Sunday Morning January 1 AM service

Jesus name, amen.

I thought I was determined to go to ax and then invite determined, I mean like spent the last 45 days on it in a row until yesterday, I just I gave up the fight and it was a fight. It was me doing it, not the Lord. And this is, this is a passage. What has a lot of history. First of all, you may not know this, but this is 9 years that you've lived with me, 9 years ago. We started together. I can't believe you're still around. Honestly, really can't believe I'm still around but I am. I just feel so blessed to have been doing this for 49 years. I went and look my ordination certificate is from 2009 and it was I'd been at Cherokee about four years before that before they ordained me. So I did finally figure it out. I've been in Ministry the longest that I've ever done anything officially

Morley construction North.

All the things God did to get me to where I am now.

Is this passage? Is one that is like really close to my heart. So like when we were in seminary, you have to preach it. Preach in front of your The students and the professor, and this was the passes that I had spent Hebrews 12:1 + 2. I had spent like a month on it. Like I was, I've been in this thing. I was cuz I mean, I was a little nervous and then somebody preached it two weeks before, I was supposed to preach and then another guy priest it, the next week, I'm like I can't preach it. The third time, like I had to change everything but so this passage is connected to my brain that way but it's also connected my brain that way because well Hebrews 12:1. + 2 talks about being in about a cloud of witnesses is what it speaks about a cuz it says therefore is it starts this as we since we are surrounded by so great. A cloud of witnesses which goes back to chapter 11. Now I don't know about you but sometimes I'm when you're doing something that you could even have done a long time and you add 1 /. Into the equation. All of a sudden you think a different way. So like when preaching, I was that the time that I preached in front of my fellow students and my professor, it was probably like, I don't know, like the third time that I appreciate it was it was it was horrid and in my opinion at the time they didn't think so. Which I was very thankful for and felt just blessed by God that cuz they they sit there and critique you the whole time literally have a piece of paper and they're writing down. So you're saying stuff and you can see them writing. I'm one guy told me told me to but my jacket, I showed him. I don't wear a jacket anymore, so that way, I don't get that wrong. But that was one of the critiques that I had. My, my jacket was Button then, and I'm like, I was inviting, I can't read what it was. And I, and I thought me and work when you prepare a sermon, it doesn't matter if you're preaching to one of your preaching to 10,000, if it's not supposed to change, because Well, it's it's it's God's word. But there could be people in the room that, I remember the first time that I ever had to preach. I'm in front of my own pastor at Cherokee, I was so nervous. He's like, John is just me. And, you know, we were, you know, really truly bad. This, we had two chairs here and two chairs there, and he sat there in the chair right there, while I preached, you know, it so I couldn't see his face or anything. It was horrible and he said, I was okay. But it was horrible cuz I couldn't, you know, I can just look at him and find out whether anything was actually working or not.

The scripture tells us in these verses that there's this cloud of witnesses. Listen to the verse that says, therefore since we are surrounded by so great. A cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside. Let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clean so closely. Let us run with endurance, the race that is set. Before us looking to Jesus verse to look into Jesus, the founder of the Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy, that was set before him endure the cross despising, the same, the shame and is seated at the right hand of the Throne of God, Now, there is a lot here so buckle up again. If you can imagine I had a month to study at back then and it has been listed few years since the Seminary. Let's just say But as we go into this, we want to remind ourselves a few things about Hebrews even though we have preached to the whole set book of Hebrews, which I know you remember if you were here and have it memorized. But anyway, Hebrews 6:1 and 2 is really kind of the summary of the book of Hebrews. It says therefore let us leave behind the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity not laying. Again I found a sheet of repentance from dead work works or a faith towards God and obstruction about washing the laying on of hands. The resurrection of the dead and eternal judgement Beloved. The whole book of Hebrews about pressing them on to maturity. Pressing them on to maturity. Beloved, that is the challenge of our lives every single day. Every challenge of your life. As a Christian walking in faith is the Press on in maturity of faith. So we're going to start with questions right now for the very get-go. So this is meant to encourage you and to kick you off the same time. So I'm just being honest on the front end and encouraged and a little kick. Here's the very first question today, on January 1st 2023. Would you look back at the last year and say that you've matured? And I'm not talking about just getting old or getting more wrinkles. When I talk about that that comes with a naturally. I'm talking about maturing in the faith. I'm talking about. Have you pursued Christ? Have you been in this race? Maturing in the faith daily? Cuz what I find is that it, well, it takes some time. And from these scriptures, that plainly clear that it, it takes endurance, it takes endurance in a daily habit of seeking the face of God and seeking after the Lord. Cuz I don't know about you, but I don't grow by Leaps and Bounds in a moment. It takes time. Usually, usually takes a little little knocking in the back of the head sometimes. or we just realizing where I am in a situation that the Lord has placed me in Understanding that my life is not my own and that the Lord is in control of and then he'll do as he wills. And and as I walk through this life, there will be ups and they'll be downs. But whether it up or down, my faith is in him.

love and we have a responsibility each and every believer in this room to be in this race. It is not optional. You can't say yes, I'm a Believer in the Lord. Jesus Christ and I follow him when I please. You can't say? Yes, I mature in the face when I want to. Could you help me cheer yourself anyway? I mean, honestly, it's that daily pursuit of who the Lord is, and what he's doing in your life. It's understanding that. There is a cloud of witnesses that have gone before you that have shown the endurance in the faith that they needed to get to the end. That's what this passage is looking at, it's looking back at chapter 11, where this Hall of Faith, so to speak in chapter 11 goes through names, like Moses and Abraham Rahab Samuel, David Samson, men, and women who had believed in God, by faith, and God was able to use them in a mighty way. 11, these are not a list of Perfect People.

If you look at that list, Moses Moses killed the guy, Abraham live multiple times. Rahab was a prostitute, David, my goodness, a man after God's Own Heart.

But yet chose to kill a man. Mary's wife. Samson. The list goes on and on of Old Testament Saints who followed after God, but yet, well, they weren't perfect. And I thank God for that. I think God that we look at these people. And we don't have to think that we have to get all cleaned up for the Lord. Even to look upon us. Instead we look at them and we see well some of our own heart.

More importantly, we look at them and we look at their faith. We look at their faith and how they held on and they endure to the end in spite of themselves. Sometimes they had their faith in God alone. you and I this morning, if we are believers in the Lord, Jesus Christ that we are part of the Beloved These verses are written to you. And I So, you can't think about someone else. Right now, you can't Point your finger, like, you like to do just stay right, where you are. And let's look at these two verses in light of our own hearts and where we are currently. And we're what today and tomorrow holds for us. Cuz here's the thing, if you have gotten to January 1st 2023 and you would say that yes, I've gone through the last year, obviously you with because well you're here this morning and your breathing. And you would say, you know what, I haven't matured a whole lot in the last year in Christ Do you know you can't do anything about yesterday? You do know that you can't change yesterday, you can't go. Well, I'll just go back and mature a little bit in July. I'll take July.

But do you know that you can do something about today? And tomorrow? Empowered by the spirit of God, you can live Faithfully today and Lord willing, you can wake up tomorrow and let's face it tomorrow and Lord willing the next day. And the next thing you know, what you'll find is those daily habits, those Daily Four suits of Christ, those Daily Times of Leaning upon your faith in him. And not in yourself, you find grow your maturity in him. You'll end up in places. You never even imagined.

So let's jump into verse one. Let us run the race with preparedness therefore since we are surrounded by so great. A cloud of witnesses. Let us lay aside every weight and sin, which clean so closely and run with endurance, the race that is set before us. So, the very first thing it says, is laying aside every weight

Now this is pretty easy to understand, I think laying inside a weight. Some scriptures are the nasb says encumbrance. The word in the Greek means a bulk. Mass, a swelling of Superfluous flesh.

Are something for July or January one, right? So the illusion here is therefore is like this training time to prepare for the race. So if you see anybody in the Olympics, come to the race, right? They come to the race and they have these steel-toed boots on Right. And then they're in there where the worm, you know, the heaviest cotton you could possibly, you know, big old fleece. No, no. Just like in this day when someone prepared for a race, they came with her in the lightest shoes in the Olympics. I mean, they have the lightest shoes. You can possibly, they don't hardly weigh anything. They're wearing next to nothing. I mean they're they're not wearing a whole lot. Hawaii because they don't want to be burdened by anything. If they're going to run this race, they don't want to be burdened. One X+ said this and it caught me in a different way that I honestly, I hadn't really noticed it till this time. He said this, it is by running the race that he or she learns what these things are. So long as one stands, he does not feel that they are bird of them are hampering in any way.

Here's what this says to me to my heart that I really hadn't even thought of before cuz I've always been so focused in on you know if you're running the race you know and laying a buying encumbrances it means this along the path in the journey in your Christian walk. As you're running the race, you're going to find along the way, there are things that are weighing you down.

There are things that are weighing you down, so that you are allowing them to get in the way of following Christ. You don't know what they are right now. You don't. You may have an inclination along the way. The Lord met, press the spirit into your heart and allow you to understand, oh my goodness, that isn't of God. That's something that that I didn't even know. But you know what, if you're sitting still, you don't find out.

Which really just kind of blew my mind. I'm going to use literally just because well, I can and I'll apologize later. So in the last few weeks in the, in the life that we live together,

She's going to do one thing and I've gone to something else.

Her body said her blood, pressure was way too high. My idea was let's bring that puppy down. If you do nothing quickly, not nothing but you don't say it was, bring it down to where it supposed to be in the doctor's like 20% and I'm like, 20%. That doesn't sound so good. Where we started. We got a little first little step. It comes down. We're not comfortable, she's not comfortable with it. I'm not comfortable with it, but I have to act as though I am. Not doing real good right now. When is the days go on it begins to come down a little more and a little more as she is faithful to do with the doctors, have ordered her to do one step at a time and the Lord's guidance and direction. It's calm down, just a little bit at a time. Still not happy. Where the, where it is? The doctors would not go. Oh yeah, most of us in this room would still be in panic mode. Before where she is right now. It's where it needs to be at the moment, but now we're just talking about a short little time. Are we talking two weeks? It's not that long here. 11. What you will find is in your life as you go and you begin to run the race of following after the Lord. Your testimony should be, that is a long the way the Lord shows you what is weighing you down. What sins are weighing you down that you need to lay aside that you need to give unto him. But you can run the race more effectively.

Did you hear that?

11 to run the race. Effectively, you will continually have to seek after the Lord in such a way that he shows your heart to yourself, and he's going to clean stuff up along the way. I understand you are, you are already found if you are found in Christ Jesus, if your faith is in him, then you're in him. You're in him, you can't take you back after him but your life is put on display before others of one in which you were in pursuit of Christ daily one step at a time you pursue him and he will show you along the way what those weights are.

He says this and Matthew 11:28 come to me, this is the Lord Jesus talkin, all he all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for. I am gentle and lowly in heart. You will find rest for your soul. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. His yoke is easy.

Beloved, it's a joke.

I really just want to talk about how that part so easy in the Christian life is so easy and if people want to sell you on that and beloved, it's a yolk

It's a yoke Mensa, guide and direct you. This is not your yolk, it's not what you decided to be. You didn't decide what we'll be there and what won't be their beloved you are following after Christ. The very later, it will tell us is the very founder of your face. He designed this for his glory, and for his namesake, and what he tells you is that you're carrying around these weight, The Sims that you need to lay down before him, that you might run more effectively the race that you were in. Could you get a race? It'll last until you see him face to face.

And it's a race that isn't a Sprint. My goodness, thank the Lord is not.

It is one that has to take endurance as you come to him over and over again. As he shows you your heart as he cleans you as you walk Faithfully before him making much of who he is. Look what it says next. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such. So great, a cloud of witnesses. Let us lay aside. Every weight and then it says and sin, which clings so closely Sin. Which clings so closely. He says you going to lie about aside those weights but you're also going to lay aside that's in those other things in your life, to just file sins before God that he will show you along the race along the pattern along the walk. Before him, he's going to show you and they clean closely to you. Again, I've never seen a race to run with a robe on I don't think. They didn't come in first, I can tell you that, I've never seen a marathon runner in a row, the first 13 Mi and then crawl the next 13 they would when they wouldn't wouldn't accomplish very much. But the sins that closely entangle us can trip us up to where we're not following the Lord. We get entangled by them. Not understand your chains have been broken. Send no longer holds that same hole before you come to Christ. You and change them. Blood of Christ in his blood in his body, pulled out for you breaks that bondage so we can entangle us, but it shouldn't should do it for long.

The censored we laid before him, this is our life lived out before him that we might run for Christ. he tells us very clearly, don't get entangled in the world because well, we belong to him. First, John two says in verse 15. Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and boastful pride of life is not from the father, but it's from the world. The world is passing away and also it's less but the one who does the will of God lives. Forever.

That's some good stuff. You talk about with that, you can preach that. Like, I mean nothing that could last a while.

Christians aren't to look to the world or for rest from the world. There's no rest. There, there's no peace there. There's nothing. The world has that they can offer you nothing.

What you have already is everything you need. If you were found in Christ this morning, there's no need to look into the world for anyting. The Lord of all of creation saw fit to draw you on the himself that he might make much of himself in you. The question is, is one of the questions that we can ask her hardest. Is there something in the world that I love more than the Lord? Is there something in the world that I'm pursuing more than I'm loving the Lord cuz they very clearly tells me if that if that's my top priority. If the things of this world are everything that I'm after then? Well, we're not a child of God.

By the way, there's no wiggle room there. It's not like when you get to pursue a little bit of the world and you can have a little bit of the Lord.

That's a false gospel. The gospel is very clearly that Jesus Christ is the one and only way and being that. He is the one. And only way we seek Him First, and his kingdom, and his righteousness, everything else is less than Beloved everything.

The Lord can use versus like this in our lives. To remind us. And no matter what's going on in our life, God is in control.

and you can say that when you're really high on the mountain, You can say, yep. Amen. Amen. Brother, you preaching. Get in that Valley. when things aren't going as smooth or according to plan, And see what you run to.

You stay with the Lord on the mountains and in The Valleys. Do you understand that your life is his up there? And download that all things. The things that even that you considered to be low, may not be low. They may just be things that the Lord using in your life to protect you from yourself. To get rid of sin that weighs you down. To focus your life more on him because he this is about him. We like to think that life is about us. I mean honestly you told from a very young age is an American that is exactly what your life is about you yourself and you and you and you

Be all you can be. Don't join your army. I'm just saying. Be all you can be Do whatever you wish, you can be anything. You want to be nice. All I, I want to be a baseball player. I'm horrible. I mean, horrendous I love baseball. It did not love me.

I was bad. But I remember in Minnesota, when I was eight and they told me that I had why I knew I had one kidney, but I was 8 years old, and Minnesota Twins fan, and they told me, I couldn't play baseball professionally, like that's what was holding me back. Was that one kidney?

I cried myself to sleep many a night. I want to be Kirby Puckett. So bad. I did I want to be curvy. Short little, dude, played Centerfield for the twins.

Love of the Lord that's with us as he Wills.

Bubble of it is a daily surrendering to him. Is the daily thing. You you want to know what we should do for this year to to make a pact with one another or whatever it is. Be faithful to God.

The same thing, it was yesterday and if you failed yesterday, today is a different day.

Say today is a day in which you can look to him. Today is a day when you can look at these verses and say, I want to run with you Lord, or I don't know what today holds, I don't know what's around the next corner, but regardless of wherever, and whatever it is, I want to be with you. I want to do it with you, I want you to guide my heart father. Look at my heart. Allow me to see my heart. The way you see my heart, let me, let me put down, whatever is weighing me down. That's not allowing me to do that. That it's me, that's doing it. Let me put that down, so that way I can see you.

Dim the verse the verse 1 says, let us run the race with endurance. Let us run the race with an let us run with endurance. The race that is set before us.

This Christian walk. Is one of endurance?

Anyone who has walked with the Lord, more than a minute knows that very truth. It's not one in which you pick up the Lord today and put him down tomorrow, or you pick him up on Sundays and Wednesdays and Tuesdays and Thursdays and Fridays and Mondays. You can live however, you want to live and then you'll pick him up again. I'm Saturday. Evening going in the Sunday cuz you got to be right cuz you got to make sure everybody sees the way you really aren't.

That's not the Christian walk.

The Christian walk is one in which we endure to the end. We understand that the life that I live is not mine and daily. I walk with him. Whatever today holds knowing that beloved here's what's going to happen and I can just I can tell you on the front end if you will seek after him today. And tomorrow and the next day he string some of those days together you'll find that all of a sudden after someone go by your life handle that situation much better than I did two weeks ago. 4 months ago, or six months ago, or a year ago, or 10 years ago, 20 years ago,

By the grace of God, he grows us to be more like our Savior and Lord, and do this this growth, we find ourselves to be in a different place. Now we understand that it's always still there. My goodness, it's still. There is one thing that I always tell the kids about. And especially the ones who who know me and haven't seen that side of me, very often, thank the Lord. When I use a five-pointed when I was 18, the green and then I tried to chop down the tree with the, the putter

What a proud moment of my life. Then I remembered I had 9 more holes left. I better not break my putter. So I had to straighten it back out. Then I-5 part of the next Green. Thank the Lord. There was no trees around that rain.

Receipt, the Lord is grown me from that 18 years old to where I am today, but it's still there.

It's still there. And then in a moment's notice, I can go back to that and I'll heartbeat if so choosing not to allow the Lord to God into Direct.

At times, it comes to the hairs on the back of my neck and I'm like, oh, Lord help.

Cuz I understand that he's grown me in maturity, in that particular area of my life, but that it will always be there, but he gives me opportunities to be faithful to him. To be reminded of it's his power and not mine, it's not me. Is that you come to the point where you actually can rejoice. But the Lord and knowing that, he's cleaning you up. Listen to what Paul says from a prison cell out of Philippians 4. He says this, I rejoice in the Lord greatly that. Now at length, you have received your concern for me, you were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity now that I speaking of being not that, I'm speaking of being an e-4, I've learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound in any and and any and every circumstance, I've learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him, who strengthens me. Paul from a prison cell. That I I know the Lord got me. I know that no matter where I am, I'll rejoice in the Lord cuz he has me where I am for a reason.

We can say Amen to that, which you didn't, but you can say, Amen to that, and understand very clearly that the Lord has you. Every Where You Are,

Everywhere. No matter what's going on in your life, the Lord is using those particular events and things in your life. To clean away send layaway, a conferences that are getting in the way of who he is, showing your heart to yourself and with you of rejected and not wanted to see that particular area of your life and the Lord wants to make clear that this is not of him.

And you can find joy in it, why? Because you understand it's not you, you understand that it's him trying to make you look more like him. Others might look at you and see Christ Jesus, that others might go your different and you go. I know it's not me. It's by the grace of God.

We have to endure. We have to endure this Christian Life until the end. It is one mint. Constantly. if you're running a race that you will endure until you see him face to face,

Never giving up and understanding. That we won before we even get started.

Hear the wind cuz you're good and you wouldn't didn't win cuz you're fast. I've seen y'all run or lack of running.

Whether we win because of Christ. His sacrifice. His perfect sacrifice. That's what verse 2 tells us. Look at verse 2. Thousands to run the race with her eyes on Jesus. First two, looking to Jesus, the founder and the Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy, that was set before him endure. The cross, despising, the shame, and it's eating seated at the right hand of the Throne of God, All right, so far in this race and you agree with me on that witch, with this point, you don't have a choice cuz I'm not letting you answer. And so if you agree with me on that, that you're definitely in the race that if you're in Christ, you're running this race of endurance to the end, then the focus should be totally on myself. Know what you find is. If you just focus on you, you're going to end up stumbling cuz you're going to get entangled by yourself. You get entangled by since you're going to be tainted by your own heart, the things that drive you away from Christ instead of driving you towards Christ instead. It says, we are to look to Jesus. What a concept. You mean we're supposed to look to the one who actually saved us a redeemed us? Yeah, we're supposed to look to him and to his hand, it tells us clearly look at it. Looking to Jesus, who is what, who is Jesus. He is the founder and the Perfecter of your face. The founder and the Perfecter of your face. 11. I did not found Christianity. I did not come up with the rules by which I am to live my life before the king I did not let go. She ate myself into the kingdom of God. None of those things are true. The founder of my faith is Jesus Christ. He alone is the Cornerstone, he is the one, and only way he furnished the way.

So he is the founder, but he's also the Perfecter. What does that mean? He is the one who did it by the will of God. Yeah, we talked about that baby in the manger. I don't know if you remember that or not books. We talked about that baby being born in a manger, but we said there was so much more than that. It was the fact that he came and God put on flesh. Am I putting on this flash? He perfected our faith. He always did the will of the Father, which you and I cannot say In every step of his life, he always did the will of the father, perfecting our face. That my faith today is not found in me, myself and I, my face is not found and who I am. My faith is not found in my yesterday or the day before. It won't be found in tomorrow. My face, my face is found in Christ Jesus, who I Rely Upon for everything. Hebrews chapter 10, says 46, the law has, but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities. It can never buy the same sacrifice that are continually offered every year. Make perfect, those who draw near we're talkin to the Hebrew people to the Jewish, people who for years and years and years. Had made sacrifice a pawn sacrifice year upon year for their sins. Add May sacrifice the priest, made a sacrifice for himself before making a sacrifice for the people. I mean there was a sacrifice of the pawn sacrifice. Always pointing to the time when there would be one that would come that would be the perfect, you're the perfect sacrifice, the one and only sacrifice needed as opposed to one over and over and over. We stand in Christ Jesus. And in his righteousness today because, well, he is the founder and the Perfecter of my faith and I stand in him. your Perfection is not come from you, you've met you You're not perfect. If you don't know that stick around and we'll talk.

Instead we come before him understanding that we are not perfect. But we are found perfect in Christ. The righteousness not of our own but found in Christ and with it changes everything. See it changes everything because I'm in this race. Now, I'm in this racing, which I have placed my faith in him and in Christ and he is the founder of the Perfecter of my face and with endurance I'm looking towards him as he guides and directs me all the days of my life.

It is my job. It's not optional. It's not let some run, but others walk, it's not let some run and you do what you want to do.

Love the other part of the scripture is that it's let us run.

You're not meant to do it alone. It's not meant to be that way.

You're meant to run with others. Why? Cuz there's going to be times when you need someone to hold you. I just hug, you put their arms around you cuz you need a swift kick in the butt. Yeah, I know I said it was Pastor. I'll head at it later. You still need a quick swift kick. You ain't going the right way, Bubba.

In love. Not just for the fun of it, not going. So I know what you did. Strictly saying look this is not the way of the Lord in the Lord. Doesn't want you going that way? You're that's going to weigh you down. That's going to get in your way of being faithful before the Lord. Don't go that way.

I run this race of endurance together. The next part we find out is what Jesus did. Look at Hebrews 12:2, it says, who for Joy, set before him endure, the cross despising the shame. The words joy and endured in the same sentence. You do that all the time. I'm sure.

For the joy set before him endure the cross. What's the what one commentator said? He said the joy was the full Divine, the attitude of his preincarnate life in the bosom of the Father, the glory, which he had with God before the world was in exchange for this. He accepted the cross and the shame.

We talked about it about three weeks ago, what he emptied himself up to come to be born in that Manger. Beloved the scriptures. Speaking of that same exact thing. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross. What was the joy that he might be the founder of your face? That he might give you away. When you had no way. And he might perfect the very faith that you can never perfect. But he might be the one and only sacrifice, and he found joy and saving you.

Come on, that's a little whiny this morning. Is it the God of all the heavens and the Earth found joy and saving you? And then you think you can live, however, you want. You think that's the deal, he stopped for the joy. He came to deliver you from yourself that you might live. However, you please

May it never be.

No, those that are truly found in him and understand that he endured the cross. For the joy of me, being found in him. But he left the heavenlies that I might know him and he left the Heavenly to perfect, my faith that he he left the heavenlies to be the foundation of my face. He did it so that you can live a different life. But you can live one in a race with endurance as you Focus On Christ and him alone.

Command just makes sense. Now right? If I'm focusing on Christ, why I want, I want to weigh myself down with anything that takes my eyes off of him. Why would I want to be entangled by any that would for just one second? Make me look down and not look towards Christ. Who did it all?

Why would I want to take anything less than what? He's already given me. If I'm really his, I don't think I can.

What's a taste of who he is and the joy that I find in Christ. I just want more of it.

Is a reading scripture as he shows me as my own heart towards him. I I should I should want more and more of what he's provided. Because of what he did. It ends with where Jesus is. Do for the joy, set before him, and or the cross despising, the shame he sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God.

Endured to the end. He sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God.

11 when it talked about indoor earlier, it was a completed action, but with a present reality,

He endured that he might be today right now. Present tense on the throne.

And it's not that you recognized them that put him there or where he's Lord Of My Life. Yeah, he was Lord before it all began.

There be a lot of people who stand before him someday and will recognize him as Lord for the first time on that day and we'll be too late.

Love it. If we are his he sat down at the right hand of Throne of God, he accomplished while he needed to accomplish for you. And I And a very present tense, he's the king of kings and the Lord of Lord, and He is that in my life through faith. I haven't seen him face-to-face but I know him my goodness. I could tell you the things. My brain is gone through for the last 2 weeks. I'll tell you, I know it. Is that a lot of discussions? I know him, I heard his voice. I thought within this week. I did I lose every time just so you know, but I thought with him all week long, I want you to go to ask, he kept doing this in front of me. I just want to go to act like just let me do what I'm going to do.

Finally, I gave up yesterday, that's fine. That's what you want.

I know him.

I know him because I've walked with him.

But he's walk with me.

Play God's my heart. Hebrews 13 says it's about my Lord. Is the radiance of the glory of God. And the exact imprint of his nature. He upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of majesty on high. That is my God. 11. It's by faith you who believe that is your lord. As a Christian. The race is not done in your power. You run the race in your power, you're going to stumble, you're going to find things and entangle you Not in the beginning or find them along the way, ref you fall right on your nose. As he begins to get you up here, to make it very clear to you. That was, I was your option. With a choice that you chose to take the focus off of him and and you want to do it your way.

11, we run in this race by his power. Who's that? Kind of marvelous, like, the way I always thought. I mean, like, you know, my brain thinks a little weird, so, like, you're running this race and you're running to Jesus in his power. Give me a piggyback ride all the way to the end.

We should really be encouraging cuz somehow he's the one who have already completed the race for you, but he also gives you the power to finish the race. Well, he does both of those things at the same time, which is just hard to fully comprehend. But I'm so thankful for that this is not me going to him. And by faith saying, father, I believe and I believe in what you have accomplished for me, I believe you're the founding, the Perfecter of my faith in that I sinned against you and you pay for those sins fully in that you're coming back to get me. But it's not only just that but that steam powered me to live my life with endurance today, and tomorrow, and the next day in him, But he might change me to look like him. What a deal.

What an amazing grace that you and I have been provided.

You're going to end where we started. You are either in this race or you or not. There's no halfsies. There's no, yeah, I was in that race. I got, I got saved when I was blah, blah, blah years old and and the pastor, you know, did like this. And I walked out and I was all right and every day since then, I've known that I've been his Even walking with him. No, no, no. I don't know, I don't know, I don't do that. You go to church, so you can be around others who are running with you. Oh no, no no, no, I don't like people.

Are you matured in the face since you've come to know Christ? Oh, not really. To be honest, I'm kind of where I started to begin with.

Love it. He won't leave you there. if you're he is I never leave you where you are. Why?

It doesn't make any sense like he liked it in the racing, then they shoot the gun off and it right takes off of your life.

Did I go? I kind of like right here, I ain't sweating or nothing.

I'm in a race. I'm going to race for the glory of God has set before me in it. And I look to the author in the Perfecter of my faith in and I focused in on him and I understand it, no matter what happens in my life. What? Tomorrow holds I'm here and then he'll walk with me and along the way they will be weights and sends that he brings to my heart and says, John. That's not him. That's not me. That's got to go. And by the joy set before me, I'll look at him and say, thank you. Lord, that you would when she was sees fit to love me, enough to show me that I'm not following you in that area of my life and and focus me in back on you. Instead of telling him know, that's really not true. I'm really pretty good.

That's just an area of my life. I don't want you to deal with, I'll take care of that one.

We tell him that a lot. That's not the Christian walk or faith. The Christian walk in faith is that I looked at him and along the way, he will bring those things to my heart and beloved, it's by the joy of God that he is paid for that in full. And then he can even clean you up to begin with but he was loved. You enough to clean you up.

Did you hear me that you would love you with nothing? He would clean. You up to look more like him. Why Walter make my name? No, no.

That you might make known the one that loves you.

Okay, in the last 2 weeks.

I passed the base and I felt something.