All right. Hey everybody, welcome to Valley Creek. Come on. We're so glad you're here with us today. Wherever you are – Denton, Flower Mound, Gainesville, Lewisville, online somewhere in the world. Can we just welcome each other together for a moment? We are so glad that you're here. And I want to start today by just telling you how grateful I am. I'm really grateful for this people and this place. You see, this week we took my son to college for the first time. Yeah – as you can imagine, lots of emotions, and lots of feelings and transitions create reflection points. And as we were working through our emotions and our feelings and the transition and the reflection point, one of the things that just kept coming back to us is how grateful we are for this people and this place – a spiritual atmosphere, a spiritual greenhouse – that we've been able to raise our son in. You see, Colleen and I came here 20 years ago literally as a sense as missionaries. We moved away from both of our families to come serve the Lord in this place. Our son was born in this church and he has been raised in this place not just by us but by you.

And I'm so grateful for so many leaders and people that have invested and encouraged and strengthened and imparted things inside of him. I'm so grateful to every person who gives and serves and leads and blesses and creates culture and follows Jesus to show him a vision of what life can actually be like on this road of being disciples of Jesus. There is this sense of gratitude that I have for these – this environment, this people, this place and, and I've watched as the deep roots of our family have created a wide life for our son. And so I'm incredibly grateful – incredibly grateful because one of the values of our church is that we are a family on mission – a family on mission. You see, we say all the time that we're a harbor of hope, a training center for life, and a family on mission. A harbor of hope – everybody needs a harbor of hope where they're lost, lonely, broken in the world and come in and can be restored and put back together. But you also need then a training center for life where you're being shaped and molded and formed into the image and likeness of Jesus doing the things that Jesus did so you can do the things that Jesus did. But then you get to decide whether or not you want this to be a family on mission where you put deep roots in and you know and are known and love and are loved and serve and are served and, and that's really the heartbeat of who we are as a people and who we are as a family.

And, and it's a reminder to me this week that every child needs a family and every family needs a home. The story of Scripture is a good Father building a family for Himself. Every child needs a family and every family needs a home. This is your family and the campus that you attend is, is like your home. It, it's like your house. Those who are rooted in the house of God shall flourish in life. Those who are planted deeply rooted in the house of the Lord shall flourish. If you have deep roots, you'll have a wide life. You get to decide whether or not though you want to put down those roots. And it says that the family of believers in the house of God, which is the church of the living God. Every child needs a family. Every family needs a house. This is the family of God and this is the house of God. And there's these moments in time where you're just reminded of how important and how significant and how weighty and how valuable this really all is.

See, I know so many of you – you come from broken families. So many of you have dysfunctional families. So many of you have spent your life trying to deal with the generational curses that have been released into your family. Some of you have transient families or people are all over the place. And some of you have really great, healthy, beautiful families. But no matter what kind of family you have, you need a spiritual family to be deeply rooted in so you can have the wide life that God has in store for you. Every child needs a family. Every family needs a home. And I am so grateful for this home and this family for you, for these people and this place that has raised my son with us over these last 19 years.

And so today I just start with this tremendous sense of gratitude as a reminder that church is not a religion. It's not an event. It's not a building. It's not a service. It's not a gathering. It's a family on mission – a family on mission. And if this is your family, I want to remind you that we're in a season where we've got to reach and connect people with everything that we've got. We have to have a missional awakening and intentional relationships – a mindset that says, "Who else? Who else needs to be in my circle? Who else needs to be on my team? Who else needs to be in my life? Who else do I need to go and talk to in two minutes of kindness? Who else do I need to take out for dinner? Who else do I need to create a space in my life so they can have a seat to be a part of what God is doing in this time in this place?"

You see, I realized this morning that for the first time in my son's entire life, he's at a different church. And you know what I'm praying for is that they have a “Who else?” mindset. That they have a healthy family on mission in their culture. And that they've worshiped the Lord and brought in His presence and that they were serving and kind and generous and had healthy culture and whatever was happening, the people around him were engaged and people had a who else mindset to be like, who is this new guy? We don't know, but we've got a space for you. Not just a seat to sit in in a service, but a seat in our life, a place in our group, a, an opportunity to be a part of our friendship circle. Why? Because you matter, too.

See, every time you're in this place, somebody's somebody is sitting right around you because somebody else somewhere is having that same emotion and reflection and feeling right now. And their somebody is in our campus, is in our family. And so the question is is are we willing to have that who else mindset? So I'm incredibly grateful uh, incredibly moved. Then I say to you, whether wherever you've been, whatever you've done, whether you're new or old or you've come or gone or whatever it is, you are wanted and welcomed to be a part of this family. No one can choose that for you. No one can make that important to you. But if this is a place and you are looking for a family and a home, I say to you, welcome home. And I believe that as you put down deep roots, God is going to create a wide life for you. So, thank you for helping me raise my son. I'm incredibly grateful for that.

And we are in a series called Prophetic Reset – talking about aligning our life with what God is saying. This is incredibly important to where we are. We need a prophetic reset. We need to hear God's voice and then do everything we can to obey, submit, surrender, and align our lives to that which He is saying. And we've said the word prophetic, it's not this big, mysterious, intimidating word. No, a, a prophetic word is simply a specific word from God that empowers you to create the future with Him. A specific word from God that empowers you to create the future with Him. It's specific – tailored to your life, your situation, your circumstance. And it's from God – it's not from people. It's not your own thoughts. No, it's literally from God, the all-powerful, all-knowing, wise, loving, gracious God. And it empowers you – it's a word of grace, a word of strength, a word of courage and boldness that fills you with faith and hope to go into the future and create that which does not exist with Him.

And you were created to live a prophetic life. Your life is so big, so significant, so important that you need the voice of God in your life to live the life that He has in store for you. And you're supposed to have this prophetic edge where your life is so clear and so sharp and so precise and so penetrating and so weighty and authoritative and glorious and powerful and holy because you have been listening to the voice of God and aligning your life to that which He has been saying. We are not supposed to live our lives based on, “I think, I want, I desire, they said, the experts told me, AI gave me this readout.” No, we're supposed to live our lives, “God has been telling me, He has been saying, I'm holding on to this Scripture – to this promise. I'm wrestling with God until He speaks a word to me.” You are created and you need a prophetic life to be and to do what God has created you to become and do what He has called you to do.

And the point is not just to hear from God. The point is to align our life with what He's actually saying. This is why Jesus says, "I am the vine. You are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in Him, he will bear much fruit; [but] apart from me, you can do nothing.” You know what He says? He says, "Hey, if you would just stay aligned with me, your life will blossom and flourish. You will be fruitful, and everything you long for will come to pass. I'm the vine. You are the branch. If you just remain in me, all of life if you just listen to my voice and you align your life with that which I'm saying and doing and leading. If you'll just align with me, you will blossom and flourish effortlessly because you have decided to hear My voice and align with that which I am saying.”

You see, for years, we've used this little thing around here. We've just said, "Ask, listen, respond." Ask, listen, respond. Ask God what He wants to say. Listen to His voice and then respond and do whatever He's asked you to do. Ask God, “God, what do You want me to do? God, what are You saying in this space? God, what's on Your heart? God, how should I respond? God, God, where should I go?” Just just ask Him and then listen. Listen actively with humility and hunger and hope – waiting on a word from the Lord and then respond, submit, surrender, obey, align, move forward in faith. Ask. The Bible tells us that if any of you needs wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously without finding fault. Listen, listen. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. And then respond. Because you say so, Lord, I will do it. Ask, listen, respond. What a great way to live your life.

So, here's my question for you: which of these three do we struggle with the most? Which of these three do you struggle with the most? Asking, listening, or responding? It's a very easy answer. The answer is responding. And there's not even a close second. We ask God all the time, don't we? We ask God for help. We ask God for wisdom. We ask God for direction. We ask God to get involved when our lives are chaotic and broken and full of pain. Oh, we ask and we listen. You sit here Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. You are literally listening to the voice of God. The word of God is being spoken over your life. So, it's not is He speaking? No, it it and and it's not even are you listen like you're actually it's coming like you're you're you're actually listening. The question is is do we respond? Do we obey? Do we align?

This is why in the Old Testament when you look at the prophets, the people asked God for stuff and then God would send a prophet and they would listen to what He had to say, but then they wouldn't respond and align their life to that which He was asking them to do. This is why it says, "My people are stubborn and stiff-necked." They're stubborn. They're unwilling to align, to respond and they're stiff necked. You know what stiff-necked means? It means I'm unwilling to repent to to turn from what I've been doing or or thinking or living to what God is saying and aligning my life with Him.

Our challenge is not asking and it's not listening. Our challenge is responding. And there's this great story in the Old Testament in 2 Kings chapter 5. It's the story of Naaman. Naaman is this valiant, successful warrior. He's a commander. He's a general. He is a man of significance and a man of success. The only problem is is Naaman has leprosy – an incurable contagious disease that slowly starts to numb you – steals, kills, and destroys your life, separates you from the people you love, and keeps you from living out your life's purpose. And Naaman has this little Israelite servant girl that tells him, "Hey, in Israel there is a prophet and he can cure you of your disease." So Naaman makes the long trip from Damascus to Israel to go find Elijah. And when he gets to the prophet Elijah, he tells him, he says, "Hey, I, I've got leprosy and I heard that you can heal me. Will you please heal me of my disease?" And Elijah sends a word, a specific word from God that will empower him to create the future. He gives him a specific message and says, "Go wash yourself in the Jordan River seven times and you will be healed."

Now, the moment Naaman hears that, it says he's furious. He's enraged. Since when does washing in water cure leprosy? If that's all it took, I would have been healed years ago. You got to be kidding me. That's what you're going to say to me? Wash in the Jordan River – this dirty, small, insignificant, nothing river? That's what you're going to say to me? And then he goes on to say, I thought, oh, oh, I thought he was going to come out, wave his hand over the spot, call on the name of the Lord his God, and I would be healed. But instead, he tells me to wash in that dirty little nothing river. Aren't the rivers of Damascus better than that river? If I could have done that, I would have done that a long time ago. And it says he turns off in rage and starts heading back home because it seemed to him foolish, insignificant, inconsequential, irrelevant, and unrelated to what he is actually dealing with in life. And I love that it says as he headed home in his anger, says his servants, his servants probably find the perfect time and the perfect moment and they kind of come in to this valiant commander general. Excuse me, sir. Uh, if the, if the prophet asked you to do some big significant thing, you would have done it, right? So how much more should you do this little thing that He is asking you to do so you can be healed? And they convince him to do it. He turns around. He goes to the Jordan River and he washes. One time, nothing. Second time, nothing. Third time. Fourth time. Fifth time, nothing. Sixth time. By now, he's probably thinking, "See, this is as foolish as I thought it was." But on the seventh time, he came up and he was completely clean – cured of his disease. And he says, "Now I know that there is only one God and He is the Lord." That, that is a prophetic reset. That is a prophetic reset. That's hearing the voice of God and aligning our life with it. And it changes everything.

And I think that story is really our story in a lot of ways, is it not? We're like Naaman. We have these big significant important lives. We're people of consequence. Well, we're busy. We've got a lot of stuff going on. We've got a lot of successes and a lot of victories. But like Naaman, we have leprosy. Oh, not leprosy of the body. But make no mistake about it, there are parts of your life where you have leprosy of the mind, leprosy of the soul, leprosy of the heart, leprosy in your relationships, leprosy in your emotions. I don't know, some kind of incurable, contagious disease in your life that is stealing, killing, destroying, numbing your heart that is causing you to have great distance from your loved ones and is keeping you from living the purpose for which God created you to live. And at some point in time, you get desperate enough to see that resolve that you will cry out to God and you will ask, ask, listen, respond. You will ask, you will ask for a word. You will ask for help. You will ask for direction. You will ask God for something and then He will speak. Elijah sent a messenger, a prophetic word – a specific word from God to say to him, "Go wash yourself seven times in the Jordan and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed."

When we ask God for something in our life, and He speaks back something like this, something that seems inconsequential, insignificant, unrelated, irrelevant. This is the moment. This is the moment. This is the moment where you get to decide whether or not do I trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding and all my ways acknowledge Him and He will make my path straight. This is the moment where I get to decide that His ways are not my ways and His thoughts are not my thoughts because His ways are higher than my ways and His thoughts are higher than my thoughts. This is the moment where I get to decide. In, in his heart, a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. Because there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end, it leads to death. But if I will take the narrow road, the small gate, I will find an ever-increasing life.

This is the moment when you ask God and He gives you a word and it's a word you don't like. It's a word that seems foolish. It's a word that seems little, small, beneath you, irrelevant, inconsequential, unimportant. What on earth does this have to do with my life? This is the moment. Your life is a whole lot more like connect the dots than you care to admit. All these irrelevant dots that are scattered all over the place. But if we just follow them in the order that God gives them to us, the life we long for will come to pass. But He speaks to us something that we don't like, and so we go away angry. We go away angry because we thought, we thought He would do something else. We thought He would surely come out and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God and wave his hand over the spot, do something significant, something big, something important, something consequential so that we can be cured or healed. Are not the rivers of Damascus better than that of the waters of Israel? Is not the wisdom of the world better than this foolish thing that He just told me to do? Couldn't I wash in that and be cleansed? So, we turn off and went in rage.

See, here's what happens. I think we come to God with our marriage crisis and He tells us to start giving. We come to God with a wayward child and He tells us to join a serve team. We come to God, single – longing to be married – and He tells us to get in a circle. We come to God with a failing business, and, and He tells us to invite someone to church or into our life. We come to God as a student with a lot of anxiety and loneliness and feeling left out, and He tells us to get baptized. We come to God kind of at the midpoint of our life, like just what should I do next? And we're kind of not really sure, and He tells us to start a new spiritual practice. Okay. Since when does giving heal a marriage crisis? And since when does, does getting in a circle bring a wayward child home? And since when does getting on a serve team help you find a spouse? And, and since when does inviting someone to church solve your business problems? And since when does getting baptized get rid of all the anxiety and the loneliness you have? Since when does a new spiritual practice teach you how to live the second half of your life?

You know when? When He said it. That's when. That's when, that's when. Obedience is the beginning of breakthrough. And yes, it seems inconsequential, irrelevant, unimportant. The question is is do you have the faith to align to it? Do you have the humility to say that muddy water of the Jordan is so foolish and the rivers of Damascus, the way of the world, seems much better. But because you say so, I will do it. The problem is, is we often turn and go in a rage – offended at God, offended, skeptical, doubting, unbelief, hurt. Doesn't He care? Doesn't He see? Doesn't He know what I'm asking Him? I'm asking You to fix my marriage and You're telling me to give. This makes absolutely no sense. I, I know. I know.

And I love that he says, "Go wash in the Jordan seven times." What does seven represent in the Bible? It's the number of completion. So that means do it with all your heart – all the way – not once or twice or three times. How many times do we stop on six and healing was found in seven and doing it with all our heart? But look, look what happens as we go offended at God. Naaman’s servants went to him and said, "If the prophet had told you to do some great thing, you would have done it. How much more than when he tells you to do this little thing?" So, he went and dipped himself seven times as the man of God told him and his flesh was restored. Naaman’s servants. Okay?

Do you realize that there are three types of servants you're supposed to have in your life so that you can align your life with God? Three types of servants: godly relationships, godly leadership, and the Holy Spirit. There's servants in your life to help you align your life with God. You need godly relationships – meaningful relationships with people in this church who know you, that can help you get into that muddy water, that can spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Spur – you know how good it feels to be spurred? Not good is the answer. If any of you see someone caught in sin, gently restore them. As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. Encourage and challenge and build up and, and rebuke one another in a sense. You need godly relationships that say, "I know you think this is beneath you, but I'll go do it with you. Let's go get in the river together because this is going to set you free." You need godly relationships to serve you this way.

You need godly leadership. I know we live in a world that thinks leaders don't matter and you can pick and choose and all that stuff. That's fine. That's the rivers of Damascus. But in God's kingdom, you need pastors and elders and shepherds and leaders who care for your soul, who take you before the Lord and will say the things that you need to hear. Not the things you want to hear, but that the things you need to hear. Half of the time when you get offended at me, it's me trying to serve you to say, "Just get in the river. Just get in the muddy water and don't do it once. Do it all seven times and we will keep serving you that way so you can be set free and healed from the things of this world in Jesus’ name."

And then the Holy Spirit – the greatest servant of your life is the Holy Spirit. He's the guide, the counselor, the comforter, the teacher. And He will lead you. And He's kind of like, have you ever driven a car with lane assist, right? And He like doesn't it, like pushes you back, but not so much that you can't overcorrect it if you don't want. That's the Holy Spirit. He's always nudging you towards that Jordan dirty muddy river that seems foolish and inconsequential, but God said it and he knows it. So He's nudging you. You can override Him. You can overcorrect it, but that's where He's leading you. You need those kinds of servants in your life to help you then go and do it and do it with all your heart so that you can be healed and set free in Jesus’ name. That's what a prophetic reset looks like. It means I've heard Him and even if it's not the word I wanted from Him, I will align my life with it – irrelevant, inconsequential, seemingly small, beneath me, foolish.

Ah, but because you say so, Lord, I will do it. So, here's my question for you before we even go any further: what's your Jordan River? What's that foolish thing that He has asked you to do, and you know it, you just don't want to do it? And you're kind of offended at Him for even asking you and you're irritated because it seems beneath you because you thought I thought He would dot dot dot. We pick up a lot of offenses towards God along the way of our journey because he doesn't do what we think He should do. Aren't you grateful that He doesn't get offended at us when we don't do what He asks us to do? But keeps coming with kindness and compassion and grace – kindness leading us eventually to repentance.

See, here's what Jesus says: “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” The blessing isn't in the hearing. The blessing is in the hearing and obeying. Blessed are those who hear and obey. The blessing isn't in hearing God's voice. The blessing is in hearing God's voice and then obeying. Aligning our life with that which He has said. You have to understand in the Bible there's a difference between listening and hearing. Listening is God spoke and I listened to it. Hearing is I've heard with my heart and I have now obeyed and aligned my life to it. Every Sunday when you sit here, just so you understand, you're listening to the voice of God. The word of God is being spoken over your life. You're listening. The question is is are you hearing? Because to hear we hear with our heart and we obey with our life.

This is why Jesus says, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." In other words, whoever wants to hear will obey and align their life with that which I am saying. Otherwise, it's just listening. This is why James says, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." We listen all the time and we deceive ourselves because we think we've already heard this one. I already know that one – washing the Jordan seven times. Been there, done that, heard it. In fact, I've heard it preached better than this. And I've already decided that's not for me. What else you got? We deceive ourselves into thinking we have already done it. We've already know it. We've already, we've already judged it. We've already criticized it. We've already figured out why the rivers of Damascus are better than this. And we deceive ourselves.

This is why love builds up, but knowledge puffs up. And there's a lot of arrogance and pride. And people who have been in church for a long time, there's not necessarily a lot of humility and obedience, but there's a lot of listening that has led to knowledge that has created a very hard, very prideful life. This is why James literally goes on to then say, "Faith without works is dead." Right? Like there is no faith without action. Like if you really have heard the voice of God and you understand who it is that's speaking to you, then you will act and you obey and you will align your life with it.

And, and so here's what I just want to tell you is your flesh hates the voice of God. Your flesh – your life without God – it, it hates the voice of God. Why? because He is a consuming fire and He speaks words of fire and flesh hates fire. Offer your life as a living sacrifice. We're supposed to put our life on the altar and let fire come down on it and burn it up and get rid of everything that is not of Him. Purify everything that is of this world. Consume everything that I am not supposed to have. Crucify the flesh that I might live in Christ. Your flesh hates the word of God – the voice of God – because it is fire that is meant to purify and cleanse and crucify that flesh. Your flesh hates it, but make no mistake about it, your spirit loves it – my gosh – loves it. “Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” He says His word – His voice – is fire and a rock. A fire that consumes and purifies and a rock that can break the hardest things or a hammer that can break the hardest things and a hammer that can help you be crucified. To finish nailing those nails in so that you can be crucified with Christ so that you can actually live included in Christ this resurrected life that He has for you.

In fact, this is why Jesus says, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself [and] take up His cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it." He says, "If you're going to follow me, okay, follow me." Whoever you follow, you listen to. Whoever you listen to, you follow. If you're actually going to follow me, you're going to have to deny yourself and you're going to have to pick up your cross, which actually means I'm going to have to obey and align to that which He has spoken to me even when I don't like. To deny yourself means I don't like it. You ever just stop and think about that? To, to deny yourself means I'd rather do this than that. I'd rather go to the rivers of Damascus than the river of Jordan. But He said to do it so if I'm going to follow Him. If anyone – does that include you? Are you an anyone? Okay, just okay. I'm an anyone. If anyone, then I actually – to follow Him – I'm actually going to have to deny myself and do the things that seem foolish, irrelevant, inconsequential, beneath me. Because whatever area I'm trying to save my life is the area I'm losing my life. But whatever area I'm willing to lose my life in is the area I'm actually saving my life.

See, when God speaks something to you, the more you don't want to do it, the more you need to do it. That's what I'm trying to tell you. The more you don't want to do it, the more you rationalize it, the more you think it's not for you, the more you have 19 reasons in your bullet-pointed Excel spreadsheet on why this isn't for you, you those are the ones you need to do because that's your flesh making a case against the Jordan River because your flesh loves leprosy. Your flesh actually likes the things of the world. It doesn't want to be cleansed because once it's cleansed, it has no more place to hide. In fact, Jesus goes on to say, "My father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as You will." This is obedience. This is alignment – is my will has been surrendered to His. You say, "What is obedience?" What is align?” My will has been surrendered to His. I've, I've heard from Him. So now I have a renewed mind, a submitted heart, a surrendered will, activated hands, and moving feet. That's alignment. That's obedience – a renewed mind, a surrendered heart, a submitted will, activated hands, moving feet. Without that, there is no alignment. There is no obedience. And yes, you have listened to the voice of God, but you have not heard because until you obey, you have not actually heard. And so then there's no blessing because the blessing is in hearing and obeying. You with me on this?

I mean, and, and I think our problem is is we think that the things that God has for us are so hard. But look at this. This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome.” We think the way of God is hard and heavy. No, the way of sin is hard and heavy. The way of the world is hard and heavy. The way of your flesh is hard and heavy. The way of leprosy – sickness of your soul – that's hard and heavy. Jesus' way is, is easy and light. And I think we get so stressed out about God speaking these big, huge things to us.

Can I just tell you from years of experience, God doesn't speak to most people about these giant things. Speaks to most people about little things. And because they're unwilling to do the little things, they're not qualified to hear about the big things. So if you don't listen to God in the little things, like wash yourself in this river seven times, don't be worried about the big things. And don't try to seek Him on the big things. He's waiting to say, "If you're faithful in the little, I can entrust you with much.” I can't entrust you with much right now because you're not being willing to be faithful in the little. And I can't give you that thing while you still have leprosy in your body. So, I just need you to go wash seven times in the river and we're going to heal that leprosy and then these other things that I have for you are going to come in time. In fact, Jesus says, "Whoever has My commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves Me and I too will love him and show myself to him." Whoever has My commands – whoever hears and obeys – he is the one who loves me and I will show myself to him.

See if you can catch this. Jesus says that obedience is His love language. We have a thousand ways that we think we love God. But He says the way we love Him is by obeying, by aligning, by surrendering our kingdom to His and and bringing our will into alignment with His. He says that we love Him by obeying. And when we obey, He will show Himself to us. So obedience releases revelation. Listen to me. The reward for obedience is not blessing. The reward for obedience is more of Him. The reward for obedience is not blessing. But make no mistake about it, you will be blessed beyond your wildest – immeasurably more than you can ask or imagine. But that's not the reward. The reward is He will show you more of Himself. That's why we obey. Because we want more of God. Not because I want to be healed of leprosy, even though I do, but I want more of Him.

Listen to me. Naaman’s reward for getting in that muddy river was not being healed of leprosy. Naaman’s reward for getting in that muddy river was discovering that there is only one God and His name is the Lord. We think it's the leprosy. You loved me, Naaman, by obeying my commands and now I could show myself to you. The mouth speaks of the overflow of the heart – which means words reveal the heart. So, however you treat someone's words is teaching them how you value their heart. So God speaks to us in His words to see how we will handle them, to see if He can entrust us with His heart. The reason a lot of us never see the face of God, a lot of us never get deep into the heart of God is because He can't show Himself to us, entrust us with Himself because we're proving ourselves uninterested in His heart by not valuing His voice.

And I get it. Most of these things are foolish. They're foolish. “God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” In other words, what is preached, what is said, the word, the voice of God to you will be foolish in the sight of this world. It will be a stumbling block. It will be foolishness. A man of dignity does not get in the dirty, muddy Jordan River. It was a stumbling block and foolishness – but it was the power and the wisdom of God because Christ is the Living Word. And when we hear Him and what He says and walk in His ways, we will discover the power and the wisdom of God.

Make no mistake about it. God only serves springs of living water through broken cisterns. He only feeds the bread of life through dirty hands. He gives you His treasure in jars of clay. He releases His power through weakness. He brings His wisdom through foolishness. And He will give you joy through the cross. The question is: can you get over yourself and the stumbling block and the foolishness to receive that which He offers you? That's why it says, “Today if you hear His voice,” Did it do it? Nope. There it is. “Do not harden your heart.” The only thing hard enough to stop the voice of God is our heart. And when we hear His voice and we don't obey, gets a little harder. When we hear His voice and we don't obey, it gets a little harder.

This is why I would submit to you that the hardest hearts on earth are not in the deep, dark places of the world. They're in Sunday morning church because in the deep dark places of the world, they've only heard the voice of God in limited ways through creation, through the moral compass in their own soul, they don't have week after week somebody washing them with the word. When you sit in Sunday church for 40 years and never obey, harder, harder, harder, but you have knowledge, so it looks good. Does this make sense to you? See, it says it all over. Isaiah is the one that we used last week. “Then the word of the Lord came to….” Then the word of the Lord came to…. You could pick. There's so many of these that you could pick. And the word of the Lord came to…. Then the word – the voice, the thoughts, the heart, the imagination, the creativity, the mindset, the wisdom, the way, the insight, the word of the Lord, the great I AM, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the One who was, the One who is, the One who will be to come, the Prince of Peace, the Living Hope, the Living Word, the Living One, the Ancient of Days, the Bright and Morning Star, the the Bread of Life, the Living Water, the Good Shepherd, the gate, the One who has fire in His eyes. Then the word of the Lord came – was given, released, sent, entrusted, deposited, offered to you – the one made in His image and likeness, fearfully and wonderfully made – the one whom God’s hand is upon, the one where He determined the exact times and places where you would live, the one who He has prepared good works in advance for you to do, the one who is full of His Spirit who carries His name, who gets to be His disciple, who has the keys of the kingdom. The word of the Lord came to you.

See, I think our obedience problem is not because we have a low view of the word. I think it's because we have a low view of the One who speaks. The word of the Lord came to – the problem is not it coming to – it's offered to you. And the problem I don't even think is the word, the voice and what's actually being said. I think the problem is of the Lord. I think we think the Lord is one of many options – not realizing that He is the One and only and there is no other option. Not realizing that the One who spoke to me was the one who said, "Let there be." And all of creation came to pass. Not realizing that the One who speaks to me is the One who is the creator, the sustainer, the redeemer of all things. And by His powerful word, they are all created, sustained, and redeemed. Not realizing that it is the one who literally numbers the stars and hangs them in the sky. Not realizing that He is the one who holds all of the universe in the palm of His hand. Not realizing that He is the one whom the earth is His footstool and heaven is His throne. Not realizing that He is the one that all of heaven gathers around night and day declaring holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was, who is, and is to come. The whole earth is full of His glory. Our problem is not that we have a low view of what He said.

Our problem is we have a low view of who is speaking. Because if you see Him for who He is, then when the word of the Lord comes to you – because You say so, Lord, I will do it. I'll get in that muddy river all day long. Seven times – I'm going to do it 77 times – all my heart. Why? Because it's You. It's You who speaks to me. This is the point. This is the point. Let me make this real practical for you. We have this thing called a Movement Board. And basically, these are just 10 steps that every follower of Jesus at some point will make in their life. These are all from Scripture – things we already know, already know that He's spoken to us – already know have come from His voice. Things like salvation – submitting to the lordship of Jesus and entering the kingdom of heaven. Baptism – being immersed in the waters of baptism, identifying with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Worship regularly – gathering with the people of God to worship, having a family on mission that you are deeply rooted in. Circle – other godly relationships that you're following Jesus together with. Reading plan – filling your life with the Word of God. Getting on a serve team and using your gifts to build and strengthen the body. Give – tithing, giving God the first 10% of your income. He says everything you have comes from Him. He says the first 10% belongs to His family, His church, His house. That other 90% you're supposed to use to bless the world around you, however you want. Invite people into church, into kingdom, into your life. Lead – eventually make disciples of others. And practice plan – have spiritual practices that you're using to do the things that Jesus did so you can do the things that Jesus did. 10 steps that every follower of Jesus, if you're following Jesus, at some point in time will make because He has already spoken them to us.

And so my question for you is: which of these steps is your muddy Jordan waters? How many times has He spoken to you about one of these 10 things, but like Naaman initially, it's beneath you? It's irrelevant. It's unimportant. I'm not going to do it. How many times has He talked to you about getting baptized or about prioritizing the gathering and putting roots down or getting in a circle or engaging Scriptures or giving or stepping up to lead? Like how many times? And you sit here and you say, "Yeah, but but but getting in a circle doesn't solve my marriage problems and giving doesn't bring my child back home and getting on a serve team won't give me a spouse and inviting somebody isn't going to fix my, my business." It's not. How do you know it's not? How do you know it's not? Why? Because, because it's illogical. That's not how that's not how things work. That's not how things work in the world. But in the kingdom of heaven, when He speaks, it happens. So if He could say, "Let there be,” and all of creation was created. Then if He says, "Get in the muddy water," I, I just think whatever it is that He's wanting to do is going to happen.

And I don't do these 10 steps because they're comfortable or they're convenient or they're logical or I have this desire. Some of you are like, you're like, "Yeah, I'll get in a circle when I feel like it.” I, you're never going to feel like it. And in that muddy water, I don't feel like it, but I do it because He says to do it. And then when I do it because He says to do it, things happen. See the the big, the big challenge with a prophetic reset is waiting on this big word from the Lord like move to another state, marry this person, do this thing – this profound vision. I think for most of us in this church, the prophetic reset is such a small word from the Lord. The question is He's waiting to see will you align your life with it? And the reason I was going to skip this, but I, I just feel from the Lord, I think for so many of you, all of this, you're like, one of your prophetic words is, is one of these 10 – is one of these 10. And it's and, and right now I'm trying to serve you, servants. Get in the river. Get in the river. Get in the river. You're like, I don't like you. I know, it's okay, but get in the river. And I love you enough to tell you to get in the river. And you're like, now I really don't like you. I know. I understand that. That's the way the game goes. But still, get in the river. And, and maybe you have a godly relationship that's been telling you, get in the river, and you're getting offended, and you're actually breaking that relationship because they're trying to help you get free from the things that are holding you back. And the Holy Spirit has been lane assisting you, trying to get you over there, and you've been pushing Him off – silencing the voice of God in your life.

The question is, even though it's foolish, will you do it because He said it? Right? That's a prophetic church. A prophetic church is not thus sayeth the Lord and dreams and visions and signs and wonders. No, those things are all a part of it. But a prophetic church is He speaks, we listen. That's it. That's a prophetic church. He speaks, we listen. We don't care if it comes from Scripture, from other people, or from the Spirit. If it's Him who speaks, we just do it. And so we look foolish and we do things that are irrelevant and inconsequential and seemingly beneath us regularly as a way, a part of our life. And as I start doing it, I realize the reward is not getting healed of my leprosy. The reward is I get to know Him more. You will never have the faith to take one of those steps if the reward is to fix your issue. You will only have the faith to take those steps when you realize the reward is Him and He is who I was created for. Which is why this last verse just simply says this: “Consider carefully what you hear… With the measure you use, it will be measured to you – and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what He has will be taken from him.” Jesus says, "Consider carefully what you hear because whatever you do with what He says determines what you'll hear.” If you're faithful with the little things, He can speak to you about greater things. Whoever is faithful in the little can be entrusted with much. To whom much is given – one little word from God like get in the muddy water that you think is irrelevant and inconsequential. To whom much is given – understand the One who spoke it and you'll understand how much was given to you. Much is required. There's a requirement to obey and to align.

And the reason a lot of us as we journey through life hear the voice of God less and less is because we don't consider carefully what He has said to us. We listen, we don't hear. We don't obey. We don't align. So He starts speaking to us less and less and less because God is not like one of those people that just needs to talk to hear Himself. He talks to those who are willing to hear – not listen – hear and obey because He has offered them a big, significant, important life in His name.

So close your eyes with me. Okay, here's the question: what is the Holy Spirit trying to say to you? Just want you to listen for a moment. Listen to that still small voice. Listen to that word of grace. What's your Jordan River? I just think the Holy Spirit is just showing us right now so clearly one simple little thing that, that He has asked us and is asking us to align our life with. It's so different for each one of us because He knows it's a specific word from God for you for your life right where you are. There's healing and hope and breakthrough and life – but, most importantly, more of Him on the other side of that muddy, foolish, irrelevant river. So, Holy Spirit, I believe You are so clear to us in this season. I believe that every heart that wants to hear from You will and is. I believe that where You're taking us is better than where we're, we've been. And sometimes we have to go through what the world would call foolishness, what we would call foolishness to find the life that You offer. So I pray for every heart today – every heart not to listen but to hear. I pray that there would be great celebration as we by faith humble ourselves and align ourselves with all our heart. Not one time, not two times and not, not going to a circle once or twice. Nope. I'm, I'm seven times all year. I'm in. It's like I, I'm not coming to this church just, just every once in a while. Nope. Like this is my church now – today. Worship. I, He's been telling me – I'm putting roots in. This is my family. So, so now every week unless we're sick or out of town, like we're, we're, we're here. I'm not doing a serve team like twice and then, and then being like, "Yep, no, this is too hard." Not, not giving once and then being like, "Nope, that that didn't work cuz I didn't get to buy the, the thing I wanted to buy this week." Nope. Like I'm doing seven times all the way. All the way. Seven times. I'm not stopping on six. I'm going to seven because You say so. Lord, we will do it. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.