God Told Me What's Coming THIS Christmas

Hey y'all, this is Troy. So I've got a word from the Lord to share with you today about this Christmas. This is something that God showed me is going to be happening. So it's a word of knowledge. I heard this back on October 30th, but I also have an encouraging word to share with you that I heard that day, and the Holy Spirit's been speaking to me about it today as well, and he gave me some specific scriptures to read as well. So I'm excited about that because I know that many people are facing what feels like a loss of hope recently. I feel like the Lord is showing me that this is something that is even the second half of this year for some people, and for some people it's been the whole year. And some people have been asking that question, why does it feel like I don't have the same hope for the future I used to have? And this is something the Lord wants to yet the same way that, you know, if you're digging in a garden and you want your vegetables to grow, right, or the fruit, you want the produce to spring forth, sometimes it takes digging down into the dirt and removing the rocks, the gravel, the bugs that are eating it, it takes removing the roots of the grass and the weeds that got into the dirt, the soil, right? And so the Lord wants to restore hope in our hearts today and in this season, and that's the word I got, that God wants to restore hope this season. Yet for that to happen, for some of us there's a removal that needs to take place, and so we're going to get into that in a few minutes. What needs to be plucked up? What needs to be removed? And what does God want to plant so deep and firm in the soil of our hearts that we never get shaken? It never changes, it never goes away, it never fades, and there's a constant source of hope springing within, and that comes out of our hearts that's from the Holy Spirit, and man, the good news today is it's based on His grace. So this message should bring a sigh of relief to many people. The new covenant that God has given us through Christ Jesus is the best news that the world has ever heard, and it's the news that the church desperately needs to hear right now. God has good news for you today. So this is what I heard on October 30th. Well let me very briefly say this, if you're new to this channel, we follow up on these words of knowledge and we show them on the Prophecy Archive on my website, TroyBlackVideos.com. We show the results of these things, so I have many people commenting and saying, hey, you're just throwing words out there and nothing's happening, nothing's coming to pass, and I have to scratch my head at that because we actually follow these words very closely behind the scenes, and then once they come to pass, we show on the Archive how they came to pass with all the links and all the description and all that, and we've seen consistent accuracy with these words. So I can get on here and honestly say that that's what we've seen so far. So for those that are, you know, making the exposure videos and all that kind of stuff, the truth is they're not actually following up on the words to see what actually happened, they're just making assumptions and saying, well, these must not have happened or whatever, but they very clearly are, and we show that in the review videos, but we also show it on the Archive as well. So there's that, and at the same time, you know, you still need to take prophecy in prayer to the Lord, pray about it, ask the Holy Spirit, get it confirmed by Him. You know, like, the Prophecy Archive can be a form of confirmation, absolutely, because the words of knowledge and prophecy should be accurate, but they also need the confirmation of the Holy Spirit behind them. If the Holy Spirit's not moving on a word, it's not from Him, right? If He never gives you an okay or never gives you a yes, either it's not from Him or it's not meant for you, because God is not going to waste your time having you go through every prophetic word that's shared in every church around the world, because thousands of words get shared a day. Some of them are for a national audience, others are for a local congregation, others are for one person, an individual, and so we do not have to read prophetic words the way we read the Bible. We should all be in Scripture, we should all be in the Bible, but prophecy is for the building up, for the edification of the church, and so we need to make sure it's the word that God is speaking to us before we run with it. So that's important. A couple other things. I have a live event coming up at the end of January. You can go to www.troyblack.org. Chris Garcia is going to be there to join me. It's a free event, show up in person. East Texas. If you want more information, go to www.troyblack.org. I also have a book that's coming out in February, The Mystery of the New Babylon. Super excited about that. It's available on Amazon. There will be links in the description below. This is what I heard on October 30th. The Lord said, this Christmas, He said, a dynamite explosion, a TNT burst, a brute force effort exerted without caution, careless and endangering the lives of the workers. So one of the things that, one of the confirmations the Lord uses when I hear words of knowledge like this is that oftentimes I sense the power of God when I hear the word. Oftentimes, actually majority of the time, I sense either His presence or His power come over me, you know, and that looks different at different times, but it acts as a very strong personal confirmation for me. Now that's not a confirmation for you, but it's a confirmation that the Lord has used in my life. And here's the thing, if you need God to confirm, God, is that your voice, especially when it's you listening to the Holy Spirit, right? Is that you? Is that my thoughts? Like, is that just bad pizza? And that's why I dream that dream. You know, you can ask for personal confirmation the way Gideon did, and he absolutely will give it. And when I first started getting words like this, like I, I was praying, you know, I would stay up all night praying and worshiping and pleading with God, I need another confirmation. You know, and God would be like, I've already given you three, but okay, here you go. Here's another one, you know, and, and, you know, because I was desperate to know that it was His voice, right? And God is faithful to respond to that. God does not want us to be wandering around wondering, is this you, is this not, you know, and unclear about what He's saying to us. Now, oftentimes when we are hearing, we were learning to hear the voice of the Lord, God is going to speak more generally to us. He may give you one word, it may be peace, be still. And that means He's working on it, and we need to trust Him, right? And we need to stay in the written word because the Holy Spirit can speak so clearly through the written word. We should all stay there no matter how long we've been walking with the Lord. But other times, God just gives us a sense of peace. You know, the fruit of the Spirit comes. And when, when, you know, when somebody, a minister is like calling out other ministers and saying, this person and that person, all that, the first thing I look for is, is the peace of God on this? And if it is, there's something there, you know, and that person, their heart is right. But if it's not, even if they're saying true things in some cases, it's not something I'm going to listen to, right? Because it has to do with, what is the Holy Spirit behind? What Spirit is behind this? Is this building up the body? Is it meant to establish the truth? Is it meant to preach the gospel? Or is it meant to tear down? And that can be different than what a person's motivate, a person can have a certain motivation, and there can be a different spirit behind it than what they think. They can be, think they're serving God. That's what Paul thought when he was Saul. He thought he was serving God, but he was killing Christians. He thought he was doing that for God, but the wrong spirit was behind it. And so we need to be aware, is the fruit of the Spirit here? The love, the joy, the peace, the patience, the kindness, the goodness, the gentleness, the faithfulness, the self-control of the Holy Spirit, are these things evident and bearing fruit in my life? And oftentimes when something is not giving you that, could be a book, could be a movie, could be a TV show, could be a pastor, a teacher, whatever, oftentimes when it's not coming with that, when it's riddled with anxiety, that's a clear sign the Holy Spirit is saying, I'm over here, like come back over here, you know, like I want to protect you from that. Because the Lord does not want us to walk with a life full of anxiety or fear or even frustration. God wants to give us peace. He wants to give us clarity. So this is what I heard the Lord say. He said, this Christmas, a dynamite explosion, a TNT burst, a brute force effort exerted without caution, careless and endangering the lives of the workers. Then he said this, what once was shall be no more. They will strip it of its natural origin and make it a show of force, a nasty habit instead. A building project left over from the, quote, the old days that sets in motion a swarm of words against them. And I, you know, I'm getting the impression that that is like an attack, a verbal attack against what's going on. Then I heard a movement not strategized well and taken over by force. Watch and see what happens. And he said, this is right here within the nation you are a part of. He's talking about the United States. That's where I live. And then he said, Washington will have something to say about it. And the interpretation there probably is Washington, D.C., meaning like the White House, you know, the government. And then I heard this. He said, talk about the removal of the old to bring in the new. So I did get an impression about this word of knowledge. I'm not exactly sure what it means, but he put a very clear timeline on it. Obviously, you know, this Christmas he's talking about either on or around Christmas. I don't know if that's before or after. But I got today this extra bit, a clue. And what I heard was an explosion in the marketplace. This is a marketplace word. And I don't know if he's talking about an industry, you know, like marketplace mean like industry, like or marketplace meaning finance or more of a literal marketplace. I don't know. But that's what I heard today. And he said, talk about the removal of the old to bring in the new. So oftentimes TNT, you know, used to be used to blast a, you know, a hole through a mountain so they could put a railroad in, you know, something like that, where they're removing something to put something new in. And the Lord said this year, yes, but also more than that, a creation of man being replaced with the creation of the creator. And so I don't know if that specifically refers to this word of knowledge or not, or if it's just part of the encouragement for us. But the Lord said, the new hope that a new covenant brings. So this is what the Lord wants us to latch on to today, that God is saying the new covenant of his blood, the blood of Jesus, brings a new form of hope, a new kind of hope. It's a lasting hope. You know, these three remain faith, hope, and love. The greatest of these is love. But God wants us to have a hope that never ends. It never fades. It never goes away. And so this kind of hope, how does this come? Well, it comes through accepting and living and standing on the foundation of the new covenant that Jesus brought when he came to the earth, lived a perfect life, and then died on the cross to pay the punishment for our sins, to take the punishment for our sins upon himself so that we could be forgiven, so that we could come into fellowship with God and know him. You know, and a lot of times as Christians, we believe that. We heard that. We believed it. Yeah, I got that. But then unfortunately, we're either taught wrong and we go back into living in an old covenant lifestyle, or it's just the natural way the brain works. We start walking in old patterns, old thought patterns, instead of letting our mind be renewed and walking in the pattern of the new covenant that God has given us. So this is what the Lord said. He said, the peace of knowing you are made new in him. So knowing that we're made new in Christ should bring us peace. And he said, that's what this season is about. So I know some people celebrate Christmas. Some people don't. But I would encourage you this year not to, you know, Paul the apostle said, don't let anybody judge you based on a new moon, a festival, or a Sabbath day, you know, but let that between you. He's saying, let that be between you and God, right? So a Christian who's celebrating Christmas is not celebrating the pagan holiday, right, that was associated with that date a long time ago. They're celebrating the birth of Jesus. So we need to look at Christians through that lens, you know, of what's the intent of your heart, and also what has the Holy Spirit allowed you to do, you know, because that is what the new covenant looks like. You know, even Paul the apostle said, you know, you can eat meat that was sacrificed to idols because you know that that idol is not real, right? And you're not sacrificing it to idols. You're just getting a deal, you know, on the meat, you know. But at the same time, we also ought not to do that in such a way where it causes other believers to stumble, right? And so there's a charge on both sides, no matter which side of that fence you lay on, there's a charge on both sides to not be a Pharisee about the conviction we have, and not to put the conviction we have onto somebody else in a way that causes them to stumble, or in a way that makes us the judge, when the truth is the Holy Spirit is the judge, right? But that's all kind of beside the point, but it felt like the Lord wanted me to say something about that. But he said, the peace of knowing you're made new in him, that's what this season is about, the newness of life. So whether you celebrate Christmas or not, this season and this time of the year can be about this, the newness of life. And then he said, the coming of a baby is celebrated, but more importantly, the hope of mankind was restored through a single act of God's will. So God restored the hope of mankind. You know, the word says that those who were without Christ, they were lost, they were without hope in the world, the Gentiles. But Jesus came, and he restored our hope. And then the Lord said this, it was by a single act of God's will. See, God chose to do that because he is love, even when we didn't deserve it. But he said this, I said, I will restore your hope as well when you call out to me in truth. Then I heard him say, I haven't missed a thing, not one moment. He's talking about your life, he's talking about my life. He said, I haven't missed a thing, not one moment. I'm right there with you, and I have hope for you. Hope restored this season in many ways. The Lord is promising a hope restored this season. You know, and I feel so sorry for people that don't, people that, they love Jesus and they've believed in the gospel, but they don't have a personal walk with the Holy Spirit because they have a framework of theology that says you can't hear from the Lord anymore, you can't hear from the Holy Spirit. But the Holy Spirit pours the love of Christ out into our hearts every day, and he builds us up, he strengthens us in our inner man on the inside, and he puts hope inside of us that the world can never take away. So I feel so sorry for people like that because God's plan was not for us to just conjure up hope or just get hope through, you know, our literal, our mind understanding the knowledge, right? But hope is meant to be something that starts in the heart, and it starts with a belief, a firm belief that God is good and he has good plans for me, and I don't need everything to go my way for life to be good. Why? Because God is able to take even the bad and turn it around and use it for good. Because God has a greater purpose to the pain. Because God can turn something around in an instant when I can't. What's impossible for me is possible with God. Because Jesus came and he made me a new creature, he made me a new creation, the old has passed away, the new has come, and I'm walking in that newness of life and the victory of Jesus Christ every single day. See, that is a hope that the world can never take away. Why? Because the world can only burn down what's here. It can't burn down God's heavenly kingdom. It cannot burn down the kingdom of heaven that's within us. Abraham was looking for a city and whose builder was God, like a place where God calls the shots, and that's what God has for us too. And the question I hear the Holy Spirit asking every single one of us today is, am I the one calling the shots when it comes to your personal life, when it comes to your identity, when it comes to your hope? Am I the one who's been allowed to tell you what to place your hope into or to get that life from? I hear the Lord saying, I want to be. I hear the Lord saying it because I want to take care of you in a way that you cannot take care of yourself. I hear the Lord saying, I have a hope for my people, but some of them have not even begun to fathom yet because they're still trying to make it work in an old mindset, an old pattern. And the Lord's saying, I want to set you free from that today. I heard the Lord say, hope restored the season in many ways. God is wanting to restore our hope again. That's what happened when Jesus came on the scene every single time. You see in scripture, every time Jesus showed up, people's hope was restored if they chose to accept him, if they chose to say yes, if they chose to have faith and just believe. And the truth is, none of them were good enough to receive from him. They got to receive from him because he's good. It's the same for us. The same is true for us today. I'm not good enough for God to do good things in my life. He does good things in my life and he has a good plan for me because he's good. That is the believer's rest right there, that I've come into a promised land that was of his making, of his doing, not mine. And I'm just coming in by faith. So this is 2 Corinthians 5. I want to show you this. This is what the Lord asked me to read. It's really awesome. 2 Corinthians 5, it says, For we know that if our earthly tent, which is our house, is torn down, we have a building from God. Now you could apply that to the things you have, your house, your home, all that kind of stuff. It's really talking about our bodies, right? And it says, a house not made by hands, eternal in the heavens. So we have a better dwelling and it's with God. And that dwelling, the act of dwelling with him starts today. It starts today because the Holy Spirit came out of the temple, came out of the Holy of Holies, and now he lives within believers. And look at this, for indeed, that makes us the Holy of Holies, that makes us the temple of God. The word says, not because we are righteous, but because Jesus is righteous and because he gifted that to us at the cross for all who believe. And look, it says, for indeed, in this tent we've grown, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven. So there is a part of us that knows this is not my eternal resting place, right? And that is why we must choose and learn to find our rest in Christ. Because if we don't, we are going to be looking for a place of rest in all the things the world has to offer that ultimately are going to fail us. And for many of us, those things have already failed, right? The things that the world promised. And the truth is, we have an eternal rest in Christ that we get to hold on to today. And that is where our hope is found. And this is the picture that Jesus gave us. In my Father's house, there are many rooms. It's a picture of living in the same house with God for eternity. And you wake up and you know you're down the hall from the Father, and you're in his house, and there is nothing in the universe that can touch you. You have a peace and a hope, and I don't even know if you'll go to bed in heaven, you know? So I don't think we're gonna sleep, but whatever. Maybe we can sleep for fun. But the picture there is you are safe in God's house, right? Well, the Word of God says that the Holy Spirit is building up the church into a dwelling of God. Dwelling place. So that's what we're meant to look like here and now. Believers dwelling together and housing the Spirit of God. And it's a place of safety, it's a place of rest in Christ. Not in our efforts, not in our church, not in our pastor, in Christ. Look at this. Since in fact, after putting it on, we will not be found naked. So God covers the shame, he covers the fear, he covers the anxiety, he covers the doubt. All the things that mess up this earthly dwelling place, God covers in Christ. And look, it says, for indeed we who are in this tent grown being burdened because we do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. So we want to be fully clothed by him in the sense that we enter the marriage supper of the Lamb. We're celebrating with Christ for eternity, right? But here's the ticket, here's the key right here, is we can start the celebration now by faith. No, we don't get to feel the full effects of it. No, all the pain does not go away. But that's the point of hope. The Word says, who hopes for what he already sees? God wants to put hope in our hearts and joy in our hearts despite the trial, despite the circumstance, so that we can be strong and we can endure until the end. Knowing this, I'm groaning some days, right? Because this is not my eternal home, but I'm going to go home someday. And guess what? Jesus, the Son of the Father, the Word says, they are making their home within me today through the power of the Holy Spirit. Now, he who prepared us for this very purpose is God who gave us the Spirit as a pledge. So this is the key right here. He gave us the Holy Spirit as a pledge. So we need the power of the Holy Spirit, the voice of the Holy Spirit in our life saying, don't give up hope. Don't listen to the lie. Don't be afraid. We need to hear him saying, I've got you. I'm going to come through for you. You know what the Lord has been telling me this year? The Holy Spirit's been saying, Troy, you never need to be afraid again. You don't have anything to be afraid of anymore. And to my natural mind, it sounds like a pipe dream, right? It sounds so unrealistic. But then I get into the Word and I see the same thing. Jesus said, do not worry about your life, what you'll eat or drink or about your clothes. He says, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. The Word says, if God be for you, who can be against you? It says, there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And it says that the love of Christ can never be separated from us. Jesus said, no one can snatch you out of the Father's hand. So if no one can snatch me out of the Father's hand, I have nothing to be afraid of. Why? Because everything here is temporary. But what's eternal cannot be shaken. This is verse seven. Look at this. It says, for we walk by faith. Look at that. We walk by faith, not by sight. Right? It says, who hopes for what he already sees? The Word says, who hopes for what he already sees? So we're walking by faith. It says, we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. So hope and faith are two different things, and oftentimes the church gets them confused, unfortunately. Hope can be described as an expectation or a feeling that everything is going to be okay, that something's going to change, that good things are coming, right? But that is not the same thing as faith. So when somebody says, I have faith, I'm just going to stand in faith that I'm going to win a million dollars, right? I prayed for it, and I'm standing in faith for it. That's not faith. That's hope. Now that might be a slightly misplaced hope, but that's what that is. That's hope, right? Now that's a very specific hope, but we can have hope that God's going to provide for us, absolutely, and we should. But what is faith? Faith is always based on something God has actually said. Faith is based on something that is written in the Word, that's clearly defined, or that the Holy Spirit has spoken to us, an utterance of the Holy Spirit to us, which utterances should be tested, right? The written Word does not need to be tested because it's true, but utterances should be tested. So what does that mean? Well, it means, God, I've heard you say this, but can I have a confirmation that that was really you? Why? Because I want to be able to stand in faith on this Word, not just in hope. I don't want to be hoping that that was you saying that. I want to stand in faith on what you've actually said, and that's the difference. We need to clearly define the two so we can understand, is this hope or is this faith? But at the same time, God wants to restore our hope again as a church, as a people of God, so that we can endure. And where does that start? It starts with understanding, God is so good, and God has given us access to him through his grace and is based on his new covenant in Christ Jesus. Look at this, and this is where we stay. We walk by faith, verse 7 says, not by sight, but we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore, we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to him. So what is it saying? We're walking by faith, and we have courage to face tomorrow. We have courage to face this next season. I have courage to face this next year. Why? Because my hope is in God. I'm walking in faith based on what he said, but I also have this supernatural courage, this hope inside of me that nothing can shake. And that's why when we misplaced our faith, for example, if I put my faith in a scripture that I had been taught wrong, and it was completely misapplied and misinterpreted, and then the Holy Spirit shows me, no, you're believing that wrong, right? That's not really what that's saying. And then I see it, and he shows me, and I go, oh, does that mean that all of my life toppled? My spiritual walk with the Lord is now crumbling and falling down? Absolutely not. Why? Because my hope is at the basis of that, and my hope says, no, God is good, and he understood that I was misapplying that, and he was still working around it and through it, and now he corrected me, and now the goodness of God is still going to shine through no matter what. And now I am going to be taught. I am going to walk humbly before him, and I'm going to allow him to change my perspective on it, right? But hope doesn't change. When the Holy Spirit's giving you hope, it doesn't change. Look at this. So what's the result? It says, we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to him. I want to be pleasing to the Lord. See, this is the part of the Word that I got that I think is so critical. It says, I will restore your hope as well when you call out to me in truth. So there's this idea that you feel the most in love with somebody when you're being honest with them and when they've been honest with you. So if I'm hiding my true self from someone and they're hiding like a spouse, for example, you know, if I'm hiding my true self from my spouse or they're hiding their true self, if we're not being honest with each other, there's no nearness, there's no closeness there, right? And yet what do we long for? Well, we long for nearness with the Lord. We were created for that, to walk with him, right? And so what happens is when there's a lack of sincerity in God's presence or in my walk with him, I am going to start to lose my hope. My hope is going to start to be degraded, and I'm going to have to start putting my hope into other things, and those things are going to fail. So sincerity actually ends up breeding hope in our walk with the Lord. Why? Because sincerity means my heart is drawing close to him, and when I draw near to him, he draws near to me, and he restores my hope, right? But when I'm insincere, and I'm not seeking him in truth, I'm just seeking him for what I can get out of him, and my ambition is wrong, see? It says, therefore, we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to him. See, if my ambitions are something other than to be pleasing to God, I'm not going to have the courage I need, and I'm going to wonder, why am I blown and tossed around? Why does it feel like one season I'm up a little, another season I'm down, and everything that happens is throwing me against a wall, and it's because I'm not putting my hope in his plan. I'm putting my hope in my plan, and I'm trying to use God's word, I'm trying to use his power to get there. But when we approach him in truth and in sincerity of the heart, what are we saying? God, not my will be done, your will be done, and I don't care what happens to the rest of my life, I honestly don't. The only thing I want is you and your presence. I just want to walk with you. What comes? Well, I'll tell you what, the fruit of the spirit comes, because it's his nearness is right there, and there's peace, and there's joy, and there's love, and I'll tell you what else, there's safety. There's a feeling of belonging, there's a sense of being home, and every day we wake up and our hearts are full of hope, and there's a courage. You know, I have never seen somebody be as courageous as children who have a secure understanding of their parents' love for them. It's like, you're courageous about all the wrong things, you're willing to say anything that comes to your mind, you're willing to act silly and weird in front of strangers, and just assuming that everything's going to be fine, but why is that? There's a lesson that we can learn there. It's because they know their parents have their back, and we all didn't have that growing up, and that's fine, but God can replace that. You know, where our hope got skewed and our understanding of safety and security got skewed, God can heal that. He can replace it with an understanding of himself and the truth about who he is and what he's done for us, and his love, how deep his love goes, and how he's never going to leave us, never forsake us, the word says. The word says even if a mother would forget her own children, I'm not going to forget you, my people. And so there's a safety there, there's a security there. Look at verse 17. It says, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, new things have come. So this is where God wants us to live forever, starting now, not starting in eternity. Now, I am a new creature in Christ Jesus. The old things have passed away, and God has a place of security and rest that I can dwell in for the called resting in the believer's rest in Christ Jesus. It is called taking on the nature of my Savior through becoming a new creation and walking and participating in this new covenant that he's given me. And look how we are meant to participate. See, look at this, verse 18. Now, all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. So first off, we've got to understand we didn't come to him, we didn't get to him, we didn't save ourselves. God reconciled us, meaning he brought us back into friendship with him when we were far away and we could not fix our problem, our own problem, which was sin. Jesus's blood covered our sin when we believed in him, but he's the one that did the work. We chose to accept it, that free gift. And if you need that today, do not wait. Do not put that off. God has a beautiful relationship and friendship with you for you, my friend, and that's found in Christ Jesus, found in believing what he did for you on the cross. When his blood was shed, his body was torn on that cross, he paid a heavy ransom to bring you back into fellowship with the Father. Heavy price for our sin so that we could be forgiven and made righteous in God's eyes. Such a beautiful, beautiful picture, the Father's love for us. But for us who are believers, we need to remember, this is how I was reconciled. He reconciled us to himself. I didn't reconcile myself to him. And then after that, he gave me the ministry of reconciliation. So we do life and we do ministry and we do our walk with Jesus wrong when we don't realize that I've been reconciled, and because of that, I've been given the ministry of reconciliation. When I don't realize that God reconciled me and I think somehow I've done it, I'm going to put that same standard on everybody else, and it's going to be a ministry of condemnation instead of a ministry of reconciliation. But there is no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus. So if God's not changing me through a spirit of condemnation, why do I think I can change other people through a spirit of condemnation? I've got to take part in the spirit of reconciliation, the Holy Spirit. I've got to take part in the new covenant, and guess what's found in the new covenant? Well, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, the love of God, the fruit of the Spirit follows the one who's walking in the new covenant. Look at this, verse 19, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world himself, not counting their wrongdoings against them, and he has committed to us the word of reconciliation. What is that? That is the good news. And so what has God asked us to preach to the world and to the church is the word of reconciliation. God has not counted your wrongdoings against you. He reconciled you, the world, to himself through Christ. That is the good news. And you and I don't graduate from that. That's good news too. Because some of us were thinking, yes, that's good news. It applied to me the day I got saved. But today, now I'm a Christian, now I should know better. And I hear the Lord saying, that's old covenant. The joy comes back. My hope returns when you step into the new. This still applies to us. Why? Because there's no condemnation at all, the NASB says, for those who are in Christ Jesus. So the ministry of reconciliation is still for us. Okay, look at this, 2 Corinthians 2.14. This is where God wants us to live, okay? But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ and through us reveals the fragrance of the knowledge of Him in every place. So we are meant to always have a heart of gratitude. And when we understand what Jesus has fully done for us, when we are accepting that daily and we are walking in the newness of life that Jesus has provided to us, He's leading us in triumph. This is not a, I'm getting beat down every day and at least I'm taking another one for the Lord. I'm taking another one for the team. I'm going to be better off because of it. No, we are being led, He leads us in triumph in Christ. It doesn't mean it's perfect. It doesn't mean it's never painful. But it's a victorious mindset that is found in an eternal hope that never changes. It says, and through us reveals the fragrance of the knowledge of Him in every place. So you can tell, you can tell. And the picture here is a beautiful fragrance for those who are willing to accept it, but it's not beautiful for those who are not. And this is oftentimes how you know if the Holy Spirit is on something or not, is that when you get around other believers, they get excited when that message or that teaching or that video or that book, whatever, when, or that church, that service, when people that are outside get around it, there's a divide there, right? And even those in the church that are not walking by the Spirit, it causes a lot of controversy. People go nuts, right? Some people are so on board and other people are like, no, this is from the devil, and they, you know, it's like the same thing happened when Jesus walked around on the earth. He was changing lives and delivering people and healing people left and right and setting people free, and yet the religious were causing a stir everywhere He went. It's because they were living in the wrong kingdom, and to them, He smelled like an aroma of death. To them, He smelled like an aroma that they didn't like, right? Look at this. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? But look at the believers, like when we are understanding what God has given us, it says we literally are meant to be an aroma from life to life. And so it's like the fragrance of the gospel is woven throughout every aspect of our life, and the Holy Spirit's the one weaving it, and it's this beautiful, just like, you know, the word says from life to life here. It also says we go from faith to faith. It also says we go from glory to glory. God has said it just gets better and better in the new covenant. Now, does that mean my body's getting better and better? Sometimes, right? I've been healed miraculously some days, but guess what? I'm still getting older, right? I don't have as much hair as I used to have, and that's okay. Why? Because someday I'm gonna have a better body. My body's not as strong as it used to be, right? And that's okay. Now, I firmly believe that, you know, God can restore our youth like the eagles, you know, and He does that in various ways, but He doesn't do it in every way that we would want, and that's okay, because my hope is not in this life. My hope is not in my body lasting forever, because it's not going to. My hope is not in a legacy that I leave here, because we've seen how easily a legacy can get twisted as soon as somebody is gone. But my hope is in what Jesus has done, and that hope starts today, and it lasts for eternity. Look at this, for we are not like the many peddling the word of God. Oh, it says, and who is adequate for these things? But we are not like the many peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God. So there's a sincerity that follows the believer that's living in this new covenant, living as a new creation in Christ Jesus, and it's the sincerity of heart that helps us to draw near to God. And so there's a question I have for you today. If you're waiting for that hope to be restored, the question is, are you willing to draw near to Him in truth? Meaning, I'm not just getting near to you to get what I want, but I just want you. And Lord, if there's something that I'm chasing after that's not from you, will you show me? Will you help to transform and change my heart? Why? Because I don't want to be the old creation anymore. If there's an old creation mindset in my mind, if there's an old creation ambition in my heart, will you help to transform that to the new and help me to walk in the new, help me to walk by the Spirit? Every single step from the old to the new is a step of where God's going to say, this is the truth. Are you willing to walk in it? We say, yes. Where He says, you've been made righteous by the blood of Christ. Are you willing to believe that every single day, that that's how you've been made adequate? We say, yes. Are you willing to believe you've been reconciled to God through Christ, meaning you get to come boldly before the throne of grace every day? God's not keeping you at arm's length anymore. Are you willing to believe that? We say, yes, Lord. Even when my emotions tell me differently, even when my mind tells me differently, even when my track record tells me differently, I'm going to believe that because that's what you said. That's the truth. And that's a new way of thinking. Luke, here's Luke 22, 20. See, Jesus, the first miracle that He ever does is the, turns water into wine, His public miracle. He turns water into wine, right? And it's at a celebration, celebratory event. There's a wedding feast going on, the wedding in Cana. And a wedding is a celebration. There's a lot of people coming together. It's a community of people. And it has to do with the joining of two into one, right? And well, look at this. This is Luke 22, 26. It says, the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest and the leader like the servant. So Jesus is talking about His communion. That's what He's talking about. And look at verse 20. It says, in the same way, He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, this cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. So the new covenant, He's talking about the wine of the new covenant, right? It's represented by the blood of Christ. So we get to celebrate wine because Jesus' blood is covered over every single one of our sins. But it's also issued us into a new way of living, right? And what is that new way of living? Well, it's a celebration that we don't deserve, where we were invited to the wedding feast, just like the parable where Jesus tells the story of the wedding feast. And the people that were invited, they didn't come, right? But we're invited. Why? Because He's made room at the table for us. And where did He find us? In the highways and the byways, you know, on the side of the road. Like, we weren't worthy to come, but He gave us wedding garments and we accepted them and we came in. And so we're at a celebration we don't deserve to be at, right? Because of His blood. But look at this. What's the response? What's the response? In verse 26, He says, the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest and the leader, the servant. The response is, I don't deserve to be here, but I am and I'm celebrating with the body. There's a group of individuals coming together to celebrate, right? And what are we celebrating? Well, it's the joining of two into one, which is the marriage supper of the Lamb, the body of Christ with Christ, right? So the body is taking care of one another and we're here to serve one another. That's the response. And so when we become this new creature in Christ, when we start to walk in the new covenant, we respond by, I'm so grateful, so thankful, this is a joyous occasion, you know, and there's joy coming out of my heart and let me just, let me just be a joy to you, you know, like, let me bless you, let me help you, let me become a servant to you, right? Look at verse 30. It says, this is Luke 22, just as my Father has granted me a kingdom, I grant you that you may eat and drink at my table, in my kingdom. So He's talking to His disciples who they were bickering over who's the greatest, right? He tells them, it's not about being the greatest, it's not about your selfish ambitions, it's about what's pleasing to the Lord. And He's called us all into a community of believers in the body of Christ, and yes, that even the ones we don't agree with, if you're really saved, we're together in this, right? And we can at least unite around the truth of the gospel and what Jesus has done for us, you know, even when we disagree on the secondary issues, but we're meant to serve one another. And the picture there is, ultimately, we're going to be eating and drinking at His table, in His kingdom, and that is going to be a day of complete and utter celebration and joy. And nobody is ever going to take that away from you if you know Jesus. That day's coming someday, and there's full safety, complete security, complete oneness, complete wholeness in Him, and God has given us the Holy Spirit as the down payment of that pledge. And right now, today, the Holy Spirit wants to speak to your heart and say, I'm renewing, I'm restoring your hope again. Let me build you up. I hear the Lord saying this for some people, let me make you a whole person. You felt incomplete, you felt lacking for a long time. Colossians says we've been made complete in Him. So you can be made complete. This is not going to make everybody happy, me saying this, but you can be made complete as an individual, as a human being, in Christ through believing what He's done for you at the cross. Yes, God is going to keep working on all those other things. He's going to continue healing the hurts. He's going to continue renewing the mind. He's going to continue to heal the heart, right, and to change us every single day to make us look more like Jesus. But guess what? Today, by faith, we've been made complete in Him. The Lord is asking some people to start saying that every day, to say, I'm not incomplete anymore. I've been made complete in Him, in Christ. I'm a new creation in Christ Jesus. The old has passed away, behold, the new has come. Nobody's taking that away from me. Thank you, Jesus, for what you've done for me. We can say, Lord, I thank you that today is the day of salvation. Yes, I accepted this the day I got saved, but all of this truth, all this revelation of your new covenant is available to me today as well. And I get to walk in it, and the joy that comes out of believing that, out of knowing that. I hear the Lord saying, my spirit is here to help you. I'm not going to leave you alone in this. I'm right there with you. That's all I've got for you today. I pray that this was encouraging. Thank y'all so much for joining me. Y'all are awesome. Thank you so much for the encouraging comments. For those that are supporting this ministry, these videos, I just want to say a huge thank you. I try to get a response to every single person, and if I miss you, I'm so sorry about that, but I just want to say thank you so much for that. It does mean the world to us, and thank you so much for praying for us. I meant to say this at the beginning, I forgot. Please pray for me and my family. We're okay, but it has been a very challenging season. There's been a lot of stress, and just a lot of what feels like one thing after another, and we could use the prayer. And I know that God is good, and that He is working everything out for good, and so I'm not worried about it. I'm just asking for prayer for that reason, and I know that God is going to bring some relief for us. But I love y'all, and thank you so much for joining me, and I'll see y'all next time.