The Secret Place

Speaker: 00:00:06

As you guys are giving, I'm going to just make a couple brief announcements. I

Speaker: 00:00:10

want Justin to have his time this morning. Listen,

Speaker: 00:00:15

good morning again this week. Midweek gatherings. Thursday

Speaker: 00:00:19

night, six o', clock, I'm telling you. Words from the rabbi,

Speaker: 00:00:23

Pastor Barbee. It's rich. It's rich. Go back on

Speaker: 00:00:26

live stream online if you want to watch it from the. From the previous

Speaker: 00:00:30

sessions. And it so good. So be a part of that on Thursday night if

Speaker: 00:00:34

you've got the capacity to do so. It's been really good Following

Speaker: 00:00:38

Thursday night this week at 7:15. At 7:15, we are going

Speaker: 00:00:42

to have our first team meeting for Celebrate Recovery. And so if

Speaker: 00:00:46

you're interested in helping us in that launch, which will happen in

Speaker: 00:00:50

August, I invite you to just linger after the gathering at 7:15,

Speaker: 00:00:54

come and see me. We're going to be meeting in the green room that's back

Speaker: 00:00:57

here, but I'll lead you back there. Come see me after that gathering and we'll

Speaker: 00:01:00

go back there. We'll be here for about an hour. Excited about what the Lord's

Speaker: 00:01:03

going gonna be doing through Celebrate Recovery. So that's happening on Thursday. And then

Speaker: 00:01:07

we wanna invite you to register for our conference. It's coming up in March.

Speaker: 00:01:11

Abide March 6th, 7th and 8th this week. We will put

Speaker: 00:01:15

more information about the teaching schedule and all that online. Register this week

Speaker: 00:01:19

so we can prepare for you to be here. It's gonna be really, really good.

Speaker: 00:01:22

I believe God's gonna do some things then, but what?

Speaker: 00:01:27

That's not it. This is the winter retreat for the youth.

Speaker: 00:01:32

Yeah, the youth's going on winter retreat. That's February 13th.

Speaker: 00:01:36

And so you guys register for that as well. Okay. God is

Speaker: 00:01:40

saving the very best for when? Right now. And Pastor

Speaker: 00:01:43

Justin has a great word for us this morning. Would you please welcome Pastor

Speaker: 00:01:47

Justin.

Speaker: 00:01:51

It's not any pressure being God's best right now. Like,

Speaker: 00:01:56

hey, this is God's best. You're like. And then they're like, Pastor Justin. You're like,

Speaker: 00:02:00

whatever, man. Hey, I got a call from Metro one time

Speaker: 00:02:07

and they wanted me to come in for an interview too.

Speaker: 00:02:12

You know what I told them? Absolutely not. We will

Speaker: 00:02:15

interview wherever you find me at. And y' all are

Speaker: 00:02:19

laughing like y' all believe me. That's just, you know. See, God will do

Speaker: 00:02:23

it, won't he? Second thing today is Pastor Ronnie Meek's birthday.

Speaker: 00:02:27

Y' all say hi, Pastor Ronn.

Speaker: 00:02:33

I don't know that. Cause I'm close with him. I know that. Cause Facebook reminded

Speaker: 00:02:37

me because he was Kind enough to put that I am close, but that's not

Speaker: 00:02:41

the reason why I know that, because he put his information in

Speaker: 00:02:44

properly on Facebook. So if you'll do the same, I will know when

Speaker: 00:02:48

your birthday is. I don't know what the part of my brain that used to

Speaker: 00:02:52

remember phone numbers and birthdays are doing right now. Like, there was a part

Speaker: 00:02:56

of my life where you knew everybody's phone numbers and birthdays. Don't know that anymore.

Speaker: 00:03:00

So I'm hoping I can unlock that this morning. We can retain this information.

Speaker: 00:03:04

Last thing I want to teach you guys, I'm operating at about a 75%

Speaker: 00:03:08

today. Those that know me know I run high octane. And

Speaker: 00:03:12

so anything less than that can be detrimental to

Speaker: 00:03:15

mortals. Normal guys, small bears. Anybody

Speaker: 00:03:19

that's not me usually would take them down for the count. But since I'm so

Speaker: 00:03:23

high energy, 75% for me is going to be a struggle. So

Speaker: 00:03:27

if I'm not as exuberant, don't be like, what's wrong with him? I'm just.

Speaker: 00:03:31

And got a little something going on up here today, okay. I've been

Speaker: 00:03:35

praying I didn't sneeze the first gathering. Boy, can you imagine this row right

Speaker: 00:03:39

here? Post Covid. They're like,

Speaker: 00:03:43

yeah, right. Where does the thing

Speaker: 00:03:47

go? Oh, there it is.

Speaker: 00:03:52

We're gonna be talking about intimacy with God this morning and

Speaker: 00:03:56

the secret place. And so if you would, let's go ahead and

Speaker: 00:04:00

stand and read and get into the script, and then I will share the message

Speaker: 00:04:04

with you today. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to

Speaker: 00:04:08

read as if you're at 75%. Okay? I

Speaker: 00:04:12

don't need nobody yelling in the back, okay? Take it down a notch.

Speaker: 00:04:17

This is my time, okay? It's God's best. It's right now, remember?

Speaker: 00:04:22

Are we ready? Here we go. I do not

Speaker: 00:04:26

ask for these only, but also for those who

Speaker: 00:04:30

will believe in me through their word that they may

Speaker: 00:04:34

all be one, just as you, Father, are in

Speaker: 00:04:38

me and I in you, that they also may

Speaker: 00:04:42

be in us, so that the world may believe that you

Speaker: 00:04:45

have sent me the glory that you have given me,

Speaker: 00:04:50

I have given to them that they may be one

Speaker: 00:04:53

even as we are one, I in them and you

Speaker: 00:04:57

in me, that they may become perfectly one,

Speaker: 00:05:02

so that the world may know that you sent me and

Speaker: 00:05:05

loved them, even as you loved me. And one more from

Speaker: 00:05:09

David's psalm. He who dwells in the shelter

Speaker: 00:05:13

of the most high will abide in the shadow of the

Speaker: 00:05:16

Almighty. Father, I thank you for your word. I thank you for this day,

Speaker: 00:05:21

for the opportunity to share and speak, and I pray that

Speaker: 00:05:24

all of my jokes and quips will be quickly forgotten. But Lord, that the things

Speaker: 00:05:28

that you want to teach us and reveal to us and affirm inside of us

Speaker: 00:05:32

today, this morning, that you would do so through the power of the

Speaker: 00:05:36

Holy Ghost, according to your word and will, and that it would

Speaker: 00:05:40

grow deep root inside of us. Lord God, I pray that your son Jesus

Speaker: 00:05:44

will be glorified through our words and our time together. Father, be

Speaker: 00:05:48

inhabit this place. We love you and thank you. It's in Christ's name. Amen.

Speaker: 00:05:52

And amen. You guys can be seated. And so

Speaker: 00:05:57

we're continuing in our series about abide.

Speaker: 00:06:00

And this morning, we're gonna be talking about intimacy with

Speaker: 00:06:04

go. What I've noticed is in my life, when I have come

Speaker: 00:06:08

across a teaching or a message similar

Speaker: 00:06:12

to this, I'm left feeling one of two ways.

Speaker: 00:06:16

It's either I hear the message, I listen to the

Speaker: 00:06:20

bullet points, and I go, okay. I feel like I'm

Speaker: 00:06:24

extremely close with the Lord right now, but usually

Speaker: 00:06:27

what happens is I will listen to the teaching, or I will listen to the

Speaker: 00:06:31

message and I'll go, do I even know God after listening

Speaker: 00:06:35

to all this want to do today is give you

Speaker: 00:06:39

guys a checklist and say, here are the things

Speaker: 00:06:43

that make you intimate with God. And then you try to

Speaker: 00:06:46

evaluate where you're at on that scale.

Speaker: 00:06:51

Kurt alluded to that earlier in the message

Speaker: 00:06:55

for the communion, and

Speaker: 00:07:00

that Christianity is completely unique in that

Speaker: 00:07:04

our God came down to us. Every other

Speaker: 00:07:08

religion, there is this scale, this wall, this ladder

Speaker: 00:07:11

that you're trying to climb to get close to the

Speaker: 00:07:15

Creator, to get closer to God. And usually it's performance

Speaker: 00:07:19

and works based. And our God said,

Speaker: 00:07:23

it does not matter how good you are, how long you

Speaker: 00:07:27

walk, how far you climb, you'll never make it. There's no. It's

Speaker: 00:07:31

too great a chasm. You can't come up here, so I'm

Speaker: 00:07:35

gonna have to come down to you. So this

Speaker: 00:07:39

morning is not about me giving you an intimacy

Speaker: 00:07:43

checklist for you to go, okay, killing it there. Not doing good

Speaker: 00:07:46

here. Didn't even know that was on the list. Right,

Speaker: 00:07:50

right. Cause that's usually what happens. I'm having a conversation with

Speaker: 00:07:54

Mario yesterday. We're in the kitchen and we're talking about intimacy.

Speaker: 00:07:58

And he brought up a good point. And this is one thing I love about

Speaker: 00:08:02

our eldership. He started the conversation by saying, now this isn't

Speaker: 00:08:06

biblical, and I appreciate that. And

Speaker: 00:08:09

if you're giving somebody advice, you might want to. If it's not biblical,

Speaker: 00:08:13

you might want to say, hey, this ain't biblical. So if it ruins your life,

Speaker: 00:08:17

don't, you know,

Speaker: 00:08:21

you can blame me. But don't blame him. It's not scriptural,

Speaker: 00:08:25

he said. But we started talking about that. Everybody has

Speaker: 00:08:29

a different type of love language, right? You guys are familiar with the love languages.

Speaker: 00:08:33

If you're not, I'll run through them real quick. So everybody has a love language,

Speaker: 00:08:37

a way that they give and receive love. And some are words of

Speaker: 00:08:41

affirmation or physical touch or I'm

Speaker: 00:08:44

quality time. I will force my wife to sit in the room with me.

Speaker: 00:08:50

She doesn't have to do the same thing I'm doing. She just has to be

Speaker: 00:08:53

in proximity so she's got her laptop

Speaker: 00:08:57

wherever I'm at doing her thing, right? Quality time. I don't

Speaker: 00:09:01

know that that's quality, but I just need to be able to look over and

Speaker: 00:09:03

see you there. Right? What is the other one?

Speaker: 00:09:08

Acts of service and gifts. Some people show love by giving

Speaker: 00:09:11

gifts. So now take this in the context of what we're

Speaker: 00:09:15

talking about with intimacy with God. If I were a quality time

Speaker: 00:09:19

person, then I may have the.

Speaker: 00:09:23

Is it proclivity? That's the right word, proclivity to come in here and say,

Speaker: 00:09:27

hey, if you want to be close to God, then you need to be saved.

Speaker: 00:09:30

Spending time with God. And those of you that

Speaker: 00:09:34

are words of affirmation say, well, I don't spend as much time

Speaker: 00:09:38

as Pastor Justin does. I guess I'm not close with the Lord.

Speaker: 00:09:42

Or those that are a words guy or gal may say, I

Speaker: 00:09:46

spend a lot of time in prayer, and I'm constantly talking to God. And then

Speaker: 00:09:49

if you're like me, you go, where do you have that time? I must not

Speaker: 00:09:52

be close to God, because I don't spend that much time in

Speaker: 00:09:56

prayer. And there may be some. It's like they're always doing

Speaker: 00:09:59

missions work, or they're out in the community or giving people people's rides, or they're

Speaker: 00:10:03

holding doors or they're doing things and they're constantly pouring out for the

Speaker: 00:10:07

kingdom. And you're like, well, I guess I might not be as close to the

Speaker: 00:10:11

Lord as they are because I don't. I've got six kids. I don't have

Speaker: 00:10:15

time to take a shower and wash my hair.

Speaker: 00:10:19

Obviously, that's not me, right?

Speaker: 00:10:23

But here's what I'm saying, guys. The goal and purpose of today is not

Speaker: 00:10:27

provide you with an intimacy Checklist. Because there were many

Speaker: 00:10:31

people who were close in proximity to Jesus. Jesus and

Speaker: 00:10:35

not intimate with Jesus. And what we don't want to be is a people

Speaker: 00:10:39

who are close to kingdom things and not intimate

Speaker: 00:10:43

in the kingdom. So what is intimacy? Let's

Speaker: 00:10:47

look at what the world says about intimacy. If I

Speaker: 00:10:51

ask this question right here, how many of you are uncomfortable

Speaker: 00:10:54

married folk? James, how is your

Speaker: 00:10:58

intimacy with your wife?

Speaker: 00:11:02

That seems like it's an inappropriate question. It's

Speaker: 00:11:06

not. Let me get there. Spoiler alert. Mary sue, right?

Speaker: 00:11:12

Dang, man. On the

Speaker: 00:11:16

outset, if you think about human intimacy, it means one thing.

Speaker: 00:11:19

But if I say, what about your intimacy with the Lord? How come it means

Speaker: 00:11:23

a completely different thing? In our minds, intimacy is

Speaker: 00:11:27

defined as a deep sense of emotional closeness, trust

Speaker: 00:11:31

and vulnerability shared between individuals, extending beyond

Speaker: 00:11:35

physical and sexual contact. It involves being truly

Speaker: 00:11:39

seen, sharing innermost thoughts and fears and

Speaker: 00:11:42

feelings in an authentic manner. How many of us are afraid of

Speaker: 00:11:46

being seen by others? How many of

Speaker: 00:11:50

us are afraid for someone to see the real me?

Speaker: 00:11:55

Many of you know that a personal growth

Speaker: 00:11:59

area that I'm working on is

Speaker: 00:12:02

confrontation. And if you decide that

Speaker: 00:12:06

after this service you want to argue with me, most likely I'll

Speaker: 00:12:10

argue with you. I'm not perfect. I'm growing.

Speaker: 00:12:14

I'm working on it. I recognize it's a flaw. I recognize it's not

Speaker: 00:12:17

pastoral, okay? But if you come up yelling at

Speaker: 00:12:21

me, I'll match that energy, usually with whatever you've brought to

Speaker: 00:12:25

me. Just so that you know this can happen, right? You've seen two elk

Speaker: 00:12:29

where one of them says, hey, I'm fixing to lock these horns. Or you. Another

Speaker: 00:12:32

one says, well, bring it on, big boy. And then they rattle up, and the

Speaker: 00:12:36

others and the females are standing there. Look at these stupid guys fighting over

Speaker: 00:12:40

this, right? This is why you never argue with a fool. Cause from a distance,

Speaker: 00:12:44

you don't know which one is which. And I have a

Speaker: 00:12:48

problem. I didn't say that, by the way. I've never had an original thought. I

Speaker: 00:12:51

don't know whose quote that is. Forgive me. I'm not plagiarizing that.

Speaker: 00:12:55

That's not me. It's a famous quote.

Speaker: 00:13:00

But what I'm trying to say is

Speaker: 00:13:04

I don't remember what I was saying. Oh, here's what I was

Speaker: 00:13:08

saying. Here's what I was saying, right? Like I would say,

Speaker: 00:13:12

if you want to come argue with me, oh, now you're gonna see the real

Speaker: 00:13:15

me. Now you're really gonna see me, right? Because

Speaker: 00:13:19

for some reason, this person up here is

Speaker: 00:13:22

not who I am over Cole and Kalen's house. Like,

Speaker: 00:13:26

they get to see the real me. It's not that I'm

Speaker: 00:13:30

putting up a front. It's that I have a relationship

Speaker: 00:13:34

with them, that they get to see the walls come

Speaker: 00:13:38

down. When you go over somebody's house, you don't immediately just

Speaker: 00:13:42

get to go to the master bedroom. Right? That's an

Speaker: 00:13:45

intimate place inside of the home. You start out in the

Speaker: 00:13:49

foyer, take your shoes off. These floors are new. Okay, come

Speaker: 00:13:53

sit in my sitting room. Or if you're at my house, let's go to the

Speaker: 00:13:56

kitchen. But you don't just automatically go into those

Speaker: 00:14:00

deep, intimate places. Many of us are being

Speaker: 00:14:04

afraid by being seen by others, but a lot of us are being afraid by

Speaker: 00:14:08

seeing being seen by God. And isn't it amazing that we

Speaker: 00:14:12

know that God sees us and yet there's a part of us that

Speaker: 00:14:15

attempts to either hide or desires to.

Speaker: 00:14:20

There are many people that believe you have to come to a church building to

Speaker: 00:14:23

be close to God. John MacArthur writes, the

Speaker: 00:14:27

church is not an option for true believers. It is the very

Speaker: 00:14:30

family of God to which every true believer longs to be a

Speaker: 00:14:34

part of. Can you connect with God and

Speaker: 00:14:38

be close to God inside of the church building? Absolutely.

Speaker: 00:14:42

Some of the most powerful moments of connection in my life have

Speaker: 00:14:45

happened in this room, in that office, in

Speaker: 00:14:49

that back corner. I remember crying my eyes out a couple of years ago back

Speaker: 00:14:53

in that corner, praying for God to come meet me here.

Speaker: 00:14:57

Yes, you can connect with God in this building. Then there are

Speaker: 00:15:01

others who believe that you shouldn't even have to come to church and can connect

Speaker: 00:15:05

with God outside of its walls. Here's by everyone's favorite

Speaker: 00:15:08

tool, man who may or may not be a Christian.

Speaker: 00:15:12

Tim Allen says this. Why go to a

Speaker: 00:15:16

church to worship God? A church is man made. God

Speaker: 00:15:20

never said, and let there be aluminum siding.

Speaker: 00:15:24

Climbing a tree to talk to God sounds like a better

Speaker: 00:15:27

idea. So there is one group that believes if you

Speaker: 00:15:31

don't come to church, you can't connect with God. And then there's another group that

Speaker: 00:15:35

believe you don't even have to come to the church to connect with God. And

Speaker: 00:15:38

guess what? Both. Right. When it

Speaker: 00:15:42

comes to intimacy, there are typically four areas that we tend to look

Speaker: 00:15:46

at and inspect. And these areas become our

Speaker: 00:15:50

gauge of whether or not we're in an intimate

Speaker: 00:15:53

relationship. The first one we usually look at, I

Speaker: 00:15:57

don't have bullet points, so you're gonna write em down. And you know, don't look

Speaker: 00:15:59

up. There ain't Nothing up there. Okay. Just shaving you.

Speaker: 00:16:04

I missed number one. The first one is emotional

Speaker: 00:16:08

intimacy. Shared feelings.

Speaker: 00:16:11

Emotional intimacy is usually the first gauge that we

Speaker: 00:16:15

go to to determine if we're in an intimate relationship with someone.

Speaker: 00:16:20

Can we. Do we have shared feelings? The second one

Speaker: 00:16:24

is physical intimacy. Shared relations. And this is where

Speaker: 00:16:28

things get a little bit muddy. I'm gonna keep it pg. Cause we got youth

Speaker: 00:16:31

in here. Okay, I got you, Doug.

Speaker: 00:16:35

Right? Next week's lesson. What was Pastor Justin talking about

Speaker: 00:16:39

on stage? He'd be mad at me. He'd text me later. You have no

Speaker: 00:16:43

idea the emails I got after service. Y' all the one decided to come in

Speaker: 00:16:46

here. I ain't trying to protect you from the Bible.

Speaker: 00:16:50

Physical intimacy. Here's a. I just want to share a word on this.

Speaker: 00:16:54

This is the first go to for the world. And the

Speaker: 00:16:58

problem is most male and female

Speaker: 00:17:01

relationships that begin with physical intimacy

Speaker: 00:17:06

never reach emotional, intellectual, and spiritual

Speaker: 00:17:10

intimacy on a deep level. Because the order is

Speaker: 00:17:14

out of the way that God designed it. Physical

Speaker: 00:17:17

intimacy is the most vulnerable form. This is.

Speaker: 00:17:22

Everything is off. Here I am. And if you start

Speaker: 00:17:26

with that level of vulnerability and you never get to the

Speaker: 00:17:29

emotional vulnerability and saying, this is what I'm feeling. This is what

Speaker: 00:17:33

I'm thinking. This is how I'm wrestling with the theology and

Speaker: 00:17:37

understanding who God is. And you start with that physical intimacy,

Speaker: 00:17:41

you can never get it back. And this is why God says, you need to

Speaker: 00:17:45

wait on this if you're not willing to be vulnerable in this area.

Speaker: 00:17:49

And nowadays people want this. This physical intimacy without the

Speaker: 00:17:52

other. Emotional and intellectual and spiritual

Speaker: 00:17:56

connectedness. And it is opposite of the way that God designed it

Speaker: 00:18:00

to be. I gave you the

Speaker: 00:18:04

other two in that sentence. Intellectual intimacy, shared

Speaker: 00:18:07

ideas and thoughts, and spiritual intimacy, shared values,

Speaker: 00:18:11

beliefs, and deeper meanings. And just like these four ways that we

Speaker: 00:18:15

gauge whether or not we're in an intimate relationship, there's usually

Speaker: 00:18:19

four ways that we cultivate these. The first one is vulnerability.

Speaker: 00:18:25

Lowering our defenses, letting our guard down,

Speaker: 00:18:28

allowing others to see through the facade. Do you guys know

Speaker: 00:18:32

which gender has a hard time doing this?

Speaker: 00:18:37

Man. Somebody said at first gathering was scared to speak.

Speaker: 00:18:42

I was like, what do I say? Is this a test? There's two. Pick

Speaker: 00:18:46

one. You can be wrong.

Speaker: 00:18:51

Just pick guys. Guys have a hard time doing this.

Speaker: 00:18:55

And not that women don't. It's just historically,

Speaker: 00:18:59

guys have been. There's this idea that we have to be tough,

Speaker: 00:19:03

strong, that we have to have it together. We have to have all of the

Speaker: 00:19:06

answers that we cannot show vulnerability because it's

Speaker: 00:19:10

weakness. Because if I let my guard down, then somebody would see I don't have

Speaker: 00:19:13

it all together. So I don't want my sons to see me cry. Then they

Speaker: 00:19:17

might think I'm weak. You know, some of the

Speaker: 00:19:20

most tender moments in my life have been when I'm down

Speaker: 00:19:24

here on my knees in the altar space and I feel a little hand on

Speaker: 00:19:28

the back of my shoulder and it's one of my sons.

Speaker: 00:19:33

And then they pray for something that I'm not even dealing with.

Speaker: 00:19:41

And it's absolutely beautiful. And you know why?

Speaker: 00:19:46

Because they saw their dad being vulnerable. Bending the knee before

Speaker: 00:19:50

the gracious and great and almighty Father.

Speaker: 00:19:53

I will bend my knee to the king, and they will see that

Speaker: 00:19:57

vulnerability as strength. You cannot be intimate

Speaker: 00:20:01

if you are unwilling to be vulnerable. Here's what I. Here's where I'm at.

Speaker: 00:20:05

Here's who I am. God. Here. I don't know if I

Speaker: 00:20:09

believe this, God. I'm having a hard time with the church right

Speaker: 00:20:13

now. God. I don't know what direction to

Speaker: 00:20:17

go. You don't think he doesn't already know? He

Speaker: 00:20:21

already knows. And

Speaker: 00:20:24

tagging on to vulnerability is communication, Openly sharing what's

Speaker: 00:20:28

going on in your life. There's too many of us in the church

Speaker: 00:20:33

that when somebody asks how you're doing, you're like, I'm fine. Everything's fine.

Speaker: 00:20:37

Everything's good. And I'm like, you're a liar.

Speaker: 00:20:40

Now what I don't need is when you're over there getting your two pumps of

Speaker: 00:20:44

French vanilla to start a counseling session with me. I don't need

Speaker: 00:20:48

all that. If I say, how you doing? I'll be over there, brother. Let me

Speaker: 00:20:51

tell you this. Before you know it, that cup is filled with that French vanilla.

Speaker: 00:20:55

Cause you done started telling everything. But I so

Speaker: 00:20:59

appreciate my brother. Ben met me at the doors two weeks ago. We didn't

Speaker: 00:21:02

have service last week. He met me at the doors. He said, hey, man, how

Speaker: 00:21:05

you doing? I'm like, man, you know, I'm just. Just working through some stuff and

Speaker: 00:21:09

life is good. And he said, yeah, man, it's great. And then his face dropped.

Speaker: 00:21:12

He went, but how you really doing? And I was like,

Speaker: 00:21:17

just go on in the service. Don't do this to me outside these doors.

Speaker: 00:21:22

And we had a little 10 minute conversation. I said, here's what's really going on.

Speaker: 00:21:26

Here's where I'm struggling at in my mind. Here's what is really weighing down on

Speaker: 00:21:29

me. And you know why Ben could ask me that question? Cause me and Ben

Speaker: 00:21:33

have developed a relationship in which my hands can come down

Speaker: 00:21:37

and I can be vulnerable with him. But he at least had the

Speaker: 00:21:40

communication enough to say, hey man, what's really going on in your life?

Speaker: 00:21:45

What's really going on? And then it involved active

Speaker: 00:21:49

listening, being present and attentive, both conversational and

Speaker: 00:21:53

nonverbal. And the last is quality time. How are you going to be

Speaker: 00:21:57

intimate if you never spend time with someone?

Speaker: 00:22:00

You can't learn patience on top of a mountain by yourself.

Speaker: 00:22:05

You can only learn patience as a parent

Speaker: 00:22:11

or a school administrator whose kids go to

Speaker: 00:22:15

their school. Right.

Speaker: 00:22:19

You can't go to the top of the mountain and say, God taught me patience

Speaker: 00:22:22

up there. No, he didn't. Cause there's nobody to be impatient with.

Speaker: 00:22:26

That's not true. Right. You can't

Speaker: 00:22:30

cultivate intimacy with someone you're not around,

Speaker: 00:22:34

you're not spending time with. You cannot have an

Speaker: 00:22:38

intimate relationship with the Lord if you're

Speaker: 00:22:42

not spending time with Him.

Speaker: 00:22:46

It's just, it doesn't work like that. So

Speaker: 00:22:50

these concepts that we just talked about, can these ideas be applied

Speaker: 00:22:53

to our relationship with God? Yes. Thank

Speaker: 00:22:57

you. One person. On the

Speaker: 00:23:01

surface, yes, of course. But is God really to be

Speaker: 00:23:05

treated like our bestie? Are we really

Speaker: 00:23:09

supposed to treat the creator of the universe like a girlfriend who needs me to

Speaker: 00:23:13

spend time with him in order to feel loved?

Speaker: 00:23:17

I would say no, Mary Sue. That's right, pipe up, say it. Mary Sue.

Speaker: 00:23:21

So what is different about intimacy by these standards and the

Speaker: 00:23:25

intimacy God desires for his people? What is the intimacy that

Speaker: 00:23:28

Jesus prays for? We opened up in John

Speaker: 00:23:32

chapter 17. And just to give you a little

Speaker: 00:23:36

thousand foot view of this chapter and what's going on in John,

Speaker: 00:23:40

this is Jesus last night on the planet.

Speaker: 00:23:45

Tomorrow the man is going to the cross

Speaker: 00:23:49

and in John 13 he starts to wash his

Speaker: 00:23:53

disciples feet. And then in 14 and 15, he's

Speaker: 00:23:57

having a meal with them and he's giving them final instructions in

Speaker: 00:24:01

15 and 16. And he saying, remain in me, stay in

Speaker: 00:24:05

me. I'm the vine, you are the branches. Apart from me you can do nothing.

Speaker: 00:24:09

Hey, trouble is coming. You better buckle up. They're gonna kick you out of the

Speaker: 00:24:12

church, they're gonna kill you. They're gonna think they're doing good stuff, right?

Speaker: 00:24:17

This is his last message to the disciples. And

Speaker: 00:24:20

then he gets to John 17 where he prays

Speaker: 00:24:24

this high priestly prayer. This is before

Speaker: 00:24:28

Gethsemane. If I were to say to you, do you know the Lord's prayer? What

Speaker: 00:24:32

would you say? Gosh, man, you

Speaker: 00:24:36

know what? It's 11 o', clock, dude.

Speaker: 00:24:41

Yes. If I said, do you know the Lord's Prayer? You'd be like, yeah, I

Speaker: 00:24:44

know the Lord's Prayer. And it would probably go something like this. Our Father who

Speaker: 00:24:48

art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy

Speaker: 00:24:51

will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day

Speaker: 00:24:55

our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive

Speaker: 00:24:59

those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation,

Speaker: 00:25:04

but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the

Speaker: 00:25:07

glory, forever and ever. Amen. Y' all know King James and

Speaker: 00:25:11

didn't even know you knew it, right? Trespasses,

Speaker: 00:25:16

right? So if I send the

Speaker: 00:25:20

Lord's. You're not wrong. You're not wrong in that. We. That is the so

Speaker: 00:25:24

called Lord's Prayer. And here's why I say it's so called, because we call it

Speaker: 00:25:27

that, right? But that's actually more of the disciples

Speaker: 00:25:31

prayer, if you know where that comes from. It's in Matthew 5, when Jesus is

Speaker: 00:25:35

5 and 6, when he's teaching his disciples at the Sermon on the Mount, he

Speaker: 00:25:39

says, here's how you guys need to pray. That wasn't his prayer. He

Speaker: 00:25:43

said, this is how you need to be praying. It's the disciples prayer.

Speaker: 00:25:47

So I'm telling you this, so the next time you read your Bibles on this,

Speaker: 00:25:50

you'll be all messed up. You're like, what is it?

Speaker: 00:25:55

I did that on purpose. This John 17

Speaker: 00:25:59

is the Lord's prayer. Why? Because it's his prayer.

Speaker: 00:26:03

This was his prayer to the Father

Speaker: 00:26:07

in the presence of his disciples before he goes to the cross

Speaker: 00:26:12

and look at what he says. When Jesus had spoken these

Speaker: 00:26:16

words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, father, the hour

Speaker: 00:26:20

has come. I

Speaker: 00:26:24

did in first gatherings. I can't do it, man. Like I get overwhelmed

Speaker: 00:26:28

at that opening line. And here's why.

Speaker: 00:26:32

This is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.

Speaker: 00:26:36

There have been thousands and thousands of years

Speaker: 00:26:42

waiting on the promise of Messiah.

Speaker: 00:26:46

And he his come to the earth in human form and

Speaker: 00:26:50

took on flesh, stepped out of heaven, took

Speaker: 00:26:54

on flesh. 33 years he's walked this

Speaker: 00:26:57

planet and now he says it's time.

Speaker: 00:27:03

The hour has come. I don't know why that hits me the way that it

Speaker: 00:27:06

does. I'm thinking about all of time and all of

Speaker: 00:27:10

eternity. And there's something significant about this moment

Speaker: 00:27:14

that Jesus is in where he looks up to heaven

Speaker: 00:27:18

in the presence of his disciples and says, it's time.

Speaker: 00:27:22

It's the time. Now's the time. And then he

Speaker: 00:27:26

says, glorify your Son, that the Son may

Speaker: 00:27:30

glorify you. Glorify me so that

Speaker: 00:27:34

I can glorify you, since you have given him all authority

Speaker: 00:27:38

over all flesh, to give eternal life to all

Speaker: 00:27:42

whom you have given him. And this is eternal life

Speaker: 00:27:46

that they know you.

Speaker: 00:27:51

We talk about getting saved, and you gotta get

Speaker: 00:27:55

saved from what? Saved

Speaker: 00:27:59

from what? And to what? Saved from

Speaker: 00:28:02

separation from the Father,

Speaker: 00:28:06

saved to relationship with the Father.

Speaker: 00:28:10

Jesus says, you wanna know what eternal life is that

Speaker: 00:28:14

you know? God. God, the only

Speaker: 00:28:18

true God. And this just creates an exclusivity clause right

Speaker: 00:28:22

here. Christianity is the most inclusive,

Speaker: 00:28:26

exclusive religion on the planet. And what I mean by that is,

Speaker: 00:28:30

anybody can come, but you can only come one way.

Speaker: 00:28:33

Sorry, buddy, if you say there's any other way than Jesus Christ,

Speaker: 00:28:37

you can't get in there. It's exclusive. He is

Speaker: 00:28:41

the way, the truth, the life. I don't care who likes it. I didn't write

Speaker: 00:28:45

it. Don't be mad at me following orders and telling you the truth.

Speaker: 00:28:49

But it's inclusive in that all. What did he say?

Speaker: 00:28:53

That they know you, the only true God, and Jesus

Speaker: 00:28:56

Christ, whom you've sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work

Speaker: 00:29:00

which you gave me to do. His

Speaker: 00:29:04

final prayer is. Help me finish. Well, and then

Speaker: 00:29:08

he goes on and says, this. Is that the right one? Oh,

Speaker: 00:29:12

and now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory I had with

Speaker: 00:29:15

you before the world existed. Then he says, I'm praying

Speaker: 00:29:19

for them. I'm not praying for the world, but those whom you have given me,

Speaker: 00:29:23

they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine. And I'm glorified in

Speaker: 00:29:27

them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world.

Speaker: 00:29:30

And I'm coming to you, Holy Father. Keep them in your name,

Speaker: 00:29:34

which you have given me, that they may be one even as

Speaker: 00:29:37

we are one. His prayer for the disciples

Speaker: 00:29:41

is oneness, that they would be one, the

Speaker: 00:29:45

same way him and the Father are. And then he

Speaker: 00:29:49

says, I don't ask for these only, but also for those

Speaker: 00:29:53

who will believe. Who is he talking to there?

Speaker: 00:29:59

I see that hand back there. I see that hand. Is two, y' all to

Speaker: 00:30:02

get it. 3, 4, 7, 11, 12.

Speaker: 00:30:06

Josh, you're included, too. There you go, bud. Jesus says,

Speaker: 00:30:10

I'm not just asking you to do this for them, Lord. I'm

Speaker: 00:30:14

asking you to do it for all who will believe. That includes

Speaker: 00:30:18

you, that they may be one. Just as you,

Speaker: 00:30:22

Father. Are in me and I in you. Have you noticed how many times he

Speaker: 00:30:25

says, God, I pray that they're in me because I'm in you and you're

Speaker: 00:30:29

in me, and they're in each other. He's saying, if you want to be close,

Speaker: 00:30:32

you got to get up next to me and you got to get up next

Speaker: 00:30:35

to these people. Because you can't do it on

Speaker: 00:30:39

top of a mountain. So that the world.

Speaker: 00:30:43

Why? So the world will believe that you have sent me. This is the key

Speaker: 00:30:47

and unlocks the whole prayer. He's praying for

Speaker: 00:30:51

the disciples, but he's including us. How come we look at the end of the

Speaker: 00:30:54

disciples in the early church and contrast that with our life of favor

Speaker: 00:30:58

and success? Would you say that the disciples were close with Jesus?

Speaker: 00:31:04

I would consider these guys pretty close. Except for one. He was

Speaker: 00:31:08

only close in proximity. He was only close in

Speaker: 00:31:12

proximity. And there's a danger in that, too. Guys, you can be around

Speaker: 00:31:16

godly things. You can have the best teacher.

Speaker: 00:31:20

You can have the world's greatest small group, right?

Speaker: 00:31:24

Which is community. You can have all of that and still be found

Speaker: 00:31:28

wanting. I would consider these guys

Speaker: 00:31:32

close and intimate with the Lord yet. And in a matter of hours, they would

Speaker: 00:31:35

fall away. It wasn't until they witnessed the resurrected Jesus

Speaker: 00:31:39

and the comforter dwelled inside them. They were able to face persecution

Speaker: 00:31:43

and death. And Jesus told them of their persecution. He said, they'll put you out

Speaker: 00:31:46

of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you think he's

Speaker: 00:31:50

offering service to God. And they'll do these things because they have not known the

Speaker: 00:31:54

Father, nor me. How would you like to have that

Speaker: 00:31:58

told to you? Right? Hey, guys,

Speaker: 00:32:02

you're gonna need to stay close to me. Cause this is about to get really

Speaker: 00:32:05

bad for you. I need you to remain in me.

Speaker: 00:32:09

Because this is gonna get really ugly. And people are gonna think they're doing the

Speaker: 00:32:13

Lord's work by doing this to you. Somehow

Speaker: 00:32:17

we have convinced ourselves that a life that is

Speaker: 00:32:21

filled with suffering means you are far from God.

Speaker: 00:32:26

Somehow, collectively, as the church, we look at

Speaker: 00:32:30

situations and sufferings and go, I

Speaker: 00:32:34

must not be close. I got. Let me tell you, look, I love my kids.

Speaker: 00:32:38

Y' all don't be mad at me. But y' all get in trouble a lot.

Speaker: 00:32:43

My kids aren't bad. They just don't follow all the rules.

Speaker: 00:32:48

And I found myself in the kitchen the other day going, God, what do I

Speaker: 00:32:52

need to repent of? What have I done? What have I

Speaker: 00:32:56

done? What did I do? Just tell me and I repent. Tell me. I need

Speaker: 00:32:59

to know. I called my parents. I said, mom. Actually,

Speaker: 00:33:03

it was my dad. I was talking to my dad. I didn't dare call my

Speaker: 00:33:06

mom. I called my dad. I said, dad, was I

Speaker: 00:33:10

this bad when I was a kid? He said, no, son. And my mom in

Speaker: 00:33:13

the way back, absolutely. This is your fault. You did

Speaker: 00:33:17

this. This is what you. I'm like, where did I sow these

Speaker: 00:33:21

seeds? God. But somehow we

Speaker: 00:33:24

think that if there's any type of discomfort or

Speaker: 00:33:28

like, are you hearing what

Speaker: 00:33:32

I'm saying? Like, any type of persecution or adversity, I'm like,

Speaker: 00:33:36

I must not be close to him. I must be far away. Do you know

Speaker: 00:33:40

how these guys died? I got to get on my horse and ride. Crucified.

Speaker: 00:33:44

Simon Peter was crucified upside down in AD

Speaker: 00:33:47

64 to 68 around under Nero's persecution of Christians.

Speaker: 00:33:51

You know why they persecuted him upside or crucified him upside down. He said, I'm

Speaker: 00:33:55

not worthy to die the same way my Lord did. Same guy denied him three

Speaker: 00:33:59

times, ran away. He said, no, no, no, no, no. Crucify me upside

Speaker: 00:34:02

down. Andrew was crucified on an X

Speaker: 00:34:06

shaped cross. He was not nailed to it, but was tied and was

Speaker: 00:34:10

said to have preached for days before he died.

Speaker: 00:34:15

James was beheaded by king Herod in AD 44.

Speaker: 00:34:18

John was exiled to Patmos where he wrote

Speaker: 00:34:22

Revelations after it was said there was an attempt to boil him and oil

Speaker: 00:34:26

was unsuccessful. Philip died in

Speaker: 00:34:29

Hierapolis, Turkey by

Speaker: 00:34:33

hanging in 80 80. Bartholomew

Speaker: 00:34:37

flayed to death by knives in India. Matthew

Speaker: 00:34:41

died by Halbert according to Tradition. Thomas,

Speaker: 00:34:44

which is Didymus, was martyred by a spear in India.

Speaker: 00:34:49

James son of Alphaeus was stoned to death in AD

Speaker: 00:34:52

62. Thaddaeus was

Speaker: 00:34:56

martyred in Persia via arrows. Simon the Zealot was

Speaker: 00:35:00

crucified according to tradition, and Judas Iscariot hung himself

Speaker: 00:35:04

after betraying the Son of Man. All of these men shared the

Speaker: 00:35:07

same sentiment as Paul when writing to the Philippian Church.

Speaker: 00:35:12

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss

Speaker: 00:35:16

for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as

Speaker: 00:35:19

loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ

Speaker: 00:35:23

Jesus my Lord. For his sake. I have suffered

Speaker: 00:35:27

the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may

Speaker: 00:35:31

gain Christ and be found in him, not having a

Speaker: 00:35:34

righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which

Speaker: 00:35:38

comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that

Speaker: 00:35:42

defends on faith that I may know him and the power

Speaker: 00:35:46

of his resurrection and share in his sufferings.

Speaker: 00:35:49

Becoming like him in his death, that by any means

Speaker: 00:35:53

possible, I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Speaker: 00:35:58

Paul says that I may know him, the power of his

Speaker: 00:36:02

resurrection, share in his sufferings, become like him in his

Speaker: 00:36:05

death, die daily. Even though the apostles literally

Speaker: 00:36:09

died same death, that we both may attain resurrection.

Speaker: 00:36:13

This was to be considered intimacy with God.

Speaker: 00:36:20

Jesus connects our personal intimacy and our collective

Speaker: 00:36:24

intimacy.

Speaker: 00:36:27

You know that the Bible is about God's relentless desire to have his

Speaker: 00:36:31

family restored to him and what links he will go to to ensure it

Speaker: 00:36:35

happens. You can read about

Speaker: 00:36:39

David's prayers in the Psalms. David was pretty intimate with the Lord.

Speaker: 00:36:44

And at the top of a passage he goes, I don't even know if you

Speaker: 00:36:48

see me here, God. And then at the bottom he goes,

Speaker: 00:36:52

I'm as close as I've ever been. I'm wrapped up under your blanket.

Speaker: 00:36:56

I'm snuggled right up under you, God. And then two chapters later, you

Speaker: 00:37:00

go, why have you abandoned me?

Speaker: 00:37:05

Right? And you go, this guy's all over the place.

Speaker: 00:37:09

He is wrestling with what it means to be close to God.

Speaker: 00:37:13

There were seasons where he felt close and seasons where he

Speaker: 00:37:17

wandered and wondered if God was even there. Do any of you actually

Speaker: 00:37:21

wonder if you don't even feel close to God? Have you ever

Speaker: 00:37:25

been in a place where you're like God? I don't even. I don't even feel

Speaker: 00:37:28

close to you. You.

Speaker: 00:37:32

You can't be intimate and be far away. Intim is intimacy is

Speaker: 00:37:36

not just predicated on proximity.

Speaker: 00:37:40

Look at the prodigal son. He said, man, I don't like being away from my

Speaker: 00:37:44

father's house. I don't like being away from my father's house.

Speaker: 00:37:48

Being in my. But being in my father's house is not about doing chores.

Speaker: 00:37:52

Yes, you should pray. Yes, we should need to be reading the Word. How

Speaker: 00:37:56

else will we know him and know his character and his heart? Yes, serve and

Speaker: 00:38:00

pour out and be selfless, just like the Son of man. But the son did

Speaker: 00:38:04

not go back to the father's house just to do chores.

Speaker: 00:38:09

The Father wanted his son back to be a part of his

Speaker: 00:38:12

family. And family is intimate and close

Speaker: 00:38:16

and vulnerable. They share ideas. They share hopes and

Speaker: 00:38:20

dreams. And fellowship with the Father requires fellowship with one another.

Speaker: 00:38:30

Jesus final lesson was a living parable.

Speaker: 00:38:35

He may have given them a verbal lesson,

Speaker: 00:38:38

but he showed them something far more powerful. The

Speaker: 00:38:42

Word says that when Jesus came into the room

Speaker: 00:38:46

and they're all there, it says he laid aside his

Speaker: 00:38:50

outer garment. Garments. He took off his kingly

Speaker: 00:38:54

garments and stepped into humanity.

Speaker: 00:38:58

And then what did he do? He tied it around his waist and he bent

Speaker: 00:39:01

down and he washed their feet.

Speaker: 00:39:05

He washed their feet. And Peter, being Peter, was like, absolutely

Speaker: 00:39:09

not. And Jesus said, if I don't wash

Speaker: 00:39:13

you, you're not going to have any part in me. Peter says, well,

Speaker: 00:39:17

then you got to wash my whole body, too. And Jesus says,

Speaker: 00:39:21

you don't get it. You don't get it. Those who have bathed

Speaker: 00:39:25

don't need to be bathed again. And I'm paraphrasing. And what Jesus is

Speaker: 00:39:29

saying to Peter in that moment is, you've already received this

Speaker: 00:39:32

cosmic level of forgiveness. What you don't understand is you

Speaker: 00:39:36

don't have to keep coming back for that same salvation.

Speaker: 00:39:40

I used to struggle so bad, Church, with thinking every time

Speaker: 00:39:44

I picked up a little bit of dirt, every time I made missed the mark,

Speaker: 00:39:47

every time I fell, I was so far away from God because my name

Speaker: 00:39:51

was written in chalk in the Lamb's book of life. That's it. You did

Speaker: 00:39:55

it. Screwed it up. And I would go back over and over, and

Speaker: 00:39:59

I'd be like, I need to be baptized again. I need to. I need to

Speaker: 00:40:02

come down here and say the sinner's prayer again. And Jesus says, I've already bathed

Speaker: 00:40:05

you. Let me wash your feet.

Speaker: 00:40:10

You're picking up dirt, son. You're picking up

Speaker: 00:40:14

dirt, but I can't wash them if you keep running around

Speaker: 00:40:18

over here talking about how close you are to me. You have to come and

Speaker: 00:40:21

you have to sit in my presence and let me do the work.

Speaker: 00:40:26

Are you hearing me, what I'm saying, Church? This ain't about no

Speaker: 00:40:29

checklist. This is not about if you do X, Y and Z, you'll be close

Speaker: 00:40:33

to God. It's saying, God, I'm picking up dirt. I know I need to come

Speaker: 00:40:37

and sit here and let you do a work. And then what does he do?

Speaker: 00:40:41

Says he gets up and says, hey, you saw what I did. Go do it

Speaker: 00:40:44

for each other. Take showers under First John

Speaker: 00:40:48

1:9. Every day you gotta be vulnerable

Speaker: 00:40:52

with somebody else to say, I'm picking up dirt on my feet. I don't even

Speaker: 00:40:55

like feet. I don't even wanna. There's a certain age

Speaker: 00:40:59

limit where you age out of me wanting to wash your feet. That's over two.

Speaker: 00:41:03

Get them out of here. Here. Dead serious, man. I can't

Speaker: 00:41:07

stand feet. Hate him.

Speaker: 00:41:11

Don't like my own feet. Wear socks all the time.

Speaker: 00:41:15

It's not what he's talking about, man. How am I going to say

Speaker: 00:41:18

that? I'm. I'm so Intimate with God, but yet I'm so disconnected from his

Speaker: 00:41:22

people. You know, most of the time, the way God speaks to

Speaker: 00:41:26

me or speaks to us is through somebody else in here, man, let me wash

Speaker: 00:41:30

your face, feet. Let me wash your feet. Man, you're

Speaker: 00:41:34

picking up dirt. Let me

Speaker: 00:41:38

wash your feet. And then you go wash someone else's.

Speaker: 00:41:42

That's how we become close. That's how he's close with us.

Speaker: 00:41:46

And then. I love what it says. It says, then he put on his outer

Speaker: 00:41:49

garments and resumed his place. He came and

Speaker: 00:41:53

took off his heavenly garments, stepped into humanity,

Speaker: 00:41:57

served us on a cosmic level, gave us ultimate

Speaker: 00:42:00

forgiveness and a way to receive daily restoration. And then he

Speaker: 00:42:04

took his rightful place in the heavens and said, now you do it for

Speaker: 00:42:08

each other. Yeah, you clap. Don't clap for me.

Speaker: 00:42:12

You clap for the king. Cause that's what he did. And in

Speaker: 00:42:16

order for us to experience intimacy with him,

Speaker: 00:42:20

then we follow that same path pattern of washing each

Speaker: 00:42:24

other's feet.

Speaker: 00:42:29

Like I said. So I don't know. There are times where you don't feel intimate,

Speaker: 00:42:33

but I'm going to liberate you guys right now. It is not about how

Speaker: 00:42:37

you feel. God is not. It's going to sound bad.

Speaker: 00:42:41

Just hear what I'm saying. God is not concerned with your feelings.

Speaker: 00:42:47

Do you hear me? Now, I didn't say God don't care about your feelings,

Speaker: 00:42:51

but he's not moved by them. He's not moved by

Speaker: 00:42:55

those same ones that said, but, Lord, we cried in the worship

Speaker: 00:42:58

service and we cast out devils in your name, and we laid

Speaker: 00:43:02

hands on the sick in your name. He's like, I didn't know you. You was

Speaker: 00:43:06

close, but you weren't intimate. I didn't

Speaker: 00:43:10

know you. I never knew you.

Speaker: 00:43:14

I didn't know who you were. You didn't know who I was. You was just

Speaker: 00:43:18

running around doing church stuff. It's the most terrifying

Speaker: 00:43:22

verse in the scriptures.

Speaker: 00:43:27

It's not about how we feel. Lord, I can't see you right

Speaker: 00:43:31

now. God, show me your heart in these pages. But God, I can't hear

Speaker: 00:43:35

you speak like others do. Do you know there's some people say, well, I never

Speaker: 00:43:39

heard God's audible voice. Do you know what kind of situation the man had to

Speaker: 00:43:42

be in in to hear God's audible voice? Did y' all hear

Speaker: 00:43:46

that testimony just a couple of weeks ago? I was ready to kill myself. And

Speaker: 00:43:49

God says, no, you don't. I got plans for you. I'm not done with you.

Speaker: 00:43:53

And we think because we ain't heard God's audible voice

Speaker: 00:43:57

oh, my God, I don't have enough time this morning. I

Speaker: 00:44:01

don't. I swear. Y' all be like, yeah, man, I am hungry,

Speaker: 00:44:06

but I don't feel close to you. God, where are you? You. It's not. How

Speaker: 00:44:10

about you? It's not about how you feel. I'm right here. To

Speaker: 00:44:13

abide in Jesus is to keep, to stand by, to continue

Speaker: 00:44:18

to remain, not by feelings, but by faith. Mastering

Speaker: 00:44:21

the mundane. Me and Jess didn't get as close as we are

Speaker: 00:44:25

now overnight. I look at my wife like this. She come in the shop

Speaker: 00:44:29

the other day and I was like, wow. And she rolls her eyes. She's

Speaker: 00:44:33

like, God, what are doing you. You looking at?

Speaker: 00:44:38

And I'm like, God forbid I be in love with somebody.

Speaker: 00:44:42

God forbid. I, I just, Just enamored by your

Speaker: 00:44:45

presence. She's like, whatever. I need to tell you about something,

Speaker: 00:44:49

right? No, that don't happen overnight.

Speaker: 00:44:53

Like the, the. The. The longer we walk together, the more I

Speaker: 00:44:57

love her. And sure, we have

Speaker: 00:45:01

mountaintop moments and we have spectacular conversations, but most

Speaker: 00:45:04

of the time it's, hey, what does your schedule look like this week? Because I

Speaker: 00:45:07

got a game at five and I know you got church on Thursday and is

Speaker: 00:45:09

it. It's not always three and a half hours in

Speaker: 00:45:13

the morning that I have to sit and stay.

Speaker: 00:45:17

It's mastering the mundane. It's giving every day, every

Speaker: 00:45:21

moment. It's giving our life to the Lord and saying, I don't know what

Speaker: 00:45:25

today looks like, but I'm going to lean into you. I don't know what tomorrow

Speaker: 00:45:29

looks like when I'm gonna lean into you. And we've gotta get out of this

Speaker: 00:45:32

checklist mentality of where we scale up and down

Speaker: 00:45:36

and surrender our lives to him and be willing to have our feet washed and

Speaker: 00:45:40

to wash someone else's. And that's how you'll be close to God. So if you

Speaker: 00:45:44

need to pray, there'll be a couple people down here to pray with you this

Speaker: 00:45:47

morning. And I want you to move by faith, not by your feelings.

Speaker: 00:45:51

And if you don't need to pray for anything this morning, then we're gonna worship

Speaker: 00:45:55

and we're pray. Gonna. Going to praise a holy God together. Because that prayer that

Speaker: 00:45:59

included us, included them. And I want to worship and praise

Speaker: 00:46:03

that same God. So let's pray, praise and worship.