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Allen Jackson Ministries

Allen Jackson - Breakthroughs Declined

May 29, 2026 | 27:29

Allen Jackson - Breakthroughs Declined
Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
#Breakthrough #Rejection #WalkwithGod #Jesus #HandofGod #Miracles #Supernatural #Belief #Unbelief #Faith #Doubt #AllenJackson

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - Breakthroughs Declined | May 29, 2026
  • ...
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  • Allen jackson: you know, around the world,
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  • People are searching for truth, and together we're doing our
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  • Very best to help them find it.
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  • When you become a ministry partner with allen jackson
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  • Ministries, you're joining a growing community of believers
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  • Who are committed to strengthening the church and
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  • Sharing god's word through every available channel--
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  • Television, radio, podcast, books, bible studies,
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  • Digital resources, conferences.
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  • Your monthly partnership helps us equip believers to reach new
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  • Audiences, to take the hope of jesus to people who may never
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  • Have heard the gospel otherwise.
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  • Together, we can stand firm in our faith and make god's truth
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  • Known right here at home and around the earth, wherever
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  • God opens a door.
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  • Let's keep gathering his people and building his church until
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  • The day our king returns.
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  • You can find more about becoming a ministry partner
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  • At allenjackson.com/partner.
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  • Allen: we've been working through a study on
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  • Breakthroughs, those points where god intervenes in
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  • Our lives.
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  • Outcomes that can only be explained by god's
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  • Participation, when there's a, you arrive at a place in your
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  • Life and there's really no imagined outcome that's
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  • Acceptable without god's intervention.
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  • What you need is a breakthrough.
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  • And we've tried to understand that a little better because i
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  • Don't think they're random.
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  • I don't think they are just arbitrary.
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  • I think we can actually make choices that will facilitate
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  • Those moments in our journey.
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  • As i worked through the study and did my preparation, i
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  • Learned something really unexpectedly, to be honest.
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  • That in scripture there are more breakthroughs that are refused
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  • Than were accepted.
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  • The list of people, it seemed to me who were presented with
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  • Opportunities for that, those breakthroughs, for those
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  • Interventions from god, and declined them.
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  • Actually exceeded the people that accepted them.
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  • And i wasn't prepared for that to be something that i learned
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  • As i did my work.
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  • So i want to do a session or two on those breakthroughs that
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  • Are declined.
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  • It may seem irrational or illogical, but as i reflected on
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  • My own journey, i could see there were places where i've
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  • Cooperated with the lord, and there are times where i've
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  • Chosen not to.
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  • And it's not always between moral and immoral or godly and
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  • Ungodly or good and evil.
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  • Sometimes there's a sense that god puts something in front of
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  • You and you're just like, nah, i'm busy.
  • 00:02:32.267 --> 00:02:35.504
  • Well, i don't really want to do the work.
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  • Or i don't wanna practice generosity there.
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  • Then i take a pass, and in the moment, i wasn't conscious that
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  • I was actually declining an invitation from god that would
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  • Have led to something of greater significance, but in hindsight,
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  • It became pretty evident to me i have done that more than once.
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  • I can point to places where i've said yes to the lord.
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  • But i think the candor to recognize both is very, very
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  • Important, and at this season of my life, i'm determined with the
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  • Help of god, not to decline any of those invitations.
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  • I don't wanna leave any of those things unaccepted.
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  • Too important. too important.
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  • So my goal in this session is to help us understand a little bit
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  • About those breakthroughs that have been declined so that we
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  • Don't do that.
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  • And i'll start with a line from a song i bet you learned as a
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  • Child, i did.
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  • "jesus loves me," this i know, you know that little chorus?
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  • You know, i find that i still will hum that or if i sing, it's
  • 00:03:32.060 --> 00:03:35.230
  • Usually because i'm on the tractor.
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  • I've got this old raggedy diesel tractor that makes enough noise
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  • To wake people.
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  • And on that tractor, i feel confident singing.
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  • Because you've got to be within 5 or 6 yards to hear above the
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  • Rattle of the engine, and i feel protected.
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  • And i'll find myself singing that little chorus, "jesus loves
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  • Me, this i know for the bible tells me so.
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  • Little ones to him belong."
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  • There's comfort in that to me, even at this point in my life.
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  • And i would have to say to you, i think that's been a
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  • Predominant message of american evangelicalism for decades.
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  • Jesus loves you.
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  • Jesus loves you.
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  • Did you know jesus loves you?
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  • And you know, it's true, he does love you.
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  • That's absolutely true.
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  • But the fact that jesus loves you is not sufficient to ensure
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  • Your participation in his kingdom.
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  • Spoiler alert.
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  • Hell will be filled with people that jesus loved.
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  • Now, that message we don't talk about as much.
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  • Breakthroughs that are declined.
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  • You see, i'm far more aware of this, having spent a few weeks
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  • And even months with the topic.
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  • So i wanna start with a pretty familiar narrative.
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  • It's in mark chapter 10.
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  • It's repeated in multiple gospels.
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  • It's this young man, a wealthy young man, a man with authority,
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  • A godly young man approaches jesus.
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  • "as jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and he fell on
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  • His knees before him."
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  • So at the very introduction of this narrative, before you know
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  • Anything else, this young man is kneeling at the feet of jesus
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  • In public.
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  • When was the last time you knelt before somebody in public?
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  • It's been a day or two, it didn't mean something different
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  • In the first century than it does now.
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  • It's an expression of yielding, it's an expression of honor, all
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  • Sorts of things.
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  • "'good teacher,' he asked, 'what must i do to inherit
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  • Eternal life?'
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  • And jesus answered, 'why do you call me good?
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  • No one is good except god alone.
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  • You know the commandments.
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  • Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't
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  • Give false testimony, don't defraud.
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  • Honor your father and mother.'"
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  • He's listening to the big 10, you know, the ones we've kind of
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  • Put away.
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  • And he declared, "teacher, all these i have kept since i was
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  • A boy."
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  • Wow.
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  • Imagine having a one on one with jesus and said i've kept all
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  • The rules.
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  • Jesus was more polite than i am.
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  • He didn't snicker.
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  • But mark, it gives us an insight.
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  • In verse 21 it says, "jesus looked at him and he loved him."
  • 00:06:07.682 --> 00:06:12.254
  • There's that little chorus.
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  • "jesus loves me.
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  • This i know."
  • 00:06:18.193 --> 00:06:20.095
  • He loves this man.
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  • He tells us that.
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  • So he's gonna give him an invitation.
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  • He said, "there's one thing you lack, go and sell everything you
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  • Have and give to the poor, and you'll have treasure in heaven.
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  • Then come follow me."
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  • There it is. come follow me.
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  • It's what he said to peter.
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  • It's what he said to james, it's what he said to john.
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  • Their lives were changed.
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  • They walked away from businesses, families, friends,
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  • Routines, habits, their whole lives got disrupted.
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  • Come follow me, he said, and they said, okay.
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  • He says the same thing to this young man.
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  • Godly young man, a man yielded to the authority of jesus,
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  • He's inquiring.
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  • "the man's face fell.
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  • He went away sad.
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  • He had great wealth.
  • 00:07:03.205 --> 00:07:05.207
  • Jesus looked around to his--said to his disciples, 'how hard
  • 00:07:05.207 --> 00:07:07.876
  • It is for the rich to enter the kingdom of god!'"
  • 00:07:07.876 --> 00:07:12.047
  • Then this next phrase intrigues me.
  • 00:07:12.047 --> 00:07:13.515
  • It's verse 24.
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  • It says, "the disciples were amazed at his words."
  • 00:07:14.850 --> 00:07:17.385
  • They weren't prepared for this.
  • 00:07:17.385 --> 00:07:19.721
  • I know this feeling a little bit.
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  • You know, if you engage in serving the lord and trying to
  • 00:07:21.056 --> 00:07:24.192
  • Establish ministry, and the disciples have done that, they
  • 00:07:24.192 --> 00:07:26.495
  • Want to see jesus's ministry expand, his influence to grow,
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  • I'm certain that's a part of the nature of this relationship that
  • 00:07:29.898 --> 00:07:32.334
  • They've engaged in.
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  • It feels somewhat similar to the world i've spent my adult
  • 00:07:33.702 --> 00:07:36.905
  • Life in.
  • 00:07:36.905 --> 00:07:38.273
  • And there are times you meet people and you think, if that
  • 00:07:38.273 --> 00:07:39.908
  • Person would get on board with this,
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  • If they'd use their influence.
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  • If everybody else saw that person raise their hand and go,
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  • I'm for this, it would make the lift easier.
  • 00:07:48.416 --> 00:07:52.621
  • And when this young man came up with his authority, with his
  • 00:07:52.621 --> 00:07:55.824
  • Influence, with his resources, you can almost see the disciples
  • 00:07:55.824 --> 00:07:58.660
  • Going, yes.
  • 00:07:58.660 --> 00:08:02.397
  • And the young man walks away.
  • 00:08:02.397 --> 00:08:05.000
  • And jesus said it's really difficult for him and the
  • 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:07.135
  • Disciples are amazed at his words, "but jesus said again.
  • 00:08:07.135 --> 00:08:12.307
  • 'how hard it is to enter the kingdom of god!'"
  • 00:08:12.307 --> 00:08:16.311
  • How hard it is to enter the kingdom of god.
  • 00:08:16.311 --> 00:08:18.680
  • Wait, wait, wait a minute, that's not in the little chorus.
  • 00:08:18.680 --> 00:08:21.082
  • ♪ jesus loves me. ♪♪
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  • How hard it is to enter the kingdom of god.
  • 00:08:25.487 --> 00:08:28.356
  • We haven't talked about that, folks.
  • 00:08:28.356 --> 00:08:31.726
  • I've been in thousands and thousands of church services.
  • 00:08:31.726 --> 00:08:35.297
  • I've heard more sermons than you have.
  • 00:08:35.297 --> 00:08:38.166
  • And you've suffered.
  • 00:08:38.166 --> 00:08:42.103
  • And we don't hear very many messages where people say, you
  • 00:08:42.103 --> 00:08:44.472
  • Know, it's really not easy.
  • 00:08:44.472 --> 00:08:51.012
  • Jesus said to his closest friends, it's hard to enter the
  • 00:08:51.012 --> 00:08:54.683
  • Kingdom of god.
  • 00:08:54.683 --> 00:08:58.286
  • He's not finished.
  • 00:08:58.286 --> 00:09:00.422
  • "'it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than
  • 00:09:00.422 --> 00:09:02.891
  • For a rich man to enter the kingdom of god.'
  • 00:09:02.891 --> 00:09:05.760
  • The disciples were even more amazed."
  • 00:09:05.760 --> 00:09:09.064
  • In verse 24, they were amazed, but in verse 26, mark adds in
  • 00:09:09.064 --> 00:09:12.667
  • Here, so there's an emphasis.
  • 00:09:12.667 --> 00:09:14.002
  • They're even more amazed and they said, well then, "who can
  • 00:09:14.002 --> 00:09:16.571
  • Be saved?"
  • 00:09:16.571 --> 00:09:20.175
  • "and jesus looked at them and said, 'with man it's impossible,
  • 00:09:20.175 --> 00:09:23.945
  • But not with god; all things are possible with god.'
  • 00:09:23.945 --> 00:09:29.284
  • And peter said, 'we've left everything to follow you.'"
  • 00:09:29.284 --> 00:09:31.620
  • You got peter just blah.
  • 00:09:31.620 --> 00:09:35.757
  • And jesus replied, "i tell you the truth," and you know by now
  • 00:09:35.757 --> 00:09:38.493
  • When you see that phrase, he's about to drop something
  • 00:09:38.493 --> 00:09:40.895
  • Completely unexpected.
  • 00:09:40.895 --> 00:09:42.697
  • "i tell you the truth, no one who has left home or brothers or
  • 00:09:42.697 --> 00:09:45.500
  • Sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me or
  • 00:09:45.500 --> 00:09:48.069
  • The gospel.
  • 00:09:48.069 --> 00:09:49.771
  • Will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present
  • 00:09:49.771 --> 00:09:52.173
  • Age (homes and brothers and sisters and mothers and children
  • 00:09:52.173 --> 00:09:56.611
  • And fields--and with them, persecutions)
  • 00:09:56.611 --> 00:10:00.582
  • And in the age to come, eternal life.
  • 00:10:00.582 --> 00:10:03.118
  • But many who were first will be last, and the last will
  • 00:10:03.118 --> 00:10:05.553
  • Be first."
  • 00:10:05.553 --> 00:10:07.355
  • That's a fascinating passage.
  • 00:10:07.355 --> 00:10:08.690
  • We could spend a lot of time here, more than i'm going
  • 00:10:08.690 --> 00:10:10.592
  • To today.
  • 00:10:10.592 --> 00:10:12.060
  • Jesus said, one of the things that will come with all the
  • 00:10:12.060 --> 00:10:13.828
  • Blessings are persecutions.
  • 00:10:13.828 --> 00:10:15.563
  • We are living in a season where there has been a tremendous
  • 00:10:15.563 --> 00:10:18.233
  • Initiative demonstrated on behalf of people of faith and
  • 00:10:18.233 --> 00:10:21.469
  • Organized religion to avoid any kind of persecution.
  • 00:10:21.469 --> 00:10:27.308
  • We've hidden from the truth.
  • 00:10:27.308 --> 00:10:29.811
  • We don't want to talk about the truth.
  • 00:10:29.811 --> 00:10:32.981
  • We prefer our favorite passages.
  • 00:10:32.981 --> 00:10:34.683
  • We try to be embraced by the culture.
  • 00:10:34.683 --> 00:10:36.384
  • We want to be loved by the culture.
  • 00:10:36.384 --> 00:10:38.586
  • We want to be applauded by the culture.
  • 00:10:38.586 --> 00:10:40.155
  • Folks, holding out the truth will not always bring applause.
  • 00:10:40.155 --> 00:10:45.660
  • You don't have to be intentionally obnoxious.
  • 00:10:45.660 --> 00:10:49.297
  • We do that well enough without trying.
  • 00:10:49.297 --> 00:10:52.767
  • But we have to be willing to tell the truth.
  • 00:10:52.767 --> 00:10:55.170
  • I want to make an observation from this passage because it's
  • 00:10:55.170 --> 00:10:57.338
  • About a very remarkable young man, a man with tremendous
  • 00:10:57.338 --> 00:10:59.874
  • Potential, a godly young man, a young man interested in serving
  • 00:10:59.874 --> 00:11:02.977
  • The lord, a man of great resources, a man that jesus
  • 00:11:02.977 --> 00:11:06.281
  • Loved specifically.
  • 00:11:06.281 --> 00:11:09.150
  • Who's given a personal invitation and yet he declines
  • 00:11:09.150 --> 00:11:13.555
  • The breakthrough.
  • 00:11:13.555 --> 00:11:15.323
  • He takes a pass.
  • 00:11:15.323 --> 00:11:17.492
  • It's not convenient.
  • 00:11:17.492 --> 00:11:20.695
  • And the observation, it seems so simple, but it needs to be
  • 00:11:20.695 --> 00:11:23.665
  • Noted, not all who reject breakthroughs are wicked
  • 00:11:23.665 --> 00:11:26.868
  • And ungodly.
  • 00:11:26.868 --> 00:11:29.504
  • See, i think we've imagined that the categories are good people
  • 00:11:29.504 --> 00:11:32.373
  • Say yes to the lord, and wicked people say no to the lord, and
  • 00:11:32.373 --> 00:11:36.111
  • It's that neat and clean.
  • 00:11:36.111 --> 00:11:38.379
  • And we point to these biblical characters, pharaoh, he refused
  • 00:11:38.379 --> 00:11:42.383
  • To cooperate with god.
  • 00:11:42.383 --> 00:11:43.718
  • Yeah, he did.
  • 00:11:43.718 --> 00:11:45.186
  • Think how different egypt would have been if pharaoh had said to
  • 00:11:45.186 --> 00:11:47.422
  • Moses on their first visit, you're right, we've mistreated
  • 00:11:47.422 --> 00:11:50.325
  • The hebrew people.
  • 00:11:50.325 --> 00:11:52.861
  • We will not only release you, we'll give you all the
  • 00:11:52.861 --> 00:11:55.096
  • Provisions you need to make it to whatever destination you feel
  • 00:11:55.096 --> 00:11:58.466
  • Led to.
  • 00:11:58.466 --> 00:12:00.335
  • Imagine the difference it would have meant in egypt.
  • 00:12:00.335 --> 00:12:04.405
  • Imagine if pontius pilate, the roman governor, when he had that
  • 00:12:04.405 --> 00:12:07.442
  • Private audience with jesus and said, listen, "i'm a political
  • 00:12:07.442 --> 00:12:10.979
  • Animal myself, and i see the political jealousy that's being
  • 00:12:10.979 --> 00:12:14.015
  • Directed at you.
  • 00:12:14.015 --> 00:12:15.650
  • And i'm gonna stand up on your behalf."
  • 00:12:15.650 --> 00:12:21.289
  • Imagine the different future pilate could have had, but we
  • 00:12:21.289 --> 00:12:24.192
  • Know pilate chose to crucify jesus and pharaoh chose to
  • 00:12:24.192 --> 00:12:27.095
  • Persecute the hebrew slaves, and they both suffered greatly for
  • 00:12:27.095 --> 00:12:30.799
  • It, and we put them in the villains category.
  • 00:12:30.799 --> 00:12:33.234
  • But not everybody that rejects or declines these breakthroughs
  • 00:12:33.234 --> 00:12:36.905
  • In scripture, in fact, the majority of the people
  • 00:12:36.905 --> 00:12:39.274
  • Aren't villains.
  • 00:12:39.274 --> 00:12:42.677
  • They're the covenant people of god standing on the jordan river
  • 00:12:42.677 --> 00:12:45.413
  • Looking into the promised land going, "no, thank you."
  • 00:12:45.413 --> 00:12:50.518
  • And in this particular case, in mark's gospel, it's this rich
  • 00:12:50.518 --> 00:12:53.454
  • Young ruler.
  • 00:12:53.454 --> 00:12:55.089
  • Not everybody who rejects breakthroughs are wicked
  • 00:12:55.089 --> 00:12:58.059
  • And ungodly.
  • 00:12:58.059 --> 00:12:59.394
  • We have to recalibrate, folks.
  • 00:12:59.394 --> 00:13:00.762
  • We've gotta stop telling our god stories in terms of what we have
  • 00:13:00.762 --> 00:13:04.799
  • Done and pointing at our conversion date and our baptism
  • 00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:08.903
  • Date and the bible studies we led and the times we volunteered
  • 00:13:08.903 --> 00:13:12.173
  • And the dollars that we have given.
  • 00:13:12.173 --> 00:13:14.642
  • I'm appreciate all of those things.
  • 00:13:14.642 --> 00:13:16.010
  • They're a part of my own journey as well, but what's relevant for
  • 00:13:16.010 --> 00:13:18.980
  • Me today is, am i gonna say yes to the lord?
  • 00:13:18.980 --> 00:13:25.887
  • "well, pastor, what are you suggesting?
  • 00:13:25.887 --> 00:13:27.222
  • That we earn our way?"
  • 00:13:27.222 --> 00:13:28.556
  • No, i'm not talking about earning your way to anything.
  • 00:13:28.556 --> 00:13:29.891
  • I'm talking about saying yes to the lord.
  • 00:13:29.891 --> 00:13:34.696
  • I don't know the ultimate outcome of this young man.
  • 00:13:34.696 --> 00:13:37.665
  • He steps completely out of the narrative.
  • 00:13:37.665 --> 00:13:39.267
  • We don't see him again.
  • 00:13:39.267 --> 00:13:41.469
  • He may have ended up in the crowds, he may have been a
  • 00:13:41.469 --> 00:13:43.671
  • Supporter of jesus.
  • 00:13:43.671 --> 00:13:45.373
  • I don't know.
  • 00:13:45.373 --> 00:13:46.875
  • I know he didn't follow him.
  • 00:13:46.875 --> 00:13:48.243
  • I know he didn't make it to the inner circle.
  • 00:13:48.243 --> 00:13:51.379
  • He missed his breakthrough.
  • 00:13:51.379 --> 00:13:55.116
  • Allen: hey, "lessons from paul" is a 90-devotional.
  • 00:13:59.153 --> 00:14:02.357
  • Some of my favorite verses that paul wrote, bit of devotional
  • 00:14:02.357 --> 00:14:06.461
  • Time, and then some place to journal.
  • 00:14:06.461 --> 00:14:08.997
  • The goal is to be changed.
  • 00:14:08.997 --> 00:14:10.365
  • We want to be transformed by the word of god and not just
  • 00:14:10.365 --> 00:14:12.600
  • Informed by it.
  • 00:14:12.600 --> 00:14:14.269
  • Saul of tarsus, a hero of mine-- i got to know him as the apostle
  • 00:14:14.269 --> 00:14:16.938
  • Paul--an unrelenting advocate for jesus in the face of
  • 00:14:16.938 --> 00:14:20.475
  • Unyielding persecution.
  • 00:14:20.475 --> 00:14:22.610
  • Folks, that sounds like the world we live in.
  • 00:14:22.610 --> 00:14:24.612
  • "lessons from paul" will help you and i be overcomers,
  • 00:14:24.612 --> 00:14:27.282
  • Triumphant in this season in the earth.
  • 00:14:27.282 --> 00:14:29.717
  • You'll enjoy the book.
  • 00:14:29.717 --> 00:14:31.252
  • Female announcer: following jesus isn't always easy, but you
  • 00:14:31.252 --> 00:14:33.821
  • Don't have to walk through it alone.
  • 00:14:33.821 --> 00:14:35.857
  • The same power that transformed paul is available to you today.
  • 00:14:35.857 --> 00:14:40.561
  • "lessons from paul" by pastor allen is a 90-day devotional
  • 00:14:40.561 --> 00:14:44.098
  • Filled with scripture, encouragement, and journaling
  • 00:14:44.098 --> 00:14:47.235
  • Prompts and space to write, helping you apply each day's
  • 00:14:47.235 --> 00:14:50.905
  • Reading to your actual life.
  • 00:14:50.905 --> 00:14:53.374
  • Request your copy with your gift of $25 or more at
  • 00:14:53.374 --> 00:14:57.445
  • Allenjackson.com or call...
  • 00:14:57.445 --> 00:15:02.817
  • Allen: there's some things you'll need.
  • 00:15:04.018 --> 00:15:05.386
  • There's some things that'll have to be in place to be prepared to
  • 00:15:05.386 --> 00:15:08.323
  • Accept the breakthrough.
  • 00:15:08.323 --> 00:15:09.657
  • I can't spend much time on them, but i can tag them for you.
  • 00:15:09.657 --> 00:15:12.694
  • As i have walked through this list, one of them is you'll have
  • 00:15:12.694 --> 00:15:15.330
  • To have the will to bear discomfort.
  • 00:15:15.330 --> 00:15:17.999
  • It's not always gonna be easy.
  • 00:15:17.999 --> 00:15:19.334
  • This young man missed it because it wasn't comfortable
  • 00:15:19.334 --> 00:15:21.069
  • Or convenient.
  • 00:15:21.069 --> 00:15:23.271
  • And we are way too committed to comfort and convenience in the
  • 00:15:23.271 --> 00:15:27.041
  • Context of our faith.
  • 00:15:27.041 --> 00:15:29.277
  • I can't tell you.
  • 00:15:29.277 --> 00:15:30.645
  • You may know how bent out of shape we get if we can't park
  • 00:15:30.645 --> 00:15:33.414
  • Where we want or sit where we want.
  • 00:15:33.414 --> 00:15:38.820
  • We're building more parking.
  • 00:15:38.820 --> 00:15:40.188
  • I love you. it's okay.
  • 00:15:40.188 --> 00:15:42.557
  • But we've got to be honest, folks, we have somehow distilled
  • 00:15:42.557 --> 00:15:45.593
  • Our faith.
  • 00:15:45.593 --> 00:15:46.961
  • It should be easy.
  • 00:15:46.961 --> 00:15:49.063
  • It should be well organized and orchestrated, and i'm for all
  • 00:15:49.063 --> 00:15:52.600
  • Those things.
  • 00:15:52.600 --> 00:15:53.968
  • I love a plan when it works.
  • 00:15:53.968 --> 00:15:55.870
  • But we don't serve god based on comfort and convenience.
  • 00:15:55.870 --> 00:15:58.940
  • We're gonna have to be willing to bear discomfort.
  • 00:15:58.940 --> 00:16:00.775
  • That means you'll have to deconstruct disappointments.
  • 00:16:00.775 --> 00:16:03.211
  • Things won't go the way you like and you can't withdraw.
  • 00:16:03.211 --> 00:16:06.047
  • Things will happen in your life that god could have prevented or
  • 00:16:06.047 --> 00:16:08.883
  • Caused a different outcome to be, and he won't, and some of
  • 00:16:08.883 --> 00:16:11.853
  • You will be tempted to say, i'm so disappointed i quit.
  • 00:16:11.853 --> 00:16:18.259
  • Please don't do that.
  • 00:16:18.259 --> 00:16:22.530
  • Serving the lord, joining his kingdom, being a part of what
  • 00:16:22.530 --> 00:16:25.166
  • God is doing in the earth, doesn't mean it's always easy.
  • 00:16:25.166 --> 00:16:28.336
  • None of our heroes had it always easy.
  • 00:16:28.336 --> 00:16:31.806
  • None of them. jesus didn't.
  • 00:16:31.806 --> 00:16:37.245
  • You'll have to deconstruct those disappointments.
  • 00:16:37.245 --> 00:16:39.514
  • You'll have to empty yourself of your entitlement.
  • 00:16:39.514 --> 00:16:44.018
  • Folks, that's a pandemic that makes covid look like a
  • 00:16:44.018 --> 00:16:47.321
  • Starter set.
  • 00:16:47.321 --> 00:16:49.524
  • We are entitled.
  • 00:16:49.524 --> 00:16:52.927
  • "well, i just think i deserve."
  • 00:16:52.927 --> 00:16:56.397
  • And out rolls the list.
  • 00:16:56.397 --> 00:16:59.300
  • And it's amazing.
  • 00:16:59.300 --> 00:17:00.668
  • If we've never been here before, i deserve better treatment.
  • 00:17:00.668 --> 00:17:02.203
  • I was a guest and they should have known.
  • 00:17:02.203 --> 00:17:04.972
  • If you've been here for 80 years, well, i've been there for
  • 00:17:04.972 --> 00:17:07.041
  • 80 years.
  • 00:17:07.041 --> 00:17:08.943
  • It doesn't matter.
  • 00:17:08.943 --> 00:17:10.278
  • We just feel entitled.
  • 00:17:10.278 --> 00:17:12.113
  • And it's not just in church, we just feel entitled.
  • 00:17:12.113 --> 00:17:16.717
  • You're gonna have to lay that down.
  • 00:17:16.717 --> 00:17:19.220
  • You're not special...
  • 00:17:19.220 --> 00:17:26.394
  • I'm not special.
  • 00:17:26.394 --> 00:17:28.896
  • Well, we're children of the king, yes, you are, but you
  • 00:17:28.896 --> 00:17:31.065
  • Didn't deserve it, you didn't earn it.
  • 00:17:31.065 --> 00:17:32.433
  • It was a gift. you didn't qualify for it.
  • 00:17:32.433 --> 00:17:34.469
  • If it was merit-based, you wouldn't be in the--
  • 00:17:34.469 --> 00:17:41.109
  • We've been pumping this message out through pulpits for way
  • 00:17:41.109 --> 00:17:44.045
  • Too long.
  • 00:17:44.045 --> 00:17:46.414
  • Folks, you are not entitled.
  • 00:17:46.414 --> 00:17:49.884
  • I don't want what i deserve.
  • 00:17:49.884 --> 00:17:55.923
  • I'm not pounding the gavel demanding justice.
  • 00:17:55.923 --> 00:17:59.894
  • I'm going to get in the mercy line.
  • 00:17:59.894 --> 00:18:09.804
  • There's something else you need if you're gonna be able to
  • 00:18:11.339 --> 00:18:14.142
  • Cooperate with the breakthroughs, and that's a
  • 00:18:14.142 --> 00:18:15.843
  • Disciplined life.
  • 00:18:15.843 --> 00:18:18.813
  • You can't be a disciple without discipline.
  • 00:18:18.813 --> 00:18:20.515
  • That's not rocket science.
  • 00:18:20.515 --> 00:18:21.849
  • I know you understand, but it means there's a leaving behind.
  • 00:18:21.849 --> 00:18:24.652
  • This young man had some things he would have had to
  • 00:18:24.652 --> 00:18:26.187
  • Left behind.
  • 00:18:26.187 --> 00:18:27.822
  • There's a separation that comes, you will not find god's best
  • 00:18:27.822 --> 00:18:31.559
  • Unless you're willing to leave behind some things.
  • 00:18:31.559 --> 00:18:34.795
  • Not everybody will go that way.
  • 00:18:34.795 --> 00:18:38.099
  • You hear all kinds of expressions about this, you
  • 00:18:38.099 --> 00:18:39.867
  • Know, in sports, you hear it, in business, you hear it.
  • 00:18:39.867 --> 00:18:42.737
  • You know, if you're gonna succeed or you're gonna do
  • 00:18:42.737 --> 00:18:45.006
  • Something that's not just normal.
  • 00:18:45.006 --> 00:18:47.275
  • Well, in pursuing the lord,
  • 00:18:47.275 --> 00:18:49.944
  • If you're looking for the minimal daily requirement,
  • 00:18:49.944 --> 00:18:52.046
  • What's the least i can do and still just get in,
  • 00:18:52.046 --> 00:18:57.185
  • Please begin by recognizing how offensive that is.
  • 00:18:57.185 --> 00:19:01.989
  • Imagine a proposal of marriage on those terms.
  • 00:19:01.989 --> 00:19:06.794
  • Would you marry me?
  • 00:19:06.794 --> 00:19:09.430
  • Before you say yes, i have a follow up question.
  • 00:19:09.430 --> 00:19:13.734
  • Would you be willing to tell me what's the very least you would
  • 00:19:13.734 --> 00:19:17.338
  • Expect of me?
  • 00:19:17.338 --> 00:19:19.340
  • How often do i have to come home at night?
  • 00:19:19.340 --> 00:19:23.477
  • How do you define faithfulness?
  • 00:19:23.477 --> 00:19:30.318
  • Is taking out the trash like a make or break thing?
  • 00:19:30.318 --> 00:19:35.089
  • How truthful do i have?
  • 00:19:35.089 --> 00:19:36.424
  • Can you imagine, i mean, it's kind of an offensive, right?
  • 00:19:36.424 --> 00:19:38.926
  • If one of your children said they had proposed to someone and
  • 00:19:38.926 --> 00:19:41.162
  • That was the response, i think you would say, run.
  • 00:19:41.162 --> 00:19:46.801
  • And yet we kind of approach god that way.
  • 00:19:46.801 --> 00:19:50.338
  • What's the very least i could do and still get like in the door?
  • 00:19:50.338 --> 00:19:55.643
  • I don't wanna be like an overachiever.
  • 00:19:55.643 --> 00:19:57.311
  • I don't wanna be like a hyper christian.
  • 00:19:57.311 --> 00:20:03.284
  • We've got them in our head.
  • 00:20:03.284 --> 00:20:06.053
  • There's a leaving behind.
  • 00:20:06.053 --> 00:20:07.388
  • There's some separation that has to come.
  • 00:20:07.388 --> 00:20:09.023
  • It's a disciplined life.
  • 00:20:09.023 --> 00:20:11.759
  • The kingdom of god.
  • 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:13.127
  • Jesus said it's difficult to enter.
  • 00:20:13.127 --> 00:20:14.462
  • You gotta live with that a little bit.
  • 00:20:14.462 --> 00:20:16.631
  • So i doesn't expect it to be difficult.
  • 00:20:16.631 --> 00:20:18.065
  • You are reading.
  • 00:20:18.065 --> 00:20:20.968
  • It's just not easy.
  • 00:20:20.968 --> 00:20:23.638
  • This time of year, all of us want to lose 5 pounds.
  • 00:20:23.638 --> 00:20:28.342
  • If you don't want to lose 5 pounds, we don't like you.
  • 00:20:28.342 --> 00:20:33.547
  • Jesus loves you.
  • 00:20:33.547 --> 00:20:34.915
  • I'll sing you the little chorus, but we don't like you.
  • 00:20:34.915 --> 00:20:39.320
  • But it's not really like a mystery, we should eat less and
  • 00:20:39.320 --> 00:20:41.889
  • Move more.
  • 00:20:41.889 --> 00:20:43.691
  • But i'm watching late night tv looking for a cream i can rub on
  • 00:20:43.691 --> 00:20:46.827
  • My belly.
  • 00:20:46.827 --> 00:20:49.997
  • Right?
  • 00:20:49.997 --> 00:20:52.166
  • And i will pay 19.99 plus shipping and handling.
  • 00:20:52.166 --> 00:20:57.204
  • I'm looking for my phone.
  • 00:20:57.204 --> 00:20:58.572
  • I am dialing that number.
  • 00:20:58.572 --> 00:20:59.940
  • They have got me.
  • 00:20:59.940 --> 00:21:05.313
  • And we do that with our faith, it's difficult stuff, and yet
  • 00:21:05.313 --> 00:21:09.450
  • Jesus said all things are possible with god.
  • 00:21:09.450 --> 00:21:12.520
  • And all of my brokenness and all of my inconsistencies and all of
  • 00:21:12.520 --> 00:21:15.690
  • The things that i'm not, nothing is impossible with god.
  • 00:21:15.690 --> 00:21:18.559
  • Even god could help me even lead a disciplined life.
  • 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:23.864
  • And then i think if we're gonna have these breakthroughs, it's
  • 00:21:23.864 --> 00:21:25.800
  • About seed time and harvest.
  • 00:21:25.800 --> 00:21:29.070
  • I don't like this part.
  • 00:21:29.070 --> 00:21:30.871
  • I've confessed before you before.
  • 00:21:30.871 --> 00:21:32.673
  • I could be impatient.
  • 00:21:32.673 --> 00:21:34.642
  • Microwaves seem really slow to me.
  • 00:21:34.642 --> 00:21:36.277
  • We invented the microwave 50 years ago.
  • 00:21:36.277 --> 00:21:37.945
  • Could we not have improved by now?
  • 00:21:37.945 --> 00:21:41.082
  • What's beyond the microwave?
  • 00:21:41.082 --> 00:21:42.416
  • What's faster than a microwave?
  • 00:21:42.416 --> 00:21:43.784
  • Why does it take a minute and a half for it to boil a cup
  • 00:21:43.784 --> 00:21:46.854
  • Of coffee?
  • 00:21:46.854 --> 00:21:48.756
  • Can't we do that in 10 seconds?
  • 00:21:48.756 --> 00:21:50.124
  • What are we doing? come on.
  • 00:21:50.124 --> 00:21:51.459
  • [snaps fingers]
  • 00:21:51.459 --> 00:21:53.894
  • And there's something in genesis, god said that, "as long
  • 00:21:53.894 --> 00:21:56.130
  • As the earth endures, seed time and harvest."
  • 00:21:56.130 --> 00:22:00.201
  • No, i had the privilege of growing up in a bit of a
  • 00:22:00.201 --> 00:22:02.370
  • Rural setting.
  • 00:22:02.370 --> 00:22:03.704
  • Murfreesboro used to be different.
  • 00:22:03.704 --> 00:22:06.874
  • And so i got to plant some things.
  • 00:22:06.874 --> 00:22:10.344
  • And you know, you can't hurry that.
  • 00:22:10.344 --> 00:22:12.680
  • I love summertime vegetables in tennessee.
  • 00:22:12.680 --> 00:22:17.184
  • But it's just hard to get good tennessee tomatoes much before
  • 00:22:17.184 --> 00:22:20.254
  • July 4th.
  • 00:22:20.254 --> 00:22:22.523
  • Because if you plant them in february, they're gonna freeze.
  • 00:22:22.523 --> 00:22:25.993
  • And you gotta wait until you're not gonna have any more frost
  • 00:22:25.993 --> 00:22:28.362
  • And maybe you'll get it right one year so you plant every
  • 00:22:28.362 --> 00:22:30.431
  • February if you want, but you're gonna lose more tomatoes than
  • 00:22:30.431 --> 00:22:32.700
  • You grow.
  • 00:22:32.700 --> 00:22:34.902
  • Seedtime and harvest and if you're trying to grow oak trees,
  • 00:22:34.902 --> 00:22:37.238
  • That's a whole different discussion.
  • 00:22:37.238 --> 00:22:40.541
  • I like trees.
  • 00:22:40.541 --> 00:22:42.143
  • I love big, beautiful trees.
  • 00:22:42.143 --> 00:22:43.477
  • They're amazing to me.
  • 00:22:43.477 --> 00:22:44.845
  • They're expressions of the power of god and i just like trees,
  • 00:22:44.845 --> 00:22:48.449
  • But oak trees.
  • 00:22:48.449 --> 00:22:55.022
  • Seedtime and harvest.
  • 00:22:55.022 --> 00:22:56.957
  • Jesus used the imagery.
  • 00:22:56.957 --> 00:22:58.526
  • He said you'll receive 100 times as much, as much as what?
  • 00:22:58.526 --> 00:23:02.163
  • As much as you sacrifice, as much as you plant.
  • 00:23:02.163 --> 00:23:06.100
  • Oh, and he said, and there'll be persecutions.
  • 00:23:06.100 --> 00:23:09.904
  • Seedtime and harvest means there's sacrifice.
  • 00:23:09.904 --> 00:23:12.006
  • You have to acquire the land, you have to prepare the land.
  • 00:23:12.006 --> 00:23:15.443
  • It's hard work.
  • 00:23:15.443 --> 00:23:16.777
  • Planting and cultivation is just hard work.
  • 00:23:16.777 --> 00:23:19.513
  • We have become a society that avoids work.
  • 00:23:19.513 --> 00:23:21.615
  • We don't wanna work.
  • 00:23:21.615 --> 00:23:23.651
  • We want to recreate, we want to play, we want to pursue our
  • 00:23:23.651 --> 00:23:26.554
  • Dreams and passions--folks, all the best things in life are on
  • 00:23:26.554 --> 00:23:29.523
  • The other side of difficult.
  • 00:23:29.523 --> 00:23:32.660
  • And that's true in the kingdom of god too.
  • 00:23:32.660 --> 00:23:35.696
  • And we've got this easy believism, bonhoeffer called it
  • 00:23:35.696 --> 00:23:38.766
  • Men without chests, sloppy grace.
  • 00:23:38.766 --> 00:23:43.671
  • I believe in the grace and the mercy of god.
  • 00:23:43.671 --> 00:23:45.406
  • I'm the poster child for those things, but i intend to be
  • 00:23:45.406 --> 00:23:48.509
  • Caught giving god my best, and i would invite you to a
  • 00:23:48.509 --> 00:23:51.178
  • Similar path.
  • 00:23:51.178 --> 00:23:53.314
  • He deserves nothing less than that.
  • 00:23:53.314 --> 00:23:56.183
  • He gave us his best.
  • 00:23:56.183 --> 00:23:59.920
  • So let's decide we're gonna do difficult.
  • 00:23:59.920 --> 00:24:02.990
  • That we don't want to leave any breakthroughs unexplored.
  • 00:24:02.990 --> 00:24:06.494
  • We are the beneficiaries of the grace of god.
  • 00:24:06.494 --> 00:24:08.796
  • I wanna look at one more narrative, and i'll do it
  • 00:24:08.796 --> 00:24:10.664
  • Quickly because i'm rattling on.
  • 00:24:10.664 --> 00:24:14.034
  • But you can't separate the grace of god.
  • 00:24:14.034 --> 00:24:16.370
  • The grace is undeserved blessing, unearned merit, things
  • 00:24:16.370 --> 00:24:20.274
  • That come to you that have nothing to do with merit.
  • 00:24:20.274 --> 00:24:22.743
  • If you earned it, it isn't grace.
  • 00:24:22.743 --> 00:24:25.446
  • And we are creatures of grace.
  • 00:24:25.446 --> 00:24:27.014
  • We stand in the grace of god.
  • 00:24:27.014 --> 00:24:30.351
  • Having said that, if we're going to live out the benefits of
  • 00:24:30.351 --> 00:24:33.721
  • Breakthroughs, it requires a response of us, and we reject
  • 00:24:33.721 --> 00:24:37.825
  • More than we accept.
  • 00:24:37.825 --> 00:24:40.861
  • We decline more breakthroughs typically than we accept.
  • 00:24:40.861 --> 00:24:45.065
  • In john chapter 9, we're introduced to a man who's
  • 00:24:45.065 --> 00:24:47.334
  • Born blind.
  • 00:24:47.334 --> 00:24:49.637
  • And jesus extends to him an opportunity for healing.
  • 00:24:49.637 --> 00:24:53.407
  • It's uninvited.
  • 00:24:53.407 --> 00:24:54.742
  • The man doesn't ask.
  • 00:24:54.742 --> 00:24:56.110
  • This isn't bartimaeus that screams loudly enough, "have
  • 00:24:56.110 --> 00:24:58.879
  • Mercy on me."
  • 00:24:58.879 --> 00:25:00.214
  • This man says nothing.
  • 00:25:00.214 --> 00:25:01.582
  • He doesn't ask jesus.
  • 00:25:01.582 --> 00:25:04.818
  • The disciples draw jesus's attention to him.
  • 00:25:04.818 --> 00:25:08.255
  • And jesus, it seems at first glance, almost makes a mockery
  • 00:25:08.255 --> 00:25:11.592
  • Of him.
  • 00:25:11.592 --> 00:25:12.927
  • He smears mud on his face.
  • 00:25:12.927 --> 00:25:15.629
  • And then he tells him to go wash in the pool of siloam.
  • 00:25:15.629 --> 00:25:18.465
  • Siloam's at the lowest point in the city of jerusalem.
  • 00:25:18.465 --> 00:25:20.868
  • Jerusalem is a city built on hills, and siloam is the water
  • 00:25:20.868 --> 00:25:24.238
  • Source at the lowest point in the city.
  • 00:25:24.238 --> 00:25:26.941
  • And so jesus is sending a blind man that he's just smeared mud
  • 00:25:26.941 --> 00:25:29.944
  • On his face on a journey through a very crowded city.
  • 00:25:29.944 --> 00:25:35.316
  • Without explanation, he just says go and wash.
  • 00:25:35.316 --> 00:25:39.653
  • And in the understatement of scripture, it says the man went
  • 00:25:39.653 --> 00:25:41.822
  • And washed and he came home seeing.
  • 00:25:41.822 --> 00:25:45.292
  • Allen: i wanna pray with you before we go that god will give
  • 00:25:45.292 --> 00:25:47.728
  • Us a revelation of himself beyond church, beyond just
  • 00:25:47.728 --> 00:25:52.199
  • Information, a revelation, something beyond study to help
  • 00:25:52.199 --> 00:25:55.769
  • Us understand who god is and his love for us.
  • 00:25:55.769 --> 00:25:58.505
  • Let's pray.
  • 00:25:58.505 --> 00:25:59.873
  • Father, i pray that you would give us a spirit of wisdom and
  • 00:25:59.873 --> 00:26:02.276
  • Revelation that we might know you better far beyond sermons or
  • 00:26:02.276 --> 00:26:05.980
  • Church or bible studies or small groups, by the spirit of god,
  • 00:26:05.980 --> 00:26:09.917
  • Give us an understanding of your majesty and your power in
  • 00:26:09.917 --> 00:26:13.287
  • Jesus's name, amen.
  • 00:26:13.287 --> 00:26:15.322
  • God bless you.
  • 00:26:15.322 --> 00:26:17.925
  • Allen: and when i read my bible, i don't read it primarily
  • 00:26:22.062 --> 00:26:24.732
  • For information.
  • 00:26:24.732 --> 00:26:26.066
  • It's not just about facts and figures and dates and how to
  • 00:26:26.066 --> 00:26:28.702
  • Spell nebuchadnezzar and how many tribes they were and where
  • 00:26:28.702 --> 00:26:31.238
  • They fit in the land.
  • 00:26:31.238 --> 00:26:32.606
  • I mean, i like all that stuff, but i read my bible to
  • 00:26:32.606 --> 00:26:35.342
  • Be transformed.
  • 00:26:35.342 --> 00:26:36.944
  • I recognize i need the power of god at work in my life, so the
  • 00:26:36.944 --> 00:26:40.314
  • Characters of the bible become more than shadowy historical
  • 00:26:40.314 --> 00:26:43.550
  • People, they become my friends or my heroes.
  • 00:26:43.550 --> 00:26:46.286
  • We've put together a tool, it's "lessons from paul."
  • 00:26:46.286 --> 00:26:49.356
  • It's a 90-day devotional.
  • 00:26:49.356 --> 00:26:51.325
  • It's really gleaned from some of my favorite writings from the
  • 00:26:51.325 --> 00:26:54.328
  • Apostle paul, you know, he begins as an angry, murderous
  • 00:26:54.328 --> 00:26:57.698
  • Man and becomes one of the most powerful advocates for jesus
  • 00:26:57.698 --> 00:27:01.435
  • That our world has ever known.
  • 00:27:01.435 --> 00:27:02.903
  • Well, i want that kind of transformation in my life to
  • 00:27:02.903 --> 00:27:05.939
  • Move from the place i am to be more effective for the purposes
  • 00:27:05.939 --> 00:27:08.609
  • Of the kingdom of god.
  • 00:27:08.609 --> 00:27:10.110
  • I think the tool will help you in the midst of whatever your
  • 00:27:10.110 --> 00:27:12.379
  • Circumstances, persecution, triumph, "lessons from paul,"
  • 00:27:12.379 --> 00:27:16.050
  • It'll give you a pathway forward to cooperate with god and get to
  • 00:27:16.050 --> 00:27:19.420
  • A better outcome.
  • 00:27:19.420 --> 00:27:20.754
  • I think you'll enjoy the devotional.
  • 00:27:20.754 --> 00:27:22.156
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:22.656 --> 00:27:22.656