Preparing Our Hearts for the Holy Spirit's Guidance

 

Summary

In today's gathering, we explored the profound concept of welcoming the Holy Spirit into our hearts, emphasizing that His presence is already with us as believers. The focus is on preparing our hearts to receive and align with His will, allowing Him to move freely within us. This preparation is not just a one-time event but a daily commitment to holiness and faithfulness. We delved into the story of Joshua and the Israelites as they faced the walls of Jericho, highlighting the importance of faithfulness, preparation, and obedience even when God's instructions seem illogical or impossible.

Faithfulness requires preparation, as seen in the Israelites' journey. They renewed their covenant with God through circumcision and celebrated Passover, remembering His deliverance. This preparation was crucial for the battles ahead, teaching us that spiritual readiness precedes physical challenges. We also discussed the necessity of recognizing God's authority, submitting to His will, and understanding that we are not in control of our lives. This submission allows us to experience His power and guidance in ways we never imagined.

Moreover, faithfulness often involves obeying God even when it seems foolish. The battle plan for Jericho defied military logic, yet the Israelites' obedience led to victory. This teaches us that God's ways are higher than ours, and trusting Him can lead to miraculous outcomes. Lastly, faithfulness includes keeping promises, as demonstrated by Joshua's commitment to Rahab. This aspect of faithfulness reminds us of God's unwavering promise-keeping nature and calls us to reflect that in our relationships with others.

Key Takeaways:

- Welcoming the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is already present with believers, and our task is to prepare our hearts to receive His guidance and blessings. This involves daily commitment and alignment with His will, allowing Him to move freely within us. [05:38]

- Faithfulness Requires Preparation: Just as the Israelites prepared spiritually before facing Jericho, we must prepare our hearts and minds for the challenges ahead. This preparation involves renewing our commitment to God and remembering His past deliverance. [50:01]

- Recognizing God's Authority: Submission to God's authority is crucial for experiencing His power and guidance. We must relinquish control and trust that His plans are better than ours, allowing Him to lead us in every aspect of our lives. [56:35]

- Obeying When It Seems Foolish: God's instructions may defy human logic, but obedience leads to miraculous outcomes. The story of Jericho teaches us to trust God's higher ways and remain faithful even when His plans seem impossible. [01:01:07]

- Keeping Promises: Faithfulness includes being true to our commitments, reflecting God's promise-keeping nature. Joshua's fulfillment of his promise to Rahab highlights the importance of integrity and trustworthiness in our relationships. [01:10:43]

Youtube Chapters:

- [00:00] - Welcome
- [05:02] - Introduction to Worship
- [05:38] - Preparing Our Hearts
- [06:40] - Worship Through Song
- [17:16] - God's Perfection and Our Imperfection
- [18:19] - Communion and Sacrifice
- [25:10] - Worship Dynamics
- [29:20] - Series Introduction: Believe 2025
- [33:20] - The Challenge of Belief
- [37:11] - Crossing the Jordan
- [45:54] - Faithfulness Requires Preparation
- [56:35] - Recognizing God's Authority
- [01:01:07] - Obeying When It Seems Foolish
- [01:10:43] - Keeping Promises
- [01:19:18] - Invitation to Faith and Next Steps

Study Guide

Bible Study Discussion Guide

Bible Reading:
1. Joshua 5:13-15 - Joshua's encounter with the commander of the Lord's army.
2. Joshua 6:1-5 - God's instructions for the battle of Jericho.
3. Matthew 6:33 - "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

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Observation Questions:

1. What was the significance of Joshua's encounter with the commander of the Lord's army, and how did it prepare him for the battle of Jericho? ([56:06])

2. How did the Israelites prepare themselves spiritually before the battle of Jericho, and why was this preparation important? ([50:01])

3. What were God's specific instructions to Joshua for the battle of Jericho, and how did they defy military logic? ([01:00:22])

4. How does the story of Rahab demonstrate the importance of keeping promises in the context of faithfulness? ([01:10:43])

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Interpretation Questions:

1. What does Joshua's submission to the commander of the Lord's army teach us about recognizing and submitting to God's authority in our own lives? ([56:35])

2. In what ways does the preparation of the Israelites before the battle of Jericho illustrate the concept that spiritual readiness precedes physical challenges? ([50:01])

3. How can the seemingly illogical instructions given to Joshua for the battle of Jericho encourage believers to trust in God's higher ways, even when they don't make sense? ([01:01:07])

4. How does the fulfillment of Joshua's promise to Rahab reflect God's promise-keeping nature, and what does this teach us about our own commitments to others? ([01:10:43])

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Application Questions:

1. Reflect on a time when you felt the need to control a situation in your life. How can you practice submitting to God's authority and relinquishing control this week? ([56:49])

2. What daily practices can you implement to prepare your heart and mind for spiritual challenges, similar to how the Israelites prepared before Jericho? ([50:01])

3. Think of a situation where God's guidance seemed illogical or impossible. How can you remind yourself to trust in His higher ways during such times? ([01:01:07])

4. Identify a promise or commitment you have made to someone. How can you ensure that you remain faithful to that promise, reflecting God's faithfulness? ([01:10:43])

5. Consider an area in your life where you struggle with faithfulness. What steps can you take to align your actions with God's will and experience His guidance more fully? ([56:35])

6. How can you actively welcome the Holy Spirit into your daily life, allowing Him to move freely within you? What specific changes might this require in your routine or mindset? ([05:38])

7. Choose one aspect of your life where you feel spiritually unprepared. What specific actions can you take this week to prepare yourself spiritually for future challenges? ([50:01])

Devotional

Day 1: Preparing Our Hearts for the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is already present with believers, and our task is to prepare our hearts to receive His guidance and blessings. This involves a daily commitment and alignment with His will, allowing Him to move freely within us. Welcoming the Holy Spirit is not a one-time event but a continuous journey of spiritual growth and transformation. By intentionally setting aside time each day to seek His presence, we open ourselves to His influence and allow Him to shape our thoughts, actions, and decisions. This preparation requires humility, a willingness to listen, and a desire to align our lives with God's purposes. [05:38]

"And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36:26, ESV)

Reflection: What specific steps can you take today to prepare your heart to welcome the Holy Spirit more fully into your life?


Day 2: Spiritual Preparation for Life's Challenges
Just as the Israelites prepared spiritually before facing Jericho, we must prepare our hearts and minds for the challenges ahead. This preparation involves renewing our commitment to God and remembering His past deliverance. The Israelites' journey teaches us that spiritual readiness is essential for overcoming physical and emotional obstacles. By renewing our covenant with God and celebrating His past faithfulness, we build a foundation of trust and confidence in His ability to guide us through difficult times. This spiritual preparation equips us to face life's battles with courage and faith, knowing that God is with us every step of the way. [50:01]

"Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you." (Joshua 3:5, ESV)

Reflection: How can you renew your commitment to God today, and what past deliverances can you remember to strengthen your faith for future challenges?


Day 3: Submitting to God's Authority
Submission to God's authority is crucial for experiencing His power and guidance. We must relinquish control and trust that His plans are better than ours, allowing Him to lead us in every aspect of our lives. Recognizing God's authority means acknowledging that we are not in control and that His wisdom surpasses our understanding. By submitting to His will, we open ourselves to His transformative power and experience His guidance in ways we never imagined. This submission requires trust, humility, and a willingness to let go of our own agendas in favor of His divine purposes. [56:35]

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord." (Isaiah 55:8, ESV)

Reflection: What is one area of your life where you find yourself holding back from surrendering to God? What would surrendering this area to Him actually look like in terms of daily habits?


Day 4: Trusting God's Higher Ways
God's instructions may defy human logic, but obedience leads to miraculous outcomes. The story of Jericho teaches us to trust God's higher ways and remain faithful even when His plans seem impossible. Obeying God when it seems foolish requires faith and courage, as His ways often challenge our understanding and expectations. By trusting in His wisdom and following His guidance, we open ourselves to the possibility of experiencing His miraculous power in our lives. This trust is built on a foundation of faithfulness and a deep belief in God's goodness and sovereignty. [01:01:07]

"For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." (1 Corinthians 1:25, ESV)

Reflection: Think of a situation where God's guidance seems illogical. How can you choose to trust and obey Him despite your doubts?


Day 5: Reflecting God's Promise-Keeping Nature
Faithfulness includes being true to our commitments, reflecting God's promise-keeping nature. Joshua's fulfillment of his promise to Rahab highlights the importance of integrity and trustworthiness in our relationships. Keeping promises is a reflection of God's character and a testament to our faithfulness. By honoring our commitments, we demonstrate integrity and build trust in our relationships with others. This aspect of faithfulness calls us to be reliable and trustworthy, mirroring God's unwavering commitment to His promises. In doing so, we become a living testimony of His faithfulness to those around us. [01:10:43]

"Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil." (Matthew 5:37, ESV)

Reflection: Is there a promise or commitment you need to fulfill today? How can you reflect God's faithfulness in your relationships by keeping your word?

Quotes

"Faithfulness requires preparation. You guys know who Eric Liddell is, is that name you remember Chariots of Fire 100 years ago Cher fire okay um uh teenagers if you've uh Cherry a fire anybody remember that okay well I just look dumb then so uh watch it it's probably still on VHS but Chariot of fire is this guy's name is Eric Liddell and he was an Olympian and and um Eric Liddell all the way back in the day this was probably I don't know it was in the 20s so that been what the 24 Olympics in the 24 Olympics Eric Liddell was a he was a faithful devout follower of Jesus and he had been preparing his entire life as a follower of Jesus not as an athlete but because he was preparing himself to the glory of God to be a follower of Jesus he he made sure that he excelled in everything to his abilities and one of those was track and field and so he had prepared for the 100 meter uh Dash and so uh he gets to the 1924 Olympics and he finds out that the 100 meter dash is going to be on Sunday and so uh so he says I can't run the 100 meter on Sunday I mean Monday but I can't do it on Sunday um because I have prepared far too much for my spirit for my in my spirit I have prepared my life for the Lord that that's priority over my preparation for this race and so they said well then you can't run he said okay what else is open uh the 400 well if you have ever ran track before 100 meters is not the same thing as a 400 meter they say that the 400 meter dash that's a Sprint it's the longest hardest race in track because it's the longest where you're actually on your toes everything else you're past that you're running Heel To Toe but the 400 meter is it's one lap all the way around on your toes so he didn't train for that well not that every story ends this way but Eric did Eric Liddell did the 400 and uh not only did he get the gold medal but he set the world record so you may not always get the gold medal and set the world record but even greater things await you than just a medal or an opportunity to be named as the fastest 400 meter person or 400 yards at that point so here's the thing the the moment that I say I am preparing to be holy as he is Holy I am preparing to give my life to Jesus every day it's all preparation I didn't prepare once I'm preparing every day to follow Jesus why is this so critical is because you're going to face something that's going to require you to pick which do you pick you're going to be in a relationship that's going to cause you to pick you're going to be in a group of friends that's going to cause you to pick you're going to be at work and there's you're going to R losing your job like you're going to always be you're going to be in a relationship and there's going to be tension you got to pick what are you going to pick are you going to pick faithfulness or you going to give up if you gave up that's not the end of the world for you that's the end of that for you but that is not the end of your life why is it that as Christians followers of Jesus guaranteed Sons and Daughters for eternity why is it that every time we make a mistake we feel like that was it well I guess the Lord can't use me me anymore by the way if that is you you need to know that that doesn't just affect you because you end up being very critical of other people and then you judge other people and you say well they did that therefore they can't this well hold on just a minute tiger how much grace do you need how much forgiveness do you need did you know that the worst sinner in the world needs the exact same amount no more no less the exact same amount so starting in chapter 5 this is pretty epic what's happening here because preparations are required it says Joshua starting in verse four had to circumcise them because all the men who were old enough to fight in battle when they had left Egypt had died in the wilderness those who left Egypt had all been circumcised but none of those born after The Exodus during the years in the wilderness had been circumcised so this is the process they went through to set them apart to show and identify themselves as followers of God of of Yahweh so we are followers of Yahweh and that was what was required so listen before we go any further some of yall haven't so everyone so now we talk about you read this in the New Testament talking about the circumcision of our hearts what is setting us apart that's making us different than everybody else what makes our kindness different than the world's kindness what makes our love different than the world's love and then just keep going down the list what makes us so different it's only that we have been set apart called in Christ Jesus to be way different in the way that we live we're living as people of faith not people of whatever I feel like which is our world right now whatever you believe that's it and when people say like whatever you believe you can achieve you know that that's not true right because I believe that I can be six foot tall I believe that I can dunk a basketball flat footed I Believe I Can Fly that I can touch the sky I think about it every night and day but you know what's not going to happen anything that I just said so we got to stop feeding each other this garbage about like whatever ever you feel like you are you are whatever you believe then that's right like that is not true either there's one truth or there's no truth and if there's no truth well we in trouble way worse than we are right now hanging on by a thread our world but the reality is truth still exists and therefore the world cannot take over the world the lord is still in control he's still the commander he's still the chief so the first thing is they renewed their Covenant through circumcision let me show you the second thing and that's that they celebrated Passover just remembering God's Deliverance we're always called throughout the Bible remember remember remember why is that important because if you don't remember then you'll do something dumb so it's important to remember why do we remember to do this that communion why did Jesus say every time you do this do this in remembrance of me because we need it every single day we need to remember what he's done for us because we will get distracted and discouraged by whatever is going on around us so it's like remember why is it so important that you spend daily time in God's word and and in prayer because you need to remember you need him you need to remember it's all his you you need to remember your life is not yours your time Talent treasure and testimony is not yours it's his it's him in you and through you we have to remember that he is faithful if you don't remember that he is faithful you will lack in faithfulness so I'm constantly reminding myself the work of the Holy Spirit In Me Is Helping to remember how faithful he is because that gives me the courage and the confidence to stay committed it keeps me consistent with him but only when I remember him while the Israelites were camped at gilgal on the plains of Jericho they celebrated Passover on the evening of the 14th day of the first month here's how else they prepared as they began eating from the produce of the promised land listen to this no Mana appeared on the day they first ate from the crops of the land and it was never seen again so from that time on the Israelites ate from the crops of Canaan from the promis land remember they had just kept giving Mana from Heaven that's what God was providing Mana from heaven and you know what Mana stands for you've heard this before this is true it literally translates what is this so they were given something that what is this maybe some of you have been to restaurants or people's houses maybe you've traveled internationally where you're like dear Lord this is Mana bless it don't let me die because this is what is this right but now when you entered into I hope you're connecting the dots Holy Spirit help us to connect the dots when you step into this next level Faith you get to benefit from it please hear that stop robbing yourself of the opportunity to receive from God's very best for you God is never operating at less than so when you are experiencing less than that's not on him that's on you you're not in a position that you're receiving out of faithfulness and obedience receiving God's best and you're like oh but look I you know I got some crumbs good isn't God good but did you know that's not God's design for you is to live off of crumbs God's design for you is to sit at the table and eat from the bounty in which he provides but listen stop crawling underneath the table and expecting God to feed you down there get up be men and women stop being lazy and sayl I'm ready I deserve to be here because of Jesus not because of me so because of his payment and his price who has given me the invitation and command to come and sit at this table I do so proud of you it's all about you and I'm going to make much of you from up here but I'm going to stop trying to hide and be a good Christian underneath the table just trying to survive so it requires a lot of preparation you're going to have to give up some faulty thinking you're going to have to give up some faulty living in order to truly align yourself with Jesus and to step into this next level Faith okay here's the second main thing is that faithfulness means recognizing God's Authority I'm just telling you right now one of the biggest problems for Christians today is that we don't actually think God's in control which means you'll do whatever you want and think there's no consequence people live this way all the day that's why gel cells are full all over the world prisons are full because people think they can do whatever they want and there is no consequence listen to me I don't care if no one else saw you do it there will be consequence you did not seek sneak one past God so before Joshua receives battle instructions he encountered a mysterious figure and uh starting in verse 13 chapter 5 when Joshua was near the town of Jericho he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a sword in hand Joshua went up to him and demanded are you a friend or Foe are you with us or against us and the uh commander of the Lord's army said um well I'm the commander of the Lord's army so neither Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence I at your command Joshua said what do you want your servant to do so this encounter teaches us something pretty crucial when it comes to faithfulness and it begins with submission to God's Authority I just want you to look me in my eyeballs and I'm praying that you're listening to the Holy Spirit right now you are not in charge of your own life so stop and the moment you stop resisting I know this is every day all day but the moment you stop resisting you will start receiving something you've never received before you will begin to experience the work of the Lord in in you in a way that you've never had before but you have to give up control and what is the one thing as humans we struggle with control any area of our life where we feel like we're not in control our natural tendency this is not just you this is all of us our natural tendency to step in and take charge whether it's your emotion whether it's your reputation whether it's any vulnerability in your life is you want to be in control so we fear not be in control which is why we end up doing really dumb things but ultimately this encounter is a way for us to recognize that we don't have to take charge anymore that the Lord is more than capable of not just instructing us but leading us here's um here's a in chapter 5:15 he says the command of the Lord's army replied take off your sandals for the place where you are standing is Holy and Joshua did as he was told remember this in Exodus where God told Moses to do that at the burning bush the the principle in both of these is is anywhere God is that's Holy Ground God's presence is everywhere therefore everywhere is so that's how we need to walk is an understanding that you don't get to have your private life and then there's your spiritual life that's true there's no such thing it's called one life and either it is one life lived for Jesus or it is one life lived for you but you don't get to like break your life apart and say I'm I'm pretty faithful with Jesus here but not here no that's not how faithfulness works you either are or you're not and so this charge or this command this also encouragement is that we would do as Matthew 6 says seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well there's so much the Lord wants to give us but instead of seeking him and receiving from him we keep seeking from each other or from within ourselves and we always show up lacking and we show up lacking we start being stingy or we start taking I've shared with you before a part of my testimony with Laura in our marriage that for so long in our early marriage and we've been married a long time but but for so long in our early marriage I I was not receiving love from Laura I was taking it and I was taking it like this I needed her to air me as a man I needed her to help me with my my image my self-image I needed her to complete me I needed her and you know what doesn't help is all the stupid stuff people put online like like you're my everything you're my world can I just tell you you're in trouble if that's true if the person you love the most the human being you love the most is your world if your kids are your world your world is very very small and you are unfortunately then well that's just called idolatry because one of The Commandments is it not don't have any other gods before me but but the moment we make someone or something out everything we have just now participated in idolatry okay here's the third thing if you're going to be in this next level faith and faithfulness because we're talking about being faithful matters right do you believe that being faithful matters then here's the third thing faithfulness obeys even when it seems foolish also one of the hardest things to do but the battle plan for Jericho defied all military logic so starting in verse 2 of chapter 6 he says this oh by the way if you're new with this if you go to uh tc. churchnote tc. churchnote all these scriptures all these points are in there okay so he says this the Lord said to Joshua I have given you Jericho its king and all its strong Warriors you and your fighting men should March around the town once a day for Six Days Seven priests will walk ahead of the Ark each carrying a Ram's home hor on the seventh day you are to March around the town seven times with the priest blowing the horns now when you hear the priest give one long blast on the Rams horns have all the people shout as loud as they can then the walls of the town will collapse and the people can charge straight into the town okay good plan is everyone with me now let's charge in there with that military and all of their Spears and swords and let's yell I mean but loudly good plan I promise you there's not a more insane ridiculous comical plan than that right there I feel like no human could concoct an idea as dumb as that one and I think the Lord's like I know that's why I did it because I want you to see something I want you to see that the Lord's plan literally in no way shape or form other than organization some Administration but other than that there was nothing about this plan that represented military it did not represent fighting and winning it represented embarrassment humiliation shame defeat and certain death I promise you there had to have been so many that were just like again Joshua you're a terrible leader like do you not see what you're doing if if you just look at the uh Experts of the day you would know if you had paid attention for 5 seconds to The Experts you would know that this can't happen and Joshua much like Eric Liddell was so committed he was so locked in that he's like I don't care I mean it's like Shadrach Meshach and abedo remember they're like to the furnace we go I don't know maybe we'll die they had no guarantee and themselves they didn't know that they're like but here's the one thing I'm not going to do I'm not going to compromise I'm not going to Bow no I'm not not going to do it sorry Nebuchadnezzar well we're going to throw you in the fire so be it and you know the story there they come out through the fire completely unharmed no not even not even smelling of smoke the Bible says even the ropes that bound them none of it was even burned you again you understand the impossibility this is how the Lord works why our brains can't finally figure out and remember God does not deal impossible or impossible those don't exist for him we say God can do the impossible we're right in saying that but I want you to understand that he's even bigger than that statement we're when we say he can do the impossible we're like w God can do the impossible and to him it's like watch me ready no applause I just picked up a bottle of water by myself hold on opened it no one helped me swallow did that see why aren't you too impressed that was nothing but yet somehow when it comes to you and your life and your issue you're looking at God like you're wanting me to pick up this thousand gallon tank and drink from it I it can't be done and Lord's like it's not even a water bottle to him it's not even a water bottle don't be so impressed that God cures cancer that you're not impressed that he saved you that he still cares for you that regardless of your stupidity he just loves you just loves you he thinks so much of you and you're like how how can he think this much of me I feel like Joshua when when the commander of the Lord's army is like no bro this is my I'm not with you for you that's I'm with him and he's like oh I got it oh my gosh what am I thinking this is how it's spent a lot of my life it's like oh sorry Lord that's crazy of course you love me like that of course you receive me like that of course you want to use me of course I'm not I'm not failed and of course I'm not down and out and of course you haven't put me on a shelf and and I'm a waste of of course that's not true Lord he's like good you're finally remembering that's very good but I want you to remember this because you're going to need to remember this because it's going to get harder please listen to me very carefully God is taking you through what he's taking you through because it's going to get harder you can't run you can try all you want you ever seen a hamster on a wheel that's you you can't go anywhere run all you want you just getting tired and you're wasting time Christians stop getting tired and wasting time when we get off the hamster wheel of trying to do this thing ourselves and we will be faithful in the perfectly faithful God we're going to see that this hard thing is actually for us it makes us stronger why do you work out what why why do you eat the way you eat assuming it's ever good why do you do anything in other words because we're it's constantly we're having to sacrifice right like when you take time to eat you take time to exercise you take time to walk when you take time to be kind to someone when you take time to send someone an email or a text or what when you take time to be kind there's reward for that when you take time to be self-serving and say hurtful hateful things just understand there is a reward for that but it's not from the Lord can you connect the dots okay the Lord said to Joshua I have given you Jericho this is Joshua 6 starting in verse two I have given you Jericho its king and all its strong Warriors here's the plan laid it out for them March around you he the horns you're going to do everything exactly how I said now in verse six he says so Joshua called together the priests and said take up the Ark of the Lord's Covenant and assigned seven priests to walk in front of it each carrying a Ram's Horn do not take any of the things set apart for destruction or you yourselves will be completely destroyed and you will be in trouble on the camp of Israel again God's like this is what I want in your life clay Gatlin I want you to take up these things and I'm going to cause you to be successful and I'm like good thank you Lord but also I would like to take these things and also I would like to take these things okay now I'm ready and the Lord's like then you're literally destroying the good that I'm trying to do in your life I told you don't take those things only take these things you understand much like in track forever I mean for all of history in track what you don't do regardless how cold it is is you don't just keep putting on more sweats when it comes time to get into those starting blocks or to show up to that line you strip down to just the bare minimum and if you've ever watched track and field on TV you know it's the bare minimum and they are in this bare minimum and they're like okay why is that have you ever watch sand volleyball or even or even Collegiate volleyball and it's literally the bare minimum but there's actually a reason for that it's not just a style thing it's it's they want everything that could possibly encumber them to be off and so somehow you're kind of even exposed a little bit listen to me if you're going to follow Jesus and you're going to be truly prepared you're going to be exposed you they're going to see your fa Flaws and All man I'm telling you if you didn't shave that day it's both men and women if you didn't shave that day they G to see if you got a big old mole or if you've got a big long scab and whatever you've done knees all busted up everyone can see it but listen to me you don't care you know why you don't care cuz you're showing up to the line you have one Mission when that gun goes off I'm on when the Lord calls us to step into this next level faithfulness you've got to stop caring about what everybody else thinks and says there's a great book if you ever want to read it and it's uh it's entitled let them that's the name of the book and fantastic book if you want to read it um but let them the whole point is okay let them what if this happens and they say let them can you imagine if we operated with that kind of sincere faith that regardless of what anybody else was saying we're like let them they're not me I'm not them they don't run my life they didn't die for me on the cross let them let them say and let them do because my mission is to be so focused I'm going to do exactly what the Lord has said to do and that's what he did he did exactly as the Lord said so in Joshua 620 when the people heard the sound of the Ram's horns they shouted as loud as they could suddenly the walls of Jericho collapsed and the Israelites charged straight into the town and captured it I just think this incredible Victory teaches us that faithfulness means obeying God even when his instructions his Instructions make no sense at all maybe you remember Proverbs 3 trust the Lord with all your heart don't lean on your own understanding and everything you do acknowledge Him means you bring it before him and he'll help you make sense of this but then verse 7 says do not be wise in your own eyes it's dangerous it's dangerous for you to assume you can figure this thing out on your own okay let me give you the last one this is number four if you want to step into this next level Faith with I'm praying for you our pastors are praying for you Elders praying for you uh our 9:00 amm leadership has been praying for you we are praying for you just short of pleading that you hear the holy spirit in you right now saying it's time to step up and that you actually respond to that because here's the fourth thing faithfulness keeps its promises in the middle of the victory Joshua remembered the promise that was made to Rahab remember the prostitute who hid the spies um and it says this meanwhile in uh verse 22 meanwhile Joshua said to the two spies keep your promise go to the prostitute's house and bring her out along with all her family the men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab isn't that interesting God chose to tell Joshua to send the same spies back to finish the job so they did and they moved her and all her relatives out the whole family uh the camp of Israel then the Israelites burned the town and everything in it only the things that made that were made from silver and gold and bronze or iron were kept for the treasury of the Lord's House so Joshua spared Rahab The Prostitute and her relatives who were with her in the house because she had hidden the spies Joshua sent to Jericho and she lives among the Israelites to this day so this detail might seem minor but it absolutely highlights an important aspect of faithfulness God always keeps his promises if I said it a hundred times would you believe me would it take a thousand times this is another one of those remember every single day regardless of how you feel you need to remember wait God keeps his promises okay this is scary this feels overwhelming but God keeps his promises Matthew 5 says list um Jesus is like Hey listen stop trying you because remember they kept trying to make all these weird Oaths and all these promises and all these agreements and even Jesus later on would say it like this just say a simple yes I will or no I won't anything be on this is from the evil one I mean it's it's all deception you're just trying to kid yourself so I want to lay something on you are you ready just say yes or no just to yourself you and the Lord I just gave you God's word I just taught you then God's word so I preached it and I taught it whatever the holy spirit is doing in your life right now you have to make a decision before you walk out of this place you're going to have to you can't claim ignorance because you just heard me so now you're going to have to decide yes I will or no I won't don't do this don't say well I just need to pray about that you need to pray about what obeying God I assure you you don't need to pray about whether you should obey God or not holy spirit's calling you in to step up this next level leadership it's going to cost you if you try to figure out this is Proverbs 3 if you try to figure it out before you say yes you'll never do it so say yes and then let the Lord explain it let him unveil the steps but stop doing this stop sitting back being like no no I can't do that okay hold on when the Lord shows me so what you want him to write it in the clouds for you you want like a personal email from him or why don't you trust the holy spirit because a man and woman a son of and daughter of of of this faithful God steps up in faithfulness and says I trust you if you said nothing to me I trust you what if the Lord said follow me and I'm not telling you anything would you do it because clearly God's already given us so much in his word where he says I just want you to do this because I want to give you all this stuff but you gotta I need you to do this the love that I have for you you don't get to experience unless you walk in alignment with me it's just how that works it's like water coming down and if I cover this it's like the water's still pouring down but until you open up you can't receive it this is the plea God has kept his promise will you keep yours let me give you a summary are you ready here's the first thing faithfulness connects us to God power this is also in your tc. churches I want you to go back and look at these four things maybe keep revisiting them here's the first one faithfulness connects us to God's power see the walls of Jer Jericho fell but not because of human strength the walls of Jericho came down not because they had great weapons because they figured out a strategy they came down because they were obedient in fact Paul wrote wrote this I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength you can do what looks to you to be the impossible because it's just nothing for him here's the second one faithfulness prepares us for life's battles so the Israelites in chapter 5 were preparing and it was a spiritual preparation that would end up being something physical but listen to me stop trying to get your life in order do you hear what I just said that that almost sounds like wait a minute isn't that wrong clay no no no stop trying to get your life in order that's what happens when your spirit is in alignment with God when my love relationship with Jesus brings me to my tear brings me to tears and often times to my knees when I'm so in love and I get goosebumps and then I then I get frustrated and then I and then I act like a baby and he's just like what are you doing and I'm like okay I'm sorry that was stupid I'm sorry Lord you're way better than I'm so sorry and it just gets sweeter and sweeter and the more I'm doing this I'm naturally my whole life all of my actions start lining up with my spirit this is why Paul said I beat my body into submission meaning he makes his he makes him submit to who he really is You In the Flesh tall or short wide or thin is it's not you this is the vehicle that you're currently in you are Spirit res guiding in flesh so stop focusing on the flesh focus on the spirit and it will change What You Do In the Flesh should you take care of your bodies yes Paul says yes physical fitness is of some value but the only reason that I should strive to be fit in all the different ways that I should want to learn and grow and be healthy is to support the work that God's given my spirit to do I don't want limitations in what the Lord's called me to do so I want to be healthy but but I want to make sure that I'm working on my spirit because my spirit's going to drive everything else the third one is that faithfulness often doesn't make sense until later look I know all those guys thought that was foolish I'm going to guess that no one except some of the leadership maybe even Josh was like I Trust You Lord but this is crazy but I just can imagine that everyone else was like this is just dumb we're going to die and in retrospect I could just see some of them saying man are we amazing Christians or what like we follow God and this crazy things happen this is what happens when you just trust God I can imagine some of them did that I just don't want you to be a phony or a fake I want you to be able to trust God on the front end so that on the back end you give Glory knowing that you got to be a part of that this is why I love PL praying for healing why I love praying for deliverance and restoration is I don't want to just I don't want to just hear about it I want to know that I got to be a part of it let me give this last one faithfulness to God includes being faithful to others just as they rescued Rahab and her whole family we're also called to be Rescuers we're called to be faithful when I talk about our time Talent treasure and testimony when you think about that testimony part we're responsible to share when the Lord gives us things we don't have to get it all right do you know this but the Lord gives us these things and we're supposed to be sharing them and so every week the Lord gives whoever's on this platform just this word and we study that to make sure that we're hearing it correctly we're we're delivering it correctly we're asking the Holy Spirit to do what only he could do but in that process we're just doing what we were told I'm no different than you are I'm just on this side of the chair and you're on that side of the chair but we're all called to do the same thing the Bible says we're all part of the royal priesthood I'm no more of a priest in the Kingdom than you are but because we're Sons and Daughters of almighty God that makes us all Sons and Daughters we're all equal we are equal in his eyes we're all saved because of Jesus if you've truly made that decision to trust Christ as your savior if you have it then that's what you want to do today even right now and as we move into this song is say Jesus yes I believe you holy cow I can't believe I didn't really know this before yes I give my life to you thank you for forgiving me of my sins I recognize I can't do this thing on my own I'm a mess every time I try to get my life in order it gets worse so Jesus I'm going to commit and submit myself to you I receive your salvation I believe that you died on the cross for my sin this perfect person you are and you would die for me so thank you for what we call the gospel the truth the message that God loved me so much you would do that for me I received that so then Holy Spirit would you help me from this point on walk in obedience as I grow in my love relationship with Jesus and if you've prayed that this morning that I'm just saying would you just come and talk to me either now during the song or afterwards we can just spend a moment just rejoicing together and also talking about next steps what do I do now that I'm a Christian well we want to help you with that some of you may be like well I've been a Christian for like 20 years and I haven't taken next steps okay no shame let us help come and talk to us we'd love to help you with this next level Faith but part of next level faith is taking that step and so do seie you want to share this next level step the microphone I was going to use died so right so this morning uh I felt the tap on my shoulder and usually that's day in waking me up super early every time and I looked over and he wasn't there and I just just sensed the Lord's voice say come spend time with me so I went and started um listening to these worship songs that we're doing this morning and the Lord spoke this to me and I wanted to share it with you so I shared it with clay and Mark for the people at the community church so that's all of you and me all of us if you will allow me to penetrate Your Heart during the time that you are spending worshiping me you will begin to experience a healing in your body deeper than you've experienced before and the verse that he gave me was Exodus 27:20 it says and you shall command the children of Israel that they bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light to cause the lamp to burn continually so this verse resonated with me in connection to this prophetic word In this passage the Lord is showing me that the oil symbolizes the worship we offered to him in our lives just as oil is is extracted from olives through pressing like what Clay is talking about the things we go through the oil of worship flows from our lives as we devote ourselves fully to him and this begins with those who worship him but we must worship Him in spirit and in truth so I just encourage you this morning as we're worshiping that we do that next level faith and we believe and we press in and we we take seriously the song and the words that we're singing and there's a powerful song we're singing this morning and Mark will share right right Church let's stand together this song is just called amen Amen Let It Be answers come when you them I cry out God I believe it this will be my last word so be it perfect timing the promise you providing you're the man I am finding this will be my last amen when the amen SM God heav Sav again amen from the Wilderness amen from the liest amen with this God hear me say it again amen amen I'm going to again am amen so be you have seen me your word won't come back me I trust you so complely this will be my last this will be my last word amen when the D amen from come amen with this body God say amen from the Wilderness amen from the light amen with this God am amen oh amen amen am oh never runs never runs never runs out you provide every time every time every time why would I doubt it your oil never runs never runs never runs out you provide every time every time every time so why would I doubt it never R never R never you every time every time every time so I never runs never runs never runs you provide every time every time every time I my amen from an empty amen with God he me say it again from the Wilderness amen from the highest when there nothing God me say again again and again say again and again and again me say it again amen me say come on ah sister Myra hey these guys are about to leave so I need you guys as soon as I say Amen to don't talk to anybody go right out this door and you guys grab your stuff and go across the street to the parking lot is that right Amanda bam or you have to deal with her okay these guys are going would you do me a favor today would you just um would you remember them today that they uh truly encounter the Lord and have an incredible experience and um do what's necessary in their own hearts and lives to make that Exchange CH because God's called them into a unique Endeavor has he not and promised that he would never send them without being with them so I'm going to pray over you guys right so Lord thank you for our teenagers and I pray that you would do something special in each one of their lives you know them you know how many hairs are on their head you know their their quirkiness you know their personalities you know the things that they struggle with the things that they are good at that they're bad at you know Lord where they've been um successful and then where they have failed and yet you love them all so much you love them and I pray that this time in worshiping you as they're gone that they would discover a new level of your love for them that would cause them to want to be even more faithful to you so would you bless them would you be with them and then for the rest of of the body Lord for TC I pray that as we leave this place we leave with the understanding that we have been given this Birthright because of Jesus and now we want to live up to that Birthright in the way that we love you in return and the way that we love others and so we're so thankful in Jesus Jesus name amen you guys head out if you're new with us Pastor Bob will be at the Welcome Center and we'd love to connect with you if you have any questions" [00:45:54]

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