SPEAKER_00: And make the devil mad and Jesus glad.
SPEAKER_00: We'll say this together.
SPEAKER_00: Say, this is my Bible.
SPEAKER_00: I am everything that it says I am.
SPEAKER_00: I have everything that it says I have.
SPEAKER_00: And I can do everything that it says that I can do.
SPEAKER_00: I'm a can-do person.
SPEAKER_00: And my God puts me over in every area.
SPEAKER_00: I have victory on all sides.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not settling for anything less than God's best.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just talking today about having a life of fire, living a life of fire.
SPEAKER_00: I could have put on fire because we're on fire all the time.
SPEAKER_00: We stay lit for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, I just wanted to start before I get too far.
SPEAKER_00: I'll just I'll start in 1 Kings chapter 18, which is a wonderful chapter.
SPEAKER_00: And it talks about Elijah.
SPEAKER_00: And then the King Ahab is king, and there's a severe drought.
SPEAKER_00: And all of Israel was listening to the influence of the fake prophets of Baal, right?
SPEAKER_00: There were 450 prophets of Baal.
SPEAKER_00: They were false prophets.
SPEAKER_00: And Israel was listening to them, and King Ahab was listening to them.
SPEAKER_00: And here you have Elijah following the will of God and bold.
SPEAKER_00: And so he stepped out in boldness and he it was a showdown of the gods.
SPEAKER_00: The prophets of Baal made an altar, and Elijah made an altar.
SPEAKER_00: And it was the same, they had all the same ingredients.
SPEAKER_00: And uh the prophets of Baal went out and they prayed and they danced and they sang and they cut themselves, and it was quite demonic, and nothing happened.
SPEAKER_00: And Elijah went out, and uh we pick it up in 1 Kings 18, 33, and it says, And he put the were the the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, Fill four water pots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood, and then he said, Do it a second time.
SPEAKER_00: And so they did it a second time, and he said, Do it a third time.
SPEAKER_00: And they did it a third time.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you realize this is a type in shadow, right?
SPEAKER_00: So the water ran all around the altar, and also filled the trench with water.
SPEAKER_00: And verse 36, and it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jake and Israel, let it be known that today that you're that you are God in Israel, and I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.
SPEAKER_00: Catch that, that when Elijah was following the voice of his father, right?
SPEAKER_00: That his heavenly father.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me that the people may know that you are the Lord God, and that you have turned their hearts back to you again.
SPEAKER_00: And then verse 38.
SPEAKER_00: Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.
SPEAKER_00: And now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces, and they said, The Lord, he is God.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord, he is God.
SPEAKER_00: And so most of the world today still thinks that there's a showdown of gods going on, right?
SPEAKER_00: They think that their God is better, but how many of you realize that our God has already won?
SPEAKER_00: We serve a victorious God.
SPEAKER_00: And he is Lord of all.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is Lord of all.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus said that he is the way, the truth, and the life.
SPEAKER_00: So there's only one way to the Father, and it's through Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And so we proclaim that truth every day, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so uh while others are trying to serve two gods, here we are proclaiming the truth to the whole world.
SPEAKER_00: And so Elijah, I want you to see that Elijah wet that wood three times on purpose, right?
SPEAKER_00: He made it, he wanted to make it impossible in the natural for that fire to happen, for that uh sacrifice to be consumed, and the fire of God was called down and boom, ignited and lit.
SPEAKER_00: And so the water didn't stop the fire, the wet wood didn't stop the fire, the trench didn't stop the fire, and the Bible says it was all burned up.
SPEAKER_00: Even the stones, uh the dust, and it just licked up the water, right?
SPEAKER_00: And uh, and so that speaks, the stones speak of multiple things, but it also speaks of a stony heart.
SPEAKER_00: You know, Israel's heart was stony, and that was judgment.
SPEAKER_00: The fire of God in this case was judgment burning up.
SPEAKER_00: And so they they tried their best to do everything that they could in the natural, but the judgment of God came and it consumed everything.
SPEAKER_00: You know, Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: He paid it all, he did it all.
SPEAKER_00: There's no more need for another sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus doesn't need to come down here again and die again for whatever mistake that you've made, for whatever hardness might be in your heart today.
SPEAKER_00: All we have to do is become malleable to his word and he can and then allow him to take over, and he can take over and be residence in our heart.
SPEAKER_00: And so, uh, but maybe your heart is is offended, maybe your heart has been hurt, it's been bruised, it's been disappointed, it's been lied to, it's been, you know, I said abused, but it's been shut down, you know, and and you haven't been able to to uh you know have expression towards the Lord because your heart is so hurt.
SPEAKER_00: Allow the healing anointing today that's in this room to heal your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted, amen.
SPEAKER_00: And so uh it's our job to bring people into an atmosphere of healing, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's it's our job to die to ourself and live inside the sacrifice that Jesus made.
SPEAKER_00: You know, you have to identify, I'm getting ahead of myself, but we need to identify ourselves in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And that includes dying first.
SPEAKER_00: Some people they want the fire, they want all the flashy things, they want all the blessings, but they don't want to die to their own will.
SPEAKER_00: They skip the death part, they skip the the uh, you know, lay down your cross and pick up your cross and follow me part, the follow, follow God's will for your life in every area.
SPEAKER_00: And and so when he died, we died, right?
SPEAKER_00: You have to identify, you know.
SPEAKER_00: I like the way Mark Henkins puts it.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we sing that old song, Were You There When They Crucified My Lord.
SPEAKER_00: No, I wasn't there.
SPEAKER_00: What are you talking about?
SPEAKER_00: I had nothing to do with it.
SPEAKER_00: I wasn't there.
SPEAKER_00: No, we were we all were there.
SPEAKER_00: We identified with his death.
SPEAKER_00: He did it for us.
SPEAKER_00: If if you would have been the only one, he would have done it just for you.
SPEAKER_00: He did it already just for you.
SPEAKER_00: He sacrificed for you.
SPEAKER_00: For you to have a relationship with the Father.
SPEAKER_00: We can come through that sacrifice that we sang about.
SPEAKER_00: We sang about the blood.
SPEAKER_00: We sang about that sacrifice, and now there's uh nothing holding us back from the presence of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We have perfect access, right now, access to everything that God has for us, right?
SPEAKER_00: Through the sacrifice of what Jesus did.
SPEAKER_00: But when he died, I died.
SPEAKER_00: I died to my way of living, I died to my way of thinking, I died to doing things my way, I died to doing it, having uh my will lord it over my wife and my family.
SPEAKER_00: No, I'm die.
SPEAKER_00: I died to that, and I picked up everything that Jesus has for me.
SPEAKER_00: And everything that's inside of Jesus has been put into me by the blood.
SPEAKER_00: It's liquid love, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's liquid love that's been poured into me.
SPEAKER_00: It's been shed abroad in my heart.
SPEAKER_00: And now I have his love on the inside of me.
SPEAKER_00: That means I have his character on the inside of me.
SPEAKER_00: That means I have his plan placed on the inside of me, and I will not listen to another voice.
SPEAKER_00: I'll only listen to what I hear the Father say.
SPEAKER_00: I'll only do what I see my father doing, right?
SPEAKER_00: And you can have that same attitude.
SPEAKER_00: You it's not just an attitude.
SPEAKER_00: There is grit and determination, but that grit and determination and attitude comes out of your spirit, comes out of being strengthened in your inner man.
SPEAKER_00: It's not something that happens in your mind because you decide to one day, you know, in your thinking.
SPEAKER_00: No, it comes from serving the Lord and being strengthened by his spirit into your spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: I'm talking about living a life on fire.
SPEAKER_00: And so don't be one of those that wants the fire without the sacrifice, without dying to yourself and being alive in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So that's number one, that you identify in Christ, yourself in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And then number two is to stir up your fire.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you realize that you have a fire that He's been given to you?
SPEAKER_00: He lit you on fire and it belongs to you.
SPEAKER_00: So take ownership of your fire.
SPEAKER_00: It's your fire, right?
SPEAKER_00: You can't last on mama's fire and daddy's fire and grandpa and grandma's fire or even your kids' fire.
SPEAKER_00: You got a fire that belongs to you.
SPEAKER_00: Take ownership of it.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And so uh I think I've told this story before, but this year, uh at the beginning of this year, uh Celine and I took a little family time and uh we went off, got a VRBO little house in between Johnson City and Fredericksburg.
SPEAKER_00: And uh right before we were to go, uh Allison got sick.
SPEAKER_00: She was running a fever, and so she couldn't go, and we had already planned to take my cousin along with us, Christina.
SPEAKER_00: And uh a lot of you know who Christina is, and she'll be with us in another week or two, I think.
SPEAKER_00: She's coming in to celebrate my birthday.
SPEAKER_00: And so uh it's coming up.
SPEAKER_00: But, anyways, we we went out there together and and they had this really nice fire pit built.
SPEAKER_00: I really like the way they did it and had rocks all around and chairs that you could pull up all the way to the fire pit, and they had this huge uh stack of wood ready to go, and they encouraged you to build a fire.
SPEAKER_00: And so I did every day.
SPEAKER_00: And so, because that's kind of my thing.
SPEAKER_00: I like poking the fire and messing with the fire.
SPEAKER_00: And uh, and so we were at it was New Year's Eve, and Christina's like, what you keep messing with the fire.
SPEAKER_00: What are you doing?
SPEAKER_00: I said, Well, it's cold.
SPEAKER_00: We want to be warm, right?
SPEAKER_00: So you gotta stir the fire.
SPEAKER_00: And and as we're talking about stirring up our hearts and stirring up the fire, and the whole rest of this message, I want you to think about firewood, like the actual uh the actual wood, you know?
SPEAKER_00: Um and all the things that you do.
SPEAKER_00: So sometimes um sometimes I'll pick up a whole piece of wood and move it to the other side of the fire and turn it around, and now it's burning out instead of burning in, and then I can put another piece of wood on top of it, and it's boom, it immediately ignites because that wood is already on fire, right?
SPEAKER_00: The whole fire is on fire.
SPEAKER_00: You get what I'm saying though.
SPEAKER_00: But uh, but uh but a piece of wood over here in the corner, it's not gonna burn on its own.
SPEAKER_00: It needs to be placed in the fire.
SPEAKER_00: And so there's some some assembly required, right?
SPEAKER_00: When we come together, you're burning and I'm burning, and y'all are burning, and y'all are burning over here, and we come together, and there's some assembly that's required, and then and the closer contact that we have, the bigger fire we are.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: But there are some of us that come in and our wood is wet.
SPEAKER_00: We've been extinguished by the cares of this world, and and we've been weighed down by our emotions and by our hurts and by our fears and by the past, and the voice of the past is so strong, and the voice of of our self-doubting is so strong, and so uh um, and so no more.
SPEAKER_00: Because we're when so what happens when uh when when your wood is wet, when when it's just when it's soggy, or it could be green, it's gonna pop a lot.
SPEAKER_00: When you throw it in the fire, it's gonna pop a lot, it's gonna smoke a lot.
SPEAKER_00: And I don't know about you, but I like I kind of like listening to it whistle.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it just has that whistle to it.
SPEAKER_00: You know, and uh, and that's what happens when people come in and they get around us.
SPEAKER_00: They pop a little bit, they start to smoke, and you're like, what?
SPEAKER_00: What's wrong with you?
SPEAKER_00: But no, if we're ready for that, we can light their fire and they will burn.
SPEAKER_00: And you can get them on fire for the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And it's not about us, it's not just about this church, it's not just about the mandates that we've been given, it's about them.
SPEAKER_00: It's about getting them on fire so they can give get other people on fire.
SPEAKER_00: You know, Micah's sitting back here, he's a he's a business owner, he's an entrepreneur, and he has a heart.
SPEAKER_00: That's his ministry.
SPEAKER_00: You know, his business is his ministry.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you own your own business?
SPEAKER_00: Raise your hand.
SPEAKER_00: That is really strong in this, even maybe even on the side.
SPEAKER_00: That counts, right?
SPEAKER_00: On the side, you own your own business.
SPEAKER_00: And so I that we have such a strong entrepreneurial spirit in this church, and it's supernatural, and it really comes out of our pastor's experience and how he preaches, you know, and encourages people that own their own business.
SPEAKER_00: But I just wanted to encourage you, that that is your ministry.
SPEAKER_00: That's part of your, that's not your whole ministry, but I mean, that's part of your ministry.
SPEAKER_00: Don't look at it like, oh, it's, you know, God bless my business, but but just for a money-making thing.
SPEAKER_00: No, that's an outlet of ministry.
SPEAKER_00: Your attitude and everything where you go and everything you're doing, you're stirring up the fire for other people.
SPEAKER_00: And when you come in contact with people, there is a difference.
SPEAKER_00: Just a simple, God bless you.
SPEAKER_00: Enjoy your day.
SPEAKER_00: Like when you bring God into it, that you you think James was encouraging us in our staff meeting this week about that.
SPEAKER_00: You think it's just something small, but it really is everything, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so um be a witness wherever you go.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And it's our job to be to burn, and it's our job to be ready.
SPEAKER_00: It's our job to be ready to light the fire for somebody else and get them burning again, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so in 2 Timothy 1, I forgot to read 2 Timothy 1.
SPEAKER_00: We all know what this is going to say, right?
SPEAKER_00: In uh verse 3, I'll start a little bit before.
SPEAKER_00: I thank God.
SPEAKER_00: This is Paul talking to a son of the faith, Timothy, and it says in verse 3, I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing, I remember you in my prayers night and day.
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's good to remember people.
SPEAKER_00: You know that you don't you don't have to have a spiritual son in the faith to remember people in your prayers night and day.
SPEAKER_00: You know, our pastor prays for you night and day.
SPEAKER_00: He really does.
SPEAKER_00: He's mindful of you night and day, uh, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with your joy when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois, and in your mother Eunice, and I am fully persuaded is in you also.
SPEAKER_00: And so, um, how many of you realize that Timothy had a great spirit of faith, genuine faith?
SPEAKER_00: That's what Paul said.
SPEAKER_00: He called it genuine faith.
SPEAKER_00: And so he had a legacy of that genuine faith that dwelt in his grandmother and dwelt in his mother also.
SPEAKER_00: And so maybe you're here today and you don't have that legacy of faith in your natural family.
SPEAKER_00: You've already identified in Christ, therefore, you already have a mighty legacy, right?
SPEAKER_00: In the kingdom of God, and you have an inheritance.
SPEAKER_00: And so grab a hold of that inheritance.
SPEAKER_00: And that is what makes your faith genuine, and it becomes genuine through your identification in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: You know, you don't have to have this legacy of faith.
SPEAKER_00: I'm I am uh grateful for my legacy of faith.
SPEAKER_00: I am.
SPEAKER_00: I have a praying mama and a praying daddy, and my mama prayed me out of all kinds of situations that we won't talk about this morning.
SPEAKER_00: The records have been sealed because it's all under the blood.
SPEAKER_00: And Selena's like, are you sure about that?
SPEAKER_00: No, I'm just playing.
SPEAKER_00: But uh, you know, so I'm grateful for that.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but it's genuine faith.
SPEAKER_00: It's genuine faith that that uh Timothy had, and it's genuine faith that you have.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to put up a prof uh a facade.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to put out the fake, you don't have to come in here and and use all the church lingo and and and just fake it till you make it.
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: You have genuine faith on the inside of you.
SPEAKER_00: All you have to do is tap into that, and that makes you a genuine person.
SPEAKER_00: Then your love for the Lord is genuine, then you have genuine love for one another.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to fake that either, right?
SPEAKER_00: No matter who they are.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And so verse six, I was gonna make a joke, I won't.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
SPEAKER_00: So that gift, real quick, that gift, yes, it's his ministry, yes, it's it's his anointing, but it's also the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit has been given to us as a gift.
SPEAKER_00: You have a gift of the Holy Spirit, you have a gift of ministry, you have a gift of genuine faith as well.
SPEAKER_00: It's a gift, it's been given to you.
SPEAKER_00: Each one of us has been given a measure of faith that's genuine.
SPEAKER_00: So, so all of those things are in uh encapsulated in the word gift.
SPEAKER_00: It's the gift of the power and the fire of the Holy Ghost, right?
SPEAKER_00: For God has not given us a spirit of fear.
SPEAKER_00: Why does it say spirit of fear?
SPEAKER_00: Fear can can be a spirit, right?
unknown: Oh, yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00: But it but instead we've been given, you can say it like this, a spirit of power, a spirit of love, and a spirit of a sound mind, because those are spirits.
SPEAKER_00: And those witness with our spirit, and they strengthen us, right?
SPEAKER_00: So you've already been given uh power and love and a sound mind.
SPEAKER_00: And so uh you have that gift.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul was telling Timothy not to neglect what God had placed on the inside of them and to rekindle it, to strengthen it, to encourage yourself in the Lord, right?
SPEAKER_00: To stir the embers of that flame, of that ministry, of the Holy Ghost.
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Ghost is a gift.
SPEAKER_00: And so um that means that genuine faith can can still need fresh fire, right?
SPEAKER_00: You can you can get that out of that message.
SPEAKER_00: That those all of those verses are connected, that your genuine faith still needs to be stirred, it still needs to be poked, it still needs uh, it needs attention, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so that leads me to number three, identify what extinguishes and smothers out your fire.
SPEAKER_00: Again, it's your fire.
SPEAKER_00: This is your duty to pray in your life, your prayer life.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And so uh fear is one of those extinguishers that the devil uses to extinguish your fire.
SPEAKER_00: You know, some other ones that aren't in my notes, like unforgiveness, it's a huge smotherer of your fire.
SPEAKER_00: Lack of love, allowing your your uh yourself to be critical.
SPEAKER_00: A critical spirit smothers your fire.
SPEAKER_00: But fear, fear is not just an emotion, uh, it's often what the enemy uses to extinguish your fire, and so don't let them.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.
SPEAKER_00: Uh grab a hold of the spirit of power and the spirit of love and the spirit of a sound mind.
SPEAKER_00: Because that is, like I said earlier, that is a spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And so um, you know, Paul was telling the church in Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 4.13, says that we have the same spirit of faith.
SPEAKER_00: I like to say that all the time because that's something Pastor Mark has taught us, but that's a Paul thing after 2 Corinthians, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so we have the same spirit of faith that Paul had, that Peter had, that Jesus has, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so maintain that glow.
SPEAKER_00: That leads me to number four.
SPEAKER_00: Maintain that glow.
SPEAKER_00: So in Romans chapter 12, verse 11, it says, uh, not lagging and diligent, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: So we need to be fervent in spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And so that word fervent means to be boiling hot.
SPEAKER_00: Boiling hot for God.
SPEAKER_00: God doesn't like lukewarm.
SPEAKER_00: It says that he'll spew you out of his mouth if you're lukewarm.
SPEAKER_00: We need to be burning hot.
SPEAKER_00: And that's God's will is for us to maintain that glow, maintain that fire.
SPEAKER_00: And so that fire is recognizable by everybody saved, unsaved, everybody you come in contact with, when you're burning, like what I'm talking about.
SPEAKER_00: With the fire of the Holy Ghost, it's obvious to everyone around you.
SPEAKER_00: There's no sad Holy Ghost.
SPEAKER_00: If you've got the fire and the power of the Holy Ghost on the inside of you, there is no sad Holy Ghost.
SPEAKER_00: Well, what's wrong with your face?
SPEAKER_00: Why are you why do you look depressed?
SPEAKER_00: Why do you look down?
SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, uh David talked to him himself.
SPEAKER_00: You know, sometimes I look in the mirror, maybe I'm shaving or whatever, and I gotta talk to myself.
SPEAKER_00: Oh my soul, my soul, right?
SPEAKER_00: I gotta fix that look on my face if I'm concerned.
SPEAKER_00: We've been going through a a season of unexpected expenses.
SPEAKER_00: It seems like one right after the other.
SPEAKER_00: But God is greater than unexpected expenses.
SPEAKER_00: And Murphy ain't in my, I don't care anything about Murphy's law.
SPEAKER_00: Murphy can hit the road, Jack.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: But because my God supplies all of my needs according to his riches and glory.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And so, but it's this glow is is recognizable.
SPEAKER_00: It's recognizable everywhere you go, but do you allow it to consume every single part of who you are?
SPEAKER_00: Or do you have compartments?
SPEAKER_00: Do you have uh church Bryce and work Bryce and husband Bryce?
SPEAKER_00: No, Bryce is the same Bryce everywhere he goes.
SPEAKER_00: Bryce is a witness of the faithfulness of God.
SPEAKER_00: And I just encourage you to be the same way everywhere you go.
SPEAKER_00: Stop compartmentalizing.
SPEAKER_00: In order to stop compartmentalizing, you have to allow Jesus to be Lord of all.
SPEAKER_00: You know, my dad says all the time, if Jesus isn't Lord of all, he's not Lord at all.
SPEAKER_00: And so you must allow Jesus to be Lord of every area.
SPEAKER_00: Don't hold anything back from his presence.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we were in the presence of God this morning.
SPEAKER_00: It it really gets me every time.
SPEAKER_00: And it's easy to hold back.
SPEAKER_00: Uh maybe there's a past hurt that you just want to hold on to that you haven't released.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe there's an old relationship or an old whatever else that's in your life, an old hurt.
SPEAKER_00: And you just want to hold on to that because every now and then you like to daydream about that or think about that, and you allow that thorn to still be piercing a compartment of your heart.
SPEAKER_00: But and then here you are in the presence of God, and you're trying to pour your love out, you're trying to worship, and you, but you keep thinking about that hurt or that pain.
SPEAKER_00: It's it's easy to hold on to it, but it's even easier to release it.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: That's all you got to do is release it.
SPEAKER_00: And it's never gonna happen without it coming out of your mouth.
SPEAKER_00: I release that right now in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: I release that to you, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And it's that simple.
SPEAKER_00: It's not something you have to think about.
SPEAKER_00: You know, a biblical theologian doesn't have to come alongside you and hold your hand and preach to you for three hours.
SPEAKER_00: No, you can just release that in the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, you can do that in your own prayer time.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to wait for a worship service or you don't have to wait for altar ministry to happen.
SPEAKER_00: You can just release that.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: And let that go.
SPEAKER_00: And so that leads me to number five.
SPEAKER_00: Number five is to open up your heart and allow God's word to pierce and split you open.
SPEAKER_00: You know, uh the uh you think about firewood, right?
SPEAKER_00: You you must, you don't, you don't have to split it, I guess.
SPEAKER_00: You could just have a big roaring fire and throw the whole log in, but it would take a really long time to get through all of the bark, right?
SPEAKER_00: But instead, if you split that piece of wood with an axe, we're gonna read about the word of God being a sword, and I realize that a sword is not an axe.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to give me a lesson or show me pictures, but uh but let's go ahead and read it actually.
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews 4, 12.
SPEAKER_00: Turn to the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 4, starting in verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: For the word of God is living, it's powerful, it's alive in you.
SPEAKER_00: His word is alive in you, and it's powerful, it's just as powerful in your coming out of your mouth as it is coming out of God's own mouth, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: And it's sharper than any two-edged sword.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, it's got an edge on both sides.
SPEAKER_00: So it cuts going in and it cuts going out.
SPEAKER_00: And it's so sharp that it's piercing, right?
SPEAKER_00: Allow it to pierce you, to pierce you right in the heart and divide out, it says right here, the from the soul and the spirit.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, what's what is your spirit from what is your soul, your mind, your will, your intellect, your emotions.
SPEAKER_00: We we seem to be, we we some of us, myself included, we can get to where we're emotionally driven.
SPEAKER_00: And you're allowed, you're supposed to allow the word of God to pierce that and separate what's your emotion from what is your spirit.
SPEAKER_00: What his what, in other words, what his will is, what is his character, what is his way, and the joints and the marrow, and it's a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart.
SPEAKER_00: You know, sometimes we launch out and we have good intentions, but they're based on a lie, or they're based on some squirrely thought that we had, and we allow that to move on that instead of being allowing the word of God to divide that out, to cut that out, and to burn that out.
SPEAKER_00: That's being a being on fire of the Holy Ghost, the wasteful things, the things that are not supposed to be in there, will burn up as well.
SPEAKER_00: And you don't have to worry about it anymore, right?
SPEAKER_00: When you're really walking in the power of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: So God's word is living, it's alive on the inside, and it's powerful and it's sharper, and it pierces us and it divides out uh what is God's will and what's your will.
SPEAKER_00: And you allow that fire to burn out what was your idea, what was you know, from what's his idea, what was your plan versus his plan, right?
SPEAKER_00: And um and then verse 13.
SPEAKER_00: Lots of people stop right here.
SPEAKER_00: Uh so I'm gonna read the last part of 12 real quick.
SPEAKER_00: And it's a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 13, and there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.
SPEAKER_00: So, like I said, just like firewood, right?
SPEAKER_00: Firewood has to be split, allow, give God access to a hundred percent of your heart, like I was saying earlier.
SPEAKER_00: Stop compartmentalizing and allow your the the word of God to split you open to to uh to be able to burn every single part and be on fire for him.
SPEAKER_00: So get rid of the bark, get rid of the fake, the facade, um, and be real because God sees it all.
SPEAKER_00: It says it says that in verse 13.
SPEAKER_00: He already, every all things, all things are naked and open to him.
SPEAKER_00: He already sees it.
SPEAKER_00: There's no way to hide it from him.
SPEAKER_00: He already knows whatever you're concerned about, whatever you're thinking about, whatever you can't get over, whatever you're trying, you're struggling with, whatever addictions you're struggling with.
SPEAKER_00: He sees you struggling, and there's no reason for you to struggle.
SPEAKER_00: He's already brought you out of that struggle.
SPEAKER_00: He's already delivered you out of that addiction.
SPEAKER_00: All you have to do is grab a hold of his faithfulness, and he'll pull you right out.
SPEAKER_00: You know, the Holy Spirit is not afraid of any mess.
SPEAKER_00: He will grab a hold of your elbow every time, and he will yank you out of that pit, out of that fire, out of that destruction, and he will save you every time.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: I said every time.
SPEAKER_00: So all things are open to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Know that.
SPEAKER_00: And so you can't hide anything from it, from him, so allow him to heal you.
SPEAKER_00: Allow him to burn that out of you and burn for him.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: That leads me to number six.
SPEAKER_00: Number six is to stay awake so we can wake up others.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, stay on fire so we can help others burn, right?
SPEAKER_00: We can get lit light other people's fire.
SPEAKER_00: And so, uh, what is one of our mandates?
SPEAKER_00: Is to wake up the church.
SPEAKER_00: And you say, well, that's pastor's job, or that's the staff's job, or man, that's a whole my God votes thing.
SPEAKER_00: I can see that work working, so so that's over here, but how does that help me on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday?
SPEAKER_00: No, it's it's a mandate for all of us.
SPEAKER_00: That's all of our jobs.
SPEAKER_00: And so uh, if we if we open up to Ephesians 5, let's let's go to Ephesians 5.
SPEAKER_00: It's our job to wake up the church.
SPEAKER_00: And you know, you don't have to do that in a public forum.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to have like a public uh display of everything that you know.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to go to work tomorrow and in some meeting that you're having with 15 other people and just start fire hosing, you know, every everything that you know to wake them up.
SPEAKER_00: No, I mean um you can sprinkle one one you know one person at a time.
SPEAKER_00: Says uh Romans, wait, sorry, Ephesians.
SPEAKER_00: Why did I turn to Romans?
SPEAKER_00: I got this.
SPEAKER_00: I can preach.
SPEAKER_00: I preached one or two times before.
SPEAKER_00: Ephesians 5 says, uh, therefore be imitators of God as dear children.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna give the cameraman a workout here, get closer to y'all, and walk in love as Christ also loved us and given and has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet, smelling aroma.
SPEAKER_00: So the sacrifice of Jesus was a sweet, smelling aroma.
SPEAKER_00: And so the same sacrifice can happen when you sacrifice your life.
SPEAKER_00: When you lay down your life.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: When you lay down your life just like Jesus did, and you die to your way of thinking, your way of living, that's also a sweet fragrance to the Lord, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so let's go all the way down to verse 8, because he goes and he lays down a long list of things that that uh that will get you in trouble, right?
SPEAKER_00: Uh and it says verse 8, for you were once in darkness.
SPEAKER_00: He he was laying out the works of darkness.
SPEAKER_00: Now in verse 8, for you were once darkness.
SPEAKER_00: You weren't just in darkness, you were darkness.
SPEAKER_00: You had no light.
SPEAKER_00: Kind of like the camera right now, me standing in the dark here.
SPEAKER_00: For you were once darkness, but now you are the light in the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Walk as children of the light.
SPEAKER_00: For the fruit of the Spirit is in goodness, righteousness, and truth.
SPEAKER_00: It's in all goodness.
SPEAKER_00: Sorry, I missed the word all.
SPEAKER_00: It's in all goodness, righteousness, and truth, finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: So that light will lead you into being accepted, everything acceptable to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: It'll lead you in a pathway that's that's uh where you find everything that's acceptable to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And have no fellowship.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody say, no fellowship.
SPEAKER_00: No fellowship uh with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
SPEAKER_00: So that's what we're called to do.
SPEAKER_00: We're called to walk in the light.
SPEAKER_00: How do we get that light?
SPEAKER_00: We stay lit with the fire of the Holy Ghost.
SPEAKER_00: Without the fire of the Holy Ghost, we can't light anything.
SPEAKER_00: Without Him, we can't light anything.
SPEAKER_00: There's not going to be one idea that's worth sharing.
SPEAKER_00: There's not gonna be one thing that we can expose without the truth of the Holy Spirit on fire on the inside, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so have nothing to do with the unfruitful works of darkness.
SPEAKER_00: That means the works of light are fruitful.
SPEAKER_00: They're fruitful and they're obvious to others, like I was saying earlier.
SPEAKER_00: When you're walking in the light, that fruit is obvious to others, amen.
SPEAKER_00: And to have no fellowship with the unfruit, no fellowship, zero fellowship, none, zero.
SPEAKER_00: Nary a bit.
SPEAKER_00: Zero means zero, right?
SPEAKER_00: No means no.
SPEAKER_00: So stop it.
SPEAKER_00: You are children of the light.
SPEAKER_00: Walk as children of the light.
SPEAKER_00: You belong to him.
SPEAKER_00: You don't belong to you, you don't belong to your agenda.
SPEAKER_00: You belong to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You're his child.
SPEAKER_00: You're also his friend.
SPEAKER_00: But all things are, verse 13, but all things, everybody say all things, that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore he says, Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.
SPEAKER_00: We are light.
SPEAKER_00: And it belongs, that light belongs to us.
SPEAKER_00: That truth belongs to you.
SPEAKER_00: It's it's it is truth, it's not just your truth, it is the truth, but it belongs to you.
SPEAKER_00: And and you have a light that belongs to you.
SPEAKER_00: So you're supposed to maintain that glow, to wake others up so that you don't you're gonna have influence over people that that our staff and our pastor, they're never gonna meet the people that you meet every day.
SPEAKER_00: They're never gonna step in to your office.
SPEAKER_00: They might not ever meet your best friend, they might not ever meet your neighbor, they might not ever meet the the guy that delivers your pizza.
SPEAKER_00: You know, and so you have influence.
SPEAKER_00: Take that influence seriously, amen.
SPEAKER_00: Walk in that light, walk in that truth to wake others up.
SPEAKER_00: And it really is.
SPEAKER_00: So, so we're we as a church, as a body, as the body of Christ, we are we're we're asking you to get involved because it makes a difference when you get involved in what the church is is doing.
SPEAKER_00: When we get involved with my God votes, it makes a difference.
SPEAKER_00: But really, we're serving arm in arm with each other.
SPEAKER_00: This is all about love plus unity equals miracles.
SPEAKER_00: And like uh Pastor said over the last two or three weeks, um that the miracles are are God's dinner bell.
SPEAKER_00: And so we need miracles.
SPEAKER_00: And in order to have miracles, we must have love and we must have unity, and we must be awake.
SPEAKER_00: We can't be asleep ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: And Glorious Way Church can't get the job done if half of our people are on our own people are asleep, or 40%, or 30%, or 10%, or 2%.
SPEAKER_00: We all need to be awake, right?
SPEAKER_00: We're all called to do this together, arm in arm, because love plus unity equals miracles.
SPEAKER_00: So don't allow yourself to be lulled back asleep.
SPEAKER_00: I talk to so many people that are like, man, I don't even watch the news anymore.
SPEAKER_00: It's just so frustrating, and da da da da da.
SPEAKER_00: There's so many lies.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I just I just lean on Pastor to tell me what's going on.
SPEAKER_00: I'll know when on Sunday morning when I get here, and you will.
SPEAKER_00: He can't even open the service without telling you.
SPEAKER_00: Praise God.
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: We're grateful, but we still need to be informed.
SPEAKER_00: And and there's no reason to be asleep in any area.
SPEAKER_00: We're awake and we're fully uh we're anointed to reach the people that God has us to reach.
SPEAKER_00: You have a ministry.
SPEAKER_00: Every believer has a ministry, every believer has a testimony.
SPEAKER_00: You got a testimony?
SPEAKER_00: You know where what it is?
SPEAKER_00: You do.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: That you've been translated out of darkness and into his marvelous light.
SPEAKER_00: So act like it, live like it, think like it, talk like it.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.