The Seven Pillars (Part 16)-More On The Higher Levels Of Obedience & Pleasure In God - Rod Mills

​This is a series on the 7 Pillars of the AeroNova spiritual family, the DNA markers of who God has called us to be as a people. 

In this final installment of teachings on the fourth pillar, obedience and listening, we talk about the great joy and pleasure of high levels of obedience and total commitment to God.
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Full transcript generated by ai (please excuse errors):

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​All right, we're make sure we got a good connection here on the recording. And this, I don't even know what installment this is of the seven pillars. But I got a confession to make. When I was teaching on the fourth pillar, before I went and check what the next pillar is, I'm just rolling into it. And it's, I've integrated it into the notes part of it of the fourth pillar, and it was actually the fifth pillar, but don't let that mess you up. So I'm going to go through all seven here today. And for those who are on Zoom, and for those who are listening, our teaching library, so that will get it and then I've updated the notes. So I'll post those to the link. And you guys can download them. And I'll, I'll make a note when we get into the pillars where, where my error was. So the first pillar is apostolic prayer. And the way we define that is a lifestyle of continual prayer in the Word of God, that's from Acts six. So in other words, we don't view prayer, independent of the Scripture and studying and meditating in Scripture, even though we understand those are also spiritual disciplines. So in other words, when we say prayer, now you guys know and especially those in this room, and those on zoom in our, in our prayer councils, when we come together and have prayer, we open the Bible, we pray, we have words from the Lord, and encouragement and prophetic insights, and all these things. And so the Word of God is part of that. So when we say, in these seven pillars of the Friends of Jesus, what we recognize as a movement that's starting to stir among many people in the earth, we didn't create this, that this these are seven of those pillars are key DNA markers of the spiritual life and ways of these people. And this is really what's knit our hearts together with many of the people we've connected with in the nations is that whenever we start connecting that chemistry is there, because there's a commonality of many, if not all, seven of these pillars, and there, that's when you know, it's a work of God. It's not just something that we created in the natural. So the first pillar apostolic prayer, we mean, can a lifestyle of continual prayer in the Word of God, number two pillar to a lifestyle in the spiritual disciplines, we understand that prayer is part of the spiritual disciplines. But we separate that out the other spiritual disciplines, and there are many are things like meditation, solitude, fasting, simplicity, many of them and we mentioned those there in the series, you can go listen to that, or read the notes. The third pillar is the call to New Testament community. And this is really the call to be deeply relational people to live in spiritual family. Communities of Revelation, I'll tell you, you know, you don't love when you know the know the things of God as much as when you love when God is revealed to you. Revelation. Revelation is when God unveils himself and shows up and we have an encounter. Remember, Moses had a face to face relationship with God. Some people think that means that Moses looked at God in the face. You guys know that's not true. Because when Moses wanted a greater revelation of God, he said, let me see you. And I had a face to face relationship according to the Scriptures. But I think what that means is there's a relational back and forth, there's like, you could ask the Lord and he would speak to Moses, there was a face to face kind of relationship, but we know that's different than physical looking at his face. Because when Moses said, Lord, let me see you, the Lord goes, you'll die. I'm paraphrasing, but I'll let you see just a little bit of just like, I don't know what it means by the back or the end or whatever. But he goes a hydrogen, the cliff to the rock. In other words, you can't see my face and live. So he has a face to face relationship, but he doesn't see the face of God. What am I saying is that when we say communities of Revelation, it's important that we are people of Revelation, because revelation doesn't mean knowing revelation means unveiling is one When we encounter God and encounter the truth of who he is, in this personal, relational, powerful way, and people who encounter God that way, love at an extraordinary level and live at an extraordinary level, and we recognize that there's nothing in me that can fabricate that I need to encounter God. And then the infusing of these graces and personality traits and nature of God comes into us. And the cool thing about everything in the nature of God is that none of it is created. Every bit of these qualities that come into us from God are uncreated, eternal qualities that come from God Himself. And that's pretty cool. When you consider that everything that we interact with is mostly natural. It had a beginning. Even these eternal relationships that we hold with one another, that will last forever had a beginning. But faithfulness did not have a beginning. Because it resides in the nature of God. Love as God defines it, not as a world defines it as God defines it has always been its uncreated. It's an eternal quality of God Himself. And you guys can do you know, see all those things. So all of that to say that we are deeply relational pillar three New Testament community, it almost seems a little too sterile of vernacular. That's why I couldn't stop there. I feel like I have to say, deeply relational people, people who live in the great commandments, love your love God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength, your strength, your neighbors yourself. There's this love that flows out of us. And it's volcanic. It's not something we check about, okay, I love my neighbor is volcanic it erupts out of us because we've encountered God, and it flows. And so this is that spiritual family, that community of Revelation. Now, this is what I'm loving about what God's doing in our lives as we go out. And we're ministering in different places and connecting with the nations. He's already connecting us with people that this revelation is flowing in their communities. And more will as time goes on, it won't they won't all, but it will resonate, you know, you will speak these things, and you will live this way before them, and it will impact them. And there will really be this divine glue, this divine connection, this divine bonding, that happens. And I believe this is going to happen in many places all throughout the earth in preparation for the Lord's return and we'll connect those dots at a different time. Pillar four, is a lifestyle of obedience and listening. And I say and followership or what we're really trying to communicate there is the followership and commitment of Enlai Shah, of Peter, James and John, this deep commitment and followership. Now, this is where I start teaching on the mantle of Elijah, because I'm really teaching on the followership of Elijah. But you can't teach on the followership of Elijah without the mantle of Elijah, because without the mantle of Elijah, you don't have the followership of Elijah. Right. So this this fourth pillar is a lifestyle of obedience. And it's like we said, obedience is listening. Obedience is like the the best example I like us a lot is when you say to your kids, listen to me. You mean, listen and heat. In other words, don't just let my ears My dad used to say it this way. Well, I said that and it went in one ear and out the other. What he's saying is you're not hearing what I'm saying to you, my words are going into your eardrum, but you're not heating and this quality of heat of listening and hearing. It's not just the ability to hear what God's doing. That that's not what we're saying. We're saying, we are called to be a people. This is a DNA marker in our spiritual family and in many that we're connecting with, in this FRIENDS OF JESUS genre movement DNA that people are hearing at an extraordinary level and obeying or responding to him. And that equals or comes about as that that eight Alicia commitment. And we started teaching about the higher levels of obedience and we're going to finish that today that and then go right into the next pillar on the next teaching. But this higher level of obedience is in Alicia. When he's called by Elijah, he doesn't just say okay, here I am. I'll go. He, you know, he literally burns all of his farm implements are in the fire to sacrifice all of his oxygen. So, if he likes you had been a truck driver, that would have been the equivalent of well, let me just sacrifice my truck to the Lord here, lay some dynamite on it and blow it up or you know something being facetious. But the point is that he surrendered his ability, or his his livelihood, his ability to make money, his ability to support his family, his ability, he literally was surrendering his livelihood to pursue a different way in God, that he was called to that total surrender, that higher obedience, Elijah did not say, Okay, go sacrifice your oxygen and, and burn all your farm implements in the fire, and then follow me he didn't that was no requirement for him. It just reflects the intensity of his commitment to the Lord, and to his ways. And the commitment to the Lord is always manifested in two ways I see all through Scripture, and you take a look at this and see and all the different stories. It's manifested in our commitment to God's people. And to God's leaders, you will see that the the most sold out people like the Elijah's and the Peter, James and John's, there was a deep commitment to God. And that listening that obedience, that commitment manifested, and deep commitment to the people of God, and to God's leaders in God's house, it manifests again and again and again. And we looked at that 10 ways to Sunday and Elijah his life, were literally even before he asked for the double portion. He says, I'm with you, all the way even when Elijah goes, Oh, no, you go out and do your own thing. Now he's like, No, I'm not gonna go do my own thing. I'm with you, to the end to the last second to the very end. And this was the same tenacity we looked at in Peters life. And Peter gets a lot of flack because Peter denied the Lord. But look at Peter's heart. And that's what Jesus saw Peters heart. He goes, Oh, no, Lord, he goes, even if everybody else forsake shall I'll die with you, you know, and that was his heart. Even though he could he wasn't quite that mature or there yet. He didn't quite have that. And of course, the Holy Spirit have not been poured out yet. He didn't have the same level of boldness and power. But still, Peters heart was in the right place. And Jesus saw that now. Jesus also goes, Oh, yeah, by the Cox gonna crow three times, you know, we're gonna hear the rooster before you deny me three times. He wasn't trying to discourage Peter. He was letting him know, Peter, I know about your failures. But I'm still with you. And then he'll reinforce that later on. And Peter gets a lot of criticism. But I like this about Peter. I like the fact that Peter goes, I'm with you, Lord. Now I realize he probably put his foot in his mouth, he might have should have been a little more humble with his words, but and probably the other disciples like, yeah, you know, you're more committed than us, you know? And have you ever looked at how many times James and John, were vying for positions next to Jesus multiple times in the Scripture, a lot of people only see when when their mother came to Jesus. But actually, there's multiple times where they wanted that. And we see that these guys and why am I saying James and John, it just so happens is James and John. Now put that together, Peter, James, and John, the three men who walked closest with Jesus in His ministry, went to the Mount of Transfiguration was there for the raising of the dead with a young girl, all these things? And so we might, some people might criticize them and say, Well, you know, you're just trying to get ahead or you're this or you're that they're just trying to access Jesus at every level they possibly can, and be faithful in the fullness of God, and even in their flesh leanness, or perhaps their pride, or perhaps whatever. Jesus honored the intentions of their heart. Y'all see that? Right? That's cool. I like that. That's the kind of stuff that makes men like Peter say, Jesus, if that you call them out on the water, you know, it's okay. God likes that. And sometimes we'll slip and fall like Peter, we might make a mistake. He denied the Lord, but keep at it because the next thing you know, Jesus is building his church on you. You know, that that's, that's really cool. I love it. So, this is the man so this is pallet. Pillar four is the lifestyle of obedience listening, that commitment that followership that we see in Elisha and Peter, James and John. Now I start teaching on the mantle of Elijah because you have to some but the fifth pillar as what I call the mantle of Elijah and the discernment of Issachar. And I'm putting those together, because they're both prophetic in nature. And so we will get into teaching that probably next week. But for this week, I want to just review all seven. So you're tracking them the man number five, pillar five, a call to the mantle of Elijah, and the discernment of his Sokar. And of course, that spiritual fatherhood, and I'm going to include spiritual motherhood there, you'll notice this, all of these overlap and dovetail. The neat thing about these pillars is you cannot teach on one before you have veered into all six of the others, because they all go together in a profound way. Number six, which you're going to see, pillar six, will dovetail with his mantle of Elijah, and with a couple of the others you'll see deeply is a call to raise up spiritual leaders. With me a call to raise up spiritual leaders. This is one of the key markers in our DNA, raising up spiritual leaders. This is This is God's call. And we don't just mean from the time they're saved. There are people who are pastors and God has raised up spiritual leaders. Now when we say spiritual leaders, we don't just mean clergy or people who get a salary from the church. We're talking about people who lead and influence out of their relationship with God and the resources that come from that relationship. So spiritual leadership, some people would you say that they automatically think, oh, okay, what's your position? Well, that's not what we're talking about. Because we all have different gifts and different callings in that. But the cool thing is, is anybody can be a spiritual leader, anybody can influence the entire world around them, the sphere around them that they're responsible for, out of that relationship with God. And that's what we mean when we say spiritual leadership. We don't mean organizational leadership. We don't mean people who hold certain titles, we mean that we influence out of leadership as influence, we influence the world, out of the resources of heaven, and our relationship with God in our relationship with heaven, and how God interacts with the world. And we raise up cultivate people to live and walk this way. We call them this is just a little little phrase, I use modern day inox and Elijah's modern day, apostles and prophets. In other words, modern day people who walk and live as the leaders, if in Scripture in the house of God, and the kingdom of God lived. And we and we are invested. Now, of course, this ends out equating to many people who have positions in the church and leaders who are pastors in the church, but it's not limited to just them. Because people can be in government, they can be in education, they can be a business, they can be in many different areas of God's calling in their lives, and be spiritual leaders and influence out of that relationship. And so our calling is not specific. We're not like a pseudo seminary. You know, because seminaries generally trained pastors or, you know, preachers or what have you, that's not our calling, our calling, is to raise up spiritual leaders. And we see that there are many others who have this calling. And so we're investing into them. It's not just us, we're investing into them. Also. I love this pillar right here. Because it's amazing when God puts you in fertile soil, like, you know what our schools put your leadership last week, and you go in and you're training and you're investing into these leaders. And next thing, you know, revivals flowing, fires are burning, new churches are being planted, people are getting saved by the dozens at a time in places that people don't even think is possible these days. God is turning hearts, and you're like, Wow, this is great. And that's it that's raising up spiritual leaders. And in fertile soil. It's easier than it is in hard soil. You guys that have lived in hard soil said Amen. And then the seventh one, no surprise, a call to the nations the Pope. Pillar seven is our call is a call to the nations. Some ministries or some ministries are called to the family or to counseling. Some ministries are called to a city or to particular neighborhoods. And in our case, our call predominantly Our call is to the nations. When we say nations, we mean people groups, so not just other countries. The nations are right here in our own country. The nations are in other countries other net and we use nations but we mean countries. So geographical regions, but in in our calling our calling is to the nation's. So anyway that maybe I should have said the Seven Pillars up front I didn't. But you know that kept everybody on their on their toes a little bit. But that's just so you're tracking that those are the seven pillars. And we'll have a test at the end to see who can remember. We'll get the notes so it'd be an open book, right, we get that. So I'm going to review briefly last week, just do a little bit of review and go right into it, where we talked about this higher level of obedience. This is in pillar four, listening, the the call the pillar of obedience and listening with that followership or obedience that goes with it, that commitment to God's people, and to the leaders, God calls in our lives. So here, we talked about this idea of higher levels of obedience. And I use the example that a brother Dick Dungan shares with us, and has really moved me has a lot of impact on my life. He says, Lord, I don't want to just do Your will. I want to do those things that bring you the greatest pleasure, those things that are near and dear to you, those things that are precious to you. In other words, he said, Lord, I want to do those things that are so close to your heart. And so as a result, what you see is, is that he has lived in this, he's lived in that much of his life, because that has been his prayer before the Lord. And I love this because it's saying, Lord, I want to live in the cream of your calling for us. I know, I want to live in the bullseye, like, you know, it's like going to the range or, you know, you're shooting at a target. And you're like, No, the outer ring is not good enough. I don't want to be an outer ring, Christian. Now, I don't want to be off the target, Christian, for sure. And we've all been there, right? We've all been off the target at some point. But I'm like, Lord, I want to be, I want to be committed to those things that are right in the center. By the way, heart, when we say the heart of God, he does not mean the organ that pumps blood. Are y'all tracking that heart, heart means the center, the epicenter of us, it doesn't mean the, the organ that pumps blood. So when we say Lord, I want to be close to your heart, I want to be I want to do those things that are centrally in your heart for us now understand what's on the heart of God, for some is different than others. But as a spiritual family, I want to be Lord, right in the bullseye of that, and not in the outer rings, but in the center those things that bring you pleasure. And then the other thing we talked about, is how the, um, when we talk about the higher ways of obedience, we're not talking about God calls us to this. And so we go, Okay, Lord, you call me this, I'm gonna go out and do this, this, this. And this also, okay, that you got to be careful with this. There's a fine line between these two. But there are many things that people do, that God didn't call them to. And what they're trying to do is they're trying to rack up a whole lot of good things are doing for the Lord. But it's kind of like, okay, if God didn't call you to do that, make sure you're not out doing something he didn't call you to write. And I've, we've seen this happen so much, and they're good things. And there are times in life when Good is the enemy of God. Not because good is bad, but because God is better, right? It's better to be in God's Will than just be doing what oh, yeah, this is a good thing. I've done that. And what it does is it clutters my life. When I start doing good things. I will Oh yeah, Lord, we could do this. And you know, sometimes God will just let you do it. You know, to use the old example, you got 55 pounds in your rucksack and you add 10 pounds and God goes, Okay, I'll let you add 10 pounds and then you add another 20 pounds and God goes, Okay, I'll let you add 20 pounds, because he sees where this is going. By the time you're about about 140 pounds. You're like, Lord, Your will is so hard God this is difficult. You know, this is a hard we'll have God in the Lord's like, yeah, my yoke is easy. My burden is light. It's all the other burdens and all the other yolks that you threw in there, that's making it hard. But let me tell you, the flesh likes all those other yolks. Because the yolks that we throw on the flesh, once of us many times are not just good. They're things that help our pride a little bit. That makes us look better makes us feel better about ourselves. A lot of times things that we don't need in our lives, but the flesh wants to add them on the flesh because when you're not making enough money you need to do this or you're not driving enough car nice enough car you need this are you You fill in the blank. You see what I'm saying? The flesh will just keep adding those things. And I knew You guys, especially in our time serving in the military, where guys would be like, working way harder than they should have been to the point where they're destroying their families, because they literally were going so far beyond that, and throwing stuff in their rucksack and adding yokes because they needed to feel better about themselves, or they needed other people to feel a certain way about them. And then you get into that stuff with the fear of man and the flesh and all of that. Why am I saying this? Because it takes a sacrifice, to to really say, Lord, the things that are precious to you, Have you guys noticed? The things that are important to God are not usually important to the world? Have you guys seen that? Most of the time. So whenever I prioritize my life on the things of God and the kingdom, it's not very impressive in the world. You know, it does not impress them. In an impressive world, it impresses heaven now they love it. All of heaven loves it, because you're talking about the eternal things of God. But the world is not impressed. And so the flesh goes home, this is not enough, I need some, you know, the flesh is like, I need some Polish here. Come on, help me out in the flesh doesn't like to that, that dying to the flesh. You know, Jesus says we must deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him. The higher levels of obedience always involves sacrifice. And one of the things we mentioned that passage of Scripture, where David said, I will not give him anything that cost me nothing. He's like, if I'm going to give it to the Lord, I'm going to, I'm going to give up something, it's going to cost me to do it. I'm not going to sacrifice this on this land, this offering and everything just given given to me by somebody else. He's like, he told the guy, he goes, I'll pay you for the land, I'll pay you for the for the sacrifice everything because nothing I will not give the Lord anything that doesn't cost me something in the way life works is when you make a choice, to prioritize the kingdom, above everything else. Many sacrifices will be required. And this is to teach us the ways of Jesus, the ways of the crucifixion, the ways of the cross, the ways of bearing what sometimes it's difficult for suffering. And we've taught we taught on this, go back and listen our, our teaching on the suffering heart of God, God suffers. We forget this. Every day, his heart is burdened by what he sees. In the people he loves on the earth. There is a there is a burden that God carries every day. And we forget this, we think, well, the hardest day for God was the crucifixion. Well, every day for God is the crucifixion. Every day, he's living with the pain of the people he loves. If he didn't love people, there'd be no pain. But because he loves people, he sees what's happening in the earth. And there's great pain while we walk in his footsteps. This is not to glorify suffering, guys, this is to say that this is this is the way God is in his heart. And he lives through it, and he's willing to pay that price. Because he loves us so much. Higher levels of obedience is about loyalty and listening. I'm just trying to make sure I do a good job with a slight review here. Now, one of the examples that I brought up, I'll bring it up again is marriage. We talked about how the Scriptures do not command husbands to buy their wives flowers. Right? There's no scripture that says husbands buy your wife's flowers. And you can think of 100 equivalents to that right now what it may not be flowers, ladies, it may not be flowers you like it might be something else. But the point is that the scriptures don't command that but they do command us as husbands to love our wives. And so then God leaves it open so that we can initiate and live into that at a higher level. In other words, it's one thing to check a block and go okay God you said buy my wife this Okay, God, you said provide that Okay, God, you said provide that will pretty soon. It's not love. It's just a grocery list. Right? It's different. Then whenever we have the initiative, we take the initiative. And the same thing is true in our own lives. Many times there is more than one right decision. Have you guys been in those situations? Man I have. I've been in situations and you You guys know me, you know my life, you know my example. So you probably thinking of a lot of but there are many times when God will have more than one course of action. And what I found is most of the time, there is a course of action that's closer to his heart. It's not that he won't bless me. And the other course of action is God, you know, ever noticed God loves you. He's your father, he loves you like a father, he loves us like a father, he's not going to be like, Well, if you do that I'm not with you. Now, he might say, if you do that, I'm not going to bless this, he might do that. Sometimes he'll say, yeah, if you do that, I'll bless you, and I'll be with you. But you know, and you guys know my example. He says, but this is closer to my heart. There have been things in my life when God says, Don't go that way. If you go that way, I am not going to bless that. There are times when God does that. And so we need to discern those times. But normally, I found that even in courses of action in life, simple things, you know, Beth and I are looking for a new vehicle. One of our vehicles is 19 years old, and we're like, hey, we better start looking for a vehicle. And even in looking for a vehicle and praying over this. I came to the realization I was like, man, even in looking for a vehicle, God says, Have you considered this? You guys know my mini cooper story, right? Have y'all ever heard that story? So I hated Mini Coopers. I despise Mini Coopers, I didn't like them. I didn't even like to look at them. I did not like those cars. And a couple of my friends owned them. And I would jab them give them a hard time. Well, then we moved to Hawaii. And one day one of my colleagues who drives a mini cooper convertible and we don't live there, like a month. And, and so he goes, Hey, he goes, Let's take my car and I go, you have a Mini Cooper. Let's take mine, I drive a Honda Pilot, I like it better. And he goes, No, he goes, let's take the mini cooper convertible. This goes back and forth three or four times just jabbing each other being funny. And finally I go, Okay, I'll get in your Mini Cooper. You know, I don't want to but I'll go to lunch with you. When I got in that, that cooper convertible. And he starts driving and I felt like I was in a go kart. Now when I was a kid. When I was a kid, I always wanted to go kart, but I couldn't get one. It just didn't work out where I lived and all of that. And so I was kind of like, it's probably some something in my past, you counselors can help me out. You know, like, man, he's always wanting to go, and we start going to lunch. And I'm like, I can't believe it. I love this is a great man. This is awesome. And I was just loving it. And so I was like, Man, how much does this thing cost? You know, and all this? Well, we had just moved there. And we needed a second vehicle. So Daniel, our youngest son and I, he was a senior in high school. And we went down to the dealer. And I think they had three of them there. And I will tell you guys, I sat down in the showroom. And this is not a Mini Cooper commercial. They didn't sponsor this. But I sat down in the showroom, and one of them and there was some cooler looking ones out there than this one. But I sat in this one. And as God is my witness, I sat in it. And I looked at Daniel and I said, The Lord just spoke to me said, this is your car, buy it. Just like that. I mean, boom, and we still drive is 10 years old today, we still drive it. My point is this. There are things in life that I think I don't like. And then God goes, I want to bless you with this, you'd like it more than you think you do. And to use something as simple as a car to show me many things in life that are like this. And and so many times, if we will yield and I can't promise it's always going to be a convertible in Hawaii. You know, I wish it was but it's not. But there are many things in life where God will show us and you think you don't like it, you guys. I've got some good car stories. You guys know our truck stories the same way. I didn't want one. I didn't want what you know, now listen, Beth was like, I really think you it's just funny how many times God will say, I think this would be good for you here. And what he really means is he knows it'd be good for us, but he's just wooing us into it, to see it to see the blessing of God. So all of this to say higher levels of obedience, there's a yielding, and then a pressing into those things. It's about sensing the heart of God in all things, whether they're simple things, or whether like you guys just bought a house and like buying a house or whatever. It's like Lord, I know there's some great houses out there but I don't want the great ones. I want the one you want for me right? Has anyone ever got you something for Christmas? And it was not really a big deal gift, but because of who gave it to you? It's very very precious to you. It's because of who gave you that gift that that gift has tremendous value. And there are times when God will give us something and we think, Oh, I don't know, or he'll speak to us something, or he'll show us a direction, or he'll bring something or someone into our lives. And when he does, he's showing us the higher level of obedience. He's saying, Hey, if you will learn to listen to me, I'll show you how to really be blessed by my presence, and I will bring you into a level of obedience that you are not used to, and you will love it. Now the flesh doesn't love it, because the flesh wants to control everything. And so the flesh has to learn to yield to God. And then when we do we find out wow, this is awesome. Normally, there is a choice that is closer to the heart of God, for whatever reasons that are in his mind and his heart. Some of those things to this day, I don't know why they were closer to his heart. Some of them it was just closer to his heart. And we discovered that and we lived in it, and it was wonderful. This skill to choose these things is something we learn through relationship and affection with him. So this is heart stuff, you can calculate this all day in your mind. But this, the mind does not do this kind of math. This kind of math is done with the heart, affections toward God. And it's different those calculations, they work differently. It's not just something you come up with logically, it's very relational in nature. And I like to say it's really the difference. This higher level of obedience is the difference between being just a disciple and becoming a friend of Jesus, like he talks about in John 1515. Many times, the choice that is closest to God's heart is hidden. So the mind cannot figure out the best decision. You guys, this is a big deal. How many times have I been at a crossroads in my life? A big crossroads, or a little crossroads? something as big as moving from Hawaii to Colorado, something as small as buying a Christmas present. But how many times have I been at a crossroads in my life? And my mind could not calculate the right answer. We've all been there. We've all been there in life. Now God sends the little things to us. So that we get really good practice in this. You know, in other words, I practice on the small stuff, so I get good at it. And I can do it in the big stuff. One of the things I tell my grown kids a lot now, there'll be seeking the Lord or asking praying about particular decision. And I will say this, and they're all used to it. Now I'll say, Now, this is not hard. Remember, the same voice of God that told you where to go to college, the same voice of God that told you who to marry that same piece of God that led you into this house, or this place or this, just follow it. It's no different. It's no different, the same voice of God, the same piece, the Lord will allow us to practice on the less expensive things, so that when we do make mistakes, we catch it on the little stuff. So we don't have to pay the price on the big stuff. Unfortunately, sometimes, we pay the price on the big stuff. Unfortunately, there are times. And so I've learned man, if it's a big decision, I'm like, Whoa, I'm not gonna be careless about this. And I have to relearn this in my own heart all the time. It's not something the mind can calculate the will of God is something that the heart moves by peace and closeness, and affections of the Father and what he's saying and showing and emanating that's close to his heart. And then you just kind of ease into that with him in it in the mind of man, this the the human mind, the fleshly mind does not comprehend the things of God in this way. Unfortunately, I have walked, I've watched people all my life, walk out of the will of God and walk into the will of God. And what's happening for us is we're getting old enough now and we've watched this so many times that Beth will tell you you can look at her for a head nod it was yes or no but I will tell you this many times in our lives in our privacy of our marriage. I will say that's a mistake. They will regret that and let me tell you, it's gotten the it's a good batting average at this point, because we've lived through this so many times. And but there are some things you can't tell people, they have to discern them. They can't do it because you spoke to him, they have to do it because God did, right. And there are many things in life like that. It gets really hard. When it's your own children. I'm looking at the parents that have a child getting ready becoming an adult here. But you guys, I'm telling you, this just it doesn't get easier because kids get grown. And then you're like, oh, oh, dear, dear Lord, you're, you know, this is costly. What you're doing right now is costly. It's costly, costly, costly, and you're right now, some kids will come to you. There's, this is a difference kids, some kids will actually come to you. And they'll say, Hey, Dad, what do you think about this, they'll still consult you, they'll, they'll look for wisdom. And and I find that as a spiritual father, that many times people will come to me as a pastor or a spiritual father and say, Hey, I'm facing this decision, I have these things. What are your thoughts? Now, I've found that most of my spiritual fathers when I go to them, and I open my heart, and I want to hear what they have to say, and I'm asking them to weigh these things, I will tell you that tremendous wisdom comes. And and I don't think I've ever gone wrong when I've done that. But many times, kids love you, they appreciate you, they will listen to your advice. But it's not the same as when they go to their parents. And so I'm saying this for I'm saying this for your sake, Colin and others who, who you're entering into adulthood, and we've got quite a few people here and like on Zoom, and others that will be listening to this and that are 1617 1819 years old, and Natalia all your life, go and talk to your parents are your spiritual parents and say, What do you think about this, because it's not the same as when they offer their advice. It's not the same. It's different. When you go and you start asking, normally, your heart is more open to receive. And I have found that many times when I go to my spiritual fathers and my father's, my mother's in my life, they will speak and I will gain a multi dimensional view of what's happening in the situation. So I encourage them. In some seasons of my life, when the stakes were really high. Beth will tell you this, I've called I've written letters, emails, texts, and call them and said, What do you think about this, this is where we are, this is what we're weighing. I've done that many, many times. And I'll tell you, there's a few times where they bailed us out of some major disasters decisions, where we felt like we were hearing from the Lord. And we've helped we've heard pretty well from the Lord most of our lives. So I'm not saying that was like we were deaf, you know, spiritually, but still, the enemy brings noise into our lives, so that we need each other, so that we need one another. So that we need the voices of people who have been walking with God who on up the pathway, you know, kind of like Pilgrims Progress, they can go I've been there. Let me tell you, this is what to look out for. Don't go there, watch out for this. And then you go, Well, there's a fork in the road. Don't know, don't take that fork, stay on this, you know, and you it's that spiritual wisdom, God made us to need that. And God made us to impart it to others. So walking in the will of God is heart enterprise. You cannot use military guys, you can't just do a decision matrix doesn't work. I'm not saying don't do a decision matrix. That's good. You could do a decision matrix and see the value of different decisions. But make sure you pray over that board where you write it all down. Because it's not a function of the mind. Ultimately, it's about the will of God. And so in our lives, we haven't really done decision but we just ask God, what do you want us to do? And God is faithful, He will show you He will speak many times, that choice is hidden so that we go into the heart regions with God. We get past the mental analysis. The mental analysis is not enough. Because we need the wisdom and the heart and the revelation of God. Many disciples obey God but missed the higher levels of pleasure in obedience in him so many, I've known many people obedient But perhaps miss what I call the affection initiative, the affection initiative, to bless the heart of God and deep affection and friendship. I've seen this many times, I'll use my flowers example again, many times, I'll be counseling a couple, when, especially when I was a chaplain, I'd be doing marriage counseling. And I'm listening to the husband, and I'm listening to the wife. And I quickly become aware, the husband is listening to every word she says. But he's not listening to what she's not saying. And he's not listening to what's between the lines, I call that heart listening. It's like, wait a minute, your wife wants you to do this. But she doesn't want to have to tell you to do this, she, you know, read between the lines, feel her heart in this matter. The same is true with God, God will command us to do certain things. But there is an affectionate initiative, that and I'm not again, I'm not talking about doing extra things like, God tells you to, you know, go to this country and and minister in this nation, you go, if God wants me to go to another country, I'll go to 15. Because it must be 15 times better that that's not what we mean. But we do mean is that read the heart of God, that heart, that heart, that listening that goes on that. And then what I call that heart initiative to bless his heart, there are times in life when God will give us choices. And he does not do this to make it more difficult. He's doing it in an effort to draw us into this way of affection initiative. Now, what is affection initiative, and an example of this is whenever we're faced with a decision, we were faced with this, this decision about where to live on our last move, and you guys know the story, I was going through this crucible. And I said, Well, Lord, you know, I was asking, Lord, what's closer to your heart, just that initiative to go deeper than just, I will bless you here. And I'll bless you there. But where's your heart in this? Where's your affections in this, that kind of thing. So it is our opportunity to bless his heart by choosing the best of the best. It's the creme de la creme, it's the finest of the finest of what's precious to him. I've observed in life that this cream of the crop way of living, it's sacrificial in nature. Faithfulness requires a significant sacrifice to our own flesh. And we've already said that, because of where the flesh wants to go. But we've seen this manifest so many times in our lives, we've seen this manifest in our families, the flesh gets bored with the routine. And this is where people get into trouble. The flesh will get bored, listen, the flesh will get bored with routine in your life. But listen, everybody has routine, everybody will maybe not quite everybody. But I'll say it this way, everybody has to clean their garage, everybody has to clean their house, everybody has to mow their lawn, or hire somebody to mow it, I understand. But my point is that life has a lot of things that you do over and over and over again. Now not a one of you get tired of eating. But there's other things that you do get tired of. But my point is that the flesh gets tired of routine, and gets tired of current living conditions, and gets tired. Unfortunately, this is true. For many cases, if you don't live by the Spirit, the flesh gets tired of the current spouse. You hear what I'm saying? The flesh, if you let it the flesh will get tired of a lot of things that God's like, well, you don't understand. This is a great blessing here, you got to get back in the Spirit. Because monotony is something the flesh knows not the spirit. You can be in some of the most monotonous routines in life, and just be fully alive and just full of creativity and vision and God's working and moving. Because the flesh is subdued and crucified in the spirit of God is flowing in our lives. Life in the spirit is always finding renewal and refreshing, and vision. But the flesh is always looking for the next shiny thing. And so a lot of times I've noticed that the devil will start working extra hard. When he knows extra. The opportunities of the kingdom are coming. Have you guys noticed this? Now, most of you in this room? I think you've lived in ministry enough you know what I'm talking about? Whenever something big is coming. Whether you know about it, or whether you don't. It's amazing how much spiritual warfare kicks in. It'll just kick in. And so it's just become an indicator to me if I started getting a lot of spiritual warfare man, some goods getting ready to happen. God's moving And so because the flesh literally, it is it is susceptible to the enemy into spiritual warfare. Whereas the spirit lives above these things, the spirit when we live in the Holy Spirit, and we live in the Spirit, and we're filled with the Spirit. It's like going airborne, we come above the circumstances, and it transcends what the enemy throws at us. That's the way we live in victory is to live above that. But if we live down on a terrestrial level in our according to the nature of the flesh, then the enemy's like, Oh, look at this shiny thing. You got some over here we got this is the nature of consumerism, right? Consumerism in our society, literally is eating people alive spiritually. Because the flesh wants things that God says I've got way better. So you guys tracking with me this is very, very important. Because even if we learn to live in victory, it's not enough just to check the block of obedience. We want to live in the higher levels of obedience, we want to transcend that and live by the Spirit. And there are people who they get burned out. I know people I've got friends who got burned out in ministry got burned out in their careers got burned out in their marriage got burned out, burned out here burned out, they're burned out there. And I'll tell you, in every situation, when you start doing an audit of that situation and talking to them, usually they're trying to live by the terrestrial nature rather than celestial nature. They literally are their heart affections have been are being embattled. And so they lose it, life loses its color, and they start looking for a better this and a better that and it gets them into trouble. Because they're looking for it in the wrong places. Now, this is elementary, but it's amazing how this plan this strategy does not change. It's not. I've noticed that the enemy will use the same strategies on people who are veterans of the kingdom, as much as the newbies and the rookies, because it works if you're not living in the spirit, so we're talking about higher level of obedience is living in the Holy Spirit. And in the fullness of the Spirit. Affection initiative. I love this. This word life in the Spirit, always finding renewal, refreshing vision, even in some of the most mundane tasks and living conditions, because the Holy Spirit brings supernatural happiness. This is this word happiness appears in the Greek Lexicon under the Greek word joy. When you look up that definition, it is a god level happiness. It's a god sourced joy, a god source happiness into the life of faithfulness to God, and faithfulness to his people. And many people do not see affectionate initiative as obedience. Because they believe that in order for there to be obedience, there must be a command that track with me on this. They believe in order for there to be obedience, there must be a command in the military. The more senior you become, the more less specific and general the commands become. So literally, as you become senior is like your, it's like, okay, go out and do this, you know, they'll say to a senior commander, okay, go out and command this. And it's like, well, yeah, they don't have to ask what to do. Right? They know, they have the initiative, they have the skill, they have the background, they know what to do in that situation. Whereas a private, they gotta say, Okay, come to work at this time. Okay, go to the bathroom at this window of time. Okay, go eat at this time. Everything is very specific, very, this task, this task, this task, this task. But as you grow in the kingdom, as we grow in the kingdom, more and more, God brings us into a level of what I call initiative. And in this in the kingdom of God, it's affection Initiative, where we operate in obedience to Him, but it's not in this. Check the block, check the box, check the box, even though some of us like me, we have a lot of boxes to check because I have to make a list to in order to do it. That's just my nature. The Latin word for obedience. Listen, this type of obedience and listening is a deep loyalty. It's deep affection. It listens carefully for more than just the command or the intent. It listens between the lines to the heart of God. Now, can you think of somebody who did this in Scripture, one of my favorite examples is these mighty men of David? And David makes a comment. He doesn't ask them to do it. He just says, Oh, if I just had some water from the well of Bethlehem. They didn't say do you want us to go get it? They wanted to surprise him. So they break through enemy lines. They go to the other side. They get water from the well of Bethlehem risked their lives for a for not a glass of water, but whatever it was a Yeah, with, what were they in, like the wineskins are whatever, of water risked their lives to bring this water? Because they love David. They love him. You see where I'm going with this. And so this is an obedience that is different. There's a lot of guys that didn't risk their lives that night. There's a lot of guys that still were in obedience. They were still in obedience. And they still sat there and they still defended the king. But there was a few who risked their lives broke through enemy lines. Got that water from the well of Bethlehem and you know the story, David Davis, like I'm not worthy to drink this water. This is precious water, this water. He's like, not even I can drink this water. So what did he did? He gave it he gave a drink to God. Well, God does God the Father, He doesn't drink water. So David poured it out as an offering to the Lord. I heard one guy say that those guys that got him that water, they probably went, what? We just risked our lives. You're pouring the water out? But I don't think so. I don't think so. Because those guys, what they did was not a physical fleshly action. It was an action of spirit and heart. So they, when they saw that David poured it out to the Lord, and it filled David's heart more than that water could ever feel David, they were satisfied. And this is true of us. It's like you going back to my car example. Every time I drive that car, yes, I enjoy it. Would I enjoy another car, maybe some cars more. I'm pretty sure there's probably other cars, I might enjoy more. But I can't enjoy them more. Because when I drive that car, I'm driving the car. God gave me it came from him. And when he wants you to have that, whether it's a car, whether it's who you marry, whether it's your house, whether it's a ministry, whether it's the vineyard, you're called to, whether it's the children that you raise, whatever it is that gift that comes from the Lord, there's a heart level operation that is flying far above the physical mind. Because the physical fleshly mind is going well you know how good the car and how many times you have to take an end to get worked on. What you know, in your Sim saying the mind doesn't operate at the same level. Bless you. Bless you. Man, are you guys enjoying this as much as I am? I tell you, I'm loving it. I just, I was like, Oh, and you could see why. You know, I was I would be teaching on one. And I'll get into another pillar because I'm so excited about that. But I'm trying to trying to hold back and be patient. God is not raising robots of obedience. Right? That's what a friend of mine asked me here a while back. He's like, No, this is so complicated. I don't understand. Why doesn't God just, you know, like, printout and answer, go do this. And I told him, I said, because God is not he doesn't want you to be a robot. He's raising children, not robots. Because he's thinking of the utilitarian nature. Well, if I knew what to do, yeah, but if you just knew what to do, you wouldn't have you wouldn't need a relationship with Him. And God's into the relationship more than he is just the decision. Because that's God. I just love this about him. This is the meaning of the great commandment. This the great commandment is it. It's it to love God with all of my heart, my soul, my mind, and my strength. And guess what, we get to do a lot of cool things while we do the great commandment. But even the great commission will pass away. But the great commandment shall never, ever pass away. And the second great commandment shall never, ever pass away. And you can't live in the Second Great Commandment unless you learn how to live in the first. That's the key right there. And everything else in life. The locked doors of life will open. When we get this part. The Great Commandment is the master key. You can write that down the grid Y'all know what a master key is. A master key is a key that will open any law Lock. The Great Commandment is the master key. There are many doors that are locked and we can't get through them or we don't understand, or we can't get an answer, we can't get a breakthrough, or we can't, you know, and the Lord goes, go back to the master key, go back to the first commandment, man, when we get into this, it's amazing. Sometimes I feel guilty because it's easy. Now, I'm not saying it's all easy, because there are burdens in there across us and there are denying ourselves to get there. But then we go, Wait a minute, this yoke is a lot lighter than I thought it was. Because you don't throw in all those yokes the flesh wants, so that you people can be impressed with you, right or so the flesh can be impressed, or whatever. I'm just throwing out different reasons why the flesh operates that way. God's raising up lovers of obedience, because we are lovers of God. You can't love obedience unless you love God. Right? You love God, you love obedience to Him. This is the way of his heart. It's the way of love and these eternal qualities we talked about these uncreated qualities. See, we're rich, when we have the qualities of God's nature in us. We are the wealthiest people in the universe, and in all time and eternity. Because we are carrying the uncreated things. The uncreated things are the most valuable things in the universe. uncreated things, eternal things are the most valuable. You know, when people invest in investments, they're always looking at how much will they multiply, and how long will they last? Is it going to get me through retirement? Or is it going to get me to whatever point I need? Okay, here it is. Jesus, we said in the in the teaching on the, for the year 2020, the Lord is saying, make yourself rich in the kingdom of things of the kingdom of God. This is a word that we fell over and over make yourself rich and things of the kingdom of God, the things of the kingdom of God that make us rich, are those things that are eternal, because they last forever, and they have a nature of multiplying on their own you, if you walk in faithfulness, God kind of faithfulness in your marriage, it will multiply. And you will start seeing that faithfulness, produce fruit, producing your children producing your live produce, in all these different places you never imagined, this invisible stuff is more real than the things we see every day. These qualities of God, these uncreated qualities. So whether I'm facing large decisions in life, or living the everyday routine, or having to clean out the garage, or whatever it is, I want to explore and do those things that bring him the greatest pleasure to to quote, brother Dick Duncan, a man of great wisdom, he goes, I want to do those things that bring him the most pleasure. And if I have to give something up, and you know, by the way, a lot of people go, Wow, it's hard to do very many of those things. Well, the reason why it's hard, is because they added all the other stuff. But when you make that sacrifice, when you actually make that sacrifice, and you yield, it's actually way easier to really get deep into this really, really deep into it. We don't have time, but I really would love to give some life examples. Because sometimes I'm like, Man, Lord, we got all this fruit and how come this is not harder. And because you gave up what I told you to do, you know, oh, I want to take the initiative to love him. I want to do those things that are closest to his heart. I want to live in that place. I want to work. Lord, I want to work in those vineyards. I want to take the initiative and make the sacrifices that are required. Whether it's burning the farm implements, or pouring out that precious water I just wanted to drink of before the Lord. And like David's mighty man, I want to bring the waters from the well at Bethlehem. Yeah, that's what I want to do. I know it's dangerous, but we can do it. Even if I have to break through those enemy lines, because we know it's precious to the king. God is good. I just feel today. Since I awoke this morning I felt the goodness of God. You know the day I came to the Lord I was a little boy my parents didn't really they didn't know walk with the Lord. And so I didn't know anything about God and the day I gave my life to the Lord I'll never forget. My mom didn't know how to lead me to the Lord. She went got to the pastor from We're at a family reunion. She went got a cousin. And he led me to the Lord. And I'll never forget, I walked outside that dorm. And I looked at the sky, and I couldn't figure it out. I was a young boy. I didn't have a lot of ability on the abstract stuff yet. And it felt like Christmas Day. And I remember thinking this, I remember going, how can it feel this way? Nobody gave me any presents today. I didn't understand that. I just been given the greatest gift of all i that didn't calculate in my little mind. I remember looking out and scanning the skies, different the crew trees, like, I felt so happy. And I felt so full of joy. And I didn't even know what it was. It happened inside of me. You know, little kids, their minds, their minds may not have been able to calculate that stuff. But their spirits are spirits. They absorb. They feel the Holy Spirit. They feel good, they feel evil. They sense it's what I'm saying. And today I woke up and all day just the faithfulness of the Lord is is in the air. I looked at the sun hitting the mountains this morning, in the faithfulness of God. Was there a smell the coffee I was brewing? You know, I love coffee during prayer. And it just the coffee, the fresh smell. It's like, oh, Lord, coffee wouldn't smell the same without you. The goodness of God. Lord, take us into these heart affections these ways in you. Only you can do lead us. You said that the Spirit of God will guide us into all truth. Guide us Lord into all truth. Lord, we pray help us teach us how to lay down those burdens and those yolks that are not from you. So we can live as free men and women. And Lord, this is something that I believe we'll learn every day of our lives until the last day here before we depart for graduation day. But Lord, teach us to live this way. We say we love you with all of our hearts. And we say God come and do whatever you want to do in our lives. We yield to you in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you for joining us today. 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