Turn Your Cat Around
Tribe
2023-03-20

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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Good morning.

Good, Nina?

Let's pray together as we get started in worship today. Lord Jesus, we just invite your presence in this place. In fact, we just say thank you that you are already here, That you've already come here today ready ready to wrap us up in your love, ready for your spirit to speak to us, ready to just come and you just I just feel this special sense of the Holy Spirit just wooing you today, Wooing us. Wooing us to just lay down whatever would hinder, whatever would hinder love today, whatever would hinder you from being free today. Maybe it looks like just removing distractions of your mind and maybe today for some of you it looks like repenting of sin.

Sin that's had you tangled up for a long time. Whatever it is, the Father is here, he is good, he is good, he is good, and his love is here and he just longs for nothing more for than you to be free today. That's his heart's desire. He would just say to you today, son, daughter, let it go. Lay it down and let it go and be free today in my spirit.

I just worship you today God freely. We worship and come before you and we do not take it lightly what we are doing here in this place today. It's like a portal that we can touch heaven in your presence because of who you are. Because you come without you. It's just noise, it's just clanging gongs, but when your presence is here, it's something supernatural, it's a holy moment, so that's what we ask for right now.

I come to worship you. Oh, just tell them I've come to worship you. I've come to worship you, holy God. I've come to worship you, you, of my praise. We just declare it today, God.

Oh, we run to you.

Just run into the arms of your father today. Let's stand. Let's stand and just honor him. You worship freely today. Just run into the arms of your father today.

Good morning. Let's sing this together. Let the king of my heart. Let's raise our voices and praise to him. Let the king of

my heart be the mountain

We declare that in this place today. Oh, we declare that. Let his goodness just overlay whatever you're going through today. Let him give you eyes to see his goodness.

You're never gonna let. You're never gonna let me down.

Come on. Declare it.

You're never gonna let. You're never gonna let me down.

Yes, lord. Oh, we just sing of your goodness in this place today. Just let him just speak to your heart today of his goodness.

You're never gonna let me down.

We declare that Lord, that in all our lives you've been faithful. Let's sing that together. And so we worship you. We worship you. We worship you.

Maybe the Lord is putting something on your heart this morning to share, maybe scripture, maybe a picture or word. Just encourage that here as family that the Lord uses us to speak sometimes. He loves to speak to his church through us. If there's something that the Lord's put on your heart, Gretchen has a microphone back there only because we have a livestream family that wants to be able to hear what you're gonna share and so just get Gretchen's attention and Lord, we just invite you to come and speak to us. Speak to us today in a unique way.

We always want to acknowledge that there is no gathering that's been this gathering ever on the face of the planet. That this is a unique moment right now with these people in this place at this time. We just need to tell you to come speak to us. Lanisha, did you have something, girl? I do.

Just Just take a sec. Okay? So

we all know the whole healing thing that's been happening within the tribe family here.

Pull that closer.

That healing that's been happening with the tribe family here. And last Tuesday, I came to the Tuesday night service, and I just came just for worship, talked to friends, and I was gonna leave. And during worship, Brian pastor Brian brought up if someone's been struggling just not being able to sleep and tormenting dreams. I think those were exact two words that he said. And growing up since I was young, like, had my own room young, but six, seven, whatever, I would have so many spiritual attacks.

There's been nights, like, I still vividly remember one when I woke up and literally, like, a demon just sitting on the couch in my room. So I, like, ran downstairs to get in my grandma's bed because she was, like, the holiest person in the house and, like, slept with her. But it's praise the lord for grandmas, honestly. That's why I'm here today. It's because of my grandma.

Grand grandmas.

Oh, yes. But it was just something I've just struggled with on and off. And the past month, I would just be waking up with no peace. I wasn't going to bed with peace. I was just it was awful.

I couldn't sleep. It was bad. I was up to, like, 04:00, finally able to get to sleep at six, but then I have to be at work at eight. And so I got prayed over on Tuesday, and it's Sunday, and I've been going to bed.

Well, awesome.

So no bad dreams since you got prayer? Mhmm. That is awesome. And just think if you hadn't raised your hand, that simple act of obedience of getting prayer, guys. Sydney, you can move over one if you need to.

Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. Clay.

So, I got prayer last week, and hands laid on me and, got my test results back, my fifth PSA test, which tests for for cancer, and, got another zero. So thank thank you.

Love it. Who else? Gretchen? I already shared. I know, but how are you doing?

I'm still doing good.

If you're new, Gretchen was the doctors that diagnosed her with Graves' disease, which even just the name of that is like straight from the enemy. And and we did some prayer and a bunch of people were praying and laying hands and and through all different just how the Lord chose to move. He just healed her not only just of that, but of all kinds of other cool stuff. And then went back. She actually went back and got blood tests done and they were like, nothing.

Like, you're it's normal, which it it shows up in, you know, in a blood test. And then in that prayer time, while we were praying for Gretchen, I have had had had a ton of pain in my hips and got MRIs, had labral tears in both of my hips. They're like, yep, just schedule surgery. This is this is how this goes. And I stood up from that prayer time and I have had zero pain since.

Like, zero pain since and it was I mean, like, I'm not a baby, but like it was like, wincing. And so we just, like, take a minute and we just thank you, Lord. We never want to take for granted what you are doing in our midst. When and how is up to you. We just trust you.

We trust you. We trust you. Lord, right now we just ask that you would take our faith in this room. And like even just like me, we didn't even specifically pray for my hips. We were praying for something else.

But just when your presence is in the room, you come and you do awesome stuff. So Lord, even just vicariously through us, if our spouse needs physical healing right now, we just put your hands out like this. Lord, we receive your healing power right now in the name of Jesus. However, whenever, whatever you want it to look like, Lord, we just say that we are here and you are here and so we know that nothing is impossible. And we just take a minute and we just lift up people around us that we know need physical healing, spiritual healing.

Maybe there's broken hearts that need need to be mended. We put all of our hope in you. All of our hope in you today. And Lord, we thank you for doctors that you've placed in our lives. We thank you for people around us to help us figure out things sometimes.

Lord, we just we thank you for all of it. We're just saying, yes, you can work however you wanna work. We just say we trust you and that we don't even look to yesterday of how you did something. We just say, oh, come and do something new and fresh today. Yes.

Yes, Lord. And Lord, we lift up our brother Mark Waldrip to you today who has gotten a bad report from the doctors and we just declare who you are. And we just say that we know you're not done with him yet on this earth. And I just I just know that I know that I know. I mean, we know that any any sickness is attacked from the enemy.

But there's just times where it's just poignant and we just say, enemy, we just call you out. Your tricks aren't gonna work of discouragement in Mark's life because he's got his amazing book coming out of his testimony of how he met you and what you've done in his life. And we just say, Lord, bring that forth. We ask for miraculous healing, miraculous healing right now. You've done it before and you can do it again.

You've done it before and you can do it again. And I just pray against any thought in here right now that anyone would say, yeah, but yeah, but if you only knew. And the Lord just, like, Get that yabbit out of here. Because that just takes God and it just makes him small. I'm gonna make a t shirt that says that.

Get that yeah, but out of here. So Lord, come. We set our hope on you. We declare it. We declare who you are right now.

Bring your healing. Bring your power right now as we just declare we set our hope on you. We set

our hope on you. We set our hope on your love. I will remain I will remain confident in this I will see the goodness of the Lord. Sing it confident in this I will see the of the Lord I will remain I will remain to

be

Come rest on us, God. Come rest on us, yeah. Yeah. Because as the spirit was moving over the water, spirit come move over us. Come rest on us.

Come rest on us. As the spirit was moving over the water. Spirit, come move come rest on us. You're all we want. Yeah.

The only spirit we want. We want. Come on.

Thank you, Holy Spirit. You not only came down upon us, but you filled us. You fill us with the love, the power, and the strength of Jesus Christ. Holy Spirit, we submit to you. Jesus, we submit to you this morning.

And we say, move inside of us, in those rooms in our mind, those places in our heart, those places in our flesh. Push out. Push out the darkness. We say go. Those areas where darkness lingers whether we know know it or not, we agree with you holy spirit and we say, oh, yes.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Push it out in the name of Jesus.

We agree. In those areas where just the effects of living in this world have influenced us, we say spirit of the living God, Jesus Christ, we want nothing to do with that influence. We only want your influence. So push those areas, the influences of the world out. In the name of Jesus, we say out.

And even our own flesh. Yes, Lord. Oh, Lord. That's not an easy one for any of us. But we submit our flesh to those areas where our flesh needs to be redeemed and need renewed We'll say, spirit of the living God, come into those areas.

We agree with you. We agree with whatever Jesus wants to do. Right now, in the name of Jesus, I speak on behalf of myself, on behalf of my brothers and sisters here, and we say, flesh, you will submit to the spirit of the living God right now in Jesus name. Yes. Oh, thank you, Lord.

Thank you. Thank you for this date. Yes. Thank you. Thank you for the unity in the spirit.

Thank you for the blessing of meeting together in unity under your covering with your blessing. And Jesus, in return, what can we do except be obedient to you? It's our desire to be obedient, Lord. Thank you. And we bless you in Jesus' name.

In the name of Jesus, amen.

Great prayer. Maybe you've heard Brian say before, sometimes you just gotta boss yourself around. And I feel like sometimes we just need to tell our flesh, like, no. No. Like, you will submit.

You will get in line with what the Lord has for me and what the Holy Spirit's doing. Like, you will submit. So, as we dig into your word today, we just ask, would you just reveal to us each and every one of us uniquely what you're speaking to us today. And lord, we would respond and be obedient today. Amanda's gonna bring the word today and just be listening for the voice of the Holy Spirit because there's gonna be an opportunity to respond at the end as we've been going through this series so far about turn your cat around.

And maybe there's some areas in your life that they're just like, oh, you know it's in God's word, but you just don't wanna obey it. And the Lord's just like, come on. Come on. Today's the day. Turn your cat around.

Because that sweet, sweet hand of the Lord just longs to be in harmony with you, and he ain't gonna change. So we need to turn our cat around today, Lord. Just pray that you take this funny analogy and that you would just birth something new in us today in repentance, in our flesh that would just die, that we would finally just give it up and we would get in step with you. It's the best place to be. Speak to us by your spirit today.

We tell you we love you in Jesus' name. Everybody said Amen. Amen. Yeah.

Okay. I wanna share something real quick.

Please do.

Go ahead. Get up there. Okay. Okay. When you said we don't always know the when and the how with God answering prayers, when our son some of you have heard this, but when our son was born, he his Eustachian tube in his ear was flat rather than round.

So he constantly had ear infections. His first surgery was when he was six months old. And as a mom, there's nothing worse than watching your baby being taken off to surgery. We watched that from the time he was six months old until he was nine years old. He had, like, eight or nine surgeries, and it you know, we kept praying.

We were in church. We're like, god, why won't you heal this baby? And right? It was so hard.

Know? Fact check.

Check. As he got older, you know, swimming lessons. You we had to stop everything because that you couldn't get the water in the ears. And, of course, it was like back in the dark ages now. I don't know what they do now.

But we we were constantly in church, constantly praying, and he was scheduled for his ninth or tenth surgery when he was in the fifth grade. And we were in church one night. We were going to the church of God in Birmingham, and Clay and I were both in the choir. And, you know, I

I wanna see a picture of that.

I know. And

we have one. No.

I'm just kidding. And and, you know, I hate to say it, but sometimes when you pray and you pray and God doesn't answer it, you just quit. You quit asking. I just sort of like, this is it. We're gonna have to deal with this till whatever.

And we're in the choir, and this they were having a healing service, a prayer. And this lady next to me, you know, everybody's going down being prayed for, Clay and I didn't move because we'd done it so many times. And this lady nudged me and said, I think you need to go pray with your son. And we were like, okay. Let's go.

Come on. Let's look good. And so we go down, and Jordan is, like, mortified that we're calling him up there to be prayed for. And the pastor nobody prayed with us. It was just the three of us.

And we prayed and asked God to please heal him, and we did our our our thing. And Jordan went back and sat down. Clay and I went to the choir loft. And I'm looking out at Jordan, and he's doing this. And I thought I had lost an earring, truly.

I mean, I was up there doing this. And I'm like, I don't know what he's doing, but when the choir went back down and sat down, Jordan said, my ears won't stop popping. And I'm like, well, we're going to the surgeon tomorrow for your pre op. We'll figure it out then. And up until this point, I don't know if you know about ears, but if you have a tympanogram, it's supposed to look like a Christmas tree if it's normal.

Jordan's had always been flat, which means you have fluid. Jordan went in to this very pompous surgeon and

That she used to work for.

That I used to work for. They did the tympanogram. It was a perfect Christmas tree. And I'm like, oh, god. And we go on in, and doctor Turner examines him, and he said and a lot of you young people won't get this.

Some of you older ones will. He said, what did you do? Go to an Ernest Ainsley convention? That was a preacher that used to go, he all in Jesus' name. I mean, it was a big deal.

And I said, well, sorta. Sorta. And he wrote in Jordan's chart, Jordan Erwin received his miracle and has never had an ear problem since then, and he's he'll be 39 years old next month.

And singing in the church choir.

And he is singing in the church choir in Birmingham. That's bizarre. But, anyway, my whole point of this and we had a Sunday school teacher that, oh, was so my goodness. She was wonderful. And I said, why didn't God heal him all those years ago?

Why didn't he do when we begged and cried and pleaded? And she said, maybe God wanted Jordan to know where his healing came from. And seeing what God is doing in my son's life today, he's working with young people. He is in church. And just my whole point is don't give up on your prayer.

Don't give up on what you need that God will do.

That's good news.

Because he will do it in his timing. And there's a lesson for all of us.

That's

right. In waiting. But don't stop. Okay. Carry on.

That's so good. Anybody else? My love and I'm so glad you shared that. Well, Lord, come. Come continue to work in us.

Fill your coffee, get out your bible, and we have a special treat today. Amanda is gonna bring the word today. So fill your coffee up and get your notebook out.

Yes. My two star students right up front. This is a lucky day. Yes, we should. Not at all.

You look beautiful. Oh, thanks. Can see me dressed this thing? Okay.

Church is starting, everyone. Find a seat. Hear ye. Hear ye. Hear ye.

Hear ye. Ye. Oh,

it's so good to see you guys. It's so good to be here. And, man, if this is your first time at Tribe, we understand that it's a steep on ramp. We understand that this environment is not conducive for slipping in the back and not being seen. But I'll tell you this, it's it's the season that the Lord has tribe in.

Tribe has not always looked like this, but it's the season that he has us in. And we know it's intimate, we know it's a big on ramp, but I'm telling you, long gone are the days where as a Christian you just just slip in the back and check off the Sunday church. Like, you we need to be challenged, we need to be equipped, we need to be ready to handle the things that the world is bringing us. So so whether we love it or hate it, whether it's tied in here or not, this is just a season and and we're honoring the lord in this way. And we're always asking, like, what would you have, lord?

Would you have us have a bigger space? Would you have us have a smaller space? Not really. We've never prayed that. Brian would be like, yes, more intimacy.

But this is what it is, and so thank you for being here and for enduring the shoulder touching. And it's if you just surrender to the Lord and be like, it's tight. I don't like it, but I'm here because I'm hungry for what you would have, the Lord will honor that. So all that to say thank you and welcome. My name is Amanda Lack.

I am on staff here at Tribe. This is my husband, and my son is whose knee I was touching during worship because we were so close. So in this tight space, you got us strategically. But if they were strangers, I wouldn't have minded. But again, my name is Amanda.

I'm on staff here at Tribe, and Brian's not here today, pastor Brian. And when he asks me to teach, it's such an honor, and I don't take it lightly. And I always immediately feel like the Lord's like, yep. Here's what you should say. So I'm like, great.

I can't deny it when he asks. So thank you, Bea, for letting me be here. And, yeah, we're just gonna jump into the word today. If you have your Bible, please turn to John eight thirty two. And I'm gonna throw a lot of scripture out there today.

I don't expect you to turn to everything. You can just relax and listen, but there's there's a lot of scripture today. Scripture? What are we, in church or something? Let's do it.

Alright. There's a lot of context around this verse, but John eight thirty two says, this is Jesus talking, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. I'm gonna pray. Heavenly father, we just come to you today and say thank you for the truth of your word. Thank you that it sets us free.

There's so much bondage and opportunity to sin and just fall out of calibration with you, God, but your word sets us free. So I ask today that it be your words, my mouth, and that Holy Spirit, nothing that I've anything that I've planned, Lord, if it's if it's not of you, let it not come out. And if there's stuff you wanna say, I'm totally open to that today. Lord, as you challenge us today from the truth of your word, I just pray for soft soil in our hearts to just receive not my words, but your truth. And, father, let it set us free.

Let us not say no to that. You've given us a choice, free will. Let us not say no to that today. Let us be set free because of the truth of your word. In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen. So if you are new or if you've been following us, this graphic is amazing. I love it. It's what in the world is that? Everybody.

Koylak, everyone. We had a mentor in Put your hands, Courtney. We had a mentor when we a handful of us lived in Oklahoma for a season and then we're all here doing ministry together, but we had a mentor who for years would use this phrase, If it rubs the cat the wrong way, turn the cat around. And he was originally from Texas. I don't know if that's a southern thing or if his family said it, I don't know.

But it just meant cats like being pet in one particular way, right, and it's not gonna change. And we this metaphor is that the Lord's word, his truth, his character, does not change. It says in the Bible that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. It says that I am the Lord, I change not. He doesn't change.

Right? He pets, is our metaphor, in one particular way, and if it's feeling crane crong or if we don't like it, this is where it comes from. Then turn the cat around. Well, what does that mean? It means recalibrate your heart to what, you know, to what the Lord's asking.

And I want to say this, you know, that might feel comfortable for a cat, but do not confuse comfort with calibration. We don't want to turn our cat around so we can be comfortable. We all know if we follow the Lord, comfort's lovely when it happens and it's relaxing and we get our tank filled and it's great, But it's not easy to stand for truth. It's not easy to serve the Lord. So do not confuse comfort for calibration.

When we say turn the cat around, that means get your heart, your mind, your feelings, your emotions, everything back in alignment with the truth of God's word.

That's good. That's good.

So you've heard we'll we'll review just a little bit and before we get into the content. So you've heard pastor Brian say during this series that in the days ahead, the leadership of Jesus will be less complicated but increasingly costly. Well, what does that mean? It doesn't mean that it'll be more costly to read our Bible necessarily or to discern his word, but if you've noticed the world we live in is getting more complex, more challenging, it always has. It's the trajectory that the world is on.

It's not our forever home. And he just means it might be more it not might, it will be more costly in the future to stand for truth, to not be lukewarm or mediocre. That's an easy path. It's not what we're called to do. So it'll be increasingly more costly to follow the Lord simply because the world is getting darker and darker and harder and harder, and he calls us to stand for truth.

So it's time to turn our cat around. Brian says, now is the time to turn that cat around. I know that's such a silly phrase, but every time I use it, just think of the definition where we recalibrate ourselves with the Lord. And we need to get in sync with him now or it'll just be harder. When you get when you're being pulled in one certain direction, the further you go, obviously, the harder it is to get back on track.

So read your word. Stay in prayer. Whatever between you and the Lord, whatever you do to recalibrate and to get closer, listen to worship, listen to podcasts, but this is primary. This is primary. His word.

Alright. The last few weeks for this series, we've been talking about different Bible characters and how their cat was turned the wrong way, and an example of what they did to turn it back around. So just to review from Ezekiel oh, you know what? Let's show I have a video to say what I would what I was, talking about. If we if we can roll that.

Wait for it. Oh, no. No. No. Yes.

One of our well, our friend Zach sent that, and he's so funny. I said, wish when he was petting it the wrong way, would have like but care. He's too fat Let us not be let's spiritualize it. Let us not be too fat with the things of the world where we don't care. Oh, I love that.

The Zach is so funny. So in Ezekiel eighteen twenty three, we were that's kind of a character. The Israelites wanted the blessing of the Lord. Their cat was definitely turned the wrong way. They were wanting blessing, but they weren't being obedient.

We chatted about that. And it says in in verse 23 in Ezekiel 18 that the Lord says, do you think I like the wicked perishing? No. I want them to turn and live. That is the heart of the father.

And then we talked about Gideon. That's a fantastic story in Judges six, where Gideon was, like, threshing wheat in a winepress because he was hiding, and he said, I'm the weakest I'm the smallest guy in the weakest clan from the least important tribe of Israel, when an angel appeared to him and called him, what? Mighty warrior, valiant hero. The angel was calling something in him, the truth in him, that he didn't know he had. So he had to turn his cat around, Gideon did, in order to accept that and to be obedient, and then the rest of the story is really beautiful.

And then last couple weeks, we've been talking about Naaman that comes from second Kings five and how Naaman had leprosy. He was a really high ranking officer in the Armenian army and he had leprosy and so he his boss, the king, wanted him to be healed. So he sent him to Elisha, the prophet, and Elisha he didn't like the answer that Elisha gave. And he said, this is how you're healed. You go dip in the Jordan River seven times.

Like, that's so simple. But his cat was turned Naaman's cat was turned the wrong way. He's like, nah. He's like, a, that river's nasty. This is Amanda's version.

He's like, b, shouldn't it be harder than that? Like, I need you to, you know, wave your magic Jesus wand and do the I need it to look different. And it was so simple, but we see in scripture that Naaman turned his cat around or he obeyed. He surrendered and obeyed and gave that thought process up and said, Fine, I'll do it. And he was healed of leprosy.

It was it's a beautiful story. And then lastly for review, pastor Brian talked a couple weeks ago about, well, how do you turn your cat around? Great. I hear you. Okay.

But how do you do that? And we touched on it just a bit today in worship, and you let go of the how the Lord is gonna move and work. You let go of the when and the where. You just let that go, like Nancy said. And you let go of the what if.

Well, what if it doesn't work? What if it it's probably not gonna look like you expect it to. At least that's been my experience with my walk in the Lord. The way I want him to move or work or do something is Amanda's way and is terrible. Like, great he's like, great intention, baby girl, but you wrong.

Like, I'm gonna do it in my own time and in my own way. So it just it just shows how we trust the Lord. So that's what we've been talking about in this series. Today is part five of Turn the Cat Around, and we're gonna rather than taking a Bible character today, we're gonna hit it from a little bit different angle. What we're gonna do today is, as Paul would say in the New Testament, going from milk to meat, you know, like next level from JV to varsity.

Here's what we're gonna do. If we can be proactive and avoid our cat being turned around in the first place, let's do that. Right? And and we're human. The Bible says we all fall short and we sin, and but the quick repentance, the quick like, oh, oh, oh, it's turning.

It's turning. Fix it. Fix it. If we can be proactive and do that, man, that takes us to another level in our relationship with the Lord. So that's what we're gonna do today.

We're gonna take a proactive look at how does our cat get turned around in the first place, and let's watch it and see if we can prevent it from turning. And that just means how our heart and our mind and our emotions, when they're out of alignment to the truth of God's word, how can we be watchful to let it not happen in the first place? So I just have four points for us. They're in alphabetical order for you because Brian loves that. But the first one, how do we prevent that?

Well, we need to be watchful for allowing yucky stuff in. What do I mean by that? Do you remember that children's hymn from long ago? Oh, be careful little eyes what you see. And then we went over here, Oh, be careful little ears what you hear.

Right? We learned that as little kids. But it's not just for kids, it is for grown ups. What it let's actually let's turn to like I said, I have a lot of scripture. I'll only ask you to turn to little.

But let's go to first John two. Turn there with me. If you have your Bible or if you have something to click on, if not, just enjoy and listen. In First John two fifteen through 17, it says, Do not love this world nor the things it offers. For when you love the world, you don't have the love of the Father in you.

For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, craving for everything that we see and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father but are from this world. And this world is fading away along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases the Lord will live forever. Now, when John is saying don't love the things of the world, we all know that doesn't mean like, don't now don't enjoy a sunset or a good meal or whatever.

That's not what it means. It just means do not let the things of the world replace the part in you that God and God alone should hold. So allowing yucky stuff in is not being a good gatekeeper. The Lord asks us to be a good gatekeeper. What what our eyes see, what our ears hear, what how we feel, how we let our imaginations roam and free and do whatever they wanna do.

Be a good gatekeeper of yourself. We're gonna jump in the deep end today, so put on your swimmies. I'm not we're not here so something that we, like tribe staff, is committed to is the truth of the word. And so there's probably things I'll say today that I feel the Lord asked me to say that might be uncomfortable or might step on your toes. And I'm telling you with love that it's okay.

Because the truth of the word, what did we read from John eight thirty two, sets you free. So let's just talk about a few examples. How about the the temporary I know this is not just for kids. Listening to trash music. Okay.

That's something that might go in our ears. It is not it's not just for kids or teenagers, for adults too. Is there good music that's not Christian? Yes. Yes.

Totally. But trash music, it would be something that's just degrading to certain people group or you know, I'm not I don't want to define it for you. That's what we talked about, like cultivating that relationship with the Holy Spirit. You ask or you see how your spirit feels when you listen to it. How about the temporary pleasure of looking at porn?

Like I said, we're in the deep end. Hope you put your suit on. Let's talk about it. When your eyes are looking at somebody's baby girl there, it's a temporary pleasure. Our bodies have a physical reaction to that.

Our emotions have a reaction to that. But it's not worth it to let stuff in to be a poor gatekeeper. It's a it's a trick of the enemy, and we'll talk about that next. But what is it what does the Bible say the enemy comes to do? Three things.

Steal, kill, destroy. It's not worth it. The temporary pleasure of the world that John was talking about is not worth it. Let's talk about the temporary pleasure of having that second or third piece of cake. I don't

know. Second

Is this hitting you hard? Let the truth of the Lord set you free. How about that second, third, fourth, fifth glass of something? Temporary pleasure, not God's best. You use discernment of what the Holy Spirit's telling you in those situations.

Well, what do we do then? You don't have to turn here, and I don't have it on the screen, but just listen to Philippians four eight. This is a part of the this I would call this a guidebook of being a good gatekeeper. Philippians four:eight says, Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. That's

what

we meditate on. It's God's best. Alright, that was a. B is believing lies or half truths. Lies?

Yeah, please. Oh, and while while you're finishing your bite, I just you can go and pass that, but I just wanted to say, yes, we do want this, you know, in this intimate setting. We do want it to be a conversation. So please at any time, talk back to me, raise your hand or just blurt out whatever you want. But that microphone is for our livestream audience so they can hear.

So yes, please interrupt. We want it to be dialogue.

I was just gonna make a quick comment that scripture, the Lord, like, really put that on my heart when I first got saved because I was, like, in my twenties and there was so much of old me, you know, in my language and all my things. And I just felt like the Lord was like, let's start with this one. Like, you know? Like, what can what music can I listen to, and what can I say, and hooah? And the Lord was like, I felt like just impressed on my heart, ask yourself every time you're about to do something or say something, is this lovely?

Is what you're about to say about that person to someone else, is it lovely? I was like, cool. So I keep going back to that and thank goodness I have friends that are like, oop, oop, oop, is this going to be lovely?

I just wanted to say that my version says dwell on those things and I love that word for that because I think it's so easy to look at the state of the world and be like, and dwell on, oh gosh, this is terrible or whatever. And I think it takes training of the mind to dwell on the things that are lovely and good because they are out there and they're of God.

Practice, yeah. And I forgot to move the mirror right in front of me to preach to myself today too, by the way.

Should watch the

live Y'all just watch him cry and repent. Just

really quick, I wanted to note in our example today that Zach provided for us, When I mean, yeah. So the cat was just kinda like, okay. Whatever. You're like, thank you. Thank you.

Didn't move. Yeah. Right? I mean, it's stuff that we're so used to and habits that we fall into that we don't move. But look at how the cat responded when he petted him the right way.

It was like the tail, he went, oh, yeah, the tail lifted and stuff. And ultimately, we fight against what God wants for us a lot of the time just because it goes against our habits. But when we actually do it, it's like, oh, yes. This is exactly what I meant for.

Like, didn't know I was hurting until I felt better.

Yeah. Yeah.

Didn't know it could be different. Exactly.

Yeah. Didn't know the sin was weighing

me down down

until until it it was gone. Didn't know this sin was weighing

was gone. That's really good. So this the believing lies and half truths. Lies, whether they're from the enemy or from humans, they're they're pretty easy to spot a lot of the time, and you don't really give any credit to them. If it's a blatant lie, you don't it doesn't it's not a struggle to disregard that.

But half truths, on the other hand, are very tricky. When I I changed majors in college, but when I started college, was a marketing major, and half truths were celebrated and encouraged in marketing because it's, you know Nina, where did you go? She was saying Nina had an infomercial. She got infomercial. Got her one time.

I bet there was a half truth about that Ninja blender. It's all true.

But listen to these listen

to these human human examples of half truths and see if you're like, they're just random and weird, but I didn't steal your Netflix password to watch movies this week. What's the lie in there do you think? Say it again.

TV show instead of a movie?

Yeah. Could be that. All the parents in the room should have this This week. Yeah. I mean I do it every other week, but not this week.

It's true, but it's leaving something out, and that's a lie. How about this one? I was just driving by your house, and I saw that your mailbox was broken. My car ran into it. I just saw that it was broken.

Yes, after you hit it.

You're leaving something out.

It's a half truth. Let's pick on the food industry, Joy. This is just for you. Something on the box: made with real fruits and vegetables. Awesome.

Point 5% vegetables and fruit, and they're filled with chemicals. You know, whatever the case is. Half truth. Not blatantly lying. He's just not saying all of it, or you're mixing mixing it a little to get something from the person reading it.

Exactly. Contains chemicals that can cause all the cancers. But one percent fruit and vegetables, you'd throw it in the trash, of course. Yeah, exactly. Half truths are nothing but manipulation.

And manipulation is yucky. And none of us like it, and we've all probably done it and been on the receiving end, and it's yucky. Let's look at some biblical examples. In Genesis three one, you don't have you don't have to turn there, but let me just read it because it's so good. This is the first one we see in the Bible back in Genesis, that sneaky little serpent talking to Eve.

He says in chapter three, did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any other tree in the garden? And I'm skipping down. He says, ugh. And she's like, yeah, otherwise we'll die. He's like, you won't die.

The serpent replied to the woman, God knows your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it and that you'll be like him, knowing good and evil. Half truth. Yeah, your eyes will be open. What the sneaky serpent didn't say is that and you're you're killing mankind and now you're opening sin up for all of time. Oops, forgot to mention that.

Revelation twelve nine says that Satan is the deceiver of the whole world. Second Corinthians eleven fourteen says, Satan disguises himself as the angel of light. There's a real enemy who is out to do those three things we said, steal, kill, and destroy. John John ten ten. And we were created in the image of God.

We look like God, and that's why the enemy hates us. That's what we see in scripture. It's not about you. It's not personal. He just hates you because you look like the father.

And especially if you're being obedient and you're keeping your cat turned the right way and you're staying calibrated, he really hates you because then you're effective for the kingdom. He doesn't like that. He wants you to stay in a neutral, lukewarm, neutral zone because you're affecting anything for the kingdom and he doesn't care. But let's not pretend like we don't have an enemy that's that's out for us. So be very discerning.

Ask the Holy Spirit when you hear what you're kind of like, that might ping your heart a little or ping your spirit. It might be a half truth. Whatever it is. It could be something of the world, but we're talking about when the enemy's, like, really targeting you. Ask for discernment from the Holy Spirit.

Like, was that from you? And a good like, you don't just make it up. A measuring stick, is it is it inconsistent with God's character, or is it in his word? That's the measuring stick you use for discernment. And the Holy Spirit can can speak to your heart in any way that he pleases.

But if you're like, I don't know, is it in his word and is it consistent with his character?

Mhmm. And

if you can't find it there, his word tells us to seek wise counsel. Mhmm. So go to a fellow believer.

Absolutely. Yeah. How does this sound to you? Yeah. John eight forty four says, you are of the father your devil, And you love doing evil things that he does.

He was a murderer from the beginning, and he does not stand for truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he's being consistent with his character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Let's go to C, letter C. Another way that we want to be proactive in keeping our cat from turning around is by not compromising. Now compromise in a human to human relationship is actually a pretty healthy practice, especially in a marriage.

Compromise is I want something, no I want something, let's compromise meet in the middle and then we're, you know, that's actually a healthy practice is compromise. Something compromise by definition is accepting standards that are less than desirable. Something we don't want to compromise on is safety, let's say. Right? Jump aboard this airplane, it passed most of the safety checks.

No, thank you. We don't want to compromise on that. You know, you there's a lot there's a lot of examples. We don't want to compromise in picking a spouse. They'll do said nobody ever, right?

There's things we don't want to compromise, and certainly we don't want to compromise God's standards that that we see in his word, we don't want to settle for less than what is God's best. Just think about it for a minute. God's promises, God's word, what he says, we don't get to compromise and just pick the scriptures we like and pretend like the ones that challenge us aren't there. The Bible's all true or none of it is. It's not pick and choose what feels good today.

God is not a human. So when we talk about human compromise being healthy, yeah, because you're kind of meeting in the middle. But God, the Bible says God is perfect. His thoughts are higher than ours. His ways are higher than ours.

He doesn't need to move the way he pets, to use our metaphor. We need to turn our cat around. His ways are perfect. His ways are true. They're brilliant.

His timing is perfect. His character is perfect. He's a good dad. He's not just an ethereal god. He's an Abba.

He's a father. He's a good dad. His ways are perfect. Perfect. That's the of the

t shirt.

That's the back of the t shirt, yes. People are like, what a weird cult that is. Yes. Lanicia.

It's actually really funny that this word is up there because for the past few months or so the Lord's been doing a lot since I moved to Wyoming. But, anyway, the past few months well, the mountains, it's like you're gonna be strong like this. It's crazy. But I was thinking about how to word this so you guys don't kick me out. But a thing that I was compromising for a while that the Lord's like, you need to break away from this is we all heard the saying, Jesus loves you for who you are.

Come in and receive. And I was taking that and compromising it with how I would live my life. I'm like, okay, Jesus loves me. So do I really need to do x y z that could help benefit my life? Do I need to go to the gym?

Do I need to eat this healthy food? Do I need to drink more water than I do Sprite? Do I need That was a very serious

You're telling the truth up

in here Yes, was a very serious thing. And just to see the word compromise up there and what he's been teaching me recently about we can't compromise even within our own walk the truths that he gives us because he wants the best for us. He wants us to grow on this side of eternity, and that requires doing hard things and not just settling because he loves you.

Because he also wants more for

you and he'll walk alongside you with that. So if God's calling you anymore, do it.

Absolutely. We wouldn't want God to compromise. Like in our flesh, our knee jerk response is like, yes, I want him to come my way. We would hate it because his ways are perfect. In Revelation three fifteen, it says, I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold.

I wish that you were one or the other. Jesus talking. But since you are like lukewarm water that's that neutral zone we talked about or since you're you're refusing to turn your cat around, you're like or compromising, you're listening to the enemy, you're allowing yucky stuff in. Because you are like lukewarm water, it says, neither hot or cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. You say, I am rich.

I have everything I want. I don't need a thing. But you don't realize, Jesus said, that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. And those words are a fun breakdown. It makes even more sense.

It's really beautiful. Since I advise you to buy gold from me, gold that has been purified by fire, the Lord says, then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness and by ointment for your eyes so that you'll be able to see. I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.

Oh. Okay. Where's that mirror, right? Turn from your indifference, says the Lord. That's what Pastor Brian's talking about when he says the times ahead will be increasingly more challenging.

It'll be harder to stand for truth, yet we're asked to do so. It'll be harder to stand for what's right in a world that is full of compromise. But it's what we're asked to do. Let's look at the last one, D. How do we be proactive in keeping our cat turned the right way?

We choose not to be defiant. Man, that's a tough one. Defiance and disobedience is a natural human thing. When you have not surrendered your heart to the Lord and you're unsaved, you're just going to walk in defiance and other things. Like we say, you can't blame a dog for barking.

Unsaved people do what unsaved people do. But if you have surrendered your heart to the Lord and you're a Christian and you're walking with Him at any level, beginner, whatever it is, we're asked to be different. This defiance piece can look different. It can be like a toddler where you just put your hands, you know, I ain't doing it, and stomp your feet. That's immaturity and we might start there.

Defiance can also just be like, Yeah, I know God's word. But kind of, Lanisha, like you said, like, But I'm I'll justify it. And this could be something small or huge. Yeah, know God's word, but like the enemy, does he does he really not want me to na na na? It feels so good.

Or does he really not want me to be in this relationship, but it feels right? Feelings are wonderful and have their place, but they also are terrible drivers. We want to put them in the back seat. They're wonderful and have their place. The Lord has emotions for us.

Feelings and emotions are wonderful, but they are terrible drivers. The truth of God's word is what we keep in the driver's seat. Let's look at a few extreme examples of defiance from the Bible. Goliath. He defied the God of Israel.

This is extreme. What happened to him? David took Goliath's sword and cut his own head off with it, and his army became the slaves. Jonah, which would be another great cat turnaround story, Jonah said no to God's assignment and got thrown overboard in the ship and swallowed by a great big fish. And you can talk to me about this later, but I'm convinced when I read scripture that Jonah actually died and was resurrected three days later as a type and shadow of the coming Lord, but that's not what we're talking about today.

But but next week's message. But Jonah was defiant to what the Lord was clearly asking him to do. How about Pharaoh? He wouldn't let the Israelites go regardless of Moses' plead and his ask and his coming to him constantly, and 10 plagues you know, the story of the Egyptians 10 plagues came on Pharaoh's land, including the death of his firstborn son. He was in defiance to the God of the Bible.

Lot's wife this is a weird story Lot and his wife were escaping from Sodom and Gomorrah where they lived, and the Lord said, Whatever you I'm saving you and I'm freeing you. Whatever you do, do not look back. And she did, and it's so strange, she she turned into a pillar of salt. But the Lord said you would. He said, this is what's gonna happen.

Nancy just said for the livestream, Nancy just said she would have looked back.

But was she she was in defiance. I who knows? It can be, you know, it's theologically debated. Why did she look back? Is she still there?

Where's the salt? You know, all the things. But was she longing for you know, we talked about earlier in first John, like, she longing of the things that were familiar? Did she just need one more know, that's such a human thing. I just need one more look.

Or did everyone make it? It's like no matter what instinct you have, we do what we do. But it's in defiance to the Lord if it's not what he's asking us. I was

waiting because Gretchen gets serious about her job. Love it.

People to hear.

I know. I was just, for the first time, thought about that. I know we're not talking about this, but her turning around and looking. I mean, the opposite of repentance is what she did. Right?

Like, you're supposed to turn and go the other way. And, like, when you repent of sin, but then you're like, well, let's just

have a pink take a little pink.

You know? Like, I feel like the Lord takes our repentance. He loves it, and he takes it so seriously when we actually turn and walk or go the other

way. Absolutely. Let's look at example from the Old Testament. You can just listen. This is before the cross in the Old Testament.

Numbers fifteen thirty said, Those who brazenly violate the Lord's will, whether native born Israelites or foreigner, must be cut off from the community and suffer. I mean, it's a big deal. Think about I don't know I mean, I know that our earthly fathers can sometimes define for us how we see God, at least at the beginning of our relationship, whether they are wonderful or awful. Think about whether it's your dad or not think about a good dad. A good earthly dad.

He's not going to let his kids be in defiance. Why? Because he has to be in charge? No. Because he loves them.

Number is 1530. The bla the brazenly violating. A good mom or dad who loves their baby, they ain't gonna let a train hit you if you're on the track and it's coming. Like, think about the God is such a loving heavenly Father. And I just want to say if you haven't experienced that or if you don't feel that, please don't give up on that because let Him love you.

He's so good, and He's so merciful. And yes, there's times that we see in the Bible, or maybe that we felt in our life, where it feels hard or harsh. Well, that's how a kid feels too when his dad's yanking him off the bike: because a car's coming, you know? Don't be in defiance to the Lord. Let's read Isaiah this is for you, Sheila.

Let's read Isaiah five twenty and twenty one. That. Mama, should Isaiah five twenty and twenty one. Five twenty twenty one? Mhmm.

If you don't know, Christine has been reading Isaiah for three years, and it's changing her whole life. Yes. It is.

Absolutely is. Okay. Isaiah chapter five verses twenty and twenty one. Oh, yeah. It's a serious word, you know?

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil. Who put darkness for light and light for darkness. Who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight. Mhmm.

And a piggyback verse to that is Matthew twenty four twelve. And Jesus says, sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold, but the one who endures to the end will be saved. Let's take a let's let's dive a little deeper after b says something.

I was just gonna say, I think I had a lot of the letter d in my life, defiance. Mhmm. When I I remember just when I first, like, became saved. I knew of God, and I didn't really have a relationship. I was raised in a church kinda sorta.

But so I knew of God and kinda pursued it, but I never, like, gave my life to Christ. But I was gonna go out with some friends, and they were always up to no good. And I was always the good one there that was just, like, watching. I don't think I've ever, like you know, I never gave into that, but I was just, like, there, like, oh, yeah. I got some friends.

So I remember I was gonna go out one night, and I just heard God say, if you go out with him, you won't come back to me. That was because Deep. Like heavy. Yeah. I was like, I'm an all or nothing type of person.

So, like, that night, I knew I was gonna just, like, go all out and do everything. And but it was just, I would not get over that guilt because the church I was raised in, they were very into just putting shame on you and you having having to live in condemnation. And so that was just like the truth to me at that point. So then I was like, fine. I just found a church to go to that night and like gave my life to Christ, and it's been so different.

And so years go by, and I I was just in a new setting in a new area and I got in, not into the wrong crowd, it was just people that I worked with that I hung out with and I could just feel them rubbing off on me. And I was like, there are things that I wouldn't do that I was considering. And I was like, gosh, what's happening to me? And he's just like, your surroundings. Those seeds have been planting whenever you're hanging out with them, And it becomes like, oh, that's not so bad in your eyes once you see it over and over again and not countering that with the word.

So I just think a part of defiance, feel like you just have to really watch who you surround yourself with and have those people that you can have those hard conversations with, and that can build you up in Christ and not the other way around.

Absolutely. Way to listen that night. Good job. We can get off track so quickly living in defiance just one teeny tiny seemingly unaffected decision at a time. Just the enemy wooing you and pulling you away from the Lord is in and of itself defiance.

But sometimes you'll have a hard wake up moment where like, oh my, how did I get here? How did I get here? And sometimes it's too late. Right? With or without the Lord, there's natural consequences to choices and decisions and what we do.

Right? Turn that cat around. Okay. Yeah. Please.

It's in

his nature. Yeah.

Finally be done.

Mhmm. Yes. Yep. And there I mean, the scripture in Revelation that really just keeps me in this holy reverent fair place is out of Revelation. Mhmm.

Where Revelation 22 verses 12 through I'll stop at 15.

Mhmm.

And it's a powerful word. It's like what's at hand. I mean, the cost of disobedience and compromising and actually not being wholly abiding and dividing and abiding in him. I mean, it's a heavy heavy heavy thing we're talking about here. So Revelation 22 starting in 12, and of course, the context and the whole.

It says, and behold, I am coming quickly and my reward is with me to give to everyone according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are those who do his commandments that they have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city, the kingdom, Jerusalem, his kingdom. But outside of the dogs and the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and whoever loves and practices a lie. Mhmm.

So do you love or do you practice a lie? It's like Abba, if I am practicing a lie, would you me now?

Please reveal it to me.

Yeah. So I can turn around because when the day is, I want to be found in the kingdom and not outside where the dogs are.

Our culture today is yeah. Go ahead.

Yeah. I just wanted to piggyback because it it's something I mean, I read that verse in Isaiah this morning in my quiet time, and it started with just thinking about this hockey game I watched my friend's kid's hockey game last night. And they had a new goalie. I mean, he's, like, five or six or something like that. So oh my gosh.

They're so cute. I can't even take it. But, anyway, he it was, like, his first time trying to stop pucks from going in the goal, and holy spirit was like, that is your job. Like, the enemy is constantly trying to get pucks into your goal, and it's your job to stop it from happening. And so that led me to, you know, catch us little foxes that ruin the vineyards, and then I explored what a vineyard was.

And so I ended up in Isaiah because Israel and Judah or God's people, which we are grafted into Mhmm. That's God's vineyard. And then I got to this scripture because in Isaiah five, it talks about God's vineyard. And Matt and I watched on Clarkson's farm last night. And I don't know if you guys have seen that, but they were building a hedge.

Okay? But in Isaiah five, it talks about

Mhmm.

God destroying the hedge. And I pray a hedge of protection around my people every day, but there is a point where he's like, alright. I'm lifting the hedge of protection from you because you are letting just pucks into your goal. Like, you're floundering around and letting pucks into your goal. Right?

There's judgment, and we can't that's just who God is. He's righteous, and he's holy. And sometimes if you just keep going on your way, he's lifting the hedge. So scope out Isaiah five. I'm just gonna quick read the hedge Yeah.

Just to bring some context. But it says let's see. Where is it? Oh, now I will tell you what I'm going to do to my vineyard. I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed.

And I don't know who the quote is, sin takes you further than you wanna go and keeps you longer than you wanna stay and cost you more than you wanna spend. Like you were saying, pretty soon, you're like, how did I get here? You know? Mhmm. So I just wanted to encourage you guys to block those pucks and be serious about it because you don't wanna get to the point where he's like, okay.

I'm gonna let you live with the consequences of your decisions because that's a dangerous place to

be. So

many t

shirts to make.

Write all these down. And just to just to reemphasize what you're saying in a little bit different way for maybe those who are new to the Lord or new to the Bible, God doesn't just take it away because I'm done with you. I'm he's like a good dad, like or like, get the hockey puck and prevent it. Prove it. You know, it's not just like on a whim.

He's like, I'm done with you. He's like that love hate relationship that we have with free will, you know, that we that the Lord's given us and he's a gentleman and he doesn't violate the laws that he set into place. And because we have free will, that hedge being taken away is not the Lord like because I feel like it, because you're really annoying me and diering me out today. But it's like, it happened by your natural consequence. I set before you and I'm just making this up, but like, you know, it'd be there for twenty five days, and I told you, oh, now it's twenty four.

Please change. Mercy. Now it's '23. Now it's '20 '2. And I'm just making an example.

This is not from scripture. And then on day 25, he's like, this is your last chance. Baby girl, I love you so much. Please. And you're like, doing what I want to do, living in defiance, living in compromise.

There it goes. So just to say what you're saying as well, just the character of our God. We're on the last one, defiance. Let's let's just get into it. Keep your swimsuit on.

We're in the deep end. Come. Come. Come with me. Our culture today is living.

No birthday suits for me, Justin. I know you want to. Culture today is living in defiance of the Lord. They it says it's okay to compromise. It's okay to believe the lies of the enemy.

They throw out half truths all the time from the enemy that we buy into. Culture would say, Allow that yucky stuff in. It feels so good, doesn't it? Defy the Lord. Is he really asking you to do that?

Look at a few things that culture asks and says that's okay, asks us to accept. Here we go. Number one: pick your own gender. This doesn't even make sense. Genesis one twenty seven says that God made us in his image as male and female.

Period. Something else culture says, do what makes you feel good. Follow your heart, says every Disney movie, right? Well, friend, Jeremiah seventeen:nine says that our hearts deceive us above all else since we were all born into sin. Culture would say it's okay to defy the God of the Bible.

Culture says, Live however you want. Do whatever makes you feel good. And this is a tricky word, so don't hear what I'm not saying, but it's often under the title of self care. This is where the discernment of the Holy Spirit comes into place. Because is some self care good?

Yes, and healthy. Like I tell my teenage boys, bathing is okay. In fact, encouraged. Yeah. That's that's not in the bible.

Uh-huh. Look at this this this is heavy. I chose the AMPC version, the classic amplified for this for because it's heavy. Colossians three:five says, So kill that's deadened, deprive of power, the evil desire lurking in your members, those animal impulses and all that is earthly in you that is employed in sin. Sexual vice.

That's sexuality that's not from the Bible that is like chains around you binding you sexual vice impurity sensual appetite unholy desires, and all greed and covetousness, for that is idolatry, which is the defying of our self and other created things instead of God. Another thing culture would say, and man, it comes in a pretty package, Live your own truth. Do what's right for you. BS.

No.

Romans 12 says, Do not be conformed to this world, but rather be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn how to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Just it's okay to be uncomfortable. It's okay to sit in silence just a minute.

Just sit with that a minute. And there's many other examples we could give. If how you're living, if what you're believing is not in alignment with the truth of God's word, your cat is turned the wrong way. And I'm pleading with you as your sister in Christ, but the Lord pleads with all of us. My son, my daughter, I know what's best.

I have your best interest in my heart and mind. I made you, informed you, the Bible says, even in your mother's womb, I intricately wove together who you would be and what you would be for. Friends, when we compromise and when we fall short of God's standard, which we all do, it's that quick recalibration that we're asking. We're not no one's asking us to be perfect. That's impossible.

But it's the quick recognition of like, oh, oh, my cat's starting to turn. Uh-oh. Recalibrate, recalibrate. Takes us to this whole other level with the Lord that allows us to have a perfectly breezy life? Not at all.

But it allows us to remain in obedience with him so that we can fulfill our purpose here on the earth. He put us all here for a specific purpose, and we want that even if we don't know we do. We wanna be calibrated with the Lord. We want our cat to be turned the right way because the truth of God's word only pets in that one way. I'm gonna close out this by reading you a scripture, first John one five through nine.

And then after I read this, we're just gonna take a few moments to invite you to do something. So let me read this. First John one five through nine says, this is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you, that God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we're lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness. We are not practicing the truth.

But if we are living in the light as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. Hallelujah. If we claim we have no sin or you can fill in the blank those four things we talked about today, you claim you have no sin or you're blind to it, we're only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. Verse nine, But if we confess our sins to Him, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. Wow.

My sweet friends in this room and on the livestream and in the mirror that I'm talking to with myself, We're going to take the next few minutes to just let you do some business with the Lord. You might have come in here today, like, feeling pretty good and, like, you're pretty calibrated. I mean, none of us are perfect, but you might feel really calibrated. You might come in here with so many chains that maybe nobody else sees of bondage, of sin. You might be making poor choices, and the Holy Spirit's been convicting you, or it might feel like your conscious is convicting you, whether it's tiny or huge.

And I encourage you, do not leave today the same way you came in, and that's not just some churchy, you know, talk. Leave free. We read that at the beginning. The truth of God's word, John eight thirty two, sets you free. We're giving you an open you can do it anytime, but, man, this is a safe space to open to open that up.

Leave today free. So we don't have a lot of physical space, but however you need to and whatever you need to do, if it looks like if it's just your heart posture, if you need to close your eyes, I know, Colleen, if you I saw you kneeling, you have space to whatever. This is not for anybody else. This is not for show you do business with the Lord. Come to him and do what the scripture says.

Ask for forgiveness of that sin. Ask for freedom from that thing that's holding you back today. We're just gonna kinda fill the atmosphere with worship, and in your heart, do business with the Lord.

Do

not bypass this opportunity. Thank you, Jesus. If you wanna pray with someone, can. If you wanna just do it by yourself, you can, but just take a few moments. Just

with your eyes closed, I when Amanda was speaking and I was just sitting in my chair, I just really felt like the Lord wanted to break someone free from a really an addiction, a pattern of lying. And if you would just ask the Holy Spirit, is that me? Do I tell half truths? Do I say things that sound better said this way than this way? Do I and the Lord would just say, call that what it is.

It's called lying. And I'm just speaking from authority. When I first got saved, I was like, I think I wrapped into my personality exaggeration because it was funny, and it it just got carried away. You know, like, it just got carried away and finally, the Holy Spirit just had to say, like, you're lying. That's what that's called.

Call it what it is. That's a lie. And, I mean, there was a long time where I I I didn't even feel like I could be trusted to tell a story because the Lord had me on such a short leash because I'd be like, well, that's actually not true. And there's grace in humor, of course, you know, like but I mean, I have a friend and she is in that place. She doesn't live here, but she was she's in that place where she tells me a story and I'm so into the story, but I'm like, I don't even think that's true.

I really don't it's funny, but I don't even think that's true. So, Lord, right now, search our hearts. If there's someone in this room I mean, the enemy is a liar. Mhmm. And we don't wanna be puppets.

Right. To to attention to whatever let whatever comes out of our mouth be truth. Because if we're gonna turn around and we're gonna share the good news of the gospel and the truth of who you are, Jesus, we need our mouth and our lips to be used for truth. Maybe when you get in a sticky situation and you messed up a little bit like everybody does, you go through this series of how can I say this in a way that still makes me look good? That's where I was at, and the Lord just like, try the truth.

So Lord, convict hearts right now for the purpose of setting us free. Call it what it is, Lord. I am a liar. I tell lies, Lord. Forgive me.

Forgive me. Maybe it's generational maybe it's a generational curse that got in. Lord, forgive us. I also have been seeing since we've been doing this series. We talked last week about going to someone that you trust.

Like, how do you know who do you have in your life that can call you out? Let that speak to you. If if you don't have people around you that are are doing that with you, then maybe, you know, you've isolated yourself so that you don't want to change. And with this series, it's really beautiful. We've had some people come to Brian and I or just Brian or just me and just confess sin.

And it is so freeing. It is so freeing, Lord. I wanna turn my cat around. I have been doing this, and I wanna go the other way. So, Lord, right now, search our hearts.

Maybe there's someone in this room that just ex like a specific example that Amanda gave. They're like, oh, I am looking at pornography. I do have sexual immorality or impurity in my life or lying or defiance or just watered down compromise. Lord, search our hearts right now. You just ask for repentance.

That's what you ask for. What's that scripture, Renee? I know you know. What is it about the anointing? It's the anointing that breaks the yoke.

Is that this was a word? Yeah. I was just thinking about that, like, how do we really turn our cat around and break break that? It's through the anointing of the Holy Spirit on our life. You know, I think we think of anointing as like a gift.

Like, oh, he's really anointed. Look at what he's doing, you know, or look at that gifted speaker. They're really anointed, flowing in the anointing. But it's the spirit moving through us, doing the work. I'm just seeing this I don't know.

Let's see if we can connect this. But I'm seeing this picture of yesterday, the day couple days ago, was cleaning my shower. And you know how you have those water stains that you're like, how do you get those off? Like, they're they're on there, you know, with from hard water. And I was spraying this vinegar on there, and it was, like, miraculous.

I was like, woah. Everywhere that the vinegar ran, it was just like brand new glass. You know, it was just perfect. And that's the picture I get when I picture, like, allowing the anointing of the Holy Spirit to come on our lives. Like, you just allow him to come in and he's just like this dripping anointing that just cleanses as it goes through.

You know, it removes the our the work that we think we have to do. The work is to keep the puck from getting in. Right. But what do you do when it is and there's stains there like, okay, holy spirit. I can't do this.

I can't remove this. You know, I'm weak, but my is allowing you to come in and do it. Yeah. What was it, Renee?

It's Isaiah ten twenty seven. And it shall come to pass in that day that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.

Can I just say that I'm not gonna say anything, but like like major, but Bea and I were just praying about anointing? Like, that's literally what we were just praying about before you said that. So, like, that is for people in this room, I feel. And I also I just want to say too that like there's like three things I feel like I'm burning up. I'm sorry.

Do this. But like my healing was miraculous. That's there's no doubt about that. Like, that my levels were completely normal after two prayer sessions. Like, miraculous.

But there was some reckoning that I had to do in those prayer sessions. And I think that sometimes we can look at some sins and be like, oh my gosh, that's so big. But there is not one sin that's bigger than another. And so like like I was 100% believing lies from the enemy about myself and about who I was and about my purpose. And I was letting those lies in.

I was not stopping those fucks and I was believing them. I was believing that I wasn't worthy. I was believing that I was a burden. I was believing that I could not be healed. And I had to I had to repent those, like, the believing of those sins, like believing of those lies because that is a sin too, not believing God's word and not believing what God has put on on me.

And I believe that that is a big part of why I was healed miraculously. Like, we need to repent of those sins, whatever we think are big and small. And I also just wanna say that, like, Bee was just so courageous in asking me to pray with her. And I wanna let everyone know that, like, if anyone needs prayer, like, I am a safe person. I know that there's a million people in here that are safe people.

But if you feel like you want someone to pray with you, like, that takes courage. But I'm a safe person that you can come to and ask for that.

Let's just be still for just a minute. He just wants you to be free so bad. So bad. Oh, he doesn't want you to sit through another message and be convicted and not respond. He just wants you to be free so bad.

I just I implore you respond to what the Holy Spirit is convicting you of today. Trust me, it may feel painful, but it is for your good. It is for your freedom, and the lie of the enemy is like, no one will love you if you say that. Everyone will judge you if you say that. That's too dark.

That's too weird. That's too whatever. That's a lie of the enemy. No temptation has seized you except that which is common to man. Be free today and respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit on your life today.

And I don't mean to sound morbid, but anyone of us could walk outside this building today and get in a car accident, get in an avalanche, find out a bad report from a doctor. I'm just saying, no one is guaranteed tomorrow. None of us. Get right with the lord today. Turn your cat around today.

And even if you live for another fifty years, there is a window open to each of us that the Holy Spirit's moving and working. And if we dampen it, we can't hear it as well anymore. It becomes white noise. Respond today. I implore you.

Respond to him. We're just gonna stay in this place for just another few moments. If you feel like this is the worst moment of your life right now, it's because the Holy Spirit's convicting you. If you're like, oh my gosh, let's just move on. Yeah.

Let's just move on. Ask the Holy Spirit, what are you doing in me and through me? Maybe he's asking you to do something courageous. Maybe he's asking you to confess sin openly that will break something off for someone else. I don't know what he's asking you to do.

Respond. The

Bible says that we bring sin out into the light so it can be exposed and lose its power immediately. So if that's something you need to do, and we're not asking you to stand on a chair and declare, you know, but if there's a you can go to Gretchen, you can if you need to just say out loud something, oh, it's uncomfortable, but it will break immediately because you're exposing it and the enemy, it's he loses control immediately. When you put something into the light, it's done. It's it's shadowy darkness, the sneaky is done. We just have one more song to sing.

Sure. Beetle, we'll be done. I know you have endless songs to sing. I I feel I've just run through one more song whether we've done it or not, and that just gives us one last space, and then we're ending we're we're landing the plane, and we'll get out of here and go to lunch here in a few minutes. But last chance song to just do business with the Lord, walk out of here free today.

You know, I just feel like we should stay on that. Just just ask the Lord for newness. You know, if you want him to use you, you know, he's gonna pour new wine in, but you gotta get rid of that old wine skin or the new wine he's pouring in. It'll just be wasted because you haven't, like, gotten that new wine skin from him. That new wine skin is turning from your old ways.

So, Lord, that's what we ask when we ask for a fresh wind. It's just a new not hanging on yesterday, but we wanna grow in maturity by obedience. That's how we can be trusted to carry more and more and more your presence.

So more and more people will be free.

That's right. If you're trying to walk this Christian walk without any power, Just ask him to just send his presence through his holy spirit. Maybe you've never been baptized in the holy spirit. Maybe you just kinda been walking around like I believe in god but I don't feel like I have any power as a believer. Just say, Lord, I need the baptism of your Holy Spirit because that's where the power comes from to stand against the enemy.

Respond. The day that I stood up out of my seat and got saved and my life was changed forever, my trajectory, everything. I remember my pastor at the time said, what's holding you down is chains. It's the lies of the enemy, and what's pulling you up is life. Metaphorically staying in your seat or not responding isn't a neutral stance.

It's a choice. It's a choice to not be free. Respond to him today. Yes, I think that maybe we'll just for time sake, we'll tie a bow on this, but I think that what the Holy Spirit wants to do is I think there's people in here that need one on one prayer, and there's people that probably need to scoot. And so we if we can just keep this space just like worshipful and turn this kind of just into this whole room into an altar of for people to respond.

But so what we'll do is if if you wanna chat and whatever, just slip out and go downstairs. And whoever needs prayer or can be a prayer, stay in this space. I do also just wanna tell you really quick. So Easter flyers are on the table. Grab a few to give out because we're about to go into spring break next week.

And we're not gonna do a big banner at Albertsons this year. And so you inviting friends is Essential. Is essential. We're gonna do a big white tent at the fairgrounds. We're gonna decorate it beautifully.

We're gonna celebrate Jesus' resurrection. We're gonna have full band, full sound. Delicious food. It's gonna be wonderful. So that's April 9.

So get the word out. Just if everyone just brings a friend, we'll we'll pack it out. Who needs to hear and celebrate who Jesus is and be free? Invite them. So, Lord, we just you guys all know how to give at Tribe.

There's a black box downstairs outside. It's another area of surrender and worship to the Lord, trusting him with your finances. There's also a text to give. You can give on our website. You guys all know how to to give.

However the Lord leads you, whenever he leads you in every other area, same as with your finances, be obedient. You know, just be obedient. So when he whispers to your heart, hey, go pay for that person's groceries. Hey, pay for that person's gas. Hey, they need $20 right now.

Like, you know, you're just so quick to be generous because let's be honest, it's all his. If we've ever thought that any of our money is ours, we are fooling ourselves. It may come by the sweat of our brow and the work of our hands, but it is all a gift from the Lord. So, Lord, continue to move and work in this space, and we'll stay as long as we need to. We'll stay as long as we need to because you are pouring your spirit out on us in this place, and there's people who need to be set free today.

Maybe they've already repented for in their seat, but they need someone to agree with them. Pray you give them the courage. Thank you for Amanda bringing the word today in just such a beautiful way. I thank you how you use us and speak through us. And as we leave this place today, if something comes up and it just reminds us, oh, maybe that's an area I need to turn my cat around.

Convict us quickly, Lord. Let me tell you that we love you. Continue to move and work in people's hearts today in Jesus' name. Amen. I will speak for Lee and Colleen, but maybe they can stay around for just a minute.

If anyone needs prayer, Gretchen, Matt, and Renee right over here. And just stay. If you feel like maybe you're supposed to stay to pray for someone, just be obedient. And we'll just stay in this attitude worship. If you need to scoot, Gretchen's gonna fling the door wide open.

And come and go and and ask for prayers. You need it. Let's just turn this place into an altar. Feel free to move chairs around however you need to. You guys got this.

Have a great day.