Mike Bickle emphasizes the importance of loving Jesus amidst life's pressures, urging believers to recognize that even weak love for God is genuine and moves His heart. He addresses common misconceptions about love for God, encouraging a realistic perspective that values small acts of love and service. Bickle highlights Romans 5:1-11, where Paul teaches that tribulations can produce perseverance, character, and hope, ultimately leading to a deeper relationship with God. He calls for believers to rejoice in both the hope of God's glory and in tribulations, as these experiences shape their spiritual journey. The sermon concludes with an invitation to engage more deeply with God in the mundane aspects of life.

For those that didn't get them because the printing machine broke so they had to go somewhere else to make them that's that's where the delay is so they'll be here in a moment so if you see the ushers walking around just go ahead and raise your hand if you want a set of these notes. Father we thank you in the name of Jesus and Lord we ask you for the release of your glory Lord we ask you for the release of living understanding the spirit of revelation in the name of Jesus we ask you for inspiration even now amen and amen. Well this morning I want to talk about loving Jesus with all of our heart in the midst of pressure in the midst of the mundaneness of life and talk about some of the obstacles and the and the answer in the Word of God to overcome those obstacles. Paragraph A and of course we won't look cover all the notes just I'll highlight a few of them and some of the verses here and the rest is for your own personal study on your free time. Paragraph A the most important assignment in every believer's life every one of us have a life assignment from the Lord and there's many stages to our life assignment and when we stand before the Lord on the last day he will talk to us about that assignment but the primary and most important part of that assignment to everyone is that we would love God with all of our heart that it's called the first commandment because it is first it's the great one it's the one God cares most about and it's the assignment that is the top priority in your life and alongside of that assignment is proclaiming the name of Jesus to other people spreading the fame of Jesus all around the earth to believers and unbelievers telling people how good he is and what he's like and about the renowned of his name that's called the Great Commission. Paragraph B the most caught one of the most common hindrances to being diligent in this pressing forward to walk in the first commandment is people have a wrong perspective about what it means to love God with all their heart and that becomes one of the great hindrances in our spiritual life and in our pursuit of the first commandment is that we have wrong ideas about it and these wrong ideas actually cause us to quit they demoralize us and these wrong ideas are typically too high and too unrealistic I call it spiritual idealism where people have unrealistic expectations and unrealistic standards about what it looks like they everyone has a picture in their mind as to what it looks like to love God with all their heart not that we've thought it all the way through but we kind of have a vague idea and to many people that picture of their mind is actually out of reach and it's unrealistic and it's not even biblical Romans chapter 5 the passage we're going to look at just a couple points in it Paul gives a very encouraging picture perspective of how to pursue this life of going hard for God he calls it standing strong in the grace of God which in this context it means pursuing the first commandment but what Paul does is he dismantles the spiritual idealism so that people have a realistic view and they see their pursuit from God's point of view instead of their own mindset that ends up actually discouraging them paragraph C a wrong perspective about how God views our weak love is a great hindrance it makes us want to quit because the love that we have for God it's weak and it's small but it's still real and that's the point because we think often that if our love is weak it must not be real that the only kind of love that's real is a deep and powerful if it's weak and small it's not real beloved I have good news for you weak love for God is still real and God sees it but we don't always see it and when we don't see it and we don't grasp it it makes us want to quit we get exasperated we get despairing and say what's the use anyway it's never going to work I might as well kind of draw back and just kind of get in a you know a in a routine kind of rhythm of not really pressing after God in a hard way now people they idealize what loving God looks like and they think if it's real I should feel it real strongly when I love God and if it's real I ought to accomplish big things for God and so what happens is their love is small and they don't feel it they don't feel a lot of times they love God I'm serving him I don't know I feel dull I feel kind of disconnected my and I'm only doing small things anyway so they make this wrong conclusion that because their love is small and they don't feel it very often their love for God it must not be real and that leads them to want to quit or at least draw back in a real passive way in the relationship with God I mean who wants to reach for God hard and fail time after time after time after time and to think that God is just ignoring us and that God is a disappointed with us but the good news is that when our love for God doesn't move us it still moves him when we forget it he doesn't forget it paragraph D our small and weak efforts to love God they move his heart but here's the point I want to make their evidences of the glory of God operating in your life right now their evidence is the very fact that you love Jesus the very fact you're pressing to grow even though you're not growing at the rate you want and you don't feel the love the way you want to feel it it is still evidence that the glory of God is operating in your life and God sees that glory operating in your life now we don't see it very much we don't discern it very well matter of fact many times we don't even think it exists but God sees it and the goal is to be able to see our love for God in the way God sees it because God is not only moved by it he rewards us for it forever beloved if God is impacted by our love to the degree that he rewards us for it forever then beloved we need to begin to see the value of the way we're living before God in a way that's more in agreement the way with with how God sees it paragraph E the verse Hebrews chapter 6 verse 10 it says this God is not unjust to forget your work and your labor of love which you have shown towards his name and that you have ministered to the Saints what this passage is saying God will not forget the labor of love you've shown towards his name the love you've shown towards his name now the way that you've shown this love to him is by ministering to people because you're ministering to people because you know he wants you to and it pleases him and so you're doing it knowing his eye is on you and God the Lord says he won't even forget a cup of cold water if you could give someone a cup of cold water in his name and you'll be rewarded it means it moved God's heart he wrote it in his book it means your life is operating in the glory of God even now because God's moved by it and he honors it forever in the age to come it's remarkable reality most of our ministry to one another is really small and it seems really weak I mean giving a cup of cold water to somebody doesn't seem very big because it isn't doesn't seem very powerful the guy might throw the water back on you you know sometimes he may not appreciate it but still it moves God's heart and he remembers it and writes it in his book so if we misinterpret how God views our life we end up thinking we're doing far worse than we are we think we're doing bad and God is actually moved by what you're doing you think how could that be possible I don't feel it I mean the work is small I don't feel it when I'm doing it notice what it says here in Hebrews 6 11 God will not forget the labor of love which you've shown towards his name did you know that love sometimes is a labor mean it's hard and you don't feel the power of it when you're doing it there's a labor to love many times but it still is esteemed by God and really what eternal rewards are is God is Jesus expressing to us how he feels about the way we loved him when we were on in this life he rewards us in the age to come as an expression of how he feels about the way we loved him even giving a cup of cold water he will reward that because he says I want to let you know how I felt about the way you loved me when you gave that guy a cup of cold water it's amazing paragraph F sometimes in our idealism we picture ourself in the distant future with mature love that we feel powerful and we're so connected to God and the Word of God is flowing through us like a river and our love so mature and we picture that image of ourself down the road sometime and then we look at today and today looks weak small dull and so we think this isn't really what I want to do what I'm doing today I want to be that picture I have so what happens inadvertently many times is that people have this big gap between today and down the road when they're really gonna press into God but today is so boring and weak today doesn't really count and they skip today and they never live in the present tense with God they're always living in the image of what they will do years from now but the truth is he has invited us and he calls us to show him our love now today in the midst of the smallness and the weakness the here and the now paragraph G so what some people imagine they go you know I have pressures today I'm gonna get through these pressures today I'm gonna let things settle down then when things are settled down I'm gonna really press into God I mean they don't ever lose the vision to press it hard I mean to really seek the Lord hard and obey him hard and to give to him extravagantly and serve with with great humility but what they do is they take today's pressures and they think you know I'm gonna postpone that real aggressive pursuit for God to just the next season after things settle down I'm really gonna do it but the truth is every season in our life every season in our life there are reasons to postpone our diligent seeking of God to the next season because this one is always too busy or too troublesome or or or something like that they're waiting for better circumstances where they can really show big love to God down the road and what happens is years go by and that season never comes they're always going to do it down the road because today is too weak it's too dull too many pressures but I'm not gonna lose the vision I'm going to do it one day that's called spiritual idealism that's having a wrong mindset because actually our weak and dull feeling love for God actually is real and it moves him and it is the glory of God even now and today is the day we are called to give him all of our love our all may not be very big it may be small but it is the all and that's all he asks or all may be small but that's what he wants us to bring to the relationship our all and he'll take it and it will move him paragraph H another way that people live with idealism and their love for God is they limit their understanding of loving God to what is traditionally called the spiritual activities like worship like you know my everyday life is one thing but if I go to the prayer room and worship that I'm really loving God or if they're gonna pray for the sick or evangelize or or be in some kind of outreach spiritual activities and they limit their view of their love to God to those activities and when they don't do that many of those activities as many as they think they should then their love for God is deficient and the truth is that our love for God is expressed in all the areas of our life not just quote those spiritual activities but the the real definition of a spiritual activity it's not a it's not that it's prayer or evangelizing I mean those are spiritual but a spiritual activity is the work that's done by a spiritual person it's not the nature of the work that makes it a spiritual work it's the spirit of the worker that makes it spiritual it is just as spiritual to raise your children in a godly way as it is to do some heroic act of service because we're doing it as under God's eyes we're doing it for his pleasure we're doing it aware that he's watching and he cares do you know that he actually cares that you would love him in the way you raise your children you know some we run into this regularly at IHOP young lady comes 20 years old on the worship team in leadership few years go by she gets married has a couple kids now she's not on the worship team oh no I'm now not serving God her I go absolutely wrong you're serving God is hard it's just a different arena it's just a spiritual because a spiritual activity it's not the nature of the activity it's the spirit of the person that's doing it they're doing it to please the Lord as before his eyes that's what makes it spiritual you can do you can please God while you're doing your working on your finances and balancing your checkbook at home you can do it by the way you treat your wife that is a spiritual activity a couple guys can go out and play a basketball game and encourage one another and so into each other's life and that is spiritual there are spiritual things that happen in social settings and the workplace being kind and humble in the workplace without even saying particularly biblical statements but an awareness that the Lord's looking at you you're loving him and you're loving him well by doing that so it's not like the majority of our life is out in the home in the marketplace in the neighborhood and then we disconnect from that part of the majority of our life then we go into a spiritual activity and so and a small percent of our life is spiritual and the majority of our life is not spiritual that's a completely wrong point of view but we can give him our love and every one of those arenas whether caring for somebody in a social encounter you care about him that's why you're listening to their story that's why you're encouraging them back that's called loving God now Jesus he wants to he he reveals to us how much God really cares about the ordinary and the mundane and the and the routine because so much of our life is the mundane and the ordinary in the routine and we think ah it's so weak it's so imperfect it's so nothing but Jesus says no I value that I value it so much that for 30 years he lived in the mundane in the routine he went to work ministered his family had a few friends went on about life in a way that might really surprise us but he perfectly loved God in those activities and then when he was 30 years old the anointing of the Spirit was released on him and then his life came became very dramatic but his life was not more godly when he had a dramatic healing ministry than it was when he was 18 years old working in the carpenter shop he loved God equally in both seasons and so the Lord by his own life we're talking about he's fully God God came and lived for 30 years in an order he went to school he played with when he was 13 with the 13 year old guys and gals in the neighborhood he had socialized with them that was godly that was good and so when we begin to get a right view of loving God then we can begin to understand how God sees us and God sees the glory of God operating in our life even now in a way that if we get in touch with that we get encouraged and when we get encouraged by that we want to go more aggressive in our pursuit of loving God if we feel like God has moved and we feel like it's succeeding even though it's small and weak we want to do more if we feel like we're failing and we're destined to fail we will draw back and quit and kick into kind of a automatic pilot mode where we're just kind of treading water and it's because we have a wrong mindset and a wrong view of what it means to love God it's not because we don't really love him it's because we have a wrong mindset about it top of page 2 now Romans 5 verse 1 to 11 and I get again we're going to look at it briefly a couple of the other verses not all of it Paul paragraph a presents a kingdom perspective that dismantles this spiritual idealism the kingdom perspective Paul says he gives a one main exhortation the primary exhortation then he gives set three secondary exhortations that are really practical so he gives one primary one and then three practical exhortations that teach us and equip us and empower us how to walk out the main one so that's what I just want to give you the quick overview of that because if we will do what Paul taught here it will change our spiritual life says in Romans chapter 5 verse 2 and 3 and then on to verse 11 Paul said this grace in which we stand the exhortation is to stand in the grace of God he's talking about standing without wavering in the grace of God then he's going to give three exhortations that are secondary that are all related to the word rejoice he says rejoice and the hope of the glory of God not only that rejoice in tribulations now it says in the New King James glory but it's the exact same Greek word rejoice it's the same word as the as the other ones right there the exact same word and most translations use the word rejoice here in verse 3 so let's read it again Paul says the grace in which we stand we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God not only that we also rejoice in tribulations not only that we also rejoice in God so he's giving us three practical secondary exhortations to rejoice in three ways and to rejoice doesn't just mean we tell somebody else about it it actually means we talk to God about it with a spirit of gratitude thank you God for these three dynamics in my life and when we begin to do that it will actually empower us and equip us to stand strong in the grace of God which is Paul's main exhortation look at paragraph B we are to stand in grace now in the context of this message standing in the grace of God means to walk out the first commandment with all of our heart and to spread the fame of Jesus wherever we go that's what it would mean in in our context in terms of a life of obedience to God that's what we would how we're applying that but standing in the grace of God it actually has two applications to stand in the grace of God one application has to do with confidence that God enjoys us and God accepts us and the second application of standing in the grace of God has to do with not compromising but living with wholeheartedness towards God pursuing this first commandment lifestyle we're going to stand in the grace of God we're going to have confidence that God enjoys us and we're going to stand in the grace of God we're going to pursue God without compromise we're going to pursue a life of wholeheartedness now the good news is this is doable to all of us this is a human friendly I mean God's evaluation is human friendly he understands our weakness he understands our plight he understands the frame of man so when he calls us to do this he does it with the understanding of how we're made because some people have this image the only way they'll ever stand strong is this this unrealistic standard that they never ever reach never so they're always failing in their esteem but from God's point of view they're actually succeeding well the application the first one to stand with confidence you know he the Lord more doesn't just stamp our passport and say okay in heaven pets you know accept it go on in so that you can join the workforce called you know the Great Commission he doesn't stamp our passport so he gets free workers that's not what he's after he actually enjoys us and fully accepts us that's part of standing in the grace of God and when we stand in the grace of God we refuse condemnation we refuse shame we have no we don't have to accept it no we stand with confidence that we're accepted and enjoy but standing in the grace of God is more than the issue of confidence with God there's a second application we live wholehearted we refuse compromise we're gonna go hard to obey God with all of our heart but how do we do it because our love is weak our love is small we feel dull when we're serving and when we're loving and much of the time whether we're even when we're in the word and prayer we feel dull often how much more when we're actually serving and the rigors of of of all the work of the kingdom where people resisting us and they're not appreciating us and they're overlooking us and we don't have enough money or we don't have enough resource to make it happen the added pressures we feel dull while in the midst of it not always I mean there's obviously times we don't but we do many times and so are we just destined to be a failure until somehow someday we do big things and we feel dynamic about it no the answer is no we're a success even now in the grace of God so Paul makes three surprising statements in this passage and they're surprising to the Hebrew mindset he says first rejoice in the hope of the glory of God that's surprising statement number one and what he means by rejoicing and when I have more in the notes that I won't cover if this if you want to read a little bit more on it but to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God it means we're to see our life and our weak efforts as an expression and an evidence that the glory of God's operating in us even now and instead of despising our life and writing ourself off as a as a failure we're actually to rejoice in the fact that there's evidence as an expression of the glory of God operating in our life right now even in our smallest we're to rejoice in that not to despise our life and to despise how broken and weak we are then number two we are to rejoice in tribulations this was a very surprising idea because to the Jewish mindset you know talk to Job he lost his three friends because when he had trouble they thought he had secret sin therefore he was under the judgment of God Paul comes along I mean being a Hebrew of Hebrews he had that mindset from the past he goes the Holy Spirit told me differently he goes we could actually rejoice in the process of what happens inside of us during tribulation instead of quitting with despair instead of concluding we're under the judgment of God and God is mad at us let's have a different response and it will actually enhance the glory of God in our life then he goes on and he gives the third exhortation to rejoice in God now to rejoice in God this was probably the most surprising at all because the God of the Old Testament that you know the Jewish nation the Hebrew nation I mean the nation of Israel they stood at a distance but here in the New Covenant God is inviting them to draw near to him we're talking about the transcendent Holy God says draw near to me and then he gives us the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit will escort us into the deep places of God's heart it says in 1st Corinthians chapter 2 verse 10 that the Spirit will actually bring us to the place of understanding and encountering the deep places of God I can imagine Paul thinking that's really intense I mean from again an Old Testament point of view to draw near to God and the Holy Spirit lives in us to give us the deep things of God's heart and then we're fascinated with the glory of Jesus's fame and renowned it is and we can connect with that and the pleasure of that Paul says yes you can so these three different exhortations to rejoice in the hope of glory to rejoice in tribulation to rejoice in God they become the practical ways that we can stand strong in the grace of God with confidence and to stand strong without compromise look at Roman numeral three now let's just look at each one of these three just to take a few minutes on each one rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God what does that really mean well the word hope means confidence or certainty so you could say we rejoice in the certainty or the confidence that we are experiencing the glory of God there's two applications we're experiencing it now and we will experience it in full manifestation in the age to come and we have confidence about both of those realities now people think a little bit about the glory of God in the age to come they have confidence that when they die they'll have a resurrected body and they don't have fear of death and and they're you know they're excited about that you know I saw the title of the book everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die I thought I found that was intriguing but we are excited by the resurrection but there's more to having confidence in the glory of God than just what we will be in the age to come we're actually walking in the glory of God now and we are to have confidence about it and not to have not to neglect it and not to reject that reality but it actually of confidence that this is real even now paragraph B we rejoice that our life is six I'm talking to wholehearted believers weak yes broken yes our love is small our deeds are small but that's what that's all that he asks from us we rejoice even now with the confidence that we are living in the glory of God right now before his eyes again it's not fully manifest we can't see it but he can see it in us does it matter what people think the people around you may think you're a total loser you have nothing going for you but if you're pursuing to love God with all of your heart and you're giving yourself to him you're failing but you're when you admit when you stumble you confess it you repent of it and you sign back up for wholeheartedness beloved you're walking in the glory of God and if you have confidence about it you will actually become more diligent in your pursuit of the Lord regardless what other people say they may think you're a loser does it matter you may have so many pressures piling up in your life that doesn't nullify the fact that you're still walking in the glory of God God is so generous and he's so kind in the way that he esteems our life turn to top of page three now the problem the challenge we feel with having confidence that we're actually experiencing the glory of God now is this we don't feel or discern the glory of God in our life right now because by our natural senses we can't discern them we can't discern the glory of God because our natural senses can't anyway and Paul addresses this actually in Colossians chapter 3 he says your life is hidden in Christ in God and when Jesus who is our life appears then you will also appear with him in glory and the key word is the word appears what Paul is saying in this passage related to this particular message your life right now is hidden in Christ meaning the glory of your life is actually hidden from you even you don't see it even you can't measure the amount of glory that's in your life right now you can't see it God can see it and that glory that's operating in you now doesn't become real only in the resurrection it becomes displayed in the resurrection it becomes obvious in the resurrection but that glory is actually real right now it's real to God right now though we don't see it with our eyes it's hidden from us but when Jesus appears meaning appears to the natural world when you the word appears meaning to this earthly realm then your glory that you actually have right now in seed form but it's real it will be manifest it will appear in the earth realm openly for all to see but the point I'm making is your glory doesn't begin at the resurrection it's fully displayed them then into the earth realm where everybody can see it but the glory is actually real right now in you and Paul calls the church to actually rejoice in that and not to not to neglect what's actually happening in them now because it will lead them to despair and to discouragement and they'll just want to quit and back away Paul referred to he said your life is hidden with God our true life this in this age is hidden even from our own eyes paragraph F in order to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God we have to take time to see what the Bible says about the glory of God that we will have in the age to come when it's fully displayed and the glory of God we walk in now where it's veiled and hidden from our own eyes but it's clear in the world we have to see what the Bible says about those two different expressions of the glory of God and it takes time to re-educate our mind on that but in order to rejoice in the confidence of the glory of God we have to re-educate our thinking on that I have just a little bit more on that one but I'll leave that for you to read later paragraph G when we begin to rejoice in the hope of the glory the confidence again the word hope is the word confidence when we begin to rejoice in the confidence we're operating in the glory now and we're gonna operate in it fully and openly in the age to come but the glory of God is our inheritance it's our portion when we begin to have that paradigm that perspective change it dynamically changes the way we feel on the inside most believers don't really rejoice in the confidence of the glory of God they think about the resurrected body occasionally and they think that's pretty cool but they don't actually engage with God about it they actually rejoice they talk to God with Thanksgiving and they rarely talk to God with Thanksgiving about the glory they're experiencing now because it's hidden from them and we know it by faith because it's in the word but it's not really a part of their conversation with the Lord but if it is if it becomes a part of our conversation with the Lord beloved you will stand more strong and firm and unwavering in the grace of God this is critical to standing in the grace of God now by nature by our natural mindset it's what I mean we rejoice when we are successful in the eyes of people when people are impressed then we think hey we must be doing pretty good you know people are pretty excited about what we're doing whether in our ministry whether our ministries in the home the marketplace the church or chart whatever our ministry is wherever our assignment is if people are impressed that okay things are happening you know Wow or if we feel the presence of God and we feel deep love for God while we're doing it well that would be real good then that would seem like we're succeeding or if we're doing big things and we will do big things collectively but very few individuals at all of human history do big things individually we do big things collectively together but a lot of folks their standard of success are people impressed do I feel the presence and do I feel the power of God in my heart when I'm doing it when I offer my love to God and and joy good do big things for God and what they come up with is a zero in all three categories they go nobody's really impressed with what I'm doing so I'm not that successful my family members remind me regularly how unsuccessful I am I don't feel his presence when I serve him I'm in the prayer room and I'm bored sometimes or I'm leading somebody Lord I don't feel the presence I pray for the sick and it's boring I don't I don't feel his presence so I get a zero there and I'm certainly not doing any big things I'm only doing really small things that nobody even pays attention to so I got a zero there so I'm all for three I must be a loser it takes revelation to actually see the reality of the glory of God so that we can have confidence in it now but when we see it it makes us feel so differently about our days and our hours and just the routine and mundaneness of life so we rejoice in the glory of God we talk to God about it we thank him for the glory of God operating in our life now and how it will be fully displayed in the age to come and it will change the internal dynamics of your life it really really will let's go to the second exhortation spend a few moments on that and then we'll just barely mention the third one Paul now changes gears and he goes now not only do you rejoice in the hope of the glory the confidence that you're walking in the glory now and you'll walk it up fully the age to come not only this but rejoice also in tribulations what I mean this is a stretch because again to the Hebrew mindset if you obey God things went well you disobeyed things went bad and so Job lost his friends they thought he was in secret sin and under the judgment of God he lost all his friends so here's Paul telling a very different point of view then he grew up with in a Jewish setting he goes now the key verse 3 Romans chapter 5 verse 3 the key to rejoicing in tribulations is knowing you have to know the right things or you cannot rejoice knowing is critical because knowing the right things enables you to make right responses if you don't know that what I'm gonna say next here in this verse quoting Paul you don't know what Paul said here then you won't be able to rejoice in tribulations and I would say that just as most believers don't rejoice in the hope of the glory of God they don't rejoice in tribulations and most don't rejoice in God they on all three of them they neglect all three of them and then they don't stand strong in grace and then they wonder why they don't the Lord says no I gave you instructions I showed you the pathway to change and I mean to equip you to stand boldly in the presence of God anyway let's let's read the passage chapter 5 verse 3 to 5 we rejoice in tribulations knowing the tribulation produces perseverance number one and that produces character number two and the character produces hope number three and it says in that hope will not disappoint you because that hope is founded in the love of God that's why it won't disappoint you so what he's saying is Paul is putting three ideas together perseverance character and hope now at first reading those three words we don't see how they're connected and I won't spend much time on it but I have a little bit in the notes on it you could read later but the connection of these three virtues is significant if we are going to rejoice in tribulation we have to understand the connection of these three words these three virtues now paragraph B you know a person says how can I rejoice in the glory of God verse 2 when I have so many troubles verse 3 Paul says rejoice in the troubles too yeah but the troubles hinder the glory of God Paul says no they don't if you respond right the troubles will actually enhance your experience of the glory of God not diminish it now the devil wants us to get exasperated by the troubles so we quit we quit because it's too hard or we quit because we conclude God's mad at us and he's not helping us and if God's you're not going to help me then I'm not going to go hard so we quit because it's hard or we quit because we think God's disinterested in us that's what the devil wants us to do so we so our response is bitterness instead of rejoicing that's what he wants us to do to be offended and to be bitter Paul's point here he says if you understand the process of what tribulation does then you won't be bitter and you won't quit in the midst of it and you won't conclude that God is mad at you and is ignoring you paragraph C the devil lies to us by telling us that our trials are the proof we don't have God's favor they're the proof our life is a failure and they're the proof our relationship with God is deficient the devil says it's proof you're a failure you're deficient you've lost favor talk to people over the years things go wrong why is God mad why is he turned his face away and the Lord says I didn't that's part of the biblical journey of learning to stand in the grace of God actually I'm not mad at you that's just absolutely opposite my calling is big on you and the enemy is trying to take you out because my calling and purpose for you is so important to me so the enemy wants to exasperate us so we postpone walking out the first commandment we postpone serving God and serving people because we have so many problems we'll wait till later to go hard after God till after this season if we settle things they settle down let's look at paragraph B the word tribulation don't exaggerate what that word means it doesn't mean only the light you know a cataclysmic life-altering crisis it includes that but that's not what it basically means it means the many many varied types of pressures we feel we all feel many many pressures that are again not only just the life-altering crisis there are a few of those and in most people's lives in the course of a lifetime they have you know they experience that or they're close to those kinds of things but but every day we have the small pressures and that's what the word tribulation means here it's the pressures I have just a list of them the pressures that we all feel pain with physical pain because sickness or emotional pain because of a broken relationship boredom spiritual boredom is a pressure here we're trying to walk with God the only problem is we're bored we're bored walking with God but we love God but it is we can't feel nothing that's a problem to us that's a real pressure it really is resistance we we're trying to serve God and people resisting us even people in the kingdom are resisting us people aren't helping they're stopping and they're they're blocking our goals I mean I'm just trying to help a little bit we got roadblocks every time we turn busyness of life just pure busyness that is a pressure that's one of the great pressures of most people's lives in the Western world is busyness that's a true pressure that wants to block our pursuit of the love of God frustration that just people that are annoying us and they're doing it wrong and and it doesn't work right and just frustration actually makes many people quit they just quit their pursuit of serving God just out of frustration financial lack fear being misunderstood by people you got people they're kind of writing you off or they don't understand why you're doing what you're doing your rejection but more than misunderstanding rejection most of us have several people several of these things happening in our life all the time you know one guy says what do you mean I got every single one of those plus more all the time are you kidding you just read my story but these pressures make us feel our love is insignificant and it makes us feel our love is weak and it makes us want to postpone going hard for God till the next season till these things are done Paul says don't do that don't do that don't postpone anything and draw back and conclude God has written you off rather rejoice in the tribulation now turn to page 4 to rejoice in tribulation doesn't mean that we rejoice in the tribulation itself but rather we rejoice in what is produced in the tribulation if we respond right there's big difference and I say that in paragraph H that it's the effect of the tribulation that we rejoicing because it changes us but in paragraph G I want to point out very brief that there's four sources of pressure in our life God Satan man and just the fallenness of creation I don't want to go into that right now but I just want us I don't want you to be simplistic that all pressure isn't the devil as some camps think and all pressure is not from God as many believers think we have a high regard of the sovereignty of God all the pressure was set by God no the devil comes in attacks us and God wants us to rebuke the devil I know very devout people when pressure comes they go well I just trust the glory of God I just trust God and whatever he wants because I want you to rebuke the devil's what I want will God rebuke the devil for me because I won't I gave that responsibility to you God will not rebuke the devil for you the devil knocks on your door and offers you a present it's got a snake say no in the name of Jesus go don't say thank you God whatever you want Lord I mean a lot of very godly people have a very passive approach against pressure that's from the devil they label it from God God is in his sovereignty it's over the devil but he allows the devil certain movement to come against us with the purpose of us resisting it to grow strong in God we don't thank God for that we resist the devil well what happens paragraph I the process begins the threefold process perseverance turns to character and character turns to hope now what happens this is the most very very important part here when the pressure comes it creates here's how pressure turns to perseverance when the pressure comes it creates this deep searching question in your soul why why is the pressure coming are you pleased am I doing right then we begin to ask the question do I want to press hard or do I want to draw back and quit a little bit or a lot what do I want to do the pressure creates a very intense conversation in your mind with yourself you think it through and you talk to God some you think it through it's like a movie screen you play it over and over again the pressure makes you ask deep in search searching questions do I want to press through or draw back and get into relaxed mode and quit and then we the pressure that we got thinking through we think through the consequences well if I press on I still got pressure and it's hard I don't feel God's presence anyway but the Lord's watching me and he loves it if I press on and I want to I want to right I love you but you know nobody will even notice if I draw back anyway and I could draw back some and quit some not to quit totally maybe I'll quit all the way for a while we go back and forth back and forth back and forth and what are my motives anyway what I really want this well so that people will like me well that's not a good enough motive to stay going because they don't like me so I might as well quit anyway yeah but God likes me you know maybe I'll sign back up are you mad God is this the devil hey what's going on and it creates this very deep prolonged conversation that goes on for weeks and months if the pressure stays when the pressure leaves the conversation typically goes away but the conversation makes us sign back up to serve wholehearted it makes us we say no I'm gonna serve you even with this force against us it's like kind of like working a muscle we go no I'm gonna say yes and it's marking our heart every time we say it and I want to serve with humility regardless if people appreciate it even if they're against me I'm gonna serve because it's you God and every time we say yes it marks our heart and perseverance is working in our spirit and that yes gets bigger inside of us when the pressure goes away we quit the conversation when when we're in ease and prosperity we rarely have the conversation like that but it marks us and it makes the yes stronger that's called perseverance the intention to be committed no matter the cost that's what perseverance is I mean I'm saying yes and the yes is big and I'm my spirits mark if you answer the right way perseverance is the fruit then paragraph J what happens now after a season of perseverance character begins to be formed in you character is more than the intention and the commitment to press no matter what it cost us character is follow-through and characters consistent follow-through after perseverance in due time character emerges follow-through with godly actions and attitudes flows out of perseverance we don't make this sustained commitment in the realm of I mean out of the category perseverance we don't end up developing deep character that's that that's long-standing deep character of follow-through then what happens when we get this godly character is that there's a very important dynamic right here Matthew 5 verse 8 there's a deep connection between what we do and our ability to see and perceive truth Jesus said if you're pure in heart you will see more you'll see the glory of God in your life even though it's weak and veiled you'll see more you'll see God more you'll see truth more if you will sustain godly character your ability to see truth and reality increases there's a dynamic relationship paragraph K hope hope is in essence the ability to see clearly hope is is is a confidence and that I mean it's it's seen clearly with confidence hope is is real close to revelation you could almost put the word out of godly character comes revelation because hope is the ability to see with confidence and Paul goes on to say and we won't develop it for time he goes and that hope that you have that new perception of your life it won't disappoint you when all the information is before you when you stand before Jesus on the last day you won't be disappointed God loves you more than even you perceive even with the anointed revelation your labors really did matter and the tribulation really did result to creating perseverance in you which led to character which led the ability to see all this more clearly but again this only works if under the pressure we have the dialogue that intense painful dialogue that goes on and on as long as the pressure goes but we have to answer the questions the right way now I am going to keep serving you and I am going to serve regardless whether anybody likes it and I am yours even if it's hard and I don't feel nothing I love you again it marks us every time we make that decision again when we're under the pain of the temptation to quit I mean the pain that gives temptation to quit then when all that's done the final sentence here I just want to put it in there no one you want to spend time on it Roman rule 5 is that then we rejoice in God I mean God invites us to draw near he gives us the Holy Holy Spirit to escort us to do the deep things of his heart and then we begin the pleasure of interacting with the being of God I mean the cherubim around the throne they have the ultimate nearness to God and they interact with his heart the cherubim and the seraphim and the 24 elders they're all there God says I will begin to let you feel my heart more where you can rejoice in me not just in assignments in the kingdom not just in the appreciation that people give you you actually feel the superior pleasure the ultimate pleasure of the knowledge of God in your soul so Paul says you want to stand in the grace of God rejoice in the hope of the glory of God but you got to get reeducated in your brain to be able to do that he goes but that's not enough rejoice in tribulation because you understand that if you respond right tribulation actually produces perseverance character and then hope the ability to see more and that ability to see more actually enables you to see God more and to feel and interact with God in a way you never dreamed possible and then that cycle just keeps repeating itself then we rejoice more in the glory of God then we rejoice in tribulation then we rejoice in God but those three exhortations to rejoice in those three things are a critical part essential part of standing strong in the grace of God amen let's stand before the Lord now I went through a lot of concepts I realize and some of these are new to some of you in the room here I want to encourage you to take these notes and kind of work it through a little bit till it's clear familiar to you they're they're really quite simple but if they're new to you they might be a little bit you know like I don't follow the character how's that all work again I would encourage you take a little bit of time and get familiar this is your story it's worth taking time with it really is this is the worship team comes I I want us to respond to the Lord it's winning bite y'all just to close your eyes for a moment so you're not distracted you're talking to the Lord I'm gonna throw out something different things and you just say yes in your heart one way the other the issue Lord I want to be committed to rejoicing in the glory of God instead of neglecting the glory of God in my life talk to him are you committed to make a shift in your life on that I'm not gonna neglect the reality of the glory of God my life I'm gonna start rejoicing in it I'm gonna become aware of it so see you say you're saying yes in your heart again just quietly Lord I want to make a shift I want to consciously spend time developing this in my life number two I'm gonna start rejoicing and tribulation understanding of that intense dialogue it creates marks me and changes me and I'm gonna see the value of that I must see the value I'm not gonna quit I'm not gonna conclude you that I'm under judgment I'm gonna press in and thank you for how you're marking my spirit I'm not gonna be bitter and start attacking people I'm not gonna get defensive I'm going to just rejoice in God it's what I'm gonna do oh you're changing me you're marking my spirit God yes I'm yours no matter what it costs me or how hard it is or who writes me off because you have it and then third I want to rejoice in God I want to make time and I want to prepare myself to understand you God to interact with you I don't want to neglect you anymore I don't want just assignments in the kingdom I want to interact with you I don't want to just meet famous leaders and get a new position I want to interact with you I want to rejoice in you that's my dream God so you're responding to the Lord in those three ways we're just gonna now worship and any of you that would like prayer along these lines you're saying you know I really need to make them some radical changes on one or two of those I really don't do those I want to stand in the glory of God the grace of God strong if you would like prayer I'll invite you to come forward and if you have physical needs prayer for healing we want to do pray for you today it's okay if it's a bond and so soft I can do it all strengthens me I can do it all strengthens me see I've learned contentment in all things whether I'm felled or I'm hard it's okay if it's a bondage I can do it all strengthens me I can do it all I'm yours Oh God I rejoice in the glory of God I rejoice in I want to be preoccupied with you Oh I'm yours Oh God I can do it all to Him who strengthens me I can do it all to Him who strengthens me I lift my eyes up to You And I'll rejoice in the glory of God I lift my eyes up to You And I'll rejoice in the glory of God I lift my eyes up to You And I'll rejoice in the glory of God I lift my eyes up to You And I'll rejoice in the glory of God See, I'm not pretending that all things Are well-fulfilled or won It's okay if it's an abundance of something I can do it all to Him who strengthens me I can do it all to Him who strengthens me I'm not pretending that all things Are well-fulfilled or won It's okay if it's an abundance of something I can do it all to Him who strengthens me I can do it all to Him who strengthens me I lift my eyes up to You And I'll rejoice in the glory of God I lift my eyes up to You And I'll rejoice in the glory of God I lift my eyes up to You And I'll rejoice in the glory of God I lift my eyes up to You I lift my eyes up to You And I'll rejoice in the glory of God I lift my eyes up to You And I'll rejoice in the glory of God I lift my eyes up to You I lift my eyes up to You And I'll rejoice in the glory of God I lift my eyes up to You And I'll rejoice in the glory of God I lift my eyes up to You And I'll rejoice in the glory of God I lift my eyes up to You And I'll rejoice in the glory of God I lift my eyes up to You And I'll rejoice in the glory of God This hope will not disappoint Because it's founded in the glory of God This hope will not disappoint Because it's founded in the glory of God This hope will not disappoint Because it's founded in the glory of God This hope will not disappoint Because it's founded in the glory of God This hope will not disappoint Because it's founded in the glory of God This hope will not disappoint Because it's founded in the glory of God This hope will not disappoint Because it's founded in the glory of God This hope will not disappoint Because it's founded in the glory of God This hope will not disappoint Because it's founded in the glory of God This hope will not disappoint Because it's founded in the glory of God I lift my eyes up to You