Sunday Morning Worship | Divine Reset | Redefining Success | 01.24.21

so the kingdom agenda good morning ocbf family and to those of you that are viewing around the world this morning we want to welcome you and we want to welcome those that are sitting in service today for the first time this year we're so glad to be with you for our online worship experience listen today's going to be a special day and pastor is going to continue in his series divine reset i don't know about you but i think i need a reset as well this is a new year 2020 is behind us and we're looking for the holy spirit to do new and fresh things in us before we move forward make sure you go to your kitchen grab the elements for communion whether that's juice water crackers bread because at the end of service pastor is going to lead us in a time of communion to remember the lord's sacrifice and what he's done for us but listen first things are first it's time for us to worship the lord so i want you to stand up in your living room stand up in the house god is here it's time for us to give him praise praise the lord ocbf this is the day that the lord has made let's put those hands together come on we come to give god praise this morning are you ready simple song say it say you are the lord say you are the lord almighty you're perfect in everything the angels declare that you are holy father and no one else compares to you this morning we stand in all of your father globe hearing your presence what we were created you are perfect in is [Applause] is [Music] say father creations shout your faith [Music] lift your voice [Applause] [Music] children [Music] this morning father we honor you we magnify your name and we assemble ourselves for but one reason and that is to lift up the name of jesus somebody shout we lift your name we're gonna keep going in his presence is that all right this morning i want you to clap your hands with us give yourself some room one two three come on [Music] father with glory by your name as we love on you receive our love receive our love father and as we shout out your name receive our praises receive our praise and say that to the lord as we love on you father father receive our love receive our love [Music] and as we shine [Music] your name [Music] be glorified be glorified you are great o magnify the lord with me let us exalt his name together [Music] and as we receive our grace we shout to the lord your next father be glorified [Applause] because your love is greater than our love your strength is greater than our strength [Music] let's say that together your love gone is greater than ours [Music] to your strength your strength is greater than us greater than house no one knows nobody's bigger than him no one can do what he does no one is greater than jesus christ oh those hands father we love to love you okay let's get free in his presence this morning one more time rain jesus christ hallelujah we give you glory we magnify your name jesus we lift your name so that all men will be trolled to you also give the lord a great shout in the house somebody show glory father we lift your name amen amen i was glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of the lord and it's uh it's it's sort of exciting to see a few people out in the audience this time we've begun a slow and deliberate process of coming back starting with our leaders our elders deacons indignances as we bring back a few more each week at a time still with social distancing and masking because safety is our priority for our saints and and so we're going to keep an eye out to make sure it's uh it's safe but at the same time uh we want to let it be known that we're not we're not backing up from god worship or his people and so we're gonna do that in a in a responsible and a responsible way uh with the uh the capacity that we can do uh in a way that covers uh the saints who are uh comfortable to come at this time but of course we are still recording it so that people can worship with us online now worship is not a spectator event worship is a participatory event so if you're just sitting and looking and watching you're not worshiping the bible says give to the lord a new song so that's singing that's praising that's praying and of course that's responding to his word and i hope that you are responding to his word by not only hearing it but reviewing it reviewing uh the the scriptures that we give with it that you are taking it seriously to inculcate it into your life and not just listen to it for a moment and then forget it so we want you to embrace worship embrace the lord and uh if if we have to go through a pandemic anyway let's go through a pandemic with a purpose let's do what we call a divine reset and that's what we are going through that god has allowed what we're going through because he wants to reset some things in our lives and in our world if you are a person who's in the metroplex of dallas fort worth and you're looking for a church home that's building kingdom disciples who are seeking to make a kingdom impact because we are doing it as kingdom servants then you can find out about our membership process online ocbfchurch.org forward slash membership you can find out about our church and whether this is the church for you and for what god is calling you to we want to serve you we want to see how god uses you to serve others as well so it's a joy being in the house of the lord being with the saints and being able to to keep ministering we've been ministering all through this uh crazy time we've been going through we've been serving the poor we've been taking care of the elderly we've been ministering to our saints we've been making care calls to make sure folks are okay and praying with them so ministry doesn't stop just because they're problems in fact the problems often means that the ministry has to go to a higher level so that's what we're seeking to do and the giving of the saints in their faithful tithes and thanksgiving offering is allowing this ministry to take place and so i want to thank the saints for honoring the lord because you're giving to the lord although it's filtered through the various ministries that god has given us if you're not a part of this congregation again as we always tell you support your local church and then if you have an offering above that because the lord is using this to minister to you well through the various ways that are listed you can see the various ways to give to keep us strong so we can keep you strong in a world that's very weak so we're going to pray and we're going to ask god's faith as we continue in our in our worship today as we uh continue with our leaders who are uh you know i already feel like preaching just seeing just seeing more than chairs helps me and so uh it's uh it's an honor to be able to gather with the saints here the saints at home as we love on the lord together for he is worthy of our prayers father we praise you we adore you even when we do not understand you your ways are higher than our ways your thoughts are higher than our thoughts and so we're going to have to adjust to you and so lord i give you me i give you us not only those who gathered but those are scattered that the name of the lord may be made great forgive us for anything that would get in the way of us giving you the praise do your holy name we exalt you in the name of your son the lord jesus christ and we invoke the presence and power of the holy spirit in this house this day for this worship experience that we might be transformed by your glory and we'll give you the glory we'll give you the praise as we continue blessing your name and all god's people agreed when they said amen the word of the lord declares that the grass withers the flower fades we won't keep quiet [Music] we won't be ashamed we'll keep confessing [Music] jesus you reign no matter how long we'll keep on praying here nothing can stop you [Music] you will remain always you'll stand [Applause] [Applause] [Music] father we'll keep confessing there's nothing that can stop your word forever [Music] we thank [Music] calling your name calling your name we won't quit [Music] seeking your face seeking your face we won't stop calling your name calling your name we won't quit [Music] seeking your face seeking your face we won't die it doesn't matter what's going on in our lives we'll keep calling your name jesus christ it doesn't matter what's opposing us we'll keep seeking the face of the lord we we want you from eternity from everlasting [Music] calling your name calling your name we won't quit [Music] seeking your face seeking your face we won't stop my god i feel the presence of the lord in this place calling your name calling your name we won't quit [Music] stay right there seeking your face we call his name jesus we call his name jesus we call his name jesus the strong name of jesus [Music] we call the name jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus [Applause] [Music] stand forever [Music] stand forever stand forever that's our blessed hope his word will stand forever [Music] stand forever god we love you [Music] during football season they show you the scores of the game all the games the 32 teams in the nfl they will show you the scores each week of every game but let me tell you what the nfl network does also they replay the games you know what worked out by the score you know how it worked out by the game as i'm sitting and watching a rerun of a game where i already know the outcome it changes how i watch it when i know where it's going i see my team fumble but i don't get all shook up i don't know where this thing is going i see my quarterback for an interception but i ain't gonna get all nervous because i know where this thing my is is losing it cause i know where this thing is going i have already seen the end when they showed me the score jesus wants you to know where this thing is going so you got a bad situation on your job that's okay because we know where this thing is going you have a bad situation in your finances it's a little unnerving but it's okay because you know where this thing is going there's some family problems but you can survive it because you know where this thing is going there's some health issues you can be troubled by it but you know where this thing is going because he has already defeated him and you are in union with him claim your authority under his lordship by the rules of his kingdom and then you will see him over rule in your rule of your world [Music] a man one day said i was dying to finish high school so that i could go to college i was dying to finish college so that i could get married and start a family then i was dying for my kids to become 18 so they could leave then i was dying to retire so that i could enjoy my golden years only to discover now i'm just dying and somehow i've missed out on life one of the realities that we face is how to view life so that we live it successfully and don't wind up looking back and saying i wish many people are climbing the ladder to success only to find out when they reached the top it was leaning against the wrong wall we're in a time of what i call divine reset coming out of a divine a divine disruption god has allowed a pandemic for a purpose and while all of us are focused on the various kinds of pandemics that we have been wrestling with and facing not enough tension is attention is being given to its purpose and through this divine reset i'm trying to get you and me to focus on not only the destruction of god's remodeling process but what he's trying to do in the remodel to take us to something new and different and fresh but one of the realities of the situations that we have been going through you take the virus for example the virus doesn't care how much money is in your bank the virus doesn't care whether you are ged or phd the virus doesn't care where you work or what position you have arrived to in your employment it is an equal opportunity infector because what it has done is it's revealed to us the limitations of our humanity so if you and i if we don't look at what we are dealing with from the purposes of god rather than merely the problems in the world then we will miss it and you know how it is when you you keep failing a test you got to get a retest i don't know i don't know about you but i want to learn everything i got to learn so i'll have to keep going through retesting in jeremiah chapter 9. we have two powerful verses about a divine reset in the area of how you're viewing success to be able to learn one of the remodeling lessons about success and how you're looking at your life is very critical if we're going to get back on track if christ be not come i will read the verses and then set the stage for us verse 23 says thus saith the lord let not the wise man boast of his wisdom let not the mighty man boast of his might and let not the rich man boast of his riches but let him boast boast of this that he understands and knows me that i am the lord who exercises loving-kindness justice and righteousness on the earth for i delight in these things declares the lord if you've ever read the book of jeremiah you know it is a very depressing book to read if you are already depressed you probably are not going to go to jeremiah for your devotions because it's a weeping book what's causing the prophet to weep is the conditions of the culture that are collapsing all around him starting with god's people the culture is collapsing lives are falling apart families are in shreds there's crying all through the book for one reason there has been a spiritual departure from god that are resulting in personal and familial and religious and cultural consequences and this has brought him to tears to see all the pain and i i hope that you have been brought to tears when you look at the suffering and the agony and the the losses that so many people have faced during all the things that we have and are going through well that's his heart his heart is beating because of his love for the community that he was called to minister to in chapter 9 he talks more about this concern about the devastation all around him he even calls for professional mourners to mourn to help folk who weren't mourning to mourn because things were so bad and people wanted them to change and get better and so do i so do you you want viruses to disappear you want racial harmony to reappear you want dignity to reassert itself you want unity to be magnified and manifested because we care in addressing what needed to be done he says there must be a reset of your priority and you must stop defining success by cultural norms and rather replace it by kingdom norms you must now not look at your success measured by the wrong criteria which had become the cultural norms and standards that people use to determine whether they have made it or not he lets them know in these two verses that you have used the wrong things to measure whether things are okay notice the word he uses he uses the word boast in verse 23 boast his concern is about their boasting please notice he uses the person he says you boast of his wisdom his might his riches it's personal boasting look at what i have look at what i've done look at what i've achieved i am the man it is personal amplification of human achievement independent of god let me explain that again boasting is amplification of personal achievements in this world independently of god when your pursuit for your success is driven independently of god you are losing the god you need to benefit from enjoy and keep what you thought you earned because all it takes is a bad day and what you thought you had can be gone overnight he says you are boasting the greek word or this greek word hebrew word for boasting is the word hollyo which is the word for hallelujah so it's talking about patting yourself on the back it's called self-praise now you have to understand why this ticks god off when we want to pursue the elements in the culture of success independently of him because it gives the impression that you could have done it without him that you are singing hallelujah to yourself that you are praising yourself that you are giving glory to yourself and while you may use the name god you're really boasting about who you are what you've done and what you have so every now and again god's got to let us know we are not all that in a bag of chips every now and again god has got to let us know that without him the stuff that you thought made you successful can't hold you that without him things can be turned upside down and so he every now and again allows things in our lives to remind us of our dependency it reminds me of the story of the the frog that needed to get across the lake and it was too big a lake for him to hop on something and get across on his own so the frog came up with a brilliant idea the frog said well i'm gonna get me two two cranes and i'm gonna take this stick and i'm gonna suggest that each crane holds an end of the stick i'm gonna grab it with my mouth and let them fly me across the lake it's a brilliant idea that this frog came up with he was not going to let this lake stop him from achieving his successful trip across it so he got two of his buddies two cranes he got the stick and they agreed to the program so he not only came up with a brilliant idea to achieve his successful trip but he came up with a methodology for implementation of this brilliant idea one crane got it on one hand the other crane got it on the other on the other beak and the other one on the other beak and it was time for the frog to grab it frog grabbed it and the cranes began to fly and take the frog across the lake a man looked up and saw the frog holding onto the stick being flown across the lake by the cranes and the man said wow what a brilliant strategy i wonder who came up with that idea that's when the frog said i [Music] did see you can get so high in your independence that when you get too big for your spiritual britches and start boasting about who you are independently of god that you find out that you fall flat on your face he is critiquing their boasting it's like the man who has the sign beware of dog on his gate when there is no dog he wants to give the impression of success that's what we do today we we want to impress ourselves and others he's not complaining about wisdom he's not complaining about might or strength he's not complaining about riches he's complaining about the boasting tied to it that is done independently of god you know when crisis shows up in our lives and in our world i'm hearing a lot more people bring god's name up i'm hearing a lot more people talk about prayer i'm hearing a lot more people talk about from the from the outhouse to the white house how we need some divine intervention because every now and again when you get too big for your britches too independent because what this does is it reminds us that we have joined satan because satan's great sin was pride he wanted to operate independently of god and so his complaint is about the boasting of what you have let's look at the complaints a little bit closer he says they were boasting about three things these are three things that we look at in the culture that that people use to help define success three things that cause you to feel that you made it he says let not the wise man boast in his wisdom so we need to talk about first of all educational progress you didn't gone through high school you've made it to college you decided to go on for a higher degree and get your master's then there's some have gone on for their various other graduates degrees phds and you feel good about what's hanging on your wall now yo your wall says that you have made it educationally that you can you can people can call you by a name or you can put these letters behind your name and it says that you have reached a level of educational success he says don't brag about your degree don't brag about your educational progress not because knowledge is wrong and learning is wrong but it can make you a fool when you do it independently of god we have raised up a generation of educated fools they are so educated that now they believe that nobody plus nothing created everything that's the definition of an educated fool that you educate yourself into a evolutionary process that starts with nothing when you look at what people are learning today and what our children are being taught the values the ethics we're finding out that they're being educated in the wrong direction no all knowledge must start with god that's why the bible says the knowledge of god is the beginning of wisdom let me say that again the knowledge of god is the beginning of wisdom that's why i love when david said i know more than my teachers he can say i know more than my teachers because they didn't start in the right place so they're not going to end up with the right conclusion and that's why you can have educated people with messed up lives because their knowledge didn't tell them how to live he says do not boast brag about your wisdom in fact second corinthians chapter 2 verses 6 to 8 talks about the problem of human wisdom independent of divine wisdom paul condemns those who who think that because they have graduated to a successful level of knowledge apart from god that they think they know something whenever your information base conflicts with god's divine revelation and what god says about a subject your teacher was wrong your book was wrong and you are wrong as i like to say there are two answers to every question god's answer and everybody else's and everybody else is wrong when they disagree with him so don't boast about your wisdom independently of god there are two kinds of wisdom there's the wisdom of man and then it says there's the wisdom of god and guess what it says the wisdom of man independently of god comes from demons so a lot of us have got demonic teachers in demonic schools giving us demonic information just so we can have letters behind our name you must evaluate or send through the grid of god's truth another reset we'll talk about at another time if you're going to be able to truly be wise because biblical wisdom is not merely information biblical wisdom is your ability to take the right information and apply it to the decisions in life so if you can't make life decisions you haven't learned much even though you may have an educated degree he says that that is the information of demons when you have man's knowledge independence of god's knowledge and we know it's independent of god's knowledge because look at all these problems man can't fix and you know the worst part about it christians aren't able to fix it either because we have adopted man's knowledge over god's knowledge and so we are no better than the world that's why you still have racism in the church and culturalism in the church and classism in the church and and all other these issues and you got it in the church because while we may be praising god on sunday we're using human wisdom on monday and that contradiction has made the church of jesus christ anemic in an anemic culture and so we acquiesce and we make we make human achievement more important than divine achievement in the area of education second thing is he says let not the mighty man boast of his might now might can be personal strength or positional strength we spend a lot of time and money on our personal health only to discover new things can show up that we don't have medicine for we spend time with working out we spend time with jogging and running and trying to be personally strong and then we spend great efforts being positionally strong we want a promotion we want uh we want the next position in the company we want positional strength he says let not the mighty man boast in his might that is don't think just because you have arrived at a certain level in your physical or positional well-being that that that happened independently of god number one you don't even get up in the morning independently of god no oxygen no life one of the things this virus has said is it can it can make you weak and it can keep you from going to work he says you are not to boast in your power your prestige your positional achievement in fact here it is the higher you go the more humble you should be the more blessed you are the more in fact you should be the first person praising god you should be the first person giving god time and glory because of how much he has given you he says don't boast about your might your power that is independently of god thirdly he says let not the rich man boast of his riches oh couldn't we talk about this psalm 62 verse 10 says if god allows you to be rich don't set your heart on it don't set your heart on it don't don't make the accumulation of stuff your identity don't don't don't look at your bank account and think that makes you okay now he's not condemning riches we have statements in the bible where god actually made people rich but having stuff money or the things that money can buy doesn't make you any better at living life than having children automatically makes you a good parent just because you have it don't mean you know what to do with it and there's been many a failed parent who've had the privilege of having children and there's sure plenty of folk who've been privileged to be blessed particularly in our western civilization who don't know how to live that's why in proverbs verses 7 and 9 he says don't give me so much that i forget you he says i don't want to be poor and i feel i have to steal but i don't want to have so much that i forget you i want you to give me enough but i don't want you to give me so much that i think look at this great wealth that i have accumulated he's not downing legitimate success but what he is doubting is where you make what you have define you to be successful in fact when we had less we were more dependent when you get more you become more independent even in the church we have whole theologies that are creating evil mindsets in christians through an illegitimate prosperity theology and you hear it all the time i'm i'm coming for my blessing now is that wrong absolutely not it's not wrong to want to be blessed it's wrong to only want to be blessed because every time you say i'm coming for my blessing you should also be saying and i'm also coming to be a blessing see but you don't hear that other you don't hear often that other one tacked on it's i'm coming to be blessed every time you ask god to do something for you you should ask him to show you how he can do something through you with what he did for you so it can be a benefit from you to somebody other than you but when we get in this thing that god is here to make me rich whether or not i'm pursuing him worshiping him loving him i love the story in luke chapter 12 verses 13 to 21. this man is arguing about the will about the about he didn't get his share the money and he calls on jesus he says jesus fix this problem between me and my brother because we're not we fighting over this money jesus says wait a minute you you you want me to give spiritual support to your greed greed is not having money greedy is having the wrong attitude toward money he says you want me to help you with your greed so jesus says to him he says uh he said let me tell you about a man he says there was this man and he was a successful farmer and he built a big farm and uh he was so successful he had to build bigger bonds to handle all of the stuff he was producing and this man's business was going up and up and up and up and up and he said i'm going to retire he said i got enough to retire and i'm going to live the rest of my life in ease he says i i got it made in other words i'm successful my 401 is working for me my my my you know my my retirement accounts my investments my my dow stock market you know is it's it's my nasdaq all of that is working for me i'm good to go it says and then heaven opened up and guess what heaven said heaven said you fool you fool wait a minute he got a big bank account you fool your retirement is intact you fool your company is successful food okay tonight your soul is required of you and now who's going to have what you built up see when you accumulate wealth independently of god not accumulating it but when god is on the back shelf he says you're nothing but a fool and then the story concludes by saying how foolish it is to live your life accumulating things and then it says and not be rich toward god in other words the question is how spiritually rich are we because we got a lot of folk with money who are poor because they're operating as a fool as a person who has made the physical more important than the spiritual so that's the that's the the the issue here the boasting the hallelujah to yourself the self-praise and not recognizing the need for dependency so jeremiah chapter nine in fact the whole book is weeping because everything is falling apart and i don't know about you but if you look at the news long enough it doesn't take long to see everything's falling apart not only outside the church but inside the church he's resetting things he's saying hey the spiritual has gotten lost here i'm on the back burner i think i i think i want to create something where you're going to need me a little bit more so what's the solution he says in verse 24 but let him who boasts boast in this ah guess what he just said it's okay to brag let him who boasts he tells you in verse 23 don't boast about your degree about your position your power and about your bank account don't don't don't boast have it but don't don't hallelujah it some versions translate the word boast glory glory means to advertise to make a big deal even if you're only talking to yourself he says don't do that he says but let him who boast so god is inviting you and me to brag to get a hallelujah on let him who boasts boast in this that he understands and knows uh me you see the contrast from 23 to 24 23 says don't boast 24 says do boast so the issue is not bragging the issue is what you're bragging about and who you bragging on so let me ask a question do you and i spend much as much time bragging on god as we do on our school our education and our degrees do we spend as much time bragging on god as we do about our physical well-being or our positions do wins we spend as much or more time bragging on god and thinking about him and advertising him as we do about economic concerns a lot of economic concerns today businesses shutting down restaurants closing depending on where you live and you know people having to reorganize things in their companies companies going under you know he says um i want to change your braggadociousness i want you to brag i want you to brag psalm 100 verse 3 says know that the lord he is god exodus 15 verse 11 says who is like the lord as the song says nobody he says i want to give you something to brag about let him who brags brag about this that he understands and knows me so he's giving you and me the secret to success he wants us to reset our definition of success so here it is your success is directly tied to your experiential knowledge of god let me say that again your authentic success not fake success is directly tied to your experiential knowledge of god i want to point out two things the word no and the word lord the word lord you see are capital letters capital l capital o capital r capital d that's the hebrew word yahweh there are numbers of hebrew words for god elohim adonai yahweh yahweh is god's personal name that's how he identifies himself as yahweh it's his relational name when he created adam he used capital l capital o capital r capital d it was the lord god yahweh elohim that created adam because now he was establishing a relationship with humanity when the bible talks about knowing god it is not merely speaking informationally it is referring to experientially let me say that again what he wants you to brag about is not first and foremost how many verses you can quote what he wants you to brag about is not how much you go to church what he wants you to brag about is not how many broadcast sermons you listen to online what he wants you to brag about is how real he's operating in your life it is the relational experiential knowledge of god okay let's let's talk about the man who sees this beautiful lady and he's intrigued by her beauty and so he wants to get to know her now how does he do this he sashays over to her and he simply asked her for her name says what's your name now he's only asked an informational question but it's not an informational purpose it's it's a it's an informational question but the purpose is not informational the purpose is relational but he's starting with informational but he just starting there because he he ain't quitting there because after he said tell me a little bit about yourself you know where you're working so now he's going deeper in his study of a person through the data that the young lady is giving him now after the conversation after he gets a feel that she's open to his interaction with her words because all she's given now are words he now takes the risky step of asking can i have your number now when he moves from what's your name to what's your number he has made his purpose inextricably clear i'm not here just cause i know your name i'm here because i want to get to know you better that leads to phone conversations where he wants to go deeper because this man is after a relationship not merely after information he says i want you to brag but i don't just want you to brag because you heard my word preached on sunday by a preacher or for me because you studied my word to preach i want you to boast about the fact that you're after me for a relationship when you look at the time and attention we give to our education and compare it to the time and attention we give to god's word to get to know him it looks like we're boasting about the wrong thing when we look at the time and attention we give to our physical bodies or our positional increases at work it becomes clear we're boasting about the wrong thing when you look at how much time we give to look at dollars and cents and accumulations and the like compared to the time we give to establish a relationship with the created god we're bragging about the wrong thing success from god's point of view is tied to how much braggadocious you are doing not about information but about experience about a relationship because once you are entering into a relationship that relationship enters into all those other arenas it enters into the educational the informational the positional the uh the financial it enters into all of that because now this comprehensive relationship is being established see when you go to get a job they start off with a resume that tells you information about a person a resume then they get references that's what other people say about you then they get an interview because they want to see you face to face god has a tremendous resume 66 books i can show you a lot of people who can give them a good reference because he's a show done a lot for a lot of folk his references are absolutely perfect but guess what he wants an interview that's when you see the person face to face let me tell you why you cannot boast about anything independently of god about the experiential knowledge of god the lord knowledge the word no by the way it says adam knew eve and she got pregnant the word no is used of sexual intimacy the deepest physical experience between a husband and a wife is used in the bible by the word no now sexual intimacy is not academic it's not talk it's entering into a experience at a deeper level with another person now i need to say this the right way so that you understand this john 17 verses 1 to 5 jesus says this is eternal life that they know you and me who you sent watch this this is eternal life that they know you the father and me the son whom you have sent i need to say it again this is not will be is eternal life that they know you and me who you have sent so eternal life is not just a length of time it is an intimate experience all right so god wants us to enter into he wants to reset our priorities to enter into an intimate experience with him the bible declares when we get to heaven we're going to get to know him but he doesn't want you to wait to then to get to know him we take medicine and sometimes it's time released in other words it's over time they give you uh it comes out and does its work more the knowledge of god is time released you don't get it all in one bang the reason why you're gonna have to live in heaven forever is it's gonna take you forever to get to know an infinite being so you need to live forever to get the noah for every person okay but what god did in the word no referring to the marriage couple in an intimate relationship is give you in the human sphere an experience of heaven what he wants you to do in or experience in that moment is an intimate connection at the level that he wants to have it with us spiritually in our spiritual relationship and like every other thing in scripture he gives a physical reality to demonstrate a spiritual experience like being born again like growing in your faith all of those are are human terms to ex to explain a spiritual experience so god wants to grow us to such intimacy in knowing him that will ultimately be filled at our marriage the marriage supper of the lamb when we go to be with him but any couple knows that when they're getting experientially closer the desire for physical intimacy grows god wants us to get so close to him that the desire for spiritual intimacy grows and he wants to reset us to that level and he says i want you to boast that that's what you're after i want you to brag about that just like you brag about a person who's in your life that you're excited about i want you to be able to brag about me being in your life that you're excited about not because it's a rule but because you are pursuing a relationship see the reason why you've got to only glory in the lord in terms of boasting is because everybody you know only has ascribed glory ascribed glory we boast about people because of what they've achieved the education the money you know they get they get they get kudos because of what they have achieved but everybody you know is going to leave that okay sooner or later you give honor to the policeman you say yes officer because he's wearing blue you give honor to the judge yes your honor he's wearing or she's wearing a robe so you're giving a scribed glory that is there for a time let me tell you about god's glory it's intrinsic glory that's a different kind of glory that he don't have to put it on in the morning and then take it off at night because it's intrinsic intrinsic glory means what what is to water and blue is the sky intrinsic glory is to god you don't make water wet and you don't make the sky blue that's just high rolls god is glorious because that's how he rolls and so he deserves all glory all praise all worship and he wants to reset things starting with his church so that we understand and know him and then he comes to this last statement he exercises loving kindness justice and righteousness in the earth and i delight in these things what does he want you to understand he wants you to understand watch this his spiritual priorities not your spiritual priorities he says i want loving kindness i want righteousness and i want justice and if you you're not doing those three things you have missed me because i'm not happy because he says i delight in these three things uh matthew 23 23 it says y'all been doing all these programs and you've missed a greater thing you ever have a person in your life you're doing stuff for them but that's not what they want or they doing stuff for you but that's not what they want but they want you to give them credit for what you're doing even though it's not what they want god said you're doing stuff for me and that's not what i'm asking for i'm asking for a relationship that you can brag about that you cannot be ashamed of because of our closeness and everything you're doing is to cultivate that relationship and when that happens guess what god does he reveals things to you he shows you things he lets you see things that you would not otherwise see and understand in your personal life family life positional life he lets you see things he lets you work through things i had a very simple spiritual experience on uh two days ago this is this will seem my new to you but it was a big deal to me i had written a check to pay for something and i had uh then just left the checkbook and moved on with my day i came back at the end of the day looking for my checkbook because i had to write another check and i couldn't find it i'd gone a couple of places that day so i'm wondering did i take it did i leave it where so i'm scouring around the house for what seemed like hours i'm sure i ain't the only one who's done this but i am scaring around for hours looking at this checkbook i had two other people in my house searching for this checkbook i called the places that i had gone no site for this checkbook and so then i was gonna have to do a whole banking thing to get it all fixed up and uh so so i decided to go to bed it's like midnight i decided to get up and look for this checkbook one more time so i'm looking i'm looking and i'm looking i'm looking at places that even a checkbook couldn't get lost in i mean i'm just looking for oh i know i'm just because i knew it had to be somewhere so i stopped and paused and i said holy spirit you know where this checkbook is i turned the checkbook into a prayer meeting i said holy ghost you know where this you know all things and lord if this checkbook is here and i am not seeing it i need your spirit to show me where this checkbook is so the checkbook is lost it's not it's not that i didn't use my own human ability to find it i mean wait a minute i have an earned doctor's degree i should be able to find a checkbook i got a position i'm senior pastor oakley bible fellowship president of the urban alternative my position should say i should be able to find this checkbook and i had some money in the checking account which is the reason i'm looking for the checkbook but with my education my position and my money that was in that checking account i couldn't brag because i couldn't find it but then i i consulted and i said holy spirit you got to show me if this checkbook is here i went back after this midnight looking for it and as i laid down a thought shot through my head a thought i hadn't thought of all day because if i would have thought of it all day i wouldn't have spent all my day using my doctorate degree my position and what was in the checkbook a thought shot of it it simply said when you wrote the check this morning you put it in an envelope that's that's all it's saying when you wrote the check this morning you put it in an envelope when that short when that thought shot through my head i sat up in the bed because what i had not checked was the drawer that held the envelopes i if i tell you i ran through my house to that to that kitchen drawer that houses the envelope sitting on top of the envelope was my checkbook and i just simply looked up the guard and said you bad you bad you bad you bad you know i got my praise on over a checkbook but the reason why was so big is that it showed me god is so good that even little things are big things to him when i put him first now if i hadn't been so so independent and prideful i should have talked to him on the front end and not at midnight and then i would not had to pull my hair out because i could have invoked his presence earlier if you want to know god bring him in on the details bring him in on the small things because success is tied to the growth of the intimacy of our relationship you know everybody is uh everybody's looking forward to football this weekend because because we got the goat plan the greatest of all time in fact we got we got two goats playing we got we got the best of the best are coming together and there's going to be a lot of discussion a lot of time giving to to the playoff game because this is the best of the best let me let me let me tell you how this is how this works i read they're gonna allow 22 000 people in a pandemic in the stadium [Music] these 22 000 people are going to watch 17 minutes worth of contact because there's only about 17 minutes of contact in a football game but they're gonna sit for three hours [Music] so if you're gonna watch it you're gonna watch 17 minutes while you sit for three hours to watch a one-hour game so it's a one-hour game for which you see 17 minutes but you've got to sit three hours to see it and then you're going to talk about it afterwards you know why because you have decided that this is worth it that to see these men perform in this game is worth my three hours and you know what you're gonna do for three hours carry on an intimate relationship because guess what you ain't gonna sit there you're gonna say oh yeah hey good oh you're gonna you're gonna react you're not gonna just be passive because you've decided it's worth my investment well let me tell you who the ultimate goat is the greatest of all time he's the king of kings and lord of lords he's the creator of the universe he is the sustainer of life he is the giver of eternal life he is the one who picks you up when you're broken who dries your tears when you're sad who encourages you when you want to throw in the towel i know a goat the greatest of all times the one who is high but looks low the one who forgives sins and restores hope so i want you to be successful but not because of the world's definition allow for a reset in your life by making your experiential pursuit of god through his word the focus of your definition and reset of success if you're hearing you're not a christian the first thing you need to do is come to christ that is accepting him as your personal savior inviting him into your life for the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life it's faith alone in christ alone the lord jesus christ who died on the cross for your sins arose from the dead for your salvation and you simply say lord jesus i welcome you into my life as my only hope for salvation i received the gift of eternal life because guess what he promised to give it to anybody who comes to him for it it's free not to buy it he gives it away but only if you come to him alone for it and if you're a christian i want you to make pursuing him the priority of this year i want you to make pursuing him the goal of this year that i'm going to give him his time not just because i'm supposed to but because he wants to get to know me he wants intimacy with me he wants union with me and that means you're threating him throughout the day on the small stuff see that's how you get to know him you get to know the details you're including him on the details and you get to know his details and you're getting to see him deal with the little stuff in your life yeah make getting to know him this year oh it's okay if you have an education if you have a [Music] position and if you have resources just keep them in their proper place don't brag about them independently of god and make his priorities your priorities seeking to live in a way that pleases him seeking to be just in your human relationships which will solve the race problem and to show mercy and loving kindness to people and not denigrate them illegitimately he says that's what matters to me most not your church hannity let's make pleasing and delighting him which will draw him near to us our goal why don't you take a moment and commit to that as we take communion together just spend the moment and let him know that that's what you want you want to know his phone number now in other words you want intimacy i want to draw near to you i want you to draw near to me i want us to draw near to one another as we commune with him [Music] lord as we prepare our hearts to commune with you as we prepare our hearts to join in intimacy with you i stand to be corrected we stand to be corrected individually and as a local church and as the church because if it wasn't for us things would never have gotten this bad in our culture but because you can't work through us the culture suffers as well but may that change if christ be not come because of what you offer us via the cross so we eat this bread together we thank you for the body broken we drink this cup together we thank you for the life given we love you lord not like we should not like we want to but by your mercy and your grace we're going to love you more than we used to because we're going to not pursue a program we're going to run hot after a person and let the program grow out of that be glorified lord as we pursue you in jesus name amen god bless you richly as you continue worshiping a god who's the goat he is the greatest of all time [Music] you

Channel: Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship

Views: 34,847

Rating: 4.933444 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: 8SWHLsUxwtI

Length: 84min 17sec (5057 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 24 2021