The TrueLife Mandate: Love

Open your Bibles, Matthew chapter 16, and meet me at verse 13,

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 16, verse 13. We talked about this passage on Resurrection Sunday,

Matthew 16:13

and I want to piggyback off of it.

Probably over the next several weeks and maybe even months, we'll go a little

deeper in this passage of Scripture.

We find out when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi,

he asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?

The disciples said, Some say John the Baptist.

Some Elijah and others Jeremiah, one of the prophets.

And he said to them, but who do you say that I am?

Simon answered and said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God.

Jesus answered and said, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood

has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven.

And I say to you that you are Peter.

And on this rock, I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and

whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever

you loose on earth will be loosed

in heaven we understand through this passage

of scripture there's a conversation Jesus is having with his disciples he is

not talking to the world at this point he is talking to his disciples who have

been traveling with him at this point what almost three years they've been with

Jesus day in and day out they've seen the works.

They've heard the teachings. They've experienced the miracles.

They've been a part of his life day in and day out.

And Jesus asked them a personal controversial question.

He says, what are people saying about me? If you were to go to any Walmart,

any Target, any grocery store, and ask everybody in there, who is Jesus?

You're going to get a variety and a diversity amount of answers about who Jesus is.

Some people are going to be happy. Some people are going to be mad.

I mean, Jesus is a very controversial subject and topic or person. Very controversial.

So we ask the disciples, who do people say that I am? The disciples give very reputable responses.

I mean, you're John the Baptist.

You're Elijah. You're one of the

prophets. You're Jeremiah. These are all reputable and respectful people.

But Jesus turns around and asks them a question more personal.

He says, but who do you say that I am? And now this is a question that you're

going to have to think through.

Who do I say Jesus is? And all the 11 disciples were completely quiet when Jesus asked this question.

But Simon hops up and says, you are the Christ, the son of the living God.

You're not one of anything. You're not one of the prophets.

You're not a good, reputable man. You are the Christ.

The Christ means the Messiah, the anointed one.

You're the anointed one. You are the son of the living God.

Footnote, at the time, Jesus is the only son of the living God.

But you and I today, because of Christ's substitutionary sacrifice, are sons and daughters.

So Jesus is no longer the only begotten son of God.

You and I are sons and daughters as well. But he was until his substitutionary sacrifice for you and I.

Peter or Simon says, you're the Christ, the son of the living God.

And then Jesus says, flesh and

blood, blessed are you, but flesh and blood did not reveal this to you.

Grandma didn't tell you this. Pookie and Ray Ray didn't share this with you. You didn't read a book.

The Holy Spirit, my father, told you that I'm the Christ, the son of the living

God. Then he turns around and says, and now I say to you, since you know who

I am, I say to you, you are Peter.

So he's not Simon any longer. You are Peter. You are a piece of the rock.

You're Peter. You're strong.

You're Peter, the piece of the rock. But on this rock, not on Peter,

but on the revelation that I am the Christ, the son of the living God.

On this revelation, this has been uncovered. I've always been the Messiah.

I've always been the Christ. but it's been revealed to you.

Blessed because you see it. The other 11 disciples didn't see it, but you see it.

Blessed are you because you see that I'm the Christ, the son of the living God.

And upon this rock, this revelation of who I am, this is where I want to get to.

Jesus says, I will build my church.

And then he goes on and says, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against

it. And so Jesus tells us for the first time in the New Testament,

we hear the word church. Somebody say church.

He says, I will build or I will assemble or I will establish my church. Say church.

Say it like you mean a church.

I will establish my church on the on the revelation of who I am.

My church will be established and the gates of hell shall not prevail against

it over the next several weeks and maybe even months.

I want to talk about the true life mandate.

This is the title of the message today, The True Life Mandate.

As we are possessing a territory, laying hold of a territory that the Lord has

presented to us, it is an assignment that we have in this city.

It's not just a building acquisition.

It's an assignment that God has given us in this city, and this building is

going to play a major part in this assignment.

And we understand that the word church in the Greek, for the most part,

the New Testament is written written in Greek language.

So the church in the Greek is the word ekklesia, ekklesia. Say that ekklesia.

Say it one more time. Ekklesia.

That is the word, the Greek word for church, ekklesia. And it means the called out one.

The called-out ones. See, what we've done unintentionally is we've caused church

to be a building, a structure, or, you know, do I go to church today?

Do I not go to church today?

And we think it's a place, but actually the word church, ekklesia, is the called-out ones.

Now, this word ekklesia was not a religious word in Greek culture.

It was a word to describe a governing assembly or citizens called out together,

watch this, to influence decisions of a city.

So ecclesia was hand-picked

people individuals that were

selected the divinely appointed to

be called out to gather together

in order to make influential decisions regarding

a city or a community it's not come and let's have some religious shenanigans

no it's actually you've been divinely called out and selected to be a part of

a gathering that's going to make a major influence in a city and a community.

It refers to people who have been summoned.

You've been summoned and gathered in order to govern the affairs of a community.

Notice the important part, Dion, of church, of the ecclesia.

That we've been called out to govern and called out to be summoned together

to make influential decisions regarding an area or a city.

Ecclesia has always been about people gathering with a purpose.

Not just tradition, not so that we can fake it, but to really gather for a purpose.

In the New Testament, the ecclesia is the body of believers in Christ Jesus

who are gathering in a spiritual community because you and I have been called out.

I want you to understand the significance of being divinely selected,

many are called but few are chosen and the chosen I like to say it this way

and the chosen are the ones who show up how come I never get chosen well you never show up.

Matthew 22 tells us you've been called, you've been selected,

you've been invited, but now it's time to be chosen.

And when you're chosen, you show up. And when you show up, you're there for a purpose.

You are there because you're a called to govern.

It should be that when people hear you go to church, they should be like, whoa, whoa, whoa.

You you are part of the church versus all. Yeah, I used to go to church.

That ought not be it should be oh wow you're one of the decision makers in this region.

Oh you're one of the ones that are influential in what's happening in this city

that's how it should be but now it's like well maybe i go to church maybe i

don't you know i'm a little tired i'm not gonna go to church you know i you

know what shoot i i don't want to go no you've been called,

selected,

divinely appointed to gather together.

This is the word ekklesia because you've been called out of sin and called into purpose.

You're called to gather, called to be like Jesus in this earth.

This is the word ekklesia, not just to meet and do some religious activities.

No, we're called to gather and receive government in order to establish what

happens in the community.

That's how powerful you and I are in the earth. But we haven't been taught that.

You know, we've been taught to come and shake a leg and dance and jump and run

and spin. and I like all of that.

But you're really called to make decisions in the city.

You're really called to govern what takes place.

Jesus said, whatever you bind on earth, that's what you're called to do,

will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

That's what you're called to do. Bind and loose.

Somebody say, bind and loose.

So you're called out of sin and called into purpose. You've been called out

of darkness into light, bondage, out of bondage into freedom.

And now you've been called into an assignment.

Jesus didn't save you just to save you.

He loves you, but he saved you because he wanted to put you on an assignment.

You are a part of his body in the earth.

So he gave you a purpose and an assignment, and that's why he wants you healthy.

You know, I don't know about that health and wealth gospel. If you're on assignment,

you better believe that God wants you to be healthy.

If you own any business, imagine you own a business.

Maybe all of you do, but if you don't, imagine you own a business.

Do you want your employees healthy or sick?

Just what would you want? Do you want them sick all the time or do you want

them healthy? Just be honest. What do you want them?

Healthy, right? Because if they're sick, they can't fulfill the assignment on there.

Do you want them broke, busted and disgusted or do you want them wealthy?

You want them wealthy. Why? Because they'll do a better job, right?

God wants his people healthy and wealthy because he's put us on an assignment.

And we can't get the assignment done if we're sick and we can't get it done

if we're broke, busted and disgusted.

He wants us to be in the best position we can to fulfill the assignment.

A church must include at least three things.

And there are more, but these are the three things I want to mention in this

series that a church must include. Ekklesia must include a pastor.

Every local church needs a good pastor.

Must include a pastor. There are many churches today closing because they don't have a pastor.

They don't have a pastor. A church needs a pastor, needs a leader that's fully

after God and his assignment.

A church also needs a place to gather.

It needs a place to gather. Ekklesia means the called out ones that gather.

So we need a place to gather. And aren't you thankful that God is providing

us a place to gather? Say amen to that.

And I bless Joy Church right now. They have given us a place to gather.

Lift your hands. Father, we bless Joy Church.

Provide for them. Take care of them. Whatever they need.

Supply it. This is significant seed they've sown unto us.

And we call Joy Church blessed. Let them reach this community like never before.

In Jesus name. Say amen to that.

Amen. So number one, a church needs a pastor.

A church needs a place to gather.

And so this is why our building is significant. We need a place to gather.

Some people talk about Ecclesia as if the building's not important.

The building is important.

Okay, I understand where they come from. It's not all about the building,

but the building is important.

You know, more people give their life to Jesus in a church building than anywhere

else. More people get baptized.

More people get filled with the Holy Spirit in a building.

Like the building's important. I don't like when I hear people preach this and they dog the building.

No, no, the building is important. We got to have a place to gather and to meet.

Now, we don't worship the building, but it's important, okay?

It's a place to gather. And number three, what was number one?

A pastor. Are you listening? What's number two?

A place to gather. Number three, every local church needs a clear assignment.

A clear assignment. A pastor, a place to gather, and a clear assignment.

The church is not just a place we attend. it's a

people God has pulled out set apart and

sit back in the world with an assignment every

church needs an assignment the churches of people

called out by God to influence the world we are not to be influenced by the

world we are to influence the world we're called out we should look different

we should be uncommon we should even be a little strange to the world because

we are different than the world,

we're supposed to influence the world.

And Jesus wasn't saying, I will build a gathering.

He was saying, I will build a governing, influenced body that hell cannot stop.

Glory to God. Let me say that again. Jesus wasn't saying, I will build a gathering.

He was saying, I will build a governing, influencing body that hell cannot stop.

Glory to God. I say amen to that.

The church is the only entity with the unique ability to address root issues.

The church, the ecclesia, is the only entity with the unique ability to address root issues.

We got some issues happening and we want to address these issues.

But the church is the only governing body of people that can go in and address a root issue.

That's how powerful. Thank you, Patricia. That's how powerful you are.

That's how powerful the church is.

It addresses root issues.

Everything else is addressing fruit or behavior.

The church should be addressing motive, intent, and heart.

And the church is the only entity with unique ability to do that.

Now, there is the church at large, the universal church, that is the body of Christ in the earth.

But God saw fit that there are also local churches.

And there are hundreds of thousands even millions of local churches that are

around and every local church has an assignment has a purpose in 2011,

Stacey and I started True Life Fellowship Church.

We were a part of another church, and we stepped out of that other church.

And over a weekend, and I won't get into a lot of details. One day,

if you ask me, I might tell you, but it was a lot of details.

But over a weekend, the Lord really downloaded in us what the purpose of True

Life was. I mean, we got it over a weekend.

Some people, we prayed for a couple of years. I mean, I wish I,

I guess I wish I would. I don't know.

The Lord told us in that weekend, we spent some time in prayer of the weekend.

This is what I want true life to be. And here's the purpose for it.

And so we started in July, 2011, no money whatsoever. We had no money. We had no equipment.

We had, we barely had a handful of folks.

We had a vision in our heart. We were meeting in a stinky, smelly band room

at Community House Middle in Ballantyne. Why there?

That's another long story. All right.

And we ended up moving within a few months to Butler High School in their band room.

And so we got started. I remember our very first service, we had no microphones.

We had no speakers. We had no projector. We didn't have Alfred and Paul.

We didn't have this amazing band. and musicians and singers.

We had none of it. We had tracks playing, but we had a handful of folks that

felt called to be a part of what the Lord's doing.

The Lord spoke four words to me at the time.

Well, one, he posed this question to Stacey, is there more to life than what you are experiencing?

That was the question. Is there more to life than what you are experiencing?

And, man, we got excited about it because I was tired of being in churches that

was always longing to go to heaven.

And just, you know, you get beat up here and you need to be broke here and you

need to be sick. And, you know, God may kill you.

And all the stuff I had heard traditionally in churches that,

hey, you know, you're supposed to be the tail and not the head.

And all these things that were being said.

And I thought there's got to be more than life than what we're experiencing.

And that was the question Stacey heard in her heart. We're like,

that's going to be our slogan.

Is there more to life than what you're experiencing?

And then we did what came out of my heart was Jesus came to give us life and life more abundantly.

And why do we exist as a church? We exist so that people will experience true

life, not just in heaven, which we all will go one day.

If you've given your life to Jesus, I mean, just in any moment we could we could

go to heaven in any moment. You better live today like this could be your last,

but prepare to live forever.

Prepare like you're going to live forever, but act like today could be your last.

Say amen to that. And we don't lose. We go to heaven. And so I believe that

the Lord wants us to have a little bit of heaven on the earth.

I thank you, Tanel, for that. Amen. They have a little heaven on the earth.

And so true life was established because I believe the Lord wants people to experience true life.

One thing over the decade and now and a half that I've been pastoring,

if you connect with me, and I don't say this with bragging, I say this with

full confidence. If you stick with me and connect with me, you will prosper.

That's the anointing on my life. You will prosper. You will advance.

You will succeed. You will thrive.

Spirit, soul, and body. That's the anointing on my life. You're going to prosper financially.

Physically, socially, relationally, that's on my life. You're gonna experience true life.

If you just stick with me long enough, you'll begin to see that,

man, I'm prospering like I've never have before.

Well, that's what being a part of a church does. There's a local assignment on the church.

And there were four words the Lord spoke to me.

And the words were love, learn, live, and lead.

Love, learn, live, and lead.

And he said to me, and this is all over a weekend. It's fascinating that we

were getting all this over a weekend.

And he said to me, the foundation of true life is knowing how much God loves you.

That is the establishment, the foundation.

If people are going to experience true life, they need to know how much God loves them.

And we find in John chapter three, verse 16, very famous passage of scripture

for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son,

that whosoever shall believe in him shall not perish,

but have everlasting life.

And so let's break this verse down for a second.

For God, the creator of heaven and earth.

So that word so means to the degree of or to the extent to.

So. So, for example, it's it is so hot outside.

We are emphasizing how hot it

is outside he is so tall there's an

emphasis on how tall that person she's so beautiful we're placing an emphasis

on how beautiful she is for God the creator so put an emphasis loved that's

the agape love Sterling shared this last week about the four types of love the

agape love is unconditional love.

He loves you whether you love him or not.

He loves you whether you're good or bad. It's not based on any conditions.

It's like the old, it's not based on the old Janet Jackson song,

what have you done for me lately, right?

That's not what his love is based on. It's based on him making the decision

to love you despite how you are.

For God put an emphasis on so much of this agape love that.

What did this love cause him to do? That he gave.

That he gave. That means he completely and utterly handed over to you everything

that he had, that he gave.

He loved you and I that he gave. Now, I know it says the world,

but let's break this down.

Individuals, people, you and I. He loved you and I so much that he gave.

He completely handed over to us something. Now, follow me on this.

There was a day that I had met Stacey Crothers.

That's her maiden name. And we were dating and we were communicating and we

were talking and we were hanging out and we were having fun.

And I started to, well, I'll tell this story. I had an appendectomy.

Out of the blue, my stomach was hurting. And at the company that I worked for,

they had a doctor's office at the company.

It was a big, large, large company.

10,000 people worked there, but they had a doctor's office. My stomach was really hurting bad.

I went to see the doctor. Dr. Patel was his name.

Maybe I shouldn't have said that, but I went to see him and he said,

he's like, where are you hurting? I said, I'm hurting right here.

And he was pushing on my stomach. He was like, you need to go to the hospital. I was like, why?

He's like, just get that checked out I'm thinking I'm gonna go back to work

right thank God I went to the hospital praise the Lord doctors are not your enemy.

Thought I'd get a better amen to that. Let me say it. Say it after me.

Doctors are not my enemy.

No, no, I went. I went. He said, go over there. I went. As soon as I went,

they immediately rushed me to the emergency room.

Literally, I went to the doctor and I went straight to the emergency room.

I had one chance to make a call. I called Stacy. He's like, I'm in it.

I didn't tell her what hospital I was in. I said

I am I'm going through

an emergency epidectomy and I

gotta go and so and then they're like you know take the drink this thing count

down to 10 I was out okay and so I I wake up I go I'm out for four I remember

looking at the clock and I'm like oh my gosh I've been out for four hours I

wake up uh and they roll me to my room and lo and behold who's in the room,

Stacy she's in the room she located find out where I was

went to room she's in there waiting for me to get rolled in and I

thought this woman loves me I

used to date some girls that would have not showed up in that room come on somebody

call me uh when you get out the hospital y'all know what I'm talking about she

was in the room I thought man that's a big deal to me right she's in the room.

She hangs out with me, whatever.

I discovered that I loved her so much that I bought her a ring.

I bought her a ring, an expensive ring, right?

That I had saved money up for, by the way, to buy.

One day I'm going to get married and I'm going to buy a wife a ring and I saved money for it. Amen.

I loved her so much that I gave her a ring.

So what did this love cause me to do?

To buy her a ring, to ask her to marry me.

For God so loved the world that he gave what did this love cause him to do give,

His only begotten son.

Think about this for a moment. His love for you and I caused him to give his only son.

Jesus is the one thing God only had one of.

He got many planets. He got a lot of trees and stars and birds and fish.

He could have gave a fish, but he got a lot of fish.

He could have gave a diamond but he's got lots of diamonds he

gave you and i the one

thing he had one of his only

begotten son romans 8 32 tells us if he doesn't spare his own son for us will

he not much more give us everything everything so he gave the one thing he had

one of so that whosoever,

there's a chance that someone may not accept this offer.

That whosoever shall believe shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

I submit to you that believing in Jesus is also believing how much you are loved.

And so the foundation of true life, the mandate of true life,

the assignment the Lord gave us is to show people how much they're loved,

not as they should be, but as they already are.

Come on, are you listening to me?

God loves you right where you are. He gave you the one thing.

He only had one of, his son.

If you just accept his son and believe, you'll receive salvation.

You'll enter into his family.

And then we can start talking about the next mandate, which we'll talk about next week, is to learn.

Now there's some things we've got to learn. But right now we've got to believe

and receive that we love. Say this out to me, I am loved.

Say, I am so loved.

Say, I am greatly loved. Say, my father loves me.

It's the beginning of our assignment to understand how much we're loved.

We understand in Romans chapter 8, verse 35 through 32, it says,

who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Pause. Answer that.

Who shall separate us? Pookie and Ray Ray?

Mama and him? Who going to separate us from this love? Shall tribulation?

You going through something. Does that separate you from the love of God?

No, or distress or persecution, they're picking on you, or famine or nakedness or peril or sword.

As it is written, for your sake, we are killed all day long.

We are counted as sheep for the slaughter.

Yet in all these things, we are more than conquerors.

More than conquerors, why? Through him who loved us.

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life,

nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers nor

things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other created

thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus

our Lord what I want you to understand is nothing can separate you,

from his love. Not one thing can separate you.

And that word separate means to divide or to divorce.

Not one thing can divorce you from God's love for you.

Not one thing can cause him to depart his love from you.

Not one thing can divide his love that he has for you.

We are so loved.

And our assignment is to believe and receive the love.

When the Lord told me to start this church and call it true life,

he said the emphasis is on how much I love them.

Tell the people how much I love them. We have placed a lot of emphasis,

unintentionally when I say we, I'm talking about the church at large,

has placed a lot of emphasis on you and I loving God.

Oh, you got to love God. And I mean, with your heart, your mind,

your soul and your strength, you got to love God.

I'll submit to you. I don't know if we're even able to do that.

I don't think that's even possible to love God with all of your heart,

your soul, your mind and your strength, all of your being.

I don't know if that's possible unless we realize how much we're loved by God.

For Sean says you love me because I first love you So once we understand how much we're loved.

We'll begin to then return love let me ask you this question while I'm at it Who loves more than?

Do you love your children more or do your children love you more?

This is an easy answer, by the way. Who loves who more?

The parent loves the child more than the child loves the parent. That's an easy one.

The parents love their children more than the children love their parents.

That's why the children disobey.

Because if you love me, you will obey. Right. That's why they disobeyed,

because they're proven mom and dad love me more than I actually love them.

Now, there could be some variables and life happens, and sometimes kids act

crazy, and our parents do too.

I'm just going to shoot you straight. Parents don't always act the right way,

especially when you become an adult.

Oh, let me get off that. Yeah,

it things change a whole lot. But the fact of the matter is God birthed you and I.

He divinely selected us. We were born again.

And then he adopted our bodies and brought us into the ecclesia,

called out ones to gather and to come with purpose and direction and an assignment.

He loved us first and he loves us more.

You got to get that. God loves you more than you love him.

Think about that. God loves you more than you love him.

And when you start realizing and recognizing how much he loves you,

it'll be easy to love him. Say amen to that.

So nothing can separate you from his love. Second Corinthians 5, 14 and 15. Watch this.

Second Corinthians 5, 14 and 15. For the love of Christ compels us.

That's what I want to end with. The love of Christ compels us because we judge

thus that if one died for all, then I'll die.

And he died for all that those who live should live no longer for themselves,

but for him who died for them and rose again.

Now, watch this. I looked up this word this week compels us.

And my first thought of the word

compel was the love of God is going to completely take over me, right?

And kind of force me to do something. But that's not what that word compels means.

That word compels actually means the love of God will hold you and I together,

will constrain us, will grip us tightly.

Me and so in the ecclesia and this

local body we are not gathering here for

our political reasons we're not

gathering here for any other reason except god called us here and what's holding

you and i together is his love it's keeping us together you're i'm gonna say

things that's gonna hurt your feelings you're gonna say things that's gonna

hurt my feelings somebody else gonna say things that's going to hurt.

What's keeping us together is the love of God.

It's compelling us. It's constraining us.

His love is holding us tightly and grippily together despite the ups and downs

and the trials and the offense and all this craziness of what's happening.

It's God's love that holds us together.

Glory be to God. It's his love that does it.

And his love is going to seize us.

And it's so passionate within us. Look at verse 15.

His love is so passionate. It says, and he died for all that those who live,

that's you and I, should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again.

God's love is compelling us so that we no longer live for ourselves.

We now live for him and we gather for him and we have an assignment from him.

And now our job is to come together.

Watch this. Gather together. That means this is not optional.

Well, maybe I don't feel like going to church today.

Well, you know, maybe it's three o'clock. I'm not going.

Well, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, you've been divinely selected and appointed

to gather together because you're not living for yourself.

You're living for him. And you may have something that the body needs.

Every time we get together, you ought to say, I'm here because God's love is

bringing us together. We're coming for an assignment.

You are here to get your assignment for the week.

You thought I was here to get you going a little bit no no you're here to get your assignment,

for the week to apply it to yourself first then your family and then the community

you can't govern the community if you can't govern yourself first,

You can't make an influence on the world if you can't influence yourself first or your family.

You're here to get an assignment.

Every week you come together, you're getting an assignment.

You say, this is my assignment. Let me apply it to my life.

Let me apply it to my family. And let me apply it to them broke,

busted, disgusting jokers at work.

Let me apply it to them because I want them to know how much they're loved.

Your assignment is to tell people how much God loves them, to be influential

and show how much God loves them, to come in with a smile.

Why are you so happy? God loves me.

And guess what? He loves you too. Come on, somebody.

That's what you got. That's the assignment. That's why God put true life on the earth.

Let people know that they're loved and stop living for ourself and start living

for him and being a blessing to someone else.

We'll talk about that later as well as we get into live.

The mandate is to live. But right now, the mandate is to love,

to know how much you love. Say, I am loved.

Say, I'm so loved. I'm greatly loved.

I don't live for myself.

No, no, no. I live for him. I live for him. Now that that went down.

That went down. Say I live for him.

I live for him. That's. Listen, God wants us to live on this earth the best life possible.

No, he does. This is his will. He said, I wish above all things that you prosper

and be in health, even as your soul prosper.

It's his will, but it starts with understanding how much we're loved.

Now, I didn't say everything was going to work out the way you thought.

I didn't say you don't get everything you want.

I didn't say that everything you pray for is going to happen.

That that's not what I said I said he wants you to live the

best life on the earth and he wants

you to enjoy the journey that's the

theme that we're in is to enjoy the journey

but if if Zarej my 11 year old came to me and said dad I want to drive the car

man that my best life is to start driving well first of all we say son your

feet can't even reach the pedal you know and you haven't been taught,

you haven't been trained, we haven't gone through.

It would be irresponsible of me.

I love him, but it'd be irresponsible of me to hand the keys over to him.

The car's a good thing. The road's a good thing.

Going somewhere is a good thing, but the timing's not right.

And many of us, well, God don't love me because I didn't get what I want.

You need to start thinking about timing.

Is the timing right? Maybe it's just not time.

Maybe I'm not ready. Maybe the other person's not ready. Maybe the situation's not ready.

I didn't mean to talk about this when I'm talking to somebody. Maybe it's the timing.

God loves me and he knows when the best time it is for me to get whatever it is I'm believing for.

And you just got to be patient enough to wait on the Lord.

Mount Olive Baptist Church I grew up in, they said all the time,

wait on the Lord. Wait, I say, on the Lord. Amen.

This is how you experience true life.