A Collection of Devotionals From Pastor Logan, Bianca, Stacey and Robert

Hey, guys, once again, it's such an honor and a blessing to be able to speak into your life through the Pando app from Life Fellowship Church here in McKinney, Texas. We are so blessed and so honored. My name is Logan Williams. My TDC number was 1490218. I have four numbers after that, so I understand being in places that you are, being round and round and round, because I know many of you that are there, it's not your first time there. It's maybe your second time or your third time. And I understand those feelings of, man, is this it? Am I ever going to get past this? Am I ever going to figure this life thing out? Am I ever going to stop coming to places like this? I understand that. And I just want to tell you that and encourage you that all things are possible with Christ. He's just looking for your yes, and he is looking for you to just get all in with him because he has a plan and a purpose for your life that you can't even fathom or imagine if you could just step in to your purpose. Everyone has a purpose on their life. They have a calling on their life. Romans 11 29 says the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. That means they can't be taken away, canceled out, changed, omitted, edited, it's like he changes his mind. It's irrevocable. And we need to know that. We need to know that in our hearts that that thing that he has put in your heart that just gets kind of gets your juices flowing when you think about it, man, it'd be really cool to do that. Man, I really see a need right there and I'd love to do that. That's what it is for you.

And it's irrevocable. It can't be taken away by anyone because God put it in you. And so I want to just encourage everybody in that. And I want to remind you that you can have your friends and family download the same Pando app on their phone so y'all can watch the same services together. Lots of awesome stuff on the Pando app. And then you can talk about it when you see each other and you can grow together. We were never meant to do this walk alone. And even if you're behind bars, men, you can still lead your family. Women, you can still lead your children. Believe the lie that it's all over because I'm here. It's not. It's not. Again, God can do anything. So I was reading Colossians this morning and God kind of put it on my heart to just talk about Colossians chapter one with you guys. And I really don't know what I'm going to say about that. But I'm looking through it and, you know, it starts with a greeting. You know, Paul always just greets the people that he's writing to in an amazing way. And since, man, we always pray for you, we always give thanks for you. We've heard of your faith and your love for all of God's people. And a lot of times we feel the same way about you guys. When we go and we visit facilities, you know, we like, man, it's really popping off here. And so I want to tell you the same thing, man, we pray for you. We've heard about your faith. I know that God is raising up an army behind bars, behind the wire. He's raising it up there and he's doing it in the young adults. I see it. That's where God is. And God's going to do it, man.

God's going to raise you guys up. And then he goes into verse nine. He's going to he's going to talk about how he prays for the church. And Colossae says, so we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. And so when I read verses like this, man, I want you to think, born again believer. Okay. I want you to think, am I, is this me? Do I, do I pray like this? Do I have the same heart for others that Paul has for this church? So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of him. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. It's like, are you praying that I have to ask myself, Logan, do you, am I praying for other people to have complete knowledge of his will and spiritual understanding? Then the way you, then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord. And you will live to produce every kind of fruit. All the while you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. And we also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power. So you will have all the endurance and patience you need, man, that's a prayer. You can be praying for your brothers, your sisters, the people at your table doing Bible studies, the people that you do this walk with in your church there at whatever facility that you're at, that they be strengthened with his glorious power. So you will have the endurance and patience that you need. Because, man, I know that in the situation that you're in, And you need endurance, and you need patience. That is a place, I say it all the time, if you can begin to practice these spiritual principles in the place that you're at, you're gonna be miles ahead when you get out here because it's easier out here, it just is.

So as he has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people who live in the light. So am I living in the light? Is there any darkness in my heart? These are the questions I ask as I read the word. Am I in the light? Do I have something I need to confess to somebody? Do I have something that I need to confess to God? Do I have something that I need to get from the dark to the light so that God can sever it from my life? For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into his marvelous light. It actually says the kingdom of his dear son who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. He purchased our freedom. Am I free? I need to ask myself. And forgave our sins. Do I really believe that he forgave my sins? Do I really believe that my sins have been thrown in the sea of forgetfulness, that east from the west, that he remembers our sins and our lawless deeds no more? Do I believe that? Because there's lots of times that sometimes I don't. There's a lot of times that maybe in my mind, I won't say, oh, I don't feel forgiven, but in my heart, in my subconscious, I'm always kind of bringing up all those things that I've done to God. And if the word of God is true, he's saying,

what are you talking about? Like I died for that. It's gone. It's east from the west. It's in the sea of forgetfulness because I just believe with all my heart that many of you who are watching this video, you wouldn't be watching this video in the places that you're at if God wasn't drawing, trying to woo you, trying to draw you, leaving 99 to come after you, searching for you like a lost coin, searching for you. That should give you encouragement. Like he's after you. And so there's a calling on your life. And sometimes we can get in this mindset of, yeah, there may be a calling on my life, but God would never use me after I did all those things. And what he's saying is he purchased our freedom and forgave us our sins. That's verse 14. Says that Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation. For through him, God created everything. And in the heavenly realms and on earth, he made the things we can see and the things we can't see, such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.

Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. That's a good verse because he's saying that we are all part of one body and he is the head. And a body needs all the parts. Maybe you got some brothers and sisters there that are kind of unlovable. Maybe you just don't get along with them. Maybe they just annoy you. Maybe they're still immature and they're not, that's why they annoy you, because they're still doing immature stuff. They're still gossiping about people. They're still, whatever it is. But if they're a part of the body, the body needs that. A body needs the fingernail as much as he needs the shoulder as much as he needs the foot. And so this paints on a canvas that we all need each other. And if I harm, if I take an ax and I cut myself in the leg, it affects the whole body. So if I do something to harm my brother that annoys me, that's over here, I'm really harming myself because we're all part of one body. And so if we can get that in our heart, it changes how we interact with people. It changes how we, maybe we start praying for people. These same prayers that we were just talking about, maybe we can pray those for the people that annoy us.

And when we start doing that, when we start getting trained like that, man, it changes things and the church takes off. And the last verse that I really love in Colossians chapter one is verse 27. It says, for God wanted them to know the riches and glory of Christ who are for you. And this is the secret, Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory. in another version it says Christ in you the hope of glory like if you're born again if you're if you're a follower if you're a believer he's not just kind of close to you he's not just I don't know for the leaders for the pastors he's not just close to to the worship team or the people who are living right he is closer than the breath that we take he is in you the hope of glory that should give us hope man and so I just want to encourage you guys today thank you for watching God's after you if you're watching we're in them and we just began an interesting series called kiss and tell and there's a lot of good information that we can learn about being in relationship with people about the words that we speak how they can create or they can destroy about how we can pray for one another about how we can change some of our mindsets and some of our belief systems to have a better godly relationship so I hope you guys get a lot out of it thank you guys for watching again man God's amazing just a little bit of my testimony I shot dope for 25 years in and out of prison in and out of jails crime and all the stuff that goes along with that and suddenly man he met me right where I was at in a hotel room and I just I just surrendered and I just walked out of there and he's had me every every step of the way that surrender part was a difficult part because there were many more things I had to surrender as we did the walk but that's what he's asking for and I know you that you guys are tired of being where you're at and so man just wave the surrender flag and if you don't know Jesus man I want you to have a moment

with him I want you to cry out to him that there's nothing like what he did on that cross that's the greatest news that we have what he did on that cross there's no love there's no forgiveness there's no grace there's nothing like it and if you want to just wave that surrender flag you can lay all that stuff down at the feet of Jesus you can surrender it all and he and he is with you he is he will be closer than the air you breathe so Heavenly Father I just lift up these men and women who are watching I thank you for their hearts I know that you love them well the love that we can't even fathom or imagine and I thank you for for the Pando app just for the technology to be able to speak life into them where they can be edified and they can take their free time and chase after you God I pray that if anyone's watching that doesn't know you that you would just reveal yourself in a mighty way to them right now I just declare salvation I just declare healing and freedom and bonds breaking in Jesus name over them God I I've seen men freer that are in prison than some of the people in the free world because they're free in their hearts because you have touched them you have you have entered into them and they understand that they understand that that that you your Holy Spirit dwells within them and so God that's what I pray for all these men and women today and ask that you would bless their families as they're gone and ask that you would just continue to woo them continue to draw them we love you we give you all the praise and glory in Jesus name amen you know I just got one more question whose house God's house let's give him some praise hey guys my name is Stacey Hunter and I am a prison volunteer here at Life Fellowship Church it is a privilege and an honor to be here to be able to speak to you guys today my TDC number is two three seven seven zero six one and I have one more after that I was addicted to anything that would keep me from feeling the pain of my past and just reality in general so I was addicted to anything that made me feel good whether that be sex drugs money rock and roll you name it men the bad boys I was addicted to anything that made me feel good and anything that kept me from feeling the reality of what was going on in my life which was complete

destruction but God moved in my life in 2018 I started to come back to him I was a prodigal and he has totally redeemed my life and restored my sanity and all the good things that he's great at and he can do the same for you too so this morning I was in Ephesians 5 and I want to share what God shared with me with you guys. So in Ephesians 5 verses 15 through 17 it says be careful then how you live not as unwise but as wise making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil and I want to stop there. Learning to walk wisely well first of all God says if we want wisdom all we got to do is ask. Ask for his wisdom and that's a daily thing that we need to be pursuing is to ask God for his wisdom to be able to make wise decisions and this Christian walk is no game it's no different than if a soldier is training for war the soldier doesn't walk onto the battlefield without training first which without going through boot camp and learning how to defend himself learning how to use the rifles on building up his instincts and all the things that comes along with that he's got to prepare for the unexpected challenges that he's gonna face when he steps on the battlefield right and just like we have to prepare for the spiritual battle that lies ahead you have to prepare for walking out that door the day that you get released because the enemy is around the corner waiting so right now and it says making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil so right now as you're sitting there and you have all this time on your hands why not pursue the things of God why not get in his word and learn his will because verse 17 says therefore do not be foolish but understand what the Lord's will is and how do we understand that by reading his word and letting his word renew our minds and so instead of getting involved in all the mess that goes on inside the prisons instead of getting involved with all the chaos and all the disorder why not be different why not be set apart while you're there because as believers were called to be set apart from the world learning God's will takes active participation by reading and understanding and gaining insight into how we can apply God's Word to our daily

lives and that leads me to read Galatians 5 1 it is for freedom that Christ has set us free so stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery he says stand firm and don't let yourselves be burdened again by yoke of slavery and how do we do that self-examination look at your life look at all the decisions that you've made that that brought you to where you are today grab a grab a journal grab some godly friends that are gonna surround you and support you in this walk that are gonna be good for you God will bring those people into your life if you just ask ask him and you guys can sit down and try to make an action plan for how what's gonna what you're gonna do what you're gonna do when you step out that gate what you do now matters it matters let me pray for you guys dear Heavenly Father God we just come before you Lord just so grateful for today Lord thank you for waking us up this morning Lord thank you for your wisdom thank you that we can go to you and ask for it Lord this morning that's what we ask for is your wisdom Lord I pray for everyone under the sound of my voice today Lord I pray that you will ignite a fire deep down in their soul Lord for the things of you Lord I pray that you will start to do the changes that are necessary in their hearts father God but more than anything that they will surrender to it Lord because we have to be willing and Lord you're the one that's gonna make the way Lord and we just give you praise and honor father God for all that you're doing in their lives right now Lord I pray for open doors of opportunities for when they do step out that gate father God that they will be in a place exactly where they can get the support that they need where people can pour into them and feed them the word Lord Jesus and and be good for them Lord it's been too long so Lord I just pray that over them this morning I thank you Lord just for being who you are Lord we just love you so much in Jesus name I pray amen let me tell you a story it was August of 1959 coach Vince Lombardi had just got hired on as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers and this is before the Packers became title town and on the first day on the job he walks into the Packers facility and he gathers up his

team and he says this and keep in mind the Packers are coming off 11 straight losing seasons and he says this he says now gentlemen we will relentlessly chase Parkers perfection, knowing we can't catch it, but we will relent because nothing is perfect, but we will relentlessly and he said it with that much emphasis relentlessly chase perfection. Because in the in the process, we will catch excellence. And then he said that I have remotely no interest in being average. And that was in the first season of his coaching tenure. He turned them into a winning team and eventually into multi time champions, because he had a mindset of wanting to be the best that they possibly could. When I first heard Coach Lombardi say that man, I wanted to build a time machine and break the space time continuum and go play for those Packer teams until I realized Packer fans went to hell. Actually I'm just kidding. That's reserved for Eagle fans. By the way, if you're an Eagle fan, Logan told me to say that. But that's a statement I live my life by. I just changed it up a little bit. I will relentlessly chase the perfection of Christ, knowing that I can't catch it because I have a sinful nature, but I will relentlessly chase it. And in the process, by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, I will catch excellence. And I feel like whenever Coach Lombardi made that statement, I feel like that was a very wise statement. I really could write a whole book on this, but we live in an age of endless knowledge with resources like books, sermons, podcasts, but I feel like wisdom, it feels so rare and we're constantly being informed. Actually check out this stat and I came across this the other day. In a single day, the average person consumes more information than someone in 1970 would encounter in their entire lifetime. So in other words, on average, we get a lifetime's worth of information given to us every single

day. The average person lives 78.4 years. So if we turn that into an equation, if we turn that into an equation and multiply 78.4 by 365 days, we get 28,616. That means we get 28,616 lifetimes worth of information in our one life on average. Which in a vacuum is a good thing, but at what point are we putting this abundance of information into action? And I feel like in the action is where God's wisdom is activated. We live in the most knowledge rich era in human history. Yet the rates of anxiety, yet the rates of anxiety, depression, and burnout are also at the highest levels they've ever been. So here's the conclusion I came to. We are so desperate for the, we are so desperate for the wisdom of God. What's up everybody. My name is Robert. Good morning, man. I'm so grateful to have you guys just to be able to speak into your life. So what is information? I mean, I'm sorry. What is wisdom? Wisdom is not information alone. Proverbs 9, 10, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. For me, this raises a few questions. What does it mean to fear the Lord? What does wisdom look like in action? How can wisdom change the course of our lives in a practical way? That passage of scripture tells me something foundational that wisdom, it doesn't start with information and wisdom starts with the love and a respect and a reverence for God. We often refuse knowing facts with living wisely because we can know scripture and theology and facts, but we can still live busy and unfruitful lives.

We can be active yet ineffective. We can be informed, but also be misaligned. Why? Because information alone does not transform. Information that's put into application leads to tremendous transformation. And so we have this odd thing, I feel like, where we think as long as we know it, we don't have to do it. And we think, so we think knowing it is as good as doing it and it's not. And here's the problem with that kind of thinking. When we hear, but we don't heed, there's a little more callous that gets put on our heart. Our heart becomes a little bit more hardened over time. And we can start to become desensitized to hearing the Holy Spirit in our heart. So that's why the scripture says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom begins when God is rightly placed at the center of our lives. So wisdom is not just knowing what is right, but wisdom is also living aligned with what is right. And so God's wisdom, it teaches us how to think like him. One of the greatest gifts is that we have access to the thoughts of God. In other words, God's wisdom starts in our thoughts. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he, Proverbs 23, 7. So even before we can think right, we have to have the right heart posture. We can't fear the Lord if our heart is not, is misaligned with his heart. Scripture says in first Corinthians that we have the mind of Christ. So thinking like God doesn't mean knowing everything God knows. It just means seeing and thinking about life through his perspective. Our natural instinctive thought patterns are to think short term and self protectively and emotionally driven and to be reactionary. But when we read Isaiah 55, it actually gives us a clue to how God thinks. It says this, that let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man, his thoughts for my thoughts are not your thoughts and my ways are not your

ways for as high as the heavens are from the earth. So are my ways from your ways and my thoughts from your thoughts. At first glance for me, this could sound like kind of a harsh scripture because it sounds like God may be distancing himself from us. But whenever I, whenever I kind of meditate on it and I think about it more and I bring it into the new covenant, I can realize that it's not, the scripture isn't, isn't a condemnation of us, but it's, it's an invitation because in Christ we are no longer the unrighteous, but we are now the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, which means this passage, which means Isaiah 55, isn't God pushing us away. It's, it means it's God's, God is calling us upward. It's, it's an invitation to think on his level. He's telling us to come think the way I think. So how does God think? He thinks higher. What are his ways? His ways are higher. As high as the heavens are from the earth, so are his thoughts from our thoughts. He's inviting us to think bigger. This, this, this is wisdom, wisdom. It lifts our thinking above our fear, our emotions, our short-term reactions and our earthly limitations. And it, and wisdom invites us to think from heaven's perspective. It doesn't just correct our thoughts, but it elevates them. We'll see this in action later. Whenever I tell a story about this from a man and God that's in the, that's in the Bible. So God, God's wisdom allows us to lift our thinking above the moment. And that's where clarity begins. Now getting a download from heaven is, is great, but it's worthless until we, until we're able to do something with it. So thinking it brings clarity, action leads to success and God's wisdom lives in both.

So I'll say it again, thinking it brings clarity action leads to success. God's wisdom lives in both clarity without action is just stagnation clarity. I'm sorry. Action without wisdom is just chaotic and reckless. James says this, do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves, but do what it says. Wisdom. It's always going to move us from insight into obedience. And there's literally infinite dimensions of God's wisdom. But I just want to look at a few, um, because that's all I have time for, but God's wisdom is not abstract. It's actually multidimensional. It has many different elements when access to become, it can become the rocket fuel for our lives, for how we live, lead, decide and grow. And so dimension number one is God's wisdom. It brings clarity, teach us to number our days that we may gain that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90 verse 12. So wisdom, it clarifies our priorities. It helps us stop wasting time on things that don't matter. Focus on what produces fruit in our lives and say no without guilt so that we can give our best. Yes. Somewhere else. Clarity doesn't, it doesn't mean knowing everything, but it just means that we know what deserves our attention. The second dimension is God's wisdom produces discernment. Wisdom separates what looks good from what is good. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach and it will be given to him. James one five. And this I pray that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment that you may approve that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ. That's Philippians as Philippians chapter one,

verse nine through 10 discernment is wisdom applied to decisions. Discernment helps us ask, is this God's wisdom or is this God's will? Or is it just, or is it just a good idea? Is this opportunity or distraction? Is this timing or impulse discernment protects our future by helping us choose correctly and not just confidently. The third dimension is God's wisdom directs our steps. Wisdom. It shows us what's next. One of the most powerful dimensions is that God's wisdom doesn't just give us clarity and discernment, but it also directs our steps. This is key wisdom. It moves us forward. It takes what God has revealed and it turns it into action. Clarity helps us see, but discernment helps us decide and direction tells us what to do next. Trust in the Lord. All your heart and lean not on your own understanding and in all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths Proverbs 3 5 through 6 notice the promise that God doesn't just give wisdom, but he gives direction Many people assume that they're stuck because they lack opportunity But the truth is most people are stuck because they lack direction. They don't know what step to take next They don't know where they don't know where they're headed And when direction is missing discouragement can set in and that's why vision matters one of my favorite scriptures is Proverbs 29 18 where there is no prophetic vision the people quickly wander astray in other words when people don't know where they're going They begin to wander away they begin nobody ever nobody ever drifted to a desired location and This is where the enemy loves to trap people in a victim mindset And I feel like a lot of us may be in a season where? Ma'am, I where we think our life is done We don't know what to do next and we missed our opportunities But I want to tell you plainly that that mindset is a trap of the enemy and he wants to keep you there God's wisdom it calls us out of passivity and into vision

We need vision. We need God sized dreams. We need bold We we need to pray bold prayers because vision it restores our hope and in hope it hope Helps enable our direction God's wisdom doesn't just help you survive where you are. It shows you where you're going and how to get there The next dimension is God's wisdom multiplies our impact God's wisdom doesn't just help us keep things running it helps us increase what we've been entrusted with and Wisdom moves us from maintenance. I call it hitting the quota of expectations to Multiplication many people are faithful to meet the quota of their responsibilities. We can show up to work Fulfill the job description and do what's required and all that is well and good But God doesn't just God didn't design us just to maintain he designed us to multiply I'll say it this way if the expectations and the responsibilities placed on us are a Level five and you choose to go above and beyond those multiple those and multiply those expectations to attend you've just doubled your value and that gap between what's expected of you and and what you put in what you produce I call that like the the The gap of excellence and so does that make sense like this is how people grow that's how people That's how trust is built. That's how you get promotions That that's how you gain favor with people who have the keys to unlocking so you to unlocking your desired future Jesus said it plainly he who is faithful and what is least is also faithful and much and he who is unjust and what is least is also unjust and much and Jesus so he's not just talking about money, even though that's the main passage. He's talking about stewardship and He's talking about stewardship of our priorities of our disciplines of our of our responsibilities He's saying if you're faithful where you are, he will entrust you with more Wisdom understands that everything we have is built on something that we've been entrusted with. So wisdom it's so Wisdom is not gonna ask. How do I survive this season wisdom is gonna ask how can I steward this season? Well that shifted mindset right there can change your whole life Now, let me just say there's something important especially for leaders church leaders multiplication without integrity becomes destruction This is something I tell people right up front whenever I get to talk to them when you step into

Leadership you forfeit the idea of a private life. There is no public version of you and a private version of you You live one life The next dimension of God's wisdom is God's wisdom is limitless and we can study this for the rest of our lives, but the last but God's wisdom it accelerates our growth It doesn't eliminate process, but it redeems the time One of the clearest pictures of this is found in John 2 when Jesus turns water into wine we have to talk about this as the first miracle, but It's also something else. It's also a story of accelerated growth If you know anything about wine, you know, it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's Wine-making, you know that wine it doesn't it doesn't just become great overnight the natural process takes time and patience and fermentation and aging grapes are harvested and they sit for years And generally speaking the longer the process the higher the quality of the wine So the so the time it adds depth and maturity and richness That's like the normal process for wine making but what's remarkable is that? Jesus jesus accelerates that process And the master of the feast says that everyone brings out the choice wine first, but you have served the best till now In other words, Jesus didn't just accelerate the process He preserved the quality of the wine because god's wisdom doesn't just create cheap shortcuts. It produces mature results without wasted time. This miracle shows us something about how God works. God can do in a single moment what normally would take us years without violating the purpose, the integrity, or the excellence. By the way, what did Jesus do to the fig tree? He cursed it. In other words, God curses things that don't grow. Again, who was faithful and rebuked in Matthew 25?

It was the one who was stagnant and the one that played it safe. So change is inevitable, but growth is optional. And that's what wisdom does. Wisdom helps us grow. Wisdom, it shortens learning curves. Wisdom, it shortens learning curves. It prevents unnecessary mistakes and it redeems seasons that would otherwise be wasted. Listen to advice and accept discipline and at the end of it, you will be counted among the wise, as Proverbs 19.12. So wisdom allows us to learn from instruction instead of regret, from discernment instead of consequences, and obedience instead of burnout. But let me just be clear that God's wisdom does not remove all the process, all processes. It just removes unnecessary processes. Some lessons, they just take time and some lessons take time because we refuse wisdom. So wisdom, it doesn't bypass character. It just accelerates our maturity. Some of you are praying for growth, but God is inviting you into his wisdom. Wisdom, it helps us avoid detours, keeps you from repeating the same lessons with the same mistakes. And it allows God to move you forward faster

without breaking you. And this is why wisdom is rocket fuel. It doesn't just help us move. It helps us move well and wisely. In short, God's wisdom clarifies, it discerns, it directs and multiplies and it accelerates our lives. In closing, I just wanna give you an example of someone who was full of God's wisdom. And the last aspect of this is God's wisdom invites us to think like heaven. And we see this in Acts 7, 8, and 9 with the story of the first martyr, Stephen. Stephen, he's arrested and he's falsely accused and he's dragged before the religious authorities. And standing before there in the same crowd was a man that was named Saul. And this man would later become the apostle Paul. But Saul is there and he's approving and enabling and overseeing what's happening. He's handing out rocks, he's encouraging people to stone Stephen. And as Stephen is being stoned, he's being tortured and murdered. He looks into heaven, not at his physical circumstances. He doesn't look at the crowd or at the stones or even pay attention to his pain. He looks into heaven because Stephen feared the Lord. So we can assume that he was a man of wisdom. He revered God, he loved God. And because of that wisdom,

he was able to see beyond the moment that he was in. And instead of cursing his killers, he prays for them. And he says, father, forgive them. So Stephen was able to see future fruit while everyone else saw present violence. That's wisdom and action. That's thinking like God, that's thinking like heaven. Why? Because Stephen understood something profound that God still had a plan for the very people that were killing him. And I believe that this is important. And because the Stephen, I believe that the prayer that Stephen prayed prepared the way for Saul's encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. So in other words, a man who helped take a life would one day give his life to millions. And wisdom is what empowered Stephen to pray from heaven's perspective, not his earthly pain. So how do we access God's wisdom? Well, I mentioned the verse earlier. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach and it will be given to him. We access God's wisdom through number one, reverence. Number two, prayer. Number three, humility. Number four, obedience. God doesn't withhold his wisdom.

We often just rush right past it. So in closing, God's wisdom clarifies our priorities. It discerns what's true and what's not. It directs our steps and multiplies our impact and it accelerates our growth. It doesn't just help us think better, but it helps us live aligned with the things of God. And that's why the fear of the Lord is in the end, but the beginning of wisdom. So Lord, we just come to you and acknowledge that you are the source of all wisdom. And we confess that we have often relied on our own understanding, on our own experiences, on our own reasoning, on our own pace. And today we just choose to revere you and surrender our control. Lord, we ask. Ask for your wisdom. I ask that you would just pour your wisdom upon the people that are listening, the men and women that are listening. Not just knowledge and information, but discernment. Not just clarity, but courage to act upon the things that you have made clear to them. And so Lord, just teach us to think like you and to see people the way that you see them. To see moments the way that you see them. To value what you value and release what you never asked us to carry. Where we've been busy, but not effective.

Reorder our priorities. Where we've been just reactionary instead of looking for discernment, Lord. Help us to slow down in those moments. Where we've been asking for clarity, but avoiding obedience, Lord. Give us willing hearts to just obey what you called us to. And Holy Spirit, I pray that you would align our thoughts with heaven and you would direct our steps. Pray you would sharpen our discernment and multiply what you've entrusted to us. Even if it's small, help us be good stewards in the small things. We surrender our timelines, our plans, our assumptions, and we just place them under your wisdom. And we give, and Lord, we just pray that you would give us the fear of the Lord again. And we trust that as we walk in your wisdom, our lives will bear fruit that brings glory to you and blesses those that are around us. And we pray this with so much humility and expectation and faith and just declare it over our lives, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen. Good morning, my name is Bianca, and I'm one of the leaders here with the Young Adults Ministry at LF. And I'm so glad that you've chosen to make Life Fellowship part of your family. We love you, we're praying for you, and we are so blessed that we get to connect with you

through the Pando app. Today, we're gonna be reading in Ephesians 3, 16 through 21. So if you have a Bible with you, please open it to Ephesians chapter three, verses 16 through 21. To give you some context on this scripture, the apostle Paul was writing a letter to the Ephesians about the unity of the church in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. The letter corrects the belief that many had at the time that God accepted the Jews, but rejected the Gentiles. And so Paul is teaching us that through the sacrifice on the cross, the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile was torn down, forming one new man. And as his new body with Christ as our head, we are given the power of the Holy Spirit in order to live out our new lives, putting into practice the goodness of Christ. He includes us in his promise of the Spirit and in his inheritance of blessing through faith. The title of this message today is Our Inheritance, His Glory. Turn with me to Ephesians 3, 16 through 21. It reads, I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established

in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God's love, and to know Christ's love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all we can ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever, amen. Today I'm gonna share with you three foundations that we can stand on. Christ dwells, Christ develops, and Christ delivers. The Greek word in verse 17 for dwell means to settle down, and so the first foundation I have for you today is Christ dwells. Have you ever had someone stop by your space unexpectedly? Maybe an officer, and your space was not as tidy as you would have liked. There's papers or letters or food wrappers lying around, and you find yourself quickly trying to tidy up. When I remember my mom, I marvel at the homemaker that she was. Now that I'm a mom and a wife myself, I know how difficult it is to juggle all the things, but my mom made it look so effortless. She cooked the most delicious meals. She got up every morning to pack my dad's lunch. She bought the groceries and paid the bills, and she always kept our house clean.

Growing up, my parents had a lot of friends, and so it wasn't unusual for us to have a guest, but we never had to worry about the unexpected knock on the door because we knew that whoever it was could feel comfortable and welcome and able to settle down in our space. When we accept Christ in our hearts, he comes to live there, but I want to encourage you to take inventory of your heart today and ask yourself, is my heart an environment? where Jesus feels welcome. Psalm 139 23 through 24 says, search me God and know my heart. Test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me. Lead me in the everlasting way. In the Old Testament, the Spirit of God did not indwell people. It was with people. It came upon people, but it did not dwell inside until after Jesus breathed his spirit on the Apostles. So think about this. Psalm 139 written by King David in the Old Testament. He came before God not having the Holy Spirit inside of him, but asking God to search his heart. Paul is telling us to examine our hearts in the same way. You might be feeling today like you don't measure up. Maybe you think you don't deserve to know God, much less have him dwell inside of you. You must believe that Jesus wants to dwell in your heart. Remind yourself daily that you are his desire. He wants to know you intimately. Allow God to search your heart and to purify it. In your prayers ask him to reveal anything that you may not know is there and then listen to what he says. Be diligent about what you watch, what you read, what you listen to. Be honest about the things that need tidying and ask him to make your heart so in tune with him that he desires to dwell there. The more time you spend with him in his word, in your quiet time, in the secret place, the more you can make your heart a comfortable place ready to welcome him in. In verse 19 Paul talks about experiencing the love of Christ in order to be filled with the fullness of God. And this brings us to the second foundation we can stand on. Christ

develops. The Lord has blessed me with the most beautiful marriage. My husband Jose and I have been married for 14 years and we've been together for 14 years in six weeks. I'm sure that got your attention. But when we first got married we did not know Christ and so the first several years of our marriage were very difficult. We loved each other deeply but we had no peace. I had no identity and so I felt like I needed to control every single thing and Jose had never been in a serious relationship before and so he did not want me telling him what to do. So you can imagine we fought all the time. And about eight years into our marriage we both met Jesus. And when I tell you that God grew us quickly. He went to work. We began to consume his word. We became heavily involved in our church. He blessed us with the most beautiful community and he began to do something in my husband that I could have never imagined. And as Jose got to know the Lord more intimately he didn't ask God to change me. He asked God to change him. And in obedience and humility he showed me the love of Christ. And as he began to love me in this way my walls came down. I was able to trust him and to submit to him and finally give him his place as head of our home. I watched the Lord transform him into a man of God right before my eyes. But God didn't just develop Jose to be more Christlike. He saved our marriage. He saved us. Chances are that many of you have not yet experienced this life changing love that I've been so blessed to know. The enemy tries to convince you that if you have not experienced it it's because God doesn't love you. Maybe he's whispering in your ear that you're too hard to love. Well first let me tell you that that's not true. That's a lie. And second let me encourage you to pray to ask God to be able to see the way that he loves you. I'm confident that the Lord has sent you love notes that maybe you haven't recognized as being from him. Maybe through the words of another. Maybe through the way a circumstance worked out in your favor. But keep your eyes open for those little ways he shows you his love and maybe he wants to use you to show his love to someone else. Give God all the praise and all the glory for his grace towards you. Remember that he is deeply in love with you and he wants to spend eternity with you. Pastor Chris

likes to say that if God had a refrigerator your picture would be on it. He thinks about you all the time and he's been thinking about you since before creation. Step boldly into your inheritance as his beloved. Rest in his love that surpasses understanding and walk as children of light so that His love through you may edify the body Open your heart to the ways. He wants to develop you to look more like him finally the third foundation Christ delivers verse 20 tells us that Christ is able to do above and beyond all we Ask or think I grew up in Colorado And I lived in a nice neighborhood and I went to a good school and my friends went on Really cool vacations, but my family we like to camp and I loved it as a little girl I climbed everything and I explored everywhere and I went I went back to school my friends would tell me about their vacations and for some reason everyone went to Cancun and I thought how cool it would be to go there and to just play in the water and dig in the sand And so my little my little hearts desire became to vacation in Cancun Fast forward to adult life with kids and a husband of my own I had forgotten all about that little girl I used to be and what I used to dream about and a few years ago after my dad retired He decided that he wanted to buy a home on the beach in Cancun And I was there a little bit a little over a year ago just to Decompress and to meditate on all that the Lord had been doing in my life and as I sat at my favorite coffee shop by the beach the Lord reminded me of that dream and I would have never imagined that Through my earthly father my heavenly father would have granted the desires of my elementary aged heart Allowing me to frequent such a beautiful place and call it my home. I Just sat there in awe of his faithfulness that even though I had forgotten all about that silly dream My father never did Your circumstance probably leaves you feeling depleted most days Maybe it feels like the Lord won't do it as much less go above and beyond what you can imagine

But Isaiah 55 8 and 9 says for my thoughts are not your thoughts and your ways are not my ways This is the Lord's declaration For as heaven is higher than earth So my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts Are you judging what God can do in your life according to your thoughts and your understanding? Give yourself permission to dream big Stop limiting what God can do based on your own limitations He loves you so much and he wants to lavish on you as his dearly beloved child tell God what's in your heart invite him into your dreams ask him for his will to be done in them and Then believe in what you ask remember that he desires to know you and to bless you This morning my brothers and sisters in Christ I want to encourage you to stay focused on God's Promise to you as members of his body that Christ dwells you must believe that Christ wants to dwell in your heart Christ develops open your heart to the ways. He wants to develop you to look more like him and Christ delivers invite him into your hopes and your dreams and receive your inheritance today You