[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the message podcast of High Ridge Church, Longview, where our vision is to help you know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and ultimately make a difference. We are so glad that you're here and we pray that this message impacts your life as you apply the spiritual truths from God's word in practical ways.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Let's listen in. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning, everybody. I am glad that you made it to church. Happy New Year. In case nobody has told you, you've been living underneath the rock, I am glad that you are here. I want to say a very special hello and welcome to all of our online friends that are tuning in right now from all across the world. Come on, High Ridge family, let's welcome them in.
People watching from Africa. Hey, Barry family, it's good to see you have people watching from Gilmer, people watching from right here in Longview, people watching in Mexico from the beach. We are, we're so jealous of you out there suffering for the gospel right now on the beach. We love every one of you. Thank you so much for tuning in today. It's going to be a great day. The power of God is here and God is so, so proud of you for making him a priority at the beginning of your week. At the beginning, beginning of this season. So we're going to spend some time in the book of Matthew. Open up the Bible, if you would. Right to the middle if you're new to it and take a right. Matthew, chapter six. Want to remind you of a couple things. Hey, groups are launching today. So groups are going to fill up very, very quickly. And so you are the second service that we're able to announce that to. By the time third service rolls around, those guys are going to be groupless because you guys are going to sign up and make sure you get one of our spots in our amazing groups. If you want to get connected to the church, that's a great way to do that to get to know some new people. If you're looking to become a member here. Our growth track class starts next service, 12 o'clock in the building right behind me. And so if you're looking to figure out, like what we believe and what we're all about, that's the, that's the class for you. Growth track is happening right behind me at 12 o'clock. And then also we have Discover Week. It's like Shark Week around here. It's Discover Week. It's kind of a big deal where we fast and pray, where we hear from the Lord, where we discover what God is saying to us in this next season, let me just remind you, God rewards those that diligently seek him. And for people that are willing to set aside the things of this world that are willing to enter in and give God all of their attention and focus, God will speak. Come on, listen to me. God will speak. God will give you direction. He will give you clarity. God is not up in heaven trying to keep things from you. He wants to reveal his plan to those that are willing to seek him. And so God is here. We're going to press into the Lord over this next week. We're going to be fasting and praying. So that's going to happen on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. And so if you are new to fasting, it's just a three day fast. Now, you're more than welcome to fast as long as you want to, as long as you're medically able. Let me just say that. But we're going to do it for three days. And if you've never done that before, it's a great chance for you to figure out how important this is in the discipline of a believer to fast and to pray and to seek God. And so that's happening Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. And we're going to have services on every one of those nights at 7:00, Monday, 7, Tuesday, 7, Wednesday at 7. And also we have a service on Wednesday at 10:30 in the morning. There's gonna be a lot of prophetic stuff happening. There's gonna be a lot of prayer also. Just keep in mind, like we have three different services. We are experiencing a lot, a lot of people in this season. So when you try to put all three services into, into one on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, just come expecting not to be able to have a seat. And that's okay. You're not here to grab a seat. You're here to grab ahold of the presence of God. Come on, somebody. I'm here to grab the hem of his garment. I don't have to have a seat. So just come expectant for God to move and expect to be a little bit uncomfortable. That's okay. You're fasting anyway. It's going to be great. God's going to do some great things and I can't wait. I can't wait to hear all the different stories of the breakthrough that's happening when God's people begin to fast and to pray and seek after Him. Some of you have already started fasting. We have some candidates that are about to be prophesied Over. It's been. It's been hell week for a lot of them walking through a lot of spiritual warfare. We're going to be praying for those people every single night this week and believing that God is going to speak something powerful into their life as well. Amen, everybody. It's going to be awesome. Matthew, chapter six. Let's keep on with our series called First Things First. Say that with me, if you would. First Things First. It's all about priorities. It's all about learning to honor God, to put him first. So Matthew chapter 6. Jesus is speaking in the greatest sermon of all time, Sermon on the Mount. And he gets to a place where he's speaking right into our business. Today, Jesus begins to ask some questions of those that are listening. And the same questions he's asking then, he's asking of us today. And here's the thing. When Jesus asks questions, it's not because he doesn't know the answer. God's not sitting up in heaven like, I wonder what would happen if, like, no, no, no. He knows. So he's asking so that we can. We can have a moment of clarity. We can recognize how these questions are supposed to be answered. He gives us the answers to them as well. So he says this in Matthew 6. Let's pick it up, if you would. In verse 28, Jesus says, and why do you worry about clothes?
How did Jesus know what we were arguing about this morning? What am I gonna wear? I learned a long time ago to figure out what you're gonna wear on Saturday night. Because Sunday morning is not the time for me to figure out how I fatted out of all my clothes. And it's just January.
No, what are we doing here? He says, don't worry about what you're gonna wear. He says, see how the flowers of the field grow. They don't labor, they don't spend. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothed the grass of the field which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, you of little faith?
So don't worry. Saying, what are we going to eat? That's speaking right now to us. Some of you are thinking that right now it's your greatest concern. What are we eating after this survey? Where are we going? We're going to nukes. We going to butcher shop, Golden Corral. We having to go home. What are we doing? What are we going to eat? He said, no, no, no, don't do it that way. He says, or what shall we drink? Some of you had that concern last night. What are we drinking, buddy? We're gonna have. We have a class for you. We're gonna help you.
What are we gonna eat? What are we gonna drink? He says, what shall we wear for the pagans run after all these things? And here's the key. Your Heavenly Father knows that you need them. That's an important verse for us to apply to our lives today as believers. God knows what we need.
He knows what we need. Now, we would rather him just answer and to meet all of the wants, but he knows what you need. God knows what I need. And Jesus confirms that your Father knows that you need them. But. And the next two words are the most important thing that we had from the Lord as He was giving us what he wants us to study about this week. The next two words he says, seek first. Would you say those two words with me? Seek first. If you're watching online, say that with me. Seek first. Type it in the chat if you would. Come on. Seek. Seek first.
Seek first. And he gives us this key. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. What does that mean? He says, remember this, that in our lifetime, it's very easy for us to want to build our own kingdom, to establish our own self as our own authority of our lives. No, it's about his kingdom. I'm here to build his kingdom first.
And his righteousness, meaning that he was good enough for me. It's not about how good I am. It's not about how perfect I am in every way. No, no, no. I messed that up a long time ago and so did you. He said, no, it's about his righteousness, how good Christ was for me. That's important. He says, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and look what happens. And all these things that you're worrying about, God will take care of that. He said, all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, don't worry about tomorrow. There's another big concern. What's going to happen tomorrow? What's going to happen in the future? Don't worry about that. God says, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own. That's the truth right there. Each day has enough trouble of its own. So as we're digging into God's Word, there's some things that I think are important that we're going to pull out and apply to our lives today. Things that I feel like the Lord wants us to make sure that we take note of as we're approaching this next season in 2025, so that we can make sure that our life is in spiritual order. That's important for you. It's important for me.
So back in 1981, one of the greatest things that ever happened to me was there's a company in Japan that made the greatest game of all time, and it was called Galaga. Don't tell me, Pac Man. Don't tell me. I don't want to hear that. It was Galaga. And Galaga was so important to me because that was the only game that was in the little Laundromat behind our apartment complex. And so, for those of you that know my story, my parents raised us completely away from television, from movies, from any kind of outside secular music. We didn't have access to any of that stuff, but they had no clue about video games, and we ain't trying to tell them. And so as we would do a couple little odd jobs here and there, take out the trash for somebody or help someone in the apartment complex, somebody would slip you a dollar or, you know, here's a couple of quarters for you, young man. And me and my brother would save up our quarters and save up our little dollars, and we would, you know, get permission as soon as we were finished with our homeschool work by about, you know, 9:15 in the morning. That's what happens when you're in homeschool and get it done real quick. We finish that up and grab our little. Our little quarters and we'd head through the apartment complex all the way across the little creek, and there was a little Laundromat set up on the block behind us. And we'd put those dollars into that little vending machine and it would pour out the quarters, and then we'd take those quarters over to the Galaga machine. And I can still remember it as I think of it. I remember it with the smell. The smell of laundry detergent and the smell of fabric softer. The smell of bleach. You know, just kind of barely keep your eyes open. Your eyes are teared up. But we would sit there and play that game for hours. One of the proudest moments in my young life was when I finally got so good at that game that that very first player status had T, I, M as those initials. Your boy was in charge. It was the first time I experienced what it felt like to win at life. I felt like I'm important. And every day, when we would get a chance to go back to that Laundromat. Put another quarter in. My most important moment of the day was to see am I still number one?
So you can imagine my disappointment walking over there one day, and I recognized that there was a little white piece of paper with some words that were written on the screen of Galaga. The three words that you know and that I know that bring disappointment. It says, out of order. Order, out of order.
And I couldn't understand that in my little young mind. I'm like, have we tried unplugging it and plugging it back in again?
When are we calling somebody to fix the machine? I need this. This is important in my life. This is the only thing I got going for me. What am I supposed to do with the rest of my day?
And so when they finally got the machine repaired and we finally got the chance to get back over there and see that it was up and running again and start playing it, you know, it was so disappointing to realize I wasn't in first place anymore. And it took a while before I was able to get back to that, to that specific place of pride in my life. But I wonder how much of our lives. How much of our lives do we do we spend trying to make sure that we're in first place?
And how much of that is in vain, knowing that it's not my name that needs to be in the first place of importance, but his name?
What does it mean to put God first? What does it mean to really seek him first? Like Matthew chapter six says, what does it mean practically to do that? I think most of us would say, oh, God has first place in my life. How do you know? How would we know?
Are there markers? Is there tangible proof that I can look back at my life and say, I know for a fact God is in first place because xyz.
Or is it just something that we say, I honor God first, I have God first. What does that mean practically in our lives? And so there are some things that I think we need to pull out of scripture that help us to take a good long look at each of our lives and help us to see, is my life really in spiritual order? Is God really in first place like I say that he is? How would I know? What would that look like in my life? And so Christ gives us some clues. In the most famous sermon of all time, in the Sermon on the Mount, he tells us in chapter six exactly how important that is and what it should look like in the life of believers when he truly is in first place.
That really is My hope and my heart for you as we approach 2025, that you would not make this just another year.
It would not be just a season where I'm trying to make it, Pastor. It would not just be a season where you're like, yeah, you know, good days and bad days. What would this year look like if God truly was in first place? What would it look like if you approach the time of fasting and prayer with a preemptive yes, Lord, whatever you tell me, my answer is yes.
You know, we say it before, and it's still important that we recognize the truth in the statement that it's difficult to hear from God when you've already determined what you want him to say.
And so as we're approaching this time of fasting and prayer, we approach it with humility and saying, lord, my answer is yes, before you even tell me, Lord, what would you have me to do? You're in first place. You're most important here. So In Matthew chapter 6, the word comes alive and begins to speak to us. A few things that we need to take note of. The first thing is this.
Number one, putting God first dethrones my biggest worries.
And for some of us, we could just stop right there because this has already been a season of a lot of worries. You have cares, you have concerns, you have worries, you have anxieties, you have stresses.
There are things that as you think about the future and you think about the past, you think about your children and grandchildren, your job, your finances, your marriage, those thoughts are filled with worry.
And so when Jesus writes this, by the way, in this chapter, not just in chapter six, but in chapter five as well, he. He says it over again. Don't worry, don't worry. It's like, well, it's easy for you to say. You're God. You've got it all under control. You can see the end from the beginning. You're alpha, you're omega, but I'm all human.
I've got worries. I've got cares and concerns. It's hard for me to just take you at your word and say, don't worry.
Nope. God told me I'm not supposed to worry, so I'm just not going to worry.
You know, I'll only tend to apply that when it's something I just don't feel like dealing with. I'm not going to worry about it. You probably should. Well, your blood pressure's through the roof. I'm not going to worry about it.
Okay. What does that mean?
So when Jesus says, just don't worry about this. Don't worry about what you're going to wear. Like, well, I'm a grown man. I need to worry about what I'm going to wear.
Well, just don't worry about what you're going to eat. Have you seen me? I'm always hungry.
What does that mean? Notice how much of this chapter is devoted to, and I want to make sure that you see this. When our life is out of order, our worries take first place.
What you're worried about tends to be in first place of your life. It's not the Lord, it's the worry of the day.
And Jesus says, seek first is the key to dethroning that first place of worry and anxiety in my own life. So that's a pretty important thing for us as believers that are consumed with worries and anxieties, especially about the future. I've got plenty of things to worry about. If we were to add them all up in this room, if we were to have open mic night and just talk about our worries, we would be here all night long. Then we leave depressed.
Some of you might leave and you're like, you know what? I don't have a lot to worry about. These people are really the ones that are messed up. I'm doing pretty good. But there's a lot of this chapter that's just devoted to worries. And I'm human. I have worries, I have cares, I have concerns, I have anxieties, I've got stresses. It's hard for me to read this chapter and take Jesus seriously. Don't worry, it's hard for me. Let's just be honest. It's hard to read that scripture and say, well, Lord, are you asking me to do something I can actually do? I feel like you're going to have to empower me to do this.
What does that mean, to have no worries? Is that just something from Lion King? Hakuna Matata, like, you recognize, like, he just watched his dad die. Don't worry. Nah, not a big deal. Like, I'm kind of in mourning.
Let me just remind you of this. Worries are a terrible leader.
A terrible leader in your life.
Here's another thing to keep in mind. Worries and anxieties. That's a terrible filter.
It's a terrible way to filter your thoughts through what could go wrong and what might happen next.
When my family bought our first house, we're so proud of it. And we had gone out to eat one night, and we're coming back to our. To our new home. And as we walked into our house. We could tell immediately that something was wrong because we looked down at the floor and our floor was covered with about an inch and a half of water. I'm like, okay, so I'm looking at the ceiling, like, do we have a roof leak someplace? Or is there a flood? Is there sprinkler system or something? What happened? And I realized after a while, no, it's coming from the air conditioning closet. I thought, I wonder when was the last time that that air conditioning filter was changing? So open up that closet and reach down into the system, pull out that filter, and, man, it looks like you're smuggling in Chewbacca or something inside that HD feather. Like, what in the world was this a hair salon before we moved to this place? What happened? But that filter had gotten so clogged that everything began backing up and flooding my house. In those moments, you have a revelation of what it means to have worries and anxieties and cares and concerns be the filter of your thoughts. You says, don't. Jesus says, don't. Don't act like that. That's. That's not the way for you to live. Worries are a terrible leader. There's a. They're a terrible filter. What does he offer us in return? He talks about the importance of seeking him first. He talks about the importance of fasting. He talks about the importance of prayer. What if I want to. I just want to give a question to you. What if this year you could let anxiety be nothing more than a reminder to pray? What could it be if it was just an alarm bell that says, I got to pray about this. I need to really seek him first. Seeking God first dethrones my biggest worries and puts God back in first place. Lord, you're more important than what I'm concerned about. So what do you say?
Here's the second thing that we see from Matthew, chapter six. Putting God first unlocks a new reality. There are some things as a believer, you will never see until God is in first place.
There is something as believers, you'll never experience until God is truly on the throne of your heart.
Until God is truly in authority, where you take a back step and say, lord, you tell me what to do, and I don't move till you say move. If you go left, I'm going left. If you go right, I'm going right. But you got to speak, and I'm here to follow after you. Putting God first unlocks a brand new reality. So Jesus takes the focus off of what we're worried about. All these cares and concerns. He does that with two words. He says, seek first, Seek first. And so it's important, as we see how critical those two words are from Matthew, chapter six. It's important that we dig into those two words. What does that mean practically? So the word seek does not mean to just look for something.
There's a big difference between looking for something and what this word means, which is looking for something with the expectation of finding it.
Now, in my own life, I recognize how I used to behave as a kid. And my mom would respond in the same way. So my mom's probably watching, so she remembers this. I was notorious for losing my coat. And every winter, we'd have to find another coat for young Tim. I would take it out. I guess I run hot.
And so my mom would say, hey, where's your jacket?
I think it's in my room, but I can't find it. She said, go find it. I'd walk up there, open up my room, look around. Nope, don't find it. And then she would say these words to me. Some of you have said this before as a parent. You want to look for it again, or do you want me to come look for it? And there's a big difference between young Tim looking for that coat and mom come to look for that coat. I remember one time, I'm like, I think you should come look for it because it's not here. I was pretty confident that it wasn't there because I had glanced. I'd given it a shot. Give it the old college try. No, I. I don't think it's up here.
There's a big difference between me just glancing and mom coming to look. She's marching up the stairs, takes that door. Boom.
And my version of looking is different than hers because she's starting to flip over mattresses like, we're gonna find this bad boy. We ain't leaving this room till we find your coat.
When Jesus says seek, that's what he means.
Lord, I'm looking after you with. With all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength. I'm really expecting to find your plan, your will, your word, your ways for my life. I'm seeking God with the expectation of finding him. Because Jesus says, seek, ask, knock, call to me. Scripture says, and I will answer you. He says in John, chapter 10. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, they follow me.
He says, you'll seek me, and you'll find me when you seek me with your whole what heart? Seek with the expectation of finding him. He says, seek, and Then he says, first.
Now, for us, first means first.
But in the Greek language, the word proton means first in time, first in order, and first in importance.
So not only is it the most important thing that we can do, he said, it's step one.
How many of us take prayer seeking God only at about step 12, when we realize we didn't read the instructions, we made a mess of things. All hell broke loose and life fell apart. You know what? I should ask the Lord for some help. Dear God, help me. I have made a mess of things. I have screwed this up. That's about the time that prayer comes in. That's about the time we'll start weeping and fasting when all hell is broken loose. I wonder how much hell didn't have to break loose if you had just sought him first.
How much pain could we avoid by recognizing the Lord wants us to seek him with our whole hearts, with the expectation of finding him, seeking him first in our time?
It's important that you seek God early in the day, early in the process, first in time, first in order, step one, first in importance. This is the most important part of my day, spending time with the Lord first.
Some of us would say, you know the number one, seeking. And first thing in my life, first thing in order, first thing in importance, first thing in time is coffee.
Over the next three days, I want to encourage you to take a second look at that. And before there's coffee, there's Jesus. Seeking him first unlocks a brand new reality for us. And then he says, and all these things will be added.
That means before you see these other things that you're worried about, there's a seeking that has to happen so we know this to be true. When seeking God becomes our priority, God's promises become our reality. There are many promises you will never, ever see come to pass in your life because God is not a priority. His ways, his word are not your authority. Who sits on the throne of my heart? Me.
When seeking God first becomes our priority, his promises become our reality. There are things that we see because God has allowed us to unlock a brand new reality where we step into his plan and his purposes and his will. That's my heart for you. That's what I want to see happen over the next few days as you really, truly put God first. Here's the third and final point. Number three. Putting God first starts with discipline. I don't even like saying that word.
Discipline is not a critical part of the American way.
Our Americanized version of Christianity means, lord, just fight My battles for me, Lord. Just do it, Lord. You did all the work. You're not asking anything of me. But learning how to be spiritually disciplined is an important part of the life of a believer.
And learning how to seek God first with fasting, with prayer is an important, critical spiritual discipline that as believers, we have to take seriously. Your time spent in the Word is a spiritual discipline. Not to earn God's favor, not to earn anything from him? No. Remember, we're seeking his kingdom and his righteousness. I'm not earning anything. He was good enough for me. I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do. I'm doing it because I love him.
And I believe that God's plan for my life is better than mine. On my best day, seeking him first starts with discipline. I know this. It takes no discipline to worry, takes no effort at all. I'm really, really good at it, and so are you. It takes no effort on my end to worry about something. It comes pretty natural. But it does take a spiritual discipline to seek God first before I start worrying about stuff that takes real discipline.
I wonder how much of our life would change if discipline became part of our natural habits. Spending time with the Lord, honoring Him first, that really is what this next week is all about. So Discover week is about fasting and about praying. And I want to make sure that you understand that there's a big difference between fasting and a diet. This is not a diet. You see, fasting isn't a diet. It's a discipline.
It's telling my flesh, you're not stronger than me.
It's telling my flesh, you're going to submit to the authority of God's word. It's telling my flesh, you got to die.
Because greater is he that's within me than he that's in the world. It's a checking out and tuning into what God is saying.
It's a spiritual discipline that absolutely anybody that honors the Lord, that wants a relationship with God can do. It's about discipline. So fasting is telling my flesh, you're not in charge. I want him. I hunger for him. I hunger for him. I thirst for him. My soul longs for him. We get this from Psalm 63, by the way, when David writes this. Lord, oh, God, you're my God. Look at this. Earnest, early, and earnestly. I love those two words. I'm seeking you on the front end with all my heart. That's what our days need to look like. Lord, I seek you early and earnestly. He said early and earnestly will I seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you. In a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. Then it says this. To see your power and glory. It's about what we can see when we're thirsting. After him. Him.
Heard a pastor say this. I thought was. Was funny and actually really, really true. It says, diets change the way you look. Fasting changes the way that you see it. It changes your perspective. And when you're disciplined enough to tell your body no, to tell your flesh no, God begins to reward you with his yes.
And so I want to make sure that you take this seriously, and I want to lead us as a church and.
And make sure that you understand this. I expect every single person within the sound of my voice to devote the next three days to the Lord in some way, form, or fashion. If you're watching online, I expect you to take part in this. You need to honor. This is good for you.
The Lord will answer. He will speak.
He reveals his will to those that are willing to listen.
And I expect you, at some point, in some way, to make these next three days part of your spiritual discipline. I want to give you four different ways that we've broken down in Christian circles. Many churches have used this. And so let me just give you four types of fasts, and you can just kind of pick one. And before we get into this, let me make sure that you hear this. East Texas is one of the most legalistic places on the planet, and your fast will never be good enough for the person next to you. Oh, I can't believe you did that. You picked up a pencil in the middle of a fast. Hypocrite.
You didn't pray 24 hours a day. No, I didn't. I had to sleep. Like, hypocrite. It'll never be enough. So here's what I want to make sure that you see. Your fast is your fast.
And if you fail, get back up, keep trying again.
I know you walked past the candy jar at work, and we're off of sugar, and you picked up a piece of candy. Like, I messed up. I guess I'll just have the whole bowl. Like, don't do that, don't do that, don't do that. Get back up and keep trying again. Right? It's okay.
Ask for forgiveness. Get back up on the horse. It's important. So we're gonna seek God first. Here's four different kinds of fasts that you can. That you can consider, and the first one is what we would call a complete fast. This is water only for the next three days. Now, if you're on medications that require you to eat, this is probably not for you. You need to check with your doctor and make sure that this is okay. Lots of believers will take themselves off of medication and off of food. And then the next three days, I'm casting out demons. Don't do that.
A complete fast would be water only now. So check with your doctor if that's something that you're able to do before you decide to do that. But if you're able to, that's a fantastic way to fast. If you fasted before, you've probably done this, and it's going to be great. You're going to be fine. You're going to hear from the Lord. That's awesome. But look at me. Not everybody has to do that. There are some people that just can't. Let me give you some other options. Here's a selective fast. Number two. Selective is what you might call a Daniel fast. If you've been around evangelical circles and that's. That's what we're calling fruits and vegetables, your meals become fruits and vegetables. Maybe you just drink water and so you're going to pull yourself off of sugar, off of caffeine, off of those things, and just focus in on fruits and vegetables and water over the next three days. Very similar to what Daniel did in his fasting and his prayer.
The third thing would be a partial fast. Some people do it this way, where they eat one meal a day, and they will wait till like, sundown before they eat that meal.
And so instead of eating lunch or eating breakfast, I would spend that time honoring the Lord, praying, worshiping, spending time with God instead of eating. Not on social media. Once again, you're not on a diet. You're on fast.
Here's the fourth version that some of you, if you've never fasted before, it might be great for you to start with this. We like to encourage kids to do. This is a soul fast. What you might call what I would call a digital detox, where you get off your phone, get off of the net, get off of all the entertainment, all the noise that's happening around you and say, I'm gonna set that aside for the next three days and guess what's not gonna happen?
The world ain't gonna end. Your friends are not gonna all block you and unfriend you. They will understand and they'll probably say, wow, I should do that.
So maybe for you, this is the best way to start is a digital detox, a soul fast, protecting your mind, your will, your emotions, spending time with the Lord instead of time on social media. And so surely at one of those levels, you can find yourself and saying, I think I can do that. I'm going to try that once again. If you fail, it's okay, get back up on the horse, keep trying. But let's spend the next three days honoring the Lord on some level, taking those steps as you're physically able to do that so that you can say lord, for the next three days at least, I'm putting you first. I'm going to try this. I'm going to give this the Old Testament, give it the old college try and see what happens when I honor the Lord first.
I believe what God is going to show you over the next three days will change the rest of your year. It will redeem the rest of your year.
There are things that you're going to see that will absolutely be breakthroughs for you and for your family, for your finances, for your business, for your children, for your grandchildren.
You need this. And so as your pastor, I want to challenge you, I want to push you, whatever it takes to spend the next three days honoring the Lord, giving him the best of what you have. If you're watching online, I expect you take these next three days at least. By the way, if you want to go 21, go 21. You want to go 40, knock yourself out.
But for those that have never done this, just give me three days.
Give me three days where you put God first and watch what God can do in three days.
You know, biblically, I saw in scripture a person that was dead, three days later, he was alive.
God can do a lot in three days. So the point is not to diet. The point is for discipline. The point is to find our relationship with the Lord getting stronger. Let me say it this way. The point of fasting is to disconnect from the world and to strengthen your relationship with God. You need this, and it's good for you.
So if you're gonna go a complete fast, if you're going water fast, if you're going a Daniel fast, let me encourage you. Today is for pre gaming. What you don't want to do is at midnight tonight, have ordered 12 pizzas and say, I'm gonna carb up for the next three days. So it has been done. Mistakes have been made. I wanna encourage you. Please don't do that. Cause right about day two, you're like, I hate God, I hate Jesus. I hate the Holy Spirit. I hate the pastor. I hate the church. Hey, Longview. Hate my wife. I'm kicking my dog. Don't do that.
Don't do that.
Pregame today. Think seriously about how to get yourself into a place where your body is withdrawing a little bit over the next few hours. It'll make tomorrow so much easier. Expect some withdrawals. Expect some spiritual warfare. The enemy does not want you to do this. There's going to be warfare. Things are going to go wrong.
Wait and expect it.
But let those worries and anxieties that come up, let the pains that come up be alarm bells telling me it's time to pray. I'm gonna spend some time with the Lord.
So a quick reminder. Hey, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we have services at 7 o'clock. Come expecting not to be able to sit. That's okay.
On Wednesday we also have a service at 10:30 in the morning. There's a lot of prophetic things that are gonna be happening. We take a lot of, a lot of great, great care to make sure that the gift of prophecy is held to the utmost, highest integrity and standards. So you don't get some weird word from somebody that nobody even knows. Like, we don't do that. It's important that when you hear a word from the Lord, it's from the Lord and not from some wacko.
But God's gonna speak.
The question is, will you listen and will you obey? Cause that part's on you.
Over the next three days, we're gonna put God first and watch what our God can do. Can you receive that, everybody? Is that okay? If you need help with any of this, by the way, go to the App Store. There's a High Ridge app just for you. We have some daily videos we'll be sending out every morning at 6am to help you kind of set the tone of the day and help you pray along with kind of what we're praying on as a church. Kind of help you understand. If you've never fasted before, that would be a great way to kind of help you through that. But that's all available at our High Ridge app. Also, groups are launching. You're going to want to get in on groups. There is a limited amount of space that we have and so we want you to connect with people.
You're not going to do well. If you do life alone, that's not good for you. So we want to connect with you. And then of course, our growth track is starting right after this service in the building right behind me at 12 o'clock if you're interested in becoming a member. If you want to know what we believe, what we're all about, that's happening right behind me right now in the building behind us at 12 o'clock. And so take a moment if you would. Let's go ahead and bow our head and close our eyes. I want to say to all of you watching online, hey, if you like this service, would you do us a huge favor? Would you share this service on your social media platform?
That's a big deal when you do that every single week. We have between two and three thousand people that are watching this service that are responding, people that are getting saved because you're willing to do the work and share this on your social media platforms. It's making a big difference. Thank you for that. You guys are awesome and I appreciate it. As we bow our head and close our eyes, I want to give us a chance to just maybe hear from the Holy Spirit and ask the Lord. Lord, what should I be praying about? A good clue, by the way, is to think to your own self.
What is my areas of biggest concern right now? Is it my children? My finances, my marriage?
Is it my career? Is it my job? Is it my walk with the Lord? Is it some issue, some habit that I'm walking through that I need help with? What is that? As the Holy Spirit begins to download that on your heart, I want to encourage you to write it down. Here's the things I'm asking God for help with over the next three days. I'm asking God for clarity, asking him for direction. Lord, what would you have me to do? Or these are my anxieties, these are my worries, these are my concerns. Lord, what do you say?
With heads bowed and eyes closed, I want to encourage you, would you just open up your hands right where you're at as a sign of submission and surrender. You can just place them on your hands if you'd like to. But just simply open up your hands and say, lord, I'm listening. Can you say that with me? Lord, I'm listening.
Holy Spirit, we invite you to speak right now as we dedicate these next three days, Lord, to seeking you first, to honoring you by the laying down of things that are in our lives, by laying down of the noise that is going on around us, by laying down of our flesh and our wants and our desires.
Lord, we ask that you would come and fill us that these next three days would set the tone for our entire year.
Holy Spirit, we choose today to give you a preemptive yes. That means whatever you say, before we even hear it, our answer is yes. We will obey Holy Spirit. Would you speak?
Would you give direction? Lord, I pray for every single person that's willing to take this challenge, that's willing to fast and to pray. I pray that these would be the greatest days of their year.
I pray for breakthrough.
I pray for answers, pray for clarity.
But I pray that anything that is wrong, you'd make it right. Any areas of our life, Lord, we're falling short. You'd give us grace and help us to overcome the works of the evil One and the works of our flesh. Give us freedom.
We ask these things in the mighty name of Jesus.
And now, with heads bowed and eyes closed, perhaps you're here today. You're saying, pastor, I need that relationship with Jesus. I'm far away from God right now. I need a relationship with the Lord. How do I do that?
My friend, you're in the right place.
As a matter of fact, if you could see it right now, God himself is reaching down his hand to you, wanting you to respond to him. How do I do that? You do it with a prayer. If you want a relationship with Jesus, I want to invite you to pray with me right now. I'll tell you the words to say. I'll help you, just like somebody helped me one time. With heads bowed and eyes closed, I want to invite you to pray this prayer.
Just say, jesus, I believe you're the Son of God.
I believe that you came and died.
I believe that you rose from the grave.
You rose so that I could have life, freedom, grace, and forgiveness for all of my sins.
God, will you forgive me?
Now pray this, my friend. Say, lord, I give my life to you. Right now.
I'm all in.
Use me for your glory.
Now with heads bowed and eyes closed all across this place, if that was you and you actually prayed that prayer, I'm not going to embarrass you in any way. I'm not here to single you out. But if that was you and you actually prayed that prayer, would you do me a favor? Would you look up at me from right where you are and go ahead and slip up your hand? If that was me, Pastor, I prayed that prayer. I see you. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. Yes, young man. Good for you.
Yes, ma'am. I see you in the back.
For those of you that just prayed that prayer, perhaps you're even watching online, I want you to know that behind me on the screen is a phone number appearing. If you're Watching online. It's appearing on your screen right now. I want to invite you to text me if you prayed that prayer. Text me. Text the words I prayed to that number and what's going to happen. I'll send you the link back to some things that will help you understand what just happened inside of your heart and what you should be doing next. It's the greatest honor of my life to help people know Jesus. I'm proud of you today. Good for you. High Ridge family, go ahead and look at me and stand to your feet. If you wouldn't mind.
As we finish up our service today, I want to invite our elders and their wives to come forward and these guys will remain standing right here as the service ends to be available to pray for you. I also want to encourage you to take these next three days seriously. Make your lunch choices, good choices. It will help you a lot. You'll thank me for this tomorrow.
Groups Growth Track Discover Week. It's going to be fantastic. Let me just also remind you, on Monday and Tuesday, tomorrow and Tuesday, our worship center will be open during lunch. So from 12:00 to 1:00 we'll leave the doors open so you can come in here and pray if you'd like to. We'll have a little bit of music going and you can pray with others that are coming. There might be people. You're like, oh, I didn't even know you came to this church. Look at that. We're here praying together. God's doing some great things here and I want you to get in on it. So if you looking for something to do during your lunch hour, come in here and let's just pray together. And then of course on Wednesday at 10:30, we have a service happening here with some prophetic stuff. 10 o'clock, not 10:30, 10 o'clock. And then also at 7 o'clock every single night. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. It's going to be fantastic. Is that okay, everybody? Awesome. Let me pray for you and bless you as you go. Father, would you bless my friends with an incredible week? Give them clarity, Lord. Give them breakthrough, Father. Let them touch the hem of your garment. Let this week be a fantastic week in the lives of all of your people. We ask these things in the mighty name of Jesus and all of us said together. Amen. God bless you as you go. I hope you have an awesome week.
[00:40:24] Speaker A: Thank you so much for listening in today. Our prayer is that you are encouraged and strengthened by the message. If you haven't done so yet, be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review wherever you're listening. If you want to be a part of our online community, consider Connect with us through Facebook or Instagram with the handle hyridgelv. Or you can check out our
[email protected] lastly, if this ministry has impacted your life and you'd like to support its work, visit highridgelv.com give we appreciate your support and we're believing with you today for God's best in your life. Have an incredible week and we will see you next time.
