WEBVTT 00:00:01.520 --> 00:00:04.320 My name is Megan, if we haven't met before. 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:07.599 And I'm excited to welcome you to more tonight. 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:12.000 And I'm very excited to welcome the high school group because they're joining us tonight. 00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:15.519 It's going to be awesome. 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:24.480 Tonight, we are going to be talking about more identity and about who we are in Jesus. 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:30.640 And I think it's an important topic because I think we all question a little bit about who we are. 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:44.880 And as an example, if you don't mind playing along with me and raising your hands, how many of you have ever taken one of those Facebook BuzzFeed quizzes to see what color you are, what horse you are, what pizza you are, what Disney princess you are? 00:00:45.039 --> 00:00:45.359 Okay. 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:49.520 We've all done it because there's a part of us that's really curious. 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:51.920 We want to know who we are. 00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:54.880 We want to know why we do the weird things that we do. 00:00:55.119 --> 00:00:57.280 We want to know how the world perceives us. 00:00:57.359 --> 00:01:00.399 We want to know, we want to know about ourselves. 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:04.879 And there's a part of us that kind of questions do I really know who I am? 00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:11.359 And I was asked by a good friend to describe who I was. 00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:13.840 And I I couldn't do it. 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:25.359 I could say my name and I could tell her what I did, but it was very hard to put a name to like what was me. 00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:26.480 Does that make sense? 00:01:27.359 --> 00:01:27.680 Okay. 00:01:28.239 --> 00:01:30.640 Because my parents could have given me a different name. 00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:32.879 My name is not me. 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:36.799 I could have a different job, so that's not really me either. 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:51.280 And I had to kind of revert to saying things that people had told me about myself, and I ended up going, well, my parents have said that I was really stubborn as a kid, and I'm sure that's carried over, so I guess I'm stubborn. 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:56.879 And my I don't know, my friends growing up said that I was really shy, so I guess I'm shy. 00:01:57.359 --> 00:01:59.280 I couldn't tell you who I was. 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:01.519 I could tell you what people said about me. 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:04.560 Um and I think that's something we all kind of experience. 00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:08.240 When we're born, when we're first born, we're given an identity. 00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:12.159 Most of our parents picked out a name for us before we were even here. 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:21.199 And before you open your eyes, before you can talk, before you can express personality, you're given an identity by this world. 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:26.159 And when you walk around and you grow up, you start to pull identity from places. 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:28.479 You start to say, My friends think this about me. 00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:29.280 Okay, that's me. 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:31.280 And then, oh, that looks really good. 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:33.599 I'll take some of that identity and I'll try to be that too. 00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:36.400 And we start to like grab identity from everyone. 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:40.080 Our parents, our friends, um, our spouses, sometimes our children. 00:02:40.159 --> 00:02:42.159 We pull identity from what they say about us. 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:48.240 And we end up becoming this kind of like mishmosh of what the world thinks we are. 00:02:48.800 --> 00:02:51.439 But there's a big problem with that, and you can probably see it coming. 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:55.360 But the big problem really is revealed in 1 John 3:1. 00:02:56.240 --> 00:02:57.599 And this is what it says. 00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:03.680 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God. 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:05.280 And that is what we are. 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:09.520 The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:11.680 The world does not know you. 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:20.879 Even if you had great parents and great friends and a great spouse who pour love over you, they still don't know you like God does. 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:26.080 And if we try to pull our identity from anywhere else, it doesn't work. 00:03:26.240 --> 00:03:27.680 The world doesn't know you. 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:35.599 The only person, the only person, I really want this to sink in, that has the right to tell you who you are is God. 00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:37.199 He's the only one. 00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:41.439 In Psalm, it's true. 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:47.199 In Psalm 139, 13 through 17, and I love Psalm 139. 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:50.879 If you struggle with knowing that God knows you, this is your psalm. 00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:52.479 We'll start in verse 13. 00:03:52.639 --> 00:03:57.599 It says, You made all the delicate inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. 00:03:57.840 --> 00:04:02.479 Before you were born, and before that name was given to you by your parents, God knew you. 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:05.840 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex. 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:08.960 Your workmanship is marvelous, how well I know it. 00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:13.840 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:15.840 You saw me before I was born. 00:04:16.079 --> 00:04:19.199 Every day of my life was recorded in your book. 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:22.639 Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:23.680 He knows you. 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:26.000 How precious are your thoughts about me, oh God. 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:27.839 They cannot be numbered. 00:04:28.800 --> 00:04:32.240 God knows you, He knows everything about you. 00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:34.240 He made you, He knit you together. 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:41.519 I don't know if you've ever seen someone knit, but when you knit something, you know every single little intricate part of that thing that you knit. 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:44.639 Okay, it's not like you just do it in one big swath. 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:47.759 You do it every little stitch at a time. 00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:49.439 That's how God made you. 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:55.439 Every little part, everything, and he knows it so well. 00:04:55.920 --> 00:04:58.319 So we need to go to him for our identity. 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:02.800 We need to see what he says about us because he's the only one that has the right to tell us. 00:05:03.759 --> 00:05:10.959 When my friend was asking me about who I was, and I was struggling to come up with something to say, the truth is I have been a Christian for a long time. 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:12.160 I knew God knew me. 00:05:12.399 --> 00:05:13.680 I knew the psalm. 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:16.720 I knew God knew me, but I didn't know me. 00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:23.040 I didn't know how to put a name to me as a bigger person than just me. 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:23.680 Does that make sense? 00:05:23.839 --> 00:05:25.040 Like the inner inner part of me? 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:26.000 I couldn't name it. 00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:27.519 I didn't know what to call it. 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:30.399 So what do you say about who you are? 00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:34.160 Even if God knows you, how do you say it? 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:38.319 And Isaiah 43:1 talks about God naming. 00:05:38.480 --> 00:05:50.319 And it says, but for now, but now, sorry, but now, thus says the Lord your creator, oh Jacob, and he who formed you, O Israel, do not fear, I have redeemed you, I have called you by name. 00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:51.600 You are mine. 00:05:52.240 --> 00:05:53.920 God knows your name. 00:05:54.240 --> 00:06:02.160 He knows what to name that inside part of you, he knows what to call each little intricate stitch of your knitting. 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:03.519 He knows that. 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:08.000 And he can name it, and he can let you in on those names. 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:10.959 God has a habit of renaming people. 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:16.240 Um, if you read through the Bible, he's often giving people new names, which I always think is very interesting. 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:19.920 What would it be like to be an adult and be given a new name? 00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:23.759 How long would it take you to get used to someone calling you something completely different? 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:28.720 Um Abram was named Abraham, and Sarai was named Sarah. 00:06:28.800 --> 00:06:33.199 They wanted to have a baby, and God renamed them the father and mother of many nations. 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:34.720 That's what their names meant. 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:41.600 Jacob was um originally named Jacob because they called him a deceiver, so that's what his name meant. 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:46.879 And then it was changed to Israel, which means the one who wrestles with God and prevails. 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:49.920 What a cool name is that! God changed it to Israel. 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:55.680 Jesus changed Simon's name to the name Peter, which means rock, because he had a purpose. 00:06:55.839 --> 00:06:58.399 God was going to build his church on Peter. 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:03.839 And then Saul, his name means death, and Jesus changed it to Paul. 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:06.560 God is in the habit of changing names. 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:09.279 And some of us in here need new names. 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:11.519 Our names may not match who we are. 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:13.920 God may have a different name for you. 00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:18.560 And I would ask that tonight you not be shy about asking him what that is. 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:22.319 I've done that, and I've said, God, what is my what is my name? 00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:26.160 When you look at me and you call out my name, what do you say? 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:28.319 And I didn't get an answer right away. 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:30.560 He had to change some other things in me. 00:07:30.959 --> 00:07:35.920 But then he actually told one of my friends who was praying for me what my spiritual name was. 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:38.160 And she came and told me, and it was so cool. 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:39.600 So I know my name. 00:07:39.839 --> 00:07:40.959 God showed me my name. 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:43.040 And I believe he can show you your name too. 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:44.319 It may not happen right away. 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:46.560 God isn't always like instant God. 00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:47.680 That's not how it works. 00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:50.959 He may want to do some other things, he may want you to seek him a little bit more. 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:52.879 But don't be afraid to ask. 00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:59.360 Some of us, honestly, and this is what I needed before I could receive that new name and really understand it. 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:04.959 I needed God to rewrite my identity inside. 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:14.639 2 Corinthians 5, 17 says, this means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. 00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:18.480 The old life is gone, a new life has begun. 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:26.399 Everything that's happened throughout your life, as you've grabbed identity, God wants to rewrite those identities. 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:29.360 And he wants to make it what he calls you, what he sees in you. 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:32.000 He wants to tell you why you are the way you are. 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:35.200 He wants to give a name to it, he wants to give a word to it. 00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:45.600 I often think about in Genesis, and this is kind of a weird way to look at the story, but in Genesis, the story of Adam and Eve, when they eat the apple. 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:47.759 I don't know if it was an apple, I always picture it as an apple. 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:56.639 But when they eat the fruit and they sin, and then they go hide from God, God comes into the garden and they hear him walking and they go and they hide. 00:08:57.039 --> 00:09:01.440 So as God's walking through the garden, he asks them, Why are you hiding? 00:09:01.919 --> 00:09:05.279 And they said, We hid because we were naked and ashamed. 00:09:05.679 --> 00:09:08.240 And then God says, Who told you that? 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:18.320 And I think for a lot of us, we need to look at the things that we've put on ourselves and said, This is who I am, and ask, Who told you that? 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:26.879 Because I know that for me, some of the things that I attached to me growing up were not told to me by God at all. 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:31.200 And they were actually very opposite of what God was trying to tell me. 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:34.000 I was told, you're shy. 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:35.840 And I went, Oh, okay, okay, I'm shy. 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:36.320 I'm shy. 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:37.360 I can't do that, I'm shy. 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:38.480 I can't do that, I'm shy. 00:09:38.559 --> 00:09:39.919 And God said, No, you're bold. 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:42.559 And he needed to rewrite that in me. 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:47.440 I had been told, you can't do that, you're not talented enough, you're not whatever. 00:09:47.600 --> 00:09:50.480 And God said, No, I've given you everything you need. 00:09:50.559 --> 00:09:51.600 You are enough. 00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:54.080 I needed that identity rewritten. 00:09:54.320 --> 00:10:00.159 So tonight we're gonna have a time where that can be rewritten in you. 00:10:00.559 --> 00:10:03.600 There's some of us tonight that are really secure in who we are in God. 00:10:03.919 --> 00:10:08.399 And so tonight you're just gonna get to enjoy it, and you're probably the most excited because you know it's coming. 00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:13.679 Um so what we're gonna do is we're gonna have the worship team play. 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:16.559 And from now on, it's just gonna be one long worship experience. 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:24.639 And we're gonna have some people come up that I've asked to come and share what they've prayed about, about who you are. 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:29.200 And they're gonna speak over you, and they're gonna speak God's words to you about who you are. 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:31.039 And so I want you to get comfy. 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:32.399 That's why we put the couches out. 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:35.120 I want you to get where you can worship and just soak it all in. 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:36.639 You're gonna be sponges tonight. 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:38.080 Just soak it in, okay? 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:41.279 Don't worry about writing it all down, don't worry about, oh, I have to remember that. 00:10:41.759 --> 00:10:46.720 Let your spirit just receive it as the worship team plays. 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:53.840 Let your heart open up and then just receive all of it and leave really full of big soaked sponge, okay? 00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:56.960 Um, there's lots of room in the room. 00:10:57.039 --> 00:10:58.240 We've cleared out everything. 00:10:58.399 --> 00:11:00.480 You can go lay down. 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:03.759 I soak best with my head to the floor with my arms around me. 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:07.840 It looks kind of crazy, but I'm not crazy because God didn't tell me that. 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:08.320 Okay. 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:11.519 So do whatever you need to do. 00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:15.840 Um like I said, get comfortable, close your eyes, stand up, sit down. 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:20.320 And when the people come up to talk, don't feel like you have to stop doing what you're doing. 00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:28.000 So if you're walking around the back and your arms are raised and you're just praising Jesus, when someone comes up to talk, don't feel like you have to stop and stand and watch them. 00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:31.840 It's all just gonna be one long sponge-soaking experience. 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:32.559 Is that okay? 00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:34.000 Okay, awesome. 00:11:34.159 --> 00:11:36.000 Well, I'm gonna get out of the way and let y'all get started. 00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:40.399 So I thought it'd we'd start with uh some show and tell. 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:42.559 Oh, I can't see y'all at all. 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:46.159 I need this to read later, so I'm gonna make the decision. 00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:47.360 Glasses on. 00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:49.919 I I thought we'd start with some show and tell. 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:51.279 Do you remember this from elementary school? 00:11:51.440 --> 00:11:52.399 Show and tell. 00:11:52.559 --> 00:12:04.720 You wouldn't necessarily know the people in the class, so your teacher would invite somebody to bring maybe a couple prized possessions from home, and they'd show them off, and you kind of learn a little bit about who they are. 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:08.720 So I brought a couple of my prized possessions from my home. 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:10.080 Do you want to see? 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:12.720 Very good, enthusiastic. 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:16.960 So the first thing that I brought is uh it's a stone. 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:18.080 Do you like this? 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:20.240 It's kind of white and shiny. 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:21.440 Check that out. 00:12:21.679 --> 00:12:29.200 Uh it's probably hard to see maybe from a distance here, but there's there's actually some words that are written on this, uh, a name specifically. 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:37.840 And it might not look much to you, uh, but this stone means a lot to me because it was a gift to me from my dad. 00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:39.120 So that's the first thing. 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:40.320 Remind me a little bit later. 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:43.759 I'm gonna read uh some of the words that are written on this. 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:47.919 So the second prize possession that I have from home is in my other pocket. 00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:49.519 I keep these things close. 00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:50.879 Prize possessions. 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:54.320 The second thing is uh a little bit of food from home. 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:57.279 I have it in my pocket in case I want to snack later. 00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:01.039 This is difficult to describe, too. 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:04.960 Um it's not really like bread, it's a little bit different. 00:13:05.120 --> 00:13:09.679 It's kind of like a wafer honey kind of, it tastes really great. 00:13:09.919 --> 00:13:16.639 Uh but the crazy thing about this is like once you have a batch of this in the house, it literally never runs out. 00:13:17.039 --> 00:13:24.480 And again, that probably doesn't look like much to you, but this is really important to me because my dad makes this for me every day. 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:26.480 And it reminds me of him. 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:32.320 And if you want to know who I am, you gotta know who my dad is. 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:38.080 So I've actually had three different fathers in my lifetime. 00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:43.840 Um, father number one uh was my biological dad. 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:46.399 We uh I never really knew him. 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:49.440 He left when I was a baby, uh the marriage split. 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:50.799 Uh I didn't know him at all. 00:13:50.960 --> 00:14:00.960 I finally looked him up years later, like my late 30s, and uh we had lunch like at a macaroni grill in the Orlando airport. 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:03.200 It's uh life is weird, you know. 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:05.039 That was dad number one. 00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:13.279 Uh he's a great guy, and is like, you know, he's helped run an orphanage for years in Hawaii, psychologist, and so I respect him. 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:17.679 He's just not the dad that I ever lived with. 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:19.519 That was father number one. 00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:28.879 So I would have been Benjamin Jester if life had gone that way, uh, but it didn't, because that was not my last name. 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:30.960 There's another name yet to come. 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:44.639 So, father number two, uh, a couple years later my mom remarries, and uh my father that I've had for the rest of my life, he adopts my older brother and I, and I become Benjamin Sykes. 00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:48.399 So, father number two, amazing dad. 00:14:48.559 --> 00:14:51.679 Uh, I raised him well, I give him high marks. 00:14:52.159 --> 00:15:02.320 Uh the only caveat with father number two is uh there was gonna not gonna be any going into the the family business with him. 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:13.120 He was uh airline pilot, came from a whole line of airline pilots, grandpa, my dad, my uncles, my older brother, all pilots except for me. 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:14.720 I'm the maverick. 00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:25.519 And uh so imagine every every dinner conversation was you know, approach vectors and flapspeeds and salt shakers this, and I just sat politely. 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:34.240 So father number two, all-star dad, but he's not a dad that I've ever worked with, like in the family business. 00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:36.799 We just don't share that in common. 00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:45.200 And father number two is not the dad that gave me this stone or this bread that I hold in my hands. 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:50.960 And in fact, father number two is not even the dad that gave me my last name. 00:15:51.679 --> 00:16:08.720 I mean, he did, this is a confusing analogy because I'm still Benjamin Sykes, but he didn't give me my very last name, because my very last name is written on this stone, and it was given to me by my real father, and that's father number three. 00:16:09.679 --> 00:16:14.080 This might be confusing, but Jesus explains all of this in one verse in the Bible. 00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:25.120 He says, This is in Revelation 2nd chapter, verse 17, Jesus says, Listen to what the Spirit says to the church. 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:30.879 To he who overcomes, that's me, and that's you, because of Jesus. 00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:46.399 To he who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will also give that person a white stone, and on that stone will be a name known only to the one who receives it. 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:49.759 So this is who I really am. 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:53.440 And this was given to me by father number three. 00:16:54.720 --> 00:17:00.720 He's the dad I'm at last, but he's really the one that knew me from the beginning. 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:04.640 And plot twist is he's my real dad. 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:06.720 He's the one that gave me birth. 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:09.599 Father number three, he did he did it all. 00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:13.680 He gave me new life, and he gave me a new name. 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:21.119 Because I was the one that ran off from father number three and tried to separate myself from the family. 00:17:21.440 --> 00:17:25.359 But he he went across the world to find me. 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:30.799 And he adopted me into his family and gave me his name. 00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:34.880 He said, We have to be together. 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:37.039 Our home is together. 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:39.759 I have to share my life with you. 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:42.079 That's my dad. 00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:47.119 So, father number three is the dad that I've lived with from that moment on. 00:17:47.839 --> 00:17:51.359 And he told me, he said, There's there's work to be done. 00:17:51.599 --> 00:17:54.960 And so he invited me into his family business. 00:17:55.680 --> 00:18:02.240 And I didn't feel like I was adequate at first, but he gave me new eyes so I could do it. 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:04.319 He gave me new gifts. 00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:10.799 The family business of my dad is loving other people, so that's my business now, too. 00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:14.559 And I'll always be his apprentice. 00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:27.359 You know, you might remember in the Old Testament, um, in the tabernacle and in the temple, there was an inner room, the Holy of Holies, and it was locked behind this veil. 00:18:27.599 --> 00:18:30.880 It was the home for God, the Spirit of God. 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:42.000 And inside that room, locked away, was the Ark of the Covenant, and inside the Ark, it was like a treasure chest, and it held the family treasures. 00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:46.400 And there were a couple things that were in that box, if you remember. 00:18:46.720 --> 00:19:08.079 There was, number one, some hidden manna locked away in the box, and then there were tablets of stone, and on those stones were words written by the finger of God to remind his children who they are and how to love, how to do the family business. 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:14.400 So as I close, I want you to understand just how much my dad loves me. 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:30.160 Because that place I'm describing, the Holy of Holies, he's torn down that veil, he's knocked out the walls, and he's redecorated the whole place with me in mind, and that's where I live with my dad. 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:31.359 Right there. 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:36.240 That holy of holies, that new temple, is me. 00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:38.160 That's me. 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:43.119 This temple is where I live with my dad. 00:19:43.440 --> 00:19:47.920 This temple is where we do our business every day. 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:56.799 And I know that might seem strange, but my dad, he's take opened up that treasure chest, and he's taken his treasures, and he's put them in my hand. 00:19:57.680 --> 00:20:00.000 This is where they are safe. 00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:03.759 And that might seem strange, but it's not. 00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:11.519 The only safe place for a treasure, this immense, is in the presence of my dad. 00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:14.079 Because he's so strong. 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:19.680 And this temple is where my dad lives, and so this is where he keeps his treasure. 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.319 Jesus taught us, he said, where your treasure is, there your heart will be. 00:20:24.559 --> 00:20:28.720 And my dad's heart is here, and so he gives me his treasure. 00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:31.839 So when I'm hungry, I just eat. 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:34.240 Because this meal never runs out. 00:20:34.400 --> 00:20:36.079 His mercy's new every morning. 00:20:36.160 --> 00:20:38.880 It's like communion that I have every day with him. 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:40.319 He feeds me. 00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:53.759 And when I need to be reminded about who I am, my name, about the work that he's called me to do, then I read the words that he's etched on this stone forever. 00:20:54.960 --> 00:20:58.319 Can I read for you some of the words that are written here? 00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:06.160 Just as a sense of the promises that our dad speaks over us as his children. 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:13.920 I am your father, and you're my child. 00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:19.119 You're part of my family, and you've been adopted into the family of Jesus. 00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:21.680 I will never leave you. 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:29.920 You're secure as my son, my daughter, and you have a place, a family where you belong and you're cherished. 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:36.160 You have a new life with me, and I have a blessing for you that will never run out. 00:21:36.960 --> 00:21:38.480 I delight in you. 00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:40.559 You are free. 00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:44.000 You are my pride and adoration. 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:47.599 I love sharing my every treasure with you. 00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:50.960 I'm so excited to have you in the family business. 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:54.480 I love you eternally and uniquely. 00:21:54.799 --> 00:21:58.319 This is a victory stone engraved with your name. 00:21:58.559 --> 00:21:59.759 It's my gift to you. 00:22:01.119 --> 00:22:02.319 Welcome home. 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:10.480 You belong to God. 00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:13.920 You are a child of God. 00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:18.799 You are called of God and you are chosen of God. 00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:24.720 You are established, anointed, and sealed of God. 00:22:26.319 --> 00:22:29.599 You are a finished product in progress. 00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:35.279 You are fully developed, yet developing into what you are called to be. 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:44.720 God first knew you as a citizen of heaven with an assured future before he formed you and knit you together in the womb. 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:50.799 You can approach God with freedom and confidence. 00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:54.480 He recognizes you and he knows who you are. 00:22:55.119 --> 00:22:59.759 He delights in you and likes when you know him as your father. 00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:02.960 You are not an orphan. 00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:04.720 You have a family. 00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:06.799 He knows you by name. 00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:10.400 He even knows how many hairs are on your head. 00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:12.559 You are born of God. 00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:15.039 His DNA is within you. 00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:18.480 You are marked with the truth of who you are. 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:23.039 You are the apple of your father's eye. 00:23:23.680 --> 00:23:31.680 You are a partaker of his divine nature, and he has willed you into the family's full inheritance. 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:34.799 You are precious to your father. 00:23:35.279 --> 00:23:37.519 You are his workmanship. 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:40.400 You are his pride and joy. 00:23:41.599 --> 00:23:43.680 God has approved you. 00:23:44.160 --> 00:23:48.480 He accepts you and he calls you his very own. 00:23:49.279 --> 00:23:53.759 You are deeply loved and fully pleasing to the Father. 00:23:54.640 --> 00:23:56.559 You are fully complete. 00:23:57.599 --> 00:24:00.000 God has purposed your life. 00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:03.440 He has made you special and unique. 00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:11.440 You are desired of God and you are cared for with compassion by Him. 00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:13.920 He will never leave you. 00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:16.400 You are clay in His hand. 00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:21.599 Be confident He will finish the plans he has for you. 00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:24.240 You are never forgotten. 00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:29.039 He has given you His magnificent promises. 00:24:29.680 --> 00:24:32.720 He has given you the blessings of Abraham. 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:37.440 You are assured of success in Him. 00:24:38.240 --> 00:24:45.680 God your Father is for you, and He has made you more valuable than all of His creations. 00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:51.599 God shares you proudly among the family. 00:24:52.400 --> 00:25:00.400 John chapter 17, verse 24 says, God has given you as a gift to Christ. 00:25:01.440 --> 00:25:04.400 You are a gift to the king. 00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:14.079 While others gave the king valuable gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, you are the most valuable. 00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:20.559 You were given by the hand of God as a gift to his firstborn son. 00:25:22.559 --> 00:25:25.599 The firstborn is to inherit a blessing. 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:34.160 In Scripture, we have read of a brother stealing the blessing from an older brother, because the blessing is so valuable. 00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:40.960 You are the very valuable blessing gifted to the firstborn. 00:25:41.119 --> 00:25:54.880 And that firstborn, Jesus Christ, has fought Satan who has tried to steal an inheritance that does not belong to him, so he can try to undo the good that God has done. 00:25:56.079 --> 00:26:01.039 But Satan is defeated, and you are established in Christ. 00:26:01.279 --> 00:26:04.000 You are inseparable from his love. 00:26:04.480 --> 00:26:08.319 You are protected under the shadow of the Most High. 00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:11.440 You are hidden in Christ with God. 00:26:12.480 --> 00:26:14.480 You are guarded in God. 00:26:15.359 --> 00:26:17.279 You are established. 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:21.519 You are appointed by God to do good works. 00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:24.960 You are an heir to the throne. 00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:27.359 You were bought with the price. 00:26:27.680 --> 00:26:28.960 You are called. 00:26:29.200 --> 00:26:31.279 You are more than a conqueror. 00:26:31.680 --> 00:26:35.359 You are placed before God for safekeeping. 00:26:35.759 --> 00:26:40.079 You are fully surrounded by God's bountiful goodness. 00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:42.559 You're full of strength. 00:26:42.880 --> 00:26:45.839 Your life is full of living water. 00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:51.200 God pours from his own hand good into your life. 00:26:51.920 --> 00:26:58.000 The Lord's hand is upon you, and he carries you by his spirit and positions you. 00:26:58.640 --> 00:27:06.640 You are full of the Holy Ghost, grace, truth, wisdom, and faith. 00:27:07.839 --> 00:27:14.640 You have full power to do great wonders and miracles, good works and deeds. 00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:17.759 You are given all things. 00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:22.160 You are woven into a tapestry of love. 00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:25.279 You overflow with mercy. 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:28.319 You are full of God's glory. 00:27:29.119 --> 00:27:32.000 You are filled with the knowledge of his will. 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:37.119 You are a branch of the true vine. 00:27:40.079 --> 00:27:42.160 The Lord dwells in you. 00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:46.319 You are his chosen garden in which he dwells in. 00:27:46.960 --> 00:27:50.799 You are loved constantly and unconditionally. 00:27:51.599 --> 00:27:54.880 God waters you like a watered garden. 00:27:55.839 --> 00:28:02.000 You drink from the fountain of the water of life that flows out of the throne of God. 00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:08.319 Your tree of life is planted along the side of God's river. 00:28:08.960 --> 00:28:11.119 He called you to bear fruit. 00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:17.359 Your life will always produce a harvest, and your leaves are for the healing of the nations. 00:28:19.440 --> 00:28:23.119 God prunes you, so you are full of branches. 00:28:24.880 --> 00:28:29.839 You are nourished by God, and he sends green grass to your fields. 00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:33.839 Your life is full of the fragrance of God. 00:28:34.480 --> 00:28:39.119 You are sweet incense in his nostrils, in the nostrils of God. 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:43.920 You are filled with the fragrance of his knowledge. 00:28:44.240 --> 00:28:51.200 And the Old Testament states: you stand tall and strong like the trees of Lebanon. 00:28:52.559 --> 00:28:56.640 The tree of Lebanon is also known as a cedar tree. 00:28:57.359 --> 00:29:01.920 A cedar tree has a distinct odor that repels its enemies. 00:29:02.480 --> 00:29:09.759 The scent of cedar is a natural repellent for rodents and bugs that could harm the life of the tree. 00:29:11.680 --> 00:29:13.839 Satan has many names. 00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:24.480 He is also known as Lucifer, Beast, Serpent, Prince of the Air, and Belzebub. 00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:31.759 Belzebub, translated, is a demonic fly known as the Lord of Flies. 00:29:33.119 --> 00:29:39.519 The scent of cedar repels pests, serpents, and flies. 00:29:40.400 --> 00:29:46.559 You were born as a seed from a God who had the power to cast Satan from heaven. 00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:54.960 You reside in a king, a son, who had the power to triumph over Satan, disarming all his weapons. 00:29:55.519 --> 00:30:10.720