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The Invitation to Come to Jesus 0:00 Welcome to the men's global livestream. If you have a bible, I want you to hold 2 spots. 1 in Matthew 11 and the other in Luke chapter 10. Those are 2 key passages. And if you're new to the0:12 men's global livestream, make sure you click the downloaded notes. All the verses that I'm gonna go through and the fill ins will be that are on the screen will be available to you in the downloaded0:24 notes. And my hope is is that you can go reteach this or use this in your church or your men's group. So we're starting a new series called Come to Me. And what we're looking at is0:36 God's desire as it relates to our daily connection with him and our daily conversation with him in prayer. Right? He issues an invitation,0:48 come to me. What does that look like? How do we approach God? What's our attitude and thinking? And what does he desire when we come to connect and converse, with him.1:00 And to get us thinking in the right direction, I want you to think about someone you love and care about. Alright? Get them in your brain. And then think about them having a huge need or1:11 problem that remains unspoken and unresolved for a long period of time, causing them a lot of harm or pain. Okay?1:23 Think about that. Then you find out about it. There's a revelation like, oh, my goodness, this was going on, and I knew nothing about it. And then most guys would say to their friend or their loved1:35 1, why didn't you say anything? Why didn't you come to me? And usually the responses that you get when you're in a situation like that where there's a huge problem or need, it goes on unspoken1:47 and unresolved. Then there's the revelation and you could have helped and you say, come. Why didn't you come to me? The responses are, well, you know, I didn't want to burden you. I was embarrassed.1:59 I didn't think you would understand. Right? And after the revelation of all the pain that that person went through, the harm that2:10 was caused by not talking about it, not getting resolution and help. Right? None of the reasons that they give for staying silent or not coming to2:22 you makes sense because the outcome of not expressing their need or sharing what's going on in their lives is worse,2:35 way worse than had they expressed it and come to you. And this is especially true when real help was available. So you get the picture? Big problems,2:48 not talking about it, not revealing it to anybody, real help available during that time, then it all unravels because they didn't talk about it or ask for help. And3:00 then the person who could have helped finds out and goes, why didn't you come to me? Now we all know, why this happens. Fear or pride3:11 always limits needed help and relief from coming our way. That happens in human relationships. It happens in our relationship with God, and this is especially3:23 true with men. Right? And the devil loves it when we keep things a secret. We we keep our problems unspoken and they remain unresolved because then3:35 he's able to do a ton of harm to our relationships with God, our relationships with people. Now God, knowing that tendency in3:47 us, right, positions himself. Jesus positions himself forever as someone who we never need to hide a problem from,3:59 hide a care from, hide a need from. In fact, he made us a standing invitation to take advantage of 2 things, take advantage of his care,4:12 take advantage of his capacity when he says, come to me, which then brings us to a big fork in the road. Right?4:23 Where Jesus is serious about his invitation when he says, come to me, and offering that level of availability, that level of his capacity.4:36 But are we as sincere and serious in accepting and acting on his invitation? And what price do we have to4:48 pay before we get it that Jesus has given us an open invitation, never wants us to hide a problem or a need or a concern from him. And there's all this4:59 help available, but we don't access it through our connection with Jesus and our conversation with Jesus in prayer. Right? What's5:11 the price when we let pride and fear and the self sufficiency that those 2 things create in our lives limit healthy and humble5:23 dependency on God through prayer. Alright? So God says a conversation with him is not only available to us, his care is available5:35 to us, his capacities are available to us for a healthy relationship. The question is, is the conversation going? Are we connecting5:47 with God? And are we accessing his care and capacity? So here's where we're going in this series, and here's where we're going today. You're gonna need to buckle up and get ready to move. We're gonna5:59 see and define Jesus' invitation, then we're gonna see the why behind his invitation, which will help us accept and act on his invitation.6:11 And then we're gonna see very clearly from scripture God's desire, which will help us set some simple goals for our connection with God and our6:23 conversations with God. And then we're gonna have Jesus give us a final word on the whole topic of having a conversation with him or prayer. Alright? So let's look first6:35 at Jesus's invitation. It's there in Matthew chapter 11. Jesus says this, come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.6:47 Take my yoke upon you. Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy6:59 and my burden is light. And so that is a very famous invitation that Jesus issues, but we gotta kinda unpack it. Right? That first7:11 invitation is Jesus says, come to me. Why do why does he have to make himself a singular focus? Because we go to other sources. We turn7:22 inward to self. We turn outward to culture. We turn inward to our own thoughts and ideas. We turn outward to the thoughts and7:34 ideas that people other than Jesus have. And Jesus is like, don't go to them. Come to me, especially when you7:46 have the burdens of life and living on a broken planet. And then he makes a promise, says, if you make me, right, the first person you go7:57 to when you have problems, needs, concerns, issues of life, I'm gonna give you rest. And then he he says, here's why. Because I can carry the load that you8:09 can't. I can carry the load culture can't. I can carry the load that your emotional resources can't. He goes, my load, my ability, it's gonna take the8:21 burdens off. I will lift you up. I will make you light. Now, anyone else wanna feel a lighter, little lighter in the heaviness8:34 of this world? But to do that, we have to we have to accept and act on Jesus's invitation. Now what's the why? Why why Jesus? Why Jesus uniquely? Why first? Alright.8:46 Look at your downloaded notes. In Matthew 9, Jesus says this. He asked them, do you believe that I am able to do this? Yes, Lord, they8:58 replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, according to your faith, let it be done to you. So now you have a window9:10 into why Jesus says, come to me. It's his capacity and his ability. And the only thing preventing us from accessing9:22 his capacity and and and ability is believing that he can do it. Those those men in that passage in Matthew 9, they happen to be blind. But, you know, he put it to him. He goes, do you think that I'm able to do9:34 this? And what was their response? Yes, Lord. Boom. Then Jesus goes into action, right, on their behalf. And he says, you know what? According to your faith, let it be done according9:46 to that. Right? Let it be done to you. Guys, there are some things that burden you, that give you an emotional fever, that plague you, that beset9:58 you. And we need to know that Jesus has the capacity to shift that right away. But we have to believe that he can do it. Alright. So there's your first why,10:10 I'm able to do it. And if you have the ability to believe, I'm able to do it. Let's look at the next why behind Jesus's invitation to come exclusively to him. Alright. It's in Matthew10:21 28 verse 18. Says this. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. In other translations, it says all power. So when you combine those10:33 2, power and authority and capacity and ability. Right? It's silly. It's silly to go to anybody first. Right? It's silly to go to10:45 culture for your answers. It's silly to turn inward to yourself. It makes total sense to go to someone when you're burdened who has capacity, who has10:56 ability, who has power, and who has authority to execute on that. You know, my favorite book on prayer ever is called The Necessity of Prayer by E. M. Bounds. Listen11:08 to what he says in this. He says, the faith which creates powerful praying is the faith which centers itself on a powerful person. Faith in Christ's ability to11:20 do and to do greatly is the faith which prays greatly. It was his to inspire faith in his ability to do that11:32 that Jesus left behind him. Wow. Powerful praying, powerful conversations with God, powerful connections with God are powerful11:44 because they're centered in a powerful person. It's not form. It's not the length of the prayer. It's not the words that you use. It's who is the person that you'reSlow to Know and Stop to Stare at God 11:55 talking to, and that's why Jesus says, don't go there. Don't go here. Come to me. Now there's seeing12:07 Jesus's definition, defining what the invitation is, why Jesus makes himself the exclusive go to for every follower12:19 of Christ when it comes to having their burdens lifted and dealing with with life's issues. Now let's look at some simple desires that God has for when12:31 we connect with him and when we have a conversation with him, and then let's set some simple goals. Alright? In session 1 here of come to me. So number 1, God desires that we12:43 slow to know. God desires that we slow to know. Now why does he desire that? Because he knows what we already know in human12:55 relationships. In human relationships, you can have a body in front of you, but you might not have their presence, their mind, and their spirit. You ever said to somebody, hey.13:06 Hello. Woo. McFly. Anybody home there? Where their body is sitting in front of you, but their mind and their heart and their spirit is somewhere else. Right? Well,13:18 God knows that. So he's saying, you gotta slow to be present and to know me. Look at what it says in Psalm 46 10, and this is the bedrock13:31 of connection in relationships with people, but especially your relationship with God. Right? Says this, cease striving and know13:44 that I am God. Other translations you might have read yourself, right, says be still and know that I am God. Now when the Bible13:56 says be still, what's the opposite of being still? It's being in a hurry. And that comes in different dimensions. You can be in a hurry physically, or you can14:08 be in a hurry right here in your head space. And I think everybody can relate to that, where your body is present, but you're in a hurry upstairs right here. And you're14:20 thinking about all the things that you have to do and all the concerns and all the problems and all. And so it it interferes with your ability to be present. Alright? So14:31 that's an example of striving. Right? You're just sped up and you're in a hurry. And by the way, the devil is so interested in you being like that because you can't have a quality connection with anybody14:43 or anything or any project when you're in a hurry. When you're in a hurry, quality goes down, especially in your relationship with God. So what does God say? Cease striving, please. And just14:55 instead of you striving, know that I'm God. What does that mean? Just know that I'm the vine. You're the branch.15:07 I'm the shepherd. You're the sheep. I'm the creator holding earth 3 spots from the sun, perfectly balanced and integrated in an ecosystem that allows you to breathe right now.15:20 I'm the creator. You're the created. I'm the potter. You are the clay. You know when striving comes into play? It's when we flip that. The branch starts thinking it's the vine.15:32 The potter, right, the clay starts thinking it's the potter. The created starts thinking it has the capacities of creator. Right? The sheep think that it can do all15:44 the leading and be the shepherd. Right? That's when striving happens, self sufficiency. That's when you get it upside down. Right? So God is saying, hey, you gotta slow down. You gotta slow down, not just15:55 physically. You gotta slow down internally, and then know that I am God. Great picture in the scriptures in the gospels of this heart of16:07 God coming out into a real life situation in Luke chapter 10 with a couple of his friends who happen to be women. Listen for the heart of God and the16:19 whole idea of slowing to know. As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary who16:31 sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, Lord, don't16:43 you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me. Martha, Martha, the Lord answered, you are worried and upset about many16:54 things, but few things are needed, or indeed only 1. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her. Ouch. Boy,17:06 does that speak into the hypermanic, hurry up, schedule driven, phone looking, digital culture that we live in? I17:18 mean, nothing's really new under the sun, is it? And the key word is worried and distracted. So Martha's body was present, but her emotions and17:30 her spirit was distracted, which means that she couldn't be present with Jesus. Now Mary, on the other hand, is like, Jesus is in the house. I'm gonna sit at his17:41 feet. I'm gonna shut this. I'm gonna open those up. I'm gonna start listening. I'm gonna take advantage of Jesus coming to our house,17:53 coming into this space. Now that's in the Bible for a reason. Jesus's words and this situation,18:05 which happened with real people and people who love Jesus, happened for us right this day, right this minute, right now. God desires, man of18:17 God, that you slow to know God. And that means to put yourself in a position, and we'll get to that later, where not you just don't physically slow down to18:29 be with God and talk with God, but that you slow down inside. Alright? Now how do you how do you make a goal out of that? Well, the18:40 goal for slow to know is to be present versus be absent. Alright? That's God's heart. Just like it's your heart when you're with somebody and somebody's sitting with you. Right? Do you want them to be18:52 present? Not just in their body, but in their mind, in their heart, in their spirit, interested, ready ready to to connect in a in an authentic way, that's God's desire19:04 too, and that's his goal. Alright? And when you do that now, you can really take the the person in in front of you. And that's our next point. God desires that we slow to know. Secondly, he desires that we stop19:17 and stare. So once you are with him and you manage to slow down, right, the goal now is to take who's in front of you and who's with19:28 you in. And there's a great picture of a man of God taking God himself as he is in. And it's in Isaiah chapter 6. God's19:41 got Isaiah in front of him and God is in front of Isaiah. Right? Listen to what it says. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. So Isaiah is19:53 seeing God. He's staring at God. I saw the Lord high and exalted, seated on a throne. The train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were20:04 seraphim with 6 wings. With 2 wings, they covered their faces. With 2, they covered their feet. With 2, they were flying. And they were calling to 1 another, holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty.20:16 The whole earth is full of his glory. At the sound of their voices, the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke.20:29 Woe to me, I cried. I am ruined, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips. And my eyes have20:41 seen the king, the lord almighty. Wow. Isaiah was having a power encounter with God himself.20:54 He was in God's presence. He was taking God in. And what did Isaiah see and sense in God's presence? Well, it's pretty easy to see.21:06 He sensed his majesty. The Lord's high, lifted up and exalted, and the angels of heaven are lifting up and exalting God. So he sees his majesty, he sees21:17 his character. And he hears his character being proclaimed. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.21:30 Woah. Holiness, might, Right? Power. Because as they declare that, it's shaking the temple as God's character is21:41 and person is being lifted up. And when you see his character and his majesty and his power, he sees that, what does Isaiah then21:53 see? He sees himself. And he's like, woah. There is a huge separation between my king, the Lord God Almighty,22:05 whose presence I'm in, and myself. And he's blown away. He's blown away that he can even be there. He's like, woe is me, for I'm a man of22:17 unclean lips. I am in the presence of a holy God, and I'm a broken, sinful, dark, and dirty man. But he's there. There's a buffer. There's a grace that22:28 allows him to be in God's presence. And so there's 1 great example of a man who's stopping and staring at God. You know, another22:40 person who had a power encounter with God in the Bible that's super helpful on this whole idea of slow to know then stop and stare is Job's experience. And in chapters 38 to 42, you get this this22:52 encounter. Right? You have men saying stuff about God and and and speaking for God and telling Job what who God is and what God23:03 thinks and and why Job's guilty of sin because his circumstances have gone south, which isn't the truth. And then God just like, alright. Time out. Let's stop the mumbo jumbo from23:15 the Greek word mumbo jumbo, and I'm gonna tell you who I am, and I'm gonna tell you what I think. And he actually uses the words when he interrupts23:28 this religious club of guys. He says, brace yourself, Job. Brace yourself because I'm gonna talk. I'm gonna speak for myself.23:41 So this goes on for Job 38, Job 39, Job 40, Job 41. And in Job chapter 42,23:53 Job replies. Listen to what he says. Then Job replied to the Lord, I know that you can do all things. No purpose of yours can be24:04 thwarted. You asked, who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge? Surely, I spoke of things I did not understand, things24:16 too wonderful for me to know. You said, listen now, and I will speak. I will question you and you shall answer me. My ears24:29 had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you. Circle that if you have the downloaded notes. My ears have heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore, I despise myself24:42 and repent in dust and ashes. In other words, the same thing that happened to Isaiah happens to Job. He has a power encounter with God. God reveals who he really is. It's like, no more mumbo24:53 jumbo. This is who I am. This is what I do. And then Job sees, oh my goodness. I spoke25:05 in the wrong way because I wasn't seeing you. I talked about stuff I didn't understand. Right? I really didn't know, right, what was available to25:17 me, but then he goes, but now my ears have heard you, and now my eyes have seen you. Stop and stare. Stop and stare.25:29 Stop and stare. If you want a set of glasses and you wanna see God for who he really is, stop and stare at him. And take him in. You gotta slow to know God.25:41 That's what he wants. What's the goal? Be absent. I mean, be present versus be absent. Be fully present. Then once you do, stop and stare. And then when that happens,25:53 when you see him, when you stop and stare, when you take God in, something happens inside of you and it talks about what happens inside. In Psalm 27 verses 3 through 5, listen closely.26:05 Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear. Though war break out against me, even then I will be confident. 1 thing I ask from the Lord,26:16 this only do I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his26:28 temple. For in the day of trouble, he will keep me safe in his dwelling. He will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high on26:40 a rock. So when you slow to know, and when you stop, and you stare, that fear is replaced with confidence. That self sufficiency is replaced with26:52 God dependency. And here are 3 men who when they see God, God is seeing God as the answer to their troubles. Seeing God for who he is and and and what he27:04 is and what his character is and what his power is. And as men see God, as they gaze at him, all of a sudden those problems aren't so big anymore. Even though27:16 war might be raging around you, You're good? Yes. You are good because you see God, and you see how big he27:28 is, and whatever your mountain is, it's not bigger than your maker. And that is the lesson here. So what's the result of stopping and staring? Confidence. Right here,27:40 the psalmist says, I'll be confident. Safety, protection. Do you want to feel confident right now, today, this second? I don't care what's going on in your life. Wanna Wanna feel confident? You wanna feel safe?27:52 Do you wanna feel solid? You want your feet set on a rock? So while all that is shifting out there, you're solid. Right? You gotta slow to know, and you got to stop and stare.28:04 And the goal when you stop and stare at God is to see him first. Come to me versus what? See yourself first. And you see both28:16 with Isaiah and Job. When they saw God first, hey, that put their life and themselves into the proper context. Because when you see God first, you see self28:27 properly. You get confident. You get safe. You get solid in your connection and conversation with God. All right. So slow to know.Show more In this video 0:00 The Invitation to Come to Jesus11:53 Slow to Know and Stop to Stare at God28:36 Declare God's Praise and Pray His Will40:38 A Personal Prayer Exercise for Connection
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