Hearing God's Voice In The Word Of God — Shane Idleman

Hearing God Through a Quiet Heart and the Word

And we're not sure. And a Christian is not a happy camper when that is happening. If you're not in the Word, the Word won't be in you. So as you're in the Word, you've got a quiet heart, a quiet hour, and a quiet place.

Borrowed that from David McIntyre's book on prayer I recommended a while ago. You have that quiet hour, that quiet heart, and that quiet place. And I hear about journaling a lot, and I've tried for 20 years.

I'm not a journaler. I have journaled things and notes, but I'm not going to sit there and be sappy for an hour and journal and journal and journal my thoughts. I think it's good for those who can do it.

I really do. You can go back. And I do have some journal notes and things. But I have Post-it notes sometimes or a little piece of paper, and what I believe God is speaking to me about in certain areas.

And Scripture comes alive and I note that. Usually, I guess I do journal. My journal notes are my sermon notes. And so I think that's why so many people are just really blessed by the messages and you don't thank me.

I'm the conduit of what God is putting on my heart. And so I jot down these sermon notes and they go in the sermon. The journaling. And so, as you're writing down notes, maybe you're in the Gospel of John, and something really sticks out that, oh, Lord, is that for me?

Please show me. And you write that down as you continue reading. You've got that quiet heart, quiet place, a quiet hour. God begins to confirm that and speak to His Word. And that's what's interesting about the Bible.

Scripture as Living and Active Revelation

It's living and it's active. And it will. One verse that meant very little to me three years ago means a great deal to me now. Because it just kind of leaps from the page based on what I'm going through.

And if God is for you, who can be against you? And Lord, that really encouraged me today. No weapon formed against you shall prosper. And I just can't believe I read that again. And God begins to just build you up based on you being in the Word.

J .I. Packer, God is more likely to direct me through wise teaching than through inner voices. Now, before anyone gets upset, He's not discounting the work of the Spirit. What happens is we put a lot of emphasis on the inner impulses or the inner voices, and we're not grounded by the Word, and those begin to guide us more than the Word.

I can tell you without any wavering, with absolute certainty, that God's Word has guided me throughout the last 22 years more than any type of inner voice or the deep promptings of the Holy Spirit. Those are great.

But it's, Lord, I don't know what to do, but Your Word says this and I obey. I don't know what to do in this situation, but Your Word says it. So He guides you primarily through wise decisions based on His Scriptural truth.

And then when you need that little help, here comes that guidance of the Holy Spirit that could direct you with maybe something that's not specifically revealed in His Word. I was back there, it was 6 .30 a .m. worship, and this old lady gets off the altar, and she walks up, and I'm praying back there.

I'm saying, Lord, I can't do this today. I don't know, I think it's just anger. I cannot do this unless I know it's You. I'm not going to turn to a Bible verse. And she got up, she walked back around, and came over, I'm like, oh, this is interesting.

And she said, Pastor Shane, God just spoke to me clearly that you are to not hold back one word, whatever He's putting on your heart today, speak it. And she came back, I'm like, what is that? So is that coincidence?

That's what this idol will say. No, no, no, sir. And so there's other situations that have happened like that at this church where the Holy Spirit, what it is in the book of 1 Corinthians 12, 13, 14, when the gifts of the Holy Spirit, one of those is a word of knowledge, or a word of wisdom.

Spiritual Gifts and the Guidance of the Holy Spirit

And we don't have to get worried about it because it's biblical, it's God-ordained, it's in order, and God does it. He'll put something spontaneously on your mind, like this burden for a week, and I've got to share this with Pastor Abram, and like, oh, what is, Lord, is this really you?

I don't, and this burden is there, and this burden is there, and you go and you share this prophetic word, and he goes, I can't believe it. That's exactly what I've been praying for all week, but I can't find chapter and verse.

And so God will use the gift of the Holy Spirit to bless others. See, it doesn't take the place of the word. If that person says, Abram, God has spoken to me that you're to leave your wife, false alarm, false prophet, then he can actually rebuke them.

And so you see, that's the gifts of the Spirit. We don't have to worry about it, and the gift of healing, actually, it doesn't mean that you can just, you're Superman, you can go into the hospital and pray for all these people, but God would actually supernaturally empower you with the Holy Spirit at certain times to be able to pray for people and they are healed because you're lining up with what the Holy Spirit is doing.

It doesn't mean it's alarm clock, it doesn't mean like a light switch, on, off, on, off, I can heal, I can't. It's being open to what God wants to do. So that's why the Holy Spirit is given to those in 1 Corinthians 12 to do different ministries of the Holy Spirit.

To some, he gives the word of knowledge. To some, he gives the word of wisdom. To some, he gives the gift of faith. Anybody need that? That's one of the gifts I think Morgan has. I remember all COVID, all COVID, she remembers every week, I'm like, LA County's gonna shut us down.

LA County, and she goes, I'm just praying against it, I have faith, they're not even gonna come up there. You're not even gonna hear from them. I'm like, oh, yeah, right. Yeah, look at me, I'm on the radio, I'm just bold, I'm in their face, and this is not gonna go well.

I'm gonna go, we're preparing you to go to jail. And we didn't hear a word for a year and a half. Nothing from anybody. And so it's that gift of faith. And so there's different giftings for the body. Why, to bless the body.

Discernment: Testing Spiritual Impressions

But we have to be open, but not gullible. Like, golly gee whiz, let me just believe everybody. You kinda gotta be like a policeman. All right, well, let's see what God, you know, you kinda have that resistance, I mean, the discernment.

Was it Ronald Reagan who told Russia, or was it Russia, I think, trust but verify. Trust, okay, but verify, and discerning of the spirits. And so you're not gullible, you're open. I remember some of you have heard it, but it might benefit some other people here.

David, no, it was Leonard Ravenhill. His son, David Ravenhill, was at a meeting, or at a get-together, a dinner with a missionary. And there was this, with this group, there was a 22-year-old girl, I think she was around that age.

And they're having dinner, and on the missionary's heart, all night, God is putting on his heart to go tell that girl, go tell that girl that I hate mommies and daddies. This cannot be of God. This is, oh Lord, I don't know what to do.

And the burden was so great. I don't know if you've ever been there. I've been there a few times, but I've had to just go tell people. Like this, I just gotta share this with you. But he finally told her, listen, I believe God wants to tell you he hates mommies and daddies, too.

And this girl, it was like, if I remember correctly in the book, she just started weeping and like slid off her chair. And they're ministering to her, they're praying for her. And like, what happened?

And so she gets up and she says, my uncle used to sexually abuse me. And he would say, let's play mommies and daddies. So that prophetic word released that girl from that bondage. And so see, you gotta be open to what God is doing.

Surrender, Holiness, and Spirit-Filled Ministry

Lord, you power of the Holy Spirit, use me in this way. But I'm anchored to your word. It's in your word. But I need a little help from the Holy Spirit. I need, and the Bible talks about it. He actually, the word for the Holy Spirit is a helper, a comforter to come alongside or to be in you or epi, upon you.

And that the Holy Spirit comes on, aligns. So the more you're feeding on God's word, the more you're feeding on prayer, the more filled you are with the Holy Spirit. So the more you're going to operate in the power of the Spirit.

The reason many of you never experience the ultimate power of God in the moving of the Holy Spirit is because you're not fully surrendered. You're not in the word and in prayer and seeking God and filled with the Spirit.

You're filled with a lot of carnality and not a lot of the Spirit. So you don't operate in that feeling of the gifting is the Holy Spirit. But when God wrecks you, when he wrecks a church, when the altar is full and people are weeping, I can't contain this, Holy Spirit, God, what are you doing?

And you begin to be more open to what God is doing. Because when the Holy Spirit of God is convicting and breaking and moving and healing and setting free, it's not pretty. How is that pretty? How is it conservative?

How do you sit in the pew and wait till lunchtime? You can't, you're broken before God. And so we have to be open, but not gullible. So, and I just dealt with it this week. Those people, even in this church, who are having these, oh, God told me, and it doesn't quite line up with His word.

Their attitude's off. They're prideful, unteachable, arrogant. But yet, God told me. And I just have this inner desire and this inner impulse. And I know, and I'll be careful. Be careful. And so I see that a lot, especially in the hypercharismatic.

I mean, God told me to have turkey sandwich today and not a tuna. God told me to take this way home and not that way home. Now, I'm not mocking because sometimes He will, He will lead you a different way home.

You will hear a prompting. Just happened to me yesterday. I'm out in the desert. Nobody's around. And I decided to turn around early instead of go up this hill. And I'm walking and these two guys jog by me.

And this guy stops and goes, Pastor Shane, I was at Jet Hawk Stadium. Oh, I can't believe I'm witnessing to this 15 year old about God. And so we had a conversation for just a little bit. And it has to be, though, grounded in God's word.

And I've seen a lot of destruction in the church by hypercharismatic churches, where it's just about all about the Holy Spirit and the promptings of the Holy Spirit and the leadings of the Holy Spirit, but they don't have the character to back it.

And that's why they get in financial difficulties, relational challenges. They've got attitudes. They've got arrogance. They're unteachable, but they think they're God's person. Now, I'll beat up on the other side a little bit.

But, the conservative side who is not open, oh, don't mention the Holy Spirit. I don't like where Shane's going here. We've got the Word, the Word, the Word. It's the Father, the Son, and the Holy Word.

That's all we need. Well, they miss a lot. They miss a lot of the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit in their own lives. Because they're too conservative. And you can be too open to whatever gullible.

I mean, hey, Shane, if it's odd, it's God. No, if it's odd, it might not be God. God is also a God of order. And a God of direction. A while ago, we had somebody who's never been here decide to speak in tongues after worship was going on.

We're all in the prayer room. The leadership's in the prayer room, and she decides to speak in tongues. Don't know the person. Interpreted it herself. And so we went to her later and just say, hey, we don't really, this church, we're open to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but it really kind of seemed out of order, and I'm not sure about interpreting it yourself.

Especially if we don't even know you. Did she take it well? That spoke volumes. That's all I need to know. Actually wanted to leave the service. That's not God. Now that can be a genuine gifting of the Holy Spirit.

But the Holy Spirit led me to do this so you, pastor, are wrong. Oh, it's not just me, ma 'am. It's the whole elder leadership team and most of our core team. So we're all wrong. We all miss the Holy Spirit, but you got it right.

And there's a spirit of rebellion behind that. And I don't say these things to mock. I say it to help. To convict. You don't think I'm open to the God working and the Holy Spirit moving? Absolutely. But we also have to steward the environment.

You know, I can't just, and I've seen it, many of my pastor friends. Brother, you just gotta let the Holy Spirit move and just get out of the way. And there's truth to that. But also, if people are acting weird, there's demonic manifestations, people are out of order, you've got to also steward and say, hold on, that's not right.

That's not God honoring. Just because you feel an impulse, you just offended 100 people or confused. Paul said, do not speak in tongues. If an unbeliever comes in, they're gonna think you're out of your mind.

And did that happen to you? Yeah, I had to deal with that as well. It wasn't of God. And so we have to be very careful of these inner voices that are leading us. I believe the enemy can plant thoughts into our mind because the battle is spiritual.

It's not physical. And this is where he's going to go after you. How do I know? Because he goes after me. Doubt, discouragement. Have you ever been discouraged? Aversion, defeat, delay. And you don't want to make decisions based on those things, correct?

Pastoral Calling and Equipping the Church

This is a hard one for me because I feel pulled in about 3 ,000 different areas. You know, so many people wanting to meet for lunch, meet for breakfast, want discipleship, want mentoring, and I just, I can't do it.

I can't take, but I can invest into the leadership team and they can take that out and they can invest with the people. And I tell people, I'll meet with you. I'll never turn it down, I'll meet with you.

But then they want to meet again and again and again. I've got someone actually better who can invest a lot of time and be there for you as much as I want to. I'm just pulled in so many different directions.

And so my, and I believe that I'm to equip the saints to go out and do the ministry. And sadly, not everyone agrees with that. The pastor won't mentor me. He won't meet with me every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7 a .m.

He doesn't really love me. I know somebody who will though. Oh no, I want the pastor. Wrong heart. I just, I'm sure most of you are aware, but I don't have a special anointing in the prayer room. I actually think I'm not as good because what I'm gonna tell you in private, I've been telling you from the pulpit.

There's nothing new. So if you're not getting the sermon, I don't know if the council is gonna give you, because I'm, the last person I talked to, this is funny, he said it three times within an hour.

Oh, I heard you say that in the sermon. Oh, I heard you say it in the sermon. I just take him right, because I'm actually counseling right now. I don't have a special anointing, but I can put someone with you who might do that, might be able to spend a couple hours and really help you.

And I would just want to wait for the pastor in the prayer room. I sometimes can't pray as well for you because someone who's been saturated in God, they don't have a second service to get to real quick.

They can sit and really invest in you in the prayer room. So don't put this mantle on me that God has not given me. He's given me the calling to preach and to equip the body. And we should be discipling those within our spirit of influence.

Making Decisions Amid Cultural and Political Pressures

How many in the last year have considered, thought about, moving out of California? Come. Oh, you just moved here. There you go, okay. Balcony? Okay, everybody up in the balcony wants to leave. Now on one hand, that's quite natural to say, I want a better life for my kids and myself.

The pilgrims fleed religious persecution, 1620 or so, and then they came here fleeing that persecution. So sometimes there's nothing wrong with that. Those can be natural thoughts. A father having those thoughts.

Hello, four daughters in California in Los Angeles County with a DA that loves criminals appears and doesn't want to help the victims and puts more favor in the hands of the criminal. 4 ,000 sheriffs you're gonna refire because they don't get the jab to save their job.

I mean, that should fire us up. Why are you talking about that from the pulpit? Well, why shouldn't we? Why shouldn't we? It affects every area of life. The reason they tell me don't talk about it is because you don't like what I'm saying.

If you liked what I, if I was up here supporting Biden, you'd say, oh yeah, preacher from the pulpit, brother. But just because I put down these things and disagree with you, that's when you want me to shut my mouth.

And no, sir, it's not gonna happen. So you don't make your final decisions based on that. I'm discouraged, I'm doubting, all these things, and I'm gonna make a decision in the wrong mindset. So let's say God does move a person or God does do something.

The mindset is right. It's saying, Lord, wherever you want me. Wherever you want. Pastor Abrams told me if God opens a door, I'll go plant a church again in East LA. Try living on Crenshaw Boulevard, a play church.

I mean, think about it. I'm supposed, actually, I have to set it up. I'm supposed to take a ride-along with the deputy down in that area, a sergeant, to show me just how bad it's getting in the Crenshaw inner city.

And he said, what's coming up this way if we're not careful because you can steal $1 ,000 under $1 ,000 in merchandise and you're not in trouble? Well, we've lost our mind. Let's grow marijuana, make it free, and you can just steal under $1 ,000.

I think everything will be fine. You've gotta be, you've lost your mind. You've just checked out. And people, Shane, how does this happen? Because remember, kingdoms are colliding. The prince of this world is also influencing people.

The enemy is also influencing people, as God is, and that's why these kingdoms are colliding. These school districts that are teaching kids porn and teaching them how to change their sex and how to have, well, I can't get into it, but there's just bad stuff, bad stuff.

And an eight-year-old, it's just, we are so perverted and so evil. And so you have to make sure that this discouragement and feeling defeated and all these things are not altering or actually influencing your decision.

Fasting, Giving, and Trusting God's Provision

I don't think we should just be living in a state of gluttony all the time and then maybe on January 1st, we'll do a fast. The Bible, what I get is a fasted lifestyle. It doesn't say give into the flesh all year and then on one special week, go ahead and fast.

That's why he said when you fast, when you give and when you pray, it's a, I don't know about you, maybe you're different, but I have to bring my body into subjection daily. Do I fast? Do I pray? Yes, it's part of God's will.

It's interesting, too, Jesus said when you give, and it's not just of our time and energy, it's actually of a financial giving. So, Shane, do I tithe, do I give? The Scripture's clear, to give, even if it's a small amount, to have that consistent pattern, that discipline.

And I'll just open about my own life. Not so much now, but when we first got married and seasons of difficulty, I often didn't give because I didn't have it. Just think about that. I'm not gonna give to God because I'm not trusting He can provide.

And that's really what this whole issue about is I don't trust God can get me through. I'm not going to give. I gotta save this money, but you'd be amazed, amazed at what God does when you give. We even tithe on our taxes, returns.

And I just finished mine this year, I was amazed. I thought we weren't getting any back. It's amazing. Child tax credits, I think I should have more kids. But see, that happens, and then something else happens, and somebody, what are we gonna do for our kids and get a car, and somebody says, hey, I've got this car, do you want this, and give it to your daughter, give it to your son, and this happens, and the washing machine, the dryer aren't breaking, the refrigerator, somebody has, and you see, you're walking in the blessings of God.

Faithful Giving and God's Unexpected Provision

I actually went from great six-figure income to nothing. And that flagged the IRS, in case you're not aware. That'll flag the IRS. So he came out, the IRS agent came out and audited me, and actually, I got some money back.

But actually, my tax account was able to go back, I guess when you have a huge loss like that, and pull back thousands and thousands of dollars, whatever that's called, and I got back like six, $7 ,000 from the IRS, even though I didn't pay anything, because you can go back a few years on your gains, and I don't know how it worked, but I was tithing $50 a week.

I'm like, how, and then what he, see, that's what I'm saying, it blows your mind what he will do. When you begin to get, one of the toughest seasons, I had to get out of construction, this is over, we've got one month's savings, I'm in real estate, but we keep tithing, we keep giving, even though I don't have it, I don't know where it's coming from.

I'm just brand new, I'm sitting at the front desk at Colwell Banker, and the person comes in, hey, how can I help you? And they said, we want to sell some of our land. I'm like, okay, I think I can help you, having no clue, no clue how to help them, but got our broker in, and we sit down, long story short, two weeks later, they called me, and it was a $6 million land listing by the hospital, 25 acres of land.

Eventually, they sold it for three million, the commission's like $57 ,000, one check, but see, we are going months and months and months. Lord, I don't know what's gonna happen, but we have to keep that faithful giving going.

God will open doors you have no, and I wonder how much we inhibit the hand, the blessing of God, by not giving, because we think we're holding and hoarding, I gotta just manage my funds, I gotta do this, but God says, I wanna pour out a blessing on you, you don't have room enough to receive.

You know I'm quoting a scripture there? The Old Testament? Now, don't, don't, I'm not that name-and-claiming preacher on TV, but why can't, God's Word says that. If you give back to Him, and you trust Him, and you begin to give, even though you don't see where the money's coming from, the blessings of God are, sometimes it becomes so overwhelming that we just have to give some things.

I've got too much, I've got, we wanna give, and we wanna help people, just the blessings of God, but it comes from that area of when you give. So again, that was just a personal struggle my wife and I had to work through, and especially in our marriage, like how are we gonna give to God?

We don't really, we don't have the money, but then when you put Him first, He opened His doors that are amazing, absolutely amazing. But we went to buy a house over by the prison, our very first house together, and we went, and you know, it's just a little acre of land, and we're gonna start building next month.

And we're like, oh, this is awesome, but I'm gonna go pray about it for a week. Salesmen do not like me, because you try to push me, you're just gonna, especially car salesmen, you know. I say, I'm gonna take lunch, you call me if this changes.

But anyway, so she said, oh sir, it'll be gone in a week. There won't be any more phases available. So well, we're gonna, I mean, I'm not just gonna make a decision to spend a certain amount of money right now, I'm gonna go pray about it.

So we came back a week later. We weren't sure if we could afford it, you know, because you're tithing to us. And she said, well, I told you it wasn't available, it's sold. I'm like, okay, well, all right, well, thank you.

And she goes, but, but there's a house in the last phase that just fell out of escrow yesterday, but it's moving ready, and we're like, we're with my mom, we're ready today. And guess what, it's a four bedroom, not a three.

Oh, by the way, you're gonna get the old face pricing. So we move in with 30 ,000 in equity, and an extra bedroom. And so, see, but how, can you orchestrate that? How do we make that decision, because I felt pushed and rushed?

That, and I can give you, I can give you so many situations like that where God, when you're faithful in the little things, God who owns 1 ,000 cattle on 1 ,000 hills and holds the universe in his hand, he's not concerned that you can't barely get by that month.

I believe some people are stuck in financial ruins because they are not giving to God, and they'll never get out of that hole because they themselves are digging that hole. And that's just a personal conviction I have.

Vain Glory, Contentment, and God's Will

Vain glory, Philippians 2, 3, let nothing be done in vain glory. What is that? Promoting myself, self-exaltation, my glory. You see how God's will becomes, now, Lord, is this about my will, my glory?

Building my reputation, getting jealous and envious at other people? Don't have anything to do with vain glory. You see, if we would just apply these principles, God's will is not that hard. I wanna tell you something pretty exciting for me.

Last week, Wednesday, actually, many of you know, Paul Chappell's a friend of mine, Lancaster Baptist Church, and I went out there, spent an hour with him, and just up in his office and looking at this, the college and the school and all, I didn't get jealous at all.

I was like, this is incredible. Look at all these kids being blessed. Look at what's going on, why? Because here's the thing, this will get as big as God wants it to get as big. You take comfort in that, you'll never be shaken, you'll never be moved.

This is exactly where God has us. This is exactly the depth and the reach of this ministry. This is where I can rest in that fact. Because something else that God's doing that most people don't know, we don't toot our own horn, we don't make a big deal of it all the time, we don't promote it, but we actually have a farther reach than most megachurches in the United States.

The sermons are on 60 different stations in the United States people are being, tens of thousands are being touched. So actually we reach more people than megachurches. So there's a mega outreach but not a mega audience necessarily.

And so being content and comfortable in those things, I left there just so excited for what God, we need about 10 more of those churches in Lancaster if the truth be told. Bible believing, truth elevating, Christ exalting churches in our valley.

Another friend of mine you'll see as you're leaving this street, leaving this road heading to Palmdale, they're building that church. They've got the sign up, Peter, and we pray for them, he's a friend of mine.

And that's gonna be a good solid church. And Shana, you're nervous, nervous for what? God's gonna bring whatever he wants to bring. I don't care if I'm right next to a church. God's gonna bring and use us how he wants to use us.

That you can't have fear of man and fear of competition because that's not ministry. You have to be faithful in the little things and watch what God does. And actually the more you humble yourself, the more God builds you.

The more you give up and faith on the little things, God will begin to move in your life. And I want exactly what God is building. No more, no less. Here's why. I'm just gonna give you my thought on this.

Letting God Build the Ministry

And I saw this in the corporate world. And I see the big difference. What I build, I have to maintain. If I build it, you ever hear these pastors on TV shock value and they're saying shock things and they're building this and they got a million followers on Facebook and it's like they gotta do this next extravagant thing, they gotta say this next bizarre thing and they gotta do this weird thing and they gotta do all this and it's shock and I'm building and building and building and I've gotta build this church and look at how we did all these giving programs and giving programs and giving programs.

I'm exhausted and I built this and I did this and you gotta maintain that. But if God builds it, we just sit back. I'll tell you another interesting story. I was worried about when we bought the radio station.

It's about $12 ,000 a month to run. Anybody got that kind of money laying around? Some of you do, maybe. But anyway, so I'm trying to get sponsors. I contacted Raleigh Chevrolet and the dealers and probably should have been Christian organizations so God really convicted me on that but I'm so worried and the money, just a friend of mine said hey, I just dropped off 10 ,000 and I wanna help with this and sponsors and it's like oh wow, we don't even need sponsors now.

We don't even need a sponsor. God's got this covered and He just shocks me. He literally shocks me. Like well Lord, if you're doing this, I'm just gonna step back. People have dropped off 20 ,000, $50 ,000 checks.

We don't even ask. We don't even have a tithing box. And people have told me Shane, people actually said you know how much better you could do financially if you would just really pass that plate and really push it more?

I actually think the opposite would happen. Every time I try to do that, I just get a check in my spirit. And then last week, $25 ,000 check comes in the mail. I don't know what to do with that. It's gone.

And so see, all these things I'm worried about, all these things, I remember hearing Jim Cimbala talk. Six million dollar check came in the mail. Try that out to get their place in Brooklyn there in the tabernacle.

Robert Morris, Gateway Church. They were short 18 million on a building project and a member came up and said, I'll give you the 18 million, just pay me 0 interest. George Mueller funded his orphanages in England, millions of dollars by just praying it in.

But he was faithful also to give and to tithe to other churches. And so God does amazing things. Here's something from 2 Peter that might help a lot of people. With all due diligence, it means you're not lazy, there's a diligence there, add to this diligence your faith and add to that virtue.

What is virtue? It's moral purity. You're walking upright with God. And then you add to that knowledge, you add to that self-control. In other words, I know God's will and I'm gonna control myself, not letting myself control me.

I'm gonna persevere, I'm not gonna keep complaining, I'm gonna persevere and I'm gonna focus on godliness, which is grace and goodness to others, brotherly kindness and love. And if I do these things, if these things are mine and I abound in them, here's what's gonna happen.

You will be neither barren without spiritual life nor will you be unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. You will know what God's will is for your life. You'll be able to make better decisions.

The older I get, the more I realize God's will is not that complicated. It's really when you're walking in obedience to His word, not perfectly, I've fallen off track many times and you get back up, but God begins to direct you as you're living out this spirit-filled life, God, He'll open doors no man can shut.

He'll close doors. He'll say, for example, this building, they came to me and said, do you want this building, huh? I guess God did that. Or God will open other doors in your own life and as you're walking in obedience to Him, He will begin to open those doors.

Being Equally Yoked and Walking in Repentance

And did you know you wanna be equally yoked in all areas of life when possible? An oxen would wear a yoke and they would pull and they'd have to be the same height, the same strength, and if they're off, they couldn't pull the load.

And so you wanna be equally yoked in marriage, you wanna be equally yoked in business, you wanna be equally yoked in these areas. Did you know that besetting sin and not having a right relationship with God can cloud our vision?

We don't see clearly as well. Isaiah 59, but your iniquities have separated between you and your God and your sins have hit His face from you so that He will not hear, so that He will not hear. So there's sins and the iniquities have separated God from your face.

So you're wanting to see God, you're wanting to hear the voice of God, but the sins, the iniquities have, it's almost like God is pushing us back and then the Bible gives this illustration of like clouds that blow in and now you can't see the sun and now it's dark and gloomy and what repentance does is it blows those clouds away and now you can see clearly the face of God.