WEBVTT 00:00:02.250 --> 00:00:05.269 Welcome to the Life Bible Church podcast. We 00:00:05.269 --> 00:00:07.669 want to thank you for joining us today, and we 00:00:07.669 --> 00:00:10.169 hope you find today's sermon impacting as you 00:00:10.169 --> 00:00:12.689 listen to it wherever you are in your daily walk. 00:00:12.929 --> 00:00:15.929 To find service times and watch messages online, 00:00:16.210 --> 00:00:20.109 see our website at lifebiblechurch .org. Now, 00:00:20.149 --> 00:00:25.010 enjoy this week's message. Hallelujah. Thank 00:00:25.010 --> 00:00:29.870 you, Lord. What a wonderful day to worship God. 00:00:29.949 --> 00:00:35.070 Amen? Praise the Lord. Well, Aaron and I have 00:00:35.070 --> 00:00:39.030 really, really enjoyed ourselves here and we 00:00:39.030 --> 00:00:42.990 feel as much at home here as we do anywhere in 00:00:42.990 --> 00:00:45.609 the United States. So thank you very much for 00:00:45.609 --> 00:00:48.390 making us feel like family. It's a wonderful 00:00:48.390 --> 00:00:51.149 thing. There are certain places you go where 00:00:51.149 --> 00:00:54.689 it's like this and you just seem to fit in with 00:00:54.689 --> 00:00:57.770 the pastors and the people seem to be so appreciative. 00:00:59.159 --> 00:01:02.479 God is able to then move so wonderfully. So look 00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:05.140 at the hands that went up a few moments ago of 00:01:05.140 --> 00:01:07.599 those that have received already changes in their 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:11.099 body. And for anyone that your change seems to 00:01:11.099 --> 00:01:12.920 be a little slower, that's all it means. It's 00:01:12.920 --> 00:01:15.340 just a little slower. And that'll just pick up 00:01:15.340 --> 00:01:21.180 with you being encouraged. Amen? So if you were 00:01:21.180 --> 00:01:25.040 to ask me, kind of getting into our subject matter 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:32.670 today, What would you focus on in life? I would 00:01:32.670 --> 00:01:36.609 put my faith, my belief, and my action and my 00:01:36.609 --> 00:01:41.450 words on my relationship with God, meaning the 00:01:41.450 --> 00:01:44.870 tangibility of God in my life. Tangibility meaning 00:01:44.870 --> 00:01:48.730 his voice is more clear, his presence is more 00:01:48.730 --> 00:01:53.939 detected. Because those very two things right 00:01:53.939 --> 00:01:57.879 there would literally change the world almost 00:01:57.879 --> 00:02:00.900 overnight if we could get Christians to hear 00:02:00.900 --> 00:02:03.120 the voice of God and to recognize the presence 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:06.099 of the Lord. Now the interesting thing about 00:02:06.099 --> 00:02:09.000 that, sorry I have to come down here again, and 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:14.180 this is Jan's favorite part right here. And the 00:02:14.180 --> 00:02:18.180 interesting thing about that is Adam and Eve 00:02:18.180 --> 00:02:21.439 and even their children, Cain and Abel, who must 00:02:21.439 --> 00:02:24.099 have been in their teens to handle the responsibility 00:02:24.099 --> 00:02:29.180 of the sheep and then of the produce of the land. 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:34.039 So Cain and Abel would be second generation sinners. 00:02:35.379 --> 00:02:41.979 But all of them had this as sinners. More so 00:02:41.979 --> 00:02:45.139 than probably the greatest majority of believers 00:02:45.139 --> 00:02:49.270 today. The voice of God and the presence of the 00:02:49.270 --> 00:02:52.449 Lord. Adam hid from the presence of the Lord, 00:02:52.490 --> 00:02:57.569 so he obviously recognized where it was. Today, 00:02:57.710 --> 00:02:59.509 you know the presence of God can come in and 00:02:59.509 --> 00:03:01.889 someone's saying, I don't feel anything. Well, 00:03:02.150 --> 00:03:05.150 and that's very possible. You don't. And it's 00:03:05.150 --> 00:03:08.610 not always a physical feeling as much as it is 00:03:08.610 --> 00:03:16.139 a spiritual knowing. The spiritual knowing. I 00:03:16.139 --> 00:03:18.379 just know God just came in. Do you feel him? 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:20.460 I don't feel him, but I know it. It's the same 00:03:20.460 --> 00:03:24.199 thing as a physical feeling. One is spiritual, 00:03:24.419 --> 00:03:27.979 the other is physical. But Adam knew where he 00:03:27.979 --> 00:03:30.340 was, so he hid behind a tree to keep himself 00:03:30.340 --> 00:03:33.159 from the presence that was coming. And God just 00:03:33.159 --> 00:03:35.719 happened to make that tree. So when God said, 00:03:35.800 --> 00:03:37.639 where are you? It's not because God was like, 00:03:37.719 --> 00:03:39.819 I really can't find my man. Where did he go? 00:03:40.180 --> 00:03:42.800 No, he was basically saying, why are you over 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:47.310 there when you should be over here? And then 00:03:47.310 --> 00:03:51.069 Adam actually heard his voice in complete sentences. 00:03:51.229 --> 00:03:56.469 So God was speaking his language. But also Cain, 00:03:56.490 --> 00:03:59.169 getting ready to commit murder, heard the voice 00:03:59.169 --> 00:04:02.389 of God in complete sentences. And recognized 00:04:02.389 --> 00:04:06.569 his presence. So see, what I'm proposing to the 00:04:06.569 --> 00:04:11.469 church is not something very high and lofty. 00:04:11.530 --> 00:04:15.860 I mean, if a sinner can have this. then certainly 00:04:15.860 --> 00:04:20.759 God's sons and daughters should have this. Because 00:04:20.759 --> 00:04:26.920 really and truly, as simple as, okay, in the 00:04:26.920 --> 00:04:29.970 day I grew up, Everything was about conservation. 00:04:30.290 --> 00:04:33.449 My parents were middle class individuals financially. 00:04:33.930 --> 00:04:36.889 My dad was a high school principal. My mom was 00:04:36.889 --> 00:04:40.389 a secretary to the president of an oil company. 00:04:40.649 --> 00:04:44.370 And they worked hard and they saved. And back 00:04:44.370 --> 00:04:47.829 then, we would take a vacation maybe once every 00:04:47.829 --> 00:04:51.910 five years. Where now people take them sometimes 00:04:51.910 --> 00:04:55.259 two and three times in one year. It just wasn't 00:04:55.259 --> 00:04:57.519 that way back then. We just worked hard. You 00:04:57.519 --> 00:04:59.800 know, we all had chores on Saturdays. I couldn't 00:04:59.800 --> 00:05:02.899 go to play until I finished my chores. And so 00:05:02.899 --> 00:05:05.779 I was real good at figuring out how to take the 00:05:05.779 --> 00:05:08.360 amount of tools I needed to the perfect place 00:05:08.360 --> 00:05:10.860 so I didn't have to retrace my steps because 00:05:10.860 --> 00:05:13.160 everything was about playing football. Everything 00:05:13.160 --> 00:05:15.259 was about playing baseball. Everything was about 00:05:15.259 --> 00:05:17.680 running with the kids. So I wanted to get the 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:25.939 job done as fast as possible. Well, I know that 00:05:25.939 --> 00:05:28.980 blesses you. Praise the Lord. I want to get this 00:05:28.980 --> 00:05:30.939 job done as fast as possible too. Praise the 00:05:30.939 --> 00:05:38.480 Lord. So, you know, back in the day, we had certain 00:05:38.480 --> 00:05:43.500 mindsets that just, I think, served being with 00:05:43.500 --> 00:05:47.779 God more so than we have today. And we have to 00:05:47.779 --> 00:05:50.819 fight for the right to be simple enough to find 00:05:50.819 --> 00:05:54.620 God in the day that we live. Amen. And that's 00:05:54.620 --> 00:05:58.939 certainly very, very important. So just taking 00:05:58.939 --> 00:06:03.740 the whole idea of God being real to you is super, 00:06:03.800 --> 00:06:08.060 super important to what you're to experience. 00:06:08.220 --> 00:06:10.939 So in other words, instead of putting all your 00:06:10.939 --> 00:06:14.180 faith on trying to get healed, why not just stay 00:06:14.180 --> 00:06:18.519 connected? So when I grew up, my dad would always 00:06:18.519 --> 00:06:22.420 say, it was constant, he said, you know, did 00:06:22.420 --> 00:06:25.899 you turn the lights off? I'd say, well, I think 00:06:25.899 --> 00:06:29.360 I did. He said, Jimmy, he said, electricity costs 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:32.579 money. Money doesn't grow on trees. Make sure 00:06:32.579 --> 00:06:34.939 you turn the lights off. So we go to church because 00:06:34.939 --> 00:06:38.740 remember I told you church back then was Sunday 00:06:38.740 --> 00:06:42.439 morning, Sunday school, then Sunday morning church. 00:06:43.079 --> 00:06:47.240 And then the afternoons, I couldn't play. I couldn't 00:06:47.240 --> 00:06:51.000 go even outside. It was strict. It was a day 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:54.660 of rest. So you had to rest in the house. So 00:06:54.660 --> 00:06:56.519 I couldn't play with my friends, couldn't do 00:06:56.519 --> 00:06:59.199 anything, we're resting. Then we went to church 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:02.120 that night. Well, we'd come home from church 00:07:02.120 --> 00:07:05.660 and a quarter mile away, he had asked me earlier, 00:07:05.740 --> 00:07:07.240 did you turn the lights off? Yeah, yeah, turn 00:07:07.240 --> 00:07:08.720 the lights off. And then a quarter mile away, 00:07:08.819 --> 00:07:10.819 the house is lit up like a Christmas tree in 00:07:10.819 --> 00:07:14.920 my bedroom. And he'd say, I thought you said 00:07:14.920 --> 00:07:17.939 you turned the lights off. Oh, I thought I did. 00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:21.300 So everything was about turning them on and turning 00:07:21.300 --> 00:07:26.220 them off. Conserving energy. So I learned right 00:07:26.220 --> 00:07:28.019 away, you know, the importance of the on and 00:07:28.019 --> 00:07:32.040 off switch. Well, think about this. This is super 00:07:32.040 --> 00:07:35.680 simple. If you keep the switch on, the electricity 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:38.639 will continue to flow. And as long as the bulb 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:41.860 can handle putting out that electricity, you'll 00:07:41.860 --> 00:07:46.339 have light. If you keep your switch on with God, 00:07:46.540 --> 00:07:53.540 concerning how real he is, how would sickness 00:07:53.540 --> 00:07:57.000 and disease get back in or how would sickness 00:07:57.000 --> 00:08:03.120 and disease that's there be able to stay? Remember, 00:08:03.399 --> 00:08:05.540 in him is life and the life is the light of men 00:08:05.540 --> 00:08:07.459 and the light shines in darkness and the darkness 00:08:07.459 --> 00:08:10.019 tried to comprehend it and could not, John chapter 00:08:10.019 --> 00:08:14.660 one. In other words, the darkness tried to seize 00:08:14.660 --> 00:08:16.259 the light but it couldn't. Have you ever looked 00:08:16.259 --> 00:08:19.240 up a definition of darkness? Darkness is simply 00:08:19.240 --> 00:08:24.220 do. To a want of light. Darkness is dark. Because 00:08:24.220 --> 00:08:26.959 light isn't there. So if darkness ever went to 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:31.139 the light. It would cease to be dark. So when 00:08:31.139 --> 00:08:34.000 you keep light on. Darkness cannot penetrate. 00:08:35.419 --> 00:08:39.220 Amen. In fact darkness flees. The brighter the 00:08:39.220 --> 00:08:42.059 light. And the more accustomed to the light. 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:45.279 More accustomed to living in the presence of 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:50.309 God. The more light that shines. God has not 00:08:50.309 --> 00:08:53.870 limited you with light and life. I came to give 00:08:53.870 --> 00:08:56.669 you life and life more abundantly. You'll find 00:08:56.669 --> 00:08:58.690 in the realm of the Spirit there are no limitations 00:08:58.690 --> 00:09:00.929 and there are no boundaries. Now that's a wonderful 00:09:00.929 --> 00:09:03.509 thing for us that live in a world of so many 00:09:03.509 --> 00:09:06.590 limitations and boundaries. So for the next few 00:09:06.590 --> 00:09:09.090 moments I want to share some things concerning 00:09:09.090 --> 00:09:12.190 our relationship with God. Proverbs chapter 4 00:09:12.190 --> 00:09:16.419 verse 20. And the Passion Translation is really, 00:09:16.500 --> 00:09:18.700 really good. And it says this, listen carefully, 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:21.559 my dear child, to everything that I teach you. 00:09:21.659 --> 00:09:24.720 I like the word listen. In the King James, pay 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:30.639 attention to my word. Well, I don't dislike that. 00:09:31.019 --> 00:09:34.220 But again, that then gives a lot of people the 00:09:34.220 --> 00:09:39.120 idea I can just read the Bible. You say, what's 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:41.220 wrong with reading the Bible? Nothing at all. 00:09:41.720 --> 00:09:46.080 Praise the Lord. Read the Bible. But pay attention 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:50.139 to what you're reading and listen for the revelation. 00:09:52.659 --> 00:09:55.539 Amen. I mean, reading the Bible and having no 00:09:55.539 --> 00:09:59.059 comprehension is not going to help you. You feel 00:09:59.059 --> 00:10:01.519 good like you got a star on your chest. You know, 00:10:01.559 --> 00:10:04.200 praise the Lord for stars. Amen. Some feel really 00:10:04.200 --> 00:10:08.190 good today that they're here. In other words, 00:10:08.190 --> 00:10:10.389 you feel like you actually accomplished something 00:10:10.389 --> 00:10:13.710 because you made it to church. And I'll give 00:10:13.710 --> 00:10:16.970 you a golf clap, amen for that. But the reason 00:10:16.970 --> 00:10:20.330 why you're here is to be able to hear some things 00:10:20.330 --> 00:10:24.210 and feel some things and be ministered to along 00:10:24.210 --> 00:10:26.669 the lines of some things that will cause you 00:10:26.669 --> 00:10:29.350 to actually open up your heart to have your own 00:10:29.350 --> 00:10:32.210 church in the next six days before you come back. 00:10:34.519 --> 00:10:37.620 Amen. Because once God starts to be included 00:10:37.620 --> 00:10:40.820 into your life, of which he really wants to. 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:43.179 Do you remember when I was young, I learned those 00:10:43.179 --> 00:10:45.820 verses, Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. Trust in the Lord 00:10:45.820 --> 00:10:47.840 with all your heart. Lean not unto your own understanding. 00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:50.399 In all your ways acknowledge him. Now, wait a 00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:53.059 minute. Stop right there. In all my ways I am 00:10:53.059 --> 00:10:55.620 to acknowledge him. Well, I can't acknowledge 00:10:55.620 --> 00:11:00.559 what's not personally present. If Erin and I 00:11:00.559 --> 00:11:03.659 happen to travel, she happens to stay home, while 00:11:03.659 --> 00:11:06.639 I'm away from her, I can't acknowledge her. Oh, 00:11:06.679 --> 00:11:09.120 I can talk about her, but the difference is when 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:11.419 I'm with her and I acknowledge her, I actually 00:11:11.419 --> 00:11:16.080 get a response. Are you with me? In other words, 00:11:16.120 --> 00:11:18.679 there's interaction when I'm together. Otherwise, 00:11:18.779 --> 00:11:25.490 I'm just talking about my wife. So if I'm to 00:11:25.490 --> 00:11:28.610 acknowledge him in all my ways, that means he 00:11:28.610 --> 00:11:31.950 has to be personally present in everything that 00:11:31.950 --> 00:11:35.590 I do. And it would also mean to acknowledge him 00:11:35.590 --> 00:11:38.490 in all my ways. Let's say I'm going to a ball 00:11:38.490 --> 00:11:40.970 game. Well, possibly while you're at the ball 00:11:40.970 --> 00:11:42.450 game, the last thing you're thinking about is 00:11:42.450 --> 00:11:45.909 Jesus. But maybe if you were to acknowledge him 00:11:45.909 --> 00:11:48.190 in all your ways, you actually would ask Jesus 00:11:48.190 --> 00:11:52.539 to come to the ball game with you. I said something 00:11:52.539 --> 00:11:54.379 like this, and a woman from the back shouted. 00:11:54.399 --> 00:12:00.100 She said, well, I'm too busy for that. So I thought, 00:12:00.120 --> 00:12:01.700 well, as long as you interrupt it, then we're 00:12:01.700 --> 00:12:08.759 going to have a conversation. So I said, well, 00:12:08.799 --> 00:12:12.559 do tell. Why are you so busy? She said, well, 00:12:12.779 --> 00:12:18.019 I knit. I said, well, good for you. And she said, 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:20.549 no, I'm really good at it. And I said, I'm sure 00:12:20.549 --> 00:12:23.129 you are. Tell me. She said, well, friends of 00:12:23.129 --> 00:12:26.309 mine said, what you do in your knitting is so 00:12:26.309 --> 00:12:28.990 amazing, people would love to have what you do. 00:12:29.389 --> 00:12:31.649 Why don't you market it, put it up on the internet? 00:12:31.730 --> 00:12:34.070 She said, I did, and the orders have come in, 00:12:34.110 --> 00:12:37.750 and I'm inundated with orders. She said, I don't 00:12:37.750 --> 00:12:39.769 have time for anything else. I've got my knitting 00:12:39.769 --> 00:12:42.450 needles with me everywhere I go. If I've got 00:12:42.450 --> 00:12:45.649 five minutes, I'm doing a couple lines. I said, 00:12:45.649 --> 00:12:48.029 have you ever thought about having somebody help 00:12:48.029 --> 00:12:50.110 you with it? She said, I asked my mom to help 00:12:50.110 --> 00:12:54.250 me, but I do so many corrections of what she's 00:12:54.250 --> 00:12:56.470 done wrong that it takes me longer to correct 00:12:56.470 --> 00:12:58.370 what she's done wrong than it does for me to 00:12:58.370 --> 00:13:04.029 just do it myself. I said, have you ever asked 00:13:04.029 --> 00:13:07.370 Jesus to get his knitting needles? She said, 00:13:07.389 --> 00:13:10.830 what? I said, have you ever asked Jesus to get 00:13:10.830 --> 00:13:13.809 his knitting needles? She said, what do you mean? 00:13:14.509 --> 00:13:16.409 He wants us to acknowledge him in everything 00:13:16.409 --> 00:13:19.370 that he does, that we do, which means he wants 00:13:19.370 --> 00:13:21.789 to be personally present in your entire life. 00:13:23.809 --> 00:13:26.570 And just noticing the little attitude that was 00:13:26.570 --> 00:13:29.309 about her, I said, it might be really good for 00:13:29.309 --> 00:13:31.889 you to let him knit with you because then you'd 00:13:31.889 --> 00:13:34.570 probably be happier while you're doing it. You'd 00:13:34.570 --> 00:13:37.230 probably get more done and be more efficient. 00:13:37.289 --> 00:13:39.490 And then you'd actually be pleasant when you 00:13:39.490 --> 00:13:46.440 get home. I just threw that in. And she just 00:13:46.440 --> 00:13:50.980 immediately responded, I can do that. I said, 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:53.220 I wasn't giving you anything that you couldn't 00:13:53.220 --> 00:14:02.139 do. He just wants to be with you. Wow, that's 00:14:02.139 --> 00:14:04.840 pretty interesting, right? Right? So it says, 00:14:04.919 --> 00:14:07.539 listen carefully. I like that because now relationship. 00:14:07.799 --> 00:14:10.059 My dear child, to everything that I teach you, 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:12.919 pay attention to all that I have to say. Fill 00:14:12.919 --> 00:14:15.299 your thoughts with my words until they penetrate 00:14:15.299 --> 00:14:18.299 deep into your spirit. Then as you unwrap my 00:14:18.299 --> 00:14:21.159 words, they will impart true life and radiant 00:14:21.159 --> 00:14:24.759 health into the very core of your being. So above 00:14:24.759 --> 00:14:30.980 all, guard the affections of your heart. For 00:14:30.980 --> 00:14:34.100 they affect all that you are. Pay attention to 00:14:34.100 --> 00:14:36.340 the welfare of your innermost being, for from 00:14:36.340 --> 00:14:40.779 there flows the wellspring of life. This isn't 00:14:40.779 --> 00:14:50.100 a command. But it is how you find God. A woman 00:14:50.100 --> 00:14:53.399 called me, a friend of my mother's. And she said, 00:14:53.480 --> 00:14:55.620 the tumor's getting bigger. It's starting to 00:14:55.620 --> 00:14:59.580 bleed. But I'm praying more, reading more, and 00:14:59.580 --> 00:15:03.019 confessing more than I ever have. And then she 00:15:03.019 --> 00:15:07.039 said, Jim, what am I supposed to do? Those are 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:12.509 the kind of phone calls I get. So I didn't really 00:15:12.509 --> 00:15:17.389 think, which actually works well for me. And 00:15:17.389 --> 00:15:22.710 I said, for the next two weeks, don't read your 00:15:22.710 --> 00:15:25.110 Bible, don't pray, and don't confess a thing. 00:15:27.269 --> 00:15:29.730 And it got deathly quiet on the other end of 00:15:29.730 --> 00:15:35.629 the phone. When she came back, she said, could 00:15:35.629 --> 00:15:38.960 you repeat that, please? And I laughed a little 00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:41.039 bit. And I said, it really wasn't difficult. 00:15:41.139 --> 00:15:42.799 I just said, for the next two weeks, don't read 00:15:42.799 --> 00:15:44.340 your Bible, don't pray, and don't confess anything. 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:47.980 And then she snapped at me with an attitude and 00:15:47.980 --> 00:15:50.720 said, then what am I supposed to do? Which is 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:52.919 very interesting that her whole relationship 00:15:52.919 --> 00:15:55.960 with Jesus was based on what she could do for 00:15:55.960 --> 00:16:01.179 him instead of what he did for her. No wonder 00:16:01.179 --> 00:16:06.250 why she nullified the grace of God. Oops. Oops. 00:16:06.490 --> 00:16:09.409 In other words, the very ability that does things 00:16:09.409 --> 00:16:11.970 for you that you can't do for yourself, she cut 00:16:11.970 --> 00:16:15.570 its legs off. Because it was all about what she 00:16:15.570 --> 00:16:22.470 could do. When she said that, excuse me, what 00:16:22.470 --> 00:16:26.809 am I supposed to do? I said to her, find God. 00:16:28.429 --> 00:16:34.789 And she responded with, what do you mean? I didn't 00:16:34.789 --> 00:16:37.470 think that was a bad statement, so I said, find 00:16:37.470 --> 00:16:41.350 God. She said, yeah, but I really don't understand 00:16:41.350 --> 00:16:44.429 what you're saying. I said, if God was in your 00:16:44.429 --> 00:16:51.029 equation, you wouldn't have a tumor. I said, 00:16:51.049 --> 00:16:55.190 you gotta find him. Get quiet enough, long enough, 00:16:55.230 --> 00:16:58.970 until God becomes real. Remember, sinners at 00:16:58.970 --> 00:17:01.929 the beginning, four of them. At the very beginning, 00:17:02.049 --> 00:17:04.170 they heard the voice of God in complete sentences 00:17:04.170 --> 00:17:07.289 and recognized his presence. If we could get 00:17:07.289 --> 00:17:09.250 that inserted into the body of Christ overnight, 00:17:09.410 --> 00:17:12.670 we would change the world. Because the boldness 00:17:12.670 --> 00:17:14.849 that comes to you when you've heard God, the 00:17:14.849 --> 00:17:17.049 knowledge of God is telling me to do something 00:17:17.049 --> 00:17:19.309 and he's got my back and I'm going to step out 00:17:19.309 --> 00:17:21.789 because I recognize the presence. I'm not alone. 00:17:21.930 --> 00:17:24.390 There is a glory on me. When Brother Hagin laid 00:17:24.390 --> 00:17:26.869 hands on me in front of 10 ,000 people and I 00:17:26.869 --> 00:17:32.009 felt this power go into my hands. And then he 00:17:32.009 --> 00:17:33.589 looked at me and he said, now go down to the 00:17:33.589 --> 00:17:35.589 people and minister to the people in the name 00:17:35.589 --> 00:17:37.009 of Jesus. And he leaned forward and he said, 00:17:37.049 --> 00:17:39.269 make sure you use the name Jesus. And I thought, 00:17:39.349 --> 00:17:42.950 really? I read your book, The Name of Jesus. 00:17:43.170 --> 00:17:45.170 I graduated from, what do you think I'm going 00:17:45.170 --> 00:17:47.509 to do? In the name of Tom, Dick, and Harry, come 00:17:47.509 --> 00:17:51.170 out? So, you know, I was a little New Yorker. 00:17:51.170 --> 00:17:52.849 I was a little bit ticked, but I couldn't say 00:17:52.849 --> 00:17:54.470 anything. So I said, all right, I'll use the 00:17:54.470 --> 00:17:57.789 name Jesus. Praise the Lord. I'll use it twice 00:17:57.789 --> 00:18:00.880 if that'll make you happy. Amen. But now I didn't 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:02.359 know what to do with my hands because I felt 00:18:02.359 --> 00:18:03.940 power. I thought if I put them in my pocket, 00:18:03.980 --> 00:18:06.220 I fend the Holy Ghost. I just held them out like 00:18:06.220 --> 00:18:07.859 a platter and just walked down to the people. 00:18:08.099 --> 00:18:11.920 I didn't know what to do. I mean, I'm Baptocostal. 00:18:11.920 --> 00:18:14.200 I'm just making the transition. Amen. From Baptists 00:18:14.200 --> 00:18:17.019 to Pentecostals. So anyhow, the closer I got 00:18:17.019 --> 00:18:20.200 to the people, the more it began to beat like 00:18:20.200 --> 00:18:23.480 a heartbeat in my hands. It came out of my hands 00:18:23.480 --> 00:18:26.160 and went up my elbows. It's like I put my hands 00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:30.309 into oven mitts. And that first person I came 00:18:30.309 --> 00:18:33.829 into, you would assume that with that feeling, 00:18:34.009 --> 00:18:38.609 I realized I have something in me. When I'm going 00:18:38.609 --> 00:18:40.990 to lay hands on them, I'm probably not going 00:18:40.990 --> 00:18:44.910 to do it in a very small, intimidated way. I 00:18:44.910 --> 00:18:47.230 just said, in the neck. And I went to lay hands 00:18:47.230 --> 00:18:49.390 on them and the fire shot out of my hands, hit 00:18:49.390 --> 00:18:51.230 them in the top of the head. I never even got 00:18:51.230 --> 00:18:54.309 to touch them. And they crumbled to their feet. 00:18:55.650 --> 00:19:00.250 To the ground. Now, back in that day, you know, 00:19:00.289 --> 00:19:02.009 some people would do that charismatic thing, 00:19:02.029 --> 00:19:13.130 like I'm... I was, you know, you saw in a big 00:19:13.130 --> 00:19:15.630 line of people, there were like about six or 00:19:15.630 --> 00:19:18.730 seven ushers, and one would catch one and then 00:19:18.730 --> 00:19:21.049 rotate around to the other and then catch one. 00:19:21.130 --> 00:19:25.769 I wish we were that smart back then. We weren't. 00:19:26.140 --> 00:19:29.440 It was just me and my buddy Keith, and I caught 00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:32.380 the body, and he just took the head and put the 00:19:32.380 --> 00:19:34.420 head down. We just went like this, just like 00:19:34.420 --> 00:19:38.720 this. Now we would catch 1 ,000 to 3 ,000 people 00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:52.500 a night. Not 200. 1 ,000, 2 ,000. I wanted to 00:19:52.500 --> 00:19:54.680 get on the microphone after the service and say, 00:20:00.460 --> 00:20:09.180 Fast. All day. Brother Hagin would get inspired 00:20:09.180 --> 00:20:10.720 and sometimes go, because he knew he would get 00:20:10.720 --> 00:20:12.660 so strong, oh, oh, oh, and he'd start laying 00:20:12.660 --> 00:20:17.960 hands like this. I mean, he was just like a machine, 00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:21.200 you know. So if somebody was doing this, we didn't 00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:23.019 have time for that. I'd clip him in the knee 00:20:23.019 --> 00:20:32.970 and just take him down. You're holding up the 00:20:32.970 --> 00:20:36.269 show. You're coming down. And they'd look at 00:20:36.269 --> 00:20:38.589 me like this. It's all right. Just keep on going. 00:20:38.789 --> 00:20:41.789 Keep on trucking. Amen. Amen. I mean, sometimes 00:20:41.789 --> 00:20:44.150 it was so fast, I'd get a jacket and there was 00:20:44.150 --> 00:20:46.170 no one in it. Well, praise the Lord. Just keep 00:20:46.170 --> 00:20:53.710 on going. Amen. One time I got hair. I quickly 00:20:53.710 --> 00:20:56.410 looked and thought, which is the front and which 00:20:56.410 --> 00:21:00.339 is the back? And there was a lady laying down 00:21:00.339 --> 00:21:02.920 there. She went like this and she went and she 00:21:02.920 --> 00:21:05.920 looked up and grabbed it, put it back and then 00:21:05.920 --> 00:21:18.200 went right back down. The things you see, you 00:21:18.200 --> 00:21:27.759 wish you didn't. They scar you for life. Praise 00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:29.960 the Lord. I tell these stories and then I have 00:21:29.960 --> 00:21:35.940 to reconfigure where in the world was I? Oh, 00:21:35.940 --> 00:21:38.619 praise the Lord. Come on. I want to get to a 00:21:38.619 --> 00:21:41.480 couple things here real quickly. You know, just 00:21:41.480 --> 00:21:44.059 talking about this life that we're in. Do you 00:21:44.059 --> 00:21:46.259 remember when Paul made statements over there? 00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:48.400 He said, to be absent from the body is to be 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:51.559 present with the Lord. Remember that? Well, if 00:21:51.559 --> 00:21:54.000 you use that for life instead of death, what 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:58.059 would that do for you? the more absent I am from 00:21:58.059 --> 00:22:00.920 being so mindful of this world and the flesh, 00:22:01.119 --> 00:22:05.460 the more open I am to become mindful of the realm 00:22:05.460 --> 00:22:09.799 of the Spirit. Amen. So to the degree that I 00:22:09.799 --> 00:22:13.160 don't know God, I probably know all too well 00:22:13.160 --> 00:22:19.220 me. So in a sense, less of me gives me a lot 00:22:19.220 --> 00:22:23.329 of room for more of him. Amen? And that's not 00:22:23.329 --> 00:22:25.470 as easy in a world that's actually now taking 00:22:25.470 --> 00:22:28.710 pictures of themselves. I did that once many 00:22:28.710 --> 00:22:30.549 years ago and sent it to my oldest daughter. 00:22:30.650 --> 00:22:33.430 She immediately replied and said, Dad, don't 00:22:33.430 --> 00:22:37.279 ever do this again. I thought, what was so wrong 00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:39.259 with it? It was just a picture of me. And I guess 00:22:39.259 --> 00:22:41.920 the whole idea of me looking into a phone and 00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:44.339 taking a picture of myself really blew her mind. 00:22:44.500 --> 00:22:47.119 So I don't do that anymore, except when we're 00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:49.960 together, my arms are longer, so I'm the one 00:22:49.960 --> 00:22:52.079 that usually takes the picture. But it's not 00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:56.059 just of me. But isn't it interesting now? Have 00:22:56.059 --> 00:22:58.220 you seen the funny little clips and reels of 00:22:58.220 --> 00:23:00.539 people that are looking at their phone and just 00:23:00.539 --> 00:23:03.759 fall into things and bump into light poles and 00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:07.349 stuff? You ever seen that? Wow, we really like 00:23:07.349 --> 00:23:10.190 ourselves. So the more we like ourselves, the 00:23:10.190 --> 00:23:14.420 less we know him. I love this over here in the 00:23:14.420 --> 00:23:16.200 Message Bible. You don't have to turn, but Romans 00:23:16.200 --> 00:23:18.720 12, 1 and 2, it says, So here's what I want you 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:21.480 to do. God helping you. Take your everyday, ordinary 00:23:21.480 --> 00:23:24.220 life, your sleeping, eating, going to work, and 00:23:24.220 --> 00:23:26.920 walking around life, and place it before God 00:23:26.920 --> 00:23:29.539 as an offering. Embracing what God does for you 00:23:29.539 --> 00:23:31.900 is the best thing you can do for Him. Don't become 00:23:31.900 --> 00:23:33.960 so well adjusted to your culture that you fit 00:23:33.960 --> 00:23:36.799 into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your 00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:39.099 attention on God. You'll be changed from the 00:23:39.099 --> 00:23:41.700 inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from 00:23:41.700 --> 00:23:44.819 you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture 00:23:44.819 --> 00:23:47.339 around you, always dragging you down to its level 00:23:47.339 --> 00:23:50.220 of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, 00:23:50.279 --> 00:23:54.599 develops well -formed maturity in you. I was 00:23:54.599 --> 00:23:56.900 on my computer years ago and I said, I'm going 00:23:56.900 --> 00:23:59.200 to just look up some things on fasting. Not that 00:23:59.200 --> 00:24:04.839 I want to. Who really wants to? But anyhow. I 00:24:04.839 --> 00:24:06.119 thought, I'm going to look up some things on 00:24:06.119 --> 00:24:09.460 fasting. So I'm of the generation that actually 00:24:09.460 --> 00:24:11.880 uses all my fingers. Is there anybody else that 00:24:11.880 --> 00:24:14.259 uses all your fingers? Isn't that awesome that 00:24:14.259 --> 00:24:15.759 we can use all our fingers today? It's pretty 00:24:15.759 --> 00:24:18.700 much thumbs. But anyhow, I just typed in real 00:24:18.700 --> 00:24:22.440 quick, F -A -S -T -I -N -G, boom. And what came 00:24:22.440 --> 00:24:25.980 up on my computer is the word pistis for believe 00:24:25.980 --> 00:24:32.160 in Vine's expository dictionary. And I looked 00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:35.650 at that and I thought, huh. So I clicked out 00:24:35.650 --> 00:24:37.690 of it real quick and went F -A -S -T -I -N -G. 00:24:38.089 --> 00:24:43.650 And believe came up. So I clicked out of it again 00:24:43.650 --> 00:24:47.589 because I'm not as fast as you. And I went F 00:24:47.589 --> 00:24:55.190 -A -S -T -I -N -G. And believe came up in Vine's 00:24:55.190 --> 00:24:59.109 expository dictionary, the word pistis. So after 00:24:59.109 --> 00:25:01.670 the third time, I said, God, you're messing with 00:25:01.670 --> 00:25:05.460 my computer. And you obviously want me to read 00:25:05.460 --> 00:25:07.259 this. And the angel there is probably going, 00:25:07.380 --> 00:25:11.500 no, no. If it weren't for the blonde hair, I 00:25:11.500 --> 00:25:16.180 wouldn't excuse it. But I get it. I get it. So 00:25:16.180 --> 00:25:19.140 anyhow, I read it. And it was the passage in 00:25:19.140 --> 00:25:23.779 Genesis 15 about Abram. Before he turned Abraham 00:25:23.779 --> 00:25:27.279 in the covenant. And Abram was questioning the 00:25:27.279 --> 00:25:30.099 things that God had said to him. Is Eliezer of 00:25:30.099 --> 00:25:32.599 Damascus going to be the one that's my child? 00:25:33.299 --> 00:25:35.640 Or are you really going to give me a child at 00:25:35.640 --> 00:25:38.900 this age? And then later he questioned, are you 00:25:38.900 --> 00:25:42.680 really going to give me the land? Well, God can't 00:25:42.680 --> 00:25:45.099 work with somebody who's questioning him. That's 00:25:45.099 --> 00:25:49.900 not faith. So God's response was to him, Abraham, 00:25:50.019 --> 00:25:52.680 you shall have your own child. And as a sign, 00:25:52.779 --> 00:25:55.099 go outside and see if you can number the stars, 00:25:55.180 --> 00:25:58.440 so shall your descendants be. Well, God just 00:25:58.440 --> 00:26:02.920 gave Abram something to do that was exactly what 00:26:02.920 --> 00:26:06.460 Abram already understood. He was a moon worshiper. 00:26:06.460 --> 00:26:08.099 And if you're going to worship the moon at night, 00:26:08.119 --> 00:26:10.880 you're going to see the stars. So it wasn't like 00:26:10.880 --> 00:26:13.400 God gave him something foreign to do. figure 00:26:13.400 --> 00:26:16.140 out Einstein's law of relativity. Who's Einstein? 00:26:16.420 --> 00:26:19.759 You see what I mean? God's not trying to show 00:26:19.759 --> 00:26:22.599 off with his knowledge at the expense of you 00:26:22.599 --> 00:26:26.559 being left out. He will work with you on a level 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:29.099 of what you understand to bring you into the 00:26:29.099 --> 00:26:31.279 concept and understanding of connecting with 00:26:31.279 --> 00:26:33.480 him. That's why he talked to fishermen about 00:26:33.480 --> 00:26:36.160 fish and he talked to farmers about seed and 00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:39.240 so on and so forth and why he gives us a world 00:26:39.240 --> 00:26:41.460 that's so beautiful and filled with the residue 00:26:41.460 --> 00:26:44.299 of himself so that you can even go out into the 00:26:44.299 --> 00:26:46.440 woods and you can feel that there's something 00:26:46.440 --> 00:26:49.160 there that you don't even see that's there and 00:26:49.160 --> 00:26:55.000 it's his presence. Because he wants to draw you 00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:58.380 in to a relationship. Can you say amen with that? 00:26:59.160 --> 00:27:03.039 Well, Abram went outside and he believed. And 00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:05.839 God put it on his credit card as righteousness. 00:27:06.099 --> 00:27:09.920 Okay? Now, here's the interesting thing. In the 00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:11.960 Vines Expository Dictionary, this is what it 00:27:11.960 --> 00:27:16.559 said. Abram did not believe the impersonal words 00:27:16.559 --> 00:27:20.519 of God. Stop right there. I thought, wow, that 00:27:20.519 --> 00:27:24.539 is good. Because what makes something impersonal? 00:27:24.940 --> 00:27:30.380 Well, you don't know them. Right? Somebody says 00:27:30.380 --> 00:27:32.220 something to you that's paramount and you say, 00:27:32.319 --> 00:27:37.599 well, who are they? Right? Somebody says something 00:27:37.599 --> 00:27:38.940 to you where you're going to have to put yourself 00:27:38.940 --> 00:27:42.099 in a position that you don't necessarily want 00:27:42.099 --> 00:27:44.019 to put yourself in. And if you don't know them, 00:27:44.039 --> 00:27:46.220 you're going to question it. Well, who are they? 00:27:47.220 --> 00:27:49.599 What's their background? Why are they talking 00:27:49.599 --> 00:27:52.880 to me? Right? But when you know somebody and 00:27:52.880 --> 00:27:54.839 you know somebody has your back and they say 00:27:54.839 --> 00:27:56.579 something, that's entirely different. So this 00:27:56.579 --> 00:27:59.680 is what I said. Abram did not believe in the 00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:05.000 impersonal words of God. Abram believed God himself. 00:28:08.140 --> 00:28:11.119 And I said, Lord, thank you for messing with 00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:13.839 my computer. I needed that. You see, because 00:28:13.839 --> 00:28:17.119 we can get to the point where we're so wordy. 00:28:17.119 --> 00:28:20.200 We've got so many scriptures, but God wants to 00:28:20.200 --> 00:28:23.109 go. past just having scriptures over into those 00:28:23.109 --> 00:28:27.589 scriptures bring you to him. Remember, lights 00:28:27.589 --> 00:28:32.769 on, switch on, lights on. Your switch is on 24 00:28:32.769 --> 00:28:35.930 hours a day. How can anything penetrate the life 00:28:35.930 --> 00:28:40.250 and light of God? This is how you stay healed. 00:28:40.309 --> 00:28:43.940 This is how you keep from being sick. Come on, 00:28:43.940 --> 00:28:46.140 everybody. Think for just a moment here as I 00:28:46.140 --> 00:28:49.140 take you to something that's absolutely phenomenal. 00:28:49.599 --> 00:28:52.880 And that is what? That's over here in John chapter 00:28:52.880 --> 00:28:57.000 5, 16 through 21. Now, Jesus is at the pool of 00:28:57.000 --> 00:29:01.700 Bethesda. And he goes to one person. And I think 00:29:01.700 --> 00:29:03.380 I have time just to mess with you a little bit 00:29:03.380 --> 00:29:05.740 while you're turning. He goes to one person. 00:29:05.839 --> 00:29:07.799 Isn't it interesting he went to one person and 00:29:07.799 --> 00:29:12.640 there's five porches full of sick people? If 00:29:12.640 --> 00:29:15.119 anybody ever says to you, well, you really believe 00:29:15.119 --> 00:29:18.279 you can heal? You believe that God heals? Well, 00:29:18.299 --> 00:29:20.059 then go to a hospital and let's just see you 00:29:20.059 --> 00:29:24.380 clean it out. Here's your response to that. Because 00:29:24.380 --> 00:29:27.079 we're not opposed to going to a hospital. I already 00:29:27.079 --> 00:29:31.400 told you years ago, we were sitting next to, 00:29:31.559 --> 00:29:34.240 and I didn't know, she was just a friend, the 00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:37.720 mother of my daughter's friend in gymnastics. 00:29:37.980 --> 00:29:40.319 And we would sit next to her a couple times a 00:29:40.319 --> 00:29:43.180 week. And then one day Erin told me, she said, 00:29:43.180 --> 00:29:46.920 you know, what's, do you remember her name? Anyhow, 00:29:46.940 --> 00:29:50.460 do you know this individual? She said, she is 00:29:50.460 --> 00:29:54.460 the director, the administrator of South Crest 00:29:54.460 --> 00:30:01.519 Hospital, Melissa. And I said, she's what? Well, 00:30:01.579 --> 00:30:03.519 she's the administrator of South Crest Hospital. 00:30:04.440 --> 00:30:07.460 Well, my mind went somewhere when she said that. 00:30:07.579 --> 00:30:12.329 And I thought, oh Lord. This is a setup. The 00:30:12.329 --> 00:30:14.769 next time we sat next to her, I made sure to 00:30:14.769 --> 00:30:16.349 sit next to her. Because you know, most of the 00:30:16.349 --> 00:30:18.009 time I'm sitting on this side, Aaron's here, 00:30:18.130 --> 00:30:21.069 Melissa's there, okay? I sat next to her. I said, 00:30:21.109 --> 00:30:24.089 so Melissa, tell me about being the administrator 00:30:24.089 --> 00:30:26.130 of South Crest Hospital. She began to tell me 00:30:26.130 --> 00:30:28.509 about the amount of time that she's been there 00:30:28.509 --> 00:30:30.970 and all of her duties and everything as the administrator 00:30:30.970 --> 00:30:33.390 of the whole hospital. I said, let me just ask 00:30:33.390 --> 00:30:37.579 you a question. What would you think? If I trained 00:30:37.579 --> 00:30:42.579 people to know how to release the power of God 00:30:42.579 --> 00:30:47.180 in a simple prayer and we called them chaplains 00:30:47.180 --> 00:30:50.579 and brought them into your hospital with whatever 00:30:50.579 --> 00:30:54.960 protocol you need us to follow. She thought for 00:30:54.960 --> 00:30:57.980 a second. She said, you know what? I like it. 00:30:58.640 --> 00:31:01.160 I said, I'm going to get busy and I'll get back 00:31:01.160 --> 00:31:04.240 with you. And that's where I met my cowboy friend 00:31:04.240 --> 00:31:07.180 years ago when we had 121 people that signed 00:31:07.180 --> 00:31:11.180 up. Now, we only got about 12 or 13 of them in 00:31:11.180 --> 00:31:13.140 the hospital because you lose everybody, you 00:31:13.140 --> 00:31:17.460 know. But in those days, we saw some pretty phenomenal 00:31:17.460 --> 00:31:21.140 things happen. My first couple that I took into 00:31:21.140 --> 00:31:23.700 the hospital to train them, I was actually nervous. 00:31:23.779 --> 00:31:27.759 And I do this all the time. I walked into the 00:31:27.759 --> 00:31:31.160 room, saw that individual. You know, I had it. 00:31:31.440 --> 00:31:34.319 already pre -planned. Again, when I don't think 00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:36.200 it works better than when I think it out, you 00:31:36.200 --> 00:31:38.339 know. And I already had it pre -planned what 00:31:38.339 --> 00:31:40.319 I'm going to say and I messed it all up and I 00:31:40.319 --> 00:31:43.039 just felt so bad because this couple's with me 00:31:43.039 --> 00:31:48.599 wanting to see how I do it. And my prayer was 00:31:48.599 --> 00:31:55.599 at best, you know, a C minus. And because it's 00:31:55.599 --> 00:31:57.359 really not about words, it's about the intent. 00:31:58.520 --> 00:32:02.119 but I was trying to make words sound good. And 00:32:02.119 --> 00:32:04.359 I just did a horrible job. I went out into, after 00:32:04.359 --> 00:32:06.579 I said amen, and I just left real quickly, went 00:32:06.579 --> 00:32:08.099 out in the hall, started laughing. They said, 00:32:08.140 --> 00:32:09.500 what are you laughing about? I said, let me just 00:32:09.500 --> 00:32:12.079 tell you right now. I said, do not follow what 00:32:12.079 --> 00:32:16.299 just happened in there. I said, and if that person 00:32:16.299 --> 00:32:19.059 gets healed, that lets you know God can supersede 00:32:19.059 --> 00:32:22.720 and go well beyond our inabilities. Let me tell 00:32:22.720 --> 00:32:25.819 you right now. So I came back the next day with 00:32:25.819 --> 00:32:28.420 another couple. And I wanted to go into the room 00:32:28.420 --> 00:32:30.519 and say hi to that individual, and they were 00:32:30.519 --> 00:32:34.640 gone. So I went out and got the nurse, and I 00:32:34.640 --> 00:32:36.000 said, where's so -and -so? We were just here 00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:38.059 yesterday. We went in and prayed. I said, what 00:32:38.059 --> 00:32:39.940 happened? Oh, we sent him home this morning. 00:32:40.579 --> 00:32:42.920 I said, well, what do you mean? Well, they were 00:32:42.920 --> 00:32:44.980 diabetic and had a wound, and it wouldn't close 00:32:44.980 --> 00:32:48.220 back up. And we were treating that wound for 00:32:48.220 --> 00:32:51.240 quite a few days and it wouldn't close up. But 00:32:51.240 --> 00:32:53.680 overnight it closed right up. We have no idea 00:32:53.680 --> 00:32:57.339 how. And I thought, good Lord in heaven, you 00:32:57.339 --> 00:33:04.980 healed that person with that prayer. Wow. But 00:33:04.980 --> 00:33:06.920 here's my point that I'll make very quickly. 00:33:07.240 --> 00:33:10.259 Why did Jesus just go to one? Because he was 00:33:10.259 --> 00:33:14.039 led. to go to one. Don't you know you can take 00:33:14.039 --> 00:33:17.079 one healing, magnify it in the midst of a crowd, 00:33:17.140 --> 00:33:19.400 and get other people to say, well, if he'll heal 00:33:19.400 --> 00:33:22.240 that person, he'll heal me. And like throwing 00:33:22.240 --> 00:33:26.400 a pebble into a still pond, ripples will start 00:33:26.400 --> 00:33:28.359 to work where healings will start working all 00:33:28.359 --> 00:33:30.779 the way around the room. Jesus could have stood 00:33:30.779 --> 00:33:33.380 up with that one individual that got up and said, 00:33:33.420 --> 00:33:36.099 everybody. I am the way, the truth, and the life. 00:33:36.220 --> 00:33:38.339 And all of a sudden, five porches are coming 00:33:38.339 --> 00:33:41.140 to him to be healed. Do you know why he didn't? 00:33:41.799 --> 00:33:46.980 Because they chose their method of healing. Even 00:33:46.980 --> 00:33:49.940 the man said, I don't have a man to get me in 00:33:49.940 --> 00:33:52.500 the water. Others have servants. They've got 00:33:52.500 --> 00:33:54.759 friends. They've got relatives that help them 00:33:54.759 --> 00:33:56.980 to get in before me when the waters are troubled. 00:33:58.779 --> 00:34:01.900 What does that mean? They actually could have 00:34:01.900 --> 00:34:04.400 had all those people that helped him to get into 00:34:04.400 --> 00:34:06.720 the water. They could have taken him to Jesus' 00:34:06.839 --> 00:34:09.500 crusade, which was a mile out of town, where 00:34:09.500 --> 00:34:12.099 every person that touched him was made perfectly 00:34:12.099 --> 00:34:21.000 whole. But instead, they chose the waters. If 00:34:21.000 --> 00:34:22.980 someone's not asking you to come into the hospital 00:34:22.980 --> 00:34:25.159 to get healed, you can't just barge in and get 00:34:25.159 --> 00:34:28.639 them healed against their will. Jesus couldn't 00:34:28.639 --> 00:34:33.570 do that in his own hometown. It didn't mean he 00:34:33.570 --> 00:34:35.449 didn't try to get them healed. Where would you 00:34:35.449 --> 00:34:38.809 want to actually hit a home run? In your own 00:34:38.809 --> 00:34:43.730 hometown. Amen? Aunt Bessie, you'd like to hear 00:34:43.730 --> 00:34:46.130 her say, son, you've really made something of 00:34:46.130 --> 00:34:47.670 yourself. I'll tell you what, we're so proud 00:34:47.670 --> 00:34:50.110 of you. You'd like to hear that in your own hometown. 00:34:50.489 --> 00:34:52.929 Not because you're puffed up, but just because 00:34:52.929 --> 00:34:59.489 you're so endeared to these people. Amen? I mean, 00:34:59.510 --> 00:35:04.380 in my hometown, I'm the black sheep. I mean, 00:35:04.400 --> 00:35:06.360 you know E .F. Hutton, everybody stops to listen. 00:35:07.099 --> 00:35:09.940 I'm better than E .F. Hutton. They can be washing 00:35:09.940 --> 00:35:12.840 dishes, hear the clanging of dishes, and somebody 00:35:12.840 --> 00:35:15.400 hear that someone said, hey, Jim, what do you 00:35:15.400 --> 00:35:17.840 think about something? Dishes stop, sinks stop, 00:35:17.960 --> 00:35:19.800 people peer around the corner and say, what's 00:35:19.800 --> 00:35:23.599 this idiot gonna say? That left our denomination 00:35:23.599 --> 00:35:25.559 and went into those tongues and that healing 00:35:25.559 --> 00:35:34.980 stuff and that prophecy stuff. well, praise the 00:35:34.980 --> 00:35:41.500 Lord. So Jesus is now battling with a mindset 00:35:41.500 --> 00:35:44.280 that didn't even say, this was amazing to see 00:35:44.280 --> 00:35:46.559 this guy healed. They just wanted to rail him 00:35:46.559 --> 00:35:49.159 as a result of doing this on the Sabbath. And 00:35:49.159 --> 00:35:51.280 Jesus said, for this reason, the Jews persecuted 00:35:51.280 --> 00:35:53.820 Jesus, sought to kill him because he had done 00:35:53.820 --> 00:35:56.000 these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered 00:35:56.000 --> 00:35:57.840 them and said, my father has been working until 00:35:57.840 --> 00:35:59.800 now and I have been working. One translation 00:35:59.800 --> 00:36:01.739 is that my father is always working and I too 00:36:01.739 --> 00:36:04.280 am always working. Therefore, the Jews sought 00:36:04.280 --> 00:36:05.800 all the more to kill him because he not only 00:36:05.800 --> 00:36:08.139 broke the Sabbath, but he also said that God 00:36:08.139 --> 00:36:10.500 was his father, making himself equal with God. 00:36:12.500 --> 00:36:16.860 As a man, Jesus was equal with God. As a man, 00:36:16.880 --> 00:36:20.400 you are equal with God. Equal with is different 00:36:20.400 --> 00:36:24.860 than equal to. Equal with means able to represent. 00:36:25.420 --> 00:36:28.820 Equal to means able to replace. You can't replace 00:36:28.820 --> 00:36:34.199 God. You're the created. The pot can't replace 00:36:34.199 --> 00:36:38.980 the potter. But he made us in his image and likeness 00:36:38.980 --> 00:36:41.920 so the things he's required us to do are just 00:36:41.920 --> 00:36:45.760 on the same level as what he can do so that we 00:36:45.760 --> 00:36:49.519 can represent him thoroughly. When you heal somebody, 00:36:49.760 --> 00:36:53.269 it's the same as if Jesus healed somebody. When 00:36:53.269 --> 00:36:55.690 Jesus healed somebody, it's the same as if the 00:36:55.690 --> 00:36:58.570 father healed somebody. That's why Jesus told 00:36:58.570 --> 00:37:00.690 Philip, are you kidding me? How long have I been 00:37:00.690 --> 00:37:03.349 with you? Don't you know I am representing my 00:37:03.349 --> 00:37:06.969 dad? Like I don't do this to puff myself up. 00:37:07.070 --> 00:37:10.349 That's why Jesus always made the comment. When 00:37:10.349 --> 00:37:12.329 people said, it's amazing what you do. He said, 00:37:12.369 --> 00:37:15.409 no, that's my father. But at the same time, he 00:37:15.409 --> 00:37:18.150 said, that's my father. He never included the 00:37:18.150 --> 00:37:24.230 father in on the healing. You see, you didn't 00:37:24.230 --> 00:37:27.849 get that. There's a cycle. Jesus would pull himself 00:37:27.849 --> 00:37:31.190 away to make sure he was connected at all times 00:37:31.190 --> 00:37:34.650 to the Father to get specific information. Because 00:37:34.650 --> 00:37:37.690 even as he walked and talked with people, he 00:37:37.690 --> 00:37:41.750 was connected. The people didn't distract him 00:37:41.750 --> 00:37:44.469 from his connection. Even his own family didn't. 00:37:44.730 --> 00:37:46.929 distract him from his connection. His brothers 00:37:46.929 --> 00:37:49.289 said, go up to the feast. And Jesus didn't follow 00:37:49.289 --> 00:37:51.929 the brothers' information. But he went up to 00:37:51.929 --> 00:37:54.769 the feast after the brothers had said that because 00:37:54.769 --> 00:37:57.369 the father had told him to go up to the feast. 00:37:57.769 --> 00:37:59.949 Jesus said, everything that I say is because 00:37:59.949 --> 00:38:02.369 I hear my father saying it. Everything that I 00:38:02.369 --> 00:38:05.070 do is because I see my father doing it. So was 00:38:05.070 --> 00:38:10.090 he connected to his father? Absolutely. That's 00:38:10.090 --> 00:38:13.010 key in life. If you keep the light switch on 00:38:13.010 --> 00:38:16.550 and stay connected, you will walk in a constant 00:38:16.550 --> 00:38:20.110 flow of signs, wonders, and miracles. It's impossible 00:38:20.110 --> 00:38:22.750 not to. When you're following the unction of 00:38:22.750 --> 00:38:25.610 the Holy Ghost, he only leads you into the miraculous. 00:38:27.710 --> 00:38:31.329 You're a light to dispel darkness. And if darkness 00:38:31.329 --> 00:38:34.809 is comfortable around you, we won't even go there, 00:38:34.869 --> 00:38:42.659 okay? Because that's a sad thought. Amen. So 00:38:42.659 --> 00:38:45.139 look at what else Jesus said. Then Jesus answered 00:38:45.139 --> 00:38:46.940 and said, Most surely I say to you, the Son can 00:38:46.940 --> 00:38:48.900 do nothing of himself but what he sees the Father 00:38:48.900 --> 00:38:51.480 do. For whatever he does, the Son also does in 00:38:51.480 --> 00:38:53.860 like manner. Now get this. For the Father loves 00:38:53.860 --> 00:38:56.559 the Son and shows him all things that he himself 00:38:56.559 --> 00:38:58.940 does, and he will show him greater works than 00:38:58.940 --> 00:39:01.300 these that you may marvel. For as the Father 00:39:01.300 --> 00:39:03.460 raises the dead and gives life to them, even 00:39:03.460 --> 00:39:05.840 so the Son gives life to whom he will. And that's 00:39:05.840 --> 00:39:08.289 a whole other sermon right there. But I want 00:39:08.289 --> 00:39:10.949 to show you the father loves the son. You would 00:39:10.949 --> 00:39:13.489 think this would be the word agape for the God 00:39:13.489 --> 00:39:16.750 kind of love, but it happens to be the word phileo. 00:39:18.070 --> 00:39:21.710 Philadelphia is what? The city of brotherly love. 00:39:21.829 --> 00:39:24.190 Amen. So what does that mean? Brotherly love 00:39:24.190 --> 00:39:29.199 is like best friends. I'm sharing something with 00:39:29.199 --> 00:39:31.079 you this morning, even though it's taken a few 00:39:31.079 --> 00:39:33.820 moments to get there, that when I'm done, this 00:39:33.820 --> 00:39:35.880 will become to you a sermon. You'll say, that's 00:39:35.880 --> 00:39:40.760 so absolutely simple, yet it's profound. That 00:39:40.760 --> 00:39:51.099 all God's looking for is a friend. He's not looking 00:39:51.099 --> 00:39:57.059 for a friend for 30 minutes in a service. but 00:39:57.059 --> 00:40:01.239 you never hang out with him. And he asks you 00:40:01.239 --> 00:40:04.039 all the time, can I go with you? And you don't 00:40:04.039 --> 00:40:07.239 even respond. Can I hang out with you today? 00:40:07.360 --> 00:40:11.179 And you don't even hear him. And that doesn't 00:40:11.179 --> 00:40:15.440 become a best friend. Best friends interact with 00:40:15.440 --> 00:40:18.860 each other on a regular basis. And if there was 00:40:18.860 --> 00:40:21.380 someone at the fair that you knew you would see 00:40:21.380 --> 00:40:24.420 if you saw Sally, it would be her best friend. 00:40:25.050 --> 00:40:27.369 And you wouldn't be surprised if you saw them 00:40:27.369 --> 00:40:33.389 together. Because they're always together. Isn't 00:40:33.389 --> 00:40:37.110 that a reason why, you know, as individuals that 00:40:37.110 --> 00:40:39.050 aren't married, you know, you get information, 00:40:39.090 --> 00:40:41.210 people say things like, well, make sure you date 00:40:41.210 --> 00:40:42.869 them long enough to make sure you like them. 00:40:46.570 --> 00:40:49.070 Just like Brother Jan said, you know, you can 00:40:49.070 --> 00:40:51.550 love somebody, but not necessarily like them 00:40:51.550 --> 00:40:54.340 at times. It's really good to actually like your 00:40:54.340 --> 00:40:59.099 spouse. Amen. Like I like her. Amen. I love her, 00:40:59.119 --> 00:41:01.840 but I like her. Now there's times I don't know. 00:41:01.860 --> 00:41:05.199 I'm just kidding. We can get on each other's 00:41:05.199 --> 00:41:07.159 nerves at times because we're both strong personalities. 00:41:11.900 --> 00:41:16.539 But not much. The older we get, the easier it 00:41:16.539 --> 00:41:21.019 is to not consider certain things that would 00:41:21.019 --> 00:41:23.949 get on your nerves. Just stay in a place of enjoying 00:41:23.949 --> 00:41:28.329 one another. My uncle is from El Salvador. My 00:41:28.329 --> 00:41:32.489 aunt was a missionary. She married an El Salvadorian 00:41:32.489 --> 00:41:35.849 preacher. And he couldn't speak English, but 00:41:35.849 --> 00:41:37.630 he wanted to tell me before I got married. He 00:41:37.630 --> 00:41:40.610 said, Jimmy. And he would say, hola. That was 00:41:40.610 --> 00:41:43.349 all he would say. And I would say, hola, back 00:41:43.349 --> 00:41:46.329 to him. Amen. And I'd say a few more things I 00:41:46.329 --> 00:41:49.349 learned in Spanish. But then he couldn't respond 00:41:49.349 --> 00:41:52.599 in English. So anyhow, I go through interpretation. 00:41:53.000 --> 00:41:55.400 So my aunt's interpreting to me and she said, 00:41:55.460 --> 00:41:58.980 Uncle Eliseo wants to share some wisdom with 00:41:58.980 --> 00:42:02.380 you. And he said, before you get married, open 00:42:02.380 --> 00:42:09.280 both eyes very wide. He said, after you get married, 00:42:09.380 --> 00:42:19.400 close one and squint with the other. I mean, 00:42:19.440 --> 00:42:22.519 what? What you don't see, it won't bother you. 00:42:24.380 --> 00:42:28.460 Real quickly, John chapter 15 and verse 14 and 00:42:28.460 --> 00:42:30.900 15 in the Amplified it said, Jesus said, you 00:42:30.900 --> 00:42:34.000 are my friends. If you keep doing the things 00:42:34.000 --> 00:42:36.139 which I command you to do, I do not call you 00:42:36.139 --> 00:42:38.900 servants any longer, for a servant does not know 00:42:38.900 --> 00:42:41.760 what his master is doing. But I call you friends 00:42:41.760 --> 00:42:44.780 because I have made known to you everything that 00:42:44.780 --> 00:42:47.139 I have heard from my father. I have revealed 00:42:47.139 --> 00:42:49.420 to you everything that I have learned from him. 00:42:49.519 --> 00:42:51.659 Isn't this interesting? Jesus is saying, the 00:42:51.659 --> 00:42:54.420 reason why my dad tells me the things he tells 00:42:54.420 --> 00:42:57.000 me and shows me the things he shows me, which 00:42:57.000 --> 00:43:00.360 end up in signs, wonders, and miracles, is because 00:43:00.360 --> 00:43:06.019 he and I are alike. Best friends. So Jesus isn't 00:43:06.019 --> 00:43:08.199 a best friend to the Father because he's going 00:43:08.199 --> 00:43:10.780 to get something out of him. Jesus is a best 00:43:10.780 --> 00:43:15.380 friend to the Father because he loves him. And 00:43:15.380 --> 00:43:19.920 the Father loves Jesus. And because Jesus constantly 00:43:19.920 --> 00:43:23.559 stays connected, what does that say? But that's 00:43:23.559 --> 00:43:29.440 a true best friend. Amen? Now think with me. 00:43:29.480 --> 00:43:35.860 What goes into being a best friend? Time, tangibility, 00:43:36.039 --> 00:43:39.840 and shared experiences. And that, if you're taking 00:43:39.840 --> 00:43:45.260 notes, is what a connection means. Being connected 00:43:45.260 --> 00:43:49.940 to God is time, tangibility, and shared experiences. 00:43:50.280 --> 00:43:52.320 And what do people say so often today? I don't 00:43:52.320 --> 00:43:56.010 have time. So if there's no time, there's no 00:43:56.010 --> 00:43:58.170 tangibility. If there's no tangibility, there's 00:43:58.170 --> 00:44:02.489 not a shared experience. You may say you're a 00:44:02.489 --> 00:44:05.690 friend. You may think you're a best friend. But 00:44:05.690 --> 00:44:07.750 it's possible the person you think is your best 00:44:07.750 --> 00:44:10.690 friend has other ideas about them and their thoughts 00:44:10.690 --> 00:44:16.630 about you. Because you're not faithful. You don't 00:44:16.630 --> 00:44:19.809 show up when you're supposed to. You talk behind 00:44:19.809 --> 00:44:21.789 their backs at times. They find out about it. 00:44:22.920 --> 00:44:25.139 Come on. And so on and so forth. And I'm not 00:44:25.139 --> 00:44:27.260 trying to make anybody feel bad, but we understand 00:44:27.260 --> 00:44:30.260 this whole realm. We live constantly in a world 00:44:30.260 --> 00:44:32.199 where we have people we like a whole lot more 00:44:32.199 --> 00:44:35.440 than we don't like others. We spend time and 00:44:35.440 --> 00:44:37.320 choose to spend time with certain individuals 00:44:37.320 --> 00:44:40.179 because we get along with them. And we like to 00:44:40.179 --> 00:44:42.179 share our hearts with them. And it's interesting, 00:44:42.260 --> 00:44:43.860 when you have a best friend, it's almost like 00:44:43.860 --> 00:44:46.019 there's nothing you can't share with them because 00:44:46.019 --> 00:44:48.019 you know they have your back. They're not going 00:44:48.019 --> 00:44:49.960 to condemn you. They're just going to be there 00:44:49.960 --> 00:44:53.000 to support you and help you and encourage you. 00:44:53.119 --> 00:44:55.480 And yeah, they may say some things that are strong 00:44:55.480 --> 00:44:58.000 and to the point with you, but you know they 00:44:58.000 --> 00:45:02.820 love you, so you're able to handle that. Come 00:45:02.820 --> 00:45:05.079 on. these things I'm saying right here, God wants 00:45:05.079 --> 00:45:11.920 to be that with you. There's this old professor 00:45:11.920 --> 00:45:15.139 at a school, college school. He had quite a schedule 00:45:15.139 --> 00:45:17.780 through his teaching and then through his counseling. 00:45:18.119 --> 00:45:20.199 And one day God said to him, because he loved 00:45:20.199 --> 00:45:22.579 the Lord with all his heart, one day God said 00:45:22.579 --> 00:45:26.519 to him, I'd really like to hang out with you. 00:45:27.019 --> 00:45:31.150 Do you have some time for me? And he said what 00:45:31.150 --> 00:45:33.789 he said with sincerity, which was, Lord, I need 00:45:33.789 --> 00:45:36.909 to check my schedule. Now, I know some people, 00:45:36.929 --> 00:45:38.929 when I've said that, have felt like, oh, that's 00:45:38.929 --> 00:45:41.230 horrible. No, what he was saying was, I really 00:45:41.230 --> 00:45:44.489 want to find time, but my schedule's so packed, 00:45:44.650 --> 00:45:47.389 I've got to look so that when I tell you this 00:45:47.389 --> 00:45:52.670 is the time I have, that's the time I give. And 00:45:52.670 --> 00:45:54.849 he said the only time he had was from 12 o 'clock 00:45:54.849 --> 00:45:58.199 at night till 2 o 'clock in the morning. I think 00:45:58.199 --> 00:46:01.039 I'm usually sleeping then. Is anybody else sleeping 00:46:01.039 --> 00:46:04.840 then? Okay, okay. So he told the Lord, he said, 00:46:04.880 --> 00:46:07.159 12 o 'clock to two o 'clock in the morning. And 00:46:07.159 --> 00:46:10.599 so that night, 12 o 'clock came and he sat down 00:46:10.599 --> 00:46:13.739 in a chair and he put another chair in front 00:46:13.739 --> 00:46:16.719 of him. And he said, Lord, this is gonna be fun. 00:46:17.559 --> 00:46:20.460 And after his first week of interacting with 00:46:20.460 --> 00:46:24.760 the Lord, it became overnight his most favorite 00:46:24.760 --> 00:46:29.239 time. of his day between 12 and two. And this 00:46:29.239 --> 00:46:31.699 went on for a couple of months and he enjoyed 00:46:31.699 --> 00:46:34.159 every night and looked forward to it all day 00:46:34.159 --> 00:46:37.980 long until one night he sat down as usual, 12 00:46:37.980 --> 00:46:41.139 o 'clock pronto. And there was the chair right 00:46:41.139 --> 00:46:43.280 there across from him where he would talk with 00:46:43.280 --> 00:46:46.019 the Lord. And all of a sudden he heard the front 00:46:46.019 --> 00:46:49.260 door open and he heard as it were some type of 00:46:49.260 --> 00:46:53.139 shoe that was hard on the hardwood floor, walk 00:46:53.139 --> 00:46:58.519 down the aisle. the hallway. He didn't get up 00:46:58.519 --> 00:47:03.719 and into the room walked Jesus, the son of God. 00:47:04.440 --> 00:47:07.559 And he went right over, took the chair and sat 00:47:07.559 --> 00:47:10.440 down and said, I wanted you to know that I've 00:47:10.440 --> 00:47:13.000 been here every night and I'm just as excited 00:47:13.000 --> 00:47:17.199 about meeting with you as you have been meeting 00:47:17.199 --> 00:47:21.300 with me. And he said, do you know why? I don't 00:47:21.300 --> 00:47:29.820 have many friends. Is it possible that we could 00:47:29.820 --> 00:47:32.900 see things and hear things and know things that 00:47:32.900 --> 00:47:35.860 would make our life kind of like pinch me? It's 00:47:35.860 --> 00:47:40.119 too good to be true if we were just friends with 00:47:40.119 --> 00:47:43.519 the Lord. Like what I'm sharing this morning 00:47:43.519 --> 00:47:48.400 isn't like theologically deep. It really is just 00:47:48.400 --> 00:47:51.320 simple, but... It's totally in the Bible. John 00:47:51.320 --> 00:47:55.619 16, 26 and 27. In that day you will ask in my 00:47:55.619 --> 00:47:58.880 name, and I do not say that I shall pray the 00:47:58.880 --> 00:48:02.800 Father for you, for the Father himself phileos 00:48:02.800 --> 00:48:09.480 you because you have phileoed me. The Father 00:48:09.480 --> 00:48:14.400 thinks you're amazing because you are friends 00:48:14.400 --> 00:48:20.980 with the Son. and have believed that I can. So 00:48:20.980 --> 00:48:27.619 even prayers being answered. Why? Because you're 00:48:27.619 --> 00:48:31.000 like a best friend with God. I am a friend of 00:48:31.000 --> 00:48:37.360 God. I am a friend of God. He loves me so. Come 00:48:37.360 --> 00:48:40.639 on, think for a moment. Could this be easier 00:48:40.639 --> 00:48:43.860 than we made it? We're all into our theology 00:48:43.860 --> 00:48:46.079 and theology is good because it gives you a foundation. 00:48:46.300 --> 00:48:48.519 But is it possible someone could just actually 00:48:48.519 --> 00:48:52.699 hang out with God like my friend Mary Fran? She's 00:48:52.699 --> 00:48:55.860 Roman Catholic. She didn't understand the things 00:48:55.860 --> 00:48:57.860 that God, but she got filled with the Holy Ghost 00:48:57.860 --> 00:49:02.260 and the Holy Ghost started talking to her. And 00:49:02.260 --> 00:49:06.079 she listened. And God said to her one day, the 00:49:06.079 --> 00:49:07.800 Holy Ghost said, I'd really like to hang out 00:49:07.800 --> 00:49:11.099 with you all day. And she said, Holy Spirit. 00:49:11.760 --> 00:49:15.519 What would that look like? And he said, Mary 00:49:15.519 --> 00:49:17.900 Fran, I want to be with you like right now in 00:49:17.900 --> 00:49:19.800 everything you do. She said, well, I'm getting 00:49:19.800 --> 00:49:22.219 ready to go do laundry. Would you like to help 00:49:22.219 --> 00:49:24.300 me with the laundry? He said, I'd love to help 00:49:24.300 --> 00:49:26.440 you with the laundry. She took her laundry basket 00:49:26.440 --> 00:49:29.260 down and kept talking to him because she acknowledged 00:49:29.260 --> 00:49:31.880 his presence, which made it easier for her to 00:49:31.880 --> 00:49:35.739 know that he's actually right here. And she began 00:49:35.739 --> 00:49:37.820 to develop a relationship with the Holy Spirit 00:49:37.820 --> 00:49:40.219 to the degree that she could hear him at all 00:49:40.219 --> 00:49:42.280 times and recognize his presence from morning 00:49:42.280 --> 00:49:44.239 till night to the point where she didn't want 00:49:44.239 --> 00:49:47.039 to do life without knowing that he was real. 00:49:49.079 --> 00:49:51.820 One day she woke up and her hand was paralyzed, 00:49:51.880 --> 00:49:54.760 literally flopped her whole arm. It wouldn't 00:49:54.760 --> 00:49:57.440 work. And she said, Holy Spirit, what do you 00:49:57.440 --> 00:50:00.219 have to say about this? And he said, Mary Fran, 00:50:00.400 --> 00:50:04.469 maybe it's not real. She said, what do you mean, 00:50:04.570 --> 00:50:06.769 Holy Spirit? And she walked by her piano and 00:50:06.769 --> 00:50:10.909 he said, play for me, Mary Fran. And she said, 00:50:10.969 --> 00:50:12.929 Holy Ghost, you know, I can't play for you. I've 00:50:12.929 --> 00:50:15.590 only got one hand that works. He said, play for 00:50:15.590 --> 00:50:19.429 me, Mary Fran. I love it when you play. So she 00:50:19.429 --> 00:50:22.769 sat down and flopped this arm on the piano and 00:50:22.769 --> 00:50:25.550 with her other hand began to play. And within 00:50:25.550 --> 00:50:28.969 seconds, this hand picked up and began to play. 00:50:29.130 --> 00:50:31.429 And it never was paralyzed from that moment. 00:50:32.269 --> 00:50:34.849 And she began to walk with him like this and 00:50:34.849 --> 00:50:38.590 talk with him like this and sees things and knows 00:50:38.590 --> 00:50:41.909 things. And that realm has become really normal 00:50:41.909 --> 00:50:50.889 to her only because she made a friend. Now, if 00:50:50.889 --> 00:50:54.750 we applied this even in the smallest sense, that 00:50:54.750 --> 00:50:57.469 would do away with you got to get all spiritual 00:50:57.469 --> 00:51:01.039 for church on Sunday morning. You know what I 00:51:01.039 --> 00:51:04.000 mean? Because now, like you're hanging out with 00:51:04.000 --> 00:51:07.820 him. And so Sunday mornings, another morning 00:51:07.820 --> 00:51:11.579 to interact with someone who actually is messing 00:51:11.579 --> 00:51:16.139 with my life. Because the moment you let him 00:51:16.139 --> 00:51:21.980 in like that, because he is an all -purpose tool, 00:51:22.179 --> 00:51:30.980 he can fix everything. And he always has his 00:51:30.980 --> 00:51:35.760 tools with him. So as you begin to do life and 00:51:35.760 --> 00:51:38.760 you let him be real to you, oh, he fixes this 00:51:38.760 --> 00:51:41.960 and he fixes that. And you're perfectly on time 00:51:41.960 --> 00:51:46.480 when you normally wouldn't be. Here I am. It 00:51:46.480 --> 00:51:53.170 is 20 minutes to the hour. And I'm on the other 00:51:53.170 --> 00:51:56.789 side of town with 17 traffic lights to go through 00:51:56.789 --> 00:51:59.510 or about seven traffic lights to go through to 00:51:59.510 --> 00:52:04.110 get to a highway. And I'm thinking to myself, 00:52:04.329 --> 00:52:07.250 wow, man, I got this morning free. What should 00:52:07.250 --> 00:52:10.670 I do? And I get a text that says, do you want 00:52:10.670 --> 00:52:18.949 a latte before healing school? Oh, healing school. 00:52:19.570 --> 00:52:23.329 Blonde hair, remember? Blonde hair. Healing school. 00:52:24.230 --> 00:52:28.869 Oh, no. I can't make it. How am I going to do 00:52:28.869 --> 00:52:34.010 this? And I got upset. Anxiety set in momentarily 00:52:34.010 --> 00:52:37.010 at that stoplight. And then I immediately remembered, 00:52:37.289 --> 00:52:41.389 you can't allow him to be real when you think 00:52:41.389 --> 00:52:45.429 he can't help. Oh, Lord, this is going to be 00:52:45.429 --> 00:52:49.559 fun. Do you know what? Guys, I'm going to take 00:52:49.559 --> 00:52:55.000 the longer route just to let you show me how 00:52:55.000 --> 00:52:57.739 wonderful it is to be connected to you. So I'm 00:52:57.739 --> 00:53:00.199 going to go through 17 traffic lights. And I 00:53:00.199 --> 00:53:03.139 know I can't get there, but I'll actually get 00:53:03.139 --> 00:53:05.860 there. So I text back and said, yes, I would 00:53:05.860 --> 00:53:08.940 like a latte before healing school. Because if 00:53:08.940 --> 00:53:12.420 I have caffeine before I speak, it's really dangerous. 00:53:16.429 --> 00:53:19.070 I turned left instead of going toward the highway. 00:53:19.190 --> 00:53:20.769 Green light, green light, green light, green 00:53:20.769 --> 00:53:22.570 light, green light, green light, green light, 00:53:22.610 --> 00:53:24.170 green light, green light, green light, green 00:53:24.170 --> 00:53:26.070 light, green light, green light, green light, 00:53:26.110 --> 00:53:27.650 green light, green light, green light, green 00:53:27.650 --> 00:53:31.269 light. 13 minutes, I'm home. Changed real quick. 00:53:31.630 --> 00:53:34.570 Went to the church. Walked in with three minutes 00:53:34.570 --> 00:53:38.090 to spare. Grabbed my latte like I had been studying 00:53:38.090 --> 00:53:46.710 all morning long. Amen? And all of a sudden, 00:53:46.710 --> 00:53:50.989 you get the idea that if I can in any way start 00:53:50.989 --> 00:53:55.130 to even a little bit live like this, what would 00:53:55.130 --> 00:53:59.469 my life be like? That's why we have the YouTube 00:53:59.469 --> 00:54:06.030 channel Adventures in Grace. Because when he 00:54:06.030 --> 00:54:09.710 starts to be your friend, you will begin to have 00:54:09.710 --> 00:54:14.300 adventures. I'm telling you, Jesus made provision 00:54:14.300 --> 00:54:17.559 for all the things that we are seeking him for 00:54:17.559 --> 00:54:21.980 so that we wouldn't have to spend time on trivial 00:54:21.980 --> 00:54:24.880 things like getting a body healed because it's 00:54:24.880 --> 00:54:27.480 already healed. We could just hang out and do 00:54:27.480 --> 00:54:37.860 stuff together. The bigger picture is really 00:54:37.860 --> 00:54:41.219 wonderful. And I just don't want to get to heaven 00:54:41.219 --> 00:54:44.420 and see the bigger picture and think, shoot, 00:54:44.579 --> 00:54:49.760 how did I miss that? Like, I'd like to enjoy 00:54:49.760 --> 00:54:53.380 some of that right here, right now. Like God 00:54:53.380 --> 00:54:56.900 being in my life, going before me and doing things 00:54:56.900 --> 00:55:00.480 and setting me up for success after success and 00:55:00.480 --> 00:55:03.199 watching things happen that are God moments and 00:55:03.199 --> 00:55:05.880 God situations where you go back home and you 00:55:05.880 --> 00:55:08.829 just say, you are really too much. And the more 00:55:08.829 --> 00:55:10.889 you kind of say things like that to your best 00:55:10.889 --> 00:55:12.369 friend, the more your best friend's thinking, 00:55:12.489 --> 00:55:15.510 well, what else can I do? Golly gee, let's just 00:55:15.510 --> 00:55:20.050 make this next day a day he'll never forget. 00:55:21.210 --> 00:55:23.670 And do you realize that's what's going to happen 00:55:23.670 --> 00:55:25.789 in heaven? He's going to show us another side 00:55:25.789 --> 00:55:27.809 of his loving kindness and grace for all eternity. 00:55:28.010 --> 00:55:30.010 He's going to blow our socks off. That's why 00:55:30.010 --> 00:55:38.320 I don't wear any. Lift your hands. Father, thank 00:55:38.320 --> 00:55:42.059 you for the things that we share that are simple 00:55:42.059 --> 00:55:48.079 enough to be put into immediate action. And everyone 00:55:48.079 --> 00:55:51.159 in this room, I ask you, Lord, to take the words 00:55:51.159 --> 00:55:55.820 of best friend, make an imprint in their heart, 00:55:55.860 --> 00:56:01.280 and give them a hunger and a desire to be friends 00:56:01.280 --> 00:56:05.250 and even best friends with you. Because if they'll 00:56:05.250 --> 00:56:07.929 hunger it, if they'll desire it, if they'll even 00:56:07.929 --> 00:56:11.309 put their mind to the task of figuring out how 00:56:11.309 --> 00:56:14.889 this afternoon they can hang out with you, you 00:56:14.889 --> 00:56:18.489 will fill them, you will cause them to be saturated, 00:56:18.550 --> 00:56:22.210 and you, Lord God, forever will begin to work 00:56:22.210 --> 00:56:25.070 in their lives. And I declare over this congregation, 00:56:25.389 --> 00:56:28.730 not only is this a place of healing, these people 00:56:28.730 --> 00:56:34.639 are a people who know their God. and they are 00:56:34.639 --> 00:56:39.079 strong, and they do exploits. In the name of 00:56:39.079 --> 00:56:43.639 Jesus, somebody say amen. Amen. Praise the Lord. 00:56:43.699 --> 00:56:47.880 Thank you for taking the time to listen to this 00:56:47.880 --> 00:56:50.500 week's message. We are so grateful for those 00:56:50.500 --> 00:56:53.219 who tune in each week and have given generously 00:56:53.219 --> 00:56:56.219 to this ministry. If you would like to give, 00:56:56.360 --> 00:56:58.860 click the link in the episode description below. 00:56:59.400 --> 00:57:02.059 you can also help us by subscribing to this podcast 00:57:02.059 --> 00:57:05.199 and sharing it with your friends and family lastly 00:57:05.199 --> 00:57:08.360 if you are in need of prayer send us a text message 00:57:08.360 --> 00:57:14.019 at 541 -625 -1365 we would love to pray with 00:57:14.019 --> 00:57:14.219 you