You are invited to trade your need for control for a deeper intimacy with God, trusting that His love defines your reality more than your current situation. Spend time seeking His presence today, knowing that losing your life for His sake is the only way to truly find it. Let go of the need to understand the 'how' and rest in the truth that He loves you.
Okay. So I'm really excited. I get to invite miss Heidi Hunter up to the stage. And yeah. As a a pastor and and leader yeah.
You can come on, Heidi. As a pastor and leader, I I love 1 of my favorite things to do is get to empower the ready to live out their purpose. And 1 of Heidi's purposes is bringing the word. And so it's just awesome to get to see this, and I'm excited to to sit and learn with you guys from what God has given her. Amen.
It's a good morning. Good morning. It's a good 1. It really is. So I just wanna say welcome to everybody.
I know that I have a sister in Christ that is from North Carolina that is visiting today. Raise your hand, Laurie. She's a mentor of mine as well. So all of you Floridians, with the cold outside, it's her fault. Now you know who she is.
She came down wanting some warm weather and she said, I guess I just brought the cold with me. She's awesome. It was a good surprise. I found out yesterday that she was gonna be here. So it's been probably I don't know, 6, 7 weeks ago when pastor David called me and he's like, hey, you ready to preach again?
And I always say the same thing. I always say, did God tell you to ask me that? But at the same time, there's a pit in my stomach that is just like, oh. I said, let me pray about it, but I already knew. And so the beginning of the year, I was babysitting Isaiah for Mariah.
Mariah and Gabriel just had baby Judah on Friday night. So congratulations. I wanna say congratulations to them. And, oh, by the way, everybody that's walking watching online, welcome. We consider you a part as if you were even here, and we're so glad that you're watching.
So I wanna tell about a story about Mariah because that's what you do. You tell tell things on people when they're not here, and they can't stick up for themselves. So I was at her house, and she found out I was speaking in the God is Good series, and and she's like, what are you gonna say? And I told her because if she had the baby before she preached, which was January 16, pastor David said, you're gonna have to preach, so you need to be ready. Well, I was not ready.
And I said, do not have that baby before the sixteenth because I'm not ready. And she's like, well, what are you gonna speak on? I said, God is good. She goes, well, I know that. That's that's that's the theme, that's what we're speaking on.
And I said, I don't know. And she's like, what do mean you don't know? And she's like, pastor David didn't tell you like what you were like, you know, an idea. I said, you know, Mariah, he started to tell me, and then he was like, you know, I'm not gonna say anything. I'm just gonna let the Holy Spirit tell you.
And she busted out laughing. And I'm like, why are you laughing, Mariah? And she's like, you didn't he didn't tell you about the book that he I said, no. I didn't know anything about a book. And she's like, he didn't tell you anything?
And I said, no. And she goes, sucker. You gotta listen to Holy Spirit, sucker. She's great. But I love to tell that because you know, Mariah is so sweet, so you know, Mariah is a ham.
She is a ham. So I've really been excited. I've been going through a lot learning about the Lord. And honey, can you pass me that water? I forgot to bring that up here.
And I had an idea. The Lord kept speaking to me about Ezekiel. And *Ezekiel-37* about the valley of the "dry bones" and the lord asking him, hey, Ezekiel, will these dry bones live? And Ezekiel is like, only you know God. And so I'm like, yes.
This is the message because this is what I just had. He just kept pouring into me, pouring into me, pouring into me. So I started just praying about it and gathering all these thoughts and scriptures, and the Holy Spirit's giving me all of this stuff. And then so remember now, this started 6 or 8 weeks ago, and all of a sudden, this past Thursday morning at 6AM, I woke up and well, my husband's alarm woke me up at 05:30, and I couldn't go back to sleep. So I'm like, okay, Lord, what do you wanna show me?
And everything flip flopped. And I wasn't gonna speak on anything that he had been showing me. So I guess it was for me. But what he showed me was he showed me that I have been living out for the past 6 weeks or 8 weeks and months a testimony that he has been writing what he wanted to share with you through the through the testimony of what's been going on in me. Because recently, you know, in your life, things will be kinda going kinda smooth.
Last year and the year before was a really tough year. But recently, everything in my life and in my husband's life has just God's just shaking it. Like everything Nothing's working out the way I want it to work out. Everything seems unstable from my job, God making changes in my job to all of a sudden we have to find somewhere to live, and the market is not a fun market to try to find somewhere to live in. Every single my grandchildren been sick, you know, we've been sick, we all get this.
I think a lot of us are being touched by this right now. So everything has been shaken, and the Lord's like, you know what, I wanna share I want you to share what I have been doing in your life in the midst of this. So that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna share his testimony with you. The first thing I wanna do is we're gonna read 1 Corinthians-2:9 through 16.
And I meant to bring my bible up here, but I didn't. So I'm gonna read it. What no eye has sorry, guys. Okay. I see it back there.
*1 Corinthians-2:9* through 16. Everybody turn in their bible old school like I do. Just kidding. You can use your phone. Alrighty.
But as it is written, what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him. These things God has revealed to us through the spirit, for the spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thought except the spirit of that person which is in him. So also, no 1 comprehends the thoughts of God except the spirit of God. Now, we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God that we might understand the things freely given to us by God.
Let's pray. Holy Spirit, I thank you that you are here. Because if you're not, then we have nothing. But I know you're here, Lord, because you love us. And I know that you have a word that you wanna speak this morning.
And so, Lord, I just give my heart to you, my mouth to you, my mind to you, and ask that you would speak through me your word that is gonna, just bring understanding, that is gonna set people free. Lord, we glorify you. In Jesus' name, amen. I've been asking the Lord a couple things. Mainly, 1, I've been saying, Lord, I know your word says that you are good, but how can I know you are good?
And 2, why are we not seeing your word manifesting in our lives as your body? Like, why are we not seeing this? Because this is true. I stand on this. This is true.
And I told you a little bit about what's been going on in our lives and everything being shaken and me not knowing what is going on. And, you know, really and truly, he's the 1 that put those questions in my heart. He wanted me to ask him, just like he asked Ezekiel, hey, can these dry bones live? In the past several years, everything's been tough, I know, for all of us, and there's a lot going on and everything seems to be unknown. And again, I've been asking the Lord, how can I know that you are good?
How can we walk as the body of truth in your word and what you have called us to? What are where are we missing it? And guess what? I believe he has given me a life giving word for you or for us today, but it's going to cost you something. It's gonna cost you everything.
Are you ready for the answer? Yeah. It's **intimacy with him**. Yeah. It's intimacy with him.
*John-8:31* says, if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Some versions say the truth will make you free. *John-14:6* says, he says, I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life. And in *2 Peter-1:2* through 4, it says, his **divine power** has granted to us all the things, all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them, you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. You would think I don't talk a lot with my mouth getting so dry, but I do talk a lot.
Okay. So why do I not experience this? Because I don't believe it. We we always used to say this. I heard this first back when we were in South Carolina.
The problem with believers is they don't believe. Everything will that we believe comes from 1 source or another. It's gonna be worldly or it's gonna be spiritual. How I respond is based on what truth I am living, what truth I am pouring into my life, where I am spending my time, what I am spending my time doing. If I'm operating from a worldly perspective, what I believe and bear fruit from will be will be be determined by my life experiences, my emotions, my feelings, my past, what I'm spending my time watching or listening to, whatever I choose it to be.
Where do I spend my time? When you have a minute, what are you spending your time doing? Is your identity based on how many likes you have on Facebook? You know, you are we putting holy spirit, like, in our back pocket and being like, I'm a post a scripture, and then I'm a watch this movie over here. Oh, I got something big going at work, so I'm a pray real quick on the way out.
Oh, holy spirit, be with me while I do it. That's not how it works. You're not gonna have victory that way. 1 of the things 1 of the main things, and I love spending time with God because it's so good when you know it when he shows you something because it's so foreign. And 1 of the things that I am finding out is that most of the things that that we believe about who he is or or what he does, when he reveals himself in it, it's completely upside down.
It's completely the opposite of what we've always known and understood because we've always understood it and known it from a worldly perspective. It's impossible for me to understand or comprehend spiritual things from a worldly perspective. He showed me that I keep trying to seek knowledge and understanding of him and his word from a worldly perspective and it's not making sense. Do you ever pick up the word and be like, it's not making sense? Or do we ever walk through things in your life when you when it seems like the whole world is falling on around you and you're like, God, this isn't making sense.
Like, I'm doing this. I'm going to church. I'm reading my bible sometimes. Why is all this happening? It's not making sense.
And that and and the other thing he has shown me is that the only way for my life to reflect him is to know him. Spiritual truth, which is what we are created to operate in. I don't know if you were here the first Sunday of the year, Gabriel Mullens preached. It was so amazing, And he basically had a wine glass for those of you that weren't here and didn't see it. He had a wine glass.
Go back and listen to it though because I'm not gonna give it, you know, it's it was awesome, anointed. But it basically had a a clear wine glass and it was pretty but he had motor oil in it. And he said this glass was not *created* to carry motor oil. It was created to carry wine. And so we're walking in this We were created for a purpose.
And we were created to have a certain person on the inside of us and to operate a certain way. So when we're not operating that way, and before we know him, and before we understand him, things aren't working right. They're not making sense because we're trying to operate out of a foreign substance within us that he wants to change. Spiritual truth, is what we are created to operate in, is the word of God, which is Jesus in the flesh and does not change. It's absolute and can only be sourced through intimacy with God Yeah.
Through his holy spirit. The spirit of God is the only way I will receive absolute truth. When I go when I neglect him, I have no real truth and nothing will make sense. There's a song that I love. This is gonna be my second tattoo if I ever get 1, the first 1.
But my second tattoo, I really want 1, but I kinda feel like I'm getting too old, but I don't know. It's Florida. My second tattoo is gonna say, faith makes a fool of what makes sense.
Yeah. Come on.
*Faith* makes a fool of what makes sense. Going back to 1 Corinthians-2:12, it says, now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God that we might understand understand all the things freely given to us by God. All of the promises of God can only be received through intimacy with him, and I'm gonna keep saying that over and over again. The only way his truth can be reflected in my life is by spending time with him and getting to know him. He is getting to know who he is, and as I experience intimacy with him, I believe what he says.
And then my life will begin to be a "living epistle" of his truth. His attributes will begin to pour out of me because I have denied my fleshly desires. When I first met pastor David, and typically, would I was like, shouldn't I get this analogy about my husband? But Lord's like, no, pastor David. So when I first met pastor David they're laughing.
There's a lot there was a lot of Jesus in me, but oh, God's done so much to me since I've been at Real Church, and it's so good. But I met him, and I'm like, okay. He's like, he's amazing. But I always had that, like, thing, like, I'm like, I'm a watch him for a while. Because he was saying all the right things, and he would get excited about it.
But there's a lot of people that do that, but it's just not down in them. So I was like, I'm just gonna watch him for a while and see if he really is who he appears to be. And I'm very close with the Phillips family. And as I spent time, more time with pastor David and just talked to him and got to know him, I began to understand how he functions until I got to such a place where, like, I can almost predict what he's gonna say in certain situations. I learned so much from him.
But I've also been with him outside of church and at home and seen him do real life stuff. And I know him and I know his heart. So this is also a testimony of your pastor if you go here. I know the man's heart, and the man has a heart to serve God. He loves him.
He loves him because he spends time with him. He believes in his truth because he experiences relationship with him. I know Courtney better than I know pastor David, and I know a lot about pastor David through my relationship with Courtney, but it can't replace me knowing pastor David and spending time with pastor David. But I can tell you the man's the man's been given a a job, a calling. Has been asked to nurture a vision of God and he's doing it well.
That's an example of what the Lord wants with us. Nothing's gonna replace spending time with him 1 on 1. *1 Corinthians-2:9*, we already read it, says, what no eye has seen nor ear heard nor the heart of man imagined what God has prepared for those who love him. We can't love him if we don't know him. When he started showing me this stuff and I started going back and reading scripture, you know those scriptures where you you get really frustrated because you're like, I just can't even do that.
Like, because it almost seems contradictory and it almost seems condemning, but when you're reading it through the eyes of I know I love him because I know him, it makes sense because the reason things aren't working out and I'm not seeing him the way I should is because I don't know him, and I don't know what he means. I my worldly mind can't understand those spiritual things. And so, yeah, the things that make me mad that or used to make me mad or or just just didn't seem to be contradictory, it's because I was doing them in myself and expecting myself to do this apart from him and knowing him when like pastor David said earlier, you need to be in this the spirit of God. We need to be with him, intimate with him. *Intimacy* is a requirement.
When we get in God's way with our own unbelief and blame, we are struggling. And nothing will change until we make him the center. It is up to you. It is up to me. If you want a chance in your life, you have to press into Jesus.
You have to know him and love him so you can believe him to be true. Then you stand on spiritual *truth* and we'll see promises in your life. I believe we are in a season where he is asking us in our lives to look beyond everything we have seen with our eyes and everything we have known until now. As Christians, we have not received the spirit of the world. That worldly spirit died when we came to faith in Christ.
That worldly spirit was replaced with the spirit of God. Only through him can we gain the ability to understand what can only be understood spiritually apart from our physical senses. God has freely revealed these things to us about his son and the opportunity to be included into his family. He wants us to know them. He wants us to trust them as being absolutely true.
And again, the only way to do that is through time and intimacy with him. *James-1:5 through 8 says, if any of you lacks wisdom*, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith with no doubting. How do you do that? This is the kind of stuff I didn't understand.
How do you do that? Through intimacy with him. When you are intimate with him, when you spend time with him, this makes sense. That's how I can have no doubting because I spent time with him and I know it to be true. For the 1 who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything. Are you tossed by the wind? You might wanna get to know Jesus. He is a "double minded man", unstable in all his ways. You can't have spiritual wisdom and understanding without knowing the source and loving him.
It is impossible. Right? Right now, everything's shaking in my life, but my perspective changed. This is how it changed. When this stuff started happening and I thought, My immediate reaction, some you know, the immediate reaction is is by things that you've been taught, by your experiences in life.
That first reaction that you have when something bad happens or or something is shaky, that's where that comes from. And that's not necessarily God. Most likely, it's not God. So when I started going through all of this stuff, I'm like, everything in my life is shaking. I was so burned out from work.
My brain was so tired that I would get home and I couldn't even hardly make a sentence. I was completely exhausted. And I felt that on the inside of me, everything is going why, God? I kinda like heard that off to the side, but because I've been spending time with the Lord, because I've been growing in him, because I have been serving his people, doing, being obedient to him. Because in all those times when it looked crazy to the world to say yes to God, I said, God, I'm choosing to "stand on your word" and your truth.
And if it all messes up, that's your problem because I'm doing what you told me to do. And so God, I'm standing on your word and I've done that over and over and over and over and over and over, and guess what? I believe what he says Amen. More than I did. So when we started going through all of this, I was like, this ain't the devil.
We blame so much stuff on the devil. Y'all it ain't the devil. He doesn't even need us because we do so much stuff on our own. And so I was like, all of a sudden, you know, that the holy spirit rose up in me and I was like, oh, this is something God's doing. You know, I might make a change in work that because God told me to, and I'm gonna have a lot less income.
So what all everything going on in here in my body is a lie because the spirit of God in me has authority over my soul, and I can command my soul to line up with the spirit of God in Jesus' name. So I'm like, oh, God, this is something you're doing. This is something you're doing. This is exciting. You know, the bible talks about in going into the river and going deeper and deeper.
This wasn't, you haven't been performing enough, Heidi, so I'm gonna really set you back. This is Honey, you've been faithful and you have stood on my word and you have spent time with me and you know me and guess what? You're ready. We're about to go deeper. And I go deeper into the river, into the ocean, and I'm a little I'm shaking a little bit, but you know what?
Because there's a little bit in that shaking, I'm going deeper. So there's a little unsteadiness and I'm just trying to get my footing. But this is about him taking me deeper. And I don't know about you, you can come to church and you can listen and you can do what you want, but I'm telling you, the spirit of God created you to need and desire relationship with him. I'm a go ahead and make it easier for you.
Give into that.
That's right.
Give in to your selfishness. It's gonna be tough because flesh is dying and dying is painful. Yeah. But what is on the other side is so good. But I hope with I hope that you'll come with me because I'm gonna keep going.
That's right.
And so when the next thing comes and the next thing comes and I have seen him prove himself faithful to me, which he doesn't have to do, and the benefit of doing that is so much better than what I'm getting rid of. It's so good because it's what I was created for. It's what you were created for. I'm gonna get to where I'm not even touching the ground. I want my life to look so like him.
I wanna be I wanna know him so well. I wanna be so immersed in him that I'm just you can't there is no ground. I'm not touching the ground and I'm my head's not sticking above the water. Yeah. Because I'm gonna be floating with Jesus.
Come on. I'm gonna be like, hey. Because already, 18, 19, 20, 21, maybe I think we started in 2018 in September. I can't even tell you how different I am. I can't even begin to tell you how different I am.
And you know what? I never knew who I was. And it's so much better, and it's a lot of work, and it's giving up selfishness. That's right. But it's him.
It's all him. I'm almost done. Pastor, I don't know what time it is but So can I personally say God is good? Absolutely. And so are you.
And so can you if you're willing to give up your life. Last week, we had some missionaries up here. And John and Randy. Randy. Randy.
I thought it was Brandy. She was in a wheelchair and and she they do missions in
Zambia.
Zambia. All those places pastor David just said that you probably didn't hear. But that woman sat right here in that wheelchair and she started talking about how good God is, and it was so believable that I didn't even see the wheelchair anymore.
That's right.
If any of you anybody here remember hearing her speak, and she was so just immersed in God's goodness, like you believed everything, and you're like, if you were looking at from your worldly senses, you'd be like, girl's in a wheelchair, like, that's gotta be tough. No. God gave her everything that she needed to deal. Why is she in that wheelchair? It doesn't matter.
God knows, and he loves her, and so God, my life is yours, so use me however you want, and it doesn't have to make sense. And the world doesn't have to understand it. You're gonna use me. Amen. That's right.
And he does. That's right. And we don't know why. Does god heal? Absolutely, he heals.
Does that mean he doesn't heal because she's in a wheelchair? No. That means God's doing something. We don't know what he's doing, and you ain't gonna know. Your understanding of who he is is gonna is gonna change when you spend time with him.
Because I just learned this about 2 weeks ago. Me understanding is not based on my circumstance and having to know the when, where, how, and why. Spiritual understanding is knowing that I am loved by him.
That's right. Come on.
That's all I have to know. That's right. Heidi, we're going here. Okay, God. I don't know and I don't understand and I don't know how, but I know you love me and I know for you that your plan and purpose for me is for good and you're gonna be glorified in it.
*Matthew-16:25* to 26, for whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Father, I just thank you so much for your word today. I thank you for what you've done in my life. And, God, my prayer is that in the midst of you moving this morning, Holy Spirit, because I know that you are here and I know that you are moving in my life and everyone else's, that you will empower us to say yes to you, that you will empower us to lay down our lives for you because that's all that matters.
It's not about us. It's all about you, Lord. I pray that you would pour your love out. Lord, if those there are people here that don't know you, I pray that they would respond to your invitation to walk in and function the way that you created them to function before the beginning of the world because it is so good. You are a good, good father, and we love you.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Thank you for tuning in today to the Real Church podcast. I pray that you walk away from today encouraged with a deeper understanding of how much God loves you. If you'd like to connect with us, we can't wait to reach out to you and pray for you. You can go to www.realchurch.us/connect. And then also, if you would like to give to what God is doing in and through our ministry, you can do so at www.realchurch.us/giving or you can text any amount to 84321, and then just search in the link that comes up.
Search for Real Church Clearwater. God bless you, and the "best is yet to come".
Transcribed with Deepgram