Harvest Mens Ministry | Jan. 24, 2023

foreigner foreigner foreigner foreigner foreigner foreigner foreigner foreigner foreigner foreigner foreigner foreigner thank you foreigner thank you foreigner foreigner foreigner hey good morning the bravest hearts are here in this room if you join us online we are glad we are here currently it is 24 January and it is snowing outside it is beautiful, we love it and it will be a beautiful day because today is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be happy in it. Amen, men, very well, let us be together again. If you join us online, we're glad you're here, welcome, let's worship the Lord, I'm going to pray, let's get into this, Lord Jesus, we love you, thank you for the humidity, thank you for the snow God it's beautiful It's just another another fairer way to see your beautiful creation what you have created God and we worship you we praise you this morning as we sing and listen to your word God let our hearts be open and soft to receive it and God we simply worship you in spirit and indeed this morning we prayed this in your name and as people said restaurants and rest upon us foreigners in an excellent victory, come do it again, open the doors, let heaven upon him and rest. in us the foreign speed is gone we have rest in us foreigner rewind foreigner you are just a Holy Spirit Holy Spirit Come rest in our you are always oh thank you God you are all we want Holy Spirit Come rest in us this morning in our hearts Jesus Come on, give a shout of praise, thank you, oh, thank you, Lord Jesus, we love you, we worship you today, Father, may all the praise, all the honor, all the glory be to you forever and ever, amen and amen, hello guys. welcome back to take a few moments with someone cool around you and, uh, if you want to step away from the camera and say hello to everyone who's not here today foreign foreign foreign foreign hello, I thought Josh was going to get up and give us a encore, good morning everyone, it snowed outside.

He was talking to some of the guys who said, Hey, how about we go out and form a big old circle and, you know, start a fire out there or something? Because it's actually really nice out there. I'm excited to be here with you this morning, thank you for being careful and driving here safely, thank you to the men that were out there shoveling, it's like, hey, praise Jesus that we're saved to serve well. God saved us and, thank you. you guys for the heart that you men had to go out and shovel, that's really amazing, thank you, thank you, thank you, um, I know most of you probably want to be here because you enjoy brave hearts, but I know that the Most of you probably came here because you just wanted to drive in the snow.

You know, it's like who can get to the parking lot first. That way you can make donuts. You know, so I'm not going to point fingers. I saw you do it, okay? I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding, hey, thank you all for being here this morning, those of you online, thank you for being here with us, how many of you remember what the theme of the year is? Battlefields, that's right, Battlefields, we are Talking about how to fight right, we're talking about the battle we're all called to fight, but learning what we're really called to fight when it comes to the battles you and I face , especially for us as men.

What about the month of January? What has been the battlefield? We are fighting for our community with the Lord, right? It's probably, if not, one of the biggest, it's one of the biggest battles that you and I will ever face and I don't know about you, but it's a battle that I want to win. How many of you want to win that battle? Come on, now each and every one of us wants to win the battle when it comes to our relationship with the Lord, but how? many of you know that when it comes to winning, winning is not a choice, I mean, winning doesn't happen by chance, winning happens by choice, right?

It takes intentionality on the part of you and me to position ourselves in a place where we consistently use keywords. We constantly do everything we can to ensure that we not only maintain but develop our relationship with the Lord. Amen, so we've done two parts today, we're going to be part three, so just a quick recap here for some of you. that may not have been here for one and two we started uh with this great idea for the first part I said this was this my relationship with Christ must be must be is essential is not optional must be the central point of my life We talked about how it is You know the military police fire EMS whenever they are deployed or wherever they arrive on the scene, one of the main things they do is check in to give their location or military personnel when they arrive wherever they are.

They are in battle, uh, one of the first things they say is to activate communications, activate communications because even in the natural they recognize the importance of being in communication with the source, that way if they need backup, if they need more resources uh , if things are going well, just to give a kind of status check, it is a primary thing that even those in the natural do, so it is much more important for you and me to make sure that our communication with the Lord with our source with God our Father through the power of His holy spirit is always available on our behalf, it is not one of those things where we are waiting for God to do the right thing so that we can enter into His presence or be in communication.

He already did his thing, he did it through the cross, he did it with uh through Jesus. Through the precious blood that our Lord Our Savior the Messiah shed for you and me and sometimes we get to a position where we think, man, I can't listen. of God or I can't this that the other of God or maybe he has forsaken me or whatever the case may be but that is not true surely there are things we do to harden our hearts surely there are things we do to grieve the Holy Spirit truth but ultimately the choice, the responsibility to remain in connection and communication with the source lies with who you and I, amen, so we can't do the blame game right, it's not a, it's not a God, it's not us hiding, it is not yours. the word says that he will never leave us nor forsake us and he is always ready his door is always available and open but you and I have to make the decision to walk through it amen the scripture we visited in that first part was John 10 10 says this that the thief only comes to kill and destroy but we know that he came that Jesus came so that you and I may have life and not only life but that we may have it in abundance we all want Abundant Life even as many of you want Life Abundant in your life we ​​go now all of us and part of that you know we talk about the enemy and it's not so much about focusing on them but understanding what their game plan is, their game plan is to cause death and destruction to Destroy everything He can to keep you and me out of communication with the Lord right when it comes to this specific battlefield, so anything he can do to interfere with our communication with the source, he will do because he knows how the story ends. he knows he has no authority or power over our father over the I am over Jesus has been defeated Total destruction, so he tries to eliminate you and me, but we do not have to allow Jesus to have raided and first and most importantly, for Of course, it is through salvation absolutely, but it is through us maintaining our relationship with the father through Jesus Christ and that is why we talk about destruction, how does the enemy try to come to destroy you?

And I, well, two of the main ways is through deception and through deception. distraction, so what is deception? It's lies, anything, any bait I can throw so that you and I try to bite it hard to start believing the lie. He will do it because he wants the focus to be on ourselves and not on God. The Father, amen, we do not have to let him do that deception. You know, some of the things he uses to deceive is that we all have a past, we've all made bad decisions, we've all done something at some point. in our past that we are not proud of, there is probably shame, there is probably pain and even though we have healed from those things and even though we have received forgiveness we still have scars and sometimes those scars remind us of times in the past, but in reality, when it comes of the scars, now we should be able to look back and say wow, even though I made these decisions, even though those were dark places in my life, that's not who I am anymore, it's only through faithfulness and kindness. of God that I was able to overcome and look at me right now, so part of the deception is God trying to leave you and I see that who we were is who we will always be, but how many of you know that is not true?

Now, if you were an alcoholic a long time ago, it does not mean that you are an alcoholic today, and even if you are still fighting it, it does not mean that you are an alcoholic, because freedom and victory are always available. It's always available, that's one of the things I love about Bravehearts, man, is that we have people from all walks of life, some of whom are older, some of whom are younger, there's so much wisdom, so much truth and so much aid. Always available here at our tables, so my goal for you and my prayer for you is that as we move forward, you know this specific series as we finish it, but as we continue, man, open up whatever it is with you're dealing with. come on, let some of you let some of your partners, some of your brothers, help you start to gain some spiritual muscle, you know, the Lord calls us to be witnesses, to share our testimony, to share, now They know all those things, yes, it is.

Correct scripture, but man, you are a witness, you and our Witnesses, so when it comes to our stories, it shouldn't be something to be ashamed of, it's something that brings hope to someone who can be there where you once were. Amen and they I will never be able to receive, you know the goodness and faithfulness of God unless you and I begin to open our mouths and share. Amen, amen, so deception, uh, and distraction, distraction is what gets our attention away from the Lord, right, Pastor Kirby spoke, uh. something about that but I'm going to get to that distraction uh it's anything that gets our attention outside of the Lord we talked about the flow and the rhythms of life that we talk about you know some of you have walked the Earth longer What others.

Of us, others, you know we talk about culture, what was the flow of culture back then, what is the flow of culture now, when it comes to you and me, as believers, we have to understand that God gives us It is calling you and me to go against the grain. of the culture whenever the essence of the culture goes against God, then the choice is yours and keep in mind that those things do not happen by chance, to convert the tithe, so to speak, we have to choose who we represent. we represent the kingdom of culture or we represent the agenda of culture the agenda of the Kingdom amen and that's why today is the day in which we can choose every day we have a choice we are called to be representatives of something of someone they can choose who it is something and someone.

Amen and I know them because I know them. I look at them. I have had conversations with you. Each and every one of us wants to be men of the Kingdom of God. Each one of us. We believe that we are men of the Kingdom of God who visibly and consistently walk the paths and disciplines that God has set before us. We want to live under the lordship of Christ Jesus in every area of ​​our life. I think that's what we are. We are here this morning amen, but consistency is key and continuing to communicate with the Lord is key amen, so the second part Pastor Kirby came in and talked about the priority of prioritizing his presence when doing things in our lives to position ourselves in a place where We are making His presence a priority in our lives.

His big idea was this: If I want to experience all that God has for me, I must learn to dwell in the secret place, just as we review Psalm 91, that first passage of Scripture that we sometimes focus on. everything else, except that first passage of Scripture, talks about the abode or the secret place. He said that most of us only occasionally visit the place we are called to dwell. Come on, when it comes to presence, it's not like continuing. A vacation, you know, is something that you and I, as believers, are called to live, to live life, we let the distractions of life and the less important things rob us of what we would say is our greatest desire in life if I asked you.

What is your greatest wish in life? Some of you may say: have a healthy marriage. Some of you may say: see my children grow in the discipline and admonition of the Lord. Some of you may say, "You know, I get to watch my grandchildren grow up." in the fear of the Lord to be able to see my granddaughters or my daughters walk towards the altar allThose things are real, very natural desires that you and I have as men but the priority above all is a deeper and closer relationship with Jesus the Bible. He tells us to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, so all the great things in life and all the wonderful things in life are all byproducts, even though all of those things are secondary to the primary desire for a great relationship with Jesus Christ if you have that in your life man, if you and I have that in our life, everything else will just fall into place, it doesn't mean it will be perfect, it doesn't mean we won't have problems in life, we live in a fallen state. world, but if we do it well, prioritizing our communication with the Lord, prioritizing his kingdom, allowing our lifestyles to match his way of life, what would it be like?

How would it be? Do you think we have influence now? Imagine that people will be drawn to Jesus like a moth to a flame, just look at yourself and say, wow, that guy is a Christian. That guy is a follower of Christ. I can say I want what he has. See what I'm saying, so those things don't happen by chance, they happen by choice. Amen, thus spoke Pastor Kirby. uh, when it came to desires, he talked about the three d's, which he talked about, uh, recognizing that desire for a closer relationship with the Lord. It is a wish that we want well, it is like the final goal. uh, it's a goal, not the ultimate goal, but it is one.

The goal is the desire that he wants and what he talked about was that it takes discipline, in other words, making all the necessary sacrifices to achieve whatever it is that we want, in other words, sometimes when it comes to the desires that we want what we have. having some disciplines in place to get to the destination we are trying to get to without disciplines you just don't wake up and arrive, who chooses the disciplines in our own lives so there is a lot of intentionality and responsibility that falls within us as individuals we can come to the church we can do life groups we can do all things the difference is if you trust other people to get where you want to go or is it the passion and desire in your heart let's now want so that you want it well and then allow everyone those around you help you get to where you are trying to get to and we have our shoes on we can move our legs to take us to wherever we are trying to get to.

Amen God did not create us to have the expectation that human beings will take us where only God can take us sometimes when we put the expectation on the pastor sometimes we put the expectation on the leaders of our life group sometimes we put the expectation in the worship leader in our friends, true, sometimes they disappoint us because they do not meet the expectation we want and thus we get a false image of the person. or maybe even a false image of God, so we have to reposition ourselves and understand that the Chief Shepherd here is Jesus and it is only he who can take me where he needs me to go. through the Holy Spirit of him and all these other guys are here to try to help me get to where I'm going.

Amen and as long as your faith, your hope and your focus are on Christ Jesus, you will never go wrong. Amen, that's a hard truth for us sometimes, but God is always good, he's always faithful, it doesn't mean we don't need people, we need people, we need pastors, we need shepherds, we need close relationships, but all of those. Things are supposed to be secondary to who Jesus is as the Chief Shepherd. Amen, so communication is a real battle. Communicating with the Lord is a real battle for us, but it doesn't happen by chance, it happens by choice to reach a deeper level. relationship with Christ, so Pastor Kirby went on and talked about how the disciplines lead us to the desire that we want and as long as we have those disciplines in place, those disciplines will be really delicious, it won't feel like if we have to do something, we will really enjoy it. of the disciplines that exist.

The consistency of my discipline has brought me to a place where I have found true pleasure in what I am doing. I found the life it gives me and now it's just a desire to become something or achieve something, so the goal is to delight in the process. There is a passage of Scripture. I think it's a Psalm that says, "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Delight yourself in the Lord, you know what I'm saying, even when we talk about the things and the things that we have to do, it's delicious the fact that you and I have a way of being in His presence, we live in a time Holy Spirit, where I mean the presence, direct communication with the Lord is accessible any time we call upon the Lord, that is. huge, guys, if the people of the Old Testament had what we have today, I mean, they did powerful things, but it boggles my brain to think what would happen if those guys lived where you know, in today's time, you know, because they didn't have all this that we have and sometimes we miss it, sometimes we take for granted the things that God has given us resources the availability of his presence let's not be those people let's be the people who recognize the resources and availability of his presence and.

We hold those kinds of things in our hearts and say man, I have everything I need to achieve anything. what God wants me to do on this Earth because there are many lost people who need Jesus. There are people in my family who need Jesus. Amen. Pastor Kirby said we all have a desire to have a deep relationship with the Lord, but the question is. If we develop the discipline necessary to move from desire to delight, so delight yourself in the Lord today. Amen, so the third part is very simple, very easy, really, the great idea is this peace and rest.

How many of you want peace and rest? ​​Come on, how many of you? You know that we live in a culture that constantly seeks a place of peace and rest. One of the great deceptions that the enemy wants to use on you and me is that peace and rest can be found in anything, whatever makes you feel good, whatever you need. What to do so that you find that peace, do it, it's good, but for you and me as believers we have to understand that true peace and true rest is in my communion with the Lord, amen, and this is a truth that I personally found in my life. peace does not mean that you will not have problems Jesus even tells us that he gives us the warning in this life in this world as you walk around the planet you will face trials you will have problems you will have unforeseen events they will happen but take heart, I have overcome it all and that is the key to you and I walk through Victory Circle is to stay connected to the source.

Amen. Another truth I found is that you cannot find peace, you cannot find rest until you find it. peace and you found rest in God I am not proud of this but there was a moment in my life where I realized that God was all I had and I am grateful for that moment because now I recognize that when you find yourself in a place where God is everything what you always have, you realize that God is really all you'll ever need and I don't mean that in a way to overlook family, that's all I'm talking about, what I'm talking about is the main focus here when you realize that God is all you will ever need.

He gives you all the other things you want—relationships with your spouse, children, grandchildren, people—but the peace and rest that you and I so desire cannot be found anywhere else on Earth. can't God didn't create it that way there are some temporary pieces that you know like work brings peace to some people going and getting like a massage or something probably brings a little piece for a moment you know being a cowboy from Dallas dude, it's not a fan, it doesn't bring you peace, hey, I'm just saying, man, I was excited, but after that game, I was left heartbroken and half the crowd got up and left a moment ago, okay, I mean, but really think about it, what do you do? we put our, you know, where we allow the source to sometimes come from cheap entertainment.

You know, it's like as long as we win, man, we're at peace inside, but really and truly it's like no, no, everyone. we want peace and we all want rest but in John 14 27 Jesus says this peace I leave you so peace has already been given it is already available it is already in your heart he has already done it peace I leave you my peace I do not give you only he left it but it gave. I do not give to you as the world gives, do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

He makes a connection with fear there, so when it comes to our relationship with Christ, when it comes. to our communion with source, staying connected to God the Father, we must always begin our day, we must always begin, you know, as we move forward in life from a place of inner peace, it is not necessarily a peace out here, but it is an inner peace that Jesus promises us the right thing and is a piece that no one can take from us unless we give it to him. Amen and it is through that peace it is through trust it is through walking in obedience to the Lord that we truly find ourselves in a place. of peace and ultimately a place of rest, well yes there are things we can do like know the Sabbath and everything and some of these other things that God has gifted you and me and I have to be careful because I'll go to that. route but I want to stay focused on inner peace and inner rest that regardless of the things we face in life its peace is always accessible and its presence is always available that place of peace is not something we strive for it is a The place from The one we started is always ready, always there, but you and I can choose you and I can choose, it doesn't depend on Jesus, he did his part.

Psalms 46 10 says this, be still, can you feel peace sometimes in the busyness? of life sometimes in the hustle and bustle of our thoughts sometimes in the hustle and bustle of circumstances even even when we are in the abode remember to be still be still and listen he says be still and know that I am God, he is greater than any war that you and I can face, he is bigger than any challenge that you and I can face, he is bigger than any circumstance that you and I can face and if there is anything to learn from today it is that right there you want peace, you want rest, be still and I don't know, I wonder, but I know with confidence that I am God.

Amen. If God is powerful enough to take you and me to heaven, he is powerful enough to sustain you and me here on Earth. Amen. These things don't happen by chance, they happen by choice. Amen and those things only come through a relationship with Jesus so this is how I want to end so when we talk about Battlegrounds for the rest of the year this is my goal this is my goal for you and me as As we move forward and present a Battlefield, whatever we take, we can reflect on ourselves like in the first week, we have the big theme, the big direction for the month and we can evaluate where we are at the beginning of that month and then at the end of the month we can take everything we've learned during week one, week two and many other weeks, and then we can look back and reflect, well, that's where I was, this is where I am, my uh , My objective. for us it is the right progression, so if I were to ask you right now in regards to this specific battle, in regards to your communion with your communication with the Lord, your relationship with Jesus through speech, through deception and distraction, upon being introduced into the dwelling.

To understand today peace and rest come only through my relationship with Christ that in the midst of life I need to be still and know that he is God. My question to you is: are you winning this battle or are you still where you were? I said it here that application makes all the difference, faith without action, there are some steps that you and I must take, so my prayer and my hope for us is that we will be the men who take the necessary steps to apply the truths that we are learning and that we are receiving amen because once you hear it we are responsible for it we do not want to be a group of lukewarm or cold Christians Jesus says it is vomit from his mouth lukewarm Christians I know that we want to be hot, passionate and fiery Christians by Jesus, but those things don't just happen, it happened by choice, they have my intentionality, amen, so there are some discussion questions here that will appear on the screen so we can talk and just say this, how are you doing in this battle in as it relates to your relationship, as it relates to your communication with the Lord, where did you start and where are you today and number two, what is your routine that you have developed or what is your game plan? your communion with the Lord advances and how can the men at your table help to be responsible help you with responsibility to continue walking on the paths to develop and win this specific battlefield of our communication with Jesus.

Amen and even as we move through the year this will be something that will always be paramount amen I have to stay connected to the source let's pray God we thank you for this morning God we thank you for uh man Lord the snow we thank you for the humidity God We thank you for your word I thank you for your truths God I thank youbecause you have given us a way Lord to be in your presence God you have given us everything we need to live from a place of rest a place of Peace God we know These things do not happen by chance but they happen by choice for us as men of God and that's why I just pray Lord for my brothers this morning Lord that the passion and the desire to want to continue to deepen our relationship with you God just continues to burn Lord, I pray for a deeper intimate relationship with you and a deeper intimate relationship with each other. we that we love you Lord and we thank you we thank you for the victory we thank you for this battlefield we speak the name of Jesus over every man here over every man and family that joins us online Lord, we only ask for your safety today God on the weather conditions and we just say yes and amen Lord to everything you have in store for us, we love you and we thank you.

It is in the name of Jesus that we pray. Amen. Hey man, you guys enjoyed the discussion. Tom I love you. See you soon.stranger foreign foreign thank you okay thank you foreign foreign foreign foreign foreign thank you yes thank you foreign foreign foreign foreign foreign foreign foreign