Latest / Max Lucado Daily Sermons / How to hear from God- Minister Max Lucado

Transcript

How to hear from God- Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

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  Speaker 1: Morning good morning good morning well i gave you three
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  Speaker 1: good mornings what a treat to see you you just
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  Speaker 1: look terrific you look like you're all in a good
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  Speaker 1: mood well i see somebody who looks cranky but outside
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  Speaker 1: of that person no you look great i'm so thankful
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  Speaker 1: that you're here and god bless you god bless you
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  Speaker 1: i don't know if you've met my friend hey siri
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  Speaker 1: how are you doing today Did you hear that? Hey Siri,
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  Speaker 1: do you love me? You have my utmost admiration. I
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  Speaker 1: think that was politically correct. Hey Siri, I'm lost. How
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  Speaker 1: do I get home? I don't know your home address.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, I don't know anything about you.
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  Speaker 2: In Siri settings, tap on my info and then choose
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  Speaker 2: yourself from your contacts.
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  Speaker 1: Then I'll know who you are. She's right, isn't she?
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  Speaker 1: She doesn't know anything about me. And since she doesn't,
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  Speaker 1: she doesn't know how to help me get home. Today,
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  Speaker 1: I want to tell you that there's a great and
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  Speaker 1: gracious God Who knows everything about you. And he's going
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  Speaker 1: to help you get home. He is your guide. He
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  Speaker 1: is your director. He is your unfailing friend. He is
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  Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit. We're going to have a conversation today.
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  Speaker 1: Under what I think is a very relevant topic. And
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  Speaker 1: that is. How to hear from God. How to hear.
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  Speaker 1: From God. And we're going to close this message. With a.
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  Speaker 1: time of prayer if you're going through some decision making
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  Speaker 1: if you're needing God's direction God's guidance we're going to
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  Speaker 1: offer a prayer for anyone who is in need of
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  Speaker 1: a blessing and direction from God I'm going to ask
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  Speaker 1: you to come to the front and stand in the
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  Speaker 1: front we'll have a we call it a collective prayer
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  Speaker 1: because we all collect here in the middle in the
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  Speaker 1: front and so if that is a part of where
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  Speaker 1: your life is right now then Be aware of that.
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  Speaker 1: I'll be offering that invitation here in just a minute.
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  Speaker 1: Let's pray together and then we'll get to work. Gracious Father,
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  Speaker 1: our good shepherd, we come to you asking that you
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  Speaker 1: would be our guide, that you would direct our steps,
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  Speaker 1: and that we would sense your leading through scripture, through circumstance,
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  Speaker 1: that you would help us, and we know you will.
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  Speaker 1: Forgive our speaker, his sins are many. Bless our leader
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  Speaker 1: travis the challenges are many and we thank you for
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  Speaker 1: him and alicia and we ask now that you bless
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  Speaker 1: the study of your word through christ we pray and
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  Speaker 1: all who agreed with the prayer said life is a
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  Speaker 1: series of decisions do i move do i stay do
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  Speaker 1: i hold on do i let go do i marry
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  Speaker 1: do i stay single there's small decisions there's large decisions
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  Speaker 1: decisions everywhere We make our choices and our choices make
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  Speaker 1: us because choices have consequences. What if I make the
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  Speaker 1: wrong choice? What if I go south instead of going north?
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  Speaker 1: What if I can't make a decision? We feel paralyzed
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  Speaker 1: sometimes for fear of making the wrong decision. So what
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  Speaker 1: do we do? Given the weightiness of decisions, how do
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  Speaker 1: we make good ones? Well, I think you'll be encouraged
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  Speaker 1: by a promise of Scripture, and that is we have
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  Speaker 1: a personal guide, the Holy Spirit, who leads us. The
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  Speaker 1: promise from the 23rd Psalm is relevant today. He leads
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  Speaker 1: me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. God
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  Speaker 1: not only feeds us, he leads us. He not only
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  Speaker 1: corrects us, he directs us. He is our leader. He
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  Speaker 1: is our personal guide. As we're looking at the different
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  Speaker 1: word pictures that help us understand the role of the
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  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit, we find one that I think is extremely
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  Speaker 1: interesting and often undiscussed in the Old Testament story of
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  Speaker 1: Moses and the Hebrew people. You'll remember that they had
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  Speaker 1: spent their lifetime praying. in the small confines of the
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  Speaker 1: nation of Egypt. Moses had left, but the rest of them,
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  Speaker 1: the other two million slaves, they had never crossed the border.
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  Speaker 1: But then in a furiously fast turn of events, Pharaoh
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  Speaker 1: set them free. And four centuries of slavery were left
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  Speaker 1: in the rear view mirror and the promised land awaited them,
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  Speaker 1: but they didn't know where it was. They didn't know
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  Speaker 1: how to get there. They didn't know where to turn.
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  Speaker 1: They were rookie sojourners. On their own, they stood no
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  Speaker 1: chance of survival. For that reason, look at this. By day,
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  Speaker 1: the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of
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  Speaker 1: cloud to guide them on their way by night in
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  Speaker 1: a pillar of fire. And then the next chapter. The
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  Speaker 1: pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood
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  Speaker 1: behind them coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel.
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  Speaker 1: And this went on the entire time they were in
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  Speaker 1: the wilderness at one of the last chapters of the book.
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  Speaker 1: In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud
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  Speaker 1: lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out. But
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  Speaker 1: if the cloud did not lift, they did not set
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  Speaker 1: out until the day it lifted. What a blessing that
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  Speaker 1: must have been for the children of Israel to have
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  Speaker 1: this guide, fire by night, cloud by day, leading them.
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  Speaker 1: Can you imagine the blessing of this divine GPS? At
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  Speaker 1: any point, if they needed to make a decision, the
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  Speaker 1: leaders could look up. And they could see, oh, okay,
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  Speaker 1: turn right here. We need to turn left there. We're
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  Speaker 1: going over the mountain range. We're going down into the valley. Why?
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  Speaker 1: Because the leading was there. The stress of decision-making was lifted.
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  Speaker 1: And the operation of making the right decision was reduced
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  Speaker 1: to simply lifting their eyes toward the heavens. Wouldn't it
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  Speaker 1: be great to have something like that today? Oh, I
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  Speaker 1: hope you'll listen and let me try to convince you
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  Speaker 1: that we have it. We have that same level of
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  Speaker 1: intimate leadership. We have what the Hebrews had in the wilderness,
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  Speaker 1: except we don't have to eat manna every day. We
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  Speaker 1: can thank Isaiah the prophet for telling us the name
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  Speaker 1: of the being who indwelled the cloud and the fire.
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  Speaker 1: Look at this passage. We're in the book of Isaiah now,
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  Speaker 1: another Old Testament book, and we're looking at Isaiah the
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  Speaker 1: prophet as he explains and reflects upon that deliverance. Where
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  Speaker 1: is he who set his, who church? Holy Spirit among them,
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  Speaker 1: who sent his glorious arm of power to be where?
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  Speaker 1: At Moses's right hand, who divided the waters before them
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  Speaker 1: to gain for himself everlasting renown, who led them through
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  Speaker 1: the depths. Like a horse in open country, they did
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  Speaker 1: not stumble. Like cattle that go down to the plain,
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  Speaker 1: they were given rest. By whom? The Spirit of the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: This is how you guided your people to make for
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  Speaker 1: yourself a glorious name. So who led the children of
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  Speaker 1: Israel through the wilderness? The Holy Spirit. Who leads the
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  Speaker 1: children of God today? The Holy Spirit. Jesus gave us
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  Speaker 1: this assurance. When he, the spirit of truth, has come,
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  Speaker 1: he will do what, church? He will guide you. He
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  Speaker 1: will guide you into all truth. So we have what
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  Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit, I'm sorry, we have what the Hebrews had.
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  Speaker 1: We had the Holy Spirit to guide us. Yes, life
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  Speaker 1: is a journey of decisions. And yes, our decisions have consequences.
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  Speaker 1: But yes, yes, yes, God has provided us sage life.
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  Speaker 1: and wise and divine counsel. Please hear me. God did
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  Speaker 1: not save you and then abandon you. He saved you
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  Speaker 1: and then moved in. He is here to help you,
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  Speaker 1: to lead you, to show you where to turn, to
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  Speaker 1: show you when to stand still, to protect you from
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  Speaker 1: in front and behind. We have what the supernatural, we
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  Speaker 1: have the supernatural direction that the Why is it sometimes
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  Speaker 1: so hard to know which way to turn? How do
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  Speaker 1: we hear from God? How can we be led of
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  Speaker 1: the Spirit? There's the question. I've got a couple of answers.
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  Speaker 1: Number one, we've got to stop following a culture that
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  Speaker 1: doesn't follow God. We've got to stop following a culture
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  Speaker 1: that doesn't follow God. The Bible makes it clear that
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  Speaker 1: If we're listening to them, we won't hear him. This
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  Speaker 1: was the point the Apostle Paul made in Romans chapter
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  Speaker 1: 12 in verse 1. He said, don't copy the behavior
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  Speaker 1: and customs of this world, but let God transform you
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  Speaker 1: into a new person by changing the way you think.
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  Speaker 1: Then you will learn to know God's will for you.
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  Speaker 1: Which is good and pleasing and perfect. Boy, that paragraph
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  Speaker 1: is packed with promise, isn't it? First of all, God
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  Speaker 1: has a will for you that is good and pleasing
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  Speaker 1: and perfect. And you can learn to know God's will.
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  Speaker 1: And the way to learn to know God's will is what?
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  Speaker 1: by not copying the behavior and the customs of the world.
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  Speaker 1: We choose not to listen to them, them being society,
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  Speaker 1: and we choose to listen to him. Following them, following
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  Speaker 1: a crowd, can lead us into trouble. In fact, following
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  Speaker 1: the crowd can lead us off a steep cliff. At
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  Speaker 1: least that's what the Turkish shepherds determined. who watched their 1,500
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  Speaker 1: sheep jump over a cliff. 1,500 sheep. For some undetermined reason,
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  Speaker 1: a single sheep jumped over the edge. And then that
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  Speaker 1: one was followed by a second. And then a dozen.
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  Speaker 1: And then several dozen. Over the short period of time,
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  Speaker 1: the shepherds tried to stop the pandemonium, but they could not. 1,500
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  Speaker 1: sheep jumped over the edge. 450 were killed. The others
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  Speaker 1: would have died except they landed on the bodies of
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  Speaker 1: the first jumpers. Now, what were those sheep thinking? Or
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  Speaker 1: were they thinking? I'm thinking they weren't thinking. I'm thinking
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  Speaker 1: if they were thinking, they were thinking, well, duh. I
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  Speaker 1: don't know, Joe. What do you think? Oh, I don't know, Mo.
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  Speaker 1: Doesn't look like they're doing the right thing. I know.
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  Speaker 1: Doesn't look smart to jump over a cliff. Yeah, but
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  Speaker 1: there's so many of them. 200 sheep, 300 sheep, all
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  Speaker 1: those sheep can't be wrong, can they? Come on, let's go. Well, yes,
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  Speaker 1: they can be wrong. Yes, they can be wrong. They
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  Speaker 1: can be. Don't follow the sheep. If you want to
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  Speaker 1: soar like an eagle, don't hang out with dumb sheep.
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  Speaker 1: Don't listen to them. The first decision in learning to
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  Speaker 1: hear from God is not what should I do, but
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  Speaker 1: whom will I hear? I may have just said something wise,
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  Speaker 1: so I'm going to say it again. The first decision
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  Speaker 1: In learning to hear the voice of God, it's not saying,
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  Speaker 1: what should I do? But in determining who holds rank,
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  Speaker 1: who's the ultimate authority in your life? Is it them
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  Speaker 1: or is it him? If the answer is people, you're
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  Speaker 1: not going to discern God's direction. You're just not. If
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  Speaker 1: the answer is television personalities or sports celebrities or social
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  Speaker 1: media fly-by-nighters, you're not going to hear God's will. Add
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  Speaker 1: to that list horoscopes and palm readers and witchcraft. If
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  Speaker 1: you're following the stars, you're not going to follow the sun.
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  Speaker 1: I thought that was pretty profound. You didn't even.
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  Speaker 1: Stop following a culture that doesn't follow God and start
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  Speaker 1: listening for the Spirit who speaks on behalf of God.
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  Speaker 1: A wonderful thing happened to the children of Israel at
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  Speaker 1: a certain point when they were in the wilderness. The
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  Speaker 1: position of the fiery cloud, I'm sorry, the fire, The
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  Speaker 1: pillar of fire and the pillar of the cloud. Always
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  Speaker 1: get those little confused. The position of God's leading presence
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  Speaker 1: changed position and descended from the sky and came down
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  Speaker 1: into the presence of the people. You might recall that
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  Speaker 1: Moses and the children of Israel were given a command
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  Speaker 1: to build a tabernacle. The tabernacle was a portable temple,
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  Speaker 1: if you will. And upon the completion of the tabernacle,
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  Speaker 1: a wonderful thing happened. The presence of God descended from
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  Speaker 1: on high and entered the holy place. The scripture says,
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  Speaker 1: Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of the meeting and
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  Speaker 1: the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Had you
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  Speaker 1: and I been there in the wilderness witnessing this moment,
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  Speaker 1: watching the fire, watching the cloud, watching them intertwine and descend,
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  Speaker 1: watching them come down and inhabit the holy place, positioned
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  Speaker 1: between the cherubim and the seraphim on the mercy seat
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  Speaker 1: on the Ark of the Covenant, we would have... elbowed
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  Speaker 1: one another and pointed at the holy place and said,
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  Speaker 1: that's where God lives. That's where God lives. With that
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  Speaker 1: image in mind, would you please place your hand over
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  Speaker 1: your heart and repeat after me, this is where God lives.
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  Speaker 1: You see an unseen yet undeniable miracle occurred on the
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  Speaker 1: day you gave your heart to Christ. He gave his
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  Speaker 1: spirit to you. He may be intertwined like a cyclone
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  Speaker 1: from the sky. I don't know. But somehow he entered
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  Speaker 1: your presence. He entered your being. And he turned your
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  Speaker 1: body into a temple of the Holy Spirit. This was
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  Speaker 1: the opinion of the Apostle Paul. And the promise of Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus said, the spirit of truth lives with you and
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  Speaker 1: will be in you. Anyone who loves me will obey
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  Speaker 1: my teaching. My father will love them and we will
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  Speaker 1: come to them and make our home with them. Extraordinary,
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  Speaker 1: isn't it? That you have become the castle. You have
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  Speaker 1: become the holy dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. And
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  Speaker 1: the Apostle Paul echoed this when he asked the question
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  Speaker 1: of the Corinthian church. Don't you know that you yourselves
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  Speaker 1: are God's temple? And that God's spirit dwells in your midst?
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  Speaker 1: And so the being that led the children of Israel
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  Speaker 1: through the wilderness is the being that will lead you
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  Speaker 1: through this wilderness that we call life until we reach
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  Speaker 1: the promised land. But how does he guide us? Well,
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  Speaker 1: I'll close by sharing with you these two tools. There
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  Speaker 1: are two tools of the Spirit. One is the verse,
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  Speaker 1: and the other is the voice. The primary tool of
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  Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit is the verse, the Bible, the Bible.
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  Speaker 1: The Apostle Paul told us, take the helmet of salvation
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  Speaker 1: and the sword of the Spirit, which is what, church?
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  Speaker 1: The Word of God. The word of God. The reason
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  Speaker 1: that the devil doesn't want you to open the word
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  Speaker 1: of God is because this is the primary communication tool
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  Speaker 1: through which the Holy Spirit speaks to us. He communicates
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  Speaker 1: to us through scripture. God's will is found in God's word.
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  Speaker 1: Do you desire to know God's will for your life?
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  Speaker 1: Then open God's word. The psalmist said it this way.
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  Speaker 1: Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and
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  Speaker 1: a light for my path. So let God's word be
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  Speaker 1: your ultimate authority. Make it your go-to book for questions.
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  Speaker 1: Let it be the ultimate mandate on your life. I
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  Speaker 1: feel a special burden to say this to young people.
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  Speaker 1: Because you have a thousand and one people in the
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  Speaker 1: world telling you that they know what's best for you. Well,
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  Speaker 1: they don't. They don't. And just because they have a
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  Speaker 1: swagger or just because they have a presence on the internet,
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  Speaker 1: that doesn't mean they know the meaning of life. You
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  Speaker 1: have to decide who is going to have ultimate authority
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  Speaker 1: over my life. Those sheep going over the cliff or
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  Speaker 1: God who knows me and loves me. Those sheep will
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  Speaker 1: say to you that your value depends upon God. How
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  Speaker 1: pretty you are, how much money's in your pocket. The
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  Speaker 1: scripture will tell you, you matter because God made you
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  Speaker 1: and God knows you and God loves you. The crowd says, oh,
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  Speaker 1: just do what you want, want to do, it won't hurt.
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  Speaker 1: But scripture says, no, there is a way that seems
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  Speaker 1: right unto a person, but that way can lead to death.
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  Speaker 1: People will say, oh, there's no God there. If there
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  Speaker 1: is a God, he doesn't care about us. But the
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  Speaker 1: scripture says, oh no. For God so loved the world
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  Speaker 1: that he gave his one and only son. Take the
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  Speaker 1: sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.
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  Speaker 1: He speaks to us firsthand. through the verse. And have
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  Speaker 1: you not discovered how practically the Bible speaks to us? Yes,
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  Speaker 1: the Bible speaks to us on the big ideas of salvation,
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  Speaker 1: our destiny, our identity. Yes, it speaks to us about
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  Speaker 1: these major things. But how many of you can bear
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  Speaker 1: testimony to the fact that God's word has guided you
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  Speaker 1: just through some of the relatively small decisions of life?
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  Speaker 1: How to manage money, how to have a friendship, or
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  Speaker 1: what career path to take. I recall a particular instance
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  Speaker 1: in which I was so convinced, I became so convinced
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  Speaker 1: that the Bible has advice for even the smallest details
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  Speaker 1: of life. My family and I were living in Rio
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  Speaker 1: de Janeiro, Brazil. We had recently moved to South America.
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  Speaker 1: And we had discovered that since our income came from
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  Speaker 1: the United States, we were not legally required to pay
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  Speaker 1: Brazilian income tax or income tax to the Brazilian government. Well,
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  Speaker 1: we as missionaries kind of wrestled with that thought. Well,
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  Speaker 1: maybe we're not required to, but here we are using
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  Speaker 1: the roads and using the system, shouldn't we? Shouldn't we
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  Speaker 1: do something? We actually contacted a lawyer and had him
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  Speaker 1: come and weigh in on it. And he said, no,
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  Speaker 1: legally you're not required to, but ethically it's up to you.
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  Speaker 1: And so we each said, well, we'll each make our
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  Speaker 1: own decision. And I recall thinking, I wonder if the
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  Speaker 1: Bible has anything to say about this very unique question
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  Speaker 1: that I'm trying to, for which I'm trying to find
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  Speaker 1: an answer. So I pulled the concordance off my shelf.
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  Speaker 1: A concordance is one of those books, you know, that
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  Speaker 1: has a list of all the key words in the
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  Speaker 1: Bible and takes you to passages that discuss that. I
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  Speaker 1: looked under tax or taxes. I found, well, the Bible
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  Speaker 1: has quite a bit to say about taxes. And I
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  Speaker 1: came across this story that I think is one of
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  Speaker 1: the most amazing stories in the Bible. Now, if you've
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  Speaker 1: already heard it, don't tell anybody because I'm going to
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  Speaker 1: give you the punchline. Peter and the other apostles were
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  Speaker 1: talking with Jesus about whether it's right for them as
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  Speaker 1: Jews to pay taxes to the Roman government. And you
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  Speaker 1: know what Jesus said to them? Look at this. He
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  Speaker 1: told them they didn't have to, but we don't want
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  Speaker 1: to upset these tax collectors. So go to the lake
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  Speaker 1: and fish. After you catch the first fish, open its
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  Speaker 1: mouth and you will find a coin. Take that coin
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  Speaker 1: and give it to the tax collectors for you and me.
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  Speaker 1: Even Jesus paid taxes when he didn't have to. I
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  Speaker 1: got an answer to my question. I think I should
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  Speaker 1: pay taxes. So I went fishing. Not really. I already
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  Speaker 1: had the coin. I didn't have to go find the fish.
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  Speaker 1: But I got an answer. I'll show you that simple
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  Speaker 1: story just to say God has an answer for the
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  Speaker 1: questions you're wrestling with today. I double dog dare you
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  Speaker 1: to say, Lord, I'm confused about this. It's kind of
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: a small thing to others, but it's a big deal
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: to me. Does your word have anything to say about this?
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: And see what happens. You see, the first place to
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: go Is the verse. Then. Often times. God will affirm.
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: What you find in the verse. With what? A voice.
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: A voice. This could be the voice of someone you admire.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: Could be the voice of wise counsel. Could be the
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: voice of a friend. Could be the voice of a mentor.
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: It could be the voice of a. person you hear
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: preaching on television could be the voice you hear today
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: could even be the voice of nature God speaks through
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: the stars through the skies as a form of affirming
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: what's written here again this is where we go first
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: God will never never disagree with himself He will speak
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: it first through the verse. If he affirms it with
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: a voice, it will affirm what he has already said
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: through the verse. Does that make sense? Great examples of
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: this are found in the book of Acts. One of
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: my favorite has to do with the leaders in the
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: church in Antioch, and they were trying to decide whether
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: or not they should send out a couple of missionaries.
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: Here's what happened. They were all worshiping the Lord and
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: fasting for a certain time. And during this time, the
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit said to them, set apart for me Barnabas
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: and Saul to do a special work for which I
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: have chosen them. So after they fasted and prayed, they
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: laid their hands on Barnabas and Saul and sent them out.
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: Did you see that? The Holy Spirit spoke to them. Now,
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: how did he speak to them? Did they hear an
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: audible voice? I don't know. Did one of them speak
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: on behalf of the Holy Spirit to the others? I
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: don't know. Did God take the clouds and organize the
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: clouds in the form of letters that said Barnabas and Saul?
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 25:12
  Speaker 4: Quit asking me.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: I don't know. No, I don't know. I don't know.
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: But I do know the Holy Spirit spoke to them.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: The Holy Spirit led them. The Holy Spirit gave them
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: the voice. And this is what God does for us.
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: What I do know is that as we continue in
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: our relationship with the Holy Spirit, we learn to recognize
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: his voice. Here's the promise. The sheep recognize his voice.
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: We learn to recognize the voice of the good shepherd.
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: And God will speak to you in ways that you'll
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: begin to recognize. One of those is the voice of
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: your inner convictions. Because you will take God's scripture and
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: And it will intermingle with this new character that God
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: is creating. And you'll begin to sense this voice unknowing.
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: Can we call it that? A nudge? Just a sense of, wait,
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: this isn't right. I shouldn't be doing this. Or, that's
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: the better path. I know most people are going that way,
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: but I think I'm going to go this way. There's
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: a sense of, Just this is right. Am I making sense?
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: Can somebody nod if you know that inner voice? It's there.
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: It's kind of hard to put into words, but it's
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: that inner voice that sense. And if you don't sense
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: that inner voice, that's okay. Go to somebody and seek counsel.
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: Get direction. But until you have affirmation from the verse,
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: don't move. Well, once you have affirmation from the verse
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: and you want to make sure, then seek out a voice. Say, Lord,
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: am I hearing this correctly? Maybe that's when you go
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: get counsel. That's when you seek advice or that's when
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: you pray even more. Maybe you listen for that inner voice.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: But God loves you too much to leave you wandering
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: in the wilderness on your own. Our family has a
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: secret whistle. It's not going to be secret anymore. I'm
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: just about to tell you about it. Not very bright,
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: am I, honey? Now everybody's going to know our whistle.
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: But it's worked for decades, right? My daughter Sarah is here.
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: I mean, if we're in an airport or we're in
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: a grocery store or a shopping mall. Right? Do it, honey. See? See?
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: Usually she uses it because when we go shopping, I
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: find a chair and I sit down and she can't
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: see me. And when it's time to go, she'll go up,
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: I'll pop and off we go. You're having, I'm not
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: sure why I told that story except to say that
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: your heavenly father has his ways of communicating with you
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: as well. I'm really wanting you to know that you're
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: not in this on your own. I think that many
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: Christians think they are. Or if they think, well, he's
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: a puzzle, he's a mystery, and I've got to crack
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: the code to figure this out. If I was a
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: little bit smarter, if I was just as spiritual as so-and-so,
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: I might be able. No, no, no. Your heavenly Father
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: is doing 99% of it. Your Holy Spirit living within
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: you is going to help you. Just take a deep
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: breath and say, okay, Lord, I'm going to trust you.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: I'm going to lean on you to lead me. You know,
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: sometimes he leads us through nature. Sometimes we'll go out
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: and we'll look up in the stars and we'll just
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: sense him saying how much he loves us. Or we'll
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: go out on the beach and we'll see all those
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: specks of sand. We'll think about that passage in the
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: scripture where God says, my thoughts for you outnumber the
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: grains of sand. So just be open to him teaching you.
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: First he teaches you how, church? Through the verse. And
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: then oftentimes, but not always, but oftentimes he will affirm
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: that through the voice. The voice of wise counsel. The
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: voice of inner conviction. The voice of nature. But he
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: will lead you home. He will. The story is told
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: about a man who decided that he would leave Europe
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: and immigrate to To the United States. In hopes of
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: a better life for his family. This was back in
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: the days. of steamships. He didn't have much money. But
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: the plan was that he would scrape together every penny
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: that his family had and buy a ticket on a steamship.
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: And when he got to the United States, he would
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: find a job and then hopefully send for his family.
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: And so that's what he did. Since he spent all
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: his money on the ticket, he didn't have any money
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: for food. So he took a wheel of cheese and
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: a box of crackers and he subsisted for 12 days
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: in his tiny stateroom eating cheese and crackers. He would
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: often gaze longingly through the window at the people, the
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: passengers eating those luscious meals. And then he would go
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: back into his room and eat his crackers and cheese.
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: On the last day of the journey, looking up at
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: the Statue of Liberty, He was standing on the balcony
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: when a steward came up and stood next to him
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: and said, forgive me, but I've been wanting to ask
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: you a question. We've not seen you in the dining room.
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: And the man explained, the traveler explained, he said, well,
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: I don't have much money and what money I had,
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: I spent on a ticket and then just had enough
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: for crackers and cheese. And the steward said, oh, did
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: you not understand But the three meals a day were
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: included in your ticket. We saved you a spot at
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: the table, but you never came. Do you not understand,
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: dear child of God, that the guidance of God was
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: included in God's covenant with you? And he saved you
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: a spot at the table. You don't have to subsist
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: on crackers and cheese anymore. A new day awaits you.
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: Come to the table. Feast on the presence and the
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: promise of the Holy Spirit, your unfailing friend. Amen. Thank you, Lord,
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: for the promise of Scripture. Oh, how hungry we are
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: to receive it. We don't want to be like those
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: sheep who go over the edge. We want to be
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: like the children of our good Father who learn to
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: recognize your voice, knowing that you'll lead us home. Through
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: Christ we pray. Amen. And so now we're going to
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: have that time of prayer that I told you about.
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: And maybe you're going through a time of making decisions
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: and you've got some hard choices. If they're hard to you,
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: they're hard. No matter what anyone else says. Let's ask
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: the Heavenly Father if He would guide us in these decisions.
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: Would anyone like to come forward and stand here at
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: the front and receive a special prayer? regarding anything that
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: you're facing any choices that you're making why don't we
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: all stand up make it a little bit easier for
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: these folks to to step out we'll take a couple
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: of minutes for people to come forward and then i'll
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: come back and pray reminded that we're.
• 33:16
  Speaker 5: Coming into your presence, Lord.
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: We stand against the lie of the devil that says
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: we're all alone. The truth is we're never alone. We
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: may feel isolated or lonely or But today we stand
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: upon this promise that you are with us always to
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: the very end of the age. Oh, dear shepherd of
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: the flock, would you speak words of comfort over these,
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: your sheep? You know the need of every person before
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: any person prays. You know the teenager who feels lonely
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: in middle school. You know the high schooler who's feeling
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: the pressure of making good grades and getting a date
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: or finding friends. You know the young person who's trying
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: to decide what choice, what choice to accept or which
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: direction to go, to college or not to college, to
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: trade school perhaps, to this way or that way, to
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: stay at home or leave home. You know the young
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: adult who's trying to figure out what career path to make.
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: You know that special young man or woman who's wondering
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: if this is the person for marriage, if this is
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: the time for marriage. You know the person who's an
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: adult being offered an opportunity for a new job or
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: maybe they've lost their job. You know the marriage that's
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: in trouble. You know the parents who are struggling on
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: how to lead their children. We pray for them. You
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: know the parents who are needing to parent their parents,
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: wondering how to take care of their aging mother and
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: or father. And then, you know, the senior saints among us,
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: the choices that they're having to make. We never outlive choices, Father,
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: but you never leave us. And we just speak words
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: of wisdom, words of blessing, words of comfort. Lift the anxiety, Father.
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: Lift the anxiety. Lift the fear. Let us take a
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: deep breath. Let us receive the Holy Spirit. Let us
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: welcome the Holy Spirit who is here to lead us
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: and to guide us. Let us sleep well tonight. Father,
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: my prayer is that you would reveal to these individuals,
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: to your church, exactly what they need to know. Exactly
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: what they need to know. That you would just tell them.
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: But Heavenly Father, you may want them to wait a
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: little longer and to learn to trust you and help
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: us to not grow sour or anxious in the waiting.
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: So as I close this prayer, church, I'd like to
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: ask you to ask God the question. Just ask Him.
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: Ask Him for direction. First, submit yourself to Him. Say, Lord,
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: I'll do whatever you want. But say, Lord, here's my question.
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: And just ask Him. I'll be quiet for a minute
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: while you do. blessed, how blessed it is when God's
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: children come to him.
• 36:53
  Speaker 5: Thank you, Lord.
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you. He's going to answer this for you.
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: He's going to answer it. Somebody's in your mind, you're saying, yeah, right, Lucado. Listen,
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: he's going to answer you.
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: He is.
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: I know that because that's his heart. It's his heart.
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: He may not answer as quickly as you want and
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: It may not end the way you want. But then again,
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: He may answer sooner than you think and oftentimes better
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: than you think. What I'm trying to ask the Lord
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: to lift from you is the fear of the unknown.
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: The unknown is okay because God knows. God knows no unknown.
• 37:36
  Speaker 5: So just trust Him.
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: Let's just continue to worship now. We're going to sing
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: one final song. I'll come up and dismiss us. But
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: God bless you. God bless you. May you return to
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: your seats knowing that you've given this to the Lord.
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: You've asked Him for help. You've done your part. And
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: He will hear you. Okay? Just receive that. Go home
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: with a heart full of joy today.
• 38:14
  Speaker 4: You don't have to stay close. As long as you're
• 38:21
  Speaker 4: somewhere out there, that's enough for me.
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: I don't need to hold you near me.
• 38:34
  Speaker 2: Don't need promises to keep. Just the thought that you
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: are breathing somewhere in this world I see. Even if
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: I'm not beside you Even if you never know There's
• 38:51
  Speaker 2: a quiet kind of comfort Just in knowing you still glow.
• 38:58
  Speaker 4: I don't need forever I just need you to exist.
• 39:09
  Speaker 6: You don't have to stay with me You don't have
• 39:13
  Speaker 6: to feel the same.
• 39:16
  Speaker 2: Just as long as.
• 39:16
  Speaker 6: You're still out there.
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: Calling softly through my days You.
• 39:23
  Speaker 6: Don't have to look my way You don't have to
• 39:27
  Speaker 6: be in my home it's enough to know you're living
• 39:33
  Speaker 6: in a world i'm.
• 39:34
  Speaker 4: Not alone i.
• 39:39
  Speaker 2: Won't chase you through the distance won't disturb your chosen
• 39:44
  Speaker 2: life I'll just keep you in my silence like a
• 39:49
  Speaker 2: star that shines at night.
• 39:53
  Speaker 4: Through the dark and through the blue.
• 40:00
  Speaker 3: I still think of you. You don't have to be
• 40:09
  Speaker 3: my home.
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: It's enough to know.
• 40:12
  Speaker 6: You're living in a world I'm not alone.
• 40:46
  Speaker 7: I don't need to be your light I don't need
• 40:50
  Speaker 7: to cross your mind All I need is just the
• 40:54
  Speaker 7: truth That you're somewhere Still alive.
• 41:02
  Speaker 6: You don't have to stay with me You don't have
• 41:06
  Speaker 6: to feel the same Just as long as you're still
• 41:11
  Speaker 6: out there Calling softly through my days You don't have
• 41:16
  Speaker 6: to look my way You don't have to be my
• 41:21
  Speaker 6: home It's enough to.
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: Know you're living
• 41:28
  Speaker 4: In a world I'm not alone.