Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey everybody, thank you for tuning into pray dot com Radio.
My name is Mike Kai, the senior pastor of Inspired
Church in Hawaii. Be sure to check out my channel
on pray dot com and for more messages and other
great content. You can also head over to www dot
mike ki dot tv for leadership resources, podcast information, and
(00:23):
ways to connect from Hawaii to wherever you are listening from.
I hope you enjoy this message right here on prey
dot com Radio. Today, I want to talk about faith.
I want to deep dive faith with you. Wants you
to come with me to Luke chapter nineteen. Luke chapter nineteen,
and in your Bible in the New Testament, is going
(00:44):
to talk to us about a great man. At the point,
he wasn't such a great man. But his name is Zachias. Zachias.
As a matter of fact, it says in Luke chapter nineteen,
verse one, it says Jesus entered Jericho and made his
way through the town. Now, if you know anything about Jericho,
Jericho was a cursed city. This is the place where
(01:04):
the Israelites marched around it seven times seven one time
for seven days, and on the seventh day they marched
around it seven times, and they shouted, and the walls
came down, and the city was cursed and said may
never be rebuilt. But it was rebuilt at the price
of a firstborn son and the last son by a
man that I forget his name, but it was recorded
(01:24):
in first Kings. Now when you look at this, when
you look at this city of Jericho, now Jericho has
risen from the ruins, and Jesus is making his way
through the town. I find it very very interesting at
this moment that instead of Jesus going around the town
that was once previously cursed, Jesus decides to go in
through the town. I want you to know right now
(01:46):
that no matter what situation you're going through, no matter
what's happening in your life, if you thinking that your
life is cursed, if you're thinking that you made some mistakes,
that you'll never be able to come back to church,
or if you'll never get back into the ministry again,
or you'll never be able to do what you want,
and once you.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Do know that your life is not cursed, that.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Jesus is coming through your city and through your town
because he has an appointment with you, and he has
an appointment with Zakias. And Zachias is a chief tax collector,
says in verse two, in the region, and he'd become
very rich. In other words, he was a tax collector.
And in those days, tax collectors were hated. They were
semi mafia. Okay, they were money.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Collectors, debt collectors, and.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
You had to pay the Roman government, so you got
to cut from the money that you collected and then
you gave the rest to the Roman government. So you
were kind of playing against your Jewish people, but you
were still working with the Roman government. And at that time,
tax collectors were absolutely hated. Jesus had a tax collector,
a former tax collector on his staff, and on his
team his name was Matthew. Matthew was a tax collector,
(02:50):
former tax collector. Now Jesus finds possibly the boss, Matthew's
previous boss, and his name is Zachias, and Us was
the chief tax collector.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
So not only did they can't couldn't stand him, they
actually hated him.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
So it says in verse three that he tried to
get a look at Jesus, but he was too short
to see over the crowd. He was too short to
see over the crowd. As a matter of fact, his
name is. He was one of the shortest men that
ever recorded in the Bible. He's probably taller than neamayah
Niehai mayah Nea Miya is probably a taller man. But
(03:27):
Zacchias was a wee little man. And what a wee
little man was he. If you grew up in Sunday school,
you know what I'm talking about. But it says so
he ran ahead because he was short, climbed the sycamore
fig tree beside the road for Jesus was going to
pass that way. And when Jesus came by, he looked
up at Zachias and called him by names a chius.
(03:48):
He said, come down, come down, I must be a
guest in your home today. Well Zakias quickly climbed down
and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
But the people were displeased.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,
they grumbled. The crowd grumbled. Meanwhile, the Keyus stood before
the Lord and said, I will give half my wealth
to the poor Lord. And if I have cheated people
on their taxes, and you did, by the way, I
will give them back four times as much. Jesus responded,
(04:26):
Salvation has come to this home today, for this man
has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham.
I love this passage anytime I read the Bible. I
love using my imagination. Can you remember, can you seize
the kis? How Tally is not very tall. We don't
even know how tall he is. But people weren't very
tall in that day anyway, so he must have been really,
(04:47):
really short. So now what you've got is this man
who's a notorious sinner.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Number one.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Number two, he's hated by the people. He's already got
a couple of things against him. Number one he is
already hated. Number two he's had a height disadvantage, hated,
and his hype. Now I want you to say this.
I want to say this that if you're short, this
is nothing to do with you.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Okay. I was once.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
A shorter kid. As a matter of fact, we were
short growing up. We were late bloomers. That there was
this old song back in the day called short People,
and I hated that song. It was such like the
worst song. That song would never fly today. That song
is so politically incorrect, it's not even funny and the
words that I talked about short people ain't got this.
(05:29):
They don't have that. And I would cry because my
brother was short and he was getting picked on because
he was short when he was in boarding school on
Oahu when we were growing up on the Big Island,
and I'd remember him because the kids would pick on
him all the time. I have a soft spot for
being short. I was shorter when I was a kid.
I remember being shorter not being able to be as
(05:50):
good as you could in sports, and it was very,
very difficult. Zakias, for some reason, has an uncontrollable disadvantage
in his life during that time because.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Of his height. But I also want you to know not.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Only was it his height was his disadvantage, but it's
also that he was hated, now hated probably his own fault.
His height had nothing to do with his fault. That's
just the way it was. That was genetics. But his
choices got him into a place where the people could
not stand him. But I want you to notice something.
There are three types of people in our lives that
we've got to be concerned about. The first one is
(06:24):
the crowd. Now, the crowd was there to see Jesus,
of course, and Zakis couldn't get through the crowd. He
couldn't see, so he climbed up a sycamore fig tree.
He was a smart man. He couldn't get through. The
One thing I want to tell you about the crowd,
The crowd is fickle. The crowd will turn coat on you.
Crowds they become more concerned about what people say about
(06:46):
you rather than what God says about you. Right now,
you can't be so concerned about what the crowd says.
Crowd cannot be more important than what God has to
say about you. Because the crowds, they're unpredictable. Right now,
Crowds are right right now, Crowds are attracting other people
that want to just jump in on the fun and
say that they're there.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
And right now, you.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Don't want to be a part of the crowd or
the herd, and some people call them or the crowd.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
The crowd will turn on you.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Social media profiles, people hide behind the crowd popping off
and they pop out. They bounce in, but they bounce out,
they blow in, they blow up and they blow out.
Has anybody done that to your Instagram, your Facebook, your
social media account it's happened to mine, It's happened in mind,
because you know why people hide behind the crowd, and
(07:35):
you don't want to be in that crowd church. And
if you're in that crowd that pops in, pops up
and blows out, and come on, now, we got to
be better than that. We operate with honor, and let's
be careful on how we cancel people. The crowd is
all about a cancel culture. The crowd is all about
(07:56):
ghosting you. That's what the crowd does. And you know
what this crowd, even though he was hated and he
had a short in stature. You don't want to be
concerned about the crowd. You want to be more concerned
about the cloud. Because the Bible tells us that we
have such a great cloud of witnesses that are cheering
a song to the faith that you and I are
(08:17):
running Hebrews chapter twelve, verse one. Therefore, since we are
surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, who is
the great cloud? Well, the great cloud was Enoch, who
walked with God, and then God took him up the clouds.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
People like Moses. The cloud were people who've gone before.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Us, heroes of the faith listed in Hebrews chapter eleven.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Those are the people in the cloud.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
As a matter of fact, the word is stadia like stadium,
and we have a stadium of witnesses that are in
the cloud, not the cloud that you store all your
stuff up in that I wouldn't trust anyway. Okay, I'm
about to get all my stuff off the cloud.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Clint. Let's get my stuff off the cloud. Please, thank you, Clint.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
We're gonna get my stuff off the cloud. Because I
don't trust the cloud, but I trust the other cloud.
The cloud that I trust is the cloud of witnesses
that have gone before us, people of the faith who
have fought the good fight and have finished the race.
They are the cloud. Forget the crowd, run with the cloud.
(09:23):
Third group of people that you need to run with
your corner, your corner. You got a crowd, you got
a cloud, absolutely, and then you've got your corner. My
friend Sean Nepstad sent me a boxing glove in his
book with his book called Don't Quit in the Dip.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Now.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Not promoting his book right now because it's our program.
I'm promoting my book called the Pound for Pound Principle.
You know what it comes out of boxing pound for pound,
MMA fighting pound for pound.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
That's how you're measured.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
But I'm telling you right now, if you are a
MMA fighter, or if you are a boxer, you got
somebody that is in your corner. Look at this left
handed Haymaker, way Maker, knock somebody out left jab coming
with a roundhouse right because you know why, right here,
you need somebody that is in your corner, not just
one person. You need a circle in your corner and
(10:16):
your corner. If you're a fighter, you got a cut man,
you got a manager, you got a coach, you got
a trainer, you got a nutritionist. I heard Lebron James
spends a million dollars a year maintaining his body with
nutrition at the optimum level. Okay, so that what he
can do and become the greatest basketball player that he
(10:36):
wants to be of all time. Can't get close to
Michael Jordan though, but anyway, he's still amazing because why
that's who's in his corner. My question is, when you're
getting beat up and busted up in life, forget the crowd,
crowd turns against you.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
You want the cloud, and you gotta know who's in
your corner.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Somebody throwing me some shakas in the chat pastor mic
is pretchig.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Think about this for a moment.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
The crowd can do something to our faith, gets us stuck,
makes us swallow, and self pity makes us look at
ourselves and realize, I don't have what you have. I
didn't buy what you bought. I want your life. Do
you realize that most people don't put terrible stuff up
on their Instagram?
Speaker 2 (11:16):
They put only the best stuff. They curate that stuff.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
You look at my Instagram profile and I wish you
would follow me on Instagram at miki Okay, I could
use about three hundred more followers push me over the
ten thousand mark. Please just plain kind of think about
this for a moment. What are you gonna throw up
on your Instagram? Only the best, not the worst moments
of your life, not the ugliest moments, not when you
just woke up. This is what I look like when
(11:40):
I woke up. The crowd does not really care. It's
the cloud in your corner. They're the most important people.
The crowd can hold you back. The crowd can stifle
your growth. The crowd gets you preoccupied. The crowd makes
you go, where did the time go today, What did
I do? Was I deductive at all? Today?
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Like like like common common comment.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Think about this for a moment, Zakias, he need to
push through the crowd. And if you're taking notes today,
and it's been highly proven that people take notes get
a nicer house in heaven.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
It says this.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
I want you to write this down that if you're
going to be like Zakias and have great faith, like
in a moment like this and in the season that
we're in number one, you have to have faith to
run ahead of the crowd. You have to have faith
to run ahead of the crowd, not with the crowd,
(12:40):
ahead of the crowd. The Bible says, So he ran
verse four. So he ran, he couldn't see because of
his height. Maybe the people were boxing, boxing him out,
like I would box you out if you tried to
get a rebound on me, box you out.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Maybe they wouldn't let Zakis. They couldn't stand him.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
No, you don't deserve to see Jesus, deserve to get
to Jesus. No, no, sir, But his current circumstances had
him stuck.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
He wanted to see, but he couldn't.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
His stature not necessarily on how tall he was. But
maybe the way that he was respected the optics of
his life kept him down. Maybe this is all he
could do with his life. But now it's time to change.
So what does he do? He runs ahead of the crowd. Church,
don't freeze in a season like this. Don't run away,
(13:29):
but run ahead. Don't run away, but ron ahead of
the crowd. The herd mentality the crowd mentality. Be an
independent thinker that is in touch with the Word of God,
filled with the spirit of God, who holy ghost it
before they post it.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
That is making sure that they're not.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Like the crowd, not with the crowd, but they are
running ahead of the crowd.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Somebody say, a.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Man, you got to be able to find those moments,
find those pockets of clarity in order to get to
the place and position yourself where you need to be.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
To have great faith.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
You got to run ahead of the crowd because the
crowd might be holding back your faith. Run ahead of
the crowd. Number two, have faith to climb above the crowd.
Have faith to climb above the crowd, says So he
ran ahead and climbed a sycamore fig tree beside the
road for Jesus was going to pass that way. See,
(14:25):
he sees the crowd coming, problems coming, the wave of
discouragement is creeping up. But he doesn't want to get
stuck because he knows what being stuck is like. He
knows what it's like to stay where he's at. So
he gets out of his character and he runs because
why because Jewish men didn't run. Tell they got no
cardio back in those days. The Jewish man didn't run,
(14:47):
especially an older man.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
But what does he do.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
He hikes up his skirt. It wasn't a skirt, it
was a tunic. And he lifts up his robe and
he runs and tries to find himself with his Tiva sandals,
dusty all.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Over the place.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
I don't like tivas, I don't like Birkenstock, and I
don't like tivas. I will wear slippers, rub as slippers everybody.
And he rolls up his robe, puts on his tevas.
If you live in the Northwest, you know exactly what
I'm talking about. And he climbs the sycamore fig tree
so he can get a higher look at Jesus. You
got to have faith to climb above the crowd. Number one,
(15:21):
you get ahead of the crowd. Number two, you go
above the crowd, and he's getting above the crowd so
you can get a better glimpse of Jesus. And it's
not so Jesus can see him, and so that he
can see Jesus. And when he goes above, it's not
about Jesus looking for him, it's him looking for Jesus.
Because why because Jesus, I guarantee you, was going through Jericho,
being God who he is, already knew. I got an
(15:44):
appointment with a wee widow man and his name is Achias,
and I'm looking for Zacchias and he's walking and Zakias
makes himself known unbeknownst to us. Maybe that was his motivation.
I want Jesus to see me. I want Jesus to
see me. Or maybe it was like, I just go on,
get a better look at this guy. I've heard so
much about him. This man is my one chance in
(16:04):
a lifetime. And he gets a look at him and
something happens to him because why because of his faith. Guys,
you gotta get him faith to run ahead of the crowd,
and you gotta have faith to rise above the crowd,
rise above the crowd, he climbs the tree. He doesn't
care that he's going to be laughed at. He doesn't
care what people think about him. He doesn't care what
(16:25):
people think and say. He needs to do what he
needs to do in order to see Jesus see. Climbing
above gives you vision. Climbing above gives you clarity, and
it helps you see above the issues of life. When
you climb above, it's like taking the higher road. The
higher road the kids did whatever he needed to do,
(16:47):
bob then weave through crowds, duck under somebody's legs because
he was short, walked up you know I'm talking about,
climbed up with his tivas all the way up to
the top to.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Take a look at Jesus. Did whatever he could so
that he could see Jesus.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Faith God still works with different kinds of faith. But
we've got to have faith that runs ahead of the crowd,
rises above the crowd. In number three, we have to
have faith to find Jesus in the crowd. Finding Jesus
in the crowd, it says in verse five, when Jesus
(17:20):
came by, he looked up at z a Chias and
called him by name.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
The k he yes look. He yes, He said, quick,
come down, I must be a guest in your home today.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
In other words, he said, I'm gonna be a guest
in your home today. I'm coming to your house. I'm
coming into your space. You're gonna entertain me. You could
probably Eastern hospitality, demanded it. Chief tax collector. Got a
nice house, feet washed, come into the home, nice cool towel,
(17:55):
wash your face, wash your hands.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Let the feasts be again. He's the keys.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Let's Jesus find him within the crowd. What are we
doing different for God to find us in the crowd?
In other words, the Bible says, I don't have him
memorized where the address, But the eyes of the Lord
search to and fro throughout the earth to strengthen those
(18:29):
whose hearts are for him. Are you distinguishing yourself from
the rest of the crowd, so Jesus he sees you.
Bible says, many are called, but fear are chosen. Are
you standing out because of faith? Are you standing out
because of trusting God? No matter what's going on in
(18:49):
this season? Are you standing out right now? We must
look like fools, don't we, to the rest of the world,
To the rest of the crowd. But man, I'd rather
be a fool for Jesus because I didn't find Jesus.
Jesus found me. He found me in the crowd, and
I'm so grateful that he saved me. And I'm so
grateful that he came into my life, and I'm so
(19:11):
thankful that he picked me.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Bible says many are called, but fear chosen.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
And he picked you, and for such a time like
we live in now, for that this time. What distinguishes
us and differentiates us from the crowd before we get
to the cloud is finding faith and trusting God that
(19:43):
he sees you right now, whatever you're going through. I
don't know if you lost your job or I don't
know if you got a furlough coming. I don't know
if it's getting crazy up in your house that oh
you got family time now, but now the family getting
on your nerves. I don't know if you feel like
(20:06):
your walls are closing in on you and that house
that seemed apartment seemed big enough now seems so tight,
so small. But I want you to know that God
sees you, that he loves you, that he's with you,
and that he is for you, and no matter what's
going on in your life right now, no matter what's
(20:29):
going to come down the road, that what's going to get.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Us through this is faith.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Faith not in faith, but faith in God, faith in Jesus,
being empowered by the Holy Spirit and trusting him. You know,
the Bible says faith comes by hearing and hearing the
word of God. In other words, the more you read
your word, the more faith you get. Faith comes by
(20:59):
hearing the word of God. Faith comes by this word.
Let's make sure that in this season that we're found
more in the book, then we're found more on our
grand found more in this space right here, building up
your corner, help contributing to someone else's corner, never forsaking
(21:23):
the assembling of ourselves, as some are in the habit
of doing. According to the writer of Hebrews, that we
don't stop, that we keep on going.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Have faith.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Trust God, You're gonna make it. You'll make it through
this season. God's coming to strengthen you right now, as
He's strengthening all of us right now in Jesus' name.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Hey, everybody, thanks again for tuning into pray dot com
Radio to find more of my messages, podcasts, and leadership
resources go to pray dot com or head direct plead
to my website at mike Kai dot tv mike Kai
dot tv for curated content. Once again, this is Mike Cott,
senior pastor of Inspired Church in Hawaii. Thank you so
(22:11):
much for joining me on pray dot com Radio. Aloha
and God bless h
Hey everybody, thank you for tuning into pray dot com Radio.
My name is Mike Kai, the senior pastor of Inspired
Church in Hawaii. Be sure to check out my channel
on pray dot com and for more messages and other
great content. You can also head over to www dot
mike ki dot tv for leadership resources, podcast information, and
(00:23):
ways to connect from Hawaii to wherever you are listening from.
I hope you enjoy this message right here on prey
dot com Radio. Today, I want to talk about faith.
I want to deep dive faith with you. Wants you
to come with me to Luke chapter nineteen. Luke chapter nineteen,
and in your Bible in the New Testament, is going
(00:44):
to talk to us about a great man. At the point,
he wasn't such a great man. But his name is Zachias. Zachias.
As a matter of fact, it says in Luke chapter nineteen,
verse one, it says Jesus entered Jericho and made his
way through the town. Now, if you know anything about Jericho,
Jericho was a cursed city. This is the place where
(01:04):
the Israelites marched around it seven times seven one time
for seven days, and on the seventh day they marched
around it seven times, and they shouted, and the walls
came down, and the city was cursed and said may
never be rebuilt. But it was rebuilt at the price
of a firstborn son and the last son by a
man that I forget his name, but it was recorded
(01:24):
in first Kings. Now when you look at this, when
you look at this city of Jericho, now Jericho has
risen from the ruins, and Jesus is making his way
through the town. I find it very very interesting at
this moment that instead of Jesus going around the town
that was once previously cursed, Jesus decides to go in
through the town. I want you to know right now
(01:46):
that no matter what situation you're going through, no matter
what's happening in your life, if you thinking that your
life is cursed, if you're thinking that you made some mistakes,
that you'll never be able to come back to church,
or if you'll never get back into the ministry again,
or you'll never be able to do what you want,
and once you.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Do know that your life is not cursed, that.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Jesus is coming through your city and through your town
because he has an appointment with you, and he has
an appointment with Zakias. And Zachias is a chief tax collector,
says in verse two, in the region, and he'd become
very rich. In other words, he was a tax collector.
And in those days, tax collectors were hated. They were
semi mafia. Okay, they were money.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Collectors, debt collectors, and.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
You had to pay the Roman government, so you got
to cut from the money that you collected and then
you gave the rest to the Roman government. So you
were kind of playing against your Jewish people, but you
were still working with the Roman government. And at that time,
tax collectors were absolutely hated. Jesus had a tax collector,
a former tax collector on his staff, and on his
team his name was Matthew. Matthew was a tax collector,
(02:50):
former tax collector. Now Jesus finds possibly the boss, Matthew's
previous boss, and his name is Zachias, and Us was
the chief tax collector.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
So not only did they can't couldn't stand him, they
actually hated him.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
So it says in verse three that he tried to
get a look at Jesus, but he was too short
to see over the crowd. He was too short to
see over the crowd. As a matter of fact, his
name is. He was one of the shortest men that
ever recorded in the Bible. He's probably taller than neamayah
Niehai mayah Nea Miya is probably a taller man. But
(03:27):
Zacchias was a wee little man. And what a wee
little man was he. If you grew up in Sunday school,
you know what I'm talking about. But it says so
he ran ahead because he was short, climbed the sycamore
fig tree beside the road for Jesus was going to
pass that way. And when Jesus came by, he looked
up at Zachias and called him by names a chius.
(03:48):
He said, come down, come down, I must be a
guest in your home today. Well Zakias quickly climbed down
and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
But the people were displeased.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,
they grumbled. The crowd grumbled. Meanwhile, the Keyus stood before
the Lord and said, I will give half my wealth
to the poor Lord. And if I have cheated people
on their taxes, and you did, by the way, I
will give them back four times as much. Jesus responded,
(04:26):
Salvation has come to this home today, for this man
has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham.
I love this passage anytime I read the Bible. I
love using my imagination. Can you remember, can you seize
the kis? How Tally is not very tall. We don't
even know how tall he is. But people weren't very
tall in that day anyway, so he must have been really,
(04:47):
really short. So now what you've got is this man
who's a notorious sinner.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Number one.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Number two, he's hated by the people. He's already got
a couple of things against him. Number one he is
already hated. Number two he's had a height disadvantage, hated,
and his hype. Now I want you to say this.
I want to say this that if you're short, this
is nothing to do with you.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Okay. I was once.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
A shorter kid. As a matter of fact, we were
short growing up. We were late bloomers. That there was
this old song back in the day called short People,
and I hated that song. It was such like the
worst song. That song would never fly today. That song
is so politically incorrect, it's not even funny and the
words that I talked about short people ain't got this.
(05:29):
They don't have that. And I would cry because my
brother was short and he was getting picked on because
he was short when he was in boarding school on
Oahu when we were growing up on the Big Island,
and I'd remember him because the kids would pick on
him all the time. I have a soft spot for
being short. I was shorter when I was a kid.
I remember being shorter not being able to be as
(05:50):
good as you could in sports, and it was very,
very difficult. Zakias, for some reason, has an uncontrollable disadvantage
in his life during that time because.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Of his height. But I also want you to know not.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Only was it his height was his disadvantage, but it's
also that he was hated, now hated probably his own fault.
His height had nothing to do with his fault. That's
just the way it was. That was genetics. But his
choices got him into a place where the people could
not stand him. But I want you to notice something.
There are three types of people in our lives that
we've got to be concerned about. The first one is
(06:24):
the crowd. Now, the crowd was there to see Jesus,
of course, and Zakis couldn't get through the crowd. He
couldn't see, so he climbed up a sycamore fig tree.
He was a smart man. He couldn't get through. The
One thing I want to tell you about the crowd,
The crowd is fickle. The crowd will turn coat on you.
Crowds they become more concerned about what people say about
(06:46):
you rather than what God says about you. Right now,
you can't be so concerned about what the crowd says.
Crowd cannot be more important than what God has to
say about you. Because the crowds, they're unpredictable. Right now,
Crowds are right right now, Crowds are attracting other people
that want to just jump in on the fun and
say that they're there.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
And right now, you.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Don't want to be a part of the crowd or
the herd, and some people call them or the crowd.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
The crowd will turn on you.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Social media profiles, people hide behind the crowd popping off
and they pop out. They bounce in, but they bounce out,
they blow in, they blow up and they blow out.
Has anybody done that to your Instagram, your Facebook, your
social media account it's happened to mine, It's happened in mind,
because you know why people hide behind the crowd, and
(07:35):
you don't want to be in that crowd church. And
if you're in that crowd that pops in, pops up
and blows out, and come on, now, we got to
be better than that. We operate with honor, and let's
be careful on how we cancel people. The crowd is
all about a cancel culture. The crowd is all about
(07:56):
ghosting you. That's what the crowd does. And you know
what this crowd, even though he was hated and he
had a short in stature. You don't want to be
concerned about the crowd. You want to be more concerned
about the cloud. Because the Bible tells us that we
have such a great cloud of witnesses that are cheering
a song to the faith that you and I are
(08:17):
running Hebrews chapter twelve, verse one. Therefore, since we are
surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, who is
the great cloud? Well, the great cloud was Enoch, who
walked with God, and then God took him up the clouds.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
People like Moses. The cloud were people who've gone before.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Us, heroes of the faith listed in Hebrews chapter eleven.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Those are the people in the cloud.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
As a matter of fact, the word is stadia like stadium,
and we have a stadium of witnesses that are in
the cloud, not the cloud that you store all your
stuff up in that I wouldn't trust anyway. Okay, I'm
about to get all my stuff off the cloud.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Clint. Let's get my stuff off the cloud. Please, thank you, Clint.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
We're gonna get my stuff off the cloud. Because I
don't trust the cloud, but I trust the other cloud.
The cloud that I trust is the cloud of witnesses
that have gone before us, people of the faith who
have fought the good fight and have finished the race.
They are the cloud. Forget the crowd, run with the cloud.
(09:23):
Third group of people that you need to run with
your corner, your corner. You got a crowd, you got
a cloud, absolutely, and then you've got your corner. My
friend Sean Nepstad sent me a boxing glove in his
book with his book called Don't Quit in the Dip.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Now.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Not promoting his book right now because it's our program.
I'm promoting my book called the Pound for Pound Principle.
You know what it comes out of boxing pound for pound,
MMA fighting pound for pound.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
That's how you're measured.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
But I'm telling you right now, if you are a
MMA fighter, or if you are a boxer, you got
somebody that is in your corner. Look at this left
handed Haymaker, way Maker, knock somebody out left jab coming
with a roundhouse right because you know why, right here,
you need somebody that is in your corner, not just
one person. You need a circle in your corner and
(10:16):
your corner. If you're a fighter, you got a cut man,
you got a manager, you got a coach, you got
a trainer, you got a nutritionist. I heard Lebron James
spends a million dollars a year maintaining his body with
nutrition at the optimum level. Okay, so that what he
can do and become the greatest basketball player that he
(10:36):
wants to be of all time. Can't get close to
Michael Jordan though, but anyway, he's still amazing because why
that's who's in his corner. My question is, when you're
getting beat up and busted up in life, forget the crowd,
crowd turns against you.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
You want the cloud, and you gotta know who's in
your corner.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Somebody throwing me some shakas in the chat pastor mic
is pretchig.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Think about this for a moment.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
The crowd can do something to our faith, gets us stuck,
makes us swallow, and self pity makes us look at
ourselves and realize, I don't have what you have. I
didn't buy what you bought. I want your life. Do
you realize that most people don't put terrible stuff up
on their Instagram?
Speaker 2 (11:16):
They put only the best stuff. They curate that stuff.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
You look at my Instagram profile and I wish you
would follow me on Instagram at miki Okay, I could
use about three hundred more followers push me over the
ten thousand mark. Please just plain kind of think about
this for a moment. What are you gonna throw up
on your Instagram? Only the best, not the worst moments
of your life, not the ugliest moments, not when you
just woke up. This is what I look like when
(11:40):
I woke up. The crowd does not really care. It's
the cloud in your corner. They're the most important people.
The crowd can hold you back. The crowd can stifle
your growth. The crowd gets you preoccupied. The crowd makes
you go, where did the time go today, What did
I do? Was I deductive at all? Today?
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Like like like common common comment.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Think about this for a moment, Zakias, he need to
push through the crowd. And if you're taking notes today,
and it's been highly proven that people take notes get
a nicer house in heaven.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
It says this.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
I want you to write this down that if you're
going to be like Zakias and have great faith, like
in a moment like this and in the season that
we're in number one, you have to have faith to
run ahead of the crowd. You have to have faith
to run ahead of the crowd, not with the crowd,
(12:40):
ahead of the crowd. The Bible says, So he ran
verse four. So he ran, he couldn't see because of
his height. Maybe the people were boxing, boxing him out,
like I would box you out if you tried to
get a rebound on me, box you out.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Maybe they wouldn't let Zakis. They couldn't stand him.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
No, you don't deserve to see Jesus, deserve to get
to Jesus. No, no, sir, But his current circumstances had
him stuck.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
He wanted to see, but he couldn't.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
His stature not necessarily on how tall he was. But
maybe the way that he was respected the optics of
his life kept him down. Maybe this is all he
could do with his life. But now it's time to change.
So what does he do? He runs ahead of the crowd. Church,
don't freeze in a season like this. Don't run away,
(13:29):
but run ahead. Don't run away, but ron ahead of
the crowd. The herd mentality the crowd mentality. Be an
independent thinker that is in touch with the Word of God,
filled with the spirit of God, who holy ghost it
before they post it.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
That is making sure that they're not.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Like the crowd, not with the crowd, but they are
running ahead of the crowd.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Somebody say, a.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Man, you got to be able to find those moments,
find those pockets of clarity in order to get to
the place and position yourself where you need to be.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
To have great faith.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
You got to run ahead of the crowd because the
crowd might be holding back your faith. Run ahead of
the crowd. Number two, have faith to climb above the crowd.
Have faith to climb above the crowd, says So he
ran ahead and climbed a sycamore fig tree beside the
road for Jesus was going to pass that way. See,
(14:25):
he sees the crowd coming, problems coming, the wave of
discouragement is creeping up. But he doesn't want to get
stuck because he knows what being stuck is like. He
knows what it's like to stay where he's at. So
he gets out of his character and he runs because
why because Jewish men didn't run. Tell they got no
cardio back in those days. The Jewish man didn't run,
(14:47):
especially an older man.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
But what does he do.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
He hikes up his skirt. It wasn't a skirt, it
was a tunic. And he lifts up his robe and
he runs and tries to find himself with his Tiva sandals,
dusty all.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Over the place.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
I don't like tivas, I don't like Birkenstock, and I
don't like tivas. I will wear slippers, rub as slippers everybody.
And he rolls up his robe, puts on his tevas.
If you live in the Northwest, you know exactly what
I'm talking about. And he climbs the sycamore fig tree
so he can get a higher look at Jesus. You
got to have faith to climb above the crowd. Number one,
(15:21):
you get ahead of the crowd. Number two, you go
above the crowd, and he's getting above the crowd so
you can get a better glimpse of Jesus. And it's
not so Jesus can see him, and so that he
can see Jesus. And when he goes above, it's not
about Jesus looking for him, it's him looking for Jesus.
Because why because Jesus, I guarantee you, was going through Jericho,
being God who he is, already knew. I got an
(15:44):
appointment with a wee widow man and his name is Achias,
and I'm looking for Zacchias and he's walking and Zakias
makes himself known unbeknownst to us. Maybe that was his motivation.
I want Jesus to see me. I want Jesus to
see me. Or maybe it was like, I just go on,
get a better look at this guy. I've heard so
much about him. This man is my one chance in
(16:04):
a lifetime. And he gets a look at him and
something happens to him because why because of his faith. Guys,
you gotta get him faith to run ahead of the crowd,
and you gotta have faith to rise above the crowd,
rise above the crowd, he climbs the tree. He doesn't
care that he's going to be laughed at. He doesn't
care what people think about him. He doesn't care what
(16:25):
people think and say. He needs to do what he
needs to do in order to see Jesus see. Climbing
above gives you vision. Climbing above gives you clarity, and
it helps you see above the issues of life. When
you climb above, it's like taking the higher road. The
higher road the kids did whatever he needed to do,
(16:47):
bob then weave through crowds, duck under somebody's legs because
he was short, walked up you know I'm talking about,
climbed up with his tivas all the way up to
the top to.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Take a look at Jesus. Did whatever he could so
that he could see Jesus.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Faith God still works with different kinds of faith. But
we've got to have faith that runs ahead of the crowd,
rises above the crowd. In number three, we have to
have faith to find Jesus in the crowd. Finding Jesus
in the crowd, it says in verse five, when Jesus
(17:20):
came by, he looked up at z a Chias and
called him by name.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
The k he yes look. He yes, He said, quick,
come down, I must be a guest in your home today.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
In other words, he said, I'm gonna be a guest
in your home today. I'm coming to your house. I'm
coming into your space. You're gonna entertain me. You could
probably Eastern hospitality, demanded it. Chief tax collector. Got a
nice house, feet washed, come into the home, nice cool towel,
(17:55):
wash your face, wash your hands.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Let the feasts be again. He's the keys.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Let's Jesus find him within the crowd. What are we
doing different for God to find us in the crowd?
In other words, the Bible says, I don't have him
memorized where the address, But the eyes of the Lord
search to and fro throughout the earth to strengthen those
(18:29):
whose hearts are for him. Are you distinguishing yourself from
the rest of the crowd, so Jesus he sees you.
Bible says, many are called, but fear are chosen. Are
you standing out because of faith? Are you standing out
because of trusting God? No matter what's going on in
(18:49):
this season? Are you standing out right now? We must
look like fools, don't we, to the rest of the world,
To the rest of the crowd. But man, I'd rather
be a fool for Jesus because I didn't find Jesus.
Jesus found me. He found me in the crowd, and
I'm so grateful that he saved me. And I'm so
grateful that he came into my life, and I'm so
(19:11):
thankful that he picked me.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Bible says many are called, but fear chosen.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
And he picked you, and for such a time like
we live in now, for that this time. What distinguishes
us and differentiates us from the crowd before we get
to the cloud is finding faith and trusting God that
(19:43):
he sees you right now, whatever you're going through. I
don't know if you lost your job or I don't
know if you got a furlough coming. I don't know
if it's getting crazy up in your house that oh
you got family time now, but now the family getting
on your nerves. I don't know if you feel like
(20:06):
your walls are closing in on you and that house
that seemed apartment seemed big enough now seems so tight,
so small. But I want you to know that God
sees you, that he loves you, that he's with you,
and that he is for you, and no matter what's
going on in your life right now, no matter what's
(20:29):
going to come down the road, that what's going to get.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Us through this is faith.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Faith not in faith, but faith in God, faith in Jesus,
being empowered by the Holy Spirit and trusting him. You know,
the Bible says faith comes by hearing and hearing the
word of God. In other words, the more you read
your word, the more faith you get. Faith comes by
(20:59):
hearing the word of God. Faith comes by this word.
Let's make sure that in this season that we're found
more in the book, then we're found more on our
grand found more in this space right here, building up
your corner, help contributing to someone else's corner, never forsaking
(21:23):
the assembling of ourselves, as some are in the habit
of doing. According to the writer of Hebrews, that we
don't stop, that we keep on going.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Have faith.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Trust God, You're gonna make it. You'll make it through
this season. God's coming to strengthen you right now, as
He's strengthening all of us right now in Jesus' name.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Hey, everybody, thanks again for tuning into pray dot com
Radio to find more of my messages, podcasts, and leadership
resources go to pray dot com or head direct plead
to my website at mike Kai dot tv mike Kai
dot tv for curated content. Once again, this is Mike Cott,
senior pastor of Inspired Church in Hawaii. Thank you so
(22:11):
much for joining me on pray dot com Radio. Aloha
and God bless h
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