WEBVTT
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Welcome to know it to Father McDonald's or to the open thoughts for each other and let us take from our heads to our heart.
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Your faith will be built, your parents are my friends, and your mind will be in the country.
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Let's get it less, let's be encouraged, and let's accept the challenge to grow together.
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Grab your cup of coffee, a green tea, or whatever fits your fancy.
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Your Bible, a notebook in the head, and let it grow.
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Well, good afternoon, my lovely friends.
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How are we doing on this beautiful day that God has given us?
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I it will never grow old to just be thankful for the beauty of God's creation.
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I just read somebody posted today that we look at God's creation, we look at his sunset, we look at the sunrise, we look at the mountains and the ocean and all of the beauty that God created, we look at it in awe and in wonder.
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And then sometimes we look at ourself and we look at our body in disgust as if he did not make both things.
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And so that like struck me right here.
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I'm like, okay, Lord, I see you, I hear what you're saying.
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I can see out my window right now big white, fluffy sky, uh clouds and blue skies, and just the beauty of creation all around us literally speaks that we serve a mighty and creative God, an artist, really.
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And yet we are the ones that were created in his image.
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In fact, when he made creation, he kept kind of coming to the end of a day and saying, you know, that's good, that's good, that's good.
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What I made, he kept putting his own stamp of approval on what he created, and then he created man in his image, and and he created um woman from the side of man, and he breathed life into them, and he's like, That's that's very good.
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So just know that you are a beautiful creation that God has woven together, and you are uniquely made and you're special, and so yeah, that's a freebie today because that's not even what we're talking about.
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But I don't know, I just can't like I the older I get, I just told one of my kids this the other day, the older I get, the more I'm like, I have such an appreciation for summer, and um kind of wish that we lived in a state where it is sunny year-round, but it gives me a huge appreciation for seasons and the close of one season and the opening of another.
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And I know we're not even technically to the start of summer yet by the date, but man, we've had some amazing temperatures here, and so I hope you are enjoying your start to the summer, end of your spring.
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Uh, busy months have maybe passed by at this point.
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Can you believe we only have like five and a half months left of this year, six months left of this year?
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It's absolutely insane to think about.
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Uh, I feel like time just goes faster and faster the older you get.
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And it's not cliche, it's not just like sound good to say that.
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No, it's it's true.
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It's like you blink and the years have gone by.
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And so I hope that you're making good use of your time.
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It's so easy, so easy in the summer months to kind of kick things into, you know, um, neutral, so to speak, but our bodies can be at rest and our spirit can still be awake and receiving and hungry and satisfying, you know, satisfied, but always wanting more of the Lord.
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And so I encourage you, don't let your spirit fall asleep.
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Don't don't uh go not hungry for more of the Lord and what he has for you this summer.
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Maybe he's called you in this season to actually grind and work and invest and sew and build something that he's called you to.
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Uh, just let let there be a wind in your sails from the Holy Spirit as you do that.
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Again, that was a freebie, not even what we're talking about today.
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But I am thankful to be with you.
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I uh have a word today on invitations.
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And this is something the Lord dropped in my spirit Sunday morning.
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We're worshiping, and I just kind of like this whole idea of invitations began to run through my brain, and I processed for the next 48 hours with the Lord and just meditated on it.
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There was a specific part to the invitation piece that had to do with the corporate setting, corporate worship.
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And that was what I was really focused on.
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But as I took the next 48 hours to sit with the Lord on this, uh it he expanded the word.
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And so I shared a portion of this with Intercessory Prayer Women Tuesday morning, and I thought, why not share with you all?
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Because I believe that it is a simple yet needed reminder.
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And so that's what we're gonna talk about today.
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We're gonna talk about invitations, and so why don't we pray to get started and then we will get into the word.
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Father, I thank you for this glorious day.
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I thank you for these beautiful people created in your image that are tuned in and listening and ready to receive the word of the Lord.
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I ask that you would open our spiritual ears to hear what the Spirit of God is saying, and you will open our spiritual eyes to see what the Spirit of God wants to show us.
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That we would be open to receive everything that you want to teach us today.
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We thank you for your word that brings life and that sheds light into dark spaces.
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We thank you, Father, uh, for all of the invitations that you've given us, Lord, the biblical invitations that we get to respond to.
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Father, I pray that you would wake us up in our spirit, that we would be ready to respond with excitement and eagerness.
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And we just give you this time in Jesus' name.
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Amen.
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All right, friends.
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Like I said, it was Sunday morning, just this last Sunday.
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We're worshiping, and uh the Holy Spirit just nudged me and said, you know, when you get an invitation somewhere, you get to choose to respond to the invitation.
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First, you have to accept the invitation, you have to open the invitation, you have to read it, and you should respond.
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And then when you respond, you're either responding that you're gonna show up or you're responding that you can't come.
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But when you respond that you're gonna show up, it's very important that you also step in.
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And that is the part that I got hung up on Sunday morning was that God gives us an in an invitation into his presence every time we're in a corporate setting.
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We have an invitation to step in to his presence because many of us can show up Sunday after Sunday after Sunday to a church service, and we can show up but not fully engage or step in.
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And so we actually miss out on the experience of what God has for us.
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And so I was thinking about this.
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I was thinking about the ways that sometimes we show up, but we don't fully engage in what God has for us.
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We don't step in to what he's doing.
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So we just know kind of what's familiar.
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We go through the time that we're there and then we leave.
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And are we really changed?
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Are we really, you know, God invites us in where two or three are gathered, he is there.
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When we lift up praises to God, it says that he actually inhabits and lives in and rests in the praises of his people.
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But we actually get to choose whether or not when he comes and he rests and he settles in a place, we get to choose whether or not we are stepping into that presence and engaging with him, or if we're just gonna show up.
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It's like when you go to a party and you don't get the full experience if you show up and you stand on the wall, you become a wallflower the whole time.
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You don't ever engage with people, you don't ever do the games or the activities or the engage in the festivities of what you've been invited to.
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You you show up, but you don't get the experience.
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Let me explain something.
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You're definitely not gonna get the experience if you at least don't open the door and walk through.
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But the full experience happens when you step in and you engage in what God has for you.
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And so I was thinking about this, and yes, this applies to a corporate setting.
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Yes, this applies to corporate worship.
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This applies to even when God invites us to a space of feasting from his table.
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Listen, when he prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies, there's a table prepared.
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We get to come to the table and we get to feast.
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Part of the feasting, I think, occurs when you enter into a space where you are being taught the word of God.
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You can feast and you can feast and you can feast because the word of God is bread, the word of God is nutrition, the word of God brings a source of satisfaction.
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And so you can choose to engage with the person who is preaching the word of God.
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You can choose to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you.
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You can choose to show up and listen.
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But are you also stepping in and saying, Holy Spirit, take this word and apply it to my life?
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Take this word and meld it to what you want to do in me.
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Take this word and let me chew on it.
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Let me process it.
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Let me digest what you're saying because you can be present and not fully experience what God wants for you.
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Or you can actually just choose to not show up at all.
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Some of us get invitations and it feels a little bit more like an obligation than a desire to want to go.
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But we have a choice in every matter.
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You can choose to still show up and and something when you choose to heed to the the uh the nudging of the spirit, like, hey, why don't you put away your cell phone?
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Why don't you put the coffee down while while you're worshiping?
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Because there's a lot more freedom that comes when you don't have distractions.
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There's a lot more freedom that comes when you maybe close your eyes to get rid of distractions, maybe raise your hands as a sign of surrender and a sign of like, God, what do you want to do in me?
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Maybe you choose to open your mouth and sing because he's worthy of our praise.
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And and and so maybe it's been uncomfortable because you're like, I don't have a good voice.
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And God's like, would you just, would you just give me what I deserve?
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Like a little bit of some praise, a little bit of some worship.
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You know, so you can choose to still show up and not step in or engage.
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Now, I've been talking about this invitation in a corporate setting, but as I processed this word, I really felt like the Lord unpacked it from a very personal standpoint as well, like individually, where are we invited in scripture, biblically speaking, where are biblical invitations offered over and over and over again?
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Where we can choose to receive it, accept it, open it, respond to it, show up, step in, engage, and then fully experience.
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That is literally the order of invitation.
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What is an invitation?
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It's often a formal request to be present or to participate.
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Thank you, Webster.
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Miriam Webster, that is the definition I looked up, and often a formal request to be present or to participate.
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So that means when you receive an invitation, it's not a one-sided thing.
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You have to respond and you have to participate.
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But this is what I want you to hear me say today: an invitation only becomes an experience when you not only show up, but you step in.
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You have to walk through the door and engage.
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An invitation only becomes an experience when you do those things.
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Otherwise, it's quite literally something that you can be invited and still never experience or encounter what it is that you've been invited to.
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There's a participation piece.
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And so I was just thinking about this, and like I said, I think it's easy in a corporate setting to, you know, we prayed into this a little bit on Tuesday morning as I shared this with the women at prayer, but I think it's easy to um revert to, you know, what you know to do.
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Um, I actually opened by saying that the temptation would be to allow that which you know works to just kind of be that which you follow.
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You grow a little bit accustomed and numb to even the ability to be in the presence of God.
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Like, I don't think, I just had an India team meeting this last week, and I don't think that we fully understand as the body of Christ in America the freedoms that we have to be in the presence of God in a place where we can be expressive, where we can openly declare the word of God and offer an invitation to salvation and into a relationship with Jesus without fear of the persecution that other countries and nations face.
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You know, India is a closed country.
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There are anti-conversion laws there.
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You're not supposed to convert people from one religion to Christianity, you're not supposed to even preach Jesus on the streets.
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There's, there's, um, it's not, it's not, you can't do that.
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So when the believers come together in India, what I experience is there's always a fresh appreciation for I get to serve Jesus and I know that He is here, He's with me, He's for me.
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They're engaged.
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And I'm not saying that the church here is not.
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What I'm saying is, do we, is there the temptation in front of us to potentially grow accustomed to this is just kind of a privilege we have, this is just kind of like an honor we have, it's just kind of a freedom we have.
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And God is like, don't revert to muscle memory of what you know to do when you show up on a Sunday morning or a Wednesday night or a Friday night or whatever, like to any form of a worship corporate setting.
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Don't just take it for granted.
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Don't just revert to what you know works and then it just boom, you're you've ex you've experienced it in the way that you know to experience it, because we don't serve a God that is like that.
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We serve a God who is so creative, so unique, and wants to constantly be doing a fresh and a new work.
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So we can actually invite the presence of God, we can be in the presence of God, and it actually says in scripture that we are not to quench the spirit.
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That means we're not supposed to then uh basically take a wet blanket to the presence of the Holy Spirit, the fire of the spirit that's present, and then just put it out because we have our order that we need to get through.
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How does this even relate to invitation?
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What I'm saying is we can show up and just check the boxes of what we know to do.
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We revert to muscle memory and think, okay, we've got this figured out, and we edge God out, we edge the Holy Spirit out to the point where it's like we're not actually stepping into what the Holy Spirit wants to do.
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We think we know what the Holy Spirit wants to do, so we just kind of do what, we just do that.
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So this teaching is more for those of you who who have a relationship with the Lord, that you go to church because you're connected to a body that you believe it's important to do what Hebrews 10 tells us to do, to don't forsake the assembling of God's people, but do it even more so as you see the day approaching.
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You have this hunger and this desire and this zeal to go to the house of God.
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You know, this is like important for us to remember.
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We don't just show up, we step in, we engage.
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Holy Spirit, what do you want to do in this moment?
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We don't revert to what we think we know he wants to do.
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We stay, we stay sensitive to what it is that he's doing in the moment.
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How many of you go to like different things like baby showers and wedding showers and birthday parties and you know, you go to those with an idea, you show up with an idea of what you think the order of events might be.
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You know, well, at a baby shower, sometimes you welcome the guests and then you eat and then you play some games and then you open gifts.
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Yes, but what if you went to a unique shower that they started by just praying blessings over the mama?
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And you know, they there was just a different, there was a shakeup, so to speak, and they didn't even have games.
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Maybe because there was like some creative, like you took time to write uh blessings over that child that they would open the day that they turned 13, or you know, whatever it was.
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It was like, but you when you went to something that would be atypical, so to speak, I'm sure it would make an impact on you because something took place that was unexpected.
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If we went with that mentality and with that openness to the Spirit of God every time we went to a corporate gathering, Holy Spirit, what exciting thing do you want to do today?
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How do you want to shake things up?
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What how what do you want to speak?
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What person am I supposed to be potentially praying over and blessing?
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What word do you have of encouragement that I could give to my sister in Christ?
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What do you want to, what do you want to sharpen in me?
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What do you want to reveal in my own life?
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You know, if we went with that expectation, we respond to the invitation to come to the house of the Lord and then we we step in and we don't just show up, we step in to Holy Spirit.
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What are you doing so we stay in sync with the Holy Spirit?
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It's so important.
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We serve a God that is so much more exciting than just mundane ritual religion.
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We serve a God who has an invitation for us to receive and open, respond to, show up for, and step into and engage.
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And it's week in, week out, day in, day out.
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It's not just for the corporate setting, it's for us personally.
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And I want to share with you a couple of biblical invitations that will apply to us individually every single day.
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There's an invitation for exchange, and we see this in Matthew 11, 28 and 1 Peter 5, 7.
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I want you to write those verses down and I'm going to read them to you.
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We're going to go through these kind of quickly.
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An invitation for exchange.
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This is number one.
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It says in Matthew 11, 28, then Jesus said, Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
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Take my yoke upon you.
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Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give to you is light.
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This is an invitation for exchange, people.
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Those of you that are walking through something that feels heavy and hard, or it has the potential to get that way.
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God is saying to you in this passage in Matthew chapter 11, come to me, all of you who are weak and weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
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You bring to me the heavy stuff, and I give you rest.
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I give you my yoke and my burden because it is easy to bear and it is light.
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So you're literally bringing the heavy things to me and you're making an exchange and you're taking the yoke and the and the burden, which is light and easy, that I give you.
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You see, when you make this exchange, it happens because you respond to an invitation.
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He says, Come to me.
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It means don't strive in your own ways to carry the heaviness.
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He says, Come to me.
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Do you know what that means?
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When when my husband says, Hey, Ashley, I need your help.
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Would you come out here?
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What do I have to do?
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I I don't just answer from the kitchen.
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What do you want?
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What do you need?
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Maybe if I'm in the middle of cooking, I try and get an idea.
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But if he says, come here, I need your help.
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I know that there's something that I need to partner with him in.
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And it's not gonna happen with me at a distance.
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I have to physically come to him.
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Just as Jesus had to withdraw to get into a place with his heavenly father, so he knew what to do next and he stayed about the father's business.
00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:38.960
So God is inviting you into a place where you have to come to him.
00:21:39.359 --> 00:21:43.279
You have to withdraw from the worries of the world and spend time with him.
00:21:43.359 --> 00:21:47.440
And he says, When you bring your heavy things, I give you light things.
00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:56.160
It actually says, because I said this invitation thing, you have to show up, step in, and there's a participation piece in the very definition of it.
00:21:56.319 --> 00:21:59.839
It actually says, let me, it says, take my yoke upon you.
00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:00.880
You.
00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:06.640
Your participation piece is to do exactly what 1 Peter 5, 7 says.
00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:17.599
I'm partnering these two verses, Matthew 11, 28, and 1 Peter 5, 7 says, give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.
00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:19.599
He cares about you.
00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:27.039
He is not a God in heaven who is distant, far off, and sometimes you're throwing up a prayer hoping that it sticks.
00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:30.400
He is a God who says, Would you make an exchange?
00:22:30.480 --> 00:22:36.000
I'm inviting you into a place where you can come to me with your heavy, hard things.
00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:39.680
You can come to me weak and weary, and you can make the exchange.
00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:51.200
You take my yoke upon you, which is light and easy, and you cast your cares upon me, and I do the heavy lifting, and you walk away with a lightness in your spirit.
00:22:51.359 --> 00:22:55.039
You see, this cannot happen if you're full of pride.
00:22:55.279 --> 00:22:58.000
This cannot happen if you're self-sufficient.
00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:04.400
This cannot happen if you choose to continue to do what you think you know works.
00:23:04.880 --> 00:23:06.880
You have to choose to make the exchange.
00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:09.359
This is an invitation that God gives us.
00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:12.880
He also gives us, number two, an invitation for intimacy.
00:23:13.200 --> 00:23:22.640
In James chapter 4, verses 7 and 8, it says, therefore submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:26.160
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:32.960
Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded people.
00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:36.079
This is an invitation for intimacy.
00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:38.559
Well, how do you how do you see that, Ashley?
00:23:38.880 --> 00:23:41.920
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:49.599
How many of you know it is really hard to have any form of intimacy without connection and closeness?
00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:58.240
You cannot, I I've told you in past episodes my story, my love story, how Zach and I met each other.
00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:03.279
I told you all about our relationship and how it developed.
00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:06.319
You can go back and watch that from a past episode if you want.
00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:14.960
But the the short story is we spent uh the better part of six months.
00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:18.880
Let's see, November, December, January, February, March, April.
00:24:19.839 --> 00:24:28.799
Yeah, like six months uh or so before we actually um decided to, you know, make it official and date.
00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:34.000
But the connectedness was not through the proximity.
00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:39.759
We were constantly spending time on the phone together because he lived in Rhode Island and I lived in Ohio.
00:24:39.920 --> 00:24:41.680
And so how did we get to know each other?
00:24:41.839 --> 00:24:44.079
We had to call, we had to be intentional.
00:24:44.240 --> 00:24:46.160
We'd stay up late into the night.
00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:53.359
I mean, he would wait until I started snoring and falling asleep on the phone before he would hang up, sometimes three and four in the morning.
00:24:53.519 --> 00:24:57.039
But there was an intentionality that he had and that I had.
00:24:57.200 --> 00:24:59.119
We wanted to get to know each other.
00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:07.599
We wanted to have an intimate relationship with one another, not physically before we were married, but we wanted to know each other.
00:25:07.839 --> 00:25:10.720
We wanted to know the ins and the outs of one another.
00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:13.680
We wanted to know what made you tick what made him tick.
00:25:13.759 --> 00:25:24.400
I wanted to know what you know what his passions were, what his desires were, what uh what his hobbies were, what his interests were, what things he didn't like, what things like how do you know these things?
00:25:24.559 --> 00:25:28.079
You think you know somebody because you watch a highlight reel on Instagram.
00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:29.519
It doesn't work that way.
00:25:29.759 --> 00:25:33.119
You have to have connectedness, you have to have closeness.
00:25:33.359 --> 00:25:41.200
This is an invitation from God Himself to us as believers that says, therefore submit to God.
00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:46.720
Submission is is like we, what is it that he wants from us?
00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:48.319
We do those things.
00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:52.880
And part of that says, draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
00:25:52.960 --> 00:25:54.720
This is the participation piece.
00:25:54.960 --> 00:26:05.920
You will not fully experience an intimacy with God without responding to this invitation to draw near to him.
00:26:06.960 --> 00:26:09.839
You can show up in your quiet space.
00:26:10.079 --> 00:26:11.680
You know, I've said this before.
00:26:11.839 --> 00:26:18.400
So many people have this idea that intimacy with God is, you know, you wake up at 5:30 a.m.
00:26:18.640 --> 00:26:33.200
and you set your quiet music on and you have your highlighters out and you have your Bible open and your mug of coffee and you have a candle lit and the quiet music playing, and all of a sudden you can show up into this space and you're like, okay, God, here I am.
00:26:33.599 --> 00:26:47.759
And you can sit with him, you can be quiet before him, you can rest in that space, but I think people show up sometimes, and that is like the it's more about the atmosphere rather than the intimacy.
00:26:47.920 --> 00:26:49.440
And God's like, time out.
00:26:49.599 --> 00:26:51.839
You can it's more about the connection piece.
00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:53.599
Are you actually digging into my word?
00:26:53.839 --> 00:26:59.119
Are you actually uh communicating with me and calling out to me and drawing close to me?
00:26:59.279 --> 00:27:03.599
Are you so invested in what you're reading that you're allowing the Holy Spirit to teach you?
00:27:03.759 --> 00:27:07.519
Or are you checking off a box that that looked good for social media?
00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:08.480
Now I'm done.
00:27:08.640 --> 00:27:09.119
I'm done.
00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:14.079
And then you go about the rest of your day and you don't even, you don't even bring God into what you're doing.
00:27:14.400 --> 00:27:19.839
And God's like, no, draw near to me again and again and again and again.
00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:21.279
You can start that way.
00:27:21.440 --> 00:27:24.319
If you have that whole aesthetic look, I'm not against it.
00:27:24.799 --> 00:27:33.440
I love at times, especially cozy in the winter, you light the candle and you do have the quiet music on, and maybe snow's falling, and you're like, you're with it.
00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:35.519
You're you're in that space with the Lord.
00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:40.880
But God is saying, after you exit that space, so to speak, take me with you.
00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:42.720
Draw near to me in the car.
00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:46.160
Worship me in spirit and in truth when you're in the shower.
00:27:46.400 --> 00:27:56.079
Draw near to me as you're as you're walking your dog, draw near to me as you're wiping a child's butt and you're cleaning the dishes and you're washing the dishes.
00:27:56.319 --> 00:27:58.640
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
00:27:58.799 --> 00:28:00.319
It's about connection.
00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:03.599
It's not always about proximity and closeness.
00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:07.839
Now, did Zach and I move to be together and be closer to each other?
00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:09.440
Yes, I moved out to Rhode Island.
00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:13.359
I worked for the school, I took classes at the school, we had a proximity then.
00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:18.960
We went on dates, we got to hold hands finally, woo-hoo, and and lock lips, and it was awesome.
00:28:19.119 --> 00:28:20.559
Woo-hoo, praise the Lord.
00:28:20.720 --> 00:28:28.319
Um, but there was already a closeness and an intimacy because I had spent time getting to know who Zach was.
00:28:28.559 --> 00:28:33.119
And then finally, we tied the knot, we made it official, we just celebrated 20 years.
00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:34.880
I love you, Zachary James.
00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:36.319
You are my person.
00:28:36.880 --> 00:28:39.920
Uh, but this is an invitation for intimacy.
00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:42.240
You don't get to experience God.
00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:48.240
You can show up and still not step into his presence and still not step into what the Spirit is saying and doing.
00:28:48.400 --> 00:28:50.559
Don't just show up, step in.
00:28:50.720 --> 00:28:56.240
What is God wanting you to know day in and day out as you connect with him?
00:28:56.559 --> 00:28:59.359
There's also an invitation in scripture to trust, okay?
00:28:59.519 --> 00:29:04.160
Proverbs 3, 5 through 8 says this: trust in the Lord with all of your heart.
00:29:04.319 --> 00:29:09.039
Lean not on your own understanding in all of your ways, all of your ways.
00:29:09.200 --> 00:29:12.799
Acknowledge God, and he will direct your paths.
00:29:13.039 --> 00:29:17.359
Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil.
00:29:17.519 --> 00:29:21.759
It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones.
00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:22.799
Hallelujah.
00:29:23.119 --> 00:29:24.640
Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
00:29:24.720 --> 00:29:25.920
This is an invitation.
00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:29.920
Not with a portion of who you are, with all of who you are.
00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:31.440
Do you trust God?
00:29:31.759 --> 00:29:33.519
Do you trust him with your children?
00:29:34.160 --> 00:29:34.559
Mamas?
00:29:35.839 --> 00:29:39.680
This is one I have had to grow in over the years as a mother.
00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:43.200
Do you trust him with the ministry he's called you to?
00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:47.359
Do you trust him with the business that he has planted in your heart?
00:29:47.519 --> 00:29:49.119
Do you trust him with your finances?
00:29:49.279 --> 00:29:50.799
Do you trust him with your marriage?
00:29:50.960 --> 00:29:53.440
Do you trust him with your possessions?
00:29:53.680 --> 00:29:55.519
Do you tr that aren't yours anyways?
00:29:55.680 --> 00:29:56.240
They're from him.
00:29:56.640 --> 00:29:59.039
Do you trust him with relationships?
00:29:59.200 --> 00:30:09.920
Or do you try and manipulate him to make sure that these things look the way that you want them to look under the guise that God's got it?
00:30:10.160 --> 00:30:13.440
But really, you're the one controlling every single thing.
00:30:13.680 --> 00:30:19.759
Do you trust him fully or are you trusting him in a controlled manner?
00:30:20.160 --> 00:30:21.440
That is a question for you.
00:30:21.599 --> 00:30:27.839
The invitation is to trust him with all of who you are, all of your heart, to not lean on your own understanding.
00:30:28.079 --> 00:30:29.839
Acknowledge him in everything.
00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:37.440
I just put a post up on Instagram about this the other day that we can so easily edge God out of things that we think we have figured out.
00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:49.519
It's so easy when we think that we know how a relationship ticks and this is what works, and God's trying to get us to stir things up and to, you know, address situations in different manners.
00:30:49.599 --> 00:31:02.880
Or, you know, he's trying to soften different parts of our heart, but we're so used to responding the way we have because we function in what's comfortable instead of what God's trying to uh heal instead of what he's trying to fix.
00:31:03.039 --> 00:31:04.799
Um, you know, we edge God out.
00:31:04.880 --> 00:31:08.240
We're like, we got this, we got this in all of your ways.
00:31:08.400 --> 00:31:09.279
Acknowledge him.
00:31:09.680 --> 00:31:12.559
Not in some of your ways, in all of your ways.
00:31:12.799 --> 00:31:14.799
Lean not on your own understanding.
00:31:14.960 --> 00:31:16.319
Don't edge God out of things.
00:31:16.480 --> 00:31:28.480
Bring him into everything, every relationship, every problem, every issue, every good thing in your life, that even you're like, God, this seems like an absolute blessing.
00:31:28.720 --> 00:31:30.000
I thank you for it.
00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:32.559
Now, show me what to do with it.
00:31:32.720 --> 00:31:34.799
Show me maybe it's a financial blessing.
00:31:34.960 --> 00:31:37.839
Maybe it is an open door of opportunity.
00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:40.079
Maybe it is ask God.
00:31:40.319 --> 00:31:44.000
He's the one who's opening the doors and bringing the blessings, anyways.
00:31:44.240 --> 00:31:45.359
Bring God into things.
00:31:45.519 --> 00:31:49.359
In all of your ways, acknowledge him, and he will direct your path.
00:31:49.519 --> 00:31:51.920
This is a participatory invitation.
00:31:52.160 --> 00:31:57.519
He's saying, trust me, acknowledge me, and then your path will be straight.
00:31:57.759 --> 00:31:59.839
Depart from evil, right?
00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:09.759
Don't be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord, get rid of the evil, fear God instead, and it will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones.
00:32:10.079 --> 00:32:21.279
We receive an experience in our life that can be completely different than that that people of the world experience when we bring God into things instead of edge him out and leave him out.
00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:23.359
This is an invitation to trust God.
00:32:23.519 --> 00:32:24.319
That was number three.
00:32:24.480 --> 00:32:26.240
Number four, an invitation to pray.
00:32:26.400 --> 00:32:27.920
Jeremiah 33, 3.
00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:29.279
I quote this all the time.
00:32:29.519 --> 00:32:36.000
Call to me and I will answer you, and I sh I will show you great and mighty things which you do not know.
00:32:36.160 --> 00:32:38.000
This is an important piece.
00:32:38.240 --> 00:32:42.240
This is a honestly, this embodies a spirit of humility.
00:32:42.559 --> 00:32:49.119
God, I need you to help me in this because I don't know these things that are to come.
00:32:49.279 --> 00:32:51.759
I don't know how to fix this situation.
00:32:51.920 --> 00:32:52.799
I need your help.
00:32:52.880 --> 00:32:54.319
And God says, Would you call to me?
00:32:54.400 --> 00:32:55.599
Because I'll answer you.
00:32:55.839 --> 00:32:58.640
Would you, would you ask me to show you things?
00:32:58.720 --> 00:33:00.400
Because I will, because that's what it says.
00:33:00.559 --> 00:33:06.240
The invitation is don't just open the invitation of calling to me and I'll answer you.
00:33:06.319 --> 00:33:07.119
I'm going to show you things.
00:33:07.200 --> 00:33:08.240
Don't just open it.
00:33:08.480 --> 00:33:09.359
Step into that.
00:33:09.519 --> 00:33:11.680
Would you take time to pray?
00:33:11.839 --> 00:33:14.240
James 5, 13 to 16 says this.
00:33:14.400 --> 00:33:16.240
I love this invitation to pray.
00:33:16.480 --> 00:33:18.960
It says, Is any among you in trouble?
00:33:19.200 --> 00:33:20.240
Let them pray.
00:33:20.559 --> 00:33:21.759
Is anyone happy?
00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:23.839
Let them sing songs of praise.
00:33:24.079 --> 00:33:26.160
Is anyone among you sick?
00:33:26.400 --> 00:33:31.920
Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.
00:33:32.079 --> 00:33:36.319
And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well.
00:33:36.559 --> 00:33:38.240
The Lord will raise them up.
00:33:38.400 --> 00:33:40.480
If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.
00:33:40.640 --> 00:33:42.799
Therefore, confess your sins to each other.
00:33:43.039 --> 00:33:45.759
Pray for each other so that you may be healed.
00:33:45.920 --> 00:33:50.799
And the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and it is effective.
00:33:51.039 --> 00:34:01.200
This is an invitation for us to pray over each other, to anoint each other when we are sick, when you have something that you're happy about, to sing songs of rejoicing.
00:34:01.359 --> 00:34:03.680
If you're in trouble, pray together.
00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:05.279
This is a partner thing.
00:34:05.440 --> 00:34:14.159
It says, uh it's it even says, if um, therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.
00:34:14.320 --> 00:34:29.519
Sometimes it's a confession of sin in your life to someone else, just an exposure of it, somebody that's a trusted source that God's like, I'm gonna step in and that healing's gonna flow now because they have released that thing to me and they have confessed.
00:34:29.599 --> 00:34:34.400
And in prayer together, partnered prayer, the healing begins to flow.
00:34:34.480 --> 00:34:37.679
The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and it is effective.
00:34:37.840 --> 00:34:40.880
We have invitations to pray, to call out to God.
00:34:41.039 --> 00:34:43.519
The invitation is, would you call out to me?
00:34:43.679 --> 00:34:47.119
Would you anoint people who are sick and pray a prayer of faith?
00:34:47.199 --> 00:34:53.280
And and the experience you will have is that I'm gonna show you things that are to come and you're gonna receive healing.
00:34:53.440 --> 00:34:54.559
You're gonna receive health.
00:34:54.719 --> 00:34:58.800
There's gonna be victory that you experience when you do these things.
00:34:58.960 --> 00:34:59.760
How about this?
00:34:59.920 --> 00:35:01.440
That was number four.
00:35:02.079 --> 00:35:05.039
Number five, an invitation for satisfaction.
00:35:05.280 --> 00:35:09.440
Revelation 22, 17 says, the spirit and the bride say, Come.
00:35:09.599 --> 00:35:11.599
Let anyone who hears this say, come.
00:35:12.000 --> 00:35:13.679
Let anyone who is thirsty come.
00:35:13.840 --> 00:35:17.679
Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.
00:35:17.840 --> 00:35:35.199
We talked about the the well that Jesus was talking about, the the water that would satisfy and that the woman at the well would never thirst again if she drank deeply from the water that gave life, that would become a stream that bubbled and flowed from her.
00:35:35.280 --> 00:35:39.440
And this was to drink deeply of the things of God and to be with Jesus.
00:35:39.599 --> 00:35:46.960
And in John 4, 13 and 14, where that came from, it says, Jesus replied, Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again.
00:35:47.119 --> 00:35:49.760
Speaking of the water from the physical well.
00:35:50.079 --> 00:35:54.960
But it um, but those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again.
00:35:55.039 --> 00:35:59.119
It becomes a fresh bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.
00:35:59.280 --> 00:36:00.639
What is the invitation?
00:36:00.880 --> 00:36:03.840
Come, just like it says in Revelation, drink.
00:36:04.239 --> 00:36:08.880
It's the same thing, it's the same invitation that I talked about earlier, uh, into intimacy.
00:36:09.199 --> 00:36:11.599
Drink from the things of the spirit.
00:36:11.760 --> 00:36:26.719
Be be so intoxicated, so to speak, with the spirit of God and that you you're so satisfied in life because the the things of the world no longer satisfy because you're so intoxicated by the things of the spirit.
00:36:26.800 --> 00:36:30.079
You pursue Jesus with all of who you are.
00:36:30.159 --> 00:36:33.360
You come to him thirsty and you drink and you drink.
00:36:33.599 --> 00:36:36.480
The last one is this, I believe it's number seven or a six.
00:36:36.719 --> 00:36:39.119
One, two, three, four, five, six.
00:36:39.280 --> 00:36:40.880
An invitation for partnered prayer.
00:36:40.960 --> 00:36:42.079
And there were so many more.
00:36:42.239 --> 00:36:48.960
I cut this down to just a handful of invitations that came to my spirit like this as I was thinking about it earlier this week.
00:36:49.199 --> 00:36:56.480
Matthew 18, 18 to 20 says this I tell you the truth, whenever whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven.
00:36:56.639 --> 00:37:00.719
Hallelujah! And whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.
00:37:00.800 --> 00:37:02.800
That is speaking to an authority piece.
00:37:02.960 --> 00:37:08.159
Uh the spirit of God in you is greater than anything that can come at you from this world.
00:37:08.239 --> 00:37:19.360
And so you get to forbid things and you get to permit things, and whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.
00:37:19.440 --> 00:37:20.960
And so then it says this.
00:37:21.280 --> 00:37:29.599
I also tell you this if two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my father in heaven will do it for you.
00:37:29.679 --> 00:37:34.159
For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.
00:37:34.400 --> 00:37:45.920
Partnered prayer is a powerful thing, and it kind of goes back to the James uh chapter five verse that I just read a little bit ago, that you can pray together and see things move.
00:37:46.400 --> 00:37:48.239
Spiritual math doesn't make sense.
00:37:48.400 --> 00:37:51.599
One can set a thousand to flight, two can set ten thousand to flight.
00:37:51.760 --> 00:37:54.159
That doesn't make sense, but that's what the word of God says.
00:37:54.400 --> 00:38:03.360
So when you are in a situation, or maybe you've been praying about something personally for a long time, but you've never asked somebody to join in with you.
00:38:03.519 --> 00:38:13.360
My encouragement to you is where two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my father in heaven will do it for you.
00:38:13.440 --> 00:38:28.559
And a quick testimony I shared with the church two years ago, prior to going to India one year, I had um not lost my hearing in my ear, but my my ear was very, very muffled, and it had been like that for a very long time.
00:38:28.719 --> 00:38:35.519
I don't even remember how long it was like that, but something had caused it, and I would constantly try in the physical to fix it.
00:38:35.599 --> 00:38:48.320
I would do one of these, you know, and try and like pop it, or I would blow my nose, or I'd do, and it was just one ear, and it was constant, and it had been for a long time, and I had been declaring all the scriptures I knew to declare.
00:38:48.480 --> 00:38:54.159
I had been standing on the word, I stayed in faith, I didn't doubt, and I was like, Lord, what gives?
00:38:54.239 --> 00:39:00.320
And we're sitting at Kalahari with our family, my kids are riding the water slides, my husband's with them.
00:39:00.480 --> 00:39:08.800
I was sitting in a chair watching the wave pool, just praying for a while, and I felt the Spirit of the Lord say, Why haven't you asked Zach to partner in prayer with you?
00:39:09.039 --> 00:39:11.920
Why have you not asked somebody else to pray about it?
00:39:12.079 --> 00:39:13.599
And I'm like, I don't know.
00:39:13.760 --> 00:39:20.639
And this verse came to my mind where two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my father in heaven will do it for you.
00:39:20.800 --> 00:39:22.559
And he's like, Why don't you partner up?
00:39:22.719 --> 00:39:29.119
Go find your husband and have him lay hands on your ear and command that thing to open and watch me work.
00:39:29.280 --> 00:39:30.800
And that's exactly what I did.
00:39:30.880 --> 00:39:38.159
And within minutes, within minutes, there was a crack, a pop, and a crackling, and my full hearing was restored.
00:39:38.239 --> 00:39:40.960
The muffled uh sensation was gone.
00:39:41.119 --> 00:39:49.119
And I went to India with a fresh perspective of what it's like to pray in agreement with God's uh people.
00:39:49.519 --> 00:39:51.920
You know, we partner in prayer all the time.
00:39:52.079 --> 00:39:55.599
Uh when we go to India, we partner up together and pray for people.
00:39:55.679 --> 00:39:58.800
Or, you know, people come and they're like, hey, pray for me, pray for me.
00:39:58.880 --> 00:40:01.599
And my faith, mixed with their faith, we see things happen.
00:40:01.679 --> 00:40:05.039
So why in the world would we try and just keep things to ourselves?
00:40:05.280 --> 00:40:11.840
God has given us um faith and he's given other people faith and and and let that thing be multiplied.
00:40:12.000 --> 00:40:14.960
Agree together and let the Father in heaven do the work.
00:40:15.119 --> 00:40:16.639
So that's the invitation.
00:40:16.960 --> 00:40:18.079
Partner in prayer.
00:40:18.239 --> 00:40:24.800
If there's something you're in need of, if there's something you're believing God for and you've kept it hush, hush for so long, stop.
00:40:26.639 --> 00:40:31.760
Like open up, go, go, go find a trusted person if you feel like it's a private thing.
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Go find somebody who's not gonna repeat it and keep it between you and the Lord and just to stand in faith, believing that God will do what he says.
00:40:40.480 --> 00:40:43.119
The invitation is, would you partner up?
00:40:43.360 --> 00:40:46.320
And the experience is the father responds.
00:40:47.039 --> 00:40:51.199
So I'm gonna reread to you the quote that I read at the beginning.
00:40:51.440 --> 00:40:55.679
An invitation only becomes an experience when you not only show up, but you step in.
00:40:55.840 --> 00:40:58.719
You have to walk through the door, you have to choose to engage.
00:40:58.880 --> 00:41:04.480
These are all biblical invitations that we see that day in and day out we can respond to.
00:41:04.639 --> 00:41:16.159
And I started with that corporate invitation to come into the presence, not feeling like you know exactly what's gonna happen, but saying, Holy Spirit, what do you want to do today?
00:41:16.320 --> 00:41:19.280
Because maybe it's gonna be a mix-up of the norm.
00:41:19.440 --> 00:41:20.719
And it should be exciting.
00:41:21.039 --> 00:41:28.480
We serve an exciting God, a God who wants to mix things up, shake things up, and and and uh just do exciting things all the time.
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All the time.
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I go out with the evangelism team with fresh expectation.
00:41:32.960 --> 00:41:36.000
Every single time I'm I go, we go to different locations.
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But when we do, it's always like, what do you got for us today?
00:41:39.199 --> 00:41:40.079
And that's exciting.
00:41:40.239 --> 00:41:45.599
That is the that is the attitude that we should carry every day we wake up.
00:41:45.760 --> 00:41:47.440
What do you got for me today, God?
00:41:47.599 --> 00:41:57.760
Like the invitation is walk with me, child, be intimate with me, be close to me, and I'm not gonna leave you, I'm not gonna forsake you.
00:41:57.920 --> 00:41:58.719
I am for you.
00:41:58.880 --> 00:42:00.400
Greater is he who's in you.
00:42:00.639 --> 00:42:05.920
These are the things that we experience when we walk with God, and and he does amazing things.
00:42:06.000 --> 00:42:24.719
And every day is, you know, I'm not trying to paint the picture that there's like, you know, uh a mountaintop every single day, but what I'm saying is there are you can even in the mundane life can stay exciting, full of joy, full of peace, full of expectation because you're walking it in sync with the spirit.
00:42:25.039 --> 00:42:26.800
So that's what I have for you today.
00:42:26.880 --> 00:42:28.320
I'm gonna pray a prayer, a blessing.
00:42:28.400 --> 00:42:37.760
I'm gonna pray that whatever God is inviting you into right now in your life, maybe he's opened an invitation for you to step out and begin to build something.
00:42:37.920 --> 00:42:40.880
And he's like, hey, this is partnership.
00:42:41.039 --> 00:42:48.400
I've given you creativity, I've given you ideas, I've given you um just something to stir in your spirit.
00:42:48.480 --> 00:42:51.599
Now you have to partner with me and do the building.
00:42:51.840 --> 00:42:54.880
You have to apply some of the things that I've taught you.
00:42:55.039 --> 00:43:01.119
You have to lean into me and not your own understanding so that you know who to connect with.
00:43:01.360 --> 00:43:05.760
You have to, you know, maybe God's inviting you just into that intimacy piece.
00:43:05.920 --> 00:43:08.320
Maybe he's inviting you into the partnered prayer piece.
00:43:08.480 --> 00:43:15.920
Maybe he's inviting you into a place where you trust him more and you surrender more and more and you surrender that control piece.
00:43:16.159 --> 00:43:16.800
Amen.
00:43:17.119 --> 00:43:22.639
Whatever it is, I pray the Holy Spirit uh just customizes this word for your heart today.
00:43:22.880 --> 00:43:25.199
Father, I thank you for every person who has tuned in.
00:43:25.280 --> 00:43:26.800
I bless them in the name of Jesus.
00:43:26.960 --> 00:43:40.639
I thank you that we will be people that not only know the invitation that you've given us and the biblical invitations, God, over and over and over again in scripture, there are invitations, but that invitation is participatory.
00:43:40.800 --> 00:43:51.360
And so, Father, I pray that you would give us the desire to participate in what it is that you've invited us to, so that we will fully experience everything you have for us, God.
00:43:51.519 --> 00:43:59.920
For the word of God says, the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come to give life and to give it to the fullest.
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Father, we want a fullness in our life, and we know that the invitation is to do life with you and not on our own.
00:44:07.519 --> 00:44:15.679
So help us, Holy Spirit, to do that, to respond to the invitation, to show up, to step in, and to experience in fullness what you have.
00:44:15.840 --> 00:44:17.679
In Jesus' name I pray.
00:44:18.000 --> 00:44:18.639
Amen.
00:44:18.800 --> 00:44:19.760
I love you all.
00:44:19.920 --> 00:44:23.599
Have a wonderful rest of your week, and I'll see you next time.
00:44:28.079 --> 00:44:35.519
Welcome to Know It Live It with Ashton McDonald, where we will open God's word together and let us think from our head to our heart.
00:44:35.760 --> 00:44:39.840
Your faith will be built, your spirit strengthened, and your mind renewed.
00:44:40.159 --> 00:44:45.119
Let's get equipped, let's be encouraged, and let's accept the challenge to grow together.
00:44:45.440 --> 00:44:48.960
Rather a cup of coffee or green tea or whatever fits your fancy.
00:44:49.199 --> 00:45:02.559
Your Bible, a notebook in the head, and let's grow up.
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Welcome to know it to Father McDonald's or to the open thoughts for each other and let us take from our heads to our heart.
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Your faith will be built, your parents are my friends, and your mind will be in the country.
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Let's get it less, let's be encouraged, and let's accept the challenge to grow together.
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Grab your cup of coffee, a green tea, or whatever fits your fancy.
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Your Bible, a notebook in the head, and let it grow.
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Well, good afternoon, my lovely friends.
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How are we doing on this beautiful day that God has given us?
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I it will never grow old to just be thankful for the beauty of God's creation.
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I just read somebody posted today that we look at God's creation, we look at his sunset, we look at the sunrise, we look at the mountains and the ocean and all of the beauty that God created, we look at it in awe and in wonder.
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And then sometimes we look at ourself and we look at our body in disgust as if he did not make both things.
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And so that like struck me right here.
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I'm like, okay, Lord, I see you, I hear what you're saying.
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I can see out my window right now big white, fluffy sky, uh clouds and blue skies, and just the beauty of creation all around us literally speaks that we serve a mighty and creative God, an artist, really.
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And yet we are the ones that were created in his image.
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In fact, when he made creation, he kept kind of coming to the end of a day and saying, you know, that's good, that's good, that's good.
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What I made, he kept putting his own stamp of approval on what he created, and then he created man in his image, and and he created um woman from the side of man, and he breathed life into them, and he's like, That's that's very good.
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So just know that you are a beautiful creation that God has woven together, and you are uniquely made and you're special, and so yeah, that's a freebie today because that's not even what we're talking about.
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But I don't know, I just can't like I the older I get, I just told one of my kids this the other day, the older I get, the more I'm like, I have such an appreciation for summer, and um kind of wish that we lived in a state where it is sunny year-round, but it gives me a huge appreciation for seasons and the close of one season and the opening of another.
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And I know we're not even technically to the start of summer yet by the date, but man, we've had some amazing temperatures here, and so I hope you are enjoying your start to the summer, end of your spring.
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Uh, busy months have maybe passed by at this point.
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Can you believe we only have like five and a half months left of this year, six months left of this year?
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It's absolutely insane to think about.
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Uh, I feel like time just goes faster and faster the older you get.
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And it's not cliche, it's not just like sound good to say that.
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No, it's it's true.
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It's like you blink and the years have gone by.
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And so I hope that you're making good use of your time.
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It's so easy, so easy in the summer months to kind of kick things into, you know, um, neutral, so to speak, but our bodies can be at rest and our spirit can still be awake and receiving and hungry and satisfying, you know, satisfied, but always wanting more of the Lord.
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And so I encourage you, don't let your spirit fall asleep.
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Don't don't uh go not hungry for more of the Lord and what he has for you this summer.
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Maybe he's called you in this season to actually grind and work and invest and sew and build something that he's called you to.
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Uh, just let let there be a wind in your sails from the Holy Spirit as you do that.
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Again, that was a freebie, not even what we're talking about today.
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But I am thankful to be with you.
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I uh have a word today on invitations.
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And this is something the Lord dropped in my spirit Sunday morning.
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We're worshiping, and I just kind of like this whole idea of invitations began to run through my brain, and I processed for the next 48 hours with the Lord and just meditated on it.
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There was a specific part to the invitation piece that had to do with the corporate setting, corporate worship.
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And that was what I was really focused on.
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But as I took the next 48 hours to sit with the Lord on this, uh it he expanded the word.
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And so I shared a portion of this with Intercessory Prayer Women Tuesday morning, and I thought, why not share with you all?
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Because I believe that it is a simple yet needed reminder.
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And so that's what we're gonna talk about today.
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We're gonna talk about invitations, and so why don't we pray to get started and then we will get into the word.
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Father, I thank you for this glorious day.
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I thank you for these beautiful people created in your image that are tuned in and listening and ready to receive the word of the Lord.
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I ask that you would open our spiritual ears to hear what the Spirit of God is saying, and you will open our spiritual eyes to see what the Spirit of God wants to show us.
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That we would be open to receive everything that you want to teach us today.
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We thank you for your word that brings life and that sheds light into dark spaces.
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We thank you, Father, uh, for all of the invitations that you've given us, Lord, the biblical invitations that we get to respond to.
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Father, I pray that you would wake us up in our spirit, that we would be ready to respond with excitement and eagerness.
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And we just give you this time in Jesus' name.
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Amen.
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All right, friends.
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Like I said, it was Sunday morning, just this last Sunday.
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We're worshiping, and uh the Holy Spirit just nudged me and said, you know, when you get an invitation somewhere, you get to choose to respond to the invitation.
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First, you have to accept the invitation, you have to open the invitation, you have to read it, and you should respond.
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And then when you respond, you're either responding that you're gonna show up or you're responding that you can't come.
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But when you respond that you're gonna show up, it's very important that you also step in.
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And that is the part that I got hung up on Sunday morning was that God gives us an in an invitation into his presence every time we're in a corporate setting.
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We have an invitation to step in to his presence because many of us can show up Sunday after Sunday after Sunday to a church service, and we can show up but not fully engage or step in.
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And so we actually miss out on the experience of what God has for us.
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And so I was thinking about this.
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I was thinking about the ways that sometimes we show up, but we don't fully engage in what God has for us.
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We don't step in to what he's doing.
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So we just know kind of what's familiar.
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We go through the time that we're there and then we leave.
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And are we really changed?
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Are we really, you know, God invites us in where two or three are gathered, he is there.
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When we lift up praises to God, it says that he actually inhabits and lives in and rests in the praises of his people.
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But we actually get to choose whether or not when he comes and he rests and he settles in a place, we get to choose whether or not we are stepping into that presence and engaging with him, or if we're just gonna show up.
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It's like when you go to a party and you don't get the full experience if you show up and you stand on the wall, you become a wallflower the whole time.
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You don't ever engage with people, you don't ever do the games or the activities or the engage in the festivities of what you've been invited to.
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You you show up, but you don't get the experience.
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Let me explain something.
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You're definitely not gonna get the experience if you at least don't open the door and walk through.
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But the full experience happens when you step in and you engage in what God has for you.
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And so I was thinking about this, and yes, this applies to a corporate setting.
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Yes, this applies to corporate worship.
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This applies to even when God invites us to a space of feasting from his table.
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Listen, when he prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies, there's a table prepared.
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We get to come to the table and we get to feast.
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Part of the feasting, I think, occurs when you enter into a space where you are being taught the word of God.
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You can feast and you can feast and you can feast because the word of God is bread, the word of God is nutrition, the word of God brings a source of satisfaction.
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And so you can choose to engage with the person who is preaching the word of God.
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You can choose to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you.
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You can choose to show up and listen.
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But are you also stepping in and saying, Holy Spirit, take this word and apply it to my life?
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Take this word and meld it to what you want to do in me.
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Take this word and let me chew on it.
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Let me process it.
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Let me digest what you're saying because you can be present and not fully experience what God wants for you.
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Or you can actually just choose to not show up at all.
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Some of us get invitations and it feels a little bit more like an obligation than a desire to want to go.
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But we have a choice in every matter.
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You can choose to still show up and and something when you choose to heed to the the uh the nudging of the spirit, like, hey, why don't you put away your cell phone?
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Why don't you put the coffee down while while you're worshiping?
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Because there's a lot more freedom that comes when you don't have distractions.
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There's a lot more freedom that comes when you maybe close your eyes to get rid of distractions, maybe raise your hands as a sign of surrender and a sign of like, God, what do you want to do in me?
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Maybe you choose to open your mouth and sing because he's worthy of our praise.
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And and and so maybe it's been uncomfortable because you're like, I don't have a good voice.
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And God's like, would you just, would you just give me what I deserve?
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Like a little bit of some praise, a little bit of some worship.
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You know, so you can choose to still show up and not step in or engage.
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Now, I've been talking about this invitation in a corporate setting, but as I processed this word, I really felt like the Lord unpacked it from a very personal standpoint as well, like individually, where are we invited in scripture, biblically speaking, where are biblical invitations offered over and over and over again?
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Where we can choose to receive it, accept it, open it, respond to it, show up, step in, engage, and then fully experience.
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That is literally the order of invitation.
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What is an invitation?
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It's often a formal request to be present or to participate.
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Thank you, Webster.
00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:57.039
Miriam Webster, that is the definition I looked up, and often a formal request to be present or to participate.
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So that means when you receive an invitation, it's not a one-sided thing.
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You have to respond and you have to participate.
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But this is what I want you to hear me say today: an invitation only becomes an experience when you not only show up, but you step in.
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You have to walk through the door and engage.
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An invitation only becomes an experience when you do those things.
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Otherwise, it's quite literally something that you can be invited and still never experience or encounter what it is that you've been invited to.
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There's a participation piece.
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And so I was just thinking about this, and like I said, I think it's easy in a corporate setting to, you know, we prayed into this a little bit on Tuesday morning as I shared this with the women at prayer, but I think it's easy to um revert to, you know, what you know to do.
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Um, I actually opened by saying that the temptation would be to allow that which you know works to just kind of be that which you follow.
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You grow a little bit accustomed and numb to even the ability to be in the presence of God.
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Like, I don't think, I just had an India team meeting this last week, and I don't think that we fully understand as the body of Christ in America the freedoms that we have to be in the presence of God in a place where we can be expressive, where we can openly declare the word of God and offer an invitation to salvation and into a relationship with Jesus without fear of the persecution that other countries and nations face.
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You know, India is a closed country.
00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:00.399
There are anti-conversion laws there.
00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:09.200
You're not supposed to convert people from one religion to Christianity, you're not supposed to even preach Jesus on the streets.
00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:14.240
There's, there's, um, it's not, it's not, you can't do that.
00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:32.000
So when the believers come together in India, what I experience is there's always a fresh appreciation for I get to serve Jesus and I know that He is here, He's with me, He's for me.
00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:33.600
They're engaged.
00:14:33.840 --> 00:14:36.159
And I'm not saying that the church here is not.
00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:48.799
What I'm saying is, do we, is there the temptation in front of us to potentially grow accustomed to this is just kind of a privilege we have, this is just kind of like an honor we have, it's just kind of a freedom we have.
00:14:48.960 --> 00:15:03.600
And God is like, don't revert to muscle memory of what you know to do when you show up on a Sunday morning or a Wednesday night or a Friday night or whatever, like to any form of a worship corporate setting.
00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:06.399
Don't just take it for granted.
00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:16.559
Don't just revert to what you know works and then it just boom, you're you've ex you've experienced it in the way that you know to experience it, because we don't serve a God that is like that.
00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:24.000
We serve a God who is so creative, so unique, and wants to constantly be doing a fresh and a new work.
00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:32.960
So we can actually invite the presence of God, we can be in the presence of God, and it actually says in scripture that we are not to quench the spirit.
00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:45.360
That means we're not supposed to then uh basically take a wet blanket to the presence of the Holy Spirit, the fire of the spirit that's present, and then just put it out because we have our order that we need to get through.
00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:47.840
How does this even relate to invitation?
00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:53.840
What I'm saying is we can show up and just check the boxes of what we know to do.
00:15:54.000 --> 00:16:07.919
We revert to muscle memory and think, okay, we've got this figured out, and we edge God out, we edge the Holy Spirit out to the point where it's like we're not actually stepping into what the Holy Spirit wants to do.
00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:13.200
We think we know what the Holy Spirit wants to do, so we just kind of do what, we just do that.
00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:33.519
So this teaching is more for those of you who who have a relationship with the Lord, that you go to church because you're connected to a body that you believe it's important to do what Hebrews 10 tells us to do, to don't forsake the assembling of God's people, but do it even more so as you see the day approaching.
00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:37.840
You have this hunger and this desire and this zeal to go to the house of God.
00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:41.519
You know, this is like important for us to remember.
00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:44.879
We don't just show up, we step in, we engage.
00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:47.519
Holy Spirit, what do you want to do in this moment?
00:16:47.679 --> 00:16:50.960
We don't revert to what we think we know he wants to do.
00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:58.159
We stay, we stay sensitive to what it is that he's doing in the moment.
00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:12.480
How many of you go to like different things like baby showers and wedding showers and birthday parties and you know, you go to those with an idea, you show up with an idea of what you think the order of events might be.
00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:20.160
You know, well, at a baby shower, sometimes you welcome the guests and then you eat and then you play some games and then you open gifts.
00:17:20.319 --> 00:17:28.559
Yes, but what if you went to a unique shower that they started by just praying blessings over the mama?
00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:34.880
And you know, they there was just a different, there was a shakeup, so to speak, and they didn't even have games.
00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:45.440
Maybe because there was like some creative, like you took time to write uh blessings over that child that they would open the day that they turned 13, or you know, whatever it was.
00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:57.920
It was like, but you when you went to something that would be atypical, so to speak, I'm sure it would make an impact on you because something took place that was unexpected.
00:17:58.160 --> 00:18:07.039
If we went with that mentality and with that openness to the Spirit of God every time we went to a corporate gathering, Holy Spirit, what exciting thing do you want to do today?
00:18:07.119 --> 00:18:08.400
How do you want to shake things up?
00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:09.920
What how what do you want to speak?
00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:14.880
What person am I supposed to be potentially praying over and blessing?
00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:18.799
What word do you have of encouragement that I could give to my sister in Christ?
00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:21.119
What do you want to, what do you want to sharpen in me?
00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:23.200
What do you want to reveal in my own life?
00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:34.799
You know, if we went with that expectation, we respond to the invitation to come to the house of the Lord and then we we step in and we don't just show up, we step in to Holy Spirit.
00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:38.000
What are you doing so we stay in sync with the Holy Spirit?
00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:39.920
It's so important.
00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:46.480
We serve a God that is so much more exciting than just mundane ritual religion.
00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:57.359
We serve a God who has an invitation for us to receive and open, respond to, show up for, and step into and engage.
00:18:57.440 --> 00:19:01.279
And it's week in, week out, day in, day out.
00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:05.039
It's not just for the corporate setting, it's for us personally.
00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:14.079
And I want to share with you a couple of biblical invitations that will apply to us individually every single day.
00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:22.960
There's an invitation for exchange, and we see this in Matthew 11, 28 and 1 Peter 5, 7.
00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:26.880
I want you to write those verses down and I'm going to read them to you.
00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:28.720
We're going to go through these kind of quickly.
00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:30.640
An invitation for exchange.
00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:31.920
This is number one.
00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:43.920
It says in Matthew 11, 28, then Jesus said, Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:46.559
Take my yoke upon you.
00:19:46.799 --> 00:19:59.680
Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give to you is light.
00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:03.519
This is an invitation for exchange, people.
00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:11.039
Those of you that are walking through something that feels heavy and hard, or it has the potential to get that way.
00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:22.079
God is saying to you in this passage in Matthew chapter 11, come to me, all of you who are weak and weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:26.880
You bring to me the heavy stuff, and I give you rest.
00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:33.920
I give you my yoke and my burden because it is easy to bear and it is light.
00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:44.240
So you're literally bringing the heavy things to me and you're making an exchange and you're taking the yoke and the and the burden, which is light and easy, that I give you.
00:20:44.400 --> 00:20:50.160
You see, when you make this exchange, it happens because you respond to an invitation.
00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:51.839
He says, Come to me.
00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:56.960
It means don't strive in your own ways to carry the heaviness.
00:20:57.119 --> 00:20:58.480
He says, Come to me.
00:20:58.720 --> 00:20:59.920
Do you know what that means?
00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:03.200
When when my husband says, Hey, Ashley, I need your help.
00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:04.559
Would you come out here?
00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:05.839
What do I have to do?
00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:08.160
I I don't just answer from the kitchen.
00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:09.039
What do you want?
00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:10.160
What do you need?
00:21:10.319 --> 00:21:13.119
Maybe if I'm in the middle of cooking, I try and get an idea.
00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:15.759
But if he says, come here, I need your help.
00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:19.839
I know that there's something that I need to partner with him in.
00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:22.799
And it's not gonna happen with me at a distance.
00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:25.200
I have to physically come to him.
00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:34.880
Just as Jesus had to withdraw to get into a place with his heavenly father, so he knew what to do next and he stayed about the father's business.
00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:38.960
So God is inviting you into a place where you have to come to him.
00:21:39.359 --> 00:21:43.279
You have to withdraw from the worries of the world and spend time with him.
00:21:43.359 --> 00:21:47.440
And he says, When you bring your heavy things, I give you light things.
00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:56.160
It actually says, because I said this invitation thing, you have to show up, step in, and there's a participation piece in the very definition of it.
00:21:56.319 --> 00:21:59.839
It actually says, let me, it says, take my yoke upon you.
00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:00.880
You.
00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:06.640
Your participation piece is to do exactly what 1 Peter 5, 7 says.
00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:17.599
I'm partnering these two verses, Matthew 11, 28, and 1 Peter 5, 7 says, give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.
00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:19.599
He cares about you.
00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:27.039
He is not a God in heaven who is distant, far off, and sometimes you're throwing up a prayer hoping that it sticks.
00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:30.400
He is a God who says, Would you make an exchange?
00:22:30.480 --> 00:22:36.000
I'm inviting you into a place where you can come to me with your heavy, hard things.
00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:39.680
You can come to me weak and weary, and you can make the exchange.
00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:51.200
You take my yoke upon you, which is light and easy, and you cast your cares upon me, and I do the heavy lifting, and you walk away with a lightness in your spirit.
00:22:51.359 --> 00:22:55.039
You see, this cannot happen if you're full of pride.
00:22:55.279 --> 00:22:58.000
This cannot happen if you're self-sufficient.
00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:04.400
This cannot happen if you choose to continue to do what you think you know works.
00:23:04.880 --> 00:23:06.880
You have to choose to make the exchange.
00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:09.359
This is an invitation that God gives us.
00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:12.880
He also gives us, number two, an invitation for intimacy.
00:23:13.200 --> 00:23:22.640
In James chapter 4, verses 7 and 8, it says, therefore submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:26.160
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:32.960
Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded people.
00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:36.079
This is an invitation for intimacy.
00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:38.559
Well, how do you how do you see that, Ashley?
00:23:38.880 --> 00:23:41.920
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:49.599
How many of you know it is really hard to have any form of intimacy without connection and closeness?
00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:58.240
You cannot, I I've told you in past episodes my story, my love story, how Zach and I met each other.
00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:03.279
I told you all about our relationship and how it developed.
00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:06.319
You can go back and watch that from a past episode if you want.
00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:14.960
But the the short story is we spent uh the better part of six months.
00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:18.880
Let's see, November, December, January, February, March, April.
00:24:19.839 --> 00:24:28.799
Yeah, like six months uh or so before we actually um decided to, you know, make it official and date.
00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:34.000
But the connectedness was not through the proximity.
00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:39.759
We were constantly spending time on the phone together because he lived in Rhode Island and I lived in Ohio.
00:24:39.920 --> 00:24:41.680
And so how did we get to know each other?
00:24:41.839 --> 00:24:44.079
We had to call, we had to be intentional.
00:24:44.240 --> 00:24:46.160
We'd stay up late into the night.
00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:53.359
I mean, he would wait until I started snoring and falling asleep on the phone before he would hang up, sometimes three and four in the morning.
00:24:53.519 --> 00:24:57.039
But there was an intentionality that he had and that I had.
00:24:57.200 --> 00:24:59.119
We wanted to get to know each other.
00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:07.599
We wanted to have an intimate relationship with one another, not physically before we were married, but we wanted to know each other.
00:25:07.839 --> 00:25:10.720
We wanted to know the ins and the outs of one another.
00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:13.680
We wanted to know what made you tick what made him tick.
00:25:13.759 --> 00:25:24.400
I wanted to know what you know what his passions were, what his desires were, what uh what his hobbies were, what his interests were, what things he didn't like, what things like how do you know these things?
00:25:24.559 --> 00:25:28.079
You think you know somebody because you watch a highlight reel on Instagram.
00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:29.519
It doesn't work that way.
00:25:29.759 --> 00:25:33.119
You have to have connectedness, you have to have closeness.
00:25:33.359 --> 00:25:41.200
This is an invitation from God Himself to us as believers that says, therefore submit to God.
00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:46.720
Submission is is like we, what is it that he wants from us?
00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:48.319
We do those things.
00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:52.880
And part of that says, draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
00:25:52.960 --> 00:25:54.720
This is the participation piece.
00:25:54.960 --> 00:26:05.920
You will not fully experience an intimacy with God without responding to this invitation to draw near to him.
00:26:06.960 --> 00:26:09.839
You can show up in your quiet space.
00:26:10.079 --> 00:26:11.680
You know, I've said this before.
00:26:11.839 --> 00:26:18.400
So many people have this idea that intimacy with God is, you know, you wake up at 5:30 a.m.
00:26:18.640 --> 00:26:33.200
and you set your quiet music on and you have your highlighters out and you have your Bible open and your mug of coffee and you have a candle lit and the quiet music playing, and all of a sudden you can show up into this space and you're like, okay, God, here I am.
00:26:33.599 --> 00:26:47.759
And you can sit with him, you can be quiet before him, you can rest in that space, but I think people show up sometimes, and that is like the it's more about the atmosphere rather than the intimacy.
00:26:47.920 --> 00:26:49.440
And God's like, time out.
00:26:49.599 --> 00:26:51.839
You can it's more about the connection piece.
00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:53.599
Are you actually digging into my word?
00:26:53.839 --> 00:26:59.119
Are you actually uh communicating with me and calling out to me and drawing close to me?
00:26:59.279 --> 00:27:03.599
Are you so invested in what you're reading that you're allowing the Holy Spirit to teach you?
00:27:03.759 --> 00:27:07.519
Or are you checking off a box that that looked good for social media?
00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:08.480
Now I'm done.
00:27:08.640 --> 00:27:09.119
I'm done.
00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:14.079
And then you go about the rest of your day and you don't even, you don't even bring God into what you're doing.
00:27:14.400 --> 00:27:19.839
And God's like, no, draw near to me again and again and again and again.
00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:21.279
You can start that way.
00:27:21.440 --> 00:27:24.319
If you have that whole aesthetic look, I'm not against it.
00:27:24.799 --> 00:27:33.440
I love at times, especially cozy in the winter, you light the candle and you do have the quiet music on, and maybe snow's falling, and you're like, you're with it.
00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:35.519
You're you're in that space with the Lord.
00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:40.880
But God is saying, after you exit that space, so to speak, take me with you.
00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:42.720
Draw near to me in the car.
00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:46.160
Worship me in spirit and in truth when you're in the shower.
00:27:46.400 --> 00:27:56.079
Draw near to me as you're as you're walking your dog, draw near to me as you're wiping a child's butt and you're cleaning the dishes and you're washing the dishes.
00:27:56.319 --> 00:27:58.640
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
00:27:58.799 --> 00:28:00.319
It's about connection.
00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:03.599
It's not always about proximity and closeness.
00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:07.839
Now, did Zach and I move to be together and be closer to each other?
00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:09.440
Yes, I moved out to Rhode Island.
00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:13.359
I worked for the school, I took classes at the school, we had a proximity then.
00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:18.960
We went on dates, we got to hold hands finally, woo-hoo, and and lock lips, and it was awesome.
00:28:19.119 --> 00:28:20.559
Woo-hoo, praise the Lord.
00:28:20.720 --> 00:28:28.319
Um, but there was already a closeness and an intimacy because I had spent time getting to know who Zach was.
00:28:28.559 --> 00:28:33.119
And then finally, we tied the knot, we made it official, we just celebrated 20 years.
00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:34.880
I love you, Zachary James.
00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:36.319
You are my person.
00:28:36.880 --> 00:28:39.920
Uh, but this is an invitation for intimacy.
00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:42.240
You don't get to experience God.
00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:48.240
You can show up and still not step into his presence and still not step into what the Spirit is saying and doing.
00:28:48.400 --> 00:28:50.559
Don't just show up, step in.
00:28:50.720 --> 00:28:56.240
What is God wanting you to know day in and day out as you connect with him?
00:28:56.559 --> 00:28:59.359
There's also an invitation in scripture to trust, okay?
00:28:59.519 --> 00:29:04.160
Proverbs 3, 5 through 8 says this: trust in the Lord with all of your heart.
00:29:04.319 --> 00:29:09.039
Lean not on your own understanding in all of your ways, all of your ways.
00:29:09.200 --> 00:29:12.799
Acknowledge God, and he will direct your paths.
00:29:13.039 --> 00:29:17.359
Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil.
00:29:17.519 --> 00:29:21.759
It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones.
00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:22.799
Hallelujah.
00:29:23.119 --> 00:29:24.640
Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
00:29:24.720 --> 00:29:25.920
This is an invitation.
00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:29.920
Not with a portion of who you are, with all of who you are.
00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:31.440
Do you trust God?
00:29:31.759 --> 00:29:33.519
Do you trust him with your children?
00:29:34.160 --> 00:29:34.559
Mamas?
00:29:35.839 --> 00:29:39.680
This is one I have had to grow in over the years as a mother.
00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:43.200
Do you trust him with the ministry he's called you to?
00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:47.359
Do you trust him with the business that he has planted in your heart?
00:29:47.519 --> 00:29:49.119
Do you trust him with your finances?
00:29:49.279 --> 00:29:50.799
Do you trust him with your marriage?
00:29:50.960 --> 00:29:53.440
Do you trust him with your possessions?
00:29:53.680 --> 00:29:55.519
Do you tr that aren't yours anyways?
00:29:55.680 --> 00:29:56.240
They're from him.
00:29:56.640 --> 00:29:59.039
Do you trust him with relationships?
00:29:59.200 --> 00:30:09.920
Or do you try and manipulate him to make sure that these things look the way that you want them to look under the guise that God's got it?
00:30:10.160 --> 00:30:13.440
But really, you're the one controlling every single thing.
00:30:13.680 --> 00:30:19.759
Do you trust him fully or are you trusting him in a controlled manner?
00:30:20.160 --> 00:30:21.440
That is a question for you.
00:30:21.599 --> 00:30:27.839
The invitation is to trust him with all of who you are, all of your heart, to not lean on your own understanding.
00:30:28.079 --> 00:30:29.839
Acknowledge him in everything.
00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:37.440
I just put a post up on Instagram about this the other day that we can so easily edge God out of things that we think we have figured out.
00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:49.519
It's so easy when we think that we know how a relationship ticks and this is what works, and God's trying to get us to stir things up and to, you know, address situations in different manners.
00:30:49.599 --> 00:31:02.880
Or, you know, he's trying to soften different parts of our heart, but we're so used to responding the way we have because we function in what's comfortable instead of what God's trying to uh heal instead of what he's trying to fix.
00:31:03.039 --> 00:31:04.799
Um, you know, we edge God out.
00:31:04.880 --> 00:31:08.240
We're like, we got this, we got this in all of your ways.
00:31:08.400 --> 00:31:09.279
Acknowledge him.
00:31:09.680 --> 00:31:12.559
Not in some of your ways, in all of your ways.
00:31:12.799 --> 00:31:14.799
Lean not on your own understanding.
00:31:14.960 --> 00:31:16.319
Don't edge God out of things.
00:31:16.480 --> 00:31:28.480
Bring him into everything, every relationship, every problem, every issue, every good thing in your life, that even you're like, God, this seems like an absolute blessing.
00:31:28.720 --> 00:31:30.000
I thank you for it.
00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:32.559
Now, show me what to do with it.
00:31:32.720 --> 00:31:34.799
Show me maybe it's a financial blessing.
00:31:34.960 --> 00:31:37.839
Maybe it is an open door of opportunity.
00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:40.079
Maybe it is ask God.
00:31:40.319 --> 00:31:44.000
He's the one who's opening the doors and bringing the blessings, anyways.
00:31:44.240 --> 00:31:45.359
Bring God into things.
00:31:45.519 --> 00:31:49.359
In all of your ways, acknowledge him, and he will direct your path.
00:31:49.519 --> 00:31:51.920
This is a participatory invitation.
00:31:52.160 --> 00:31:57.519
He's saying, trust me, acknowledge me, and then your path will be straight.
00:31:57.759 --> 00:31:59.839
Depart from evil, right?
00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:09.759
Don't be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord, get rid of the evil, fear God instead, and it will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones.
00:32:10.079 --> 00:32:21.279
We receive an experience in our life that can be completely different than that that people of the world experience when we bring God into things instead of edge him out and leave him out.
00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:23.359
This is an invitation to trust God.
00:32:23.519 --> 00:32:24.319
That was number three.
00:32:24.480 --> 00:32:26.240
Number four, an invitation to pray.
00:32:26.400 --> 00:32:27.920
Jeremiah 33, 3.
00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:29.279
I quote this all the time.
00:32:29.519 --> 00:32:36.000
Call to me and I will answer you, and I sh I will show you great and mighty things which you do not know.
00:32:36.160 --> 00:32:38.000
This is an important piece.
00:32:38.240 --> 00:32:42.240
This is a honestly, this embodies a spirit of humility.
00:32:42.559 --> 00:32:49.119
God, I need you to help me in this because I don't know these things that are to come.
00:32:49.279 --> 00:32:51.759
I don't know how to fix this situation.
00:32:51.920 --> 00:32:52.799
I need your help.
00:32:52.880 --> 00:32:54.319
And God says, Would you call to me?
00:32:54.400 --> 00:32:55.599
Because I'll answer you.
00:32:55.839 --> 00:32:58.640
Would you, would you ask me to show you things?
00:32:58.720 --> 00:33:00.400
Because I will, because that's what it says.
00:33:00.559 --> 00:33:06.240
The invitation is don't just open the invitation of calling to me and I'll answer you.
00:33:06.319 --> 00:33:07.119
I'm going to show you things.
00:33:07.200 --> 00:33:08.240
Don't just open it.
00:33:08.480 --> 00:33:09.359
Step into that.
00:33:09.519 --> 00:33:11.680
Would you take time to pray?
00:33:11.839 --> 00:33:14.240
James 5, 13 to 16 says this.
00:33:14.400 --> 00:33:16.240
I love this invitation to pray.
00:33:16.480 --> 00:33:18.960
It says, Is any among you in trouble?
00:33:19.200 --> 00:33:20.240
Let them pray.
00:33:20.559 --> 00:33:21.759
Is anyone happy?
00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:23.839
Let them sing songs of praise.
00:33:24.079 --> 00:33:26.160
Is anyone among you sick?
00:33:26.400 --> 00:33:31.920
Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.
00:33:32.079 --> 00:33:36.319
And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well.
00:33:36.559 --> 00:33:38.240
The Lord will raise them up.
00:33:38.400 --> 00:33:40.480
If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.
00:33:40.640 --> 00:33:42.799
Therefore, confess your sins to each other.
00:33:43.039 --> 00:33:45.759
Pray for each other so that you may be healed.
00:33:45.920 --> 00:33:50.799
And the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and it is effective.
00:33:51.039 --> 00:34:01.200
This is an invitation for us to pray over each other, to anoint each other when we are sick, when you have something that you're happy about, to sing songs of rejoicing.
00:34:01.359 --> 00:34:03.680
If you're in trouble, pray together.
00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:05.279
This is a partner thing.
00:34:05.440 --> 00:34:14.159
It says, uh it's it even says, if um, therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.
00:34:14.320 --> 00:34:29.519
Sometimes it's a confession of sin in your life to someone else, just an exposure of it, somebody that's a trusted source that God's like, I'm gonna step in and that healing's gonna flow now because they have released that thing to me and they have confessed.
00:34:29.599 --> 00:34:34.400
And in prayer together, partnered prayer, the healing begins to flow.
00:34:34.480 --> 00:34:37.679
The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and it is effective.
00:34:37.840 --> 00:34:40.880
We have invitations to pray, to call out to God.
00:34:41.039 --> 00:34:43.519
The invitation is, would you call out to me?
00:34:43.679 --> 00:34:47.119
Would you anoint people who are sick and pray a prayer of faith?
00:34:47.199 --> 00:34:53.280
And and the experience you will have is that I'm gonna show you things that are to come and you're gonna receive healing.
00:34:53.440 --> 00:34:54.559
You're gonna receive health.
00:34:54.719 --> 00:34:58.800
There's gonna be victory that you experience when you do these things.
00:34:58.960 --> 00:34:59.760
How about this?
00:34:59.920 --> 00:35:01.440
That was number four.
00:35:02.079 --> 00:35:05.039
Number five, an invitation for satisfaction.
00:35:05.280 --> 00:35:09.440
Revelation 22, 17 says, the spirit and the bride say, Come.
00:35:09.599 --> 00:35:11.599
Let anyone who hears this say, come.
00:35:12.000 --> 00:35:13.679
Let anyone who is thirsty come.
00:35:13.840 --> 00:35:17.679
Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.
00:35:17.840 --> 00:35:35.199
We talked about the the well that Jesus was talking about, the the water that would satisfy and that the woman at the well would never thirst again if she drank deeply from the water that gave life, that would become a stream that bubbled and flowed from her.
00:35:35.280 --> 00:35:39.440
And this was to drink deeply of the things of God and to be with Jesus.
00:35:39.599 --> 00:35:46.960
And in John 4, 13 and 14, where that came from, it says, Jesus replied, Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again.
00:35:47.119 --> 00:35:49.760
Speaking of the water from the physical well.
00:35:50.079 --> 00:35:54.960
But it um, but those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again.
00:35:55.039 --> 00:35:59.119
It becomes a fresh bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.
00:35:59.280 --> 00:36:00.639
What is the invitation?
00:36:00.880 --> 00:36:03.840
Come, just like it says in Revelation, drink.
00:36:04.239 --> 00:36:08.880
It's the same thing, it's the same invitation that I talked about earlier, uh, into intimacy.
00:36:09.199 --> 00:36:11.599
Drink from the things of the spirit.
00:36:11.760 --> 00:36:26.719
Be be so intoxicated, so to speak, with the spirit of God and that you you're so satisfied in life because the the things of the world no longer satisfy because you're so intoxicated by the things of the spirit.
00:36:26.800 --> 00:36:30.079
You pursue Jesus with all of who you are.
00:36:30.159 --> 00:36:33.360
You come to him thirsty and you drink and you drink.
00:36:33.599 --> 00:36:36.480
The last one is this, I believe it's number seven or a six.
00:36:36.719 --> 00:36:39.119
One, two, three, four, five, six.
00:36:39.280 --> 00:36:40.880
An invitation for partnered prayer.
00:36:40.960 --> 00:36:42.079
And there were so many more.
00:36:42.239 --> 00:36:48.960
I cut this down to just a handful of invitations that came to my spirit like this as I was thinking about it earlier this week.
00:36:49.199 --> 00:36:56.480
Matthew 18, 18 to 20 says this I tell you the truth, whenever whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven.
00:36:56.639 --> 00:37:00.719
Hallelujah! And whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.
00:37:00.800 --> 00:37:02.800
That is speaking to an authority piece.
00:37:02.960 --> 00:37:08.159
Uh the spirit of God in you is greater than anything that can come at you from this world.
00:37:08.239 --> 00:37:19.360
And so you get to forbid things and you get to permit things, and whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.
00:37:19.440 --> 00:37:20.960
And so then it says this.
00:37:21.280 --> 00:37:29.599
I also tell you this if two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my father in heaven will do it for you.
00:37:29.679 --> 00:37:34.159
For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.
00:37:34.400 --> 00:37:45.920
Partnered prayer is a powerful thing, and it kind of goes back to the James uh chapter five verse that I just read a little bit ago, that you can pray together and see things move.
00:37:46.400 --> 00:37:48.239
Spiritual math doesn't make sense.
00:37:48.400 --> 00:37:51.599
One can set a thousand to flight, two can set ten thousand to flight.
00:37:51.760 --> 00:37:54.159
That doesn't make sense, but that's what the word of God says.
00:37:54.400 --> 00:38:03.360
So when you are in a situation, or maybe you've been praying about something personally for a long time, but you've never asked somebody to join in with you.
00:38:03.519 --> 00:38:13.360
My encouragement to you is where two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my father in heaven will do it for you.
00:38:13.440 --> 00:38:28.559
And a quick testimony I shared with the church two years ago, prior to going to India one year, I had um not lost my hearing in my ear, but my my ear was very, very muffled, and it had been like that for a very long time.
00:38:28.719 --> 00:38:35.519
I don't even remember how long it was like that, but something had caused it, and I would constantly try in the physical to fix it.
00:38:35.599 --> 00:38:48.320
I would do one of these, you know, and try and like pop it, or I would blow my nose, or I'd do, and it was just one ear, and it was constant, and it had been for a long time, and I had been declaring all the scriptures I knew to declare.
00:38:48.480 --> 00:38:54.159
I had been standing on the word, I stayed in faith, I didn't doubt, and I was like, Lord, what gives?
00:38:54.239 --> 00:39:00.320
And we're sitting at Kalahari with our family, my kids are riding the water slides, my husband's with them.
00:39:00.480 --> 00:39:08.800
I was sitting in a chair watching the wave pool, just praying for a while, and I felt the Spirit of the Lord say, Why haven't you asked Zach to partner in prayer with you?
00:39:09.039 --> 00:39:11.920
Why have you not asked somebody else to pray about it?
00:39:12.079 --> 00:39:13.599
And I'm like, I don't know.
00:39:13.760 --> 00:39:20.639
And this verse came to my mind where two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my father in heaven will do it for you.
00:39:20.800 --> 00:39:22.559
And he's like, Why don't you partner up?
00:39:22.719 --> 00:39:29.119
Go find your husband and have him lay hands on your ear and command that thing to open and watch me work.
00:39:29.280 --> 00:39:30.800
And that's exactly what I did.
00:39:30.880 --> 00:39:38.159
And within minutes, within minutes, there was a crack, a pop, and a crackling, and my full hearing was restored.
00:39:38.239 --> 00:39:40.960
The muffled uh sensation was gone.
00:39:41.119 --> 00:39:49.119
And I went to India with a fresh perspective of what it's like to pray in agreement with God's uh people.
00:39:49.519 --> 00:39:51.920
You know, we partner in prayer all the time.
00:39:52.079 --> 00:39:55.599
Uh when we go to India, we partner up together and pray for people.
00:39:55.679 --> 00:39:58.800
Or, you know, people come and they're like, hey, pray for me, pray for me.
00:39:58.880 --> 00:40:01.599
And my faith, mixed with their faith, we see things happen.
00:40:01.679 --> 00:40:05.039
So why in the world would we try and just keep things to ourselves?
00:40:05.280 --> 00:40:11.840
God has given us um faith and he's given other people faith and and and let that thing be multiplied.
00:40:12.000 --> 00:40:14.960
Agree together and let the Father in heaven do the work.
00:40:15.119 --> 00:40:16.639
So that's the invitation.
00:40:16.960 --> 00:40:18.079
Partner in prayer.
00:40:18.239 --> 00:40:24.800
If there's something you're in need of, if there's something you're believing God for and you've kept it hush, hush for so long, stop.
00:40:26.639 --> 00:40:31.760
Like open up, go, go, go find a trusted person if you feel like it's a private thing.
00:40:31.920 --> 00:40:40.320
Go find somebody who's not gonna repeat it and keep it between you and the Lord and just to stand in faith, believing that God will do what he says.
00:40:40.480 --> 00:40:43.119
The invitation is, would you partner up?
00:40:43.360 --> 00:40:46.320
And the experience is the father responds.
00:40:47.039 --> 00:40:51.199
So I'm gonna reread to you the quote that I read at the beginning.
00:40:51.440 --> 00:40:55.679
An invitation only becomes an experience when you not only show up, but you step in.
00:40:55.840 --> 00:40:58.719
You have to walk through the door, you have to choose to engage.
00:40:58.880 --> 00:41:04.480
These are all biblical invitations that we see that day in and day out we can respond to.
00:41:04.639 --> 00:41:16.159
And I started with that corporate invitation to come into the presence, not feeling like you know exactly what's gonna happen, but saying, Holy Spirit, what do you want to do today?
00:41:16.320 --> 00:41:19.280
Because maybe it's gonna be a mix-up of the norm.
00:41:19.440 --> 00:41:20.719
And it should be exciting.
00:41:21.039 --> 00:41:28.480
We serve an exciting God, a God who wants to mix things up, shake things up, and and and uh just do exciting things all the time.
00:41:28.719 --> 00:41:29.280
All the time.
00:41:29.440 --> 00:41:32.800
I go out with the evangelism team with fresh expectation.
00:41:32.960 --> 00:41:36.000
Every single time I'm I go, we go to different locations.
00:41:36.239 --> 00:41:39.119
But when we do, it's always like, what do you got for us today?
00:41:39.199 --> 00:41:40.079
And that's exciting.
00:41:40.239 --> 00:41:45.599
That is the that is the attitude that we should carry every day we wake up.
00:41:45.760 --> 00:41:47.440
What do you got for me today, God?
00:41:47.599 --> 00:41:57.760
Like the invitation is walk with me, child, be intimate with me, be close to me, and I'm not gonna leave you, I'm not gonna forsake you.
00:41:57.920 --> 00:41:58.719
I am for you.
00:41:58.880 --> 00:42:00.400
Greater is he who's in you.
00:42:00.639 --> 00:42:05.920
These are the things that we experience when we walk with God, and and he does amazing things.
00:42:06.000 --> 00:42:24.719
And every day is, you know, I'm not trying to paint the picture that there's like, you know, uh a mountaintop every single day, but what I'm saying is there are you can even in the mundane life can stay exciting, full of joy, full of peace, full of expectation because you're walking it in sync with the spirit.
00:42:25.039 --> 00:42:26.800
So that's what I have for you today.
00:42:26.880 --> 00:42:28.320
I'm gonna pray a prayer, a blessing.
00:42:28.400 --> 00:42:37.760
I'm gonna pray that whatever God is inviting you into right now in your life, maybe he's opened an invitation for you to step out and begin to build something.
00:42:37.920 --> 00:42:40.880
And he's like, hey, this is partnership.
00:42:41.039 --> 00:42:48.400
I've given you creativity, I've given you ideas, I've given you um just something to stir in your spirit.
00:42:48.480 --> 00:42:51.599
Now you have to partner with me and do the building.
00:42:51.840 --> 00:42:54.880
You have to apply some of the things that I've taught you.
00:42:55.039 --> 00:43:01.119
You have to lean into me and not your own understanding so that you know who to connect with.
00:43:01.360 --> 00:43:05.760
You have to, you know, maybe God's inviting you just into that intimacy piece.
00:43:05.920 --> 00:43:08.320
Maybe he's inviting you into the partnered prayer piece.
00:43:08.480 --> 00:43:15.920
Maybe he's inviting you into a place where you trust him more and you surrender more and more and you surrender that control piece.
00:43:16.159 --> 00:43:16.800
Amen.
00:43:17.119 --> 00:43:22.639
Whatever it is, I pray the Holy Spirit uh just customizes this word for your heart today.
00:43:22.880 --> 00:43:25.199
Father, I thank you for every person who has tuned in.
00:43:25.280 --> 00:43:26.800
I bless them in the name of Jesus.
00:43:26.960 --> 00:43:40.639
I thank you that we will be people that not only know the invitation that you've given us and the biblical invitations, God, over and over and over again in scripture, there are invitations, but that invitation is participatory.
00:43:40.800 --> 00:43:51.360
And so, Father, I pray that you would give us the desire to participate in what it is that you've invited us to, so that we will fully experience everything you have for us, God.
00:43:51.519 --> 00:43:59.920
For the word of God says, the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come to give life and to give it to the fullest.
00:44:00.079 --> 00:44:07.440
Father, we want a fullness in our life, and we know that the invitation is to do life with you and not on our own.
00:44:07.519 --> 00:44:15.679
So help us, Holy Spirit, to do that, to respond to the invitation, to show up, to step in, and to experience in fullness what you have.
00:44:15.840 --> 00:44:17.679
In Jesus' name I pray.
00:44:18.000 --> 00:44:18.639
Amen.
00:44:18.800 --> 00:44:19.760
I love you all.
00:44:19.920 --> 00:44:23.599
Have a wonderful rest of your week, and I'll see you next time.
00:44:28.079 --> 00:44:35.519
Welcome to Know It Live It with Ashton McDonald, where we will open God's word together and let us think from our head to our heart.
00:44:35.760 --> 00:44:39.840
Your faith will be built, your spirit strengthened, and your mind renewed.
00:44:40.159 --> 00:44:45.119
Let's get equipped, let's be encouraged, and let's accept the challenge to grow together.
00:44:45.440 --> 00:44:48.960
Rather a cup of coffee or green tea or whatever fits your fancy.
00:44:49.199 --> 00:45:02.559
Your Bible, a notebook in the head, and let's grow up.
