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Operating System | The Kingdom Blueprint | Pastor Caleb Thomas

Free Life Chapel Podcast

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  1. Hello, hello, friend. Thank you so much

  2. for tuning in here at Free Life Chapel,

  3. where we help you discover and live the

  4. free life in Christ. My name is Kotti

  5. and I'm so glad that you're tuning in

  6. with us. If you ever find yourself in

  7. the Central Florida area, come visit us.

  8. We want to connect with you face to

  9. face. But until then, visit our website,

  10. freelifechapel.org, to find out more

  11. about what's happening at your church.

  12. There's a phenomenal message in store

  13. just for you. I hope you're encouraged.

  14. We're going to get back into a

  15. conversation that we started last week

  16. called the kingdom blueprint. The

  17. kingdom blueprint. God's blueprint for

  18. here on earth that was designed by the

  19. master designer. But I have a question

  20. before we start.

  21. It's a very divisive question. So I

  22. apologize in advance.

  23. Who is team iPhone?

  24. Okay, hands down. Who is team other?

  25. Tony Murray. Who is team other? YEAH, IT

  26. MAN I THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST DIVISIVE

  27. questions that you can ask. Are are your

  28. texts green or blue?

  29. Don't put me in no group texts if it's

  30. coming up green. Only thing I like

  31. that's green is my money. I don't put me

  32. in Don't put me in nothing that's got

  33. green in it. I I don't like it. Whether

  34. you have an iPhone or whether you have

  35. an Android, I'm sure you have great

  36. reasons why or if you have an Android,

  37. you think you have great reasons why

  38. have great reasons why we choose what we

  39. have. But here's what I do know about

  40. the iPhone and about an Android or about

  41. a Mac, a laptop and a Windows computer

  42. is each device or each brand has their

  43. own operating system.

  44. Like if I want to download an app for my

  45. iPhone, I do not go to the Google Play

  46. Store, which is what you would use for

  47. Android. I I I don't go there. I go to

  48. the Apple. Why? Because it's a Apple

  49. product. So, it lives inside of that

  50. operating system. It dictates it creates

  51. parameters and it creates levels of

  52. opportunity. It does both. Same thing

  53. with an Android. that I I've downloaded

  54. multiple applications here at the church

  55. and my desk computer or for some other

  56. folk and it always asks which operating

  57. system are you using Mac or Windows?

  58. Because if you're using Mac, you cannot

  59. download a Windows and expect for it to

  60. work and vice versa. There's different

  61. operating systems and you cannot run two

  62. operating systems at the same time. You

  63. have to pick one. Sounds very similar to

  64. like what Jesus said where you and I

  65. cannot serve two masters. He says you

  66. got to pick one. He he he even goes so

  67. far as to say uh don't be lukewarm with

  68. your faith. Either be cold or be hot,

  69. but be decisive. And in a culture today

  70. that wants a lot of ambiguity for my

  71. feelings,

  72. >> right?

  73. >> Wants ambiguity for me to be able to

  74. change my mind and and help be

  75. comfortable. I I I want a gray area. I

  76. don't want to decide. God says there's

  77. certain things that are extremely black

  78. and white. Choose this day who you will

  79. serve

  80. >> is what God says. And the Bible goes on

  81. to say that there's two different

  82. kingdoms,

  83. two different operating systems that you

  84. and I have to pick from. One is given to

  85. us by default.

  86. One is one that we choose to operate in.

  87. Here's what the Bible says. Colossians

    Colossians 1 chapter mention

  88. chapter 1. I'll read in the New

  89. Testament, the back half of the book.

  90. The writer of Colossians begins to tell

  91. us about these two different kingdoms

  92. that we have to choose from. And then at

  93. the same time shows us who is the owner

  94. of the kingdom. Because when we talk

  95. about kingdoms, really what we're saying

  96. is there's a king's domain.

  97. And the king gets to dictate the

  98. culture,

  99. >> the language, the boundaries, the

  100. parameters, what's allowed and what's

  101. not. It is the king's decision and it's

  102. not a dictatorship.

  103. >> People don't have a vote in. The king is

  104. the one who sets the tone, sets the

  105. pace. And same thing happens in our

  106. life. And if I'm not careful, I would

  107. love living in this democracy that we

  108. get the opportunity to live in. love

  109. that I'm able to vote and and share and

  110. voice my opinion, but where God has an

  111. opinion, mine is irrelevant.

  112. >> And so, if I'm going to operate inside

  113. of his kingdom, I need to continue to do

  114. things his way. Here's what the writer

  115. of Colossians says in Colossians chapter

    Colossians 1:13

  116. 1, verse 13. When you see these

  117. highlighted words, I would love for you

  118. to read them out loud with me. Here's

  119. what it says. God has saved us from the

  120. dark kingdom where Satan rules. He has

  121. brought us into the kingdom of his son

  122. whom he loves. Also called the kingdom

  123. of light.

  124. Kingdom of darkness,

  125. kingdom of light. Two completely

  126. different owners.

  127. One who is oppressive,

  128. one who is liberating.

  129. One who cares about you. One who abuses

  130. and uses you.

  131. One who wants to give you love, one who

  132. wants to steal, kill, and destroy

  133. everything that you love. Choose which

  134. operating system you are going to live

  135. in. It says that you've been transferred

  136. over. When we accept Jesus into our

  137. lives, there's been a transfership of

  138. kingdom, a transfership of citizenship.

  139. The Bible actually says that you and I

  140. when we get into Christ, we're not even

  141. citizens of this world. We're aliens.

  142. We're foreigners in the land. Why?

  143. Because we actually belong to heaven. I

  144. came from heaven into this earth. I'm on

  145. vacation mode. I'm just trying to do

  146. vacation with Jesus. And then I'm going

  147. to go back home one day. That is the

  148. prayer for every single Christ follower

  149. that the Bible says that this life that

  150. you and I are living in is nothing but a

  151. vapor.

  152. >> Here one second and then gone. don't

  153. even know when it left, how it left, the

  154. direction that it left. But then you,

  155. you and I will spend eternity somewhere.

  156. >> That's not subjective.

  157. >> That is very objective. That it it is a

  158. truth that you and I can live by. But we

  159. have the opportunity to choose where

  160. that is. Smoking or non-smoking,

  161. with God,

  162. without God. the kingdom of darkness

  163. where Satan rules or the kingdom of his

  164. son Jesus, the kingdom of light where

  165. Jesus rules. The Bible says that we have

  166. been transferred over a new kingdom, a

  167. new system, a new way of operating

  168. throughout life. And if I'm going to be

  169. honest, here's something that I have

  170. issues with, something that I have

  171. struggled with. I can be saved and still

  172. be living with an outdated operating

  173. system in my life. So, I get saved, but

  174. I still do things my way.

  175. I get saved and and I allow this book to

  176. just be an opinion for me to do in life,

  177. not the authority for how I'm supposed

  178. to act inside of life. If I'm not cful

  179. careful, I will get saved. See Jesus as

  180. my savior, but then make him out to be

  181. my version of Lord. Whatever benefits

  182. me, whatever comforts me, whatever makes

  183. me feel good, whatever makes me look

  184. good, whatever makes my bank account the

  185. biggest, whatever makes me look the most

  186. popping on social media, I will put him

  187. in my image rather than allowing him to

  188. transform and make me into his image.

  189. It's a struggle and it's a slippery

  190. slope that we live in that Jesus does

  191. not just want to be our Lord, he wants

  192. to be our savior. And the only way for

  193. you and I to have the life that Jesus

  194. fully died to give us, not just to

  195. experience eternity, but in order to be

  196. able to have a life that's actually

  197. enjoyable, pleasurable, and lifegiving

  198. while we're here on earth, is to do so

  199. off of his operating system. When I have

  200. a different input in my life, it creates

  201. a different output. There is a

  202. difference of operating in Satan's or in

  203. the world's in cultures operating system

  204. versus God's. What do you mean cultures

  205. operating system? The Bible says that

  206. whenever sin entered into the world that

  207. that now became the culture, the domain

  208. where Satan rules. He is the ruler over

  209. this world.

  210. >> It's the fact it's scripture. And that

  211. whenever you and I are birthed into this

  212. world, by default,

  213. we are in his kingdom.

  214. >> And you and I have to make a decision in

  215. order to accept Christ into our life to

  216. have this transfer of citizenship. This

  217. is what the Bible calls for you and I to

  218. be born again. Because in this world,

  219. when we're born into it, we're born into

  220. sin. We're born into his culture. But

  221. when we get born again into Christ, the

  222. Bible says, "What the flesh births is of

  223. the flesh, but what the spirit birs is

  224. of the spirit." When we get born again

  225. in Christ, we're born again into his

  226. kingdom and into his domain. And so what

  227. I see is if my reactions look like the

  228. world, then I'm probably operating with

  229. the world's system,

  230. >> not with Christ. But if my actions,

  231. reactions, thoughts, words, motives look

  232. like heaven's blueprint, heaven's

  233. operating system, then chances are I'm

  234. doing my very best in order to be led by

  235. Holy Spirit to do things God's way. This

  236. is why Jesus actually told you and I how

  237. we should pray in Matthew chapter 6.

    Matthew 6 chapter mention

  238. Many people have this have this

  239. memorized.

  240. We're going to put it up on the screen,

  241. but I want to focus on one particular

  242. verse out of Matthew chapter 6. When

    Matthew 6 chapter mention

  243. Jesus is teaching how to pray, many of

  244. you might know, "Our Father, who art in

  245. heaven, hallowed be thy name." Here's

  246. what the ESV version of Matthew 6:10

    Matthew 6:10

  247. says. Your kingdom come, your will be

  248. done on earth as it is in heaven.

  249. So, not in heaven as it is down here on

  250. earth. I need heaven to come down. Stop

  251. Caleb trying to take earth and take it

  252. up. It's not earth up. It's heaven down.

  253. What God, what Jesus is saying is

  254. prayer. Prayer for God to instill his

  255. system inside of my life. A completely

  256. different way of moving, a different way

  257. of talking, talking, a different way of

  258. thinking, a different way of operating

  259. inside of life. let heaven's culture

  260. override

  261. my natural instincts.

  262. How can it be for God to come here? For

  263. me to be able to live heaven on earth

  264. that I don't just have to wait until I

  265. pass away, but there has to be another

  266. level of living here. And I don't want

  267. to diminish God's power and sovereignty

  268. to only be effective whenever I get to

  269. heaven. He's also able to be effective

  270. here on earth, but I have to do things

  271. his way to allow him the opportunity to

  272. do what he's wanting to do. And so I I

  273. would say it this way for me, I don't

  274. want to just pray your kingdom come. I

  275. want to be the place that it comes

  276. through.

  277. >> All right?

  278. >> That if we're Christ followers, it's not

  279. us just saying, "God, on earth as it is

  280. in heaven." No, it's on earth as it is

  281. in heaven. And by the way, use me in

  282. order to show how it is in heaven. The

  283. love of heaven, the joy of heaven, the

  284. peace of heaven, the grace of heaven,

  285. the mercy of heaven, the spirit of

  286. heaven, but then also the strength of

  287. heaven. I want God to use me in order to

  288. show that to people inside of this

  289. world. So the kingdom operating system,

  290. it is very simple and very hard. Ain't

  291. that the case that usually it's the

  292. simple things that are the hardest

  293. things? Like I remember back whenever I

  294. was in school, I'll do pre-alggebra,

  295. algebra 1, algebra 2. We going we not

  296. going to talk about geometry

  297. taking those classes. I remember the

  298. first couple weeks in school like the

  299. teacher was like going over things that

  300. we had learned last time. I'm like, bro,

  301. I done been known this. Like I I know

  302. the fundamentals. I know they're the

  303. building blocks for where we're going. I

  304. I heard it. I didn't want to believe it

  305. or do anything with it. Meanwhile, three

  306. weeks into school, I'm over here asking

  307. for tutoring because I'm already lost.

  308. Like, I have no idea what we're doing,

  309. where we're going. And the teacher said,

  310. "It's because you weren't focused on the

  311. fundamentals. You weren't focused on the

  312. easy things. And if you can't do the

  313. easy things, then how are you expecting

  314. to build that up?" I find in my life the

  315. more I focus on doing the simple things

  316. that Jesus says to do, I will one

  317. realize how hard it is, how much I can't

  318. do it. Number two, it also reminds me

  319. how much I need him. It's funny how my

  320. pride and my arrogance can grow to a

  321. place where I actually think I'm good

  322. enough and don't need God.

  323. >> All right?

  324. >> And it happens to me easy. Too many

  325. compliments, I think I got it. too too

  326. many words of encouragement. I think I'm

  327. good. I think I'm doing it on my own.

  328. Too many successes, the business starts

  329. popping and we're having some profitable

  330. months. I think I actually know what I'm

  331. doing.

  332. >> I got to be careful with this. Stay

  333. humble and stay submitted to God and how

  334. he does things. So, the kingdom's

  335. operating system, which is simple but is

  336. not easy, are these three things. In

  337. God,

  338. two people

  339. through devotion.

  340. in God

  341. towards people

  342. through devotion. Let's talk about this.

  343. In God. In God. The Pharisees in Matthew

    Matthew 22 chapter mention

  344. chapter 22, uh, they were trying to

  345. catch Jesus slipping. Y'all, don't y'all

  346. hate when somebody tries to like catch

  347. you slipping?

  348. Like, you trying to get me got? I hope

  349. you get got like you YOU WHAT YOU TRYING

  350. TO DO THIS FOR me for? The Pharisees was

  351. doing that with with Jesus. that he was

  352. around a whole bunch of religious elite

  353. folk who knew better but weren't doing

  354. better. Who knew the scripture but

  355. weren't doing the scripture, who knew

  356. the song and were singing it, but

  357. weren't living out the appreciation of

  358. the love for God. That that's who these

  359. folk were, the Sadducees and the

  360. Pharisees. And the Pharisees had came up

  361. and they were like, "Oh, we going to

  362. catch God slipping." And they sent a

  363. lawyer to go up and to try to catch

  364. Jesus. And he says, "Hey, rabbi, hey

  365. teacher, um, what is the greatest

  366. commandment in the law?"

  367. >> And I can see like I Anybody else like a

  368. visual person? Are you kind of crazy,

  369. too? Like when when I'm seeing this like

  370. I have a whole movie like I see him

  371. saying, "Hey, Rabbi, what's the greatest

  372. commandment in the law?"

  373. Got him.

  374. It's just me, Jesus.

  375. And Jesus came back something gangster.

  376. The truth.

  377. Ain't it funny how we sometimes shy away

  378. from the truth? Jesus said, "I'mma stand

  379. 10 toes on it." You asked me the

  380. question, be ready for my response. I'm

  381. not ashamed in he who I believe and I

  382. know where it is that I come from.

  383. Matthew 22:es 37-38.

  384. Here's what Jesus said to what is the

  385. greatest commandment in the law. And he

  386. said to them, "You shall love the Lord

  387. your God with all your heart and with

  388. all your soul and with all your mind.

  389. This is the great and first commandment.

  390. Love God

  391. >> with everything you got. Holding nothing

  392. back. Which means emotionally, God, you

  393. have me.

  394. >> You have my heart. Intellectually, God,

  395. you have me. I'm going to study your

  396. word. It's not enough just for me to

  397. have emotionalism with you,

  398. experientialism. No, I want to have a

  399. foundation for your word. I want to not

  400. just know you. I want to understand you.

  401. I want to know what makes you happy. I

  402. want to know what makes you cry. I want

  403. to know what you're proud of. I want to

  404. know what makes you sad. I want to know

  405. these things. So with my heart, with my

  406. mind, and with my soul,

  407. my willpower, that the decisions that I

  408. make now are expressed in how I love

  409. you. Love the Lord your God with all

  410. your heart, with all your soul, with all

  411. your mind. This is the great and the

  412. first commandment

  413. in the kingdom of God. Order matters

  414. really. And anywhere we go,

  415. >> order matters. The law of first mention

  416. that if everything's a priority,

  417. nothing's a priority.

  418. >> All right?

  419. >> So Jesus said, I need you to keep this

  420. as a priority. Pimeo, number one, keep

  421. this at the top of the list. Pin it to

  422. your feed. Save it. Put it as your

  423. screen saver. Do whatever. This is the

  424. number one thing that things friend

  425. John. Do you love God? Order matters.

  426. Why does this matter?

  427. >> As I said earlier, heaven's order, his

  428. operating system is in God. When I love

  429. God, I'm able to find my identity inside

  430. of God

  431. >> because God is the master designer. He's

  432. the one that made you and he's the one

  433. that made me. Well, you want to get to

  434. know you better? How about you get to

  435. know the one that made you

  436. >> cuz you're going to see some intricacies

  437. that you might have misqualified. You

  438. might have called it weird. God called

  439. it unique. People might have said that

  440. it was bad. God said it's for my glory.

  441. People might have shunned away from it.

  442. And that's the thing that God is using

  443. to embrace you and embrace people. WHEN

  444. I GET START LOVING GOD MORE AND I MAKE

  445. SURE THIS relationship was is right, I

  446. have a security in who I am.

  447. >> Without God, we have identity crisis.

  448. With God, I have a secured identity. You

  449. ever had an identity crisis before?

  450. I talk about me. I'm a mut, baby. I'm a

  451. dog. I'm a mut. I'M A MUT.

  452. I'M HALF Puerto Rican and at times I

  453. think I'm full.

  454. And I I used to have the Puerto Rican

  455. flag in my college dorm hanging on the

  456. wall. I promise you I HAD THE BOXING

  457. GLOVES HANGING FROM MY CAR. But if you

  458. spoke to me in Spanish, deal with them

  459. in the guy. Hey,

  460. just keeping it a buck.

  461. AND I'M FROM POKE COUNTY,

  462. SO I COULD DO COWBOY BOOTS, COUNTRY

  463. MUSIC, AND CAMO with the best of them.

  464. I'm cool with you there. And in my

  465. formative years growing up, we lived in

  466. INNER CITY TAMPA, SO I THOUGHT I was

  467. black.

  468. I did. I JUST THOUGHT GOD took me out

  469. the oven early. Like, I ain't know. I

  470. thought I was half baked. Like, I I

  471. didn't know.

  472. Thank you.

  473. Now watch this.

  474. >> Because of that, I tried to put my

  475. identity inside of what I deemed out of

  476. ignorance, culture, nationality, what I

  477. felt good in. And then I found myself

  478. jumping to please whatever group of

  479. people that I was around. So I never

  480. knew who I was.

  481. >> I allowed everybody else to dictate what

  482. I was. I was inside of sports. I like I

  483. like sports. Uh and I had my identity

  484. inside of sports. Here was the problem.

  485. We didn't go undefeated. I lost. Which

  486. means then that I lost.

  487. Put it into work ethic. And yeah,

  488. somebody who works hard, somebody who

  489. sweats, give me the job, I'm going to

  490. get it done until I can't or won't,

  491. until I don't know what to do or until

  492. it's too much and something falls

  493. through the cracks. Now I feel like I

  494. have just became a failure. But once we

  495. put our identity inside of Christ, we're

  496. going to get to know a love, a security,

  497. a strength that came from heaven because

  498. he's the designer. NOT PUTTING MY LIFE

  499. IN CHRIST IS LIKE YOU and I trying to

  500. use the air fryer to heat or trying to

  501. use the freezer to warm up a piece of

  502. pizza.

  503. >> All right?

  504. >> We were never intended to do it that

  505. way. It it's actually made to do

  506. something completely different. And

  507. there was times in my life where I was

  508. trying to live and operate one way when

  509. really I think what heaven was saying is

  510. Caleb, you were meant to do something

  511. different. You were created to You

  512. wonder why it's not work? You wonder why

  513. you out here trying to be wild and you

  514. can't enjoy all of the wild.

  515. >> All right?

  516. >> Cuz you were created to do something

  517. different. You want to know why you're

  518. so tormented with the way that you just

  519. responded to that person? Cuz you were

  520. supposed to be operating different.

  521. Caleb, change how you live. Change how

  522. you operate. I need you to focus on me.

  523. When you're in me, then you're inside of

  524. security.

  525. >> But now it's not just in me. It's also

  526. to people towards people. Matthew 22:39,

    Matthew 22:39

  527. the very next verse, Jesus continues and

  528. he says it this way. And the second is

  529. like it. The first commandment, love

  530. God. This is the great and the first

  531. commandment. And the second is like it.

  532. You shall love your neighbor as

  533. yourself.

  534. >> What he's saying is that a love for God

  535. should and will produce in you a love

  536. for people.

  537. >> That as I love him more, I naturally

  538. love people more. As I embrace him more,

  539. I will naturally begin to embrace other

  540. folk more. Because while the

  541. relationship with me and Jesus, yes, is

  542. an internal decision and is something

  543. that's going here. The kingdom life is

  544. not a private life, it's a public life.

  545. There should be visible implications for

  546. the love that you and I say that we have

  547. for Christ. That I'm not an in the

  548. closet Christ follower. I'm outspoken.

  549. What does that look like? Not in how I

  550. slap people in the Bible. Not in how

  551. loud I pray. Not in what I do there. How

  552. well I treat others.

  553. How well can I TREAT PEOPLE? HOW WELL

  554. CAN I love people? I heard on a podcast

  555. this past week, it was talking about

  556. scripture and it said this that you and

  557. I sometimes,

  558. this pastor was talking, he said, "I

  559. sometimes don't even love my family the

  560. way that the Bible says to love my

  561. enemies.

  562. >> I have a jacked up and skewed version of

  563. what love is on my own. I need God to

  564. define it." First John actually says

  565. that whoever does not love does not know

  566. God because God is love. So the more I

  567. get to know him, the more I'm able to

  568. understand what love is and then be able

  569. to give it out towards others. The

  570. kingdom life isn't private. It's visible

  571. based on how well I love people. This is

  572. what Jesus started talking about in

  573. Matthew chapter 5, talking about the

    Matthew 5 chapter mention

  574. sermon on the mount. He says that you

  575. and I were the salts of the earth. We're

  576. like a city that is set upon a hill, a

  577. light in a house, not to be covered over

  578. so that it can't be used, but to give

  579. light, to shine it for people. And

  580. here's what he says in Matthew 5:16. In

    Matthew 5:16

  581. the same way, this is Jesus talking. LET

  582. YOUR LIGHT shine before others so that

  583. they may see your good works and give

  584. glory to your father who is in heaven.

  585. Not good works for them to say how good

  586. you are. Good works to say how amazing

  587. God is.

  588. >> To say that because of how I love him, I

  589. am now treating people with heavenly

  590. principles, with the blueprint, the

  591. operating system from heaven, that then

  592. when people look at me, how well am I

  593. doing at holding a mirror back up at God

  594. that it's not me, it is him. I'm

  595. grateful that he's able to use somebody

  596. broken, busted, and disgusted like me

  597. for his glory. How can I do that? It is

  598. through what the Bible calls these good

  599. works. Good works to glorify God,

  600. not arguments. It doesn't say, "Let your

  601. light shine before others so that they

  602. may see your great argumentative points

  603. and how you can be correct."

  604. It doesn't say my harshness towards

  605. people. It doesn't say to operate in

  606. culture wars creating division between

  607. men. No, it says operate inside of the

  608. good works. There's a theologian RT

  609. France and he he has a commentary on the

  610. gospel of Matthew and RT France was

  611. actually quoted saying this that the

  612. good works are visible expressions of

  613. allegiance to God's reign.

  614. Visible expression of my heart's

  615. allegiance to the king's domain. Not to

  616. mine but to theirs. in Matthew. Well,

  617. okay, that sounds good, but what are

  618. these good works?

  619. What are these things? It has to be

  620. something tangible if Jesus wants me to

  621. do it. Well, Matthew 5, the sermon on

  622. the mount, he goes into these things

  623. called the beatitudes right before this

  624. word. This is the attitudes that he

  625. wants you to be, the the things that he

  626. wants you and I to possess. And it's to

  627. be humble, to be broken over sin, to be

  628. gentle, to be hungry for God, to be

  629. merciful, to be pure of heart, of mind,

  630. and of motive, to be a peacemaker, and

  631. to be faithful under pressure.

  632. These are what Jesus is saying are the

  633. good works that when we operate in them

  634. which is only found inside of God,

  635. inside of Christ. But when we operate in

  636. those, it's able to glorify God who is

  637. in heaven.

  638. >> And you and I need to care what people

  639. think and how they view us. For one, the

  640. Bible says that a good name is better

  641. than riches.

  642. I used to say, I don't care about what

  643. people think. You should. That's your

  644. reputation. And the Bible says that you

  645. and I when we receive Christ are

  646. ambassadors for God. I'm either bringing

  647. people towards him or I'm pushing people

  648. away from him. Which one is my lifestyle

  649. doing? But then Paul actually says it

  650. this way in 2 Corinthians 8 21. He says

  651. this, "We are careful to be honorable

  652. before the Lord to do what's right in

  653. his eyes, but we also want everyone else

  654. to see that we are honorable.

  655. >> We want to do right in the eyes of God.

  656. That's the number one thing. not living

  657. based off of people. Remember, order

  658. matters. I first do what's right in the

  659. eyes of God. And then in my response to

  660. loving him and being in him and focusing

  661. on him, I now want to do what is best

  662. for everybody else,

  663. >> which is always going to be operating

  664. inside of God's operating system.

  665. >> Order matters. I You ever made rice

  666. before?

  667. I ain't talking about that Uncle Ben's.

  668. I ain't talking about that minute rice.

  669. I ain't even talk about no rice maker

  670. rice. I'm talking about that season pot.

  671. You know what I'm saying? That one that

  672. you don't scrub cuz it's seasoned. Just

  673. right. I wanted to make dinner for Liz a

  674. couple months ago. So, I made my

  675. steakoop whoop. Went to go make some

  676. rice. Something simple, some slight, you

  677. know, just out of the kindness of my

  678. heart. Love you.

  679. So, I go to make the rice, but I had the

  680. kids at home, so I'm rushing and I'm not

  681. really fully paying attention. So, I I

  682. washed the rice. Woo! I got the got the

  683. pot boiling. I threw in the salt again.

  684. Just doing something simple. And then I

  685. cooked it. Woo! I went TO GO TASTE IT.

  686. THAT thing was nasty.

  687. In our house, do how you will, we use

  688. olive oil in our rice. I forgot to put

  689. in the olive oil. So, you know what my

  690. brilliant brain did?

  691. >> I added it in after

  692. just a little drizzle.

  693. >> I took another bite. IT WAS EVEN WORSE.

  694. ORDER. That was my reaction.

  695. I started crying like I couldn't handle

  696. it.

  697. Order matters.

  698. Same ingredients out of order.

  699. Disgusting. Nobody ate it. Threw it in

  700. the trash.

  701. Use those same ingredients. Put it in

  702. order. It is something that is

  703. nourishing and that is beneficial to all

  704. of those who take it in. God is saying,

  705. "I have an order for you to do in life.

  706. Think of me first." Matthew 6 says,

  707. "Seek first the kingdom of heaven. I

  708. want to go towards God first. And as I

  709. love God, then I'm able to love people

  710. because what I find is when I try to

  711. love people without being rooted in God

  712. first, my love eventually becomes more

  713. about me.

  714. >> I pervert it. I twist it. I manipulate

  715. it. I make it to what how good it makes

  716. me feel. What do I get out of it? How am

  717. I treated? Order matters. When I love

  718. God properly, then I'll be able to love

  719. people properly. But then then it takes

  720. me through devotion in God to people

  721. through devotion. Titus chapter 3 verse

    Titus 3:14

  722. 14, the Bible says this. And let our

  723. people, this is Paul talking here, learn

  724. to devote themselves to good works so as

  725. to help in cases of urgent need and to

  726. not be unfruitful.

  727. Way to interpret this is if I'm not

  728. doing good works, then I am not being

  729. fruitful

  730. and not good works based off of cultures

  731. operating system. Good works based off

  732. of what heaven says to do. I need heaven

  733. to be the one that defines things inside

  734. of my life. So good works heaven. If I'm

  735. not doing the things that God said to

  736. do, then I am being unfruitful. If I do

  737. the things, treat people well, keep the

  738. order, love, be in God, express love

  739. towards people, then I am in the

  740. operating system of heaven and I am

  741. fruitful. But the Bible says to devote

  742. yourself.

  743. So my brain, I make up a lot of

  744. definitions in my head. Anybody else

  745. make up words? I make up words. I want

  746. to know what does devotion actually

  747. mean?

  748. >> Devotion is an intense,

  749. steadfast,

  750. and loyal dedication.

  751. An intense, over-the-top passion,

  752. intensity.

  753. I know nothing about that. Intense,

  754. steadfast, which means it doesn't quit.

  755. It can endure through the tough times.

  756. Loyal,

  757. which means whether it benefits me or

  758. whether I it doesn't, I'm here.

  759. Dedication. Devotion is the thing that

  760. sustains God's system. A devotion to

  761. what? A devotion to God.

  762. We are in God.

  763. Everything we do is for God.

  764. And it can only happen through God.

  765. My identity is inside of God

  766. in me. My good works are for God to give

  767. him the glory.

  768. But the only way that that'll be

  769. sustainable inside of my life is if I do

  770. it through God, through his prompting,

  771. through Holy Spirit, through me being

  772. dedicated to him. All things are in him,

  773. to him, and through him.

  774. If I stop being devoted, chances are I'm

  775. going to fall back into the world's

  776. operating system. What do you mean by

  777. devoted? If I stop if I stop praying,

  778. I stop praying. If I stop this

  779. communication with God, how do you

  780. expect any relationship to grow without

  781. communication?

  782. I need to make sure that this is

  783. growing. So, I need to make sure that

  784. I'm continuing communicating with me,

  785. which by the way, it's not a monologue.

  786. It's a dialogue. It's not my time for me

  787. to just tell him all my wants and then

  788. just skate out and run. There also has

  789. to be time for me to sit to feel the

  790. prompings of Holy Spirit and also hear

  791. what I need to get checked. I feel the

  792. most times where I don't give him the

  793. time to respond is because I'm scared of

  794. what he's going to say.

  795. >> I need this prayer time. I I I need my

  796. time inside of scripture. I I HAVE SAID

  797. GOD AIN'T TALKING TO ME. GOD HAS SAID A

  798. WHOLE LOT. Am I reading it? Am I

  799. listening to it? He's not silent. I've

  800. just been ignorant, not knowing. I need

  801. to open up my word. That's why we've

  802. done this bring your Bible to church

  803. campaign. IT'S CRAZY STATISTIC. YOU'RE

  804. MORE LIKELY TO read the Bible if you

  805. have a Bible.

  806. Pretty crazy.

  807. Wait, y'all manipulated me to do No, it

  808. didn't. Led you.

  809. >> Cuz it's for your benefit, not for mine.

  810. >> It's for your benefit. It's for your

  811. family's benefit. Get this book open.

  812. This isn't for a Sunday picture. This is

  813. to be a word, a a lamp to your feet, a

  814. light to your path. DAVID SAID, "I'LL

  815. HIDE YOUR WORD IN MY HEART, SO I WILL

  816. NOT SIN AGAINST YOU." HOW CAN I KNOW

  817. WHAT GOD WANTS IF I DON'T KNOW WHAT GOD

  818. WANTS? It's inside of this book,

  819. worship, a lifestyle that is edifying to

  820. Christ. Not just the songs that I sing,

  821. although there is that, but how am I

  822. living? Well, my lifestyle to be one of

  823. worship and obedience. How am I obeying

  824. what he says to do? That's what keeps

  825. the kingdom running.

  826. So, in my life, I've had to do what I'd

  827. call some kingdom resets

  828. cuz I've kind of been off a little bit.

  829. This morning when I woke up, I had a

  830. notification that said that there's a

  831. new update for your phone. Do you want

  832. to update it? Yes, I I hit the update

  833. and when I did it, the screen kind of

  834. went black. I wasn't able to use my

  835. phone for a little bit, but I saw this

  836. loading bar and it was constantly

  837. loading to bring in an up an operating

  838. system that allows me to do things that

  839. I could not do before I did the update.

  840. >> All right.

  841. >> There's been times where I have to do

  842. these resets, these updates inside of my

  843. operating system with Christ. What does

  844. that look like?

  845. Start your day with prayer instead of

  846. your phone,

  847. understanding that there is nothing that

  848. I'm going to be able to do today that

  849. God has not given me the ability to do.

  850. That the fact that I woke up is a gift

  851. from God. The fact that I can speak is a

  852. gift from God. The fact that I have kids

  853. to be able to make breakfast for is a

  854. gift from God. I have a job to go to.

  855. I'm not thinking about how I'm going to

  856. get the job. I'm blessed to have a car.

  857. Those are gifts from God. I can start

  858. every day with prayer of thanksgiving.

  859. Begin the communication with God. Holy

  860. Spirit, thank you for being here and

  861. operating in my life. Not just leaving

  862. me. You're not just limited to a

  863. building on a Sunday, but Holy Spirit,

  864. you're God, you said I am the temple of

  865. the Holy Spirit. So wherever I go, you

  866. are there. Thank you. Spend some time in

  867. your Bible. Read it. Do one act of

  868. intentional kindness today

  869. to somebody that can't do anything for

  870. you.

  871. That way I know I'm not doing it for

  872. something. I'm doing it just because of

  873. what he has done for me.

  874. Use your voice to encourage somebody,

  875. not create division.

  876. Ask yourself what I'm asking myself.

  877. What operating system am I talking in,

  878. thinking in, and acting in?

  879. If I can be very transparent while I was

  880. preparing this message, here's what I

  881. felt Holy Spirit say to me. Caleb,

  882. before you correct your the world,

  883. correct your spirit.

  884. >> And before you debate culture, display

  885. Christ.

  886. >> All of us have an update that we can do

  887. to make sure that we're in God. We're

  888. showing love to people. But the only way

  889. that's going to be sustainable is

  890. through our devotion to God. It starts

  891. with God. It ends with God. It's all

  892. because of him. Everybody stand to your

  893. feet.

  894. To be in God is to speak of my identity.

  895. I'm his. I'm inside of Christ. And to to

  896. say to people is talking about the

  897. expression

  898. of my salvation and my need for God, my

  899. devotion to his kingdom and his

  900. blueprint, his operating system in life.

  901. And through devotion, that's to talk

  902. about the sustainability that I have in

  903. order to do this. I can't do this on my

  904. own and I can't change people but I can

  905. change me.

  906. >> How do I change me? I remember that it's

  907. in God

  908. to people through devotion. Maybe today

  909. you're here and you would say with the

  910. best heart and with the best

  911. intentionality,

  912. God hasn't been first in my life. Maybe

  913. I put something else first. Maybe I've

  914. put a love for people first and I and I

  915. and I didn't put God in his rightful

  916. place, but today I want to I want to get

  917. my order straightened back out. Me, too.

  918. You're maybe maybe your love has grown

  919. sharp because you're trying to do your

  920. version of love, not his version of

  921. love. Where the Bible says love is

  922. patient. Love is kind.

  923. Devotion maybe has become occasional or

  924. circumstantial,

  925. which means it's not devotion. Maybe

  926. maybe it's time to re-up the level of

  927. intensity and passion that I have for

  928. doing things his way. That I'm not doing

  929. it laxidasically in life, but there is a

  930. grit that I have that I am going full

  931. speed in his direction. And my devotion

  932. creates blinders like what raceh horses

  933. have that keep me focused on the kingdom

  934. of God. Maybe your reactions haven't

  935. looked like heaven. And so you need

  936. Jesus to help you on the inside, not

  937. what it looks like on the outside.

  938. Because a reaction is only a display of

  939. my heart.

  940. And sometimes I mess up in my reactions.

  941. What happens when the pressure is on? I

  942. mess up, slip. My words aren't always

  943. right. My thoughts aren't always right.

  944. My intentions and my motives aren't

  945. always right. I need God every single

  946. day to help me make sure that my

  947. operating system is not the one that's

  948. the most convenient and it's not the one

  949. that's here. It's the one that is the

  950. best for me in ge choosing God, choosing

  951. Jesus is always always going to be what

  952. is best for you and what is best for me.

  953. Let's pray. Father God, we love you so

  954. much. extremely grateful that we get the

  955. opportunity to be vessels, conduits

  956. from heaven into the earth for other

  957. people to be able to see how good, how

  958. amazing, how much you love, and how much

  959. you care for them. God, I pray that you

  960. would help us reorder. Reorder my heart,

  961. reorder my love, reorder my priorities.

  962. That I remember that everything that

  963. happens in this world is from you, is to

  964. you, and is through you. That you are

  965. the beginning, you are the middle, you

  966. are the end. The whole purpose for life

  967. is to give glory and to give honor to

  968. you. And so God, would you help me get

  969. rid of my old mindset, my old way of

  970. doing things, my old beliefs, my old

  971. tendencies, my old priorities, and would

  972. I be more focused and more in love with

  973. you than I am myself or whatever it is

  974. that I'm able to produce? God, would you

  975. create in me a pure heart

  976. so that everybody that I'm able to run

  977. in contact with, I'm able to love the

  978. way that you do and I'm able to give

  979. glory right back towards you. In Jesus'

  980. name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen.

  981. >> Did I or did I not say you were going to

  982. be encouraged? Yeah. Feel free to check

  983. out our website, freelifechapel.org, for

  984. more encouraging messages. Until then, I

  985. hope you have a great day.