WEBVTT 00:00:16.199 --> 00:00:20.300 going to turn to Habakkuk chapter 2. Habakkuk 00:00:20.300 --> 00:00:22.699 chapter 2 we're going to pick up in our reach 00:00:22.699 --> 00:00:25.760 series but we're talking on vision. We're talking 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:29.879 actually as we've talked about reach, readiness, 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:34.740 expectation, attitude. Before we get to the C 00:00:34.740 --> 00:00:39.939 and the H. C and H. Before we get to the C and 00:00:39.939 --> 00:00:43.240 H we are going to, we've talked a little bit 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:47.100 about vision. And I think it's important because 00:00:47.100 --> 00:00:49.259 here in the next few weeks, we're going to have 00:00:49.259 --> 00:00:54.600 some meeting time, special time of the presbytery. 00:00:54.619 --> 00:00:57.380 And I talked a little bit about that last weekend. 00:00:57.420 --> 00:01:00.060 What is the presbytery? The presbytery is a group 00:01:00.060 --> 00:01:03.399 of seasoned prophetic men or women that come 00:01:03.399 --> 00:01:06.719 and release the word of the Lord over people 00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:13.250 that are operating in. places of ministry to 00:01:13.250 --> 00:01:15.609 the body of Christ and then give them an opportunity 00:01:15.609 --> 00:01:18.510 as the Lord speaks to congregationally. But it 00:01:18.510 --> 00:01:23.030 is a time of laying hands. It's a time of impartation. 00:01:23.109 --> 00:01:26.450 It's a time of confirmation of grace, gifts. 00:01:26.609 --> 00:01:31.790 But it's also a releasing of a vision of God 00:01:31.790 --> 00:01:35.010 for people's lives. And it's important. And so 00:01:35.010 --> 00:01:37.010 we're here in that moment where we're talking 00:01:37.010 --> 00:01:39.930 about reach. We're talking about being ready. 00:01:40.200 --> 00:01:42.980 to do what God wants us to do. We're not thinking 00:01:42.980 --> 00:01:45.379 about getting ready. We're already ready. We 00:01:45.379 --> 00:01:48.640 have an expectation that's inside of us. There's 00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:53.219 a godly desire to run the race of what he's told 00:01:53.219 --> 00:01:56.280 us to do. And then our attitude. Our attitude 00:01:56.280 --> 00:01:59.180 is so important that goes with our expectation 00:01:59.180 --> 00:02:02.280 and our readiness. Your attitude can wipe out 00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:05.099 your readiness and your expectation. And you 00:02:05.099 --> 00:02:11.319 miss your... time to do the door of opportunity 00:02:11.319 --> 00:02:15.539 that God opens for you. And so we've been talking, 00:02:15.560 --> 00:02:18.259 our key text is obviously out of Philippians 00:02:18.259 --> 00:02:21.590 chapter three. We've been... kind of a springboard 00:02:21.590 --> 00:02:24.430 where the Lord is taking us in various places, 00:02:24.530 --> 00:02:30.370 especially Philippians 3, 12 through 14. He says, 00:02:30.370 --> 00:02:33.050 one thing I do, and then he says one thing, and 00:02:33.050 --> 00:02:35.409 then he mentions two things. He says, I forget 00:02:35.409 --> 00:02:39.189 the past, and I reach forward. Everybody say 00:02:39.189 --> 00:02:45.539 reach. See, part of vision is reaching. In fact, 00:02:45.580 --> 00:02:49.639 this famous passage in Habakkuk 2, if we could 00:02:49.639 --> 00:02:52.599 put that up there, Habakkuk 1 through 3, whatever 00:02:52.599 --> 00:02:56.819 we have there. There we go. I will stand on my 00:02:56.819 --> 00:03:00.300 watch post. I will remain stationed on the city 00:03:00.300 --> 00:03:03.259 wall. I will keep watching so I can see what 00:03:03.259 --> 00:03:06.280 God says to me and how I know I should answer 00:03:06.280 --> 00:03:14.500 when he counters my argument. Last week I left 00:03:14.500 --> 00:03:16.819 you, and just a quick reminder, then we're going 00:03:16.819 --> 00:03:19.099 to move into some new things, and I have to do 00:03:19.099 --> 00:03:20.639 something this morning, what the Lord showed 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:24.400 me for this service. But I left you with the 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:28.379 part of saying, the word, write the vision, verse 00:03:28.379 --> 00:03:31.699 2, if you could put that up, verse 2. Then the 00:03:31.699 --> 00:03:35.680 Lord told me, write my answer. Everybody say, 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:39.759 it's God's answer. Together, here we go. It's 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:44.500 God's answer. Write my answer plainly on tablets 00:03:44.500 --> 00:03:48.319 so that the runner can carry the correct message 00:03:48.319 --> 00:03:51.879 to others. That's the New Living Translation. 00:03:52.620 --> 00:03:57.520 The new King Jimmy says this. Write the vision 00:03:57.520 --> 00:04:01.020 and make it plain on tablets that he may run 00:04:01.020 --> 00:04:06.579 who reads it. It's a little bit different. Obviously, 00:04:06.579 --> 00:04:09.099 there's people that need to read it, but who's 00:04:09.099 --> 00:04:12.580 the first partaker of the reading? The runner. 00:04:15.060 --> 00:04:21.639 So this morning, if you're here, Italo, I believe 00:04:21.639 --> 00:04:23.500 this is for you. If you're here this morning, 00:04:23.560 --> 00:04:27.240 are you in this room? Yes. Would you just come 00:04:27.240 --> 00:04:30.199 and sit in this, real quickly, in this chair 00:04:30.199 --> 00:04:32.639 right here, right next to my wife, quickly. And 00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:33.959 I'm going to give you the word of the Lord real 00:04:33.959 --> 00:04:42.389 quick. I, there you go, thank you, buddy. I was, 00:04:42.529 --> 00:04:49.110 this morning, the Lord woke me up and gave me 00:04:49.110 --> 00:04:55.470 a vision of a African -American man with his 00:04:55.470 --> 00:04:59.709 head in his hands. And I heard the Lord say, 00:04:59.829 --> 00:05:04.449 you have said to yourself, God, have I missed 00:05:04.449 --> 00:05:08.259 you? Have I missed the word that you've spoken 00:05:08.259 --> 00:05:12.139 to me? Have I missed the direction of where you're 00:05:12.139 --> 00:05:14.980 leading? The spirit of the Lord would tell you 00:05:14.980 --> 00:05:17.180 this morning, no, says the Lord, you have not 00:05:17.180 --> 00:05:22.399 missed, misheard or missed my leading. You have 00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:26.579 not taken a wrong course. I have spoken to you, 00:05:26.660 --> 00:05:30.040 oh man, and I have brought you to the place and 00:05:30.040 --> 00:05:33.779 to the land where I have directed you. You shall 00:05:33.779 --> 00:05:38.639 not be overrun. Or defeated in your stand. For 00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:41.560 I am with you says the Lord. To cause you to 00:05:41.560 --> 00:05:46.540 inherit your place in the land. Many are the 00:05:46.540 --> 00:05:50.319 struggles of the righteous. And many are the 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:54.060 beasts of a field of new territory. But I shall 00:05:54.060 --> 00:05:57.439 not allow them to overtake you. Stand in your 00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:02.569 faith. Stand in your promise. Stand. And having 00:06:02.569 --> 00:06:07.610 done all that you know to do, I say stand to 00:06:07.610 --> 00:06:12.709 you, my son. And you shall see me do, and you 00:06:12.709 --> 00:06:17.629 shall watch me fight and stand with you, says 00:06:17.629 --> 00:06:21.870 the Lord of hosts. Amen. You receive that? Bless 00:06:21.870 --> 00:06:59.180 you. Isn't God good? Thank you. You know, the 00:06:59.180 --> 00:07:02.519 Bible says that we can preach the word of the 00:07:02.519 --> 00:07:06.819 Lord and signs and wonders will follow. And it 00:07:06.819 --> 00:07:10.019 isn't any strange thing to me that when God is 00:07:10.019 --> 00:07:13.060 trying to impart something, that he will always 00:07:13.060 --> 00:07:15.980 do something that's a marvel and a wonder to 00:07:15.980 --> 00:07:19.399 demonstrate what he's trying to get across to 00:07:19.399 --> 00:07:22.550 a group of people. both individually and corporately. 00:07:23.850 --> 00:07:27.069 Last week we left you off with a vision from 00:07:27.069 --> 00:07:34.110 God is to be lived out until it's finished. This 00:07:34.110 --> 00:07:37.069 vision that comes from God for our lives, it 00:07:37.069 --> 00:07:39.990 must come to a ready heart, removing all the 00:07:39.990 --> 00:07:43.949 arguments and all the cannots from your soul. 00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:49.540 That you and I as runners and couriers with a 00:07:49.540 --> 00:07:53.019 message for the future. Yet it is a message that 00:07:53.019 --> 00:07:58.259 lives inside of us. Even though it is a expounding 00:07:58.259 --> 00:08:02.220 living message that encompasses our tomorrow 00:08:02.220 --> 00:08:06.860 and our tomorrows. Then Habakkuk says write the 00:08:06.860 --> 00:08:10.399 vision. Make it plain on tablets that he may 00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:15.399 run who reads it. And that word write is the 00:08:15.399 --> 00:08:19.060 word kathab. It means to engrave. It means to 00:08:19.060 --> 00:08:23.500 describe. It means to prescribe. And this is 00:08:23.500 --> 00:08:25.180 the last review and then we'll move forward. 00:08:25.339 --> 00:08:29.680 That word prescribe means what? Written authority 00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:37.080 with power for relief. Prescription gives aid. 00:08:37.220 --> 00:08:41.240 Prescription gives help. Prescription gives and... 00:08:41.559 --> 00:08:45.659 provides resource. Prescription gives hope and 00:08:45.659 --> 00:08:50.740 comfort for identified issues in time, in people, 00:08:50.860 --> 00:08:58.659 in problems. Notice, the vision has to be recorded, 00:08:58.820 --> 00:09:04.539 but it is also words prescribed, pledged, promised, 00:09:04.919 --> 00:09:08.620 and contributed. It's God's vision that needs 00:09:08.620 --> 00:09:11.480 to be seen. It's God's vision that needs to be 00:09:11.480 --> 00:09:14.659 imparted and then carried. Notice the writing 00:09:14.659 --> 00:09:18.019 is more than to keep a record of something. The 00:09:18.019 --> 00:09:23.940 writing implies that it must be living and remembered 00:09:23.940 --> 00:09:28.340 in a living sense. There's nothing worse than 00:09:28.340 --> 00:09:34.179 a dead document. That's why the scriptures are 00:09:34.179 --> 00:09:37.440 so important. They are the living words of Jesus. 00:09:37.580 --> 00:09:41.679 And when Jesus speaks to your heart of his vision 00:09:41.679 --> 00:09:44.460 over your life, even though it's not scripture 00:09:44.460 --> 00:09:49.399 for all, it is a living word for you to allow 00:09:49.399 --> 00:09:52.840 you to walk and move within the boundaries of 00:09:52.840 --> 00:09:57.820 his scripture for your life. That's what the 00:09:57.820 --> 00:10:02.350 prophetic is. That's the testimony of Jesus. 00:10:02.730 --> 00:10:08.610 It's his testimony in your life. It's not just 00:10:08.610 --> 00:10:13.269 what he has done. It's what he's doing and what 00:10:13.269 --> 00:10:17.009 he will do. That's what makes him. That's why 00:10:17.009 --> 00:10:21.830 the, oh, hallelujah. That's what makes the Sadducees 00:10:21.830 --> 00:10:26.669 such a sad group of people. Because they did 00:10:26.669 --> 00:10:31.070 not believe in a resurrected Jesus who lived 00:10:31.070 --> 00:10:36.970 and spoke in the now. They relegated God speaking 00:10:36.970 --> 00:10:40.370 at one time, at one place, sealed it up and that 00:10:40.370 --> 00:10:43.350 was it. And do you recognize that there is a 00:10:43.350 --> 00:10:46.289 Sadducee spirit all through the body of Christ? 00:10:47.649 --> 00:10:52.490 Because they want only to listen to that. Which 00:10:52.490 --> 00:10:56.090 was they tried to remove anything that God would 00:10:56.090 --> 00:10:59.429 try to do in the midst of his now. And how did 00:10:59.429 --> 00:11:02.370 Jesus respond to it? He said, you are mistaking. 00:11:02.529 --> 00:11:05.409 He said, you know nothing about this. Oh, I love 00:11:05.409 --> 00:11:08.570 it when Jesus just gets right in the grill of 00:11:08.570 --> 00:11:11.870 a bad mindset. You know what he said? He said, 00:11:11.889 --> 00:11:15.009 that's why he says, I'm the God of Abraham, Isaac, 00:11:15.110 --> 00:11:19.289 and Jacob. I'm the God of the living and the 00:11:19.289 --> 00:11:23.980 dead. Meaning that he is the Lord of your life 00:11:23.980 --> 00:11:28.379 while you live. He's unfolding revelation and 00:11:28.379 --> 00:11:31.740 insight and understanding while you're going. 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:37.740 Yes, he puts the banks of the standard of his 00:11:37.740 --> 00:11:41.659 whole word that he wants us to embrace from Genesis 00:11:41.659 --> 00:11:44.700 to Revelation. But he didn't just remove the 00:11:44.700 --> 00:11:48.120 pen now off the page and set it down. He then 00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:51.320 begins to take the pen as he's given you the 00:11:51.320 --> 00:11:57.460 graphe or the logos. He now begins to put the 00:11:57.460 --> 00:12:00.980 rhema of the pen on the tablets of your heart 00:12:00.980 --> 00:12:04.080 and your mind. What Kenny quoted in Ezekiel 36. 00:12:04.340 --> 00:12:08.179 I'll now take that pen from the tablets of the 00:12:08.179 --> 00:12:11.240 emboutments from Genesis to Revelation. And I'll 00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:14.759 begin to write my vision on the center of who 00:12:14.759 --> 00:12:18.539 you are. That as you run, you continue to read 00:12:18.539 --> 00:12:25.200 it. Praise God, we got six people that are excited 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:29.879 about that. Praise the Lord. Implies the message 00:12:29.879 --> 00:12:35.200 is permanent, but in the permanence, it is living. 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:39.740 It's God giving an unchangeable, unalterable, 00:12:39.740 --> 00:12:43.159 unfolding message. Now think about that. Those 00:12:43.159 --> 00:12:47.019 words almost seem to be contradictory. It's unalterable, 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:51.389 it's unchangeable, but it's unfolding. Meaning 00:12:51.389 --> 00:12:53.450 that when God has a perspective over your life, 00:12:53.509 --> 00:12:56.029 this is the beauty of it. When God releases a 00:12:56.029 --> 00:12:59.289 vision over your life, it means that he's giving 00:12:59.289 --> 00:13:04.049 you his very best perspective of your life. It's 00:13:04.049 --> 00:13:06.190 not like you just get a, you know, pick another 00:13:06.190 --> 00:13:10.470 prophecy. You know, God has a wheelhouse of vision. 00:13:11.490 --> 00:13:13.490 Well, if you didn't like that one, let's go with 00:13:13.490 --> 00:13:19.169 the red hues instead of the yellow. No. When 00:13:19.169 --> 00:13:21.289 he speaks over your life, he's actually giving 00:13:21.289 --> 00:13:25.730 you the best, the perfect will of the Father. 00:13:26.230 --> 00:13:29.960 Are you there? When he speaks his, listen, when 00:13:29.960 --> 00:13:33.220 he calls you to salvation, when he brings you 00:13:33.220 --> 00:13:35.580 into the kingdom of God and he begins to pour 00:13:35.580 --> 00:13:39.179 his word in you, it is not something that is 00:13:39.179 --> 00:13:42.340 stagnant. It is something that is unalterable 00:13:42.340 --> 00:13:45.399 and unchangeable about your role and your placement 00:13:45.399 --> 00:13:48.120 in the kingdom of God, about why he chose you, 00:13:48.139 --> 00:13:51.360 why he sent repentance and grace and faith to 00:13:51.360 --> 00:13:54.039 your heart. And then in the midst of that, he 00:13:54.039 --> 00:13:58.029 unfolds it. He's the, the Holy Spirit is the 00:13:58.029 --> 00:14:01.690 narrator giving you glimpses along the way of 00:14:01.690 --> 00:14:04.549 chapters and themes and then filling the book 00:14:04.549 --> 00:14:09.090 of your life with his goodness. That's why the 00:14:09.090 --> 00:14:12.610 writing on the tablets has to be clear so that 00:14:12.610 --> 00:14:17.809 what? He who runs, everyone's a runner. That's 00:14:17.809 --> 00:14:19.690 why I so like that little banner. They're called 00:14:19.690 --> 00:14:23.620 life tracks. Why? Everybody's a runner out of 00:14:23.620 --> 00:14:25.960 this reach series that you would reach forward 00:14:25.960 --> 00:14:28.600 to the heavenly prize of the high calling of 00:14:28.600 --> 00:14:32.279 Jesus Christ. It's all of us in the race and 00:14:32.279 --> 00:14:37.360 all of us unfolding. God's message then is to 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:40.320 be ingested. It's to be remembered. It's to be 00:14:40.320 --> 00:14:43.700 dwelt on. It's to be rehearsed. It's to be prophesied. 00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:46.960 It's to be declared. It's to be collaborated 00:14:46.960 --> 00:14:53.879 with. With God's vision, and this is the word 00:14:53.879 --> 00:14:55.840 the Lord spoke to me this morning for this house. 00:14:57.100 --> 00:15:01.559 With God's vision, there is power of confirmant. 00:15:04.519 --> 00:15:08.440 I feel like Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. The word 00:15:08.440 --> 00:15:14.879 for the day, children, is confirmant. Confirmant 00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:20.139 is what? It's a legal definition. Confirmant. 00:15:20.460 --> 00:15:27.700 means conveyance, deputation, assignment, and 00:15:27.700 --> 00:15:35.019 legacy. It's the power to activate and to accomplish. 00:15:35.620 --> 00:15:40.919 It's the release of a commissioning that moves 00:15:40.919 --> 00:15:47.840 on a person. There comes a change that takes 00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:53.740 place and a shift with the impartation. You see 00:15:53.740 --> 00:15:56.779 this all through the Bible. You see it all on 00:15:56.779 --> 00:16:02.860 Christians. When they get God's vision in their 00:16:02.860 --> 00:16:07.490 heart, receive. salvation and their understanding 00:16:07.490 --> 00:16:10.669 that God loves them. They stop wrestling with 00:16:10.669 --> 00:16:14.549 the rejection thing. They put aside the foolishness 00:16:14.549 --> 00:16:16.590 that God doesn't love them. And somehow God, 00:16:16.629 --> 00:16:20.330 some person in heaven picking a daisy. I love 00:16:20.330 --> 00:16:23.710 them. I love them not. They sinned. I don't love 00:16:23.710 --> 00:16:26.529 them. They repented. I love them so much. No, 00:16:26.629 --> 00:16:31.519 that's not what he does. Once they get rid of 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:35.899 all of that junk that pulls at their mind and 00:16:35.899 --> 00:16:39.259 they catch the vision of running for him, that 00:16:39.259 --> 00:16:42.759 their life, God is reaching into them and they 00:16:42.759 --> 00:16:45.779 can reach toward him. Here's what happens. The 00:16:45.779 --> 00:16:52.860 word has conveyance power. It changes how you 00:16:52.860 --> 00:16:57.019 actually live your life. You watch it every time. 00:16:57.179 --> 00:16:59.539 I mean, I'm just going to give you a few. How 00:16:59.539 --> 00:17:04.579 about Moses? The minute he ran into the burning 00:17:04.579 --> 00:17:09.299 bush and the Lord spoke to him, it changed the 00:17:09.299 --> 00:17:14.099 complete direction of his thinking. And God kept 00:17:14.099 --> 00:17:21.910 speaking until that thinking was changed. Moses 00:17:21.910 --> 00:17:25.390 was content to live on the backside of the mountain 00:17:25.390 --> 00:17:28.730 shepherding sheep with his father -in -law Jethro 00:17:28.730 --> 00:17:35.650 and his wife and his sons until the vision that 00:17:35.650 --> 00:17:41.480 God put over his life in God's total plan. Moses 00:17:41.480 --> 00:17:47.279 had no idea that 470 years prior to a man named 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:50.619 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob said, you'll go into 00:17:50.619 --> 00:17:53.720 bondage and there will be persecutions. And this 00:17:53.720 --> 00:17:56.220 will happen until the fullness of time that he 00:17:56.220 --> 00:18:00.019 was a important player in that little part of 00:18:00.019 --> 00:18:03.079 God's plan of unfolding. God had already been 00:18:03.079 --> 00:18:06.339 doing things all around Moses. Moses didn't have 00:18:06.339 --> 00:18:08.700 a clue. Turn to somebody and neither do you. 00:18:08.759 --> 00:18:15.910 Hallelujah. He didn't have a clue what God was 00:18:15.910 --> 00:18:18.890 doing around. And that's us, folks. We don't 00:18:18.890 --> 00:18:22.730 have any idea of the ways that God... God is 00:18:22.730 --> 00:18:26.089 working right now in and around us, setting the 00:18:26.089 --> 00:18:28.950 stage for moments that we are going to step into 00:18:28.950 --> 00:18:32.190 if we'll get with what he's saying, that we can 00:18:32.190 --> 00:18:35.730 be part of his master plan. He's already, he's 00:18:35.730 --> 00:18:38.190 so more marvelous than we give him credit for. 00:18:38.289 --> 00:18:41.750 He is already working on your tomorrows, setting 00:18:41.750 --> 00:18:45.130 up people, situations, places of what he's got 00:18:45.130 --> 00:18:53.099 for you. This is why I never get very far in 00:18:53.099 --> 00:18:58.099 our messages. Hallelujah. Think of David. He's 00:18:58.099 --> 00:19:02.039 out. He is a little Ferdinand the bull out on 00:19:02.039 --> 00:19:04.559 the side playing with the sheep, playing his 00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:13.359 song, right? Until one day, he had no idea. Samuel 00:19:13.359 --> 00:19:18.460 comes to his dad. I'm looking for a... The Lord 00:19:18.460 --> 00:19:21.319 says he's looking for a man after his own heart. 00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:26.460 And all of the boys stand. And every one of them, 00:19:26.519 --> 00:19:32.839 good looking, anointed. No. Shoot. No. Shoot. 00:19:32.980 --> 00:19:40.099 No. I'm getting this. Is there any other sons 00:19:40.099 --> 00:20:02.660 that you have? He's a musician. Can you go back? 00:20:02.819 --> 00:20:07.519 Just, Samuel, go back over the sixth. No, no. 00:20:07.640 --> 00:20:10.180 The Lord says he's not here. We're going to wait 00:20:10.180 --> 00:20:17.859 until he shows up. At that moment, the word of 00:20:17.859 --> 00:20:23.480 the Lord came and changed David's life. Now, 00:20:23.559 --> 00:20:29.039 it didn't change him in his heart for God. Didn't 00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:31.180 change him in his desire to minister to God. 00:20:31.720 --> 00:20:33.819 Didn't change his love for God. All of those 00:20:33.819 --> 00:20:36.799 things he was operating in. What it changed is 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:39.799 the path and the direction that God saw his life, 00:20:39.900 --> 00:20:42.319 that God wanted to take him versus where David 00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:47.599 thought he was going. David began to run with 00:20:47.599 --> 00:20:49.880 a vision. And even when he strayed, I mean, if 00:20:49.880 --> 00:20:51.720 you just look at it through his life, I mean, 00:20:51.740 --> 00:20:54.119 even the 10 years of putting up with the sufferings 00:20:54.119 --> 00:20:56.660 and being chased by Saul, when he finally got 00:20:56.660 --> 00:20:59.380 to the end of himself. And I've just got to say 00:20:59.380 --> 00:21:01.559 this because I feel. pushed by the Holy Spirit 00:21:01.559 --> 00:21:04.359 to say this. He actually lowered himself to say, 00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:06.339 you know, Saul is eventually going to get me. 00:21:06.420 --> 00:21:09.720 I have just got to give this up. He set the vision 00:21:09.720 --> 00:21:12.640 of the Lord aside. And the Bible says he joined 00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:15.779 himself to the Philistines, the arch enemy of 00:21:15.779 --> 00:21:20.220 David and of God. And he pretended to be a madman. 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:25.480 He pretended to be. Can I prophesy to you this 00:21:25.480 --> 00:21:27.859 morning? I feel this so strong. There are some 00:21:27.859 --> 00:21:30.259 people in the body of Christ that are becoming 00:21:30.259 --> 00:21:33.400 madmen because they've set the vision of God 00:21:33.400 --> 00:21:36.420 aside. They're miserable to be around. Their 00:21:36.420 --> 00:21:39.740 wife is upset. Their children are a mess. I'm 00:21:39.740 --> 00:21:43.000 telling you why. Because they did not contend 00:21:43.000 --> 00:21:45.880 in the full assurance. They believed the lie 00:21:45.880 --> 00:21:49.920 and they let go of what God said. And what they're 00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:53.839 doing is they're scratching on a gate and drooling 00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:58.920 in their beard. That's a good word, preacher. 00:21:58.980 --> 00:22:04.180 Didn't know you were going there. I mean, just 00:22:04.180 --> 00:22:08.079 think of it. The man who God anointed, called 00:22:08.079 --> 00:22:11.200 out of obscurity, sitting on the side of a mountain, 00:22:11.259 --> 00:22:14.109 tending sheep, playing kumbaya. out to Jesus, 00:22:14.190 --> 00:22:17.170 gets anointed by the oil of God, changes his 00:22:17.170 --> 00:22:19.950 trajectory, but in the midst of his suffering 00:22:19.950 --> 00:22:22.609 that he thought was too long, he finally said 00:22:22.609 --> 00:22:25.710 to himself, I can't stand under the weight of 00:22:25.710 --> 00:22:28.170 this vision. I've got to hang it up. I'll go 00:22:28.170 --> 00:22:31.130 join with the enemy for a time. And God says, 00:22:31.190 --> 00:22:33.289 I'm going to make you even more miserable. You 00:22:33.289 --> 00:22:42.099 don't trust them. You trust me. You see, That 00:22:42.099 --> 00:22:44.720 was pretty anemic. Come on, give the Lord a clap. 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:55.259 I can trust Jesus. You see that power of conferment. 00:22:55.940 --> 00:23:00.680 Can you say that with me? Conferment. A power 00:23:00.680 --> 00:23:07.880 activated to accomplish. A change that causes 00:23:07.880 --> 00:23:11.309 a shift. It can come in the form, are you ready? 00:23:11.390 --> 00:23:15.069 It can come in the form of two things, a resetting 00:23:15.069 --> 00:23:21.710 or a realigning. Two things. God's vision comes, 00:23:21.809 --> 00:23:24.309 when it comes, and you get it, it comes in two 00:23:24.309 --> 00:23:27.869 forms. It'll either reset or it'll realign. How 00:23:27.869 --> 00:23:30.509 many have ever had a bad alignment on the front 00:23:30.509 --> 00:23:35.390 end of your car? Jenny, I'm not gonna tell who 00:23:35.390 --> 00:23:41.650 ran into the curb, but anyways. It was actually 00:23:41.650 --> 00:23:44.289 me. I just thought I'd bring her in. We're one. 00:23:44.430 --> 00:23:47.490 Hallelujah. You hit the curb hard enough, it 00:23:47.490 --> 00:23:52.710 knocks the car out of what? Alignment. And then 00:23:52.710 --> 00:23:56.049 what happens? You try to go in a straight line 00:23:56.049 --> 00:24:02.599 and it's constantly pulling to a side. It will 00:24:02.599 --> 00:24:06.359 cross traffic to bring you into accidents if 00:24:06.359 --> 00:24:10.630 you take your hand off the wheel for a bit. Do 00:24:10.630 --> 00:24:13.289 you understand what I'm saying here? Did you 00:24:13.289 --> 00:24:15.930 hear prophetically what the Lord is saying? It's 00:24:15.930 --> 00:24:18.690 the minute you let go of what is written on the 00:24:18.690 --> 00:24:22.089 tablets of your heart that Jesus put there. If 00:24:22.089 --> 00:24:26.309 that's out of alignment, you will drift whether 00:24:26.309 --> 00:24:28.250 you realize it or not. If you're not conscious 00:24:28.250 --> 00:24:31.190 to what's happening, it will move you into accidental 00:24:31.190 --> 00:24:33.849 situations that are not good for your spiritual 00:24:33.849 --> 00:24:36.210 life, your family, your health, your marriage, 00:24:36.289 --> 00:24:43.460 your ministry. It'll cause you to be out of alignment, 00:24:43.500 --> 00:24:46.420 out of alignment with God. Fact is, what is the 00:24:46.420 --> 00:24:51.059 thing that God is so clear on in 1 Corinthians? 00:24:51.220 --> 00:24:53.259 I'm just kind of preaching prophetically for 00:24:53.259 --> 00:24:55.960 the rest of my time. I just sense it. What is 00:24:55.960 --> 00:24:58.799 the thing that God was clear on? He said in 1 00:24:58.799 --> 00:25:02.619 Corinthians 11, he said the head of Jesus is 00:25:02.619 --> 00:25:06.960 the father. He said the head of man is the son. 00:25:07.500 --> 00:25:10.789 And then the... He's talking about alignment. 00:25:14.470 --> 00:25:17.490 Once you move out of alignment and begin to put 00:25:17.490 --> 00:25:20.930 yourself above the will of Jesus or the will 00:25:20.930 --> 00:25:23.650 of the Father and use your soul, you are headed 00:25:23.650 --> 00:25:29.170 for an accident. Whether you get a head -on collision 00:25:29.170 --> 00:25:32.109 or not is not the point. You will constantly 00:25:32.109 --> 00:25:36.809 fight in your life against having what is meant 00:25:36.809 --> 00:25:41.490 to be straight and true and have a grace and 00:25:41.490 --> 00:25:49.390 a favor on it. The next word is reset. I'm speaking 00:25:49.390 --> 00:25:53.450 not to the older generation. I'm speaking to 00:25:53.450 --> 00:25:59.490 the generation that had Atari and Next. I got 00:25:59.490 --> 00:26:01.809 to tell this on my dad because he's not here, 00:26:01.890 --> 00:26:06.670 hallelujah. I don't know what, I think, I wish, 00:26:06.809 --> 00:26:10.789 anyways. We had the original Atari. Fact is, 00:26:10.809 --> 00:26:13.470 I remember Mark Smucker playing over, playing 00:26:13.470 --> 00:26:16.490 Atari over at your guys' house, the original 00:26:16.490 --> 00:26:18.950 game. We used to go over there and play Space 00:26:18.950 --> 00:26:21.470 Invaders. And I remember, you know, that old 00:26:21.470 --> 00:26:24.309 do, do, do, do, do, do, do. And I remember playing 00:26:24.309 --> 00:26:26.410 that game and dad goes, we ain't buying one of 00:26:26.410 --> 00:26:31.710 those. Oh! And I remember that Atari game. Now 00:26:31.710 --> 00:26:33.829 I wish I had it because of all the games, how 00:26:33.829 --> 00:26:36.150 expensive they are. But then they just got better 00:26:36.150 --> 00:26:38.150 and better and better and all these wonderful 00:26:38.150 --> 00:26:42.609 games. And anyways, I'm not a gamer, but back 00:26:42.609 --> 00:26:45.049 in my teenage years, I did play Space Invaders 00:26:45.049 --> 00:26:47.309 and Pitfall. I mean, those are my two games. 00:26:47.369 --> 00:26:53.670 Anyways, there was a button on that Atari game 00:26:53.670 --> 00:26:59.259 called the reset. I needed that button a lot. 00:27:01.539 --> 00:27:04.579 Because I was invariably getting killed at level 00:27:04.579 --> 00:27:09.660 one. Reset. Reset. Reset. And what did the reset 00:27:09.660 --> 00:27:13.680 do? The reset just started things over with a 00:27:13.680 --> 00:27:19.920 fresh slate, didn't it? Folks, that's what confirmant... 00:27:20.059 --> 00:27:24.640 It either aligns that which you're already walking 00:27:24.640 --> 00:27:29.079 in or when it comes, it resets your life completely, 00:27:29.220 --> 00:27:32.779 wiping out that which was of yesterday's mistakes 00:27:32.779 --> 00:27:36.440 and failures and giving you a brand new course 00:27:36.440 --> 00:27:39.680 in which to walk with God. That's why it's so 00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:41.640 important we get the vision of the Lord. Come 00:27:41.640 --> 00:27:49.440 on, give the Lord a hand clap this morning. The 00:27:49.440 --> 00:27:56.299 power of that confirmant is the power of deputation, 00:27:56.559 --> 00:28:03.440 which is a nice word for delegation, commission, 00:28:03.720 --> 00:28:11.019 being an emissary, a representative, an appointee, 00:28:11.019 --> 00:28:15.819 and connected to an envoy. That's what happens 00:28:15.819 --> 00:28:18.380 when you get a vision from the Lord. written 00:28:18.380 --> 00:28:24.539 in your heart. You now become his representative. 00:28:25.279 --> 00:28:27.640 Why do you think the apostle Paul was able to 00:28:27.640 --> 00:28:32.720 say in Corinthians, we are ambassadors with the 00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:35.799 message of reconciliation? Where do you think 00:28:35.799 --> 00:28:39.480 he got that? He got it from God's vision and 00:28:39.480 --> 00:28:43.240 the deputation of confirmant that came on the 00:28:43.240 --> 00:28:49.230 word of his life. Folks, he was a murderer. He 00:28:49.230 --> 00:28:52.710 was a blasphemer. I mean, just read his litany 00:28:52.710 --> 00:28:56.269 of what he said in 1 Timothy. I was a former 00:28:56.269 --> 00:29:00.130 blasphemer. I consented to the deaths of good 00:29:00.130 --> 00:29:03.849 men and women and killed them, being totally 00:29:03.849 --> 00:29:06.049 deceived, thinking I was running for God. When 00:29:06.049 --> 00:29:09.789 God showed up with vision, guess what happened? 00:29:10.210 --> 00:29:15.650 Reset. Reset and alignment at the same time. 00:29:17.069 --> 00:29:20.650 And it carried the power of confirmant to do 00:29:20.650 --> 00:29:23.970 what? To now he had the boldness to say, even 00:29:23.970 --> 00:29:26.730 though I may be least of the apostles, I have 00:29:26.730 --> 00:29:31.380 been given the administrative and back. of being 00:29:31.380 --> 00:29:35.420 a reconciler for Christ. He knew what his commission 00:29:35.420 --> 00:29:37.759 was. Remember, he said it over and over. You 00:29:37.759 --> 00:29:40.359 know why? You just think about it. What God said 00:29:40.359 --> 00:29:43.359 in the book of Acts early on in Paul's life, 00:29:43.619 --> 00:29:48.019 he would say all the way through in every encounter 00:29:48.019 --> 00:29:51.039 after multiple missionary journeys, he gets to 00:29:51.039 --> 00:29:54.619 Jerusalem, he gets to King Agrippa, he gets to 00:29:54.619 --> 00:29:57.579 Festus. On his way to see Caesar, what does he 00:29:57.579 --> 00:30:01.279 do? He reminds us. of the testimony of the vision 00:30:01.279 --> 00:30:03.640 that was written in his heart from that first 00:30:03.640 --> 00:30:06.680 day when he got reset, realigned, and it caught. 00:30:06.859 --> 00:30:09.720 He said, the Lord spoke to me. He said he was 00:30:09.720 --> 00:30:11.900 delivering me out of the kingdom of darkness 00:30:11.900 --> 00:30:14.660 and into the kingdom of his light, and I am there 00:30:14.660 --> 00:30:18.440 to preach the gospel that others would be transferred 00:30:18.440 --> 00:30:22.900 from the darkness to his glorious riches in Christ. 00:30:23.019 --> 00:30:28.420 That vision never changed. And it unfolded all 00:30:28.420 --> 00:30:33.279 the way through his life to the end. So you think 00:30:33.279 --> 00:30:36.720 it's important? I do. I'm just giving you a few. 00:30:37.619 --> 00:30:42.220 When the vision, God's vision, the prophetic 00:30:42.220 --> 00:30:49.359 moment that we get it is heard and seen, it changes 00:30:49.359 --> 00:30:55.660 you. It makes you part. A representative. I mean, 00:30:55.680 --> 00:31:00.160 think about it. We see it every day in our government. 00:31:00.539 --> 00:31:05.500 We vote for a representative. There's a special 00:31:05.500 --> 00:31:11.460 envoy. You're part of that. You're a representative 00:31:11.460 --> 00:31:15.000 of the kingdom of heaven and of the Lord your 00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:21.349 God personally. Moses was changed. Joshua was 00:31:21.349 --> 00:31:24.549 changed. David was changed. The voice and the 00:31:24.549 --> 00:31:27.049 vision of the Lord is what changes our course. 00:31:27.130 --> 00:31:31.470 It changes our thinking. And it causes us to 00:31:31.470 --> 00:31:44.250 be different. Whosoever. Hallelujah. It causes 00:31:44.250 --> 00:31:48.579 us to be different. Now we know in scripture, 00:31:48.799 --> 00:31:53.740 God has made you a peculiar people. Some of you 00:31:53.740 --> 00:31:59.240 take that literally, hallelujah. But difference 00:31:59.240 --> 00:32:04.039 comes. You know what the difference is? The difference 00:32:04.039 --> 00:32:08.900 is when you embrace God's vision for your life, 00:32:09.079 --> 00:32:18.720 you look, walk, talk. and see things differently 00:32:18.720 --> 00:32:25.220 than you did before? You do. How many have ever 00:32:25.220 --> 00:32:28.700 had that moment where God, now I'm talking, it 00:32:28.700 --> 00:32:31.220 can be salvation moment or it can be another 00:32:31.220 --> 00:32:33.740 moment where God met you and gave you something 00:32:33.740 --> 00:32:36.460 in addition. That all of a sudden, what you were 00:32:36.460 --> 00:32:39.299 in, what you were doing, how you were pursuing 00:32:39.299 --> 00:32:42.259 something changed and it either realigned or 00:32:42.259 --> 00:32:46.099 reset your life. Anybody? Come on. Come on, that's 00:32:46.099 --> 00:32:49.779 why it's so important that you get God's vision 00:32:49.779 --> 00:32:57.940 in your heart. Folks, the impartation of vision 00:32:57.940 --> 00:33:07.079 is a moment of inscribing on you. You know, I'll 00:33:07.079 --> 00:33:08.980 finish with this and if you want to play something, 00:33:09.119 --> 00:33:14.240 that'd be great. There's a little story. Valley 00:33:14.240 --> 00:33:16.700 River Mall, and you guys know it. I don't know 00:33:16.700 --> 00:33:18.259 if it's still called that, but I think it is. 00:33:18.539 --> 00:33:20.220 I know I don't look at the name of the store 00:33:20.220 --> 00:33:22.400 anymore. If I go in, there's called Things Remembered. 00:33:23.720 --> 00:33:25.559 And it's a place where you can get things for 00:33:25.559 --> 00:33:28.000 weddings. You can get gifts for groomsmen or 00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:31.400 bridesmaids and babies and confirmations. It's 00:33:31.400 --> 00:33:35.640 things where they're meant to be gifts to be 00:33:35.640 --> 00:33:39.380 given for special moments. But if you notice, 00:33:39.440 --> 00:33:43.799 all of those gifts, for the most part, blank 00:33:43.799 --> 00:33:48.119 places in which there needs to be a special engraving 00:33:48.119 --> 00:33:57.000 you see every one of us God gives all of us have 00:33:57.000 --> 00:34:01.519 a gift from the Lord but he's waiting for us 00:34:01.519 --> 00:34:07.099 to actually get the engraved part the gift is 00:34:07.099 --> 00:34:14.530 special you know the Different anniversaries. 00:34:15.630 --> 00:34:17.690 People have given me things. I've given things. 00:34:18.309 --> 00:34:22.230 What makes the gift special is the engraving 00:34:22.230 --> 00:34:26.329 of the words that were said on that gift. It 00:34:26.329 --> 00:34:28.889 could be an anniversary gift. It could be a birthday 00:34:28.889 --> 00:34:31.050 gift. It could be a newborn. It could be a confirmation. 00:34:31.369 --> 00:34:35.190 It could be bride and groom. I mean, it would 00:34:35.190 --> 00:34:38.650 be okay just to get a, you know, gift without 00:34:38.650 --> 00:34:41.610 anything there. And you just kind of go, huh. 00:34:42.219 --> 00:34:44.420 Well, it was nice, but it was kind of impersonal. 00:34:45.739 --> 00:34:49.159 Right? But there's something when somebody said 00:34:49.159 --> 00:34:54.320 to my wonderful husband, I love you with all 00:34:54.320 --> 00:34:58.940 of my heart. Love, Jennifer. Now, at that point, 00:34:58.960 --> 00:35:01.159 I realized she's not talking to anybody else 00:35:01.159 --> 00:35:08.139 but me. And the gift and the inscription on the 00:35:08.139 --> 00:35:14.500 plate or on the label, that it brought honor, 00:35:14.659 --> 00:35:19.179 it brought specificity, it brings the moment 00:35:19.179 --> 00:35:21.900 of encounter that every time I look at that, 00:35:21.960 --> 00:35:25.559 I cannot think of that love being generic. I 00:35:25.559 --> 00:35:28.380 think of it as deep, I think of it as strong, 00:35:28.539 --> 00:35:32.599 and I am reminded that my loyalties and my affections 00:35:32.599 --> 00:35:37.019 are for her. Now, what do you think happens when 00:35:37.019 --> 00:35:40.639 God does that with the engraving? Why do you 00:35:40.639 --> 00:35:45.460 think it's so important? that Ezekiel 36 said. 00:35:45.980 --> 00:35:48.639 I'm going to take the engraving that used to 00:35:48.639 --> 00:35:53.300 be on stone and I'm going to cause the stylus 00:35:53.300 --> 00:35:56.420 of my finger that can write on the hardest surface. 00:35:56.460 --> 00:35:59.980 I'm now going to bring it into the heart of man 00:35:59.980 --> 00:36:03.059 and woman. And I'm going to begin now to put 00:36:03.059 --> 00:36:06.300 a personal message on the vision that I've connected 00:36:06.300 --> 00:36:09.119 them to myself. And I'm going to take my finger 00:36:09.119 --> 00:36:12.800 and I'm going to write. the vision of my heart 00:36:12.800 --> 00:36:17.260 for David on his heart that he, when he reads 00:36:17.260 --> 00:36:22.420 it, may run well. That's what God wants to do 00:36:22.420 --> 00:36:26.019 for every person. Wants to do it for every person. 00:36:26.739 --> 00:36:31.539 That's why not only is the Bible so important, 00:36:31.719 --> 00:36:34.360 but that's why the Holy Spirit is so important 00:36:34.360 --> 00:36:38.179 because he's the diamond tip on the finger of 00:36:38.179 --> 00:36:43.659 God. He's the one that writes the letter of the 00:36:43.659 --> 00:36:47.639 Lord on your life so that you may know your place 00:36:47.639 --> 00:36:51.239 in the whole vision of God. Would you stand with 00:36:51.239 --> 00:36:53.980 me this morning? David, are you closing the service? 00:36:54.039 --> 00:36:59.219 Come on up. How many would say, Lord, I want 00:36:59.219 --> 00:37:02.980 you to write your unfolding vision on my life? 00:37:03.119 --> 00:37:05.820 How many in here this morning? Come on, let's 00:37:05.820 --> 00:37:08.079 just pray that. Today's been a wonderful day 00:37:08.079 --> 00:37:10.599 in God, and I believe. The word of the Lord that 00:37:10.599 --> 00:37:16.980 we are receiving right now is imparting now courage 00:37:16.980 --> 00:37:20.219 and strength and life for us to live for him. 00:37:20.260 --> 00:37:26.320 Father, in Jesus' name, Lord, take your finger 00:37:26.320 --> 00:37:32.300 and write now. Write on the tablets of our heart. 00:37:32.360 --> 00:37:35.260 Write on the tablets of our mind. Write, Lord, 00:37:35.460 --> 00:37:40.739 your words. Words that... into your story of 00:37:40.739 --> 00:37:44.099 what you're doing not only throughout man's history 00:37:44.099 --> 00:37:47.340 but in the course of our lifetime write your 00:37:47.340 --> 00:37:50.619 words as it will unfold through the course of 00:37:50.619 --> 00:37:54.300 our life that we would run a straight line run 00:37:54.300 --> 00:37:58.179 a true line run a line that's worth living with 00:37:58.179 --> 00:38:01.719 a message that's worth giving in Jesus name Lord 00:38:01.719 --> 00:38:05.159 I bless your people this morning and I ask now 00:38:05.159 --> 00:38:12.130 for the grace of God to come for you as you've 00:38:12.130 --> 00:38:23.809 reached for us in Jesus name. Amen. If you are 00:38:23.809 --> 00:38:26.449 interested in hearing other podcasts or contacting 00:38:26.449 --> 00:38:30.230 Life Bible Church, go to www .lifebiblechurch 00:38:30.230 --> 00:38:35.050 .org or call us at 541 -995 -8282.