We're gonna pray and we get the service started and we can bless the Lord. You know, lots of stuff happens. You know, change is inevitable. We're moving forward. We're gonna do what the Lord says do. We're gonna cover everybody that needs to be covered. We're gonna be a blessing, a sweet incense into the nostrils of God. Stuff happens. We by now should know and get over it. We're moving forward. Yeah, bless the Lord, bless the Lord. Yes, Lord, bless God. So I just bless you, Lord. I'm praying right now, Lord, because you want us to come together collectively. Lord, I know you've been inspiring me, Lord, to press for personal prayer so that when we come together, we're all prayed up and ready. Lord, I'm praying, Lord, that we would get that in our spirit, that all the stuff that we're doing that pertains to you outside of the house is actually gonna be a culmination of all we can do in the house together. Lord, Lord, let us look at this with seriousness, Lord. We come together, Lord. We love on each other, Lord. We believe your word, Lord. We're learning from you. We're moving forward. We're blessing you and praising you collectively, but sometimes, Lord, it's by unction, by propelling, by a push. Lord, I believe, Lord, that if we were in the habit of communing with you prior to our coming together, it would be a spontaneous praise. that would fill this house and be incense into your nostrils. That sweet, a sweet aroma, one that you would welcome. Lord, so I'm praying right now, Lord, that we would get it together, not just TLC, but all the churches around that you've already ordained and called your own. All the churches, Lord, would take you as serious on a day by day as they take you collectively on a Sunday. I'm blessing you for that, Lord. I'm blessing you that we're just so happy to be in an assembly where our pastor preaches the truth. He's not in here promising riches. He's not in here promising wealth and health. He's telling the truth. Lord, the two things that are good is that he's telling the truth and we are not deceived. We're actually operating, Lord, based on discernment. Lord, let us discern what's right and what's true so that we can know what to look forward to and we can hear your voice and understand that it's you. And then we can share what we've heard, Lord, through your word, Lord, with one another. And so that we can look God like we're supposed to look God in a dying world. We should look peculiar. We should. So Lord, I'm praying today, Lord, that we would step it up in our hearts. Every day, Lord, I'm praying, Lord, we would maneuver, excel from glory to glory and strength to strength, becoming the people that you called us to be, doing our part on our side, Lord, before you do the finished work when you return, which is your promise. So, Lord, keep us inclined to you. Let us think on you. Let us study and meditate on you. In the nighttime hours, Lord, let us wake up with you on our minds, Lord, or place you on our minds when we wake up. Whatever it takes, Lord, keep us focused on you, your will and your way. And let us show you gratitude for giving us a place to assemble with each other, regardless of what it looks like, regardless of any ridicule or, Lord, let us do what's right in your sight. And this is what we're praying for in the name of Jesus and for his sake. Amen. Bless God. Bless the Lord. Bless God. So we're going to read Psalm 91, 1 through 16. So read with me if you like. I'll be looking to see those that aren't reading. Bless God. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of his wings. I will say to the Lord my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions and under his wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness is a shield and a buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day. nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, 10,000 at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place, the Most High, who is my refuge, No evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him. I will protect him because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and honor him. With a long life, I will satisfy him and show him my salvation. Bless the Lord. Bless the Lord. Now we're going to have praise and worship with our sister Keisha. You can keep clapping. Bless the Lord. Anybody else enjoy worshiping the Lord? That's something to clap about. We enjoy worshiping the Lord, our God. All right, let's sing. This song just says, our God is greater. How many know that he's greater than anything we could ever face? Oh man, he's so much greater than anything we could ever. I see the world sometimes running and flailing and I just look and I go, my God is greater than that. You know, I see it. But then I go, my God is greater than that. Yeah, looking a mess, but my God is greater than even that. Hallelujah. He's kept me in every wilderness and every storm. Hallelujah. He's greater. And I don't have to worry, we don't have to worry, because He's right with us. Hallelujah. And so that's what we're singing about today. And I hope that that will bless your spirit, and let's declare it. And sometimes we just have to hear it again. Is that right? So that's why we sing these songs, to remind ourselves and to bless God. Hallelujah. That He's greater than anything and everything we could ever face. Everything we could ever face. Everything we could ever face. He's greater. He's greater. He's greater. He's greater. Hallelujah. Let's sing together. Water you turned into wine. Thank you, Lord. You opened the eyes of the blind. There's no one like you. There's none like you. Let's sing it out. Into the darkness. Into the darkness you shine. And out of the ashes we rise. There's no one, there's no one like you. No one. There's none like you. Our God is greater. Our God is stronger. Lord, you are higher than any other. Our God is healer. He's awesome in power. Our God. Our God. Our God is greater. Our God is stronger. Our God is healer. He's awesome in power. Our God. Our God. Water and water you turned into wine. And you open the eyes of the blind. There's no one like you. We were all blind, hallelujah. There's none like you. And into the darkness, into the darkness you shine. And out of the ashes, out of the ashes we rise. There's no one like you. There is no one. you. Our God is greater. Hallelujah. Our God is greater. Our God is stronger. The Lord you are higher than any other. Our God is healer. He's awesome in power. Our God. Our God, our God is greater. Our God is greater. Our God is stronger. The Lord, you are higher than any other. Our God is healer. He's awesome in power. Our God. One more time. Our God, our God is greater. Our God is greater. Our God is stronger. The Lord, you are higher than Our God is healer. He's awesome in power. Our God And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us? And if our God is with us, then what can stand against? And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us? And if our God is with us, then what can stand, now you say? And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us? And if our God is with us, then what can stand, no one? If our God is for us, then who could ever stop us? And if our God is with us, then what can stand against? Nothing can stand against us, hallelujah, because he goes before us. Then what can stand against? Our God is greater. Our God is stronger. The Lord you are higher than any other. Our God is healer. He's awesome in power. Our God. Our God. Our God is greater. Our God is greater. Our God is Lord, you are higher than any other. Our God is healer. He's awesome in power. Our God. Our God. That's our God. Hallelujah. Our God is greater. Hallelujah. When things start to rise up as they will, when our thoughts rise up, when our realities rise up. Because these things are not imaginations. When our realities, those bills, those things, our children, those issues, they rise up, you have to take hold. Our God is greater. And he has a proven track record that he is healer, he is stronger. Hallelujah. He is way maker. And He loves us, hallelujah. And He's already done more than enough to show us. Do we believe that today? He's done more than enough. He has demonstrated beyond all demonstrations. Hallelujah. There's a song that says love lifted me when nothing else could help. Love lifted me. What does that mean? He lifted me. Hallelujah. He has done all that he ever needs to do. And he already knows that. So while we're toiling down here and trying to figure it out, Lord, what are we going to do? He says, I've already done it. It is finished. The perfect work of Jesus Christ is complete. Hallelujah. And we are walking towards Him. How great is that? How deep is the Father's love for us. How vast beyond all measure. That He should give His only Son. to make a wretch his treasure. How great the pain of searing loss. The father turns his face away as wounds which mar the chosen one. ♪ Bring many sons to glory ♪ We are those sons and daughters. Hallelujah. We are the ones who he is speaking about. Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. ♪ Behold the man upon a cross ♪ ♪ My sin upon his shoulder ♪ Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice. All of us call out among the scoffers. Thank you, Lord. It was my sin that held him there until it was accomplished. His dying breath has brought me life. I know that it is finished. We just talked about that. It is finished. Hallelujah. We're going to sing that one again. Hallelujah. It is finished. The perfect work of Jesus Christ is complete. Thank you, Lord. Behold the man upon the cross. Thank you, Lord. My sin upon his shoulders for us. Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers. It was my sin that held him there until it was accomplished. Mine has brought me life. And I know that it is finished. We worship Him because we know that it is finished. Thank you, Lord. It is finished. Hallelujah. It is finished. Hallelujah, Lord. It is finished. Hallelujah. You sent your Son, Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. It is complete. Thank you, Lord. So we give you all the praise. So I will not boast in anything. This is important. No gifts, no power, no wisdom. Thank you, Lord. But I will boast in Jesus Christ. The only thing worth boasting about. And resurrection. Yes. Why should I gain from his reward? I cannot give an answer. But this I know with all my heart. His wounds have paid my ransom. We're going to sing this verse one more time. Hallelujah. Sometimes we get a little lost in ourselves and think we're awesome, but He is awesome. He is great. He is amazing. He is wonderful. He paid it all. He made a way. He's given life. and that much more abundantly. It is Him and not us. Let's sing it again. Hallelujah. I will not boast in anything. Thank you, Lord. No gifts, no power. Thank you, Lord. But I will boast in Jesus Christ, His death Why should I gain from his reward? I cannot give an answer. But this I know with all my heart. His wounds have paid my ransom. Let's say that, why should. Why should I But this I know with all my heart. Thank you, Lord. His wounds have paid my ransom. One more time, why should. Why should I gain from his reward? I cannot give an answer. But this I know with all my heart. His wounds have paid my ransom. His wounds have paid my ransom. His wounds have paid my ransom, Lord. Thank you. His wounds have paid my ransom. One more time. His wounds have paid my ransom. Hallelujah. He's paid it in full, paid in full. paid in full. No one else could do it. No one else wanted to do it. Hallelujah. So, when someone else shows up, the enemy shows up and says, I got you. We know he's a liar. Hallelujah. Thank you lord. Hallelujah. See, you have no Can you say that? You have. Oh, yes. Yours is the kingdom. Yours is the glory. Yours is the name. Yours is the name above all names. His wounds have paid my ransom. His wounds have paid my ransom. Your wounds have paid my ransom. We thank you, Lord. His wounds have paid my ransom. Let's give God some praise. Paid in full. There is no balance. There's no layaway plan. We're not hoping he'll come back and keep paying on it. We're not deficient. He's not in default. Paid in full. Paid in full. Hallelujah. That means you can walk around knowing you have been bought with a price. If you've ever had a debt, if you've ever owed anyone, you know what it's like when you make that last payment. Listen, you know what it's like when they give you the pink slip, when the mortgage has the deed is done. Imagine he went to the cross and the deed was done. The pink slip handed over. No one can lay claim to any of us. We are his bought with a price. We can walk around knowing we belong to the king and we are loved. And he didn't wait till we were perfect. This is the part right here. He did not wait till you were the shiny, beautiful object that was worth buying. He bought you while you were dirty in the mud, while you were filthy. He said, you and you and you, all of them, yes, give them to me. So now while you have a little bit of shine, guess who deserves the glory, the praise, the honor? He deserves it all. And that's why we worship him. That's why our hands go up. That's why we sing out in every key that we have in our hearts, because he is worthy of it all. For everything that he's done, for every way that he's made. And he did this knowing we would slip and we would fall. And all he says is, come back. I'll be right here. Come back. and to know that he has maxed out on love for us, that no matter how many times you slip and fall, his love never slips and falls, that his love remains constant and overflowing to the max that it could ever be. Who wouldn't serve a God like that? Who wouldn't worship a God like that? Who wouldn't want to be a child of the King who loves like that? His wounds have paid our ransom. And I hope that you will take that into your week as the week shows up, that you are bought with the price and you are loved. Let's bless God, transform your love, Christians. And one more time for the Lord, who is awesome and worthy of worship. Well, family, we are here, and it is another Sunday, a beautiful day to be in the house of the Lord. We're here at 19300 Redwood Road. It's great to see all of your faces. We are, and those of you who are streaming online with us, welcome. You can visit us at www.transforminglovecc.org. Learn all things TLCC, what we believe, who our leaders are, and what we've got going on here. A couple of announcements. First things first, we told you last week there's gonna be opportunities to volunteer. There are three areas that we need your support. One is in the administrative area. Oh, first, on the back table there's gonna be, oh, I left them upstairs. There's gonna be three pieces of paper. One that says administrative, one says media support, and one says worship support. When you go back there and you're like, ooh, I wanna do this, there's a QR code on that page. Pull out your phone. click on there, a survey or a form will pull up where you can put your name, click on the area that you're interested in, and that will let us know that you're interested in that area where we can contact you. And then we can get you into the service Zoom that will be happening soon. Okay, and that will give you all the information that you need in order to serve in those areas and what service means here at TLCC. All of you online, you're probably seeing a QR code right now up here on the top screen. And I'm going to ask you to pull out your phone and go ahead and click or like zoom in there and let your phone navigate you to the form so that you can also enter that information so that we can reach out to you. Now, maybe you've been waiting for a reason to come on down. Well, your reason is now happening. So maybe you want to volunteer, and we're happy to have you. So please go ahead and click on that QR. Use your phone for the QR code so that you can fill out that form so that we can reach out to you and get you the information that you need in order to learn how to volunteer here at TLCC. Folks, it's super duper important that you give us that information so that you can participate in the volunteer Zoom that's going to happen. We get a lot of folks that are like, yeah, I want to help. And then we're like, yes, do this. And they're like, oh, I didn't know that's what that meant. So we really, really, really, really, really want you to participate in that volunteer Zoom so that you can really understand what it means to serve in your church. I was telling you all last week, I have been serving in our church for about 13 years, and it has been the joy of my little life. And let me just say this, I served in our church when I was a three kid, single parent, working a 50 hour a week job while serving in my church. If your circumstances is not that, and maybe you have discovered you have extra time, Maybe you don't have three kids at home, and maybe you're like, hey, I'm now retired, or maybe I have a little bit more time. Maybe this is a great opportunity for you to say, hey, how can I help? And sometimes we've been going to a church for 15 years, but when you say, how long have you been serving at your church, that might look like, oh, what's that? Or that might look like, oh, what is, you know, oh, you all need help. Yes, we need your help. And so if you have been enjoying coming to the church or streaming with us here, we love that. We're gonna ask you to roll up your sleeves and maybe start serving at your church so that we can get some more things done. I always look at it like this. Jesus was Jesus and he knew all things. And then Jesus was washing people's feet. Right, Jesus was Jesus. He knew all things. And then Jesus was serving. Right, so if we think sometimes like, oh, well, I'm, you know, I'm Keisha. Jesus was Jesus. He knew all things. And he was washing people's feet. So let's put ourselves in that space and say, can I give an hour a week? Can I do the thing? Can I do that one thing that they might need? and be consistent with that. Imagine if Jesus took a few months off all the time. Where would salvation be? I'm just saying. So we're just, we're hoping that you will just look at your schedules, look at what you can do, figure out what's the one thing or maybe the two things that you might be able to commit to, and then say, hey church, how can I help? All right, so those will be on the back table. I will remind you on your way out, hey, did you take a look at those things? We might even tape them up to the wall so that you can easily scan them. And we'll send out a text message with the QR code for all those who are in our text chain for those of you who might need it. Bible Studies on Thursdays at 7 p.m. Get plugged in. Check out the website up there. If you're streaming, look at the Bible Study tab. You can get plugged in. Giving, go to the Donate tab. Those of you who are here, thank you for giving. If you need more information about that, please reach out to us. We're happy to assist you. Other than that, you can find us in the back there, Ms. Red there, back there, we'll help you. If you're trying to figure out how to scan prayer, please give us your prayer request. I think you all have that down. We're praying all week for you. Online, send us your prayer request. You can do that online at our website that's listed there for you. Contact us, just say prayer request, and we're able to navigate that for you. Other than that, it's a beautiful day to be blessed and to be a blessing to others. Don't forget that. Carry Jesus with you through the week. Have a wonderful day here at TLC. Blessed. Okay. Bless the Lord, saints. Okay, before I start, I just want to let you know, Pastor Jamie sends his, he wanted me to communicate to you guys that he came down with something suddenly, probably within the past hour or so, and so he wasn't able to attend. So you guys get me as a consolation prize. So I'm going to, and I've been rusty. It's been a minute since I've gotten up here to do any preaching or teaching, but I know the Lord put something on my heart and we're just gonna trust that he's gonna help me to stay focused and deliver what you need and that you can glean from it. So with that said, we're gonna go ahead and pray. Lord, we thank you for this time, Lord. We bless you, Lord, because you are blessed worthy. You are praise worthy. You are worship worthy. You alone are worthy to be worshiped, praised, magnified, adored, extolled. You are the only one worthy of our confidence. You are the only one worthy of our trust. You said we shouldn't even put confidence in our own flesh. So, Lord, let this message that you put on my heart in this short amount of time have the impact that it's intended. He said, Paul said, he said, I don't come in the lofty words of human eloquence, but I come in the demonstration of spirit and in power. So we're just praying that your dunamis power accomplish the purpose that you had for this particular verse that you put on my heart. He said, your word is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. It pierces even to the dividing center of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, is a discerner of the thoughts and the intent on the heart. So even as we hear the word, let us heed to the word. If nothing else, if it pricks our heart and brings conviction, Lord, let us be quick to confess and to ask you to help us to move in the direction for which you intended. You don't want us to be just hearers only. You don't want us to just come and have itching ears to hear what We want to hear, you want us to have life transforming, life transformation, so that we can be the witnesses that you called for such a time like this. We talk about it all the time, Lord, and I'm gonna spend a minute talking to you, but Lord, you talk about the time, we're seeing the things wax worse. We're evident of it. You told us to discern the time, so you want us to be aware of what's going on. But you also told us to rejoice and be glad because our redemption draws near. So let us be excited about your return, Lord, and let us, in the meantime and in between time, be about your business. We thank you for these things in Jesus' name and for his sake, amen. So I'm just gonna do some, a little talking, but I do have a verse that I was like, okay, Lord. When Pastor Jamie dropped it on me, I was like, okay, I didn't know what I'm gonna do. So I said, okay, let me just, but I know how to pray. And that's gonna be the essence of the verse that I did. So I was like, what should I do? And I felt like I should go ahead. I was gonna defer to Dave. I was like, Dave, you got something, but I didn't feel like I should do that. So I said, okay, Lord, where do you want me to go with this? And then I heard in my heart, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path. But again, I felt led to go down a little further. So I'm going to read that as the primary text. And then I'm going to put some bulleted notes quickly while I was here. And then I might have a little testimony-lish kind of stuff laced in between because this was a particular pet verse that kind of fell on me. when I came to the Lord back in 1990. When the Lord called me to himself and then started bringing me to church, I was raised Catholic. I was encouraged not to read scripture at that time. I'm not gonna vouch for where they're at right now. So I was completely clueless about the scriptures. But when I came to the church and the church was telling me you need to learn about the word, I remember thinking to myself, I hate to read. And then I didn't know anything other than the King James Version. So I was like, I did not do well in school when they did Shakespeare, the yeas, thes, thous, and thuses, and the other. So I was like, Lord, I'm not going to be able to do this, but you want me to do this. And I just knew to ask him. I said, give me an appetite to read. Give me a desire to focus. You know me. You know me better than me. And for some reason, and I only know it's him, these are the kind of strange things started happening. I just couldn't put it down. I picked it up and I read it from cover to cover, not once but twice, and probably more than that. But the reason why I said all that was to say that two scriptures that stood out in the whole thing probably above all the scriptures, and I'm not trying to, it was love God with all the heart, the soul, the mind, and the strength, and love thine neighbors thyself, which is the first and greatest commandment. But the second one was trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding, and all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path. So I said, so that always stood with me. And so when I felt him going in this direction, I can't lie, I got choked up. I got choked up because it was like my whole, from the time of 1990, even prior to it, leading up to now, stuff started flashing through my mind, even while I was driving here, reminding me of that lived experience. Because one of the things about scripture is it goes from Logos to Rhema. It goes from the written word to the living word by way of the Holy Spirit. He makes you live it out. And I don't know if you know it, but you read it and then it has, you know, you go, okay, I understand it. You want to understand the context. You want to understand it properly. Exegete the passage the way it is, but it's supposed to be more than just academic ascent. It's supposed to be life transforming and life applying. So with that said, I know that was a lot and hopefully that made sense. But the thing that came to my mind was I was like, okay, Lord, what I would, and this thought came back to my mind. I remember reading it one time. The spirit of Christ is the spirit of self-denial. In order to be about our heavenly Father's business, it's about the spirit of self-denial. So when you say, I'm gonna follow Christ, what did he say? If anyone wanna be my disciple, what do you do? You deny yourself daily, take up your cross and follow after me. So you're gonna have to deny yourself. Every day you gotta make up your mind, I'm going to follow him, not me. And we're gonna break that down because what is me? It's not just your physical, it's your emotions, your intellect, will. My emotions, my intellect, and will are not gonna govern and guide me today. I'm gonna be guided by the spirit of God, and I'm gonna allow him to lead and guide me. And hopefully by the time we're done with this, I'll kinda explain what that looks like. So, we're gonna read the passage of text first. We're gonna be reading from Proverbs 3, five through eight. And it says, trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways, in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy path. Be not wise in thine own sight, in thine own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel and marrow to thy bones. So as I mentioned, thing that was on my heart, the spirit of self-denial to be about our Heavenly Father's business and the spirit of Christ. So every day, he said, if you want to be my disciple, wake up tomorrow. When you wake up tomorrow, I'm about my Father's business. When you wake up the next day, you got to be intentional. I'm not going to be living according to my feelings. I'm not going to live according to my thoughts. Doesn't mean we dumb down and we don't use our intellect. But what we do is we know that we're following him, not us. And then also, There's a distinction, and I remember having this conversation. It's really been weird to me because since the time I started going to church in 1990 up until now, the mainstream church seems to be more and more almost making your will and God's will one and the same. Like it's God's will to do your will. So that mindset is he wants you to live your best life ever. He wants you to be wealthy. It's all about you. And God's only purpose is to be about you. So you live your life, you acknowledge God and he does whatever he does to make you do you. Which is not anywhere from the scripture. That is completely, completely outside of scripture. So when I started and when I read the scriptures back in 1990, it was common understanding. I need the Lord to help me to live for him and not for me. We knew there was a difference. The stuff I want to do, there's a scripture that says, there's a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end there leads to destruction. I like to do things that are self-destructive. I like to do things that feel good, but the end thereof is going to cause somebody pain, up to and including me. So I have to learn how to kill that part of me. I can go on and on, so I'm going to need the Lord to please help me to stay in parameters because you know I can go on tangents. So what is the word? Let me go back to the verse. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. All means all. Just like he said, he doesn't want us to love you with some of his heart, some of your mind, some of your strength. He wants all. He wants everything. He wants a complete, resolute surrender. Now, some of you say, well, I'll give him all that I know of, and that's all you can do. Give him everything that you know about, because as you grow in him, you realize there's more to give, right? The more you grow. But right now, just give him all. Now, it was easy for me. I'm not going to say easy for me, but one of the things that compelled me to want to give my life to him wholeheartedly in 1990 was the fact that I was suicidal. I had come to a place where I didn't want to do this no more. You know what I'm saying? It was like we had just had the 1989 earthquake. I had been drinking my way. I mean, that was my coping mechanism. Drank, drank, drank, drank. You know, life was hard. Everything was, you know, so what do you do? You drink to deal with the stresses of life. You drink to deal with the craziness of family life. You drink to deal with your, you know, whatever you couldn't do. And then, you know, you called it partying. I'm just having me a good time. But realistically, I was drinking because I had a hard time with life. But just like anything that is not the Lord, that crutch shows up to be what it is, a crutch. And I got to the end of myself and I had no desire to go on after that earthquake because I was like, man, this is crazy. This is crazy. This is crazy. And I remember someone had given me a track and I might be, I pray that I'm not all over the place, but I prayed and I said, Lord, what do I do? And I can remember I was living around Lake Merritt at the time and I felt just, I grabbed this track that someone had given me. I threw it in the thing and I read it and I prayed, didn't think nothing happened. But that started to unfold events that I wasn't even making the connection of the dots for. I just cried out to him and didn't know if he heard me, didn't know what happened. But in hindsight, when you look back, I started to see he was answering that prayer every step of the way. So help me, Lord, to get back on track. So through it all, like I said, I started realizing, I said, you're pulling me in. So you want to have a relationship with me. you know everything about me. The good, the bad, the ugly, the stuff that I might want to bury and don't want to even think about, because there's a lot of that, you know what I'm saying? Like when stuff comes back and you remember some of the things you did, it just causes you to cringe. So he knows everything. So I'm like, I can be honest with you. I can be transparent with you. I don't have, I can't, there's no need to fake the funk. There's no reason to be pretentious. There's no reason to be phony about this. You know me, and you're calling me to you, so I'm gonna talk to you. And I'm asking you to help me, help, because that next part, be not wise in thine own ways, fear the Lord and depart from evil. So there's this, there's a call to consecration. And God is really wanting to change our whole lives. Now, when you come as a mess and you couldn't get your own life together, then how do you go with that? What do you do, right? It's like, if I could have got my life together before, I would have. So I started learning that surrender was key to victory. Oftentimes it's like, I can't do this, but I need your help to do this. And so I started crying out to him from that place. pure when I was whorish. You know what I'm saying? I was inclined towards substance abuse. If I quit drinking, I was going to do something else. You know what I'm saying? Jumping from addiction to addiction, from idle, basically, to idle to idle. So I started having to cry out to him in honesty and transparency and ask him to help me. So next. Lord, help me. What is it? Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not to your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path. There was even consolation in that. There was consolation in it because life got too big for me. I told you I have a hard time with stresses. I'm gonna give you an example and I pray this comes out well. But even recently, and I said this to the people on Thursday and I'm gonna repeat it. But recently, when Ruth died, it was a matter of a couple months later, my sister called me up bawling. And she said, Chris died. And I was like, Chris? You know, her son, my nephew. And I was just like, I got to get off the phone. I just hung up on her. I didn't know what to do. And I immediately prayed and said, Lord, I don't know what to do, but I need your help. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and heal directly And so I got back on the phone right away and I said, I'm sorry, Diane, I just needed to get it together. And she said, she was just bawling. She said, you know, so she wanted me to contact my brothers and sisters. I got four brothers and two sisters. And then she wanted me to tell my mom when I went to pick her up. And I was just like, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I mean, we could sit up here and, you know, oh yeah, no, no, no. I was overwhelmed emotionally. But this is where this scripture is consoling. It's like, I don't know what to do, but I know where to go. I don't know what to do, but I know. I know who knows what to do. So I went to, I just said, Lord, okay, I don't know what to do. And there's another scripture there. And so scripture started coming back. Stuff that I didn't think I was retaining. Commit thy way unto the Lord. Trust in me, and ye shall establish it. Lord, I give this to you. I don't know, it's too big for me. I remember when my father died, one scripture that kept coming to mind. Lord, my heart is not haughty, neither are mine eyes lofty, neither do I exercise myself in matters too high or great for me. Hope thou in God. This is too big for me, but it's not too big for you. And I had to do that so often. Because it was too big. I can't handle it. It's too much. I'm overwhelmed. Hear my cry, O God, attendant to my prayers. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for thou hast been a shelter for me and a strong tower from the enemy. I don't know what to do, but I know you do. I don't know how to handle it. I'm breaking under the pressure. But you know what to do. and you know what to do with broken pieces. You don't despise them that are of broken heart, and you save such as be of a contrite spirit. You know how to show up when, and he said, my strength is made perfect in weakness. This is what I'm talking about. All these scriptures, we read it, we read it, we read it, but what you want is to show up when you need it to show, you need it to show up in your daily life. And the Holy Spirit will bring things back to your remembrance. This is not supposed to be academic. This is supposed to be life changing. He wants to change your whole life. He gave you the word, but he also gave you the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit now lives in you. There's nowhere you have to go. I can't make it to church. I can't call the pastor. That's all right. If you're a born-again believer, now you are the temple of God. There's nowhere you can go that he's not already there. So you have to lean not to your own understanding. Okay, Lord, I don't know what to do, but you know, and he might put something on your heart. call this person, ask them to pray, and then keep it moving. And so even like when I was coming here, I was like, and I hope this is, Lord, and anyone online, trust me, this is the last minute. But the fact of the matter is, even when Pastor Jamie mentioned it, I just knew in my heart, because I could sense in my, do it. So I was like, okay, I don't know how it's gonna turn out, but I'm just gonna go forward. And then I asked, I said, well, what verse should I use? And this is what came to my mind. So in any event, he wants our complete confidence, He wants a complete surrender, and he wants consistency. Your surrender two months ago is not what you're going to lean on. You want to take it day by day by day by day. And the way things are going, I can only encourage you, you would want to. Because everything around us is becoming more unsure and insecure. Even the weather, I mean, everything. I mean, I'm sitting up here by the beach and wondering, okay, is there going to be an earthquake and a tsunami? There's just so many things that could happen at the drop of a dime. So many people were living their best life, according to most people, and all of a sudden, the calamity hit, and that best life went right out the door, and you were in survival mode. So you want to have an intimate relationship with God, and you want to be less emotional, not unemotional, You want to have your emotions surrendered to God so you have the proper emotion because we're living in times where they love us being in fear. They love hyping us up. They want us to make sure everything is doom and gloom because they want to create chaos so they can keep on doing what they're doing. But the more we learn how to walk in the Lord, the more we have the peace of God and the calmness that he can provide and the comfort that he can provide, then we can keep on keeping on and represent him and not even all these political talking points and all these media, you know, no, no, I live for Jesus one day at a time. Bless the Lord. So, Lord help me. So we want to have a daily consistent surrender. Part of that surrender is having spiritual disciplines. This ain't legalism. This is, there are certain things that are just healthy for you. Feeding on the word. Jesus said, men shall not live by the bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. If you ain't reading and feeding day by day, you spiritually malnutrated and you're probably off. If you ain't reading and feeding every day, you're probably spiritually malnutrated and most likely you're off. You're operating off your emotions, your intellect, your will. But the blessing is you can always get it right today. With every day brings brand new mercy. So if you was off, get on. Get on. Get on the right path and keep it moving. The other thing too, you want spiritual disciplines. Prayer, a healthy prayer life. I covet my prayer life. I like my intimacy with God. I like my time alone. Some people always got to be in the mix, always got to be up around people. You cannot have a prayer life if you always in the mix. Get out of the mix and get into God's presence. So that when you're around people and in the mix, you represent him and not you. Amen. So you want a healthy prayer life? You want a studious study life? And that's probably redundant, but you know what I mean. You know what I'm saying? And some of you may say, well, I don't understand it. OK, we'll start somewhere. Because I even told the Lord that. I was like, I don't understand it. Every time you move forward, you take two steps forward, he takes three. He's going to meet you where you're at. You can say, I don't understand this, but help me. And let him lead you. Maybe he'll tell you, pick this book up and read it, or whatever. And somehow, it complements what he wants you to know. Show up to a word-based local assembly where they're going to teach you, not give you itching ear preaching. The Bible says the time will come when they will have itching ears. They will not endure sound doctrine, but heaping up for themselves teachers according to their lusts having itching ears. So people go, oh, I want to go to this church because they speak to my lust. This is my lust preaching. They tell me what I want to hear. No, I want to hear what he has to say because he can change me because I know how to do my lust. I don't need help with that. I need to crucify my lust. You know what I'm saying? Help me to crucify my lust, because I don't need no help sinning. Me and Dave had joked around one time, because this one lady, she's a preacher, calling herself a preacher that preaches according to her lust. And she said something, and I think Dave said, I don't need help sinning. I know how to do it. You don't need me. I need to know how to crucify my old nature. You talking that talk and praying for me, OK, we can talk. But what you talking is crazy talk. Lust preaching. Anyway, so, and the other thing too is communion with other like-minded believers. Because we can push each other to mature. We can comfort each other in our affliction. I'm going to Jesus and asking him, help me to comfort me in my sorrow. And then from there, I can go and comfort others with the comfort wherewith I have been comforted. We go to God, he gives to us, and then we can give to others. We wanna go to him often, and we want to go to him bringing all our prayers, our requests. Confession is good for the soul. I'm gonna bring this to an end, but I'm asking the Lord, and part of my communion with him is where am I at? Search me, O Lord, and know my heart. And show me where I'm off. Because you want to bring it to my attention. I want to know where I'm off. My attitude may be jacked up. It can get jacked up, y'all. I know sometimes some of y'all may see me and I'm nice. But we all can get a jacked up attitude. We can all sit up there. But we have to realize the word is the standard. OK, Lord, part of my self-denial is I'm coming to you and I'm telling you where I'm off when it comes to the word. Lord, you know I'm on that lust bus. I need you to help me to get off at the next stop. Help me, and then help me to recruit others if I need to. Dave, whoever, Keith, pray for me, because I'm on the bus, and I don't want to take a transfer. Let me get off this bus. Help me to get off this bus. All right. in the communion, and I want you guys to see this, because self-denial is a beautiful thing, because what it does is open the door for intimacy and communion with you in the spirit of God. You will start to experience a walk with God that will sustain you through the difficulties of life. You start to grow and graduate. I know I would not have made it through these past couple months, and it's still not over. On the day we went to my nephew's funeral, my brother, Underneath me, my brother Tom is 50 and 60. I'm 59. My brother underneath me is 58. And he told us that they gave him a diagnosis that he had stage four cancer and he may not live that much longer. So we're burying my nephew and this is my brother's. But I'm glad he told us because he was already going through it at the time. And then I found out my other younger brother now has gone in for a biopsy. And our family's predisposed to prostate cancer. That's what took my father out. My PSA count went up to the top of normal, so I have to go in and get checked in a month. So all that to say that God will give you the calmness to deal with the chaos of life. He will give you the calm to deal with it, because this life is hard. Everyone who try to make it sound like this life is supposed to be a cakewalk, you live your best life ever, you are on the wrong Life. That's in the afterlife. Right now, it's really we're in a fallen world. We got a fallen angel on our back. We got fallen natures that we have to deal with. We got fallen people around us. And we have to represent God. So it's all about, it's a lifestyle of self. denial and submission to God for his purposes. But there's joy in that. There's peace in that. And that's not natural. And I hope, you know, I know this is all over the place, but bless God. That peace and joy he's talking about is not natural. It's supernatural. So what you want to do is be so surrendered to him that you allow him to give you peace. That doesn't mean you can have two things going on concurrently. You can have peace and sorrow. I was sad that my nephew died, but I still had the peace of God to anchor me through it. Didn't mean I didn't have hard times, because it was hard. It still get hard. Ruth's death, I mean, I wasn't even, you know, I'm still, I told those guys, I was like, I'm still having flashbacks. That was what, she died when, in August, September? I don't know, you guys, but it was not that long ago. And we were still on the heels of dealing with Maya's death. You know, not to mention there's so many other deaths that happened in there. What I'm saying is, if you don't have that relationship intact, strong, You want it so strong that it can anchor you through the storms of life, give you peace and joy and rest while everything else around you is going crazy. And so with that said, I think I'm done. Am I done? And rely on that intimacy with you. Cast your cares upon the Lord because he cares for you. I mean, some of these things, Lord, I commit my way to you. I cast my cares upon you. Help me to know what sins to confess, because I want the intimacy so strong that I can sense your presence in a way that I have love, peace, joy, gentleness, kindness, goodness, faith, temperance, meekness, against which the Bible says there is no law. We want that relationship tight, because we're all going to check out of here one day. And one of the things you wanna do is know that you lived a life of meaning and purpose. You were about his business and you were serving his purposes. And that's okay if you die tomorrow because you were about his business and that you know the next step will be being in his presence and all you're gonna hear is, well done my good and faithful servant. You've been faithful over a few things, now let me make you ruler over many and enter into the joy of the Lord. That's what we wanna do. So while we're here, let's just be about his business. Don't be driven by your emotions. Don't be driven by your intellect and will when it's outside of God's. Submission, surrender, prayer, study life. You wanna learn more, you say, well, I don't know much. Well, start somewhere. Start with this scripture, shoot, that's a good one. So in any event, I'm going to go ahead and pray out. Hopefully that did what it needed to do. Thank you, Lord. And I'm just going to pray. So Lord, we do. We want to trust in you with all our hearts and lean not to our own understanding. In all our ways, we want to acknowledge you knowing that you will direct our path. You are the good shepherd. You are the one that leads us in the paths of righteousness for your namesake. You're Abba Father. You're not only the Good Shepherd, Lord, but you're also our Father who knows and cares. So you want intimate communion with us. So even with these spiritual disciplines, we want to do it out of love and wanting to spend time with you, wanting to take our, I mean, we want to enjoy your communion and your counsel. Who better to ask than the creator of all things to have wisdom on how to deal with the hardships of life. So Lord, let us understand, appreciate, and apply it. Lord, bring this back to, inscribe in our hearts the parts that you want us to do, Lord. And Lord, organize it and order it in a way that it's meaningful and impactful and purposeful for your purposes and the lives and hearts of your people. In Jesus' name, amen. Bless the Lord. All right, we're dismissed, y'all.