The Power And Insights Of Advent - Beth Mills

​Why do we celebrate Advent and what does it mean? As Christians we're both looking back and celebrating His first coming and looking forward to His second coming. 

Full transcript generated by ai (please excuse errors):






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​All right, I'm very excited to be with you guys this morning. And I want to thank you, Tay for preaching the message in the music as often happens, the Holy Spirit orchestrates all things. So really, what my plan is today is to just kind of take you through the journey that the Lord took me this week. We're celebrating Advent, this is the second Sunday of Advent. And we're celebrating that. Who knows what Advent even means. Getting ready for coming up something that's Yes. Something like that. Advent actually means the arrival of a notable person, thing or event. And as Christians, Advent for us, is a two pronged thing. So we look back to when Jesus arrived his arrival, but we also look forward to his kiss coming again, his second arrival, and the promises. So he fulfilled promises on his first arrival, and there are promises yet to be fulfilled, that he will bring his second arrival. I just like to go to Him in prayer this morning to have him lead and teach us. Father, we just want to say thank you for your plan. And we say yes, to those plans help us to understand events that are unfolding before us. Lord, when our lives look like trouble and darkness, help us to see that you are the light and you have placed that light within us. And I asked you now Holy Spirit to lead and guide us through Your Word this morning, to teach us, give us revelation, give us living understanding as we celebrate your arrival for the first time and look forward to your arrival once again. Amen. So the way the Lord works with me a lot is through questions. And so I'll probably be asking you guys some questions as well. One of them is why did Jesus even come? First time around? Why did he come? On this team is going to go Gods word promised he was going to come? Why did God promised that? He wanted to bring us back. Yes. So we needed it. Why did we need it? He wanted to bring us back to him. He wanted to bridge that gap that was there. And two of the questions that popped into my mind as I was reading and studying his Word, and basically the the handout that I gave to you guys is literally just the scriptures. Just walking you through the scriptures that I walked through this week, and we might get through them and we might not it's okay, we're gonna go as far as we can get and receive whatever he has for us. But the first question that came to my mind was actually I found out the first documented question in the Old Testament. It's a question from God to Adam. And he asks this question of Adam, after Adam and Eve had sinned in there, and they are hiding. Where are you? Yeah, where are you? Can you hear the longing in his voice in that? Where are you? Because of separation had come. That gap that you were just saying, like, a separation had come? Because they had made a choice to take of that fruit. Kinda like that. The second question that came to my mind is the first documented question in the Gospels. Now, not necessarily in order of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, but I guess in order of events, if you put those gospels together, the first documented question in the Gospels is from Jesus. And it's when John and two of his disciples are walking along and Jesus It passes by them. And John says, Behold, the Lamb of God. Like, there he is. And so those two disciples start following after Jesus, like, literally, he's walking, and they are following him down the road. And Jesus turns to them, and he says, What do you want? And those two questions were resonating inside of me as I was preparing this. Where are you? And what do you want? And those are questions. I think he still asks each of us today. Where are you? What do you want? So let's look at that first arrival. And you think of Jesus coming to the earth, as a tiny baby. And when I think of all of the grandchildren, when we saw them for the first time, in those first moments, man, they are helpless. Right? They're so fragile and helpless and adorable, but so full of potential and you look at them and you wonder, who are you going to be? What are you going to do? But something that we have as a gift in the scriptures, if you imagine this precious baby Jesus, in Mary's arms, in Joseph's arms? When we ask that question, who are you? We get the answer. In the very first verses of the Old Testament. In Genesis chapter one, verses one through three, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And then God said, Let there be light, and there was light. And how do I know that Jesus, that when we think of that baby, Jesus, was right there. It says it in John one. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God, excuse me, that tiny baby, he was in the beginning with God, all things were made through Him. And without him, nothing was made that was made, In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. In other words, the darkness did not overcome it. The darkness did not understand that light. Nevertheless, he is the one who proclaimed light be. And he is the same light that gives light to you and to me, and speaks into our lives and says, light be he speaks into our darkness and our confusion, and our wandering. And he says, light be inside of us. In Colossians, chapter one this way, gave you a handout, so you didn't have to flip through your Bible too fast. In Colossians, chapter one, thinking of the baby Jesus, laying in his mother's arms, or his father's arms, He is the image of the invisible God. Well, he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him, all things were created, that are in heaven, and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created through Him, and for Him, and He is before all things, and in Him, all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may have the preeminence for it please the Father that in him all the fullness should dwell, all the fullness of God dwelling in that precious baby who came to the earth for you and me, by Him to reconcile all things. If you have a pencil, you can just circle that word or reconcile all things to himself by him whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of his cross. He is there from the beginning. This is his purpose. What I want to say to you is his arrival as a baby, growing up as a man and giving Himself for our sins, dying upon the cross so that his blood can cleanse us is not plan B. is Plan A, from the beginning? God wasn't in the garden searching for Adam saying, Where are you and wondering at the same time? Oh, no, what are we going to do now? How can we fix this? This is Plan A. Jumping back to John again. Verse one, I mean, chapter one, verses nine through 11. That was the true light, which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. Again, just as the darkness did not comprehend the light, the very world that Jesus created, did not know him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive him. Why? They didn't know him. They didn't recognize him. Verse 14, The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Wow. And then, verse 18, no one has seen God at any time, the only begotten son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared him. That word for declared is also he has made him known. So whether that declaration is through his words, or that declaration is through what he did, as he walked along the road as he walked along the way with the disciples, the things that we read about everything that he did, he has declared him. I'm going to read that in the passion translation, as well. says, no one has ever gazed upon the fullness of God's splendor, wow. Except the uniquely beloved son, who is cherished by the Father, and held close to his heart. Now, he has unfolded to us the full explanation of who God truly is. Thank you, Lord, thank you, Jesus for doing that. For unfolding to us a full of explanation of who God truly is. Because it said he is the very image of God the Father. If we want to know what God is like, Look to Jesus, because He showed us this is not on here, but it makes me think of in John chapter 14, when Jesus is talking about leaving soon, and one of his disciples says, Lord, show us the Father and it will be enough for us. And he said, Have I been with you so long? And you still don't know me? Whoa. This is why He came. To show us the Father He is the very image of the Father, the one we are separated from because of sin. One more to show you who this precious baby is this bundle of not just potential. This bundle of the fullness of God is found in Isaiah chapter six, verses one through five. In the year that king us iodide, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up and to his train, the train of his robe filled the temple. Above it stood Sarafem each one had six wings with two he covered his face with two he covered his feet. With two he flew And one cried to another inside Holy hell holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said, Woe is me, for I am undone, because I'm a man of unclean lips. And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, from my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. And that's not even his fullness, because no one has seen the full splendor, except for the sun. But that is very awesome. The very one who causes men to be undone to cause their hearts to melt, for their knees to fall to the ground. This is the Lord wrapped up as a baby. Wow. And then we see this great exchange that he has had to make because here he is in all his splendor. He's high and lifted up, he's on the throne. There's angels, crying out, holy, holy, holy, all around him, the glory in the splendor and the beauty. And Philippians two, verses six through eight, tells us what he did. He existed in the form of God, yet he gave no thought to seizing the equality with God as His supreme prize. Instead, he emptied himself of his outward glory. By reducing himself to the form of a lowly servant, he became human. He humbled Himself and became vulnerable, choosing to be revealed as a man and was obedient. He was a perfect example. Even in his death, a criminal's death. by crucifixion. He emptied Himself, He stripped himself of the glory, and the splendor, and that power that causes the entire house to be filled with smoke and the pillars to shake at the sound of his voice. He stripped himself of all of that splendor that causes us to tremble in fear and fall to our knees in worship. He stripped himself of all the splendor of heaven, that would cause us to say, Woe is me, for I am undone. And he put on flesh. He humbled Himself and became a man. He is the firstborn of all creation. He is the Creator of all things. He was born of a woman born by water, and by blood, like you and me, he came to this earth in the gentlest, and most normal way, as a helpless baby. And he exchanged all of the glory for this, this flesh that we walk around in. And what did we receive then, in exchange for what he gave. That's the beginning of that is found in Colossians, chapter one, verses 21 to 23. And you who once were alienated, and enemies in your mind, by wicked works, yet now he has reconciled and circled out again, in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless and above reproach in his sight. I'm just going to stop right there. We were once alienated and enemies, we were once against him. Yet he has reconciled us. And then it's only two letters, but I think this is probably the biggest word in the English language. If Rod was talking about that earlier, the conditions of the promises if if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast and are not moved away from the hope of the Gospel, which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I Paul, became a minister. I'm going to read that in the passion translation as well. Even though you Once distant from him, where are you? Even though you were once distant from him, living in the shadows of your evil thoughts and actions, he reconnected you back to himself. He released his supernatural peace to you through the sacrifice of His own body as the sin payment on your behalf, so that you would dwell in His presence. And now there is nothing between you and Father God, for he sees you as holy, flawless, and restored. If, indeed, you continue to advance in faith, assured of a firm foundation to grow upon, never be shaken from the hope of the Gospel you are believed in. And this is the glorious news I preach all over the world. This isn't just an unconditional promise. It's if you walk on this foundation, it's if you receive what He has given to you. If you walk in these truths, then you will never be shaken from that hope and the Gospel. If we don't walk in if we don't believe in it, how can we be reconciled? How can we be reconnected with that which we will not accept? We can't. That's why it's a big if that we walk in back to John again, verses chapter one, verses 12, to 13. But as many as received Him, there's the the if as many as received Him, to them, he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. We too, are born of God. Jesus came in obedience, to be born of water and blood, and to live life as a human being, showing us the full image of the Father, to die the death of a criminal. And through his death, and His blood, and His resurrection, and our receiving of all of it, we become children who are born of God. So miracle, I love Christmas. Do you love Christmas? Here's some more of what we get out of the deal. Verses 16 and 17 of John chapter one of his fullness we have all received, and grace for grace, For the Law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. And there's a lot of people who say, Well, you know, Moses gave the Law and then Jesus gave us grace and truth. And we tend to separate that out in our minds. And we say, Oh, well, the law must be kind of bad. And then Jesus did it the right way. But that's not what Jesus said about himself. He said he didn't come to do away with the law. He said, He came to fulfill it. And he came to show us the way. Now the passion translations puts it this way. Now out of his fullness, we are fulfilled. And from him, we receive grace heaped upon more grace. Whoa. Moses gave us the law. But Jesus, the Anointed One unveils truth wrapped in tender mercy. And I don't know if you guys remember we've talked about his said in the past. This is God's faithful love. This is his tender mercy. Instead is the word used to describe God and His great love and His mercy and His kindness and his goodness to us, all throughout the Old Testament. The Old Testament, that's the law. And yet he continues to pour out His said, and Jesus NOW comes to show us the way and what that looks like. So we're going to turn to John chapter seven. I'm going to show you this is one area, he did it over and over and over throughout his life, but this is the one that he led me to this week. John chapter seven, beginning in verse 45, and I'll set it up a little bit for you. This is during the Feast of Tabernacles which is a week long feast and He has just gotten up on that last and greatest day of the feast. And he proclaimed that if you come to me, then out of your belly will flow rivers of living water, and all the people are beginning to like talk. They're like, Oh, man, nobody speaks like this guy. And he must be the one and others alike. No, he's not the one he's not the one we've been waiting for. And others are like, Yes, he is. And no, and, and so there are the people are talking, the religious leaders are talking. So that that's the Pharisees and the Sadducees. And the officers and chief priests, and they're all talking about Jesus, and what he's saying, and could it be him? And oh, no, it better not be all of these kinds of things. So this is where we begin. And this is where this has happened that last and greatest day of the feast, the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees who said to them, Why have you not brought him? Why haven't we been talking to this guy? The officers answered, No man ever spoke like this man. Then the Pharisees answered them. Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed? Do you see how they've set themselves up? The crowd knows nothing about the law. We know everything about the law. Nicodemus, who came to Jesus by night, being one of them, said to them, does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing? There's wisdom coming through. He has met with the one who is mercy, the one who is justice. And he doesn't let go of one in order to execute the other. Just because judgment is being executed doesn't mean mercy doesn't exist in the midst of it. And just because he extends mercy doesn't mean there is no justice. He executes both perfectly. And so he says something very wise about their law. Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing? They answered and said to him, are you also from Galilee, search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee? Because they don't know he was born in Bethlehem. And everyone went to his own house. But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. That seems to be the place that Jesus likes to go and commune with God. He didn't go to his house, people have been living not in their homes for an entire week. This is the Feast of Booths, the Feast of Tabernacles. They've been living in camping out for a full week, they all went home. Jesus went to the Mount of Olives, and communed with God. And then, early in the morning, he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him. And he sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had sent her in the midst, they said to him, Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do you say? This, they said, testing him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger, as though he did not hear. We're going to pause for right there. And think about what has just happened. These religious leaders, these scribes and Pharisees, have brought to him a woman who was caught in the very act of adultery. And they thrust her into the midst of all the people who are learning from Jesus right at that moment. Their ultimate goal is to catch Jesus to prove that he's not Messiah. In doing that, their other purpose is to expose and to shame this woman because she's been caught in the very act of adultery. What's missing here? Someone, the man. The man. Exactly. And that's how we know it's trick, not just because of the war heard, but the man is missing. She's caught in the very act, the man had to be there. And he's missing. And according to the law of which they are quoting to Jesus, Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stone will that such is the man and the woman in the law, not just the woman. But their purpose is to expose and to shame. That is not God's purpose with us ever, when we sin, if he ever convict us of sin, it is not to expose and shame us. It's to expose it in order for us to be able to repent, so that we can then renounce it, and be reconciled to Him. Not to bring a shame, but to bring reconciliation to bring healing. And I love what Jesus does here. He doesn't say so where's the guy? He doesn't say anything to them. He just stoops down and writes on the ground with his finger as though he did not hear. So here's this poor woman thrust in the midst of everyone exposed to every one of what she's just done. Yeah, her sin is real. And everybody can see it. And Jesus doesn't say what were you thinking? What were you doing? Nothing. No accusations, he just stoops down to the ground and begins writing. And we don't know what he wrote on the ground with his finger. People speculate, but we have no idea what he's writing. Continuing on with verse seven, so when they continued asking him, so that means they didn't Be quiet. when they continued asking him, he raised himself up and said to them, He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first. And again, he stooped down and he wrote on the ground. Maybe he was writing out their sins. Maybe he was writing out scripture. Maybe he was writing their names, we don't know. But whatever it was, what he said to them. And what he was writing was enough, then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, do you see how he didn't shame them? You have no idea what he wrote. They were convicted by their conscience. And they went out one by one, beginning with the oldest, even to the last. And Jesus was left alone. That makes me think maybe even the crowd had dispersed, right? They're like, whoo, we're out right now. I don't know. But Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst, when Jesus had raised himself up, and saw no one but the woman. He said to her Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you? Because you see, you could not be condemned, and judged to be stoned. Without two witnesses. There had to be at least two witnesses. And she said, No one Lord, even though her sin is real. And Jesus said to her, Neither do I condemn you go and sin no more. Pray that that is exactly what she did. And she took to heart the words that Jesus said, because those words are so deeply healing to the soul. She was caught in sin. And Jesus said to her, Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. How many of us, when we have received forgiveness of something because we do all mess up? Who we are, we sin. But how many of us look in at our own sin, and we keep the condemnation going? And we think and we believe that the Father in His perfection looks upon us in that sin and keeps pointing it out. And when he has said, Neither do I condemn you, I paid for it. This is before his blood on the cross but his word is enough. Neither do do I condemn you? Now go and sin no more, don't live that life of sin. Wow. This is how he unfolded to us that way, have mercy and truth. He also did it in Zechariah. Prior to Jesus arrival on the earth Zechariah has a vision and he has a vision of the angel of the Lord and the Council of heaven. And this is during the time when Israel is coming back to settle in Jerusalem, they're rebuilding the temple. They have been exiled for 70 years and more. And Joshua, by lineage by bloodline is the one call to be the high priest. But during those seven years and more in Babylon, they were not keeping everything going with the temple and the ritual sacrifices and all of that. So I can't even imagine what Joshua must have felt like, I, I don't know what I'm doing. Right? And yet, he's called as the high priest. And in Zechariah, chapter three verses one through 10. It says, Then he showed me Joshua, the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. That's exactly where Satan stands to oppose us as well. He stands there accusing, accusing, accusing and saying things and some of them are lies, and some of them are not lies. And the Lord said to Satan, the Lord rebuke you, Satan. The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you, is this not a brand plucked from the fire. We pulled him out. Now, Joshua was clothed with filthy garments. And he was standing before the angel, this is the angel of the Lord. And when they say the angel of the Lord, Most scholars agree, this is Jesus. And here he is in filthy garments. It's real. He has sinned. He doesn't know what he's doing. He isn't sanctified and walking in holiness, and his garments are a mess. That's true. But even though Satan is standing there accusing and opposing him, the Lord says, The Lord rebuke you, Satan. He says that for us to when the enemy comes and tries to remind you of what you have done, not just to deceive you into thinking other things, but to remind you of what you actually did. The Lord rebuke you, Satan, that is taken away, that is taken care of on the cross and by the blood of Jesus. So then he answered, The Lord answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And to him, he said, See, I've removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes. And I said, Let them put a clean turban on his head. I love how we, I just love that interaction with the vision, right? Let him put a clean turban on his head, and this is what I love. There are others with Joshua. And the Lord says to those that are standing with him, remove those filthy garments from him, help a guy out. Remove those garments from him. See, I've given you I've removed your iniquity and I will clothe you with rich robes. Here's your rich robes. Look at them. There they are. They're yours. You get to wear them Joshua. And you've got a buddy crying out for you put a clean turban on his head. So they put a clean turban on his head and they put the clothes on him. This is why we walk and flock. This is why we are in spiritual family. This is what we do to help one another out. Someone standing before the Lord and yes, their sin is there and it's real. And the enemy is accusing them and Jesus is saying the LORD rebuke you Satan. And he's saying to the friends, help remove the filthy garments here put on the garments that are clean that I've given. Remind my son and my daughter who they are, this is what I've given to you. This is who you are to me. You are my son. You are my daughter and I've given you the To clean robes, but then the angel of the Lord admonishes Joshua and he says, Thus says the Lord of hosts, if you will walk in my ways, and if you will keep my command, then you shall also judge my house, and likewise have charge of my courts, I will give you places to walk among these who stand here, here, oh, Joshua, the high priest, you and your companions who sit before you, for they are a wondrous sign. For behold, I'm bringing forth my servant, the branch is prophesying about his own arrival. For behold, the stone that I have laid before Joshua, upon the stone are seven eyes, Behold, I will engrave its inscription says the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. This is why He came. But I love that he does that in the midst of all the people, he doesn't condemn Joshua. He gives him new clothes. And he says, See, I've given you new clothes, see, I've removed the iniquity from you, I have made you clean, I am holy, and I've made you holy. And here's your friends to remind you of that. And here's your friends, to give you those holy help you put those holy clothes on. And here's your friends to help you put the holy turban on your head. So this is how we live. We put off like Joshua, the high priests, we put off that iniquity, and we put on what he's given to us. In First Peter, chapter one, verses 13 through 16. He says, Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, As obedient children, not conforming yourself to the former less as in your ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy, in all your conduct, because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy. We can be holy, because God is holy. And he has given that holiness to us, if we will walk in it. In Colossians, chapter three, beginning in verse eight, he says, but now you yourselves are to put off all these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth, do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with all his deeds, and you have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him, who created him. And then up to verse 12, therefore, as the elect of God, holy, and be loved, that's who you are holy, and be loved. Put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do but above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. So Jesus brought this, he had a great exchange, he exchanged all of the glory, all of the power, all of the majesty that he lived in, in the heavenlies. He exchanged that and he put on flesh. And he walked in humility, and he became a servant. And he was obedient even to death. So that we can put off our old man and put on the new man. Because of his blood because of his obedience, we can walk in obedience because he walked in obedience. We can walk in obedience because he gives us the ability to walk in that obedience. So I go back to those first two questions. After knowing all of that, who this precious baby is laying in Mary and Joseph's arms. I'm going to reverse the questions and begin with what do you want? But I'm going to begin that as our question to Jesus, Jesus, what do you want? He gives us His answer in his prayer and John 17, if you take the time to read all of it, but the most poignant part, is found in verse 24, of what he truly wants, Father, I desire that they also whom you gave me, may be with me where I am, that they may be hold my glory which You have given Me, For You love me, before the foundation of the world. God doesn't love Jesus, because He obeyed him to the end, he loved Him before the foundation of the of the world, he loved him, because this is plan a not plan B. And Jesus desire is that we would be with him wherever he is, and that we may be hold his glory, which John says, in the very beginning, and we beheld his glory. If we will open our eyes. And if we will open our hearts to receive that and know that this is his greatest desire, that we would be with him. And going back to God's question, where are you? How many times do people say that to God? God, where are you? In the midst of our darkness in our trouble, God, where are you? And yet his answer is in his name. Emmanuel, God with us. I am with you, wherever you go. So Lord, I just want to say thank you. Thank you, for Plan A. Thank you, that your desire is to be with us, and we desire to be with you. Thank you for giving us clean clothes, and for removing our iniquity. Thank you for showing us the way of living out the law in mercy and grace and truth. Thank you, Jesus, for showing us the exact express image of the Father. We don't want to live our lives here on the earth. And then see you in your glory at the end. And you say, did you not recognize me all the way through I was right there. Jesus, open our eyes to be able to see you and to recognize you. We receive your words, we choose to walk in your commands and in your ways that we may be hold your glory. Amen. before we, before we turn the recording off, I just want to say a couple things. And then we'll have time to share this last scripture that Beth read from John 17. I want to just share something the Lord's doing in May. I've always read this scripture and only thought of eternity. And the Lord's opening my mind or heart to see bigger than just the life the afterlife. He says Father I desire that they also also whom you gave me may be with me where I am. They may be hold my glory. And there is more than just being with him where he is. After we die. There. The end I started I've began to contemplate this in my own life. And there were many forks in the road in my life, when the enemy offered me an alternative path where I would not be with him in his Plan A I'm gonna say it that like you, I'm gonna use your terminology. And there is glory. There is a glory of Jesus in his way, when we are relationally in the fullness of His pleasure in his way, and His will. And this is his desire is to bring this blessing on our lives. This is why he said to the woman. You know, we had a whole conversation about this recently at the sabbatical. But he said Neither do I condemn you. People today are really quick to say A that the Christians will say, really? Oh, I don't condemn you. Oh, you know, I don't condemn you. But they don't want to say the second part. What is the second part? Go and sin no more. What is Jesus saying, He's saying, Go and take this other pathway, there is a pathway with me, where you will see my glory unfold in your life, there is a pathway where you will see my glory unfold in May in ways that are beyond imagination. So, come with me, be with me, Jesus is not just calling me to be with him. In eternity. Jesus is calling me to be with him now. And you guys already know. And I'll say it for the sake of those listening on the on the recording. The people say, Oh, I'm with God, He's everywhere. That's not what he's talking about. Jesus is universally everywhere. But that doesn't mean you're with him. relationally like, okay, Jesus, tell me, what is your first desire in your heart? Because that's where I want to be. I want my every decision in life, to be with the incarnate God, Jesus, right with Him, because there he will unlock miracles that don't necessarily get unlocked in the other pathways of life. Do y'all see what I'm saying with John 17, I just I'm introducing this, that you might meditate on this, and that God will speak to you that there is a with him in eternity. But there is also a with him now, which means there is also a without me now. And it doesn't I'm not talking about not being a Christian. We're not talking about turn. I mean, that's a well, that's worse, to walk away from the Lord and say, I don't, you know, I'm not talking about being apostate. I'm talking about being with him. And we quote that movie that Tom Cruise movie night and day, you know, have you guys seen that movie, and he's trying to convince the girl, that right now you are not safe, if you are not with me, and he's getting frustrated. And so he puts his hand out. And for those that are listening, he puts his hand up high, and he goes with me. And he puts his hand down, he goes without me, with me, without me. And he's real definitive and absolute with his hands, because he's trying to get her across to her, that you need to be with me right now. So you don't die. Right. And John 17, there is this desire of Jesus, not just in eternity, but now to be with him in his plan to be with him in his way. And this was his heart's cry to the woman who was caught in adultery. And that's why he said the second part, and he says, Go and sin no more. In other words, this is a with me, decision that you're making. That's the power of that decision. And I tell you, I was blessed by so many of these things. But that's the only one I'm going to comment on that last scripture, the Lord's just been speaking to me through that. And, you know, I just see so many areas in life, where we are given the opportunity to journey with him. And sometimes it's been a harder journey. It's a harder road, you know, God doesn't always go well. You know, this is the easier road even though in the long run it is it probably is easier because because of the victory that comes Lord, we just thank you so much. For what you're doing here today. We pray in Jesus name, that whatever words you spoke to each heart, those words will be illuminated in a powerful way, so that we will respond to you in this hour. And we thank You, Lord, that you didn't just come and spirit, but you also came incarnate flesh in this world, to make yourself known be the first born among many brethren, of whom we are those brethren. We are those people, brothers and sisters in Christ. In Jesus name. Amen.