So we're just going to have an attitude of worship, adoration, and praise. And I say it every week, and it's just the reality. It's been a very stressful time. I know I'm not the only one that's been going through things. But in the midst of it all, God is teaching us how to cast our cares upon him. maturing our understanding, maturing our perspective. I don't always act right in the midst of it all, but I thank God for his grace. I thank God for his mercy, and I thank God for his instruction. I thank God that he is a father. He's Abba Father. I thank God that he chastises those he loves, and I need to be chastised, corrected, and I'm grateful for it. So we're just gonna go ahead and lift him up. Let's all stand and let's just bless his name. Lord, we thank you for this time. We thank you for this gathering of your people. We thank you for this local assembly. We thank you for the charge on this house. We thank you that you called us together, Lord God, to humble ourselves before you, to worship, to praise, to exalt, to magnify you. We thank you, Lord God, even for the trials. We can learn the glory in our tribulations, knowing that they work with patience, and patience experience experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed. The trial is meant to produce in us godly character. The trial is in us to produce perseverance and it comes as a result of the outworking of your Holy Spirit. We bless you for your Holy Spirit that seals us into the day of the redemption. We bless you for your Holy Spirit that's leading us and guiding us into all truth. We thank you for your chastisement Even though it's you said it though. It may seem grievous for a time It produces a peaceable fruit of righteousness. We thank you Lord that we can call you Abba father We thank you Lord that because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ We now stand in the righteousness that comes by faith in Christ. We bless you Lord God hallelujah that you're working all things together for the good of those who love you and and are called according to your purpose we bless you lord that you are the good shepherd lead us into the path of righteousness for your name's sake and you lead us beside the still waters hallelujah hallelujah we bless you lord god hallelujah because you are our source, our sustainer, our comforter, our guide, our peace, our source of strength, our source of encouragement. We bless you for each other, Lord God, calling us to be a part of the body where every body supplies, member supplies to the body what is needed. We bless you for a place where we can come and worship and praise and exalt and adore you, Lord, in a time, especially when people are so quick to blaspheme and curse you. Lord God, we bless you that your people are grateful. We bless you that your people are quick to worship and with an attitude of praise and adoration in the midst of difficulty. We bless you, Lord God, for helping us to put away childish things and become men and women that you've called us to be, no longer putting away childish understanding, childish behavior, childish conduct, childish conversation, Lord God. You're growing us up, Lord. And Lord God, we thank you that in the midst of it all, as hard as it may seem at times, Lord God, we bless you, Lord, that you're maturing us. Hallelujah, to be the people of the faith that will stand up and be the light and the salt that you called us to be for such a time like this. We just appreciate you, Lord. And so we pray that you presence yourself in this gathering, Lord. Even as you promised, wherever two or more gathered in your name, there you'd be in the midst. And right now we just need you. We need you to fill us, to refresh us, to revive us, to focus us, to convict us. Hallelujah, to correct us, Lord. We just need you. And we also want to just let you know we love and we appreciate you. And we love and appreciate each other. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Bless God, bless God. Now we're gonna read the scripture together. We're gonna be reading from Psalms 100, one through five. Let's read. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord, he is God. It is he that hath made us and not we ourselves. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and bless his name. For the Lord is good, yes he is. His mercy is everlasting and his truth endureth to all generations. Bless God. Good morning, family. How are you? We made it through Thanksgiving. How are you doing? Are we feeling thankful this morning? Amen, amen. And if you are feeling thankful, and I believe that we are, can we just, if you're able-bodied, stand to your feet and let's give God a great praise. He's worthy, worthy, worthy. He is worthy of praise and adoration, hallelujah. He is worthy of thank you, Jesus, and thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. As many thank yous as we can give him, hallelujah. You are worthy, Lord, and you have been good to us. more than we could have ever asked lord god for and you have just been so good to us lord you've carried a lot of us through these holiday seasons so far lord god and we're depending on you to carry us further lord and it's all because you are good and you want the best for us so well we're going to worship you from that place today lord god not giving you last week's praise lord god but giving you this morning's worship lord fresh like your mercy like your grace lord god hallelujah so let's sing together everyone uh we all know this song He just simply says, Lord, you are good and your mercy endures forever. What a goodie. Hallelujah. This is a service after Thanksgiving and I feel like what better time to say that he is good. We're at the end of the year. He is good. Hallelujah. Hallelujah, let's sing together, Lord. Lord, you are good and your mercy endureth forever. Lord, you've been so, so good. There we are. Lord, you've been so, so good, yeah. Lord, you are so, so good. There it is, yes. People from every nation, every nation and tongue, from generation to generation, we worship you. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. We worship you for who you are. We worship you, oh Lord. Hallelujah. We worship you for who you are. And you are good. Hallelujah, Lord. You are so good and worthy to be praised. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. We're just reminding ourselves, Lord God. Hallelujah. Lord, you are good. Lord, you are good, and your mercy endureth forever. Lord, you've been so, so good. He is good. Lord, you've been so, so good, yeah. Lord, you are so, so good. It endures. And people from every nation, from generation We worship you. We worship you. We worship you. And you are good. Now, we're almost there, but we're going to sing this one more time that he is good and his mercy endures forever. Hallelujah. You might have to command your flesh to praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Because he is worthy. Lord, you've been so, so good. Our good and your mercy. Yes. Lord, you've been so, so good. Lord, you've been so, so good. Yes. Here we go. And people from every nation, from generation, we worship you. Hallelujah. We worship you for who you are. We worship you, oh Lord. Hallelujah. We worship you for who you are. And you are good. Now this is where we just declare the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. He is good and worthy to be praised. He's good all the time and all the time he is good. Let's sing. Hallelujah. Say you are good all the time and all the time. You are good. Come on, let me hear you. All the time, you are, Lord, you are good. All the time, and all the time, you are good. Lord, you've been so good, so good. And all the time, you are good. Lord, you are good. All the time, all the time, Lord. Lord, you've been so good. all the time yes lord you've been so so good all the time all the time yes you are Lord, you are good and your mercy endureth forever. Let's lift our voices. Lord, you are good and your mercy endureth forever. Lord, you've been so, so good. When I wake up in the morning, Lord, good. So good. Come on, let's say it. Lord, you've been so, so good. Better than I could be to myself, Lord. Lord, you've been so, so good, yeah. And people from every nation, from generations, We worship you. We worship you. We worship you. We worship you. For who you are For who you are For who you For who you are For who you are Just for who you are For who you are For who you are For who you are For who you are, Lord, for everything, Lord Just for who you are For who you are, Lord For who you are for who you are and you are good. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. What better way to give him praise and adoration than to declare that he is good. Hallelujah. He has always been good. Hallelujah. From the beginning of time, good. He has not wavered in his goodness because of man and our ways and the way that we show up in this world. Hallelujah. But he is consistently good. Hallelujah. His love is consistent for us. His grace always sufficient for us. Hallelujah. Mercy always chasing us down. Hallelujah. I don't know about you but I am so grateful that I cannot escape his mercy or his love. Hallelujah. And in my ignorance, we've tried to. Let me just run away from Jesus and his love and everything that he wants to offer. I'm thinking about the places he found me. And I say places, because it's been several times. The places, hallelujah, that he had to go into to grab me. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for never giving up on me, Lord. It's that kind of gratitude, Lord God, that makes Thanksgiving worthy of a holiday. Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah. That is the Thanksgiving that we have in our hearts, Lord. If it had not been for you, Lord, hallelujah, where would we be, Lord God? Hallelujah. If you hadn't interceded, Lord God, and interrupted, Lord, and transformed, where would we be? I can't even imagine, Lord, but I am grateful today that you are such a great loving father, Lord. You are good, hallelujah. You are good, Lord. You are good. Let's just sing that, hallelujah. You're a good, good father. That's who you are. That's who you are. That's who you are. And I'm loved by you. That's who I am. That's who I am. You're a good, good father. That's who you are. That's who you are. That's who you are. And I'm loved by you. That's who I am. That's who I am. That's who I am. Oh, I. I've heard a thousand stories of what they think you're like. And I've heard the greatest story of love and sacrifice. Your word tells me that Jesus died and his blood ransomed me. You're a good, good father. That's who you are. That's who you are. That's who you are. And I'm loved by you. That's who I am. That's who I am. That's who I am. You're a good, good father. you are, and I'm loved by you. That's who I am. That's who I am. That's who I am. Oh, I've seen many searching for answers far and wide. And I know we're all searching for answers. Only you provide, cause you know just what we need before we say a word. You're a good, good father. That's who you are. That's who you are. That's who you are. And I'm loved by you. That's who I am. That's who I am. That's who I am. You're a good, good father. That's who you are. Yes. That's who you are. That's who you are. And I'm loved by you. That's who I am. That's who I am. That's who I am. I love this part. It says, you are perfect in all of your ways. You are perfect in all of your ways. You are perfect in all of your ways. One more time. Let's say it again. Lord, you are. You are perfect in all of your ways. You are perfect in all of your ways to us. You're a good, good father. That's who you are. That's who you are. That's who you are. And I'm loved by you. That's who I am. That's who I am. That's who I am. You're good, good father. That's who you are. That's who you are. And I'm loved by you. That's who I am. That's who I am. One more time. You are, you are, you are good father. That's who you are. That's who you are. And I'm loved by you. That's who I am. That's who I am. That's who I am. You're a good, good father. That's who you are. That's who you are. That's who you are. And I'm loved by you. That's who I am. That's who I am. That's who I am. Let's declare he's perfect. You are perfect in all of your ways. You are perfect in all of your ways, Lord. You are perfect in all of your ways. You are perfect in all of your ways. I don't have to understand. Perfect in all of your ways. You are perfect in all of your ways to us. You're a good, good father to who you are. That's who you are. That's who you are. You're a good, good father. That's who you are. That's who you are. That's who you are. You're a loving father. That's who you are. That's who you are. That's who you are. A forgiving father. That's who you are. That's who you are. That's who you are. And I'm loved by you. That's who I am. That's who I am. That's who I am. Simply loved by you. That's who I am. That's who I am. A sinner that's saved by your grace. That's who I am. That's who I am. Yes, that's who I am. That's who I am. Lord, we are just grateful children today, Lord, declaring the goodness of our God in the land of the living. Lord God, you have been great. Hallelujah. You are worthy of praise, Lord. You are worthy of adoration, Lord. Hallelujah. You have been awesome, Lord God, an incredible Lord God. You have defended us, Lord, and you have provided for us, Lord God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You have been our shield, Lord God, and our way maker, Lord God. You have been the lamp for every single path, Lord God, and we are grateful today, Lord God, that we are not lost, Lord God, but we are found in you, Jesus. Hallelujah. And we can stand firm on your word, Lord God. Hallelujah. Firm on your deliverance, Lord God. We are loved by you, Lord God, and with the love that does not waver, Lord God, with the love that is never, Lord God, reduced, Lord God, you are maxed out on love for us, Lord God, and we are grateful. We are grateful for that kind of love, Lord God. You don't love like man, Lord God, you love like God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I'm grateful to have the love of God. Hallelujah. We are grateful, Lord. Be worshiped and be magnified throughout the rest of this service, Lord God. Through everything, Lord God, receive your worship, receive your praise. And you may have your seats, TLCC. Welcome to Transforming Love Christian Center, where Pastor Jamie is our pastor. And all of you who are streaming online, welcome. We know that there are five million services streaming right now, and you have made your way here, so we do not take that lightly. Please head on over to www.transforminglovecc.org, where you can learn all things TLCC. You'll learn who our leaders are, what we believe. You can click on the Bible Study tab and see that we are streaming Bible Study via Zoom every Thursday at 7 p.m. So if you want to get plugged in, send us a little message there. There's something on the page for you to be able to do that, and we will get you plugged in. If you go a little further, there's a Donate tab. We want to thank all of you who have been donating to the ministry. It helps us to do the things that we're called to do here. And there are two ways to give here at TLCC. Well, if you're in the building, there's three ways. You can give in the baskets at the front, or you can go online, click on the, actually go online or you can zelle from your account into our account, right? Into the ministry so that we can do the things that we're called to do. And that's a simple instructions listed out for you. You can also send a check or money order to the PO box that is also listed on the website. If you have any problems or you need some support, please feel free to reach out to us. We're happy to help in any way that we can from donating to Bible study to just getting acquainted with the ministry. With that being said, this is a great opportunity for you to silence your cell phones. You know, I say it every week, you know, and yet there's one of you in the audience. I'm just kidding. One of you will fail us. No, but just take a moment, check your cell phones, make sure they're on silent or vibrate. Folks don't, you know, they're like, oh, church is over. No, we're just beginning. So go ahead and do us a favor and check that out. With that being said, it's great to see all of your faces and have a wonderful Sunday here at TLCC. Praise the Lord, everyone. Can you all hear me? Praise the Lord, everyone. This is a time when we get a chance to greet each other. So if you don't mind, get up out of your seat and walk off some of that turkey and ham. and mac and cheese and all the things that have been terrible as you've eaten in the last couple of days, leftovers, and say hello to your friends in Christ. Amen. Come on in. Good to see everybody. Amen. I knew it was something about walking in power through power. I thought it was. Power, it's for the believer, something like that. All right. All right, everyone. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Let's have our seats. I want to say before we get started that Brother Richard had a birthday this week, amen? It's good to see you, Richard. We love you. Happy birthday to you. Amen. Black church, black church. I'm glad we didn't burst out with Stevie Wonder's version in the house of God. Amen. Amen. Amen. My brother is here. Tosh, can you please stand up? I don't mean to put you on the spot, but I love this brother. Amen. This is my brother Tosh. Long, long, long time family friend. Amen. It's good to see you. Amen. Good to see some new faces here today. God bless you. Welcome to TLC. Let's pray and get into the word. Gracious, all-powerful God, I thank you so much, Father, for creating us, giving us purpose. I thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ, who has given his life for us. I thank you, Lord, that we have your Holy Spirit. I thank you that we are walking in newness of life. I thank you, Lord, for this word that you have given us today. I thank you, Father, for the people that are gathered. This is your church. My simple prayer this morning, God, is that you would remove me out of the way that your Holy Spirit would speak to your people, God. You know what the various needs are. You know where we need to be encouraged. You know where we need to be corrected. You know what thinking is right and what thinking is wrong. I ask God that you would supernaturally charge this message today, Father. I have done what I know how to do. I study to the best of my ability, Father, but I don't make any changes. Only you do. So I pray, Father, you would settle my spirit today. Help me to rest in the power of the Holy Spirit. Speak a word, Father, that would encourage this church, encourage my heart. I'm excited about what you have done, what you are doing now, and what you're going to do. And I pray, Father, that we would just trust in your word today to deliver us to the way of thinking and living and believing and being that you have called us to be. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right. Last Sunday, we were talking about the prayer of Jesus Christ that is in John 17. And I used that prayer to make a segue into the prayer of Paul. And I basically explained to you that the prayer of Paul, there's two prayers there, one in the third chapter and also one in this first chapter where we still are, where the connection between the two is that Jesus sends his Holy Spirit, prayed that the believers would have the Holy Spirit. And Paul has received the Holy Spirit and is praying in his own way some of the exact same things that Jesus prayed. And I said to you last week that a lot of things are on our list as far as what we would pray for. But when we see what the Holy Spirit has in mind, there are other things that are more important. And I want to balance some of that out today to give you both sides. But the truth is, is that the Holy Spirit's mission has everything to do with what Jesus has called us to do and called us to be. We are to be conformed into the image of Christ, first and foremost. Everything else is secondary. Everything else is secondary. So let's read the word, Ephesians 1, 17 through 20. Ephesians 1, 17 through 20. I hope I can get through this today. The Word of God reads, Paul is praying that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened that ye may know what is the hope of His calling and what is the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. And where we left off, this verse, verse 19, I want to speak to you today from the title Walking in power, walking in power. Brief, quick review. Ephesians 1, seven, same chapter, just the seventh verse says this. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. When sins are forgiven and faith is placed in the son of God for salvation, then our relationship with God even though we were sinners, is perfectly restored. Amen? God takes everything that we've done, places it on Jesus Christ, places what He's done, and puts it on us. And now, because Jesus is atoned for our sins, our relationship is perfectly restored back to the Father, amen? And we are saved by grace and grace alone, amen? Amen. We cannot earn this favor. We cannot earn this salvation. This is something that the Holy Spirit has done through Jesus Christ and through the work of Christ on the cross for our sins, amen? Amen. Verse 13, same chapter, Ephesians 1, 13. So, the Holy Spirit comes to the believer at the point of belief. Amen? Amen. We grow, of course. We grow in power. We mature. But the moment that we believe in Jesus Christ, we hear the gospel, repent of our sins, we trust in Jesus Christ and what he has done, the Holy Spirit comes and lives inside the believer. Amen? And the Holy Spirit fills us with a sense of God's love. Keisha was talking about that, singing about that today, that we'd understand how much God loves us. Amen? The Holy Spirit also assures us that God has sure enough adopted us. as his children. We are children of God. We are now in the family of God. And the Holy Spirit also helps us to manifest Christlikeness, that is displaying the glory of God in your life to where you are looking like Jesus. Amen? He causes us to display the image of God. Amen? Christ Jesus talked to the disciples and said, Lord, I have manifested your glory. I've showed them who you are, what you are like, what you are about, what you're interested in, what you want done. They have seen that. When you've seen the Son, you have seen the Father. It should be the same thing with the people that the Son is living inside. Amen? We look like Jesus. We represent the Father. Amen? Amen. So the Holy Spirit manifests our Christlikeness. And the Spirit is a once and for all identification that gives us continued assurance that we are entitled to riches and goodness from God, not just in eternity there, but right here and now. Amen? Tell your neighbor you're blessed. You're blessed. Amen. So, again, Ephesians 117. Ephesians 117. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. In the knowledge of Him. In the knowledge of Him. It is not that God is not interested in the specifics of your life. Hmm. It's that he wants the believer to prioritize their relationship him, with him, over asking for the other things that we can kind of attach to our lives. Amen? The order is, I said to you last week, Matthew 633, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And then all these other things, all these other things that we're looking for, all these things that we must have, you know, if it's in God's will, they will be added unto us. Amen? Amen. So the Holy Spirit is most concerned with the knowledge of the Father and His Son and that loving relationship being something that we as believers are prioritizing. He wants not just the things that we pray for. He wants us to prioritize the knowledge of the Father and the Son that I may know Him. Amen. That's what this is really about. Amen. In verse 18, just still reviewing and I'm almost done. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened. Now, I talked about that last week, but let me give you a little bit deeper revelation, something that I learned this week. Isn't it wonderful about the Word of God? The Word of God is packed. Just when you think you know something, there's something else you learn. You know what I mean? So this blew me away. And I think this personally kind of, you know, is a revelation for me and folks like me, folks like, you know, the folks that are in the church. But most translations, and I'm in King James this week for a reason, but most translations say that the eyes of the heart are being enlightened. Some of you may see that. And we talked about that last week. Or some translation, New Living Translation says the, I believe it's the eyes or the heart will be flooded with light. Amen? So we would know what we are called to, amen? But some folks believe, and this is typical of us, this is just how we are, that the way that we come to know more about God is that we get more of a gifted intellect. Hmm. where God adds to your intellect in some supernatural way. Basically saying that what you need to know of God and how you become to know more about God is that God somehow makes you smarter. Intellectual, you know. Logical people think that way. You know, the eyes of my understanding. Understanding must have something to do with the mind. But this verse is talking about the heart. Are you hearing me? It's not so much the gifted mind that understands the deep mysteries of revelations of God. I believe it's the tender heart. Amen? You hear what I'm saying, Pastor Rick? It's the tender heart that can receive the revelation of God. Amen? A person with a brilliant mind, but has a heart that's hard. cannot receive truth from God. In fact, I will say to you that most of the heresy that we are in sometimes nowadays come from brilliant people. They sat there too long and thought about too many things and come up with some stuff that's not of God at all. So it's not so much that God, oh, make me smarter, it's God soften my heart. So I can receive what you're saying because I can be brilliant, but if I don't have a heart that's made or fashioned to receive what you're saying, then the love of God, the flow of God, the information, the deep things of God cannot get through no matter how smart I am. Okay. Are you hearing what I'm saying? So God gives us with soft hearts. God's revelation comes to people and is deposited in people who actually have soft hearts, or should I say in other words, revelation comes to folks that actually love God. Not just know things about God. Okay? You can get tricked with the intellect. Be careful. Amen? What you want is a soft heart that loves God. Because here's the thing, in any relationship, you receive from the other person out of love, not just mine. Are you hearing me? So you have to be able to love the Lord in order to know the Lord. You understand where I'm coming from? All right. This opens up wonderful possibilities for every believer because not everybody's going to have a high IQ. Amen? Not everybody's going to have that. But God will make his children have soft hearts. Everybody that is saved and sanctified and loving God, we have a loving heart towards God. Amen? Amen? So it kind of evens the playing field. So you don't have to sit next to somebody who's a true theologian and feels terrible about what you know. The truth of the matter is what counts is, do you have a heart that loves God? because then you can receive knowledge from God. Amen. That they may know, intimately know, not just head knowledge, but heart experience. What is the hope of his calling? You can understand with your heart what God is calling the believer to. These are the true blessings that God has for his children. And I said last week, not just the streets of gold, but being just like Jesus. Amen? That is the real blessing. I said last week, you get into things because we're not like Jesus. We don't think like Jesus, so we end up in situations that Jesus never wanted us to be in. Amen? We do things that Jesus never wanted us to do. It's a blessing that we are becoming like Christ increasingly here, but also when we get to heaven, we'll be just like him. We will see him as he is. We will be just like him. Amen? And that doesn't mean that God doesn't care about other stuff like your health. Amen? It doesn't mean that God doesn't care about your finances. It doesn't mean that God doesn't care about how you provide or your career choices. It doesn't mean that God doesn't care about who you choose as a mate. He cares about all those things. It doesn't mean that God doesn't care about your children and where they're educated. He cares about all those things, the prosperity of your children and so on and so forth. But with all those blessings, the main priority is that we function with the understanding that we belong to God and we display Christ-like character that will cause us to do what we were made to do in the first place. God has told us, and some books have said this, man's chief end is to glorify God. Amen? And to enjoy Him. Well, in order to do that, you must know Him. Amen? You must know Him. And in knowing Him, we begin to intimately become like Him. Amen? So Christ-like character, the idea, representing God, being ambassadors for Christ, by living Christ-like lives. Amen? And then it says, still in 18, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints are. Okay, almost done with the review. Sorry, just gotta set it up. It is important that we understand that even though we are sinners, saved by grace, that not only does God have an inheritance for us, but we are actually His inheritance. It's His inheritance in the saints. You see it? That God places, as I said last week, a high value on you and I, in spite of everything that I did wrong this week. in spite of my struggles and my hang-ups this week. Now, it's amazing that God would call me, even before the foundation of the world, his inheritance before I got saved. What blows me away is even though I am saved, I still have struggles, do we not? And God calls you and I His glorious, rich inheritance. Amen? It blows my mind that God considers unworthy sinners like you and me to be His inheritance, His bride, His prize. Wow. What I was doing before I got saved, I don't even want to talk about. But the truth is that there are still some things that I deal with and struggle with today. And God looks at you and I and he says, you know what? In spite of what they're dealing with, don't worry about that. I'm going to deal with that. They're going to grow in me. I've got them covered. I'm not changing my mind about how I feel about them. I still love them. I will correct them. I will change them. I will transform them. And they are still my inheritance. I value the people that I have saved. Amen? Amen. Amen. The Holy Spirit makes us aware so we can see with our hearts who we are, that we are valuable, that even though we don't deserve his goodness, we cannot earn his goodness. God loves on us so much saints. that that love, that the Holy Spirit is empowered to get us to see, ought to drive us to love Him in return. Amen? Because we recognize that we don't deserve it, and we are grateful for it. Amen? Jesus prayed that we would see how much the Father loves us, and He sent His Holy Spirit to show us, to give us a glimpse of not only what's coming, but what we have right now. Amen? So just like Jesus Paul prayed for the church, and become like Jesus, we're going to need some power. power to walk like Jesus walked, walking in power. We're not going to be able to do this in and of ourselves. We need backup. So Paul prays this in verse 19, and here we go. And this, and what is, I'm praying that what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe according to the working of his mighty power, verse 20, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead. Two quotes. Sperry Schaeffer writes this, Paul wants to impress the believer with the greatness of the power which is engaged to accomplish for him everything that God has purposed according to his work of election, predestination, and sovereign adoption. The theologian William McDonald says this, this is the power which God used in our redemption. which he uses in our preservation, and which he will yet use in our glorification. So what he's saying is every instance, from salvation all the way to glory, we are saved, we are being saved, and we shall be saved. Amen? In every instance, there is amazing power Backing that up. Amen? In other words, the power to redeem us in salvation, there is power being used to keep us in sanctification, and there is power that will eventually be given to us in our eventual glorification. Amen? This exceeding, great, mighty resurrection power is available to the believer right now. Are you hearing me? Good, you're listening. Paul is praying that our hearts will understand this. Amen? It's still under the context of verse 18. I want them to know. What? Now he's talking about, I want them to know that you got some power. Amen? God is saving, protecting, keeping, sanctifying, and leading his children. There is tremendous power available to the believer in order to accomplish the thing that God has called us to do. Amen? This is what enables you and I to walk in power. And we know that's the truth because when we were trying to live wholly on our own, we were failing miserably. But now we got some traction. We're not perfect, but we get up. Amen? We don't do everything right, but we don't do everything we used to do. Are you hearing what I'm saying? We're not dealing with sinful Groundhog Day repeat buttons. Are you hearing what I'm saying? There is growth. There's maturity. There is strength. There is power. There are some boundaries being set. And now it's like, you know what? The Holy Spirit is here. Because I remember myself in the 70s and the 80s. And that was a mess, and look at what God is doing now. Some people are smiling, I'm sorry to remind you. Got a little smile over here. Amen. So, what is this power? You ready? Three things. Paul is praying that the Holy Spirit would reveal to every believer that the one and only true powerful God is really, really on our side. Amen? There is no obstacle, no situation, no circumstance that we can get ourselves into that God cannot handle. That's number one. God is on you. There is no enemy that you will encounter that God cannot subdue. There is no situation or circumstance that will be so unbearable that God cannot rescue you from. Are you hearing what I'm saying? Amen? We are overcomers because we serve an all-powerful God. Amen? Amen. That's number one. Number two, God is praying that the Holy Spirit will reveal to every believer that God's power is always working. There is no pause button for God's power. Are you hearing what I'm saying? There is never a time when God is not working or displaying his power. Take a breath. That's his power. Your right mind, that's his power. Are you hearing what I'm saying? One of the things that tricks the believers, and we get tricked up a lot of times, is people think that just because God is not working in our timing, that he's not working in his timing. You hear what I'm saying? His timing is not our timing. So a lot of times we get off track and we get discouraged because we can't see the obvious hand of God. We get in a hurry and we get in ahead of God and do things and get into stuff and think that God is not answering our prayer, when the truth is, is God sometimes is just wanting us to wait on him. He's establishing character. Sometimes he's dealing with situations outside of us before we get to the thing that we're praying for. Are you hearing what I'm saying? So what I want you to see here is there's never a time that God is not working. The thing we need to realize that God only wants what's best for you and I. He only wants what's best for you and I. He will not give us his second best. He will not. He loves us that much. So when we think that God is not working, I want you to understand there's never a time that he isn't at work. There's power always working on the believer's behalf, even when we do not see it. Amen? That's where our faith comes in. We've got to believe that even though we're walking through situations, we're not left alone. Amen? We could walk through the valley of the shadow of death, but God is with us. Are you hearing what I'm saying? So we don't need to get antsy and get in a place of fear and become people that produce Ishmael's instead of Isaac's because we're worried about, you know, what we cannot see and start, you know, making things happen for ourselves versus waiting on God and His timing. He's always displaying His power. He's always working. What needs to happen is we need to pray and ask God to give us the eyes to see what He's doing. Amen? Amen. Last one, I'm almost done. God is always fighting against forces of evil. His power is always fighting against the forces of evil on the believer's behalf. God is all-powerful and we have no idea what we escape from day to day. I'm trying to tell you people, if we could see the demonic forces stacked against us from moment to moment, from minute to minute, from day to day, from month to month, if we could a glimpse of that, we would probably lose our minds. The truth is, is God is always fighting. for the believer. You get in your car, you go to work, you get in the grocery store, you think you're having a normal day. You have no idea how you got there safely. You don't know what could have happened, but God did not allow it to happen. You made it safely. You think you just showed up to church morning? No, you did not. It was the power of God that kept you and you couldn't see nothing. You could have a demon breathing down your neck, but he can't get any closer than that because the power of God is stopping him. He has no authority except for what God gives him. So the power of God is fighting on our behalf every single time. So when we fix our face to complain against God and think he ain't doing nothing, think again. You walk to your mailbox, you think you're safe, there's a stray bullet that could hit you. All kinds of things are happening. If God were to just take his hand of protection off of us for two seconds, people, to weaken his power for just two seconds, the enemy would take us out. Can I explain something to you? The devil hates you. We have a real enemy, but we have an all-powerful God. Amen. Amen. That's all right, sweetie. You can cry. It's the truth. We have a lot to be thankful for. And sometimes we complain thinking that God's not doing anything while we're breathing, living, walking, talking. And the stuff that we did back in the day, I'm talking... Can I say something to you, saints? I've said it before. There were things that I tried that my friends tried. We were trying the same thing. And somehow, I'm here and they're not. That is nothing but the mercy of God. Nothing but the mercy of God. That's the power of God over your life. Are you hearing what I'm saying? Some of us have been in situations where God just allowed us to get through this time and we've come through untouched, unscratched. I don't even know how... He preserved you when you were in your foolishness and brought you to where you are now. Now you got some sense and you can see. Wow, God. The power of God is always working on a believer's behalf, fighting against the enemy, protecting us. That's why we ought to give God praise. Amen. We could fix our mouth to complain, but we ought to give God praise for what He has done. Amen? Amen. I'm talking before salvation, during salvation, in sanctification, God has taken care of us. He's protected us. He's displayed His power. And Paul is praying that the eyes of your understanding would be able to see this. Amen? We would be able to see this. Amen. But this power, give me back verse 19 again. 20, I think. No, no, no, that's right, that's right, stay right there. What is the exceeding greatness of this power to us-ward who believe? This same power, next verse. which he wrought in Christ Jesus when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places. When he raised Christ from the dead. But this power is only available towards those who believe. It is resurrection power. Amen? That's what he's talking about. The most incredible event in history is not the flood, not creation even. No. The most incredible event in history is Jesus getting up. Amen? That same power, conquering death, is available towards the believer. Are you hearing me? We are raised to new life. Christ was raised from the dead, and now we are raised from the dead. Amen? We are raised from, guess what? The dead things we used to do. We are raised from, guess what? The ways we used to think. We are raised from the dead ways we used to live. Amen? I was at a restaurant yesterday. A friend of mine and their boyfriend, nice couple, came to visit me. They're in the industry. And I have music buddies that I talk to, and they're doing very well, doing movies and all that kind of stuff now. And we all talk, because the lady friend, she's like my buddy, you know what I mean? And so she's found this guy, and they love each other, and they do music together and whatever have you, and they do a lot of stuff in the movie industry. And while we were talking, she said, did you hear what happened to so-and-so? And I won't mention his name. Because if I say it, you all know this person's name. And said that this person was a very powerful person in the entertainment industry. Very powerful. In fact, years ago, in my early 20s, I met this person at a studio, and they offered me a contract. and wanted me to sign with their company. The Lord derailed me, and I ended up going another way, a different thing. But I used to say to myself, man, shoulda, coulda, woulda. It'd be on and poppin'. I'd have Air Force Ones for every last one of my kids. Stacks of keyboards everywhere, just, you know me. And I used to kick myself, like, man, you should've, man, you should've taken them seriously. Why'd you go another route? Well, this person has a lot of power now. This person had a lot of power then. This person was very successful. But because they had no resurrection power over themselves, They are now in a world of trouble. The stuff that they are accused of is just off the chain. Crazy stuff is coming out. Folks are coming out out of the woodworks talking about this is what happened in 95, and this is what they did, and they got witnesses and videotaping. I don't know why people tape all their craziness. But they got all kinds of evidence. It doesn't look good, folks. It looks bad. It looks really bad. And you're saying to yourself, when you're reading about all this stuff, you're saying, wow, what kind of stuff are you into? You don't take all that. Just things. I'm not even going to mention it because we have kids here. But really, really disgusting things they're accused of. My thought was this, if there's no resurrection power over you, then you are left to the sin that leads to death. Now, before I throw, you know, my little accusatory whatever at this person, the truth of the matter is, is every last one of us would be in the same position if it were not for the grace of God and the Holy Spirit living inside of us. Are you hearing me? There are people, as the Bible says, that are held captive to do the bidding of the enemy. They cannot help it. They're enslaved. They could want to get out and kink. Are you hearing me? And so here's the thing. I mean, it's destroyed their reputation, their endorsements, all their career. You could build an empire, but if you don't have the resurrection power over your life to control what you do, then you will destroy yourself. Sin will take you under. So what is Paul praying? He's praying that we would have this resurrection power that raised Christ from the dead. Amen. Not just so we can be saved and go to heaven, but so that we can have some Holy Ghost scents while we're down here. Are you hearing what I'm saying? That's the thing that we need. Because if we're going to be ambassadors for Christ, we've got to look like Christ. We've got to live like Christ. But we cannot do it within ourselves. We don't have the power. And before I sit up there and say, well, look at you and look at you, the bottom line is I would be doing some crazy stuff if God had not intervened and given me his Holy Spirit. Amen? That's really the truth. Paul is praying that we would know this power. That we'd experience this power so that we would live like Christ. Ephesians 2 and 10. Just a few scriptures and I'm done. Ephesians 2 and 10. I need to go back a little bit. 2 in 8 says... He has ordained predestined that we would walk in power. Amen. Not just get saved, but walk in his power. Are you hearing me? Amen. Ephesians 3 and 20. Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask for a thing." A lot of people think about, you know, God, I need you to give, you know, I need your power to give me a new car. God, I need your power to give me a new house. God, I need your power to, you know, put my kids in some Ivy League schools. I need your power for, you know, so we can have this, you know, incredible lifestyle. But the truth of the matter is it's according to the power that works in us. This is the same resurrection power he's talking about. It's the power to live like Christ. That's what it's really about, because you can have all those things and destroy yourself if you don't have His resurrection power. Amen? Philippians 2.13. You know this scripture. For it is God working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. That word desire blows me away. Because there are some things in us, if we're just honest, we don't want to, you know, I don't feel like lining up with you today, Lord. I really want you to shut off the power so I can get a month of cursing folks out and then cut it back on. There's a few things I want to say to a few individuals. You know, sometimes we go there, right? So what we have to do is we have to pray, Lord, give me the desire. to be like you. Some folks' Thanksgiving this week was really interesting because they ran into them cousins in them. And you don't get along. And there's things that you want to say to them. And, you know, come on, you got to be real. Road rage and things like that. There's things that we deal with. You know, sometimes we don't feel like it, but God gives us the not only power but the desire. overriding my affections and giving me a soft heart to want to do His will. Lord, I'm not going to say that. Lord, I'm not going to do that. Lord, I'm not going to get into those things. Lord, I'm not going to think that way because that doesn't please you. Amen? giving you not only the power, but the desire to do what pleases Him, amen? That's a blessing. That right there is one of those things, obviously, one of those facts that it's assurance of salvation. You want to know you're saved? When God overrides you and you love Him for it. Wow, that wasn't there before. Oh, I must be going to heaven. You hear what I'm saying? Amen. All right. So it's power towards a believer. And I'm going to say this to you, for those of you who are listening online, because we have a bigger audience online, listen to this. If you have not repented of your sins, if you have not placed your faith in Jesus Christ and what he did on the cross to save you from your sins, then you are not saved. Then you are not safe. then you have no Holy Spirit living in you. Then you have no resurrection power to control you. Are you hearing me? But it doesn't have to end that way. Saints, that doesn't have to be the end. You can trust in Jesus today. You can be made whole today. You can have your heart enlightened to see what God has available to you today. You can have a soft heart today if you place your faith in Jesus Christ. Amen? It doesn't have to end that way. He's the only one that can save you. He's the only one that can heal you. He's the only one that can transform you. He's the only one that can give you power. Walking in power. Amen? I'm done. Amen. Amen. Amen. Father God, we are grateful to you because we know ourselves, God. We know that you have done something to change us. We know that you have transformed us. Sometimes we get weary, God, and we don't see your hand. We don't know, God, that you have good things for us, not just in eternity, but good things for us here and now. We're praying for some things. We're asking for some things. We're waiting on you, Lord. We know, God, that you sent your Holy Spirit to give us eyes in our hearts to see what you're doing, to see what's available to us, to see your power, to see your transformation, to see what you have done and what you've given to your believers, God. I ask, God. just like Jesus prayed and just like Paul prayed, that you would continue to do this work in the hearts of your people. Give us eyes to see. Help us to be content with where you have us now. Help us to have eyes of faith to believe that you're going to do everything in your word concerning us, that your promises are true. I ask God that you would give us power to live holy, power to walk right, Power to represent Jesus. Power to understand, Father, that even though there are things that we are waiting for, God, you're going to only give us your best. And Lord, you have done something recently for me to where I am completely blown away by what you've done. I know that you deliver on your promises, God. So I pray, Father, that you would Through your power of your Holy Spirit, allow people to see just what you have for them, God. Help us to wait on you and be of good courage. We know that you will give us power for living, power to walk right, power to hold our position and wait on you to do what you're going to do. And we thank you for these things, God. We thank you for everything that you've done, everything that you're doing. Thank you for your protection. Thank You for Your direction, God. All these things concern us. We are grateful to You, God. Grateful to You. Help us to be content and help us to recognize what we have. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen.