WEBVTT

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Welcome to NECF. We're thrilled you're here.

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Make sure to stay with us till the end, where

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we'll share some great resources to deepen your

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faith. Now, let's dive into this week's sermon.

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Amen and amen. Well, welcome to the midweek service.

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I know some of us is a new location. So my first,

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we are like, well, it seems to be orange, but

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now it's blue. Praise God. Praise the Lord. I'm

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very, we're very happy that it doesn't, it doesn't

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stop us from worshiping. You know, there's some

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people that when you go to orange oil, you don't

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see anybody. You say, ah, what happened? Have

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we been raptured or something? But we are, we

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persist, right? We, we, we, it doesn't, nothing

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stops us from fellowshipping. Nothing should

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stop you from fellowshipping. Even a change in

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location should not stop you. Praise God. A change

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in location should not stop you. And that's the

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kind of believers that God is making us into.

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That's the kind of believers that God is building

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us into. And He will continue to build us even

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better and better in the name of Jesus. So the

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teaching continues, staying on fire for God.

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Staying on fire for God. And on Sunday, we say

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that we're staying on fire. You know, sometimes

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you have to define what fire, because nowadays

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there's a lot of fire, fire everywhere. You want

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to be able to define what the fire is. And we

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say that this fire is a passion, is a commitment,

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and is a zeal for God. And it's not just for

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God. It translates into a zeal and a passion

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and a commitment for others, for the work he

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has called us into. There's a passion for the

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work he has called us into, and there's a commitment

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for the work he has called us into. There's a

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commitment for the people he has called us to.

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and the ministry has called us to, the things,

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the different things he has called us to, and

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we need to be part of it. This commitment is

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not half -hearted. This commitment is a wholehearted

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commitment. Praise God. Let's not be distracted.

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Let's not be distracted. Let's just pay attention.

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So this commitment is a wholehearted commitment,

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and it requires fervency. It's all about fervency.

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Once you're fervent about something, it is evident.

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I said that on Sunday. It is evident and it is

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contagious. If you're doing something that you

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want everybody to be part of, if you're not fervent,

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if you're not zealous about it, you will not

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have people come into it. You will not have people

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even be trusting what you're talking about. So

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we need to shift and up, up. our fervency and

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our commitment and it's going to show in every

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area of our lives. It's going to show in every

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area of our lives. Nothing is going to be lacking

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that because it's a muscle that we're going to

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be building up in this season and God is going

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to help us to be able to do that. And we say,

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why is this important? I want us to echo it because

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I taught this. I said, why is it? What's the

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first reason I say it's important? Huh? So the

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work requires it, right? The work itself requires

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it because if we want to witness to the world,

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the world will not hear you out if you're not

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passionate about the things you're talking or

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discussing about. The world can't, nobody, if

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you, you do that a lot. When you, first minute

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of a video, you don't, the person is not coming,

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the way it does though, you skip. You find somebody

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else that has something that has that, that marks

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what exactly it is you're looking for. So there's

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a fervency that the walk of ministry requires.

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And if you don't have it, it's going to be hard

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for you to make that impact, to be effective.

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Praise God. And then we say for personal growth,

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right? That was the second point. We say for

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personal growth. And I repeat myself over and

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over again. If you say you're fervent, it's not

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going to be something we're struggling to find.

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Praise God. We're not going to be struggling

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to find it. It will show, and I said this in

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closing last week, it will show in... How early

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you show up for that thing. It will show in how

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you take notes. Some of us, we come to church,

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we say we love God, but we're not taking notes.

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We say we want to grow, we're not taking notes.

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There's no way you can make any effect if you're

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going to be effective. So it means that we have

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to, it's something that has to happen and know

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that if you're not, if you're not, you know,

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when you're not fervent, But it's just a matter

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of time. Once something happens, we don't see

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you again. Praise God. Because there was never

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any form of variance. And that is the challenge

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we have with most people. You just show up on

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a Sunday. Your life is only on a Sunday. So it

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means that you're on your way out. When Pastor

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Victor was sharing one time about... the order,

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the lists, you know, the way the disciples are

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arranged. You know, sometimes we take for granted

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that some people are behind not because of, there's

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a reason why they are behind. Because when they

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are looking for, they are the ones that easily

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you will not see again because they are somewhat

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outside. So you want to be ahead in your work.

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You want to be ahead in your desire. You want

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to be ahead in your passion. And you shouldn't

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stay in one point. You know, there's something

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about when you stay on a place for too long.

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You become comfortable. You become comfortable

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and from that comfort, you become cold. And from

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that cold, we don't find you anymore. And that's

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why in your work and in your fellowship, you

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have to up it. If you're doing one, you want

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to do two. You want to do three. That's why there's

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a count. You want to up it and make it a bit

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more challenging. Praise God. And you want to

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seek to do the things you've never done before.

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Praise God. You want to seek to do the things

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that you've never done before. And our key text,

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we said, is in Romans 12, right? Romans 12, verse

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11. And I'll read from the New King James. I'll

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read it again. It says, not lagging in diligence.

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Not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit.

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How many of us have seen, how many of us, when

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you're watching something and then the thing

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is lagging? You're trying to watch something

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and then the internet is poor. And then the thing

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is just, it's buffering, right? There's a bit

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of a lag. You know, Over time, you just want

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to skip or restart. You want to find something

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because it's frustrating. It's frustrating. You

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are doing something that requires energy and

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then somebody does skip. And then it's like,

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even you yourself, you're like, what is going

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on here? There's nothing good. You don't even

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think of, you're just stuck. Praise God. You're

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stuck. You are not moving. You're just there.

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You're just looking. And it's just a matter of

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time. People walk away. Praise God. So the NLT

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says, never be lazy. Never be lazy. I say this

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all the time. A lazy person is useless to God,

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is useless to the devil. Like you are both ways.

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The devil cannot use you because the devil needs

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people to be active. The devil too thrives on

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activity. Even in his kingdom, even in his work.

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So when you are lazy, you're just there. Praise

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God. And this is an instruction. Apostle Paul

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is saying, never be lazy. Never be lazy. Anytime

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you look at yourself, I think during the time

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when we're praying, you know, as we're praying,

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you just see somebody else come. You know, you

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just come and you're just looking around. The

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activity at this point in time is prayers. And

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then you're just... And it's not like you're

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watching... you're watching a child or you're

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doing anything, you're just there and you spend

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a lot of time looking around, not praying. You

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know that is an indicator for something. That

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should come for something, praise God. That should

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mean that, that should communicate to you that

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this activity is not, I don't, I'm just here

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because I have to be here. I'm just here by,

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I don't even know what brought me here. That's

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almost like what you're communicating to us.

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But we can tell that this person, or we can tell

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that you already have, There's going to be a

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problem. And it's just a matter of time, as I

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said. You will have other things to be worried

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about or you have other things to be concerned

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about. Praise God. It says, never be lazy. It

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says, but work hard. I'm reading now from the

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NLT. But work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.

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Enthusiasm. You want to put in that fire, that

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passion. Praise God. And the TPT says, be enthusiastic.

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to serve the Lord. Keep your passion towards

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him boiling hot. Keep your passion towards him

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boiling hot with the glow of the Holy Spirit

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and let him fill you with excitement as you serve

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him. Let him fill you with excitement as you

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serve him. Praise God. Then we talked about why

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do we lose our fire? We talked about why we lose

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our fire. What was the first thing I... I'm just

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doing a quick recap before we... Why do we lose

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the fire was the first thing. So, exposure, I'm

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assuming that we are saying exposure to honor

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and keeping... I'm assuming it goes... It can

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be a way to just say, yeah, that thing did what

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we all said together. But it's good. So, exposure

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to dishonor and keeping the wrong association,

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right? Exposure to dishonor and keeping the wrong...

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And how many of you have started to watch that?

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How many of you have started to watch it? How

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many of you have started to watch, like look

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at the people you're subscribed to, the people

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that you listen to very often. Are there people

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that drop a hint of here and there? You watch

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them. Over time, you will not realize that you're

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entering a place where you just find it natural

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to just say certain words to people and you don't

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feel anything. You don't feel anything. And you

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have just made yourself. made it normal to you

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to just hear people, criticize people, and then

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you don't just go ahead. You're not even giving

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constructive criticism. You're just destroying

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them. Praise God. You're just destroying them.

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And there was a second one that we discussed.

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So we said they're distracted by your past and

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then there's over -familiarity with what you're

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experiencing presently. And that one is a key

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thing and we looked at a couple of scripts and

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we said, That in itself is characterized by some

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form of, I guess, you're now going back. You

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know, when we're praying, I think we're praying,

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there's a renewing of the mind that happens.

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And that, if you're not renewing your mind, you

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have a tendency to go back to a mind you had

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before, which is a carnal mind. You go back to

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carnality. Praise God. So there's that sense

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of, if you're not making, because you know, if

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you're not renewing your mind this way, things

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don't stay like that. There will be an exposure

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to the... or the things that, because you can

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imagine the children of Israel. I don't know

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whether you imagine or you think or put yourself

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in that situation because sometimes you can see

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all those children of Israel, they are just unbelievers,

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you know, just throw things, just criticize them

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and then you don't know that even in your own

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life, there's a subtle, there are subtle things

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that you do that even brings you, you might even

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be worse than them. Even your situation, praise

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God, it will be worse than them because you can

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imagine this when we say that there's a mix,

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because of when you mix things up, If you're

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not very careful, you'll find yourself preferring

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to go back to what you had. You had fought to

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get out of. Praise God. You had fought to get

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out of. So we said, I think Romans, I want us

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to just look at Romans. Romans 6, Romans 8, sorry.

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Romans 8, 6 -2. Now, those of us that used to

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look for scriptures, so we say, never be lazy,

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right? Open your Bible and read it. Open your

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Bible and read Romans 8. Romans 8, 6. So it says,

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so let me read it from the New King James. So

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it's 6 to 8. It says, For to be carnally minded

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is death, but to be spiritually minded is life

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and peace. Because the carnally mind is enmity

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against God, for it is not subject to the law

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of God, nor indeed can be. It now says, so then,

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those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

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Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

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So you want to ensure that you are fervent in

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spirit and your desire and your passion is for

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God. So hence, certain things are not introduced

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into your walk. And then things like we saw the

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children of Israel complaining. We saw them complaining.

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We saw them murmuring. We saw them doing all

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those things that will not even allow for, because

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all those things are things that you do when

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you are carnally minded. Praise God. You can

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be spiritually minded and then you take time

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and you're complaining and there's no part of

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you says, let's look at the best. Let's look

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out for the best in the situation. Let's look

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out for how. And that's the key thing that we

00:13:18.809 --> 00:13:20.690
talked about when we talked about making excuses.

00:13:21.580 --> 00:13:23.659
You know, most of the times when people complain

00:13:23.659 --> 00:13:25.799
or people, they are always wanting to make an

00:13:25.799 --> 00:13:28.299
excuse for something. You always want to make

00:13:28.299 --> 00:13:30.279
an excuse. Oh, the reason why I wasn't able to

00:13:30.279 --> 00:13:31.840
do this is because of this and that and that.

00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:33.879
And then you start complaining, you start adding

00:13:33.879 --> 00:13:36.139
other things to the equation and you don't make

00:13:36.139 --> 00:13:38.539
any progress. And excuse, excuse is one of the

00:13:38.539 --> 00:13:42.360
things that extinguishes fire. Look at the person

00:13:42.360 --> 00:13:45.539
that makes excuses a lot. If you find the person

00:13:45.539 --> 00:13:48.879
that makes excuses, they never grow. And the

00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:51.559
thing is that this person makes excuses for the

00:13:51.559 --> 00:13:53.679
things that they want to. Some people are smiling.

00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:56.179
They're smiling at me. If you're smiling at me,

00:13:56.179 --> 00:13:58.480
you know what I'm talking about. It hits home.

00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:02.919
Praise God. It hits home. You make excuses for

00:14:02.919 --> 00:14:06.360
almost everything. Why did you come? I was down.

00:14:07.159 --> 00:14:09.679
I was down. You don't even know how my day went.

00:14:10.470 --> 00:14:12.950
But if that same person, the same thing was making

00:14:12.950 --> 00:14:14.870
excuses for not showing up. If we switch it up

00:14:14.870 --> 00:14:17.110
a bit, spice it up, say, okay, they're going

00:14:17.110 --> 00:14:18.850
to donate. There's money for everybody that comes.

00:14:19.570 --> 00:14:23.370
They'll be the first. And that speaks about what

00:14:23.370 --> 00:14:25.649
you prioritize. Praise God. You don't prioritize.

00:14:25.730 --> 00:14:27.990
You prioritize some things over the things of

00:14:27.990 --> 00:14:31.210
God. Praise God. And as we say, excuses will

00:14:31.210 --> 00:14:34.490
extinguish a fire. You don't want to make excuses.

00:14:34.529 --> 00:14:36.309
So the third point now, which you'll be adding

00:14:36.309 --> 00:14:38.610
to the list already. So let's see how we can

00:14:38.610 --> 00:14:41.480
work from there is, Offenses and broken relationships.

00:14:43.340 --> 00:14:47.379
Offense and broken relationships. Offense and

00:14:47.379 --> 00:14:50.620
broken relationship. And I want you to, because

00:14:50.620 --> 00:14:55.779
this is one thing that will extinguish your fire.

00:14:55.860 --> 00:14:57.539
Because whether you like it or not, you need

00:14:57.539 --> 00:15:00.779
people. And when you are burning bridges instead

00:15:00.779 --> 00:15:04.600
of making bridges, you will end up losing the

00:15:04.600 --> 00:15:08.320
path to persons or the things that will help

00:15:08.320 --> 00:15:11.740
you to grow. Pastor Victor had, in his teaching

00:15:11.740 --> 00:15:14.080
and in several of the pastors, we echoed that.

00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:18.500
That God uses people. God's method, God's strategy,

00:15:18.620 --> 00:15:20.659
I think Pastor Koston included, method, strategy,

00:15:20.820 --> 00:15:23.399
the means by which God will use to help you is

00:15:23.399 --> 00:15:27.820
through people. And not that, going to the points

00:15:27.820 --> 00:15:30.220
I raised earlier, the means by which the devil

00:15:30.220 --> 00:15:33.779
will help to destroy you is through people. So

00:15:33.779 --> 00:15:36.000
it means that the devil's strategy is still using

00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:38.120
human beings. That's why we say you have to watch

00:15:38.120 --> 00:15:40.559
your relationships, right? You have to watch

00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:42.480
your relationships. The relationships you should

00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:44.580
break. Remember on Sunday I was saying block

00:15:44.580 --> 00:15:50.460
them, right? I gave us the analogy of who? What

00:15:50.460 --> 00:15:53.779
is it? Apostle who? The analogy of Apostle Paul,

00:15:53.879 --> 00:15:56.759
right? I said if Apostle Paul decided after his

00:15:56.759 --> 00:15:59.340
Damascus encounter and then Assyria connect with

00:15:59.340 --> 00:16:01.919
brother Ananias and then he says no. The people

00:16:01.919 --> 00:16:04.960
I will connect with are my people from my viewers,

00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:06.759
you know, the people that he goes together to

00:16:06.759 --> 00:16:08.240
persecute. You know, when they call him up and

00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:11.159
say, ah, brother, we need to go to, you know,

00:16:11.220 --> 00:16:13.580
Damascus did not go down. Let's go to another

00:16:13.580 --> 00:16:15.940
city. Let's go and kill. Then you, you now, you

00:16:15.940 --> 00:16:17.600
now be telling them, you say, okay, when are

00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:19.879
we going to meet? Or you now start, you want

00:16:19.879 --> 00:16:21.720
to just, so that you don't have to explain to

00:16:21.720 --> 00:16:23.039
them, you know, they might not understand what

00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:25.940
you experienced. You just don't talk too much.

00:16:25.940 --> 00:16:29.159
Just block, disconnect. Those are the relationships

00:16:29.159 --> 00:16:30.840
that you want to because they are not going to

00:16:30.840 --> 00:16:32.879
help you to make progress in the areas you want

00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:35.059
to now make progress in your life because there's

00:16:35.059 --> 00:16:38.919
a new season. Praise God. The people that knew

00:16:38.919 --> 00:16:41.039
him before cannot recognize him now because things

00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:43.799
have changed. So if things have changed, it means

00:16:43.799 --> 00:16:45.379
that the relationships that you now prioritize

00:16:45.379 --> 00:16:47.600
has to change as well. So you can't be expected

00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:49.720
to make progress this way and then you're keeping

00:16:49.720 --> 00:16:51.740
those relationships. And some of us, we're very,

00:16:51.860 --> 00:16:55.080
you're like me. When you have had a friend, you

00:16:55.080 --> 00:16:57.110
don't know how to. Well, really, you have to

00:16:57.110 --> 00:16:59.250
be radical about it because if you don't do it,

00:16:59.269 --> 00:17:01.730
you're not going to make progress yourself. Praise

00:17:01.730 --> 00:17:04.730
God. So just think about it and I hope that will

00:17:04.730 --> 00:17:07.289
help some of us. And I hope some of us have acted

00:17:07.289 --> 00:17:10.549
on it from Sunday. You know, when you're struggling

00:17:10.549 --> 00:17:13.910
to take an action, you've already decided what

00:17:13.910 --> 00:17:16.109
you're going to do. And many a times you will

00:17:16.109 --> 00:17:18.509
not act on it. So there are certain relationships

00:17:18.509 --> 00:17:21.259
that you don't want to. In fact, some people,

00:17:21.299 --> 00:17:22.940
because you're doing that so that you're not

00:17:22.940 --> 00:17:25.079
even seeing their status, because some people,

00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:26.680
seeing their status doesn't even help you to

00:17:26.680 --> 00:17:30.359
grow spiritually. Praise God. Some of us, we

00:17:30.359 --> 00:17:32.619
just feel like this. And then when you have like

00:17:32.619 --> 00:17:35.779
10, 20, 50 of those kind of friends, and then

00:17:35.779 --> 00:17:38.579
you like going through status, when you do that,

00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:40.839
you would not understand what is happening. You

00:17:40.839 --> 00:17:44.259
open your Bible and then, you know, because you

00:17:44.259 --> 00:17:45.859
have seen certain things that you're trying to

00:17:45.859 --> 00:17:50.240
filter. Praise God. So you want to... And I say

00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:53.279
this to say that relationships that you should

00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:56.619
prioritize are godly relationships, right? Relationships

00:17:56.619 --> 00:17:58.900
you should prioritize are godly relationships.

00:17:58.940 --> 00:18:01.059
And you want to ensure that you don't use your

00:18:01.059 --> 00:18:04.279
hand to destroy those relationships because you

00:18:04.279 --> 00:18:06.819
can be offended over a brother that is, remember

00:18:06.819 --> 00:18:12.220
I told us of the prophet Eli, right? Where Anna

00:18:12.220 --> 00:18:15.200
was now, he misjudged the situation. And then

00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:18.769
if she was like, All these rubbish men of God,

00:18:18.950 --> 00:18:21.630
they're not sensitive. They're not sensitive

00:18:21.630 --> 00:18:25.190
to how we feel. Can you imagine I'm crying and

00:18:25.190 --> 00:18:27.589
then I'm trying to pour my heart out to God and

00:18:27.589 --> 00:18:30.230
he's saying I'm drunk. If he's a man of God,

00:18:30.289 --> 00:18:33.950
wouldn't he have known what I'm missing? How

00:18:33.950 --> 00:18:36.750
would he not know that I'm going through? But

00:18:36.750 --> 00:18:40.970
not that she did not use it as an opportunity

00:18:40.970 --> 00:18:44.839
to dishonor the man and she received it. That

00:18:44.839 --> 00:18:46.960
passage that we read, we say 18, she went home

00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:50.220
not sad again or happy. And then she got the

00:18:50.220 --> 00:18:52.240
result and she brought it back to the same, you

00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:54.220
know, see the relationship just kept going on

00:18:54.220 --> 00:18:56.220
and on. This was the same person that trained

00:18:56.220 --> 00:18:59.240
Samuel. Praise God. So you don't want to destroy

00:18:59.240 --> 00:19:00.460
a relationship because you don't know where they

00:19:00.460 --> 00:19:05.099
lead. Praise God. You don't know where they lead.

00:19:05.380 --> 00:19:08.380
And I think Joseph is an example that we're going

00:19:08.380 --> 00:19:11.460
to spend time to look at in this study because

00:19:11.460 --> 00:19:15.209
it's very important that we notice that Joseph's

00:19:15.209 --> 00:19:17.589
own, you know, some of us, when we have friends

00:19:17.589 --> 00:19:19.910
that you can, you know, sometimes when family

00:19:19.910 --> 00:19:22.849
are the ones that offend you, it's harder. How

00:19:22.849 --> 00:19:24.150
many of you have noticed that it's harder to

00:19:24.150 --> 00:19:27.470
let go of family, parents, people that you love,

00:19:27.589 --> 00:19:30.769
you trust them. And then you're like, no, how

00:19:30.769 --> 00:19:33.990
can they do this to me? You're now become, it's

00:19:33.990 --> 00:19:37.390
the impact. You know, I was sharing with my wife

00:19:37.390 --> 00:19:40.470
in a WhatsApp group. I'm in a WhatsApp group,

00:19:40.470 --> 00:19:43.160
our secondary school WhatsApp group. And there

00:19:43.160 --> 00:19:45.400
was a misunderstanding. When you read the chat,

00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:46.599
you know there was clearly a misunderstanding.

00:19:47.059 --> 00:19:49.700
And then the funny thing is that the WhatsApp

00:19:49.700 --> 00:19:52.900
group is a combination of believers and non -believers.

00:19:53.240 --> 00:19:56.200
And the people that you expect more from are

00:19:56.200 --> 00:19:59.200
who? Believers. Believers. So this misunderstanding

00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:02.579
is amongst believers in the WhatsApp group. And

00:20:02.579 --> 00:20:05.980
then your boss, he always says, in fact, I'm

00:20:05.980 --> 00:20:08.839
not going to. He says, if in heaven, our houses,

00:20:08.880 --> 00:20:11.500
your house should be far away from Lusaka to

00:20:11.500 --> 00:20:19.539
Moscow. My concern was not about the fact that

00:20:19.539 --> 00:20:21.640
they had a misunderstanding. My concern was,

00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:24.180
what are you, like the people that are watching,

00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:27.460
tomorrow if you come and you're trying to, they'll

00:20:27.460 --> 00:20:29.880
be like, you that can't even control your, like

00:20:29.880 --> 00:20:31.680
what are you talking about? You have just put

00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:35.859
God's name to this. And the funny thing is that

00:20:35.859 --> 00:20:39.420
the next year, someone had organized, he's an

00:20:39.420 --> 00:20:42.029
unbeliever. that said, let's organize a meeting

00:20:42.029 --> 00:20:45.549
so we can trash. I was in a meeting. I was hearing

00:20:45.549 --> 00:20:48.750
this guy talk. I was like, hello, this is what

00:20:48.750 --> 00:20:51.549
a believer should be doing, not the other way.

00:20:51.589 --> 00:20:54.289
And sometimes it's because we're not fervent.

00:20:54.289 --> 00:20:56.789
We are not discerning. We put ourselves in a

00:20:56.789 --> 00:20:58.769
situation where tomorrow now when you have gotten

00:20:58.769 --> 00:21:02.750
yourself and then you come back, that thing you

00:21:02.750 --> 00:21:05.589
have done is now haunting you. It's not allowing

00:21:05.589 --> 00:21:08.670
the person to see past the wonderful, the good

00:21:08.670 --> 00:21:10.769
news that you're giving to them. Because what

00:21:10.769 --> 00:21:14.289
they had seen was bad news the day before. So

00:21:14.289 --> 00:21:18.369
I'm just giving us reasons why you should be

00:21:18.369 --> 00:21:21.970
fervent. You should not allow a season of your

00:21:21.970 --> 00:21:25.309
life because you say, I was going through, there

00:21:25.309 --> 00:21:28.730
should be some form of restraint that the Holy

00:21:28.730 --> 00:21:30.990
Spirit is able to provide when you want to explode.

00:21:31.430 --> 00:21:34.670
Because you are fervent. You're sensitive, praise

00:21:34.670 --> 00:21:38.509
God. You're discerning, praise God. So dealing

00:21:38.509 --> 00:21:41.609
with offense, I think my pastor, if I had taught,

00:21:41.710 --> 00:21:43.569
I think last year, I think around May of last

00:21:43.569 --> 00:21:46.910
year, if you want to go back, you can go back

00:21:46.910 --> 00:21:48.950
and listen to the message. He has taught on dealing

00:21:48.950 --> 00:21:52.349
with offenses. He was beautiful. He explained

00:21:52.349 --> 00:21:54.809
to us dealing with offenses. And it's something

00:21:54.809 --> 00:21:57.710
that we should pay attention to because offense

00:21:57.710 --> 00:22:02.369
can really extinguish a fire. If you have, and

00:22:02.369 --> 00:22:04.470
some of us, we have a lot of people in our hearts.

00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:07.839
I don't know how you do it, but there's this

00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:11.279
person. And the capacity of it, you want to add

00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:15.480
more people. Like this is what I say, say you

00:22:15.480 --> 00:22:23.299
too. And you're adding and you're adding. And

00:22:23.299 --> 00:22:26.539
you're not allowing. And Joseph, I would love

00:22:26.539 --> 00:22:28.579
us to just look a bit. I don't want us to draw

00:22:28.579 --> 00:22:31.339
so much because we have to go to how to. Not

00:22:31.339 --> 00:22:36.759
in Genesis 37. Verse 23 to 28. Let me see whether

00:22:36.759 --> 00:22:39.160
we can do that one quickly. Genesis. Let's go

00:22:39.160 --> 00:22:48.140
to Genesis very quickly. Genesis 37. So it came

00:22:48.140 --> 00:22:53.099
to pass when Joseph had come with his brothers

00:22:53.099 --> 00:22:57.359
that they stripped Joseph of his tunic and the

00:22:57.359 --> 00:23:00.839
tunic of many colors that was on him. 24. That's

00:23:00.839 --> 00:23:04.619
37 versus 24 now. He says, then they took him

00:23:04.619 --> 00:23:08.339
and cast him into a pit. Note that this thing,

00:23:08.500 --> 00:23:10.660
his brothers are the ones that are doing this

00:23:10.660 --> 00:23:12.640
to him. He says, then they took him and cast

00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:15.240
him into a pit and the pit was empty and there

00:23:15.240 --> 00:23:19.220
was no water in it. 25 now says, and they sat

00:23:19.220 --> 00:23:22.900
down to eat a meal. Then they left, they lifted

00:23:22.900 --> 00:23:25.460
their eyes and looked and there was a company

00:23:25.460 --> 00:23:29.140
of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead with their

00:23:29.140 --> 00:23:33.309
camels, bearing spices, balm, myrrh. on their

00:23:33.309 --> 00:23:38.769
way to carry them down to Egypt. So Judah said

00:23:38.769 --> 00:23:43.390
to his brothers, what profit is there if we kill

00:23:43.390 --> 00:23:48.970
our brother and conceal his blood? 27, come and

00:23:48.970 --> 00:23:52.190
let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and let not

00:23:52.190 --> 00:23:56.549
our hand be upon him. For he is our brother,

00:23:56.630 --> 00:24:00.829
our flesh, and his brothers listened. 28 now,

00:24:00.910 --> 00:24:04.599
which is the last. Then the Midianites, the Midian

00:24:04.599 --> 00:24:07.519
traders passed by. So the brothers pulled Joseph

00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:11.500
up and lifted him out of the pit and sold him

00:24:11.500 --> 00:24:13.859
to the Ishmaelites for 20 shekels of silver.

00:24:14.019 --> 00:24:16.839
And they took Joseph to Egypt. Praise God. And

00:24:16.839 --> 00:24:18.920
you'll be wondering to yourself, like these brothers

00:24:18.920 --> 00:24:20.759
are very, like it's bad enough that they put

00:24:20.759 --> 00:24:24.960
him in, they put him in the pit, allowed him

00:24:24.960 --> 00:24:26.440
for dinner. Somebody now said, and you'll be

00:24:26.440 --> 00:24:28.539
thinking, I think what Pastor Emma taught us,

00:24:28.559 --> 00:24:30.660
you'll be thinking that that was just mere coincidence.

00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:33.160
But all of that was part of the plan. And that's

00:24:33.160 --> 00:24:35.480
what when Joseph was speaking to them in Genesis

00:24:35.480 --> 00:24:39.779
15, verse 19 to 21, where he says, you planned

00:24:39.779 --> 00:24:41.839
it out for evil, but God turned it for good.

00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:44.880
Because you can see that they had a plan. They

00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:46.319
would say, okay, let's, then let's, you know,

00:24:46.380 --> 00:24:47.900
somebody does come, you think it's a brilliant

00:24:47.900 --> 00:24:49.819
idea. Say, let's just sell him so that we can

00:24:49.819 --> 00:24:52.079
make money off him. But all of that was building

00:24:52.079 --> 00:24:55.579
up to the plan that God had for him. Praise God.

00:24:55.740 --> 00:24:58.059
And what I want you to see is that he was sold

00:24:58.059 --> 00:25:01.589
into slavery. He was in Egypt. You know, it would

00:25:01.589 --> 00:25:03.849
be a good thing for him to come and start explaining,

00:25:04.069 --> 00:25:08.130
like complaining about how his brothers were

00:25:08.130 --> 00:25:11.930
wicked, how they just, how can I have this hapless?

00:25:12.569 --> 00:25:15.230
Imagine they wanted to, and then when I thought

00:25:15.230 --> 00:25:16.450
they were bringing me out, they changed their

00:25:16.450 --> 00:25:20.170
mind and they now sold me. And then he spent

00:25:20.170 --> 00:25:22.089
time, you know, some of us can be going, we can

00:25:22.089 --> 00:25:26.650
be going through stuff and we spend time sulking,

00:25:26.869 --> 00:25:31.569
crying, complaining. Rather than keep our eyes,

00:25:31.829 --> 00:25:34.250
Joseph was faithful even in Potiphar's house.

00:25:35.130 --> 00:25:38.210
Everywhere you placed him, that man was still

00:25:38.210 --> 00:25:40.569
faithful. You didn't meet him and then he was

00:25:40.569 --> 00:25:43.309
like, you know, some of us, there are things

00:25:43.309 --> 00:25:45.750
happening in our countries and we spend time

00:25:45.750 --> 00:25:48.349
complaining about those things. Instead of us

00:25:48.349 --> 00:25:50.930
to find how we'll be solutions, we'll just spend

00:25:50.930 --> 00:25:52.730
time complaining. Instead of us to work on ourselves

00:25:52.730 --> 00:25:55.220
and see how God will help us. to meet the needs

00:25:55.220 --> 00:25:57.140
of our countries, we spend time complaining.

00:25:57.539 --> 00:25:59.960
Nobody builds, you know, when you have a mindset

00:25:59.960 --> 00:26:01.819
of complaining, you can never build it, you cannot

00:26:01.819 --> 00:26:04.220
be productive. You cannot make anything, you

00:26:04.220 --> 00:26:07.240
cannot make progress in any area at all because

00:26:07.240 --> 00:26:09.099
you're complaining. It's not like you're, you

00:26:09.099 --> 00:26:11.500
know, going back to the WhatsApp group. When

00:26:11.500 --> 00:26:14.460
we had that meeting, the amazing thing about

00:26:14.460 --> 00:26:15.759
that meeting, because we're trying to resolve

00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:18.319
a problem, and then somebody comes and he's still

00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:22.660
complaining about, so the chairman of the meeting

00:26:22.660 --> 00:26:24.759
had to stop him and say, Please, what is the

00:26:24.759 --> 00:26:27.619
way forward? How can we resolve this issue? And

00:26:27.619 --> 00:26:29.799
then I was in that meeting. I was listening.

00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:31.920
I was like, that is the mindset most of us have.

00:26:32.259 --> 00:26:35.099
We come to God for solution or we come to God

00:26:35.099 --> 00:26:37.900
to help us resolve. And then we're still complaining

00:26:37.900 --> 00:26:40.299
about the things that we're experiencing. And

00:26:40.299 --> 00:26:42.599
this is God wanting to change the situation.

00:26:42.759 --> 00:26:44.779
But we spend more time not understanding that

00:26:44.779 --> 00:26:47.339
if we don't let go of the thing and move past

00:26:47.339 --> 00:26:49.440
it, we will not see the solution. Praise God.

00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:55.039
And as a believer, you want to be aware. You

00:26:55.039 --> 00:26:56.759
want to, because it will start over. You're just

00:26:56.759 --> 00:26:59.400
trying to state the facts. Praise God. And that's

00:26:59.400 --> 00:27:00.940
where it starts from. We're stating the facts.

00:27:01.240 --> 00:27:02.619
This thing is not working. That thing is not

00:27:02.619 --> 00:27:05.900
working. Over time, you just find yourself on,

00:27:06.039 --> 00:27:07.859
you're going on and on. Meaning of course, we're

00:27:07.859 --> 00:27:10.319
victims. It's when somebody calls us to order,

00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:13.099
you see, and sorry, it looks like you're complaining

00:27:13.099 --> 00:27:16.019
about this thing and then we stop in our tracks.

00:27:16.200 --> 00:27:18.319
But if you, and when somebody tells you that

00:27:18.319 --> 00:27:20.019
you want to be able to say, oh, it's true. I've

00:27:20.019 --> 00:27:22.200
spent like 10, 20 minutes. Some people even one

00:27:22.200 --> 00:27:25.920
hour. not even saying, this is the way forward,

00:27:25.960 --> 00:27:27.480
this is the best thing we can do. And that is

00:27:27.480 --> 00:27:28.940
how you catch yourself doing things that will

00:27:28.940 --> 00:27:31.660
not help you grow. Because after, and it's not

00:27:31.660 --> 00:27:33.259
like you spend that one hour praying. You may

00:27:33.259 --> 00:27:36.480
say, let's pray for one hour now. You can't,

00:27:36.480 --> 00:27:40.140
you will be, praise God. So you want to have

00:27:40.140 --> 00:27:42.559
that consciousness of the fact that you can be

00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:44.700
bitter about something because it doesn't allow

00:27:44.700 --> 00:27:47.279
you to make it, and it introduces some level

00:27:47.279 --> 00:27:49.240
of coldness. I don't know if you have noticed

00:27:49.240 --> 00:27:50.920
that when you complain for a long time, after

00:27:50.920 --> 00:27:55.069
you just be quiet. Praise God. You just be quiet.

00:27:55.210 --> 00:27:58.109
And that introduces coldness and it doesn't allow

00:27:58.109 --> 00:28:00.769
you to be off. Because if Joseph had been in

00:28:00.769 --> 00:28:03.089
it, okay, now, let's move it a notch further.

00:28:03.369 --> 00:28:05.009
It's bad enough that he was sold to slavery.

00:28:05.089 --> 00:28:07.930
Then next minute, he's all by himself. Then Potiphar's

00:28:07.930 --> 00:28:10.049
wife now came into the picture. And then you'll

00:28:10.049 --> 00:28:12.369
be thinking to yourself, like, what did he even

00:28:12.369 --> 00:28:15.130
do wrong? And then he was imprisoned. He should

00:28:15.130 --> 00:28:17.450
be in that prison and say, Lord, why me? All

00:28:17.450 --> 00:28:19.720
this while I've been very faithful to you. I

00:28:19.720 --> 00:28:22.319
have take dinner. And then why did I now, you

00:28:22.319 --> 00:28:24.299
know, some of us were, we're in this and we're

00:28:24.299 --> 00:28:26.279
like, God, what did I do wrong? I've been faithful.

00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:28.960
And then all of a sudden, I don't have school

00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:32.200
fees. I've been faithful. And all of a sudden,

00:28:32.359 --> 00:28:34.680
I'm struggling to pay my, like, like how, oh

00:28:34.680 --> 00:28:37.839
God, please. I thought you see, you know, you

00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:40.440
now go all, but you don't understand that all

00:28:40.440 --> 00:28:43.839
of this had something that it was worth. There

00:28:43.839 --> 00:28:48.299
was the end goal. If, if you were to see, The

00:28:48.299 --> 00:28:50.660
whole, like if Joseph was to have been shown

00:28:50.660 --> 00:28:53.240
how everything was going to pan out to be, and

00:28:53.240 --> 00:28:55.880
Joseph was just strictly doing one thing, which

00:28:55.880 --> 00:28:59.000
is staying faithful. Praise God. We're just staying

00:28:59.000 --> 00:29:01.119
faithful and we're called to do the same. And

00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:03.619
the way we can be is when we understand that

00:29:03.619 --> 00:29:06.640
God wants us to be fervent in and out of season.

00:29:07.099 --> 00:29:10.440
God doesn't want our situations and circumstances

00:29:10.440 --> 00:29:13.099
to be what would determine our response to the

00:29:13.099 --> 00:29:14.839
things that we're experiencing, our response

00:29:14.839 --> 00:29:18.400
to all of that. Praise God. So very key thing,

00:29:18.500 --> 00:29:22.359
let's not destroy relationships. Even when people

00:29:22.359 --> 00:29:26.240
hurt us, offend us, it should not stop us from

00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:29.480
staying on course, doing what Christ instruct

00:29:29.480 --> 00:29:32.440
us to do in God's word. Praise God. Then the

00:29:32.440 --> 00:29:37.319
fourth point there is neglect and complacency.

00:29:39.200 --> 00:29:43.779
Neglect and complacency. Neglect and complacency.

00:29:44.579 --> 00:29:49.240
And know that You don't lose fire just by itself.

00:29:50.440 --> 00:29:56.359
And I want us to look at Acts 28. I want us to

00:29:56.359 --> 00:29:59.640
do something very practical. Acts 28 verse 2.

00:29:59.740 --> 00:30:01.339
I don't know whether I read this on Sunday, but

00:30:01.339 --> 00:30:03.619
I think I did, or I alluded to it when I was

00:30:03.619 --> 00:30:08.700
speaking. Acts 28 verse 2 says, And the natives

00:30:08.700 --> 00:30:13.319
showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled

00:30:13.319 --> 00:30:17.660
a fire and made us all welcome. Because of the

00:30:17.660 --> 00:30:22.180
rain that was falling and because of the cold.

00:30:23.079 --> 00:30:26.700
But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks

00:30:26.700 --> 00:30:30.980
to lay them on the fire, a viper came out because

00:30:30.980 --> 00:30:35.119
of the heat and fastened on his hand. Praise

00:30:35.119 --> 00:30:38.859
God. I want you to notice something. Notice something.

00:30:39.180 --> 00:30:44.960
That the fire was kindled for that fire to continue

00:30:44.960 --> 00:30:50.279
to burn. What do we see Apostle Paul do? He had

00:30:50.279 --> 00:30:53.400
to put wood. Not that for a fire to keep burning,

00:30:53.539 --> 00:30:55.819
you have to, there are things you have to, anytime

00:30:55.819 --> 00:30:59.819
you neglect to put wood into the fire, will you

00:30:59.819 --> 00:31:02.319
be surprised that the fire goes out? Will you

00:31:02.319 --> 00:31:04.119
be surprised that the fire goes out? No, you

00:31:04.119 --> 00:31:05.920
shouldn't be surprised because once, in fact,

00:31:05.980 --> 00:31:07.160
when you want to put it, I think those of us

00:31:07.160 --> 00:31:08.660
that are in training center, that time we were

00:31:08.660 --> 00:31:11.450
using Well, listen, notice that we have to be

00:31:11.450 --> 00:31:13.730
adding wood to the fire. Anytime you just leave

00:31:13.730 --> 00:31:15.589
it, before you know it, there's no fire again.

00:31:16.150 --> 00:31:18.109
And in our spiritual, there are certain things

00:31:18.109 --> 00:31:20.869
you have to add when we come to how to maintain

00:31:20.869 --> 00:31:22.390
the fire. There are certain things you have to

00:31:22.390 --> 00:31:25.210
add. I'll just give you. Note that if you are

00:31:25.210 --> 00:31:29.670
not adding consistent prayers, you are not delighting

00:31:29.670 --> 00:31:32.089
in God's word. You're not engaging in disciplines.

00:31:32.490 --> 00:31:34.549
Those are the things that are the wood that you

00:31:34.549 --> 00:31:37.509
put into a fire to maintain the fire. Praise

00:31:37.509 --> 00:31:40.000
God. The moment you cannot, you know, some of

00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:42.380
us think some of our spiritual addition is just

00:31:42.380 --> 00:31:44.640
automatic. You just sit down and the Lord is

00:31:44.640 --> 00:31:46.140
doing it. You know, everything is just working

00:31:46.140 --> 00:31:48.940
out. You know, I just sleep, wake up, and then

00:31:48.940 --> 00:31:50.740
all of a sudden, I just see that there's this

00:31:50.740 --> 00:31:53.740
unusual zeal. See, the Holy Spirit put it in

00:31:53.740 --> 00:31:57.819
there. Sorry, that's not how it works. Come back

00:31:57.819 --> 00:32:00.180
to reality. There are certain things that you

00:32:00.180 --> 00:32:04.140
have to do to be able to ensure that you... Guard

00:32:04.140 --> 00:32:06.980
the things that God is doing in you, God is doing

00:32:06.980 --> 00:32:09.160
through you. Because know that it will be...

00:32:09.160 --> 00:32:14.140
Let's just leave it for later. Know that it's

00:32:14.140 --> 00:32:16.819
very important that you notice what is happening

00:32:16.819 --> 00:32:21.319
here. And I love this passage because you see

00:32:21.319 --> 00:32:27.819
that the fire or the heat exposed this viper

00:32:27.819 --> 00:32:30.240
that was lurking in there. Because if there was

00:32:30.240 --> 00:32:33.079
no heat... And if there was no heat, you wouldn't

00:32:33.079 --> 00:32:34.579
have seen, the snake wouldn't have come out.

00:32:34.720 --> 00:32:39.160
Certain creatures, you know, even us, we don't

00:32:39.160 --> 00:32:41.279
like places that, you know, when we came to this

00:32:41.279 --> 00:32:43.119
place, this place was a bit cold. You know, we

00:32:43.119 --> 00:32:45.319
don't have a problem. But if it's hot, you will

00:32:45.319 --> 00:32:47.640
notice, you know, there was a time during the

00:32:47.640 --> 00:32:49.220
believers conference where the place was hot.

00:32:49.339 --> 00:32:50.839
You know, you could see people trying to keep

00:32:50.839 --> 00:32:53.539
themselves as warm as they could be. Praise God.

00:32:53.839 --> 00:32:56.279
Know that heat makes certain things uncomfortable.

00:32:56.740 --> 00:32:59.420
We understand that. Everyone, every normal person,

00:32:59.930 --> 00:33:02.130
Once the place is hot, yes, you can, you know,

00:33:02.150 --> 00:33:04.789
a couple of us, we can withstand a bit of heat.

00:33:04.829 --> 00:33:06.750
Some of us, in the heat, we can be normal. I

00:33:06.750 --> 00:33:10.309
think when my university days, we used to, there

00:33:10.309 --> 00:33:12.289
are times where they would tell us to do long

00:33:12.289 --> 00:33:15.589
walks. We would do, in fact, we used to do, there

00:33:15.589 --> 00:33:18.690
are exercises they used to force us to come and

00:33:18.690 --> 00:33:20.990
do. Most people hated it, but some of us, we

00:33:20.990 --> 00:33:23.750
had no choice but to love it and enjoy it as

00:33:23.750 --> 00:33:26.190
it goes. And sometimes it will require you to

00:33:26.190 --> 00:33:29.400
walk for long distances in the heat. So we, I

00:33:29.400 --> 00:33:31.500
think I had two, three of my friends, we said,

00:33:31.559 --> 00:33:34.079
you know, we cannot say we're not going to do

00:33:34.079 --> 00:33:37.240
it. So let's just make it as good as it can be.

00:33:37.339 --> 00:33:39.880
So a friend of mine said, let me tell you something

00:33:39.880 --> 00:33:42.019
to do to ensure that you don't feel the heat

00:33:42.019 --> 00:33:44.039
much. He said, when you're paying attention to

00:33:44.039 --> 00:33:46.079
the heat, that's when you feel a lot of the heat.

00:33:46.400 --> 00:33:49.180
But when you decide to focus on something else,

00:33:49.200 --> 00:33:50.920
so he said, let's just look at the ground. Let's

00:33:50.920 --> 00:33:52.500
just pay attention to the ground. Let's look

00:33:52.500 --> 00:33:55.079
at the ground. Just admire the ground. All of

00:33:55.079 --> 00:33:56.680
a sudden, we were paying attention to the ground.

00:33:57.259 --> 00:33:59.240
we were lost in another world. We started feeling

00:33:59.240 --> 00:34:01.619
cool breeze. I was like, this is a good, this

00:34:01.619 --> 00:34:04.920
is a good, this is a good, good, this is a good

00:34:04.920 --> 00:34:08.099
trick. It's just, you're now not distracted by

00:34:08.099 --> 00:34:10.179
the heat that is around, but you're paying attention

00:34:10.179 --> 00:34:12.559
to something else and then you're, it's almost

00:34:12.559 --> 00:34:15.019
like the cool breeze appeared. I was like, is

00:34:15.019 --> 00:34:17.400
this witchcraft or something? Because I can't

00:34:17.400 --> 00:34:19.739
explain how I'm feeling the cool breeze after

00:34:19.739 --> 00:34:22.260
that one. So, and that is a very important lesson

00:34:22.260 --> 00:34:25.079
to think about. when you're complaining about

00:34:25.079 --> 00:34:26.659
the heat in the environment, it doesn't change

00:34:26.659 --> 00:34:29.000
anything. Because you're not enjoying it anyways.

00:34:29.539 --> 00:34:31.480
Praise God. You're not enjoying it anyways. But

00:34:31.480 --> 00:34:33.280
you want to focus on the things that will help

00:34:33.280 --> 00:34:36.340
you get better. You want to focus on the things

00:34:36.340 --> 00:34:38.179
that will help you get better. And we see that

00:34:38.179 --> 00:34:42.880
Apostle Paul here wants to keep warm. The goal

00:34:42.880 --> 00:34:45.079
is to keep warm. At least the people in the place

00:34:45.079 --> 00:34:47.659
welcome them by setting a kindling fire for them

00:34:47.659 --> 00:34:50.360
to keep warm. Even though at least they went

00:34:50.360 --> 00:34:52.440
into some form of, you're like, ah, this by what,

00:34:52.539 --> 00:34:55.840
this snake by it. And know that because of all

00:34:55.840 --> 00:34:58.239
of this drama, I want you to see what happens

00:34:58.239 --> 00:35:04.039
in verse 6, I think. 6, yeah. I want you to see

00:35:04.039 --> 00:35:07.219
the things that happen in verse 6. So it says,

00:35:07.460 --> 00:35:18.389
let's look at 7. Let's look at 7. We'll see seven,

00:35:18.530 --> 00:35:22.030
eight, and nine. Let me read six. However, they

00:35:22.030 --> 00:35:24.829
were expecting that he would swell up and suddenly

00:35:24.829 --> 00:35:29.610
fall down dead. But after they looked for a long

00:35:29.610 --> 00:35:33.710
time and saw no harm came to him, they changed

00:35:33.710 --> 00:35:38.369
their minds and said that he was a god. It says

00:35:38.369 --> 00:35:42.550
in the region, there was a estate of the leading

00:35:42.550 --> 00:35:46.530
citizen of the island whose name was Poblos.

00:35:47.130 --> 00:35:52.050
who received us and entertained us cautiously

00:35:52.050 --> 00:35:56.429
for three days. And it happened that the father

00:35:56.429 --> 00:35:59.829
of Phoblos made sick of a fever and dysentery.

00:35:59.969 --> 00:36:03.829
Paul went into him and prayed and laid hands

00:36:03.829 --> 00:36:05.949
on him. We talked about laying of hands, laid

00:36:05.949 --> 00:36:08.909
hands on him and healed him. Nine now says, so

00:36:08.909 --> 00:36:12.469
when this was done, the rest of those in the

00:36:12.469 --> 00:36:17.730
island who had diseases came, also came and were

00:36:17.730 --> 00:36:21.090
healed. Praise God. It says, and they also honored

00:36:21.090 --> 00:36:24.090
us in many ways and we departed and they were

00:36:24.090 --> 00:36:29.730
provided usual things, provided such things as

00:36:29.730 --> 00:36:32.010
were necessary. Praise God. I want us to see

00:36:32.010 --> 00:36:35.010
something. Note that this was, it was never in

00:36:35.010 --> 00:36:38.010
the plan for them to arrive at Malta. They experienced

00:36:38.010 --> 00:36:39.829
a shipwreck and they found themselves in Malta.

00:36:39.949 --> 00:36:43.469
But regardless of that situation, God still used

00:36:43.469 --> 00:36:48.849
it to do the things that he did. where the leading

00:36:48.849 --> 00:36:52.590
citizen of that place had a sick father that

00:36:52.590 --> 00:36:54.889
ended up being healed. Because know that it built

00:36:54.889 --> 00:36:58.110
up from something. Them welcoming them and then

00:36:58.110 --> 00:37:00.090
allowing for all of those things that happened

00:37:00.090 --> 00:37:02.610
leading to the healing of the person that was

00:37:02.610 --> 00:37:05.730
sick and many others afterwards. Meaning that

00:37:05.730 --> 00:37:07.550
everything that's happened in your life, going

00:37:07.550 --> 00:37:09.829
back to the Joseph situation, you want to always

00:37:09.829 --> 00:37:12.750
be ready for an opportunity. And ready for an

00:37:12.750 --> 00:37:15.650
opportunity means that you... You have positioned

00:37:15.650 --> 00:37:17.889
yourself for what God is going to do in and through

00:37:17.889 --> 00:37:20.690
you. You don't want to be that person that, oh,

00:37:20.769 --> 00:37:22.670
they say, okay, we want you to do this, we want

00:37:22.670 --> 00:37:24.389
you to do that. You say, ah, no, I'm not on fire.

00:37:25.070 --> 00:37:29.170
You know, I need to take like one week. I need

00:37:29.170 --> 00:37:32.329
to take like two weeks to sharpen and to ensure

00:37:32.329 --> 00:37:34.510
that things are put together before that happens.

00:37:34.730 --> 00:37:37.110
You want to be that believer that is always ready.

00:37:37.989 --> 00:37:39.929
Praise God. And you want to be that believer

00:37:39.929 --> 00:37:42.409
that knows that regardless of the situation they

00:37:42.409 --> 00:37:44.619
find themselves, God is able to walk in and through

00:37:44.619 --> 00:37:48.360
them. Because if someone is sick, it's through

00:37:48.360 --> 00:37:49.820
you that that healing will come through. Remember

00:37:49.820 --> 00:37:52.440
we said you are God's method, right? So you want

00:37:52.440 --> 00:37:54.579
to always make yourself available as God's method.

00:37:55.659 --> 00:37:57.440
Praise God. You want to always make yourself

00:37:57.440 --> 00:37:59.699
available as God's method. So you don't want

00:37:59.699 --> 00:38:02.900
to be complacent. Remember we said there's a

00:38:02.900 --> 00:38:04.559
neglect, there's a complacency. Let's look at

00:38:04.559 --> 00:38:10.239
Leviticus. Leviticus 6. Leviticus 6, verse 12.

00:38:11.299 --> 00:38:13.420
Let's look at Leviticus 6, verse 12 and 13. It

00:38:13.420 --> 00:38:41.320
says, of the peace offerings. Praise God. Know

00:38:41.320 --> 00:38:43.219
that even the priests themselves have to put

00:38:43.219 --> 00:38:45.820
wood, have to ensure that they keep that fire

00:38:45.820 --> 00:38:47.260
burning and this wood that they used to keep

00:38:47.260 --> 00:38:49.340
the fire, just to reiterate the point I made

00:38:49.340 --> 00:38:51.980
earlier. If you neglect it, you will not see

00:38:51.980 --> 00:38:54.039
any fire. If you neglect putting the wood, you

00:38:54.039 --> 00:38:55.960
will not see any fire. Remember we said, just

00:38:55.960 --> 00:38:58.059
imagine it as the things that you do on a daily

00:38:58.059 --> 00:39:01.239
and they see it every morning. So it means that

00:39:01.239 --> 00:39:04.139
your work or your spiritual, when we say you

00:39:04.139 --> 00:39:06.380
don't want to be that believer that will spend

00:39:06.380 --> 00:39:10.599
two days. In fact, even one day, you should be

00:39:10.599 --> 00:39:14.679
able to know that something, it should not be

00:39:14.679 --> 00:39:19.559
normal for you to spend a day or two, in fact,

00:39:19.559 --> 00:39:22.880
a day is a problem, two, without having that

00:39:22.880 --> 00:39:27.360
fellowship. Praise God. You don't wait and then

00:39:27.360 --> 00:39:30.239
yours is once in a week. When we come, midweek

00:39:30.239 --> 00:39:32.139
service, when they say pray for, then that's

00:39:32.139 --> 00:39:34.260
when, and then we will know because there's not

00:39:34.260 --> 00:39:35.599
something you're familiar with. You don't know

00:39:35.599 --> 00:39:38.829
this road. Praise God. So it's something that

00:39:38.829 --> 00:39:40.489
you don't want to neglect it. You don't want

00:39:40.489 --> 00:39:42.550
to be complacent about it. You're not a believer.

00:39:42.610 --> 00:39:45.630
The first thing that goes off the list is fellowship.

00:39:46.150 --> 00:39:48.630
When they say, okay, maybe I'm busy. Let's remove

00:39:48.630 --> 00:39:51.849
fellowship. Or let's remove... You have to have

00:39:51.849 --> 00:39:53.809
a... This is what I want us to understand. You

00:39:53.809 --> 00:39:56.170
have to have a routine that certain things are

00:39:56.170 --> 00:39:59.630
stamped. They are solid on it. You don't want

00:39:59.630 --> 00:40:01.210
to have... You don't want to be allowing things

00:40:01.210 --> 00:40:03.329
hit you from left, right, and center. And the

00:40:03.329 --> 00:40:04.769
earlier you start to do it, the better for you.

00:40:04.829 --> 00:40:06.730
Praise God. We used to say it in this church.

00:40:06.869 --> 00:40:09.090
You will... you will keep getting busier and

00:40:09.090 --> 00:40:12.309
busier if you don't have a structure that ensures

00:40:12.309 --> 00:40:15.969
that you pray, you study God's word, you do disciplines.

00:40:17.289 --> 00:40:20.630
It's amazing that you have believers that can

00:40:20.630 --> 00:40:23.010
go for a whole year and they don't even engage.

00:40:23.150 --> 00:40:25.349
I would say a whole month. You don't have times

00:40:25.349 --> 00:40:30.190
where you fast. And remember, we just told you

00:40:30.190 --> 00:40:32.289
this. You're not fasting to be able to see heavens

00:40:32.289 --> 00:40:36.730
or see heavens open. That would be beautiful,

00:40:36.849 --> 00:40:39.610
but you want to ensure that you have a discipline.

00:40:40.110 --> 00:40:41.670
You want to ensure that you engage spiritual

00:40:41.670 --> 00:40:44.150
discipline, and it's very important for you to

00:40:44.150 --> 00:40:46.929
grow, for you to be fervent, for you to be zealous.

00:40:47.010 --> 00:40:50.230
Those things have a way of setting you up for

00:40:50.230 --> 00:40:51.869
the things that God, and by the way, know that

00:40:51.869 --> 00:40:54.969
you don't come accidentally into this. There's

00:40:54.969 --> 00:40:57.030
always that training. Notice that all of these

00:40:57.030 --> 00:41:00.570
individuals, they are trained, and then the occasion

00:41:00.570 --> 00:41:02.469
presents itself, and then there's a manifestation.

00:41:03.449 --> 00:41:06.730
Praise God. And many of you, NECF is where the

00:41:06.730 --> 00:41:09.610
training is happening. When you show up in a

00:41:09.610 --> 00:41:11.389
particular place, you will not be surprised at

00:41:11.389 --> 00:41:13.469
the things that you are going to be seeing. Even

00:41:13.469 --> 00:41:14.730
here, we're not surprised at the things we're

00:41:14.730 --> 00:41:16.809
seeing because you have stayed under teaching

00:41:16.809 --> 00:41:19.150
for a long period of time. So there are certain

00:41:19.150 --> 00:41:21.550
things we expect of you. And for some of you,

00:41:21.590 --> 00:41:24.329
you're just complacent about it. You're not even

00:41:24.329 --> 00:41:27.570
trying to act or engage what you have been receiving.

00:41:27.610 --> 00:41:29.710
Praise God. And it doesn't help you. And for

00:41:29.710 --> 00:41:32.150
some of us, When we say don't neglect, during

00:41:32.150 --> 00:41:34.210
the Believers Conference, some of you had given

00:41:34.210 --> 00:41:36.449
word for the first time and it was exciting.

00:41:36.710 --> 00:41:39.429
But it should not stop there, praise God. It

00:41:39.429 --> 00:41:41.590
shouldn't stop there because the moment you neglect

00:41:41.590 --> 00:41:45.690
it, you'll lose the fire in that particular department.

00:41:46.489 --> 00:41:49.650
Praise God. So you want to engage it. And by

00:41:49.650 --> 00:41:51.710
the way, nothing stops you from speaking to a

00:41:51.710 --> 00:41:53.929
person and then having something. And don't make

00:41:53.929 --> 00:41:58.130
it spooky. Because for some of us, as I was just

00:41:58.130 --> 00:42:00.320
talking now, The Holy Spirit just spoke to me

00:42:00.320 --> 00:42:02.480
on my left ear, right ear, and then you just,

00:42:02.500 --> 00:42:03.780
all of a sudden, all of a sudden, hey, what's

00:42:03.780 --> 00:42:06.360
this? Oh, it's going crazy. And then you make

00:42:06.360 --> 00:42:08.980
it spooky. You can just, you can see it as though

00:42:08.980 --> 00:42:11.579
a thought came to your mind, like what about

00:42:11.579 --> 00:42:14.559
this and what about that? You don't have to make

00:42:14.559 --> 00:42:16.280
the person now, creep the person out. Praise

00:42:16.280 --> 00:42:19.179
God. You want to be able to, you want to be able

00:42:19.179 --> 00:42:22.960
to engage. And the moment you say those things

00:42:22.960 --> 00:42:25.239
and the person confirms, ah, just not long ago,

00:42:25.280 --> 00:42:27.989
I was on the call with my mom. and this and that

00:42:27.989 --> 00:42:29.650
and that and that. That in itself even makes

00:42:29.650 --> 00:42:32.590
you like, yeah, just keep at it. And then you

00:42:32.590 --> 00:42:36.010
engage and engage and doing times of evangelism.

00:42:36.230 --> 00:42:37.949
Those are the things that makes it beautiful.

00:42:38.070 --> 00:42:39.789
Praise God. Those are the things that make it

00:42:39.789 --> 00:42:42.050
beautiful. So you want to be able to engage that

00:42:42.050 --> 00:42:45.369
and prayerfully believe God too. One very key

00:42:45.369 --> 00:42:46.710
thing I want to pay attention to is the fact

00:42:46.710 --> 00:42:51.570
that God disciplines, right? Disciplines are

00:42:51.570 --> 00:42:53.849
what helps us to keep the fire burning. Discipline.

00:42:55.010 --> 00:42:56.900
Discipline. is what helps us to keep the fire

00:42:56.900 --> 00:42:58.860
burning. If you're not a disciplined person,

00:42:59.119 --> 00:43:02.320
and I was sharing with some people, I say, it's

00:43:02.320 --> 00:43:04.059
very easy to spot a person that is not disciplined.

00:43:04.420 --> 00:43:07.059
They are all over the place. They can't put,

00:43:07.159 --> 00:43:08.860
they are all over the place. And a couple of

00:43:08.860 --> 00:43:10.780
people, if you don't train yourself to be disciplined,

00:43:10.920 --> 00:43:13.400
you will not be. And how you train yourself to

00:43:13.400 --> 00:43:16.199
be disciplined is by doing, by trying to have

00:43:16.199 --> 00:43:18.059
a structure. And we're not saying that you should

00:43:18.059 --> 00:43:20.460
now... your life should not be revolved around

00:43:20.460 --> 00:43:22.639
structures. We're saying that you want to have,

00:43:22.719 --> 00:43:25.039
at least have a structure because if God wants

00:43:25.039 --> 00:43:27.199
to interrupt the structure, he has something

00:43:27.199 --> 00:43:29.579
to interrupt. Praise God. But some people, they

00:43:29.579 --> 00:43:33.000
are just, everything is just scattered. And not

00:43:33.000 --> 00:43:34.599
only with that discipline, that discipline now

00:43:34.599 --> 00:43:38.699
brings about consistency. That discipline now

00:43:38.699 --> 00:43:41.760
brings about consistency because without discipline,

00:43:41.940 --> 00:43:45.219
you will struggle to be consistent. And for many

00:43:45.219 --> 00:43:47.989
of us, we don't. have consistency and many of

00:43:47.989 --> 00:43:49.989
us struggle with consistency because it's not

00:43:49.989 --> 00:43:53.929
something that comes on you by the Spirit of

00:43:53.929 --> 00:43:57.210
God. Praise God. And that's why if you notice,

00:43:57.269 --> 00:43:59.829
the things that we're doing in church is to build

00:43:59.829 --> 00:44:04.630
that consistency so that you have a consistent

00:44:04.630 --> 00:44:08.829
prayer life. You have a consistent study, all

00:44:08.829 --> 00:44:11.510
the different things, the canonicals, all of

00:44:11.510 --> 00:44:13.090
those things we're doing so that you have something

00:44:13.090 --> 00:44:15.010
you do this year, you do next year, before you

00:44:15.010 --> 00:44:16.980
know it. We get used to the rhythm. For some

00:44:16.980 --> 00:44:19.340
of us, it's a struggle, but let it not stop you.

00:44:19.380 --> 00:44:22.840
Keep at it. I say many of us, I think it was

00:44:22.840 --> 00:44:27.420
2019, I think when I reached, when it was, I

00:44:27.420 --> 00:44:29.820
think it was COVID. God sent COVID to help some

00:44:29.820 --> 00:44:32.019
people's spiritual life. Praise God. Because

00:44:32.019 --> 00:44:34.360
some people, they have spiritual life because

00:44:34.360 --> 00:44:36.980
now you don't have anywhere to go to. You don't

00:44:36.980 --> 00:44:38.239
have anywhere to go to. Some people with these

00:44:38.239 --> 00:44:40.059
movies are now took the opportunity. God presented

00:44:40.059 --> 00:44:41.880
the opportunity. They now say, no, we don't want

00:44:41.880 --> 00:44:44.099
to take it. And then that was the first, I think

00:44:44.099 --> 00:44:45.869
that was the time that we, you're able to be

00:44:45.869 --> 00:44:48.690
consistent. I'm speaking for myself, able to

00:44:48.690 --> 00:44:50.489
successfully do it. And then it now kept up.

00:44:50.530 --> 00:44:52.750
You want to be able to put that in and continue

00:44:52.750 --> 00:44:55.750
at it. Because you will not, you might not necessarily

00:44:55.750 --> 00:44:57.869
see the effect in that first year. You will not

00:44:57.869 --> 00:45:00.070
see effect in the second year. But you want to

00:45:00.070 --> 00:45:02.309
keep at it so that you have something that you

00:45:02.309 --> 00:45:05.090
are doing on a regular. Praise God. Because it's

00:45:05.090 --> 00:45:07.210
very hard. Nobody will tell you that it's easy

00:45:07.210 --> 00:45:10.489
to be, discipline doesn't come by accident. It's

00:45:10.489 --> 00:45:13.280
conscious. Praise God. I know that consistency

00:45:13.280 --> 00:45:18.280
is something that is not fueled by your feeling.

00:45:18.559 --> 00:45:21.219
You don't fall consistency by your feeling. What

00:45:21.219 --> 00:45:23.780
falls consistency is your desire to be consistent.

00:45:24.360 --> 00:45:26.619
Some people will say, I feel like I'm not just

00:45:26.619 --> 00:45:29.739
consistent and it stays the same way. But once

00:45:29.739 --> 00:45:31.739
you have desire, you say, no matter what happens,

00:45:31.860 --> 00:45:34.480
I'm mostly consistent. Praise God. You will find

00:45:34.480 --> 00:45:38.019
yourself wanting to do the things that will ensure

00:45:38.019 --> 00:45:40.519
that you are. And when you are failing on it,

00:45:40.579 --> 00:45:42.500
you don't wait for it to be one whole year before

00:45:42.500 --> 00:45:44.460
you put yourself back there. You want to ensure

00:45:44.460 --> 00:45:47.719
that any small, you see yourself drift away,

00:45:47.860 --> 00:45:50.039
you bring yourself back in line. Praise God.

00:45:50.380 --> 00:45:52.099
And that is how you stay consistent. That is

00:45:52.099 --> 00:45:54.599
how you burn. The moment you just notice that,

00:45:54.639 --> 00:45:57.400
ah, when they say let's pray, it looks like it

00:45:57.400 --> 00:46:00.420
takes me like 20 minutes to calibrate. And then

00:46:00.420 --> 00:46:02.559
the whole prayer is 50 minutes. And then all

00:46:02.559 --> 00:46:04.480
of a sudden, it's only 30 minutes I was able

00:46:04.480 --> 00:46:06.960
to go up. You should already know that there's

00:46:06.960 --> 00:46:09.809
a problem. And then you say, ah, God, let's work

00:46:09.809 --> 00:46:12.230
on this thing. But for some people, it will be

00:46:12.230 --> 00:46:13.949
like that until something will hit you. Then

00:46:13.949 --> 00:46:15.429
you now come and there is prayer team that is

00:46:15.429 --> 00:46:17.489
going to be busy because now you know that there

00:46:17.489 --> 00:46:19.530
is nothing in the tank. But that is not, that

00:46:19.530 --> 00:46:21.230
shouldn't be what, that shouldn't be how you

00:46:21.230 --> 00:46:22.969
run your life where it's like this. You're just

00:46:22.969 --> 00:46:24.670
going like this. Let it be like this. Praise

00:46:24.670 --> 00:46:27.869
God and stay there. So now very quickly, let's

00:46:27.869 --> 00:46:31.110
do how to maintain the fire. How to maintain

00:46:31.110 --> 00:46:38.809
the fire. How to maintain the fire. So Paul's

00:46:38.809 --> 00:46:42.590
instruction is that we are to be fervent. It's

00:46:42.590 --> 00:46:48.190
like he said, never be lazy. Never be lazy. So

00:46:48.190 --> 00:46:51.110
to maintain it. So the command is not just this.

00:46:51.150 --> 00:46:54.010
The command is for us to be fervent, right? The

00:46:54.010 --> 00:46:56.289
command is for us to be fervent. And when God

00:46:56.289 --> 00:46:58.570
instructs us, he gives us the ability to do so.

00:46:58.630 --> 00:47:01.949
Praise God. Any instruction God gives us, there's

00:47:01.949 --> 00:47:05.440
the ability to do it. But you have to desire

00:47:05.440 --> 00:47:07.900
to do it. Praise God. You have to desire to do

00:47:07.900 --> 00:47:09.679
it. If not, you're not going to see it. So first,

00:47:09.860 --> 00:47:13.880
the first point there is to stay active in spiritual

00:47:13.880 --> 00:47:16.119
disciplines. I've been talking about it. Stay

00:47:16.119 --> 00:47:19.320
active in spiritual disciplines in all seasons.

00:47:19.719 --> 00:47:21.539
It means that you have to have a routine. Stay

00:47:21.539 --> 00:47:25.300
active in spiritual disciplines. Stay active

00:47:25.300 --> 00:47:29.099
in spiritual disciplines. The first is praying

00:47:29.099 --> 00:47:31.579
without season or pray without season. From 1

00:47:31.579 --> 00:47:35.099
Thessalonians, I think. Pastor Kostian had taught,

00:47:35.320 --> 00:47:37.440
I think I listened to that day. I think it's

00:47:37.440 --> 00:47:39.780
not the longest, just 30 minutes. He taught that

00:47:39.780 --> 00:47:42.880
in, I think that was 2022. That was, I think

00:47:42.880 --> 00:47:46.179
it was 2022. Fervency in prayers. He taught us

00:47:46.179 --> 00:47:47.619
on the subject. How many of us remember that?

00:47:47.699 --> 00:47:50.079
Those of us that are around 2022. Fervency in

00:47:50.079 --> 00:47:52.639
prayers. It's a very good shot, but there was

00:47:52.639 --> 00:47:54.599
a lot of things that were very impactful. Something

00:47:54.599 --> 00:47:57.239
that you should go and do. Praying without ceasing.

00:47:57.360 --> 00:48:01.099
But fervency in prayers, the point there is praying.

00:48:02.779 --> 00:48:04.460
without ceasing, praying without ceasing. First

00:48:04.460 --> 00:48:06.360
Thessalonians, we're going to read, we're going

00:48:06.360 --> 00:48:08.519
to spend a lot of time in 1 Thessalonians. 1

00:48:08.519 --> 00:48:12.699
Thessalonians 5, verse 17. 1 Thessalonians 5,

00:48:12.739 --> 00:48:14.920
verse 17, that's praying without ceasing, fervency

00:48:14.920 --> 00:48:17.199
in prayers. And then I think Pastor Ephraim also

00:48:17.199 --> 00:48:19.900
taught us on why do we pray. It's very important

00:48:19.900 --> 00:48:21.940
that we know why we pray so that we can be able

00:48:21.940 --> 00:48:24.079
to stay in the place of prayer. Because most

00:48:24.079 --> 00:48:25.579
of us, if we don't know the why, we don't know

00:48:25.579 --> 00:48:27.619
the how, we don't even, in fact, there's no desire

00:48:27.619 --> 00:48:29.739
to do, we don't even go out. go about it. So

00:48:29.739 --> 00:48:31.500
you want to know why you're praying. You want

00:48:31.500 --> 00:48:33.820
to understand why prayer is important and then

00:48:33.820 --> 00:48:36.460
you engage it. Praise God. You're engaged. So

00:48:36.460 --> 00:48:38.380
I gave us those teachings so that we can go and

00:48:38.380 --> 00:48:41.519
just refresh ourselves and sing on it. And then

00:48:41.519 --> 00:48:43.960
the second is have a routine of reading God's

00:48:43.960 --> 00:48:46.739
word. Have a daily routine of reading God's word.

00:48:47.219 --> 00:48:49.519
Some of us, we read it anytime. They say we are

00:48:49.519 --> 00:48:51.300
the spiritual. Your father, your mother calls

00:48:51.300 --> 00:48:53.119
you. Then they now say, have you read your Bible?

00:48:53.219 --> 00:48:55.539
Then it becomes important to you. You want to

00:48:55.539 --> 00:48:58.090
have a daily routine. of reading God's word is

00:48:58.090 --> 00:49:00.309
a discipline, daily routine of reading God's

00:49:00.309 --> 00:49:03.769
word. And you want to, let me read, let me just

00:49:03.769 --> 00:49:07.250
quickly read for us Matthew 4, verse 4. It says,

00:49:08.250 --> 00:49:11.849
but he answered and said, man shall not live

00:49:11.849 --> 00:49:14.309
by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds

00:49:14.309 --> 00:49:16.269
from the mouth of the Lord. It means that you

00:49:16.269 --> 00:49:20.769
want to prioritize the word of God or God's instructions

00:49:20.769 --> 00:49:24.599
to you over. your food, over the foods that you

00:49:24.599 --> 00:49:26.960
eat, over the, you want to discipline yourself.

00:49:27.199 --> 00:49:29.639
And sometimes you want to make these things a

00:49:29.639 --> 00:49:31.619
challenge. I was telling, I was sharing with

00:49:31.619 --> 00:49:34.780
some people, I said, you know, some of us spend

00:49:34.780 --> 00:49:38.440
time on social media. We spend a lot of time

00:49:38.440 --> 00:49:40.800
on social media. And those times that we spend

00:49:40.800 --> 00:49:42.860
on social media, it doesn't amount to anything

00:49:42.860 --> 00:49:45.400
productive. Like you can say, I spent one hour

00:49:45.400 --> 00:49:47.219
on social media and then I was able to get this.

00:49:47.619 --> 00:49:50.320
Something that you can hold on to. And you visit

00:49:50.320 --> 00:49:52.940
social media almost all of us. Is there anybody

00:49:52.940 --> 00:49:55.019
that doesn't visit social media like any day?

00:49:55.119 --> 00:49:57.900
You don't visit so many, right? Okay. Very few.

00:49:58.400 --> 00:50:01.219
They're not even here. Like I said, I'm going

00:50:01.219 --> 00:50:02.579
to visit social media. You know WhatsApp too

00:50:02.579 --> 00:50:08.739
is social media. Yeah, it's all right. It's all

00:50:08.739 --> 00:50:09.860
right. It's all right. It's all right. I don't

00:50:09.860 --> 00:50:12.679
do Facebook. I don't do the... It's all right.

00:50:12.780 --> 00:50:15.360
I'm fully holier than thou. It's all right. So...

00:50:17.550 --> 00:50:20.869
So not that you spend time in that, you want

00:50:20.869 --> 00:50:23.550
to also prioritize ensuring that, because if

00:50:23.550 --> 00:50:25.769
you can do that, it means that you can also be

00:50:25.769 --> 00:50:29.690
in a Bible app for every day. Praise God. And

00:50:29.690 --> 00:50:32.429
some of you are doing, yeah, yeah, yeah. It means

00:50:32.429 --> 00:50:36.289
that you can actually enter the app and be there

00:50:36.289 --> 00:50:40.170
at least. So let the competition, and I say this

00:50:40.170 --> 00:50:42.530
because I do this. In a week, you know, some

00:50:42.530 --> 00:50:45.829
of us, our phones will tell us your screen time,

00:50:45.989 --> 00:50:48.340
right? It will tell you which app takes more

00:50:48.340 --> 00:50:51.280
time. That's how I used to check my own. If I

00:50:51.280 --> 00:50:53.940
spend a whole week, I check it and then my Bible

00:50:53.940 --> 00:50:56.860
app is not competing with my social media, I

00:50:56.860 --> 00:51:01.280
know there's a problem. Praise God. I'm telling

00:51:01.280 --> 00:51:05.539
you what it is like because you want to be conscious.

00:51:05.659 --> 00:51:07.159
You want to evaluate yourself. You don't have

00:51:07.159 --> 00:51:09.699
to wait till when something happens before somebody

00:51:09.699 --> 00:51:12.559
will now be communicating it to you. Praise God.

00:51:12.860 --> 00:51:15.559
You want to be real to that level that you check

00:51:15.559 --> 00:51:21.309
and say, If in a week, my app says I spent 12

00:51:21.309 --> 00:51:24.630
hours on WhatsApp and then like three hours on

00:51:24.630 --> 00:51:28.449
my Bible app, you already know that there is

00:51:28.449 --> 00:51:32.170
a struggle. Praise God. And for me, I said, the

00:51:32.170 --> 00:51:34.710
first three apps that is the topmost app, if

00:51:34.710 --> 00:51:36.730
the Bible app is missing there, there's a problem.

00:51:37.469 --> 00:51:40.630
And that is practical. And this is something

00:51:40.630 --> 00:51:42.570
that you should do for yourself. I'm saying it

00:51:42.570 --> 00:51:44.409
to tell you that this is what I do. And it's

00:51:44.409 --> 00:51:46.309
a good thing. And I know it's a good thing. You

00:51:46.309 --> 00:51:48.389
should adopt it. Praise God. You should tell

00:51:48.389 --> 00:51:50.829
yourself, I will be conscious about it. In a

00:51:50.829 --> 00:51:52.750
week, I want to... And some of us, we don't even

00:51:52.750 --> 00:51:55.070
know the amount of time we spend on certain things

00:51:55.070 --> 00:51:57.190
until the app shows you. You know, you want to

00:51:57.190 --> 00:51:59.130
have something that tells you what exactly it

00:51:59.130 --> 00:52:01.429
is. The way you cannot scale how your fire is,

00:52:01.590 --> 00:52:03.929
but you can see indicators, you want to have

00:52:03.929 --> 00:52:05.369
certain things that will help you to check that.

00:52:05.449 --> 00:52:07.949
Praise God. So reading God's word is important.

00:52:08.090 --> 00:52:10.309
You want to spend as much time there. And notice

00:52:10.309 --> 00:52:13.210
that when you fail, you don't stay there. You

00:52:13.210 --> 00:52:15.840
want to get back. And the earlier you do so,

00:52:15.880 --> 00:52:19.199
the better. Praise God. Then three is rejoicing

00:52:19.199 --> 00:52:22.800
always. Praise God. Rejoicing always. Philippians

00:52:22.800 --> 00:52:26.940
4 verse 4. Philippians 4 verse 4. Philippians

00:52:26.940 --> 00:52:29.980
4 verse 4. It says, rejoice in the Lord always.

00:52:30.340 --> 00:52:33.380
Again, I say rejoice. What you want to do also

00:52:33.380 --> 00:52:36.380
is to check your rejoicing. Some of us, we spend

00:52:36.380 --> 00:52:38.920
more time, remember, complaining, lamenting,

00:52:38.920 --> 00:52:41.639
and those things don't help you. And the church

00:52:41.639 --> 00:52:44.880
will say rejoice. Rejoice. I think as Pastor

00:52:44.880 --> 00:52:49.820
Koston led us in the song, we rejoice, we rejoice

00:52:49.820 --> 00:52:53.960
for the thing that you have done. He has healed

00:52:53.960 --> 00:52:57.159
us. He has restored us for the thing that you...

00:52:57.159 --> 00:52:59.340
Thank you so much, sir. There are songs that

00:52:59.340 --> 00:53:01.440
you... There are things that you do to help yourself

00:53:01.440 --> 00:53:04.219
rejoice. Because you're not looking at your situation

00:53:04.219 --> 00:53:06.500
to rejoice. You're looking at what God has done,

00:53:06.559 --> 00:53:08.480
what God is going to do to rejoice. Praise God.

00:53:08.699 --> 00:53:10.699
You want to check that. That's how... You stay

00:53:10.699 --> 00:53:14.360
active. That's how you stay on fire. Then you

00:53:14.360 --> 00:53:18.159
want to give thanks in all things. You want to

00:53:18.159 --> 00:53:19.980
give thanks in all things. Remember, we say that

00:53:19.980 --> 00:53:22.079
scripture doesn't say give thanks for all things.

00:53:22.340 --> 00:53:25.320
You're saying give thanks in all things. And

00:53:25.320 --> 00:53:28.380
that's the agency by which you do that is rejoice

00:53:28.380 --> 00:53:30.739
in spite of what exactly it is you're going through.

00:53:30.920 --> 00:53:35.599
In 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 18, right? 1 Thessalonians

00:53:35.599 --> 00:53:39.219
5 verse 18, it says, in everything give thanks.

00:53:39.630 --> 00:53:42.690
For this is the will of God in Christ for you.

00:53:42.789 --> 00:53:45.909
This is the will of God in Christ for you. Know

00:53:45.909 --> 00:53:49.210
that you can't thank God and complain at the

00:53:49.210 --> 00:53:51.949
same time. I'm yet to see a person that's able

00:53:51.949 --> 00:53:54.610
to do that. It's either you're thanking God or

00:53:54.610 --> 00:53:57.690
you're complaining. And murmuring or complaining

00:53:57.690 --> 00:54:01.150
is one enemy of fervency. It's one very great

00:54:01.150 --> 00:54:04.010
enemy of fervency. You complain, complain, complain,

00:54:04.130 --> 00:54:05.969
and there are people that are complaining, like

00:54:05.969 --> 00:54:09.090
every time we cut, it's almost like you can predict.

00:54:09.610 --> 00:54:10.889
That the thing that will come over their mouth

00:54:10.889 --> 00:54:13.010
is one complaint or the other. You want to be

00:54:13.010 --> 00:54:14.909
very careful about it. You want to even check

00:54:14.909 --> 00:54:17.170
it. You want to check it because it's a sign

00:54:17.170 --> 00:54:20.210
of something. So all of those points are under

00:54:20.210 --> 00:54:24.289
staying active. Remember we say stay active in

00:54:24.289 --> 00:54:28.510
the things. So the B part now is seek continuous

00:54:28.510 --> 00:54:33.469
godly influences. Seek continuous godly influences.

00:54:33.530 --> 00:54:35.590
That's the B part. The first part is stay active

00:54:35.590 --> 00:54:38.480
in spiritual disciplines in all seasons. Then

00:54:38.480 --> 00:54:41.139
the second part is be continuous, seek continuous

00:54:41.139 --> 00:54:43.800
godly influences. That's because you can't do

00:54:43.800 --> 00:54:46.559
it alone. That's because you can't, this work,

00:54:46.699 --> 00:54:49.619
you are never designed in the work of God to

00:54:49.619 --> 00:54:51.900
do things alone. You're never meant to survive

00:54:51.900 --> 00:54:53.739
by yourself. You're not a self -made Christian.

00:54:54.719 --> 00:54:56.539
There was somebody that preached God's word to

00:54:56.539 --> 00:54:59.440
you to get you saved. And then the same way to

00:54:59.440 --> 00:55:01.519
maintain your spiritual life, there are people

00:55:01.519 --> 00:55:02.880
that God has placed around. There's a church

00:55:02.880 --> 00:55:04.920
family, there's God family that helps you to

00:55:04.920 --> 00:55:07.900
do that. So you always will need help from others.

00:55:07.980 --> 00:55:10.760
Praise God. You will always need help from others

00:55:10.760 --> 00:55:12.480
and you should be humble enough to receive that

00:55:12.480 --> 00:55:15.820
help from others. Praise God. So the point under

00:55:15.820 --> 00:55:19.219
that is value godly relationships. Value godly

00:55:19.219 --> 00:55:21.699
relationships. The scripture for that, because

00:55:21.699 --> 00:55:23.679
the reason why we value godly relationships is

00:55:23.679 --> 00:55:26.199
because we sharpen one another. We sharpen one

00:55:26.199 --> 00:55:30.920
another. That is in Proverbs 27 verse 17. Say,

00:55:30.980 --> 00:55:35.739
I unsharpened iron. Proverbs 27 verse 17. So

00:55:35.739 --> 00:55:37.699
we sharpen one another. You want to also spend

00:55:37.699 --> 00:55:41.099
time to cultivate relationships. Cultivate relationships.

00:55:41.559 --> 00:55:44.519
Proverbs 27, 17. You want to spend time to cultivate

00:55:44.519 --> 00:55:46.079
relationships because it's in those relationships

00:55:46.079 --> 00:55:49.599
that you are stirred up. Right? You want to cultivate

00:55:49.599 --> 00:55:51.300
relationships that will build your faith, not

00:55:51.300 --> 00:55:54.699
drain your faith. Praise God. You want to spend

00:55:54.699 --> 00:55:56.699
time with people that will build your faith.

00:55:56.840 --> 00:55:58.619
You speak with your brother and then you're just

00:55:58.619 --> 00:56:01.539
greatly encouraged. You can't explain it. You

00:56:01.539 --> 00:56:02.800
don't want to speak with someone and all of a

00:56:02.800 --> 00:56:05.460
sudden you're like, I like you. You just, you're

00:56:05.460 --> 00:56:09.199
drained out. Praise God. And I want us to see

00:56:09.199 --> 00:56:14.500
2 Timothy. 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy 1. 2 Timothy

00:56:14.500 --> 00:56:19.679
1 verse 16. Verse 6, sorry. 2 Timothy 1 verse

00:56:19.679 --> 00:56:27.840
6. 2 Timothy 1 verse 6. It says, therefore, I

00:56:27.840 --> 00:56:31.210
remind you to stir up the gift. of God, which

00:56:31.210 --> 00:56:35.409
is in you, through the laying on of my hands.

00:56:35.690 --> 00:56:37.489
That's Apostle Paul speaking to Timothy. Timothy,

00:56:38.369 --> 00:56:42.170
the gift was Apostle Paul laying his hands, was

00:56:42.170 --> 00:56:45.570
stirred up by the laying on of Apostle Paul's

00:56:45.570 --> 00:56:49.050
hands. The encouragement is to stir up. Sometimes

00:56:49.050 --> 00:56:51.590
it's a fan to flame. And that word there translates

00:56:51.590 --> 00:56:55.469
to rekindle. So it means that you want to, that

00:56:55.469 --> 00:56:58.230
stir up there translates to rekindle. It means

00:56:58.230 --> 00:57:01.079
that you want to always, And the opportunities,

00:57:01.380 --> 00:57:03.760
you know, because of the believer comfort, I'll

00:57:03.760 --> 00:57:05.719
make reference to that because this was still,

00:57:05.780 --> 00:57:08.320
it's not far away where it does. We're weak now

00:57:08.320 --> 00:57:13.679
and thereabouts. So note that for many of us,

00:57:13.760 --> 00:57:16.820
what happened in that meeting is that you saw

00:57:16.820 --> 00:57:20.420
hands were laid on you and you saw certain things,

00:57:20.539 --> 00:57:22.719
right? And for you to keep those things, you

00:57:22.719 --> 00:57:25.019
want to hang around people that will spoil you

00:57:25.019 --> 00:57:27.599
to do even more. Praise God. You want to have

00:57:27.599 --> 00:57:29.699
relationships that will build you. You know,

00:57:29.719 --> 00:57:32.260
if you have five friends and all of you are reading

00:57:32.260 --> 00:57:34.579
the Bible and you are the sixth friend, you end

00:57:34.579 --> 00:57:36.300
up reading the Bible. You'll be consistent with

00:57:36.300 --> 00:57:38.179
that because those people will stay up to do

00:57:38.179 --> 00:57:39.719
the things that will keep you in the faith. Praise

00:57:39.719 --> 00:57:43.980
God. Very, very important. So, and then you want

00:57:43.980 --> 00:57:46.480
to honor leadership. You want to honor leadership.

00:57:46.719 --> 00:57:49.119
You want to honor leadership because if you're

00:57:49.119 --> 00:57:50.780
around people that dishonor leadership, it will

00:57:50.780 --> 00:57:52.539
be the same situation for you. You want to honor

00:57:52.539 --> 00:57:58.000
leadership. In that 1 Thessalonians 5, Verse

00:57:58.000 --> 00:58:01.599
12, it says, And we urge you, brethren, to recognize

00:58:01.599 --> 00:58:05.059
those who labor among you and over you in the

00:58:05.059 --> 00:58:07.659
Lord and admonish. The word there for admonish

00:58:07.659 --> 00:58:12.739
is instruct you to esteem them very highly in

00:58:12.739 --> 00:58:17.139
love for their work's sake. Be at peace amongst

00:58:17.139 --> 00:58:19.260
yourselves. Be at peace amongst yourselves. So

00:58:19.260 --> 00:58:23.679
that's 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 12. 1 Thessalonians

00:58:23.679 --> 00:58:26.639
5, verse 12. So you want to be able to honor

00:58:26.639 --> 00:58:28.139
leadership. You want to be able to honor. And

00:58:28.139 --> 00:58:31.920
then you can also add 1 Timothy 5 verse 17. I

00:58:31.920 --> 00:58:33.739
would have loved for you to just read it and

00:58:33.739 --> 00:58:37.099
amplify it. Read it. And then also stay in fellowship

00:58:37.099 --> 00:58:39.059
and service. That's the other point. Stay in

00:58:39.059 --> 00:58:42.300
fellowship and service. We said you need people

00:58:42.300 --> 00:58:45.800
to be able to grow. You need, you can't do it

00:58:45.800 --> 00:58:48.079
all by yourself. So you want to be able to do

00:58:48.079 --> 00:58:51.059
that. And the scripture for that is Acts 2 verse

00:58:51.059 --> 00:58:56.530
42. Acts 2 verse 42. Acts 2. I'll read it to

00:58:56.530 --> 00:59:01.929
us, to our hearing. Acts 2, verse 42. Acts 2,

00:59:01.969 --> 00:59:03.630
verse 42. And they continue to state, firstly,

00:59:03.750 --> 00:59:06.710
in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and

00:59:06.710 --> 00:59:08.690
in the breaking of bread and in prayer. So they

00:59:08.690 --> 00:59:10.610
do all of those things. You want to be able to

00:59:10.610 --> 00:59:13.929
stay in the fellowship and stay, and you don't

00:59:13.929 --> 00:59:15.429
want to neglect gathering with God's people.

00:59:15.530 --> 00:59:19.469
It's very important. Then let's do this. I will

00:59:19.469 --> 00:59:24.590
skip some of it. Okay. So let's just do the,

00:59:24.889 --> 00:59:28.349
The C part. The C part, which is the third part,

00:59:28.389 --> 00:59:32.750
which is obey biblical instructions. Obey biblical

00:59:32.750 --> 00:59:35.929
instruction. It's very key for you to... And

00:59:35.929 --> 00:59:38.550
some of us have gotten words of prophecy and

00:59:38.550 --> 00:59:41.170
we're not even living up to it. We've not even

00:59:41.170 --> 00:59:43.090
studied anything on the things that we've been

00:59:43.090 --> 00:59:45.489
given. It's very dangerous because the moment

00:59:45.489 --> 00:59:48.349
you keep things aside, it ends up staying that

00:59:48.349 --> 00:59:52.190
way. You want to ensure that you don't. You don't

00:59:52.190 --> 00:59:54.670
keep the things, just put them at the side. Because

00:59:54.670 --> 00:59:58.489
those instructions or those things, they protect

00:59:58.489 --> 01:00:00.550
and keep you and guide you and ensure that you

01:00:00.550 --> 01:00:02.550
do the work and do it effectively. Praise God.

01:00:03.269 --> 01:00:06.289
One on the point is, it's one thing that I think

01:00:06.289 --> 01:00:07.869
Pastor Emmanuel will say, which is what we'll

01:00:07.869 --> 01:00:11.230
repeat over and over again, which is quench not

01:00:11.230 --> 01:00:13.730
the spirit. And we say that that quench not the

01:00:13.730 --> 01:00:16.650
spirit is not because you can't quench the spirit.

01:00:16.809 --> 01:00:20.849
It's actually quench not the fire of the spirit.

01:00:21.340 --> 01:00:22.739
Quench not the fire of the Spirit. That's in

01:00:22.739 --> 01:00:26.800
1 Thessalonians 5. Please, let's go to 1 Thessalonians

01:00:26.800 --> 01:00:31.139
5, verse 19. Pastor Emmanuel had taught us a

01:00:31.139 --> 01:00:33.980
five, I think it was five, it was a five -part

01:00:33.980 --> 01:00:36.079
series. That's last year. All of those teachings

01:00:36.079 --> 01:00:38.820
are from last year. And then even the course

01:00:38.820 --> 01:00:41.519
of the Believers Conference, Pastor Kostin has

01:00:41.519 --> 01:00:44.440
told us that, look, when you pray in the Spirit,

01:00:44.619 --> 01:00:46.340
when you do all of those, that's an elevated

01:00:46.340 --> 01:00:49.960
discussion with God, and you want to ensure that

01:00:49.960 --> 01:00:52.139
nothing stops that. You want to ensure that nothing

01:00:52.139 --> 01:00:54.320
stops that. Nothing stops that. But now he says,

01:00:54.420 --> 01:00:57.599
do not quench the spirit. Remember we said in

01:00:57.599 --> 01:00:59.619
the course of that teaching, we said you cannot,

01:00:59.800 --> 01:01:02.059
remember we said it has to do with fire, right?

01:01:02.159 --> 01:01:04.619
It means that you have to put wood to the fire

01:01:04.619 --> 01:01:06.920
to ensure that it keeps burning. You want to

01:01:06.920 --> 01:01:09.760
ensure that you do that. And in 20, 20 says,

01:01:09.960 --> 01:01:13.059
despise not. That is the second point. Despise

01:01:13.059 --> 01:01:15.659
not. It means that even in the course of meetings,

01:01:15.920 --> 01:01:19.800
you want to engage. You want to be active. You

01:01:19.800 --> 01:01:24.239
want to treat. Prophecy, you don't want to treat

01:01:24.239 --> 01:01:26.340
it casually. You don't want to take it and say,

01:01:26.380 --> 01:01:28.920
oh, you don't want to receive it. You want to

01:01:28.920 --> 01:01:31.099
receive it with respect. You want to honor it.

01:01:31.159 --> 01:01:33.000
You want to desire it. You don't want to despise

01:01:33.000 --> 01:01:36.519
it. Praise God. And then you want to covet earnestly

01:01:36.519 --> 01:01:39.219
the things of God. You don't want to neglect

01:01:39.219 --> 01:01:42.500
it. So remember we said, even Timothy was instructed

01:01:42.500 --> 01:01:45.159
not to neglect. You don't want to make little

01:01:45.159 --> 01:01:47.440
of the things that God is presenting to you or

01:01:47.440 --> 01:01:49.860
has presented to you. And we say that. You want

01:01:49.860 --> 01:01:52.260
to boil, right? You want to boil. You want to

01:01:52.260 --> 01:01:54.719
have a continual earnest desires and passion

01:01:54.719 --> 01:01:57.960
for that. Remember we said, for you to be able

01:01:57.960 --> 01:02:02.099
to act on these things, you want to be cautious.

01:02:02.179 --> 01:02:04.119
You want to write them down. Praise God. You

01:02:04.119 --> 01:02:06.139
want to be able to note them down. You don't

01:02:06.139 --> 01:02:08.199
want to forget because you prioritize it because

01:02:08.199 --> 01:02:09.619
it's important to you so you note them down.

01:02:09.920 --> 01:02:12.079
And when you note them down, you want to be able

01:02:12.079 --> 01:02:14.239
to take strategic step on how you're going to

01:02:14.239 --> 01:02:18.039
see them happen. And for many of us, that's the...

01:02:18.360 --> 01:02:20.800
point where it ends for us. We don't take strategic

01:02:20.800 --> 01:02:22.840
steps on how we want to see that happen. We just

01:02:22.840 --> 01:02:25.599
allow it and then over time, that's what happens.

01:02:25.699 --> 01:02:27.679
Then you now come back to the Holy Spirit. And

01:02:27.679 --> 01:02:31.320
a couple of us, I think one or two persons shared

01:02:31.320 --> 01:02:33.760
with me that they think that the word that they

01:02:33.760 --> 01:02:35.860
got from last cataclysm is the same word they

01:02:35.860 --> 01:02:37.920
got back again. And that's how you know that

01:02:37.920 --> 01:02:42.719
God has not forgotten the plants yet. That's

01:02:42.719 --> 01:02:47.000
how you know. You be like this. You haven't done

01:02:47.000 --> 01:02:50.260
anything. Because how do you know that you have

01:02:50.260 --> 01:02:52.059
done something? The person says, you have done

01:02:52.059 --> 01:02:54.099
it and then you admit to add two or three or

01:02:54.099 --> 01:02:56.039
four. But the same exact, and the point is, it's

01:02:56.039 --> 01:02:57.099
a different person that is telling you the same

01:02:57.099 --> 01:02:59.860
thing. And then even that itself does not give

01:02:59.860 --> 01:03:01.260
you, does not shock you, does not even bring

01:03:01.260 --> 01:03:03.119
you to a place of like, oh Lord, I'm sorry. And

01:03:03.119 --> 01:03:05.079
then you now make amends. But some of us, the

01:03:05.079 --> 01:03:08.320
way we are going, we are going to the next level,

01:03:08.519 --> 01:03:14.980
we are going to the same level. Praise God. I

01:03:14.980 --> 01:03:16.280
think there are some people that this thing is

01:03:16.280 --> 01:03:19.179
real to them. Because this laugh, I know that

01:03:19.179 --> 01:03:23.039
this laugh is real. So please, I beg of you.

01:03:23.719 --> 01:03:26.519
I beg of you. The word of the Lord is coming

01:03:26.519 --> 01:03:29.079
to you the second time. Some people it's the

01:03:29.079 --> 01:03:31.800
third time. Some people it's the fourth time.

01:03:33.300 --> 01:03:35.019
Please, it doesn't have to come to you plenty

01:03:35.019 --> 01:03:39.519
of times for you to respond. Praise God. It doesn't

01:03:39.519 --> 01:03:42.860
have to come to you many times. So you want to,

01:03:42.880 --> 01:03:45.760
and the way you can get at something is to start

01:03:45.760 --> 01:03:49.320
today. I don't want you to leave this place without

01:03:49.320 --> 01:03:52.159
something that you're going to do to start acting

01:03:52.159 --> 01:03:56.340
on it. And I bet you, the moment you take that

01:03:56.340 --> 01:04:00.579
initiative, that I'm going to do something, you

01:04:00.579 --> 01:04:03.059
will see things that will make you stay on course.

01:04:04.059 --> 01:04:06.300
Praise God. You will see things. I'm telling

01:04:06.300 --> 01:04:08.639
you this by the Spirit of God that you will see

01:04:08.639 --> 01:04:10.760
things that will make you stay on course. The

01:04:10.760 --> 01:04:13.199
moment you just say this thing, Holy Spirit,

01:04:13.340 --> 01:04:15.719
help me to act on this and this and this. This

01:04:15.719 --> 01:04:18.019
is the first step. And please, don't overwhelm

01:04:18.019 --> 01:04:19.619
yourself. You know, some of you, because the

01:04:19.619 --> 01:04:21.079
thing overwhelms you, you have seen pictures,

01:04:21.260 --> 01:04:23.159
you've seen all of that, you now want to do everything

01:04:23.159 --> 01:04:26.500
one day. That is the recipe for, you never get

01:04:26.500 --> 01:04:30.340
back to it. Because you will scare yourself out

01:04:30.340 --> 01:04:31.719
of the things that God is wanting you to do.

01:04:32.000 --> 01:04:33.980
So you want to say, okay, I'll do this, I'll

01:04:33.980 --> 01:04:36.400
do this, I'll do this, and get on with it. Would

01:04:36.400 --> 01:04:38.559
you like us to rise up to our feet? Would you

01:04:38.559 --> 01:04:40.780
like us to rise up to our feet? And I want you

01:04:40.780 --> 01:04:44.840
to make an audit. Look at the areas of your life.

01:04:44.880 --> 01:04:46.300
Look at the things that need to make adjustment.

01:04:46.760 --> 01:04:50.019
And have a daily check. Remember, I told you

01:04:50.019 --> 01:04:52.059
that a daily check would mean that you have to

01:04:52.059 --> 01:04:55.039
ask yourself, am I rejoicing? Am I finding myself

01:04:55.039 --> 01:05:00.000
complaining? Am I praying? Am I grateful to God?

01:05:00.280 --> 01:05:03.920
Am I murmuring? Some of us, the stand -up is

01:05:03.920 --> 01:05:06.840
now hard. Praise God. The stand -up is hard.

01:05:08.019 --> 01:05:10.940
Say, am I praying? Am I doing things differently?

01:05:11.239 --> 01:05:13.940
What are the things that need to change? And

01:05:13.940 --> 01:05:15.239
what the Holy Spirit is going to be doing is

01:05:15.239 --> 01:05:17.400
that He's going to be setting people. He's going

01:05:17.400 --> 01:05:19.159
to make people remind you of some of these things.

01:05:19.239 --> 01:05:20.940
He's going to make people ask you questions.

01:05:20.960 --> 01:05:23.800
He's going to make people seek to tell you to

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get things done and put things together. You

01:05:26.139 --> 01:05:28.300
want to be consistent. You want to be regular.

01:05:28.679 --> 01:05:30.539
You want to be consistent. You want to be someone

01:05:30.539 --> 01:05:33.579
that is always on fire. I want you to pray and

01:05:33.579 --> 01:05:35.400
just open your mouth and say, Father, there's

01:05:35.400 --> 01:05:40.510
fresh hunger. We're thankful you joined us today.

01:05:41.510 --> 01:05:44.630
Don't forget to subscribe so you're always connected

01:05:44.630 --> 01:05:48.250
to our latest sermons. You can also explore more

01:05:48.250 --> 01:05:51.530
about NECF on our website or follow us online.

01:05:52.090 --> 01:05:54.949
We look forward to having you with us next time.

01:05:55.329 --> 01:05:56.190
God bless.