Obey Christ - He Wants You to be a Partner in His Kingdom

There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God and I hope you found it last week. If I was to ask you was last week characterized by rest I hope you'll all answer yes and if it wasn't the case then maybe set it as your goal this week. There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.

See we don't celebrate Sabbath anymore like they did under the old covenant. Does that mean that you can do whatever you like on Saturday or Sunday? Don't do any work or play? What does it mean? Why did God treat the Sabbath as holy? He did say remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy and when the Israelites went into captivity for 70 years in Babylon you know how God calculated how long that captivity would be? You see that it was until the fulfillment of all the Sabbaths that they had missed. God calculated it.

Oh you missed that Sabbath? Okay. You're gonna be held in captivity until all that Sabbath was made up and then they were brought back to the land. So God takes the Sabbath seriously.

He took it seriously under the old covenant. He punished it. Is it true that the only time the word holy comes in the well I'm just thinking in the Ten Commandments the only time the word holy is used is with regard to the Sabbath.

Now all of them are holy of course but specifically mentions the word holy with regard to the Sabbath. So there's an important truth there for us under the new covenant. The Sabbath is still holy and what that means for us is that there's a life of perpetual rest as we pursue holiness.

Oh dear family God wants you to live a life of rest. If there's conflict at home your spouse acts a certain way towards you, your children act a certain way towards you. Let it be rest.

You might have to discipline them, your children that is not your spouse. You might have to deal with the issue. You might have to deal with your workplace situation but you should always be rest.

Rest. Think if the angels were to come and visit your home or some somebody from heaven was to come visit your home and they say wow this feels like heaven here. There's rest here.

Now they see some situations coming up some little bit an opportunity for conflict but rest. To have rest you only need to have one person take this command seriously and if both of you husband and wife take that command seriously you have fellowship in that rest and that's a beautiful thing. Fellowship in rest and so the next time there's a situation where you're disturbed just decide I'm going to live at rest here Lord.

There's that remains a Sabbath rest after all the said and done there's something that God wants you to have. If you missed it this last week don't let another week slip by and you miss it again. Let it be that this week going forward at least from this time forward will be 24-7 rest.

24-7 rest. Any children know what the meaning of the word abhor is? Yes Baba your hand was up first. Sorry I didn't hear you little loud.

Yeah kind of yes there is. Despise yeah that's still another big word. Simple English word what do you think? Yes stay away from it.

That was all correct. And I don't know what you thought of when you memorize that verse through this week. Abhor is a word we don't use so much these days.

I don't know what you think of when you think of something you abhor. It's not a friend who treats you badly at school a classmate. When you think of abhor you know what I think of? I don't want to gross any of you out but it's an unflushed toilet.

That's what I think of when I think of the word abhor. A toilet that's not been flushed it's been used but not been flushed. Abhor what is evil.

Stay away from evil as far away as you would stay away from a toilet that's not been flushed. It's filthy it's dirty and imagine taking a little cup and dipping it into that and drinking it. That's what it means to sin.

Sin is like taking a cup and putting it into that unflushed toilet and drinking out of it. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.

Children the next time you're tempted to fight with your friends or your siblings or to grab something. You know what the devil is trying to get you to do in that moment? Please listen children for a moment. The next time you're in a situation where you want to fight with your sibling or a friend or grab something that somebody else has or they hit you so you hit them back.

You know what the devil is trying to do? He's dipping a cup into a toilet that's filthy and offering you a drink. What will you do with it? Will you say yeah I'm gonna fight back. Drink that cup of filth.

Young men the devil tempts you with your eyes to look at something that you know you shouldn't look at. You know what the devil is offering you? Here here's a little cup I dipped it into filth. You know it's filth.

Before you were born again you didn't know that it was filth he was feeding you. Now you know it's filth because you your eyes have been opened. Now why would you still dally with sin? You know how filthy it is.

Why would you let the devil dip his that cup and offer you and drink it? Abhor what is evil. Have a detest for it. Now I can't we can't not enough sermons can do that for us.

You can't preach strongly enough to set people free from sin. There were people who listened to Jesus who continued their sinful lives and he was the greatest preacher of them all. So I don't believe that preaching alone will change us to the point where we get a revelation of how serious sin is.

The Holy Spirit must do it. We try to preach strongly so that it will be a stimulation for the Holy Spirit to come in. You say yes Lord it must be that bad because the preaching at RLCF says it's bad and they keep saying it's bad.

Is it bad Lord? You tell me and open your heart and let the Holy Spirit come and speak to you and open your eyes to see how sin will destroy your life but God has a plan. He has a plan for your life. I'd like to continue from what I was sharing last week in part two if you will.

If you remember what I was speaking about was what does it mean to really live a life that's pleasing to God and I said I would make two statements of faith. Faith is what's pleasing to God and I said I would make two statements of faith regarding pleasing God and I wonder if you could pull up that first statement. So two statements of faith in pleasing God and the first statement we look at last week was this.

Christ came to save the worst sinners. We can move on to the next slide. Christ came to save the worst sinners.

Christ came for the worst sinners so I will turn to him again today. Christ didn't come for the somewhat bad sinners, the halfway bad sinners. He came for the worst sinners so if you feel like you are the worst sinner, turn again to him today and I don't know what that was like for you this last week.

That message helped me myself even though I shared it. It wasn't, I don't think it was from me. I believe it was from the Lord but it helped me this week.

There were times when I had to repent of attitudes I had, motives I had, thoughts that went astray a little bit from being centered in Christ. I had to repent of it. It's my honest testimony.

You know what I really had, my experience was as I repented? I heard heaven rejoicing when I repented. It felt so good to repent because the Lord reminded me, I've come for you when you're the worst sinner. Do you see unchristlikeness in you? Are you judging yourself and you're seeing depths of unchristlikeness that you never saw before? The moment you repent, it's like, you know, sometimes you walk by a stadium when there's a game going on outside.

You don't even have to be inside the stadium to know if the home team's doing well or not. Just happen to be walking outside and you can tell by the, oh, big cheer, they must have scored a touchdown or something like that. Hit a home run, the home team.

It was really like that for me this week. And maybe it's because I preached it and the message was impressed deeply on my heart that whenever I had to repent of something, and I saw plenty of unchristlikeness in me this week, because I'm digging, I want to get to the bottom of everything until there's no unchristlikeness left in me. And as I was digging, I heard heaven rejoicing every time.

The Father running to me and embracing me and saying, I'm so glad you repented. I'm so glad that when I showed you that, you didn't defend yourself, hide it, think, oh, well, at least I'm better than the other person. You embraced it and said, yes, Lord, I am that person.

Forgive me. That tone in which I said that or didn't say that thing to my wife was unchristlike. Forgive me, Lord.

And heaven came and embraced me and a loud cheer went up. Touchdown. Home run.

Jesus has won again. There's more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 others who have no need of repentance, Jesus said in Luke 15, where we were looking. So Christ came for the worst sinners.

And if that wasn't, if you missed it this week, this last week, I hope it'll be your reality this week, that whenever you need to repent, you will actually hear heaven rejoicing over you. The Father rejoicing over you. Repentance brings him such joy.

Repentance brings him such joy. So, yeah. And what I'd like to speak on today is what, what is it then that continues to please God after we repent? And in a sense, it's, you can think of it like this.

What was day two in the Father's house after the younger son came home? What was day two? Day one was when the, what we call him, the prodigal son, the younger son came home. That's day one. What was day two like? Because the goal is now, not that we keep running away and coming back and say, okay, I want to find pleasure.

So I run away and come back, run away and come back. That's not what God's plan for your life is. It's true.

Day one was a day of great rejoicing. They threw a party. But what do you think day two was like? What was the meal on the table on day two? We know day one was the fatted calf and the nice robe and the ring on the finger and sandals on his feet.

What was day two like? Does the pleasure sort of die out now? Now it's just rice and sambar as we say in India or whatever the equivalent is here in the United States. Simple meal is the pleasure that bring, do we bring God pleasures, God's pleasure manifest in what's on the table. What was day two like? Because we're living in day two, aren't we? Or day three or some way, some day down the road.

We've all been that prodigal son that's come home now. What does it mean to bring pleasure to the Lord today? When I'm not the one that has just come back home, I'm in the father's house. But I'm in danger of becoming that older son who is no longer delighting the Lord because my eyes are elsewhere even though I'm sitting in his presence.

Day two in the father's house. And in order to understand that, I think we must understand why the son left in the first place. Let's turn to Luke chapter 15.

Why do you think the younger son left in the first place? I think and I'm saying this not because it's written in the story and we're not told. The story begins by saying that the younger son asked for his inheritance and left. But what we're not told is why did he decide to leave? Was his father a mean person? Cruel? No, obviously not.

Otherwise he would never have come back to his father. If his father was really a cruel, hurtful person, he would never have thought, man, I got to go back to my father. So clearly the father was a loving, kind person who had his younger son's best at heart.

And that's why when the younger son was in at his wit's end, he knew he could come back to his father. But I know that what the younger son, why the younger son left because I know why I left. I know why I leave.

Why I fall away from the Lord. There's a song we sing, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. In the third verse of that song it says, Oh to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be.

Let thy goodness like a fetter bind my wandering heart to thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone, prone to leave the God I love.

Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts above. Prone to wander.

Do you feel that tendency? Prone to leave. And I know that. And it's from that as I examine my heart and see my tendencies in my flesh, why is it that I walk away from God when he's shown me such tremendous love that I know why the younger son left in the first place.

I believe the younger son left in the first place because even though his father loved him and took care of him and provided for him as God has done for all of us, his commands were heavy. The father made him work. The father told him, you've got to come out and work with me today in the field.

You can't sleep in till 11 o'clock in the morning. You've got to get up 7 o'clock in the morning or earlier. I don't know.

Some days earlier. Some days, he said, you can sleep in a little bit. And yes, you can have some play time, but it's for a fixed amount of time.

After that, you've got to do your homework, son. I mean, this is what all of us parents do for our children. We love them.

Why do children run away from home even now? It's because dad or mom do something or impose some restriction. Tell us we can't do certain things. We can only do these other things.

And that becomes distasteful to me or hateful to me. Or I abhor it, to use the word we were just discussing. It's like I abhor dad's laws, rules.

I abhor mom's rules. Why are they always? Why can't I do this? Why am I not allowed to watch that movie? Why can't I go hang out with these friends? Why can't I sleep in? Why do I have to get up? Why do I have to do the work at home? Why is it always me that seems to be doing? I'm sure every child feels like they're doing the most amount of work in the home. I know I used to feel like that.

Why am I being treated unfairly? All these things. And the youngest son, when he heard the commands that the father gave him every morning, he heard the same father's voice saying, time to get up son. And it became like an annoying alarm clock.

The father's voice like an alarm clock. Time to get up. You know, God wants to speak to you every day.

Isaiah 50 verse 4 says, morning he awakens my ear every morning. What is the Lord's awakening your ear like? Is it like an alarm clock? I got to obey God today. I got to obey God today.

Oh man. Another day of walking with Jesus. Okay.

I can't do all those things that my worldly friends get to do. I got to stay pure. I can't have all those fun things.

I can't go out to the bar and hang out with my friends like all of them seem to be able to do. I got to watch my eyes that I don't lust. I got to watch my tongue that I don't speak with evil.

Oh, another day of like this, man. Is that how it is? That's how it was for the younger son. I got to obey dad again today.

Saturday also. Okay. He let me sleep in a little bit perhaps, but I know he's going to probably ask me to do something today.

Sunday, same thing. And the day after day, the younger son is like, I can't wait till I'm 18 years old and I'm out of here. And sure enough, 18th birthday, I think it was.

He said, dad, I'm 18 now. The law allows me to go and do my whatever I want to do. Give me my inheritance.

And he left. It's a version of first John chapter five. First John chapter five.

Jesus said in Matthew 11, come to me all of you who are weary and heavy laden. Keep a finger on first John five. Let's read Matthew 11.

You know, these verses come to me, all of you who are weary and heavy laden. I know all of us have been weary and heavy laden in the world. Sinful life.

Oh, I made a mess of my life. Divorce, DUIs, fights at home and fights with relatives and love of money and getting this taken advantage of and taking advantage of others. And the simple life we lived left us weary and heavy laden.

We know that. But I hope none of you is still that with unforgiven sin. You can be forgiven today, whatever the sin is.

Quietly, while you're sitting there right now, if there's sin you haven't repented of, set it right before the Lord. Don't carry that burden anymore. If you spoke to your wife, spoke to your husband in a rude way.

If there's something you've hurt somebody in some way, you haven't said it right. Set it right before the Lord right now. Don't wait another moment and then go set it right with whoever needs to.

You need to set it right with. Set it right right now and the burden will roll away. It'll be gone.

You don't have to carry it any longer. God will give you grace to never take that burden back up again. That heavy backpack you've been carrying, let it go.

So I hope none of you are in that weary and heavy laden state from being in sin. But what if the commands of the Lord are weary and heavy laden? Come to me if trying to follow Jesus seems like it's weary and heavy. Come to me all who are weary, all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.

You will find that obeying me is a life of rest. It's enjoyable. It's easy.

Take my yoke upon you. So if it is, if obeying Jesus has been weary and having heavy laden, then it's not Jesus yoke you've been carrying. It's some other yoke.

It's the yoke of the law. It's the yoke of self-righteousness. It's the yoke of trying to look good in front of others.

It's a yoke of hypocrisy where you have to live up a certain way and make yourself look good in front of others. Take, get rid of that yoke. Take my yoke, Jesus says.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me because I'm gentle and I'm humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls when you take my yoke upon you. So here's the secret to knowing that you took Jesus yoke, that you're obeying Jesus commands is when you obey him, you find rest. It's not, oh man, what a heavy, this Christian life is so weary.

I hear this from Christians all the time. Christians write songs about heavy, how heavy the Christian life is and that's a lie of the devil. I hope you get it out of your system once and for all today.

The Christian life was never intended to be a burdensome heavy thing and if it has been, you've been carrying some other yoke. It's not the yoke of Jesus. For my yoke Jesus says, verse 30, is easy and my burden is light.

When Jesus puts his command, tells you to obey his command, when he gives you his command and obey him, it is, it is a yoke, but it's light. You won't even feel the burden of it. It won't feel heavy.

What is your Christian life like, dear brother, dear sister? What is it like as a father, as a mother, as a husband, as a wife, doing the job as a, as a work, an employee, providing for your, for your family, doing the work on this earth that God gave you to do? What is it like? Is it heavy? Is it weary? Are you there? Don't be discouraged. You've been carrying some other yoke. That's all I'm here to tell you.

Not to condemn you, not to point a finger at you, but to simply say the devil somehow convinced you to carry somebody else's yoke, not Jesus' yoke. Jesus' yoke is easy and his burden is light. Let's go to 1st John chapter 5. 1st John chapter 5 verse 3, the burden of Jesus, the yoke of Jesus is based in love, the love of God.

For this is the love of God, 1st John 5 verse 3, that we keep his commandments. Okay, if I just stop there, this is the love of God that we keep his commandments. You would say, oh man, I look back on my last week and I think, man, I didn't keep many commandments.

I missed, I missed a few, so I must not have the love of God. And you feel like God doesn't love me because it says this is the love of God that we keep his commandments and you can be very rigid and law abiding in that like a Pharisee. This is the love of God that we keep his commandments and there's the Pharisee and the, uh, you know, remember, uh, in Pilgrim's Progress, Mount Moses, uh, the mountain of the law was saying, oh, you're never going to be good enough.

You're never going to be good enough. You're never going to be good enough. This is the love of God that we keep his commandments and it's like a, an arm just crashing down on you.

You didn't keep his commandments. You don't have the love of God. You didn't keep his commandments.

You don't have the love of God. Does it feel like that? But the sentence doesn't stop there. This is the love of God that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not burdensome.

Oh, what wonderful news, which means if you, if it was this, you keep his commandments, you keep his commandments and it was burdensome. It was not his commandments. It was some other commandments.

It was the commandments of the law, the commandments of your own self rising up and saying, you must be better than that. You are better than that. You're not better than that.

Might as well face it now. The, this is the love of God that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not burdensome for whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world.

What? Keeping his commandments? Our faith. Remember, this is what's pleasing to God. Faith is what's pleasing to God.

So pleasing to God, what's pleasing to God is not keeping his commandments. It's faith that keeps his commandments. And so often the law will get you to think about keep his commandments.

That's how you're pleasing to God. Keep his commandments. That's how you're pleasing to God.

Keep his commandments. That's how it's pleasing to God. No, have faith.

That's what's pleasing to God. And when you have true faith, you'll overcome the world. This is by this.

This is the love of God that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not burdensome. So I'll make this second statement. If you could move on to the next slide.

God's commands are all for my best as a partner in his kingdom. So I will obey him today. God's commands are all for my best as a partner in his kingdom.

So I will obey him today. Please remember that. I will share with you later, but if you want to write it down or take a picture of it, remember God's commands are all for my best as a partner in his kingdom.

So I will obey him today. So in Luke chapter 15, let's go back there now to the story of the two sons. What was day two like when the younger son woke up the next morning, maybe a little bit tired because the party was so grand.

They stayed up late dancing, singing, eating good food and celebrating and the father just every now and then would come over. I imagine what that party was like. The son would be celebrating with the servants and maybe some of his friends were there and all that.

But every now and then the father would just come up behind him and give him the bear hug. I'm so glad you're home, my son. I can't tell you this whole thing's about me celebrating you.

And after that, now the next morning he wakes up. Now it's Monday morning. What do you think the father had to do? What do you think? Maybe the father let the son sleep in a little bit.

Oh, he must be tired. He had a long journey to walk home. I'm going to let him sleep in today.

But what do you think the son thought when he woke up, let's say around 10 o'clock in the morning the next day and looked out the window and saw his father working in the field. I think the older son left home and now it's just the younger son and his father and he looks out the window from his bed as he wakes up and says, wow, wow, that was a wonderful party we had. I'm home.

I can't believe I'm home. Yesterday morning I was slept in the pigsty. I'm home today.

I had a wonderful bed to sleep in. My belly is full. I'm ready to eat again if there's more food.

But I've got comfortable pajamas on. And then he looks out the window and sees his father working in the field. What do you think went through that younger son's mind that morning, day two in the father's house? He says, I see now why my father asked me to get up every morning.

I see him laboring. I see what he's done for me. I see how he hasn't stopped working.

He's still working. He's the father. He's not looking to retire.

When he gave me a command, it wasn't because he wanted to get as much as he could squeeze out of me. No, I'm a partner with him. What is the father out there in the field working for today while he's allowed me to sleep in a little bit because he knows I'm tired.

It's for me. The inheritance is for me. He's called me to be a partner in his kingdom, in his business.

That's what would have been a light bulb for the younger son that he played, perhaps played back the first 18 years. And every time the father said, come in the field and work with me, he realized it wasn't because the father was like, oh, I can get free work out of my son. I don't have to pay somebody.

No, son, this work that we're doing is for you. It's our kingdom. It's our business.

The father would say, if you help me, it will benefit you in the long run. God's commands are all for my best as a partner in his kingdom. That's what's beautiful about the new covenant.

God didn't just tell you, go work for me so that I can get some benefit out of it. God says, what? What benefit does God get out of it? What can we add to God that he didn't already have? Why does God ask you to obey him and love him and give your life? Lord, I offer to you my life as a living sacrifice for your glory. Things in the past, things yet unseen.

I offer it to you. Here's my life, Lord. I give it to you as a living sacrifice.

I beseech you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, Romans 12 verse 1 and 2, that you offer your body as a living sacrifice. You know, I was singing that this morning and I thought, Lord, Lord, I offer my life to you. Is my life really that valuable to you that you get something good out of it? I mean, do I think that, oh wow, this is a wonderful little sacrifice.

Look at this beautiful cow I'm about to offer the Lord. Or this lamb or this goat or this ox. When the ox is about to be killed, you examine, man, that was a good looking ox that got put on the altar.

No, it's about to be slaughtered. What do you feel like when you say, Lord, I offer my life to you? I sat there and I thought, Lord, really? You ask my life? You know what I'm like? You see the filth, how wretched my flesh is and you ask me to give that to you? He says, yes, I'll cleanse it and it'll be a pleasing aroma to me when it's burnt up. That ox is no good alive.

But once it's burned up, once your life is offered to God as a living sacrifice, it's pleasing to him. And if you feel worthless, if you feel helpless, if you feel good for nothing, you feel like, Lord, what can I offer you? How is my life? I read the biographies of all those men and women who did great things for you and those preachers who did great things for you. And you're asking me with my nine to five job or nine to nine job and to give it to you as a living sacrifice.

And on top of that, take care of the children. You're asking me to give you my life that's full of laundry and dirty dishes and clothes and cooking utensils and stoves and all that to give that to you, Lord. He says, yes, because when it's laid on the altar and burnt up, it's a pleasing sacrifice.

You see, brothers and sisters, it's not about what you do, but that you give it to the Lord. The job you work and how much money you earn that the world is vying for more of and despises women because many of them are homemakers and say, oh, you're just a homemaker. How good is that? Oh, but that you can offer that to the Lord and say, Lord, I give it to you as a living sacrifice.

And he say, yes, you're a partner with my kingdom and all you will see in eternity because you united yourself with God's purpose for your life. What glory he brought out of it. For his name's sake, how his kingdom furthered and advanced through your sacrifice.

And it was his and your kingdom. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. You know, God wants to share his kingdom with you.

Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is the father's good pleasure to do what? To give you his little kingdom. No, not his little kingdom. To give you his kingdom.

To give you the kingdom of heaven. He gets such delight about saying, hey, I want you to be my partner. Let's use earthly analogies.

Now, imagine that the richest man in the world called you and said, hey, I don't have any children or I've got only one son. He and his son come to you and said the richest man in the world, multi-billionaire, trillionaire, let's say, comes to you and says, I've only got one son, but I wish I had more people to share my wealth with. Can you come and be a partner with us in our business? His father and son come to you and say, come and be a partner with us.

And you're like, what, me? I've got about a thousand dollars I can contribute to your trillion. Is that good? Or some of you feel like, no, I've only got $10. Children.

You don't even have that. Maybe. And you look in your little penny box and you count your change and think, um, here's the trillionaire saying, I want you to be a partner in my kingdom.

And you just give me all you have. He says, yeah, I counted up. My loose change comes to about 95 cents.

He says, yeah, that's good enough. Bring it. And you give me your 95 cents.

I'll give you my trillion and we'll be partners. You are co-heirs of the kingdom of God. Husbands and wives, he says.

Is it a wonderful thing that God invites you to be a partner in his business now when he says obey me? Do you see it's for the furthering of his kingdom, which is now yours. It is the father's good pleasure to give you his kingdom. That's why he's given the Holy Spirit as a pledge of his kingdom.

So what changed for the youngest son was that he realized I'm a partner with my father. So now I believe he got ready. He got to the shower, got dressed and said, ran out to the dad and said, dad, I want to help you from now on.

You don't ever have to get me up. I'll set the alarm myself. I've seen that this business of yours is mine as well.

I have made your business my business as well because you invited me to. And that changed. And that's what will keep the youngest son home.

Let's go to Luke chapter 2. I made a statement last week, which I still believe to be true that the time when we saw God manifesting his greatest delight was in the story of Luke 15 when the youngest son came home and the father ran. You never see God running in the Bible except in Luke chapter 15 when the youngest son came. However, as you all know, there was one person who brought God the greatest delight throughout his life, and that was Jesus.

Multiple times in scripture, you hear the voice from heaven proclaiming Matthew chapter 3 and Matthew chapter 17 and perhaps even at other times unrecorded. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. So ultimately, our youngest son is not the youngest son in the story is not our example.

He is to a point because we all started that way. But having come into the father's house as the youngest son, now our example is Jesus, not the youngest son in going back out and coming back in and going back out and coming back in. Our example is Jesus who consistently gave pleasure to the Lord.

By what? What was it about Jesus that brought pleasure to the father? Was it that Jesus never sinned? It's true that Jesus never sinned. But if Jesus is our example in faith, Hebrews 12 verse 1, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, fix your eyes on Jesus. He is your example of faith, your forerunner.

If Jesus is your example in faith, then we can find that God is pleased and delighted with us as much as he was with Jesus in this. Not that we have never sinned because we have sinned. We've all been that younger son that has come in.

And yes, we've seen the delight of the father when we came back home. But now living in the father's house, how shall we delight our father? It is through following Jesus example of faith. So faith is what pleases God, not overcoming all the time, not never falling.

I said this last week. I want to stress it again. God is not delighted in the fact that you never fall.

He's delighted in your faith. And if your faith, it is your faith that will ultimately lead you to never falling. 1 John 5 verse 4 we just read.

This is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith. Faith will lead you to overcoming sin, to always triumphing. Yes, but it's faith that pleases God.

And if you focus on the only overcoming part, you will come up with a self-righteousness, a law-based obedience that will not be pleasing to God. As I'm sure we have all experienced and I have for many years. I thought I was pleasing to God because I've gone 36 days since falling and I'm counting it.

God says, yeah, you're counting. I wasn't counting. I was looking for faith.

You know, God's not looking for how many days you've made it without falling into that sin or doing this or doing that. No, it's not counting that. He's looking at today.

Today is the day of salvation. Today, is there faith in your heart? And is that how you're overcoming? Depending on Him, leaning on Him. Today, if there's faith in your heart, God's delighted.

It doesn't matter what yesterday was like. And it's that example of faith. And Jesus lived day one, depending on the Father, even though He'd never sinned.

And day two, depending on the Father. And day three. And day 33 times 365, depending on the Father.

And His last words were, Father, I'm depending on you. Into your hands I commit my spirit. And that entire life, 33 and a half years, every day of just simply depending on the Father, depending on the Father, depending on the Father, depending on the Father, brought delight to the Father.

And that's what will bring delight to the Father today. Also, dear brother, dear sister. You've seen the delight of the Father when you came back home.

You see it even now when you repent. As I said, it was for me this last week. Every time I repented, the Father delighted over me.

And now how will you do that now? The goal is not to experience the delight in the Father that comes out of sinning and repenting. No. It's not sinning and repenting that brings delight to the Father.

It's dependence on Him. Faith. So we heard about the repentance of faith last week that brings delight to the Father because it's faith that leads to repentance.

Today I'm speaking about the obedience of faith. Faith that leads to obedience. So now, yes, there will be unchristlikeness that I need to repent of and I'm constantly cleansing myself.

But it's the faith deep down that leads to obedience that pleases the Father. And this is what you see in Jesus' life. Luke chapter 2. You know the story.

They went to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of the Passover. And even though he was the Son of God and his parents knew it, somehow they forgot about him. Parents, if you ever think that you're forgetful, take courage from Joseph and Mary.

They had the most precious thing that ever existed on earth, the Son of God himself, and they forgot about him. You know, we forget our keys, we forget sometimes children maybe. Every now and then, oh wow, I almost left without that child.

Think about Joseph and Mary. The most precious thing that ever existed on the earth and they forgot him. And they went three days.

I don't know if it was three days and then three days back or they went a day and a half and a day and a day and a half back. It just says that three days later they found him in the temple. Verse 46.

Luke chapter 2 verse 46. Then after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

When they saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, Son, why have you treated us this way? I don't know what Mary was saying. Was she saying, Son, it was your job to make sure you didn't get lost, even though you're only 12 years old.

Anyway, behold, your father and I have been anxiously looking for you. And here's where I want you to see Jesus. Many of you, some of you are 12 years old here, children.

This is Jesus, your example of faith, being pleasing to the father at the age of 12. That's why we believe so much in this church that our children must understand what we're saying. So children, please pay attention.

I hope you understand what you're saying. You're close to 12, if not close to it, if not already past it. And Jesus, at the age of 12, lived a life that was pleasing to the father by making his father's business his business.

Why is it, verse 49, he said to them, why is it that you were looking for me? Did you not know that I had to be about my father's business? Don't you know, mom, that my whole life, you've had me for 12 years in your home. Don't you see that in everything that I did, when you asked me to do the dishes, it wasn't because, oh, I guess I should obey mom, otherwise I'll get a spanking, or I guess I won't get that treat that I want. No, I was about my father's business.

My heavenly father told me to obey you, mom, so that's why I'm obeying you. Don't you know that in these 12 years that I've been there, my whole life has been about doing my father's business? Because I'm a partner with him. He's my father, I'm his son, we're in partnership together.

So whatever will further his business, whatever will further his kingdom, that's what I'm into, that's what I'm all about. Now, dear brother, dear sister, when you go to work tomorrow, 9 o'clock in the morning or whatever, earlier than that, why are you going to work? Is it your business that you're going to further? Mom, when you wake up in the morning and it's, you know, maybe the kids are out of school now, so it feels like a little less stressed, but you've still got work to do, and you've got things to take care of in the home, and children to feed, and dishes to do, and laundry to do, and it just keeps going cycle after cycle after cycle. Maybe it feels like the children got a break, but you didn't.

Then what? Oh, that you will remember that the task that God has placed in front of you is not your business, it's not your laundry, it's not your meal to cook, they're not even your children, it's the father's business. Don't you know, I must be about my father's business. I hope you go to work tomorrow, whatever it is that you do tomorrow, with this mentality, I must be about my father's business, that's why I'm going to work today, that's why I'm taking care of the children today, that's why I'm here today, brothers and sisters.

Now, it may seem easier on a Sunday. Does this feel more like the father's business than Monday? I hope not, because we spend six days away from each other here. One day like this, maybe we meet two or three days during the week for other meetings, but we spend more time away from these gatherings.

You spend more time at work than you do in church meetings. Yeah, nothing wrong with that, but is it the father's business that you're doing? 24-7, I must be about my father's business. God will take care of your job for you.

That means it's not up to your boss to fire you anymore, or your company to lay you off. Your success on this earth has nothing to do with how well your company is doing anymore, because you're about your father's business. You're not about your company's business.

Your fact that you're working there as an employee of that company is simply a means to further the father's business. I must be about my father's business. This is what's pleasing to God.

God's commands to go to work tomorrow, or to do whatever it is that you're supposed to do, or to be disciplined with your eyes, young men, do not lust. Older men, do not lust. To be disciplined with your tongue, men and women and children, that you never complain or grumble or murmur or speak any word, careless word against anybody.

God's commands are all for my best, for your best, because you're a partner in His kingdom. And when you discipline your tongue, it's His kingdom that's established, not that God somehow is like, oh yeah, I get some morbid sick delight out of the fact that Santosh disciplined his tongue. Why does God say, don't use your tongue carelessly? Why does God say, don't use your eyes carelessly? It's because it's His kingdom which is your kingdom as well now, brother, sister.

It's to further that kingdom that He says, love your enemies. Why is it that God says, forgive those who sin against you? Why is it that God says, do everything without grumbling and complaining? Don't let any bitterness be there in your heart. Why? Is it because He gets something out of your discomfort? No, it's your kingdom that He's given.

It's His kingdom that He's given to you, and He's made you a partner in His kingdom, and the devil doesn't want that. Why is it that the devil wants you to use your tongue carelessly, and use your eyes carelessly to look at that filth, and to be full of pride, and full of complaining, and grumbling, and irritability, and bad moods, and fighting at home between husband and wife? Why? Why is it that the devil tempts you so much in those areas? He does not want you to have God's kingdom. He tried to grab it when he was the highest archangel.

He tried to grab it. God says, no. And now God says, I'm going to give it to you, Santosh.

I'm going to give it to you. And the devil doesn't want you to have it. He doesn't want you to have that which he tried to grab, and God cast him out of heaven for.

And now he's, think about how angry it makes the devil that that which he tried to grab, now God is offering you freely. And he sees the filth, and the sin that you've committed, and how God lavished His love on you, even though you were such a wretched sinner. He forgave you, and He drew you back into His home, and put the ring on your finger, and put clothes on you, and shoes on your feet, and threw a feast over you.

And now he says, you can still be a partner in my business. What do you think the younger son thought when he went out to the field and said, Dad, I'm ready to work. You know, I did say, I did plan to say that I'll just be a servant.

I know I missed out on the chance to be a partner in your kingdom. I'll just be a servant. You've loved me enough.

I'm just here, even if it's just for the food. And what do you think the father said? Son, I have plenty of servants, but I want you as a son. I'm not going to let you go back to being a servant, even if you say you feel like that's what you should do.

You're my son. I planned before the foundations of the world for you to be a partner in my kingdom. And at the end of your life, I wrote, finished.

He's a full-fledged partner in my kingdom. Now what? All this other stuff that happened in between, and the wandering, and the losing your way, it doesn't matter. I'm going to still finish it.

You're a partner in my business, son. Oh, how it would have changed that younger son's attitude when the father said, now let's work together. You see the joy? In Luke 15, I'll come back to Luke 2. I want to just show you this in Luke 15.

You see what the younger son missed in what the older son said, actually. Luke 15, verse 29. The older son said to his father, look, for so many years I've been serving you.

The commandments of the Lord. This is the love of God that we obey His commandments. I've been serving you.

I've been serving you. I've been serving you for so many years. And I've never neglected a command of yours.

And yet, you've never given me a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when the son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you filled a fattened calf for him. And the father said to him, son, you were my partner.

You were a partner in my business. You were my older son. You had your share of the inheritance.

You were a partner in my business. Didn't you see it? Really? All this time when I asked you to come to work with me and we were there together, you saw me working just as hard as you were, right? Son, all I have is yours. You've always been with me.

All that is mine is yours. All that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate.

And now the father says to the youngest son, son, all that I have is yours. All that is mine is yours. You see, the youngest son started with half.

Give me my half, right? That's how the story starts. And the story ends with you get 100%. You steal a half from God and then you get 100% of Him.

This is God's way. Imagine that you had a son, two sons, two children, and you said half for each. And one son, one child took the half and ran away, blew it all, wasted it, and then came back.

And then you say, son, all I have is yours. This is the attitude of the father. And the father offers you all of his kingdom, all of his love, all of his joy, all of his peace, all of his self-control, all of his kindness, goodness, patience, gentleness, all of it, all of it, not just half.

You're entitled to all of God's kingdom, even though you wasted it all these years. Son, all I have is yours. The father says to you today, daughter, all I have is yours.

Go back to Luke chapter 2. Did you not know, verse 49, that I had to be about my father's business? My whole life, mom, has been about my father's business. But they did not understand the statement which he had made to them. And verse 51, what is, you know, so you might think, okay, I guess Jesus' business was sitting there in the temple and just spending his whole life just talking about the Bible.

Is that what being about the father's business is? Is it that we just cancel all our work and have a little commune together, live off the field, live bare minimum lives, and just study the scriptures and have conversation all the time? Some people think that's what it is. Go and join a monastery, become a monk or a priest or a scholar of the Bible and go to Bible school and all you do is just read the Bible. No, Jesus had to be about his father's business.

This is the first time and the only time that you read about this happening like that during his childhood. What did he do in verse 51, going about his father's business? Jesus went down with them back to Nazareth and he continued, continued, which means he had already been doing that, in subjection to them and his mother treasured all these things in her heart. So we see there in verse 51 what Jesus' business was all about, obeying daddy and mommy.

So children, very simple, again, please look at me and pay attention to what I'm saying here. God wants you to be a partner in his kingdom at your age. And if you get it at your age, hopefully us adults who are much older than you will get it.

God wants you, your child, are you 6 years old, 7 years old, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12? God wants you at your age now. You don't have to wait to even take water baptism or any of those other things. You don't have to, even if you didn't memorize your memory verse this week, it's okay.

God wants you to be a partner in his business, in his kingdom today and this week. He wants you to be a partner in his kingdom. Whatever it is that you're going to do.

Maybe you don't have any schoolwork to do, that's fine. Are you going to go play some games? Are you going to read a book? Are you going to play with your siblings or you're going to do something else? You're going to help mom or dad? Whatever it is that you're going to do this week, God wants you to be a partner in his kingdom. And all that you will spend this week letting God give you his kingdom as his partner.

So when he says, don't fight with your sister, don't fight with your brother, why is it? It's because he wants you to be a partner in his kingdom. You're in business with Jesus. You're in business with your father in heaven.

So don't fight, don't steal, use your eyes carefully, use your tongues carefully, don't love money, don't love the things of this world, they're passing away. Jesus continued in subjection to them, obeying dad. So after confounding the scribes and asking them questions that stumped them and they answered him questions in return and he answered them.

And after all of that Jesus didn't go away thinking, ah, I knew more than all those adults about God's word. Ah, look at them, hypocrites. You think Jesus knew that these same scribes are hypocrites? That he would expose 18 years later? Of course he knew.

But he went there and said, Lord, father, what is it? What is your business for me today? And the father said, go clean the toilets for mom. And Jesus said, yes, I'll go clean the toilets for mom. Listen to mom, what is she going to tell you to do next? She's going to tell you now to help her cook the meal.

Okay, I'll do that. Or even better, the father says, hey, mom looks a little tired. Just go over there and ask mom, what can I do to help? Just go over and offer your help without even being asked.

Mom, is there something I can do? I don't know if Jesus was a good cook at the age of 12, I don't think he was, because he had to be tempted in all points as we are. So what did he do? He says, mom, I may not be able to cook a whole meal as good as you can, but what can I do? Can I cut the potatoes or the onions or something? I want to do something, mom, because I'm about my father's business. My father's business is not only about thinking about what I can do and what's for me and myself.

Now, husbands, I hope you'll take this to heart when you see your wife slaving there in the kitchen with the children and think, well, that's her job. No, are you about your business then? If you're about your father's business, you'll have a keen eye and a keen ear to the sensitivities of your wife. And you'll learn to live with her in an understanding way as we're told in 1 Peter chapter 3. Now, it doesn't mean that you'll take over the cooking, but it means that you'll say, honey, what can I do to help? Is there something I can do to lighten your load today? And wives, you'll do the same for the husband.

Husband, I sense you're coming back from your meeting a little bit with a frown on your face. Is there something I can do? Can we pray together? Can we go for a walk together or something? I don't know. The Lord will give you direction.

If you make it your goal, brothers and sisters, that you're only about your father's business, he will speak to you. Don't you think he wants his business to succeed, his heavenly kingdom to succeed? He will reveal it to you. He will lead you.

You will hear a voice in your ear saying, this is the way, walk in it. And you'll have a word, a prophetic word, an encouraging word to give your spouse right when they need it. You won't even know what all they're carrying on their head, in their minds.

And you will be an encouragement to your wife. This is the gift of prophecy. You'll be encouragement to your husband.

You'll come here and be like, I don't know. I only get 120 seconds. And I'm not coming here with some fanciful idea.

But Lord, I'm about your business. I'm not about my business. I'm not about here to make everybody think, oh, I guess I understood the sermon.

And I know this other verse that goes well with this verse that Brother Santosh just spoke about. No, that's not about that. I want to be about your business, Lord.

And if it's simply, brothers and sisters, it wasn't a great week for me, but I have faith that it's going to be a good week for me this week. Because I have seen Jesus. He's my author.

He's my perfecter. I've seen Jesus a little bit more brightly, a little bit more clearly. And I know that God's commands are all for my best as a partner in his kingdom.

And I'm going to obey him today by the grace of God. That little testimony will change somebody's life. Because you're not about your business or your reputation or your testimony or what people think of you.

You're about your father's business. Luke chapter 10, you read the same about Mary and Martha. Again, you know the story.

Mary was sitting at Jesus' feet. Martha was cooking a meal. Could Martha have been about Jesus' business while cooking the meal? Maybe it's a complicated question.

I don't know. Maybe you feel like, Lord, I want to be like Mary. I wish my kids were all grown up out of the home and I could just sit there and read my Bible.

Sometimes I read, you know, sometimes I don't, I'm not thinking of anybody in particular. I hear these sisters, older sisters, not in this church, but women give teachings to other women about how they need to take an hour with the Lord in their Bible and that'll make your day go better. And, you know, make sure your house is all in order and all that.

And I think, man, what a burden to put on. It's okay for a woman who is 60 years old and the children are grown out of the home to have three hours to spend with God quietly in meditation. But for most of you moms, you don't even have 15 minutes for that.

The day's got to get going. And you think as early as you get up, it just feels rushed. The earlier I get up, the more that seems to be piled on my plates.

Can you be a Martha doing the work that God wants you to do and be pleasing to the Lord? That's a tough question, isn't it? Are you asking yourself that question, sisters or brothers? You start early in the morning and you work hard and you come back late at night and you're tired. Then you say, Lord, I missed my daily devotion time, 30 minutes. Thank God that we have them now on the phone.

You can listen to it while you're at work, daily devotion or Bible on audio. Use that. I'm not, please remember, it's important to hear from the Lord.

But don't beat yourself up if you don't get the one hour that everybody, that others seem to have. I don't see any command in the word that says, in the Bible that says you must take one hour of daily devotion every morning. No, you'll hear that from false teachers.

But here's a word that I hope will encourage you. Listen, listen. And if you're there at the dishes and already making the meal for your children, listen.

Like I said last week, it's not about where you are, but where you're looking. And Martha, like I've said here once before, could have asked Jesus in Mary, hey, I've still got this meal to prepare, but can you guys come into the kitchen and have this conversation so I can be a part of it? And I want to listen. I want to hear what you're saying, Lord.

And can you just come sit here? I'm still going to make the meal and I'll do this, but my eye and my ear will be over there and I can be a part of that. Or that you will invite Jesus to your kitchen sink this morning, tomorrow morning, and to your laundry room tonight, or to wherever it is you need to go. Invite Him there and say, Lord, speak to me.

This is the work you've laid ahead of me and I want to be about your business. And if your business seems to be to do the dishes and to make the meal and to do the laundry or to search for new clothes for my children, but Lord, you do it with me. It's your business that I'm about.

And Jesus said, Mary has chosen that one thing is necessary. One thing is necessary. Luke chapter 10 verse 42.

Only one thing is necessary and Mary has chosen the good part which shall not be taken away. Why was Mary sitting at Jesus feet? Is it because she was lazy? I don't believe it for a minute. Mary wasn't lazy, but she said, I'm about Jesus business.

And if Mary had sat there and after 10 minutes, Jesus said, no, Mary, hey, listen, it wasn't just Mary. I think it was other disciples around them. Mary was sitting there right up front.

And Jesus said, hey, Mary, go help Martha. I think she needs a little help. What do you think Mary would have done? She said, no, Lord, I want to sit here and listen some more.

You could be sitting at the feet of Jesus and not looking at Him also. That's possible. But the moment Jesus said to Mary, Mary, go help Martha.

She said, yes, Lord. I'm sitting here at your feet, not because I want to sit here at your feet and avoid the work. I'm sitting here at your feet because I'm about your business, Lord.

And what is your business? Is it to go help Martha? I'll go do that. Is it to go set the table? I'll do that. Is it to go cook the meal? I'll do that.

It's being about our Father's business. This is what's pleasing to the Lord. Go to Matthew chapter 3 as Jesus was being baptized.

Now, I believe that this delight is also this is also an equal delight, if you will. I don't know if I can compare the most delight and God is more delighted with this delight than that. I believe he's delighted in faith and he was equally delighted with the prodigal son who came home as he was with his perfect son who never sinned because he saw faith in both of them.

And my dear brothers and sisters, I hope you'll take this to heart. God loves you as he loves his son as much as he loves his son Jesus. We've heard it often in this church.

John 17 verse 23. And that love includes that God wants to be as God will be as delighted in you as he is in his son Jesus and as he was in his son Jesus when Jesus was here on this earth. If he sees faith in you, if he sees the same faith in you today as he saw in his son Jesus when Jesus was here on this earth, he will say, I'm delighted in you as well.

Because what delight God's heart is faith. Hebrews 11 verse 6. So Matthew 3 verse 16 after being baptized. Now I wonder about this obedience.

See when Jesus verse 13 Matthew 3 verse 13 Jesus arrived from Galilee to the Jordan coming to John to be baptized by him. But John tried to prevent him saying, I have need to be baptized by you and do you come to me? John said to Jesus, why are you coming to me to be baptized? I need to be baptized by you. If John thought that, what do you think Jesus was tempted to think? What do you think the devil tempted Jesus with? Jesus.

Look at all these sinners. The centurions are lining up to go down the line of people lining up to get baptized. Oh, there's a tax gander.

Oh yeah, he definitely needs to be baptized. Centurion. Yeah.

Yeah. Roman. He definitely needs to be baptized.

Pharisee. One of those self-righteous ones. He needs to be baptized.

And you go down the list and then you see Jesus and you think, yeah, Jesus was standing in line with all the other sinners to be baptized. He made himself of no reputation. He became sin who knew no sin that we might be the righteousness of God.

We read in 2 Corinthians 5. Jesus stood in line with all the other sinners. Now Jesus's turn. What do you think the devil tempted Jesus with? Jesus, why are you getting in line? You know them.

That's a sinner. That's a sinner. Every single one of them is a sinner.

Why do you need to be baptized? You've never sinned. This is the obedience of reason. It doesn't make sense.

Have you ever had that? You try to reason with God. God wants you to do something, lay it all on the altar, obey him, or usually he speaks through your wife. The word of faith comes through your wife, perhaps.

I'm not saying you obey your wife. You obey God, whoever he speaks to you through or through your husband. And you reason, well, that doesn't make sense.

You know, explain it to me or why? You know why? And you and Jesus had reasoned with his father and says, well, father, what does it make sense? What what is it going to do? I mean, I've not sinned. I don't need to be cleansed. I see why all these sinners need to be baptized.

But what about me? Even John is perplexed about it. And Jesus could have easily found a way out of baptism by what John had said. John was the greatest prophet at that time.

Jesus himself said it. And the greatest prophet of his time says, hey, you don't need to be baptized. And Jesus said, oh, thanks, man.

I was just waiting for that word. Thank you. Good.

I don't have to obey the father. And Jesus says, no, I'm about my father's business. The father has told me I got to do this.

Permitted at this time, for in this way, it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Everything on my father's business must be finished on this earth. And the father said, my business is you must be baptized, Jesus.

And oh, what delight John saw the spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on him and behold, a voice out of heaven saying, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. He's not obeying out of reason. He's not being convinced into why he should obey.

He's hearing from the father. He's subject to his parents, subject to the earthly authorities, the authorities that God has placed over him. He lived like that for 30 years.

And now he's subjecting himself to John the Baptist and getting baptized. The obedience of faith, not reason. I want to show you one more example.

Matthew chapter 21. Matthew 21. I will close with this.

Jesus told a story of two sons. Twice he told that story. One was in Luke 15.

The other is in Matthew chapter 21. Matthew 21 verse 28. Jesus says, what do you think? A man had two sons.

And if you feel like you are the younger son and you feel good about yourself, here's the one in which the youngest son was a bad example. So a little bit for everyone. And he goes to the first and said, son, go work today in the vineyard.

Verse 28, verse 29. The older son said, I will not. Who are you to tell me what to do? I'm 19 years old now.

But afterward, he regretted it and went. The man came to the second and said the same thing. And the youngest son said, I will.

Sir. But he did not go. Which of the two was pleasing to the father, did the will of his father? And they said the first.

What was it? Because, what do you think changed? The youngest son said, oh, you know, there was all the servants and everybody in the house. And the son said, son, come, younger son, come. Go obey me.

And the younger son says, yep, I got to look good like I'm quite an obeyer here. So he says, yes, I will, Lord. Yes, Lord, I will.

Goes and does not. In secret, where nobody can see, does not obey. They'll lift their hands and say, Lord, I offer to you my life as a living sacrifice.

Lift your arms to him and sing Monday morning. Nope, Lord, I will not. In front of everybody in the church on Sunday morning.

Yes, Lord, I will. Monday morning. No, I will not.

That's the younger son. Because it hurts too much. Ah, no, no, this must not be it.

No, I'm not going to obey. I'm going to continue to argue, fight, bicker, grumble, complain, have bad moods, love money, lust with my eyes, defeated with my tongue. Yep, that's the younger son.

And then the older son says, what happened? He said, no, I will not, Lord. I sit here like this on Sunday morning. No, I don't get it.

Don't feel like it today. But they went home Sunday night and said, Lord, your business is my business. When you asked me to give me your body as a living sacrifice, it was for my own benefit.

You'll give me the best life possible. I give you my little 95 cents and you give me your riches, your trillions, Lord. That's what you're giving me.

Yes, Lord, I'll do it. And even though everybody else in the church thinks, ah, he must be backsliding. He didn't lift his hands up today.

Well, they're not seeing us a lot. And he's got a frown on his face. They don't know that in secret you went home and fell on your face.

Say, Lord, my business, your business is my business. And I must be about your business from this day forward. And he obeyed.

Nobody saw it. One day God peeled back the covers and says, you all thought the youngest son was the holy one. Let me show you.

It's the one who does the will of my father who's pleasing. It's the one who does the will of the father who's pleasing. How? By saying, Lord, your business is my business.

God's commands are for your best brothers and sisters. God says, I know the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare, not for your calamity, to give you a future and a hope. What? That your business will succeed, that you'll have enough money, you'll have a retirement fund, your children will be well-educated and all that stuff.

Is that the future and the hope you want? I guess what? Jesus will probably come before your children are old enough to be set up in their own home. And then what? The future and the hope that I want is the kingdom of heaven. I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord Jeremiah 29 verse 11.

Plans for your welfare, not for your calamity, to give you my kingdom. That's the only future and hope. Heaven and earth will pass away, but God's words will not pass away.

And the kingdom of heaven will endure forever. That's what's going to endure. And that's the plans that God has for you, brother, sister.

And if you will line up with God's kingdom and place yourself in his kingdom and say, Lord, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Hallowed be your name. I will make your business my business from this day forward.

You'll find that God will take care of all of your needs. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and he will add all that you need. I found my Lord and he is mine.

He won me by his love. I'll serve him all my years of time and dwell with him above. No other Lord but Christ.

I know I walk with him alone. His streams of love forever flow within my heart, his throne. He's dearer to my heart than life.

He found me lost in sin. He calmed the sea of inward strife and bade me come to him. My flesh recoiled before the cross and Satan whispered there.

Thy gain will not repay the loss. His yoke is hard to bear. I've tried the road of sin and found its prospects all deceived.

I proved the Lord and joys abound more than I could believe. His yoke is easy. His burden is light.

I found it. So I found it. His service is my sweetest delight.

His blessings ever flow. Thank you Lord. You will help us.

Pour out your spirit Lord Jesus. I pray that you'll captivate us with you Lord Jesus. Your Holy Spirit must do this Lord.

We can't make another New Year resolution or June 10th resolution or anything like that Lord. You come and captivate our heart Lord Jesus. Become preeminent and precious to us Lord.

Help us to see the joy of the fact that you made us partners in your kingdom. Thank you Lord Jesus. Oh how unworthy we are and yet how precious you are.

How great your love and your plans for us. Too great for me to fathom. Thank you.

Here I am Lord. My life is yours fully. Thank you.

You will do it from the youngest to the oldest in Jesus name. Amen.