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00:00 Family, Pastor Darius here, man.
00:02 Listen, this message I believe is about to minister to you.
00:06 One of the things that I think all of us need
00:09 is door discernment, doors, opportunities presented to us.
00:13 How do we know the difference between a good door
00:16 and a God door?
00:17 We need to know the difference.
00:18 And in this message, I'm gonna teach you how.
00:21 Enjoy the message.
00:22 - So, so, so grateful to God for that.
00:24 All right, well, let's get to work.
00:25 I got a, I got something I wanna share.
00:28 As we conclude this Red Flag series,
00:30 we've been talking about the importance
00:33 of exercising discernment when it comes to individuals.
00:37 In this lesson on today, I wanna talk about
00:38 the importance of exercising discernment
00:40 when it comes to opportunities.
00:42 And so I wanna read a few verses of scripture
00:44 found in Acts chapter 16.
00:46 Verse six says this, "Paul and his companions
00:49 traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia,
00:53 having been kept by the Holy Spirit
00:55 from preaching the word in the province of Asia.
00:59 When they came to the border of Mysia,
01:00 they tried to enter Bithynia,
01:01 but the spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.
01:04 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.
01:07 During the night, Paul had a vision
01:10 of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him,
01:13 "Come over to Macedonia and help us."
01:17 After Paul had seen the vision,
01:20 we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia,
01:24 concluding that God had called us
01:28 to preach the gospel to them."
01:30 I wanna talk from this subject
01:31 in our time together, family, trap doors.
01:35 Clap your hands if you're ready for God's word.
01:38 (congregation applauding)
01:41 Trap doors.
01:43 I wanna start this teaching by offering an axiom
01:47 that I think is extremely important, but often overlooked.
01:50 Here it is for my note-takers.
01:52 The more gifted you are, the more options you will have.
01:56 And the more options you have,
02:00 the more discernment you will need.
02:02 I'm gonna say it again for my note-takers.
02:06 The more gifted you are, the more options you will have.
02:11 And the more options you have,
02:14 the more discernment you will need.
02:17 I can say this with confidence
02:18 because I observed the activity of Adam and Eve
02:22 in the garden as they were influenced by the enemy
02:26 who showed up in the form of a serpent.
02:29 And this particular incident exposes us to this truth.
02:33 And that is when the enemy cannot destroy our life
02:36 by getting us to mismanage our ethics,
02:39 the enemy will attempt to destroy our life
02:42 by influencing us to mismanage our options.
02:47 In other words, when the enemy
02:48 cannot destroy us with dysfunction,
02:51 he will attempt to destroy us with distraction.
02:54 And it is possible that a diabolical distraction
02:59 can walk into our life looking like an amazing opportunity.
03:04 This is why we must see and sense
03:07 when we've stepped into a season
03:09 where we can no longer make good moves.
03:13 We've got to be able to see and sense
03:16 when we've stepped into a season
03:18 where we've got to make God moves.
03:20 And I want to know, am I talking to anybody
03:23 that's at a place in your life
03:25 where you've had enough experience,
03:28 you've had enough adversity,
03:30 you've had enough irritation,
03:32 and you've had enough agitation
03:34 that you're at the point in your life
03:36 where your testimony is,
03:38 if God isn't in it, I don't want it.
03:41 Did you hear what I just said?
03:44 Yep, when you get to that season,
03:47 you start asking different kind of questions.
03:50 You don't just ask, who are you?
03:52 You start asking, who sent you?
03:54 Because if you didn't come from God, return to sender.
03:59 If this opportunity didn't come from God, return to sender.
04:03 If this door wasn't opened by God, return to sender.
04:07 I don't just want good moves, I want God moves.
04:10 I don't just want good doors, I want God doors.
04:15 Because if it's a good door,
04:17 that doesn't mean it's a God door.
04:19 But if it's a God door,
04:21 once you get on the other side of it,
04:23 it'll not only be a good door, it'll be a great door.
04:27 It'll be a fantastic door.
04:29 It'll be a mind-blowing door.
04:31 It'll be a record-breaking door.
04:33 It'll be a barrier-breaking door.
04:36 It'll be a earth-shaking door.
04:38 It'll be a door that confuses your enemies.
04:41 It'll be the door that's exceedingly and abundantly
04:44 and above all you could ask or think.
04:47 And I want to know, is there anybody here
04:49 that has enough faith that's not going to wait
04:52 until you get in the door?
04:53 Will anybody praise him in the hallway?
04:55 (audience cheering)
04:58 I'm going to see if this side will help me preach.
05:05 I'm not in the door yet, but I sense I'm in the hallway.
05:09 And I'm not going to wait until I get through the door.
05:12 Somebody take 10 seconds and give him a hallway praise.
05:16 (audience cheering)
05:19 We need God doors,
05:33 because if it is a good door,
05:37 but not a God door,
05:40 then for you, it becomes a trap door.
05:43 If it is a good door, but not a God door,
05:51 then for you, it becomes a trap door.
05:54 And a trap door is destruction disguised as opportunity.
05:59 It is an opportunity that is appealing initially,
06:06 but destructive eventually.
06:08 It looks like a come up,
06:11 but in actuality, it's a setup for a setback.
06:15 Woo, and I don't know about you,
06:17 but I've had enough setbacks.
06:20 As a matter of fact, let me see
06:23 if I can get an honest crowd here.
06:26 Most of my setbacks were because I set myself back.
06:29 (audience cheering)
06:33 I'm sick of setbacks.
06:35 As a matter of fact,
06:36 I'm announcing setback season is canceled.
06:39 Setback season is over.
06:43 I'm stepping out of setback season,
06:45 and I'm stepping in to come up season.
06:48 I'm coming up, I'm coming out,
06:51 and God's getting ready to come through for me.
06:53 (audience cheering)
06:56 I don't want just good doors, I want God doors,
07:01 but there's a challenge.
07:03 I said there's a challenge.
07:05 I said there's a challenge, 1130.
07:07 1130, I said there's a challenge.
07:09 Somebody ask the preacher, what's the challenge?
07:13 Here's the challenge.
07:14 The challenge is on the outside,
07:15 good doors and God doors can look the same.
07:22 Both of these doors are red,
07:28 but I don't know what this red means.
07:32 This red can mean red flag, stop.
07:36 It could mean red light, stop.
07:39 Or it could mean the blood, go.
07:42 (audience cheering)
07:45 Are y'all listening to me?
07:48 So this is why you and I, my brothers and sisters,
07:51 you and I, we need what I'm calling door discernment.
07:59 My gosh, because when we do not have discernment,
08:04 we make decisions regarding doors with experiments,
08:09 which means that the only way we're able to see
08:14 what's on the other side of the door
08:17 is by walking through it.
08:18 Here's the problem.
08:21 When a door is a trap door, it's easy to get in.
08:26 (audience cheering)
08:29 It's easy to get in, but it's hard to get out.
08:38 I can get in it in a second,
08:42 but I can stay stuck in a season.
08:44 Because when I experiment, experimenting is expensive.
08:56 I know we've heard the saying,
08:58 experience is the best teacher.
09:01 That's cultural, but it's not kingdom.
09:05 That's what culture says, that's not what God says.
09:08 Experience for some people may be the most effective teacher
09:13 but it is not God's preferred teacher.
09:17 God does not want us to learn fire is hot by getting burned.
09:25 He wants us to trust his word enough on the front end
09:30 that we don't have to learn everything
09:34 by getting burned on the back end.
09:37 Are you hearing what I'm saying?
09:39 Experimentation is expensive.
09:43 What does it cost me, pastor?
09:45 First thing it costs you is time.
09:47 Did you hear what I just said?
09:53 It costs you time.
09:54 And if I had time, I would talk to you about time.
09:58 Because if we saw time the way God saw time,
10:04 we would handle our time completely differently.
10:08 If we saw time as a non-renewable asset,
10:11 the one thing you'll never be able to get back.
10:14 Once you lose a day,
10:15 you'll never be able to lose that day.
10:17 See, this is why forgiveness is important
10:19 because when a person hurts you,
10:21 they took something from you.
10:23 They can never give back to you
10:25 even if they give you an apology.
10:26 You can give me an apology,
10:28 but do you know all the days and the nights
10:30 that my heart was broken and I was grieved?
10:33 Do you know all the time I had to spend
10:36 fixing what you broke?
10:38 So you can give me, and I'm sorry,
10:40 but you can't give me all those days back.
10:50 The Psalm, it says, "Teach us to number our days."
10:55 Lord, help us to see that our days are numbered,
11:00 that you have allocated unto us a certain amount of days.
11:04 And every time the sun sets and rises,
11:07 that's a day that's coming off my total amount.
11:11 And when you understand that every day is a numbered day,
11:15 it changes the way you spend your day.
11:18 It changes the way you release that time.
11:22 It changes your willingness to be influenced
11:25 by people who want to take something
11:27 that don't belong to them.
11:29 This is my day, not your day.
11:32 Come on here.
11:34 And so when I'm experimenting, I'm wasting something.
11:37 I'm not getting back time.
11:42 Am I making sense here?
11:47 I said, am I making sense?
11:49 Yeah, you see, you see, when I planted this church,
11:52 we planted this, I was 26 years old.
11:54 And here, and so during that time period,
11:56 I'm in my 20s and I'm pastoring some people in my 20s,
11:59 but most of the people I'm pastoring
12:01 were a lot older than me.
12:02 And here's what I saw.
12:04 I saw in my early 20s that there were people
12:08 who were not my age that were spending time
12:12 recovering from what they did when they were my age.
12:17 (congregation cheering)
12:19 It got a little quiet in here.
12:20 (congregation laughing)
12:22 Did you hear what I just said?
12:23 Yeah, I said, instead of spending 30s and 40s thriving,
12:28 they were spending 30s and 40s recovering.
12:31 Yeah, they weren't excelling or advancing.
12:37 They were trying to get back to normal
12:39 because they were recovering.
12:42 But I'm just praying over this house.
12:45 (congregation cheering)
12:48 That if you need a recovery, that God gives you one swiftly
12:53 so that this next season of your life
12:57 is not spent in recovery,
13:00 but this next season of your life is spent thriving.
13:03 It's not recovery time, it's time to thrive.
13:07 And don't let God mess around
13:09 and do them both in the same season.
13:11 Oh my God.
13:11 Did you hear what I just said?
13:14 Don't mess around and let him recover you
13:17 and thrive you in the same season.
13:19 Somebody put a praise on that.
13:22 He can do it at the same time.
13:26 You didn't hear what I said.
13:30 I said, he can do it at the same time.
13:33 Don't you sleep on me.
13:35 Don't you turn your back on me.
13:37 Don't you give up on me
13:40 'cause God's getting ready to do it at the same time.
13:44 I'm coming back and coming up in the same season.
13:48 (congregation cheering)
13:49 All right.
13:50 (congregation cheering)
13:58 Experimenting is expensive.
14:11 Cost me time.
14:14 Okay, I'm gonna see if I get an amen on this one.
14:17 8.30 gave me a little amen.
14:21 10 o'clock, they didn't really give me an amen.
14:24 Okay, 11.30, it's your turn.
14:26 It costs us not only time, it costs us treasure.
14:29 I'm just looking for the honest section.
14:36 Maybe it's changed global.
14:37 Who know, hey, there are times where I put assets
14:42 into things or people that were liabilities.
14:45 (congregation cheering)
14:48 Let me say it one more time.
14:53 I said, there are times where we put assets
14:56 into people or into things that were liabilities.
15:01 Now, this is just something pastor
15:03 want all of us to think about.
15:04 We all in the same boat here, all right.
15:05 Holy Spirit preaching to all of us, okay.
15:08 How would we be sitting if we had all of our dumb money back?
15:13 All the money we put on dumb stuff, come on.
15:21 Stuff that we looking at now saying, what did I?
15:26 I don't even like that, what did I?
15:30 Okay, I don't know if this is 11.30 or 1.15.
15:38 I'm going to throw it out here.
15:39 Why did I spend that on that?
15:42 Or, okay, let me see.
15:49 Or, why did I spend that on them?
15:54 (congregation cheering)
15:59, time. (laughs)
16:04, time.
16:09, time. (laughs)
16:38 It's expensive, so it cost me time.
16:41 It cost me treasure.
16:43 Here's another thing experimentation does.
16:47 It creates trauma.
16:49 'Cause sometimes you meet some interesting people
16:57 on the other side of what looks like some good doors.
17:01 And so, I think a lot of times when we talk about people
17:08 and trauma, it's relegated to what people do to us.
17:13 And that is traumatic.
17:15 But then sometimes it's who people are to us
17:19 that's equally traumatic.
17:20 Because some people switch up is so drastic.
17:24 It's traumatizing.
17:28 Let me go over here.
17:29 I said sometimes their switch up is so drastic,
17:36 so unexplainable, it's confusing.
17:39 You start questioning your judgment.
17:42 You start questioning your decision making.
17:45 You start questioning your discernment.
17:48 Because you're like, how can you be that nice
17:51 and then that shy-sty?
17:54 This is traumatizing.
17:56 You went from here to there.
18:03 You got me looking at everybody strange now.
18:06 You've got me side-eyeing people that don't deserve
18:12 to be side-eyed 'cause you confuse me.
18:15 And I'm just telling you,
18:26 and I don't know what season of life you're in,
18:29 but there is a season of life
18:31 where the responsibility you carry is so significant
18:35 and what God wants to do in that season
18:38 is so critical and pivotal
18:40 that you cannot afford to waste time.
18:45 You can no longer afford to waste treasure
18:49 and you definitely cannot afford to subject yourself
18:53 to unnecessary trauma.
18:55 I got enough already.
18:58 Life has been life-en enough already.
19:01 I don't need additional trauma in this season.
19:06 I'm trying to work through the trauma I already got.
19:10 We need door discernment and the text in Acts
19:18 is going to help us with this.
19:19 I want you to see something.
19:20 They're going to put verse six up on the screen
19:23 'cause Acts records, this part of Acts records
19:26 a spiritual leader named Paul who's on a missionary journey.
19:29 So he's going to different places and spaces,
19:31 teaching, preaching, training up disciples.
19:34 There are times he's raising up spiritual leaders.
19:36 They're planting churches.
19:37 So he's going from place to place to place doing this.
19:40 And so I want you to see what's happening in verse six.
19:43 It says, "So him and his companions,
19:46 "they traveled through the region of Phrygia and Galatia."
19:49 And I want you to see what the Bible says.
19:52 So that you can see, pastor not manipulating this.
19:55 We're going to read it.
19:56 "Having been kept by the Holy Spirit
19:59 "from preaching the word."
20:01 He's going from place to place, preaching, teaching,
20:08 training disciples, raising up spiritual leaders,
20:11 planting church planters.
20:12 And it says, he's getting ready to go
20:15 to the province of Asia.
20:17 And the Holy Spirit says, "No, you're not."
20:23 So then he leaves there.
20:25 He said, "Okay, God, I got it."
20:26 He leaves there and verse seven says,
20:28 "They came to the border of Mysia
20:30 "and they tried to enter Bithynia.
20:33 "But the Spirit of Jesus,"
20:35 which is another way of saying the Holy Spirit,
20:38 "would not allow them."
20:40 Do you see that?
20:41 So they're trying to go into Bithynia
20:45 'cause he's trying to preach the word.
20:47 And the Holy Spirit say, "No, you're not."
20:51 Now, I would think God would want a preacher to preach
20:56 anywhere, all the time, to anybody.
21:01 But as I thought about this in this text,
21:06 the Bible is very clear.
21:07 It is not an evil spirit, but the Holy Spirit
21:11 that's telling Saul not to do it.
21:13 See, here's what I saw.
21:15 There's a difference between God wanting the gospel preached
21:19 and God deciding who preaches it where.
21:21 So it's almost like God saying to Paul,
21:28 "Paul, this is a need,
21:31 "but this need is not your assignment.
21:34 "And you aren't the only one I can use to do this.
21:39 "And this is not the only opportunity
21:43 "you're gonna have to do this."
21:45 So just because you can do it, Paul,
21:49 doesn't mean you should do it, Paul.
21:51 And in verse number nine, we see why.
21:57 It says this, "During the night, Paul had a vision
22:00 "of a man in Macedonia standing, begging him,
22:04 "come over here to Macedonia and help us."
22:08 So Paul, after seeing the vision,
22:12 he said, "We got ready at once to leave for Macedonia,
22:16 "concluding that God had called us
22:18 "to preach the gospel to them."
22:21 So in verse nine and 10,
22:23 he sees where he's supposed to go, Macedonia.
22:26 But he would have missed his Macedonia
22:30 if he would have settled for a Bithynia.
22:34 Did you hear what I just said?
22:38 And if he would have missed his Macedonia,
22:40 he would have missed his opportunity to be a blessing,
22:43 and he would have missed an opportunity to get one,
22:46 because some blessings are where you're supposed to be.
22:49 Let me go to this side.
22:52 I said some blessings are where you're supposed to be,
22:55 and you'll get that blessing when you get to
22:58 where you're supposed to be.
23:01 Jeremiah, you want a word?
23:03 Go down to the potter's house.
23:05 Elijah, you want to survive a famine?
23:07 Go to a brook called Jareth.
23:09 And when the brook dries up, go to Zarephath,
23:11 because I've commanded a widow woman to feed you there.
23:14 (congregation cheering)
23:18 And many people miss their Macedonia
23:21 because they settle for a Bithynia.
23:23 Paul had to be willing to walk away from the wrong door,
23:26 even though the right door hadn't opened yet.
23:29 Did you hear what I just said?
23:31 Yeah, he had to be, come on,
23:34 he had to be willing to go on a no
23:38 when God didn't tell him why.
23:39 The Holy Spirit didn't say,
23:42 I'm going to send you to Macedonia.
23:44 The Holy Spirit just said, no.
23:46 Come on.
23:49 This is what it really means,
23:52 or this is an expression of what it means to walk by faith.
23:55 It doesn't just take faith to walk through some doors.
23:58 It takes faith to walk away from some doors.
24:01 Because he had to obey a prompting
24:09 when God didn't give him an explanation.
24:12 (congregation cheering)
24:15 Did you hear what I just said?
24:19 It would make sense if God had told Paul,
24:26 don't go there, I got something else for you.
24:28 He just said, no.
24:30 It means he had to be willing to walk away from a door,
24:39 not sure if another one would open.
24:41 Come on.
24:41 I got to go.
24:43 But this, his activity is an indication
24:49 that he wasn't infected with desperation.
24:52 Because desperation destroys discernment.
24:56 You can't make good decisions when you're desperate.
25:01 When you're desperate,
25:02 every opportunity looks like a good opportunity.
25:05 When you're desperate, every job looks like a good job.
25:08 When you're desperate, every man look like a good man.
25:11 When you're desperate, every woman looks like a good woman.
25:14 When you're desperate,
25:15 every client looks like a good client.
25:17 When you're desperate, it destroys discernment.
25:21 And desperation is an indication of a scarcity mindset.
25:29 And it means your view of God is a view of limitations.
25:33 It means you're operating with a belief
25:35 that there's never enough of what one wants or needs.
25:38 It is dangerous, it is unhealthy, and it is unbiblical.
25:42 Because your God is not a God of not enough.
25:46 Come here.
25:46 Your God is a God of more than enough.
25:50 So we reject scarcity mindset,
25:54 and we embrace an abundance mindset.
25:57 And when you have an abundance mindset,
25:59 and you're getting ready to walk through the door,
26:02 and God says, it's not your door,
26:04 you walk away and say, there's another one.
26:07 I want somebody at the 1130
26:11 that believes your God is a God of abundance
26:14 just to say another one.
26:17 The same God, good God almighty,
26:21 that opens doors that no one can shut
26:23 and closes doors that no one can open.
26:26 He'll send me another door.
26:28 That's why you shouldn't let people control you,
26:31 you shouldn't let people exploit you,
26:34 and you shouldn't let people infect you with fear,
26:37 causing you to think they the only person
26:39 that can open the door.
26:41 God's got all kinds of doors.
26:45 I love that there are all kinds of doors.
26:56 One kind of door God's got is a locked door.
26:58 That door is open with keys.
27:00 I like that door, but it's not my favorite.
27:02 Other kind of door God's got is a revolving door.
27:05 That door is timing.
27:06 You know the door goes around, you got to time it right.
27:10 I like that door, but it's not my favorite kind of door.
27:12 My favorite kind of door,
27:13 and I'm going to see who believes
27:14 you're stepping into this season,
27:16 is an automatic door.
27:17 And the automatic door has sensors.
27:25 And all you got to do is get close to the door.
27:30 And when you get close to the door,
27:31 the door starts opening.
27:35 Is there anybody believing for automatic doors?
27:40 Lord, just get me close.
27:42 Just get me close.
27:45 We done, Tarrio.
27:50 Just get me close.
27:54 (congregation cheering)
27:57 So, Pastor, Pastor, how do I, how do I, Pastor,
28:06 how do I practically, though,
28:09 distinguish between good doors and God doors?
28:14 Pastor, I need to be able to do what Paul did.
28:16 Paul was able to figure it out.
28:18 I need to know what he knew so I can do what he did.
28:22 Pastor, can you help me?
28:24 I can help you because I got a text message from Paul.
28:29 He didn't send a message to my phone.
28:36 It's a message in the text.
28:38 There's a message in the text from Paul,
28:46 and there are three things that Paul had that helped him.
28:50 You'll never get this perfect,
28:51 but we want to get it better.
28:53 That Paul had that helped him distinguish
28:54 between good and God doors,
28:56 and if we adopt these things,
28:58 it's gonna help us be better at distinguishing
29:00 between good and God doors.
29:01 Number one, Paul had clarity of vision.
29:04 Vision is a picture of God's preferred future.
29:08 It's a sneak preview of a coming attraction.
29:10 It's this idea that, okay, it's not the whole,
29:12 God hasn't shown me the whole movie,
29:14 so I don't know everything that's gonna happen in my life,
29:16 but he's shown me a trailer.
29:21 So I know, I don't know everything,
29:22 but I know enough to know what door
29:25 doesn't align with my vision.
29:27 Did you hear what I just said?
29:31 See, the door doesn't determine if it's a good door.
29:35 Your goals determine if it's a good door.
29:38 So even when the door's before you,
29:41 does the door align with my vision?
29:46 All right, second thing I see in the text that Paul had,
29:50 not just clarity of vision, Paul had a commitment to values.
29:54 Now your values are your priorities and your standards.
29:58 Standards aren't goals.
29:59 Goals are aspirational.
30:00 Standards are reality.
30:02 Goals are the ceiling.
30:03 Standards are the floor.
30:05 Goals are the most that you want.
30:08 Standards are the least that you will accept.
30:11 And what's challenging is many people don't realize
30:17 their standards aren't what they think they are.
30:20 What most people say, this is my standard,
30:23 it's actually your goal because it's not your reality yet.
30:26 What your standard is is what you're actually allowing.
30:29 'Cause your standards is what you allow.
30:34 And if you keep allowing it, that's your standard.
30:37 Did you hear what I just said?
30:43 Yep, yep.
30:44 How you keep allowing people to treat you,
30:46 that's your standard.
30:48 How y'all aren't talking to me, that's your standard.
30:53 And you don't always get your goals,
30:55 but you always get your standards.
30:57 And here's the great thing about standards versus goals.
30:59 You can barely reach a goal overnight.
31:01 You can change your standard in a moment.
31:04 I got to go, but I feel a prophetic push right here.
31:07 Somebody just say done.
31:09 Yep, they should have gotten me before I got to church, PD.
31:13 'Cause now that I got this word, done,
31:17 I'm not taking that anymore.
31:19 I'm not doing that anymore.
31:21 I'm not allowing that anymore.
31:23 It just stopped when?
31:24 Right now.
31:25 So this means you ask yourself a question.
31:42 Okay, I got to go through this door,
31:43 but does it violate my values and my standards?
31:46 (congregation murmurs)
31:48 Do I have to leave my values, my spiritual values,
31:51 and my personal standards outside the door
31:55 to walk through it?
31:56 One time I was having to make a really, really tough decision.
32:01 It was a principled decision,
32:02 a leadership call I needed to make.
32:04 I was talking to my pastor about it.
32:05 And he said to me, he said, "Now, Darius,
32:07 "a standard not a standard unless you suffer for it.
32:10 "If you're not willing to suffer for it,
32:14 "it's not a standard."
32:16 It means, for example, relationally,
32:17 if you'll let anybody treat you any kind of way,
32:20 just so that you won't be alone, it's not a standard.
32:23 A standard says, "I'd rather be bored and alone
32:27 "than with you and broken."
32:29 Now, I don't like to be alone,
32:31 but I'll be alone before I'm broken.
32:34 Is there a standard not a standard
32:40 unless you're willing to suffer for it?
32:42 Standards aren't for sale.
32:45 It's like the Hebrew boys who say,
32:47 "Our God will deliver us, but even if he does not,
32:50 "we will not bow down."
32:53 Because my standard and my values give me what this can't.
32:59 This always over promises and under delivers.
33:03 And all a door does very often is lead you to another room
33:08 where you realize there's another door.
33:10 So sometimes you get in a new room that you weren't in
33:14 and you realize there's another room
33:15 you want to get in.
33:17 So the carrot keeps moving.
33:18 So the door won't fulfill you.
33:21 Your standards and values will.
33:23 But when you don't know how valuable your values are,
33:27 you will leave your values in exchange for something
33:34 that's worthless.
33:36 Let's go.
33:37 And last but not least,
33:40 clarity of vision, commitment to values,
33:43 consciousness of the Spirit's voice.
33:45 What does that mean?
33:47 It means that like,
33:49 Paul had to be conscious of the,
33:53 somebody say promptings.
33:54 And that's one of the ways God speaks.
33:56 And I'm going to start teaching you that in a few weeks
33:58 on Pentecost Sunday.
33:59 Somebody say promptings.
34:01 One of the ways God speaks is through promptings
34:08 or what one writer calls impressions.
34:11 And so Paul had to be conscious of these promptings.
34:16 And when the Bible talks about quenching the Spirit,
34:19 I'm going to teach you this too.
34:20 It's not talking about stopping people
34:22 from shouting in church.
34:23 We need to stop saying that.
34:25 That's not remotely close to what Paul's
34:28 even talking about there.
34:29 Stop people from, no, that's not quenching the Spirit.
34:34 It's when you're a quelling and suffocating
34:39 inner work that God's trying,
34:41 you're trying to silence a voice.
34:44 That God wants to be loud.
34:49 And sometimes there's no explanation.
34:52 Sometimes there's no data.
34:54 Sometimes there's no rational reason,
34:56 but your sixth sense says that's not your door.
35:01 And I got to be conscious of that voice
35:05 because that's the most intelligent aspect of my being.
35:10 And here's what's happening now.
35:12 The Bible says Paul was with companions.
35:14 Is that right?
35:15 It says he tried to go into Galatia and Bithynia
35:19 and the Holy Spirit kept him.
35:22 So it means that when I'm conscious of the Spirit's voice,
35:24 I got to have some flexibility and adaptability.
35:28 Why do I need flexibility and adaptability?
35:30 I need that because sometimes I may make a decision
35:33 with my senses.
35:35 Before I have heard from the Spirit.
35:38 And if the Spirit now prompts me to do something
35:43 that's inconsistent with a decision that I made
35:46 with my senses, now I got a choice to make.
35:49 Will I be loyal to an inferior decision
35:52 so I won't be perceived as indecisive by my companions?
35:56 'Cause every time the Holy Ghost spoke to Paul,
36:00 Paul had to go back and tell them,
36:02 hey guys, we're not going there.
36:04 They're like, okay, we're going to Bithynia.
36:06 They're like, okay, we're not going there.
36:08 Okay.
36:09 But he didn't make an idol out of his ego.
36:13 And some people are so consumed
36:22 with how they're gonna be perceived by others
36:27 that they stay loyal to an inferior decision.
36:31 (congregation murmuring)
36:34 And for some of you, you're in a season like I'm in,
36:39 you can't now.
36:40 Maybe there was a season you could, but you can't.
36:46 My devotion time a couple of weeks ago,
36:47 the Holy Spirit spoke to me about grace.
36:49 Said, Darius, my grace never runs out,
36:53 but I do have grace periods.
36:55 Which means a period where I extend grace
36:59 without consequence.
37:00 So I'm never gonna run out of grace,
37:07 but there will be a period where I do allow you
37:10 to experience consequence.
37:11 And some of us in a season
37:17 where we can't waste the time or the treasure
37:24 or deal with the trauma of not having door discernment.
37:28 I know who I'm called to.
37:29 And I know there are many doors in front of you,
37:33 and many of you are never gonna have a door problem
37:36 in your life.
37:36 It's gonna be a discernment problem.
37:41 Your stress is not going to be an opportunity.
37:45 Your stress is gonna be under which ones?
37:47 And that's stressful too.
37:50 That's gonna be your lot.
37:54 That's the backside of being so gifted.
37:56 (congregation murmurs)
38:00 It's a blessing, but there's a backside to every blessing.
38:03 And the backside of the life that God's blessed you with
38:07 is you're always gonna have door choices.
38:12 And you're always gonna have voices
38:14 telling you what door they think is right for you.
38:17 You should be doing this.
38:18 You should be doing that.
38:20 And if you don't have,
38:21 if you don't have, oh, you too big for that.
38:23 You too small for that.
38:25 If you don't have clarity of vision,
38:27 people will push you through doors based on your ability,
38:33 not knowing your assignment.
38:35 (congregation applauds)
38:37 It's not what I can do.
38:39 It's what I'm supposed to do.
38:43 And I'm praying that God gives us door discernment
38:48 in Jesus' mighty name.
38:50 Father, I pray that you open the eyes of our heart,
38:54 that we would see you in ways
38:56 we haven't seen you before.
38:59 Fill us again with your spirit,
39:02 and may your spirit fill us with door discernment.
39:06 May we avoid every trap door in Jesus' name.
39:12 Amen.
39:14 Really quick, give me two minutes here.
39:16 I mean it, two minutes.
39:17 If you're here today,