Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:00]:
I just wanna say how proud I am of you, at day 20 of 21 days of prayer and fasting, and and I've been hearing different ways that people have been, fasting. I've been hearing different ways people have been praying, and, different things that the people have been experiencing. And, you know, I think when we started this at the at the beginning of the year, in our 1st Sunday, what we talked about was it's because if you begin the year, right, begin the year dedicated to God, giving to God your best from the very beginning, that God has the great capacity to bless the rest. And so, you know, how many of you can echo that that you're you're just saying, God, I'm just setting my year right as we start the year. And, maybe at this point, you might say, I can echo what Jesus said. Man does not live bread alone or by by social media alone at this point or or by my games on my phone or whatever it is that you guys have, given up. Some of us sugary food, some of us doing a Daniel fast, kinda like basically eating vegan, that you're saying, hey, God, man does not live. I don't live by coffee alone.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:01:02]:
Although sometimes I do, but not during these last 21 days. And so we're living in, by faith in God and His word and and really seeking His presence. Now, you know, some of you, the things that you guys have given up haven't been bad things. You know, there just been things that you just don't wanna master you. Right? Just like coffee for me, it's not a bad thing. I just don't want it to master me. And, and to be honest, it really has the capacity to do that. Right? Because part of it is the the amount that I do drink.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:01:30]:
But, you know, when you fast though, Jesus said, when you fast, it's not if you fast that that's the moment that we we give things up. We we put them on the side for the, for the season, so that we can press into God. Right? And, and what God says to us is that that it allows us to kinda break through. Now some people have shared that God has moved in a big way. And, you know, last night, you know, there's this room was filled. I think probably even more people than than tonight. Just, and over these 21 days that just people have been coming and seeking God's face and and praying and that God has been responding. You know, one person, was having to sell his house to be able to kind of, you know, do a swap so that he can kind of, like, help with the mom's house, parents' house, and kind of buying out, but the and he was gonna have to move.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:21]:
And in the 21 days, feeling that weight, and when he came in feeling light, I didn't realize that. I mean, Chuy saw. But, man, he says, you know why? Because today I just found out I don't have to sell the house, that I don't have to move. Right? Right? So God is answering prayer. Right? Because And and for others, I I've talked to people who, have had we we there's a bunch of people who had insomnia for years, frankly, that, like, sleep 1 or 2 hours a night, and that when we prayed specifically about that, that people have been able to sleep. Like, for the 6 hours, it's the longest that they've slept in years. And so, you know, we're praying that God is doing something amazing. Right? And, and even, you know, it's great to have our friends, the Gies, back for at least for for the weekend.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:03:17]:
Doctor Clarence and Laurie. But in this very room, on a Saturday night, we brought they brought Laurie's mom to be prayed for. And when that happened, it's because mom had, to be honest, she had stage 4 liver cancer. And you know, since that time that, the the cancer hasn't really grown, and it hasn't really done anything. And she's just been getting her strength back, getting her appetite back, and growing in the Lord now. Right? Wanting to grow. I'm starting to read more and and to seek God. And you know the thing is that I I was telling, Clarence that it reminded me of a a a guy that I saw.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:01]:
He had a prophetic kind of a gift and was telling about how he had had stage 4 cancer and this was like 20 years ago. Then he told him, you know, that 3 months was probably the prognosis, and and I'm just expecting, everybody's expecting the next line to be, and you know, God healed me. Right? And I don't, I'm cancer free or whatever. That's not what he said. Then the next line was, and I still have it, but it does it doesn't even look like it affects any part of my health. Right? And and you know, the thing is that whether God suspends the effects of what should happen, or whether he removes it, you know, I'll take either one. Right? But God is moving. Right? And so, I want you to know, but people have been asking for better discernment.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:49]:
People have been asking for all kinds of things, for family members who are far from God, but what would what do you do if like during these 21 days and tomorrow at the end, and you claim and you you said yes to the Lord, and that, you know, even at that time, it's still things haven't shifted. Things haven't moved. I wanna address that, tonight before we get into the rest of the message. So tonight, you get 2 for the price of 1. It's gonna be short. Don't worry, but, at least the first one, but you know, the thing is, I I wanna say that you can find this in in Psalm 13. And in Psalm 13, it gives us a, the prayers of David and and David prays. He prays like this in verse 1.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:30]:
He says, how long, Lord? You guys ever felt like that? How long, Lord? How long do I have to pray? Will you forget me forever? He says, how long will you hide from your face from me? And you know, the thing is that, what is it that we can we can do when we think about that? It's it's keep praying. Right? You know, when I think all of us have felt that on different occasions or and different things that we've prayed for, that that we think, you know, God, it's like, I've been praying for this for 6 months. I've been praying for this for for for years, and why God? And you might think something's wrong with you or God's not listening, but you know what? In many ways, we talked about that the goal of 21 days of prayer isn't so that you can tick the box and said, I prayed for 21 days. The goal for 21 days of prayer is so that you and I become a person of prayer. Right? And that we keep praying regardless. Right? And, David continues to cry out. He says, God, look at me. Look at I need an answer.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:35]:
And a lot of you guys have heard that I prayed for my dad for for 18 years for him to become a believer. For God to open his eyes, right. And he'd seen me go through like really monumental shifts in my life and that to be honest, he didn't relate to me anymore. You know, it's like, I remember one day, him, he he, broke out a beer and and he opened it and he was drinking a beer and, you know, I was abstaining from all of that because I I just shifted. Right? I I just had an old life. There was an old me that included all that and and a lot more, and then I wouldn't do that. You know, before I my dad and I will have a few at least. Right? And and he's drinking when he he says, oh, sorry.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:24]:
I'm a sinner. And my dad said that, and it's like I it grieved me because he thought I was judging him because of the beer that he was drinking. Nothing could be further from from the truth. You know, it didn't it didn't bother me. You know, when, you know, somebody is in a place where especially, you know, I I don't expect somebody who doesn't know Jesus to act like somebody who does. Right? And it's and it's not wrong to have a beer. It's like as long as you're not mastered by it. Right? As long as you're not enslaved to it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:57]:
But, you know, the thing is that we prayed I prayed for 18 years, and and there was times I said, how long, oh, Lord? And and I've just confessed, sometimes I I got tired of praying. But on that Easter Sunday, when I called my dad after we had the service and he had come just to ask him, dad, how was the service? And and I I heard when I heard him say, it was alright. And if you know my dad, that's that's kind of a, you know, you're not you're not doing too bad if you get that answer. Right? Because if you get other kind of answers that, he can going off. But, you know, as we talked, I was so disheartened until he said he he stopped and he said, but today, Glenn, I gave my heart to Jesus. And you know, at that point, you know how I felt? I felt, God, how could I have doubted you? How could I have doubted you? That's how I felt. I wish I had prayed more, and the thing is so keep praying, because sometimes it'll be it'll be done in 21 days. Sometimes it's done in a day.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:04]:
Isn't it? Sometimes you just pray one time and and and it's just God does it, and sometimes we continue and we keep on praying. I'm still praying for some things that right now, they're pretty important to us and me and my family, and it's been over 7 years. But I know God's still moving. I know God's still listening. I know God's still hearing you. Do me a favor. Turn to your neighbor. It says, we can still keep praying.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:28]:
We can still keep praying.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:31]:
David goes on, and he says this. But I trust in your unfailing love. You know, sometimes it's easy to have faith when everything's going your way. Right? When it's like you kind of you utter one little prayer and then just the doors open, and you know, you pray one simple prayer and all of a sudden God gives you favor in this situation. Easy to have faith in those moments. Sometimes it's not so easy when it seems how long, oh Lord, but the true test of faith is not that we trust God when we always get what we want. Sometimes the key is when it's not going the way that we think or the way that we'd like and and that we keep trusting that God is faithful, that his character has not changed, that he's more faithful than we are at times to pray. And so, you know, in those moments, keep trusting.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:26]:
You can keep trusting. So he keeps trusting God. And what does he do? As a result, when he keeps trusting, it allows his heart to rejoice. And he says, my heart rejoices then in your salvation. When you keep trusting, even though you're battling for something and you haven't quite received the blessing yet, you know what it allows you to to to see? It allows you to see the blessings that you do have. Right? Because when you stop trusting, right, you stop trusting, then all of a sudden, even all the other things that God will do God God bless you here and here, and it's like your kids are doing well or, you know, that that you have favor in this thing, but the one thing that you prayed for, and that's the thing that you're really hoping for, sometimes you just you don't even see all these things. You become blind to it. And so rejoicing is the result often of keep keeping trust to keep on trusting God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:22]:
And so the keep rejoicing. And then then the last one is this. He says in verse, 6 can we just can we read that together? Let's read what it says. Ready? I think there okay. There it is. Ready? Let's read. I will sing the Lord's praise for he has been good to me. Keep worshiping.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:43]:
Keep worshiping. You know, worship has the capacity to to be honest, I think worship in many ways is a spiritual battle. Right? That the enemy hates worship. It's the it's the thing that only God and God alone receives worship. We appreciate people, right, but we we worship God. And we love people, but we worship God. And, you know, it's in those moments that when we begin to worship or we keep worshiping, it can take the heart that is heavy and it and it can fill it with joy. It can take the heart that's that's that's weary and can inject new strength.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:25]:
And so in spite of everything David's been going through and he has enemies, and he's, like, literally people, you know, running and pursuing his life. He keeps worshiping, and so I'm so proud of you guys. I'm so glad that I'm seeing you guys taking it up to the next level, in some ways in in all of these things, in the way that you guys have been praying, the way you've been trusting, the way that you've been rejoicing, and the way that you've been worshiping, but let's keep doing because God's not done. Sometimes things can be done in one time, and it's it it was told to me that like this. It's like, you know, if you're gonna build a if you're gonna just build a little a flotation device, you can build that, like, in an hour. You know, cut some styrofoam or whatever it is. Right? But if you're gonna build an ocean liner, that takes a lot more effort, and it takes a longer period. And you know, sometimes your prayers are like that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:20]:
The things that it's very simple, and it's not saying that's because it's hard for God, but it's it's like this. When we were praying for a house and we ended up buying the house at the lowest it had ever ever tracked in terms of the value of the house where I live. That, you know, I keep telling people I'm not that smart to figure out when that period was. Right? But we just kept praying, and it then it fit into place that we could afford our house. And, you know, and you think about it, you know what God had to do? God had to kinda collapse the bubble in Japan at that time, and it it had to have these guys who are in this the house that they had businesses, and and their business actually started to go down. They started lowering the price. We had looked at that house, months before, but we we opted out of that because it was out of our budget. And then all of a sudden price dropped.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:20]:
We came in. We offered lower, but all these things had to happen. Right? And it's like it's literally around the globe that happened that made it affordable for me to buy? What's God doing shifting and preparing in your world that literally sometimes we just think, is this a small thing, God? I'm just asking for this. But it's, you know, it's it's like that. It's not that it's hard for him to do. Sometimes it just takes time for those things to happen. That make sense?

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:49]:
Yes. Yeah.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:50]:
And so, and and as well, like, if for some of us during these 21 days, you know, you found that, this has been a a great time for you. You've enjoyed praying, and maybe some of us that, you know, we're gonna be ending our fast on Monday, and, I know some guys started early, some guys, you know, maybe started a little late, but whenever it is that you end, if you're gonna end soon, if you've been doing like a Daniel fast, like a vegan, basically, how we've been eating, and I know some guys that they were like doing a full fast at least for like a part of this time and and trying to finish out on a full fast like just drinking water. If that's you, you're doing something like this, can I give you a little bit of guidance? If you're gonna go on Monday, try not to order the biggest, greasiest rib eye steak or whatever it is, you know, that because or you know, it's just a lot If you've been abstaining from social media, if you've been abstaining from some other kind of a soul thing, right, that you in that's in there, some of us alcohol whatever, this is like Monday is not the time to go binging, right? So, part of the reason though like on the food thing is your body has adjusted. Your body has shifted, and so if you eat like that super maybe you used to eat like that before the fast, just kind of ease into it because when we go before the throne of grace, we don't wanna have to sit on the white throne because you know that we ate we ate too much. So just just just a little bit of guidance without giving too much detail. So, and also maybe many of you have felt like if you felt like this has been something that, you know, I want us I think God's calling me to to continue to pray and not just pray for myself, pray for my family, but to pray for others because your faith has grown. You you sense God's pleasure in this, and you feel like, man, I I wanna pray for other people. I wanna pray I wanna pray for the church.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:44]:
I wanna pray for those things. You know, maybe one of those things that you can do. How do I keep doing this? Every Wednesday, there's 2 things. Every Wednesday, we have midweek prayer here from 7 to 8, and you come join us. Come and join us on that time. We'll pray for whatever people are praying for. We're praying for sometimes we have very specific things. We'll pray for the weekend services that God's Spirit would be moving, and you know, and there might be one way, but the other part is that maybe to be part of the prayer team, and so if you'd like to be part of the prayer team, on Sunday, those guys they can go to the prayer table, but here just see just see my wife, see Rica, and, they just wanna, dialogue and or you can see any of the other guys on the prayer team.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:26]:
And maybe some of you, maybe you don't feel called to prayer during this season, but God's stirring you to to go a little deeper, or God's stirring you to to to serve in some way. I wanna make a difference with my life. If if you're saying, you know what? I wanna invest in kids. Can can I serve in kids zone? Yeah. We'd love to have you. If you if you feel like God's stirring you that, hey. There's something else that can I do? Can I can I can I join in the worship team? I'm the secret karaoke singer. No.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:53]:
You know, that kind of a thing. And it's like, hey. We'd love to talk to you and partner with you. Right? Or or nursery or whatever it is. Right? That sound team or the setup and breakdown guys and Levites, the biggest part is that when you have a heart that says yes. Right? When you have a heart that says yes, Lord. Whatever it is that you're calling me to do, and one last thing I do wanna say, but if you're if you wanna pray for other people, there's also that start of, the new intercessory group. Ben's starting in a couple of weeks.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:22]:
It's it's it's twice a month, and, and what does it mean to be an intercessory prayer group? It's an intercessor is really an intercessor is somebody who goes in front of for somebody else. And so it's like, when we pray for someone else, it's like we're bringing them before, you stand in the way to bring them before God. Not because we're Jesus, but but we do that in our prayer. Right? So that's, one of those ways. So I just wanted to, kinda talk about those things before we just jump in. We close on this final message. We started on this series at at the beginning of the year, and so let's change gears. Alright? I wanna talk about the power of change.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:07]:
We've been talking about the power of change, turning your growing good habits and breaking bad ones, and, and sometimes we've been talking about very specific things. Right? Like, sometimes it's like whether it's it's drinking, whether it's smoking, right, whether it's like overeating, those kinds of things. We're talking about building better habits. Right? Like exercise or whatever it is, but I wanna talk about it like this. If you've how many of you have ever been to Universal Studios? Have you been to Universal Studios? Right. Yeah. It's a pretty popular place, to go. Right? Take the kids or go with the family or or just even it's just fun.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:42]:
Fun to go and, and you go maybe because there's like the Jurassic World ride, there's all these other things, Harry Potter now, transformer 3 d, and all that, and all the places to eat and all the different shows, but you know, one of those things that's probably the classic is the the studio tour. You guys ever did that? Right? You get on the the tram and you ride around, and one of those things that you'll do, if you do that, they'll show you how to make movies and how to do the sounds and and all all that kind of a thing. But one of interesting things is you go to, what is that called? It's courthouse square, and and it's part in the back lot where they have these little towns, since that's where they have the the town that's from back to the future. It was also they talked about, like, in the back lot, they have, that where they had some Batman movies and all these kinds of things, and they look like full houses or apartment buildings or court houses, but on the tram ride, what do you see? It's just a facade. Right. It's just a facade. Right. It's just a wall.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:48]:
Right. It's it's made up. It's painted up, but it's it's really it's 2 dimensional. It's not three-dimensional. It's not a full it's not a full house. It's not a full courthouse. It's not a full building. It's just a facade.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:02]:
And you know the thing is that sometimes when we come into these, this time and we wanna talk about changing, God doesn't wanna just change one dimension. God's into 3 dimensions. Right? God's a 3-dimensional God. God's actually a 4 dimensional God, but but he's a 3 he's in for us to have three-dimensional change. And when I say three-dimensional, I don't just mean time, space, and and, matter, but I'm I'm talking about the fact that you and I, all of us, that that there's you're just not one part. There's not just not one part of you. There's 3 parts of you. Right? The the the thing that we talk about is body, soul, and spirit.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:41]:
And so you're a composite being that you have a physical body, and for some of us, we've been looking at health things. We've been looking about, you know, I was talking to somebody, hey, what is it that we can pray for? Praying that I'm gonna run the Boston marathon, and the first thing I thought was, God bless you brother because I ain't doing that. Right? And it's like I have zero interest to do that. Like, I'll go to Boston and eat food and drink coffee and all that. But, but you know, hey, that that's a that's a thing. Right? And that's his goal. That's his and and and he's and he trains for that. Right? But this guy wanna just kinda help us on that level.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:15]:
Right? I I've talked to other people when, just people have like little health issues or or different things. Of course, God wants to is concerned about those things and your health and your your your financial well-being in your relationships, all of that is important. But, you know, but speaking from the first verse of the baseball the baseball verse because it's the one that says in the beginning. You think about it later, you'll get it. But, you know the thing, that's the baseball version. Right? In the beginning, that God created the heavens and the earth. You know, one of the things that we see is that the physical so often we think that if we can work it out on this level, you know, then God can bless it. Right? If I can change things here, if I can I I can get in shape again, if I can get healthy again, then God can do this, and know the thing is it's good to do our part? Right? We need to do our part.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:16]:
Do me a favor. Turn to your neighbor and say, yeah, we gotta do our part. Right? But if you look at this passage when it says, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, the reality is that the spiritual is not dependent on the physical. It's actually the opposite, that the physical is contingent on the spiritual. You see, God is spirit, and he says that although the spirit spiritual world preceded the physical world, that the physical world is contingent on what happens in the spiritual world. That's one of the reasons why we pray. And so in the same way, you as a person, right, that that that me as a person, that, yes, God's concerned about my body. Right? He's concerned about my physical health.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:05]:
Yes.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:05]:
God is concerned about my

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:05]:
mental, emotional, kinda relational part, about my mental, emotional, kind of relational parts. Right? My capacity to envision things and and dream or and and and forecast for the future. Right? That's where does that happen? That happens in your soul. Right? But but the other part is that God is also concerned about your spirit, that your capacity to experience him, that capacity of that then this part of you that is eternal, right, that experiences God. And so, you know, when we're in this kind of a place, God doesn't wanna just bless one portion. He wants to bless all all of you. Right? And so let's be reminded in the midst of this kind of a season that we've been doing it, that so often the things that are measurable are the things that we tend to focus on. And, you know, hey, losing weight, yeah, you can measure that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:56]:
Right? Other things you can measure, but let's remember, God says this, that I I'm a three-dimensional god. Let's read what it says. 1 Thessalonians 5, 23. Ready? Let's read. Now may the God of peace make you holy in what? Every way. And may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. And it's one of the reasons why we say, hey, we keep praying, we keep seeking God, we we keep pressing in, We keep wanting to grow. And in that way, it allows us to say, God, I I thank you that you're concerned about my whole life.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:36]:
You're concerned about my whole being. You're not just concerned about my spirit. Right? Because you cannot, you know, like if you don't take care of your body, then you will be a spirit soon. Right? And so the thing is you gotta take care of your body. Right? You know, we don't just take care of our soul and we say, hey, you know, like my mental health, my you know, you know, my emotional health, that my relationships, they don't really matter. They matter. Every all of that matters to God. And aren't you glad that God cares about it? Right? Because that's how that's how you you experience well-being.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:07]:
That's how you experience the prospering as a person. Prospering is not just about financial. It's about feeling well. It's about doing well. It's about, like, having the when the Bible uses the term shalom in the Old Testament, it's not just peace. It's wholeness. It's it's fullness. It's it's right relationship that you you know, it's it is a blessing in that way.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:35]:
Right? And so let's be let's be reminded about that. Okay. Here's the other thing though, about talking about habits. And when we talk about habits, it's us just, trying to do our part so that God can do the things that He really wants to do in our life. But one of the things, French economist, Frederic, Bastiat said, it almost always happens that when the immediate consequence is favorable, the latter consequences are disastrous and vice versa. Often the sweeter the first fruit of a habit, the more bitter are its later fruits. And what he's talking about is that that when you do something that's good for you and you wanna develop a habit, like you want to save money, is that when you you say no to making that purchase. Does it feel good to say no to making that purchase? Often not.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:29]:
Right? But that you got a longer term benefit, but if you have a shopping kind of a habit and you say it's like, I want to buy this thing. I know it's $500 more than I have it, you know, to I I don't have it right now, but but I have Mastercard. Right? I have Visa. I'll get points. Right? We convince ourselves all kinds of ways. But when you buy that, then all of a sudden you feel great, but when the bill comes, right, there's a longer term. Right? And so he says there's this inverse relationship that that happens. You know, the bible recognizes that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:06]:
It it says it like this in, Proverbs 91718. Proverbs 91718 says, stolen water is refreshing. Stolen. Right? So is that good? No. But it's it's refreshing. Food eaten in secret tastes the best, but little do they know that the dead are there. Her guests are in the depths of the grave. And you know that you might be looking at that like, wow, it sounds kind of harsh, doesn't it? Like, that like stealing water, you're gonna go down to the grave, you're gonna you're gonna die because of that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:39]:
Right? But to be honest, you know, that that phrase stolen water, it can refer to to water, but in other parts of, in the next chapters before a couple chapters before, what it says is to, to men, he says, drink the water from your own fountain. And what it's talking about is actually having physical intimacy with your spouse. Right? And it's it's referring to that. And so some of this is talking about To be honest, it's talking a little bit about adultery. It's talking about having sex outside of your your covenant marriage. And so it's what is it saying? It's stolen water is what he's saying. Yeah. It might be exciting.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:27]:
It might be exhilarating, but it has a long term consequence. Right? And so it talks about this, and and it says somehow this phenomenon that people have noticed for for centuries that God talks about. And so sometimes it's with good good habits, it's, of course, it's the opposite, and research backs this up. It says that people who are better at delaying gratification actually have a higher SAT score, lower levels of substance abuse, lower level of, likelihood of obesity, better response to stress, and better social skills. Obesity, better response to stress, and better social skills. And and maybe you've seen that play out in your own life that the times that you have been able to delay gratification. No. I'm gonna work hard while I'm I, I'm in probation.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:18]:
Right? I'm gonna I'm gonna work hard in college because I I wanna get into this field, or I wanna have a capacity to do a certain thing. We see the rewards of that. Right? But you also have probably seen, right, when you've done the opposite. How many of you have taken shortcuts in the past? Right? Feels good in the beginning, and then later have you ever regretted, oh, shoot. Right? And and so we've all seen that play out. Right? You know, so but we all know that, to be honest. Right? We we kind of already know that, but what do you do that, when you you know it, but you can't kind of do it. You guys know what I'm talking about? One of those things that we can be reminded is that the things that are rewarded are repeated, and the things that are, difficult or punished tend to be avoided.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:16]:
Right? So it's the typical the carrot and the stick. Right? And so maybe one of those things that you can do is that although you know delaying of gratification actually prevents or or kinda immunizes you immunizes you to some of the things that you probably don't want in your life. Right? So the things that will diminish your your long term, whether it's productivity or your capacity to enjoy life. Right? So that's a great thing, but the reality is like some people are are like this. We said, like, well, I don't want to just like, you know, I want to enjoy my life now. Right? I don't want to just wait till I'm 60 5, I retire. Now what? What if I get sick and I die? Right? You people will will say that. Now I I understand this.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:00]:
So we're not saying that you never enjoy any any good things, but here's one way that you can do that, that that if you're in that process trying to develop habits that that somehow delay gratification, try to build in a reward for you that that will help you along the way, a smaller reward. And what I mean is this, like, if you're in the process of you're trying to to to to save money. Right? Because how many of us that, man, you've been to the store lately and things don't look like how they used to look, right, in prices. And let's say, you go to 6 bucks coffee, I mean Starbucks coffee, and, you know, you're used to getting, you know, frappuccino whatever, latte, like, everything in it, and all of a sudden, like, literally that coffee is $6, and you say, you know what, I can make coffee at home for less than a dollar. Right? So if you say this, you say, I'm gonna I'm gonna just make coffee at home, and and you know what you can do? And it's like less than a dollar to make it at home. Like, throughout this, it's probably less than 50¢ to make it at home. But what you can do, set a reward. Let's say this.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:33:15]:
Take $5 and put it in a kitty that says, you know, summer vacation. Right? Put it in a put it in a little envelope. Put it in a little account. Put it in a jar that says something that you like. It's like new clothes. Right? Like, if you're you're eating something different. So set up some kind of a way that you have a reward. You reward yourself for starting a habit that that may not be like that exciting to start.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:33:47]:
Right? That because if you just save $6 and you just go like, woah, I like their coffee better than my coffee at home. I understand that that that can happen. If you're trying to do those kinds of things, think about something if you're, sometimes we we can be like this that, I ran today, so I'm gonna treat myself. I'm gonna reward myself by eating an extra dessert. You know what I mean? But you're trying to trying to lose weight, trying to be healthy. Sometimes that's kinda works again to you. Right? So maybe in that kind of a sense that, hey, instead of that, hey, put some money aside for, like, yeah, maybe you will need to buy new clothes as a result if you lose that kind of a weight. But try to create some reward, and that's one way that can help you to to get on track.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:33]:
And, you know, the the longer you do these things, you you might start out with different kinds of rewards and different ways that you, try to keep a habit going, but the more you do it, the more habits take control of itself, and it just becomes rewarding in and of itself. Right? So if you've ever tried again, like I had mentioned, going back to the gym when I hadn't gone for years years that it was just literally, just choosing to suffer. It felt like that's what it felt like. I got, like, very little joy of going to the gym until I did. And when I did, then all of a sudden when the endorphins start kicking in, you feel good. You just man, I'm all sweaty and my wife I I go home and hug my wife and she says, you don't have to hug. Just just, you know, just just, give me a pick on the check on the cheek. But, you know, all of a sudden, I didn't have to go force myself to go.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:35:28]:
I just wanted to go, and that's what happens when you get some momentum going in these. But how do you get there when you you know you you can't get there yet? But just keep track of your success, but don't obsess over your setbacks and failures. Right? I I was I've been talking to people. I've heard people say this, like, hey, how's things going during these 21 days of prayer and fasting? And, you know, we we're not legislating to people that you gotta fast food wise or whatever, but I heard people say stuff like, oh, I had a little cheat day, you know, but I'm back on track and and stuff like that. But I don't know if you've ever noticed this, but when you obsess about your failures, you're much more likely to make another mistake. Right? If you've ever watched, like Olympic ice skating, that I noticed this that what happens is, you know, when an ice skater falls, the commentators will often say this. They'll just go, oh, that was a bad one. Right? And it's like and it and what they're watching, it says, let's watch how she recovers.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:36]:
Let's watch how he recovers. Because inevitably, for most people, when they make a mistake and they have a fall, if they cannot focus about the rest of the routine, what happens? They fall again. Right? And so, you know, the thing is that what we wanna do is we wanna try to not you know what? You're not gonna be perfect probably. That when you begin a new habit or you're trying to break an old habit. You know, like the person who says, you know, I've quit smoking 37 times. Right? You know, that kind of a thing. It's like, hey, better to be because maybe the 38th time or maybe this 37th time is the magic time. But one of those things that you can do is keep track of your successes, but don't obsess about your failures.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:25]:
You know, some of you guys know that I've been trying to learn Japanese after being married 27 years to my wife who speaks Japanese and having in laws who speak Japanese and going to Japan pretty regularly, so I'm not the fastest guy to do this. But, you know, I've I've been using and some of you guys I know a lot of you guys are on this kind of thing that I use this thing called, and it already is telling me. It's it's texting me. It's it's saying, you still have time to be number 1. But one of those things, I'm on day 170. Saying that you have a 170 days where you have taken at least a few minutes to learn Japanese. And you know there have been times that I get a text that says like, You're at a 160. You don't don't break the streak.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:16]:
Right? And so you know what I wanna do? It's like, oh, shoot. I better go do this thing. Right? Because I'm I just try to set up some way that can help me to track success. Why? Because it makes me wanna be more faithful. Right? It makes me want to be more diligent. And so most of your life is not set up like Duolingo, but but some of that is if you can do it yourself. Right? You figure out a way. In 1993, there was a a 23 year old rookie stockbroker, in British Columbia, Canada.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:52]:
His name was Trent or not was, is Trent Diersmith, and he's in a small town in BC, and and all the big business happens in Vancouver and all that, but he was starting working in a bank, and, and he wanted to make some deals. He wanted to enter into this, as an occupation, And so each morning, it says that when Trent went to work, he set up 2 jars and in one jar, he had a 120 paper clips and the other jar was empty. And what he would do is he would sit down after he got everything ready, you know, you got to prepare yourself, that he had to make calls, and anybody here ever had to make phone cold calls? That sometimes when you had to do cold calls, we call that thing the phone monster. Right? That when you gotta call somebody a cold call, you're gonna say, hey, you know, hi. I'm so and so, and I'm like, because you you just don't wanna hear, what are you doing right now? Like, bothering me? Like, we we imagine all kinds of things. Right? And, and so Trent was the same way, but what he did was as soon as he made one call, he took one paper clip and put it in the other jar. It doesn't matter how it went. It's just that if he did it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:09]:
Right? And his goal was what? What do you think? A 120 calls a day. A 120 calls a day. And he would keep doing it till he put a 120 paper clips in that jar. Did Trent never miss a day? I don't know about that. I don't I don't know if he he never missed a day, but he did it consistently. Right? And so what was the result? Was that by the time 18 months had passed, he brought in $5,000,000 of new money as a as a stock broker. At the age of 24, he was making 75,000, which is about a $125,000 a year, in today's money. And then he soon picked up then another 6 figure, income at another company.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:59]:
Right? And all it is is because he just kept track, and and the the term of that is it's not like a rocket science term. It's called habit tracking. And so develop a habit tracking. Now James Clear, who writes that book, Atomic Strategy, Atomic Habits, calls that, the paper clip strategy. And so there's different ways that you can do that. Right? It's like marking x on the calendar when you're when you might have kept, you know, your, kept your diet. Right? Or maybe saying that, you know, like right, you know, like I I saved, you know, $5 today and and putting it on the side. However it is that you do, but but somehow track it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:41]:
Right? So research has shown that people who track their progress on goals like losing weight, lowering blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol, whatever it is, quitting smoking, they're all more likely to improve if they if they keep track. They keep track of what they eat. They keep track about what tempted them. They keep track about what whatever it is that you do, and, to be honest, you know, people I mean, still every week, somebody told me today, oh, pastor Glenn, you're really losing weight, aren't you? I go, why? And she said I said, yeah. I guess a little bit because of the 21 days. Right? But, I said, probably not that much. She says, but, oh, yeah. That shirt, I'm not used to seeing it so loose on you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:33]:
Right? Thank you. That's another way of saying it. You were fat before, but, that's alright. Yeah. It is what it is. Right? But the thing is that I've been keeping track about what I eat every day. Part of it is because I didn't know why my blood sugar was high. I couldn't figure it out.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:49]:
So it helped me to figure it out, and it it helped me to realize that when I eat late or whenever I whatever I do different things, and and habit tracking has helped stay on track. Right? And so try to find some way to focus on your success. And you know what? The reality is, you know, you do your best, you're gonna you you may not be perfect. Right? But that's that's the next thing is that focus on progress, not perfection. Focus on progress, not perfection. Because if not, it's like when you when you if you have a mess up, right, don't beat yourself up because some people are like this. Right? It's like, I'm gonna read, you know, I'm gonna read through the New Testament this year and I'm gonna read the Bible and pray every day, and then all of a sudden they've been doing really well, and then they miss one day, and some people look at it like this. They go, like, no sense.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:51]:
Right? And that doesn't make any sense to me that to say the reality is if you look back, for some of us, you go, like, man, I've read the Bible. I've prayed. I've read God's word more than I ever have in my life. What do you call that? Progress. Do me a favor. Turn to your neighbor says, let's work toward progress.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:11]:
Let's work towards progress.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:13]:
Right. Not perfection. Right? The per the point is not perfection. The point is to make progress. Because if you miss one day, day, can we just say this? If you miss one day, try your best to start again the next day. Uh-huh. Why is that? Because if you miss one day, you're a human. If you miss 2 days, you know what you're doing? Starting a different kind of habit.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:41]:
Right. Do you like a little Yeah. Because just like you guys, let's say, you guys fellowship, most of us, you come consistently. You come, you know, pretty much every week, but what happens if you miss a bunch? What does that happen? It comes really easy to not go the next time. Yep. Right? Yeah. Because you're starting a different habit at that point. So let's focus on progress, not perfection.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:05]:
When you focus on perfection, you give the the devil really an opportunity to kinda mess with you. In in Hebrews 124, it says it like this. He says, after all, you have not given your lie you have not yet given your lives. Okay. Yeah. You have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin. In other words, you haven't died in your battle against sin. And when I read that in the be, beginning, you know, some of those things is that there are things that we need to battle against, and, you know, he says that that you the point is not to be perfect, but we ought to at least put effort to not consciously fall into bad habits.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:55]:
Right? To not fall into sin. And so sometimes it's a struggle against sin, but sometimes it's a struggle against a bad habit. Right? Sometimes it's a struggle to to start a new habit, And why do we do it? Because we wanna honor God. Right? We wanna do well in life, and and I love what it says Proverbs 2416. This this always speaks to me. Let's read that together this this evening. Ready? Let's read. The godly may trip 7 times, but they what? Get up again.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:24]:
Right? So let's get up again. And bounce back quickly. Right? You you may have missed a routine or, or, you know, crossed the boundary. You can start again tomorrow. Right? Or start again today even. So, I love what that says. You know, he he has an illustration. He says, part of the reason why you gotta start again is this, It's like a financial thing.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:47]:
Let's say, if you're trying to, save money or trying to invest for the future, he gives the illustration. He says that if you had a $100 and you had a 50% gain, how much did you make? I know you don't have to be a math major. This $50. Right? 50% gain. So it's not not I'm not it's not a trick. But, so if you had a a 50% gain off of a $100, the next day, you have a 150 dollars. Right? So let let's say this. You have a $150 now, and you have a 33% loss.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:23]:
How much do you have now? A $100. Right? Because 1 third is $50. Right? So in other words, in order to grow something, you cannot just count on growing it and ignoring the losses because the losses take you further down, right, than the than the the commensurate rise. Because if you had a 33% rise so he that's what the investment people tell you this. It's better to keep putting into your 401 k or keep putting in in your your, your funds, your mutual funds, whatever it is, because it's just staying in the market that helps you to ride out. Yes. You'll have ups and downs, but you're but you need to make such bigger gains just because you missed. Right? So you'll miss a day or 2.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:25]:
Right? You you you those things happen, but biggest thing is get back on track the next day. Right? So don't be afraid. Let's turn to our neighbor and says, I can get back on track.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:35]:
I can get back on track. Right?

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:38]:
And then here's the last thing, and we'll we'll close with with this with this is, just set some clear boundaries for yourself. Set some clear boundaries for yourself because if you don't have any boundaries, then everything's permissible. Right? And if if you go out with your old buddies and you said, hon, I'm gonna go out with my friends and, you know, I might have a drink or 2, but and you say, well, do you have a limit? And if I say no, how many are you gonna drink? Probably way more than 1 or 2. Right? So the thing is have clear boundaries for yourself. I like what it says in 1st Corinthians 927. He says it says it like this. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, he says, I fear after preaching to others, I myself might be disqualified.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:32]:
You know, even the Apostle Paul said, you know, the reality is that temptation doesn't just it's not like I'm immune to temptation. It's not that I, I'm magically always kind of in the the right place. He's saying saying this, there's a discipline that I develop. And so even apostle Paul had to have limits for himself. And so some of those is like if we have a, you know, a vague goal that says, I I wanna eat less junk food. Instead, maybe say, you know, I'm gonna eat, I'm gonna eat fruit instead of chips and and candy. Right? When it comes to it. Like, anticipate maybe some scenarios where maybe those boundaries can get tested.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:14]:
Right? And maybe have a a plan in advance. So when I started to watch what I eat, you know, for my for my blood sugar, and, now that I'm not prediabetic, technically, I could just eat whatever. Right? But the thing is that what's going to happen if I just eat whatever, I'm going to be back in the same place. And so it's not that I never eat dessert, I just plan when I'm going to eat dessert. Right? And and I eat dessert. When do I eat dessert? When it's dessert time. Right? It's not like first thing in the morning, which I wanna eat with my coffee. Right? Like like Jeff was I was talking with Jeff and he says, yeah, I'm like you, Pastor Glenn.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:55]:
Yeah. Coffee and pie? That's like sounds like great breakfast. And I just said, that's how I used to be. Right? And I just said, no. It's just it's just not that I can never eat it. I just need to eat it when it's that time. To be honest, it's it's better for your your blood sugar. It it helps you in this kind of a thing.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:11]:
And so anticipate. So when somebody says, would you like, you know, dessert or would you like a piece of pie? And I said, you know, thanks for offering, but I'll have some I'll just get a little bit of fruit over here, or I'll I'll eat some of that veggie sticks, or I'll chew in this cardboard. No, I was kidding. That's what it it just feels like that sometimes. But, but just have something to say. Right? Because it's the things that where we don't anticipate that where we kind of stumble at times. Right? And so this helps you that you don't get caught off too off guard. And then you can use visual reminders.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:47]:
Right? Put the post it note. Put the, you know, like, if you've ever done sales kind of a thing, yeah, put the goal of what you have, you know, your dream picture, your your your dream future thing. You know, like, I'm saving because I we wanna we wanna buy a house someday, or, yes, we need a car, or, yes, we're planning this vacation, or yes, we we gotta, you know, save for our kids' college. Whatever it is that you're doing, use a visual reminder. Right? Have have a, you know, put the college picture up there. That's what you're saving for your kids' college. Right? And so or and the other thing is use sometimes it can be helpful. Use time based limits.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:22]:
Time based limits. In other words, let's say, you know, it's not that social media is evil. Right? It's just probably not productive to do this for 3 hours. Yeah. Right? So what if you said, I'm gonna put a timer on. I'm gonna do it for 15 minutes. Just put a limit on it. Right? It's it's most of the things that we wanna do.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:43]:
It's not evil. Right? The the choice is not between evil and good. It's between sometimes good and better Yeah. Or better and best. And sometimes what the difference is, it's a it's a matter of gradation. Right? It's it's like, yeah, it's not bad to do social media, but it's probably not productive to do it for 3 hours, like I said. But if you did, do it for 15 minutes. Right? You know, I I'm gonna watch Netflix, but I'm not gonna watch 7 episodes.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:20]:
Right? I'm not gonna watch 7 episodes tonight. Right? Like, it's it's not bad to watch Netflix. Just just have a limit. Right? And so those are the kinds of things. So set up those things because that's really the guardrails in our life. Right? And it'll help you to to develop better habits. It'll help you to stay on track. And when you fall off track, you know what? Let's focus focus on your success.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:46]:
Right? Focus on your progress, not on perfection. Make sense? Yes. Yeah. Let's bow our heads. We're gonna close on a final word of prayer. Father, I'm thankful that you didn't call us because you were demanding us to be perfect. Lord, you called us when we were so far away from you. You called us when that when we were stuck in our own choices in many times.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:54:14]:
Father, I'm thankful that you didn't call us because we had everything to offer you. It's what you had to offer us. Lord, that you said that, lord, you wanted a relationship with us. Lord, you said that you you wanted to forgive us. Lord, you said that you wanted us to be close to you. Father, you said that you wanted to put us into your family that we would become your sons and your daughters. And Lord, we said yes because because you're good. We said yes because you're kind.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:54:42]:
And so father, thank you that you don't have to help us change by making us beat ourselves up, but we do need some discipline. But we do need to have some kind of a strategy. We do need to put in place some things that encourage us to do what is right and to do what will move us in our long term direction, and that we do probably need to set in place some things that discourage us doing the opposite. That we might break the bad habits. That we might not feed the things that that really take us in the wrong direction, And so father, today we just come and bring ourselves before you. And so, father, today we just come and bring ourselves before you. And, father, would you strengthen our heart? Would you strengthen our hands? And the the decisions that we have started, Lord, the goals that we have set. Lord, the things that we have brought before you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:55:47]:
Father, we pray would you strengthen those things that please you, and father would you discourage and weaken those things that don't. And so, Lord, we're just grateful that you called us, that you still choose us, and that you still love us. Hey. With our heads bowed and our eyes closed, I just wanted to ask this evening, you know, if you've never said yes to Jesus, would you know that he's been calling you and and and has loved you from the before you were born? Before you were born. Because he says this. I saw you in your mother's womb, and I saw you when you were unformed, and that I've loved you with an everlasting love. And, you know, sometimes in life we just get so busy and we start ending up going our own way and we get managed by others and then we end up maybe sometimes managing ourselves, but so often God moves to the to the back burner. But if you've never said yes to God, would you know that he's he's calling you today? He's he's inviting you today? He wants to have a friendship with you today, and it doesn't demand that you make your life perfect or that you quit everything that, you know, everything that's fun.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:57:04]:
It's really just saying, lord, if you wanna have a relationship with me, do you want to know me? I I wanna know you. And it's as as if God is extending his hand, and he says, if you take my hand, then we'll be friends. Amen. Right. And you know what? You're gonna be my son. You're gonna be my daughter. And if that's you this evening, you'd like to take God's hand. We're gonna just pray a real simple prayer.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:57:31]:
And, and if that's you, would you guys pray along with me? And maybe for you, it's just the time to just kind of re renew that, you know, that we're gonna pray together. Would you repeat after me? Dear God, thank you that you love me as I am.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:57:46]:
Thank you that you love me as I am.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:57:48]:
But thank you that you see the potential in me.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:57:50]:
Thank you that you see the potential in me.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:57:53]:
Today, Lord.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:57:54]:
Today, Lord.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:57:55]:
I'm grateful.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:57:57]:
I'm grateful.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:57:57]:
That you love me and call me.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:57:59]:
That you love me and call me.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:01]:
I wanna take your hand. I wanna take your hand. So would you come and live inside of me today? So would

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:06]:
you come and live inside of me?

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:08]:
Would you forgive me of my sin? Father, would you strengthen me in the ways that I'm moving forward?

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:16]:
Would you strengthen me in the ways that I am moving forward?

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:19]:
Help me to understand your will.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:22]:
Help me to understand your will.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:23]:
And your ways. And that I might sense your presence more strongly in my life.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:29]:
And I might sense your presence stronger in my life.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:34]:
Would you open up your word.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:35]:
Will you open up your word.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:37]:
So I can understand you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:39]:
So that I can understand.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:40]:
And I can grow. And I can grow. And I can become.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:43]:
And I can become. And I can become.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:45]:
The person you created me to be.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:46]:
The person you created me to be.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:48]:
So thank you for choosing me.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:49]:
So thank you for choosing me.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:51]:
I choose you back.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:52]:
I choose you back.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:54]:
In Jesus name.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:54]:
In Jesus name.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:56]:
Amen. Amen. Amen. Hey. Let's say congratulations to those folks. We pray. Hey. God bless you guys.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:59:03]:
Have a great evening. Have a great weekend.