second challenge world of God no Henry Jehovah begins up tonight well let me be another person to say welcome ok we're so happy that you're here today and we are continuing a series that we started last week called the great hunt the quest for God's will and what we agreed last week is that video is a perfect picture of how so many of us think about the will of God isn't it that we have this idea in our head that God's will is this mysterious like secret Holy Grail that like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade that you have to jump through hurdles to find and decipher secret codes and we have this idea of God's will as like a secret Club we're only the elite of the elite get into and there's like a special handshake to get in and you have to say special prayers and you have to be able to know recite certain things and only those elite people know the will of God but the rest of us commoners will never know the will of God right because we're just normal people and we got normal problems in life and is it possible that me and you normal people can really know God's will and say I know what God's will is for my life for every aspect of my life well we agreed last week is that like I said last week I'll say this every week of the series is that God wants you to know his will more than you want to know his will God wants you to know his will more than you want to know his will and I can say that at any parent out there knows exactly what I'm talking about because as a father I have a will for my children and my child may desire to know it but believe me I desire much much much more that he or she would know what my will is for them that's why don't even call it my will I say it's my dream for them and I got a dream I got an opinion on every aspect of my kids life asked me how you want your son's life to look like his relationships I'll tell you exactly how I want my sons relationships I want his friends to look a certain way I want his his marriage future marriage like I have a plan for that if he would ask my opinion I give him my opinion asked me about it what would I want is for career I got an opinion about his career asked what I want for his character development I got a will for every aspect of my child's life the hard part isn't me having a will the hard part is him wanting to know what that will is and that's why we said last week the three mistakes that we commonly do this is the challenge of God's will is we don't we don't ask we don't listen we don't trust the challenge of my son to know my will is not whether or not I got one the challenge is whether or not he will ask he will listen and then he will trust and that's what we spoke about last week and if he does if I can convince him to do those three things him or her convince them to do those three things then he will discover a great reward at the end because like it says Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6 same true for me as a father same as God as a father he God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him you have to believe this verse and you have to believe this verse with all your heart soul mind and strength that believe that there is something out there called God's will and God is not playing a game of hide and seek God is not hiding it from me God is desiring to give it to me and if I seek him with all my heart and I'm diligent and how I search for him I gotta believe that there's a reward at the end of the tunnel and something good if I will do my part said another way what I want to do here in this series I want to demystify this concept of the will of God okay and the will of God is not some like like some dionne warwick's psychic friends hotline something like that okay the will of God is a relationship and as much as I have a relationship with my father and I go to my father and I'm asking my father and I'm listening to my father and I'm trusting my father I will understand and I will know the will of God because what we agreed last week is I don't need the will of God for this decision all right I have a decision in front of me I don't need the will of God for that decision I don't need the will of God to know what job to take if I don't know the process to discover his will and what to do when I take that job I don't need his will to tell me marry this girl to marry that girl unless I have a process to his will what to do once I married her because the will of God is not a gimmick it's not a shortcut is not a trick the will of God is an ongoing process and I need God's will not just for the next decision this week honey God's will for as many years he gives me on this earth I'm alive 50 60 70 years many God's will for all that no shortcuts to God's will it's about a relationship not about a trick last week we kind of gave a a like a paradigm or a context to understand God's will and I gave you the context of a field goal but then I changed it midway because I got a better paradigm in mind and we don't really want to bring up football today just because our team every time we think about who's in the Super Bowl we just feel more depressed about ourselves so we're going to soccer all right is what we talked about last week is that God's will is like a soccer field and there's three components show me that you pay attention to when I talk about last week so help me out here show me I want you to shout this out the first part of God's will is the the first part of God's will is the sovereign will of God okay we said the sovereign will of God is like the field itself nothing takes place outside the sovereign will of God if God doesn't allow it then he's ain't gonna happen but just because God allows it doesn't mean it's what He desires and then we said the second half of the will of God is this half of the field and that part is called the moral will of God okay I heard it out there the moral will of God we said God allows certain things to take place in this universe but it doesn't mean that he wants everything to take place God has a moral will which is thou shalt not commit adultery thou shalt not steal thou shalt not lie thou shalt honor thy father mother I shall forgive seventy times seven times love your neighbor love your enemy turn the other cheek the scripture is full of God's will for our life someone says I don't know God's will go read your Bible man because I'm telling you 90% of God's will is written in the scripture for you but that's not all of it because what we want to do is we want to get to the goal is the personal will of God that's when usually people say I want to know God's will for my life they're referring to the goal the personal will the specifics and yes God has a specific goal for my life but I cannot know the specific goal outside of the moral will and the sovereign will of God and if you are trying to take a shortcut that you are not paying attention we said the sovereign will of God we must understand it and accept it okay we do that through reflection do that through guidance if I am not understanding what God is doing this world and then number two the moral will of God we know it by obeying it if I'm not obeying the moral will of God then I will never know the personal will of God so you can just stop right now if you are walking there's a typical example father Anthony you know I'm here I'm new to the area I'm young I'm single I want to end that I want to know who to marry okay are you like tell me about yourself I don't read the Bible out if you pray I don't obey nothing but I want God to tell me who I marry okay like why you asking me then you just just called it just do the the horoscope and the Chinese fortune cookie like you got equal luck right there what am I gonna tell you because you cannot know God's will personal will outside his more will and his sovereign will as we talked about last week today we are going to talk about as promised last week last week was the what not to do why we don't find it and why we're usually outside of the field of God's goal today we're going to talk about finding God's will but here's what I want to do before we start again I want to draw you another picture today because it's important that we understand things in the right frame of mind the picture today is gonna guide us along is signposts or Road markers on a long windy road because the worst thing that i'ma do for you today if I were to do this Abbie's worst thing ever as I make God's will into a formula God's will is not a formula again with the father in the son is no formula but what God's will is is if you look in the scripture and you look in experience of your own life in the lives of other believers you see that generally when God gives us his personal will again we got the sovereign in the moral um let's see assumption I'm walking in this when God is gonna give me that personal will usually there's certain markers that I'll pass along the way that tell me that I'm getting closer the markers are not the end-all be-all key and it's not a formula but it's exactly like I would say to you that I want to get to Florida I want to drive to Florida so I would say in general you need to go south and it's some point time you need to pass North Carolina you need to pass South Carolina and you need a pass Georgia if you see West Virginia not good if you see Delaware not good if you see something Missouri Indiana something I got not good those are markers that you are on the wrong road but I tell you what you've been on this road for a while and you see North Carolina that's a good sign it doesn't mean you're gonna figure it out but that's a good sign and then all of a sudden you see South Carolina hey that's a really good sign - there you see Georgia hey I'm getting close to finding the will of God that's how we're gonna approach it today we're talking about four phases that I want to call it of God revealing his will to us and what God wants us to do everything I'm talking about applies to everything in life I don't want you to think about this as a one-time decision if you look at it a one-time decision you're really watering down God's will to something that it was not meant to be this is how God reveals his perfect will to us his children in life usually takes us through four phases and it's usually in this order not necessarily but usually in this order in the first phase but before we get to the first phase oh yeah what we're gonna do sorry well we're gonna do is we're gonna look and a NASA JH from the book of Acts chapter 20 and the book of Acts chapter 20 is a speech given by st. Paul to his disciples in a city called Ephesus little context st. Paul after he became Christian remember he was not a Christian we talked about him at length he's not a Christian for so many years he persecuted Christians he hated Christians and then all of a sudden he became a Christian and now he turned the same zeal to persecute Christianity same zeal to preach Christianity same zeal just different goal all right he thought his goal was I love God so much that I'm gonna kill all these Christians and then God said no I I'm a Christian - so God he's okay you're a Christian - so he said okay I'm a British Christianity alright and then what he would do he went all around the world and at one point in time he went to a city called Ephesus he spent about a year and a half in that city and he grew in a very deep relationship with those Ephesians after year-and-a-half st. Paul says it's God's will for me to go and we're gonna read that speech and try to break it down to understand how this man of God was able to decipher and discern God's will so clearly for him pick it up and Acts 20 verse 18 he gathered all the people of elders of the church ephesus and says this you know that from the first day that I came to Asia and what manner I always lived among you serving the Lord with all humility with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews how I kept back nothing that was helpful but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly from house to house testifying the Jews and also to Greeks repentance toward God and faith to our Lord Jesus Christ he setting it up in kind of a emotional kind of way isn't he he's saying like y'all know I've been here and I bled and sweat and tears for y'all and I given everything I got and there was a very near and dear relationship that st. Paul had with these people and Ephesus like he really grew fond of them they became very very close to one another but now he's saying I did this night did this night did this and I did this and you're just waiting for the other shoe to drop and he's it for him to say but now and that's what happens in the next verse and see now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem mental note bound in the spirit to Jerusalem what's what that means I'm going to Jerusalem not knowing the things that will happen to me there except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city saying that chains and tribulations await me but none of these things move me nor do I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish my race with joy and the Ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God st. Paul in this passage says I love you guys and I'm so I'm enjoying being with you guys so much and God is really being glorified but now it's God's will for me to go to Jerusalem to die and to be killed here's what I want to ask st. Paul we're not trying to get into the technicality of why of why he gets killed on stuff I want to ask this is st. Paul how are you so sure that God wants you to do that like he seems very sure and it seems like a backwards thinking like logic says the ministry is flourishing here why are you leaving you should be staying you should be bringing other people from Jerusalem here because in Jerusalem they're just killing people like you you should be bringing them all here the ministry is flourishing why are you leaving but st. Paul spoke with conviction says God wants me to leave this is how we're gonna discern the will of these five factors all right when go through that pastor st. Paul we see that the first face of God's will is the phase of inspiration the phase of inspiration and that was that expression that opened up the passage where he said see now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem what does it mean when he says I go bound in the spirit the expression like he's drawing a picture okay with his words he was he's drawing a picture for them I go bound bound means like hand cuffed or chained but there's probably a better picture I go bound with no choices with no decision-making I am bound in the spirit not in the flesh I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem he's basically saying I don't know why but God is telling me to go and I may not want to go or I may want to go really makes no difference because I'm a prisoner I am someone who's bound I'm not making a choice on my own God is telling me to do it and there's nothing I can do about it that sounds kind of weird if I tell you the beginning phase of knowing God's will is a bound in the spirit inspirational moment you would say that's kind of creepy like what does that mean I know what that means like if you want to be cynical here's a good point to be cynical on these people who just make up God's will and just say whatever they want to say and just say God made me do it like when we first got married okay I told Marian no God wants me to watch football on Sundays because that's why I put it on Sunday that's his day off too you don't I mean like God put it that way God wants me to do it okay or some people use this as an excuse to do crazy things no God wants me to leave my wife to be with the one I love okay we can use God's will like this gives us it seems like an excuse to do whatever it is they want but we already agreed in the beginning last time that God's personal wills never outside his moral or sovereign will so that's personal will never be leave my wife because God's will is no divorce that's God's will so I can never be God's will could never be God's will to lie to my boss because God's will as thou shalt not lie so anyone who tries to misinterpret it that's what I'm saying is you have to have the foundation but within there sometimes God does tell us not written in the sky might not be in the scripture but God does inside our spirit tell us I want you to do this I am Telling You give some examples I'm in this relationship I'm just not feeling something is just not sitting right with it like I know I should and there's nothing really wrong but I'm just not feeling or I'm in this job right now and I'm like successful but I just know God has something bigger something beyond this it's just a nudge inside me or parents there's just something not right about my kid like my kid is saying everything's okay and I asked him a thousand times a thousand I said it's okay but something's not right there's just a nudge inside our spirit and that's that first phase of God revealing his will you say that's weird I say not to us is not weird because we believe that as it says in John 14:16 that there's somebody who lives inside of us and that person is God Jesus said this says I will pray the father and he will give you another helper a helper that will abide with you forever the Spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him but you know him for he dwells with you he will be with you it shouldn't be weird to us to say God spoke this to me and I feel God telling me that you know why because we believe that God lives inside of us and we believe that there are times that I may be comfortable in a situation but God is not comfortable in a situation that I may be okay with this but the Holy Spirit inside me is like none something's not right and he's nudging and he's he's elbowing me like this and I'm like keep it quiet and I just feel like something is not right in this situation that's how God oftentimes reveals his will and we should not be afraid of that nor should we feel that's a foreign concept to us because as I said is that the relationship with God is not about rules and formulas just like a father with his son it's not about what you can and can't do only it's about a father with his children and his dream for them let me give an example to make this make this a little bit more clear because I know this is a a difficult concept I'm gonna go back to the year 1998 I'm gonna try to give some examples okay personal ones okay it's to try to make it real and personal Eddie everyone's got different examples it doesn have to be like me but I just speak for me year was 1998 I just graduated college I was about to begin a job and back then was like the IT stuff okay so I was an IT guy and back then okay they were just giving away jobs like I had a job from like November okay and I'm not the most qualified person and and and good salary no let's cut stuff back then they were hiring people left and right they didn't care okay I got me a good job and something inside me until this day I don't even know what it is I look back and I don't know what it is something inside me told me to delay the start of that job graduate in May everyone else start in June something told me to graduate in May and push the job till September and go spend this summer and do something special I don't know what I was gonna do but something inside me said do it I don't know why it is very foreign to my very logical analytical everything got a reason I did that I said I want start in September that summer what I do I connected with a bishop and the Coptic Church who serves in Africa and at this time it wasn't really like Africa trips going okay mission trips but there had been one that just happened in 1997 and that summer of a few people and God arranged it that I happened to meet those people one time when I was traveling I remember where I was I met those people they said they went on a mission trip in 1997 Africa and they said it was really a good experience that's it they didn't say anything like life-changing nothing like that something inside me said imma go to Africa you know what I didn't know the bishop I don't know no nothing I said I'm a girl all by myself but I found there was group people from Los Angeles I connected with that group be from Los Angeles anyway long story short I spent five weeks in Africa that summer I before that Africa trip I didn't know nothing in the Bible I know nothing about preaching I know nothing about nothing I spent five weeks there in that summer and all I can say is when I came back the world I came back to may have been the same but I was not the same there was something inside me that said after what you seen and after what you experienced you can't go and live a nine-to-five life can't and I didn't say that to anybody and I didn't like I didn't quit my job which I didn't even started yet that's crazy but inside me after what I had seen what I experienced I knew that I was not gonna live in 95 life I just knew that because something inside me was not comfortable with just making money and just being a consultant all that kind of stuff and if you all remember last week I kind of shared about how when I became a priest and my when me and Maryann we're talking and said the worst thing for me it would be a consultant the worst thing for me would be to be a consultant for the rest of my life and I don't say that to mean that working is bad and I don't say that to mean that like not like everyone's got to be a priest I don't believe that at all but I knew for me that I knew for me that God wanted more than that and that as I was there God knew that I was not going to be fulfilled just doing programming nine-to-five God wanted something bigger for me and there was just a matter of time before he fulfilled it but to see how it just starts with a just something and I couldn't even put words around it but eventually God made it clear where's this coming from from Scripture let me give you another picture for you and drove chapter 32 verse 18 job says I'm full of words and the spear within me compels me inside I am like a bottled up wine like new wineskins ready to burst y'all may not relate to my Africa example itching relate to this example here's a can of soda or bottle of soda alright Bible says that God's word inside is God's Spirit inside us is like bottled up wine ready to burst couldn't bring wine up here cuz we're a pg-13 group up here can decay but we'll go with soda cans inside you the Holy Spirit dwells and the Holy Spirit is like the bubbles the bubbles inside the soda can is like the Holy Spirit now sometimes you look at this and you say no bubbles my life has no bubbles I'll reveal always beer doing nothing I don't see it I don't know inspiration ready Holy Spirit inspire not I'm nothing how you get bubbles inside here how do I did it like this she's in bubbles there's some bubbles how do I keep shaking it up the more and more I shake this up especially if I write then what happens bubbles and if I'm more and more and more and more and I'm more and more and more and more then I open this bad boy we all gonna feel the bubbles I want to tell you this god shakes us up when we leave our comfort zone some of you say it no bubbles in my life no inspiration in my life no leading of the Holy Spirit in my life nowhere I say I'm bound in the spirit you know what I say to you you are God to get some bubbles shake it up well I mean shake it up how God shakes it was when you stepped like I did in Africa I stepped outside my comfort zone if I did just go on to be a consultant and again I'm not saying being a consultant as bad half the people in this room were consultants I'd be killed if I said being insulting as bad okay we don't know what they do but we know what would they did they are okay I'm not saying it's bad but what I'm saying is if I want God to nudge and got to work and I want stuff to happen in my life I got to step outside of that consulting bubble and go beyond that like I said for me it was go to Africa some of us some of us need to step outside maybe not the big shake but maybe need to get up 10 minutes early 20 minutes early and spent some time in God's Word it's been a little bit of time every day doing like this shake it up let God speak to you some of us need instead of hanging out every night or watch TV every night shut that TV off pick up a good spiritual book and let God shake you up a little bit some of us need to go on a mission trip why not someone need to do some community service some of us need to Voss are volunteering in the church and not just be complacent some of us need a little shake-up because you know when you're drinking that soda and it's flat there's not nice but when it's perfect you know the worst thing in life I discovered being flat is not the end of the world we all go flat it sometimes you know it's the end of the world what's the worst thing is drinking the flat and saying mmm is the best it gets around here the worst is to be content flat we all go flat can't we all do we all need a little shake up every now and then I'm okay that every now and then I go flat that's not the end of the world happens to all of us but the worst thing is if you're content not having inspiration and bound in the spirit moments first phase inspiration God shakes God throws a thought at you I always say inspiration if you want to give a definition what inspiration is inspiration don't make it too spiritual it's a thought from God okay God throws a thought at you hey why not do this hey why not change job to this hey why not end this God throws of thought at you as soon as you get the thought from God then instantly someone else is gonna respond with a thought and that second thought is gonna be thought from ourselves that's the thought of hesitation hesitation because usually God's thoughts are big and God's thoughts are kind of crazy sometimes and the second God gives us that thought there's gonna be my human reaction of uh uh I don't know about this you step out of your comfort zone you go out there and let God shake you up you respond and say yes logic would say God will then make it easy for us by giving us all the details but what we discover as st. Paul said I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem not knowing the things that will happen to me there it seems backwards but trust me on this one trust me on this one the biggest problem that we have with understanding the will of God so um but say next the number one problem that people the myth or the miss under consent people have with knowing God's will so I'm about to say right now is knowing God's will doesn't mean knowing all the steps it only means knowing the next one someone says I know God's will for my life it does not mean that they know everything God wants them to do it just means they know the next step doesn't mean they know all the steps there's no such thing as knowing all the steps and that's the Saint Paul said I go bound to the spirit to Jerusalem to do what I don't know but I know I'm supposed to take this one step and then when I get to that one step God will reveal the next step knowing God's will for my life for my career for my relationships does not mean knowing all the steps it just simply means knowing the next one give you in other stories you all like stories now fast forward to year 2000 this time I'm a single young buck okay but that's about to end because God really puts it in my heart to ask out my wife Mary Ann she's not my wife at the time obviously okay ask her out now let me tell you this okay and neither my wife nor my mom is here today so I can tell this story in its full detail because they're both characters in the story we grew up like my parents and Mary Ann's parents like always close alright and me and Mary Ann are only our birthdays like 11 days 13 days apart so we're like we always like grew up our parents were close but me and Mary Ann were never close okay we didn't mean Mary Ann were never friends okay I was we were like boys and they were girls they would like come over and like we would do our best to torture her and her sister when they came over like make them watch wrestling okay and make them watch like play with the sports stuff like they wanted to like do anything else we made them like we torture them okay because that's just how boys are when you're young my mom ever since probably I was 8 years old 9 years old something like that Mary Ann that's who you're gonna marry and anyone better than Mary Ann and from like from dating age in Egyptian cultures about eight or nine okay that's when they started you ready for marriage right from that age my mom was put in my head Mary Ann Mary Ann Mary Ann Mary Ann Mary Ann man ain't no I'm better than Mary Ann so me as a young male my male with the strong head said I'm never gonna marry me I marry everyone and their mother before I marry me yet because it no way I'm gonna take advice dating advice for my mom okay there's no way that's gonna happen and I said tell what time I like tell Mary Ann that my mom delayed our relationship Rob about three or four years okay but heirs from God I did my best to put Mary Ann to the back okay because my mom and then God God does not just and God says and forgive me I don't mean this insulting anyone else he said is there a better girl in the world to Mary Ann he just forget about your mom but is there a better human being on this planet that Mary Ann and I said nope he said is there a better person that will take you where I want you to go and where you want to go then that lady I said no God was nudging nudging very very very very clear I said Mary Ann so I didn't tell my mom of course okay Ann asked out Mary Ann me Mary Ann I started dating in November of 2000 about a month into the relationship everything is perfect everything's purple we're so happy like life is the best everything is the best all of a sudden I'm talking to my spiritual their father Bishoy and he called me at work asked about something that nothing new with nothing and he said hey by the way how things go with Maryann I said things are great he said y'all progressing I said yeah he said when's engagement I flipped out I flipped out I flipped out and I'm like why why you ask that he's like no just asking she says I'm did her mother say something or father say something like why what's going on and he and I he's like no no rocks take it easy like see you later like I called Mary aunt flipping out and I said we need to meet today because I want to talk about something and we met at a special place when we wanted to discuss like special matters McDonald's and not only met at McDonald's but we didn't order good as we had at mcdonnell's that we wouldn't order sat in the corner right there and I basically told I'm like look Mary Anne like you're the best but I'm really scared and I don't know and all the stuff and she's like what happened and I told her this conversation she's like no no I take it take your time ain't no rush no nothing no like to take your time like there's no pressure anything like that I'd calm down but God didn't God inside me I prayed about it I prayed about and I prayed about there prayed about him that night like we were on our way to church like for a liturgy that that's why we didn't eat so we pray the Liturgy together and we did whatever and then afterwards we went out again Taco Bell but this time we need order okay cuz we were hungry and after praying that liturgy I felt God telling me this I wanted like what I'm telling God is God I love this girl I want to marry her but I don't know I don't know a lot of things about her and every one of those things were true I didn't know they said reside in this but God said but I'm in it and as long as you know that I'm in this relationship that's all you need to know that's why single people if you've ever come to me for advice have you come to me with your top 17 things I'm looking for in a bride top 17 I'm looking forward to a husband I laugh for that list I say throw that list away I need to know one thing it's God in it or not in it because you may have these 17 criteria and if God is not here I want everything to do with it and I'm telling you I could've come up a list of 17 things that's looking for and a wife and I was probably undecided on 15 out of those things with Mary Ann but I knew number one at the top God is saying go and if God is saying go I don't know where he's gonna take me but as long as he's with me we'll be okay and I stand here today 14 years into marriage happiest could be everything is great lots of things I didn't know lots of things that were surprises okay and married people who agree with me on this one all right that when the single people come and say how do I know she won't change she will okay I tell you she will they all do okay but so do week McKay and that's not a bad thing like you don't want to marry who she was I want I won't be with her who she is okay sorry that's don't get stuck on that one right there bottom line is this is that when God reveals his will he doesn't reveal all the steps just the next step how do you feel about that I tell you God gives you something big and you say okay god I want to accept it therefore like logic says if God wants me to accept it give me the details that's what we want say okay God if you tell me if you reassure me of what she's gonna be like and what she's gonna do and and like different things if you assure me of all these different things what a life is gonna look like that'll be easy for me to accept it right will be easier to accept if I knew the details wise man once said in a famous movie you know why you say you want the details I say you can't handle the details and I promise you this that the reason God doesn't give us all the steps because he knows that we cannot handle it go through the history of any great man or woman of God and see when God puts something big in front of him and how he specifically does not tell him the details you know why because they couldn't handle it Moses you're gonna free my people from Egypt and you are gonna lead my people in the promised land can you do it yes God let's do it you know what he didn't tell him how you gonna do it you're gonna stand in front of Pharaoh the scariest guy in the world he's gonna threaten to kill your life there you gonna stand 40 years in the wilderness you'd be 40 years the wilderness and your people are gonna hate you or gonna try to kill you I have any food not even drink and then at the end of forty years of faithfulness you're not gonna even get inside the prompt slate you think Moses would have taken they have God told in the details Daniel you'd be a great man of God but you're gonna get nice and cuddly with some lines one day three holy youth you guys are gonna stand up and be a great sign a monument of how faithful I am to all the nations but you think it's hot in Florida wait till what I show he's gonna you guys God didn't give us the details because we can't handle the details and that's the best thing that he ever does look at this passage from a man of God who found his will 1st Corinthians 16 don't worry about what it says all I want you to see in here is st. Paul was a man who we can agree found God's will he found the goal agree watch how much uncertainty st. Paul talks about in this one small passage now I will come to you speaking the people in Corinth when I passed through Macedonia frying passing through Macedonia and it may be that I will remain like it maybe I'll remain maybe that I will go or maybe even spend the winter with you I don't really have it here it's kind of uncertain I know I'm supposed to go but I was gonna happen I get there that you may send me on my journey and where is your journey going wherever it like I may come I may leave I may spend a winter may spend a summer and then I may go where whatever I don't really know for I do not wish to see you now on the way but I hope to stay awhile with you if the Lord permits but I will tear you in Ephesus until Pentecost for a great and effective door is open to me and there are many adversaries you see what st. Paul a man who found the goal there's a lot of things I don't know I know God wants me to leave I don't know where I don't know how long I 1 will come back I don't wanna do all I know is I'm bound in the spirit I am inspired by God and my natural hesitation I'm fighting through there trusting in God that last verse though shows us the third face he talks about a great and effective door has opened but there are many adversaries we go through the inspiration God gives us a thought as soon as God gives me a thought my own brain comes with a thought and that's the hesitation face someone else got to get in on the action of giving me some thoughts and that's our enemy the devil and that third phase is temptation you mark this on your calendar you write it down you are going to do something according to God's will something great for God and you are going to trust him and you don't know where you gonna go but you're gonna walk in faith you mark it down your enemy is going to tempt you to quit and to not continue on that path any great journey in life has a beginning has a middle and has an end the beginning is the inspiration face God wants me to do this God wants me to start a new job God wants me to take on this new task God wants me to own my own business God wants me to that's a great face and then in the end if I find the will of God great stuff that's gonna be the fourth face we'll talk about in a second but this middle phase is the tough face where I hesitate and then I fight through and then I'm done fighting through and I say okay I took the step of faith what's waiting for me on the side of step of faith is an enemy to try to trip me up and to try to take me down st. Paul says it this way he says I'm not knowing the things that will happen to me when I get there except there's one thing I know there's one thing okay let's see what that says except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city saying what you think the Holy Spirit sang saying that great joy and great blessing and great prosperity is waiting for you you don't know what's there but I promise you there's gonna be a great celebration a great and easy life right what's waiting for me st. on the other side that chains and tribulations await me yikes is the right answer the Holy Spirit did not tell me anything that's gonna happen in Jerusalem except one thing problems hey I got a great idea God's will for you to do this do this do this okay what am I get problems Oh lots of them chains and tribulations oh wait look we saw in the last series for those who are here in the waiting room that just because I'm facing difficulty doesn't mean God's will is not there we thought that was the entire last series we talked about that I don't wanna get into that but what we agreed is that men and women of God doing God's will and being fought and being tempted and adversaries and attacks those two go together because we think in our mind when I'm doing God's will God should protect me from all those adversaries and that is simply not the case of the of the Bible that is not the teaching of the scriptures is that when you are doing God's will in fact it's the opposite when you are doing nothing that's when the devil leaves you alone when you are doing something positive you are trying to get somewhere and st. Paul says God is telling me to go to Jerusalem you got to expect people gonna stick without trying to trip you up people gonna be waiting there to knock you down and I'm telling you that in this life you want to do something according to God's will something great for God you want to have that relationship like I said that marriage that God wants a god-honoring marriage that God honoring family life you want to honor God with your career and take that step you want to do those things you've got to expect people gonna be there try to trip you up along the way a couple verses here Matthew 7:14 we saw in the last series that narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life and there are few who find it find me one great who didn't into our hard life like I said Moses be great but you got to fight fair the rest of your life David I'm gonna anoint you king over all my people but the old king he not gonna be very happy he's gonna chase you around try to kill you Joseph you're gonna rule over your brothers but first they're gonna throw you in a pig and leave you for dead this is how the life of God is difficult is the way an arrow was the path 2nd Timothy chapter 3 verse 12 next verse says yes all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution let me tell you how this works how so many times I've seen it I can write a book about this very one principle someone comes let's say someone is living a very worldly life very materialistic career cutthroat like doesn't care about God doesn't care about church just wants to advance in his career and he's mr. career guy and then all of a sudden something touches him and he wants to like be more generous he wants to give God his time give God his money he didn't want to care about his career he wants to focus more like I don't need that promotion I'm content with what I got I want to enjoy what I have you wonder what's gonna happen I promise she's gonna happen I promise you a he's either gonna have a very very expensive thing break in his house and be very very tempted to go back to being cutthroat at work to get that promotion or be there you have some problem where his jobs gonna be in jeopardy or his wife's gonna get laid off or some kind of disasters gonna happen to him financially why to get him to go back on what he promised you say me and my husband we're not doing things right we want to get things right we want to be godly example for our children want together want to be close want to have vulnerability 1 do all these things knows can happen next night biggest fight ever guaranteed over absolutely nothing biggest fight ever is gonna happen why because the devil is not gonna just stand there again think of the soccer goal Here I am I'm going towards the goal what's the defense do good job go that diva they're gonna encourage me leave he's not gonna make the path clear for me he'll try to take me down and he cheats and he fights dirty and you have to expect that the temptation will be I quit I tried I can't do it I tried to live godly I can't I tried to leave this bad relationship I can't I try to start prayer routine I try to be consistent in church how many times someone says I want to come to church every Sunday but screams judge I want to come church every Sunday promise your business trip write awake guarantee till we visit trip to make sure that you don't keep your promise guarantee the temptation is gonna be it's too hard I tried I did my best quit but you know what you know why God allows these adversaries why does God allow this phase of temptation because the principle is this that God builds our faith in the valley not on the mountain our goal is to get to the mountain but that's not what we become strong we become strong in the valley as we climb up to the top of the mountain there's a song on the radio he used to be as an older song which said that I must walk through the valley to stand upon the mountain of God that's a beautiful picture I must walk through the valley to stand upon the mountain of God King David said a little bit different he said even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil because you are with me this is what God wants to build inside of us and it's not gonna be easy but if you are facing resistance now I promise you God put that inspiration your heart and you struggled I think we got the picture here God put that inspiration in your heart and it was a struggle for you and I don't know if I can is gonna be difficult I know what compromise but I take that step but faith and as soon I take that step of faith despite the hesitation enemies and attack me and trip me and push me down and everything's getting me to say quit don't do it no more and my friends saying you can't just too much and it's too difficult everything around me say there's too much as temptation you fight through there and you will reach the fourth phase which is relaxation relaxation is not the best word but I just wanted an Asian word okay what I want to say is the reward I want to say is the celebration could have been a good one actually a celebration should a gun okay right celebration and relaxation either one something very very positive though I want to say relaxation is good though I'll take okay we'll make it work because I'll tell you the best place to be in life no the best place to be iowa's again you may heard me tell this before you come to me for spiritual advice I always want to be right here don't know what this is and my mind to have this picture of here's God's will for my life here's God's will like this is God's will and I always be right there cuz you know what what I'm right there I don't care what anyone says to me I don't care whatever happens to me life if I know that I am right there if I know right there in the middle of God's will is put my head down and run through this wall man you see me doesn't matter to me but when I'm here or here or here or unsure that's when you see a very weak father Anthony in front of you who couldn't onto a piece of paper that was in front of him look at st. Paul how he knew was the will of God look at the result he inspiration hesitation temptation and then watched the relaxation he says none of these things move me none of these things is what none of these things that I'm going round in the spirit not knowing what awaits me but only thing that promises chains and tribulations and I'm probably gonna lose my life you know what let that move me it doesn't stress me out we're stressed out on his behalf he's not stressed out nor do I cut my life dear to myself so that I may finish my race with joy and the Ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of grace of God Saint Paul's saying I know where I fit man he said I'm here y'all are scared for me I'm here you're worried about me someone might hit me so I might punch me something put me in jail man I'm here as long as I'm here I don't care unless of matter smoke out my life dear to myself I'm here and I just want you just like just dream here with me I know this is a very very far place that we can imagine but imagine the confidence that you would have knowing that where you are right now is 100% where God wants you to be that in my career and I'm 100% doing the will of God that in my relationship I'm 100% doing the will of God that in my personal character development I'm right what God wants me to be and I don't care whatever people say I don't care if I promise I don't care my boss says you got problems here you're not doing if I'm where God wants me to be me I don't care I want to get to that place where I don't care don't you because the stress of the confusion that's not what we want that's not what God wants for us God does not want his I do not want my children always stressed out about should I do this or should I do this I take this class to take this class should I go to this boy's birthday party this boy's birthday party I do not want my kids always stressed out well my kids know what I want and they trust me and they're inside my day out and that's what we need to be here's the verse that summarized that to me man if God is for us who can be against us man I need to sing this song if God is for us who can be against us and I will tell you not the full story I'll just tell you one I'll just tell you the highlight of one story and they just be real quick anyone who has gone through our membership program here at STS ache anterior has gone through the membership program here at STS ache has heard me tell the story of when this church started and I told you all before I don't tell that story in church on Sunday that's a very very special story to me it's a kind of a private story but it's private for all of us church members but I mean I don't like to share there's something very personal to me and in it I tell the story what I call the miracle of STS a and about what God did with me personally in my life me personally how God's me the biggest cynic in the room the most skeptical person of miracles and signs and all these kinds of nonsense that people make up I'm the most cynical person in the room and I tell the story of what God did with me when God made it clear and God said to me clearly this is my will to start this church and I want you to do this because many many many good things will happen through it if you heard me tell that story that's the epitome what I'm talking about because when I know you don't got a place to rent father Anthony I started no I'm here you ain't got no money that's okay I know I'm here you ain't got no income I know I'm here you got no people you know I'm here if I didn't know I'm here oh my goodness that's good who starts church without people that's a good idea who never I never figured that all right and all these problems I know I'm here man nothing can shake me when I put my head to bed at night I know I'm here that's where all of us need to get to in life question for you is where are you on the path where are you on the path as you see I didn't give you a formula I didn't say you want an answer at work just do a B C and D it is not that's not it I'm talking about an ongoing relationship of life of understanding God's will for everything my character my relationships my decisions that I make every decision that I make my father has a will for me where are you on the path are you the inspiration phase are you at the place where you're not feeling that inspiration I say shake it up cuz that's how it starts you're never gonna start off unless God has to start it off and it's not a matter of me sit down and come up with a good idea oh I think this could be causal I don't know that that works shake it up a little bit step out of your comfort zone give God a chance to work and I promise you he wants to reveal his will more than you want to understand and then once he does and you hesitate man you step out in faith are you saying okay I do not know what awaits me but I know God is with me and God inspired me I will take this step so you take that step Oh bad guys all around be tempted to say this is a bad idea bad decision retreat you say no I'm not gonna retreat I'm a fight because I know if I fight through the inspiration the hesitation the temptation I'll get to relaxation and when I get there I will prove this verse that I showed you in the beginning that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him I want all of us before we die this is the verse that I want my life to say this verse that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him and I'll never think otherwise and I hope all of us can say that as well let's stand together for a prayer please in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit one God amen would we thank you that you got big dreams for us you don't just leave us alone boring life like average mundane thank you that you're always trying to shake us up to give us something great and give us something better I know the people who standing here in this room today Lord you got great dreams and great plans for every single person in this room that's why you brought him here today I pray Lord that you'd help us to take like one step closer one step closer to discovering that if we're an if we're needing inspiration Lord I pray that you give us the discipline to step out of our comfort zone and you would inspire us and shake us up if we're hesitating Lord because our logic is saying we don't know praise you help us to overcome that logic and take a step of faith if we're fighting adversaries or temptation of the devil to quit I pray that you'd give us the courage and the strength to fight well how we know we need to fight to reach that final stage Lord of knowing your will being sure of your will and being in the center of your will for our lives we love you and we praise you we never stop to tell people how great you are Lord no matter what happens to us we praise you and we'll always tell people that you're the best we have the best father and the best God in the whole wide world accept our prayers this day in the name of our Lord and our God and our Savior Jesus Christ and with the prayers of all your saints hears as we pray thankfully our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one in Christ Jesus our Lord the night is the kingdom the power and the glory forever amen alright thanks again everybody for coming up
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