Two Questions = Power

That's awesome.

Head on.

I just love to hear Justin in those moments of honesty.

The manly tears.

I need some of those manly tears.

I was actually talking to a couple of the guys between services about uh they're just like, man, every time I'm around you, I feel like I'm gonna make you laugh or something.

And I'm like, that's hilarious.

I love to laugh.

And and I made the comment, I said, uh, you know, I've heard that it's a successful day.

If I laugh and I cry in that day, then the day was a success.

And and we just kind of laughed about that a little bit.

Then I realized that happens to me every day in the first five minutes.

Because I have a mirror.

And I wake up and I look at my hair, and I'm just like, really?

God, you made that?

And then I look at my face, I'm like, that's sad.

That's just have this face for the rest of the time, and it's not getting better.

It's just not.

And uh, so it's just it's one of those great pieces.

Life is that way.

I love what Dallas shared.

Just about the idea of God with us and his presence.

And I love doing communion, and I love hearing those guys share about that.

And and what could be better?

What could be better than uh Jesus being with us?

And I think back to the disciples, they actually had Jesus walking with them.

How cool would that be to literally physically have Jesus walk with us this week?

So we would literally just go, hey, this what do I do here?

What do I what do I do here?

And then for Jesus to say, hi, I'm leaving and uh I'm gonna send you something better.

What's better than you being with me?

I just asking my Holy Spirit, you're gonna get it.

And those of us who have accepted Christ, I I really have this desire.

I want to be more aware because I believe fully Jesus really is with me.

And here recently, I've discovered more and more how to experience that.

And this morning, the way we answer two questions will determine the level of our experience and awareness of Jesus, his Holy Spirit in our life.

And I'll share those with you in a minute because they really are about questions, and questions change everything, don't they?

Think about the most important questions that you've been asked in life and how that changed everything.

A little over 19 years ago, uh, 19, almost 20 years ago, I got down on a knee and I said, Will you marry me to Heather?

And that changed everything.

And then it can be little daily questions, but like when she asked me, How does this make me look?

That's gonna determine the rest of the day, right there.

The answer that I give.

And for those of you guys who may be married less than 10 years, let me give you the answer to that.

You're hot.

Okay, that's that's the answer every time.

I don't care what she's looking like, dressed like.

Then there's questions that are every day.

My kids, Dad, do you have any money?

That's gonna be a determining answer right there.

And the questions we're gonna look at this morning really kind of are answered, if you will, in Psalm 51.

Because the category we're gonna look at is something that I honestly don't like to face until now, until I looked at these questions and realized this.

Because we function on a daily basis in our faith out of one or two categories.

Either religiously, we function this way, even if we say, I don't believe in religion, I just believe in you know Jesus, we function out of religion sometimes subconsciously, or we function out of relationship and that experience.

The truth is that when we are wronged or something is done to us that's not fair, we want rules.

We want justice.

But when we've wronged or done something, we we want relationship, we want mercy.

And I'll give you a great example of that.

I was driving off of, I've shared this before, but it really fits perfectly with this.

I was driving off of one of the Barrett offshoot roads, and I had the conscious thought, and I believe God was just kind of whispering to teach me this lesson.

And I was thinking, I wonder what the speed limit is here.

It's four lanes and it's divided with a median, and I literally had the conscious thought, well, it's got to be at least 45, so I'll do 45.

And I'm saying seconds later, I top a hill and there's a police car right there.

And I'm thinking, Lord, that was so great.

Thanks for showing me it was this.

I needed to have that thought.

And as I drove by, the policeman turned on lights and pulled me over.

And I literally had the thought, what is this about?

And as I pulled over, hey, license and insurance, and I gave him and I said, Do you know how fast you're going?

I was like, I was going 45, thinking that's what you're supposed to do.

And and she, the police officer, said, Well, I got you clocked to doing 46.

And I'm like, Okay, I'll give you that one.

And and then she just walked away, and then she came back with a ticket.

And I'm like, What is this?

She goes, Well, I had you clocked to doing 46, and and you said you were going 46, and I'm like, I was.

And she goes, Well, you're this is a 35 zone.

And I'm like, Where was that posted?

And she said, ignorance of the law is no excuse.

It's on at this point.

Like, what do you what do you mean?

I said, I didn't see a sign.

And she says, Well, you can tell the judge that.

And I'm like, What do you mean?

Tell the judge, does it not matter at all that I thought it was 45 and I was doing 45?

And she goes, Well, you can tell them in court.

And then she hands me the ticket, and I was I'm ticked at this point.

And I'm literally fuming at this point, and I'm thinking, uh, it's I'll show up at court.

I'm gonna make you look like an idiot.

And I drove back and I saw there was no speed limit sign on that side, and I'm like, you are so done, and I'm gonna get justice.

I want justice, I'm getting justice, and if it makes you looking like a fool that you are, I'm getting, I'm just building this up, and I'm driving to work, and I'm just and as as I just run out of breath in my mind of just how I'm gonna destroy this officer in court in front of the judge, God whispered.

And it was, when I say whisper, it wasn't audibly, but this question came to my mind, Ken, how many times have you been on the interstate and you did know what the speed limit was, and you chose to go faster?

That's the question that came to my mind, and and Ken, out of those times, and they are countless, and I began to think in my mind, well, you know, I'm going with the flow of traffic.

I don't want to be dangerous, I'm going with the flow of traffic, and everybody else is going there, and I'm just kind of rationalized, justifying in my mind, and I'm driving, and then and then I couldn't count those number of times.

And then in that gentle whisper of God Himself, and not audibly, it's just like, do you want justice?

Do you want justice for every one of those times?

Mercy.

I want mercy is what I want.

And the truth is, when we fail, we want mercy.

When we're imposed upon it, I'll tell you this: I literally, I didn't enjoy it, but out of an act of obedience, I literally went, God, I'm gonna pay this ticket.

I'm gonna pay the ticket because of the mercy I've had all those other times.

And I just, I'm not gonna make a big deal of it.

I'm not gonna, and it was just a move in my heart towards this.

I want to live in the court of mercy, not in the court of justice and rules.

And these questions we ask today are in the court of, and if I could put it and be so boldly, let me just let me read out Psalm 51, and I want us to see the difference between living under rules and living personally, because it's so obvious in this Psalm, David is guilty of major sin when he writes this.

And I want us to see how personal he is, and to do that, I'm gonna read Psalm all 19 verses, but I want you on this half of the room, okay, this half of the room, I want you to listen for every personal pronoun that he uses.

Me, my, I, and all those.

I want you to count them, okay?

And on this side, I want you to count every time he speaks to God, you, your Lord, whatever reference he makes to God there, okay?

And then all of us, I want you to count how many times it refers to anybody else or the collective.

And in Psalm 51, they're gonna put it on the screen, but I want you to be counting, okay?

And I'm gonna help you in the in the first part.

Psalm 51, one, have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love, according to your great compassion, blot out my transgression.

That's verse one.

Wash away all my iniquities and cleanse me from my sin, for I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak, and justified when you judge.

Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

Surely you desire truth in the innermost parts.

You teach me wisdom in the innermost place, cleanse me with hyssop and I will be clean.

Wash me and I will be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness, let the bones you have crushed rejoice, hide your face from my sin, blot out all my iniquities, create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence, or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will be turned back to you.

Save me from blood guilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it.

You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart.

O God, you will not despise.

In your good pleasure, make Zion prosper, build up the walls of Jerusalem, then there will be righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings to delight you.

Then bulls will be offered to your altar.

19 verses.

19.

How many times did he mention something personal?

Give me a number.

35.

35?

Wow, you guys count well.

That's awesome.

It was.

It's about 35.

You can go back and count.

How many times did he mention God, God, Lord, you?

32, 30 something.

That's awesome.

In 19 verses.

Do you hear how intimately this is?

In the court of mercy, in the side where we experience God in reality, it is a one-on-one experience.

In the court of rules and justice, it is a mass toward God.

And it's not an interaction.

And I want to live on that side.

The first question we have to ask to find out where we are on this spectrum.

The first question is this how am I going to evaluate sin?

How am I going to evaluate sin in my life?

What am I going to do there?

Am I going to justify it?

Am I going to balance it?

Am I going to try to work it out?

And I don't know how you are, but for years I would say I would even question, I'm not even sure that is sin.

I'm not even sure that was sin.

Let me give you a couple examples.

Don't raise your hands if you agree.

Just that I've used in the past.

It was just a thought.

I didn't, I didn't really dwell on it.

It was just a thought I had.

I'm not even sure that was sin.

And then there's the next level.

Well, I did it in private.

Nobody saw it.

So I'm not even, uh was it even sin because I just I just did it, but nobody saw it other than God.

And here's the next level.

Well, nobody got hurt.

In my world, nobody got hurt.

And then there's the extreme advanced version, she deserved it.

So I'm not, I don't think it's sin because she deserved it.

That's that.

And then to clear that up, there's Matthew 15.

And you can write this out in the margin because Jesus kind of clears that up.

He goes, Hey, uh, just so you know, all of you who are over here uh on the mercy side saying, Well, there's all just grace, it's just mercy, he goes, Hey, I didn't come to abolish the law, I came to fulfill it.

And Jesus draws the line.

If you're like I have been in my life and we're trying to define and rationalize, just fine, I don't even remember what he goes, let me clear it up for you, okay?

In Matthew 5, 17, he says, Okay, if you think I don't like that guy, you have committed murder in your heart.

What you mean if I get angry that's murder?

I drive in Atlanta traffic.

I murder people every day by that definition.

Really?

And then he goes on, and I don't know what the female version is, but he just messes because it's like, okay, if you look at a woman, just look at her and you go beyond, yep, she's female.

You have lusted and committed adultery.

I'm like, I went through puberty, that's not fair.

I just really really can't even come close.

To which God would say, I know that's the point.

Stop trying to justify yourself by the law.

That's the whole law is to point out that you don't measure up.

The whole point is that you would run to the mercy side and say, I need Jesus, I need somebody to fill me.

How I evaluate sin is not to rationalize it, not to justify it, but to literally go, I have no hope.

I need the personal side.

I need to evaluate it through confession.

Look what he does in Psalm 51, verses three through five.

For I know my transgressions, my sin is always before me.

Against you, you only I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.

How do I evaluate it?

It's sin.

It's sin.

That's it.

That's what God longs for us to do.

Because when we admit this is sin, we've now moved from the court of justice to the court of mercy.

We've now moved from the massive rules to the personal relationship.

And we're saying, God, I'm gonna go with your economy here.

I don't measure up.

To which God, when we confess our sin, now David is writing this after he has committed adultery, committed murder, and conspiracy to commit murder, though he's not innocent here at all.

By that court, he's dead.

But he owns it, he absolutely evaluates it and he calls the sin the sin.

Now I want to get very personal.

I don't know what area it is that you struggle with.

I believe wholeheartedly because of God's economy and choice, as long as we have this skin suit on and we are breathing in and out, we will have, each of us, some level of struggle or frustration or a besetting sin, if you will, that we are gravitated towards.

Everybody's is different, some have more than others, but we all have it.

How are we gonna evaluate that?

Are we gonna scream at others and debate whether it's sin or not?

Are we gonna say, well, it was old testament, you got to do this and try to work it out to where we look better?

Or are we gonna go, it's sin.

And I'm guilty.

It's sin.

That's the first step.

If I evaluate it by that and saying, God, this is it, I want us to see how God responds.

Do I do that to God, or I can take this, I can tell you with 100% confidence.

If I debate sin, rationalize it, try to define it, I've found this.

Every time I try to define what sin is, I've usually already done it according to God's rules.

But if I'll do this, and I say this with all um seriousness, take your doubt, your sin, your frustration.

And if you and I will take this and say, God, will you show me what is sin?

Because I know that sin will kill me eventually.

It'll destroy around me.

God, I'm gonna look at whatever you say is sin.

Will you show me if it's sin or not?

He will.

And all I have to do, if I I don't know where to start, there's this great book in the back.

It's called the Book of Concordance.

And I can look up my frustration and I can just start looking at verses and reading them.

And start reading them.

Because this is God.

The word became flesh and dwelled among us, and that spirit that lives within us is lined up with this, and we'll start experiencing clarity of what is sin.

Then we have a choice.

Am I gonna argue with God or am I gonna say, God, will you show me what that truth is?

Because let me show you an example of how he comes to us in that.

This this last summer we went on vacation, and I was coming off of several weeks of touring, just grinding it out, and I was so excited about vacation.

I can bring it home here.

How many of you are students right now?

Students, raise your hands.

How many of you are excited about this week because you get to sleep in?

Yes, I love vacation because I get to sleep in.

I was so excited.

I flew into Atlanta, I picked up my son.

We drove, we didn't get there until two in the morning, but I'm like, it's okay, I'm exhausted, but tomorrow I get to sleep in.

And I was so excited until 614.

And I heard hammers.

Bang, bang.

I heard sauce.

I was what the flognog's going on.

And it was right out the window.

And I'm like, we're on, we're on like this, it's the stilts where you park under.

I'm like, how is that out my window?

And I I opened the little shutter things there, and I my clock is right.

There's 614.

And they're scaffolding on this house next to us.

And they are banging upsiding, and I'm just like, what?

And my mind immediately, because I was wronged, went to the justice side.

I'm like, there's got to be an ordinance against this.

This is a vacation area.

Why?

They surely they're not allowed to start this till at least 8:30, 9 o'clock, and at 6 for what?

I'm just, and then I just lay there for a minute in my frustration, and God began to just wash over me.

And and then I realized it's my it's the neighbor's house, and I know Johnny.

I know Johnny that lives next door, and I know this isn't a vacation house for him.

This is his house.

And if if it's being redone, I'm thinking, I wonder what's being done to it.

And he's probably got a re good reason for doing this.

And I started thinking and moving, not towards the the laws and the rules, but towards the relationship of I know Johnny.

And I wonder what's really going on.

And that day I walked outside and I looked, and the front of his house had been completely redone and painted.

And then I I heard from a couple others, they're like, Yeah, they had uh stucco and the water had gotten in and had rotted everything, they had to pull everything off, and the crews are here, and they tried to work him in before the next season.

And I'm like, ah.

And I knew what Johnny was gonna be, because I know Johnny, and I knew he was gonna be mortified that we're on vacation and they're doing this early in the morning.

So sure enough, that day later on, I see Johnny in the driveway and he sees me, and I can just see him cringe, like, oh man.

I said, Johnny, how's it going?

He's like, uh, and he starts to walk over in this total just contrite, oh man, hey, how's it going?

And before he could say anything, before he could say, I'm so sorry, I just read it on his body.

I said, Johnny, the front of your house looks awesome.

And he's like, Oh, yeah, yeah, I mean, it's turning out really good, but we still got to do the other three sides.

And and I'm and before he could say it, I'm like, man, what happened?

Well, the water got behind the stucco, and then the windows started.

We got to pull all the windows out and put new windows in, and they got to reseal them, and we're gonna put siding on it.

And I'm so sorry, and I'm like, dude, that's that's gotta be expensive, isn't it?

Insurance going to cover some of it.

And I never let him get to that feel bad stage.

It's his house.

And he's having to spend thousands to fix it.

And I'm just like, dude, was there anything I can do to help?

And he's like, no, no.

And I said, man, I'm so sorry, but man, it looks great.

I can't wait to see it done.

And he's like, wow, well, thanks.

I said, hey, he owns a little store down the road.

I said, I'll see you at the store this week.

Really looking forward to vacation.

And you know what?

I just saw him walking away, like, wow, ready to embrace what he was guilty of and his world.

But I saw the situation.

And you know what?

That is how God greets us when we move from this to that, going, God, I you know what?

I sinned.

I did what is evil in your sight.

And Jesus is like, I know I saw it.

That's why I did this, all of this for you.

Which leads us not only to the evaluation, but once we evaluate it and we say, God, I agree with you.

It's sin.

I agree.

Then we step into mercy.

And then we get to the second question, which is, how am I going to respond?

How am I going to respond to this?

And the problem is, is am I going to rationalize it?

Am I going to compare?

That's one of the ones I'm good at comparing.

That's why I think that reality TV is as popular as it is.

Because people turn it on and go, whoa, I'm not that bad.

You know, just and it's just this comparison thing.

Or even, oh, for those of us maybe been following Christ for a while, I'm not as bad as I used to be, so it must be okay.

And God's like, no, sin is sin.

Come to me.

Come to me.

And I want to give us some elementary, because here's the bottom line.

I want to give you an example of the way the economy works with this sin.

And it's a math problem, okay?

It's it's math.

And it's not hard math.

It's not like algebra or theories of geometry.

It's just adding and subtracting.

But I want everybody to participate right now, okay?

So shake the cobwebs out, get awake because it's gonna be a really fast, quick fire deal.

And if you've heard this example before, don't spoil it for everybody else because it that would, I'll I'll kill you.

And uh then I'll confess and Jesus will forgive me.

So okay, you ready?

Because here it is.

It's gonna be fast and furious.

You're driving a train with a hundred people on the train.

You get to the first stop.

At the first stop, 50 people get off and 20 people get on.

Are you with me?

Okay, the second stop, 20 people get off and 40 people get on.

Okay, the last two stops are tough.

You get to the third stop, 12 people get off, six people get on.

At the last stop, 43 people get off and 16 get on.

Are you ready?

Here's the question: What is the name of the conductor?

How many of you know the name of the conductor?

Okay, that's awesome.

Now, how many of you have never heard this before and you know the name of the conductor?

Raise your hands.

About a dozen, that's awesome.

Now, for those of you who are sitting here going, these people are freaking weird.

What is that about?

I'm gonna tell you the exact same scenario, but I want you to listen to the beginning.

You are driving a train with a hundred people.

See, the problem is we get so focused on the math, we miss the obvious.

Sin is not a math problem, it is a relationship problem.

And I've heard this that sin separates us from God.

It may separate us from God, but it does not separate God from us.

And he is standing right there going, I'm here.

And I want to give you an elementary school, what God has taught me in the last couple months.

It's ABC.

A B C.

If you forget everything else, don't miss this.

The A is simply this admit it's sin.

That moves us to God's side, his economy.

Admit, God, I have sinned.

That is sin.

Call it by its worst name.

God, that thought, that was lust or greed, or think of the worst name because all we're doing is agreeing with God.

That was sin.

Admit it was sin.

Be believe what God did.

Believe what Jesus did.

Period.

Okay, well, God, you said you died on the cross once for all, the just for the unjust.

Psalm 103, you have cast my sin, my transgression, as far as the east is from the west.

God, it's already gone in your economy.

It's done.

You're not even thinking about it.

You're going, what sin?

Because you've already dealt with it and it's gone.

And I believe you did not lie to me.

I believe you died on the cross for all my sins and they're all gone, even the one I just committed.

And then the sea.

Cling to Jesus.

Cling.

Hold on.

That's what that's what David did in this amazing, beautiful Psalm.

He's clinging to Jesus.

What sets him apart?

How did he respond?

I want you to look at two verses in Psalm 151, verse 16.

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it.

You do not take pleasure in burnt offering.

Why would he say that?

Because of the way he came to be king.

There's two different ways.

You can write this out in the margin.

1 Samuel 15.

It's where King Saul decides to respond to sin incorrectly.

David was guilty.

He was as guilty of real actual adultery and murder and sin.

And yet he's called a man after God's heart.

Why?

Because he did ABC.

He acknowledged it.

He believed that God had forgiven him and he clung to Jesus.

Saul, on the other hand, if you read in Samuel 15, Saul is told by the prophet, hey, these people have been harassing.

God says they've been harassing my people, they've been invading you, and they've been I it's been for years.

And they show no remorse, they show no change, wipe them out.

After plenty of chances, they refuse to turn at all and they continue to abuse my people.

They are done.

Do you understand King Saul?

Yes.

What are you gonna do?

Wipe them all out.

Every man, every family, every person, wipe out the cows, kill the king, kill everything.

They did not exist on the earth.

And I'm gonna go before you, and the victory is yours, and you wipe them all out.

And they go.

And if you know the story, you know what happens next.

The prophet comes and this is Saul.

Did you do what God told you to do?

Oh yeah.

Did you wipe them out completely?

Oh yeah, completely gone.

Really, completely, nothing left.

Yeah, wiped him out.

And if you read the story, you know what happens next behind him.

What was that?

What is that?

And then King Saul rationalizes, justifies.

Well, we'll see what happened was that they had some good cows and some good sheep, and we kept the king alive just to make sure that mean we're better than you.

And and see, the people, they um we kept the best, and we're gonna do a sacrifice and an offering.

And that's where the verse comes that to obey is better than sacrifice.

See, his problem wasn't that he sinned, his problem was what he did with it.

He rationalized it, he justified it.

Well, I'll do some religious stuff and it'll be okay.

And it's not.

So when David writes, you don't delight in sacrifice.

I know that because that's how I became king.

And and you don't you don't want burnt offerings.

And then look what he writes in in 17, because this is what moves us from justice to mercy.

And he says, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart.

Oh God, you will not despised.

God, I'm broken.

I'm agreeing, this is sin.

And and and my only hope is that you're, I believe you, that you did forgive it.

So Lord, I'm gonna cling to you.

That's that's my hope.

And you know what I'm learning right now is that that is God's economy.

In Galatians 5, 1, I I love this verse.

It says, it is for freedom that Christ has set you free.

Stand firm then and do not let yourself be burdened again by the yoke of slavery, of sin or religion.

Don't be burdened by that.

Well, how do I get past that?

Folks, I've tried for years to try harder and try more, and it didn't work, and it doesn't work.

God does not want me to try harder, he wants me to cling tighter to Jesus.

To literally, in those moments, ask him to empower me.

And here's what I'm learning.

I want to share one of my favorite prayers with you on how to cling tighter.

Because I do believe Jesus died, he rose from the dead, and he said, I'm sending me to live within you.

And I do believe that, that that experience is ours to be had.

When and where does it happen?

I can tell you one place when I'm being tempted.

And here's my prayer.

God, do you not see this?

Do you not see that I'm being tempted right now?

Do you not?

I mean, if in case you didn't, I am.

And here's the prayer help.

God, seriously, help right now, because I'm tempted.

Can I tell you one hundred percent of the time in temptation that I pray that simple God help?

100% of the time I am delivered from that temptation.

100% of the time.

That is experiencing God's power.

And then in my quiet times, God began to reveal to me several places through scripture in Colossians, in Corinthians, in Romans, where he says, the power that raised Jesus from the dead lives within you.

Well, well, then surely you can overpower this temptation.

And he does.

Every time I ask, and I tap into that experience.

That's his desire.

One of my favorite verses of all right now, I shared it, I'll probably share it at least 10 more times within the next two times I speak, is Isaiah 41.

And as they put it up here, I literally prayed, God, can I have this?

And what he laid on my heart was, Yes, this is yours.

So do not fear.

I am with you.

Don't be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you.

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

See, I'm not relying on my strength, my righteousness, my balance.

I just need Jesus.

And I need you in reality.

Lord, help.

I want to experience you right here, right now.

There's two verses in Romans I want them to put up because they're so incredible.

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

God is simply waiting for us to call.

And the great part is we don't have to use a cell phone.

There's never a lack of signal anywhere, anytime he is with us.

And earlier in Romans 8, therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ.

God is not waiting to condemn us for what we do wrong.

He is literally standing there going, hey, you're not condemned by sin, nor are you condemned to sin.

Let me forgive it and let me empower you so you don't have to experience it again.

It's your choice.

If I could put it this way, through an example to wrap up, this is a great visual of what God wants to take us through.

And it's I'm in that process right now.

On vacation, we don't watch a lot of TV.

We go to the beach, we go have uh what do they call the little crabs in the shells?

Uh the little ones.

Hermit crabs.

We have hermit crab races.

We find them and then we put them and then watch one which moves the water first.

We we have a blast.

But we love to play games.

And one of those games is Uno, and I watch the progression.

My daughter just turned 11 and it's almost like complete now.

Because she used to come to the table, I want to play, I want to play.

And she's little, five, six years old.

I want to play.

And I'd put her up in my lap, and I'm like, okay, play that one.

No, not that one.

That one.

Yeah, that one.

Okay, and she'd play it.

And then she got to the video.

I want to play myself.

I want to play myself.

Like, okay.

She'd get her own hand, and I'd, I mean, she's sitting right next to me and she holds it out like that.

I could see her cards, and and I would say, Oh, don't play.

Okay, you might want to play the ones with words, they're worth more points.

And and I'd coach her up.

And I could see her cards, so I'd see which one of my cards will let her play one of her biggest cards, and how can I, and I would play to help her out to where now this year was an incredible gift because she could play her own cards.

Not only that, but she is good.

And she's really good enough to go.

She'll hit like a skip you and then a draw to, and then she'll be like, it's nothing personal, it's just a game.

And it's just like, okay, okay.

And she legitimately beat everybody this year.

And I'm just like, yay, that is just awesome.

Do we not see that's God with us?

And he's seeing us in our condition.

And he says, I came that you would have life and life to the full, and he's he's longing for us, just acknowledge that he's right there and going, hey, yeah, don't don't do that.

And then we do it, and we it's the wrong play.

He's like, okay, come back.

Okay, I want to show you.

I've forgiven you.

Now just listen to my voice.

Let me guide you, and I'm gonna teach you because he longs for us.

I'm longing for the day.

And I know as long as I have skin on and I'm breathing, I'm gonna struggle with something.

But I'm longing for that day where I start just naturally ABC.

God, I'm gonna, I'm not gonna evaluate sin anymore.

I'm just gonna call it sin.

And Lord, I'm gonna respond by just ABC.

I just I need to cling to Jesus, period.

That's where I want to be, so that I can experience your power and let you teach me.

I'm gonna pray, and the guys are gonna sing this amazing song, but I I want to pray and then leave you with one thought uh as we lead into that.

Pray with me.

God, thank you for this amazing gift of psalms.

That you really are right here, right now.

You really do want us to experience the fullness of life, and yet you let us ask.

I pray that we would remember just to admit and believe and cling to you, Lord.

And I pray that we would just rest in you.

That power that raised Christ from the dead really does live within us when we invite you into our lives.

So, Father, now I just pray that you would minister our show us where we are and help us to draw closer to you and cling tighter to you.

And it's only through Jesus' gift and the power of your spirit we get to pray.

Amen.

I remember hearing this when I was first a Christian that God loves you unconditionally.

And I was just like, wow.

He loves us exactly where we are.

And I remember going, that's awesome.

And then the the gentleman finished, he says, but he loves us way too much to let us stay that way because he has something better for us.

He loves us unconditionally, he's never disappointed, but he wants us to experience fully who he is.

And this one simple category, I guarantee you, every one of us will deal with it this week.

Admit it, believe it, cling to Jesus.

I can't wait to see you guys next time.

God bless you.