The Blessed Life (Part 2)

Welcome to the Harvest Chapel PA podcast.

We're so glad you joined us.

Each week you'll hear powerful messages, testimonies, and conversations designed to

help you grow in your faith and encounter Jesus in a fresh way.

Let's dive into today's episode.

Everybody doing good?

We'll dial this in a second.

There's something that's on my heart and I'm trying to figure out exactly where it

is.

I think it's Psalm 105.

I didn't plan this at all, but.

Yep, 37.

In Psalm 105, some of you need to hear this because a little bit ago something

happened in the room.

Psalm 105, the Psalmist David is actually rehearsing the exodus of the children of

Israel out of Egypt.

And he's telling this story.

And as he is, he brings us some insight.

He says how God put his hand upon Moses and he raised him up and he brought him as

a deliverer and the children of Israel coming out.

And he says, they came out with the silver and the gold and a high hand.

And then it says this, and there was not one feeble among them.

And when I first read that, I thought, that's incredible.

Because low estimates would tell you there's 1.6 million.

High estimates would tell you over two million Israelites coming out of Ramesses,

the treasure city.

And they're giving them the gold and the silver, right, of the treasure city into

their hands as they're leaving.

Why?

Why are they leaving?

Because the night before was the Passover when the Lord passed over and they slayed

the lamb and the blood was on the doorpost and over the lino.

You guys know this, right?

And when the death angel passed over, the Lord actually said, and I will pass

through Egypt that night.

And the death of the firstborn took place, if you guys are familiar with that,

the 10th and final plague.

And what happened is they said, get out, get out of our town.

And then they just started handing them gold, they handed them silver and they

brought them out.

And they brought them out with a high hand, with the gold, the silver and the

high hand.

And then what's to say?

There was not one feeble among them.

What happened?

How do you get 1.6 million people together without one feeble, right?

What happened the night before?

They ate the lamb.

John sees Jesus and says, behold, the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of

the world.

What did we just do a few minutes ago?

What'd she say?

Come on, Amanda said what?

This is my body broken for you.

Whose body?

The lamb.

You ate the lamb.

Come on.

And there's not one feeble among them.

I believe if you're dealing with sickness, you're dealing with any kind of challenge

in your body, there's a place of just taking the communion.

Not one feeble.

I'm gonna take the lamb.

And I'm believing God for divine health.

He's the answer, man.

It doesn't even matter what the question is.

He's still the answer.

Come on, man.

He's the answer.

And I'm just believing God for good things.

I think we're gonna have a lot of testimonies.

And I'm really in faith to believe for that.

I want you to turn with me.

We're going back to living the blessed life, right?

Pastor Matt preached for three weeks, living the blessed life.

He preached it from Beatitudes.

I started last week about living the blessed life in light of the new covenant.

And I'm convinced that God wants us to live blessed.

I believe he wants his kids to live blessed.

And blessed doesn't always look like we think it's supposed to look.

Because somewhere along the line, Western Christianity made blessed look

like a two-story house, a white picket fence, two cars in the garage,

2.2 children, you know what I'm talking about?

And I don't even know how you have .2 children.

I'm not sure what that is.

But in the midst of all that, we got all this stuff and we think that's blessed.

That's not blessed.

Blessed is joy and peace.

And man, living a peaceful and content life.

And walking with Jesus and knowing that your name's written down in the lamb's

book of life.

And whew, you wake up in the morning and it's like, wow, it's another great day to

just walk with Jesus.

I want to talk to you about living the blessed life in light of the new covenant.

And I want to start in Isaiah 53.

And I want us to see something because to me it's really, really important.

I'm gonna kind of jump through this rather quickly, but there's a few things that are

on my heart.

He starts out in Isaiah 53, one, who hath believed our report and to whom

has the armor of the Lord been revealed?

Right?

Who's believed us and who's seen God's power?

That's really what he's saying.

To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

When I say have you seen God's power, how many of us can have a thing that kind

of, I don't know, that identifies like this was something that was so beyond

undeniable miracle, it blew my mind.

Anybody, you know what I'm saying when I say that?

You guys, how many of you have seen God's power?

Like you've seen stuff that you know, that had to be God, right?

I'm gonna talk to you real plain because I'm gonna be really plain today.

We're gonna, I'm on a roll.

I don't care, I don't know what.

I'm leaving for three weeks.

I'm gonna be all right.

But here's, years ago, several years ago, we started doing the healing services on

Saturday nights.

It was July of 2006.

Pastor Dan was doing the healing services.

We were seeing things happen.

Todd was still real young at that time, Todd White.

And he'd pray for people and we're watching.

He'd put them in a chair and their legs would grow out.

And now listen, I believe in miracles.

I believe in God, but I also believe in, let's check this.

Because I don't want smoke and mirrors and parlor trucks.

Everybody with me?

I'm just being real, right?

So I'm watching and I'm seeing the leg, but I'm thinking, okay, that's weird.

Did you pull the shoe?

You can think all the stuff, right?

Am I right?

You guys okay?

So a guy walks in with a three inch lift on his foot.

Do you guys understand when I say a three inch lift?

It's like that high.

And he walks in with that lift and he ends up in the chair and they pray without his

shoes on and the leg grows out.

And there's no, and I'm like, whoa.

You with me?

Who has believed our report and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

Testimonies of healings, cancers that were there that aren't there.

Heart disease that's completely healed and they say you have a heart of a 26 year

old.

All these testaments.

Listen, I'm in Mexico praying for a blind guy and he starts reading the New

Testament, the book of John, the little John, and the guy said, read this and he

starts reading it and it's blowing his mind.

It's blowing my mind more and I'm the guy that prayed for him.

I'm thinking, I don't know if you're a man of faith and power because you seem more

shocked than the guy who got healed, you know what I mean?

But to see it, you know what I mean?

You can pray for it and it's an incredible thing.

We've seen the arm of the Lord reveal.

So a lot of us in this room have seen signs, wonders, miracles.

Let me tell you something.

Watching people get their sight back, watching people get their legs grown out,

watching people get healed of all kinds of diseases is amazing.

The greatest miracle that I see on a regular basis is the power of a

transformed life.

That is the best.

That you can, because here's the deal.

You can pray for somebody that was sick.

Sooner or later, they're gonna die.

Come on, you can pray for somebody that's blind but sooner or later, their body's

gonna turn to dust and those eyes don't matter.

But here's the deal, when a person gets born again, they got eternal life.

That's the great miracle and that's stepping into this new covenant

relationship with Jesus Christ.

But I want us to not only step into it.

How many understand when I say this, if you're gonna step into a new covenant

relationship, you ought to know what came with the relationship.

What comes with this new covenant?

So he says, who is believed to report to whom has the arm of the Lord been

revealed?

Now he starts talking about Jesus.

Watch what he says.

For he will grow up before him as a tender plant and a root out of dry ground.

He has no form or comeliness and when we see him, there's no beauty that we would

desire him.

Can I go here?

Watch.

It wasn't like Jesus was this flashy YouTube evangelist.

They didn't even have MySpace, nevermind.

All that stuff.

Do you understand that he didn't come from the palace?

He came, remember when Philip saw him and he said, can any good thing come out of

Nazareth?

Right, come on.

When they talked to him.

Jesus of Nazareth, he's not from some flashy city, he's not anything,

he's a root out of dry ground, there's no form, there's no, it wasn't

that people weren't attracted to his natural appearance.

What were they attracted to?

Multitudes came out into the desert to hear him.

They climbed up on mountains and wouldn't go home and they had to feed him,

why?

Because there's something on him.

It's the anointing of God that's on his life and the presence that he carries.

So they're saying, he has no form, no comeliness, nothing that we would

desire.

Watch, he is despised and rejected by men.

Let me stop right there.

He is despised and rejected of men.

If I was to ask you, why would Jesus come?

Why did Jesus come?

I talked about it last week just for a moment, right?

If anybody ever says to you, why did Jesus come?

The verse that immediately comes to my mind is Galatians four, right?

It's verses four and five.

What's it say?

When the foolish of the time was come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman,

born under the law to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive

the adoption of sons.

It still comes back to redemption and sonship.

If I need to summarize the life of Christ in one word, it would be restoration.

He came to restore what Adam lost, right?

He came to reverse the curse.

So watch, he's despised and rejected, why?

So that you could know you are loved and accepted.

He's reversing the curse that was on mankind.

From the very fall of Adam and Eve in the garden, what happens?

Man is looking to be loved.

How many understand it wasn't about you being loved, it was about you becoming

love.

That you and I would actually become what we were created to be.

If I'm made in the image of God and God is loved and I was made in the image of love,

and love ought to be the byproduct of who I am in Christ.

It ought to flow out of me.

I'm not trying to get it into me, I'm trying to flow it out of me,

right?

So watch, he was despised and rejected so you would understand that you are loved

and accepted.

How many know?

Ephesians two says you are accepted in the beloved.

That's a good day.

So you know you're loved and accepted.

He's reversing everything, watch.

A man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, we hid as it were our faces from him.

He was despised and we didn't esteem him.

Now watch, surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.

The word for griefs would translate sicknesses and the word for sorrows would

translate pains.

It's used similarly in the Hebrew, in the Old Testament we'll find that same

word for sicknesses and pains as griefs and sorrows.

What's happening?

My sickness and my pain, he bore it.

How many know he bore it so you wouldn't have to?

That's the plan of God.

That's what we were talking about just a little bit ago.

That's what Amanda was sharing with us in the communion.

Come on, he took on that thing and he's going to carry it so you don't have to

carry it.

But we have to understand this is part of our new covenant relationship that we have

with Jesus.

So surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, right?

Yet we did esteem him, smitten, stricken of God and afflicted.

Watch, but he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our

iniquities.

The chastisement of our peace is upon him and by his stripes we are healed.

What's he talking about?

This is our new covenant relationship.

Watch what it says.

Wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.

You understand the word transgression and iniquities lends itself to the idea this

is our sins.

What happens?

Iniquities, sin, transgression, all the same thing, right?

What happens?

He carried it, why?

So that my spirit might be healed.

How many know you are a spirit?

You need to understand your tripartite.

You are a spirit.

You possess a soul, your mind, your will and your emotions and they're

housed in this temple called a body.

You guys got that?

We need to understand that.

But in that place he's wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our

iniquities that my spirit might be healed.

The chastisement of my peace is upon him.

Why?

My soul, so that my soul would be healed and by his stripes my body's healed.

What's he saying?

He paid a price for the whole man.

It's one thing to be healed.

It's another thing to be made whole.

And what he's saying is I don't want you just healed so that your body's well.

I need your mind well.

I need your body well.

I need your spirit well.

I want your spirit to be healed.

I want your soul to be healed.

I want your body to walk in wholeness.

It's the will of God for our life.

Why?

It's our new covenant relationship that we have with Jesus.

These are the things that came with our new covenant.

We need to understand.

Watch, remember that when Isaiah's writing this, he doesn't write it by chapter and

verse.

We did chapters and verse.

So if you back up one chapter toward the end of that, you're gonna see 52,

right?

Verses 13 and 14.

He says, behold, my servant shall deal prudently.

He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.

The time has come, watch, he's gonna be lifted up and elevated.

How many know the name of Jesus?

It's the name that's above.

Come on, it's the name above all names.

It makes a great song, by the way.

Name above all.

Okay, but in the midst of that, we need to understand.

He's been exalted and very high.

But watch, what's the next verse?

Look at verse 14, right?

Just as many were astonished at you, so his visage was marred more than any

man.

Everybody see that?

In his form, more than the sons of men.

His visage.

You have to understand visage.

The visage, his visage would be the way you visibly see him, right?

The way he is visibly seen.

His visage would be the way he's visibly seen.

What's he saying?

His visage, the way people saw him, he was marred more than any other man.

You know, sometimes we have these pictures of Jesus on the cross, and he got a little

trickle blood here, a little trickle blood there, and a little couple from his feet,

maybe a little trickle down the side.

No, he was in atonement.

The word atonement means covering.

He is covered with blood.

From the very top of his head to the soles of his feet, his body is shredded.

They whipped him with 39 stripes, but they beat him with rods.

And they tore him up.

I mean, tore the skin off of him like hamburger meat to the place where it says,

he was marred more than any man.

Do you guys get this?

Now listen, back in the day, it wouldn't have been unusual to have people burned at

the stake, right?

Marred more than that, right?

Come on, they boiled him in oil.

Nope, marred more than that.

If he's marred more than them, watch, because these people would have

been disfigured by all the stuff that happened, but Jesus was marred more than

any man.

That's what Isaiah's prophesied.

That's what comes to pass, is he is beaten beyond recognition.

And that seems so severe, but you need to understand, there's a reason for it.

Remember what I said.

Restoration came to reverse the curse.

Here's the deal.

Adam is created in the image of God.

Come on, he's created in God's image.

Let us make man in our own image after our own likeness.

He's got the image of God stamped on him at creation.

But then what happens?

The fall comes, and now Adam doesn't look at all like he was created.

Remember what God said?

Adam, where are you?

Come on, that wasn't geographical.

You don't look at all like the Adam I created.

The Adam I created didn't look like this.

What's going on?

Come on, not that he doesn't know, right?

Because God already knows.

He's simply speaking to his created value and saying, Adam, that's not the way you

were created.

He doesn't look at all like he was created to be.

Jesus comes, gets beaten beyond recognition so that we could step back

into redemption and become who God originally created us to be.

Hang on.

Whoo!

That's good, okay.

So we need to get this.

It's powerful stuff.

This is God's plan.

This is God's purpose for you and I to live and walk it out as he created us to

be.

We should be going from glory to glory to the image of Christ looking more and more

like him all the time.

So I read this and I think, man, I bear the image of God.

What's that mean?

If I'm bearing the image of God, then peace ought to be my portion.

I should be living in it.

Come on, healing is my promise.

Salvation and deliverance belong to me.

In this new covenant relationship, it means something, man.

The curse has been reversed.

I'm walking with God.

But this new covenant is so much better than the old covenant.

John, go to John.

Let's go.

Let's just turn here.

Let's go to John 14.

Right, I love John 14.

There's so much that you can preach all day in John 14 and never repeat yourself.

But I want you to see this.

We're gonna look at verses 15 to 18.

Let me read through this.

If you love me, keep my commandments and I'll pray the Father and he'll give you

another helper that he may abide with you forever.

Everybody see it?

I better stop.

I'm gonna walk us through this.

See the word another?

It means one of the same kind.

What's he saying?

I'm gonna pray the Father and he's gonna give you a helper just like me.

He's gonna give you a helper.

Isn't that a neat word that he calls the Holy Spirit, helper?

Why?

Because it's related to the same Hebrew word in Genesis.

God said it's not good for man to be alone.

I'll make a, it's a helpmate, right?

But it's the same root of the same word, Hebrew to Greek, but it literally is the

same thing.

I'm gonna make one that comes alongside of you.

The word is paracletus, one that comes alongside.

I think that's huge.

I'm gonna give you another helper, one just like me, one of the same kind,

that he may abide with you how long?

How long?

You know how long forever is?

That's a long time.

Whoo!

You know what that means?

That means when he comes, he ain't leaving.

Come on.

I gotta talk to somebody.

I'm gonna tell you something, man.

The Holy Spirit's gonna be with you.

So let's go, let's go.

Let me read this.

Let me show you, this is powerful.

He'll abide with you forever.

The Spirit of truth, whom the world can't receive, because it neither sees him nor

knows him, but you know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

Can I talk to you about the Old Covenant versus the New Covenant?

In the Old Covenant, the Holy Spirit's present all through the Old Covenant.

You'll see the Holy Spirit in all kind of places in the Old Covenant.

Holy Spirit comes upon, come on, did the Holy Spirit come upon Samson and

then he takes a jawbone of a donkey and slays a thousand Philistines?

Whoo!

Holy Spirit comes on, boom!

Whack, whack, whack, whack, and Philistines are flying everywhere.

Next thing you know, Holy Spirit lifts and Samson's back to himself.

Right?

Holy Spirit comes upon him.

He tears the gates off the city and carries him up the hill.

You guys know some of these stories.

It's pretty powerful.

A lot of the judges, a lot of the priests, a lot of the prophets, Holy Spirit would

come upon them.

They'd prophesy, they would do whatever they needed to do and then when that

assignment's over, the Holy Spirit lifts.

Why?

Because they were under an Old Covenant, but under this New Covenant relationship,

watch, the Holy Spirit doesn't just come on you, he came to live inside of you.

What's that mean?

That means he's with you no matter where you go.

No matter where you're going or what you're up to, Holy Spirit's right there

with you.

What if you're going to do something wrong?

Holy Spirit's right there.

You know what he's doing?

This.

Stop that.

Come on, I call it the Holy Spirit thump.

Who's been thumped?

Come on, I've gotten a beat down more than once.

Come on.

Because why?

Because the Holy Spirit's trying to talk to you.

You're starting into a conversation, all of a sudden you're saying things you

know you don't need to be talking about.

I think he wants to go whack, whack, whack, but he won't.

Okay.

He's not only with you, he's in you.

And then watch what he goes on to say in the next verse because that's maybe the

most powerful.

I will not leave you as orphans.

I will come to you.

I love that verse.

I won't leave you as orphans.

I love it.

Let me understand that.

I won't leave you as orphans.

I will.

Now watch, the Holy Spirit, but he said I will come to you.

Why?

Because you can't separate the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

There's a three or one, even though they're separate, and I'm still trying to

figure that all out.

But in the midst of that, it's the triune God.

And he says I'll come to you in the person of the Holy Spirit.

And I'm gonna be in you.

And I won't leave you as what?

Orphans.

Isn't that a neat word that he said orphans?

Why?

You have to understand something.

Jesus did all kind of cool stuff, right?

Jesus walked on the water and the disciples saw it, right?

Jesus raised the dead and the disciples saw it.

He multiplied loaves and fishes and fed maybe 20,000 people in one time,

maybe 15,000 people in another.

You know, he did that twice, right?

You guys know that?

It's two different occasions, right?

That's pretty awesome.

And he does it.

And that's pretty awesome.

And he healed, come on, he raised the dead, healed the blind, opened blind eyes,

made the mute sing, made the deaf hear.

Come on.

Over and over, he healed people.

The lame walked and jumped up for joy.

Lepers were cleansed.

He did it all.

That's pretty awesome.

And the disciples are gathered around him.

And you know what they said?

They didn't say teach us to raise the dead.

They didn't say teach us to feed the multitudes.

They didn't say teach us to heal the blind.

You know what they said?

Teach us to pray.

Why?

Because if we can pray like you pray, we could probably do what you do.

So teach us to pray.

And the first thing that Jesus taught them is really interesting to me.

You know what he said?

Pray after this manner.

What's the first two words?

Wow.

Our Father.

See, you need to understand in the Jewish mindset that they saw God as the creator,

the judge, the omnipotent one.

But to think of him as a father was absurd to them.

They didn't know this relationship was even possible.

But now the Holy Spirit's inside of you and you're starting to understand.

He's not just some distant, far off God on a celestial cloud somewhere.

He's my Father.

And he taught us to pray.

Our Father, which art in heaven.

Come on, that's pretty amazing to me.

So now we start to see God through a whole different lens.

You know what Jesus came to do?

Help you see through a whole different lens.

You know what repentance means?

Change the way you think.

How are you gonna change the way you think if you don't change what you see?

You gotta change what you see so you can change what you think, so you can change

how you respond to life.

The new covenant brings us into a new understanding and Jesus teaches us to

pray.

Our Father.

That's why Jesus said, except as you become as a little child, you know why I

see the kingdom of heaven.

Why?

Because you're never gonna see God as a father if you don't see yourself as a

child of his.

Come on.

But I am his beloved son in whom he's well pleased.

Yay.

I don't know if that's exciting to you.

That's really exciting to me.

I'm glad that I can see him as my father and I'm his child and he loves me.

And he's actually for me and he's not mad at me and he's not waiting for me to mess

up with a four hammer in one hand and a lightning bolt in the other.

Boom, smack, boom, smack, boom.

Come on.

Because that's the way we picture God when we were young and boy, if I mess up,

I'm really in trouble.

In this new covenant relationship, we see him as father and he says,

I won't leave you as an orphan.

Why?

Because I came to get you into the family.

And how many of you know there's no step-children in his family?

Come on.

You're not a step away.

You're together.

Come on.

That's a pretty big deal.

He's for us.

He loves us.

He's with us.

He's inviting us into relationship with him more and more and I don't know about

you, but to me, this is incredibly powerful stuff.

And the Holy Spirit said, he's gonna come and he's gonna be with me and he's gonna

be in me.

And can I say this?

If he's in me, everything about him is in me.

He's not gonna come and live inside of you without his fruit being inside of you.

Come on.

So watch, because this is huge.

Galatians chapter five, right?

22.

You guys know this stuff.

Come on.

If my kids were down here, they'd all sing this song.

Now the fruit of the Spirit isn't coconuts or bananas.

Come on, there's a whole song they do.

It's pretty awesome, right?

But what's the start?

And the fruit of the Spirit is love.

Come on.

Does it say that?

Come on, there it is on the wall.

It's in your Bible.

The fruit of the Spirit is love.

It starts with love.

Come on, you know what that means?

That means you don't have to run around looking for love.

Love lives inside of you.

Come on, love lives inside of me.

If the Holy Spirit's inside of me, love's inside of me.

Come on, so I'm not praying for love to come down.

I'm praying that I might manifest love.

Come on.

And if I start to understand, not only did I have love, but I am loved.

Come on, can I say some things?

It's one thing to know that God is love.

It's another thing for you to live loved.

Come on, we might know God loves the world, but are you living loved?

We gotta live loved.

We know that God is merciful.

We know God's merciful, but are you living like you've obtained mercy?

Come on.

We've got to live this thing like we actually believe it, that we'd actually be

believing believers who believe.

Now watch.

If I understand love, guess what happens?

I know that I'm loved, and mercy's pretty easy to come by.

Why?

Because love fills me up, and mercy would be a byproduct of it.

If I'm filled with love, and mercy would come naturally to me.

And if I got love, guess what?

This is huge.

Here's the next thing.

What's after love?

If I'm loved, joy.

Come on, joy would be a part of my life, wouldn't it?

If I know that I'm loved, I wake up loved, and I got this crazy smile on my face,

and I can't quit.

People said to me, strangers have said to me, you look happy.

I said, it's not my fault.

I have said that many times.

It's not my fault.

Jesus did that.

Why?

Because joy ought to be the byproduct of knowing that you're loved.

So now watch.

Holy Spirit's inside of you.

All of a sudden, you live in love, and all of a sudden, joy just is the

byproduct of living that kind of love.

Now you got love and joy inside of you.

Guess what happens?

You're at peace.

All this stuff just flows together.

You got this incredible peace.

Why?

Because I've got love, I've got joy.

Oh, it's a good day, and things can be falling apart.

Doesn't even matter.

I've got love, I've got joy.

I'm at peace.

And so love, joy, and peace start to happen.

And guess what?

If you've got love, joy, and peace, and people mess with you, you ain't gonna

let them rob you of your love.

You're joy or your peace, so you're gonna be long-suffering.

Why?

I ain't letting you mess up my love, my joy, and my peace.

So long-suffering's just all part of it.

Do you see how it fits?

So now long-suffering's there, and guess what?

You're just naturally kind.

Goodness is on you.

Faithfulness is in you.

Come on.

And you know all this stuff.

Gentleness.

You're gonna be gentle.

And guess what?

Here's the challenging one.

Self-control.

Had to throw that one in there, didn't they?

Come on.

Why?

Because you can't control what everybody else does, but you get to control your

response.

Come on.

Come on.

Scott's on the front row, and if he says something mean about me or bad about me,

and he won't, because he loves me, and he knows I'm amazing, right?

Amen.

Say it louder.

Amen.

Okay, okay, okay.

But if that would happen, right, I gotta choose how I'm gonna respond to

that.

I can't choose somebody else's action.

I always get to choose my response.

I can't make everybody do the right thing, but I get to choose how I respond to what

everybody does.

Amen?

Self-control.

We're too busy trying to control the world, and we haven't even been able to

control ourself.

Teach us, Lord, what self-control really looks like.

That our response would look like love, joy, peace, gentleness, kindness,

goodness, faith.

Come on.

Long suffering.

That should be written with four O's.

Long suffering.

Do you understand that in the midst of this, God's speaking to us, and the Holy

Spirit's moving.

This is all part of our New Covenant relationship with God, and out of this New

Covenant that we have with him, man, it's a beautiful thing.

So he challenges us to live this out and to walk this through, right?

So here's the deal.

We can see this.

Go to John, but 16.

I know on your paper it probably says 14, but it's actually 16, verses five to

eight.

I want you to see this, right?

This is really powerful right here, okay?

Because to me this is big.

Jesus is talking to them.

He says, but now I go away.

Can I help you with where we're at just on the timeline, just so you guys know?

I didn't even think about this till now.

Probably should help you understand the timeline.

John 13 is the washing of the saints' feet, right?

So it's Thursday night.

He's gonna die Friday morning, right?

So it's Thursday night, John 13, washing of the saints' feet.

John 14, they're in the upper room.

At the end of John 14, they're gonna come out of the upper room.

They're gonna walk down the steps.

They're gonna turn and go through the eastern gate.

They're gonna go into the Kidron Valley.

The Kidron Valley was, today it's a graveyard.

It's a huge Muslim graveyard, but it was, the Kidron Valley was the ancient

grapevines.

It was a great big vineyard through there, and it was a fertile valley.

It's called the Kidron Valley.

How many of the valleys are fertile?

And that's where they have all these huge grapes.

That's where Jesus says, I'm the vine.

You're the branches if you abide in me, right?

Because he's always using object illustrations.

So he's walking through the Kidron Valley on his way up to the Mount of Olives.

As he's on that way, right, going to the Mount of Olives, he's gonna pray in the

Garden of Gethsemane.

This is where we're finding John 16, and watch what he says.

He says, but now I go away to him who sent me.

Everybody see it?

And none of you ask me where you're going, right?

I'm gonna leave, but you're not gonna ask me where you're going, right?

Watch what he goes on to say.

It's powerful.

But because I've said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

They don't want him to go away, but he's gonna tell them it's expedient.

Look at the next verse.

But he says, nevertheless, I tell you the truth.

It's to your advantage that I go away, because if I don't go away, the helper

won't come to you.

But if I depart, watch, I'll send him to you.

Do you know what he's talking about?

The Holy Spirit, this is the helper that he just talked about in chapter 14.

Now he's talking about him again in 16, and he's saying, if I don't go,

the helper can't come, but if I go, I'm gonna send the Holy Ghost,

right?

Whoo, come on.

So it's important that I go, why?

Because when I'm here on the earth, one person can only be one place at one

time, but when I send the Holy Spirit, he'll be with every one of you,

and he'll be inside every one of you.

Whoo, why?

So you can look just like me, come on.

That's really what he's telling us.

How many believe you can actually look like Jesus?

Oh, I could never look like Jesus.

Well, the scripture says you can.

Come on, some of you believe, I saw, there's a handful of you.

I can, oh God, and I believe that.

I just think we need to understand that.

Well, Pastor, that seems blasphemous.

Well, 1 John 2 and 6 says, if we say we abide in him, we ought to walk like he

walked.

And he'd never ask us to do something he wouldn't empower us to do.

It's imperative that I go away.

It's expedient that I go away.

It's advantageous for you that I go away.

Why?

So I can send the Holy Spirit.

Now watch what he goes on to say about the Holy Spirit.

Because he says, and when he, the spirit of truth has come, right, he will convict

the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.

Who saw it?

Come on, it's on your wall now.

He'll convict the world of sin.

How many understand this?

Conviction is good, and it's from God.

Listen to me.

Condemnation is bad, and it's from hell.

What's the difference, Pastor?

I'm glad you asked.

Conviction says, come on, man, that's so not who you are, you can do so

much better.

I believe in you, you can do this.

That's what the Holy Spirit's doing.

Do you understand?

When the Holy Spirit's reproving us, he's telling us, come on, that's not who

you are.

Don't let that mess label you.

Don't let that mistake cause you to fail and stay down.

You might have got down, but get back up, shake yourself off, why?

Because you're better than that.

And that's what the Holy Spirit's always doing.

He's always convicting us to lift us to a higher and a better place.

Holy Spirit will always lift you up.

The devil will always push you down.

Condemnation says you're a loser, you're never gonna be able to do this,

you're never gonna get it right.

Why are you even bothered?

You might as well give up.

Who's ever heard that lie?

Come on, that's just real life stuff, man.

The devil's on your shoulder trying to tell you, forget it, your marriage is

falling apart, your life is falling apart, your health is falling apart, whatever it

might be, you'll never be, you'll never have two nickels to rub together.

That's always the condemnation that comes from hell.

The Holy Spirit says, my God will supply all your need.

My God's a restorer of every broken thing.

My God's able to fix it and make it all better.

My God, come on, all you gotta do is get back up.

Come on, it ain't about how many times you fall down, it's about how many times you

get back up.

And the Holy Spirit is encouraging us, get back up, get in the race, run this

thing.

You're gonna make it.

Whew.

Conviction will always call you to a higher place.

Condemnation will always push you to a lower place.

Everybody understand what I just said?

Hang on.

Good preaching, brother.

Okay, so we need to understand that God's speaking to us through the power of the

Holy Spirit to lift us to a higher and a better place.

That's what this new covenant relationship's about, the Holy Spirit's

inside of us.

If the Holy Spirit is always lifting us to a higher place, then we as a community of

believers ought to partner with the Holy Spirit to lift one another to a higher

place.

We ought to be speaking life words to one another.

We ought to be empowering one another with our language.

We ought to be lifting one another up to a better place.

If the Holy Spirit is lifting us to a higher place, why wouldn't we partner with

the Holy Spirit and lift one another to a higher place?

Why can't we look at one another and say, come on, man, listen, if somebody messed

up and fell, you don't need to look at them and say, you're a mess, you fell.

They already know that.

You need to look at them and say, that's so not who you are, man.

Come on, I know you better not.

You can do this thing and I believe in you.

And let's run this race together and let's encourage one another.

Why, because that's what the Holy Spirit would do.

Come on, man.

I don't ever want to put my foot on somebody that's down.

I want to give a hand and pick them up.

Teach us that that's what this thing's gotta look like.

It's a pretty big deal to me, man.

It's a really big deal.

And I just believe that God wants to do this in our life.

We need to partner with the Holy Spirit.

Matthew chapter six, verse 25.

I love this stuff.

This is our new covenant relationship with God.

This is what came with the new covenant, right?

So look at Matthew six.

Let's go to Matthew six, 25.

We're just gonna walk through a couple of verses rather quickly.

He said, therefore I say unto you, don't worry about your life, what you'll

eat or what you'll drink or about your body, what you're gonna put on.

It's not life more than food in the body, more than clothing.

Let's read that.

Let's look at that.

He says this.

He says, I say to you, don't worry about your life.

Don't worry about what you're gonna eat, right?

Who's ever stood in front of a full refrigerator and said, there's nothing in

here to eat?

Come on.

Come on.

Come on, we've done that, right?

Come on.

Come on, who's married and your wife has stood in the closet end to end?

I got nothing to wear.

Lori's not here, I'm free.

I want you to understand that in this, when he says this, he says, don't worry

about what you're gonna eat or what you're gonna drink, what you're gonna put on.

You don't have to worry about these things.

Watch, he goes on to explain it maybe even in better detail.

He takes it a little farther.

I want you to see this.

This is huge, okay?

Because this is our new covenant relationship with God.

He said, look at the birds in the air.

They don't sow or reap or gather into barns, but your heavenly father feeds

them.

Aren't you more valued than they?

Which of you by worrying can have one cubit to his stature?

Come on, you're not getting any taller because you're worried about being short.

Make sense?

Come on.

So why do you worry about clothing?

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.

They don't toil or spin, but I'd tell you that even Solomon in all his glory wasn't

arrayed like one of these.

So if God so closed the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is

thrown in the oven, will he not much more clothe you of little faith?

I love that much more.

You have to start to begin to see in this new covenant relationship how much God

values you, how God sees you.

Sometimes we see the superstars.

God loves this one, that one.

You know, if I could sing like Leah, God would love me.

If I could preach like Pastor Matt, God would love me.

If I could, if...

We got all the stuff.

And we fall, I'm gonna say this, we fall into the sin of comparison.

We feel like other people are more blessed than we are.

But I believe if we can learn to count the blessings we have, they'll increase.

I'm old school when it comes to the old hymns.

Who remembers this?

Because we're coming up toward Thanksgiving.

Count your blessings.

Come on.

Name them.

And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

Whew, come on.

And I honestly believe that when we start to live in that place of gratitude and

thankfulness, the blessing of God just starts to increase in our life.

But here's what he says.

If God will take care of the lilies of the field and the birds of the air,

wouldn't he much more take care of you?

Much more.

Like, to see how much God values you in this new covenant relationship is pretty

amazing.

And then he takes us to the next verse, which is probably my favorite in a life

verse.

Watch what he says.

He says, not this verse, this is gonna be two verses from now, but let's read this

verse.

He says, for after all these things, the Gentiles seek.

Do you guys see that?

Watch.

Verse 31.

Therefore, don't worry saying, what are we gonna eat or what are we gonna

drink or what are we gonna wear after all these things?

The Gentiles seek.

The word Gentiles there literally translates unbelievers.

Right, they're people who don't believe.

Unbelievers have to try to take care of everything for themself, but true

believers rely that God is faithful.

We sang a little while ago about all my life.

You have been, has he been faithful?

I live with this phrase.

He didn't bring me this far to lead me now.

Come on.

He didn't build his home in me to move away.

I just believe that God's faithful.

I actually believe that.

I actually believe that God's good and he's faithful.

So he's saying, man, after all these things do the Gentiles seek for your

heavenly Father knows what you have need of.

Does he say that?

Something like that.

You have need of all these things, right?

God knows what you have need of.

He knows what you need.

How many believe God will supply all your need?

Come on, Philippians 4 19.

Does it say that?

But my God, whoo, come on.

I love this.

Who says this?

Paul, right?

My God will supply all your need according to his riches and glory.

Paul, who was Saul of Tarsus, who was out killing Christians and doing treacherous

and horrible things, gets a complete redemption.

And now he's like, my God will supply all your need.

And you know what's amazing?

He wrote it from a jail cell.

Why?

Because it didn't matter about your geography and it didn't matter about your

circumstance or your situation.

You just trust God.

You know what?

If God can take care of me in the desert, he can take care of me on the mountain.

If God can take care of me in the prison, he can take care of me in the palace.

My God can take care of me and it doesn't matter where I'm at in life as long as I

stay dependent upon him.

He's faithful.

But you actually have to believe that.

So now he's writing this and he's saying, after all these things, this is what the

Gentiles seek.

The next two words but you.

Come on.

Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

Oh, come on.

Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and what happens?

Can I go here?

He said seek first.

It's on the wall.

It's on the wall for a reason, man.

It's been a life first for me for a long time.

If we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, things have an amazing

way of working out.

If we seek first, what's the...

When you seek something first, that means it's the priority.

It means it has the preeminent place.

The idea is what?

I'm not trying to build my kingdom.

I wanna build his.

I'm not seeking for me to have it.

I'm seeking for God to get glory.

Come on.

I'm not seeking to make a name for me.

I'm seeking to make a name for him.

Every one of us ought to be living that lifestyle that says, man, I am living to

make Jesus famous.

Seek first the kingdom of God and what?

Not your own righteousness, not self-righteousness, his righteousness.

I wanna live and walk in righteousness and holiness and purity and we can.

Why?

Because he told me the Holy Spirit's living inside of me.

Why?

To convict me of sin, judgment, righteousness.

Come on, man.

He's doing this.

This is what God's doing in our life.

If what?

If we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, things have an amazing

way of working out.

Things have an amazing way of coming together.

So here's the deal.

He's challenged us to walk this out.

I think it's huge.

If I'm in this new covenant relationship, then you know what I found?

It doesn't guarantee me a problem-free life.

It just does guarantee me that I'll never have to walk through a problem alone.

There'll never be something going on in my life where I have to figure this out on my

own.

Why?

Because he said I'll never leave you nor forsake you.

I'll bet he's with you.

Who's ever been in a hard place and you're praying and crying, God, God?

And you got crickets.

Anybody got crickets in your prayer life sometimes?

Come on, you know what I'm talking about.

Nothing.

I mean, tears are flowing, you're after.

You're walking through a hard place.

It's a test.

How many know, I don't care what grade you were in, when you took a test,

the teacher was always silent.

Come on, man.

After the test, we'll see how you do and then we'll talk about it.

But the fact of the matter is that there's times in our life where we're just going

to, I've been after God, God, what's my next assignment?

God, what's my next assignment?

You know what I heard from the Lord?

Finish the one I gave you.

I'm giving you the next one until you finish the one you got, because if I tell

you what the next one is, you'll start focusing on it and you won't complete what

I gave you already.

He knows I got spiritual ADD.

What I want to talk to you about is this, man.

He's, this new covenant relationship takes us to a place where we walk with him.

And as we walk with him and abide with him, who remembers the old song,

I come to the garden alone.

What, while the dew is still on the roses.

Oh, come on.

And the joy we share as we tarry there.

Come on, man.

The son of God discloses.

And I think about, and he walks with me.

And he talks with me.

One of the little kids in Sunday school said, is God's name Andy?

Andy walks with me.

Andy talks with me.

No, that's not his name.

The reality is, is that we get to walk and talk with him in this new covenant

relationship.

And we spend time with him.

I got to tell you this, man.

We're on a journey of exploration.

We really are.

We're exploring, trying to know God more.

I'm not asking God for more of him.

I got all of him when I said yes.

But I am asking him, help me to understand the tangible presence of your goodness in

my life that I might manifest it and put it on display so that all the world could

actually see how good God really is.

What if we lived a life with such uncommon goodness and such uncommon favor on our

lives as Christians, children of God, that the people around us were jealous for

what we have?

I want what you got.

You can have it.

Give me your hands.

Come on.

I believe this with all my heart.

I really do.

I believe this thing fully and completely.

I'm convinced.

But here's what happened.

I had to start thinking differently.

Romans chapter 12.

I'll probably quote it from the King James, but it'll be on the wall.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present

your body a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your

reasonable service.

And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your

mind that you might prove what is that good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.

I want to challenge you.

Let's go back to verse one, right?

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you what?

Present your body a living sacrifice.

Why?

Because he's talking to people that would understand the sacrificial system.

And they understood that sacrifices had to be made.

They understood that, watch, when there's a sin offering, a lamb has to be slain,

and the blood would be shed and poured out on the altar, on the horns of the altar.

They understood the whole sacrificial system.

But all they understood was a dead sacrifice.

But then the lamb of God came, and he became our sacrifice.

So now we don't need a dead sacrifice.

We put ourself on the altar as a living sacrifice and say, God, I'm not living for

me anymore.

I'm living for you.

Do you understand that?

It's what he's calling us to.

A living sacrifice.

I'm not on the earth for me.

I'm on the earth for you.

I want to manifest to you.

I want your goodness to be seen in the world, because I said yes.

Do you understand how much your yes meant in heaven?

It actually meant something to God that you would say yes to him.

So he says, present your body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable one to God,

and don't think you're a humdinger.

That's in the message Bible, okay?

What it actually says is that's just your reasonable service.

It's not something extraordinary that you did.

Why, God died for you.

You ought to live for him.

Come on, man, that's simple.

He gave his life.

You ought to give him yours.

Well, that's a good exchange.

Let me tell you something.

If he gives his life for yours and you give your life to him, you get the better

end of the deal, I promise you.

And then he says this, don't be conformed to this world.

What's he saying?

Don't let the world form you.

Don't let the world form your morals.

Don't let the world form your ideals.

Don't let the world form your theology.

Don't let your world, can I say this?

Don't let, oh, come on.

Don't let society tell you what's good and what's bad.

We have the word of God.

Listen to me, man.

I'm just gonna talk pretty plain.

I feel this pretty strong today, but there's just something that's

passionate in me.

We've allowed, people have said, the church is getting too involved in

government.

And I'm like, that's not true.

The church isn't getting too involved in government.

Government got involved in spiritual things.

When the government decided that they could tell us what a marriage looked like,

it's not what God said.

God said marriage was one man and one woman.

I'm sorry if you don't like it, take it up with God, but that's what God

said.

The Bible tells me that God made two species, male and female.

And there's not 37 different genders.

There's two, there's male and female.

Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed.

Come on, man.

Come on, be transformed.

That's the only trans you're allowed is transformed.

You guys with me?

I'm just preaching right now, but here's the deal.

This is what God said, be transformed, how?

By the renewing of your mind.

What's he saying?

You gotta think different than you used to think.

How are we gonna think different?

We're gonna have to see different.

Change your lens.

Can I say this?

We're not on earth trying to get with God in heaven.

Bible tells me in Ephesians two, what?

I'm seated with him in heavenly places.

Come on.

If I'm seated with him in heavenly places, but I'm still walking here on earth,

I'm bi-locational, right?

You can be trans and bi, transformed and bi-locational.

That's it.

I can't believe I said that out loud.

But you're tracking with me, right?

Come on, we're seated with him in heavenly places.

We're speaking to mountains and mountains are moving.

Why?

Because we have authority through this new covenant relationship with God that this

is what he's called us to, that we would be sons of God manifesting the goodness of

God on the earth.

Come on, the whole world, according to Romans chapter eight, the whole world is

waiting in joyful expectation of the manifestation of the sons of God,

that we would actually begin to manifest Christ because we learned our identity and

this is who we were created to be.

That's what this new covenant relationship looks like.

This is what God called us to.

This is the place that we're supposed to live from.

It's a big deal.

Don't let the world form you.

Don't let culture be your standard.

I'm not trying to wake up in the morning and not sin.

I'm not waking up trying to live by a list of do's and don'ts.

I'm waking up as a beloved son in whom he well pleased.

I wake up and Father, I thank you that I'm your son and you're my father and you love

me and you're for me and you're not against me.

Today, Lord, we're gonna go out and people are gonna be blessed because I'm gonna

manifest you in a world that needs to know what you're really like.

When we value this, come on, when we value this, we'd never let this take away from

this.

Do you understand what I just said?

But you gotta value this.

Can I talk to you about the cross?

You look at a cross, it's made out of two beams.

Come on, one's vertical, one's horizontal.

I believe this is our relationship with God.

I believe this is our relationship with people.

But here's the deal.

If my relationship with God is solid, my horizontal bar is gonna stay solid.

But when this gets wonky, everything gets wonky with it.

Do you understand what I just said?

We need to understand that.

I gotta value this, right?

I gotta value this relationship.

This gotta be the most important thing.

In this new covenant, the relationship that we have with God is like the setting

bar for everything else.

If God is solid, everything else is coming solid.

But I wanna be solid in that relationship with God.

Here's the reality.

Let me take you to one final verse and we're gonna pray.

But here's where it is.

I quoted it a little while ago, right?

And it's John 14, 15.

Here's what he said.

If you love me, you'll keep my commandments.

Come on, if you love me, keep my commandments.

Wait a minute, you want the litmus test for whether you really love God or not?

Are you doing what you want or what he wants?

Come on.

If I'm doing what he wants instead of what I want, it's a sign to me that,

hey, I love him.

If I say I love him but I'm doing things that I know he doesn't want but I still

want, it doesn't mean I don't love him.

It just means I love him but I love me more than I love him.

Do you understand what I just preached?

That's an hour long sermon right there.

But you understand what I just said.

Come on, if I'm doing something I know is displeasing to God but it makes me feel

good, I'm gonna do it anyway.

What am I saying?

God, I love you.

I just love me a little more than I love you.

Everybody follow what I said.

That's a litmus test.

You gotta look at your life and ask yourself, man, am I keeping his

commandments?

Am I following after him?

Am I pursuing the things of righteousness?

Am I pursuing God?

Stand with me all over the house.

God's in this place.

Here's what I can tell you.

If you're part of the prayer team in this second service here, come meet us up here

if you would because I believe Jesus is in the room right now.

There's something about you and I, understanding.

Please hear what I'm gonna tell you.

God is absolutely and positively for you.

He loves you and he's with you and he wants to help you.

What I want you to understand is this.

In this setting right now.

I feel the love of God.

I could start to cry right now.

I feel the love of God.

I'm gonna need some of you over here.

Could be some sinners on this side.

No, I'm just kidding, please.

But I want you to understand.

The love of God is for you.

Do you know that God is cheering you on?

I'm coming down there because I have to.

God, God wants to help us.

Brian's standing right here right now.

A couple of days ago, one of our beloved sisters from the house, Barb Boose,

which is his mother-in-law, took her first breath in heaven.

And I imagine the church service she's having today could be pretty phenomenal.

Probably a lot better than ours.

She got a much better preacher up there, I'm sure.

But here's the reality, man.

Barb joins what we would call the great cloud of witnesses.

Do you know they're cheering us on?

They've already run their leg of the race.

If you've ever seen anybody in a relay race, you know what happens?

The guy that ran first, he ran really hard.

He handed that baton off to Amy, and then she ran really hard, and then she

stopped, and she handed it off to Diane, and Diane ran as hard as she could,

and she skipped John because he looked tired.

But no, I'm just kidding.

It's got to Laurie, but here's the deal.

Everyone who ran in the race first, right?

They were cheering on the people in the last leg of the race.

You're cheering your team on.

Can I say this?

God is cheering you on.

Every part of the cloud of witnesses is cheering you on, wanting you to do this

exceptionally well.

We are living in a time of incredible revival right now.

I promise you, man, I'm getting reports of universities that are exploding,

6,000 baptized.

6,000 baptized?

I just got a picture from a friend of mine.

It was in a worship service in Orlando at the Civic Center, or one of them centers,

whatever it was, and there was like 36,000 people there worshiping Jesus.

It is, you got to know, that's got to sound amazing.

Why?

Because people are opening their eyes and seeing differently.

God loves you.

He's cheering you on.

He wants you to do this.

I'm going to help us with some things right now.

I feel like I can help us.

I'm going to get real, is that okay?

Holy Spirit's going to help you.

I read that.

He's going to convict you of sin, right?

Thump, thump, thump, thump, right?

Here's the deal.

I'm going to use Brian, because I know Brian.

He lives a good life, right?

But if Brian is trying to quit smoking, right?

And he really wants to quit smoking.

No, Brian don't smoke, so please don't be like, Brian you can do this, he's really

okay.

He's licensed through me and everything, okay?

But here's the deal.

If he's trying to quit smoking, right?

And the Holy Spirit's like, don't smoke, don't smoke, that's really a conviction in

his heart, he's trying to follow that?

Listen, he can be convicted all day long.

You got to partner with the Holy Spirit.

You all right?

You know what he's got to do?

Quit buying cigarettes.

If you're trying to quit smoking, quit buying.

That's the first step of quit smoking, right?

Same thing with alcohol.

You got a conviction for alcohol?

You know, like Amy's been getting a little tipsy lately.

If she's tipsy, it's on the new wine, we're okay.

But the reality is if that was the case, hey, you know what, if she got a closet

full of liquor, go home and throw it out.

If you're convicted of it, it's a challenge in your life, go home and don't

give it to your friends, because if it was wrong for you, it's going to be wrong for

them.

Here, I don't want this heroin anymore, here you have it.

See, that would be stupid.

Don't do that.

We just got to get to the point where we're partnering with the Holy Spirit

because God wants us to successfully run this race.

In this new covenant relationship that you have with Jesus Christ, it's amazing.

And God is cheering you on because he wants you to be successful.

And the reality is you've got a purpose in your heart.

I'm a partner with the Holy Spirit right now.

You might be here today and you've got some challenging places in your life and

you're saying, you know what?

Pastor, I'm going to do this better.

I'm going to do this better.

I don't want to keep.

I'm going to say it.

I don't want to be on the Christian elevator.

Up, down, up, down, up, down.

Come on, man.

That ride gets old.

Let's walk this thing.

Be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.

Your labor's not in vain.

That's 1 Corinthians 15, 58.

We've got to do this.

So here's what I'm going to do.

I'm not going to ask you to bow your head.

I'm not going to ask you to close your eyes.

You know why?

Because I think you need to be bold about your decision for Christ.

If you're in this room today and you're saying, you know what?

Please hear what I'm going to say right now.

I'm not saying you're backslid.

I'm saying there's areas in your life you know you can do this better.

Remember, I talked about that.

If you love me, keep my commandments.

If you're doing things that you know aren't pleasing to him, but they please

you, and you're saying, I don't want to do those things anymore.

I'm not telling you you're backslid.

I'm saying, could you do it better?

Absolutely.

I love the idea that David said, put a guard on my lips.

Come on.

Maybe we've got to say, put a guard on my lips.

David literally prays that in the Psalms.

Put a guard over my lips.

That's a strong word.

You know why?

Because sometimes we say dumb stuff.

Do we do that?

Sometimes we say dumb stuff.

Come on.

The angel Gabriel shows up to Mary.

You know what she says?

He says, you're going to have a baby.

You know what she said?

I can't have a baby.

I ain't even been with a man.

She said, the Holy Spirit is going to come upon you and God's going to overshadow you

and the child born of you is going to be from the Holy Spirit.

And she's like, let it be.

Let it be unto me, right?

And that was cool.

But six months prior, that same angel Gabriel showed up to a guy named

Zacharias.

You guys know the story?

He's in the temple now.

He's a priest, so we know he's holy.

He's in the temple, right?

And he's offering sacrifice and he's a Levite and it's awesome and it's all

coming together.

But he's old, right?

His wife's old and the angel Gabriel says, hey, your wife's going to have a baby.

And he's, that's impossible, dude.

You're probably 17 years late.

And Zacharias is so convinced it can't happen and he's speaking that language

that the angel Gabriel smote him dumb so he couldn't speak.

And I don't know if you know this, but from the time that John the Baptist is

conceived until he's born, Zacharias, that priest, wasn't able to speak a word.

Why would he shut his mouth?

He had to shut his mouth so he didn't talk himself out of a miracle.

Because he was so convinced he couldn't do it and God's like, shut him up.

Sometimes we talk ourselves out of the miracles God wants to do in our lives.

God wants you to run this successful and you might not think you can, but I'm here

to promise you that God wouldn't have put this on my heart today and brought you

into this assembly except he wants to speak to you about the idea that God wants

to do something amazing in your life and you have to choose to partner with him and

let him.

So I'm going to ask you right now, are there places in your life where you're

saying, you know what, I'd probably do this better.

I could probably speak better, I could probably walk it out better,

probably could treat my spouse better, probably could treat my kids better,

whatever it might be.

Probably could honor God in a different way in my life better, whatever it might

be that you just feel like the Holy Spirit's speaking to you and you're

saying, Pastor Don, I actually believe I can.

I can do this better.

I want to do this better.

I want to walk this out better.

I'm going to invite you to come and join hands with one of these people right now.

I'm not even waiting.

Do it now, do it now.

If it's really in your heart, you're saying, I want to walk this out.

I want to do this better.

I might need to get more people.

That's okay, we'll get more people.

I'm just ready to believe that God wants us to do it better.

I want to do it better.

I'm telling you, we can do this thing better.

It might be that you're just saying, you know what, I need this, man.

I need this really bad right now.

Listen, for the rest of you that are here, if you want to come forward, I'm going to

invite you to come forward.

There's folks we can pray with and let's believe the Lord.

I'm inviting you to come.

There's more people over here.

If you want to come, if you're saying, I want to do this better.

But if you're not coming forward, grab hands with somebody close to you if

you can.

I know we're getting late on time, but I believe in God.

This is a moment that God wants to sanctify right now.

Father, in Jesus' name, I pray that as a community of believers, we lift up and

encourage one another.

We commit to the idea that we can do it better ourselves and we can help others to

do it better as well.

That we're going to speak life.

We're going to use life words.

We're going to speak life words into one another.

We're going to be encouragers and we're going to be encouraged.

We're going to lift up our head and believe that God, you are moving,

moving mightily, moving powerfully.

And we're going to partner with heaven and what heaven wants to release on the earth.

So Holy Spirit, I welcome you right now.

Come, touch us individually.

Catch us corporately.

Let the power of heaven rest upon us.

Jesus, we thank you.

We honor you.

We are recognizing God that you are good and we celebrate the goodness of God in

the land of the living.

So I pray grace, peace, let it be multiplied.

May the spirit of the Lord be with us and teach us in Jesus' name.

And the church shouted.

Amen.

If you'd like prayer for anything in your life, anything at all that might be going

on, we invite you to come forward.

The prayer partners are going to be with us.

We'll spend as much time as we need with you and believe God for amazing things.

Other than that, thanks for being with us.

Have an amazing week.

Walk out this new covenant and shine for Jesus.

Amen.

Bless you guys.

Thanks for listening to the Harvest Chapel PE Podcast.

We hope this message encouraged you and drew you closer to Jesus.

To stay connected, visit us at harvestchapelpa.com or follow us on social

media at Harvest Chapel PA.

We can't wait to be with you again next week.