The Secret of Friendship with God Part 1

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You pray it and he can answer it.

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The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

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God will put the prayer in your heart to pray

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so that he can answer it.

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Goes into the hearts of the people.

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Does it return void?

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It produces results.

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It's a beautiful day.

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When they were talking about,

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or someone maybe Michael was talking about all the green,

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what came to my mind was all the pollen.

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I had to spray off of my deck last night.

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How do you know what I'm talking about?

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But you don't know how long it's gonna last,

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but I am thankful for spring and summer and the seasons.

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You know, the Bible says even in our own lives,

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everything there is a time and a purpose

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and a season under heaven.

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And I think every one of us are in a season of new beginnings.

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So we're just gonna go with the flow.

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We're just gonna be where we need to be.

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God's lining things up.

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He's aligning your lives.

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He's aligning your hearts.

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He's setting people up for success.

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Thank you, Jesus.

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He's putting people together

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for the purposes of building his kingdom.

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And I'm just really excited about living

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in the times that we live in today.

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I am a part of Crossroads Worship Center.

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My name is Margie and welcome to everybody who's online.

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I would like to invite you to visit my website.

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I have tons and tons of books

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that we really need to get out of my storage.

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And with a pandemic and everything going on,

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we just haven't been promoting the books.

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But I'm gonna be speaking to you today

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about the secrets to friendship with Jesus.

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And I actually have a book called Encounter God Through Prayer

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that I would encourage you to purchase off of my website,

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MargieFlorantMinistriesIthink.org.

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So I'm just going to highlight some things today.

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And I really enjoy sharing my heart with you on this subject

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because it's something that I have used in my own life

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and that's why I'm able to teach it.

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And I have not arrived,

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we're all developing in our walk with God,

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we're all developing friendship with Jesus,

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we're all learning the ways to communicate with Him

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and the ways He communicates back to us.

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But I really feel in my heart,

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like I have the heart of a mother,

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even for those of you that are listening online,

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that the Lord is calling His people unto Himself.

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And the Bible says, draw near to God

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and He will draw near to you.

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But what I have found by experience

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and just by talking to people

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that oftentimes people don't know how to draw near to Him.

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They view God as a God who is distant,

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He's far away, He's up in the sky somewhere.

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Well, He's actually very reachable.

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And He longs for fellowship and intimacy

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with each and every one of you.

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There's just secrets to getting there.

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So I'm just going to share with you this morning

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a very simple message,

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the ways that I've learned to connect with Jesus.

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And when we talk about the secrets to friendship with Jesus,

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we're not talking about going to church.

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We're not talking about, you know,

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a religion or a religious way of approaching God.

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We're talking about a real God

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who really wants to be intimate with His people.

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We're going to read out of Genesis at some point,

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but when God created Adam and Eve,

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He created them because He longed for friendship.

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And intimacy and community and family.

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And so He's still looking for that today.

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You know, the Bible says that the eyes of the Lord

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run to and fro the whole earth to show Himself strong

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on the behalf of those whose hearts are perfect towards Him.

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Now, the beauty of God is that He's not looking

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for perfect human beings.

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You know, the Bible says He knows our frame.

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He remembers that we are dust.

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So none of us are perfect.

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As a matter of fact, the Bible says there is none righteous.

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No, not one.

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We all have shortcomings.

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We all have issues.

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We all say and do things we normally wouldn't say and do.

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I could testify to that.

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And so could my friends.

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So I had a very hard year last year

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and I just was not totally myself.

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And so what?

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You know, God does not expect us to be perfect.

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But what He wants from us is a perfect heart towards Him,

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meaning He wants us to have a desire to know Him,

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to understand His heart.

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And when we draw near to Him,

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we will be changed from glory to glory to glory.

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And the things that used to be a problem in your life

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will start to just eventually just disappear

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or go away or whatever you want to call it.

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Because the Lord is the strength of our lives.

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Whom shall we fear?

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We need Jesus.

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So I want to talk to you today

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about the secrets of friendship with Jesus.

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And my opening verse is actually going to come

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from Ephesians chapter three.

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And again, I really am going to really enjoy sharing this

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with you.

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I've been wanting to do a Facebook live on this subject

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and I'm still going to do it.

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That I have this message burning in my heart

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for people to know and understand.

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Because oftentimes we think that,

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and I will get into this maybe,

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that we have to go into a closet,

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we have to shut a door,

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we have to have this whole thing going on.

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And that's part of intimacy with Jesus.

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But there's other ways to stay connected to Him.

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Are you listening?

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So let's look here at Ephesians chapter,

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or Philippians chapter three.

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Paul is speaking.

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And at the end of his life,

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we find in verse eight or seven,

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you know, first of all, Paul was in the natural,

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like from a work standpoint, he was perfect.

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He said, I did everything right.

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I even persecuted the church,

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trying to do what was right,

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even though it was, we know he was doing the devil's work.

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But at the very end of his life,

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Paul found his purpose.

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And you know, we think about that purpose driven life

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by Rick Warren, is that who wrote that book, Diane?

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You know, that book sold, I don't know,

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it was one of the top, top, top selling books,

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because everybody's looking for their purpose.

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We all wanna find the meaning of life,

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and we wanna know why we were born.

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And what I love about the verses

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that we're gonna read today is that

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at the end of Paul's life, he found his purpose.

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Okay, he found his purpose.

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And it wasn't writing two thirds of the New Testament,

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it wasn't all these outward things,

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it was something that was hidden in his heart

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that only he could have with his savior,

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the Lord Jesus Christ.

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You see, you are as close to God as you want to be.

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There are heights and depths and breaths and lengths

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of intimacy with God.

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And I truly believe that one day we'll all stand before God

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and we know that.

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And I know that when that day comes,

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we will still have more to know

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about who Jesus is in his heart.

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As a matter of fact, one of my prayers,

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you know, this is actually a prayer that I made up.

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It's like three pages.

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But one of the things that I pray in this prayer

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is Lord, I wanna know your heart.

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Show me your heart.

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You know, Moses prayed, show me your glory.

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And I don't really totally understand what that means

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when somebody says show me your glory,

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even though I teach, I preach,

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and we've talked about the glory and the glory of this.

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But I just wanna know God's heart.

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And the interesting thing about Moses,

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if you go into, I think it's Exodus three,

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we find that Moses, when God first appeared to him

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in that burning bush scene, how many remember that?

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Are you listening online?

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How many remember that?

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You know, he was afraid of God.

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He was afraid to look at God.

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He was terrified, okay?

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But when you go all the way into Exodus 33,

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and you see the journey of how he developed friendship

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with God, I said to the Lord,

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what changed from Exodus three to Exodus 33?

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And I really felt like the Lord said to me,

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he got to know my heart.

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He became deeply and intimately acquainted with me.

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He understood who I was.

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He understood my character.

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He saw how I love the people.

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And I think that that's what you and I need.

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That's why it's very important to study the scriptures.

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You know, the Bible says,

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study to show yourselves approved unto God,

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workmen that need not to be ashamed,

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rightly dividing the word of truth.

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Why?

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Because if we really want to know God,

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we want to know his heart,

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we've got to find him in the word of God.

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That he's the same yesterday, today, and forever.

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He's not up and down.

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He's not schizophrenic.

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He's very consistent.

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He's very trustworthy.

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He's very loving.

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He's very patient.

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He's very kind.

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He doesn't boil over with jealousy.

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He is not rude.

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You know, he is a good God.

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And I think that that's what happened to Moses.

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And all the fear, and all the shame,

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and all the terror that he had

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turned into intimacy with God.

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To the point where, if you read Exodus 33,

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the Bible says that Moses knew God

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face to face as a man would speak to his friend.

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And I have to be honest with you.

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I can't be anything other than who I am.

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That is my desire.

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That is my quest.

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I want to know God face to face

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as a man speaks to his friends, his friend.

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I can remember teaching this.

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I used to do an extra session when I taught in fits

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because I wanted to just really emphasize prayer

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to the ministry leaders that were up and coming.

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And I remember telling them that, you know,

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it's one thing to just know the God of, you know,

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the Bible, and it's another thing,

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and we want to know him in the Word,

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it's another thing to also know him

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in the place of prayer and intimacy.

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To have that face to face encounter with him.

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To not just know him through the scriptures,

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but know him by the spirit.

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And I'm just gonna be honest.

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That only comes through prayer.

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And there's different ways to pray,

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different kinds of prayer.

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We're gonna get into this.

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But it only comes through a conscious decision.

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I am gonna put God first place in my life.

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What does the scripture about Martha and Mary talk about?

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Martha was working, working, working, working, working,

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working, and they got Jesus right in their own house.

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You know, and you know, to be honest,

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you have Jesus in your own house.

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You just can't see him.

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He's there, and he's waiting for you to come unto him.

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So many of you are laboring, and you're burdened down.

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He says, you come to me, I'll give you rest.

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So you think about Martha and Mary, you know,

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Mary, you know, Martha is working, working, working,

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and there's nothing wrong with working.

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But if you've lost touch with Jesus Christ,

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or you've lost touch with that,

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I wanna call it a feeling, or a burning, or a knowing,

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then you gotta get back.

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And let me tell you, it happens to all of us.

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I get really busy, and then I'm like, Lord,

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I don't want this for me.

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This is not what I want for my life.

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I wanna be intimate with you.

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I wanna be like Mary, you know,

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or I'm sitting at the feet of Jesus,

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and I'm wanting to hear what you have to say.

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And he wants that from us.

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Just like he wants it from us,

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but he wants to be close to us as well.

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Friendship with Jesus.

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You know, I wanna be friends with him.

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Say that with me, I want to be friends with Jesus.

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So let's read out of Philippians.

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So Paul, at the end of his life, he said,

283
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yet indeed he said, all these things, who I am,

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how gifted I am, how smart I am,

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how much money I am, I wrote 2 thirds of the New Testament.

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Now here at the end of my life,

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and he didn't even brag about all the visions that he had.

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You know, so many people brag about all that stuff,

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makes me wanna, you know, it nauseates me.

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You know what, if you have a real intimate encounter

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with Jesus Christ, would you really wanna put it all out

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on the internet?

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I thought was just free, I had to say that.

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He said, at the end of my life, everything that I counted,

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that was gained to me, I've counted loss for Christ.

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Yet indeed I also count all things lost

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for the excellency of the knowledge

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of Jesus Christ my Lord.

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He said, who've I've suffered the loss of all things?

300
00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:24,120
And count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ

301
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and be found in him, this is New King James,

302
00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:30,200
not having my own righteousness, which is from the law,

303
00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:32,760
but that which is through faith in Christ,

304
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the righteousness which is from God by faith.

305
00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:36,840
And then he says, verse 10,

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and then we're gonna read out of the amplified,

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I'm sure Lorraine put that up for us.

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He said, that I may know him.

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And the amplified says that I may become more deeply

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and intimately acquainted with him perceiving

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and recognizing the wonders of his person.

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Now think about it, how many people do you know

313
00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:05,040
are bored in church or bored with their walk with God?

314
00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:07,960
But here this scripture says, you know,

315
00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:11,560
we wanna, there's so much to know about God,

316
00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:15,160
we can't even perceive the wonders of his person.

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There's heights and depths and lengths, like we said prior.

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So this was the quest of the apostle Paul and I love this.

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And so then he goes on to say,

320
00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:30,560
he said, perceiving the wonders of his person

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more strongly and more clearly,

322
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and that I may in the same way come to know

323
00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:38,800
the power outflowing from his resurrection,

324
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which it exerts over believers,

325
00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:43,720
and that I may so share in his sufferings

326
00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:46,640
so to be continually transformed in spirit

327
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into his likeness into his death.

328
00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:53,360
So what keeps us from being close or intimate with Jesus?

329
00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:57,400
Now, we're to get into that.

330
00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:00,960
And some of these pertain to me in how I was raised,

331
00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:05,800
because I was raised thankfully for me as a Catholic girl.

332
00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:08,880
And I loved God my whole life and I loved being Catholic

333
00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:11,440
and I loved going to church every day.

334
00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:13,040
As a matter of fact, my first encounter

335
00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:16,080
with the presence of God was when I was confirmed.

336
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That may be a surprise to you.

337
00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:24,320
You had an encounter with God in the Catholic church

338
00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:26,080
when you were being confirmed as a child.

339
00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:30,920
I absolutely 100% did because I took the scriptures

340
00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:33,200
and the things that I was being taught

341
00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:35,520
and I took it to heart.

342
00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:37,160
I took it deeply.

343
00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:40,800
I wanted to be close to Jesus.

344
00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:43,880
And so when they said at confirmation,

345
00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:46,600
you know that the Holy Spirit's gonna come on you,

346
00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:50,320
I don't exactly know what they teach, I forget now,

347
00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:53,480
but I just remember going up to be confirmed.

348
00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:57,640
And I remember like oil being poured all over me.

349
00:16:57,640 --> 00:16:59,840
It was the presence of the Holy Spirit.

350
00:16:59,840 --> 00:17:03,440
Who says God can't show up in a Catholic church?

351
00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:06,360
He showed up on me as a little girl.

352
00:17:06,360 --> 00:17:08,560
Who says the children can't have encounters

353
00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:09,800
with Jesus Christ?

354
00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:11,120
They have.

355
00:17:11,120 --> 00:17:14,360
And so I remember like going back to my seat,

356
00:17:14,360 --> 00:17:17,640
sitting down and going, he's here with me.

357
00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:21,040
And some of the other kids were just playing and laughing

358
00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:22,880
and I go, don't they feel this?

359
00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:23,720
Don't they have this?

360
00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:26,840
That presence stayed on me for three days.

361
00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:29,720
I don't know about you, but I wanna know

362
00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:32,480
how to maintain the presence of God.

363
00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:33,840
And that's what we're talking about,

364
00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:35,560
friendship with Jesus.

365
00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:37,320
Brother Lawrence, if you ever read his book,

366
00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:39,960
I haven't, but I have it in my bookshelf.

367
00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:41,360
It's supposed to be a good book.

368
00:17:41,360 --> 00:17:46,360
But his book is about maintaining the presence of Jesus.

369
00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:49,600
And he was so close with Jesus

370
00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:53,280
that he carried a presence with him.

371
00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:55,880
Now, doesn't the Bible say that we are a fragrance

372
00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:57,400
to the world?

373
00:17:57,400 --> 00:18:00,120
Do you know that when you pray or you walk closely

374
00:18:00,120 --> 00:18:03,520
with Jesus, you have a continual fragrance,

375
00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:08,520
Revelations 5.8, that goes up before the throne of God.

376
00:18:08,600 --> 00:18:12,000
So how many of you have ever had people say to you,

377
00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:14,160
I could sense that you have God in you?

378
00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:20,440
My daughter and her husband and I were in a mall

379
00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:24,280
in Bridgewater and I just knew the lady was a Christian.

380
00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:25,120
How did you know?

381
00:18:25,120 --> 00:18:26,880
You sense it.

382
00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:28,760
How many of you know what I'm talking about?

383
00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:32,000
After a long story short, you know how you could kind of

384
00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:35,840
wean your way into talking to people about Jesus?

385
00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:37,280
Because you know, you gotta be wise

386
00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:39,400
when you're trying to win somebody over.

387
00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:41,560
But I sensed she was a Christian.

388
00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:45,080
So, you know, somehow the subject came up to you,

389
00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:46,480
because oh yes, I'm a Christian.

390
00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:47,520
She was so excited.

391
00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:49,840
I said, well, I could sense it.

392
00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:51,600
And she was actually surprised.

393
00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:52,440
You know why?

394
00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:55,000
Because she condemns herself, puts herself down,

395
00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:57,160
lives in shame, lives in fear.

396
00:18:57,160 --> 00:18:59,800
She didn't even know that she was a fragrance

397
00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:02,640
in that department and that people could actually

398
00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:04,160
pick up on it.

399
00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:06,480
See, those are the things that keep us down.

400
00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:08,400
And she said to us, she said, you know,

401
00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:12,480
I was so encouraged that you sense that I was a Christian

402
00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:14,640
because she was beating herself up.

403
00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:16,880
But I'm telling you friends,

404
00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:18,840
people are gonna know that we're Christians.

405
00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:22,480
But what keeps us from true intimacy with God?

406
00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:25,000
I'm only gonna give you three Cs.

407
00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:28,680
Number one is we need to have confidence in prayer,

408
00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:32,240
or confidence before the throne of God, confidence.

409
00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:34,800
Now you look here at Adam and Eve,

410
00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:36,480
and I know you know this verse,

411
00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:39,480
but there's many people that were raising up in these days

412
00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:41,760
that have never heard these verses.

413
00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:44,120
And as leaders, I believe we need to get back

414
00:19:44,120 --> 00:19:46,200
to some of the basics.

415
00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:48,960
Because doesn't the scripture say we ought to give

416
00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:53,960
a more earnest heed to the things that we have learned

417
00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:56,000
less at any time we want?

418
00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:57,800
Anybody know how to complete that?

419
00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:01,160
We let them slip, and we get back into religion.

420
00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:03,160
We get back into how we were raised.

421
00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:05,160
So let's look at Adam and Eve,

422
00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:07,840
the fall of Adam and Eve, Genesis 3.

423
00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:10,160
You know the story, when the woman saw

424
00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:12,600
that the tree was good for food,

425
00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:14,640
that it was pleasant to the eyes

426
00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:17,200
and a tree desired to make one wise,

427
00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:18,840
she took the fruit and she ate it.

428
00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:21,360
She messed up, didn't she?

429
00:20:21,360 --> 00:20:22,880
She disobeyed God.

430
00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:25,880
She did exactly what the Lord told her not to do.

431
00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:27,640
How many of you have ever done that?

432
00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:31,080
Now look at me like you're perfect.

433
00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:36,280
She also gave it to her husband with her and he ate,

434
00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:39,080
and the eyes of both of them were opened.

435
00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:40,600
You know I used to think, well what did that mean?

436
00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:43,000
I just think that their eyes were opened,

437
00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:45,440
they realized their humanity.

438
00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:47,520
Whereas before they were divinity.

439
00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:51,040
They were created in the image and in the likeness of God.

440
00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:53,880
They had 100% dominion over the earth

441
00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:55,600
because God gave it to them.

442
00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:58,360
They were so smart they named all the animals.

443
00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:01,800
That was a good word, I never thought of that.

444
00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:06,520
There was a very beautiful anointing in here.

445
00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:08,640
You know that, right?

446
00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:10,480
Okay.

447
00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:13,440
Because Jesus likes this kind of talk,

448
00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:15,720
because this is why we were created.

449
00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:18,960
We were created to be intimate with him.

450
00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:20,840
So the eyes of both of them were open,

451
00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:22,560
they knew that they were naked,

452
00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:24,200
and they saw their humanity,

453
00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:25,920
and they sewed fig leaves together

454
00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:27,760
and made themselves coverings,

455
00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:31,000
and then they heard the sound of the Lord God

456
00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:32,960
walking in the cool of the day,

457
00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:35,800
and Adam and his wife hid themselves

458
00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:37,600
from the presence of the Lord God

459
00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:39,320
among the trees of the garden,

460
00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:41,520
and then the Lord called Adam.

461
00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:42,760
Isn't that interesting?

462
00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:45,680
They know that the Lord is calling you.

463
00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:48,480
He knows you by name.

464
00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:51,720
He knows how many hairs you have on your head.

465
00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:53,720
That's, he knows that you're fearfully

466
00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:54,880
and wonderfully made.

467
00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:56,760
He's so intimate with you.

468
00:21:56,760 --> 00:21:59,520
I had some hairs falling on the dresser today,

469
00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:02,400
my Lord Jesus, I got a few less hairs on my head,

470
00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:04,080
but only you know how many.

471
00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:10,200
He said, Adam, where are you?

472
00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:13,920
Can you hear the heart of God in this?

473
00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:15,840
Where are you?

474
00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:20,040
So he said, Adam said, I heard your voice in the garden,

475
00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:22,240
and I was afraid.

476
00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:25,120
So the trust and the confidence that he had

477
00:22:25,120 --> 00:22:27,720
with the Father turned into fear.

478
00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:33,040
I was afraid because I was naked,

479
00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:34,200
and then what did he do?

480
00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:36,440
He hid himself.

481
00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:38,680
And then the God said to him, you know,

482
00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:40,200
who told you that you were naked?

483
00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:41,280
Have you eaten from the tree,

484
00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:43,000
which I commanded you not to eat?

485
00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,760
And the man said, oh, the woman you gave me,

486
00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:47,360
you know, she gave it to me and I ate.

487
00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:49,200
That's a whole other Bible study.

488
00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:53,720
And the Lord God said to the woman, what have you done?

489
00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:56,040
And the woman admitted her wrongdoing.

490
00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:59,080
She said, the serpent deceived me and I ate.

491
00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:03,600
This is fear, guilt, and shame,

492
00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:06,640
and as a result, they hid themselves

493
00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:08,800
from the presence of God.

494
00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:10,880
How many of you have ever done that?

495
00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:15,440
You do something, you say something, you're a certain way,

496
00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:17,480
and then you're starting to hide from God.

497
00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:19,840
So instead of looking onto Jesus,

498
00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:22,160
the author and the finisher of your faith,

499
00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,400
you look away from him in distraction,

500
00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:29,920
and your distraction is fear, worry, guilt,

501
00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:32,640
and you're hiding yourself from the presence of God,

502
00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:36,360
and God, Jesus is just saying, if you'll just come to me,

503
00:23:36,360 --> 00:23:39,560
I'll restore you, I'll heal you of your brokenness,

504
00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:42,640
I'll heal you of your disease, come unto me.

505
00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:45,320
If you're tired, I'll give you rest.

506
00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:47,040
Listen, I say this to people,

507
00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:49,200
and especially in the day and the season we live in today

508
00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:52,600
in this world, don't run from Jesus.

509
00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:56,760
If you got stuff going on in your life, run to him.

510
00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:03,360
See, but that's where confidence comes in,

511
00:24:03,360 --> 00:24:05,640
confidence in the presence of God.

512
00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:08,760
When you know that you know that you know

513
00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:13,160
that God loves you, he will in no wise cast you out.

514
00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:16,160
When you know he loves you,

515
00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:18,440
and he's knocking at the door of your heart,

516
00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:21,840
and he's saying, would you please stop hiding from me?

517
00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:26,400
When you know he loves you, you'll turn back to him in faith,

518
00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:29,400
and you'll look at him once again,

519
00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:32,600
and then you'll go up and go on your merry way.

520
00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:34,040
I know people, you know,

521
00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:36,480
I think actually I heard Kenneth Copeland say this,

522
00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:40,000
he used to like, I think he used to eat like four loaves of bread

523
00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:41,480
with two sticks of butter,

524
00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:43,200
it's kind of funny to see that now, right,

525
00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:45,080
because he's so skinny and fit.

526
00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:48,160
But you know, he was bogged down by gills,

527
00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:49,360
and so he would be like, well,

528
00:24:49,360 --> 00:24:52,800
it may mean about three days, I'll look at Jesus,

529
00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:55,600
and I'll have that connection with him once again.

530
00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:58,720
And one day the Lord said, and what are you doing?

531
00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:02,840
Listen, if you sin, and you confess your sin,

532
00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:07,600
he is what, faithful and just to forgive you of your sin,

533
00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:10,360
and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.

534
00:25:10,360 --> 00:25:12,080
You don't have to wait three days

535
00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:14,240
to get rid of all the guilt.

536
00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:19,240
Just pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and move on.

537
00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:25,760
There is no fear in love.

538
00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:31,080
But perfect love drives out fear.

539
00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:35,200
When you know that God loves you, you have nothing to fear.

540
00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:37,520
So think about John 3.16,

541
00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:40,520
he so loved the world that he gave his son.

542
00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:42,000
He would have given his son

543
00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:44,200
if it was just for you and you alone.

544
00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:46,800
You need to have that mindset,

545
00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:49,960
and it'll give you confidence in the presence of God.

546
00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:52,280
So we have a righteousness consciousness,

547
00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:55,000
and we have a sin consciousness.

548
00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:57,320
What is sin consciousness?

549
00:25:57,320 --> 00:25:59,240
You cover yourself, or Adam covered,

550
00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:01,360
and he covered themselves, they were afraid,

551
00:26:01,360 --> 00:26:03,000
they were naked, therefore they hid.

552
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:05,080
What is righteousness consciousness?

553
00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:10,760
2 Corinthians 5, 17 through 21 says,

554
00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:13,480
if you're in Christ, which we are,

555
00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:16,000
we're hidden in him.

556
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:18,440
We're hidden behind the cross.

557
00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:20,440
If we are in Christ, what are we?

558
00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:21,960
We're a new creation.

559
00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:26,160
All things pass away, all things become new.

560
00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:28,520
The sin nature is gone.

561
00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:32,880
The sin that passed from Adam to humanity is gone.

562
00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:37,160
Jesus was the second Adam, correct?

563
00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:39,840
So that sin nature is gone.

564
00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:42,840
So when the father looks at you,

565
00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:47,840
he sees his son, and he sees the finished work of the cross.

566
00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:51,400
So you could have confidence in him,

567
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:53,360
confidence in his presence,

568
00:26:53,360 --> 00:26:56,400
confidence that if you ask anything according to his word,

569
00:26:56,400 --> 00:27:00,000
he hears you, and you know that you have the petitions

570
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:00,840
you desire.

571
00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:02,840
See, I know that I know that I know that I know

572
00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:04,000
that God's got me.

573
00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:07,520
And I have little examples all around my life,

574
00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:09,120
popping up everywhere.

575
00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:11,960
God's got you.

576
00:27:14,120 --> 00:27:16,760
He loves you, he's got you,

577
00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:19,560
but you've gotta have that righteousness consciousness,

578
00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:21,920
and that righteousness consciousness will give you

579
00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:24,720
confidence in the presence of God.

580
00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:25,680
Are you listening?

581
00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:27,560
Hebrews 11, six.

582
00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:32,280
But without faith, it is impossible to please him.

583
00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:36,800
So you think about it like, okay, secrets

584
00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:40,800
of friendship with God, it's all by faith.

585
00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:45,800
Blessed are those that believe

586
00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:48,040
and have never seen him physically.

587
00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:51,920
Kenneth E. Hagan had multiple visions of Jesus,

588
00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:55,840
but he still had to exercise his faith.