WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.080 God has put a dream in your heart, God has put a vision in your heart, but it will be tested, 2 00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:12.720 your desire will be tested, your pursuit will be tested, and your want to will be tested. 3 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:17.920 Satan is not like a demonic doorman that is going to open up the door for you and say, 4 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:23.040 write this way, Madam, write this way, sir, to the abundant life, to the blessed life. 5 00:00:23.040 --> 00:00:25.520 You're actually going to have to get your pursuit on, amen? 6 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:30.080 Welcome to the City Light Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today, 7 00:00:30.080 --> 00:00:34.880 as we look into God's word and discover the hope and truth that he has for us. 8 00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:41.360 If you want to connect with City Light Church, feel free to visit us at citylightnyc.com, 9 00:00:41.360 --> 00:00:49.280 that citylightnyc.com. Pastor Boyan Jansik and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit 10 00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:54.400 is already working in our hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, 11 00:00:54.400 --> 00:00:59.120 remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by his grace, 12 00:00:59.760 --> 00:01:02.400 and that he has a real hope and a future for you. 13 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:08.800 Let's begin in John chapter 5, starting in verse 1. 14 00:01:12.320 --> 00:01:14.720 This is Jesus at the pool of Bethesda. 15 00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:21.760 It was only after I became a Christian in 1992 when I rollerbladed. 16 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:30.560 People forget that. At one point in New York City was along the avenues. It was just a sea of rollerbladers. 17 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:35.920 That was one of them. It's hard to picture that now. It's crazy that my parents let me out of the 18 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:41.280 house back then. Sixteen years old on rollerblades are just going up and down like eighth avenue, 19 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:46.400 fighting the cyclist, fighting the yellow cabs. It wasn't the nice Manhattan up today where all 20 00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:50.960 the lines were painted and you had the bicycle lane. You just had to basically, you know, between cars 21 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:57.280 and you better believe in Jesus if you were going to survive in Manhattan back then. 22 00:01:57.280 --> 00:02:02.720 But I showed up in Central Park and realized, oh, there's that thing. Oh, that's from the Bible. 23 00:02:03.440 --> 00:02:08.080 Bethesda found, I'm getting the connection now. It's from John chapter 5. 24 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:16.640 It says, after this, there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 25 00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:23.520 Now, there is a Jerusalem by the Sheepgate of Poole which is called in Hebrew Bethesda having five 26 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:32.720 porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the 27 00:02:32.720 --> 00:02:39.200 moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the 28 00:02:39.200 --> 00:02:48.000 water, then whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was made well of whatever 29 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:55.920 disease he had. Now, a certain man was there who had an infirmity 38 years. That's a long time. 30 00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:06.000 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been in that condition a long time, 31 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:12.320 you would think that it would say Jesus saw him and found that he was only there for a day 32 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:17.200 that he would say what he said to him. Do you want to be made well? 33 00:03:18.080 --> 00:03:23.200 But it was actually because Jesus saw him there and knew that he was already sick a long time. 34 00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:30.720 That Jesus asks him a perplexing question. It almost seems like a rhetorical question, 35 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:37.680 but it's not. He asks a sick man who's been sick 38 years, do you want to be made well? 36 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:44.400 It's almost like you can add, do you really? Do you really want to be made well? 37 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:52.080 Because you're laying here, it's been 38 years and you're not really doing much it seems to make 38 00:03:52.080 --> 00:04:00.000 it happen. If we keep on reading, the man says, I have no man. In other words, his eyes are on 39 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:03.920 man, human. And he says, I don't have anybody to bring me into the fountain. 40 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:10.480 And Jesus is really provoking him and testing his desire and testing his want to. 41 00:04:11.760 --> 00:04:16.960 Because if your desire is big enough, listen, the evidence of desire is in pursuit. 42 00:04:18.400 --> 00:04:23.600 And when your desire is big enough and large enough, you find a way. You make a way. 43 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:27.840 You know I preach grace. I'm a big grace preacher. When it comes to our salvation, 44 00:04:27.840 --> 00:04:33.360 the work is done. And when it comes to our salvation, we get to rest. 45 00:04:34.400 --> 00:04:39.600 But when it comes to the dreams that God has put in our hearts, it's a tension between 46 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:45.120 yes, resting in the promise, but also cooperating with what the Lord has said. Because Christians 47 00:04:45.120 --> 00:04:50.240 are really, really good at waiting. They're professional waiters. What are you doing? I'm waiting 48 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:54.240 on the Lord. And then some preacher comes and begins to talk about, you know Abraham, 49 00:04:54.240 --> 00:05:00.800 waited a really long time. That's me. I may have. And then, you know, David waited. Moses was 40 50 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:04.960 years, just twiddling his thumbs and it does are all good. I didn't waste the last 40 years. I'm 51 00:05:04.960 --> 00:05:10.640 I'm such a good waiter. And let's not identify so much with the waiting part and identify more with 52 00:05:10.640 --> 00:05:16.640 the receiving part. Amen. And you stand. There's a baking process. I've gone through it. I'm sure I'll 53 00:05:16.640 --> 00:05:21.840 go through it again. There's always a waiting period. But I don't have to have faith to wait. I 54 00:05:21.840 --> 00:05:30.800 want to have faith to receive. Amen. The prophetic word isn't given so you can wait for it. It's given 55 00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:39.680 so you can cooperate with it. Hallelujah. And there will always, when God gives you a dream, when 56 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:45.840 God gives you a vision, when God begins to stir up a desire in your heart, there will always be a 57 00:05:45.840 --> 00:05:52.160 test of how big is your want to? Do you really want this? For this man here by the pool of Bethesda, 58 00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:56.720 it didn't seem like the want to was that great because he could have gotten addicted to 59 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:02.240 the social surroundings. I mean, it became a hangout place where everybody with the same problems 60 00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:10.240 would hang out. He could have gotten just used to the dream that had died and talking with others 61 00:06:11.200 --> 00:06:21.440 as they wallowed in each other's mediocrity. And Jesus comes provoking him. How big is your want to? 62 00:06:22.640 --> 00:06:29.040 I remember my first year of Bible school. The Lord was already talking to me years before that 63 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:34.720 that I needed to be good at winning souls, that if I was going to enter the ministry and be a pastor, 64 00:06:35.360 --> 00:06:41.520 the very basics, the very fundamentals are being able to articulate the gospel to lead a person 65 00:06:41.520 --> 00:06:48.720 that's far from Jesus through the gospel and to Jesus. Amen. And to do that with anybody, 66 00:06:48.720 --> 00:06:53.600 I felt like he was raising me up to be unafraid to speak to anything with a heartbeat that moves. 67 00:06:55.120 --> 00:06:59.120 And so I did that in high school. I did that at college, but then I felt like the Lord was saying, 68 00:06:59.200 --> 00:07:05.280 okay, not just your friends, strangers even, and then I entered into Bible school and they had 69 00:07:05.280 --> 00:07:10.400 this outreach that happened every Friday night down in Tampa, Florida. It happened in Ebor City, 70 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:17.280 which you know how like New York City is like all bad and good? Tampa is weird in that. 71 00:07:17.760 --> 00:07:22.720 There's a lot of suburbs and just a lot of normal places and it's like the concentration of evil 72 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:28.480 is on the six, six or seven blocks. There's two people who know Tampa, right? It's this concentrated 73 00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:35.280 area of evil. Ebor City, right? Some people will call it evil city, which of course being a Christian 74 00:07:35.280 --> 00:07:40.160 organization, they don't believe that you can witness somebody Wednesday in the afternoon 75 00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:44.160 or Tuesday morning, but it's like, you know, Christians, we're funny that way. We're like, you know 76 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:51.120 what? Let's find the sinners that have been waiting all week to sin and that was Friday night and 77 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:57.520 they're going to Ebor City and all they really want to do is get high and get drunk and party. 78 00:07:57.520 --> 00:08:06.480 Let's witness to them then. I really, I prefer to meet my sinners Saturday morning like when the 79 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:10.400 hangover is still fresh and they're hungry and they're going, they got all the regret on them, 80 00:08:10.400 --> 00:08:14.960 not when they have the thirst for sin in their eyes, but you know, we're Christians, right? So we 81 00:08:14.960 --> 00:08:21.920 have the bright idea. We hear one or two testimonies of how somebody was on their way into a bar and 82 00:08:21.920 --> 00:08:25.760 a preacher came up to them, someone minister to them and they fell to their knees. What must I do 83 00:08:25.760 --> 00:08:30.000 to be saved? And we think that's the norm. Those are great. We always celebrate these outlandish 84 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:34.720 testimonies. Do I believe God can do that? Yes. Do I believe He's done that? Yes. But also, 85 00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:40.400 there is a norm. That's just me like doing group therapy with you guys. That has nothing to do with 86 00:08:40.400 --> 00:08:50.160 anything. I'm just saying how awkward it was. So I didn't want to do it, but I felt that's, 87 00:08:50.160 --> 00:08:55.680 I needed to do it if I was going to fulfill the call of God on my life. And so we would go down 88 00:08:55.680 --> 00:09:01.040 there and we would hold up signs that said free prayer or we would go up to people and just present 89 00:09:01.040 --> 00:09:06.960 a gospel to them. I mean, I got kicked in the shins. I got elbowed. One time I got back, I mean, 90 00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:11.120 like here I am listing these persecutions, right? Paul was whipped and I'm like, did you know? 91 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:16.560 It's true story. I took off my fleece and there was this big water gum that somebody put 92 00:09:16.560 --> 00:09:23.600 in my fleece. I can't believe it. The sufferings of Christ. Some of them looked at me scornfully. 93 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:32.400 It was terrible. But you know, I'm 24 years old. No, I'm not. I'm 22 years old at the time. 94 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:35.600 This was 98. Don't do the math. I'm 48. 95 00:09:40.640 --> 00:09:47.360 And I kept going every Friday because after I would come back, I would be so full of joy and so 96 00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:53.360 elated because I knew I was doing something that was going to bring me closer to my destiny. 97 00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:59.200 Listen, God is going to test your desire. This was me saying, yes, Lord, I believe you've called 98 00:09:59.200 --> 00:10:03.840 me to the ministry and I believe you will put me in the ministry and I believe you've set this 99 00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:10.080 up as a prerequisite of what I must do to enter into full-time ministry. Is this ministering to 100 00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:15.280 anybody today? That God has put a dream in your heart. God has put a vision in your heart. 101 00:10:15.280 --> 00:10:22.400 But it will be tested. Your desire will be tested. Your pursuit will be tested. And your 102 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:29.200 want to will be tested. Satan is not like a demonic doorman that is going to open up the door for 103 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:34.080 you and say, right this way, Madam, right this way, sir, to the abundant life, to the blessed 104 00:10:34.080 --> 00:10:39.840 life. You're actually going to have to get your pursuit on. Amen. Hallelujah. 105 00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:51.680 When being prepped to minister this, I just felt like the Lord in my spirit just said, 106 00:10:51.680 --> 00:10:58.560 encourage my people to not allow the dream to die. Whatever he's spoken to you to not allow that 107 00:10:59.440 --> 00:11:06.000 to die. And in case you have a notice, more and more everything in our society seems to be set up 108 00:11:06.880 --> 00:11:14.560 for you to let the dream die. From the food we eat that disrupt your entire endocrine system so 109 00:11:14.560 --> 00:11:24.320 that you just veg out to this constant scrolling to the legal weed, everything is just to kind of 110 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:32.480 numb you, sedate you, and take life as it is. And God is saying, wake up. Wake up and dare to believe. 111 00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:43.040 Wake up and dare to dream again. Won't I do it? Hallelujah. But sometimes your desire will be 112 00:11:43.040 --> 00:11:50.560 tested to where you even wonder, God, are you with me on this? I mean, I fell, listen, for 10 years, 113 00:11:50.560 --> 00:12:01.760 I prepared to launch city light church. That's all I, from 16 to 26, I was preparing, I was studying, 114 00:12:01.760 --> 00:12:07.360 going to Bible school, praying hours a day, and then I finally with Jesus leading me every step of 115 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:13.680 the way, launch city light church. And I'm thinking, Lord, if anybody's proven their want to, 116 00:12:13.680 --> 00:12:18.880 it's this guy right here. You know, when I launch city light, God's going to say, well done, 117 00:12:18.880 --> 00:12:24.240 enter now into your heavenly reward. Those 10 years have not been in vain. Watch what I do in this 118 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:29.840 pan of days, and they stayed away by the thousands. And I'm preaching of four or five people. 119 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:36.640 And you know, the mic went out for 10 seconds. It's like the biggest problems I have today. 120 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:41.120 Back then, the speaker would just blow out in the service. It didn't even have a worship leader. It 121 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:47.280 was the first generation iPod. Some people don't even know what an iPod is now. Because it's in their 122 00:12:47.280 --> 00:12:52.800 phone now. They don't even make that anymore, right? A separate device for your digital music. 123 00:12:52.800 --> 00:13:01.840 That was our first worship leader. Just play tracks off the iPod. I'd have to get up there and 124 00:13:01.920 --> 00:13:04.000 all right, close your eyes, everybody, lift your hands. 125 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:15.920 And it's so sweet now. Because in retrospect, I realize, all right, Lord, you weren't trying to 126 00:13:15.920 --> 00:13:23.760 torture me. But now I so much value what you've done. Because my desire was tested, 127 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:29.120 and you got to stay hungry. And keep pursuing. Hallelujah. 128 00:13:31.520 --> 00:13:40.000 Thank you, Jesus. Let's go ahead and read Luke 18 versus one through seven. 129 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:49.760 Then he spoke a parable to them. 130 00:13:53.840 --> 00:14:01.040 Then men always ought to pray and not lose heart. That's one of the messages this morning. Don't lose 131 00:14:01.040 --> 00:14:13.360 heart. Don't lose heart. The battle is in the realm of your emotions. God wants to rob the 132 00:14:14.320 --> 00:14:26.160 excuse me. The devil wants to rob the out of your heart. The dunamis. Don't lose heart. 133 00:14:26.160 --> 00:14:30.720 Then he spoke a parable to them. That men always ought to pray and not lose heart saying, 134 00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:36.880 there was in a certain city of judge who did not fear God nor regard man. So an unrighteous judge. 135 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:44.960 Now there was a widow in that city and she came to him saying, get justice for me from my adversary. 136 00:14:46.800 --> 00:14:51.600 And he would not for a while. But afterward he said within himself, though, I do not fear God, 137 00:14:52.560 --> 00:14:59.280 nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me, because she was incessant. 138 00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:09.040 I will avenge her less by her continual coming. She weary me. One version says, 139 00:15:09.040 --> 00:15:17.120 less she drive me insane. Crazy. Then the Lord said, hear what the unjust judge said. 140 00:15:17.760 --> 00:15:25.520 And shall God not avenge his own elect who cry out day and night to him, though he bears long 141 00:15:25.520 --> 00:15:36.160 with them? And shall God not? In other words, this is in the theme of Jesus talking about how much more 142 00:15:36.160 --> 00:15:42.080 will your Heavenly Father do or how much greater is your Heavenly Father? Let's compare and contrast. 143 00:15:42.160 --> 00:15:51.760 If this unrighteous, ungodly judge will be moved by opportunity by the widow continually coming to 144 00:15:51.760 --> 00:16:02.000 him, how much more will your Heavenly Father be moved as you keep knocking on the door? Hallelujah. 145 00:16:02.640 --> 00:16:06.240 It says, though he bear long with them. So sometimes there is a bearing long, 146 00:16:06.880 --> 00:16:12.640 but continue bearing, continue seeking, continue knocking. Hallelujah. 147 00:16:15.280 --> 00:16:19.680 How big is your want to? And the Lord for some of you is going to refresh your want to, because 148 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:27.840 the clobberings of life and the letdowns of life, they tend to rob you of the want to, of the desire 149 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:33.600 to then where you just throw up your hands and just take whatever comes. No, the things of God must 150 00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:44.080 be seized. Hallelujah. I pray the Holy Spirit now come and inject you with a holy seizing and a 151 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:52.640 faith to dare to believe. Hallelujah. I said 24 when I was thinking of my age, it was 22 when I was 152 00:16:52.640 --> 00:17:04.880 doing the evil city, evil city. It was 24 when I was ordained. And the day after I was ordained 153 00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:10.720 in the ministry that I was a part of, the financial director came and handed me my ordination. 154 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:16.800 And she said, now that you're ordained, would you like to opt out of Social Security? I said, 155 00:17:16.800 --> 00:17:23.920 why? That's a thing. She said, oh, yeah, ministers can opt out of Social Security. Some of you, 156 00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:28.480 and some people think ministers don't pay taxes. We pay taxes, but we get to opt out of Social Security. 157 00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:33.360 And she said, it's a decision you can make once, and then there's no reversing it. That's a lot of 158 00:17:33.360 --> 00:17:38.720 pressure for 24-year-olds to make. And I asked her, what do you think? And she went, oh, no. 159 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:43.680 She said, I don't know. I mean, like, I don't know if Social Security is even going to be around 160 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:50.480 when you need it. And I'm 24-year-old and I'm thinking, well, Social Security, I've looked at my 161 00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:56.000 paycheck, and that was 8%. I don't know what it is now, but it was 8% they took out nearly a time. 162 00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:03.680 And I thought surely I could do better with 8% than the government. She said, you know what, 163 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:10.080 I'll opt out of Social Security. And then I'll wheel and deal, and I will multiply that, and I will 164 00:18:10.320 --> 00:18:15.200 be all right. So I opted out of Social Security. Didn't even think about it. Through my 20s, 165 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:19.680 through my 30s, then Victor came along, and somewhere in my early 40s, I thought, oh, 166 00:18:21.040 --> 00:18:26.320 you know that plan I had to take that 8% and put it to the side? I never did that. 167 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:32.720 So I have no safety net whatsoever other than the Lord, which let me just talk about that. 168 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:36.240 There's a lot of people who have the attitude of, oh, the Lord will take care of me. 169 00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:41.600 Yes, the Lord will take care of you, but there are levels that the Lord will take care of you on, 170 00:18:41.600 --> 00:18:46.080 and if you didn't use wisdom and if you didn't use your head, you're going to limit the taking care of. 171 00:18:46.080 --> 00:18:51.840 Like he took care of the Hebrews and their rebellion, but they were eating, you know, quaker oats. 172 00:18:54.560 --> 00:18:59.120 I don't want quaker oats every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Sometimes I want a piece of steak. 173 00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:07.520 In the wilderness, he met them. He supplied their needs, but in other words, God, 174 00:19:07.520 --> 00:19:10.960 when you have faith in Him, you're not getting up under a bridge somewhere, and you're not going 175 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:15.520 to end up starving. He will take care of you, but I don't want to be on barely get along street. 176 00:19:15.520 --> 00:19:20.640 Okay, you're sustaining me so I don't die of hunger. This is too practical. 177 00:19:23.600 --> 00:19:27.520 Look, you know who's the worst at this? Ministers. Oh, God will take care of me. 178 00:19:27.600 --> 00:19:32.480 Well, what are you doing in the natural by his wisdom, by his anointing to prepare for your 179 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:38.960 future right now? Oh, prepare. And then you read the Bible, you know, many times he sent 180 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:42.000 prophecies, they prepare. There's going to be a drought. There's going to be a famine. There's 181 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:48.080 going to be prepare. So I wake up in my early 40s and realize, I'm completely unprepared. 182 00:19:48.640 --> 00:19:59.520 So I get this desire. The problem is I have no money. No excess money. But I got a desire and I 183 00:19:59.520 --> 00:20:04.720 start beating the bushes. Lord, you got, I don't, I'm on the clock here now. You got to multiply 184 00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:08.960 this thing. And I discovered this thing and I've shared this from the pulpit before this thing 185 00:20:08.960 --> 00:20:12.800 that I, and you're nothing about Bitcoin. I'd only seen quick headlines and everybody thinks 186 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:17.440 they know what Bitcoin is, but that's because everybody's too embarrassed to admit they know 187 00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:26.640 not at all what Bitcoin is. That was really funny, I thought. Because whenever I talk about 188 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:31.200 Bitcoin, some, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm like, no, okay. So this is what I had to go, 189 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:36.720 I know nothing about that world. I know, I threw myself in ministry and ministry only. And then 190 00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:41.520 it took at least 200 hours and this is the recipe. It need, you need 200, it's not really that much, 191 00:20:41.520 --> 00:20:47.040 but it is when you don't get it. 200 hours to understand Bitcoin. Until I finally understood it, 192 00:20:48.320 --> 00:20:53.920 and then when I really understood it, I started buying. Not with just one hand, but both hands 193 00:20:53.920 --> 00:21:01.760 and two feet. And, and then that was back in 2019. And so it went from several thousand dollars, 194 00:21:01.760 --> 00:21:06.960 and in the next year went to 60 thousand dollars. And so I started borrowing against my Bitcoin, 195 00:21:06.960 --> 00:21:11.280 because now it went into the millions. So I went from zero to hero real quick. I share this 196 00:21:11.280 --> 00:21:15.680 testimony. You know, you say, what does it keep talking about? Because the Lord changed my life, 197 00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:20.640 amen. The Lord changed my life, the Lord changed my family's life. It was a major breakthrough. 198 00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:26.160 Now I stand, I don't say that as this is what happened to me. Ha ha, this is what the Lord will 199 00:21:26.160 --> 00:21:33.920 do for you when you look to him, cry out to him, and put some pursuit in, amen. But it wasn't an 200 00:21:33.920 --> 00:21:39.920 easy journey, because I then got reckless and borrowed against the Bitcoin and then made even more 201 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:45.680 millions, and then Bitcoin has its prone to do when dropped 40 plus percent. I mean, it'll go down, 202 00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:49.760 up. It's volatile. And people say, well, that's why it's no good. It's volatile. Everything good is 203 00:21:49.760 --> 00:21:57.040 volatile. The Holy Spirit is volatile. Niagara Falls is volatile. When there's energy, it'll be 204 00:21:57.040 --> 00:22:06.800 volatile, amen. And so I had sleepless nights. I had, I mean, Bitcoin will make you throw your guts 205 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:12.240 multiple times before it actually comes back kisses you on the cheek and hugs you. 206 00:22:14.320 --> 00:22:19.040 It is not for the fame of heart. The best advice I can give somebody who wants to purchase Bitcoin 207 00:22:19.040 --> 00:22:24.720 is purchase it for 10 years and forget you have it. And I'll purchase it now, not in 10 years, 208 00:22:25.760 --> 00:22:28.800 as another asset, and then don't think about it for 10 years. 209 00:22:31.280 --> 00:22:36.240 And so I had to keep enduring. You know what's great making millions? You know what's 210 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:41.920 painful losing millions with an M. It's more painful than ever having had them. 211 00:22:45.280 --> 00:22:52.480 And I'm persisting and the Lord let me down some other avenues, Bitcoin related to purchase 212 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:59.440 Bitcoin derivative options and then got me back and then some what I'm just trying to encourage you 213 00:23:00.560 --> 00:23:05.760 is to keep on keeping on. And to keep on putting one foot in front of the other while you're looking 214 00:23:05.760 --> 00:23:11.840 to Jesus the entire time, he will reward the persistent soul whose desire is evident. 215 00:23:13.120 --> 00:23:21.280 Come on. Hallelujah. Look, when you realize this, when you realize this, then you will understand 216 00:23:21.280 --> 00:23:26.800 why that demonic onslaught in your head is there. That voice that wants to get you to just 217 00:23:26.800 --> 00:23:33.520 shut down and take whatever comes and then say pseudo-Christian things like, well, God's got this. 218 00:23:34.320 --> 00:23:44.480 Then it'll make sense. The devil wants you drunk, high, given up, going off into escapism, 219 00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:50.800 that'll make sense when you realize that what God wants to see is a fire in you and some pursuit. 220 00:23:50.800 --> 00:23:59.040 That is the evidence of your desire that he put there. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. 221 00:23:59.040 --> 00:24:09.600 Thank you, Jesus. Luke 19 verses 1 through 5. I'll close with this. 222 00:24:09.600 --> 00:24:31.040 Hey, let me just say this. You know. Here's a revelation. Life ain't easy. 223 00:24:31.040 --> 00:24:46.400 You're going to have challenges. But there's a real trend of therapy now. I mean, like never before. 224 00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:50.640 I mean, back in Europe, they always used to chuckle at Americans. They're always in the shrinks 225 00:24:50.640 --> 00:24:55.120 office. All the movies are always some popping pills and a couch laying down talking to a shrink. 226 00:24:56.080 --> 00:25:00.800 But now, you know, you can't even get in with a therapist and they're charging ridiculous rates 227 00:25:00.800 --> 00:25:05.680 and they're booked out for months on end and there's buzzwords like trauma and abuse. 228 00:25:06.320 --> 00:25:10.960 And I don't knock anybody who's experienced real trauma. That's why the Lord, that's why I do what I do 229 00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:17.760 to minister to people who've been traumatized. But it's so overused now. And then when I talk to some 230 00:25:17.760 --> 00:25:22.400 people, they'll throw the words like abuse and trauma around and I'll go, well, what happened? 231 00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:31.040 And they're like, I have two parents and they love me. And then mom would ask me every morning, 232 00:25:31.040 --> 00:25:39.600 do I want breakfast? And then they put me in all the sports. I mean, I was in baseball 233 00:25:39.600 --> 00:25:45.920 and I was in soccer and they started describing what like for anybody else out of time would be an 234 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:51.040 idyllic childhood. And there is a trauma there, but here's what the trauma is. It's not the 235 00:25:51.040 --> 00:25:57.440 upbringing. Everybody does not going to be a perfect upbringing. The sitcoms of the 80s weren't real. 236 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:03.760 But when they really, when they start describing, it's that they grew up in this loving, 237 00:26:03.760 --> 00:26:09.520 protected bubble got out of it and started life and life just smacked them, life being life and then 238 00:26:09.600 --> 00:26:16.000 oh, oh, and the shrink says, your mom, your dad, you're, oh, they traumatized me. No, they didn't. 239 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:20.960 They loved you and to care for you and protected you and we're kind to you and good to you. 240 00:26:24.320 --> 00:26:26.960 And okay. 241 00:26:31.120 --> 00:26:38.640 What does this have to do with the price of eggs? Because there is a, there is a group of people 242 00:26:38.640 --> 00:26:44.240 who have. We've been so pampered that then when we go out there, we're shocked to learn that 243 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:51.600 everything doesn't go our way all of the time and that it actually requires them and persistence and 244 00:26:51.600 --> 00:27:02.560 continuation and an evidence of desire. Amen. Hallelujah. All right. Luke 19 verses one through five. 245 00:27:02.640 --> 00:27:11.680 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was, well, Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. 246 00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:22.880 That happened. And then in Jericho was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector and he 247 00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:30.240 was rich and he sought to see who Jesus was but could not because of the crowd for he was of short 248 00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:38.800 stature. Some versions say he was a dwarf. He had dwarfism. He was a little person. 249 00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:46.400 What does that have to do with anything? Well, you just picture him, right? Here's this rich guy 250 00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:54.640 and the jewelry on him probably weighs as much as him. He's four foot ten but he's successful 251 00:27:55.280 --> 00:28:01.360 and he wants to get ahold of Jesus so much and he couldn't for the crowd so he ran ahead and climbed 252 00:28:01.360 --> 00:28:08.320 up into a sickle more tree to see him. What a sight that must have been. This little guy right 253 00:28:08.320 --> 00:28:12.480 running with the jewelry hanging up from the robes hanging off him but he's like, you know what? 254 00:28:13.040 --> 00:28:18.880 I want to see Jesus and 2,000 people around him are like, yeah, we do too. And he's like, yeah, 255 00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:24.160 but I want to see him more than you want to see him. Therefore, hands hither too, 256 00:28:24.160 --> 00:28:28.880 I'm going to make an absolute fool out of myself. I'm going to be like one of those rainforest 257 00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:35.840 creatures that dangle from a branch by their tail. He climbed up into a sickle more tree to see him 258 00:28:35.840 --> 00:28:42.480 for he was going to pass that way and notice that Jesus didn't say, look at this short rich fool. 259 00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:52.480 What a sight, a Peter, get a load of this guy. And when Jesus came to the place of all the 260 00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:59.920 thousands of people, he looked up at dangling Zacchaeus and saw him and said to him, Jesus's heart 261 00:28:59.920 --> 00:29:08.960 was touched by what the pursuits, the want to, the evidence of his desire. He looked up and saw 262 00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:16.640 and said to him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down for today. I must stay at your house. 263 00:29:17.440 --> 00:29:21.600 I just felt I didn't share this in the first service but the Lord just reminded me in my spirit. 264 00:29:21.600 --> 00:29:25.280 Those of you who are single, look, not all single want to be married. Some people are single and 265 00:29:25.280 --> 00:29:30.240 they're saying, I feel like this is a season of singleness. But if you want to be married, 266 00:29:30.240 --> 00:29:37.920 I encourage you. Let there be an evidence of the pursuit. Whatever that means, 267 00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:43.120 get together with the Lord but you cannot just be sitting and waiting and thinking that this person 268 00:29:43.120 --> 00:29:49.680 is going to paratrooper out of the sky. They won't. And technically on paper, I know it isn't but 269 00:29:49.680 --> 00:29:56.400 it should be easier to meet somebody. I know it isn't. And there's this like pandemic of people 270 00:29:56.400 --> 00:30:01.440 not being able. Sometimes it's because the options are so much. I mean, I come from this little 271 00:30:01.440 --> 00:30:09.760 village, my legacy, my history, this little town. The town itself is 20,000 people but there 272 00:30:09.760 --> 00:30:12.800 were villages of several hundred people and somehow nobody ever was unmarried. 273 00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:20.240 Because there are no choices. You know, it was like, who are you going to marry? Well, you know, 274 00:30:20.240 --> 00:30:25.120 I know Berda from the village next to over. I've seen Berda her whole life and that's all I 275 00:30:25.120 --> 00:30:30.640 got. All right, Berda, you ready? Want to spend the next 70 years together? But here in New York 276 00:30:30.640 --> 00:30:37.040 City, that's so many options, so many things. Nobody can find their perfect match. But I'm encouraging 277 00:30:37.040 --> 00:30:45.760 you. I'm not going to tell you what to do, but you got to do something. Do you know? Here's a 278 00:30:45.760 --> 00:30:48.960 story. She's probably watching online. She couldn't be here today because she's taken care of 279 00:30:48.960 --> 00:30:56.000 Vivian, my wife, Emily. That I had tried to date Emily before I actually dated Emily, 280 00:30:56.000 --> 00:31:01.840 and we actually actually went out several times, you know, just as friends, just talking, 281 00:31:01.840 --> 00:31:08.560 but it was like we kept missing each other. Like I couldn't connect with her at all and she couldn't 282 00:31:08.560 --> 00:31:16.560 connect. She thought I was out of my mind. She wasn't she wasn't that wrong, but that was in 283 00:31:16.640 --> 00:31:25.600 in the fall, then in May, because I was lonely and depressed. I said, let me call Emily. 284 00:31:26.800 --> 00:31:32.320 And I asked her out and she was like a different person. And I said, what happened? And she said, 285 00:31:32.320 --> 00:31:38.640 I just opened up something in my heart. Not to me, just to the Lord doing something in her life. 286 00:31:39.280 --> 00:31:44.080 There was a part that was closed where she now opened up. And if you're single, 287 00:31:44.880 --> 00:31:52.960 open up that part of your heart and pursue the Lord and pursue him for his will for your life 288 00:31:53.520 --> 00:32:02.800 and then realize that faith without works is dead. Hallelujah. In fact, I pray for every person here 289 00:32:02.800 --> 00:32:10.960 who's looking for a godly spouse. You want a good thing, a righteous thing. I pray in the name of 290 00:32:10.960 --> 00:32:16.800 Jesus that heaven and earth would be moved for you. As you take steps of faith that the Lord would 291 00:32:16.800 --> 00:32:22.720 cause your path to collide with somebody who's also submitted their lives to Christ, 292 00:32:22.720 --> 00:32:34.080 is full of the Holy Spirit? Yeah. All impediments go. Demonic assignments that want to thwart 293 00:32:34.080 --> 00:32:43.040 family and godly seed be broken in Jesus name. And for some that your hearts would be healed, 294 00:32:43.040 --> 00:32:48.240 that you'd be able to trust again in Jesus name. Amen. 295 00:33:04.560 --> 00:33:09.680 You're free to visit us online or in person anytime. We would love to connect with you. 296 00:33:10.480 --> 00:33:16.000 We pray that you have been encouraged today, that you have been reminded how much god loves you, 297 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:21.680 and that you are surrounded by grace. Thank you for listening. Make sure that you subscribe to 298 00:33:21.680 --> 00:33:29.360 City Light Church podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.