WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.800 You don't want to be going into 2020 for a self-reliant, thinking you're something. 2 00:00:05.760 --> 00:00:13.040 You don't. You want to be extra dependent on him. You want to be looking to him, 3 00:00:13.040 --> 00:00:19.120 the author and the finisher of your faith. Jesus said, if your eye be single, what's a single eye? 4 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:25.520 A focused eye, a steady eye. If your eye be single, your whole body will be full of light. 5 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:31.840 Welcome to the City Light Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today, as we look into God's word 6 00:00:31.840 --> 00:00:37.840 and discover the hope and truth that he has for us. If you want to connect with City Light Church, 7 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:44.000 feel free to visit us at citylightnyc.com, that's citylightnyc.com. 8 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:50.800 Pastor Boyan Jansik and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our 9 00:00:50.800 --> 00:00:56.800 hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, 10 00:00:57.360 --> 00:01:02.400 that you are surrounded by his grace, and that he has a real hope and a future for you. 11 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:08.560 Praise is the language of heaven. 12 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:16.720 God no speak complaining. God speak praise. 13 00:01:16.720 --> 00:01:29.600 And if you don't know how to praise the Lord, my heart goes out to you. I don't know how to help. 14 00:01:30.160 --> 00:01:34.560 You have to be able to praise the Lord. 15 00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:40.560 It is a superpower in the spirit. 16 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:50.080 You look at the Psalms, everybody loves the Psalms. You know why whenever you're down or sad or 17 00:01:50.080 --> 00:01:53.840 going through it, you always gravitate towards the Psalms because they're very relatable, 18 00:01:54.480 --> 00:02:00.080 and it shows man in his condition up and down and all around looking for God, sometimes feeling 19 00:02:00.080 --> 00:02:06.240 abandoned by God, going through life's traps. But you'll notice praise is in every single one of the 20 00:02:06.240 --> 00:02:14.240 Psalms. You take a glimpse in Revelation and you take a glimpse into heaven and you realize the 21 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:22.240 language that's spoken there is praise. And when that evil day comes and maybe you're right now 22 00:02:22.880 --> 00:02:27.440 in that evil day, what's the evil day? It's the day you don't want to be having, but it comes. 23 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:34.720 Praise is what's going to get you out. And so you pardon me if I don't get a little concerned, 24 00:02:34.720 --> 00:02:41.920 I'm your pastor. I'm in bonds of love to the Lord to look out for you, to cover you, to protect you. 25 00:02:41.920 --> 00:02:50.240 I get concerned when if after worship, with me encouraging you to praise, you still stand there 26 00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:56.320 with gorilla glue in between your lips. What's going to happen when it hits you on a Wednesday afternoon? 27 00:02:56.320 --> 00:03:09.600 What are you going to do then? You got to be able to praise him. And right now you're in a safe space. 28 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:18.400 If you can't praise him here, how will you praise him out there? Amen. 29 00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:29.280 Right, right when I say safe space. 30 00:03:38.320 --> 00:03:41.120 Usures go ahead and bolt the doors, lock everything down. 31 00:03:44.160 --> 00:03:45.520 No one's leaving until we're done. 32 00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:59.360 I do repeat myself a lot, I feel. I feel. But then I see some people, they'll ask me a question 33 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:05.840 that I've already answered ten times. And then I realize just right, like way after I'm so tired 34 00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:10.720 of hearing myself, some people are just starting to hear me. That's actually why Paul addressed this 35 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:16.960 in the Bible. He said, for me to repeat myself isn't burdensome to me, but for you it's necessary. 36 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:23.680 What a relief for me. And a conviction because sometimes it is burdensome for me to repeat myself, 37 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:33.120 but because I've repeated this for many many years, this what I'm about to say, which I've already 38 00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:42.640 kind of said. God has given you power and put it in your mouth. He created this earth, he created 39 00:04:42.640 --> 00:04:50.640 the universe with his words. It says in the scriptures that all things consist and are held together 40 00:04:50.640 --> 00:04:55.920 by the word of his power. And it says, you were made in the similitude of God, death and life are 41 00:04:55.920 --> 00:05:00.960 in the power of the tongue. And those that love it will eat the fruit thereof. You have a power 42 00:05:00.960 --> 00:05:06.880 in your mouth. Your words that you speak, especially under the anointing, found it on the word of 43 00:05:06.880 --> 00:05:14.560 God. They go forth and they create and they carve a path into your future. So, is it any wonder 44 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:21.520 that there is that devil with a bottle of guerrilla glue that likes to come and paste your lips 45 00:05:21.520 --> 00:05:29.760 together so that when you're going through it or whatever mood you're in, you just, you will not 46 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:38.240 silence your way out of a problem. You will not. You read the Psalms and you see the exhortation is 47 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:45.200 always to speak. I will. You know, and many of the Psalms start out pretty depressing. You know, 48 00:05:45.200 --> 00:05:49.360 I mean, you got to make it to the end. The first eight verses, the guys just complaining and 49 00:05:50.480 --> 00:05:55.520 some of the Psalms sound like a country song. You know, I got my, my house is in foreclosure, 50 00:05:55.520 --> 00:06:04.960 my car got reposed, the wife left me, and my dog left me. But, but I will yet praise the Lord. 51 00:06:04.960 --> 00:06:17.440 Amen. And it says to shout, shout unto the Lord with a voice of triumph. Amen. Hallelujah. 52 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:23.840 So I know people like to relegate this kind of teaching into a particular type of Christianity. 53 00:06:23.840 --> 00:06:30.000 Oh, that's just not my style. You can have your style or you can have Bible style. I'm going to 54 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:42.080 have Bible style. I don't want dead religious style. And then I identify with that. No, there's 55 00:06:42.080 --> 00:06:55.040 God style. The biblical style. Well, God, God made me shy. No, you might be quiet, but shyness. 56 00:07:01.520 --> 00:07:05.280 That's that scripture that says God has not given you a spirit of fear that word for fear is 57 00:07:05.280 --> 00:07:14.000 actually timidity, shyness. God has not given you a spirit of shyness, of timidity, but of power 58 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:27.200 and of love and of a sound mind. Certain thoughts you can't stop with other thoughts. 59 00:07:27.200 --> 00:07:35.120 Yes, somebody would say, well, I'm having these thoughts and the answers think positively. How 60 00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:39.840 many of you know that doesn't work? You cannot interrupt thoughts with thoughts. You can only 61 00:07:39.840 --> 00:07:48.480 interrupt thoughts with words. And so my kids, thankfully, they've witnessed me from the little 62 00:07:48.480 --> 00:07:53.520 crib. So they're not freaked out. When randomly in the house, they'll just hear me shout. 63 00:07:54.000 --> 00:08:03.600 There's some Sunday mornings. And then just look, the enemy's always pushing on you. You know 64 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:09.120 that he's oh, you got to push back. How do you push back? Put on some worship music in the background 65 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:14.960 and let them do the work for you. It doesn't work. It just creates a nice ambiance. But they're 66 00:08:14.960 --> 00:08:22.720 times when you have to. Jesus, you're Lord. You're with me. Your favor surrounds me. Hallelujah. 67 00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:29.120 And stay at the top of your lungs. Say it with your whole chest. 68 00:08:31.200 --> 00:08:37.200 Get to the flow of the anointing, the manifest presence of God. Get it from your toenails. Oh, 69 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:42.400 hallelujah. I'll do that randomly and then I'll check to make sure I didn't freak the kids out. 70 00:08:42.400 --> 00:08:45.920 They're playing somewhere. Oh, look, and they just didn't even notice. 71 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:54.640 Because they grew up like that. Amen. Hallelujah. 72 00:08:56.320 --> 00:09:03.440 When I go to help someone to pray that is in that that's stupor spot. Not the stupid spot, 73 00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:09.440 but the stupor that just in a rut, it's like they're in molasses. 74 00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:17.040 Often I won't pray for them. I'll pray with them. I'll have them repeat after me. 75 00:09:17.760 --> 00:09:22.480 Because at the end of the day, no matter how anointed you are, the person you're praying for, 76 00:09:22.480 --> 00:09:27.680 they always have more authority over themselves than you do. And some of them have an open their 77 00:09:27.680 --> 00:09:34.480 mouth and ages to the Lord. They've opened their mouth to complain, but they haven't opened their 78 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:42.160 mouth to the Lord. I know this because I know I go through it. I know what I have to push back 79 00:09:42.160 --> 00:09:47.920 against. The devil loves me when I'm quiet. If you're not speaking, you're not creating. 80 00:09:48.640 --> 00:09:54.480 You're not exerting back. The devil has no problem with you coming into church and 81 00:09:54.560 --> 00:10:00.480 you're sitting and you tell yourself, well, I'll receive quietly or I'll just observe. 82 00:10:01.120 --> 00:10:06.400 But you're only getting 5-10% of what you could receive. You're going to break through. 83 00:10:08.160 --> 00:10:12.560 So I'll pray with somebody in that state and I'll say, just say hallelujah, hallelujah, 84 00:10:12.560 --> 00:10:19.760 that one word. It's the highest form of praise, that one word. And you can see the tension 85 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:24.320 and the frustration and the slowness as they finally open up their mouth to the Lord which 86 00:10:24.320 --> 00:10:28.160 they have in the weeks or even months. It's like you can hear the crypt opening. 87 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:35.840 Couple of bats fly out. Cloud of dust emanates. 88 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:43.440 All right, now repeat after me, hallelujah. And then thank you. But I meant to the person I'm saying 89 00:10:43.920 --> 00:10:50.400 now. But I appreciate any opportunity you take it. You could let a random one out at any point 90 00:10:50.400 --> 00:11:00.080 by the way in church. It's legal. It's fine. Well, they, they'll say hallelujah and hallelujah. 91 00:11:01.280 --> 00:11:06.160 And it's like this little voice in the back of their throat. It's like the real them is trapped inside. 92 00:11:06.160 --> 00:11:12.000 Help me. Rescue me. Yeah, you waited too long. You got to speak. 93 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:18.160 The enemy's speaking to you. He's lying to you, trying to fill your head with confusion, 94 00:11:18.160 --> 00:11:22.400 trying to be literally you put you down, put fear into your heart and your mind. 95 00:11:24.400 --> 00:11:28.480 Say it again, hallelujah. This time a little bit bolder and they'll go hallelujah. 96 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:34.960 The enemy's telling you God's going to forsake you. You say, God, you're good. God is good. 97 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:43.600 You get them to say 10 positive statements from the scriptures out loud and the brightness is 98 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:52.080 back in their eyes. But you get to decide if I could praise them for you, I would. Sometimes I'm 99 00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:57.280 tempted to walk around the house and just jiggle jaws a little bit. Just hallelujah. 100 00:11:57.360 --> 00:12:08.880 Hallelujah. Keep us in your prayers. We have a missions team is a 25 or 26 people now. 101 00:12:10.080 --> 00:12:18.320 26 with the latest edition, huh? Who happens to be Victor, my son? That was the latest edition. 102 00:12:20.560 --> 00:12:25.760 I didn't plan on him coming, but Emily pushed me and said now she's been on so many missions 103 00:12:25.760 --> 00:12:30.880 trips and credits them with helping solidify her faith in Christ. So we have a team of 26 104 00:12:30.880 --> 00:12:35.840 going to Guatemala. I'll be here next Sunday, but then next Wednesday, February 7th through 105 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:41.360 the 14th, a team of 26 city lighters will be going to Guatemala to minister to the word of God. 106 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:50.080 We've helped put up and pay for over 40 churches in the Yashiel area around Neba. And so 107 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:58.320 pray for us will be doing children's evangelism as well during the day, handing out tons of 108 00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:06.880 school supplies, seeing the Lord come and bring his power. I want to read to you from Isaiah 55. 109 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:09.680 This is known as the great invitation. 110 00:13:09.680 --> 00:13:25.440 Oh, but today if Isaiah was living in New York, that would probably be a yo or an a yo is getting 111 00:13:25.520 --> 00:13:34.480 people's attention. Hey, yo, everyone who thirsts come to the waters. 112 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:47.520 And you who have no money come by and he just come by wine and milk without money and without 113 00:13:47.520 --> 00:13:55.600 price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread? What an eternal question. 114 00:13:57.680 --> 00:14:02.720 Why do you spend your money on those things that don't feed you where it really matters, where it 115 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:10.960 really counts? And your wage is for what does not satisfy. Listen carefully to me and eat what is 116 00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:21.200 good and let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to me here and your 117 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:27.840 soul shall live. And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the sure mercies of David. 118 00:14:30.160 --> 00:14:35.120 The Lord has prepared a table before us in the presence of my enemies. 119 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:47.920 I'm making a decision. I invite you to also to partake of that table. 120 00:14:52.560 --> 00:14:57.440 My wife and I spent the last week in Tampa day and night revival meetings. 121 00:14:57.440 --> 00:15:05.040 Tampa is where I went to Bible school and we showed up a day early and so I took her around town 122 00:15:06.800 --> 00:15:09.120 and just showed her what my first year in Tampa was like. 123 00:15:12.160 --> 00:15:18.320 And I guess I thought I told you the whole story but then when you're down there more the story 124 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:24.240 comes out and I was just reminiscing about the goodness of the Lord. He's so good and he has 125 00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:30.720 this ability to when you give your life to him and when you trust in him and lean not on your own 126 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:37.920 understanding. Yes, he takes you and he directs your paths and he connects the dots for you. 127 00:15:38.880 --> 00:15:43.760 Many of you are aware of where you are, you have a glimmer of where you want to be with no idea 128 00:15:43.760 --> 00:15:50.960 how to get there. He's the one who takes you from point A to A point one, A point two and then 129 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:58.320 eventually to B. So often it's not a leap from A to B but there's 10 many steps in between A and B. 130 00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:02.560 You're not even aware until you get to B that the Lord was leading you the entire way. 131 00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:10.880 See I got saved when I was 16 years old and called to the pastorate about two weeks later. 132 00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:17.280 I just knew in my spirit. Went off to school right there in four stills high school 133 00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:23.600 about two weeks saved and I'm in class and all I can see is myself ministering and preaching. 134 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:30.400 And I'm 16 I'd never ever considered it never didn't really even know what a pastor did other than 135 00:16:30.400 --> 00:16:37.840 that guy up there who preaches. Shared it with the people who led me to the Lord, shared it with 136 00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:42.880 my pastor then they confirmed it but I had no clear path on how to become a pastor. 137 00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:50.560 It's not like a coding course you take for nine months and you come out with a license and you're 138 00:16:51.760 --> 00:16:59.760 you know they have a funnel for you to go through. I didn't know but I didn't want to go now 139 00:17:00.800 --> 00:17:06.960 to regular university. I wanted to go to something to train me but my parents were not I mean 140 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:13.120 they were finally okay with me being a Christian but they were not okay with me quote unquote 141 00:17:13.120 --> 00:17:20.480 throwing my whole life away and becoming a pastor. So I said please go to college so that you 142 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:24.880 would have something to fall back on. I felt like that was such a compromise. 143 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:30.000 So I went to my pastor and said what do you think I should do because my parents want me to go 144 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:33.200 to college. I'll never believe it. I thought he was going to agree with me. He just looked at me 145 00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:43.840 over his desk and he said listen to your parents. All right. So I went off to university 146 00:17:45.840 --> 00:17:53.520 and I was an ignorant ignorance. I was doubly ignorant because I didn't know what I didn't know. 147 00:17:53.520 --> 00:18:04.400 Lord protected me so much. I didn't even know the questions I should be asking. One thing I knew 148 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:12.080 was God had called me to pastor but I didn't know how to move forward into the ministry. I didn't 149 00:18:12.080 --> 00:18:17.200 know what training I would need. I would talk to some pastors but everyone would have a different 150 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:28.480 story. So that didn't help much but the Lord and His infinite wisdom drew me into prayer and drew 151 00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:40.960 me into the person of Jesus because Jesus is enough. He's more than enough. And so finally my 152 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:51.840 senior year came about and I had spent four years seeking Him, loving Him, getting into the word, 153 00:18:55.840 --> 00:19:01.920 developing my spirit man so I could hear His direction, hear His instruction. 154 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:08.320 And then came the final semester of senior year. I still didn't have any idea what I was going to do 155 00:19:08.320 --> 00:19:14.240 with my life. And I said I was doubly ignorant because I think I should have been more nervous 156 00:19:14.960 --> 00:19:20.160 but half of it was the Lord gave me His peace. The other half was I didn't even know how lost 157 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:27.360 that really was and the plan of God. I don't know if you ever felt that way or not. What are you 158 00:19:27.360 --> 00:19:32.800 doing here? Because on paper it looks like I'm going to graduate college and end up working at 159 00:19:33.760 --> 00:19:44.560 McDonald's or something. What's going on? So the final semester, seven days of revival meetings were 160 00:19:44.560 --> 00:19:52.080 held being held in Baltimore, Maryland. And I just sensed in my spirit, go to these meetings. 161 00:19:54.080 --> 00:20:00.960 So I went, couldn't drive you, it didn't have a car. So I took a Greyhound bus. My first time 162 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:04.960 taking a Greyhound bus. You ever take those Greyhound buses? It was a shock to me because 163 00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:09.280 Baltimore should have been like a four and a half hour trip. I arrived eight and a half plus hours 164 00:20:09.280 --> 00:20:15.520 later, like stops everywhere along the way. It was like an Indiana Jones movie, practically with 165 00:20:15.520 --> 00:20:23.600 the chicken cages up on top and it was just like, not an experience that I ever copied. That was my 166 00:20:23.600 --> 00:20:30.480 one time doing the Greyhound bus in an interstate and ended up in some flea bag motel 167 00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:38.880 and got there an hour early for the revival meetings that I spent, I remember now but three, 168 00:20:38.880 --> 00:20:44.640 four days saturating it. And I get there an hour early and immediately make a dash for the 169 00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:48.480 second or third row because that's how early you had to get there to get those prime seats. 170 00:20:49.120 --> 00:20:53.360 And there was another lady that ended up just sitting next to and eventually we struck up a 171 00:20:53.360 --> 00:21:04.560 conversation. She was on fire. Jesus. And at one point we exchanged phone numbers and I actually 172 00:21:04.560 --> 00:21:15.680 forgot all about it. And then went back, finished up college. I knew I needed to get to a 173 00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:21.760 Bible school at this point. But I had no path on how to get there. My parents were not going to 174 00:21:21.760 --> 00:21:26.720 support me. They were very supportive throughout my life but they didn't want me going into full 175 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:33.760 time ministry. So, and I, I, I just did that back then and it also put all the pressure on God. 176 00:21:33.760 --> 00:21:37.600 You know, he's never afraid of that. He doesn't mind that. So they weren't going to help me. 177 00:21:37.600 --> 00:21:41.360 Secretly, I knew they really wanted me to fall on my face so I could come to my senses 178 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:53.520 and I've gone that direction. So I graduate. It's now the summer of 1998. 179 00:21:56.320 --> 00:22:04.720 And I'm just waiting on the Lord. As I'm waiting, I realize you know when you're waiting on the 180 00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:08.400 Lord that doesn't mean you're sitting and doing nothing. That means you're pushing into him 181 00:22:09.040 --> 00:22:14.560 and you're in the Word and you're in prayer. And I did start going on job interviews, 182 00:22:14.560 --> 00:22:22.560 which was quite a wake-up call to me. Living right in Forest Hills, Queens and made my resume all 183 00:22:22.560 --> 00:22:28.720 pretty. And I remember going, I remember going on one in particular in Pain Webber. I don't think 184 00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:33.200 it even exists anymore. It was on 6th Avenue in the 50s. Big Pain Webber. Some of the old New Yorkers 185 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:39.520 remember that it's something now. We got engaged a few blocks from there. The Big Pain Webber 186 00:22:39.520 --> 00:22:45.440 Building. That's one of my first realization of the scam that college can be and often is, 187 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:50.800 hit me. Because I really wanted to honor my God. I didn't want to just wing college 188 00:22:53.920 --> 00:23:00.080 and then just go off to Bible College. So I studied hard and I was a double major in business 189 00:23:00.080 --> 00:23:04.960 management and English literature. And I graduated with 150 credits in four years, which should have 190 00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:09.600 taken exactly five years. And I remember there were nights where I would cry out to the Lord, 191 00:23:09.600 --> 00:23:15.280 Lord, help me on this exam. I want to graduate more than a 3.5. I want to graduate at least come 192 00:23:15.280 --> 00:23:19.440 out day. And then I finally did and I put it real big on top of the resume. You know, grad, 193 00:23:20.080 --> 00:23:29.040 GPA. It was like 3.56 come out day. Nobody cared. Nobody cared where I went to school. 194 00:23:29.520 --> 00:23:34.640 What my GPA? I'm thinking about, I remember essays I would write with so much, do you remember 195 00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:39.360 those guys? You're thinking, oh, my whole future depends on there's nobody cared. I could have 196 00:23:39.360 --> 00:23:45.120 put Harvard and Yale on my resume. Everything anybody would have checked. Maybe that they would have 197 00:23:45.120 --> 00:23:57.520 checked. Would you get what I'm? I worked so hard and then all the jobs I was getting offered were 198 00:23:57.520 --> 00:24:03.360 starting salary, $20,000, this 1998, $24,000 a year. I'm going great. I can go back and live with 199 00:24:03.360 --> 00:24:10.560 my parents and maybe pay off my student loan debt. But the whole time as I'm going on these interviews, 200 00:24:10.560 --> 00:24:16.560 I just feel like, oh, this isn't what I need to be doing. I need to get down to Bible school, 201 00:24:16.560 --> 00:24:23.280 but I have no way of getting down there. I have about $1,800 just less. I remember that in my 202 00:24:23.280 --> 00:24:30.880 less than $2,000, my whole life savings, how's this going to happen? And I'm looking unto the 203 00:24:30.880 --> 00:24:38.080 Lord when my phone rings. And it's the woman that I met in the second row of those revival meetings 204 00:24:38.080 --> 00:24:44.480 just a few months before. And she says, you know that Bible school you want to go to. I actually 205 00:24:44.480 --> 00:24:49.120 know a family down there in Tampa, Florida. They just completed their first year. They're now 206 00:24:49.120 --> 00:24:53.760 going to do their second year. Would you like me to put you in touch with them? I said, yes, 207 00:24:53.760 --> 00:25:01.040 I really would. They gave me the gentleman's phone number. I immediately called him. 208 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:08.480 And when he picked up that phone, you know when you hear the anointing on someone's voice, 209 00:25:09.440 --> 00:25:15.360 thank God for Christian family. Thank God for woman in the second row. Amen. On fire, 210 00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:21.600 women who are close to the Lord who, I mean, she actually said she said, I was in prayer and your 211 00:25:21.600 --> 00:25:26.160 face flashed before my eyes. And I thought I'd give you this number. If I don't know what the Lord 212 00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:30.160 would have done, he would have done something. But I can't imagine my life if she had disobeyed 213 00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:37.040 that just one little thing. We don't know the rewards that will come to us from our little obedience. 214 00:25:37.760 --> 00:25:44.000 I never even spoke to her after that. But the way the Lord views things, and if you look at the 215 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:50.800 economics of how the Lord views things, like when they were in Ziklag, David's army, and some 216 00:25:50.800 --> 00:25:56.800 had to stay by the weapons and others went out to war. And when the ones who had actually did all 217 00:25:56.800 --> 00:26:01.200 the fighting came back, David said, this is a statute and an ordinance forever in Israel that the 218 00:26:01.200 --> 00:26:05.920 same reward goes out to those who fought in battle as the ones who stayed by just making sure that 219 00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:11.200 the weapons were safe and the supplies were safe. It was the same reward. So it could be that every 220 00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:16.320 soul that I've won, everything that I've done for the Lord, she gets the same reward from that one 221 00:26:16.320 --> 00:26:21.360 act of obedience. Just remember that. So many Christians are like, oh, I don't know if I've done 222 00:26:21.360 --> 00:26:26.080 enough for the Lord. What have I really done? You don't know until he plays the videotape in heaven. 223 00:26:27.520 --> 00:26:30.960 That person you encourage, the person you texted, the person you invited, 224 00:26:31.920 --> 00:26:36.320 the encouraging and loving you have done throughout your life groups. It all matters. It all counts. 225 00:26:37.280 --> 00:26:41.760 So because of her, I'm on the phone now with this guy and he says, the best way to see 226 00:26:42.480 --> 00:26:48.640 what the Lord wants is come on down here. You can, and he said ground rules right away. He didn't want 227 00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:55.600 me being some, just some by faith guy hanging around his family for months. Come by for a week. 228 00:26:55.600 --> 00:26:58.240 Those are the ground, come, okay, I got one week. 229 00:26:58.320 --> 00:27:10.720 So I come and I know I need three things. I need a place to live. I need a car and I need a job. 230 00:27:14.640 --> 00:27:19.360 So the first night I crashed on their couch. He had a wife and two daughters. 231 00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:23.920 Next day they're all saying my name perfectly, which is rare for people. 232 00:27:24.880 --> 00:27:31.200 My name, obviously, full name is Boy on, but six months ago I to bow to make it easier on folk, 233 00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:36.000 which seems to have made it harder on a lot of folks. Somehow, somehow that happens, but 234 00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:39.760 but the next morning I was like, hey, Boy on, and I'm like, you know, just 235 00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:45.200 how are you saying my name? And he's like, oh, because dad said you're the, we couldn't say it, 236 00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:49.200 but dad said it's easy. Boy on the couch. You see him sleeping over there. He's the boy on the couch. 237 00:27:49.200 --> 00:28:02.480 And he said, you need an apartment. Let's look at some apartments. So we're driving around, 238 00:28:02.480 --> 00:28:07.840 and I'm looking at these. What I could afford. Just these dusty, gray, 239 00:28:09.360 --> 00:28:17.040 woof, rough apartments. And even they were like $6.50, $6.7. I remember when $25 made all the difference 240 00:28:17.040 --> 00:28:22.080 in rent that you could afford and out of afford. $6.75 a month, I would need a roommate. I'm going, 241 00:28:22.080 --> 00:28:26.240 I don't feel peace here, plus I don't really want to live there, but in my spirit, I don't feel peace. 242 00:28:27.200 --> 00:28:31.440 We come back to the house and the wife had just gotten a call from the dean, another dean, 243 00:28:31.440 --> 00:28:36.640 the office of the Bible school, but somebody had contacted the dean. Somebody had what they 244 00:28:36.640 --> 00:28:40.720 call in Florida. Do they call it this in other parts of the country? The mother-in-law setup they do. 245 00:28:40.720 --> 00:28:46.240 Okay, which is the garage that's been, seems so disrespectful to mother-in-laws everywhere, 246 00:28:46.240 --> 00:28:50.000 but it's where the garage is converted, you know, to a bed, to one bedroom. 247 00:28:53.440 --> 00:28:59.760 And this was a smart, smart guy because he knew I should get a Bible school student in here. He won't 248 00:28:59.760 --> 00:29:04.160 be coming in drunk, he won't be partying, he won't be tearing up, my mother-in-law setup. So he found 249 00:29:04.160 --> 00:29:11.680 the local Bible school. Is there anybody who will rent this? And it was $4.50 a month. I remember 250 00:29:11.680 --> 00:29:17.200 walking in and I could do that. It was still a stretch. Sounds funny now, right? 251 00:29:19.840 --> 00:29:26.800 I remember walking in and it was like a Florida apartment, this bright blue aqua, aqua blue carpet, 252 00:29:27.440 --> 00:29:36.640 and a couch with pink flamingos all on it. But it was clean. And then I didn't have to have a roommate. 253 00:29:37.440 --> 00:29:43.360 And I said, thank you, Jesus. And the guy who's showing me around now, who cleverly called me 254 00:29:43.360 --> 00:29:49.200 boy on the couch for months after that, he said, wow, the Lord is really with you. 255 00:29:51.440 --> 00:29:56.640 You got, you know, I don't know how he's working this out so fast. He said, tomorrow let's see if 256 00:29:56.640 --> 00:30:06.960 we can't get you a car. So we go around these used car dealerships and I couldn't afford anything. 257 00:30:06.960 --> 00:30:12.240 I remember there was this cutless Sierra that I really wanted. It was like $36, $3700. I just 258 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:19.200 couldn't afford any of that. I'm down now. And then this one lot we go to, the guy shows me this 259 00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:26.800 Flintstone mobile that was $1,000. It was a 1986 Chevy Spectrum. I say Flintstone mobile. 260 00:30:26.800 --> 00:30:31.520 I still have a picture of it. It just looked so square, like zero aerodynamics whatsoever. 261 00:30:32.160 --> 00:30:38.640 But it went. It went from point A to B, amen. Sometimes it wouldn't break. I'm not exaggerating. 262 00:30:39.280 --> 00:30:47.200 But it always went. The Lord provided. 263 00:30:49.440 --> 00:30:53.600 You know, I didn't even know how to drive until my senior year of college, 264 00:30:55.600 --> 00:31:03.280 because I'm Queen's boy. So I was taking the subways everywhere. I tried to learn how to drive. 265 00:31:03.280 --> 00:31:08.720 My parents couldn't afford the driver's ed. I remember this. It was $350 for the driver's ed course 266 00:31:08.720 --> 00:31:15.840 and they looked, oh, that'll drive that'll teach you. You do not want to be taught how to drive 267 00:31:15.840 --> 00:31:23.440 by a Serbian father, especially on a stick shift. I still get PTSD just thinking about it. 268 00:31:23.440 --> 00:31:27.120 You're driving, you're driving. All right, now put it into second. No, like that! 269 00:31:34.480 --> 00:31:41.600 The Lord worked it out somehow. I got my driver's license. My sweet mate in college actually taught 270 00:31:41.600 --> 00:31:50.640 me how to drive. And I took the exam by the grace of God, caught my driver's license. And now this, 271 00:31:51.680 --> 00:32:00.880 this Flintstone mobile, $4,000 was also a stick shift. But I kind of only knew how to drive a 272 00:32:00.880 --> 00:32:06.960 stick shift. So I had to learn while driving this thing. Sometimes I'd try to put it in third, 273 00:32:06.960 --> 00:32:14.560 accidentally end up in fifth. I had to like relearn everything. But I just think back to the 274 00:32:14.560 --> 00:32:22.320 Lord's goodness, the Lord's faithfulness. And I got very comfortable with that blue carpet, 275 00:32:22.320 --> 00:32:31.520 that aqua teo blue is so, it's like from the 70s just extra plush and bright. I got very 276 00:32:31.520 --> 00:32:36.720 comfortable with it seeking Jesus. And there was something in college that he taught me. 277 00:32:38.480 --> 00:32:43.520 And I knew even back then that I was to take what he was teaching me and apply it for the rest 278 00:32:43.520 --> 00:32:52.160 of my life. He taught me that he has the answer to everything. And that if we would put our eyes 279 00:32:52.160 --> 00:33:00.800 upon him and seek him, he is enough. Jesus is, and I'm telling you right now, Jesus is enough for 280 00:33:00.800 --> 00:33:07.840 you. Whatever you may need, the answer is in Jesus. You're really not going to find it out there. 281 00:33:07.840 --> 00:33:13.120 It's in him. Some of you you're in a hard place right now. You need to be thankful for the hard 282 00:33:13.120 --> 00:33:20.720 place because it puts you in an opportunity to reset yourself. You don't want to be going 283 00:33:20.720 --> 00:33:28.480 into 2024 overly confident in yourself. You don't want to be going into 2024 self-reliant thinking 284 00:33:28.480 --> 00:33:37.440 you're something. You don't. You want to be extra dependent on him. You want to be looking to him, 285 00:33:37.440 --> 00:33:43.520 the author of the finisher of your faith. Jesus said, if your eye be single, what's a single eye? 286 00:33:43.520 --> 00:33:49.920 A focused eye, a steady eye. If your eye be single, your whole body will be full of light. 287 00:33:51.440 --> 00:33:57.040 This is the time to have a single and steady gaze on Jesus. And I know this by the spirit. Some of us 288 00:33:57.680 --> 00:34:02.000 this last year, the last several years, the Lord has done a rattling in our lives to get our 289 00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:07.280 attention back. That's how much He loves you and cares for you that He'll rattle your life 290 00:34:08.160 --> 00:34:14.480 so that you could get back to that time with Him. Let me read this to you, please, from John, 291 00:34:16.640 --> 00:34:24.800 chapter six. Actually, Luke 10, excuse me, Luke 1038. 292 00:34:30.320 --> 00:34:35.440 When I didn't know how He would connect the dots at all, and this is what you're being invited to. 293 00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:42.560 Now, it happened as they went that He entered a certain village and a certain woman named Martha 294 00:34:42.560 --> 00:34:50.480 welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard 295 00:34:50.480 --> 00:35:05.360 His word. She had a sister named Mary who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. 296 00:35:06.960 --> 00:35:16.720 Please know that this is the key. However, it is that you do it. And may I invite you to do it 297 00:35:17.280 --> 00:35:21.440 in different ways, because what worked yesterday may not work today, but isn't it wonderful that 298 00:35:21.440 --> 00:35:28.560 the Lord gives you liberty in how you approach Him? As long as you're coming to Him, not in your 299 00:35:28.560 --> 00:35:34.880 own righteousness, which we have none, you have none, but in the name of Jesus, you can come singing one 300 00:35:34.880 --> 00:35:40.400 day, speaking the next day, you can mix it up, you can come with His word. When I don't know what to 301 00:35:40.400 --> 00:35:45.120 do at all, then at least I'll read the Psalms out loud and approaching, if the battle is really 302 00:35:45.120 --> 00:35:52.400 raging. But by all means come and take a little time out to just be still before the Lord and hear 303 00:35:52.400 --> 00:35:58.720 His word for you. One, some days you may not hear anything. There were times when I really needed 304 00:35:58.720 --> 00:36:06.720 Him to speak to me. All I would hear is I love you. Lord, what should I do? I'm about to die. I'm 305 00:36:06.720 --> 00:36:13.200 with you. Don't be afraid. I've learned to trust those words since. In the beginning back then, 306 00:36:13.200 --> 00:36:18.480 it was like, Lord, could you give me a few more details, please? A little bit more of an action plan. 307 00:36:20.080 --> 00:36:25.680 I'm with you. You'll be okay. But never yet. Has he, has he let me down? Never yet? Did he say 308 00:36:25.680 --> 00:36:32.880 something like that and I fall and he go psych? Just kidding. Oh, look at you. Never. He always comes 309 00:36:32.960 --> 00:36:46.720 through every time. He's so faithful. But Martha was distracted next verse. Martha was distracted 310 00:36:46.720 --> 00:36:52.240 with much serving and she approached him and said, Lord, you not care that my sister has left me 311 00:36:52.240 --> 00:36:58.400 to serve alone. Therefore, tell her to help me. And Jesus answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, 312 00:36:58.400 --> 00:37:05.440 you were worried and troubled about many things. But 16 things are needed and I'm going to give you 313 00:37:05.440 --> 00:37:11.280 my 16 point sermon right now and the things that are necessary. I love how Jesus simplifies it 314 00:37:11.280 --> 00:37:21.120 every time. One thing. One thing. One thing is necessary. One thing is needed. What was that one 315 00:37:21.920 --> 00:37:28.400 thing to sit at my feet and hear my word? Everything that I was experiencing that somewhere of 98 316 00:37:28.400 --> 00:37:32.800 as the Lord took me from an ignorant, ignorant, famous who didn't even know what he didn't know. 317 00:37:32.800 --> 00:37:37.440 Just knowing that I wanted to fulfill the mandate and call on my life had no clue how to connect the 318 00:37:37.440 --> 00:37:44.880 dots. I said, Jesus, come and connect those dots. But what I believe opened the door for him to do 319 00:37:44.960 --> 00:37:52.560 that was for months, really years before that, just having the daily discipline of sitting at his 320 00:37:52.560 --> 00:37:58.320 feet and hearing his word, I want you to know that Jesus is enough. And if you're in a place where 321 00:37:58.320 --> 00:38:06.560 you don't know what to do, if you're in a place that evil day, things are hard. Come to Jesus like 322 00:38:06.560 --> 00:38:12.400 you've never come, dive into him like he's the deep end of a certain pool, just can't embal in, 323 00:38:12.480 --> 00:38:16.720 you are welcome, he won't hold your sins and mistakes against you, you just 324 00:38:16.720 --> 00:38:24.720 bury yourself in Jesus, your solution, your answer is in him. One thing is needed and Mary has chosen 325 00:38:24.720 --> 00:38:32.720 that good part which will not be taken away from her. Second Corinthians 11, 2 through 3. 326 00:38:36.320 --> 00:38:41.680 Paul is writing the Corinthians, he says, for I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. 327 00:38:42.720 --> 00:38:49.840 For I have betrothed you to one husband that I may present you as a chased version to Christ. 328 00:38:50.880 --> 00:38:58.960 But I fear, less somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be 329 00:38:58.960 --> 00:39:10.720 corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. Simplicity, pastors run out of things to say so 330 00:39:10.720 --> 00:39:22.000 you get the 16 point message in eight parts. But Jesus kept it very, very simple and Paul said, 331 00:39:22.000 --> 00:39:28.000 I'm actually worried about you, you're going to overcomplicate it. The verse before that he says, 332 00:39:28.000 --> 00:39:36.240 I have betrothed you, you're engaged to Jesus. You know what that denotes? Engagement intimacy 333 00:39:36.880 --> 00:39:41.040 and that's what he's referring to when he talks about the simplicity that is in Christ. 334 00:39:41.040 --> 00:39:45.440 The simplicity that is in Christ is your sweet intimate relationship with the Lord. 335 00:39:47.440 --> 00:39:52.400 Men, don't shy away from this. Don't shy away from this. 336 00:39:55.120 --> 00:39:59.440 Determine to know your maker and your god and your creator and you can only know him through 337 00:39:59.440 --> 00:40:08.320 Jesus and what he did for you on the cross. Any success you have in life, success that really 338 00:40:08.320 --> 00:40:14.880 matters, it'll come out of the relationship that you have with your covenant friend, the Lord Jesus Christ. 339 00:40:18.080 --> 00:40:22.320 I'm giving you all I can give you this morning. This isn't exactly, this actually isn't what I 340 00:40:22.560 --> 00:40:29.840 prepared to preach, but it's in the first service during worship. I just, I can give you the story, 341 00:40:30.880 --> 00:40:37.680 the stories, what he did, what I've seen work, what he's taught me now nearly 30 years. 342 00:40:40.640 --> 00:40:46.960 That that time with him, it's never wasted time. That everything you need is in him. 343 00:40:47.920 --> 00:40:52.240 That there is a devil, there's a lot of people, they don't, they don't understand, there's a devil. 344 00:40:54.320 --> 00:40:58.400 I understand there's some groups, they overdue it and it's devil this, devil that, devil with the 345 00:40:58.400 --> 00:41:02.960 whiffle ball bad, everything's about the devil, but then there's entire segments of Christianity, 346 00:41:02.960 --> 00:41:09.200 they treat the devil like he's a concept. Like, oh, the devil, that just means bad things or no, 347 00:41:09.200 --> 00:41:16.240 he is a person. Yes, God is a person. The devil is a being. He is a person and he hates you. 348 00:41:16.960 --> 00:41:21.920 He hates, he knows a lot about you, his minions know a lot about you and they don't play fair, 349 00:41:21.920 --> 00:41:26.960 they don't play nice, they want to destroy you and they don't have a limit, they don't hear you cry 350 00:41:26.960 --> 00:41:33.520 from mercy as, okay, I'm gonna tap out now. No, Jesus said he's come to steal, kill and destroy. 351 00:41:34.800 --> 00:41:38.160 We're here, we're pastoring a church, we're leading a church, you think the devil just says, 352 00:41:38.160 --> 00:41:42.720 oh, come right into New York City. Oh, I don't really care about the center of the world, New York City. 353 00:41:42.720 --> 00:41:46.960 Come preach the gospel freely. In fact, see people get baptized with a Holy Spirit, 354 00:41:46.960 --> 00:41:50.640 speak in tongues, lay hands up people, see them get healed, I don't mind. 355 00:41:50.640 --> 00:41:56.640 There's a constant war, constant pushing. That's in your life, too. You have to remember, 356 00:41:56.640 --> 00:42:02.960 you have to be cognizant of that so you can push back. You got to take a stand. 357 00:42:04.240 --> 00:42:09.760 Devil, you are not coming near me, you're not coming near me, you have to say the words. 358 00:42:10.640 --> 00:42:19.280 Amen. If you're uncomfortable saying that, that's the alarm that you're in danger. 359 00:42:21.360 --> 00:42:26.000 Some people now talk to him too much, they start off talking to Jesus and it's all, the rest 360 00:42:26.000 --> 00:42:34.080 is all to the devil, but make a couple of statements to the enemy. Here's one, devil, your power is 361 00:42:34.080 --> 00:42:42.560 broken by the blood of Jesus. Or just say the blood of Jesus. Wake up in the morning, 362 00:42:42.560 --> 00:42:48.880 woo, the blood of Jesus. And you're now not just weighed, you're now on the offends, 363 00:42:49.440 --> 00:42:53.920 you're pushing back against the powers of darkness. Hallelujah. 364 00:42:54.080 --> 00:42:59.440 As your kids go by, the blood of Jesus, 365 00:43:03.120 --> 00:43:11.440 dads, cover your home. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that in this home, only your Holy Spirit and His 366 00:43:11.440 --> 00:43:24.880 angels reside. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. So now I need a job. I got the apartment day one, 367 00:43:25.920 --> 00:43:35.280 I got the car day two to the car. It was supposed to be a golden color, but it really, 368 00:43:35.280 --> 00:43:42.000 it was so old by that time, it really just looked dirty all the time. So now I needed a job 369 00:43:42.880 --> 00:43:49.680 and I printed out a very pretty cover letter and my resume and I did all I knew to do was I fax them. 370 00:43:52.320 --> 00:43:58.160 Emailing resumes, this is 1998. People were emailing resumes, I fresh out of college, 371 00:43:58.160 --> 00:44:02.000 wasn't one of them. It really wasn't a thing. Most people, it was just the beginning of the whole 372 00:44:02.000 --> 00:44:10.400 internet age. I was faxed to every temp agency in Tampa, Florida. And then because I didn't want to 373 00:44:10.400 --> 00:44:15.840 feel irresponsible, I would just stay home looking at my phone to ring and praying, 374 00:44:19.120 --> 00:44:24.720 looking at my phone to ring and praying. And then I went, I forget, and if it was the second or 375 00:44:24.720 --> 00:44:28.000 third day in it, do you know sometimes when you're praying, but you're actually, 376 00:44:30.880 --> 00:44:36.560 you're actually more in anxiety than prayer. That's where I was. That felt like the Lord came to me and 377 00:44:36.560 --> 00:44:46.240 said, go to the beach. I was like, I just had this sense. While I was in prayer, go to the beach. 378 00:44:46.240 --> 00:44:51.520 Like, you've done all you can do. Now it's no longer faith. Now you're just worrying here and 379 00:44:51.600 --> 00:44:56.080 using it, because I'm waiting for I need to get a call back. If I don't have a job, everything, 380 00:44:56.080 --> 00:44:59.920 the car is done. The apartment is done. The mother-in-law set up. 381 00:45:02.080 --> 00:45:06.160 And then I remember every sermon when he said, go to the beach, every sermon that I'd ever heard 382 00:45:06.160 --> 00:45:12.160 on being in the rest of God and showing faith come out of me. And I was like, yeah, if I believe 383 00:45:12.160 --> 00:45:17.280 that you're getting me this job, then I'll act like it. So how does a person who just got a job 384 00:45:17.920 --> 00:45:22.080 back? Yeah, they go to the beach. So I went to the beach. I went over to Clearwater Beach. 385 00:45:23.040 --> 00:45:28.960 I'll never forget the drive there. It was the longest drive I did thus far in that car. 386 00:45:28.960 --> 00:45:33.840 Everything else was just like two miles back and three miles and come back. Now I had to go 45 387 00:45:33.840 --> 00:45:40.400 minutes and I'm still learning to drive. I remember going down the 275. I was a brand new driver. 388 00:45:40.400 --> 00:45:43.920 So, you know, you know, man, I didn't even realize it, but you're looking at your review mirror 389 00:45:43.920 --> 00:45:47.760 and the side mirrors all the time. Really, they say, every two seconds, you should check them out. 390 00:45:47.760 --> 00:45:51.280 I realized it'd been like five minutes. I didn't even look at the rear-view mirror. I then look 391 00:45:51.280 --> 00:45:57.040 and I can still see that man's face. Really, when I close my eyes, I can still see that face in the 392 00:45:57.040 --> 00:46:01.200 rear because I was in the left lane. Didn't even know the difference between the left lane and the 393 00:46:01.200 --> 00:46:06.480 right lane and left is for passing. I look in the rear-view mirror and I see a truck driver and he's 394 00:46:06.480 --> 00:46:13.200 talking. I mean, I can see the anger in his face and I also can see I'm doing a turn. I can see 395 00:46:13.280 --> 00:46:18.320 like a colonate of cars behind him. And I really, ah, let me quickly get to the right. 396 00:46:19.920 --> 00:46:29.440 My hands were ice cold. How cold my hands were. I just, I say these things because they remind me 397 00:46:29.440 --> 00:46:36.400 of how good he is. I should you have these stories too. You shouldn't even be sitting here. 398 00:46:37.120 --> 00:46:42.080 But he took you by the hand. He led you. You think he's going to quit? You know that he says he 399 00:46:42.080 --> 00:46:48.960 won't forsake the work of his own hands. You are his project. I make it to Clearwater Beach. I 400 00:46:48.960 --> 00:46:54.400 walk around. I think I grabbed some ice cream. I felt the sand between my toes. Breathe some fresh 401 00:46:54.400 --> 00:47:00.960 air. Came back home and I saw the light. Not God's light. The light on the answering machine. 402 00:47:03.520 --> 00:47:09.520 And I thought maybe it's just my friend, boy on the couch, you know, the guy who had me over. 403 00:47:09.520 --> 00:47:15.280 Maybe it's him. He's the only one who had my number and I turn it on and it was the temp agency. 404 00:47:16.800 --> 00:47:21.600 And right there they said you need to come on in, final interview or whatever interview. I didn't go 405 00:47:21.600 --> 00:47:26.960 on and interviews except over the phone. Franklin Templeton is going to hire you as a temp. 406 00:47:28.560 --> 00:47:34.240 And I've gotten a job. This was all within the space of five days. The Lord he connects the dots. 407 00:47:34.720 --> 00:47:41.280 Jesus is enough for everything you need since then how he established this church and the things 408 00:47:41.280 --> 00:47:48.640 he's done in our lives. I shared this in the first service. I feel to share it again. He worked 409 00:47:48.640 --> 00:47:56.080 this amazing thing out to where my wife and I moved into really what's a dream house in Long Island. 410 00:47:56.640 --> 00:48:03.760 And I love, I love that house, present tense, but I really love that house. We just moved in in 411 00:48:03.760 --> 00:48:10.960 August. And it was, it was something that I wanted to stay in the city, but it was if I ever wanted 412 00:48:10.960 --> 00:48:18.640 a house, it would look like this house. Because we're only the second owners. It was built in 2009 413 00:48:18.640 --> 00:48:23.280 and the the couple that built it, one of them is a designer and he's in construction. So all the 414 00:48:23.280 --> 00:48:30.880 details are immaculate. I mean, this just shows how I was brought up but every every bathroom I've 415 00:48:30.880 --> 00:48:34.880 ever been was either all drywall or the cheap little tile. This was all like exotic stones 416 00:48:36.160 --> 00:48:40.800 and marble floors and I'm going around and I'm caressing the bathrooms. 417 00:48:42.560 --> 00:48:48.080 And the whole family will go to sleep and I'm walking around the house and I'm giving praise to 418 00:48:48.160 --> 00:48:54.560 God and I'm really loving the house, you know, like really loving the house. 419 00:48:55.680 --> 00:49:00.640 But here's what's what's so interesting. Three months in, it just disappeared like that. 420 00:49:01.840 --> 00:49:03.840 I know outside I was just living in another box again. 421 00:49:08.080 --> 00:49:16.560 I'm going, do you know, I should I say this, I feel like sometimes I need to confess my my 422 00:49:16.560 --> 00:49:24.720 sin, my lust, my voracious appetite. Three months in, I actually, Lord forgive me, actually went 423 00:49:24.720 --> 00:49:33.920 on Julia and I thought, let me see some other houses. And like, you know what I went through just to 424 00:49:33.920 --> 00:49:39.280 get this one and and the miracles and strings got pulled and how he worked it all together. 425 00:49:39.280 --> 00:49:42.880 And in this one moment, do you understand what I'm saying? Maybe I need to be more elaborate. 426 00:49:43.760 --> 00:49:49.360 I'd gotten bored of the house in three months. And you know where I had to land all over again? 427 00:49:50.320 --> 00:49:57.680 Where I got to land? Jesus, Jesus. And I actually said, Lord, you know, I was so happy with what you 428 00:49:57.680 --> 00:50:02.400 did, but I think I got more caught up with the gift of the Lord than the Lord of the gift. 429 00:50:04.960 --> 00:50:09.600 And I don't know if you can relate to this, but when they're, the Lord is done a lot in your life, 430 00:50:09.600 --> 00:50:14.960 I'm sure. I have to look back at the things that I wanted every time I got what I wanted. It's 431 00:50:14.960 --> 00:50:25.280 wonderful. But the thrill would be quickly gone. Jesus is enough. I had to land back at Jesus 432 00:50:26.800 --> 00:50:33.440 and realize God. I was rejoicing over something that doesn't satisfy. I just bought something, 433 00:50:33.440 --> 00:50:42.880 but that doesn't hit the spot. Only you do. Only you do. Hallelujah. I'm telling you that thing. 434 00:50:42.880 --> 00:50:48.960 There's that thing that you want so bad. You really want what you want. You think you do, but you'll see. 435 00:50:51.040 --> 00:50:56.160 I have a collection of stories of things where I just said, Lord, 436 00:50:57.120 --> 00:51:03.520 if you could just add this, then I can just relax a little bit. Then I don't have to live life 437 00:51:03.520 --> 00:51:13.040 on the razor's edge so much. I know you do. You get to walk this walk of faith forever. A lot of the 438 00:51:13.040 --> 00:51:18.080 stuff that I had wanted was really just so that I wouldn't have to believe God so intensely. 439 00:51:20.240 --> 00:51:25.440 I'm only preaching to myself and my wife this morning. Can anybody relate? Is this blessing you? 440 00:51:26.880 --> 00:51:34.640 I want this Lord, but really what's behind it is Lord. Most of my life, I really, I don't mind, 441 00:51:34.640 --> 00:51:40.240 I guess, but it kind of feels like I'm hydropraining what Pastor James described. My car's not even 442 00:51:40.240 --> 00:51:45.600 touching the asphalt. There's like a couple of millimeters of space and I'm just, whoa! 443 00:51:47.920 --> 00:51:52.400 Really, it's not the thing that I want so much. I just want to feel more in control of my life. 444 00:51:53.120 --> 00:52:01.360 That would really help me and then you get it and you're not more in control because you realize 445 00:52:02.720 --> 00:52:08.080 that if you don't have Jesus, then you're just the bag of chemical compounds put together 446 00:52:08.080 --> 00:52:11.920 on a spinning planet thrown out in outer space. What a thought! 447 00:52:12.000 --> 00:52:23.440 But Jesus, hallelujah, he's got you. He said you're in the palm of his hand and no one can snatch you 448 00:52:23.440 --> 00:52:31.200 out and he's more than enough. Worship team, come on up. Lord Jesus, thank you that you are everything. 449 00:52:33.680 --> 00:52:40.000 In you, we live and move and have our being. I want every head bowed, every eye closed. 450 00:52:40.720 --> 00:52:47.360 I want you to know that Jesus Christ died on the cross in your place to take away your sins. 451 00:52:48.400 --> 00:52:53.680 The Bible says that our sin is worthy of divine retribution, of divine punishment. We've all 452 00:52:53.680 --> 00:52:59.760 sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and that sin disqualifies us from heaven and from 453 00:52:59.760 --> 00:53:07.840 fellowship with God. But Jesus loved you. Yes, you. He loved you so much that he went to the cross 454 00:53:07.840 --> 00:53:13.280 and took the punishment that you deserve. He took it on himself and he was raised from the dead 455 00:53:13.280 --> 00:53:19.760 on the third day and the Bible says that if you put your faith in him and trust in him, Jesus Christ 456 00:53:19.760 --> 00:53:25.920 for his righteousness, you will be saved. That means you won't go to hell. You'll go to heaven and 457 00:53:25.920 --> 00:53:32.000 you'll be born and you, born again, a new spirit he will put within you. Now if you under the 458 00:53:32.000 --> 00:53:39.040 sound of my voice with every head bowed, every eye closed, if you're not absolutely certain 459 00:53:39.040 --> 00:53:45.040 that if God forbid, you were to die tonight. If you're not absolutely certain that you would go 460 00:53:45.040 --> 00:53:52.640 to heaven, I want you to lift your hand right now. If there's even a little bit of doubt, 461 00:53:52.640 --> 00:53:58.800 do you really want to be playing with your soul? Thank you. Thank you. Who else? You only have one soul. 462 00:53:59.200 --> 00:54:08.640 If you're not absolutely certain, lift your hand. Who else? I see that hand too. Who else? 463 00:54:09.440 --> 00:54:21.360 Thank you. Who else? He's provided the way. He did it with his own precious blood. Who else? 464 00:54:22.000 --> 00:54:39.600 For ever is a really, really long time. I want Jesus. Who else? Thank you, Lord. Let's all say this 465 00:54:39.600 --> 00:54:49.840 together. Those of you who raised your hands, I want you to say this out loud. We're all going to 466 00:54:49.840 --> 00:54:55.920 say it out loud. But you who raised your hands, I want you to say it extra out loud. Really? Open 467 00:54:55.920 --> 00:55:00.240 up your mouths and say this. There's something about saying it out loud. I'm not making that up. That's 468 00:55:00.240 --> 00:55:08.080 not my tip. The Bible says, if you confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart 469 00:55:08.080 --> 00:55:11.840 that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. That's why I did that whole thing about 470 00:55:11.840 --> 00:55:16.080 talking in the beginning because faith is always one half in your heart and one half in your mouth. 471 00:55:17.040 --> 00:55:21.120 No quiet faith. There will be an expression of it out of your mouth. Are you ready? Let's all say 472 00:55:21.120 --> 00:55:31.360 this. Lord Jesus, I believe in you. I trust in you as my Lord and Savior. According to your word, 473 00:55:32.240 --> 00:55:41.040 my sins are all gone. I am forgiven of everything. I'm a new creation. I'm a child of God. 474 00:55:41.760 --> 00:55:51.280 And I have the righteousness of Christ. I'm heaven bound and God is my Father. In Jesus' name, 475 00:55:52.720 --> 00:55:56.960 Amen. Amen. Hallelujah. 476 00:55:59.520 --> 00:56:04.320 This is the City Light Church podcast. If you've missed any part of today's message, 477 00:56:04.320 --> 00:56:08.800 or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jansik in City Light Church, 478 00:56:08.800 --> 00:56:18.320 visit us at citylightnyc.com. That's citylightnyc.com. Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime. 479 00:56:18.320 --> 00:56:23.920 We would love to connect with you. We pray that you have been encouraged today. That you have been 480 00:56:23.920 --> 00:56:30.560 reminded how much God loves you and that you are surrounded by grace. Thank you for listening. 481 00:56:30.560 --> 00:56:35.440 Make sure that you subscribe to City Light Church podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts 482 00:56:35.440 --> 00:56:39.600 worldwide.