Accepted Series: Great Great God

We serve a great, great God, Pastor Todd Beal tells listeners. "God sees us in our brokenness and offers a way out," he said. People need to know that regardless of what they've done, there is a rescue mission going on.

Todd Beal is the founding and lead pastor of New & Living Way Church in Kelso Washington. He and his wife Sonjah's heart is to see breakthrough in the lives of God's people. His desire is to see the local church be a fresh, loving and vibrant community of people who are passionately serving God. 

Todd Beal and his wife Sonja are the founders of New & Living Way Church in Kelso Washington, where he serves as lead pastor. Since the church's beginning in 2012, their desire has and is to see breakthrough in the lives of God's people and for the local church be a fresh, loving and vibrant community of people who are passionately serving God

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to New and Living Ways Podcast, where we pursue the presence of God, the truth of His Word, and the life of Christ working in and through us. We pray today's message strengthens your faith, refreshes your heart, and draws you closer to Jesus. Here's today's message.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

So if you have a Bible with you, you can follow along. I'm going to be reading out of Joshua chapter 2, and I'm going to be reading out of the NLT. I love different translations. There's a different reason that I like different translations the way it might say something. And try not to get too caught up on translations. Some people will will try to dispute many things, and I'm not saying that they're wrong about certain things. But the word of God, hallelujah, unless you're reading from the original manuscripts, you understand that everything that we have today is a translation. Amen. And you can do that all day long, and it'll give you that. You can ask for different concordances, which there's the Vine's concordance, there's Strong's Concordance, many different tools. But overall, the word of God is congruent and has agreement cover to cover. Amen. So in Joshua chapter 2, I'm going to read right now. And it says that Joshua secretly sent out two spies from the Israelite camp at Asia Grove. He instructed them, spy out the land, scout out the land on the other side of the Jordan River, especially around Jericho. So the two men set out and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab, and they stayed there that night. But someone told the king of Jericho, Some Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land. So the king of Israel sent orders to Rahab, bring out the men who have come into your house, where they've come here to spy out the whole land. Rahab had hidden the two men, but she replied, Yes, the men were here earlier, but I didn't know where they came from. So they left town at dusk as the gates were about to close. I don't know where they went. If you hurry, you can probably catch up with them. Actually, she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them beneath bundles of flax that she had laid out. So the king's men went looking for the spies among the road leading to the shallow crossings of the Jordan River. And as soon as the king's men had left, the gate of Jericho was shut. Before the spies went to sleep that night, Rahab went up to the roof to talk with them. I know the Lord has given you this land, she told him. We are all afraid of you. Everyone in the land is living in terror. For we have heard how the Lord made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you left Egypt. And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed. No wonder our hearts have melted in fear. No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the Lord your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below. How many of you know this prostitute is preaching right now? The preaching prostitute. Now swear to me by the Lord that you will be kind to me and my family since I have helped you. Notice she said that after she helped him. Give me some guarantee that when Jericho is conquered, you will let me live along with my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families. We offer our own lives as a guarantee for your safety, the men agreed. If you don't betray us, we'll keep our promise and be kind to you when the Lord gives us the land. Then, since Rahab's house was built into the town wall, and you can't get any more ingrained in Jericho than that. She led him down by a rope through the window. Escape to the hill country, she told him, hide there for three days for the men searching for you. Then when you have returned, you can go on your way. Before they left, the men said, We will be bound by the oath we have taken, only if you follow these instructions. When we come into the land, you must leave this. What's it say? Scarlet rope hanging from the window through which you let us down. And all your family members, your your dad, your mom, your brothers, all your relatives must be here inside the house. If they go on the street and are killed, it's not our fault. But if anyone lays a hand on people inside this house, we will accept the responsibility for their death. If you betray us, however, we're not bound by this oath in any way. I accept your terms, she said. And she sent them on their way, leaving the scarlet rope hanging from the window. The spies went up into the hill country and stayed there three days. The men who were chasing them searched everywhere along the road, but they finally returned without success. Then the two spies came down from the hill country, crossed the Jordan River, reported to Joshua all that had happened to them. The Lord has given us the whole land, they said, for all the people in the land are terrified of us. So we know the account basically that Joshua had sent these spies into the land. They go into this prostitute's house. She hides them, spares their life, doesn't tell the king where they were, and then they go back and they report it to Joshua. The people have heard about what God is doing in the land. They're terrified of us. And then we know the story that they ended up taking the city. How many of you know they ended up taking Jericho? And the walls ended up going down. Rahab was part of Jericho. So all of Jericho was destroyed, but Rahab was spared. Now what's interesting is that the spies went into the land and they were part of God's judgment against Jericho. Jericho was extremely wicked. Okay? They had occult practices, they were sacrificing children, and they had all kinds of wickedness that was in the land. And what's interesting is the spies went in there to basically spy out the land, but they actually became part of a rescue operation for Rahab. And I just think out of all the people that were in Jericho that could have been spared, that God knew that he could trust a prostitute. And what we have to understand is that we can declare that God will judge the earth. Because how many of you know Jesus is coming? And when he comes, he's going to judge the earth. And we can declare that Jesus is going to judge the earth, and at the same time, declare that this is a day of God's grace, and if they will receive it, they can be rescued. And sometimes people need to know that there is a rescue operation going on in the earth. People do have to know what they are being saved from. Jesus doesn't just make your life better. Jesus redeemed us out of the pit of hell so that we wouldn't go to hell forever and ever. And so I don't believe that we just need to tell people, well, Jesus loves you. Yes, Jesus loves you. But we need to tell them that he paid the price for their sin. So I just think this is interesting. Of all the people, Rahab was a prostitute. I don't think I have to go into much detail of what kind of life that is. But to me, I don't know what kind of father she had. I don't know what kind of upbringing she had. All we know is that she came to the point of life. To me, I think about someone that is absolutely broken. Someone that, you know, a lot of people they think about prostitution or things about that nature. And what I see a lot of times is men that are actually taking advantage of women. Women that maybe didn't have a correct father or have the right father image, and a guy comes along and he begins to take her and give her a false type of love. And that's happened in the church too. When we see it all throughout America, you see an impressionable young lady that's maybe 14, 15, 16, all the way up to 20, all the way up to 30, all the way up to 80. And these guys swoop in and they promise them the world, and they really only want one thing. And uh I also want to use this point to warn, especially women, because women are very vulnerable and there are a lot of predators online. And I can't tell you the amount of women that have been taken in by these men that are pretending to be a knight in shining armor, and all they are is some guy on a computer desk across the world that's trying to get money from them. So, women, as much as valuable you are, if you can't call that person's pastor and they can't vouch for them, you do not need to be talking to them online. I don't care what they promise you, they are full of lies, most all of them. And I just I really want to bring uh the fact out that she was a prostitute. God loves prostitutes, he loves them, he loves not what they do, but he loves people in their worst time of life. Their absolute worst time of life, that's when God comes in. He said that in the Word of God it says, even while we were sinners, Jesus died for us. And sometimes we get mad at people of the world that are sinning. That's what sinners do. They sin, and you know what? They're really good at it. And we need to develop a greater capacity of love and compassion for the worst of sinners. You know, I can just imagine that the the spies going into this land and he's going, let's go into this house, and they find, oh, you're a prostitute, we don't want to be here. But God will send you into some really unique situations with people that are broken, people that are damaged, people that are hurting, not so we can condemn them. How many of you know there's enough people in the world that are condemning people? Not only in the world, but also in the church. Sometimes it's worse in the church. Now, Joshua sent spies into the land. What's wild is this prostitute started preaching. She recognized what God was doing in the earth. Did you know that there's some people that are full of sin that actually have more discernment of what's happening in the earth than even some Christians? They can see God moving and they know better. They know better. And she recognized the power of God and she had a healthy fear of the Lord. Now, what's amazing is that she would have been severely punished or even killed if the king put her life on the line. Because she covered for him. But you know why she did that? She feared the Lord greater than the king. She actually had a healthy fear of God greater than the king. Friends, there are people in this city, in the city you live in, that do not know God. But they know enough to recognize his power is at work. They may not know the Lord, but you know what? They can see the Lord operating in a Christian's life, if they're truly a Christian. If they truly live like a Christian. What does that mean? A Christian should never complain. A Christian should never backbite or gossip. Christians should should live above, right? Live above the ways of the world and should be shining examples of the kingdom of God. I mean, the Bible says that we're supposed to light, shine like light in the darkness. Where people look at you, your life, a thousand miles away, and they go, that's a Christian. Okay? They will know us by our love, and they will know us by their fruits. And they will know us by the wisdom that God is pouring through our lives. Now, as a result of this prostitute's discernment, not only was she saved, but her family was saved. And that is something that I've repeated time and time and time again is God is not just interested in saving you as much as he loves you, he's interested in redeeming your entire family for generations to come. And you have got to pursue the Lord, to pursue the truth and stand in the ways of God no matter what you see. Because how many of you know life can change in a moment? But you need to, when you pray, don't just pray that God would save your children. Pray that God would save the kids, the grandkids that haven't even been born yet. You pray for relatives that you haven't even met yet. You say, Lord, I'm praying for my uh, and maybe you have an ex-spouse, right? Or someone that you had married years ago and then you're not living with them anymore. You can pray for that person. How many of you know God knows how to bring about things in a moment? Recently was dealing with a family I've known for uh probably 12, 13, 14, 12 years at least, and in the family a lot of bickering, a lot of complaining, a lot of you know, just stuff, and you think, is this stuff ever, are people ever going to get over this? You know, offense is all over the world. You realize that people hold grudges, and I never forget just hearing about this situation uh a little while ago, and and uh the father is on his deathbed, and he's literally just you know, he can't bear it, he's in and out, he's in and out, and and they're flying the family members in there, and they're flying the kids in there, and there's been all this anger and all this resentment and all this unforgiv, you know, all this stuff, and he's he's the guy's on his deathbed, and he goes, he wakes up for a second, he goes, It's all about forgiveness, it's all about forgiveness, and so God just I mean, don't wait until you're on your deathbed. But I thank God that He will use a deathbed as mercy in people's life. And I just think it's so important for us to realize hey, guys, we are only one breath away from eternity. And so if you come face to face with someone, you're you have that opportunity, you just say, hey, is there anything at all that you have that we can resolve? Amen. And and there are people who don't know God, but they see his power at work, and her whole household was spared because of the scarlet thread. There was a red rope, and my friends, that red rope represents one thing: the blood of Jesus. It was a prophetic declaration that the only way out of that situation was the scarlet thread. The scarlet rope was the only way. If she hadn't have put that rope outside her window, she would have died. Her whole family would have perished. God sees people in their fallen state long before they know him, and he has a plan of rescue. People that might be in your family right now that are just whacked out or drugs, whatever they have, did you know God has a plan of rescue for them? He's already, he's already got it in place. And what we've got to do is when we think about that person, when we think about that person, we say, Lord, I just thank you, you're gonna bring that person into the kingdom of God. Hallelujah. God did not look at Rahab and see someone that was a prostitute for the rest of her life, he saw someone that he was gonna bring into his kingdom forever. And God accepts broken sinners who respond in faith to the scarlet thread of the blood of Jesus. Right now, there's people in our lives that might be in worse situations than the prostitute. And God wants to send you on a mission of mercy to where you can be that representative that says, yes, there's judgment coming, there's great destruction that's coming, but there is a way out. I think it's interesting that the that the spies weren't pointing out all this lady's sin. Well, don't you know you're a prostitute? Don't you know? You know what the Bible says? We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Now God accepted not Rahab's sin, but he accepted a prostitute's faith. He accepted her faith. He didn't even say, Rahab, you need to get everything together. He said, I'm gonna provide a way to get you out of this situation. And we're gonna uh read a little bit more here, which is really exciting. But the Lord rescued Rahab and her whole household, not just out of Jericho, but out of a life of sin. So many times we will deal with people that are in a mess. Did you know sin will get you in a mess? And what they want is they want a quick fix. Get me out of Jericho, get me out of here. God didn't want to just take Rahab out of Jericho, He wanted to bring her into the kingdom of God. And what's really interesting, we don't have time to go into all of it, but the Bible says, sorry, that when they got Rahab, they took her. You can read the account, that they took her and they brought her outside of the city, outside of the camp. She was not when they first took her out of Jericho, she was not in the Israelite camp. She was actually outside the camp. But then later on, we read that Rahab actually became a part of the community. How beautiful is that! See, there's that interim time. People will take them out of Jericho, and they're not quite in the kingdom, they're pre-kingdom, but how many of you know we need to love them all the way into the kingdom? We need to see people beyond their sin. We think that we're sinologists. We really know about sin. We can diagnose sin, this, sin, this. I think that we need to sometimes realize that people know that they're messed up. And sometimes you got to live a few years to do that. I shared that with someone the other day that the woman that was caught in adultery, she's literally in. In adultery, and the Pharisees are there, and they bring the woman right in front of Jesus, and they want to stone her. Right? And of course, Jesus is acting like he doesn't hear him. And then Jesus said, you know, who's ever without sin? You go ahead and you cast the first stone. We need to drop our rocks. Now what's interesting is that the Bible says when Jesus said, Whoever's without sin, let him cast the first stone. You know what the Bible says? Do you know what order they walked away? It was from the oldest to the youngest. So the old guys were the first ones to drop their rocks. Why do you think that is? Because usually the older you get, the more of what you realize you have been forgiven of. And you got you go, man, I've lived a long life. I've needed the grace of God much in my life. I ain't got no right to throw this stone. So we they threw them aside. What I'm trying to say is God had mercy on the prostitute. Why? God is looking to bring people into this is called the acceptable series. God is looking for people that he can accept into his kingdom, and they may be in sin, and God cannot accept sin at all, but he will receive their faith while he's in the process of delivering them. Now, God did not accept her lifestyle, he didn't accept her prostitution, but in his mercy, God accepted her faith. And by faith, I can just see her tying that scarlet thread in the window. Guys, we got to tell people that there's power in the blood of Jesus, that there's a victory in the blood of Jesus, that no matter what they have done, that his blood will wash them whole and that they can receive a brand new future. Have we been telling people about that blood of Jesus? Oh, precious is the flow that washes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus. By faith, she tied that scarlet thread, and it was a beautiful picture of the blood. It was the blood that marked her house for deliverance. And it was her faith that caused her to lay hold of it. Her faith was not the rope. The blood was the rope. Her faith simply reached out and trusted in what the blood would do. God receives broken people through mercy. And I tell you, friends, if we start really wanting to know the heart of God, we will approach people so differently. Not in only our interactions with them, but in our thoughts. When we see people doing vile and wicked things and things that are contrary to the word of God, we may understand that they are in sin, that they are in destruction, but that God has a plan of rescue. How many of you know that the EMTs aren't focusing on all the terrible things that that drug user had to do to get in that situation? And how many of you know in the ambulance ride they're going, I can't believe you did this. I can't, and you know, can you imagine an EMT just giving this guy a lecture while he's dying? No, all their talk, all their focus is how do we get this person alive again? How do we bring the remedy? And friends, we don't need to simply go around picking the the uh thing in people, especially people of the world that have no concept. How many of you know they're on their way to hell? They're doing wicked things, they're doing terrible things, they're stuck in a pattern of their life. But how many of you know we need to be people that will give them that scarlet rope? And uh the Lord changed her from being a prostitute to a wife in Israel because that's the way our God is. God restores dignity to people, kings, priests, royalty. You see that homeless person on the street, you look at them, you go, Man, I bet they don't know that they're royalty. God's creation. You hear that person screaming and doing all these things, that telemarketer that calls you, hallelujah. Treat them like royalty, hallelujah. Treat people with dignity, treat people with respect. I want to give you just a very quick history lesson. The name of the message is Great Great God. Well, there's a reason for that, because Rahab ended up marrying a man, and his name was Salman, and then they had a child together, and that child was Boaz. And all the women like, oh, Boaz. Because Boaz was Romeo, he married Ruth, and a lot of people will talk about Ruth and they'll say, Well, you know, Ruth, she she was in the genealogy that ended up being all these things, and but before Ruth, there was a Rahab. It was a prostitute, and God took that prostitute out of a life of filth, brought her into the kingdom, gave her a man of Israel, a man of integrity. I'd have to look up the genealogy of his nationality, but their son was Boaz, and then Boaz married Ruth, and then they had a son named Obed, and then they had a son named Jesse, and then he had a son named King David. So, what I'm saying, we have a great, great God, because David's great-great-grandmother was a prostitute that God redeemed. I said, Who's your grandma? I'll tell you who my grandma was, but let me tell you about my great-great-grandma. That was Rahab. And of course, we see Rahab, the prostitute, coming in, we see Ruth, we see David, and then all the way through the lineage comes Jesus. You're telling me Jesus came through the lineage of a prostitute? That's exactly what I'm saying. Because we serve a God of redemption. We serve a God that redeems people. The Bible says, if God dealt with us according to our sins, who could stand? Can I fill you in? Nobody. So God not only got her out of darkness, but he changed her future. And we need to start being people that start helping people realize, man, God has a beautiful plan for your life that you don't even know about that will change your generations if you'll get in the kingdom. She couldn't go running back to Jericho, she couldn't go back into that lifestyle. Why? Because God brought her into covenant. And then she became famous. She's in the hall of faith in Hebrews. By faith, Hebrews 11, by faith, the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. Here she is, listed along with all the people of faith. You know what that tells me? God can pick anyone he wants. And who am I to sit around and think, well, he can't do that? And he, because don't you know what this person has done? God is looking for the sinner, he's looking for the broken. And we've got to be the same way. We need to look for sinners. We need to look for them. What are you doing? Man, I'm looking for a sinner. I'm looking for someone that's really messed up, and I want to tell them about the grace of God. Jesus is looking for the lost. Now we need to understand God does not, Jesus does not accept their sin, but he does call them to be freed from it in the middle of their bondage. God is waiting to accept their repentance, he's waiting to accept their faith, and he's waiting to accept their brokenness. And God receives us in our brokenness. God is looking for broken people. And this series, we have four series. This week where we're talking about that God is wanting to accept the faith of people that are absolutely broken. And then over the next three weeks, we're going to be talking more about how we have been accepted by God and then how he has called us to live our lives. But if we can't get anywhere in God if we don't have his heart. Well, I just want to get closer to God. Love the sinner. I just want to get closer to Jesus, have compassion on those that are doing terrible things. Jesus welcomed the sinner and he invited them to turn towards him. And Luke 15, I think this is one of the coolest scriptures in the Bible. Then all the then all the tax, all the guys that work for the IRS. Just so you know, the IRS guys, I don't know, people don't feel that strongly about them here in America. But in if uh if you happen to watch the Chosen series, Matthew was a tax collector and they couldn't stand the guy. Because they were looked at as traitors. You betrayed the Jewish people, and now if you owe taxes, you didn't just owe money. They could come and sell your house, and then you could be removed. So look at it, says then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Jesus to hear him. Do you know that the worst of sinners are wanting to draw near to Jesus? And do you know what? We don't need to be in the way. Hallelujah. I don't want to be in the way. I want to be sure that I'm the one that's helping bridge the gap between Jesus and them, like the spies. It's the scarlet thread. It's the scarlet thread. And when we have that heart, and you can just pray this way: God, give me your heart. Give me your heart, and whoa, get ready. Because your heart will start breaking for people. You will be filled with such compassion for people that once you are angry at, you will say, God, give me your heart. Then all the tax collectors and sinners drew near to hear Jesus, and the Pharisees and the scribes, what do they do? Complaining. I don't know if there's any such thing as godly complaining. I know that you can pour your complaint out to the Lord to a certain extent, and then ultimately, many times, He will say, Okay, are you done? Because complaining is not going to fulfill the will of God for our lives. Did you hear what I said? There's two things that don't accomplish much of anything complaining and arguing. I don't know if I've ever truly won an argument. I don't know if there's any truth to really winning an argument. Because at what price is that argument worth? Is it worth that person's self-esteem? Is it worth their dignity? Is it worth you proving you have to be right? But when we have a heart of compassion, we'll let God work situations out. Amen. This is what they said. They complained, and they said, This man receives sinners. It's a form of accepting. He didn't accept their sin, but he put value for who they were. And he eats with them. And he took the time. And a lot of people will try to twist this and say, see, Jesus, I can just hang around people smoking dope and on a regular basis, and it's no big deal. No, you have to understand that Jesus was always trying to pull people out of their darkness. When they were in Jericho, there was destruction. They were there, they were in her house, but they said, we've got to get out of here. And we do need to tearfully and prayerfully warn people of judgment that's coming. We need to tearfully and prayerfully warn people that if they've opened up the door for the enemy, he does not play fair, and the enemy plays for keeps. The enemy is not trying to hurt people, he's trying to destroy them. He's trying to kill them. And he has no mercy. So when you you when you engage with people, you say, Man, I know you're an addiction. I know you've been in this thing for a long time, but bro, we gotta get you out. Because this whole thing is about to blow. Please. And if they know that you care about them, and they know and they sense the compassion of God, the love of God through you will overwhelm them greater than any criticism of a finger in their face. And I'm just wondering when people are gonna start bringing people in here and say, where this guy? Well, I found this guy, he's messed up. And where's this guy come? And and people just they just start coming into the house of God and they don't they say, I'm not coming to church unless I bring someone with me. Because there's a dying world out there that needs to hear the gospel of Jesus. There's people that don't even know what a loving church family is, they don't know what it's like to sit down with a group of people and have a meal of people that are actually in their right mind and a group of people that are actually going somewhere in their faith. They don't know what it's like to be in the middle of praise and worship, they don't know what it's like to hear a message. Do you know how many people are waiting on you to be the light that God has called you to be? And so you have to ask yourself, Lord, show me the sinner. Show me the sinner, show me the person that is praying for a brand new start. And if you are listening to the Lord, he'll lead you to people, and you'll have stories like this. Man, I was just praying yesterday. I said, God, I needed a new start. God, I needed a church, God, I needed a new family, and boom, God will meet them. But God is needing us to have a heart of compassion. Amen. Now I'm closing, and I just want to say this that Jesus is looking for the sinner. Jesus called Matthew the tax collector while he was the tax collector. He said, You, I'm calling you out. And God is gonna use you, friends, and some people they say, God will never accept me. I've blown it, I've this or that. Look, not everyone knows the Lord like you know the Lord. Have you ever thought about that? That there's people that are just walking around and they don't know the right from the left, they haven't heard nothing. All they know is Facebook and Instagram and YouTube and all that. They're caught up in this whole society of confusion. And they need your voice in their life to say, Come, let me show you a better way. Jesus spoke to the woman at the well. She was a Samaritan. They were hated by the Jews. He's there in broad daylight, talking, and this lady says, Why are you talking to me? Why are you talking to me? And when you begin to move in the compassion of God, some people say, Why are you talking to me? And you could be like Jesus, say, Well, there's some living water that you need to know about. Have you drunk the living water of God? They say, What are you talking about? I'm talking about Jesus transforming your life in and out. Well, I went to church and I was there. No, I'm not talking about church. I'm talking about Jesus Christ. I'm talking about Him changing you from the inside out. And then you begin to give your testimony how you were messed up and how God had done something in your life, and you were at the end of your rope, and God used you to call someone, and they pulled with the grace of God, they pulled you up out of that and brought you into a brand new living. Is there anyone here that Jesus has changed their life? I'm just wondering, is there anyone here that happened to you? I mean, how messed up were you? If you were that messed up, then we really should be compelled enough to help other people to get out of the mess that we were in. And like I said, Jesus invited the woman that was caught in adultery. He said, I don't condemn you. He said, Go and sin no more. So get out of the sin because it's destroying you, but get into the kingdom of God because God is looking for people to accept. And here's the other thing: what if God is willing to work with people in their brokenness? What if people are just broken? He wants to use you, friends, he wants to use me. And I'm telling you, when you start to pray and say, God, give me your heart for these people, he'll show you that you won't be able to complain about those people anymore. I can't believe what those Democrats are doing. Pray for them. Is your complaining fixing anything? That governor, I can't believe he's doing this. Pray for him. And if you want, you be the governor. Go run, go run for office. But pray about these people, pray for these people, pray for them. So much of our time is spent either consuming negative things or things that waste our time, or we're thinking about things that aren't accomplishing anything. Is anyone listening to what I'm saying? And if we have the heart of God and we'll be like those spies, we'll realize that there's a mission, there's a rescue mission that God has anointed us for. Every day, there are people that He wants to use us to reach. Can you say amen? Jesus says to turn, to repent, and lay hold of the blood of Jesus. I think of one of the main people that traveled with Jesus, Mary Magdalene. You know what the Bible says about her? She didn't just have one devil, she had seven. Seven. Now that's messed up. God says, Oh, you got seven? Hallelujah. Seven is the number of completion. We're gonna set you free, and you're gonna come follow me. So there's people that you know they might be possessed. It doesn't always have to have a red suit and a pitchfork. It just messed up. But God can use you. To take authority over those things. Amen. And I think about one final person that God accepted. And that was the thief on the cross. He was already being punished for his sins. He was at the end of his life, at the end of his rope. And all he did is said, Lord, remember me. There was no altar call, no angels, no music, no worship team, no preacher. Just Jesus. And Jesus erased a lifetime of sin in a moment. Do you have any idea that Jesus wants to take a lifetime of people's sin and he wants to erase it? And especially Christians, in the name of Jesus, stop thinking about all the mistakes you have made. You have been accepted by God. God isn't thinking, you know that Matthew guy. I like him, but did you know what he has done? He's not thinking that. You know, he's thinking, I see my son, he's got the robe, he's got the ring, he's been forgiven, and he's clean. We need to have that same heart position that we see people in the blood, washed, covered, white as snow. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 45:39

Thank you for joining us for this podcast from New and Living Way. For more messages, ministry updates, and ways to connect, visit us online at NewandLivingWay.church and follow us on YouTube and Facebook. And if you're in the Kelso Longview area, we'd love to welcome you in person. Join us Sundays at 10 a.m. and Wednesdays at 7 p.m. at 215 Academy Street in Kelso, Washington. May the Lord bless you in a rich and powerful way.