Day 26

22:00 - We are a part of something bigger - A family - And our actions matter - That's just been my general experience. It seems like we don't understand that we're a part of something. It almost seems like it's all about just me and my relationship and my blessing. No, we're a part of something. Love can't help but to see we're a part of something. And once you say you're a part of that, what you say and do does matter. What you don't say and do matters. How you respond to things - weaknesses and faults in others - faults in your own life - how you respond to be teachable and your teachability and obedience, it all does matter.

22:30 - Being a family without being controlling - And we can have that without being controlled. We could have that without being in a cult.

22:50 - Holy Spirit does the shaping and molding - Without it being humanly controlling - The whole reason we kicked this school off with communion, fellowship and relationship with God is because then Holy Spirit would build those things in our lives respectively. And it would just be the case, without it having to be preached. Like you don't ever hear me preach on this topic in a sermon from the pulpit. I'm only sharing it right now in a school setting.

23:15 - People are on guard against being controlled by others - It almost sends a controversial message when you do it because people are wondering what you're up to and why are you trying to constrain people. A visitor might say, “This sounds a little controlling me. I don't know about your pastor. I think he's trying to lasso you guys into something.” That stuff's out there. It's a dime a dozen.

23:45 - There is a place where we're all responsible for knowing why we're in this and that we're a part of something. Man we're a part of something. Wherever you might go, whether this is your home church or not, you're a part of something. Just hear me clear on that.

➡ 24:00 - I want to talk about love and you’ll actually see what I'm probably sharing in these scriptures that I'm going to read because that whole thing there I wasn't even thinking of touching.

24:15 - Love isn’t conditional - You can't make love conditional. And I think that's what we tend to do. We say, “Well I love you but...” or “I love you if…” or “I love you. Do you love me?” We do all that stuff and it's a self-serving, self-drawing thing.

24:40 - God's love is amazing. I know we’re in  1 John and we are definitely going there today. But I need you to look at 1 Corinthians 13.

Judging

25:15 - v.1 - Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. -

Love isn’t judgmental - Now when you read the Scriptures you have to be careful. See I've I've seen people use these scriptures to judge others. And if you become love, that's not what the scriptures will inspire you to do. You’re not here to decide who's a clanging cymbal and who's a gong. If someone gets up and shares, it's not my privilege to weigh his heart and say, “Hmm, I think it sounds angelic - a little bit of what he is saying but <gong>." People tend to do that.

26:10 - It's not for you to determine who's walking in love or not. It's for you to become love. It's your place to become love, not determine who is love and who isn't love. Because only then will you see people rightly.

26:30 - When he says judge not least you be judged... Do you know what the word “judge” actually means? It means to presume upon. Like he says we're to judge one another in the body. He says, “Don't we judge among ourselves?” He says, “Don't you judge the world. Don't you point out the world's stuff. But aren’t we to judge among ourselves?” - 1 Cor. 5:12.

26:50 - Counseling - Two people living together - Judging? - It's in the Bible. It says, Don't we judge among ourselves. Now a lot of people are like, “Hey don't you judge me.” Now I've had this as a pastor. I'm sure you've had this. I've had to pull people aside. They come to church for a while. They don't seem to be getting a certain revelation and it's starting to cause a little (unease) and it's concerning (to) his leadership. And it's two people that are just living together. There's no covenant. There's no marriage. They've been in church for six weeks. And the next thing you know you just need to somehow address certain situations at the risk of offense.

27:25 - And then I've had people do this. They get flustered and red faced. “Well, wait a minute. I thought you're supposed to love me. Wait, don't you judge me.” And did you ever have that? And they say, “Hey look, it's not your place to judge me. God knows my heart.” Well God knows your life. He knows your fruit. And you are going to be judged for your works. And your works reveal your heart. So that's all one in the same.

27:55 - So the bottom line is you're not judging them. They're already living together. You ask them, “Are you guys sexually active? I mean you have two kids.” “Yes we are.” And then you talk to them about it. “Hey look, it isn’t your place to judge me. God still loves us.” That's what people say in defense - mad. And I'm like, "whoa whoa whoa."

28:20 - And I’m like, “Do you see that anger - that frustration? Do you see how protective you are right now? You're a cat in a corner. And I'm just trying to talk to you on behalf of the whole (body). And it seems like it's all about you right now. No wonder we have the door closed and we’re in this room. We've got to talk.” You talk and you say, “First of all we're not judging you. You already told us you're sexually active. You’ve already told us you're not married. And we're not being legalistic. You got to understand covenant and I want to take the time to express the beauty of this and what you're being robbed of by not understanding. But if you just <screech like a cat in the corner> then I can't even be your pastor. And you're revealing you're not part of something. You're just in this to be whatever you get or receive in it. We could never be a family this way.”

29:05 - Judging by outward appearances - See they say, “Don't judge me.” You're not judging them. They're already doing it. Here's what judging is. You’ll be counseling a young couple and they're just hanging out and they're engaged or planning to be engaged and I'm watching them. And he seems just a little affectionate towards her at times and I'm thinking, “I’ll bet they're doing it. You know I see the way they act together. I’ll bet they're crossing lines." And all of a sudden I start looking at him as if he's in that place. That's judgment. It's presumption. It's just reading a book by the cover and not knowing the inside truth. It's just getting your eye on somebody and letting your mind spin a little and run a little and all of a sudden you're treating them as if what you're thinking is true.

30:05 - But if I'm a pastor and there are people in the church that are doing something that's outside of the principles of truth that is costing grace and hurting others and I address it because it's known and obvious or admitted to how could that possibly be judgment? It's not judgment. The Bible actually says we're to judge among ourselves. In other words we're to make a call on that stuff because we're a part of something.

30:35 - Now if somebody gets in defense - a cat in the corner - and they say, “Hey don't judge me…” Do you realize that our gatherings are left to be completely religious and tradition driven, if that's the mentality of people when we're together? If we're untouchable and unapproachable and uncorrectable and unadjustable, then what are we accomplishing by coming together? It's a farce.

We're Part of A Body (cont.)

31:05 - You are responsible - When you are in a body it’s never just about you - So what I'm saying is you are personally responsible for the motive that you live from and what you're in the body of Christ for. Because I can't hold you accountable to that if you're not in an accountable place in your heart and willing to be a part of something. You have to be very careful that you never turn inward and it's just about you. It's never just about you.

31:50 - This is just stuff that will protect us down the road in situations. It's just never just about you. You're a part of something. It's the body of Christ. And sometimes you yield. You consider others interest more highly than yourselves. It's not about being right. It's about walking in righteousness.

32:05 - Rightness - Love is more than just being right all the time - If you don't understand what I'm saying you could be in a situation down the road and just one little knowledge of being right and knowing that they are wrong, could step you outside of love. And you could just be standing in rightness. And you could turn into a prosecuting attorney in your mind and not even realize what's happening and it just seemed normal because you have all the facts and you're right. And you've stepped outside of the heart of grace and truth.

32:30 - It’s not about being right - It’s about redemption - It's not even about being right it's about the redemption of people. It's about rehabilitation, reconciling, recycling, if you will. It's about things being made right, not a man being right.

32:50 - We are the outward expression of who He is - So we've got to live from that place. Isn't that how God has treated every one of us? Then why would we live less - if we're in His image and we're His sons and daughters? And what we learned yesterday? See there's significance in these days. We're the knowledge of him diffused in every place.To Him we're the fragrance of Christ - 2 Cor. 2:14-15. We’re the body of Christ. So why would we live less than His heart, if that's His heart?

33:25 - Fear of control - A strategy of the enemy - You've gotta see you're a part of something. And this whole cult thing and control thing and shepherding movement, it's all designed, it all gets off track, I believe it's designed demonically, strategically it slips through and it gets momentum to try to mar the beauty of truth and try to get people to be afraid of something that’s God designed. It's all a strategy. Satan is so freaked out by the Gospel. He's so afraid of the word of God. He's so afraid that we'll become the living product of the finished work. He works to defeat that to keep that derailed. If he ever knew what he was doing, he wouldn't have done what he did (killed an innocent Man).  But he did.

34:15 - Cover up strategy of the enemy - So the only thing to do now is try to cover it up - try to make it all about us instead of all about Him and His nature through us. Just think. Put yourself in the enemy shoes - what his strategy would be. It's ok to think about this because Paul said don't be unaware of his devices (2 Cor. 2:11) and give him no place - Eph. 4:27. Just one little need to be right is a big fall waiting to happen. Just one little pushing your issue, “Yeah but…” it could be a sad day.

35:00 It’s serious. Things are subtle. And we've been trained to think opposite of the Kingdom our whole lives.

Muck & Mire of Sin

35:25 - Well let me just paint this. This is a startling scenario I got this in when I was about a year old in the Lord and it jumped me off the couch to my knees. And I pray that I would never help build another kingdom unless it was God's kingdom.

35:40 -  The muck & mire of sin - I looked at Egypt and the land of bondage and I realized God's people were in a land held captive in bondage symbolic of sin. But they're in the muck and the mire - every day in the muck and the mire. Doesn’t the Bible say that he pulled us out of the muck and mire? - Ps. 40:2. That a sow after being cleansed goes back and wallows in the muck and the mire - symbolic of sin - 2 Peter 2:22.

36:00 - Building monuments for the kingdom of the enemy - There are analogies and allegories to all this stuff. They’re in the land of bondage serving Pharaoh, who is type and shadow of demonic power - Satan. In the land bondage, in the muck and the mire - why are they doing that? To make bricks. Why? To build another’s kingdom. The bricks are sin - that pile up and pile up and make monuments - to another’s domain - to another’s kingdom.

36:45 - Muck & mire encounter -  I had a personal encounter and God was fathering me and saying, “Don't you go back to the muck and mire. And don't you build a monument to Pharaoh. You are free. You are mine to live righteous - to walk in love.” And I'm on my couch realizing what Egypt and the land of bondage and I'm free from the land of bondage passing through the wilderness into the Promised Land. I'm like “whoa!” And I don't want the muck and mire. I'm not going to build another’s kingdom when I'm in the kingdom. And I remember leaping off my couch crying and thanking him that I was washed of the muck and mire and not a captive any more. And I remember kneeling and just crying and just not wanting anything to do with sin. Because I realized sin was the same as the bricks.

37:40 - Participant’s comment - So coming out of Egypt is kind of like coming out of Babylon.

37:50 - Willfulness - Not talking about making a mistake - You could tie all that together if you would want to. Because see, I'm talking about being unrepentant. I'm talking about willfulness. I'm talking about “Whatever!” I'm talking about the things that we allow as rights in the flesh. I'm not talking about making a mistake. I'm not talking about bumping into the the work of the flesh and going, “Duh, Father” and jumping on his lap.

The Destructiveness of Reserving "Rights"

38:15 - Talking about reserving rights - Living in the flesh - Willful disobedience - I'm talking about reserving right and living in the flesh and refusing to yield and obey and knowing the truth and not yielding to it but yet being a Christian. That's actually a place of bondage. That’s muck and mire. You're actually building things for someone else. It's a horrible thing.

38:40 - We don’t realize the destructiveness of these mindsets (reserving rights) - And what I'm saying is not legalistic. It's actually very seductive and subtle in people's lives. They don't realize the spiritual impact and the power of what we're talking about. God showed it to me personally on the couch. I can only trust and hope that you're hearing it in some way, shape or form the way I saw it.

39:10 - I’m not talking about making a mistake and saying, “Oh my goodness, I just put a brick in Pharaoh's kingdom.” No, because if we repent - remission of sins - He is faithful and just to cleanse you of all unrighteousness - 1 John 1:9.

39:25 - Willful reserving of rights - I'm talking about just a wee little bit of willfulness that says, “Well I don't care. Yeah but they should know better.” But listen you're letting them jurisdict (dictate, determine, steer) your heart. “Yeah. But when are they going to change. Why is why is it always me? Why do I always have to yield? Why am I always the one that has to do right and do righteousness? When are they ever going to do right?”  I hear that in marriages. I hear that in relationships, families, etc.  I hear that all the time. You better be very careful with that mentality, because you're giving yourself a right and a permission slip to stay the same and still proclaim Christ and His coming and that you've saved. “Saved” means healed, delivered, protected, preserved, made whole and kept safe and sound by truth.

40:20 - Those mentalities are detrimental to you and the church - You don't realize probably how detrimental to your own spiritual being and the church around you, what I'm saying is. Probably it's very serious. It is so easy to live for your rights and get your eyes on what's wrong with people.

1:34:50 - Participant’s comment - Breaches in your armor. Armor of God. Prov. 25:28.

1:35:25 - The armor of God - Do you understand the armor that he's talking about? Eph. 6:10-18 The armor represents the finished work of Christ and your solid identity through his finished work - who you've become because of who He is. So when you fail to wear that - when you fail to see the purpose of the Son of God... like Paul said, to lay a hold of that which Jesus laid hold of me for - Phil. 3:12. There was an intent in Jesus laying hold of you. When you fail to lay ahold of that, you make yourself vulnerable to the enemy. You're actually unarmed and unprotected. There are  vulnerable areas whether it be your soul, your spirit, or whatever.

1:36:10 - BREAK

Perilous Times & Heart Motives

➡ 1:36:35 - Heart motives - The "why" behind your life - So this whole 2 Timothy - (perilous times) - thing that I turned you to, it just reveals the condition of the heart -  the heart motives. It determines how far and where you'll go. Brian and I were just talking on the break about heart motives. Heart motives are huge - the “why” behind your life. It determines how far and where you'll go. I mean the “why” is the ceiling - the “why” behind your life.

1:37:00 - Pure in heart - Who knows that there's such a thing as being pure in your heart - pure in your life. The pure in heart shall see God - Mt. 5:8. He even says that to the pure all things are pure - Titus 1:15. That means he's looking through love and believes the best in everything until he knows otherwise.

1:37:25 - Believe the best - Like I get in some pastoral situations where people bring situations to me and say, "Hey this is going on... That's going on..." "How do you know that?" "Well, I just believe it is." "Well did you talk to him?" "Well yeah, but they they keep saying, ‘no.’" And then they're telling me that it is and I say, "Listen you need to believe the best. And until something gets exposed or until time or wisdom or truth shows you something else you need to believe the best in things. And you’ve just got to let things unfold sometimes. You're going after tares and pulling out wheat along with it - Mt. 13:29. Once there's certain fruits, once something's exposed then you have a better voice to address it. But these things are paradoxes because sometimes we're so sure that it is a certain way and we get so passionate that our passion takes us to ahead of wisdom. And I think we've hurt each other on stuff sometimes.

Transformation without Striving

1:38:10 - Just be in love with God - Many motives will get removed - I don’t really need to go on with this list (2 Tim. 3:2+ - For men shall be...) any longer. I just want you to see that there's motives of the heart. There's unforgiving, there's slanderers, they're without self-control, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Isn't that amazing. So if you really receive the love of God and are in love with God, I think these things, they get removed. You don't have to try to not be this stuff.

1:38:50 - You don’t have to TRY not to do things - We try to fix ourselves - Our Christian answer isn't to read this list and go, "OK, Oh my god, I see that in my life. I've got to try not to do that anymore." That's what we tend to do - try to fix ourselves and we say, "Ooh I'm not supposed to do that." No, just yielding yourself to Him - that communion relationship with God and being in love with him is what removes those things.

1:39:05 - Cursing removed - When I got saved I used to swear terribly at work. Now I never swore at home. I didn't swear in front of my wife and kids because I was a real good hypocrite. I had the ability to turn switches on and off. Like I would act certain ways at home and then I'd go to work and just act certain ways. It was terrible. But I cursed terrible at work because that made be fit in. And the more derogatory I talked the more popular you are. It's just weird. It was just bad. It's alright I'm changed. I'm not that way anymore.  Don't even try to picture it. It's gone. That man is dead. It was terrible.

1:39:40 - But when I got saved one of the things that fascinated my coworkers was this. They were like freaked out by me for one thing and they kept saying I was in a cult - that I got brainwashed. I used to tease them and say, "My brain is thoroughly washed. But there was nothing negative they could say about my life. They were just freaked out by it because it was so changed.

1:40:00 - Like I never told anybody I was a Christian. I never told anybody I had an encounter in the dairy isle. I never told anybody. But in four days they sent a guy into the bathroom to ask me what's going on in my life. And I didn't say one word about Jesus in four days.

1:40:15 - My disposition was so different and my nature was so changed that in four days my co-workers, that worked with me for 13 years, sent a guy into the bathroom on behalf of everybody else, and came in there to privately asked me, hoping that if it was all private that I would tell them. And their deep concern behind the scenes was that I had turned "holy roller." That's what they said, "I hope he didn't go holy roller on us." And then the guy approached me in a bathroom and asked me what's going on. "What do you mean?" "Come on man. For the last four days or so... You know. What's up? What's going on?"

1:41:00 - I said, "Well what do you mean? Give me an example of what you're talking about." He said, "Well for one thing you're so polite it makes me sick." That's what my co-worker said. And I said, "Well, polite is good." He wanted me to be nasty. He didn't want me to be sweet because to him that was wimpy. That was weak. My life though, was so changed.

1:41:25 - Life changes through knowing Him - Not through my effort - Now watch this. Was it possible in those four days to just bite my lip and be a different man. I became a different man through the motive and the true surrender of my heart and the motive -  the level of surrender - grace invaded every empty space. I gave myself. And He was my replacement.

1:41:45 - So they said to me a couple of weeks later they were talking about my life at lunch and opened up a conversation and I got to share with them and I never preached at them. I would just answer questions, the best I could, and I'd respond to them.

1:42:00 - Persecution - But I was free - But they would persecute me heavy. They'd  have little cartoon pictures drawn on the bulletin board every day about me. And on the intercom they would be changing their voices and saying stuff derogatory about me, making fun of me. I was persecuted and never felt it -  never even knew I was persecuted because I'm free.  So if a man doesn't understand something about my life and he mocks and scoffs. How can you mock and scoff at what I am and what's free in me?

1:42:25 - Others feared the persecution -  I had people that wouldn't get saved - that were so convicted but they wouldn't get saved because behind the scenes they saw how bad they talked about me. I met them later after I left the company and I met a guy at the March for Jesus.  Al marching for Jesus. What are you doing here? "I got saved. I was so convicted but I kept looking at how they treated you and I thought man I don't want that.  But I realized, wait a minute why am I holding my heart back from the Lord and what I know is right just because of them and the way they're acting. They're the ones that have a problem in this thing. Who cares if they persecute me, if I get right with God? So I went and got saved."

1:43:00 - The cost of persecution - But see, why would that make you insecure when you're talking to him and you walk away and the people talk behind your back? That's just finding strength in their own whatever. What does that cost you? Nothing. But why does it seem to?

1:43:30 - Cursing is not in me anymore - Not a New Year's resolution - Here's what they said in the cafeteria. They said, "Well man, we just don't understand how this all works." And I explained the gospel and salvation and getting born again. And I said, "Did you guys notice that I don't even swear anymore?" "We were just talking about that." "Yeah. It's not even a new year's resolution. And it's not like, well, if I'm a Christian I'd better not swear." I said, "My goodness, if I was like the way I used to be, and I was just trying not to curse, I just wouldn't  talk because of the threat of swearing. That's a new year's resolution - I'm not going to swear anymore. And then you're there talking and you get the word halfway out and you stop. That isn't what was happening. Here's what I told him. I said, “It’s just not in me anymore.” It was not a legalistic thing - "Well if you're a Christian you better not swear." I'm not even thinking that. But in my relationship I was in a place and I grew to a place where I was filled with Him and it just wasn't in me anymore. It's not even that I listen for that or watch that or if somebody swears and says they are a Christian like, "Oh my goodness!" It's something that you grow out of. You grow up into Him. That was an instant change in me.

1:44:45 - Missionary - Drinking and smoking - It’s just not in me - I heard a man, a missionary to Africa years ago and never forgot it. He was at York Christian Fellowship and he was a guest speaker and he said, "Man when I got saved I used to drink real bad and used to smoke and used to do all this stuff." But he said, "I never tried to quit. He said I never tried to stop doing that stuff." And I was listening wondering where he was going with this. He said, "I just got in love with Jesus and I just stopped. It  just wasn't there anymore." And when I heard him say that I could relate to it because that's how it was with me and with the swearing.

1:45:30 - All things are new - Old passes away - No striving involved - So when I preached that out to my coworkers they were like, "Oh my gosh." Because I was telling them that all things become new. Old things are passed away - 2 Cor. 5:17. So your identity in Christ, your surrender and your motive means everything. That's what purifies and cleanses your heart. The beauty of the message - transformation - born again.

1:45:45 - Just keep growing in your love with God - So when you read this list (2 Tim. 3:2+) you see at the end, lovers of pleasure - that means feeding their flesh, lovers of flesh and pleasure - rather than lovers of God. Which tells me the simple answer is just keep growing in my love with God and I'll never be found on this list. Not because I'm trying not to be on it. It's just not part of the kingdom. It's not part of Him.

1:46:20 - It’s not about do’s and don’t (legalism) - It’s about knowing Him - Christian mule joke - There's an old Christian joke for teaching on legalism and and do's and don'ts and should and ought and need to. And he said the two farmers were leaning on the fence and he said, "Hey Fred, I heard you became a Christian.” The other one said, "Yep." "Well what makes you a Christian?" He said, "Well Barney, I don't drink no more. I don't smoke and I don't run with the women." And other farmer looked and said. "Well then I guess that makes my mule a Christian." Because it's not about do's and don'ts. It's about knowing Him.

1:47:00 - Just be in love with Him - It’s not about not doing this or not doing that. No, Christianity is you're in love. You've yielded yourself to Him. You've died to yourself and who He is becomes one with you. And then the manifested fruit of that is certainly apart from this list (2 Tim. 3:2+). So if you're a Christian do you still do those same things? Probably not. You grow to a point where those things change.

1:47:20 - Lady smoking as leading Bible study - I told you about the lady leading the home group and the whole smoking thing and how that changed but that was a year down the road. In her intimacy, in her growth that changed. See we don't understand that. We're do's and don'ts more than you realize.

Repentance, Mercy & Godly Sorrow

1:47:35 - We haven’t grasped repentance, mercy and godly sorrow - And I don't even think we understand repentance and we think just because somebody did wrong they have to pay. No, you need the discernment to see where godly sorrow is found. And if there's true godly sorrow in a person's life it doesn't matter how bad they hurt you. You see what predominates sometimes? "Yeah, but you don't know how bad you hurt me." They are trying to apologize - wishing they never did what they did and there's no way they can retract it and they're horrified at the ability to do what they did and they're broken inside and they haven't slept and they cried all night and they meet you and they're trying to say "I'm sorry" and it's the best they can do because they can't change the action and the best we can do is, "Yeah well, I will forgive you but you don't know how bad you hurt me.” We do that. And then the thing is still very much alive and so are we.

1:48:30 - God wasn’t hurt and offended with us - If it sounds silly with Him it ought to be silly with us - Could you imagine going to your altar to repent and God meeting you at the altar crying saying, "Well, you really broke my trust. You really hurt me. I thought you knew better and then you did it anyway." Could you imagine God talking like that?  It actually sounds silly doesn't it? Well it ought to sound silly then if we do it, because we're made in His image. And we're one with him. See, it doesn't sound silly when we're in the equation because there's a way that seems right to a man but when we put God in the equation it's funny. And it shows how far apart we see ourselves from Him. Well if it sounds funny with him in the equation it ought to sound funny with you in the equation because you're created in God's image. Want a good look at Jesus? Look at in the mirror.

➡ 1:49:50 - OK. Let's back up to Corinthians real quick. We were in 1 Corinthians 13. And I just side tracked to the "perilous times" thing for some reason. I'd have to get the tape to even know why I went there.

Clarifying Comments - Altar Calls & Identity

1:50:30 - I’m not against altar calls - Just don’t surrender identity - And I have a couple of comments I want to make clear so you guys understand. When I shared my heart on on that counterproductive weekend and the altar call thing - I'm not against altar calls. It's not wrong to be in a service and have a certain conviction of something and feel like you need prayer. What I'm saying is don't just surrender your identity to every message you hear because of the way it's been or how you feel. Just take the truth then and let the truth readjust you. That's your altar call - where your identity is concerned.

1:51:00 - We can make it look like God is moving - Truth makes you free - There is a way you could preach in the church. And have massive altar calls all the time and actually make it look like God's moving. And the church actually would run to it and run to it and run to it. And you're just going in a circle. It's a merry-go-round. Truth makes you free.

1:51:20 - Be hungry but in the light of right identity - When I made a mention about Bill Johnson and the African-American pregnant women and being the first to the altar, there's a truth to that - being hungry and seeing God in a person's life  but you're doing that all in the light of right identity. You're not throwing your identity away on your trip to the altar.

1:51:45 - Unhealthy reliance on touches of God - Is there a time where God will sometimes come down and touch someone and affirm someone and just say, "I really love you." I really love you and manifest that love. Absolutely God will do that. But to preach as if that's what we all need and we need to continually have that or we're not OK and for you to submit to that as if that's true that's where he'd get into trouble. Because this affirmation when it comes from God is designed to keep you looking at the cross and the finished work of Christ and he's just affirming you in the midst. And sometimes God will touch people like that.

1:52:20 - Preaching that subverted identity - So I'm not against altar calls and I'm not trying to get you to have some condemned thought of going to the altar. It was counterproductive preaching. You'd had to have been at that weekend meeting. It was a counterproductive spinning in our identity weekend, where at the end of the weekend you actually have had to question what was established.

1:52:45 - The gospel moves us to freedom - Not into bondage - Because this gospel is intended to set us free. We can live without fear and worry because Jesus said to. If He says, "Do not worry," can you live without worry? If he says, "Do not fear," can you live without fear? So if you grow to that place are you lying if you don't have fear in your life? So let's not assume that we're all still bound - come and pray to get free - but you are always going to be bound.

➡ 1:53:10 - That's all I was addressing. So there were a couple comments (over the break) and I thought I'd better just make that clear. It's not wrong to go to the altar but just don't do it at the cost of identity. Know that the truth is what makes you free.

Dependence on Touches from God

1:53:25 - Participant's comment - ??Things that are hinder growth, keep us from moving forward, cause us to backtrack, lack of maturity - grievous.??

1:53:45 - Yeah. Is there is there is a grieving there.

1:53:55 - Unhealthy reliance on touches from God - Right. And is there an initial time in your life for God to expose that or accommodate you, almost in a sense, to just nudge you. Remember how I talked about grace and certain feelings as a pat on the heiny to go forward. There is grace like that in our lives but it's with the intent that we grow up into him in all things, not become dependent on the pat of the heiny. So there's a place of growing and maturing.

1:54:20 - Live by faith - not feelings - And a good barometer for it is if you're teaching yourself to live sensual or by faith. God can touch you sensually if he wants to. He's totally able to do that. And it's cool. I like feelings. I just don't live by them.  But I like them. They're fun. I like it when God touches me and cuddles me but I'll don’t live by it.

1:54:44 - Spiritual drug addict - Living for the spiritual high - If a whole day went by and I didn't feel God cuddle me, I would know that I'm cuddled and I'm loved. And I would feel and experience that love in my heart because it's true and established. One can become a fix - one can become a spiritual drug addict almost, in a sense. You're just living for the high live and you ought to be high because He's (who He is and did what He did).

Love

➡ 1:55:05 - OK enough on that. 1 Corinthians 13...

1:55:10 - v.1 - Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. -

1:55:15 - v.2 - And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. - This list is amazing - what he's talking about because I shared this a while back in this school: if we fit those categories in the church we become Christian heroes.

1:55:45 - ...but am not love, I am nothing - Now this isn't for you to weigh and judge others this is for you to look into your own heart and pursue love.

1:55:55 - So I'm not going read this whole chapter but I want you to see this...

Apart from Love - The Motive is Self-Serving

1:56:00 - v.3 - And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. -

It looks noble but apart from love the motive is self-serving - Why? Because if you don't do something like that - that sounds like service, surrender, sacrifice. Sounds like a good and noble thing but if it's not for love it's for yourself or your own name or a name for yourself or a legacy to yourself. And it says that if you do that and not for love it profits you nothing. Why? Because if it's not for love it has to be for something else.

1:56:25 - Monuments of man - But men will remember it. And men will make you an icon and men will build you a statue and then put a plaque in the center of their city for you. But when the trumpet blows everything that's not in Christ and from Christ that through Christ gets swallowed up. So that's the end then. That's not a legacy. Do you understand that people do things motivated for certain esteem from one another. They want to make a name for themselves.

1:57:00 - So at the end of their life they could do something like pour all their wealth into a certain thing or something, but their motive in their heart could be so that men talk well of them and men make a plaque of them and men put their face on a statue in the city and say this is in memory of so-and-so, what a man.

1:57:20 - Such monuments have nothing to do with the kingdom - It had nothing to do with the kingdom - nothing to do with love. It's actually self-centered and I'll go to the extreme to draw that attention, affirmation to myself.

1:57:30 - Apart from love - The motive is self-serving - This is the stuff he's talking about. How else could you give everything to the poor. And it not profit anything when God is all about giving to the poor? So when you do it without love, when you do it apart from love, then you have to be doing it for something self serving.

Perilous Times - Love Waxing Cold

1:57:45 - Participant comment - Love waxing cold - agape love - our love waxing cold for God.

1:58:15 - Love waxing cold because of trials - Right. Well, and if your love would wax cold in any way... See it's brother against brother. There's all kinds of trials. It's that perilous times where he's talking about their love waxing cold. It’s in Matthew 24:12.

1:58:35 - Waxing cold towards God - Waxing cold towards man - But what is what is that (what does that mean)? You can take start taking things personally -l take the brother against brother personally -  take hurt -  take affliction into your heart from others. All that stuff and all of a sudden the whole purpose that you're born again is wax cold - whether it's this way (toward God) or this way (toward others) it's all the same actually. Because you can't have one without the other the intent of this (relationship with God) is this (becoming love towards others).

1:58:50 - But in Matthew 24 it's talking about men living in perversion and injustice and persecutions and  people rising against one another. It says that these things are all going to rise up and through it the love of many (will wax cold).

1:59:10 - Let these scriptures keep you sober - So you have to make sure that... I used to read those scriptures not in fear. I used to read the Scriptures for a season just to stay sober and yield in a certain line of prayer and just thank God that I wasn't in that many (testings). And my life is surrendered to you. And it doesn't matter I'll turn the cheek and I turn the other cheek and the other cheek God. And I just thank you I’ll live for your love. I would affirm that and proclaim that in my bedroom when you weren't looking. I would do that all the time reading those scriptures - finding myself on my knees and affirming that and letting God just build his kingdom in me with understanding so that these things weren't just my message but my reality. It's a big deal. That communion and union with God.

* * *

2:00:00 - v.3 - And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. - Sounds like a hero to me. Look what love does... This is Bible love now. This is God's definition. This isn't human, “I love you.”

Love is Long Suffering

2:00:15 - v.4 - Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, -

Love suffers long - How long? Wow. I hear that a lot. “Well how much am I supposed to take? Well when is God ever going to touch them and change them? Well why are you talking to me? Why don't you correct them? I feel like you're always correcting me. Why don't you sit my husband down and talk to him?” “Because he's not asking for counsel. You are. And he's not the focus you are because he's not here.” Don’t even come to me if you are not serious because you will get offended.

2:00:55 - Look at yourself - Not at your grievance list - I’ll be talking to one spouse and then I will go to the other and they're like, “Wait a minute.” And they have the whole list of grievances. And they say, “Well why is this all about me? What about them? And I say, “I've already talked to them. You didn't even hear that conversation.  I'm not talking to them. I'm talking to you.” Why is it about them. I don't need your grievance list.

2:01:15 - God’s grievance list - What if God wrote a grievance list? You know he doesn’t? Because he loves you. Love brings out the best. He's not writing a grievance because he loves you. And the goodness of God is what changes you.

2:01:30 - Shorten your grievance list by loving them - Do you want (your) grievance list to get smaller? Stop highlighting it and beating them over the head with it and start loving them and showing them that their life's more than what they’re living. And watch that list get smaller.

2:01:55 - If it doesn’t get shorter - Love them anyway - “What if the list doesn't get smaller pastor?” Where has love ever failed?Where is it ever contingent on the list getting smaller? Show me where God ever changed his mind about you. If you can’t find it in Him, it shouldn’t be found in us. He said, “Follow me.” Don’t you let the way that seems right to man sneak in and eat your lunch.

2:02:30 -  - v.4 - Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, - Love suffers long. It's kind. Doesn't envy. Doesn't parade itself around. And it's not puffed up.

2:02:50 - v.5 - Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; - Does not behave rudely. It doesn't seek its own. It's not provoked. And it thinks no evil.

2:03:00 - v.6 - Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; - It does not rejoice in iniquity. It rejoices in the truth. Do you see what the love upholds and takes its pleasure in? Not exposing and highlighting the iniquity. Not making much of the problem. But much of the answers.Iit's amazing.

2:03:15 - v.7 - Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. - Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

2:03:25 - v.8 - Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. - Love never fails.

2:03:40 - He told us to all want to prophesy - desire prophecy - and labeled that the best gift. Sometimes we fail to see this - Love never fails. But where there's prophecy it will fail - tongues they're going to fail too and cease. But I'll tell you what never fails - Love. It never failed.

2:04:00 - I’m not making light of prophecy. Prophecy through the Spirit of Love is an amazing thing. But it’s love that remains.

Love and Gifts

Chapter 14 verse 1.

2:04:10 - v.1 - Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy. -

Pursue the gifts and the giver - You better believe it says desire spiritual gifts. People say, “Well I'm not pursuing the gift. I’m pursuing the giver.” It sounds spiritual but he said desire spiritual gifts. So absolutely I want the gifts flowing through my life. “I don't want the gift I want the giver.” Well of course we want the giver but we want the gifts because they empower us to manifest the giver.

2:04:30 - The Bible says, “Desire spiritual gifts.” But remember, before you desire spiritual gifts, pursue love. Because you want every gift to flow out of love orr it takes you back to verses 1, 2 and 3 of chapter 13.

2:04:45 - You don't just want the gift of faith. You want love. And through love the gift of faith is remembered as a legacy and produces good fruit.

2:05:15 - Go to James 3. “This kills me.” This is designed it to kill you. The whole gospel is designed for you to die.  When God sent His Son, He said, “I'm going to kill them yet.” It's beautiful.

The World’s Portrayal of Good, Evil, Power, Sophistication & Love

2:06:10 - Jesus is so amazing. He comes. He’s love. You know people paint pictures of little birds sitting all over Him. But you don't understand the world will depict…

2:06:25 - The world's twisted portrayals of good and evil - Did you ever watch a cartoon where an angel popped up on a shoulder and a devil on the other. And the devil's acting forceful and the angel is acting whimpey? They portray good as wimpy. And love is whimpey and power is so twisted and conveyed.

2:06:45 - Look at the way you're subtly trained your whole life to see what awesome and macho and power is. Here's Jesus going in. He could call on legions of angels to come and ain't nobody messin with nobody then. It's ridiculous what that picture could have looked like if Jesus isn’t love.

2:07:15 - And those Pharisees that were so arrogant. If Jesus would have taken to heart like we take to heart their disposition that could have been an amazing scene. But we're almost taught that that's cool our whole life.

2:07:35 - Movie portrayals of power - You know, you’ve got you got James Bond, Bruce Lee - people that that are attacked in movies. And there's unstoppable people. And power is to just wreck everybody and break everybody and move everybody out of the way. And now they’ve got 40 people coming at the them to no avail. Wow, they are awesome. To fight and defend and kill and you can't get to them even when it looks like someone is sneaking up on them. How do they know? 6th sense. Oh they are my hero. Our whole lives - that's what was portrayed. I mean action packed nonsense.

2:08:20 - The little sinister man gaining power to rule the world. And power was to manipulate to be somebody. Power was to rule and have men submit to you.

2:08:40 - Kingdom power is opposite - And it's the extreme, dramatic, extreme total opposite in the kingdom. So Jesus comes like a lamb. And he's not respected. Pharisees mocking him at the most powerful point of his ministry - the most powerful aspect of his life and ministry as a man - while He's hanging there beaten and becoming sin for mankind. The best they can do is mock him and say, “You saved others. You can't even save yourself. You're a loser. You're a wimp. If you really somebody come down from the cross. Call on God and see if he'll come and save you.”

2:09:25 - “I've already called on God. He's about to come to save you.” That's in Jesus's heart. He wasn't here to be the hero like man thinks of a hero. He was here to model love. And it's the total extreme opposite picture that you and I have been brainwashed into of what it is to have power, notoriety, prestige, sophistication. It's all a lie.

2:09:50 - Sophistication basically means a lack of innocence, by the way. So don't be in such a hurry to be so sophisticated. Because that's the fall of man - lack of innocence - the knowledge of good and evil with the ability to fulfill that knowledge.

2:10:15 - James 3 Let's go there.

2:10:20 - The world’s portrayal of love - Sentimental, passionate, sensual - Isn't it amazing. That that whole portrayal - that turning the cheek - that going the extra mile is portrayed as wimpy and weak and it's the strongest position on the planet. It's called Love. We've turned love in the sensualism and passion and heat and “I love you” and romance. And we just get into the eros side of things and we fail to see the giving of your life for one another. Because that whole passion and heat and “I love you” can be devastated and broken just as quick. It's like a switch.

2:11:00 - Did you ever notice how somebody can be passionate and intimate and full of heat at night. and “I love you” and in the morning say something derogatory and almost act like they didn't care and that the person wasn't worth anything. But they sure were worth something a little while ago. We’ve become self-serving people. That's what we've become through the fall. And it's time for change.

2:11:20 - Participant’s comment - Kindness is equated to weakness.

The World says, "Stand for Your Rights!"

2:11:35 - Not standing is weak - It's totally scripted that way by the enemy our whole lives to brainwash us into that lie. Rightness is right. For somebody to not stand for their rights is weak - is denial - is intimidated - is vulnerable - is a coward.

2:12:00 - Lawsuits on every commercial - finding a way to get money at the expense of others - standing for your rights. Standing for your rights - I can’t tell you how extreme dramatically opposite the kingdom is than what we are raised with and what's all around us right now more than ever.

2:12:35 - If you don’t stand - You need help - To not stand for your rights is not a cool thing. Makes you a coward. People need to come and minister to you. The psychology of the world needs to come and straighten you out and put backbone in you. Get you to stand up and face your enemies. Stop being a pushover and a doormat.

Jesus - Not a Doormat

2:13:00 - Is that what Jesus was? Do you think he was a doormat? Cut me a break. Nobody walked over him. He laid down his life.

2:13:15 - Strength to lay down His life - I would have loved to have been there to see the Roman guards when they mocked him and they beat him to a pulp and they can't even tell he's a man. But yet don't have to restrain his hand and hold it down to nail it and just watch it freely lay there. I promise you they never took a criminal and a thief and had him just willingly yield their hand. There's no way they had to fight his hand or it wouldn’t have been scriptural. There's no way they had to hold him down to nail him. I believe he laid on there.

I believe stretched his arms open wide and said, “I love you.” There's no way they used force to put him on that cross. Don’t you tell me that’s weak. That’s phenomenal.

2:13:50 - Why He did it - He knew what it would mean - He did that so the Spirit of God can live in you today. So that one day your eyes would open and see - God knowing that we'd be blind until that day but knowing that that day would come if we just yield and say yes. So a seed came into the ground by faith knowing that it could produce after its own kind again and again and again til the glory of the Lord would cover the earth.

2:14:25 - So let's preach the gospel from that kind of understanding and strength - Let’s make that Gospel more than a trip to heaven. Let's make that Gospel more than a blessing from the Lord. Let's make that gospel the reason for a transformed life and a different why and motive for even living. That the integrity of the Gospel. God forbid it just be a hope of a better day. No, it's the promise of a transformed life where living for me is over. Living for His glory is what I was created for. That's where you find true peace. That's where you can sleep well at night.

➡ 2:15:05 - James 3 - I'll close with this. Tomorrow we'll go to 1 John.

➡ 2:15:35 - James 3:13 - I'm going to verse 13. We could read the whole chapter and all get born again. Look at verse 1.

Motives of Teachers

2:15:50 - v.1 - My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. -

2:16:00 - Teachers - God will draw people to you - Don't have a need to instruct people and counsel people just to make yourself feel like somebody. That's a scary place. Like giving people your opinion - piece of mind. It actually says, “Let not many of you become teachers.” So certainly don't be a self-appointed teacher. As you build truth in your heart and truth becomes your reality, I believe God will attach people to you and bring people to you at the right time.

2:16:25 - Who has ever noticed that as they were really growing in the Lord and getting more and more revelation they found more and more outlets or connectivity to where they could pour that into others and that just kind of increased in that way too? As it went this way (communion with God), they saw it go this way (loving others). There will be a grace thing.

2:16:45 - Motives - But it says, “knowing that we all receive a stricter judgment.” You know if I'm standing here and I just have a need to be right and a need to be approved by you or come up with some new thing to “wow” somebody or just teaching for any other reason than just believing that it's the ministry of the Spirit in truth, it's not a good thing. So you have to be very careful. That’s that “why” thing - that's that pure in heart thing. That's why we need to be secure in Him so that everything we do comes from that place of fullness - Eph. 3:19. Look at look at verse 2…

2:17:15 - v.2 - For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. -  

Trust God to help you with what you say - We all stumble in many things. That means the tendency and capacity of our flesh is pretty weak and you can find yourself bumping into the flesh at any point, any time. Don't get thrown by it. Keep turning to the Father - letting Him make you stronger etc.. OK. It doesn't mean that you're wearing the identity of sin. Watch what it says here though. This is amazing that it says this because it goes on and on about the tongue in v.3 to v.12...

2:17:40 - Pure words - Mature and complete - He says we all stumble in many things. If any one does not stumble in word - because out of your heart your mouth speaks - Luke 6:45. Wow. So if any doesn't stumble in word, what's that mean? It means he's a perfect man able also to bridle his whole body. That means he's become mature and complete. He's following Him. If he doesn't stumble in word, he's a mature man. Why? Because his heart's been purified and perfected by the truth of the gospel - because out of your heart your mouth speaks. Does that make sense?

2:18:20 - The gospel purifies the heart - Out of the heart the mouth speaks - So the Gospel is designed to purify and transform your heart. And a purified, transformed heart will be revealed through the words that are spoken because you live from the inside out. Even though sometimes people try to live from the outside in. It's the inside out Clean the inside the cup and the outside will be clean - Mt. 23:26. If you don't clean the inside of the cup, something will be revealed on the outside, that there is cleaning that needs to be done.

2:18:50 - Jesus said that what a man speaks is what's in a man's heart. So if you don't stumble in word, it  means that your heart's been perfected by the Gospel. Do you see the purpose of God in that? That's a big deal.

2:19:00 - So let's look at verse 13 because this is talking to you saying…

Meekness - Controlled Strength

2:19:10 - v.13 - Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. - Who is wise and understanding among you. You need to read this stuff in a personal way. Like I say, don't read it for your spouse to locate where they are not-wise and don't read it for your neighbor. You read this stuff for you because it's talking about you.

2:19:25 - Meekness - Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by conduct - not by bearing witness to himself - show by his conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. Meekness - mild, humble, gentle. I've always heard meekness described as a controlled strength. In other words, not an overbearing strength, not a haughty strength, not a proud strength.  It's the opposite of proud. The meek shall inherit the earth - Mt. 5:5. No need to be something in front of men. They just are because of who they are in God. It has a gentleness to it - a kindness. It's a controlled strength. It's not an overbearing strength. It's not a flaunting. It's not a, “Hey, look at me!” But it’s a very strong place.

2:20:50 - Meditating in the life of Jesus - Meekness - Look how Jesus walked in a meekness though he was the Son of God. Think about that. It is amazing. I sit and just think about that and it just so impresses me. I've sat on my bed for hours and just thought about the crucifixion and the way people were talking and treating him and yet he was the Son of God.

2:21:15 - I mean if He was even an inkling like we can tend to be, oh my goodness, you just call down fire, smoke somebody. Just let a little bit out of the box, just to give a right impression, just to hush the rest of the crowd, let somebody take a hit just to shut up everybody.

2:21:40 - Participant’s comment - Difference between meekness and milktoast.

2:21:50 - Its like a controlled strength. That was the best phrase I could ever come up with when I studied out the word. Did anybody get any other definitions? But that's the humbleness, gentleness, kindness... 2:22:00 - Participant’s comment - Your meekness is your degree of reliance on God.

2:22:15 - Meekness and humility - Humility receives - Pride resists - Right. Well that because that's a humbling factor that produces humility. Because your ability to receive from him... Humility receives. Pride resists. So a controlled strength - the ability to walk in godliness - in humility would be an expression of meekness. The meek shall inherit the earth - Mt. 5:5. They're not trying to be someone this way, as a man. They've become someone in Christ. And there's a total reliance and dependence on God because of humility. And it reveals a controlled strength. It's not a haughty thing. It's actually a very powerful thing.

2:22:50 - Controlled strength at the crucifixion - (Meditating in the life of Jesus) - I see Jesus at the most expressed strength of his whole life and ministry through that crucifixion. It’s just incredible to me. And the way they talked and treated Him - even the people... I'm still convinced in my own heart, that people that he actually healed were cheering on his death. I believe it was that crazy.

I know that the Jewish people shouted Barabas, not just the scribes and Pharisees. The people shouted Barabas. Don't think that He only healed in other cities and other places and not right there in Jerusalem because when He was in the late chapters of Matthew they were crowding Him and He was healing  - the blind and all kinds of miracles were taking place. And they were telling the kids to hush up and stop worshipping and stop calling him the son of David and he was doing all kinds of miracles and working healings.

2:23:50 - And then, in a short time they're all yelling Barrabas and crucifying the Son of God. Now I'm sure there could have been a few folks in the crowd saying, “No, don't kill Him,” but it sounds like there was mass deception. Sounds like there was chaos. Their souls were in consternation.

2:24:10 - He would do miracles and then leave and there was a great uproar behind the scenes. Is this man the Christ? How could he be the Christ? No man from Nazareth... Is He just a prophet? He's going to be from the house of David. And that was among the people, not the Pharisees.

2:24:25 - But yet He healed how many when He prayed for them? How many got healed? It's amazing.

2:24:30 - Participant’s comment - The one’s calling out for Jesus to be let go were overwhelmed by the ones calling out for Barabas.

2:24:45 - Right. Well it was a mass majority of course. I'm sure his own mother and and disciples and whoever would have been there that followed Him - a core group of people - I'm sure they weren't standing there deluded and deceived crying out. But but how many people saw him do good things and failed to recognize it is good because of the deception? Or just peer pressure conforming? Watch this...

James 3 - The Wisdom of This World

2:25:15 - v.13 - Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. - Who is wise and understanding among you, question. That's amazing. Who is wise? Who really knows what they're saying? Well let them show by the good conduct of their life that their works are done in the meekness of wisdom. Now look at verse 14 how confrontive and truthful this is. There's no middle ground here. Watch...

2:25:30 - v.14 - But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.  - But if you have bitter envy and self seeking... strife, selfish ambition. Selfish ambition, self-seeking or strife in your hearts - where strife come among you - James 4. Where does strife come from -  when you argue and lust and you want and you can’t have and you just need to be right and need your way - that's where strife and arguments come from.

2:26:00 - ...bitter envy, self-seeking. If you have it in your heart don't boast and lie against the truth. In other words, be very careful that you just don't accept these things as “the way it is” and then proclaim to be something this way (?). Because you're actually boasting and lying against the truth.

2:26:30 - Don't just accept this as status quo and “It’s just the way we are, you know,” and then proclaim to be wise in understanding and confessing Christ - real quick to say you're a Christian. Sometimes people are so quick to say they are Christian because they're unsure of where they stand. Because it's saying here, who is wise and understanding - blow a trumpet, sound a horn and wave a flag and let everybody know how much you know. It doesn't say that it. It says, Let him prove it by his life lived.

2:27:10 - But if you have these other things in your life then your life lived is going to reveal that stuff. It says don't boast and lie against the truth. Don't say one thing and live another is what it’s saying. Now watch...

2:27:20 - v.15 - This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. - This wisdom does not descend from above. Now who knows somebody could have something in their life that they're dealing with - that they're cycling in - it's violating them - hurting them and they see that it's not God but yet their heart's been captured by Him and they're in touch with Him even just pursuing Him. Who knows that's a whole different scenario? You're growing up into Him in all things - Eph. 4:15. God, I know that's not you. I know you love me...

2:27:45 - Change without striving - Remember about the guy that was smoking and the pastor that told him to thank God every time he lit up a cigarette - that he was delivered from the power darkness etc. etc.. And in a short time he just didn't even want it. But the whole time he was doing it, he felt like a hypocrite. And he was like, “This is insane. I am such a hypocrite.” What the pastor was teaching him was: stop trying to change yourself and be condemned in that process. Start agreeing with truth and let truth make you free even if it's not in agreement with your (life). Why? Because his heart qualified. He wasn’t looking for a way to stay the same and look like a Christian. He wanted change.

2:28:30 - Can you change yourself? I mean if you can we'll just pat you on the back. What more can we do? The bottom line is grace changes you. Watch this.

2:28:45 - This wisdom - what wisdom? The selfish, self-seeking, the boasting against truth, the bitter envy, the selfish ambition, the strife - this wisdom does not descend from above. Where did I come from? It's earthy. It's sensual. And demonic.

2:29:10 - Sensual mindset - The word sensual means belonging to the natural or physical, unspiritual. It is living in the domain of the five senses - concerned with this life only. Being sensual - being in common with lust, illicit desire, unclean practice and opens a person even to the demonic. You walk in the spirit and do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh - Gal. 5:16. It’s also unspiritual. It’s only concerned with this life. It can't see past today. It can’t embrace eternal truth because it doesn't have a bigger picture than right now and me myself and I. The Gospel is intended to deliver us from that mindset.

2:29:50 - v.16 - For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. -

Don’t be blind or casual about your own selfishness - For where envy and strife or self-seeking exists confusion and every evil thing is present. You could have selfishness in your heart and not see it for what it is and just skim over it - go to church, worship Jesus, intercede and pray against the devil and even pray against the devil over your family, and then walk in the very attribute of the devil by remaining selfish. And then when the devil is found in your home - “why does God let him here? Why doesn't God drive him out. I prayed. Why is the devil in my home?”

2:30:45 - Selfishness vs. an act of selfishness - It is one thing to act in an act of selfishness - see it for what it is - have godly sorrow and purpose to let the Holy Spirit groom you and grow you beyond selfish practice. It is a whole other ballgame to not address selfishness and just accept it as the way everybody is and still proclaim Christ and stay selfish. You see the difference? There's a big difference between the two. It’s because we’re not preaching perfection and legalism.

2:31:15 - Selfishness is inconsistent with manifesting who He is - Motive of heart. You're not in the kingdom for you and to remain the same. You're in the kingdom to change and be transformed into his image and nature and manifest his glory - period. And if selfishness isn't addressed is a detrimental thing because every evil work is present. So you intercede and pray against the very thing that you're embracing and you're manifesting the very thing that you are praying for God to destroy. That's weird.

2:31:35 - Follow the convictions of Holy Spirit - Selfishness - Please don't be deceived into that. If you get a conviction in your life that there's a tendency of selfishness - that you're being headstrong - that you're trying to push and shove in your family for your own sake - and you're being controlling or whatever, please follow those convictions and get alone and express that for what it is and let that be separated from you and get your eyes on Jesus and thank God that you're in this family to manifest Him. Or you'll slowly feel sorry for yourself. You'll slowly get fixed on what's wrong with them. And you'll slowly find a reason, an excuse to remain the same and make it everybody else's fault. That's called issues. We don't need a life subscription to issues. We need the gospel delivered to our door.

2:32:30 - The wisdom from above. Let's look real quick what it is.

2:32:35 - v.17 - But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. -

Weak and wimpy? - Its first pure. That's amazing. Actually it's too late (class is running long). I’ve got to read... peaceable, gentle, willing to yield. Whoa. Sounds like a weak and wimpy place doesn't it? That's what we're taught to believe. Push over - just a pushover - letting people abuse you and use you. We’re taught that that's what that is.

2:33:10 - Partiality - Gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy. Good fruits without partiality. You're not just doing it for a certain loved one and closing the door on everybody else. That's bias. That's partiality.

2:33:25 - I know parents like  that. I have met with parents...They point out everything wrong with teens in the church and have no jurisdiction over their own child and the thing their own child does, it's like, not a big deal. But they're so bothered by everybody else's child.

2:33:40 - You be careful with that stuff. That is really not good. You have to be real careful over those snap judgments because you'll find yourself then in the same position with your own children a lot of times. “Aww... That's just ridiculous. I can't believe…” And a year later they find their own child in those shoes.

2:34:00 - Or just judging - just a haughtiness and you might be amazed at the stuff you can talk yourself into.

2:34:10 - Wisdom from above is first pure, it's peaceable, it's gentle, it's willing to yield, full of mercy, good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

2:34:20 - v.18 - And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

- Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who want to be peacemakers. Let’s be peacemakers. Because the meek shall inherit the earth and the peacemakers are the sons of God - Mt. 5:9.

2:34:40 - Closing prayer - So Father we just thank you for your word. We thank you for growing us up into you in all things. And Father we're asking you to challenge in our lives every weak way and every way that's just right to a man every way. Even if we’ve been subtly exposed to what's called like a norm. If it's not you God we want to see it for what it is. And we're thanking you for the light that's in our lives. Our hearts are not to miss you but we're not on a legalistic tangent trying to nitpick and criticize and ridicule our own lives. What we're asking for is light. We're asking for the light of truth in our lives to expose all things because our heart is to run with you. That's all we're asking. We just want the light in our lives, so we see these things and run towards you. Father thank you for it. Thank you for it. Thank you. In Jesus’ name Amen.