0:00 [Music] this verse, God who is able to do more than we ask or think. There are certain things we can think about, we know about. 0:18 But when it speaks of God, it speaks of the things that we can't even think about. Those are the things that God's going to do for us. The God who does more than we can think or ask is found in Ephesians chapter 3. You can turn 0:34 with me if you have your Bible can open it up to Ephesians chapter 3 20. It's always good to get familiar with our Bibles. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly 0:53 beyond all that we think we ask or think according to the power that works within us. To him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations 1:09 forever and ever. Amen. to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think. There's sometimes when I think about some difficult situations 1:27 and I like to look out my window and look at all the stars and then just think about it. Sometimes they have these comparisons between one star and another. And when I look at all these planets and stars, if you seen the if you know that the 1:49 earth, do you know how many times the earth which seems so big can fit inside the sun? Approximately 1 million earths can fit in the sun. It takes about 24 hours to go from one side of the earth to the other. 2:09 But 1 million of these Earths can fit in the sun. Do you know what the largest star is? >> You can shout it out. >> Actually, you are correct. It's uh I I 2:31 didn't realize that there was another star back in the day that they said was the biggest, but it's Stephvenson 218 is supposed to be the biggest star. Do you know how many suns can fit inside that that big star? 2:49 Not 1 million, not 1 billion, but about 10 billion suns can fit inside that star. It's so big that Earth in its orbit around the sun can go comfortably inside that star. It's so big and massive. And if you turn with me to 3:08 Genesis chapter 1 verse six verse 16 Genesis 1:16 God made the two great lights the greater light to govern the 3:25 day which is the sun and the lesser light to govern the night which is the moon. and he made the stars also for God. That's He didn't write more about the stars even though they're so big. He just said, "Yeah, I created the 3:41 stars also as if it was nothing." And so sometimes when I think about my problems that I'm facing or situations that I'm facing, it's nice to look out this and see that the God who made that one star Stevenson 218 3:59 is the God who I'm praying to, the God who's governing my life. He's taking care of everything. The God who I'm going with my situations and circumstances. And I want to have faith that the God who created that massive star 4:16 can take care of my problems that I have on this small little earth that I have. And for each one of you brothers, sisters, it's important during these times that we get faith when it goes through difficult times in the days to come. 4:33 It's going to be important that we know God now so that when the difficult times come, we will be able to recognize his voice and his guidance during those times. They say that it's not by looking at all the wrong dollar notes 4:52 that you can tell a good one. It's by telling and being familiar with the good dollar notes that you can find the counterfeit. So if I looked at a $100 bill and felt it, looked at it carefully, then the moment I feel another note, I'm 5:11 going to say, "Okay, this is a counterfeit." And like that, as we get familiar with God's word, get familiar with his voice in the days to come, we'll be able to be careful that we're not deceived by all the things that are 5:26 going around because we know what God is like, how he is, because we've known him personally. The God who made heaven and earth. And when I think about the heaven and earth and all that God has made, God says this in Isaiah, if you turn with me to Isaiah 5:45 29 verse 26, uh, sorry, Isaiah 29 verse 16. Isaiah 29:16. You turn things around. Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay? Shall the potter cons be 6:05 considered as equal with the clay? If I am a potter, if I have some clay and I I'm a potter and I build something, how much more can a potter do than the clay? And sometime you can do this at home. You can take some clay if you have some. 6:22 And think about how much can a clay do. Okay, I can make it and I could put something in it. I can pour something from it. But that's pretty much as much as it can do. It can't do like you think about math problems. It can't go and play 6:39 sports. It can't go to the workplace. There's so many things this clay can't do which you can. And when God speaks to us, he's saying are do you think that I'm like you just like the clay? And if one clay talked to another clay and said, "Oh, I'm going 6:58 through this difficult time. What do you think I can do? I'm not sure. I can only do a little bit. I can I can carry stuff and I can do I can pour stuff and one clay to another. What encourage can can it give? Nothing. Because a clay can only do so much. 7:17 But it's not so with the potter. The potter can do much more than the clay can. And God says, remember, I'm not the clay. You're a clay. You can only do clay stuff, but I'm a potter. I can do much more than you can. 7:35 And when we think that God is just like us, there's a verse uh phrase uh if you turn with me to Psalm chapter 50. Psalm chapter 50. And it's good to remember these verses when we're going through a time to remember God is not like us. 7:54 Verse 20, Psalm 50:20. You sit and speak against your brother. You slander your mother's son. That means this person is doing some evil towards somebody else. And God is not doing anything. Verse 29. These things you have done and I kept 8:12 silent. And this is the expression I want you to remember. You thought that I was just like you. You thought I was just like you. And for the people who thought that Jesus 8:29 was just like them, this is what God could do for them. If you turn with me to Matthew chapter 13, you thought I was just like you. I You're a clay and I'm and you think that I can do as much as a clay can do. You don't believe that I can do much 8:47 more as a potter. If you turn with me, Matthew 13 verse 53. When Jesus has finished these parables, he departed from there. Verse 54, he came to his hometown of Nazareth and began teaching them in the synagogue so that they were astonished and said, 9:07 "Where did this man get this wisdom and this these miraculous miraculous powers?" verse 55. And this is like what we read in Isaiah 50. Is not this the carpenter's son? Is he just not like us? Is not his Mary called mother called 9:29 Mary and his brothers and James, Joseph, and s Simon and Judas and his sisters. Are they not all with us? Where then did he get all these things? And they took offense because they thought okay he is just 9:46 like a clay just like us. What can he do more than us? And because of that they took offense. A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household. Verse 58. And he did not do many miracles there 10:05 because of their unbelief. Jesus was just like them. He couldn't do anything more than they could do themselves. And for me, I don't want to think that God is just like me in what he can do. He made heaven and earth. There's 10:25 nothing too difficult for him. And I want my mind to be renewed to remember AJ, you're just a piece of clay. There's only certain amount of things you can do. There's so many things that are impossible to you. But not for me. 10:42 For God there's nothing impossible. And it's good to as we heard even this morning to remind ourselves. Do we know that nothing is impossible for God? Yes, we heard it. But we have to remind ourselves saying, "Lord, there's nothing 10:56 too difficult for you." It's interesting when Paul wrote to Rome, he wrote, I think 16 chapters in the book of Rome, I mean Romans, and he sent it to them. But there's one thing that he could not give to them through his letter. He says, I'm 11:16 going to come to you in person and give you this. And if you turn with me to Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter 1 verse 10. Romans 1 verse 10. Always in my prayers making request if perhaps now at last by 11:35 the will of God I may succeed in coming to you. Why does he want to be successful in going to the Romans and being with them in person? For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be 11:51 established. Verse 12, that is that I may en be encouraged together with you while among you each other by the others faith, both yours and mine. I can write to you. I can do all these wonderful things in 12:10 this letter of mine to you. But there's one thing that I'm going to bring to you in person. I'm going to share the things that God has done in my life to give you faith. And I'm going to hear what God did in your life to be encouraged by your faith. And for 12:29 each one of us, especially for us as a church family, as we come together and God is taking through us different circumstances of our life and God has given us faith in that circumstance, we must not keep it to oursel but give 12:44 it to another person to encourage them in their faith. One thing is when I learn something from the Lord, I don't want to keep it to myself. I don't want to ever forget it. Especially those difficult lessons that the Lord has taught me. I say, "Lord, I 13:01 never want to forget it." Like the time when I decided not when I didn't realize I didn't have a personal walk with the Lord and the Lord revealed it. AJ, you have a secondhand knowledge of me. You need to have a personal walk with 13:16 you. I said, "Lord, I don't want to ever forget that. All through my life, I want to remember the importance of knowing you firsthand. So that's number one to know learn something for myself and never forget it but secondly if I made a mistake and 13:34 learned from it to tell everyone else about it as well so that they don't make the same mistake I made so that's how I can encourage somebody else with the faith that I got personally by walking through with God through difficult 13:49 situations a couple of months ago I was going through a a difficult circumstance in my life and I was not sure about it but there was some comfort that I got through God's word. If you read it, you may not say I found 14:07 any comfort in it but for me those words came as if the Lord was speaking to me personally for my situation. And it's found in Philippians. If you turn with me to Philippians, as I was going through those circumstances, 14:26 Philippians 1:12, now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel. And so while I I didn't know all of why 14:45 God was taking me through these circumstances, this was a verse that came and spoke to my heart. A no matter what's going on your circumstances, you may not understand it, but in some way the circumstances are going to be for the greatest greater 15:00 progress of his gospel. And that was an encouragement I got through the scriptures for me and I want to share it with you so that when you're going through circumstances in your life, you can also 15:18 find encouragement through God's word for your circumstance. Maybe God is taking you through a circumstance right now. And maybe this is the word that the Lord is going to speak to you as well. You may not understand why you're going 15:34 through the circumstance, but in some way, the gospel of God is going to go forth from your life to others and bless them. Joseph, you may not understand why you're in prison here, but your deliverance is not 15:54 for your sake alone. You're going to bring about the deliverance for all your relatives. They're going to be saved because of what you're going through. And that's how the Lord can use circumstances in our life. When we go 16:07 through them and get faith, we don't keep it to ourselves. We give it to everybody else so that they also can have faith through the circumstances they're going through. It's interesting. Two people went through a similar situation in 16:25 their life. One came out with faith and one came out with unbelief. Similar situations and this encouraged me greatly. If you remember, if you turn to Exodus 33, 16:42 there was one longing for Moses that God's presence would would be with him all the time, that God would be with him and the people all the time. And he said, "Lord, show me. Show me, show me your glory, Lord. I 17:01 want to see you. That's my greatest longing. If you go to uh Exodus 33:17, the Lord said to Moses, Moses, I will also do this thing which you have spoken, for you have found favor in my sight and have known you by 17:20 name. Verse 18, then Moses said, I pray you show me your glory. Verse 19. And he said, 'I myself will make all my goodness pass before you and proclaim the name of the Lord before you, and I will be gracious to whom I will be 17:38 gracious. And he goes on to say after he met with the Lord, this is what he says in Exodus 34:9 verse 8. Exodus 34:8, Moses made haste to bow low before the earth and worship. And he and 17:57 verse 9, he said, "If now I have found favor in your sight, oh Lord, I pray, let the Lord go along in our midst." And so he saw God and his glory. And after all of that, he says, "God must be happy with me because he revealed 18:16 himself to me. He showed me his glory when I asked it. So God must be happy with me. His favor must be upon me. That's what he got out of meeting with the Lord. Now if you turn with me to Judges chapter 13, another person 18:36 who had a similar experience, Judges chapter 13, who also starts with the letter M. Do you know who it is? Verse 21. Judges 13 21. Now the angel of the Lord did not appear to Monoah 18:54 or his wife again. Then Monoah knew that it was the angel of the Lord. Verse 22. So Monoah said to his wife, "We will surely die." He also saw the Lord, the angel of the Lord. Just like Moses asked to show the 19:13 glory of the Lord, he's met with the Lord. So Monoah said to his wife, verse 22, we will surely die for we have seen God. Verse 23, but his wife said to him, she kind of encouraged Monoah. He said, no, let's have faith. 19:32 But his wife said to him, if the Lord has desired to kill us, he would have not appeared to us in the burning and not accepted a burning offering and a grain offering from our hands. nor would he have shown us all these things nor 19:46 would he have let us hear the things like this at this time two people who met with the Lord two different experiences one came back saying God is happy with me he revealed himself the other one went back saying God's going 20:03 to kill us because we met with him can you see how different both of those experiences even though they both with God and I say, "Lord, I don't want to have Monoah's experience." Did God kill them? No. Was that an 20:21 unfounded fear? Yes. Why? Because they had a wrong opinion about God. God is out there and he's going to kill us. But Moses, when he saw God, he said, "God's favor must be upon us because that's why." And so each of us, brother, sister, 20:40 young person, we must have a right perception of God. We must know that God is for us and not against us. When I think about certain circumstances and situations in the Bible, 21:00 it just amazes me. It says in John 20, John chapter 20, John I think had a great burden that he wanted to write everything that Jesus had done in his ministry. That was a longing for him. But he says, "I can't. 21:19 There's too much to write about Jesus. So I'm going to take out just a few things that I can put together in the Gospel of John and I'm going to share it with you." And this is the reason all of these things were picked out. 21:35 Verse 30, John 20:30. Therefore, many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book. Verse 31, but these things have been written so that you may believe. At the end of reading all of the Gospel 21:55 of John, you must come with a faith that you did not have before you read it. That's why he's picked out all these different things and written it so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the son of God, the one who made heaven 22:12 and earth. He's the potter. I'm the clay. And in believing you may have life in his name. Each one of us must believe and receive this life. So after reading it, if we don't have faith and we didn't 22:30 get that life, we miss something. And so one one thing I was thinking about when God plans our life, it says in Psalm 139, and it's good to know these verses. Psalm 139, when you think about how God planned out your life 22:47 like he's he did for Moses, he said, "You know what? I'm going to show you my glory and show you that you have my favor. I'm not angry with you. I'm not sad with you. Verse 16, your eyes have seen 139. Psalm 139:16. Your eyes have seen my 23:06 unformed substance. And in your book were all the days written were ordained for me when not as yet there was not one of them. That's before I was even born. God wrote down every single day of my life. 23:25 Verse 17, how did he write it? How precious also are your thoughts towards me, oh God. How vast is the sum of them. That means with precious thoughts, he wrote every single day of my life and your life. If you're a child of God, 23:43 every single day, he's written down in your life. And as I was thinking about that, I was thinking about John chapter 9. This man, one one incident from the Gospel of John, one of the few things that John said, okay, among all the 23:59 things that I could write about Jesus, this is one of the things I picked out to share with you. So if you turn with me to John chapter nine, I could imagine if I was in this man's if I was this 24:14 man, a blind man sitting there every day coming sitting there in that corner wherever that was and waiting for somebody to put some money in my in my bowl that I had. I said, "Look, 24:33 hopefully somebody's going to put some money every day." That's probably what he probably thought. Okay, today would be a good day if somebody put more money than yesterday. That would be a good day for him. But as I think about God and how he 24:52 planned out days, just think about how God planned out this man's day. how he must have might have planned it. If I was there, I was I'd be thinking if somebody came here and just put a bunch of coins in my thing, pearl, silver, 25:09 gold, and everything like that, and filled my cup, that would be a good thing for a beggar. That would have been a good day for me. But when I think about how God planned this man's day, he had no idea as he came that day and sat there of what God 25:27 had in store for him. His plan may have been this might have been a good day having money in his but just think about this one day in the life of this man. He wakes up, he gets up, he goes sits there waiting, begging for money and Jesus 25:45 walks by and he says when he probably is just now feeling condemned. Is it his sin or his parents' sin that he's born blind? And he's probably feeling guilty and bad. Perhaps it's my sin. Perhaps I don't 26:03 know. Why am I blind? And as he's thinking about that, he hears a man spitting on the ground, making clay and putting it as on his eyes and says, "Go wash in the pool of Silomme." 26:19 And so he takes he goes walks there, opens his eyes and sees for the first time. He's never seen it and seen anything. And now he's seeing everything. All the people, all the trees, all the hills, 26:37 everything. Would he have ever imagined on that day when he woke up that God was going to do that for him? I don't think so. I think it would have been just like every other ordinary day getting up. Oh, hopefully this is a good 26:56 day. But can you see how God was planning for this man? I will have compassion on those who I'll have compassion. Has God have compassion on you today? 27:13 Did you deserve Did this man deserve it? I can't see anything that this man deserved that God would do something for him. But God is like that showing compassion. And I can think about this man is so like why me Lord? Why did you do this 27:33 good thing for me? And then he goes and it says here in John chapter 9, John chapter 9 verse 8. Therefore the neighbors and 27:55 those who had previously saw him as be a beggar were saying, "Is this not the one who used to sit and beg?" Others were saying this is he. Still others were saying no but he is like him. He kept saying I am the one. It was me. I was 28:13 the one who is blind. God really opened my eyes. It's a miracle that God did in me. Verse 10. So they were saying to him, "How then were your eyes opened? What's your testimony of what God did in your life?" Verse 11. And he answered, 28:30 "The man who is called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes." What did Jesus do? He spit on the ground. He made clay and put it on his eyes. He didn't say, "Jesus spat on the ground and put clay on my eyes." What did he 28:50 say? God has anointed my eyes. How did he know that? I see how a man sitting there, God can open his eyes and reveal and anoint his eyes and I say, "Lord, 29:08 what you did for this man, this man woke up thinking this was going to be like every other day." But I see how you planned for this man. He was probably thinking, "Okay, this is ordinary day." But you were planning in secret, in love, saying, "What can I do 29:25 for this person? that's going to blow his mind away. He's never going to expect. And sometimes when we do this for our children and we we have a surprise for them, we always try to see, okay, how's how's what's their reaction going to be 29:42 to see that gleam in their eyes? And I I can see God also doing that same way. He does this and then sees, okay, what's the reaction going to be for my child's eyes when I do this spectacular thing in their lives? And I say, 'Lord, I want to believe what 30:00 you did for this man. The reason John wrote this was not just for me to admire it, know this story, but to say, Lord, just like you planned out this man's day, and it ended in a way that he'd never imagine, 30:16 Lord, do that in my life, too. Do what you did for this man in my life. It goes down and says they took him to the religious leaders. They said, "Is he the one? Call his parents. Make sure it's this this man." And it says 30:36 here, verse 18, the Jews then did not believe it was him and had he had been blind and had received sight. They called his parents of the very one who had received his sight. Verse 19, and questioned them, saying, "Is this your 30:49 son whom you say he was born blind? Then how does he now see? Verse 20. His parents answered them and he said, "We know that this is our son, that he was born blind." Verse 21, "But how he now sees, we do not know. Or who opened his 31:06 eyes, we do not know. Ask him. He is of age. He will speak for himself." Verse 22, "His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Jesus to be Christ, he will be 31:23 put out of the synagogue. For this reason, his parents said, "He is of age. Ask him." He's seeing for the first time he's seeing his parents. And his parents because of the fear of the religious leaders said, "Ask him. 31:41 Don't ask us. Ask him." And I can think about it. These are his parents who are seeing him for the first time. with his eyes opened and yet they're not associating with him because of fear. There's a verse in Psalm 27:10. 31:59 If your parents forsake you, turn with me. Psalm 27 verse 10. for my father and my mother have forsaken me but the Lord will take 32:17 me up and I see that this man even his parents whom he's seen for the first time hesitant to stand up for him and he speaks out boldly they said if you turn with me to John chapter 9 verse 24 32:35 so a second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him give glory to God, we know this man is a sinner. Verse 25, then he answered, "Whether this man is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know that though I was blind, now I 32:52 see." Everything else I can't tell you, but there's one thing that God opened my eyes. I was blind and now I see. And that must be the testimony of every single one of us that God must touch our 33:09 eyes for ourselves and open them so that we may be able to see. And then they said, so they said to him, verse 26, what did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? And then he said in verse 27, he answered them, I told you 33:27 already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You do not want to become his disciples too, do you? Just a few hours earlier, his eyes have been opened already. He's wants to be a disciple of Jesus. Yes, I got eyesight 33:47 and I got all of these things. Jesus, I'm thankful for that. But more than that, I want to be your disciple. The one who is a disciple of Jesus loves God more than any relative. Loves God more than any possession. loves God more 34:03 than themselves, willing to take up their cross no matter what circumstances and situations, willing to follow Jesus. And this man decided that he said, "You know what, God? You opened up my eyes, but I'm not going to use these eyes for 34:18 myself. I'm your disciple. These eyes you opened. I could go and see the mountains. I could go and see the lake. I can do all of these things, but these eyes are going to be for you. I'm your disciple. And it goes on to say, and I I 34:35 love the revelation that God has given this man. Verse 30, the man answered and then said to them, well, here's amazing thing that you don't know where Jesus is from. And yet he opened my eyes. Verse 31. One of the great one of the reasons 34:54 why God answers our prayers or who God answers. These are the people who God answers. We know that God does not hear sinners. But if anyone is God-fearing and does his will, he hears him. 35:14 If anyone is God-fearing and does his will, God will hear him. If God has not answered my prayer or your prayer, I want to consider, Lord, have I not feared you? Am I not living in your presence where you're seeing everything 35:30 I'm doing and I'm living in your presence and I have a reverence for you and am I not doing your will? But if I'm doing these two, this is a promise that God will hear me. If this man were not from God, he could 35:48 do nothing. Then they answered, "You were born entirely in sins. Are you teaching us?" So they put him out. Verse 35, Jesus heard that they had put him out. And finding him, he said, "Do you not? Do you believe in the Son of Man?" He 36:04 answered, "Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him? Thank you for opening my eyes. But I really want to know you. Who is he that I may believe in him? Open my eyes so that I may see you and know you. And Jesus said, "These eyes that I have 36:26 opened has seen them seen him. And Jesus, he is the one who is speaking with you." Verse 38. And this must be the testimony of each one of us who's following Jesus whose eyes he's opened. Verse 38. And he said, Lord, I believe. 36:43 And he worshiped him. Lord, I believe and I worship you. Thank you for opening my blind eyes, but the rest of these the rest of my life is a life of disciplehip where I follow you wherever you go and I worship you. The Lord is the father is seeking for those 37:02 who will worship him in spirit and through. I want to be one of those. You open my eyes. Why? So that I could use these eyes to see all the things I haven't seen. No, these eyes are for you to behold Jesus. And as I think about that, Jesus said 37:24 something here. Verse 39, John 9:39, Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, said that those who do not see, like this blind man may see, 37:41 and that those who see may become blind." Go. One of the reasons Jesus came was to open people's blind eyes. like this man, he not only opened his physical eyes but also his spiritual eyes which were 37:59 much more important. And then he says to them, "And that those who see may be blind." In verse 40, the Pharisees are asking him, "Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things and said to him, we are not blind too, are we?" 38:17 Jesus said to him, "If you were blind, you would have no sin. But since you say we see, your sin remains." Since you say that you see, was he talking physically or spiritually? 38:35 He was talking spiritually. You think you see spiritually and that's why your sin remains. You can see physically, but spiritually you're blind. And I cannot heal those who say that 38:51 they see. The physician cannot heal those who are healthy, but only those who are sick. And it's so important for every one of us. Lord, I think I see. Some of us may not see spiritually. 39:11 Some of us may see spiritually but I say Lord I don't know Lord open my eyes. I pray the eyes of your heart may be opened. Only God can open physical eyes. Only 39:29 God can open spiritual eyes. And I was thinking about a person who is born blind. How would you explain colors to a person born blind? I say it's impossible because they've never seen the colors. You can say this is green, but they're like, "What is 39:46 green?" I don't know. I've never seen it before. I was born blind. And for me too, with spiritual things, I'm blind to it. And if I'm humble, I can say, "Lord, I want to be honest with you. I'm sure there's many things in this life that I 40:04 think I see, but I don't. I don't see them as I ought to see them. Lord, open my eyes that I may truly see you and things as they are spiritually. I humble myself because you said if you I say that I see 40:23 then God Jesus can't help me. But if I say that I can't see, I'm blind. Lord, the Lord has hope for me and hope for you that he can open our eyes. But it starts off with saying, 'Lord, I am sick spiritually. I am blind spiritually. 40:40 Lord, open my eyes. I can't do it. No matter how many times they tell me green is this, I can't I can't, Lord. I can't do it unless you open my eyes to spiritual truth. One thing with the prodical son, among all his failures, 40:58 he decided one day he knew what was best. And that's why I believe he went to the far country. I know what is best for me. Taking this money, going and enjoying it on myself is best. And he did it. But the wonderful thing in the midst of 41:17 his mess is he was honest. He said, "You know what? The choice I made, it was not the right choice." If you turn with me to Luke chapter 15, 41:34 Luke chapter 15. And for each one of us, if we can be honest with God, not with others, with God, be honest with God. Honest with God and tell him just like this prodical son said. 41:52 Verse 17. But when he came to his senses, he said, "How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger. I made a wrong choice. I thought this was the good choice, but I made a wrong choice. It's not going 42:11 well for me. Let me go back home." brothers, sisters, there's choices that I've made where at least after a while I realized, okay, this wasn't the right choice that I made. Just say, you know what, I'm going to humble myself and say, this choice I 42:29 made was the wrong choice, and I'm going to go back, set matters right, and then take the right path. Just like the prodical son did. He made a wrong choice. But the good thing in all of his failure was that he could be honest 42:44 saying, you know what, I made a mistake. I'm going to go back. And in our lives as well, there are situations that may come up where we make wrong choices. But what are we going to do with it? Are we going to be honest and say, "Lord, 43:00 it's not going well for me spiritually. I thought making this choice whether it's in a profession in a location or education something some choice I made I thought it was the right choice but if I am honest with you it's not going well 43:15 for me spiritually I made a mistake Lord I'm sorry let me make things right with you and with others brother sister young person if things are not going well for you spiritually if you see men as trees and you're not seeing clearly go to the 43:34 Lord. The Lord can touch you a second time so that you can see well. He can help us if we're honest with him. If we have not set matters right and the reason I believe the church constantly has this message is because there's one day that comes for each one 43:53 of us where we won't have an opportunity set matters right on that side of eternity people will say I wish I heard this more because maybe I would have made I would have been I would have set matters right maybe I would have gone 44:09 and set that matter right if somebody pleaded with me one more time. And so if there is anybody you've not set a matter right with, do it at the earliest opportunity. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 44:24 Let us be honest and say, "Lord, I made a mistake. I want to go and set that matter right. And if anybody's harmed us, we have a complaint, forgive just as Christ has forgiven you." And so this morning as we close, two questions. 44:41 two questions that the Lord asked two other blind men. One was, "What do you want me to do for you?" And you have to ask that, answer that question honestly. When Jesus asks you, "What do you want me to do for you?" 45:00 I say, "Lord, just like that blind man said, Lord, open my eyes. Show me the things that I can't see. I don't want to think I see when I don't. And when I'm honest that I can't see and I ask the Lord, Lord, open my eyes. 45:18 Second question the Lord asks, do you believe that I'm able to do this for you? And the answer should be, the one who made heaven and earth, who's the potter and not the clay. Yes, Lord. That which is impossible for me, that's which is 45:36 impossible for the clay is not impossible for you. Open my eyes, Lord, that I may see. And I pray even today, this morning, every single one of us, our eyes will be opened. Just like that blind man had never a clue of what God 45:51 was planning for him. That that 24 hours who changed the course of his life forever. That's the same God who's in our life as well. I say, Lord, what you did for that man, do for me. You wouldn't have written it down just for 46:05 me to admire it, but to have faith that you're the same. That you're going to do that for me. Not only for me. This promise is for you and your children. I pray, Lord, that you would do this. That we would be expectant that you're going 46:20 to do something miraculous in our days that even if someone told to us, we would not believe it. Habacook 15. So, let's pray together. Heavenly Father, I pray how wonderful you plan our lives. Lord, things that we cannot think or imagine. 46:38 Things that are so good, far far numerous for us to count. That man had no clue of what you were planning for him in secret. And you're the same God who's in our lives as well. I pray that you would do what you did for him spiritually for every single one 46:57 of us. that you would open our blind eyes, that we would be your disciples the rest of our life using these eyes and ears that you've given us. Lord, we don't need to be healed physically, but we do need you the same way this man 47:11 needed spiritually. Lord, I pray those 24 hours which changed this man's life forever. You're the same God yesterday, today, and forever. Do that for every single one of us. We want to have faith that the God who worked in this blind 47:25 man's life is still alive and he will do it for us as well in Jesus name. Amen. [Music]
