WEBVTT

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Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is

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an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,

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with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.

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We invite you to connect with us from wherever

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you are through our website, ecb .asia, or our

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mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed

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by this week's sermon. I feel so privileged to

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be here this morning with you. As we go through

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this series, Spiritual Lessons from Our Walk

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with God, one thing that impresses me about this

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church is that over 70 nations are involved in

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this church. People from 70 nations. And right

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now, not just listening in this room or during

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the first service, but there are 40 nations that

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are listening online from all over the world.

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And so, as we go through this morning's lesson,

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And as we look at something that's deeply impacted

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my life, we're going to be talking about this,

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spiritual preparedness for abundant life in times

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of trouble. And we're going to be looking at

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it from Jeremiah chapter 17, predominantly in

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verses 7 through 8. Now, I know that in this

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room right now, there are people who are in troubled

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times. I know because I'm a human being and I'm

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a hot mess. All right? I know that as a human

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being, Life is not just this upward trajectory

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in which we experience life with less and less

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problems. In fact, what happens is the more responsibility

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oftentimes we have, the more problems that we

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experience. And so right now, around the world,

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there are some people who are listening, and

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maybe you're a Persian in this room, and you

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are from the country of Iran. In the last three

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weeks, over 40 ,000 Iranians have been murdered

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by the Islamic regime in Iran. I have friends

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that are Persian that when I talk with them,

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their eye is twitching. You know that nervous

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twitch, that one -eyed twitch? I have friends

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that have been persecuted by the... Islamic regime

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in Iran where they've had plastic bags put over

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their heads and where they thought they were

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going to suffocate and die and then removed right

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when they were passing out. If you are Persian

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and you are listening to this message, I just

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want you to know that you're not alone. That

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as you're going through this troubled time, we're

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praying for you. But I know that in this room

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are nations where you, I know that in this room

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there are people who have been persecuted before

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because of their faith in Christ, because of

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evil in this world that has caused you to experience

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great pain. The truth is, is that every single

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one of us has gone through troubled times and

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we might be going through troubled times right

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now. You might be in a troubled marriage. You

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might be a teenager, you might be a junior higher

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and a middle schooler and you're suffering at

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school because you feel so alone and you feel

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like you're just being ostracized, like you're

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being pushed out and you feel like, does anybody

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love me? You might be at work right now wondering

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if you're going to keep your job. You've been

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giving your life to this company and all of a

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sudden this company is downsizing and you're

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being pushed out. The truth is, is that I could

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list a hundred different problems that are being

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represented in this room right now because of

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the troubled times that you're facing. But at

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the root of every single bit of those times of

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trouble is one cause. And it's not God. It's

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sin. You see, when sin entered into the world

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originally, we... The world broke. And we live

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in a fallen world. We live in a fallen world

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and we have a problem and the only solution is

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what we're going to be talking about this morning.

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And so if you've come here today and you have

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problems, please understand that if you are experiencing

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trouble, you are not alone. I will tell you that

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I've experienced so much trouble in my life,

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and you're going to learn about some of my troubles

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in this message as we talk about these lessons

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that we learn in our walk with God. I've experienced

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some pretty high highs and some pretty low lows.

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But one of the lowest lows for me at the time

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was when I was a high school student. You see,

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from the age of... of middle school, of being

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in 6th grade through 12th grade, I had one dream,

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and that dream was to go to the United States

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Military Academy, to go to West Point. And I

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worked so hard, and I worked hard academically.

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I work hard, at least as hard academically as

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a teenage boy can work. But, yes, I was one of

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those. And I worked hard athletically. And I

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got two nominations to West Point. I was a shoo

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-in. All I had to do was pass my physical. So

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I went to the army base where I was taking my

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physical and all of a sudden I discovered something

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about myself that I never knew in all of my 18

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years of life. I'm colorblind. I had no idea.

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Some of you are going to ask me, well, what does

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it look like when you look at colors? I don't

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know. It just looks like what I see. But I can

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tell you that it disqualified me at that time

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from going to West Point. And so all of my dreams

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were completely dashed. All of what I thought

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was my achievement was all of a sudden just crumbled

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underneath me and I thought to myself, if there's

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a God, he must be cruel. And so I will tell you

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that I hated the concept of God so much so that

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I was an agnostic at best, but I basically became

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an atheist. And I went to a school that I wound

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up just going to because I didn't really care.

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And I went to this school and somehow, and I

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don't think it was by chance, but somehow. on

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the residence hall that I was in, in the dorm

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room I was in. I was in a dormitory, and there

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was a resident assistant, a person who's supposed

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to care for the students, and his name is Jay

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Condor. And he would talk with me about Jesus.

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And of course, I did not receive that well. I

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argued vigorously that there must not be a God.

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I had all these arguments, all these proofs.

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I thought that Jesus was just a fairy tale. I

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thought that if there is a God that he must be

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cruel and Jay just kept loving me and he kept

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sharing Jesus with me. He kept sending me to

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read some passage of the Bible and I would go

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ahead and read it just so I could argue with

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him and I was a real pain in the rear end in

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his life. But then one day it was like I felt

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my loneliness. And I felt my sinfulness. And

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I felt all this trust that I had put in myself.

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And what a disappointment I was. And that all

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of my dreams had been dashed. And there I was

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feeling lonely and feeling like, you know what?

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I would like to trust in somebody who loves me.

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In this God that Jay was talking about that so

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loved the world that he gave his only begotten

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son, Jesus Christ, that whoever believes in him

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would not perish but have everlasting life. And

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I wanted to believe, but I couldn't. I couldn't.

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For three months, it was like I was just in this

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fog. And Jay was working with me. I read Mere

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Christianity, the whole liar, lunatic Lord. He

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talked with me about Blaise Pascal's theory of

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probability and Pascal's wager. And those things

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made sense to me and I wanted to believe, but

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I couldn't believe. And then one day after three

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months, it was like the fog just lifted. And

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I saw through those troubled times, I saw the

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beauty of Jesus Christ. And I trusted Him. And

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this morning what I want to argue is that God

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is trustworthy. That no matter what circumstances

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you are going through right now, whatever troubles

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you are going through right now, that God is

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trustworthy. And that Jesus Christ is trustworthy.

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And so we're going to be looking at Jeremiah.

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After I became a believer in Jesus Christ by

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the drawing of the Holy Spirit, what I saw was,

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is I saw this beautiful book that when I read

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it, I felt like it was speaking to me. And one

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of the books in the Old Testament, in the Hebrew

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Scriptures, that I really loved was the book

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of Jeremiah because he was the weeping prophet.

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But he gave me so much hope. And so... What I

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want to give you is the context of Jeremiah,

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particularly Jeremiah 17 and 29 this morning.

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The context is a sharp prophetic warning to the

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kingdom of Judah during a period of national

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crisis and impending exile. They're going to

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be exiled to Babylon. During this difficult time,

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Judah was tempted to rely on biblical allies,

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or not biblical allies, political alliances,

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particularly Egypt, and military strength. In

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order to save themselves from the Babylonian

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empire. Rather than trusting in God. And they

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had a choice. And Judah had the choice of. They

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could either trust in the flesh. Or they could

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trust in the Lord. And really that's always.

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The decision that we make. We can either trust

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in the flesh. We can trust in someone else. That

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we think is going to save us. Maybe it's a political

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figure. We can trust in. our own accomplishments

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and our own self -reliance, thinking that somehow

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we're going to be able to save ourselves. Or

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we can trust in the Lord. Israel has this choice

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just like we have that choice. And yet, let's

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not talk about our sin. Let's talk about Israel's

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sin because it's always easier to talk about

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someone else's sin. So let's talk about the kingdom

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of Judah's sin and let's feel the weight of it.

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Alright, Pastor Pablo, he gave some beautiful

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passages that were not that encouraging about

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the state of the kingdom of Judah last week.

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When the word of God was not even in their mouths.

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And look at what Jeremiah 7 says in verse 23.

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It says, Obey me and I will be your God and you

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will be my people. Do everything as I say and

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all will be well with you. God is telling them,

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trust me. And yet... In Jeremiah 7, verse 24,

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God says, but my people would not listen to me.

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I mean, how hurtful is that? God offers them

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a solution, but they wouldn't listen to God.

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They kept doing whatever they wanted, following

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the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They

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went backward instead of forward. Have you ever

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felt that feeling? Maybe, you know, you've been

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trying to lose weight. And you're like, I got

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to get healthy. I've been there. I still am there.

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And so, and all of a sudden you go, you know

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what? Maybe I don't need to be eating five or

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6 ,000 calories a day. And every time I see a

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muffin, I got to eat it. And every time I see

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a donut, I got to eat it. And every time I see

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this, I got to reach and grab something and eat

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it. And yet every time you see that donut, you

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grab it. And it feels like you're going backward

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instead of forward in your health journey. And

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you feel like, man, What is it about my stubborn

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desires and my evil heart that I can't just say

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no to a donut? Now, there's nothing wrong with

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donuts, all right? So don't feel convicted, okay?

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They're good. It's just I wouldn't eat six of

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them at the same time, all right? Which I've

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been prone to do. And so... When we look at this,

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we look at the fact that Jeremiah 7, 28 says,

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therefore say to them, this is a nation that

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has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded

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to correction. Truth has perished. It has vanished

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from their lips. Have you ever noticed that just

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like the kingdom of Judah, we make excuses when

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we're living in sin? Maybe we're watching things

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that we shouldn't be watching on the internet

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and we make excuses for it. Well, you know, I

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don't have any intimacy with my spouse. And yet,

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we have to ask the question, what does the word

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of God say? What did Jesus say? You know, there's

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no temptation that is not common to man. Every

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single person in this room has experienced temptation

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in many different forms. And I'm one of them.

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Like the apostle Paul said, I'm the chief of

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sinners. All right, I'm a hot mess. And some

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of you in this room are hot messes and you're

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doing things that all of a sudden you go, man,

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wish I didn't do that but the things that I don't

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want to do I do and the things that I want to

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do I don't do and you're like the apostle Paul

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and yet in Jeremiah 7 verse 28 says therefore

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say to them this is the nation that has not obeyed

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the Lord its God and responded to correction

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truth has perished it has vanished from their

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lips and this is where we come to Jeremiah 17

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verse 1 the sin of Judah is written with a pen

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of iron. Something's going to happen because

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God knows that they're just not going to change

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their heart in this moment. They're not going

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to trust him. They're going to trust in their

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flesh. And so he says in verse four, you shall

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loosen your hand from your heritage that I gave

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to you and I will make you serve your enemies.

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We're talking about exile here in a land that

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you do not know for in my anger, a fear is kindled

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that shall burn forever. And you're like, whoa,

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God's serious. You know, have you ever had that

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experience? Remember when you were a kid and

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all of a sudden you're like, wow, mom and dad

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are serious. If I don't shape up, they're going

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to shit me out. I'm going to be in real trouble

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here. There's going to be real consequences.

00:14:58.960 --> 00:15:01.299
And there are real consequences for the kingdom

00:15:01.299 --> 00:15:08.100
of Judah. And so in Jeremiah 17, 5, we see that

00:15:08.100 --> 00:15:10.080
this is what the Lord says to them. He says,

00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:13.149
and we're going to see in contrast. to the next

00:15:13.149 --> 00:15:15.330
two verses after this that are absolutely beautiful,

00:15:15.409 --> 00:15:18.250
but these two verses show what happens when we

00:15:18.250 --> 00:15:21.570
don't listen to what God says. It says, Cursed

00:15:21.570 --> 00:15:24.649
are those who put their trust in mere humans.

00:15:25.350 --> 00:15:27.970
This is what happens when we don't trust in the

00:15:27.970 --> 00:15:31.210
Lord, but we choose to trust in the flesh. Cursed

00:15:31.210 --> 00:15:33.409
are those who put their trust in mere humans,

00:15:33.590 --> 00:15:36.610
who rely on human strength and turn their hearts

00:15:36.610 --> 00:15:40.379
away from the Lord. They are like stunted shrubs

00:15:40.379 --> 00:15:42.379
in the desert with no hope for the future. They

00:15:42.379 --> 00:15:45.399
will live in the barren wilderness in an uninhabited

00:15:45.399 --> 00:15:49.159
salty land. Does anybody in here want to live

00:15:49.159 --> 00:15:52.200
in an uninhabited salty land? Do you want to

00:15:52.200 --> 00:15:55.120
be like a little bush in the middle of the wilderness?

00:15:55.860 --> 00:15:59.000
That's not what God wants you to be. God wants

00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:03.019
you to be a tree. He wants you to be planted

00:16:03.019 --> 00:16:08.830
in a place of His planting. And so, The kingdom

00:16:08.830 --> 00:16:11.950
of Judah is in big trouble here. They're in big

00:16:11.950 --> 00:16:15.730
trouble. And you might feel like you're in some

00:16:15.730 --> 00:16:18.049
big trouble right now in your life. And maybe

00:16:18.049 --> 00:16:19.769
it's not just your own sin. Maybe it's because

00:16:19.769 --> 00:16:23.629
of someone else's sin in your life. Maybe you're

00:16:23.629 --> 00:16:27.649
not being treated very well by your spouse. Maybe

00:16:27.649 --> 00:16:32.529
you feel like you're not being treated very well

00:16:32.529 --> 00:16:36.929
by your boss. And you're thinking, I'm in some

00:16:36.929 --> 00:16:40.590
real trouble. And the cause of that trouble is

00:16:40.590 --> 00:16:42.470
sin. And sometimes it's our own sin. Sometimes

00:16:42.470 --> 00:16:44.690
it's somebody else's sin. But it's always sin.

00:16:45.129 --> 00:16:49.149
And there's only one way out of the messes we

00:16:49.149 --> 00:16:53.750
make or the messes we find ourselves in. And

00:16:53.750 --> 00:16:56.309
here's the way out. In times of trouble, how

00:16:56.309 --> 00:17:01.769
do we spell relief? T -R -U -S -T. That's what

00:17:01.769 --> 00:17:03.549
we're going to find out from the next verse.

00:17:04.089 --> 00:17:07.730
We've got to trust in the Lord. You see, in Jeremiah

00:17:07.730 --> 00:17:09.450
17, and this is where we're going to spend the

00:17:09.450 --> 00:17:11.970
predominant amount of our time. In Jeremiah 17,

00:17:12.190 --> 00:17:14.650
verses 7 and 8, it says, But blessed are those

00:17:14.650 --> 00:17:17.509
who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord

00:17:17.509 --> 00:17:21.130
their hope and confidence. They are like trees

00:17:21.130 --> 00:17:25.289
planted along a river bank with roots that reach

00:17:25.289 --> 00:17:29.589
deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered

00:17:29.589 --> 00:17:32.150
by the heat or worried by long months of drought.

00:17:32.829 --> 00:17:36.549
Their leaves stay green and they never stop producing

00:17:36.549 --> 00:17:43.710
fruit. You see, if you want to be blessed by

00:17:43.710 --> 00:17:48.410
God, you have to trust in the Lord. That's what

00:17:48.410 --> 00:17:51.210
Jeremiah 17, 7 says. If you want to be blessed

00:17:51.210 --> 00:17:55.369
by God, you have to trust in the Lord. Now, trust

00:17:55.369 --> 00:17:59.880
is such a slippery fish, if you will. And let

00:17:59.880 --> 00:18:01.839
me just say this, there's not a person in this

00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:07.400
room that trusts God perfectly, including myself.

00:18:08.799 --> 00:18:11.259
Trust is like a slippery fish. In one area of

00:18:11.259 --> 00:18:13.119
my life, I'm trusting him. In another area of

00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:15.180
my life, I'm not trusting him. And even in the

00:18:15.180 --> 00:18:16.960
areas that I am trusting him, I'm not trusting

00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:18.859
him perfectly because oftentimes I want to grab

00:18:18.859 --> 00:18:20.599
a hold of something and say, yeah, but God, if

00:18:20.599 --> 00:18:22.960
you did it this way, we could really be successful.

00:18:25.930 --> 00:18:28.369
And with arrogance, the same arrogance that I

00:18:28.369 --> 00:18:33.250
had before I was a believer, with even the same

00:18:33.250 --> 00:18:35.690
hurt that I still had before I was a believer,

00:18:35.789 --> 00:18:39.509
I find myself having a hard time sometimes trusting

00:18:39.509 --> 00:18:45.589
God. You see, the Bible says in Jeremiah 17,

00:18:45.750 --> 00:18:48.869
7, but blessed are those who trust in the Lord

00:18:48.869 --> 00:18:51.190
and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.

00:18:52.210 --> 00:18:59.809
Now, what does it mean to be To be blessed. What

00:18:59.809 --> 00:19:02.589
it means to be blessed is to have the favor of

00:19:02.589 --> 00:19:09.109
God upon you. To have the favor of God upon you.

00:19:09.130 --> 00:19:11.250
How many of you want to have the favor of God

00:19:11.250 --> 00:19:15.690
upon you? Please raise your hand. Okay, now take

00:19:15.690 --> 00:19:17.250
your hands down. Is there anyone that doesn't

00:19:17.250 --> 00:19:20.069
want to have the favor of God upon them? Is there

00:19:20.069 --> 00:19:22.329
anyone that wants to be cursed and be separated

00:19:22.329 --> 00:19:24.150
from God in this room? Can you raise your hand?

00:19:25.149 --> 00:19:29.029
No one. Wow. Okay. That's not surprising. You

00:19:29.029 --> 00:19:32.569
see, the truth is, is that everybody wants to

00:19:32.569 --> 00:19:35.910
be blessed. We all want to have the favor of

00:19:35.910 --> 00:19:38.029
God upon us. And I'm going to talk about this

00:19:38.029 --> 00:19:40.089
morning how we can have the favor of God upon

00:19:40.089 --> 00:19:43.589
us. But you're going to be surprised that it's

00:19:43.589 --> 00:19:46.890
not based upon anything that you can do. But

00:19:46.890 --> 00:19:49.710
it's actually based upon who God is and what

00:19:49.710 --> 00:19:53.630
he's already done. You see, blessed are those

00:19:53.630 --> 00:19:57.670
who trust in the Lord. Now it's interesting because

00:19:57.670 --> 00:20:00.809
the word trust in the Hebrew scriptures is actually

00:20:00.809 --> 00:20:03.650
used twice in this verse. And it comes from the

00:20:03.650 --> 00:20:08.789
root word batach or batachon. And we have two

00:20:08.789 --> 00:20:11.529
words. One is a verb. That's the first time it's

00:20:11.529 --> 00:20:13.930
mentioned. The next is a noun. With the verb,

00:20:14.049 --> 00:20:18.539
it's the word yivtach. And Yiv Tak means to lean

00:20:18.539 --> 00:20:22.859
on or to feel safe or to be confident. But blessed

00:20:22.859 --> 00:20:25.599
are those who trust in the Lord. Those blessings

00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:29.619
come upon those who lean on the Lord. Who lean

00:20:29.619 --> 00:20:36.099
on the Lord. Who feel safe in the Lord. Who feel

00:20:36.099 --> 00:20:40.440
confident in the Lord. Who realize that the Lord

00:20:40.440 --> 00:20:42.900
is trustworthy. Because I can tell you that there's

00:20:42.900 --> 00:20:45.039
only one person in this room who really is trustworthy.

00:20:47.049 --> 00:20:50.910
And that's God. You see, God's in this room.

00:20:51.490 --> 00:20:54.809
Did you know that? Because God is omnipresent,

00:20:54.829 --> 00:20:56.789
meaning He is everywhere. And so God is in this

00:20:56.789 --> 00:21:01.230
room. The Holy Spirit is in this room. And He

00:21:01.230 --> 00:21:05.150
is trustworthy. You see, blessed are those who

00:21:05.150 --> 00:21:07.849
trust in the Lord. And so it's giving us this

00:21:07.849 --> 00:21:12.509
verb that we need to lean on and feel safe in

00:21:12.509 --> 00:21:20.259
and be confident in the Lord. And yet, it's in

00:21:20.259 --> 00:21:22.539
the imperfect tense, meaning that it's in a sense

00:21:22.539 --> 00:21:25.000
of ongoing or future action, meaning it's something

00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:28.180
that's continually needing to happen. It's not

00:21:28.180 --> 00:21:30.680
just a one -time deal. It's something where we

00:21:30.680 --> 00:21:34.500
need to keep trusting in the Lord. But then there's

00:21:34.500 --> 00:21:38.400
the second trust, which is the word mivtach in

00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:41.720
Hebrew, which functions as a noun with a pronoun

00:21:41.720 --> 00:21:46.519
as a suffix. And it refers to the object of trust.

00:21:47.309 --> 00:21:49.930
It refers to the person or the thing that provides

00:21:49.930 --> 00:21:52.650
security. In fact, in the English Standard Version,

00:21:52.789 --> 00:21:55.509
this is the New Living Translation, but the English

00:21:55.509 --> 00:21:58.029
Standard Version says this. It says, Blessed

00:21:58.029 --> 00:22:00.369
is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust

00:22:00.369 --> 00:22:06.029
is the Lord. You see, that noun that is trust

00:22:06.029 --> 00:22:10.609
is the Lord. He is trustworthy. And that's what

00:22:10.609 --> 00:22:12.990
I want us all to see this. this morning, including

00:22:12.990 --> 00:22:16.410
myself, that God is, the Lord is trustworthy.

00:22:16.490 --> 00:22:20.910
And by the way, the Lord is in the Hebrew scriptures,

00:22:21.069 --> 00:22:25.910
YHWH. Anyone know what that stands for? Yahweh.

00:22:26.109 --> 00:22:28.130
But they don't say Yahweh when they read the

00:22:28.130 --> 00:22:30.650
scriptures, they say Adonai. But the reason why

00:22:30.650 --> 00:22:33.970
there's capitalized in your Bible and up on the

00:22:33.970 --> 00:22:39.000
screen behind me is because whenever... Y -H

00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:42.880
-W -H, the name of God is used. It's always capitalized.

00:22:42.880 --> 00:22:46.079
And what does it mean? It means I am who I am.

00:22:47.400 --> 00:22:51.799
He is who he is. And you know what he is? He's

00:22:51.799 --> 00:22:57.059
trustworthy. He is our trust. You see, we're

00:22:57.059 --> 00:22:59.160
not talking about the perfection of our trust.

00:22:59.259 --> 00:23:01.000
We're not talking about the perfection of our

00:23:01.000 --> 00:23:04.309
faith here. Our faith is not perfect. But the

00:23:04.309 --> 00:23:07.390
one that we have faith in is perfect. Our trust

00:23:07.390 --> 00:23:11.069
is not perfect, but the one that we have trust

00:23:11.069 --> 00:23:17.109
in is perfect. And we're going to see that throughout

00:23:17.109 --> 00:23:25.390
this message. And so, to be blessed, to have

00:23:25.390 --> 00:23:28.509
the favor of God upon us, we have to trust in

00:23:28.509 --> 00:23:30.869
the Lord. And the Lord needs to be our trust.

00:23:30.970 --> 00:23:34.440
He's the one who becomes our hope. and our confidence,

00:23:34.579 --> 00:23:37.420
that our hope is not in ourselves, that our confidence

00:23:37.420 --> 00:23:42.220
is not in ourselves, but in Him. So what does

00:23:42.220 --> 00:23:44.839
it look like to trust in the Lord? Well, that's

00:23:44.839 --> 00:23:48.740
Jeremiah 17 .8. And in Jeremiah 17 .8, it tells

00:23:48.740 --> 00:23:51.079
us that if we trust in the Lord, we're like trees.

00:23:51.400 --> 00:23:56.579
We're not like some stunted little shrub. Okay?

00:23:56.660 --> 00:23:59.900
We're like trees that are planted along a riverbank.

00:24:01.480 --> 00:24:04.079
With roots that reach deep into the water. Such

00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:07.099
trees are not bothered by heat. They're not worried

00:24:07.099 --> 00:24:10.279
by long months of drought. Their leaves stay

00:24:10.279 --> 00:24:16.039
green and they never stop producing fruit. One

00:24:16.039 --> 00:24:17.640
of the things I love about the missions organization

00:24:17.640 --> 00:24:22.400
that I work for is that one of the metaphors

00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:24.579
that we use is the tree. The tree out of Psalm

00:24:24.579 --> 00:24:27.799
1. The tree out of Jeremiah 17, 7 and 8. We talk

00:24:27.799 --> 00:24:31.789
about the roots. From roots to fruit. Because

00:24:31.789 --> 00:24:35.029
oftentimes what people do is they wind up turning

00:24:35.029 --> 00:24:37.089
the tree around and it's all about ministry.

00:24:37.630 --> 00:24:40.309
Because the roots are our transforming faith.

00:24:40.569 --> 00:24:43.430
The trunk is our transforming community and the

00:24:43.430 --> 00:24:47.029
branches are the transforming ministry. But when

00:24:47.029 --> 00:24:49.390
you turn that tree around and rather than having

00:24:49.390 --> 00:24:52.509
those roots firmly planted, but instead you're

00:24:52.509 --> 00:24:56.349
trusting in what you do, your ministry, that

00:24:56.349 --> 00:24:59.069
oftentimes what it causes is it causes your ministry

00:24:59.069 --> 00:25:03.500
to be unfruitful. And it causes a ministry to

00:25:03.500 --> 00:25:06.779
lose its whole purpose, which is the Lord, which

00:25:06.779 --> 00:25:08.900
is hope and confidence in him, and people become

00:25:08.900 --> 00:25:15.180
burned out. And they dry up. And that's not what

00:25:15.180 --> 00:25:18.420
God wants. God wants us to have our roots planted

00:25:18.420 --> 00:25:23.380
somewhere. So here's the first application that

00:25:23.380 --> 00:25:26.700
I'd like to give you from verse 8 in Jeremiah

00:25:26.700 --> 00:25:29.690
17, and that is this. In order to trust in the

00:25:29.690 --> 00:25:33.009
Lord, we have to recognize that with Jesus Christ,

00:25:33.369 --> 00:25:37.029
you'll never walk alone. Do we have any Liverpool

00:25:37.029 --> 00:25:44.029
fans in here? You see, before there was Liverpool

00:25:44.029 --> 00:25:46.450
and you'll never walk alone, there was Jesus

00:25:46.450 --> 00:25:49.170
who said, and lo, I'll be with you always till

00:25:49.170 --> 00:25:54.599
the very end of the age. There was Jesus who

00:25:54.599 --> 00:25:56.859
on the road to Emmaus, remember when Phil talked

00:25:56.859 --> 00:25:58.839
about this, on the road to Emmaus, all of a sudden

00:25:58.839 --> 00:26:00.680
they're walking along, this guy, he's really

00:26:00.680 --> 00:26:03.359
insightful, he's walking with them, and they

00:26:03.359 --> 00:26:05.920
don't know who he is, but he's asking them questions,

00:26:06.019 --> 00:26:07.799
they're explaining things, and all of a sudden,

00:26:07.900 --> 00:26:12.779
boom, they realize it's Jesus. And Jesus shares

00:26:12.779 --> 00:26:14.880
with them all the things in the scripture that

00:26:14.880 --> 00:26:22.660
are pertaining to him. You see, Jesus wants you

00:26:22.660 --> 00:26:27.940
to understand that in him, you'll never walk

00:26:27.940 --> 00:26:30.940
alone. Now, you might feel lonely at times. You

00:26:30.940 --> 00:26:34.619
might feel like you are all alone, but you are

00:26:34.619 --> 00:26:39.099
never alone. Jesus is always with you, even when

00:26:39.099 --> 00:26:40.859
you're looking at stuff that you shouldn't be

00:26:40.859 --> 00:26:42.740
looking at, even when you're doing stuff that

00:26:42.740 --> 00:26:46.079
you shouldn't be doing. Jesus doesn't leave you.

00:26:47.900 --> 00:26:50.240
Jesus said, and lo, I'll be with you always.

00:26:51.210 --> 00:26:55.970
To the very end of the age. Jesus is never as

00:26:55.970 --> 00:26:58.049
far away from you as you might think he is. In

00:26:58.049 --> 00:26:59.710
fact, he's always right there with you. It's

00:26:59.710 --> 00:27:03.109
just your perception. Because you think you're

00:27:03.109 --> 00:27:05.410
far away from Jesus, but the reality is wherever

00:27:05.410 --> 00:27:09.029
you go, he goes with you. If you're a believer

00:27:09.029 --> 00:27:13.730
in Jesus Christ. So, in Jeremiah 17, it says

00:27:13.730 --> 00:27:16.029
they're like trees that are planted along a river

00:27:16.029 --> 00:27:18.960
bank. So this is how we know that we're never

00:27:18.960 --> 00:27:22.319
alone because this word that planted is the word

00:27:22.319 --> 00:27:25.940
shatul in Hebrew. It means to transplant or to

00:27:25.940 --> 00:27:29.000
plant and the tense form is in the passive participle

00:27:29.000 --> 00:27:31.039
meaning that it's not something that we do. We

00:27:31.039 --> 00:27:32.839
don't plant ourselves but it's something that

00:27:32.839 --> 00:27:43.019
is done to us. We've been planted by a reliant

00:27:43.019 --> 00:27:48.559
and loving gardener. Who cares about us and who

00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:51.960
wants us to succeed in this life. And so this

00:27:51.960 --> 00:27:55.220
this gardener, this divine gardener plants us

00:27:55.220 --> 00:27:57.500
along the riverbank. He doesn't just allow us

00:27:57.500 --> 00:28:00.359
to be some wild shrub planted out in the middle

00:28:00.359 --> 00:28:02.380
of the desert that's going to dry up when we

00:28:02.380 --> 00:28:05.400
don't have any water. He always gives us what

00:28:05.400 --> 00:28:10.119
we need to trust in him. Because he has planted

00:28:10.119 --> 00:28:14.839
us along a riverbank. He has planted us along.

00:28:16.079 --> 00:28:19.799
This river bank that gives us nourishment and

00:28:19.799 --> 00:28:22.920
he's constantly with us and he's planted us in

00:28:22.920 --> 00:28:27.759
something, in this water, and we're never alone

00:28:27.759 --> 00:28:31.000
because this gardener cares for us. That's the

00:28:31.000 --> 00:28:34.299
picture that we see in this passage that you

00:28:34.299 --> 00:28:39.940
see on the screen. And so here's the second application.

00:28:40.019 --> 00:28:42.180
The second application is we need to respond.

00:28:42.900 --> 00:28:46.900
Respond with trust. to God's invitation to spread

00:28:46.900 --> 00:28:49.400
your roots into the living water that Jesus Christ

00:28:49.400 --> 00:28:52.900
gives. We need to respond with trust to God's

00:28:52.900 --> 00:28:55.960
invitation to spread your roots into the living

00:28:55.960 --> 00:29:00.700
water that Jesus Christ gives. Look at this verse.

00:29:01.559 --> 00:29:04.140
It says that we're planted along a river bank.

00:29:04.319 --> 00:29:06.619
Now that's God's responsibility. That is the

00:29:06.619 --> 00:29:09.740
gardener's responsibility. We don't plant ourselves.

00:29:09.839 --> 00:29:12.960
He planted us. He visits us all of the time.

00:29:13.660 --> 00:29:18.240
He's constantly there watching us, taking care

00:29:18.240 --> 00:29:22.920
of us, pruning us. He's given us everything we

00:29:22.920 --> 00:29:26.740
need to grow in him. But we have a responsibility

00:29:26.740 --> 00:29:29.019
and that responsibility is to respond to his

00:29:29.019 --> 00:29:31.799
invitation. We have the responsibility to take

00:29:31.799 --> 00:29:34.859
our roots and to extend them, to reach them deep

00:29:34.859 --> 00:29:38.500
into that water that we have been planted by.

00:29:40.160 --> 00:29:44.420
Now the word in the Hebrew here is, Yeshalach.

00:29:45.539 --> 00:29:48.619
Which means send out its roots. And it's a verb

00:29:48.619 --> 00:29:51.099
in an imperfect tense that suggests a habitual

00:29:51.099 --> 00:29:54.759
or a persistent, or I like this word, a rhythmic,

00:29:54.900 --> 00:30:00.559
a rhythmic action. The roots are constantly,

00:30:00.599 --> 00:30:02.839
they're reaching out toward the water source.

00:30:03.000 --> 00:30:06.380
That's who we should be. Now we're not always

00:30:06.380 --> 00:30:11.440
that way, are we? I'm not. And my guess is that

00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:14.720
you're not always that way too. The resource

00:30:14.720 --> 00:30:16.640
is always there, but sometimes we don't reach

00:30:16.640 --> 00:30:18.880
our roots deep into that water, and we'll discover

00:30:18.880 --> 00:30:23.000
what that water is in a moment. But what we're

00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:25.599
called is to respond to God's invitation to reach

00:30:25.599 --> 00:30:28.140
our roots into that water. So what is that water?

00:30:29.579 --> 00:30:34.960
Well, that water is Jesus Christ himself. You

00:30:34.960 --> 00:30:36.779
see, they probably didn't understand this when...

00:30:37.659 --> 00:30:40.720
Judah was reading this text because Jesus had

00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:42.500
not been born into this world yet. They were

00:30:42.500 --> 00:30:44.299
looking forward to a Messiah. Actually, they

00:30:44.299 --> 00:30:46.119
probably weren't because they totally were not

00:30:46.119 --> 00:30:50.339
trusting in the Lord at this time. But this promise

00:30:50.339 --> 00:30:54.019
of a Messiah was there. And yet we know that

00:30:54.019 --> 00:30:58.480
Jesus Christ is the living water. How do we know

00:30:58.480 --> 00:31:00.700
that? Well, we're going to see a verse in a second

00:31:00.700 --> 00:31:02.799
that will prove that. But before that, think

00:31:02.799 --> 00:31:05.279
about it. When you were baptized, what were you

00:31:05.279 --> 00:31:10.160
baptized into? Jesus, right? You know, the metaphor

00:31:10.160 --> 00:31:14.180
of Jesus being the one that we are identifying

00:31:14.180 --> 00:31:16.619
ourselves with through baptism. And we're baptized

00:31:16.619 --> 00:31:20.859
in what? In water. And when we're baptized into

00:31:20.859 --> 00:31:24.240
water, that water is a symbol of being baptized

00:31:24.240 --> 00:31:27.380
into Jesus, into his death, into his resurrection,

00:31:27.660 --> 00:31:30.880
into the blood that washes us clean of our sins.

00:31:31.039 --> 00:31:35.759
It's Jesus Christ who is the water. And you say,

00:31:35.779 --> 00:31:37.440
well, Craig, you're just making that up. Well,

00:31:37.539 --> 00:31:41.819
the word water is mayim in the Hebrew text here,

00:31:41.859 --> 00:31:44.059
but there's another place where it refers to

00:31:44.059 --> 00:31:48.559
it and it says mayim chayim, which is living

00:31:48.559 --> 00:31:52.359
water. Not some stagnant water that's like sitting

00:31:52.359 --> 00:31:57.440
there building up scum and breeding mosquitoes,

00:31:57.660 --> 00:32:03.299
but living water, moving water. You see, in Jeremiah

00:32:03.299 --> 00:32:09.269
17, When it says that we are to reach into that

00:32:09.269 --> 00:32:13.569
water, look at what this water is. Look at who

00:32:13.569 --> 00:32:16.710
this water is. Later on in this very chapter

00:32:16.710 --> 00:32:19.089
in Jeremiah 17 and verse 13, it says, O Lord,

00:32:19.190 --> 00:32:21.569
the hope of Israel, all who turn away from you

00:32:21.569 --> 00:32:23.710
will be disgraced. They will be buried in the

00:32:23.710 --> 00:32:26.710
dust of the earth for they have abandoned the

00:32:26.710 --> 00:32:32.950
Lord who is the fountain of living water. The

00:32:32.950 --> 00:32:36.000
Lord is. The living water. He's the fountain

00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:39.619
of living water. Jesus Christ, when he was talking

00:32:39.619 --> 00:32:42.660
to the woman at the well, he said, you know,

00:32:42.700 --> 00:32:46.579
I can give you living water. Why? Because he

00:32:46.579 --> 00:32:52.940
is the living water. And we find ourselves in

00:32:52.940 --> 00:32:58.640
a place where we can extend our roots and be

00:32:58.640 --> 00:33:02.920
refreshed daily. by extending our roots into

00:33:02.920 --> 00:33:04.680
him. And I'll show you that from the scriptures

00:33:04.680 --> 00:33:08.319
in a few moments. But first I want to ask this

00:33:08.319 --> 00:33:12.539
question. What are my rhythms? What are my rhythms

00:33:12.539 --> 00:33:14.819
for deepening my roots into the river of God's

00:33:14.819 --> 00:33:17.640
grace? And what are your rhythms? I mean, what

00:33:17.640 --> 00:33:20.519
do you do on a daily basis, on a rhythmic basis?

00:33:21.480 --> 00:33:24.799
What do you do on a rhythmic basis to send your

00:33:24.799 --> 00:33:28.480
roots into the grace of God that is Jesus Christ?

00:33:29.589 --> 00:33:32.650
Well, this isn't rocket science. I think you

00:33:32.650 --> 00:33:34.490
probably all know the answers, and every one

00:33:34.490 --> 00:33:36.869
of you might have a different way that you do

00:33:36.869 --> 00:33:38.630
it, but I think it's probably centered in the

00:33:38.630 --> 00:33:40.309
Word of God. It's probably centered in prayer.

00:33:40.730 --> 00:33:46.029
Let me show you mine. One is I walk with God

00:33:46.029 --> 00:33:48.930
every day. Now you're saying, oh, wow, that sounds

00:33:48.930 --> 00:33:50.789
arrogant. No, I don't mean that I actually am

00:33:50.789 --> 00:33:52.670
perfect at walking with God. I mean I actually

00:33:52.670 --> 00:33:56.849
take a walk with God every day. I walk with my

00:33:56.849 --> 00:33:59.789
feet. And I go, okay, Jesus, let's go on our

00:33:59.789 --> 00:34:03.970
walk. And sometimes I don't feel like walking

00:34:03.970 --> 00:34:08.369
with Jesus, but I walk with him. And sometimes

00:34:08.369 --> 00:34:13.090
I say more and listen more than other times.

00:34:13.510 --> 00:34:15.730
But I will tell you that when I go on this walk

00:34:15.730 --> 00:34:19.389
with Jesus, it forces me to get away from where

00:34:19.389 --> 00:34:22.480
I live. So that I'm not distracted by something

00:34:22.480 --> 00:34:25.239
that I have to do or my computer all of a sudden

00:34:25.239 --> 00:34:28.320
pops up some notification. Oh, sorry, Jesus.

00:34:28.780 --> 00:34:31.480
But I go on a walk with him so I can focus. So

00:34:31.480 --> 00:34:33.480
I can just spend time with him. I also do this

00:34:33.480 --> 00:34:35.980
with my wife. When we're in the same country

00:34:35.980 --> 00:34:38.539
together, we go on a walk every day. So I walk

00:34:38.539 --> 00:34:41.380
with Jesus and then I walk with my wife. Because

00:34:41.380 --> 00:34:44.300
I learned a long time ago when my wife and I

00:34:44.300 --> 00:34:46.619
were having some problems in the beginning of

00:34:46.619 --> 00:34:50.380
my ministry. That we needed time to be together.

00:34:50.699 --> 00:34:53.340
But when we walked, we couldn't be doing other

00:34:53.340 --> 00:34:56.179
things. We had to be either talking or mad at

00:34:56.179 --> 00:34:58.280
each other or whatever. But we were with each

00:34:58.280 --> 00:35:02.780
other. And that was very transformative in our

00:35:02.780 --> 00:35:05.219
marriage. And so I just applied it to walking

00:35:05.219 --> 00:35:07.820
with God. I want to walk with God every day.

00:35:08.139 --> 00:35:10.460
What do I do on this walk with God? Well, I listen

00:35:10.460 --> 00:35:13.369
to God. And so how do I listen to God? I've got

00:35:13.369 --> 00:35:17.429
this app. It's the you version of the Bible and

00:35:17.429 --> 00:35:19.389
I've got several different translations and I

00:35:19.389 --> 00:35:21.670
pop them in there and I listen through a book

00:35:21.670 --> 00:35:23.650
or I listen through maybe the New Testament or

00:35:23.650 --> 00:35:27.170
I listen through the Old Testament. And what

00:35:27.170 --> 00:35:29.929
I do is I'm listening because I want to pray

00:35:29.929 --> 00:35:31.869
and I want to ask the Holy Spirit, I want you

00:35:31.869 --> 00:35:35.070
to speak to me about something in my life. And

00:35:35.070 --> 00:35:36.849
I will tell you that when you invite the Holy

00:35:36.849 --> 00:35:40.690
Spirit to do that, God talks to you. All right,

00:35:40.809 --> 00:35:43.110
he shows you something in your life that needs

00:35:43.110 --> 00:35:45.050
to change or something in your life that you

00:35:45.050 --> 00:35:47.769
need to learn or he gives you some kind of affirmation

00:35:47.769 --> 00:35:50.030
that he loves you, that he cares for you, that

00:35:50.030 --> 00:35:51.809
he's there with you. And so I listen to God's

00:35:51.809 --> 00:35:54.190
word. And after I listen to God's word, I always

00:35:54.190 --> 00:35:58.650
talk with God because I want to take the time

00:35:58.650 --> 00:36:00.329
to be able to tell him whatever I want to tell

00:36:00.329 --> 00:36:01.769
him because all of a sudden when I come to the

00:36:01.769 --> 00:36:04.769
word, I'm like, ooh, ouch. God, there's something

00:36:04.769 --> 00:36:06.710
in my life that needs to change. And I know you

00:36:06.710 --> 00:36:08.630
already know it, but I'm going to just tell it

00:36:08.630 --> 00:36:10.650
to you. Rather than being like Adam and Eve and

00:36:10.650 --> 00:36:13.250
hiding in the bushes, I got a sin in my life

00:36:13.250 --> 00:36:15.269
that we need to talk about. And so I climb up

00:36:15.269 --> 00:36:19.409
into my heavenly father's metaphorical lap and

00:36:19.409 --> 00:36:21.869
I let him put his big old arms around me and

00:36:21.869 --> 00:36:27.769
I tell him, Papa, I screwed up. And I'm really

00:36:27.769 --> 00:36:30.710
struggling with this. And I'm really struggling

00:36:30.710 --> 00:36:32.170
with that. It might be I'm really struggling

00:36:32.170 --> 00:36:36.239
with trusting you right now. I talk with God.

00:36:36.900 --> 00:36:39.420
Oftentimes I go through the Lord's Prayer, not

00:36:39.420 --> 00:36:42.719
saying it verbatim, but what I do is I say it

00:36:42.719 --> 00:36:45.360
and then I use it as a guide to praying. Our

00:36:45.360 --> 00:36:47.420
Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

00:36:47.480 --> 00:36:49.800
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as

00:36:49.800 --> 00:36:52.320
it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread

00:36:52.320 --> 00:36:55.099
and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those

00:36:55.099 --> 00:36:57.400
who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation,

00:36:57.659 --> 00:36:59.980
but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom

00:36:59.980 --> 00:37:01.539
and the power and the glory forever and ever.

00:37:01.639 --> 00:37:03.579
Amen. And I'll just say each of those phrases.

00:37:04.319 --> 00:37:06.400
And then what I'll do is I'll just let that be

00:37:06.400 --> 00:37:08.940
a springboard for things that I want to talk

00:37:08.940 --> 00:37:14.440
with God about. Another practice that I have

00:37:14.440 --> 00:37:16.920
every day is I practice gratitude. That's something

00:37:16.920 --> 00:37:19.840
recently. Because I don't know about you, but

00:37:19.840 --> 00:37:21.400
have you ever been around a six -year -old or

00:37:21.400 --> 00:37:22.739
an eight -year -old? Anybody in here ever have

00:37:22.739 --> 00:37:25.739
kids? They thank you all the time for everything

00:37:25.739 --> 00:37:28.219
you do, don't they? I mean, you make them meals

00:37:28.219 --> 00:37:30.280
and they're like, oh, thank you so much. Not.

00:37:32.909 --> 00:37:34.969
How about a teenager? You know, you do all this

00:37:34.969 --> 00:37:37.210
stuff for them. You're trying to help them and

00:37:37.210 --> 00:37:40.030
instead of like thanking you, they're like, ah,

00:37:40.090 --> 00:37:43.630
get off my case, mom. You know, leave me alone,

00:37:43.789 --> 00:37:50.329
dad. Kids can be so ungrateful. And all of a

00:37:50.329 --> 00:37:52.690
sudden I realized, oh wow, I'm one of God's kids

00:37:52.690 --> 00:37:57.199
and I'm one of those ungrateful kids. And I realized

00:37:57.199 --> 00:37:59.500
I didn't thank God enough for the things that

00:37:59.500 --> 00:38:01.239
he had done for me and the things that he does

00:38:01.239 --> 00:38:04.639
for me on a daily basis in my life. And so I

00:38:04.639 --> 00:38:06.900
just started thanking him for everything. All

00:38:06.900 --> 00:38:10.159
of a sudden I might be heading towards the BTS

00:38:10.159 --> 00:38:13.019
and all of a sudden I might be 30 minutes away

00:38:13.019 --> 00:38:16.179
from getting there and a bus shows up right at

00:38:16.179 --> 00:38:18.579
a bus stop when I'm walking by and I jump on

00:38:18.579 --> 00:38:20.280
that bus and I pay my eight baht and I'm like,

00:38:20.300 --> 00:38:24.719
thank you, God. That was really cool. Or maybe

00:38:24.719 --> 00:38:28.380
the bus doesn't show up, and I have to walk 30

00:38:28.380 --> 00:38:31.880
minutes to the BTS station. I'm like, thank you,

00:38:31.880 --> 00:38:36.940
God, for the exercise. Practicing gratitude,

00:38:37.059 --> 00:38:39.059
it's all a matter of perspective, but thanking

00:38:39.059 --> 00:38:43.880
God for everything. Even our suffering, and you'll

00:38:43.880 --> 00:38:46.780
hear some of my suffering in a moment. But living

00:38:46.780 --> 00:38:49.000
a life of worship. You know, worship isn't just

00:38:49.000 --> 00:38:51.119
about the songs that we sing. You can worship

00:38:51.119 --> 00:38:53.179
God through song, but you can also worship him

00:38:53.179 --> 00:38:57.179
with your life. In fact, that's how he wants

00:38:57.179 --> 00:38:59.320
you to worship him. I mean, what's the greatest

00:38:59.320 --> 00:39:01.980
commandment? To love God with all your heart,

00:39:02.000 --> 00:39:04.420
mind, soul, and strength. And to love your neighbor

00:39:04.420 --> 00:39:06.340
as yourself. And you know what? You can't do

00:39:06.340 --> 00:39:08.500
that. I can't do that. But there's one who did

00:39:08.500 --> 00:39:10.519
do that. His name is Jesus. And because he did

00:39:10.519 --> 00:39:14.239
do that, we can do that. But that's the whole

00:39:14.239 --> 00:39:17.010
key right there. Being in a relationship with

00:39:17.010 --> 00:39:21.170
God is actually understanding that love is the

00:39:21.170 --> 00:39:29.230
key to walking with God, metaphorically. And

00:39:29.230 --> 00:39:32.309
so I love this quote by St. Augustine. He said,

00:39:32.329 --> 00:39:34.510
love God and do whatever you please. And you're

00:39:34.510 --> 00:39:36.630
saying, whoa, some of you are like, that sounds

00:39:36.630 --> 00:39:41.059
dangerous. You can do whatever you please. Well,

00:39:41.099 --> 00:39:42.920
you'll sin and you'll do this and you'll watch

00:39:42.920 --> 00:39:46.320
this and you'll eat that and you'll go this place

00:39:46.320 --> 00:39:49.780
you shouldn't be going. No, look, love God and

00:39:49.780 --> 00:39:51.760
do whatever you please. Because if you love God,

00:39:51.960 --> 00:39:54.360
what are you going to do? What's going to please

00:39:54.360 --> 00:39:58.090
you? Pleasing Him. And so now all of a sudden,

00:39:58.090 --> 00:39:59.789
rather than trying to live a life of behavioral

00:39:59.789 --> 00:40:02.190
modification, rather than trying to live a life

00:40:02.190 --> 00:40:04.489
where you're trying to follow this rule and not

00:40:04.489 --> 00:40:07.489
do this and do that, instead you're just saying,

00:40:07.570 --> 00:40:09.190
you know, what's the most loving thing I can

00:40:09.190 --> 00:40:11.650
do for God at this moment because he's loved

00:40:11.650 --> 00:40:15.170
me so much? Love God and do whatever you please.

00:40:17.130 --> 00:40:19.409
God wants you to do things out of love for him,

00:40:19.449 --> 00:40:22.650
not because you're just obeying the rules, not

00:40:22.650 --> 00:40:24.429
because you're just trying to be a better person.

00:40:25.170 --> 00:40:27.389
but because you realize how much he's loved you

00:40:27.389 --> 00:40:30.969
and so you want to love him. But what happens

00:40:30.969 --> 00:40:32.949
when we trust the Lord and trouble still comes?

00:40:35.070 --> 00:40:36.710
You know, it's interesting because when we look

00:40:36.710 --> 00:40:39.530
at Jeremiah 17 and after it tells us that we're

00:40:39.530 --> 00:40:41.650
like a tree planted by water that sends out its

00:40:41.650 --> 00:40:44.510
roots by the stream and does not fear when heat

00:40:44.510 --> 00:40:46.849
comes for its leaves remain green and is not

00:40:46.849 --> 00:40:49.230
anxious in the year of drought for it does not

00:40:49.230 --> 00:40:51.210
cease to bear fruit. Look at what it says. It

00:40:51.210 --> 00:40:53.719
says when heat comes. It doesn't say if heat

00:40:53.719 --> 00:40:56.920
comes. It says when heat comes. And it says in

00:40:56.920 --> 00:40:59.460
the year of drought. It doesn't say, oh, if you

00:40:59.460 --> 00:41:04.179
experience a drought. Trouble comes in this world

00:41:04.179 --> 00:41:08.780
because we live in a fallen world. And so don't

00:41:08.780 --> 00:41:10.619
be surprised when all of a sudden you're having

00:41:10.619 --> 00:41:12.579
trouble at work or you're having trouble in your

00:41:12.579 --> 00:41:15.139
marriage or you're having trouble in your personal

00:41:15.139 --> 00:41:17.460
life or you're having trouble in your walk with

00:41:17.460 --> 00:41:22.719
God. Because there will be heat. That comes.

00:41:24.820 --> 00:41:29.079
Maybe it's persecution. By someone who is acting

00:41:29.079 --> 00:41:31.500
sinfully towards you. Or maybe it's your own

00:41:31.500 --> 00:41:37.619
sin. But there will be heat that comes. But when

00:41:37.619 --> 00:41:39.699
you trust in the Lord. Your leaves will remain

00:41:39.699 --> 00:41:42.000
green. Even if they're barely hanging on. They're

00:41:42.000 --> 00:41:45.780
going to remain green. And you don't have to

00:41:45.780 --> 00:41:50.340
be anxious in the year of drought. because you'll

00:41:50.340 --> 00:41:52.300
continue to bear fruit, even though you might

00:41:52.300 --> 00:41:55.139
say, God, why are you doing this? And God says,

00:41:55.239 --> 00:41:56.920
well, because you realize that the fruit of the

00:41:56.920 --> 00:41:59.079
Holy Spirit is love, peace, patience, kindness,

00:41:59.219 --> 00:42:02.920
gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, self -control.

00:42:05.039 --> 00:42:06.739
And so you're wondering why you're going through

00:42:06.739 --> 00:42:08.559
this difficult time, because I'm trying to produce

00:42:08.559 --> 00:42:12.159
in you the fruit of patience. And you're waiting

00:42:12.159 --> 00:42:13.860
for something that you've been waiting for for

00:42:13.860 --> 00:42:16.000
years. And God says, yeah, I'm letting you wait

00:42:16.000 --> 00:42:18.500
for years. Because there's something more important

00:42:18.500 --> 00:42:20.159
than you getting that. And that's you having

00:42:20.159 --> 00:42:24.699
the fruit of patience. Because I'm a patient

00:42:24.699 --> 00:42:32.699
God. Who's slow to anger. Who has a long nose,

00:42:32.820 --> 00:42:35.340
the Hebrew scripture says. Because it takes God

00:42:35.340 --> 00:42:38.880
a long time to get angry. Because he's so patient.

00:42:41.449 --> 00:42:43.570
You see, it's not a matter of if, it's a matter

00:42:43.570 --> 00:42:45.730
of when. And tough times will come. And so what

00:42:45.730 --> 00:42:49.530
do you do during those tough times? Can I tell

00:42:49.530 --> 00:42:54.730
you about a tough time in my life? You see, when

00:42:54.730 --> 00:42:58.010
I got married, I married a woman that had a disease.

00:43:00.110 --> 00:43:03.170
A literal disease. An autoimmune disease. And

00:43:03.170 --> 00:43:05.409
she had been so sick that when she was 19 years

00:43:05.409 --> 00:43:12.179
old, she almost died. And I married her kind

00:43:12.179 --> 00:43:15.599
of fully knowing that she had this illness, but

00:43:15.599 --> 00:43:20.000
not really understanding what that would mean

00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:25.360
to my life. Because three times during our marriage

00:43:25.360 --> 00:43:29.639
over the last 30 years, my wife has almost died.

00:43:30.360 --> 00:43:36.320
Three times. One of those times was when we got

00:43:36.320 --> 00:43:40.599
pregnant. I say we, I didn't really get pregnant.

00:43:41.380 --> 00:43:45.440
But I like to think because I ate for those pregnancies.

00:43:45.980 --> 00:43:51.599
But I will tell you that we had a daughter, we

00:43:51.599 --> 00:43:56.239
still do, in 2000. And then we had four miscarriages.

00:43:57.920 --> 00:43:59.719
I know there's a lot of you in this room that

00:43:59.719 --> 00:44:01.440
have had miscarriages and you know how painful

00:44:01.440 --> 00:44:04.760
they are. And we thought, I guess maybe we won't

00:44:04.760 --> 00:44:06.900
be able to have a sibling for our daughter. But

00:44:06.900 --> 00:44:10.780
we decided to try one more time. And when we

00:44:10.780 --> 00:44:13.239
tried one more time, we got pregnant. My wife

00:44:13.239 --> 00:44:15.079
started bleeding again. And then the next thing

00:44:15.079 --> 00:44:17.039
you know, we go to the emergency room. We say

00:44:17.039 --> 00:44:19.440
to the doctor, you know, she's bleeding. The

00:44:19.440 --> 00:44:21.539
doctor says, well, you're probably having another

00:44:21.539 --> 00:44:31.000
miscarriage. See, babies understand babies. And

00:44:31.000 --> 00:44:33.099
so we go up to the ultrasound tech and all of

00:44:33.099 --> 00:44:36.320
a sudden the ultrasound tech says, well, you

00:44:36.320 --> 00:44:37.659
know, we expect him to say, well, I'm sorry,

00:44:37.719 --> 00:44:40.099
your baby's heart is no longer beating. But instead

00:44:40.099 --> 00:44:41.820
he said, well, baby number one's heart's beating

00:44:41.820 --> 00:44:45.760
just fine. I said, baby number one's heart? Are

00:44:45.760 --> 00:44:48.139
we having twins? And he goes, no. He said, but

00:44:48.139 --> 00:44:50.039
baby number two's heart is beating just fine

00:44:50.039 --> 00:44:53.579
as well. And I said, baby number two? You said

00:44:53.579 --> 00:44:55.659
we weren't having twins. And he said, you're

00:44:55.659 --> 00:44:57.840
not. And I'm like, what are you talking about?

00:45:00.619 --> 00:45:02.440
And he goes, well, baby number three's heart's

00:45:02.440 --> 00:45:04.139
beating just fine as well. And I said, whoa,

00:45:04.380 --> 00:45:07.619
you shut your mouth. My daughter started jumping

00:45:07.619 --> 00:45:10.500
up and down and she says, four babies, five babies,

00:45:10.559 --> 00:45:12.679
six babies, seven. I said, you shut your mouth

00:45:12.679 --> 00:45:17.219
too. I said, I'm trying to wrap my head around

00:45:17.219 --> 00:45:23.039
this. And I said, I said, okay, are we having

00:45:23.039 --> 00:45:25.360
four babies, five babies? No, don't worry. You're

00:45:25.360 --> 00:45:29.900
only having triplets. I look over at my wife.

00:45:29.940 --> 00:45:31.980
My wife has her jaw on the floor and she's saying,

00:45:32.019 --> 00:45:33.539
how am I going to carry triplets? And I said,

00:45:33.579 --> 00:45:39.699
how am I going to pay for triplets? Seriously,

00:45:39.860 --> 00:45:43.519
I was a pastor, you know, and we're not known

00:45:43.519 --> 00:45:47.800
for making a lot of money. And so, and I lived

00:45:47.800 --> 00:45:51.500
in America where healthcare costs a whole bundle.

00:45:52.500 --> 00:45:54.380
And I can tell you that by the end of this story,

00:45:54.480 --> 00:45:59.260
the medical bill was $1 .4 million. Okay, and

00:45:59.260 --> 00:46:02.079
I was responsible for 20%. So you can do the

00:46:02.079 --> 00:46:09.019
math. So, all of a sudden, we go, okay, we're

00:46:09.019 --> 00:46:10.820
having triplets. We go home. My wife goes on

00:46:10.820 --> 00:46:12.699
bed rest about the fifth month. All of a sudden,

00:46:12.719 --> 00:46:16.519
she goes preeclamptic on me. It's where, you

00:46:16.519 --> 00:46:18.360
know, your organs start to act kind of weird

00:46:18.360 --> 00:46:20.159
and everything like that. It happens sometimes

00:46:20.159 --> 00:46:21.659
like a week or two weeks before you're supposed

00:46:21.659 --> 00:46:23.460
to give birth. This is three months, four months

00:46:23.460 --> 00:46:26.780
before. And all of a sudden, she goes full on

00:46:26.780 --> 00:46:29.340
acclamped at the end of that month. And now we've

00:46:29.340 --> 00:46:31.860
got three months left to go, but they have to

00:46:31.860 --> 00:46:33.940
do an emergency C -section and cut her from her

00:46:33.940 --> 00:46:36.900
sternum down to her pelvis. And I watch these

00:46:36.900 --> 00:46:39.840
three aliens come out of her belly. And that's

00:46:39.840 --> 00:46:41.380
what they look like. Remember those frogs you

00:46:41.380 --> 00:46:43.940
dissected in high school? Okay, that's what they

00:46:43.940 --> 00:46:46.039
look like with little alien heads. They were

00:46:46.039 --> 00:46:49.260
a half a kilogram each. They were one pound each.

00:46:51.340 --> 00:46:56.659
They strapped them down. Started sewing my wife

00:46:56.659 --> 00:47:00.400
up. Took them two hours to sew my wife up. I'm

00:47:00.400 --> 00:47:01.860
up there with the babies and they're giving me

00:47:01.860 --> 00:47:04.320
the good news of, look, you'll be lucky if one

00:47:04.320 --> 00:47:10.159
of your kids lives. I go back down to see my

00:47:10.159 --> 00:47:12.500
wife. 15 minutes after they finish sewing her

00:47:12.500 --> 00:47:16.039
up, she goes into a coma. She's in a coma for

00:47:16.039 --> 00:47:25.969
11 days. You see, it's not if, it's when. Talk

00:47:25.969 --> 00:47:27.949
about the heat. Talk about the drought. She's

00:47:27.949 --> 00:47:31.929
in a coma. My kids are getting worse and worse

00:47:31.929 --> 00:47:34.269
and worse. My son's got 36 holes in his heart.

00:47:35.289 --> 00:47:38.690
My daughter has brain bleed in both of her ventricles

00:47:38.690 --> 00:47:40.789
of her brain. They're 14 times larger than normal

00:47:40.789 --> 00:47:42.570
and her head is like three times the size of

00:47:42.570 --> 00:47:45.360
what it should be. And all of my kids experience

00:47:45.360 --> 00:47:48.139
retinopathy of prematurity where because of the

00:47:48.139 --> 00:47:52.559
oxygen at such an early birth, it scars the eyes

00:47:52.559 --> 00:47:54.800
and the blood vessels don't wrap around and the

00:47:54.800 --> 00:47:59.099
retina detaches and so they're blind. My wife's

00:47:59.099 --> 00:48:01.519
in a coma and they're telling me that three kids,

00:48:01.699 --> 00:48:05.599
I'll be lucky if one of them lives. And I'll

00:48:05.599 --> 00:48:08.639
be lucky if my wife lives. And I'm like faced

00:48:08.639 --> 00:48:11.059
with what am I going to do? Now I want to tell

00:48:11.059 --> 00:48:12.500
you what I wanted to do was get in our little

00:48:12.500 --> 00:48:15.139
car and drive from the west coast of the United

00:48:15.139 --> 00:48:16.900
States all the way to the east coast and never

00:48:16.900 --> 00:48:20.480
look back. But I know that's not what God would

00:48:20.480 --> 00:48:24.000
do with me. And so I want to tell you that I

00:48:24.000 --> 00:48:26.079
didn't have that mustard seed of faith. I did

00:48:26.079 --> 00:48:28.659
not have a mustard seed of faith because God

00:48:28.659 --> 00:48:30.739
had already taken four babies through miscarriages

00:48:30.739 --> 00:48:32.199
and I'm like, oh great God, now you're going

00:48:32.199 --> 00:48:37.460
to take three babies and a wife. And I can remember

00:48:37.460 --> 00:48:41.260
just feeling like, God, I got a choice here.

00:48:41.900 --> 00:48:44.639
I can trust in my flesh and run or I can trust

00:48:44.639 --> 00:48:49.380
in you and you can take my unbelief and you can

00:48:49.380 --> 00:48:52.159
help me. And I can tell you that I thought of

00:48:52.159 --> 00:48:54.679
that story of that man with the demoniac child

00:48:54.679 --> 00:48:57.559
that was possessed by a demon and they were all

00:48:57.559 --> 00:48:59.639
arguing, the disciples, because they were arguing

00:48:59.639 --> 00:49:00.820
with the religious leaders because they tried

00:49:00.820 --> 00:49:02.880
to heal this kid and cast out this demon but

00:49:02.880 --> 00:49:05.219
the demon didn't come out. Jesus walks up. Jesus

00:49:05.219 --> 00:49:06.820
says, what are you guys arguing about? Blah,

00:49:06.820 --> 00:49:08.920
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. you know,

00:49:08.920 --> 00:49:10.760
oh, they tried to cast out the demon and they

00:49:10.760 --> 00:49:18.019
couldn't. And Jesus, he talks with the dad. And

00:49:18.019 --> 00:49:21.179
the dad says, well, you know, if you can, could

00:49:21.179 --> 00:49:23.559
you cast this demon out of my son? And he goes,

00:49:23.659 --> 00:49:30.440
if I can. And that father understood the insult

00:49:30.440 --> 00:49:33.639
that he had just given to Jesus. And he said,

00:49:33.659 --> 00:49:36.420
you know, I believe, but help me with my unbelief.

00:49:37.690 --> 00:49:39.849
And that's what I had to say to God. I believe,

00:49:39.989 --> 00:49:41.909
but help me with my unbelief. I don't even have

00:49:41.909 --> 00:49:45.750
a mustard seed of faith, but help me with my

00:49:45.750 --> 00:49:47.690
unbelief because I got a little bit there. I'm

00:49:47.690 --> 00:49:50.650
crying out to you. And I can remember the doctor

00:49:50.650 --> 00:49:52.630
who is an atheist. He came in, great doctor though,

00:49:52.690 --> 00:49:54.190
but he said, you know, I don't want to ruin you.

00:49:54.389 --> 00:49:56.429
You are your faith life, but I want to tell you

00:49:56.429 --> 00:49:57.909
that we're going to have to do open heart surgery

00:49:57.909 --> 00:50:00.469
on your son. This is the 11th day. We're going

00:50:00.469 --> 00:50:03.150
to have to do brain surgery on your daughter.

00:50:03.469 --> 00:50:06.840
You need to come in at 7 .30. Because their surgeries

00:50:06.840 --> 00:50:08.579
are both going to be at 8. You need to say goodbye

00:50:08.579 --> 00:50:10.260
to your kids because they're probably going to

00:50:10.260 --> 00:50:14.780
die during surgery. And I can remember coming

00:50:14.780 --> 00:50:17.760
in in the morning at 7 .30 and I said to that

00:50:17.760 --> 00:50:20.559
doctor who's an atheist, I said, I'm here to

00:50:20.559 --> 00:50:22.099
say goodbye to my kids. And he said, well, you're

00:50:22.099 --> 00:50:23.420
not going to be able to say goodbye to them.

00:50:24.800 --> 00:50:27.639
And I said, tell me the bad news. Did they die?

00:50:27.780 --> 00:50:29.219
And he goes, no, I'll tell you the bad news.

00:50:29.260 --> 00:50:34.559
I can no longer be an atheist. I said, what do

00:50:34.559 --> 00:50:37.880
you mean? He said, last night in that NICU room,

00:50:37.960 --> 00:50:40.039
the two nurses that were with your kids said

00:50:40.039 --> 00:50:41.960
it was like Jesus walked into the room and all

00:50:41.960 --> 00:50:44.000
of your kids' vitals went normal. We did scans.

00:50:44.179 --> 00:50:46.500
Your son's heart is healed. Your daughter's brain

00:50:46.500 --> 00:50:48.920
is healed. And all three of your kids were blind

00:50:48.920 --> 00:51:00.920
and now they can see. And I can tell you that

00:51:00.920 --> 00:51:03.960
it wasn't because of my great faith. It wasn't

00:51:03.960 --> 00:51:08.659
because of my great trust. It was because of

00:51:08.659 --> 00:51:20.019
the God who is trustworthy. And those four babies

00:51:20.019 --> 00:51:22.099
that we had miscarriages, you know, you think,

00:51:22.199 --> 00:51:25.019
oh God, why did you do that? Well, God saved

00:51:25.019 --> 00:51:27.780
them from this hell on earth that we sometimes

00:51:27.780 --> 00:51:29.659
experience and he took them straight to him.

00:51:30.170 --> 00:51:32.170
And God doesn't always promise that we're going

00:51:32.170 --> 00:51:34.269
to come out of our circumstances. Think about

00:51:34.269 --> 00:51:36.769
the Apostle Paul in the book of Philippians where

00:51:36.769 --> 00:51:38.690
he based a letter to the Philippians. He said,

00:51:38.710 --> 00:51:40.030
you know what? Either the Lord's going to deliver

00:51:40.030 --> 00:51:42.369
me out of this jail cell or he's going to deliver

00:51:42.369 --> 00:51:45.730
me up to be with him. We can't look at things

00:51:45.730 --> 00:51:47.570
from our perspective. We have to look at things

00:51:47.570 --> 00:51:50.349
from God's perspective. But God is always trustworthy.

00:51:50.590 --> 00:51:53.530
And here's what I want to tell you. That this

00:51:53.530 --> 00:51:57.269
is a testimony of God's grace because God healed

00:51:57.269 --> 00:52:08.039
my kids. He healed them. And this is what they

00:52:08.039 --> 00:52:10.739
look like today. Three 19 -year -olds and a 25

00:52:10.739 --> 00:52:14.219
-year -old. And their two spouses right there.

00:52:17.159 --> 00:52:26.960
This is my wife. On the 11th day, two hours after

00:52:26.960 --> 00:52:28.579
the doctor said, your kids have been healed,

00:52:28.639 --> 00:52:34.599
my wife came out of her coma. I will tell you

00:52:34.599 --> 00:52:37.820
that I was so happy, but I have PTSD to this

00:52:37.820 --> 00:52:40.300
day because of all the 11 days that I had to

00:52:40.300 --> 00:52:42.840
go through. But I'm so thankful to God because

00:52:42.840 --> 00:52:44.900
I have shared Jesus with so many people because

00:52:44.900 --> 00:52:49.000
of this story. And I've used it to demonstrate

00:52:49.000 --> 00:52:51.260
his power, especially in fear power cultures.

00:52:52.380 --> 00:52:57.090
Now my wife, five and a half years ago, They

00:52:57.090 --> 00:52:59.210
said, you have five years left to live. And she

00:52:59.210 --> 00:53:00.949
was getting worse and worse and worse. And she

00:53:00.949 --> 00:53:03.429
was supposed to die about a half a year ago.

00:53:03.550 --> 00:53:07.670
And guess what happened a half a year ago? Look,

00:53:07.869 --> 00:53:10.030
this doesn't always happen. Some of you may have

00:53:10.030 --> 00:53:13.369
lost spouses. And it's not because you didn't

00:53:13.369 --> 00:53:15.269
have faith. It's because God said, oh, I'm going

00:53:15.269 --> 00:53:20.349
to take your spouse up to be with me. But six

00:53:20.349 --> 00:53:26.210
to eight months ago, God healed my wife. Of three

00:53:26.210 --> 00:53:30.190
major diseases that were taking her life. And

00:53:30.190 --> 00:53:32.349
so now she actually gets to join me on the mission

00:53:32.349 --> 00:53:42.469
field. And I'm going to bring her here in July.

00:53:43.710 --> 00:53:48.050
So I want her to meet you guys. But here's what

00:53:48.050 --> 00:53:49.869
I want you to understand. When you don't understand

00:53:49.869 --> 00:53:53.510
God's hand. Trust his heart. Trust his heart.

00:53:54.250 --> 00:53:57.699
Look at. Jeremiah 29, For I know the plans I

00:53:57.699 --> 00:53:59.539
have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for

00:53:59.539 --> 00:54:01.980
good and not for disaster, to give you a future

00:54:01.980 --> 00:54:04.059
and a hope. This is to Israel. This is to the

00:54:04.059 --> 00:54:06.920
kingdom of Judah that is trusted in the flesh

00:54:06.920 --> 00:54:09.579
and is getting exiled. And now God says, For

00:54:09.579 --> 00:54:11.619
I know the plans I have for you. They are plans

00:54:11.619 --> 00:54:13.559
for good and not for disaster, to give you a

00:54:13.559 --> 00:54:16.400
future and a hope. In those days when you pray,

00:54:16.440 --> 00:54:18.420
I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly,

00:54:18.420 --> 00:54:20.539
you will find me. I will be found by you, says

00:54:20.539 --> 00:54:23.670
the Lord. This is what the Lord says. You will

00:54:23.670 --> 00:54:26.130
be in Babylon for 70 years, but then I will come

00:54:26.130 --> 00:54:28.929
and do for you all the good things I have promised

00:54:28.929 --> 00:54:31.050
and I will bring you home again. And let me bring

00:54:31.050 --> 00:54:32.889
you home again this morning. Let's close this

00:54:32.889 --> 00:54:36.670
message with looking at Jesus. You see, the truth

00:54:36.670 --> 00:54:39.329
is, is that we all deserve to be cursed because

00:54:39.329 --> 00:54:43.110
none of us trust in the Lord fully. All of us

00:54:43.110 --> 00:54:46.349
at times are trusting in the flesh. But here's

00:54:46.349 --> 00:54:48.670
what's so beautiful about Jesus. Jesus became

00:54:48.670 --> 00:54:52.659
that curse for us. Christ redeemed us from the

00:54:52.659 --> 00:54:56.320
curse of the law in Galatians 3 verse 13. Christ

00:54:56.320 --> 00:54:58.380
redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming

00:54:58.380 --> 00:55:01.139
a curse for us for it is written, cursed is everyone

00:55:01.139 --> 00:55:04.460
who is hanged on a tree. Jesus hung on a cross

00:55:04.460 --> 00:55:09.599
and became a curse for you so that he could cover

00:55:09.599 --> 00:55:13.300
you in his righteousness. You see, 2 Corinthians

00:55:13.300 --> 00:55:17.039
5, 21 says, God made him who had no sin to be

00:55:17.039 --> 00:55:19.820
sin for us so that in him we might become the

00:55:19.820 --> 00:55:21.820
righteousness of God. And this is such a beautiful

00:55:21.820 --> 00:55:24.000
verse because what this is called is the great

00:55:24.000 --> 00:55:26.900
exchange where we give to Jesus all of our sin

00:55:26.900 --> 00:55:32.139
when we trust him. And he gives us all of his

00:55:32.139 --> 00:55:34.539
righteousness. All the times he said yes to God

00:55:34.539 --> 00:55:36.539
and no to sin, he gives that to us so that when

00:55:36.539 --> 00:55:39.769
God... looks at us, instead of seeing our sin,

00:55:39.849 --> 00:55:42.610
he sees his perfect son, Jesus Christ, and his

00:55:42.610 --> 00:55:45.409
righteousness covering us so that he doesn't

00:55:45.409 --> 00:55:49.329
see our sin, but he sees his perfect son. Because

00:55:49.329 --> 00:55:52.550
you are a child of God, because you have trusted.

00:55:54.050 --> 00:55:57.429
Even though imperfectly, you have trusted in

00:55:57.429 --> 00:56:00.820
the person of Jesus Christ. You see, and we all

00:56:00.820 --> 00:56:03.300
with unveiled face beholding the glory of the

00:56:03.300 --> 00:56:05.800
Lord are being transformed into the same image

00:56:05.800 --> 00:56:07.860
from one degree of glory to the other for this

00:56:07.860 --> 00:56:09.780
comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. If you

00:56:09.780 --> 00:56:12.679
want to know the secret of growing in your spiritual

00:56:12.679 --> 00:56:15.500
life, guess what? The secret is beholding the

00:56:15.500 --> 00:56:17.500
glory of the Lord is seen in the face of Jesus.

00:56:18.539 --> 00:56:20.820
Even during those times when you don't understand

00:56:20.820 --> 00:56:24.340
His hand, trust His heart. Because when you look

00:56:24.340 --> 00:56:26.960
to Jesus, what happens is there's spiritual transformation

00:56:26.960 --> 00:56:29.300
even during the difficult times of your life.

00:56:31.599 --> 00:56:34.780
A friend of mine, actually he's a supervisor

00:56:34.780 --> 00:56:41.179
of mine in Nexus International, he explained

00:56:41.179 --> 00:56:43.159
this concept to me. His name is John Hoppen.

00:56:43.239 --> 00:56:46.219
He said developing a lifestyle of repentance

00:56:46.219 --> 00:56:52.039
through rhythm of... Of encountering and delighting

00:56:52.039 --> 00:56:53.820
in God's grace. You see, if you think that the

00:56:53.820 --> 00:56:56.599
spiritual life is becoming more and more like

00:56:56.599 --> 00:56:58.500
God's perfect standard, you don't understand

00:56:58.500 --> 00:57:01.820
how sinful you are. But when you understand how

00:57:01.820 --> 00:57:05.219
sinful you are, all of a sudden the cross gets

00:57:05.219 --> 00:57:07.239
bigger and bigger and bigger. And the more that

00:57:07.239 --> 00:57:09.579
you understand that you have a trustworthy God,

00:57:09.699 --> 00:57:11.699
the more that I understand that I have a trustworthy

00:57:11.699 --> 00:57:14.380
God, the cross gets bigger and bigger and bigger.

00:57:15.849 --> 00:57:18.650
The Pharisees were people who trusted in themselves.

00:57:18.730 --> 00:57:22.570
They trusted in their flesh. But as followers

00:57:22.570 --> 00:57:24.849
of Christ, we understand that this isn't a country

00:57:24.849 --> 00:57:27.170
club for saints. This is a hospital for sinners.

00:57:29.429 --> 00:57:31.849
That guy up there, that's Jay Condor. He's the

00:57:31.849 --> 00:57:33.929
one that shared Jesus with me, my resident assistant.

00:57:34.989 --> 00:57:37.210
He gave me the book, Mere Christianity. That

00:57:37.210 --> 00:57:39.650
guy's smoking a pipe. That's C .S. Lewis, Chronicles

00:57:39.650 --> 00:57:43.949
of Narnia. That's my story, and I'm sticking

00:57:43.949 --> 00:57:50.280
to it. Let's bow and let's pray. Heavenly Father,

00:57:50.440 --> 00:57:52.659
we come before you and we thank you so much for

00:57:52.659 --> 00:57:57.320
giving to us the person of Jesus Christ. We thank

00:57:57.320 --> 00:58:01.800
you that this world is not the end all be all.

00:58:02.579 --> 00:58:04.679
There's going to be suffering because of sin

00:58:04.679 --> 00:58:07.079
in this world, but we don't have to be people

00:58:07.079 --> 00:58:11.199
who are... Who are controlled by our circumstances

00:58:11.199 --> 00:58:14.340
because our circumstances, whether there be drought,

00:58:14.420 --> 00:58:20.579
whether there be heat, we're planted in the source

00:58:20.579 --> 00:58:23.820
that is Jesus Christ. So that even during those

00:58:23.820 --> 00:58:26.159
times of difficulty, we can put our trust in

00:58:26.159 --> 00:58:30.360
him and we can bear fruit. So I pray for the

00:58:30.360 --> 00:58:32.420
people in this room, including myself, who are

00:58:32.420 --> 00:58:35.579
struggling in times of trouble. Will you prepare

00:58:35.579 --> 00:58:39.349
us? For this abundant life, even in times of

00:58:39.349 --> 00:58:44.329
trouble, by helping us to extend our roots into

00:58:44.329 --> 00:58:49.329
the one who is trustworthy. We thank you for

00:58:49.329 --> 00:58:51.309
who you are. We thank you for what you've done.

00:58:53.230 --> 00:58:56.389
And as we think of Jeremiah, we think of angel

00:58:56.389 --> 00:59:01.409
armies. It says... In that chapter 29, that there's

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the God of angel armies. So no matter what we're

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going through, we have God before us. We have

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God standing behind us. We have God to the left

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of us, to the right of us. And we're friends

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of his because of Jesus Christ. And if there's

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someone here this morning who doesn't know Jesus,

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who's never trusted Jesus, I pray that after

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the service that they would come up and they

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would say, I want to know this Jesus. I want

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to believe, but help me with my unbelief. And

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we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. If God is calling

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you to support our ministries, you will find

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giving options on our website. And remember to

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join us next week. God bless you.