1 00:00:14,099 --> 00:00:17,339 Welcome to the Lansdale Life Church podcast. 2 00:00:18,359 --> 00:00:24,100 If you're seeking a closer relationship with Jesus Christ, this podcast is for you. 3 00:00:24,900 --> 00:00:26,839 Thank you for joining us today. 4 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:36,439 How's everyone's week going? 5 00:00:39,119 --> 00:00:39,500 Good. 6 00:00:41,020 --> 00:00:41,460 Yeah, Ken. 7 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:45,539 Too blessed to be stressed, right? 8 00:00:47,259 --> 00:00:50,539 I'm stressed by the blessings. That's how blessed I am. 9 00:00:51,559 --> 00:00:58,159 Um, speaking of a blessing, this is random, but, uh, so my kids have these electric cars, 10 00:00:58,159 --> 00:01:03,880 um, which are just a money trap. You know, the power wheels cars. Oh my gosh. They are not cheap. 11 00:01:04,140 --> 00:01:08,939 Um, we, they're like 300 bucks. Like, so for Beau's special like birthday or something, 12 00:01:08,939 --> 00:01:13,840 we got him this electric car. That's like a Frankenstein car because we don't have a garage. 13 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:19,219 We have a shed and it's packed full. So it's, we forget to put this thing in there sometimes 14 00:01:19,219 --> 00:01:23,379 and then it rains. And like these new cars, it's not just like an on off button. 15 00:01:23,819 --> 00:01:28,040 They have a Bluetooth connection and a USB port for music. And it's just like all, 16 00:01:28,180 --> 00:01:32,239 it's all out. It's so ridiculous for kids. I think you can connect to the radio too 17 00:01:32,239 --> 00:01:37,319 and drive around listening to music anyway. So this thing is, uh, I've replaced so many 18 00:01:37,319 --> 00:01:41,040 parts in it. And then next thing I know I look out the window and it's in the rain again. 19 00:01:41,140 --> 00:01:45,560 I don't know what happens, but this past week, I, uh, you know, was the hero dad and we have 20 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:50,099 a few of them now and I replaced all the parts and they're all running again. So blessed to see 21 00:01:50,099 --> 00:01:54,760 van and bow ripping it around the muddy yard right now. And they're electric cars. So it's 22 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:58,519 really fun. Um, anyway, that had nothing to do with what we're going to talk about. 23 00:01:59,359 --> 00:02:03,959 There's no analogy. That would have been cool if it really tied in. No, sorry. Yeah. We'll find 24 00:02:03,959 --> 00:02:11,539 some small groups. We'll talk about that. Yeah, exactly. Really deep connection. Um, but anyway, 25 00:02:11,539 --> 00:02:15,860 before we start, I do want to just say like, I don't know if anyone else has been experiencing 26 00:02:16,379 --> 00:02:23,479 just, um, you know, people out in the world who aren't saved, having more of like, uh, 27 00:02:23,659 --> 00:02:29,840 spiritual curiosity, maybe, and, uh, you know, thinking about God and the afterlife. And 28 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:36,439 I do think when times get very unstable, you know, people start to have like existential thoughts, 29 00:02:36,539 --> 00:02:40,039 like what is the meaning of life? Like what could happen? What if I did die tomorrow? 30 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:45,979 And so, you know, I've been praying about having opportunities at work and, um, and I've been 31 00:02:45,979 --> 00:02:50,759 listening to a lot of YouTube videos too, that are kind of carrying the same sentiment that a lot of 32 00:02:50,759 --> 00:02:57,319 people having these thoughts. And it was really cool because this one person that from work who 33 00:02:57,319 --> 00:03:01,539 you would think, you know, I'll probably never have an opportunity to talk to them about God 34 00:03:01,539 --> 00:03:08,039 because, you know, they're living in a lifestyle that is completely contrary to like reality and 35 00:03:08,039 --> 00:03:13,860 to the Bible. It's, it's crazy. But anyway, I made a comment that I prayed about. People say, 36 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:17,879 what, what's your Wednesday win? What's something good? And this is back in the Super Bowl after the 37 00:03:17,879 --> 00:03:22,060 Super Bowl party. I'm like, I mean, I could, you know, plant a little seed that I go to church by 38 00:03:22,060 --> 00:03:26,939 saying, you know, we had a great Super Bowl party and, uh, yeah, it was fun. So I just said 39 00:03:26,939 --> 00:03:30,639 something like that. Like I got to play the game, do the games for the Super Bowl party at the 40 00:03:30,639 --> 00:03:34,840 church. And, uh, anyway, so this person now it's a month and a half later, whenever the Super 41 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:39,919 Bowl was, they said, Oh, I wanted to ask you this person living obviously far from God. I wanted to 42 00:03:39,919 --> 00:03:44,340 ask you about this. Uh, you're a Christian and I got to like share the gospel and my faith and all. 43 00:03:44,419 --> 00:03:48,159 And they're like, yeah, I'm also like a biblical nerd. I like to really read into the Bible and 44 00:03:48,159 --> 00:03:51,960 figure out like what it means. I'm like, wow. So this is the beginning of like a conversation 45 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:55,879 that I think will last a while. And I pray that, you know, salvation comes out of it. 46 00:03:56,240 --> 00:04:00,979 But one thing that as I've been watching these YouTube videos about apologetics and, 47 00:04:00,979 --> 00:04:05,979 you know, this, this feeling that a lot of these pastors are having, um, this pastor who's like, 48 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:10,719 I look up to a lot, his name is Gavin Ortland. If you have questions about theology or historical 49 00:04:10,719 --> 00:04:15,759 things in the church, look this guy up on YouTube, Gavin Ortland. It's Ortland. Yeah. 50 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:20,100 O R T L U N D. I think that's it. But his channel's called Truth Unites. 51 00:04:20,759 --> 00:04:25,720 And the whole point is he presents the different perspectives of Christianity and denominations 52 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:30,120 and all that and the best possible light to show why people believe it. And then he does share 53 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:34,980 what he believes historically and biblically. But so I'd expect this amazing response that's 54 00:04:34,980 --> 00:04:38,379 super deep and theological about how he shares his faith. And he's like, honestly, 55 00:04:39,060 --> 00:04:44,019 I don't feel like he's like, he said, I don't feel like I'm the best at it at apologetics. 56 00:04:44,180 --> 00:04:47,480 But one thing I'll say is when I talk to someone about the gospel, 57 00:04:48,379 --> 00:04:53,439 the best way to do it is I just tell them about how amazing Jesus is and how much he loves them. 58 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:59,319 Like people fall in love with who Jesus is. Not like an argument for the existence of God, 59 00:04:59,319 --> 00:05:04,459 though that is really important sometimes. But if we just go into our normal day to day life, 60 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:08,300 aware of Jesus and aware of his love for us, and we share that with people, 61 00:05:08,699 --> 00:05:12,519 I believe that a lot of people are going to come to know Jesus. So that's what, you know, 62 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:16,360 it was cool seeing that channel, that video, and then having an opportunity to do that exact 63 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:20,959 thing and keeping it simple. So yeah, so I'll just be, you know, be in prayer there. 64 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,860 I believe there's going to be opportunities this week for us to simply share the gospel 65 00:05:24,860 --> 00:05:35,680 in our faith. Amen. So we're in Joshua 5. The title of this message is The Power of Obedience. 66 00:05:36,819 --> 00:05:40,819 I was torn between the power of obedience and the blessing of obedience because I believe 67 00:05:40,819 --> 00:05:45,540 there's so much blessing and obedience, but, you know, I just felt like with the passage, 68 00:05:45,759 --> 00:05:51,060 the power of obedience kind of made more sense. So before we jump into it, 69 00:05:51,980 --> 00:05:58,079 I just want to talk a bit about obedience. And first and foremost, aren't you thankful 70 00:05:58,079 --> 00:06:02,839 that we can even be obedient to God? Like, aren't you thankful that he even shares 71 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:06,500 what he wants us to do and what he doesn't want us to do? Like, 72 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:12,199 so many other religions have God as a very far away God that is impossible to please, 73 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:16,339 but the true religion of, you know, Christianity that we have, 74 00:06:16,980 --> 00:06:24,160 the one true God, and he made himself so real that he literally did become man in Jesus Christ. Jesus 75 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:31,000 came as a man, and he was able to show himself to us and reveal himself to us so that we can actually 76 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:36,300 know that he cares about us, know that he loves us, have a relationship with him, and even know 77 00:06:36,300 --> 00:06:42,639 what it looks like to walk with him. And that we can get, if we walk with Jesus, we can actually 78 00:06:42,639 --> 00:06:47,000 hear at the end of our life, well done, my good and faithful servant. And that is such a blessing. 79 00:06:47,300 --> 00:06:51,759 Like, we don't live our days walking around wondering if God, you know, hates us for something 80 00:06:51,759 --> 00:06:57,680 we unknowingly did. We walk in the love and acceptance of the Father because of Jesus Christ. 81 00:06:57,980 --> 00:07:02,639 And that is such a blessing. And, you know, there's so many people that don't believe this, 82 00:07:02,639 --> 00:07:06,980 and they believe in a God, you know, Albert Einstein, super smart, obviously, 83 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:12,100 not a ton of wisdom in this area. I don't know, maybe he did end up getting saved, but 84 00:07:12,100 --> 00:07:18,259 he has a few quotes on this, and he says, the idea of a personal God is quite alien to me and seems 85 00:07:18,259 --> 00:07:26,220 even naive. Another thing, quote, he says is, we can all see that nature and humans dance to a 86 00:07:26,220 --> 00:07:32,300 mysterious tune, and the piper who plays this melody is at an inscrutable distance, whatever 87 00:07:32,300 --> 00:07:37,980 name we give him, creative force or God, and he escapes all book knowledge. So this idea that 88 00:07:37,980 --> 00:07:43,899 he's just far, far away, and we can't know him is like, honestly, an idea that, you know, 89 00:07:43,899 --> 00:07:48,740 permeates a lot of society. But we know the truth, like I just said, and I love Second 90 00:07:48,740 --> 00:07:55,540 Corinthians 4-6 says, for God who said, let the light shine out of darkness is the one 91 00:07:55,540 --> 00:08:01,560 who has shown into our hearts to give us the light and the knowledge of the glory and majesty 92 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:09,319 of God clearly revealed in the face of Christ. We can truly, fully know God and his love for us 93 00:08:09,319 --> 00:08:14,579 because of Jesus, how he lived his life, the words he spoke, and this entire word. So I'm 94 00:08:14,579 --> 00:08:20,439 just thankful that we have a close, kind, compassionate God, and we can know him. Amen. 95 00:08:22,340 --> 00:08:29,060 So God is not far. Another, another cool thing that I love that paints a good picture is, 96 00:08:29,060 --> 00:08:34,840 do you know how Michelangelo did the creation of Adam? You know, I forget what, you know, 97 00:08:35,299 --> 00:08:40,419 Sistine Chapel, that's right. And so it's really cool because when he first painted it, 98 00:08:40,639 --> 00:08:47,440 the hands of God and Adam were touching. And then all the bishops and all the people in the 99 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:50,580 church, whatever, the elders of the church came in, they looked at it, and they just, like, 100 00:08:50,779 --> 00:08:56,039 marveled at it and thought, this is amazing. But then, after a few hours, they told Michelangelo 101 00:08:56,039 --> 00:08:59,820 to come back in and said, redo it. We want you to change this part. And he's like, what? 102 00:09:00,299 --> 00:09:03,759 He's like, we don't want their fingers touching. We want them barely separated. 103 00:09:04,399 --> 00:09:11,679 And here's the reason why. It's amazing. Ready? So the Cardinals asked that they, that the 104 00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:18,320 fingers do not touch, but that the fingers of both of them would be separated. That God's finger 105 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:23,899 would always be stretched out at the maximum. You see his hand is fully extended, and that 106 00:09:23,899 --> 00:09:30,679 Adam's hand is slightly contracted back. And this interpretation is to show that God is fully 107 00:09:30,679 --> 00:09:36,159 stretched out, reaching for mankind. And all mankind has to do is gently touch his finger 108 00:09:36,159 --> 00:09:43,419 out and would encounter God. Isn't that beautiful? All we have to do is just the single small step 109 00:09:43,419 --> 00:09:49,820 of faith. That God, you are real. That God, you died for me. And God, you rose again. And then we 110 00:09:49,820 --> 00:09:54,919 can enter into a relationship. We can encounter him. So we have a close God and it's a blessing 111 00:09:54,919 --> 00:10:00,480 to serve him. So before we get in, I just want to give you a little bit of a warning. I'm going to 112 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:05,539 be setting this up for like a good portion of it. So before we even read this, I don't want you to 113 00:10:05,539 --> 00:10:09,620 think, oh my gosh, like we're like 15 minutes in and he hasn't even started reading the Bible. 114 00:10:09,919 --> 00:10:13,500 Okay. So we're going to get there. I just want to set up a few things on obedience. 115 00:10:14,259 --> 00:10:21,019 So what is obedience? You know, it's really simple, but it's to listen and to yield to, right? 116 00:10:21,980 --> 00:10:27,039 There's a deeper sense of the word is more of like a heartfelt yes. It's not just, 117 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:32,860 I'm going through the motions, but it's actually like, yes, I desire to. We see this in Matthew. 118 00:10:33,279 --> 00:10:38,679 Jesus says, if you love me, then keep my commandments. There's more than just keeping 119 00:10:38,679 --> 00:10:45,279 my commandments, but it's a form of love from a place of love I obey. And even Jesus said to 120 00:10:45,279 --> 00:10:51,639 Peter, like, do you love me? Then feed my sheep. There's always love connected to obedience. And 121 00:10:51,639 --> 00:10:56,860 it's not just outward. We see Jesus, you know, rips apart the Pharisees, totally trashes them, 122 00:10:56,879 --> 00:11:00,740 says that they're whitewashed tombs because outwardly they look good and inwardly they're 123 00:11:00,740 --> 00:11:04,879 evil. They don't love God at all. And they're making it hard for people to come to God. 124 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:11,580 Um, even in the old Testament in first Samuel says, has the Lord as great delight in burnt 125 00:11:11,580 --> 00:11:18,019 offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord. Behold to obey is better than 126 00:11:18,019 --> 00:11:24,980 sacrifices and to listen than the fat of Rams. Obedience is what he wants and not just outward 127 00:11:24,980 --> 00:11:30,179 obedience. Like yes, he still wanted the sacrifices because that is obedience, but obedience in the 128 00:11:30,179 --> 00:11:37,139 heart, a love for God and a true heartfelt obedience is what he wants. But why does obedience 129 00:11:37,139 --> 00:11:43,259 matter? Well, we see in a lot of places in the Bible that obedience and faith are super interconnected. 130 00:11:44,220 --> 00:11:50,080 Right? We know James two faith without works is dead. There is two things at play. We have 131 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:57,419 faith and from faith comes obedience. And so if we know that without faith, without works, 132 00:11:57,419 --> 00:12:01,480 faith is dead. We also know that without faith works means nothing. They need to be together. 133 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:06,600 And trust me, if you have faith, there's going to be obedience. It's just a natural thing that 134 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:11,120 happens. And we're not saying complete perfect obedience in every single way. Only Jesus did 135 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:17,059 that, but it is obedience to from a place of faith. And we all know the analogy of the chair, 136 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:21,360 right? Like if you say, I believe the stool can hold me up, but I'm not going to sit on 137 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:24,639 it because I don't want it to fall and break. Like then you don't actually believe that the 138 00:12:24,639 --> 00:12:30,159 chair can hold you up. Another thing that was pretty funny on Friday, I met up with some 139 00:12:30,159 --> 00:12:37,259 friends from college at Stovin tap right in Lansdale. And my, I hadn't seen him in a decade. 140 00:12:37,279 --> 00:12:40,980 It was crazy. So we all got together again, went out and they have a Nashville hot chicken 141 00:12:40,980 --> 00:12:46,899 sandwich, which I love. And last time I had it was not that hot. And so my friend Matt, 142 00:12:46,940 --> 00:12:50,820 he can't do spice and I kind of forgot that because it's been 10 years. And he's like, 143 00:12:50,820 --> 00:12:55,559 is this hot? I'm like, no, it's like nothing. I'm like, really, it's not spicy. And he's like, 144 00:12:55,580 --> 00:12:59,440 are you sure? And I was thinking like, okay, I mean, it's probably a little bit of a kick, 145 00:12:59,580 --> 00:13:04,580 but no, you're good. You can handle it. And he had faith and he listened to me. 146 00:13:05,059 --> 00:13:09,559 And this thing came out like seven times hotter than I've ever had it in my life there. 147 00:13:09,980 --> 00:13:14,039 And his first bite, he's like sweating. He's like, man, Jesse, this is kicking. Like this 148 00:13:14,039 --> 00:13:18,559 is insane. It's like melting his face. Like, so he had faith because he trusted me and did it. 149 00:13:18,559 --> 00:13:24,039 Obviously, I didn't know. So, you know, it wasn't a good outcome. But with God, you know, 150 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:28,460 he always knows the outcome and we could trust what he says. So if he says something 151 00:13:28,460 --> 00:13:35,019 and we believe it, then we do it. So the obedience is a result of our faith. 152 00:13:37,639 --> 00:13:42,940 Disobedience comes from a lack of faith, really straightforward. So Hebrews talks about 153 00:13:42,940 --> 00:13:49,639 the Israelites and it says, to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest, 154 00:13:49,860 --> 00:13:56,100 if not to those who disobeyed. So we see that they were not able to enter because of their unbelief. 155 00:13:57,220 --> 00:14:01,860 So they disobeyed because of their unbelief. They did not enter the promise land, 156 00:14:02,179 --> 00:14:08,379 the generation right before the one we're talking about. So faith and obedience, 157 00:14:10,319 --> 00:14:19,320 disbelief and disobedience, directly connected. So if disobedience comes from a lack of faith, 158 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:26,080 then we also know that disobedience can hurt your faith. 1 John 3, 19, it says, this is how we know 159 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:32,659 that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence. If our hearts 160 00:14:32,659 --> 00:14:36,779 condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts and knows everything. Dear friends, 161 00:14:36,779 --> 00:14:41,480 if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him 162 00:14:42,059 --> 00:14:45,500 anything we ask because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 163 00:14:46,019 --> 00:14:51,460 So we see that our hearts condemning us, that is from disobedience. If we're not living according 164 00:14:51,460 --> 00:14:56,559 to what God says and we're disobeying, it's easy to feel condemnation and a lack of confidence 165 00:14:56,559 --> 00:15:02,019 towards God. Like anybody else relate to that. You mess up pretty big or you do it a bunch of 166 00:15:02,019 --> 00:15:07,820 times in a row, suddenly you're like, is God hearing my prayers? You can get so deceived, 167 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:11,259 you start to wonder if you're a Christian. Weird stuff happens and you think that God 168 00:15:11,259 --> 00:15:17,440 hates you, all the stuff. We lose confidence before God in our own eyes because of disobedience. 169 00:15:18,259 --> 00:15:21,779 But we know the exact opposite is true with obedience because it says, 170 00:15:22,220 --> 00:15:26,419 we can set our hearts at peace and at rest in this presence if we just obey them. 171 00:15:27,039 --> 00:15:30,700 Another thing is Luke. In Luke it says, everyone who hears my words and puts them 172 00:15:30,700 --> 00:15:36,480 into practice is like a man building a house who dug down deep and laid the foundation on the rock. 173 00:15:37,580 --> 00:15:43,399 Don't you want a firm salvation or not a salvation, a firm faith and a firm life built on Jesus. 174 00:15:44,039 --> 00:15:50,500 It comes from faith and then obeying. Faith and obedience play together in a very firm 175 00:15:50,500 --> 00:15:56,259 foundation in your life on Jesus. And I don't want to belabor the point, but we know that 176 00:15:56,819 --> 00:16:03,179 Jesus says, abide in me and I will bear much fruit. So this obedience is a sign to us that 177 00:16:03,179 --> 00:16:09,500 we are abiding. And honestly, if we're not abiding in him, if we're not obeying him, 178 00:16:10,340 --> 00:16:17,799 all we need to do is repent. There's not this period where we need to stay away from God and 179 00:16:17,799 --> 00:16:22,679 hope he welcomes us back or all the stuff we have to do because works doesn't bring you into 180 00:16:22,679 --> 00:16:27,399 a good standing with God. It is the righteousness of Jesus through faith, 181 00:16:28,299 --> 00:16:34,320 but repentance is needed to restore that closeness in relationship. And I mean, I can relate like, 182 00:16:34,799 --> 00:16:40,580 even with my kids, if they do something wrong and they're really defiant and you know, like I, 183 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:46,940 my kids love to dump stuff like toys, drinks, food. It is a dumping house. I don't know why, 184 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:50,620 like, you know, it's not like we, you know, they say your kids will do what you do. 185 00:16:51,059 --> 00:16:54,679 I'm not going around and dumping stuff. So I don't know where they get it, but my kid, 186 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:59,100 van is like the, the best at this. Like he'll just go around and whatever he finds, 187 00:16:59,220 --> 00:17:04,259 usually it's open drinks. I'll just go like this and just dump it everywhere. And I'm like, 188 00:17:04,259 --> 00:17:08,720 what are you doing? He's like, sorry. You know, it's like, it's like, and it's always that sorry. 189 00:17:09,380 --> 00:17:12,940 But, but, you know, when they're fighting and stuff, there's this, this disobedience, 190 00:17:13,099 --> 00:17:17,180 not doing what they say. And you know, it can get you upset. But man, when, when you, 191 00:17:17,180 --> 00:17:22,900 after like timeout or whatever sort of thing you do afterwards, when you can tell and they say, 192 00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:28,440 like they apologize, they say, sorry. And I say like, are you going to listen? And they say yes. 193 00:17:28,660 --> 00:17:32,920 And there's that form, that type of like repentance, essentially for a kid, suddenly 194 00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:37,180 they have a closeness with me and I have like an affection for them. Right. And there's just 195 00:17:37,180 --> 00:17:42,500 a closeness that happens. So if you're walking in disobedience, like it just takes repentance, 196 00:17:42,500 --> 00:17:47,940 turning away from the sin and turning to Jesus. And I promise you, you're going to feel closeness 197 00:17:47,940 --> 00:17:54,480 with him because any, like we see that in the word of God and anytime that I've come back from 198 00:17:54,480 --> 00:18:00,019 disobedience and repented, I've felt such a closeness to Jesus. And you know, it was so 199 00:18:00,019 --> 00:18:07,440 good for, for my faith. So now that we kind of set the stage for why obedience matters, 200 00:18:07,460 --> 00:18:11,460 how it's connected to faith, what it does to our faith when we're obedient and when we're 201 00:18:11,700 --> 00:18:18,299 disobedient, I want to start reading about the power of obedience that we see in this passage. 202 00:18:18,900 --> 00:18:22,720 So let's jump into verse one, we're going to read one to six. 203 00:18:24,539 --> 00:18:29,279 So it was when all the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side of the Jordan and all the 204 00:18:29,279 --> 00:18:33,640 kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of 205 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:39,359 the Jordan from before the children of Israel until we had crossed over, that their heart 206 00:18:39,359 --> 00:18:45,119 melted and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the children of Israel. And at that 207 00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:49,619 time the Lord said to Joshua, make flint knives for yourselves and circumcise the sons of Israel 208 00:18:49,619 --> 00:18:55,299 again the second time. So Joshua made flint knives for himself and circumcised the sons of 209 00:18:55,299 --> 00:19:01,119 Israel at the Hill of the Foreskins. Don't you love how they just name things? So just, 210 00:19:01,319 --> 00:19:08,000 this is what it is. And if that name sticks, all the property values just plummet it. No one 211 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:11,759 wants to live on the Hill of the Foreskins. I wonder if it's still there to this day, 212 00:19:11,839 --> 00:19:17,720 wouldn't that be cool? Not the Foreskins but the name, yeah. And this is the reason why Joshua 213 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:22,680 circumcised them. All the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war had 214 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:28,160 died in the wilderness on the way and after they had come out of Egypt. For all the people who 215 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:31,779 came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness on the way 216 00:19:32,140 --> 00:19:36,200 as they came out of Egypt had not been circumcised. For the children of Israel 217 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:40,619 walked 40 years in the wilderness till all the people who were men of war who came out 218 00:19:40,619 --> 00:19:47,960 of Egypt were consumed because they did not obey the voice of the Lord. So I want to look at that 219 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:53,839 first verse again. It talks about the enemies, that their heart melted and there was no spirit 220 00:19:53,839 --> 00:20:00,460 in them any longer because of the children of Israel. They are now walking in obedience. 221 00:20:00,940 --> 00:20:07,779 This is contrasting two stories. The first story, the first generation, they were going to go into 222 00:20:07,779 --> 00:20:13,140 the Promised Land and after the spies went in and brought back a report saying we can't take these 223 00:20:13,140 --> 00:20:19,700 people on, they had unbelief, they disobeyed, they did not go into the Promised Land. Now, 224 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:24,640 and it says they were afraid, they felt like grasshoppers before the eyes of the enemy. 225 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:31,619 Flip this story now, it's the exact opposite. We see the people are in faith and obedience 226 00:20:31,619 --> 00:20:37,140 under Joshua. They cross through the Jordan, come to the other side, they're not afraid, 227 00:20:37,539 --> 00:20:43,619 the enemy's afraid. It says their heart melted within them. That's even more than the 228 00:20:43,619 --> 00:20:48,539 grasshoppers comment, right? This is like they feel dead inside because of fear of the Lord 229 00:20:48,539 --> 00:20:54,799 and the fear of these obedient children of God. And what I want to say is that, 230 00:20:55,779 --> 00:20:58,680 I'll read the verse, it does it better justice than I could say, James 4, 231 00:20:59,259 --> 00:21:06,519 therefore submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. If you're obeying God, 232 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:11,000 you're not obeying Satan and if you're not obeying Satan, he's terrified of you. 233 00:21:11,220 --> 00:21:16,480 He will run and flee because we are serving the one who's already had victory over him. 234 00:21:17,039 --> 00:21:24,299 But if we're in unbelief, if we don't obey, there's an open door for him to wreak havoc in our lives 235 00:21:24,299 --> 00:21:32,200 because we're walking in sin. But it's simple, the formula, submit to God, obey him and the devil will 236 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:39,940 flee from you. And we see this all over in the Bible. I love some of the in the New Testament 237 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:46,960 Jesus, right? He comes, everywhere he goes, demons are like flying out of the place, you know? And so 238 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:50,519 he comes and the demons, you know, they run up and say, are you here to torment us? They're 239 00:21:50,519 --> 00:21:57,279 terrified of Jesus. Even when Jesus gives authority to his disciples and they obey him, 240 00:21:57,279 --> 00:22:01,259 they go out, they heal the sick, you know, they do all that stuff. They come back and say, 241 00:22:01,319 --> 00:22:06,740 even the evil spirits, even the demons obey us. And of course he says, don't rejoice over this, 242 00:22:06,740 --> 00:22:13,599 but rejoice that your name is in the book of life, which is awesome. So here we see the demons are 243 00:22:13,599 --> 00:22:19,240 afraid of Jesus. The demons are afraid of believers walking in obedience to Jesus. And then we see 244 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:25,440 an Acts, which I'm just going to read because it's crazy. We have the sons of the Pharisees 245 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:29,480 who are not walking in obedience, don't have a claim to the authority of Jesus. 246 00:22:30,120 --> 00:22:36,839 And we'll see what happens. Acts 19, then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves 247 00:22:36,839 --> 00:22:41,579 to call on the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits saying, 248 00:22:41,859 --> 00:22:49,859 we exercise you by the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches. And there were seven sons of a Jewish 249 00:22:49,859 --> 00:22:54,759 chief priest who did this. And the evil spirit answered them and said, Jesus, I know, and Paul, 250 00:22:54,759 --> 00:23:00,819 I know, but who are you? Then the man in whom the evil spirits, who had evil spirits, leaped 251 00:23:00,819 --> 00:23:04,279 on them, overpowered them and prevailed against them so that they fled out of the house naked 252 00:23:04,279 --> 00:23:09,940 and wounded. It's like these people had no connection to the God who was victory over them. 253 00:23:10,180 --> 00:23:15,740 So the enemy's not afraid of them at all, but the enemy's afraid of Jesus and afraid of obedient 254 00:23:15,740 --> 00:23:24,079 children of God. So if you're walking in faith and obedience, you're walking in victory. 255 00:23:27,380 --> 00:23:34,880 I want to jump down to verse seven now. So we see obedience is important. It's good for your faith. 256 00:23:35,460 --> 00:23:40,599 Obedience gives you strength over the devil to walk in victory. And now we're going to read about 257 00:23:40,599 --> 00:23:48,180 this form of obedience, which is circumcision. Verse seven, then Joshua circumcised their sons whom 258 00:23:48,180 --> 00:23:52,500 he raised up in their place, for they were uncircumcised because they had not been 259 00:23:52,500 --> 00:23:58,640 circumcised on the way. So it was when they had finished circumcising all the people that they 260 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:02,660 stayed in their places in the camp till they were healed. Then the Lord said to Joshua, 261 00:24:03,019 --> 00:24:09,220 this day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you. Therefore, the name of the place is 262 00:24:09,220 --> 00:24:15,380 called Gilgal to this day. Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal and kept the Passover on 263 00:24:15,380 --> 00:24:23,880 the 14th day of the month at twilight in the plains of Jericho. Now circumcision is an outward 264 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:28,740 sign of their covenant with God. It showed that they were in a relationship with God. 265 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:35,359 And it is just an outward sign. But even in the Old Testament, even in Deuteronomy, 266 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:40,819 it was supposed to be a picture of an inward sign. Deuteronomy 10, 12 says, 267 00:24:40,819 --> 00:24:46,259 And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you but to fear the Lord your God 268 00:24:46,259 --> 00:24:52,480 and walk in all his ways, obedience, to love him, connected to the obedience, and to serve the Lord 269 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:58,000 your God with all your heart, with all your soul. Therefore, circumcise the foreskin of your heart 270 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:06,740 and be stiff-necked no longer. So we see obedience and a circumcised heart or a raw 271 00:25:06,740 --> 00:25:15,920 and malleable heart before God is what he wants. So this picture of circumcision really is God is 272 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:20,880 tying it to a circumcision of the heart that shows that you aren't stiff-necked anymore. You're not 273 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:27,720 strong willed against him, but you're obedient to him. And by being obedient to him, you have faith 274 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:35,099 and you love him. And in Colossians 2.1 in the New Testament it says the same thing. It says, 275 00:25:35,099 --> 00:25:40,059 In him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands by putting 276 00:25:40,059 --> 00:25:45,700 off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. And I want to pay 277 00:25:45,700 --> 00:25:51,059 close attention to this part. So by the circumcision of Christ buried with him in baptism, 278 00:25:51,059 --> 00:25:55,140 in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, 279 00:25:55,259 --> 00:26:00,700 who raised him from the dead, and you being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision 280 00:26:00,700 --> 00:26:06,319 of your flesh, he has made alive together with him, having forgiven all your trespasses. 281 00:26:07,620 --> 00:26:14,019 So this verse takes it even further. It talks about a circumcision of the heart. It talks about 282 00:26:14,019 --> 00:26:21,539 baptism. It talks about being made alive with him and the removal of trespasses and sins. 283 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:28,380 And it's really interesting to see how that passage lines up exactly to the last like two 284 00:26:28,380 --> 00:26:35,700 or three chapters we've read, right? It says we see the Israelites now in faith passing through 285 00:26:35,700 --> 00:26:44,420 the waters of the Jordan come to the other side. They're circumcised. And it says their shame is 286 00:26:44,420 --> 00:26:51,259 rolled away. And then they celebrate the Passover, the Passover lamb, which was making atonement, 287 00:26:51,819 --> 00:26:58,619 which, you know, shows Jesus, like the atonement for sin. So what a picture of the gospel, though. 288 00:26:58,740 --> 00:27:05,279 In faith, we go in, we're baptized in the water. We come to the other side into the promise land, 289 00:27:05,339 --> 00:27:11,779 the promises and blessings of God. We have our heart circumcised and close to him. 290 00:27:12,299 --> 00:27:17,779 And our shame and our sin is rolled away as we celebrate the true lamb of God. 291 00:27:18,500 --> 00:27:25,980 And this roll away, which Gilgal, the place means to roll, roll away. The very first time this word 292 00:27:25,980 --> 00:27:33,359 is ever used is in Genesis, where it talks about how Jacob met Rachel, but it says that a large 293 00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:39,180 stone was rolled away from the well. And like the first five times it's mentioned this word 294 00:27:39,180 --> 00:27:45,019 is all about rolling a large stone away. And if you look up the English words rolled away, 295 00:27:45,019 --> 00:27:51,339 there's only three places it's used. This verse, and then twice in the gospels when the large stone 296 00:27:51,339 --> 00:27:59,599 was rolled away from Jesus' tomb. So just like this, this is a picture of the shame of their 297 00:27:59,599 --> 00:28:06,880 sin and of their slavery is rolled away. So Jesus, when he rose again, rolled away all the shame of 298 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:14,359 our sin and the past of slavery to sin and says all things are new. It's amazing. 299 00:28:16,220 --> 00:28:23,259 So if you feel like you still have sin that's clinging to you, or you still have shame from your past, 300 00:28:24,819 --> 00:28:30,680 know that Jesus has rolled it away. He's completely removed it. It isn't attached to you anymore if 301 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:36,019 you're in him. If you believe in Jesus, you are set free from all of it. And it might feel like a 302 00:28:36,019 --> 00:28:44,500 big heavy rock, but he rolled that away already. So I want to jump from verse 11, or down to verse 303 00:28:44,500 --> 00:28:51,839 11 now. They ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and 304 00:28:51,839 --> 00:28:57,400 parched grain on the very same day. Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten 305 00:28:57,940 --> 00:29:02,279 the produce of the land and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the 306 00:29:02,279 --> 00:29:11,180 food of the land of Canaan that year. So we see obedience. Obedience makes the enemy flee. 307 00:29:12,220 --> 00:29:19,759 Obedience softens our heart. And obedience does something to hear that they leave the manna behind 308 00:29:19,759 --> 00:29:25,619 and now they're on the produce of the land. And I mean, everyone knows what the manna is, you know, 309 00:29:25,700 --> 00:29:30,579 well, we don't actually know what it is. It's like this kind of like bready thing, dusty thing. But 310 00:29:30,579 --> 00:29:35,920 it has a kind of an element of like a newborn, right? Like it's the same thing they get every 311 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:40,339 day and it's the sustenance they need in the wilderness. But now they're out and they're 312 00:29:40,339 --> 00:29:45,660 taking on more responsibilities and they're taking like the solid food of the land and they're 313 00:29:45,660 --> 00:29:52,559 growing in deeper ways, right? And I can't help but think about how the New Testament compares 314 00:29:52,559 --> 00:29:58,000 spiritual milk and the meat, right? The milk and the meat. And when you come to the promised land 315 00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:03,160 and you're walking in obedience, you move away from the elementary things of God and move into 316 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:08,000 the deeper things of God. It strengthens your faith and you start to walk in a deeper 317 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:13,559 walk with God. So 1 Corinthians 3 talks about it. He said, I feed you with milk and not with 318 00:30:13,559 --> 00:30:17,960 solid food for until now you were not able to receive it. And even now you're still not able to. 319 00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:23,220 Also in Hebrews 6, it says, therefore we need to leave behind the discussion of the elementary 320 00:30:23,220 --> 00:30:28,039 principles of Christ and let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation 321 00:30:28,039 --> 00:30:34,380 of repentance from dead works and of faith towards God. So there's a deeper level of 322 00:30:34,380 --> 00:30:38,680 walk when you start to obey. Like everyone knows, you know, if you were a baby Christian 323 00:30:39,819 --> 00:30:43,700 and you heard that Jesus loves you and he died for you and he rose again so you can be forgiven, 324 00:30:43,859 --> 00:30:48,779 that is the most powerful message of all time. But if you only stay there and you never actually 325 00:30:48,779 --> 00:30:53,440 start obeying it, you don't read the word, you don't walk in all the other things that this 326 00:30:53,440 --> 00:31:00,440 word talks about, you're still like here and God wants to bring you here, right? And that 327 00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:04,980 comes from obedience. If you can't obey the simple principles of God, how is he going to 328 00:31:04,980 --> 00:31:10,759 entrust you with more? But the beautiful thing is like as you start walking like a kid, once they 329 00:31:10,759 --> 00:31:14,440 start to learn how to walk, they get stronger and stronger so quickly. As you start to obey, 330 00:31:14,519 --> 00:31:19,599 you get stronger and stronger in your faith and you start taking on more responsibilities in the 331 00:31:19,599 --> 00:31:25,099 Lord and you grow in your faith and he entrusts you with more and more. And I think about it, 332 00:31:25,739 --> 00:31:31,039 you know, even in my life over the last few years, I, you know, there's been areas in my life where I 333 00:31:31,039 --> 00:31:35,640 feel like I've just been on the milk, right? And it's, I'm not laying hold of the deeper things of 334 00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:44,220 God. And as I continue to obey him, I'm starting to step into those meatier things. And so like 335 00:31:44,220 --> 00:31:49,740 this visionary parenting class, if you've been to it, so powerful. And it talks all about having 336 00:31:49,740 --> 00:31:57,000 a vision for your family that you're raising up like the next generation of Jesus followers. And 337 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:01,259 it's not just, okay, you know, give them a good life. It's like, Hey, this is like we're climbing 338 00:32:01,259 --> 00:32:06,660 a mountain and we're bringing them to the top to encounter God. And so there's deeper things you 339 00:32:06,660 --> 00:32:12,220 think about living every day in the spirit, walking with him rather than just saying like, 340 00:32:12,220 --> 00:32:16,779 okay, I know go to heaven one day. Like now you're walking with God, keeping in step with 341 00:32:16,779 --> 00:32:22,940 him, looking out for opportunities everywhere you go to be able to share the faith and to share the 342 00:32:23,500 --> 00:32:29,299 freedom and Jesus, to glorify him and really confusing and complex times like we're in right 343 00:32:29,299 --> 00:32:34,740 now. And to battle spiritual warfare and to walk in the gifts of the spirit. Like these are all 344 00:32:34,740 --> 00:32:41,079 things that God wants to give us and to give us wisdom on, but it starts with just obeying the 345 00:32:41,079 --> 00:32:49,440 simple things and he'll entrust us with so much more. So let's read the last few verses. 346 00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:57,019 And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked and behold, 347 00:32:57,539 --> 00:33:03,799 a man stood opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, 348 00:33:03,940 --> 00:33:11,059 are you for us or for our adversaries? So he said, no, but as commander of the army of the 349 00:33:11,059 --> 00:33:18,440 come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, what does my Lord say 350 00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:23,960 to his servant? And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, take your sandal off your 351 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:32,960 foot for the place where you stand is holy. And Joshua did so. Joshua just had his burning bush 352 00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:43,880 moment. And I think this is an amazing encouragement to us. We see the bad contrast of 353 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:49,619 the first generation because of unbelief not going into the promised land. And then the good 354 00:33:49,619 --> 00:33:56,680 story they do, and now the enemies fleeing. But we see here that both men had faith and obedience 355 00:33:56,680 --> 00:34:03,339 and they both encountered God. And that's such a huge promise for us as believers 356 00:34:04,500 --> 00:34:11,119 that if we just follow the example we see of so many men and women who love God, it's so 357 00:34:11,119 --> 00:34:16,500 encouraging to see like they actually know him. They actually have things in the spirit that I 358 00:34:16,500 --> 00:34:22,920 want. And it's not because of them. It's not because of their good works, right? 359 00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:30,539 But we can have that too if we just walk with God. If from a place of love and faith we just 360 00:34:30,539 --> 00:34:38,559 walk with him and obey him, like we can have that too. And Jesus, you'll see that it's capital man 361 00:34:38,559 --> 00:34:44,619 and capital his. And we know it's believed that this is Jesus because when he fell down and 362 00:34:44,619 --> 00:34:50,039 worshiped, an angel always says don't worship me. But the commander of the Lord's army here 363 00:34:50,039 --> 00:34:54,659 doesn't say anything. He allows him to worship because he's Jesus before he came in the flesh. 364 00:34:55,940 --> 00:35:01,559 And he says something that's so Jesus-like where he doesn't answer like oh no I'm for you because 365 00:35:01,559 --> 00:35:07,659 like here he just says no. It's like you're asking if I'm for you or for your adversaries. I'm just 366 00:35:07,659 --> 00:35:14,880 gonna say no to that question and I'm here on behalf of God. And it's not that he's saying 367 00:35:14,880 --> 00:35:19,440 he's against them, right? He's not against the Israelites. He's not against us. 368 00:35:21,179 --> 00:35:27,360 But it's basically he's saying to Joshua are you for me? Are you on my side? 369 00:35:29,340 --> 00:35:34,699 And that's important for us to realize. Like God is not just the genie in the bottle we rub to 370 00:35:34,699 --> 00:35:39,659 get what we want because he's always for us. The way that he's for us is in the truest sense 371 00:35:39,659 --> 00:35:47,639 that he wants us to look like him. To look more like Jesus. He wants our will to die and we have 372 00:35:47,639 --> 00:35:53,820 his will. He isn't just aligning himself to us. We're aligning ourselves to him. And when we do 373 00:35:53,820 --> 00:36:00,199 that, that is obedience. That is true obedience. Aligning ourselves to him, yielding to him. 374 00:36:00,619 --> 00:36:06,119 And when we do that we encounter God and we realize that his story is so much bigger than 375 00:36:06,119 --> 00:36:11,940 our little story. I mean think about all the people we're gonna see in heaven, right? Like of course 376 00:36:11,940 --> 00:36:16,340 we're gonna know the big names. I'm sure we'll recognize them spiritually somehow we will in 377 00:36:16,340 --> 00:36:21,300 heaven. But we'll know all the big names but think about the billions of people probably that we 378 00:36:21,300 --> 00:36:26,639 have no idea who they are. But they did great things for the kingdom of God. Because they 379 00:36:26,639 --> 00:36:33,639 didn't try to push God into their life and align him with them. That's impossible. They died and 380 00:36:33,780 --> 00:36:40,420 they gave their life to Jesus. They died like it says in the New Testament. And they aligned with him 381 00:36:40,420 --> 00:36:46,880 and they became part of his plan, his story. And they lived the greatest life they ever could. 382 00:36:47,539 --> 00:36:52,579 And I think that's something so powerful for us. If we realize what we're a part of, 383 00:36:52,760 --> 00:37:00,179 that Jesus is reconciling the world to himself and he calls you an ambassador. He calls you 384 00:37:01,039 --> 00:37:06,880 a bondservant of God to bring this good news. You're part of the greatest story of all time. 385 00:37:08,500 --> 00:37:14,320 You might share the gospel with three people and let's say one of them gets saved. That's one 386 00:37:14,320 --> 00:37:19,619 more that the entire realm of heaven starts rejoicing over because they repent it. Like this 387 00:37:19,619 --> 00:37:27,239 is incredible that we get to be a part of what he's doing. And he is for you. Totally is. We know 388 00:37:27,239 --> 00:37:31,940 that he gives his plans to prosper us, not to harm us, give us hope in the future. But that hope 389 00:37:31,940 --> 00:37:38,019 future and prospering is completely in him. Amen. So I just want to encourage you guys 390 00:37:38,739 --> 00:37:45,940 that he has great plans for your life and we realize it through obedience. We realize what 391 00:37:45,940 --> 00:37:51,559 his plan for us is. And in closing, I know like when we talk about obedience, sometimes it can 392 00:37:51,559 --> 00:37:57,340 feel a little heavy because it's so easy to look at our lives and see all the places that 393 00:37:57,340 --> 00:38:03,420 we have not been obedient in the past. We can feel that like heavy weight of possible shame, 394 00:38:03,420 --> 00:38:10,280 like it says he rolled away. We might still feel it. You know, maybe we feel like we have been 395 00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:14,880 even sinning today that we feel really guilty about and we don't have confidence to him. 396 00:38:16,440 --> 00:38:25,539 It's so simple. We see in the parable, you know, of the son who ran away, right? The lost son. And 397 00:38:25,539 --> 00:38:29,239 then when he comes back, he's just walking up thinking he deserves nothing. But the father 398 00:38:29,679 --> 00:38:35,659 runs to the prodigal son while he's a long way off, comes up to him, hugs and kisses and welcomes 399 00:38:35,659 --> 00:38:42,579 him back into the family in a place of honor. It's not you. It's just you don't have to make 400 00:38:42,579 --> 00:38:48,500 that happen. He comes rushing to you, but it's one small, small step of repentance, 401 00:38:49,260 --> 00:38:55,760 which is not just changing your mind. It's changing your direction. It is turning to him and he runs 402 00:38:55,760 --> 00:39:01,380 all the way out to you, just like the Michelangelo painting. Your hand is here. His is fully 403 00:39:01,380 --> 00:39:08,539 stretched out. It's just a millimeter reach and he's there with you. So if you feel weighed down, 404 00:39:08,539 --> 00:39:15,219 if you feel conviction in a bad condemnation, I should say, just remember he's stronger than 405 00:39:15,219 --> 00:39:20,480 your heart. He can free your heart from that. And all it takes is that simple act of obedience to 406 00:39:20,480 --> 00:39:28,579 repent and he will do wonders with your life. So let's pray. Lord God, we just thank you so much 407 00:39:30,139 --> 00:39:36,940 for such a simple thing as obedience, but the power it has in our lives, God, 408 00:39:38,039 --> 00:39:42,380 because when we align our will with you, God, and when we do what you want, 409 00:39:44,739 --> 00:39:47,619 you do the rest. Lord, you make 410 00:39:50,399 --> 00:39:54,840 such small decisions, have such eternal impact in the best possible way. 411 00:39:55,539 --> 00:40:00,559 So I pray, God, as you highlight things in our lives, Lord, tonight in the small group, even 412 00:40:00,559 --> 00:40:04,380 as we go home and we think about it and meditate on it, Lord, I just pray that 413 00:40:04,380 --> 00:40:11,179 as you highlight areas that we can obey, Lord, you obey you better. I pray that we would just 414 00:40:11,179 --> 00:40:18,539 have joy in it, God, that we can realize, Lord, that you have amazing things on the other side 415 00:40:18,539 --> 00:40:24,760 of this obedience, God. And I just pray that we would have your joy and we would have your 416 00:40:24,760 --> 00:40:31,380 peace and we would have, Lord, the gifts of the Spirit, Lord, of self-control. And I just thank 417 00:40:31,380 --> 00:40:41,380 you so much for your holy name, Jesus. Amen. Thanks for joining us at Lansdale Life Church 418 00:40:41,380 --> 00:40:47,679 as we praise God and discuss His word. Don't forget to join us for worship live Sunday mornings 419 00:40:47,679 --> 00:40:53,179 at 10 a.m. Eastern on YouTube. Be blessed and have a great day!