Strange Fires

And who better to reach the wounded than people who have scars, who have wounds that God has healed. You're gonna mess up. You probably already have, but you're not disqualified. You're not forgotten. You're not finished. So pay attention to the fires you're burning in your life. Tend the right fires and extinguish the ones God hasn't asked for. Guard your hope. Lean on your people, your champions, your confidants, your collogues, and your collaborators. But whatever happens, don't tear your garments. Don't give up on God. Your scars aren't the proof you failed. They're the proof that you stayed. [00:58:08] (71 seconds)  #WoundedButNotBroken

See, Aaron still had priests he needed to train. He still had a nation he had to shepherd, and and you still have people in your life that don't know Jesus yet. You still got work to do, but the pain is real, and you're gonna need support. Leviticus 10 verse 19. But Aaron spoke to Moses. See here, just today, they presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, and such things as these have happened to me. If I had eaten the sin offering today, would the Lord have been pleased? When Moses heard this explanation, he was satisfied. [00:42:21] (36 seconds)  #ServeThroughPain

There there we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. What this verse tells us is because of what Jesus did on the cross, you have the same access to God that the high priests did in the Old Testament, that you can step boldly into the presence of God. You don't have to make an appointment. You don't gotta wait in line. You don't gotta ask permission. You can boldly approach God's throne of grace. You can speak to him and cry out to him. [00:41:00] (29 seconds)  #ApproachGodBoldly

They finally were able to land the plane. Safety personnel responded, they had to pry the grip loose from the flight attendant holding on so tightly to the pilot's ankles. And after they did, they responded to the pilot and were shocked to discover that he had survived. He actually made a complete recovery, and it was all because his friend held on tight. Following God can be tough. Life will get out of control and try and suck you dry. You only survive because someone's holding on. [00:52:56] (37 seconds)  #HoldOnTogether

The reason that the high priests were forbidden from tearing their garments, saying that there was no hope through their actions was because it was their job to guide the nation in trusting God. If Aaron tore his garments in despair in this moment, it would be like selling I love God T shirts on Sunday and then selling I hate God T shirts on Monday. God wasn't telling Aaron that he could not be sad, but he was telling Aaron not to give up, not to give up on God. And God's telling you the same thing because your relationship with God is very unique. [00:40:08] (42 seconds)  #LeadWithoutDespair

So even though right now I know you're going through it, you're experiencing betrayal and hurt, you feel lonely, there's financial pressures, your health is having struggles, don't tear your garments. Don't give up hope. I know the world seems crazy. The news is is sharing all kinds of things that are happening. Things are happening in Iran, and and things are happening around the world. There's all kinds of fear. Don't tear your garments. Don't give up. Don't give up on God because you still have access. You still have a God that listens. [00:41:29] (46 seconds)  #DontGiveUpHope

God doesn't need perfection. He's not looking for perfection because he's not trying to reach perfect people. They don't exist. There is only one perfect person. He's the one that paid the price in order to give us access in relationship to God that we may be able to boldly approach the throne of God's grace. Because of what Jesus did, we don't gotta be perfect. And because God's not trying to reach perfect, he can use us because our world is full of messy, imperfect, hurting people. [00:57:33] (35 seconds)  #GraceOverPerfection

You've probably lost dreams. You've lost respect. You've lost opportunity. You've lost confidence. You've lost relationships when people have left or abandoned you. And if you if you don't say goodbye to what you hoped for, you'll never begin to heal. There's so much that God wants to do in your life and do through your life. There's so much blessing and benefit that he wants you to experience that you'll never experience if you don't do the hard work to begin to heal and to say goodbye. And sometimes you can't do that work alone. I know for me, I I needed help. [00:45:27] (46 seconds)  #HealByLettingGo

And maybe as you began your relationship with God, you started taking new steps with him, started trying to obey the Bible and follow after God, you you you still don't expect even though it happens over and over, you still don't expect the hurt. I mean, God tells us that he will never leave us, that that he is with us. He tells us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light, but I have never met a person who has been following God for a long time that doesn't have scars. And so what do we do? My goal today is to try and encourage you, not while you're winning, but while you're wounded. [00:23:30] (44 seconds)  #EncourageTheWounded

Well, because the high priest had access to God in a way that nobody else had. The way the tabernacle was split up was that the ark of the covenant, which is where God's undistilled presence rested, was inside of a place called the holy of holies or the or the most holy place. And no one could enter into that place except for the high priest. The high priest could enter that. That means that the high priest had literally stood in the presence of God. [00:37:37] (28 seconds)  #AccessToGodsPresence

He had sensed and experienced the presence of God, which should tell them that there is no circumstance or challenge in life that they should ever doubt, that there is no God that can deliver. They knew his promises. They had been in his presence. So they should always know that he would deliver. Now the great Elvis Presley was a star like no other. He blended together multiple genres of music from soul to gospel to rock and roll, creating this sound, this this electrifying sound that drew massive crowds and and all kinds of audiences, [00:38:05] (43 seconds)  #RememberGodsPresence

Now I wanna be clear, they did not hire miss Warren to clean their house. They had no idea who this woman was. Their house had been broken into and forcibly cleaned. And so they quickly contacted the authorities. The police responded, and guess where they found her? At the address that she left on the note. And so they arrested her for breaking and entering, so I guess that she didn't make a clean getaway. Right? Right? [00:29:07] (27 seconds)  #MysteryCleanerArrested