How can we know what God wants us to do with our lives? Psalm 143 echoes the heart-cry of man, "teach me to do Your will, for You are my God." Throughout Scripture, we find the keys to living in God's perfect will—prayer, thanksgiving, and supernatural joy. | TBN Prayer Line: 714-731-1000
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#Faith
#Peace
#Purpose
#WordofGod
#Dedication/Devotion
#Encouragement
#Joy
#Doubt
#Fear
#Meditation
#IdentityinChrist
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#Wisdom
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Better Together | How to Know God's Will - Episode 1108 | October 22, 2025
- If you're wondering how to know god's will for your life,
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- You're not alone.
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- And the answer is simpler than you might think.
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- Come on, let's talk about it.
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- ♪♪
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- So this is my 20th year in church ministry.
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- Yay! congratulations.
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- Congratulations.
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- I feel like i'm still like a baby in ministry.
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- I feel like the thing that i see the most the past couple of
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- Years that stumbles a lot of believers is the question of
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- What does god want for my life?
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- It's the question that leads to so much regret for some,
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- Being stuck for others.
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- I feel as though we kind of treat a lot of our life
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- Decisions as if, like, we have
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- To have a burning bush for everything.
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- What color am i going to wear?
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- Who am i going to get married to?
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- It would be lot easier. right.
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- Wouldn't it be?
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- And it really stumbles
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- A lot of believers, and i could really relate.
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- I know, even for myself, i've made life choices where i spent
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- Near a decade once, like really being hung up and regretful
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- About having had moved from one place to another.
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- I felt like it was a little too early.
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- I wondered if i heard god right, you know, and i spent a
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- Lot of years in regret and shame.
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- Um, and i feel as though i've spoken to a lot of women that
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- Have felt the same.
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- Like, i regret doing this.
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- I thought i heard god right.
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- And it kind of leaves us in this holding pattern sometimes,
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- Where we're afraid to make choices because we're afraid to
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- Get it wrong.
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- And what does god's will feel like?
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- What does it look like?
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- I know, um, when when it was 2020, when we were starting to
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- Plant a church and the whole world closed down,
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- Um, all our plans went out the window.
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- I remember there was kind of a
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- Crossroads where we needed a home.
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- We needed a team.
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- We needed funding.
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- We needed basically everything
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- To survive and to start a church.
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- But the only thing that my husband and i felt like was
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- God's directive was do nothing.
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- And you know, when you have four children and you're in
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- A global crisis,
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- That sounds like the dumbest thing to do.
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- You know, if anything, the choice that made the most sense
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- Was fold and just get like a job at another church
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- Or something like that.
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- It almost felt like the most reasonable thing.
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- For weeks, my husband and i labored in prayer.
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- Oh, what's the right choice?
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- And we didn't want to get it wrong.
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- And that was the biggest fear.
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- We don't want to get it wrong because so much is on the line.
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- The thing that set us free was upon really processing it.
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- My husband kind of came to me and was like, you know,
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- I don't hear one directive aside from just do nothing.
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- It makes absolutely no sense.
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- We could be wrong.
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- But is god the kind of father that would penalize us for
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- Trying to hear his voice with
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- All our hearts, and to know his will
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- The best that we can, and
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- Possibly getting it a little off?
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- Like, would he really penalize us in that moment of mystery,
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- In that moment of confusion, and in a way, lack of clarity?
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- The only thing that was clear was the god that we knew.
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- And i feel as though, you know, in those moments where you're
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- Not in those situations, god is always teaching us who he is,
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- Right. god is always instilling his character
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- And his goodness in our hearts.
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- But it really comes to the test when there is no clarity.
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- And so in that moment, we decided, okay, we're going to
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- Really walk by faith and really
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- Go by this decision and just do nothing.
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- And what we did was we did communion with our children
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- Every night, our children who
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- Were not allowed to go anywhere.
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- And and we just felt like, okay, what can we do aside from
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- Just adoring god?
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- You know, and it's so funny because my husband and i were
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- We were in fear and trembling during those evenings, like
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- We're packing our boxes to go nowhere.
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- And, um, we're like, god, is he even going to do anything?
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- Did we get it wrong? did we get it right?
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- But it's so interesting because our children, they were just-- it
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- Was an adventure for them.
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- Faith is so fun to kids and it's just
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- Torment to adults that learned
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- How to be afraid and doubt god's character, you know?
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- Yeah. um, but it was such a
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- Learning point for us. at the end,
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- God miraculously did, uh, provide for us a home.
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- It was in the very town we planted a church in,
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- And god really moved. and you know what?
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- Everything my children prayed for during that time was
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- In that house.
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- Should have taught them to pray for, like, $1 billion, you know.
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- But who's counting?
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- I think it was really a teaching moment for me, because
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- I realized sometimes we place upon ourselves almost this
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- Unhealthy standard, an impossible standard sometimes
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- Where we feel like this is the only way that i will receive
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- God's confirmation and affirmation.
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- And unless god like, makes it so obvious to me that i will
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- Not make a choice.
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- So a lot of people are stuck or stuck in regret--
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- Yes. because of that standard.
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- But i know, at least from my experience, i realize now that
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- It's a lot simpler than we make it out to be.
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- If you feel stuck, i want you to do the last thing you felt
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- God told you to do.
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- Just do the last thing you feel like he said to you to do.
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- Keep moving.
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- Keep-- be about your father's business.
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- You know, we can't just get stuck in fear.
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- I think it's fear of failure that we, um, get stuck in
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- That if i do that,
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- And what if god doesn't do it
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- Like i think it's going to work out?
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- You know what?
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- That's happened a million times to us.
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- You believe in something, you feel like you've asked god, and
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- God has told you a direction to take, and it doesn't turn out
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- The way you think, that's okay.
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- I love how charles stanley always said,
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- He said, you be obedient, you obey god and leave the
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- Consequences to him.
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- You are covered. step out in faith.
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- Do what you feel the lord's called you to do.
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- You make that step. god will meet you there.
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- There is no failure in christ.
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- He sees your faith and that is seed in the ground.
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- I would love to hear from you all.
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- Have you ever gone through something like that?
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- What does knowing god's will look like for you?
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- So i was walking through the mall just a little while ago,
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- Maybe a few weeks ago, and i was kind of in a bit of a hurry
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- Because i needed to get home.
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- I knew that my little doggy, maggie, needed to go out and
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- Use the bathroom.
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- And so i'm hurrying and i'm very kind of focused.
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- But this lady came out of a store, and when she saw me, she
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- Kind of grabbed my arm and stopped me.
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- And she said, i think i know who you are.
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- And then she said, okay, here's my question.
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- How do i find the will of god?
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- You mean that's a big question in the middle of a mall?
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- And it was interesting because we ended up having quite a
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- Conversation because i said, a, i don't think it's lost.
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- You know, i think we think it's this mysterious thing.
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- How do i find it? i know it's lost.
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- And i shared with her something that i learned years ago, one
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- Of the kind of early church fathers that i really
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- Feel an affinity to and love is ambrose of milan.
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- He was alive in the fourth century, and there were so many
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- Things he said that have left an impact on me.
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- And one of the things i shared with her is, like he said, when
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- We pray, we're talking to god.
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- When we read his word, we're listening.
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- And and i think, you know, that's interesting.
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- We have two ears and one mouth.
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- Probably supposed to listen more than we talk.
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- But i said to her, that's one of the ways that i
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- Know the will of god.
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- It's just i open god's word and i listen.
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- You know, i think sometimes we think, like-- i was brought up
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- In a little baptist church where you did your quiet time,
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- And that was you having, you know, you brush your teeth
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- And quiet time. you've done it for the day,
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- Not understanding that we have this living love letter from
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- God and that when we feel lost or little, not sure where we're
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- Going, we open up and we listen.
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- We listen to the power of the word of god
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- And we take the next step.
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- So does finding the will of god,
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- Is that a confusing principle, do you think,
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- For for any of you?
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- I mean, what have you learned in the process of that being
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- Much more simple?
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- Well, i think people look at it as a moving target, obviously.
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- And i think we complicate it beyond what it needs to be.
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- But i have gotten to a place, um, just because of what
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- I've been through,
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- I used to, when i was a kid
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- Think of the will of god being like these big touchstones,
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- Like benchmarks that i would hit, that he would show me.
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- And, okay, he's going to show me before i get--
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- It's like a road sign.
- 00:10:07.830 --> 00:10:09.265
- And the older i've gotten and things coming up on the road
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- Like cancer that i didn't expect,
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- Allowed me to begin to start seeing it as a lot more of a
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- Daily will rather than like
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- This, you know, these huge guideposts that would come
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- Every hundred miles or so.
- 00:10:25.781 --> 00:10:28.017
- And so even to this day, i mean, i've gotten really it's
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- Pretty rudimentary with it, but
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- Um, like yesterday was my day off.
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- And even on my day off, i'll go, lord, where am i
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- Supposed to be today?
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- I know that sounds religious, but it isn't because i'm like,
- 00:10:42.832 --> 00:10:46.435
- I could go to home goods and i could buy rugs.
- 00:10:46.435 --> 00:10:49.438
- I could decorate this room, or i could work on this message.
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- Um, where am i meant to be today?
- 00:10:53.442 --> 00:10:55.177
- Because what i've learned is that the day-- this happened to
- 00:10:55.177 --> 00:10:59.248
- Me. i go shopping and i am knee deep in throw pillows, and a
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- Woman comes behind me and says,
- 00:11:04.553 --> 00:11:06.188
- Have you been on better together?
- 00:11:06.188 --> 00:11:07.990
- Oh.
- 00:11:07.990 --> 00:11:09.258
- And she begins to pour out her heart and tell me her story.
- 00:11:09.258 --> 00:11:11.994
- And i was able to pray for her.
- 00:11:11.994 --> 00:11:13.763
- And what's interesting about that is i feel okay if god will
- 00:11:13.763 --> 00:11:18.134
- Lead me.
- 00:11:18.134 --> 00:11:19.135
- It isn't all the big things i'm looking for.
- 00:11:19.135 --> 00:11:22.471
- His will is in all of these encounters with his body,
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- With his people.
- 00:11:26.909 --> 00:11:29.044
- God's will for your life is often bigger
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- Than just you
- 00:11:31.046 --> 00:11:32.214
- Because god is a redeeming god.
- 00:11:32.214 --> 00:11:34.216
- We are supporting characters to his story.
- 00:11:34.216 --> 00:11:38.053
- He is the main character.
- 00:11:38.053 --> 00:11:39.655
- And so we revolve around what he is doing
- 00:11:39.655 --> 00:11:42.491
- On this earth.
- 00:11:42.491 --> 00:11:43.659
- And so god is always doing a redeeming work.
- 00:11:43.659 --> 00:11:46.529
- And he longs to do it with our participation.
- 00:11:46.529 --> 00:11:49.965
- And so i know sometimes we feel like it's just about our lives,
- 00:11:49.965 --> 00:11:53.435
- When actually god is eager.
- 00:11:53.435 --> 00:11:55.237
- To use your life to
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- Bring healing, hope, and light into this world.
- 00:11:57.072 --> 00:12:01.377
- You know, i'm on this big church history research quest
- 00:12:01.377 --> 00:12:05.915
- Right now, and i really wanted to find out through the
- 00:12:05.915 --> 00:12:08.551
- Protestant movement how we got to believe what we believe.
- 00:12:08.551 --> 00:12:11.654
- And i learned through some of my ancestors who were some of
- 00:12:11.654 --> 00:12:14.924
- The first quakers, that i didn't realize
- 00:12:14.924 --> 00:12:17.092
- Quakers were among the first protestants that ever believed
- 00:12:17.092 --> 00:12:20.029
- God spoke to the individual. wow.
- 00:12:20.029 --> 00:12:22.398
- Before that, no one was ever taught that god speaks to
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- Individuals outside of the torah, where we know he did
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- Choose to speak to a prophet
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- For each generation or to a patriarch.
- 00:12:31.140 --> 00:12:34.043
- So this idea is relatively new in the history of mankind for
- 00:12:34.043 --> 00:12:41.150
- Us to be seeking as believers, god speaking a direct word.
- 00:12:41.150 --> 00:12:47.223
- And i think that's powerful in itself that we seek,
- 00:12:47.223 --> 00:12:51.293
- Okay, god, what do you want for me?
- 00:12:51.293 --> 00:12:53.796
- So i do know through his word it's like, okay, you want to
- 00:12:53.796 --> 00:12:56.599
- Know what god wants? read.
- 00:12:56.599 --> 00:12:58.334
- This is what he expects out of us.
- 00:12:58.334 --> 00:13:00.636
- His will is that we become more like jesus, that we
- 00:13:00.636 --> 00:13:05.908
- Look more like him.
- 00:13:05.908 --> 00:13:08.010
- So what are the things about my life that don't look like god?
- 00:13:08.010 --> 00:13:10.880
- That's how i find, what's the will of god?
- 00:13:10.880 --> 00:13:13.616
- This didn't sound like jesus when i said that.
- 00:13:13.616 --> 00:13:16.285
- This didn't look very much like jesus.
- 00:13:16.285 --> 00:13:18.554
- And the holy spirit begins to convict us of sin, which just
- 00:13:18.554 --> 00:13:23.459
- Means to miss the mark.
- 00:13:23.459 --> 00:13:25.027
- So i feel like finding the word of god--
- 00:13:25.027 --> 00:13:27.396
- I know that finding the will of god through his word, his will,
- 00:13:27.396 --> 00:13:32.201
- His word, his way all work
- 00:13:32.201 --> 00:13:34.303
- Together and also surrounding myself--
- 00:13:34.303 --> 00:13:37.840
- The way i found the will of god most often is reading the word
- 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:42.411
- And then getting confirmation through--
- 00:13:42.411 --> 00:13:45.114
- The bible says that wisdom is found in the counsel of many.
- 00:13:45.114 --> 00:13:48.417
- And having people i trust around me that do listen for
- 00:13:48.417 --> 00:13:52.688
- The will of god for my life.
- 00:13:52.688 --> 00:13:55.024
- Everyone can have that. relationships,
- 00:13:55.024 --> 00:13:57.593
- You can have a small group.
- 00:13:57.593 --> 00:13:59.228
- You can have your church community where you surrender
- 00:13:59.228 --> 00:14:03.065
- And submit and say, this is these are some things i'm
- 00:14:03.065 --> 00:14:05.234
- Praying about, this, this or this.
- 00:14:05.234 --> 00:14:06.468
- I've had a lot of young people
- 00:14:06.468 --> 00:14:07.870
- Come to me, and do i go to college?
- 00:14:07.870 --> 00:14:10.506
- I'm struggling with this decision.
- 00:14:10.506 --> 00:14:12.274
- Do i go to this school?
- 00:14:12.274 --> 00:14:13.275
- Do i take a year off and do this internship?
- 00:14:13.275 --> 00:14:15.744
- And i love when you're asked. yeah.
- 00:14:15.744 --> 00:14:18.547
- Because what that undergirds is there's a seeking.
- 00:14:18.547 --> 00:14:22.117
- And i don't believe that god ever denies those who seek.
- 00:14:22.117 --> 00:14:26.388
- You're seeking my will, you're going to find it.
- 00:14:26.388 --> 00:14:28.657
- My dad used to always tell me this.
- 00:14:28.657 --> 00:14:30.092
- You can't miss the will of god when you're seeking it, right?
- 00:14:30.092 --> 00:14:33.829
- If you can wake up every day and say, god, i want your will
- 00:14:33.829 --> 00:14:37.132
- Above mine, convict me of any ways in which my will would
- 00:14:37.132 --> 00:14:41.570
- Undermine yours, show it to me.
- 00:14:41.570 --> 00:14:44.840
- Do you want this for me,
- 00:14:44.840 --> 00:14:45.841
- Or is this something i want for myself?
- 00:14:45.841 --> 00:14:48.010
- I really think it's a lot more breadcrumbs than it is
- 00:14:48.010 --> 00:14:51.580
- Big road signs. so good.
- 00:14:51.580 --> 00:14:54.850
- The seeking is so beautiful.
- 00:14:54.850 --> 00:14:58.387
- I mean, the seekers, no matter where they are,
- 00:14:58.387 --> 00:15:02.157
- I love a seeker.
- 00:15:02.157 --> 00:15:03.859
- I love someone trying to find god somehow, some way.
- 00:15:03.859 --> 00:15:07.863
- Because it says, you seek me, you will find me.
- 00:15:07.863 --> 00:15:11.100
- And so i think that's a beautiful thing.
- 00:15:11.100 --> 00:15:14.536
- So maybe it feels like your time of pursuing the lord,
- 00:15:14.536 --> 00:15:17.272
- Reading the bible is dry or lifeless feels routine
- 00:15:17.272 --> 00:15:20.542
- Or like drudgery to me.
- 00:15:20.542 --> 00:15:23.178
- When i do that, i realize, oh, i think i lost the
- 00:15:23.178 --> 00:15:27.883
- Man behind the page.
- 00:15:27.883 --> 00:15:29.518
- I lost sight of jesus.
- 00:15:29.518 --> 00:15:32.287
- And i've come for whatever reason
- 00:15:32.287 --> 00:15:36.091
- And i'm missing him here, to me
- 00:15:36.091 --> 00:15:37.726
- What i try to do is i pause.
- 00:15:37.726 --> 00:15:39.795
- I invite the holy spirit.
- 00:15:39.795 --> 00:15:40.763
- Would you illuminate jesus?
- 00:15:40.763 --> 00:15:42.931
- Would you help me find jesus here in this story?
- 00:15:42.931 --> 00:15:46.101
- Keep me from just religious checking off boxes just to do
- 00:15:46.101 --> 00:15:50.406
- It and help me encounter his face.
- 00:15:50.406 --> 00:15:53.042
- And then i ask the lord, would you ignite my curiosity?
- 00:15:53.042 --> 00:15:56.578
- Would you teach me to be childlike, to to find you in
- 00:15:56.578 --> 00:16:00.716
- This story, to be curious, to ask questions, to dive in.
- 00:16:00.716 --> 00:16:04.620
- When i have those things turned on,
- 00:16:04.620 --> 00:16:07.689
- Oftentimes i begin to enjoy this experience more when i'm
- 00:16:07.689 --> 00:16:12.428
- Not just doing it because it's something i think i need to,
- 00:16:12.428 --> 00:16:15.431
- But i'm expecting to find jesus there in those pages,
- 00:16:15.431 --> 00:16:19.701
- I can feel the shift in the change.
- 00:16:19.701 --> 00:16:22.538
- I'm not just doing it to check something off.
- 00:16:22.538 --> 00:16:25.641
- I'm approaching the word to find jesus, and i won't
- 00:16:25.641 --> 00:16:29.445
- Stop until i do.
- 00:16:29.445 --> 00:16:32.014
- We want to hear from you.
- 00:16:32.014 --> 00:16:34.116
- Connect with us on social media
- 00:16:34.116 --> 00:16:36.118
- To ask a question or share a prayer request.
- 00:16:36.118 --> 00:16:39.655
- Let's build one another up and get better together.
- 00:16:39.655 --> 00:16:43.826
- Let's keep the conversation going.
- 00:16:43.826 --> 00:16:46.128
- You can find the better together podcast on your
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- Favorite listening platform.
- 00:16:48.497 --> 00:16:50.299
- Subscribe today!
- 00:16:50.299 --> 00:16:55.000
- Subscribe today!
- 00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:55.105
- In first thessalonians 5:16 it says,
- 00:16:58.308 --> 00:17:11.588
- Well, there you go.
- 00:17:11.588 --> 00:17:13.623
- That's plain as day. yes it is.
- 00:17:13.623 --> 00:17:15.625
- Rejoice always in everything. give thanks.
- 00:17:15.625 --> 00:17:19.629
- That's praying without ceasing
- 00:17:19.629 --> 00:17:21.164
- Is just having that attitude of prayer.
- 00:17:21.164 --> 00:17:23.433
- Holy spirit, you're with me today.
- 00:17:23.433 --> 00:17:25.468
- It's that daily in communication.
- 00:17:25.468 --> 00:17:28.371
- David said, where can i go from the presence of the lord?
- 00:17:28.371 --> 00:17:32.809
- Where can i go from your presence. if i go to the
- 00:17:32.809 --> 00:17:35.645
- Uttermost parts of the earth, there you are.
- 00:17:35.645 --> 00:17:38.348
- If i make my bed in hell, no matter what hell you make for
- 00:17:38.348 --> 00:17:41.284
- Yourself, the holy spirit is there with you.
- 00:17:41.284 --> 00:17:44.821
- And so that daily walk with god where i can say anything at any
- 00:17:44.821 --> 00:17:50.460
- Time to the holy spirit,
- 00:17:50.460 --> 00:17:52.395
- That communication, that rejoicing, giving thanks
- 00:17:52.395 --> 00:17:55.465
- In all things.
- 00:17:55.465 --> 00:17:57.000
- And it says if you seek first
- 00:17:57.000 --> 00:17:58.501
- The kingdom, then all these things--
- 00:17:58.501 --> 00:18:00.603
- Yeah, yeah. fall into place.
- 00:18:00.603 --> 00:18:02.071
- All the things, all the things that i'm supposed to do.
- 00:18:02.071 --> 00:18:06.075
- All the things that i'm supposed--
- 00:18:06.075 --> 00:18:07.677
- All the things that i need is there for me.
- 00:18:07.677 --> 00:18:11.714
- And so i think you automatically walk in
- 00:18:11.714 --> 00:18:13.683
- The will of god. yeah, yeah.
- 00:18:13.683 --> 00:18:16.319
- That's so good.
- 00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:17.554
- I feel like sometimes if i have, like, a goal in mind, i
- 00:18:17.554 --> 00:18:20.156
- Will stop at nothing to just, like, get to the goal.
- 00:18:20.156 --> 00:18:22.725
- It doesn't matter how i get there, it doesn't matter--
- 00:18:22.725 --> 00:18:24.627
- I'm like, i can be a little competitive.
- 00:18:24.627 --> 00:18:26.529
- So i feel like sometimes, like the lord's like i'm not showing
- 00:18:26.529 --> 00:18:29.532
- You where you're going because you'll bulldoze everybody.
- 00:18:29.532 --> 00:18:32.535
- I care about the how for you, kalley.
- 00:18:32.535 --> 00:18:34.804
- Not necessarily just the what, but i think, like, i feel like
- 00:18:34.804 --> 00:18:38.541
- I'm kind of in good company.
- 00:18:38.541 --> 00:18:39.876
- I like to think this a little bit.
- 00:18:39.876 --> 00:18:41.444
- I look at john 14 and jesus has just washed his disciples feet,
- 00:18:41.444 --> 00:18:45.648
- Like they're in it. they've laid down their nets.
- 00:18:45.648 --> 00:18:47.650
- They're committed. right.
- 00:18:47.650 --> 00:18:48.785
- And he like, throws in this little statement where
- 00:18:48.785 --> 00:18:51.020
- He's like, um, i'm leaving, but love one another this and that
- 00:18:51.020 --> 00:18:55.892
- And like, you know, no one's
- 00:18:55.892 --> 00:18:57.560
- Listening to whatever else he's saying.
- 00:18:57.560 --> 00:18:59.329
- They're like, sorry, what was that?
- 00:18:59.329 --> 00:19:00.730
- Right, right.
- 00:19:00.730 --> 00:19:01.664
- Cause we left our jobs and our lives.
- 00:19:01.664 --> 00:19:03.066
- And so they circle back.
- 00:19:03.066 --> 00:19:04.834
- Simon peter is like, where exactly can we get an address?
- 00:19:04.834 --> 00:19:07.837
- Can we get a destination point?
- 00:19:07.837 --> 00:19:09.138
- What is the will? yeah.
- 00:19:09.138 --> 00:19:10.673
- Can i can i know where we're going?
- 00:19:10.673 --> 00:19:12.942
- And he says i am the way.
- 00:19:12.942 --> 00:19:17.046
- I am the truth.
- 00:19:17.046 --> 00:19:18.848
- I am the life.
- 00:19:18.848 --> 00:19:19.616
- We ask for a map.
- 00:19:19.616 --> 00:19:21.150
- Yes. i want to know an address.
- 00:19:21.150 --> 00:19:23.152
- Give me an address.
- 00:19:23.152 --> 00:19:24.187
- I'll plug it in. i'll do it the way i want to.
- 00:19:24.187 --> 00:19:26.022
- I'll get there fast.
- 00:19:26.022 --> 00:19:27.056
- I can, or maybe i have to make
- 00:19:27.056 --> 00:19:28.858
- Some little stops along the way.
- 00:19:28.858 --> 00:19:30.260
- I'll run some errands and i'll get there.
- 00:19:30.260 --> 00:19:31.628
- And he's like, there's no-- like, burn your maps, tear up.
- 00:19:31.628 --> 00:19:34.631
- There's no address. there's me. it is me.
- 00:19:34.631 --> 00:19:37.734
- Wow. jesus christ, the way, the truth and the life.
- 00:19:37.734 --> 00:19:40.903
- What's the will of god?
- 00:19:40.903 --> 00:19:41.904
- Stay close to jesus, right.
- 00:19:41.904 --> 00:19:44.040
- He is the representation.
- 00:19:44.040 --> 00:19:44.974
- I only do what i see the father doing.
- 00:19:44.974 --> 00:19:47.010
- So how did he get to the will of god?
- 00:19:47.010 --> 00:19:49.178
- He knew his father and he was listening.
- 00:19:49.178 --> 00:19:51.714
- Just like you're saying, checking in.
- 00:19:51.714 --> 00:19:53.483
- Where are we today?
- 00:19:53.483 --> 00:19:54.484
- What are you saying?
- 00:19:54.484 --> 00:19:55.551
- This prayer that we're taught to pray,
- 00:19:55.551 --> 00:19:57.120
- The lord's prayer is not,
- 00:19:57.120 --> 00:19:58.655
- You know, what's what's my will,
- 00:19:58.655 --> 00:20:00.623
- Show me your will for me,
- 00:20:00.623 --> 00:20:02.025
- But thy kingdom come.
- 00:20:02.025 --> 00:20:03.893
- Thy will be done.
- 00:20:03.893 --> 00:20:05.361
- Yes. so what's the will of god?
- 00:20:05.361 --> 00:20:06.829
- We find it in jesus christ.
- 00:20:06.829 --> 00:20:08.765
- And instead of the destination, the goal--
- 00:20:08.765 --> 00:20:10.767
- It's not that things don't come up in our life where
- 00:20:10.767 --> 00:20:12.535
- We need to make decisions.
- 00:20:12.535 --> 00:20:14.270
- Do i go left? do i go right?
- 00:20:14.270 --> 00:20:15.538
- These are normal.
- 00:20:15.538 --> 00:20:17.140
- But what i love is he gives us himself.
- 00:20:17.140 --> 00:20:20.043
- That's the promise.
- 00:20:20.043 --> 00:20:21.277
- He says, you have one thing that you need, and it's me.
- 00:20:21.277 --> 00:20:23.579
- And i've poured myself out.
- 00:20:23.579 --> 00:20:24.781
- I've given you my spirit, the helper, along the way.
- 00:20:24.781 --> 00:20:28.751
- But the will of god is to stay close to the son, to know the
- 00:20:28.751 --> 00:20:32.488
- Father through him, to be guided by the holy spirit.
- 00:20:32.488 --> 00:20:35.224
- We actually have all we need for life and godliness here.
- 00:20:35.224 --> 00:20:38.528
- It's relational. i don't like it though.
- 00:20:38.528 --> 00:20:40.330
- I'm like, give me like-- how will i know? and get me there.
- 00:20:40.330 --> 00:20:43.333
- And then he and i get to deal with my panic about my
- 00:20:43.333 --> 00:20:46.602
- Ability to make a good decision or my confidence in him or--
- 00:20:46.602 --> 00:20:50.940
- And then it kind of comes out to all these other things that
- 00:20:50.940 --> 00:20:53.543
- That he wants to work out in my heart about trusting him or, or
- 00:20:53.543 --> 00:20:58.247
- If he trusts me, but actually he is the way.
- 00:20:58.247 --> 00:21:02.552
- He is the truth. he is life.
- 00:21:02.552 --> 00:21:04.354
- And it is just that simple.
- 00:21:04.354 --> 00:21:06.556
- These are the ways. this is the will of god for us.
- 00:21:06.556 --> 00:21:09.992
- What shifts when you stop pursuing a
- 00:21:09.992 --> 00:21:12.929
- Destination, and when you realize
- 00:21:12.929 --> 00:21:15.398
- That god himself
- 00:21:15.398 --> 00:21:16.999
- Is the way, is that you start really moving forward
- 00:21:16.999 --> 00:21:20.937
- Because sometimes we just really get stuck because we
- 00:21:20.937 --> 00:21:23.840
- Need the answer, we need the clarity.
- 00:21:23.840 --> 00:21:27.110
- We need the right decision to be made obvious to us.
- 00:21:27.110 --> 00:21:31.280
- And so in a way, we feel like that's the only permission we
- 00:21:31.280 --> 00:21:34.217
- Have to really live our lives and move on.
- 00:21:34.217 --> 00:21:37.954
- I think when we realize, no, the purpose of our lives is to
- 00:21:37.954 --> 00:21:41.190
- Know the presence of god intimately,
- 00:21:41.190 --> 00:21:44.293
- Authentically, and passionately.
- 00:21:44.293 --> 00:21:45.928
- Then you know that no matter where you are,
- 00:21:45.928 --> 00:21:48.598
- Whether you are in the promised
- 00:21:48.598 --> 00:21:49.799
- Land or in sinai or in the wilderness,
- 00:21:49.799 --> 00:21:53.603
- Wherever you are, you are still living out your purpose,
- 00:21:53.603 --> 00:21:57.774
- Which is to know him
- 00:21:57.774 --> 00:21:59.175
- Intimately, authentically, and passionately.
- 00:21:59.175 --> 00:22:02.278
- Somebody needs to write that down, to seek the guide
- 00:22:02.278 --> 00:22:04.647
- And not the map.
- 00:22:04.647 --> 00:22:06.082
- What you're saying right now, because we all want a map
- 00:22:06.082 --> 00:22:09.352
- That's just our flesh.
- 00:22:09.352 --> 00:22:10.286
- We want the one, two, three.
- 00:22:10.286 --> 00:22:11.888
- Tell me how to get there.
- 00:22:11.888 --> 00:22:13.156
- And i love how god lays it out when he's the guide
- 00:22:13.156 --> 00:22:16.726
- Like a scavenger hunt.
- 00:22:16.726 --> 00:22:18.394
- And every stone that you overturn,
- 00:22:18.394 --> 00:22:20.997
- Because seeking isn't the same
- 00:22:20.997 --> 00:22:22.565
- As listening or or looking alone.
- 00:22:22.565 --> 00:22:25.201
- We don't use the word seek very much anymore.
- 00:22:25.201 --> 00:22:27.537
- It's a biblical word.
- 00:22:27.537 --> 00:22:28.905
- So many people are,
- 00:22:28.905 --> 00:22:30.206
- I'm going to miss god's will for my life,
- 00:22:30.206 --> 00:22:33.009
- Like god is hiding his perfect will for me, just waiting to
- 00:22:33.009 --> 00:22:36.779
- Hit me over the head
- 00:22:36.779 --> 00:22:37.880
- And i'm going to marry the wrong person and live
- 00:22:37.880 --> 00:22:39.849
- In hell the rest of my life. yeah.
- 00:22:39.849 --> 00:22:41.584
- So i'm going to quit my job because i think i heard the
- 00:22:41.584 --> 00:22:45.154
- Voice of the lord say,
- 00:22:45.154 --> 00:22:46.322
- You're you're done here. yeah.
- 00:22:46.322 --> 00:22:48.591
- And i want you to go here.
- 00:22:48.591 --> 00:22:50.493
- Okay. is that a joke?
- 00:22:50.493 --> 00:22:52.762
- You know, or what is it?
- 00:22:52.762 --> 00:22:54.530
- But i think following the voice of the lord for your life is
- 00:22:54.530 --> 00:22:59.469
- Stepping out in faith.
- 00:22:59.469 --> 00:23:01.804
- And a lot of times that looks crazy for people.
- 00:23:01.804 --> 00:23:04.407
- Yeah, a lot of times your family doesn't understand it.
- 00:23:04.407 --> 00:23:06.909
- A lot of times your people around you don't understand it.
- 00:23:06.909 --> 00:23:10.079
- And there is wisdom and counsel.
- 00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:12.114
- But sometimes-- a lot of times i've looked at matt
- 00:23:12.114 --> 00:23:14.717
- And it's just like, it's just you and me.
- 00:23:14.717 --> 00:23:17.353
- Yes. yeah.
- 00:23:17.353 --> 00:23:18.588
- But it's just no one will understand this walk of faith
- 00:23:18.588 --> 00:23:22.758
- That we live.
- 00:23:22.758 --> 00:23:24.494
- Sometimes i say to myself, just
- 00:23:24.494 --> 00:23:28.464
- God, you just got to do what you got to do.
- 00:23:28.464 --> 00:23:31.000
- You know, it is what it is.
- 00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:32.201
- And you take the consequences.
- 00:23:32.201 --> 00:23:35.037
- We just walk in obedience, right?
- 00:23:35.037 --> 00:23:37.406
- I don't think you can ever fall
- 00:23:37.406 --> 00:23:38.941
- Stepping out in faith.
- 00:23:38.941 --> 00:23:40.910
- It might look like you fall to everybody else, but you
- 00:23:40.910 --> 00:23:43.212
- Only fall forward. yeah.
- 00:23:43.212 --> 00:23:44.847
- You never fail because god doesn't fail.
- 00:23:44.847 --> 00:23:48.551
- It's not in his character to let us fail.
- 00:23:48.551 --> 00:23:51.787
- And so he's not hiding it from us to pounce on us because we
- 00:23:51.787 --> 00:23:57.860
- Don't get it right.
- 00:23:57.860 --> 00:23:59.262
- And i think we have to take that out of our--
- 00:23:59.262 --> 00:24:01.797
- And surrendering.
- 00:24:01.797 --> 00:24:03.165
- Yeah. he's not hoping we miss it.
- 00:24:03.165 --> 00:24:05.234
- Yeah. that's not who he is.
- 00:24:05.234 --> 00:24:07.236
- Right. yeah.
- 00:24:07.236 --> 00:24:08.471
- And i love that we're all sharing kind of our go to bible
- 00:24:08.471 --> 00:24:10.973
- Verses here, you know, because really, it's when the word of
- 00:24:10.973 --> 00:24:15.177
- God is hidden in our hearts.
- 00:24:15.177 --> 00:24:16.879
- You know, his says in psalm 119 that his word is a
- 00:24:16.879 --> 00:24:20.182
- Lamp unto our feet.
- 00:24:20.182 --> 00:24:21.717
- And so when we are going through these dark paths, it's
- 00:24:21.717 --> 00:24:25.388
- His word that lights the way.
- 00:24:25.388 --> 00:24:27.823
- Um, i'm reminded of psalm one, where it says...
- 00:24:27.823 --> 00:24:48.844
- I mean this version in the niv it says blessed, but in the csb
- 00:24:48.844 --> 00:24:52.381
- Is oh, happy is the one, you know.
- 00:24:52.381 --> 00:24:56.852
- And it's so interesting because we're looking at this picture
- 00:24:56.852 --> 00:25:00.423
- Of a blessed, fulfilled and happy life.
- 00:25:00.423 --> 00:25:05.227
- And it's not in the summation of perfect decisions.
- 00:25:05.227 --> 00:25:11.233
- And i think that's where we really pressure ourselves.
- 00:25:11.233 --> 00:25:13.536
- We feel like our destiny is dependent on us making all the
- 00:25:13.536 --> 00:25:18.908
- Right choices, hearing god perfectly, and make sure that
- 00:25:18.908 --> 00:25:23.479
- We don't mess it up when actually our destiny, our life,
- 00:25:23.479 --> 00:25:28.918
- And how it turns out will be a testament of god's grace, not
- 00:25:28.918 --> 00:25:34.123
- By our perfect choices.
- 00:25:34.123 --> 00:25:35.925
- And you see, this person that is, oh, happy is the one.
- 00:25:35.925 --> 00:25:39.462
- The blessed one is not
- 00:25:39.462 --> 00:25:41.564
- The perfect one is not the one that makes all the right
- 00:25:41.564 --> 00:25:44.400
- Choices, but is the one that's not walking in the step of the
- 00:25:44.400 --> 00:25:48.938
- Wicked, not being influenced by the outside and listening to
- 00:25:48.938 --> 00:25:52.308
- The advice of the wicked or anything but is--
- 00:25:52.308 --> 00:25:56.145
- The meditation is on the word of god, you know.
- 00:25:56.145 --> 00:26:01.150
- And i think because it's so mundane every day, sometimes i
- 00:26:01.150 --> 00:26:06.522
- Think people think, oh, i need this burning bush experience to
- 00:26:06.522 --> 00:26:10.860
- Know god's will, when actually it's the everyday meditation of
- 00:26:10.860 --> 00:26:16.465
- God's word that will really illuminate what god's will
- 00:26:16.465 --> 00:26:20.369
- For your life is.
- 00:26:20.369 --> 00:26:22.905
- In scripture, we're
- 00:26:22.905 --> 00:26:23.939
- Told to meditate on the word of god, but how is
- 00:26:23.939 --> 00:26:26.375
- This different than other types of meditation?
- 00:26:26.375 --> 00:26:29.345
- There are meditations where you're supposed to clear your
- 00:26:29.345 --> 00:26:31.514
- Mind of all thought, and we know that an idle mind is
- 00:26:31.514 --> 00:26:36.018
- The devil's playground.
- 00:26:36.018 --> 00:26:37.553
- As it said, it's hard to just keep space with nothing there.
- 00:26:37.553 --> 00:26:42.291
- Nature abhors a vacuum, as said.
- 00:26:42.291 --> 00:26:45.494
- But god teaches us to meditate on his word.
- 00:26:45.494 --> 00:26:49.131
- Why? because his word is like our spiritual dna.
- 00:26:49.131 --> 00:26:53.369
- His word is the pattern for which we should live.
- 00:26:53.369 --> 00:26:57.773
- So when we meditate on his word, that means to take a
- 00:26:57.773 --> 00:27:00.476
- Scripture, might just take one verse,
- 00:27:00.476 --> 00:27:03.446
- And i wouldn't take a verse like he had a painful disease
- 00:27:03.446 --> 00:27:06.716
- In his loins or something like that, but encouraging verse
- 00:27:06.716 --> 00:27:10.219
- That you may find one of the psalms. even like psalm 23, is
- 00:27:10.219 --> 00:27:14.090
- A great example of that.
- 00:27:14.090 --> 00:27:15.958
- It talks about who the lord is to us as our shepherd.
- 00:27:15.958 --> 00:27:20.096
- Take that verse and meditate on that, and then think about how
- 00:27:20.096 --> 00:27:23.899
- Has god led me to green pastures?
- 00:27:23.899 --> 00:27:27.470
- How has his rod and his staff comforted me and began to
- 00:27:27.470 --> 00:27:32.108
- Journal and make a list of how has god met me in these places?
- 00:27:32.108 --> 00:27:36.011
- Maybe even how he's walked with me through the valley of the
- 00:27:36.011 --> 00:27:38.881
- Shadow of death, and you'll begin to worship through your
- 00:27:38.881 --> 00:27:42.485
- Meditation, which elevates
- 00:27:42.485 --> 00:27:44.653
- Everything about your perspective.
- 00:27:44.653 --> 00:27:46.822
- Your physical body falls in line with that.
- 00:27:46.822 --> 00:27:49.391
- Wherever your mind goes, the rest of you goes.
- 00:27:49.391 --> 00:27:52.461
- And this is why it's so powerful.
- 00:27:52.461 --> 00:27:54.296
- Because we can take god's
- 00:27:54.296 --> 00:27:55.664
- Perspective when we take his word.
- 00:27:55.664 --> 00:27:58.267
- And that's what we put as the forefront of the dna, so to
- 00:27:58.267 --> 00:28:02.471
- Speak, of our thought patterns.
- 00:28:02.471 --> 00:28:06.142
- I'm learning that obedience doesn't always mean that i'll
- 00:28:06.142 --> 00:28:08.878
- Understand what he asked me to do.
- 00:28:08.878 --> 00:28:11.447
- Right.
- 00:28:11.447 --> 00:28:12.414
- A couple of weeks ago, barry and i were--
- 00:28:12.414 --> 00:28:14.316
- We flew to los angeles just to take, like, five days, a little
- 00:28:14.316 --> 00:28:18.154
- Break by the by the ocean.
- 00:28:18.154 --> 00:28:20.356
- And when we flew into the airport, we got an uber to take
- 00:28:20.356 --> 00:28:23.159
- Us to the hotel because we
- 00:28:23.159 --> 00:28:24.160
- Didn't want to have to drive anywhere.
- 00:28:24.160 --> 00:28:25.961
- And while we're getting there, i feel the holy spirit say, i
- 00:28:25.961 --> 00:28:28.798
- Want you to pray for your driver.
- 00:28:28.798 --> 00:28:30.699
- And i'm like, okay, lord, i'll do it quietly.
- 00:28:30.699 --> 00:28:32.802
- And it's like, no, no, i actually would like once he
- 00:28:32.802 --> 00:28:35.738
- Stops, you pray for your driver.
- 00:28:35.738 --> 00:28:38.007
- So he pulls into the hotel and i said to him, sir, i would be
- 00:28:38.007 --> 00:28:42.378
- Really grateful if i could pray for you.
- 00:28:42.378 --> 00:28:44.446
- And he said, oh, okay.
- 00:28:44.446 --> 00:28:47.383
- So i pray, i feel god's telling me to pray for him.
- 00:28:47.383 --> 00:28:50.252
- And we get out of the car and take our bags in.
- 00:28:50.252 --> 00:28:52.822
- And barry was like, what was that?
- 00:28:52.822 --> 00:28:54.657
- And i said, i've absolutely no idea.
- 00:28:54.657 --> 00:28:57.026
- I just know that god said, pray for this man.
- 00:28:57.026 --> 00:28:59.962
- And the rest is up to the lord, you know.
- 00:28:59.962 --> 00:29:02.064
- Because i used to think if you're told to
- 00:29:02.064 --> 00:29:03.499
- Do something, you'll see-- the man
- 00:29:03.499 --> 00:29:05.134
- Will repent and things will happen.
- 00:29:05.134 --> 00:29:06.769
- And, but now i'm learning just that still gentle voice.
- 00:29:06.769 --> 00:29:11.073
- And you just obey.
- 00:29:11.073 --> 00:29:12.575
- And the rest is left up to god.
- 00:29:12.575 --> 00:29:14.743
- Yeah. and i love that. yeah, i love that.
- 00:29:14.743 --> 00:29:17.079
- Well, both your scripture and the one that you shared, both
- 00:29:17.079 --> 00:29:21.150
- Meditating on the word and rejoicing always,
- 00:29:21.150 --> 00:29:24.453
- Both are a challenge to step
- 00:29:24.453 --> 00:29:27.223
- Out of our perspective and into god's
- 00:29:27.223 --> 00:29:30.092
- Because it requires that you do that.
- 00:29:30.092 --> 00:29:31.527
- To rejoice and to meditate is you're replacing your thoughts
- 00:29:31.527 --> 00:29:36.165
- And your concerns,
- 00:29:36.165 --> 00:29:37.733
- And i think that's the easiest way to find the will
- 00:29:37.733 --> 00:29:40.069
- Of god, because i love how you said it was just you and matt
- 00:29:40.069 --> 00:29:42.872
- Sometimes, because even jesus was alone and wrestled with
- 00:29:42.872 --> 00:29:46.375
- God's will by himself.
- 00:29:46.375 --> 00:29:48.477
- And there are times when you don't have a counsel,
- 00:29:48.477 --> 00:29:51.080
- You don't have people.
- 00:29:51.080 --> 00:29:52.348
- And you really-- maybe god's will is presented to you in a
- 00:29:52.348 --> 00:29:55.618
- Way like it was to jesus as a dying, i don't want to do this.
- 00:29:55.618 --> 00:29:59.822
- Yeah, i know what that feels like.
- 00:29:59.822 --> 00:30:01.924
- Probably all of us,
- 00:30:01.924 --> 00:30:03.225
- If you walk with god very long, you know that he'll ask you to
- 00:30:03.225 --> 00:30:05.127
- Do things you're not comfortable with.
- 00:30:05.127 --> 00:30:06.929
- Yeah, but on the other side of that, there's beautiful reward.
- 00:30:06.929 --> 00:30:10.733
- There really is.
- 00:30:10.733 --> 00:30:12.034
- And i just want people to feel encouraged that, you know, it
- 00:30:12.034 --> 00:30:15.371
- Doesn't take long to walk with the lord to reap the fruit of
- 00:30:15.371 --> 00:30:18.741
- His faithfulness. he really is so faithful.
- 00:30:18.741 --> 00:30:21.911
- And you'll see him faithful to others by watching you just
- 00:30:21.911 --> 00:30:26.582
- Show up in the middle of the storm and continue to believe,
- 00:30:26.582 --> 00:30:31.387
- You know, and continue to trust him,
- 00:30:31.387 --> 00:30:34.056
- Continue to love him even though things haven't gone
- 00:30:34.056 --> 00:30:37.593
- The way that you want. i believe it's his delight.
- 00:30:37.593 --> 00:30:41.497
- The bible says to reveal his mysteries to us.
- 00:30:41.497 --> 00:30:45.701
- Absolutely. and i know god's will can be a mystery, and it
- 00:30:45.701 --> 00:30:48.804
- Can be something that we really wrestle with.
- 00:30:48.804 --> 00:30:52.308
- But it doesn't have to be so complicated.
- 00:30:52.308 --> 00:30:55.444
- He isn't against us.
- 00:30:55.444 --> 00:30:56.445
- He's not hiding it from us.
- 00:30:56.445 --> 00:30:58.147
- But seeking does mean an
- 00:30:58.147 --> 00:31:00.182
- Intention to look for something.
- 00:31:00.182 --> 00:31:03.085
- I remember my kids, they couldn't find one shoe.
- 00:31:03.085 --> 00:31:05.621
- It seemed like it happened all the time.
- 00:31:05.621 --> 00:31:07.289
- They'd have one shoe and couldn't find the other one.
- 00:31:07.289 --> 00:31:09.191
- And i'd go, well, did you go look?
- 00:31:09.191 --> 00:31:11.160
- And you know, i have three boys and a girl.
- 00:31:11.160 --> 00:31:12.928
- The boys, it's like, this is how they look for
- 00:31:12.928 --> 00:31:15.564
- A shoe. i'm like, it's going to be down.
- 00:31:15.564 --> 00:31:17.666
- You got to move things around to find it.
- 00:31:17.666 --> 00:31:20.536
- That's what seeking is.
- 00:31:20.536 --> 00:31:22.004
- It isn't just, isn't just looking at what's laying
- 00:31:22.004 --> 00:31:24.540
- On the surface, but the intention to god.
- 00:31:24.540 --> 00:31:27.676
- I want to dig into your will for my life, because i know
- 00:31:27.676 --> 00:31:32.548
- God's will is always connected to his people.
- 00:31:32.548 --> 00:31:35.417
- He never has a purpose that's outside of his people.
- 00:31:35.417 --> 00:31:38.053
- So we can't in isolation find the will of god.
- 00:31:38.053 --> 00:31:41.390
- It's always going to be connected to how could it
- 00:31:41.390 --> 00:31:43.225
- Help someone else?
- 00:31:43.225 --> 00:31:45.027
- And i think that's the perspective we should have in
- 00:31:45.027 --> 00:31:48.864
- Seeking the will of god
- 00:31:48.864 --> 00:31:50.032
- Is this is going to bless somebody else.
- 00:31:50.032 --> 00:31:51.700
- It's not just about god blessing me.
- 00:31:51.700 --> 00:31:53.869
- Yes.
- 00:31:53.869 --> 00:31:55.604
- As we're trying to figure out what's the will of god for my
- 00:31:55.604 --> 00:31:58.507
- Life, obedience is such a massive part because his ways
- 00:31:58.507 --> 00:32:02.478
- Are higher than ours.
- 00:32:02.478 --> 00:32:04.179
- His thoughts are different than ours.
- 00:32:04.179 --> 00:32:06.181
- How am i going to understand the will of a god who has
- 00:32:06.181 --> 00:32:09.551
- Different thoughts and ways than i do?
- 00:32:09.551 --> 00:32:11.620
- Obey. take that step and step by step,
- 00:32:11.620 --> 00:32:14.656
- I begin to see things the way that he does.
- 00:32:14.656 --> 00:32:18.260
- In obedience,
- 00:32:18.260 --> 00:32:19.561
- I submit myself under his plans and his purposes, and i begin
- 00:32:19.561 --> 00:32:24.266
- To know him there.
- 00:32:24.266 --> 00:32:26.668
- I think sometimes it's not even the where am i going
- 00:32:26.668 --> 00:32:28.570
- But who am i becoming along the way? where it's like sometimes
- 00:32:28.570 --> 00:32:32.307
- These, these clues are these hints of like,
- 00:32:32.307 --> 00:32:34.510
- What we're meant to be,
- 00:32:34.510 --> 00:32:35.778
- It's not just my production, it's not just what i produce or
- 00:32:35.778 --> 00:32:38.580
- Export from myself, but like, who are you? like
- 00:32:38.580 --> 00:32:41.150
- God, what are the designs,
- 00:32:41.150 --> 00:32:42.418
- The purposes of god over my life?
- 00:32:42.418 --> 00:32:44.787
- What did you put inside of me?
- 00:32:44.787 --> 00:32:46.822
- Because then it's not just get to this place, get to that
- 00:32:46.822 --> 00:32:49.158
- But actually the overflow of the design of god, the
- 00:32:49.158 --> 00:32:52.961
- Identity that i am called by my father.
- 00:32:52.961 --> 00:32:56.532
- I think the more that i've kind of discovered through the word
- 00:32:56.532 --> 00:32:58.767
- Of god, through through words, from other people, from the
- 00:32:58.767 --> 00:33:01.870
- Lord, it kind of brings a degree of clarity where it's
- 00:33:01.870 --> 00:33:04.907
- Like you turn right or left.
- 00:33:04.907 --> 00:33:07.276
- Well, i know that that's not bad or wrong,
- 00:33:07.276 --> 00:33:09.511
- But that's not me.
- 00:33:09.511 --> 00:33:11.046
- Like, i know who the lord's revealing me to be.
- 00:33:11.046 --> 00:33:13.549
- That's good. and so that even can do some
- 00:33:13.549 --> 00:33:16.385
- Decision making where it's like--
- 00:33:16.385 --> 00:33:19.388
- It's not to say that he won't do some kind of left field
- 00:33:19.388 --> 00:33:21.890
- Crazy thing, but i think when we understand our design,
- 00:33:21.890 --> 00:33:25.294
- What does he put inside of me?
- 00:33:25.294 --> 00:33:27.362
- And the way that we get there is the voice of our father.
- 00:33:27.362 --> 00:33:29.898
- Fathers speak purpose, they breathe identity.
- 00:33:29.898 --> 00:33:33.068
- The more that we understand in christ who we are, and then the
- 00:33:33.068 --> 00:33:36.939
- Specifics of what he's placed on the inside,
- 00:33:36.939 --> 00:33:40.709
- I think for who i know myself
- 00:33:40.709 --> 00:33:42.411
- To be now, there is a bit more clarity
- 00:33:42.411 --> 00:33:45.948
- In my walk that maybe when i was 20, i didn't know,
- 00:33:45.948 --> 00:33:49.651
- You know what i'm saying?
- 00:33:49.651 --> 00:33:50.886
- My developmental language with the lord and who he says
- 00:33:50.886 --> 00:33:53.922
- That i am through the word, but also like the other words from
- 00:33:53.922 --> 00:33:57.326
- People in my life now, holding that and walking that out and
- 00:33:57.326 --> 00:34:00.996
- Living it does bring a degree of clarity about the plans and
- 00:34:00.996 --> 00:34:05.634
- Purposes of god over who we are and who we're becoming, not
- 00:34:05.634 --> 00:34:10.439
- Just, you know, where we're trying to get.
- 00:34:10.439 --> 00:34:12.975
- And i think that that's been-- sometimes the question isn't
- 00:34:12.975 --> 00:34:16.278
- Where or what or how.
- 00:34:16.278 --> 00:34:18.113
- Sometimes the question is who, god?
- 00:34:18.113 --> 00:34:19.882
- Who are you forming me to be?
- 00:34:19.882 --> 00:34:21.450
- Who are you forming me to be in the meantime?
- 00:34:21.450 --> 00:34:23.619
- Yeah. and i think it's also a reminder that, you know, when
- 00:34:23.619 --> 00:34:26.355
- God created us, he created us to be children and not slaves.
- 00:34:26.355 --> 00:34:30.826
- And i'm a huge believer,
- 00:34:30.826 --> 00:34:32.161
- In all your ways acknowledge him and he'll make
- 00:34:32.161 --> 00:34:34.263
- Your paths straight, absolutely.
- 00:34:34.263 --> 00:34:35.397
- But at the same time, are we supposed to live
- 00:34:35.397 --> 00:34:38.834
- In a way where we're like, okay, yellow or blue?
- 00:34:38.834 --> 00:34:41.036
- God, yellow or blue? yellow or blue?
- 00:34:41.036 --> 00:34:43.639
- I'm not going to make a choice
- 00:34:43.639 --> 00:34:44.673
- Unless you tell me yellow or blue.
- 00:34:44.673 --> 00:34:46.675
- But god has also created us to not just be servants,
- 00:34:46.675 --> 00:34:50.512
- But also his friends. yes.
- 00:34:50.512 --> 00:34:52.648
- To live in fear of the lord.
- 00:34:52.648 --> 00:34:54.049
- There is some agency to that, you know.
- 00:34:54.049 --> 00:34:57.486
- Not to say, oh, we're about to go and do whatever and
- 00:34:57.486 --> 00:35:00.622
- Check in once in a while.
- 00:35:00.622 --> 00:35:01.890
- But like, you know, we're supposed to live in step with
- 00:35:01.890 --> 00:35:04.793
- His spirit, but there's also some agency that we are given
- 00:35:04.793 --> 00:35:08.997
- To rule and reign.
- 00:35:08.997 --> 00:35:10.098
- That's in our design, right?
- 00:35:10.098 --> 00:35:11.667
- In genesis 2 like it's a god has created
- 00:35:11.667 --> 00:35:14.236
- Us to be fruitful, to rule and reign.
- 00:35:14.236 --> 00:35:17.172
- And so if we live in a way where we're constantly afraid
- 00:35:17.172 --> 00:35:21.510
- Of bad choices because we feel like our alignment with the
- 00:35:21.510 --> 00:35:26.448
- Lord is dependent on the quality of these choices,
- 00:35:26.448 --> 00:35:31.753
- I think at that point we're
- 00:35:31.753 --> 00:35:33.188
- Negating the blood of jesus christ.
- 00:35:33.188 --> 00:35:35.357
- Yeah. god will be with you
- 00:35:35.357 --> 00:35:37.826
- Good choices or bad. yeah, right.
- 00:35:37.826 --> 00:35:40.662
- In psalm 139, whether you are in the heights,
- 00:35:40.662 --> 00:35:44.433
- He'll be there with-- make your bed in the depths,
- 00:35:44.433 --> 00:35:46.835
- He'll be there.
- 00:35:46.835 --> 00:35:48.303
- You know, i think sometimes we feel like, oh my gosh, my faith
- 00:35:48.303 --> 00:35:52.541
- Walk and the quality of my faith walk and my ability to
- 00:35:52.541 --> 00:35:56.678
- Walk in all his blessings depends,
- 00:35:56.678 --> 00:35:59.147
- It depends on my ability-- yeah.
- 00:35:59.147 --> 00:36:02.150
- To be able to perform--
- 00:36:02.150 --> 00:36:04.152
- Yeah. as a believer.
- 00:36:04.152 --> 00:36:05.721
- Yeah. um, when we get to that place in our faith walk,
- 00:36:05.721 --> 00:36:10.259
- We are no longer trusting in the blood of jesus christ
- 00:36:10.259 --> 00:36:14.896
- And the grace of our father.
- 00:36:14.896 --> 00:36:17.232
- You know, like i said before, like my life is not going to be
- 00:36:17.232 --> 00:36:20.369
- A testament of how i got it right all the time, but it's
- 00:36:20.369 --> 00:36:23.005
- Going to be a testament of grace.
- 00:36:23.005 --> 00:36:25.641
- It's a terrible feeling when
- 00:36:25.641 --> 00:36:27.376
- You think you might have missed god.
- 00:36:27.376 --> 00:36:29.278
- Like maybe you made a bad decision and you ended up in a
- 00:36:29.278 --> 00:36:32.381
- Place where you think, i know this isn't what god wanted for
- 00:36:32.381 --> 00:36:34.816
- My life, so now i've blown it.
- 00:36:34.816 --> 00:36:36.885
- Well, god is way, way bigger than any mistake that you
- 00:36:36.885 --> 00:36:40.922
- And i could ever make.
- 00:36:40.922 --> 00:36:43.292
- And god is far more interested in what he's doing in you than
- 00:36:43.292 --> 00:36:47.529
- What he might do through you.
- 00:36:47.529 --> 00:36:49.564
- So don't worry about that.
- 00:36:49.564 --> 00:36:50.565
- If you feel you've blown it,
- 00:36:50.565 --> 00:36:52.000
- That is one of the great things about christianity, that we
- 00:36:52.000 --> 00:36:54.936
- Get to repent.
- 00:36:54.936 --> 00:36:56.471
- And all that simply means is we stop going in the direction we
- 00:36:56.471 --> 00:37:00.142
- Were going in, and we turn
- 00:37:00.142 --> 00:37:02.344
- Around and we go on a new direction.
- 00:37:02.344 --> 00:37:04.346
- God's plans for you are not
- 00:37:04.346 --> 00:37:06.248
- Ruined by some bad decision you made.
- 00:37:06.248 --> 00:37:09.251
- God's plans is keep going.
- 00:37:09.251 --> 00:37:11.053
- He has a plan for your life, and it's not over yet until
- 00:37:11.053 --> 00:37:14.323
- You're home with jesus.
- 00:37:14.323 --> 00:37:15.691
- It's not done.
- 00:37:15.691 --> 00:37:18.160
- Be the first to know all the latest
- 00:37:18.160 --> 00:37:20.095
- Better together updates.
- 00:37:20.095 --> 00:37:21.963
- Visit bettertogether.com to sign up
- 00:37:21.963 --> 00:37:24.333
- For our weekly emails and never miss
- 00:37:24.333 --> 00:37:27.002
- The latest news.
- 00:37:27.002 --> 00:37:29.004
- The latest news.
- 00:37:29.004 --> 00:37:29.604
- We also get to ask god
- 00:37:32.541 --> 00:37:34.042
- Every day for wisdom and understanding.
- 00:37:34.042 --> 00:37:36.244
- That's a daily, daily prayer of mine.
- 00:37:36.244 --> 00:37:38.480
- Lord, give me wisdom and understanding. because i
- 00:37:38.480 --> 00:37:40.549
- Remember when barry and i
- 00:37:40.549 --> 00:37:41.550
- Were first married and then i got pregnant.
- 00:37:41.550 --> 00:37:44.353
- We discovered we were going to have a little boy,
- 00:37:44.353 --> 00:37:45.554
- And we were so excited.
- 00:37:45.554 --> 00:37:47.189
- But we were struggling financially.
- 00:37:47.189 --> 00:37:49.391
- We didn't have a proper job, and we were wondering what
- 00:37:49.391 --> 00:37:52.728
- To do and really desperately
- 00:37:52.728 --> 00:37:54.196
- Praying that god would open a door.
- 00:37:54.196 --> 00:37:56.298
- And then i get a call from a guy called steve arterburn and
- 00:37:56.298 --> 00:37:59.701
- He said, we started this thing called women of faith, and we
- 00:37:59.701 --> 00:38:02.838
- Would love you to join the team.
- 00:38:02.838 --> 00:38:04.239
- And i'm like, oh, to do what?
- 00:38:04.239 --> 00:38:05.974
- And he said, we would love you to be the worship leader.
- 00:38:05.974 --> 00:38:08.143
- It was just one of those times because i'm thinking, but lord,
- 00:38:08.143 --> 00:38:10.045
- That's actually not me.
- 00:38:10.045 --> 00:38:11.780
- You've not called me to do that, i know.
- 00:38:11.780 --> 00:38:14.416
- I mean, i sing, but i haven't been called.
- 00:38:14.416 --> 00:38:16.451
- I don't have that anointing of a worship leader.
- 00:38:16.451 --> 00:38:18.787
- This has to be for somebody else.
- 00:38:18.787 --> 00:38:20.889
- And it was one of the hardest things because there was going
- 00:38:20.889 --> 00:38:23.625
- To be a weekly salary,
- 00:38:23.625 --> 00:38:24.626
- There was going to be all sorts of stuff.
- 00:38:24.626 --> 00:38:27.162
- But to say to him, thank you so much, but it's not me.
- 00:38:27.162 --> 00:38:31.967
- There must be somebody else you're supposed to find.
- 00:38:31.967 --> 00:38:34.336
- And i remember that night when we just was like, wow.
- 00:38:34.336 --> 00:38:38.740
- I mean, couldn't you become a worship leader?
- 00:38:38.740 --> 00:38:41.977
- Couldn't you? and i'm like, no, that's
- 00:38:41.977 --> 00:38:44.179
- Not the calling god's got on my life.
- 00:38:44.179 --> 00:38:46.548
- And it was only like, maybe, i don't know.
- 00:38:46.548 --> 00:38:48.016
- A month later, he called back and said, actually, i think i
- 00:38:48.016 --> 00:38:50.018
- Got it wrong.
- 00:38:50.018 --> 00:38:51.119
- I think you're supposed to be one of the speakers.
- 00:38:51.119 --> 00:38:52.354
- Wow. and i was like, yep, all in.
- 00:38:52.354 --> 00:38:55.290
- But there is asking god for wisdom to know.
- 00:38:55.290 --> 00:38:59.294
- Yeah. and to know who god is.
- 00:38:59.294 --> 00:39:01.096
- What you're saying, kalley, know who god is calling us to be,
- 00:39:01.096 --> 00:39:03.765
- Who's creating us to be so that you can say yes, but sometimes
- 00:39:03.765 --> 00:39:07.702
- You have to say no
- 00:39:07.702 --> 00:39:08.970
- So that when the yes comes along, you're ready.
- 00:39:08.970 --> 00:39:12.040
- Yes. yes. that's good.
- 00:39:12.040 --> 00:39:14.443
- Understanding our identity in christ really helps
- 00:39:14.443 --> 00:39:17.078
- Us discern god's will for our life
- 00:39:17.078 --> 00:39:19.514
- Because as we seek his will, he shows us more of who we
- 00:39:19.514 --> 00:39:24.152
- Were created to be.
- 00:39:24.152 --> 00:39:25.987
- It's like a dance, when we reveal ourselves to him through
- 00:39:25.987 --> 00:39:29.357
- Repentance and through confession, he corrects us.
- 00:39:29.357 --> 00:39:32.594
- He instructs us, and he reveals to us more of who we were
- 00:39:32.594 --> 00:39:37.899
- Made to be.
- 00:39:37.899 --> 00:39:39.067
- You know, there's parts of you that god hid from you.
- 00:39:39.067 --> 00:39:42.003
- He's created gifts, talents, um, beautiful ideas that are
- 00:39:42.003 --> 00:39:46.341
- Planted in your heart that are treasures to him.
- 00:39:46.341 --> 00:39:48.910
- But he hides those from us until we get to know him.
- 00:39:48.910 --> 00:39:53.114
- And then they're reflected in our relationship as we
- 00:39:53.114 --> 00:39:56.485
- Become more like jesus
- 00:39:56.485 --> 00:39:59.888
- Leading the church that i lead with my husband,
- 00:39:59.888 --> 00:40:03.358
- When we were newly stepping into that role, there was some
- 00:40:03.358 --> 00:40:06.528
- Big decisions that needed to be made and things that had been
- 00:40:06.528 --> 00:40:09.764
- Deferred that really needed to be done.
- 00:40:09.764 --> 00:40:11.933
- And one of them in particular,
- 00:40:11.933 --> 00:40:13.502
- I was really seeking the lord going,
- 00:40:13.502 --> 00:40:15.537
- I want to be sure, because i'm not going to be liked.
- 00:40:15.537 --> 00:40:18.106
- This is going to be a tough decision, but i know you didn't
- 00:40:18.106 --> 00:40:21.142
- Put me in this position because i'm worried about what people
- 00:40:21.142 --> 00:40:23.478
- Think, but i'm not going to be
- 00:40:23.478 --> 00:40:25.947
- Liked and i really want to know.
- 00:40:25.947 --> 00:40:28.283
- I want to hear. i want the burning bush.
- 00:40:28.283 --> 00:40:30.318
- Right? and i didn't get that.
- 00:40:30.318 --> 00:40:33.555
- And i remember even waking up for that executive team meeting
- 00:40:33.555 --> 00:40:36.591
- That morning going, i need a decision.
- 00:40:36.591 --> 00:40:38.493
- I need to know it's going to come.
- 00:40:38.493 --> 00:40:39.928
- The buck stops here. i need to know.
- 00:40:39.928 --> 00:40:41.463
- I didn't feel a strong one way or the other.
- 00:40:41.463 --> 00:40:44.499
- And in the car on the way,
- 00:40:44.499 --> 00:40:46.301
- Stacy said, you're really quiet.
- 00:40:46.301 --> 00:40:47.569
- And i said, yeah, i'm still waiting for the burning bush.
- 00:40:47.569 --> 00:40:51.072
- And so i just asked the lord, you know, we were going in the
- 00:40:51.072 --> 00:40:54.175
- Elevator upstairs, and i just said, i need to know, why
- 00:40:54.175 --> 00:40:56.978
- Aren't you telling me?
- 00:40:56.978 --> 00:40:58.146
- And so sweetly, he said, because i've already given you
- 00:40:58.146 --> 00:41:01.182
- The wisdom to make this decision, right.
- 00:41:01.182 --> 00:41:04.052
- Wow. you don't need a rhema word.
- 00:41:04.052 --> 00:41:06.888
- You have the wisdom.
- 00:41:06.888 --> 00:41:08.023
- You know what's the right thing to do.
- 00:41:08.023 --> 00:41:10.191
- And i just went, okay, this is why.
- 00:41:10.191 --> 00:41:12.928
- Partly is because i could be the leader that doesn't even
- 00:41:12.928 --> 00:41:16.831
- Seek the will of god and just willy nilly goes in and goes,
- 00:41:16.831 --> 00:41:19.734
- This is what needs to happen, but still lean into that and
- 00:41:19.734 --> 00:41:23.672
- Wait for him to give us the green light to go,
- 00:41:23.672 --> 00:41:27.208
- I put you here.
- 00:41:27.208 --> 00:41:28.510
- Go ahead and be who i've called you to be.
- 00:41:28.510 --> 00:41:31.780
- So i do believe we've given people some really good,
- 00:41:31.780 --> 00:41:34.683
- You know, marching orders for,
- 00:41:34.683 --> 00:41:36.685
- Try this, try this, try this, and continue to have your bible
- 00:41:36.685 --> 00:41:40.922
- Open because it's frustrating as a bible teacher, when people
- 00:41:40.922 --> 00:41:44.159
- Say god is silent and their bible is closed and dusty.
- 00:41:44.159 --> 00:41:48.330
- It's like he's speaking to you.
- 00:41:48.330 --> 00:41:50.031
- He's always speaking.
- 00:41:50.031 --> 00:41:51.499
- Remember kim clement saying that the conversation
- 00:41:51.499 --> 00:41:55.070
- Of the godhead is something you are invited.
- 00:41:55.070 --> 00:41:57.472
- The veil was torn.
- 00:41:57.472 --> 00:41:58.540
- Yes. seek the presence of god.
- 00:41:58.540 --> 00:42:00.709
- Make room for him.
- 00:42:00.709 --> 00:42:01.643
- Don't make him chase you down,
- 00:42:01.643 --> 00:42:04.012
- You know, to give you a word.
- 00:42:04.012 --> 00:42:05.714
- But set aside time, a margin to hear god.
- 00:42:05.714 --> 00:42:09.884
- What is your will? i love that.
- 00:42:09.884 --> 00:42:11.252
- Do the best you can. yes.
- 00:42:11.252 --> 00:42:13.655
- God has given you wisdom.
- 00:42:13.655 --> 00:42:16.057
- Yes. you know?
- 00:42:16.057 --> 00:42:16.992
- So do do what you can do for yourself.
- 00:42:16.992 --> 00:42:20.128
- Don't be lazy.
- 00:42:20.128 --> 00:42:21.830
- Don't be foolish and do the best you can.
- 00:42:21.830 --> 00:42:25.000
- A lot of people will--
- 00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:26.301
- They give up on their commitments,
- 00:42:26.301 --> 00:42:28.670
- Stop-- calling it god or faith.
- 00:42:28.670 --> 00:42:31.373
- And yet there's no wisdom.
- 00:42:31.373 --> 00:42:33.208
- And i feel like when there's faith, there's always wisdom
- 00:42:33.208 --> 00:42:36.044
- Connected to that.
- 00:42:36.044 --> 00:42:37.912
- They're not apart from one another.
- 00:42:37.912 --> 00:42:39.681
- Exactly.
- 00:42:39.681 --> 00:42:40.915
- I mean, i love that i love the idea of living by wisdom.
- 00:42:40.915 --> 00:42:43.585
- And i think sometimes we negate that whole part of the bible,
- 00:42:43.585 --> 00:42:47.689
- And we try to magically hear
- 00:42:47.689 --> 00:42:50.158
- From god every time we need him
- 00:42:50.158 --> 00:42:52.227
- When actually, god makes it very clear.
- 00:42:52.227 --> 00:42:55.196
- Yeah.
- 00:42:55.196 --> 00:42:56.164
- That if you seek wisdom, you will find it.
- 00:42:56.164 --> 00:42:58.266
- Yes, yes. that he will give it to you.
- 00:42:58.266 --> 00:43:01.102
- One of my daily prayers is very simple, every single day, and i
- 00:43:01.102 --> 00:43:05.540
- Pray this for my son.
- 00:43:05.540 --> 00:43:06.641
- I pray this for my husband too,
- 00:43:06.641 --> 00:43:08.243
- And for myself for wisdom and discernment.
- 00:43:08.243 --> 00:43:11.646
- If you think about the kind of world we're living in, the
- 00:43:11.646 --> 00:43:14.182
- World's kind of nutty at the moment.
- 00:43:14.182 --> 00:43:15.750
- And if you do a lot of social media, you hear all sorts of
- 00:43:15.750 --> 00:43:19.387
- Things coming at you, telling you this is the right way to do
- 00:43:19.387 --> 00:43:22.290
- Things and that's the right way to do things.
- 00:43:22.290 --> 00:43:24.292
- And even honestly, within the church, you know, people
- 00:43:24.292 --> 00:43:28.296
- Saying, well, we're done with this person and we're done
- 00:43:28.296 --> 00:43:30.098
- With that person.
- 00:43:30.098 --> 00:43:31.666
- One of the things that god promises is that if you lack
- 00:43:31.666 --> 00:43:35.103
- Wisdom, ask and the lord will gladly give it to you.
- 00:43:35.103 --> 00:43:39.107
- So that's a daily prayer for
- 00:43:39.107 --> 00:43:40.408
- Me, and it's a daily prayer for you.
- 00:43:40.408 --> 00:43:42.410
- Ask god for wisdom.
- 00:43:42.410 --> 00:43:43.645
- He would love to give it to you.
- 00:43:43.645 --> 00:43:46.114
- One of my children was born--
- 00:43:46.114 --> 00:43:47.782
- Two of them were born premature, but one was born
- 00:43:47.782 --> 00:43:50.218
- On moving day. oh, gosh.
- 00:43:50.218 --> 00:43:52.854
- So she came out, i think, at, like, um, like 2 a.m.
- 00:43:52.854 --> 00:43:57.092
- Or so, and the moving trucks came at 7:00.
- 00:43:57.092 --> 00:44:00.462
- And it was during this time-- and plus she was a nicu baby.
- 00:44:00.462 --> 00:44:04.733
- But at the same time, my husband and i, we were going
- 00:44:04.733 --> 00:44:07.335
- Through a job change.
- 00:44:07.335 --> 00:44:08.803
- So a lot was happening that week.
- 00:44:08.803 --> 00:44:12.474
- And that morning.
- 00:44:12.474 --> 00:44:13.675
- Right? just in that one little
- 00:44:13.675 --> 00:44:16.511
- Slot of time and about like a month later, we got a bill.
- 00:44:16.511 --> 00:44:23.118
- And the bill was an amount i have never seen in my life.
- 00:44:23.118 --> 00:44:29.357
- And what turned out was it was like an administrative glitch
- 00:44:29.357 --> 00:44:33.661
- Because she was born in the short time slot and i mean like
- 00:44:33.661 --> 00:44:38.133
- 24 hour time slot when--
- 00:44:38.133 --> 00:44:40.301
- Between jobs.
- 00:44:40.301 --> 00:44:41.035
- When between jobs, a job change.
- 00:44:41.035 --> 00:44:43.905
- So she was not covered by insurance.
- 00:44:43.905 --> 00:44:46.574
- So and this was a nicu baby.
- 00:44:46.574 --> 00:44:48.409
- So a day in the nicu was already like a lot.
- 00:44:48.409 --> 00:44:51.312
- Oh, wow.
- 00:44:51.312 --> 00:44:52.213
- And here i was thinking like, it's over.
- 00:44:52.213 --> 00:44:55.683
- Everything is over.
- 00:44:55.683 --> 00:44:57.051
- And i was trying to navigate the will of god like god.
- 00:44:57.051 --> 00:45:01.623
- Do you want us to quit our jobs and get a different kind of job
- 00:45:01.623 --> 00:45:05.894
- That's not in church ministry?
- 00:45:05.894 --> 00:45:07.529
- Are you disappointed that i had another child?
- 00:45:07.529 --> 00:45:09.964
- Like, you know, like i was running to all these
- 00:45:09.964 --> 00:45:12.967
- Assumptions, you know?
- 00:45:12.967 --> 00:45:14.269
- Yeah. and it's so interesting what we think of god tends to
- 00:45:14.269 --> 00:45:18.640
- Get revealed when we go through things like that, you know?
- 00:45:18.640 --> 00:45:22.377
- But i remember in the chaos, my husband and i were like, okay,
- 00:45:22.377 --> 00:45:26.414
- Nothing productive is happening right now.
- 00:45:26.414 --> 00:45:28.416
- We're not coming to any viable
- 00:45:28.416 --> 00:45:29.717
- Solutions by freaking out about it.
- 00:45:29.717 --> 00:45:32.387
- So we committed we're going to spend an hour separately
- 00:45:32.387 --> 00:45:36.891
- Inquiring of the lord.
- 00:45:36.891 --> 00:45:39.661
- And i remember the first 30 minutes of that hour, i was
- 00:45:39.661 --> 00:45:43.031
- Just panicking. it wasn't really great.
- 00:45:43.031 --> 00:45:45.099
- Like i wouldn't publish any of the prayers that i prayed
- 00:45:45.099 --> 00:45:49.103
- In that time.
- 00:45:49.103 --> 00:45:50.071
- Well, they're probably in psalms, right?
- 00:45:50.071 --> 00:45:52.407
- There you go.
- 00:45:52.407 --> 00:45:53.641
- I mean, i was just panicking, you know, i was trying to
- 00:45:53.641 --> 00:45:56.678
- Figure out a solution. yeah.
- 00:45:56.678 --> 00:45:59.614
- Instead of leaning into his presence.
- 00:45:59.614 --> 00:46:02.784
- And i think when we're just, when we value solution over
- 00:46:02.784 --> 00:46:07.088
- His presence
- 00:46:07.088 --> 00:46:08.890
- That's when we just get stuck. yeah.
- 00:46:08.890 --> 00:46:12.527
- Until i had to let go of the need for solution.
- 00:46:12.527 --> 00:46:15.496
- Yeah.
- 00:46:15.496 --> 00:46:16.364
- And i had to welcome in his presence.
- 00:46:16.364 --> 00:46:19.367
- And i remember i felt a peace, one, but two, i felt the lord
- 00:46:19.367 --> 00:46:24.739
- Say i have given your husband wisdom.
- 00:46:24.739 --> 00:46:27.275
- Oh, wow. you know.
- 00:46:27.275 --> 00:46:28.877
- And so i came out of my prayer corner.
- 00:46:28.877 --> 00:46:31.813
- You have the answer.
- 00:46:31.813 --> 00:46:33.548
- You know, i was like, okay.
- 00:46:33.548 --> 00:46:35.016
- And none of that made sense to me, you know?
- 00:46:35.016 --> 00:46:37.385
- But i looked at my husband and i said, the lord told me,
- 00:46:37.385 --> 00:46:41.389
- You got it. you got it.
- 00:46:41.389 --> 00:46:43.825
- But what's interesting is my husband looked at me and he
- 00:46:43.825 --> 00:46:46.194
- Said, yeah, i think i know what to do.
- 00:46:46.194 --> 00:46:49.030
- And we spent the next year hacking away at this bill.
- 00:46:49.030 --> 00:46:54.502
- But that final bill that we had left, the hospital
- 00:46:54.502 --> 00:46:59.073
- Administrator person that we've been working with for a year
- 00:46:59.073 --> 00:47:01.709
- Was like, it's covered.
- 00:47:01.709 --> 00:47:04.078
- And i go, what do you mean we didn't pay it?
- 00:47:04.078 --> 00:47:06.714
- And she went, it's just done.
- 00:47:06.714 --> 00:47:08.616
- It's cleared. praise god.
- 00:47:08.616 --> 00:47:10.385
- You know, and i asked all
- 00:47:10.385 --> 00:47:11.286
- The doctors like, well, who covered it?
- 00:47:11.286 --> 00:47:13.888
- Nobody knows.
- 00:47:13.888 --> 00:47:15.623
- It was just covered, that last big chunk.
- 00:47:15.623 --> 00:47:18.526
- And so, i mean, the wisdom of the lord is there.
- 00:47:18.526 --> 00:47:21.896
- And i just want to encourage anybody that's being stuck,
- 00:47:21.896 --> 00:47:25.366
- That's stuck right now and and just petrified of just getting
- 00:47:25.366 --> 00:47:28.736
- It wrong, the lord of the lord is with you.
- 00:47:28.736 --> 00:47:32.340
- And that lord is a spirit of wisdom.
- 00:47:32.340 --> 00:47:35.043
- Yeah. that's right.
- 00:47:35.043 --> 00:47:36.077
- You know, and when you ask, he will give it.
- 00:47:36.077 --> 00:47:38.646
- Yeah. you know, just like sheila was saying, the will of
- 00:47:38.646 --> 00:47:40.648
- The lord is not lost.
- 00:47:40.648 --> 00:47:42.083
- No, you don't have to go chasing for it.
- 00:47:42.083 --> 00:47:44.452
- Yeah. you could abide in him. amen.
- 00:47:44.452 --> 00:47:47.188
- And just abide in the vine.
- 00:47:47.188 --> 00:47:48.389
- Abide in his words.
- 00:47:48.389 --> 00:47:49.657
- And the instructions are there.
- 00:47:49.657 --> 00:47:51.559
- So can we just pray for the ones that are in that place?
- 00:47:51.559 --> 00:47:56.064
- God, we are not stuck.
- 00:47:56.064 --> 00:47:58.499
- You are not refusing advice and wisdom and counsel.
- 00:47:58.499 --> 00:48:03.871
- Jesus, we search you. thank you.
- 00:48:03.871 --> 00:48:07.976
- But we right now prioritize
- 00:48:07.976 --> 00:48:10.411
- Your presence over all the answers.
- 00:48:10.411 --> 00:48:15.216
- And forgive us if we have taken so much control of our lives
- 00:48:15.216 --> 00:48:20.521
- That we have begun to ignore your nearness.
- 00:48:20.521 --> 00:48:23.791
- Jesus. holy spirit, we
- 00:48:23.791 --> 00:48:27.161
- Acknowledge you and we thank you.
- 00:48:27.161 --> 00:48:30.398
- We thank you for always speaking through your word.
- 00:48:30.398 --> 00:48:33.067
- We thank you that we have a lamp unto our feet and a light
- 00:48:33.067 --> 00:48:37.005
- Unto our path.
- 00:48:37.005 --> 00:48:38.206
- God, i just pray for anybody that is stressed, anxious,
- 00:48:38.206 --> 00:48:42.377
- Filled with regret, wondering if they have missed your will.
- 00:48:42.377 --> 00:48:46.981
- Lord, they cannot miss your
- 00:48:46.981 --> 00:48:48.483
- Will as long as they are with you.
- 00:48:48.483 --> 00:48:50.451
- We thank you for that.
- 00:48:50.451 --> 00:48:51.719
- We thank you for your grace, your kindness, and your mercy.
- 00:48:51.719 --> 00:48:55.123
- In jesus' name we pray,
- 00:48:55.123 --> 00:48:56.824
- Amen. amen.
- 00:48:56.824 --> 00:48:59.861
- Connect with us on social media and let us know how our team
- 00:48:59.861 --> 00:49:02.697
- Can pray for you.
- 00:49:02.697 --> 00:49:07.635
- Okay. so kalley. yes.
- 00:49:10.571 --> 00:49:12.373
- Kristen asked us this question in
- 00:49:12.373 --> 00:49:14.075
- Instagram. she says, how do i know if jesus is calling me
- 00:49:14.075 --> 00:49:19.447
- Or if i'm rationalizing to
- 00:49:19.447 --> 00:49:21.883
- Say yes to something i want to do?
- 00:49:21.883 --> 00:49:24.786
- My head says one thing.
- 00:49:24.786 --> 00:49:26.354
- And my heart says another.
- 00:49:26.354 --> 00:49:27.755
- What would you say to that?
- 00:49:27.755 --> 00:49:28.990
- To that question?
- 00:49:28.990 --> 00:49:29.991
- I mean, that's a great question.
- 00:49:29.991 --> 00:49:31.793
- I think when in doubt, i ask him.
- 00:49:31.793 --> 00:49:34.729
- I just say, hey, is this one of those where you're asking me to
- 00:49:34.729 --> 00:49:38.633
- Do something different and i'm afraid, or i don't want to?
- 00:49:38.633 --> 00:49:41.803
- Would you align me to to what you're saying?
- 00:49:41.803 --> 00:49:44.372
- Would you give me strength to say yes,
- 00:49:44.372 --> 00:49:46.374
- And help me walk this out?
- 00:49:46.374 --> 00:49:47.809
- Yeah. sometimes, though, he does speak through our desires.
- 00:49:47.809 --> 00:49:50.745
- Totally.
- 00:49:50.745 --> 00:49:51.979
- And so i think to me, there's not a cut and dry answer.
- 00:49:51.979 --> 00:49:54.816
- Why? because this is relational.
- 00:49:54.816 --> 00:49:56.818
- He is a relational god, and oftentimes he'll throw
- 00:49:56.818 --> 00:50:00.488
- Something out there knowing we don't know. why?
- 00:50:00.488 --> 00:50:03.558
- Because he wants to draw us to himself.
- 00:50:03.558 --> 00:50:06.561
- He knows we need him.
- 00:50:06.561 --> 00:50:08.563
- He loves that it's a relationship.
- 00:50:08.563 --> 00:50:10.832
- So if i have a question, if i have a doubt,
- 00:50:10.832 --> 00:50:14.102
- Rather than like, oh, i should
- 00:50:14.102 --> 00:50:15.203
- Know this, i should know the answer,
- 00:50:15.203 --> 00:50:16.737
- I go to my father and
- 00:50:16.737 --> 00:50:18.506
- I ask him, where are you at?
- 00:50:18.506 --> 00:50:20.741
- Is this a good desire?
- 00:50:20.741 --> 00:50:21.776
- Is this just me?
- 00:50:21.776 --> 00:50:23.010
- He longs to meet us there.
- 00:50:23.010 --> 00:50:25.513
- He longs to teach us about
- 00:50:25.513 --> 00:50:27.415
- Himself, to teach us about ourselves.
- 00:50:27.415 --> 00:50:30.852
- These are great conversations to have with him.
- 00:50:30.852 --> 00:50:33.287
- That's amazing.
- 00:50:33.287 --> 00:50:35.690
- Stream full episodes of better together on demand.
- 00:50:35.690 --> 00:50:39.327
- Go to bettertogether.tv
- 00:50:39.327 --> 00:50:40.761
- To stream all of our latest conversations.
- 00:50:40.761 --> 00:50:40.761