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God as the Dominant Force in Our Lives 0:01 Welcome to the men's global livestream. If you have a Bible handy, I want you to hold a couple of spots. The first 1 is in first Corinthians 1, and the second 1 is in Matthew 10. And I wanna encourage anybody0:13 who's watching this to click the download notes, then you can follow along yourself and do the fill ins. And then you can take it, and you can reteach it yourself to your men's group. We're in part 5 of a0:25 series called dominant Force. And if you're joining us for the first time, I'll just give you a quick review. In part 1, we answered the question, what is a dominant force and how does that0:37 relate to my relationship with God? Well, it's an easy bridge to cross because God in the scripture, he expects to be your primary influence, your primary0:48 authority, and to have primary control of your life. That's why in the Old Testament, you'll read, you'll have no other gods before me. You'll read in the new testament. You're supposed to love the1:00 lord your god with all, keyword, your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And so god wants to be the dominant force in our life. Now there is another force out there. That is the enemy. That is1:12 Satan. That is the devil. And he wants to not have God be the dominant force in your life. He wants to dilute God's influence, control, and authority1:24 in your life. Jesus knew that, he knew that, his authority in the lives of his followers, his control, his influence would be challenged, and that the enemy1:36 would use the flesh of men, the fear of men, persecution, and pressure to get them to dilute their love for Jesus, compromise1:49 their commitment to God. That was part 1. In in part 2, through 5, and we're gonna do 5 today, these are the 4 reasons that Jesus gives in Matthew2:00 10, right, to his followers, for why they can confidently and with great assurance and peace keep God, number2:12 1, in their lives. And in part 2, we looked at the first of those 4 reasons, which was he told them, you're gonna become like me. The2:24 student is gonna become like the teacher. In other words, Christ likeness prevails. They would fully identify with him now, and he was telling them in2:36 advance that they were going to experience what he experienced. And we talked about how when Jesus dies for sin, we die to sin. How Jesus2:48 comes alive on earth, right, for God's purposes, how we come alive when we're born again to God's purposes, how Jesus is seated, we are co seated with him. If3:00 Jesus suffers, we're going to suffer too. So Jesus is letting them know in advance, hey, you're going to become just like me. So no surprises here. I'm going to tell you in advance and because I'm telling you in advance,3:11 you can fully identify with me now. The second reason he gives them for keeping him number 1 is he tells them that God's truth would prevail3:23 in the end so they can stand firmly on it and that nothing that's hidden will be kept secret, that the motives of men's hearts will be revealed. They will be3:35 validated. Other men who are trying to scare them away from keeping Christ at the center of their lives, Their motives are gonna be exposed. So God's truth would would prevail.3:47 No secrets would be, kept hidden, and that everything would be brought into the light. That was reason number 2. What does that mean for them? They can speak up now. They don't have to be quiet.3:59 Right? They can be bold. They can speak up. They will be validated. Now because God's truth prevails so they can speak truth. So Christ likeness will prevail. God's truth will prevail. And then the third reason he4:11 gives them is, hey, listen. In the end, don't be afraid of men who can harm the body. You know who you should have a healthy fear of? The 14:23 who can destroy both body and soul for eternity. And that's what we talked about last time. It's like, it's good to have a healthy fear4:35 of God. There's unhealthy fears, but the fear of God, the Bible says, is the beginning of wisdom. And when you understand that God's eternal power and justice, prevail, you4:47 can be brave now. Right? So Jesus is talking about certain future realities that should shape his followers' present energy.4:58 Now in part 5, Jesus shifts in terms of addressing his followers in terms of what they shouldn't be afraid of and the source5:11 of what that potential fear could be. And he he addresses, the emotional and inner war that every believer will experience because5:23 because life here on earth is both good and bad, sometimes we will be fooled into thinking by believing a lie that somehow God's not paying5:35 attention to me, God's not aware of what's going on in my life, or else he'd be doing certain things, and he doesn't care. Right? And Jesus preempts those5:46 lies by speaking into that issue. Okay? So that the faith of his followers won't get diluted and he'll stay5:58 number 1 in their lives. Now to get us thinking in the right direction for part 5, just think about it. Alright? There's 7000000000 people on planet Earth, and it's easy to feel6:10 sometimes forgotten. Have you ever felt that way? I have. It's just like nobody sees me, the circumstances that happen, things that are done to6:22 us, choices we've made, physical illness and sickness, or just feeling overwhelmed at the pressing responsibilities6:34 that conspire to sorta isolate us emotionally. Right? We we feel alone. And this experience is universal. Okay? Because6:46 Earth is rough. You know, that's what the Bible teaches. You know, Earth is is full of things that aren't so hot. And when you have a bunch of things happening, sometimes you can feel6:58 isolated in your circumstances. And guess what you get vulnerable to? Your feelings. Right? Because when bad things happen, it feels bad. That's just a fact. But your feelings7:10 are not the facts. Right? And but when but when we start believing our feelings, that makes us vulnerable to the lie. This is fatal and7:22 final. This is what always happens to me. God never shows up for me, and on and on and on. So we have to see how spiritual warfare plays7:34 into life on earth, how life on earth is hard, how when things get hard or things don't go our way or unplanned or unwelcome, things happen to us that we would7:45 never script into the plan. That that that can create negative emotions inside. And when we have negative emotions inside rooted in our circumstances, the devil is right there7:57 ready to lie to us about our relationship with God, where he's at, what he's doing, is he there, does he care?8:10 You get the picture. Satan will lie and tell you that your feelings are reality and that you can trust them. So Jesus,8:22 knowing this, knowing that earth is broken, earth is unjust, earth will be hard for his followers. Right? The spiritual8:33 battle. Jesus knowing the spiritual battle and how when things are rough, people are vulnerable to the lie. He's gonna tell them the truth in advance. Preempt. Get ahead of it.8:45 Right? And tell them that when you feel a certain way, just know that your feelings aren't the facts, especially when it comes to your relationship with God. What's at8:57 stake? Okay? Remember the context of this whole discussion is I'm gonna stay the dominant force in your life. I'm gonna tell you some things that will prevent dilution of9:09 your commitment to me, but you need to know in advance that you're going to be put under pressure. You're going to be tempted to fear men more than fear God, and you're going to be because of circumstances that9:21 enter your life, you're going to be tested. Okay? And what we've witnessed in the lives of the disciples going forward is interesting to observe. 11 out of 129:32 died murders. Jesus remained the number 1 force, influence, authority, and controller of their lives9:44 to the end. So that gives this discussion some richness and some meaning. And here's the cool thing. We can live to the end just like them with9:56 Jesus, keeping his influence in our lives day after day, month after month, year after year until we meet him face to face. If k, big if, if we10:08 can internalize through faith the same promises that he gives to the disciples. So here's where we're going. We're gonna look at this theme of Jesus', right, and of the Bible10:20 that when God's man is hard pressed and put under pressure, we don't need to panic. Okay? God has a purpose for that10:32 pressure. God has a plan for that pressure. And then we're gonna see how Jesus addresses a common fear in his disciples.10:44 Right? And how in the midst of tribulation and difficulty, they don't have to feel alone, especially in their relationship with God. Right? And then we're just10:56 gonna agree together on God's truth. We're gonna make a commitment to act together, and we're gonna affirm God's promise in the end. So if you have your downloaded notes, go to the the scripture at the top of page11:08 1 from first Corinthians 1 8 through 10. Let's talk about this theme of God's man under pressure. Alright? Says this, we don't want you in the dark, friends, about how11:20 hard it was when all this came down on us in Asia province. It was so bad. We didn't think we were gonna make it. We felt like we'd been sent to death row, that it was11:32 all over for us. As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God11:44 totally. Not a bad idea since he's the God who raises the dead, and he did it, Rescued us from certain doom, and he'll do it again, rescuing us as many times as we11:56 need. Rescuing. Okay. So this goes to our theme that earth is broken, earth is unjust, Earth is good and bad, it's not all good, and unplanned12:08 and unwelcome things happen to us, to God's man, that we would never script in. Well, what's what what are the dynamics going on here? Well, let's make 4 simple observations along those lines. Number12:20 1, earth will, keyword, disrupt and upset my life circumstantially. Okay? Some of you are living that right now, and you're just like, man, can't it catch a break? Lord.12:32 Alright? But that's the nature of living on a broken planet with broken people. Right? Life is good and bad. Marriages are good and bad. Families are good and bad. Work is good and bad. It can't be all good, but it's not12:44 all bad either. There is some good in here, but life's gonna disrupt and upset your life. Circumstantially, someone's gonna move your cheese. Your expectations are12:56 gonna be a, and then the reality is gonna be b. Welcome to earth. Number 2, earth will isolate me emotionally. Okay? When unwelcome and13:08 unexpected and unplanned things happen, do you get upset that those things happen? Do you use words? Yeah. Probably. Right? Do you sigh?13:19 Like, ugh. Really? Seriously? Some of you are there right now. Welcome to Earth. And what happens is over time, the longer13:32 a circumstance goes on, right, doesn't resolve itself. Like, a lot of us, you know, we can bump up against something happening, you know, and we'll push through. We might push through for a week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 413:43 weeks. But, man, you know, when things drag on, it wears us down. Okay? And some of you guys are know what I'm talking about today. Right? And you know13:55 what? You feel? You feel like, man, is this the way it's always gonna be? I who nobody understands what I'm going through. So earth will14:07 isolate us emotionally. Number 3, earth will activate doubt spiritually. So your life is upset. You're isolated emotionally. Right? But then you have a14:19 relationship with god. Where's he in all this? Okay? Is he really letting this happen? Okay? And why would he let that happen? Alright.14:30 So, you know, that's a that's a great moment for the enemy to pile on, and he was like, yeah. Why is he allowing this to happen? And why would he even let that happen? Alright. We'll talk about that, more14:42 later. Okay? But you'll you'll go through confusion, disillusionment, and doubt spiritually because you're a human being. Right? You're frail. You're fragile.14:54 Even though some of us might think we're super strong, you know, put a man in a certain circumstance after a long time. He'll break down. Right? Number 4, let's write this down. Earth will test and validate15:06 my faith personally. That's what I love about this passage in first Corinthians 1 8 through 10. Talks about Earth. Right? Hey, man. This situation happened15:18 to us. We never scripted in. All this came down on us. The scripture says, right? And it was bad, alright? I love how scripture doesn't sugarcoat it, right? And I love where he goes,15:30 you know, the apostle Paul goes, emotionally, right? Didn't think we were gonna make it, sought, we're getting sent to death row. Alright? We're gonna die. It's all over. Right? But now it turns a15:42 corner and he says, as it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. Alright? Given the gift of desperation, this circumstance is gonna test and validate their faith. And he says, hey. Instead of15:53 trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God. Listen. Totally. You know, it's interesting. When when when things we don't plan for16:05 happen, a lot of times, our first resource is ourselves. Just like, yeah. I've been there, done that, been there before, no sweat. You know? But then when either the16:17 intensity of things ratchet up or the length of time in a trial ratchets up. All of a sudden, God gives us this little gift. It's called desperation.16:29 Right? Things aren't changing. My resourcefulness isn't working this time. My self sufficiency isn't getting me out of this. I've sent out 50 resumes. I've talked to all the people16:41 I'm supposed to talk to, but the whole time, you're trusting in yourself, your own resources. You haven't yet turned to God, and that's what the apostle Paul is saying.16:53 He's going, you know what? This circumstance, part of God's plan was, you know what? It's gonna get to what's really there inside of us. And and that's sometimes17:05 why God allows circumstances to enter our lives is to cultivate trust or to make sure that worldliness isn't taking17:16 over your godliness. Right? And he wants to test and validate our faith. You see, faith doesn't develop in a vacuum. Right? I mean, if you've ever played team sports or17:29 developed a skill at all, you gotta be put to the test. Right? You gotta be put under pressure. I coached youth sports my my when my kids were growing up at a at a pretty high level, and17:40 I I remember just, you know, I would teach something. That's fine. They would know something. That's fine. But then to execute it under pressure. Right? I put them into a live17:53 offense, defense situation where they actually had to physically do what they know. I needed to test and validate that they really knew the skill. God is18:05 the greatest coach ever, fellas. And he's gonna put you in some circumstance. He's gonna allow some things and that's gonna test and validate. It's gonna it's gonna see what's there. He's gonna see what's there, and18:16 you're gonna see what's there most importantly. Okay? Now on this theme of, you know, pressure, difficulty,18:28 disruption, isolation emotionally, doubt spiritually, the testing and validating our faith personally. Right? God gives us promises. Okay?18:40 And this is the x factor. Listen to Jesus talk in John 16 to his men. Jesus answered them, do you finally believe? In fact, you're18:52 about to make a run for it, saving your own skins and abandoning me, But I'm not abandoned. The father is with me. K? Segway. I've told you19:04 all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world, you will continue to19:16 experience difficulties, but take heart. I've conquered the world. And so you have that theme where Jesus isn't sugarcoating anything.19:28 In fact, he's kinda calling his guys on the carpets. It's like, hey. You know what? You can see how this is turning into a little pressure zone. Me, the feelings of men about19:40 me, you being connected to me. Things are going down. I'm headed to a gnarly death on a cross, and you're feeling19:51 pressure. But guess what? Here's what you need to know. Even if you did abandon me, god hasn't abandoned me. The father is with me. And listen, I'm telling you this20:03 so that trusting me, you're gonna be unshakable. You are gonna be assured. You will have deep peace.20:16 Anyone in the market for unshakability assurance and deep peace today, not in the absence of pressure, but in the midst of pressure. Hello.20:29 I am. That's what I want. I want unshakability in the midst of pressure. I want assurance in the midst of pressure, not in the absence of it. I want20:40 deep peace in the fire. Right? And Jesus says this. He said, guess what? Not gonna sugarcoat it. You're gonna experience difficulties, but take heart. I've conquered the world.20:52 What does that mean? But take heart. It's the process of trusting what god says in the midst of change, challenge, pressure, delay, difficulty,21:05 trusting what God says, and then acting on what God says in the presence of that pressure, not in the absence. And this is what is supernatural. Right? You can't make a faith21:16 choice in the absence of pressure. You can't make a faith choice and take a risk for God when everything's going your way. God allows some21:28 desperation in our lives to cultivate, trust, validate our faith. And Jesus says there's this process of taking heart. Right? Well,21:40 this is happening. This is what God says. I'm choosing to believe what God says versus what my feelings say or what the world says or what my friends say or what my wife says or what my best buddy says, I'm gonna choose21:51 to believe what God says in this circumstance. Right? And I'm gonna act on it. I am not gonna panic. I am not gonna try to be resourceful and run ahead22:04 and create my own solution to to this situation. I'm gonna walk with God. I'm gonna trust God on a daily basis. And even though I don't know the future, I know he's good for his word. Okay.22:16 So let's make a little conclusion, based on what we've talked about. Write this down. When God is the dominant force in your life, difficulties will develop,22:28 not destroy your faith in God. And that's where Jesus is reframing how God's man processes pressure. Okay. Whatever pressure you're under,22:39 professional pressure, relational pressure, social pressure, emotional pressure. He wants to reframe it and say, in the end, if it's gotten to you, it's had to pass through me22:51 to get to you so that I could develop you, develop your faith, not destroy you. That this circumstance that you're in is a23:03 stepping stone. My son, not a stumbling block. And as dads and coaches and trainers, we know that. Right? We know that when you put23:15 someone under pressure, it's gonna develop them. You're gonna see what's there. Right? And it's gonna call out what's inside of them. Right? So that's what God says. You know, when God's a dominant force in your life,23:27 difficulties are there to develop us, not destroy our faith in God. Alright. So there's just kind of the basis once again. We're just kinda getting in touch with23:38 truth and reality about God, us, earth, and how the relationship works on a broken, unjust, fallen planet. Alright. Now let's get to what23:50 Jesus says in Matthew 10. Alright? And the theme of what he says, alright, because he knows that pressure will come on the disciples, this is the headline. It's24:02 like, god's with me and god's got me, so I'm not gonna believe the lies that are coming at me. Alright? And we talked about that at the top24:14 that when pressure and difficulty imposes itself on us, and it will, we can go 2 directions. Alright?24:26 We can trust truth and God's promises and act on them, or we can trust how we feel. We can believe the messaging of our24:38 feelings, and that makes us vulnerable to lies. Alright? And it's fluid. You know? You if you feel down, you know, the tempter24:50 and the liar is gonna come, and that's kinda where we're headed next. So let's let's see what Jesus says about what's really going on when we're under pressure and persecuted or in difficulty25:02 or trial or trib. And then let's acknowledge the presence that there's an enemy that wants to dilute our commitment and faith in God. Alright? So let's look at Matthew 10 29 to 31. Jesus says25:14 this, to his guys, are not 2 sparrows sold for a cent and yet not 1 of them will fall to the ground apart from your father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.25:26 So do not fear. You are more valuable than many sparrows, okay? Now, why does Jesus choose the25:38 sparrow? Because sparrows were everywhere. Sparrows were common. Sparrows were kind of visually present but insignificant.25:49 Okay? When a guy saw a sparrow, it's like, you know, it's like, there's the sky, There's the dirt. There there there's a sparrow. Right?26:02 But what Jesus is saying is, as seemingly insignificant as that is to you and is of no consequence to your life, Anything that God makes,26:14 He has command over, and not 1 of them. Nothing happens to 1 of them without God's awareness. Okay? Now26:25 Jesus is reassuring them. You can kinda read between the lines like it's like, okay. I'm reassuring you. I'm telling you about these sparrows, and I'm reassuring you. At the same26:37 time, Jesus knows that Satan, instead of reassuring you, will try to unnerve you and dismantle your faith. And Jesus talked about Satan is important to26:49 know his nature and how he's gonna try to speak into the same pressure and persecution or difficulty. Alright? What are his goals? Jesus describes Satan like this. He27:01 was that a killer from the very start. Alright? John 8 43 and 44. He was a killer from the very start. He couldn't stand the truth because there wasn't a shred27:13 of truth in him. When the liar speaks, he makes it up out of his own lying nature and fills the world with lies.27:25 Okay? So there's Jesus's nature. He's assuring. You're in a difficult situation. And Jesus can stay the dominant force in your life or you27:37 can suffer dilution if in that pressure, you're feeling bad and you believe the lie of your feelings and there's a liar that's like pouring gas on,27:48 yes, believe your feelings. It is fatal and final. Nobody cares, and we're gonna get into that. Alright? So you gotta see sort of the there's you, there's28:00 Jesus and truth, and there's Satan and lies. And it's you in the midst of difficulty, and you're feeling it. It's normal. Right?28:12 It's not good. Okay? And you're trying to process what's going on spiritually, And here's Jesus assuring, here's Satan unnerving. So let's28:23 let's kinda look at the spiritual warfare. Number 1, the devil will suggest in that situation, nobody really sees you. Write that down. Okay? The devil suggests28:35 nobody really sees you. Okay? Now we see this kind of sense, going on that that's actually a message that28:47 was received with Paul, right, when he was in the province of Asia. He says this, we were under great pressure far beyond our ability to endure so28:59 that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. And so into this29:11 scenario, like Paul's feeling stuff, Satan's piling on. They're alone. They're vulnerable. They're suggestible. Negative emotions, we need to talk about that just briefly and how they29:23 factor into spiritual warfare. So if you have loneliness, anger, sadness, despair in the midst of pressure. Right? It's sort of like29:35 your life is like a 7 47 leaving from LaGuardia, New York to Heathrow in London. Right? They load that sucker up with with fuel.29:47 Right? Right? Tons and tons and tons of fuel. Right? So those negative emotions inside are like the fuel. It's loaded onto the big plane, which is you. And if30:01 some bad actors get control of that plane loaded with fuel, okay, that's called a hostage situation.30:13 Okay? There's people on board. There's a lot of fuel in the tanks. And if there's a spark, it could be bad news. And30:25 see, that's where we have to understand that negative emotions inside, man, there's a lot at stake for how you process them. Right? And then how you act. Because30:38 when you have negative emotions inside, Satan can just he can lie into you a lot easier if you're not talking to God30:50 and talking to some other brothers or some good people in in your life. If you're just kinda keeping it in, keeping it to yourself, then he can mess31:02 with you. It's like, I feel this way, but I'm not talking to anybody about it. And then that's when the enemy comes. Right? Nobody really sees you. You're going through this all by yourself.31:14 Right? I mean, even Jesus, what what is great and how Jesus understands is that Jesus and his humanity on the cross felt this way. You know, look at look at your notes in Mark 15 43. He said, my god,31:25 my god, why have you forsaken me? Now because he's perfectly man and perfectly god and because he to be a perfect high priest, he had to experience31:37 all the things that we experience and yet be without sin, he pulled it off. But what's so great is that Jesus understands that feeling of loneliness, but31:49 is there with you, right? Assuring you that don't fear. I see you. So that that leads me to the next villain. So, if32:01 the devil suggests, nobody really sees you, alright? Just stick this in his faith. Just say, god says, write this down. I am locked on you, okay? And that's what32:13 scripture tells us about god. It's just who he is. He's he's omniscient and he's omnipresent. Look at what the scripture says, Hebrews 4 13, nothing in32:25 all creation is hidden from god's sight. Can we just let the paint dry on that? Some of you who are watching this right now, you're feeling like, gosh, nobody32:37 really sees my life. The scripture says, god sees it in perfect 10 84 k32:50 resolution. Okay? He sees every detail, every nook and cranny of your life. He sees every thought attached to every circumstance issue. He sees how you're33:01 feeling when you wake up, when you lie down, in the middle of your day. He sees it. Nothing is hidden from him. Okay? People can't see your thoughts, but God sees your33:13 thoughts. That's who you really are at any given moment. It's not even necessarily what you're doing. It's what you're thinking. Right? And so nothing in all creation33:25 is hidden from God's side. And then you remember the words of Jesus, you know, we we might feel insignificant, but hey, listen, the most insignificant little creature at Jesus' time was a sparrow and Jesus goes, hey,33:36 nothing happens. That that sparrow doesn't even hit the ground without my father's awareness, and you are more valuable than a sparrow. You know, I had actually a bird fly into,33:49 our house, and it was interesting. It wasn't you know, it didn't see this little this little fence that I had put up. And, it wasn't there before, but it is now. And so it's going full. And bam, it hits the34:01 ground. And when I saw that, I remembered this verse. It's like, wow, God saw that. This was just recently, like, 3 weeks ago. It's like, God, okay.34:13 And God reminded me of this. He's like, you know what? I saw that that just happened because I created that little bird, and I'm over everything that I create. And because I am who I34:25 am, I can see everything in 3 60, in 4 k, perfect clarity all the time in panorama with 7000000000 people. I can see it all all at34:36 once and internalize it with the same clarity as if I was watching 1 thing. And I want you to know that if that's me and I can do that, I got your life. I know I know34:48 what's happening to you. I know where you are. I know every detail. Some of you really needed to know that today. God wants you to know. I got you. I see you. I see the frustration.35:00 I see your thoughts. I see your doubts. I see your confusion. I see your worry. I see your concern. I see the circumstances. I see the players in your circumstances. I see the needs35:12 that you have. And I'm at work and I'm present. Right? So you don't need to dilute, right, through doubt my presence in your life. I got I I I I'm locked35:24 on you. Okay? So that's the first little little dynamic in spiritual warfare when you're under pressure, and there's lies, and there's truth, and there's the devil, and there's God. Satan says nobody really sees you. God35:34 says, I'm locked on you. Let's look at the second dynamic. Alright. Under pressure and in the difficulties of life, the devil will suggest nobody really knows you. Okay? No 1 knows you.35:46 No 1 knows what you're going through. You ever said that to someone? Well, you you can't know it until you know what I'm going through. No 1 knows what I'm really going through. Right? Because maybe you have an image and35:58 you don't tell anybody what you're going through. Okay? That's 1 reason. But it's human. Okay? Only we truly know what we're going through. People might36:10 know some of the structural information, you know, maybe you lost a job or you know, but they don't know all that you're going through, you know, in your emotions and in your36:21 mind and how that's working its way out into your relationships, and the dynamic, etcetera. You know, the Bible talks about this in Proverbs 14. It says, each heart36:33 knows its own bitterness, and no 1 else can share its joy. So you have both ends of the spectrum. Nobody can really know or feel what you feel, whether36:45 it's joy or whether it's bitterness. Okay. We like to say to people, hey, man. Until you've walked a mile in my shoes, you really can't you really can't speak into that.36:57 Well, you can say that with people, but you can't say that with Jesus because he sees and he knows what you're experiencing, which means he's intimately aware.37:09 So if the devil says no 1 knows, right, nobody really knows. Nobody really sees and nobody really knows. This is what God says. Write this down. I am intimately aware.37:21 I am locked on and I am intimately aware of you. K. Keyword, intimately chose that word intentionally. Right? Scripture talks about God's intimate awareness37:34 of me, of you, where you are on the planet, where you're located, your network of family, friends, and coworkers, your job,37:47 your physical health, your emotions. Look look at what God says. Psalm 1 39. You know when I sit and when I rise.37:59 You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down. You are familiar with all my ways. You might wanna circle that. Before a38:11 word is on my tongue, lord, you know it completely. You, lord, know it completely. Okay. So what's that saying? Okay. God is above us.38:23 God is beneath us. God is behind us. God is, before us. God surrounds us because he's god. Now listen. The fact that god is38:35 intimately aware of you means a couple of things. And the first thing it means is that you don't have to be doubtful about38:46 his awareness of everything that's going on. Number 2, it means that if if things aren't happening the way you would like to or, you you know, it feels like God's not wearing 1 of these and he's not result,38:58 then he's up to something. It's not an awareness issue. Right? It's a God's plan issue, and he's wise and loving and knows best39:10 for you, and you can trust that he is locked on to you and he's intimately aware of you. And when you internalize that, you can reject the lie that39:22 nobody really sees you and nobody really knows you, all right? In this moment. Okay. Let's look at the third little dynamic of spiritual warfare when God's39:34 man is under pressure, all right? Under the pressure of life, the devil suggests, write this down, nobody really appreciates or parenthetically values you. You ever feel that way?Show more In this video 0:00 God as the Dominant Force in Our LivesComments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
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