Participants: Joshua Nelson (Host), Dajanae Maxwell, Jeremy Anderson, Kimberly Pearson, Kory Douglas
Series Code: PC
Program Code: PC000054
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00:01 The following program discusses sensitive issues.
00:03 Parents are cautioned that some material 00:05 may be too candid for younger children. 00:39 Hello and welcome to Pure Choices. 00:41 I'm your host Pastor Joshua Nelson 00:43 and I'm so glad and excited you decided to join us again 00:45 for another addition of Pure Choices, 00:48 and we have an exciting one for you today. 00:50 We're talking about pure worship. 00:53 And we're gonna talk about connecting with our God 00:55 to fix the sexual addictions and problems. 00:58 But before we get into this important topic, 01:00 let's just pause for a moment to pray. 01:03 Dear, Heavenly Father, we just ask that you will guide us 01:05 and lead us as we discuss in Jesus name we pray. 01:08 Amen. Amen. Amen. 01:10 All right, let's introduce our panel. 01:12 To my left I have Ms. Kimberly Pearson 01:15 who is the Associate Chaplain of Oakwood University 01:19 in Huntsville, Alabama. 01:20 Yes? Yes. 01:21 And then across here, we have Pastor Kory P. Douglas, 01:24 who is the pastor in Grand Ave 01:26 and New Life Fellowship in Missouri. 01:28 Mm-hm. 01:29 And next to him we have Dajanae Maxwell 01:32 who is the Oakwood University theology student 01:36 in Huntsville, Alabama. 01:37 And next to her, of course, we have Jeremy Anderson 01:40 who is a Christian author and speaker 01:42 in Madison, Alabama. 01:44 Yes. So we have a great panel. 01:45 Great topic, so let's get right into it. 01:48 First question then is, "What is worship?" 01:51 Jeremy? 01:53 Well, to answer that question for me personally, 01:55 I believe that worship is true communion with God. 01:58 The word of God says 02:00 that He inhabits the praises of His people. 02:02 So when we actually worship God, 02:04 God comes and dwells within us. 02:06 So we're living at our purpose in life because we were made 02:09 and everything was created to bring glory to God. 02:12 So I think about just pure, open, honest worship. 02:15 It's just communion and connection 02:17 and unison with God, 02:18 acknowledging and recognizing the great God that he is. 02:21 Wow, that's awesome. 02:23 Dajanae, expand on that for me. 02:24 I understand worship to be a lifestyle 02:26 and not just an event. 02:28 So many people when they thick about worship 02:30 they think about going to church, 02:31 they think about the praising, 02:33 the preachers speaking. 02:34 Right, right. 02:35 But worship is a lifestyle, 02:38 it's something that I do 02:40 when I'm walking down the street. 02:41 Because as I'm walking down the street, as I'm in my room, 02:44 I'm acknowledging God. 02:45 I'm allowing God to dwell in me 02:48 and I'm allowing him to be glorified through my lifestyle 02:50 and not just something that's orchestrated by men 02:53 to come together. 02:54 While that is important, 02:56 while corporate worship is necessary, 02:59 it's not the ultimate phase of worship. 03:01 And because I allow God to dwell with me all the time 03:05 when that come together 03:06 worship is so much more powerful 03:08 in the presence of God's people. 03:09 Wow, she's taking worship to another level. 03:11 Yeah. Can we go ahead real quick? 03:13 You know what's interesting? 03:14 The way she says that the Bible... 03:16 Jesus said in the Bible that 03:17 "They worshiped me with their mouths, 03:18 but their hearts are far from me". 03:20 And so that worship everyday and everything you do 03:23 that's what God's expecting. 03:25 Not just a corporate worship, 03:26 just it being a way of life and it being real 03:28 because we serve the real God. 03:30 Yeah, and that's just who you are. 03:31 Yeah, that's right. 03:33 But, you know, I think that kind of ties 03:34 into my thought about worship, 03:36 I feel like a lot of times we go to worship 03:39 expecting to get something, 03:41 we go to worship saying "Give me, give me, give me, 03:43 I showed up, that should be enough. 03:46 Now give me blessings, give me, you know, 03:49 all the good things in life." 03:50 But worship is not supposed to be a buffet. 03:55 Worship is a potluck. 03:57 When you go to a buffet, 03:58 you see everything that's out there, 04:00 you put it on your plate, 04:01 and you pick and choose what you want, 04:02 but a potluck you bring what you have your best dish, 04:06 your best thing to the table, 04:07 and you put it with everybody else's best 04:09 and everybody is full. 04:11 So when you worship and you bring to God your best, 04:15 your worship, your praise through out the week 04:17 and the songs you've sung, 04:19 the scriptures you've held and hidden in your heart 04:21 that makes all the difference in the world. 04:23 Now when everybody brings their best to the table, 04:26 now worship is delicious. 04:27 Yeah. 04:29 It's tasteful and it's wonderful 04:31 and it's an experience. 04:33 Okay. 04:35 So now that we are understanding 04:36 a little more about worship, 04:38 let's go a little deeper 04:39 and talk about things we are made for worship, 04:41 okay, let's expound on that fact 04:42 that we are made for worship. 04:44 But let's talk about how can you worship everyday, 04:46 you know, it's just how does worship intersect 04:47 with your everyday life? 04:49 Go ahead and talk to us. 04:50 Well, you know, when I think about worship 04:51 I immediately think of the Samaritan woman 04:53 that Jesus meets at the well, 04:56 you know, and this is the thing we always quote Jesus says, 04:58 you know, "They who worship me, who worship me in spirit, 05:00 and in truth". 05:02 And I think the biggest mistake 05:03 we make is taking that in spirit means 05:05 these days running around trying to act like 05:07 I've got the spirit, 05:08 looked like I've got the spirit, 05:10 but what actually Jesus talked about in the original language 05:12 when he said the spirit, he mans your inner being 05:14 like we have worship, 05:16 it shouldn't be something that's just outward. 05:17 It's not a form. 05:19 But it should definitely come from inside of you. 05:20 Yeah. 05:21 Inspirit and in truth means, it just got to be genuine. 05:23 So we're not judging how you do it. 05:25 When you talk about your everyday life, 05:27 you're talking about worshiping at the center 05:29 of everything you do. 05:30 We sometimes laugh about what would Jesus do, you know, 05:32 bands in our arms, but truthfully, 05:36 worshiping in your life is saying 05:38 what everything I do I'm gonna ask God about it. 05:40 I'm gonna put it before Him. 05:41 God, even if you want to get serious and say, 05:43 "God, what socks should I wear today?" 05:45 Because my socks might start a conversation 05:47 that might allow for me to witness for you, 05:49 you know, but we never know. 05:51 And so as to say, in every aspect of our life 05:53 to really think about it like, 05:55 "Well, I've to be careful what I do here. 05:57 I go to be conscious of what I do. 05:58 I got to be intentional about it," 06:00 because everything I do is an act of worship. 06:02 Wow, that's deep. 06:04 So we're living a life that is worship. 06:07 And really I guess I'll ask this question, 06:08 "Is that our purpose in life?" 06:10 Is our purpose in life to worship? 06:11 Oh, yeah. Okay. 06:12 So if that's our purpose in life 06:14 and that's what we are, 06:15 you know, made to do, 06:16 then how should that really coincide with my sex life? 06:23 You know, how does that connect? 06:24 How does that connect with, you know, the choices I make, 06:26 the pure choices I make, you know, 06:27 is that in a form of bad worship, 06:30 if I'm doing something that's not according to God? 06:32 Oh, without a doubt. 06:33 Either you're worshiping God 06:35 or you're worshiping something else. 06:37 And I think a lot of times we get that confused. 06:40 Either you're worshiping God 06:42 or you're worshiping something else, 06:43 and so someone may challenge that, 06:45 "Well, if you're putting something before your God, 06:47 then what do you call that?" 06:48 And so a lot of times we worship our spouses, 06:50 we worship our jobs, 06:52 we worship the things, possessions, 06:54 the things that we have. 06:55 You know, when the Bible says that 06:56 "I will never give you more than you can bare," 06:58 it doesn't just mean trials 06:59 sometimes it may mean good thing, blessings 07:02 and I believe that there are a lot of things 07:03 that God wants to give us, His children, but He's saying, 07:06 "If I give it to you I can't trust you with it yet," 07:09 because your worship that accomplishes me, 07:11 your worship that degree, you worship that spouse, 07:13 and you worship sex or whatever it is. 07:15 And so God has to put this in a position 07:17 where we see He came first 07:19 and then He can trust us and move on from there. 07:21 So, yeah, that thing's tricky. Okay. 07:23 I think on that lines, you know, 07:24 where people believe 07:26 that there's a Great Controversy going on 07:27 and so I definitely call it a sign. 07:29 If you're not worshiping God, you're worshiping other things 07:31 but at the end of the day if you're not worshiping God, 07:33 you're worshiping the evil and the enemy. 07:34 Right. 07:35 You know, in the Bible clearly says 07:37 "Our bodies are temple." 07:38 And by God's grace it will be a temple to God, 07:40 but we forget that it can also be a temple to the enemy 07:43 and so we have to be careful what we do with our bodies. 07:46 You know, we think about the fact 07:48 that God created sex for certain way 07:50 in a certain context. 07:51 The minute you step outside that context, 07:52 then you have to ask yourself, 07:54 "Well, who am I worshiping right now?" 07:55 Yeah. 07:56 You know, if God made sex for marriage 07:58 and I'm not married and I'm having sex, 07:59 then I can't be worshiping God. 08:01 You know, and so we got to take down 08:02 the considerations as well. 08:03 Okay. 08:05 And I think y'all are answering the question 08:06 that I'm gonna ask next 08:07 which is, you know, a lot of people may say, 08:09 "You all talking about pure choices a lot 08:10 on this program, 08:12 you all are talking about, you know, 08:13 making the right choice 08:14 and not having sex out side of marriage 08:16 and what not, but I mean, does God really, what, I mean, 08:18 really why does God even care so much about my sex life?" 08:21 You know? 08:23 "And what is He really, why does He care so much, 08:26 you know, why is it so important to Him." 08:27 I guess worship is a part of it. 08:28 But someone, kind of, expand on that for me. 08:30 Well, you know, I think worship is an investment, right? 08:34 What you put your time into, shows what you're invested in. 08:37 And so if I put all of my time in to work, 08:41 I'm invested in work. 08:42 If I put all my time into God, I'm invested in God. 08:44 But if I put all my time and energy 08:46 and thoughts into sex, 08:48 then I am invested in something 08:51 that may not be for my good at that time. 08:54 And so I think part of why God is concerned 08:58 with our sex lives 08:59 is because God wants to make sure 09:01 that we make wise investments with our time, 09:03 with our energy, with our worship. 09:05 And so when we view it in that context 09:08 sometimes that maybe can help us see 09:11 how God does care about our sex life. 09:13 God made sex to be good in context, you know, 09:18 so looking at it maybe from that standpoint... 09:20 In the context of marriage... 09:21 In the context of marriage. 09:23 Yes, in the context of marriage. 09:25 And there's the concept, there's another concept 09:27 that I understand as adultery is putting, 09:31 can be putting a good thing as the ultimate thing. 09:34 So is sex wrong, is sex nasty, is it bad? 09:36 No. 09:38 But like what you were saying in the context of marriage, 09:40 it could be a beautiful thing. 09:41 So if I'm dressing, and I'm holding myself, 09:44 and I'm interacting with my sexuality 09:47 over like my spirituality what Christ has given me, 09:51 then I'm allowing sex to drive my life 09:53 instead of Christ to drive my life 09:55 and so is that thing that sex is bad, no, 09:58 but that's how you interact with your husband 10:01 and that's fine but still in the same. 10:03 And when I'm in public, am I doing that? 10:06 When I'm in public, 10:08 am I being overly sexual 10:09 to where I don't understand my situation, 10:13 who's around me, and who am I speaking to. 10:15 Well, you know, I was reading this book 10:16 and I think the title is 10:19 "Women are like spaghetti-men are like waffles", 10:22 how men compartmentalize and women everything enter, 10:26 you know, weaves in, 10:27 the sauce is touching everything 10:29 and I think sometimes we do worship like that. 10:31 Worship is like waffles. 10:32 Everything God is like waffles, everything's in a box, 10:35 everything is compartmentalized. 10:37 And so worship is here, worship is church, 10:40 worship is with my family, 10:41 you know, on Sabbath, but sex, my relationships, 10:45 who I'm attracted to that's over here. 10:47 Separated. And that's separate. 10:48 And so God works here but not here, 10:50 but God is like spaghetti. 10:52 Spaghetti worship. 10:53 God is like, He's interweaving into everything. 10:56 He wants to touch every part of our lives 10:58 so that every part of our lives is good. 11:01 Not just one part with waffles and syrup in the one box, 11:04 you know. 11:05 Well, I'm listening to you, guys, 11:06 and I can't help but think about the Garden of Eden, 11:08 you know, we know what created an imagine of God, 11:10 you know, and that God has given sex 11:12 to consummate the marriage 11:13 and the Bible says, Jesus says, you know, what man, 11:16 "What God put together, let not man put asunder," 11:19 but the Bible describes it becoming one flesh. 11:22 And the whole point of it 11:23 is to mimic pretty much the image 11:25 that God has in heaven and so, you know, 11:27 sex is much more about the kind of intimacy. 11:30 What it really is, 11:31 is the testimony of the intimacy 11:33 that God seeks to have it with us 11:34 and that's why it's so important 11:36 to make sure that it is done in the right context 11:37 as well, so... 11:39 Yeah. Yeah. 11:40 And, you know, to piggyback on that statement right there, 11:44 the intimacy factor that's what's really important. 11:46 I think that's a lot times was missing in worship. 11:49 The intimacy like you and God, 11:50 like I think of a man and a woman or me and my wife, 11:53 we have our 'us time' like nobody else is involved 11:56 and even when we're not having it 11:57 we're standing in the public. 11:58 I'm touching her, I'm holding her hands, 12:00 I've got my arms right like that's my boo 12:02 and God wants the same connection with us. 12:04 I mean, He... 12:05 I think I love my wife. I'll die for my wife, right? 12:08 But God die for my sins 12:10 and so that worship just needs to be intimate, 12:12 just the caress, the touch, the feel, 12:14 just the anointing, feeling you about power 12:16 and spirit that's that next level worship right there. 12:18 So when you mentioned intimacy, it kind of took me there. 12:21 God is your boo. 12:22 That's it. He's my boo. 12:24 Yeah, my Friend, my Provider, 12:25 my Elohim, Melchizedek, He's everything. 12:27 Yeah. Right? 12:29 And so I just like to type into that worship 12:31 and give the different type of mindset 12:32 when I have time to just quality time 12:34 with God and just reload, 12:36 but that intimacy time is nothing like it. 12:37 Yeah. 12:39 And that's so powerful 12:40 because we have to have that connection. 12:41 Got to. 12:43 You can't survive, you can't rely on your strength, 12:44 you got to have that power, 12:46 you gotta be plugged into that power. 12:47 I'm beginning to understand 12:49 that concept of intimacy as well. 12:51 When two people are married, and they come together, 12:54 and they have sex, 12:56 that oneness in the beginning in Genesis God said that 13:00 "The man will leave his mother and cleave to his wife 13:03 and they will become one flesh". 13:05 And so with that same concept in John 13:08 when Christ is saying that he prays 13:10 that we will all be one with the Father just as him 13:13 and the Father are one, I and him and him and me, 13:16 that's the same concept of oneness 13:19 of being one flesh of being bound to Christ. 13:22 And so the whole concept of marriage 13:25 and becoming one is not just to be married 13:28 and to be happy here on earth, 13:29 but it's an example of the kind of relationship 13:32 and one that Christ wants to have with us. 13:34 Wow, that's beautiful. 13:35 So intimacy that is the goal in worship, 13:38 trying to get close or in connected to God. 13:41 So now let's talk about then, 13:43 if we are going ahead and doing these sexual divine acts 13:46 for going to, you know, 13:48 not make pure choices make poor choices, you know, 13:50 in our lives what does that do then to our worship? 13:55 Well, you know, you talked about being one 13:58 and if the act of intimacy is specifically sexual intercourse 14:02 and physical intimacy creates a oneness, 14:08 how many people do you really wanna be one with? 14:10 You know what I mean? 14:11 You wanna be one with a lot of different people, 14:13 that's not okay. 14:15 And so if I am creating that oneness 14:19 with someone other than God, 14:21 then it causes glitches in my relationship with God. 14:25 And so how can I go to God and worship Him 14:29 with the images of what I've done 14:31 in all the people I'm one with in my mind? 14:34 You know? 14:35 So having to break those bonds of oneness 14:38 with all these other people, 14:40 to help create and nurture the oneness with God 14:42 and that process can be very difficult. 14:45 Why put yourself through that unnecessarily. 14:48 Wow, yeah. 14:49 And, you know, as you say that I'm thinking, 14:52 you know, the Bible says leaving cleaves 14:54 but sex with your married partner. 14:58 Sex in the right context is leaving and cleaving, 15:01 it equals oneness with God. 15:02 It leads to oneness with God. 15:03 That sex helps you to understand, 15:06 you know, the oneness with God even more 15:08 and so how many things can you leave and cleave onto. 15:11 Do you understand what I'm saying? 15:12 So you gotta make sure that 15:14 if that first was done in the right context 15:16 of course within the marriage, 15:17 but I mean the minute that you step outside of that power 15:22 that God has it means you just have other partners. 15:24 You're cleaving to those other things. 15:25 Wow. Mercy. 15:26 You know, and so you can't say Jesus says, 15:29 "No man can serve two masters." 15:31 So you can't say I wanna have it my way 15:33 and have sex and to do what I want, 15:34 and serve God at the same time. 15:36 I can't worship God 15:37 while I'm cleaving to everything else. 15:38 Wow. 15:40 So you haven't really, 15:41 you basically made the decision saying 15:43 I'm going to not cleave to God 15:44 and not do His way with being married and having, 15:46 you know, trying to be me and my wife and God 15:49 I'm gonna go in and add other people to the equation. 15:51 And destroy that trinity of worship 15:53 that I was trying to have with me and him. 15:55 Wow. 15:57 But, you know, God wants us to be bonded with him 15:59 not just physically but emotionally bonded, 16:03 mentally bonded with you. 16:04 And especially for women 16:06 when a woman is intimate 16:08 that's not just a physical act that's an emotional, a mental, 16:12 it's all of that encompass. 16:14 It can be the way for men too. 16:16 Okay, okay, you now, 16:19 but I'll speak specifically for women. 16:21 All right. It can be like that. 16:24 And so imagine if I am creating these mental bonds. 16:29 I mean, the act of sex physiologically creates, 16:33 you know, a chemical bond that bonds us, 16:37 that addicts us to the other person. 16:39 I don't wanna get addicted to a bunch of other people. 16:41 And so now when I go to God and I want to pray, 16:44 I'm bonded to other people, I'm bonded emotionally, 16:49 my mind isn't right, my spirit isn't right, 16:52 I'm having a hard time focusing, 16:54 and then when the bonds are broken through a breakup 16:57 or through a bad relationship, 16:59 now God has gotta clean that all up, work that all out, 17:03 and then restore our relationship with him. 17:05 Yeah. 17:06 And with... Kory, were you about to say something? 17:08 No, go ahead. 17:09 In the, just like what you were saying, 17:11 intimacy is not just physical, 17:13 intimacy is deeper than that 17:15 and so as I'm speaking with someone, 17:17 as I'm spending time with them 17:18 that intimacy is growing deeper and deeper. 17:20 I'm getting to know them as a person, 17:23 their minds their spirits, 17:24 and so at the end it builds up to the physical 17:26 but it's not the physical alone. 17:28 And that's the beautiful part with God in worship. 17:32 It's not the example of a person, 17:34 it's just an example of God wants us to spend time with him 17:37 in our daily lives that intimacy is a build up 17:41 to something greater, 17:42 that oneness, that communication, 17:44 that getting to know you 17:47 before I get to know you as the Bible says. 17:49 Yeah, yeah, and that's all interesting 17:51 because just in like relationship, 17:52 you're saying that shouldn't just be all about the sex, 17:55 you know, it should be about getting to know the person 17:57 and building up to that point. 17:58 And I think, you know, a lot of people 18:00 look at their relation with God 18:01 kind of the same way they relation with other people, 18:03 you know, they just want the, you know, want to have sex, 18:06 want to have the blessings of God, 18:07 but they don't wanna have the relationship with him. 18:09 They want the personal stuff, 18:10 they wanna have that magical moment, 18:11 you know, they get that high, 18:13 you know, in church or whatever maybe, 18:14 but they don't wanna spend that time 18:15 really getting to know him, having that, you know, 18:17 that spiritual discipline to really get them, 18:18 you know, get them in a relation with God. 18:21 You know, I think that's what makes the worship 18:23 pure and true 18:24 when you can worship God even on the bad days. 18:27 You know, when you can go to church and not just worship 18:30 because things are going great and you got that job, 18:32 well, you can go to work or worship 18:34 and you don't have a job, 18:35 or you just found out a relative has cancer or, 18:37 you know, you are dealing with financial struggles 18:39 but you can still move past it and worship God. 18:42 Because when we allow things 18:43 to get in the way of our worship 18:45 we're actually worshiping those things. 18:46 You see what I'm saying? 18:48 We're acknowledging what the enemy is doing 18:49 in our lives as apposed to exalting God. 18:52 And there are stories after stories that you can look, 18:54 King Jehoshaphat, and Hezekiah 18:55 and what they went through in the middle of their battle, 18:58 worship is what gave them the victory. 19:00 And so I tell a lot of people nowadays, 19:02 don't wait until you get that breakthrough, 19:04 when a bad news comes get your worship on now 19:07 because that's when the victory will come. 19:09 It's the same thing with my wife. 19:10 I could just only love my wife on good day 19:12 but when she's getting on my nerves 19:13 I still got to love her, right? 19:15 Yeah. Yeah. 19:16 And so God wants the same thing from us. 19:18 Okay. Yeah. 19:19 So now let's even go little more practical 19:20 because someone, you know, listening or watching may say, 19:24 "That sounds beautiful I wanna worship God, 19:26 you know, I want that to be a part of my life, 19:28 but what does that look like, you know, how do you do that? 19:30 What is worship look like?" 19:31 Is it, you know, 19:33 'cause a lot of times like you say, 19:34 we just think worship is all praising God 19:35 and jumping around. 19:37 What does worship really looks like? 19:39 I don't know if we can say what it looks like. 19:41 Okay. 19:42 I believe the minute you say what I looks like, 19:44 you kind of put it in the box and then people would strive 19:47 for what it looks like. 19:48 You know, I'm reading this book that talks about the fact 19:51 that what we do nowadays is that 19:53 when it comes to time we got intimacy with God, 19:56 we have become comfortable with having go-betweens. 19:58 So we wanna worship God 20:00 but we will rely on the pastor to feed us. 20:02 We wanna worship God, 20:03 but we rely on devotional books. 20:04 We wanna worship God, 20:06 we rely on our Sabbath school lesson. 20:07 And I believe that 20:08 a part of what we are looking at right now 20:10 is sometimes having to set time aside 20:12 and say it's just gonna be in God. 20:13 You turn the phone off. 20:15 I'm talking about being practical. 20:16 Man, if I put the phone in the kitchen, in the draw, 20:18 I'm going to completely other room, I'm gonna, 20:21 it may be a serine place, I mean, just looking at nature 20:23 but I'm just gonna place myself intentionally... 20:26 In position. 20:27 In the presence of God. 20:29 And it's not to say that because you do that, 20:31 then also you got to hear magical stuff and you know, 20:33 the light will shine down from the heaven. 20:35 One day you might hear God clear as day, 20:37 another day you might not hear anything 20:39 and that might even be what God needs for you, 20:40 not to hear at that point, 20:42 but it's about being intentional 20:44 about sitting in His presence 20:45 same way with your intentional about. 20:46 "I wanna be sitting on the couch 20:48 and I say to the person I love 20:49 because I just wanna be next to them." 20:50 Sometimes we don't get to talk, we can just sit there. 20:53 You got to make that same effort 20:54 and say I just want to be in God's presence. 20:56 You know what I love about what you said? 20:58 I'm talking about 20:59 sometimes we wanna get that spiritual fix, 21:01 we want the go-betweens 21:03 and that ties so much into our sexuality 21:06 especially a lot, some of us Christians 21:08 we want that fix, we don't have sex 21:10 but we'll do everything else to get that fixed. 21:14 And what we talked about earlier is that 21:16 intimacy is a lead up to a point. 21:20 It's been to a climax. 21:21 And so a lot of times what happens in our worship 21:23 or in our sexuality is, you know, 21:26 we'll have this foreplay and then stop. 21:30 And foreplay and stop. 21:32 And so you are missing out on the experience 21:34 that supposed to happen to lead to a greater moment 21:36 and we do that in our spiritual life. 21:38 We get these little bits and pieces 21:39 and then stop God 21:41 from actually having His way in our life 21:44 and so we have to go all the way with God. 21:46 We have to go all the way with Him. 21:48 We have to be intentional about saying 21:50 what "God, whatever you're asking me to do 21:52 I'm gonna do, 21:53 if that means letting go of some relationships, 21:55 if that means, you know, walking away from something's, 21:57 let it go." 21:59 Have your God as a dating relationship 22:01 so you get to know him, right, you get to know His name, 22:03 you know who He is and you start spending time. 22:06 When you like somebody, you spend time with them. 22:08 And so you go out so you spend time with God. 22:10 Now what will happen if you were on have a date 22:12 and the person kept taking you to the same place every time? 22:15 You be like, "I'm bored." 22:17 So do new things, do fresh things, 22:19 journal, go for a walk, you know, 22:21 have groups of friends get together, 22:23 have conversations, 22:25 and after that you have dating experience, 22:26 the quoting experience, 22:28 you invite God to be in your life. 22:30 What do you do? 22:31 We make it official. 22:33 It's all right, guys, let's make it official. 22:34 Let's commit to each other. 22:35 And you make that official and then after that, you know, 22:37 you get married, you have wedding vows, right? 22:39 Yeah. 22:41 The Bible are our wedding vows, 22:42 so whenever your relationship is going 22:44 through a hard time with God where do you go? 22:45 You go back to your vows. 22:47 Go back to the Bible 22:48 and hide those wedding vows in your heart. 22:50 Amen. 22:51 You know, that's so beautiful, 22:53 just to hear you say that it makes me think 22:55 about being important of having that union with God. 22:59 Being in that one with Him, dating Him, 23:01 knowing exactly where He's at, 23:03 and then having to make a set time to meet Him, 23:05 right, so God convicted me about year and a half ago, 23:08 He said, "Son, you've been traveling and preaching 23:10 and asking for my spirit, 23:11 but you're not giving me enough time. 23:13 You watch 2, 3 hours of sports and the news, 23:15 but you're giving me 30 minute worships." 23:17 So I started getting up earlier than earlier 23:19 and now when I'm not traveling and I'm home, 23:21 I'm walking up between three and four to seek Him. 23:23 You know what I'm trying to be though? 23:25 One of my good friends, he wakes up so early, 23:28 he says he doesn't like sleep, you know why? 23:30 He says because he feels like 23:31 when he sleeping he's separate from God. 23:33 Mercy. 23:34 He's like I wanted to be awake, 23:36 I wanna have my mind focused on God. 23:38 And I'm like, man, would you be so kind 23:40 God to give me that type of desire for you 23:43 and he is in love with God. 23:44 And so that intimacy in the set time 23:47 we put aside for God is so key 23:49 'cause the hustle and bustle of life, 23:52 that can derail us. 23:53 Yeah. 23:54 I like what both of you guys are saying 23:56 because we're being practical 23:57 and the truth is we can't see God. 23:59 We've never held His hand, physically, 24:01 we've never hugged Him physically, 24:02 and so one thing that we have to keep in mind 24:04 is that the things that we do in our life, 24:06 sometimes to pick and to determine 24:08 how we worship God. 24:10 And that's why sexual purity is so important. 24:13 Because if you are frivolous, 24:15 if you are promiscuous out in regular life, 24:18 and we're not just talking about sex, 24:20 we're talking about on your job, 24:21 if you're not faithful enough in your job, you know, 24:23 you come to work, you're hiding in your desk, 24:24 you take a 20-minute nap before you clock in, 24:26 you know that kind of thing, 24:27 that's how you're gonna treat God. 24:29 The same way you're so used to having, you know, 24:30 with all these different sexual partners 24:32 and one night stands and just like you said, 24:35 touching sometimes, and not touching sometimes, 24:36 again to third base 24:38 and then turning back and running to home plate 24:39 and doing that over and over again 24:40 and flirting with going to home base, 24:42 that's how we're gonna treat God 24:43 in our relationship we have 24:45 because that's what we know 24:46 as intimacy in our everyday life. 24:48 And so that's why it's so important 24:49 to make sure you maintain that purity 24:51 because it will reflect on your relationship with God. 24:53 Yeah. Yeah. Wow! 24:54 There's little things for me personally 24:56 there's little things that I do that I can't say, 24:59 oh, this is what intimacy with God looks like 25:02 but I know, for me, 25:04 it's just a simple acknowledging 25:06 of who He is throughout my day. 25:08 So I get A I'm praising him, I didn't do, I might get an F, 25:13 I'm still praising him. 25:14 I'm like okay, Lord, be with me, 25:16 okay, Lord I acknowledge 25:17 that you are currently surrounding me. 25:19 So just acknowledging that, when I wake up in the morning, 25:24 Lord, thank you so much for waking me up, 25:25 like before I even get out of my bed, like, oh, 25:27 just smiling like, oh, Lord you're with me, 25:30 like, in just little things and that's intimacy with God. 25:34 If you think about two people who are married 25:36 and they wake up, and they kiss each other, 25:38 and kiss each other on the cheek 25:39 or on the forehead, 25:41 like, those little things waking up 25:42 and appreciating that I woke up next to you. 25:44 And so just waking up in the morning, 25:46 "Lord, thank you for being next to me, 25:48 thank you for holding me throughout the night," 25:50 the little things. 25:52 You know, Dajanae and I 25:53 had a conversation the other day 25:54 and Dajanae was saying that, it's almost like 25:56 we're in a long-distance relationship with God. 25:58 Yes. 25:59 And if you're in a long-distance relationship 26:01 you have to do certain things 26:03 to keep that relationship alive. 26:04 Yeah. Yeah. 26:05 You gotta Skype, you know, you got to FaceTime, 26:07 you got to talk 26:09 and so we have got to talk to God, 26:11 prayer is the most important, 26:13 I think, 26:14 part of this long-distance relationship. 26:16 Talking to God communicating with Him, 26:19 and I just love that. 26:20 You know, if you're in a long-distance relationship 26:21 you got to watch your interactions, you know, 26:24 but you have to continually nurture that relationship 26:26 and eventually God will come back 26:28 so that we can be together again. 26:30 Yeah. True. Very true. 26:31 That's awesome. 26:33 You know, I got something that God just gave me. 26:34 He reminded me of just looking at this 26:36 whole relationship factor, 26:37 Psalms 37:40 says something so deep. 26:40 It says, "To delight yourself in the Lord. 26:42 He'll give you the desires of your heart." 26:44 And so I think about my wife and we think about our spouses 26:46 and we love them so much, 26:48 we wanna just do whatever we can do for them. 26:50 And God's just like to delight yourself in me 26:53 and I'mma blow your mind. 26:55 Like delight. 26:56 It doesn't say worship me and I'll give the desire. 26:58 It doesn't say pray, it says delight yourself in me. 27:00 Yeah. 27:01 Ad so that's just the word for us all, 27:03 to really just take God and get to know them 27:04 and just delight ourselves in His power. 27:07 Can we just stay there 27:08 on that long-distance relationship just for a second? 27:10 Go ahead, go ahead. 27:11 Just for a second 27:12 because when you are 27:14 in a long distance relationship, right, 27:15 there's other people that are around you 27:18 that you maybe attracted to but you have to guard yourself. 27:22 You have to guard the avenues of your soul. 27:23 You have to guard the way that you interact with them 27:25 because you know you love that other person more. 27:28 So with that same concept with God, 27:30 it's like there's a whole bunch of distractions around us, 27:33 there's things that seem so pleasurable, 27:35 so delightful but I'm like, "But my God is greater 27:38 and He loves me and He's over there 27:40 but He's right here because I'm acknowledging Him". 27:43 Amen. 27:44 Dajanae is about to takes us out. 27:46 That's about our time there. 27:48 We just want to remind everyone that we were made for worship 27:51 and so in your life and everything you do, 27:52 remember to always make Pure Choices. 27:56 God bless. |
Revised 2017-06-05