Latest / Rick Manis Ministries Podcast / Love Cannot Be Dominated

Transcript

Love Cannot Be Dominated · Rick Manis Ministries Podcast

• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: But I get to wrap up this um this wonderful series on you are you are not a doormat.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: This is this is something that's very, very important to me.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's something that that I get very excited about, it's something I talk about a whole lot.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um but there's a way, you know, the word says that seems right to a man, but the end of it's destruction and death.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: It just it promises that it's going to work.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: It promises to work for you, it promises to bring success, it promises that that nobody will ever use you, abuse you, or or run over you again.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: But but the end of it is actually destructive.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a way that seems right, not a way that seems wrong.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: It seems right.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just the way, the way that the world goes.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: And it's sort of common, sort of common knowledge in the world.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: They think that's just the way it is.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I kind of uh uh snicker inside myself sometimes when I hear a lot of people talk about how I'm a strong personality.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: And usually what they mean is, you know, I'm overbearing, I'm critical, I'm judgmental, I'm hard to get along with, um I don't care that much about you.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: And and and and usually what that is is that someone has uh everybody has has has this tendency in the world, as a as a as someone who's who's who's been a sinner, we all have that tendency, but if you've ever been abused, you have even more of a temptation to be this way, because nobody wants to get run over, nobody wants to be abused, nobody wants to be treated unfairly, nobody wants to be disrespected.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: And uh then we have we have Jesus who came along, and the Bible says that he confounded the wisdom of the wise, the way that seemed right to us.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: And the way that we think in the world, the way that we think that we that we can not be a doormat is actually a way that puts us under all the time.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Now, when I hear this thing about strong, I'm a strong personality, I snicker at myself because I think usually, honestly, how many of you see through that?
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: I I see fear.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: Huh?
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: I see fear, I see um an inferiority complex in it.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason people want to rise up and be intimidating is because they're intimidated themselves and they don't want to be the intimidated, so they're going to over-intimidate other people.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so they're they're very loud.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: Whoops.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Very overbearing.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: But Jesus came and he was the total opposite of that, right?
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: Now, he told us in Matthew 20, 25, he told us that that, you know, the rulers of this world, they lord it over you.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: They exercise authority over you, they exercise power.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: And power is something that most that everybody seems to want.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: We want personal power, we want power in our jobs, we want authority, we want leverage, we want we want political power, don't we?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: We want to get our way through that.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: We want we want power.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: We want to lord what we want over people that want something different.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus said, that's the way it is in the world, but it won't be this way with you.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: It won't be this way with you in my kingdom.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's going to be totally different.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's going to be the total opposite of that.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: But what I'm showing you is this is the real power here.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: This is the real way that you are not the doormat.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: You are actually above the situation.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, rather than being a doormat, you're actually going to be an elevator instead of somebody that's just get walked on and what gets walked on and abused, you're actually going to be that which lifts up other people.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: You're going to be the greatest of all.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to be the greatest, then learn to be the servant.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus did show us that, didn't he?
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: And we see that exercised on the cross.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: We see the biggest failure, or what looks like the biggest failure, when Jesus goes to the cross, right?
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: Here, now think about this.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: Here's this guy.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: The disciples have seen this.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Judas has seen this.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Here's a man that can command the wind and the waves to obey him.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: Here's a man that can raise the dead, open blind eyes, and all that.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: Now, there have been many people that had come before Jesus that they thought was going to be the Messiah, the Christ.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: And these people would be very charismatic people.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: These people would be very, quote, strong personalities.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: These were very angry people.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: These were very frustrated people.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: And these were very, these people hated that which was being lorded over them.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: They hated Rome.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: And all the messiahs that came before him, what they would do is they would, they would, through their personality and through their rage and through their charisma and everything, they would gather a following because people would think, we need a leader.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: This is the one who's going to lead us.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: He's going to restore us.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: He's going to overthrow Rome.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: He's going to make us great.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: Again, I didn't say that on purpose.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: I just came, real honestly.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: But that's what they were looking for, you know, really.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: And and uh so but all of them failed.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: All of them ended up getting killed by the Romans, who this supposed, these supposed messiahs were going to overthrow, but they never overthrew them.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: They always got overthrown, and their leaders would get killed.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: But now we got one that can make the wind and waves do what he says.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: Now we got one that can raise the dead.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Now we got one that's got power.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: Now we got one that's not scared of anybody.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: Now we've got one that can open blind eyes.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: Now we got one who can speak something with his mouth, and it'll happen.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: We've seen it happen over and over again.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: And you got someone like Judas who's watching this, and he's saying, he's like, oh my goodness, this is the right one.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: The others never had anything like this.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: What kind of who can stop us?
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: Not only did just Jesus, but he gave this power to the 12, didn't he?
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: He sent them out for they could heal the sick, they could cast out demons, they could do the same things.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: They'd come back.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: They said, Jesus, even the demons are subject to us in your name.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: He sent them out to do those things.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: They did it.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: He sent out the 12, not the 11.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Judas did it too.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Judas not only saw it, but he operated in it.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: Now just think if Jesus gets tens of hundreds of thousands of people like this, what will the Romans do to us?
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: If they kill any of us, Jesus will raise us from the dead.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, what nobody can stop us.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: We have the ultimate power.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: This is the one.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I think even Judas was convinced, honestly.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, I believe that, and I believe that whole thing in Gethsemane that he arranged was he was arranging a showdown because he really knew that those who, if they came to take Jesus, to arrest him, they knew that they'd be no match for Jesus.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: But Jesus needed a confrontation.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus needed some help, Judas thought.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus needed some, you know, he had all this power.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: He was the one, but this whole thing about turning the other cheek ain't gonna cut it.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: This whole thing about loving your enemies and all that, that's that's that's not gonna get it.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: He's gonna arrange a showdown, and we're gonna, we're gonna, Jesus is gonna have to do his thing, and we're gonna, this is gonna start the whole revolution right here.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus tells his disciples that night, he says, now, you know, before, you know, you never lacked anything.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: You didn't have to take any money or anything.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: Now I say you need to take your take your wallet with you.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: He says, and if you got if you don't have a sword, go out and buy one.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: He said, if you don't have a sword, go out and buy one, so that the scripture will be fulfilled, as they said of me in Isaiah, he must be numbered as a rebel, as a transgressor, as a criminal, if you will.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: So get your swords.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: Peter says, Hey, we've got two.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: And he says, That's all we need.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: Because he wasn't out to start a war, he just needed to commit a crime, basically.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why when they came to arrest him, Peter cuts off the guy's ear.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that was enough.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that was rebellion has happened.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: We can arrest him.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus said, If who are you seeking?
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: And he said, He there said Jesus of Nazareth.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: He said, I am he.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: He says, just take me and let the rest of these people go.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: So they just took Jesus.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: So Jesus was doing this whole peaceful thing, and then of course we know that he was crucified.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: And and the whole thing backfired on Judas, and none of this worked, and the whole, the one that's got the power over everything dies, this shameful, weak loser's death on the cross.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: He turned out to be not the one.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: Or so it looked.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: But we know something different, though.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: We know that Jesus was never the doormat.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus was actually doing what he wanted to do, and Jesus was actually winning, right?
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus was winning.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus knew the whole, this this whole time, after he prayed himself through, he knew what he was doing.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: And 2 Corinthians chapter uh 13, verse 4, says it this way.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: For although he was crucified as a weakling, quote weakling, now he lives robed with God's power, and we also are weak ones in our co-crucifixion with him, but now we live in God's triumphant power together with him, which is demonstrated on your behalf.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: So he was crucified in what looked like weakness, but we know that he lives in power.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: And it says, we also live in that same power with him.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: And then 1 Corinthians 1 25 says, talking about the preaching of the cross, which is foolishness to people.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's foolishness to people.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: But the quote, foolish things of God have proven to be wiser than human wisdom, and the feeble things of God have proven to be more powerful than any human ability.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: More powerful, more powerful.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: So we're looking at course what Jesus did.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody can say, yeah, well, but he was Jesus.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I got some good news.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: I got some good news, and I want to show you how accessible and how easy this Christ-likeness in this area can be.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: 1 John 4, 8 says that God is love, right?
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: God will never be dominated, Willie.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: But God is absolute love.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: God is the 1 Corinthians 13 love that says love does not seek its own.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: He never seeks his own.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: That was a revelation to me when I found out this whole thing was not about what can I give to him or what can he get from me.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: I thought it was that for many years.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: But I began to see his heart and I saw the whole thing with God as what can he be for me?
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: What can he do for me?
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's love.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: That's absolute love.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, that love does not count any wrongs done against it.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that's we know that's a beautiful and powerful love.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: We're so glad that it that it's there for us, that it's given to us.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: But it does have an effect on us too, doesn't it?
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: It has an effect on how we see things and has an effect on how we react to things and how we relate.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: We see ourselves growing in it.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: And it's that it's this kind of love that's continually rising up within us, and it's overtaking our thoughts to where we're thinking very much in that same way more and more as we grow, to where we're we're not counting wrongs against us anymore.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: I remember for years it was, I knew that I was supposed to forgive people, but I I would try to forgive.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: I would, quote, confess that I forgive.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: I would say I forgive, but the hurt would still be there.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: But I would try because I knew it was the right thing, and I knew it was best for me.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: I knew it was the best thing, but I would, in many cases, I would try.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it was easy, but sometimes it was hard.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: And then something happens as we grow and this love rises in us.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: You realize, you know what, I'm not even trying anymore.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's just, it just happens.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: You do something, you're forgiven.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: It don't, it's not even a second thought.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's not it, it, and and one of the reasons is because it loses its sting and its power over us.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't make us feel like we're being hurt or abused or dominated because we feel like we're the head and not the tail.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: We feel like we're above and not beneath.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: We feel like, we feel like we're all we're blessed anyway.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: God loves us and that love fulfills us.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: Excuse me.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: And it fulfills us in a way, when I found out that God really loved me, when I found out that He really loved me without any demands from me at all, without any conditions, I didn't know that's what I had been looking for all my life, but I did.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: I found it.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: It fulfilled me.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: It filled me up so much, it gave me such a sense of fullness that I didn't need anymore.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't need anyone's appreciation.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Now it's always nice when you get it, but I wasn't lustful for it.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: I wasn't trying to get it.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: I wasn't trying to get validation.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: I wasn't trying to try to get satisfaction in some of the other things and some of the other addictions that I had.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: And it wasn't because I had overpowered it, it was because that love filled me up and it started changing things, and my sense of fullness made my selfishness unnecessary.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this love, I really learned it some years back in my marriage to my first wife who had who died of cancer.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: And um for at least the first half of that marriage, um, we were believers and God had you know blessed us in many ways, but but there was a lot of budding heads.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Especially early on, but really all the way up through the uh up through the first half of the marriage, there'd be these butting of heads.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: And it would be, and and we were growing some in the love of God and things, but but there'd be these things where it's just like, Dog gone, I'm getting the short end here, you know.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: There'd be some times and it'd just be like, come on, I don't why do I always have to be the submitted one?
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: Why do I always have to be the one that breaks down?
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: Why do I always have to be the one that apologizes?
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: No, not this time.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: We'd get these things.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: We'd get so so upset at each other and we'd fight, and it's just, and and and and these things would go on, but somewhere along the line, I found something that changed everything.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: I found the joy of life, the joy of relationships and certainly of marriage, was not in what I get from the other, but that I found the joy was in the giving.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: And the Holy Spirit teaches us this.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: I had seen it for a little while before that, but can I really trust that?
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I came to a place to where I saw it so clear that I knew that this was the way I was going to go, and it didn't matter anymore.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: It didn't matter if I got the short end of the stick, it didn't matter if I got the worst of the deal, it didn't matter if if if I felt like I was being treated unfairly because there was no unfair anymore.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: I was there to give and to give and to give and to give and to bless.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I found out something that totally shocked me.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: It made me even happier than getting my way.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: It made me even happier than being right all the time.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: I remember we had a fight one time and she goes, and I said something smart, Alec, and she goes, Oh yeah, you're just always right, are you?
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, and what is so wrong about that?
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: But I found out, after a while, I found out being right is the most overrated thing anybody could ever be.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I found out that as I found the joy of the giving and not the getting, I found out that it made me powerful, it made me feel big, it made me feel higher than I was before while I was wrestling for my way, and I found a good secret.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: How many of you would like to always get your way in life?
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: Always get what you want.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: When love and giving becomes your way, you can always have that.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: If getting something, if if somebody else has to do something for you to get your way, then you can't get that all the time.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: You're just gonna be frustrated, right?
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: But if if the whole point is, and and this is something that it is you come to a place where you trust it, where it's just you trust it and you start going that way, and you get surprised and you find out that I like I like this.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: I like being the giver.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: And you don't feel like a doormat, you feel big inside.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: You feel, you feel, you, you, you, you feel, you, you feel like you're not not dominating in that sense, but you feel like you're winning.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: Because I got to give, I got to bless.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I found the joy in that, and it became a way of life.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: It made our home life beautiful.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: It made me a much different kind of person.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: Not only did it make me more pleasant to be around, but it blessed me inside.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: It blessed me with a freedom that I didn't have to be respected.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't have to get anything from anybody.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, early on in my ministry, back when I was pastoring uh in the 90s, I would see a lot of this in me.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: Or when I look back, I see a lot of it.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: But I, you know, a lot of it was was, I felt like I was I was always trying to convince people to believe in me, to follow me, to get with what I'm doing, get with my vision, approve of me, um, let me know once in a while that I'm doing a good job, that I'm preaching good, that I'm, you know, what whatever.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but things change as we grow.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: This love of God takes over in us, and it's not about us anymore, is it?
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: And we and and I look back and I think somewhere along the line, something changed.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: Now, it's not about do you believe in me?
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: Do you think I'm any good?
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason it's not about that is not that I don't care about what you think anymore, but the reason is because it doesn't matter because I believe in you.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I think you're good.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: And then it becomes more irrelevant, whatever you think about me, because I'm thinking something good about you regardless.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: And it takes away that selfishness.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: You get this sense, almost a sense of invisibility in some ways.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: Self-consciousness is the word.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: And we know that came in during the at the Garden of Eden at the fall of man.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: How y'all doing?
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: We're not a doormat.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: We're not a doormat.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: We're even we're something much, much greater than that.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: But that which looks like a doormat to the world, Jesus looked like a doormat.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: But it showed him to be more powerful than anything because the weakness of God is more powerful than man.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: Romans 5, 5 says, Now hope does not disappoint us, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: Now, now we're getting into how easy this is.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, it's really, it's the nature that is in us.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's the nature that's a part of us, it's the nature that of who we really are now.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: And this nature, you know, in your growth, it's changing us, isn't it?
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's taking over our thoughts.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: We're starting to see things more as God sees them.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: We're starting to feel what God feels and think what God thinks.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a way of a perfect love.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what this whole thing is.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: See, see, it's very deceptive in this world.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's very tempting, very easy, easy, especially with all the noise that's going on, to fall into this thing of winning as the world sees winning.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's very easy to try to gain leverage, to try to gain power to get what we think we want.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: There's people fighting from both sides of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: And and we've got people saying that all those people are evil, and these were saying all those are evil, because that's funny, that tree of knowledge of good and evil, it must rotate or something, because everybody sees themselves on the good side.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: And you've got all this butting heads.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: And that's how like me and me and me and my wife were early on.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: I knew I was right, but she knew she was right.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: I was so convinced, you know, the old adage that, you know, if you, if, you know, if if you want, you know, if what's the joke that if you you and your wife are fighting, all you have to do is just remind her, just let her know.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: Stop and tell her that she's being irrational and emotional.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: And she'll thank you for reminding her of that, and everything will be okay.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: No, don't ever do that, please.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: Just take it from me.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: But but we do things like that because we know we're right.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I talk to people about these things.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: I try I try to get into it sometimes, and people are like, but what's right is right.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Hebrews 5, at the end of Hebrews 5, it says this that those who are mature have had their senses, and I believe it's talking about spiritual senses, exercised.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: And the way traditional Bibles say is to discern good and evil, but when you look up those words, it's kalos and kakos, which means worthful, uh worthless and useful.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: So it's not just see there again.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: This whole thing is not about the knowledge of good and evil, is it?
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: This whole thing is about the nature of God, which is love, which is absolute love.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: Which doesn't see things that way, or at least it's not led by that way.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_00: It knows the knowledge of good and evil, but it doesn't lead its life by that.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: And what we find out as we grow is that there are certain things that may be good, but they're not useful.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Paul said the law is good, but it's not useful to me anymore.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: Because in 1 Corinthians 13, don't you love that chapter?
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: The whole thing's talking about love.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: And that is that thing that he spoke of.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: He said, that thing, when that which is perfect, when it's come, then that which is in part partial, they'll fall away.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: You don't use those anymore.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: When I became a man, when I was a child, I spoke as a child, I acted as a child, but when I became a man, I put away the childish things.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: They're not useful to me anymore.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: You know, when I was a kid, I had a little plastic tool toolk that my dad bought me.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: I don't use that anymore.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: We have a different different set of tools now.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: We have the way of the spirit, and it's different.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll tell you why this is important, because the world, creation, is groaning for something.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: Creation, the Bible says, is eagerly waiting.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: Creation, the world, is waiting for something, right?
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: Are they waiting for us to fight against them?
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: Are they waiting for us to overpower them?
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: What are they waiting for?
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: The manifestation of the sons of God.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: What is the manifestation?
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: Fruitfulness.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: What are they waiting for that they don't have right now?
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: They've all got the knowledge of good and evil, and so does the church.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: That's the same thing.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why often the church, even though she believes she's in a righteous cause, she's often echoing what the world is saying.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: We get so easily fooled and pulled into the way of the world, and the creation's waiting for something different that's in the church.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: We're carrying it in us.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: And it's only increase in manifestation because people are falling in love with God who they found out loved them first without any demands or conditions.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: There's something that you're carrying that the world is eagerly waiting for that manifestation.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: Now, will they tell you that's what they're waiting for?
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: No, because they don't even know that's what it is.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: They think they want their way.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: I thought I wanted my way till I found out what was a better way, and I realized, oh, this is what I really wanted all the time.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: Come on.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: But see, when you're afraid, when you're when you when when you're in fear, then you're trying to become dominant.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: And that's just what the world does, that I almost see it like, you know, I used I had this red bird, this carnal that used to crash into my back patio door.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: What's that stupid bird doing?
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: I realize he thinks he's fighting somebody.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: He sees another red bird and he's fighting.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: He's in a battle.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: He doesn't realize that's him.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's just a reflection of who he is.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's just on the other side, that's all.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: But there's a way of heaven.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: Come on.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: There's a way of heaven.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: There's a way of heaven that has not been seen en masse yet.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: Even though there are millions of us around the world, we're growing in something, and creation is not going to have to keep waiting and growing because that which is we've been carrying in us, this perfect nature, will be seen by the fruit, the manifestation of what?
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: Love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, self-control.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_00: What's the best gift that God could give to this world?
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: Before he gives Jesus, he looks at this world whose the Bible says we were enemies of God.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: Every thought was against God.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_00: All of our purposes were ungodly, even though we thought they were godly sometimes.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_00: What was the best gift that he could give to a world that mean, that hateful, that anti-God?
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: What was the best gift he could give them?
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: His love, which is the wisdom of God.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: His love, his joy, his peace, his gentleness, his goodness, his kindness.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_00: He gave us that, gave us himself, gave us that nature.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_00: He gave us this nature on purpose.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: That's why he didn't just save us, kill us, and take us to heaven, is that he planted his kingdom in the earth and it's here.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: And this kingdom is not here to beat the Romans.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there needed to be restoration in Israel.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, think about that.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, not only were they in Roman rule, but even their own high priests and all their religious leaders, they were they were also, I mean, the leaders of they were appointed by Romans too.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_00: They were all puppets.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_00: Herod, Annas, Caiaphas.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_00: Puppets.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: Corrupt.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_00: Not right.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: The Jews needed restoration.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: Come on, Jesus, when are we going to get this?
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: When are we going to overthrow this whole thing and make it right?
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_00: What's right is right, and what they're doing is wrong.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, My kingdom's not of this world.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: My kingdom's not of this world.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm doing something better.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not fixing all that out there.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm fixing this.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_00: And on the day of Pentecost, 120 people got that morning, they got fixed.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: They got the nature.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: That afternoon, 3,000 more.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's been spreading ever since till it hit me and you.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'm excited.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: I am so excited right now.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I hate the noise.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: I hate the hate.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: I hate the lies.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: I hate the deception.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_00: I hate all that stuff going on and on and on.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why it's so easy to start getting into that place that I call the flesh or the world.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I can tell when I'm there.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: Because I'm not feeling peace, love, and joy.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's like stepping out into a thunderstorm and the weather's bad, and I'm feeling anger, and I'm feeling frustration, and I start to feel hate, and I start to feel stress, and I start to feel all these things, and now I want to fight.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: Who's with me?
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: Come on.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: Let's win.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: In the spirit, I feel peace.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: I feel love.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: I feel joy.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: In the spirit, I see clearly.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: In the spirit, we see truth.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: Are y'all getting anything from me?
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: In the spirit, I see what's useful and useless.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: In the spirit, I see a better way.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: In the spirit, I see the power of the giving.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: Not afraid of being walked over, not afraid of losing in this world.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_00: If God is for me, who can be against us?
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: Come on.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_00: Huh?
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_00: And what's ever going to separate us from that love?
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: This thing that we're carrying, I promise you, this thing about the kingdom of God, it's not, it's very precious, but it's not so, it's not on the it's not in danger of being crushed, defeated, or going away.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_00: Of the increase of his government and of peace.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: There will be no end.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why it's rising up in you and I, and it's rising up to manifest something that the world is not seeing.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: While the world is fighting each other, left, right, black and white, this government, that government, nation against nation, house against house, family member against family member, all over the same thing.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: What's right is right.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I will not be a doormat.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: There's something that the world hasn't really, really seen yet.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people aren't here this morning.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people say they don't go to church because they've already been.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_00: They didn't see what creation's waiting for.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: They saw something.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not mad at anybody, and I'm not blaming anybody because I think I know this thing is on the increase.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: I see it.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: I see it in my travels.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: I see it in the Word.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: But there's a way in our travels.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_00: God has done, God takes us into places and we run into the most.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: When you look at them and talk with them, and they talk with you, they are the most anti-God in so many ways, and almost all of them that I've ever run into, they've had a religious upbringing.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_00: Hmm.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we were traveling, doing a putting a little, a few pleasure days in between a couple of ministry dates, and so we stayed at an Airbnb, and there's a person that is a I don't, I'm sorry, I don't get the words right, but a man that lives like a woman.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_00: And and and and tells us, and and and and you know, and and this got there right on our Airbnb profile that what we do, we're ministers and we travel, and it says, I want you to know this is what what I do and this is who I am.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: Are you okay with that?
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_00: We said wonderful.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_00: We stay there, talk up, talk, sit there and talk on the back patio, looking over the mountain, over the valley there, and had the most beautiful talk about a guy who said, I never knew.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_00: I have never seen this, I never knew God loved me that way.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: I never knew that God was that good.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_00: And he says, please keep doing what you're doing.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_00: Because for the first time, I have hope for this world.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_00: We the places we go that most people would say that there's such ungodliness going on.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I realize, I see it clear.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_00: I want to show them what they've been waiting for.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: I want to show creation something different.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: I want to show creation a way of the kingdom, not just another echo of the world that they already have heard and they're expecting me to echo when they meet me.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_00: Are y'all here?
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_00: Let's look at, I'll show you something.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_00: It says, go with me to um James chapter 3.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: I want to look at that.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: In verse uh 16, it says this.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_00: And he's talking about the wisdom that comes from above.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's so different.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_00: And what does it under the previous verse it tells us?
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: He says, now this otherworldly wisdom, he says it's earthly, it's sensual, it's demonic.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_00: He says, What does it bring?
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_00: It brings confusion, it brings strife, huh?
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_00: Brings more fighting, more hating, more all this stuff.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: He says, What?
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: He says, but what about the wisdom that's from above?
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: He says, but the wisdom for excuse me, verse uh 16, for wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: But the wisdom from above is first of all pure.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's also peace-loving.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's gentle sometimes.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_00: Always.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's gentle at all times.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_00: Now, here's what I here's what I just heard, because I anytime I say something like this, people bring up something as if they've got a point that I've never heard.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: Well, what about Jesus?
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_00: He threw over the tables, so I can too, by golly.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's a whole other issue.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: But for one thing, I got a couple of points.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_00: For one thing, that's an anomaly.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_00: We don't one time, not every day.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_00: Come on, guys.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: And also, number two, I can show you where he deliberately had planned that even the day before.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_00: He didn't just have a fleshly fit and say, that's it, I'm mad at all you guys.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_00: He he had planned that the day before.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: I can take you to the scriptures and show you that.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_00: He had been in the temple before, he watched it, and he left and the whole thing.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_00: He was teaching, he was using it as a teaching moment.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_00: I promise you, Jesus did not just get into the flesh at that moment.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's peaceable at all times.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's peaceful, it's gentle at all times.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's willing to yield to others.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_00: Dormat! Willing to yield to others.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_00: You remember how I said, I used to want you to believe in me, but now that doesn't matter so much because I believe in you?
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's not about, it's not about, you know, is your applause going to lift me up?
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's about, will what I say lift you up?
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason is because we come to a place where we're not needy anymore.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_00: We're full because we're loved.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_00: We have finally found and received the love and we're full.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_00: We're not looking for it anymore.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_00: We're here to give it.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_00: And we've got plenty to give, right?
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_00: He says, it's willing to yield to others.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's a freedom, that's a fearlessness that says, you know what, I don't have to fight for my way.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_00: Go ahead and take it.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_00: There's more.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_00: God opens doors that nobody can close, and he closes doors that nobody can open.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_00: This is love, this is faith, this is a relationship with God that's wonderful and it's fulfilling, and he says, and it shows, it says, it's willing to yield to others, it's full of mercy and it's and the fruit of good deeds.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_00: What the world is groaning for this, is looking for this, anticipating this eagerly.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_00: And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, in Hebrews 7 7, someone walks over you.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_00: Are you a doormat?
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_00: Or do you see that you're really you're an elevator?
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's not about is somebody abusing me, is somebody using me, is somebody taking advantage of me?
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's about this is an opportunity to elevate somebody else.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_00: This was the whole point of Jesus' teaching before he gave the power to do it.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_00: They would receive it later.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_00: But he says, if they if they make you, if they force you to carry their stuff for a mile, show them something they ain't never seen.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_00: Shock them.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_00: When that mile is done and they say, okay, you fulfilled your obligation.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_00: Give me my armor, give me my stuff.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_00: You say, let's go another mile.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'd like to carry it another mile.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_00: Creation ain't seen that.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_00: Give me your coat.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'd really like to give you my coat and my shirt.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_00: Now, here's the difference.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_00: If you feel forced, then you're gonna be like a doormat.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_00: If you feel forced, you're gonna feel like a doormat.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_00: But if you just flip it, if you just change it, go ahead and come on up, piano.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_00: If you just flip it to where it's like, I'm not being forced.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_00: You wanna force me to walk a mile?
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'm choosing to go another mile.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_00: Now you're not a doormat because nobody's making you do that.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody's making you do that.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_00: They can compel you.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_00: People can can can can can intimidate, people can use leverage on you, and people can can try to force you to do what they want, and they will.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_00: And you'll feel like you'll feel horrible about it.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_00: But if you elevate with that nature that's in you, you say, you know what?
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's not about, am I being disrespected?
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's how can I over-respect them?
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_00: How can I bless them?
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_00: How can I give and how many know what I'm talking about?
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_00: Something happens in you to where instead of being small, you get real big inside.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus said, in this world, they use dominance over you.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_00: In my world, and this is what we represent, right?
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_00: We have another world.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_00: We are not of this world.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_00: We are ambassadors of heaven.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_00: Our citizenship is of heaven.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_00: We have a king, we have a leader, a ruler, a monarch, a president, if you will, of this kingdom.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_00: His economy is wonderful.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely fair because he just gives and gives and gives, and he doesn't keep anything for himself.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_00: He doesn't hold anything against you.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_00: Everything's always forgiven.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_00: He doesn't put you in spiritual prison, detention, or doghouse.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_00: This is heaven.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_00: This is our kingdom.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's on the increase, and its increase will have no end.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_00: And of peace, peace, this fruit, this wisdom that creation's waiting for.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_00: There will be no end.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_00: Are you praying for the peace of the world?
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_00: Are you praying for the peace of Jerusalem and everything else?
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_00: I got something better than that.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_00: I got good news.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_00: Peace is here.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_00: Peace has come.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_00: Peace has come.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's right here.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_00: I have peace.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_00: And when I tell my personal story, I that peace, I promise you, to me, is truly better than any gold, anything.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_00: Because I went a long time without it.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_00: I went a long time without it.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_00: Didn't have it in my household.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_00: Didn't have it in my relationship with God, I felt.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_00: Certainly didn't have it in my relationship to the world, and didn't even have it in my relationship to other pastors and churches, be honest with you.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm at peace with God and with me, and with you, and with them.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_00: And with them.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_00: And without question, Hebrews 7:7.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_00: The one that has the power to bless is not a doormat.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_00: He's greater.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_00: He's greater.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_00: We have a capacity to give because something just keeps giving.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_00: This love thing, I've heard people say, Rick, I've tried that, but now I've run out.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, you were drawn from the wrong place.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_00: This one doesn't run out.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_00: And love is not something you try to get what you want, it's not a manipulation tool.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_00: Love gives whether the person changes or not.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_00: The beautiful thing about this is that this is not hard.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_00: My message today is not, now go out there and love, you scurvy dog.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_00: Because you can't do it like that.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't, a commandment doesn't empower, does it?
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_00: The thing is, we know we're loved.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_00: We hear it every week.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_00: We sing about it all the time.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_00: We think about it, we fellowship and tell each other how much we're loved and how good God is.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_00: And we know this.
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_00: And somebody says, Well, I still blow it, Rick.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_00: Well, welcome to planet Earth.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_00: You're made weak and foolish.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_00: There is no false perfection.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_00: The only perfection is that love that's growing in us and it's changing us, and therefore it's making us happier.
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's making us more fulfilled.
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's giving us more to give.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_00: So enjoy the growth.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_00: Would y'all stand up?
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_00: I love you guys.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_00: Y'all get anything this morning?
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_00: Hope this was okay.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_00: Right now, Father, I thank you for everyone here, and I pray for every one of us, and I thank you, Father, for the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of you.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_00: That we know what is the exceeding greatness of this thing, this inheritance that you've put in us, this great, wonderful nature.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, let there be a sense of adventure and excitement to be, not make a stand for Jesus, but to be Jesus to the world.
• 42:36
  unknown: Woo!
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_00: See that my knee jerk right then.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_00: It shows you I got some background there.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_00: We get obsessed with taking stands for Jesus to the world.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_00: But creation's waiting for someone to be Jesus.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_00: Father, I thank you right now for your empowerment of your word and the ministry of your spirit.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for this day, and thank you for who you are.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_00: We celebrate you in Jesus' name.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.