Hearing and Obeying God's Voice - Part 2 — Shane Idleman

Part 2, Hearing and Obeying God's Voice, Part 2. Anybody need help in this area? Why did not everyone say amen? Hearing and Obeying God's Voice. Lord, this service is pretty fired up. I like that. So I left off last week.

Now, I have a disclaimer. This was hopefully going to end today, but I promised the first service I might turn into Part 3 because I did not get into other areas about hearing God's voice. I do not want to rush through it.

Or I might just do a podcast and encourage you to listen to it if it is going to be short. So I am still working through that. I am not sure if we will do Part 3. But it had more to do with, I did not get to the part about God can speak to us through visions or dreams or His voice and those kinds of ways we are not familiar with.

Biblical Openness to Dreams and Visions

People are like, oh, oh. I thought this church was solid. Well, we are, but we are also biblical. And God speaks to people how He chooses. And He spoke to people throughout the Old Testament and the New, Joseph and Mary, hello?

The wise men were warned, and Peter. But that's not the standard. We don't just, oh, give me a dream, give me a vision. That should follow what we are going to talk about today. And if you saw in the news, the MVP for the Rams said that God spoke, He had a dream or vision about becoming the MVP years prior.

And people are asking me about that. I am like, why not? I mean, I don't know. Why would God do that? Because sometimes He prepares you. Sometimes He shows you, this is the plan I have for you. Stay the course so when you get there, you give me all the glory.

To say that on major news networks, man, I got to hand it to that guy. It's incredible. Because they pressure you. They pressure you. Before Fox News started to shift, you can see some of the videos I did with Fox News and their LA studio.

And they told me that they really can't, I'm just, I guess, I'm too up front and bold and they wanted me off of there. But they shifted, but they do pressure. You know, don't talk about that. Don't mention Jesus too much.

And don't, you know, just be politically correct. And they pressure you, the media does. So he did a fantastic job with that. But hearing and obeying God's voice. How do we hear it? How do we obey it?

Faithful Obedience and God's Progressive Guidance

Last week, I left off at Genesis 12. The Lord said to Abram, get out of your country to a land that I will show you. So Abram departed. Basically, he obeyed as the Lord spoke to him. And this was pretty challenging because it would be like telling you, okay, sell your house.

And I'm going to tell you where to go from there. I don't know about you, but I'd be, mm, nope, I need to know where I'm going, when I'm going, and how I'm getting there. And it needs to all fall in line.

And then I will obey. But that's what he told. So often, though, sometimes you step out in faith, that first step, then God begins to reveal more of his will and more of his will. It actually happened to us.

We sold our house a year and a half ago. And don't worry, I'm not moving that I'm aware of. But we felt the prompting, the desire, so much confirmation. And we didn't know where we were going until one week prior to close of escrow.

I don't know about you, but I need a little more time. Fourth of July weekend, I believe it was, found something, and they said, oh, we've got 23 other applications on this house to rent. Fortunately, I knew the owner.

And he goes, oh, I remember, yeah, we were friends when we were younger. And so that, but it was one week notice. And often, you know, being, sometimes you don't, because I want to plan, do you? Here's what's going to happen this week, next week, by next month, I can plan all this stuff out.

Often, with God's will, it's like, I'm going to show you what you need to know when, when you need to know it, so you don't run ahead of me and get into trouble. So the first key, we talked about last week, step out in faith.

Step out in faith. And when you don't know what to do, Elizabeth Elliot said this, her husband was actually murdered on the mission field. He landed his plane and was speared to death, him and the other missionaries.

And she said, when you don't know what to do next, just do the thing in front of you. Of course, if it's according to God's will. So, faith is basically, sometimes we think, well, I don't know what to do, I'm just going to sit at home, prop up my feet, put on Netflix.

Not a good idea. Start to do things for God, and walk out in faith, step by step, and then it becomes more clear. And then the second key we talked about, clarity comes from obedience. The more we begin to obey God's word, the more clear His will becomes.

It's not looking through a glass dimly, or you've got these hands in the way, and I can't see. Obeying God makes His will even more clear. So when we're living in disobedience, we know what to do, we're just not doing it.

It's going to be hard to discern His will. And that's why many people get angry, and frustrated, and discouraged, even Christians. You know Christians struggle with that? We struggle with it because often, when we're in disobedience, we don't want to do what God tells us to do, and we're not happy.

Lord, what is Your will? I don't know, I'm not happy, and so obedience begins to make God's will crystal clear. Incomplete obedience is not obedience as well. Has anyone kind of ever half followed God?

He tells you to do something, you're like, okay, I'll do some of that. And that's what happened last week. I talked about disobedience is as the same of witchcraft, God says, in the Old Testament. I actually gave the wrong example last week.

I gave the example last week of Saul, Saul rushed the sacrifice, didn't want to wait until Samuel was there, and he was rebuked for that, and then a couple chapters later, he actually, God said, go and wipe out all the animals.

Animals, don't take any of the spoil, just completely annihilate that area. And he didn't, he kept all the good sheep, all the good livestock for himself. But he got rid of the blemished ones. But I thought God will be happy.

I did kind of do what he told me to do. And he said, your throne has been removed. Disobedience is as the sin of witchcraft. Basically, witchcraft is rebellion against God, disobedience is rebellion against God.

But be encouraged, you can be back in fellowship with God this morning if you repent and get back into the center of his will. And as you mature, be encouraged in this area, as you mature, God may not direct you the same way as he did years ago.

And sometimes I ask God, Lord, you helped me a little bit more when I was younger. But I remember, I don't help my 16-year-old the same way I help my eight-year-old. Come on, let's go, let me show you, let me show you.

No, by 16, you know what you're doing. And so when I was new to the faith, I remember dreams I would have, God would show me, confirmation, prompting, ah, ah, thank you, and then slowly, kind of withdrew some of these things.

You've got my word now, Shane, and you've learned to hear my voice and discern my will and walk in my absolute truth. And God's will is really not that difficult. We make it more challenging than it really is.

But be encouraged, sometimes he doesn't show you exactly what to do. He doesn't write it in the sky. He doesn't drop an envelope in your mail. Sometimes there's great confirmation, but often it's walking in faith based on everything we're gonna talk about.

The Whole Counsel of God's Word

So the third key, this is so important. The third key, if you're not in the word, the word won't be in you. So as believers, if you, okay, I'm talking to people who seriously want to know God's will. You seriously want to know God's will, you need to live in God's word.

I mean, you need to spend time in God's word because you understand the nature of God, the character of God. You start in Genesis, you finish in Revelation. Then what? Then you start in Genesis, Revelation.

You start, you read the word of God. You can get through the whole Bible in a year. It's not very difficult, 20, 25 minutes a day. And see, what happens is the thoughts of God, the mind of God, the will of God begins to be departed, I should say.

Impartation's a weird word, right? Departed into your mind, and now you're thinking like God. The whole counsel of God. The problem with many of the famous preachers out there on YouTube, and I don't want to name names and things, but they just take out little chunks, or they'll read their daily devotional.

God is love. Next week, God is love. Next week, love your neighbor. Next week, go get him, team. Next week, positive thoughts. Next week, you're the head, not the tail. You're above and not beneath. You are conquerors in Christ.

And months go by, always positive. But they forget about the Old Testament prophets who would rebuke and exhort and encourage people to turn back to God, so you would love them and encourage them, build them up, but also you would drop the hammer.

Anybody ever need the hammer of God? God told the prophet, my word is not like a soft, gentle pillow, or a gentle dove. My word is like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces. What, is he referring to a physical rock?

The heart. Is not my word like a hammer that breaks a heart in pieces? Is not my word like a fire that devours? Refining fire of God, and we have to get, you get the whole counsel of God, and your preaching is actually balanced when you're in the Old Testament and New Testament.

And so this is so important. Psalm 119, 105, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Here's the critical thing. The lamp was, it's hard for us to relate to some things because we have a flashlight or you turn on a switch, but their lamp was, oh, there's a scorpion.

And their lamp was to their feet, but they also had a light to their whole path. They could see where they're going. So God's word tells you for now and also for the future. Whether it's finances, marriage, whatever it is, steps now and steps also in the future.

So here's the key I wanna give you. Note things and write them down as you read. You hear the word journaling. I mean, after 22 years, I've tried. I'm not a journaler, even though I do journal sometimes.

But I'm just, I'm not a journal, but I'm a writer. So I'll put down Post-it notes. I'll put down notes. What I believe God is telling me in his word, there's a quiet heart, a quiet hour, and a quiet place.

Without that, you will not hear from God. You need to remove the busyness of your day. You need to unplug the TV if you need to or the computer, and you need to search for God with all of your heart and strength.

And believe it or not, many of the sermons that you hear are actually my time with the Lord, notes I've written down, and God puts it together. That's really what all this is, is journaling from spending time in God's word, looking up certain topics.

Of course, you look up the Hebrew and the Greek and the commentaries and make sure you're, it's gonna minister to people, but it's God really pouring into my heart. God directs us, memorize these last two things.

Wise Decisions and the Guidance of the Holy Spirit

God directs us to make wise, let's underline that. God directs us to make wise decisions according to his word. So so many people are looking for what J .I. Packer said. God is more likely to direct me through wise teaching than through inner voices.

Now, J .I. Packer is not discounting the work of the Holy Spirit, because I've read his book on the Holy Spirit. What he's doing is backtracking and making sure we're not led astray by inner voice impulses and these leadings that might not be of God.

And I've noticed, this is true without a shadow of a doubt, over my life, I've been more directed. I would say, I mean, conservatively, 99 of the time I've had to make decisions and determine God's will, it's been through his principles, his word.

And then there's the 1 where, Lord, I need a little help. I need a little help. Your Bible doesn't tell me what chapter and verse, if I'm supposed to be a pastor. Doesn't tell me if I should sell the house.

Doesn't tell me if we should buy the radio stations. I need a little help here. And so that's where the Holy Spirit will begin to draw and begin to confirm, but it lines up with the scripture. And you'll hear me often talk about hyper-Pentecostal or hyper-charismatic churches, and I see this a lot.

I've probably seen this more than anyone in this whole church, because I'm in the mix of all this, where people really go south or sideways because of inner voices. God told me, if you have a rebellious, arrogant heart, be careful there, be careful there, because he's more inclined to direct you through wise teaching and biblical principles, especially if your heart's not right.

And so we can have these inner impulses, or God told me, and now he does. I remember when we bought the radio station. I was driving on Lake Elizabeth Road, and I'm like, oh, that stinks. We were on the radio station before we bought it, and they told me they're gonna sell it and we're gonna be off the air, and I'm like, oh, Lord, that stinks.

And this thought just came, like, you know, I've had about five or six of these in my lifetime where it's just like, it's not audible, but it's clear. It's like, why don't you buy it? Like, who is that?

And a long, long, long story short, so much confirmation, so much confirmation, because I'm scared. I don't trust Shane Eidelman. I trust God, but I don't trust, oh, you buy it. I mean, come on, give me a break.

And so there was, but see, without him instilling that desire, I wouldn't even begin to pray. So often, he'll, the Holy Spirit deposits something. Oh, is that you, God? And then you begin to, like, planting the church, being a pastor.

This isn't, you can't find that in the Bible. So the Holy Spirit will help in these things. I remember one time I shared with you before, but it was just amazing. I was right back there. It was early morning worship, and I have something really hard to say that morning.

And I'm like, Lord, this, I think I'm just gonna say this in my anger, I can't do it. I don't know if it's you, because I'm pretty angry. I don't know if this is you or not, so I'm just gonna have to, unless you make it crystal clear.

And this old lady, Marilyn Inos, remember her? Man, we need more Marilyn Inos, I'm telling you. So I'm back there, she gets up, she goes over to me. I'm like, uh-oh, what's this about? And she goes, Pastor Shane, God just spoke to my heart.

He said, don't hold back a word this morning. Say whatever he put on your heart. And then she comes back down here. So you're gonna tell me that's coincidence? That's not coincidence. And so see, God, he knows the heart of his children.

Lord, I need help, I need confirmation here. I need, even right before we bought the radio station, I told Morgan, I'm giving this up, because this is stupid. I've never managed a radio station. Like, I don't have something, more things to do.

Right, just add more to Shane's plate. And so I don't know how to manage a radio station was my exact words. That week, a guy comes in from Minnesota into the office, and says, hey, is Pastor Shane in?

I listen to the sermons, I read the articles. I'm a Christian radio station manager. And I read the email, I'm like, you gotta be kidding me. And so long story short, he got us all set up. They take care of all of it remotely.

And so see, there's things that just aren't in John chapter three, or 1 Corinthians 10, that you need a little help. But that's gotta be your food. That's gotta be your consuming passion. That's the Word of God, and really, it's internalized, and so you understand that, and you do recognize that it's actually not that you recognize the wrong voice from the right voice.

Testing Inner Voices Against Scripture

Right, because you hear the wrong things. Don't you? What about the voice that tells me, Shane, it's getting bad in California, why don't you move to Idaho? You have a lot of friends up there. Hmm, I wonder if that's God.

Hmm. Sure, just open the radio, open the church, and just head out of town, dodge, right, got it. Sure, that's the Lord. No, but see, these competing voices. These competing voices. But is this self-exaltation?

Is it pride? And there are ways to navigate these waters, but I would, so many people that I talk to, you know, I read the Bible last week for a few minutes, but you know, they're so confused. Of course, I would be too.

If I'm not in the Word, grounded in the Word, what does God say about marriage and raising kids? What does He say about treating other people? What does He say about my finances, about stewarding, about the work environment?

What does He say about these things? I'm gonna be confused, too. And a lot of times, the confusion comes from, I know what to do, I just don't wanna do it. I know what God's Word says, but. You ever say that?

That's the number one thing I hear when we counsel people in their marriages. Woo-hoo-hoo. And they get, you can tell the man, the veins come out. I know what God's Word says, but you don't know my spouse.

You don't know what I'm going through. That preaches itself, because you know the heart's wrong. So just be careful of those inner voices, because the Holy Spirit does guide, but if your heart has become hard, and your heart, and I'm preaching myself, this is where I gotta be, if your heart has become hard, and callous, and cold, and self-righteous, and you think that God speaks to you, and only to you, and that every word you say is from the voice of God, run, run to this altar, because that is pride.

That is arrogant, and it's deadly, and it's damning. The new King James Bible, study Bible that I use, gave some very interesting points here on when we need to be very careful when making decisions in these areas.

You don't want to make decisions, major decisions, when there's doubt, discouragement, diversion, defeat, and delay. In other words, doubt makes you question God, and His goodness. Do you know how many people I believe personally that make wrong decisions, simply because they're doubting God?

I don't believe God, I don't trust God anymore, and I make a decision now based on my doubt, or my fear, because fear has caused me to make this decision. Discouragement, it makes you look at your problems rather than God.

Discernment Through Faithful Service and Spiritual Priorities

Is anybody getting discouraged? Hello? Like, I literally can't understand our state. Literally can't understand our state. You're going to get rid of 4 ,000 sheriffs because they don't want to get vaccinated.

Do you have any idea what that's going to do? Any clue? And it appears that our district attorney favors the criminal over the victim. And that's just wrong. That's just wrong. We should be able to speak the truth in love.

And I also think make a difference. Be the salt and the light in our community. I'm concerned with what we're leaving our children and our grandchildren. And there should be a healthy passion to make a difference.

That's the salt and the light. We're not just supposed to be a light on a hill. Hello, look at me. Salt makes a difference. Salt is a preservative. And it will impact the lives of many people. Diversion makes the wrong thing seem attractive so that we want them more than the right thing.

Young adult, you meet someone, like, oh, I just like them. I'm in love. No, you're in lust. You're not in love. And so diversion, what the enemy does with diversion, he makes us make decisions based on our lust.

The lust of the flesh. The lust of the eye. The pride of life. So I make decisions based on lust. Diversion, he diverts me away from what God really wants to what he wants. Or defeat makes you feel like a failure so that you don't even try.

And when I'm defeated, I don't hear the voice of God as clearly because I turn into a grumbler and a complainer. Anybody can relate? Are you guys good at the nine? You're not, no grumbling, no complaining?

No, you're good. Makes you feel like a failure. You don't even try. And then delay makes you put off doing something God wants you to do. Whew, this is gonna hit somebody hard. There are a lot of people in the church, even this church, they are putting off what God wants them to do.

God wants me to do this and I'm putting it off. Whether it's working with the homeless or going to Care Net Pregnancy Center. Men, we need men to counsel other men there, maybe even once a week. We need people to help with the homeless ministry or the food ministry or mentoring young adults.

And something, I know life's busy, hello, but we need, we could be doing a lot more. One of the hardest things that I have to process quite often, and the Lord knows, I know people are busy, but we have so many needs.

Let's say a young man needs mentoring or this couple needs mentoring or a young woman needs mentoring. Like with Kaylee, I'd love to plug her in with a young woman, an older woman. But the availability, it's like everyone is so busy.

We don't have time, so are you sure? Are you sure? Because delay, yes, you have to reschedule your day a little bit to help others. You might need to disconnect the Netflix app and turn off the computer.

People often ask me, Shane, how have you written 12 books? Well, you don't watch TV. I watch TV. I have the same amount of time as you do. It's what we do with our time. So that's a big need here. Pastor Abrams' burden, Tim and Amy now are a burden, I'm a burden, Morgan's a burden, other helpers are a burden, Levy, Nicole, Phil and Carrie, I mean, I could keep, if I missed you, don't feel bad.

There's some, we just don't have enough people to help with the need out there. And I talk, Kay, can you help this person? Oh, I'm kind of tied up this week. Tied up what, doing what? I don't say I'm, up here I say it, but not here.

But with the average American house having on the television seven hours a day or the internet, we have the time, we just need to make the time. So am I trying to convict some people today? Yeah, a little bit.

So if you can help, let me tell you, this is God's will to help others. And you might be in a cloud, now in a cloud, meaning you can't see God clearly. Step out and say, hey, I would like to help, even if it's a couple hours a week, and I can take a younger couple, we've got marriage couples.

I mean, emails every couple days, I need help in my marriage, I need strength, I'm falling back into addiction, do you have somebody? And I'm sitting there going, what am I supposed to do with these things?

Remember, many of you know, even Ree helped out a great deal, too, as well, and then she gets overwhelmed, others get overwhelmed, and we just need more people. If a church this size, if just 10 would step up, we could really help the people that need it.

And let me tell you, you don't have to pray about that. That's God's will. God's will is crystal clear to make disciples. It's really clear. So if you want to hear the right voice, I think this will help, hearing the right voice.

God's Leading: Calm, Convicting, and Restorative

God's leading is calm, it doesn't rush you. Do you ever feel rushed or pushed? Rushed or pushed? God's leading, I'm sorry, God leads, He doesn't push, He calms, you don't obsess about things, He encourages, you don't get discouraged, He reassures you, He doesn't frighten you, He enlightens you, He doesn't confuse you, He convicts, but He doesn't condemn.

Condemn is what you feel when you've blown it, when you're shame and guilt, whether it's porn, drugs, besetting sin, and you just, shame, and the enemy just beat you. See, you're not really a Christian.

You want to start a ministry? You want to help, look at you. How could you, God can't even use you now. And we stay in that condemnation, that shame and guilt, and you actually stay in the sin because you're so upset.

But God will convict. He'll say, okay, get back up, you blew it, this is not right, you need to repent, but get back up, and out of the ashes, I'm gonna rebuild. I'm gonna strengthen you, come on, get up, get up.

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and though he falls, the Lord will uphold him with His right hand, a power of strength, and God will pull that person up. See, I'm convicted, but God loves me enough to pull me back up and set me back on the right path.

That's not condemnation. And so many people come in under condemnation of the sin and guilt of, the shame and guilt of their sin, and they come in being beat up, and beat up by the enemy, and beat up, I'll never measure up, and that's why I encourage people when I teach, I tell them, listen, I'm not beating you up, I'm encouraging you.

Yeah, I'm convicting you, it hurts a little bit, but if you take it to God, He will begin to rebuild you, and then there's joy and peace, and assurance of what God is doing in your heart and in your life, it's amazing.

So don't let condemnation knock you off course. And also, try doing this, instead of asking, why is this happening to me? Anyone ever been there? There are some weeks here, I'm like, Lord, are you sure I'm the right person for this?

Why is this happening to me? With what is God trying to teach me? And then we do have, the next slide's gonna be very interesting. God does have a revealed will. Did you know God's will is crystal clear on many issues?

God's Revealed Will: Salvation, Worship, Holiness, and Witness

So think about this, if you stay in His word, saturate your mind in His word, obey His word, God's will's not that challenging, because you're going along singles, hey, I met this person, they're not really a Christian, but I think, no, no, no, no, mm-mm, get back on track.

Hey, I've got this business, I can actually make thousands of dollars here, and I got this partnership, unequally yoked, this guy, not okay, get back on track. And see, God's word will get you back on track with what His will and what His ways are.

We go sideways because we get off track. And so here's what's clearly revealed in God's will. Are you saved? Are you saved? Do you truly have a relationship with Jesus Christ? Has the cross of Christ set you free?

Is there hope and redemption? You know where you're going when you die. You know where you're going. And this is what caused so much, so much fear in our nation over the virus. Most people don't know where they're going, and they are afraid to death of dying.

And so we have to be that light, and we have to offer them that hope. So just know this, if you're listening, listening here or you're here, I don't know, a lot of people are listening as well, are you saved?

That's God's will to be saved. But does God choose me or I choose Him? Well, I'll let the theologians argue. All I know is the Bible says, whoever calls upon me shall be saved. God says, I'm not willing that any should perish, but that all come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Christ is Lord.

And God says, go out, Jesus said, go out and preach repentance. Call the prodigal son home. Tell the wayward daughter there is hope. Go out and preach the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ to all mankind.

There His will is to be saved. Did you know His will is also to worship Him? So you don't need to pray about next Wednesday night, you just need to be here. Yeah, I tell people, hey, next Wednesday, we got a worship night.

Well, let me pray about it, brother. Some of you gotta start putting God on your calendar. You got everything else scheduled in, your work scheduled in, your money scheduled in, but not God. Could that be the problem?

No, just leave it there. To be holy, uh-oh, that means I'm gonna be selective in what I watch, what I view, what I fill my mind with. The Holy Spirit residing in me, I'm gonna be, is this holy and set apart for God and His glory?

Just think if we use that filter before we go and watch a movie. Is it going to influence me? And when I was first saved, you know, and I started dating Morgan, and people, even at churches over the hill, you know, it would make fun.

You don't watch those movies. I don't wanna lust after someone other than my wife. Call me stupid, but that's what the Bible says. I wanna be holy and set apart for God. Now, hold on, hold on, hold on, woo-hoo.

The flesh says, run for it, go watch it. The flesh is pulling, and your choices are never free from this conflict. Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. These forces, these things are pulling on us every day.

Do we obey the flesh, or do we walk in the Spirit? And His desire is that we are holy and set apart. His will is that you be filled continually with the Holy Spirit. Many of you know the verse, be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Well, it's interesting, if you look at that verse, and it's interesting, in the Greek language, even in Hebrew, the sentence structure's actually different, and the word is actually a be being filled.

It's a continual pattern. If he could say be being filled, continue being filled with the Holy Spirit is God's will for your life. So, Shane, what does that look like? It means get your face on this altar.

It means get to morning worship. It means get to rend the heavens when we have them. Worship nights in your own house. Get on your face before God. Put on worship, and make choices that honor God, and be repentant, and broken, and humble, and then you come up out of the prayer closet on fire for God.

The fire of the Spirit is in your heart and in your life, and you want to just shout on the rooftop the goodness of God, and joy unspeakable is coming from your heart, because you are now filled with the power and presence of God.

Oh, if I could get half this church filled with the fire of God, we would not stop worshiping. We wouldn't be bored. King's stomach would not be calling out for In-N-Out Burger. You would humble yourself before God.

I'm not angry. I'm passionate to witness to others. Did you know that's God's will? Are you witnessing to others? I do this, too. I pull up and there's a homeless guy. I'm like, Lord, do you want me to go talk to them?

Show me a sign. I don't know, I'm pretty busy. It's clear. Now, you have to be careful. I've talked to my wife about it. You don't just get out five-four and go in and minister to some homeless guy who could just take the call.

You know, there's wisdom there as well, too, so don't misunderstand. But his goal is to witness to others. That just happened, huh, at Starbucks. You say, I'm witnessing this homeless guy. He's kind of like he's demon possessed.

I'm like, where are you at? Get in my car, go find her. Go to the wrong Starbucks. It's on the other side of town. Like, Lord, just come on, help her now. That was just a side note. But God's will is to make disciples.

See, that's what I said earlier. We have the people that have the need. We just don't have the people to fill the need. How is that possible, a church this size? Amen, Matthew. If I could get some of the retired folk to step up, that would be helpful.

Shame, well, I'm just telling you. And even if you're not retired. I didn't even talk about this at the first service. Not even one ounce. I'm hoping this is helping someone. Now, and then also, God's will is to give, pray, and fast, Matthew 6.

Matthew 6. People ask me often, Shane, how do I know to fast? To me, fasting is a lifestyle. You don't give into gluttony all year and then on January 1st start a fast for a week. It's a lifestyle of denying the flesh and fasting and putting God first.

Good example this morning, if I wasn't taking my daughter this morning at 5 .40, we got here early, I might have stopped and got a donut. But it had to be a good example. Because see, the flesh, right?

And I decided I'm just gonna fast through all three services, I'm not gonna have anything. And it's that commitment to just, God, I'm so hungry for more of you. And his desire is to pray. His desire is to give.

To give of our time, give of our resources, but also give of our finances. And we don't preach that very much here. We don't pass around a plate. God's been blessing us beyond measure. But it is His will that we give.

Spiritual Discipline and Christian Character

And 2 Peter we can put up on the screen. This is so important. He's telling, Peter might know a little bit about the Christian walk, I'm assuming. He walked with Christ with all diligence. In other words, you have to be diligent, you have to be disciplined.