we want to do stuff.

We want to perform.

We want to always be doing, doing, doing, and there's good doing, but sometimes you

got to not do anything so God can be God, and you can just be a human being and be and

stop with the doing.

And that's actually very painful and excruciating for people.

This was, I find that's compounded and multiplied and amplified today, because we have telephones.

So we're used to an injection of dopamine every 60 seconds of our life.

So the thought of actually being still in God's presence longer than 60 seconds is excruciating,

terrifying even.

But that's where the breakthrough is.

Because in that place of stillness, right, so many things happen.

Satan tells you you're a fool.

My mind is wandering.

Does God even appreciate this?

I mean, I'm not even feeling anything.

I know you're not, but just keep doing it.

Keep doing it no matter what you feel.

Any of your mind wanders?

It's all right.

Have it wander back.

Take a mind.

Come here and bring it right back and just think of Jesus and just worship Jesus.

Don't even talk.

Just like make your heart like a sponge and receive from Him.

In the beginning, you might not get anything.

You see, how long should I do that for?

I don't know.

However long.

Some of you have never done it, so 30 seconds is a marathon.

Do it for 30 seconds.

It's like a 500 pound person going, I'm going to get to the gym.

How long should I work out for?

Just get in the gym.

Clean up other people's weights.

They left behind.

That's a good enough workout as it is.

So how long should I work out?

You never work out before?

Do a minute.

It'll be a marathon for you.

Then the next day, do two.

Hallelujah.

And you will see your spirit begin to open up and the presence of God will increase on

you.

I believe God set this up because it's so counterintuitive.

It's like, what do I got to do to increase in the anointing, the precious anointing, the

supernatural anointing?

Surely, I got it.

How about a 40 day fast?

How about I got to evangelize the subways three hours a day?

I'm going to read 20 chapters of the Bible.

All those things are great, but He set it up in this weird way where all you got to do

is be.

Remember when Martha was all busy doing, was she doing bad things?

No, she was doing great things.

Growing up, fixing meals, nice Jewish meals, you know, good Jewish woman can't leave you

hungry, making that matzabal soup.

Excuse me, that was Martha.

Mary, she's just sitting at Jesus' feet doing nothing.

So much so that Martha's like, hey Jesus, are you going to rebuke my sister?

The lazy bones.

Not doing a thing, I'm here cooking up a storm.

And Jesus actually rebukes the busy, Martha says Martha, Martha, you're just so worried

about so many things.

Mary has chosen the bad or the part, the primary part, the first thing, to sit at my feet

and what, do a bunch of stuff, no, to receive, to sit at my feet and hear my word.

And it really is counter-intuitive.

It comes against our human pride where we want to achieve and perform and do things for

God.

And he's saying, I'm teaching you that when you just be in me, just rest in me, I will do

the work for you, hallelujah.

You should see my Sunday mornings, I'll wake up early this morning, I'll wake up at three.

What do you think I do?

I mean, you think if you like snuck up on me, I'd be in my office going, ah, devil,

and I'll bind you up, hey, I'll rebuke you up, and I'll bless you, no, I'm actually,

it looks so boring.

I'm sitting in my chair in my home office, it's like that, but I'm getting full, getting

fed, hallelujah, hallelujah.

See I pray God comes, I call it a can opener anointing, where he comes and he opens every

person and it's like when that lid pops and you're open to the presence of God, and he

do that in your life.

And that's what these meetings are about and have been about, and that's what really

city light is about, his presence, hallelujah.

Of course the baptism in the Holy Spirit helps tremendously, that's the doorway to the

supernatural.

I guess there's an assumption here, Tiffany, I'm assuming that people actually want the

presence of God, that's just silly me.

Of course that is most people, and I wouldn't have it any other way, we're not an in-bred

church where it's the same people every single Sunday.

Thank God we get guests, we get people seerching and seeking, and so some people just don't

even know what I'm talking about.

They think I'm about to give the announcements, wonder when the real pastor is going to come

up.

I don't, you know, who's this guy, this guy's coming up like Rainbow Bright, talking about

this, talking about that.

Even as the old guy come, a real serious like and point his index finger at me.

I'm just assuming you know to value the presence of God, they presence of God good, it can

bother, glory has departed bad.

Thank you Jesus, the Baptist and the Holy Spirit, and because we have so many people and people

get saved and people come and go and there's still people who don't even know what it is,

even though we talk about it pretty often.

And I got books about it, it's the first thing you see at the hospitality table, and they're

free.

But still, I'll ask people, hey, have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit?

I'll get all sorts of answers, like yeah, you baptized me last September.

No, that's baptism in water, baptism in the Holy Spirit is, you're not immersed in water,

you're immersed in the Holy Spirit, you're filled with the Holy Spirit, and then there

is this evidence, this manifestation, you start speaking a language, you never, ever

taught, you never, ever heard.

You mean like speaking in tongues, exactly like speaking in tongues, yeah, you'll speak

in tongues, it's powerful, life changing, oh, I don't know about that, once you read

some booklets, hallelujah, they'll change you, and it'll open you up to the supernatural,

otherwise you're just going to live in this natural world, and all you know is what you

can touch, what you can see, and you won't be able to figure out what God is doing behind

the scenes.

But when you're filled with the Holy Spirit, now the door opens wide, and that's when,

you know, Jesus said the Holy Spirit will tell you things to come.

He will lead you around, he'll show you what's around the corner, and the next bend, and

he will lead and guide you through life.

So if what I just said is brand new to you, and you're like, I mean, I kind of heard

about that, but not really, you can get filled with the Holy Spirit any time after service,

we have a whole ministry team, also you can do it alone, but I recommend you start off

with some people, because they're going to help you, they're, we say, what are they

going to help me with, they're going to help you get past you, and all the doubts that

come up, and they'll just help you be filled with the Holy Spirit, read the two booklets

first.

Remember the matrix?

There's a blue pill and a red pill?

One is a blue collar?

See I was wondering why didn't Neo take both pills?

I would have taken both, take both pills, take the red booklet, the blue booklet, they're

like a 15 minute read each, read them both, then read them again, and then don't just

wait, pursue the Lord, and watch what it does, hallelujah, God is so good, His presence

is life to me.

This question I was with a group of friends, and this question came up amongst a bunch of

other random questions, the question was, how many times have you been under general anesthesia?

Most people were like, well never, one guy was like, yeah, I was once, someone else was

like, yeah, once, another guy twice, most never.

And I said, well, I've been under over 30 times.

And they thought I was messed, they said, they thought I was confused, they said, well,

no, that's local, and I'm talking about general when you're completely, I'm like, what do

you think I'm talking about when the dentist stuck me in the mouth?

No, general, you're completely out.

Each time you feel like you're dying, come backwards, 10, 9, 8, over 30 times, I'm going

over 30 times.

And then I told them my testimony, I said, I fell into a deep, deep, catatonic depression,

twice.

I used to not know what depression was.

I thought it just meant someone is sad.

They got a bad case of the Mondays, the blues.

So I'd say something stupid, like, I'll go on your way, you know, rejoice by choice.

You can't rejoice by choice, you're not.

Depression isn't, you feel sad.

Depression is, you feel nothing.

And I felt nothing other than paralyzing anxiety.

You said, what must have been going through a rough time?

No, everything was awesome, my wife was awesome, kid's awesome, church awesome, life awesome,

somehow it was just, you know, at the end of the day, we're living these jars.

The jars of clay, these, the Bible says, we're earthen vessels, jars of clay, we're flesh,

and a whole lot of chemicals, and one of those chemicals goes off, and I'm in the corner

in the fetal position going, minister, minister, minister, and I couldn't do anything.

This might be TMI, but I would have to use the restroom, and I'm like, I've got to walk

from here to the bathroom.

So everything in my life is great, I'm praying, and of course, all my pastor friends, they

want to rebuke the demons, you know.

And yes, I understand demons can cause that, but a lot of times it's not demonic.

It's just what you're living in this world.

You're about, you know, you get a flu, you don't rebuke demons.

How come you get a depression, it's immediately demonic?

Sure they can come in afterwards and lean in on that, but anyway, I ended up in the mental

hospital where they greeted me by taking away my shoelaces and my belt.

My wife teased me, I had this whole new lingo, she was like, why do you got all this

stubble?

I was like, well, they have a no sharps policy, she's like, sharps, yeah, no sharps here.

You got all this mental hospital lingo.

You know, I love sharing the story, because whenever I do, I always a bunch of testimonies

like, oh, thank you, you know, people I would never expect saying I was going through

something, thanks for sharing that, but that's not the main reason I love sharing, that's

the second day we reason, the primary reason I love sharing it is because it cleanses

the church a little bit.

Some people like I don't know, he was in the mental hospital twice, I don't think I can

handle a pastor like that, I'm out of here.

But there is an upside, because if anybody tells you your pastor is crazy, you can say,

no, he's not, he's got the paperwork to prove it.

He's certified 100% mentally healthy now, he'll show you, he'll show you the bills.

How do you got great insurance and still, oh, 30 grand, but that's a whole another story.

So, I had to have ECT treatments, that's electro-convulsive therapy, because I was in this

catatonic state, I mean, I really, I wouldn't move, I was sleeping 15 hours a day, and it's

lasted for months, they had to pass an electro-current multiple times over 30 times through my brain,

each time putting me under anesthesia, to wake up parts of my brain that had fallen asleep.

The first time that happened, it happened because I was overly, overly medicated, you got

to be careful with all the stuff you put in your body.

And then I got back home, it's wonderfully woke up certain parts of my brain, you still

feel all sorts of wonkiness, but it, like, it races whole swaths of your life, you can't

remember.

So I forgot how to drive to church, I'm not kidding, I had to put in Google Maps how to

get back to church, I couldn't have done it on my own.

A very vivid memory stepping into my home shower for the first time and being absolutely

confused by all the potions and lotions, you know, that are in the shower caddy in the

corner.

I was like, mesmer, I was like, what is all that?

Why would anybody need all this stuff?

Oh yeah, I'm married, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

I'm like, I know I have a shower routine, everybody have a shower routine or is it different

each time?

I have a shower routine, right?

I forgot the routine, I was like, what do I, I think I'll start with the hair, shampoo.

Oh my daughter's here hearing this story.

Oh, I didn't expect to share this with you till you were about 15 but oh well, now,

now you know.

God, you should be in city kids, yet here you are, okay.

I need to hear about Daddy's exes that live in Texas, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

I wish you could see her, she's having a time of her life here.

What's she eating?

Popcorn?

She's sitting crisscross applesauce smiling like the Kool-Aid picture eating popcorn.

I'm sharing this because I thought the kids would never have a dad again.

I definitely thought I would never ever minister again, I've memorized hundreds of scriptures

throughout the decades, I forgot them all.

The first time preaching, I think I passed your moh was like a rock during that time, like

a rock.

He would always encourage me, not overtly, but encourage, then I would go to preach, not,

I mean, sermon, it's all scrambled eggs upstairs, forgot every scripture, yet I come in and

the anointing would come, that's why many of you didn't even know it.

And the presence of God changes everything, hallelujah.

And there is no pit too deep, I'm telling you, and that's why I actually don't mind,

I know, this is an, it could be potentially an embarrassing testimony, somebody could

take it from online, just isolate that, just isolate the clip.

I was in a mental house, we just prayed on, you know, I was in a mental house.

And then the voice goes, is this who you want to be your pastor?

Look at the colors in his sweater, see the unstable things he is sharing, not a healthy

man.

Well, I don't care if it'll benefit one person.

And the point is, it doesn't matter how low you fall, God is a restoreer, he's a redeemer,

and he really does pay you back.

He pays you back, he gives you double for your trouble, hallelujah.

You need to know that, that you can temporarily even swerve off God's path.

You know he has a plan for you, right?

He has a purpose, he has a destiny, sometimes you swerve off that path, and it's nothing

for God to bring you back.

In fact a lot of times people who swerved off the path don't want to come back to God

because they think it'll be an agonizing and excruciating process to come back to the

Lord and over time plug back in to the path that he said before you, it's actually as quick

as you want it to be.

You want proof?

Jonah.

Jonah was so, I want to be like this one day, he was so confident in the anointing on

his life and his preaching that he didn't like these people in Nineveh.

And God said, go preach to them, and Jonah is actually, no, because if I preach to them

they'll repent, and I don't like them, I don't want them to repent.

Isn't that, that'd be amazing.

I want to get to that level, where if I don't like somebody, I'm like don't come next

Sunday, I'm preaching I'm prosperity, and everybody who hears it, their whole financial

life is going to change around, and I don't want you there, I don't like you.

First time guest that's a joke, I actually like everyone here, okay man, I'm actually

very blessed to like the people that I pastor, hey man, hallelujah.

So listen to this, Jonah, he rebels against the plan of God as many of us have, and of

course judgment comes and he swallowed by a great fish, ends up in the belly of a whale,

which I won't get into all that, but you know, on the surface it sounds like a children's

story, like he was swallowed by a whale.

The Bible says that it was a great fish, and it actually the Hebrew word, you could look

this up, in the English it says God caused a great fish to swallow Jonah.

It actually means that God created a great fish.

So people who speculate, oh, was it Shamu, or was it a great white, or what kind of a fish,

you know, was it really crowded?

God could have created a fish the size of the Titanic.

It was one singular fish, God caused the fish, and when his job was done, God said,

I'd come back to heaven.

We got seas up here.

Hey man.

So he gets swallowed by this great fish, and he has this great prayer.

You should even pray over your life, because he prays it as though it was already answered.

Learn how to pray prayers that sound like they were already answered.

In the prayer while he's in the fish's belly, he said, I cried out to the Lord and he heard

me.

He didn't hear him yet, but he did have said it by faith.

And he said, you know, he's lamenting, so see we eat his wrapped around my head.

I remember thinking, that's what happens when you rebel against God, you're made into

sushi.

See we wrapped around my head.

And he cries out to God, repents, and the great fish spits him, spits him right out

onto the beaches of Nineveh.

Now, isn't that something?

Didn't spit him out like 50 miles away.

In other words, when you rebel, it seems like you're so far off where God wants you to be.

But when you repent, you realize, like Jonah did, that fish was actually his underwater

uber ride to get him to where God wanted him all along anyway.

So when he repented, he just ended up where he should have been all along, amen.

This is to somebody here, you think you're so far gone, you think that you're so powerful,

you messed up God's plans and purposes and destiny over your life, you're not that big

and that bad.

I'm sorry to break it to you, you're not that bad.

You think you are, but you're not, who's bad, not you, you're not that bad, you're not

better than God.

When you fall to your knees and repent, he brings you to where you need to be, hallelujah.

Let's read from the word, Psalm 16.

Hallelujah, hallelujah.

How a calante le revivantolo, la la manda, la la vasta, sarante le rechessonto.

Jesus move on your people.

I want you to just, on the inside, expect the supernatural, expect it, the interruptions

of God, the surprises of God.

You know what word is all, peppered throughout the gospels in the book of Acts, the word

suddenly, suddenly, suddenly that's how God comes suddenly, he changes everything around.

If you haven't had a suddenly in a while, I venture to say it's because you're not

expecting a suddenly.

Satan loves to whisper to you, you're just a dull person, with a dull life, and all you

will have is dullness, I've heard that voice many times.

You reject that voice, don't partner with that voice, they know Lord, I trust you for

your suddenly's, and then God will come with a suddenly, hallelujah, hallelujah.

Psalm 16, preserve me, oh God, for in you I put my trust, oh my soul, you see David,

he spoke to his soul, he spoke to it like it was outside of him.

Your soul is your mind, your will and your motions, but it's not the real you, it's just

a part of you, the real you is your spirit man.

You know, he would command his soul, bless the Lord, what are you doing, mind and complainants?

So, that being such a silly soul, be a smart soul, bless the Lord, oh my soul and all

that is within me.

Here he's saying, oh my soul, you have said to the Lord, you are my Lord, my goodness

is nothing apart from you, we all know that, don't we?

We have no goodness of our own, all our righteousness is as a filthy rag, we have nothing, nothing

good apart from Jesus.

As for the saints who are on the earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my

delight, that's the Psalm is taking pleasure in the people of God, amen, that's a good thing

to do.

I'm glad that I really, really like the people of city light, and thank you for being

so easily likable.

No really, there's pastors, I've heard this is a pastor joke, they're like, pastoring

is great, if you weren't for the people, you know, it's like this, but that must think

to live like that.

In fact, when I wanted to get encouraged by older pastors about being a pastor, I'd ask

him, so what it's like, and I would nine out of ten times always hear the most sad,

depressing stories.

One of them was like, be careful of sheep, because sheep buy, I'm 21 years old, tell me

something positive, launch me into my future, man.

She bite, all right, I mean they're not wolves, they're not lions, they bite, it's more

gum than teeth.

Some of them get confused, you know, you're feeding them and they get a little of the thumb,

it's all right.

You guys make it easy, you know, you're the kind of Christians are awesome people when

it's baked in the Holy Spirit.

You guys are the kind of people that a few weeks back, we can take a spontaneous two-minute

offering to help with an adoption and how much came in 18,000, 18,000 dollars comes in.

That's who you are, amen.

You're the kind of Christians that when it's, I'm not going to call what happened a few

weeks back, a snow storm, but when it's snowing, but most churches were shut down, you

come in, amen.

Hallelujah.

And you're very kind, I'm always getting reports of kindnesses and ministering and looking

out for one another.

Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another God, their drink offerings of

blood I will not offer nor take up their names on my lips, oh Lord, you, you, the presence

of God, oh Lord, you are the portion of my inheritance and my cup.

You maintain my lot.

The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places.

What does that mean?

The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places.

Yes, I have a good inheritance.

That's actually a real estate land term.

He's saying, you're a lot mint.

The boundaries that you've drawn for me, I receive them, I accept them, and I'm thankful

for them.

He's saying, my allotment is good.

Do you know every single one of us has an allotment?

I, because you know, we're, we're, we're fond of saying things like, hey, there's skip,

you can be whatever you want to be.

If you'll just look to the stars, that's not really true.

You know, you can't be whatever you want to be.

You can be with the Lord promised you you'd be and put inside you to be, hey man, I understand

the motivational aspect of it, but that's why there's a lot of miserable people still trying

to be something that God never created them to be.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

You know how many back in the day, would you believe that like 80%, I'm not exaggerating

back in 2007, 2006, 2000, because we only had a church in the East Village.

So over 80% of city life church was actors and actresses, and most of them terribly,

terribly frustrated, terribly because although they were actors and actresses, they were tired

of waiting tables, 60 hours a week.

And some, some, well, you know, one said, God showed me I'm going to get an Oscar.

You know, what do you say when someone says that?

Then she became a mother, never happier.

That's it, that's all I got to say, less than in there somewhere, you're thinking of one

example, but because somebody told her you can be, you can do it, shoot for the stars,

and she was miserable.

This is, and when I say she, I'm actually thinking of like six different people rolled

into one.

One became a teacher, so happy, got married, became parents, it wasn't for them, and

there's a contentment when they realized, oh, this is who I was made to be, amen.

And it's also wisdom to figure out why on earth you're here for, what has God created

you for?

Say, how do I do that?

I'm so glad you're asked.

Let's rewind the sermon 30 minutes because your answer is there.

Being on the Lord, you got to spend time in His presence so He can lead you and guide

you.

None of what I'm doing today was like a good idea that I had.

God came to me, I was six, you remember that mom?

What was I raised to be all of my life?

Every time, I did it every time I put the mic, are you sure, are you sure you're my mother?

Okay, I know I'm turning 50 in a few weeks, but this wasn't that long ago.

You and Dad pumped me with that, air all the time, you were a classic immigrant.

You doctor yet?

Come back when you doctor.

I know I did the accent, it's funny.

Huh?

No, nothing.

I thought you were saying something.

And then I come to you, I become a Christian, I've had crazy church out in Brooklyn.

And two weeks later, I'm telling you, I want to be a pastor.

Did you like that?

Of course, there wasn't a Christian mom and dad, they thought I'd lost my mind.

And guess what, there is no pathway to being a pastor.

You don't go to pastor school and there's no one who's not going to give you the keys

to a church.

Oh, you got your degree here, have a church.

There's no, you know, a apostle opera, you get a church and you get a church and everybody

gets a church.

So I have the calling, it's in my spirit, how do I do this thing?

How do I fulfill it?

There's no track, there's no.

And every pastor I shared it with, they would just go awesome, praise the Lord.

And I'm like, that's it?

See, I wanted, I wanted a Mr. Miyagi to come along, I needed a mentor, I needed a Obi-Wan

to my Luke to show me, it's like, I'm lost, I'm 22 years old, I'm about to graduate

college, totally secular education, how do I become a pastor?

Obi never came, Mr. Miyagi was too busy trimming the bonsai and catching the flies with

the chopsticks, never came.

Who came?

The Holy Ghost came.

He will teach you, I had no, you know, you have, you're at point A and God is showing

you point B.

The only problem is there's like a hundred little steps for May to be, right?

Everybody knows what I'm talking about.

How do you cross that great divide for May to be, being in his presence, listening in

your spirit and doing whatever he puts in your spirit to do?

And some of the stuff I was taught to do was crazy.

When I say crazy, don't get too carried away, I just mean not conventional, illogical,

weird and abnormal, yet you learn how to depend on the Lord, you learn and he leads you and

guides you and there is nothing I would, there is nothing, I can honestly say there's nothing

I would change about my life, nothing so grateful, so blessed, hallelujah, he will lead you and

guide his presence will teach you and take you step by step.

So why aren't so many people living in what the Bible calls their wealthy place?

Kenneth Hagen wrote a whole book about it, read it, you're frustrated where you are,

read plans, purposes and pursuits by Kenneth Hagen, a true prophet of God and the Lord

appeared to him and he showed him, he said, I'm taking you into your fourth and final stage

of ministry and Kenneth Hagen said there were three other phases and the Lord showed him,

three previous distinct phases of his ministry and is now entering into his fourth and he said,

many of my ministers never ever leave the first phase and the whole theme of the book he teaches

in that book how to hear from God, he teaches how to be led by God but he explains that many people

never leave the first phase because they don't seek the Lord. See right now I'm actually

as content as I am and God gave me enough wisdom to know I'm actually in a dangerous place

because many pastors fall asleep in their fifties especially when you're as happy as me.

See look the reality is some pastors are incredibly incredibly insecure, they don't know they're

loved in the Lord, they really don't, you think that they would but they don't know and so they're

always achieved, they're trying to achieve, they're trying to win God's love, win God's approval

and they'll work 18 hours a day, they'll do so much all hoping to get a pat on the head from the

Lord not knowing that he already gives his pat for free any time they'll receive him.

So I understand there's also a danger, I'm ministering some people who you're older

and you're like well this you know I kind of missed it if I didn't do this in my 20s,

it's never too late I'm at a place now where I'm seeking the Lord, Lord

and now I'm at I'm at I'm at point D how do I get to E you know E is us having our own building

E is us multiplying by about three four hundred percent

and how to do that and still have contented staff who can raise families

because my staff is blessed. Amen. Yeah, no really that's important you check the staff,

you know how you know the health of a church, check the employees, check the staff, usually the

pastor is great because he's got like six assistants somebody's massaging his feet in the back room

carrying his Bible for him and the staff are like miserable they totally pale giant bags underneath

their eyes they're working 60 hours a week all you know you got to work for Jesus you got to do

it for the Lord and the burnout rate is so quick no I don't believe that's healthy amen.

So I'm seeking the Lord of fresh will you join me?

I'm excited about the potential of 2026 anything can happen

hallelujah I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel

he's talking about the allotment that God has given him he's talking about the presence of God

and he's linking it to the voice of God the leading of the Holy Spirit I will bless the Lord who

who has given me counsel if you ever feel like saying I don't know what the Lord wants say this

instead someone asks you what are you going to do don't say I don't know what what I'm going to do

say I'll bless the Lord who's given me counsel and then he goes even further my heart what is

heart mean call it louder wait were you in the first service louder it's good answer but

somebody in the back what's your heart your organ boom boom boom boom boom no but these are important

things right you can't just lump it all together heart so people do that all the time they quote Jesus

wrong you know Jesus said love the Lord your God with all that stuff you know the heart mine soul

spirit throw in one of the you know esoteric thing in there they actually all mean something your

heart is your spirit how do you hear God in your spirit he's saying my heart instructs me in the

night seasons that could mean literally when he's sleeping also during the dark times when you

don't know what to do where does instruction come from council is good that's all fine and Andy

but God will instruct you in the night seasons hallelujah he will lead you in the way that you

should go he will whisper to you what to do next and that's why it's important to start developing

those spiritual senses quickly so that you don't try to develop them when you're already in a dark

season hey man learn how to hear God if you're having a great time right now you're not going through

a tough time perfect learn now hallelujah I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my

right hand see the intimacy there the Lord is at my right hand I shall not be moved don't say I

don't know if the Lord's with me say the Lord is at my right hand oh how are you so arrogant to say

that well I'm not he said that he said I'll never leave you no forsake you therefore my heart is

glad and my glory rejoices worship team come on up my flesh also will rest in hope for you will not

leave my soul and she'll nor will you allow your holy one to see corruption now let's just

stay that one verse this was obviously talking about Jesus as well and it's quoted in Acts

but none of these prophetic verses have only one application they have a two way application

one is this applies to the Messiah to Jesus God promised I won't allow you you know because Jesus was

in that sense he became sin and he became a curse the Bible says Jesus became a curse on the

cross so you could become blessed but the promise was you won't leave this his soul and she'll

nor will you allow your holy one to see corruption but the other application is for you

not just for the Messiah for you that God will protect you he will preserve you

when I was going through it my head was saying you're cooked you're done you're toast you're

finished there's there's no coming can anybody relate to me I wish I could just make you feel

what I felt you just completely just stick a fork in me I'm done one of that's why when I get

to heaven he's going to say well done though good because I'm well done

but he won't leave your soul in the place of the dead and he won't allow you to see corruption

verse 11 you will show me the path of life in your presence his fullness of joy shout this

out loud Lord you will show me the path of life in your presence his fullness of joy

at your right hand are pleasures forever more now shout a big hallelujah hallelujah

I pray you have a blessed blessed Christmas that it's sopping wet with the presence of God

I pray that you would become more more open to his presence that you would go on adventures and God

yeah and May 2026 be a tremendous year for you personally for the whole church

and that we increase in the glory hallelujah more testimonies more miracles more life transformations

more people getting blessed and promoted and that's what pushes God's buttons he's awesome hallelujah

well let's honor the Lord and worship him with our tides and offerings amen I want to just

draw your attention to the first fruits campaign that's separate from our tides and offerings

that's just a way for you to specifically give before it's even 2026 you're giving the first

which is the best and it's important our goal is a hundred thousand we just started this after

Thanksgiving right or right before Thanksgiving we're ready at 77 percent so this is what I ask

because it would be nice if we just got the whole hundred percent plus before January 1

so just ask the Lord what he'd have you give that's all I have to do I don't have to play the

games I don't have to be like mmm there's a woman here and you forgot how you raised your child

but the Lord is telling you to give a hundred thousand dollars right now there's a woman here

right now you need to give a hundred thousand dollars I can just ask you to ask the Lord

what what does he want you to give amen and then of course the giving information

hallelujah you remember some of the churches I took you to

when first God saved and I let my mom to the Lord they had this meeting the who's who in the

charismatic zoo at the javits this is early 90s you would know what kind of meetings if I said

the names but people Christianity was wild back then everybody in a 17-piece suit

pompadores and why did he insist on always having plants on the altars just you had it's like you

weren't having church unless you had a jungle behind you all plans decorating at the javits

and then it would be like a 45-minute offering teaching which I don't mind the two-hour offering

teaching when it's pure I'll take a six hour I love offering messages when when they're from

the word and there's no manipulation or hype or guilt and it's amazing really if you don't believe

in God you're silly because the fact that Christianity survived through all of that is a miracle

you have to believe in God the fact that I can take my mom who was saved like five minutes and

take her one of those meetings and she'd have to sit through that and then still believe in the

Lord and serve him is a miracle hallelujah yeah so give with a glad heart

heavenly father pour out on your people thank you that nothing is too difficult for you

thank you that you bless both the sower and the seed giver you multiply back to them thank you

for Holy Ghost surprises Lord and just like provoke some people through Jesus you told to Peter

you said to Peter I prayed for you that your faith failed not I prayed for them Lord

that their faith failed not they'd be open to the surprises of God in Jesus name amen hallelujah

ministry team if you would go on to that Christmassy lit area and if you want ministry by the

laying on of hands maybe you're intrigued by this baptism in the Holy Spirit thing I mentioned

I highly recommend it Jesus he went further than me of course he commanded it he didn't say I

really recommend you go to Jerusalem and wait he said go to Jerusalem and wait until you're in

dude with power from on high he told them wait because the Holy Spirit wasn't given yet you don't

even have to wait he's waiting for you amen and I encourage you to just stay with one more song

if you got to run run but let's sing one more song I made the Holy Spirit increase upon your life

Merry Christmas everybody be blessed this is the city light church podcast if you've missed any

part of today's message or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jansik in city light

church visit us at citylight NYC dot com that's city light NYC dot com feel free to visit us online

or in person anytime we would love to connect with you we pray that you have been encouraged today

that you have been reminded how much God loves you and that you are surrounded by grace

thank you for listening make sure that you subscribe to city light church podcast wherever you

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