The Honest Heart: God's Lie Detector Test

We're going to jump into the word of God this morning, and here's what. How I wanted to do it. I don't know about y'.

All.

Y' all can act super saved if you want to, but y' all remember a man named Maury Povich? Y' all remember him? All right, Y' all act like I don't know what you talking about. Like, what are you talking about? So what was always so funny to me about Maury Povich, right, Is he was like, first, if you read, like, the story, the History of Maury Porvich, the. The story. I saw, like, a documentary about it. And he started off as, like, a general, like, talk show host, like Ricky Lakes. Like, y' all remember Ricky Lakes, too, right? All that, right? So he started with basic talk shows, and what made him popular was that you are not the father or you are the father.

Oh, my God. What?

I can't believe it. You are the daddy. And it was like, 18 baby dad, and, like, who is like, oh, my God. Like, there's 30 days that this could happen. It was just a whole bunch of stuff in this, right? And so I was. I was. Don't judge me. But I was on YouTube the other day, and I went down the rabbit hole of Jerry Springer and Maury Povich, and. And y' all can act like y' all have never done that before, but I went down the rabbit hole, and I don't know what happened, but I was literally just like. Like, I've seen these episodes, and they're all grainy, and I'm laughing because I'm like, is he gonna be the father? Like, oh, my God. And then they run around, they find there's all of a sudden there's always a perfectly prepped room with tissues for someone to run to when someone is or is not the father. And for some reason, it was the same reaction every time. It was like, you are the father.

Oh, my God.

And they run to the back room. You are not the father.

I. Oh, my God.

And they run to. I mean, it was just.

It's just crazy.

Lamar. Vo. And so I was watching this, and I began to laugh because all it was was they took a lie detector test and the truth came out, and the truth made them run to the back room and cry about it. The truth gave the same reaction. And for some reason. Why is it that the truth does that, like, the truth made them react and elicit some sort of emotion that just drove them crazy? No matter what it was, you are the father. The truth Crazy response. You are not the father. The truth. Crazy response. The truth just does it. And it made me think about how do we respond when God looks at us and tells us the truth. Now when you hear me say truth, I don't want you to think about it in terms of like Ebonics, black folk truth. Because, you know, we got truth and we got to tell somebody. Can I just be honest? We ain't being honest. We being mean. Like, you know that's true, right? Like, can I just be honest? You ugly. Your mama ain't nothing. Your daddy ain't nothing. You, you ain't never going to beat. I mean, we just, we, we, we, we ain't on. Can I be real? No, you being mean. Can I be real? No, you being rude. Right? Like, I'm talking black folks truth. Like really the truth, the honest to God truth. How do you respond when God sits down and says, the lie detector test determines one simple truth? And so if I was Maury Porvich today, and this is what David says, this is what God's truth is over all of us. You are God's favorite. Now, if I got up here and told you a million dollars, your life is going crazy. We running back around the church, but David says, here is the foundation that sets everything. You were God's favorite. David's having a conversation with us in Psalm 17. And if we're going to set the foundation for a year of new life. Last week I'm ready to own my ambition. This week I am ready to be honest. That's the story in Psalm 17. Grab your Bible. Stand with me in honor of the word of God. Psalm 17, beginning at verse number one. What are you going to do with that truth this morning? Psalm 17. Hear the word of the Lord. David writes this to us. Hear me, Lord. My plea is just. Listen to my cry. Hear my prayer. It doesn't rise from deceitful lips. Let my vindication come from you. May your eyes see what is right. Though you probe my heart. Though you examine me at night and test me, you'll find that I plan no evil. My mouth is not transgressed. Though people tried to bribe me, I've kept myself from the ways of the violent. Though your lips have through what your lips have commanded, my steps have held to your paths. My feet have not stumbled. I call on you, my God, and you will answer me. Turn your ear to me and hear my prayer. Show me the wonders of your great love. You who say by your right hand and take refuge in you from their foes. Keep me as the apple of your eye and hide me in the shadow of your wings. I want you to underline that text. I want you to highlight that text. I want that to be your prayer this week. God, keep me as the apple of your eye and hide me in the shadow of your wings. Why? From the wicked who are out to destroy me. From my mortal enemies who surround me. I want you to see this. I'm going to get into this. I want you to see here. It is not you who needs to fight. David says here in the prayer he has here, God, keep me as the apple of your eye and the shadow of your wings. And here's what that does. It keeps me from the wicked who are out to destroy me. You have people who want to destroy what God has built in your life. But when you are God's apple of God's eye because you're God's favorite and you're in the shadow of his wings, it keeps you from the wicked who are trying. The weapon is formed. I wish I had a witness here. But it will not prosper from the mortal enemies. This is not spiritual enemies David talks about from the fleshly individuals who surround you. But when you're the apple of his eye in the shadow of his wing. So here's what happens in verse 10. They close up their calloused hearts. Their mouths speak with arrogance. They track me down. They surround me. Their eyes are alert to me. They throw me to the ground. They're like lying hungry for prey. A fierce lion crouching in cover. Pause. I want you to write the name, maybe in your journal or whatever. Who's the person in your life that those words describe? Right. I want. I want you to see this text for yourself today. Who's that person in your life? Calloused hearts, arrogant mouths. Tracked you down, surround you. They're always commenting on your statuses, always around you. Always want to go to lunch with you. Always trying to figure out what's going on. Crouching in cover. Right. I want you to see what. How our faithful responses are. Look at verse 13. So God, I'm not going to do it. Verse 13. You rise up, Lord. You confront them. Bring them down with your sword. Not my sword. Do you see this with your sword? Rescue me from the wicked by your hand. Save me from the people, from those whose world is. Whose reward is in this life. May what you have stored up for the wicked fill their bellies. May their children gorge themselves on it. May there be leftovers for their little ones. Do you see this. But as for me, I will be vindicated. I will see your face when I'm awake. I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness. I want to talk this morning, just for a couple minutes. I'm ready to be honest. Lord, do your work and we'll stand and ready to receive it in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated. This is a notebook sermon. And I want you to apply this to your own life today in terms of our honesty, because we are God's favorite. Here's the honesty of this prayer. David is writing this psalm in this quest to be honest in his own life. And he writes this twofold. Number one, he's writing a prayer from David to God about threatening enemies who are against his livelihood. The first movement of this is a prayer from David to God about threatening enemies who are against his livelihood. And also what Psalm 17 does for us. It's a template for the righteous about what it means to be honest with God. God, when you have enemies on your case, it's a template. This is almost like the Lord's Prayer. So sorry, the model prayer. So we talked about the Lord's Prayer versus the model prayer. We're going to talk about the Lord's Prayer in the. This. This weekend, this Wednesday in Bible Study and. And Lord, teach us how to pray. But there's a difference between the Lord's Prayer and the model prayer. The Lord's Prayer is when Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane and he said, father, take this cup away from me, but not my will, but your will be done. That's the Lord's Prayer. The model prayer is what we see when the disciples. Disciples came to Jesus and said, lord, teach us to pray. Our Father who art in heaven. It's a model. This text here is a template. So I'm not telling you to go and start praying this this week, but this is a template. So when I talk about praying the Scriptures, this is what I mean, praying the scriptures. If you have an enemy, a mortal enemy that is on your tail, on your attack, it seems that they're attacking your faith. This is a template to use to pray the Scriptures. That's where the strength comes in. Because now I am not accessing my authority, my language, I'm literally now taking God's authority and God's language and praying the Scriptures as a template for something against my life. And here's what the questions that kind of ask for us today. Number one, this text asks us, how honest are we? How honest are we with ourselves? How honest are we with others, and how honest are we with God? This psalm is qualified as a lament psalm. A lament psalm is a psalm in distress that asks God for help. And here's the structure of the psalms come up on the screen. And here's the structure of the psalm this morning. So first of all, verses 1 and 2 is the initial plea for vindication. So he's praying unto God, he's pleading unto God, but God will vindicate him. Number two, he declares his faithfulness. This is where I want us to get to a place where you're compassionate enough with yourself that you are able to declare that God. This is where I've been faithful to your word. David begins, continues the text and says he declares his faithfulness unto God. Then he begins his second plea, God, now, now, because I want to be vindicated from these people who are trying to attack me, I'm declaring my faithfulness to you. Then my second plea then is for protection. God, will you protect me from what these individuals are doing? Right. Then verses 10 through 12, he's defining the lack of character in his enemies. I began to name this for us when I paused there for a second. But David literally defines the lack of character of his enemies. He's literally saying God based upon what I know about them. Because there's a level of intimacy that ladled in this text. David defines the lack of characters his enemies have. Now, here's the thing I want to really get with this text. This is not a text to be used to go against those you just go to church with and don't like something they said or did to you. This text is really against enemies who are threatening your very essence and your livelihood. And too often I think we have made enemy too small, realizing that literally the language here are lions that are crouching in the desert for prey to try and destroy your life. This is not some sort of public opinion court. This is literally individuals who want to do everything they possibly can to ensure that you don't breathe tomorrow. So don't mistake your enemies, right? So he says the enemies, their whole character, their whole livelihood is based upon destroying my life. He says they have no character. Right? That's what he's saying here. So then thirdly, then he says, God. So since you know this truth, verse 13 and 14, the third plea he has is, lord, overthrow the wicked like God, you know, their focus is fully on destroying me. So if God, they literally are worshiping me, overthrow them, because that's what you promised. You do see what here's what prayer does? Prayer is reminding God of his promises. You said, there'll be no other God before you. They have literally made me a God. I don't want to be their God because you'll destroy me. So, God, you overthrow them before you want to take me out as an idol. And then lastly, he says, and I know this is going to happen because of a guarantee, because my consistency and my righteousness unto God, right? That's the whole text. And here's what God is showing us in this text. So David shows us the guarantee that the writer is giving us here is that if God hears this prayer, God's going to make everything well. And this whole prayer hinges on one verse, the verse I actually underlined, the verse actually to highlight. Guard me as the apple of your eye. Hide me in the shadow of your wings. This prayer is the prayer of a virtuous person who has held fast the steps of God. They've had trouble in their lives, but they are certain that God is, does not lie, that if God said that God delivers, that we trust that God delivers, they stay steadfast in their worship because they know that God is not a man, that God will lie. So the body of God in this text, if you notice the human effects of God in this text, this text, we see the right eye of God, the hand of God, we see the voice of God. That's what's more important. I want you to see this. In this text, David beckons the body of God to be his refuge. Now, this is important because I'm going to get to the cherubim and the seraphim in a second. But this is important because if you go back to the garden of Eden, remember the text says that God was walking in the Garden of Eden. This is what the writer is hearkening back to the body of God. That's why throughout the book of Psalms, whether it's Moses, whether it's David, whether it's Solomon, whether it's the sons of Korah, whoever it is in the book of Psalms, Psalms, they constantly reference the right eye of God. You notice the right eye is the just part of God. The left part of God is the human part of God, the. The softer side of God. So you don't see a lot of that in the book of Psalms, but you see that a lot in the New Testament, if you look up the left side of God, you see that a lot when it comes to Jesus, that softer side, that present side of God. But in the Old Testament, it's the right eye the right hand, the right, the right fist of God, the right thumb of God. There's even a verse that references the pinky of God, like there's power in God's pinky. I mean, y', all, it's just. It's amazing in the book of Psalms. And so here's what the writer is telling us. First of all, he asks God's eye to look at the psalmist heart. Because what he's saying here is, I can't ask you to condemn somebody else if you don't first make sure my heart is pure. I'm gonna back up and press play right there. I can't ask you to condemn another person, God, if I haven't asked you to first look at my heart. David is writing this text and showing us that God's eye is invited to look at the psalmist heart. It gets to Psalm 139. I won't read it, but Psalm 139, verse 23 and 24. Search me, O God, know my anxious thoughts, and then once you know me, fully lead me in the path of righteousness that God's eyes are actually. Then secondly, he. He asks that God's lips are invited to request testimony from others regarding the paths of the psalmist feet. He literally says, God, I want you to look at my heart. But then also, God, I want you to use your mouth and talk to other people and ask them if I really am the person that I say that I am. If God were to ask your spouse about your consistency in terms of what you show publicly and who you are privately, what would the testimony of your spouse's honesty be about your private walk? If God's lips were to request testimony from your children about the pathways of your feet in your private life, what would the testimony of your children be to honesty unto God? If God's lips were to ask your co workers about the consistency of your faith in your places of work, what would your coworker say about the consistency of your faith? David says, listen, God, I want your eyes look at my heart, and I want your lips to talk to people close to me, because you're going to find consistency all across the board. And then God, when you find that, then he says, I want the shadow of your wings to be my hiding place. So here's his main prayer. If I'm going to be honest, then he says, God, keep me as the apple of your eye and hide me in the shadow of your wings. So what does that mean? Well, the apple of your eye, I'm almost Finished. The apple of your eye is first seen in Deuteronomy, chapter 32. The Hebrew heroes saw that this. Sorry, the Hebrew writes it like this. God keep me as the daughter or the son of your eye. This is literally translation is God keep me as a child in your eyes. There's a reason later why Jesus came back later. Hope this all making sense later. Came back in the New Testament. He says, I want the kingdom to look like this, bring the children to me. Because there's something about the children being in the eyes of God. And here's what this is doing to be the center of God's attention. He literally says, God keep me as a child in the center of your attention. It's not just God locating you, but it's you being located with God. That God always know where I am, so I don't deviate from where you are. That's where we get to the proverb, trust the Lord with the all your heart and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and he will. God, I always want to make sure I am never outside of your will. I'm always able to be located by God. That God, if I ever deviate from you, you know where to find me and you want me in your presence. God keep me always with you, saying I have your attention. That's what a righteous heart does.

He says, God, I don't ever want.

To get so full of myself. I don't ever want to get so successful in the world that I don't know where you are. And not just that, but he says, then it keeps my stature in God's presence. That when if you ever were to look at something so the, the apple of your eye is not like every time I read this text for years until studying it, I always thought about the Disney movies where someone held an apple in a mirror as a Keep me as the app apple of your eye. This shiny apple, literally what the text is saying is the center parts of our eyes, the iris on our eyes, literally. I want God to have such an intimacy with me that I am always found in the center of God's attention. Don't miss this and what that does it also not only is God's attention, but it's also our stature and our size that when we acknowledge that we are not God, it keeps us small in God's presence. Realizing I can't handle anything because God is handling everything, that I am always small in the eyesight of God and the only reason that I'm large in the world is because I'm small in his presence. And all I want is God to.

Constantly be looking at me.

And that when God looks at me.

He is pleased with what he sees.

That when God. God looks at me, he sees himself reflected back at me.

And he trusts me with wherever he puts me. So God, I want to be small.

In your eyes because you know you can trust me to always make you big in the world. That's the apple of God's eyes. Can God trust you to exalt him constantly? Are you reflecting the goodness of God back to God's eyes? That when God's eye is on you, does he see that you trust, that you are precious, you are valuable, you are visible, you are goodness embodied that you are God reflecting back to him because you were made in his image. David says, God, if I'm going to be vindicated from my enemies, I want to be the apple of your eye. Not just that, but then he says, God, hide me in the shadow of your wings. I could spend a whole year on the shadow of God's wings. Listen to this. In both Deuteronomy and later in Matthews, this refers to a hen, because that's speaking to this nurturing of an egg to produce something more. That's a whole sermon series. Deuteronomy, Matthew refers to a hen. But David is speaking of God's larger wings. This, this, this, this is literally a imagination of God's love, this intimate fellowship with God, God under God's wings, where God's people always find rest and intimate fellowship with God. And here's what David is showing us. God gives protection to those he loves from both outward conflict and inward conflict. Here his wings are protecting us, hear me, from anything that can destroy your life or your possessions. Because the enemy here, church. Notice this is not always external, but it's also internal. And if we don't allow God to protect our inward conflict, it'll manifest itself in us getting comfortable with external conflict. That a lot of our external issues.

Are us finding it because of clouded.

Vision, because we don't have clear conflict clarity on our inward conflict with God.

I don't like me.

I have to find people around me.

Who don't like me, who give me.

The language to hate the person I am, that disagree with who God says about me.

So now I have enemies around me.

Who agree with the enemy that I see in myself. If you don't believe me, get your Bibles. I want you to see this. You're not making up. Go to Ezekiel 25. I want you to see this because if you don't correct inward conflict, if you don't correct inward enemies, it will ruin you. Go to Ezekiel 25. I really want us to see this. And I'm finished, I'm just teaching this morning. Go to Ezekiel 25. I want you to see the issue. If we don't correct inward conflict, it will lead to terrible, terrible external conflict. Ezekiel 25, beginning at verse number one. Look at the word of the Lord. To Ezekiel, it says this. The word of the Lord came to me. Son of man, set your face against the Ammonites, prophesy against them. Hear this prophecy. This is one thing. Let me pause here. Every word from God. Like I'm watching a lot of these churches and, and I've even cautious myself a lot of these churches who are doing like these seven days of prayer. Everybody's prophesying, listen, there are some prophecies that will confront sin. Every prophecy is not going to be brand new, this lavish, this lavish that some prophecies are, you're a bunch of sinners, need to get yourself corrected. Because if you sin and you are not connected to Jesus, hell is an option. Period, point blank. I mean, I know that sounds real conservative, but if we are not connected to Jesus, hell is an option. If I'm connected to Jesus, heaven is my only option. I rejoice because I know Jesus and heaven is my option and heaven is my goal. But every prophecy is not a good thing. Every prophecy is not a comfortable prophecy. There are some prophecies, y', all, that when we hear it, ought to confront us and cause us to repentance. That's Ezekiel 25. Look at the text. Verse number three. Say to them, hear the word of the Lord. This is the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says because you said and you rejoiced over my sanctuary when it was desecrated and over the land of Israel when it was laid waste, and over the people of Judah when they went to exile. Here's the prophetic word of God. I'm going to give you over to the people of the east as a possession. They will set up their camps and pitch tents around you. They will eat your fruit, they will drink your milk. I will turn Rabba into a pasture for camels and Ammon to a resting place for sheep. Then you will know that I am God. Do you see this? Every prophecy from God ain't gonna be. God's gonna give you a brand new house. Some prophecies from God are because you are unfaithful to me. I'm gonna turn you over to your enemies. Look at verse number six. For this is what the word of the Lord says. Because you clapped your hands and stomped your feet, rejoicing in the malice of your heart against Israel. I'm a stretch my hand out against you and give you plunder to the nations. I'm going to wipe you out from the nations and exterminate you from the countries. God says this, I will destroy you. And then you'll know that I'm God. Look at verse number six. So here's what we get to this internal conflict. This is what the Lord says. Here's the inward stuff. Because you clapped your hands, verse six. You stomped your feet and rejoice with the malice in your heart against Israel. And this is not external conflict. They made a conscious decision in their emotions to go against the temple of God. They clap their hands, they stomped their feet. They use the joy of the Lord to rejoice over the destruction of God's people. This is the enemy in the soul. This is what a calloused heart does. Because you clapped your hands over the downfall of God's people. God says, I will smite yours. This is what happens church if we don't heal internal conflict, it will manifest itself in X. What issues are you facing in the world today because you are not taking everything to God in prayer privately? Where are you stomping a day like when? Whose life are you waiting to fail and fall apart so you can stomp with joy? Whose existence? What church? Even friendship? Let's be. Let's be real here. What church are you waiting to fall apart so you can stomp with joy? Cuz they talked about friendship a couple years ago. Oh, talk back to me. What individuals in your life are you waiting for their whole marriage to fall apart because you know all their dirt and you can't wait to stomp on their grave? God says you do that. Let me show you. That's internal conflict that you have an issue with. It's going to manifest itself. So here's what the shadow of God's wings do. The shadow of God's wings gives you intimacy with God that protects you from external conflict and also heals your internal conflict. Because now anything that has caused distance between me and the Father, the shadow of God's wings will protect me because God's presence protects you from others and it protects you from yourself. Maybe your prayer this year is God protect me from me. I'm talking to somebody this morning that maybe your prayer is God I recognize. But God, protect me from my biases, protect me from my assumptions, protect me from my negative thinking. Protect me from my language. Protect me from my mindset. Protect me from the things that I.

Think about your people. God, protect me from myself. And I'm so glad that God loves me so much that he'll protect me from me.

Whose life are you waiting to fall down for you to pick yours back up again? Intimacy with God protects you from yourself. And the language here, church is the language called upon for the cherubim. Now, I'm going to show you a picture in a second, but I want you to see this. The cherubim were the angels who were selected to protect the temple. Okay? And this is the same angel that when Adam and Eve fell in the garden, these are the angels that ushered them out of the garden to protect them from God's wrath. So God says, when you're honest with me, I will make you the apple of my eye, and I'll protect you under the shadow of my wings. And so I'm gonna have the media team put a picture up. I want you to see the beauty of God's perspective. Protection. This is what the cherubim actually looked like. And I'm going to read the scripture that defined what the cherubim looked like. In Revelation, chapter 4. The cherubim protect us. The cherubim cause intimacy with us. And as they come up on this, is it coming up as it comes on the screen. Hear the word of the Lord. In Revelation chapter 4, it says this. Before the throne was like a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes on the front and the back. The front first living creature was a lion. The second living creature was a calf. The third living creature was a man. The fourth living creature was an eagle. And they had six wings full of eyes around and within. They do not rest, day or night.

They call, holy, holy, holy Lord God.

Almighty who was and is to come. And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor to God on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fall down before him on the throne and worship. Holy, holy, holy is the one who lives forever.

They cast their crown crowns before the throne.

They say, lord, you're worthy to receive glory and power. Here's what the angels do.

That when you trust God, the cherubim ensure that you are protected. So your responsibility is to just cry, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who what? Because I am the apple of God's eye. And God sees every everything around me. I'm protected by the bull side of God. I'm protected from the lion side of God. I'm protected by the human side of God, because God's eye is on me, and I am in the shadow of his wings. And I know that might be an uncomfortable picture to see, but when we get to heaven, that's what's going to protect the throne, and that is what's protecting you on your job. That angel is making sure that the job that should have fired you because you cried, holy, holy, holy. You have intimacy with him because you cried, Lord God Almighty. You have intimacy with him. That God's angel eye protects you from yourself.

This protected us when we fell in Eden.

This protects the throne of God. So our responsibility is to cast down our pride, cast down our crowns, cast down our ego, cast down our bodies, cast down our titles and cry out, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, who is and is to come, who will reign on his throne forever and ever. Because you are the alpha and you are the omega. You are the beginning and you are the end. And I don't know what y' all waiting on this morning, but that's what you ought to be rejoicing unto God for that God has his eye on you. God has you in the shadow of his wings. He knows everything about you. And still he says cry out, holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come. This is what keeps us from making idols. This is what keeps us from worshiping the wrong God. This is what. This is the reminder that Yahweh is God. This is the reminder. I don't need a God made of wood. This is the reminder. I don't need a God made of stone. This is a reminder that my boss is not my God. This is the reminder that my paycheck is not my God. That I have the authority to cry out, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, who is and who is to come.

That when we get to heaven, we rejoice over the protection we have right now. First, that God can bear your deepest burden because you're under the shadow of his wings.

God can bear your deepest hurt because.

You'Re under the shadow of his wings.

And what ought to give you confidence.

To go to work this week is.

I'm under the shadow of his wings. What ought to give you confidence to go to school this week is I'm under the shadow of his wings. What ought to give you confidence to go to that doctor's appointment as I'm under the shadow of his wings and I'm the apple of his eye.

And under the shadow of his wings, the relationship with God is so powerful because he puts you under the shadow of his wings. He keeps you from your enemies and he keeps you from yourself. So are you ready to be honest with a God like that? Are you ready to have an honest, intimate relationship with a God like that? That God, when you think of me, I want you to see all of me. I want to be the apple of your eye. I want to deserve your wings as protection. That's the whole sermon, y'. All. Do you want the protection? Are you willing to be honest with God? Is your faithfulness singing a song to that makes God dance? What is the song your soul is singing that makes God excited? When God dances over you like Psalm 35, when he dances over your heart, what is the medley your faithfulness is making God dance to? When God begins to think of goodness and mercy, does he make sure he finds you because you're so open for God's good, goodness and mercy to come into your home, into your marriage? How honest are you with God? Are you more honest with your therapist than you are with God? Are you more honest at happy hour than you are with God? Are you more honest with your friends and your situationships or your friendships than you are with God? David says, here's what you get from honesty with God. You are the apple of his eye. You are under the shadow of his wings. God will keep you from your enemies and he'll keep you from yourself. And that's why the writer came back in Psalm 91, that he will hide you in the secret place. Hallelujah. So I'm. I'm finished. I have no hollering screaming today. But let me give you just really quickly. I'm not gonna go through this. I listed them out. You can put it right up on the screen. So how can we build intimacy with God this year? Let me give you just really quickly. I'm literally finished a couple of things, and there's scriptures that go along with it. It's in the Bible app as well. You click on more, click on events. But here's the first thing I want to tell you. So number one, I want you to put God first. Here's the four areas I want you to put God first. Your faith, your family, your fitness, and your finances. Is God first in your faith? Here's the thing. And so the rest of this, you guys can understand, but let me talk about Fitness. I can't trust fat profits. Let me tell you why. I can't trust prophets who can't stand. I can't trust broke profits. I can't trust fat prophets. I can't. And here's what I want to do when it talks to fitness. Here's what I want you to think about fitness. If God were to send you to exactly where God says, I need you to do my work, are you physically fit to complete the work? I'm challenged by that myself, don't get me wrong. So I say, can't trust fat profits. I'm literally working out. I'm trying, y', all, because I know that. I know there's a work that go. God has called me to the nations. I am not physically fit to go to India to minister the gospel yet. I'm going to get there. But that's where I want you to put God first in your fitness. It's not just a matter of. It's amazing to me. Like when we got married, Courtney and I got married, we lost all this weight to fit into a suit, into a dress, right? So God is calling you to the nations. God is calling you to grandchildren. God is calling you to children. God is calling you to a new home. God is calling you to a condo on the third level. Are you fit? I wish I had somebody in this room. God is calling you to minister at senior citizens places. God is calling you to walk areas. God is calling you. God is calling you to a certain section of Vallejo. Are you physically fit to do it? If not, put God first. That God is your wedding dress that you trying to fit into to do the work of the will of God. Number two, learn how to pray. Best place to do it. That's the two scriptures to do it. The best place to do it right now for us is we have a Bible study study on Wednesdays literally called Lord, Teach Me how to Pray. Join us online at noon and at seven for our series Lord, Teach Us to Pray. The men's group and the young adult group are getting together in person to watch it and then discuss it afterwards. So if you want to do that with your friends and loved ones, do so. But we have a whole series this month dedicated to learning how to pray. I want us to have the right weapons. And number three, listen and obey. Listening and obey. Church. We can hear the Holy Spirit's whispered instructions. When you first know Jesus, knowing Jesus gives you access to the intercessor. Who's the Holy Spirit? When you hear. When you know Jesus first You have access to the intercessor who gives you the direction. That's for listening. Obey Number three. Look for God in anything. God is in everything. That's called the panentheistic nature of God. Panentheistic nature of God. God is in everything because everything is from God. So when you're trying to find find God, it's not just in the temple, it's on the street, it's on the corner. It's at your job. God's the panentheistic nature of God. Number, number, number. I don't even. Number five. Disconnect. The reason sometimes we aren't connected with God is because we're connected to so many other things. The world wants us to be lured in for more busy and tech and consumer and more and more and more. And maybe the best thing for some of us to do for the beginning, beginning of this year or even the entire of the year is to disconnect. I got off social media and I could tell you what was going on in the world because I knew God more in the last four months than I knew God for years. And I was scrolling through everybody else's life. Disconnecting got me closer to God's voice. I began to say things in the prophetic where literally somebody said to me the other day, like, I had to scream, turn my mic off. Because it was something God was sharing with me that I never had heard before. But discovery, disconnecting from God made me get closer to God's heart. How close are you to the heart of God? Because when your life is moving at the pace of God's heart, it changes everything. And too often in this world right now because of social media, because of media, because of the news, we are moving at the pace of the world and not moving at the pace of grace. Next, connect with others. One of the ways we can talk about building community is connecting with the people around you. Schedule time with your family. Put your phones away at the dinner table. Amen. Somebody put your phone away. And now looking at me like, y' all millennials do it. No, y' all old folk be on y' all phones. Y' all be in your phone looking like this. Can't even, can't even eat the pasta. Don't, don't, don't get me. But connect with the people around you. What is your grandchild's favorite color? What is your spouse's favorite color? What new thing did your kids do at school last week? I got so frustrated with myself a couple of weeks ago, my son Brought home some stuff that he made, and I didn't know he wrote a letter a in cursive. And I'm so consumed with, like, cam, finish this. Cam, do this. I didn't even realize my son is writing cursive. But I'm so busy, and he's so busy, and we're so busy that we forgot that Cam was writing. What have we missed in our family's lives? The people that God has ordained us to serve because we're so busy. Connect with the people around you and see God at work. Last second, second to last. Lean into your gift. Your gift is what connects you to God. Your gift is what connects you to God. Paul didn't let prison stop him from preaching, teaching, leading. He didn't let anything stop him. Don't let anything stop you from the gift. Your gift is a reminder of God's grace in the work. And lastly, worship, praise and rejoice. Sing in the shower. Some of y' all can't sing. Sing in the shower. Sing in the car. Sing in the grocery store, Sing on the street. I mean, whatever. Worship God, because that's what's gonna elicit your emotions, and then your emotions gonna lead you back to his word. I don't know if you can take it down. I had a number of people ask me after church last Sunday. Pastor, last week was such a powerful service. Why did you even preach? Because here's worship. What does. Worship opens our emotions. The word of God gives us the words to describe it. That's what I had to preach because I had to make sure that we understood what God was doing. That's the goal of the prophet. That's the goal of worship. Worship opens you, which is why I love our worship. Whenever our worship team is leading. Worship opens your emotions. God, whatever you're going to do, say it. And then my responsibility as a prophet. This is what the Lord is saying. When you worship, you are opening yourself up for God to elicit and change your emotions to. To fix the things that are off in your life. And then the word of God becomes the power source that says, now this is how to get to where I'm trying to take you. All in all, it gets down to one thing, y'. All. It's easy for us to lie to ourselves. It's easy for us to lie on God. But God sat down, took a lie detector test, and said, you're my favorite. You are the apple of my eye. You are under the shadow of my wings. Now, is that intimacy going to be mutual this year? Or is intimacy going to be a one way street? I don't know about you, but if you've ever been in a relationship where you've been the only one trying, it's not a very fun relationship. If you ever been in a relationship where you were the only one that planned dates and you were the only one who texted, you were the only one who said good morning and you were the only one who planned the vacation and you're the only one who tried, it's not a very fun relationship. That's a one way street and eventually you'll find someone who reciprocates it. God says, listen, you are the apple of my eye. You are under the shadow of my wings. This year let's have a mutual relationship because I took a lie detector test and you're my favorite. Every head is bowed, every eye is closed. God, thank you that we are the apple of your eye. Thank you that we are under the shadow of your wings. Thank you that your word is true over us. Thank you that that you do not lie over us or lie to us. God, we honor today that you sing over us, you rejoice over us. So now, God, in the areas where we don't trust it. Awaken us in the areas, God, where our hearts have been calloused and malice to the world where busyness has taken over. God, remind us that we are your favorite. Allow us to look around us and see the things that you've done in our lives. Allow us to look around us and see the grace you've bestowed upon us. And I pray now, God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, that you show us your grace and mercy that this week, this year, God is a year of intimacy and honesty with you. And may we sing and rejoice like the cherubim. Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty who was, who is and who is to come. Thank you that you're God on the throne. Thank you that you are the alpha, that you are omega, that you are the beginning and you are the end. It's in Jesus name we pray. Everybody said amen.