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The Call of Jesus
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Welcome to lesson five in this series
called "The Call of Jesus"
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where I'm talking out from my book
by the same name "The Call of Jesus".
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I want to do one video
for every chapter in the book.
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Now we've come to chapter five
and it's called "The Leading of the Holy Spirit".
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I just want to say, I love being led
by the Holy Spirit.
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I love it. I am excited about
being led by the Holy Spirit.
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I think it's so important for all of us,
as believers, that we understand
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what the Holy Spirit wants to do.
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We are not called to do this alone.
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We are called to be led by the Holy Spirit.
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I want to talk about that in this chapter.
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I want to start with reading something
from the chapter:
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"The Holy Spirit wants to be as big a part
of our everyday lives
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as He was in the lives of the first disciples.
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He wants to guide us, work through us,
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and to make it so that there are no
difference between our lives
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and the lives of the first disciples
we read about in the Book of Acts."
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And I want to say this. I really, really, really
believe that the Book of Acts in the Bible
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should be the normal Christian life.
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And what they experienced there is the same
you and me should experience today.
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We should not build on our church traditions.
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We should build on the Bible
and the Bible alone.
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And the Holy Spirit is here to guide us.
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He is here to help us.
He is here to lead us to the truth.
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He is here to remind us of every word
Jesus has spoken.
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When we look at Luke 10, as we are going
to go through in this book,
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verse by verse by verse,
we start reading this:
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"After these things the Lord appointed
seventy others also,
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and sent them two by two before His face
into every city and place
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where He Himself was about to go."
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So, here we read that after Jesus
appointed them two and two,
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He sent them into every city and place
where He Himself wanted to go.
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When Jesus walked on earth
He was led by the Spirit of God
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and He walked here on earth physically
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and He wanted to go to different cities
and places,
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because He knew that the harvest
was great
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and there were people who were waiting
for Him in that city, and that city,
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and that place, and that place.
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So, when Jesus walked on earth physically,
He wanted to go to different places.
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For example, the woman in Samaria,
the woman at the well He went to.
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But now, Jesus is not here
physically anymore.
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Now He is in Heaven.
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But, He did not leave us alone.
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When He left to Heaven,
He sent His Spirit down here.
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And now, we are Christ's body
and He is the head.
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And like Jesus wanted to go to
specific cities and places at that time,
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because there were people there
who were the persons of peace,
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who were seeking God,
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the same way He wants now us,
as His body,
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by the Holy Spirit in us,
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to go to those places.
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And I truly believe that what we read
in the Book of Acts,
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when we read about being led
by the Holy Spirit
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and what Jesus commanded to do,
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is the same today.
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The Book of Acts is not just like
the book of... What is that?
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Is it a book of the apostles
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or is it a book about the work
of the Holy Spirit?
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Because the Book of Acts really shows
what the Holy Spirit can do
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in a person who follows Christ.
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And I want to read something here
from this chapter of my book:
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"All the way through the book of Acts,
we read how the Holy Spirit worked
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through the first disciples.
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He was a big part of their life,
as it was He who was leading them.
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In the book of Acts, we read things like,
'It seems good to the Holy Spirit, and us.'
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(Acts, 15:28), 'So, being sent out
by the Holy Spirit' (Acts 13:4),
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and 'they were forbidden
by the Holy Spirit' (Acts 16:6)."
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I truly believe it should be like that
today in our lives.
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But where do we ever in the churches
hear something like that today?
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Where do we ever hear somebody
talk like that,
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saying like: Hey, it seems good
to the Holy Spirit and to us.
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Or, being sent out by the Spirit,
or being forbidden by the Spirit
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to go there and there.
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We don't hear a talk like that today,
but this should be how it is.
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Why? Because Jesus is the same
yesterday, today and forever,
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and the Holy Spirit is the same
yesterday, today and forever.
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Let's keep reading my book.
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"We see this even more clearly if we look
at the disciple Philip in Acts 8:26-40.
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One day in Philip's life, he experienced
an angel of the Lord speaking to him,
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telling him where to go.
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When he arrived there where the angel
said he should go,
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he saw a chariot, and then the Holy Spirit
spoke to him
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saying that he should run over to the chariot
and speak with the man there.
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When he obeyed and went there,
he met the 'person of peace'
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(I will come back to this later).
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The man there was ready, seeking God.
Philip then shared the gospel
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with the eunuch, and he repented.
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As soon as the eunuch saw water,
he was immediately baptized.
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Just after the baptism, Philip experienced
something amazing.
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The Holy Spirit suddenly took him away
to another place.
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It is really amazing when we read
how God worked in Philip's life.
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God was a part of the early church,
just like He wants
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to be a part of your life
and my life today."
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Hallelujah! The call Jesus has given us
is not impossible.
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He would never call us to do something
He would not empower us to do.
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And He has given us the Holy Spirit
and by the Holy Spirit
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we can experience crazy things.
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Who does Jesus want to visit today?
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Who does Jesus want you to go to
and speak to?
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Like Philip was led by the Holy Spirit,
we today can be led by the Holy Spirit
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to that person who is ready to receive.
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I have many strong examples where
I've seen how the Holy Spirit
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has led me, and I think it should be
like that in all of our lives.
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One funny example. It looks a little
like Philip in the book of Acts 8,
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we've just read.
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Some years ago I was out walking.
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I've been walking,
I've been out on the street evangelizing.
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I was walking on the way home
and suddenly I heard God said: Stop.
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And I was like: What?
Go back.
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I turned around. When I turned around
I saw a man behind me.
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I thought I should go to him.
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He was standing with his back
towards me, so I didn't want to come
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from his behind, so I walked around him,
and then I stood there
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like I was looking at the shop,
and then I turned to look at his face.
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And then he was suddenly gone.
And I was like...
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I stood there, in front of the shop now,
and I thought: God, I thought You said:
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Stop. Go back. And now the man is gone.
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And then I looked at the shop.
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It was a hairdresser, and it was funny
because I don't use that anymore.
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And it seemed weird, because I was
on my way home,
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God said: Stop and go back.
And now I was standing in front
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of a hairdresser shop.
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And then somebody came from my
behind and said:
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Excuse me, you are blocking the door.
I turned around. Sorry!
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When I turned around and looked
at that person who said: Sorry,
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I was so excited. Because when I saw
him I knew he was the person of peace.
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It made sense why God said:
Go back and stand right there.
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Because that young man had one arm
under the jacket like this.
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So I said: Hey, stop, stop.
Can I ask you something?
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Do you believe in God?
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And he said: It is so interesting you ask me.
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Because my grandmother died two weeks
ago and she had a Bible.
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And I inherited her Bible and the last two
weeks I've been reading the Bible every day.
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But I don't understand what I read.
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And this morning I said: God, if You are real,
send somebody to explain what I'm reading.
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It was so amazing. I said: I'm a Christian.
I want to explain it. Let me pray for your arm.
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What happened? And he had internal
bleeding in his arm.
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I prayed for him and he got completely
healed right away,
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and he was a person of peace,
and I could share the gospel with him.
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I love examples like this.
Almost like the Book of Acts.
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He was a person of peace
ready to receive,
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and the Holy Spirit spoke: Go back,
stand there in front of the window almost,
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so that guy came and could not enter in.
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We need to have experiences like this,
where the Holy Spirit is leading us.
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I have many experiences like that.
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I believe there is a reason for that.
I want to share that with you.
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A main reason I think is the balance
between listening to the Spirit and doing it.
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I believe we need to listen to the Spirit,
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but I also believe we need to do.
We just need to obey.
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I don't wait for the Holy Spirit
to speak to me,
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in that way that... There are some people
who are over-spiritual.
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Don't be over-spiritual.
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I met people who are over-spiritual,
so they never leave their homes
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unless they get a very, very clear
word that God says: Go.
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No, I don't need the Holy Spirit
to say: Go. Why?
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Because Jesus has already said: Go.
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He has already said: Go.
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So, why wait for another "Go" when
He has already said: "Go"?
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So, I don't wait for that "Go".
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I go because Jesus has already said it.
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I obey it because it's already written
in His Word.
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But, while I am obeying,
I'm listening.
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And I think that is important.
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Also, that man I've just told about,
when God said: Stop and go back,
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I was not sitting home on my couch
and doing nothing.
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No, I was actually out there obeying,
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and out there obeying - God spoke.
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Let me read something from this chapter
in my book.
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"I believe it is important that we have
the attitude of doing whatever Jesus said to do,
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no matter if we feel like it or not, or if we
experience God speaking directly to us or not.
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It is important that when you go out
on His Word,
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you are praying, listening, and asking
the Holy Spirit
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if there is anything He wants to say
to you today.
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This is when things start to happen.
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For example, if you look at a car,
you can sit behind the wheel
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and turn the wheel as much as you want,
but no matter how much you turn the wheel,
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nothing will happen when the car
is not moving.
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Because the car is not moving,
it actually is more difficult to turn the wheel,
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but when the car starts to move,
it is both easier to turn the wheel
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and also to move the car
where you want it to go.
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This is the same with God
and being led by the Holy Spirit.
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We can sit in our church and pray to God,
and wait for the Holy Spirit to lead us.
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We can pray and fast, but nothing will happen
because we are doing nothing.
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But when we start to obey and go out
on the Word of God by faith,
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while having a strong life with God
of praying and fasting,
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we will then experience that it is so much
easier to be led by the Holy Spirit."
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I want to say, what I just read here,
I really believe in this with a car.
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We need to not just sit and move
the wheel.
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We need the car running first.
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We need to get car started.
We, you need to start to obey.
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Why? Because Jesus said it.
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Don't wait. He has said it.
Obey His word.
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I've met so many people:
Oh, I don't know what the will of God is
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for my life, I don't know what to do...
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Here. Take the Word, read it, obey it.
This is the God's will for your life.
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Go with it. Do it.
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But then, while you do it - listen.
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While you do it - be open for the Holy Spirit.
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And there, I think, it's so important
to spend time in prayer and fasting.
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And fasting is very, very important.
I talk about that more in my book.
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I really encourage you to get if you can.
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So, what I want to say with this lesson is
that I want to encourage you to go.
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Don't wait.
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Yes, if you have not received the Holy Spirit,
then don't go.
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If you have not received the Holy Spirit,
find somebody near you,
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go to www.TLRmap.com, find somebody
near you who can pray for you
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to receive the Holy Spirit.
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That was the only time Jesus said:
Wait.
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That was when people were waiting
for the Holy Spirit.
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But after they got the Holy Spirit
He did not say: Wait. He said: Go.
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Go, go, go, go, go.
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And I encourage you to what we read
here in Jesus' call, in Luke 10,
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is not for us to only pray about
and meditate about.
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It's for us to obey.
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It's for us to go and do.
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But, while you are going and doing,
I will talk more about that later,
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when we put it altogether and come
with a lot of testimonies,
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you need to open your ears and listen
to what the Holy Spirit is saying to you.
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The Holy Spirit doesn't speak often
through a big, audible voice.
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The Holy Spirit speaks through
small, small thoughts.
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When you are out on the street,
when you go and speak to somebody,
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you often see a multitude of people,
but then you pray and say: God...
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Who do you want me to speak to?
Who do you send me to?
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And then often you see one person
you are somehow drawn to.
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You don't know why.
You just get your eyes on that person
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in a way... Why that person?
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The Holy Spirit is leading you.
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Or, you are like: God, who do You
want me to go to today?
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And then maybe it is a person you know,
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maybe it's a person from your family,
people around you,
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that person just comes to your mind.
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This is often how the Holy Spirit
is speaking.
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God puts somebody into your mind
and the Holy Spirit guides us.
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Like me, that time I was walking
I was on my way home,
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and it was just like my thoughts
suddenly: Stop. Go back. What?
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But I'm on the way home.
Go back. Okay.
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It was a thought that came into my mind,
and this is how God often speaks to us.
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So, ask Him who does He want you
to be sent to.
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And then, go in faith.
Go and talk with them.
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In next lessons in this video series
and in the book
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I will come with many, many, many
more details,
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next many times, of what you do
when you go out there.
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What you do when you then go and find
that person of peace.
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How you share the gospel,
how you heal the sick,
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how you cast out demons,
how you stay in their house,
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how you build communities
like we read in Acts 10, Acts 16, Acts 19.
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How you see with Jesus
and the woman at the well,
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or Paul, or Lydia, or some of the other
examples in the Bible.
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I hope you are ready for it.
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Time is short. We are living in the end times.
Jesus is coming back soon.
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And make sure that when He comes back
He finds you working in His harvest.
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The harvest is great,
the workers are few.
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And we need you out there.
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It's not about being a super evangliest.
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It's about obeying Him.
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Don't say: Lord, Lord,
if you don't do what Jesus says.
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Let's read Jesus' words,
let's look at the call He has given all of us,
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and as I said in the beginning,
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maybe you feel a call to be a worship leader,
even you don't see that in the Bible,
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or be a businessman, even you don't see that.
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I think that's okay that people have
different callings,
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things they feel God has called them to,
but...
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that call should not precede
the call of Jesus.
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You can have talents, things you want to do,
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but it, actually, comes down to obeying Him
and doing His will.
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Because when we say "yes" to Jesus
we say "no" to ourselves.
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And we say "yes" to denying ourselves
and taking up His cross and follow Him.
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And that is an exciting life.
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Until next time, share this video,
get the book on Amazon, if you can,
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or on the www.TheLastReformation.com.
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Read the book together with this series.
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Share it, and let's see the church comes back
to what Jesus has called us to.
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See you next time! God bless you!
Bye-bye!
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The Call of Jesus