(294) “What Can I Do?”

0:00 So we're created for good works, unto good works, but it's not the works that define us, it's the relationship that defines us. God promises in Joel 2 .28 to pour out of His Spirit on all humanity. Welcome to Global Outpouring, where we contend for that promised outpouring. We equip for that outpouring so that we may engage in that very outpouring. I'm Philip Buss. And I'm Sharon Buss. Welcome to the podcast today. We're delighted that you're with us. We're going to talk about what can I do? Or what can I do? Or what can I do? Thanks so much for joining us today. We're just delighted that you're with us, and we look forward to spending this time searching in God's Word and contending for the outpouring and equipping for the outpouring so that we may engage in it.

1:08 We want to invite you, before we get started, to go to our website, if you haven't already done so, and make sure that you're on our email list. teal colored button there to subscribe so that you can be on various lists that we have and we can stay in touch with you. We really want to engage with you because we want to engage together in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as God is doing that in the earth today. And we want to remind you that we have an app that you can get from your app store, the Global Outpouring app, where you can follow our podcasts and be made aware of the events that we're doing. doing and shop in our bookstore and lots and lots of things. And we even have a prayer wall where you can post your prayer requests. And that way we can stick together in the things of the Holy Spirit to accomplish what God has put us on this planet to accomplish. So I was meditating about this idea of what can I do? And I was reminded of this incident with our granddaughter when we were playing a game that It was kind of a hide and seek kind of game. And she was really little. And I could tell that she had seen something on TV or in a video or something that, you know, while we're making this big deal about this mystery and, you know, looking for something and looking for the treasure and that kind of thing. And she says, what can I do? And it was so cute.

2:41 What can I do? This little tiny voice. And so. I was thinking about, you know, what is it that we can do? What is it that God put us on this planet to do? You know, it seems like we want to be doing something. But he didn't make us human doings. He made us human beings. Right, human beings. And our humanness and our beingness is because our God, our Father, is our creator. He created us to be in relationship with him. And the doing comes out of the being. It comes out of cooperating with him and doing things with him. Because we get so busy thinking about, oh, what can I do? I want to please God. I want to do something for him. And we get some grandiose ideas sometimes. I love that word. And it reminds me of this story that I heard or read about a young person that, you know, dad was going away for the day and it was a Saturday and he says, son, I want you to sweep the garage. So the son gets out there and he's thinking, I really want to please dad. Clean the garage and rearrange everything. And dad comes back and the son is

4:16 working really hard. Well, if you're going to rearrange, you're going to pull everything out and you're going to make a big mess. And of course, a young person sometimes gets into a job and doesn't necessarily finish. And dad comes home and he says, son, I asked you to sweep the garage. I didn't ask you to rearrange it. But the kid's heart was in the right place. I want to do something to please you, Dad. And sometimes we get into this thing where we want to just do something. Make it better. Yeah, we're going to make it better. What can I do? Or what can I do? Or what can I do? You know, sometimes we look at ourselves and we think, eh. What can I do? I'm nobody.

5:10 I'm nothing. And sometimes we also get grandiose ideas about, I can do something. I have a gift. I can do this. And we get all worked up in pride and arrogance and fall on our face. Because that's not what God asked us to do. So Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 8 says, For by grace. You are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Pride. Pride, like, I did this.

5:52 I got myself out of that hole. No, not really. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. which God has before ordained that we should walk in them. In other words, he created us for good works as his workmanship to cooperate with him out of being, being in relationship with him. So Jesus said that of myself, I can do nothing. So if the Son of God could do nothing by himself, what are we trying to do? What were the disciples thinking when he said that? I don't know. Because here he is, and their mind's going to be the next king eventually.

6:41 Right, right. And soon. And soon, yeah. They were expecting any minute he's going to just overrule the Romans, right? Yeah, because you can do miracles. And there's probably things that happened, like with regards to Roman soldiers. I remember on a, it wasn't the chosen, it was something else, where this, you know, someone was carrying something for a Roman soldier, and they're just being rough on him and all that, you know. And then all of a sudden, Jesus kind of is standing there, and the Roman soldier comes up to him, and he stops, and he just turns and backs away out of fear, you know. I thought, oh, that's kind of neat. How many things? like that happen with Roman soldiers that we don't know anything about. That's true. What does it say that the earth would not be able to hold the volumes of what Jesus did when he was on earth? Very true. That's what John said. So if he was on earth for a very short time, he did a lot of stuff. Oh, yeah. Wow. Yeah. And the thing about carrying something for a Roman soldier, Jesus said, if you're compelled to walk a mile, to carry something for a soldier, basically, if you're compelled to do that, and they were required to. They were required to carry whatever the Roman soldier said for a mile. And Jesus said, carry it two. Two miles, yeah. In other words, Jesus was trying to give the idea on earth.

8:11 Remember what Dean Braxton said about in heaven. How can I serve you? Yeah, the greeting is, how can I serve you? So Jesus is trying to give us this instruction that we're here to serve. So if your enemy, the Romans were the enemies of Israel, if your enemy compels you to do something, do it twice as much for him. Yeah, and we don't have an understanding of how brutal. It was. Things really were with Rome. That's true. There's a lot of movies out there and stuff of the Nazi regime and how brutal they were to everybody. Yeah. And so when you put yourself, there's something you're looking at because you don't see movies out there of the Jewish nation. Rome is in control and they're just being brutal in a lot of ways.

9:03 We don't see that. With all the stuff that's out there, what the Nazis did, we see all that. And so when you compare that to that, that's what it would kind of be like. Yeah. You know, no mercy, really. Yeah. It wasn't any mercy. So Jesus was trying to teach us about what works we're expected to do. We're expected to do things out of service. And to do things, Jesus said, love your enemies. Do good to them that hate you. Be kind to those that despitefully use you and abuse you. He's trying to teach kingdom living, the kingdom of God, the way it is in heaven.

9:48 That's how we're supposed to be doing it on earth. But Jesus had this relationship with his father where he said, I can't do anything by myself. I only do what I see the father doing. Let's look at John 5. So this is the story of the man by the pool of Bethesda that Jesus healed on the Sabbath day. This is the story where, you know, these people are gathered around the pool and they're waiting for the waters to be stirred. And the first one who gets in gets healed. Yeah. At least that was the legend. That was the legend. Yeah. It could be that it was happening, but there's lots of opinions about what that is. That's not what we're doing here. Yeah, that's not the purpose of this discussion. But in verse 19 of John 5, do you want to read that, Philip?

10:37 So Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him so that you may marvel. Truly, truly, I say unto you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.

11:18 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge. And my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will, but the will of him who sent me. So if Jesus was seeking the will of him who sent him, that is a clue for us. What can I do? I can seek what is the will of the Father. Why did Father put us here on this planet? Every single one of us has a purpose. Every single one of us has unique giftings. Every one of us thinks a little differently than others. Every one of us speaks a little differently. We use different words. We're not going to say things exactly the same because we don't think exactly the same. We don't see things exactly the same. For instance, I'm just going back. Oh, 44 years or so. Uh -oh. When we went on our extended honeymoon trip to Israel, okay, this wasn't my first trip to Israel. I had been going a few years already, but this was Philip's first trip. Oh, boy, I think I know what's coming. I'm busy looking at all this biblical stuff, and I'm looking at... and listening to the guide, and he's talking about archaeology,

12:49 and he's talking about the Bible, and he's talking about, and Philip is saying, wow, look at that car. Remember what kind of cars they were? It was older. Older American cars, GMs, Fords. Yeah, you won't even see those now. No, not now. But 44 years ago, they were there. Yeah. And I was like. What's the matter, you? No, I wasn't quite like that. But I was like, is that what you're seeing? My point is, we see things differently. And I was immature at this point. I hardly had been saved for how long? Yeah, just months. Not a real, real long time. Yeah, yeah. To be fair, to be fair. It takes a while to get your focus on things right. But those were the things that were impressing you in the moment. That's all I'm saying. I'm not down on you for that. But my point is, we see things differently because of where we are in our walk. You were early in your walk at that point. But the idea here is that as we grow and become more mature, more...

13:58 inclined to be communicating with our Father, we're going to get more out of what He has for us. It's like, think about your destiny. You know, we hear a lot about destiny. But destiny is not a destination. Because a destination is like an end point. It's the end of a trip. But we're designed for eternity. Our destiny goes beyond, you know, beyond the grave. It goes beyond, what is it, three score years and 10 or four score years or 90 years or 120 years, however long you live. Your destiny is eternal. And the things that you learn in your walk on the planet here are significant. in your relationship with Father. So we're not trying to rearrange the garage when he asks us to sweep it. You know, your first trip to Israel was an introduction.

15:05 My first trip to Israel was an introduction. You know, you weren't with me when I was on my first trip, but I was gawking at things too. And, you know, I heard the word diaspora and I had no idea what that meant. What do you mean diaspora? I've never heard that word. And, you know, for those of you who don't know what that word is, it means dispersion. It's where people have been dispersed around the world. So the Jews had been dispersed and I'd never heard that before. I learned so much. You just continue to learn. You don't quit learning. You never stop learning. Yeah. If you stop learning, you start going into not good things in your brain.

15:47 You know, you start becoming a couch potato or, you know, you can even go into dementia if you stop learning. You got to keep your mind sharp. Keep your brain active. Keep your brain active. So Jesus said that he doesn't do anything. except what he sees the Father doing. And so I'm under the impression that when he got up while it was yet dark, he was getting a download from his father and seeing what was coming for the day. For the day, yeah. And when we spend time with the Lord in the morning, we're taking an opportunity to learn something and get something in relationship with him, in being. And out of the being, out of those works, I love this, we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, created in the Anointed One, our Savior, for good works, unto good works.

16:48 When you think of that word workmanship, you think like how something is built, like a car, how complex, like computers. How complex things are. Yeah. Humans, how complex we are. Oh, yes. How complex. It's a good thing we only have 10 % of our brain in use. You know, what would have happened if we had the other 90 after the fall? Right. Yeah. So we're created for good works, unto good works. But it's not the works that define us. It's the relationship that defines us. So Jesus went on in John 15. talking about being the true vine and we're the branches. Do you want to read that? John 15, 1 through 17.

17:37 I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes. Can I just interject something here? Remember when Marilyn Hargis taught us on the vine? The vine, uh -huh. She and her co -worker, Judith Moore. went to a vineyard and watched this whole process so that she could teach from John 15 to really understand. And this first thing about every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away, in the Greek, it really means he lifts it up. And in this real vineyard that they went to. Sometimes they just have to lift it up and attach it to something in order to help it to bear fruit. It's already talking about pruning in another place. So lifting it up can help it to bear fruit. So I just thought I'd throw that in. Don't expect that everything in your life is going to get cut away. There is a pruning process, and it's good. It's good for us. Verse 3. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. That's

19:12 the word. Nothing. Without me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers, and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. See, there's the works. There's the works. Bearing fruit. Bearing fruit. Yeah, that's the works. Go ahead. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. Amen. In the Message Bible, it says, live in me. Instead of abide, it says, live in me. That kind of gives a better description of that. Yes, absolutely. This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you.

20:21 That's big. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. There's the works. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatsoever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another. So loving one another is really the works of God. Because he is love. And greater love has no man than this, than that he lay down his life for his friends. Which Jesus did for us. Exactly. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. So this abiding and abiding in his love and living, I like what you brought about that, living in his love. living in his presence. His presence is love. When we work from that standpoint, when he says, sweep the garage, that we just sweep the garage. And

21:55 that obedience is what he's looking for, that he gives us things to do. There are works that we do, but some of it is going to be The Bible says do this. So we should do these things because that's what the word of God says. And we rightly divide the word of truth. Let the Bible interpret the Bible. Let the scriptures explain to us what the scriptures mean. Don't just pick out one verse and say, oh, this verse means this. It's out of context or outside of the way that God works. We learn his ways by walking with him.

22:37 We learn his ways by learning his word, by learning history of how he operates. Not that he does the same thing twice. Lots of times, you know, he brings fresh new miracles all the time out of his love, out of his love for us. Learning to walk with him in love, it's about learning that walk of the Spirit so that we don't do things in the flesh. That the works that we do come out of our relationship. So I love what 1 Corinthians 3 says about... us being God's fellow workers. Paul is talking in context here about the contentions that are going on in the church in Corinth. Which is what most of the letters to the churches were.

23:28 Yeah, yeah. He's dealing with, you know, some people are saying, well, I'm of Apollos, and others are saying, well, I'm of Paul. And, you know, so there's divisions. And again, we're talking about people who are young in their faith. They're young in their walk. They're immature. And Paul says, I'm feeding you milk when you should be ready for some meat. Like a baby, you don't give a newborn baby meat. You just don't. Milk is for babies. So Paul is saying, I want you to grow up. Let's grow up here. Let's get rid of this contention. One is planting, so verse 6 says, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So in other words, we're working together with God. Take it from verse 7. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. Amen. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workers. Amen. You are God's field, God's building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder, I laid a foundation and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care of how he builds upon it. Okay, so that's you and that's me and that's everybody that's listening. Every one of us needs to take care how we build on this foundation. Go on. According to the grace of

25:01 God given to me, Like a skilled master builder, I laid a foundation and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Okay, Jesus is the foundation. Cornerstone. If we make him our cornerstone. Absolutely. Now, if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become manifest. for the day will disclose it because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple. Oh, you are that temple. Okay, so there's another picture of the relationship. You are the temple of God.

26:18 Yeah, and you had the tabernacle in the wilderness, Moses' tabernacle. And David had it, and he put it out where people can see it, which was amazing. David's tabernacle. And then you had the temple. And when you read in the book of Revelation, you will find the temple. The temple of God was opened in heaven. So it's on earth as it is in heaven. That was a pattern given Moses. And when you read those scriptures about the temple in heaven, it's just like, oh, wow. There's some incredible stuff being released. So the temple on earth was kind of like, Not the replica, but it was the representation of God's glory on earth as it was in heaven. Yes. But things kind of went sour. Well, they did. But God gave instructions to do it in a way that would be on earth as it is in heaven. And I'm excited to learn more about.

27:19 what Dean saw when we were in Israel with him. Yeah, he's going to tell us some more. He's going to tell us more. In a little bit here. Yes. A few more episodes coming. Yes. So stay tuned, everybody. But, you know, back to this idea of we are God's workmanship. We are his temple. Jesus is the foundation. So he's the foundation of the temple. And it's up to us what we... build with? So are we, I'm reminded of the three little pigs story, you know, where you have the one little pig that built his house out of straw, another one out of his sticks, and the other one out of bricks. What are you going to build with? What's going to be enduring? Bricks are going to endure. And when the big bad wolf comes, I'm going to huff and puff and blow your house down. Exactly. Exactly. So what are we building with? Because on the day of judgment, our works are going to be tried. And our works are what we built with. So if we built with something of our own making, if we built with something that was, you know, rearranging the garage instead of just sweeping it, you know, that's going to burn up. I remember the visions that, I think it was Anna Roundtree had, and she was in heaven.

28:41 And she was talking to this little... A being. It was a being. Yeah, looked like a child. It looked like a child, but she could tell it was old. It was an ancient being. And it's talking to... And the little being, you know, talks about people, you know, many people make sandcastles. You know, we just let them make sandcastles. Yes. You know, and she said, I had the taste of a copper penny in my mouth, you know. Yes, I think that that being's name was called Crystal Clear. Crystal Clear. Yeah, Crystal Clear. And she was, yeah. And really, Crystal Clear was pointing out to Anna that she had been building with sand. Yeah. You know, and many times we don't know until we have an experience that something we're doing wasn't right. I mean, how many, you know, we know numerous ones that have had visits to heaven, but a lot of times things were correction.

29:38 You know, you're not doing this right. It was Howard Pittman. He was a Baptist minister doing all the right things. He took in people. Yeah, standing on street corners, handing out tracts. Handing out tracts and that. And when he got to heaven, Jesus wouldn't let him in the gate. He had a massive heart attack and died instantly. He says, everything you did was for yourself. It wasn't for me. I'm giving you another chance to go back. Oh, wow. See, many never have a second chance. Very true. Very true. And if he had been allowed to go in, his works would have been burnt up. So he would have been saved, yet so as by fire, as the scripture says, but he would have had no reward. One of our teachers, that was June Lewis, always taught with illustrations.

30:29 Yes, she was an artist. And she had this picture of this man before the throne, and with an angel with a bolt, and had all his works, and all his works burnt up. Yep. They were all on fire because they, that was for him. What are we doing? What can I do? And it's real easy to get busy doing the work of the ministry, doing the business of the ministry. I remember a story Jeff Johns told once. A young lady came up and says, can I sing? It was a solo or something like that. He says, well, first, and he had her cleaning toilets, had her sweeping, having to do all these things, teaching her to be a servant. Right.

31:14 And after she had learned obedience in many ways and different things, he let her sing. And it was so anointed. Yes. Yeah. It has to do with getting our attitude right. Yeah. And a similar story I'm reminded of is one that Walter Buechler told. And Walter Buechler was a man who really walked with God and really practiced the presence of God. He taught in a Bible school in Pennsylvania at Camp Hill. There was a young woman, one of the students, that had a beautiful voice, and she would sing for their chapel time. And the Lord told him to tell her that her voice, I don't remember the exact words, but it was something along the lines of, your voice is obnoxious to me. Sit down. Oh, my. And she was horribly embarrassed.

32:11 He didn't want to tell her. I mean, who would want to give that kind of a message from God to anybody? But he obeyed God and he told her and she wept and she cried and she sat down. And I don't think he rebuked her publicly. I think he gave her the word privately. So she didn't sing for, I don't know if it was weeks or months. And then the Lord told him to tell her it was time for her to sing again. And she had been humbled in that time because she realized that the reason why she was singing was out of her own pride. And that she thought her voice was so beautiful to God and to everyone else that there was a pride issue. And so she sat down humbly for that time and really humbled herself before God. When he did tell her to sing again, she said, I was afraid I would never sing again. Remember, your brother laid down his violin for a season. Yeah, that was The Eye of the Needle, the prophetic parable by Charlotte Baker. Yes, and I think we did a whole podcast on that, so we'll include the link to that. Because even at convention, I would help on the sound table, and there would be this stack of... Of soundtracks.

33:31 Oh, yeah. If Sister Gwen asked me to sing, you know, we got all these stack of cassettes and CDs, you know. I'm prepared to sing. I'm ready to sing, yeah. It's always good to be prepared. Yes. But how did the Lord deal with you? Oh, wow. Yeah, I had a stack of soundtracks, you know. And I'd ask Sister Gwen because we were her road crew. Right. We traveled with her. And I'd say, do you want me to sing anything tonight, you know? And she would always, you know, have something. There would be something, you know, she's preaching on. I could, you know, do a song or something. Yeah. And often she did ask you to do things. Yeah, she did. But there came a time. When there came a time when things just started going wrong. Oh, yeah, I remember. I mean, all of a sudden the soundtrack wasn't, you know, it would do something. Or the monitors didn't work. Or maybe the microphone. It was constant. So I got to realize, and I thought of this eye of the needle thing. I went back to that, and I thought, you know, self -examination is what it was. When a thing like that happens, what's the purpose for this? So I wouldn't ask her anymore, only if she asked me to sing. And then we went through it, and I said, Lord, take the desire out to lead worship. Because as a worship leader, you want to get on a stage. And there can be a lot of pride in that. You see

35:03 that all the time. There's something about getting on the stage in somebody's convention or something. And if your attitude's not right. And so we went through a season of time. And I felt like we're coming out of this. And then we're on our way to Israel. And it was Sadhu Salvage invited us to be one of the worship teams on his first conference on the Mount of Olives. I thought, that's tremendous. We're coming out full barrel. Thank you, Jesus. And we're on our way to New York, the long way, have meetings driving along the way. And that's when we had our big wreck, which messed. My hands up, my arms messed a lot of things up. And when we got home after five weeks, it took about five weeks before I was able to fly. I told everybody, you know, the eye of the needle has a long tunnel.

36:01 Sometimes when you think you're at the end of something, there can be a final testing that will really... You know, it's like almost the dark night of the soul. Oh, it was. It really was for us. It absolutely was. We never dreamed that could ever happen to us. God, how could you let this happen? You know. Right. But it happened. Yeah. And there were things that God was dealing with. Yeah. You know, in my life, I know. And so. Sometimes we think, Lord, isn't there an easier way this could have happened? But wouldn't, isn't it better that we go through the fire now? on this side rather than having all of our works burned up on the other side the scripture what is the profit a man if he gains the world or whatever he does in the world and loses his own soul yeah yeah you know even a particular worship leader in a church we went to he was asked to leave and we kind of wondered i wonder what happened you know and and some years later He got into an accident, and it turns out he had a mistress. He was into all kinds of wrong things, and he ended up in a bad car crash, and he ended up going to jail. But on the surface, he looked so anointed, but sometimes you could just kind of tell things that, you know, okay, because eventually things will come out. Remember the old saying, you can fool some

37:33 of the people all the time, but you can't fool all the people. You know, how does that work? You can fool some of the people all the time. But you can't fool all the people. All the time, yeah. Some of the people, some of the time. Yeah. And all the people, some of the time. Well, you get the idea anyway. Eventually, it's going to catch you. Yes. You know, like the con man gets caught usually eventually. Yes. And ultimately, God is going to see to it that judgment happens. So if you're a con man in ministry. Ooh. I've never thought of that before. Oh, and there are some. And there's a lot of them. Yes. Have you ever heard that before? The con man in ministry?

38:14 Yeah. Wow. And God deals with them. Yeah. God has the final say. Even though things start out right. Or maybe they look right. Look right. But ultimately, God is looking for us to walk in relationship with him. Yeah. And I love the fact that he... is the one that initiates the stuff and he's busy helping us by his Holy Spirit to get into a place where we're walking with him and doing stuff out of obedience and doing stuff out of love for him and just sweeping the garage when he says sweep the garage. Yeah, and the scriptures, humble thyself in the sight of the Lord and he will exalt thee. In due time.

39:02 In Kairos time. That's right. I'm sure that would be more like a Kairos time. Yeah. Yeah. So I love the fact that it's really God that's busy doing the whole thing. He's looking for us to work with him. Yeah. We are. God's fellow workers. We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. And he has ordained that we should walk in them. So walking with him is what makes it work. It makes the works work. Makes the works work. That's pretty good. So what I love also is that God, there's a few places in the scripture where God says the words by myself.

39:48 So in the Old Testament, there are several places where it says, as the Lord lives or as Yehovah lives. And it's a statement of kind of like making a declaration about as truly as God lives, this is the truth. Okay, so God is in a few places, he's swearing by himself because there's nobody greater to swear by, right? And he says, as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. As truly as I live. So he swears by himself. And in Genesis 22, verses 15 through 18, just read that if you would. And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, by myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son. your only son, so this was Isaac when he was going to offer him, I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies. And in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because you have obeyed my voice. So he's swearing by himself.

41:08 So he's saying, as truly as I live, basically, I have sworn by myself. Because you did this. See, Abraham did a work. It was a work for him to obey God when God said, sacrifice your son. And the point of that, and we've talked about this before, but the point of that was that on earth as it is in heaven, Abraham sacrificed or was willing to sacrifice. It was as though he had done it. Before he did it. It was in his heart he had done it. He had sacrificed his son because God said to. And that was doing on earth as it is in heaven because our Father in heaven was going to sacrifice his son on the very same place. On Mount Moriah, right? So God was declaring.

42:04 Because you did this. I'm going to do this. And I'm going to do it for sure because I'm swearing by myself. Nobody else. There's nobody else to swear by. And then in Isaiah 45, 22 and 23, he says, turn to me and be saved all the ends of the earth for I am God and there is no other by myself. I have sworn from my mouth has gone out in righteousness, a word that shall not return to me. Every knee shall bow. Every tongue shall swear allegiance or every tongue shall confess. Right. So see, there's things that he does by himself. He wants us to cooperate with him in the things that he does. We're working together with him. We are his fellow laborers, his fellow workers. In Isaiah 44, 23 to 28, he says, Sing, O heavens, for the Lord, Yehovah, has done it.

43:01 Shout, O depths of the earth. Break forth into singing, O mountains, O forests, and every tree in it. For Yehovah the Lord has redeemed Jacob and will be glorified in Israel. Thus says Yehovah your Redeemer who formed you from the womb. I am Yehovah who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself. So he's the creator. He did it all by himself. But he's looking for us to be his fellow workers. Yeah. Isn't that beautiful? Wow. That is just amazing. Just amazing. So let's wrap this up by going to Psalm 46. Psalm 46 is one of those places that just brings you so much comfort. I just love Psalm 46. So Psalm 46 from the Amplified Classic, God is our refuge and strength, mighty and impenetrable to temptation, a very present and well -proved help in trouble.

44:13 Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth should change, and though the mountains be shaken into the midst of the seas, though its waters roar and foam. Though the mountains tremble at its swelling and tumult, silah, pause and calmly think of that. There's a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High. Remember, we are his temple. So he's busy building his temple on earth the same way that it is in heaven. God is in the midst of her. God is in the midst of you. God is in the midst of me. is in the midst of us. God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God will help her right early at the dawn of the morning. The nations raged.

45:05 The kingdoms tottered and were moved. He uttered his voice. The earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge, our fortress and high tower. Selah. Pause and think calmly of that. Come, behold the works of the Lord. He's done all these things by himself, and yet he wants to partner with us. Come behold the works of the Lord, who has wrought desolations and wonders in the earth. He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow into pieces and snaps the spear in two. He burns the chariots in the fire. Let be and be still. and know, recognize, and understand that I am God.

45:55 I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge, our high tower and stronghold. Selah. Pause and calmly think of that. Beautiful. How amazing that the one who has done it all wants to work with us, come behold the works of the Lord. He's working in us. He's working in us by His Spirit. We are in Him, and He is in us. And when you have that life going back and forth through our flesh, He's designed us so that the life is in us and around us. His love, His life, His presence.

46:49 It kind of like arcs through our flesh to bring us into subjection, to bring us into that place where we just sweep the garage. When he says sweep the garage. This is in verse 8, 9. Everyone look. This is the Passion Translation. Come and see the breathtaking wonders of our God. Yes. For he brings both ruin and revival. Oh, that's good. He's the one who makes conflicts end throughout the earth. Breaking and burning every weapon of war. He's going to do that completely. Yeah, there's great hope. When we look at everything accelerating around us, the agendas of things that are going on, it's just like, you know, this cannot be fixed in the natural. There's just no way. Only God can do this. And so when we look our eyes to him, that's where our hope lies. Right. Our hope lies in His promise to pour out His Spirit on all flesh. So we contend for it, we quit for it, and we engage in it.

47:56 Amen. Amen. If you enjoyed today's podcast, please subscribe, rate, and review this podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your review helps the podcasting platform suggest this podcast to other listeners who are also looking for a great move of the Holy Spirit. Check out our website at globaloutpouring .org to find out more information, read our blogs, connect with us, and donate. You can also browse our web store for life -changing anointed books. Until next time, this is Sharon Buss. And I'm Philip Buss. God bless you with His overwhelming, loving presence.