Today, chapter 6, we'll hit the first 11 verses in the chapter in a message that I've called, Love Defines the Letter. And there is an innate ability within man to take and twist God's Word, casting a perspective upon it that will bring a meaning to it of really whatever end I may deem necessary. You know, I can use God's Word to justify sin in my life. I can take the things that God has meant to be a blessing to you and through them place an incredible burden upon you. And, you know, that's what makes context so critical, that when I or when you, when we develop a principle from the Word of God that we take into account the entirety, the whole counsel of God. And it's imperative that when we begin to glean these principles from the Word of God, that we have an understanding of the heart of God as we interpret the Word of God. And that's where Moses went wrong. Maybe you remember the story. complaining and grumbling and murmuring. There they were out in the desert. It was almost a typical scene that you come to see in the book of Exodus. And they're griping and complaining because Moses, they said, you know, you've brought us out into this desert. We don't have any water. You just brought us out here to die, us and our livestock and all of that. And so Moses falls on his face before God and God says, hey, listen. Just go out and speak to the rock, go out before the people, speak to the rock, and as you do, water will flow forth from the rock for the people, for their livestock. You know the story. Moses goes out before the people, begins to get irritated, he begins to be frustrated, and he says these words, hear now, you rebels. "'Must we bring water for you out of this rock?' And then Moses lifted his hand, and he struck the rock twice with his rod, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank." Well, directly following that, God says, "'Moses, step into my office.'" You know, because you did not believe Me and you did not hallow Me before the eyes of the people, you are not going to be able to enter into the land that I've promised to this assembly. You see, Moses didn't accurately represent the heart of God to the people of God. God wasn't angry with them. He wasn't frustrated or irritated. He knew their needs. He was concerned. He had compassion for them. He said, listen, just go speak to the rock and the water will flow forth and save them alive. And Moses goes out there and he represents God as irritated, as frustrated. He smites the rock in anger. And God had a problem with that. And understandably so. And so as we go through the Word of God, deductively and inductively gathering life principles from the Word of God, it's imperative that we seek to do so in a way that accurately depicts the heart of God. Now that's of course where the Pharisees went gravely wrong. They had a grip on the Word of God, believe you me, it would have shamed or embarrassed any of us as compared to them. Yet, as it pertained to the heart of God, they were way out in foul territory, meaning the ball wasn't even on the field anywhere. I mean, they were just out there as it pertained to God's heart. As it pertains to getting a grip on or gleaning an understanding from the heart of God, or what is the heart of God, the best way to study up on that is to develop a personal relationship with the Son of God. The best way to glean an understanding of the heart of God is to study up on and develop a relationship with the Son of God. The Bible says, God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son. Who, it goes on to say in verse 3, is the brightness of His glory, even the express image of His person. And what that means is this, if you're confused about the heart of God on a matter, how He would look at it, how He would handle it, find your resolve in the manner in which Christ, or the Son of God, dealt with it. For instance, how many times have you read Genesis chapter 3? whereby, after the fall, there God is, and He's calling out to Adam, where are you, Adam? And, you know, we have this tendency, at least if you're anything like me, when you see Adam sin, and then God pursue him, it's almost, you almost read it like a police chase, you know, and Adam has been cornered in a backyard somewhere, the helicopter's flying over, the megaphone, Adam, this is the Lord. You know, come out with your hands up. Or like an angry father whose son is fleeing from him because he knows he's done wrong. It's like, where, hey, where are you? Come out, where are you at? Got some things I need to deal with now. But if you examine the life of Christ, when do you ever see Jesus yelling at someone who's fallen? Or angry with someone who's broken? Never. You only see compassion, concern, a desire to renew and to reconcile, to bring people to repentance through His goodness. Here's the point, we're to interpret the Word of God, the heart of God, through the lens of the Son of God. So that if my interpretation of God's word is out of sorts with the character of Christ, then my interpretation is wrong. Okay? The Pharisees had taken something that God had intended to bless the nation of Israel, the Sabbath, Yet because they did not know the Lord, they misunderstood the heart of the Lord, and they had twisted the precepts so intensely that far from being a blessing, it became a radical burden. Notice with me, verse 1, chapter 6, the Gospel of Luke, we read, now, It happened on the second Sabbath after the first that he went through the grain fields, and his disciples plucked the heads of the grain and ate them, rubbing them in their hands. And some of the Pharisees said to them, why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath? We'll stop right there because obviously as we read this, we can see that Luke took for granted some things that he anticipated that the reader would already know. You know, that we'd be familiar with what the Sabbath is, with what the law stated about it, with some Jewish customs that surrounded it, However, for the Gentile, some 2,000 plus years removed, it might require a little bit of context being established. And so, let me clarify right away the beginning of verse 1 there in chapter 6, that I have no clue what's meant by the second Sabbath after the first. I mean, what does that mean? That's ambiguous at best. What was the first Sabbath he was referencing? I have no idea. I'm just going to say it. But in reality, that's a peripheral issue anyway. The primary issue is the Sabbath day and what was going on in the lives of our Lord's disciples on that day and at that time. And even more so, It wasn't really what was happening so much as it was when it was happening. The fact that it was a Sabbath in which they were plucking grain and eating it. Now first of all, I think we should understand exactly when the Sabbath was. Because there's a little confusion about that. Is the Sabbath day a Saturday? Is it a Sunday? Is the Sunday the new Sabbath for the church today? I mean, what does this mean? When was it established? What was it to represent? What was the point of it? You know, and all of that. Well, as for when the Sabbath is, when it was, the Sabbath day was a Saturday. And it was established, in reality, in the beginning when God ceased from His works of creation. We read in Genesis chapter 2 that on the seventh day, God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. And then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. And so, though the Sabbath was codified, it was brought into the law and established in Israel as law from the time of the Exodus, the principle of the Sabbath has been in the heart of God from the beginning of creation. Well, what then was it to represent? That man should take one day off a week? No. Though that's good and well, your body does need to rest physically. In reality, it was a mere foreshadowing physically of the substance which God wanted to bring man spiritually in Christ. We read in the book of Hebrews concerning Christ, behold, I have come in the volume of the book, that is in the totality of the scripture, it is written of me, that is the Messiah, to do your will, oh God. Now, you remember what I said earlier, we interpret the Word of God through its application found, its interpretation found in the Son of God. Now, Paul told the Colossians, so let no one judge you in food, or in drink, or regarding a festival, or a new moon, or Sabbaths, which are, here's the word, a shadow of things to come, but the substance, the body is of Christ. Now, God rested on the seventh day. He ceased from works. And it's His desire that we cease from works as well and enter into His rest. Whose rest? Well, the rest that Christ provides. Jesus said, Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and notice, I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Remember, Jesus didn't come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. And the precept of the Sabbath wasn't simply to ensure one day off a week. It was to picture a perpetual rest from quote-unquote working to be right in the sight of God through resting in the finished work of Christ on our behalf. To break it down a little further, the Sabbath, well, it's a picture of salvation free from our own works and entering into God's work on our behalf in Christ. As it says in Hebrews chapter 4, for we who have believed do enter that rest. And again in verse 10, for he who has entered his rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from his. Okay. So that's when the Sabbath was. It was on a Saturday. That's when it was established, even back at the time of creation, and that's what it was to represent. A ceasing from works and entering into God's work on our behalf, the finished work of Christ. Now, again, it was inducted into the law. of Israel at Mount Sinai when God gave to them the Ten Commandments. Then it was expounded on just a little bit further throughout the Law of Moses after that. Now as it pertains to our text, the problem of the Pharisees was not in the fact that they were taking grain from another man's field. You know, like they were stealing from this guy. Why are you stealing from this guy? No, that was perfectly legal, Deuteronomy 23 and 25. When you come into your neighbor's standing grain, you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not use a sickle on your neighbor's standing grain." So that God had made provision for the poor, those who were in need, or as you were on your way, on a journey, whatever the case may be, that you could take enough to fill your empty stomach as you passed through the grain field. But you couldn't take a sickle to it, fill a couple bags with it, you know, and sell it later for a profit or something like that. Today it might be likened to if you're walking through, you know, an orchard and you grab an apple or a vineyard and you take a grape or two off the vine, you know, it's not a big deal, that's okay. But you can't grab a few bushels and head to the farmer's market and try to make a profit from it, that's not right. But as your personal need, as it pertains to your personal need, we understand, is kind of the idea. So, they weren't saying that they were illegally gleaning from another man's field. They were saying that they were working on the Sabbath, which was illegal. Here's what the law said. Work shall be done for six days. But the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, well, he shall surely be put to death." Well, now that sounds pretty clear, doesn't it? Or does it? Because here's where the problem comes in. What exactly constitutes work? Do you see what I'm saying? If I draw water out of a well because I'm thirsty, is that work? If I pick up a toothbrush and begin to brush my teeth, am I working? Is that worthy of death? I mean, what's the deal? And is work a subjective thing or is it clear cut? To make a long story short, they developed volumes of commentary around that one phrase that they believed would constitute work. You could not take a bath on the Sabbath, which is weird because it's the Sabbath. I don't know. That just hit me. I don't know what that is, but you couldn't take a bath. on the Sabbath, because if water were to splash out of your tub and hit the floor, they considered that washing the floor. That's work. You couldn't walk more than 2,000 cubits, about 3,000 feet, because I guess that amount of energy constituted work. I'm not sure what the rationale was, but there was a limited distance you could walk, and there were very limited things you could do. It just got really, really ridiculous. They had, believe me, more than you could possibly remember would-be scenarios that they had developed around the idea of not working. And exactly what it was, according to them, that constituted work. Now, as for the Lord's disciples, here's the violation. When they plucked the grain, or the wheat, that was considered harvesting to them. And when they put it in their hands and went like this to separate the chaff from the kernels of wheat, they considered that threshing. And when they went and blew the chaff out of their hands, they considered that winnowing. So, they're harvesting, threshing, winnowing, and then the whole process is preparing the meal, which was illegal, so that as far as the Pharisees were concerned, there were four Sabbath violations in every bite. I mean, is that what the Scriptures taught? No. But it's what their traditions that surrounded the scriptures imposed. Now I know sometimes going through these things it seems a little meticulous to develop all of that. But in reality are we that much different? Does the scriptures really address, you know, the details that surround our hair or makeup, the length of the dress, the style of the clothing? No, but we impose our tradition, what we suppose to be acceptable to God around those things and hold people to those things and feel as though they're violating God when they don't uphold those things. So, though the cultural stigmas may vary, the principle applies. So, what God meant to be a blessing, the Sabbath. They had managed to turn into this an incredible unbearable burden. Now look at verse 3. But Jesus answering them said, Have you not even read this? Now, when when he would say something like that, that would just instantly get under their skin because we're talking about the the doctorates, the teachers of Israel when it came to the law. These guys knew how many letters were in, you know, the Old Testament. They knew exactly what the sinner letter was. They had I mean, they committed their lives to the memory and the study of the scripture. So when Jesus goes, what haven't you read this? It's an instant like he's got their attention. What David did when he was hungry and those, he and those who were with him, how he went into the house of God and took and ate the showbread and also gave some to those who were with him, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat. And he said, the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath. Now if you want to read the scenario Jesus is referencing here, it's in 1 Samuel chapter 21, it's the first six verses. And you'll find there David on the run, really from a dying dynasty, the dynasty of King Saul, his kingdom. Saul was pursuing him, or would be shortly. And it's kind of an interesting parallel because the Judaism was a dying dynasty and the son of David is basically, they're pursuing him. But be that as it may, he comes to the city of Nob, that is David, where the tabernacle was kept, and he was hungry. I mean, he had been running. And so he goes to the priest and he says, hey, listen. What do you got to eat? And the priest says, well, all we have is this showbread, David, you know. And the showbread now, understand, was consecrated to God. What it amounted to was 12 loaves of bread that would be replaced every week in the tabernacle. And it was on what was called the table of showbread before the Holy of Holies. And the idea there is the 12 tribes of Israel was constantly before God. and, you know, there before him, and on his heart, and in his mind, and all of that. And so, it was, but the point is, is that the showbread was consecrated, it was holy, and only the priest, it was against the law for anyone but the priest to eat it, because it was consecrated to God. But in order to keep David from starving, the priest made an exception, giving the bread to David, And God did not rebuke David nor the priest for their actions. Why? Well, because the priest knew the heart of God behind the word of God. Here's the point we're drawing out. Human need will always supersede religious ritual. Okay? The question is not so much, well, what's the legal thing to do? as it is what's the loving thing to do. Because Paul informs us in Romans chapter 13 in verse 8, Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. So if one were to struggle, with how to interpret the law, you will always interpret it correctly through the lens of love. Okay? Now, love doesn't let another man starve to death when the means is right there to meet their need. Better that David receive strength to serve the Lord rather than starve to death and be of no earthly value to the Lord. Remember these words? For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. If there is human need standing in front of us and it's within our means to meet that need, we're to do so. Which is exactly, well, what these religious leaders, well, they weren't doing it. You know, better that they receive strength to serve the Lord rather than starve and be of no value to the Lord. These religious leaders, well, they were ignoring man's need so as to observe religious ritual, which is the polar opposite of the heart of God. Now in Mark's Gospel we read where Jesus said, listen you guys, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Which means that any application of the Sabbath that made for the detriment of man, as opposed to the benefit of man, was out of harmony with God's purpose. Now I'm not talking about Materially, you know, as though you should go on the Sabbath and try and make a lot of money, because that's going to benefit you. No, we're talking about spiritually, physically, that there should be a time set aside where you can undistractedly seek God wholeheartedly. And if there's something that's keeping you from that, or if there's something that hinders that, that's not good. Now, in Matthew's gospel, Jesus pointed out that the priests went to work every Sabbath day, and yet they were blameless, that they were required. He said, haven't you read that the priests profane the Sabbath, yet are blameless? They were required to make sacrifices every Sabbath. They were working, man. They were going for it. And yet they were blameless. So the problem wasn't with the law, nor was the problem with what Jesus and his disciples were doing in the eyes of the law. The problem was found in their rituals and traditions that surrounded the law. And Jesus points that out when he says, for the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath. What's that? Yeah, listen, Jesus is saying, and don't think they missed it, You know, listen boys, if anyone has a clue concerning what's intended by the Sabbath, what's appropriate on the Sabbath, it's me because I'm the one that instituted the Sabbath. Okay? Now he subjected himself to the appropriate standards behind it, but the fact of the matter is he was Lord over it. He could do whatever he wanted to with it, kind of a thing. Now, look at verse six. It happened on another Sabbath. I almost called the title of the message Sabbath Taj, but I didn't know if that would be, you know, appropriate. Because it's always revolving around, you know. It happened on another Sabbath also that he entered the synagogue and taught. And a man was there whose right hand withered. So the scribes and Pharisees watched him closely. whether he would heal on the Sabbath that they might find an accusation against him. Well, this is another rule, right, that they had tagged to the Sabbath. If someone was dying, you could go and administer enough care to keep them from dying, but you couldn't do anything that would promote their healing, because healing was considered work. And so you could help them not die, but you couldn't get them on the road to recovery until the next day. But I want you to check out how they inadvertently compliment the Lord, the heart of the Lord toward humanity. They realize, I mean check it out, and a lot of people wonder if maybe this man wasn't planted in there by these guys, because they realize he cannot ignore human need. They understand that if there's someone in the mix, here we sit and here we are, and if there's someone in this mix who's hurting and in need, that His heart will go immediately to them and seek to comfort them and to minister to them and to meet with them and bring healing to them. And they also believe that Jesus had the power to make a difference in people's lives and had a genuine desire to do so. I think sometimes we're not so sure. So in many ways, the Pharisees sort of shame us here, because they see this man, if they didn't plan him there, they know he's there, and they're watching the Lord, because the Lord knows he's there, and they're going, hey listen, I know Jesus is all about human need, I believe he has the power to change lives, and he has a genuine desire to do that. Interesting. And so, they're watching him. Not because they're in awe of him, but because they're looking for justification to accuse Him. You see, the more that Jesus would attack their man-made traditions, rock their traditional boat, the more the religious leaders would attack Him. So they're following after Him with hearts, really, that are far from Him. And so we read in verse 8 that He knew their thoughts, and we've talked about that before. And he said to the man who had the withered hand, arise and stand here. And he arose and stood. Now this is one of those moments, isn't it? I mean, it seems like when we follow the life of the Lord, these moments just came up all the time where it's like, Everybody's expectation is kind of wet with anticipation. What's going to happen? I mean, here they are all in a setting similar, you know, not too unlike this, at least for their culture, and everybody knows what's going on. The Lord knows that they know that guy's there, and they know the Lord knows that guy's there, and the Lord knows they're wanting to set him up. And so, you know, he calls this man out. The Lord calls this man out and says, come up here, son. I want you to sit right here on stand. I want you to stand right here in front of everybody. you know, kind of a thing. And he's right in the middle of everyone. Now, the Lord could have waited a few hours and the Sabbath would have been over. You know, he could have talked to him personally a little later and healed him privately, not made a big, you know, ripple. But there was something going on here. And by the way, you also might note that this man never asked Jesus to heal him. We don't read, we don't have any indication that he had particularly strong faith or anything. Here we just find Jesus simply exercising his power sovereignly as he saw fit. And it's good to realize that sometimes Jesus will simply move in your life in such a way as to bless your life. just because He sovereignly chooses to, because He loves you, and He has a heart that's for you and not against you. You know, how many innumerable blessings do I have, do you have, that you never really asked for, but the Lord just blessed you, sovereignly, because He simply loves you. So here He is, and He's standing there, and I'm quite certain it's a little bit awkward, if you know what I'm saying, and so verse nine, Jesus said to them, I want to ask you something. Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil? To save life or to destroy? And when he had looked around at them all, he said to the man, stretch out your hand. And he did so, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. but they were filled with rage and disgust with one another what they might do to Jesus. So Jesus calls the man out in front of them so as to purposefully direct their attention to him. And then when he's standing here, he begins his lesson. He looks at them all and he says, I got a question for you. Is it right, is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or to do evil? This man standing here, his hands all palsied and shriveled up. Is it right to save life or to destroy? That's exactly what happened. Silence. No one would say a word. And we read that Jesus looked at them all. In other words, He's looking around and He's making eye contact with them. Like, tell me, is it right? Is it lawful to save or to destroy? To do good or evil? And the gospel of Mark tells us that he looked at them with anger because he was grieved over the hardness of their hearts. In other words, it was like a master of the obvious kind of a question. You know, it's like, well. But I want you to check out our Lord's reasoning, if you're not doing good and you're doing evil. If you're not taking measures to save a life, then you're advocating its destruction. Here's the point. Listen, it's never the wrong time to do the right thing. Okay? It's never the wrong time to do the right thing. And it's never an act of evil when you do something good. I don't care when it is. So he looks at him and he says, stretch out your hand. And as He did, His hand was instantly restored, as whole as the other." You guys, this is the work of the Word of God in this man's life. That His Word will not return void, it will accomplish the purpose for which it's sent. The Word empowered him to do that which was impossible for him. The moment he purposed to obey, listen, the moment he purposed to obey, God enabled him to do it. I mean, he could have went, in case you haven't noticed, I'm paralyzed." But he simply obeyed, and God enabled. Husbands, I love your wives. The Word of God says to you and me, Ephesians 5 and 25, hey, listen, I can't anymore. You don't understand. you know, what's going on in our relationship, what she's done, or the way she's treated me, or, you know, I'm paralyzed, it's gone, it's too far, you know. Well, listen, you can either make a list of excuses as to why we can't do what God says to do, or you can say, God, your word says to love my wife, so I'm gonna do that, knowing that as I obey you, you will enable me. Wives, so too with your husbands. You obey, he will enable. Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy. You don't understand, I've been in this sin cycle, this has been happening, that's been going on, I'm addicted to this, or I'm struggling with that, and the excuses roll. Or you can choose to obey and trust that God will enable. Now, you would think that these guys would be filled with wonder. I mean, a sense of awe. I mean, can you imagine seeing that? I mean, what a breathtaking, absolutely amazing encounter that would be. You would never forget that. You know, they'd shout hallelujah, they'd give God glory, something, you know. But instead, they're filled with rage. I've said it before, and you'll probably hear me say it periodically, the miraculous will not create faith in a person's life. You know, so many times people think, man, if I could just see a miracle and I'd, you know, or whatever. Miracles don't make faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Joplin Globe. Nope. By Fox News. Nope. The Word of God. It's the Word of God. Seeing is not believing, but believing will be seeing. Apparently, it's not okay to help or heal someone on the Sabbath, but to be filled with rage and disgust premeditated plans of murder, no problem. Really? I mean, really? You know, every now and then you will You'll hear in Christian circles phrases like, the letter versus the spirit. You know, because Paul spoke of the fact that the letter kills in reference to the law, but that the spirit gives life. And you know, God meant for the Sabbath to be a blessing to the nation of Israel, a precept that pictured perpetual rest through entering into the finished work of the Messiah upon man's behalf. But rather than defining the letter through love, they took what God meant to be a blessing and twisted it so it became a horrible burden. It was no longer beneficial. In reality, it was detrimental. And I think how many times we can burden ourselves trying to do this or to avoid that because we want to be right in the sight of God. And so we want our hair cut the right way. We want to dress appropriately. We want to, you know, do this or not do that and all of that. And listen, I'm not saying that we shouldn't exercise wisdom in the practical affairs of life. I would never say that. Absolutely we need to. But what I'm saying is that rather than try to work for our righteousness, listen, just rejoice in the fact that Jesus calls us to rest in His. Just rest in His. You know, Jesus is our Sabbath day every single day. We rest in Him. We rest in the blessing and the benefit of His work on our behalf. So be free. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Lord, we thank you for making a way for us where there was no way. And we thank you for the blessing of being able to just rest in your work rather than trying to rely on the obvious insufficiency of our own works. And Jesus, it's in you that we find that rest for our souls. And we give you praise. Lord, we give you praise. And help us now that we not ever twist your word to justify our own desires. Help us not to create burdens out of the things that you intended to bless and all of that. But God above all, just teach us love. Love for one another, a greater love for you. And I just encourage you as our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed, and you know what, if you've not entered into that rest, you're weary and heavy laden, and your soul is tired, and just tired of fighting, tired of trying to do the right thing, You're ready to quit trying in your own efforts, your own works. You're ready just to say, you know what, if someone else has done it for me, I'm good with that. And you're ready to rely on the work of Jesus Christ upon the cross, spilling his blood, losing his life that you might have everlasting life. You're ready to simply repent. That is to just turn from your sin, to look to and trust in Jesus Christ. then you can open your heart right here and right now and receive His forgiveness. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. Is that your need? Is that where you're at? I don't know everybody here. I don't know your story. All I'm interested in right now is Christ in your heart. Do you know Jesus in a personal way? I'm not talking about have you gone to church before. I'm saying if you had an encounter with Christ where He's come into your heart, forgiven your sin, and made you different, you're different now than before you met Jesus. And if you can't say that, I want to pray for you. If you want Christ to come into your heart and to forgive you of your sin, and you're ready to trust in Him and to rest in His Word, Let me pray for you. I don't care how old you are, how young you are, where you've been or what you've done. I just care if you have Christ in your heart. Can I pray for you? If so, here's what I'm going to ask you to do. I'm going to ask you to raise your hand wherever you're at. If I see your hand, I'll acknowledge that and you can put it back down, but if you want to receive Christ in your life, God bless you. Anyone else, Lord, just dealing with you? Yeah, God bless you. And you're just saying, you know what, I'm ready to quit trying all this on my own. I just wanna give my life to Christ. Father, I thank you for the work that you're doing in this place, for people acknowledging you, people acknowledging their desire to just rest in you and be forgiven by you and just walk with you. And I just want to encourage you that, you know, whether your heart's turning to Jesus for the very first time, or maybe you're here and your heart's just turning back to Jesus. Let's just come to Christ fresh. Let's just start over. Just from your own heart, just come clean before the Lord. Confess your sin to the Lord. Just tell Him, just from your own heart, Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner. It's who I am. I'm not going to justify it or make light of it. I want to confess it. I want to repent of it, to turn from it. So I ask you now to come into my heart, Lord Jesus, and to fill me with your Spirit, and to forgive me of my sin. I want to walk with you. I want to know you. I want to rest in you. Help me, Lord, to live my life for you the rest of my life from this day forward. And Lord, I praise you for putting my name in your book of life. Listen, if you're praying something like that, I want you to know that God's heard your prayer, the cry of your heart, that Christ has come into you, that he's forgiven you by the power of his Spirit. Be blessed by it. Be encouraged through it. And, you know, if your heart's turning back to the Lord, just be refreshed, be renewed, be encouraged. God loves you. He's not against you. He's for you. He has thoughts of peace and not of evil. He wants to give you a future and a hope. Just receive grace gracefully. Don't resist it. Don't fight against it. Just be open to God. pouring out His grace and making you brand new. Father, we thank you for your mercy and your love. In Jesus' name, amen.