WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:28.160
If it's fire, it's got to look like fire, feel like fire, smell like fire or something.

2
00:00:28.240 --> 00:00:32.640
Welcome to Raising Home Fire's Secret Place Training. My name is Matt Landstown. Straight

3
00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:36.160
after this short teaching, there'll be an activation to help activate you

4
00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:41.280
in what has been taught in this session and so really hope you enjoy the session.

5
00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:51.040
The principle I want to share with you today is this. God wants your presence

6
00:00:51.040 --> 00:00:54.560
more than you want his presence. God wants you more than you want him.

7
00:00:55.440 --> 00:01:01.440
1 John 4.19 says this. It says that we love him because he first loved us and it's actually

8
00:01:01.440 --> 00:01:06.560
impossible to love him without him having first loved us first and I believe the same is true

9
00:01:06.560 --> 00:01:10.960
about his desire for us is that we actually wouldn't have the capacity to desire him unless

10
00:01:10.960 --> 00:01:15.680
he had first desired us. That everything comes from him first and then is replicated and

11
00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:21.760
reciprocated by us back to him. You know it's important for you to know that God's hunger

12
00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:27.360
and his heart for you is greater than your hunger and your heart for him and I want to

13
00:01:27.360 --> 00:01:32.880
talk about this principle and one of the reasons behind it is you know in terms of prayer is and

14
00:01:32.880 --> 00:01:42.320
in terms of growing and in terms of experiencing deeper places in prayer is I have found it far

15
00:01:42.320 --> 00:01:48.480
easier and far more enjoyable and far more fruitful spending time with people that I

16
00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:53.360
know value me and want to spend time with me and if I'm hanging out with someone that I'm

17
00:01:53.360 --> 00:01:57.120
pretty sure doesn't actually want to hang out with me and doesn't really value me that much

18
00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:01.360
and I'm just wanting to get something from them that just never feels very good for me and I'm

19
00:02:01.360 --> 00:02:06.960
sure it doesn't feel very good for you either but to know that God is someone that deeply values us

20
00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:14.560
and has a longing desire to be in our presence not just physically but also emotionally and

21
00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:21.360
mentally and socially and in every other aspect he really loves our presence it just makes for me

22
00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:26.560
it has made my connection with God so much more enjoyable so much more fruitful and so much more

23
00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:34.160
abundant. You might have heard this said before that there is a God-shaped hole in the heart of

24
00:02:34.160 --> 00:02:39.360
every human being that only God can fill and you will never be satisfied and you will never be

25
00:02:39.520 --> 00:02:45.600
fulfilled until that space in your heart is filled by the only one that can fill that space who is

26
00:02:45.600 --> 00:02:51.200
God and you can fill that space you can try and fill that space and many people do with many other

27
00:02:51.200 --> 00:02:57.760
things you can try and fill that space with alcohol with drugs with a career with a relationship other

28
00:02:57.760 --> 00:03:07.280
than God with a tv program with a hobby with anything else but that will always fall short

29
00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:12.400
and will always leave a sense of unfulfillment within you and in the deep core of who you are

30
00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:19.360
because that space in you is a space that God created on the inside of you that is only for

31
00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:25.840
him to take and that only he truly fits and that is true and I think that's a marvelous truth but

32
00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:31.760
what to me has been even more marvelous is this that God has a me-shaped hole and God has a

33
00:03:31.760 --> 00:03:39.680
you-shaped hole in his heart that only you can fill now am I saying that outside of you filling

34
00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:44.720
the space in God's heart that is missing without you filling that space that he is not God am I

35
00:03:44.720 --> 00:03:49.600
saying that God is incomplete without you am I saying that God is unable to be fully God without

36
00:03:49.600 --> 00:03:57.040
you no God is completely able to be God without you God is complete in and of himself he doesn't

37
00:03:57.040 --> 00:04:03.680
need you to be himself but because he's had you and because you exist because he created you

38
00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:10.560
there is a space in your heart now that um that only you can fill fulfill that only you can

39
00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:17.680
fill that space and if that space is not filled by you then there is a space in God's heart that

40
00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:23.920
is unfulfilled now let me explain it like this I don't need my children in order to be me

41
00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:30.800
I have three daughters and I was Matt Lansdowne before I had my three daughters

42
00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:36.800
I didn't need my three daughters to be me I know many happy couples who don't have any children and

43
00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:43.280
they're fully able to be themselves and it's it's awesome but now I've had kids now I have my three

44
00:04:43.280 --> 00:04:49.040
daughters and if something was to happen to any one of my three daughters there would be a there

45
00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:54.000
would be a gap in my heart there would be a space in my heart that was unfulfilled because

46
00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:59.840
now I don't need them to in order to be me but now I have them and I'm their father

47
00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:06.000
If they are missing or if there is a separation between my heart and their heart,

48
00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:13.000
if there is a separation and there is a tearing of relationship between me and one of my daughters,

49
00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:22.000
then there will be a deep sense of unfulfillment and nothing can fill that space because I'm their dad.

50
00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:25.000
And the same is true with God.

51
00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:29.000
There is a space in God's heart that really only you can fill.

52
00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:36.000
You are very special to God. You are very important to God and He loves you so, so, so, so much.

53
00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:45.000
You know, I've done many things and I attempt to live a life that communicates to God and to the world

54
00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:48.000
my desire and my delight in God's presence.

55
00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:57.000
I mean, I have chosen to live in a way where my life is lived in pursuit of more of God.

56
00:05:57.000 --> 00:06:01.000
Now, I know I have all of God the same way as I have all of my wife,

57
00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:06.000
but that doesn't mean I stop pursuing my wife and that doesn't mean I stop pursuing God.

58
00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:13.000
And my life is, I have decided to live my life in a way where my lifestyle and my lifestyle choices

59
00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:19.000
and my way of living communicates to God that God, I desire you, I delight in you, I love you

60
00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:22.000
and I want to experience more of you in our relationship.

61
00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:27.000
And I've done some things that have communicated that to God.

62
00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:31.000
I have lived in that kind of way. I mean, I've fasted for many, many days on end.

63
00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:36.000
I've done things like walked into the forest and said, I'm not leaving this forest.

64
00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:39.000
I've got a tent. I've got my water bottles. I'm not going to bring any food.

65
00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:42.000
I'm just going to go into the forest and I'm going to seek your face, God,

66
00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:46.000
until I find a new dimension in you, until we grow in a greater depth.

67
00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:48.000
I'm hungry for more of you, God.

68
00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:56.000
I've done many things to communicate to God that I'm hungry for you, God, that I want more of you.

69
00:06:56.000 --> 00:07:00.000
I have all of you, but I want to experience more in our relationship together.

70
00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:06.000
And I feel like I'm pretty hungry for God. I'm pretty hungry for the presence of God.

71
00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:08.000
And you're pretty hungry for the presence of God.

72
00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:17.000
But my attempt to demonstrate my hunger for God to God pales in His attempt to demonstrate His hunger for me to me.

73
00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:24.000
And all I have to do to come to that conclusion is this, is to think about the cross, to think about the price God paid.

74
00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:28.000
The price God paid for my presence is so great.

75
00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:34.000
And Bill Johnson says this, if the value of something is determined by how much someone is willing to pay for that thing,

76
00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:37.000
then we need to rethink our value.

77
00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:41.000
Because the price that God paid for our presence is His very life.

78
00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:44.000
So this is not my perspective. This is God's perspective.

79
00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:50.000
Your presence and you are more valuable to God than even God is to Himself.

80
00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:59.000
Because if God is willing to pay His life to have you and to have your presence, to have you in His life,

81
00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:04.000
then that logically means, and we can logically arrive at the conclusion,

82
00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:09.000
that you are more important to Him than even He is to Himself.

83
00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:17.000
If there are any thoughts you have or any conclusions that you've made about yourself that are less than the way God sees you,

84
00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:20.000
or less than the conclusions God has made about you,

85
00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:25.000
then it would be a wise thing to repent and change the way you think about yourself.

86
00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:30.000
The cross is really God saying, I would rather die than to live without you.

87
00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:33.000
God would rather die than to have an eternity without you.

88
00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:37.000
The thought of God living life for all of eternity,

89
00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:40.000
absent from you, away from you, separate from you,

90
00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:47.000
was so unbearable to God that He chose to die instead of have that as His reality for the rest of eternity.

91
00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:50.000
That He so longs for your presence. He so longs for you.

92
00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:54.000
He so loves to be with you. He so loves to have you with Him.

93
00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:57.000
He so loves to spend time with you.

94
00:08:57.000 --> 00:08:59.000
He so loves talking to you.

95
00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:02.000
He so loves sharing His space with you.

96
00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:05.000
He is just so in love with who you are.

97
00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:07.000
And He loves to be with you so much.

98
00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:11.000
And like I said at the beginning, for me, it is so much easier to spend time,

99
00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:15.000
and so much more enjoyable, and so much more fruitful to spend time with someone

100
00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:19.000
that I know values me and loves to be with me.

101
00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:23.000
Before you even had the opportunity to choose to spend time with Him,

102
00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:26.000
He's already chosen to spend time with you.

103
00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:28.000
He chose you before you chose Him.

104
00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:30.000
He loved you before you loved Him.

105
00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:33.000
He wanted you before you wanted Him.

106
00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:35.000
And that will always be true.

107
00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:40.000
God bless you, and I pray that this revelation, this core belief, this truth

108
00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:44.000
becomes a foundation in your life and a foundation in your prayer life.

109
00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:48.000
What about this baptism in fire though?

110
00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:50.000
What does that mean?

111
00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:56.000
Because if it's fire, it's got to look like fire, feel like fire, smell like fire.

112
00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:05.600
And welcome to the activation. In this activation today, we're going to take the information

113
00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:09.840
and we're going to take that through and see it through until it becomes within us revelation.

114
00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:14.080
And then we're going to dwell in that revelation with the Lord until that revelation becomes

115
00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:20.960
within us transformation. And we know this, that transformed people transform the world.

116
00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:27.920
It is God's intent and God's desire that you would learn to and that I would learn to engage

117
00:10:27.920 --> 00:10:33.600
in the presence of God and the desire of God to be with you, not just in some areas of your life,

118
00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:38.560
not just in most areas of your life, but in every single aspect and area of your life.

119
00:10:38.560 --> 00:10:42.640
And that's the purpose of the session. And that's what dwelling in this truth

120
00:10:42.640 --> 00:10:48.320
will result in, in your life. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to call out some questions.

121
00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:52.080
I'm going to share some questions with you. And then once I've shared a question,

122
00:10:52.080 --> 00:10:57.120
I'm going to ask you to press pause, get some music, get some, get a quiet space,

123
00:10:57.120 --> 00:11:02.640
get in a space that you know is conducive to you connecting with God, get a pen and paper,

124
00:11:02.640 --> 00:11:07.680
get something to write some stuff down on. And I'm going to ask you to process these following

125
00:11:07.680 --> 00:11:15.760
questions with the Lord. Okay, so here is the first question. We're going to begin with celebration.

126
00:11:16.720 --> 00:11:23.600
And what I want to ask you to do is I want to ask you to think, what are some moments or some

127
00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:31.200
aspects in your life of your life where you currently feel connected with God? And I want you

128
00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:36.960
just to write a list of all the areas and aspects of your life where you currently feel connected

129
00:11:36.960 --> 00:11:41.360
to God, where you currently feel like you're engaging in the presence of God, where you feel

130
00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:47.040
an awareness of God, where you feel like God is with you. For me, just to give you some examples,

131
00:11:47.040 --> 00:11:54.640
for me, my art. Every time I'm doing art, I just feel like, wow, it's so easy to connect with God

132
00:11:54.640 --> 00:11:59.920
while I'm doing art. Preaching is another thing for me. Teaching is another thing for me. And

133
00:11:59.920 --> 00:12:04.560
there are different aspects of my life. Surfing is another part of my life where I feel like it's

134
00:12:05.520 --> 00:12:11.520
it's very easy for me in these particular areas for me to be absolutely aware of the presence of

135
00:12:11.520 --> 00:12:17.200
God and engage with God's desire to be with me. And so I want you just to make a list of that.

136
00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:20.960
And then I just want you to, as you're making that list, I just want you to allow your heart

137
00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:28.240
to be thankful towards the Lord for what He's given you in these areas of your life.

138
00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:31.280
And so we're going to take like five minutes. I want to ask you to take five minutes. Press

139
00:12:31.280 --> 00:12:39.760
pause. Take five minutes to process that question with the Lord.

140
00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:53.360
OK, well, I hope you enjoyed processing some of those things with God. The next question

141
00:12:53.920 --> 00:13:00.960
is this. I want you to ask the Holy Spirit if there are any areas in your life, any areas of

142
00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:06.160
your life where you have found it hard to connect with God or where you have believed that God

143
00:13:06.160 --> 00:13:10.240
doesn't actually want to be present with you in those particular moments of your life. There may

144
00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:13.760
be areas of your life that you haven't been proud of. There may be areas of your life that you might

145
00:13:13.760 --> 00:13:18.080
be ashamed of. There might be areas of your life that you're struggling with, or they might just

146
00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:21.600
simply be things that you thought God was disconnected from. They're neither good nor

147
00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:25.840
bad. They're just you just for some reason don't feel connected with God. And I just want you to

148
00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:30.560
write a list of areas in your life where you don't feel terribly connected to God or you feel

149
00:13:30.560 --> 00:13:36.400
completely disconnected from God. And so, press pause and process this with the Lord now. Take

150
00:13:36.400 --> 00:13:46.960
about, I don't know, two to five minutes and just make that list. OK, you've made that list. That's

151
00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:51.440
awesome. Next thing I want you to do is I want you to go through the list one by one and I want you

152
00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:58.480
to ask the Holy Spirit how He felt about you in that moment and where He was for you in that moment.

153
00:14:31.520 --> 00:14:36.800
Well, awesome guys. That's the end of the questions for today. That's the end of our

154
00:14:36.800 --> 00:14:42.160
activation, but I'm going to give you one last thing, and that is a little activity, a challenge,

155
00:14:42.160 --> 00:14:47.520
something for you to do for the rest of the week that will help you deepen your awareness and grow

156
00:14:47.520 --> 00:14:52.480
in your awareness of God's presence in every area of your life and of God's desire to be with you

157
00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:56.480
and engaged in who you are in every area of your life.

158
00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:05.200
And this is it, I want to encourage you, before you do any new activities, before you get

159
00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:09.040
into anything new, any day for the rest of this week, see if you can take a moment, maybe

160
00:15:09.040 --> 00:15:14.500
30 seconds, maybe a minute, to just acknowledge the presence of the Holy Spirit, and to lean

161
00:15:14.500 --> 00:15:19.120
into His heart, and to lean into Him, and to see how that affects your life, see how

162
00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:23.320
that affects you doing what you do on a daily basis.

163
00:15:23.320 --> 00:15:26.320
Okay, God bless you, and have an amazing week.

164
00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:27.000
We'll see you next week.