Participant: Hey, what's up everybody?

Welcome back to another episode
of Breakthrough Church Podcast.

Um, I have some exciting updates and some
testimonies for you and we'll start here.

Um, we are fully funded.

We are fully funded, which means
we met the goal that we had

to raise, uh, uh, financially.

Uh, our goal was $500,000
and we have raised $500,000.

We're actually over $500,000.

Um.

I can't even believe it.

It is a huge blessing, and I'm so grateful
to the Lord for stirring people's hearts.

And I, I want to thank y'all because
many of you who listen are financial

contributors to breakthrough.

And, um, it is such an honor
to, uh, partner with you in

that way and to partner with.

Uh, so many others that,
that aren't, um, necessarily

listening to this consistently.

Uh, I wanna honor the branch
church who have just given so much

financially and, and, and just
relationally, uh, to break through

and to me personally and my wife Abby.

So, uh, we originally, I, I thought
the goal should be $350,000,

but talking to a mentor of mine,
we, we upped it to $500,000.

And, um, we have in
hand, uh, gosh, I mean.

I'm gonna say we have in hand 350 to
$400,000 and the rest of it will be

given over the next three years or so.

And that's just incredible.

And I'm humbled.

I'm really humbled by God doing that.

He's paying for what he is ordered and
it's just so com confirming that what

he is up to is significant and um.

He's called us to this and he's, he's
saying, I'm, I've called you to this.

I will pay for what I have ordered.

And I'm very encouraged by that.

So thank you, thank you,
thank you, thank you.

Um, so last night we had our launch
team gathering, and it was Rich, the

presence of the Holy Spirit, uh, man.

Whew.

From the moment we started worshiping,
really from the moment we started

sharing testimonies of God at work, in
our lives and through our lives, we just

began to sense the Lord is, is speaking.

The Lord is here.

And he's so eager to do the very things
that we're asking, uh, him to do.

Uh, last week we talked about healing
and the kingdom of God, that because the

kingdom of God is here, uh, healing is I.

Possible and healing is proof
of the kingdom being here.

And so we just did some equipping, some
real simple like, Hey, you know, you

wanna be someone who God uses to heal,
then all you have to do is lay hands

and say this, be healed in Jesus' name.

Jesus never actually prayed for
healing, he just commanded it to happen.

And then he was training his
disciples to go and do the same.

And then you see.

Peter and John in Acts chapter three
and four, they're walking to, um,

to pray in the synagogue and they
see this man who's asking for money

and they say, we don't have money,
but what we do have, we give to you.

Stand up in the name of Jesus.

They didn't pray for his healing.

They commanded it.

And there are other instances
in scripture where, where,

where people pray for healing.

Like go bring 'em to the elders
of the church, have 'em ano

with oil and pray for them.

Right?

So there's, there is a, I'm not saying
we should never do that, but the

seems like the model Jesus tried to
equip people in was one with power

and authority to just command stuff to
happen and, um, what is bound in heaven

will be bound on earth type of thing.

So, um.

So we, we talked about that.

And then last night we had a couple
of testimonies of, of healing.

So one guy I've been discipling for a
little while was playing pickleball and

a man there was telling him about his
knee that was, had really sharp pain.

And, um, uh, my, this guy said, okay,
well let me, let me, let me pray for you.

And he said, okay, sure.

Right now.

And he is like, yeah, right now.

So in the middle of this
pickleball like court, I guess he

put his hand on his knee and I.

Uh, said, be healed in the name of Jesus.

And then said, all
right, how's it feeling?

And he tested it out and
the sharp pain was gone.

Everything, it, it was maybe
a dull ache there, but his

sharp pain was completely gone.

He was able to walk and move,
uh, almost completely, um, right

in the middle of pickleball.

Uh, I know y'all be playing pickleball.

All right?

And so, uh, it's hard to imagine
people getting hurt playing pickleball.

'cause let's be honest, uh,
it's a pretty easy sport.

And that's a hot take.

If you want to get at me, then get at me.

But, um.

Uh, right there in the pickleball court.

Lord just met this guy with healing.

Uh, it's so powerful, so powerful.

Uh, I shared a story, you know,
last week I, I talked about this

woman we prayed for who had.

Uh, 10 out of 10 pain.

She was coming for healing and
just was desperate for a touch

from the Lord and received it.

And I texted her yesterday on Sunday,
July 6th, just asking how she was

doing, and she said that she was so
much better last week, that on Thursday

she, she felt so good, she let her
guard down and went about normal life.

I'm assuming that's, she said she
let her, she lowered down her guard.

That was her words.

And I'm assuming that means she just kind
of went about normal day, um, a normal

day without thinking much about it.

And then Friday she was suffering from it.

'cause she kind of took
it a little too hard.

But, but she said she was feeling
amazing and so much better and.

Um, still needs prayer for healing though.

And, and I, I said, okay,
let's, we'll pray again.

So, uh, I was really encouraged
by the improvement there.

That's such a blessing going from a 10,
outta 10 to five outta 10, and then, and

then potentially even better than that.

Whew.

What a drink of cold, fresh
water that, that would be.

Um.

So grateful for that.

And then we had another man in
our launch team say right after

our Sunday night gathering.

He was like, I, I, we went to
Walmart, had to pick up some stuff.

There was a man there and he wanted food.

So we brought him inside,
we bought him food.

And then he started talking
to me about his eyesight and

he doesn't have good eyesight.

And, um, he, he, this man in my, on
our launch team said for the, I've

never ever in my life done this.

I asked if I could pray
for his eyes to be healed.

And so he, he prayed for him.

Told the eyes to be
healed and he confessed.

He said, it's more of a three quarters
testimony because I forgot to ask

him if it had got better and uh, no.

I said, no.

That is a full on
testimony 'cause you tried.

God works with us to get
things done in the world.

My favorite, one of my favorite
preachers says that up in, and he's

in Hawaii and he preaches that.

He says God works with us to
get things done in the world and

all we need to do is lay hands.

We just need to pray.

We just need to command, we
just need to work with the

Holy Spirit to do these things.

And that's a testimony whether
he was healed or not, you tried.

And that's the metric.

That's what we're after,
being a a trying people.

Um.

And, uh, and, and it was so encouraging,
you know, and, um, just sense that, that

that faith was being stirred in the room
last night as these testimonies were

being shared and my heart was burning.

I was like, come on, they're getting it.

They're trying.

These people are getting after the
very thing that I feel like God said

that this church is gonna be about.

And uh, and so we just went into worship.

And man, credit to one, the Holy Spirit.

He's the only worship leader.

Uh, and credit to Sal, who just
let, who just followed the spirit

beautifully from one song to the next.

It flowed and, and there
were songs that people knew.

And we don't have lyrics, so people
are just like, if they don't know the

song, they just sit there and listen.

But, um, but people knew the
songs were worshiping, people were

standing up, people were kneeling
down on the floor, walking around.

It was just a house of prayer
and worship, and it was so

sweet and the Lord was there.

And, um, it was like the, you know.

The story of Mary and Martha and,
and Mary choosing the better portion

of sitting at the feet of Jesus
and just hanging on every word.

It's like, that's our, that
was our posture last night.

And a lot of this is, um, a personal,
well, so I'm not, I'm not taking credit

obviously, but I think a lot of, for
me personally, what I encountered,

how I encountered the Lord last night.

Was fruit of what the Lord
shared with me this last week.

So in our Tuesday prayer time, um,
we pray early mornings, 5:15 AM If

you've been listening, you know this,
but we were praying and over the

course of our hour and a half or two
hours that we were praying, the Lord

highlighted John four, when Jesus
is talking to the woman at the well.

And she's like, oh, I
perceive you're a prophet.

Once he like reads her
mail, go get your husband.

And she's like, I don't have one.

And he's like, I knew that you don't have
one, but you, you, you've had five and the

one you're with now isn't your husband.

And she's like, oh, I
perceive you're a prophet.

And she goes into talking about
worship and she says, you say that we

worship on this mountain, but we say
we should worship on this mountain.

And Jesus says.

In my summary is like basically,
hey, you're missing the point.

The hour is coming and is here
when those who worship, the

father will worship in spirit.

And truth for the Father is
seeking such people to worship him.

God is spirit and those who worship
him, worship him in spirit and in truth,

this concept of the father seeking
worshipers, it hit me with so much faith.

I was captivated by this idea
of the father is seeking.

Okay, there, there's a, there's a
father, a God in heaven who is actively

looking for people to worship him.

And so I looked up this word
worship after that prayer time and

um, and it says there's, it's two
Greek words and the Greek word, the

first one is to move toward, and
the second Greek word is to kiss.

So what is the father looking for?

What kind of worshiper?

The, the one who is actively
moving towards God to kiss him.

I think what that speaks of
is, is a pursuit of intimacy,

a pursuit of, of his presence.

Like, I just want to be with
you Lord, 'cause I love you.

I wanna be in your presence.

And that type of worship is empowered
by the spirit, uh, and it moves towards

a true revelation of who God is.

Um, and this is what I've been
talking about, that, that the presence

of God is the revelation of him.

It's the revelation of who he is.

It's his heart revealed to a people.

That's his presence.

And, and we respond to him by being
a worshiper, a seeker, someone

who seeks the Lord, um, actively,
proactively seeks the Lord to, to

love him and, and to minister to him
and to experience intimacy with him.

Uh, and I, I, I just was
searching through this and.

And, uh, the personal piece of this is,
is this, um, right before, right before

Abby and I had Eleanor, our three month
old, uh, I shared with this on a shared

you with you this a few episodes ago,
but the Lord really did a number on me.

He, he, he showed me that I was
really trying to manipulate God

by give, like, if I do this, then
you give me this experience God.

And God reminded me
that's not how he works.

And it was a great measure
of deliverance for me.

'cause I felt like I had been.

Really walk, walking
down a legalistic path.

And, um, but one of the things that
happened there was, I, I, I forgot

how to pray because I was afraid.

I was afraid to, to pray and to really
get in a room with the Lord because I

didn't want it to become legalistic again.

And I, so, I, I honestly just,
my pursuit of the Lord halted.

Um, I would pray sometimes, but I
wasn't intentional with waking up early.

I would compromise and be like, ah,
I'm just gonna sleep in a little bit.

Or the these ways that I used
to seek the Lord, oh, I'm home

all, all by myself tonight.

Well, I'm just gonna watch a TV show.

When previously I would've been
like, no, I'm gonna put on some

worship and I'm gonna seek the Lord.

I wasn't doing any of that and I
haven't for three to four months.

Since right before we had Eleanor, and,
and so this last week when I thought

about the father seeking those to
worship him, I was like, oh, interesting.

Um, and then I listened to the
sermon series that Jordan sang

at Blue Water Mission is doing,
and it's, it's about seeking God.

And, and he, he goes on and
talks about seeking God and

Jeremiah 29 13 says, seek God.

He says, if you seek me with your
whole heart, you will find me.

And it hit me.

I was so convicted by that.

I had not been seeking
God with my whole heart.

And that is the only way to seek God.

We'll find him if we seek him with our
whole heart, but if we don't seek him with

our whole heart, we will not find him.

And I, I just had had these moments
play in my mind over the last

three, four months where I had
half-heartedly sought the Lord, where

I'm like, yeah, I'll seek the Lord.

'cause I'm kind of feel like I'm
supposed to, but my heart wasn't in it.

I wasn't throwing myself into this
pursuit of intimacy with the Lord.

And in this moment of this worship
and on the heels of this prayer time.

Um, and then just really looking at
King David and how he sought the arc.

Uh, right in one Chronicles 13,
he says like, Hey, we did not

seek the arc in the days of Saul.

We need to seek the, the presence of God.

And he sets up this Tabernacle 24
7, uh, prayer tent where there's

just worship and singing and David's
wholehearted pursuit of the presence

of God, that that's what defined his.

Kingship what defined his rule and reign
over Israel was not how many enemies

he conquered, although that is noted.

What marked hit was the 24 7 prayer
and worship that was happening in

his tent, um, where the arc was.

And I'm just so captivated by that.

And so for me, it gave me new language
for when I do wanna pray and wake

up early or when I do want to.

I spend time in the evenings
after kids go to bed in the

presence of God through worship.

I, um, I'm not striving in those moments.

I'm seeking, and seeking
is supposed to be hard.

It, it's supposed to be proactive.

It's not like I'm not just gonna
sit down on my couch and I, and

just like wait for God to show up.

Um, there's a, there's like an.

A proactive seeker seeking peace to this.

Like, I gotta get after it.

I have to get after the Lord.

Not because I'm trying to earn
something, but I need it and I love him

and I wanna throw my heart into him.

Um, and it's, it's like this
devotion, this affection.

I just wanna be after him and pursue him.

And, and, and what empowers
that is remembering the cross,

remembering the blood of Jesus.

Okay, so I have this moment, right?

Uh, where God is speaking to me about
seeking God, and then there's two days

of just joy and I'm just seeking God.

And it's just the best.

And then I think it was like Wednesday
morning or Thursday morning or something.

Um, and so a couple days after this
revelation and I'm, I'm sitting

there, I'm enjoying the Holy
Spirit, just fellowshiping with him.

I'm feeling like, um.

Uh, and, uh, I just feel
like the, the, the joy of the

Lord, the joy of the spirit.

And I, I asked like, Lord, holy Spirit, I
wanna know you what's happening right now?

And he was like, it's a fountain.

It's my fountain of joy.

And I just, so I'm just
sitting in this, right?

And then I say, I was like,
more, Lord, I want more.

And immediately it dried up.

It dried up this feelings I was
having, this sense of the presence

of the Holy Spirit was gone.

And I thought, whoa, what just happened?

And I, and it ate at me all day.

I was agitated at my family.

I was frustrated with people.

Even the next day I was
feeling the same way.

And I'm like, no, what is happening?

Um, and it was almost like I, like
if I was to give my son Bo a cup of

milk after he asked for it, he's like,
Hey, dad, can I have a cup of milk?

And I walk over, give him a cup of milk,
and then, and then as I'm giving him the

milk that he asked for a full glass of
milk, if he looks at me and says, more.

What's that gonna make me as the dad feel?

I'm like, okay, ungrateful.

Like, I, I just gave you the milk.

It's right here.

What you asked for is here.

And it kind of felt like I did that with
the Lord, that I was, I, I was just, I was

sitting there and instead of saying, thank
you Lord, thank you Lord, thank you Lord.

I said More and more and more.

And it was almost like a greed that from,
it was coming from a heart of greed.

It like, if I had the right heart
and said more, I'm sure it would've

been different, but it was, my
heart wasn't in the right place and.

And the, and the Lord was maybe, maybe
correcting me and disciplining me a little

bit, but the enemy found a way to get in.

And for two days I was
just, I was not okay.

I was angry, agitated, not myself.

Um, and I, I, I didn't treat Abby well.

I didn't treat my kids well.

And, um, and so the next, on
Friday I was like, this was day

two of me feeling like this.

I get in the car to go get my haircut.

And I was like, all right,
I got 10 minute drive.

I am going to violently
rebuke whatever this is.

And I put on a song, the Blood of Christ.

By Jesus image, and I sing
it like a wild person.

Like think of David being undignified.

If you drove up next to me and
looked in my window, you would've

thought I was possessed by a demon.

I was literally singing it as loud
as I can, putting everything I knew

how to, into singing this song.

And then I, I mean, hey, we
talk about tongues, right?

I began to pray and, and sing
in tongues like a violent man.

Like I don't do this.

If you saw me, you would've been like,
what is happening to Josh right now?

But I needed God.

I needed like some sort of
breakthrough, some sort of deliverance.

And I'll tell you, in the middle
of that song, something released

in my spirit, I started weeping.

I started crying and I just gave
it to the Lord and it was gone.

And I was right back where I
was a couple days ago, enjoying

fellowship with the spirit.

I got out and I had a pleasant
conversation with the person cutting

my hair, hearing her story, and.

I get home and I'm like,
I'm loving my family.

I just, everything seems easier and
I'm like, whoa, what just happened?

And guys, I'm, I'm gonna be honest,
I still don't fully know what

happened, uh, but I know the blood
of Jesus delivers and the blood of

Jesus delivered me from whatever it
was that I needed delivered from.

And.

And so I just think the blood of Jesus
paves a way for us to seek the Lord

without striving, but proactively and
with an intensity, uh, that equals, or

that matches, uh, our desire for him.

And so my encouragement to you is
to, um, seek the Lord, um, however

you're seeking him right now.

Seek him more.

Um.

Not, don't strive.

I'm not saying you're gonna earn
something here, but here's the thing.

The father is seeking such
people to worship him who are

proactively moving towards him.

If the father is looking
for people to worship him.

He wants to be worshiped.

He wants to be wanted.

He wants to be loved, and
he's worthy of it, all of it.

'cause he sent his son to die for you.

That you could have life.

And guess who life is?

It's God himself.

The Holy Spirit is the giver of life.

And as we seek him, as we pursue him,
with our whole hearts, we will find him.

Jesus said, ask, seek and knock.

Right, and he's a good father.

And what's he gonna do if
we ask, seek and knock?

If there's a persistent
pursuit, what is gonna happen?

He will give us more of his Holy Spirit.

It's a promise.

And so if you're, if you're at a spot
right now where you're not really

satisfied with how close you are to
the Lord, I just wanna remind you

of the gospel that the gospel has
brought you near the blood of Jesus.

Has been offered as atonement for
your sin, and you can walk into a

relationship with him because of the
blood and through the veil of his flesh.

And once we are in that
place, then we can seek him.

And if you're not satisfied with
the level of intimacy you have with

him or with the amount, amount of
power that's flowing through you, I'm

telling you the answer is seek him.

Seek the Lord.

Spend more time in prayer.

Spend more time in the Word.

Um, instead of watching a show
in the evening, turn on a sermon,

turn on worship, seek the Lord.

Ask him persistently to show
you his face, he will answer.

And um, and you'll never be the same.

So, um, I hope this encourages you.

God is on the move, the launch
team's growing, all that.

But, but beyond all of that
though, um, the Lord is, his

presence is the foundation.

Of breakthrough Church and not just
the foundation, but he is everything.

Uh, he is the substance that
the church is being built by.

He's, um, the goal.

He's the one that we want.

And, um, even mission, even
missions, sharing the gospels

unto creating worshipers, people
who love and worship Jesus.

And so.

I just wanna encourage you guys with that,
hope you guys feel stirred in your hearts.

Don't be burdened, be creative.

Let the Holy Spirit empower
true worship in you.

Ah, what a beautiful, beautiful
thing it is to worship Jesus.

He is worthy.

Uh, love you guys and
we'll see you next time.