February 4, 2025 • 49 mins
Join us in a desperate and seemingly futile effort to understand the Almighty God. Who am I that the Divine Creator would want to have a personal relationship with me? Lets find out together. Enjoy and please share.
The song referenced, Who Am I, is linked here for purchase on iTunes. No copywright infringement intended. https://music.apple.com/us/album/who-am-i/269440887?i=269441279
The song referenced, Say My Name, is linked here for purchase on iTunes. No copywright infringement intended. https://music.apple.com/us/album/say-my-name/266809606?i=266809802
Exciting news!!! You can now join Henry, live via Zoom, for Empowerment Sessions every Sunday morning at 1030am EST, by clicking the link below, or by using the ID and passcode provided below. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82108038420?pwd=twW0ChMfqMskiPizTEFEbOPFq8zORT.1 Meeting ID: 821 0803 8420 Passcode: 439385 Empowerment sessions are not a church service—but are a service to the church. Our automobiles, homes, electronics and various other tools in our lives need maintenance, upgrades and repairs. Are we as a person any different? Empowerment Sessions are where believers get the opportunity to make the necessary corrections, adjustments and spiritual enhancements needed to be better equipped to live more powerful lives for Christ. Acts 1:8 Empowerment sessions offer the opportunity for one-on-one coaching, discipleship and self-improvement, in a confidential but very transparent group setting. Those who attend experience powerful personal sharing of life experiences and struggles which allows for all to defeat the lie of the enemy that says “you’re all alone in this”. You are not alone. You are just a few clicks away from your empowerment. You need to join us soon. When you begin to operate with power in EVERY area of your life, then you have achieved Powerful Living. Join your host, Henry Flowers, as we discover principles that produce the "rich and satisfying life" that Jesus said that He wants for us.
Let's also make strides in the area of teen pregnancy prevention. My book will help your teens avoid the dangers of excessive unsupervised idle time, which is the major cause of trouble for too many of our teens; and it will help them to move from where they are to living the life that they love. Get it here. http://amzn.com/1503271021 To hear my musical tribute to a father's dedication to his family, get my album "I Am With You", at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/henryflowers
The song referenced, Who Am I, is linked here for purchase on iTunes. No copywright infringement intended. https://music.apple.com/us/album/who-am-i/269440887?i=269441279
The song referenced, Say My Name, is linked here for purchase on iTunes. No copywright infringement intended. https://music.apple.com/us/album/say-my-name/266809606?i=266809802
Exciting news!!! You can now join Henry, live via Zoom, for Empowerment Sessions every Sunday morning at 1030am EST, by clicking the link below, or by using the ID and passcode provided below. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82108038420?pwd=twW0ChMfqMskiPizTEFEbOPFq8zORT.1 Meeting ID: 821 0803 8420 Passcode: 439385 Empowerment sessions are not a church service—but are a service to the church. Our automobiles, homes, electronics and various other tools in our lives need maintenance, upgrades and repairs. Are we as a person any different? Empowerment Sessions are where believers get the opportunity to make the necessary corrections, adjustments and spiritual enhancements needed to be better equipped to live more powerful lives for Christ. Acts 1:8 Empowerment sessions offer the opportunity for one-on-one coaching, discipleship and self-improvement, in a confidential but very transparent group setting. Those who attend experience powerful personal sharing of life experiences and struggles which allows for all to defeat the lie of the enemy that says “you’re all alone in this”. You are not alone. You are just a few clicks away from your empowerment. You need to join us soon. When you begin to operate with power in EVERY area of your life, then you have achieved Powerful Living. Join your host, Henry Flowers, as we discover principles that produce the "rich and satisfying life" that Jesus said that He wants for us.
Let's also make strides in the area of teen pregnancy prevention. My book will help your teens avoid the dangers of excessive unsupervised idle time, which is the major cause of trouble for too many of our teens; and it will help them to move from where they are to living the life that they love. Get it here. http://amzn.com/1503271021 To hear my musical tribute to a father's dedication to his family, get my album "I Am With You", at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/henryflowers
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
I find it amazing that the length of time that
I've been playing tennis, I've never gotten as angry as
I got a few days ago. And it's really difficult
(00:24):
for me to control my anger, and I really had
to do some work personally in real tone. We're going
to talk about that today, how I dealt with it,
why I was angry, it was really more important, and
how that connects to the all mighty God. So if
you have if you have Exodus chapter thirty three, that's
(00:46):
where we will open the scriptures. But it's a Saturday
doubles match. And you know, when it comes to tennis,
I haven't been playing a long time. I'm playing since
I was thirty six, and I'm a very good tennis player.
I think my biggest advantage is I have a really
(01:07):
big serve and a really big fourhand, But I also
am left handed, and that's a really big advantage. If
you don't really understand how much of an advantage I
left he has in tennis. Get in your car and
drive and then all of a sudden, the accelerator becomes
the brake. Now you didn't know, nobody prepared you for this,
(01:28):
but the accelerator becomes the brake, the brake becomes the accelerator,
and drive like that. And then not only that, let's
just get to the part where you turn the steering
wheel to the right and the car turns the other way.
And then you grab a steam where and you turn
the steeringwheel to the left and the car goes right.
(01:49):
That's what it's like playing tennis with somebody who's left handed.
It just turns the whole thing around. And if you're not,
somebody who adapts easily and quickly is going to really
cause you problems just being left handed. And so here
I am playing doubles a couple of saturdays ago, and
this opponent I'm on, I'm playing on court two. We
(02:14):
got three courts, top one, top the top court. Court
one is usually our best players. Top two is usually
a little less than that. Court two is a little
less than court one, and then court three is less
than both of those courts combined. So that's how the
courts are usually set up. You have your best players
on court one, second best on court two, court three
like that, because you want to win, you want to
(02:34):
put your best players out there. And so I'm playing
on court two, and we start playing and this guy
introduces himself. He's sixty years old. But y'all just understand,
(02:55):
when it comes to tennis, there's there's levels to this,
just like in the other sport. There's levels to this.
I'm never gonna sign up to play Rafa Nadal. You
see my picture back there. I'm never gonna sign up
to play Serena Williams. These are professional level tennis players.
(03:20):
The level that I'm on on my Saturday's doubles teams
usually this thirty and over. Usually the skill level of
each male player is around three five, four three somewhere
in there. Average tennis player is about two five. I'm
at about the four to two level, So I'm an
(03:43):
above average tennis player. And I told you I'm left handed. Well,
here's this guy, he's sixty years old, and we start playing,
and y'all just understand the first thing that came to
my mind once I realized that something different was happening,
I said to myself about this guy, why are you here?
(04:06):
Why are you here? This dude was so beyond anybody
else that was on our court. I'm talking about between
my two players and his other players, the doubles four people,
My two against his two right I'm talking about. This
dude was hitting shots that I had never even seen before.
(04:30):
He was hitting pro level shots. Now I can hit
a pro level shot. I might be able to hit two,
but the third one is gonna hit the curtain. The
fourth one is gonna hit the bottom of the neck.
Because that's how I am a four old player. You
can rip some stuff, but then you're pretty soon after
(04:53):
two or three shots, you're gonna look like an amateur.
This dude was so beyond us. Man, it made me
angry because I'm I don't sign up for this.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Yo.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Y'all gotta understand something. Just when you're competing in sports,
if you get matched up with somebody else that's beyond you,
they can take your ever loving soul and just snatch it. Bro.
Like I started double faulting on my serve, Like you
(05:23):
get one chance to get the ball in and then
you get a second chance. I don't double fault maybe
twice in a match. In a two hour match, I
might have two double faults because my serve is just
that good man. By the time the twelfth double fault
of my own, And when you double fault, you've given
your opponents a point because you hit it in the net,
(05:44):
or you hit it out because you do whatever you're
doing is just wrong and it's not going in. And
I was like, what is happening to me? And I
started thinking I tried to fix stuff? Am I not
keeping my head up? Am I not using my legs?
Is my timing off? Something's wrong? What is going on?
Then I finally realize it it's him. It was him
and had nothing to do with me. See, he was
(06:07):
returning my serve in a way that I had never
experienced before. I mean, I'm telling you people have a
difficulty returning my serve, mostly because I'm left handed, but
a lot of it is also because it's a high
level serve. But this dude was smacking my serve back
at me. Before I could finish my service motion. The
(06:30):
serve was coming back and I didn't have time to
even get ready, Like, who does this? He was hitting
shots that I've never even seen before. I saw him
before on TV. But just understand, y'all, what you see
on TV is different than reality. You never ever want
(06:51):
to get yourself in a ring with a professional boxer
if you just starting off, That's just not something that's
ever gonna happen. If you got people around you who
care about you, they will reap. They will make you reevaluate.
You'll ever thinking about putting on boxing gloves. I've seen it.
(07:15):
I was in the ring and this guy that I
thought I wanted to aspire to. He was left handed. Man,
he's good, and he was the best in our city, Detroit.
Somebod y'all know about cross gym. You better ask somebody.
If you don't know, you better ask somebody. But this
professional came in and he just wanted to do a
little sparring. And I was here to watch. Man, I
want to see our guy spar with this pro. I'm
(07:36):
gonna mention no names, no need to, but man, I
just saw this guy that I had looked up to,
man I had aspired to be like. I didn't understand
what was happening to him. This this pro saw all
(07:57):
of his punches coming and he was hitting him with
combinations that I had never even seen people be able
to execute, and all of them landed. You know what
a one three four combo is, It's okay. Just understand
(08:20):
that combo was not a combo that people even try,
because most time people ain't even fast enough to execute
a one three four combo. And then not to mention,
the person that you're hitting is actually able to get
hit with that combo because it's very difficult to go
from a one to a three to a four. This
(08:40):
is a very difficult conversation. It's pro love stuff. But
this dude not only hit him with that combo, all
three of them landed flush. And I'm just saying, over
the next three rounds, this dude that I had looked
up to and inspired you, it was like, I want
to be like him. This pro came in and made
this dude look like he had for being in the
(09:00):
ring before. I've never seen anything like it. That's how
I felt playing tennis on that Saturday, and it got
to the point where this dude was just hitting so
many shots. I actually just got mad and I just
started swinging for everything I had deep down in my soul.
(09:23):
I didn't even care anymore about whether it was going
to go in or going out. I just started. We
were down five zero in the second set. You only
get the six before the set is over. We're down
five zero and I'm serving, and this dude was just
(09:45):
every the best I had didn't phase him. He spat
it out like a neat getting caught in his mind nothing.
I had nothing for him, y'all. I'm serving at and
I'm like, listen, I don't win every match. I'm a
good player, and I'm okay we're losing, but I don't
(10:06):
get bageled you. Even if I play singles. I'm played
with some guys that I know. I ain't beating this guy.
But you're not gonna bagel me. You ain't gonna blank me.
You're gonna blow me out.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Man.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Here, I am serving at five zero in the second set.
We made the first set pretty close because I think
the dude was really just warming up. Although every shot
that he hit, I knew this dude wasn't supposed to
be here, let alone be on court too. He wasn't
supposed to be in our league. They beyond us, y'all. Listen.
You just think you can play professional basketball with the pros.
(10:41):
You just think you can. I know you got skills,
you got the double crossover, and you can shoot. Man,
you think even next best thing. But trust me, there's
a reason to pros don't play at the YMCA in
the summer times. There's a reason that ain't no pros
where you played, you ain't on a level. BRO had
(11:03):
some of the pros. When I was in South Carolina,
I had a dude who had played in the pros,
came in, he stood and he was about six foot nine.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Bro.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Everything that you can do as fast as you are,
they are just as fast, just as skilled. And they
six y nine and you sitting up here five to ten,
you ain't ready. They are beyond you. They different, They're
different species.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Bro.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
I'm athletic, but I'm not an athlete. There's levels to this,
and so here I am. I'm sitting here with all
the stuff that I know I can do, and I've
got championships y'all. Playing tennis, I got a back to
back undefeated season in mixed doubles where my team overall,
(11:49):
in playing three matches, three courts, we never lost a match,
even though one of our courts might have lost their match.
Is best two out of three. Put it together, Okay,
I never lost a match and my team overall never
lost the match. Two undefeated seasons, back to back mixed doubles.
(12:11):
So I'm just telling you I know how to play
this game. And here I am serving five zero, and
this dude is just beyond me. And I told you,
I got mad because he wasn't supposed to be here,
like we're supposed to be playing people on our level.
And at five oh, man, when I tell you, I
(12:32):
tossed the ball and I didn't care about nothing. I
didn't care about my shoulder, I ain't care about malabrum,
I ain't care about nothing being healthy. When I got
finished with this service game, the only thing I cared
about was this dude ain't about to bagel me with everything, rotator, cluff, handstrings,
(12:55):
back everything, put everything in there and served and somehow, y'all,
I pulled out that service game and we lost six
to one. They won the next game. But walking up
and shaking this guy's hand, I'm gonna just be honest
(13:18):
with you, and extending my right hand, I'm gonna just
tell you it was everything that I could do to
resist hooking him with the left. You wasn't supposed to
be here, bro, I was. I don't even know how
it was fun for him. He was that far beyond us.
And the sad part about is my wife was there watching,
(13:38):
and you know, man, listen, you getting done like that
in front of your wife. Bro, It's one thing getting
your butt kicked, but getting put your book kick in
front of your wife. That's a beating right there. That's
an extra beating. It's a psychology. You're getting a physical
beating and you're getting a psychological beating at the same time.
It's just listen. It messed with me. I had to
(14:00):
call my mama Monday. I told you place Saturday. Monday,
I had to call my mama. Mama feeling a little
defeat and I'm feeling a little depressed. When she said,
why happen blah blah blah blah blah, And now I
told her. She said, oh, that's why happened Saturday. Well, yeah,
because that's why you blah blah blah bah blah. She said, y'all,
can't hear it in your voice? Son, And my mama
(14:21):
went to preaching the gospel. You are more than a conqueror.
Tennis is not your life. You are the head and
not the tale. You are above, only not beneath. I
felt tears coming down on my face, y'all. My mama
spoke revived my spirit. I needed it. I was on
cardiac arrest or something because of what this dude did
(14:41):
to us on Saturday. I had to call my mama.
That's a beat, Linta. When you get your butt cut,
you get your butt cake, where you gotta go call
your mama. You done got it beat. That's im beating man.
(15:02):
And so I think about this obvious chasm, this go
fix between my skill level and his. And there's four
of us on the tennis go He had a partner.
His partner was on our level. My partner was on
(15:24):
our level. But this dude, the sixty year old, it
was beyond us. Man, Why are you here? How is
this fun for you? How is this enjoyable for you?
And I thought about this for a little while, and
(15:44):
I just through prayer and just sitting with God about
what to talk about today, he shared this with me.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
If you got.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Exodus chapter thirty three, yeah, that's how God is. That's
how God is, the Almighty God, Jehovah Yahweh. He has,
he has many names. But just understand that God is
(16:22):
so far beyond us. You just don't even really understand.
There's certain things that you can comprehend. I mean, there's
other things where you just have to apprehend. You you
can't fully understand it. You just have to grab a
hold of it and say, Okay, that's what it is. Yeah,
(16:47):
did you know scientists can't explain electricity. I didn't actually
know that. I did did some study. There's actually we
know how to manipulate electricity and make it work. We
know how to influence it and shift it and control it.
(17:10):
Scientists can't explain why it is what it is and
why it does what it does. You can't explain. You
add that on to all of the other stuff that
just can't be explained. You look at the Almighty God
as we see him in the scriptures, and he's just
beyond us to the point where you're never going to
be able to comprehend him. You just kind of apprehend
(17:33):
certain things that are explained in the scriptures, and you
just try to pray for understanding. He's so far beyond us.
Listen to Genesis chapter No. I'm sorry exwer this chapter
thirty three. I'll read quickly because I want to cover
some area. I want to cover some ground on this.
I'm going to start at verse twelve. I'll be reading
from the Life Application Study Bible. So this is a
(17:56):
new Living translation. Here we go watch this to seize
the Lord's glory. Verse twelve of Exodus, chapter thirty three.
One day, Moses said to the Lord, you've been telling
me take these people to the Promised Land, but you
haven't told me whom you will send with me. You've
(18:17):
told me I know you by name, and I look
favorably on you. If it's true that you look fabably
on me, let me know your ways so I may
understand you more fully and continue to enjoy your favor.
Moses is like, if you like me like that, didn't
just help me understand who you are, because this experience
and I've had with you so far, this thing is
(18:37):
beyond me. Bro. I'm really having a tough time with
all these mountains shaking and the clouds and the plagues
and the water parting. It's just stuff going on that's
just beyond me. I don't understand. Help me understand. I
want to understand more. And he says, let me know
your way so I may understand you more fully and
continue to enjoy your favor. And remember that this nation
(18:58):
is your very own people, people that you chose, Almighty God,
these are your own people, okay. In verse fourteen, the
Lord replied, I will personally go with you, Moses, and
I will give you rest. Everything will be fine for you.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Then Moses said, if you don't personally go with us,
don't make us leave this place. How will anyone know
that you look favorably on me, on me, and on
your people if you don't go with us, For your
presence among us sets your people and me apart from
all other people on the earth. They are the people
of God. Is what some of the enemies said, Hey,
(19:35):
don't mess with them. Those are the Israelites. Oh, they
serve the God of Jacob oh A lead him alone.
They God is for real. And the Lord replies to Moses,
I will indeed deal what you have asked for. I
look favorably on you, and I know you by name.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
He knows my name, he knows my every thought.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Moses responded, Then show me your glorious presence, Moses. See,
this is so funny how people we do this. This is
how we are as human beings. We want to see something.
Show me your glorious presence. Moses is saying, I want
to see you. I want to see your face, is
what he's talking about. Out of the cloud, the fire
(20:23):
on the mountain, and all that kind of stuff is good.
The God that is beyond us, the omnipotent God, Moses
is saying, I want to see you. When the Lord
replied in verse nineteen, I will make all my goodness
past before you, and I will call out my name
Yahweh before you. Or I will show mercy to anyone
(20:47):
I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.
But you may not look directly at my face, for
no one may see me and live. He says, Okay,
I'm gonna walk by you, and other passage says, I'll
(21:07):
hide you in a rock, and I'll put my hand
in front of your face while I walk by. This
is crazy, and here he goes. The Lord continued, Look
stand near me on this rock. That's what he's talking about.
He says, stand near me and inside this rock. As
my glorious presence passes by, I will hide you in
(21:28):
the crevice of the rock and cover you with my
hand until I have passed. Then i'll remove my hand
and let you see me from behind, but my face
will not see You can see behind parts. You can
see the back of me, the back of my legs,
my back maybe the back of my head, but he said,
you can't see my face and live.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Then the Lord tells me, so this is a this
is an amazing thing that's happening, right, God is I
guess he's watching Moses to understand how much that God
actually loves him, because he says, I look favorably upon you.
But God is just saying, listen, bro, I'm beyond you.
You are natural. I am supernatural you you you are mortal,
(22:18):
and I am immortal. And God says, I want to
give you what you ask for because I love you
and I care about you. But the thing you are
asking me for you can't handle it.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Hmm. So here's what I'll do. Getting that rock, I'm
gonna walk.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
By, hide your face, and well, I'm gonna say my name.
I'm gonna say my name, say my name, And so
God says, when I pass you by, then I'll move
my hand and you can see.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
The back of them.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Then the Lord told this chapter thirty four Exodus. Then
the Lord told Moses, chisel off two stone tablets like
the first ones. I will write on them the same
words that were on the tablets you smashed. Yeah, he says,
make two more tablets, and I'm gonna rewrite what I
(23:23):
wrote the first time on the tablets that you smashed. See,
this is why God ain't really checking for us, because
we get into some foolishness. God gave Moses the Ten
Commandments on two tablets and says, hey, this is what
you take back to your people. This is my standard.
They said they could live up to my standard. Okay,
take back to them my standard on these two tablets.
(23:45):
And Moses came down from the mountain. The people were
partying and revenue and having orgies, and Moses got mad
and through the tablets down what is wrong with y'all?
And he broke the tablets because we said, Man, God
as holy, and we are as holy as we can be.
(24:07):
It's an amazing contrast. He says, be ready in the morning.
First two, be ready in the morning to climb up
the Mount Sinai and present yourself to me on the
top of the mountain. No one else may come with you.
In fact, no one is to appear anywhere on the mountain.
Do not even let the flocks or herds graze near
the mountain. You gott are saying, back up off me.
(24:30):
I'm so different. I'm so beyond you that not a
I'm gonna let you come. Don't bring another person with you.
Get off the mountain Mount Sinai. Y'all usually can come
up the mountain and get close enough to start smelling
some stuff and seeing some smoke and seeing all kind
of lightning and cormets and flashes and stuff. No, no, no,
we ain't doing none of that this time. It's gonna
(24:51):
be different today. Back up off me, and don't even
let your little animals graze near the mountain or they
gonna die. This is what you do. I'm gonna give
you what you've been asked this. Now you ask for this,
and God is saying, I'm gonna give it to you.
Just you, I'm gonna give it to you, everybody else.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
Back to Heck copy verse four.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
So Moses chiseled out two tablets of stone like the
first ones. Early in the morning, he climbed out Sinai.
The Lord to commanded him, and he carried the two
stone tablets in his hands. Then the Lord came down
in a cloud and stood there with him, and he
called out his own name, Yahweh. The Lord passed in
front of Moses, calling out Yahweh, the Lord, God of
(25:38):
compassion and mercy. I am slow to anger and filled
with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to
a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin, but
I do not excuse the guilty. I lay the sins
(25:58):
of the parents upon their children and grandchildren. The entire
family is affected, even children in the third and fourth generation.
Moses immediately threw himself to the ground and worshiped, Oh Lord,
if it is true that I found favor with you,
then please travel with us. Yes, this is a stubborn
(26:19):
and rebellious people. They great great, now they great great.
They own some different stuff, Moses said, they stubborn and
rebellious people. But please forgive our iniquity and our sins.
Claim us as your own special possession. So here's the
(26:41):
Lord doing his best to show up and show out
and reveal himself to a flawed, sinful, rebellious creation. The
Creator wants to present himself to his creation.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
He wants to.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Have an intimate relationship with you. And this is how
it is, and he makes no apologies for it. And
so when I sit back and think about this reality,
and how God shows up in our lives. I just
(27:29):
have to say to myself, who am I that the
Almighty God wants to be in a relationship with me?
You know, it's something that we should think about more
often than we do. This platform, Powerful Living Ministries has
(27:57):
more of a focus toward Christian living. How to go
about being His representative, how to get right, how to
stay right? You know, how to be more loving, how
to be less angry, how to be God's people. So
many of the teachings tend to be focused on those things.
(28:22):
And also I believe that there's a time where we
got to grab a hold of the theology learning about God,
and sometimes you just got to sit with it because
it's so far beyond you, the creator of the universe,
(28:43):
all of the wonders of the cosmos that just cannot
be explained or even discovered. And you look at this planet,
did you know that, like is it like ninety percent
of the ocean has not been mapped. It's beyond you.
(29:09):
The depths of the ocean, too cold, too much pressure,
too dark, to be too vast, to beyond you. And
the Almighty God who created this planet wants to be
in relationship with you. He tells, Moses, you are my
(29:30):
prized possession, and I like you, bro I'm going to
show myself to you in a way that makes you
understand that everything is going to be alright. Sit with
(29:53):
this for a moment, especially those of you who have
suicidal ideation, those of you who have depression, feeling lonely,
like no one cares, feeling like the weight of the
world is upon you and you want to end your life,
(30:13):
not because you don't want to live anymore, you don't
want to live up under this pain, this thing that
you're experiencing, And just sit with the fact today that
the almighty God cares about you and that he wants
(30:37):
to be in a covenant relationship with you. The one
who flung the stars, created the earth and all of
the mysteries of the earth, all of the animals, He
created them and allowed atom, your forefather, to name these animals.
And even scientists today are still coming by creatures that
are just undiscovered, like what is that You're able to
(31:00):
send vehicles down further and further into the depths of
the sea, and they're like, what it is that an
angel fish is different than the angelfish, that you're thinking
of just just just search it for deep sea angelfish.
(31:25):
It's crazy. The guy who did all of those things says,
I want to know you. It's great to spend a
lot of times, you know, in prayer, and we definitely
spend a lot of time at work around family. I
(31:50):
think more and more we will begin to be blown
away at this, this, this portion of theology about the
omnipotent I'm not present God who wants to be in
(32:11):
covenant relationship with me? The creator of all the universe says,
who am I that I would be mindful of you?
Speaker 3 (32:22):
You?
Speaker 2 (32:23):
You not even on my level.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
I am holy, and you are sinful and rebellious and
full of iniquity. Bro, Why would I even be checking
for you? And I love this passage of scripture. It
says that the Lord would would speak to Moses face
(32:53):
to face like someone would speak to a friend. So
all the time that we spend doing all those other things,
I think we don't spend enough time just sitting with
this cosmic contradiction that the Almighty God wants to be
(33:19):
in covenant relationship with me, with you.
Speaker 3 (33:29):
Oh whomah, that the Lord of all the earth cared
of Norman name care feel my heard whom that the
Bride and morning Star choose to light the way to
(33:50):
my air wandering heart.
Speaker 4 (33:53):
Not because of who I am, but because of what
you've done. Not because of what I've done, but because
of who you are. I am a flower quickly fading
here today and gone tomorrow, a wave tossed in the ocean,
(34:16):
a vapor in the wind. Still you hear me when
I'm calling, Lord, you catch me when I'm falling, And you've.
Speaker 3 (34:25):
Told me who I am?
Speaker 1 (34:29):
I am yours boy casting crowns bore they could write
some songs. The Almighty got touched that brother when he
wrote that song I am yours?
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Who am I I am yours?
Speaker 1 (34:49):
I mean, it's in all of our being as human beings.
Who's one of my wife's favorite movies, Pretty Woman? Did
we not have a good time? We went to see
that thing live here in Cincinnati. It was an amazing
Pretty Woman. It's about a prostitute who met somebody. Shocker,
(35:17):
prostitute meeting somebody. We've got a lot of meetings. It's
a lot of meetings. What you're saying, there's a lot
of meetings. But she met with and fell in love
with someone who's beyond her. The wealthy billionaire, highly educated
(35:41):
businessman met this escort and raised her, up raised her
up to become more than what she ever could have
been on her own. That is a glimpse of eternity.
That is a glimpse into the mind of the almighty God.
And he says, listen, the lonely cannot touch.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
The high.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
Those who are low can't reach those who are high.
They're beyond you. Man. A couple of weeks ago, when
we were at the game, Steph Curry was sitting right
over there, and my mother in law wanted to see
him play. She wanted to meet him. She just want
(36:28):
to see him play. And he wasn't playing that day.
They rest in the players and I'm walking around trying
to find somebody, and I found somebody with a Golden
State Warriors badge on and I grabbed him.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
I said, hey, blah.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, it's gonna
I My mama is here, she got terminal cancer. What's
going on? What can we do? Can we make something happen?
And he looked at me. I said, man, can we
meet him can't you get an autograph?
Speaker 3 (36:53):
Like what?
Speaker 1 (36:53):
And he looked at me, he said, oh, you would
have to know him. You asking for a miracle? I
said yes, No, he said, man, you you can't get
to Steph. A lot of reasons, a lot of reasons
(37:16):
behind that. It's not just because they bougie and they
think they're better than us. But you know they can't
just be walking up and meeting people. You know, people
do take people hostage nowadays, right, you know Steph Curry
is worth a lot of money going around to meet
him sometime if you want to and you don't know,
nobody find out. Ain't nobody seen Steph Curry in two weeks?
(37:37):
You know, I'm said to get a letter. We want
forty million dollars in unmarked currences, twenty million in twenties. Man,
who you think you kidnap? Jesse Cuinnon? Man, you would
have to know him. So the those who are low,
(38:01):
you can't touch somebody who's high. But the beautiful thing
is is that they can choose to come down and
grab you and pull you up. It's a choice that
they make because of power and wealth and fame. It
grants you certain things. And so here is God that saying, bro,
I love you. I am high and lift it up.
(38:23):
You are not, and I'm choosing to come down to
where you are just because I love you. Man, that's
something that we need to sit with. When you feel
the hurting pain and the struggles of this life, the
(38:44):
pursures of the world start to bouncing on you. You need
a bucket of all. Ain't don't white, no finger lit
it make the cross, no, man, you need a bucket
of all to be doused on you. And that's what
David Iron said.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
Hmm yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:07):
But we love that story because you have somebody who
has it all falls in love with someone who has
nothing and pulls her up and it makes her more
(39:29):
than what she ever thought she could be, causes her
to be around people who used to look down upon her.
Here's your favorite scene. Oh do you work here? Big mistake?
(39:49):
Don't you work on commission? Big mistake? Passing me up?
Oh man, that's the power of the greater reaching down
to pull up the lesser. There's power in that, and
that's why God empowers us with his Holy Spirit so
(40:10):
we can do the same thing. You know, we have
been saved too, save we have been delivered to deliver,
and we have been saved too save. One of the
last things Jesus said was go and make disciples. You
go and do what you have seen me do. God
(40:33):
manifest took on flesh. I'm gonna leave all of the
glory behind, said the Sun, and I'm gonna come down
on earth and die for them because I love them
(40:56):
and I want them to know that everything is gonna
be all right.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
You don't need to.
Speaker 1 (41:06):
Kill yourself, you don't need to die. You just need
to spend more time thinking about the one who died
for you. The God of the universe wants to be
in covenant relationship with you, my friend. That is a
(41:33):
foundation of Christian theology. Is something that you can't really
fully comprehend it. You just have to apprehend it and
grab a hold of it and say to yourself, it's
so I don't need to understand electricity in order to
(41:59):
use it. How much of that are we using right now?
Speaker 2 (42:04):
All of it?
Speaker 1 (42:08):
And it's the heart of man. But the box says
a fool says in his heart that there is no God.
It's it's foolish to say I don't believe in anything
that I don't see and that's why many reject God
because they don't see it. They can't understand this idea
of the invisible God and creator of all things. Bro, Listen,
(42:36):
you don't understand electricity, but you constantly plugging stuff in.
Let your phone get to twelve percent and you are scrambling.
Let that red light come on, Let that red light
come on. Don't you be scrambling for some corn?
Speaker 2 (42:50):
Man.
Speaker 1 (42:51):
I pick up a passage. They getting a car. You
got you got a phone charger? Boy, They eyes be
all big and shaken. Got thig of what.
Speaker 2 (43:00):
You need?
Speaker 1 (43:01):
That electricity, Bro, you need to tap into the power.
But a foolish heart and at the same time says,
I don't believe in God. I can't see him. And
that's the same person who's taking big, old deep breaths. Bro,
I'm talking about one pastor I picked up this Morning's
back there breathing hard. I thought he was snoring. Now
(43:23):
he wasn't snoring. He's just breathing hard.
Speaker 2 (43:27):
People.
Speaker 1 (43:27):
You know, sometimes people get overweight and stuff, they breathe hard.
And friend of mine said, why you people always ask
me because I'm overweight, and why are you breathing so hard?
He said, because I want to live. What's the matter
with you? Why are you breathing? The fool says that heart.
I don't believe nothing I can see but you be breathing. Bro,
can't see a lick at that oxygen. The Almighty God
(43:52):
created this planet and the oxygen level and the nitrogen
and all this kind of stuff works together for you
to be able to And that same God allows you
to reject him and call him a liar because he's
long suffering, as he says when he passed before Moses
(44:14):
and put his hand, don't look at me now, don't
look at me. I am full of compassion, I forgive sins.
I'm long suffering. Now you can look at my hind
parts as I pass you by. Jehovah, the Lord, even
his name is unspeakable. When we see the Lord, you
see Jehovah yahweh. Just understanding the original text, that spelling
(44:39):
is y h w H. There's no there's no vowels.
Speaker 2 (44:45):
It's y h w h.
Speaker 1 (44:47):
Anytime you see Jehovah in the scriptures or the Lord
in all casts, it's y h w h.
Speaker 2 (45:00):
Okay, you wouldn't.
Speaker 1 (45:06):
He's He's so beyond you that you can't even say
his name. His name is so beyond. Even in Judeo
Christian faith.
Speaker 2 (45:18):
They they say that.
Speaker 1 (45:19):
Those it's it's forbidden to say his name because his
name is so holy. That's why the why h w
H is there. And yeah, they can believe that was fine.
I't gonna argue with him about that. All I know
is he is beyond. And the more and more I
sit and think about how beyond he is, the less
(45:42):
I worried about things. I just I just trust God.
And Moses was the same way God begin to show
up strongly mighty in his life, like doing miracles and
and and and God, take your staff and throw it
(46:03):
down there in front of Pharaoh. And Moses's staff became
a serpent. And then Pharaoh looked at his his people,
He's like, what y'all gonna do? You're gonna let this
man come over and do that stuff. What y'all gonna do?
And they took their staff and they threw their staffs
down on the floor too, and their staff became serpents.
(46:23):
And most are like, wait a minute, God, what is happening?
Speaker 3 (46:26):
Lord?
Speaker 1 (46:26):
They didn't just they did the same thing away. This
ain't how they're supposed to be working out. They ain't
supposed to be able to do godly stuff. And then
the staff that Moses threw down and had had turned
into a serpent, and the staff that they.
Speaker 3 (46:46):
Threw down and turned into a serpent too.
Speaker 1 (46:51):
Guess what happened next. Moses' serpent consumed every one of
those other surpents. Mm hm, So you just got a
form of godliness. He need do a little magic, tricky trick.
But just understand, God is beyond you. He's beyond you,
(47:14):
and he wants to show up strong and mighty in
your life. He says, call upon me, and I will
answer you and show you great and mighty things that
you can't even comprehend. I've seen it in my life, y'all.
(47:34):
And the same desire that God has for Moses, where
he says, I want to speak to Moses face to
face like a man speaks to his friends. And the
same idea where Jesus says, I'm not even gonna call
you disciples anymore, because you know, disciples and Master have
a different relationship. He says, but from now on, I
(47:58):
call you friends. I call you friends. So as we
think more and more about the troubles and the struggles
that you have on a daily basis, and especially struggling
against this body of sin. You're trying to do right.
(48:21):
You're trying to be more loving, You're trying to be
less angry. You try, and you try, and you try it.
Maybe it's gotten you to the point where you feel
like you.
Speaker 2 (48:31):
Don't want to be here anymore.
Speaker 1 (48:33):
Or maybe instead of enjoying alcohol, now alcohol is enjoying you.
Speaker 2 (48:42):
Instead of.
Speaker 1 (48:45):
Seeking to get high, how about connecting to God who
is the most high. He is the most high God,
and he wants to be with you and covenant relationshship
with you. The God of the universe wants to walk
(49:08):
up towards you and say, Hi, that's a good thing,
my friend. Think about these things and make your decision today,
because he is long suffering, full of compassion, He forgives,
and he loves you. Henry Flowers Powerful Living Outreach Ministry
(49:33):
ain't going to where I'm coming back.
I find it amazing that the length of time that
I've been playing tennis, I've never gotten as angry as
I got a few days ago. And it's really difficult
(00:24):
for me to control my anger, and I really had
to do some work personally in real tone. We're going
to talk about that today, how I dealt with it,
why I was angry, it was really more important, and
how that connects to the all mighty God. So if
you have if you have Exodus chapter thirty three, that's
(00:46):
where we will open the scriptures. But it's a Saturday
doubles match. And you know, when it comes to tennis,
I haven't been playing a long time. I'm playing since
I was thirty six, and I'm a very good tennis player.
I think my biggest advantage is I have a really
(01:07):
big serve and a really big fourhand, But I also
am left handed, and that's a really big advantage. If
you don't really understand how much of an advantage I
left he has in tennis. Get in your car and
drive and then all of a sudden, the accelerator becomes
the brake. Now you didn't know, nobody prepared you for this,
(01:28):
but the accelerator becomes the brake, the brake becomes the accelerator,
and drive like that. And then not only that, let's
just get to the part where you turn the steering
wheel to the right and the car turns the other way.
And then you grab a steam where and you turn
the steeringwheel to the left and the car goes right.
(01:49):
That's what it's like playing tennis with somebody who's left handed.
It just turns the whole thing around. And if you're not,
somebody who adapts easily and quickly is going to really
cause you problems just being left handed. And so here
I am playing doubles a couple of saturdays ago, and
this opponent I'm on, I'm playing on court two. We
(02:14):
got three courts, top one, top the top court. Court
one is usually our best players. Top two is usually
a little less than that. Court two is a little
less than court one, and then court three is less
than both of those courts combined. So that's how the
courts are usually set up. You have your best players
on court one, second best on court two, court three
like that, because you want to win, you want to
(02:34):
put your best players out there. And so I'm playing
on court two, and we start playing and this guy
introduces himself. He's sixty years old. But y'all just understand,
(02:55):
when it comes to tennis, there's there's levels to this,
just like in the other sport. There's levels to this.
I'm never gonna sign up to play Rafa Nadal. You
see my picture back there. I'm never gonna sign up
to play Serena Williams. These are professional level tennis players.
(03:20):
The level that I'm on on my Saturday's doubles teams
usually this thirty and over. Usually the skill level of
each male player is around three five, four three somewhere
in there. Average tennis player is about two five. I'm
at about the four to two level, So I'm an
(03:43):
above average tennis player. And I told you I'm left handed. Well,
here's this guy, he's sixty years old, and we start playing,
and y'all just understand the first thing that came to
my mind once I realized that something different was happening,
I said to myself about this guy, why are you here?
(04:06):
Why are you here? This dude was so beyond anybody
else that was on our court. I'm talking about between
my two players and his other players, the doubles four people,
My two against his two right I'm talking about. This
dude was hitting shots that I had never even seen before.
(04:30):
He was hitting pro level shots. Now I can hit
a pro level shot. I might be able to hit two,
but the third one is gonna hit the curtain. The
fourth one is gonna hit the bottom of the neck.
Because that's how I am a four old player. You
can rip some stuff, but then you're pretty soon after
(04:53):
two or three shots, you're gonna look like an amateur.
This dude was so beyond us. Man, it made me
angry because I'm I don't sign up for this.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Yo.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Y'all gotta understand something. Just when you're competing in sports,
if you get matched up with somebody else that's beyond you,
they can take your ever loving soul and just snatch it. Bro.
Like I started double faulting on my serve, Like you
(05:23):
get one chance to get the ball in and then
you get a second chance. I don't double fault maybe
twice in a match. In a two hour match, I
might have two double faults because my serve is just
that good man. By the time the twelfth double fault
of my own, And when you double fault, you've given
your opponents a point because you hit it in the net,
(05:44):
or you hit it out because you do whatever you're
doing is just wrong and it's not going in. And
I was like, what is happening to me? And I
started thinking I tried to fix stuff? Am I not
keeping my head up? Am I not using my legs?
Is my timing off? Something's wrong? What is going on?
Then I finally realize it it's him. It was him
and had nothing to do with me. See, he was
(06:07):
returning my serve in a way that I had never
experienced before. I mean, I'm telling you people have a
difficulty returning my serve, mostly because I'm left handed, but
a lot of it is also because it's a high
level serve. But this dude was smacking my serve back
at me. Before I could finish my service motion. The
(06:30):
serve was coming back and I didn't have time to
even get ready, Like, who does this? He was hitting
shots that I've never even seen before. I saw him
before on TV. But just understand, y'all, what you see
on TV is different than reality. You never ever want
(06:51):
to get yourself in a ring with a professional boxer
if you just starting off, That's just not something that's
ever gonna happen. If you got people around you who
care about you, they will reap. They will make you reevaluate.
You'll ever thinking about putting on boxing gloves. I've seen it.
(07:15):
I was in the ring and this guy that I
thought I wanted to aspire to. He was left handed. Man,
he's good, and he was the best in our city, Detroit.
Somebod y'all know about cross gym. You better ask somebody.
If you don't know, you better ask somebody. But this
professional came in and he just wanted to do a
little sparring. And I was here to watch. Man, I
want to see our guy spar with this pro. I'm
(07:36):
gonna mention no names, no need to, but man, I
just saw this guy that I had looked up to,
man I had aspired to be like. I didn't understand
what was happening to him. This this pro saw all
(07:57):
of his punches coming and he was hitting him with
combinations that I had never even seen people be able
to execute, and all of them landed. You know what
a one three four combo is, It's okay. Just understand
(08:20):
that combo was not a combo that people even try,
because most time people ain't even fast enough to execute
a one three four combo. And then not to mention,
the person that you're hitting is actually able to get
hit with that combo because it's very difficult to go
from a one to a three to a four. This
(08:40):
is a very difficult conversation. It's pro love stuff. But
this dude not only hit him with that combo, all
three of them landed flush. And I'm just saying, over
the next three rounds, this dude that I had looked
up to and inspired you, it was like, I want
to be like him. This pro came in and made
this dude look like he had for being in the
(09:00):
ring before. I've never seen anything like it. That's how
I felt playing tennis on that Saturday, and it got
to the point where this dude was just hitting so
many shots. I actually just got mad and I just
started swinging for everything I had deep down in my soul.
(09:23):
I didn't even care anymore about whether it was going
to go in or going out. I just started. We
were down five zero in the second set. You only
get the six before the set is over. We're down
five zero and I'm serving, and this dude was just
(09:45):
every the best I had didn't phase him. He spat
it out like a neat getting caught in his mind nothing.
I had nothing for him, y'all. I'm serving at and
I'm like, listen, I don't win every match. I'm a
good player, and I'm okay we're losing, but I don't
(10:06):
get bageled you. Even if I play singles. I'm played
with some guys that I know. I ain't beating this guy.
But you're not gonna bagel me. You ain't gonna blank me.
You're gonna blow me out.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Man.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Here, I am serving at five zero in the second set.
We made the first set pretty close because I think
the dude was really just warming up. Although every shot
that he hit, I knew this dude wasn't supposed to
be here, let alone be on court too. He wasn't
supposed to be in our league. They beyond us, y'all. Listen.
You just think you can play professional basketball with the pros.
(10:41):
You just think you can. I know you got skills,
you got the double crossover, and you can shoot. Man,
you think even next best thing. But trust me, there's
a reason to pros don't play at the YMCA in
the summer times. There's a reason that ain't no pros
where you played, you ain't on a level. BRO had
(11:03):
some of the pros. When I was in South Carolina,
I had a dude who had played in the pros,
came in, he stood and he was about six foot nine.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Bro.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Everything that you can do as fast as you are,
they are just as fast, just as skilled. And they
six y nine and you sitting up here five to ten,
you ain't ready. They are beyond you. They different, They're
different species.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Bro.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
I'm athletic, but I'm not an athlete. There's levels to this,
and so here I am. I'm sitting here with all
the stuff that I know I can do, and I've
got championships y'all. Playing tennis, I got a back to
back undefeated season in mixed doubles where my team overall,
(11:49):
in playing three matches, three courts, we never lost a match,
even though one of our courts might have lost their match.
Is best two out of three. Put it together, Okay,
I never lost a match and my team overall never
lost the match. Two undefeated seasons, back to back mixed doubles.
(12:11):
So I'm just telling you I know how to play
this game. And here I am serving five zero, and
this dude is just beyond me. And I told you,
I got mad because he wasn't supposed to be here,
like we're supposed to be playing people on our level.
And at five oh, man, when I tell you, I
(12:32):
tossed the ball and I didn't care about nothing. I
didn't care about my shoulder, I ain't care about malabrum,
I ain't care about nothing being healthy. When I got
finished with this service game, the only thing I cared
about was this dude ain't about to bagel me with everything, rotator, cluff, handstrings,
(12:55):
back everything, put everything in there and served and somehow, y'all,
I pulled out that service game and we lost six
to one. They won the next game. But walking up
and shaking this guy's hand, I'm gonna just be honest
(13:18):
with you, and extending my right hand, I'm gonna just
tell you it was everything that I could do to
resist hooking him with the left. You wasn't supposed to
be here, bro, I was. I don't even know how
it was fun for him. He was that far beyond us.
And the sad part about is my wife was there watching,
(13:38):
and you know, man, listen, you getting done like that
in front of your wife. Bro, It's one thing getting
your butt kicked, but getting put your book kick in
front of your wife. That's a beating right there. That's
an extra beating. It's a psychology. You're getting a physical
beating and you're getting a psychological beating at the same time.
It's just listen. It messed with me. I had to
(14:00):
call my mama Monday. I told you place Saturday. Monday,
I had to call my mama. Mama feeling a little
defeat and I'm feeling a little depressed. When she said,
why happen blah blah blah blah blah, And now I
told her. She said, oh, that's why happened Saturday. Well, yeah,
because that's why you blah blah blah bah blah. She said, y'all,
can't hear it in your voice? Son, And my mama
(14:21):
went to preaching the gospel. You are more than a conqueror.
Tennis is not your life. You are the head and
not the tale. You are above, only not beneath. I
felt tears coming down on my face, y'all. My mama
spoke revived my spirit. I needed it. I was on
cardiac arrest or something because of what this dude did
(14:41):
to us on Saturday. I had to call my mama.
That's a beat, Linta. When you get your butt cut,
you get your butt cake, where you gotta go call
your mama. You done got it beat. That's im beating man.
(15:02):
And so I think about this obvious chasm, this go
fix between my skill level and his. And there's four
of us on the tennis go He had a partner.
His partner was on our level. My partner was on
(15:24):
our level. But this dude, the sixty year old, it
was beyond us. Man, Why are you here? How is
this fun for you? How is this enjoyable for you?
And I thought about this for a little while, and
(15:44):
I just through prayer and just sitting with God about
what to talk about today, he shared this with me.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
If you got.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Exodus chapter thirty three, yeah, that's how God is. That's
how God is, the Almighty God, Jehovah Yahweh. He has,
he has many names. But just understand that God is
(16:22):
so far beyond us. You just don't even really understand.
There's certain things that you can comprehend. I mean, there's
other things where you just have to apprehend. You you
can't fully understand it. You just have to grab a
hold of it and say, Okay, that's what it is. Yeah,
(16:47):
did you know scientists can't explain electricity. I didn't actually
know that. I did did some study. There's actually we
know how to manipulate electricity and make it work. We
know how to influence it and shift it and control it.
(17:10):
Scientists can't explain why it is what it is and
why it does what it does. You can't explain. You
add that on to all of the other stuff that
just can't be explained. You look at the Almighty God
as we see him in the scriptures, and he's just
beyond us to the point where you're never going to
be able to comprehend him. You just kind of apprehend
(17:33):
certain things that are explained in the scriptures, and you
just try to pray for understanding. He's so far beyond us.
Listen to Genesis chapter No. I'm sorry exwer this chapter
thirty three. I'll read quickly because I want to cover
some area. I want to cover some ground on this.
I'm going to start at verse twelve. I'll be reading
from the Life Application Study Bible. So this is a
(17:56):
new Living translation. Here we go watch this to seize
the Lord's glory. Verse twelve of Exodus, chapter thirty three.
One day, Moses said to the Lord, you've been telling
me take these people to the Promised Land, but you
haven't told me whom you will send with me. You've
(18:17):
told me I know you by name, and I look
favorably on you. If it's true that you look fabably
on me, let me know your ways so I may
understand you more fully and continue to enjoy your favor.
Moses is like, if you like me like that, didn't
just help me understand who you are, because this experience
and I've had with you so far, this thing is
(18:37):
beyond me. Bro. I'm really having a tough time with
all these mountains shaking and the clouds and the plagues
and the water parting. It's just stuff going on that's
just beyond me. I don't understand. Help me understand. I
want to understand more. And he says, let me know
your way so I may understand you more fully and
continue to enjoy your favor. And remember that this nation
(18:58):
is your very own people, people that you chose, Almighty God,
these are your own people, okay. In verse fourteen, the
Lord replied, I will personally go with you, Moses, and
I will give you rest. Everything will be fine for you.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Then Moses said, if you don't personally go with us,
don't make us leave this place. How will anyone know
that you look favorably on me, on me, and on
your people if you don't go with us, For your
presence among us sets your people and me apart from
all other people on the earth. They are the people
of God. Is what some of the enemies said, Hey,
(19:35):
don't mess with them. Those are the Israelites. Oh, they
serve the God of Jacob oh A lead him alone.
They God is for real. And the Lord replies to Moses,
I will indeed deal what you have asked for. I
look favorably on you, and I know you by name.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
He knows my name, he knows my every thought.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Moses responded, Then show me your glorious presence, Moses. See,
this is so funny how people we do this. This is
how we are as human beings. We want to see something.
Show me your glorious presence. Moses is saying, I want
to see you. I want to see your face, is
what he's talking about. Out of the cloud, the fire
(20:23):
on the mountain, and all that kind of stuff is good.
The God that is beyond us, the omnipotent God, Moses
is saying, I want to see you. When the Lord
replied in verse nineteen, I will make all my goodness
past before you, and I will call out my name
Yahweh before you. Or I will show mercy to anyone
(20:47):
I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.
But you may not look directly at my face, for
no one may see me and live. He says, Okay,
I'm gonna walk by you, and other passage says, I'll
(21:07):
hide you in a rock, and I'll put my hand
in front of your face while I walk by. This
is crazy, and here he goes. The Lord continued, Look
stand near me on this rock. That's what he's talking about.
He says, stand near me and inside this rock. As
my glorious presence passes by, I will hide you in
(21:28):
the crevice of the rock and cover you with my
hand until I have passed. Then i'll remove my hand
and let you see me from behind, but my face
will not see You can see behind parts. You can
see the back of me, the back of my legs,
my back maybe the back of my head, but he said,
you can't see my face and live.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Then the Lord tells me, so this is a this
is an amazing thing that's happening, right, God is I
guess he's watching Moses to understand how much that God
actually loves him, because he says, I look favorably upon you.
But God is just saying, listen, bro, I'm beyond you.
You are natural. I am supernatural you you you are mortal,
(22:18):
and I am immortal. And God says, I want to
give you what you ask for because I love you
and I care about you. But the thing you are
asking me for you can't handle it.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Hmm. So here's what I'll do. Getting that rock, I'm
gonna walk.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
By, hide your face, and well, I'm gonna say my name.
I'm gonna say my name, say my name, And so
God says, when I pass you by, then I'll move
my hand and you can see.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
The back of them.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Then the Lord told this chapter thirty four Exodus. Then
the Lord told Moses, chisel off two stone tablets like
the first ones. I will write on them the same
words that were on the tablets you smashed. Yeah, he says,
make two more tablets, and I'm gonna rewrite what I
(23:23):
wrote the first time on the tablets that you smashed. See,
this is why God ain't really checking for us, because
we get into some foolishness. God gave Moses the Ten
Commandments on two tablets and says, hey, this is what
you take back to your people. This is my standard.
They said they could live up to my standard. Okay,
take back to them my standard on these two tablets.
(23:45):
And Moses came down from the mountain. The people were
partying and revenue and having orgies, and Moses got mad
and through the tablets down what is wrong with y'all?
And he broke the tablets because we said, Man, God
as holy, and we are as holy as we can be.
(24:07):
It's an amazing contrast. He says, be ready in the morning.
First two, be ready in the morning to climb up
the Mount Sinai and present yourself to me on the
top of the mountain. No one else may come with you.
In fact, no one is to appear anywhere on the mountain.
Do not even let the flocks or herds graze near
the mountain. You gott are saying, back up off me.
(24:30):
I'm so different. I'm so beyond you that not a
I'm gonna let you come. Don't bring another person with you.
Get off the mountain Mount Sinai. Y'all usually can come
up the mountain and get close enough to start smelling
some stuff and seeing some smoke and seeing all kind
of lightning and cormets and flashes and stuff. No, no, no,
we ain't doing none of that this time. It's gonna
(24:51):
be different today. Back up off me, and don't even
let your little animals graze near the mountain or they
gonna die. This is what you do. I'm gonna give
you what you've been asked this. Now you ask for this,
and God is saying, I'm gonna give it to you.
Just you, I'm gonna give it to you, everybody else.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
Back to Heck copy verse four.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
So Moses chiseled out two tablets of stone like the
first ones. Early in the morning, he climbed out Sinai.
The Lord to commanded him, and he carried the two
stone tablets in his hands. Then the Lord came down
in a cloud and stood there with him, and he
called out his own name, Yahweh. The Lord passed in
front of Moses, calling out Yahweh, the Lord, God of
(25:38):
compassion and mercy. I am slow to anger and filled
with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to
a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin, but
I do not excuse the guilty. I lay the sins
(25:58):
of the parents upon their children and grandchildren. The entire
family is affected, even children in the third and fourth generation.
Moses immediately threw himself to the ground and worshiped, Oh Lord,
if it is true that I found favor with you,
then please travel with us. Yes, this is a stubborn
(26:19):
and rebellious people. They great great, now they great great.
They own some different stuff, Moses said, they stubborn and
rebellious people. But please forgive our iniquity and our sins.
Claim us as your own special possession. So here's the
(26:41):
Lord doing his best to show up and show out
and reveal himself to a flawed, sinful, rebellious creation. The
Creator wants to present himself to his creation.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
He wants to.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Have an intimate relationship with you. And this is how
it is, and he makes no apologies for it. And
so when I sit back and think about this reality,
and how God shows up in our lives. I just
(27:29):
have to say to myself, who am I that the
Almighty God wants to be in a relationship with me?
You know, it's something that we should think about more
often than we do. This platform, Powerful Living Ministries has
(27:57):
more of a focus toward Christian living. How to go
about being His representative, how to get right, how to
stay right? You know, how to be more loving, how
to be less angry, how to be God's people. So
many of the teachings tend to be focused on those things.
(28:22):
And also I believe that there's a time where we
got to grab a hold of the theology learning about God,
and sometimes you just got to sit with it because
it's so far beyond you, the creator of the universe,
(28:43):
all of the wonders of the cosmos that just cannot
be explained or even discovered. And you look at this planet,
did you know that, like is it like ninety percent
of the ocean has not been mapped. It's beyond you.
(29:09):
The depths of the ocean, too cold, too much pressure,
too dark, to be too vast, to beyond you. And
the Almighty God who created this planet wants to be
in relationship with you. He tells, Moses, you are my
(29:30):
prized possession, and I like you, bro I'm going to
show myself to you in a way that makes you
understand that everything is going to be alright. Sit with
(29:53):
this for a moment, especially those of you who have
suicidal ideation, those of you who have depression, feeling lonely,
like no one cares, feeling like the weight of the
world is upon you and you want to end your life,
(30:13):
not because you don't want to live anymore, you don't
want to live up under this pain, this thing that
you're experiencing, And just sit with the fact today that
the almighty God cares about you and that he wants
(30:37):
to be in a covenant relationship with you. The one
who flung the stars, created the earth and all of
the mysteries of the earth, all of the animals, He
created them and allowed atom, your forefather, to name these animals.
And even scientists today are still coming by creatures that
are just undiscovered, like what is that You're able to
(31:00):
send vehicles down further and further into the depths of
the sea, and they're like, what it is that an
angel fish is different than the angelfish, that you're thinking
of just just just search it for deep sea angelfish.
(31:25):
It's crazy. The guy who did all of those things says,
I want to know you. It's great to spend a
lot of times, you know, in prayer, and we definitely
spend a lot of time at work around family. I
(31:50):
think more and more we will begin to be blown
away at this, this, this portion of theology about the
omnipotent I'm not present God who wants to be in
(32:11):
covenant relationship with me? The creator of all the universe says,
who am I that I would be mindful of you?
Speaker 3 (32:22):
You?
Speaker 2 (32:23):
You not even on my level.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
I am holy, and you are sinful and rebellious and
full of iniquity. Bro, Why would I even be checking
for you? And I love this passage of scripture. It
says that the Lord would would speak to Moses face
(32:53):
to face like someone would speak to a friend. So
all the time that we spend doing all those other things,
I think we don't spend enough time just sitting with
this cosmic contradiction that the Almighty God wants to be
(33:19):
in covenant relationship with me, with you.
Speaker 3 (33:29):
Oh whomah, that the Lord of all the earth cared
of Norman name care feel my heard whom that the
Bride and morning Star choose to light the way to
(33:50):
my air wandering heart.
Speaker 4 (33:53):
Not because of who I am, but because of what
you've done. Not because of what I've done, but because
of who you are. I am a flower quickly fading
here today and gone tomorrow, a wave tossed in the ocean,
(34:16):
a vapor in the wind. Still you hear me when
I'm calling, Lord, you catch me when I'm falling, And you've.
Speaker 3 (34:25):
Told me who I am?
Speaker 1 (34:29):
I am yours boy casting crowns bore they could write
some songs. The Almighty got touched that brother when he
wrote that song I am yours?
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Who am I I am yours?
Speaker 1 (34:49):
I mean, it's in all of our being as human beings.
Who's one of my wife's favorite movies, Pretty Woman? Did
we not have a good time? We went to see
that thing live here in Cincinnati. It was an amazing
Pretty Woman. It's about a prostitute who met somebody. Shocker,
(35:17):
prostitute meeting somebody. We've got a lot of meetings. It's
a lot of meetings. What you're saying, there's a lot
of meetings. But she met with and fell in love
with someone who's beyond her. The wealthy billionaire, highly educated
(35:41):
businessman met this escort and raised her, up raised her
up to become more than what she ever could have
been on her own. That is a glimpse of eternity.
That is a glimpse into the mind of the almighty God.
And he says, listen, the lonely cannot touch.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
The high.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
Those who are low can't reach those who are high.
They're beyond you. Man. A couple of weeks ago, when
we were at the game, Steph Curry was sitting right
over there, and my mother in law wanted to see
him play. She wanted to meet him. She just want
(36:28):
to see him play. And he wasn't playing that day.
They rest in the players and I'm walking around trying
to find somebody, and I found somebody with a Golden
State Warriors badge on and I grabbed him.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
I said, hey, blah.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, it's gonna
I My mama is here, she got terminal cancer. What's
going on? What can we do? Can we make something happen?
And he looked at me. I said, man, can we
meet him can't you get an autograph?
Speaker 3 (36:53):
Like what?
Speaker 1 (36:53):
And he looked at me, he said, oh, you would
have to know him. You asking for a miracle? I
said yes, No, he said, man, you you can't get
to Steph. A lot of reasons, a lot of reasons
(37:16):
behind that. It's not just because they bougie and they
think they're better than us. But you know they can't
just be walking up and meeting people. You know, people
do take people hostage nowadays, right, you know Steph Curry
is worth a lot of money going around to meet
him sometime if you want to and you don't know,
nobody find out. Ain't nobody seen Steph Curry in two weeks?
(37:37):
You know, I'm said to get a letter. We want
forty million dollars in unmarked currences, twenty million in twenties. Man,
who you think you kidnap? Jesse Cuinnon? Man, you would
have to know him. So the those who are low,
(38:01):
you can't touch somebody who's high. But the beautiful thing
is is that they can choose to come down and
grab you and pull you up. It's a choice that
they make because of power and wealth and fame. It
grants you certain things. And so here is God that saying, bro,
I love you. I am high and lift it up.
(38:23):
You are not, and I'm choosing to come down to
where you are just because I love you. Man, that's
something that we need to sit with. When you feel
the hurting pain and the struggles of this life, the
(38:44):
pursures of the world start to bouncing on you. You need
a bucket of all. Ain't don't white, no finger lit
it make the cross, no, man, you need a bucket
of all to be doused on you. And that's what
David Iron said.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
Hmm yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:07):
But we love that story because you have somebody who
has it all falls in love with someone who has
nothing and pulls her up and it makes her more
(39:29):
than what she ever thought she could be, causes her
to be around people who used to look down upon her.
Here's your favorite scene. Oh do you work here? Big mistake?
(39:49):
Don't you work on commission? Big mistake? Passing me up?
Oh man, that's the power of the greater reaching down
to pull up the lesser. There's power in that, and
that's why God empowers us with his Holy Spirit so
(40:10):
we can do the same thing. You know, we have
been saved too, save we have been delivered to deliver,
and we have been saved too save. One of the
last things Jesus said was go and make disciples. You
go and do what you have seen me do. God
(40:33):
manifest took on flesh. I'm gonna leave all of the
glory behind, said the Sun, and I'm gonna come down
on earth and die for them because I love them
(40:56):
and I want them to know that everything is gonna
be all right.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
You don't need to.
Speaker 1 (41:06):
Kill yourself, you don't need to die. You just need
to spend more time thinking about the one who died
for you. The God of the universe wants to be
in covenant relationship with you, my friend. That is a
(41:33):
foundation of Christian theology. Is something that you can't really
fully comprehend it. You just have to apprehend it and
grab a hold of it and say to yourself, it's
so I don't need to understand electricity in order to
(41:59):
use it. How much of that are we using right now?
Speaker 2 (42:04):
All of it?
Speaker 1 (42:08):
And it's the heart of man. But the box says
a fool says in his heart that there is no God.
It's it's foolish to say I don't believe in anything
that I don't see and that's why many reject God
because they don't see it. They can't understand this idea
of the invisible God and creator of all things. Bro, Listen,
(42:36):
you don't understand electricity, but you constantly plugging stuff in.
Let your phone get to twelve percent and you are scrambling.
Let that red light come on, Let that red light
come on. Don't you be scrambling for some corn?
Speaker 2 (42:50):
Man.
Speaker 1 (42:51):
I pick up a passage. They getting a car. You
got you got a phone charger? Boy, They eyes be
all big and shaken. Got thig of what.
Speaker 2 (43:00):
You need?
Speaker 1 (43:01):
That electricity, Bro, you need to tap into the power.
But a foolish heart and at the same time says,
I don't believe in God. I can't see him. And
that's the same person who's taking big, old deep breaths. Bro,
I'm talking about one pastor I picked up this Morning's
back there breathing hard. I thought he was snoring. Now
(43:23):
he wasn't snoring. He's just breathing hard.
Speaker 2 (43:27):
People.
Speaker 1 (43:27):
You know, sometimes people get overweight and stuff, they breathe hard.
And friend of mine said, why you people always ask
me because I'm overweight, and why are you breathing so hard?
He said, because I want to live. What's the matter
with you? Why are you breathing? The fool says that heart.
I don't believe nothing I can see but you be breathing. Bro,
can't see a lick at that oxygen. The Almighty God
(43:52):
created this planet and the oxygen level and the nitrogen
and all this kind of stuff works together for you
to be able to And that same God allows you
to reject him and call him a liar because he's
long suffering, as he says when he passed before Moses
(44:14):
and put his hand, don't look at me now, don't
look at me. I am full of compassion, I forgive sins.
I'm long suffering. Now you can look at my hind
parts as I pass you by. Jehovah, the Lord, even
his name is unspeakable. When we see the Lord, you
see Jehovah yahweh. Just understanding the original text, that spelling
(44:39):
is y h w H. There's no there's no vowels.
Speaker 2 (44:45):
It's y h w h.
Speaker 1 (44:47):
Anytime you see Jehovah in the scriptures or the Lord
in all casts, it's y h w h.
Speaker 2 (45:00):
Okay, you wouldn't.
Speaker 1 (45:06):
He's He's so beyond you that you can't even say
his name. His name is so beyond. Even in Judeo
Christian faith.
Speaker 2 (45:18):
They they say that.
Speaker 1 (45:19):
Those it's it's forbidden to say his name because his
name is so holy. That's why the why h w
H is there. And yeah, they can believe that was fine.
I't gonna argue with him about that. All I know
is he is beyond. And the more and more I
sit and think about how beyond he is, the less
(45:42):
I worried about things. I just I just trust God.
And Moses was the same way God begin to show
up strongly mighty in his life, like doing miracles and
and and and God, take your staff and throw it
(46:03):
down there in front of Pharaoh. And Moses's staff became
a serpent. And then Pharaoh looked at his his people,
He's like, what y'all gonna do? You're gonna let this
man come over and do that stuff. What y'all gonna do?
And they took their staff and they threw their staffs
down on the floor too, and their staff became serpents.
(46:23):
And most are like, wait a minute, God, what is happening?
Speaker 3 (46:26):
Lord?
Speaker 1 (46:26):
They didn't just they did the same thing away. This
ain't how they're supposed to be working out. They ain't
supposed to be able to do godly stuff. And then
the staff that Moses threw down and had had turned
into a serpent, and the staff that they.
Speaker 3 (46:46):
Threw down and turned into a serpent too.
Speaker 1 (46:51):
Guess what happened next. Moses' serpent consumed every one of
those other surpents. Mm hm, So you just got a
form of godliness. He need do a little magic, tricky trick.
But just understand, God is beyond you. He's beyond you,
(47:14):
and he wants to show up strong and mighty in
your life. He says, call upon me, and I will
answer you and show you great and mighty things that
you can't even comprehend. I've seen it in my life, y'all.
(47:34):
And the same desire that God has for Moses, where
he says, I want to speak to Moses face to
face like a man speaks to his friends. And the
same idea where Jesus says, I'm not even gonna call
you disciples anymore, because you know, disciples and Master have
a different relationship. He says, but from now on, I
(47:58):
call you friends. I call you friends. So as we
think more and more about the troubles and the struggles
that you have on a daily basis, and especially struggling
against this body of sin. You're trying to do right.
(48:21):
You're trying to be more loving, You're trying to be
less angry. You try, and you try, and you try it.
Maybe it's gotten you to the point where you feel
like you.
Speaker 2 (48:31):
Don't want to be here anymore.
Speaker 1 (48:33):
Or maybe instead of enjoying alcohol, now alcohol is enjoying you.
Speaker 2 (48:42):
Instead of.
Speaker 1 (48:45):
Seeking to get high, how about connecting to God who
is the most high. He is the most high God,
and he wants to be with you and covenant relationshship
with you. The God of the universe wants to walk
(49:08):
up towards you and say, Hi, that's a good thing,
my friend. Think about these things and make your decision today,
because he is long suffering, full of compassion, He forgives,
and he loves you. Henry Flowers Powerful Living Outreach Ministry
(49:33):
ain't going to where I'm coming back.
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