Crossroads at Identity Island - Six Crossroads for the Journey Ahead

I was on my way to South Africa. And I uh the the way the airlines had it set up, um I had to do a layover somewhere Karen would usually arrange something special for me in those situations. It was really cool. And uh so I had to be in Rome for 18 hours. Oh shucks. Um now I had never been to Rome before and uh 18 hours in Rome, any of you have flown to Europe, you know you uh kind of fly through the night usually. to get to Europe and I'm like, good night, I'm not going to be sleeping for two days. What am I going to do? Sleep when I get to Rome? I got one day and 18 hours in Rome. I think I'll sleep. No, not a chance. So I called a missionary friend of mine. And uh who was in Rome, and uh it was right after Christmas I was uh going to the conference to speak to youth conferences down there, and uh He said uh and I said Dave any chance you could take me around and uh he agreed to do that uh and man we did boy did we do Rome you wouldn't believe I mean Sistine Chapel uh uh you know the Coliseum the the catacombs I mean we was a Hushcraft speed Kind of thing express tour of Rome. Not sure what I saw, but um no, uh but I I I left most of my stuff in a locker uh at uh at the airport. But I had a few things with me. We went to the Coliseum first. It was really early in the morning. And uh I and I think I had a camera bag maybe. This is a club before stuff got more miniaturized. I think I had a camera bag maybe and and I I think I I had a blazer on and I had my passport in this pocket and put my wallet, you know, like I'm city boy. I know you put your you know, where the pickpocket can't get it, put in your hip pocket, and all that stuff. So as we leave, we are assaulted, you might say uh by a group of gypsy children probably 10 or 11 years old and they are just creating chaos They're just trying to confuse you. And so they're all over us, literally. And uh, and you know, so I'm like, make sure, you know, hang on to everything. And um Dave's got an umbrella, so that that kind of turned them away. That uh he used that more as a weapon. I mean he didn't take him out, but you know, he just he's a missionary. Uh but you know he poked at him a little bit So that that got us out of there. So that was fine. So we went a block or two over this little rise. And all of a sudden I see like a probably a little five-year-old girl. Looks like she might be one of the gypsy girls. And um And she's running our way and chasing us. Oh, come on. Are we done yet? But she's she's got some blue thing in her hand that she's waving It's my passport. I do not know how they got it out of my pocket. All I know is It's a miracle, literally, that, because I'm not going anywhere without that, right? Forget going to Africa, forget going home, forget going anywhere. Uh I'm in big trouble Because my official identity is in a little gypsy girl's hand. What a, isn't it sweet that God did this and this little girl gave it back to me? Save my skin for sure. You know, um when someone steals your identity, it's big trouble And that doesn't have to be a passport. In fact, if if somebody steals your, and I don't know if any of you have had it happen, where you've had your ID stolen. And the financial, you know, you got to call all the credit cards and all, it's it's a pain. But it's even more of a problem spiritually When someone's trying to steal your identity. And someone is. And our last crossroads has to do with what would seem to be a very simple question. Who am I? Well duh But our answer to that, our real answer, our living answer to that, that we live out every day Might be the wrong answer. Because we have an enemy who's in the business of stealing our true identity, so we will settle for less. than who we really are. And that's kind of where we come into this last crossroads, because who is that person in the mirror? Beyond the superficial, who is that person? And you already might be thinking of answers. I hope it's the right one. I mean our culture tells us who we are, puts us in a category. People we love have said who they think we are, people who don't love us Have told us who they think we are, our insecurities, tell us who they who they think we are, um, our interests, things we're interested in, that becomes who we are. The activities that we're in, so many things giving us a sense of what our identity might be And as your note says, life experience has shaped our ideas and feelings about that person in the mirror. Names we've been called. The fact that we have been, we really have kind of landed on the fact that we've been a victim many times in our life. I'm the outsider. I always feel like I'm kind of on the outside looking in. I'm a sinner And certainly theologically that's true, but in terms of being an identity, well Maybe not. All your life, the thief from hell has been trying to steal or keep you from your true identity. And that attack is not a new thing. Let's go to Jesus, Matthew 3. Here is the ultimate mountaintop experience, I would say, spiritually, of Jesus' life. As Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water at that moment. Heaven was opened. He saw the Spirit of God. Here is the Trinity in essence reunited for this incredible moment. Heaven opens. He sees the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And then the Father shows up with this voice, an audible voice, and a voice from heaven said, This is my son. This is who Jesus is. This is my son, whom I love. With him I am well pleased. Boy, there's no doubt who Jesus is. The father has endorsed who he is to everybody there. This is my son. The next thing that happens. It's a genealogy. But then after the genealogy, the very next thing that happens, after this spiritual high, let's go to the next chapter. Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. How in the world does the devil go about tempting Jesus. After 40 days, first of all, he waits until he's vulnerable, fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came to him and said, If. You are the Son of God. This is my son. If you are Where does he attack? His identity. This is not a new attack. And so, and you can see in your notes, no sooner had the father say said, you are, and the enemy said, if you are. Sowing doubt about what the father had told him his identity was. He is trying that with you and me The Heavenly Father has told you in Christ who you are, but we keep defaulting back to less than that. So don't be surprised at this attack, and maybe you've never even realized that this was a satanic strategy. See, when you met Jesus, you were on the road to knowing and being who you were created to be. But your enemies have been trying to make you question your worth in Christ ever since. So God brings us to this crossroad Because he wants us to settle once and for all and affirm it and choose it And live it, our true identity. Why? Because it's going to be necessary for us to run well and finish well. Crossroads number six is this. Extrinsic worth or intrinsic worth? That's not eccentric worth. It didn't say that. I think I got that one. No? No, extrinsic worth means I'm getting my worth from something outside of me. I get it from the outside. Intrinsic worth means, no, I have it in me. Which is going to be what give makes me is the kind of the kind of um uh confidence, where's my confidence gonna come from? Extrinsic worth, and I'll give you examples in just a minute, or intrinsic worth. Is my my real worth, my real identity, from something outside of me or something inside of me? Now the reason this really matters is because many of the ways that we live and many of the choices we make and many of the ways we raise our kids and how we relate to God and how we treat other people and what we are willing to attempt for God traces back. to who we really are and who we think we are. Here's what the truth is. Let's make sure we get the truth settled right away. 1 Peter. But you are a chosen people. You are a royal priesthood. Chosen. Royal. Holy. A holy nation. Special. God's special possession Why? Because out of that, if that's who you if you really believe that who you really are is chosen, royal, holy, special, and gods You will declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness and into his wonderful light, a vibrant, unafraid, unembarrassed Unashamed witness to Jesus Christ comes out of knowing who you are. Once you were not a people, but now you're the people of God. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Okay, here's what we got to do. We're gonna look at the lie dennities. That is not a word, but it is now. The English language is far too limited, and the dictionary is not a boundary. So there. You need a word, you make one up, okay? So the lie the lied entities that limit our life and limit our faith I've got them in two categories. First of all, the lied entities that wound us. Some of that is the names we've been called. I'll bet you you know you know which old thing sticks and stones and break your bones, names will never hurt you. That ain't true Broken bones will heal before the wounds inflicted by some names we've been called. You remember names you were called long time ago. And they're all part of, they're all in there, and they replace sometimes. Names we've been called. Look at uh Genesis 32, 28. This is one reason God keeps changing people's names. He said your name shall no longer be Jacob. Cheat. Crook is basically what that means. And he lived up to it. He, you know, people become the names they're called. You call your kid lazy long enough and they'll be lazy. They get called stupid often often enough and they'll be stupid. They'll think that's who they are. You tell them some of our native young people have heard, you're a mistake, and you'll you'll live like you're a mistake. You'll make choices like you're a mistake. Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, Prince with God. For you have striven with God or with men and have prevailed, and um he has given a new name. God continually renames people, names that we've been called, also ways we've been treated. Ways that we've been treated. Psalm 1014 says, But you God see the trouble of the afflicted, you consider their grief, you take it in hand. The victims commit themselves to you. You are the helper of the fatherless, of people in this room who have been sexually abused or abused in other ways. Abusers, part of their whole approach, is to tell you how worthless you are In other ways, the ways you've been treated, the way you were abandoned, neglected. mistreated, betrayed, has sent a message to you that that's who you are, that person in the mirror, must not be very valuable. Or they wouldn't have been treated this way. It's a lied entity. They don't know who you are. Criticism. Think you'll be criticized for Proverbs 1821. The tongue has the power of life and death. For some of us in this room, the tongue has had the power of death in our life, other people's tongue. And what they have, how they have brought us down and put us down and bashed us and canceled us. And of course, failure. Failure could, as we talked about last night, you could end up saying, I am a failure. You are not, that's not who you am. It might be something you did, but it's not who you am. You are not, that's not failure is not your name. But you know what? If a if who you think you are is a failure, well you know I failed at this and I failed at this and I failed them and I failed if you believe that you will always aim low and never become the more that you were made to be. Because you believed a identity. The other kind of identity, not just the ones that that wound us, but then there are identities that fail us They're not bad. They're just not right as an identity. For example, what we do. You know, I am what I do. Until we can't do it. The guy who's a great athlete. Take the basketball out of his hand and he doesn't know who he is. Injury. I don't know who I am now. See, we're never meant for that to be the answer to the question Who am I? Right away we say, well, I'm an engineer, I'm a doctor, I'm a machinist, you know, I'm uh I'm I'm uh no that's not who you am You know how what do we say to little kids? What are you going to be when you grow up? No, no, that's not what you're going to be. It's what you're going to do, but it's not who you'll be. So that one will let us down. It works until you can't. You're not that anymore. Years ago, uh I I was having a lot of hoarseness and the doctor diagnosed it as something called granuloma, which I never heard of before or since, but it was a little piece-sized growth on one of my vocal cords. Your vocal cords aren't very big. And he said the one vocal cord was essentially beating the other one to death every time they vibed. And you said that could become cancer, it could become a problem, you could not be able to speak. But that's what I do. I'm a speaker. Right? No, I do speaking. So he said, uh you let's try this first. Three weeks of total silence. Why are you laughing? This is when I changed my tribulation theology. I was no longer pre-trip. I'm in it. Oh, is it crazy, man? I mean, three weeks was forever. I had a little Mickey Mouse slate with me. You know those things you write and you erase? And I'm trying to rate I'm trying to be in the conversation? Forget about it. By the time you can write it, there are three subjects down the road You're like, literally, well that's irrelevant. What is that about? Well, you were just talking about it. I'm standing in the church lobby next to Karen. People come up and they ignore me, go to Karen and say, would you please tell Ron, I'm right here Don't tell I'm not I'm deaf but not dumb. I can you know I can still talk so it was cre it was a crazy time but I had to think It was a good test. If you can't do what you do, do you know who you are? A lot of men retire from what they do And they die a year later. Because they don't know who they are without what they do. The nest is empty. I'm a mom. But the kids are gone. Well, if you are, what you do Then you just lost you. But that is what you do. You are a mother. That certainly describes you. You do mother things, but is that Who you are? See, these identities can fail us. I am what I do until I can't Or I am my strengths. I'm a musician. I'm a builder. Um uh uh I'm an uh athlete, I'm in really good shape. Um that's not a personal testimony. Um And uh, you know, I am uh I am uh uh talented in this way, and then uh I have these abilities. I am my strengths, yeah, until they're not enough Like y and you will get to the point where it's you're not an it's not enough. Um What's it say about Proverbs 31, the Proverbs 31 woman, Charm is deceitful, beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. That face in the mirror gets older. And our shape changes sometimes too. All kinds of things change. Things that, these are things that fail us. They're never meant to be who we are. Jeremiah chapter 9 says this. Let not the wise boast of their wisdom. Don't let the strong boast of their strength Don't let the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts, if you want to boast about something, they have the understanding to know me. That I am the Lord. They probably won't be boasting at that point. Who exercises kindness, justice, righteousness on earth, for in these I delight, declares the Lord. The only thing to really be tremendously excited about is your relationship with God. And then our roles. I am my role. A title isn't your identity. Sometimes we like, I need that title, I need that award, I need that position. Until we're not that anymore. And once again, that has failed us. Luke chapter 5. Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. Follow me, Jesus said to him. And Levi got up and left everything and followed him Here's a guy who was, you know, they weren't really the most liked guy in town, but they were some of the richest. I'll tell you that. And Jesus is calling him away from the role that probably gave him identity. Now he saw a man named Matthew and told him he got him to go. Notice he's changing his name. He's changing his name to a name that means gift of God. Look, every extrinsic source of worth, what we do. Our strong points, our abilities, our role will ultimately prove to be losable. You will lose it someday You'll lose it to age, you'll lose it to health, you'll lose it just to change. It's fragile and it's inadequate. Let me give you one sad story, and then we'll give the happy part of this. One sad story. about extrinsic worth in Genesis 29. You remember that Jacob worked for seven years for his uh fellow cook, Uncle Laban, and so he could marry Rachel. You remember on his wedding night he found out he got Leah Rachel was the one that got all the dates. We had never gone out with anybody. I have no idea if that's true. I'm making up that part. But you get the idea. When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, because Jacob's got, that ends up, he says, what? I'm married because the way they dressed and everything for the weddings. He couldn't see who he was marrying, and he wasn't getting Rachel. He enabled her to conceive, poor Leah, married but unloved But Rachel remained childless. So right now Rachel's not having any children. Leah became pregnant, gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben. Reuben means seen my misery. This is the victim. She says, I'm going to name the son, God has seen my misery. That's a miserable name. It is because the Lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now. He'll love me now. Wrong. She conceived again. When she gave birth to a son, she said, Because the Lord heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too. So she named him Simeon. Simeon means one who hears. This is a hint. Jacob, listen to me. Be one who hears. She's desperately trying to get some worth from her man. Let's have another child. So she does. Again, she gave birth to a son and said, now at last my husband will become attached to me, and that's what the name Levi means, attached. Another, maybe he'll love me now. Finally, she conceived again. And when she gave birth to her son, she said, this time I will praise the Lord. So she named him Judah, you know, the tribe from which Jesus came. And Judah means praise. No longer is she trying to get her identity from her husband. She now says, I'm naming this one to honor the Lord. Extrinsic worth failed her until she learned her intrinsic worth. Let's talk about the identity that empowers you. Genesis 127. God created mankind in his own image. In the image of God, he created them, male and female, he created them. You are Imago Dei. You are made. You have singular, you have infinite worth made in the image of God. Every person on this planet is Imago Dei, image of God. A walking image of God. How are we in his image? Because we create, because we feel, because we love, because we are angry at times. Even God, God's angry at righteous, unrighteous things. All of the, so many dimensions that reflect what God is like. Image of God And then Isaiah 43. But now this is what the Lord says, He who created you, Jacob, he formed you Israel, do not fear, for I have redeemed you, I have summoned you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I'll be with you. When you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. The flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious, honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life. Quite simply, here's what God is saying. No fire, no flood can touch your created worth. He said, you'll go through fire, you'll go through floods. But what will decide your outcome is the fact you are mine, you are precious, you are loved. That's who you are So you have untouchable worth. You have infinite value, image of God, you have untouchable worth. You This screams, that's why it's in all caps. You are who God says you are. If you will choose that, if you will rest in that If you will reject all other sources of worth or identity as being the real thing, yes, they may describe you, yes, they may be part of you, but they're not who you are. Don't let the enemy steal that from you. You are who God says you are. And you have been since you were born And you will be forever. That's who you were before you were born. That's who you'll be forever. And that's who you are today. 2 Corinthians 6. What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple, we are the temple, we are the temple of the living God. When you're looking in the mirror, that's a temple. As God has said, I will live with them and walk among them. I will be their God. They will be my people. Therefore, come out from them. Be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. And I'll be a father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters. Look at a room full of God's sons and daughters. Sons and daughters. Says the Lord Almighty. You are a child of the Most High God. So, I want you to turn to the person to your right. If you have to shout across the aisle, that's fine And I want you to say, I am so honored to know you, Princess Fufty Nagel, or whatever her name is. I am so proud to know you, Prince Fur fur fur. Just whatever their name is. I am so honored to know you, Princess, or Prince. Go! Go! Let's go! Let's call each other who we really are. Go for it. Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Oh, royalty. We're in a room full of royalty. So say this and say it like it is eternally true. I am a child of the Most High God. Say it. I am a child of the Most High God. I am a temple of God. I am an image-bearer of God. I am the blood purchase of the Son of God. That's who you are. Always have been before you were born So you'll be forever, be it now. We know the scripture says you are the temple of the living God. Genesis 1. 27 we looked at and Revelation 5 says, with your blood you purchase men for God. So here's the question. Will you own your true identity for all the names you've been called and all the ways you've been mistreated? For all the times you've fought to feel like you were worth something by getting the applause, getting the title, getting the position, getting the compliment, getting the laughs, whatever. Are you finally able to own your true identity for the rest of your journey? Will you choose to never settle for less again? Because pursuing God's new thing requires having confidence and boldness The kind you have when you know and you are living the masterpiece God says you are. You live the rest of your journey in this liberating security. First of all, you have nothing to prove. You can't get any more worse Nothing. There's you can have a standing ovation from thousand people. You can get all the awards. Win whatever you'd like to win? Hit whatever goal you want to hit, does that make you worth more? Our kids ought to know that they're not worth any more with A's than they are with F's. Now, they may have some privilege issues there. But does getting an A make you worth more? Well, maybe the culture. But not the guy. Well you have nothing to prove. And because you know who you are, you have the confidence to take your stand finally. You don't believe the lies that make you feel inferior or make you feel afraid You can take your stand. And you can live to elevate others. The effect you will have on other people is they will feel elevated by being with you. Why? Because you know they're the image of God bearer too. When you know your worth, you know theirs. So you could be an elevator. What? We'll call you Otis. Strange things go through here. They only visit for a minute, but they then they come out here. And you can live with holy confidence because no one on earth. gave you your worth, and no one on earth can take it away. We've mapped out some choices really. That will determine the rest of your journey and whether it can be a that new thing. Forget the former things. Don't dwell on the past. See them doing a new thing. It's springing up in front of you. Do you not perceive it? I'm going to make a way in the desert, streams in the wilderness. But here's what I have concluded over the past year. I think you believe these things. I think you believe that we trust in the Lord with all our heart and not lean on our own understanding. You believe that. You believe God's got this. You believe we should obey Jesus not just when it's comfortable or doesn't cost us too much. And yes, say yes to him no matter what. Yeah, I believe that. I believe you should, you know, embrace your storms as ways to grow and not ways to bring you down and concentrate on the purpose, not the pain. And I believe I should uh I should be a witness and I should be involved in helping people go to heaven and telling about my Jesus. I believe that. I I do believe that. I believe I should keep packing, unpacking that bag of rocks. And um And I do, I I believe I'm a child of God Well, there's a difference between believe and choose There comes a point where you have to choose what you believe To say, I will live like this is this is how it is. My life, my choices, my priorities My activities, my yeses, my no's. I will choose to do it this way And those choices at these crossroads will take you deeper into Jesus than you've ever been. And the impact of your life farther than it's ever gone. As Eric Little, the Olympic runner, said I've run the first 200 meters and given to everything I've got. Now I'm going to run to the last 200. With God's help, I'm going to run harder. The best is not behind. Best is yet to come. I choose these things Bill Borden was the heir to the Borden Dairy fortune. But Bill Borden surprised everybody, well, for his high school graduation, He got a pretty decent graduation gift. It was a world cruise. Literally. Not too many high school students got that, but he. Was able and and that was then he of course was going to be taking over the family business ultimately. Something happened on that missions trip nobody on that trip nobody had planned on He saw the world and he saw its need. And his priorities changed. And he said, I'm going to be a missionary. Bill Borden came home, went to Yale, was a great student, highly respected. Then went did three years at Princeton. He's an Ivy Leaguer. While he was um while he was at Yale, he started a Bible study for students there. And there were 1,300 students there then. About a thousand of them attended the Bible study. His life was really beginning to be of service to God. And then he started giving away his fortune. Started a rescue mission in the city near the university. Gave money for the orphans and the homeless and the widows. And the forgotten. People began to talk about him. His best friend said, you are throwing away your life, Borden. And now he was asked to stop giving away all that money and begin to move into the family fortune more. And he wrote two words in his Bible. No reserves. Finally the day came that it was expected to take over the family business. He said, I'm called to be a missionary. I can't do that. Got a lot of heat. Wrote two more words in his Bible. No retreats. He left to go to become a missionary to Muslims in China. But he stopped for a year in Cairo. to learn Arabic and learn more about the culture he'd be going into. While he was there, he organized a campaign to get Christian literature to every home. In Cairo. Then he became very ill. And it was an illness from which he could not recover, and he died at the age of 26. Never made it to China. It turns out that before he died, he wrote two more words in his Bible. No regrets. For generations, including my own The example of Bill Borden, Borden of Yale, has inspired people to be missionaries over and over again. No reserves, no retreats. No regrets. was a summons he said in the human heart there's a throne And he said, if Jesus is on the throne, your life will be never the same. The alternative is itself is on the throne And we all have to choose. He made his choice clear. So here's the deal. Before we wrap up The nature of what we have talked about requires choice, not just agreement. Oh, that was a good talk. That's true. You know, to choose this. And I'm going to ask you to consider these choices, to summarize, and try to pull this all together. I jotted them down just very early this morning. Number one, hands off. Remember what I told you? Hands off or on? I'm doing this. Now you are saying you're putting your name in there hands off, hmm? I'm done controlling I'm done being the first line of action, the first response, leaning on my own understanding I know I'm gonna learn, I know I'm gonna it's gonna come in a process, but it's it's a hands-off, it's yours, God. Hands-off is my first reaction, it's not about me. That's one choice. God will be the doer. Number two, I want to know Christ. We got it right out of the words of Paul. Remember, he was 30 years in. But I want to go deeper with you, Jesus, than I've ever gone. There are parts of you I've never touched, parts of me I've not allowed you to touch I want to know Christ, which will be is a commitment that you're going to be there every day to be with him Your time with him is no longer going to be negotiable. It's going to be non-negotiable. I will have my Emmaus walk every morning. You might be sitting in a chair, but you'll be walking with him on a road to Emmaus. I want to know Christ. Doug and I were coming out, he Doug was 12. We were coming out of a meeting where a man had been speaking on the signs of the times and how bad the world was. When we came out, Doug said, Daddy, I don't want Jesus to come back yet. He thought you heretic. No, I was like, what do you mean by that? And he said Because I want to have time to have more devotions. Because I want to know him better before I see him. Don't you? Well, let's get on it then. And dedicate yourself to the pursuit of going deeper with Jesus than you've ever gone before. I want to know Christ. Hands off. I want to know Christ I am Christ's ambassador. That's exactly what 2 Corinthians 5 says. I so appreciated what Larry shared with us earlier during the sharing time. He said old age isn't fun, a lot of medical stuff. But what Larry was saying was, my situation is my assignment. I have God's work to do because every day I am placed in situations where I am the face and voice of my Jesus. Live that way. Will you choose to live that way? Choose to wake up in the morning and say, my situation, whatever it holds today, will be my assignment from God. I am Christ's ambassador. I am going to live on mission every day of the rest of my life. I know what my mission is. And two words. Yes, Lord. I simply will say yes, no matter what he is asking me to do will cost me, and how far beyond my comfort zone it takes me. Yes, Lord. For some of us that will mean an immediate action step. Because you've been resisting saying yes Whatever the reason, it's not good enough. Yes, Lord. Let God out of the box you've tried to keep him in. Hands off. I want to know Christ. I am Christ's ambassador. And my lifetime answer for the rest of the journey without hesitation is yes, Lord. Yes. Buy your head with me. I think you know what you need to tell Jesus. For some of us, this be a good new beginning this day. A day to say for the rest of my journey. I will live in this kind of conscious, deliberate, stubborn dependency on the Lord and not on me. I am not in control anymore. I have failed to really always be Christ's ambassador. I've been afraid. I've been silent when I should have spoken for Jesus But I will live as if my situation is my assignment. That's gonna make life exciting. And Lord, forgive me where I have I've said no or wait instead of yes. You're waiting on my yes, aren't you? Well you got it. You got it, Lord. And I want to know Christ, I want to know him so much that my time with him will be the great treasure of my life The great non-negotiable, the epicenter of my life, will be my time with Jesus. If you choose that. And the Spirit would lead you to make an affirmation of that outwardly. We have a cross here. You don't need to come up here. But I just want to extend on Jesus' behalf. An opportunity for you to outwardly declare this new beginning This hands off in one sense, but hands empty to reach out and receive the life he wants to give you for the rest of your journey Whatever it's been until now, however good or bad it's been until now, I'm choosing this Christ exalting series of of decisions. Yes, Lord. I right now he's saying Come up front. I'm gonna go sit down. Get out of the way here. And if you were able to kneel, we're standing But we've got a cross up here. It's as if we're coming back to the cross where it started. Yes, Lord. I'm taking hands off. Trusting you with all my heart, I will live as your ambassador on mission each day. And my answer will be yes.