Sunday Service - 2026-08-02

Welcome to the Lansdale Life Church podcast.

If you're seeking a closer relationship with Jesus Christ, this podcast is for you.

Thank you for joining us today.

It's great to be in the house of the Lord.

You know, we're like away even just a week.

As you know, we're out in Colorado last week and I got to watch on Monday morning.

Well, Danny Jackson just did an amazing job.

Didn't he?

Just phenomenal.

In fact, do you remember what the key points were?

Rise and run.

Remember the next one?

Ask.

And the last one is?

Open your mouth.

Or speak.

Someone listen.

No, I'm kidding.

But anyway, it was great.

And it's great to be back.

In fact, Jill and I drove up from the shore this morning.

We're going back down after this to my sister has a house down there.

So once a year, we all meet at her house and it's a good time.

So it's a long beach island, but it was great.

It's, you know, it's great.

It's fast driving on Sunday mornings.

You know that we got here in like an hour and a half.

It was great, but it's great to be with you guys.

And so and this morning, the message is from blindness to breakthrough.

If you've been reading through acts, you know what's next,

even just by looking at that title, right?

We're talking about Paul today when he was blinded and then he received his sight back.

And I love this story.

It's phenomenal.

It's amazing.

And so let's pray and ask the Lord to really pierce through any blindness.

We might even have this morning.

Any short sightedness that we might have.

Lord God, we ask you to really pierce through any, any worldly cataract

we've allowed to grow over our spiritual sight.

Lord God, we ask you to open our eyes so we could see the way you see.

Lord, that we could see ourselves the way you see us,

that we can see our lives the way you see our lives,

that we can see our destiny that lies ahead of us.

It's such an amazing destiny, an amazing future, Lord, that we can live into.

And so, Father God, we ask you to move powerfully in here.

Lord God, we ask your Holy Spirit to speak.

Lord God, I just want to default to you and just ask you to do all the heavy lifting today.

Lord God, all the surgery that's needed to be done today,

all the healing that's needed to be done.

We ask your Holy Spirit to just flood through us.

Lord God, and just wash away anything that needs to go.

Lord God, you would just burn it up and wash it away.

And Lord God, we would be revived, Lord God, to see ourselves the way you see us.

We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.

I like that title.

Isn't that a kind of catchy title?

From blindness to breakthrough.

You know, have you ever had an epiphany moment?

Like that aha moment.

Where suddenly you realize, wow, like everything I'm doing is wrong.

Like, I mean, like, you know, I've had lots of them, by the way.

And you're like, I'm sure you have, you know.

But really, I mean, you're just suddenly realizing that, like, I am way off.

I'm going in the wrong direction.

And I've had several of them in my life.

I really have.

I mean, they keep going.

But when I was young, I was very irresponsible.

So most kids are.

But I was just really apathetic, had no drive, no focus.

And I was just, you know, you know, just a real,

I would just say a disappointment as a son, I'll just say.

And I lived my early life and adolescence,

just, you know, without any drive to do or be anything.

And there I was, a junior in college, okay,

still a mess up, just still partying in no direction.

And also, I got the phone call, you've heard this before,

that my father had died tragically in a car accident.

And I was just like, boom, like, what, you know?

So, of course, that took some time to process.

But one thing that happened out of that is suddenly I had,

and I was an unbeliever, by the way, of course,

but I had a rude awakening that, like, you know,

I have to gain some responsibility.

Like, if I don't take control of my life, like, who is?

I mean, daddy's not around anymore, okay?

Mom, you know, she doesn't have the answers for my life.

And, you know, and just suddenly I realized, like,

I have to get my life under control.

And I really just started, the Lord just almost gave me

this aha moment, even before knowing him,

to like, say, you got to get some responsibility,

some self-discipline, and go after life.

Because life is just blowing you by.

And it was, from that point on, I could just go back

to that point that I started having a drive to do things,

to accomplish things.

And I really credit it to that moment that God did that,

even though I didn't know him yet.

I had an aha moment realizing that,

if I don't do something to better my life, no one else can.

And so many things happened after that.

I started pursuing business, doing really well and everything.

And there I was, suddenly I was married to Jill, okay?

And you say, how did that happen?

I still don't know, okay?

But, you know, she was saved, but she was backslidden

or else we wouldn't have been married

because I was unsaved and we got married.

And her church wouldn't marry us

because they said you're unequally yoked.

I don't blame it.

In fact, I thanked the pastor after I got saved

for being truthful with me.

But I was saved at that point.

But we were married

and then she started going back to church.

And by then we had Zach and Jesse.

So they were like two and one

and they were going to church.

And I was just like, I had no meaning,

like eternal meaning.

I was pretty successful.

I had a wonderful wife, two wonderful kids,

but I was empty, really empty.

Like I knew I just had no significant purpose for my life.

Is it really all just about this little bit of things

that's going on and then it's over?

And finally the Lord just saved me.

I just cried out to him.

I got saved and that was my second huge aha moment.

I now knew I had an eternal purpose.

I had an eternal destiny

and I knew that my identity was tethered to Jesus Christ.

But I still pursued worldly things

and I still really chased after the money.

And I still really just wanted to build my earthly empire

knowing that, oh yeah, but I'm a citizen of heaven

and all that, you know.

And so finally I had this financial big loss.

I won't go into detail.

I don't have time.

But suddenly the rug was pulled out from under us

in the mortgage business.

It was before 2008.

That happened again.

And I realized like, really, I am addicted to money.

I am like still like a slave to money.

Again, another aha moment.

And the Lord said, you have to get your priorities straight.

Stop living for this stuff.

And I realized that when I just started serving God

and that's when I started getting involved

in ministry at our church,

I started to spiritually thrive.

And I realized I needed less and less of that stuff

and more and more of God's stuff.

And my life just started again flourishing

because it was that aha moment that I finally realized,

wow, like now I'm starting to gain

understanding of what this life is really all about.

Haven't you gone through an aha moment of your own

from time to time or that epiphany,

that personal great awakening that you realize,

I'm going, I'm wasting my time.

I really need to rededicate my life and gain sight

and vision for what's happening.

But did you ever notice a lot of that happens after darkness.

It's after like loss or like a sudden like dark period.

Like my father dying.

Wow.

Like what now?

Like, you know, this is, what am I going to do now?

Like it took that God didn't do that,

but it took that from me to gain a breakthrough.

You know, it took me needing to have a financial crisis

to suddenly realize I don't even need that stuff.

I got God.

I got what God gave me.

I got a family.

You know, I have everything I need to succeed.

I don't need, you know, it's suddenly that dark period

that when suddenly you experience how lonely you are

and how worthless all that stuff is

that you suddenly have a breakthrough.

And that's what Paul is going to experience,

a real breakthrough.

This is the same man who wrote in Romans 12 too

that he said, don't conform to the patterns of this world.

I like NIV throws in patterns,

although it's not in any other version,

but patterns of this don't conform,

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Then you will be able to prove the good,

acceptable and perfect will of God.

It's when your mind suddenly gets blown

and you suddenly have a breakthrough and say,

wait a minute, I'm doing everything wrong.

I got to get right with God.

We have to have the right trajectory, don't we?

Towards heaven, we can't get skewed off

to all kinds of other things.

We need to be tethered to our destiny.

And that's when we live that abundant life

in Jesus Christ.

So anyway, let's dive right in to Acts 9.

And we're only going to stop once here

as we go through.

You got it?

Acts 9.

Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder

against the disciples of the Lord,

went to the high priest and asked letters from him

to the synagogues of Damascus

so that if he found any who were of the way,

whether men or women,

he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

And as he journeyed, he came near to Damascus

and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.

And then he fell to the ground

and heard a voice saying to him,

Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

And then he said, who are you, Lord?

And then he said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

It is hard for you to kick against the goads.

Now, if you don't have that verse,

we'll talk about that in a minute,

depending on your version.

Verse six, so he trembling and astonished said,

Lord, what do you want me to do?

And then the Lord said to him, arise and go into the city

and you will be told what you must do.

And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless,

hearing a voice, but seeing no one.

And then Saul arose from the ground

and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one,

but they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.

And he was there three days without sight

and neither ate nor drank.

So if you're scratching your head and say,

what did you just read there?

It is hard for you to kick against the goads.

Who didn't see that in your verse?

In your verse, what verse was it?

Five, okay.

Did a few of you not have it?

Anyway, well, the earliest versions

didn't have that part of the verse.

So the new King James version,

the King James and a few others do have it.

But we know that it happened.

And how do we know that it happened?

Because Paul retold this story when he was in custody

and he was speaking to King Agrippa

and he was recounting what happened on his way to Damascus,

how he ended up getting saved.

And as he was sharing what happened,

he said in Acts 26, 14,

and when we all had fallen to the ground,

I heard a voice speaking to me

and saying in the Hebrew language,

Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

It is hard for you to kick against the goads,

the Greek word kentron.

So what does that mean?

How do you kick against the goads?

What's a goad?

Anybody know what a goad is?

Okay.

Well, a goad, I had to investigate

because I didn't know what a goad was,

but a goad is like a prod, okay?

It's when you're farming and your oxen

are starting to get tired and lazy

and you start poking them in the butt.

Let's go.

Come on, come on.

You got to pull this plow

and we got to dig this ground up to plant crops, right?

Plant some seed.

So that's what a goad is.

It's you prod them.

You prod them.

Isn't it interesting that Jesus said,

it's hard for you to kick against the prodding.

And we're going to think about that for a minute, right?

But it also means something else.

The same word means stinger.

Stinger, like at the end of a scorpion

or the end of a bay or something like that.

It's a stinger and revelation.

Actually, if you have revelation,

revelation chapter nine,

it recounts the story of these locusts

that have stingers

that are tormenting mankind for five years, okay?

Except for those who have the seal of God upon them.

And so there you see the same word goad for a stinger.

So why am I even talking about the stinger

and the goad and so forth?

Well, there's a reason

because Paul himself talks about the goads

and the sting, the sting of death, which is sin.

And we have that first Corinthians chapter 15.

And you've heard this verse before.

Death is swallowed up in victory.

Oh death, where is your goad or sting?

Oh Hades, where is your victory?

The sting of death is sin

and the strength of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God

who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

So you look at all this, okay?

And what does it all mean?

We think about the sting,

the sting of sin, okay?

Causes the death.

Who does it kill?

So I was thinking about this.

You know, when you ever get stung by a wasp, okay?

I remember one time I was doing something in my garage

when I was growing up as a kid.

And suddenly I saw this nasty looking wasp

flying around in the air.

I'm like, that thing looks nasty.

Suddenly I'm like, ow, ow, ow.

And here they got under my shirt.

There's more than one.

There's always more than one.

And it got under my shirt and they're stinging me.

But they don't stop there.

They keep stinging.

And then I got one of my shorts.

And he's like, ow, right?

And they said, but they can keep stinging and stinging, okay?

But you know, bumblebees, they're a one and done.

Okay?

I have a picture if you have that, Christine.

They sting you once, okay?

And it's like a barb, okay?

It pierces you.

And then when they leave the stinger behind,

its intestines come out with the stinger, okay?

And it dies within an hour or a little longer than that.

And it dies.

It's basically stinging is its death sentence.

Well, you know, it's the same thing with us.

Sin kills us.

You know, it could cause someone else a lot of grief

and aggravation and problems too.

But sin killed us until we came to Jesus Christ, right?

Then he became our sin, right?

On the cross.

So now we don't have to die because of it.

So what is Jesus saying to Paul?

Here Paul is, think about this.

He's going to prove himself to God, how righteous he is

because he's going to stamp out all the blasphemy

from these crazy, you know, ludicrous, blasphemous Jews

that are now believing in this guy who already died

and supposedly went up to heaven, right?

I'm going to crush it out.

And I'm going to prove to God how good I am

and all my fellow, you know, religious people.

I'm earning righteousness.

I'm proving my righteousness.

And he brags about how ridiculous he used to be

on all the things he was doing so right

and he was doing everything so wrong.

He was doing the exact opposite

of what he should have been doing in his life.

He was pursuing, killing, wiping out the body of Christ.

And so now Jesus said, it's hard for you.

You know, you're trying to be righteous through your actions

but your sin is right behind you.

It's like that pride behind the ox.

It's going to keep pushing you and keep pushing you.

You're never going to outwork sin.

You know, the law is going to always own you

until you allow Jesus Christ to be the fulfillment

of the law in your life.

Once you say, no, Jesus Christ is my law and I have him.

Now I'm not working and working to get rid of this sin

because the sin's right behind me, prodding me and prodding.

No, I'm still here.

I'm still here.

No, I'm with you.

And you got to keep working and working

and you're never going to be enough

until you come to Jesus Christ and say, Lord, I can't do this.

I surrender my life.

I'm dying with my sin so that I can have your new life.

Does that make sense?

So Paul is just striving for this

and he's also striving so that, you know,

the sting of death is not present

but Jesus is saying you're not going to outwork your own sins

because it's always going to catch up to you.

Does that make sense?

And so let's read on

and just one thing about the blindness too.

So Paul is struck blind, named Saul at that time.

He was struck blind, you know.

Now, why would Jesus have to strike him blind for three days?

Okay.

I really believe it's kind of like saying,

all right, you're taking a time out.

It's so funny when I hear, you know,

my kids now telling their little kids,

do you want a time out?

Okay.

And they're like, no, no.

And they put them away for a time out.

And meanwhile, they're screaming and hollering

in their bedroom and, you know,

because they don't like being in time out.

You know, it's so gracious of God

when we're making a mess of our lives.

Okay.

And we're doing all the wrong things

when he finally intervenes and says,

all right, you're taking a time out then.

All right.

We're just going to shut this thing down

because you're going in the wrong direction.

You know, we're putting a stop to this.

Thank God that he doesn't.

Many times God uses people to intervene

and come up to us and say,

Hey, you know what?

I think you ought to stop that.

Do you realize what you're doing?

I mean, thank God.

Sometimes it's a little tough when you first hear it.

You're like, I don't want to hear this.

But we need to like, think about it

and say maybe there's some validity to this.

Maybe this is God sending that messenger

to say, stop what you're doing

because you're going in the wrong direction.

The Lord had to shut Paul down

with blindness for three days.

So he could mull over this thing

that he could pray for three days,

that he could fast for three days and say,

I thought I was going so right.

Like Jesus, like where was he?

Like he came shouting down from heaven.

All these things, you know,

the Lord often does things like this

that are gracious by producing blindness.

Just a couple of examples.

Do you remember when the two angels went into Sodom

to rescue Lot and his family

and all the perverts are around the house

trying to rape the angels?

And if you don't know where that is,

it's in Genesis 19, 11, two,

and they're banging on the door

and then Lot goes out.

No, no, no, no, please don't, please don't.

I have my daughters.

That's the sickest part of scripture

that we'll ever read.

But we don't have time to get into

that sick and twisted thing.

He'd been in Sodom too long.

Let me just say that much.

And so they're pushing against him.

The angels bring him in

and they strike the men with blindness

so that they couldn't even find the door anymore.

I mean, he's going to bring the wrath anyway,

but it's almost like a little bit of grace

saying you don't want to try to rape an angel

or this man's daughters either.

It's like he's shutting them down.

I remember another time when Elisha,

the prophet, was living in Dothan

and he was hearing the king of Syria

speak or dream in his own bedroom

about how he was going to attack the Israelites.

And Elisha was getting visions

and hearing in the spiritual realm

exactly what the king of Syria

was going to do when he came to Syria.

We're going to block them off at this path.

We're going to attack their supply.

He's making all these strategic planning

and Elisha is listening to all of it

in his spiritual soul.

He's hearing the king of Syria speak.

And so he would go and tell Elisha,

I mean, the king of Israel,

make sure you stay away from this area

because the king of Syria is going to attack you.

And he would tell them everything

that the king of Syria is going to do.

Finally, king of Syria is saying,

do I have a spy in this place?

Like, what is going on here?

How do they know exactly where we're going to be,

when we're going to be there?

They say, oh, no, they have a prophet in Israel.

And so he sent a team of men

to go and capture Elisha

and bring that valuable resource back to Syria.

So he went and as they're surrounding his city,

Dothan, suddenly Elisha is there

and his servant says,

you know, master, they're surrounding us.

There's an army here.

He goes, Lord, open up his eyes.

So he opened up his eyes to see the Lord's arm,

the chariots of fire,

and the horses of heaven.

You know, I think if we ever really thought

we were outnumbered by the enemy

and we just ask Lord,

show me how many you have

that are fighting for me.

He would open up your eyes.

You realize nothing to worry about.

I mean, I am victorious in this world.

I don't have to worry, right?

We don't have to worry. Amen.

And so he opened up his eyes

and he sees this fiery,

you know, glowing army from heaven.

He's like, wow.

And then Elisha said,

strike the Syrians with blindness.

So the Syrians came in.

I couldn't even picture it,

but they're blind and they're like,

yeah, we're looking for this guy Elisha.

Oh, I'll take you to him.

Meanwhile, it's him.

And so he leads this mini army,

the squad, okay,

about 12 miles journey to Samaria.

They get into Samaria.

He's bringing them in.

And all of a sudden he says,

Lord, open their eyes.

And they suddenly open their eyes

and they're surrounded by the Israeli army.

And the king said,

master, should I kill them?

He was calling Elisha master at this point.

Should we kill them all?

He goes, no, no, no, no.

Make a feast for them.

Just treat them well

and then send them back.

And that's what they did.

They blessed the Syrian army

who was coming to kill Elisha

and to wreak havoc in Israel.

And he sent them away.

And the word says that

that squad never came back to Israel again,

because they learn and they appreciated

the blessings of the God of Israel.

I bring that up

because a lot of times

we need to experience darkness

as grace.

When we're not really

seeing things properly,

maybe we should just take a break

and say, Lord,

I don't want to just keep going

if I'm going in the wrong direction.

Lord, speak to me.

It was because of that blindness

that the Syrians had a chance

to appreciate and experience

the grace of Yahweh,

the God of Israel,

that they could go home

to the king of Syria

and say, you know what?

They're not so bad.

In fact, we like them

and we love their God.

And he struck us with blindness

and then he opened our eyes.

And so that time,

don't always think of blindness

as a bad thing.

If you're suddenly seeing,

you're not experiencing clarity.

Say, God, all right,

I'm just going to wait until I do.

One more blindness story.

You okay with me?

You're tracking.

So Paul,

the very man

who is now sitting in blindness,

we didn't move on yet,

later on down the road,

once he received his sight

and he's in a great evangelist

and he's preaching,

he's on the actually island of Cyprus

in this town of Pathos.

And as he's there,

this sorcerer named Elimus,

okay,

he starts trying to turn

the whole proconsul

in the town against Paul.

And he's saying all kinds of things to them

and say, don't believe them.

He's a liar.

And all of a sudden,

Paul is looking at him

and he just,

in fact, we have that verse up there.

I think Acts chapter 13.

It's a lot of reading,

but let's do it.

Then Saul,

who also is called Paul,

filled with the Holy Spirit,

looked intently at him

and said,

oh, full of all deceit and all fraud,

you son of the devil,

you enemy of all righteousness.

Will you not cease perverting

the straight ways of the Lord?

And now, indeed,

the hand of the Lord is upon you.

And what is he going to do?

And you shall be blind,

not seeing the sun for a time.

And immediately,

a dark mist fell on him

and he went around seeking someone

to lead him by the hand.

And you know,

because of that blindness,

the people of the town believe

in the power of God.

They actually received the gospel

because Elemis the sorcerer was blinded.

So why am I telling you that story?

Because notice,

Paul was blind too.

But then he received his sight.

You know,

is this really just a curse

that Paul was pronouncing

on Elemis?

Or was he possibly

giving him some grace?

Saying, you know,

I had to be blind for a bit of time too,

so I could actually see the light.

You need some blindness

for a little while.

You need a time out, Elemis, okay?

So you can suddenly gain insight.

You ever notice

when you send a kid into time out

and they stay there long enough,

then you come back in

and then they're,

oh, sorry.

And you're giving them a hug

and you're like, you know,

and hopefully, right?

Sometimes it takes longer, okay?

But how many days of blindness do you want?

But yeah, you see this,

and this is Saul

now going to be named Paul

from this point forward,

that he actually said,

you know what?

I know exactly what you need.

You need some blindness.

No thanks, you know?

But sometimes we need a time out.

We get full of ourselves.

Oh, I'm sure of this.

I'm sure of this.

I'm sure of this.

Stop.

You know, we see it in ministry all the time.

You know, I've been there.

I've done that.

I'm saying, I'm so sure of something.

And all of a sudden, like, you know what?

I'm not so sure.

It's so good to have accountability.

It really is.

It's like anyone who thinks

they are the lone ranger

and they don't have a bunch of tantos,

you're in trouble, okay?

You really are.

You need a council of Godly people

to just say, yeah, I'm not so sure about this.

Have you thought of this?

Have you thought of that?

It's awesome to have accountability.

It really is.

Because we can just be off in this trajectory

so far off.

And God is saying, no, no, no.

No, come back and listen to me.

Until then, you're blind.

So anyway, let's read on.

I'm going to finish it now.

And so now there was a certain disciple

at Damascus named Ananias.

And to him, the Lord said, in a vision,

and Ananias, and he said, here I am, Lord.

So the Lord said to him,

arise and go to the street of strait,

called strait, and inquire at the house of Judas

for one called Saul of Tarsus.

For behold, he is praying.

And in a vision, he has seen a man named Ananias

coming in and putting his hand on him

so that he might receive his sight.

Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard,

I have heard from many about this man

how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.

And here he has authority from the chief priest

to bind all who call on your name.

But the Lord said to him,

for he is a chosen vessel of mine

to bear my name before Gentiles,

kings and the children of Israel.

For I will show him how many things

he must suffer for my name's sake.

And Ananias went his way and entered the house

and laying his hands on him,

he said, Brother Saul,

the Lord Jesus who appeared to you

on the road as you came

has sent me that you may receive your sight

and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Immediately there fell from his eyes

something like scales

and he received his sight at once

and he arose and was baptized.

So when he had received food, he was strengthened.

Then Saul spent some days with the disciples

and at Damascus.

Immediately he preached the Christ

in the synagogues that he is the Son of God.

Then all who heard were amazed and said,

is this not he who destroyed those

who called on his name in Jerusalem

and has come here for the purpose

so that he might bring them bound

to the chief priests?

But Saul increased all the more in strength

and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus,

proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

So there was a transformation

in Saul who will be called Paul

and he was preaching Jesus.

Now some of us look at this and say,

all right, well, I looked at this

and so he knew the law,

he knew the scriptures,

and now he knew Jesus.

He had the Holy Spirit.

So he was certainly equipped

with most people that you would say today

who are saved

and suddenly they want to go out

and be an evangelist.

But yet the Holy Spirit gives us

the utterance to do so.

But one thing we don't realize

is during this time,

believe it or not,

between verses 20 and 22,

there's a three-year period of time

because Paul would be in Damascus

and he was sent out to Arabia

where the Lord Jesus

actually personally preached to him.

In fact, we read about that

in Galatians 1, 16 to 18, 17.

To reveal his son in me

that I might preach him among the Gentiles,

I did not immediately confer

with the flesh and blood,

nor did I go up to Jerusalem

to those who were apostles before me,

but I went to Arabia

and returned again to Damascus.

I bring that up only because

it looks like it just went

from one verse to the next,

but there's actually

a three-year period of time

that Saul at the time

went and learned directly

from Jesus Christ,

not in the spiritual realm.

And so he learned from Jesus.

And so, in fact,

we have a little map

just to kind of give you a glimpse

of what that looks like.

There's Jerusalem down there,

but Arabia is kind of

southwest of Damascus.

So at some point he went

and was tutored by the Lord

to equip him.

I just bring this up because

there's a lot of celebrities

that get saved

or they claim Jesus Christ

was the Lord and Savior.

And a lot of times

they immediately plunge

into preaching Jesus,

which is great.

But we have to be careful.

I mean, we've seen a thing or two.

Kanye and some others

that suddenly,

are they really grounded

in the Lord?

You know, Paul was

because he spent time with Jesus

and he already knew the law

and he already had the Holy Spirit.

But it's like,

we have to be careful

when people are saved

and then immediately

they want to do it all.

All right, just take a little bit of,

just take some time

to really learn

before you go out there

and just start sharing.

Because you know,

a lot of times

you can have a gift of the Spirit,

but not yet have the wisdom

to know how to use it.

Did you know that?

You ever notice

in 1 Corinthians 12,

the first gift of the Spirit is what?

Wisdom.

Like, you need wisdom

to be able to carry everything else

that's coming your way, right?

Because otherwise,

we can really mishandle

gifts of the Spirit

if we're not wise and mature.

So I just say that

because Paul did receive

a lot of tutoring from the Lord

before he went out

and did his ministry

and actually went back

to Jerusalem again.

And so, as we think about this,

you know, this is, you know,

Saul, Paul, is now born again

and he's going to be

just an amazing voice for God.

He can now finally see.

You know, a lot of times

the truth is like right there.

I grew up in religion

and the truth was right there.

It's in even all the words we're reading.

But it wasn't until I got born again

that the light went on.

I'm like, wow,

like all those things

I was reading in church

and singing about.

Now I get it.

Like the light suddenly went on.

It was like right there

in front of me

and I didn't get it

until suddenly the Holy Spirit hit me

and I got it.

You know, it's amazing.

I love reading all about

like entrepreneurs and inventors,

you know, and

how things don't suddenly get invented.

There's always other inventors

who had tried it in the past, right?

And failed.

But the next inventor

kind of studies what they did.

They augmented a little bit.

They tweak it and suddenly

it's working a little better.

And so the next guy gets a hold of it.

Rarely do you hear about anything

that just suddenly happened

in one moment.

And the Wright brothers

always like struck me

because, you know,

people were trying to fly

since like, you know, before 1000 AD.

There's a story about this one guy.

He literally made wings.

Like he was like,

what do they call the glider suits?

And they fly through the air.

That is the most insane sport

I've ever seen.

Like who?

How do you practice that?

Yeah, I'm going to fly by

at about 90 miles an hour

and just miss that cliff.

And I still don't have a rush enough.

Okay.

I need a bigger thrill.

Like how do you,

what, where are they invented

these people, right?

And so, well, this guy

back in 900 some AD

actually made the first,

what's that suit called?

Anybody know?

I still don't hear anybody.

A squirrel suit?

Oh, yeah.

All right.

Cool.

So he had the first squirrel suit

in nine something AD

and he literally leaped off

of a cathedral rooftop

and he didn't make it too far.

He did make it 600 feet.

Then he hit the ground

and then he became a paraplegic.

So sad stuff,

but he tried it, you know,

but like,

but until the Wright brothers,

they were like working on this thing

and, you know,

they had seen other crashings

and everything

and everyone always thought

all we need is a bigger engine,

a faster engine

to lift this thing off the ground.

And yet, as they keep kept working

or they finally,

I think there's something else.

We have to worry more

about staying in the air.

If we worry more,

if we consider focus on staying in the air,

it's going to lift off,

but we won't crash.

That's even better.

And so they designed wider wing spans

with curvature and warping

and warping

so that you could turn.

I can't do it

because I got a broken wing.

But like,

you can kind of turn it this way

and turn it this way, you know,

so that you can turn.

I'm not supposed to be rotating right now,

but anyway,

but like,

so,

but you could turn

and suddenly when they design that,

they could fly.

And now here they are,

you know,

the inventors of modern day flight,

really,

you know,

sometimes the answer is right there,

but we're just not seeing it.

Sometimes it's not about,

I need a new job

because this job,

I can't,

I can't do what God wants me to do.

Why not?

Why not?

I mean,

they were fishermen

and they still fished probably.

Paul was a tent maker

and he still made tents, right?

Lydia was a purple maker

and she kept making purple,

I guess, you know,

you could keep doing things.

Sometimes it's not about,

I got to like quit everything

and I got to, you know,

like sometimes just about

having the correct perspective

of why you're where you are,

you know,

because God doesn't make mistakes.

You might be in that place

to do the exact thing,

but you're not seeing it correctly,

you know,

I'll never forget

hearing about these Filipinos

that were living in Saudi Arabia

for jobs

because Saudi hires like,

they have more employees

in that country than citizens.

I mean,

they're loaded with,

you know,

they hire all the countries

everywhere.

And so these Filipinos

are there working

in these rich households,

okay,

doing their laundry,

cook,

everything, right?

And it wasn't until a mission,

a mission group

went to Saudi Arabia

and told them why

they're really there.

Like the eternal purpose,

they're there.

That they suddenly realize,

you know,

we can witness to these people.

Like maybe

this is why we're really here,

not just to earn money

and send it back home

to the poor village we came from,

but maybe we're here

to bring the gospel.

Like the light went on,

like,

oh,

and they share that

at this convention

went to in South Korea

that they say,

we own it,

we owe it to the South Koreans

to show us

why we're in Saudi Arabia

because we didn't understand it

before,

except to make money.

Sometimes you are

where you're supposed to be.

You just haven't been enlightened

as to why you're there.

And he wants to open up your eyes

and say,

no, you're in the right place.

You're even with the right people.

You're just not doing

the right thing.

You know,

I remember Jesus said this

after he healed the man,

John 939.

He said,

and Jesus said,

for judgment,

I came into this world

that those who do not

see may see.

And those who see

may be blind.

There's some people,

though I got this,

God,

I got this all figured out.

I know what my life's all about.

I'm good.

No, you're not.

You need a little blindness

until you can really

take a break

and receive my sight.

You know,

we want his sight.

We could see with his eyes

and see,

wow,

this is,

this is his world.

This is,

I belong to him.

I'm his messenger.

I'm acting as him.

I'm his ambassador.

It's suddenly your eyes

are open to all the opportunities

you have all around you.

So I have a couple questions.

Okay.

And the questions are,

what am I doing?

I'm putting it to myself

because I asked myself all this time.

Jill says it to,

what are you doing?

She says it to me too.

By the way,

she has a prod at home too

and she,

when I'm not there,

get moving.

I'm just kidding.

But what am I doing?

And why am I doing it?

Really?

I mean, it's like,

we have to have purpose.

I'm not saying you have to

count for every minute of your day,

every second,

you know,

I get caught up in my YouTube

shorts too much.

Sometimes I'm like,

where did that 20 minutes just go?

Like, I'm like,

I can't believe it.

And here it is,

another road rage thing

and I'm addicted again.

Oh my gosh.

Yeah.

It's like,

I know one thing,

I learned a lot from that.

Just wave.

You don't get mean,

you don't do anything,

especially the older you get.

Just,

I don't know where they get

these old Karens

that think they're going to beat up

these young motorcycle riders.

Like,

are you crazy?

Just like,

don't you,

you haven't appraised

yourself properly.

Let me just say that much.

Let it go,

dude,

it's going to end up badly for you.

But anyway,

but sometimes you can get hooked

on that stuff

and before you know it,

where's the time going?

I'm not saying get crazy about,

but what am I doing?

And why am I doing it?

We have to have God's perspective.

Remember Elijah suddenly flipped out

when Jezebel's going to kill him

and he gets out to the mountain of God.

He's in the,

and he's in the,

in the cave.

And he's complaining to God,

you know,

I've been zealous for you

and you know,

they,

they have,

they have forsaken your covenant

and they have torn down your altars

and they have killed all your prophets.

I'm the only one left

and they're even trying to kill me.

Suddenly,

God says,

go out

of the cave.

Get out of the darkness.

Okay,

it's time to come out,

right?

And remember,

he wasn't in the wind.

He wasn't in the earthquake.

He wasn't in the fire.

It was that little whisper.

And he says the same exact thing to him again.

Why did you come here,

Elijah?

Like,

what are you doing?

What are you doing?

And why are you doing it?

Like,

you're out here to complain.

I love,

he blessed him.

I'd rather God whisper to me

than yell at me,

right?

And he just whispered to him again,

Elijah,

why did you come here?

I mean,

sometimes the Lord just wants to say,

look,

I have you

and you are in the right place

at the right time.

Just keep the focus.

You have a calling,

a great calling.

Every one of us

have an amazing calling in our lives.

Do you realize that?

Well, how can we all

be that important?

We are.

Each one of you

have a sphere of influence

and everywhere you go,

it's the Lord's,

it's the Lord has already taken it.

And he's saying,

go,

everywhere you step foot,

I've given you that land

just like Joshua.

Like,

you are that important to God.

And of course,

not that he needs us.

Well, he chooses to need us.

Okay.

And you are that significant to him.

We're going to have communion together.

But I just want to say you,

we have to have the right perspective,

God's perspective.

We need to,

we need to just come out of that blindness

and really have breakthrough.

As the worship team is coming up,

let's just take a little bit of time

to contemplate some things.

Anyone feeling,

I'm not going to ask you to raise your hands,

but anyone kind of feel

like you're like kind of stuck in a pattern.

And it's all the same.

Day in,

day out,

it's nothing's changing.

Nothing's different.

And you're not sensing that you are

being fueled by the Holy Spirit.

You're not really gaining

any new perspective or purpose.

Instead,

you're just going through the motions.

We're going to pray about that.

And I know,

you know,

I know there's people here

that have so much capability

and calling.

And yet they're choosing

temporal,

less important things.

To fill their time with.

I don't know if that's you,

but time waits for no one.

We're only here but amidst.

That funeral Jill and I were at last week

for my son-in-law's brother,

who's 32,

who died suddenly.

On a bicycle,

riding up a hill in Lake Tahoe

and just,

you know,

this six,

seven amazing athlete kid

just dies,

you know?

And there's something about funerals

when you're at the right kind of funeral

that can be so inspiring.

And his funeral was inspired.

It was so motivating.

And he wasn't some great,

you know, evangelist.

And he didn't,

you know,

he didn't have this big ministry.

He was a business guy,

you know?

But he had a lot of friends

that loved them.

And they spoke so highly of him.

And he had amazing testimonies there

at this funeral.

And as I listened to them,

it just,

it made me really do

some self-analysis, you know?

Am I that kind of friend

to other people?

Am I really going all in

with relationships, you know?

Am I really investing

the best I have in people?

Or am I kind of going through motions,

you know, routine?

Am I really appreciating

everyone that's around me

and seeing it as

like an eternal relationship,

you know?

Even if they don't know the Lord,

it's still eternal.

What can happen is eternal.

And it's important.

Everything we do down here

has eternal dividends.

Thank God the bad stuff

gets left behind.

Thank God, you know,

you've sinned.

Guess what?

You already died to that sin.

He already rose.

He became your sin.

You're forgiven.

But how about the good things, man?

There's so many good things

that are waiting for us

to step into and do.

You know, the words,

Ephesians 2.10,

we are his workmanship

created in Christ Jesus

for good works,

which God prepared in advance

for us to walk in.

Like, think of that.

There are so many amazing things

waiting for you

to say yes to God.

Lord, I'm going to do it.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going this direction,

but suddenly,

I want to go in the right direction.

And I think maybe the Lord

is just going to give each one of us

a sense of like an aha moment

right now,

like an epiphany,

like a great awakening in our heart

and say, Lord,

what have I been missing?

What have I been doing

that's not right,

that doesn't line up

with your calling for my life?

I don't want to miss out.

That's the fear of the Lord,

fear of missing out.

I saw someone walk by us

with a shirt.

Jill pointed it out and says,

you see that shirt?

I said, no.

He said he had a shirt

that said,

I don't got to, I get to.

I'm like, wait a minute.

He stole my saying.

I didn't know anybody else

knew about that saying.

But I love,

I thought God gave it to me.

Well, gave it to him too.

You don't got to, you get to.

Walking in the perfect will of God,

not that we're perfect ever,

but saying yes to the Lord.

Lord, just guide me.

I want to do you on earth

as Christ is so are we in this world.

I want to be you in this world.

I'm not going to be you,

but I carry you everywhere I go.

We are the fragrance of Christ.

That's why you smell so good

because we are the fragrance of Christ.

So let's have communion together.

This is just such a great time to enjoy.

You don't mind stop picking

for a minute, do you guys?

Thanks for joining us

at Lansdale Life Church

as we praise God

and discuss his word.

Don't forget to join us

for Worship Live Sunday mornings

at 10 a.m. Eastern on YouTube.

Be blessed and have a great day!