You are invited to stop asking what you want and start asking what God has for you. Guard the experiences where you feel His presence, write them down, and seek wise counsel to keep you on track. Come forward today to receive prayer and direction for your next steps.
What an intro. Wow. That was nice. Yeah. No pressure.
It was good to see you all. You all look beautiful. Yeah. Oh, so do I. I didn't say it so you'd compliment me.
I wasn't fishing. Let me let me open this up in a little prayer. Thank you, Jesus. For today, Lord, I pray that you would, "open the ears" of the people. Let us hear you.
Let us hear you clearly. Let us hear you well. We love you, Jesus, and, prevent the speaker from saying anything stupid. Amen. Amen.
You guys think I'm joking. I accepted Jesus into my heart when I was 5 years old. I remember I was in the kitchen of my house I grew up in, and I was talking to my mom, and she said something about you know, we're talking about what a Christian is, and I was she said, somebody that accepts Jesus into their heart. And I'm like, I want Jesus into my heart. And she's like, you do?
I'm like, yeah. And so she's like, well, let's pray. Closed my eyes and we prayed, and I had, like, my first vision. I saw a little cartoon *Jesus* walking towards a little cartoon heart, and he opened the door, and he, stepped in, and he closed the door. And I was like, amen.
And I was like, *Jesus is in my heart*. He is in my heart. And I've been walking with Jesus ever since. And I've I've I've I've heard his voice in a lot of ways. And there's something about at a very young age, I I I it made sense to me, it just clicked.
Had this deep seated feeling that if God exists and and he, you know, it's and it's like this God that we kind of come to know, like he has a personality, he he loves things, he also doesn't like certain things, he has a mind, he he cares, and he and he's attentive to us, and if that if that paradigm exists, then obviously the most important thing that I can do with my life is to find out who he is and what he wants me to do. It's a very natural conclusion. Right? *Hebrews-11:6*, we quote this 1 all the time and it says this, and without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists. Okay.
Number 1. And that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. So I had Jesus in my heart and I kind of was, you know, young obviously and I wasn't reading the bible. Was just sort of engaging with him in prayer and throughout my life. I remember 1 time I was, fishing.
I've told this story before, but I was fishing and I I caught I caught this little fish. It was like about this big. I was trying to get the hook out of his mouth. The fish had swallowed the hook, and I was like, and, and and I had to pull it, I basically ripped it out. Ripped his guts out.
I put him back in the water, and his little belly he went belly up, and I was like I had, like, this bleeding heart for animals, you know, when I was young. And I I was like crying, you know, I was so sad. I'm like, why am I fishing? Fishing is the stupidest thing ever. I was doing this for fun.
I killed a thing, a living thing for no reason. I'm not having fun, you know. And I I told my mom, and she's like, what's wrong? And she says, well, buddy, let's pray about it. And so I'm like, alright.
And we pray. You know? And I don't remember what she prays. Lord, help him. Help him feel better.
And amen. And out of the sky, this bird comes, and he swoops down, scoops that fish straight up and flies off. And I'm like And like I just had revelation all at once. It's like, **God listens** to my prayer. And he like, he took this thing that like sucked and he made it beautiful.
Like, that bird wouldn't have gotten a meal without me having gone and fished and killed that. You know, it like all made sense to me. I was just like, oh my gosh. You know? I remember 1 time I was in my bathroom, I had this loose tooth.
It was like the time when your teeth are falling out, and it was horrible. It was so painful. And it was too loose to like go back, you know. I was like, I gotta get this thing out. And I could spin it all the way around, but I couldn't get And it hurt so bad, and there was blood coming down.
You guys wanna know more? And and it was like, was in there for like 10 minutes, it dawned on me, Gabe, pray. Why haven't you prayed yet? And I'm like, oh, yeah. And I'm like, Lord, please help me with this tooth.
And I didn't get done with that prayer, and that tooth was just like this. And I was like, you know, my mind was blown as a kid. I mean, your mind would be blown today at that. I was healed. I experienced healing.
And so I started to really feel like, *God* is like in my heart. He is here. Like I can talk to him anytime, and he's talking back, and I'm like engaging with him. I remember 1 time, I was gonna go to bed and I was I was gonna say in my prayers, and I said, Lord, I pray that by tomorrow morning, I would have a button on my back, and when you press it, I would breathe fire. And I was dead serious.
Which is like, why would it Why would I want it on my back? It's like I saw action figures with buttons on their backs, which is how my little brain was thinking. So I go to bed, I wake up, and I'm like, I prayed that prayer, and then I'm like, I run to the bathroom. I'm legit looking, and I'm like, I had a little disappointment, a little kind of question. Nothing from the Lord on that 1?
It's going And if like you think it's so obvious why he didn't answer that prayer, it's not that obvious. I mean, if you think about it for a little bit longer, it's like, well, you know, some of our prayers get answered and some of them don't, you know, and why not that 1? Well, it set me on more of a journey to kind of start learning about who he was, so that Hebrews verse, I was learning that he exists, right, and that he rewards those who seek him. But now he's starting to teach me about his character. Not everything is just He's not just a genie.
Right? *Jeremiah-9:23* through 24 says this, Thus says the Lord, let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, and let not the rich man boast in his riches. But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord. So God delights in certain things, which means he probably doesn't delight in other things.
If he, you know And so I'm starting to learn, this this God has a character. He has a nature. He's like gonna say yes to some things and no to other things. I remember I was I began reading the bible. I was maybe in my, you know, 12, 13, 14, and and I was reading in Matthew, because that's where you start, according to pastor David as well.
Was I reading in Matthew, I was reading a couple chapters, and I was just kinda like, *Lord* And I stopped, and I'm starting to pray, and I'm like, Lord, yeah, but I wanna see you. Okay? Like, I want to see you. Like, why don't you just come into this room? I wanna see you with my eyes and see you.
And then I I'm, like, waiting. And, like, nothing's happening, and I'm like and I go back to the word, and the very next scripture I read is, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. It just gives me chills even to this day. He's so sweet. He he was like right there.
And he wasn't gonna conform into the way that I was wanting him to interact. He was gonna interact how he was going to, but I saw him and I go, oh, well perfect. She's gotta be pure in heart. Whatever that means, great. I'll see God.
I remember I was are you okay if I'm telling some stories? It's story time, right? Okay. I remember I was was starting to steal. Like, I randomly got this thing where I was starting to steal things.
I wasn't even like I wasn't stealing big things. I wasn't like robbing stores of a TV. But maybe I'd go to the grocery store, I'd pick up an apple and I'd walk around with it, eat it, and then throw it away. And I was just like It was this this little, you know, teenager dorky thing that I was doing. Not good.
*God* was starting to convict me on it, and I could tell. I remember it was Halloween 1 night, and I was gonna dress up as Flavor Flav. Flavor Flav. And I I had this gold chain, I took the clock off my mom's kitchen wall and put that on there. I had this like gangster outfit, and I needed some sunglasses.
And so I was like, let me go to Halloween USA, so I went there, and I found the perfect sunglasses, but I'm like, I don't wanna buy these. You know, they're like $10. It's Halloween night, of course, and there's this line going around the way, and I'm like, I'm not even gonna wear it. I just bought once. Let me just And I felt the Lord convicting me.
Don't do it. And and and I just kinda ignored him, and I put him in my pocket, and I went out. And I had a had a good time. I had a good time on Halloween night. We had fun.
Slept the next morning, got up. I knew I had to do something. Was I was getting ready to go, and I couldn't find my wallet. And I started looking around and I'm like, where the heck is my wallet? And I'm like, you know, and I have to go pretty soon, so I'm tearing apart the house, I'm tearing apart my car, looking around everywhere, and I'm like this with God.
Because I know, I already knew. Because prior, you know, if I ever lost something, would just pray about it. I'd be like, Lord, help me find my wallet, and within minutes, I would either find it or or, you know, like somehow it would come to me where it was. I would always engage with the Lord like that. Not this This time I'm like, I knew the second it was lost, he took it from me.
He said he said, oh, you're gonna steal? How about I steal from you? That's what he said to me. And and I'm like, gosh darn it. And so I'm like, Lord, I'm sorry.
I shouldn't have done it. What do I need to do? And I knew, he he said, go back go back to that store and buy the sunglasses. Don't take them back. Buy the sunglasses.
They're yours now. I'm like, gosh darn it. So I go up and I get some cash, and I hop in the car, and I take off over there, and I sneak the sunglasses into the store. I'm like reverse stealing them now. Like, hopefully nobody sees me bringing merchandise in to pay for.
And so I, you know, and then I bring them out, I pay for them, and I head home, and I park, and I open my car door, and there's a pile of leaves with a wallet just sitting right there on top. And I'm going, thank you, God. And he began fathering me. You know? *2 Corinthians-6:18* says, and I will be a father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord.
So I was starting to grow up a little bit, grow up into a little bit more of a relationship. This is kind of a normal sort of story arc. If you come into the Lord and you you kinda hear in him just for the first time, just to find out, wow, he does exist. And then it's like, now he's starting to father you. Okay?
And I was learning his character. And then began to find out that God actually has a plan for my life. *Ephesians-2:10 says this, for we are God's handiwork created in Christ Jesus* to do good works, which God prepare prepared in advance for us to do. We were created in Christ Jesus to do good works. We are created to do good works.
We are create We were created. Why? Like like, why do we exist? Why are we here? We were created to That answers the question why.
Why are you here? To do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us. So God has a plan. That puts a little more perspective to like, "for I know the plans I have for you", says the Lord. Plans to prosper you, not to harm you.
Right? Like he has a he has a plan, a real plan, a schematic. It's like a blueprint. He's got it. It's about you.
It's about your life. He's got a plan for your life, and they're good works that you're call called to walk in. But you'll never walk in those works without hearing God's voice. Because how are you gonna know what they're gonna do? If you're just wandering around doing whatever you want, how are you're you're not necessarily doing what God has called you to.
And so 1 of my the the the message I'm talking about is that *God actually can give you direction* over your life to cause you to go into doing these good works that he has planned for you. I remember when I got done with high school, everybody was going off to college, and I just felt like I was supposed to play in this band. So I was I was an electric guitar player. We had a band. My best friend, Rob Fisher, was a lead singer.
I had this 5 piece band. I'll be selling CDs out there in the lobby if anybody, wants. I still have quite a few. Come on. Not supposed to laugh that hard.
Jeez. People were thinking that's crazy, but I knew the Lord was with me, and I felt like this was the right thing. Spent 2 years after high school playing in this band, and it was a blast. We started growing. We actually started getting closer and closer to being kind of picking up some momentum.
And I remember the last show we did, it was in Detroit, Michigan. It was a pretty decent show and we had a blast. We introduced some new songs. They went over really well. It was like really cool.
And got done with that show, and either that night or the next night, I just had this thought drop into my spirit like, that's the last show you'll play with Facing Away. And and it was this thought was like peaceful and full of love and like a good It was like good news to me. And I didn't know why because it's like, I had no plan. Everyone told me you should have gone to college. Now I'm like, you know, my whole life is undone.
But it's like, I just knew that's that's the last time. That's the last time. And I went to go tell my my best friend, lead singer, and and he beat me too. He said, dude, for some reason, I feel like that was the last show we were gonna play is Facing Away. And I'm like, I felt that way too.
It was just confirmed immediately. I'm just giving you hints of what the Lord's voice sounds like. We'll dive into it in a little bit. So I ended up going back to school for nursing, and quickly into that, I I started feeling like I wanted to do go a little bit further and do anesthesia. And so I I remember I had done my nursing degree.
I had moved to Grand Rapids where my future wife lived. She didn't know I was there. I knew she was there. She didn't know I was there yet. I was there working, because you've to work a year in the ICU before you can get into anesthesia.
Wanted a couple more pre reqs to get done. Just a couple more. Actually, just 1. 1 class, it was **organic chemistry**. I had done chemistry at my local community college, so that should have transferred.
I called the office, left a message. I kept calling the office trying to get a hold, make sure that this credit is going to go in so that I can do it in this fall because I have to be able to do it in order to apply to anesthesia school. Otherwise, it's going be a whole another year. It was very, like, you know, timing. And I finally got ahold of somebody at the office and they said, No, no, this credit won't transfer to that.
That's equivalent to like 1 lower. You're gonna have to take this 1 first, then get into this 1. And with the timing of everything, it was gonna throw off a whole another year. I was gonna spend a whole another year doing 1 class at a time, like very inefficient, very awful, and I'm like, oh. And I spent all this time trying to organize it all.
Was just like a massive headache. Got off the phone and I'm like, well Lord, what am I supposed to do with this? You know? I'm kinda just sitting there and I was looking at maybe another college and I decided to call this other college. They put me on hold, and I'm just kinda like get a call from a random number while I'm on hold with that second college.
I'm like, whatever. I'm picking up because I'm not waiting for this. Pick it up, And it's the admissions department at GRCC. And they said, it's it's the person I called. It's like I had left messages.
Right? So they were calling me back. So they didn't have all the information. I already kind of knew the answer. They said, hey, this is the admission department.
We saw you had a message. I was like, yeah, you know, I was trying to get into so and so's organic chemistry class. She said, okay, hold on. And she put me on hold and she was transferring me. I'm like, okay.
I kind of was just like, Lord, what's going on here? Transfers me to the teacher. The teacher picks up. Say, Hey, and I'm realizing I got a second at bat here, let's give it a go. So I said, hey, I had this chemistry class from JCC, I'm trying to get into the college.
I need to be able to take your class in order to get into a seizure school on time. She's like, well, this class is quite difficult, and I knew I had her at that point. And I was like, listen, I will be the best I'm telling you right now, not only am I gonna do well in your class, I'm gonna 4 point it. I will help other students. Trust me, I know what I'm doing.
I'll I'll be able to do this. And she says, alright, I'm gonna let you in. She says she says, but I gotta go. I can't do it right now. I'm not even supposed to be in my office right now.
I have a classroom full of students, but I forgot something and I came back. I don't even know why I picked up the phone. And this stuff has happened to me my whole life. Like I have 1000 more stories for you. And what I I wanna tell it to you because like the the testimony, when I speak about some the way that God interacts with me, it means it's applicable for you.
He he wants to interact with you that way. You're able to do this. I called pastor David, something like this, I don't have time to tell it, but something like this happened just this last week for my business. Something ridiculous. Something only supernaturally explained.
I called pastor David, told him about it. Said, isn't it fun living anointed? You know? And that's what this message is about. It's That that whole thing was the intro.
The anointed life. The anointing. When God's hand is on you to to do something, and and when you're actually walking within his plan, it it works like this through conversation with God. It works like this. And when you are actually anointed to do what it is you're doing, doors swing open.
I'm telling you. Like, no door can stop you. You have to check with God because sometimes you might think it's this way, and he's actually taking you this way, but like, when you're in God's will, doors are just flying open. I So you you wanna take an assessment of your life. Are you are you constantly feeling like you're spinning your tires and you're working so hard and you can't get ahead?
It's like take an honest assessment and say, maybe God is trying to tell me something. Like, maybe I'm not supposed to be doing this. Maybe I need to check with him. Did he tell me to go in this way? Did he tell me to try to do it this way?
Go to Matthew-16:2 through 3. This is something Jesus said, and I've taken this scripture as like a clarion call over my life. Jesus said, when evening comes, you say it will be fair weather for the sky is red. And in the morning today it will be stormy for the sky is red and overcast. You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the "signs of the times".
He was he was actually reprimanding the religious people. *Jesus* is standing in front of them, and they they didn't recognize him. They could tell you if it's gonna rain tomorrow, but they couldn't recognize what Jesus was doing and what God the just the most basic elements of what God is doing. And I wanna take that as a *word* over my own life, like a a clarion call that says, I always wanna know what season I'm in. I always wanna know, like, where does God have me?
Like, am I am I in a season of rest? Because I shouldn't be like trying to get out of it if I am. Am I in a season where I gotta push through? Maybe I need to just know that I'm in that season so that I can see the finish line when it's coming. Like, you need to know your own season with the Lord.
So I'm gonna tell you a little bit about how to know your own season, how to hear God's voice, what it's gonna sound like. I'm just gonna give you some little guiding principles about this. First of all, I wanna ask the question, why do we wanna hear God's why do we wanna hear and follow God's voice to begin with? Because I don't wanna assume you actually would that we've answered that yet. Like, why because, you know, there's gonna be times when he has something to tell you to do that you do not wanna do.
Anyone? When he says, hey, break up with that boyfriend because he's holding you back from me and he's not who I have for you. And you're like, yeah, but I love him. You know? And it's like, why should why should I listen to God?
Why why do I wanna hear God's voice, and why is that so important? I'll give you 2 reasons. First of all, you owe it to God. First of all, you owe it to God. Remember the parable of the talents?
He goes and gives talents out to the people, and he's it's like money, and he says, go invest it. Bring me back some more. I will come back, and I'll come to you, and I expect a return on my investment. See, God expects a return on the investment he made into you. He made you.
He gave you life. He gave you talents. He gave you ability. He gave you a mind. He gave you He actually knit you together with specific things that other people don't have.
And it's like, you know, you know, it's like your little piece in in a computer. It's like 1 little piece out of function. The whole computer might not work, and you're very you're very unique. You're like more unique than that. You have the fingerprint of God on you, and it's because he made you for a reason, and he expects a return on that.
He expects that you do according to what he has called you to do, to walk in those good works, and actually give him the fruit that he deserves. And you do that by hearing his voice and then obeying. So that's number 1. Number 2 is is is nice. Psalms-37:4.
It says, delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. I love that verse. So what happens is when you delight yourself in the Lord, when you love the Lord, and when you when you make him, you know, when you seek first the kingdom and focus on him, those things that he put inside of you, he he made you in a certain way, and you don't even know. You don't even know what's in you. Like, you're sitting here trying to figure it out.
But you don't know because but the manufacturer knows how he made the product. Amen? So he knows what he put inside of you. And what happens, I'm gonna tell just testify to you that when you give your life to the Lord and then you begin to walk with him, what actually happens is some desires in your heart start coming out that you didn't even know he put in there, and you start to long for certain things that are godly, that are gonna bring fruit and bring glory to God. You actually start to want to do those things.
And then when you walk in them, get the fruit. God gets the glory, God gets the fruit, and you get the joy of actually expressing yourself the way you were created to be. That's good, right? Yes. I mean, look at Pastor David up here.
He's like he's like giddy. I mean, look at him. He's like joyful and giddy. He's like, oh, you know, he's You you see so much energy coming out of him. He's doing what he's been called to do.
He was made to do that. And some of you are made to fix cars. Like, you just know how it works, and you have an anointing for it. And there's different seasons of life, but the point is that he's actually placed these desires within you. And if you'll give your life to the Lord, and if you'll and you'll begin to wanna say, I want what you want, God, over everything, then you'll actually begin to walk in this anointed walk.
1 of the things that is essential for that though is you have to desire his word over your life more than everything. *God* doesn't force his word onto you. He's not gonna shout you down. In fact, a lot of times, he whispers. Right?
Because he wants you to lean in. Because you care like, if you're leaning in, you care to hear what he has to say. And it requires you kinda stopping everything else and saying, wait a minute. Let me find out what God is saying. I used to date so many different girls, like, go on a date here, on a date there.
I was always looking for my wife. It was like, bleeding heart, always looking for my wife. I didn't find her until I was 29. It was like a decade of just torture. And I would I would I would meet a girl, I'd get really excited about it, I would date I would go on maybe 1 or 2 dates, and I'm like and I and then I'd bring myself to the Lord, and I prayed what I called the relationship suicide prayer, which is Lord, if this is not you, please take it away from me.
And I tell you what, I could do a whole message on all the ways he took away girls that were not for me. Took me away from them, took them away from me. It was crazy. But it was hard, man. It was hard to pray that prayer.
I got to I would drag myself to the Lord. I'd be like, Lord, please. I If this Please let this be it, but if it's not, you know, not your will, but mine be Or not my will, but yours be done. Right? And because I gave it to him every time he took it, and he actually prevented me from going on way wrong paths, like he saved me in so many different ways.
And the better thing, because I was kind of immature back then, the better thing, the more mature thing to do would have been to trust him in the beginning, not to let my heart get all like go in every direction and then bounce around. Know? There's a scripture that says, don't be like the donkey who has to be led by "bit and bridle", but I want to lead you with my eye. So there's a maturing that happens in your walk with the Lord where you go from like just wandering, wandering, and then checking in with the Lord every now and again, and kind of banging your head around, and being led by the bit and bridle, jerked left and jerked right. You don't actually have to do that.
You can be led by his eye, by keeping things on the altar before him, and going first to him. God, what should I do with this? Am I called to, you know, like have a relationship with this person? Should I I I I I'm getting sick of my job, Lord. Is am I supposed to be here?
Did you speak that I'm supposed to be here? You know? And you bring things before him, and then what what'll happen is you'll actually he'll he'll lead you so subtly. You'll just know. You'll And you begin to walk in a more mature light like that, you know.
But you have to desire his word more than anything else. His word will always require faith. You know it says, without faith it is impossible to please God. Here's something. God doesn't treat appealing to your logic as his supreme priority.
I don't know if you've ever noticed that. He's like, he lets your logic kinda get to the end of its path. Right? He doesn't mind that. Now, that's not to say that he's this just like unknowable mysterious God, but he he he does not serve our logic necessarily.
So if you're somebody that like always needs, you know, it's spelled out perfectly, you're gonna struggle with hearing God's voice. Because he's gonna require you to have faith. A faith isn't blind. It's not you're not just jumping in blindly, but you're you're giving the word that you've heard from God enough attention to say, is this possibly the case, Lord? Is this you?
Let me go forward with it, but let me, like, see. *Faith* is always gonna be required. Alright. Let me let me ask this. So how do we get God to speak to us?
So like let's say you you like what I've said so far. You want you want this for your life. How do we get God to speak to us? I only have 1 point here, and I want you to like Write it down, if you if okay? Because this is like the summary.
If you get nothing else from this message, get this. How do we get God to speak to us? **ask questions** that require a response and then wait for 1. If you don't get any response, just keep waiting or keep asking. It's it's literally that simple.
But you wouldn't believe how many people don't do that, actually. Like a lot of Christians, we either don't ask or we ask but don't wait for nothing. It's like, *Lord*, help help me at my job. You know, let's say struggling at your job. Help me with at my job, or help me find another 1.
Amen. It's like, who are talking to? You're just gonna "talk the whole time"? You're not gonna listen? Like, what relationship works when you talk the whole time and don't listen at all?
No relationship works that way. It actually takes faith to ask a question and then to wait. Lord, what do you have for me in this job? Please speak to me, God. And that right there takes faith, and it's an uncomfortable amount of faith that a lot of people never actually even achieve into.
But if you want God to speak to you, give him the chance. Right? Like, create a little runway for a plane to land, for his word to land on your life, and he will speak to you. And then, you know, I wanna touch on this. It says, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.
Alright. We know that verse. They'll mount up on wings like eagles. See, a lot of times God requires you to wait a little bit before he speaks. And we're like, why, Lord?
Come on. I want the answer. You know? Because your heart's all excited about something. I'm talking about like directional words and things like that, and a lot of times he requires you to to wait, and it's because in waiting, you actually declare to both yourself and the world that God's word upon this is more important than anything else, than how I feel or anything.
There's something about in that time frame where you just it it it writens things. It writens everything to be to be correct. And then you can calm down, and then what happens is you rise up on wings like You actually get energy out of it when you do it right. When you, like, let it go, lay it before the Lord, and and say, I'm not gonna move until you do it. Remember Saul in the Old Testament?
Remember when he he had the kingdom ripped from him. Why? Do you remember? He wanted to offer a sacrifice. The war was all around.
He's like, we gotta go to war. The battle is like here. Where's Samuel? Where's Samuel? Samuel is the priest.
Kings were not allowed to offer the sacrifice, only the priests. And and Saul, because he was in a hurry, said, like, let me just offer the sacrifice and then go to war. And God stripped the whole kingdom from him because he did that. He Samuel said, you should have waited. You were never supposed to do that.
And I'm telling you, a lot of our prayers a lot of times are like, let me just hurry and throw a prayer up and say, God, alright, and then and then do what I want to do. And it's like, don't expect a different result. You know? This is how it works with the Lord. You have you because you're lying to yourself.
When you say he's supreme, then you'll wait for him. So what does his voice sound like? What's the next verse that I have for you? It's like verse 15, but I didn't put It's Colossians. Yes.
It says, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts since as members of 1 body you are called to peace. *God's voice* is always gonna come with peace. It's always wrapped in peace, and that rule actually is like like an umpire, like ruling the call, or or like a judge. Like rule rule like, let the peace of God determine the way which way to go. I remember when Mariah and I were gonna buy that boat.
You guys, some of you remember that we had this boat business, and we were And, it was the first time that God actually told me to start a business. I started a lot of other businesses before that. They all were failing. Then God actually told me to start 1. And I was like, oh, okay.
This is how I'm supposed to do it. I'm supposed to do it by faith. And, we we had done all this due diligence. It it was a 48 foot motor. Yeah.
It's a big boat. It's a lot a lot of money, a lot of like, man, I don't know, are we supposed to do this? But I had been getting dreams and getting all these words that we were supposed to do it. We got right up until the moment we were gonna buy it. It was like 3 days before a close date.
It was the weekend before we were gonna close on that Monday. It was an active business, which means that it was important what money he said he was making because that's what I expect that the business is going to do. Well, come to find out, I figure it out. The way he's been doing it is totally illegal. It's like, you know, he's not intentionally doing it super illegally, but it's like he's not compliant with a certain charter law, and so he had too many people on his boat every time, and if the coast guard would have caught him, they would have shut him down.
And I found this out on that Friday, and I'm like, oh my gosh. It like threw everything off, and I'm like, I cannot believe this. And I started calling. I called the coast guard. I called lawyers.
I was talking to see, like, is this legal? How how do we do this? Is it actually legal to do it the way he thinks he's doing it? Well, yes. It is actually legal, but you have to stay really in stringent, you know, adherence to these codes and stuff, which he wasn't.
I'm like and he just put this whole sour thing on the whole thing, and I'm like, I have all this anxiety now. And I and it's the weekend, and I remember Mariah and I called Heidi Hunter. She was our banker at the time, but all but also her trusted friend. And she said, listen, you guys know the voice of the Lord. Pray about it.
He'll speak to you. We got off the phone and I'm like, well, let's pray about it, you know. And and we're like, Lord, show us what to do. I don't know if you can catch the consistency of how pathetic our prayers are. They're just like the most basic.
It's like, you have to understand that that's what prayer is. Prayer is your little pathetic mouth like chucking something up to God. Okay, that's it. It's like it's a conversation. It just comes out of your heart.
It's not like, oh Lord, dearest, you know. It's like, Lord, please show me what to do in this. I don't know what to do. And we sat there and waited. I'm telling you, in 30 seconds, all that anxiety was like it was like a cloud just went out, and all this peace just flooded into that room.
And me and Moriah both looked at each other, we already knew, like, we're buying this boat. He wants us to do this. That's crazy. It was just that simple direction. His peace, you can't manufacture his peace.
The devil cannot manufacture his peace, and certainly you can't in your anxious state trying to figure something out. If you have a little anxiety, frustration, anger, think of those things as like "red lights on your car". Stop, stop, pull over, get right, because those are horrible places to make decisions. Horrible places. I spoke with someone this week, we were talking about, and that's what I said.
I said, be careful in this season when you're really having it rough. He's having a rough season, and it's like, that's danger time for ideas, because you'll just birth some crazy idea about going off and let me just go back to school and be a lawyer or whatever. Like, you'll you'll think up something, and it was never God, and God will just sit back and let you go. Whew. If that's not scary enough, that he'll let you go do a stupid idea, and you'll just be spinning your wheels for however long it takes you to finally go, God, what's going on?
And he's like, oh, me? You want to speak to me? How sweet. Let me get down. I just got a couple more points.
*God* is not schizophrenic. Schizophrenic means 2 minded. Okay? He doesn't go back and forth. Some people, it's like, God told me to go here and do this.
The second something is going wrong, it's God told me to go over here and do that. God here, God there, everywhere. It's like, that's not how it works. God's word always will bear fruit. It will always bring back the reward of why he spoke it to begin with.
*Isaiah-55:11* says this, so is my word that goes out from my mouth. It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. That's what his word does. It goes forth and brings life and bears fruit. That's So why when we connect to the word, that's what happens.
Okay? God can like He can speak through circumstances and like coincidences, but circumstances are not necessarily God's voice. Okay? So it's it's really important that you distinguish that because sometimes you're gonna go into a situation and it's gonna be really hard and really rough and it's right where God wants you. And it's for you.
It's for you to change. And if you have this toddler mindset of like, you know, well, this must not be it. Maybe God wants me over here. You're gonna slip right out out out from under what God is doing in your life and you're gonna go round and round and round until you submit to the process that he wants to put you under. Right?
Yeah. Amen. I 1 thing, I never say maybe God. I don't I just like, you know, oh, maybe God did this. Maybe God is doing that.
You know, I I find that so rude. *God is in the room. You know, speak with him. You're a child of God*. You should know.
He has given you his mind. You can go to him. If you're confused, go to him. Find out, Lord, what what is it? If he doesn't speak, let it be a mystery.
Don't jam a situation into your little logic. Say, well, maybe God just wants to teach me a lesson. Is that the case? You should know. You're a child of God.
If you have accepted Jesus, his spirit is in you and you can hear him. He says, my sheep know my voice. And he's so gracious with it. If you're tired and exhausted, go to him. He will speak to you.
He'll he'll he'll say, keep going. You know? Just 1 word from him about, hey, be patient. I've got you. Be patient, and you'll be good to go for another 6 months, till you get frustrated, and you have to go to him again.
He's very gracious. 1 other way, he speaks through his word. Alright, got 1 more good story for you. Now, most of the time, speaks through his word. It's like, you read the word, by his spirit, he highlights something.
He brings by revelation more about who he is, more about who you are, how to walk. This story is not that. This story is like, okay, I was you already heard I was desperately in desire for a wife. I remember Mariah's sister, she was always trying to set me up with Mariah, and I was for that, not against it. But it was like never working out.
And so like, I was in Flint by the time, in anesthesia school, Mariah Sylvakkuk in Grand Rapids, that's 2 hours away. Her sister was like, let me bring her over, we're gonna have a party night over at our house in Flint, and she'll come and, you know, da da da da. And this this idea was coming about, and I was like and by this point, I'd grown up a little bit. I'm like, Lord, I don't want anything to do with this if this is not you. Please just tell me, is this Mariah girl somebody that I should be, you know, be paying attention to?
And I opened the bible, and I opened to this page, and this like light is coming from the window, and it's on this verse, and the first thing I see is Moriah. I didn't even know her name was in the bible. It said Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. *2 Chronicles-3:1*, now Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah. It didn't say Mount Moriah because the mount was over here.
It was the next line on Mount Moriah where the Lord had appeared to his father David, I'm like And I go running, I'm like telling people, I'm like, I found my wife. This is crazy. What the heck? There's a My mathematical mind, how many words are in the bible? How many What is the chances of that?
You know, and a light is like, ping ping. I'm like, what is going on? And so, couple hours later, I get a text from her sister, I'm so sorry, she's not coming. She just started dating somebody else. And I'm like, that's the last time I used the Bible as this "Chinese cookie fortune telling" bullcrap.
I am done with this. I was so frustrated. I went outside, I sat on the bench, I called my mom, and I'm like, what is this? I just like a roller coaster of emotions that just happened. And I'm talking to her on the phone, oh, well, you know, and and this little bunny comes up and just hops right up and just sits by my foot.
And I'm like, mom, there's a bunny. She's like, what? I'm like, there's just there's a bunny right here. It's like God knows how to like See how it comes full circle with these animals. My wife calls me a Disney princess because it's like these This bunny comes up and she's And it's just looking at me and it just like lifted my little spirits.
It's like God just knows how to speak to me. And sure enough it was right, but it was a year later. It took a whole year for her to drop those boys and man, he slid me in. I'm telling you, he slid me in at the perfect, on the day. Not the day before, not the day after.
The day before she would have still been with that 1 guy, the day after she would have been with somebody else. I'm just telling you, she slid me in. I mean, if there is not a proof that the Lord exists, it's that I married Moriah. Alright, 2 more quick points. Guard your experiences with God.
This is this is 1 1 of 2 more quick points. When you have something like this, you know, by the time it came back around with Moriah, it's not like I forgot that thing. It sure was weird because it didn't work out the way I expected it to, but I sure didn't forget it. And when God is speaking, I'm like, I take care of those stories and I'm paying attention. I feel like God might be seeing this thing.
Keep it with you. "Guard that experience". Write it down. Pay attention to that. Treat the words that you get from the Lord with the value that they deserve because they might be literally the thing that's guiding you to where you're supposed to be going.
Okay? And then lastly, in the "multitude of counselors", there is wisdom. So like if this is not the way that you've lived, I mean there's a lot of ways to go wrong in like hearing God's voice and walking it out. You should have a minimum of 3 people in your life, hear me on this, that can tell you no or that you're wrong about God's voice and your direction that you go to regularly. You should be like submitting this stuff to like wise counsel.
Okay? Because I've seen so many people hearing this, hearing that, going left, going right, and they're getting off track. And it's it's easy to do. So that's it. Yeah.
Yeah. Thank God. So that's cool. Well, I'm gonna have the altar team come up. If they would, why don't you guys You can Should I have them stand, Todd?
You got a couple announcements? Yeah. Go ahead and stand. You guys, I've been standing this whole time. You'll be alright.
I wanna have the altar team come up because I always wanna give an opportunity for, you to "receive ministry". If you've never heard God for yourself, come and get prayer and somebody's gonna pray over you. They're gonna put their hand on you and say, God, would you speak to them? And you're gonna hear God. Whether it's right here at the altar or today or this week.
And especially young people. Anybody Raise your hand if you're 23. Couple of you lying through your hand. *Words especially. If you need you need to know, you need to hear God's voice*.
Don't just be thinking, oh, what do I wanna do in life? It's like, "what does God have for me"? That's the better question. And start asking the Lord for these things. He's gonna give you direction on this.
Alright? So let me let Todd do a few announcements, and then you guys can come up and receive ministry, and and you'll be good. Thank you.