WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.419 Real joy is not dependent on circumstances. It 00:00:03.419 --> 00:00:05.599 can be a steady source of strength, no matter 00:00:05.599 --> 00:00:08.240 what you're facing. Discover how joy is more 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:10.900 than a feeling, it's a way of life. Order your 00:00:10.900 --> 00:00:13.539 copy of The Strength of Joy by Dean and Jeffrey 00:00:13.539 --> 00:00:16.600 Forrest, now available on Amazon and Kindle. 00:00:18.620 --> 00:00:22.019 Everyone say, never unnoticed. This is week number 00:00:22.019 --> 00:00:31.920 two in that series. Taught me not to use double 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:37.200 negatives. But that's okay. She's in heaven. 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:41.179 She's going to be glad that I'm preaching today, 00:00:41.399 --> 00:00:46.539 right? Never unnoticed. The reason why we named 00:00:46.539 --> 00:00:50.100 it this instead of just naming it always noticed 00:00:50.100 --> 00:00:56.939 is because so often many of us feel unnoticed. 00:01:00.009 --> 00:01:04.890 We feel unnoticed. We feel like no one sees what 00:01:04.890 --> 00:01:08.530 we're doing. Especially when we think we're doing 00:01:08.530 --> 00:01:12.290 something good. We're like, do people really 00:01:12.290 --> 00:01:18.269 notice? You know, this past week, you know, was 00:01:18.269 --> 00:01:22.750 my birthday on Friday. So I got like almost 300 00:01:22.750 --> 00:01:27.189 happy birthdays from a lot of different locations. 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:30.780 So it was kind of hard to keep up with, but I'm 00:01:30.780 --> 00:01:34.439 pretty sure that I went on every single one, 00:01:34.519 --> 00:01:37.819 almost 300. I'm pretty sure I went on every one 00:01:37.819 --> 00:01:42.359 and typed thank you. Because I did not want them 00:01:42.359 --> 00:01:44.819 to think, someone who sent me happy birthday, 00:01:44.900 --> 00:01:46.939 who took the time to send me that, I didn't want 00:01:46.939 --> 00:01:49.040 them to think that it was unnoticed, that they 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:52.819 told me happy birthday. It was noticed. I felt 00:01:52.819 --> 00:01:57.959 appreciated. I felt celebrated. Sometimes we 00:01:57.959 --> 00:02:01.420 feel unnoticed. Even when I put happy birthday 00:02:01.420 --> 00:02:03.500 on people's social media walls and then they 00:02:03.500 --> 00:02:06.000 just never reply to it. It's just like, well, 00:02:06.200 --> 00:02:10.639 did they read it? Do they care? Some people even 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:12.860 block all that on their birthday because they 00:02:12.860 --> 00:02:15.860 don't want all those messages coming in. So they 00:02:15.860 --> 00:02:18.020 change their profile on their birthday so that 00:02:18.020 --> 00:02:21.840 they won't have to notice because it's not available 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:25.319 to leave, to write on their wall and say, happy 00:02:25.319 --> 00:02:29.900 birthday. But this series is about this. If you 00:02:29.900 --> 00:02:35.219 ever feel like you're unnoticed by God, I want 00:02:35.219 --> 00:02:41.060 you to know that you're never unnoticed. Never 00:02:41.060 --> 00:02:45.319 unnoticed. So that's why I have a double negative. 00:02:48.340 --> 00:02:52.439 All right, back to my funny story. Let's see, 00:02:52.539 --> 00:02:55.400 this was off the air before you guys were born. 00:02:58.710 --> 00:03:02.150 Has anyone ever seen the show Candid Camera? 00:03:03.030 --> 00:03:06.669 Used to be a TV show. We could call it one of 00:03:06.669 --> 00:03:10.909 the first reality TV shows. Unlike modern -day 00:03:10.909 --> 00:03:14.889 reality TV shows that are all scripted and have 00:03:14.889 --> 00:03:18.550 nothing to do with reality, somebody wrote out 00:03:18.550 --> 00:03:20.449 the script and how people are going to act and 00:03:20.449 --> 00:03:23.169 respond, and they're just acting this pseudo 00:03:23.169 --> 00:03:27.580 -reality. Does anybody believe what I'm saying? 00:03:28.979 --> 00:03:33.979 I mean, it reminds me of watching Lawrence Welk. 00:03:35.139 --> 00:03:38.680 I know that was older than some of you. Used 00:03:38.680 --> 00:03:41.060 to watch Lawrence Welk every week. Anybody watch 00:03:41.060 --> 00:03:43.259 Lawrence Welk every week? There were only three 00:03:43.259 --> 00:03:47.180 TV channels, you know. And it was like an orchestra 00:03:47.180 --> 00:03:52.659 and a sissy and a Bobby. One of you got that 00:03:52.659 --> 00:03:58.639 joke. Anyway. Here's the funny thing. Ghana thought 00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:02.319 that they were singing all that stuff. Live. 00:04:04.099 --> 00:04:08.520 But they weren't. They were lip syncing. It was 00:04:08.520 --> 00:04:12.000 like the first Milli Vanilli, you know. They 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:13.900 were just lip syncing all that stuff. They'd 00:04:13.900 --> 00:04:16.540 recorded it. And then they were lip syncing it. 00:04:16.620 --> 00:04:18.420 And then we'd gone back and looked at it later. 00:04:18.519 --> 00:04:20.379 And I said, watch your lips. Their lips aren't 00:04:20.379 --> 00:04:24.029 matching what you're hearing. They were lip syncing. 00:04:24.170 --> 00:04:28.430 But candid camera was genuine reality TV because 00:04:28.430 --> 00:04:32.569 they would set up these scenarios where it would 00:04:32.569 --> 00:04:37.230 make people very uncomfortable. And they would 00:04:37.230 --> 00:04:39.589 have the cameras going. But the cameras were 00:04:39.589 --> 00:04:43.310 hidden. They didn't know they were on TV. And 00:04:43.310 --> 00:04:45.430 the situation that they were in and how they 00:04:45.430 --> 00:04:47.370 were responding, I mean, it was making everybody 00:04:47.370 --> 00:04:50.209 very uncomfortable. And then when it just, like, 00:04:50.290 --> 00:04:54.569 freaked them out, All of a sudden they would 00:04:54.569 --> 00:04:59.850 say, smile, you're on candid camera. You were 00:04:59.850 --> 00:05:02.029 on the TV show and you didn't even know you were 00:05:02.029 --> 00:05:06.769 being recorded at the time. So I want to tell 00:05:06.769 --> 00:05:08.910 you today, smile, you're on candid camera. If 00:05:08.910 --> 00:05:10.329 you turn around and look behind you, there's 00:05:10.329 --> 00:05:11.970 a camera right there and there's a camera right 00:05:11.970 --> 00:05:18.129 there. There's cameras everywhere. You are on 00:05:18.129 --> 00:05:22.220 camera coming here. Have you noticed that every 00:05:22.220 --> 00:05:27.100 traffic light has a camera on it? There are different 00:05:27.100 --> 00:05:30.579 shapes and different sizes, but I mean, it's 00:05:30.579 --> 00:05:33.220 rare to find a traffic light without a camera 00:05:33.220 --> 00:05:36.779 on it. Most of them are just watching traffic. 00:05:37.560 --> 00:05:40.220 But then some of them are red light cameras. 00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:43.600 And if you run a red light, you're going to get 00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:47.370 a ticket in the mail. And they're even going 00:05:47.370 --> 00:05:50.370 to show you a video of you running the red light 00:05:50.370 --> 00:05:55.089 so that you can't contest it in any way. It's 00:05:55.089 --> 00:05:59.250 like, yeah, you caught me. If you came to church 00:05:59.250 --> 00:06:02.129 on a toll road today, I don't know if anyone 00:06:02.129 --> 00:06:04.709 came on a toll road today, but there are toll 00:06:04.709 --> 00:06:09.410 cameras. They've closed all the booths. You can't 00:06:09.410 --> 00:06:11.949 pay if you want to. They're either going to send 00:06:11.949 --> 00:06:14.350 you a bill in the mail or you're going to... 00:06:14.569 --> 00:06:17.350 Get a discount by getting a sun pass or something 00:06:17.350 --> 00:06:21.410 like that. But it's all done with cameras. I 00:06:21.410 --> 00:06:23.509 found out a few weeks ago that now there's such 00:06:23.509 --> 00:06:28.410 a thing as a speed limit camera. Have you seen 00:06:28.410 --> 00:06:35.709 one? You sell them. Go get the rocks. Don't have 00:06:35.709 --> 00:06:46.220 to stone. Only inside HOAs. I heard they're legal 00:06:46.220 --> 00:06:51.259 on regular roads. And I heard that they set up 00:06:51.259 --> 00:06:56.120 one in Polk County about three weeks ago, and 00:06:56.120 --> 00:07:01.740 in one day, there was supposed to be 8 ,000 tickets, 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:07.560 speeding tickets, in one day. Now, I don't think 00:07:07.560 --> 00:07:11.160 they did. I think they're still trying to figure 00:07:11.160 --> 00:07:14.579 it out and work it out because... 8 ,000 tickets 00:07:14.579 --> 00:07:32.139 in one day? JT has his hand up. Really? See, 00:07:32.180 --> 00:07:39.079 here's a question I have now. I've always been 00:07:39.079 --> 00:07:42.790 told if you stay at least... nine miles an hour 00:07:42.790 --> 00:07:46.769 under the speed limit, you wouldn't get a ticket. 00:07:49.470 --> 00:07:51.670 But if it's a camera, I don't know. If it's one 00:07:51.670 --> 00:07:53.189 mile an hour over, maybe you're going to get 00:07:53.189 --> 00:07:56.110 a ticket. Who knows? And then there's the school 00:07:56.110 --> 00:07:58.129 cameras. Like I said, there's one right there, 00:07:58.149 --> 00:08:01.009 one right there. They can see my face. The principal, 00:08:01.149 --> 00:08:03.689 I'm sure, could open up her cell phone and see 00:08:03.689 --> 00:08:08.089 what's going on here. Polk County schools, the 00:08:08.089 --> 00:08:11.649 people in charge of facilities. and the superintendent 00:08:11.649 --> 00:08:14.949 of schools, they could open up their camera and 00:08:14.949 --> 00:08:20.149 see what's going on here today. So, I doubt somebody's 00:08:20.149 --> 00:08:24.189 watching us, but they could be. They could be. 00:08:24.490 --> 00:08:29.110 So that's why I need to keep smiling, because 00:08:29.110 --> 00:08:33.669 you're always on candid camera. Last week we 00:08:33.669 --> 00:08:35.210 talked about this, and I think we're going to 00:08:35.210 --> 00:08:37.250 talk about it every week, in Genesis chapter 00:08:37.250 --> 00:08:43.549 16. We see a story. We see the story of Abram, 00:08:43.549 --> 00:08:47.750 Sarai, and Hagar. If you weren't here last week, 00:08:47.909 --> 00:08:51.289 hopefully you're familiar with the story of Abraham, 00:08:51.450 --> 00:08:54.950 but even if you aren't, I'm going to fill you 00:08:54.950 --> 00:09:00.330 in very quickly. Abram later is named Abraham, 00:09:00.610 --> 00:09:05.860 and he's known as the father of our faith. Because 00:09:05.860 --> 00:09:08.759 he followed God. God told him to leave and go 00:09:08.759 --> 00:09:11.840 somewhere that he would show him. He didn't even 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:15.340 know where he was going, but he just trusted 00:09:15.340 --> 00:09:20.320 God enough to just follow God. Well, he's married 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:23.980 to Sarai, who later becomes Sarah when God changed 00:09:23.980 --> 00:09:28.360 their names. But when they went down to Egypt 00:09:28.360 --> 00:09:34.889 during a famine, they were given a servant. Her 00:09:34.889 --> 00:09:39.850 name was Hagar. And she was Sarah's handmaid. 00:09:40.710 --> 00:09:45.870 Now, God promised Abram something. God promised 00:09:45.870 --> 00:09:48.889 Abram something. One night he took him outside 00:09:48.889 --> 00:09:50.889 and told him to look up at the stars. And he 00:09:50.889 --> 00:09:54.950 says, your descendants are going to outnumber 00:09:54.950 --> 00:09:59.950 the stars. He said, you're going to be the father 00:09:59.950 --> 00:10:03.429 of many nations. God's promise. Everybody say 00:10:03.429 --> 00:10:08.259 promise. Well, there's a problem. When he first 00:10:08.259 --> 00:10:11.639 got the promise, he's 75 years old and he doesn't 00:10:11.639 --> 00:10:18.379 have a child. Not one. And as time passed, he 00:10:18.379 --> 00:10:21.159 and Sarah still didn't have a child. How are 00:10:21.159 --> 00:10:23.080 your descendants going to outnumber the stars 00:10:23.080 --> 00:10:24.860 and you're going to be the father of nations, 00:10:25.179 --> 00:10:27.860 father of many nations, and you don't even have 00:10:27.860 --> 00:10:35.360 one child? So, Sarah, his wife, Had this big 00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:39.500 idea. She said, well, you know, God's made us 00:10:39.500 --> 00:10:41.480 a promise, and the promise hasn't been fulfilled 00:10:41.480 --> 00:10:48.600 yet, so obviously God needs some help. How many 00:10:48.600 --> 00:10:51.799 of you know that's not going to be a good thing 00:10:51.799 --> 00:10:55.279 for you to think? Well, God's not doing what 00:10:55.279 --> 00:10:57.519 He said He was going to do, so He obviously needs 00:10:57.519 --> 00:11:06.289 my help. So Sarai said, Abram, I have this handmaiden. 00:11:06.289 --> 00:11:10.769 I have this servant. I have this slave. And Abram, 00:11:10.809 --> 00:11:16.450 we need to help God out. And I want my handmaiden 00:11:16.450 --> 00:11:20.929 to be a surrogate mother to fulfill God's promise. 00:11:24.129 --> 00:11:31.070 Well, not long after, Hagar is expecting. And 00:11:31.070 --> 00:11:34.590 here's the problem. The Bible says when Hagar 00:11:34.590 --> 00:11:37.529 became pregnant, all of a sudden she developed 00:11:37.529 --> 00:11:40.590 an attitude. Everybody say attitude. She had 00:11:40.590 --> 00:11:44.850 an attitude. She began to treat Sarah with contempt. 00:11:46.590 --> 00:11:53.769 She began to like, you know, I'm having a baby. 00:11:55.169 --> 00:12:03.690 You can't have a baby. I'm having a baby. How 00:12:03.690 --> 00:12:05.070 many of you know that probably didn't go well 00:12:05.070 --> 00:12:11.610 with Sarah? Didn't go well with Sarah. So Sarah 00:12:11.610 --> 00:12:13.669 began to make her life difficult, the Bible says. 00:12:13.809 --> 00:12:18.549 It's like, really? You're going to act that way 00:12:18.549 --> 00:12:23.509 towards me? Sarah made her life difficult, and 00:12:23.509 --> 00:12:29.350 Hagar ran away out into the wilderness. And God 00:12:29.350 --> 00:12:33.860 met her in the wilderness. It says the angel 00:12:33.860 --> 00:12:39.179 of the Lord. But this is a theophany or a Christophany. 00:12:39.259 --> 00:12:43.200 This is not just a regular angel, not just a 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:47.879 regular messenger of God. This is God Himself 00:12:47.879 --> 00:12:54.799 appearing in human form. He didn't take on human 00:12:54.799 --> 00:12:57.179 form at this time, but He appeared that way. 00:12:57.620 --> 00:13:01.740 Just like an angel can appear like a person, 00:13:02.509 --> 00:13:05.690 And the Bible says we can entertain angels unaware. 00:13:07.750 --> 00:13:10.169 Sometimes we may be dealing with someone who 00:13:10.169 --> 00:13:13.450 we think is a person, but it could be an angel 00:13:13.450 --> 00:13:19.350 that God has sent. Well, this is the angel of 00:13:19.350 --> 00:13:24.149 the Lord. This is God Himself appearing as a 00:13:24.149 --> 00:13:28.330 human to Hagar. And He says, Hagar, I want you 00:13:28.330 --> 00:13:32.600 to run away. You need to go back. You need to 00:13:32.600 --> 00:13:38.120 go back to Abram and Sarah. And she did. But 00:13:38.120 --> 00:13:42.120 in this encounter, we found out one of God's 00:13:42.120 --> 00:13:46.580 names. Now, if you've been here through the months, 00:13:46.700 --> 00:13:50.600 you know, we did a series on Hello, My Name is 00:13:50.600 --> 00:13:55.700 God. And we talked about so many names of God, 00:13:55.820 --> 00:13:59.600 how God has revealed Himself to us through the 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:03.500 Word of God by... telling us who he is, identity, 00:14:04.019 --> 00:14:12.399 relationship, and activity. Who he is, what kind 00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:15.659 of relationship he wants to be in with you and 00:14:15.659 --> 00:14:20.620 me, what he wants to do in our lives, who he 00:14:20.620 --> 00:14:23.639 wants to be, the activity that he wants to do 00:14:23.639 --> 00:14:25.960 in our lives, we find out through his names. 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:32.120 But we did not study this name. We find out that 00:14:32.120 --> 00:14:37.539 God is El Roi. You pronounce it R -O -H dash 00:14:37.539 --> 00:14:40.960 capital E -E. Go figure. You pronounce it however 00:14:40.960 --> 00:14:49.840 you want to. El Roi. As good as I can come up 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:56.899 with. Or you could say El Roy. El is an abbreviation 00:14:56.899 --> 00:14:59.769 for Elohim. We talked about this last week. Which 00:14:59.769 --> 00:15:04.389 means he is the supreme and mighty God. And roi 00:15:04.389 --> 00:15:12.549 means he sees. So he is the supreme mighty God 00:15:12.549 --> 00:15:20.850 who sees me. That's who God is. That's who he 00:15:20.850 --> 00:15:27.629 is. He is the supreme mighty God who sees you. 00:15:31.399 --> 00:15:34.639 So you are never unnoticed by God because God 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:42.360 sees. God sees you. The supreme and mighty God 00:15:42.360 --> 00:15:48.139 sees you personally. He sees every tear. He sees 00:15:48.139 --> 00:15:52.539 every act of obedience. He sees every sacrifice. 00:15:52.980 --> 00:15:58.480 He sees every act of faithfulness. Nothing goes 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:04.289 unnoticed by God. Nothing. Now for us to find 00:16:04.289 --> 00:16:08.789 out that God is the supreme and mighty God who 00:16:08.789 --> 00:16:15.769 sees me, you may say, there's some times when 00:16:15.769 --> 00:16:21.210 I'm hoping He doesn't see me. I hope He doesn't 00:16:21.210 --> 00:16:25.990 see me when I'm responding poorly. I hope He 00:16:25.990 --> 00:16:31.220 doesn't see me. You know, when I'm not being 00:16:31.220 --> 00:16:36.039 obedient, when I'm wanting my way more than His 00:16:36.039 --> 00:16:38.179 way, I mean, I hope He's not really paying attention. 00:16:40.299 --> 00:16:45.019 Come on, somebody. Smile, something. Just go 00:16:45.019 --> 00:16:46.399 ahead and say, I'm glad He's talking about that 00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:49.379 person sitting beside me today. Hallelujah. They 00:16:49.379 --> 00:16:57.580 need this. But He sees you. He sees you. And 00:16:57.580 --> 00:17:00.799 I want this to be not frightening, but encouraging. 00:17:04.140 --> 00:17:09.299 He sees when you obey. He sees when you sacrifice. 00:17:09.559 --> 00:17:14.319 He sees when you trust Him and act in faith. 00:17:14.460 --> 00:17:21.700 He sees it. He sees it. 2 Chronicles 16, 9. It's 00:17:21.700 --> 00:17:24.700 been one of my favorite verses for a long time. 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:29.420 When I was on the road, preaching, I would use 00:17:29.420 --> 00:17:33.839 this verse almost every week. Not as the message, 00:17:33.900 --> 00:17:39.480 but as hey, we need to be aware of this. For 00:17:39.480 --> 00:17:43.500 the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout 00:17:43.500 --> 00:17:48.640 the whole earth to show himself strong on behalf 00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:55.700 of those whose heart is loyal to him. What an 00:17:55.700 --> 00:17:59.960 amazing verse. It tells us that He's the God 00:17:59.960 --> 00:18:04.480 who sees people. His eyes are going back and 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:07.920 forth through the whole earth. And what's most 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:13.740 important to God? When He looks at you, is He 00:18:13.740 --> 00:18:16.339 most concerned about what you chose to put on 00:18:16.339 --> 00:18:20.480 to wear today? I mean, He knows that. He sees 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:30.319 that. Is he most concerned about your hair? Herb 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:39.240 said, thank God. Is your hair styled? Is that 00:18:39.240 --> 00:18:46.059 what he's concerned about? No. The Bible tells 00:18:46.059 --> 00:18:50.450 us that God doesn't see like we see. Because 00:18:50.450 --> 00:18:52.569 when we look at each other, we look at the appearance. 00:18:53.109 --> 00:18:56.250 We look at the outward appearance. Because that's 00:18:56.250 --> 00:18:58.589 what we can see with our natural eyes. So we 00:18:58.589 --> 00:19:01.470 look at the natural appearance. But the Bible 00:19:01.470 --> 00:19:06.049 says that God doesn't see like we see. He looks 00:19:06.049 --> 00:19:09.930 at the heart. So He can look right through us, 00:19:10.069 --> 00:19:14.289 whatever we look like on the outside, and He 00:19:14.289 --> 00:19:17.390 can see the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. 00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:22.279 And God's eyes are running back and forth throughout 00:19:22.279 --> 00:19:25.140 the whole earth, back and forth between each 00:19:25.140 --> 00:19:29.359 row of chairs in this gymnasium. God is looking. 00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:31.660 He's searching. He's looking for something. He's 00:19:31.660 --> 00:19:36.640 looking for hearts that are loyal to Him. He's 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:38.779 looking for hearts that are committed to Him, 00:19:38.839 --> 00:19:43.059 fully committed to Him. And when He finds it, 00:19:43.099 --> 00:19:46.059 when He finds somebody who has a heart that's 00:19:46.059 --> 00:19:50.690 fully committed to Him, I think he smiles and 00:19:50.690 --> 00:19:57.470 he says, I'm going to show my goodness and my 00:19:57.470 --> 00:20:05.009 faithfulness and my favor through them. I'm going 00:20:05.009 --> 00:20:12.509 to show myself strong through them. He's the 00:20:12.509 --> 00:20:16.910 God who sees. Notice what God's looking for. 00:20:16.950 --> 00:20:18.509 He's not looking for talent. He's not looking 00:20:18.509 --> 00:20:21.410 for influence. He's searching for hearts that 00:20:21.410 --> 00:20:25.430 are fully committed to Him. When we're fully 00:20:25.430 --> 00:20:29.069 committed to Him, we're going to experience His 00:20:29.069 --> 00:20:34.109 goodness and favor. God doesn't simply look and 00:20:34.109 --> 00:20:41.789 observe and calculate. He responds. Look to the 00:20:41.789 --> 00:20:43.430 person beside you and tell them God responds. 00:20:44.839 --> 00:20:47.160 And throughout this series, we're going to be 00:20:47.160 --> 00:20:50.359 studying several biblical accounts where God 00:20:50.359 --> 00:20:55.259 sees the hearts of people, and then He reveals 00:20:55.259 --> 00:21:00.799 what He sees to us. How many of you are thankful 00:21:00.799 --> 00:21:02.940 that God's not always revealing the thoughts 00:21:02.940 --> 00:21:05.579 and intentions of your hearts to everybody in 00:21:05.579 --> 00:21:10.099 the room? Or everybody for the next 2 ,000 years 00:21:10.099 --> 00:21:13.210 is going to... Even after you're gone, people 00:21:13.210 --> 00:21:14.890 are going to remember what your heart looked 00:21:14.890 --> 00:21:19.829 like. Well, that's what we're seeing in these 00:21:19.829 --> 00:21:26.230 stories. Today we're looking at Mark 10. I can 00:21:26.230 --> 00:21:30.349 preach louder than her. She's fine. Mark 10, 00:21:30.430 --> 00:21:36.529 verses 17 through 30. Mark 10, verses 17 through 00:21:36.529 --> 00:21:42.230 30. As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, 00:21:42.529 --> 00:21:47.549 a man came running up to him, knelt down. Listen 00:21:47.549 --> 00:21:51.190 to his posture. He ran up to Jesus and he knelt 00:21:51.190 --> 00:21:56.609 down before Jesus. This wasn't just a casual 00:21:56.609 --> 00:22:03.250 walk by. He sought Jesus out. He ran up to him. 00:22:03.269 --> 00:22:07.799 He knelt down. And he asked him a question. Good 00:22:07.799 --> 00:22:14.220 teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? 00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:19.920 That lets us know that he's heard Jesus talk 00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:29.539 about eternal life. What do I have to do to get 00:22:29.539 --> 00:22:31.480 this eternal life that you've been talking about? 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:36.880 What do I have to do? Hey, good teacher. And 00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:38.940 then Jesus replied. He said, wait a minute. Why 00:22:38.940 --> 00:22:43.660 do you call me good? Why do you call me good? 00:22:45.319 --> 00:22:49.819 Only God is truly good. Why do you call me good? 00:22:52.859 --> 00:22:55.099 I mean, obviously, if you run up to somebody 00:22:55.099 --> 00:22:58.859 and kneel down in front of them, you have some 00:22:58.859 --> 00:23:05.039 great respect for them. This wasn't the first 00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:07.079 time this young man had been around Jesus, even 00:23:07.079 --> 00:23:09.319 though the Bible doesn't say. Now this guy who 00:23:09.319 --> 00:23:11.960 had been hanging out, this guy who had been up 00:23:11.960 --> 00:23:14.720 on the mountainside listening to Jesus, this 00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:17.859 guy who always walked where Jesus walked and 00:23:17.859 --> 00:23:20.539 wanted to hear what he had to say, this guy who 00:23:20.539 --> 00:23:23.839 was astonished with Jesus' words, the Bible doesn't 00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:27.180 tell us that. But how many of you know it's okay 00:23:27.180 --> 00:23:31.259 to read between the lines a little bit? Based 00:23:31.259 --> 00:23:33.599 on him running to Jesus, falling on his feet, 00:23:33.660 --> 00:23:37.200 calling him a good teacher. This man had been 00:23:37.200 --> 00:23:41.720 around Jesus. He recognized something. He recognized 00:23:41.720 --> 00:23:45.119 that Jesus was different than any of the other 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:50.279 religious teachers. He knew that Jesus spoke 00:23:50.279 --> 00:23:52.759 with some authority that he had never heard before. 00:23:52.859 --> 00:23:55.079 You know, that's one of the outstanding things 00:23:55.079 --> 00:23:59.200 about Jesus that we see in the Bible is his words. 00:24:00.839 --> 00:24:03.299 How he spoke differently than everyone else. 00:24:06.420 --> 00:24:11.700 This guy respected Jesus. Now I'm not sure if 00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:14.920 he had already come to the point where he believed 00:24:14.920 --> 00:24:17.440 that Jesus was the Messiah, the promised one 00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:20.519 from God. I'm not sure if he had gone that far. 00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:26.779 But I'm sure he at least considered Jesus a prophet 00:24:26.779 --> 00:24:32.099 of God who was speaking. On behalf of God. Are 00:24:32.099 --> 00:24:40.519 you with me? Then Jesus goes on. He didn't allow 00:24:40.519 --> 00:24:42.839 him to answer. Why do you call me good? Because 00:24:42.839 --> 00:24:45.220 only God's good. He just kept on speaking. He 00:24:45.220 --> 00:24:50.160 said. But to answer your question. You know the 00:24:50.160 --> 00:24:56.279 commandments. Good Jewish boy. You know the commandments. 00:24:57.599 --> 00:25:00.960 You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. 00:25:01.140 --> 00:25:05.759 You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. 00:25:06.220 --> 00:25:11.140 You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father 00:25:11.140 --> 00:25:17.720 and mother. So Jesus said, okay, you're looking 00:25:17.720 --> 00:25:21.680 for something. Here's your question. You're looking 00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:27.759 for something you can do to get eternal life. 00:25:30.670 --> 00:25:33.549 So you're asking me what you can do, how you 00:25:33.549 --> 00:25:41.170 can work for it, and get eternal life. So let's 00:25:41.170 --> 00:25:44.950 just go through these questions. How many of 00:25:44.950 --> 00:25:47.690 you have never murdered someone? Raise your hand. 00:25:51.690 --> 00:25:54.109 How many of you have never committed adultery? 00:25:54.190 --> 00:25:58.269 Raise your hand. How many of you have never robbed 00:25:58.269 --> 00:26:00.509 a bank or stole something out of a store? Raise 00:26:00.509 --> 00:26:04.930 your hand. Some of you's hands aren't up. Hey, 00:26:05.069 --> 00:26:08.329 somebody sit beside you. Tap your wallet. Make 00:26:08.329 --> 00:26:13.430 sure your wallet's still there. How many of you 00:26:13.430 --> 00:26:20.569 have not testified falsely? You haven't said 00:26:20.569 --> 00:26:24.170 something about someone else that was not true? 00:26:31.210 --> 00:26:35.170 Some people take this and say, how many of you 00:26:35.170 --> 00:26:40.529 have never told a lie? Raise your hand. How many 00:26:40.529 --> 00:26:44.269 of you have never, ever cheated anybody? Raise 00:26:44.269 --> 00:26:49.609 your hand. How many of you have always, always, 00:26:49.769 --> 00:26:52.990 always, every day, every moment, honored your 00:26:52.990 --> 00:27:01.190 father and mother? We started out pretty good. 00:27:04.210 --> 00:27:08.210 What do you think? You think he's always honored 00:27:08.210 --> 00:27:12.569 you? Every time you've... He was raising his 00:27:12.569 --> 00:27:15.230 hands. I'm just going to call him out. Every 00:27:15.230 --> 00:27:17.369 time you've asked him to do something, he's always 00:27:17.369 --> 00:27:24.690 smiled real big and happily done it. Oh, when 00:27:24.690 --> 00:27:27.839 it takes you an hour to wake him up. Did he kind 00:27:27.839 --> 00:27:29.420 of hear you and respond to you the first time, 00:27:29.460 --> 00:27:37.799 but he just didn't get out of bed? Okay. So, 00:27:37.940 --> 00:27:43.279 Jesus goes through these commandments with this 00:27:43.279 --> 00:27:46.539 young man. What do you want to do? What can I 00:27:46.539 --> 00:27:49.539 do? How can I work for it and have this eternal 00:27:49.539 --> 00:27:54.539 life that you keep talking about? Now listen 00:27:54.539 --> 00:28:02.000 to what he said. Teacher, the man replied, I've 00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:07.380 obeyed all these commandments since I was just 00:28:07.380 --> 00:28:12.319 a little boy. I've obeyed all these commandments. 00:28:17.500 --> 00:28:19.680 How many of you think Jesus could have went, 00:28:19.799 --> 00:28:25.319 liar? Right there in front of everybody. You 00:28:25.319 --> 00:28:35.029 lying. no, you haven't kept them all. That was 00:28:35.029 --> 00:28:42.430 a bold and a prideful response. Let's give him 00:28:42.430 --> 00:28:51.150 the impossible, reasonable doubt. Let's say he 00:28:51.150 --> 00:28:56.369 kept them all, which we know that he didn't. 00:29:02.410 --> 00:29:05.750 Here's a bigger deal. Here's a bigger commandment 00:29:05.750 --> 00:29:17.029 that Jesus knows He hasn't kept. Here's the way 00:29:17.029 --> 00:29:23.829 we can put it. Honor the Lord your God and don't 00:29:23.829 --> 00:29:30.569 have any gods before Him. Don't let there be 00:29:30.569 --> 00:29:33.410 anything in your life that's more important to 00:29:33.410 --> 00:29:35.970 you than God. Don't let there be anything in 00:29:35.970 --> 00:29:38.990 your life that you trust more than you trust 00:29:38.990 --> 00:29:43.730 God, because that's an idol. It's not a little 00:29:43.730 --> 00:29:50.250 statue, but it's an idol. Looking at the man, 00:29:50.410 --> 00:29:55.750 listen to this. Jesus felt genuine love for him. 00:29:57.190 --> 00:30:02.529 Jesus loved him. And he says this, there's still 00:30:02.529 --> 00:30:08.069 one thing you haven't done. And here's what he 00:30:08.069 --> 00:30:13.609 told him to do. Go and sell all your possessions 00:30:13.609 --> 00:30:18.970 and give the money to the poor. And you will 00:30:18.970 --> 00:30:24.730 have treasure in heaven. Then, after you do that, 00:30:24.910 --> 00:30:36.809 come follow me. Listen, sometimes the greatest 00:30:36.809 --> 00:30:40.789 expression of God's love for you and for me is 00:30:40.789 --> 00:30:45.150 exposing the thing in our life that is keeping 00:30:45.150 --> 00:30:50.529 us from having His best. I'm going to say that 00:30:50.529 --> 00:30:53.569 again. If you're writing notes, you need to write 00:30:53.569 --> 00:30:57.690 this down. Sometimes the greatest expression 00:30:57.690 --> 00:31:01.269 of God's love is exposing, after we are in Him 00:31:01.269 --> 00:31:03.829 and we're in Christ and we're following Him, 00:31:04.279 --> 00:31:06.779 Sometimes the greatest expression of His love 00:31:06.779 --> 00:31:12.039 is exposing something in our lives that's keeping 00:31:12.039 --> 00:31:20.039 us from having His best. We don't like things 00:31:20.039 --> 00:31:24.380 being exposed in our hearts. It's not always 00:31:24.380 --> 00:31:29.599 the ooey -gooey feelings of love, but it's important. 00:31:31.339 --> 00:31:34.059 Because God wants you to experience His best. 00:31:37.440 --> 00:31:39.799 And He's saying, if you'll just deal with this, 00:31:39.980 --> 00:31:50.119 you can experience my best. This confrontation. 00:31:52.559 --> 00:31:55.119 And I believe things like this need to happen 00:31:55.119 --> 00:31:58.339 regularly in our lives. We need to be confronted 00:31:58.339 --> 00:32:01.579 with the Word of God. We need to be challenged 00:32:01.579 --> 00:32:05.480 by the Word of God concerning the things that 00:32:05.480 --> 00:32:08.819 are in our lives that are keeping us from His 00:32:08.819 --> 00:32:12.140 best. We get confronted and then we can either 00:32:12.140 --> 00:32:16.640 be offended or we can respond because the confrontation 00:32:16.640 --> 00:32:26.319 is an invitation. His confrontation is an invitation 00:32:26.319 --> 00:32:30.509 for you and for me to come up higher. And for 00:32:30.509 --> 00:32:33.990 you and for me to take hold of something better 00:32:33.990 --> 00:32:39.990 than what we've been dealing with. So the confrontation 00:32:39.990 --> 00:32:45.849 to this young man was an invitation. Here's how 00:32:45.849 --> 00:32:53.089 he responded. Verse 22. At this, the man's face 00:32:53.089 --> 00:33:00.339 fell. He's like, good teacher. What must I do 00:33:00.339 --> 00:33:05.859 to inherit eternal life? Yeah, I've kept all 00:33:05.859 --> 00:33:10.160 those commandments. What else? Sell all I have 00:33:10.160 --> 00:33:26.619 and give to the poor? That's what he did, right? 00:33:28.400 --> 00:33:32.299 At that word from Jesus, his face fell and he 00:33:32.299 --> 00:33:35.839 went away sad because he had many possessions. 00:33:41.740 --> 00:33:46.779 It's like, if that's what it takes, I'm not going 00:33:46.779 --> 00:33:54.900 to have it. Nailed it. Jesus. Jesus nailed it. 00:33:57.549 --> 00:34:00.309 Because this young man trusted his possessions 00:34:00.309 --> 00:34:07.470 more than he trusted Jesus. Remember, this story 00:34:07.470 --> 00:34:09.489 didn't take place in a vacuum like we talked 00:34:09.489 --> 00:34:14.610 about last week. I mean, if he's been following 00:34:14.610 --> 00:34:16.570 Jesus around, he had been to the synagogue, he 00:34:16.570 --> 00:34:21.969 had been to the temple, he knew that God made 00:34:21.969 --> 00:34:26.329 promises to people who gave. And if people give, 00:34:26.989 --> 00:34:29.710 when God leads them to give or commands them 00:34:29.710 --> 00:34:33.050 to give or His Word tells them to give and they 00:34:33.050 --> 00:34:38.269 give in response to that, there's always a blessing 00:34:38.269 --> 00:34:43.210 attached. I'm not sure if I've got it in here 00:34:43.210 --> 00:34:45.250 or not. I might go ahead and say something that's 00:34:45.250 --> 00:34:47.550 coming up. But if I do, just forgive me because 00:34:47.550 --> 00:34:52.349 I can't memorize every slide. Last week, the 00:34:52.349 --> 00:34:57.760 widow... put in her two mites, which equals about 00:34:57.760 --> 00:35:03.559 $1 .88 in today's money. And I've got a question. 00:35:04.800 --> 00:35:07.059 Didn't Jesus say she gave more than anybody, 00:35:07.340 --> 00:35:10.280 even though she only gave $1 .88? And the reason 00:35:10.280 --> 00:35:13.099 why Jesus said she gave more than anybody is 00:35:13.099 --> 00:35:18.880 because she gave all she had. So it's easy for 00:35:18.880 --> 00:35:21.039 us to sit here today and say, well, you know, 00:35:21.039 --> 00:35:23.460 it wasn't a big deal for that widow to give away 00:35:23.460 --> 00:35:26.630 all she had. But it's a big deal for this rich 00:35:26.630 --> 00:35:29.969 guy to give away all he had. Look at the person 00:35:29.969 --> 00:35:33.730 beside you and say, no, it's the same. It's the 00:35:33.730 --> 00:35:38.530 same. It's the same level of trust. No difference. 00:35:40.250 --> 00:35:45.210 He knew the promises of God. He just didn't trust 00:35:45.210 --> 00:35:50.730 it. He trusted his possessions more than he trusted 00:35:50.730 --> 00:35:55.760 Jesus. There it is. I couldn't remember if I 00:35:55.760 --> 00:35:59.159 had it there or not. I'll go ahead and read it. 00:35:59.199 --> 00:36:01.059 Last week, we looked at the story of the woman 00:36:01.059 --> 00:36:03.980 putting $1 .88 in the offering. That was all 00:36:03.980 --> 00:36:08.000 she had. And we talked about this, how her offering 00:36:08.000 --> 00:36:12.000 demonstrated her complete trust and confidence 00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:16.539 in God. If you weren't here last week, I'll ask 00:36:16.539 --> 00:36:19.199 you the same question as last week. Do you think 00:36:19.199 --> 00:36:26.059 she went hungry? Some of you are not sure. Do 00:36:26.059 --> 00:36:27.900 you think she went hungry because she gave all 00:36:27.900 --> 00:36:33.400 she had? If you think she went hungry because 00:36:33.400 --> 00:36:35.679 she gave all she had, then you don't trust God. 00:36:36.980 --> 00:36:40.539 She trusted God. We talked about, she knew about 00:36:40.539 --> 00:36:43.300 the widow that only had a little bit of flour 00:36:43.300 --> 00:36:46.360 and oil. She was going to make her last meal. 00:36:46.920 --> 00:36:50.460 But God said, through the prophet, the prophet, 00:36:50.639 --> 00:36:54.019 God sent him there and he said, make me a biscuit 00:36:54.019 --> 00:36:57.699 first. She only had enough for two biscuits, 00:36:57.840 --> 00:37:00.559 but the prophet said, make a biscuit for me first 00:37:00.559 --> 00:37:02.840 before you make one for you and your son. She 00:37:02.840 --> 00:37:05.360 was going to make two biscuits. That was all 00:37:05.360 --> 00:37:08.099 their food. She was going to die. Her son was 00:37:08.099 --> 00:37:10.360 going to die of starvation. It was a time of 00:37:10.360 --> 00:37:20.320 famine. And God had the audacity. To tell her 00:37:20.320 --> 00:37:27.239 to give the first portion to the prophet. And 00:37:27.239 --> 00:37:30.159 like I said, in our culture, it's like, really? 00:37:31.340 --> 00:37:36.599 I'm offended. Why didn't you go to the richest 00:37:36.599 --> 00:37:42.179 person in town? Well, the richest person in town 00:37:42.179 --> 00:37:44.159 didn't need the blessing as much as the widow 00:37:44.159 --> 00:37:46.139 who was going to have her last meal and die anyway. 00:37:48.010 --> 00:37:53.449 She needed some help. She was in desperate need 00:37:53.449 --> 00:37:56.949 for a miracle. Or either she was going to die. 00:37:58.090 --> 00:38:01.369 But the miracle came when she obeyed God and 00:38:01.369 --> 00:38:09.469 gave first. And then the Bible says her flour 00:38:09.469 --> 00:38:12.630 and her oil did not fail for months and months 00:38:12.630 --> 00:38:14.869 and months and months. Even though it was just 00:38:14.869 --> 00:38:19.800 enough for two little biscuits. A miracle every 00:38:19.800 --> 00:38:24.260 day. Because every day she made the first biscuit 00:38:24.260 --> 00:38:27.360 for the prophet. Even though it looked like she 00:38:27.360 --> 00:38:32.599 only had a little bit. How many of you know God 00:38:32.599 --> 00:38:36.079 didn't want to take what she had? God wanted 00:38:36.079 --> 00:38:42.860 to multiply what she had. Hallelujah. I'm going 00:38:42.860 --> 00:38:44.699 to tell you the same thing. God does not want 00:38:44.699 --> 00:38:47.760 to take what you have. God wants to multiply 00:38:47.760 --> 00:38:53.320 what you have. He's the same God. He didn't want 00:38:53.320 --> 00:38:55.920 to take everything this rich young ruler had. 00:38:57.400 --> 00:38:59.900 We're going to find out right in line with the 00:38:59.900 --> 00:39:02.300 text. He wanted to multiply what the rich young 00:39:02.300 --> 00:39:06.199 ruler had. That's who God is. God's not a God 00:39:06.199 --> 00:39:08.039 of subtraction. God's a God of multiplication. 00:39:12.039 --> 00:39:14.539 And if you get mad because I say that, it's because 00:39:14.539 --> 00:39:18.570 you don't trust him. You've never proven Him. 00:39:18.670 --> 00:39:22.070 You've never tried Him in this. Put Him to the 00:39:22.070 --> 00:39:24.849 test like the Bible says and discover that He's 00:39:24.849 --> 00:39:30.829 a good God. Sometimes you've got to wait a little 00:39:30.829 --> 00:39:38.510 while but stay in faith. Stay in faith. Listen, 00:39:38.650 --> 00:39:42.150 this young man missed out on a couple of things. 00:39:42.769 --> 00:39:47.420 The first thing is He missed out on being one 00:39:47.420 --> 00:39:52.639 of Jesus' disciples. I don't know if you've ever 00:39:52.639 --> 00:39:55.519 considered this or not. I know I'm not the only 00:39:55.519 --> 00:39:59.500 person who's ever said it, but Jesus told him, 00:39:59.539 --> 00:40:03.659 he said, come follow me. It's the same call to 00:40:03.659 --> 00:40:09.039 other disciples. But this man missed out on being 00:40:09.039 --> 00:40:11.639 one of Jesus' disciples because his possessions 00:40:11.639 --> 00:40:16.380 were more valuable to him. than obeying Jesus 00:40:16.380 --> 00:40:22.639 and following Jesus. 1 Timothy 6 .10 says this, 00:40:23.199 --> 00:40:29.320 For the love of money is the root of all kinds 00:40:29.320 --> 00:40:36.099 of evil. And some people, craving money, have 00:40:36.099 --> 00:40:40.619 wandered away from the true faith and pierced 00:40:40.619 --> 00:40:48.619 themselves with many sorrows. Now you might have 00:40:48.619 --> 00:40:50.960 heard somebody say before, money is the root 00:40:50.960 --> 00:40:57.420 of all evil. But that's not true. The love of 00:40:57.420 --> 00:41:03.139 money is the root of all evil. I'm going to go 00:41:03.139 --> 00:41:06.159 ahead and throw this out there. You can love 00:41:06.159 --> 00:41:08.519 money and not have a quarter in your pocket. 00:41:13.300 --> 00:41:17.190 Just like you can love money if you have... A 00:41:17.190 --> 00:41:26.090 trillion dollars in your bank account. The love 00:41:26.090 --> 00:41:28.210 of money doesn't depend on how much you have 00:41:28.210 --> 00:41:32.789 or how much you don't have. Some people who have 00:41:32.789 --> 00:41:35.510 nothing are just always thinking about money. 00:41:39.010 --> 00:41:49.980 When they don't have anything. Our words reveal 00:41:49.980 --> 00:42:03.579 the passion of our hearts. Our words reveal the 00:42:03.579 --> 00:42:09.579 treasure of our hearts. Our words reveal what 00:42:09.579 --> 00:42:18.539 we love the most. What we desire the most. The 00:42:18.539 --> 00:42:21.760 love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. 00:42:23.880 --> 00:42:25.780 How many of you know the widow who put in the 00:42:25.780 --> 00:42:35.219 $1 .88? She didn't love money. This guy, Jesus 00:42:35.219 --> 00:42:39.280 said, follow me, and he's just like, can't do 00:42:39.280 --> 00:42:44.380 it, Jesus. I love my stuff more than I respect 00:42:44.380 --> 00:42:54.099 you. The story continues. Just like Jesus taught 00:42:54.099 --> 00:42:56.579 His disciples from the widow's offering. I mean, 00:42:56.599 --> 00:42:57.960 He was standing there watching the offering. 00:42:58.239 --> 00:43:00.619 And after she put in the offering, He says, Guys, 00:43:00.699 --> 00:43:04.340 come here. I want to tell you something. I want 00:43:04.340 --> 00:43:09.300 to point out something to you. I don't count 00:43:09.300 --> 00:43:14.739 the same way you count. Heaven doesn't count 00:43:14.739 --> 00:43:21.110 the same way you count. It's a lot of rich people 00:43:21.110 --> 00:43:25.829 put in some pretty big offerings. But this little 00:43:25.829 --> 00:43:28.610 lady who put in $1 .88, she gave more than everybody. 00:43:31.949 --> 00:43:37.909 Insignificant to us. But exploding in heaven. 00:43:41.550 --> 00:43:44.230 We're still talking about it 2 ,000 years later. 00:43:47.150 --> 00:43:49.750 So just like Jesus taught his disciples from 00:43:49.750 --> 00:43:51.610 the widow's offering, now he's going to teach 00:43:51.610 --> 00:43:54.650 his disciples again. He says, hey guys, come 00:43:54.650 --> 00:43:58.369 here. Jesus looked around. Come here. I want 00:43:58.369 --> 00:44:00.530 you to get something. I want you to know something. 00:44:04.110 --> 00:44:12.289 Hey guys, it's hard for rich people to enter 00:44:12.289 --> 00:44:20.059 the kingdom of God. How hard is it for the rich 00:44:20.059 --> 00:44:24.619 to enter the kingdom of God? And they went, what? 00:44:28.400 --> 00:44:36.119 What? It's amazing. But Jesus said it again. 00:44:36.179 --> 00:44:39.659 Dear children, it's very hard to enter the kingdom 00:44:39.659 --> 00:44:47.869 of God. It's hard to enter the kingdom. To enter 00:44:47.869 --> 00:44:51.650 the kingdom of God, you've got to come to the 00:44:51.650 --> 00:44:55.789 point where you trust Jesus more than you trust 00:44:55.789 --> 00:44:58.989 yourself. You've got to trust Jesus more than 00:44:58.989 --> 00:45:03.369 you trust your stuff. Hello? To enter the kingdom 00:45:03.369 --> 00:45:07.309 of God, you have to confess Jesus as Lord. It's 00:45:07.309 --> 00:45:11.349 like, Jesus, all that I am, all that I have is 00:45:11.349 --> 00:45:16.329 now yours. I am yours. I yield myself to you. 00:45:17.969 --> 00:45:20.989 You are now my master. You're now my boss. You're 00:45:20.989 --> 00:45:24.170 now the one in charge of my life. And since you're 00:45:24.170 --> 00:45:26.110 in charge of my life, that puts you in charge 00:45:26.110 --> 00:45:29.769 of everything, every part of my life, every possession 00:45:29.769 --> 00:45:38.969 of my life. Jesus, you're in charge. Then he 00:45:38.969 --> 00:45:41.869 said this. In fact, it's easier for a camel to 00:45:41.869 --> 00:45:44.269 go through the eye of a needle than for a rich 00:45:44.269 --> 00:45:49.550 person to enter the kingdom of God. We need to 00:45:49.550 --> 00:45:51.309 start making a big needle if we're going to put 00:45:51.309 --> 00:45:59.469 a camel through it. I'm not going to go there. 00:45:59.590 --> 00:46:04.230 Anyway. Some preachers have come up with the 00:46:04.230 --> 00:46:09.469 idea that there's a gate and the camel has to 00:46:09.469 --> 00:46:11.570 get on its knees and be unloaded to go through 00:46:11.570 --> 00:46:14.289 the gate and they call the gate the eye of the 00:46:14.289 --> 00:46:16.789 needle. Maybe you've heard a preacher say that. 00:46:17.210 --> 00:46:21.190 I've said it before. There's no evidence. It's 00:46:21.190 --> 00:46:25.929 just a nice little illustration that some preacher 00:46:25.929 --> 00:46:28.150 came up with, and he must have been pretty influential 00:46:28.150 --> 00:46:30.369 because a lot of preachers find out about it, 00:46:30.409 --> 00:46:32.809 and a lot of preachers repeat it, and I found 00:46:32.809 --> 00:46:35.389 out about it, and I repeated it, and then somebody 00:46:35.389 --> 00:46:41.730 challenged me on it, and I'm like, well, I can't 00:46:41.730 --> 00:46:47.820 find it. So Jesus was talking about a real camel 00:46:47.820 --> 00:46:54.860 going through the eye of a needle. Well, remember, 00:46:55.059 --> 00:46:59.079 Jesus counts differently and Jesus sees differently. 00:47:02.559 --> 00:47:06.900 The disciples were astounded. And they said, 00:47:06.940 --> 00:47:17.500 then who in the world can be saved? I mean, just 00:47:17.500 --> 00:47:21.099 open up your mind a little bit. Jesus had a treasurer. 00:47:24.059 --> 00:47:27.239 Do you need a treasurer if you're broke, busted, 00:47:27.340 --> 00:47:33.559 and disgusted? There was enough going through 00:47:33.559 --> 00:47:38.480 the Jesus Evangelistic Association that he had 00:47:38.480 --> 00:47:42.449 to have a treasurer. and that the treasurer could 00:47:42.449 --> 00:47:45.989 be stealing the whole time, and there's still 00:47:45.989 --> 00:47:49.010 enough to do what they needed to do, even with 00:47:49.010 --> 00:47:54.489 him stealing the whole time. Hello? So keep your 00:47:54.489 --> 00:47:58.369 mind open. Poor old Jesus, he didn't even have 00:47:58.369 --> 00:48:07.889 a place to lay his head. Whew! Somebody smile. 00:48:10.030 --> 00:48:13.090 I mean, right before the disciples left to go 00:48:13.090 --> 00:48:16.349 with Jesus, they caught more fish than they would 00:48:16.349 --> 00:48:19.849 normally catch in a month's time. It was a huge 00:48:19.849 --> 00:48:26.590 payday. Huge payday. Got a month's pay in one 00:48:26.590 --> 00:48:28.469 day. How many of you would like to get your whole 00:48:28.469 --> 00:48:31.269 month's pay tomorrow and then still work the 00:48:31.269 --> 00:48:40.460 month out? Listen, they were astounded. They 00:48:40.460 --> 00:48:46.599 didn't consider themselves poor beggars. Who 00:48:46.599 --> 00:48:49.340 in the world can be saved, Jesus? Is it only 00:48:49.340 --> 00:48:51.420 the widow that can be saved? I mean, do you have 00:48:51.420 --> 00:49:00.059 to be poor to come to God? Is God against people 00:49:00.059 --> 00:49:06.760 having abundance? Is God against people having 00:49:06.760 --> 00:49:11.880 abundance? If you think, He is, and if your former 00:49:11.880 --> 00:49:15.079 pastor thinks that he is, tell him to read his 00:49:15.079 --> 00:49:23.599 Bible. Abraham's the father of our faith. Try 00:49:23.599 --> 00:49:27.300 to read your Bible and see how much he had. He 00:49:27.300 --> 00:49:30.119 had enough people, he had enough servants working 00:49:30.119 --> 00:49:35.440 for him that he suited up an army and defeated 00:49:35.440 --> 00:49:39.849 a nation. Just with the servants in his household. 00:49:42.650 --> 00:49:45.650 Had so much that he and Lot had to split. God 00:49:45.650 --> 00:49:47.869 blessed them so much, they had to split. They 00:49:47.869 --> 00:49:54.429 couldn't even stay in the same region. What about 00:49:54.429 --> 00:50:01.730 David? A man after God's own heart. You think 00:50:01.730 --> 00:50:07.179 God's against Abraham? No. Look at the person 00:50:07.179 --> 00:50:10.139 beside you and go, no. You think God's against 00:50:10.139 --> 00:50:11.960 David? I mean, he called him a man after his 00:50:11.960 --> 00:50:17.960 own heart. But he had so much abundance, he gave, 00:50:18.019 --> 00:50:22.340 in today's money, he gave over $1 .4 billion 00:50:22.340 --> 00:50:27.059 of his personal money towards building the temple. 00:50:31.019 --> 00:50:33.380 If you're broke, busted, and disgusted, you probably 00:50:33.380 --> 00:50:36.300 can't come up with a $1 .4 billion offering. 00:50:40.340 --> 00:50:44.780 Solomon. He's known as the wisest man who ever 00:50:44.780 --> 00:50:53.119 lived. But just read your Bible. Even Jesus referred 00:50:53.119 --> 00:50:59.420 to Solomon. He said, Solomon has the best. Solomon 00:50:59.420 --> 00:51:02.960 is dressed the best. I mean, he's wearing Louis 00:51:02.960 --> 00:51:12.159 Vuitton. He's wearing the best. All the time. 00:51:12.179 --> 00:51:23.340 Every day. Look how he's clothed. You think God's 00:51:23.340 --> 00:51:31.780 against Solomon? No. And then Jesus told them 00:51:31.780 --> 00:51:36.000 this. He said, hey guys, you're missing the point 00:51:36.000 --> 00:51:45.480 here. He looked at them intently. Humanly speaking, 00:51:45.679 --> 00:51:51.199 it's impossible. What I just told you, camel 00:51:51.199 --> 00:51:53.519 going through an eye of a needle, humanly speaking, 00:51:53.739 --> 00:52:06.039 it's impossible. But don't forget, That what 00:52:06.039 --> 00:52:09.019 you think in your little brain, what you think 00:52:09.019 --> 00:52:12.400 is impossible, it's not impossible with God. 00:52:14.380 --> 00:52:18.480 Everything's possible with God. If God wants 00:52:18.480 --> 00:52:20.280 a camel to go through an eye of a needle, just 00:52:20.280 --> 00:52:24.099 stand back and watch. He'll show you how He can 00:52:24.099 --> 00:52:31.380 do it. Then Peter began to speak up. Peter likes 00:52:31.380 --> 00:52:36.980 to talk. Sometimes he puts his foot in his mouth. 00:52:37.000 --> 00:52:40.519 Sometimes he says great things. But he's always 00:52:40.519 --> 00:52:46.219 saying something. Peter began to speak up. We've 00:52:46.219 --> 00:52:54.480 given up everything to follow you. He said. He 00:52:54.480 --> 00:52:56.559 said, Jesus, you just pointed out this guy. You 00:52:56.559 --> 00:52:59.139 told him to give away everything and come follow 00:52:59.139 --> 00:53:03.099 you like you told us to just drop everything 00:53:03.099 --> 00:53:07.579 and come follow you. But he went away sad. We 00:53:07.579 --> 00:53:13.159 didn't go away sad. Hey, Jesus. Are they telling 00:53:13.159 --> 00:53:16.780 the truth? Yeah, they're telling the truth. He's 00:53:16.780 --> 00:53:18.079 not just talking about himself. He's talking 00:53:18.079 --> 00:53:20.260 about all those guys. We've given up everything 00:53:20.260 --> 00:53:24.400 to follow you, he said. Listen, when Jesus said, 00:53:24.440 --> 00:53:26.699 come follow me to Peter, Andrew, James, and John, 00:53:26.880 --> 00:53:29.559 they walked away from their boats. They walked 00:53:29.559 --> 00:53:31.780 away from their nets. They walked away from their 00:53:31.780 --> 00:53:35.199 family to follow Jesus. If you don't believe 00:53:35.199 --> 00:53:37.639 me, let's read it. Matthew 4, verses 18 through 00:53:37.639 --> 00:53:40.539 22. One day as Jesus was walking along the shore 00:53:40.539 --> 00:53:43.980 of the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon, 00:53:44.119 --> 00:53:46.980 also called Peter, and Andrew, throwing a net 00:53:46.980 --> 00:53:49.860 into the water. For they fished for a living. 00:53:50.000 --> 00:53:52.559 They were fishermen. Jesus called out to them, 00:53:52.860 --> 00:53:56.480 Come follow Me, and I will show you how to fish 00:53:56.480 --> 00:54:01.599 for people. And they left their nets at once 00:54:01.599 --> 00:54:07.050 and followed Him. A little farther up the shore, 00:54:07.190 --> 00:54:10.389 he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting 00:54:10.389 --> 00:54:14.130 in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing 00:54:14.130 --> 00:54:20.530 their nets. And he called them to come too. Come 00:54:20.530 --> 00:54:26.710 on, guys. Come follow me. How did they respond? 00:54:27.050 --> 00:54:30.130 They immediately followed him, leaving the boat 00:54:30.130 --> 00:54:37.519 and their father behind. Peter, Andrew, James, 00:54:37.539 --> 00:54:42.920 and John, they changed the world. Look to the 00:54:42.920 --> 00:54:44.340 person beside you and say, these guys changed 00:54:44.340 --> 00:54:50.900 the world. The world's never been the same since 00:54:50.900 --> 00:54:56.619 they followed Jesus. All we know about this young 00:54:56.619 --> 00:55:00.800 rich man is that he walked away sad. We don't 00:55:00.800 --> 00:55:03.019 even know his name. He didn't change the world. 00:55:07.630 --> 00:55:09.909 We still know his story, but we know it because 00:55:09.909 --> 00:55:15.489 of bad reasons. Because Jesus saw his heart and 00:55:15.489 --> 00:55:19.010 then he said, alright, here's his heart on display 00:55:19.010 --> 00:55:23.329 for everybody for ages to come. Here's this guy's 00:55:23.329 --> 00:55:37.750 heart. And then Jesus replied to Peter. He said, 00:55:37.809 --> 00:55:42.150 yeah, Peter, you have. You and Andrew and James 00:55:42.150 --> 00:55:47.150 and John, when I called you to follow me, you 00:55:47.150 --> 00:55:49.690 dropped it. You dropped your nets, walked away 00:55:49.690 --> 00:55:53.489 from your boats, walked away from your family 00:55:53.489 --> 00:55:58.449 fishing business. You left all that to follow 00:55:58.449 --> 00:56:08.320 me. Yes, you did. Listen. He says, I assure you, 00:56:08.400 --> 00:56:15.780 I promise you, that everyone who has given up 00:56:15.780 --> 00:56:20.760 house, our brothers, our sisters, our mother, 00:56:20.880 --> 00:56:25.800 our father, our children, our property, for my 00:56:25.800 --> 00:56:33.659 sake and for the gospel, for the good news, I 00:56:33.659 --> 00:56:42.440 assure you, That these people will receive now. 00:56:42.679 --> 00:56:45.780 Everybody say now. Other translations are saying 00:56:45.780 --> 00:56:52.320 in this life. It's not just heaven. Even though 00:56:52.320 --> 00:56:54.599 heaven is amazing and it's awesome and it's worth 00:56:54.599 --> 00:57:00.039 it all. Jesus is saying, no, now, in this life, 00:57:00.059 --> 00:57:06.280 before you die, you're going to receive. In return, 00:57:06.599 --> 00:57:11.280 a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, 00:57:11.380 --> 00:57:17.400 mothers, children, property, along with some 00:57:17.400 --> 00:57:25.579 persecution. And all of them except John died 00:57:25.579 --> 00:57:31.039 for their faith, were murdered, martyred because 00:57:31.039 --> 00:57:33.619 of their faith. So they faced some persecution. 00:57:36.679 --> 00:57:38.659 But I'm here today to tell you that they weren't 00:57:38.659 --> 00:57:40.699 broke, busted, and disgusted the rest of their 00:57:40.699 --> 00:57:52.599 life. Listen, this man not only missed out on 00:57:52.599 --> 00:57:56.380 being one of Jesus' disciples, he also missed 00:57:56.380 --> 00:57:59.159 out on having a hundred times more than what 00:57:59.159 --> 00:58:04.500 he started with. How many of you believe Jesus 00:58:04.500 --> 00:58:07.460 tells the truth? How many of you believe He keeps 00:58:07.460 --> 00:58:18.059 His promises? Chances are, chances are very high 00:58:18.059 --> 00:58:23.119 that Jesus is not calling you to leave your house 00:58:23.119 --> 00:58:31.159 to follow Him. To leave your business to follow 00:58:31.159 --> 00:58:36.219 Him. Chances are very high. He's not going to 00:58:36.219 --> 00:58:53.800 do that. Listen. In 1991, Gannon and I were married 00:58:53.800 --> 00:59:01.860 in 85. In 1991, we built our dream home in Greenville, 00:59:01.880 --> 00:59:06.429 South Carolina. There weren't many houses at 00:59:06.429 --> 00:59:09.010 that time with two bedrooms on one end of the 00:59:09.010 --> 00:59:12.010 house with a bathroom and another master bedroom 00:59:12.010 --> 00:59:13.710 on the other end of the house with a bathroom. 00:59:14.250 --> 00:59:18.210 That wasn't the common floor plan. But that's 00:59:18.210 --> 00:59:21.230 what we wanted. So we had an architect draw it 00:59:21.230 --> 00:59:25.989 up, draw up the plans just for us. And on December 00:59:25.989 --> 00:59:33.949 24th of 1991, we moved into our brand new house. 00:59:38.599 --> 00:59:44.260 What we always wanted. Moved in. Now there wasn't 00:59:44.260 --> 00:59:50.860 nothing in the house but a bed and a couch. Because 00:59:50.860 --> 00:59:54.880 it's Christmas Eve. Did we put up a Christmas 00:59:54.880 --> 01:00:00.019 tree? A Christmas tree. A Christmas tree, a couch 01:00:00.019 --> 01:00:04.920 that Ganna's daddy made for us, and a bed. And 01:00:04.920 --> 01:00:06.619 we built this house while Ganna was pregnant. 01:00:11.880 --> 01:00:15.699 Because Jeffrey was born a month later after 01:00:15.699 --> 01:00:19.880 we moved in the house. Talking about having nesting 01:00:19.880 --> 01:00:23.380 issues. You don't even have a house. So you're 01:00:23.380 --> 01:00:25.880 building a house and you can't get the nursery 01:00:25.880 --> 01:00:28.079 ready until you move in the house. And then you 01:00:28.079 --> 01:00:30.980 move in the house a month before, a month and 01:00:30.980 --> 01:00:37.920 one week before he was born. So, why did I tell 01:00:37.920 --> 01:00:46.829 you all this? Well... In 95, April 15th, never 01:00:46.829 --> 01:00:50.489 forget it because it was tax day. April 15th 01:00:50.489 --> 01:00:59.369 of 1995, we followed Jesus by moving out of the 01:00:59.369 --> 01:01:03.269 house, selling the house, and moving into a motorhome. 01:01:09.269 --> 01:01:15.760 Listen. When I talk about stuff like this, I'm 01:01:15.760 --> 01:01:22.579 not just presenting theory. I'm presenting theory. 01:01:25.260 --> 01:01:27.139 Chances are very high that God's not going to 01:01:27.139 --> 01:01:30.340 call you to leave your house to follow Him. Or 01:01:30.340 --> 01:01:32.840 to step away from your family, to move away from 01:01:32.840 --> 01:01:34.980 your family. I mean, almost immediately we moved 01:01:34.980 --> 01:01:37.820 to Alabama with family in South Carolina and 01:01:37.820 --> 01:01:40.880 North Carolina. But I'm here to tell you something. 01:01:42.510 --> 01:01:47.469 We've received way more than a hundredfold return 01:01:47.469 --> 01:01:52.349 for family. Because we're going to be dancing 01:01:52.349 --> 01:01:57.650 on the streets of gold with at least, I mean, 01:01:57.650 --> 01:02:01.190 if I took my last breath today, I'm dancing on 01:02:01.190 --> 01:02:06.010 the streets of gold with about 10 ,000. I mean, 01:02:06.070 --> 01:02:10.630 you know, we walked away from 21 family members. 01:02:11.400 --> 01:02:13.599 How many of you know 100 times 21? What's that? 01:02:13.840 --> 01:02:27.500 2100? 10 ,000 people. Brothers and sisters. And 01:02:27.500 --> 01:02:34.699 listen. The hundredfold return on the house itself 01:02:34.699 --> 01:02:43.719 and land. Part of that is going to be. Galatian 01:02:43.719 --> 01:02:48.099 church land and Galatian church building. Because 01:02:48.099 --> 01:02:49.659 I haven't given up on the promise. Because I 01:02:49.659 --> 01:02:51.840 believe God keeps His promises and I still trust 01:02:51.840 --> 01:02:55.860 Him as much as I did then, I trust Him today. 01:02:55.940 --> 01:02:58.280 Because I was living in Myrtle Beach in a house 01:02:58.280 --> 01:03:00.940 that was almost twice the square footage as our 01:03:00.940 --> 01:03:04.079 dream house on the ocean. And you know what? 01:03:04.139 --> 01:03:08.559 God said, I didn't own it, but I could have lived 01:03:08.559 --> 01:03:12.710 in it until I couldn't preach anymore. For free. 01:03:15.389 --> 01:03:23.809 God said, let's do it again. Let's do it again. 01:03:25.989 --> 01:03:29.510 In a 2 ,400 square foot house that I could almost 01:03:29.510 --> 01:03:33.110 hit a golf ball into the ocean, let's do it again. 01:03:38.070 --> 01:03:45.269 Yeah. You think I'm crazy. I'm glad God sees 01:03:45.269 --> 01:03:51.610 different than you do. Let's do it again. And 01:03:51.610 --> 01:03:53.730 then look at this family. There's more family. 01:03:57.610 --> 01:03:59.510 So when I talk about this, I'm not talking about 01:03:59.510 --> 01:04:08.530 some kind of theory. Right? All of our possessions 01:04:08.530 --> 01:04:11.929 were laying on the ground behind the house. There 01:04:11.929 --> 01:04:14.469 was a stack to put in storage and a stack to 01:04:14.469 --> 01:04:21.469 give away or throw away and a stack for the sale. 01:04:22.949 --> 01:04:28.530 Garage sale. Yeah, the funny thing is, our friends 01:04:28.530 --> 01:04:32.070 decided to help us with the garage sale. So they 01:04:32.070 --> 01:04:34.369 just priced everything. They just came and picked 01:04:34.369 --> 01:04:36.090 it up and took it to their neighborhood that 01:04:36.090 --> 01:04:38.409 was having a big garage sale. They priced everything. 01:04:40.280 --> 01:04:43.920 By the time we got there, almost all of our junk 01:04:43.920 --> 01:04:54.599 had already been sold. This ain't about me. I 01:04:54.599 --> 01:04:56.360 don't want you to leave thinking it's about me. 01:04:58.300 --> 01:05:02.199 I'm just telling you. God's faithful. God's going 01:05:02.199 --> 01:05:05.980 to keep His promises. You can trust Him. He's 01:05:05.980 --> 01:05:10.269 not wanting... to receive from you, to subtract 01:05:10.269 --> 01:05:17.789 from you. He's wanting to multiply you. The Bible 01:05:17.789 --> 01:05:21.389 is evidence. My life is evidence. There are people 01:05:21.389 --> 01:05:23.510 in this room who could say, my life's evidence 01:05:23.510 --> 01:05:29.030 too, and I'll tell you that testimony. Here's 01:05:29.030 --> 01:05:31.030 another consideration. Maybe the rich young ruler 01:05:31.030 --> 01:05:37.019 wasn't as greedy as much as he was afraid. Maybe 01:05:37.019 --> 01:05:40.480 he believed that surrender to Jesus, selling 01:05:40.480 --> 01:05:43.900 all he had and following Jesus, maybe he believed 01:05:43.900 --> 01:05:50.719 surrender meant loss. But faith sees surrender 01:05:50.719 --> 01:05:59.059 as gain. Trust sees surrender as gain. Hebrews 01:05:59.059 --> 01:06:03.579 11, 6. I'm almost done. It's impossible to please 01:06:03.579 --> 01:06:06.699 God without faith. You're not going to please 01:06:06.699 --> 01:06:11.800 Him without faith. Without a confident expectation 01:06:11.800 --> 01:06:15.800 that He's going to keep His promises. You're 01:06:15.800 --> 01:06:19.619 not going to please Him. Because anybody who 01:06:19.619 --> 01:06:24.079 comes to God must believe that He exists. And 01:06:24.079 --> 01:06:27.000 we're real cool with that. I believe God exists. 01:06:27.079 --> 01:06:33.860 I believe in God. Sometimes we get squirrely 01:06:33.860 --> 01:06:40.159 on this. I believe God exists, but we also have 01:06:40.159 --> 01:06:42.860 to believe that He rewards those who sincerely 01:06:42.860 --> 01:06:48.380 seek Him. Sincerely means with the right heart, 01:06:48.500 --> 01:06:50.719 with the right intent, with the right motive, 01:06:50.760 --> 01:06:57.039 we're seeking God. I didn't read that verse and 01:06:57.039 --> 01:07:00.039 say, well, Ganna, let's sell the house and move 01:07:00.039 --> 01:07:02.900 into a motorhome and never own a house. Let's 01:07:02.900 --> 01:07:05.380 do that because God's going to owe us a hundred 01:07:05.380 --> 01:07:14.309 times. That was not the motivation. The motivation 01:07:14.309 --> 01:07:18.050 was, God, if that's what you want us to do, we're 01:07:18.050 --> 01:07:25.929 going to do it. We're going to do it. We've got 01:07:25.929 --> 01:07:28.289 to believe that God rewards those who sincerely 01:07:28.289 --> 01:07:31.750 seek Him. Jesus still invites people to follow 01:07:31.750 --> 01:07:38.159 Him. And He still exposes with love what... for 01:07:38.159 --> 01:07:42.679 our hearts. He will expose that to us. As long 01:07:42.679 --> 01:07:44.599 as you're breathing, you haven't missed your 01:07:44.599 --> 01:07:51.340 opportunity. He still rewards surrendered lives. 01:07:52.079 --> 01:07:56.840 He still does. Whatever you place in God's hands 01:07:56.840 --> 01:08:04.099 is never lost. But whatever you refuse to surrender, 01:08:05.320 --> 01:08:12.079 Can quietly become your master. So God speaks 01:08:12.079 --> 01:08:20.920 to all of us. He speaks to all of us. He challenges 01:08:20.920 --> 01:08:25.819 all of us. He wants to pull all of us out of 01:08:25.819 --> 01:08:33.579 our comfort zone. Every single one of us. To 01:08:33.579 --> 01:08:36.720 say something, to give something, to do something. 01:08:40.039 --> 01:08:47.840 If we'll listen, He'll challenge us. What you 01:08:47.840 --> 01:08:49.840 don't want to happen is, you don't want to hear 01:08:49.840 --> 01:08:52.539 it and then say, well, no, God, that's just too 01:08:52.539 --> 01:09:00.600 much. That's just too much. Not going to be able 01:09:00.600 --> 01:09:03.939 to do that, God. It's what this rich young ruler 01:09:03.939 --> 01:09:12.359 did. Listen, your sacrifice, your displays of 01:09:12.359 --> 01:09:17.539 trust, your actions that reveal your trust in 01:09:17.539 --> 01:09:24.239 God, your obedience, your generosity, your worship 01:09:24.239 --> 01:09:32.960 will never go unnoticed by God. Never go unnoticed 01:09:32.960 --> 01:09:44.920 by God. God always sees. He is El Rohi. He always 01:09:44.920 --> 01:09:51.399 sees. And your faith response to whatever He 01:09:51.399 --> 01:09:56.619 calls you to, that's what activates His promises. 01:09:58.800 --> 01:10:02.239 His promises are there. He's already paid for 01:10:02.239 --> 01:10:05.260 them. He's already provided for them. They're 01:10:05.260 --> 01:10:11.880 already yours. But in my life and in my experience, 01:10:11.979 --> 01:10:16.000 it always takes some kind of response on my end 01:10:16.000 --> 01:10:18.960 in order to receive it. Some type of obedience. 01:10:19.739 --> 01:10:25.899 Some type of act. I believe that's in line with 01:10:25.899 --> 01:10:29.100 the Word of God. And I'm telling you that it's 01:10:29.100 --> 01:10:34.829 in line. With my experience too. This online 01:10:34.829 --> 01:10:37.430 worship experience was brought to you by the 01:10:37.430 --> 01:10:39.430 friends and partners of Eulation Church.