0:07 Turn with me to Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 1 verse 44. It's 0:26 This is Mary. Luke 1:44, "For behold when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy." There was something that happened in Mary where the she felt Jesus being formed within her. Verse 45, "And blessed is she who 0:49 believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord." In these last few days, I believe each of us the Lord has begun a work 1:06 in us being formed in us. In this time we're looking forward to the fulfillment of what the Lord has spoken to us over these few days. We're looking forward. God is going to fulfill all these things he's spoken to us. And in response to that in verse 46, 1:26 what did it say? Mary said, "My soul exalts in the Lord." And as you are all, you know, sharing and this is my you have a you have a faith that the Lord's going to fulfill what he has started in you, the life of Christ and the 1:41 things you've heard from the Lord. And this time is you just exalting and saying, "Lord, amen to what you're you're going to do." And so what we'll do is we'll have the list of those of you who are going to be sharing and 1:54 you can just come and share, exalt on what the Lord's going to how the Lord's going to fulfill that which he has spoken to you. Amen. I didn't expect to come first, so I need 2:13 to turn to the page. Um, yeah. I'm so thankful to the Lord for bringing me to this uh conference. Um, before coming to this conference, uh my prayer was, "Lord, please don't let my distractions and preoccupations with other things 2:28 cause me to miss out what you have to speak to me." And uh and during this conference, it was very eye-opening to see that even though I was surrounded by um people who love Jesus, uh hearing great sermons, um singing songs, it was still 2:45 very hard um to um to still be plagued internally with uh a lot of unrest and distractions uh which were competing with my attention to hear what the Lord had to speak to me. So, the Lord um really encouraged me with three things uh to show me how to 3:03 combat and how to deal with this unrest which you can feel even in the presence of believers. How much more when you're among unbelievers. The first one is uh Jeremy shared this that the Lord wants me to have a peace now in my current 3:17 situation and not not sit back and wait for the situation or the circumstance to get over. Um, he really wants The Lord wants to make me a blessing to others in my current situation just like how Joseph was a blessing even though he was in jail. 3:33 And the second thing was uh based on uh the 50 marks of godly men that the Lord wants me to strive to enter into the rest uh which he has for me. And I can do that by declaring that the Lord is sovereign in all situations and that 3:48 he's working everything for my good and for my best. And that's to become like Jesus. And in such a situation, even when I may not feel like it, I really want to thank him for all people and for the circumstances. And the last one is 4:04 Um I try to remember this third point using three P's. It's that God permits perplexity so that I will press into him, and he just wants me to press into him during my times of perplexities and really cry out to him for help. 4:21 To so that I can slay this self-will, which I have heard about so much in this conference. And so lastly, I just want to say that I feel the words which the little children shared really really captured what I want to say. My 4:36 eyes have seen the salvation which the Lord has prepared for me in the presence of all the people. Amen. Hi family. 4:57 I'm just so thankful that the Lord has brought me here. I um I'm just so blessed by seeing how the Lord was is working in all of us, and today I before coming to the conference 5:15 I um I was just really seeking the Lord into what being deeply rooted in his love meant. And um and I had a desire in me like, "Lord, I want to love you more. I really want to have that personal devotion to you. How 5:33 do I How do I go about and really love you?" And and I realized through the days as we were talking and reading through um the articles which were such a blessing, Um, I realized that that came um that knowing 5:52 uh what it means to be rooted in the love of God is uh through having the right perception of who God is. And um in the past years and just I feel I I realized that uh I had a very wrong view of God and God has opened my eyes 6:10 through um the articles we read and um throughout the elders shared I realized that um I failed to focus on how much he loved me as a father, but rather thought that he was displeased with me whenever I fell, especially when 6:26 I fell fell and fell over and over again in the same areas. Rather um he's my father who's so patient with me and uh so ready to help me when I fall. And um one sentence that I was just gripped by one of the elders said, "God is the most 6:43 sympathetic person in the world." So, I don't need to be embarrassed when um I approach my loving father each time I fall. And um the verse that really encouraged me um was Romans 8:33 and it says, "God is the one who justifies me." So, 7:01 um I can come to him boldly knowing that you know, when I confess my sin to him sincerely, he will he does justify me. And um I was very blessed by um a line of uh A.W. Tozer's text. I'm just paraphrasing. Um, I don't have to frantically do things to 7:20 please him, but he just loves honesty and I just need to be honest with God. And um just be open about Lord, like this is where I need you. This is where I need help. And I need to throw myself into his arms with my helplessness. 7:36 And I'm just so awestruck that God is interested in every detail of my life and um in making me more like Jesus. So, I can trust in him with all of my heart and just be like a wee child. So, I just praise God for the realization he's he's given me and 7:54 trust that the Lord will do a work in me. Thank you. I was going through a trial recently um, 8:13 and found myself wavering between great joy um, in times of faith and um, other times of self-pity and frustration. And um, after about 7 or 8 weeks of this, I came to a point where um, I started to lose sight of the purpose of 8:29 that trial. And um, I just kind of felt a heaviness settling over my days um, for uh, a few days um, just kind of a a cloud of darkness without um, without that joy that had been so present. Um, and I realized I had a lack of gratitude 8:46 and I was grieved by that, but I couldn't couldn't bring myself to a point of of genuine gratitude. Um, I couldn't seem to break through to that. Um, and my my flesh was complaining, this is unfair. Um, this is unreasonable. Why are you submitting to 9:02 this trial? Um, and so I was so focused on what felt unfair um, in a painful way. But God opened my eyes to so many things that are unfair um, in my life in a good way. Blessings um, so I I made a list of things um, you 9:20 know, that I've had the opportunity to hear the gospel and know Christ, uh, the church family I have, uh, the reason for my hope, um, the very breath in my lungs, um, that God chose me and pours out his love on me. Um, and so, you know, I just looked at 9:36 these things and said, "How is it that I am so blessed? Like, this is This is what is truly unfair." Um And uh and then I wrote down what I deserve, you know, without Christ. Death, eternal death, and and God God sees it fit to to give life, eternal 9:53 life, um through Christ. And so, this profound reality check um this brought me to my knees in humility and and gratitude, and I was just so overwhelmed by uh the beauty and power of the gospel um and and this uh thankfulness welling up in me that that 10:11 there's no more room for that self-pity, for those questions from the flesh. Um so, just grateful for um the profound unfairness of the gospel that that we don't get what we deserve um and that that Christ um paid that for us. 10:36 Um Hello everyone. I thank God for being here. Uh I'm thankful for God that he has given me the opportunity to come to this uh conference that happened. The Lord was speaking to me in various like ways, and he was showing me uh like how 10:52 I was leading. Uh the Lord has taught me many things, and in every way the Holy Spirit was showing me and telling me that how the life was leading. Uh God wants me to grow in him more and uh more, and he was telling me to wait and 11:04 look uh look to him. At that moment, I felt I need God more than anything else in the world. Uh we might have many priorities, many tasks to complete, but Jesus kept on telling me, "I'll take care of those. Come to me." Uh when I put my when I put him 11:20 first in my life, uh I'll have the faith that my father will take care of everything in my life. Um I also learn how to ask God the hunger and the thirst that I wish to desire for him more and more. Um At the as it is at this point I learned 11:35 that I have to surrender my surrender myself completely to the Lord. Um God wants me to trust him more. He wants me to be humble uh and to be at rest and rely on him completely. God is patient with me in every way. He knows I'm imperfect, but still with the 11:50 tender love that he shows and the love he has towards me, I say to myself like uh where would I be God without you? Um And when I humble in the Lord all the time and he will exalt us in due time. I believe that. And in Matthew 11:28 and 12:06 29 it says uh come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. And 29 also says take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. I was really blessed by all these 12:21 verses and um So I like may God help me uh to follow him more and more and humbling myself and being faithful to Jesus in this world where I'm placed and wherever I go. Thank you. If you know me, you'll know I'll be 12:50 short. Um I was uh it was Isaiah 5:19 came up yesterday uh with Jeremy and it says uh Woe to those who say uh let him hasten his work. Uh let the people of the holy one of Israel draw near uh 13:08 and come to pass that we may know it. Or let the purpose of the holy one of Israel draw near and come to pass that we may know it. And when I saw this, I was very much convicted that I often pray that God would hasten his 13:22 purpose because I'm impatient um and I'm insecure and I want to hear it, and I want to know it. Uh but I was also reminded that of Habakkuk 3:17, "Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, yet I will exult in 13:41 the Lord. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation." Uh even if I'm in this time uh where I'm in seeming barrenness and I want to know what God's purpose is, um because it's it's not clear and I'm in perplexity, uh that I can be just as pleasing to God um 13:58 during this time of barrenness by resting in him. A verse I read this morning was Proverbs 11:1. It says, "A false balance is an 14:17 abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight." Um another verse is James 4:7-8, like, "Submit yourselves to God, resist the devil, and he'll flee from you. Draw near to God, and he'll draw near to you." A problem the Lord's been showing me is 14:35 I don't live a balanced Christian life all the time. I might be resisting the devil, but am I submitting to God in everything? Um and I don't want to live Another thing that touched me was I don't want to live a cut-and-paste 14:48 Christian life. Like, I don't want to just say um when I'm like suffering with something, like, "Oh, help me, Lord," just passively, and not actually mean it. And another thing was I might be reading the Bible, but not meditating on it. So, my prayer is to 15:04 live a balanced Christian life. Thank you. Hello. There's so much that I could share today. Um, 15:24 the Lord has done a lot of in my heart and my life just even through this work uh week. And it's been such a blessing for me to come and uh hear the word and see the Lord just working in each of the sisters and brothers and everyone around. 15:40 Um, so before I came, the Lord had impressed something upon my heart just how he cares about every detail of our lives. And that encouraged me so much and I was like, "Well, you know, we all love to hear how he cares about every detail, but he also really 15:58 showed me that um you know, we love him because he first loved us." And I saw in myself how it was so much easier for me to just be so excited that he cared about every detail in my life, but I want to be so caring about every 16:14 detail of his heart and finding out, you know, what he cares about. And um yeah, so um when I came first came, it was such a blessing to stay at uh Linda's place uh from the church. And it was so neat because through this whole week, I just 16:33 really saw God caring about every detail. Um just things and difficulties back at home, he just uh through conversation with her, he just brought up wisdom um and it was just such a blessing. And uh then as the week continued 16:50 one of the elders or speakers had asked uh if we could ask the Lord something that we really um were wanted to expect uh to see from him in the through the weekend. So, that evening I did that and it was amazing. All these 17:07 uh hungers and questions and different things came up and um I was like, "Wow, like those are so many. Like like so many, how would they ever all get answered through this week? Like and then the Lord just came to me saying, "I will exceed that." And I was 17:25 like, "Okay, Lord. I want to be like Mary and just just believe that he would." And I can say he he certainly did and it has been amazing and even through the week different trials and tests came up for me which were difficult and every day even 17:44 the speakers or the articles would just speak directly to the difficulty that I was going through or the trial or just the things in my mind and it was just so amazing and such a blessing. So I'll just share a verse that I read 17:57 this week that blessed me. Psalms 27 verse 13. I believe I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. Wait for the Lord. And that was one of the things that 18:15 really spoke to me was waiting on the Lord and how it's so good to delight in him in the waiting and how the delighting in him takes away that pain of waiting. And it's something I want to grow in is to delight in him more to 18:29 cultivate as Jeremy had said. Yeah, I really want to cultivate that and grow in being hidden with him and just crucifying my flesh that he might be seen that he might receive all the glory in my life as I return back home and to 18:43 the difficulties there and yeah, I just pray that he would continue to be glorified and I know he will do it. Thank you. Um so something that really really 19:03 blessed me this week was um the subject of waiting on God. Um recently in my life I had kind of come to like the end of a stage and I wasn't sure what was next and I was really stressed and very anxious. So, I was like, you know, 19:19 I just I got to I got to find out what's next. You know, God, what do you want me to do next? And I was really stressed and um so we read um this article by Andrew Murray and in it he says, "The waiting is to teach us our absolute dependence 19:34 upon God's mighty working and to make us in perfect patience place ourselves at his disposal. It is resting in the Lord in his will, his promise, his faithfulness, and his love that makes patience easy." And it just really spoke to me because 19:47 it was something that I had been going through and yeah, I just really want to do better about waiting on God and trusting him not feeling like I have to know everything that's going to happen. And it's really a beautiful thing. Um it's 19:59 kind of an adventure to see where God takes me next and just to live one day at a time. Like um you know, just I'm going to go back to my daily routine at home and just to do it all for the glory of God and not feel like it kind of can seem so mundane and 20:13 not that important, but it is because I'm doing it for him. And so Alicia already read these verses, but I'm going to read them again because it's what I wanted to Um Psalms 27:13-14. I remain confident of this, I will see 20:26 the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Thank you. Hey. 20:46 Um this week was really amazing. I'm just so thankful that I was able to come and everything was so encouraging. I so much to that I could share, but I just decided on this thing that just really blessed me and the Lord brought a 21:04 deeper revelation to my heart is that it doesn't matter how bright or dark or foggy my path seems. Um, I walk by faith and not by sight. I don't need to figure out the logic behind trials and hard times, why people hurt me or 21:21 um, sickness or pain or just disappointments. Um, but actually it's like it's wrong when I try to figure that out, when I try to like make sense of these things and try to like put earthly sense to it. Um, because then I'm walking by sight 21:36 and not by faith. So, I was just really encouraged to have it revealed to me that to live by faith is to believe in my heart that God, my loving heavenly Father, is in control of every single thing that happens to me and he's secretly planning for me in 21:55 love. And um, and I can have peace. Um, this year I stumbled across a verse while I was going through a trial and it talks about God's love and control over everything. And I had forgotten about it, but this week I was reminded of it. And it's in Hebrews 22:11 2:6-8. Um, "What is man that you are mindful of him or son of man that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet. Now, in 22:26 putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not see everything in subjection to him." And um, I just love that. Later on it goes on to say like like we need to see Jesus. Like 22:39 faith doesn't need to see the reason. Faith just needs to see Jesus. Because he is enough. And whatever I'm going through um, is nothing compared to the weight of every person's sin that ever lived. What Jesus went through like 22:55 I have like nothing to I just need to get my eyes off myself and look to Jesus. And um, it's through the trials that he tests my faith and makes me more like himself, more patient, more loving, and compassionate, and um 23:09 and even thankful. Like, I've just been really learning a lot lately just that I need to be thankful for my trials. And I feel it's just so liberating liberating when I just stop and just thank God for something that's difficult. And um 23:25 if I find that I'm struggling and my eyes are looking to what I can try to process and figure out that I can just call on my heavenly Father and just delight in him and that he will exceed far more than I can ask or imagine. And 23:39 I have found him faithful and I know that he will continue to be faithful. He is so wonderful. He's a good father. Amen. Amen. Um, I feel like um God has been showing 24:04 me especially this week how impatient I am with him. Um, the article that we read about patience really spoke a lot to me. Um, I often have that tendency to panic when I'm not getting the answer at the time that I think I need it and then 24:18 I start to question God, like, why aren't you telling me what I need to know? Um God has been trying to show me that he will give the answer I need exactly when I need it and all I have to do is rest and wait patiently. Psalm 37:9 says, 24:33 "Those who wait on the Lord, they will inherit the land." His ways and plans have been perfectly designed for me like it says in Jeremiah 29:11, um those plans are for my welfare and not for calamity. I want to wait patiently for 24:47 God to work his will in my life. I've also been thinking a lot about um how much I rely on my own strength. If there's um a certain area in my life where I'm struggling with something, I often try to fix it on my own rather than going to 25:01 God and laying it down at his feet. Um, I wrestle with it by myself. I think that I need to overcome the struggle before I can be with God. Um, but that's just my pride saying that I can do this and I will overcome this 25:15 sin in my life. Um, but I can't do it. Only God has the strength to help me overcome my struggles. He wants me to be totally dependent on him. In Psalms 62:5-7, it says, "My soul wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from him. He 25:31 only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold. I shall not be shaken." "On God my salvation and my glory rest, the rock of my strength, my refuge is in God." God is my refuge and my rock. I want to wait on him, lean on him, depend on him 25:47 fully, and allow him to do the work he has planned for me. And I want him to bring I want to bring him honor and glory through my life. Um, I don't think it's a coincidence 26:11 that many of us have shared on the topics of waiting on the Lord and um something similar I want to share on, too. In Psalm 20 20:7, it says, "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will trust in the name of the Lord our 26:26 God." And recently the Lord's been showing me, "What are these horses and chariots in my life?" And I've seen that he's shown me that these this is my flesh. And as Andy shared on Friday, it's not just you know, you know, it's 26:39 not just a flesh that wars against the commands of God, but what the Lord is showing me it's it's also a flesh that seeks to accomplish these commands in my own strength, just as Megan shared. And some precious verses the Lord has 26:50 spoken through the conference and to me personally recently. Um, it's from Lamentations chapter 3 verses 26 through 27. It says, "It is good that he waits silently for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that 27:04 he should bear the yoke in his youth." And in the amplified translation, it says the yoke of divine disciplinary action in his youth. And I was thinking, "What is this divine discipline that God's called me to bear in these, you know, prime years of my 27:16 life, in my youth?" And through these verses I see that the Lord is showing me it's that I wait silently for the Lord and with my face in the dust, like it says in verse 29. And so, I've seen that as I've grown to learn more about the new covenant and 27:30 the different principles, um, there's many of them that can denote a sense of self-effort, even though they're done and accomplished through the power of the Holy Spirit. And these include dying to myself, um, simple and 27:41 pure burning devotion to Jesus, desiring to prophesy to build the church, um, seeking God's will for my life. But I've been incredibly blessed to be reminded by by the Lord, um, to see that the one thing I can't I feel like the 27:52 one thing I can't obtain through these this effort of self is to wait on him. And it's an act that requires submission and a posture of, um, yeah, humbling myself before him and of rest. And that's been a precious word to me 28:04 recently is the word rest. And what the Lord's been teaching me regards, um, to putting my trust in him is that rest is the evidence that I am. And I was reminded of just the rubber band analogy, maybe some of you have heard. 28:17 Um, and so a rubber band can be stretched many, many, many times, but it always returns back, um, to its original position. And so what I'm seeing is that through different trials and circumstances, there's times where I 28:27 can be stretched, maybe where I can react, but can I always come back to that original position? And what is that? And for me, I felt the Lord say that it's rooted and grounded in the Father's love, which many of us have 28:37 also shared. And so my prayer is that the Lord would continue to help me wait on him as he does the work to transform the horses and chariots of my self-effort into a life of rested as I trust in him. Amen. So, 29:05 one of the things I really appreciate about conferences like this is that we, you know, get to hear different things from different people and sometimes even the same things, but we hear it a different way. And for some of us, we 29:17 really need that. Um it's kind of like, I think many of us can relate to growing up, we hear our parents tell us the same thing over and over again, and it goes in one ear and out the other, but then you hear it from someone else and you're 29:28 like, "Okay." And so, I was really blessed to hear from Sunday about how the our enemy is not just the devil, but also our flesh. And so, I'm thankful for my mind to be renewed to think about it in that way. And it's something that, as 29:47 you were speaking, I realized that I had minimized that truth in my own life. That I know that I'm supposed to resist the devil and he is going to flee, but my flesh, I never really thought about it in that way that the devil is a defeated enemy, but with 30:01 the flesh, we have to crucify it. So, I was really thankful to be reminded of that and to know that, you know, there's so many uh battles that we have, but the main battle that we often see in scripture is the battle between our 30:15 flesh um and the spirit. And like Jesus said, that the flesh is weak, but the spirit is willing. And God wants to fill us with his Holy Spirit so that we can fight that battle. And so, I always kind of have that mindset to suffer and, you 30:30 know, go into battle knowing that, you know, if I keep doing it, eventually um I'm going to get there and that battle is is going to be a lot easier. And then, the second thing that has really blessed me this past couple of weeks is 30:43 to really see that the main thing that that God wants me to do is to love him. And and so I was really blessed to be reminded of that. I think Bobby and so many other people were speaking from John 14. And you know, in John 14:15, Jesus says, "If you 31:02 love me, you would keep my commandments." And uh that's one way that I can prove that I love the Lord. And keeping the commandments of Jesus like John says is not burdensome. When we start it's it's hard, but as we continue doing it, it 31:17 becomes a lot easier. And um I was reminded of the picture of Abraham and how God gave him, you know, a command to sacrifice Isaac. And it was really hard for him. And I can just imagine just that journey and him thinking about it. But he gets to a 31:34 point where he said, "Yeah, I'm going to do it." And when he was about to do it, God stopped him and gave Isaac back to him. And I can see that the thing that God wants me to do and the best way I can know him is to have my hands open 31:47 all the time. And Abraham did that. And he was able to see something of the Lord like Jesus when he was on Earth said that Abraham saw my day and he was glad. And Abraham was in the old covenant. And he was able to see know something of the Lord. And I 32:04 was also reminded of that verse in John 14 that Jesus says, "He who loves me will will be loved by my father and I will disclose myself to him." And that's something that Abraham even experienced. And I'm like, "Wow, God has something 32:17 even higher for me in the new covenant." And so I'm thankful for the conference and to be reminded of truths like this. And I, you know, want God to write it in my heart. It's in my head, but I want him to write in my heart. And 32:31 so that's my confession. And I pray that the Lord does it for me and also for all of us here. Praise God. A man I was encouraged this weekend. 32:50 One of the things that spoke to me so much was to be patience in what God is doing in our lives. I could be so hard on myself. But it says God is very patient like we heard love is patience. God is the one who said love is patience 33:07 so he's patiently waiting for us to fulfill his purpose in our life. I was very encouraged by every one of you sharing and it reminded me of how I should run fast for the Lord. In one gear I heard of somebody who was running in one gear as fast and I want 33:25 to do that from now on. And the words that spoke to me throughout the conference for me was in Philippians 1:6. It says I see it as three promise this words is God a good work in us and he will fulfill it. 33:45 It says for I am confident of this very thing that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. It might look like nothing is going on with us but God is doing his work secretly. It says he plans 34:04 in secret with love. So I want to be aware that and I want to be careful not to get discouraged but to look forward. Now I've been running the race looking behind and I've been tripping and falling but I want to keep my eyes on Jesus to 34:22 look steadily at him and keep running fast. And thank you for the encouragement. I hope we all do that too. There were so many things that we heard 34:54 this week that were just so good and even just getting to talk with different people I was so encouraged and um blessed by you um one thing that stood out was from one of the articles that we read um sorry let me quick find it. 35:10 Um titled God is easy to live with by A.W. Tozer and it's the last two paragraphs and I just put a box around the whole thing cuz it was just it was so good. Um but it says how good it would be if we could learn that God is easy to live 35:23 with. He remembers our frame and knows that we are dust. He may sometimes chasten us it is true but even this he does with a smile, the proud tender smile of a father who is bursting with pleasure over over an imperfect but 35:35 promising son who is coming every day to look more and more like the one whose child he is. Some of us are religiously jumpy and self-conscious because we know that God sees our every thought and is acquainted with all our ways. We need not be. God 35:49 is the sum of all patience and the essence of kindly goodwill. We please him most not by frantically trying to make ourselves good but by throwing ourselves into his arms with all our imperfections and believing that he 36:01 understands everything and loves us still. And two things that God was showing me before the conference was uh one being a lack of faith in his goodness and in his plan for me my life and the other um he's helping me remember my need to 36:13 really focus on his love for me. Um and with the all the things that we heard this day or this these last few days so many of those things just pointed me back to those the faith and love in him. Um and a few things God has an immense 36:25 care and a jealous love over my life. The things he takes away or keeps for me are to protect me. Um and he has a plan for my life that is good and for my welfare. I want to be secure in that love that he has for me so that I won't be shaken when things 36:39 happen in life. And so that I can love others and so that I can fulfill the plan he has for my life. Amen. Um can you guys turn to Psalm 119? 36:58 So uh this year when I was at a conference I had talked to brother Zach. And he asked me like "How's your work been?" And it had been about 1 year since I started work. So it's been really good so far. I've learned a lot this year. 37:15 And he said, "Good. Learning is the most important thing." And uh that really stuck with me that at this point in my life learning is one of the most important things that I can be doing. And what I can confidently say uh 37:32 is that this year of my life I've learned more than I ever have in my entire life. Um and I think there's a few And so in Psalm 119 I see a few uh I think secrets to learning is in verses 37:51 99 and 100. So this is talking about Jesus. And it says "I have more understanding than all my teachers for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the elders for I 38:10 keep your precepts. So the two things that I believe are really important for learning and understanding are meditating on God's word and obeying God's word. Um and so this has been a big um 38:28 big thing for me is is those two things, meditating and obeying, not just reading God's word. And uh it's kind of funny. It's like um you know, if you put an L on your forehead, it means like you're a loser. Um but just thinking about being a 38:44 learner your whole life um always learning. I think we can be learning at any point of our life, but especially at this age. So. Hey y'all, I'm Chris Smith from Austin, 39:10 Texas. Uh I'm I'm blessed to have the privilege of of actually being here with y'all and fellowshipping with y'all since it's a lot of fun and um So, God has been teaching me through this conference two things. Not just two 39:25 things, but the main two things that I've learned are uh uh these two things are basically just so good to me and the fact that God is so good and that he revealed these things to me. And the first thing is um that uh he to to be led by the spirit. And we 39:43 were uh we were having a discussion late at night when uh at our at our house that we were staying at. And this is like the first night. And so we we were talking about like the topic that we were talk that were the 50 marks 39:59 of the um of a godly man. We we took turns reading it in a circle. And little did we know that we that conversation would evolve into something greater and bigger and have more purpose. And when we when we we we got the next day, we had 40:18 our our session and and I think it was a midday session. And we covered some of those topics. And so good to see that God is able to show us his foreknowledge and like be like, oh, you think think you can talk about that? 40:34 I'm going to I'm going to reveal this to you the next day. And the other thing was um uh when RJ mentioned about the food of God. And the food of God it was in the form of a raisin cake. And um these raisin cakes um that God has 40:52 for us to to feed on and to have uh nutrients for us. Um the enemy's going to give us false or counterfeit raisin cakes. And it's going to look maybe even better externally 41:09 than the might look fancy. Uh it might have frosting on it. Um than the other raisin cakes that God has for us. But in reality the it has these fake ingredients, food coloring. It's got the ingredients you 41:28 can't pronounce on the back of the package like whatever gum thing sodium chloride or whatever. And I just I feel like God has been teaching me to reject those raisin cakes that the enemy so um boldly brings before our nose and passes 41:48 it before us. And I just want to praise God that um that God revealed that to me and giving me the the grace to to choose the right raisin cake, the one that is the groom's raisin cake for the bride of Christ that we are. So, 42:05 praise God and amen. So, I've learned a lot over this past week, but two things really stand out to 42:23 me. And so, one is the having the desire of God. Like, I can have the I don't want to just have to I don't want to just want and desire God just for what I can get out of it or what he can do for me. I want to have that I like the poem that we were 42:39 reading said um that we should pine and long for God. And and like this morning Jeremy was saying that we shouldn't that this desire doesn't come overnight, this delight in God. It's a like a diet it needs to be 42:56 cultivated and worked at. And so, that's something I want to do. And the second point that really stuck out to me was having a tender heart. And you can have all the right arguments, be able to speak so well, but if you don't have a 43:11 tender heart, nothing that doesn't matter at all. And I just really I really appreciated that and I want to take that to heart. Thank you. Good afternoon. 43:36 Um I wanted to share you know, at least two verses that is my hope leaving here and and my hope for all of us. From all of the words that we've heard that this will be our testimony. 43:56 First, 2 Corinthians 5 uh and 7. So, for we walk by faith not by sight. And Hebrews 13 13 and 8. 44:26 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. That the truth that I heard this week um and that it blessed my heart so much that I've heard the Lord speaking to me, Lord revealing himself to me. Um 44:43 that I walk by that when I leave here in the in the days to come, in the weeks to come, in the months to come. Jesus Christ is the same. Uh right now, he's no different now than he is going to be Tuesday or um next Sunday 44:59 or uh next Wednesday. Jesus Christ is the same. He is not going to change. He's not going to be any less God than he is now. His presence is not going to be any more than it is now than in those other days. So, I want to walk by that faith knowing 45:13 that Jesus is still the same. The same Jesus that I met with here is the same one that's going to be with me um uh in the days to come, in the weeks to come, years to come. Jesus Christ is the same. Um and in Acts 10 um 45:30 Acts I'm sorry, Acts 1 uh 10 and 11 and I wanted to read it in the uh King James version um because I like the way it says it talking about Jesus uh being the same. 45:49 And as uh Santos was saying uh the other day that uh that really blessed me is that he's purposed in his heart to think on God from Colossians 3 to set his mind on Christ Jesus or things that are above, that he a purpose in his heart to do that, 46:05 and that's something that I want to do. When the trials come, when those things come, or it's just not even trials, it could be just, you know, just day in day out, the humdrum of life as we say, um I want to be mindful that Jesus is 46:19 there and set my mind on him. Uh in Acts 1:10 and 11, it said, "While they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, 'You men of Galilee, why stand you 46:36 gazing into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go.'" And uh that blessed me to as they were looking and gazing at heaven, gazing at Christ as he was leaving, 46:52 uh one of the greatest events in history, um that they were yet gazing, but these two men said that this same Jesus that you're seeing go away is going to come back in like manner. It's going to be the same Jesus. It's not a different 47:05 Jesus. He's not going to come back a different way, um but it's going to be the same Jesus. And for that in my life, as I gaze into the things that I've heard this week, um wonderful things that have brought joy to my heart, um I'm going to experience 47:19 the same Jesus. Uh he's not going to change. He's going to be the same Jesus. Uh he's the same yesterday, today, and forever. I've been struggling for the last few 47:42 years, um as I've been introduced to the overcoming life and to what it means to have victory over sin and to become more like Christ. And it's been it's been amazing, I you know, all the things that I've learned, but I've just felt more 47:56 and more over the last few months how hard it is and how there's so many things that need to change about me to be like Jesus. And I'm I'm very type A and so it's just been kind of like a all right, grit your teeth, you can do this, you know, love 48:11 love your sister today and like don't respond in frustration today. And it's just been discouraging. And so a few weeks ago God really spoke to me in Ezekiel 11 that God says it's his promise to me. He says I will give you an undivided heart 48:29 and a heart that's just seeking after him and it's so easy for me to get so distracted with the things of the world and things that I want and my heart is pulled towards things besides God but here he promises he's going to give me that undivided heart. 48:45 And so the last few weeks, I mean the last few days here as we've learned about how God loves us as a father, I also want to read what Heidi read earlier. It says he may sometimes chasten us, it is true, but even this he does with a 49:02 smile, the proud tender smile of a father who is bursting with pleasure over an imperfect but promising son or daughter who's coming every day to look more and more like the one whose child she is. And so God just really like pierced that 49:17 into my heart. I have a little brother and when we when he's learning how to how to walk or how to swim, he's learning how to swim now, like our whole family and especially my parents are just like come on, you can do it, you 49:28 can do it. Like you're doing so good. And when God just showed me that that's who he is, like it takes away, you know, that burden of I need to I need to do this, you know, because God is my father who's rooting for me. 49:44 And so something just really practical that he's showed me how to, you know, throughout the day is just, you know, call to him. Like when my thoughts are having a battle, just like Jesus help me. Daddy, help me. I need you. 49:57 And having just like a childlike independence. And that's just been so practical for me. Like I've probably done it 35 times this morning. When, you know, something wants to distract me from God. Like Jesus, help me. Hold my 50:09 hand. I need you to help me. Um So, I just love that God is our father who's cheering us on and rooting for us. Um there's a lot that I could share, but 50:34 the thing that I'll share is that before the conference, I was really humbled to see how the conference details were going about seeing how the elders were sacrificing so much time to invest in my soul and my spiritual growth. And that just really 50:52 humbled me even to see the schedule that wow, these all these elders are coming together to pour out like their spiritual riches into us and they don't receive anything except like eternally. They are just doing it their sacrificial 51:06 love. And it's kind of like the love that we heard Bobby speak today. I was just so touched that wow, that was what I felt. And the very first night when I got here, one of the elders was sharing about their expectations of what they 51:21 hope that we would see while we were here. And he said that he just wants us to see Jesus. And I was so touched in my heart because before any message was preached, I said to myself, I said, "Wow, that was already answered. 51:36 I already saw him through the lives of men." And that just really touched my heart that I can actually see the message come to life in people's people. And so, I'm really thankful for that and I'm really really humbled I and 51:53 then the other thing that touched me was yesterday we heard about the Samaritan woman and Jesus in the book of John 4 and how when Jesus met that Samaritan woman and he started asking her about her relationship with these men and she 52:12 answered and said she has no husband and then the Lord said I know you have had five husbands and then she changed the subject and started talking about worship and then Jesus just went on and started talking about worship too and 52:26 what we learned is that he is not going to embarrass us if we have something in our lives or that he I just saw the Lord in a new way that while you were so sweet and that you don't want to embarrass us and and it was really 52:40 touching to me and when I see the Lord like that come to life in the scripture I I just want to be more like him and I said well Lord I really want to know you more and to see Jesus more every day. Amen. Hey y'all 53:04 um I hope you know how grateful we are I dare to say all of us really grateful for the privilege that it is to fellowship with you and truly I think what's impacted me the most is your testimony in this church 53:23 this body you know this this these people is what this church is um the opportunities that some of us have had to come back again and again and see this daily cross bearing see this dealing violence with your flesh on a regular basis that's the the 53:40 teaching that's the witness you know seeing Jesus today on this earth in this place. Um that's what's striking me. And so, I wanted to share a little bit of how some of that's been that has been equipped to me by your lives. It's been given to me 53:55 or witnessed to me how that's been proven in me over the last year. Um and it starts with a question, which is how do we know God loves us? These are things that we know the correct answers to. Of course, we hear John 3:16. You know, he loves us. He 54:09 sent his only son. And like it is 1 John 3:16, right? By this we know what love is, that Jesus died. Um and since he didn't even spare his own son, you know, what is he going to keep from us that's good? And so, I get to this place, God, you 54:23 love me so much. You know, and I I and I love you and and this is great. What are we eating today? You know, what's my daily bread? What's this? What does this look like? Kids? What do you think that is? Bread. God's smarter than me. Good. 54:46 Yeah, here's real life. What does this look like? When this comes into my life my my on my daily plate, what should I believe? I see in Job it's Job 23, I think, around Job 23:10, maybe. He knows every detail of what's happening to me. 55:06 And I if I believe that, is he giving me a rock? This is what I see with my eyes. My sight that isn't faith, the appearance of all things in my senses, in my flesh. This is what I'm looking at on my plate for the day. This has been 55:19 in my life. I see scripture says, "Oh, taste and see." You guys finish it. What does it say? Taste and see that the Lord is good. Yeah. So many times I think I've instead followed or wished that it said, "See and then taste. See that it's good and then taste 55:37 it. So, when I see this, how can I believe that it's good? And I think your witness and the witness of the spirit in me has been leading me this way. Go back to the beginning. How do I know God loves me? Don't look upon this, rather look upon 55:55 Jesus. His response to the daily plate of bread in his life and those of others around us that are living his life. And see how he and my father loves. And know that this is true. He gives bread, not a stone. And so taste and see 56:14 that he is good. I ask and you receive. Taste and see. I'm grateful that we have this witness and um my prayer is that Lord thank you for helping us to know you, making yourself known to us. Make yourself known more so that we become like you and we can 56:32 love you more. You are worthy. You're worthy of it all. Praise God. Um it's so humbling to see this and uh 56:56 to be here. Um what the Lord has taught me is to move forward uh regardless, always move forward regardless of how I feel. Uh to take action even if I prefer not to. Uh for example, I don't I prefer not to speak and be here, but then I felt this 57:15 is what the Lord wants me to do. Um so uh to let go. A second thing is to let go of what's whatever slows me down. Um that could be people or love of material things. Um or anything in the world. And then thirdly, 57:32 is Hebrews 10:38 and 39. Uh it says, "But my righteous one shall live by faith. And if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have 57:50 faith to the perse- persevering of the soul." So, we are not of those who shrink back in fear, but move forward with faith. Um I'm not to be a coward, cuz God doesn't like that. Um I fear sometimes that people what I say may come off as 58:06 weak. Um but the Lord says that his uh his strength is perfected in my weakness. Um so, I shouldn't care what people think, because if I do, I'm thinking too much of myself. So, practically, it means speaking louder 58:24 um and obedience. Um and lastly, I learned that love is humble. Thank you. John 7:37 58:48 says, "Now, on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If any man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me as the scripture said, from his innermost being shall 59:03 flow rivers of living water.'" I just uh feel like it's a for myself a good summary of what I've heard and just the aspects of loving others and and just having just a greater burden to fear the Lord and it's just if we come to him, 59:20 like he's going to fill us in that from out of our innermost being, he's going to allow rivers to flow to other people and um it's just by a simple act of coming to him each day. I'll 59:51 like to just um read the lines of um a hymn which I feel is an embodiment of what the Lord has been doing in my life and especially this week. He also um gave answers to some of these and 1:00:09 um I'm sure so many of us are quite familiar with the hymn but the hymn just stuck with me this week. Um it says, "If I have not forsaken all in answer to thy loving call, if I've kept something back from thee, Lord, give me light that I may see. 1:00:27 If anything upon this earth attracts me with its sense of worth, if money has a hold on me, Lord, give me light that I may see. Um if I've cared for man's applause or sought my own and shunned the cross, if I feel 1:00:47 to live here in Loveland. Um it's our pleasure. I think we've gotten just as much as you have with you being here in Loveland, Colorado. Second thing I want to say is uh just a tell my testimony from this last few days. 1:01:03 It's that once again, Jesus Christ has been victorious. Because the planning for this event has been on for months. How to do phone calls here, meetings there. And honestly, even up to last week or a few weeks back, 1:01:22 Lord, how will this be? How can How's it going to play out? How will this be taken care of?" And the word the Lord gave me time after time is you got to take be at peace. I will be in charge. Fear not. Relax. The logistics, the 1:01:37 all of that the how the the event will go. I'm in charge. And my testimony looking back is Jesus has done much more than I could expect or think. Jesus Christ has the victory again, and he will always 1:01:57 if we yield to him. The third thing I want to say is I know as human beings it's an a natural feeling for many of you right now is the thought that wow, this is about over. I'm going home tonight or tomorrow back to my normal life. I feel it too, to be 1:02:17 honest with you. It's been such a pleasure being around you, spending the night at a brother's home here and visiting different homes and events and I feel it. I wish I not wish, but the natural part of me is saying let it go 1:02:30 on. I know many of you feel that. In fact, one of you was saying to me last night, "Oh, it's almost over, but I still have tomorrow being today to enjoy one more time." And I'm thinking to myself, "Well, today will go too." And here we 1:02:43 are. Today's almost over. What are you going to do tomorrow on Tuesday, on Wednesday? Uh it's it's going to pass away, but I want to read a verse that you might remember. A brother asked me this morning what I was going to 1:02:58 share, and I told him the verse. And his response to me was, "Isn't that a verse that talks about death? Should it be?" I said, "Yes, out of death comes life." And it's from death that we learn probably the most about life. 1:03:11 But thank God this verse indeed talks about physical natural death. Praise God nobody has died this last 4 days, but from this verse we can get something that the Lord will leave with you and from with me also. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 1:03:29 and it's verse 13 and 14 also. Paul says 1 Thessalonians 4:13 and 14. Indeed, the constant context is about the natural or physical death. Paul says, "But I would not have you be ignorant, brethren, 1:03:47 concerning those who are asleep, those who died physically, that you do not sorrow as those who don't have a hope." That part is what I wanted to talk about really. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so 1:04:03 to so even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. And this is what the Lord put on my heart this morning. Do not sorrow as those who have no hope. And so even though you have that feeling in your heart about this is over and and 1:04:22 we're going to back to my I'm going back to my hometown. Don't let that overtake your emotions. There is a hope as one brother was saying earlier. And what is that hope that you must look at? By the way, Jesus felt sorrow at some point also as it got 1:04:38 closer to the cross. You see that in various parts of the scripture. In John 12, he says, "My heart is troubled as I look ahead as to what is going to happen." So, Paul is not saying don't sorrow for those kinds of things, 1:04:51 but don't sorrow as one without hope. There is a hope as a brother said before. And what is that hope I want to leave with you? It is this, that the very God who brought me here and planned for me to come to Colorado this weekend, 1:05:09 the very God by his spirit will let me here, as we heard again earlier, is still with me as I depart Colorado. Jesus Christ, my friend, who has been with me in these last few days, I go with him. He's still with me. You've got to 1:05:28 remember that consciously. Jesus Christ is still with me. And so when I felt that, "Oh wow, I wish this would go on." I sprang out of that. Jesus Christ, who was here with me these last four, five days, when I get back to 1:05:43 work on Tuesday, I'm off tomorrow, he's still with me. When I go back to my house, Jesus Christ is still with me. If you believe, Paul says in first verse 14, that the God who brought me here is still on his throne, and more than him just being on a throne 1:06:02 in heaven, he's still on the throne of my heart. That very God is going to take me back to Texas, to California, Tennessee, wherever you're from, Canada, and that God will give me the strength to take back his name and to shine his 1:06:22 light wherever I leave. Matthew 28, Jesus Christ declares all authority in heaven and in earth has been given to me. This Jesus is my friend. He's my God, he's my brother. You need not be afraid. If your goal is to go back to shine the 1:06:40 light of Jesus, he's still the Lord, and he's with you, and he'll strengthen you. You must not sorrow as those who have no hope, but your hope must be, Jesus is still with me. Everywhere I go, everywhere I go, my friend, he's with me. I'm not just 1:06:59 telling you this as words. This is like someone's uh Jeremy was saying, no, yeah, Jeremy was saying earlier, we have to cultivate. You must cultivate the mind of God in this matter. Consciously know God is with me. Really with me. Don't be afraid. Satan 1:07:18 is a liar. My flesh is a liar too, but by the spirit I can put that to death day by day. So, it's been a great weekend. We've learned a lot from you all. I can start to name things I've learned from some of you. I'm going to take some of those things 1:07:32 with me as well. But, the greatest hope I have is Jesus is going to work through me in the days to come, in the years to come. All the days of my life my friend will be with me to strengthen and help me. Do we have that song? 1:07:48 That's last I want us to sing this song. Sing it with conviction. Take the name of Jesus with you. That song came to my heart this morning as I woke up. Take him with you everywhere you go. Huh? Jesus Christ my Lord, my friend is with 1:08:05 me always. Take his name with you. So, as we I'd like for us to stand up and sing that song. Sing it with conviction. Sing it with faith. Sing it with assurance. I'm going to take the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord everywhere with me. 1:08:22 The feeling that ex- experience I've had this weekend, I'm taking with me. My friend will help me. He'll never leave me nor forsake me. So, we'll sing that song in a few minutes here.
