January 1, 2025 • 55 mins
A word of encouragement and direction for the coming year for those who Believe in the Lord.
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Firefall Talk Radio is archived, and you can download the episodes. Feel free to share with others as the Lord leads. Please help us get The Word out.
If our teachings bless you, please let us know by using the contact button on the website.
If you would like to support what we do there are ways to do so on the main page for Firefall Talk Radio. We appreciate your support and encouragement.
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The main page at firefalltalkradio.com has links for all social media and streaming platforms.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Oh hello, I'm Richard grand Welcome to the Porch. This
(00:27):
is where you will find an uncompromised red letter basics
of the Word of God and a focus on the
Book of Acts church to see how they serve the Lord.
In doing so, we find the church the Lord intended
and not the one man created. The Porch is here
to restore the priesthood of the believer while regating the
(00:47):
world's shaking influence of the early Church. The Church age
is not over. The Upper Room experience is as much
for today as it was on the day of Pentecost.
It's yours if you want on it. If you have
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If you need any information, just reach out. We'll be
glad to answer any questions. We appreciate your support and encouragement.
(01:32):
Thank you for being a part of the Porch in
twenty twenty four and all the way back so since
we got started, and thank you for joining us on
this journey into twenty twenty five. If you need prayer,
you want to pray for others in the porch community,
let us know. Remember we care about you. The newsletter
went out this week. If you didn't see it, check
(01:53):
your spam or junk folder. It might have gone in there,
and just make the address the email address a record
recognized accepted one. If you would like the scriptures for
the week, please let me know send me a message.
I will include you on the list when that email
goes out. Thank you, Lord, Thank you for twenty twenty four.
(02:15):
Thank you for your blessings. Thank you for all that
you've done and all that you're doing. We praise you
when we praise you, Abba Father, for being a loving,
heavenly father, for sending a shoe to set us free,
for loving us so much you want it to be
with us. And we thank you that you've given us
access to the throne, room, that you've given us grace
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and mercy, that you've given us healing, you've given us salvation.
Thank you, Lord for what you can do it on
the cross. Thank you for all that you've done, all
that you're doing. We look forward to what you're going
to do in our life as we serve you going
forward into this new year. Thank you for sending the
Holy Spirit to walk with us to God to guide us.
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We praise you for that. We praise you for our salvation.
We praise you for the freedom and the liberty and
the knowledge and everything that you're doing and everything that
you've done. So have you a way, Holy Spirit, do
whatever you want to do tonight. Bless us, protect us homes, lands, families, pets, possessions,
Bless them, protect this technology, and let the word go forth,
(03:24):
and you shoe his name.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
We pray Amen. These lessons are proprietary information, except where
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not of the information comes from outside sources. Combination of
that information. The manner presented is exclusive, cannot be repeated
or used without permission. The date of this broadcast serves
as the registered date of the following information. So, as
you probably notice, we're doing some things differently as we
move forward. Still have not worked out how and when
(04:18):
and where that we'll be doing.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
The live Bible studies. I think I have it figured out,
but I've actually got to test it first. So this
is up there for you to listen to It'll be
there seven o'clock on Wednesday evenings on every streaming platform.
There will be no delay and despair with us as
we adapt and change and follow the leading of the
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Holy Spirit. Open your Bibles go with me to Philippians
chapter three, starting with verse twelve, Paul says, not that
I have already attained or I am already perfected, but
I press on that I may lay hold of that
which is for Messiah Yeshua has also laid hold of me. Brethren,
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I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one
thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and
reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I pressed
toward the goal for the prize of the upward calling
of God in Messiah. Is sure not that I have
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attained this ideal or having been made perfect, But I
press han to lay hold, to grasp and make my
own that which Jesus the Messiah Yeshua Hamoshiak has laid
hold of me and made me his own. I do
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not consider that I have captured or made it my
own yet. But the one thing I do it is
my one aspiration forgetting what lies behind and straining forward
to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal
to win the supreme and heavenly prize to which God
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in Messiah issue is calling us upward. I press on
like a runner crossing the finish line. I lean forward,
I break the ribbon. Yeah, we've entered a new year
and the old one is gone. I gave a short
word on social media that I posted yesterday and received
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a good response. And then during the night, as I
was sleeping, Lord began to speak to me, and he
said he wanted me to expound upon that message for
the first message of the new year. So basically what
happened yesterday morning was I had a run in an
early morning errand and I got to this particular corner,
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which is a dangerous corner. People like to pass you
on the right side, So I glanced at my right
side mirror to make sure that no one was coming
up and making that bad decision. And it dawned on
me as I was looking behind me that I realized
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I couldn't do anything about where I'd been. It was gone.
The only thing I could do at that moment was
ensure that nothing dangerous was creeping up on me from
that direction. That's what the enemy does. That my mind
was thinking as I was driving, and that's what the
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enemy does. The enemy creeps up on us from our
past to endanger what's ahead in our future. It's always
looking to remind us of our past. And as my
Pizanoo has gone on as Glory. Carmen once said in
a song, when Satan remind you of your past, remind
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him of his future. We have to keep moving forward
no matter what, and not allow what has been to
interrupt what will be. So we are pressing on to
the higher calling. We are pressing on to the upward
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call of God in Messiah Yeshua every day of our lives.
In Colautions three, starting verse one, it says, if then
you will raise with Messiah, seek those things which are above,
where Messiah is sitting at the right hand of God.
Set your mind on things above, not on things on
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the earth. For you died and your life is hidden
with Messiah in God. When Messiah, who is our life, appears,
then you also will appear with him in glory. Therefore,
put to death your members, which are of the earth,
fornication and cleanness, passion, evil desires comfortousness, which is idolatry
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because of these things, the wrath of God is coming
upon the sons of disobedience in which you yourselves once walked
when you lived in them. And jumping to Second Corinthians five,
verse six through nine. So we are always confident, knowing
that while we are at home in the body, we
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are absent from the Lord, for we walk by faith,
not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased, rather
to be absent from the body and to be present
with the Lord. Therefore we make it our aim, whether
present or absent, to be well pleasing to him. Well,
we can't be well pleasing to him if we're always
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looking backward. We can't be well pleasing to him, if
we're always allowing things like our fleshly desires to trip
us up. So many if the things in this world
are out of our control, and I know that could
be really frustrated, but you know it's not out of
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our control how we respond to the things that happen
to us. We control our choices and our actions. The
end result is out of our hands, and it's either
into the Lord's or it's into the enemies. It's depending
upon who we are obedient. Two says, we sit here
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on January first, twenty twenty five. There are people making plans,
the making declarations, the making resolutions of what they will
do in the coming year. But many are not even
considering what the Bible says about such things. I know
I've done it, I've been there, done that, James says
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in James Chapter four, studying with verse thirteen. Come now,
you who say today or tomorrow we will go to
such and such a city, spend a year there, buy
and sell and make a profit. Whereas you do not
know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life,
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It is even a vapor that appears for a little
time and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say,
if the Lord wills, we shall live and do this
or that, if the Lord wills. Everybody thinks he's going
to bless whatever you want, whatever you think, whatever you desire,
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that he's going to bless your plans, no matter what,
just because you have them. Well, we can devise plans,
and we can believe that there of the Lord, we
can slap his name on it. But unless we seek
his counsel and his confirmation, we are devising our own plans.
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Proverbs sixty nine. A man's heart plans his way, but
the Lord directs his steps Proverbs nineteen twenty one. Many
plans are in a man's mind, but it is the
Lord's purpose for him that will stand, that will be
carried out. If you call the Lord as Lord, if
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he's your Lord and savior, if you have declared him
to be your Lord and savior, and you have said
I am yours Lord, I will follow you, then that
means we need to be obedient to what he thinks
and what he says. And we find that a word.
We find it through the Holy Spirit. But we must
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follow his plans and not our own. I think the
mess of the Church right now for many reasons, but
one of the big ones is we have too many
fleshly plans in motion and not enough godly ones. We
have more going on that is of the flesh than
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it is of the Spirit. Every time I drive by
one of these behemoth buildings that the overhead is thousands
or tens of thousands of dollars, and they are monuments
to the ego of somebody in charge. I don't see
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the Lord in that. And I know the history of
the Church, and we've talked about it from the book
Pagan Christianity. You see why they begin to build the basilicas,
why they built these giant buildings. Those are man's plans,
those are not the lords. He says, you can't build
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a building that can house me. So as the year
ends and the new year begins, let's seek his heart,
let's seek his plans, let's seek his will for us
in the coming year. See, I trust, I trust him,
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I trust in his word. Ifre I in placing my
trust in his hands, I am endeavoring to the best
of my ability to make my plans his plans. Oh yeah,
there's been issues where and I've told you the stories
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where he has pointed out that was all you, Richard,
that wasn't me. And the end result was very clear
that it wasn't him. And I'm thankful when I've been obedient,
and I am sorrowful and repent when I haven't been.
I want his plans, I want his thoughts Jeremiah twenty
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nine to eleven. For I know the plans and thoughts
that I have for you, says the Lord plans for
peace and well being, not for disaster, to give you
a future and a hope to give a future and
a hope. And one of those things we are hoping
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for is to win the supreme and heavenly prize to
which God in Messiah y Shue is calling us upward
the crowns of glory. That won't be about buildings or
prosperity or any of those things. It'll be what did
we do for him? What did we do for his kingdom?
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Did we help the poor the sick? Did we do
the things the Lord says to those people in Matthews
and commends them for what they did? Or are we
going to be the ones He's going to look and say,
I never knew you. You didn't do the will of
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my father. I want to do his will this year.
I want to live out his plans. I want to
walk in his glory. That calling, that calling is a
divine appointment, and we tend to muddy that up too.
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We add to it, we subtract from it. But his
call is done his way. And the one thing I
have learned in all these years of walking with him,
as much as I have access to him, much as
I have access to the throne room, as much as
I know that his grace and his mercy is everlasting.
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I understand who he is. He is the King of kings,
and he is the Lord, Lord of lords. He doesn't
jump when I say jump. He doesn't do what I
want him to do just because I want him to
do it. He does what he wants. Therefore, I want
his call done his way. That means we have to
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humble ourselves to be obedient and be in right relationship
with him one Peter five, starting verse six. Therefore, humble
yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may
exalt you and do time. You know when you kneel
forward and you bow your head to the King, and
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he reaches down and takes you by the hand and
stands you up, casting all your care upon him, for
he cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary,
the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom
he may devour. Resist him. Steadfa fast in the faith,
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knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood
in the world. But may the God of all grace,
who called us to his eternal glory by Messiah Isshua.
After you have suffered a while, perfect established, strengthen and
settle you to him. Be the glory in the dominion
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forever and ever I'm in. Be sober, be vigilant. You've
got somebody out there who's trying to sneak up on
your right side and cut you off, maybe hit you,
maybe cause you to crash. In this world, it's going
to be a struggle, and there will be resistance. There
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will be resistance from the enemy. There'll be resistance from
the world. Keep going, press on, lean into it when
the when the winds come and try to slow you down,
lean into it. Press through one Corinthians nine, starting verse
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twenty four. Do you not know that those who run
in a race all run, but one receives the prize.
Run in such a way that you may obtain it.
And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in
all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown.
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But we for an imperishable crown. Paulser says in two
Timothy two, verse five. And if anyone competes in athletics,
he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.
Let's run by the rules. Let's follow his word. Let's
not add to it, nor take away. Let's do what
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he said to do. Let's not do our own thing,
Let's do his thing. Hebrews one says, therefore we also,
since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight and the sin which
so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance
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the race that is set before us. That means I
can't run that race while looking back. I have to
be looking forward. I have to shake off anything and
drop anything that would slow me down or weigh me down.
What is it that has weighed you down over the
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last year? Is it a relationship? Is it a perception?
Is it a false teaching? Is it a misconception? Only
you know? Whatever it is, lay it aside. If it's God,
it'll come back. If it's not, good riddance. So don't
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run the race looking backward, run it looking forward. But see,
I understand why some people struggle with this. They struggle
with the fear of the unknown. That's what trips them up. Well,
if I stay right here, if I stay right where
I am, I know my surroundings, I know what I'm
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dealing with. I know there's no unknown. We can't we
can't do what He's called us to do without living
in the unknown, that narrow path with the lamp unto
our feet, just so that all we can see is
one foot in front of the other. That's why in
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this word yesterday I posted on social media, I shared
a scripture that's a very foundational scripture for a lot
of people. Proverbs three, starting with verse five, Trust in
the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on
your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and
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he shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in
your own eyes. Fear the Lord, and depart from evil.
It'll be health to your flesh and strength to your bones.
You know, if you made that your daily prayer. I'm
going to trust in and rely confidently on the Lord
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with all of my heart, and I will not rely
on my own insight or my own understanding. You know
how many problems and challenges you would eliminate if you
did that. If you declare that in all my ways,
I will know, and I will acknowledge, and I will
recognize him, and he will make my path straight and smooth.
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He will remove the obstacles that block my way. Well,
I know from Psalm ninety one. The angels will lift
us up less we dash our foot against the stone.
That stone is an obstacle. I won't be wise in
my own eyes, but I will fear the Lord with
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reverent awe and obedience, and I will turn entirely away
from evil. If I do that, it'll be health to
my body, to the marrow, the nerves, the sinews, the muscles,
all of my inner parts, and refreshment to my physical
well being, to my bones. That to me sounds like
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a good plan. So I believe that the key to
the new year it's keeping it simple. Don't hit yourself
in the mouth with the microphone, but just keep it simple.
And we do that by putting all of our trust
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in the Lord. We declare his will his way. Where
do we find his will in his word? We'll start
out by praising him. You know, we've talked since the
portr began and the spring of twenty ten. Praise has
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been a prominent topic, because when you praise him, it
edifies you, it encourages you, it builds you up. David
understood that Psalm thirty four, verse one, I will bless
the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be
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in my mouth. My soul shall make his boast in
the Lord. The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh,
magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his
name together. Father, I just stop right now and exalt
the name of the Lord. I exalt him as king
of kings and Lord of lords. I exalt him as
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the one, the only one who can set us free,
the only one who can reconcile us to you. He
is exalted. David goes on and say, I sought the Lord,
and he heard me, and he delivered me from all
my fears. They looked to him and were radiant, and
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their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out,
and the Lord heard him and saved him out of
all of his troubles. The Angel of the Lord encamps
around all those who fears, who fear him, and delivers them.
Oh taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed
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is the man or the woman who trusts in him. Oh,
fear the Lord, you his saints. There is no want
to those who fear. I will exalt his name. Let's
exalt his name together. Start out the day by exalting him.
Let the enemy know where you stand. P. One twenty one,
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Verse one. I will lift up my eyes to the hills.
For whence does my help come from. My help comes
from the Lord who made heaven and earth. He will
not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps
you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel with
neither slumber or sleep. The Lord is your keeper. The
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Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun
shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord preserves you from all evil. He shall preserve
your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out, and
you're coming in. From this time forth even forevermore. I
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will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall
continually be in my mouth. I'm pressing on. I'm running
the race. I have a map. You know, the map
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told you your direction, but it doesn't show the hindrances
that the enemy has set up. And one may show
you a hell, may show you a bump or a curve,
but you don't know what's lingering off the path. You
don't know what the enemy's got planned for you. You
got to run it anyway. You don't know if it's
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going to rain I'm not a runner. I'm not built
for running. I've walked. When I was training for my
black belt, I walked every day a couple of miles,
whether it reigned, whether it was cold, no matter how
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I felt, that was pressing on. I had a goal
I was working towards. How much more so and what
we do for him for the kingdom? Should we be
pressing on? The Lord lives. Blessed be my rock. Let
the God of my salvation be exalted. It is God
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who avenges me and subdues the people under me. He
delivers me from my enemy. You also lift me up
above those who rise up against me. The enemy's out there,
I believe you know. I remember when I first got
saved and began to teach the things I taught. And oh,
you just think there's a demon around every bush or
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under every rock. Maybe there is. I'm not afraid of it,
but I'm conscious of it. I live by lakes in Florida.
I'm conscious that there might be a gator in that lake. Therefore,
I'm not going to walk my dog down by the water.
I'm not going in that water. But I live in
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a world that those things could happen. Same thing with
the enemy. I can't worry about it, but I know
that the Lord lives. Psalm sixteen, verses one and two.
Preserve me, ol God, for in you I put my trust.
Oh my soul, you have said to the Lord, you
are my Lord. My goodness is nothing apart from you.
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My desire for you is that you are so passionately
in love with the Lord that you want to talk
to him. You want to hear from him, you want
to know more about him, praise him. I believe in relationship,
and in that kind of a passionate relationship comes everything
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else that we need. Oh Richard, I can't share the gospel.
You're not sharing the gospel. You're telling people about somebody
you love and what he did for you. And in
the midst of that is the word. In the midst
of that, you are giving them good news. They're not
going to know unless you tell them Psalm sixteen, Verse one.
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Keep and protect me, Oh God, for in you I
have found refuge. And in you do I put my
trust and hide myself. They're gonna be a dex they
are gonna be falls, there's gonna be slip ups, there's
things that are going to happen. It's a fallen world.
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And I know people get upset, Well, this shouldn't happen,
and that shouldn't happen. And this happened to me, and
I prayed about it. Move on. For whatever reason he
allowed it to happen. Maybe he's trying to strengthen you.
Maybe he's trying to get you to a place where
you trust him. I don't know. All I do know
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is that in this walk of mind, and I've experienced
some crazy things, I keep going. The problem most people
have are some people, I won't say most, I'll be
nicer about it, is the problems come because they're following
the wrong map. There they're pressing on, they're on their journey,
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but they have the wrong map. They're following one that's
been drawn from human insight or or human understanding, and
that is flawed and incomplete. So many books phil shelves
and Christian bookstores or on Amazon or wherever. So many
self help books that really don't help you. That the
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help the person wrote it. We have a map, it's
called the Bible. We have a Holy Spirit to help
us to understand it. We have a guideline to follow.
It's when we get off of that when we add
human insight or our own understanding that we taint things,
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we change the direction anything. And I don't care how
annointed the person is, anything that comes from the flesh
is always going to be tainted by their perception, maybe
even their selfish desires. I run everything through a filter,
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and I drive some people crazy because I put it
through a strainer. And if I have any sense that
what I'm being told has an agenda or a motive,
I don't want to hear it. I don't have a
desire to filter out. Well, what's what's the good and
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what's the bad? And you know, some of what this
person says is okay. I don't want that. I don't
have time for that. I want pure, a pure word.
I'm at pure water. Well, you know you could drink
this water here and yeah it's a little dirty, but
it's not as dirty as it was. Sorry, I don't
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I don't want to drink dirty water, just the way
I am. I've been fooled. And as the rock group
who said we won't be fooled again, I've been fooled.
I've been fooled by false teaching. I've been fooled by
false religion. I've been fooled by a denomination, teaching a
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different Jesus than the one that's in the Bible, or
talking about a God that is not the God of Abraham.
I is Isaac and Jacob. So many organized religions out here,
and I'm on a RNT right now. That not a
part of my notes, but I'm going to talk about
next week. So many dangerous teachings going on right now,
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that the storm in the church itself. James three, starting
verse thirteen, Who is wise and understanding among you? Let
him show by good conduct that his works are done
in meekness, in the meekness of wisdom. But if you
have bitter envy and self seeking in your hearts, do
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not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does
not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For
where envy and self seeking exist, confusion and every evil
thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above
is first pure. Then it's peaceable, gentle, willing to yield
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full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now,
the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those
who make peace. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist,
there is disorder, unrest, rebellion against God, his will and
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his ways and every evil thing, and morally degrading practice.
I've seen entire denominations founded on a morally degrading practice,
entire entire sections of people that call themselves believers, that
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have allowed themselves to be fooled by the enemy who's
come up on that right hand side and cut them off.
Instead of slamming the brakes, they keep going in the
direction that they've been forced. That's the difference between heavenly
wisdom versus demonic wisdom. If there's self seeking, there's selfishness.
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If there's a reason that this person is saying what
they're saying beyond giving me the word of God and
what the spirit wants to say, I don't want it.
And I understand evil and sin prospers in this world,
and it used to really really get me angry, and
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it still frustrates me when I see what people are
doing with their billions of dollars. But I can't be
angry and I can't be envious of them. I can't
focus on what the devil's doing for them. I have
to focus on what the Lord is doing for me.
I've got to keep going and pressing on. Psalm thirty seven,
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Verse one says, do not fret because of evil doers,
nor be envious of the workers of iniquity, for they
shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither
as the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good.
Dwell in the land, and feed on his faithfulness. Delight
(37:25):
yourself also in the Lord, and he shall give you
the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord,
and trust also in him, and he shall bring it
to path. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday. Rest in the Lord,
and wait patiently for him. Do not fret because of
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him who prospers in his way, because of the man
who brings wicked schemes to pass. Cease from anger for
sake wrath. Do not fret. It only causes harm, for
evildoers shall be cut off. But those who wait on
the Lord, they shall inherit the earth for yet a
(38:12):
little while. The wicked shall be no more. Indeed, you
will look carefully for his place, but it shall be
no more. But the meek shall inherit the earth and
shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. David, for
a man that wasn't spirit filled, he really got it.
(38:33):
I can't do anything about their decisions. I can only
do something about mine. And I cannot get angry about it,
or frustrated about it, or any of those things. I
can't manipulate what I think the Lord wants to do,
because all I'm going to do is make a mess.
I must trust, I must rely on and have confidence
(38:57):
in the Lord, and then choose to do good by
dwelling in the land and feeding securely on his faithfulness.
By delighting myself in the Lord. He gives me the
desires and the petitions of my heart. Remember that he
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gives the desires and the petitions of your heart. So
commit your way to the Lord. Trust in him also,
and he will do it. He will make your righteousness,
your pursuit of right standing with him the light and
the judgment, your judgment, like the shining of the noonday sun.
(39:40):
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him,
and trust yourself to him. Don't fret, don't whine, don't
agonize because of the one who prospers in his evil ways.
But because of the man who brings out the wicked
schemes and carries them out so many of us. And
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I've been guilty of it. I'm not speaking against anyone.
I've been guilty of it too. I've allowed that frustration.
I've allowed the what ifs. But I resolve to trust,
to rely and have confidence in the Lord and just
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keep doing good. See I know something, Yeah, I really do.
I know something. I know. I have a heavenly Abba,
my Abba father, and he wants to give us the
desires of our heart. But he also wants and expects
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them to line up with his will and his word.
And having learned the hard way of walking out his
walk and stumbling and doing the things you do as
you learn along the way, I learned that if they
don't wind up with his will and his word, they're worthless.
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And I don't want them. I know he's in control.
The enemy may believe he's in control, they're in control.
The world may believe they're in control. The governments may
believe they're in control, but really they're not. He allows
them to function, He allows them to do the things
they do. Every now and then he'll interfere with it.
(41:31):
But for the most part, he just lets it happen
because we then have to choose. Are we gonna follow
that path, Are we going to go down that road,
or we're going to follow the map. Well, look it
looks like it'd be easy to go this way, Richard. No,
I'm going to follow the map. Hey, we can just
cut straight across here. No, I'm going to follow the map.
(41:53):
I've seen too many well meaning people take a short cut.
Either they never seen again, or they wind up in trouble,
or you know, so many things after all these years
that I've just had to let people go. Hey, you
want to run that direction. You want to go back
to Egypt, you want to go back to the world,
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you want the world, accolades. I can't stop you. I
can only tell you what the word says. I can
only speak from my heart. But if you're going to
keep going down that road, I gotta let you go.
I can't go with you. So I know that if
he puts the desires in my heart, then through the
Holy Spirit, he will help me make the right choices.
(42:35):
He will guide me, he will guide you. Therefore, you
need to trust Him to bring it to pass. The
wisdom of this world, the cares of this world, the
secular humanistic thinking that has invaded the Church. It will
always seep into it, and it will always dilute. Water
(42:58):
down and what the Lord is saying and doing. I
want the pure water of the Word. So as we
move forward, let's let the Holy Spirit guide us and
direct our steps in the new year. You know, here
I am trying to figure out what am I going
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to do. I've been doing it the same way now,
fourteen years. Started with blog talk. I think I've been
with I don't even know how long I've been with
sprink Er seven or eight, I don't even know. And
then I use these other streaming sites that the Lord
has had me at along the way that I may
wind up having to switch to, and it means learning
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some new ways, some new technology, doing things differently. I'm
just going to relax and let it happen. I'm gonna
let the Holy Spirit guide me. So let's let the
Spirit guide us, let him direct our steps in the
new years. Who knows, maybe the outcome will be different
(44:02):
than what it's been. Pressing on to the higher calling,
what's the goal? What are we working towards? All right,
Let's keep going in that direction. His word is a
lamp unto our feet to light our way, not a halogen,
not going to show you way down the road. It's
a light unto your feet, one step in front of
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the other. You got to be willing to take the steps.
I also know that whatever he says to us, whatever
his will is that's been revealed to me, that it'll
line up with his word. I've seen so many people
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get derailed, some even lose their salvation if they ever
really had it, because they got fooled into thinking the
voice they were hearing was the Lord, but the voice
was saying things that didn't line up with the word.
He will never ever go against his word. He will
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never contradict himself. So as we look at this coming year,
I don't know what tomorrow is going to bring, I
don't have a clue. I do have some insights that
he shared that I will share next week, but I
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really don't know what tomorrow will bring. I know what
I wanted to bring. I'm not that perfect in that regard. Now.
I have things that I believe are of him, but
I have desires too, So I know what I desire
for tomorrow. But I know that he knows what's best
(45:52):
for me. He knows what is best for me, and
I don't care how old we get. We don't always
get that one right. So but one thing I do,
not just this year, but every year. One thing I do,
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and it is my one aspiration forgetting what lies behind
and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on.
I press on towards the goal to win the supreme
and heavenly prize to which God and Messiah Ishuah is
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calling us upward. I press on to live the life
that he desires for me, his best. I pressed on
to set the captives free. I press on as I
go down this path to help anybody I can help,
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to rescue whoever he says rescue, but also to keep
going if he says keep going. I press on to
his best in my life, whatever that may be. I
press on to have more of him. I press on
to have more of the spirit inside of me. I'm
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going to keep running this race. And as you get older,
walking and running becomes a little more difficult. But you
know what, one foot in front of the other, keep going.
Press on desire his best for you, desire his perfect will,
(47:44):
not his permissive Will. Abraham couldn't wait for the promise
of Isaac to be fulfilled, so he did it himself.
He didn't wait on the Lord. He manipulated himself, and
God's permissive will was Ishmael. That did not work out
so well. So I don't want permissive will. I've been there,
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done that, have too many shirts to show it. No,
I'm gonna press on. I'm not gonna put my trust
in men and women and any worldly platitudes. I'm gonna
put my trust in the Lord, and what somebody says
lines up with his word, then I'll listen. If not,
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then I won't. I'm gonna press on. I'm not gonna
put my trust in the stars or all these external signs.
You want to know why, Because I don't need those anymore.
That was from a world that was not born again,
that did not have the Holy Spirit to guide them.
The signs and the wonders and all those things are
(48:52):
a confirmation for the unsaved. I know from His word
through His Holy Spirit, what I need to see and
what I need to understand. So my trust isn't in
the stars or anything of this world, anything terrestrial. Put
your trust in the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
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Put your trust in the one who made those stars.
Put your trust in the one who sent the Holy
Spirit to walk with you, to teach you, to guide you,
to encourage you. That's where you put your trust. And
I firmly believe that when we do that, that we
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can have the confidence that whatever the new year brings,
it will be his best for us. I want his best.
The things that I think are great or wonderful pale
in comparison to what he thinks are great and wonderful.
(50:03):
I saw a meme, and it comes to mind right
now of a child holding a doll and there's your shoe.
Was standing in front of this child, asking for the
child to give them the doll, and they're saying, but no,
I like it, I want it, not realizing as a
bigger doll behind his back. He's trying to get that
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child to trust. Say sure, because I know that whatever
you do for me will be better. What are you
holding on to? What will you not let go to
get what's best for you? What is it that you
have right now that you've carried with you in this
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walk that is not of him? What is keeping you
from trusting him? The way I'm speaking right now, not
just in the coming year, but every day of our lives.
I know we carry the baggage. I know we carry
the programming. I know we carry the wounds. I know
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all those things in the natural that trip us up.
But I can choose, by seeing where I've come from,
to not allow anything from my past to hinder where
I'm going to keep, to allow what was to keep
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what is from being mine. And that's my desire for you.
My desire for you is his best to be free,
to be healed, to be whole, to have a relationship
with him unlike you've anything you've ever had before. That's
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my goal. That's my desire. Father. We love you, We
thank you, we worship you. We give you all the honor,
all the glory and all the praise for who you are,
what you've done in our life, what you're doing. We
thank you for the lessons we've learned. We repent and
(52:19):
apologize for the ones we haven't learned from. Help us,
Holy Spirit, to make the changes that need to be made,
to let go of those things which hinder us and
slow us down. Whatever the sin is that so easily
ensnares us, Shine you glory upon it, highlight it so
that we can throw it away, that you can take
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it from us, that you can put it under the
blood and set us free the fears, the pain. Whatever
it is, Lord, right now, take it from us, take
it from me, take it from my brothers and sisters.
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Let us run the race, strong with endurance, filled with hope,
making it to the end, to the higher calling to
get the prize. Holy Spirit. Let this be the year
(53:28):
in each every one of our lives that we hear
you more, sence you more, fuel you more, and that
you do more with us and through us. So that
means I ask right now for me and everyone listening
search us, shine your glory upon us. Whatever it is
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that keeps us from having what I just said, burn
it off of us, drive it away from us. And
if it's of the enemy, you have no place here,
You have no place in us, You have no place
even to be around us. We pray to shine the
(54:10):
glory of the Lord, and the light of your show
us so brightly you can't even look our way. So
we love you, Lord, We thank you, and we praise you,
and we worship you, and we give you all the honor,
all the glory and all the praise. And if you
agree with me, just say amen. May the Lord bless
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you and keep you. May the Lord make his face
to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May
the Lord may I don't know you, sure AHAMMOSIAK lift
up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Give
you shallam. I'm Richard Grunn. This has been the Porch
(54:59):
on Fire or Fall talk Radio
Oh hello, I'm Richard grand Welcome to the Porch. This
(00:27):
is where you will find an uncompromised red letter basics
of the Word of God and a focus on the
Book of Acts church to see how they serve the Lord.
In doing so, we find the church the Lord intended
and not the one man created. The Porch is here
to restore the priesthood of the believer while regating the
(00:47):
world's shaking influence of the early Church. The Church age
is not over. The Upper Room experience is as much
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(01:10):
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If you need any information, just reach out. We'll be
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(01:32):
Thank you for being a part of the Porch in
twenty twenty four and all the way back so since
we got started, and thank you for joining us on
this journey into twenty twenty five. If you need prayer,
you want to pray for others in the porch community,
let us know. Remember we care about you. The newsletter
went out this week. If you didn't see it, check
(01:53):
your spam or junk folder. It might have gone in there,
and just make the address the email address a record
recognized accepted one. If you would like the scriptures for
the week, please let me know send me a message.
I will include you on the list when that email
goes out. Thank you, Lord, Thank you for twenty twenty four.
(02:15):
Thank you for your blessings. Thank you for all that
you've done and all that you're doing. We praise you
when we praise you, Abba Father, for being a loving,
heavenly father, for sending a shoe to set us free,
for loving us so much you want it to be
with us. And we thank you that you've given us
access to the throne, room, that you've given us grace
(02:37):
and mercy, that you've given us healing, you've given us salvation.
Thank you, Lord for what you can do it on
the cross. Thank you for all that you've done, all
that you're doing. We look forward to what you're going
to do in our life as we serve you going
forward into this new year. Thank you for sending the
Holy Spirit to walk with us to God to guide us.
(03:00):
We praise you for that. We praise you for our salvation.
We praise you for the freedom and the liberty and
the knowledge and everything that you're doing and everything that
you've done. So have you a way, Holy Spirit, do
whatever you want to do tonight. Bless us, protect us homes, lands, families, pets, possessions,
Bless them, protect this technology, and let the word go forth,
(03:24):
and you shoe his name.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
We pray Amen. These lessons are proprietary information, except where
(03:54):
not of the information comes from outside sources. Combination of
that information. The manner presented is exclusive, cannot be repeated
or used without permission. The date of this broadcast serves
as the registered date of the following information. So, as
you probably notice, we're doing some things differently as we
move forward. Still have not worked out how and when
(04:18):
and where that we'll be doing.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
The live Bible studies. I think I have it figured out,
but I've actually got to test it first. So this
is up there for you to listen to It'll be
there seven o'clock on Wednesday evenings on every streaming platform.
There will be no delay and despair with us as
we adapt and change and follow the leading of the
(04:43):
Holy Spirit. Open your Bibles go with me to Philippians
chapter three, starting with verse twelve, Paul says, not that
I have already attained or I am already perfected, but
I press on that I may lay hold of that
which is for Messiah Yeshua has also laid hold of me. Brethren,
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I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one
thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and
reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I pressed
toward the goal for the prize of the upward calling
of God in Messiah. Is sure not that I have
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attained this ideal or having been made perfect, But I
press han to lay hold, to grasp and make my
own that which Jesus the Messiah Yeshua Hamoshiak has laid
hold of me and made me his own. I do
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not consider that I have captured or made it my
own yet. But the one thing I do it is
my one aspiration forgetting what lies behind and straining forward
to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal
to win the supreme and heavenly prize to which God
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in Messiah issue is calling us upward. I press on
like a runner crossing the finish line. I lean forward,
I break the ribbon. Yeah, we've entered a new year
and the old one is gone. I gave a short
word on social media that I posted yesterday and received
(06:31):
a good response. And then during the night, as I
was sleeping, Lord began to speak to me, and he
said he wanted me to expound upon that message for
the first message of the new year. So basically what
happened yesterday morning was I had a run in an
early morning errand and I got to this particular corner,
(06:55):
which is a dangerous corner. People like to pass you
on the right side, So I glanced at my right
side mirror to make sure that no one was coming
up and making that bad decision. And it dawned on
me as I was looking behind me that I realized
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I couldn't do anything about where I'd been. It was gone.
The only thing I could do at that moment was
ensure that nothing dangerous was creeping up on me from
that direction. That's what the enemy does. That my mind
was thinking as I was driving, and that's what the
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enemy does. The enemy creeps up on us from our
past to endanger what's ahead in our future. It's always
looking to remind us of our past. And as my
Pizanoo has gone on as Glory. Carmen once said in
a song, when Satan remind you of your past, remind
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him of his future. We have to keep moving forward
no matter what, and not allow what has been to
interrupt what will be. So we are pressing on to
the higher calling. We are pressing on to the upward
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call of God in Messiah Yeshua every day of our lives.
In Colautions three, starting verse one, it says, if then
you will raise with Messiah, seek those things which are above,
where Messiah is sitting at the right hand of God.
Set your mind on things above, not on things on
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the earth. For you died and your life is hidden
with Messiah in God. When Messiah, who is our life, appears,
then you also will appear with him in glory. Therefore,
put to death your members, which are of the earth,
fornication and cleanness, passion, evil desires comfortousness, which is idolatry
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because of these things, the wrath of God is coming
upon the sons of disobedience in which you yourselves once walked
when you lived in them. And jumping to Second Corinthians five,
verse six through nine. So we are always confident, knowing
that while we are at home in the body, we
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are absent from the Lord, for we walk by faith,
not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased, rather
to be absent from the body and to be present
with the Lord. Therefore we make it our aim, whether
present or absent, to be well pleasing to him. Well,
we can't be well pleasing to him if we're always
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looking backward. We can't be well pleasing to him, if
we're always allowing things like our fleshly desires to trip
us up. So many if the things in this world
are out of our control, and I know that could
be really frustrated, but you know it's not out of
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our control how we respond to the things that happen
to us. We control our choices and our actions. The
end result is out of our hands, and it's either
into the Lord's or it's into the enemies. It's depending
upon who we are obedient. Two says, we sit here
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on January first, twenty twenty five. There are people making plans,
the making declarations, the making resolutions of what they will
do in the coming year. But many are not even
considering what the Bible says about such things. I know
I've done it, I've been there, done that, James says
(10:58):
in James Chapter four, studying with verse thirteen. Come now,
you who say today or tomorrow we will go to
such and such a city, spend a year there, buy
and sell and make a profit. Whereas you do not
know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life,
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It is even a vapor that appears for a little
time and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say,
if the Lord wills, we shall live and do this
or that, if the Lord wills. Everybody thinks he's going
to bless whatever you want, whatever you think, whatever you desire,
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that he's going to bless your plans, no matter what,
just because you have them. Well, we can devise plans,
and we can believe that there of the Lord, we
can slap his name on it. But unless we seek
his counsel and his confirmation, we are devising our own plans.
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Proverbs sixty nine. A man's heart plans his way, but
the Lord directs his steps Proverbs nineteen twenty one. Many
plans are in a man's mind, but it is the
Lord's purpose for him that will stand, that will be
carried out. If you call the Lord as Lord, if
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he's your Lord and savior, if you have declared him
to be your Lord and savior, and you have said
I am yours Lord, I will follow you, then that
means we need to be obedient to what he thinks
and what he says. And we find that a word.
We find it through the Holy Spirit. But we must
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follow his plans and not our own. I think the
mess of the Church right now for many reasons, but
one of the big ones is we have too many
fleshly plans in motion and not enough godly ones. We
have more going on that is of the flesh than
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it is of the Spirit. Every time I drive by
one of these behemoth buildings that the overhead is thousands
or tens of thousands of dollars, and they are monuments
to the ego of somebody in charge. I don't see
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the Lord in that. And I know the history of
the Church, and we've talked about it from the book
Pagan Christianity. You see why they begin to build the basilicas,
why they built these giant buildings. Those are man's plans,
those are not the lords. He says, you can't build
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a building that can house me. So as the year
ends and the new year begins, let's seek his heart,
let's seek his plans, let's seek his will for us
in the coming year. See, I trust, I trust him,
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I trust in his word. Ifre I in placing my
trust in his hands, I am endeavoring to the best
of my ability to make my plans his plans. Oh yeah,
there's been issues where and I've told you the stories
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where he has pointed out that was all you, Richard,
that wasn't me. And the end result was very clear
that it wasn't him. And I'm thankful when I've been obedient,
and I am sorrowful and repent when I haven't been.
I want his plans, I want his thoughts Jeremiah twenty
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nine to eleven. For I know the plans and thoughts
that I have for you, says the Lord plans for
peace and well being, not for disaster, to give you
a future and a hope to give a future and
a hope. And one of those things we are hoping
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for is to win the supreme and heavenly prize to
which God in Messiah y Shue is calling us upward
the crowns of glory. That won't be about buildings or
prosperity or any of those things. It'll be what did
we do for him? What did we do for his kingdom?
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Did we help the poor the sick? Did we do
the things the Lord says to those people in Matthews
and commends them for what they did? Or are we
going to be the ones He's going to look and say,
I never knew you. You didn't do the will of
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my father. I want to do his will this year.
I want to live out his plans. I want to
walk in his glory. That calling, that calling is a
divine appointment, and we tend to muddy that up too.
(16:34):
We add to it, we subtract from it. But his
call is done his way. And the one thing I
have learned in all these years of walking with him,
as much as I have access to him, much as
I have access to the throne room, as much as
I know that his grace and his mercy is everlasting.
(16:55):
I understand who he is. He is the King of kings,
and he is the Lord, Lord of lords. He doesn't
jump when I say jump. He doesn't do what I
want him to do just because I want him to
do it. He does what he wants. Therefore, I want
his call done his way. That means we have to
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humble ourselves to be obedient and be in right relationship
with him one Peter five, starting verse six. Therefore, humble
yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may
exalt you and do time. You know when you kneel
forward and you bow your head to the King, and
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he reaches down and takes you by the hand and
stands you up, casting all your care upon him, for
he cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary,
the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom
he may devour. Resist him. Steadfa fast in the faith,
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knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood
in the world. But may the God of all grace,
who called us to his eternal glory by Messiah Isshua.
After you have suffered a while, perfect established, strengthen and
settle you to him. Be the glory in the dominion
(18:23):
forever and ever I'm in. Be sober, be vigilant. You've
got somebody out there who's trying to sneak up on
your right side and cut you off, maybe hit you,
maybe cause you to crash. In this world, it's going
to be a struggle, and there will be resistance. There
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will be resistance from the enemy. There'll be resistance from
the world. Keep going, press on, lean into it when
the when the winds come and try to slow you down,
lean into it. Press through one Corinthians nine, starting verse
(19:06):
twenty four. Do you not know that those who run
in a race all run, but one receives the prize.
Run in such a way that you may obtain it.
And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in
all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown.
(19:26):
But we for an imperishable crown. Paulser says in two
Timothy two, verse five. And if anyone competes in athletics,
he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.
Let's run by the rules. Let's follow his word. Let's
not add to it, nor take away. Let's do what
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he said to do. Let's not do our own thing,
Let's do his thing. Hebrews one says, therefore we also,
since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight and the sin which
so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance
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the race that is set before us. That means I
can't run that race while looking back. I have to
be looking forward. I have to shake off anything and
drop anything that would slow me down or weigh me down.
What is it that has weighed you down over the
(20:31):
last year? Is it a relationship? Is it a perception?
Is it a false teaching? Is it a misconception? Only
you know? Whatever it is, lay it aside. If it's God,
it'll come back. If it's not, good riddance. So don't
(20:58):
run the race looking backward, run it looking forward. But see,
I understand why some people struggle with this. They struggle
with the fear of the unknown. That's what trips them up. Well,
if I stay right here, if I stay right where
I am, I know my surroundings, I know what I'm
(21:18):
dealing with. I know there's no unknown. We can't we
can't do what He's called us to do without living
in the unknown, that narrow path with the lamp unto
our feet, just so that all we can see is
one foot in front of the other. That's why in
(21:41):
this word yesterday I posted on social media, I shared
a scripture that's a very foundational scripture for a lot
of people. Proverbs three, starting with verse five, Trust in
the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on
your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and
(22:01):
he shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in
your own eyes. Fear the Lord, and depart from evil.
It'll be health to your flesh and strength to your bones.
You know, if you made that your daily prayer. I'm
going to trust in and rely confidently on the Lord
(22:22):
with all of my heart, and I will not rely
on my own insight or my own understanding. You know
how many problems and challenges you would eliminate if you
did that. If you declare that in all my ways,
I will know, and I will acknowledge, and I will
recognize him, and he will make my path straight and smooth.
(22:47):
He will remove the obstacles that block my way. Well,
I know from Psalm ninety one. The angels will lift
us up less we dash our foot against the stone.
That stone is an obstacle. I won't be wise in
my own eyes, but I will fear the Lord with
(23:08):
reverent awe and obedience, and I will turn entirely away
from evil. If I do that, it'll be health to
my body, to the marrow, the nerves, the sinews, the muscles,
all of my inner parts, and refreshment to my physical
well being, to my bones. That to me sounds like
(23:33):
a good plan. So I believe that the key to
the new year it's keeping it simple. Don't hit yourself
in the mouth with the microphone, but just keep it simple.
And we do that by putting all of our trust
(23:55):
in the Lord. We declare his will his way. Where
do we find his will in his word? We'll start
out by praising him. You know, we've talked since the
portr began and the spring of twenty ten. Praise has
(24:20):
been a prominent topic, because when you praise him, it
edifies you, it encourages you, it builds you up. David
understood that Psalm thirty four, verse one, I will bless
the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be
(24:44):
in my mouth. My soul shall make his boast in
the Lord. The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh,
magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his
name together. Father, I just stop right now and exalt
the name of the Lord. I exalt him as king
of kings and Lord of lords. I exalt him as
(25:06):
the one, the only one who can set us free,
the only one who can reconcile us to you. He
is exalted. David goes on and say, I sought the Lord,
and he heard me, and he delivered me from all
my fears. They looked to him and were radiant, and
(25:28):
their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out,
and the Lord heard him and saved him out of
all of his troubles. The Angel of the Lord encamps
around all those who fears, who fear him, and delivers them.
Oh taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed
(25:52):
is the man or the woman who trusts in him. Oh,
fear the Lord, you his saints. There is no want
to those who fear. I will exalt his name. Let's
exalt his name together. Start out the day by exalting him.
Let the enemy know where you stand. P. One twenty one,
(26:16):
Verse one. I will lift up my eyes to the hills.
For whence does my help come from. My help comes
from the Lord who made heaven and earth. He will
not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps
you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel with
neither slumber or sleep. The Lord is your keeper. The
(26:40):
Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun
shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord preserves you from all evil. He shall preserve
your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out, and
you're coming in. From this time forth even forevermore. I
(27:04):
will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall
continually be in my mouth. I'm pressing on. I'm running
the race. I have a map. You know, the map
(27:25):
told you your direction, but it doesn't show the hindrances
that the enemy has set up. And one may show
you a hell, may show you a bump or a curve,
but you don't know what's lingering off the path. You
don't know what the enemy's got planned for you. You
got to run it anyway. You don't know if it's
(27:46):
going to rain I'm not a runner. I'm not built
for running. I've walked. When I was training for my
black belt, I walked every day a couple of miles,
whether it reigned, whether it was cold, no matter how
(28:09):
I felt, that was pressing on. I had a goal
I was working towards. How much more so and what
we do for him for the kingdom? Should we be
pressing on? The Lord lives. Blessed be my rock. Let
the God of my salvation be exalted. It is God
(28:32):
who avenges me and subdues the people under me. He
delivers me from my enemy. You also lift me up
above those who rise up against me. The enemy's out there,
I believe you know. I remember when I first got
saved and began to teach the things I taught. And oh,
you just think there's a demon around every bush or
(28:54):
under every rock. Maybe there is. I'm not afraid of it,
but I'm conscious of it. I live by lakes in Florida.
I'm conscious that there might be a gator in that lake. Therefore,
I'm not going to walk my dog down by the water.
I'm not going in that water. But I live in
(29:17):
a world that those things could happen. Same thing with
the enemy. I can't worry about it, but I know
that the Lord lives. Psalm sixteen, verses one and two.
Preserve me, ol God, for in you I put my trust.
Oh my soul, you have said to the Lord, you
are my Lord. My goodness is nothing apart from you.
(29:44):
My desire for you is that you are so passionately
in love with the Lord that you want to talk
to him. You want to hear from him, you want
to know more about him, praise him. I believe in relationship,
and in that kind of a passionate relationship comes everything
(30:07):
else that we need. Oh Richard, I can't share the gospel.
You're not sharing the gospel. You're telling people about somebody
you love and what he did for you. And in
the midst of that is the word. In the midst
of that, you are giving them good news. They're not
going to know unless you tell them Psalm sixteen, Verse one.
(30:31):
Keep and protect me, Oh God, for in you I
have found refuge. And in you do I put my
trust and hide myself. They're gonna be a dex they
are gonna be falls, there's gonna be slip ups, there's
things that are going to happen. It's a fallen world.
(30:54):
And I know people get upset, Well, this shouldn't happen,
and that shouldn't happen. And this happened to me, and
I prayed about it. Move on. For whatever reason he
allowed it to happen. Maybe he's trying to strengthen you.
Maybe he's trying to get you to a place where
you trust him. I don't know. All I do know
(31:14):
is that in this walk of mind, and I've experienced
some crazy things, I keep going. The problem most people
have are some people, I won't say most, I'll be
nicer about it, is the problems come because they're following
the wrong map. There they're pressing on, they're on their journey,
(31:40):
but they have the wrong map. They're following one that's
been drawn from human insight or or human understanding, and
that is flawed and incomplete. So many books phil shelves
and Christian bookstores or on Amazon or wherever. So many
self help books that really don't help you. That the
(32:05):
help the person wrote it. We have a map, it's
called the Bible. We have a Holy Spirit to help
us to understand it. We have a guideline to follow.
It's when we get off of that when we add
human insight or our own understanding that we taint things,
(32:29):
we change the direction anything. And I don't care how
annointed the person is, anything that comes from the flesh
is always going to be tainted by their perception, maybe
even their selfish desires. I run everything through a filter,
(32:49):
and I drive some people crazy because I put it
through a strainer. And if I have any sense that
what I'm being told has an agenda or a motive,
I don't want to hear it. I don't have a
desire to filter out. Well, what's what's the good and
(33:10):
what's the bad? And you know, some of what this
person says is okay. I don't want that. I don't
have time for that. I want pure, a pure word.
I'm at pure water. Well, you know you could drink
this water here and yeah it's a little dirty, but
it's not as dirty as it was. Sorry, I don't
(33:31):
I don't want to drink dirty water, just the way
I am. I've been fooled. And as the rock group
who said we won't be fooled again, I've been fooled.
I've been fooled by false teaching. I've been fooled by
false religion. I've been fooled by a denomination, teaching a
(33:54):
different Jesus than the one that's in the Bible, or
talking about a God that is not the God of Abraham.
I is Isaac and Jacob. So many organized religions out here,
and I'm on a RNT right now. That not a
part of my notes, but I'm going to talk about
next week. So many dangerous teachings going on right now,
(34:18):
that the storm in the church itself. James three, starting
verse thirteen, Who is wise and understanding among you? Let
him show by good conduct that his works are done
in meekness, in the meekness of wisdom. But if you
have bitter envy and self seeking in your hearts, do
(34:41):
not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does
not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For
where envy and self seeking exist, confusion and every evil
thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above
is first pure. Then it's peaceable, gentle, willing to yield
(35:05):
full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now,
the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those
who make peace. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist,
there is disorder, unrest, rebellion against God, his will and
(35:30):
his ways and every evil thing, and morally degrading practice.
I've seen entire denominations founded on a morally degrading practice,
entire entire sections of people that call themselves believers, that
(35:52):
have allowed themselves to be fooled by the enemy who's
come up on that right hand side and cut them off.
Instead of slamming the brakes, they keep going in the
direction that they've been forced. That's the difference between heavenly
wisdom versus demonic wisdom. If there's self seeking, there's selfishness.
(36:18):
If there's a reason that this person is saying what
they're saying beyond giving me the word of God and
what the spirit wants to say, I don't want it.
And I understand evil and sin prospers in this world,
and it used to really really get me angry, and
(36:39):
it still frustrates me when I see what people are
doing with their billions of dollars. But I can't be
angry and I can't be envious of them. I can't
focus on what the devil's doing for them. I have
to focus on what the Lord is doing for me.
I've got to keep going and pressing on. Psalm thirty seven,
(37:03):
Verse one says, do not fret because of evil doers,
nor be envious of the workers of iniquity, for they
shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither
as the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good.
Dwell in the land, and feed on his faithfulness. Delight
(37:25):
yourself also in the Lord, and he shall give you
the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord,
and trust also in him, and he shall bring it
to path. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday. Rest in the Lord,
and wait patiently for him. Do not fret because of
(37:50):
him who prospers in his way, because of the man
who brings wicked schemes to pass. Cease from anger for
sake wrath. Do not fret. It only causes harm, for
evildoers shall be cut off. But those who wait on
the Lord, they shall inherit the earth for yet a
(38:12):
little while. The wicked shall be no more. Indeed, you
will look carefully for his place, but it shall be
no more. But the meek shall inherit the earth and
shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. David, for
a man that wasn't spirit filled, he really got it.
(38:33):
I can't do anything about their decisions. I can only
do something about mine. And I cannot get angry about it,
or frustrated about it, or any of those things. I
can't manipulate what I think the Lord wants to do,
because all I'm going to do is make a mess.
I must trust, I must rely on and have confidence
(38:57):
in the Lord, and then choose to do good by
dwelling in the land and feeding securely on his faithfulness.
By delighting myself in the Lord. He gives me the
desires and the petitions of my heart. Remember that he
(39:19):
gives the desires and the petitions of your heart. So
commit your way to the Lord. Trust in him also,
and he will do it. He will make your righteousness,
your pursuit of right standing with him the light and
the judgment, your judgment, like the shining of the noonday sun.
(39:40):
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him,
and trust yourself to him. Don't fret, don't whine, don't
agonize because of the one who prospers in his evil ways.
But because of the man who brings out the wicked
schemes and carries them out so many of us. And
(40:02):
I've been guilty of it. I'm not speaking against anyone.
I've been guilty of it too. I've allowed that frustration.
I've allowed the what ifs. But I resolve to trust,
to rely and have confidence in the Lord and just
(40:24):
keep doing good. See I know something, Yeah, I really do.
I know something. I know. I have a heavenly Abba,
my Abba father, and he wants to give us the
desires of our heart. But he also wants and expects
(40:44):
them to line up with his will and his word.
And having learned the hard way of walking out his
walk and stumbling and doing the things you do as
you learn along the way, I learned that if they
don't wind up with his will and his word, they're worthless.
(41:06):
And I don't want them. I know he's in control.
The enemy may believe he's in control, they're in control.
The world may believe they're in control. The governments may
believe they're in control, but really they're not. He allows
them to function, He allows them to do the things
they do. Every now and then he'll interfere with it.
(41:31):
But for the most part, he just lets it happen
because we then have to choose. Are we gonna follow
that path, Are we going to go down that road,
or we're going to follow the map. Well, look it
looks like it'd be easy to go this way, Richard. No,
I'm going to follow the map. Hey, we can just
cut straight across here. No, I'm going to follow the map.
(41:53):
I've seen too many well meaning people take a short cut.
Either they never seen again, or they wind up in trouble,
or you know, so many things after all these years
that I've just had to let people go. Hey, you
want to run that direction. You want to go back
to Egypt, you want to go back to the world,
(42:14):
you want the world, accolades. I can't stop you. I
can only tell you what the word says. I can
only speak from my heart. But if you're going to
keep going down that road, I gotta let you go.
I can't go with you. So I know that if
he puts the desires in my heart, then through the
Holy Spirit, he will help me make the right choices.
(42:35):
He will guide me, he will guide you. Therefore, you
need to trust Him to bring it to pass. The
wisdom of this world, the cares of this world, the
secular humanistic thinking that has invaded the Church. It will
always seep into it, and it will always dilute. Water
(42:58):
down and what the Lord is saying and doing. I
want the pure water of the Word. So as we
move forward, let's let the Holy Spirit guide us and
direct our steps in the new year. You know, here
I am trying to figure out what am I going
(43:18):
to do. I've been doing it the same way now,
fourteen years. Started with blog talk. I think I've been
with I don't even know how long I've been with
sprink Er seven or eight, I don't even know. And
then I use these other streaming sites that the Lord
has had me at along the way that I may
wind up having to switch to, and it means learning
(43:41):
some new ways, some new technology, doing things differently. I'm
just going to relax and let it happen. I'm gonna
let the Holy Spirit guide me. So let's let the
Spirit guide us, let him direct our steps in the
new years. Who knows, maybe the outcome will be different
(44:02):
than what it's been. Pressing on to the higher calling,
what's the goal? What are we working towards? All right,
Let's keep going in that direction. His word is a
lamp unto our feet to light our way, not a halogen,
not going to show you way down the road. It's
a light unto your feet, one step in front of
(44:24):
the other. You got to be willing to take the steps.
I also know that whatever he says to us, whatever
his will is that's been revealed to me, that it'll
line up with his word. I've seen so many people
(44:45):
get derailed, some even lose their salvation if they ever
really had it, because they got fooled into thinking the
voice they were hearing was the Lord, but the voice
was saying things that didn't line up with the word.
He will never ever go against his word. He will
(45:10):
never contradict himself. So as we look at this coming year,
I don't know what tomorrow is going to bring, I
don't have a clue. I do have some insights that
he shared that I will share next week, but I
(45:30):
really don't know what tomorrow will bring. I know what
I wanted to bring. I'm not that perfect in that regard. Now.
I have things that I believe are of him, but
I have desires too, So I know what I desire
for tomorrow. But I know that he knows what's best
(45:52):
for me. He knows what is best for me, and
I don't care how old we get. We don't always
get that one right. So but one thing I do,
not just this year, but every year. One thing I do,
(46:16):
and it is my one aspiration forgetting what lies behind
and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on.
I press on towards the goal to win the supreme
and heavenly prize to which God and Messiah Ishuah is
(46:38):
calling us upward. I press on to live the life
that he desires for me, his best. I pressed on
to set the captives free. I press on as I
go down this path to help anybody I can help,
(47:01):
to rescue whoever he says rescue, but also to keep
going if he says keep going. I press on to
his best in my life, whatever that may be. I
press on to have more of him. I press on
to have more of the spirit inside of me. I'm
(47:22):
going to keep running this race. And as you get older,
walking and running becomes a little more difficult. But you
know what, one foot in front of the other, keep going.
Press on desire his best for you, desire his perfect will,
(47:44):
not his permissive Will. Abraham couldn't wait for the promise
of Isaac to be fulfilled, so he did it himself.
He didn't wait on the Lord. He manipulated himself, and
God's permissive will was Ishmael. That did not work out
so well. So I don't want permissive will. I've been there,
(48:09):
done that, have too many shirts to show it. No,
I'm gonna press on. I'm not gonna put my trust
in men and women and any worldly platitudes. I'm gonna
put my trust in the Lord, and what somebody says
lines up with his word, then I'll listen. If not,
(48:30):
then I won't. I'm gonna press on. I'm not gonna
put my trust in the stars or all these external signs.
You want to know why, Because I don't need those anymore.
That was from a world that was not born again,
that did not have the Holy Spirit to guide them.
The signs and the wonders and all those things are
(48:52):
a confirmation for the unsaved. I know from His word
through His Holy Spirit, what I need to see and
what I need to understand. So my trust isn't in
the stars or anything of this world, anything terrestrial. Put
your trust in the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
(49:17):
Put your trust in the one who made those stars.
Put your trust in the one who sent the Holy
Spirit to walk with you, to teach you, to guide you,
to encourage you. That's where you put your trust. And
I firmly believe that when we do that, that we
(49:38):
can have the confidence that whatever the new year brings,
it will be his best for us. I want his best.
The things that I think are great or wonderful pale
in comparison to what he thinks are great and wonderful.
(50:03):
I saw a meme, and it comes to mind right
now of a child holding a doll and there's your shoe.
Was standing in front of this child, asking for the
child to give them the doll, and they're saying, but no,
I like it, I want it, not realizing as a
bigger doll behind his back. He's trying to get that
(50:25):
child to trust. Say sure, because I know that whatever
you do for me will be better. What are you
holding on to? What will you not let go to
get what's best for you? What is it that you
have right now that you've carried with you in this
(50:45):
walk that is not of him? What is keeping you
from trusting him? The way I'm speaking right now, not
just in the coming year, but every day of our lives.
I know we carry the baggage. I know we carry
the programming. I know we carry the wounds. I know
(51:06):
all those things in the natural that trip us up.
But I can choose, by seeing where I've come from,
to not allow anything from my past to hinder where
I'm going to keep, to allow what was to keep
(51:32):
what is from being mine. And that's my desire for you.
My desire for you is his best to be free,
to be healed, to be whole, to have a relationship
with him unlike you've anything you've ever had before. That's
(51:55):
my goal. That's my desire. Father. We love you, We
thank you, we worship you. We give you all the honor,
all the glory and all the praise for who you are,
what you've done in our life, what you're doing. We
thank you for the lessons we've learned. We repent and
(52:19):
apologize for the ones we haven't learned from. Help us,
Holy Spirit, to make the changes that need to be made,
to let go of those things which hinder us and
slow us down. Whatever the sin is that so easily
ensnares us, Shine you glory upon it, highlight it so
that we can throw it away, that you can take
(52:44):
it from us, that you can put it under the
blood and set us free the fears, the pain. Whatever
it is, Lord, right now, take it from us, take
it from me, take it from my brothers and sisters.
(53:05):
Let us run the race, strong with endurance, filled with hope,
making it to the end, to the higher calling to
get the prize. Holy Spirit. Let this be the year
(53:28):
in each every one of our lives that we hear
you more, sence you more, fuel you more, and that
you do more with us and through us. So that
means I ask right now for me and everyone listening
search us, shine your glory upon us. Whatever it is
(53:49):
that keeps us from having what I just said, burn
it off of us, drive it away from us. And
if it's of the enemy, you have no place here,
You have no place in us, You have no place
even to be around us. We pray to shine the
(54:10):
glory of the Lord, and the light of your show
us so brightly you can't even look our way. So
we love you, Lord, We thank you, and we praise you,
and we worship you, and we give you all the honor,
all the glory and all the praise. And if you
agree with me, just say amen. May the Lord bless
(54:37):
you and keep you. May the Lord make his face
to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May
the Lord may I don't know you, sure AHAMMOSIAK lift
up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Give
you shallam. I'm Richard Grunn. This has been the Porch
(54:59):
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