Run the Race (Resurrection Living)

Being involved with us. They're all the way from Calgary in Canada.

Analyse the net with Paul 12. So he's responsible for, I guess with all the other networks were connected with thousands of churches around the world property in the country near you if you're from a different country. So in about we've known one another for too long. Heavenly This network, but I see the realities. There's never too long cuz he's got to be fraternity anyways. So, so and came across it in the mail came across and I just lost. Well, welcome this time, flies. So please make yourself at home in your dear friend, you going to come and preach the word to us. Are we ready to head Church? Yep, I'm sorry. Father God I pray that you bless it in as he brings the way this morning. Open our ears. Open our hearts and put those listing online. Father, I pray that I'll be a moment of change and impact and a blessing in Jesus name. Amen. It's going to be fast. We got to start coming first. So it is such a privilege. To be with you such a joy to have seen this church body growing and knowing what God is doing and accomplishing. And I just want to come in David and Julie and team for the faithfulness of all the years. And I just had a little word of encouragement. I wanted to bring to you, that's okay. It comes out of 1st Samuel, 14 figs ample of Jonathan, and it took a little different turned for me today. As I was out, walking in the, in the, you call it a football field, and I would call it a soccer field. Maybe, I don't know about that. Thank you for forgiving me. Anyway, and I just was meditating with the Lord, walking out there in the beautiful sunshine today. And that, that passage is really important to me. Because in the new year, I asked the Lord. What is his heart for me this year? What is a verse that he would give me this year? Instantly in my spirit. I heard perhaps God. And what the Lord said to me, was he said, Val, you stop dreaming. You stopped, you stop trusting me and pressing into the more that I have for you because you have a lack of, there's a lack of faith, sometimes I lack of certainty. And you want to make sure that things are going to go. Well, and you have an assured and and he said, Jonathan was difference. He had a different Spirit, he had a different heart. And if you know, scripture just before that Samuel 13, his father gave him a very different example of Faith, his dad failed. A very important test and sadly from the very beginning of the assignment that God had given Saul, he failed. He failed to show faith in God and God's timing in. God's prophetic word. He forgot. And he just he panicked and out of fear and especially fear of, man, because the soldiers that he was using to come in, The Philistines they were disappearing on him because they were afraid and so he panics and he offers offerings that he wasn't supposed to do. There was an order, there is an order that got it setup and Samuel, he's supposed to wait for Samuel to come. And how many of you can relate and know that God really comes on time? He rarely comes on our time, right? And so God had to rebuke Saul and tell him that he actually was going to move his anointing to another. And do you know, Jonathan would have been there, Jonathan, the son of the newly appointed king would have been there. Knowing that what happens in succession is he would be the next king. Wouldn't see? That was his Destiny. He was supposed to be the next one to carry that anointing in Kingdom. If that, if they were going to follow the system of of the regular order of things, but I love his heart and his spirit. So after that Fiasco they are in now for Samuel 14 and lots of people have left and sews. All is sitting under a tree with the remnants of the Israelites, not knowing what to do feeling. Afraid and intimidated by the enemy and Jonathan leaves that company. And instead with his armor Bearer he said let's go up and see what we can do. Like see the difference we can make perhaps the Lord will act in the NIV. It says perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf and he says, 44 nothing can stop the Lord from Sade Whether by many or by few and what I felt in my spirit today, for some of you, I believe this is for some of you with that. Sometimes for us, we can come from a background where there are fathers, we haven't been fathered spiritually in a healthy way or we haven't had a family of origin that we're proud of and there's some Shane connected to that and there's some discouragement and we think I don't have much of an inheritance but I felt like the Lord wanted to say to you that you haven't changed in his eyes, right? You and I haven't changed. We are Sons and Daughters of the most high and I was as I was walking in your football field and I saw the lines on the ground. I was reminded of Psalm 16 or says the boundary lines have fallen for me in Pleasant places. Surely I have a delightful inheritance and the father wants to reassure you that you're not limited by your past or by your family of origin or the things that were or were. Not given to you that that had. Let put you in a precarious Place perhaps because the father Jonathan didn't stop. Believing that who he was in. God had not changed. It didn't matter what the circumstances were when it happened before, but he, who he knew he's wasn't God. And he knew who the Lord was and his Zeal for the Lord, compels him to go and take the territory. And do you know that his actions inspired the rest of the army? There was an earthquake and it caused God to act on his behalf at did I think he honored his face and then there was an earthquake and the Philistines started fighting each other. And when you and I step out in faith, when you and I stepped out in Courage, and believe God for the more that he has for us. We're not defined by our families. Were not defined by our origins of the past. The Lord says you step out because perhaps, God, father wants to honor that face the Lord. I bless this church family. I bless each one of them. I blessed the calls that are on their lives. I bless the Lord. They are. Royalty. They are priesthood. God father, they have they have crowns on their heads bored and you love them and I pray God, you begin to open up doors and give them assignments, Lord that they would know our from you and I pray you give them the courage to move forward into the things that you called them for and I bless him in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Straight.

That's a good worse. Good word. She had today just as taking risk, be willing to trust the Lord. Sometimes you don't have all the plan, right? You know, God is leading you to do something. You don't have the full plan, and we always like to have the plan and it's good to have the plan, but somebody's got says, as you step out and walk, I won't reveal the plan, so that is so good. Anyway, it's great to be here. Today was almost a year ago. We were here in this place and it here you are again and there's new people people. I've just met today. It's wonderful. God's doing some good things here, so excited for you. Just want to mention mention it all the time. The reason is it took me a long time to write the book that I wrote. I am working on a second book and I got an idea for a third book today. Maybe it's sitting in Dave's. How do you know? Cuz he's, like, writing all these books, these ideas are coming like, today about who there's another book. I'm like, oh, so maybe that's what it is Dave. Cuz Dave is as you know, right? Anyway, I wrote a book called life is a highway and it's it's meant to help you with your spiritual journey. Lots of stories, easy read questions at the end. And so, I want to encourage you. If, if you're interested, there's a slide up there. It'll take you to the website. It might take you to the Canadian website, sorry about that, but you can get it on Amazon in paperback, it's in Kindle and it's on audiobook. So, anyway, just a little plug if you're interested, I want to talk to you today about our Christian walk and about our Christian walk being a race, you know, in scripture there's some pictures and images that God gives us of our journey with him. And one of them which is a specially, spelled out in the New Testament, is that of a race. As I want to talk to you today about how to run your race, how many people know that? If, if our Christian journey is related to as a race, it would be important to run it, well, right? Nobody wants to run it for the there's something. Do that can stop us from running the race. Well, and I want to show you a couple clips of of some people, some difficult situations where the race didn't turn out so well. So let's look at the first one. All right, here we go.

Another day, Jordan already to Las Vegas.

Putting up a square head on here, right?

Early before the finish line for 150 m, a masterful display leading for 150 M. Thinks he's won the race. He's up and everybody passes him. That is a fail. You can tell by his face he's like oh I think I made a mistake so we don't want to do that. We don't want to run the race and then he's up and and end up not winning. Look at this next clip. If we've got it, this is the LA Marathon this year. This is so current. What's this went to Finish Line o. This is amazing. So the men from Kenya was leading the entire race and at the very end, the man from the United States, just caught him and one by one one-hundredth of a second. Can you imagine? It's a 26-mile race and he lost by one one-hundredth of a second. You look at it at another clip earlier, you can see the him tracking him down for quite a ways. And the man who's leading isn't looking around, right? Cuz he's been a head the whole time. He doesn't see the other man and coming, otherwise, if you did, I don't think he would have lost one one-hundredth of a second. You could probably push yourself a little more and win, but because he thinks he's one already, he doesn't realize. This guy's tracking him down, he loses, that must have been a heartbreaker. I know for the American, it was like freak sighting, right? They were all seller. He was a teacher and he won the Kenyan. He's known all over the world. And why do I show you these clips? Well, because this illustrates what can happen to us in our lives. How many people do we see today? Christian leaders, who have been running a really good race? And at the end they fail. Have you seen that? Have you heard some stories people that have been decades serving God? Doing really well, impacting lies, and at the very end They fail Penelec by one one-hundredth of a second or they just, or they let up. And they stopped running because they think they've done their lap. They think they've accomplished enough, and they stopped running. And that's a fail to God, doesn't want us to do that. That's not the way God wants us to run the race. And he was 12 says this. I want to read this to you, Hebrews 12 1, 2 3, and a I did write it on the card cuz I did after it says this. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great, cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance, the race marked out for us. Don't you like the idea of us? And this isn't just an idea. It is actually truth the race marked out for us one of these. I like especially about being a Christian about being Christ. Follower is that God has a race marked out for me. Do you realize that when God got a hold of your life cuz he got a hold of your life, he tracked you down that when he got ahold of your life he didn't just get ahold of you for for for yourself, although that's important. He has a race for you. He Mark, he's marked out a race for your life and in less than our goal or objective needs to be to discern. What that race is. God, you have a race for me. You ever pass a time to run. Help me to discuss. For it and then run it. Well, that's the way we should be. So he says race marked out for us. Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith, for the joy. Set before him, he injure the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God. Consider him who enjoyed such opposition from Sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. When it says that the end here, you will not grow weary and lose heart. I think that stops a lot of people do, you know, any believers who have grown weary and lost heart and stop erasing. Do you know any I do? I know Rick, I know sadly. I know believers who have dropped out of the race. They've grown weary they lost heart. They didn't believe it was worth it anymore. They just stopped running. So Paul is saying here that there's a way that we don't have to lose heart. And one of the ways he says it's is fixing our eyes on Jesus. So as we run our race, the idea is that Jesus is the one in front of us. So as we keep focused on him and what he did for us on the cross and about his purpose for a like we're going to be able to push away. All the other things are going to try to stop you from running. Let me tell you something, you running your race is a threat to the kingdom of Hell set threat. If you do it, the way God has called you to do it. You will take down the enemy's power in many places and you will take many with you to heaven, so, the devil doesn't want you to do that. He wants you to stop. And and when we take her eyes off Jesus, and what he's done for us and we lose that fresh revelation of him, it is so easy to stop. You know, I went to the Scituate example of this in early. March, her oldest son. He's the married has a little baby now and his wife, her parents, they have a house in Arizona, which is a state in the United States that hot place. I come from Van Dyke, come from Alberta Canada. And just so, you know, there's snow there today. There shouldn't be snow there today, but there is no there today but I'm here and it's 20 degrees. So I'm happy But there's no there. So in March, there will usually be snow there. But in Arizona, it's warm, it's nice and I always think it's nice to have relatives with nice places. Anybody feel that way. So that mean they're welcome addition to the family for multiple reasons, but they have a nice house. So they invited us down and we went to a place called Sedona Arizona. Someone was thinking when they did that. So don't Arizona. And in Sedona, there is a chapel on the side of a cliff, kind of built into the cliff, and I have a picture of it. It should be next, there is a chapel on the side of a cliff, there it is, so you can see it on the front, see the cross, and then the side, I mean, really clever, right? So they said, let's go to this chapel and see and I thought to myself, it'll be great but it'll be really super religious. Like seriously, I was a bit dismissive like That's okay. We'll go see the architecture. I doubt I'll get much out of. It is not terrible, but an attitude, I'm sorry. I just got to have more faith in the Lord. So I go into this chapel and it's really nice. You can get all his windows there. You can see you looking out. And so there is a yum A beautiful sculpture of Jesus on the cross and you can see that if we go the next slide it's hard to maybe see it completely but it's on the right. Jesus on the cross. And so there's he's to Footprints that are beside, you know, that are in front of you, put your feet in the footprints, and you look up a Jesus, he's looking right at you. And here's the thing, when he looks down at you he's got. I like the whoever created. This was just amazing. He's got eyes of compassion, he's looking down at me from the cross with eyes of compassion, not judgement. Well, it undid me here. Here's me, it won't be much of an experience. I am having experience with God. In this old chapel. I have to go sit at the side of the chapel and I'm like, you know, trying to compose myself. I'm watching people go up and do the same thing stand there. Look up. That's cool. Kind of think, and, and I'm watching them, and I'm in packing, because I'm thinking that's the picture for my life. Fixing your eyes on Jesus, 90. Jesus isn't on the cross anymore. Jesus resurrected, understand that? But when I looked at Jesus on the cross, what did it remind me? It reminded me of his sacrifice. For me, it reminded me of what he paid for my life. And it reminded me of Jesus saying, take up your cross daily and follow me. He died on the cross, for me. He calls us to die. I know. That's not exciting to talk about, right? I'm called to die. But what scripture says, scripture, says you, and I like Jesus are called tonight, or own desires. And pursue him with everything in it, when I looked at Jesus on the cross, and when I fix my eyes, I'm inspired by him. I remember that he died for me. I remember the cause that he's given my life. And it's a car that's worth everything, folks. So when I looked at him, I was like his sacrifice for me, inspired me. But the other thing that inspired me is, as I watched all these people come and look up at the same image, but not have any reflection because they didn't know him. That gutted me, I sat there and thought this is the picture of what my goal in life is to be part of my race, is to help other people to come to know that man who died for them. And, no, his look of compassion, not his judgment and no, he loves them, and he's for them. That is my so I sat there with all this going on and I was messed up but it was a good being messed up. You ever been messed up in a good way? Fixing your eyes on. Jesus reminding herself everyday. Why do I do what I do? All? Yes, I have a savior who died for me. He paid the price for my sins. He marked out a race for me and I'm going to run it today. What lap should I run today? Too often we get careless too often. The enemy folks Is Us on things that don't really matter. We get all knotted up about stuff. That isn't going to affect eternity. It's distraction and we are in a distracted age, I just did a podcast live from the leadership podcast. I just did one about the anxious generation which is a book about social media and how it's impacting the current generation if you want listen to it. There's some truth in there because we are distracted. We are being our thinking and our minds that they're being pulled everywhere. But God says to us, there's a way for you to run 1st Corinthians. 9:24 says this, do you not know that it erase all the runners run? But only one gets the prize run in such a way as to get the prize. How many of you are competitive? Be honest, it's not sinful to be competitive. I'm competitive when I was a kid, I would cry at losing board games with a poor loser. Now, that's not good, but I didn't, I wanted to win and pulsing run to win. There's no second place. It's kind of what he's saying, but here's the good news. He says In this passage that you're to run for the prize. Let me just say this. There's a prize for everyone of you. That's a good news. Everyone of you has a price and I'll show you what the prize is. Let's look at it. Here here is Philippians 3. Let's look at Philippians 3. This is, this is a famous passage by Paul about his race. He says, whatever we're gains to me. I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more? I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. Jesus, my Lord, for whose sake, I have lost all things. I consider them garbage or rubbish. You would say that I may gain Christ and be found in him not having a right to some of my own that comes to LA, but that was just through faith in Christ. The righteousness that comes from God, on the basis of Faith. Here's what he says, verse 10, I want to know Christ. To know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, how many of you like the power of the Resurrection part, but not so much the participation in the suffering part, right? We just crossed the participation in the sufferings part, I want the power of the Resurrection. How much, how many times we celebrate the memory often? Sorry, maybe in your truck but not in the places. I hang out. We don't really talk about that too much and yet it goes together. Resurrection power, but participation in the sufferings at the cross, I talked about, right? But he Paul gets it. Pulses, I want to know the part of the Resurrection. I want to participate in his sufferings another. We're going to be number with Jesus, becoming like him in his death. There it is. So somehow, it's hanging to the resurrection from the dead. How many of, you know, there's no resurrection power without death. This is truth, right? You can't be resurrected if you don't die first. And so, the resurrection power in our life comes out of the death that God brings into our life. But this is the good news is not resurrection power and what God does through us is worth everything. In fact, when Christians get careless and they get casual and they're not living the life God called them to do their board. I think there's nothing worse than board Christians. You know what board Christians do? They get in to send troubles, were Christians? You know, aren't happy. Word Christians are the ones who often end up not running the race because they think what's it, what's the value here? What's what's the purpose? But God doesn't want us to be bored. There is nothing boring about serving Jesus. They were truly serving him and he's got a race, and he wants us to run it. Not verse 12, not that I've already obtained all this or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that, for which Christ Jesus Took hold of me. Now, remember I said to you, there's a price Here's the price ready. Paul says. That when Jesus Took hold of you, he wasn't just for you, he took hold of you for that purpose. And Paul says, I want that that for which he took hold of me. I want that. And Paul is actually saying that the price if I run the race, God's called me to run. And I apprehend and take, hold of that for which he took all the money. I won the race. Do you see it? So this is not comparing yourself with anyone else. This is not saying what I need to be as successful as that Christian, or I need to do this know what is God called you to do. That's a Discerning part, you know, that one person wrote, they said that the the greatest day of your life is the greatest days of your life. Is the first one is when you were born. And the second ones, when you realize why you were born, So, all of us need to realize why we're here. And Paul says, once you realize that and you have a sense of that and you start running after that, you're going to run the race and you're going to win the race. That's winning the price. Seat for me winning the prize will be. If, if I have a sense of what God has called me to do and my attitude is I'm not laying anything on the table. I'm not going to leave everything on the table. I am going to run this race fully in every way I can buy the grace and strength of God and to see his purpose. Fulfilled, if I do that to the end and I don't get careless and stop running and I don't allow myself to be overcome by other things. I will have won the race. I'll have the prize, do you see it? So you have a price to run after and it's Unique to you. Unique to you. So if you haven't thought that way, God says, I want to stir you to consider, what is the prize? What is the that, why did God get ahold of my life? And I want to find that out by God, what do you have for me? What's the race marked out and then Lord, help me run show me how to run, so I can get that. Get myself all excited to see what I'm doing right now. Is that for me? Do you understand that? That's why I'm excited because this is my race. I meant to do this and Inspire and help you by the spirit of God. That's the that for me And you have that, too. And it will look different. Some of you will be, you know, declaring and saying things over people. For some of you might be more quiet in the background, but you are doing the things are going to advance the kingdom. So he says, I do not consider myself yet to taken hold of it. But one thing I do, how do people know if Paul the Apostle says, there's one thing he did. We should do that. One thing, you think so he wrote 40% of the New Testament, probably knows a few things. He goes one thing I do. Forgetting. What is behind and straining toward what is ahead? Forgetting and straining. He's as I press on toward the goal, to win the prize, which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus hears, I hear some Paul saying if I'm going to run the race am I going to stretch to break the tape? Think of what we just saw? If I'm going to lean in to break the I'm going to strain to break the tape and get that for which Christ took hold of me then I can't be living in the past. You know, the guy that stopped running, what if he'd been running backwards when you have wonder what he would have been, even more of a failure, he would never never gotten anywhere. You can't run backwards or you. Can't run looking backwards, Paul saying I'm going to put behind me. What has happened and I'm going to strain how many people love the word strain. There's some words are just uncomfortable, right? I mean literally straining is uncomfortable like I don't we don't like those constraining. Scratching pushing like they get all these all require effort to pop off saying it. When I take a straining, I think of reaching for something just a little Beyond what's comfortable? That's why most of us don't like straining cuz I like Comfort. I don't really want to put out extra effort, but it's like, if I want to find something and it's, you know, just a little higher on the Shelf, then I can get. So I'm up there and I'm straining and I just so I can get it. That's what I see. And Paul when he's talking about running, he's thinking I'm just going to stretch beyond what would be normally comfortable. He's going to strain but he's also going to forget and Paul had a lot to forget. Now, I had some bad things to forget. I mean how how many of you been involved in killing other Christians? Oh good. I'm glad to see that. Like, I figured that but it's just good to know. None of you write. Thank God. Paul was

Paul was Paul was responsible for killing Believers that his order, that was something he had to live with us, something he had to put behind them. But Paul also was a really smart man. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees, he was one of the best trained. And so Paul had a, you know, a lot of credit to his name, he was a smart intelligent man, so he had some good things you need to forget cuz he could say, while I'm pretty good, you know, I'm quite learn it and done a lot and he would stop running or he could say, I'm such a loser, I did so many bad things. Like how could God ever used me ever felt that way? Maybe in your life, like God's chosen me, but he really isn't very smart. You know, if you knew you knew me better. Well who knows? You better than you than him. He knows you the best but we sometimes hard to see with my God you would, you know, I know you chose me but I think you made a mistake and he was the guy beside me a little confused. And so he goes, I don't I'm not worthy, I'm not going to run, I don't have it. So devil winds that says, forgetting those things that are behind both good and bad. I'm going to let them go so I can strain forward to what God has. Here's what I believe for. Your church. Your church has already entered a new season. And it's going to continue. Not going to stop. In fact, it's going to continue to increase but here here's the think. So your church has a race to run and it's running the race and and Dave and Julia been leading for 30 plus years now. God bless him and they're running the race and you're the run with them and there's going to be some handoffs in the future of this rates, right? Batons will be past, those kind of things, right? So there's a corporate race. These churches is having. There's also personal races here, right? And so God is just saying to you, that he wants you to be ready. I don't know about you but when things when God is moving and he's doing stuff beyond what we would expect that is not the time to deal with your past. I mean, maybe you will have to, but the better time to deal with some of the things that might stop you from serving, it would be ahead of that. Don't you think maybe prepare ahead of time and deal with some of the baggage that might slow you down, you know, when it comes to running races. I mean, you know, I watch the Olympics and the hundred meter dash is like the signature event, even though it's over in less than 10 seconds. But it's like everybody wants to know the fastest person in the world, right? But those guys like they don't wear backpacks when they're running, do they 50 L? Backpacks. You know, you don't see a hundred meter dash guy, you know, with like loaded up in fact, it's kind of obvious, isn't it? They're letting wearing super skimpy sometimes like, I'm not looking right now is too much information, right? Like seriously but nothing that's going to make drag them. Stop them. Or I'd wait right there. Leaning down there. Getting that proposed talk about here. Every since that would hold you back, get rid of it. get rid of everything that makes you heavy and lumbering you need to be able to run This church is already running but let me say something. It's going to run at a faster rate in the days ahead. God, we ask God to move but we don't always know what that means. We don't always know the effort. It will require when he dies. And he's going to move even more in this truck. He's going to reach even more people to this church has Community. But you know what? That's going to require some require more of all of you because new Believers need to be cleaned up. They need help, they need discipling, right? And what happens if God is moving and we're not prepared? And in fact, it's at that moment, that all these issues, we never dealt with suddenly come up, I seen it happen in churches. I've seen it happen in churches. I bleed Where people who are there for long time, all of a sudden, something they never dealt with boom, explodes and it takes on other people. So he wants to help you to prepare yourself for the race that this church has but also your race cuz he wants you to run it. Well, Not important. Don't want to look today at 2 the key takeaway phrase today's this rather than lingering in our past. God wants a straining to order Destiny rather than lingering interfaz. God wants a straining toward a destiny, there's a reason why in your car you have a really big and all this is heavy. Revelation, you have a really big windscreen, the front window and have a really small mirror thought through some of these think it's, because you're not supposed to drive looking in the really small mirror, we know, that's right, you're supposed to drive looking through the windshield, which is Big the small mirrors just for occasionally, looking to make sure there's nothing behind you. But what if you drove looking in the small mirror, You tell people, probably or end up in the ditch and you wouldn't get to your destination. That's where some of us can be. We're trying to drive looking in the rearview mirror or try to run the race look behind us. God says, I want you to deal with those things. So I want to look at three things. That we need to deal with. This won't take super long but these are important for us to consider the first one's failures and disappointments.

Secondly, how others have heard us and thirdly our past successes. These are three things that can cause us to linger in the past three things going to look at the first one's failures and disappointments. There's the action step, except you cannot change what happened, but you can change how you view it. You and I can't change the past. Can we not at all? But God can actually change the way. We see the past, look at Romans 8:28 Paul rights. And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him and who have been called, according to his purpose. How many of you been called according to God's purpose? That purpose is that, you understand, we're linking this all together, according to his purpose, according to the race, he marked out for me, according to that, for which you took hold of me. I've been called according to that, and it says that God works for good works, things for good, for those who are called like that. So God wants to work the bad things for good in your life. EBay ever had bad things in your life. Course, these are the metaphorical questions, we know that we all do. So how does that work? Let me give you an example. so, When I was 20 and my wife was 19, just finished, two years of Bible school, and we've been dating a couple years and I came home from Bible school is mid-year cuz I started mid-year. I came home with the idea of getting a job and then we get engaged to get married, could go off right. And so, early, January late December of 9586. I remember her parents, we talk to each other one night and she said to me, hey, my parents set up a bank account for us. You know what that means, right? Thank you count. Like that's like they're going to put money away for our wedding and we didn't talk about getting married, that scan a code for us. We never said, hey we're going to get married. We just kind of didn't say that directly, but when she said that and we just kind of laughed on the phone and innocent love, and it's like, I'm thinking They like me, right? They get married. We're going to put money behind it. That means I'm approved. And so, we were told, that's where we were at. And I remember, I remember we, we would, we had a I like a double date with him. One at a restaurant probably you know the summer before that, I'm ever thinking, this is great. I love these guys are great parents. We're going to have Manny double dates throughout our life together. Well, Life Changes sometimes a week after. The whole, my parents set up an account for us, her parents were killed in an auto crash. And my wife is the oldest of four. So she was 19, her brother was 17. She is Sister 15 + 113. For Orphans.

Kind of changes the picture for us doesn't in a little bit that innocent we're going to get married really changes. so, where do adjust? We did get engaged. We did get married two months later, but it was very different. Obviously, the parents weren't there and Her two sisters live with us for. The time the first few years. We had impact and influence in our brother as well. There's some key things we walk through with him, my wife went through a depression about a year into it. and she ran away three times from me, which is hard to find them since I'm such a great guy, but But she would just her way of dealing with grief was to get the car and drive off until the fog kind of and then it was like oh and also she had a really gutless 4-cylinder car which couldn't go over the mountains. Thank the Lord. So it's like I don't think I'm going to make it. Yeah. Come home right. So she come home meanwhile she's already emptied money out of her account anyway so not long ago so you think that that was tough, right? That's a tough story. And you don't got a good things through it and and, and we didn't turn away from him and we look to him and he he loves us and he he's been gracious. But there was a time here not too long ago where I I pondered this and I thought about that. We have four Sons, they've all been married now. So we've been there for them, right? Where they're at all their weddings. We supported their weddings. We had those bank accounts, right? We were able to they were able to kind of be young and in love and learn to live together and, you know, and they had us and you know what I'm saying? Just normal and I was thinking about how abnormal it was for us and I had that moment where you just felt ripped off your head that in your life. And like, I feel ripped them off all the double dates for the parents. There's one there was no more. I just think you, what would have been like to have had them, what, what would it have been like, if we didn't have to do like it, when I was 23, we had those younger sister with us. She just started driving and I meant we had to ground her, and she was a pain in the butt. I mean, we love her today. We love your dad but she was difficult. I was 23, she was sixteen. And I was thinking, I would have been like, if we didn't have any of that, and we were traveling, and doing all these things before we had kids, I just had that moment. But thankfully I didn't live there. Cuz if you start living there, you're in trouble.

If you start living in, I was ripped off and where was God, and I've been hard done by you're in trouble. You're going to get bitter. You're going to stop running, you're going to get stuck in the past and thankfully, I know enough to not stay there. So you know what, I heard the Lord speak to me in, this is where we need God every day. So something had come up in my heart. Okay, let's just unpack, this something I come pick them up in my heart. I was tempted to be offended. I was struggling with the Y. So what, what do I do? If I spend time with the father, who knows, me and you what he said to me, it's an e. N Actually, you need to see this from my perspective.

Actually marrying Belle, not just for her sake, but for the sake of her family and being part of, her family was actually part of my call on your life. Actually chose you not just for your wife but I knew I knew this was going to happen and I knew that you would be the right person to be there with Val. And if that would be the right person to be there for her siblings and I trusted you both so that They can move forward and you can move forward. They all have the Alton they all serve the Lord. There are 20, how many 23 Grandkids of the house and now great-grandkids. Like it's a big family. 60 people. Now I think. A 4 + me the five of us 60 people so great. But but my point is, God did some things and it's okay. But what change did you see what changed it? He said, I called you another words that was part of your marked outrage. You say e. N. Doesn't make sense that I call would ya, where were infant? We're fine, I got the infinite by God saying in the big picture I called you and and what that did is it changed it from being I was ripped off to what an honor. To be chosen by God for that assignment. That was a privilege. That was part of taking up my cross and falling in that was part of pursuing. And even fellowshipping in his sufferings, you hear me, that changes it. So you can't change the past but you can change how you view the past and how God helps you view the past, let me ask you a question. Are there some areas of your password you're stuck? Are you stuck in some areas where it's like I've been ripped off or I'm angry or I can't forgive or whatever. Let me say something. God wants to come in to that with you and help you understand his perspective. So important to do it. So failures in disappointment, the second one is how others have heard us. We've all been hurt by the people, right? And we've all heard other people. It's just what happens. So how others have heard us? Here's the thing. Listen, if You can't help how you respond and how you are affected by how others hurt you you are now a victim. Did you hear me? You have no control, then like whatever anyone does to you. Every day is going to cause you pain, and you cannot do anything about it to hear me now. We know that's not true. Correct? People will hurt us, but our response is up to us. And so, Matthew 6:15 tells us if you do not forgive others, their sins, your father will not forgive your sins. This is tough. Forgiveness is a huge issue, folks. And by me talking about I'm not minimizing things at all. What scripture is really clear that we need to forgive as we've been forgiven that there's a Grace and God wants to give us to release others and forgive others in a process in a dirty. So that we can be released, they can be forgiven and we can receive God's forgiveness and Grace in our lives. When we start releasing forgiveness, there's a gray seeing that dries up in her own line. it's important that we not walking in forgiveness, Colossians 3:13 says, bear with each other and forgive one another, if any of you has a grievance against someone forgive as the Lord, forgave you, And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect. Unity. So, scripture says bear with each other, forgive one, another forgive as you were forgiven and then let love the love of God. Compass everything. I'm going to look real quickly here with regarding forgiveness. I want to spell some things out. He's a teaching by Manning Nelson, Searcy that I really appreciate it. I want included here, what forgiveness isn't forgiving? Others is not justifying their actions. Sometimes we think if I forgive that person I'm saying what they did was. Okay. So if I forgive them I'm saying it was okay and therefore I can't forgive him. Oh no, you're not, you're not justifying what they did. You're not saying, hey, I forgive you there for what you did is. Okay? No, you're saying it's still wrong. What you did? But by the grace of God, I choose to forgive and release. You, I'm not going to hold a grudge any more forgiving. Others is not trusting, the passage of time you ever heard of the myth that time heals. All wounds know, just leave something festering long enough and you'll get better. The very nature of what I said to shows. It won't talk. Tell that to the person whose whose arm was cut off, cuz of gangrene it was never dealt with and they lost their arm over it. Like, it did not get better, it got worse and they had to lose their limbs because it wasn't healed. And that's the way we are. We just ignore things, they will eventually I'll get over. It will know if you don't focus on it, you don't intentionally ask the God for his grace to heal, you, you won't get over it forgiving. Others is not denying that you're hurt. I think I was okay. One of these don't encourage you to do is, don't minimize your pain. Some people do this. They minimize. I don't know if it's okay. They, they deny that they were ever heard, they deny that anything bad happen, and they know that it wasn't good, but somehow they want to, you know, minimize it. No, don't minimize what has happened to you. God wants you to acknowledge that. It was significant. Why did he want you to bring him into it and have his grace to help you release it. It's not going to forgiving others not confronting them. Personally it's not getting Vengeance it's not having to make sure they understand your perspective that isn't forgiveness. What is forgiveness? It's remembering how much you've been forgiven your the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18th really highlights. You know, story that there's a king and somebody owes him millions of dollars. I was looking at the actual totals that they say, it would relate to an end, the Manos, the king millions of dollars King calls in for it says hate pay up. I want my money and then says, I will never be able to pay this ever. Please have mercy on me, don't throw me in prison, right? And the king and graciousness is. Okay, I forgive you, release, you, man leaves being with the King, just being shown incredible Grace. Find someone that like always him, like $100. And grabs him by the collar and says pay me right now, man says, I can't pay you right now, hasn't thrown in prison. News gets back to the king and the King hears, like, wait a minute, the guy just forgave millions of dollars, can't forgive him. $100 calls the man in it says, I forgave you so much and yet you couldn't forgive this person. So what happens if the king throws that man into a debtors prison until he'll pay back everything? Can that man? Be back anything from prison, he's locked in there to see what unforgiveness is. It's a picture of unforgiveness. if you and I walking in forgiveness, we put ourselves in a prison that we cannot pay our way out of the only way to get out of that prison is to exercise of forgiveness that God calls us to do by his grace, so important