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The Power of God's Unconditional Love · Rick Manis Ministries Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so glad the Bible doesn't say that God so hated sin that he gave his only begotten Son, but it says that he so loved the world.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: His heart is about love.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: God is love.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what he's revealing.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not the only one that's that's preaching this week after week after week.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: God's Spirit is moving in his church, and he's about to change the planet and culminate the plan that he's had from before the foundation of the world.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Because the Lamb of God was slain from the foundation of the world.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: It was the God always had this planet plan or this planet purpose here.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: And uh we've been going over it a lot every time that I'm here that the plan was not only would he redeem us from our sins and remit our sins by the shedding of the blood of Jesus, but also Jesus would raise from the dead and he would defeat the power of death itself.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: And uh not only would he come back alive from the dead, but he would ascend to the Father.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: And he would give us Himself, His Spirit, the Holy Spirit.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: And uh Romans 5 says that that's the love of God that's poured out into our hearts.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: This is what God meant in the Old Testament when He said, when He talked about a new covenant that He would make with us one day.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: And he said, in this new covenant, he says, I'm not writing it on stone, I'm writing it on your heart.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm putting my ways in your heart, I'm putting my putting my very thoughts and my ways inside you.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: He would make a new creation that He would change us.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what we were talking about last week when we were talking about God's Superman, that we're a new creation.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: We're not mere, mere men, that we've been empowered with the power from on high.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: And uh there's a power that's that's in us, there's a power that's in the earth.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: And uh when God gave us that power, that power was enough, and it was more than enough, not only to take care of you, to empower you, to give you everything that you would need in this life, but it would be enough to change the world.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: That's why he's resting right now.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: That's why he's at rest.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's why he's seated in heavenly places.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Because the Holy Spirit is here, the love of God, the nature of God, the power of God.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: God himself is in planet earth right this very moment.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: And he's in the church this morning.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: And he's in you and me.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: And here we are.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: We are literally the world changers, and what we find out as we grow in this is that we're changing, not only do we change us, or actually not only do we change, but our houses start to change, our realm of influence changes, and there's millions upon millions, if not billions of us in the earth today, all over the planet, in the farthest corners of the earth, and the Spirit of God is alive in all of us, and he's doing something around the world, revealing the power of his character and nature and his love.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: And it's really a new and living way, and it's shattering a lot of things that we once thought it was about.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we once thought it was about, you know, keeping the rules.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: We once thought it was about trying to live just a moral life.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: But we found that it's more powerful than that.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to look at 2 Timothy 3 here because there's there's a verse here that talks about power.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe some of you are familiar with it, but it's in it's down there in verse um.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: I pulled up a different translation because I wanted to read it from the New Living Translation.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: So anyway, let's read it from uh from verse 1.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: It says, I'm reading New Living Translation, so the wordings are just a little bit more contemporary than King James would be.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: It says, You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: For people will love only themselves and their money.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: King James says, people will be lovers of themselves.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Other translation says, people will be they'll be selfish.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Notice it says lovers of themselves.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: Lovers of themselves.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: Then it goes on, verse 3, verse 1 says, They will be unloving and the unforgiving.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Are y'all following me?
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: They'll slander others and they won't have any self-control.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: They'll be cruel and they'll hate what is good.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: They'll betray their friends, they'll be reckless, they'll be puffed with pride, and they'll love.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: See that word love?
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: That word keeps coming up.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: They will love pleasure more than God.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: It starts out saying they'll love themselves.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Then it says they will be unloving toward others, and it says they will love pleasures more than more than love God.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 5 says, in King James it says having a form of godliness.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: But what?
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: Denying the power thereof.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I I used to always see this one way, and I think most people, or a lot of us, especially if we're if we're um charismatic, Pentecostal, spirit-filled, full gospel, believing in the gifts and the power of uh of the Holy Spirit, a lot of us we think it's only talking about that they're denying the ability of God to do miracles.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: That they don't, that they they think they think it's it's people that are, they have a form of godliness, but they reject the power and the giftings of the Holy Spirit, uh, such as healings and faith and miracles and those things listed.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: And while that would certainly be included in the power of the Holy Spirit, look at the context of what he's talking about here.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: He's not talking about people rejecting the gifts of the Spirit or the manifestations of tongues, interpretation, prophecy, healings, miracles, and those things.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: He's to context here, he's talking once again about the character and nature of God.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: He's talking about love here.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: And he says the that he says the what they're denying here, he says the power that that's being denied is the power of God's Spirit, God's character.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: Romans 5, 5 says that the love of God was poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit or in the Holy Spirit, and that's what empowers us.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: That Holy Spirit, remember, Jesus said that would be the power from on high, right?
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: He said, wait until Jerusalem, because that's when you'll receive the power from on high.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: And and we recognize that there was power, and they were they they spoke in tongues.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: They they did that they they prophesied, they prayed for the sick.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: Miracles happened.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: We know that that is definitely a part of that.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: But you know what, but you can have all those things according to 1 Corinthians 13.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Huh?
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: You can work miracles, you can have faith to move mountains, but you're really nothing if you deny the real power of this thing.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm telling you, the power that empowers us really is knowing God and knowing that love and having our hearts filled with that love.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll show you how that empowers you in your day-to-day life.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: And if not, then we're we're we're we're not living in a in the fullness of what God has given us.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: And we want everybody to live in that fullness.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: And and and and so what we'll do then, instead as Christians, we'll have some of the trappings of Christianity and do our best in that.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: But but denying the power will still be, he says, it goes on, I mean, it just talks about all these things, about being guilty, you'll feel guilty of sin in verse 6.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: It says they are the kind that work their way into the people's homes and they win the confidence of vulnerable women who are burdened with the guilt of sin and they're controlled by their desires.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: And it says they're always learning.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Christians that are always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: Always learning, but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: John the disciple saw the truth more clearly than anybody else that wrote, I believe, in the New Testament.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: He just cuts it all the way down to the core of God's heart, his very nature, his character, and says, This is God.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: God is love.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: And if it goes outside of that, I'm okay talking about love today, right?
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: There's hearts everywhere, so I'm not out of out of out of context here.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: And so we have that.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: And we want to show you the power of this thing.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: Now, go with me to um, I mean, this whole chapter, we could just go on and on.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: It talks about a counterfeit faith.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: Now, so what we want to we want to recognize is this, now this is not a message to point at you and say, well, you're just missing it, you're blowing it if you don't have what this is, we're we're talking about a love story here.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: We go to Romans chapter 5, and we'll see that he writes something to us about the power of this love.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: Now, let me give you some some some examples of this.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, first let me read, let me read Romans, let's read Romans chapter 5, and uh this will illustrate what I what I want to say here.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: In Romans chapter 5, verse 1, he says, Therefore we have been justified by faith.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody say peace.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: One of the big fruits of the Spirit we know is peace.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I don't know about you, but in my walk with God, my goodness, I got saved in April of 1979.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: And it's been in the most recent years of my Christianity where I have found how big peace is.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: How it's it's it's like peace is is everything.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: I have found peace with God.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I have found peace with man.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's an interesting thing that when you start to know the heart of God, you start to not only you start to see what he sees and how he sees, you start to love what he loves.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: No?
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you do.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: If you haven't found that out, you will.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: You start to love what he loves.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um I could I remember I I'm thinking of a few of my situations where I lost my peace.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: But let's let's read some more and see what else, what else is involved in this.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: By him, verse 2, we also have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody say grace.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: Isn't it amazing, grace?
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this is this these first few verses here, this is really our Valentine, so to speak, from God.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: This is his word to us, and it's talking about the beauty of his love for us.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: In this grace that we stand, and we rejoice in the hope and the glory of God.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody say rejoice.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: There's grace there.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: There's peace with God, there's rejoicing in God.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 3 says, and not only that, but we we glory in tribulations also.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: Even in when we hit bumps in life and we deal with things, we glory.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, Paul says, we're different.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: See, we're we do good in these things.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: We're the shining lights because we've been empowered with the love of God.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: We've been loved.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: We live loved.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: Every day that we live, every day that we wake up, we are unconditionally, absolutely loved by God who knows us most.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: Now just bear with me for this first half of this thing because I want to get into the meat of this love story between us and God.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: He says, He says, We glory in tribulations, also knowing that tribulation works patience.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: And patience works experience, and experience works hope, and hope makes us not ashamed.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Now that's a wonderful thing to live in.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: To never ever feel any shame in your life.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: This is what I'm talking about.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: When I found out how much God really loves me, for many years I said, yeah, God loves me, Jesus loves me, God loves you, I love you.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: We just love, love, love, love, love.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: But I didn't really know, I didn't really know the power of this love until I saw how pure his love really was and how unconditional it was.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: And my heart opened up and I received it, and it flooded my soul, and it took away all the shame for the first time in all of my life.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: I began to feel comfortable as Rick Manis in his own skin, totally unashamed, yet totally imperfect, and with very, very many flaws still and sins.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I felt totally unashamed.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: I felt so bold and so confident in God.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: And it changed how I dealt with other people.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: See, this is this whole love thing that he put into us.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: God's got a planet plan, and it and this thing will spread like contagious something when when when we know how much we're loved and we're full of that stuff, I'm telling you, this thing will heal the most broken heart.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: It will calm the most savage beast.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: Because it did it in here.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: And it and it and it took away all my shame and it gave me peace.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Now, let me give you some examples here of some things that have that have happened to me in my life.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: God, you know, has given me a lot of growing lessons.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: But um I can remember many years ago I was a in back in the 80s, I was an associate pastor of a church, and some people in the church didn't like me, didn't think I should be in that position, and you know, they pointed out some flaws of mine, and were going to the pastor, and the pastor kind of stood up for me, and so that wasn't good enough.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: So they started going around towards other people and started telling other people how horrible I was, and pretty soon it seemed like they were some of them were believing it.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, and I got my feelings hurt, and and I lost my joy, and I was the one, and in those days, I was the one that jumped the highest during the fast songs, and I cried the most during the slow songs, and just loved the Lord and and you know prayed the longest, and I was always that and I just came and I was always the one.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: I would dance when the music started, and I was just, I mean, I was just the happy, joyful guy, but now my feelings are hurt because of these things these people did, and to this day I'll tell you that it wasn't true what they were saying.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: They didn't know me, and they were wrong, and uh and and it seemed like nothing was being done about it.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: My pastor sort of defended me to them, but everything was going on and they were spreading this stuff, and I'd go to church and I don't have joy anymore.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: I'm standing there like this during the singing.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: I I can't feel God anymore.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I look over at these guys, this couple over here, that's doing all this stuff to me.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: They're clapping and singing, and during the worship, they're just crying and tears are coming down their face, and all I can think is you fakes and you phonies.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: There's no way God would be touching you the way you are.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: But I was the one that wasn't feeling God.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: I remember a time we had a guest speaker in our church and he operated in the gifts where he could, you know, he'd read your mail and tell you things about yourself, and he called them out, and I thought, good, finally, right in front of everybody, it's all gonna get laid out here.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: This is all gonna get straightened out because a man of God has come that can see.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: And he called them up there, and you know what he did?
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: He just told him how much God loves them and how blessed they are and how wonderful God thinks they are.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm just like, well, he's not a prophet.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: I thought he had the gift, but he doesn't.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: False prophet.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's like the Pharisees told Jesus.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: If he were really a prophet, he'd know what kind of woman this was.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: Just washing his feet.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: But he just treated her like she was awesome, you know.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: And that's how, but that's how God does.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I didn't know he was like that then.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: But that's how he is.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: He just always sends in Valentines, you know.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I wasn't getting one.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I was, but I wasn't breeding one.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: I wasn't, I had my hands folded, and I and I'm not feeling God, and I'm not hearing God, and I'm talking to God all the time and saying, God help me.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm miserable here.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: Do something about this.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: And it seemed like everything good is happening to them, and I and and I'm innocent.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just like, God, I'm not doing anything.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: They're hurting me here.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: They're attacking me, they're doing all these things.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: And and then finally a woman came up to me and spoke to me and said, The Lord told me to tell you that that um you've been under attack and persecution, and the only reason is just because all you want to do is just obey God and serve God with all of your heart, and that's the only reason you're being attacked.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought, yes, finally somebody can hear from God.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: She said, and the Lord says that He's not going to make it stop, that it's on it, it's only going to increase the more and more as you the longer you live.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what I needed to hear.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: So I thought, you know what?
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: I know better than this.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: I've been a big baby this whole time.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, long story short, I stood there and I forgave them.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: I let them go.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: I said, I made my choice that God loves me.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna love them no matter what, unconditionally.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: And when I sort of embraced them that way in my heart, and had no more requirements from them, a funny thing happened.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: Suddenly I could feel God.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit seemed to cover me and just blanket me, and the anointing just seemed to run all over me.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: I broke down crying.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: I was so, I felt so blessed, I felt so good, I felt so joyful, I felt so loved because that was the power.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: That was where the power was, and that was the power that was going to bring me back into peace.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: It was going to bring me back into joy, it was gonna bring me back into not having the shame of all these things being done, and said to me, the power was always gonna be the same thing.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: God loved me, and I had that same love to give.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: And when I embraced that love of God that way, it brought me into this place of power again.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I felt good and I felt strong, and I was empowered.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: Another time something else, something else happened, and another time where where it seemed like it seemed like people were hurting my feelings one after another.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: And that's that time I got away and I prayed because I'm a man of God, you know.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just gonna go to God.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, God, I said, I don't I don't mind being in ministry like this, but if you if you could just take the pe all the people out of away from me, I could I could be a good minister.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: It just wasn't for all the people.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so here's what I did.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: I said, God, I said, I just I've had it with people.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: I said, people are so ugly, they're so mean, they're so stupid, they they misunderstand everything.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: I said, I've had it with people.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: I said, but you, God, I love you.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, so and this was my plan.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: This is my plan.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: I said, God, I'm leaving, I'm going to the mountains.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna go and find me, find me some, make me some shed or find me a shack somewhere in the Rocky Mountains or pitch a tent.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: But I don't want to be around people anymore.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be just me and you, God, because me and you got this love thing going.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: Just me and you on the mountaintop forever and ever.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: Just me and you.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: The danger of reading your Bible a whole lot is that it gets stuck in there, and that stupid verse jumped right in front of my face.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: And he said, Well, if you don't love people, you don't love me.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, I don't know if that's right, God.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like I do love you.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's them I don't like.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: He says, that's not my love.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: What you have is a sophisticated form of selfishness.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not happy.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: Look at look how angry I am, look how hurt I am, look how sad I am.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, God.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: I love him.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna love.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: I want to forget.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: And then something funny started happening.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: I started getting happy again.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: I started feeling free.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: Suddenly the things didn't seem so bad.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: What happened?
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: I was empowered.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: What did it?
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: Love.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: Are y'all seeing this?
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: I remember having fights with my wife.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: And y'all can guess how it is.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: Every time there's I had a fight with my wife, I was always right, of course.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: And you're right.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: You're convinced you're right.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: But how come you're not happy?
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: How come you feel so sad?
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: How come you feel so bad?
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: How come you feel so frustrated?
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: How come you feel so angry?
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm right.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: And it never changes until I, okay, I'm just gonna love unconditionally.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: None of that stuff matters.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: Love is what matters.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: And then power starts happening.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: Then I start getting happy and strong and big again, and I feel like I can overcome anything again.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's the power that he says.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: And when he talked about those people there in that other verse we were reading, he says they're this way.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: Read that whole thing.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: He says they're heady, they're high, mind, all these things.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: They seem like horrible things.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: But the whole problem is, it's not that they just have personality disorders.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: The problem is they don't know the love of God.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: Because the love of God is your power, it takes care of all of that stuff.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: People don't know, people that meet me now, they think I was born a happy guy, a nice guy.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: Some of them think I was born with this revelation of love.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my goodness, I wish they could see the whole movie.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: If anybody has ever lived two totally opposite lives, it's me.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: If anybody has ever lived with two totally opposite personalities, it's me.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: Thank God, mostly it's not at the same time.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: Most of them, one personality was back then, and the other personality is now.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: Once in a while.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: I can get over that, but I know the answer.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: When I get back into power, it's back into this love thing.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: This is where it's at.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: There's nothing more powerful.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's the more perfect thing.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: Are you hearing me this morning?
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: I've had, you know, the same thing.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: I had the same thing in ministry.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: I've told some of these stories before, but but there again, people, people that I trusted, you know, I'd make them my associate pastors or put them on stab or somewhere, and then they would betray me and stab me in the back and do things.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: Some one of them would get enough following where he'd take some people and go start another church, and that would make me mad and break my heart.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: And some of them would try to control me, and I'm just feeling so yucky and so just, and I'm praying because I'm a godly man.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: I just go to God and my swords and I'm like, God, fix this, take care of this, and I'd pray against, pray against the principalities and powers that are making me feel like this and doing all this stuff to me and my wife and my church and all that.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: And no matter how much I fought Jezebel and Python and all those principalities and powers, I never got free until I just went ahead and just loved them.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: Because until I do that, I'm denying the power, and that's where it's at.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: See, and I can go example after example, but all this stuff started, all these things that we deal with.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: The reason we needed this power was because way back in the garden, we wanted, we went after that knowledge of good and evil.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: And it was the way that seemed right.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: Went after that right and wrong thing.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: And he said, But don't eat of that tree because if you do, it'll kill you, it'll destroy you.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: You'll start living with that curse thing going on.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, we talk about it all the time, but look at it.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_00: Let's look at it in it with a little bit of a brighter light this morning.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: It says in verse 5, and hope makes us not ashamed.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: Hope makes us not ashamed.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: Hope makes us not ashamed.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: Say, not ashamed.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: This is what I'm talking about here.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: Now watch.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: Why are we not ashamed?
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: Because the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, which has been given unto us.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: For even when we were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly without strength.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: Don't ever think, I don't know, how is it that this this Jesus who loved us so much that he died for us, took our place while we were yet ungodly, while we were sinners, while we were enemies of God, while our thoughts were on evil continually?
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: How is it that we thought that this Jesus who would love us that much, once we accept him, now he doesn't love us so much, and he gets mad and angry and demanding?
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's always the same.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: That same Valentine that came on the cross is still speaking to you today, and it has not changed, and he hasn't changed his mind.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: No matter what you did, no matter what you ever did that you might have been ashamed of, he never ever changed it.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: In the Garden of Eden, this shame thing, this is what we see first, right?
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: We talk about this a lot.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_00: But we ate of that tree.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: And before we did, we were, the last verse in chapter 2 of Genesis says we were, man, the man and the woman were naked and not ashamed.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: They came together.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: God took the woman out of out of the man.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: He found finally his real counterpart after he looked at all the animals and couldn't, there was not a mate found suitable, and he found the woman.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_00: He said, This woman is my kind.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: This woman is, this person, this one is just like me.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_00: It is my counterpart.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: Shall the man leave the father and mother and cleave unto his wife, and there'll be one body, one flesh, one person.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: That happens.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: It says, and they were the man and the woman were naked and not ashamed.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: Then they eat of that tree.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: They're still naked.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: But the first thing that happens is now they're ashamed.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: Now think of this.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_00: And God says, they hear God in the cool of the day, and God calls to them and He says, Adam, where are you?
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: And Adam says, I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: I covered myself.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of, when I heard your voice, instead of coming out into light of who you were, I covered myself because I was ashamed.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_00: We had never felt that before.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_00: He said, Who told you you were naked?
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_00: Did you eat of that tree?
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: Because I've known you were naked the whole time, but I never said anything about it.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: How come they were, how come, now let's think about this.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever this nakedness implies, whatever it means, it's very obvious that there was something about them that they saw, after having this knowledge of good and evil, they saw it as evil, as bad, as not good.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: It was how they were.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: And they were ashamed of their condition.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: And they on themselves tried to fix their condition, and though they covered themselves with fig leaves, it did not cure their shame.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's the their mindset now, their knowledge of good and evil that they have.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: And no matter how many fig leaves you cover yourself with, no matter how much religion you put yourself on, no matter how much doing good that you have, no matter how much of anything that you do, you always have this until you know this love of God that comes to you by the Spirit of God, and you know this love.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: God is love and God loves you.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: And God, here's the difference.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: Why were they not ashamed before?
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: Because God loved them before they ate of that tree.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: Before they ate of that tree, and after they ate of that tree.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_00: Now look at this.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: They were, they said, we were naked, so we were ashamed.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: I was talking to somebody last night, and he was talking about somebody who was this uh this man that was really talking about how much he loved Jesus.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so he invited him to church.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: He said, Oh, come to our church.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_00: You love it.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_00: He said, I can't go to church.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: I said, Well, why not?
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: He says, um He says, Because I'm gay, I can't go there.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought of that, I thought of this story, this thing, and I thought, what if now think of this, think of this, because we had a lot of struggles and issues with what's right and what's wrong.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_00: And remember that before we fell in the Garden of Eden, there was no law.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: That law came later on, to which simply amplified the fall, it amplified the knowledge of good and evil.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: So if we get back to love, if we get back to God, if we get back to relationship, then let's get back to the Garden of Eden.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: And there was something about Adam that said, I can't come out.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: Because you're naked.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: It could have been anything.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: What if he would have said, Well, I was gay, so I hid myself?
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_00: What if he said, Well, she would say, Eve says, Well, I had an abortion, so I'm ashamed.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_00: What if somebody said, Well, I can't stop my pornography and all that involved in that, and I'm ashamed.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_00: I can't come out.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_00: God says, Adam, I knew you were that way before you ate of that tree.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_00: It didn't matter to me.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: I loved you.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_00: Please get this.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_00: I love you.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm ashamed.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_00: You couldn't love me like this.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: He said, but I did.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: Are you hearing me?
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_00: But I have this temper and I just do these horrible things, and I feel so ashamed.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_00: I can't I can't walk with you.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_00: I can't preach.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: I can't get up there and sing after how I act.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_00: God says, Who told you that?
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_00: I knew how you were.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_00: Are you hearing me?
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: We're talking about love here.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this sometimes makes your mind go tilt.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_00: Because people think that you're saying if you talk like that, then what you'll have is a church full of people living with all kinds of ungodliness.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_00: You got that anyway, you just don't know it.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_00: What we've had before in church life is we've had people that have made the outside of the cup clean.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_00: Huh?
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_00: But all you've got to do is test them in a love situation or a lack thereof.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_00: Huh?
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_00: And find out what he said there in Revelation 3.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_00: He said, You say that you've got it all going on.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: He says, You don't even know.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_00: The shame of your nakedness appears.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to, God sent us his love, himself.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_00: And his purpose was to bring us home.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: Because he loves you.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_00: And he wants you to know this morning that you have nothing to be ashamed of.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_00: He knows your frame, he knows you're but dust, and he loves you unconditionally.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're afraid that that's going to cause ungodliness, take it from me.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_00: That love is the only thing that has the power to cure ungodliness.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: Are you hearing me?
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_00: If you want peace, if you want power in life, if you want confidence and faith and boldness, our message to you is happy Valentine's Day.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_00: God loves you unconditionally.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_00: Happy Valentine's Day.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_00: See all these are?
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_00: There's nothing on here that says only when you're good, only when you're nice, only if you do this for me, only if you do that.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_00: God's love to you is period.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's unconditional, no requirements, no qualifications.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_00: You will never ever be loved more than you are now.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_00: I don't care how much good you do, I don't care how much money you give, I don't care what.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_00: God will never love you more.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_00: He can't love you more because he loves you completely and totally and unconditionally, and that is the empowerment of your lives.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: That is what causes you to live free.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_00: See, the re the reason people people sin, the reason people do all these things is simply that they're not free.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_00: They're just bound to things.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: They're hurting, they're they're they're confused, they're selfish, they've got all these things, they're all wrapped up in darkness and all kinds of things.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_00: They don't know the light of God's love.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_00: Are y'all here?
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: And this is our empowerment.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_00: This is what we have.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_00: See, and what God's doing in the planet here is He's we're here on these Sunday mornings.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_00: And and it's not just here, take it from me.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_00: Listen, lift up your ears and listen.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_00: Pay attention to what some people are starting to say out there.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_00: God's one spirit has one spirit that's moving in the land, in the hearts of the people, and he's liberating us with the knowledge of his glory, the knowledge of his love.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_00: And what he's doing is while we're sitting here, we're hearing these words, and when we go out and we live our lives, what we're finding out is we're finding such liberty and such peace and such strength and such power and such joy in our lives, and it makes us big enough, big enough to finally help somebody next to us.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of needing them to do something for us all the time, instead of needing them to treat us a certain way, man, we throw that crap down.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_00: We're the ones, we don't need anything from them.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_00: All we what we're here for is to love.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_00: We're here to bless.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_00: We've already been blessed with everything we ever need from God.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_00: We're loved forever.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_00: You are settled forever and ever.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna live forever.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna outlast any of these things.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_00: We have tribulations, shoot.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_00: We glory in tribulations.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_00: We're absolutely loved.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_00: And we walk through it in that love and in that empowerment.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_00: When you don't know your love, tribulations scare you.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_00: When you don't know your love, tribulations bum you out.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_00: They make you sad.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_00: You get depressed.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to know this morning that God loves you unconditionally.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_00: And if you can know that this morning, this is the power.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_00: This is the power that will change everything within you, about you, around you.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_00: And as the church is seeing this, here's why I'm so excited.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_00: Because this is the thing that can change the world.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think it's going to be Trump or Cruz or Bernie or any of them.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's going to change the world in the right way.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_00: But Jesus is the real King of Kings.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_00: And he loves the world.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_00: And he's not just ambivalent sitting in his heaven, he's breathing and moving and talking.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_00: Would you all stand up?
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the Bible talks about worshiping the Lord in the in the beauty of holiness.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_00: The beauty of holiness.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_00: What is really holy?
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_00: What is really perfect?
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's God's love.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not perfect, you're not perfect.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_00: God's love is the one thing that's perfect.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_00: That's why he's not, one reason he's not demanding of you.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_00: Psalms 103.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_00: Psalms 103 says, He knows our frame.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_00: He knows that we're but dust.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_00: Therefore, he will not deal with us according to our iniquities, nor punish us according to our sins.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_00: That was a prophetic scripture of what kind of love he would love us with in coming to the earth and taking our place.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_00: See, in Romans it goes on to say this: for when we were yet without strength, Christ died for the ungodly.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_00: That was me.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_00: When I was ungodly, he loved me.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_00: As I'm a new creation, he still loves me.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_00: When I was naked, he loved me.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_00: As I'm still naked, by that I mean weak, vulnerable, flawed.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_00: He still loves me.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_00: Rick Manus found out a number of years ago that he is and will always be loved.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_00: It changed my life.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_00: It set me free.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_00: Because now I've got love to give.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_00: Before that, I was ashamed.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_00: And you know what I would do in my shame?
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_00: I would try to make me look better.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_00: I would try to convince people that I was right about certain things.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_00: I would try to make me look better.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_00: I would.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted my my church to grow because I thought it would make me look better.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted more people to believe in me and follow me because it would make me feel better about me.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_00: I was real happy when the gifts would operate real strong in the church, not only because it blessed people and all the good things, but it made me feel better about me too.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_00: It made me feel better if I could get compliments from people, if I could get pats on the back, if I could get people to say good things about me, it made me feel better about me.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_00: I can honestly tell you.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus made me feel better about me.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_00: And because I have that, I honestly don't need the others.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_00: And by and and and you can enjoy that, but what it means is that now I'm free.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of having to use you to bless me, now I'm big enough and I'm free enough to where I can be a blessing.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you don't understand me, now if you don't underlike me, it's okay because I like you.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't believe in me, it's fine.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_00: I get it, I'm flawed.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_00: But I believe in you.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_00: Because the love of God is the power that makes us big enough to do that.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I understand the world.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_00: The world's hurting, the world's got all kinds of dysfunctions going on.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_00: No wonder if somebody wants to come and holler in my face, no wonder they're like that, you know?
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's a hard world out there, but in him there's peace.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_00: I don't get upset about it.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's not because I'm got this great personality, I'm loved.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_00: Are y'all hearing what I'm saying?
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_00: There's something about knowing that Jesus says, I love you.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_00: The Father was speaking that to the Son all the time in the Gospels.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Jesus, you've got a devil.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you might do miracles, but you're doing it because you're in you're in you're in union with with Beelzebub, and you're doing it by by his power.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_00: Blind man, you you know, you might have come alive, but don't, but it wasn't Jesus that did it.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_00: We know he's a sinner.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_00: Just say that God did it.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_00: Don't say that Jesus had anything to do with it.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_00: Mary, who birthed this child through the Immaculate Conception, knows that he's a miracle child, born without natural father, called the Son of God, even her, when she heard some of the things he was doing, they her and her sons went to come and get him because they thought he was crazy.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_00: And all these things are being said against him.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_00: The religious leaders of the day, all the big names in the church, were all coming to him and saying, You are wrong, it is blasphemy, you are in error.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_00: You're of the devil, you you have a devil, you need it cast out of you.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, There's one that bears witness of me.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_00: He loves me.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_00: There's one that has something to say about me.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus operated out of fullness.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_00: Fullness.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_00: Because I'm full.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_00: Full of what?
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_00: Full of daddy's love.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_00: Y'all doing all right?
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_00: Happy Valentine's Day.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_00: Whether you know it or not, from this point on throughout all eternity, you are going to be loved.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_00: And my preaching is so that you know it.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_00: I just want you to know it because it's when you know it that it empowers you.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_00: I can just I cannot imagine myself having another sad day.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's hard for me to conceive of that because I'm so full, I'm so loved.
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_00: I don't doubt that I might face hard things.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm dealing with stuff right now.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_00: We all are.
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_00: But the antidote is the love.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_00: Happy Valentine's Day.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you heard a Valentine's Day card.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you heard a love letter today.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_00: Because scarcely for a righteous man would somebody die, yet even for a good man, some might die.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_00: But God showed his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, he died for us.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_00: Much more than that, now we are justified by his blood and saved from anger through him.
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_00: For remember when we were enemies, yet we've been reconciled to God by the death of his son.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_00: And much more being reconciled, we are saved by his life.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_00: And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, because in him we've received the atonement.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody doing all right?
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_00: You feel loved?
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_00: Has she had it put in already or is she she's going to have to go?
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_01: And then Kelly Stegentin's having her surgery on the 23rds.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this ex this expectation here.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_00: Hope actually means, look it up, it means expectation or confidence.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I found out Galatians 5, 6 says, faith works by love.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_00: Not by your ability to muster up love.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_00: Faith works because God loves us.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_00: And there's something about when you know God loves you, you can ask Him for stuff.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's what Jesus said.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_00: The Father loves the Son, therefore, what the Son asks, He does.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_00: And you can expect.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_00: And Father, we thank you for showing your love in these situations.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_00: We thank you, Father, for guiding all the process in the hands, for making it all really well.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_00: And let there be joy, rejoicing, and thanksgiving as you work in healing these people.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_00: Father, I pray for everyone here right now that let there be decisions to embrace your love today.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_00: Let there be decisions for freedom today.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_00: Let there be decisions to be empowered by that love today.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_00: Let there be decisions in the hearts that while I was speaking, people thought of certain things where this would apply.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_00: Let the decisions be made so that everybody rejoices today.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_00: So that everyone has peace.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_00: And that none of us will ever have to be ashamed again.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_00: I give you praise in Jesus' name.