The Most Excellent Way

You may take your seats. Well, it's so good to be with you Bayside. If you're wondering who is this English sounding person, I am an auntie of this house. It is a great joy and honour and privilege to be entrusted to come and be part of the team here. I love this house. I love every part of the team and the staff. And I'm just so thankful that God knit our hearts together. And I always get excited when I know that this is coming up in my calendar. I actually stalk you. I just have to confess it. I actually know what you're up to when I'm not here. I follow along because we're family. I wanna know what God's speaking to you. I know on and go what God's moving and doing. And so I'm so grateful for the entrustment to get to add my voice a week before Independence Day. Thank you for still accepting this English lady. Like I'm glad you're not that independent. I remind my husband all the time, you can have your day, but you're still married to an English woman. You know what I'm saying? You can be independent all for one day. And I'm thankful that God knit our hearts together. And I know you've been in a series, which I've loved. There's been a series that you've been in on the foundations of leadership.

And I'm so grateful for a church that talks around leadership because sometimes we save those subjects for a leadership conference. But if you're in this room, if you're under the sound of my voice in any campus or online, you are called to lead. You are a citizen of heaven. You are an ambassador of heaven. And so we're called in our workplaces, in our families, in our relational life, we're called to be leaders. And so this emphasis needs to come to every single one of our lives because we all need to learn how to lead better. And so, because you've been in that emphasis, I really wanted to help you lead today in an area where a lot of us mess up. Let's just be honest. This is an area where a lot of us, if there's going to be a problem, it's in this area. Some of you are brilliant leading when you're doing your thing, your gift, your talent, your business, but you're terrible leading when it comes to relationships. I wanna talk about leading relationally well. I wanna talk about making sure that we lead in a way that actually somebody wants to follow you. If you don't lead well, people don't want to follow you. And the idea of leadership

is that people would want to follow you. If you call yourself a leader, but no one is following you, you're just taking a walk. Let's be honest. There's no one behind you. There's no one beside you. You're in a delusion that you're leading because no one wants to follow you. And I love the example of Jesus because Jesus did not compromise the truth. Jesus did not water down the message. Jesus confronted what needed confronting. He challenged what needed challenging. He spoke boldly and plainly about what needed to be said, but Jesus never was looking for followers. They just found Him. He was an attractional leader. Even though He said hard things, He said them in a way that meant people still wanted to follow Him. And I want us to be the kind of people that can lead our families, our marriages, our children, our communities in a way where we don't compromise, but we're able to lead and speak in a way that people actually wanna be around us. They actually wanna be a part of whatever it is that we are leading. And the key to leading well is loving well. Today, I wanna ask you, are you loving well so that you can lead well?

If you want a leadership foundational principle, it is a principle called love. God is love. Jesus led with love. And when you lead with love, you are far easier to follow than when you don't lead with love. Today, in your area of relationships, I know there's a lot of us that are facing those moments, those conversations that can feel challenging. Maybe you came in here today and there's a relational area in your life right now. And if you were really honest with yourself, you would say, I don't know that I'm leading the best. I don't know that I'm leading my marriage the best, my family the best. I don't know if I'm leading my employees the best. Like there's some tension, maybe potentially challenging decisions. It's like when we're leading and we're clear about where we're going, everything's great. But in relationships, how many of you know, not everybody's always in agreement. And so there's moments in our relationships where we need to have a conversation about where we're going, the direction we're going. And in those moments, it's like an. intersection, it's like a crossroads. And in those moments, you really do discover if you're a good leader or not.

Anyone can be a good leader on a great day when everybody's doing what you want them to do and saying what you want them to say, but those moments where the intersection happens, where one wants to go left, the other wants to go right, where your flesh is pulling you one way, but the spirit wants you to go another, that's when you discover whether you are a good leader or not, and I wanna help any today that find themselves at an intersection, a crossroads in an area of your life, a transitional point where you know there are some choices you need to make, there's some transitions that need to happen, and you wanna lead well in that season of crossroads and transition. There is a scripture where God tries to help his people who are not leading well. They're at an intersection, they're at a crossroads, and God knows if I don't help them, if I don't speak to them right now, they're gonna make another dumb decision. I don't want anyone to make another dumb decision today. Do not elbow the person next to you. I am talking to you, right? This is a very easy message to think, this is totally for my wife, this is totally for my son. No, it's totally for you. God will deal with them, you need to deal with you, right? Listen for you today.

And so there's this moment where God's people are at yet another intersection, they need to make a choice, and they keep messing up, they keep leading poorly, so God uses his spokesperson, which is Jeremiah, he uses his prophet at that time to go and give them some advice. So I'm gonna give you the same advice that God himself gave his people who kept making dumb decisions. This is what God told Jeremiah to say to them. Jeremiah 6, verse 16, this is what the Lord says. Stand at the crossroads, the intersection, and look. Ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. Stand at the crossroads and look. Today, I wanna give you some simple points of how do I lead well relationally when I know I'm potentially in a discussion or in a situation that could go either way. And the first thing that Jeremiah tells the people to do is slow down. Turn to the person next to you and say, slow down. Slow down, slow down. Why do we need to do everything fast? We eat fast, we text fast, we drive fast, we move fast. Everything about our world is fast-paced, fast-moving. We barely digest our meal and we're on to the next thing. We have fast conversations, fast interactions. We send a tweet, we send a text. Instead of having a meaningful conversation,

we live in a fast-paced world. And if you don't slow down when you get to intersections in your life, you are going to have a casualty. There is going to be some kind of collision because at a crossroads, you have to, if you want to survive, slow down. In England, when we were in school, primary school, we would have the highway code taught to us. I don't know if you do that in American primary school, but they would take the entire class of little kids and we would go outside and they would literally stand us on the side of the road. Teachers would be at either end and we'd be in a long line and we'd all stand there and they'd say, we're gonna teach you what was called the green cross code. This is how you cross a road. And so we would all stand and the teacher's first instruction would be, everybody stop, stop, don't move. Don't put your foot off the pavement, off the sidewalk, onto the road, stop. Before you step out, stop. Why? Because there's potentially traffic heading this way. And they'd say, I need you to stop. And then they would say, and now I need all the students to look. You'd have to look to your left and look to your right. I need you to look, do you see a car?

Do you see a vehicle? If you do, then don't step out. And then they would say, now also listen, because you might not see a car, but that doesn't mean there isn't one coming. So do you hear a car? Stop, look, listen. If after doing all those three things, it is clear, then we can cross. And the Holy Spirit wants to say to some of you today, whoa, stop. Before you say what you're about to say, before you tweet what you're about to tweet, before you have an opinion about what you're about to have an opinion, before you enter into that conversation with that teenager, yet again, I'm trying to. to save you from a collision. I need you to stop. I need you to look and I need you to listen. God's trying to reduce the casualties in His children. He's saying to Jeremiah, you gotta help them. You gotta tell them to stand still. You gotta tell them to take a breath. You gotta tell them to slow down. And some of you today need to slow down. You young people need to slow down. I know you're 15 and you're single, but it's all good. Slow down.

Like there's something worse than being single and it's marrying a fool. Slow down. You know what I'm saying? Slow down. I know your hormones are raging. I know passion is raging, but passion will soon fade and you're gonna live in the reality of a decision that if you just slowed down, you might've made a different decision. I know in your marriage you want to retaliate because what they said has drove you crazy, but are you really wanting to live in the consequences of saying those words you can't take back? Why don't you slow down? There'd be so less collisions if we just slow down. And if you wanna lead well, you've gotta learn at intersections how to slow down, how to take a pause, how to listen, and how to look before you step into the traffic. Jeremiah, tell them, let them know. They're at an intersection and I need them to stand still. I need them to look. Then he says this, then tell them to ask for the ancient paths. Ask where the good way is. You're like, well, what does that mean? Like ancient is one of those words that your kids use about you when you get to a certain age. You're ancient, right?

You're ancient, mommy, I ain't got a clue. I'm like, I ain't ancient, I'm 53. Thank you very much. Ancient is one of those words that we think it's like a relic, it's like old fashioned. But actually in the Hebrew, in the Bible translation of this word ancient that is used in Jeremiah, it's actually a Hebrew word called olam. And olam literally means the everlasting way. So God's saying, tell them to ask for the everlasting way. Do you know there is a way that is everlasting? It never grows old, it's never out of date, it's always current, it's always relevant. And in a world that always is grabbing off the shelf, the latest leadership gurus mantras, the latest code of how you raise your kids or how you run your marriage, I'm sure there's some great wisdom out there, but none of their opinions can hold a match to God's word. God's word is tried and tested. It is an everlasting way. So I'm gonna give some of you an everlasting way today to lead relationally. And I'm gonna give a disclaimer before I give you the word. You're not gonna like it. It's way too simple. It's way too obvious. It's so obvious you're gonna leave this room

and you know what God is saying. There's no air about it of doubt. It's so clear, which is why we often don't like God's word because there's no room for margin to try and fudge it with our word. But God says, if you're at a crossroads, you wanna lead well, I need you to stop. And then I need you to ask for the everlasting way. God, what is the everlasting way of how I live my life in a more excellent way? Well, there's actually a passage in the Bible that's actually called the most excellent way. And if you want to lead well, you need to learn to live the most excellent way. Some of you've been praying, God, give me a sign. Give me a sign in this relationship. Give me a sign if I should move on. Give me a sign in that situation. Lord, send me a sign about what I should do in this circumstance. Well, you know what? God's gonna give you a sign. You might not like it, but you're about to get it. So I need my sign. Literally, I'm gonna give you a sign. You're never gonna forget this sign. It's gonna be so obvious we have a sign. The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 13 that there is an excellent way to live. There is a way where you are going to lead well,

and it is the way of love. There is a right way, and there is a wrong way. And today, I wanna ask you at the crossroads of your life, at an intersection in your relationship, are you going the right way? Before you step out, Ask yourself, am I going the right way? Is this the right way to respond? Is this the right way to react? Is this the right way to speak? Because there's a right way and there is a wrong way. Let me read from 1 Corinthians 13, verse four. It says, the most excellent way is love. Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. It does not dishonor others. It is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects. It always trusts. It always hopes. It always perseveres. Verse eight, love never fails. Now we know in scripture that it tells us that God is love.

So actually I could reread this verse to you with that revelation in mind, that this is actually telling us the way God is. God is patient. God is kind. God does not envy. God does not boast. God is not proud. God does not dishonor others. God is not self-seeking. God is not easily angered. God keeps no record of wrongs, thank God. God does not delight in evil, but God rejoices with the truth. God always protects. God always trusts. God always hopes. God always perseveres. And God never fails. This is how God is. This is why we said yes to following Jesus, because when someone leads this way, why would you not want to follow this way? God leads with love, which is why we don't mind following God, because even when he says something strong, like this verse is, there is in it the love that helps us absorb the truth that God wants to use to help free us from going the wrong way in our circumstance.

So we're just gonna spend a few moments getting a little uncomfortable, getting all the way up in your business today, asking you, are you going the right way? Are you going the right way as a husband? Are you going the right way as a wife? Are you going right way as a son? Are you going the right way as a daughter? Are you going right way as a boss, as an employee? Are you going the right way? Are you leading the most excellent way? Here's how you'll know if you're leading the most excellent way. Love's posture is patient. Don't elbow anybody. Don't say this is for you, because we all get tested in this area. Is your leadership, is your love patient? Are you patient with your children? Are you patient with your friends and family? Is there an air of patience in the way you lead? And by the way, this is not the posture of patience. Gritting your teeth, tapping your toes, folding your arms, just waiting for them to do what they need to do. That is not the posture of patience. And I've had to learn this over and over again, because so often I feel my way is the right way. Like I know what my kids should do. I know the decisions they should make.

And now my kids are not at the age where I can just tell them, you do this, you do that. They're 20 and 23. They're making decisions for themselves. And it's very hard at times to watch your children that are now grown make decisions when you want to push them one way, but the decisions might be another way. That's when you've got to learn to lead with patience, just like God has been patient with you. Just like when you made a wrong turn, God did not tap his toe or fold his arms. In fact, if you wanna know the posture of how God waits for us, it's shown to us in the parable of the prodigal son. The prodigal son is just like you and I, whenever we have rebelled, whenever we have fallen short, whenever we've gone our way over God's way, we were like that prodigal son. But you don't see the father chasing after the son. You don't see the father wagging a finger in the son's face. You see the father adopt a posture, which is arms extended. And I'm just gonna be patient. I know there's gonna be a moment when you hit rock bottom. I know there's gonna be a moment when you realize you've gone the wrong way. And when you realize you've gone the wrong way, I want the image in your head to be of your father at home, patiently waiting for God to do what only God can do

so you know you can come right back to where you belong. God's posture is patient. If you do not adopt a posture of patience, you will adopt a future of Ishmael's. Ishmael was not God's idea. Ishmael was what was forced because someone could not be patient enough to wait for the promise. And once you create an Ishmael, it's not on God to pay for Ishmael. It's not on God to do parental support to Ishmael. That falls to you. And I don't know how many Ishmaels you want to have to support. I don't know how many Ishmaels you want to have to pay for, but my suggestion would be, instead of having Ishmaels that you have to take care of, why don't you be patient and wait for the Isaac that God has for you? If you just wait a little longer, you will step into your promise rather than having the problem that you created from your impatience. Impatience says things it shouldn't say. Impatience reacts in a way it should not react. I guess another description of patience would be patience is long obedience. How long can you be obedient? How long can you trust and wait? If we want to lead well,

we have to have a posture of patience. Love's cadence, the sound of love, the way love acts, love's cadence is kind. Do you lead with kindness? Kindness is so powerful. In fact, it talks about how kindness leads people to repentance because kindness is so attractional and everything about the way God leads is kind. Even if what he has to say is hard to hear, he says it in a way that is kind. You know, there's a way to discipline your children that is strong but kind. There's a way to say things in a marriage that is strong but kind. Kindness changes the tone of your voice. Kindness changes the way that you speak and the way that you act. Love has a sound and its sound is kind. Kindness always sees the person before it sees the problem. Think about Jesus. Jesus sees a guy up a tree before he calls him any other name, he calls him by his name. Even though he was a thief, even though he was dishonest, even though he'd hurt and stolen from people, Jesus did not respond to him in the way he deserved it but Jesus spoke to him in kindness

and kindness got the guy out of the tree, kindness got the guy at the table, kindness got a conversation going that would change the man's life around because kindness can do in moments what your anger can never do in moments. Kindness is the way that God walks. Do you walk in the way of kindness? Kindness sees the person before the project. Anyone that is a boss and you employ people, do you see people or do you see projects? You know the difference if you've ever worked for an employee, an employee that saw the project but didn't see you as the person, you realize I don't think they're interested in me and you realize I don't know if I wanna follow this company because it seems to be more about the project than it is about the person but when someone sees you as a person, you wanna stay with that company, why? Because you realize their kindness sees you before they see what they need you to do. Jesus modeled kindness. We're called to lead with kindness. Are you going in the right direction? Is your cadence kind? Because if your cadence is not kind, then your cadence is gonna be unkind and right now in your marriage, if unkind words are being spoken,

right now in your family, if unkind things are happening, right now if you're going this direction, I just want you to know at any point in time, you can make a decision to lead well and that might mean you have to swallow your pride and say, I think I have to do a U-turn. I think we're going in the wrong direction in this relationship. I think I want us to go a different direction and that starts with my tone, it starts with my mouth, it starts with my way that I act. Is there a kindness in the way you lead? Jesus, his cadence was kind. If you wanna lead well. You've got to love well. And that means you've got to be fluent in something that a lot of us are not fluent in. And that is you've got to be fluent in forgiveness. I don't know what happened when I got married. We got married, Steve and I have been together now 34 years, but when we got married, people were like, oh my gosh, you're getting married. It's gonna be the honeymoon period. Oh, you're in the honeymoon. That would be like a year in, two years in. You're in the honeymoon period. I go home and I think, I don't know what they're talking about. This is the nightmare period.

This is not the honeymoon period. Like I thought I married Prince Charming, turns out he's Shrek. I don't know what happened. Like, I don't know what happened. Like suddenly he's green and he leaves things on the floor and like he doesn't smell the same or look the same. Like what is going on? I don't know, my fairy tale. When I hit the reality of marriage, suddenly it didn't look like I thought it would look and I don't know what happened to me. But suddenly a word was removed from my vocabulary. And the word, every time I tried to say it, it like got stuck in my throat. The word was, so, so, so, I couldn't say it. I just couldn't say sorry. Cause I knew you're wrong and I'm right. Like, I don't need to say sorry. Surely you understand when we got married that you would be the one saying sorry, not me saying sorry. Like, this is how it works. And so the first couple of years of our marriage, it was not heaven on earth. It was hell on earth. It was a nightmare. I wanted to pack my bags and go home to my mama. I'm like, nobody told me about this. And I realized I have a decision to make.

Because if I want our marriage to go well, I'm gonna have to love well. And if I'm gonna have to love well, I'm gonna have to forgive well. And some of you right now, everything about your life feels hard, but the reason it feels hard is because every day you're walking in the wrong direction. And the more you go in this direction, the more you consider bad options. So you gotta realize I gotta walk in the way of forgiveness. Oh, and don't let me forget to tell you, I had a filing system for the record of wrongs. I mean, I had chapter and verse. I had a cabinet full. I could tell you the day you said something dumb. I could tell you what I was wearing when you said it. I could tell you how he made me feel about it. And I could go back five years, six years. I could attach, paste and copy the file to give you evidence that you have not just done this once. You've done this 13 times in the last 12 months. I had a filing Rolodex system of all my husband's wrongs. Some of you have kept a record of wrongs, which is why it's really hard to lead well because you don't know how to love well because the more you keep a record of wrongs, the more you get stuck in the past and in the pain. And thank God that God did not keep a record of your wrongs. Thank God He didn't open a file and say,

I'm just gonna remind you of all the ways you sinned and all the ways you failed. Some of you, there's not a filing system big enough to record all the wrongs that God would have had to record. Thank God that the Bible says He wipes them from, as far as the East is from the West, He forgives our sins. His love covers us. Why? Because when God leads, He walks in the way of love. And if you're willing to receive His forgiveness, how in the world are you gonna have the audacity to not give forgiveness? When we lead well, we forgive a lot. It does not mean that what they did was not wrong. It does not mean that they could not have handled you better or said something better, but it frees you from a life that goes the wrong direction because the more you walk in unforgiveness, the more you walk in anger. The more you walk in unforgiveness, the more you record the wrongs. The more you walk in unforgiveness, the more you dishonor your husband, dishonor your wife, dishonor your kids. And so you have to ask yourself, what direction do I want my future to go in? Am I walking the most excellent way? It has a fluency in forgiveness. And then it says, love,

it's consistent in its perseverance. Love always protects. Love always trusts. Love always hopes. Love always perseveres. And I don't know, he needs to hear this today, but some of you are about to make a really dumb choice. And the reason you're about to make a dumb choice is not because it's the right choice, but you're just so tired. You're just so worn out that you've decided it's just easier to quit than it is to carry on. It's just simpler to stop pursuing and stop hoping and stop believing than it is to walk in the way of love. And I just need to remind someone today that God's love never fails. It never quits. It always perseveres. And some of you need to get perseverance back into the middle of your marriage, into the middle of your family and persevere. Listen, life isn't always smooth. I lived in England. We lived in the countryside and we lived amongst this beautiful village and windy roads and lots of hills. And so my vehicle that was kind of sporty and zipped me through the back pass right near our house was awesome in the summer. But it was terrible in the winter. In the winter, it would slide on the hills and it had no grip that would help me in the snow. And so I knew when the season changed, the terrain changed, the vehicle was going to not be as helpful to me unless I did something. But never at one point did I think, I'm going to just trash this vehicle. Because you know what? It can't handle the road. It's a waste of my money. It's a waste of my time. I never once discarded the vehicle just because the weather and the terrain changed. But I did take the vehicle to the mechanics. And I would say to the mechanic, hey, it's that time of year again. And he would say, I got you. And we would go into the workshop and he would get out the tires that had a different tread. Tires that were built for snow.

Tires that were built to hold the grip in different terrain. And I would put new tires on my vehicle and I would zip back out of that garage. And now I was able to keep driving. Why? Because I'd chosen a different tire. Some of you are about to quit the vehicle. The vehicle's not the issue, the tires are. And you just need to learn in certain seasons how to persevere. How to change the tires. How to put some more traction down on the ground. I know your kids might be driving you crazy right now. But you were once someone's kid. You drove them crazy. How quickly we forget what a nightmare we were when we have a nightmare in our house. Can I just say as someone with kids that are now in their 20s? Like, don't quit. Like, change the tires if you have to. Find a way to have a different conversation. Pray harder. I don't ask God for a way to navigate forward. Some of you are about to spend some of the summer with family and you are not looking forward to it. Got the in-laws and the out-laws all gathering and you're like, it's gonna be a showdown. It's gonna be a hot mess. Everyone's gonna be firing off their comments and shooting off their mouth. And you normally get sucked into it. And then you leave the family gathering and you, for days, for weeks afterwards, you and your wife are arguing about it. What you should have said, what you shouldn't have said. And all of the dysfunction. And I'm just letting you know, you don't have to be sucked into walking the wrong way. You can, in the middle of that chaos, change your tires.

And say, I'm not retaliating. I'm not getting angry. I'm gonna be patient. I'm gonna persevere. Because love doesn't quit. And love doesn't give up. And love protects. And love is true. There is a way. It is the most excellent way. And they may bait you. And they may try and drag you in. But if you are gonna lead well, you're gonna love well. And I wanna encourage you. I wanna encourage you. Some of you need to find the most excellent way. And then, in Jeremiah, he tells them, stand, stop, look. He tells them, ask for the everlasting way. But then he also says this, and then walk in it. And you will find rest for your soul. And I just have this feeling that many of you are restless. And a vacation this summer is not going to fix the ache in your soul. And a few days out is not gonna make you come back feeling different about the circumstance that you know is waiting for you when you walk through the doors. Escaping is not gonna make it go away. So God's letting you know, I can't. I'm not trying to give you an escape route. I'm trying to give you a better way. And the way you get rest for your soul is beginning to walk differently than you did walk before. The way that you get rest from your soul is not, take it.

I'm glad you took a photograph a moment ago. Some of you took a photograph this time. I'm glad you took a photograph. Take a photograph. But what do you have to do after taking the photograph? Is you have to walk in it. You have to have to walk in it. When you're tempted to go this way, you gotta walk in it. You gotta hold your breath. yourself to account. You gotta walk in it and you're gonna find rest. I believe God this summer wants to give some of you the best rest you've ever had. And that is not dependent on your vacation spot. It's not dependent on the weather. It's not dependent on the circumstances. It's actually a choice that you're gonna make, you and God. God, I'm gonna walk the most excellent way. I've realized I've been going the wrong way. I've realized there's been some conversations that have been going the total wrong direction. And I'm gonna make a decision this summer to do a U-turn and walk in a different way. I'm telling you, if you walk in it, you will find rest for your soul. When you walk this way, when you walk in the way of anger, dishonor, frustration, self-seeking, envy, it's very easy to contemplate quitting.

Very easy to think, you know what, I don't care. So I'm just gonna do something reckless because I don't care. Because all of this takes you in a direction where you become numb. But it's really hard to quit when you're walking in a way that keeps loving, when you're walking in a way that keeps forgiving, when you're walking in a way that's kind. And God just wants to help some of you this summer lead well by learning to love well. Your family needs it. Your marriage needs it. Your own soul needs it. You've asked God for a sign, He's given you one. You might not like it, but it's the everlasting way. It's all across the house, right where you are, just close your eyes. God, we thank you for the clarity of your word. There's no mixture in you. There's no confusion in you. God, there's just a way. And in that way is a light and is a lamp. And in that way is freedom. And I pray over every single person under the sound of my voice today. God, I pray that they would become so aware that God to lead well means to love well. And God, I thank you for the challenge today to examine our own hearts, examine our own lives

and stop and slow down. God, we pray just like David did. Would you test me? Would you search me, God? God, help me walk the most excellent way this summer with my children. Help me walk in the way of love in my marriage. God, in my place of work, God, in the community you put me in, God, help me find the patience, find that place of hope and perseverance. God, I pray today as we dismiss in a moment and as we go about our week, God, I pray the sign would be burned onto the inside of our hearts. I pray we'd have conversations around our kitchen table about walking the most excellent way. I pray parents will begin to come onto the same page about how they handle their children. I pray there'd be a unity in our households because we're deciding even though we have lots of different opinions, we're deciding to walk the most excellent way together. I pray for healing and I pray God, like your word says, that as we walk in it, we would find rest for our souls. If you're in the house today, his eyes are closed. We're just in this moment of prayer and you know you're not where you should be with God. You know that actually you've been going the wrong way for quite some time. Well, God's posture today is just like the father's that I mentioned earlier, his arms are extended,

his heart is open, all you have to do is turn around. And if today you need to turn around back in the way of salvation, if today you need to say, God, I've been far from you and I repent and I come home today, I need you as Lord and savior, then this moment is for you. Make a choice now to go the most excellent way. His eyes are closed, if you're saying, that's me today, just lift your hand right where you are in every location. You're just saying, that's me, I need this moment. Our hands just acknowledging, God, I need to turn, I need to do a U-turn today, I wanna go the most excellent way. All those hands that you're raising, just stick that same hand that you just raised on your heart, I'm gonna pray this prayer and you need to make this your own right now. God, I come to you today and I ask for forgiveness. God, I'm aware I've been going the wrong way, the wrong direction, but today I slow down and I choose God, I choose you. I choose to surrender, I choose to ask for forgiveness, God, I choose to go the most excellent way. God, thank you in this moment, you're meeting me with your grace and your forgiveness and your love and your mercy. God, I thank you today for salvation and I thank you today for transformation and God, I pray in every one of these decisions, there wouldn't just be a yes to you, God,

but there'd be a walking in the way of love. God, put Your grace and put Your hand on every life right now that's responding. and all the honor for it, in Jesus' name, amen and amen.