Teshuva- Seasons Of Repentance - Beth Mills

The season of repentance is about actively turning away from evil and turning towards God. While we choose to walk in repentance every day, there are times to celebrate and observe corporately. This time is about more than just choosing obedience, but about turning to God to restore relationship with Him.

Full transcript generated by ai (please excuse errors):





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​So we're going to continue on with the teaching teshuvah, turning to God, and today is actually day 37 In this season of turning to God, and you can look it up through Hebrews For Christians, there's this particular Sunday, that is the Sunday in between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is actually a very special Sunday on turning to God, these 10 days in this season of the of the 40. These are the last 10 days. They're also known as the High Holy Days. They're also known as the days of awe. So when I was speaking earlier, just about that holiness of God, yes, he is pure. He is perfect. He is clean. But it doesn't carry that sterility that you think of that is so other, that he has no desire to be with those that he has created. He desires to interact with the world that he created. He created us for interaction with him. He created us to be like him, so that we could interact with him. And when he rules and reigns, He's given us the opportunity to rain with him. And we're going to see that a little bit more today. And that is an awesome thing. To think that God would entrust us to say, I want you to rain with me. It takes humility on our part. If we try to move in pride, we've seen where that goes right. That's the the Bible is filled with all the what not to do and what to do. I'm grateful for all those, you know the what not to dues and the what to dues do pray for me while I'm doing this, because I realized that this entire season about turning towards away from turning away from evil and turning toward God. It truly is the message of the gospel. That's the whole point, right? This is why Jesus came to show us the Father. And He came to restore all things through this great sacrifice of love of giving himself completely pouring out His blood upon the cross in order to restore us and our relationship with the Father is everything that's in the Bible. And so I'm finding all this stuff in the Bible like this fits this fits this. It all fits. Well, of course. Because it's the main point. So if you want the cliffnotes of the Bible, that's it. Right. So just as a little, just a little review this season of teshuva. That word in Hebrew, it means turning. It means returning, and it means restoring. And like I said earlier, it runs for 40 days. So it's the last month of the Hebrew year, which is 30 days, and that month is called Elul. And then it comes to the 10 High Holy Days that begin with Rosh Hashanah, and they end with Yom Kippur. And during this time, it's a time of personal and national repentance for Israel is the only nation that has God as its Lord that declares God is its Lord. We in the US we say, In God We Trust so on our money, but Israel is the first nation to declare God as Lord God called Israel specifically, that he would be the God of the nation of Israel. Any other nation that proclaims that God is their lord is because they want God as their Lord. They have chosen him he chose Israel first as a forerunner for all of us to be able to see and know how to walk with Him in His kingdom. So, for Israel, these days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, it is a time of national repentance, and to obtain national and personal forgiveness, especially on these days, they are seeking God, to be able to have forgiveness from him, so that their name would be written in the book of life. And each year, they have to secure that. But I was reminded of the words of Jesus when the disciples came back and they were rejoicing, because he had sent them out two by two, and they were all like, God, Jesus, even the demons, flee in your name. And he said, Don't rejoice, because of the power that you have over the demons rejoice because your name is written in the Lamb's book of life. That is something to rejoice over. And it's not something that we have to clamor for. But it is something that we keep. It's also the time when we understand that Moses turned to God in in these 40 days is the first time that we hear of it. And the month of Elul is when he went up on the mountain to be with God, it was the second time around, to get the second to get the 10 commandments, and to seek to secure forgiveness for the nation for what they had done with the golden calf. So during this time, even now, the shofar is actually played every single day of those 40 days. And then on Yom Kippur. It's like, does all these trumpet blasts and the whole point is for the that trumpet blast each day to awaken the soul. Because how often do we just like walk in, whatever it is that we're walking in, we can become complacent. And our soul actually is falling to sleep. And we need our souls to be awakened during this season. So that's kind of what this season is all about. I know we often talk about well, we should be repenting every day. And yes, we should, we should walk in repentance before the Lord. But we have these seasons in time to celebrate and to observe corporately. And so as we observe this season corporately, we are saying to the world, return to your God, return to your God. So the root word in teshuvah, is Shiv. And that is the one that means to turn to turn away to turn around. To return, you can return to a place you can return to a person you can return to a relationship. So if if we knew Hebrew, like we could just read the Hebrew Bible, we would see this word shoes and Teshuvah. And it would be like, oh, and he turned around to say, blah, blah, blah. So it's the word itself. There's nothing super special about that word. But the there's something very special about this season. And it really is a physical act of what is happening within this spirit to turn around. In Zechariah, one three. It says thus says the Lord of hosts returned to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you says the Lord of hosts three times in that scripture says the Lord of hosts, he's the one saying he's the one calling he is saying returned to me, and I will return to you. That is that shoe of that will see. This word also means to restore, which means to bring it back to a former original state to a normal condition, like a building or a statue, a painting, you restore your health, and you restore your relationships with God, and with others. And in lamentation is 521. It says, turn us back to you, oh, Lord, and we will be restored. So to be restored in that relationship with Him. That is the goal that is the gospel, right? To be restored in relationship with God, to regain what has been lost. So in this season, there's a strong emphasis on returning to God, restoring relationship with God and with others and returning to God and restoring the relationship are two different things. We can return to God and just begin to obey Him. Without restoring the relationship the relationship could remain broken, if our hearts are not soften to him. So that when we do return, yes, we return in obedience to His ways and to His will. But there's also a real A turning of the heart and a softening, to hear His voice and to be more and more willing to walk in His commands, and to understand the great love that He has for us, and that the commands are there for actually our freedom. And for our joy, I remember when Woody and Janae when you guys were first dating, and this is one of the things that captured my heart about you Woody, and I was praying and hoping with all my heart that you were the man. But Woody and Janae had a conversation, they were friending one another. And they laid out the boundaries of their relationship and what it would look like. And I remember woody saying, Look, this, here's the boundaries of the areas, this is all the area that that we're not going to go, we're not going to head into this area. But look at all this space on the inside. This is where we run and be free. This is where we get to know one another. This is where we run and be free. And I'm doing this because I want to guard your heart, I want to be able to say if I was the best man at your wedding, instead of the groom, that I would be able to give your heart to the groom, saying I cared well, for her heart. And I was like, let him be the one like. So that's the, when you look at the commands, it's not a bunch of Don't, don't, don't, don't go here, don't go there, don't do this don't have fun. It's I'm guarding and protecting you, My Bride, my precious one. I want to keep you from the evil that tries to come in and ruin everything. I'm keeping you, I'm helping you and look at all this area in here. This is the run and be free, and a greater freedom that we could never know if we were on the outside of those commands. And then the purpose of all of this is also the reward. And it is full communion, full communion with God and with one another, with that full freedom on the inside there. We said a couple of weeks ago that doing this seasonally, it's very much like when we're sitting in a room. In the late afternoon of the day, we might be reading a book, this actually happened to me last night as I was preparing this. So I'm sitting over at a table and I'm at the computer and I'm just kind of going over my notes and adding the new things that I felt like the Lord wanted me to say. And I'm tippy tapping away to be tapping away and all the time outside. It's getting darker and darker and darker. And I don't even realize it. I'm just you know, and I am not realizing what is happening around me. And the darkness is coming into the house. And I had left this door open just a little ways. So it's getting colder and colder. I didn't even realize it. But doing this seasonally is a way of turning on the light. So like I said we might kind of fall asleep we might get used to what's going on out there. What's the big deal like watching this TV show? Yeah, well, maybe it's not that bad. Well, yeah, there's a few things in it, whatever. And we don't see how things are encroaching on us. And it might not be that bad. And we might be okay. But something is encroaching on us. And it's a way of turning on the light to say hey, do you see how watching this particular television show is causing your attitude to fall away? Your your heart motives are getting are getting duller and duller. And so it's just a way of turning on the light and saying, Okay, Lord, I want you to shine your light into my heart. Is there any area that's falling asleep? Is there any area where I'm becoming lacks and complacent? Is there anything that needs to come alive, that I have not cultivated? And it's not coming alive? Is there any sin that is keeping me from being in full communication with you? And then that is also like that. Azmuth check on our hearts. We talked about when Elijah ran away after the big showdown with Jerseyville and all of those, the profits and everything and then he he ran because he was like, I'm the only one left. There's nobody else who's serving God and she wants to kill me. And so when he ran away, and he got to the cave, God asks him the question, what are you doing? In here, Elijah. And that's something that I love about the Lord. He doesn't just confront, he asks us what's going on in our hearts. And we can trust Him with our hearts, we can bring him our hearts. And we can bring him our hearts. And we can, we can trust him that my, our speaker is going off for some reason. So anyway, we can bring him our hearts. And he will ask us questions by searching out and pointing out different things, and he might ask us about that. Can you hit the pause button, please? Just hit the okay. I apologize for the interruption. Our speaker was ready to connect. How about your heart? Ready to connect right? Now, so anyway, the Lord asks us these questions. When the disciples began to follow Jesus, the first words of Jesus in the book of John, are what do you want? What do you want? What are you seeking? So the Lord has a way of hitting the depths of our heart and helping us to find the depths of our heart by asking us questions, and we're gonna see that in one of the examples that we talked about this morning. And then another thing that we talked about was God's great kindness, his has said, which is loyal love, His goodness, His kindness, His mercy, this is who he is, he does not suspend or stop that great kindness when he executes judgment. I'm gonna say that again. He does not suspend his loyal love, His goodness, His kindness and mercy. When he executes judgment. It comes from his care said, when it is time for judgment, it is because the judgment is deserved. And it is in order to draw us to him not to push us away. And it's hard to see that sometimes. But we have to have the faith to see that his judgment comes with the HiSET. In Hosea, chapter 11, verses three to four, God is speaking, he says, yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk. I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. Do you think that your kids, remember those of you who have kids? Do you think that they remember you holding them up by their arms when they're walking, learning to walk? Do you think that they remember that it's you that picked them up on your knee? And when they fell down and hurt themselves and skin their knees in those early, early times when they couldn't even walk yet? And do you think that they remember that you were there, holding them in the night when they had the fever, giving them medication, praying over them, for the Lord to heal them? No, that's like, what this is God caring for his people, holding them up by their arms, they did not know that I healed them. I lead them with cords of kindness with bands of love. And I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them. But we often don't remember, and we don't see what God has done for us in his great kindness. And so that's something that we can do during this season. We don't just have to be searching out the sin. We can search out the places where we have forgotten, or where we didn't know. And we can ask the Holy Spirit to show us. God, where were you? When I fell that time? Where were you when I was wounded, when my heart hurt deeply? Where were you when I was sick? And when I needed you and I felt like you had abandoned me? Where were you? And he'll show you. He'll show you because of His great love. In Romans two four, Paul says, Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? When we take the time to look back at the kindness of God over our lives, the times we don't remember and the times that we do remember when he brings those to mind. Those places of kindness, make our hearts draw to him. And if we are walking into sin in an area, our hearts will be broken. Because we know the great kindness of God is pulling us and drawing us. It's his kindness that leads us to that place of repentance. He's not driving us with a whip, repent, repent. He's drawing us with cords of love. So I wanted to talk to you a little bit about a few people who turned to the Lord before this season of teshuva. That we have been learning about, because this season was instituted once the children of Israel came out of Egypt and God had rescued them. But there are many places in scripture where the Lord brought people to him, and had their hearts turned toward him. One of them is with Abraham. Before he was Abraham, he was Abraham, his wife, Sarai, and this is in Genesis chapter 15. And this is right after Abraham had gone and rescued lot away from all with people because he had been in he was in Saddam, Saddam wasn't destroyed yet, okay. And he had gone to rescue a lot, and all of those things that happen. So when it says after these things, that's what that is, after these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision saying, Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward. And there we see that purpose, and that reward of turning to God, He is our great reward. Then, God brought him outside and said, Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you're able to number them. And he said to him, so shall your descendants be. Now, how many children did Abram have at this time in his life? None. How old ish was Abram at this time. He's older than anyone in here. He was old. And God is giving him this promise, look up at the stars, your descendants are going to be as the stars. Now I don't get to see the stars very much around here right in the city. But if you ever get to go out away, and look at the stars in the heavens, it's astounding. And that would be more to what it would be like when Abram looked at the sky, and he saw the stars. Oh my goodness, God is making him this promise. And it still took years before the promise even began to come into being there was a waiting that had to take place, but the promise had been given. And as you guys remember the story, Abram and Sarai decide that they're going to help the promise along because Abrams is not getting any younger. And Sariah is not getting any younger. Right? So even when they tried to obtain the promise that God had given to them, in their own way, God actually was very merciful and kind, not only to them, but he was kind to their servant hugger. He showed his great kindness, his care said, was shown to her in chapter 16. It says, Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had born him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid servant whose name was Hagar. So So Rhys said to Abram, see now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children, please go into my maid. Perhaps I shall obtain children by her, because that was the custom of the day. If a woman could not conceive and give birth, then she could give her servant to her husband. They could conceive, then when that servant who was like her, her handmade like the top handmade, when that servant gave birth, then that child would then be the heir, the husband and the wife. Abram hated the voice of samurai. Then Sarai, Abram's wife, took our homemade the Egyptian and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. Catch that. She gave him to be his wife. And after Abram had dwelt 10 years in the land of Canaan, so he went into Hagar and she conceived, and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes. So there's a lot going on here. First of all, they're trying to rush how God is going to provide the promise they're going to make the way. They believe that God is going to do this. But they're like, well, let's just help them along. This is the right way. Let's take this way, has anybody ever done that? I have. Surely this is what God meant. He gave me this promise 10 years ago, surely this is what he means he must be making away all just do it this way. And then there's a lot of heartache and pain that comes along with it, because I'm trying to make it come to pass. God has a way for it to come to pass. The other thing that happens in this point is that Hagar begins to despise samurai. So she's been given to Abram as wife, not just as top servant, but given his wife. And now because she's the one who has conceived, she thinks of herself more highly than she ought to hear that pride that comes in. And that's where her downfall came in. Then Sariah said to Abraham, my wrong be upon you. You're the head of the house. Why didn't you tell me not to do this? Is? Is anybody heard that blame game before? Maybe way back in Genesis? It was that woman that you gave me. It was the snake. My sin, be my wrong be upon you. I gave my maid into your embrace. And when she saw that she had conceived I became despised in her eyes. The Lord Judge between you and me? Who's done the greater wrong? Wow. We don't ever do that with our husband or wife, do we? We don't we don't stand around and say I'm the one that's right. He's gonna find out she's gonna find out. Sure, is age old. So Abraham said to so right, indeed, your maid is in your hand, do to her as you please. And when so right dealt harshly with her. Her Garfield fled from her presence, the name Hagar actually means to flee. That is the meaning of her name. Now the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the angel of the Lord, when is the name is like that it is often God in the flesh, the angel of the Lord coming to visit Hagar in the wilderness. She was by the spring on the way to Sure. And this is just a little fun side fact, that area of the wilderness near shore is exactly where the children of Israel went right after they came across the Red Sea. When the Red Sea had parted than they came across. Then the first place they went into the wilderness was the wilderness near shore. Same thing. So she went there first. And he said, Hagar, Sarah's made, where have you come from? And where are you going? There's the question. Where have you come from? Where are you going? And that right, there is an Azmuth question. If you want to know how to even be before the Lord and in prayer for the Azmuth check on the heart. You can say, Lord, where am I coming from? And where am I going? Help me search my heart to know that. And she said, I'm fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai. The angel of the Lord said to her return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand. Then the angel of the Lord said to her, I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude. Sound familiar? He just repeated the promise that he gave to Abraham. He repeated it to Hagar. The very same promise because she is bearing the seed of Abraham. She carries that promise within her. He meets her in his kindness. He asks her where she's going, and where she where she's been and where she's going. But he also gave her a command. Go back, go back. And although God has a special plan for the ones that he calls his people. The promise of fruitfulness and life in him is for everyone. Not just the descendants of Jacob. Jesus died for all people to reconcile all people to God. And just like Peter said, in Acts 239, the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are a far off as many as the Lord our God will call. So we don't ever have to wonder if God is only wanting to restore Israel. He wants all of us restored to him in relationship. And notice that the Angela Lord didn't instruct her guard to continue onward after having some water. He didn't say, Yeah, you know what, it's pretty rough back there. Sariah is being pretty mean to you. And I can understand how this can be rough for you. So why don't you just go back home to Egypt, you're on your way there. Just go on back home to Egypt, I'll be with you. And I'll care for you and you're carrying the seed of Abraham. He could have done that. But he didn't. He said, return and submit. Return to your metric mistress, submit yourself under her hand. He's dealing with that positioning of her heart. She was not submitted under the hand of her mistress prior to running away, she was lifting herself above because she had conceived and Sarah hadn't. So Hagar was restored to that family relationship from which she fled. But we're still living with the repercussions of the sin of Abraham. So Ryan hugger of what they did there, there are still consequences. Absent the forgiveness and full restoration of the people, there's still much restoration to be done there. So turning toward God, and restoring our relationship with Him necessarily includes restoring relationship with others, is not just about restoring our personal relationship with God. There is a restoration of the relationship of the people of God that He wants us to have through forgiveness. I mean, how many times did Jesus teach His disciples about forgiveness? Yeah, so many times. In the beginning, in Matthew five on the, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, You're familiar with the commandment that the older generation was taught, do not murder or you will be judged. But I'm telling you, if you hold anger in your heart toward a fellow believer, you are subject to judgment. Wow. If you hold anger in your heart, toward a fellow believer, you are subject to judgment. And whoever demeans and insults a fellow believer is answerable to the congregation. And whoever calls down curses upon a fellow believer is in danger of being sent to a fiery hell. There is a progression there. Do you see it? Holding anger in your heart? Okay, um, I didn't say anything. I haven't said anything to them. I haven't been mean to them. I've avoided them like crazy, but I haven't been mean to them. Right, holding the anger in your heart. But then the next is the demeaning and insulting. When you are in relationship with that person, because you're angry with them. And out of the heart of anger, the insults begin to come. And they are not protected under your care. You're gonna say some things about them because of the anger that is stored up in your heart. And then the final one is calling down curses upon a fellow believer there, you're in danger of hellfire. God takes it very seriously when we come against those that he loves. Then Jesus continues. So then if you are presenting a gift before the altar in the temple, and suddenly you remember a quarrel you have with a fellow believer, leave your gift there in front of the altar, and Go at once to apologize to the one who is offended, then after you have reconciled, come to the altar and present your gift. He wants our worship and our gifts to Him to be pure. And they cannot be pure. If we're holding anger in our hearts or if we've had an argument with a fellow believer or we are holding something against someone, our gift of worship. He wants us to stop it right there and go and take care of it. It's more important to him that we have reconciliation among us. Now, he'll receive it by he's gonna be working on our hearts. That's How gracious and kind he is. But you can see the level of importance by what Jesus is saying here, I didn't realize how important it was until I read that passage, I was like, Oh, my goodness, he wants me to leave that my gift that I'm bringing to Him, and go make sure that everything is right. And to do that, make sure everything's right in here. And he'll help me with that. So He's so kind in that even when we're coming before Him and worship, he'll place his finger on those places of our hearts that need adjustment, including pointing out relationships that are in need of repair. And the New King James version of that verse says, First, be reconciled to your brother. First, before you come and bring me a gift, first, be reconciled to your brother. So before we bring him our sacrifice, he desires that we're reconciled with one another. And remember this, when God does expose these things in our hearts, He doesn't do it to shame us, and to make us feel horrible. It's for our freedom. It's so that we are not locked down by this anger. We're not locked down and controlled by the sin. It's for our freedom. And it's also for the other person's freedom. When we're dealing with these things in relationship. It's not just our personal freedom, it's for the other person's freedom as well. Because when we forgive others, we release them to the Lord. We're not holding on to them any longer. So to let God expose or heal whatever needs to be there helps us then to release the others to the Lord so that we can receive healing and they can receive healing and forgiveness. We're holding on to them and saying, No, you owe me You owe me You owe me. We're not releasing them for the Lord to be able to work in their lives and in their hearts, because we're holding on to that we're holding that area. So to forgive, it means literally to release, I release you, you owe me nothing. Don't you guys want to be free. I want to be free. And it's not always easy. I've been in this place where I wanted to hold on to the anger. I felt like I deserved at least that I deserve to hold on to this because it makes me feel a lot more righteous. But the Lord began working in my heart about three years ago about releasing and walking in forgiveness, and there is a freedom that comes that is, it's absolutely amazing. And for those that I have forgiven, I am now seeing that freedom in them. And and I didn't go to them. I just dealt with what was going on in my heart, my anger, my right to not forgive. And now there is a newness in relationships. Because I have let go and allowed God to do his work. It's changed my heart perspective, for sure. And in that it helps engender the best in the relationship as well. So I'm not going to go into a big long teaching on forgiveness because that's a series in itself. It really is. But I will tell you the benefits of walking in forgiveness are absolutely amazing. In Romans 1218, Paul says if it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Sometimes it's not possible. But as long as whatever depends on you, whatever you can do, to walk in peace with others. That's where you're held responsible. If someone refuses to walk in a peaceable relationship with you, that is not on you. As long as you have made the efforts to make restoration, and you have done the hard work with God, their reaction is not on you. In Hebrews 12, also at 12, verses 14 and 15. It says Pursue peace with all people and holiness without which no one will see the Lord looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble and by this many become defiled. And I wanted to share in here this became a bit of a conversation on the mils per counsel, and also on Aaron Nova general. And Rod shared something and I want to share again that he had shared regarding this teaching of, of walking peaceably with all men. He said both Paul and And the writer of Hebrews link peace to our relationships. And the writer of Hebrews links it to holiness, forgiveness, protection from roots of bitterness, and falling short of the grace of God. These writers call us to live peaceably with all people as much as possible. Some Christians pursue peace by avoiding certain people. Perhaps this is a misinterpretation of Paul's passage. If I don't have to see them, I don't have to deal with them right. This would be living peaceably without people. But Paul calls us to live peaceably with them. And I also wanted to share with you the definition for peace, which is shalom in the Hebrew. And in the passion translation, it gives a really excellent note on the meaning of peace, which I really don't think that we can fully get the full definition of until we are going to walk in it completed in heaven. But as much as possible, I think the passion translation has done a really great job in setting it out. So shallow means much more than peace. It means wholeness, wellness, well, being safe, happy, friendly, favor, completeness, to make peace, peace offering secure, to prosper, to be victorious, to be content, tranquil, quiet, and restful. Wow, that encompasses a lot, right? That encompasses a lot. It's something that does really happen on the inside the pictographic symbol for the word shalom, which is the letters Shin lamas, Vav men, they read this destroy the authority that binds to chaos. So if you were to look at that, it's a little bit like an acronym, right? So in the military, we're really used to a lot of acronyms. And then there's a lot of acronyms not in the military. But it's like it's not an acronym, because Hebrew works differently. But you can think of it a little bit like that, because every letter in the Hebrew language stands for something picked up graphically. And so those sentence that when you look at those four letters, in that order, it says destroy the authority that binds to chaos. Shallow. Wow. So, shalom. The noun Shalom is derived from the verbal root Shalem, which means to restore. So it's restoration in the sense of replacing or providing what is needed in order to make someone or something whole and complete. So Shalom is used to describe those of us who have been provided all that is needed to be whole and complete, to break off all authority that would attempt to bind us to chaos. Do you see now why Jesus is called the Prince of Peace. He has destroyed the authority that binds to chaos. And he has brought this peace into our lives. He has made this piece available to the earth, which is why all the angels declared peace on earth, goodwill toward men. This is true forgiveness, and this is complete peace. It's the way to protect our lives from the roots of bitterness and defilement and falling short of the grace of God. This is the way to insulating our lives from the power of chaos and darkness. Rod goes on to say, in my short life on Earth, I've watched some of the most spiritual and powerful people I have known in God overtaken by this chaos, because of unrefined forgiveness, which would be a an incomplete forgiveness, more of a conflict resolution resolution, and really more often times than not an avoidance of conflict. I used to teach leadership in PwC. And we always would ask, how many of you avoid conflict at all cost? And it was like every hand went up in the room. Nobody wanted conflict. Well, nobody wants conflict. But to run to the conflict with love, and kindness and truth with the purpose of restoration is the best thing that you can do. But what we do is we run from the conflict and we avoid, avoid, avoid which only makes the conflict grow larger and larger and larger. We bury it and bury it and bury it and it can go deep into our hearts and That's where that anger thing comes in, which I was talking about a little earlier. And I often talked about it like this, if you have a like, we have a rug in this room. And if you were to take all the dirt and sweep it up, and just pile it under the rug, and then the next day, sweep up all the dirt and pile it on the rug, and you keep doing that daily, and you're not dealing with dirt and really getting rid of it, you're just piling it under the rug, then when people start walking across the rug, there's little piles underneath, and bumps in the rug, and people start falling and you don't know why. And it's because of hidden unforgiveness, hidden conflict that is undealt with. So, so much better to run to the conflict with a heart full of love with the goal of restoration, get rid of all the junk, and have the restoration. It's not easy. But it's the best. And it is so much better in the end, to be able to have those restored relationships, and the victory that comes with that it is absolutely amazing. The peace of God in our lives manifests in our relationships with God's people, not without God's people. And that peace breaks the power of chaos that's going on around us. Just as a side note, if you're wanting to learn more about forgiveness and how to walk in it and do a personal journey on this, there's a great book that I read, it's called Chaos beneath the shade. It's by Tracy Bickle. And now that I've learned more about peace, and what it means about destroying the authority that binds to chaos, that title means even more. Yeah, chaos beneath the shade. So I want to concentrate just for a moment on being victorious. So that was one of the I don't usually think of being victorious with peace other than you know, like, there's peace in the land after the king has won or whatever, right. But I don't often think about to be victorious. And in Genesis four, we actually see a conversation between God and Cain. And the Lord is giving Cain an opportunity to gain control over the sin that was rising up in his heart. He had anger in his heart toward his brother. Because when Cain and Abel had brought forth an offering to the Lord, God accepted April's offering he did not accept Kim's offering, we're not going to go into the teaching of the whys. But um, my, my feeling is it was a heart condition and not just necessarily what was brought and maybe what was brought was because of the heart condition, I have no idea. But we can see that God is going to deal with the heart. And he gives Cain the opportunity to rise up in victory. And in Genesis four verses three, this set three through seven, it says, in the process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but he did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry. And his countenance fell, meaning his face his mopey, his walk around, mopey, angry. Wow. So the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry? He didn't just come out against him and say, stop being angry Cain. He asks the question, why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? Dig deep Cain, what's going on in here? If you do, well, will you not be accepted? If you do not well, if you do not do well, sin lies at the door, and its desire is for you. But you should rule over it. Now, another version of the Bible says sin, crouches at the door, and its desire is for you. And you should rule over it. Wow. It's just like out there waiting. And its desire is to rule over you. So its desire is to be your master. And when we give in to sin, little bit here, a little bit there a little bit here a little bit there. It does become master over us. So now, take that and compare it to the heart of Jesus in Revelation chapter three, verses 19 through 2021 says as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. That's exactly what God was doing with Cain. He loved Cain. He wasn't just judging him and calling him out. He's rebuking him. He's chastening him. He's getting him back on the right road by asking these questions in his heart. As many as I love I rebuke Can chasten therefore be zealous and repent, which means, hey, be eager to repent. This is a good thing. When we repent, we have that clean relationship with God, it should drive us with great joy, to walk in repentance like this. Jesus says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him Woody, and dine with him. And he with me, To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. Sin crouches at the door. But Jesus stands at the door. And he knocks, sins waiting to grab you. As you come out. Jesus is waiting for the invitation to come in. Sin wants to wool over us. But Jesus wants to come in and dine with us. Something very special about that. Feasting with the Lord dining with him as a much more intimate place. Jesus doesn't want to rule over us he wants to reign through us. Yes, he is Master. Yes, he is Lord. But not in order to control and rule over with the heavy handedness like sin. He wants to rule and reign through us and look at the victory that brings peace to him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne. What thus amazed amazing. To him who overcomes, to hit To him who overcomes sins desire that wants to rule over you. He grants for us to sit with him on his throne. And then the final picture of the Father's heart is expressed in Jesus prayer in John 17, verses 20 to 23. I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. That's us, you guys. He's praying for us right there. We're the ones who do later believe in Him, because of the disciples and what they've done through the ages. That they all may be one, as you father are in Me and I in you, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them that they may be one just as we are one I in them and you in Me that they may be made perfect in one Shalom. And that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as You have loved Me. Jesus truly is that Prince of Peace. Everything that he does, everything that he says is for the purpose of restoring us with the Father forever. And forever isn't just some day way long out there forward on the timeline, forever runs all the way on all the timelines back and forth. That's eternity back and forth, back and forth. So he has restored us. He is restoring us, He will restore us. It's for now. It's not just for the great Sunday living in heaven. There is a forever now that he has given us this peace, to live with him and to live with one another in that piece. Has anybody here heard about the great communion revival that Lou Engel is talking about? So I'm October 8 Here in Colorado Springs, they're going to kick it off. It's called The Great communion revival. And I've been hearing so much about this revival that's coming. And I've been learning so much more about communion. And I'm just now beginning to understand the Father's heart behind it. Because I still even though we talk about communion and we learn about it, and we're learning to walk in it. It I still kind of focus on those elements. Right. So what is this great communion revival? I don't understand how is how is there a revival surrounding communion, but there is this move in the Spirit of God restoring communion, I can feel the weight of it, I can feel the effects of it already. Because the goal of turning away from sin and turning toward God is true communion with Him and with other believers. How can we have full fellowship and communion if sin is standing in the way or if unforgiveness is between us, or if pride won't budge and give honor to others? We can sin crouches outside our doors, and it's desire is for us. And we must rule over it. And I much prefer to open the door of my heart to Jesus who is the best master of all, and for him to come in and dine with me, so that we would be victorious overcomers ruling with him on his throne. And let me tell you that is not too audacious to say if we're walking in humble repentance with Him. Jesus died for us to be restored to right relationship with the Father. Why would we not be willing to go through a season of dying to ourselves in order to restore that relationship?