Spirit of Life — Michael Koulianos

The Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Life

We're gonna continue with our teaching on the Holy Spirit. And before I read the word, let's just pray. Father, show us Christ Jesus in the scriptures. Open our eyes to see him and feed us the bread of life.

Make us strong disciples in these last days, who, as Dave said, will follow the lamb wherever he goes, in the name of Jesus. I just, I want us to share something before I read the scriptures. Today, we're gonna talk about the spirit of life, the Holy Spirit, the spirit of life.

Fear, Earthly Attachments, and Heavenly-Minded Living

I was recently on a flight that was delayed on the runway. And because we were delayed in taxing so long, it burned a lot of gas. And this older lady next to me said, I hope they put extra gas in the plane for as long as we've been taxing.

It'd been like an hour and a half just waiting in the hot sun. And I thought to myself, well, certainly, these are professional pilots. A lot of lives at stake. Certainly, they know to do that. So we took off, and there were storms over the airport we were landing at.

And so we couldn't land. So we just circled the city for maybe an hour and a half. At which point, the pilot said, we don't have enough gas to keep circling. And basically, we can't land because of the wind shear and the storms.

So in my head, I'm like, dude, land the plane. Like, let's at least go for it. What are the options? There's a fall out of the sky, like a blue jay that got shot with a BB gun? That's not legal, by the way.

Like a crow that got shot. I don't think that's legal either. But anyhow, there's a fall out of the sky. Come on, land the thing. Let's go for it. So he said that a few times. This is our last pass, and then we're gonna have to reroute to another airport to put fuel in.

I thought to myself, well, if we don't have enough fuel to circle, what makes you think we're gonna get to that other city? Well, then the whole plane got really quiet. And I thought to myself, Lord, you've got more in store for me than what you've already done.

You're not done with me. Thank you. Thank you. We at least gotta get into that building. Put that thing up, by the way. Let's declare this by faith. Come on, throw that overhead up. Yeah, Lord, we thank you that every, the other one, the other one's a better image, the overhead, the overhead, yeah?

Thank you, Jesus, for every dime that the nations will descend. It'll be a well of your presence, and that Jesus will be greatly glorified in the generations to come. Should you tarry in Jesus' name, amen, amen.

So here's the thing. I was more nervous than I thought I'd be. And what I gained, and I'm just being honest and transparent, what I gained, it was my heart was too attached to the world. It was too connected.

I didn't think it was until that moment. I thought, I was like, man, I'm flying in the winds of the spirit. I am ready to go, to be absent from the bodies, to be present with the Lord, right? In the twinkling of an eye, I would change.

I grew up hearing that. But my heart wasn't necessarily connected to my car and my house, just to good earthly things. Do you know what I mean? Stuff that is okay, family. Nonetheless, heaven wasn't real enough to me in the moment.

And so I got off that plane saying, I've got a long way to go. I'm not saying anybody just does a praise break just before they run out of gas in midair. But it did reveal something in my heart, that I need more of Jesus.

Are you with me? I need to be more connected, more heavenly minded. My heart needs to be set on things above where Christ is. And right now, the world is just vying for our attention. I'm in vying for it.

I believe there is literal demonic warfare over attention. I believe that. I'm not even saying it's, there is this, but I'm not talking about the aspect of thinking in pure thoughts. I'm just saying the enemy wants us to think of a lot of stuff, that in the end, really amounts to nothing.

So there's a demonic agenda that is longing to capture the thoughts of men and women consistently. Whether it comes through a screen. I've heard pastors say, it's just the age we're in. Like, we need to deal with it.

But in my heart, when I read the scriptures, I realize God is not changing his way because of the age we're in. It will still require a still heart, a focused heart, a loving heart, a bridal heart, to experience the Lord consistently, period.

It still requires turning your phone off. I will say it, thank you. God is not gonna compete with that stuff just because it's 2021. If you take phone calls in prayer and then come out whining that God don't talk to you, they're not God's fault.

These are ancient pathways of experiencing the Lord so that his world breaks into our world and becomes more real to us than this world we're in. That he will never change these ancient pathways for anyone.

Joy Dawson used to tell me, he changes the rules for no one, sweetie. These are eternal aspects of the Lord. So part of the Lord's loving nature, listen, is that he refuses to mingle his voice with earthly noise and reveal his voice to those who give their affections elsewhere because his voice is too valuable.

So there'll never be a day on the earth where it does not require a steadfast life of devotion to experience the Lord. There will never be a day where the secret place phases out because of the age we're in.

It's never gonna happen. There'll never be a day where fasting is not needed. Oh, that one got y 'all. You're like, I rebuke you. I rebuke that, I rebuke that, I rebuke it. But I felt to say that before I teach on the spirit of life because we have got to disconnect from this age.

It offers nothing, it offers nothing but chaos and self-exaltation, mixture, merchandising the anointing. So we actually have to step into this lifestyle of being in but not of. And the only way to make that happen is to taste of the Lord until our affections are lifted.

And lifted because he's more real to me than my chair or my car or anyone I would leave behind should I breathe my last breath. And so I just felt to share that with you, there's more in the Lord. And I believe, I'm not a pessimist at all.

Revival, Purity, and Testing in the Church

Dave and I were talking last night that there's a worldwide revival coming, America included. We all believe that. We were talking about purity and the house of prayer. And I don't mean IHOP. I mean the theology of the house of prayer and what Jesus image is called to.

And there's a lot I could unpack with you. I recently had an amazing conversation with my Bickel last week about what the Lord has been speaking to our environment and just prophetic fulfillment that took place maybe 40 years ago that I believe Jesus image has a role to play.

But I don't, I don't know how to say this other than just to say it. This isn't the end of the church being tested. And you just can't read the Bible and come away with that. Even if you have a kingdom theology on the fringes, which kingdom theology is fine, just make sure it's according to the word.

But the thought that the church is, the church will never face a day of testing, it's just not the word. And Mother Bessie Leah Schlenk, who I would say is one of the most pivotal voices for us in our church and ministry.

She used to say, and I would encourage all of you, do we have their books? We have like a, I think we have a ton. But the sisters will be here very soon, in just a few weeks. It's gonna be awesome. Thank you, baby.

Jessie's like, just tell them they're charismatic. Because people get really mad when they see the nuns outfit, which is so to judge. Charismatic sisters. Mother Bessie Leah used to say, there's only one power greater than persecution, the power of first love.

You know, and in 2006, when I started reading, I'd go, that sounds cool. Sounds so spiritual. I mean, we're all pressing into stuff that we hadn't lived in those days. But I'd read that and go, that's an amazing statement.

But for theology to become yours, you actually have to experience it. You'll never have authority in an area that you haven't walked through. That's true. You'll never have authority there. Well, I should say, you'll have minimized authority in that area until you walk through it.

See, Jesus has authority over death because he tasted it and defeated it. Amen? So I'd read that and go, wow. Now I read it and go, this is life to my soul. We need to love him now. We need to love him to not only survive the days ahead, I'm not talking about that, but to shine in the days ahead.

Amen. To carry his glory in the days ahead. So there are wonderful days ahead, but I wouldn't be a faithful pastor if I told you they will be days void of testing. We will be tested as a people. But we love Jesus, amen?

We love Jesus, he's beautiful. Okay, the spirit of life. Genesis 7, 22. You are gonna get a lot of Bible. Charismatic Bible. Genesis 7, 22. Of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life.

Job 33, 4. Are you ready? All right, it's just before the Psalms. Job 33, 4. The spirit of God, this is the Holy Spirit, has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. Say this out loud. The Holy Spirit gives me life.

The Holy Spirit as Creator and Sustainer

But here the Bible says the spirit of God has made me. The Holy Spirit is creator as well. Just like Father, and just like the Son. This is a powerful statement in that without the Holy Spirit, I would never come to be.

And without him, I don't stay alive. Typically, we tell people, come to Jesus, and you'll receive a new life. Very true. That's just the very beginning as well. But this isn't the end of a relationship, it's the very beginning of one.

And this is when we step into, at the altar we are raised, and when we leave, we remain risen by the same power. Therefore, listen carefully, therefore we receive the holy invitation, are you ready, of dependency.

Dependency. It is vital to depend on the Holy Spirit every moment of every day. This is Matthew chapter five being fulfilled. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the? Kingdom. You got it. It's this internal dependency that if it could talk, it would say this, if I do not have you, I will die.

You say, that's extreme. But that is a fact. Do you remember when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead? What did he say prior to Lazarus' sister? She was talking about a day to come where the dead would be raised.

Now Jesus did not refute that, because that will happen. The day will come where the graves will open. So some people would teach, this is already heaven. I'm like, bro. Well let me just help you. One of the proofs that you're wrong is the existence of cemeteries.

Okay, until those graves blow open, and people fly out of them with new bodies, Jesus has not yet returned. Okay, and you can't get robbed in heaven. You don't need a taser in heaven. You don't need a security team in heaven.

Now heaven is within us. And I do believe the culture of heaven can break in to the culture of the world. But it is in no way intended to cause us to reject the soon coming return of the Lord Jesus. There is nothing romantic about that perspective.

There's nothing bridal about it. The bride longs for the return of the Lord, and she longs to put on incorruption. Okay, this is the deep groaning of the Holy, is this too much? You're Sunday morning, you're the Bible people.

Sunday night loves the Bible too, but they're a little wild. I'm gonna have them come lay hands on you. All right, as you commune with the Spirit, you get caught up into his passion, his longings. This is amazing.

And as you commune with him, you are exposed to his longing and communion with the Father and Son. This is probably the privilege of our existence. I tell our students, when you read Psalm 22, you are actually given the opportunity to feast upon the words of Jesus while he's dying, and you are exposed to the Trinitarian conversation that he had while dying on the cross.

So I'm like, guys, don't tell me the Bible's boring. What a privilege that we get to listen to the Son talk to the Father about his suffering. Oh my gosh. We actually have been given the privilege to bend our ear in that direction as children of the Lord.

So when you commune with the Spirit, his priorities become your priorities, his longings become your longings, hopefully, and his passion begins to be revealed to us. All that being said, the Spirit is longing for the day where we will put on incorruption.

Jesus and the Father are doing the same. Why do we need to put on incorruption? Because a wedding is coming. Say that out loud, a wedding is coming. And I wanna be a part of it. You'll be given a glorified body so that when the wedding is consummated, you don't fry.

You will need the glorified body that is promised in the resurrection to last in his glory. And that's why purity right now, the teaching of bridal purity is coming to the forefront. It's because his return is nearing and the bride must make herself ready for the bridegroom who is perfectly pure.

The good news is she makes herself ready by allowing him to purify her, which is wonderful news. All that to say, Jesus says after in response to the day coming, the resurrection, when he enters Bethany to raise Lazarus, his answer is this, it's amazing.

I am the resurrection and the life. Notice he didn't just say I am resurrection. That would be true, but incomplete. He says I'm resurrection and life. Now, our students have heard this before, but if Jesus were merely resurrection, that scene would have looked much different at Bethany.

Let me tell you what it would have looked like. Jesus would have stood at the tomb and he would have declared, Lazarus, come forth. And he would have and would have died a second later. He would have gotten up, whoosh, and then died.

Since Jesus is not only resurrection and life, he not only raises us, but keeps us alive. Therefore, dependency is a necessity to experience life. And so here, Job 33 .4 says, the spirit of God made me.

He's my resurrection. And the breath of the Almighty, who is the spirit of the Lord, the Holy Spirit, gives me life in the present tense. Say this out loud. The presence of God is always in the present.

If you want to commune with the spirit, it's a now thing. There's no need to put it off. Psalm 51 .11, is this okay? We all need to be built up in the scriptures. This will keep us to the end. Psalm 51 .11, do not cast me away from your presence and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.

David, First Love, and Lamb-Like Authority

Now, this is the heart of the psalmist of the great king and warrior, David. And David here is revealing to us the depths of his heart. Notice he's not, oh gosh. I might get in a little trouble here. If I do, blame Jess.

I'm gonna get into charismatic trouble here. Notice David doesn't say, in the depths of his soul, give me another enemy to defeat. You see, we've glorified conquest, but we don't realize how the conquest takes place.

We use words like dominion, but don't realize how it's brokered in. So dominion, the rule of God, doesn't enter with our strength and natural abilities and bravado and the volume on our voice. Demanding that people do what we say.

And sadly, the church has done that in this season. When you read of the heavenly vision that John had, he discovered something, that the one who rules and reigns in heaven is a lamb who is slain. So godly rule is lamb-like rule.

I don't care what mountain you're after, the media one, the education, whatever. I know there's a lot of them. God bless them. It's gonna require the wounded lamb and that nature that lays our lives down.

I'll never forget reading one of Mother Basilia's books. She had been on a fast on the island of Patmos, which, it's a great place, I guess. I'm like, man, I did that in Seminole County. She went to Patmos.

I gotta up my game. So she went to Patmos to go, I said Patmos like an American, now I'm saying it the way I always say it, Patmos, to go fast and pray. And towards the end of her fast, she had a vision.

And she saw this massive beast with claws and teeth coming to disrupt the nations. And then she could hear the sound of a dignitary coming over the mountain to combat this great beast that was bringing, I feel the anointing, to combat this great beast who was disrupting the nation.

And this great beast was ravaging everything in sight and people were so afraid. And she could hear an army coming up the other side. I think I'm getting this right. This part I know I'm getting right.

She was looking to see this mighty, massive, equally as fierce, ravaging force to come destroy this beast that was disrupting the nations. To her shock, a lamb came up gently over the mountain and destroyed the beast with his meekness.

You say, what about his might? His might flows from his wounds. His blood, I'll never forget one time, I think I told you some of this. A friend of mine, we're at Whole Foods and he looked at me. He said, I have so much in me.

Like a God is just, for all the preachers in here, you know what I'm saying. In the early days, you're just getting download after download after download after download if you're a student. You're getting download after download after download after download.

But you have nowhere to share it. And sadly, the prideful side of us goes, these people don't recognize my anointing. They don't see my gifting. Clearly, I'm leaving this church. If my gifting is not honored, I am a man of God too.

I am leaving. Jesse said, amen. And so they do that at the next church. They don't see my anointing. They go to the next one, eight months later. And the next one. And then someone just markets to you a little better and promises you some involvement at the next church so you stay there for a while until you don't get the involvement you want.

Say, I became an usher so I would eventually be an elder with hopes that I would get to pray once in pre-service prayer so that Carlo would recognize the anointing and call Michael and tell him about it so that one day I would end up at the New Jerusalem right here.

Right here. Just get right there, all my problems would go away. Oh no, they just begin. Well, the Lord puts up with us because we all start that stupid. What we don't realize is that we don't have the character to pray in the prayer room.

With the character yet to be trusted with the downloads. It's one thing to get them. It's another thing to share them. The moment you share them, you become a teacher of the word and the Bible says those that teach the word will be judged more intently.

So if we're not there yet, we need to thank God. He's protecting us from having to give an account, right? So this lamb-like nature conquers the beast. And you hear this in David. It's interesting to me that while he's king, he's still called the sweet psalmist of Israel.

What does that express? It expresses that he discovered, listen carefully, that his harp conquered more effectively than his sword. The might of his flesh, the might of his hand was nothing in comparison to the tenderness of the harp.

You read it again in Psalm 18. Listen to his words. Verse one, I love you, Lord. You're my strength. David right here is connecting first love, listen carefully, to godly conquest. First love to the destruction of the enemy.

Do you need strength against the enemy? You better believe it. But it's a strength that much of the church knows not of. He is not intimidated by our volume, even though I just talked louder. He is not intimidated, listen, with our earthly strategy.

No, not at all. In fact, he's a better strategist than most of the church. He's not intimidated by the size of our following. That doesn't uproot his ways from a people. No, no, no. What makes him really nervous is the man Christ Jesus living through men and women.

Conquering Through Humility and Service

Do you know how Jesus ultimately defeated, or I should say one of the ways Jesus defeated his betrayer? By washing his feet. Judas actually had to walk to the Sanhedrin and betray Jesus with feet Jesus had just washed and look at them every step of the way.

Crazy. In the age to come, Judas will forever be reminded of his proximity to the Lord and his betrayal in light of Jesus' lowliness. Forever, he'll be the one who betrayed the one who washed his feet.

But Jesus chose in a sense, listen carefully, we have to get this. This is gonna go much further than arguing on social media. If you feel like you need to speak up, speak up. I'm never gonna tell you what to do.

But make sure you are it when you're speaking up. Make sure it's genuine. Make sure you look like the Lord himself. And some people just don't need to speak up ever. Like never, never. They should just cancel all their accounts and just say nothing, go home, go fishing, take care of their family, have a wonderful day, watch golf videos, be so much happier.

Just watch a nice video of Michael Kulianos swinging a punch to her. Just renew the soul. Maybe I should start a golf channel. No? Would any of you watch it? Jess said no. You're the only no in the room.

The only no. I'd watch it. All right. Jesus, listen what he does. He finds this holy trapdoor into the purposes of God. Listen carefully. Through loneliness, suffering, and death. He destroys his foes by going lower than them.

He attacks those who've lifted themselves up by making himself go low. Because the kingdom is an opposite kingdom. So we fight the devil with his ways. We use his methods to conquer him. All the while strengthening him, his influence.

I'll give you an example. In the kingdom, if you don't have anything, find something and give it away and God will bless you. In the world, if you don't have anything, Bible school students. In the world, you demand somebody who does have something and force them to give it to you.

Saying that it's not fair. We're in a kingdom. It'll never be fair. The ways of Jesus are so different. We may as well just adjust now. In Jesus' kingdom, to him who has a little, if he doesn't steward it, it's taken away.

Mark chapter four. And given to the one who has a lot. Now, I'm not talking about Bentleys. The context is hearing the voice of God. But this is a kingdom principle. It is also a kingdom principle that if I give away in my lack, God will give back to me.

As uncomfortable as that makes us, until we're the one who gets it. Say amen. That's a kingdom principle. In the world, you exalt you to compete with the other people exalting themselves with hopes that whoever can exalt themselves the most frequently becomes the most known and wins.

In the kingdom, if you humble yourself, which is a much better option than God humbling us. I've seen that too. That one goes down much more severe. So you just do it now, consistently. If you humble yourself, God will exalt you and promote you.

In the kingdom, listen. Let me start with the world. In the world, man takes a tower and builds it from the ground up into the heavens so that the whole world will see what men and women put their hands to.

It's called the Tower of Babel. So they built something from the ground up to reveal and promote their ability. In the kingdom, the spirit comes down in Acts chapter two that is the polar opposite of Babel or Babylon.

That's flooding the nations today, that whole system. In the kingdom, God comes down and animates men and women, flows through them and takes all the glory. Totally different, totally different, I said.

I said totally different. That's who we are. May we all come to the place that by the end of our lives, we can say what Paul said, that I might know him. That was his life's cry, that I might know him.

Not that I might start another initiative, that I might know him. Paul discovered that the secret to everything, the secret to life was really knowing Jesus. Let me give you three more scriptures. Is this okay?

The Spirit Gives Life, Not the Flesh

You're a little quiet, you're a little quiet. John 6, 63. Do you love the word? John 6, 63. Listen to this carefully. Remember, he's the spirit of life. It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nada.

Nothing. Zilch. Give me another word for that. Goose egg, zip. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. We have to realize that our flesh profits nothing.

Therefore, refusing to build anything in the flesh. This is so important. Listen to the words of the Savior. The flesh profits nothing. In other words, if you invest in it, you will receive no profit.

Okay, so write this next one down. If I think with the carnal mind or the mind of the flesh, I will engage the arm of the flesh. If my thoughts are fleshly, we're gonna get into this next Sunday. If my thoughts are fleshly, my activity will be fleshly, and I will build things that God never told me to build.

This is so important. This would save you from a life of busyness and stress. Imagine, imagine spending your whole life giving your attention to something God never told you to do. You see, the thing is, is God refuses to fill a house that he did not design and build.

Dave and I were at the table last night talking about this. It does matter how you do what you do. The how matters. The origin matters. No origin in God, you will not have God. You see this in the life of Jesus, waits 30 years to preach for three.

His brothers come and say, go up to the feast. Everyone's talking about you, it's your time. He says, look, for you, you can, that's what I mean, the Lord is a brother. For you, you can do whatever you want, when you want.

You ever met people, you ever, when God started dealing with you, like, I bet many of us are like this in this room right now. You probably prayed this prayer. Why can't I just do what I wanna do, like my friend does?

Why do I have to, why do you challenge me at the core of my being about whether or not I should go on vacation? Where I should live? Can I just go live anywhere like the rest of the world? No, you cannot just go live anywhere like the rest of the world.

It will never be like that if you draw near. So Jesus says to his brother, no, you can go do that, you do whatever you want. But no, that's not how I live. Now amazingly, right after he says that, he goes up to the feast.

So Jesus says to his brother, I'm not going. You can go whenever you want, you get to do whatever you do. His brother leaves for the feast, and then Jesus shows up. You say, did Jesus lie? No, it was just Jesus proving, you don't determine what I do.

Joseph is your real father. The Ancient of Days is mine. So I'm gonna move at my own rhythm, the rhythm of the spirit. Think of these words. Sometimes we hear them so much that we just get calloused. I do nothing that I don't see my father do.

This is the incarnate Christ. He is in a body. This is him on earth talking. I do nothing, I don't sit down for a meal unless I see him do the same. Not that God's up there having meals. As the Father is leading him in that direction.

Then he said, oh God, this would solve the world's problems, this one. I don't say anything. Oh, your marriage would be perfect overnight. Perfect, literally. I don't say anything. Anything, not a hi, not a goodbye, really.

He said, no, no, Jesus says hi to everybody. It's Jesus. He loves kids, loves to walk through meadows. I saw him in the children's books. He just says hi. He talks to anyone at any time. Jesus, that's just Jesus.

Now, the Father of the Old Testament, he's really bad, he's mean. But Jesus, when Jesus walks on the water, he feeds you when you're hungry. He works for you. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. No, he doesn't. I say nothing.

I don't hear the Father say. That means he only said hello to someone walking down the street through Galilee if he heard the Father say it. This is what it looks like to live by the Spirit. If the flesh profits nothing, the Spirit profits everything it births.

If we let him sustain it. You say, what's this mean to me? Are you just talking about church building? No, no, no, no. If you're here this morning and you feel like your life hits the ceiling and just gets resisted.

You feel like you've come up with such wonderful ideas, but it's just not blessed. Maybe the right people haven't blessed it. Let me tell you something. If you truly carry something, there is no person in the world who can keep you from fulfilling the mandate of God on you.

If they miss it, God'll make certain that there's room. I have different opinions now. Not of the Word, but of the way we've been thinking. Not us as a church, just in general. In the hour of activating people, which we should be doing, I think we've made the anointing in some cases so common.

I'm gonna go to the Middle East, just like Dave. You better make sure God sent you. If you don't, you'll be on the next flight home. Dave didn't go to the Middle East to dominate. He went to the Middle East to walk with God in the Middle East.

It's where God is in his life. What I'm talking about is sacred, holy, the ways of God. You say, how quick can I get there? Oh, it's a slow drip, but it's wonderful. I feel them right now. I do, I sense my heart just stirring.

I have joy. This is a serious conversation, but I'm happy. That doesn't make sense, unless the Holy Ghost does it. You say, what do I do next? Draw near, draw near. There is a wave of repentance coming.

Repentance, Humility, and Dependence on God

That's not a bad thing. Mother Basilia said repentance is the source of the joy-filled life. That's a wonderful thing, God offering repentance to his people. You say, what is it? The turning away from me, the turning away from the ways of the world, the turning away from the flesh, the enemy himself, and turning and putting all my trust in Jesus and broken humility.

This is the Christian life. We are, listen, we are the lowly ones who God lifts up. And even when God lifts up the lowly ones, they cast down their golden crowns, realizing that he did it all. I heard Pastor Teske, Paul Teske say the other day, we were playing golf, he was ministering to a business guy, he said, I couldn't heal a flea.

He was so aware that it's God doing it all. That doesn't disempower us. That only sets us up for the power of the Holy Spirit. Listen, if you want God to fill something, make sure he builds the something.

If you want God to live somewhere, it's gotta be his house. That goes for us, and it goes for our individual lives. So that Christ will be all in all. This is where I want all of you to be. That regardless of the question that comes your way, when you're asked how something happened or why, you'll have one answer, Jesus did it.

This isn't pummeling your self-worth, this is not to rob you of your dignity, no, no, no. This is the key to living a life of rest. He starts it, he quickens it, it's about him, and it goes back to him, and I get in the way of the wind.

Becoming Carried by the Wind of the Spirit

The other day I was walking, and I'm gonna pray for you, so just stay where you're at. The other day I was walking in my neighborhood and this leaf was on the ground, and the wind came. This is an ugly little leaf.

It's not fall, not like we get one, but we do have certain trees that change color, so I've researched them all. This leaf is on the, it's so low, and then this wind comes and hits the leaf, and it goes up in the air, and as it's going up, it's flying back and forth doing the most beautiful dance in the air.

Had nothing to do with the leaf, everything to do with the wind, everything to do with the wind. It was beautiful, and that's what happens when you go low. God will pick you up. This is the lamb. With every head bowed and eye closed.

I wanna ask you this question this morning. Please hear me, please. What are you holding on to? What keeps you from breaking? What is it about this world, about sin or about your life, about religion that would keep you from running to the feet of Jesus, and falling at his feet, and turning from everything this world has to offer, your demands included, so that you can be that lifeless leaf on the ground that has emptied itself of its own will and life, so that the Holy Spirit can pick you up and write his story with the winds of his will.

You say, I'm struggling with sin. That's why, you gotta let go. You're struggling with lust, you gotta let go of it. He won't take it from you. You have to give it away. Give it to him. Say, I'm living a life of anger, sexual sin, whatever it might be.