Dan Mohler | City Quake Virginia | Session #5

oh you know you could say well i don't know i've never really felt like i mean i appreciate god i'm thankful but as far as loving him like that see you have to see his first love and one thing that's been masked and marred in a lot of people's lives is the ability to see god's first love they're they're trying to get to god when god's gotten to us and he came to us he drew us right so seeing his first love is imperative i want to talk about a couple things this morning especially jeremiah he always man he plays that song right before i get up here that's that's like my favorite song that's a prayer song man that last song yeah for the one you could just you could just play that every morning just you know if there was a way to put that on like well you could you guys you technical people i don't even know how to do that i don't use an alarm so i just wake up i woke up at 4 39 this morning i was awake man i was like i just was man i was just awake and i was in i knew i wasn't going back to bed but if you could put that on your phone and have that and just wake up to that just let that be your alarm instead of bam or whatever you got on there that's that's not cool but i wonder if that thing would just start playing and you would wake up and have purpose right there in your room play and all of a sudden you wouldn't have the ability to just quickly feel sorry for yourself or dread your day or have so much on your plate that you're already discouraged before you left the house man so there's there's just some keys this morning we're going to build today i think i i got i think i think tom gave me this morning session and this afternoon so we'll just kind of like we'll building block and i think chris is just going to go crazy tonight so you don't want to miss that he'll just preach the gospel it's going to be awesome so i'm excited that chris is here i've only done a power in love with chris one time i haven't seen him since and he's just a precious brother so excited for today amen amen so we're singing about this love and manifesting jesus to people you don't nobody loves god first the scripture in first john makes it clear we have not loved him first we didn't wake up one morning and say you know i think i'm just gonna love who god is like i'm just gonna love him no he reveals himself to us through his son the reason there's been so much so much messed up about him and what people believe it's just so diverse the person of god you got to get back to jesus guys if you're going to see the father you got to look to jesus you don't look to life tragedies trauma the little boy that got hit by the car the miscarriage you can't look at all this stuff to find god you find god through his son and you got to slow down and and turn off that temptation to accuse him satan's the accuser of the brethren i've learned that he also accuses god to men and men to god like he's the accuser he tries to make god look terrible he tries to get us to not see who he is clearly because if you don't see his first love you you won't love him if he's in question you won't even approach him you won't be intimate what that young lady was enjoying this morning you won't even come close to if you don't have a good view of him a lot of times the reason people don't have an intimate life with with the lord well there's a couple reasons they don't see themselves the way he sees them but a lot of times they don't see him as he is he's so approachable the bible says come boldly not arrogantly but boldly confidence is in arrogance come boldly why while we were all yet sinners he sent his son come on you got to look to the cross to find love aren't you glad the scripture doesn't say for god was so exasperated frustrated out of patience and that wits end with humanity he finally sent his son in the midst of wherever we were in our lives and in this room that's a lot of midst in the midst of a lot of things we were we was in a lot of places folks in just this one room in the midst of wherever we were he loved us so much that he sent his son his love never fails what's what's going on here he sees us for who he created us to be he sees us for destiny purpose he knows what we look like if he lives in us and we're yielded and surrenders he said that's amazing that was my intention let us make man for my image i ain't losing sight of that no matter what they look like they can look like me i'll send my son take away their sin put the same spirit that raised him from the dead in them the spirit called holy and i'll put him in them he's the spirit of truth he'll reveal to them that which he hears and they can grow up into me in all things i mean it's the gospel he loves us we haven't understood that kind of love we've been conditionally loved when you're growing up you don't get praised for doing right because you're expected to when you do wrong you hear it your whole life most of us in this room were encouraged very little when we did right because you're expected to do right as soon as you don't do right you hear it so we learn to live a certain way and then we translate that into this way a lot of people feel guilty feel bad feel ashamed well i can't go to god why can't believe he would still love me well you don't know where i've been this we don't know what i've done and then at mars your own identity you don't see yourself clear so you can never live clear you don't value yourself you're mad at yourself you don't value yourself you're ashamed of yourself you don't value your potential and destiny because your past is your highest truth you see what happens so jesus is amazing he sheds his blood it takes away your past i'm not being sarcastic i've really i'm not but i am so wishing we would finally believe that as a church that he takes away your past and stop talking about it constantly and stop letting yesterday's happenings decide my disposition today my feelings my emotions and psychologically assessing it all there's nothing psychological about it okay i'm not being insensitive to you this morning listen we got to stop comparing ourselves among ourselves and think you've been through more hell than the next person it's not about the hell you've been through it's about the heaven that wants to come inside of you it's about getting out of darkness and into the light it's about saying man life's been tough i've had questions i've even wondered where god is but the truth is jesus died rose again his spirit's waiting to live in me i'm done living here when i can live here okay we just gotta it's nothing psychological about it it's about putting it away getting forgiven of everything you've ever done forgiven everything ever done to you and treating the past just like god treated you right now and just wipe it clean and say man okay my dad wasn't there for me i sure wish he was i can't go back and buy back time but i can't let that decide who i am and how i am today when jesus is way greater than where my dad wasn't i'm not going to live like somebody that missed out on something when the spirit of god lives inside of me come on it's a psychological assessment we've wrapped psychology around our lives we've studied why man is the way he is but there's no strong answer in psychology it's just coping it's just a diagnostic i don't need a diagnostic i need deliverance an answer freedom and it's through christ and i don't need you to lay hands on my forehead and yell free real loud i just need to believe the finished work i just need to believe my life is new in christ that old things actually truly passed away and all things became new see we could go around the room and tell everybody's story and at the end of this the room we'd just locate who went through the most tell and then you'd feel so fear and trembling today you couldn't even speak into that because you couldn't relate because you're just thankful you ain't been through that much help so nobody can help that person all we can do is sympathize so jesus says man i'm way smarter than that i'll just come and make you new i'll put new life in you i'll reveal to you that this was a strategy set against you just when good news came there was nothing good about it because you had issues and i'll show you the truth about who i am through my son not through what happened and where i was and where i wasn't because i was always there from the beginning and i had a plan see we've got to stop analyzing god through a natural means a human reasoning human wisdom the pride the puffed up pride of man to even accuse almighty god to actually think you can figure out a way to judge him and try him and convict him in your mind adam ate the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and it's the only way man it's the only reason man can be that way because another voice came and tainted the whole process we've been fighting with another voice ever since god speaks through his son and your mind speaks through human wisdom god speaks through his son over and over in our lives if you follow jesus you'll see the father crystal clear and then we have a ton of yell butts why because this other voice yeah but you know yeah but if god really loved me then how come well i mean if god was really for me why is this not my my first baby that i lost it's my second and then somebody that lost a baby has that same pain and they talk about god until the end of their conversation they have in my category where they they're veiled they can't even get close to him because he's a mystery and they're still hurt and we're not even understanding that life is a gift we don't covet life we covet him we covet the purpose of it we've got to hold on to why we're here we're not here for a smooth ride we're here to walk in the light we're here to shine and even if everybody does everything wrong to us we're here to manifest jesus even if they put you on a cross for doing everything perfect you've lost nothing because you have eternal life through jesus christ and you're going to have a testimony that brings glory to his name and truly manifested him to the hearts of men and you won't be just like anybody else hurt feeling sorry for yourself angry frustrated and in question come on anybody can be those things we've all done a great job you show me anybody that thinks that way that's running well you show me anybody that's living that way that's attractive to others i'm not being mean i'm i'm being real i i mean come on what's what's bearing fruit really look like is it just doing a good deed and having the same issues is it just doing a good thing and then you draw your identity out of doing good instead of being changed so i want to talk to you about a few things well this past things got me as i got stirred on it i don't know what's going on right now but i keep feeling fooled see if you don't see god for who he really is through his son how are you ever going to see his first love i believe satan is actually strategic in trying to mask the gospel in a way where he's not afraid of us preaching god as long as the truth about his love the truth about the finished work of the cross you know get us to say hey we believe but stay really moved by a lot of other things get us to go to church and never really be her get us to care but never really surrender make us clean through the blood jesus makes us clean through the blood but never really see ourselves truly clean so we can live in the effects of righteousness i honestly don't think satan's threatened one bit by christians going to church my pastor doesn't enjoy when i say this i'm not saying it to be rebellious we just don't totally agree but i think he inspires people to go to church sometimes because of what they get there and what they learn it's a dangerous season in your life sometimes going to church takes the place of knowing him and knowing him transforms your life going to church might never do that you can actually find an identity through your attendance and your service instead of through your relationship and your transformation i'm not being mean i'm just being graphic and real be careful i'm on thin ice right now i'm fearing trembling right now i feel this thing coming on me it's a little scary because you all look so happy you look so sweet out there everybody's just i think all of you ought to put your little masks on so i can't see your smiles it's making it hard right now i know you're smiling you can't hide it my wife and i just flew took a long trip together she wore a mask with a big smiley on it somebody mailed it to our house it was funny she said i'll wear that she worked the whole way i said you're amazing you're just non-stop smile the whole trip who would agree that growing up you hear a lot of comments and you and i have made our own maybe at times about god questioning him and god and if he's good why this and man if he loved me why isn't my car running and i got laid off in the same week and my spouse is acting crazy like and we we define god's love through life and the way it's playing out please if you're in this room and you've done that or you're doing that please stop asap like now like yesterday because you're always accusing god you don't realize there's accusation there you're actually saying he's not what jesus portrays he's not and then and and here's the other tragic side of christianity that we've portrayed this self-centered gospel where a lot of christians i've watched christians i've pastored for a while i've watched a lot of christians get a stronger stronghold of selfishness in their life after they were saved because now they felt they were entitled to something so now if a prayer didn't get answered they had real issues and and if god moved and answered the prayer and the rents paid they're freaking out both hands raised trying to find extra flags right but if the rent's not paid hands in the pocket mad full of attitude and all of a sudden he's a genie in a bottle all of a sudden he's not even your father he's your needs meter he's your table waiter and the steak's not done well and you don't tip him it's like this is not good i've watched too many people accuse god because the way life unfolded and they'll ask a question in frustration or spite not not even sincerely who knows the way you ask a question is important you can ask a question already assuming an answer you can ask a question in spite or frustrated or angry and it impedes the hearing of your ear to hear a true answer you can ask a question because you're just broken and you haven't you're exasperated and don't have an answer and you you just you just stay in neutral and say god what's going on i need to know you know there's different ways to ask a question if you look in the bible when they ask jesus a question there's a lot of times it says seeing that they might trap him to test him there's all their motive was wasn't clean you won't find jesus in the bible answering their questions you say well i never get an answer you won't find jesus answering their questions when they ask a question in spite or in a wrong way he always asks him a question in return to try to realign their heart to expose and to challenge their motive so people say well if god's good then why did i and if god's good how come and if god's good wife for 10 years did you with me jesus would never answer that question you're looking for an answer he would never answer that question because you're accusing if god's good here's what jesus would say he said if god wasn't good why did he send me when you were yet a sinner that's somehow he would probably respond and get your eyes off yourself because we've taken life personal we haven't take him and why we're here and the true value of our existence personal we've just taken life as we've known it and we were all born into adam now we get born again why are we still relating to the life in adam if i have new life through jesus christ and old things passed away and i died in the likeness of his death why is the dead life still speaking why does yesterday have so much impact on so many people today why can't we take a step past psychology and live by faith why can't we actually put on christ in the morning and say man no matter where i've been and what's been done no matter what yesterday was like this is a new day and i'm excited because there's no reason i can't shine because you're in me and you've shown me love through your life are you with me let me show you how serious this is see because these things i'm talking about impede relationship so then we still have need so we still pray but we don't pray relationally we pray driven the average christian prayer life is motivated by what they need it's not faith working through love he's your shepherd you shall not want there's a communion union life with god where you're seeking first his kingdom and all these things are added to you there's a flow in your relationship with god where you'd be amazed how your prayer life totally changes in the needless disappears like he already knows what you have need of he values you more than the birds and the flowers they're not toiling and spinning why are we losing sleep he says are you of not much more value than they he says besides isn't life more than these the things you think you need isn't there a higher purpose to life than getting the provision you think you need right now don't miss the purpose see when you hook up to the purpose it's amazing how grace flows and everything else falls in line if you don't hook up to purpose it starts shifting over into idolatry and now you're making lesser things more important and now you're your disposition depends on this instead of true purpose i hope i'm making sense because that's not confusing right because life is more than these what you gonna drink eat where what you oh man how are we gonna oh wow we're gonna get oh man oh man oh god please and and then we call it prayer you get a symptom in your body you google the symptom wrong idea now you're three-quarters dead in your heart in your mind scared to death self-centered self-focused and now you pray and call it faith because you quoted scripture so we constantly put on the identity of what we're going through instead the identity of what he went through and stay dressed never get undressed stay dressed stay righteous stay accepted stay his stay surrendered stay sold out all in stay there yeah because if a symptom comes in your body your response is totally different because you're engaged you're in relationship and you understand and say wow father i so thank you i don't even know what that is and i don't even know what's going on but you know what i do know you love me you're for me and you're amazing and your grace is incredible in my life and you're the one that makes all things new and i'm just safe in you and i'm protecting you and all of a sudden and even if you say well wonder if it persists see it persisted and then i well why does this truth change you got to live here even if you get medical attention even if you decide i need to do something in the natural why is it one or the other why don't you stay in faith and stay dressed because it's got to always be about him and manifesting him it can't have fear behind it whatever your fear you have no authority over you turn the scripture into principles you're quoting fear exempts your authority how do you have authority over something you're threatened by that's why you got to love not your own life unto death like if i'm reading my bible right i think i've read it right hebrews 2 says that that that he's the captain of our salvation and he's the end of the fear of the bondage of death which we our lives were held captive by the whole time he's the end he's supposed to be the end of the fear of the bondage of death death should never have a voice never be a motive have nothing to do with why we pray it's never the fear of death it's never because we're going to die because you're never going to it's always fulfilling purpose it's always walking in the way it's always having longevity and lengths of days so you can sow more seed and manifest more jesus it's not sentiment and i won't see my daughter get married and i'll never get to know my grandkids and it's not sentiment that's not what brings healing i'm not being mean i'm crying come on we've been confused over this thing and troubled and whole churches are praying and they die and we say well it can't be god's will can't tell me somebody didn't have a mustard seed that's what we say i've been around us and we're thinking the whole time thinking thinking thinking thinking and we got it all figured out but we ain't seeing the fruit of his life but we still worship him like he's all that all right come on wonder if our whole motive is just we're afraid they're gonna die i wonder if here we go again i prayed for jimmy and johnny i lost him now karen are you kidding me who's next here we go again but we're rah-rah we're confessing our sheets and we're saying our stuff and we're getting out our oil but i don't know that we i don't know that that's faith i don't know i just know he's telling the truth and i just have to believe that and if he says if i believe yes yeah so if you're the enemy wouldn't you attack what we all believe once you get us to fight over it won't you get us to take our losses personal so we can't even talk about it because we're so sensitive in the room wouldn't you just make it all about us as we sing it's all about him and once you prove it through our feelings and our lash outs and towards one another i carried my mother to bed i changed her diapers and watched her pass and you can tell i haven't changed my mind why because my mother and her life and her story and what i saw isn't the truth about him jesus is so as challenging as it was i love him way more than i'm going to covet this because i wouldn't be here neither would mama if it wasn't for him and his eternal purpose so why am i going to let mama's situation trump the glory of who he is and the purpose of why i'm here and then live hurt and in quandary for the rest of my life and that become my story next thing you know i don't even go to church or i go through the motions because i don't want to go to hell but never open my heart to him because i'm still hurt cause mom died and i saw other people's mother get healed why didn't my mother get healed i watched other people's mothers get healed three months after my mom died somebody with the same disease i watched them walk out of the church completely symptom-free saw the little 14 year old girl crying and said i thought my mom was going to die i don't even have a daddy i thought i was going to be alone and she's bawling and she heads out of the church i'm so excited i'm not saying man that'd be great if you've done that for me it's not ever ever about me it's always about his great name and guys that is not denial that is not stuff and feelings come on that's the integrity of the gospel it's what scripture says it's what we sing it's what we say why don't we live that it's never about me it's never just about my feelings and if my motives are healthy my feelings are aligned so as much as i miss my mama i'm driving two weeks after she passes i'm driving my schedule's fast i'm driving down the road i look at my clock and i said oh my goodness i got time to swing by i could see mom quick i turned on the road and all of a sudden i realized she ain't there well i didn't pull over and cry myself silly i burst out laughing and said oops i'm going there and she's with you and you know i started doing thank you for the life of my mother and everything she imparted to me thank you for the incredible sweetness i experienced through her in the midst of tragedy and struggle and trial in the body thanks for what she taught me and showed me that she's a daughter period she's not she's not ms she's a daughter she's i never watched my mother complain i never watched her curse the disease and say this stupid disease i don't know why i can't i never saw my mom complain you'd walk in the room and she'd say hi she couldn't walk for 15 years she laid in the same bed for 15 years and i never saw a bad attitude we get a bad attitude if the car starts slow oh no wonder what's happening here oh no turn it off turn on oh man wake up you got a pain in the side of your head and your whole day is already written here we go again i've felt this before this is going to be hell god you better intervene supposed to be in heaven not hell this is hell hello oh come on i'm being straight and real she's laying in bed for 15 years can't even walk and doesn't know how to have an attitude except for hey i said how are you doing well i'm fine how are you so a nurse one day tell her she needs to learn how to vent a little express feelings she said now why would i want to do that most innocent thing you've ever seen when she passed nurses and doctors came to her funeral to honor someone they've never met anyone like and i had the mic i did my mom's funeral what an honor speak on behalf of my mother in christ jesus and declare how she was a daughter way before she was a patient and that you'll never be a patient if you're not a daughter because patient will swallow you up for sure especially in her scenario could you imagine having your own sons wipe you down and clean you up and redress you strangers stripping you down and washing you all the time totally dependent on humanity and she's smiling and saying hi why somehow someway she got this understanding along the way that the number one she reason she's alive isn't to be sick it's to shine this wasn't her lot in life shining was her lot in life manifesting jesus was her lot in life and she wasn't going to let a disease trump that if faith said she could live it but if you take it personal then he's just maybe your hopefully answer someday if you take this person but if you take this personal he's your life today ain't that something we could tell a lot of stories like that there's intense stories in this room some of us have been through more hell than others i've preached this gospel for a long time now it seems 25 years is flash but i got so much history and memories and so many people it's incredible i've been personally in rooms with vietnam vets that did unthinkable things and lived in terrors and nobody would hang around them because they would have this post trauma whatever names you give stuff and they would introduce themselves to me i'm a i said no you're let me tell you who you are and i'll sit and i'll rewrite their identity begin to show them the truth and expose how broken their heart is over their memories and begin to reveal to them that they're not the person they're remembering change has taken place and i watched the spirit of god come i could tell you so many beautiful stories just putting truth in front of people the last time i read my bible it's truth that makes men free not counseling sessions not psychology i'm not against it i don't mind you diagnosing why to expose why you have been the way you are but then you better wrap strong truth around the wire it'll become your justification and you'll say well i'm this way because and you don't know what i've been through and you need to be more sensitive did anybody ever do something like that to you see well then don't you even talk to me and get out of my face until you understand the shoe i'm wearing do you ever see that happen you ever see somebody get so much information it became their reason to stay there and then the highest grace you get reduced to receiving is the fact that somebody seems to care about your story and your pain and you'll live with that pain the rest of your life and never fulfill purpose and you'll wear the identity of what happened to you instead of what happened through him for you and you might even go to church the whole time that's happening ain't that something you all right healthy view of god jesus said when you see me you've seen the father all i know is there ain't no one in this room when you came to god and you were sincere and you repented there was no one in this room where he appeared and said oh it's you well i'll tell you what let me think about it because i think you should have came before i gave you ample chances in fact the last time you flat ignored me like you didn't even hear me and i know you hurt come on did anybody ever get that treatment from the lord then he mustn't be like that at all then how come we have permission to be like that when he's not when we're made for his image come on if you put those things in his mouth it sounds foolish and hilarious because we know who he is but we mustn't know who we are because it sounds normal when that's in our mouth so we must have identified ourselves along the way instead of through the way you with me come on we've been taught a lot of things that he never taught we felt a lot of things that he ain't expressing and feeling good so the goal of our instructions love that's why i'm teaching this that's why i'm talking i don't even know what we're doing right now i actually don't even know i'm i'm waiting to find out trusting derek it'll be good just trusting it'll be good because right now i have no clue what i'm doing this is supposed to be a training session and i'm lost but here's the deal we won't go pray for the sick and heal the sick and hey man see somebody olympian you know the dudes that shared the testimony were the freaky guys we were like yep targeting the lame gazelle in the herd you got the whole herd walking through walmart and all of a sudden you spot the limper get around get around on the left i'll cut them off on the right get up to the cross aisle so they can't get yeah there they are hey it's all right we're not going to hurt you and don't try to run we already watched it you can't [Laughter] so you're done we got you see it's one thing to have those testimonies and experiences and they're fun and they're great it's another thing to stay steady walk in the light stay like and not go up and down in dark seasons and low season and now for two months you're riding the same testimony be amazing to just wake up and be dressed just wake up and see just wake up and believe is it possible you better believe it it's how jesus lived every day i know where i came from i know where i'm going he never leaves me i always do the things he says we've been together from the beginning he's my father i wonder if we saw it that way and all of a sudden wonder if we say oh my goodness i see where i came from i was created for god's image if i'm pursuing anything outside of his image i'm on a rat race tangent trip with no directions life all of a sudden is reduced to an experiment and i'm feeling it out along the way and i'm finding truth as i go nope i found truth in him and i understand through him why i'm here i am not trying to figure that out anymore i understand why i'm here and because i see it clear i understand why you're here and whether you know why you're here or not whether you're saved whether you're not saved whether you're acting out or whether you're acting like him man i can know that now so i can love you and i can say father forgive them they don't know what they do if they're not living jesus right if it's a christian not living jesus it's so easy to love you and not get frustrated because i understand you probably came into a gospel that served you without transforming you and if you're frustrated you probably just didn't have a vital prayer answered and now you're in turmoil and you don't have intimacy because god's in question and life's ruling your life it's pretty easy to see so you have compassion not frustration you say well doesn't people get on under your skin no get new skin that's what i'm talking about get a new perspective get a new view stop putting everything on others and expecting to be what you're hoping just become like christ and you'll see clear yeah but you don't know they just keep treating me bad well don't let that make you respond bad you don't overcome evil with evil you overcome evil with good you don't tone a harsh word with another harsh word you tone down a harsh word with a kind word serving the lord gentle with all able to teach if perhaps god would grant repentance removing them from delusion or deception because they've been held captive by the enemy to do his will that's scripture that's why it's good this ain't my sermon that's timothy man he wrote that to timothy this scripture and when you quote it you can hear it's the answer yeah i'm having so much fun the gospel just live the gospel and stay free do you understand i've been saved 25 years i'm either the best actor you ever met or i believe some things and i believe some things are you with me 25 years in oh he's just excited probably just got saved he'll find a balance soon good tidings great joy joy inexpressible what i mean what's that all mean why is life eating our lunch nonstop why is all our prayers for a better day why are we only doing as good as it's going instead of as good as he is and who we are in him why have we got so tricked into god just making our life happen better because none of that's in scripture but that's what's taught all the time provision provide protect and that's our emphasis there are aspects of who he is there are things he'll do automatically that's not the emphasis the emphasis is new life through jesus christ new wine skin walking in love the goal of our instruction first timothy 1 5. the whole goal of every teaching should become love the whole goal is love through a pure heart you got to have a pure heart because if you don't have pure heart you'll never see him you've got to have a pure heart if you're not in you're not in if you're somewhat in you're not in you've got to have a pure heart why because that has to do with your conscience pure heart clear conscience they go together they're friends don't have a pure heart and you violate your conscience because deep inside you know you really don't care or you really don't want to love or you really don't want to you just want blessing and favor and provision then you violate your conscience if you violate your conscience you ship wreck your faith and the just live by faith it's possible please god without faith because if you're not living by faith you're going to live central you say well it sounds like i have to perform for god it's impossible please god without faith i have to be in faith yeah because his love is so amazing for you he gives you this gift called faith so you don't live sensual because before faith you live central your feelings ruled your life most ministry is because of feelings we're ministering to feelings missing that and not understanding we need to pull feelings over here into truth so feelings can change we're just waiting for the feeling to go away to believe they're okay but then another feeling is in fact it's a verse and they're still in bondage when are you ever free in that mentality and because the ministers that minister that way believe that they go through the same things so then we judge ourselves by ourselves and we got to get out of denial brother let's not try to stuff feelings this is just the way it is and all of a sudden if i'm not feeling good i'm not doing good no if i'm not believing good i'm not doing good well i just feel far from god in the mornings i don't know what's going on i just think this thing's on me i think it's nighttime something just must i just feel so far from god okay is that possible is he far from you okay so why don't you just rejoice that he's right on the inside instead of calling a friend for prayer for the feeling to change why don't you just believe when's your belief ever greater than feelings when do you ever just believe the word of god whether you don't feel it or not when do you just wake up in the morning and he feels a million miles away and you chuckle and laugh and say father i thank you you're right here and the little thing that's putting that on you in the night goes come on man come up here and sit down with me right here sit down right here just sit down right here man i need you what's your name again sit down right there nathan since nathan saved about a year is that what you told me uh yeah okay but this last year's been awesome yeah okay so he's just sitting here he's chilling he's on a park bench he's in portland he's just hanging out he's on a park bench he's living jesus man he's having the time of his life god's moving he's stalking the gazelles right okay so nathan's sitting there satan's over here now you just hang out man you just watch the crowds you pray and you're looking for word of knowledge or something man satan's over here he's like he's like watching nathan he's like i don't like this this guy's getting a revelation he he's getting a little too close to what jesus paid for i don't mind him going to church i don't mind him wearing jesus t-shirts i don't mind him seeing healings now and then i just need to keep his character flawed i need to keep his life up and down i can't let people see jesus in him maybe seeing what jesus does now and then but i'll keep him in quandary keep his life up and down i'll keep him yeah i gotta work on nathan i think i got a plan come here me yeah you hey boss what do you want i need you i need you to go over here man see that guy that's nathan we've been tracking him for years man in fact the familiar spirits that were hovering over him as a child they did a good job you know but somehow he slipped through our fingers and he's getting a revelation and i need here's my name boss you're so smart boss i'll go so he's coming right nathan's just hanging out in the lord man he's having a good day and all of a sudden this thing comes and starts whispering about five years ago and then about four or five uh three years ago started five and then about three and what about and you're trying to tell me that now all of a sudden everything's just okay and everything changed was who's ever had this stuff happen out of the blue where you start flashing back or this rational line of thought comes to try to change your heartbeat you're excited and all of a sudden something comes to dahlia gets you to retract second guess look back anybody have anything like that ever happened in their life so so this thing's like now guess what happens as soon as that happens nathan has options in christ he really doesn't but he does have options he could listen he could reminisce he could go there he could gray out he could get out a cell phone and call a friend for prayer because he ain't feeling right or you know what he could do act like he'd never even heard that thing why because he's in fellowship with god and he's a believer and he hears that and he says father not satan i rebuke you devil you're a liar i mean i think the devil loves when you say devil you're a liar he says yeah and i'm good i think you just put him on a platform and give him a chance to manifest you're just wasting energy why why do you need to tell him he's a liar ignore him don't give him the time of day he's a cutoff withering branch coming to nothing treat him that way now there's a time you might have to set him straight get him out of the way i understand that that's that's actually more rare what's common is submit to god resist the devil hopefully it's one step your submittings you're resisting the conversation isn't with the devil your conversation with god you're not fighting the devil you're fighting the good fight of faith so you're continuing to believe who you are now that jesus came in the face of lies and you're not letting faith waver so nathan's sitting there and here's what nathan does he says father i just thank you for the transformation of my life this this last year and some is almost beyond description and i know it's only going to get better because i'm going to get to know you more the next thing you know because of the voice nathan's hands is high on the park bench and he's like father i just and he's just worshiping and now he's just praying now watch this he's just so squeaky clean i mean if he moves in the spirit just right it's just blood of jesus washing him he is not a product of his past next thing you know he puts his hands down he looks over and he gets detailed word he gets a date he gets a time frame why because he just poo he's so fresh in this he shoots over there person goes there's a fire wouldn't even happened if this thing didn't go might not even happen that way so a sudden this thing freaks out he says wow he runs back to the boss boss he says did you do it i did pause bus i didn't no supposed to hear me apples what went wrong what did you did you tell him i told him boss i told him everything you said he he lifted his hands and he started to worship god you fool you couldn't have said what i said when you talk like that to christians they get depressed they get down and they call for prayer now not this one boss no not this one this nathan i think he's a i think he's a believer i think he understands boss nobody understands you know what i told god about job and he's right about everybody they'll do anything to save their own life every man self-centered and the only reason they bless god is because god blesses them that's it let me do a man's job man come on how can you be sure that this is even really god i mean and and and i mean what what's really changing what's really happening you sure this ain't over amplified over exaggerated i mean even your testimony like it's the world really changing like are people really falling before the lord with humility i mean come on man you sure this ain't just emotional wow anybody ever have this kind of stuff going in their life so nathan has options he can go or he can just go right back here as if he never heard a thing because he recognizes this thing is taking you in a place where there's no life and all of a sudden he realizes jesus came to give me life and life more abundantly well this can't be the voice of god this can't even be the voice of rationale it's the voice of the devil because it's trying to steal kill and destroy so he ignores it again and guess what he does lifts his hands and flips whatever's being suggested into what he truly believes through scripture he flips what's being suggested doesn't call for prayer doesn't pray that the voice goes away why because the voice isn't your problem believing the voice is your problem the voice is never your problem stop waiting for a voice to go away it's not gonna go away it'll come at an opportune time it'll come in another form it is out to snare you believe jesus we think we have a problem and you know what we have we have an answer yeah so here's the deal nathan lifts his hands to the father and he says wow father i thank you that you have so rooted yourself in me i thank you yeah man am i emotional you better believe it and it's good tidings a great joy but this thing is so seated in me my life will never be the same i can only grow in you i can never go back cause there ain't nothing there you gave me new life ah and all of a sudden he's just a maniac in worship and praise and prayer and he's flipping everything and guess what happens his heart sees it all the more and guess what he's having a deeper encounter in this moment that he might not have had if it wasn't for the voice [Applause] so he's submitting to god he's resisting and sooner or later the devil says you know i just don't think this is working and he flees why because he realizes what he came to break him in he's actually making him in because he's a believer thank you [Applause] isn't that awesome good illustration so you're driving to work young ladies you put your little vowel ring and youth group on to jesus your little covenant vowel ring i'm yours and only yours till the day i'm married right sweet thing it's sweet thing but you were 18 you were sure you were marrying this guy you were sure oh you were sure so you said well since we're gonna get married anyway and that night it was just right you watch that movie it's a little romantic you're spooning so you flip around and face him and the rest is history and the thing is you never ended up getting married because something shifted your conscience shook you feel good about yourself and you never did get married to this guy and you vowed that you'd only ever be married to one only ever be intimate with wine and in that night in youth group it was so clear so now it got all muddy you cried your little eyes out and you wept by your bed and jesus came and left on you and held you now you're a year later a year later you seem to be doing good you're driving to work and you picture that boy and you picture that thing and you remember that like you're thinking about it like you almost want to think about it but your heart don't want to see it anybody ever have this stuff happen and then you start feeling the pain of that the shame of that the regret of that and all that defilement rekindles and all of a sudden because you saw it or thought about it you think it's still you and then you're asking for prayer for deliverance and unfortunately there's a lot of people out there will jump right on that and not say well what do you mean you need a prayer for what you just said write a flashback memory yeah i saw it i thought i was i thought that was over what is over what do you mean you need deliverance you have been delivered it's in colossians it's there just because you remembered it why are you wearing it wear him why didn't you just pull over the car and get aggressive actually pull over the car so you could get aggressive and lift your hands and thank god you're a brand new woman you're cleaning his side you're wearing white righteous white that you're a virgin and chaste in his sight because your heart sorry if you could go back and rewrite that day your book would look different but because you can't go back he just gave you a new book a new heart new desire new motive don't let anything take what you grew into through that season from you and take you back there as if you're the same that's how i counsel i won't even pray for you about something like that everybody's just prayer christ can you pray for me can you pray for me i just need prayer i need prayer what do you need prayerful no pray for authorities man pray for government pray for people in in in leadership pray for family members and things and people to get a revelation of christ but we think we need a prayer for every feeling bump and emotion that doesn't agree with what we want it's almost 99 not a prayer issue it's a truth issue so we've developed i'm not being mean i'm not being mean we've developed a ministry crazed people that are always looking for something from god instead of becoming what he's given through simple faith that illustration nathan didn't have a problem the whole time never once did he need prayer because he already had answers feelings have nothing to do with truth most the time and until you get established in truth feelings won't even align to it feelings will be contrary because you've been trained by those feelings and as you're growing in your motives as you're growing impurity those things familiarity sometimes the devil sometimes flashbacks sometimes just memory impression dreams why would you wake up from a negative dream and walk out of that dream with a negative resume you get a negative dream why do you say well devil's giving me dreams at night okay yeah what about it well they're gross they make me feel dirty it's amazing a dream can make you feel dirty and the blood makes you clean so should we be singing songs about the dream and magnifying the devil well i don't get it like what are we doing why are we just such pushovers for feelings look i want it to sound foolish so you never believe it again i'm not trying to degrade you i want it to sound foolish you wake up from a bad dream why do you leave with a bad why don't you sit up in your bed and say wow father i think none of that could possibly be true oh my goodness lord you've set me free you've saved me holy spirit i love you and i appreciate you sing your heart out to god in the middle of the night it wouldn't even have to sound good man just sing your heart out right drive the devil away with your song oh why would you leave a dream with a negative resume why do you need prayer because you had a bad dream well it's recurring devil's giving me insomnia i can't sleep at night okay so every time you can't sleep sit up and say father i'm so glad i'm awake i so appreciate you waking me up and the devil's going god didn't wake you up i woke you up he's like arrogant you know he's like giving god credit for what i'm doing what thanks for waking me up man where do you want me to pray what do you want me to touch let's transform the world in intercession let me hear your heart you sit there watch this you sit there for four hours and you pray till your alarm goes off and you get dressed and go to work you'll be amazing grace will be all over your life but if you try to buy sleep fight sleep whine complain god why don't you let me sleep i need sleep i need sleep why don't you let me sleep god you know i'm not gonna be able to work ah your basket case i woke up at 4 39 i went to bed after midnight i was a little ramped up and excited i read a little i was awake for a while i woke up at 4 39 i didn't go oh man this is too early i got two sessions today i got the early session i got to be fresh god i need i need i need at least another hour and a half come on man no i'm awake man i was clear i just sat up in bed morning good morning took off the battery charger light screen how are you today you've been waiting haven't you [Laughter] come on man this would be a lot more simple and let's not let the enemy win so easy because of feelings sit up in your i promise you if the devil's giving you insomnia and you start giving god credit and you start interceding and somebody comes on your heart that god's drawing and pursuing and there's a critical time in their life and you become that intercession point that brings breakthrough to their life i bet he's not going to keep waking you up if you start working with god in the middle of the night and you're just rejoicing and you're not complaining see it says when you complain you'll be destroyed by the destroyer when you complain it's in corinthians 10 it's there you'll be devoured by the one who devours it says learn by the examples of the israelites and don't complain like they did why complaining is an absolute evidence of self-centered thinking yeah could you picture god complaining look if there's a johnny in the room i'm certainly not there's probably a couple johnnys so i'm not talking about you i'm just using a common name so could you picture god sitting in the throne in jesus's right hand and he's like did you see that well of course lord i see everything oh yeah right but like but johnny i mean did you see johnny again like i mean i don't even know sometimes i feel bad for you like you got hit you got beat you shed your blood you hung on the cross and i know he gets it it bugs me because i know he gets it but he lives like he don't get it and and i don't know what we're going to do i'm just i don't know johnny just i don't know he's starting to bother me a little bit could you picture that conversation in heaven did we ever have that one on the earth could you picture that in heaven going on phew it says where sin abounds grace comes greater it's much more not to empower sin it's the goodness of god that leads men to change it comes greater to overwhelm the sin and change the person's life so where sin abounds grace comes in a greater measure to win a life doesn't say frustration comes in a greater measure mercy triumphs over he said i didn't come john 12 to judge you i came that you might be saved but you will have my word that will judge you in that day so the motive of jesus coming is to lift you into the standard of his word and show you the truth about who you're always created to be and who you've always been whether you realized it or not and then the word is going to hash out and decide who believed that or not in the end and that's why he comes riding with a sword in his mouth saying the word of god are you with me man so why are spending all this time here because the goal of our instruction is love and we don't see god's first love how are we ever going to transform into that love if we don't see it what i see i become it says we'll see him as he is and we'll be like him that's when he's returning is what he's implying but if that principle is true the clearer i see him now the more i can be like him first john 4 17 says in this love is perfected love is perfected in this love is perfected in this that we have boldness in the day of judgment boldness not arrogance boldness in the day of judgment read the day of judgment it's called a day of darkness day of gloom men don't even want to face the glory of who he is men are running and trying to hide men have lived their lives apart from him and now he's here it's not a day of boldness in scripture it's a day of terror read your bible but for the one perfected in love is a day of boldness for you why because as he is so are you in this world you see the goal it ain't attitude and you said well he said well i wouldn't be well how come we'll go talk to them i hope you talk to them why are you talking to me the other one that initiated in the first place look i just reacted to it and you would have too no no love is perfected in this that he has boldness when he comes why because when he comes there's a oneness there's a union who he is is relevant in him and who he is is relevant in him i in you you and me one plus one is one now don't answer that in math class you'll be wrong you'll fail and it'll be my fault no that preacher i was hanging on every word it has to be right man he said one plus one is one you'll get you'll fail but in the spirit one plus one is one it's the synergism of two becoming one so you live for the same purpose same motive same goal that's a marriage that's a marriage one plus one is one that should be a marriage in the holy ghost two wills two makeups two human beings two preferences two desires two all laying it down for the highest sake of one thing manifesting him and making his great name known two coming together for the highest cause manifesting him that's a covenant marriage it's the strongest place and the highest expression of god on the planet because it's synergism it's two it's a stronger one oh it's so beautiful you might as well have it you might as well just go after and pray into it and ask holy spirit to absolutely consume you in that revelation yeah my wife and i have had more intimate crazy stuff i don't even really talk about because then people chase that stuff together beyond what i've ever had on my own i've had deeper encounters expressions and more manifestation of god in a dramatic way together with my wife and synergism than i've ever had in my bedroom alone why because it's a stronger place it's one plus one there's there's an additive both surrendered for the highest cause you leave your mother and your father and the two come together and they cleave together and join together and become one for the highest cause of his image made manifest not because they dig each other have it yes yeah oh i think you're gonna go for something you all good in this love is perfected that we have boldness in the day of judgment because as he is the whole chapter he is love he is love if he loved us this way or we not love one another just talking about love as he is he is love so are in this world let me show you one more validation of that and then we'll try to close out with some training and teaching a little bit and hopefully this is all going to work out when the smoke clears i'm i'm still in my mind you have no idea i'm like where are we like i'm supposed to be training i guess i am matthew 24 watch this watch this i'm just going to read some language here i just want you to pay attention we won't have to speak into all of it just listen to what jesus said it's all read letters it's amazing so if it's read letters it's going to happen if it's read letters it's actually prophetic right like if jesus says this stuff is it going to happen or is it maybe not going to happen okay so when i read this and i was just a young christian barely saved i read this and i fell apart in my bedroom i fell apart when i read this because it hit me i said this is prophetic this is going to happen there ain't nothing nobody can do to change it so what's the use so this deception tried to creep in why bother why even live by faith why why labor why if this is the end result if this is red letters what's going to happen why should i care that's what started to hit me in intellectually and jesus interrupted that and i can fill you in on the rest of that story in a minute take heed verse 4 that no one deceives you for many will come in my name saying i am the christ and will deceive many and you will hear of wars and rumors of wars see that you are not troubled well how can i hear of wars and not be troubled because you're seeking first the kingdom of god you're loving not your own life unto death you've been fellowship with god you've been in prayer you've established your motive in life and even if it costs you your life you're going to lay it down for the sake of others that someone might know him truly you're never going to die i wish we'd get that in our hearts we're never going to die like we've already won we're not trying to win we won we're in we're done it's over that part's over we've been washed in the blood we've been washed in the blood we're clean we're free we're not going to answer for our sins when we're sincerely repentant we're walking this thing out like we won you say read the end of the book we won we won already if you just walk out your faith like you're in you're not out you're accepted not rejected you're sealed for that day you're redeemed for that day you got you're you're weak you're not a tear you're sealed for that day your spirit's alive inside marked with the spirit of god you'll be like so don't be troubled for all these things must come to pass but the end's not yet oh not yet just let it end lord you know there's people out there praying god it's getting dark this whole election all the riots i'm freaking out racial stuff why don't you just come there's people praying that because it's so dark you ought to just come well he ain't coming because it's so dark there's people ain't ready so so if you're ready you say well i'm ready selfish selfish thing that's a selfish thing so you're saying to hell with everybody else man to heaven with me i prayed the prayer if they did that's their fault they had a chance nation's going to rise against nation kingdom against kingdom and there's going to be famines and pestilence in the earthquakes and various places all these things we've all seen in our lifetime so we must be in this season he's talking about how long it is who knows but all these things we've seen in our lifetime right now watch don't miss this don't miss this and these are the beginning of sorrows and they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you now i believe he's talking to not the people that go to church and say they're christian he's talking about people that are surrendered people that won't compromise they'll get accused of being haters and being unjust because they won't go with the flow they won't just bless everything and they'll stand up against some things not in spite not in hate not to throw away people but to take a stand for truth and principles that corrupt created value and purpose and all of a sudden because you don't agree you'll become yeah so that's i believe that's what he's talking about so they'll deliver you up tribulation they'll kill you but they won't will they ah like ain't that something yeah i was i was i was in uh i was in a state in washington state in a you know in a county there is in everett and we had this amazing move of god at the bus stop it was just beautiful this little girl that was injured in a car wreck she couldn't walk hardly and we just asked in the 70 people they it's a wild culture up there they all pile up at these bus stops because it's hard to drive around in these cities and they just all ride the bus it was like 70 people standing at these bus stops so we just lifted our voice up i apologized on behalf of the church for just going to church and expecting people to come and i just these repentant things came out of my heart and then these kids were being cynical i said be careful don't get cynical just be careful and this little girl came out of the crowd hardly walking in she said you mean there's hope for me and i cried and said hope for you and my friends were with me we were all there it was just powerful and we watched her bend down and touch the ground and stand up healed for the first time in like 13 years or whatever it was and she cried and cried and cried and said when this happened she got angry with god and she back slid and so she came back home and all my buddies were there and i said who else wants prayer and people i'll tell you it was powerful because the bus they were waiting on came and left no i ain't joking the bus they were waiting on came and left and we're they're just praying and this diversion this young guy came he had a bunch of guys with him they were dressed a certain way he was representing something but it was totally demonic and i could see that you say why don't you cast it out well i think i think we did but this is what happened god wanted to teach him and get to him and and he was just freaking out on me he said none of this matters man even if she's healed it don't matter i pulled him away because i could tell it was distractive it was trying to pull right so i got him away i just got him away i said walk with me man i want to talk with you i want to take time with you so i left the manifestation and move of god corporately because this young boy who was who's just had this spirit thing going on it was all distraction so you could say man this kid looking for attention what god's trying to move you could see him as a problem or you could see him worth the blood are you with me so i took a walk with him i got talking to him i said what do you keep saying it doesn't matter we're all going to the same place what do you mean we're all going to the same place he said i read the book man we're all ending up the same way i'm like you didn't read the same book i i was like what are you he said die man we're all going to die what's the matter when we're all going to die we're just heading to die man so just live man just have fun just do whatever because we're all dying i said dude you didn't read the same book i read i said look me in the eye i ain't dying ever i got right in his face like this thing came on me right and all of a sudden i got the sermon and i realized he had a nine millimeter in his pocket and i said take out that nine millimeter and stick it in my chest pull the trigger friend cause i ain't tired and i mean i probably look like a madman he didn't tell me he had it in there i knew it was in there and when i said take that nine millimeter you know he he double clutched and like how's he know i'm packing i should go ahead stick it right in my chest and pull the trigger because i died and he went and this manifestation was so demonic and he just took off running no i'm not kidding now i didn't want it to end that way you know probably i wonder what would happen if i said come out in jesus name maybe he'd have tripped and rolled you know might have been like a holy ghost james bomb movie or something i don't know but i did i didn't i didn't i didn't i didn't i wish maybe i would maybe i shoulda it's not about that i just boom and he ran so what do you do you trust god seeds holy ghost yeah you go back to your little group they're having a blast they're praying crying people are we're having fun at the bus stop finally all subsided we got in the cars and we're leaving and i'm they're saying what happened to you man where'd you go i told them about the young man got in a little detail not much we're driving and i'm looking here i see him he's way over at an empty bus stop where there's no buses running him and a clan of people that are like his followers right and and i said oh my gosh you got to stop you got to stop the car i got to go you got to stop the car he said what i said just stop the car that's the kid i got to go i got to go i ran right over to the to the group i ran right into the group two of them saw me come and took off i got in there and he's just sitting on a park bench looked a lot different to nathan nathan's like this on the park bench remember this guy's just like this and he's ranting and he's frustrated and he's yelling and these guys and they see me come the one guy banged the glass so hard i thought he was going to break it they were so mad that i was there but i just i just got right to him and they two of them stayed two of them ran two of them stayed and he's just sitting there i started talking to him and the other two guys left and i got knelt down i talked to him i said man you saw something when you looked in my eyes i saw i just flowed with it there's no textbook it's not principle how to minister to this boy now stop looking for a blueprint it's called love people yeah and the words come when they're needed i just talk it to him in the moment i can't quote it i don't even know totally what i said but i know i said you saw something he lit my eyes i told him about his purpose value i mean you're chasing this thing you've got kids following you have influence on you you've allowed it to be perverted god wants you to be a leader and god wants you but you've got to know him first i'll be praying for you man i'll tell you it's time to get born again and you know what i'm talking about and i went on and i leaned in i kissed him on the forehead just kissed him right on my forehead i did man and he's just sitting there and i ran back around i got in the car i said we can leave that you said that's all you did yep that's all i felt like i was supposed to do got in the car and we left we're driving they got lost i said i think we've been by here before he said i think this is the third time so we come around and we got down the side street and i said here's the guy he's walking down the street all along staring at the sidewalk and he looked like you should go put your arm around him but it was holy ghost working it was so powerful just to watch him i just knew i just knew there was this breakdown moment something was god was moving on this boy i think it was even a walk of repentance something was and and the lord didn't want me to personally tangibly be involved at that point just to help get to that point but if you see him as a distraction if you see him as sent by the devil or the devil himself to bust up the move of god you're way deceived he is no threat to anything that's on the inside of me and this little nine millimeter just ain't holding it buddy because the worst they could do in the natural say i'm physically dead but man i ain't dead i'm back i'm just high-fiving mama and we're just waiting for the rest of the clan to show up yeah forever forever are you getting it like forever yay i'm so messing up this simple stuff this simple stuff okay okay so they're going to deliver you up tribulation they're going to kill you and you're going to be hated by all nations for my name's sake because you're non-compromised sold out surrendered when you see you you see him they're going to hate you not for your evangelistic strategies for his name's sake here's the thing we get to reveal the glory of his name through our lives he told ezekiel they went out among the nations profaned my name everywhere they went in 36. everywhere they went they misrepresented me and profaned my name i'm going to bring them all back together and make them one i'm going to put a new heart and a new spirit in them and i'm not going to do it for them i'm going to do it for my great name you get to go through everything you go through thinking for his great name your responses are incredibly important when you say you're christian because christian means little christ like one in your marriage very important live for his great name not your own well-being not to get something from someone his great name i i promise you this and i cannot i'm not on my eyes might sound self-righteous or arrogance to some but please don't hear what i'm not saying i can tell you as a fact the most freedom you'll ever experience is if you live selfless and if you don't live selfish you can only sing about freedom because you won't experience it selfless is freedom what bondage could there be in selflessness when you didn't wake up to be loved you woke up loved and you didn't wake up to be loved you woke up to love when sincerely in your heart nobody owes you a thing today because it's already fulfilled in him and you know oh no man anything but to love you see how you're going to run well i got to do this i got i only got a few minutes wow where did time go i need another session okay they're going to kill you they're going to hate you for my name's sake okay here's where it gets dicey watch this and then this is where i fell apart in my bedroom because this red letters and i fell apart in my bedroom then many many will be what who offended says he who loves has no cause to be offended or stumble because of his brother first john 2 it says it says in first john if you say you abide and remain in him you ought to walk even as he walked wow many will be offended they'll actually start to betray one another and even begin to hate one another and right then isn't it amazing when their hearts are a mess and their ears can't hear clear false prophets will arise right when they're offended ain't that something voices will come to their life and deceive many so i just read that many are going to be offended and many are going to be deceived watch this and because lawlessness things that ain't right well that ain't right well they shouldn't do well that ain't right because lawlessness abounds the love of many will grow cold what's the target of everything i just read what's the goal of everything i just read is it to put you through a rough day or to steal your love away the whole reason this whole thing's written is to say guard your heart because out of your heart flows the issues of life the enemy is after love he's not after you and if he gets love he got you are you all with me because lawlessness abounds there's the justification well you don't know what they put me through well you know how wrong it was well how am i supposed to be okay after that and why did god even let him i thought god loved me i thought he was my rear guard i thought he was my fortress and protection he is your fortress the truth in him is what keeps you safe jesus says in me you have peace in the world you have trouble in me you have peace be of good cheer i've overcome the world well lord if you've overcome the world why i got trouble maybe he ain't talking about stopping trouble he's maybe he's talking about in me you have peace be of good chair i've overcome the world maybe he's saying i brought a mindset that trumps the wisdom of the world i brought a perspective that keeps you safe i'm your rock i'm your fortress run into me find refuge we just think that means he's going to smack everybody down that's trying to smack us you know we think we're just walking through the earth jesus is just following us somebody coming to do us wrong and we don't even know it we're just walking through the earth he's like that don't you get silly on me it ain't like that he's your rear guard your fortress he's your rock he finds shelter in him the truth in him is what protects you and keeps you okay it's perspective guys if he can change your perspective it'll change your whole life if he can change the why behind your life and get you to wake up for the right reason your life will manifest righteousness but because lawlessness abounds there's the excuse there's the justification well you don't know what they did to me you know how long it's been this is too much when is enough enough i wonder if god said that in his language what if god looked at you and said enough is enough i wonder if at some point judgment came to you instead of mercy and wonder if god just ended it well since he never did that to me why would i find the right to do that to you man i got to go back to faith i got to lift my hands with nathan and say no matter what i'm feeling it ain't producing life know what i'm thinking if it ain't producing life my answer's got to be new and i got to flip that thing and say i can't tell myself there ain't a way to get through this when you went through everything you can walk me through this in truth and i thank you that my heart is one with you ah and you start next thing you know you're just branded by him and all of a sudden you're done hurting for yourself you're done feeling sorry for yourself you don't need the grace that somebody cares about your pain all of a sudden they're even about pain are you with me so there's a difference between missing a loved one when they pass there's a difference between me crying because i lost my mama or you lost a friend or a family member or a child there's there's physical loss we'd be silly to deny it's not real but paul said you you can't grieve as if you have no hope you can't let the grief become your life you can't let the loss become your identity you can't let the loss trump purpose that's called despair that's when you tack up pictures all over your house and you walk through and stay depressed and cry in every room not healthy you take a good look at that picture and you cry and you say god thank you for their life their memory i'm so honored that they were my son i'm so honored they were my parent i'm so honored they were my nephew my friend whoever they were and you just begin to give thanks for their life and the honor and i feel like it was too short man it'd be great if they were here but the truth is we're going to be together forever and you and i'm going to run hard because of this truth i'm going to stay more sober because of their death and i'm going to run this thing to the finish line and i'll see you at the end that sure beats depression because lawlessness abounds the love of many grow cold that means they find an excuse a reason a justification what's the target that targets their love not their church attendance and because lawlessness will bound the love of many will grow cold but he who endures he's not talking about going to heaven here he's talking about walking in sozo walking in salvation saved healed delivered protected preserved made whole kept safe and sound that's the word saved that's what it means he's not talking about going to heaven he's talking about walking in salvation those who endure till the end shall be saved in other words healed delivered protected preserved kept holding safe suffering kept safe and sound why because they never lost their love the goal of instruction is love so i'm crying in my room why should i even care why should i try why should i be in faith if many are going to be deceived if many are going to because of lawlessness if many are going to grow cold he said it's as and as the lord the spirit lord came to me and spoke in his majestic voice i heard him in a majestic tone it was absolutely incredible because i was very young in the lord i mean it was like i heard him and the majesty in his voice froze because i was i was i was pitiful i was like well i don't understand why and how come and you said manny and that's prophecy and that means it's gonna happen i was just kind of on a rant and he's like it's the exact reason you live in faith and he just when i went what yeah and here's what he said you live this way your whole life you surrender you go all out you sow seed you plow ground so the many isn't many because there's one too many so when god says many why do we mathematically figure what he might mean and come up with a number he said you live this way so the many isn't many so i wonder if i grow in love and walk in love wonder if i start sowing the seeds of love wonder if i teach on what love looks like i wonder if marriages start getting a grip and coming together that would have fell apart wonder if people that would have been hurt and angry and frustrated are walking in a gentleness and a mercy and a forgiveness because of this truth i wonder if you just keep walking in love wonder if your wife isn't engaged and your kids are running wild for a season and you don't stop believing what you believe because you believe it and now you're here years later and you're going hard after it why hoping that the manny isn't many now wouldn't that be selfless wouldn't that be faith wouldn't that be gospel wouldn't that be fruit wouldn't that be so or so in seed yeah i wonder if jesus about a year in would have said you know i just don't think this is going to take these people are really far gone if they don't know me by now where's this old song if they don't know me by now right or something like that if they don't know me by now or if you don't know me by now you'll never never never know me he'd be sitting up on the mount of olives you'll never never never know me and now he's reminiscing all the ministry and all the moves of god if you don't know me [Music] pitiful pitiful see i got to do it at the cost of my life i got to give you some of these examples see so they stick oh i love it i've never done that before preach and sang that song i just pictured jesus singing a broken-hearted love song and it's weird see the rationale behind it but they didn't get changed by now they ain't never going to change then we give up on somebody instead lay down our life a little more man i should probably okay i can do this quick i'll do this quick i'm supposed to be done at 11 15. i'll be the goodest boy i can possibly be with time i'm a preacher so somehow i lean on some kind of justification real quick first corinthians 3 i can do this quick remember i started off about the past and stuff it just came i said where are we at what are we doing i didn't even think i was going here i want you to see this because it's imperative for us to become love we have to see love we have to see who he is through his son period jesus on the cross is the measuring stick of god's love god's i love you isn't the little kisses you receive along the way in life god's i love you is the son that was innocent crucified as if he was guilty so all the guilty could go free if they believe on him that's the i love you from heaven don't challenge the love through the circumstances of life settle on the love so you get rooted and grounded in the love so faith works through love and you're not just driven by need there's a difference driven by need and faith working through love are y'all with me okay so in first corinthians chapter three there was sectarianism going on people were saying i'm of apollos i'm a peter hey i'm in paul's camp well you should hear peter preach dude did you ever prepare well this apology guy i don't even know he's hardly even mentioned but man i i'm sitting under him because paul don't hold a light to that dude i mean there was some weird stuff and then then one of them baptized one of them there and paul's setting it straight and talking to him about it the whole chapter is just a line in some things and he's closing out the writing and i love this he says let that let no one uh deceive himself in verse 18. if anybody seems to be wise in this age let him become a fool so he can become wise that's pretty extreme for the wisdom of this world is foolishness to god so the way the world's thinking god's on a whole opposite side of the coin right it's 180 degrees for it's written he'll catch the wise in the craftiness and again the lord knows the thoughts of the wise and they are futile now watch this therefore he's wrapping up this whole sectarianism thing he said therefore let no one boast in men come on guys stop boasting in men all things he makes an amazing statement all things are yours all things are yours whether it's your teachers whether it's paul apostles the men that god's put in your life watch he goes on to stretch this list or the world or life and death or things present or things to come it's all yours why are you getting in this fussy thing over your teachers engaging and weighing and pushing and shoving it's all yours life death present things to come it's all yours and you're you're christ's and christ is god's sounds pretty amazing so he just gave us the world power over life and death he gave us the present things to come so we have hope and a future isn't that phenomenal now watch go to romans 8 real quick real quick i'm trying to do this quick so i'm not don't blow my time too bad i'm supposed to be done right now [Music] and i'm willfully moving on scary isn't it who shall who shall romans 8 verse 35 who shall separate us oh and the boss is here oh who shall separate us from the law i love you tom tom to ever tell you i love you who shall separate us from the love of god i'm just being silly because i'm going late tom who shall separate us from the love of christ tribulation distress he didn't say who shall keep god from loving us he said who shall separate us from his love keep that in mind who shall separate us from the love of god distress persecution famine nakedness peril sword well unfortunately in today's christian society that list is well plenty to separate people from the love of god way less than that list actually i'm just being real but paul has a revelation and they're preaching the gospel in the book of acts that is pretty intense they're crucifying hundreds of thousands of christians in the first couple hundred years of christianity the persecution there was a season where they crucified so many christians on crosses so people had their family members crucified and they still didn't renounce christ they still loved him they still believed that life was all about him and they'd get crucified for believing that after everybody else was crucified pretty intense i i've cried when nobody's looking and say lord if something cracks down in this country like that and this country goes haywire and there's extreme persecution i hope we're more prepared than just picketing and protesting and facebooking our disgruntles okay naked is peril for it's written all day long we're killed for your sake we're accounted as sheep for the slaughter yet in all these things yet in all these things we're more than conquerors through him who loved us why because of the eternal truth because we're all living for that day watch this when i love somebody like stephen's getting stoned for being totally right their anger their arrogance religious spirits all their motivation was demonic and fleshy would you agree when they when they stoned stephen and stephen said the same thing that jesus said on the cross and god to forgive these men and not hold it against them etc we all know the story how paul is standing there he saw he's guarding to close the man he's involved he gets an encounter does he ever get that encounter if stephen doesn't release that kind of love i don't know if stephen would have said judge them god hold them accountable give them their due i don't know now god doesn't wouldn't answer that prayer but would the grace have been there to get paul i don't know but i know this you want to be in steven shoes where he's in jesus's position and all he can see is the same thing jesus saw and say the same thing jesus said and let grace keep coming and let mercy triumph over judgment so none of these men receive what they deserve through the act but but this receive what they deserve through his act stephen wouldn't that be amazing for us to live there okay so watch this for i am persuaded paul sounds pretty sure i am persuaded that neither death now remember he doesn't say that keeps god from loving you he says separate me from i am persuaded that that neither death what he's saying i'm all in i'm surrendered my life is his i've counted myself as nothing that i might gain him right he said that in philippians 2. death life look at this list neither death life angels principalities powers oh this list sounds familiar from corinthians list present things to come heights depth a little more extensive list any other created thing so none of these things shall be able to separate us from the love of god which is in christ jesus the lord did you see that list sound kind of like the list in corinthians just a little more extensive did you notice the past isn't on the list why because in christ you only have a present in things to come he expects you to know that and the reason the past isn't on the list because when you consider your past it has the total ability to separate you from receiving god's love because you identify through the past and not through him so it's absolutely forbidden scripturally for a christian to be in a place that doesn't exist and psychology says yeah but there's feelings from the past yeah but there's hooks yeah but there's this no no the just live by okay so watch so my dad never said i love you my whole life i don't know if i've ever heard it to this day never heard my dad say i love you i don't remember one time i heard him say i'm proud of you after i got saved four months in maybe but when i was a kid he was alcoholic i'd have to drive him home from the bar he was bleeding out his butt when i was in my teenage years with ulcers and alcoholism he'd go to the icu and he'd unhook himself put his clothes on and sneak out of the hospital they'd call home and say we lost your husband and she'd say oh i know where he is she'd call the bar and he'd answer up there and give him the phone that was my dad never never he took me hunting you know when i was really little got me in the hunt and stuff and he'd kind of take me out into the woods and stuff but it's not like we just hung out played we didn't go play ball we didn't shoot basketball i didn't i have no memory of that with my dad i just have a lot of hardship memory and stuff like that but watch this let me ask you a strong question what does any that i'm anything that i'm telling you have anything to do with what i'm telling you why does it matter and why would my heart be angry for my dad only because human wisdom says he should be something because he's labeled as something he should be this in my life because he's my dad so now i'm damned if he's not and i'm forever identified through his deficit and now i'm trying to find some council sense of wisdom to at least find a way to at least hold it together and function in the raw truth of it all or do i just put it all away and call it as if it never was see my dad through the eyes of truth and absolutely love him and believe for him and go ahead and live jesus because jesus rocks are you with me or am i some hurting little boy trapped inside waiting to be loved by my dad and i'm not free until the day my dad says i love you so my whole goal in prayer is god to move on my dad so he says what i've never heard let me tell you what that is that's called idolatry that means you're only free under the condition of instead of just believing jesus is enough are you with me so because i don't hate my dad and i'm not discouraged with my dad and i'm not frustrated with my dad and my dad doesn't owe me anything because of the truth my dad got saved through my salvation he saw my life change and he squeezed me by the arm on the back of the arm going out the house one day and he broke down crying got vulnerable and said i'm so proud of you what's he proud of the truth in his son knowing that he always said i'll never be nothing because in his dry vacant desolate place where his identity was smashing he was drinking himself to death he had nothing to give so i'm going to hold him forever accountable and wear an identity through his deficit come on what are you even thinking i wish every counselor would say stop it that's silly why would you let where one man is and determine where you've got to be and if the one man ain't jesus why is it truth to you so you're trying to drink out of a dry cup no wonder you're thirsty see what it does is when i say damned it damns a person's identity you always raise so you're 50 years old you hear me preach all weekend and you say well brother i mean that's all good and i'm glad it's working for people and they're excited you just don't know what it was like when i was growing up and you make what it was like when you were growing up greater than what it's like in him and you make it conditional and a lot of ministers think you've got to go back and try to fix all these things as if the freedom is conditional and i gotta align things and jump through a 14 different hoops before i can actually declare freedom i declare freedom the day i accept my present in him see my past outside of him let him take that because he bought that put it in a seal forgetfulness and now i have hope and a future scripture not my sermon scripture says scripture says that the past can separate you from receiving the love of god because all of a sudden he's in question and through jesus there are no questions are you all with me so this is just a foundation for why we all can go after becoming love i'll talk a little more next session about how we get there how easy it is to get there and we'll see where we go but i'm hoping this made sense this morning because i was kind of wondering where we were going to land the whole morning so i'm glad you looked okay and uh so let me pray something over y'all so this is this is what's important now if you're living this way wouldn't it make it more spontaneous and simple and natural to love somebody if you're encouraged wouldn't it be easy to be an encourager like if you wake up and just know you're blessed and the day barely started wouldn't it be easy to be a blessing if you're living out of the overflow and abundance of what you believe and who he is in your life wouldn't it make it easier to just love somebody when you feel like you're filled don't you always have something to give people in christianity aren't supposed to drink from your cup they're supposed to drink from your overflow he's anointed your head your cup runneth over he filled the thirsty he floods the dry ground if they're drinking out of your cup you're going dry and then that's that theology where you better go fill up pour out fill up pour out kind of a weird theology why don't you just stay overflowing in him and stay identified in him he's anointed your head and your cup runneth over so people can drink in your saucer they never get into your cup you'll never go dry so for 25 years you just so you don't have low seasons you don't need sabbaticals people haven't burned you out pastor would be great if it wasn't for the people you know ministries challenging and this guy and now you're jaded and all of a sudden everything's you all good why don't you stand your feet we'll pray father we just thank you for the truth we thank you for scripture after scripture after scripture after scripture after scripture that nails this thing down don't let our eyes see anything else you okay if i pray this way like don't let our eyes see anything else keep us right here so we can grow in what you paid for and walk in what's true lord i thank you for the transformation of your love in our lives that that we become everything we see in you and i'm asking lord that you wouldn't let one person talk themselves out of it and think it's not possible you said follow me the things i do you'll do if you believe let our belief stay clear and strong in you and keep our eyes fixed on you in jesus name amen

Channel: City Quake

Views: 4,817

Rating: 4.9379845 out of 5

Keywords: CITY QUAKE, city quake, earthquake, christian ministry, tom Ruotolo, Chris overstreet, pastors, compassion to action, Chris compassion, to city quake, tom lifestyle, city quake events, preaching, teachings, evangelical teachings, city quake Virginia Beach, Dan mohler, Dan Mohler teaching

Id: 9wEA-faIHR8

Length: 106min 40sec (6400 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 10 2020