Session 1 (2017)

Your Life has Influence

➡ 13:50 - Healthy demonstration of the gospel - We’re going to get started and lay a foundation. You can talk about living in power and doing the stuff (operating in spiritual gifts) but if you don’t know who you are it never turns out healthy and it never has lasting impact.

14:05 - Consistency is needed - You’ll see people go on surges with God and then you’ll wonder what happened to the surge. We don’t want that. We don’t need surges. We need consistency.

14:20 - Your life speaks loudly when people can see that what you advocate is real in your life - We all have a sphere of influence. And if people could see the consistency of something that we really believe - but more than we believe, something that we’ve become - then your life really speaks loudly - way more than words ever will.

14:45 - There is something about becoming - way more than doing… When you become something, it gives you a greater voice. People tend to see that and respect that. And in time… time actually becomes your friend in speaking to them because you establish something in the hearts of the folks that get to know you or see you for any length of time.

15:00 - We all have a sphere of influence - So “Holy Spirit drive bys” - we talk a lot about them in Power & Love Conferences - they are all fun but I am telling you that we all have a sphere of influence (in everyday life). We all have been blessed with people who are around us on a regular basis. And it can shift and change, but there are some folks who are in your life at some level, more than others.

➡ 15:20 - Genuineness - And this longevity thing - this consistency thing… I’m not talking about perfection. I’m talking about genuineness. I’m talking about becoming something. So I want to talk about that a little bit. I just have some basic things on my heart.

He Sees us as Sons & Daughters

15:35 - Identity - Understand who you are now that Jesus came - So identity - knowing who you have become now that Jesus came - knowing who you are now that He did what He did - to me is paramount. Knowing who I am now that He came is the most vital thing to my life, if I am going to walk in consistency and genuineness. I’ve got to understand what He accomplished and what His purpose in coming and that it was way more than blessing me or protecting me.

16:15 - The gospel - Good news about how God sees us and what He wants for us - The gospel is not a survival kit. It’s not something that just gets me to hold on to hope just to get through life. The gospel means good news. The finished work of Jesus makes a loud statement about my life. The fact that He would come and die on a cross speaks volumes about how God sees us and what He desires for our lives.

16:40 - God loves you - He never changed His mind about you - We know that God’s love never fails. That means that God never changes His mind about your destiny, value, purpose and potential. You could be in a rut for five years and your destiny and potential doesn’t change where Love is concerned. Abraham can go into Hagar and produce an Ishmael and a chapter later God says, “Stand before me and be righteous” - Gen. 17:1. God is saying, “Look, you went the wrong way…”

17:00 - God is not going to leave you the way that you were - Now I am not condoning doing wrong. What I am saying is that wrong can’t disqualify you if we will stay humble and receive His love and let His love bring us to repentance. I am not preaching a righteousness that empowers you to stay the same. The righteousness that I preach causes you to change. It’s all about change. It’s all about becoming brand new - without works - without striving - without legalism - without condemnation. It’s all about the goodness of God leading you to repentance - meaning, “I’m thinking like I never thought before. My life is motivated by something new and life-giving.”

17:35 - It’s not just forgiveness but restoration to sonship - We’re not just talking about being forgiven. We’re talking about God seeing us in a way that empowers us and restores us to what we were created to be. I’m going to talk about that a lot tonight probably.

18:10 - So me knowing who I am now that Jesus came is huge. I’m going to nutshell some things for those who have never heard my heart before. Don’t be put off if some of you have heard this before. It never hurts to keep hearing things. It’s not about hearing them before. It’s about becoming them.

18:40 - It’s more than just learning a new language -  I’ve cried before God saying, “Please don’t let this message just become a language that we speak.” Because we get entertained by fads and by seasons. And all of the sudden we are speaking a new language. “Oh hey, brother, I am a son. ...Pappa…”, etc. There is a language out there that is new. It wasn’t there eight years ago. Let’s make sure that we don’t just learn a language, but we become a life.

19:10 - Language by itself doesn’t change anything - It’s a life that we live - The language doesn’t change anything. It buys time that we don’t have. We’re not looking for a language. We’re looking for Him. People’s hearts are ready to receive.  Hearts are listening and engaged. And I have asked God, “Please don’t let this become a language that we speak but a life that we live.” That’s why you are here. I’m sure that you did not commit eight weeks to this school so that you could get fine tuned in just a language. It’s not like you are coming here to learn how to talk Christian. No, we want to know Him and become like Him.

20:20 - Knowing Him brings change - Without you trying harder - What changes your life is not you trying harder - it’s not even you believing more - it’s you knowing Him. If you look at scripture, it’s actually impossible to know Him and not be transformed.

20:35 - If you don’t love - You don’t know Him - The Bible says in 1 John 4:8 that if you don’t love, you don’t know Him. It doesn’t say that you don’t pastor. It doesn’t say that you don’t lead worship or that you don’t have a descent heart or that you don’t see your need for a Savior and want forgiveness for your sins. It just simply says that if you don’t love, you don’t know Him.

21:05 - If you love - It’s because you know Him - The Bible also says that if you do love, there is a reason - it’s because you know Him - 1 John 4:7.

21:15 - Eternal life - What does it look like? - Listen to what Jesus said, “And this is eternal life, that they might know Him” - John 17:3. I’ll bet He knows. Please don’t reduce it to a prayer that you pray to go to heaven some day. Eternal life is Him inside of you and Him living through you - letting your light so shine - Mt. 5:16. It’s the right attitudes and motives. It doesn’t mean that every time you walk into Walmart people are all over the floor screaming, “Fire, fire, fire.” That would be great but it’s you walking in the truth. It’s you having the right attitude when you wake up. It’s you understanding your reason for being.

22:00 - Kingdom perspective - That (attitude, outlook, perspective) is what keeps you free from yourself. That’s what keeps you from getting disappointed and discouraged. That’s what keeps you from expecting from others - from men - and being failed. And now you have a reason for being less than Him. But your reason isn’t legit.

Made in His Image

22:30 - It all goes back to creation - Why we are here in the first place - God made man in His image. God made man with intention. He wasn’t fiddling with a ball of dirt and happened to sneeze on it and a man popped up. “Whoa, that’s interesting.” No, He made man with intention. Man is here for a reason.

22:50 - Life is tough? - Only when you live it outside of your purpose (and His grace) - Do you know how people feel like life is a grind - life is tough - life is hard to get through. It’s because we are living outside of why we are here. You are living without grace. You are living without empowerment. We’re just trying to make it. Make it to what? A good life, a long life, a good retirement, to fulfill desires. Everybody calls it a grind. The reason that it seems like that is because we were created with a purpose. God’s the creator of all things. The Bible says that there wasn’t anything made that wasn’t made through Him or by Him - John 1:3. So if man is here with intention, it’s very important that we get understanding on that intention so that we can co-labor and walk one with Him on the earth.

23:50 - It’s not a bless me gospel - If we just make the gospel, “Bless me Lord. Meet my needs - better job. Jesus name.” I hope you get a better job and do right with the better money. But it’s got to be more than take care of me Lord. It’s got to be more than praying out of despair and “Keep my family” and “Heal our bodies” and “Make sure that we make it.”

24:20 - He came to restore us back to what He created us to be - It’s got to be more than that. If He gave His life, the way that He gave His life and He looked to the joy that was set before Him and it caused Him to go through with what He had to pay, He must see something awesome. And it’s not just you and me with our physical needs blessed and met. It’s you and me becoming what He intended in that day when He breathed into man. It’s you and me being found in His image. It’s you and me walking in love. Not being loved but being love. And if we miss that we are going to miss the point of why He came. Because 1 Tim. 1:5 says that the goal of our instruction is love. And 1 John 4:8 says that I can’t love if I don’t know Him.

25:15 - Transformation back to His image doesn’t happen through my striving - So I can’t read scripture and just bite my lip and love like God loves. I guess I can bite my lip and get in that direction and suppress feelings but wouldn’t it be amazing not to even have things like anger in your heart? One of the biggest deceptions in the church is, because of our experience, we don’t believe that that is possible. So we end up following our experience while we sing songs about how we follow Him. But we are called to follow Jesus.

25:45 - Don't be dissuaded - We can live like Him by grace - So you are not going to slow me down with your experience. I’m going to cheer you on into what looks like Him. And if you say, “We can’t live that way,” I am still going to follow Him. I’m going to find that out for myself. I am going after Him. I am going to deny myself, take up my cross and follow Him. That’s my privilege. If I study human experience too much, I will probably sell grace short. And I will probably believe that I can’t be something that He paid for.

26:20 - Who really knows how closely we could resemble Him? - Who really knows the level of grace that He paid for? Who really knows what we would look like if the full measure of what He accomplished would come on a life? What would that look like? You, completely surrendered… You, completely walking in love… You, completely one with the Father, with a crystal clear conscience. What would that look like? I bet it wouldn’t be discouraged. I bet it wouldn’t be “up and down.” I bet it wouldn’t be bored either.

26:50 - But we've got to pursue more than just being blessed - We’ve got to make our pursuit of God, way more than what He can do for us. He is not here just to meet our needs. He is here to make us like Him. We’ve got to get past Him just meeting our general needs.

27:10 - Our needs are not the end-all, be-all of life - Paul said that there were times when he had enough and other times when he didn’t have enough, but I am the same because I have realized something - I’m not going to change - Phil. 4:12. I’ve seen the circumstances of life change many of us. I’ve seen the actions of just one human being wreck the lives of many that are Christians - and they don’t rise above what has happened. So there is something that we need to grow in and something that we need to see.

27:40 - We need a perspective that sees us through the trials of life - I’ve seen loss change us to where we don’t recover. Loss is loss and we can’t soft pedal it. But who knows that there is a higher truth that takes you through loss. You are living for a goal. You are running a race. So we’ve got to get a perspective that is way greater than the things that we are all going to bump into along the way. Jesus said, “If any man would come after me let him first deny himself” - Mt. 16:24.

28:15 - Man was created for the image of God - So back to the garden… God made man in His image and in His own likeness - Gen. 1:27. God made men and women in His image. In verse 26 He talked about it and in verse 27 He did it. He blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply…” - Gen. 1:28. And in that context, He is not talking about just getting pregnant and having kids. He’s talking about multiplying the image. He’s saying multiply the image - who I created you to be - and cover the earth with my glory. The whole context of these verses is His image. It’s somebody like Him coming together with somebody who is like Him and each seed producing after it’s own kind - producing somebody like Him. That sure beats many of the reasons that people have kids - I’m lonely - I’m sure not getting any younger - I’d love to be a mommy…

The Image was Lost

29:40 - The fall - The image was lost - That image was lost when man sinned. When man sinned and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the image was lost. What died was the image of God in man. God said, “Adam, the day you eat of that tree is the day that you surely die” - Gen. 2:17. There was a “surely” in there. Something is dying. When you live outside of what you were created for - outside of truth - outside of the command of the Lord... something is dying.

30:10 - Something died - Man became self-conscious, ashamed - So he eats from the tree. He doesn’t fall over dead. We know that something died. After he sinned he hid from God. Sin does something to people. It makes us self-conscious, shameful, violated conscience, fear… You are ashamed. You can’t face what you know is good (God) because you don’t feel good. You don't see yourself as good. Something really happened to him… (He went from) cool of the day - Father / son - created value - breath of God making Adam into a living being - all he has known is God - naked and doesn’t even know what it is to be naked. That’s phenomenal to me.

31:10 - Before the fall they were pure - We can have that too - They are naked and they don’t have a clue. There is zero of anything that we grew up with. I want to have that kind of purity. I want that clarity. I don’t want to have to fight emotions and feelings and desires every time I look and walk. And that is how people live. And I don’t believe we have to live like that. I believe the Spirit of God in us is greater than that stuff.

31:35 - Purity comes through relationship - Through surrender - I believe there is a place where you can get real with truth and truth comes and gets real with you. There is a place you can surrender - a place you can get alone with Him - where no one else is looking and you’re not putting on a show. He’s either in the room or you are alone. But I believe He is there. And you get real and you deal with some things. And you surrender… And He says, “Yes!” because you are serious. What reveals that you are serious is that you keep on. You continue in the faith and you don’t let anything change your mind.

31:55 - You are worth the price He paid - Why? Because He believes you’re worth dying for. He believes you are worth paying for. If Jesus is God and He is willing to become flesh and suffer for doing good in the most unjust way, for living perfectly… He lived perfectly and suffered for doing perfect - completely pure - all the time. And He never let how they treated Him affect that perfection, because it’s who He is. And He tells us to follow Him. And "As I am so are you in this world." And He’s the first born among many brethren. And he who believes in me will also do the works that I do.

32:55 - Self-centered perspective on the gospel - We cater to ourselves with this gospel and try to make it bless us along the way instead of transform us. So great, you get the better job and you get the six digit income and you are still mad at your co-workers and your light is not shining. So now you are just a more wealthy person, going to church and missing the point (of why you are on the planet in the first place). So great, your needs are met and you are more spiritual than the person whose needs aren’t met.

33:20 - Faith is not a tool to get more stuff - It's a perspective you live by - People think like that. And all of the sudden it’s this race of faith to get more things. Faith isn’t a tool in your belt to get more things. Faith is a perspective you wake up with and live by, that takes you to the finish line - that keeps fixed on what you have become - and who you have become through Him. And you never get distracted. You live by faith.

33:40 - Faith - A perspective that sees you through the trials of life - You live by faith in the midst of feeling and opposition and family making bad mistakes and troubles and sometimes surprises. You better understand faith. Or it’s going to be, “God, why are you letting all of this happen?” and calling for prayer. We need a higher revelation. Jesus didn’t say those things when people treated Him bad for doing good.

34:20 - The injustices that Jesus was not changed by - It looked like they appreciated Him. They laid down palm branches and shouted “Hosanna!” But a few days later they were asking for Barabbas and saying, “Kill him.” That would mess with Jesus if He wasn’t love - if He had issues in His identity - He’d be a broken Savior. “What more do I have to do for these people? I fed them. I raised their dead. I healed them. And this is what they do for me? I’ll be doggone if I am dying on that cross for this bunch of knuckleheads. If they haven’t changed by now, they’re not going to change.”

35:10 - Jesus didn't teach us to talk like that - Self-centered - We all grew up with language like that. That’s why we are laughing right now. We can relate to that. But Jesus never talked like that. So where did we get the language? Jesus didn’t teach us that and He is the good Teacher. He said, “Call no man on earth your teacher. You have one teacher” - Mt. 23:8. There is only one Teacher worth listening to - He’s the Christ.

35:30 - We’ve been taught by the wrong kind of teachers - Life - Circumstances - But we’ve been taught by many things. We’ve been taught by the fall of man - every man for himself - to each his own. Even in our Christian circles - in our Christian faith - just making it about your personal well-being - so that you can be blessed. “Hey, brother, you just need to get some faith.” But it’s all about becoming like Him.

36:05 - He paid a price - He wants what He paid for - Nothing avails anything but a new creation - Gal. 6:15. If something new doesn’t come out of what He paid for, then He’s not getting what He paid for. The purchased possession is Him paying for you and receiving who He is in you back. “I’m ready to pay the price to redeem myself in her.” That’s personal.

36:40 - I’m passionate because of what I see - Not because I'm above adversity - That’s why I am passionate all of the time. For 22 years in June I have been this passionate. So am I just good at putting on the passion jacket? Or do I believe something? Do you think I haven’t been tried in my life? Do you think everything has gone perfectly? Do you think that everyone around me has made the greatest decisions? Do you think that I am living in a spiritual place where I am just above the clouds - no adversity - just walking it out? It’s not that way. It’s something that you see. And when you see it, you become it.

37:25 - Adam and Eve (cont.) - So if God made man in His image and the image was lost through sin… Because God said, “How did you know that you were naked Adam?” - Gen. 3:11. It sounds funny when you share this but it was actually a tragedy…

37:35 - God makes Eve - Two out of one - Woman was made out of man. So the woman came out of man and the man came out of God. So the woman was with God there already with the man. They were one in Him and He just took what was one and made it two. I think it’s so powerful that He didn’t just make another lump of clay to make the woman. That means that we are all from Him - that we are all just one. If God didn’t make another lump of clay but reaches into the man to bring forth woman, that sounds connected. That sounds more intimate than another lump of clay. I guess that’s intentional, huh?

38:15 - Oneness reflects God - So God takes what was one and makes it two so that two could enjoy being one and be high expression of Him. Because you have two wills - two minds - but they are surrendered for one goal. That’s why animosity in your home is a disaster. We just think that it’s normal. That’s why demeaning your spouse - sarcasm - stuff we have become familiar with - is so detrimental. You are one. It’s Him in you and Him in your spouse and you being one together. It doesn't mean that you always have to agree but you don’t have to get mad if somebody doesn’t agree. Why does somebody have to be right? Why does there ever have to be animosity? And if there is a little bit we should catch it quickly.

39:00 - Be a peacemaker - It only takes one - It takes two to tango (argue), it takes one to make peace. There can be no animosity if there is a peacemaker. I don’t care how wicked somebody chooses to be. There can only be animosity if there is no peacemaker. “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God” - Mt. 5:9. We all want to be called sons and daughters. OK, so be a peacemaker. Peacemakers are sons and sons are peacemakers.

➡ 39:50 - Sonship is not just a confession but an expression - Watch this. “You say, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy,’ but I say, ‘Love your enemy’” - Mt. 5:43-44. So what He is saying is, “You aren’t saying what I am saying. You grew up with a different language."  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; - v.44. Why? V.45 - That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. - See? Sonship is not a confession. It’s an expression. It’s a life that you become. We’re going to talk about that a lot tonight. Sonship and what it really means.

40:35 - Sin separates Adam from God - So the image was lost through sin. And the Lord went through the Garden calling for Adam. Isn't it tragic that Adam was hiding from the Lord - from the Father that created him out of His own heart and desire? Sin made Adam feel separate from God. Adam has got his own covering - fig leaves. Adam tells the Lord, “I was naked. I was ashamed. I hid from You.” “How did you know that you were naked Adam?”

41:05 - Adam cut himself off from the source of love -  He became in need of love - Then God gives him a yes or no question, “Did you eat from the tree that I forbid you to eat from?” Adam answered, “It was the woman that You gave me.” And I know that we laugh about it, but think about it, the first revealed effect of sin is self-justification - self-protection - self-defense. Love became the expression of self, through sin. Love got perverted. Adam got cut off from the source of love and became in need of love. And every man, since that day, has been born into that deficit - needing love - needing appreciation - needing value - needing to fit in.

Restoration to Sonship

42:00 - We all need to be born again - And then we try to psychologically assess it - to evaluate our need. The truth is: we were all born into Adam and we must be born again. We turn it into a prayer that takes me to heaven and blesses my bank account. Born again is born again - as if you had never lived before - making this thing right - getting you out of yourself and back into Him - grafted back into love so that fruit can be on the tree. He’s the vine. You are the branches - trees of righteousness - the planting of the Lord that He might be glorified - Is. 61:3. So where is the fruit? On the branches. Who is the branch? You are. Yay! He paid for this.

➡ 42:55 - He paid the price because you are worth it to Him - Get established in that - I am going to call you to faith on this. We’ve got to see this and believe this - that it is this simple and not complex. It is not some deep, hidden thing. He came as a man because He thinks my life is worth it. You’ve got to settle this. This is your answer. We are starting this whole school with the answer on the first night so that you can just build… the whole school, on this answer.

43:30 - By faith receive His love - Thank you - It’s not, “Well, I am just waiting for God to enlighten me.” No, the just live by faith. You have to settle through Christ crucified - through the cross - that this is my root value - this is what He wants for me - He loves me - He’s never mad at me - He loves me.

43:45 - He's not displeased with you - We haven’t been taught that. We heard that if you draw back, His soul has no pleasure in you - Heb. 10:38. You know what we hear? Displeasure. He’s not talking about displeasure. It just means that as a Father, He doesn’t get to see you coming into everything you are anointed and called to be and He can’t rejoice in that place over you. We hear displeasure.

44:05 - We must be valuable - He sent His Son - You didn't earn it - It’s not displeasure. While you were yet a sinner God sent His son - Rom. 5:8. Colossians 1 says that you were an enemy and thinking wrong in your mind and that separated you from God, yet He reconciled you through His death - Col. 1:21-22. It didn’t say that you started thinking better (and then Jesus came). He didn't come with a plea bargain, “Listen, you get some of that trash out of your head and I will consider giving you some grace.”

44:30 - It's God's goodness that is designed to lead us into changed thinking - No, it’s the goodness of God that is supposed to whack us in the heart so that we go, “Whoa, my life must be worth more than I understood. If this cross is real - If He did what He did - I must already have value. I must already have destiny. I’m not trying not trying to be somebody in the sight of men. I’ve always been somebody in the sight of God. I need to start there and run well."

45:00 - Faith is required - You won't always feel valuable to God - You are not going to do this without living by faith. Because those counterproductive feelings come - little insecurities - needing to fit in - wondering how people feel about you. If you don’t build strong in these truths all of these things will matter more than what matters most (relationship with the Father).

46:00 - Don't let this be daunting - It's not based on my performance - Laughing - God doesn’t want your heart overloaded. It’s not, “I’ve got to get this.” No, it’s, “I get to become this.” Settle it, “I can believe this.” It has nothing to do with what you’ve done in the past. It has to do with what He created you to be. Please, let’s get this tonight so that He can reproduce Himself more and more. This has nothing to do with my performance. It has to do with my created value, my destiny, what He has created me to be. He paid a price to redeem a truth. I am going to stay fixed on that truth.

46:45 - If you stumble - Even if I stumble along the way, I am not going to get condemned. I’m not going to go back to fig leaves, hide and blame shift. I am going to run to God and say, I am so much more than that in You. And you are way more than that in me. Thanks for the truth. Thanks for the revelation. Three months ago, I would have done that and would have talked around it. But now I see that that is so not what I was created to be. God, you bought me with a price. I am done selling cheap. I am not for sale. You said I was worth a very high price, I am not not living this (stumble) any more. This is not who You are in me. That’s just how you walk out your faith.

47:25 - Selling out cheap - Settling for less than He paid for - I hear Christians selling out cheap. “Well, yeah, I hear what you are saying brother, but it’s hard.” If you try to pull that language on me, I’ll chop that thing up into a million pieces. Whether you agree or not, I’ll give you every chance to agree. It’s a cop-out. It has no substance. “Well, brother, everybody has their moments.” What are we trying to do? Saying that we are hungry and then get tricked into biding time that we don’t have? What do you mean everybody has their moments? Don’t sell that cheap. That’s WHY people have their moments.

48:00 - If you stumble - “Well, what do you do if you have a moment then?” What I just showed you (46:45). You are not expecting to have a moment. So if it happens then it should get your attention - not in condemnation but in, “Oh, man, there is so much more.”

48:20 - Take away the cop-out language - You'll run better - But you would be amazed at how getting rid of a little language like that… “Well, everybody has their moments brother...” will put diligence and discipline into your life by the Spirit of God - how you would actually walk through things without weakness like you had when you had that cop-out. You’d be amazed how truth makes you free.

48:30 - We’re changed by grace through faith - It’s the working of grace. We don’t change ourselves. We believe and give ourselves sincerely to Him and His grace meets that and changes us. You’re saved by grace through faith - Eph. 2:8. Please don’t TRY to be a great Christian. Be a good believer and start where He finished so that you can run well. Stand where He placed you - holy, blameless and above reproach (Col. 1:22) - accepted in the beloved (Eph. 1:6). You are not cut off, you are grafted in. It’s what HE did right.

49:20 - Responding to what He has done - Realize how He sees you - And humbly you respond, “Wow, you think that much about my destiny? You would die and give your life to give me a hope and a future?” “Yes sir, because you look so good out there in the future. You look so good in Me. I look so good in you. You’ve been made for this.” Just the fact that Jesus would die for you…

49:40 - Growing up and going to church - The mystery of God’s love - I didn’t want to go but my mother made me. [Description of growing up and going to church] I’d go to church and have all of these questions. “Why would He die for me? Why does He want me in heaven? I don’t even know Him now. He seems so far away He doesn’t even feel real half the time. Why does He care so much?” And everybody would say, “It’s the love of God. He died because He loves you.” That was mysterious to me. “This guy is either very lonely and needs a friend or He is different from anybody ever - entirely unique.” That sounds like it exalts God but God doesn’t want you to say, “Well that was Jesus.” He wants you to say, “Well, that was love” and realize that you can become the same thing.

51:00 - Well that was Jesus vs. What Jesus said - "Follow Me." - Jesus isn’t excited when you talk about His life on the earth and you say, “Well, that was Jesus.” That’s religion. It’s wrong thinking. Because He told you to follow Him and “the thing that I do, you can do if you believe - John 14:12. So if you say, “Well that was Jesus” you may be missing the point. Maybe that (what you see happening through Jesus’ life) was love. Maybe it was love in the flesh. Maybe God is love. Maybe He didn’t just come and preach to us. Maybe He lived a life and then called us to it. You see? We are following Him.

51:40 - And we follow Him in the midst of our lives having been a certain way - the way that seems right to man - emotions and all of this stuff.

51:55 - Jesus paid to restore us back to who we were created to be - So here is what I am saying to the people who have never heard my heart before. I am still trying to wrap that up. Jesus died to restore what was - what we were created to be. What He made man to be, He paid a price to get back.

52:20 - A price was paid - Marred more than any other -Is. 52:14 says that He was marred more than any of the sons of men. That’s an intense phrase. Marred more than anybody was ever marred by a man. Some pretty barbaric things have been done to people. [Examples of barbaric things.] He was marred more than any. This stuff is all there for a reason. It means something.

52:50 - The gospel is more than making a confession - Jesus said, “Nobody takes my life, I freely give it” - John 10:18. So am I just supposed to think that Jesus is this mysterious lover and has this thing for me? And I am suppose to just confess Him and when the trumpet blows I’ll be on the right side of the fence? But life is still hell? And people are still a challenge? There is no way that that is the gospel. It’s got to mean so much more.

53:15 - Sin had an immediate impact - Self-preserving, self-justifying - Marred more than any of the sons of men... (so that we could get our rightful appearance back). What happened to Adam? “Did you eat from the tree?” “It was the woman that you gave to me.” He couldn’t just say, “Yes, I really blew it Lord.” No, Adam was already affected by sin in such a way… He’s throwing God out. He’s throwing the woman out. When he said, “It was the woman that you gave to me” there is implication that it’s not my fault. “Hey, if You didn’t give me the woman. This probably wouldn’t have happened. Don’t look at me.”

53:45 - Jesus didn't think that way - He was love and love isn't selfish - Have you ever heard people talk like that? It comes from sin and sin-consciousness. And then we get mesmerized by that kind of reasoning and we think it's the right way to think about things. But Jesus is the way. Watch how opposite of this kind of thinking that Jesus is. Adam did wrong and blame shifted. Jesus did right and took responsibility (for stuff He did even do). Our thinking is perverted. You’ve got to look to Jesus to find truth. He is the way. He never did anything wrong. And yet died as a big-time wrong doer. And was marred more than anybody ever was by men. He didn’t just take 39 stripes and a few spikes in the hands and the feet. He was beat beyond recognition to where when they were done with Him there was no way you could tell who He was.

55:00 - Jesus died to regain rightful appearance for man - Why did Jesus have to pay such a terrible price - marred more than any other? Because when sin got done with Adam, he didn’t look anything like he was created to be.

55:20 - Adam went back to being just a form - an intention of God - The image was lost and Adam was a mere empty man, cut off from the very source of life and love. He was a form when God made Adam out of dust. He was an intention until God breathed into him. When God breathed, he became a living being - a living soul. On the day you surely die, all of that left and he went back to a form and an intention.

55:40 - God didn't give up on us - But God is love and His love never failed. So He didn’t just say, “Fine, if you want it that way, have at it. I hope you enjoy your rotten life. I mean I tried to give you everything. You didn’t want to run with me. I guess if you are not for me, you’re against me.” (Mt. 12:30)

55:55 - Side-note: Verse out of context - That’s an example of taking a new covenant scripture, manipulating it, in hurt and offense, and trying to preach it. That scripture means that if you are not living towards the kingdom, you are working against everything the kingdom is working towards. You can be born again, see your need for a Savior, have forgiveness of your sin and yet work against the kingdom with your attitudes, your behaviors, your disposition. So is our goal being forgiven of our sins and believing that Jesus died on the cross? Is that our goal? Or is our goal transformation and a new creation? We have kept this thing from happening in our lives by accepting half truths sometimes.

56:45 - Regaining rightful appearance - Jesus was beat beyond recognition so that I can my identity back. So that I can get clothed again - robed again with identity - so that truth can come back on me - so that the image of God could rest in me again and flow through my life again.

John 20 - God's Not Holding a Grudge Against You

57:00 - Don't cling to me Mary - What did Jesus do when He rose from the dead in John 20? “Don’t cling to Me Mary. I haven’t yet ascended to the Father” - John 20:17. What’s He saying? “Man, the best thing is coming. I’m going to put my blood on the mercy seat and I am going to make peace between God and man. And there is going to be mercy. And my blood is going to speak better things than Abel’s blood is speaking.” So He said, “Don’t cling to Me. I’ve got to go do this thing. I’ve got to wrap this up. This is what I’ve been here for. This is the best moment.” When Jesus said, “It is finished” (John 19:30) He was talking about the beating, the sacrifice that was necessary to redeem man. “It’s paid. They don’t have to hit me again. I don’t have to shed any more blood. It is finished.” And now He rose from the dead and says, “Don’t cling to me. Don’t detain me. I’ve got something that I’ve got to do yet today.”

57:55 - Road to Emmaus - He caught two men on the way to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35), I guess on the way to the Father. I don’t know. He must have had a busy schedule. Because at evening time He broke bread - “It’s the Lord” - and boom He was gone.

58:00 - Peace with God - On the same day in the evening Jesus walks into the room and says, “Peace to you” - John 20:19. Why? You now have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Be justified by believing it. Why did He say peace to you? Because He took His own blood - not the blood of bulls and goats…

58:30 - Jesus and Mary at the tomb - But here is my point… When He sees Mary and calls her by name (John 20:16), you know that she is running for Him. You know that she is running. She is getting ready to cling to Him. She is coming for Him. “Don’t cling to me.”

58:50 - These are more than Bible stories - Real people, real events - These are real people not Bible stories. [Mary’s encounters with Jesus recounted] He was the best thing ever and now He is dead. And she can’t stay away from the tomb because He is there. He’s dead but He’s there. “I’m going.” That’s where she was at. But that day she got there and the stone was moved. Isn’t it amazing that she was there? She wasn’t afraid to die. She was like - life without Him is like death already. I’m not afraid to die. None of the men were there with her. We can learn from this stuff. [Extended discussion - hypothetical conversations]

➡ 1:00:00 - Get understanding - And let understanding become your reality through communion -  Do you see what is happening here? Do you see how important it is to get understanding? That people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge and then you grow up hearing only the wisdom of this world. You grew up hearing that what you don't know won't hurt you. What a lie! Get the knowledge and you can stop the destruction - the cycles in your life - the waywardness in your life - if you will take stewardship and accountability in your life when nobody is looking (to get alone with Him - to spend time alone with Him). That’s where it matters the most and that’s where I am trying to get to tonight - if I ever get there. But I’ve got three more sessions in this school. I’m just laying a simple foundation for the rest of this school.

1:00:45 - The cross is about redemption - Bringing us back to mint condition - This is what this cross is all about - redeeming something. “Redemption” means brought back, bought back to original value. Jesus paid a price to get me back to where I was apart from sin. That’s why He is the Lamb that takes away sin - John 1:29. That’s why you are to reckon yourself dead to sin and alive unto God - Rom. 6:11. You can live this thing by faith.

1:01:05 - He calls us brothers - We did nothing to deserve that - But here’s my point… When Jesus said to Mary, “Don’t cling to me. I haven’t yet ascended to my Father” that’s how you know He was heading to the Father. The biggest deal is that “I am about to take my blood to the Father.” He said, “But go tell my brethren…” Don’t you just love that? These guys were assembled in fear. They said they would die for Him. But they had done nothing right. They did everything that we would have done - feared, loved their own lives - honored and esteemed Him but when the rubber met the road - “I don’t even know the man” (Mt. 26:72). He said it with a curse trying to be convincing - I’ll swear if it will save me.

1:02:00 - Deny yourSELF - Biggest problem on the planet: Men living for self - These are people who walked with Him daily and saw the miracles with their own eyes. They looked into His eyes. It just shows you how powerful this flesh thing can be - loving your own life. Jesus said, “If any man would come after me, let him first… first deny himself” - Mt. 16:24. He never said pray a prayer to assure heaven. He said deny yourself. It’s the biggest problem on the planet - men living for themselves when they are made for My image.

1:02:30 - The stain of selfishness - If you look at the scriptures on selfishness, it’s convicting. He says, But if ye have bitter envying and strife (selfishness) in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. - James 3:14. We’ve been so tainted by selfishness we think that it’s everybody’s thing. “Everybody has a little selfishness brother.” How do you deny yourself and remain selfish? How do you deny yourself and have a bunch of rights? How do you deny yourself and have things that aren’t His?

1:03:00 - Hold yourself accountable - Be a good steward of your heart - That’s where you, personally, as a student in this class, as somebody that is seeking after God, have to personally steward your own heart and take account for your own life, because nobody can steward your heart but you. Nobody can be as good an accountability partner as you can be to yourself. Can you hold yourself accountable in a healthy way? Can you be the steward of your heart? The Bible says that you should - Prov. 4:23. Guard your own heart. Not somebody else's heart. Guard your heart because out of your heart flows the issues of life.

1:03:30 - Without stewardship and accountability motives get twisted - And the pure in heart see God - If you don’t guard your heart, the “why” behind your heart gets twisted up. The motives get yucky. Ministers have to do this too. But guard your heart for the pure in heart will see God - Mt. 5:8. So I guess there is no other place (in God) than pure. Anything else - other than pure - is less than what He created us to be.

1:03:55 - Jesus didn’t change His mind about the disciples - Even though they failed Him - But here is my point about the “brethren...” He said, “Go tell my brethren…” Now put yourself in our shoes. That’s another hurting pastor, minister, leader. The disciples said everything right and did everything wrong and He still called them brethren. He didn’t say, “You go tell that bunch of low life, two-faced guys… put on a show but when the rubber meets the road bunch of cowards… I’ve got a score to settle with them. I’m a little ticked. You would have thought that at least one of them would have been there when the stone rolled away.” He didn’t say that. He used a covenant term - brethren - “Go tell my brethren…” Do you know what He is saying? “Go let them know that I haven’t changed my mind about them. I’ll see them soon.”

1:04:45 - Rightness vs. righteousness - God didn’t come in rightness. If He came in rightness, we are wrong. He came in righteousness and that gives us a chance to be right. He came and said, “You are so much more than what you have been.”

1:05:05 - Forgive them - They don’t understand - “Forgive them Father. They don’t know what they are doing” - Luke 23:34. What’s He saying? “Forgive them Father. They don’t know who they are. We’ve known from the beginning. That’s why I am here. And if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me. Thanks for the honor of letting me give my life and act out love - as a living epistle for them to follow.” This is the gospel. Don’t ever get tired of it. Don’t grow weary in well doing. It’s an emotional lie.

1:05:50 - The emotions that we are used to - Not from God - “But God gave us emotions.” Not the ones you grew up with. Don’t give God credit for those twisted, messed up things. Adam gave you those emotions. Every emotions you’ve experienced is flowing out of the wellspring of self-centered thinking. But you were created to be love. I’ll bet that is a different emotional make up. I’ll bet that God is not agitated, frustrated… We so relate to our emotions we think that God is also that way. We think He tolerates us. We’re amazed that He puts up with us. You get used to the way that you and I have been (through the fall). But He is calling us into Him (back into alignment with who He is - How He thinks, feels and what He wants).

1:06:45 - Emotions that we were born into - Emotions after the fall - You don’t have to teach anybody how to be angry. Nobody has to take a course on anger. You were angry before you could talk. [Taking your binky.] [One toddler taking a toy from another toddler.] Where did that kind of selfishness come from? Is it because the kids are evil and wicked and twisted and bad? Is it because the parents are messing up? It’s a nature - called the fall of man - separation from God - every man for himself. You can see it in little babies. And you can see it in a lot of big babies too.

1:09:05 - Praying from selfish motives - The Bible talks a lot about selfishness and it is straightforward, powerful stuff. It says that where selfishness is active and present there is every evil work - Jas. 3:16. [Praying from a place of selfishness.] Your whole prayer is because you are hurt and there is selfishness spewing out of you in spiritual language. And you wonder why nothing is changing and in fact getting worse. It’s because you are a landing strip for every evil work because you are in agreement with something outside of your created value (selfish desire). It’s called selfishness.

1:09:50 - Wife prays for Dan out of selfish motive - My wife prayed for me for 13 years - that I would change. Gets revelation that she was praying from selfishness that she could have a better life. [Extended story.] "I didn’t pray because of love, only because of pain. I was a hurting wife that prayed. God spoke to my heart and told me that He couldn’t answer my prayer because, 'You never came to Me because of mercy and love. You only came to me because of pain. I can’t answer your prayer and empower you to stay there because that’s not Me.'” She kept saying that she was sorry. But because of the gospel, I became sorry.

1:11:20 - When you see your life through truth, it makes you take responsibility. And all of the sudden it’s no longer about what she did wrong but what I never became. On her end it was like forgive me for not loving you.

1:12:00 - Ask amiss payers - Self-centered Prayers - Sometimes our prayers aren’t answered because we ask amiss - praying our own lusts and desires - James 4:3. It’s just self-centered seeking. Things to suit yourself.

1:12:20 - “Lust” - The word “lust” has nothing to do with pornography. 2 Peter 1:4 -  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Lust - self-satisfying, unsatisfiable seeking.

1:12:45 - Transformation - Out of darkness, into light - What sanctifies us out of the darkness into the light? We used to think for ourselves and live for ourselves. Now we lay down our lives in love. You make a strong declaration in your heart, “My days of anger, disappointment, discouragement, jealousy, pride have to end. None of those things are who You are in me. They can’t be me. I am born again.” So you go to water and die to everything that you’ve ever been and you come out of the water in newness of life and you run hard after Him, a race worthy of a prize. But if you don’t challenge those things and call them what they really are - the way that seems right to man will just slip in and all of the sudden we will have new wine that we are proclaiming in old wineskins that burst.

1:13:30 - New wine in old wineskins - new life, old understanding - That’s why people run well for a season and then get a little discouraged. They are excited and then discouraged. We are not trying to ramp up to run. We are seeing clear. Seeing clear is our motivation - it’s the revelation - it’s the fuel in the tank.

John 20 - Peace to You

1:14:00 - Peace to you - Back to John 20. He said, “Go tell my brethren.” Mary went. Jesus left. And in the same day in the evening He comes to His disciples. “Peace to you.” He shows them His hands and side. They were glad when they saw it was the Lord.

1:14:25 - Peace with God - Then He says, “Peace to you” a second time. Why? It’s a different peace. The first peace to you is “Hey, I’ve just been to the Father. I’m now the High Priest between God and man. I just put my blood on the mercy seat and there is forgiveness of sins and redemption for man. You have peace with God.”

1:14:40 - Peace with Jesus - Even though they failed Him - Then Jesus shows them that it is Him and they go, “It’s really you.” What’s the first thing that hit them when they realized that it was really Him? How they denied Him - the guilt - the shame. What did Jesus say immediately? “Peace to you.” That’s our King right there. That gets me. He didn't say, “You ought to feel that way and I hope it feels deep too.”

1:15:20 - The 2nd “Peace to you” - It’s the goodness of God leading men to change - [Description of their life together - intimate.] But when the rubber met the road, the sheep scattered when the shepherd was struck. They all said that they would die for Him. They all ran. And all Jesus could say - He who is love - He called them brethren - that's the goodness of God leading men to change. And when they were feeling those things that we all tend to feel, when they saw it was the Lord, He said, “Peace to you.”

1:16:00 - He doesn’t even talk about their failures - What’s He doing when He says that? He’s saying, “Those feeling are detrimental to your life. They are not what I am looking for or promoting. They are not from me. Get them out of you. Peace to you. You have peace.” He doesn’t even bring up their failures.

1:16:30 - He’s leading us into transformation - When I first understood this it was freaking me out. “You’re amazing. I want to be like you. I want that. You are doing that in me.” He’s showing these truths to me and I am seeing it. This is so much more than waiting to go to a mysterious place called heaven. It’s becoming something. It’s heaven coming into me and everything that God is being in me - a dwelling place - a house fit for a King.

1:17:00 - Seeking esteem from others - Many times, even in the church, we are still stuck trying to get esteem from others. [Seeking attention at church. Open mic night.] Don’t be up here because you need the attention. That would be a good reason to never be up here. [Seeking attention by speaking before the church.] This is not your big break.

1:18:10 - Speak what you have become - Each seed after its own kind - You don’t want to be up here and speak if it’s not what you are living. You become it and your words carry weight. If you just teach doctrine, it will stimulate men to think. But if you become it, it will go into their hearts and empower them to do the same - each seed after its own kind. You don’t come up here to just preach what you’ve learned. You cry out what you’ve become.

1:18:40 - Dan’s experience of preaching out his heart - That’s why I am passionate and don’t have to try. That’s why I can’t not be passionate. Because I didn’t come to preach a doctrine. I didn’t study and lay out my notes - not that that is wrong - there is a place where you can be prepared. It’s a different grace when you do that. If I was preaching topical and I was a local pastor, there might be times I would have notes just so I could reference the location of Bible verses and other stuff. When I preach I just cry out my heart. I open up us - God and me - and let it be us (all of us - I bring you in to what He is speaking through my heart).

1:19:15 - Let the word become flesh - Anybody can read their Bible long enough and preach a sermon. That’s not the point. The word becoming flesh is the point.

1:19:30 - Peace to you - A second time - So Jesus in John 20… He said, “Peace to you” the second time. He said, “As the Father sent me, I send you” - John 20:21. He didn’t even talk about them being afraid a minute ago. They were in fear of the Jews. That’s why they didn’t go out. They were afraid that the same thing that happened to Jesus would happen to them. They were loving their own lives. What does love do? Love not it’s own life. Jesus wants to transform us to love - to become love.

1;20:10 - No reprimand - But the goodness of God leading men into what they are created to be - So Jesus comes in and His way is not to reprimand the disciples. It’s not the reprimand of God that leads men to change. It’s the goodness of God that lead men to change. The goodness of God calls men into what they are created and called to be. Imagine how overwhelming it was to see Jesus, knowing that they did Him wrong. Knowing that they did the exact opposite of what they said they would do. They had meant it. They believed it when they said it. But when given the chance they didn’t do it - they found out where they really were. We would have all done the same thing.

1:20:50 - Love doesn’t think evil of another - If we are thinking evil, we haven’t become love - Imagine Jesus not even bringing up all of their failures. [The failure of Peter.] But love brings out the best in people. Love doesn’t think evil of another. Do you know why the Bible says to avoid the appearance of evil? Because men think evil.

1:21:15 - Avoiding the appearance of evil - If it’s not evil why do you have to avoid the appearance of it? Because men will think it’s evil. “Oh, that looks a little shady. Love believes the best. Love doesn’t think evil. So if people are quick to think evil what does that say? That we haven’t become love.

1:21:40 - Looking for backslidden lady - Crack house - Prostitute tries to solicit me through my truck window. “Hey, honey, what are you doing in this part of town?” I grabbed her wrist and I asked her, “The question is what are YOU doing in this part of town?” [Looking for backslidden lady] She took Dan to find the lady. Crack house. (Here is the main direction of the story:) So a couple of blocks from a crack house a prostitute gets into my truck. (That doesn't look too good,)

Don't be Quick to Think Evil

1:22:50 - Avoiding the appearance of evil - What does that look like? (Appearance of evil.) What does the average church attending Christian think about that? Calling 3 other people so that they can keep it in prayer. Instead of thinking, “Boy I don’t know what that girl was thinking. She must be ripe for the picking because she just got in that man’s truck. This is going to be all about Jesus.” That’s not what most are thinking. But the last thing she is to me is a temptation. And that freaks religious people out. Jesus lives inside of me. I stay in tune with that. I’m not driven by dreams and desires and fantasies of the flesh. She’s a woman that needs Jesus.

1:24:40 - Crack house (cont.) - She got in my truck and took me to the lady. [Story continues] She didn’t want to be seen helping me find this woman. So she takes me into a dark alley. So here is pastor’s truck in a dark alley. (That doesn't look too good.) [Story continues]

1:25:30 - God can be at work even in situations that don't look cool - If I had thought twice, I wouldn’t have done it. Sometimes God, in His love will take you past every rule that we set for good reason. So it was too late to say brother you shouldn’t have done that. You’re wrong. You don’t understand the moment. It wasn’t anything unholy. It wasn’t about me thinking, “I wonder how this is going to look.”

1:26:00 - Crack house (cont.) - Drug dealers. [How this prostitute typically was operating] That should break our hearts.

1:27:00 - Avoid the appearance of evil - Don’t be quick to think evil - I told you that whole story because of this… Please don’t be quick to think evil. Judge with righteous judgement. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. The reason that you avoid the appearance of evil is that a big majority of Christian people with good hearts would have stumbled if they had seen that. Nobody saw it - God did that.

1:27:25 - Crack house (cont.) - “Why do you do this?” “My babies.” “You have an addiction.” Hugs. “Why do you care so much about me?” She had never been loved. “I know who you are.” Explained, rocked and held her.

1:28:50 - Avoid the appearance of evil. Why? Because men think evil. It would be good not to think evil.

John 20 - Breathing Life Back Into Man

1:29:00 - As the Father sent me, I send you - No limitation - So He breathes on His disciples after He said, “As the Father sent me, I send you.” Can you find a limitation in that phrase? If you think that it has to do with power and miracles, you are misunderstanding. That’s what we think all of the time - power - miracles. “For God so loved…” And if you read the context of John 20… Here He is calling them brethren and they have done nothing right. He’s given them the kingdom and He’s commissioning them to make disciples in the whole world and they still haven’t done anything right - except they were imparted to and they followed Him. So, did they have it sown into them? Yes. They were probably more ready than they knew.

1:29:50 - Jesus breathes life back into man - Born again - But here is what He did that is so phenomenal. Now His blood is on the mercy seat. He said, “As the Father sent me, so I send you.” And what did He do? He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” He didn’t just say, “Be filled with the Holy Spirit.” He could have said, “Be filled with the Holy Spirit” and they would have been filled. But there is significance in breathing on them. Why does He breathe? He is the redemption of man. He brings man back to the beginning. How did God make man in the beginning? What died through sin? What was lost? Everything in that breath. So now His blood is speaking better things. And you’ve got generations that have passed under the law of sin and death. And now a NT and a new covenant is on the earth. And now Jesus comes back from heaven - back from being with the Father - and He breathes into them. What’s He doing? He’s taking them back to the garden where God breathed into Adam and Adam became a living being. And the disciples were born again and came alive. Death was replaced with life. Tares became wheat. As if sin never was - that’s the part that we miss. As if sin never was - that’s how powerful His blood is.

1:31:15 - Start where He finished - Step into what He provided - So are you supposed to live in the consciousness of sin? And fight sin? And try not to sin? And try to read all of the books on how to live the Christian life? Or are you supposed to start right there - starting where He placed you - making you holy, blameless and above reproach - accepted in the beloved. I was alienated by the way my mind thought - my mind thought selfishly. I’ve denied myself. I’m picking up my cross and I am following Him. It’s transformation.

1:31:40 - Now the Holy Spirit is inside of them - “As the Father sent me, so I send you.” He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” He takes them back to day one - where life comes back into man through His blood. Now the Spirit of God is in them.

1:32:00 - If you forgive the sins of any - How else are they going to see His heart and nature? - “If you forgive the sins of any, they shall be forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they shall be retained’ - John 20:23. Let me paraphrase that. “If you go and love them like I have just loved you and you go be the example to them that I have been to you, they will know the way to me. If you see them for their faults, for their failures - if you let them harden your heart, hurt your heart, anger your heart - if you get religious - if you get into works - if you retain them - see them what is wrong with them instead of what they are created for and called to, their sins will remain because how will they know their way to me? You are the body of Christ.”

1:32:40 - We represent Christ - the Body of Christ - Who represents the message to the earth? Jesus or us? Us. He has made us the representatives of Him - the body of Christ. Think of how we have represented over the years… how many distractions and deceptions we have fallen for. And how some people can quote the Bible and yet be angry and mad. We fall right into what He said - If you forgive, they will know the way to forgiveness. If you don’t forgive how are the going to understand my forgiveness - You are my representation. If you let your heart get hard, how will their hearts ever get soft? If you don’t manifest who I am through what I have done in you, how will they know the way?

1:33:35 - Jesus passes us the baton of manifesting God - So Jesus is really handing you the baton of the NT, new covenant church. And He is saying, “Listen, I am going to go be with the Father. You go be like me.”

Identity - See Yourself as He Sees You

➡ 1:34:40 - So how do we do that? Real simple. Go to Colossians. [Remembrances of prior schools - Zero plan]

1:34:55 - The key: You have to believe how He sees you - There is no secret to what I am saying tonight - no deep, mysterious answer. We’ve got to believe what the gospel and the cross of Jesus is saying. Here is what He is saying, “I know who you are. I know what I’ve created you to be. I know the value of every one of you. And yes, it’s worth it for me to do this for you so that everything that was dead can come alive and you could be everything that you were created to be. I love you so much because I know who you are in Me. And I know who I am in you. (I know what you look like with me in you and you fully yielded to Me.)” That’s what He is saying from the cross.

1:35:40 - We struggle to see ourselves the way that He sees us - Look to the cross - So many of us have struggled with our identity. We’ve got false identities. We’re struggling just to feel valuable every day. But you know that you are valued because He was crucified. Listen. I can’t give you another answer. You say, “It can’t be that simple.” Are you kidding me. The just live by faith. You know that you are valued because He was crucified. You have to let that matter more… than how you feel or think about yourself.

1:36:15 - Nothing else in life should speak louder than the cross - Unless you love less your mother, your father - pretty important folks - your spouse - pretty important - your children, your houses, your land and yes, your own life. Unless you love less those things, you’ll by no means be my disciple and walk out what I have created you for - Luke 14:26.

1:36:35 - We have a wrong idea of what Christianity is - Bless me, protect me - No, deny yourself -Some of us are Christians for all of those things to be protected. There are a lot of motives behind Christianity - behind why people come to Jesus. But there is only one pure motive to come to Jesus - to become like Him. Deny yourself. Take up your cross.

1:36:50 - Take up your cross - Not changed by life because you are seeing through His eyes - What does “take up your cross” mean? Taxi through every injustice - go through everything life presents and be unchanged by it because you are being changed by Him. You are not giving sin against you have the right to produce sin in you. You are overcoming evil with good.

1:37:10 - Establish this truth in your heart through communion - You’ve got to get real bold with yourself on this. You’ve got to hold yourself to this. You’ve got to get alone in a room when nobody is looking and say, You know what? My days of animosity, frustration, strife and stress are over. It’s unnatural. No wonder I feel so yucky. I was never created for this. This is a lie. It’s the way that seems right and I accept it no more. God thank you for delivering me. Thank you for giving me new life. I am so glad to be born again. Faith says that.

1:37:40 - It may sound strange at first - Do it anyway - If you had heard me praying when I got saved, some pastor out there would have tried to change my mind and talk me out of it. Pastor Don got offended when I said that I couldn’t be offended - in the beginning - because it sounds like an overstatement. It sounds like you are drawing attention to yourself.

1:38:30 - Don't let others define you, be your lord - Be defined by Him - Do you see how someone else's words can model and shape you. You get so mad at someone and cut them off and think that you are winning and the whole time they are the one who is deciding, defining you. You might as well take a picture of yourself and let them sign the bottom of it. You say, “Well, I wouldn’t feel this way if they didn’t…” and you make them lord instead of Him being Lord. And you let other things govern and decide your life.

1:39:00 - How He sees you is obvious when you look at what He did through the cross - There is no other answer for your identity - for your completeness - for your wholeness - except the finished work of the cross. The cross says, “Yes, you are valuable. Yes, you matter. Yes, you’re loved. Yes, you’re forgiven. And you absolutely have a destiny. God is for you and not against you. You are accepted in the Beloved. God is not mad.” John 3:16 doesn’t say, “For God was so exasperated and at wits end with humanity that He finally sent His Son.” I find me - the real me - through the cross (because I can see how He sees me). I find myself in Him (because I was made to look like Him).

1:39:45 - On a quest to know God - I found who I was designed to be - I went on a journey to know God when I got saved in 1995. And I put myself in my bedroom. I turned the clocks to the wall. I shut the door and just stayed in there. I just wanted to know Him. I didn’t realize that when I found Him that I would find me (I was made for His image - I realized how He saw me). That was the biggest thing. When I bumped into who He was, I saw me with Him and in Him (He made us to be one). And all of the sudden everything changed. Because I realized how He saw me and what He predestined me to - and the price He paid settles it.

1:40:10 - Value - You’re worth the price He paid - Who would pay such a crazy, ridiculous price if there wasn’t something amazingly valuable to them on the purchased possession end. [Shopping analogy - price not worth it] If you write the check, you believe that what you purchased is worth the price that you paid. [Car shopping analogy - overpaying] Nobody pays a high price for nothing.

1:41:15 - We focus on the sin issue - He sees getting back sons & daughters - So why is the cross always about our sin? Why isn’t it about our value, our destiny, our potential? Why, my whole life, has the cross only been explained in terms of my sin? Of course He had to die to pay the price for my sin. Of course He had to die because I sinned. But do you think that He died because I am a sinner? He died because I was created to be in Him, and His, and a son. He died to redeem something, not forgive something. Forgiveness is part of it but redemption is the point.

1:41:50 - To know your value - Look to the cross - The cross is all about our value. The cross is like God shouting from the highest place, “You’r so much more than you’ve ever understood. I’ve known you from the beginning. Your life is on purpose. There’s a time to be born and here you are. Hello!”

1:42:30 - There is no other answer - Believe how He sees you - I’m just telling you frankly, there is no other answer for your consistency (walking consistently - not “up and down”) - your identity (understanding who you really are) and you being OK. If you are staying in truth, you won’t be pulled off into deceptions and distractions. You’ll see the rat race for what it is - always on the run - always trying to prove something - always trying to gain something. Are you kidding? Fear not little flock, it’s the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom - Luke 12:32.

1:43:00 - You are accepted, loved, clean, approved, empowered - When I wake up in the morning I already have acceptance. I already have unconditional love. I already have a clean slate. I’ve already passed the hardest test. Jesus gave me an A. So every day I am not taking a test - at risk for failing. I have the privilege to become (He’s put me in the position to become what He created me to be.) Every day.

1:43:20 - You want to see how He sees - Then your expression of Him will be healthy as well - The eye is the lamp of the body - Mt. 6:22; Luke 11:34. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is single, your whole body is full of light. It doesn’t say unless, of course, you are going through a hard time right now and you are challenged… It says if you see clear, you are clear - period.

1:43:50 - [Time constriction comparison to prior schools]

1:44:25 - Read the epistles as one long letter. The chapter divisions are artificial. These letters are progressive - building all the way through.

1:44:45 - [Color code] Colossians.

Col. 1 - He Sees You as Holy, Blameless and Above Reproach

1:45:20 - Reading Colossians…

1:45:25 - v.1-4 - Side-thought: Pray for folks especially when they are doing well - Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother, To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, - Look when Paul made the decision to pray. Isn’t that peculiar? We pray for people when we see that they are a mess and we are concerned and we believe that they are messing up. Paul prays for them when he sees how sincere they were. Paul had not stopped praying for them. Why? Because they were becoming something and we don’t want anything to steal that away. We want you to be formed in Christ. That’s Paul’s whole mission - that men would be formed in Christ. That Christ in them - the hope of glory - would be revealed to all men. When we see people walking well we say, “Ok, they’ve got it. Let’s pray for someone else who’s a mess.” Do both.

1:46:40 - v.5-6 - For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth: - That makes me want to find out the truth.

1:47:05 - v.7-10 - It's a life we walk - Not just a prayer to go to heaven - As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit. For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; - Do you see that this is a life that we are living. We didn’t just pray a prayer to go to heaven. This is a life. And Paul is commending them for being on point. “You are becoming something and we’re hearing about it. And we haven’t stopped praying for you. We’re excited. God is having His way. This thing is coming to pass in you.”

1:48:00 - v.11 - Joy even in the midst trials - Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; - Why does that get stuck on the end? Because we all get tried with things. Troubles come - circumstances. But they don't have any voice. We’re on point. We have a reason for being and we walk through these things with a certain perspective. And when trials come they don’t change the truth that we live from. Paul is telling us all that there is going to be a longsuffering with joy. It’s worth every bit of suffering. Patience is needed. You have need of endurance so that after you fulfill the will of God you can receive the reward - Heb. 10:36. You've got to show yourself approved. You’ve got to never grow weary in well doing.

1:48:55 - You are your best accountability partner - Don't go against your conscience - You are your own best accountability partner. Outside of the Holy Spirit, your own conscience and your own heart are your best friends. Only you really know you. And if you start valuing yourself the way that God values you through the cross, you’ll start living up to what you’re called to be. But if you go against your conscience, if you go against what your heart knows, you grey yourself out, you veil yourself and now you reduce yourself to going through the motions of what you thought you believed.

1:49:30 - Habitually ignoring your conscience shows that you don’t value yourself like He does - I’ve learned that people who live in that cycle - of ignoring their conscience and getting greyed out - have esteem issues. They don’t see themselves through the cross. They try to find themselves through other ways. And those other ways are going to let them down always. It’s a rat race. You find yourself and your value through the cross - period. It’s settled.

1:49:50 - See your value through the cross - He loves you - Watch this. God loves me. Come hell or high water - it doesn’t matter. No matter what happens - He loves me. He already proved it through His Son. The measuring stick of God’s love is Christ crucified and it’s settled. You can’t say, “Well I thought God loved me… And why? And where is God’s love?” No, Faith works through love. So when love is in question, faith is shipwrecked. And now you are just reduced to another desperate person using principles hoping to get help. But you’ve proved that you really don’t know Him because He is love.

1:50:20 - Don’t slip into relying on principles to get a result - Stand in relationship - Anybody can quote the word when they are in trouble but how many mountains have just sat there and looked back at us. You can reduce the Bible to principles that you’re applying just to get help. Or you can see the Bible as an introduction into covenant and faith working through love and relationship where two become one. Death is never your motivation for praying. Fear is never your motivation for praying. The worst isn’t promoting your prayer, it’s the promise that is behind your prayer.

1:51:00 - v.12 - Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: - You are in the light.

1:51:10 - Deliverance - I have been delivered - Now watch. Everybody is talking about deliverance. It’s a hot topic in the body of Christ. There are deliverance ministries. What do you know about deliverance? I know that He’s delivered me. And a lot of the people who are really into deliverance ministry have a lot of sensuality leading them - they are going on what they feel. I don’t want to get on a tangent with this. But what would this do to a believer if he reached v. 13…

1:51:35 - v.13 - Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: - ...He’s got fears in his life. He feels like he is being followed by devils. And he gets alone with God and says, Lord God, I thank you that you love me. That has been settled. Christ, you were crucified. You shed your blood and put it on the mercy seat. And I thank you that you HAVE DELIVERED me. I thank you that you live inside of me. And something rises up in you and you declare, Father I thank you that you haven’t called me to live by feelings. I thank you that I realize that rarely have feelings been a legitimate truth in my life. God, what I believe is true. And you love me. And you value me and you paid a high price to redeem me. I fear nothing and I’m not going to change. You’ve placed me on a rock. And I am going to stand here God, and nothing is going to shake this thing. Thank you for who you are. That would be pretty powerful if you start talking like that when nobody is looking. I pray that way when nobody is looking. I believe it.

1:53:20 - You’ll live what you believe - Make a tree good and the fruit will be good - What would happen if you woke up every day and believed you were clean in the presence of God? If you start believing that you are clean long enough, your life will live clean. Because if you make the tree good, guess what happens to the fruit? It’s good automatically. If you are trying just to change the fruit it means that you don’t understand what kind of tree you are. Make a tree good and the fruit is good. Make a tree bad and the fruit is bad - Mt. 12:33. If you see yourself as bad, the fruit will be consistent with how you see yourself. And you will question your heart - condemn your heart - reduce yourself, at best, to going through the Christian motions or at worst, you’ll bow out.

1:54:00 - Experiences in the wilderness - Jesus / the Israelites - “Well, I’m just going through one of those dry places. I’m just going through a wilderness.” It ought to be Jesus’ wilderness not the wilderness of the Israelites. That was not a good wilderness experience. Jump over into Jesus’ wilderness experience where He was selfless - thinking of God and others. That’s where you get anointed, angels minister to you, you crush the devil with the word and you come out of that place in the Spirit and power. That sounds like a godly result. Don’t have an Israelite mentality - “It would be better for me if…”

1:54:30 - Accept what has been done for you - You have been delivered - Here’s my point. “You have been delivered.” If you don’t receive His love and you don’t don’t understand that you have been delivered from the darkness and into the kingdom of His love, how will you ever walk in the grace and the revelation and the heart-knowing of that victory?

1:55:50 - Don’t live by feelings - Most are lies anyway - If you just get tricked into feelings - “I just feel like I am in bondage…” I don’t show a whole lot of respect to those feelings because they are lies. “Well, I just get stifled when I go to pray. Something is blocking me…” It’s your own low esteem. Just get alone with God and say, Father, I thank you that you love me… A lot of times I just get people started by saying this for themselves. They start crying because they really don’t believe it. That’s what stops them when they get alone to pray. But you have to believe it because He was crucified. So it has nothing to do with feelings. Christ was crucified. He has to love us. Yay!

1:55:40 - Let’s keep it that simple. Unless you become like a child… Mt. 18:3. If we are waiting for some magic revelation or some blue mist to hover over me… That would be great if that happens but I hope you already have a foundation before that happens. Or you will live for another experience… and another one… and another one and probably be flighty along the way.

1:56:00 - Sitting at the feet of Jesus - But a life that is not changed - Lady called me. She was mad at the leaders in her church. She was offended. But what she was saying was not good. “Honey, stop please.” And she said, “Don’t tell me… I go to the throne room of Jesus every day and sit at His feet for hours.” “Honey, you are caught up in a language. That’s not your reality. Stop demeaning the gospel. There is no way that you are sitting at the feet of Jesus for hours every day and yet still talking like this on the phone. Now, I love you enough to talk that straight to you. You are minimizing the cross. You’re saying that I am having these great spiritual experiences but my life doesn’t look anything like Him. I am hurt, just like people that don’t go to church. What do you think the point is of sitting at His feet?” To be ministered to all of the time and now He’s your escape? And now you are on a honeymoon with the Lord? No. Christ in you is the hope of glory - the hope of looking like Him and manifesting Him so that who He is is seen and men glorified Him.

1:57:10 - Hiding behind a language that’s not producing fruit - Here is the raw truth. Nobody has a loving relationship with the Father if they don’t love others. The whole purpose of relationship with God is to become like Him - to become love - to love others. So you can’t say, “Well, I don’t need people. I’ve got the Lord.” No you’ve got problems and it’s time to get real. You’re hiding behind a language that’s not producing fruit.

1:57:50 - Read the rest of the chapter. It’s all so good. Skipping ahead to…

1:57:55 - v.21 - And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled - It says that you and I were thinking messed up. We were thinking for ourselves. And yet He reconciled us.

1:58:00 - v.22 - Accept how He sees you - And your life will change -  In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: - Guess what you are right now, through the cross and through Jesus’ blood? Right this second, through the blood you are holy, blameless and above reproach in His sight. And if you would step into that by faith regardless of your former productivity or non-productivity - if you would step into that and start accepting and receiving that guess what it will do? It will make the tree good and you will start seeing who you have become and it will change your results (fruit). It will change your life. Why?

1:58:30 - Grace meets faith - And makes the word that you are believing your reality - You’re saved by grace through faith. When you release faith into what He says about you, grace comes to make that truth your reality. And you didn’t bite your lip to change. You saw yourself differently and what you see you become.

1:58:50 - Satan works through blindness - To prevent you from believing and being changed by grace - Satan works with blindness. He’s the god of this world. He blinds the eyes of those who don’t believe - 2 Cor. 4:4. But what if you don’t believe the love of God through the cross? What if he is not just blinding those who are unsaved? He blinds the eyes of those who don’t believe. What happens if you don’t believe that you are forgiven? And you just believe the feeling of guilt? And you receive the testimony of condemnation? And yet the Bible says that He didn’t come to condemn you but through Him you would be saved - John 3:17.

1:59:20 - He’s the god of this world that works through blindness. He blinds the eyes of those who don’t believe. Pick a category: You don’t believe redemption or forgiveness or acceptance or righteousness - so you don’t feel clean and then you don’t live clean - so that you stay veiled, serving from afar. If you never get to know God, you get reduced to serving Him and you will always feel indebted.

Col. 2 - You Received by Faith - Now Walk by Faith

2:00:00 - Skip over to chapter 2 real quick…

2:00:05 - v.6 - There's a lot that we need to receive by faith - As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: - How did you receive Christ? By faith. So if I asked you, “How many here are going to heaven?” You would raise your hand. And I would ask you, “How do you know?” You would say, “I just know.” What do you mean? “I’d just know - that’s what the Bible says.” OK, well the Bible also says that you are forgiven, holy, blameless and above reproach. It says that He loves you and that His love will never fail. It says, “Peace to you.” Get what He is saying.

2:00:50 - so walk ye in him: - See it’s a life. We are going to live it. What’s He talking about? He’s talking about faith. How did I receive Him? By faith. How am I going to walk in Him? By faith.

2:01:00 - v.7 - The faith is a perspective you live from -  Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. - "The faith" - It’s a perspective. It’s a view you live from. It’s something you live from. It’s what you’ve become now that He came. You live from that place. You go through life from that place - rooted and grounded.

2:01:30 - You have been taught now - No excuses - as ye have been taught - That is why we have this school. If they ask me to teach, you are never going to be able to say that you weren’t taught this. I teach this stuff constantly because I see good-hearted people cycle - live “up & down” - by their feelings - and they are not hypocrites. I’m not talking to hypocrites. I’m not talking to people who wake up looking for a way to miss God - people who are just playing a game. Cycling happens because of wrong believing. It’s little foxes spoiling the fruit of the vine - Song 2:15.

2:02:00 - For example: Self-condemnation spoils fruit - I’ve seen some wonderful people with really pure hearts and they have been living self-condemned because they feel like they are not living up to their pure heart-cry - so they feel condemned. They are their own judge. God’s not judging them. I’ve seen a lot of good people paying a price that He paid already. Some of the purest people who sincerely love Him for what He did, are some of the most inwardly condemned - secretly shamed people because they feel like their life doesn’t measure up to their love for Him. That’s a shame.

2:02:35 - Get alone with Him - Express your faith that you are not condemned - How do you handle that? You get alone with God, Father I feel like there is such a deeper representation of who you are in me. And there is so much my heart is crying out to become. But I can’t strive. And I am thanking you for what you are doing - how you are working in me and where you are taking me. You are doing a good thing in me.

2:02:55 - Condemnation and shame are lies meant to keep you from approaching Him - There is no condemnation. If you start feeling an ounce of condemnation or shame in your life, especially when you approach God, it’s a lie. If you had condemnation or shame you wouldn’t want to approach Him - you wouldn’t desire Him as you should. But you wouldn’t cry over something bad if your heart was really that bad.

2:03:35 - Thankfulness means that your eyes are off of yourself - abounding therein with thanksgiving - Do you know why thanksgiving is always thrown in there? Because when you are thankful it means that your eyes are not on yourself and how things are affecting you and how you feel. When you lose your thankfulness, you’ve turned inward and you are being deceived. Why do we give thanks in everything? So we never internalize and take life personally - you’ve already taken the gospel personally.

This is what we will close with...

➡ 2:03:50 - v.8 - Don't be cheated through wrong believing - Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. - Beware lest anyone cheat you… with something other than Christ. ➡ All I did this whole session was talk about what He did, what He accomplished and who we are now that He did that.

2:04:25 - v.9-10 - You are complete in Him - For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: - As you received Him, so walk in Him. You are lacking no good thing. You are complete in Him. Are you maturing in things - growing in things? Yes. But I’ll tell you what, you stand holy, blameless and above reproach. You stand righteous, fulfilled in Him. To know the love of Christ which passes all understanding, is to be filled with all of the fullness of God - Eph. 3:19. "Fullness" - A house with no empty rooms - a town with no empty houses - a ship so full of cargo that you can’t find room for another box. There is “No Vacancy” over your life. You’re completely filled and occupied through the truth that He brought when He came.

2:05:15 - Closing prayer - I am going to pray this scripture (Colossians 1:9+) over you. Just speak to the Lord yourself and say, Father, I believe that you love me. You have no other view of me. You’ve forgiven me. You have washed me clean. You have proven through the cross that you love me. While I was yet a sinner, you sent your Son. Don’t get condemned. Don’t cycle. Just say, My life is so much more. Some of you need to pray and believe, Lord, I have tremendous value. I have value that I have yet to see, but I am getting to see it more and more. There is so much to this cross. And I am going to keep my eyes on it because I believe that I am going to find myself through your blood. And I thank you that I am justified. I’m forgiven and I am forever loved. You are not mad at me. You are not disappointed in me. Empower me, teach me and cause me to live, from this moment, even closer to you than ever before and shine like I’ve never shined.

2:07:00 - Father, I pray for them now as Paul prayed over the Colossians. I see their heart and their hunger for you - to come in from wherever they came from - to make the commitment that they have made. Obviously there is hunger here. There is a heart for you and a heart to know you.

2:07:25 - Lord, I ask that you would fill them with the knowledge of your will - that you would fill them with all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Let the grace of the Lord come upon them Father. In these 8 weeks let their hearts see like they’ve never seen before. Let this school be a turning point in their lives. Let them know that You have given them understanding. Lord I pray that you would answer every question - fill every gap - that there be no void left at the end of 8 weeks. I pray that they would be filled in truth and empowered to live their lives in Christ.

2:08:15 - Father, I thank you that they are going to walk worthy of You - bringing pleasure to you. And I bless these people with fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Now, Father, I thank you that you strengthen them with all might according to your power, for all patience, for all longsuffering with joy.

2:08:40 - Holy Spirit would you come? And just empower in a very special way - impart and impregnate us with the truth of who you are and who we’ve become. And let no man look any other way. And if he would look any other way, let him see (his mistake) so quickly. Lord, I pray for a supernatural marking of all of these folks to keep us on course and to grow us up into you in all things. No more being tossed to and fro but a unity of faith - growing up into the full measure and stature of Christ. Father, I thank you for blessing and I thank you Holy Spirit for empowering. Come and get close and be more personal than ever before. In Jesus’ name. Amen.