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Let us pray. Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 2 Corinthians 1, 3-4 Heavenly Father, I bless your holy name. You are the only one worthy of praise and adoration.
You are the Father of your only begotten Son, my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In your great mercy, you sent him into this world to redeem me from my sins and grant me eternal life through his shed blood on the cross. You are the Father of all mercies, filled with compassion and ready to forgive the sincere believer who turns to you.
Your nature is to show mercy and give me comfort through whatever trial or tribulation I face. As I receive your comfort and experience your faithfulness in my affliction, I am able to comfort others in the same affliction. Having received the victory over my circumstances, I now have the anointing to encourage others and bring them through to their victory by your grace. No one can speak to an alcoholic like a recovered alcoholic.
No one can speak to a broken heart like someone who knows the pain and experience of that grief. Everything that I overcome becomes part of my testimony of your goodness that I can share with others to encourage and comfort them as you comforted me. That which the enemy means for evil, you turn it for my good and the good of others. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for listening to today's daily prayer.
For more inspiration and an incredible message from our feature pastor, stay tuned to Pray.com's Sunday service.
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Start here, 2 Corinthians chapter 1. And let me go from verse 12. It says,
Our letters have been straightforward and there is nothing written between the lines and nothing you can't understand. I hope someday you will fully understand us, even if you don't understand us now. Then on the day the Lord Jesus returns, you will be proud of us in the same way that we are proud of you. Since I was so sure of your understanding and trust, I wanted to give you a double blessing by visiting you twice. First on my way to Macedonia and again when I return from Macedonia, then you could send me on my way to Judea.
You may be asking why I changed my plan. Do you think I make my plans carelessly? Do you think I'm like the people of the world who say yes when they really mean no? As surely as God is faithful, our word to you does not waver between yes and no. For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not waver between yes and no. He is the one whom Silas, Timothy, and I preach to you. And as God's ultimate yes, He always does what He says. For all
God's promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding yes and through Christ our amen which means yes ascends to God for his glory I want to spend the next few weeks getting conference ready by deepening our understanding of God's great permission when it comes to Working out his will and I want to kick us off today with a sermon. I'm entitling. Yes. What's next? Yes, what's next?
You excited for the Word of God? You excited for this series? I'm so excited. So why don't you do something as you prepare for the Word of God. Salute someone, wink at them, give them a high five if you dare, and then take your seat. Go for it, go for it, go for it, go for it. Amen, amen, amen. So a little surprise announcement. This series is actually based on my upcoming book that has the same title as this series. Pretty pumped. You see, I wrote my first book a couple years ago now, and it was called For Real. For Real.
And I put my heart and soul into that book. It was the first book. So it took me two years to write this book. And it took two years because I literally labored over every single word. Every single word I wanted to have emphasis. Every single word I wanted to hold meaning. I didn't want to just use a word. I wanted to use the word that would articulate it correctly. And so it was a painstaking process.
Revision after revision and hours every single Monday, literally writing, writing, writing. And we finally put the book out and it was such an amazing moment to get the book out there, especially even the title, For Real. Because I labor over words. When we're writing songs, I labor over lyrics because I want lyrics to actually have the emphasis of what we're singing and what we want to articulate but we don't know how to articulate.
The difference between songwriting and book writing is you just get more words with the book. But the title, when we came up with the title, it articulated everything we wanted to say, so real. Because it's a book about faith. A book that illuminated the facade that fear will present to you, holding you back. But what breaks through that facade is faith. And it articulated it so stinking well. And I love it. I feel like it captured the concept so well. Then one day I was at a conference.
And I had a guy come up to me and he said, Pastor Adam, and I didn't know this guy. I was excited to meet him. He knew me. So I was very excited to have a conversation. And he said, Pastor Adam, I just got done reading one of your books. And I thought that was cool because I didn't want to, you know, pop the bubble, the elevated perspective he had of me, knowing I only had one book. So I literally responded. I said, oh, really? Which one? I promise I did.
He didn't need to know any other way, you know. And I said, oh, funny, like which one? And my moment was short-lived because he quickly said, oh yeah, Fox Reel. I said, you mean faux reel? And I swear to you, he said, oh, is that how you pronounce it? I said, hang on, whoa, whoa, whoa. You're telling me you read faux reel, where I used the word faux 357 times in that book, and every time you read it as fox reel?
That day was the day I decided the title of my new book would be Yes. Yes. I love that word. Everyone can read it. Now, while I absolutely love the simplicity of that word and the fact that it's easy to read, the truth is you will be hard-pressed finding a word in the English language that reveals more possibility and releases more authority than yes. You see, as a word, yes is more than yes.
merely approving or agreeing to something, at times it becomes the very verbal key that unlocks potential and activates promise. Proverbs 18 reveals this, that there is life and death in the tongue, which essentially means that words hold weight.
That's what that means. When there's life and death in the tongue, that what you speak, every word you use has weight to it. There's weight to the words that we use. Be careful about the words that you use. And I'm prepared to spend the next few weeks convincing you that yes is one of the most life-giving words that you can have at your disposal. Because in the right context, it empowers and it gives permission. A yes is required when entering into a contract or a covenant.
A yes confirms allegiance and it creates alignment. Militarily speaking, a yes connected with sir is used to acknowledge commands, to mobilize units and deploy resources. Yes confirms and it also affirms. And within the kingdom of God, it is the language of bold faith. That's yes.
If this were a leadership gathering, I would present the notion that yes is the language of a high-capacity leader and is essentially what sets them apart from the crowd within an organization. You see, a bold leader's yes not only carries authority but will communicate conviction and not even just conviction, it will communicate conviction in the midst of intimidation. And when used correctly, it reveals a leader's decisive, direct, and determined nature.
However, let's just leave that for the hype sessions for the moment at Amen Conference and keep our kingdom focused for this moment because throughout the Bible, you will find that Jesus is given many names. His name is Jesus. It is the name above all names. But Jesus, in reference to different attributes, different elements of his calling, his purpose, there were names that were given to Jesus to articulate Jesus so that we can know him better.
For instance, Jesus is referred to as Savior, Redeemer, Messiah, Creator, Bread of Life, Lord, Son of God, Son of Man, Son of David, the only begotten Son, Beloved One, Holy One of Israel, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, King of Kings, Almighty One, Emmanuel, Lamb of God, Our Rock, Our Chief Cornerstone, Our Great Shepherd, The Word of God, The True Vine, The Line of the Tribe of Judah, The Bright and Morning Star, The Light of the Day,
And that second to last one, the amen of heaven. I love that name. That name was given to Jesus, refers to Jesus's response to the redemptive plan of God.
In redemption for humanity. That as the council of heaven gathered together. As God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. As they agreed that in the fall and sin entering into the world. That they would redeem humanity. Jesus yes to be the sacrificial lamb. The purpose sacrifice. He rewarded the name the amen of heaven. Now in the same way. We're also given opportunity to respond to the purpose of God. Which is known as his will for our life. As known as his will. God's will is God's plan.
God's will is God's purpose for each of you. Each of you have a purpose from God. I know that sounds simple and maybe something we should be preaching to all kids, and we are. But a lot of you have a bad memory and a good forgettery, so I need to remind you that you have a purpose in God.
You have a purpose that is God's will. I love that it's called God's will and not God's won't. Because it's all about what he will do in your life and what he wants to do in your life. And the truth of the matter is God's will is active. God has a will that he wants to do. And I think it would be difficult for us to find any single believer in here that doesn't want his will to be done.
I think we'd be hard pressed. I think most of us here, I'm going to go out on a limb and I'm going to say that all of us here would want God's will to be done. It ain't like any of us don't want God's will to be done. It's not like we're praying, Lord, let your will not be done in my life. No, no, we're definitely praying, God, let it be done. I want your will done in my life. However, God does not force his will. So for his will to be done,
It requires our yes. In fact, what if I was to propose to you today that seeing God's will done in and through your life is completely hinged on your yes? Are you here? You're still here. Now, if that's the case, then what holds us back from saying yes to God's will? Like if I can go out on a limb and say that everyone wants God's will to be done, but we know that God doesn't force his will, it requires our yes, what's holding us back?
What could possibly be preventing us from saying yes to God's will? I wonder if the tension could possibly come from not actually being clear on what it is that God wants or what God is asking of us. In other words, I wonder if we hold back our yes because we don't actually know God's will or what it is I'm saying yes to. I wonder. I wonder if we want to, but we don't know what to.
I wonder if we, like, I love the idea that God's got a will, that God's got a purpose, that God's got a plan. And I'm ready to say yes if God would just reveal it. Like, if God would just show me, if God would just tell me, I'm ready with a yes. I'm equipped, I'm ready, I'm locked, I'm loaded. Let's give a yes, but I just would like to know what it is, God, that you're asking of me to do in this life. And I'm ready to say yes, but what...
Well, maybe we could actually take a moment on the first installment of this series to explore and understand the will of God today. Because it's actually what the Apostle Paul is trying to defend here with the Corinthians in this interesting passage of Scripture that we have in 2 Corinthians. As an apostle, we find him explaining his position because of a pivot that he made in his plans. Now, I know from the surface this may seem a little stupid because, I mean, plans change all the time.
How many people know what I'm talking about? Like, like in this modern era plans, anybody taken a flight lately and anybody, anybody have to fly for careers or whatever? Like, you know what I'm talking about? It is actually more common for there to be a delay than there is for a plane to be on time. So we expect things to change. We expect change. Like, like the rare occasion that a flight is on time, you're like, Oh wow, this is, this is novel.
One of the most confusing things to me when you get on a flight and inevitably there's a delay, say it's 20 minutes, 30 minutes, you're sitting on the runway and then they find, okay, we're just in traffic and we're going to take off. And the captain says, but don't worry, we're going to make up time in the air. I'm always like, well, why didn't we just do that in the first place? Like, how is it that we can leave half an hour later and still arrive at the same time? Were you taking the scenic route before? Like, were you on the, you know, the long way? Like, why can't we just go direct? That's what I want to know.
But we expect things to change. We have this expectation that because there's so many moving parts in life, we expect things to change. So why is it that they're so upset with the plan change? The church. To understand why Paul's change of plans was so jolting to the early church, you actually need to understand their perspective. Because scripture reveals that God is unchanging.
This is what we find in Hebrews chapter 13 verse 8. It says, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. This is actually what produces so much incredible security in the believer, especially in the early church from their perspective. To know that God is not like the Greek gods of those days who are emotional and easily manipulated by society.
and they have like ups and downs and highs and lows, and by determining what you do or don't do, the sacrifices that you make will determine whether there's a storm or calm seas or all these kinds of things. For them to know that our God is not fickle like those gods, that our God is stable, that He is steadfast, that He is unchanging, that His promise is still good despite our emotional change. God is steadfast, steadfast. This is the perspective. The God of heaven...
promises to be steadfast throughout generations. Deuteronomy chapter 7 verse 9, know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keeps his commandments to a thousand generations. However, the apostle was not only following his own plans, he was also being directed by the Holy Spirit. You see, this is what he was attempting to reveal to the church in
That as the people of God, we are in a partnership with God. This is a very important understanding that we are in a partnership. That there are two parts to the purpose of God. That there is the plan of God and then you have a part. It's called a partnership. So in other words, we make plans. We make plans.
We make plans. We devise our best strategies. We employ our creative ability with regards to the calling of God, while at the same time flowing with the leading of the Holy Spirit. In fact, this is what Paul had worked out. This is the way he worked. We know this from Scripture. He was called by God to take the gospel to the Gentiles. And to do that, he designed these missionary journeys that he would go on. They were his designing. He's pretty clever about it, too. If you go back to the end of your Bible, you get the maps.
What you're going to see in the maps is you're going to see Paul's missionary journeys. And you're actually going to see this is clever event planning from Paul. It's like, you know what, he goes from this city to that country, and in that country hits a few cities in that country to go to another country. He doesn't go from that country to this city in another country and go back. He doesn't backtrack. He does a circular motion. It's kind of clever, good trip planning if I was to suggest so. And that was Paul. That was all Paul. One God was Paul. God called him. Paul planned.
God called him, Paul planned. However, at the same time, we see on several occasions, while on these journeys, either by circumstance or by direct speaking of the Holy Spirit, Paul would have to pivot in his plans.
There was even this one time where he planned to go to preach in Asia, but it was prevented and he was directed midway by the Holy Spirit. Check it out. Acts chapter 16, verse 6. It says, Next, Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time.
So check this out. We decided...
to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded God was calling us to preach the good news there. Did you see that? Several times Paul had made this plan. He had to trip it all planned out and the Holy Spirit's hijacking it.
Literally hijacking the trip and saying, no, no, you're not going to go there. So preventative. He didn't know why. So he's like, I can't go there. He and his plan, he tries to go another way, gets prevented again. Then he's sleeping at night. He gets this vision of this man from Macedonia. And this man from Macedonia in the vision is crying out to Paul saying, come and help us. So he has a little committee meeting with Silas and Timothy. And the three of them, they said, having decided, we concluded. The order is imperative. Having decided, we concluded.
we then concluded. It wasn't concluded then decided. It was decided then concluded. Having decided to go, they concluded it was God. I thought it would be having concluded it was God, we decided. No, it was they decided having concluded. There was a decision to start moving. There was a decision that I think this is God. I think this is God. You know the way God works in your life, it's
It's hard to see the will of God in foresight. It's real easy in hindsight. I got a clearing in the review mirror to see the way God works. And what we find here is that this articulation of partnership is powerful that we decided having concluded. Hold that thought for a moment because similarly with the Corinthians, what Paul had originally planned was to come and stay with them for the winter, but instead he pivoted on the plan to come in person and instead he pens this letter and the church is not happy about it.
The church is kind of mad. The church is kind of upset. They're kind of like, hang on, hang on. You're not coming? I feel like that's what the Romans, the Italians would say if we were to plan to go to Rome. And then we'd say, oh, by the way, we're not, but I'm sending you a letter. They're mad. They're upset. Some are even accusing Paul of being fickle, suggesting that his yes really means no. Now, I know what you're thinking. Like, isn't this what you want in an apostle? No.
That he listens to the Holy Spirit? That's what I would think. The qualification of an apostle is that he's like, oh, sorry, the Holy Spirit said I can't, I've got to do this. You know, I understand. But they're mad. What you've got to understand for the Corinthians is this posed a potential problem. Because how is anyone possibly meant to know God's will if it keeps changing? That's the problem it presented him with. How is anyone...
Meant to really know God's will if God's will keeps changing. And this is what they were questioning. This is what they were confronted with. And what we see as we think about it, as a follower of Jesus, we're actually instructed throughout the word of God to know and understand his will. For example, let me give you some scripture, Colossians 1.9. It says, And so from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in Christ.
in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. Likewise, in Ephesians 5, verse 17, it says, Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Also, Romans 12, 2, Don't copy the customs and the behavior of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good, pleasing, and perfect. So to the point of the Corinthians...
How are we meant to know what God's will is if it's subject to change? How are we meant to put faith in God's will if God will change his will? Last week, as I mentioned, we got to be in our campus in Italy, both the campuses. And I love it because when we're there with the Italians, it's like you feel like an apostle.
It's so fun because they're so excited to see you. And I love them so much, so deeply. Italians are expressive. Anybody know an Italian? Okay. Italians put their emotions right out there. Okay. They put it like front and center. And so we always have this long line of people that are waiting to talk to us. The problem is they speak Italian and we speak English and neither of us speak both. And so it's kind of, but it works. We figure it out. There's a lot of hugs, like a thousand of them, kisses on every cheek that you've got. And then ultimately we end up just going to the next person.
Now at the same time,
While I'm in Rome, I love the hugs, I love the kisses, I love the food, but there's this particular run I like in Rome that I created for the Run Club. How many in the Run Club? The three of us love you. Okay, so in this Run Club, we've got this run called the Monument Run. Check this out. It's this particular run around the city of Rome that hits like the epic monuments. You've got the Colosseum, you've got the Roman Forum, you've got the Trevi Fountain, you've got the Spanish Steps. There's all these different monuments that you hit on this six-mile run, and it's epic. It's so fun.
And I went out early, like real early. It was hot in Rome. So I went out super early, like 5.30 in the morning. The sun is barely coming up. And as I'm out there, I get to the Trevi Fountain. And to my surprise, there were all these influencers there getting photos.
Like I expected it to be desolate at 5.30 in the morning. The sun isn't even up, but they're all there. And this is crazy because, you know, in the middle of the day, there's like thousands of people there and you can't get your, like your isolated shot. Like you're the only one there. And so what they do is they go at 5.30 in the morning and
And they set up their portable LED lights like a camera crew. You ever seen a camera crew on location? And they've got like little lights on them and a reporter. Take away the microphone. That's what they're doing. They're literally just getting there posing like they're the only person there. And it was actually spectacular because it looked like daylight. They had rigged these lights in such a way that it literally looked like daylight on them. They're fakers. I am following, I'm following every influencer. You're a faker. If you're an influencer here, you're a faker. But they were faking it. And it was impressive.
I stopped for a few minutes just watching. Like they're doing the poses. And they did amazing stuff. Like they were just frolicking. Like all these people, but they angled the camera in such a way that it looked like it was only them in the fountain. Throwing coins over their shoulder and with the foot up. Like yes, travel bloggers. Whatever they were. Clever. And I was laughing at them. But then I got thinking. They're actually pretty clever. Because instead of waiting for sunset and getting crowded out.
They simply provided the light and got the shot. I was wondering if the will of God may work in a similar way. Stay with me. I mean, we're often waiting for God to reveal his will so that we can respond with a yes. That's how we approach God's will. God, if I just knew what your will is, I'd say yes. But what if it's less about waiting on God's will and more about giving God something to work his will through? Can I say it again for this side? What if it's less about waiting on God to reveal his will
and more about giving God something to work his will through.
Just stay with me. This may be the very thing that either breaks the internet or gives you the revelation to walk out the will of God in your life. Because ultimately what you've been doing is you've been paused, hung up, waiting. If God would just show me what I'm meant to do, then I would do it. I'm a willing person, but I want to know what it is. What if it's less about waiting for God to reveal it and more about you giving him something? For instance, what if instead of waiting for the model marriage...
I give God what I've got for him to reveal his will at work in me. What if instead of waiting for the exact career that God has got for me, I just give him my current job and allow him to work his generosity through that? What if instead of waiting on everything to be ideal for him to reveal it all from start to finish to give him my yes, what if instead I just say yes, now what? What if I just said yes, now what?
What if instead of responding with yes, I lead with yes? I'll say, this is going to help. This is going to help. Stay with me. Stay with me. This is going to help so much. Because maybe the problem is the fact that I'm trying to work out what God wants before I say yes. But maybe I could instead give my yes. And now remember Paul's position. In Acts chapter 16, he says, so we decided...
To leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the good news there. Having decided, we concluded. I wonder if deciding to pursue God's will is meant to proceed knowing God's will. What if deciding to pursue God's will precedes knowing God's will? Let me put it this way. What if God's plan is that you wouldn't know his will?
Stay with me. I meant to be producing faith, Pastor, but now you're putting fear in me. I understand. I understand. But go with me because I want to propose to you that God's will is so magnificent, that God's will for you is so big, that if you fully knew his will, that you would probably have an aneurysm and die on the spot.
Because you also know you. And there is no way you, being you, could fulfill what God has for you. But you don't know that God has a plan for you along the journey to prepare you for who he's called you to be and what he has for you. So maybe there is a mystery to his will to start with so that instead of me knowing the will so I can say yes, I can actually say yes, now what? What if we know as we go? Let me say it a better way. What if we know as we grow?
Oh, help me preach, church. I'm telling you, we're just starting out the series.
what if it's not meant to know before I go, but what if I know as I grow? Let me give you some Bible because I know you need some help. Colossians chapter one, verse nine, we read it before. It told us that we need to know God's will. It says, so we have stopped. We have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Well, that kind of seems to contradict what pastor's preaching, that Paul is praying that we would have complete knowledge.
That we would have complete understanding of his will. That was the apostle's prayer. And don't worry, I believe that. But don't stop reading on verse 9. Make sure you go to verse 10. Because verse 10 says, Check this out. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.
That you will grow as you learn to know. This is what Paul is trying to put before the church. If you're hesitating, waiting for God to reveal the plan before you say yes, what do you think you're saying in the meantime? No. The absence of yes is a no. So while you're sitting there waiting, God, if you would just reveal your will so I can say yes, you're actually saying no until. No until. No until. What's even worse is you're saying, I'll decide. Let me hear your will.
So I can say, yes. But what if the will is something that you don't want to do? What if his will is that you would give up everything and serve him? What if God's will is that he would position you in a different posture or a different career or call you to step out by faith, do something that's uncomfortable? Actually, let me say this. What if it is, not what if, it is his will to call you to do uncomfortable things?
Are you going to wait for that uncomfortable thing and then say, oh, well, I was going to say yes, but what if God's looking for obedience? What if God's looking for faith, not feelings? What if God is looking for a people that will say, yes, now what? Yes, now what? Having decided, we concluded.
What if God's looking for those who will decide, God, you've got my yes. Whatever comes next, I'm already on. God, you've got my yes. Whatever comes next, I'm in. God, you've got my yes. Now what? What if God is looking for those who decide, then having concluded that God's in it. Here's the way God works, and I've got to illuminate it to you. It is so difficult to see the God's will going forward. But when you look back over your life, you can acknowledge it so clearly. You can see the God's will was working through even the bad things.
Was it God's will for me to go through a hard season? Maybe, actually. Quite possibly, actually. You're like, that doesn't sound like a loving God. Well, maybe not in the midst of the deficit. Not in the midst of the lack of funds when you're trying to pay rent and you're trying to build a company, you're trying to do something. Not in the midst, it doesn't feel loving. But maybe a loving God could foresee the way that you were growing your confidence in your own finances and not relying on Him.
That he could see if you stayed going on that pathway, the chasm between where you are and security in him would be so vast, you would never make the jump. Maybe God in his kindness allows a desert season so that you would learn what it is to rely on him, therefore building a more sure footing and a stronger foundation and a greater security that you would be thankful as you look back.
For that season of financial difficulty, I'm so thankful for that because it taught me how to be dependent on God. I'm so thankful for that season because in that season, I learned so much about me. I was putting stock in my ability, how people loved me, how people talked about me. But in that season, everything was stripped away and all I had was God. But I was able to build upon the rock. And from there forward, I didn't put stock in what people saw. I put stock in what God called me to do. I'm thankful for it. It was His will.
The podcast, The Bible in a Year with Jack Graham, is a moving and inspiring biblical audio experience that will help you master wisdom from the world's greatest book. In each episode, you'll learn to apply biblical principles to everyday life.
Each cinematic episode is a journey through the Bible's most profound stories that will strengthen your appreciation of the Word and inspire you to keep learning. Listen to The Bible in a Year with Jack Graham on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
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