WEBVTT 00:00:01.239 --> 00:00:04.219 Sharing good news of great joy to all people. 00:00:04.759 --> 00:00:09.640 Elation Church. Week number two in our series 00:00:09.640 --> 00:00:13.220 that we've entitled, You Can Hear God. Look at 00:00:13.220 --> 00:00:15.359 the person beside you and say, You can hear God. 00:00:16.460 --> 00:00:21.100 You can hear God. Now, I can't tell you how many 00:00:21.100 --> 00:00:23.339 times people have said, when we talk about hearing 00:00:23.339 --> 00:00:25.420 God, they say, well, that's just not my experience. 00:00:26.920 --> 00:00:32.219 I don't hear God. And a lot of people just want 00:00:32.219 --> 00:00:35.880 the preacher to hear from God and then tell them 00:00:35.880 --> 00:00:41.359 what God said. Well, that's what I want to do 00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:44.399 too. I want to hear from God and I want to bring 00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:48.439 a now word. Everybody say a now word. A now word 00:00:48.439 --> 00:00:52.740 from God every week. But that doesn't mean that 00:00:52.740 --> 00:00:56.299 you don't need to hear God too. We all need to 00:00:56.299 --> 00:01:01.119 hear God. You need to hear God. After all, the 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:04.079 Bible is filled with stories, right? It's filled 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:08.799 with stories of people who heard God. So why 00:01:08.799 --> 00:01:10.819 do we read these stories about people hearing 00:01:10.819 --> 00:01:14.439 God and then sometimes we think, well, you know, 00:01:14.519 --> 00:01:19.540 I don't necessarily hear God. Well, all these 00:01:19.540 --> 00:01:23.219 people in the Bible, they heard God. They responded 00:01:23.219 --> 00:01:26.780 to God. When God wrote a book, He did not quit 00:01:26.780 --> 00:01:30.719 speaking. Jeffrey and I have written some books, 00:01:30.819 --> 00:01:33.159 and when we wrote our books, we didn't go mute. 00:01:33.260 --> 00:01:37.579 We didn't quit talking. Now, I'm not comparing 00:01:37.579 --> 00:01:40.140 our books to the Bible, so don't get me wrong. 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:44.239 Don't say, how dare he, you know. I know that 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:47.799 our books are not perfect. You can find errors 00:01:47.799 --> 00:01:51.000 in our books, even though we did the best that 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:54.900 we could do. But the Bible is perfect. There 00:01:54.900 --> 00:01:57.840 are no errors in it. The only errors I found 00:01:57.840 --> 00:01:59.939 while reading the Bible were errors within myself, 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:03.760 not in the Bible. Come on, somebody smile. Get 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:07.400 happy, something. Right? It exposed things in 00:02:07.400 --> 00:02:13.620 me that needed to be changed. So, God did not 00:02:13.620 --> 00:02:19.439 quit speaking when He wrote a book. We looked 00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:21.879 at this last week. The Bible is God -breathed. 00:02:21.960 --> 00:02:27.530 It's like God exhaling His truth. to the people 00:02:27.530 --> 00:02:31.090 who penned it. He spoke to them, they wrote it 00:02:31.090 --> 00:02:34.169 down, and it was spoken so it could be written 00:02:34.169 --> 00:02:39.590 so that now we can speak it again. When an author 00:02:39.590 --> 00:02:43.210 writes a book, he doesn't go mute. Now we're 00:02:43.210 --> 00:02:45.009 going to talk about this in future weeks. I'm 00:02:45.009 --> 00:02:47.789 glad we have the Word of God because God will 00:02:47.789 --> 00:02:51.729 never speak to us and say to us anything that 00:02:51.729 --> 00:02:56.360 will contradict what He has already said. So 00:02:56.360 --> 00:03:02.199 it is our guidepost. It is the standard. But 00:03:02.199 --> 00:03:04.500 everything that God has spoke to me in my life 00:03:04.500 --> 00:03:06.780 hasn't been written in black and white in the 00:03:06.780 --> 00:03:11.819 Bible. What about you? Has God spoke some things 00:03:11.819 --> 00:03:13.539 to you that weren't in black and white? Things 00:03:13.539 --> 00:03:17.199 about your personal future or personal direction 00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:23.199 or personal situation? We don't find those things 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:26.889 in the Word, but... God wants to speak to us 00:03:26.889 --> 00:03:30.210 concerning those things. Romans 8 .14 says this, 00:03:30.229 --> 00:03:34.770 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are 00:03:34.770 --> 00:03:40.909 children of God. All who are led by the Spirit 00:03:40.909 --> 00:03:45.729 of God are children of God. What is this showing 00:03:45.729 --> 00:03:48.669 us? When we are children of God, it's saying 00:03:48.669 --> 00:03:52.090 that the Spirit of God is wanting to lead us. 00:03:53.069 --> 00:03:56.310 God is wanting to lead us and guide us and direct 00:03:56.310 --> 00:04:00.250 us in our lives. We're supposed to live Spirit 00:04:00.250 --> 00:04:04.689 -led lives. Those all who are led by the Spirit 00:04:04.689 --> 00:04:07.169 of God are children of God, and how can He lead 00:04:07.169 --> 00:04:15.409 us if we never hear Him? Is that possible? Can 00:04:15.409 --> 00:04:19.790 He lead us if we never hear Him? I think that'd 00:04:19.790 --> 00:04:25.050 be difficult. Everyone needs to hear God. We 00:04:25.050 --> 00:04:27.889 talked about this in week one. I can't re -priest 00:04:27.889 --> 00:04:30.370 the whole thing, but it's on podcast. You can 00:04:30.370 --> 00:04:32.790 look up the Galatian Church podcast and listen 00:04:32.790 --> 00:04:35.870 to it if you want to, but everybody needs to 00:04:35.870 --> 00:04:41.810 hear God because it's vital to our faith. The 00:04:41.810 --> 00:04:45.370 Bible says without faith, it's impossible to 00:04:45.370 --> 00:04:50.540 please God. Without faith. And then it tells 00:04:50.540 --> 00:04:55.120 us where faith comes from. Faith comes by hearing, 00:04:55.240 --> 00:04:59.480 and hearing by the Word of God. So we have to 00:04:59.480 --> 00:05:03.360 hear before we can ever have faith, and we have 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:05.360 to have faith before we can ever please God. 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:08.720 So how many of you agree that hearing must be 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:12.519 important? How many of you agree that hearing 00:05:12.519 --> 00:05:14.860 should be normal, should be the normal Christian 00:05:14.860 --> 00:05:23.220 experience, should be hearing God? I just quoted 00:05:23.220 --> 00:05:25.899 that verse. That's one of our focus verses from 00:05:25.899 --> 00:05:29.779 last week. I might as well go ahead and throw 00:05:29.779 --> 00:05:33.860 this out there. Faith comes by hearing. And the 00:05:33.860 --> 00:05:37.279 thing that was like a wow moment for me last 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:41.120 weekend was I looked up the word and in the Greek. 00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:47.360 I mean, who looks up the word and in Greek? I 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:53.470 did. It says, faith comes by hearing and hearing 00:05:53.470 --> 00:05:55.930 by the word of God. I used to think faith comes 00:05:55.930 --> 00:05:59.990 by hearing and hearing and hearing and hearing 00:05:59.990 --> 00:06:02.589 and hearing. I thought that's what the and meant. 00:06:03.410 --> 00:06:07.370 That we need to keep on hearing. Now, it's good 00:06:07.370 --> 00:06:09.910 to keep on hearing. Look to the person beside 00:06:09.910 --> 00:06:11.449 you and say, there's nothing wrong with keeping 00:06:11.449 --> 00:06:16.170 on hearing. We need to keep hearing. But that 00:06:16.170 --> 00:06:20.029 and, when there's two terms put together, I found 00:06:20.029 --> 00:06:22.399 out in the concordance, when there's two words 00:06:22.399 --> 00:06:24.740 put together with this word and between them, 00:06:24.899 --> 00:06:29.560 the second or the following clause is giving 00:06:29.560 --> 00:06:32.740 us information about the first one. It's explaining 00:06:32.740 --> 00:06:38.399 the first one. So faith comes by hearing. Well, 00:06:38.420 --> 00:06:42.379 what kind of hearing? Well, let me explain what 00:06:42.379 --> 00:06:45.620 kind of hearing it's talking about. That's what 00:06:45.620 --> 00:06:49.100 the and means in this sentence. Faith comes by 00:06:49.100 --> 00:06:53.110 hearing. What kind of hearing? Well, hearing 00:06:53.110 --> 00:06:58.089 the Word of God. And the Greek words here are 00:06:58.089 --> 00:07:03.670 rhema christos. It means the spoken utterance 00:07:03.670 --> 00:07:09.709 of God. Actually, the spoken utterance of the 00:07:09.709 --> 00:07:16.029 anointed. So if we're going to have faith, we're 00:07:16.029 --> 00:07:19.620 going to have to hear. Not necessarily with our 00:07:19.620 --> 00:07:23.819 ears. Because I don't know if I've ever heard 00:07:23.819 --> 00:07:26.420 God with my ears that are on the side of my head 00:07:26.420 --> 00:07:30.899 like I normally hear in the natural realm. We 00:07:30.899 --> 00:07:33.740 have to hear Him because He is a spirit. We have 00:07:33.740 --> 00:07:37.540 to hear Him in the spiritual realm. And before 00:07:37.540 --> 00:07:41.420 we can have faith, we've got to hear an anointed 00:07:41.420 --> 00:07:47.910 utterance from God. What does anointed utterance 00:07:47.910 --> 00:07:50.709 mean? It means that it needs to become now. It 00:07:50.709 --> 00:07:52.870 needs to become personal. It needs to become 00:07:52.870 --> 00:07:59.009 alive in us. Somebody smile. That was last week's 00:07:59.009 --> 00:08:02.350 message. That was free. Part of last week's message. 00:08:03.730 --> 00:08:08.649 John 10 verses 1 through 5. This is Jesus' parable. 00:08:09.050 --> 00:08:12.029 He said, I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks 00:08:12.029 --> 00:08:14.649 over the wall of the sheepfold rather than going 00:08:14.649 --> 00:08:18.350 through the gate, must surely be a thief and 00:08:18.350 --> 00:08:21.810 a robber. But the one who enters through the 00:08:21.810 --> 00:08:25.910 gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper 00:08:25.910 --> 00:08:29.970 opens the gate for him and the sheep recognize 00:08:29.970 --> 00:08:35.769 his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep 00:08:35.769 --> 00:08:41.529 by name and leads them out. After he has gathered 00:08:41.529 --> 00:08:44.730 his own flock, he walks ahead of them. And they 00:08:44.730 --> 00:08:50.509 follow him because they know his voice. They 00:08:50.509 --> 00:08:53.330 won't follow a stranger. They will run from the 00:08:53.330 --> 00:08:56.370 stranger. They run from him because they don't 00:08:56.370 --> 00:09:00.950 know his voice. And Jesus has given us a parable 00:09:00.950 --> 00:09:07.490 to let us know that his sheep hear his voice. 00:09:08.950 --> 00:09:13.980 And they follow him. Now, back in this time, 00:09:14.120 --> 00:09:17.019 there would be a large sheepfold where multiple 00:09:17.019 --> 00:09:20.500 shepherds would come in and keep their sheep. 00:09:20.620 --> 00:09:23.580 If they couldn't tend to them and take them out 00:09:23.580 --> 00:09:26.000 to pasture, like maybe overnight or something 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:28.440 like that, they would bring them to a big sheepfold, 00:09:28.659 --> 00:09:33.840 and there could be multiple herds of sheep in 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:37.220 the one sheepfold. And when the shepherd would 00:09:37.220 --> 00:09:39.580 arrive, the gatekeeper would know that his sheep 00:09:39.580 --> 00:09:42.759 were in there. he would go into the gate and 00:09:42.759 --> 00:09:48.259 he would begin to talk. And then his sheep would 00:09:48.259 --> 00:09:52.460 recognize his voice. And even though there might 00:09:52.460 --> 00:09:57.120 be 300 sheep in the sheepfold, all of a sudden 00:09:57.120 --> 00:10:01.179 his 50 or 60 sheep would hear his voice, recognize 00:10:01.179 --> 00:10:06.000 his voice, and follow him out of the sheepfold. 00:10:06.919 --> 00:10:09.320 The other sheep would not follow him because 00:10:09.320 --> 00:10:14.240 he wasn't their shepherd. They would wait to 00:10:14.240 --> 00:10:19.500 hear the voice of their shepherd. They didn't 00:10:19.500 --> 00:10:21.360 have to separate them. They didn't have to brand 00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:23.919 them. They didn't have to put marks on them, 00:10:23.960 --> 00:10:26.740 like putting your initials on it, like you're 00:10:26.740 --> 00:10:33.340 carrying a... Anybody play softball or baseball 00:10:33.340 --> 00:10:36.480 growing up? Do you put your name on your glove? 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:40.559 My parents put my name on my glove like four 00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:44.639 times. Because they didn't want anybody else 00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:46.659 going home with my glove. Nobody would go home 00:10:46.659 --> 00:10:49.860 with my glove because it was marked. Well, they 00:10:49.860 --> 00:10:51.820 didn't have to mark the sheep. They didn't have 00:10:51.820 --> 00:10:54.820 to, you know, put a certain color on them or 00:10:54.820 --> 00:10:56.980 something to know whose sheep they were. They 00:10:56.980 --> 00:11:01.340 knew the shepherd. And they followed the voice. 00:11:04.110 --> 00:11:08.029 Every single one of us can hear God. If Jesus 00:11:08.029 --> 00:11:11.149 said, my sheep hear and recognize and know and 00:11:11.149 --> 00:11:16.590 follow my voice, then if we are his sheep, we 00:11:16.590 --> 00:11:20.009 should know his voice. We should hear his voice. 00:11:20.450 --> 00:11:24.929 We should recognize his voice. That's what this 00:11:24.929 --> 00:11:27.889 series is about. We're wanting to help everyone 00:11:27.889 --> 00:11:31.659 who comes to... to understand how important it 00:11:31.659 --> 00:11:34.600 is, to take hold of how important it is to hear 00:11:34.600 --> 00:11:38.360 God and to come to the point where you can recognize 00:11:38.360 --> 00:11:40.419 His voice. Because there may be some people in 00:11:40.419 --> 00:11:42.139 the room who say, well, I just don't hear God. 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:46.440 Maybe you are hearing Him and you don't recognize 00:11:46.440 --> 00:11:49.980 that it's Him. We talked about that last week. 00:11:51.419 --> 00:11:54.500 But we can hear God. And it's important that 00:11:54.500 --> 00:11:57.940 we do. I want to run through this story again 00:11:57.940 --> 00:12:03.350 real quick. As I was saying this story last week, 00:12:03.409 --> 00:12:06.350 all of a sudden some things came out of my mouth 00:12:06.350 --> 00:12:09.350 and I'm like, I've never thought that before. 00:12:09.570 --> 00:12:12.830 I've never said that before. I've never recognized 00:12:12.830 --> 00:12:16.250 that before. And it fits right in with what we're 00:12:16.250 --> 00:12:19.350 going to talk about today. I went to Romania 00:12:19.350 --> 00:12:23.289 a couple of times on a mission trip. And Ploiest 00:12:23.289 --> 00:12:26.110 has an I on the end of it. I don't think you 00:12:26.110 --> 00:12:29.570 pronounce the I, Ploiesti or whatever. It's okay. 00:12:30.190 --> 00:12:33.250 I'm not good with foreign languages, as most 00:12:33.250 --> 00:12:37.389 of you know when I try to read them. But I was 00:12:37.389 --> 00:12:40.250 there on a mission trip, and we were going to 00:12:40.250 --> 00:12:43.370 minister at a women's prison, and I was with 00:12:43.370 --> 00:12:47.850 a group from my home church in Alabama. And we 00:12:47.850 --> 00:12:50.769 were riding in a van, and we had no interpreter. 00:12:53.110 --> 00:12:55.350 The guy driving the van was from the church. 00:12:55.429 --> 00:13:01.250 He spoke no English. We spoke no Romanian. We 00:13:01.250 --> 00:13:03.909 were just riding. All of a sudden, we're down 00:13:03.909 --> 00:13:06.710 this two -lane road. All of a sudden, he puts 00:13:06.710 --> 00:13:10.289 on the brakes really hard, and he starts blowing 00:13:10.289 --> 00:13:13.429 the horn. I mean, I'd been busy talking with 00:13:13.429 --> 00:13:15.509 the guy sitting beside me, and all of a sudden, 00:13:15.509 --> 00:13:18.870 I look up, and this is not an actual picture 00:13:18.870 --> 00:13:21.570 because it's so long ago, the picture would be 00:13:21.570 --> 00:13:23.990 blurry. It wouldn't be 4K like this that you 00:13:23.990 --> 00:13:29.190 can see. He rode up on a group of sheep that 00:13:29.190 --> 00:13:33.509 were across the road. And he rode up right to 00:13:33.509 --> 00:13:37.950 them. I mean, he was very close. I mean, you 00:13:37.950 --> 00:13:41.250 could touch the front of the van and touch a 00:13:41.250 --> 00:13:43.610 sheep. That's how close he was if you were in 00:13:43.610 --> 00:13:46.450 front of the bumper. And he was blowing the horn 00:13:46.450 --> 00:13:49.750 because he wanted those sheep to get out of his 00:13:49.750 --> 00:13:59.639 way. And you know what the sheep did? They went... 00:13:59.639 --> 00:14:06.480 They didn't get out of the road, but they got 00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:12.840 all nervous. They were moving around. They didn't 00:14:12.840 --> 00:14:15.659 want to be the sheep closest to the van anymore, 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:21.419 but they would not get out of the road. And then 00:14:21.419 --> 00:14:23.740 I looked over to my right. There was a house. 00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:28.289 It was just surrounded by... I guess farms or 00:14:28.289 --> 00:14:33.049 whatever, but there was one house. And I looked 00:14:33.049 --> 00:14:37.549 over there, and there's a lady. I shared this 00:14:37.549 --> 00:14:41.149 last week. Not many houses in Romania, people 00:14:41.149 --> 00:14:43.549 don't keep their yards. They don't cut the grass 00:14:43.549 --> 00:14:45.669 and have flowers and all that kind of stuff. 00:14:46.370 --> 00:14:51.830 They just let it grow. This lady, however, she 00:14:51.830 --> 00:14:54.960 was taking care of her yard. It might have been 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:57.159 the only yard I saw the whole time I was there 00:14:57.159 --> 00:15:01.639 that looked like somebody cared about it. Well, 00:15:01.820 --> 00:15:06.639 all the sheep weren't just in the road. They 00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:11.879 were completely filling her front yard too. Some 00:15:11.879 --> 00:15:16.320 of them were even eating. Which was not good 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:18.240 since she had some flowers around the house. 00:15:19.779 --> 00:15:23.100 So, I see this lady. She has a broom in her hand. 00:15:25.899 --> 00:15:28.820 And she's coming off the front porch, just swinging 00:15:28.820 --> 00:15:32.000 that broom at those sheep, trying to get those 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:36.980 sheep out of her yard. What were the sheep doing? 00:15:41.419 --> 00:15:45.539 They didn't want to be the sheep closest to the 00:15:45.539 --> 00:15:52.320 broom. But they weren't moving out of the yard. 00:15:52.879 --> 00:15:57.559 They weren't moving out of the road. We had to 00:15:57.559 --> 00:16:01.700 sit there more than five minutes. Horn blowing, 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:08.960 lady swinging a broom, sheep just... They don't 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:10.559 want to get hit, but they're not going anywhere. 00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:18.860 All of a sudden, a man appears from the side 00:16:18.860 --> 00:16:24.389 of the house. And he walks out. He's not screaming 00:16:24.389 --> 00:16:28.009 now. He's not the loudest voice. Everybody say 00:16:28.009 --> 00:16:32.970 that. He's not the loudest voice. The horn is 00:16:32.970 --> 00:16:36.190 way louder than he is. The lady's screaming, 00:16:36.350 --> 00:16:39.429 swinging the broom. She's way louder than he 00:16:39.429 --> 00:16:43.370 is. I can hear her. I can hear the horn. I cannot 00:16:43.370 --> 00:16:45.750 hear this guy. He's just walking out, but I can 00:16:45.750 --> 00:16:48.870 see his mouth moving. And as he walks out, he 00:16:48.870 --> 00:16:52.789 walks through the sheep. He walks into the road, 00:16:52.870 --> 00:16:55.789 walks across the road, and every single one of 00:16:55.789 --> 00:17:01.669 those sheep follow him. He wasn't the loudest 00:17:01.669 --> 00:17:08.990 voice, but listen to me. His voice was doing 00:17:08.990 --> 00:17:12.089 something that those other voices were not doing. 00:17:12.170 --> 00:17:17.329 Oh, don't miss this. His voice was doing something 00:17:17.329 --> 00:17:21.380 that the other voices were not. I want to say 00:17:21.380 --> 00:17:24.539 it again. His voice was doing something that 00:17:24.539 --> 00:17:29.079 the other voices were not. The sheep were no 00:17:29.079 --> 00:17:32.579 longer in a panic mode. All of a sudden, the 00:17:32.579 --> 00:17:35.299 sheep were flooded with peace. The sheep were 00:17:35.299 --> 00:17:38.819 giving clarity. They were giving clarity. They're 00:17:38.819 --> 00:17:41.180 like, oh, there's my shepherd. I think I'm going 00:17:41.180 --> 00:17:48.829 to follow him. All of a sudden, they began to 00:17:48.829 --> 00:17:56.430 ignore the horn and ignore the lady. The horn 00:17:56.430 --> 00:17:58.150 was still blowing. The lady was still screaming. 00:18:01.549 --> 00:18:07.069 But the sheep, all of a sudden, lost all that 00:18:07.069 --> 00:18:09.710 turmoil, everything going on around them that 00:18:09.710 --> 00:18:14.170 was scaring them, overwhelming them. All that 00:18:14.170 --> 00:18:18.990 stuff just lost its... when they heard the voice 00:18:18.990 --> 00:18:24.109 of the shepherd and they followed him. They just 00:18:24.109 --> 00:18:27.549 followed him. And they were all out of the road 00:18:27.549 --> 00:18:32.250 and we proceeded to go. Lady went back in her 00:18:32.250 --> 00:18:36.970 house. It was all over. Because the sheep heard 00:18:36.970 --> 00:18:43.670 the voice of the shepherd. His voice wasn't the 00:18:43.670 --> 00:18:50.859 loudest voice. We need to hear God. Jesus says 00:18:50.859 --> 00:18:53.380 that he's the good shepherd. The Bible tells 00:18:53.380 --> 00:18:57.359 us that Jesus is the good shepherd. Jesus says 00:18:57.359 --> 00:18:59.700 that his sheep hear his voice. They know his 00:18:59.700 --> 00:19:06.299 voice. They follow him. Hearing God is something 00:19:06.299 --> 00:19:08.400 that's now and personal. We talked about that 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:12.119 last week. His words bring peace. His words bring 00:19:12.119 --> 00:19:20.559 clarity. His words bring direction. So if we're 00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:26.599 ever at a point... Hello, somebody. If anybody 00:19:26.599 --> 00:19:28.960 in this room, including myself, if we're ever 00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:31.900 at a point where we need peace, where we need 00:19:31.900 --> 00:19:37.640 clarity, where we need direction, we need to 00:19:37.640 --> 00:19:44.420 hear the voice of God. That didn't happen in 00:19:44.420 --> 00:19:52.829 Romania just by happenstance. God continues to 00:19:52.829 --> 00:19:58.230 use that to speak to me. Last week we talked 00:19:58.230 --> 00:20:00.269 about this. Every Christian has already heard 00:20:00.269 --> 00:20:05.769 God. If you're a Christian, you had to hear God. 00:20:07.569 --> 00:20:10.789 Because you're saved by grace. It's a gift of 00:20:10.789 --> 00:20:12.950 God. It's God's goodness and favor. His acts 00:20:12.950 --> 00:20:16.829 of goodness and favor towards us that we don't 00:20:16.829 --> 00:20:24.859 deserve. But we receive it by faith. So the good 00:20:24.859 --> 00:20:27.960 news about Jesus had to become personal, had 00:20:27.960 --> 00:20:33.619 to become alive in our hearts. It had to call 00:20:33.619 --> 00:20:38.599 us to repentance and call us to confess Jesus 00:20:38.599 --> 00:20:44.440 as Lord. We had to hear that. Now we may think 00:20:44.440 --> 00:20:49.960 that that was just the preacher. Now, how many 00:20:49.960 --> 00:20:51.680 of you can look back over your life and say, 00:20:51.759 --> 00:20:54.660 well, I've heard the preacher a lot, but I only 00:20:54.660 --> 00:20:58.220 heard that the way that I heard it that one time. 00:20:58.359 --> 00:21:01.140 Hey, my dad was a preacher. I heard the gospel 00:21:01.140 --> 00:21:05.160 a thousand times probably before I heard it. 00:21:08.460 --> 00:21:14.140 Before it was a rhema Christos, a now word for 00:21:14.140 --> 00:21:18.640 me. And that's when I received Christ. And I've 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:21.720 never been the same since. But it all began with 00:21:21.720 --> 00:21:25.019 hearing God's voice. Now, I didn't understand 00:21:25.019 --> 00:21:29.779 that at that time. But I understand it now, looking 00:21:29.779 --> 00:21:34.759 back on it. Have you ever been in a service where 00:21:34.759 --> 00:21:38.720 you're like, God spoke to me today? And the funny 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:41.019 thing is, somebody right beside you could say, 00:21:41.220 --> 00:21:44.619 I didn't get nothing. I think the preacher needs 00:21:44.619 --> 00:21:48.099 to pray more or study more or something. Because 00:21:48.099 --> 00:21:50.839 I didn't get nothing except a good nap time out 00:21:50.839 --> 00:21:55.259 of this. But somebody else sitting right beside 00:21:55.259 --> 00:22:00.279 you could say, I heard God today. I heard Him 00:22:00.279 --> 00:22:09.619 speak to my heart. The Word came alive. That's 00:22:09.619 --> 00:22:14.579 the difference. That's the difference. Today 00:22:14.579 --> 00:22:18.059 we're going to look at a story in Luke chapter 00:22:18.059 --> 00:22:22.819 10, verses 38 through 42. And I want you to keep 00:22:22.819 --> 00:22:27.539 the sheep in mind. Keep that story in mind as 00:22:27.539 --> 00:22:32.240 we look at this story. Now it happened as they 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:36.819 went that he entered a certain village. And a 00:22:36.819 --> 00:22:39.519 certain woman named Martha, everybody say Martha. 00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:44.720 Martha welcomed him into her house. And she also, 00:22:44.759 --> 00:22:50.220 and she had a sister called Mary. Everybody say 00:22:50.220 --> 00:22:56.539 Mary. Who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his 00:22:56.539 --> 00:23:02.339 word. But Martha was distracted with much serving. 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:06.519 And she approached him, Jesus, and said, that's 00:23:06.519 --> 00:23:09.950 what she said, Lord. Do you not care that my 00:23:09.950 --> 00:23:14.670 sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore, 00:23:14.809 --> 00:23:19.269 tell her to help me. Make her get up and come 00:23:19.269 --> 00:23:26.369 into the kitchen and help me. Can't believe she's 00:23:26.369 --> 00:23:30.890 not helping me. And Jesus answered and said to 00:23:30.890 --> 00:23:37.700 her, Martha, Martha. I'm going to calm you down 00:23:37.700 --> 00:23:42.140 here. I need to bring it down a notch. Martha, 00:23:42.140 --> 00:23:48.500 Martha. Martha, Martha. You are worried and troubled 00:23:48.500 --> 00:23:53.380 about many things. But one thing, everybody say 00:23:53.380 --> 00:23:58.500 one thing. One thing is needed. And Mary has 00:23:58.500 --> 00:24:03.140 chosen that good part which will not be taken 00:24:03.140 --> 00:24:10.900 away from her. In the story we see that Martha 00:24:10.900 --> 00:24:13.980 invites Jesus. And there were other people too. 00:24:14.059 --> 00:24:15.920 I think some of the other disciples were there. 00:24:17.180 --> 00:24:23.480 She invited Jesus over to her house. With the 00:24:23.480 --> 00:24:28.400 intention of spending time. Getting to know him 00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:34.660 better. Isn't that a good way to get to know 00:24:34.660 --> 00:24:39.170 somebody? Is to go eat with them. Go hang out. 00:24:41.089 --> 00:24:43.609 Spend some time together. Share a meal together. 00:24:45.470 --> 00:24:51.250 So that was Martha's intention. Something happened 00:24:51.250 --> 00:24:57.289 along the way. Martha comes to the point where 00:24:57.289 --> 00:25:05.170 she confuses proximity with intimacy. She wanted 00:25:05.170 --> 00:25:10.079 Jesus in her house. But she was so busy, she 00:25:10.079 --> 00:25:14.180 wasn't spending any time with him. And there's 00:25:14.180 --> 00:25:17.619 a difference between proximity and intimacy. 00:25:21.799 --> 00:25:25.519 Just like there's a difference between reading 00:25:25.519 --> 00:25:30.319 your Bible and hearing God, or praying and hearing 00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:34.440 God, or coming to church and hearing God. All 00:25:34.440 --> 00:25:38.819 those things are good things. Let's not confuse 00:25:38.819 --> 00:25:41.779 proximity, just getting around the things of 00:25:41.779 --> 00:25:50.579 God. Hello? Because so many times we think if 00:25:50.579 --> 00:25:54.140 we can just get around the things of God, then 00:25:54.140 --> 00:26:01.619 that's the goal. But that's not the goal. Don't 00:26:01.619 --> 00:26:05.799 confuse proximity with intimacy. Jesus was in 00:26:05.799 --> 00:26:11.029 her house. But she wasn't spending any time with 00:26:11.029 --> 00:26:17.130 him. The Bible tells us three things about Martha. 00:26:17.250 --> 00:26:20.029 Everybody say three things. Just because I want 00:26:20.029 --> 00:26:23.049 you to stay engaged and not wander off into a 00:26:23.049 --> 00:26:26.589 daydream. This text tells us three things about 00:26:26.589 --> 00:26:29.309 Martha. Martha was distracted. Everybody say 00:26:29.309 --> 00:26:32.490 distracted. There's the Greek word. I'm not going 00:26:32.490 --> 00:26:35.109 to try to pronounce it. It means to be distracted, 00:26:35.470 --> 00:26:43.839 to be pulled away. or to be over -occupied. We 00:26:43.839 --> 00:26:49.000 need to think about these things. Because these 00:26:49.000 --> 00:26:53.220 things that Martha is described by these things, 00:26:53.380 --> 00:26:56.779 these are the things that will keep us from hearing 00:26:56.779 --> 00:27:02.099 God. Don't need to say that again. These are 00:27:02.099 --> 00:27:04.059 the things that will keep us from hearing God. 00:27:04.900 --> 00:27:09.059 Being distracted. Being pulled away. Being over 00:27:09.059 --> 00:27:14.599 -occupied. They kept Martha from hearing Jesus. 00:27:18.539 --> 00:27:22.240 Jesus also lets us know a couple of more things 00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:26.160 about Martha. Martha was worried. Everybody say 00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:32.480 worried. There's the Greek word. And here's the 00:27:32.480 --> 00:27:37.039 definition. She was anxious. She was worried. 00:27:38.500 --> 00:27:53.039 She had cares that seemed more important. These 00:27:53.039 --> 00:27:57.519 things, just like they kept Martha from hearing 00:27:57.519 --> 00:28:03.859 God, they will keep us from hearing God. And 00:28:03.859 --> 00:28:07.039 then, Jesus also said that she was troubled. 00:28:09.640 --> 00:28:13.000 Here's the Greek word. Here's the definition. 00:28:13.980 --> 00:28:21.720 To disturb. To make an uproar. To trouble. So 00:28:21.720 --> 00:28:28.759 she was troubled. And her trouble and her worry 00:28:28.759 --> 00:28:33.440 and her distraction had ramped her up to an uproar. 00:28:34.670 --> 00:28:36.970 Has anyone ever been ramped up to an uproar before? 00:28:37.410 --> 00:28:42.730 Come on, somebody. Smile. Take ownership. We 00:28:42.730 --> 00:28:50.170 all have. She was disturbed. Now her inward uproar 00:28:50.170 --> 00:28:56.809 becomes an outward uproar. Her inward trouble 00:28:56.809 --> 00:29:02.470 becomes an outward trouble. Don't shout me down 00:29:02.470 --> 00:29:09.490 while I'm preaching good. She was distracted, 00:29:09.690 --> 00:29:15.569 she was worried, and she was troubled. And those 00:29:15.569 --> 00:29:24.369 things were keeping her from hearing God. Who 00:29:24.369 --> 00:29:32.970 wants to hear God? These are some things that 00:29:32.970 --> 00:29:36.680 will keep us from hearing Him. I mean, just get 00:29:36.680 --> 00:29:39.279 in Martha's mind for a moment. Everybody's here. 00:29:41.059 --> 00:29:44.480 Oh no, did I sweep under the couch? What if Jesus' 00:29:44.619 --> 00:29:47.920 foot pulls out some lint from somewhere? What 00:29:47.920 --> 00:29:53.220 if Jesus gets dog hair on His robe? I mean, I'm 00:29:53.220 --> 00:29:56.960 not ready. They got here ten minutes before I 00:29:56.960 --> 00:29:58.140 thought they were going to get here, and I'm 00:29:58.140 --> 00:30:02.059 just, I'm freaking out. I hope we have enough 00:30:02.059 --> 00:30:04.420 room. How many disciples did He bring with Him? 00:30:06.829 --> 00:30:08.970 Hope I have enough knives and forks for everybody. 00:30:12.410 --> 00:30:15.289 I sure hope everybody likes Brussels sprouts. 00:30:17.369 --> 00:30:23.269 I see the faces of some of you. I have so much 00:30:23.269 --> 00:30:31.230 to do. I am overwhelmed. Where is my sister? 00:30:34.670 --> 00:30:39.049 For crying out loud, where is my sister? Why 00:30:39.049 --> 00:30:42.829 is she not helping me? Why am I doing all this 00:30:42.829 --> 00:30:46.630 by myself and nobody's helping me? My sister 00:30:46.630 --> 00:30:52.269 Mary, she is such a deadbeat. I'll tell you what 00:30:52.269 --> 00:30:53.849 I'm going to do. I'm going to barge in the room 00:30:53.849 --> 00:30:56.569 and I'm going to tell Jesus to make her get up 00:30:56.569 --> 00:30:59.529 right now and come help me. Is that what happened 00:30:59.529 --> 00:31:01.450 or not? Am I reading too much into the story? 00:31:01.769 --> 00:31:05.990 Is that the story? Now, I just got in her brain 00:31:05.990 --> 00:31:08.190 with my glorified imagination, but that's the 00:31:08.190 --> 00:31:13.089 story. I don't know if they had Brussels sprouts 00:31:13.089 --> 00:31:18.869 or not, but that's the story. That's the story. 00:31:23.190 --> 00:31:29.549 Jesus' words were filling Martha's home. I have 00:31:29.549 --> 00:31:34.089 no doubt that she could hear the sound. Of his 00:31:34.089 --> 00:31:44.349 voice. But there's a problem. Because her thoughts. 00:31:45.309 --> 00:31:51.490 Were louder. And took priority. Over. The voice 00:31:51.490 --> 00:32:00.210 of God. I'm just sitting here. Just laying it 00:32:00.210 --> 00:32:08.759 here. Is that alright? Does this apply to anyone 00:32:08.759 --> 00:32:19.440 in the room? Anyone in the room? Do we allow 00:32:19.440 --> 00:32:22.680 the thoughts about what's going on, what's around 00:32:22.680 --> 00:32:26.039 us? Now listen, just like those sheep. What am 00:32:26.039 --> 00:32:27.519 I going to do? What am I going to do? Somebody's 00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:29.839 springing a broom at me. There's a big van. It's 00:32:29.839 --> 00:32:31.339 blowing a horn at me. What am I going to do? 00:32:31.420 --> 00:32:33.099 I don't know what I'm going to do. I might die. 00:32:33.899 --> 00:32:35.859 I'm really scared right now. I don't know what 00:32:35.859 --> 00:32:37.339 to do. Don't know what to do. Don't know what 00:32:37.339 --> 00:32:41.480 to do. Does anybody let their thoughts get louder 00:32:41.480 --> 00:32:54.839 than the voice of God? This should make your 00:32:54.839 --> 00:33:05.279 nerves good. It can be better. I'm here today 00:33:05.279 --> 00:33:07.480 to tell you it can be better than what you're 00:33:07.480 --> 00:33:14.140 experiencing today. It can be better. You just 00:33:14.140 --> 00:33:18.319 need to hear His voice. Because when the shepherd 00:33:18.319 --> 00:33:21.400 walked through the sheep, all of a sudden, there's 00:33:21.400 --> 00:33:25.720 direction. There was peace. There was no longer 00:33:25.720 --> 00:33:39.420 chaos. Bye chair. See you later. of God. Wait 00:33:39.420 --> 00:33:43.039 a minute. There's a chair being moved. Can't 00:33:43.039 --> 00:33:53.140 hear God. I'm distracted. There's a chair. Hallelujah. 00:33:53.839 --> 00:33:58.799 Hallelujah. Wait a minute. Can't hear the preacher. 00:33:58.880 --> 00:34:00.019 There's a chair. Somebody's getting a chair. 00:34:00.440 --> 00:34:06.740 There's Buffy. She's getting a chair. And we 00:34:06.740 --> 00:34:15.800 wonder why we don't hear God. We've got to hear 00:34:15.800 --> 00:34:19.559 God. Because we're all going through situations 00:34:19.559 --> 00:34:21.880 and circumstances right now where it's vital 00:34:21.880 --> 00:34:29.559 that we hear God. But we're always distracted. 00:34:32.579 --> 00:34:35.420 We're always worried. We're always troubled. 00:34:40.320 --> 00:34:42.099 Look at the person beside you and say, be merry. 00:34:55.050 --> 00:34:57.769 See, Martha became so focused and overwhelmed 00:34:57.769 --> 00:35:03.550 with the natural things around her that she lost 00:35:03.550 --> 00:35:12.610 sight of the spiritual. And she didn't realize 00:35:12.610 --> 00:35:15.829 that the spiritual can transform the natural. 00:35:24.409 --> 00:35:27.670 Right in the middle of the chaos, when she comes 00:35:27.670 --> 00:35:30.829 in there and says, Jesus, make my sister get 00:35:30.829 --> 00:35:35.469 up and come help me. Because she had blown her 00:35:35.469 --> 00:35:41.250 top. Jesus looks at her and says, Martha, Martha. 00:35:44.409 --> 00:35:48.309 There's only one thing. Really, when it comes 00:35:48.309 --> 00:35:51.510 down to it, only one thing is needed. Only one 00:35:51.510 --> 00:35:56.429 thing is necessary. And that's what your sister 00:35:56.429 --> 00:36:00.829 chose to do. And no, I'm not going to make her 00:36:00.829 --> 00:36:06.150 get up and come help you right now. Because she 00:36:06.150 --> 00:36:11.869 chose the best thing. And I'm going to ad -lib 00:36:11.869 --> 00:36:15.590 a little bit here too. Jesus said, look, I don't 00:36:15.590 --> 00:36:17.369 care if you just run down the street and go to 00:36:17.369 --> 00:36:19.530 Taco Bell, the meal's not what's most important. 00:36:21.530 --> 00:36:25.159 What's most important. is that we can spend time 00:36:25.159 --> 00:36:33.079 together. And you know what? He's still saying 00:36:33.079 --> 00:36:35.940 that today to every single one of us in this 00:36:35.940 --> 00:36:39.159 room. What's most important in your life, what's 00:36:39.159 --> 00:36:41.820 most important today, what's most important right 00:36:41.820 --> 00:36:46.780 now isn't the lady swinging the broom. It isn't 00:36:46.780 --> 00:36:49.760 the van blowing the horn. What's most important 00:36:49.760 --> 00:36:54.400 right now is not the food. What's most important 00:36:54.400 --> 00:36:58.099 right now, spend a little bit of time with me. 00:36:59.500 --> 00:37:01.480 Because if you spend a little bit of time with 00:37:01.480 --> 00:37:08.900 me, and you hear me, I'm going to be just like 00:37:08.900 --> 00:37:12.719 that shepherd in Romania. I'm going to bring 00:37:12.719 --> 00:37:16.199 peace in the middle of chaos. I'm going to bring 00:37:16.199 --> 00:37:18.679 clarity. I'm going to bring direction. I know 00:37:18.679 --> 00:37:20.880 you don't know where to go or what to do, and 00:37:20.880 --> 00:37:23.119 you're spinning out of control right now, but 00:37:23.119 --> 00:37:25.039 I'm going to bring some clarity and direction 00:37:25.039 --> 00:37:29.360 into your life if you will just spend some time 00:37:29.360 --> 00:37:36.059 with me. Undistracted. Putting aside all the 00:37:36.059 --> 00:37:39.059 distractions, putting aside all the worry, putting 00:37:39.059 --> 00:37:41.940 aside all the trouble, just come spend some time 00:37:41.940 --> 00:37:49.619 with me. And if you do, your life is going to 00:37:49.619 --> 00:38:02.639 be so much better. So much better. What did Mary 00:38:02.639 --> 00:38:07.380 do? From verse 39, we see that she chose to sit 00:38:07.380 --> 00:38:14.420 at Jesus' feet and hear His words. There's a 00:38:14.420 --> 00:38:23.239 difference. Between hearing and listening. Martha 00:38:23.239 --> 00:38:29.780 could hear. But she wasn't listening. And the 00:38:29.780 --> 00:38:34.099 Greek word that describes the way that Mary heard 00:38:34.099 --> 00:38:40.900 carries with it the idea of listening. Here's 00:38:40.900 --> 00:38:44.579 a Greek word. Here's a translation. To hear. 00:38:45.280 --> 00:38:48.780 So hearing, right? But it also means to listen. 00:38:50.519 --> 00:38:53.800 I got a friend in Texas who preached at a lot 00:38:53.800 --> 00:38:55.739 of our events and stuff, and he would always 00:38:55.739 --> 00:38:58.679 say, I know you can hear me, but if you're listening, 00:38:58.860 --> 00:39:01.960 say I am. And he would make everybody say I am. 00:39:02.039 --> 00:39:03.760 He would just keep saying it until everybody 00:39:03.760 --> 00:39:07.139 in the room said I am. I'm listening. I'm focused. 00:39:07.400 --> 00:39:12.110 I'm intentional. I'm not just hearing. Like when 00:39:12.110 --> 00:39:14.130 we go to church so many times, we're just hearing, 00:39:14.190 --> 00:39:17.949 but we're not listening. Because we're distracted. 00:39:18.070 --> 00:39:19.610 We're thinking about, well, what am I going to 00:39:19.610 --> 00:39:23.469 have for lunch today? Hope the preacher don't 00:39:23.469 --> 00:39:28.829 go quite as long as he did last week. Has she 00:39:28.829 --> 00:39:33.769 colored her hair? That's about the brightest 00:39:33.769 --> 00:39:45.670 shirt I've ever seen. We're so distracted. We're 00:39:45.670 --> 00:39:49.590 worried. I got this going on in my life and I 00:39:49.590 --> 00:39:52.230 just don't know how it's going to work out. I'm 00:39:52.230 --> 00:39:55.070 just so upset and I'm so worried. I just don't 00:39:55.070 --> 00:39:58.730 know. Sitting here right now, listening to the 00:39:58.730 --> 00:40:02.010 Word of God, you're just like, that preacher 00:40:02.010 --> 00:40:04.170 really don't know what I'm going through. He 00:40:04.170 --> 00:40:05.869 don't know the trouble that I'm facing right 00:40:05.869 --> 00:40:08.389 now. He don't know. And I mean, he's up there 00:40:08.389 --> 00:40:11.300 talking and I can't really listen because, You 00:40:11.300 --> 00:40:13.079 know, what's happening to me has never happened 00:40:13.079 --> 00:40:18.460 to him before. It might apply. It might preach 00:40:18.460 --> 00:40:22.619 a good message, but it really don't apply. I'm 00:40:22.619 --> 00:40:30.099 telling you, it applies. There is no situation 00:40:30.099 --> 00:40:33.400 that you face that the Word of God does not speak 00:40:33.400 --> 00:40:36.860 to and does not apply. Every single one of them. 00:40:40.300 --> 00:40:45.360 Hallelujah. To hear, to listen, to understand. 00:40:47.159 --> 00:40:51.360 So it's not just hearing some noise, it's listening 00:40:51.360 --> 00:40:57.059 and then it's understanding. It's both a physical 00:40:57.059 --> 00:41:00.500 act of hearing, but it's also the deeper understanding 00:41:00.500 --> 00:41:04.460 of what is heard. See, Mary wasn't just sitting 00:41:04.460 --> 00:41:06.519 there thinking about everything else going on 00:41:06.519 --> 00:41:09.719 in her world. No, she's listening to understand. 00:41:10.400 --> 00:41:22.920 And that takes intention. The kind of listening 00:41:22.920 --> 00:41:25.739 she was doing was beyond just hearing noise. 00:41:28.480 --> 00:41:34.079 But it was attentive. And it even includes this. 00:41:36.619 --> 00:41:39.880 An attentive and obedient response to what is 00:41:39.880 --> 00:41:47.579 heard. She was listening to understand and she 00:41:47.579 --> 00:41:51.800 was listening to follow the shepherd who was 00:41:51.800 --> 00:41:56.420 speaking to her. It wasn't just hearing for more 00:41:56.420 --> 00:42:03.489 intellectual experience. It was hearing with 00:42:03.489 --> 00:42:07.150 the anticipation for it to be applied to her 00:42:07.150 --> 00:42:19.389 life. Hallelujah. I want to tell you, God is 00:42:19.389 --> 00:42:23.650 speaking to you. Whether you've heard Him or 00:42:23.650 --> 00:42:27.869 not, He's speaking to you. I believe He's speaking 00:42:27.869 --> 00:42:33.530 to you every day. I believe every time you face 00:42:33.530 --> 00:42:37.389 any situation in life, I believe He starts speaking 00:42:37.389 --> 00:42:45.710 to you. Because He's a speaking God. He's a faith 00:42:45.710 --> 00:42:49.269 God. And He knows you can't reply in faith unless 00:42:49.269 --> 00:42:52.489 you hear Him speaking. So He's speaking. He begins 00:42:52.489 --> 00:43:02.219 to speak to you. Listen. Only those who are positioned 00:43:02.219 --> 00:43:09.159 to hear are going to hear. I'm going to say that 00:43:09.159 --> 00:43:10.960 again because most of you are looking at me with 00:43:10.960 --> 00:43:14.619 a really, like, how dare you tell me that kind 00:43:14.619 --> 00:43:21.340 of face. God is speaking, but the only way we're 00:43:21.340 --> 00:43:23.460 going to hear Him is if we're positioned to hear 00:43:23.460 --> 00:43:26.869 Him. He's not going to smack us upside the head 00:43:26.869 --> 00:43:28.590 and say, listen. He's not going to grab us by 00:43:28.590 --> 00:43:36.670 the shoulder and say, listen to me. Mary was 00:43:36.670 --> 00:43:41.170 positioned to hear. She was at his feet. She 00:43:41.170 --> 00:43:45.909 was focused. And because of that, we don't know 00:43:45.909 --> 00:43:48.929 what words she heard, what words she applied, 00:43:49.170 --> 00:43:53.929 but we know how she was listening. And listen, 00:43:54.030 --> 00:43:56.750 if we would have heard the words that Jesus was 00:43:56.750 --> 00:43:59.929 saying that day, maybe our focus would be on 00:43:59.929 --> 00:44:04.210 what he said instead of what we need to do to 00:44:04.210 --> 00:44:11.230 hear. Just a thought. But the purpose of the 00:44:11.230 --> 00:44:15.050 story is not what Jesus was teaching that day. 00:44:15.150 --> 00:44:19.230 It was how important it is to position yourself 00:44:19.230 --> 00:44:25.960 to hear from God. I'm glad y 'all are having 00:44:25.960 --> 00:44:31.179 fun because I'm having a blast. Jesus said one 00:44:31.179 --> 00:44:43.400 thing is necessary. One thing is necessary. And 00:44:43.400 --> 00:44:45.920 my question for you today is what is necessary 00:44:45.920 --> 00:44:51.659 in your life today? What is the most necessary 00:44:51.659 --> 00:45:02.260 thing? Jesus said one thing is necessary. That 00:45:02.260 --> 00:45:06.199 doesn't mean we never do anything. It doesn't 00:45:06.199 --> 00:45:08.800 mean that we all move off to some monastery and 00:45:08.800 --> 00:45:12.320 sit in a dark room with candles and go... What 00:45:12.320 --> 00:45:20.320 it does mean is it's necessary for each one of 00:45:20.320 --> 00:45:26.500 us to seek first the kingdom of God. Most important. 00:45:30.059 --> 00:45:36.320 One thing. Seek God. Every day. Every situation. 00:45:36.579 --> 00:45:43.980 One thing is necessary. Hear God. Spend some 00:45:43.980 --> 00:45:47.300 focused, intentional, intimate time with God. 00:45:47.440 --> 00:45:51.739 Receive a word from Him. And since He is your 00:45:51.739 --> 00:45:56.380 good shepherd, His word is going to bring you 00:45:56.380 --> 00:45:59.000 the peace that you desire. His word is going 00:45:59.000 --> 00:46:01.460 to bring the joy that will give you strength. 00:46:01.619 --> 00:46:04.400 His word is going to bring you direction. His 00:46:04.400 --> 00:46:06.800 word is going to bring clarity to the situation 00:46:06.800 --> 00:46:09.139 that you're facing. His word is going to give 00:46:09.139 --> 00:46:12.659 you spiritual wisdom and insight that cannot 00:46:12.659 --> 00:46:16.480 be obtained by human reasoning. His word is going 00:46:16.480 --> 00:46:26.889 to give you revelation Does anybody in the room 00:46:26.889 --> 00:46:31.050 realize that's what we really need? That's what 00:46:31.050 --> 00:46:36.469 we really need. Because when we have that, that's 00:46:36.469 --> 00:46:42.050 going to take care of every other thing. If we 00:46:42.050 --> 00:46:51.389 only believe God is big enough. Listen, we can 00:46:51.389 --> 00:46:53.849 go through the religious mechanical activities. 00:46:54.840 --> 00:46:57.119 of praying. All right, I've got to pray five 00:46:57.119 --> 00:46:59.119 minutes, ten minutes every day. I've got to pray 00:46:59.119 --> 00:47:01.800 before every meal. So I've got to go through 00:47:01.800 --> 00:47:05.119 this series of vain repetition things that I've 00:47:05.119 --> 00:47:07.360 memorized, and I've got to go through that, or 00:47:07.360 --> 00:47:09.539 God's not going to be happy with me. So we go 00:47:09.539 --> 00:47:11.480 through this spiritual mechanical activity of 00:47:11.480 --> 00:47:14.139 praying, of reading our Bible. Hey, we're even 00:47:14.139 --> 00:47:16.699 sending you, read a chapter a day in the New 00:47:16.699 --> 00:47:19.579 Testament, so we see how fast we can read it, 00:47:19.639 --> 00:47:28.159 so that we can check that off. I finally caught 00:47:28.159 --> 00:47:30.360 up. You know, I was three weeks behind, but I 00:47:30.360 --> 00:47:33.940 finally sped red as fast as I can to catch up. 00:47:34.079 --> 00:47:36.719 So, you know, God's happy now. The preacher's 00:47:36.719 --> 00:47:38.539 going to be happy now because I've read my Bible 00:47:38.539 --> 00:47:44.780 reading plan. This is a thing of the past. We 00:47:44.780 --> 00:47:46.480 go through the spiritual mechanical activity 00:47:46.480 --> 00:47:50.360 of going to church every week. Somebody say every 00:47:50.360 --> 00:47:56.900 week. Hallelujah. Every week. all those things 00:47:56.900 --> 00:48:02.500 and still not experience God's presence or hear 00:48:02.500 --> 00:48:08.360 His voice. Because it's more than just spiritual 00:48:08.360 --> 00:48:21.659 mechanical activity. It's more than that. What's 00:48:21.659 --> 00:48:27.440 it going to take? What's it going to take for 00:48:27.440 --> 00:48:35.340 us to position ourself to hear the voice of God? 00:48:37.000 --> 00:48:40.900 What's it going to take? Well, first of all, 00:48:40.960 --> 00:48:44.340 we have to believe that He's speaking to us. 00:48:46.699 --> 00:48:48.980 We have to believe that He's concerned about 00:48:48.980 --> 00:48:51.340 us. We have to believe that He cares. And we 00:48:51.340 --> 00:48:55.320 have to believe that He's big enough. To lead 00:48:55.320 --> 00:49:04.559 us and guide us. We've got to believe that. Because 00:49:04.559 --> 00:49:06.920 if you don't believe that He wants to speak to 00:49:06.920 --> 00:49:09.460 you and help you, and that He's big enough to 00:49:09.460 --> 00:49:11.460 help you, if you don't believe that, well then 00:49:11.460 --> 00:49:15.360 you're just wasting your time. You've got to 00:49:15.360 --> 00:49:19.360 believe it. You've got to believe that it's possible. 00:49:22.409 --> 00:49:24.650 But you can sit back and believe that it's possible 00:49:24.650 --> 00:49:28.210 all day long and nothing really ever come of 00:49:28.210 --> 00:49:30.809 it because you've got a desire to hear the voice 00:49:30.809 --> 00:49:36.010 of God. You've got to want to. You've got to 00:49:36.010 --> 00:49:38.969 come to the point where you realize just how 00:49:38.969 --> 00:49:42.530 important it is and then that becomes your desire. 00:49:49.329 --> 00:49:51.849 And then after you believe it and after you desire 00:49:51.849 --> 00:49:57.719 it, Then you've got to expect it. Expectation 00:49:57.719 --> 00:50:04.099 is a big part. God, I believe that you want to 00:50:04.099 --> 00:50:06.659 speak to me. God, I desire for you to speak to 00:50:06.659 --> 00:50:09.360 me. And we can get locked up right there and 00:50:09.360 --> 00:50:12.699 never have any expectation. God, I expect you 00:50:12.699 --> 00:50:20.840 to speak to me. God's not a vending machine. 00:50:24.269 --> 00:50:28.349 You can't put in 37 seconds and pull the trigger 00:50:28.349 --> 00:50:31.929 and all of a sudden in a speaker coming out of 00:50:31.929 --> 00:50:38.230 the vending machine, this is God. I have a word 00:50:38.230 --> 00:50:44.670 for you. I think Jeffrey put some low end in 00:50:44.670 --> 00:50:49.949 my microphone. Hello. Normally it's so thin I 00:50:49.949 --> 00:50:53.820 can't. It could still take some more low end 00:50:53.820 --> 00:50:57.480 for the explosion moments, but anyway. You have 00:50:57.480 --> 00:51:05.380 to expect. Expect to hear from God. And then 00:51:05.380 --> 00:51:07.280 you've got to do something about your priorities. 00:51:11.980 --> 00:51:23.829 You have to prioritize some time with God. How 00:51:23.829 --> 00:51:27.449 many people in the room are busy? Am I the only 00:51:27.449 --> 00:51:34.070 busy person in the room? I've had things on my 00:51:34.070 --> 00:51:35.929 to -do list that have been there over 10 years. 00:51:41.010 --> 00:51:47.210 We're busy. And some people might be sitting 00:51:47.210 --> 00:51:49.050 there saying, I don't have any time for God. 00:51:52.300 --> 00:51:56.400 What do you think? Follow me around and see how 00:51:56.400 --> 00:51:59.420 much free time I have to get together with God 00:51:59.420 --> 00:52:08.500 today. You're not the only busy one. It has to 00:52:08.500 --> 00:52:14.639 become a priority. It has to be the one thing 00:52:14.639 --> 00:52:17.880 that's non -negotiable and most important to 00:52:17.880 --> 00:52:20.599 you. You've got to prioritize for it to happen. 00:52:26.860 --> 00:52:30.380 Just like everything else in your life. Hello? 00:52:34.420 --> 00:52:43.039 We prioritize a lot of things. But the Bible 00:52:43.039 --> 00:52:45.360 says there's something that we need to seek before 00:52:45.360 --> 00:52:48.659 everything else. And Jesus said that there's 00:52:48.659 --> 00:52:52.500 one thing that's most necessary above every other 00:52:52.500 --> 00:52:59.900 thing. And listen. This time with God will make 00:52:59.900 --> 00:53:06.920 a difference in all the rest. It'll make a difference 00:53:06.920 --> 00:53:15.239 in all the rest. So we have to prioritize. And 00:53:15.239 --> 00:53:19.599 we've got to acknowledge. That word just keeps 00:53:19.599 --> 00:53:21.619 burning in my heart. We've got to acknowledge. 00:53:23.179 --> 00:53:28.340 That God is not way out somewhere beyond the 00:53:28.340 --> 00:53:33.920 Milky Way in some heaven that, boy, if it takes 00:53:33.920 --> 00:53:36.900 light, you know, thousands of years to get here. 00:53:39.099 --> 00:53:47.480 Where is God? You're the temple. He's in you. 00:53:49.500 --> 00:53:54.019 God is in you. God the Holy Spirit is in you 00:53:54.019 --> 00:53:57.960 and with you all the time. He's closer than the 00:53:57.960 --> 00:54:00.719 person sitting beside you right now because He's 00:54:00.719 --> 00:54:11.780 in you. And He's saying, I want to be your comforter. 00:54:12.420 --> 00:54:15.460 I want to be your helper. He's actually saying, 00:54:15.480 --> 00:54:21.699 I am your comforter. I am your helper. I am your 00:54:21.699 --> 00:54:28.940 peace. I am your victory. I am your life. I am. 00:54:30.440 --> 00:54:33.659 And you keep searching for all those other things 00:54:33.659 --> 00:54:39.840 from the external. You keep searching for those 00:54:39.840 --> 00:54:43.940 things just in your human intellect and reasoning. 00:54:47.000 --> 00:54:56.519 I am those things. Spend some time with me. Spend 00:54:56.519 --> 00:55:02.559 some time with me. And I'll show you how you 00:55:02.559 --> 00:55:12.320 can have it all. Then you have to act. Because 00:55:12.320 --> 00:55:14.940 it's one thing to believe, desire, expect, prioritize, 00:55:15.019 --> 00:55:17.139 and acknowledge, but if you never spend time 00:55:17.139 --> 00:55:20.639 with God, You can do all those things and never 00:55:20.639 --> 00:55:30.480 spend time with him. Because you can, there's 00:55:30.480 --> 00:55:35.079 always, always, always an opportunity to be distracted, 00:55:35.280 --> 00:55:43.079 to be worried, to be troubled. You're not the 00:55:43.079 --> 00:55:46.739 only one in this room. Every single one of us 00:55:46.739 --> 00:55:56.280 have that opportunity constantly. We've got to 00:55:56.280 --> 00:56:06.820 come to it. Be with him. That has to rise to 00:56:06.820 --> 00:56:15.960 the top of our list on a daily basis. that has 00:56:15.960 --> 00:56:21.920 to rise to the top of our list of first response. 00:56:31.380 --> 00:56:39.460 Hallelujah. Ultimately. If you want to hear God's 00:56:39.460 --> 00:56:43.719 voice, you've got to put your hand on the volume 00:56:43.719 --> 00:56:47.920 button. That'll put your soul on the volume button. 00:56:48.800 --> 00:56:50.820 That'll put your spirit on the volume button. 00:56:52.000 --> 00:56:53.699 Because if you're going to hear Him, you're going 00:56:53.699 --> 00:56:57.920 to have to turn down the importance of all the 00:56:57.920 --> 00:57:02.559 other external voices and internal voices. You've 00:57:02.559 --> 00:57:07.280 got to turn down the importance of those and 00:57:07.280 --> 00:57:19.230 turn up the importance of God's voice. And it's 00:57:19.230 --> 00:57:20.969 all a decision that we're individually going 00:57:20.969 --> 00:57:25.210 to have to make. I can't make that decision for 00:57:25.210 --> 00:57:31.489 you. You can't make it for me. But I'm telling 00:57:31.489 --> 00:57:40.789 you, I promise you, I guarantee it, that if you 00:57:40.789 --> 00:57:48.900 will, your life will be different. Life will 00:57:48.900 --> 00:57:52.059 be different. This online worship experience 00:57:52.059 --> 00:57:54.599 was brought to you by the friends and partners 00:57:54.599 --> 00:57:59.559 of Elation Church. Over the years, Jeffrey and 00:57:59.559 --> 00:58:01.920 I have learned that the greatest battles we face 00:58:01.920 --> 00:58:05.340 are usually fought in our minds, but won with 00:58:05.340 --> 00:58:07.940 our mouths. When we've chosen to speak God's 00:58:07.940 --> 00:58:10.500 promises in the face of our fears, failures, 00:58:10.619 --> 00:58:13.460 and problems, we've seen God do what only He 00:58:13.460 --> 00:58:16.820 can do. This truth has changed our lives, and 00:58:16.820 --> 00:58:20.500 it's why we wrote Talk to Your Giants, to show 00:58:20.500 --> 00:58:22.820 you how to fight the good fight of faith, speak 00:58:22.820 --> 00:58:25.199 in agreement with God's Word, and discover the 00:58:25.199 --> 00:58:27.679 victory that comes when you stop talking about 00:58:27.679 --> 00:58:30.860 your giants and start talking to them order your 00:58:30.860 --> 00:58:33.539 copy of talk to your giants today on Amazon