1
00:00:00,520 –> 00:00:04,280
For a number of years, I ran
year long residences for young

2
00:00:04,280 –> 00:00:07,600
adults who wanted to understand
what it meant to love God and

3
00:00:07,600 –> 00:00:11,120
love others specifically through
a ministry context.

4
00:00:11,760 –> 00:00:14,200
Many of these young adults were
coming straight from college

5
00:00:14,200 –> 00:00:17,960
ministries that left so many of
them in this tricky place.

6
00:00:18,360 –> 00:00:21,680
They found themselves wrestling
with what it meant to connect

7
00:00:21,680 –> 00:00:25,480
with God because for so long,
structures had been built for

8
00:00:25,480 –> 00:00:27,400
them.
There were weekly meetings,

9
00:00:27,600 –> 00:00:30,840
there were small groups, there
were leaders paired directly

10
00:00:30,840 –> 00:00:34,680
with them, and then suddenly
they were on their own.

11
00:00:35,240 –> 00:00:38,280
It was hard for them to know how
to connect with God.

12
00:00:38,720 –> 00:00:42,160
What made it even harder is many
of the things that they used to

13
00:00:42,160 –> 00:00:45,040
do no longer worked in the new
context.

14
00:00:45,360 –> 00:00:48,360
Having time at all became tricky
when their ministry,

15
00:00:48,360 –> 00:00:51,440
responsibilities and commitment
to the neighborhood left them

16
00:00:51,440 –> 00:00:54,960
exhausted at the end of the day.
In other words, they felt like

17
00:00:54,960 –> 00:00:59,240
they used to know how to seek
God, and now they weren’t sure,

18
00:00:59,560 –> 00:01:03,680
and they felt guilty about it.
I was committed to meeting with

19
00:01:03,680 –> 00:01:07,400
them regularly, creating a
recurring spiritual touch point,

20
00:01:07,400 –> 00:01:10,440
and in those spaces, I would
encourage them just to find

21
00:01:10,440 –> 00:01:14,720
simple ways to walk with God.
Don’t worry about what it used

22
00:01:14,720 –> 00:01:17,840
to look like.
Don’t stress over it having to

23
00:01:17,840 –> 00:01:22,120
reach a certain bar.
What’s the next simple step you

24
00:01:22,120 –> 00:01:26,080
can take towards God?
OK, great, and I’ll take it.

25
00:01:26,840 –> 00:01:30,120
What I wanted them to understand
is life was going to continue to

26
00:01:30,120 –> 00:01:35,120
change, but the act of stepping
towards God could remain simple.

27
00:01:35,880 –> 00:01:40,560
This idea of walking with God is
core to the theology of today’s

28
00:01:40,560 –> 00:01:44,160
guest, Tom Snow.
After a lifetime of learning

29
00:01:44,160 –> 00:01:49,000
what it means to follow God, he
is drawn again and again to the

30
00:01:49,000 –> 00:01:52,120
simplicity of simply walking
with him.

31
00:01:52,600 –> 00:01:56,520
If you are struggling to connect
with God, this conversation

32
00:01:56,680 –> 00:02:01,480
might encourage you.
You’re listening to episode 247

33
00:02:01,760 –> 00:02:03,720
of the Where Did You See God
podcast.

34
00:02:17,480 –> 00:02:19,760
Father God, I just want to thank
you that you were God and you

35
00:02:19,760 –> 00:02:22,200
are good and.
For the gift that you were

36
00:02:22,200 –> 00:02:25,920
giving Tom and I to have this
time together, you’ve given us

37
00:02:26,120 –> 00:02:30,640
space, but also so much that we
could talk about.

38
00:02:30,640 –> 00:02:35,040
And so, Holy Spirit, we invite
you to move now and what this

39
00:02:35,040 –> 00:02:37,920
time looks like and what
conversation we have.

40
00:02:37,920 –> 00:02:40,080
And we know you’re able to
surprise.

41
00:02:40,080 –> 00:02:42,120
US.
You are able to do immeasurably

42
00:02:42,120 –> 00:02:45,640
more than we ask or imagine.
And so we give you this simple

43
00:02:45,640 –> 00:02:50,400
conversation and say Holy Spirit
move and God be glorified us

44
00:02:50,400 –> 00:02:52,120
pray in most holy and precious
name.

45
00:02:52,280 –> 00:02:52,840
Amen.
Very good.

46
00:02:53,840 –> 00:02:56,560
Well, Tom, I do look forward to
the conversation.

47
00:02:56,560 –> 00:02:59,160
You and I were just chatting and
there really is so much we could

48
00:02:59,160 –> 00:03:01,960
talk about.
But before we jump in, what

49
00:03:01,960 –> 00:03:05,240
would you want people to know
about who you are?

50
00:03:05,800 –> 00:03:10,800
Well, my life with the Lord
began at 16, and it’s the most

51
00:03:10,800 –> 00:03:13,200
important changing year of my
life.

52
00:03:13,680 –> 00:03:17,960
I experienced His wonderful
grace, a lot of miracles.

53
00:03:17,960 –> 00:03:22,880
I was birthed in the charismatic
move, walked in it through 71

54
00:03:22,880 –> 00:03:27,320
through 77.
By his grace, I’ve walked with

55
00:03:27,320 –> 00:03:30,600
him, or actually should say he’s
walked with me because I’m not

56
00:03:30,600 –> 00:03:33,040
that good.
For 56 years.

57
00:03:33,680 –> 00:03:38,240
I’ve gone through my first
marriage with four children, all

58
00:03:38,240 –> 00:03:42,680
growing now.
I worked long hard hours as an

59
00:03:42,680 –> 00:03:46,160
engineer, ran my own business,
worked for big company, then ran

60
00:03:46,160 –> 00:03:49,720
my own, was in leadership, in
ministry works while I still

61
00:03:49,720 –> 00:03:54,160
worked 8000 hour weeks.
That marriage was very difficult

62
00:03:54,160 –> 00:03:57,480
even though she was a believer.
She had very severe bipolar

63
00:03:57,480 –> 00:04:00,640
issues and you know, the
marriage didn’t last.

64
00:04:01,200 –> 00:04:05,680
I’m married again now and the
love of my life, she’s

65
00:04:05,760 –> 00:04:08,080
wonderful.
I have a fifth child with her,

66
00:04:08,520 –> 00:04:12,080
our daughters 13.
As I say, I ran my own business

67
00:04:12,080 –> 00:04:16,760
for 45 years after development.
I love math and science, and I

68
00:04:16,760 –> 00:04:19,399
believe God shows us a whole lot
through that.

69
00:04:19,920 –> 00:04:25,280
And right now, even though I’m
retired from my software, I’ve

70
00:04:25,520 –> 00:04:29,560
just written three books in the
last year and a half that is

71
00:04:29,560 –> 00:04:33,240
chronicling a lot of what God
has done in those 56 years,

72
00:04:33,520 –> 00:04:36,480
including forty years in the
wilderness, which I actually

73
00:04:36,480 –> 00:04:38,840
cherish.
Doesn’t sound like fun.

74
00:04:39,520 –> 00:04:41,240
And in the middle of it, it
wasn’t fun.

75
00:04:41,280 –> 00:04:45,160
Nobody says walking with God is
a bowl of cherries, puppy dogs,

76
00:04:45,160 –> 00:04:47,640
and rainbows.
If you think that, you just

77
00:04:47,640 –> 00:04:49,800
haven’t walked around the block
a couple times.

78
00:04:50,480 –> 00:04:54,080
Nowadays, I’m actually starting
healthy foods company.

79
00:04:54,680 –> 00:04:57,480
I had congestive heart failure
three years ago.

80
00:04:57,880 –> 00:05:01,680
They took me off the salt.
I’ve been a cook all my life and

81
00:05:01,680 –> 00:05:05,440
I had to come up with ways to
make food taste good again

82
00:05:06,200 –> 00:05:09,400
because I love salt.
Salt just didn’t love me.

83
00:05:10,040 –> 00:05:13,440
And if we actually looked at
statistics, most of Americans

84
00:05:13,440 –> 00:05:15,840
shouldn’t be on the level of
salt that we eat.

85
00:05:16,520 –> 00:05:19,200
But these are actually salt
free, sugar free products.

86
00:05:19,200 –> 00:05:22,400
I believe the Holy Spirit’s
helped me design and so we’re

87
00:05:22,800 –> 00:05:26,760
working to go public on that.
So that’s just a bit about my

88
00:05:26,760 –> 00:05:29,840
history.
Yeah, as we’ve mentioned a few

89
00:05:29,840 –> 00:05:32,520
times, there are so many
directions we could go, but

90
00:05:32,520 –> 00:05:35,840
where my mind is going is not
the beginning, but the end.

91
00:05:36,160 –> 00:05:41,320
You talked about 50-6 years of
learning who God is, 40 years in

92
00:05:41,320 –> 00:05:44,360
the wilderness.
He talked about engaging in the

93
00:05:44,360 –> 00:05:48,960
charismatic movement in the 70s.
A lot of time has passed.

94
00:05:49,520 –> 00:05:52,800
You have these decades of
experience.

95
00:05:52,800 –> 00:05:56,040
And what is particularly
intriguing to me is, as I’ve

96
00:05:56,040 –> 00:05:59,440
gotten back into conversations
this year, this theme of

97
00:05:59,600 –> 00:06:05,040
understanding who God is, of
utilizing our brains, of

98
00:06:05,400 –> 00:06:08,880
sometimes failing to do that
well, of thinking we understand

99
00:06:08,880 –> 00:06:12,200
a situation but totally missing
it until we get a little older

100
00:06:12,200 –> 00:06:15,160
and a little more mature.
And so the question that’s in my

101
00:06:15,160 –> 00:06:20,080
mind, here you are today with
three books full of stories with

102
00:06:20,400 –> 00:06:23,560
decades of experience.
How do you understand the

103
00:06:23,560 –> 00:06:30,200
pursuit of God today versus what
you assumed it was 10/20,

104
00:06:30,200 –> 00:06:34,280
thirty, 4050 years ago?
Here’s the beautiful thing, the

105
00:06:34,280 –> 00:06:37,200
pursuit of Him is exactly the
same.

106
00:06:37,880 –> 00:06:42,080
It’s as a deer pants for water.
It’s wanting to walk with the

107
00:06:42,080 –> 00:06:45,520
true and living God by His
Spirit in every moment.

108
00:06:46,440 –> 00:06:51,320
The big difference is in the
beginning when God saved me, did

109
00:06:51,320 –> 00:06:55,160
miracles, healed me when I was
dying of cancer, melded A tumor

110
00:06:55,160 –> 00:06:58,480
larger than a football in 24
hours, hard as a Rock.

111
00:06:58,480 –> 00:07:03,320
You know in my gut, hearing pop
of God talk all the time.

112
00:07:03,320 –> 00:07:06,360
There’s still small quiet voice
actually getting to hear the

113
00:07:06,360 –> 00:07:09,360
audible voice of God one time
before I got saved all in the

114
00:07:09,360 –> 00:07:11,320
beginning of the first book.
For those who want to read it,

115
00:07:11,400 –> 00:07:13,680
you read chapter 1.
You’ll start right there.

116
00:07:14,400 –> 00:07:18,640
But the beauty is walking with
the true and living God.

117
00:07:18,960 –> 00:07:23,800
The difference chapter 2 in that
book is God broke me of my fake

118
00:07:23,800 –> 00:07:30,400
religiosity, fake spirituality,
and unfortunately good meaning

119
00:07:30,400 –> 00:07:31,680
people.
I meant good.

120
00:07:32,200 –> 00:07:34,360
I wanted to be doing good things
for God.

121
00:07:34,760 –> 00:07:37,160
So I wanted to act the way he
wanted me to act.

122
00:07:37,880 –> 00:07:41,880
But we end up putting on fronts.
We end up doing an act.

123
00:07:41,880 –> 00:07:45,400
We have to put on a Sunday smile
and we have to try to make

124
00:07:45,400 –> 00:07:48,400
everyone think that we’re so
religious and so spiritual for

125
00:07:48,400 –> 00:07:52,080
God and that’s such a false
place.

126
00:07:52,960 –> 00:07:57,640
Walking with the true living God
is the most wonderful thing of

127
00:07:57,640 –> 00:07:59,760
my life.
Even going through 40 years of

128
00:07:59,760 –> 00:08:05,600
wilderness, which I would not
trade, I would not trade it.

129
00:08:06,040 –> 00:08:10,440
I told Papa God, if you need to
take me again, I’ll go more

130
00:08:11,280 –> 00:08:15,200
because you find him.
In the midst of those hard

131
00:08:15,200 –> 00:08:18,440
times, it’s easy for anybody
walk with God.

132
00:08:18,440 –> 00:08:21,440
When things are easy, you go to
church and there’s worship and

133
00:08:21,760 –> 00:08:26,200
you hear all this stuff and it’s
all great walking with him

134
00:08:26,200 –> 00:08:28,840
through the hard things, walking
with him daily.

135
00:08:29,360 –> 00:08:32,280
Somebody will think I’m a little
crazy, but I don’t wake up and

136
00:08:32,280 –> 00:08:34,919
think, Oh my God, I got to get
on my knees and pray.

137
00:08:35,440 –> 00:08:38,440
As you get older, I have a bad
knee anyway, so it’s a little

138
00:08:38,440 –> 00:08:40,559
hard to do that.
You know, I got to get on my

139
00:08:40,559 –> 00:08:43,360
knees and pray.
And then I, I have to read the

140
00:08:43,360 –> 00:08:46,280
word and I have to do this and
I, and it’s a have to, have to

141
00:08:46,280 –> 00:08:52,880
have to no, it’s a privilege to
walk with the true and living

142
00:08:52,880 –> 00:08:55,560
God.
When I wake up in the morning, I

143
00:08:55,560 –> 00:09:01,400
go, how you doing, Papa?
And he responds and I respond to

144
00:09:01,400 –> 00:09:03,360
him.
We can all hear the still,

145
00:09:03,360 –> 00:09:05,760
small, quiet voice of God.
That’s a promise.

146
00:09:06,400 –> 00:09:08,600
We need to learn how to
distinguish voices because

147
00:09:08,600 –> 00:09:09,960
there’s a lot of different
voices.

148
00:09:10,200 –> 00:09:13,560
I guarantee you if you just hear
voices and don’t know how to

149
00:09:13,560 –> 00:09:18,880
distinguish, you’ll go crazy.
Book 2 covers that because the

150
00:09:18,880 –> 00:09:20,800
charismatic mood went crazy,
right?

151
00:09:21,200 –> 00:09:23,480
What I walked through up till
77.

152
00:09:23,880 –> 00:09:26,240
Amazing.
I can tell you stories will blow

153
00:09:26,240 –> 00:09:28,520
your mind.
You’d see First Corinthians in

154
00:09:28,520 –> 00:09:31,040
action.
We’d worship for hours,

155
00:09:31,040 –> 00:09:34,400
literally, literally, and you’d
think minutes passed.

156
00:09:34,800 –> 00:09:38,120
You would get exactly what
you’re supposed to get. 2 to 3

157
00:09:38,120 –> 00:09:42,080
tongues in interpretation, 2 or
3 prophecies and the pastor

158
00:09:42,080 –> 00:09:45,400
would stand up and then instead
of preaching he’d go does anyone

159
00:09:45,400 –> 00:09:48,600
have the word of the Lord today?
And you would have two or three

160
00:09:48,600 –> 00:09:50,600
just as it says.
Let two or three prophets speak.

161
00:09:50,600 –> 00:09:53,680
The word prophet, by the way, is
not some crazy word.

162
00:09:53,920 –> 00:09:56,680
You know, we think of of the
office of the prophet.

163
00:09:57,320 –> 00:10:00,280
Now the word prophet Pro is
forth.

164
00:10:00,280 –> 00:10:03,080
That means speak.
I love going back to the

165
00:10:03,080 –> 00:10:08,760
original Greek and Hebrew.
I believe Paul exhorted us in

166
00:10:08,760 –> 00:10:13,680
Acts be like the Bereans.
They listened to him preach and

167
00:10:13,960 –> 00:10:16,920
he was so glad they didn’t take
his word for it.

168
00:10:18,280 –> 00:10:21,640
He they didn’t take the great
preacher and teacher of the day.

169
00:10:22,040 –> 00:10:24,640
They listened.
Then they went back and proved

170
00:10:24,640 –> 00:10:27,280
themselves.
Study the scriptures and Paul

171
00:10:27,280 –> 00:10:29,920
thanked them.
That’s where we have to be.

172
00:10:29,920 –> 00:10:33,640
Study the word, study the
originals, you know the Greek

173
00:10:33,640 –> 00:10:38,560
and the Hebrew.
So walking with Papa God through

174
00:10:38,560 –> 00:10:42,920
all turmoil, through a failed
marriage, through leadership,

175
00:10:42,920 –> 00:10:47,600
church abuse, leadership abuse,
watching all kinds of hard

176
00:10:47,600 –> 00:10:52,200
things, watching the charismatic
move be destroyed in 77 when men

177
00:10:52,200 –> 00:10:58,240
took over the pure move of God,
his move, and they had to come

178
00:10:58,240 –> 00:11:03,160
in, quantify, qualify and turned
it into two denominations.

179
00:11:03,600 –> 00:11:06,320
And we just watched the
charismatic move be propped up

180
00:11:06,320 –> 00:11:09,120
as a dead horse.
From that day forward, I said

181
00:11:09,120 –> 00:11:11,840
I’m not a charismatic, told my
spiritual father.

182
00:11:11,840 –> 00:11:14,840
I said from this day forward, I
only want to be known as a

183
00:11:14,840 –> 00:11:20,800
Christian because I’m not into
denominations, I’m not into

184
00:11:20,800 –> 00:11:23,520
religions.
I’m into the single body of

185
00:11:23,520 –> 00:11:29,720
Christ, where God the Father,
Papa God ABBA Father means Papa,

186
00:11:30,360 –> 00:11:33,800
where Papa God is in charge of
our lives, where the Holy Spirit

187
00:11:33,800 –> 00:11:37,440
flows through US.
John, seven rivers of living

188
00:11:37,440 –> 00:11:42,480
water flowing from our innermost
being, where we walk daily with

189
00:11:42,480 –> 00:11:44,760
the true and living God.
Do I pray all day long?

190
00:11:45,240 –> 00:11:46,560
Do I have set times?
Nope.

191
00:11:46,800 –> 00:11:50,080
When do I read the word?
When the Father puts it in my

192
00:11:50,080 –> 00:11:54,080
heart to do so.
Oh, you’re not very religious.

193
00:11:54,120 –> 00:11:57,640
Oh, I hope not.
I hope I’ve lost my religiosity

194
00:11:57,640 –> 00:12:02,360
and fake spirituality.
And the church needs to learn to

195
00:12:02,360 –> 00:12:06,520
walk with the true living God
and not judge one another when

196
00:12:06,600 –> 00:12:10,520
we all go through the trials and
troubles of life because we’re

197
00:12:10,520 –> 00:12:13,840
all human and we all mess up.
You know, I tell people there’s

198
00:12:13,840 –> 00:12:16,400
the good, the bad and the ugly.
And I got a lot of bad and ugly.

199
00:12:17,760 –> 00:12:20,440
And you know what, Papa, God is
not upset with me.

200
00:12:21,520 –> 00:12:25,720
You know, Romans says there’s
now therefore no condemnation.

201
00:12:26,000 –> 00:12:31,360
When we’re in Christ and we can
walk, that walking with him is

202
00:12:31,640 –> 00:12:33,960
the beginning, the middle, the
end.

203
00:12:34,920 –> 00:12:38,560
How I’ve gone through that is a
whole lot of things, but losing

204
00:12:38,560 –> 00:12:44,040
the fake religiosity and fake
spirituality is so key to

205
00:12:44,040 –> 00:12:46,040
keeping that relationship.
Yeah.

206
00:12:47,840 –> 00:12:52,560
As you were talking about this
idea of walking, two scriptural

207
00:12:52,560 –> 00:12:56,240
images came to mind.
The 1st is in the very

208
00:12:56,240 –> 00:13:00,080
beginning, Adam and Eve would
just experience God walking

209
00:13:00,080 –> 00:13:04,000
through the garden, and there is
something very beautiful about

210
00:13:04,000 –> 00:13:07,560
that relationship.
And then something happened and

211
00:13:07,560 –> 00:13:10,680
suddenly not only were they not
walking, but they were hiding.

212
00:13:11,080 –> 00:13:12,480
You talked about putting on a
mask.

213
00:13:12,480 –> 00:13:15,840
They were covering themselves
because they recognize their

214
00:13:15,840 –> 00:13:21,760
shame and their ability to walk
with him was severely stifled,

215
00:13:22,600 –> 00:13:25,560
and God called it out.
And then the second thing is I

216
00:13:25,560 –> 00:13:30,000
thought of Jesus and how many
people walked with Jesus, but

217
00:13:30,000 –> 00:13:33,760
how many wildly different ways
those walks were embodied.

218
00:13:34,240 –> 00:13:39,800
From those who authentically
understood that he was the Son

219
00:13:39,800 –> 00:13:43,880
of God, to those who felt
threatened by him, to those who

220
00:13:44,240 –> 00:13:47,360
thought they might gain
something from him, to those who

221
00:13:47,360 –> 00:13:49,640
didn’t understand who he was and
they were just curious.

222
00:13:50,040 –> 00:13:52,360
A lot of people literally
walking with him, but their

223
00:13:52,360 –> 00:13:57,080
walks were vastly different.
And even those who seem to be

224
00:13:57,680 –> 00:14:02,240
most closely walking with him,
when he was in his final moments

225
00:14:02,240 –> 00:14:05,080
before the crucifixion, so many
of them stopped walking with

226
00:14:05,080 –> 00:14:07,920
him.
What’s interesting to me is you

227
00:14:07,920 –> 00:14:12,440
have so many people that
genuinely want to walk with God.

228
00:14:12,440 –> 00:14:16,040
And at the start there is this
enthusiasm, this excitement.

229
00:14:16,040 –> 00:14:19,680
You talked about the charismatic
movement, and something happened

230
00:14:19,680 –> 00:14:22,920
where individuals who might have
been genuine and authentic in

231
00:14:22,920 –> 00:14:26,120
71, by 77, something else was
driving them.

232
00:14:26,600 –> 00:14:32,720
What is it that starts to
negatively impact how we are

233
00:14:32,720 –> 00:14:34,520
walking, how we’re understanding
that?

234
00:14:34,520 –> 00:14:36,560
Walk.
Good question.

235
00:14:36,560 –> 00:14:41,400
Lot to unpack there.
We do have to remember we have

236
00:14:41,520 –> 00:14:45,480
an enemy.
The God of this world, Lucifer,

237
00:14:45,480 –> 00:14:49,200
Satan, the devil, he fell from
heaven, took a third of the

238
00:14:49,200 –> 00:14:52,240
angels with them.
They’re the demons.

239
00:14:52,520 –> 00:14:56,360
They rule the earth.
Ephesians tells us we don’t

240
00:14:56,360 –> 00:15:00,280
wrestle against flesh and blood,
but against principalities and

241
00:15:00,280 –> 00:15:02,680
powers and rulers in high
places.

242
00:15:03,360 –> 00:15:06,080
And these rulers are there
wanting to mess us up.

243
00:15:06,800 –> 00:15:11,880
We’re God’s chosen people.
Well, the devil hates us and

244
00:15:11,880 –> 00:15:15,600
he’d destroy us in a heartbeat.
He’s the sadist of sadists and

245
00:15:15,600 –> 00:15:17,680
he would destroy us.
Well, he comes in to destroy the

246
00:15:17,680 –> 00:15:21,440
church, and he wants to mess up
people’s lives, and he wants to

247
00:15:21,440 –> 00:15:24,720
work it at the individual level
and in the church level.

248
00:15:25,240 –> 00:15:28,840
He doesn’t want a single body of
Christ, a single bride of Christ

249
00:15:28,840 –> 00:15:32,560
that loves the Lord.
So he’s out here to destroy us.

250
00:15:32,560 –> 00:15:35,000
He’s out here to create all this
havoc.

251
00:15:35,720 –> 00:15:38,600
And so, you know, you can have
good people with good

252
00:15:38,600 –> 00:15:40,520
intentions, and they start
right.

253
00:15:40,880 –> 00:15:44,360
And then over time, we joke
about the devil on one shoulder

254
00:15:44,360 –> 00:15:46,600
and the Angel on the other.
Guess what?

255
00:15:46,600 –> 00:15:51,880
There’s more truth than fiction.
What we don’t realize is what is

256
00:15:52,280 –> 00:15:56,440
the old nature, the flesh, the
old atom?

257
00:15:57,440 –> 00:15:59,920
It is.
We were raised by the God of

258
00:15:59,920 –> 00:16:03,560
this world from the time we were
born by.

259
00:16:03,560 –> 00:16:09,920
He is the ruler of this world
and his demons cohorts are all

260
00:16:09,920 –> 00:16:11,880
around us.
If we could see the spiritual

261
00:16:11,880 –> 00:16:14,120
realm, it would scare the
bejeebies out of us.

262
00:16:14,480 –> 00:16:17,160
I wish everybody could see it
because it would scare them

263
00:16:17,160 –> 00:16:19,600
straight.
There’s a realm about us with

264
00:16:19,640 –> 00:16:23,480
angels and demons and they’re
just waiting permission on who

265
00:16:23,480 –> 00:16:28,200
we choose.
God gave us choice and who we

266
00:16:28,200 –> 00:16:33,560
yield to is who flows.
If we yield to the Lord, he will

267
00:16:33,560 –> 00:16:37,000
flow.
If we yield to the enemy, he and

268
00:16:37,000 –> 00:16:39,840
his demons will flow.
Well, some people go, well, I’ll

269
00:16:39,840 –> 00:16:41,880
just be in the middle.
I have someone who said I’m just

270
00:16:41,880 –> 00:16:44,640
be a happy agnostic.
Jesus said if you’re not with

271
00:16:44,640 –> 00:16:47,480
me, you’re against me.
So the against gets to the

272
00:16:47,480 –> 00:16:50,240
devil.
So again, he gets to rule.

273
00:16:50,720 –> 00:16:53,840
Well, we’ve been trained like
mice to run the maze.

274
00:16:54,440 –> 00:16:58,360
We don’t have a choice of what
the old nature in the flesh is.

275
00:16:58,560 –> 00:17:02,640
We’re not smart enough to
outsmart the devil and not

276
00:17:02,640 –> 00:17:06,000
figure all this stuff out.
The devil is the greatest of all

277
00:17:06,000 –> 00:17:10,640
finite creations.
He’s the most brilliant, the

278
00:17:10,640 –> 00:17:14,280
most beautiful of all of God’s
creations.

279
00:17:14,280 –> 00:17:16,839
It says Lucifer.
We read the Old Testament.

280
00:17:16,839 –> 00:17:19,280
He’ll tell us he was the most
beautiful, the most powerful.

281
00:17:20,400 –> 00:17:24,880
It went to his head.
He challenged God somehow he

282
00:17:24,880 –> 00:17:27,760
fought the infinite God just
because he was the highest of

283
00:17:27,760 –> 00:17:30,600
all beings.
He could somehow challenge God.

284
00:17:30,640 –> 00:17:32,440
Well, obviously we know how that
went.

285
00:17:32,440 –> 00:17:35,600
He got kicked out of heaven,
took a third the angels with

286
00:17:35,600 –> 00:17:38,960
them.
And we think of Hollywood,

287
00:17:39,040 –> 00:17:41,680
right?
We think of the red suited devil

288
00:17:41,680 –> 00:17:45,440
and horns and pitchfork ugly and
the demons are all these

289
00:17:45,440 –> 00:17:50,240
gargoyles and you know, we have
all this scripture tells us they

290
00:17:50,240 –> 00:17:55,520
appear as angels of light.
The fact is the devil didn’t

291
00:17:55,520 –> 00:17:57,480
lose his beauty.
He’s still the most beautiful,

292
00:17:57,480 –> 00:18:02,400
all creations.
And we think, well, OK, yeah.

293
00:18:02,400 –> 00:18:05,440
But you know, if we come to the
Lord, that just instantly gets

294
00:18:05,440 –> 00:18:07,040
changed.
Nope.

295
00:18:08,080 –> 00:18:12,240
We were ingrained, indoctrinated
by the God of this world.

296
00:18:12,240 –> 00:18:16,040
We’re mice that run the maze.
He whispers in our ears and a

297
00:18:16,040 –> 00:18:17,960
little thought and we will run
with it.

298
00:18:18,080 –> 00:18:21,840
He doesn’t have to work hard.
He put a little bell over here,

299
00:18:21,840 –> 00:18:25,520
we respond, he put some cheese
over here, we respond and we go,

300
00:18:25,520 –> 00:18:27,640
well, we’re too smart for that.
We have the mind of Christ.

301
00:18:27,640 –> 00:18:31,800
Guess what?
That’s a lifelong process to get

302
00:18:31,800 –> 00:18:36,000
sanctification going through us.
And it is no instant.

303
00:18:37,040 –> 00:18:40,840
You are instantly saved, sure.
But the the sanctification’s

304
00:18:40,840 –> 00:18:45,840
lifelong and we have to walk
with the true and living God

305
00:18:45,840 –> 00:18:48,880
well.
So we have all this old nature

306
00:18:48,880 –> 00:18:54,920
in US, the old Adam, the flesh,
the Holy Spirit has to work in

307
00:18:54,920 –> 00:18:57,880
US, changing.
Well, so you bring up something

308
00:18:57,880 –> 00:19:03,080
interesting because somebody
could be listening and both

309
00:19:03,160 –> 00:19:06,000
resonating with what you’re
saying and lamenting what you’re

310
00:19:06,000 –> 00:19:09,960
saying because they’re thinking,
I really do want to walk with

311
00:19:09,960 –> 00:19:12,880
God.
But it seems like every time I

312
00:19:12,880 –> 00:19:16,040
try to do the right thing, I do
the wrong thing.

313
00:19:16,040 –> 00:19:20,000
And every time I try to avoid
the wrong thing, I suddenly find

314
00:19:20,000 –> 00:19:24,120
that I’m doing it again.
And you talked about, you know,

315
00:19:24,120 –> 00:19:29,080
Satan and demons, and someone
can feel totally overwhelmed and

316
00:19:29,760 –> 00:19:31,840
hopeless in their ability to
walk.

317
00:19:33,240 –> 00:19:38,040
And yet part of your story is
these moments that could have

318
00:19:38,040 –> 00:19:41,680
been moments that kept you from
walking with God, that stopped

319
00:19:41,680 –> 00:19:43,800
you from walking with God, that
made you say, you know what?

320
00:19:43,800 –> 00:19:45,320
I’m walking in the other
direction.

321
00:19:46,200 –> 00:19:50,480
And yet, sometimes, maybe even
in spite of you became the very

322
00:19:50,480 –> 00:19:54,840
things that taught you more
fully how to walk, that showed

323
00:19:54,840 –> 00:19:58,440
you how walking isn’t solely
reliant on you.

324
00:19:59,240 –> 00:20:03,640
When we do have what could seem
like in a daunting, impossible

325
00:20:03,640 –> 00:20:06,960
obstacle, how is walking still
possible?

326
00:20:07,200 –> 00:20:09,680
Let me.
Point back to the first book

327
00:20:09,680 –> 00:20:12,640
called the Daily Stand, because
I would love for everyone to

328
00:20:12,640 –> 00:20:14,720
read it.
I by the way, I’d like Paul the

329
00:20:14,720 –> 00:20:16,640
tent maker.
I run my own businesses.

330
00:20:16,640 –> 00:20:19,520
I’m not here to make a couple
bucks on a book off of Amazon.

331
00:20:19,520 –> 00:20:21,240
So I’m not here to promote
books.

332
00:20:21,680 –> 00:20:26,200
I’m here to hope to share, to
equip the body with the little

333
00:20:26,200 –> 00:20:29,760
bit I’ve learned in 56 years.
People go, oh, well, you must be

334
00:20:29,760 –> 00:20:31,960
really great.
You walk with God 56 years now.

335
00:20:31,960 –> 00:20:33,200
I don’t think that’s much of
nothing.

336
00:20:33,640 –> 00:20:36,840
Enoch walked with God 300 years
and he didn’t have the

337
00:20:36,840 –> 00:20:41,080
indwelling Holy Spirit we have,
and he walked so close to God

338
00:20:41,080 –> 00:20:42,680
that God had to take him off the
earth.

339
00:20:42,760 –> 00:20:46,080
Now I’m not that good, OK?
I’m a screw up.

340
00:20:46,080 –> 00:20:48,600
I guarantee it.
It’s by His grace.

341
00:20:49,160 –> 00:20:53,240
And The thing is, we need to
understand we’re in warfare

342
00:20:53,240 –> 00:20:57,400
around us all the time.
If we had eyes to see the enemy,

343
00:20:57,720 –> 00:21:02,960
how it’s working against us, how
it’s there, our flesh is easily

344
00:21:02,960 –> 00:21:06,160
influenced by the enemy.
The enemy’s trying to destroy

345
00:21:06,160 –> 00:21:07,840
us.
And if that ain’t enough, it

346
00:21:07,840 –> 00:21:11,400
wants to oppress, possess,
create havoc in all kinds of

347
00:21:11,400 –> 00:21:14,800
ways.
We need to understand that we’re

348
00:21:14,800 –> 00:21:18,160
in a war and we need to
understand spiritual warfare.

349
00:21:18,600 –> 00:21:22,000
The first book talks about
spiritual warfare, but before it

350
00:21:22,000 –> 00:21:27,640
gets there, it teaches us how to
walk in the anointing, the word

351
00:21:27,640 –> 00:21:30,400
Christ.
We go, you know, Jesus Christ,

352
00:21:30,680 –> 00:21:33,960
like that’s his last name.
Some people go, well, the Greek

353
00:21:33,960 –> 00:21:36,800
says that’s Messiah.
Well, it does say that.

354
00:21:37,360 –> 00:21:40,920
But you know what the Greek
really says Christ means it’s

355
00:21:40,920 –> 00:21:43,160
the anointed one or the
anointing.

356
00:21:44,520 –> 00:21:48,200
So it’s Jesus the anointed one,
Jesus the anointing.

357
00:21:48,400 –> 00:21:51,000
Well, we’ve been trained.
All we have to do is say in the

358
00:21:51,000 –> 00:21:54,160
name of Jesus at the end of
every prayer or in the name of

359
00:21:54,200 –> 00:21:56,160
Jesus talking to the devil, and
he’ll stop.

360
00:21:57,880 –> 00:21:59,560
Do we know what that really
means?

361
00:22:00,440 –> 00:22:05,240
Are we aware of what that says?
Because the most important word

362
00:22:05,240 –> 00:22:10,400
in that phrase is the word in.
It’s not Jesus in the end, it’s

363
00:22:10,400 –> 00:22:15,600
not the name in.
That’s a position of ourselves

364
00:22:15,640 –> 00:22:19,360
in the Father, in the Spirit, in
the Son.

365
00:22:19,360 –> 00:22:22,800
It’s a position.
Words aren’t magic.

366
00:22:22,960 –> 00:22:27,920
There is no magic with God.
There’s the power that he flows

367
00:22:27,920 –> 00:22:31,960
through us, which happens
through choice and yielding the

368
00:22:31,960 –> 00:22:34,000
power of the spirit.
We think we have power and

369
00:22:34,000 –> 00:22:36,240
prayer.
We think we have power and

370
00:22:36,240 –> 00:22:37,520
fasting.
We think we have power and

371
00:22:37,520 –> 00:22:38,520
worship.
We don’t.

372
00:22:39,800 –> 00:22:41,280
You go, Tom, you’re really
stupid.

373
00:22:41,280 –> 00:22:43,400
I I’ve been taught in church
forever.

374
00:22:43,400 –> 00:22:45,680
If I just pray, there’s the
power.

375
00:22:47,520 –> 00:22:51,760
Half right, pretty much wrong.
Well, if I worship, the devil

376
00:22:51,760 –> 00:22:54,920
can’t come around.
No, not exactly.

377
00:22:55,200 –> 00:22:57,280
We can have a lot of stories, a
lot of discussion.

378
00:22:58,000 –> 00:22:59,840
There’s nothing wrong with
prayer, worship, and fasting.

379
00:22:59,840 –> 00:23:02,400
Guarantee.
Those are all things we’re

380
00:23:02,400 –> 00:23:04,640
supposed to do.
But they don’t have power.

381
00:23:04,640 –> 00:23:07,120
Where power is this comes from?
God.

382
00:23:07,280 –> 00:23:11,440
When we choose Him and we yield
to him, then the Spirit of God

383
00:23:11,440 –> 00:23:15,800
flows through us, John, seven
rivers of living water flowing

384
00:23:15,800 –> 00:23:19,440
from our innermost being that he
spoke of the Spirit.

385
00:23:19,440 –> 00:23:21,680
That’s the life flowing through
us.

386
00:23:21,880 –> 00:23:25,760
When we yield and allow that to
happen, while we’re praying,

387
00:23:25,760 –> 00:23:28,760
while we’re worshiping, while
we’re fasting, what whatever,

388
00:23:28,960 –> 00:23:34,000
then the power’s released.
We don’t have power, none of us.

389
00:23:34,280 –> 00:23:37,160
We go, well, God said, you know,
you’re supposed to pray and do

390
00:23:37,160 –> 00:23:38,680
miracles.
No, He does the miracles.

391
00:23:38,680 –> 00:23:41,640
We can pray.
If a miracle happens, it’s on

392
00:23:41,640 –> 00:23:45,600
him.
So it goes right back to walking

393
00:23:45,600 –> 00:23:48,800
with the true and living God.
And the whole thing in in that

394
00:23:48,840 –> 00:23:54,720
first book teaches us to walk in
the anointing in Christ when we

395
00:23:54,720 –> 00:23:59,200
walk in him daily like it’s it’s
not a religious thing.

396
00:23:59,200 –> 00:24:03,640
Like I told you earlier, you
wake up, talk to Papa God.

397
00:24:03,880 –> 00:24:07,280
What do you want to do today?
Jesus said, I only do what I see

398
00:24:07,280 –> 00:24:09,560
the father doing.
I only say what I hear the

399
00:24:09,560 –> 00:24:12,640
father saying.
This is what true faith is.

400
00:24:13,600 –> 00:24:17,720
And when we are walking with Him
through our day, and the day is

401
00:24:17,720 –> 00:24:21,000
full of the good, the bad and
the ugly, everyone needs to

402
00:24:21,000 –> 00:24:23,000
understand this.
There’s nothing religious about

403
00:24:23,000 –> 00:24:24,760
it.
God actually loves when we’re

404
00:24:24,760 –> 00:24:26,880
honest.
He really does.

405
00:24:27,440 –> 00:24:31,240
He’s not offended.
And so as we walk through life,

406
00:24:31,960 –> 00:24:35,200
we learn to walk with that
anointing flowing through us.

407
00:24:35,560 –> 00:24:41,000
Then we will have his authority.
Jesus said, I gave you all

408
00:24:41,000 –> 00:24:43,520
authority over all the power of
the enemy.

409
00:24:43,720 –> 00:24:46,560
That’s not magic.
And people go, well, you know,

410
00:24:46,560 –> 00:24:50,800
if I exercise my faith, because
people don’t understand faith,

411
00:24:50,800 –> 00:24:54,360
they think we’re supposed to
exercise faith, that it’s us,

412
00:24:55,080 –> 00:24:59,520
has nothing to do with us, has
to do with that same place of

413
00:24:59,520 –> 00:25:02,520
choice and yield in allowing the
Holy Spirit to flow.

414
00:25:02,720 –> 00:25:06,560
When we agree with God.
If you hear what God’s saying,

415
00:25:06,560 –> 00:25:09,800
you see what he’s doing, you
agree with him, that is faith.

416
00:25:09,800 –> 00:25:12,480
It will be released.
That’s when a mountain can be

417
00:25:12,480 –> 00:25:15,800
moved.
It’s not, oh, I’m just going to

418
00:25:15,800 –> 00:25:19,280
muster up some faith.
I’m going to rub God hard enough

419
00:25:19,280 –> 00:25:22,400
like a genie in the bottle.
And if I rub him really, really

420
00:25:22,400 –> 00:25:25,520
hard with my faith, like a grain
of mustard tin, if I rub him

421
00:25:25,520 –> 00:25:27,600
really hard, he’ll grant me 3
wishes.

422
00:25:28,040 –> 00:25:32,120
Wrong.
We’ve been mistaught, we’ve been

423
00:25:32,120 –> 00:25:33,280
trained.
Wrong.

424
00:25:34,080 –> 00:25:36,400
Study the word.
Be a Berean.

425
00:25:37,040 –> 00:25:42,080
Know him, walk with him.
When we do, we can face all the

426
00:25:42,080 –> 00:25:45,240
troubles in the trial of life.
And you’re going to face things

427
00:25:45,240 –> 00:25:48,600
that seem insurmountable, and
they are at the human level.

428
00:25:49,960 –> 00:25:53,840
But I talk about through my
books, the miracles of God.

429
00:25:53,840 –> 00:25:57,440
You’ll see things that he did
that you would say that’s New

430
00:25:57,440 –> 00:26:00,960
Testament times, You know, when
you’re dealing with demoniacs

431
00:26:00,960 –> 00:26:03,240
that are there to kill and
destroy.

432
00:26:03,840 –> 00:26:06,200
There’s just so much of walking
with him.

433
00:26:06,200 –> 00:26:08,960
But when you walk with him,
there is No Fear.

434
00:26:10,600 –> 00:26:15,200
Not when that peace that passes
understanding, comprehension,

435
00:26:15,560 –> 00:26:21,200
the peace rules our lives.
Philippians 47, we need that.

436
00:26:21,840 –> 00:26:24,240
We can walk through the hardest
things of life.

437
00:26:24,240 –> 00:26:27,560
And you may as listeners may
have never walked through the

438
00:26:27,560 –> 00:26:30,560
hardest thing yet you may have
walked through more trauma than

439
00:26:30,560 –> 00:26:32,000
I have.
I’ve walked through a heck of a

440
00:26:32,000 –> 00:26:36,800
lot of trauma, physical,
emotional, church challenges,

441
00:26:36,800 –> 00:26:39,920
you name it.
But we have the end times coming

442
00:26:39,920 –> 00:26:41,800
up here.
So none of us have walked

443
00:26:41,800 –> 00:26:44,920
through all the trauma that
we’re going to see, but we can

444
00:26:44,920 –> 00:26:49,520
walk with the true and living
God through the midst time.

445
00:26:49,520 –> 00:26:50,920
You’re like, well, give me 10
steps.

446
00:26:51,040 –> 00:26:53,560
Nope, there are none.
Give me the three things.

447
00:26:53,600 –> 00:26:58,280
Nope, walk with the true and
living God.

448
00:26:59,280 –> 00:27:03,880
There’s a phrase I coined from
my first book on where a vessel

449
00:27:04,160 –> 00:27:10,360
to whomever we yield, we need to
understand it’s really about

450
00:27:10,360 –> 00:27:13,120
yielding.
Then we can walk through life.

451
00:27:13,120 –> 00:27:16,960
Life will be if I found
somebody, sorry, life’s going to

452
00:27:16,960 –> 00:27:19,560
be hell.
There’s going to be hard times

453
00:27:19,560 –> 00:27:22,600
guaranteed in challenges and
they’re going to be harder

454
00:27:22,600 –> 00:27:24,920
challenges.
I’m not afraid of that.

455
00:27:24,920 –> 00:27:29,640
I actually look at life on earth
is a 100 year testing ground,

456
00:27:30,040 –> 00:27:33,360
plus or minus.
I almost didn’t make it past 16.

457
00:27:34,240 –> 00:27:39,640
It’s a 100 year testing ground.
Will we walk with the true and

458
00:27:39,640 –> 00:27:43,280
living God?
I love my wife and my daughter

459
00:27:43,360 –> 00:27:47,160
and my other four kids.
I pray for my first wife, but I

460
00:27:47,360 –> 00:27:51,040
don’t have that same love.
I pray blessing upon her, but

461
00:27:51,040 –> 00:27:55,040
you know, it’s different.
I have good friends that are in

462
00:27:55,040 –> 00:27:58,760
the Lord.
That’s not what life’s all about

463
00:27:58,880 –> 00:28:02,760
making money, you know, it’s
money’s a, a tool, something we

464
00:28:02,760 –> 00:28:05,680
all need to do to pay our bills.
Nothing wrong with making money,

465
00:28:05,680 –> 00:28:09,440
honestly, but that’s not the
goal.

466
00:28:09,640 –> 00:28:11,840
Oh well, how about your new food
company and you even think the

467
00:28:11,840 –> 00:28:13,720
Lord’s behind it?
That’s not the goal.

468
00:28:14,040 –> 00:28:16,120
Well, how about your books?
That’s not the goal.

469
00:28:17,400 –> 00:28:21,440
The goal is walking with the
true and living God and we have

470
00:28:21,440 –> 00:28:25,480
to learn that it’s not us
putting on for God.

471
00:28:26,000 –> 00:28:30,160
You remember when the Pharisees
and the Jews came up to Jesus,

472
00:28:30,480 –> 00:28:35,200
who had actually been walking
now with him, and they said,

473
00:28:35,200 –> 00:28:39,160
Lord, Lord, didn’t we do
miracles in your name?

474
00:28:40,080 –> 00:28:42,560
Didn’t we cast out demons in
your name?

475
00:28:43,240 –> 00:28:45,240
Didn’t we do all these things in
your name?

476
00:28:46,760 –> 00:28:55,400
And the Lord said, no, he says,
be gone from me, you evil doers.

477
00:28:55,680 –> 00:28:57,640
But these are people doing
miracles for God.

478
00:28:58,720 –> 00:29:01,240
Tom, didn’t you say the
charismatic move had miracles?

479
00:29:01,680 –> 00:29:04,280
Yeah, and they’re good.
Do you know that there’s

480
00:29:04,280 –> 00:29:07,880
counterfeit, that there’s
garbage that the devil pulls

481
00:29:07,880 –> 00:29:09,240
counterfeit?
Well, do you know that he can

482
00:29:09,240 –> 00:29:13,120
work through us?
Here’s the thing, Jesus

483
00:29:13,120 –> 00:29:19,360
qualified depart from me, he
says because I never knew you.

484
00:29:20,280 –> 00:29:23,040
I love those little words that
just catch you just like in the

485
00:29:23,040 –> 00:29:27,720
word no, to know him is an
intimate relationship in the

486
00:29:27,720 –> 00:29:31,560
Greek and the Hebrew.
The word no is an intimate

487
00:29:31,560 –> 00:29:37,720
relationship, as in how a man
knows his wife that level of

488
00:29:37,720 –> 00:29:42,960
intimacy.
So this 100 year walk is a level

489
00:29:42,960 –> 00:29:46,760
of testing through going to hell
and back 40 years in the

490
00:29:46,760 –> 00:29:50,040
wilderness.
Will we walk with the true and

491
00:29:50,040 –> 00:29:51,920
living God?
Will we choose Him?

492
00:29:51,920 –> 00:29:55,120
Will we yield to Him?
And you know what?

493
00:29:55,120 –> 00:29:58,400
You can have the perfect peace
going through hell.

494
00:29:59,560 –> 00:30:03,720
It doesn’t have to scare you.
It’s a testing ground because

495
00:30:03,720 –> 00:30:06,680
what we’re choosing now is what
we’re choosing for eternity.

496
00:30:07,320 –> 00:30:11,440
You can make a billion dollars
and give it all to the poor and

497
00:30:11,440 –> 00:30:13,440
and that ain’t going to impress
God.

498
00:30:14,640 –> 00:30:19,280
Or you can have one mite like
the little woman you know in the

499
00:30:19,280 –> 00:30:20,920
temple.
And he says she gave her all.

500
00:30:22,000 –> 00:30:24,040
He wants to know our heart to
him.

501
00:30:24,040 –> 00:30:26,120
He doesn’t care about the
actions.

502
00:30:26,600 –> 00:30:29,600
He really doesn’t.
We need to have that intimate,

503
00:30:29,600 –> 00:30:34,440
knowing relationship, Yeah.
It’s clear in Scripture that we

504
00:30:34,440 –> 00:30:38,880
are invited to walk with God,
and you’ve shared how in that

505
00:30:38,880 –> 00:30:44,360
sometimes we can get too focused
on the appearances of how we’re

506
00:30:44,360 –> 00:30:48,840
walking, putting on a front,
wearing a mask, or we can get

507
00:30:48,840 –> 00:30:52,760
tripped up, pushed down as we’re
trying to walk.

508
00:30:53,560 –> 00:30:57,280
And somebody listening to this,
maybe they’re nodding, but still

509
00:30:57,280 –> 00:31:00,920
deep down they’re struggling to
really eternalize this beyond

510
00:31:01,200 –> 00:31:04,680
theological conversation.
And this is part of why God’s

511
00:31:04,680 –> 00:31:08,880
created you to be a storyteller,
because in addition to these

512
00:31:08,880 –> 00:31:13,280
theological thoughts, you have
the undercurrent in your mind of

513
00:31:13,480 –> 00:31:17,720
remembering specific moments and
times where you learned those

514
00:31:17,720 –> 00:31:19,760
lessons or live those things
out.

515
00:31:20,200 –> 00:31:25,000
And so of the many stories in
your life of when it was hard to

516
00:31:25,000 –> 00:31:28,280
walk, or you didn’t want to
walk, or the enemy was really

517
00:31:28,280 –> 00:31:33,960
coming against you, which one is
God bringing to your mind now to

518
00:31:33,960 –> 00:31:35,600
encourage those that are
listening?

519
00:31:36,280 –> 00:31:38,880
That’s a good question.
You’re right, I have a lot of

520
00:31:38,880 –> 00:31:41,240
stories.
I wrote them down in the book.

521
00:31:41,800 –> 00:31:43,560
I have actually 10 more books in
the queue.

522
00:31:43,560 –> 00:31:45,160
By the way, I never thought I’d
write books.

523
00:31:45,760 –> 00:31:49,400
I started this first book 43
years ago because walking

524
00:31:49,400 –> 00:31:52,680
through so much spiritual
warfare with my spiritual father

525
00:31:52,680 –> 00:31:55,920
and we were dealing with things
in the New Testament in Jesus’s

526
00:31:55,920 –> 00:31:59,080
time, you’d go if I didn’t
believe you were a believer, I’d

527
00:31:59,080 –> 00:32:00,680
say you were just a fiction
writer.

528
00:32:01,720 –> 00:32:06,160
But the power of God is real.
And I actually started the book

529
00:32:06,160 –> 00:32:08,920
43 years ago.
Then the Lord said put it down

530
00:32:09,480 –> 00:32:13,480
and I had a 2 inch thick binder
of information and I put it down

531
00:32:13,480 –> 00:32:16,680
because if Papa God isn’t behind
it, don’t waste your time.

532
00:32:17,240 –> 00:32:19,560
Don’t push through something you
shouldn’t do.

533
00:32:20,280 –> 00:32:22,600
So I put it down.
Never thought I’d pick it up.

534
00:32:22,800 –> 00:32:25,160
Three years ago I had congestive
heart failure.

535
00:32:25,400 –> 00:32:29,040
That was the end of my 40 years
in the wilderness and the Lord

536
00:32:29,040 –> 00:32:32,000
said pick it up.
This is a cute story.

537
00:32:32,000 –> 00:32:36,200
I wasn’t the story I was going
to go to, but I’m like, OK, he

538
00:32:36,200 –> 00:32:39,360
had 40 years of change he had to
put in me because I could tell

539
00:32:39,360 –> 00:32:42,440
you the stories and the miracle
of God, the power of God.

540
00:32:42,720 –> 00:32:46,000
But he wanted the anointing, how
to walk within that depth of

541
00:32:46,000 –> 00:32:47,640
walking.
That’s what he wanted in that

542
00:32:47,640 –> 00:32:51,160
book.
So I looked around for my 2 inch

543
00:32:51,160 –> 00:32:54,560
binder and full of notes and you
know, all the scriptures and

544
00:32:54,560 –> 00:32:59,400
everything and couldn’t find it
and asked my four children and

545
00:32:59,920 –> 00:33:03,320
they couldn’t find it.
We just assumed that my ex burn

546
00:33:03,320 –> 00:33:06,400
it along with everything else.
I had you know when I left it’s

547
00:33:06,400 –> 00:33:09,800
unfortunate just part of what
happened in life told God.

548
00:33:09,800 –> 00:33:14,000
I said forget it.
I’m not starting from scratch.

549
00:33:14,400 –> 00:33:18,720
That was years worth of 2 inch
binder full of notes and

550
00:33:18,720 –> 00:33:20,280
scriptures like I’m not starting
over.

551
00:33:21,600 –> 00:33:25,320
And as I write in the
description on Amazon, God

552
00:33:25,320 –> 00:33:29,480
laughed.
So for the next three weeks, I

553
00:33:29,480 –> 00:33:33,480
was woken up in the middle of
the night, and I had a legal pad

554
00:33:33,480 –> 00:33:36,120
in my bed by flashlight with a
pen.

555
00:33:36,600 –> 00:33:40,120
And I would be writing for two
to four hours every night.

556
00:33:41,000 –> 00:33:44,320
Copious notes couldn’t stop.
It was just flowing so fast.

557
00:33:44,840 –> 00:33:48,280
And I would write all these
notes next morning, my wife’s

558
00:33:48,280 –> 00:33:50,680
going like, so God talking to
you again.

559
00:33:51,880 –> 00:33:56,320
Yeah.
And for three weeks, this

560
00:33:56,320 –> 00:33:59,240
happened every night.
If you wanted to avoid it, you

561
00:33:59,240 –> 00:34:01,840
couldn’t go back to sleep.
Like in the beginning, you try

562
00:34:01,840 –> 00:34:04,320
to resist.
I like my sleep.

563
00:34:05,240 –> 00:34:09,560
At the end of those three weeks,
he had not only given me back

564
00:34:09,639 –> 00:34:14,840
every single detail that had
been in that original binder and

565
00:34:14,840 –> 00:34:19,400
every Scripture, but he added 40
years more of humbling, of

566
00:34:19,400 –> 00:34:23,800
changing, of purging.
And that’s where that first book

567
00:34:23,800 –> 00:34:26,040
was birthed.
You know, there are so many

568
00:34:26,040 –> 00:34:30,120
human reactions and responses.
I already put the work in.

569
00:34:30,120 –> 00:34:32,600
God, if you wanted me to do
this, you should have protected

570
00:34:32,600 –> 00:34:34,239
that binder.
I’m not doing it again.

571
00:34:34,239 –> 00:34:38,639
Or like you noted, you like
sleep and we need sleep and

572
00:34:38,840 –> 00:34:44,920
being awoken and being up for
two to four hours and writing is

573
00:34:44,920 –> 00:34:49,320
not a normal human way of
functioning, was not your

574
00:34:49,320 –> 00:34:54,760
desire, was not your plan.
And So what you’ve described and

575
00:34:54,760 –> 00:34:57,920
what from the outside could seem
like a simple thing, writing

576
00:34:57,920 –> 00:35:02,440
notes for a book, because this
beautiful picture of God’s

577
00:35:02,440 –> 00:35:06,600
capacity to work when we don’t
have the strength, when we don’t

578
00:35:06,600 –> 00:35:10,000
have the desire, we don’t have
the means, we don’t have the

579
00:35:10,000 –> 00:35:12,880
time.
Because, you know, that’s

580
00:35:12,880 –> 00:35:15,880
supposed to be sleep time.
Writing time is supposed to be

581
00:35:15,880 –> 00:35:19,400
during the day.
And God provided all of these

582
00:35:19,400 –> 00:35:23,480
things.
Those became displays of the

583
00:35:23,480 –> 00:35:26,760
power of God.
But there may be somebody who’s

584
00:35:26,760 –> 00:35:30,360
listening, who’s thinking, but I
have never seen the power of God

585
00:35:30,360 –> 00:35:32,760
like that.
What would you say to that

586
00:35:32,760 –> 00:35:35,920
person who feels like they
haven’t seen it, and maybe

587
00:35:35,920 –> 00:35:38,160
they’re frustrated that they’ve
been asking for it?

588
00:35:38,160 –> 00:35:41,600
They want to see the power of
God, but it seems almost

589
00:35:41,600 –> 00:35:46,040
imaginary to them, especially as
their struggles seem very real.

590
00:35:46,240 –> 00:35:52,120
Well, to them, to everyone, to
myself, I would say learn to

591
00:35:52,120 –> 00:35:53,880
walk with the true and living
God.

592
00:35:54,680 –> 00:35:57,560
And there’s no freebies.
There’s no, well, I go to church

593
00:35:57,560 –> 00:36:02,960
on Sunday and I pay my tithe and
I do all the right things and I

594
00:36:02,960 –> 00:36:05,600
join up for this group and that
group and help here and help

595
00:36:05,600 –> 00:36:07,680
there.
And that’s just going to be what

596
00:36:07,680 –> 00:36:12,080
it takes to make God impressed.
No, OK, well, I get on my knees

597
00:36:12,080 –> 00:36:15,400
and pray every day and I read my
Bible every day out of duty

598
00:36:15,480 –> 00:36:16,960
because I’ve been told I have
to.

599
00:36:17,600 –> 00:36:21,360
So I take that as duty, but I’m
not going to call it duty and I

600
00:36:21,360 –> 00:36:28,480
do it and they feel unfulfilled.
And I’m saying learn to know

601
00:36:28,480 –> 00:36:30,760
Him.
Even if you see the miracles of

602
00:36:30,760 –> 00:36:35,440
God flowing through you.
If you saw that but didn’t know

603
00:36:35,440 –> 00:36:39,080
him, the Lord would say depart
from me, you evil doer.

604
00:36:39,480 –> 00:36:42,320
So it’s that knowing.
It’s that walking.

605
00:36:42,800 –> 00:36:46,400
And we have to go for that as a
deer pants for water.

606
00:36:46,640 –> 00:36:52,360
We must choose every day that we
want to walk with Him.

607
00:36:52,600 –> 00:36:55,760
He wants to walk with us more
than we want to walk with Him.

608
00:36:56,640 –> 00:37:00,280
The scripture says He has every
hair on our head numbered.

609
00:37:01,080 –> 00:37:03,280
That means when you’re combing
your hair and you take your hair

610
00:37:03,280 –> 00:37:07,600
out and you throw it out of the
brush into the trash, he knew

611
00:37:07,680 –> 00:37:10,520
the exact number of each of
those hairs that you just threw

612
00:37:10,520 –> 00:37:13,360
away.
That’s how deep intimate He is

613
00:37:13,360 –> 00:37:17,480
about us and we’re a nonchalant
towards Him.

614
00:37:18,840 –> 00:37:23,680
We need to care that much.
Anybody wants the instant

615
00:37:23,680 –> 00:37:27,560
microwave solution, I’m going to
tell you, forget it.

616
00:37:28,800 –> 00:37:32,080
You can go put some popcorn, a
bag of microwave popcorn in the

617
00:37:32,080 –> 00:37:35,640
microwave and in less than 3
minutes you have a meal.

618
00:37:36,560 –> 00:37:39,160
It’s OK, it’s satisfying.
I like popcorn.

619
00:37:39,720 –> 00:37:41,840
I can’t eat the salt anymore,
but you know what I’m saying.

620
00:37:42,280 –> 00:37:47,000
But let’s pretend I could.
And God isn’t going to give us

621
00:37:47,000 –> 00:37:50,360
microwave solutions.
God puts us in the slow cooker.

622
00:37:51,200 –> 00:37:55,400
You ever had that Sunday meal
when someone takes 8 hours and

623
00:37:55,400 –> 00:37:59,000
cooks that the meat and the
vegetables and everything in the

624
00:37:59,000 –> 00:38:01,680
aroma fills the house?
It’s driving you crazy all day

625
00:38:01,680 –> 00:38:04,320
long.
That’s the slow cooker.

626
00:38:04,320 –> 00:38:07,480
That’s what God does.
Anybody who wants the instant

627
00:38:07,480 –> 00:38:11,280
answer, forget it.
I’m going to tell you after 56

628
00:38:11,280 –> 00:38:15,560
years, it isn’t going to happen.
But are you willing?

629
00:38:15,560 –> 00:38:18,560
Do you care?
Do you want to know the Lord?

630
00:38:18,560 –> 00:38:22,280
If you do, he will honor it.
I guarantee that.

631
00:38:22,600 –> 00:38:25,600
He’s no respecter of persons.
He doesn’t think I’m that great.

632
00:38:25,840 –> 00:38:28,400
I don’t think I’m great.
Has nothing to do that.

633
00:38:28,400 –> 00:38:30,240
Compared to Enoch, I’m I’m a
nobody.

634
00:38:30,600 –> 00:38:32,600
And Enoch didn’t have the
affiliate spirit.

635
00:38:32,880 –> 00:38:34,640
I don’t think of myself highly
at all.

636
00:38:35,400 –> 00:38:38,160
But I think that’s the beauty of
him.

637
00:38:38,920 –> 00:38:42,640
If we choose him, if he knows
every hair numbered on your head

638
00:38:42,640 –> 00:38:45,640
right now, and when one falls
out, he could tell you the

639
00:38:45,640 –> 00:38:49,760
number, then he is more
attentive to you and me than we

640
00:38:49,760 –> 00:38:53,040
are to ourselves.
You know, when I’m combing my

641
00:38:53,040 –> 00:38:54,800
hair, I make it quick and get
done.

642
00:38:54,880 –> 00:38:56,840
You know, I might pull the hairs
out, throw them in the trash.

643
00:38:56,840 –> 00:38:58,720
I have less hair now than I used
to.

644
00:38:59,760 –> 00:39:01,160
Because you get older, This is
what happens.

645
00:39:02,440 –> 00:39:05,360
But it’s that intimacy.
Well, you go, Tom.

646
00:39:05,360 –> 00:39:07,560
How do you do that?
Well, I’m telling you, if you

647
00:39:07,600 –> 00:39:14,120
seek after him, he’s a honor of
those who seek after him, who

648
00:39:14,120 –> 00:39:18,880
are deer panting for water, who
will read His word.

649
00:39:19,200 –> 00:39:23,200
We are so blessed nowadays, back
when I was birth that we had to

650
00:39:23,200 –> 00:39:26,240
read physical Bibles and use
physical concordances.

651
00:39:26,480 –> 00:39:30,320
Nowadays we have it all online.
You know you can have 5

652
00:39:30,320 –> 00:39:33,200
translations of the Bible up,
including the Greek and the

653
00:39:33,200 –> 00:39:37,840
Hebrew, and you can study to
show yourself approved.

654
00:39:38,160 –> 00:39:43,120
Like it’s so easy nowadays, but
you still have to take the time.

655
00:39:43,200 –> 00:39:46,200
We must know the word.
Here’s the thing, the devil

656
00:39:46,200 –> 00:39:47,720
knows the word better than we
do.

657
00:39:48,920 –> 00:39:51,520
I don’t care if you’re the
greatest theologian in the

658
00:39:51,520 –> 00:39:56,880
world, living dead or to come,
you will never be as smart as

659
00:39:56,880 –> 00:39:59,600
the devil.
He knows the word better than

660
00:39:59,600 –> 00:40:01,160
us.
He’s been with the Father from

661
00:40:01,160 –> 00:40:03,840
the beginning.
God didn’t hide the word from

662
00:40:03,840 –> 00:40:05,040
him.
The devil just made wrong

663
00:40:05,040 –> 00:40:08,840
choices.
And we need to understand this.

664
00:40:10,000 –> 00:40:14,680
Go to the fast when Jesus fasted
40 days and in the end the

665
00:40:14,680 –> 00:40:18,280
devil’s tempting him right?
And the devil stood him up on

666
00:40:18,280 –> 00:40:20,720
the pinnacle, and quoted Psalm
91.

667
00:40:21,440 –> 00:40:25,560
He says if you throw yourself
off, the angels will gather you

668
00:40:25,640 –> 00:40:28,720
up and not let your foot hit a
stone.

669
00:40:29,760 –> 00:40:33,320
And Jesus says do not tempt the
Lord your God.

670
00:40:33,800 –> 00:40:37,200
What does that mean?
Because if you go back to Psalm

671
00:40:37,200 –> 00:40:42,800
91, the devil took the whole
truth and just threw a little

672
00:40:42,800 –> 00:40:44,640
tidbit wrench of difference in
it.

673
00:40:46,000 –> 00:40:51,080
Psalm 91 says if you fall, the
angels will pick you up.

674
00:40:51,080 –> 00:40:53,240
The devil says if you throw
yourself off.

675
00:40:54,440 –> 00:40:55,800
He just put a little twist in
there.

676
00:40:55,800 –> 00:40:58,840
But he talked with such
confidence and he was hoping

677
00:40:58,840 –> 00:41:02,280
Jesus being exhausted after 40
day fast, I don’t think I’d have

678
00:41:02,280 –> 00:41:06,400
a brain to think after 40 days
fasting, Jesus is like, Nah,

679
00:41:06,480 –> 00:41:09,800
ain’t playing your game.
So if we think that just

680
00:41:09,800 –> 00:41:13,640
studying the word is enough, it
is absolutely foundation.

681
00:41:13,640 –> 00:41:18,680
We must know the Word, but we
have to have a way to know the

682
00:41:18,680 –> 00:41:22,720
difference between what’s the
voice of God and what’s not.

683
00:41:22,920 –> 00:41:28,400
There’s two pillars, knowing the
Word and learning the peace that

684
00:41:28,400 –> 00:41:33,480
passes understanding,
comprehension that guards our

685
00:41:33,480 –> 00:41:39,560
hearts and our minds, acts as an
umpire guarding us in Christ, in

686
00:41:39,560 –> 00:41:42,960
the anointing when we are
walking in the peace.

687
00:41:43,320 –> 00:41:45,760
And I’m talking about not a
piece.

688
00:41:45,760 –> 00:41:48,400
There’s plenty of people go,
well, I got a piece, I was

689
00:41:48,400 –> 00:41:49,440
praying.
I got a piece.

690
00:41:49,640 –> 00:41:51,720
I’ll tell you stories all about
It’s in my first book.

691
00:41:52,040 –> 00:41:53,480
I got a piece.
I don’t care.

692
00:41:53,840 –> 00:41:56,520
A piece ain’t good enough.
I can get a piece.

693
00:41:56,520 –> 00:41:58,960
If I eat a big meal, I can get a
piece.

694
00:41:58,960 –> 00:42:02,440
If I pray, I can get a piece.
If there’s quiet in the home,

695
00:42:02,440 –> 00:42:05,800
the kids aren’t acting up and
the wife is happy, I can have a

696
00:42:05,800 –> 00:42:07,760
piece.
So what?

697
00:42:08,360 –> 00:42:12,920
That’s not the piece, the peace
that passes understanding,

698
00:42:12,920 –> 00:42:16,520
comprehension that comes through
the anointing in Christ.

699
00:42:16,520 –> 00:42:18,160
How do you get the anointing
yielding.

700
00:42:18,800 –> 00:42:22,120
When we yield to God and have
that flow of the Spirit, the

701
00:42:22,120 –> 00:42:27,800
devil cannot imitate the fruits
of the Spirit, most importantly,

702
00:42:28,040 –> 00:42:31,560
God’s love, God’s joy, and God’s
peace.

703
00:42:32,800 –> 00:42:37,400
The devil can lie all day long.
He can distract, He can give you

704
00:42:37,400 –> 00:42:40,520
experiences.
There’s a heck of a lot going on

705
00:42:40,520 –> 00:42:42,400
in the world.
Third Books talks about that.

706
00:42:42,400 –> 00:42:46,600
It’s evil’s great masquerade
because how the enemy’s putting

707
00:42:46,600 –> 00:42:49,280
on fake sirituality.
That’s fooling the world and

708
00:42:49,280 –> 00:42:51,760
fooling the church, and it’s in
the churches.

709
00:42:52,400 –> 00:42:55,480
It’s all over.
But what the devil can’t do is

710
00:42:55,480 –> 00:42:59,200
he can’t give you the peace of
God, the peace that passes

711
00:42:59,200 –> 00:43:02,840
understanding and comprehension.
When you study the Word and you

712
00:43:02,840 –> 00:43:06,480
walk by the peace, you will have
the two pillars that will

713
00:43:06,480 –> 00:43:10,000
protect your life and you can
learn.

714
00:43:10,320 –> 00:43:12,680
But you want an instant answer?
I’m not going to give it to you.

715
00:43:12,680 –> 00:43:15,240
There’s no such thing.
You want the rule of three and

716
00:43:15,240 –> 00:43:17,800
the rule of seven because those
are spiritual sounding numbers.

717
00:43:18,000 –> 00:43:20,880
Give me a list and I’ll follow.
No, I ain’t going to do that.

718
00:43:21,400 –> 00:43:24,160
I tell people through my first
book, I’m not going to give you

719
00:43:24,160 –> 00:43:26,960
any rote prayers.
You know, I’m not going to give

720
00:43:26,960 –> 00:43:30,320
you some rote prayer and you
just do it like, you know the

721
00:43:30,320 –> 00:43:33,800
Catholics do when they do their
little rosaries, whatever, you

722
00:43:33,800 –> 00:43:36,960
know, I’m not going to do that.
We have that all in our regular

723
00:43:36,960 –> 00:43:39,160
churches.
We think if we just pray and we

724
00:43:39,160 –> 00:43:41,920
tag on that name in the name of
Jesus, it’s done.

725
00:43:42,560 –> 00:43:48,200
If we just say Amen, it’s done.
We need to understand the walk

726
00:43:48,600 –> 00:43:52,880
with the true and living God and
what worked yesterday may not

727
00:43:52,880 –> 00:43:55,840
work tomorrow of what God wants
for us.

728
00:43:55,840 –> 00:43:58,200
Matter of fact, I can pretty
much guarantee it won’t.

729
00:43:58,840 –> 00:44:01,520
What had happened in the
wilderness the 40 years when

730
00:44:01,640 –> 00:44:06,040
Israel was in the wilderness,
they were on a 7 day trip from

731
00:44:06,040 –> 00:44:09,320
Egypt to the promised land.
Seven day walk.

732
00:44:10,360 –> 00:44:12,800
It only took them 40 years.
They kept going around the

733
00:44:12,800 –> 00:44:14,560
mountain, around the mountain,
around the mountain.

734
00:44:15,760 –> 00:44:17,560
And why?
Because God wanted to purge the

735
00:44:17,560 –> 00:44:19,760
garbage that was in their lives,
just like he wanted to purge it

736
00:44:19,760 –> 00:44:22,200
for me.
And they had 40 years.

737
00:44:22,200 –> 00:44:26,320
If if you look at 20 years as a
generation and 40 years as two

738
00:44:26,320 –> 00:44:28,920
generations, they had two
generations worth of garbage

739
00:44:29,160 –> 00:44:32,360
that they had learned from the
pharaoh and the Egyptians and

740
00:44:32,360 –> 00:44:35,000
all their past.
And God wanted to get rid of

741
00:44:35,000 –> 00:44:37,720
that.
But here’s a funny thing.

742
00:44:38,560 –> 00:44:41,600
If you look in the Old
Testament, you watch as they’re

743
00:44:41,640 –> 00:44:46,600
going around the mountain.
Every time God would show up and

744
00:44:46,600 –> 00:44:50,920
do something and it was
miraculous, they would build an

745
00:44:50,920 –> 00:44:54,320
altar of stones to dedicate to
God.

746
00:44:54,640 –> 00:44:57,000
This is what you did.
When they circle around the

747
00:44:57,000 –> 00:44:59,160
mountain and another thing
happened, they’d build another

748
00:44:59,160 –> 00:45:00,880
altar stones.
And then another thing happened,

749
00:45:00,880 –> 00:45:02,200
they’d build another altar
stones.

750
00:45:02,480 –> 00:45:04,520
Here’s The funny thing.
When they came back around to

751
00:45:04,520 –> 00:45:08,400
the original 1, the original
altars, the Spirit of God never

752
00:45:08,400 –> 00:45:12,720
showed up again.
Never again at the same altars.

753
00:45:14,480 –> 00:45:16,360
Try reading that and
understanding.

754
00:45:17,320 –> 00:45:20,440
The understanding is this.
We do the same in church.

755
00:45:20,880 –> 00:45:25,840
We do the same in our lives.
God shows up and we build a

756
00:45:25,960 –> 00:45:29,760
spiritual altar in the church.
In ourselves.

757
00:45:29,760 –> 00:45:34,080
We go, you know, if you sing 3
praise songs and then two

758
00:45:34,080 –> 00:45:36,440
worship songs, then God shows
up.

759
00:45:36,600 –> 00:45:39,920
So the next time we’re going to
sing those same songs, but he

760
00:45:40,040 –> 00:45:42,920
doesn’t really show up.
Well OK.

761
00:45:42,920 –> 00:45:46,120
And later on we doing it.
Oh we did 4 praise songs and

762
00:45:46,120 –> 00:45:50,080
they were different and 1 1/2
worships and oh then he showed

763
00:45:50,080 –> 00:45:52,240
up.
So we build another altar to

764
00:45:52,240 –> 00:45:55,080
that in our minds and try to
replicate and God’s like, I

765
00:45:55,160 –> 00:45:58,480
ain’t playing this game.
He doesn’t play a game.

766
00:45:58,960 –> 00:46:02,440
He wants a true relationship
with us.

767
00:46:02,720 –> 00:46:08,200
And here’s the thing to everyone
listening, you can have it, but

768
00:46:08,200 –> 00:46:10,680
you can’t go for the microwave
solution.

769
00:46:10,680 –> 00:46:13,080
It isn’t going to work.
Give it up.

770
00:46:13,560 –> 00:46:16,960
Put yourself in the slow cooker.
My second book talks about that

771
00:46:17,000 –> 00:46:21,520
40 years in the wilderness and
how by the end I actually loved

772
00:46:21,800 –> 00:46:23,040
the wilderness.
Now I’m telling you in the

773
00:46:23,040 –> 00:46:25,960
middle, you don’t love it.
OK, Don’t be kidding yourself.

774
00:46:26,760 –> 00:46:28,560
The Israelites didn’t love the
wilderness.

775
00:46:28,840 –> 00:46:31,720
I didn’t love the wilderness.
But you know what?

776
00:46:32,880 –> 00:46:36,520
It brought me back into a depth
with Pop of God that I hadn’t

777
00:46:36,520 –> 00:46:39,160
seen before.
And now I cherish the

778
00:46:39,160 –> 00:46:41,680
wilderness.
I cherish those times and it’s

779
00:46:41,680 –> 00:46:45,000
worth every moment of walking
through the hard things of life.

780
00:46:45,000 –> 00:46:46,760
You’re going to walk through
that.

781
00:46:46,760 –> 00:46:51,800
You seeking the true and living
God, you panning after him, you

782
00:46:51,800 –> 00:46:55,800
studying His word, you letting
the peace guide you through all

783
00:46:55,800 –> 00:46:58,320
of these things.
Act as umpire and you’re going

784
00:46:58,320 –> 00:47:00,520
to have the most fulfillment of
your life.

785
00:47:00,760 –> 00:47:03,320
And yes, love your family, love
your friends.

786
00:47:03,720 –> 00:47:06,360
Be diligent about work, work
hard.

787
00:47:06,600 –> 00:47:09,880
You know, be involved where God
wants you to be involved in

788
00:47:09,880 –> 00:47:13,360
anything, but also pull back and
don’t be involved where He

789
00:47:13,360 –> 00:47:16,080
doesn’t.
The peace of Christ will tell

790
00:47:16,080 –> 00:47:19,480
you, You will know.
He’ll call the shots.

791
00:47:19,840 –> 00:47:22,960
You know, if we learn to listen
to these off feelings inside of

792
00:47:22,960 –> 00:47:27,160
us, we’d be smart.
Because when something begins to

793
00:47:27,160 –> 00:47:30,880
go off at church or in our
lives, we need to step back and

794
00:47:30,880 –> 00:47:33,440
go, what’s up?
Why am I getting that off

795
00:47:33,440 –> 00:47:35,400
feeling?
Well, it can be.

796
00:47:35,400 –> 00:47:38,920
It’s the Spirit of God going,
uh, uh, back up.

797
00:47:39,280 –> 00:47:42,120
Pay attention.
Not always, but it certainly can

798
00:47:42,120 –> 00:47:43,280
be.
And we need to learn.

799
00:47:43,920 –> 00:47:47,800
So I would encourage every
listener, there’s no instant

800
00:47:47,800 –> 00:47:52,880
answers, but the answer is so
wonderful you’d pay the price

801
00:47:52,880 –> 00:47:56,640
again if you just knew how much
it’s worth it.

802
00:47:57,560 –> 00:48:01,480
So start by seeking him, start
by panning after him.

803
00:48:01,800 –> 00:48:06,000
Start by studying the Word,
start finding out how to let the

804
00:48:06,000 –> 00:48:07,920
peace of Christ flow through
you.

805
00:48:07,920 –> 00:48:10,880
Now if you’re not a believer and
you’re thinking, how’s this

806
00:48:10,880 –> 00:48:12,360
happen?
Well, you have to meet the Lord

807
00:48:12,360 –> 00:48:15,280
first, OK?
You have to ask Him into your

808
00:48:15,280 –> 00:48:19,160
life because then he says He
promises that He’ll seal us in

809
00:48:19,160 –> 00:48:21,320
our innermost being.
Well, that’s our spirit.

810
00:48:21,520 –> 00:48:26,440
We don’t feel from our spirit,
we feel from our soul, mind,

811
00:48:26,440 –> 00:48:29,000
heart, feelings.
We can feel through our body.

812
00:48:29,000 –> 00:48:32,880
We don’t feel from our spirit.
So even though we’re sealed, if

813
00:48:32,880 –> 00:48:35,200
you’ve asked the Lord into your
life, you’re repented of your

814
00:48:35,200 –> 00:48:36,960
sins.
You ask him in.

815
00:48:36,960 –> 00:48:39,320
He didn’t ask for perfection,
but we did that.

816
00:48:39,680 –> 00:48:43,600
He said He seals this until the
day of redemption.

817
00:48:45,000 –> 00:48:49,400
But it’s a walk.
And then it’s learning to yield,

818
00:48:49,400 –> 00:48:53,160
to get out of the way, to let
Him flow in the midst of life.

819
00:48:53,160 –> 00:48:55,560
And life will have good, bad,
and ugly.

820
00:48:55,800 –> 00:48:59,840
So don’t be scared of it.
While I’m waiting for God to

821
00:48:59,840 –> 00:49:02,640
heal me, so am I.
Right now I’m fighting prostate

822
00:49:02,640 –> 00:49:07,560
cancer, but it healed me of a
big tumor of liver cancer when I

823
00:49:07,560 –> 00:49:10,360
was 16.
Well, why is that, Tom?

824
00:49:10,800 –> 00:49:13,760
Guess what?
God is God, He doesn’t work on

825
00:49:13,760 –> 00:49:15,560
my time frame.
When my mother died as a

826
00:49:15,560 –> 00:49:18,400
believer the year before me, she
loved the Lord.

827
00:49:18,400 –> 00:49:20,040
Why did she get to die of
cancer?

828
00:49:20,960 –> 00:49:24,520
God doesn’t just do things the
way we want.

829
00:49:24,520 –> 00:49:27,840
There’s no genie in the bottle.
You don’t rub him hard with your

830
00:49:27,840 –> 00:49:29,720
faith and he grants you 3
wishes.

831
00:49:30,120 –> 00:49:32,240
You walk with the true and
living God.

832
00:49:32,840 –> 00:49:35,800
You know it’s like this.
Do I enjoy going through what

833
00:49:35,800 –> 00:49:38,440
I’m going through right now and
having to go through the medical

834
00:49:38,440 –> 00:49:40,640
world procedures to get this
stuff done?

835
00:49:40,640 –> 00:49:45,160
No, it’s not up to me.
And if Papa God wants to do it

836
00:49:45,160 –> 00:49:47,200
miraculously, he wants to do it
medically.

837
00:49:47,520 –> 00:49:52,120
I’m not here to tell Him how to
do things, but I can choose to

838
00:49:52,120 –> 00:49:55,600
walk with Him through it.
And that is what I would

839
00:49:55,600 –> 00:49:57,280
encourage every single one of
you.

840
00:49:57,760 –> 00:49:59,480
You have a choice.
Meet the Lord.

841
00:49:59,480 –> 00:50:01,880
If you haven’t met Him, you got
to repent of your sins.

842
00:50:01,880 –> 00:50:04,840
Ask Him to come in.
He promises He’ll seal just

843
00:50:04,840 –> 00:50:06,000
’cause you don’t feel He’s
there.

844
00:50:06,000 –> 00:50:07,400
So read the beginning of my
book.

845
00:50:07,400 –> 00:50:09,560
I didn’t know for the first
eight months and I went totally

846
00:50:09,560 –> 00:50:12,520
haywire cause the devil
whispering my ear to go haywire.

847
00:50:12,520 –> 00:50:16,080
And I did so just ’cause I
didn’t feel Him didn’t mean he

848
00:50:16,080 –> 00:50:19,520
wasn’t there.
Walk with him.

849
00:50:19,640 –> 00:50:22,200
That’s a choice.
Yeah.

850
00:50:23,400 –> 00:50:26,520
You know what’s interesting and
all of what you’re sharing and

851
00:50:26,520 –> 00:50:31,320
the decades that it represents
is when we are in these places

852
00:50:31,320 –> 00:50:35,040
where we have an expectation of
the timing of the walk, of the

853
00:50:35,040 –> 00:50:37,560
results of the walk.
It actually reveals more about

854
00:50:37,800 –> 00:50:40,440
our understanding of the purpose
of the walk.

855
00:50:41,360 –> 00:50:46,360
And when the purpose of our walk
is for God to do something or

856
00:50:46,360 –> 00:50:50,040
fix something or give something,
then yeah, we’re going to put a

857
00:50:50,040 –> 00:50:52,160
time frame on it because we want
that thing.

858
00:50:52,760 –> 00:50:56,560
But when the purpose of our walk
is to be with him, we don’t want

859
00:50:56,560 –> 00:50:58,800
to put a time frame on it.
We don’t want it to end.

860
00:50:59,200 –> 00:51:01,840
And so I love how your stories
have captured this.

861
00:51:01,840 –> 00:51:05,280
And the good news for anyone
listening is you’ve captured

862
00:51:05,280 –> 00:51:08,440
your stories.
And so tell me about your books

863
00:51:08,440 –> 00:51:11,400
and the best way for someone to
connect with those.

864
00:51:12,840 –> 00:51:16,560
Well, as I said, I, I thought I
was starting one book 43 years

865
00:51:16,560 –> 00:51:20,280
ago at and here’s the next thing
God laughed at because after he

866
00:51:20,280 –> 00:51:23,240
gave me the book back and I was
writing it all down, I’m going

867
00:51:23,480 –> 00:51:25,840
OK, God one and done.
That’s it.

868
00:51:26,720 –> 00:51:29,960
He laughs again.
So then I wrote two more and I

869
00:51:29,960 –> 00:51:33,040
actually have 10 more in the
queue to be written.

870
00:51:33,040 –> 00:51:36,480
So he laughs at us.
He laughs at at my stupidity all

871
00:51:36,480 –> 00:51:38,000
the time.
And I actually learned to laugh

872
00:51:38,000 –> 00:51:40,960
with him.
So three books have been

873
00:51:40,960 –> 00:51:43,600
written.
The other ten are described on

874
00:51:43,600 –> 00:51:46,840
my website, Just to Be
clear.com.

875
00:51:46,920 –> 00:51:51,600
It’s the number 2.
So just #2 be clear.com.

876
00:51:51,600 –> 00:51:53,880
It’s for the Just to Be Clear
teaching series.

877
00:51:54,440 –> 00:51:57,360
The three books are on Amazon,
but you can find them there from

878
00:51:57,440 –> 00:52:00,200
the website.
The first one’s The Daily Stand,

879
00:52:00,720 –> 00:52:05,320
and that teaches you to walk in
the anointing as a true living

880
00:52:05,320 –> 00:52:07,480
part of your life.
It teaches you what real faith

881
00:52:07,480 –> 00:52:09,960
is.
It’s not the perception that

882
00:52:09,960 –> 00:52:14,200
we’ve normally been given.
It’s walking knowing Him.

883
00:52:14,200 –> 00:52:18,240
It’s that deep knowing and then
seeing the authority of God.

884
00:52:18,240 –> 00:52:20,320
You’ll read stories in there
that’ll blow your mind.

885
00:52:20,360 –> 00:52:24,840
You’ll say, if I did hear you,
Tom, and maybe believe that you

886
00:52:24,840 –> 00:52:28,120
walked with the Lord through
this and it was him, you’d go,

887
00:52:28,120 –> 00:52:30,880
he’s just a fiction writer.
That’s OK.

888
00:52:31,040 –> 00:52:33,440
You can think that I’ve walked
through it.

889
00:52:33,840 –> 00:52:38,600
I’d never tell a lie on purpose
if I may say something wrong,

890
00:52:38,840 –> 00:52:41,360
but I certainly am not going to
lie on a story.

891
00:52:42,280 –> 00:52:44,760
The second book is called Set
the Captives Free.

892
00:52:45,360 –> 00:52:49,320
It is a book written to the
church for all the false belief

893
00:52:49,320 –> 00:52:51,480
systems that have infiltrated
the church.

894
00:52:51,840 –> 00:52:57,640
We in the church have split into
over 47,000 denominations and

895
00:52:57,640 –> 00:53:00,880
counting.
Supposed to be 64,000 by the

896
00:53:00,880 –> 00:53:03,480
year 2030.
I don’t care if we’ve eaten

897
00:53:03,480 –> 00:53:09,240
47,000 buildings or homes, but
we have one body of Christ, one

898
00:53:09,240 –> 00:53:13,800
bride and the enemy, the rule of
this world is working his tail

899
00:53:13,800 –> 00:53:18,960
off to screw up the church.
So we have a lot of false belief

900
00:53:18,960 –> 00:53:21,480
systems.
We have to learn God doesn’t

901
00:53:21,480 –> 00:53:24,440
call us to belief systems, He
calls us to believe.

902
00:53:24,680 –> 00:53:28,880
He’s a walk with him.
And it talks about Egypt in the

903
00:53:28,880 –> 00:53:33,360
church and the religious
spiritual, religious Stockholm

904
00:53:33,360 –> 00:53:36,320
syndrome.
I go and tell a lot of stories

905
00:53:36,320 –> 00:53:39,400
and I talk about my four years
in the wilderness, talks about

906
00:53:39,400 –> 00:53:42,400
church abuse, leadership abuse.
I’ve been kicked out of two

907
00:53:42,400 –> 00:53:45,760
churches when I was a leader,
right alongside the leaders,

908
00:53:46,040 –> 00:53:50,400
except when I stood up for the
truth, only stood to what the

909
00:53:50,400 –> 00:53:55,000
word said, things that we could
talk behind closed doors to the

910
00:53:55,000 –> 00:53:59,040
leaders and never be criticized,
still traveling and ministry

911
00:53:59,040 –> 00:54:01,680
with them.
But when it happened publicly in

912
00:54:01,680 –> 00:54:03,920
the church because they knew I
was a secondary leader, what do

913
00:54:03,920 –> 00:54:06,240
I think?
And I tell them, I’m not going

914
00:54:06,240 –> 00:54:08,200
to lie, I’m not going to back
the preacher.

915
00:54:08,800 –> 00:54:12,040
I just tell the truth.
Well, then I’m banned and called

916
00:54:12,040 –> 00:54:15,200
a heretic and, you know, kicked
out of the church.

917
00:54:15,480 –> 00:54:18,880
That happened twice.
I can tell you about leadership

918
00:54:18,880 –> 00:54:21,320
abuse, church abuse.
Those are things that a lot of

919
00:54:21,320 –> 00:54:23,360
people have experienced.
They, they know that there’s

920
00:54:23,360 –> 00:54:25,560
some weird stuff that goes on in
churches.

921
00:54:25,560 –> 00:54:27,720
And I, I’m not knocking every
leader.

922
00:54:27,720 –> 00:54:30,400
And I think there’s some
wonderful pastors who just love

923
00:54:30,400 –> 00:54:33,600
the Lord and they’re not there
to create a, you know, world to

924
00:54:33,600 –> 00:54:36,040
themselves.
But there are unfortunately

925
00:54:36,640 –> 00:54:39,520
those who do.
And maybe they started right,

926
00:54:39,520 –> 00:54:43,080
had a good intent.
So the second book is to set the

927
00:54:43,080 –> 00:54:46,120
church free from the inside out.
The third book is set the

928
00:54:46,120 –> 00:54:50,120
captives free 2 subtitles Evil’s
great masquerade.

929
00:54:51,040 –> 00:54:55,840
And it is talking about all the
spiritual woo, all the false

930
00:54:55,840 –> 00:55:00,240
spiritual that’s in the world
and has also then infiltrated

931
00:55:00,240 –> 00:55:01,800
the church.
The devil.

932
00:55:01,880 –> 00:55:05,440
He got a new PR team and said,
you know, instead of having the

933
00:55:05,440 –> 00:55:10,800
ancient God of Asterisk and Baal
and Molech who had to, you know,

934
00:55:10,800 –> 00:55:15,720
have human sacrifice, he said,
you know what, let’s put on the

935
00:55:15,720 –> 00:55:18,960
Angel of light costume that we
get because he said the

936
00:55:18,960 –> 00:55:21,680
Scripture tells us he’s an Angel
of light and so are his workers.

937
00:55:22,000 –> 00:55:26,200
So they can put on and they fool
the masses and this book will

938
00:55:26,200 –> 00:55:29,800
reveal how they fool it to the
masses, how it fools the church,

939
00:55:30,120 –> 00:55:32,200
how deeply infiltrated in the
church.

940
00:55:32,200 –> 00:55:36,000
We have it, not just the world,
and it’s time for us to be set

941
00:55:36,000 –> 00:55:38,600
free.
So those are the three books

942
00:55:38,600 –> 00:55:41,960
that are current and the rest
are in a queue when Papa God

943
00:55:41,960 –> 00:55:45,440
says do, do.
But right now it’s that walk

944
00:55:45,440 –> 00:55:52,360
with me, Lord.
Walk with me, walk with me,

945
00:55:52,480 –> 00:55:57,480
Lord.
Walk with me, walk with me, walk

946
00:55:57,480 –> 00:56:03,760
with me, Lord.
Walk with me, walk, walk with

947
00:56:03,760 –> 00:56:13,000
me, Lord.
While I’m on my pilgrim’s quest

948
00:56:15,160 –> 00:56:24,800
in the midst of the wilderness.
All I have is one more request.

949
00:56:27,400 –> 00:56:33,200
One walk with me, Lord.
What you just.

950
00:56:33,200 –> 00:56:37,240
Heard was a clip from the song
Walk With Me by I Am Son.

951
00:56:38,000 –> 00:56:42,080
I Am Son was a previous guest
and I have been a long time fan

952
00:56:42,080 –> 00:56:45,160
of his music.
He comes to his lyrics and

953
00:56:45,160 –> 00:56:49,480
musicality with such
authenticity and depth that it

954
00:56:49,480 –> 00:56:53,000
is not uncommon for me to feel
like he’s speaking right into my

955
00:56:53,000 –> 00:56:55,440
situation.
I encourage you to listen to the

956
00:56:55,440 –> 00:56:57,280
other amazing songs he’s
created.

957
00:56:58,160 –> 00:57:01,320
As I considered verses that
captured this idea of walking

958
00:57:01,320 –> 00:57:05,280
with God, I was drawn to Micah
663.

959
00:57:05,920 –> 00:57:10,200
With what shall I come before
the Lord and bow down before the

960
00:57:10,200 –> 00:57:13,560
exalted God?
Shall I come before him with

961
00:57:13,560 –> 00:57:17,000
burnt offerings?
With calves a year old, will the

962
00:57:17,000 –> 00:57:19,200
Lord be pleased with thousands
of Rams?

963
00:57:19,200 –> 00:57:24,720
With 10,000 rivers of olive oil?
Shall Ioffer my first born for

964
00:57:24,720 –> 00:57:29,000
my transgression, the fruit of
my body for the sin of my soul?

965
00:57:30,160 –> 00:57:35,800
Let me pause for a second.
In verses 6 and seven, Micah is

966
00:57:36,000 –> 00:57:38,800
putting the question out there
of how do we connect with an

967
00:57:38,800 –> 00:57:42,920
Almighty God?
With what do we come before Him,

968
00:57:42,920 –> 00:57:46,080
especially knowing how broken we
are?

969
00:57:47,000 –> 00:57:50,640
Do we need to bring a sacrifice
and will our sacrifice be

970
00:57:50,640 –> 00:57:53,520
enough?
If we had thousands of Rams and

971
00:57:53,520 –> 00:57:56,440
10,000 rivers of olive oil would
that be enough?

972
00:57:57,520 –> 00:58:01,040
So many of us wrestle with this
idea of how do I approach the

973
00:58:01,040 –> 00:58:05,480
God of the universe and verse 8
keeps it simple.

974
00:58:06,840 –> 00:58:13,280
He has shown you, immortal, what
is good and what does the Lord

975
00:58:13,280 –> 00:58:21,640
require of you To act justly and
to love mercy and to walk humbly

976
00:58:22,240 –> 00:58:28,360
with your God.
To act justly, to love mercy and

977
00:58:28,360 –> 00:58:33,800
to walk humbly with your God.
I’m so grateful for the

978
00:58:33,800 –> 00:58:37,680
simplicity of this, but we want
to make sure not to miss that

979
00:58:37,680 –> 00:58:42,640
one word humbly.
It is very easy to walk

980
00:58:42,640 –> 00:58:47,200
pridefully with God, or to walk
fearfully with God, or to walk

981
00:58:47,200 –> 00:58:50,960
apathetically with God.
There’s something beautiful

982
00:58:50,960 –> 00:58:55,760
about walking humbly with Him.
Humility reminds us of who we

983
00:58:55,760 –> 00:59:01,360
are and also who He is.
And we are unworthy to walk with

984
00:59:01,360 –> 00:59:05,080
Him.
And yet He graciously walks with

985
00:59:05,080 –> 00:59:08,400
us.
If you are struggling to connect

986
00:59:08,720 –> 00:59:13,520
with the God of the universe, I
encourage you to take a simple

987
00:59:13,520 –> 00:59:17,360
step towards Him today.
Don’t stress about it being a

988
00:59:17,360 –> 00:59:21,800
big step or in the way that
you’ve stepped before or any

989
00:59:21,800 –> 00:59:26,000
other distraction.
Simply step towards God.

990
00:59:26,800 –> 00:59:30,920
And after you’ve done that, take
another, no matter how small,

991
00:59:31,520 –> 00:59:33,960
and then another.
You will find that you’re

992
00:59:33,960 –> 00:59:38,440
walking with Him and even more
that He is walking with you.

993
00:59:39,240 –> 00:59:43,200
And as you do, ask yourself,
where did you see God?