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Take Communion with me. · The Bread of Life with JJ

0:27
SPEAKER_00: Welcome everyone.
0:28
SPEAKER_00: Welcome back.
0:30
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
0:31
SPEAKER_00: Another, another time spent together.
0:34
SPEAKER_00: I appreciate that.
0:35
SPEAKER_00: That intimacy.
0:36
SPEAKER_00: We're listening to the bread of life with JJ.
0:40
SPEAKER_00: I do again hope and pray that this message fills your temple with satisfaction.
0:47
SPEAKER_00: The Lord has led me today to prepare for you this bread.
0:52
SPEAKER_00: And this bread that we're going to be preparing for you is the one that's been broken, broken for you.
0:57
SPEAKER_00: And that is our communion.
1:00
SPEAKER_00: We are going to commune today.
1:03
SPEAKER_00: But before we get into that, we're going to get into the word devotional.
1:08
SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to read some scriptures to you and to see how that plays out in your life and how that relates to you.
1:16
SPEAKER_00: And what you're going to do with the solutions towards that.
1:20
SPEAKER_00: Because of this communion time that we're going to spend together, it's important to know the reasons behind it and why.
1:30
SPEAKER_00: The living water that we're going to partake in is going to be amazing, right?
1:36
SPEAKER_00: Because it truly pinpoints back to the one who provided it in the first place.
1:42
SPEAKER_00: The lasting water, and that is Jesus Christ.
1:45
SPEAKER_00: Because I know once I drink, and once we drink from that well and eat the bread of life that he provides, we will never thirst or hunger anymore.
1:52
SPEAKER_00: We will be filled beyond our imagination for his glory.
1:57
SPEAKER_00: For his glory.
1:59
SPEAKER_00: And as I said before, it's about faith, right?
2:02
SPEAKER_00: The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
2:05
SPEAKER_00: Remember, it's about faith in God, as I said, faith in God.
2:08
SPEAKER_00: Faith comes by hearing and reading the true word of God.
2:13
SPEAKER_00: The just shall live by faith, as the word says.
2:19
SPEAKER_00: And also, no, that growth, when we're in this word and this walk of life, this crucible of life, growth takes time.
2:29
SPEAKER_00: It cannot be rushed, as I've heard others people say as well.
2:32
SPEAKER_00: And this pastor was saying, growth takes time, which is true.
2:36
SPEAKER_00: Transformation takes time.
2:38
SPEAKER_00: And that's very important to God, the formation.
2:43
SPEAKER_00: How we treat people under pressure, and how we live this life and how we surrender to God and wait is what matters, and that's through faith.
2:52
SPEAKER_00: Please believe that.
2:55
SPEAKER_00: So please bow your heads with me if you can.
2:57
SPEAKER_00: If not, just listen to the prayer and the word and let's get going to what we're going to talk about today.
3:02
SPEAKER_00: And the explanation of communion and the daily word.
3:07
SPEAKER_00: So, Heavenly Father, thank you for this moment.
3:09
SPEAKER_00: I thank you for those listening, those tuning in.
3:12
SPEAKER_00: Bless their souls.
3:13
SPEAKER_00: I pray for them in all whatever they may be going through.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
3:17
SPEAKER_00: But I pray for them, Lord.
3:19
SPEAKER_00: Thank you that they are growing into the things of you and they want to know more.
3:23
SPEAKER_00: And I pray that my heart is open and receptive.
3:26
SPEAKER_00: My ears are listening and in tune to the right frequency of you, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Father, Jesus, God, my Father, Yahweh.
3:34
SPEAKER_00: I pray, Lord, that I'm listening to you and that you speak to me so I can speak to others for your glory.
3:40
SPEAKER_00: I pray those are listening that their heart is open and minded receptive.
3:44
SPEAKER_00: Their mind, their heart, their ears, everything for you.
3:51
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
3:53
SPEAKER_00: Jesus' name.
3:54
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
3:55
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
3:56
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
3:58
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
3:59
SPEAKER_00: It was really interesting how I was looking up the word communion.
4:05
SPEAKER_00: And I like I love the definition.
4:07
SPEAKER_00: Um, it is a Christian sacrament, consecrated bread and wine.
4:13
SPEAKER_00: But that's what Jesus had at that time.
4:15
SPEAKER_00: But I I like drinking the Jesus juice.
4:17
SPEAKER_00: The Jesus juice is like the grape juice.
4:20
SPEAKER_00: That's the best.
4:22
SPEAKER_00: That's what I call it.
4:24
SPEAKER_00: Like, can I have some Jesus juice?
4:25
SPEAKER_00: And then it's the best, right?
4:27
SPEAKER_00: But I know his is even greater, even better.
4:30
SPEAKER_00: But it it's wine that we or the juice that's consumed.
4:37
SPEAKER_00: So we can have the memory of Christ and his death, and what the symbolization of that is.
4:42
SPEAKER_00: It's a spiritual union between Christ and those taking that, partaking in that as a body and the blood of Christ.
4:50
SPEAKER_00: It's the practice of eating the bread or juice and remembering the sacrifice of Jesus and forgiveness of our sins.
4:58
SPEAKER_00: Communion comes from the Greek word, means to give thanks.
5:03
SPEAKER_00: Which makes sense because in communion we give thanks for what Jesus has done and what he continues to do, but what he did for us on the cross.
5:12
SPEAKER_00: It's a symbolization of Jesus' body and the blood that was given for us.
5:17
SPEAKER_00: We have to remember the sacrifice that he died for our sins on the cross.
5:24
SPEAKER_00: It also is a Latin root word of communion, which means or communum, which is interesting, but it means fellowship, mutual participation or sharing.
5:36
SPEAKER_00: It's a beautiful thing to all these things that we're going to be talking about today, especially in the word.
5:42
SPEAKER_00: Again, as I said before, it it correlates and it relates, right?
5:45
SPEAKER_00: It goes with what our lives should be about, what is required, what the importance of representing Christ means and how we live, and like honestly, like what we see in this world today and how we navigate through.
5:59
SPEAKER_00: He has to be the one as our captain, that that compass that we follow.
6:04
SPEAKER_00: His word is.
6:27
SPEAKER_00: Jeremiah 13, 16 says, Give glory to the Lord your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble.
6:37
SPEAKER_00: Oppose the advancing forces of evil and the devil's subtle schemes by proclaiming in song and prayer who God is.
6:47
SPEAKER_00: He is the Almighty, the Creator, a faithful God who keeps his word.
6:54
SPEAKER_00: He is all-loving, all-knowing, all-loving, all-knowing.
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SPEAKER_00: Proclaiming God's nature glorifies him in an age where there is growing darkness, when the name of the Lord Jesus is increasingly dishonored.
7:14
SPEAKER_00: You will find that not only are your feet kept from stumbling, but that the light will penetrate the darkness in and about you.
7:29
unknown: Think about that.
7:35
SPEAKER_00: Very true.
7:38
SPEAKER_00: Very true.
7:42
SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about patience too and how we develop that.
7:47
SPEAKER_00: Growth.
7:48
SPEAKER_00: Growth.
7:49
SPEAKER_00: As I said earlier about growth.
7:52
SPEAKER_00: Growth really comes easily, yet we can celebrate the good that God will bring from our struggles.
7:58
SPEAKER_00: And that's in the book of James, James 1.
8:02
SPEAKER_00: So let me ask you: do you ever wish you were more patient?
8:08
SPEAKER_00: Well, most of us would say, yeah.
8:10
SPEAKER_00: But how do we acquire a calm, gentle heart?
8:15
SPEAKER_00: What can we do to help strengthen this attribute over time?
8:20
SPEAKER_00: Well, let's start by thinking of patience as a muscle that has to be used in order to become stronger.
8:27
SPEAKER_00: And toward that end, believers should recognize difficulty as an opportunity to develop their patience.
8:34
SPEAKER_00: The human instinct is to cry out to God into bewilderment when tribulation comes.
8:41
SPEAKER_00: We blame, we resist, we complain.
8:46
SPEAKER_00: But what we should do instead is say, thank you, Father.
8:51
SPEAKER_00: It's time to grow in patience.
8:53
SPEAKER_00: See, that's like the most perfected way of being in this life.
8:58
SPEAKER_00: And I thank God that what I go through, He allows me to see the frailty in myself and where I need to grow in.
9:08
SPEAKER_00: But he does never, he never gives up on me.
9:10
SPEAKER_00: And I see that throughout the things in my life that cause these situations to take flight, so to speak, right?
9:18
SPEAKER_00: What, like the patience, the things that I need in growth and maturity.
9:23
SPEAKER_00: And he'll allow circumstances to play out.
9:27
SPEAKER_00: Because that's what matters to him the most, is my character and my growth.
9:32
SPEAKER_00: Have that closeness and intimacy is the only reason why, because of like we will do later, communion, because of what Jesus did.
9:38
SPEAKER_00: We have that connection now, intimacy.
9:41
SPEAKER_00: And now God is using things for growth, for me to be everything that he wants me to be, created me to be.
9:47
SPEAKER_00: It's a beautiful thing, madam, for all of us.
9:51
SPEAKER_00: James tells us to consider trials as joy.
9:55
SPEAKER_00: But we often fail at this.
9:58
SPEAKER_00: We do.
9:59
SPEAKER_00: Humanly speaking, praising the Lord for tribulation feels unnatural.
10:02
SPEAKER_00: However, doing so begins to make sense to believers when they cling to God's promise that good comes from hardship.
10:12
SPEAKER_00: And you can see about that in scripture from Romans 8.28.
10:18
SPEAKER_00: We are not waiting on the Lord in vain.
10:22
SPEAKER_00: We can praise him for the solution he will bring, the lives he will change, or the spiritual fruit he will develop in us.
10:30
SPEAKER_00: That's what you want.
10:32
SPEAKER_00: Spiritual fruit.
10:34
SPEAKER_00: Meaning, think of yourself as a believer, as a tree of life.
10:39
SPEAKER_00: Healthy branches.
10:42
SPEAKER_00: Healthy branches.
10:43
SPEAKER_00: And you have fruit that's going to grow off these branches.
10:45
SPEAKER_00: And the fruits are the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.
10:55
SPEAKER_00: So think about that fruit of patience, man.
10:57
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
10:57
SPEAKER_00: So I think that branch needs to be clean and pruned at times, and things need to be tended to and cultivated in the ground and whatnot for the foundation and for it to grow better and more and more and produce more fruit.
11:10
SPEAKER_00: If it does not produce fruit, though, guess what?
11:12
SPEAKER_00: It will be casted and take it down, right?
11:14
SPEAKER_00: You have to cut things if they're dying, and they have to go away.
11:21
SPEAKER_00: Go away means maybe even fire, because fire will definitely test it and burn it up.
11:26
SPEAKER_00: The Lord wants us to have good fruit, not rotten.
11:32
SPEAKER_00: Remember that?
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SPEAKER_00: So accepting hardship as a means of growth is a radical concept, but God's followers have cause to rejoice.
11:41
SPEAKER_00: Tribulation increases our patience so that we can stand firm on his promises and await his good timing.
11:52
SPEAKER_00: His good timing.
11:54
SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes we want it our time.
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SPEAKER_00: Right now, it needs to happen.
11:58
SPEAKER_00: Can't do that.
12:01
SPEAKER_00: Can't do that.
12:03
SPEAKER_00: Gotta have patience, but you also gotta have a great habit.
12:07
SPEAKER_00: A habit.
12:09
SPEAKER_00: And the simple habits, if you develop them over time, will bring more joy into your life.
12:15
SPEAKER_00: If you think about that.
12:17
SPEAKER_00: The book of Psalms, Psalm 63, 1.8, will say that.
12:21
SPEAKER_00: And when I when I read these scriptures, not because we're gonna go over scriptures I talked about earlier.
12:25
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna talk about, I'm gonna read through James 5, I'm gonna talk about 2 Timothy 4 or 2 Timothy 3.
12:30
SPEAKER_00: We'll do communion with 1 Corinthians 11.
12:33
SPEAKER_00: But when I say these other scriptures that I'm reading out to you as I read these daily words or devotionals to you, I want you to know that like you need to look those up yourself.
12:42
SPEAKER_00: These are things that are not only homework, but what they do is like they activate the relationship pattern that you need to set with the Lord in that frequency of life and your mindset.
12:52
SPEAKER_00: That helps you renew your mind, mind you.
12:55
SPEAKER_00: When you look up things, the word especially, especially, you know, the phone's one thing, but hey, if you get a Bible and literally open that up and get through the scriptures and look for them, because they do have an index, you can find where each scripture or each book is, 66 books.
13:14
SPEAKER_00: So if you do that, I'm telling you, you start to get that mindset and develop that relationship that the Lord wants to speak to you because you are literally taking the time and respect to say, I love you and I want to know more about you.
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SPEAKER_00: And I need to know how these words hit my heart and how it's gonna make me a better person.
13:31
SPEAKER_00: Because I need to be.
13:33
SPEAKER_00: You have to come to that conclusion that you're at the end of yourself in this life, people.
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SPEAKER_00: You really do.
13:38
SPEAKER_00: You have to you have to sit there and be like, I need a savior.
13:43
SPEAKER_00: I am not perfect.
13:45
SPEAKER_00: I have issues, and I want to be better.
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SPEAKER_00: And I know the Lord will make you better.
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SPEAKER_00: But there's also terms and conditions.
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SPEAKER_00: Those terms and conditions are you must turn from your wicked ways, repent daily, for sure, because we have bad thoughts at times or we do things we shouldn't.
14:02
SPEAKER_00: Paul even says that, man, I am my flesh is weak, but my spirit is willing.
14:08
SPEAKER_00: Man, yeah, why do I do the things that I shouldn't do when I ought to do the things that I should do?
14:15
SPEAKER_00: You know, God, oh, look at his mercy, but he doesn't want us to have this habitual thing in life where we're doing it day every day and we're not putting, we don't have enough room for him.
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SPEAKER_00: We need to have room for him.
14:26
SPEAKER_00: That's what matters.
14:28
SPEAKER_00: And that's where we're going to see in the end time, right?
14:31
SPEAKER_00: When our lives are over, that's what we're going to see.
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SPEAKER_00: We need we need to know about him.
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SPEAKER_00: And not so much about all this stuff that's going on in the world that we have no control over.
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SPEAKER_00: It's more about him.
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SPEAKER_00: And I have to do that too.
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SPEAKER_00: More about him, less about me.
14:48
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
14:49
SPEAKER_00: It's a beautiful thing.
14:51
SPEAKER_00: But the habits.
14:53
SPEAKER_00: So I'm sure you probably heard people say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
14:57
SPEAKER_00: Yes, you're breaking fast.
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SPEAKER_00: It's really good, right?
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SPEAKER_00: Especially the breakfast my wife cooks, man.
15:01
SPEAKER_00: Woo wee.
15:03
SPEAKER_00: I can't like if I had to fast that day, I said, please, babe, do not cook anything.
15:07
SPEAKER_00: I do not need to smell anything when I come downstairs because oh my goodness gracious, God has really gifted that woman to cook.
15:12
SPEAKER_00: Because I'm gonna let you guys know.
15:14
SPEAKER_00: Shout out to my wife.
15:15
SPEAKER_00: But anyhow, it is.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: It's a it's a similar concept, right?
15:21
SPEAKER_00: The similar concept when I'm gonna say it applies to our heart and mind.
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SPEAKER_00: It's the fuel we give them each morning.
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SPEAKER_00: The fuel we give, it greatly affects the remainder of the day.
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SPEAKER_00: So think of a time in God's word, prayer and meditation.
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SPEAKER_00: Think of it as a spiritual nourishment for your relationship with him.
15:42
SPEAKER_00: David.
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SPEAKER_00: Oh, David, King David, he he began his day with the Lord.
15:48
SPEAKER_00: In Psalm 63, he described seeking God early.
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SPEAKER_00: The literal translation of that is earnestly, having woken up hungry for time with his creator, he rejoiced that his soul found satisfaction with the fullness of the Lord.
16:06
SPEAKER_00: And David broke out thanksgiving and praise.
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SPEAKER_00: I know we've had moments like that when things went in our way and we're so we're celebrating.
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SPEAKER_00: Woohoo! Praise the Lord.
16:15
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
16:15
SPEAKER_00: And then all of a, you know, like that feeling of just, oh, elation.
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SPEAKER_00: But we need to have that with the Lord.
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SPEAKER_00: That's what David's talking about.
16:24
SPEAKER_00: That's what we're talking about here.
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SPEAKER_00: Not so much because, you know, even though good things come from above, right?
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SPEAKER_00: But who are we giving homage and honor to when we get these good things?
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SPEAKER_00: Is it the man that gave it to me, or is it the thing I did not see?
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SPEAKER_00: A favor that the Lord provided that blessed me at that moment.
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SPEAKER_00: It's okay to say thank you to the person.
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SPEAKER_00: Well deserved, they're obedient.
16:48
SPEAKER_00: But good things and good gifts come from God because there's no good thing in man at times, is there?
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SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but only God.
16:55
SPEAKER_00: So think about that and remember that.
16:57
SPEAKER_00: So just imagine having a day.
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SPEAKER_00: I want you to think back for a moment.
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SPEAKER_00: Join me back here in the moment.
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SPEAKER_00: I want you to imagine having a day.
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SPEAKER_00: A day like that, we talked about with the Lord, filled with joy and gratitude.
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SPEAKER_00: So think back about what goodness has happened in your life and the good things that only God has done.
17:17
unknown: Right?
17:17
SPEAKER_00: I gotta think about my kids.
17:19
SPEAKER_00: I gotta think about the blessings that I have.
17:21
SPEAKER_00: Gratitude, right?
17:24
SPEAKER_00: This is possible when we be when we begin when we begin our day.
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SPEAKER_00: When we begin our day with God, listening to him speak through his word, and then talking with him.
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SPEAKER_00: Seeking the Lord not only fills our empty soul, it also increases our hunger for him.
17:45
SPEAKER_00: Your hunger for him.
17:47
SPEAKER_00: Remember, like habits begin with baby steps.
17:50
SPEAKER_00: Don't overwhelm yourself.
17:52
SPEAKER_00: It's not overwhelming solutions or resolutions.
17:56
SPEAKER_00: Start the morning, put things aside.
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SPEAKER_00: Like read Psalms, definitely, but start the morning.
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SPEAKER_00: Set aside five minutes and be consistent.
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SPEAKER_00: And add a few minutes if you're able to.
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SPEAKER_00: And you'll be amazed by the difference it makes.
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SPEAKER_00: You really will.
18:13
SPEAKER_00: You really will.
18:16
SPEAKER_00: Because, right, we you the difference in life, like we we have things that we we we go through.
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SPEAKER_00: We have troubles, trials, tribulations, things of growth, seasons, things we can't explain, all these different mixed emotions, unfamiliarized things in life we don't can't put our finger on.
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SPEAKER_00: Clouds, right?
18:43
SPEAKER_00: Trials of clouds.
18:46
SPEAKER_00: Right.
18:48
SPEAKER_00: Think about this.
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SPEAKER_00: In a blizzard, the familiar disappears because swirling snow obscures our vision.
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SPEAKER_00: Difficulties in life bring about the same effect in our mind.
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SPEAKER_00: They can create strong emotions that cloud our ability to think.
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SPEAKER_00: So let's think about these three promises God has given us to help us find our way through these trials, as I'm talking about with you.
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SPEAKER_00: The Lord has committed himself to instructing us.
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SPEAKER_00: When we wait on him, he will give us insight into our situation.
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SPEAKER_00: Remember saying that?
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SPEAKER_00: Patience, wait, listen.
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SPEAKER_00: Since he sees all things, he knows what steps we are to take.
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SPEAKER_00: We may be surprised at the instruction, though, since his ways are not like ours.
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SPEAKER_00: You can see that in Isaiah 55, 8 through 9.
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SPEAKER_00: God has promised to teach us how to apply the truth we receive from him.
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SPEAKER_00: As we meditate on the word of God, his spirit will reveal the wisdom relevant to our problem.
19:55
SPEAKER_00: The Lord provides guidance as he keeps watch over us.
19:59
SPEAKER_00: When company is present, a parent may use a series of looks, right, to quietly guide a child's behavior.
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SPEAKER_00: I know I do.
20:09
SPEAKER_00: Well, in a similar way, the Holy Spirit gives us spiritual promptings to guide our actions and decisions.
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SPEAKER_00: Now, mind you, like we maybe you have some people listening, and in those that are, I'm so grateful for you.
20:22
SPEAKER_00: And even the new listeners tuning in.
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SPEAKER_00: God bless you.
20:26
SPEAKER_00: And if you're a new believer, that's awesome.
20:27
SPEAKER_00: This applies to you, it applies to us all as believers.
20:30
SPEAKER_00: But those that aren't believers, I know this is going to be a little unfamiliar, so you have to understand, please give your heart to the Lord.
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SPEAKER_00: Truly repent.
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SPEAKER_00: Accept him.
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SPEAKER_00: Let him activate you.
20:42
SPEAKER_00: You're you'll see what I mean by these things.
20:45
SPEAKER_00: And the prayers that you've been praying for will change and become better.
20:48
SPEAKER_00: And the Lord will answer you in his time.
20:53
SPEAKER_00: But understand that Holy Spirit, so it'll prompt you to guide your actions and decisions.
20:59
SPEAKER_00: So know that you can always find your way by using these promises as guiding lights through any dark circumstances that you're in.
21:08
SPEAKER_00: Make sure that is one of the things your desires, right?
21:12
SPEAKER_00: Transform your desires.
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SPEAKER_00: Transform your desires and match his will.
21:17
SPEAKER_00: Psalm 37.
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SPEAKER_00: I'm staying in Psalms right now, people, until I will read some more scriptures, like I said earlier.
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SPEAKER_00: But I'm telling you, I love the Psalms.
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SPEAKER_00: Psalm 25, Psalm 91, right?
21:28
SPEAKER_00: Psalm 63, Psalm 1.
21:31
SPEAKER_00: Like it's it's these are the things, like I said, I talked about Psalms.
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SPEAKER_00: Psalms are like strength, strength for your spirit.
21:41
SPEAKER_00: Proverbs, wisdom.
21:44
SPEAKER_00: Wisdom to help you.
21:45
SPEAKER_00: Day by day life.
21:48
SPEAKER_00: The Lord's love is right there to help us, and this is a beautiful thing.
21:52
SPEAKER_00: So when we make our loving God our highest priority, he transforms our desires to match his perfect will.
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SPEAKER_00: Straight up.
22:01
SPEAKER_00: And it's not bad.
22:03
SPEAKER_00: Because he wants to be the passion of every believer's life.
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SPEAKER_00: If we claim to love the Lord, one, if we claim to love the Lord, you know, we're gonna have to strive to definitely love him with all our heart, mind, and soul.
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SPEAKER_00: And to do what he asks us to do, obedience.
22:20
SPEAKER_00: And to live out his statutes, to live his life, our life that way.
22:23
SPEAKER_00: And if we're not perfect, yeah, we repent, we keep going, but we recognize, we know we need his help.
22:28
SPEAKER_00: We keep going.
22:29
SPEAKER_00: That's important.
22:33
SPEAKER_00: But he has to be that priority.
22:34
SPEAKER_00: He has to be our priority, like with everything over everything else.
22:37
SPEAKER_00: But we often miss the true message of what this Psalm means, Psalm 374, by wrongly assuming the verse means we can get what we want.
22:48
SPEAKER_00: Because it says if you delight yourself in the Lord, he will give you the desires of your hearts.
22:53
SPEAKER_00: When context, that scripture reveals the Lord's principles for purifying our desires, and it issues a call for devotion to him.
23:03
SPEAKER_00: To delight in the Lord means to take pleasure in discovering more about him and following his will.
23:09
SPEAKER_00: This leads to the Holy Spirit aligning our hearts, desires with God's, which always puts us in position to experience his blessings.
23:18
SPEAKER_00: When we commit our ways to God, we allow our thoughts, our goals, and lifestyle to be shaped by his will and the things he loves.
23:28
SPEAKER_00: Remember, I said it's about it's about less of me and more of him in my life.
23:37
SPEAKER_00: That's what it means by pick up your cross and follow me.
23:40
SPEAKER_00: Die to yourself.
23:42
SPEAKER_00: Die to yourself, like in your emotions.
23:44
SPEAKER_00: Instead of getting angry, be patient, show love, be kind, practice hospitality.
23:52
SPEAKER_00: Right?
23:52
SPEAKER_00: Like things that the Lord would do.
23:54
SPEAKER_00: And the only way you know that is by reading scripture and his word and knowing how he walked and operated, especially in the gospels.
24:02
SPEAKER_00: Matthew, Mark, Luke, Matthew, Mark, John, Luke, like know how he was, how he operated.
24:10
SPEAKER_00: That's very important.
24:13
SPEAKER_00: Again, we have to, when we commit our ways to God, we have to allow our thoughts, goals, and lifestyles to be shaped by his will and the things he loves.
24:21
SPEAKER_00: So, in other words, we acknowledge his right to determine whether our longing fits his plan, what we're praying for.
24:27
SPEAKER_00: Is that aligned with you, Lord?
24:29
SPEAKER_00: If we rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him, patience, then we will rely on him to work out our circumstances, even when the desire he's given us seems impossible.
24:41
SPEAKER_00: Nothing's impossible with him.
24:44
SPEAKER_00: If we make God our first love, our heart will become focused on making his glory known in life through obedience.
24:53
SPEAKER_00: And when we are aligned with our Father's will, he'll give us our heart's desire in his time.
24:58
SPEAKER_00: That's a picture of fulfillment.
25:00
SPEAKER_00: We'll simply have no need for anything else.
25:06
SPEAKER_00: No need for anything else.
25:08
SPEAKER_00: But you say, Yeah, I want more.
25:11
SPEAKER_00: I want more.
25:12
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
25:15
SPEAKER_00: You got to recognize you cannot rationalize.
25:19
SPEAKER_00: That's dangerous ground.
25:20
SPEAKER_00: We need to always seek God's help.
25:24
SPEAKER_00: If we see, let's say for instance, like this, if we see a fellow believer fall into sin, it can be tempting to judge them.
25:31
SPEAKER_00: But we often fail to acknowledge is that we too can easily stumble.
25:36
SPEAKER_00: And even though believers have a righteous standing before God, we must, like Paul, acknowledge an internal problem, sin, which dwells in me.
25:44
SPEAKER_00: Romans 7.
25:46
SPEAKER_00: We're talking about that.
25:48
SPEAKER_00: Christians need to be continually on guard, since ignorance of the nature of sin, the strategies of the enemy, the devil, and our own areas of weakness make us more vulnerable to stumbling.
26:00
SPEAKER_00: We cannot afford to be careless in our thinking.
26:03
SPEAKER_00: Because thinking and bad thinking, it does turn into these certain actions.
26:08
SPEAKER_00: So anytime we find ourselves accusing, redefying, or rationalizing sin, we've lost our sensitivity to God.
26:14
SPEAKER_00: Cannot drift.
26:16
SPEAKER_00: If you drifted from the Lord, turn back to him by acknowledging your sin, accepting responsibility for it.
26:22
SPEAKER_00: Repentance means changing your mind and going in a different direction.
26:29
SPEAKER_00: Toward God, that's where you want to go, instead of away from him.
26:34
SPEAKER_00: The next step is harder.
26:36
SPEAKER_00: Respond with gratitude for God's correction.
26:38
SPEAKER_00: Every time we fall into sin, our Father lovingly works to bring us back into fellowship with him.
26:45
SPEAKER_00: His discipline may be painful, but it's always good because it brings us to our senses and reconnects us with God.
26:52
SPEAKER_00: So I'm going to talk a thing real quick with my wife, my beautiful wife, was talking to me about, which is really, really interesting today when we were talking about sin.
27:01
SPEAKER_00: It really, it really hit home, hit the nail home with me.
27:05
SPEAKER_00: So think I want you guys to think about this.
27:07
SPEAKER_00: So with the Lord, when we do things, like there's sacrifices, like what he said when Jesus was a sacrificial atonement for our sins, if mine, that was a sweet aroma to the Lord.
27:20
SPEAKER_00: Imagine a sweet aroma.
27:23
SPEAKER_00: You walk into a room that's completely clean and there's incense or beautiful smells going, right?
27:32
SPEAKER_00: Not sage, though.
27:33
SPEAKER_00: If you go into a house and you see some sage, rebuke it, renounce, bind it, get out of there.
27:38
SPEAKER_00: You don't need to be there because that's not of God.
27:42
SPEAKER_00: But what I mean by this is that because even in the holiest of holies in the Temple of the Tabernacle, like they burnt incense, they gave praises and homage, and the Lord had his section right and then uh the words that was in the ark, and it's beautiful and clean and everything in order.
27:57
SPEAKER_00: Peace.
27:57
SPEAKER_00: The Lord, beautiful, the prayers of the righteous, the prayers of his people, the sacrifices that were made.
28:04
SPEAKER_00: Those are aroma scents that the Lord just loves, wants to fill his place and his sanctuary with it and his people.
28:16
SPEAKER_00: It's a beautiful smell.
28:18
SPEAKER_00: I walked in places where it was immaculate and it smelt amazing.
28:23
SPEAKER_00: I just wanted to rest there.
28:26
SPEAKER_00: That is the way of the righteous, how the Lord looks at it as he sits there on his throne.
28:32
SPEAKER_00: That beautiful fragrance.
28:35
SPEAKER_00: What is putrid and disgusting and ugly and foul, rotten smell is sin.
28:44
SPEAKER_00: And that's why God cannot stay there and stand it.
28:47
SPEAKER_00: He turns his face away from it.
28:50
SPEAKER_00: It does not bring any pleasure to him or his children or people that do that practice such things because it is foul.
28:59
SPEAKER_00: We remember that.
29:01
SPEAKER_00: The Lord is complex at times.
29:05
SPEAKER_00: Of course, he is.
29:06
SPEAKER_00: I have no idea.
29:06
SPEAKER_00: But let me tell you something.
29:08
SPEAKER_00: When I those little simple things that he's telling me right now, that his way of sin is disgusting, and he cannot be a part of it.
29:17
SPEAKER_00: And now I understand a little bit more clearer each day, each and every time.
29:21
SPEAKER_00: Each and every time.
29:24
SPEAKER_00: What I want to read to you right now, though, we're gonna talk about James 5.
29:30
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna talk about James 5.
29:33
SPEAKER_00: About patience again.
29:34
SPEAKER_00: That's interesting how that comes up.
29:36
SPEAKER_00: A great fruit.
29:38
SPEAKER_00: This is James 5, 7.
29:42
SPEAKER_00: Patience and suffering.
29:45
SPEAKER_00: Be patient then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord's coming.
29:50
SPEAKER_00: I want you to see like this for a moment, too, listening, those listening, see how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.
30:02
SPEAKER_00: You too be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near.
30:09
SPEAKER_00: Don't grumble against one another.
30:12
SPEAKER_00: My brothers and sisters, or you will be judged.
30:17
SPEAKER_00: The judge is standing at the door.
30:23
SPEAKER_00: So, brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, remember those that spoke before you in the name of the Lord.
30:34
SPEAKER_00: They were blessed because they persevered.
30:37
SPEAKER_00: Even Job, you've seen his suffering by perseverance, right?
30:44
SPEAKER_00: And eventually brought about the Lord's full compassion and mercy.
30:50
SPEAKER_00: Remember those things, my brothers and sisters.
30:55
SPEAKER_00: Very important.
30:56
SPEAKER_00: Patience.
30:57
SPEAKER_00: The Lord talks about it so much in his word.
31:03
SPEAKER_00: So much.
31:09
SPEAKER_00: In the presence of God and Jesus Christ, we will who will judge the living and the dead.
31:17
SPEAKER_00: In the view of his appearing, I give you this charge is what Paul says, preach the word.
31:24
SPEAKER_00: Be prepared in season and out of season.
31:29
SPEAKER_00: Correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience again and careful instruction.
31:38
SPEAKER_00: For the time will come when people will not put up a sound doctrine.
31:42
SPEAKER_00: Instead, they will do things or want to hear things that will suit their own desires.
31:47
SPEAKER_00: They will gather around them with great numbers of teachers and say whatever their ears are itching that they want to hear and say.
31:54
SPEAKER_00: They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
31:59
SPEAKER_00: But you, you, keep your head in all situations.
32:04
SPEAKER_00: Endure hardship.
32:07
SPEAKER_00: Do the work of how what God called you to be, whether it's an evangelist, a pastor, preacher.
32:13
SPEAKER_00: Discharge all the duties of your ministry.
32:16
SPEAKER_00: Wa was saying, man, he's ready to be poured out like a drink offering.
32:20
SPEAKER_00: He knows his departure is near.
32:23
SPEAKER_00: And he knows that a crown of righteousness will be waiting for him.
32:26
SPEAKER_00: And the Lord will judge him on that day.
32:29
SPEAKER_00: And for every and everyone that cannot wait for his appearing, he will.
32:43
SPEAKER_00: It's godliness in the last days.
32:44
SPEAKER_00: And I know I said this on my previous podcast.
32:47
SPEAKER_00: And I'll read this to the again so you remember, reiterate it for you.
32:52
SPEAKER_00: Godlessness in the last days.
32:55
SPEAKER_00: Understand this that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
32:59
SPEAKER_00: I've been feeling things of difficulty for sure.
33:03
SPEAKER_00: For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful and unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.
33:35
SPEAKER_00: Corrupted.
33:35
SPEAKER_00: You gotta avoid that thing, avoid those type of people.
33:39
SPEAKER_00: So important, what I'm trying to tell you.
33:43
SPEAKER_00: And even the thing that we just I just talked to you about was when you heard me saying about self-control.
33:49
SPEAKER_00: That's one of the other fruits of the spirit.
33:52
SPEAKER_00: Self-control.
33:53
SPEAKER_00: Well, the synopsis of this, I want you to hear, is that self-control is a spirit-empowered ability to govern our impulses and align our choices with God's will.
34:03
SPEAKER_00: It serves as a foundation for spiritual growth and effective Christian living.
34:11
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
34:13
SPEAKER_00: The stark comparisons in Proverbs that a person without self-control is like a city whose walls are broken through.
34:20
SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 25 vividly illustrates the protective nature of this virtue.
34:28
SPEAKER_00: Self-control serves as our spiritual defense system, guarding our hearts and lives against harmful influences.
34:36
SPEAKER_00: You know how, like walls that protect a city from invasion, well, self-control helps us maintain spiritual and moral integrity in a world full of temptations and compromise.
34:49
SPEAKER_00: Remember that.
34:51
SPEAKER_00: Very important.
34:53
SPEAKER_00: Rest in that.
34:55
SPEAKER_00: Rest in this.
34:56
SPEAKER_00: Waiting, patiently waiting, trusting God's time, trusting God's heart.
35:04
SPEAKER_00: No matter the hardship, loving people under pressure, walking in confidence, knowing God and his commitment to you and his promises.
35:14
SPEAKER_00: Knowing that we'll play out in his time.
35:18
SPEAKER_00: Remember, forgetting about the former things in the past, like Isaiah 43 says, Don't dwell in the past, forget about him.
35:26
SPEAKER_00: Move on.
35:30
SPEAKER_00: And as we move on, we're going to take communion.
35:37
SPEAKER_00: Another important illustration.
35:38
SPEAKER_00: All the words that I was talking about.
35:41
SPEAKER_00: And these meanings of why we live this way and behind what's behind it.
35:45
SPEAKER_00: Highly important.
35:47
SPEAKER_00: 1 Corinthians 11 explains that.
35:51
SPEAKER_00: And why we're doing this as well.
35:53
SPEAKER_00: And as I said earlier.
35:57
SPEAKER_00: So what I receive from the Lord is what is also passed on to you.
36:05
SPEAKER_00: I received from this the Lord Jesus.
36:09
SPEAKER_00: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, he took bread.
36:13
SPEAKER_00: And so he was sitting down with his disciples at his last supper.
36:18
SPEAKER_00: And when he took bread, he had given thanks and broke it and said, This is my body, which is for you.
36:28
SPEAKER_00: Do this in remembrance of me.
36:33
SPEAKER_00: So if you haven't, and those that are listening haven't done one, so please, you can join me and grab bread, even those you're with, and partake this with me.
36:43
SPEAKER_00: Again, he broke bread and visualize that with his people, with his disciples closest to him.
36:50
SPEAKER_00: He broke this bread and said, This is my body, which is broken for you.
36:55
SPEAKER_00: When you eat this, as we're together here in this special time, do this, right?
37:00
SPEAKER_00: Do this in remembrance of me.
37:04
SPEAKER_00: Our bread.
37:23
SPEAKER_00: Those listening.
37:25
SPEAKER_00: In the same way after supper, he took the cup, saying, This cup is in the new covenant, in my blood, his blood that he atoned for us.
37:38
SPEAKER_00: Do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me.
37:43
SPEAKER_00: For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
38:06
SPEAKER_00: It goes on to say though, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty will be guilty of sinning against the body and the blood of the Lord.
38:19
SPEAKER_00: So everyone needs to examine themselves before they eat the bread and drink this cup.
38:24
SPEAKER_00: Examine yourself.
38:26
SPEAKER_00: Realize where you were at, where you need to be and where you belong.
38:32
SPEAKER_00: Realize where the Lord needs to be in your heart.
38:36
SPEAKER_00: If there's some forgiveness, resentments, things that you have against someone, leave that at the table, leave that at the doorman, leave it at the altar, leave it alone.
38:44
SPEAKER_00: Make things right with people.
38:46
SPEAKER_00: Do what you need to do.
38:48
SPEAKER_00: However, that looks like.
39:39
SPEAKER_00: I want to get on my knees because he woke me up before my alarm went off, saying, Hey, I want some time with you, son.
39:44
SPEAKER_00: That's my perspective.
39:45
SPEAKER_00: That's how I have to look at that.
39:47
SPEAKER_00: And I grow.
39:47
SPEAKER_00: And if I do sin or do things, look at something I shouldn't, think of something I shouldn't, say something I shouldn't, whatever that looks like.
39:55
SPEAKER_00: Oh Lord, I got to correct myself.
39:56
SPEAKER_00: I repent, I'm sorry.
39:57
SPEAKER_00: You know, I have that feeling of remorse in my heart.
40:00
SPEAKER_00: Like I don't want to, I don't want to disrespect this one who is the one who has blessed and loved me so much with so much mercy and care in my life, willing to do all the things that he's done so that I have life through him, about him, with him, and my conduct and my ongoings of life and what I do with people day to day, my interactions, where people can see love in my heart and my eyes, and I hope so they do.
40:29
SPEAKER_00: And it's true and genuine because I have the Lord that lives in me, regardless of my frailties.
40:35
SPEAKER_00: I am grateful and I pray to be stronger and better each and every day, and to trust in the fact that he will provide my needs, as his word said, and his promises and all things in my life, the needs of my spiritual growth, and the things that I need to do as I'm here on earth, and he will provide more than enough, because he has.
40:57
SPEAKER_00: So again, thank you for listening and taking communion with me.
41:00
SPEAKER_00: It's so like refreshing and intimate knowing that this partake, that we did that together.
41:08
SPEAKER_00: We're partaking in that.
41:11
SPEAKER_00: I'm grateful.
41:13
SPEAKER_00: And if you need prayer, like I said before, reach out, please.
41:17
SPEAKER_00: Bread of life with JJ at gmail.com, the bread of life with JJ at gmail.com.
41:24
SPEAKER_00: I'd be more than happy to go into battle with you.
41:28
SPEAKER_00: Stand in the gap.
41:31
SPEAKER_00: And to come in agreement.
41:33
SPEAKER_00: Because I know God loves you.
41:36
SPEAKER_00: And those that are listening that need to know the Lord, please pray with me that Lord Jesus, forgive me of my sins, cleanse my heart of all unrighteousness, create in me a steadfast spirit.
41:49
SPEAKER_00: Renew my mind.
41:52
SPEAKER_00: Clean my heart.
41:54
SPEAKER_00: Forgive me of my sins, Lord Jesus.
41:57
SPEAKER_00: Come into my life.
41:59
SPEAKER_00: Let your will be done.
42:02
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
42:04
SPEAKER_00: Until next time.
42:06
SPEAKER_00: May God keep you.
42:08
SPEAKER_00: May He bless you.
42:10
SPEAKER_00: May His face shine upon you and give you peace.
42:13
SPEAKER_00: God bless you.
42:14
SPEAKER_00: Jesus loves you.