The Sermon Holy Spirit - Be Plugged In by David McGee
Mar 22, 2015
Holy Spirit - Be Plugged In (31:59)
Referenced Scriptures: Acts 20:17-32
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The scriptures below are from the WEB Bible.
Acts 20:17-32
17) From Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called to himself the elders of the assembly.
18) When they had come to him, he said to them, "You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you all the time,
19) serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears, and with trials which happened to me by the plots of the Jews;
20) how I didn‘t shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, teaching you publicly and from house to house,
21) testifying both to Jews and to Greeks repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
22) Now, behold, I go bound by the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there;
23) except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions wait for me.
24) But these things don‘t count; nor do I hold my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to fully testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
25) Now, behold, I know that you all, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more.
26) Therefore I testify to you this day that I am clean from the blood of all men,
27) for I didn‘t shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.
28) Take heed, therefore, to yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the assembly of the Lord and God which he purchased with his own blood.
29) For I know that after my departure, vicious wolves will enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
30) Men will arise from among your own selves, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.
31) Therefore watch, remembering that for a period of three years I didn‘t cease to admonish everyone night and day with tears.
32) Now, brothers, I entrust you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build up, and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
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We've been speaking the last few weeks about the Holy Spirit in the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and today it is to be plugged in. I've been thinking of the il ration of your house that has this not connected to electricity. What happens when our homes are not collected connected to electricity. Nothing works like stone work. The appliances don't work. The heating system doesn't work so we're just disconnected. And so the challenge then for our life is how do we be connected. How are we to be connected with the Holy Spirit how are we to be connected with and sometimes I think of it whenever we pray. Sometimes I think the feeling is that you know it's like it's not working now and I know I don't need a hairdryer. But but you know my hairdryer doesn't work. What's wrong with my hair dryer. The switches on the silo high off but just makes no difference in our lives. I think sometimes we're like this. Well why isn't doing this. See there's a difference between praying and complaining. So anybody know what a complainer is. Just like this is a working this isn't working. You know I give my prayers and nothing changes and I am doing everything that I supposed to. I put money in the B.G. unceasing it and it's just not there. And we wonder why our prayers are being answered or why we feel so distant. Perhaps in our experience that we're going through the motions we got everything and it all works. All should work but it just doesn't seem to do what it's supposed to. Well in our life we need to think of the scriptures that pertain to the need to pertain to what's going on in our life. Now if we are studying for a test the Bible says that would bring back to our remembrance those things that we have faithfully studied. It doesn't say that go to your to go do your test without studying. And I'll give you the answers. You know if we have faithfully studied that we are asking So whenever we are studying and we are asking to help us what we are doing is connecting ourselves to the source and they were actually asking to help us. Now I'm seeing if this will work. It makes a difference. It makes a difference when you plug it in it works. And whatever we are whenever we are praying we are we are reminding ourselves and reminding that this is his word and we're asking him. We're asking his word to be a part of what we're doing that promised that he would be with us in our travels. That means you're going in and you're coming out from this day forth and forevermore. So that would be with us so we are praying that will be with us and help us as we travel. We're praying that will help us in our work place we're praying that would help us in our finances were praying that would help us make our decisions we pray that would help us in deciding what we should do with our life and what we should say and what we you know what what how are you going to open the doors for me this time. But change that around and say I thank you that you are opening doors for me not complaining while you know I've done this a thousand times and it's not working. But What is it that you want me to say today. What is it that you want me to do this time. What is it that's different. Whatever I fall into a habit of thinking wow it's all just up to me and it's all just part of who I am. You know it's not about me it's about It's about connecting to our source. And as Christians as believers we cannot be Christians without connecting to Christ. Without Christ we cannot we don't have the strength. We don't have the insurance. We don't have the abilities and we know that whenever we meet Christ things work. There goes my star and I'm done. Got blown off the platform. But I wasn't planning on doing that one. But we find that has a way of changing things around. Even with our own il rations he has a way of changing things around so what we have to do is we have to go with the flow. Sometimes we have to pick up the mess. I don't see anybody running up here to help us. didn't lead you to do that right. Well you know it's a good thing it's only a short sermon today because usually I have about ten or twelve pages you know so I could really be in on this but the story that I subject portion of Scripture that I was thinking of was when Paul two things two things of two areas of Paul's life. One is what. Every he's on the road to Damascus. Now we have to understand that Paul is a very zealous individual. Paul is a hard nosed hard core Walk the Line individual that was willing to kill for his beliefs and willing to make you suffer for doing something wrong. And he didn't mind telling you that. And he didn't mind executing what he believed to be correct. So this Saul of Tarsus was an individual that carried his authority to an extreme that he had the authority to destroy these heretics called Christians and he was going to do it no matter what it took. And he was not only going to destroy them in Jerusalem he was going to go to different places and take the authority of the religious leaders with him and he was going to imprison. He was going to disrupt. He was going to kill anyone who was involved in this heretic. This heretical faith that was coming against Judaism and it happened to be Christians. So Saul of Tarsus is on the road to Damascus and while he's traveling he encounters a great light knocks him to the ground. Now whether he was riding a horse or walking we don't really know when I have one. One time I spoke about this and saw was knocked off his horse and landed on the ground and somebody comes and says Where did I say I was knocked off his horse. I don't know who he was knocked to the ground so I learned not to say he was knocked off his horse but I can imagine him walking. No man in his position he would not be walking on this dusty trail probably he would be writing so. But either way he ends up on the ground. Now if you are stubborn. Anybody know people who are really really really stubborn. I see those hands. I see those and you know how do you know people who are really really really stubborn. Sometimes that's good and you know it is sometimes it is good but sometimes my brother my one brother he was he died when he was forty two. But it's OK to talk about the dead because he's in heaven and he don't care anymore. So my brother my brother Gary was a very strong willed individual and he was not going to do anything that he didn't think you should do. And my dad growing up on the farm was very directive and there were c s to be done and they were to be done in a timely manner and that my brother would decide that they didn't need to be done and nor in a timely manner. So there was conflict between my brother and my father and the him reminds me kind of what the Apostle Paul. He is just a straight line narrow vision the whole works that this is what it has to be. These people these Christians are heretics. They are people that are disrupting the truths of our religion. So he sets out to destroy them sets out to kill them he is creating chaos in Jerusalem. Absolute chaos. On the church and you know people are being torn families are being torn apart in prison and the whole works and you know Saul of Tarsus is in his glory. But what happens to Saul is while he's walking down the road. This light appears to him and he hears the voice of Saul Saul why are you persecuting me. It's like what. Why are you persecuting me. And Jesus comes to Saul on this road and just boom hits him right between the eyes. No it doesn't because in the bright light hits him he's frightened he hits the ground and he's terrified. Here he is doing something for in his mind and shows up and says it's all this isn't right what you're doing is not correct. Why are you kicking against the goads. You know the ego does wear kind of a bar a piece of wood behind the animal and off of this piece of wood there would be sharp sticks out sticking out and then when the animal would kick it would kick against these sharp things and hurt itself and the reason for that is if you are walking behind this animal and it decides to kick you that has anybody ever been kicked by an animal. Now do you have the privilege of being kicked by a cow. My goodness. OK We got a couple I think you finally reach or you know if you get kicked by one of these animals they can take a break your leg they can they can do some damage. So we we had we had cows we even called kicker you know that. You know don't go don't go near or she's a kicker and we had bars in our Nothing parlor that the cow threw up on a platform and their feet were about chest high and there was a bar across there and the bar was above their knees. But you know some of those couples learned how to get their foot above the bar and when they cleared that bar it was eye level. So you had to be on your guard and you wanted to be in front of the Hoff not behind the horse because if they hit you they'd break your neck. So Paul is telling is telling Paul you're kicking against the goad you're kicking against this bar behind the animal that would hurt the animal so that it eventually learned to stop kicking. That's what it was so there were people there was this bar or this wouldn't. A plank two by fours that were across the back of their cart behind the animal in the front of their cart and when the animal would kick it would kick this board this two by four with the sharp spikes in and hurt itself and eventually would stop kicking. Hopefully. Well Paul is being compared to his his belligerence and his forcefulness and his desire to kill and to persecute and stop the church was killing his kicking against what wanted him to do. Paul wanted to serve Saul of Tarsus wanted to serve and he was serving by destroying others. You see serving does not involve destroying others serving has has to do with if it's loving if it's pure if it's of a good report Think on these things. So wants to have us connected have us connected to our relationship with him so that when we are connected to others it has a way of building them up. It has a way of encouraging it as a way of helping and uplifting. You see didn't call us to be kickers. didn't call us to be destroyers. He called us to be filled with His Spirit and being filled with His Spirit will enable us to become the person that he called us to be inside the one he created us to be. Everything inside of us desires life. Everything inside of you desires life and desires fulfillment desires to be one with to walk with and to have pleasures and to have joys and to be successful. There's nothing inside of us that says you're born loser. That's that's that's not doesn't tell us you know what David. I think you're really going to fail this test. No I think you're not going to make it this time. never says that never says that he says for us that we can become and he doesn't have this there is a story of a guy I know he was a minister or whatever he was going by this tattoo shop. OK. And it said on one of the decals or whatever they could have tattoos on their body was a born loser and the guy went in and asked the tattoo person this is the anybody ever get this on the you know this tattoo born loser is oh yeah and it was a foreign individual. I know if he was Vietnamese or whatever but he said. It's it was first first tattooed in their mind then on their body. So being having that decal or that impression or that tattoo that says born loser is one that we have in our mind in our heart before it's ever put on the body and what he's what I think if we were following what do you think would have us what do you think would want the impression to be upon our hearts and our lives what would want tattoos that were on our body. What do you think. Pardon. Saved by grace of grace and mercy. What else what else would want us to have tattooed on our body. I don't want us to have tattoos you know it's a new thing for whenever I was grown up only the army people in the Army had it done and then though the really bad people had tattoos you know. And now there's lots of preachers. Show me your ink you know it's OK here it is that's my pin. And it's there. That's in my pin for my ink is. But but would want tattoo love peace success then in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths. I have direction and I have peace. I have I am successful. didn't create us to fail. He created us to succeed he created us to have happiness and not on happiness depends on happenings. Joy is that which resides in the heart and so wants the joy of His Spirit to be in our hearts and our lives to help us take our next step to enable us to become closer with him and with each other. Being plugged in. It's on a slow cycle or really cook and if I run is too much of a blow fuse but. But we know that we have a purpose. We have a plan so Saul is knocked on the ground and he is there and and Jesus comes to him you know I wonder. Well Jesus said it and it's so hard for you to kick against the s. It's like Saul is fighting he's fighting the Christians because somewhere down perhaps perhaps somewhere down deep in his heart he realizes this might be true but everything that he's learned everything that he knows he's a Pharisee the Pharisee I mean he is the elite of the elite he is a genius of genius. I mean he is a brilliant man he is the best teacher in the entire nation has been his teacher so he is the elite of the elite he's a genius. He's very and he's very religious and he keeps the law meticulously. I mean to the to the nth degree. He is a straight line law abiding to Mammon abiding person. And here comes these people and Jesus talking about Jesus and Him being resurrected from the dead. And Paul just as Saul of Tarsus he can't handle that. What is it that what is it that we kick against in our own lives. Now I don't mean fighting sin and fighting that I'm talking about in our spiritual line our spiritual life. What is it that wants to do in our lives. Where is it that wants to take us. Where is it that wants to lead us. I'm so inside. isn't finished with us. isn't finished. He's got a plan and purpose. Whatever he's got. has a way that he wants to speak to us and open up open up doors and avenues of of blessings and avenues of of how that he is going to deposit into us so that we can deposit into others. What is it that What is it that we kicked against what is it that we fight against that sin our spirit that's in our spiritual person. Now we're again we're not talking about sinful things oh you can't do this you can not tell you about that we're talking about what is want to say to our hearts. What does want to do in our minds in our spirit. What is it that he is knocking at the heart's door you know what is it that he wants to do and see in every person. The unfolding of 's will the unfolding of the revelation of who is and what he wants to do for us. Maybe it's just to help us know that is the who loves us and that he wants to do something special for you just to you for you. I've heard the story and you know I heard it a thousand times. They be used il ration a thousand times but are soon going to be spreading. And for me in growing up on the farm it was always my favorite time of the year because I got the plow the fields and that you could smell dirt you know the dirt. The fresh is that out of all the things I miss about the farm and that one thing is just that being able to smell the dirt. I know you go stick your nose in the ground smell the dirt it's not the same it's not the same as turning soil over and how that it smells at that first time and. But we would plant corn we planted anywhere from a hundred to two hundred acres hundred fifty acres of corn. Now that's in today's world that's my brother's in-laws. They plant a thousand in the napery plants almost two thousand acres of corn so one hundred fifty is nothing in today's market of fields. But when you put the growth when you put the corn in the ground when you plant your garden and you plant your seeds what do we do we just expect you know we expect them to grow. You know we plant a hundred acres of corn. What's the expectation. It's going to grow. Well you know we put the corn in put the fertilizer. You know that whenever you put those corn planners OK do this one for you. Cornplanter you have this kind of like a knife that goes to the ground puts the seed one colonel see these spinners go around put one piece of seed in there and then right beside it it deposits fertilizer about two inches about two inches to the side and maybe two inches beneath it so that when the corn starts to grow that the roots will immediately hit the fertilizer and when it hits the fertilizer it gives it that kick to grow. Do you sit there and wait. Do you sit there and say you know I wonder if that's going to grow you know so we dig it up and look at it or don't grow yet take it back. We don't do that. We just expect it to grow. Why. Because it's corn. It's a seed you put it in the ground it grows. You put flowers in the ground you put seeds in the ground they grow. You don't what happens there is an expectation that same expectation should be and is in our faith that is going to do something in our life that we can't make happen. We can't worry about and we can't do just says. Is it plugged in or isn't it. This is plugged in or isn't it. You see in our face it's always plugged in. It's always on the expense expectation mode. Every time I plant a seed there's an expectation it's going to grow every time so with every prayer I pray there's an expectation that something's going to happen. With every need that I face there's an expectation that it's going to be met and the expectation comes through the relationship. Now when they took Saul of Tarsus to town to Damascus they didn't know what to do with him. This took him and he's blind. I ain't. And so sometimes when wants to do a new thing in our life he kind of gets our attention. You heard the story about the mule this guy had this old farmer had a mule and he couldn't get it to do anything and so he was at the gathering hole wherever the other farmers and saying well you know all you gotta do is talk to them. So do anything you want I guess is not my meal my meal you can do if you saw no I got to do is talk to it. He better one hundred dollars you can talk to my mule and get him to do what you want. So if they can so they go outside and he picks up this big old club reaches over bangs the mule in the head knocks him to the ground and the guy says I thought you were going to talk to this is why I got to get his attention first. I saw got knocked to the ground he was blind. And you see sometimes things happen in our life and they get our attention and where we you know we have the best of intentions but wants to perhaps change our direction. Some Maybe wants to take us in a different way to a store for a blessing in our life something that we've never experienced before and suddenly we find like we're knocked to the ground and we've got we've we know that we love and we know that we believe in him and we know that he has a plan for us and we know that he wants to do a new thing. So they take they take Paul to town and he just sits there he doesn't want to do heard a voice. You're kicking against me and so there's this there's this other guy who is the other guy. Paul goes to town and speaks to I forgot his name and I guess there we go. Me and names you never I never you know it's an and I as I wrote it down because I knew if I had this idea that I would forget so always tells me David write it down. So N.I.S. is praying and says Stan and I go and pray for Saul your brother Saul and I says I go get somebody else to do this. And sometimes in our life wants us to do something for someone that we would never do for a man in a million years. We won't we're not you know we're not going to do that you can't pay me to go do this. Well has and and I still pray for Saul Saul his blindness goes away and he opens his heart to Christ and receives the crank this revelation of his life the very thing he was kicking against is the very thing the very person that would change his life. So here we are. Are we kicking against something. What is it that we're kicking against and what is it that wants to do in a new way. How is it that wants to reveal something perhaps entirely different. I don't know if that's what's in your spirit that's what's in your heart that's what is saying inside of us that he is capable of doing anything and everything he's able. To open the sea and go through on dry ground. He's able to have manna come from heaven and feed us every morning. He is able to heal the sick the blind give sight to the blind. He's able to feed the five thousand. He's able to walk on water he's able to calm the storms. He's able to give peace in the midst of this the midst of the storm. He's able to take us when we're running away from him. He's able to take us and we throw ourselves overboard. He's able to have a fish Thomas Wallace up and take his back in the right direction. He's able to do anything in everything and in our lives we are called to do one thing expect that when we pray that we would have an answer. B. plugged in that when we plant our seed it will grow. Every time we pray we must recognize and begin with connection to if we're studying for a test choosing a direction buying something going somewhere or whatever it is we say you've promised to direct our waves you're the one who heals all of our diseases. you are the one who will bring back to my memory the things that I have faithfully studied. And we begin with an expectation that we're connected and in that connection will make the difference. Amen. Holy Spirit - Be Plugged In We've been speaking the last few weeks about the Holy Spirit in the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and today it is to be plugged in. I've been thinking of the il ration of your house that has this not connected to electricity. What happens when our homes are not collected connected to electricity. Nothing works like stone work. The appliances don't work. The heating system doesn't work so we're just disconnected. And so the challenge then for our life is how do we be connected. How are we to be connected with the Holy Spirit how are we to be connected with and sometimes I think of it whenever we pray. Sometimes I think the feeling is that you know it's like it's not working now and I know I don't need a hairdryer. But but you know my hairdryer doesn't work. What's wrong with my hair dryer. The switches on the silo high off but just makes no difference in our lives. I think sometimes we're like this. Well why isn't doing this. See there's a difference between praying and complaining. So anybody know what a complainer is. Just like this is a working this isn't working. You know I give my prayers and nothing changes and I am doing everything that I supposed to. I put money in the B.G. unceasing it and it's just not there. And we wonder why our prayers are being answered or why we feel so distant. Perhaps in our experience that we're going through the motions we got everything and it all works. All should work but it just doesn't seem to do what it's supposed to. Well in our life we need to think of the scriptures that pertain to the need to pertain to what's going on in our life. Now if we are studying for a test the Bible says that would bring back to our remembrance those things that we have faithfully studied. It doesn't say that go to your to go do your test without studying. And I'll give you the answers. You know if we have faithfully studied that we are asking So whenever we are studying and we are asking to help us what we are doing is connecting ourselves to the source and they were actually asking to help us. Now I'm seeing if this will work. It makes a difference. It makes a difference when you plug it in it works. And whatever we are whenever we are praying we are we are reminding ourselves and reminding that this is his word and we're asking him. We're asking his word to be a part of what we're doing that promised that he would be with us in our travels. That means you're going in and you're coming out from this day forth and forevermore. So that would be with us so we are praying that will be with us and help us as we travel. We're praying that will help us in our work place we're praying that would help us in our finances were praying that would help us make our decisions we pray that would help us in deciding what we should do with our life and what we should say and what we you know what what how are you going to open the doors for me this time. But change that around and say I thank you that you are opening doors for me not complaining while you know I've done this a thousand times and it's not working. But What is it that you want me to say today. What is it that you want me to do this time. What is it that's different. Whatever I fall into a habit of thinking wow it's all just up to me and it's all just part of who I am. You know it's not about me it's about It's about connecting to our source. And as Christians as believers we cannot be Christians without connecting to Christ. Without Christ we cannot we don't have the strength. We don't have the insurance. We don't have the abilities and we know that whenever we meet Christ things work. There goes my star and I'm done. Got blown off the platform. But I wasn't planning on doing that one. But we find that has a way of changing things around. Even with our own il rations he has a way of changing things around so what we have to do is we have to go with the flow. Sometimes we have to pick up the mess. I don't see anybody running up here to help us. didn't lead you to do that right. Well you know it's a good thing it's only a short sermon today because usually I have about ten or twelve pages you know so I could really be in on this but the story that I subject portion of Scripture that I was thinking of was when Paul two things two things of two areas of Paul's life. One is what. Every he's on the road to Damascus. Now we have to understand that Paul is a very zealous individual. Paul is a hard nosed hard core Walk the Line individual that was willing to kill for his beliefs and willing to make you suffer for doing something wrong. And he didn't mind telling you that. And he didn't mind executing what he believed to be correct. So this Saul of Tarsus was an individual that carried his authority to an extreme that he had the authority to destroy these heretics called Christians and he was going to do it no matter what it took. And he was not only going to destroy them in Jerusalem he was going to go to different places and take the authority of the religious leaders with him and he was going to imprison. He was going to disrupt. He was going to kill anyone who was involved in this heretic. This heretical faith that was coming against Judaism and it happened to be Christians. So Saul of Tarsus is on the road to Damascus and while he's traveling he encounters a great light knocks him to the ground. Now whether he was riding a horse or walking we don't really know when I have one. One time I spoke about this and saw was knocked off his horse and landed on the ground and somebody comes and says Where did I say I was knocked off his horse. I don't know who he was knocked to the ground so I learned not to say he was knocked off his horse but I can imagine him walking. No man in his position he would not be walking on this dusty trail probably he would be writing so. But either way he ends up on the ground. Now if you are stubborn. Anybody know people who are really really really stubborn. I see those hands. I see those and you know how do you know people who are really really really stubborn. Sometimes that's good and you know it is sometimes it is good but sometimes my brother my one brother he was he died when he was forty two. But it's OK to talk about the dead because he's in heaven and he don't care anymore. So my brother my brother Gary was a very strong willed individual and he was not going to do anything that he didn't think you should do. And my dad growing up on the farm was very directive and there were c s to be done and they were to be done in a timely manner and that my brother would decide that they didn't need to be done and nor in a timely manner. So there was conflict between my brother and my father and the him reminds me kind of what the Apostle Paul. He is just a straight line narrow vision the whole works that this is what it has to be. These people these Christians are heretics. They are people that are disrupting the truths of our religion. So he sets out to destroy them sets out to kill them he is creating chaos in Jerusalem. Absolute chaos. On the church and you know people are being torn families are being torn apart in prison and the whole works and you know Saul of Tarsus is in his glory. But what happens to Saul is while he's walking down the road. This light appears to him and he hears the voice of Saul Saul why are you persecuting me. It's like what. Why are you persecuting me. And Jesus comes to Saul on this road and just boom hits him right between the eyes. No it doesn't because in the bright light hits him he's frightened he hits the ground and he's terrified. Here he is doing something for in his mind and shows up and says it's all this isn't right what you're doing is not correct. Why are you kicking against the goads. You know the ego does wear kind of a bar a piece of wood behind the animal and off of this piece of wood there would be sharp sticks out sticking out and then when the animal would kick it would kick against these sharp things and hurt itself and the reason for that is if you are walking behind this animal and it decides to kick you that has anybody ever been kicked by an animal. Now do you have the privilege of being kicked by a cow. My goodness. OK We got a couple I think you finally reach or you know if you get kicked by one of these animals they can take a break your leg they can they can do some damage. So we we had we had cows we even called kicker you know that. You know don't go don't go near or she's a kicker and we had bars in our Nothing parlor that the cow threw up on a platform and their feet were about chest high and there was a bar across there and the bar was above their knees. But you know some of those couples learned how to get their foot above the bar and when they cleared that bar it was eye level. So you had to be on your guard and you wanted to be in front of the Hoff not behind the horse because if they hit you they'd break your neck. So Paul is telling is telling Paul you're kicking against the goad you're kicking against this bar behind the animal that would hurt the animal so that it eventually learned to stop kicking. That's what it was so there were people there was this bar or this wouldn't. A plank two by fours that were across the back of their cart behind the animal in the front of their cart and when the animal would kick it would kick this board this two by four with the sharp spikes in and hurt itself and eventually would stop kicking. Hopefully. Well Paul is being compared to his his belligerence and his forcefulness and his desire to kill and to persecute and stop the church was killing his kicking against what wanted him to do. Paul wanted to serve Saul of Tarsus wanted to serve and he was serving by destroying others. You see serving does not involve destroying others serving has has to do with if it's loving if it's pure if it's of a good report Think on these things. So wants to have us connected have us connected to our relationship with him so that when we are connected to others it has a way of building them up. It has a way of encouraging it as a way of helping and uplifting. You see didn't call us to be kickers. didn't call us to be destroyers. He called us to be filled with His Spirit and being filled with His Spirit will enable us to become the person that he called us to be inside the one he created us to be. Everything inside of us desires life. Everything inside of you desires life and desires fulfillment desires to be one with to walk with and to have pleasures and to have joys and to be successful. There's nothing inside of us that says you're born loser. That's that's that's not doesn't tell us you know what David. I think you're really going to fail this test. No I think you're not going to make it this time. never says that never says that he says for us that we can become and he doesn't have this there is a story of a guy I know he was a minister or whatever he was going by this tattoo shop. OK. And it said on one of the decals or whatever they could have tattoos on their body was a born loser and the guy went in and asked the tattoo person this is the anybody ever get this on the you know this tattoo born loser is oh yeah and it was a foreign individual. I know if he was Vietnamese or whatever but he said. It's it was first first tattooed in their mind then on their body. So being having that decal or that impression or that tattoo that says born loser is one that we have in our mind in our heart before it's ever put on the body and what he's what I think if we were following what do you think would have us what do you think would want the impression to be upon our hearts and our lives what would want tattoos that were on our body. What do you think. Pardon. Saved by grace of grace and mercy. What else what else would want us to have tattooed on our body. I don't want us to have tattoos you know it's a new thing for whenever I was grown up only the army people in the Army had it done and then though the really bad people had tattoos you know. And now there's lots of preachers. Show me your ink you know it's OK here it is that's my pin. And it's there. That's in my pin for my ink is. But but would want tattoo love peace success then in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths. I have direction and I have peace. I have I am successful. didn't create us to fail. He created us to succeed he created us to have happiness and not on happiness depends on happenings. Joy is that which resides in the heart and so wants the joy of His Spirit to be in our hearts and our lives to help us take our next step to enable us to become closer with him and with each other. Being plugged in. It's on a slow cycle or really cook and if I run is too much of a blow fuse but. But we know that we have a purpose. We have a plan so Saul is knocked on the ground and he is there and and Jesus comes to him you know I wonder. Well Jesus said it and it's so hard for you to kick against the s. It's like Saul is fighting he's fighting the Christians because somewhere down perhaps perhaps somewhere down deep in his heart he realizes this might be true but everything that he's learned everything that he knows he's a Pharisee the Pharisee I mean he is the elite of the elite he is a genius of genius. I mean he is a brilliant man he is the best teacher in the entire nation has been his teacher so he is the elite of the elite he's a genius. He's very and he's very religious and he keeps the law meticulously. I mean to the to the nth degree. He is a straight line law abiding to Mammon abiding person. And here comes these people and Jesus talking about Jesus and Him being resurrected from the dead. And Paul just as Saul of Tarsus he can't handle that. What is it that what is it that we kick against in our own lives. Now I don't mean fighting sin and fighting that I'm talking about in our spiritual line our spiritual life. What is it that wants to do in our lives. Where is it that wants to take us. Where is it that wants to lead us. I'm so inside. isn't finished with us. isn't finished. He's got a plan and purpose. Whatever he's got. has a way that he wants to speak to us and open up open up doors and avenues of of blessings and avenues of of how that he is going to deposit into us so that we can deposit into others. What is it that What is it that we kicked against what is it that we fight against that sin our spirit that's in our spiritual person. Now we're again we're not talking about sinful things oh you can't do this you can not tell you about that we're talking about what is want to say to our hearts. What does want to do in our minds in our spirit. What is it that he is knocking at the heart's door you know what is it that he wants to do and see in every person. The unfolding of 's will the unfolding of the revelation of who is and what he wants to do for us. Maybe it's just to help us know that is the who loves us and that he wants to do something special for you just to you for you. I've heard the story and you know I heard it a thousand times. They be used il ration a thousand times but are soon going to be spreading. And for me in growing up on the farm it was always my favorite time of the year because I got the plow the fields and that you could smell dirt you know the dirt. The fresh is that out of all the things I miss about the farm and that one thing is just that being able to smell the dirt. I know you go stick your nose in the ground smell the dirt it's not the same it's not the same as turning soil over and how that it smells at that first time and. But we would plant corn we planted anywhere from a hundred to two hundred acres hundred fifty acres of corn. Now that's in today's world that's my brother's in-laws. They plant a thousand in the napery plants almost two thousand acres of corn so one hundred fifty is nothing in today's market of fields. But when you put the growth when you put the corn in the ground when you plant your garden and you plant your seeds what do we do we just expect you know we expect them to grow. You know we plant a hundred acres of corn. What's the expectation. It's going to grow. Well you know we put the corn in put the fertilizer. You know that whenever you put those corn planners OK do this one for you. Cornplanter you have this kind of like a knife that goes to the ground puts the seed one colonel see these spinners go around put one piece of seed in there and then right beside it it deposits fertilizer about two inches about two inches to the side and maybe two inches beneath it so that when the corn starts to grow that the roots will immediately hit the fertilizer and when it hits the fertilizer it gives it that kick to grow. Do you sit there and wait. Do you sit there and say you know I wonder if that's going to grow you know so we dig it up and look at it or don't grow yet take it back. We don't do that. We just expect it to grow. Why. Because it's corn. It's a seed you put it in the ground it grows. You put flowers in the ground you put seeds in the ground they grow. You don't what happens there is an expectation that same expectation should be and is in our faith that is going to do something in our life that we can't make happen. We can't worry about and we can't do just says. Is it plugged in or isn't it. This is plugged in or isn't it. You see in our face it's always plugged in. It's always on the expense expectation mode. Every time I plant a seed there's an expectation it's going to grow every time so with every prayer I pray there's an expectation that something's going to happen. With every need that I face there's an expectation that it's going to be met and the expectation comes through the relationship. Now when they took Saul of Tarsus to town to Damascus they didn't know what to do with him. This took him and he's blind. I ain't. And so sometimes when wants to do a new thing in our life he kind of gets our attention. You heard the story about the mule this guy had this old farmer had a mule and he couldn't get it to do anything and so he was at the gathering hole wherever the other farmers and saying well you know all you gotta do is talk to them. So do anything you want I guess is not my meal my meal you can do if you saw no I got to do is talk to it. He better one hundred dollars you can talk to my mule and get him to do what you want. So if they can so they go outside and he picks up this big old club reaches over bangs the mule in the head knocks him to the ground and the guy says I thought you were going to talk to this is why I got to get his attention first. I saw got knocked to the ground he was blind. And you see sometimes things happen in our life and they get our attention and where we you know we have the best of intentions but wants to perhaps change our direction. Some Maybe wants to take us in a different way to a store for a blessing in our life something that we've never experienced before and suddenly we find like we're knocked to the ground and we've got we've we know that we love and we know that we believe in him and we know that he has a plan for us and we know that he wants to do a new thing. So they take they take Paul to town and he just sits there he doesn't want to do heard a voice. You're kicking against me and so there's this there's this other guy who is the other guy. Paul goes to town and speaks to I forgot his name and I guess there we go. Me and names you never I never you know it's an and I as I wrote it down because I knew if I had this idea that I would forget so always tells me David write it down. So N.I.S. is praying and says Stan and I go and pray for Saul your brother Saul and I says I go get somebody else to do this. And sometimes in our life wants us to do something for someone that we would never do for a man in a million years. We won't we're not you know we're not going to do that you can't pay me to go do this. Well has and and I still pray for Saul Saul his blindness goes away and he opens his heart to Christ and receives the crank this revelation of his life the very thing he was kicking against is the very thing the very person that would change his life. So here we are. Are we kicking against something. What is it that we're kicking against and what is it that wants to do in a new way. How is it that wants to reveal something perhaps entirely different. I don't know if that's what's in your spirit that's what's in your heart that's what is saying inside of us that he is capable of doing anything and everything he's able. To open the sea and go through on dry ground. He's able to have manna come from heaven and feed us every morning. He is able to heal the sick the blind give sight to the blind. He's able to feed the five thousand. He's able to walk on water he's able to calm the storms. He's able to give peace in the midst of this the midst of the storm. He's able to take us when we're running away from him. He's able to take us and we throw ourselves overboard. He's able to have a fish Thomas Wallace up and take his back in the right direction. He's able to do anything in everything and in our lives we are called to do one thing expect that when we pray that we would have an answer. B. plugged in that when we plant our seed it will grow. Every time we pray we must recognize and begin with connection to if we're studying for a test choosing a direction buying something going somewhere or whatever it is we say you've promised to direct our waves you're the one who heals all of our diseases. you are the one who will bring back to my memory the things that I have faithfully studied. And we begin with an expectation that we're connected and in that connection will make the difference. Amen. Holy Spirit - Be Plugged In