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Welcome, everybody, to Supernatural Saturday.

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I know we have a lot of new people in our program, so I just want to say welcome to

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all of you.

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If this is your first Supernatural Saturday, we are so glad that you are here with us.

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You could be anywhere else on this beautiful Saturday morning or evening, depending on

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where you are, but you're not.

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You're here with us because I believe God has a word for all of us this morning, and

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that is what we do on Supernatural Saturday.

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We look to the Lord.

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We look to what is God doing, what is our current prophetic reality, and I don't know

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if any of you have noticed, but there's quite a bit of shaking going on, quite a bit of

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shaking going on.

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We'll go through a season and we'll say, hey, you know, that season, and when I say season,

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I'm talking about spring, summer, fall, winter.

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We'll go through a season and we'll be like, yeah, you know, that season really wasn't

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what I expected it to be, really wasn't what I wanted it to be, but the next season, surely

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it will be better.

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And I don't know if you've noticed, but I've been saying a lot of that season after season.

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Last summer, if you guys were around, you remember that I was totally crashed out last

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summer.

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I had some kind of weird phantom health problem that never really got fully diagnosed, but

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I couldn't eat.

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It wasn't my gallbladder.

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I thought it was for a long time, for months.

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It turned out not to be that.

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It was some other weird situation that was happening.

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It was like the perfect storm of invisibility, and it caused me to lose about 20 pounds.

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So that was a silver lining in that whole affair.

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But I was pretty much flat on my back all last summer.

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And so I was like, you know, I'm pretty much due a summer.

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I'm due another summer because my last summer I had plans.

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I had to cancel trips.

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There are all kinds of things that happen.

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And guess what?

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This summer is kind of a repeat of that.

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And so the bottom line is this.

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There is a shaking going on.

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This is not a Jackie thing.

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This is a humanity thing.

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So if you have felt like, hey, you know, things just really aren't the way that I want them

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to be, and I keep waiting for them to change, but they don't because something bigger is

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happening, friends.

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Something bigger than you is happening.

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Something bigger than me is happening.

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We are at a point in time, I believe in my heart, that you don't have to share this theology

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and you don't have to jump on board this, but I'm going to start Supernatural Saturday

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out with this this morning.

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I believe that we are at a time right now where there's a shaking going on.

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And I ain't talking about Elvis.

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There's a whole lot of shaking going on.

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I'm not talking about that, okay?

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I'm talking about there's a straight up shaking going on.

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It is a spiritual shaking that is going on.

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Now, before anybody gets their knickers in a bunch, let me just say this.

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That's all right.

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We've always been taught that shaking is bad.

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No, it's not bad.

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Shaking is good.

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And the reason why it's shaking is because all that shaking does is just disengages the

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stuff that's already loose, stuff that's already loose.

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When a big storm rolls through your town, when a big storm comes through, what happens?

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Everything that was already on its way out gets uprooted, doesn't it?

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Now, it might have taken a lot longer for that thing to get uprooted without the storm,

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but the storm just kind of accelerates that process, doesn't it?

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That tree branch was already going to come down because it was already dead.

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And that's what it does, you guys.

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Storms remove dead things.

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That's what happens.

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And shakings reveal dead things, and then they remove dead things.

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And that is what is happening right now.

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In the entire earth, there's a shaking.

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There were already problems, and those problems are coming to a boil.

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They're coming to a head, so to speak.

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And that's what has to happen, friends.

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Revealings for healings have to happen.

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Now, it's not fun to live on earth during the times of great shakings.

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I will admit that.

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But remember, we are only pilgrims here.

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We don't live on earth, so to speak.

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We are not inhabitants of this world.

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We are just passing through.

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Amen?

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And so that means that things that affect everyone else, that maybe have made this world

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their home, might not affect us if we have the right mindset, if we have the right perspective.

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You guys, it's all about perspective.

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It's all about perspective.

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Let's talk about that for a second.

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First of all, I want you to put in the comments whether or not you have been feeling a little

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unsteady on your feet and have been feeling like things are a little shaky.

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It's kind of one thing after another, maybe.

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Let's see that in the comments.

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Okay, oh yeah, lots of people going through lots of things.

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And here's the thing, there's always somebody going through something.

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So you're like, Jackie, you know, there's always somebody going through something.

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So this doesn't prove anything.

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Yeah, I hear you.

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There's always somebody going through something.

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But it feels like everybody's going through something.

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Not just here, but just in my other, in my regular life too.

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This is my regular life.

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You know what I mean?

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In my proximity life.

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It feels like there's a lot going on.

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And it is about perspective, friends.

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And there is going to be a shaking.

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And if we are the generation that has been matched with the shaking, okay, where the

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Bible says that everything that can be shaken will be shaken so that everything that cannot

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be shaken has room to remain.

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And I feel like that's been going on for a while, even before us, you know, for the

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last, you know, 100 or so years.

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Think about it, friends.

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If you go back to the timeline of humanity, we're talking about just 100 years ago.

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We have war after war after war, world wars, world wars.

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The people that were in those world wars, yeah, they're phasing out.

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They're pretty old, if they're still alive on the earth.

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But you guys, we're just talking about a hundred year time span here.

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We're talking about if you live to be really old, one person's lifespan here.

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There's been a lot of shaking going on, hasn't there?

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Been a lot of shaking for quite some time.

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And it is about perspective, friends, and we are kingdom citizens.

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We are not citizens of this earth.

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We are citizens of the kingdom of God and the kingdom of God is invading the earth at

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a high rate.

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I don't know if you guys have noticed, but with all the shaking that's happening, there's

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a lot of breakthrough that's been happening.

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There's a lot of revival that's been happening.

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There's a lot of people that have been meeting Jesus.

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Have you noticed that too?

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Remember it comes back to perspective.

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Remember that old parable of the two shoe salesmen?

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Their company sent them to a remote region where nobody had any shoes.

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Nobody wore shoes in this region.

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And one salesperson reported back to Homebase and said, there's absolutely no prospect here.

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There's no money to be made here.

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There's nothing for us to do here.

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Nobody wears shoes.

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And the second salesman reported back and said, oh my gosh, this is a goldmine.

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There's so much money to be made here.

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Nobody has shoes.

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It's all about perspective.

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So friends, we have to have a kingdom perspective.

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We have to, the Bible says, keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

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We have to keep our eyes on Jesus.

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So I want to talk this morning about the past, but not in a way to go into the past.

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I want to talk about take me back.

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I was, last night I was spending some time with the Lord.

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And if I'm being fully transparent, I haven't done it quite like that in a long time.

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That used to be a normal and natural part of my life to just get quiet with the Lord,

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to just spend time with the Lord, put on some worship music, maybe soak a little bit.

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Soak like a bean in a pot.

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Get all fat and sassy with the presence of God.

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But you know, when there is a shaking going on and when there's a lot of stress going

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on in your life and there's a lot of things happening in your life, we have a tendency

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to medicate.

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And you guys, nothing that I say this morning is meant to beat anyone up or make anyone

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feel condemned.

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God's not condemning us.

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So if you hear condemnation, that's coming from your own heart.

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Maybe your upbringing, maybe your religious experience,

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because God is wooing us.

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He's doing the very opposite of condemning us.

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He's wooing us with this message this morning.

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He's drawing us in and near to him

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with this message this morning.

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He's saying, hey, come spend some time with me.

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It doesn't have to look like your religious construct,

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a certain time reading your Bible,

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a certain amount of prayer,

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a certain time spent in prayer,

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certain amount of time spent in prayer.

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It's not about that, y'all.

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It's about the desire to be with him.

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It's about the desire to cast your cares upon him

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because you really do believe that he cares.

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Because friends, I know one thing for sure.

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If there is a shaken happiness, not just our imaginations,

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that means that there's a great revival coming with it.

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And I don't know about you,

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but I want to be part of that revival.

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So I want to take us back to the beginning.

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So last night I was doing just a little bit

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of just laying around,

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listening to some worship in the dark,

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laying in my bed with my phone, playing worship music.

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And I was listening to that Maverick City song,

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Take Me Back.

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Take me back to the beginning.

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And I was thinking about the beginning,

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not the beginning of my life,

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the beginning of my life with Jesus.

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It's not about going backwards,

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but it is about going back to the beginning.

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There's a big difference.

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You know, from the moment that I met Jesus,

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like really met Jesus,

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when I had that radical encounter with him,

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I was only, I was 22 years old,

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but there's a lot that's happened between then and now.

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I was very spiritually mature, immature.

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I was very spiritually immature.

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I've become very spiritually mature in the last 30 years.

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So I'm not going back to a time

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where I'm spiritually immature.

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And I'm not saying that I haven't grown.

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I haven't learned.

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I haven't built things with God.

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I've gotten married.

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I've had children and I've raised children.

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I've walked through a lot of hard things.

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I've been developed a lot in the spirit and so have you.

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We learned a lot since when we met Jesus till now, for sure.

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But I want us to remember this morning

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about how we loved Jesus in the beginning.

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And some of you were raised in the church

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and you may not really be able to put your finger

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on this moment that you met him,

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because maybe you just felt like you always knew him.

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And maybe that's the problem.

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A lot of times familiarity breeds contempt.

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It breeds apathy.

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So take that to God in prayer.

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But I will tell you one thing.

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There's a lot of Christian songs

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and people sing at churches that talk about,

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I don't remember what I was doing before I met you.

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Well, I remember very, very clearly

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what I was doing before I met Jesus.

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I remember the state of my heart.

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I remember the state of my life.

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I remember the trouble that I was in.

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I remember the depression and anxiety that I was in.

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I remember the hellscape that I was living in

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before I met Jesus.

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And I remember it very, very well.

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And I also remember what it was like to meet him.

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So I want us to think about that.

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I want us to think about that.

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And I wanna talk about a scripture

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that we see in the book of Revelation today,

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where there's a group of people that have been told

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that they have left their first love.

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Okay, we're speaking to the church at Ephesus

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in this scripture in Revelation, the Revelation of John.

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And what's so fascinating is that

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in this scripture, if you read it,

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it starts out by telling them everything

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that they're doing right.

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They're working hard, they're persevering,

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they're discerning,

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they're not tolerating evil in the scripture.

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They're recognizing false teaching.

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It looks like they've been persecuted.

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It's talking about how they've endured hardship

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for his name.

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These are not people who have stopped following Jesus.

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Okay, they're just still,

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they're still doing all the right things, so to speak.

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But then in Revelation 2, 4, it says,

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"'Nevertheless, I have this against you.'"

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And you guys, it's not against us.

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God is for us.

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That word against you, that's not what that means.

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It doesn't mean that God's against us, okay?

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It means, hey, this is something else that you need to see.

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You have left your first love.

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And a lot of times when you hear this scripture preached,

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it's about Jesus being your only love.

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And that's not correct.

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People would preach the scripture and be like,

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your first love, your first love, Jesus is it.

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Jesus is your only love.

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They would take that word first and they would change it

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to the word only.

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Has anyone else ever been made to feel like

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you should just want Jesus and nothing else only?

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He's the only love that you need.

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Anybody else put in the comments, only love that you need.

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That's it.

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You just need Jesus.

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You don't need anything else.

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Only Jesus, only Jesus, only Jesus, only Jesus.

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Well, that's how the scripture is saying.

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It isn't.

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You can't just read the Bible, you gotta read the Bible.

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Because the Greek word first in this scripture

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is the word protos.

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And it literally means the love that came first.

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The love that came first.

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Now I know you guys were loved by your families

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and you're loved by other people,

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but we're talking about a different type of love.

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We're talking about a love that all other love

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should stem from.

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We're talking about an agape love.

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So if you look at this translation,

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it's saying that you have forgotten the love

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that you had at first.

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Something has changed since the beginning.

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And I can tell you, I can attest that it's true.

300
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And you guys, and life comes out as fast

301
00:16:28.820 --> 00:16:31.220
and this is what happens when life begins

302
00:16:31.220 --> 00:16:32.980
to just beat us down.

303
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But I remember when Jesus became real to me.

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I remember the moment when I was 22 years old,

305
00:16:38.680 --> 00:16:39.520
when I met him.

306
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And the only word that I have for it really is lovesick.

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I had experienced some human love or what I thought was love

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and I knew what it was like to feel like I loved

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00:16:48.660 --> 00:16:51.320
another person or to want them to love me.

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But I had never experienced any type of love

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the way that I experienced it with Jesus.

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And if you haven't experienced this yet,

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00:17:04.980 --> 00:17:07.300
then I'm gonna release over you that you experienced this

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00:17:07.300 --> 00:17:10.300
because everyone should have this experience.

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00:17:10.300 --> 00:17:12.680
It's not enough to walk with Jesus out of duty

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00:17:12.680 --> 00:17:15.180
because you were raised in Christianity.

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You need to have this moment.

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But I will tell you that for the several years,

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probably the first eight or nine years of my discipleship,

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I couldn't get enough of him.

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I wanted to know him.

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I wanted to hear him.

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I wanted to talk about him.

324
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I wanted to be around people that talked about him.

325
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I wanted to understand the Bible.

326
00:17:33.540 --> 00:17:37.100
There was wonder, there was hunger, there was discovery.

327
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I used to stay after church.

328
00:17:38.180 --> 00:17:40.060
I remember everyone else would leave

329
00:17:40.060 --> 00:17:42.540
and go out to eat or whatever after Sunday morning church.

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And I would stay in the sanctuary and I would pray.

331
00:17:46.260 --> 00:17:48.780
I would pray and I would just press in

332
00:17:48.780 --> 00:17:50.320
because I just wanted to know him.

333
00:17:50.320 --> 00:17:51.820
And I just wanted to hear his voice.

334
00:17:51.820 --> 00:17:56.520
And I was rewarded with him speaking to me in profound ways.

335
00:17:56.520 --> 00:18:00.920
And oftentimes actually on Sunday mornings after church,

336
00:18:00.920 --> 00:18:03.620
when I would be there waiting in his presence

337
00:18:03.620 --> 00:18:07.760
and just loving on him, he would begin to show me visions.

338
00:18:07.760 --> 00:18:12.680
He would begin to tell me street names and show me people.

339
00:18:12.680 --> 00:18:14.560
And then he would send me out on a little assignment

340
00:18:14.560 --> 00:18:16.600
and adventure on a Sunday afternoon

341
00:18:16.600 --> 00:18:18.600
to go to that street and to find that person

342
00:18:18.600 --> 00:18:20.280
and to give them a prophetic word.

343
00:18:20.280 --> 00:18:23.400
Yes, you guys, this was my life in the nineties.

344
00:18:26.600 --> 00:18:27.840
And I don't think it's hard for any of you

345
00:18:27.840 --> 00:18:29.080
to picture me doing that.

346
00:18:32.560 --> 00:18:33.860
But you guys, it was amazing.

347
00:18:33.860 --> 00:18:35.560
It was so incredible.

348
00:18:37.580 --> 00:18:38.600
I loved it.

349
00:18:39.600 --> 00:18:42.060
I loved not just having him for myself,

350
00:18:42.060 --> 00:18:43.480
but sharing him with others.

351
00:18:43.480 --> 00:18:45.840
I just recently ran into a young person

352
00:18:45.840 --> 00:18:48.900
that's in this season of their life.

353
00:18:51.720 --> 00:18:53.240
We have a venue, a lot of you know,

354
00:18:53.240 --> 00:18:54.680
downtown, not downtown Austin,

355
00:18:54.720 --> 00:18:57.160
but Midtown Austin, it's called Wheelhouse

356
00:18:57.160 --> 00:19:01.320
and it's a coffee co-op for creatives.

357
00:19:01.320 --> 00:19:04.440
And this young man started coming there.

358
00:19:04.440 --> 00:19:06.160
His name is Reagan, just like my daughter,

359
00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:08.720
his name is Reagan, two Reagans.

360
00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:10.160
And he started showing up there.

361
00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:12.360
He's just some surfer dude from California

362
00:19:12.360 --> 00:19:13.660
who fell in love with Jesus.

363
00:19:13.660 --> 00:19:16.320
He's a young kid, he's probably in his mid twenties.

364
00:19:16.320 --> 00:19:18.940
And now he's on an adventure, a missionary adventure,

365
00:19:18.940 --> 00:19:21.520
just spreading the love of Jesus.

366
00:19:21.520 --> 00:19:24.280
And he stopped, he stopped, he stopped in

367
00:19:24.280 --> 00:19:27.480
and he was just radically in love with Jesus,

368
00:19:27.480 --> 00:19:30.280
just talking about Jesus and talking about his adventures

369
00:19:30.280 --> 00:19:32.640
and talking about the people that he's encountered

370
00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:33.920
and the things that have happened.

371
00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:35.840
And you guys, it lit a spark in me

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00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:40.900
because I remember a day when I was him.

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And the thing is, friends, is I think that we think

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00:19:45.560 --> 00:19:46.960
this is the foolishness of youth

375
00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:48.160
and this is the zeal of youth.

376
00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:49.520
And there's even a scripture in the Bible

377
00:19:49.520 --> 00:19:51.720
that talks about the zealousness of youth,

378
00:19:51.720 --> 00:19:53.240
but I don't think that's what it is.

379
00:19:53.240 --> 00:19:55.960
I think it's about the first love.

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00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:05.600
We're already told all throughout the Bible that nothing else is ever going to satisfy.

381
00:20:05.600 --> 00:20:06.660
Nothing's going to satisfy.

382
00:20:06.660 --> 00:20:10.760
All you have to do is read the book of the richest man, the wisest man that ever lived,

383
00:20:10.760 --> 00:20:12.760
King Solomon.

384
00:20:12.760 --> 00:20:14.520
Read.

385
00:20:14.520 --> 00:20:20.600
Read his book and you will know that there is nothing that's going to satisfy.

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00:20:20.600 --> 00:20:21.600
Vanity.

387
00:20:21.600 --> 00:20:22.600
Life is vanity.

388
00:20:22.600 --> 00:20:23.600
Vanity.

389
00:20:23.600 --> 00:20:28.960
All is vanity.

390
00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:31.840
He had it all.

391
00:20:31.840 --> 00:20:36.080
And we see this even in the elite of the world and culture that we live in.

392
00:20:36.080 --> 00:20:39.880
The rich and the famous, they have it all.

393
00:20:39.880 --> 00:20:42.240
People roll out red carpets everywhere they go.

394
00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:44.960
They can have any seat in any restaurant.

395
00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:47.920
They can have the restaurant closed down for them if need be.

396
00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:48.920
They can do whatever.

397
00:20:48.920 --> 00:20:50.400
They can buy whatever.

398
00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:55.760
And yet they're so unfulfilled.

399
00:20:55.760 --> 00:20:56.760
Are they not?

400
00:20:56.760 --> 00:20:57.760
Unfulfilled.

401
00:20:57.760 --> 00:20:58.760
Yes.

402
00:20:58.760 --> 00:21:05.360
The book of Ecclesiastes is the book I was talking about, friends.

403
00:21:05.360 --> 00:21:13.960
If you didn't know, King Solomon is the author of that book, and it's just full of a lot

404
00:21:13.960 --> 00:21:15.720
of complaining, honestly.

405
00:21:15.720 --> 00:21:22.040
But the bottom line is, is that it is not going to fulfill you.

406
00:21:22.040 --> 00:21:25.400
And I know that we're all here because we want to be married and as someone who is married

407
00:21:26.040 --> 00:21:31.080
and happily married and married to an amazing man, I want to tell you, marriage is not going

408
00:21:31.080 --> 00:21:37.120
to scratch this itch.

409
00:21:37.120 --> 00:21:44.120
In fact, I was so itchy last night for the love, the presence.

410
00:21:44.120 --> 00:21:47.680
I was laying there out on the couch in the dark.

411
00:21:47.680 --> 00:21:54.880
And guess who came scoot, scoot, scooting out and took the other side of the couch not

412
00:21:54.880 --> 00:22:02.800
to be with me, but for the very same reason I was out there, to take a drink from that

413
00:22:02.800 --> 00:22:03.800
love cup.

414
00:22:03.800 --> 00:22:04.800
Come on.

415
00:22:04.800 --> 00:22:05.800
Do you feel it?

416
00:22:05.800 --> 00:22:06.800
I feel it.

417
00:22:06.800 --> 00:22:07.800
You feel it?

418
00:22:07.800 --> 00:22:15.240
Some of you are swirly people, so it doesn't take much for you to feel it.

419
00:22:15.240 --> 00:22:16.240
But others are like, what?

420
00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:19.600
What are we feeling?

421
00:22:19.600 --> 00:22:23.080
You guys, that kid, he sparked something in me.

422
00:22:23.080 --> 00:22:24.080
I remembered.

423
00:22:24.280 --> 00:22:37.600
I went back to the beginning.

424
00:22:37.600 --> 00:22:38.600
Back to the beginning.

425
00:22:38.600 --> 00:22:39.600
I wasn't an expert.

426
00:22:39.600 --> 00:22:40.600
I wasn't a theologian.

427
00:22:40.600 --> 00:22:42.880
I had just met him.

428
00:22:42.880 --> 00:22:44.640
I just met him.

429
00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:47.680
So I want you to remember when he became real to you.

430
00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:49.240
Tell me about when you met Jesus.

431
00:22:49.240 --> 00:22:51.920
How old were you?

432
00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:52.920
What was that moment like?

433
00:22:53.240 --> 00:22:56.520
Put it in the chat.

434
00:22:56.520 --> 00:22:59.400
What did you suddenly want that you have never wanted before?

435
00:22:59.400 --> 00:23:00.560
Anything that you want to share?

436
00:23:00.560 --> 00:23:06.120
What became alive in you?

437
00:23:06.120 --> 00:23:07.680
I want to know when you started going to church.

438
00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:09.880
I don't know one care about where you went to church.

439
00:23:09.880 --> 00:23:16.720
I want to know what happened to your heart.

440
00:23:17.720 --> 00:23:24.160
Didn't you just love everybody?

441
00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:26.160
No one could even make you mad, could they?

442
00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:27.720
They couldn't even make you mad.

443
00:23:27.720 --> 00:23:31.280
You're just like, bless ya.

444
00:23:31.280 --> 00:23:34.960
May the good Lord bless ya and take a liking to ya.

445
00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:43.000
That's what my grandpa used to say.

446
00:23:43.000 --> 00:23:46.000
It's all good in people.

447
00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:57.560
You wanted people to feel what you were feeling and know what you knew.

448
00:23:57.560 --> 00:23:59.280
Look at all of these.

449
00:23:59.280 --> 00:24:05.040
Some of you, very, very young, very young, very young.

450
00:24:05.040 --> 00:24:09.520
You might just need to be re-dipped in the love of God.

451
00:24:09.520 --> 00:24:12.360
You know those twice-dipped almonds in the chocolate?

452
00:24:12.360 --> 00:24:14.640
You might just need another dippin'.

453
00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:16.400
The Bible talks about a refreshing.

454
00:24:16.400 --> 00:24:22.080
It talks about a refilling, doesn't it?

455
00:24:22.080 --> 00:24:23.080
Talks about it.

456
00:24:23.080 --> 00:24:29.800
In fact, in the parable of the virgins, you know, we got to keep our oil lamps filled.

457
00:24:29.800 --> 00:24:33.960
We have to keep our wicks trimmed.

458
00:24:33.960 --> 00:24:36.920
It's not a one and done process, friends.

459
00:24:36.920 --> 00:24:39.600
It's the same in marriage, just so you know.

460
00:24:39.600 --> 00:24:43.520
Some of you have been married and you realize that this didn't happen in that marriage,

461
00:24:43.720 --> 00:24:48.360
but in the marriage that's coming, the spirit-mate marriage, you're going to have to do this

462
00:24:48.360 --> 00:24:49.360
too.

463
00:24:49.360 --> 00:24:50.560
It's not going to magically just be there.

464
00:24:50.560 --> 00:24:54.240
And that is you have to keep the love of life.

465
00:24:54.240 --> 00:24:57.960
The good news about the love relationship between you and Jesus is that He does all

466
00:24:57.960 --> 00:24:59.280
the heavy lifting.

467
00:24:59.280 --> 00:25:00.080
You just have to show up.

468
00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:07.880
up. Let him fill you. Let him fill your cup. Some of you have an empty cup. I'm

469
00:25:07.880 --> 00:25:13.080
talking to myself, by the way. You have an empty cup. You know why? Because you do

470
00:25:13.080 --> 00:25:21.040
pour out. You do give to others. But you really don't realize that you matter too.

471
00:25:21.040 --> 00:25:28.240
It's not just about him loving others through you. It's about loving you. I

472
00:25:28.840 --> 00:25:32.880
often say, and you guys have heard me say it a million times, whoever God is to you,

473
00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:37.440
he will be through you. The problem is, is that a lot of us don't allow him to be a

474
00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:42.160
lot to us, that we don't just then give away. Some of it's just for you. Do you

475
00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:46.800
realize that? It's just for you. It's not about encouraging others. Sometimes it's

476
00:25:46.800 --> 00:25:50.640
just for you. Just recently I received something from the Lord that was so

477
00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:55.120
precious and so powerful. And normally I would want to share that with all of you

478
00:25:55.160 --> 00:26:01.320
and allow you to have that too. But God was like, nope, it's just for you. That's

479
00:26:01.320 --> 00:26:09.840
very unusual for me, just so you know. I'm so focused on getting, receiving to

480
00:26:09.840 --> 00:26:16.920
give. I'm so focused on receiving to give, not just to get. And sometimes you

481
00:26:16.920 --> 00:26:21.840
have to receive just to get. Sometimes it just has to be about you. You can't just

482
00:26:21.880 --> 00:26:25.400
be a free-flowing conduit where it all just is coming through you and out to

483
00:26:25.400 --> 00:26:32.840
other places. Some of it's got to stay. Some of it's got to stay.

484
00:26:37.120 --> 00:26:43.920
We're reminding ourselves of what it was like at the beginning this morning. And

485
00:26:43.920 --> 00:26:48.080
then the next scripture, Revelation 2.5 says, remember therefore from where you

486
00:26:48.120 --> 00:26:52.640
have fallen, repent and do the first works. You guys, once again, if you have a

487
00:26:52.640 --> 00:26:57.480
religious mindset, this might be a scary scripture. But it's not because all

488
00:26:57.480 --> 00:27:01.280
repentance is is turning away from the thing that is not working and turning

489
00:27:01.280 --> 00:27:12.000
back towards God's way that's the best way. That's literally all that it is. And

490
00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:15.240
it's something that gets added here that I think is really interesting. And then

491
00:27:15.240 --> 00:27:19.600
it says, and do the first works. So if we were going to put this into like a

492
00:27:19.600 --> 00:27:25.880
little photo infographic, it would simply say, remember, repent and return.

493
00:27:27.880 --> 00:27:36.720
Remember, repent, which is turn back, and then fully return.

494
00:27:36.720 --> 00:27:42.120
And I think it's really important that I don't see anywhere in these scriptures

495
00:27:42.120 --> 00:27:46.120
that it talks about trying to work up some sort of emotion. It's not about an

496
00:27:46.120 --> 00:27:49.560
emotion. It's about remembering. And remembering might bring emotion to you

497
00:27:49.560 --> 00:27:57.720
like it did me just now. Such a poignant memory. Such an amazing, beautiful, golden

498
00:27:57.880 --> 00:28:06.480
Such a poignant memory. Such an amazing, beautiful, golden age of my walk with

499
00:28:06.480 --> 00:28:16.080
Jesus. Why? Because there were things that flowed out of me at the beginning

500
00:28:16.400 --> 00:28:20.320
that are no longer flowing the same way. Now, friends, it doesn't mean that we

501
00:28:20.320 --> 00:28:22.760
don't mature. It doesn't mean that things are going to look exactly the

502
00:28:22.760 --> 00:28:26.880
same. Am I going to go sit in a church sanctuary after a Sunday service and

503
00:28:26.880 --> 00:28:31.560
just wait for visions and then go on assignment as a missionary to go talk to

504
00:28:31.560 --> 00:28:36.720
people? No, I'm not going to do that. That's not the way that's manifesting in

505
00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:42.640
my life right now. So when Jesus is calling me to my first works, he's

506
00:28:42.640 --> 00:28:50.720
talking about the first love, that foundational love that was producing

507
00:28:50.960 --> 00:28:56.160
that desire and that zeal. And for all of us, it maybe looked different. Maybe

508
00:28:56.160 --> 00:28:59.680
you couldn't put your Bible down. You just loved it. You just want to read it.

509
00:28:59.920 --> 00:29:03.960
It's all highlighted, all crazy colors. You got all kinds of little sticky notes

510
00:29:03.960 --> 00:29:07.800
and tabs everywhere of revelation and things that God was saying to you and

511
00:29:07.800 --> 00:29:12.160
speaking to you as you read. Maybe you talk to Jesus everywhere you go in your

512
00:29:12.160 --> 00:29:15.360
car, everyone. Everyone thought you were crazy. Is that woman over there talking

513
00:29:15.360 --> 00:29:20.200
to herself? Is that guy talking to himself? What's going on? Maybe worship

514
00:29:20.280 --> 00:29:25.800
wrecked you. You couldn't get enough of it. And I'm talking about music worship.

515
00:29:25.800 --> 00:29:32.480
I'm talking about being in a corporate place of worship and music and just, you

516
00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:37.240
know, there's a lot of people that like that whole 24-7 prayer movement, where

517
00:29:37.240 --> 00:29:42.680
it's just praying and interceding and worshiping. Maybe you have like an

518
00:29:42.680 --> 00:29:46.560
evangelistic streak. You're always going around looking for people to tell about

519
00:29:46.560 --> 00:29:56.840
Jesus. You're telling everybody about Jesus. I know that definitely loved

520
00:29:56.840 --> 00:29:59.920
people differently. And while I'm still a very generous person, I, I

521
00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.440
probably was even more generous.

522
00:30:04.440 --> 00:30:09.660
One thing I definitely know that happens when you first meet Jesus is that it's very difficult

523
00:30:09.660 --> 00:30:11.200
to hold a grudge against anyone.

524
00:30:11.200 --> 00:30:13.760
You forgave everybody.

525
00:30:13.760 --> 00:30:16.560
Everybody that you could forgive, you did forgive.

526
00:30:16.560 --> 00:30:20.820
People that you never thought you could forgive, you forgave.

527
00:30:20.820 --> 00:30:23.460
You want to serve people.

528
00:30:23.460 --> 00:30:27.560
You want to help people.

529
00:30:27.560 --> 00:30:29.040
Because love was producing that in you.

530
00:30:29.040 --> 00:30:32.160
No one was standing over you with a Christian checklist, and if they were, I'm sorry that

531
00:30:32.160 --> 00:30:33.900
you had that experience.

532
00:30:33.900 --> 00:30:42.080
But most people just wanted to do it because the love inside of you was producing something

533
00:30:42.080 --> 00:30:43.080
inside of you.

534
00:30:43.080 --> 00:30:45.080
It's the fruit.

535
00:30:45.080 --> 00:30:48.880
And just so you guys know, that is the works.

536
00:30:48.880 --> 00:30:51.960
That's the fruit.

537
00:30:51.960 --> 00:30:56.160
Because remember at the beginning of the scripture where he is talking about all the things that

538
00:30:56.160 --> 00:30:57.160
they were doing.

539
00:30:57.160 --> 00:30:58.160
They were working.

540
00:30:58.160 --> 00:30:59.160
They were persevering.

541
00:30:59.160 --> 00:31:00.160
They were discerning.

542
00:31:00.160 --> 00:31:02.500
They were doing whatever, standing for truth.

543
00:31:02.500 --> 00:31:07.400
They were doing works, actual works, what we think of when we think of that.

544
00:31:07.400 --> 00:31:14.160
But he said, go back to your first works.

545
00:31:14.160 --> 00:31:19.120
And what it's really saying there is the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart that produces

546
00:31:19.120 --> 00:31:20.200
fruit.

547
00:31:20.200 --> 00:31:22.320
It's not talking about you doing anything.

548
00:31:22.320 --> 00:31:24.800
It's not talking about you praying or serving.

549
00:31:24.840 --> 00:31:26.640
It's not talking about you leading or teaching.

550
00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:31.280
It's not talking about you helping the homeless or the needy, the widow and the fatherless.

551
00:31:31.280 --> 00:31:33.240
It's not talking about that.

552
00:31:33.240 --> 00:31:35.440
It is talking about the fruit.

553
00:31:35.440 --> 00:31:43.840
It is talking about the thing that love was working in you.

554
00:31:43.840 --> 00:31:48.680
The thing that love was working in you, joy and peace, patience.

555
00:31:55.640 --> 00:31:57.200
So what happened to all of us?

556
00:31:57.200 --> 00:31:58.200
Life happened to all of us.

557
00:31:58.200 --> 00:31:59.920
That's what happened to all of us.

558
00:31:59.920 --> 00:32:03.160
You know, I used to look around at all the people that didn't stay after church and I

559
00:32:03.160 --> 00:32:05.960
wasn't judging them because I had a heart full of Jesus and I loved them.

560
00:32:05.960 --> 00:32:09.600
But I was wondering why they didn't feel so lovesick like I did.

561
00:32:09.600 --> 00:32:11.640
I was wondering why they didn't want to stay after.

562
00:32:11.640 --> 00:32:15.120
I was wondering why it was so hard to get anyone to go on outreach and talk to people

563
00:32:15.120 --> 00:32:18.240
about Jesus because I was also the outreach director of that church.

564
00:32:18.240 --> 00:32:21.640
I was wondering why nobody wanted to help me deliver meals on wheels.

565
00:32:21.640 --> 00:32:22.640
I was wondering why.

566
00:32:22.720 --> 00:32:26.400
I was always wondering, hey, why do these people seem so apathetic?

567
00:32:26.400 --> 00:32:28.120
And now I get it.

568
00:32:28.120 --> 00:32:31.200
I understand now.

569
00:32:31.200 --> 00:32:35.320
And it wasn't because they were older.

570
00:32:35.320 --> 00:32:42.360
It was because they had gone away from this first love.

571
00:32:42.360 --> 00:32:44.560
And it's easy to do, y'all.

572
00:32:44.560 --> 00:32:47.280
It's easy to do.

573
00:32:47.280 --> 00:32:53.960
There's so much in this crazy, nonstop, swirling, twirling world that we live in that is just

574
00:32:53.960 --> 00:32:59.160
such a huge distraction that keeps us from coming and sitting at his feet.

575
00:32:59.160 --> 00:33:03.120
Remember Mary and Martha?

576
00:33:03.120 --> 00:33:07.860
Just want to let you know that Martha wasn't selling crack, okay?

577
00:33:07.860 --> 00:33:09.760
She wasn't doing bad things.

578
00:33:09.760 --> 00:33:10.840
She was doing good things.

579
00:33:10.840 --> 00:33:11.840
She was serving people.

580
00:33:11.840 --> 00:33:13.760
She was helping people.

581
00:33:13.760 --> 00:33:16.280
She was putting people first.

582
00:33:16.280 --> 00:33:18.200
But Mary wasn't doing any of that.

583
00:33:18.200 --> 00:33:21.920
Mary probably looked like the selfish one, I'm sure, because she was the one that was

584
00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:25.120
just like, I can't get enough of Jesus.

585
00:33:25.120 --> 00:33:26.280
I'm just going to sit at his feet.

586
00:33:26.280 --> 00:33:28.120
I just want to smell his robes.

587
00:33:28.120 --> 00:33:31.560
I just want to be near him.

588
00:33:31.560 --> 00:33:36.800
And Martha was like, no fair.

589
00:33:36.800 --> 00:33:43.280
And Jesus was like, Martha, nobody told you to do any of that.

590
00:33:43.280 --> 00:33:44.920
Mary has chosen the best part.

591
00:33:45.120 --> 00:33:47.640
Isn't that what he said?

592
00:33:47.640 --> 00:33:51.480
I feel like there's a part of Martha that was like, duh, but who's going to do all this

593
00:33:51.480 --> 00:33:52.480
if I don't do it?

594
00:33:52.480 --> 00:33:58.080
And some of y'all have that too.

595
00:33:58.080 --> 00:34:03.120
But is it possible when, if we're being invited, and I believe we're being invited, if we're

596
00:34:03.120 --> 00:34:09.880
being invited back into that love place, is it possible that all of the human strength

597
00:34:09.880 --> 00:34:15.320
that you put behind so much of what you do, if you'd find this place, if I'd find this

598
00:34:15.320 --> 00:34:20.480
place, that all of that stuff would get done either a lot faster, more supernaturally or

599
00:34:20.480 --> 00:34:24.480
a lot differently, or even didn't even need to be done in the first place, what do you

600
00:34:24.480 --> 00:34:25.480
think would happen?

601
00:34:25.480 --> 00:34:33.800
Do you think that would start to happen?

602
00:34:33.800 --> 00:34:39.679
I do remember one time God asked me to do something very specific that had to do with

603
00:34:39.679 --> 00:34:45.560
really just coming away with him.

604
00:34:45.560 --> 00:34:49.560
And I did have a Martha mentality like, oh, my gosh, if I do that, what's going to happen

605
00:34:49.560 --> 00:34:50.560
over here?

606
00:34:50.560 --> 00:34:54.120
All these balls are going to hit the floor because I've been juggling a lot of balls.

607
00:34:54.120 --> 00:34:56.000
And a lot of us do that.

608
00:34:56.000 --> 00:34:57.360
But I was obedient to it.

609
00:34:57.360 --> 00:34:59.480
It was an amazing time.

610
00:34:59.480 --> 00:35:00.040
And I really...

611
00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:05.500
got a lot out of it, but I will tell you that when I emerged from that, because it was a

612
00:35:05.500 --> 00:35:10.060
certain amount of time, it was a month, and when I emerged from that, not only were those

613
00:35:10.060 --> 00:35:14.940
balls still in the air, but those balls had reproduced other balls, good balls, and they

614
00:35:14.940 --> 00:35:18.820
were juggling themselves, and I no longer had to juggle them, and it was really amazing

615
00:35:18.820 --> 00:35:20.700
to see how that happened.

616
00:35:20.700 --> 00:35:22.780
And so perhaps that's a word for somebody.

617
00:35:22.780 --> 00:35:25.800
The thing that you feel like you're holding together with duct tape, perhaps you should

618
00:35:25.800 --> 00:35:36.960
just let it fall apart, and get on Jesus's boat.

619
00:35:36.960 --> 00:35:41.700
Stop holding your boat together with duct tape, it's got all kinds of holes in the bottom

620
00:35:41.700 --> 00:35:42.700
of it.

621
00:35:42.700 --> 00:35:53.000
Perhaps you should get on Jesus's boat, and just let your boat sink, that's all right.

622
00:35:53.000 --> 00:35:56.160
I promise you, you're not going to drown, you're with the one that walks on water,

623
00:35:56.160 --> 00:36:05.000
everything is going to be fine.

624
00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:09.560
I feel like Jesus is saying something to us this morning.

625
00:36:09.560 --> 00:36:20.680
He's saying, has anything changed in the way that I love you?

626
00:36:20.680 --> 00:36:23.080
Has my level of love for you changed?

627
00:36:23.080 --> 00:36:26.640
Has my depth of love for you changed?

628
00:36:26.640 --> 00:36:34.560
Has my desire for you changed?

629
00:36:34.560 --> 00:36:37.160
Because the answer is no.

630
00:36:37.160 --> 00:36:38.680
Our love for him has changed.

631
00:36:38.680 --> 00:36:41.540
Oh yeah, we still love him.

632
00:36:41.540 --> 00:36:44.000
And maybe nothing dramatic even happened for you.

633
00:36:44.000 --> 00:36:48.320
I had some church hurt for sure, my pastor went to prison, I got a lot of mugs and a

634
00:36:48.320 --> 00:36:50.520
lot of t-shirts of a lot of weird things.

635
00:36:50.520 --> 00:36:53.720
And I will tell you that I was laying in the dark last night, and I was revisiting this

636
00:36:53.720 --> 00:36:58.000
beautiful season of my life, and unfortunately I had to revisit that too, because that was

637
00:36:58.000 --> 00:36:59.040
part of it.

638
00:36:59.040 --> 00:37:03.960
And I realized that I never grieved it, I never grieved the loss of that church family,

639
00:37:03.960 --> 00:37:09.680
I never grieved the loss of my, really my first real family on earth were those people

640
00:37:09.680 --> 00:37:16.720
that were ripped away in an instant because of the decisions of somebody, the bad decisions

641
00:37:16.720 --> 00:37:18.040
of somebody.

642
00:37:18.040 --> 00:37:21.200
And I knew that I had forgiven him and I had forgiven those things, but I actually

643
00:37:21.200 --> 00:37:26.880
never grieved that loss, because I was too busy trying to survive it.

644
00:37:26.880 --> 00:37:34.060
I didn't grieve it because I was too busy trying to survive it.

645
00:37:34.060 --> 00:37:36.640
And perhaps that's your story as well.

646
00:37:36.640 --> 00:37:41.400
Something really did knock you off course from that love relationship with Jesus, because

647
00:37:41.400 --> 00:37:48.280
some big bombs dropped during that time, and you never really grieved the loss of that

648
00:37:48.280 --> 00:37:53.640
special time because you were just trying to survive what happened next.

649
00:37:53.640 --> 00:37:57.200
And I get it.

650
00:37:57.200 --> 00:38:00.160
There's a lot that happened along the way, isn't it, friends?

651
00:38:00.160 --> 00:38:04.680
Maybe nothing dramatic like that happened for you.

652
00:38:04.680 --> 00:38:09.600
And remember, we're still here, we didn't walk away from God, and it doesn't sound like

653
00:38:09.600 --> 00:38:12.680
the Ephesians did either.

654
00:38:12.680 --> 00:38:15.480
Remember the whole list of things they were still doing?

655
00:38:15.480 --> 00:38:23.200
It sounded like life just maybe got a little full and maybe Jesus got a little familiar

656
00:38:23.200 --> 00:38:29.600
and maybe perhaps disappointment affected their tenderness towards God.

657
00:38:29.600 --> 00:38:35.360
Maybe there was an unanswered prayer that they never really dealt with, a disappointment

658
00:38:35.360 --> 00:38:43.520
from something that happened or didn't happen that changed something in their heart, that

659
00:38:43.520 --> 00:38:45.320
caused a little distance.

660
00:38:45.320 --> 00:38:54.960
It's like, yeah, Jesus, you know, I still love you.

661
00:38:54.960 --> 00:38:56.920
I'm in the room.

662
00:38:56.920 --> 00:38:58.440
I'm in the room.

663
00:38:58.440 --> 00:39:09.080
I'm just not at your feet.

664
00:39:09.080 --> 00:39:10.600
Maybe religion came into the mix.

665
00:39:10.600 --> 00:39:11.960
I know that happened to me.

666
00:39:11.960 --> 00:39:17.120
I had such a love relationship until the religious people came around and started trying to tell

667
00:39:17.120 --> 00:39:18.760
me about him.

668
00:39:18.760 --> 00:39:26.360
I knew him, and now they were trying to describe him to me in ways that caused me to have to

669
00:39:26.360 --> 00:39:28.600
pause.

670
00:39:28.600 --> 00:39:32.840
I was hoping that those things weren't true.

671
00:39:32.840 --> 00:39:33.840
It's unfortunate.

672
00:39:33.840 --> 00:39:39.800
Religion, y'all, religion is evil, I just want to tell you right now.

673
00:39:39.800 --> 00:39:41.720
It is.

674
00:39:41.720 --> 00:39:42.720
It is.

675
00:39:42.720 --> 00:39:46.960
In fact, in the book of John, in your favorite chapter, John 10, where you get down to that

676
00:39:46.960 --> 00:39:50.920
beautiful scripture, John 10.10, where it says the thief comes to kill and destroy,

677
00:39:50.920 --> 00:39:54.320
but I have come that you might have life and you might have it abundantly overflow.

678
00:39:54.320 --> 00:39:55.320
You might be fully alive.

679
00:39:55.520 --> 00:39:57.560
Those are the translations of that scripture.

680
00:39:57.560 --> 00:39:58.560
How do I know?

681
00:39:58.560 --> 00:40:00.080
Because I've studied it very deeply.

682
00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:05.040
And if you read the rest of the chapter, John 10, if you read the first nine scriptures

683
00:40:05.040 --> 00:40:10.080
until we get to that beautiful one magnum opus scripture, you will see that we're not

684
00:40:10.080 --> 00:40:13.020
talking about the devil.

685
00:40:13.020 --> 00:40:16.000
I know that everyone wants him to be the thief, and I'm not saying he's not a thief.

686
00:40:16.000 --> 00:40:18.640
Of course he's a thief.

687
00:40:18.640 --> 00:40:21.680
And perhaps he's behind what's happening in the first nine scriptures.

688
00:40:21.680 --> 00:40:27.280
But the first nine scriptures are definitely people, bad shepherds, religion.

689
00:40:27.280 --> 00:40:31.400
That is what the thief is in the book of John, in those scriptures.

690
00:40:31.400 --> 00:40:34.400
People that come and try to tell you, oh, you met Jesus?

691
00:40:34.400 --> 00:40:40.640
Okay, well come with me and let me tell you everything he requires of you.

692
00:40:40.640 --> 00:40:43.720
Let me talk about the amount of money he wants you to put in the plate every week.

693
00:40:43.720 --> 00:40:47.880
Let me tell you about the amount of time that you must pray and you must read your Bible

694
00:40:47.880 --> 00:40:52.560
and you must do all the things in order for him to keep loving you.

695
00:40:52.560 --> 00:40:54.160
Let's talk about it.

696
00:40:54.160 --> 00:40:55.520
That's the thief, y'all.

697
00:40:55.520 --> 00:40:59.360
And what was he stealing?

698
00:40:59.360 --> 00:41:02.920
He was stealing your connection to the divine.

699
00:41:02.920 --> 00:41:04.400
He was stealing your connection to God.

700
00:41:04.400 --> 00:41:07.720
He was stealing your role as a child.

701
00:41:07.720 --> 00:41:11.440
And I want to let you know, I've raised three of them and not one of them have ever woken

702
00:41:11.440 --> 00:41:15.560
up in the morning, jumped into their little business suits, grabbed their little briefcases

703
00:41:15.560 --> 00:41:22.240
and headed off into the world without my input, trying to make life happen for themselves.

704
00:41:22.240 --> 00:41:23.240
Not one of them.

705
00:41:23.240 --> 00:41:27.040
In fact, it'd be more likely that they wake up and they wouldn't even know how to put

706
00:41:27.040 --> 00:41:30.920
on their fricking shoes, okay, without me.

707
00:41:30.920 --> 00:41:33.000
They wouldn't know where their lunches were.

708
00:41:33.000 --> 00:41:34.920
They wouldn't know what was going to happen.

709
00:41:34.920 --> 00:41:35.920
Mom, where's my food?

710
00:41:35.920 --> 00:41:36.920
What am I going to eat?

711
00:41:36.920 --> 00:41:37.920
Where am I going to go?

712
00:41:37.920 --> 00:41:45.520
Mom, how am I going to get to practice, mom, mom, mom, mom?

713
00:41:45.520 --> 00:41:47.560
Because that's what children do.

714
00:41:47.560 --> 00:41:51.560
And doesn't it say that if you wanted to enter the kingdom of God, you can't come any other

715
00:41:51.560 --> 00:41:54.040
way but as a child?

716
00:41:54.040 --> 00:41:57.360
Isn't that what it says?

717
00:41:57.360 --> 00:42:03.520
And it isn't saying you have to come as a child and you have to become an adult, self-sufficient,

718
00:42:03.520 --> 00:42:04.840
leaning on your own strength.

719
00:42:04.840 --> 00:42:12.040
In fact, he says to us that our, that his strength is made perfect in our weakness.

720
00:42:12.040 --> 00:42:16.520
He says, come to me, all you that are, what, weary and heavy laden, and I will give you,

721
00:42:16.520 --> 00:42:17.520
what, rest.

722
00:42:17.520 --> 00:42:19.800
What are we weary and heavy laden with?

723
00:42:19.800 --> 00:42:24.080
Ourselves and religion, sin, all of the things.

724
00:42:24.080 --> 00:42:28.160
Remember, Jesus was talking to people that were under the law and they were weary with

725
00:42:28.160 --> 00:42:29.160
trying to keep it.

726
00:42:29.160 --> 00:42:32.460
They were weary with trying to keep themselves out of sin.

727
00:42:32.460 --> 00:42:34.520
They were weary with all these things.

728
00:42:34.520 --> 00:42:39.640
And he said, I will give you rest because if you take my yoke upon you, you will see

729
00:42:39.640 --> 00:42:43.160
that it's easy and light.

730
00:42:43.160 --> 00:42:45.240
The yoke of religion was heavy upon them.

731
00:42:45.240 --> 00:42:49.440
All the do's, all the don'ts, all the have to's, all the should's.

732
00:42:49.440 --> 00:42:55.240
I don't know if you guys know, but Jews have to follow 626 rules right now, modern day,

733
00:42:55.240 --> 00:42:56.960
in order to be righteous.

734
00:42:56.960 --> 00:42:58.720
You just have to follow one.

735
00:42:58.720 --> 00:43:00.280
Come on.

736
00:43:00.280 --> 00:43:05.480
Isn't the first love, the best love?

737
00:43:05.480 --> 00:43:09.360
It's the only love.

738
00:43:09.360 --> 00:43:12.720
It's the love that all love should come from.

739
00:43:12.720 --> 00:43:16.240
It is the only love in the way that it's the love that all love should come from.

740
00:43:16.240 --> 00:43:19.800
I'm going to tell you, if you get married and you try to love your spouse outside of

741
00:43:19.800 --> 00:43:24.560
the love of Jesus being in your heart, good luck with that.

742
00:43:24.560 --> 00:43:26.080
It is the primary love.

743
00:43:26.080 --> 00:43:27.520
It is the source of love.

744
00:43:27.520 --> 00:43:33.320
If we can rewrite the scripture, we would put all this in so we could understand.

745
00:43:33.320 --> 00:43:36.480
Jesus said, take my yoke upon you.

746
00:43:36.480 --> 00:43:41.680
I don't know if you guys know this, but biblical history tells us that yokes were things that

747
00:43:41.680 --> 00:43:45.800
rabbis had.

748
00:43:45.800 --> 00:43:47.600
Rabbis had yokes.

749
00:43:47.600 --> 00:43:50.000
If that always confused you, hey, what does that scripture mean?

750
00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:52.320
What do you mean, take your yoke?

751
00:43:52.320 --> 00:43:53.560
Rabbis had yokes.

752
00:43:53.560 --> 00:43:59.480
So if you were over here following, you know, Nathaniel the rabbi, he had a certain list

753
00:43:59.480 --> 00:44:06.480
of do's and don'ts that you had to do on top of what you already had to do from the Torah.

754
00:44:06.480 --> 00:44:09.600
So maybe he was like, oh, you can't show your hands in public.

755
00:44:09.600 --> 00:44:12.320
I mean, ridiculous things that they made up, y'all.

756
00:44:12.320 --> 00:44:14.440
They made this stuff up.

757
00:44:14.440 --> 00:44:17.520
And every rabbi had a yoke.

758
00:44:17.520 --> 00:44:23.680
And the best rabbis get this, the ones that people worshiped the most, yeah, I said worshiped,

759
00:44:23.680 --> 00:44:28.300
the rabbis that everybody wanted to be like, and the rabbis that everybody wanted to follow,

760
00:44:28.300 --> 00:44:34.040
they were the ones that had the hardest yokes, because that's what religion does.

761
00:44:35.040 --> 00:44:44.280
If you don't kill yourself trying to do it, then God's not going to receive it.

762
00:44:44.280 --> 00:44:47.360
He's not going to receive it.

763
00:44:47.360 --> 00:44:54.640
He wants a pound of flesh from you.

764
00:44:54.640 --> 00:44:56.360
He wants a pound of flesh.

765
00:44:56.360 --> 00:45:00.000
And so those yokes were really heavy, really heavy with tons of.

766
00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:02.340
do's and don'ts and shoulds and have tos.

767
00:45:03.560 --> 00:45:05.740
And Jesus, remember, he was a rabbi.

768
00:45:07.400 --> 00:45:09.560
And he's like, hey, come and learn of me.

769
00:45:09.560 --> 00:45:11.020
I am meek and lowly.

770
00:45:12.200 --> 00:45:13.840
I'll give you rest for your soul.

771
00:45:15.280 --> 00:45:17.840
My yoke is easy, my burden is light.

772
00:45:17.840 --> 00:45:19.580
Isn't that amazing, you guys?

773
00:45:21.480 --> 00:45:22.580
It's incredible.

774
00:45:24.760 --> 00:45:27.880
You guys, this love deal is, it's a win.

775
00:45:28.880 --> 00:45:30.600
It's a win for us.

776
00:45:32.360 --> 00:45:35.080
We gotta come back under that love.

777
00:45:37.240 --> 00:45:40.460
We have to start living life again from that source.

778
00:45:42.640 --> 00:45:45.420
A lot of us have crossed over into loving people

779
00:45:45.420 --> 00:45:47.680
in our human strength, and guess what?

780
00:45:47.680 --> 00:45:48.700
It's lacking.

781
00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:52.000
This is where we're going to hold grudges.

782
00:45:52.000 --> 00:45:53.520
This is where we're going to get offended.

783
00:45:53.520 --> 00:45:55.200
This is where we're going to get hurt.

784
00:45:55.200 --> 00:45:57.040
This is where we're going to hurt others.

785
00:45:57.080 --> 00:45:59.840
That's what happens when you live from that source.

786
00:45:59.840 --> 00:46:03.800
We have to live from the first love source.

787
00:46:05.920 --> 00:46:07.640
In the book of Revelation, that's what he's saying.

788
00:46:07.640 --> 00:46:09.200
He's saying, you've done all these things.

789
00:46:09.200 --> 00:46:10.620
You continue to do all these things,

790
00:46:10.620 --> 00:46:14.360
but you're not doing them from the source of love.

791
00:46:15.240 --> 00:46:16.760
You're not doing them from love.

792
00:46:16.760 --> 00:46:18.340
You're probably doing them from religion.

793
00:46:18.340 --> 00:46:19.400
You're doing them from duty.

794
00:46:19.400 --> 00:46:21.000
You're doing them from obedience.

795
00:46:21.000 --> 00:46:24.100
Maybe even doing them from fear of punishment,

796
00:46:24.100 --> 00:46:26.240
but you're no longer doing them from love.

797
00:46:26.280 --> 00:46:28.560
And I know that all of you have experienced the difference

798
00:46:28.560 --> 00:46:31.960
from doing things from duty and obligation

799
00:46:31.960 --> 00:46:33.300
or doing it from love.

800
00:46:37.060 --> 00:46:39.960
It changes, it completely doesn't if you do it from love.

801
00:46:41.400 --> 00:46:43.220
It doesn't feel hard, does it?

802
00:46:44.880 --> 00:46:46.500
It's not grueling, is it?

803
00:46:48.000 --> 00:46:51.440
And there are people on here that you're a toxic giver.

804
00:46:52.760 --> 00:46:53.920
That's right.

805
00:46:53.920 --> 00:46:56.360
I put the word toxic before the word giver.

806
00:46:56.360 --> 00:46:59.000
I could say you're a giver, but I don't wanna say giver.

807
00:46:59.000 --> 00:47:00.720
I wanna say you're a toxic giver.

808
00:47:00.720 --> 00:47:02.800
And the reason why you're a toxic giver

809
00:47:02.800 --> 00:47:05.880
is because you give and give and give and give

810
00:47:05.880 --> 00:47:08.120
and give and give until it kills you.

811
00:47:08.120 --> 00:47:09.300
So it's toxic.

812
00:47:12.720 --> 00:47:13.960
Because somewhere along the line,

813
00:47:13.960 --> 00:47:15.960
you learn that that's what you're supposed to do

814
00:47:15.960 --> 00:47:18.540
to be a good person, to be a good Christian,

815
00:47:18.540 --> 00:47:21.440
is you're supposed to just become this human doormat.

816
00:47:24.920 --> 00:47:29.080
This people pleaser that always puts everybody else first

817
00:47:29.080 --> 00:47:30.000
before themselves.

818
00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:31.120
How's that working out?

819
00:47:33.120 --> 00:47:36.120
Because it's right about this age that all of you are

820
00:47:36.120 --> 00:47:38.280
that your give a darn starts to get busted.

821
00:47:39.960 --> 00:47:43.720
And you start to resent secretly, oftentimes secretly,

822
00:47:43.720 --> 00:47:46.000
the very things that you're doing for people

823
00:47:46.000 --> 00:47:48.160
and the very people you're doing them for.

824
00:47:49.160 --> 00:47:53.560
Because you are doing it out of the wrong source.

825
00:47:53.560 --> 00:47:55.240
So that's just an added little tidbit

826
00:47:55.240 --> 00:47:58.320
for whoever needs to grab ahold of that today.

827
00:47:58.320 --> 00:48:03.320
Look, we're being invited back into this love,

828
00:48:04.560 --> 00:48:06.240
this love bubble.

829
00:48:06.240 --> 00:48:08.440
We're being invited back into this place

830
00:48:08.440 --> 00:48:11.960
of being the children of God, being dependent on Him,

831
00:48:14.840 --> 00:48:18.120
allowing Him to do for us what we're not allowed to do.

832
00:48:19.000 --> 00:48:21.000
What we could never do for ourselves.

833
00:48:21.000 --> 00:48:23.840
From a place of love, you guys, that's where it happens.

834
00:48:25.040 --> 00:48:26.080
That's where it happens.

835
00:48:26.080 --> 00:48:30.240
When you allow yourself to be filled full,

836
00:48:31.160 --> 00:48:34.240
then you begin to live a life that overflows.

837
00:48:36.800 --> 00:48:40.080
If you're filled full, then you live a life that overflows.

838
00:48:41.660 --> 00:48:44.160
God doesn't want us to be religious robots.

839
00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:46.840
Doesn't want us going and doing things

840
00:48:46.840 --> 00:48:50.400
just because we know that that's the right thing to do.

841
00:48:50.400 --> 00:48:51.240
Okay.

842
00:48:54.920 --> 00:48:59.920
He wants us to be filled with love.

843
00:49:02.480 --> 00:49:04.200
Now, I just wanna add this.

844
00:49:04.200 --> 00:49:09.200
This doesn't mean that that's the only love that you need.

845
00:49:09.960 --> 00:49:11.760
You guys know that that is not what I believe

846
00:49:11.760 --> 00:49:13.440
and that is not what I preach.

847
00:49:14.440 --> 00:49:18.040
I believe that the way that we continue to grow

848
00:49:18.040 --> 00:49:22.240
in our love for Him is when we are loved by other people

849
00:49:23.760 --> 00:49:25.760
that have that source of love.

850
00:49:25.760 --> 00:49:30.280
So often, you are going to really feel His love

851
00:49:30.280 --> 00:49:32.880
through someone else who has His love.

852
00:49:35.640 --> 00:49:37.000
That's how you're gonna experience it.

853
00:49:37.000 --> 00:49:39.600
We'll call it Jesus with skin on it, shall we?

854
00:49:40.280 --> 00:49:41.560
Jesus with skin on it.

855
00:49:44.520 --> 00:49:45.360
And so it's important.

856
00:49:45.360 --> 00:49:47.600
It's an important part of your development.

857
00:49:47.600 --> 00:49:52.000
It's an important part of your love story with Him,

858
00:49:52.000 --> 00:49:57.000
our people, and it's an important part of your life.

859
00:49:57.400 --> 00:49:59.280
So when you're filled with love,

860
00:49:59.280 --> 00:50:01.200
you're not just gonna be filled with love.

861
00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:02.600
And that's eternal, friends.

862
00:50:01.200 --> 00:50:03.400
You're gonna be filled with love and you're gonna be filled

863
00:50:02.600 --> 00:50:03.600
That's not just for this life.

864
00:50:03.400 --> 00:50:06.080
with love and you're gonna be filled with love.

865
00:50:03.600 --> 00:50:07.600
I know people are like, yeah, but in heaven, all we're going to do is just gaze at His

866
00:50:07.600 --> 00:50:09.960
beauty and worship Him forever.

867
00:50:09.960 --> 00:50:18.440
That sounds pretty boring, if I'm being honest.

868
00:50:18.440 --> 00:50:23.080
You guys, you're talking about forever and ever and ever and ever and ever.

869
00:50:23.080 --> 00:50:28.000
Yes, it will be amazing to be fully in His presence with nothing hindering us.

870
00:50:28.000 --> 00:50:36.540
His earth suit, any part of the fallen part of humanity all gone, being able to perfectly

871
00:50:36.540 --> 00:50:38.960
connect without any walls.

872
00:50:38.960 --> 00:50:39.960
That's going to be amazing.

873
00:50:39.960 --> 00:50:43.540
But friends, there's a whole lot more to heaven than that.

874
00:50:43.540 --> 00:50:51.220
And the only thing you're going to find in heaven is people and assignments and wonder

875
00:50:51.220 --> 00:50:56.900
and amazement at all of the beautiful things that God has planned for those that love

876
00:50:56.900 --> 00:50:59.940
Him.

877
00:50:59.940 --> 00:51:03.340
You notice how it doesn't say has planned for those that work for Him, has planned for

878
00:51:03.340 --> 00:51:08.500
those that, you know, do this and that and all the things for Him.

879
00:51:08.500 --> 00:51:12.700
No, love Him for those that love Him.

880
00:51:12.700 --> 00:51:17.500
Guys, all of us are getting older and all of us are getting closer and closer and closer

881
00:51:17.500 --> 00:51:18.500
to that transition.

882
00:51:18.700 --> 00:51:23.540
I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer for you, but I'm just going to let you know that that

883
00:51:23.540 --> 00:51:31.220
transition is all about love and it's all about an eternity full of creating with God,

884
00:51:31.220 --> 00:51:34.180
with Christ, in love.

885
00:51:34.180 --> 00:51:40.620
In fact, I would love for you to picture, if you will, this world without pain and hardship,

886
00:51:40.620 --> 00:51:47.900
this world where everyone was coming from that place of that love source.

887
00:51:47.900 --> 00:51:49.980
Everyone was living from that love source.

888
00:51:49.980 --> 00:51:52.460
Everybody was living from that love source.

889
00:51:52.460 --> 00:51:54.020
People were still building things.

890
00:51:54.020 --> 00:51:59.500
They were still, you know, doing things together.

891
00:51:59.500 --> 00:52:04.380
But everyone was coming from that same place of love.

892
00:52:04.380 --> 00:52:08.700
Yeah, that's heaven.

893
00:52:08.700 --> 00:52:10.820
Just so you know.

894
00:52:10.820 --> 00:52:15.900
And that hip issue that you've been having and that knee that's bothering you and, you

895
00:52:15.900 --> 00:52:24.620
know, that ear thing that's going on, yeah, that doesn't exist anymore.

896
00:52:24.620 --> 00:52:26.020
You're not falling apart.

897
00:52:26.020 --> 00:52:30.980
You, my friend, are not put together with duct tape.

898
00:52:30.980 --> 00:52:38.220
I don't even know how we got on this subject.

899
00:52:38.220 --> 00:52:40.740
Yeah, I do.

900
00:52:40.740 --> 00:52:43.980
Jesus came to make heaven a place on earth, friends.

901
00:52:44.060 --> 00:52:47.580
So let's start giving people a taste of heaven.

902
00:52:47.580 --> 00:52:48.580
Let's give them heaven.

903
00:52:48.580 --> 00:52:57.180
And the way we can give them heaven is by us pressing more into that part of us.

904
00:52:57.180 --> 00:53:01.940
You know that right now you're on earth, but you're also seated in heaven with Christ.

905
00:53:01.940 --> 00:53:06.140
You're two places right now, isn't that fun?

906
00:53:06.140 --> 00:53:09.980
You're in the third heaven and you're also in the first heaven.

907
00:53:09.980 --> 00:53:12.940
And there's warfare going on in the second heaven on your behalf.

908
00:53:12.940 --> 00:53:17.820
I did a Supernatural Saturday a couple Saturdays ago about spiritual warfare and angels specifically.

909
00:53:17.820 --> 00:53:20.340
So go check that out if you didn't hear it.

910
00:53:20.340 --> 00:53:25.340
But you guys, we have to live from that love place, that place where we're in perfect peace,

911
00:53:25.340 --> 00:53:29.860
that place where we are accepted in the beloved.

912
00:53:29.860 --> 00:53:31.300
Everything's going to be so much easier.

913
00:53:31.300 --> 00:53:35.820
That job interview, easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

914
00:53:35.820 --> 00:53:39.700
That issue with that family member, yeah, it's not going to bother you the way that

915
00:53:39.700 --> 00:53:42.060
it does if you're coming from this place of love.

916
00:53:42.860 --> 00:53:45.060
And you're like, okay, Jackie, how do I get there?

917
00:53:45.060 --> 00:53:48.260
How did you get there at the beginning?

918
00:53:48.260 --> 00:53:52.060
You didn't win the lottery, your number didn't get pulled, you didn't get invited into the

919
00:53:52.060 --> 00:53:53.860
time and the presence of God.

920
00:53:53.860 --> 00:53:57.860
No, when Jesus died on that cross, the veil was ripped in half.

921
00:53:57.860 --> 00:53:58.860
The veil of what?

922
00:53:58.860 --> 00:54:03.260
The veil that separated the common folk from the holy folk in the holiest of holies.

923
00:54:03.260 --> 00:54:07.700
Before only priests could go in there, a special priest, one priest.

924
00:54:07.700 --> 00:54:09.660
But now we all can go into that place.

925
00:54:09.660 --> 00:54:10.660
What is that place?

926
00:54:10.660 --> 00:54:11.820
That is the mercy seat of God.

927
00:54:11.820 --> 00:54:13.180
That is a place of his presence.

928
00:54:13.180 --> 00:54:16.860
You can go there and you can get filled with his love.

929
00:54:16.860 --> 00:54:21.340
You can go there and time can melt away and all your problems can evaporate and you can

930
00:54:21.340 --> 00:54:24.820
see that this is all that ever really mattered.

931
00:54:24.820 --> 00:54:28.900
And when you leave that place, you'll be living from that place.

932
00:54:28.900 --> 00:54:33.540
God doesn't want us to live to that place, live to that place trying to get holy.

933
00:54:33.540 --> 00:54:38.300
He wants to live from that place.

934
00:54:38.300 --> 00:54:40.220
We don't get God to get good.

935
00:54:41.100 --> 00:54:42.340
We don't get good to get God.

936
00:54:42.340 --> 00:54:43.940
We get God to get good.

937
00:54:43.940 --> 00:54:45.860
He wants us to live from that place.

938
00:54:45.860 --> 00:54:51.940
And I promise you, if we live from that place, that you have an open invitation to every

939
00:54:51.940 --> 00:54:52.940
single day.

940
00:54:52.940 --> 00:54:59.620
And so you can start right now and just say, hey God, I remember the beginning.

941
00:54:59.620 --> 00:55:00.060
I remember.

942
00:55:00.000 --> 00:55:02.000
I remember how full of joy I was.

943
00:55:02.000 --> 00:55:06.080
I remember the fruit of joy and peace and righteousness

944
00:55:06.080 --> 00:55:08.000
that were just naturally occurring in my life

945
00:55:08.000 --> 00:55:10.000
and I wanna get back to that place.

946
00:55:10.000 --> 00:55:12.040
And so I'm just coming into your presence

947
00:55:12.040 --> 00:55:14.080
and I'm asking you to fill me full.

948
00:55:14.080 --> 00:55:15.840
I just wanna let you know that I love you.

949
00:55:15.840 --> 00:55:18.820
He's saying, hey, come aside, come away with me.

950
00:55:18.820 --> 00:55:20.720
I have some things I wanna tell you.

951
00:55:20.720 --> 00:55:22.440
Just carve out some time.

952
00:55:22.440 --> 00:55:24.440
Instead of self-medicating and scrolling,

953
00:55:24.440 --> 00:55:27.000
doom scrolling at nighttime on your phone,

954
00:55:27.000 --> 00:55:28.960
lock your phone down, put it away

955
00:55:29.000 --> 00:55:30.720
and just sit in the silence.

956
00:55:30.720 --> 00:55:33.880
Friends, it doesn't have to be a big thing.

957
00:55:33.880 --> 00:55:37.560
I just wanna let you know, he's gonna do 99% of this.

958
00:55:37.560 --> 00:55:39.080
You're only gonna do 1% of this.

959
00:55:39.080 --> 00:55:40.480
You're just gonna show up.

960
00:55:40.480 --> 00:55:42.000
So Father God, we just thank you God

961
00:55:42.000 --> 00:55:44.560
that you are rekindling our first love.

962
00:55:44.560 --> 00:55:46.840
You're rekindling that foundation of love,

963
00:55:46.840 --> 00:55:49.760
that foundation of righteousness and joy and peace

964
00:55:49.760 --> 00:55:51.580
for us to live from that place.

965
00:55:51.580 --> 00:55:53.160
Instead of trying to live to that place,

966
00:55:53.160 --> 00:55:54.920
always trying to figure out how to get more joy

967
00:55:54.920 --> 00:55:56.640
or more peace or more righteousness,

968
00:55:56.640 --> 00:55:57.920
we're gonna live from that place

969
00:55:57.920 --> 00:56:00.560
because you freely died to give it to us, Jesus.

970
00:56:00.560 --> 00:56:02.280
And we can come there whenever we want.

971
00:56:02.280 --> 00:56:03.480
We can come to the mercy seat.

972
00:56:03.480 --> 00:56:04.820
We can come to the throne of grace.

973
00:56:04.820 --> 00:56:06.920
We can come in your presence whenever we want

974
00:56:06.920 --> 00:56:09.160
and we can get filled.

975
00:56:09.160 --> 00:56:11.560
We don't have to be good to come there.

976
00:56:11.560 --> 00:56:13.960
You were good for us

977
00:56:13.960 --> 00:56:18.960
so that we can experience the presence of God.

978
00:56:19.300 --> 00:56:21.580
And so we thank you for that.

979
00:56:21.580 --> 00:56:23.960
We say that we know that we are unworthy,

980
00:56:23.960 --> 00:56:25.680
but you have declared us worthy.

981
00:56:25.680 --> 00:56:27.580
And so you have made a way for us.

982
00:56:28.240 --> 00:56:31.300
And so we desire to be rekindled with this love,

983
00:56:31.300 --> 00:56:33.140
to be on fire with this love.

984
00:56:34.100 --> 00:56:36.780
Everything in our life that is shaking right now,

985
00:56:36.780 --> 00:56:38.620
everything in our life that's dead right now,

986
00:56:38.620 --> 00:56:40.380
when we come into the presence of this love,

987
00:56:40.380 --> 00:56:42.800
it's just gonna burn off of us.

988
00:56:42.800 --> 00:56:44.340
We're no longer gonna need those things.

989
00:56:44.340 --> 00:56:45.980
We're not gonna try to hold onto those things

990
00:56:45.980 --> 00:56:47.620
or try to make those things live again.

991
00:56:47.620 --> 00:56:49.020
We're just gonna let those things go

992
00:56:49.020 --> 00:56:51.100
because we know that we're in a changing

993
00:56:51.100 --> 00:56:52.660
and transitioning season

994
00:56:52.660 --> 00:56:54.220
where that stuff doesn't matter anymore

995
00:56:54.220 --> 00:56:55.300
because there's new stuff.

996
00:56:55.300 --> 00:56:58.900
Behold, you make all things new and you've made us new.

997
00:56:58.900 --> 00:57:01.160
We're new creatures in you, Christ Jesus.

998
00:57:01.160 --> 00:57:04.020
And we thank you that we wanna walk like new people,

999
00:57:04.020 --> 00:57:05.700
not old people.

1000
00:57:05.700 --> 00:57:08.000
And we thank you for everything that you've done for us

1001
00:57:08.000 --> 00:57:11.340
and that you're going to do for us in the future.

1002
00:57:11.340 --> 00:57:13.000
In Jesus' name, amen.

1003
00:57:13.000 --> 00:57:14.220
All right, friends, I love you so much.

1004
00:57:14.220 --> 00:57:15.060
See you soon.