Embracing Life's Journey: From Pulpit Chronicles to the Power of Faith

You don't want to be going into 2020 for a self-reliant, thinking you're something.

You don't. You want to be extra dependent on him. You want to be looking to him,

the author and the finisher of your faith. Jesus said, if your eye be single, what's a single eye?

A focused eye, a steady eye. If your eye be single, your whole body will be full of light.

Welcome to the City Light 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 City Light Church,

feel free to visit us at citylightnyc.com, that's 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.

Praise is the language of heaven.

God no speak complaining. God speak praise.

And if you don't know how to praise the Lord, my heart goes out to you. I don't know how to help.

You have to be able to praise the Lord.

It is a superpower in the spirit.

You look at the Psalms, everybody loves the Psalms. You know why whenever you're down or sad or

going through it, you always gravitate towards the Psalms because they're very relatable,

and it shows man in his condition up and down and all around looking for God, sometimes feeling

abandoned by God, going through life's traps. But you'll notice praise is in every single one of the

Psalms. You take a glimpse in Revelation and you take a glimpse into heaven and you realize the

language that's spoken there is praise. And when that evil day comes and maybe you're right now

in that evil day, what's the evil day? It's the day you don't want to be having, but it comes.

Praise is what's going to get you out. And so you pardon me if I don't get a little concerned,

I'm your pastor. I'm in bonds of love to the Lord to look out for you, to cover you, to protect you.

I get concerned when if after worship, with me encouraging you to praise, you still stand there

with gorilla glue in between your lips. What's going to happen when it hits you on a Wednesday afternoon?

What are you going to do then? You got to be able to praise him. And right now you're in a safe space.

If you can't praise him here, how will you praise him out there? Amen.

Right, right when I say safe space.

Usures go ahead and bolt the doors, lock everything down.

No one's leaving until we're done.

I do repeat myself a lot, I feel. I feel. But then I see some people, they'll ask me a question

that I've already answered ten times. And then I realize just right, like way after I'm so tired

of hearing myself, some people are just starting to hear me. That's actually why Paul addressed this

in the Bible. He said, for me to repeat myself isn't burdensome to me, but for you it's necessary.

What a relief for me. And a conviction because sometimes it is burdensome for me to repeat myself,

but because I've repeated this for many many years, this what I'm about to say, which I've already

kind of said. God has given you power and put it in your mouth. He created this earth, he created

the universe with his words. It says in the scriptures that all things consist and are held together

by the word of his power. And it says, you were made in the similitude of God, death and life are

in the power of the tongue. And those that love it will eat the fruit thereof. You have a power

in your mouth. Your words that you speak, especially under the anointing, found it on the word of

God. They go forth and they create and they carve a path into your future. So, is it any wonder

that there is that devil with a bottle of guerrilla glue that likes to come and paste your lips

together so that when you're going through it or whatever mood you're in, you just, you will not

silence your way out of a problem. You will not. You read the Psalms and you see the exhortation is

always to speak. I will. You know, and many of the Psalms start out pretty depressing. You know,

I mean, you got to make it to the end. The first eight verses, the guys just complaining and

some of the Psalms sound like a country song. You know, I got my, my house is in foreclosure,

my car got reposed, the wife left me, and my dog left me. But, but I will yet praise the Lord.

Amen. And it says to shout, shout unto the Lord with a voice of triumph. Amen. Hallelujah.

So I know people like to relegate this kind of teaching into a particular type of Christianity.

Oh, that's just not my style. You can have your style or you can have Bible style. I'm going to

have Bible style. I don't want dead religious style. And then I identify with that. No, there's

God style. The biblical style. Well, God, God made me shy. No, you might be quiet, but shyness.

That's that scripture that says God has not given you a spirit of fear that word for fear is

actually timidity, shyness. God has not given you a spirit of shyness, of timidity, but of power

and of love and of a sound mind. Certain thoughts you can't stop with other thoughts.

Yes, somebody would say, well, I'm having these thoughts and the answers think positively. How

many of you know that doesn't work? You cannot interrupt thoughts with thoughts. You can only

interrupt thoughts with words. And so my kids, thankfully, they've witnessed me from the little

crib. So they're not freaked out. When randomly in the house, they'll just hear me shout.

There's some Sunday mornings. And then just look, the enemy's always pushing on you. You know

that he's oh, you got to push back. How do you push back? Put on some worship music in the background

and let them do the work for you. It doesn't work. It just creates a nice ambiance. But they're

times when you have to. Jesus, you're Lord. You're with me. Your favor surrounds me. Hallelujah.

And stay at the top of your lungs. Say it with your whole chest.

Get to the flow of the anointing, the manifest presence of God. Get it from your toenails. Oh,

hallelujah. I'll do that randomly and then I'll check to make sure I didn't freak the kids out.

They're playing somewhere. Oh, look, and they just didn't even notice.

Because they grew up like that. Amen. Hallelujah.

When I go to help someone to pray that is in that that's stupor spot. Not the stupid spot,

but the stupor that just in a rut, it's like they're in molasses.

Often I won't pray for them. I'll pray with them. I'll have them repeat after me.

Because at the end of the day, no matter how anointed you are, the person you're praying for,

they always have more authority over themselves than you do. And some of them have an open their

mouth and ages to the Lord. They've opened their mouth to complain, but they haven't opened their

mouth to the Lord. I know this because I know I go through it. I know what I have to push back

against. The devil loves me when I'm quiet. If you're not speaking, you're not creating.

You're not exerting back. The devil has no problem with you coming into church and

you're sitting and you tell yourself, well, I'll receive quietly or I'll just observe.

But you're only getting 5-10% of what you could receive. You're going to break through.

So I'll pray with somebody in that state and I'll say, just say hallelujah, hallelujah,

that one word. It's the highest form of praise, that one word. And you can see the tension

and the frustration and the slowness as they finally open up their mouth to the Lord which

they have in the weeks or even months. It's like you can hear the crypt opening.

Couple of bats fly out. Cloud of dust emanates.

All right, now repeat after me, hallelujah. And then thank you. But I meant to the person I'm saying

now. But I appreciate any opportunity you take it. You could let a random one out at any point

by the way in church. It's legal. It's fine. Well, they, they'll say hallelujah and hallelujah.

And it's like this little voice in the back of their throat. It's like the real them is trapped inside.

Help me. Rescue me. Yeah, you waited too long. You got to speak.

The enemy's speaking to you. He's lying to you, trying to fill your head with confusion,

trying to be literally you put you down, put fear into your heart and your mind.

Say it again, hallelujah. This time a little bit bolder and they'll go hallelujah.

The enemy's telling you God's going to forsake you. You say, God, you're good. God is good.

You get them to say 10 positive statements from the scriptures out loud and the brightness is

back in their eyes. But you get to decide if I could praise them for you, I would. Sometimes I'm

tempted to walk around the house and just jiggle jaws a little bit. Just hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Keep us in your prayers. We have a missions team is a 25 or 26 people now.

26 with the latest edition, huh? Who happens to be Victor, my son? That was the latest edition.

I didn't plan on him coming, but Emily pushed me and said now she's been on so many missions

trips and credits them with helping solidify her faith in Christ. So we have a team of 26

going to Guatemala. I'll be here next Sunday, but then next Wednesday, February 7th through

the 14th, a team of 26 city lighters will be going to Guatemala to minister to the word of God.

We've helped put up and pay for over 40 churches in the Yashiel area around Neba. And so

pray for us will be doing children's evangelism as well during the day, handing out tons of

school supplies, seeing the Lord come and bring his power. I want to read to you from Isaiah 55.

This is known as the great invitation.

Oh, but today if Isaiah was living in New York, that would probably be a yo or an a yo is getting

people's attention. Hey, yo, everyone who thirsts come to the waters.

And you who have no money come by and he just come by wine and milk without money and without

price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread? What an eternal question.

Why do you spend your money on those things that don't feed you where it really matters, where it

really counts? And your wage is for what does not satisfy. Listen carefully to me and eat what is

good and let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to me here and your

soul shall live. And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the sure mercies of David.

The Lord has prepared a table before us in the presence of my enemies.

I'm making a decision. I invite you to also to partake of that table.

My wife and I spent the last week in Tampa day and night revival meetings.

Tampa is where I went to Bible school and we showed up a day early and so I took her around town

and just showed her what my first year in Tampa was like.

And I guess I thought I told you the whole story but then when you're down there more the story

comes out and I was just reminiscing about the goodness of the Lord. He's so good and he has

this ability to when you give your life to him and when you trust in him and lean not on your own

understanding. Yes, he takes you and he directs your paths and he connects the dots for you.

Many of you are aware of where you are, you have a glimmer of where you want to be with no idea

how to get there. He's the one who takes you from point A to A point one, A point two and then

eventually to B. So often it's not a leap from A to B but there's 10 many steps in between A and B.

You're not even aware until you get to B that the Lord was leading you the entire way.

See I got saved when I was 16 years old and called to the pastorate about two weeks later.

I just knew in my spirit. Went off to school right there in four stills high school

about two weeks saved and I'm in class and all I can see is myself ministering and preaching.

And I'm 16 I'd never ever considered it never didn't really even know what a pastor did other than

that guy up there who preaches. Shared it with the people who led me to the Lord, shared it with

my pastor then they confirmed it but I had no clear path on how to become a pastor.

It's not like a coding course you take for nine months and you come out with a license and you're

you know they have a funnel for you to go through. I didn't know but I didn't want to go now

to regular university. I wanted to go to something to train me but my parents were not I mean

they were finally okay with me being a Christian but they were not okay with me quote unquote

throwing my whole life away and becoming a pastor. So I said please go to college so that you

would have something to fall back on. I felt like that was such a compromise.

So I went to my pastor and said what do you think I should do because my parents want me to go

to college. I'll never believe it. I thought he was going to agree with me. He just looked at me

over his desk and he said listen to your parents. All right. So I went off to university

and I was an ignorant ignorance. I was doubly ignorant because I didn't know what I didn't know.

Lord protected me so much. I didn't even know the questions I should be asking. One thing I knew

was God had called me to pastor but I didn't know how to move forward into the ministry. I didn't

know what training I would need. I would talk to some pastors but everyone would have a different

story. So that didn't help much but the Lord and His infinite wisdom drew me into prayer and drew

me into the person of Jesus because Jesus is enough. He's more than enough. And so finally my

senior year came about and I had spent four years seeking Him, loving Him, getting into the word,

developing my spirit man so I could hear His direction, hear His instruction.

And then came the final semester of senior year. I still didn't have any idea what I was going to do

with my life. And I said I was doubly ignorant because I think I should have been more nervous

but half of it was the Lord gave me His peace. The other half was I didn't even know how lost

that really was and the plan of God. I don't know if you ever felt that way or not. What are you

doing here? Because on paper it looks like I'm going to graduate college and end up working at

McDonald's or something. What's going on? So the final semester, seven days of revival meetings were

held being held in Baltimore, Maryland. And I just sensed in my spirit, go to these meetings.

So I went, couldn't drive you, it didn't have a car. So I took a Greyhound bus. My first time

taking a Greyhound bus. You ever take those Greyhound buses? It was a shock to me because

Baltimore should have been like a four and a half hour trip. I arrived eight and a half plus hours

later, like stops everywhere along the way. It was like an Indiana Jones movie, practically with

the chicken cages up on top and it was just like, not an experience that I ever copied. That was my

one time doing the Greyhound bus in an interstate and ended up in some flea bag motel

and got there an hour early for the revival meetings that I spent, I remember now but three,

four days saturating it. And I get there an hour early and immediately make a dash for the

second or third row because that's how early you had to get there to get those prime seats.

And there was another lady that ended up just sitting next to and eventually we struck up a

conversation. She was on fire. Jesus. And at one point we exchanged phone numbers and I actually

forgot all about it. And then went back, finished up college. I knew I needed to get to a

Bible school at this point. But I had no path on how to get there. My parents were not going to

support me. They were very supportive throughout my life but they didn't want me going into full

time ministry. So, and I, I, I just did that back then and it also put all the pressure on God.

You know, he's never afraid of that. He doesn't mind that. So they weren't going to help me.

Secretly, I knew they really wanted me to fall on my face so I could come to my senses

and I've gone that direction. So I graduate. It's now the summer of 1998.

And I'm just waiting on the Lord. As I'm waiting, I realize you know when you're waiting on the

Lord that doesn't mean you're sitting and doing nothing. That means you're pushing into him

and you're in the Word and you're in prayer. And I did start going on job interviews,

which was quite a wake-up call to me. Living right in Forest Hills, Queens and made my resume all

pretty. And I remember going, I remember going on one in particular in Pain Webber. I don't think

it even exists anymore. It was on 6th Avenue in the 50s. Big Pain Webber. Some of the old New Yorkers

remember that it's something now. We got engaged a few blocks from there. The Big Pain Webber

Building. That's one of my first realization of the scam that college can be and often is,

hit me. Because I really wanted to honor my God. I didn't want to just wing college

and then just go off to Bible College. So I studied hard and I was a double major in business

management and English literature. And I graduated with 150 credits in four years, which should have

taken exactly five years. And I remember there were nights where I would cry out to the Lord,

Lord, help me on this exam. I want to graduate more than a 3.5. I want to graduate at least come

out day. And then I finally did and I put it real big on top of the resume. You know, grad,

GPA. It was like 3.56 come out day. Nobody cared. Nobody cared where I went to school.

What my GPA? I'm thinking about, I remember essays I would write with so much, do you remember

those guys? You're thinking, oh, my whole future depends on there's nobody cared. I could have

put Harvard and Yale on my resume. Everything anybody would have checked. Maybe that they would have

checked. Would you get what I'm? I worked so hard and then all the jobs I was getting offered were

starting salary, $20,000, this 1998, $24,000 a year. I'm going great. I can go back and live with

my parents and maybe pay off my student loan debt. But the whole time as I'm going on these interviews,

I just feel like, oh, this isn't what I need to be doing. I need to get down to Bible school,

but I have no way of getting down there. I have about $1,800 just less. I remember that in my

less than $2,000, my whole life savings, how's this going to happen? And I'm looking unto the

Lord when my phone rings. And it's the woman that I met in the second row of those revival meetings

just a few months before. And she says, you know that Bible school you want to go to. I actually

know a family down there in Tampa, Florida. They just completed their first year. They're now

going to do their second year. Would you like me to put you in touch with them? I said, yes,

I really would. They gave me the gentleman's phone number. I immediately called him.

And when he picked up that phone, you know when you hear the anointing on someone's voice,

thank God for Christian family. Thank God for woman in the second row. Amen. On fire,

women who are close to the Lord who, I mean, she actually said she said, I was in prayer and your

face flashed before my eyes. And I thought I'd give you this number. If I don't know what the Lord

would have done, he would have done something. But I can't imagine my life if she had disobeyed

that just one little thing. We don't know the rewards that will come to us from our little obedience.

I never even spoke to her after that. But the way the Lord views things, and if you look at the

economics of how the Lord views things, like when they were in Ziklag, David's army, and some

had to stay by the weapons and others went out to war. And when the ones who had actually did all

the fighting came back, David said, this is a statute and an ordinance forever in Israel that the

same reward goes out to those who fought in battle as the ones who stayed by just making sure that

the weapons were safe and the supplies were safe. It was the same reward. So it could be that every

soul that I've won, everything that I've done for the Lord, she gets the same reward from that one

act of obedience. Just remember that. So many Christians are like, oh, I don't know if I've done

enough for the Lord. What have I really done? You don't know until he plays the videotape in heaven.

That person you encourage, the person you texted, the person you invited,

the encouraging and loving you have done throughout your life groups. It all matters. It all counts.

So because of her, I'm on the phone now with this guy and he says, the best way to see

what the Lord wants is come on down here. You can, and he said ground rules right away. He didn't want

me being some, just some by faith guy hanging around his family for months. Come by for a week.

Those are the ground, come, okay, I got one week.

So I come and I know I need three things. I need a place to live. I need a car and I need a job.

So the first night I crashed on their couch. He had a wife and two daughters.

Next day they're all saying my name perfectly, which is rare for people.

My name, obviously, full name is Boy on, but six months ago I to bow to make it easier on folk,

which seems to have made it harder on a lot of folks. Somehow, somehow that happens, but

but the next morning I was like, hey, Boy on, and I'm like, you know, just

how are you saying my name? And he's like, oh, because dad said you're the, we couldn't say it,

but dad said it's easy. Boy on the couch. You see him sleeping over there. He's the boy on the couch.

And he said, you need an apartment. Let's look at some apartments. So we're driving around,

and I'm looking at these. What I could afford. Just these dusty, gray,

woof, rough apartments. And even they were like $6.50, $6.7. I remember when $25 made all the difference

in rent that you could afford and out of afford. $6.75 a month, I would need a roommate. I'm going,

I don't feel peace here, plus I don't really want to live there, but in my spirit, I don't feel peace.

We come back to the house and the wife had just gotten a call from the dean, another dean,

the office of the Bible school, but somebody had contacted the dean. Somebody had what they

call in Florida. Do they call it this in other parts of the country? The mother-in-law setup they do.

Okay, which is the garage that's been, seems so disrespectful to mother-in-laws everywhere,

but it's where the garage is converted, you know, to a bed, to one bedroom.

And this was a smart, smart guy because he knew I should get a Bible school student in here. He won't

be coming in drunk, he won't be partying, he won't be tearing up, my mother-in-law setup. So he found

the local Bible school. Is there anybody who will rent this? And it was $4.50 a month. I remember

walking in and I could do that. It was still a stretch. Sounds funny now, right?

I remember walking in and it was like a Florida apartment, this bright blue aqua, aqua blue carpet,

and a couch with pink flamingos all on it. But it was clean. And then I didn't have to have a roommate.

And I said, thank you, Jesus. And the guy who's showing me around now, who cleverly called me

boy on the couch for months after that, he said, wow, the Lord is really with you.

You got, you know, I don't know how he's working this out so fast. He said, tomorrow let's see if

we can't get you a car. So we go around these used car dealerships and I couldn't afford anything.

I remember there was this cutless Sierra that I really wanted. It was like $36, $3700. I just

couldn't afford any of that. I'm down now. And then this one lot we go to, the guy shows me this

Flintstone mobile that was $1,000. It was a 1986 Chevy Spectrum. I say Flintstone mobile.

I still have a picture of it. It just looked so square, like zero aerodynamics whatsoever.

But it went. It went from point A to B, amen. Sometimes it wouldn't break. I'm not exaggerating.

But it always went. The Lord provided.

You know, I didn't even know how to drive until my senior year of college,

because I'm Queen's boy. So I was taking the subways everywhere. I tried to learn how to drive.

My parents couldn't afford the driver's ed. I remember this. It was $350 for the driver's ed course

and they looked, oh, that'll drive that'll teach you. You do not want to be taught how to drive

by a Serbian father, especially on a stick shift. I still get PTSD just thinking about it.

You're driving, you're driving. All right, now put it into second. No, like that!

The Lord worked it out somehow. I got my driver's license. My sweet mate in college actually taught

me how to drive. And I took the exam by the grace of God, caught my driver's license. And now this,

this Flintstone mobile, $4,000 was also a stick shift. But I kind of only knew how to drive a

stick shift. So I had to learn while driving this thing. Sometimes I'd try to put it in third,

accidentally end up in fifth. I had to like relearn everything. But I just think back to the

Lord's goodness, the Lord's faithfulness. And I got very comfortable with that blue carpet,

that aqua teo blue is so, it's like from the 70s just extra plush and bright. I got very

comfortable with it seeking Jesus. And there was something in college that he taught me.

And I knew even back then that I was to take what he was teaching me and apply it for the rest

of my life. He taught me that he has the answer to everything. And that if we would put our eyes

upon him and seek him, he is enough. Jesus is, and I'm telling you right now, Jesus is enough for

you. Whatever you may need, the answer is in Jesus. You're really not going to find it out there.

It's in him. Some of you you're in a hard place right now. You need to be thankful for the hard

place because it puts you in an opportunity to reset yourself. You don't want to be going

into 2024 overly confident in yourself. You don't want to be going into 2024 self-reliant thinking

you're something. You don't. You want to be extra dependent on him. You want to be looking to him,

the author of the finisher of your faith. Jesus said, if your eye be single, what's a single eye?

A focused eye, a steady eye. If your eye be single, your whole body will be full of light.

This is the time to have a single and steady gaze on Jesus. And I know this by the spirit. Some of us

this last year, the last several years, the Lord has done a rattling in our lives to get our

attention back. That's how much He loves you and cares for you that He'll rattle your life

so that you could get back to that time with Him. Let me read this to you, please, from John,

chapter six. Actually, Luke 10, excuse me, Luke 1038.

When I didn't know how He would connect the dots at all, and this is what you're being invited to.

Now, it happened as they went that He entered a certain village and a certain woman named Martha

welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard

His word. She had a sister named Mary who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word.

Please know that this is the key. However, it is that you do it. And may I invite you to do it

in different ways, because what worked yesterday may not work today, but isn't it wonderful that

the Lord gives you liberty in how you approach Him? As long as you're coming to Him, not in your

own righteousness, which we have none, you have none, but in the name of Jesus, you can come singing one

day, speaking the next day, you can mix it up, you can come with His word. When I don't know what to

do at all, then at least I'll read the Psalms out loud and approaching, if the battle is really

raging. But by all means come and take a little time out to just be still before the Lord and hear

His word for you. One, some days you may not hear anything. There were times when I really needed

Him to speak to me. All I would hear is I love you. Lord, what should I do? I'm about to die. I'm

with you. Don't be afraid. I've learned to trust those words since. In the beginning back then,

it was like, Lord, could you give me a few more details, please? A little bit more of an action plan.

I'm with you. You'll be okay. But never yet. Has he, has he let me down? Never yet? Did he say

something like that and I fall and he go psych? Just kidding. Oh, look at you. Never. He always comes

through every time. He's so faithful. But Martha was distracted next verse. Martha was distracted

with much serving and she approached him and said, Lord, you not care that my sister has left me

to serve alone. Therefore, tell her to help me. And Jesus answered and said to her, Martha, Martha,

you were worried and troubled about many things. But 16 things are needed and I'm going to give you

my 16 point sermon right now and the things that are necessary. I love how Jesus simplifies it

every time. One thing. One thing. One thing is necessary. One thing is needed. What was that one

thing to sit at my feet and hear my word? Everything that I was experiencing that somewhere of 98

as the Lord took me from an ignorant, ignorant, famous who didn't even know what he didn't know.

Just knowing that I wanted to fulfill the mandate and call on my life had no clue how to connect the

dots. I said, Jesus, come and connect those dots. But what I believe opened the door for him to do

that was for months, really years before that, just having the daily discipline of sitting at his

feet and hearing his word, I want you to know that Jesus is enough. And if you're in a place where

you don't know what to do, if you're in a place that evil day, things are hard. Come to Jesus like

you've never come, dive into him like he's the deep end of a certain pool, just can't embal in,

you are welcome, he won't hold your sins and mistakes against you, you just

bury yourself in Jesus, your solution, your answer is in him. One thing is needed and Mary has chosen

that good part which will not be taken away from her. Second Corinthians 11, 2 through 3.

Paul is writing the Corinthians, he says, for I am jealous for you with godly jealousy.

For I have betrothed you to one husband that I may present you as a chased version to Christ.

But I fear, less somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be

corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. Simplicity, pastors run out of things to say so

you get the 16 point message in eight parts. But Jesus kept it very, very simple and Paul said,

I'm actually worried about you, you're going to overcomplicate it. The verse before that he says,

I have betrothed you, you're engaged to Jesus. You know what that denotes? Engagement intimacy

and that's what he's referring to when he talks about the simplicity that is in Christ.

The simplicity that is in Christ is your sweet intimate relationship with the Lord.

Men, don't shy away from this. Don't shy away from this.

Determine to know your maker and your god and your creator and you can only know him through

Jesus and what he did for you on the cross. Any success you have in life, success that really

matters, it'll come out of the relationship that you have with your covenant friend, the Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm giving you all I can give you this morning. This isn't exactly, this actually isn't what I

prepared to preach, but it's in the first service during worship. I just, I can give you the story,

the stories, what he did, what I've seen work, what he's taught me now nearly 30 years.

That that time with him, it's never wasted time. That everything you need is in him.

That there is a devil, there's a lot of people, they don't, they don't understand, there's a devil.

I understand there's some groups, they overdue it and it's devil this, devil that, devil with the

whiffle ball bad, everything's about the devil, but then there's entire segments of Christianity,

they treat the devil like he's a concept. Like, oh, the devil, that just means bad things or no,

he is a person. Yes, God is a person. The devil is a being. He is a person and he hates you.

He hates, he knows a lot about you, his minions know a lot about you and they don't play fair,

they don't play nice, they want to destroy you and they don't have a limit, they don't hear you cry

from mercy as, okay, I'm gonna tap out now. No, Jesus said he's come to steal, kill and destroy.

We're here, we're pastoring a church, we're leading a church, you think the devil just says,

oh, come right into New York City. Oh, I don't really care about the center of the world, New York City.

Come preach the gospel freely. In fact, see people get baptized with a Holy Spirit,

speak in tongues, lay hands up people, see them get healed, I don't mind.

There's a constant war, constant pushing. That's in your life, too. You have to remember,

you have to be cognizant of that so you can push back. You got to take a stand.

Devil, you are not coming near me, you're not coming near me, you have to say the words.

Amen. If you're uncomfortable saying that, that's the alarm that you're in danger.

Some people now talk to him too much, they start off talking to Jesus and it's all, the rest

is all to the devil, but make a couple of statements to the enemy. Here's one, devil, your power is

broken by the blood of Jesus. Or just say the blood of Jesus. Wake up in the morning,

woo, the blood of Jesus. And you're now not just weighed, you're now on the offends,

you're pushing back against the powers of darkness. Hallelujah.

As your kids go by, the blood of Jesus,

dads, cover your home. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that in this home, only your Holy Spirit and His

angels reside. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. So now I need a job. I got the apartment day one,

I got the car day two to the car. It was supposed to be a golden color, but it really,

it was so old by that time, it really just looked dirty all the time. So now I needed a job

and I printed out a very pretty cover letter and my resume and I did all I knew to do was I fax them.

Emailing resumes, this is 1998. People were emailing resumes, I fresh out of college,

wasn't one of them. It really wasn't a thing. Most people, it was just the beginning of the whole

internet age. I was faxed to every temp agency in Tampa, Florida. And then because I didn't want to

feel irresponsible, I would just stay home looking at my phone to ring and praying,

looking at my phone to ring and praying. And then I went, I forget, and if it was the second or

third day in it, do you know sometimes when you're praying, but you're actually,

you're actually more in anxiety than prayer. That's where I was. That felt like the Lord came to me and

said, go to the beach. I was like, I just had this sense. While I was in prayer, go to the beach.

Like, you've done all you can do. Now it's no longer faith. Now you're just worrying here and

using it, because I'm waiting for I need to get a call back. If I don't have a job, everything,

the car is done. The apartment is done. The mother-in-law set up.

And then I remember every sermon when he said, go to the beach, every sermon that I'd ever heard

on being in the rest of God and showing faith come out of me. And I was like, yeah, if I believe

that you're getting me this job, then I'll act like it. So how does a person who just got a job

back? Yeah, they go to the beach. So I went to the beach. I went over to Clearwater Beach.

I'll never forget the drive there. It was the longest drive I did thus far in that car.

Everything else was just like two miles back and three miles and come back. Now I had to go 45

minutes and I'm still learning to drive. I remember going down the 275. I was a brand new driver.

So, you know, you know, man, I didn't even realize it, but you're looking at your review mirror

and the side mirrors all the time. Really, they say, every two seconds, you should check them out.

I realized it'd been like five minutes. I didn't even look at the rear-view mirror. I then look

and I can still see that man's face. Really, when I close my eyes, I can still see that face in the

rear because I was in the left lane. Didn't even know the difference between the left lane and the

right lane and left is for passing. I look in the rear-view mirror and I see a truck driver and he's

talking. I mean, I can see the anger in his face and I also can see I'm doing a turn. I can see

like a colonate of cars behind him. And I really, ah, let me quickly get to the right.

My hands were ice cold. How cold my hands were. I just, I say these things because they remind me

of how good he is. I should you have these stories too. You shouldn't even be sitting here.

But he took you by the hand. He led you. You think he's going to quit? You know that he says he

won't forsake the work of his own hands. You are his project. I make it to Clearwater Beach. I

walk around. I think I grabbed some ice cream. I felt the sand between my toes. Breathe some fresh

air. Came back home and I saw the light. Not God's light. The light on the answering machine.

And I thought maybe it's just my friend, boy on the couch, you know, the guy who had me over.

Maybe it's him. He's the only one who had my number and I turn it on and it was the temp agency.

And right there they said you need to come on in, final interview or whatever interview. I didn't go

on and interviews except over the phone. Franklin Templeton is going to hire you as a temp.

And I've gotten a job. This was all within the space of five days. The Lord he connects the dots.

Jesus is enough for everything you need since then how he established this church and the things

he's done in our lives. I shared this in the first service. I feel to share it again. He worked

this amazing thing out to where my wife and I moved into really what's a dream house in Long Island.

And I love, I love that house, present tense, but I really love that house. We just moved in in

August. And it was, it was something that I wanted to stay in the city, but it was if I ever wanted

a house, it would look like this house. Because we're only the second owners. It was built in 2009

and the the couple that built it, one of them is a designer and he's in construction. So all the

details are immaculate. I mean, this just shows how I was brought up but every every bathroom I've

ever been was either all drywall or the cheap little tile. This was all like exotic stones

and marble floors and I'm going around and I'm caressing the bathrooms.

And the whole family will go to sleep and I'm walking around the house and I'm giving praise to

God and I'm really loving the house, you know, like really loving the house.

But here's what's what's so interesting. Three months in, it just disappeared like that.

I know outside I was just living in another box again.

I'm going, do you know, I should I say this, I feel like sometimes I need to confess my my

sin, my lust, my voracious appetite. Three months in, I actually, Lord forgive me, actually went

on Julia and I thought, let me see some other houses. And like, you know what I went through just to

get this one and and the miracles and strings got pulled and how he worked it all together.

And in this one moment, do you understand what I'm saying? Maybe I need to be more elaborate.

I'd gotten bored of the house in three months. And you know where I had to land all over again?

Where I got to land? Jesus, Jesus. And I actually said, Lord, you know, I was so happy with what you

did, but I think I got more caught up with the gift of the Lord than the Lord of the gift.

And I don't know if you can relate to this, but when they're, the Lord is done a lot in your life,

I'm sure. I have to look back at the things that I wanted every time I got what I wanted. It's

wonderful. But the thrill would be quickly gone. Jesus is enough. I had to land back at Jesus

and realize God. I was rejoicing over something that doesn't satisfy. I just bought something,

but that doesn't hit the spot. Only you do. Only you do. Hallelujah. I'm telling you that thing.

There's that thing that you want so bad. You really want what you want. You think you do, but you'll see.

I have a collection of stories of things where I just said, Lord,

if you could just add this, then I can just relax a little bit. Then I don't have to live life

on the razor's edge so much. I know you do. You get to walk this walk of faith forever. A lot of the

stuff that I had wanted was really just so that I wouldn't have to believe God so intensely.

I'm only preaching to myself and my wife this morning. Can anybody relate? Is this blessing you?

I want this Lord, but really what's behind it is Lord. Most of my life, I really, I don't mind,

I guess, but it kind of feels like I'm hydropraining what Pastor James described. My car's not even

touching the asphalt. There's like a couple of millimeters of space and I'm just, whoa!

Really, it's not the thing that I want so much. I just want to feel more in control of my life.

That would really help me and then you get it and you're not more in control because you realize

that if you don't have Jesus, then you're just the bag of chemical compounds put together

on a spinning planet thrown out in outer space. What a thought!

But Jesus, hallelujah, he's got you. He said you're in the palm of his hand and no one can snatch you

out and he's more than enough. Worship team, come on up. Lord Jesus, thank you that you are everything.

In you, we live and move and have our being. I want every head bowed, every eye closed.

I want you to know that Jesus Christ died on the cross in your place to take away your sins.

The Bible says that our sin is worthy of divine retribution, of divine punishment. We've all

sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and that sin disqualifies us from heaven and from

fellowship with God. But Jesus loved you. Yes, you. He loved you so much that he went to the cross

and took the punishment that you deserve. He took it on himself and he was raised from the dead

on the third day and the Bible says that if you put your faith in him and trust in him, Jesus Christ

for his righteousness, you will be saved. That means you won't go to hell. You'll go to heaven and

you'll be born and you, born again, a new spirit he will put within you. Now if you under the

sound of my voice with every head bowed, every eye closed, if you're not absolutely certain

that if God forbid, you were to die tonight. If you're not absolutely certain that you would go

to heaven, I want you to lift your hand right now. If there's even a little bit of doubt,

do you really want to be playing with your soul? Thank you. Thank you. Who else? You only have one soul.

If you're not absolutely certain, lift your hand. Who else? I see that hand too. Who else?

Thank you. Who else? He's provided the way. He did it with his own precious blood. Who else?

For ever is a really, really long time. I want Jesus. Who else? Thank you, Lord. Let's all say this

together. Those of you who raised your hands, I want you to say this out loud. We're all going to

say it out loud. But you who raised your hands, I want you to say it extra out loud. Really? Open

up your mouths and say this. There's something about saying it out loud. I'm not making that up. That's

not my tip. The Bible says, if you confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart

that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. That's why I did that whole thing about

talking in the beginning because faith is always one half in your heart and one half in your mouth.

No quiet faith. There will be an expression of it out of your mouth. Are you ready? Let's all say

this. Lord Jesus, I believe in you. I trust in you as my Lord and Savior. According to your word,

my sins are all gone. I am forgiven of everything. I'm a new creation. I'm a child of God.

And I have the righteousness of Christ. I'm heaven bound and God is my Father. In Jesus' name,

Amen. Amen. Hallelujah.

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 citylightnyc.com. That's citylightnyc.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.

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