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Let me ask a better question. Anybody glad that you're saved and you're in the house tonight? Anybody glad you got your own right mind tonight, like you can think for yourself? Anybody just wiggle your hands. Anybody got activity of both your limbs? They may not work like you want them to, but you can still lift them. You may not can lift them real far, but you can give. Come on. Anybody? Anybody glad? Anybody glad that you can take a breath in and take a breath out? That means you're breathing. Anybody excited? Anybody excited that as long as you're breathing, that means God has purpose for you? Hallelujah. Come on. We're in Ephesians. We're going quickly to this. This is still Walk It Out Wednesday. Welcome, welcome, welcome to Walk It Out Wednesday where we are walking out the word of God. And you know, if you've been following our pastors, they've been preaching about clarity and understanding and belief. And we're going to stay in that same vein using one of the scriptures that has been used for the last couple of weeks. Ephesians, chapter 1, verse 15 through 19. I am reading from the ESV version and it says this for this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus. It's this is Paul talking and your love toward all the saints. I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened. That you may know what is the hope to which he has called you. What are the riches of his glory? What are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints? And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his great might? Go back to verse 18. For me having the eyes of your heart. Some versions say the eyes of your understanding enlightened. That you may know what is the hope to which he has called you. What are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints? Father, I thank you for this moment. Whew. I need you, Jesus. But I know that you will stand up in your manservant. I know that you will do what you do best, and that is be God. So I decrease right now. It's not me, it's never been me. It's all you. Let them see you. Let them see me hid behind your cross. Father, I give you glory even for what you shall show up and do in this house right now. In Jesus name, Amen. So what I love about what I love about God's intentional language is that God will use words and forms that help us to understand who he is. God is very intentional. But about the language that is used to describe him and his godness, God will use what theologians call anthropomorphic terms, and those are things. When God takes what is visible to us, what is humanistic to us, and then he will equate that to a godlike character so we can understand who he is. Because in order for us to know God, God has to reveal Himself to us. In order to understand God, you cannot understand him in your human logic. I get tired of seeing people get frustrated because you can't figure God out. We live in a culture and we live in a day and age where we want answers to the infinite God. As if our finite minds can hold all of the wonderness of God, all of the beauty of God, all of the majesty of God. This is God we're talking about. You're not going to be able to understand him in your human mind. You're not going to be able to figure Him. Stop trying to put God in your logic mind. Stop trying to get everything that God does to make sense to you. Because when God does something, he. His ways are above your ways, his thoughts are above your thoughts. It's not going to make sense to your logic mind. Stop looking at TikTok creators trying to tell you that what you believe is not real because it doesn't make sense to them. Because they have never experienced God, it's something that I can't explain. Always. God is to be experienced. I can't put it all into words. If I could, he wouldn't be God. If I could explain him, he wouldn't be the God that I serve. He has things that I don't even have words for. He has ways that I can't even imagine. He does things that don't even add up. His two plus two is not four. It's something else. Because He's God. He's the God that sits on the circle of the earth. He's the God that does all things. He's the God that never fails. And we're too busy trying to make it make sense to us. We're trying to understand God without God. We're trying to understand who God is without God. Listen, can you imagine the God of the universe from eternity to eternity's end, who was here before time, who will be here after time? Imagine how crazy it is for us who have a limited time experience here on Earth to come here for 70 or 80 years and say, we can figure out God. Can y' all imagine that we are here on an average 80 years on this planet and the God who has circumvented and been passed and surpassed everything. Now, we think in the limited time that we've been here, there's a logical way for us to understand all that God did. But that's the beauty about God. Because in order to know him, in order to understand him, you need God to reveal Himself to you. And so what God does is God uses terms to help us know more about His Majesty. He uses terms to help us know more about his power. He uses terms that we can relate to so that we can see him in a more visual way. Because he understands. Unless I bring it to a place and an understanding where you can grasp it, you will always be wondering who it is that you serve. And God is not trying to be aloof. God wants us to be in relationship with him. But he's just not going to give it to you because you want it. He's not going to give it to you because you just asked for it. You gotta labor with it. You gotta get hungry to know God. You gotta pursue God. You have to go, I wonder if there's anybody who came on a Wednesday night because you said, I'm hungry for God. I'm hungry to know more about Him. I don't want just topsoil religion. I want to get into the roots. I don't want to just milk God, I want the meaty God, I want to know God in a personal way. I want to be like the deer that pets for the water. I want to get so hungry for God that every day I wake up. I say, God, I need more of your presence. God, I need more of your spirit. God, I need more of your revelation. God, I need more, more, more, more. So God uses terms that help us understand him in the Bible. Exodus 15:and 6 says, Your right hand, O Lord, has become glorious in power. Your right hand, O Lord, has dashed the enemy. Psalms 94, verse 4 and 5 says, in his hand are the deep places of the earth. The heights of the hills are his also the is his, for he has made it, and his hands form the dry land. Isaiah 59:1 says, Behold the Lord hand. Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, it cannot save. Nor is his ear too heavy that it cannot hear. God is giving us these humanistic terms for us to understand. God is a spirit. God does not have body parts like we do. But God gives us this language through his prophets so that we can understand. When it talks about the mighty hand of Lord, it's talking about his power and his provision and his direction. When it talks about how God is multi breasted, it means God is a provider on all fronts. When it talks about the hand of the Lord and the finger of the Lord and the footsteps of the Lord, God is showing us his personality. He's showing us who he is. And then God flips and gives not only a humanistic approach to him, but but to also our relationship to Him. How do we relate to God in ways that we can understand? Psalms 34, 8 says this. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Wait a minute. Taste and see that the Lord is good. These terms, we can't physically do it, but what is God saying in the spirit? God is trying to let us know what it is about taste. Taste is personal. That means nobody can do it for you. You gotta do it on your a relationship that you have to establish, not somebody else, not you take somebody else's opinion for what they tried. But oh, taste and see that the Lord is good for yourself. You have to develop your own diet for the Lord. You have to develop your own palate for the Lord. Because taste is trained. It's something that is gone over time. You have to continue to do it. You have to continue to taste. That means you have to engage with God, you have to commune with God. It's not just a one day thing. It's not just a one week thing. Yeah, you fasted for 10 days. But keep something going. Keep that engagement going. Don't just sit at the table with God and get up. Once the fast is over, stay at the table. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Taste and see. Taste is repeated. It's something that happens over and over and over again. It's something that you develop a palate for and a diet for. And when you develop a diet for God, then the other things fall off. When you develop a diet for God, you don't want to taste anything else. You say, I tasted something that's so good. Why would I go back to trash when I've had real meat? Why would I go at the fake one? Taste and see that the Lord is good. Romans 10:17 says this. So then faith. Here's another humanistic point. So then faith. We know this comes by what comes by hearing. Hearing. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. What is that telling us? That means in order for me to understand God and increase in my knowing, I have to activate my ear. I have to activate my hearing. I have to be in a place where I can hear about God, where I can hear His Word, where I can hear his prophecy, where I can hear his testimony. I have to guard my ears because if the wrong thing comes into my ears, it'll inform my faith. And what informs my faith will inform my belief. And whatever I believe, that's what I will act out. So I have to hear faith in order to know. Know God through faith. Faith comes by hearing. Hear. Second Corinthians. I love this one. 2 Corinthians 15 says this. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. We, you and me, are the fragrance of Christ. We are the aroma. Jesus, I wish y' all could hear me, you and I, as believers. When you walk into your office, do you not know that you're carrying the fragrance of Christ with you? Now here's the real question. Are people turned off by the fragrance or they turned on to it? Do they hate to see you coming because there's a stench to your fragrance? Which means the representation that you are of Christ, does it match up to the goodness and the greatness of God? You have to be careful. Because everything you do, your actions, the words that you say when you want to go off and you don't, you become the fragrance of God. When you show loving kindness, you become the fragrance of God. When you prefer others over yourself, you become the fragrance of God. Do you understand that you are walking around as God's aroma in the earth and dependent on how your walk is? That's how things smell around you. Depending on your walk. That's how things smell around you. So if something smells a little funky, it could be the aroma that you're putting out. We are the fragrance of Christ. These are just things that the Bible is intentional about. God, through his prophets, are intentional about giving us language that help us to understand who God is. And so when Paul is writing to the church of Ephesus, he, in this verse we just read, uses terms that are common to us but uncommon to the context. He says, the eyes of your heart, be enlightened. The eyes of your heart. Now, because I believe God is so intentional, I believe that eyes and hearts are intentionally placed in this scripture for us to understand what God is trying to say to us about enlightenment. So eyes I to understand, first of all, to contextually understand, why was this important to the people of Ephesus? I heard a theologian say this is very true. God's letters were to other people first before they came to us. So in order to understand contextually what God is saying to the people who we had to understand what was happening in the spaces and times that they were going on. Does that make sense, y'? All? Because. Because when Paul is writing Paul's letters to the Church of Corinth, enrollments to Ephesus are intentional in regards to what was happening in the space in that time. And so in the church of Ephesus, what was going on. So Ephesus is this place that was the capital of a province in Asia. And Ephesus had grown to one of the largest areas of commerce and trade in that region, Ephesus. When Paul first goes to Ephesus, he goes to Ephesus in Acts, before we get Ephesians, he goes to Ephesus in Acts, and he sees a small contingency of people who want to know more about the way the followers of Christ. And it's about 12 or 13 at that time. And by the time we get to Ephesians, that number of Christians in the city of Ephesus has grown to almost three quarters of the people, 250,000 people in that city. Now, here is the complexity of it. Because Ephesus was not a Christian place. It was plagued with sorcery, with magic. And they worshiped the goddess Diana, who was known as the God of fertility. They thought that some meteor that had come down had smashed into their Place was a gift from this God, from Zeus. And they erected statues for the goddess Diana. And they thought that she helped infertility. So they were casting their pearls and everything. They were casting their riches towards this goddess Diana. They were building shrines and. And monuments for them. And the marketplace was filled with people making emblems for the goddess Diana. So when the Word comes in, when Paul starts to bring this new gospel, it disrupts the marketplace. So they don't like him much, because when the Word comes in, it will disrupt darkness. Here Paul comes in with just about 12 people. And because he was diligent, because he was steady in the word, that 12 grew to almost have more than half of the people in the town. Even though there was debauchery going on, even though there was treachery going on, the Word was still going forth. I wonder if you can hear what I'm saying. Even though there was chaos on this side, Christ was being exalted on this side. Even though people were worshiping idols on this side, the word of the Lord was growing on this side. What does that mean? It doesn't matter the situation or the circumstance you might find yourself in. You just keep preaching the word. You just keep being neore Rome of God. You just keep walking the walker and being the light, and God will bring the increase. That's what happened in Ephesus. So Paul is there. Paul is writing to the people of Ephesus, and there's a battle of power because though they are converting to Christianity, they are still surrounded by the things that they were ensnared with. Yes, there were testimonies. There were people that came and burnt their artistry before Paul. They said, I'm not going to be involved in this sorcery anymore. I'm going to give you my magic books. So God was doing demonstrations with those people. Yes, but the people were still tempted by what they saw. Because sometimes with your delivered self, sometimes with your saved self, if we can be honest, sometimes what we left looks a little attractive still. I know we don't like to talk about it. That's sometimes why people don't like to come in church, because they feel like, I just was with you last night. Now you're not speaking. We was just dropping it like it was hot last night. Now you're on the praise team. At least say hi to me. At least say hi. Because here's the reality. Here's. Y' all know I try to be real. Here's the reality. Being a believer does not alleviate you from the struggles and the strife of being human. I mean, that's about three folk. That's honest. I know you're the most saved person on your row, but don't worry about it. They ain't going to judge you. I am being saved. I'm not going to judge. I'm not. I promise. Being saved does not alleviate you from the struggles and the strife of being human. And this is why it's a faith walk. This is why we walk out our faith. This is why we work out our salvation. This is why we die daily. This is why we come to the cross daily. This is why we intercede daily. Why? Because every day is something different. Every day it's a new trial. Every day it's a new temptation. And if I don't stop, stay planted before God. If I don't stay before God, I will have the tendency to fall back into what I tried to get out of, because I understand the world has not given up on me. The world does not want me to walk in the path that I'm walking. The world is trying to beckon me back. And if I don't run away from that, I'll run to it. And so Paul. Paul is writing. Paul is writing to the Church of Ephesus, a people that are obsessed with power, social power, economic power, spiritual power. Paul prays about three enlightenment, knowing, and power towards believers. And he uses. He uses the eyes. And I said, why? Why would God use the eyes? Ephesians 1:17. Then that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, having the eyes of your heart enlightened, he uses two organs. Here he fuses them together. He fuses the eyes and the heart. The eyes speak of perception. The heart speaks of interpretation. The eyes are what we see with. We're going to get a little deeper into that. But the eyes are the ventricles or the portals of what we see. With the heart, though, the heart, the heart is the seat of those emotions that decisions the things that we hold onto, the things our core, our belief. And so he uses the heart, the eyes, and this word enlightenment. The heart comes from this Greek word, kardia, to mean decision, direction, understanding. Greeks believe that the heart was not just the seat of the emotions, but it was also the place of understanding and determination as well. And then he says that the eyes of your heart be enlightened. Enlightened comes from a Greek word, photizo, meaning to shine the light on something or to make it visible. God enlightens our perception inside the Heart. So he's saying that the eyes of your heart be shined with so much light that now revelation becomes visible. So why eyes? Can we just study a little bit? The eyes. Can we talk about the eyes? The eyes. Because you can have functioning eyes and still lack spiritual sight. You can see facts, but not discern what truth is. I want to say that over here, you can see what is factual, but sometimes it's not what you see, but it's discerning what truth is. Anybody ever had a report that you looked at, whether it was a doctor's report, whether it was a bill, and you saw that the. That fact. Fact said something. But in your heart, God was discerning, giving you discernment to something else. I know what this says, doctor, but I can't receive this report because I believe the report of the Lord. And discernment is telling me that I'm not going to have to live with this diagnosis. Yes, it's on the paper, but that is not my truth because I understand that by his stripes I am healed. I know what you say, Mr. Banker. I know my credit doesn't match up. I know what it says on paper. But I know what God has promised me. And this building is mine. This business is mine. This house is mine. So excuse me if I don't accept your facts and I just believe my truth. Because God has given me something called discernment. And it gives me ability to look past your facts and to see his truth. So with the eyes. With the eyes, we have eyesight. Now, here's a very interesting thing. The eyes do not see darkness itself because vision requires light to function. Instead, the brain perceives from what it's received through the retina the absence of light, and then sends a signal that it must be blackness or darkness. Whoo. I'm gonna say it one more time because it did me the same way. It did me the same way. I promise you. The eyes cannot physically see darkness. It is an illusion. It is a signal sent to the brain that there is no light. So darkness is really not darkness. Darkness is a signal that there is no more light. And so the brain says, well, where there is no light, there must be blackness. That's why God had to break up the blackness in the beginning with light. Because vision cannot function without light. Vision cannot go forth without light. So before he created anything, before he created the sun, the moon and the stars, before he made the oceans and the fishes and the foul of the air, he said, I had to bring light into this darkness because it's not really darkness. It's just absent of light. And before vision can go forth, before purpose can go forth, before declaration can go forth, I had to bring forth light. That's the only problem with the situation that you're in. It's not a dark situation. You just need a little more light. It's not blackness around you. You just need a little more light. You've been in a situation where something is feeding the wrong information to your brain and you are getting the wrong information download. You just need a little light. Tell your neighbor all you need to get into is a place where there is light. You just need a little more light. And sometimes that light is inspiration. Sometimes. Sometimes people. People become that light. Sometimes your life looks like what it is because you're around too many dark people. Oh, I came to. I came to talk. I don't care if y' all say nothing. I came to talk. Sometimes it's not depression all the time. Sometimes you around so many people that have a darkness around them that your brain is telling you, well, this is what your life is going to look like, and this is how you gonna turn out. And this is going to be your circumstance. You need to change your surroundings. You need to change your friends. I need some more focus who understand that I need light in my light. That even when the darkness is trying to take over, I got enough people who got light around me that can say, baby, if you don't have what it takes, we'll be the light for you. Tell your neighbor, leave that the light on. Leave the light on. Leave the light on. Leave the light on. That's what Motel 6 used to tell us. Leave the light on. It might be dark right now, but leave the light on. Joy is coming. Y' all was prophetic when y' all had that. So. So I'm getting excited. So. So. So with. With vision. Vision requires light. Let me park there just for a couple of seconds. Vision. Vision what you see. Vision what you see. God told you it requires light in order to function. You. You. You can have all of the vision in your head, but there's another component that you are missing. My God, Today, there's another component that you're missing. Because the only light that will activate the vision is the light of the spirit. And you're trying to do it with an artificial lamp. Hey, what's going on, y'? All? This is Lecrae, and I just dropped my new book called Set Me Free, the Good News of God's Relentless Pursuit. I wrote these poems and Essays. Because I know there are people out there who feel like they've gone too far, messed up too much, or that God's done with them. But I'm living proof that he is not. The same God who set me Free from toxic views and beliefs is pursuing you too. If you can relate, make sure you check out Set Me Free. It's available now, wherever you get books. You're trying to manufacture your own light. You're trying to do it your own self. And God is saying, I got enough light for all the vision in your life. And the minute you give up control and the minute you surrender to me and the minute you say God, you can have it. You can handle it. I will shine the light on the thing that, you know, I promised you. But the reason why it's lying dormant is because everything that's informing your senses is telling you is black. And so Paul says that the eyes of your heart be enlightened. Because Paul understands that in order for you to walk out this thing called the Christian walk, you gonna need some light. Because even right now, Paul never saw what we are seeing today. We never saw what Paul saw. And even right now, which is why I love the word of God. Because 2000 years later, that same word is so resonant right now that in order for us to survive in this thing called our world today, we need light. And the thing about it is that once we become in fellowship, even in this passage, it talks about how God has adapted, adopted us, which means God has given us his light, which means now we possess the light to light up this world. So if there's something going on in your community, you're looking for somebody else to do it. God said you to light. If there's craziness going on in your family. You looking for Grandma? Grandma ain't here no more. You looking for Mama? Mama here no more. But they put enough light in you where you ought to be able to rise up in that family. You can and say, no, we don't act like this. No, we don't do this. This ain't who we are. You ought to be able to go to that job. And I know they some hellions. I know it's toxic. But you the light, baby. What you scared of a little darkness for? You need to walk in there on tomorrow and say, everything in here is going to be illuminated because I carry the light of the Lord on the inside of me. You ought to walk into that break room and they ought to go to hushing and get quiet because light Just came in. You ought to walk into your house and if there's craziness in your house, you got enough light to shut down everything that's dark. Somebody give him praise right there. Give him praise for the light. Give him praise for the light. Give him praise for the light. We used to sing a song that said, this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. I got anybody in here that says, I know God has given me me a lighter and I'm gonna let my light shine before all men so they can see the good works of God and glorify the Father. I know there's a light in me. It may not be your lighter, but he's given me a lighter and I'm gonna let it shine. You can't put my light under a bushel. You can't diminish my light because he gave it to me. Okay, let me hurry on. I'm. I'm almost there. So clear sight requires light entering in. But what happens when your vision is obstructed? What happens when that eye that you're supposed to be seen with becomes impaired? They're gonna be mad at me because I gave them all these slides and I forgot about them. But I think this, it's yalls fault. Y' all make me get so caught up. But there's a picture of an eye with a cataract. Can you put that up? Our TV team is so amazing. What happens when one eye is seen clear, but the other eye is cloudy. A cataract is a covering over the eye. And though the eye is still there, it cannot see clear because it's been obstructed. It's something over the eye. It's obstruction. Obstruction is cloudy, It's a cataract. Something is in the way. Then eye becomes either distorted, which means there's warped focus and misalignment. The eye can become damaged, nerve damage, retina issues, which is a loss of a signal from the eye to the brain. Or there's no darkness. There's darkness where there is no light. And so when we're trying to see where God is taking us, sometimes we can't really see the picture like it used to because we've allowed something to cover our eyes. We've allowed something, trauma, stuff that we haven't forgiven, stuff that we're holding onto, stuff that hurt us. We didn't realize that the pain went deeper than what we thought. We didn't realize that it damaged not just a part of us, but it damaged our eyes. You used to Be excited to come to church until you got this thing that y' all like to call church hurt. I don't believe it. I never believed it. But it's something that y' all like to say. Church hurt. Okay. Somebody didn't speak to you in church, or somebody took your parking spot or whatever the situation might be, but you're holding onto it. And it's caused you not to see God. Like you should see him anymore. Grief. Grief sometimes hits at your vision because sometimes we put so much emphasis in and investment into praying. And when God doesn't answer the way that we prayed, a form of grief impairs our vision. Why? Because we can never. We can't see God the way. It's like if you were all powerful, you wouldn't have let that happen. We start asking questions like that. Why? Because our eyesight has become impaired. Obstructed things happen. Circles, divorce, loss of a job. Things that pile up. And we don't even know that we don't see as clear as we used to. And sometimes you like me, sometimes you need glasses. But you're fighting it. I mean, you fighting it with everything on the inside of you. You squinting, you squeeching, you doing everything. You asking folks to read for you. You blaming the letters. Them letters, not big like they used to be. Now, y' all didn't change the letters in the church because you refuse to accept that there has been damage to your eyesight. And instead of getting it corrected, you would rather walk around blind. That's the reason why you stay in certain atmospheres and environments. Because you don't need sight to go where you're going, because it's so familiar. So you're going to stay in this box for the rest of your life because instead of getting your eyesight corrected, you rather stay where it's comfortable because you know where everything is. No. No, I'm not going. And you feel God pulling you to something. You know, vision is there. But in order for you to see vision, light has to come in. And in order for light to come in, there has to be some correction to your eyesight. But you refuse to surrender to that correction. And so you just stay stuck. Y' all done got quiet on me. So eyes, our perception, our awareness, our discernment, our attention. Y' all know this Genesis real fast. So when. Genesis, 3 and 6. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of his fruit and ate The Bible says she gave to her husband. He ate and their eyes were open. See, spiritual reality was there, but the perception was missing. They could see, but they were seen with the wrong vision. She was using her senses that was going against the word that God had already given her. She was looking at something through her senses and judging it through something that was lying to her. How often do we look at situations and circumstances through our systems, through our senses, through our emotions, and not understand that our emotions are lying to us? Your emotions are just fickle as this Dallas weather, because one day your emotions are ice storm, and then the next day it's sunny 70 degrees outside. That's how your emotions are. I don't know where y' all live in TV land, but here, here we can't trust the weather. And you can't trust your emotions because they change just that fast. Second Kings says this. I love this passage. Second Kings 6, 17, it says this. Now let me set this up. This is the king of Syria, and he's come down and he's come to get Elisha. And he's brought his army, he's brought his chariots. And the Bible says this Elisha, when the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, alas, my master, what shall we do? Elisha says, he says, do not be afraid. This is a word for somebody. For those who are with us are more than those who are with them. I'm not gonna stop there. But that's somebody's word. That's somebody's word. Then Elisha prayed and said, oh, Lord, check this out. Please open his eyes that he may see. So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elijah. You have to understand. The servant came to Elijah looking at facts. He said, look, the king of Assyria is all around us. He done brought all his friends, all his boys. What are we going to do? It's just us. And Elijah said, no, it's not, because you cannot see. Your eyes are not open. And he prayed and said, God, open his his eyes. And when his eyes were open, when the cataracts got off his eyes, he looked and he saw the chariots of fire surrounding that. That Elisha had a whole army backing him up. And that is what is happening in your life. You ought to pray that God. Let me see who you got me surrounded with. God. Let Me see my helper. God let me see the army that's backing me up. So when I walk back into that office, I. I'm not walking in by myself, but I can see that you got chariots of fire surrounding me. And the enemy that came for me don't even know that they've already been defeated. Somebody give him praise for the surrounding of God. I said give him praise. Because God's got you surrounded not with the enemy's army, but with God's army. God's got you surrounded. And your enemies can't even see her. That they intrude, trouble. Your. Your enemy. Your enemy can't even see that they in trouble. Because if you keep reading, if you keep reading, if you keep reading, they come down. They come down and Elijah then prays, God, now blind them. This not my message, but I gotta stop and say this. Somebody needs to pray. God, blind my enemy. God blind my enemy, huh? Now that you open my eyes, blind my enemy. Blind my enemy. Because turn this thing around. Don't even let them know that I didn't got the victory. Just blind them. So that when I walk them into the place that I want them to be, they don't even know they've been captured. They don't even know they've been caught up. Somebody give God praise because he's getting ready to blind your enemy. He's getting ready to blind that finger that's been running after you, that thing that's been terrorizing you, that thing that's been keeping you up at night. God is getting ready to silence your enemy. Let me get back. Let me get back on. Okay. Thank you, Jesus. And so. And so true spiritual vision isn't just seeing something, it's seeing right. Your question to people when they say, oh, I see something, I see something. I want you to ask him this, but do you see right? I know you see something, but. But do you see right? Because everybody that say they see something. I don't know what you see because I don't know what's wrong with your eyes. I see something in you. No, you don't. No, you don't. You need to check your eyes, check your cataracts, get you some glasses. Because what you think you see in me is a reflection of you. You ain't seen that in me. You ain't. You, You. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You. I, I don't know that you see. That's why you can't let. Now, I'm not saying don't let people Pray for you. But you got to use that discernment. Because I don't want you to pray for me. And you don't have eyesight to pray for yourself. I don't want you speaking over me. And you ain't able to speak on your job. I don't want you declaring and prophesying over me because I don't know where your eyesight is. I don't know where your discernment is. I don't know if you got cataracts. I don't know if you need glasses. I don't know. I don't know. So let me hurry on. Let me hurry on. Let me hurry on. So again, true. Listen to this. True spiritual vision isn't just that you can see something. It's that you see it, right? I wish I had time. I'm gonna tag team y'. All. Y' all take that next time. Because seeing right, sometimes it's not it. Sometimes it contradicts what it is that you think you see, even about you. That's why. That's why I'm pause for the calls. That's why I try to have people around me that can help me see what I can't see about myself. Because we all have blind sides, right? And I'm afraid of anybody that's only got people around you that see you like you see you. They lying to you. None of y' all can see. None of y'. All. I ain't getting the car with none of y'. All. Cause we all gonna crash. I'm not doing it. Because you need somebody. You need somebody that you can trust, that you can trust, that you can trust, that can see what you can't see about yourself. No. You know, sister, you kind of cantankerous. No, I'm not. No, I'm not. Yeah, you are. You kind of mean. You're kind of mean. You know, you'll never got nothing nice to say. You know, you are always negative. You know, that's just how I am. No, that's not how you are. That's your emotions. You need to get that changed. You need to get your eyesight changed. You don't have to be that way. You need some people that are the afraid to tell you what they see and that you can trust that you're not telling me something that's off, but that we're in relationship. Okay, Let me move on. Let me move on to the heart. To the heart. To the heart. Okay. Okay. To the heart. So that's the eyes, but the heart, the Heart, my God, the heart. The center of thought, the wheel, a memory, our desire, our faith. The heart. The heart is where we commune with God. Heart to heart, breast to breast. Heart, we come into connection with God. I'm going to flip a little bit because I want to make sure I get this. So There's a Proverbs 4. 23 says, Guard your heart. I think you all have that in that picture of that heart. Keep your heart with all diligence. For out of it spring the issues of life. Give me that other picture with the. The heart and the water. I was at 1 LA on Sunday. Give it up for our 1 LA church out there. Yeah. And let me tell y' all something. Dr. Anita Phillips preached my soul happy. Okay? Now I did watch our service first because I'm gonna watch both. Keep that. No, keep it up, keep it up. But. But then I went to la. Cause the two hours after us and she preached. And this is actually her image. You know, I text, I said, I got to use this for tonight. Because she was preaching about the heart and the way you got to go listen to her sermon. But what she was saying is in the depths of your heart, it is like a reservoir of water. Now what you see is shark infested water. Out of your heart springs the issues your life. So if within your heart there's toxicity, there's contamination. What's going to come out of you is what's in there. What's going to come out in your conversation is what's in the waters of your heart. What's going to come out in your praise. I know it sounds good to everybody, but God hears your heart. He's hearing the shark and fire infested contamination in your heart. Because you've allowed something to seep into your heart that mess with your waters. Out of it springs the issues. Like this is why David in Psalms 51:10, he says this, and we say it all the time. Create in me a clean heart, oh God. And renew a right spirit within me. David, God's psalmist, David, God's king David has messed up. And David understands that. God does not want another song from me. God does not want another poem from me. God doesn't want another sermon from me. What God wants is a clean heart. And I gotta submit myself to the point where I understand that before I do anything else for God. I might can fool people, but I can't fool him. I might can dress up for people, but I can't dress up my heart. And I gotta get down on my knees and say, God, before I do anything else, create in me a clean heart because I don't want to corrupt anybody. I, I don't want my heart to spring out my issues on somebody. I, I don't want to bleed my heart on somebody where they sit next to me and they leave more depressed than when they came because I'm bleeding out on all sides because I have not had a heart check. I, I don't want to mess up a service because I've come in because my heart has been hardened and I'm cantankerous and now can't nobody on my rower feel the spirit because something in my heart is leaking out on my road. God, I don't want it to be me. God created me a clean heart. God, I know this is the meeting place, this is the way we commune. This is where you talk to me and I don't want to not hear you. So clean up my heart. Oh, God, give me a new heart. God, give me a heart that loves you. Give me a heart that feels. Give me a heart that's empathetic. God, God, I don't want to look at somebody else's situation and just turn my head. God, give me a heart that cares. Give me a heart that mourns with people and grieves with people. Give me a heart that rejoices when people are rejoicing. God, I don't want a heart of jealousy. I don't want a heart of envy. God, God, give me a heart where I can celebrate somebody else's success. God, give me a clean heart. Give me, Give it to me. Give it to me. Give it to me. God, why? Because the heart is where we believe. Romans 10:10. We say this all the time. Romans 10:10 for with the heart one believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. The heart is the seat of your belief. And if the wrong things get into your ear, they seep into your heart and influence what you believe. Could that be the reason why you are stagnant? Because you allow something to get into your ear gate or to your eye gate that now has sent a sense to your brain and has influenced what you believe, even about yourself. Could that be that's why you still on that job? Or it's still in that city or still in that situation? Because you believe that you can't do anything better. You believe that this is going to be the best that it's ever going to be. You believe that life is over just because you reached a certain age, you Believe that you're always going to be struggling paycheck to paycheck. Could it be that the enemy has fed you so many lies, that you looked at so many trees and you start to look at it and see maybe this is what it is? And now you've taken from the wrong fruit and your eyes have become open to the wrong thing, and now you're believing a lie that God never told you? Could it be. Could it be. Could it be that it's just your belief? Could it be that what we've been hearing, Pastor Torre, Pastor Sarah, the clarity that we need, the belief, our knowing. Could it just be a condition of your heart? Could it be that the thing, the heart that regulates the rhythm of your life has gotten off track? Could it be that the heart is not beating like it should and now your circulation is off and the places that need blood are not getting it, and now certain organs are deficient? Could it be that the reason why it's hard for you to get up out of the bed in the morning is not because you have nothing to do, but something is wrong with y' all heart? And because. And because. Because sometimes we won't be honest. Because the heart is a sensitive thing. The heart is a personal thing. The heart is something because of where it is. It's got all these protective layers around it. And we've. We've learned how to guard it. We've learned how to put blockades up, we've learned how to put bricks up. We've learned how to keep people from getting in my heart because I ain't gonna never be heartbroken again. You ain't gonna never break my heart again. You ain't gonna never do me like that again. And you build this wall and you don't even know that your heart is bleeding and suffocating it in its own well water. Maybe that's why you don't serve like you used to. Maybe that's why you're not excited to come to worship like you used to. Maybe that's where the enthusiasm has gone. Because your heart is leaking issues. And when the heart leaks, the rest of the body cannot function properly. And so Paul, Paul, Paul says, I'm praying that the eyes of your heart get light, because light is what will mend the breakage and the brokenness in your heart. I got more, but I think I'm going to stop there because I feel God right there. I feel God right there. I just want to linger right there. I feel God right there. I think you came tonight. You Watching tonight because God is concerned about your heart. And why is that important? Because what you believe will influence the way you see God. If you can't believe that God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all, you can shout about it all day long, but the evidence shows up in what you believe. And if you don't believe, if your heart is not conditioned to believe, you will never see the true manifestation of what God wants to do in your life. It is a about your belief, it is about what you believe. And that's the problem. Because culture is trying to influence what we believe. Hear me when I say this. I like social media just as much as the next person. But what I've learned is when I let too much of that get into my ear, it tries to mess with what I believe. It tries to throw off what I believe. Because I'll start to say, well, maybe that is right. Well, maybe that is true. Well, how did that happen? Well, what happened with that? And I had to pull myself back in and say, I know what I believe because I've experienced God. Because what I learned is that what we get from God is not just one touch, it's not just one sense, it's not just one thing. God says, you have to experience me. That's how you're going to believe that I'm able to do more than what you think I can do. Because you experience me through every situation of your life, through your trials, through your circumstances, through your storms. God is taking you through that so you can experience him. So that when somebody tries to come up and mess with what you believe, you can say, you can't take this from me because I know in whom I believe. I know what he's done for me. I know how he saved me. I know how he rescued me. I know how he healed me. I've experienced him for myself. And it may not make sense to to you, but it's what I know and it's what I believe and it's what I stand on. And the world can go one way and the world can go another way but on Christ the solid rock I stand all of the ground is sinking Saying I know in whom I have believed. That's why I can see clearly now I can see clearly now because he's got my heart together I can see the obstacles I can see the clouds moving I can see clearly now because I've done the work to get my heart together so that now light can come in Stand with me Stand with me. Dreaming of getting the all new iPhone 17 Pro, designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever. Then stay in bed and let a Boost Mobile expert deliver and set it up for you. Oh, actually, they will have to get up and open the door. Oh, right. Delivery available for select devices purchased@boostmobile.com terms apply. Here's how to stay alive longer so you can enjoy Boost Mobile's unlimited plan with a price that never goes up. Do not mistake a wasp nest for a pinata. Stay alive and switch now at boost mobile. After 30 gigs, customers may experience slower speeds. Customers will pay $25 a month as long as they remain active on the Boost Mobile unlimited plan. Ah, Jesus. This is a simple altar call for anybody who's having heart issues and you just say, I just need somebody to pray that the light shine in so my heart can stop leaking. And it's not always a bad thing. I realize, even for myself, that there are certain triggers that I still have that let me know my heart is not all the way completely healed from things I thought I was over. It doesn't hurt as bad, but certain things happen and let me know. Yeah, your heart is still leaking there. And if you're here in this house and you say, you know what? I just. I want to make sure that my heart is in right. I just need a heart checkup. Don't mean I'm sinning, don't mean I'm messing up, but it might mean I let something seep into my heart. I let something seep into an area that's contaminating the waters of my heart. That. That I don't. I don't have the type of joy that I used to have. And I want that back. I don't have the type of excitement that I had. I want that back. I don't serve. I used to be so excited to serve and something has happened and I'm here to tell you it might be your heart. Some folks you just going through the motions because you've done this for so long. You know how to even fake yourself. You know how to, you know, you. You know how to convince yourself you're okay like me with these glasses. Because if you ask me, I see. Well, just don't ask me to read nothing too far because we are masters at convincing ourselves we are okay when we're really not. A few more seconds. And it doesn't matter if you hold a position because I told myself this. I said, you know, how can I come to the altar and I'm leading the worship team. What are they going to think? About me, how can I come. And I'm one of the ministers. I'm praying when I understand now that the people sometimes that need a heart check most are the people that are in ministry because we get hit the most. We get hit the most. If you got anger issues, if you got a temper and you don't know where this come from and you can't control it, it's your heart, it's your heart. People say, oh, you just cynical. You never. And you don't even realize that. You wake up with a frown. You don't even realize it. That's why you wake up by yourself, probably. But that's another story for another time. Go to, make it last. Make it last. They'll get you together, make it last. But if that's you, I'm going to give you just one more minute to come down. Come down, come down. I just need a heart check. God, I just want. I want to make sure that when I sing my song, when I do my dance, when I read my scripture, when I go back to work tomorrow, when I go to my family, I want to make sure that I am not bleeding on them and leaking on them, my issues. I want to make sure that I'm whole. Because you got work to do, you got work to do, you got work to do, you got work to do, you got work to do, you got work to do, you got work to do, you got people to deliver. You got folks to minister to you, you got folks to minister to. You got people who will only listen to you and they will only believe God's report because of the words come out of your mouth. A community, a demographic that God has called you to. And if you don't get your heart together, you'll give them words, but you'll also bleed on them. Your issues. Just lift your hands in the sanctuary. This is just a lifting our hands as a sign of surrenderance. It's something that happened even in Bible times where the lifting of the hands, the yada, was a sign. Father, Father, here I am, Father, I give away. I lift to you. I surrender to you all that I am. And so lifting your hands at the altar, even if you're online, lifting your hands says, father, I can do this on my own. God, I need you. Father, I thank you in the name of Jesus for every single soul at this altar. I thank you for those that are kneeling and standing, those that are in the pews, those that are watching online. I thank you for those that have come to be honest and say, father, I understand that there's issues and situations in my heart that I need you to help me with. God, I'm still struggling with this grief. I'm still struggling with this pain. I'm still struggling with this hurt. God. I'm still struggling with this divorce. I'm still struggling with this loss. I'm still struggling. I'm still struggling, Father. And I want to release it. I want to let it go, God. But it's still triggering me in moments, God, that I thought I was over it. God. And I just need a heart check, God. God, I surrender this heart to you. And I ask you, like David did, to create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit in me. Why? Because I want my heart to be able to hold the light that you are bringing. I want my heart to be able to hold the vision that you're giving me. I want my heart to be able to hold, God, the dreams that you have put in my life, God. I want my. I don't want it to leak out of my heart, God. So I give you permission to do heart surgery. I give you permission to do heart surgery in every aisle and every pew on this altar. God, we give you permission to do heart surgery on right now. On us right now. And no matter if it takes longer than we expect, God will stay surrendered until our heart becomes whole. In Jesus name Jesus name. Amen. Hallelujah. On your way back to your seat, just tell your neighbor prophesy and say, I can see a little clearly now. Come on. Tell them I can see a little clear now. I can see. I can see a little clear now. Hallelujah. You can have your seat for a few seconds. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Father. Before we give, I just want to ask this question. We do this because we're intentional about it. If there's a soul in here that does not know Jesus, you've heard about him, you've read about him, but you don't know him. He's not in your heart. We want to give you an opportunity to come and receive Jesus in your heart. If that's you, if you just raise your hand, we'll come to you. I know it's a long aisle, so if you raise your hand, we'll come to you. But if that's you, we don't want you to leave without having Jesus in your heart. Everybody saved. Everybody. Good. If you got God in your heart, come on, just praise him right there real fast. Hallelujah. Second appeal. Listen, listen. I wouldn't be at any other church Than this church. Let me tell you how much I love this church because I was in California and I love sleep. But I got up to watch service because it's just something about my church that don't know other church. Do it for me now, you know, hey, you feel like you feel. But this church. This church is not just a church. It's a movement. It's a revival center. And I want to invite you to come join us. Now, I say this all the time. Some of y' all been dating us for a while. We don't date long. We like to get. We like to make it last. Come on. Another shameless plug. We like to make it last. Okay, so if that's you, if you need a community of people who will love you, who won't judge you, who will stand with you, who will make you feel love even when you don't want to feel it. Because some of y' all be trying to sit in the back and we're gonna find you. We gonna love on you. Cause that's just who we are. If you want a community, we want you to join us. Matter of fact, we're gonna celebrate even before you. Come on, let's celebrate them. Come on, let's celebrate. If that's you, we invite you. You can scan our QR code or you can come down. We have people who will introduce you to this ministry and let you know what we're all about. Even after we conclude this service, if you still feel the conviction and the pull of God, we invite you to the altar or to that room. And we will introduce you not just to Jesus, but to this wonderful church where you will grow and learn, y'. All. It's offering time in the sanctuary. We get excited. We get excited for giving. Why? Because we understand that the principle and the discipline works. We understand that we're not just giving to a building. We're not giving to a person. We're giving to a cause. We're giving to good ground. We're giving to God. We are giving back to God what he's already given us. It is our. It is our joy, our pleasure to be able to say, God, you know what? I want to plant this seed in ground that I know this seed is going to grow up and bless somebody a hundredfold. God, I want to plant this seed in ground that I know that's going to make global impact. God, I want to plant my seed in ground where I know my investment is to going good. And if that is you, Come on, before we give, just praise Them cuz you got something to give. Come on. If you need an envelope, just raise your hand. Our PMTs, our fancy ushers, our amazing PMTs. I love these people. Cuz they on point all the time. Y' all give it up for our PMTs. They here. I mean, they will give you an envelope. There are multiple ways to give. You can scan that QR code if you're watching online. We invite you. Don't click off. Don't click off. We invite you to stay to the end of service. We got some announcements, but we invite you to get into this blessing period. I call this the blessing period. Not just the offering period. This is the blessing period because this is the moment that I get to say, God, you know what? I bet on a lot of things, but I don't have to bet on you because you are sure investment. I don't know about y' all now, back in my before Christ days, you know, I may have betted on some things. You know, put me at a blackjack table, I might have let you know some stuff. But hey, that was my old heart. Don't judge it. See, y' all been judgy. Don't judge it. That was my old heart. Nowadays, you know, I bet on God. Hallelujah. If you're glad you got something to give, come on, stand to your feet. You say I don't have anything tangible to give. Yes, you do. You got yourself to give. You got a praise you can give that. If you got at least a praise. Stand to your feet and offer God that. It is our custom, it's our tradition to wave our seed in the air. Why do we do this? Why do we do these traditional things? Because they're symbolic. We wave it because God, listen, while you're showering down blessings, don't forget about me. God, I want you to see wherever you look at. I know I don't have to do this, Father, but I want to be a testament that there was a day in time that I didn't have anything to waive. Oh, God, but I thank you. Whether it's a dollar or a million dollars, I thank you. You. I thank you. I thank you. I thank you. Looking at the amount, you're looking at my heart. So, God, I thank you. I got a heart to give tonight. I thank you. I got a heart to give tonight. God, you know where this heart used to be. So, God, it's a praise for me to be waving in the atmosphere because I have a heart to give. If you're online, I want you to join in this tradition with us. Just wave your seed in the air. Father, I thank you for the seeds that we sow, the blessings that will take place not just for us, but those God that will be impacted by these seeds. The people in countries and places that we will never know, that we will never see that this seed will travel and put food on somebody's table. This seed will travel and open doors for somebody. This seed will travel God and do missionary and ministry where God this see seed God this seed. This seed God I know will make impact and I thank you Father that not just what I hold, but I am the seed and I plant myself in good soil in Jesus name. Amen. Pass the seat all the way to your left. Pastor Dobbins is coming to close us out. Pass the seat all the way to your left. All the way to your left. All the way to your left. PMTs serve the people of God. You've been listening to the Potter's House podcast. If this episode encouraged your faith, walk it out with authority. Until next time, be blessed. As a small business owner, sometimes it feels like no matter how much planning you do, there's always surprises. Like an urgent, expensive repair. But here's the surprise you will like with progressive Small business owners save 13% on their commercial auto insurance when they pay in full. So enjoy a surprise for once. Get a quote in as little as 8 minutes@progressivecommercial.com progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates. 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