Into the Wild

Amen, You may be seated. Give God a hand clap of praise. He brought you through 2025. He may bring you through 2026.

We'll see. Y'all didn't laugh at that. I thought that was funnier than y'all gave it credit for. That's pretty funny, right?

Cuz you don't know, I could walk out today and get hit by a bus, And I sure hope that your faith with God is not contingent on me as a preacher.

I hope your faith in God is not contingent on, the person down the road from you who forced you to come to church today, or invited you kindly to come to church for the last 6 months, and you finally said yes today. Since it's a new year, I pray that your faith in God is not contingent on anything, physical, because physical things get taken away. That's the heart of our, our church is that you would have a faith in God that is not rocked or shaken by anything that could happen. And I- I- I don't think I have really known how to articulate it, which is why we use this metaphor- orbit to revolve everything around Jesus, just kind of this, this place in space where you get like deep enough in your connection with God that you just, you just have this trajectory that God continues to bring you on, and there's no chance you're coming back down because you've tasted and seen that the Lord is good.

Like nothing's going to bring you back to that place.

That's the goal. Yet, I mean, reality plays out often, often differently, And God's so wise and kind that he often sends us provision in the form of something that doesn't look like provision, so that we would know him at a deeper level. The difficulty, though, with the type of provision like, think about that song, that second song we sang. The bridge of it says: this: I, I see a cloud heavy with rain and it looks like revival is headed.

My, that's an antithetical statement.

Right like, I see a cloud heavy with rain. What do you think? Storm, no, it's good, it's the right answer. Like I'm not trying to confuse you here with some overt spiritual speech.

Right like, when you see a cloud that's heavy with rain, looks like the storm's coming, But I love that line because it's a reminder that the cloud heavy with rain in Scripture is also the Holy Spirit coming to rain on the hearts and minds of God's people, But it looks the same as the very storm that I feel like, is going to derail me, And it all really is contingent on our perspective.

God is so kind to us that he will send provision- in a form that doesn't always look like provision- with the hopes that it would shape us and make us into who he's called us to be long term. You- you have many terms for this. God's putting me through a storm. God has given me trials and tribulations.

I'm God's chosen instrument, So he's got to give me a trial to develop me into that.

We think we're so special, was it? God gives his hardest trials to what does he say? God gives his biggest trials to his strongest warriors. Maybe, I don't know, doesn't necessarily say that in Scripture, but it sounds good in a sermon clip, doesn't it?

I think there's a truth to it that the bigger your calling, the bigger sometimes the shaping required. It's like if, if you're a big block of stone and God wants to shape you into something beautiful that he can utilize as an instrument to glorify and honor him in front of all creation. You know, the bigger, bigger, the glory and honor, the bigger the stone, the more the shaping, the more the trial. I get it.

It makes sense And I want to make you feel as encouraged and good as possible, but I just I found myself disenchanted with the type of communication that doesn't talk authentically and in reality about the arduous nature of following Jesus.

I don't want to make you feel bad, because it is a grace from God that gives me forgiveness And when I feel forgiven I feel freedom that outlasts and is better than anything I've ever experienced in my life, Like in my mind, in my spirit, in my heart, in a good moment or a bad moment, I found myself content in Christ Jesus. It is a beautiful relationship And you know there are perks, like eternity with in heaven, with Jesus, versus the other alternative, Like there are lots of great things that come in my walk with God. But it's it's hard, And I can just give you a couple examples in Scripture where provision doesn't come in the form of something that I would anticipate. Provision doesn't necessarily come in the form of something physical and tangible that looks like a blessing.

Let's just go with Abraham.

Abraham was called by God, considered righteous, He was going to give him descendants that are as numerous as the stars. How did that start out, Baroness? Then he has the kid. How did that play out?

Sacrifice your son Isaac on the Mount Mariah, Like what I want.

I mean, if I'm Abram, I'm like, no, you told me I was gonna have this kid. Let me find any possible excuse to not listen to my creator here, because I maybe this is provision, but it feels like it's going to cause me problems. And so he goes up to sacrifice his son Isaac and praise God. The angel showed up.

You know it's like, don't do that, But then he's ministered to.

In that moment A lamb is or a ram is caught in the thicket, and then he's able to sacrifice It's provision in an antithetical way. You could go through Moses and the Israelites. He brought them through on dry ground, through the Red Sea- Amazing. But then they're stuck in a wilderness right And for you, whether it's trial, tribulation, whatever you want to call it, annoyance, struggle, storm or wilderness, God's trying to do something with you, And in order to do it, this is just how he's chosen to do, David.

I can tell you this: David, you know the king David line, line like, like Judah, tribe of Judah, David, D?

Jesus is in David's line. He went through a season of wilderness, He was literally out in a cave running from Saul who was trying to kill him. Yet the Lord had a plan for him And on the other end of that plan, he became king. And it was interesting because the upward trajectory happened while he was in the wilderness.

The downward trajectory happened once he became king. I know we've been conditioned to believe that blessing comes in positive ways. But what if the general form of blessing from our creator is in antithetical ways, a way that doesn't look like blessing, at first at least? I know many of you are adult enough to look back on situations and say, "God used that for his good and I remember that season fondly, but while I was going through it was a struggle".

How many, How many of you experienced something like that before?

That's just how God works. And it's interesting because we still, even though we kind of see it all throughout Scripture. Let's go to Jesus. Yeah, he healed a bunch of people.

Yeah, he had a lot of following, but then he said something one day and everybody's like, "Well, I was cool following you when you were healing me and feeding 5,000 people, but then you said something about eating flesh and drinking blood.

I'm not going to follow you, no more, Jesus. This is not fit my paradigm of what I anticipated from the Messiah, from the line of David. That's not what I anticipated". So they left and the ones that stayed didn't fully understand him, to the point where he's like, "How much longer should I deal with this wretched generation".

He's like, "Can you guys not like pay attention to what I'm saying to you?

I've said I'm going to be crucified". And they didn't get it. And then the moment comes where Judas hands him over. The disciples all bail.

In the moment Jesus is fogged by the Romans and he's crucified by the Romans and killed.

Then Paul. Paul wrote more Scripture than anybody. He had a good ministry. He probably preached the Gospel to more people than we can even fathom.

The world knows about Jesus predominantly because of Paul's ability to expand the Gospel from Jerusalem and Judea all the way to the ends of the earth.

And Paul goes through, he sees some successes, He heals some people. One time, especially that one time where he was preaching too long, dude fell out a window and he goes and lifts him up and he heals him Like he tells this demon to come out of this girl- causes a big riot in Philippi. Like Paul, did a lot of cool stuff. Yet in his pastoral epistles, which is his later writings, while he's sitting in a prison cell awaiting his death- that most scholars and tradition show us was through beheading under the emperor Neero- he writes about a guy named Deeus leaving his ministry because of the cares of the world.

Yet for some reason, hold on.

Let me finish. John in Revelation writes Revelation while he's exiled on the island of Patmos. Remember what happened before that? He was boiled in oil.

Isaiah in the Old Testament Tradition shows he was sawn in half.

Yeah, Those are the people through which God utilized to bless the world through the Revelation that he gave them. Yet I'm still conditioned to look at all the good, frilly, physical, tangible things in life and think that's the blessing of God. And when I walk into a wilderness I'm like God: how long you going to leave me here? Reframe it.

Look at your neighbor, Tell them you got to reframe this situation.

You got to reframe it because a cloud heavy with rain, the thing that looks like a storm, the thing that looks like difficulty, the thing that looks like deserted, emaciated, filled with struggle, that very thing is the very thing God wants to use to develop you into the- vessel of light that he's called you to be. And so we're. We're entering into a new year and I just am. I just don't care as much as I used to about looking right, acting right, feeling perfect, all the time, getting the superficial blessings that make me feel comfortable enough to not go read my Bible the next day, Like I'm.

I'm tired of that And I'm at this place where God, whatever you want to do with me, I want to do it, No matter how hard, no matter how difficult.

I'm not asking you, Lord, for the worst things, but you know, whatever you got to do can get bad for, And, as as a pastor of this church, it's so funny because the very thing, that would make sense to grow this church into a larger unit- is the very thing that I'm feeling disenchanted with in the world. And all I want, guys, is for you to become like Jesus and experience him. We're going to be in Matthew 4, 1 and 2 today. I've already spent too much time on my intro, so I've got three more weeks to cover Matthew 4.

So I'm not going to spend too much time on this, but if you have your Bibles.

Please turn to Matthew, chapter 4. Our new series is called Wild Words. They had it behind me when I walked up. Jesus has a way of encountering the wilderness that is starkly different than the way that we tend to encounter the wilderness, And my hope would be that at the end of this series- it's a four-part series- you would feel almost energized by the season of wilderness that God might give you.

Now, before I jump further in, let me define wilderness for you, because there's a very clear and obvious wilderness for Jesus here.

Wilderness is wilderness is a place where God allows you to be, that he wants to do a work in you, but it feels chaotic, disruptive, destabilizing. Now, in some cases, God leads you into this wilderness, as we'll talk about here. In other cases, you lead yourself into this place, . I'll just be real, Like sin guides us into wilderness states, And I need you to know this: Whether you put yourself there, whether God led you there.

In any case, he's with you there, .

Amen, . God is always with you. I don't care if you did something the other night that you completely regret. I don't care if you did everything perfect and the Lord's leading you into a difficult season of life so that he can shape you.

In both cases, whether you're the prodical son or you're the son that was always there, the father is present and he wants to do something in your life.

But if you view it as something that is chaotic, causes isolation, that God is not a part of, you will miss the beauty and the blessing in the wilderness. The wilderness is God's intentional plan for you to be shaped into the vessel he's called you to be, . Whatever wilderness it is, and God will use that dumb thing you did in order to shape you into who he's called you to be. He's cool like that.

So don't be sitting there in guilt when God's trying to give you Revelation. And even if you done it all right, God's still going to bring you into something, because he loves you. And I want to be. I want to be careful, because there's a difference between proving and testing.

You go, it's subtle though right, Because he wants to test you to see something, but he doesn't need you to prove anything to him.

Let me give you the example of Scripture. I'm going to read it out for you. Verse one says this: "Then Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil". That's a big wrench in your theological paradigm if you've not read this before.

Verse two: after fasting 40 days and 40 nights, stating the obvious: he was hungry.

Anyone. You don't have to be a Bible scholar for this, just Sunday school class, which means you know more than me about most of the Bible if you've been to Sunday school class, right? So anyone willing to tell me what happened right before this moment in Scripture?. He was baptized.

. He was baptized. Any, I'm just cuz, it's fun. What happened when he was baptized, Ethan?.

I know The wilderness, . Yeah, but what happened as he was baptized?. Spirit. Spirit came upon it says it came down like a dove bro.

And then you hear this giant booming voice- Sorry about the bro, He is a bro. He's How old are you? Like 24. He's a bro.

Okay, Came down from heaven.

And there's this loud, booming voice from the heavens that says: "This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased". I wish I could get that kind of affirmation from God. I feel like everybody in Phoenix would show up if that happened. You know, like I wish it would happen.

Jesus gets that level of affirmation And then and like in the next verse: then Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

If it were Mark writing, he'd say "And immediately", because he's not good at Greek, Anyway. So and immediately he was tested. So I need to, I need to clarify: There's a difference between proving and testing. Jesus was already approved, .

Amen.

He was already approved, The best approval you could possibly get. Lord, please do it one day for me. That'd be great, Awesome. I mean, I'm not his beloved son, but this is my.

This is a cool pastor and I'm cool with him.

Like y'all should go to this church. Like, do that. Like I, I'd love that one day. He is clearly approved by God and immediately thrust into the wilderness to be tempted.

And it also says he was led not by his sin, not by his flesh, but by the spirit.

Your testing is not in order to be affirmed by God. It is a result of you following God. Many people get confused when they enter this category. I tell you about it all the time and- and some people listen, I was actually having a conversation with somebody and they say: "I remembered you said this.

That really helped me get through this one specific moment.

I have learned in my spiritual walk that when God wants to bless me, he starts by testing me, because it's the testing of our faith that produces endurance. And he says: "Let endurance have its perfect result: that you may be complete, lacking in nothing". He says: "He wants me to be complete in him". So what does he do?

He starts with a test that produces endurance.

This is what he did with Jesus, And I know it's difficult to understand because it's Jesus, It's Jesus. Everybody in here like they automatically give themselves a little caveat. It's like: but that was Jesus, It's not. It's harder for me.

I think everybody- I've heard this so many times in my life- that when they enter into a season of temptation and difficulty, they don't compare themselves to Jesus in this moment.

But I need you to remember he is both man and God all wrapped together in Jesus. I, I don't understand how it works. If someone knows how it works, they should be preaching up here instead of me. I would actually love to hear from you, cuz I don't understand it fully.

But I don't know how it works.

I don't, I don't, I don't quite understand how to even communicate it, because when I say Jesus was tempted. It feels a little weird to say that he could have possibly succumbed to temptation At the same time. This is what the Scriptures tell us. It tells us that he was man, He sympathizes with our weaknesses, That he fully understands what it means to deal with temptation.

And this text is here to reveal to us that he was genuinely tempted.

And I know many of us are sitting here in our wilderness thinking "My temptation makes sense and I struggle because I'm not Jesus". But I need you to know that the way Jesus operated in this moment can actually help you get through the very same temptation, because he was just as human as you are. Yes, he was God, but he was just as human as you are. And I can't articulate it, I don't know how to make sense of it, But when you recognize the very feeling he had in that temptation equates to the feeling you have in temptation, it'll help you understand something.

And he's bringing you through this wilderness to shape you and to test you. He doesn't test you because you need approval. He tests you because you need shaping and development and growth. This is why God tests you.

Now there are a lot of people who went in.

They're thinking this, are like: "Man, God, when are you going to pull me out of this situation? Don't you love me"? Man, if God loved me, then he would pull me out of this. If God loved me, he would have answered my prayer a long time ago.

I'm here to tell you.

Scripture was here 2,000 years ago to tell you God loves you. God approves of anyone who calls on the name of the Lord. Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

All you have to do to trust in Jesus is believe that he sent his son to die on a cross.

Rise from the grave. Now he's seated at the right hand of the father and will give you access to him in perpetuity. All you have to do is trust in him. That's approval.

I don't know if you've ever felt that approved before, but when I feel forgiven, when I feel free, I feel approved.

I need to apprehend that approval. It's a struggle for me to feel approved, but I'm approved And from my approval, God leads me into the wilderness to shape me. I don't know how you feel in your wilderness. Let me break it down for you.

Your wilderness is not.

I mean. It could be a situation with your kids. It could be a situation with your spouse. It could be a struggle to apprehend who God is.

It could be a dryness in your, in your, reading of the Bible.

It could be a struggle when you're standing here in worship. It could be any number of things. It could be crazy, something you dove yourself into on accident and now you're trying to figure out how to get out of the hole that you dug for yourself. Right, It could be any of those things.

This is your trial.

This is your wilderness. God is there with you, having approved you when he sent his son 2,000 years ago And when you accept that approval. That does not mean a life of only good things. It means a life filled with shaping a cross to bear, learning how to be a servant rather than the one who comes first.

This is what the Bible says.

The, the. The Bible in the Old Testament and New Testament has verses that talk about the promised land. It talks about milk and honey. It talks about heaven.

It talks about all these amazing things, But the vast majority of the Bible shows you what happens to people who follow God, And it's a lot of struggle, stuff.

So wilderness, the wilderness is a good thing And when Jesus is brought into the wilderness it was a good thing, Not just for him being an example, But it revealed. It revealed to us who he was, that he was capable. It shows us that if he can encounter tribulation and trial and temptation and come out on the other side in the positive way, then if he was the first fruits of a new creation, the pioneer of a new group of people, then guess what? I can follow in his footsteps And when temptation comes to me, when wilderness comes to me, I don't have to lament the wilderness.

I can actually feel confident in the wilderness.

I'm go, I'm going through, like I'm going through wilderness right now, Like it's it's almost per perpetual- Hannah knows about it- but like it's almost perpetual. And I told someone this the other day because I'm learning. Like there, there are people out there who, who are perfect, I guess, and they're, they're figuring their stuff out and they figured it out, separate from the, the group of people. I'm one of those who's, who's learning, I'm trying to figure out my walk with God, cuz, honestly, I feel called to a high standard in front of you all, but ultimately, my faithfulness to God is what really matters to me, and, and I say that because I'm just trying to grow in my faith with God and he's called me into this and so I'm trying to do my best possible job, but I'm not perfect.

In fact, I'm constantly going through a wilderness because God's constantly trying to shape me And I'm I'm still getting to the point where I appreciate the wilderness, But I don't.

I don't really like it at first, you know. But God was kind to me this last week And it was like the first time ever where I got into- maybe not first time ever, but it was first time in a while- that something really significant happened. And how many of you have ever, like, gone into a hard situation, maybe a wilderness, and you were like you knew God was about to do something. You know what I'm talking about.

You didn't feel it like you.

You, you knew it was about to be hard and you were hoping it was God about to do something. You weren't sure if it was indigestion, upset stomach or the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, And you were like I hope this is God. If it's not, then this, this is a bad situation about to happen. This is what happened to me the other day And I just felt like energized.

I made the stupid state.

I made the stupid state. I made a statement. I said: "You know, you're called when you get energized by this conversation". It was.

It was crazy, And I was so energized because I felt like we were about to step into a wilderness- Me, maybe, us as a church, maybe some people in the room- And I was like I hope it doesn't go too bad.

But at the same time, God's going to do something really good, And so I am so thrilled about what God can do in the wilderness. It says that Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness, And he didn't lead him into the wilderness to leave him in the wilderness. He led him into the wilderness to lift him up and strengthen him into the person that he had called him to be. And when God leads you into a hard situation, or when you get you into a hard situation, God's one desire in that is to draw you to himself, And when you come to him, you are strengthened by him.

But the wilderness has to happen in your life, Amen, .

Because when you're not in the wilderness, you're consumed with all the stuff that's around you, . That's why we're entering into an intentional wilderness. We're leading ourselves into the wild, Hold the spirit's leading us into the wilderness, but we're also choosing to go into the wilderness. Why?

Because we're going to intentionally abstain from something in our lives that adds very little value or no value and replaces God, and we're going to put God in its place instead.

So in the original sense, the fast was meant to take the very thing that you stressed out for day and night. I know you guys don't stress out as much for food, but back in the day it was eat, sleep, figure out how to make money to go buy food to eat, sleep. It wasn't just going to Topgolf when you feel like it. Back in the day It was I gota walk to the well.

Come back from the well, I got to go make my dinner and then go to sleep so I can wake up the next morning and earn enough dinari to get my next dinner.

It was all about food for them, And so for them it was food. Now I think food is still significant just because we live in a day and age where we can go to the grocery store and not completely stress out about the cost of things. We can still afford some things, right, Like I think. I think food is still a huge part of it, But that's what it definitely was back in the day.

It was what consumed their thoughts.

But what consumes your thoughts? What consumes your thoughts Is it? Are you laying up at night until that girl says, "Have you been scrolling too long"? You know, is it like that?

All the Tik Tok users in the room know exactly what I'm talking about.

Is it that you? You feel like you have to veg out after a long day's work because you don't want to think about the things that happen, And so, rather than going to the Lord, you go directly to Netflix? Is it? You're consumed by your family, And I want to be very clear: God does not call you to do things that he's already called you not to do.

So fasting is not for you abstaining from your family and abstaining from your spouse.

Okay, This is. This is about you choosing God in every area that you can, And so you're intentionally choosing one specific area for the next 21 days to remove so that you can put God first in it. It could be food. It could be some variation of a diet.

It could be an activity you've been performing that you need to stop.

It could be your phone use. Some of y'all just need to take your phone away from your bed and it's going to help you live a better life anyways, But then, when you add God into the mix, it's going to make it 10 times better. So that's what we're going to do over the next 21 days, and it's going to be valuable and beneficial. In fact, throw the thing up behind me so that they can scan the QR code in case they haven't yet, cuz we're going into the wilderness together in order to see God do a work, But I'd encourage you to sign up for it, because we're going to shoot you a text every day, an email every day, and it's just going to be some prompts that will enable you to maybe get started.

If you already know what you're going to do and you are established in your faith, do what God leads you to do.

We want to get you started so that you can dive the depths of Jesus Christ over the next 21 days and experience him in a way that you never have before. We just want to help you get started and we're going to let you know about things that are coming up, and you'll receive a daily devotional, a video devotional, from different leaders here at the church. I think that'll just inspire you and help you a little bit And we're going to finalize that wilderness moment, just like Jesus did at the end of this passage. That we'll finish up in a couple of weeks.

It says he was strengthened by the angels.

We're going to, we're going to finish this with a moment of worship on January 25th, 4th, . 4th, . 5th, whatever that Sunday is. You know it's like January 25th-, that evening- and I don't know how many of y'all went last year to worship night.

Buddy, it was good.

I've been to like every event this church has done and this was the best, so I'm really, really excited. For worship purposes- better than the Easter egg draw. I love. You're not going to want to miss that And we're going to let you know if you sign up for the thing behind me.

Well, the, the QR code.

That's how I'm going to let you know. I'm not going to post it. Maybe we will post it. I don't know.

I'm just trying to get you to sign up so you can receive encouraging devotions every single day.

But Jesus was led out into the wilderness by the spirit in order to be tempted, And when the Lord leads you out into that moment, don't see it as a storm. See it as an opportunity, because he's trying to strengthen you, not to leave you. But it did say that after fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. It's the most obvious Scripture that exists.

After fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry.

Thank you, Matthew, for the extra clarification. We all assumed he was hungry, but I find it interesting because he really- I mean obviously he was hungry. Now some of you guys are thinking that's a supernatural fast and there's a level where obviously it's Jesus. Jesus was God and man.

It's a supernatural fast.

This isn't something that's unheard of in life either. Like fasting is something that's pretty common all throughout the world. And a 5day fast, 10day fast, 20-day fast- you could actually live a lot longer than you think you can without food and that type of provision. I'm not telling you should.

I'm saying you can live a long time without that And the reason you live without that is because you're doing what Jesus did, Like man doesn't live on bread alone, but on every word of God.

You're thinking about him being the bread of life And you're meditating on his word day and night, And you recognize, that the spiritual provision he provides is so much more, in the grand scheme of things, important than even our greatest physical provision of nourishment. That's what we're saying Now. You're going to choose something. It could be something technology-wise, It could be food, Could be caffeine, Could be sugar- I don't know what it's going to be, but you're going to choose something to negate for a while, to really promote Jesus further and further in your life, And that is going to be hard.

And by the time you get to day three, 10, 18, you're going to be hungry.

You're going to be struggling, And here's what's crazy about it: This is an intentional one. So the fact that you're choosing to do it and you're putting Jesus in place of the thing that you are neglecting for a while is going to help you. But I don't. I don't know that we choose most of our wildernesses.

Wish we did.

It'd be nice if I could choose everything. I'd be prepared for it, But most of the things I've gone through I did not choose. The one thing I can give you is 21 days of prayer and fasting. Look at me, I'm choosing.

It is great.

I'm excited for it. Still going to be hard, but I'm prepared mentally to do it. But what happens for most of us in life is when God allows us to be led into the wilderness because of the fact that we weren't ready and didn't prepare. Rather than learning from God, in that moment we allow him to bypass us and we isolate ourselves and we're stuck in the wilderness.

And the sadness of this world and the church, sadness of what I see week in, week out, is that there are so many people who are approved by God, who God leads into the wilderness, who then Satan tasks or Satan tempts.

I don't know if you know what a fall-off is, but there there are certain moments that I've noticed as a church where there's a fall-off. I'll tell you. I'll tell you a couple of them. When someone raises their hand in this room, it's almost like they're immediately led into the wilderness so that God can shape them, but Satan gets a hold of them.

Can't tell you how many people I've seen raise their hand, never see them again.

Baptism- I tell people this, it's so common- Like this is a moment not just where God approved you, but where the public sees what God's approved in you, and you make your faith public and it's such an exciting moment and immediately you're led to be shaped. Don't let Satan have his way. And I, I just it happens. Child dedications: Hey, we see this child, We love this child, We approve this child, We're believing his child's going to trust in Jesus.

Cool, I feel good.

Isn't that what happens? When you feel the provision, You neglect the preparation. And here's what I've learned in my faith: It's: you can go into the wilderness in one of two ways. Anyone know what this is?

Yeah, It's not that brand.

I had my mom go get it, cuz I forgot it this morning and she didn't get the Camel Back version, And this is actually Shin Lin, Shiny Lynn, Shiny Lynn. But yeah, you're right, It's, it's a. It's a ca camel back, otherwise known as a hydration platypus. Now you know, you live and you learn.

.

What is it? It's a. It's a. It's a hydration pack.

What this is the thing inside.

This backpack is supposed to be filled with water And you don't need it if you go on a normal run. If I go on a three- mile run- unless it's July- if I go on a three-mile run, I maybe carry a bottle of water or I'll drink before I go and then I'll go on a run and I'm good. The warmer it gets and the longer the run is, the more I need Now hear this term reserves. And what happens is whether it's a wilderness that we prepare for, like 21 days of prayer and fasting, or it's a wilderness we didn't prepare for.

What happens is because God was so kind to us in giving us physical provision, like he spoke to me when I opened the Bible, like he nourished me when I was struggling.

In this moment, everybody reached out to me when I didn't show up, that one time, when I was going through something difficult, people were sending me their prayers. God was kind and he nourished me when I was struggling. There's a book called Dark Knight of the Soul by a man named St John of the Cross. This is one of those pieces of ancient, ancient literature And I would encourage you read the ancients.

They knew what they were talking about.

It was beautiful, And what St John of the Cross says is: he says that at some point, in order to shape you, God has to- and this is a different metaphor- wean you. And what he says is that at first it's really helpful and beautiful for you to connect with him, And he's so kind that he wants you to understand what his love feels like. But at some point his calling has to take effect And in order for the calling to take effect, he has to shape you and sanctify you, which requires a testing period. So what St John of the Cross says is: he takes you away from the- I'm just using ancient language- away from the bosom and he we, so that you can learn to move from milk to meat.

This testing period, this wilderness period, is meant to take you from milk to meat, from automated sustenance to something that you can put together and understand even in the darkest moments of your life.

But so many of us we're not expecting it. We're so used to the easy, spoonfed Christianity that as soon as it gets hard and we're led into the wilderness, we get into the wilderness and we get weak, weary and hungry. And then Satan comes and, just like Jesus said to his disciples before he died on the cross, he says: "Satan has asked to sift you like wheat, but I've prayed that you would not lean into that temptation". But so many of us, we get to that moment and, because of a lack of preparation, a lack of reserves, we're done for and- and maybe I'm speaking from personal experience here-, but I've, I've seen too many situations where God's been kindly seeking him and excited to see him.

They're welling up with the approval they feel from God And then this very common, almost systematic thing that God does enters into their life, called the wilderness, where God takes you into the wilderness, this chaotic, destabilizing place, so that he can, like, shake up the ground and all of your tradition, Break down your walls and all your religion.

He can flip you upside down so that he can give you a faith that that sticks. And instead of seeing the goodness and kindness of God in flipping you around to get you where you need to be, we feel isolated, frustrated and we blame God. And over the next three weeks, my hope would be that, as we see how Jesus responds to the temptation of the devil, we will see that there is, there is a reserve that we can build up: a well of living water that can stream through our lives in the good seasons and in the wilderness seasons. That is so nourishing and beneficial that even when the things that I've leaned into are removed, I've got reserves to keep me going.

That's right.

What we see more than anything with Jesus in the wilderness is that connection. That divine connection between him and the father was so tightly knit that even the lies of the enemy, no matter how loud they were, no matter how hungry he was, could get through. And my encouragement to you over this next season is, as you draw near to God, as you consider what you're going to fast from, as you put God in first place, my encouragement to you is to recognize this is an intentional season whereby God is trying to do something powerful in your life. Choose it.

It's a crazy thing to accept it.

It's even crazier to choose it. But he says: "Take up your cross, Choose this day who you're going to serve", Right before they went into battle in Joshua. "Choose this day, Take up your cross, Choose this life filled with wilderness, destabilization, adjustment, shaping, refining, and trust that God is putting you through it so that you would become complete where you would lack nothing. That's what I'm encouraging you to enter into today.

And there's some of you.

You're going to jump right into it. Others of you're like: I don't know, Do it anyway. Do something small. I don't know what you're ready for.

We all know there are things in your life that you don't want to do anyways.

Doesn't have anything to do with God. Cut those things and put God in its place. You're going to see God do a powerful thing. There's some of you who are like: I don't care to do that at all because I don't have a relationship with Jesus.

And I want to tell you this: try it anyways.

You take out the bad thing and try to put Jesus in for 21 days. I'm confident enough in his goodness and kindness toward you that you're going to see him in a fresh way, . And whether it's today, in a moment or 21 days, at the worship night, I'm going to see you trusted in Jesus. But I do want to give an opportunity right now for those of you who have never trusted in Jesus.

The Bible says: if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved.

That's all it takes. That's approval. He will lead you into the wilderness after this moment. Prep for it, But it's worth it.

Because God doesn't lead you into the wilderness to leave you. He doesn't. He does it to lift you up, . That's what this is about.

So if everybody, everybody- would bow their heads, close their eyes- We're going to pray this prayer together, out loud, for the benefit of those who are trusting Jesus today.

Repeat after me: Say: "God, I believe, . That Jesus is your son. Jesus is your son. I believe he died on the cross.

. And rose from the grave. Forgive me of my sin.

Make me new. Help me follow you. Help me follow me, Even into the wilderness.

. I commit to bear my cross for the rest of my life. It's in Jesus's name that we pray. Every head bowed, every eye closed.

I'm not trying to draw too much attention to you right now, but if you made the decision to follow Jesus, I want you to just briefly lift your head up and make eye contact with me. Let me know about the decision you're making in this moment. I see you. I see you.

I.

I want you to know this. The wilderness is not where God isolates you. It's where Satan's trying to isolate you. But remember this: God has a plan for you that is abundant.

It brings you farther than you ever thought you would go.

The stuff in your life, the crap in your life, God can remove it. In the name of Jesus, . Amen, . The dreams that you've stopped dreaming, God can reveal them and make them reality.

In the name of Jesus, leap forward.

Trust him and try the fast. See what he'll do. In fact, can we celebrate those who just trusted in Jesus?