TRANSCRIPT | Sun, October 25, 2020 | King of Hearts

 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Amen. You grateful for the presence of the Lord this morning? Amen. Praise the Lord. You may be seated this morning. Anybody glad you came to church on a Sunday morning? Huh? You glad? We're glad to see you. Thank you so much for being here. You know, when you look at the game plan for Heaven, there's only one thing on the agenda, and it’s worship. There's a lot of talk about getting to heaven and having glad reunion days and moments hanging out in the mansion and tiptoeing by the river, and I'm sure all those things will happen. But each glimpse you're given of heaven, especially Isaiah 6, Revelation 4, it just shows us everybody gathers around the throne and starts worshiping Jesus, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, and I believe is worthy, anybody saved and you know it, and you just want God to know how grateful you are, how thankful you are. And so thank you for the way that you guys worship. Thank you for the way that you go after the Lord. The Bible tells us that He will inhabit the praises of His people. And so when we're creating praise, an atmosphere of worship, like we're literally creating a place for the presence of God to sit down in our midst. And I'm telling you when Jesus shows up anything is possible. And today, we're not here in the name of a church, we're not here in the name of a preacher, we're here in the name of Jesus, and that changes everything because anything is possible, anything is possible. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Today, we're going to go into the Word in just a moment. I'm going to read three passages of Scripture. But before I do that, I want to share with you the way that you guys are ministering in the community. Our church exists because everyone needs Jesus. Right now we have three focuses, seek the lost,  make disciples, meet needs. And the way that you guys are meeting needs is through our Captivate outreaches. You guys, one of the things you've been doing in that vein, is going to nursing homes and creating plexiglass visitation stations that help people to be able to see their relatives and those that are elderly, in their family, patients at these various nursing homes. As of right now, you guys have installed four of those across the region. They are a quite significant investment, but we believe it is worth it. And we want to thank you guys for investing in those and making it possible. We've placed those, to my knowledge, or we are in the process of placing those everywhere that we have been told by nursing homes that it's okay to do. Different nursing homes have different codes, and different regulations, etc. And for those that have allowed us to, we've either done it, or we're in the process of doing it. And we got a testimony. I actually had it written down and I left it in the vehicle a moment ago, forgive me for that. But we had a testimony that came in just a couple of days after the last one was installed. And it was from a lady who was thanking you guys, and she said that she had not been able to see her loved one since mid-March, since mid-March. And you guys made it possible for her to have that close proximity and to be able to meet and administer. And so I just want to thank you. As you guys choose to give and worship God in that way, there's a variety of ways you can do it. One way is through text to give, they can put that number up for you; or you can mail you're getting the PO Box 399, Columbia, Kentucky; or you can drop it in a giving kiosk today. We got different stations set up as you're exiting the facility. Or you can go to 3trees.com and click on the Give link. So there's really no shortage of options there. I do want to say, we've been made aware by our provider that there is some kind of a glitch right now with Text to Give when it comes to those who have AT&T and a couple other brands as their provider. For some reason, it's just not going through. So if that's you and that affects you go to 3trees.com. I figure there's a special blessing for you. Like if you try to give one way and it doesn't go through and you're like God, I'm going to be persistent, and I go the next way, make it go through. Like I don't know, right there, I would have been like, I hope my provider doesn't work because I'm gonna get an extra blessing. I'm gonna chase it down, right? I’m gonna chase it down. But, just keep that in mind, and we'll let you know as soon as that deal is fixed with those providers. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Look with me at the Book of Matthew 22. This first passage that I'm going to read this morning, I'm not going to spend a lot of time preaching about it, but I want it to be a foundational truth for us to build from. And then I'm going to read two more verses. This one, this first one, a foundational truth from where we're going to go forth from Matthew 22:36, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?” And Jesus said to them, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart.” You shall love the Lord your God, “with all your heart, with all your soul, all your mind. This is the greatest commandment.” Look at somebody and tell them God wants your heart. God wants your heart. It’s the greatest commandment that you would just love God with your whole heart. Now, I want you to look with me 1 Samuel 13, there's a king, his name is Saul. He has drifted from God in his heart. And this is what it says, verse 14, “but now your kingdom shall not continue Saul, the Lord has instead sought for himself a man after his own heart. And the Lord has commanded him to be the commander over his people, because you Saul have not done what the Lord commanded.” So what we see is one king is being taken out, and another king is being put in simply because of what's going on in their hearts. One man has drifted from God in his heart, the other man is totally all in after God with his heart. And God says, I'm gonna choose that one, and I'm gonna make him the king. Now, one more passage, that guy that was chosen did have a moment in his life where that he ultimately failed. And he has a prayer time, as he's working through what's happened in his heart. And David, prays this in Psalm 51:10, he says, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Create in me a clean heart, and Lord, give me that right spirit again. Won’t you just look at somebody and tell them God wants your heart. God wants your heart. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Father, I asked you this morning to help me to preach, help me to teach, help me to share your Word in a way that gives your Holy Spirit the place in the room to move people closer to you and provoke people to take that next step in you Lord, whatever it might be done, let it be done in the name of Jesus. Bind every spirit of hindrance. Bind every spirit of distraction. God equip me, empower me to deliver your Word. And this Church said in Jesus’ name, amen and amen. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Have you ever experienced burnout? Boy, it's something, isn't it? Like, maybe you've worked at a job for a really long time, and then you kind of just reach this place where you're just kind of starting to get burned out with it. Maybe you've owned a business for a really long time. And maybe at one point you had a lot of vision, you had a lot of ideas. And now it's just like, you feel like you're really wrestling with burnout. Maybe you've even been involved in serving in ministry, serving in a church. And you know, when you first started you, you're ready to run through a troop and leap over a wall and there was this fire in your belly, and then you just kind of started to wrestle with some kind of burnout. It's possible that maybe even in your marriage, at some point you felt burned out in that you weren't working for it the way that you once did. If you've ever played much travel ball, okay, I can't get no, then you probably know what it is to experience burnout as you travel week after week and try to get from gym to gym, or or field to field. I was listening to one of my heroes be interviewed, and the interviewer was asking some incredible questions. In the midst of the interview, they ask him this question. They said, How do you know when you are nearing burnout? Not how do you know when you are burned out. How do you know when you are nearing burnout? It's an important question, because if we can get the answer right, it actually can help us to be proactive. It can help us from ever getting to that stage where we are completely burned out. And I thought this guy's answer was just brilliant. How do you know that you are nearing burnout? He said, I stopped caring the way that I know I should. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Is there any place in your life where that you've stopped caring the way that you know you should? Like maybe there was a point in your life where you really cared, like you, you really wanted it to go right. You really wanted it to go well. But now like something has come over you that you're just starting to think I just don't know that I care the way that I used to care. And this guy shared that he's actually learned that in his relationship with the Lord and the things that God has given him oversight of, the things that God has made him a leader of. Like, it's super important that when he starts to sense that he doesn't care the way that he knows he should care, he's got to go into a time of prayer. He's got to go into a time of fasting. He's got to go into a time of just getting on an altar and bowing before the Lord and just say, God, I want you to still have my heart in this area because I want to care, because God I know that you care. But here's the thing. Like when you really start to wrestle with burnout, it becomes easy to start listening to some voices that you should never listen to. Like when you get tired, when you get exhausted, you can start to really let some stuff get into your heart through that internal dialogue you should have never been entertaining to start with. I think there's a spirit that's loose. It's been loose a long time, but it's loose for such a time as this, and I believe it is the self- serving spirit. There, there's a spirit that will show up, and it'll start to have a conversation with you about how that you deserve certain things. And how that you should be in front of this other person. And that's why that you should take this privilege, It starts to explain to you all the reasons why that you should just help yourself regardless of who it's going to hurt, or who you're gonna have to get in front of, or who you're gonna have to leave behind, it's a self-serving spirit. I've actually found you have to be really careful with any type of encouragement that is self- serving. We all need encouragement, amen. Like if you're breathing, you need encouragement. But when that encouragement starts to provoke you, to some form of selfishness, or self- serving, like you really could wind up at a dangerous place. Because if a self-serving spirit begins to gain control over your heart, the next thing that you're going to see happen is that you're going to begin to have a self-entitled mindset. And self-entitlement will always end in death.

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

If you don't believe me, just ask Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were in the Garden. They were given reign over everything within that garden, except for one thing, and God told them you're not to eat of this tree. You are not supposed to partake of anything that is on this tree., Stay away from this tree. Guess what happened, Satan took on the form of a serpent and came and began to hang out in that tree. And that serpent began to have a conversation with Eve, and he began to explain to her why she ought to just help herself. And why it was okay for her to just serve herself. And ultimately, she began to be entitled to partake of this tree. And you know, the story, Adam joined in with her. And between the self-serving spirit and the self-entitled mindset, then next thing you know, the whole world is experiencing death in a way that it had never experienced it up to that point, simply because sin entered the world on the other side of somebody giving place to a self-serving spirit in their heart and a self-entitled mindset in their thinking process.

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Like, you got to be careful with a self-serving spirit and a self-entitled mindset. And you're never more vulnerable to that mess, than when you're tired, and you're fatigued, and you're worn out, and you think you've had about all you can handle. And that just says to me that as we enter this long stretch of COVID, that there's probably a lot of people that are exhausted, probably a lot of people that are tired, probably a lot of people that are starting to think, man, I'm at the edge of burnout. Like I'm starting to get frazzled. I'm starting to get frayed. You're starting to think, man, I used to really care, but I feel like my give-a-rip meter is broke right now. Who am I trying to help? And so the next thing you know, like, you can start to listen to some internal dialogue. That snake can start to say some stuff to you that you give place to in your heart that you would have never have given place to at any other time, because the enemy wants to set you up for self-entitlement. And I'm telling you, one of the ways he’ll do it is through comparison.

Oh, he'll just start fueling that thing. And he'll start pointing out to you what they got and you don't, and how hard you're working, how hard they're not. I came to help somebody this morning. Like he just starts comparing all these things. And it can happen in the most simple of ways. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Let me just give you an elementary example. You go into Walmart; you're in a hurry. Are we ever not in a hurry when we go to Walmart? Like, you just got two or three items because you're in a hurry. Like you were gonna run in, you were gonna run out. But then the person in front of you, they got like three cart fulls. Preach somebody. And you're looking at them and you're thinking, I just got these two or three little items like I just I deserve to be in front of them.

Like why will they not allow me, cuz you're comparing what you have to what they have, and you're comparing your schedule to what you have perceived about their schedule, because you know, you're saying to yourself, you ain't worked in six months anyway, honey. And a few other things with that, and you know exactly what I'm talking about. And now you are going to this place in your mind to where you think the whole place should just clear out and let you have it all to yourself. And it is so Elementary, and it's such a simple example, but that same kind of thing starts to happen over and over again, in our life. You can work in a place of business for a number of years, and you can watch people who seem to be serving themselves, and who seemed to be able to be entitled, and get away with it. And then you start to notice there's excess in the company, and you're looking at things and you're thinking, well, I deserve this. I have the right to this. You don't own it. It's not yours. It's not your decision to make. But now the enemy, through comparison, has fueled a self-serving spirit and your mind is starting to feel entitled to things that don't belong to you. See, we started Elementary, then we went to high school. I don't know, should we go to graduate school? Because you’ll sit in church, and you'll watch as it seems like sometimes other people are being promoted, or other people like being given opportunity, and you're thinking to yourself, like I paid my dues, I gave up my time, I gave them my talent, I gave them my treasure, like what is it? Am I invisible here? And the next thing you know, like you're starting to think in a way that God never intended for you to think, and you're starting to let pride rise up in your heart.

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

You do realize that this is exactly what happened in Heaven before Satan got kicked out. Like Satan had a position in Heaven, and he decided that it wasn't good enough. And he starts looking over at what is on the throne, and decides he would rather have the throne, and then he decides to serve himself and is entitled to something that doesn't belong to him, reaches out persuading one-third of the angels to heaven to join him in a revolt, and they all got cast down. Isn't it amazing how the enemy can get in our head. He can get our head because he's been playing this game for over 6000 years. And the thing you gotta be so careful with is when you're at that fatigued place, when you're at that tired place, and the enemy starts talking to you through that snake. Adam and Eve literally were told by the snake, compare yourself to God. Look, if you eat up this, you'll be like God. God doesn't want you to help yourself. God doesn't want you to feel entitled, because he doesn't want you to be like him. And they believe that mess, and comparison fueled the self-serving spirit. led them to the self-entitled mindset, and now they have taken what belonged to God and did not belong to them. I wonder what got in Achan’s head when they were coming out of the wilderness, and they're going into the Promised Land, and God told them, nobody is supposed to take of anything in Jericho. Leave it all laying on the ground. It is to be a first-fruits offering. It is to be the tithe of the land. Nobody touch it. And then what happens with Achan, he decides to help himself. I bet he came up with some kind of reason, like I'm behind on my refrigerator payment.

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

I bet he talked himself into it in some way. Like, I deserve this. Like I've been, I've been following that cloud and following that fire for 40 years around the wilderness. Like I'm kind of getting tired here. Like I kind of, I'm gonna keep three or four of these things for myself. And God said, no, that belongs to me. And if you touch it, you are a robber, you are a thief, and you will be cursed. And what happened is the entire nation lost a battle to a little village of 3000 people with over a million soldiers in their army simply because they got into a self-serving spirit and a self-entitled mindset, and no doubt Achan compared himself to somebody else. See, the enemy wants to steal, he wants to kill, and he wants to destroy. And the only way that he can be effective at that is if he gets your heart closer to the thinking of the world than to the thinking of Heaven. But I encourage you to realize that when the enemy starts trying to bring that equation together, self-serving spirit, self-entitled mindset, fueled by the conversations of comparison, when he starts trying to bring you to that place of pride where that you think of yourself more than you ought, you got to talk back to the devil a little bit, and you got to remind him that Scripture has told you something so clear in Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.” So I'm gonna keep my heart right, I'm gonna keep my spirit right, and I'm gonna keep my thinking right, because I don't want to wind up on the ground. Like, I want to wind up making sure that I'm associated with the best that God has for me. The Book of Jeremiah says God has plans for you. They are plans to prosper you, and they are plans to give you a hope., and they're really, really good plans. But did you know the Bible also has plans for people who won't give God their heart?

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

 Look at this. Here's what Scripture says Isaiah 23:9, “The Lord Almighty, planned it,” ell somebody, planned it, “to bring low the pride of all glory, and to humble all who are renowned on the earth.” Don't want those plans. We’ll shout about what Jeremiah had to say, but I don't want those plans. How do I make sure that I'm not a part of those plans? Well, we got to keep our heart right. Got to keep our spirit right. I think sometimes we look at Scripture and we're like, man, Elijah, he's a bad man. God just brought him out of the womb as a bad man for Jesus. But when you really begin to evaluate Scripture, it's not that way at all. In fact, did you know that the Bible says that the reason that God used Elijah, this is recorded in James 5, It says that Elijah was a man of like passions. He struggled with the same thing everybody else struggled with, but he prayed earnest prayers. And right before that, it talks about how that if you can ever have a heartfelt prayer, it will avail much in Heaven.

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

You know why God used Elijah, because his heart was in his prayer. He didn't just want to be a Christian celebrity, like he really did want God to touch his nation. And so when he prayed, he was praying with a heart that was on fire and was after God. And the result of that was God did stuff through him that we're still talking about thousands of years later. We read and we're like, oh, man, David, he's just a giant killer from birth. No, not so much. But you realize it in Scripture that they selected Saul, and then God replaced Saul with David. You know why that happened? The Bible says that Saul was tall and really good looking. The Bible also says that David was a ruddy haired fella, but he was also very handsome. The Bible says that Saul was a guy who could prophesy and sing songs unto the Lord. Scripture also tells us David could prophesy and sing songs unto the Lord. Scripture tells us that Saul was an incredible warrior; he could kill thousands of people. Scripture also tells us that David was an incredible warrior who could kill thousands of people in battle. You know, the only difference between Saul and David is David had a right spirit. The only difference is that David had a right spirit. Don't you eve underestimate where a clean heart and a right spirit can take you. It'll take you out of places that you would never believe that God could elevate you from one level of faith to the next level of faith, from one level of glory to the next level of glory, and you'll find yourself in positions, stand there and scratch your head and say only the Lord could have got me here. And you'll be able to testify, it was a right spirit that brought me here, and it's gonna be a right spirit that's gonna keep me here. It's God that got me in and it's God, it's gonna get me out man.

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Like, just, I see so many people that want to be great. And so many people that aspire to recognition and they desire position and, and I get it, man, I've been through all those things in my life, and I'm sure I'll battle all of it again someday. But the thing that you got to realize is God can do more with a clean heart and a right spirit than he will ever do with your business card, your resume, or your social media following if you can just keep your spirit right. Spirit right. Just keep your spirit. Just helped me preach and just tell somebody keep your spirit right. Because what's going to happen, that self-serving spirit’s going to try to corrupt your spirit. That self- entitled mindset is going to try to corrupt your heart. But when you're over here saying, I know I got to keep a clean heart and I know I got to keep a right spirit, watch what happens. David did eventually mess up. Any man that says he's without seeing as a liar. Sometimes at  the best you can do, you're still gonna make mistakes, you're still gonna have failures. It's not a bad thing to make a mistake you just got to learn something from it. And the thing that we see with David like I love this it's Psalm 51:10, we read it at the very beginning. We already know that David is a man after God's own heart, but at one point he got after Bathsheba's heart. I cannot get any help on a Sunday morning. It's been like this all day long.

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

I get one moment like he's all after Jesus. Like I want more of God, give me more of God, and he’s  like whoa who is that? Some of y'all been in that church service. Now he's chasing Bathsheba. She's got his heart. Oops. Big mistake. Brought her into his bed chambers. Sin transpired. Now what? Psalm 51:10. He comes on the other side of his mistake with Bathsheba, he prays Create in me a clean heart O God, watch this. renew a right spirit. Renew a right spirit. I'm trying to help somebody this morning, because somebody needs a word from God. You've made a mistake. You've made a failure. You realize that at some point in your life, God was elevating, God was blessing, and then the mistake has caused you a lot of problems. It's caused you a lot of grief. It's weighing on your mind. It's giving you sleepless nights. But the Lord just wants to remind you, He is one prayer away if you will mean it from the bottom of your heart and say, God, give me a clean heart. Give me a clean heart. Purify all that mess I've made. Get all this stuff out of me where I've been chasing after the wrong things. And Father God, give me a right spirit. Give me a right spirit. Man, maybe this is a word for some of you that in your prayer time over the coming days, like you're literally just gonna throw your hands in the air and say, God, give me a clean heart and give me a right spirit. The snake’s been talking to me. Beulah’s been talking to me, Freddie's been talking to me, and God I'm even talking to myself. There’s stuff going on in me that I know is trying to mess up my spirit. But I thank you, Lord that you will not catch me out of your presence. You will not remove your Holy Spirit from me, but you will renew a right spirit. Hey, the moment that you start to feel burned out, like David had fought so many battles that one day he didn't go to war. That's how he messed up with Bathsheba. He fought so many battles that one day he didn't go to war; he was burned out. You'll never convince me otherwise. And in a place of burnout, he's vulnerable, makes a horrible mistake. He has to pray, God create in me a clean heart, God renews in me a right spirit. Help me to care about having your heart God the way I know I'm supposed to care about it. Is that still something that motivates you? Like, do you want God's heart? Like do you want to see things the way God sees them? Do you want to see people the way God sees them? Do you want to engage and interact with people the way God would engage and interact with people? Like do you want to be able to like actually give somebody the benefit of the doubt and love somebody when they're acting unlovable and like really try to forgive somebody when what they've done is unforgivable, like that's God. He says, if you want to really love me and give me your heart, I want to tell you something, when you give him your heart, the second commandment starts to happen, love people more than you love yourself. It just starts flowing naturally out of you.

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

I want to show you something. As you progress in your growth with God, I believe He gains more and more of your heart. And humility becomes something that's more and more natural, and pride becomes something that's less and less natural, If you can really just keep giving Him your heart. Anybody ever heard of a guy named the Apostle Paul? Yeah, three of you. All right. Like seriously, have you heard of the Apostle Paul? Yeah. He wrote two-thirds of the New Testament when it comes to Books of the Bible. Intriguing, intriguing, King Saul, Old Testament, loses his throne, David gets it. Before Paul is known as Paul, he's known as Saul in the New Testament. Someday, I'll tell you what I think about all that. But just know this, it's significant. And the thing about Saul before he becomes Paul in the New Testament is he's murdering Christians. Like his heart is out to destroy Christianity, and yet Jesus saved him radically on a Damascus Road. And as he's getting started in his ministry, and he starts to preach, and he starts to raise up churches, there's some people who are confused about him. They don't know if he's the real deal or not, like they don't know if he's trying to trick them. Like maybe he's trying to infiltrate and then betray them like, they're trying to make sense of all this. Look at this. In 59 AD, Paul has planted a church in a place called Corinth and written his first letter to them. 1 Corinthians 15:9, he said, “I am least among the Apostles.” Everybody say Apostles. Five years later, he writes to the church at Ephesus, and he says this, “I am least among all the saints.” Everybody say saints. 1 Timothy 1:5,, one year later, he now writes to his spiritual son and says, “I am chief of all the sinners.” Do you notice a progression? The more miracles he did, the more blind eyes he opened, the more deaf ears he unstopped, the more people he led to Jesus, the bigger his church got, the greater the influence he had, the less he was trying to prove something about position. And he reaches a place where it's not even about saying, would you recognize me as one of the Apostles, he says, I just love to be known as a part of God's church. And then he reaches a point where he's like, even if the church folk don't want to claim me, I'm just glad to know I'm on the list that's been saved by grace. That I'm the chief of all the sinners, and I sure am glad to know that Jesus reached further down than I would ever be able to reach up. And I just think we get it backwards sometimes. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

I’m going to invite Jaron to come and play, and I want you to think about how we get it backwards. Because the longer we go in this thing, it seems to me like the more we think we deserve. And the more, well I'll tell you what, I want to be recognized as a part of church leadership. I want to be recognized as the leader of the company, I want to be recognized. Give me the title. Hey, when you're gonna give me that plaque. 39 years of service, let them know how great I am. I'll put it on my living room wall, and my grandkids will only be the only ones that ever know it exists, because they draw pictures on it. Am I making sense to anybody? I'll tell you, I know what I’ve given, when I talk they listen. Really? Is that not what happens? Isn't it crazy how the devil messes with our head?

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

And instead of realizing the first, you know, I need them to recognize me as an Apostle if they're going to receive from me and then no, actually, I just need them to know I'm a part of the Church. And well, no, honestly, I’ll just settle for everybody knowing that I’m saved. Like Paul's progression speaks to spiritual maturity. And if you're still caught up in a position, and you're still caught up in somebody recognizing you, and you're still caught up in somebody publicly acknowledging you, my Lord, I can relate. I've been there, I've lived it, and isn't it miserable. And honestly, it hastens burnout. Because so often do people choose to not cooperate with what you thought they were going to do.

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

I've told this story before, I'll give it to you in closing today. I was a young buck, and God blessed me, and I was getting to preach all over the place. And it went to my head a little bit. I was 22, 23, 24 years old, and I was preaching to 2000-3000 people at convention centers, on TV, and all kinds of stuff. And I got a call to come to a conference. And I knew the people that ran the conference, and they called and said, hey, we need you at the conference. Well, sure you do because I got something to say. And I remember driving up and made sure I had my best three-piece suit ready and all of that. I walked in, I met the director of the conference and I said so good to be here, appreciate you inviting me. What night would you like me to preach? They looked at me and said I'm so sorry, there’s been a mistake. Did we tell you you were preaching? I said, well, you told me you needed me. Oh, we do but son not to preach. What do you need me to do? This is a true story. The person reached behind them pulled out a mop bucket

and handed me the mop bucket and said, we thought maybe you could help us run the maintenance crew this week. Do you know who I am? I was so mad I couldn't see straight. The 24-year-old, I think maybe even 23, that 20-year-old version of me was so insulted. Like so mad. I remember I said, What would you like for me to mop first? They said, well, the gymnasium has bird manure all over it, and we were wondering if you could clean it up. I go up there, full-size gymnasium. I'm the only one with a mop bucket, and three hours later, I'm still trying to get it to come off the floor. And I was praying that person be the first one to come through the door and fall and break their leg. I was real submitted. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

But the longer I mopped, I said the longer I mopped, the more I realized Eric Gilbert wasn't half what he thought he was. And that if I had a mop in my hand, it must have been because God thought I needed one. And I remember, I remember tears of brokenness going into that mop bucket. You ever had God help you remember that when you thought you were a Apostle, you were nothing but a sinner? Come on somebody. You ever had that moment when you were just grateful that grace would reach further down than you can reach up? And I remember just moping, and that's what some of you can't understand is why is God got me moping? I don't know, why did He have David in a shepherd's field?

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Why did He have David's daddy not even recognizing who he was? Why did He have David running from spears, and not being acknowledged by the leaders of his day. I can't give you all of the understanding of it, but I can help you to get this straight, that God has a plan for you that as long as you will stay humble, as long as you will give him a clean heart, and as long as you will give Him a right spirit, He will do stuff through you that you will never be able to take the credit for in your own right. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

I finished mopping that floor. I cleaned up after those folks for three days. On the third night, I was walking through the building, I had another mop in mind. Service was going on. The individual that was speaking stopped the service, looked back at me across the room, called me by a name as they were speaking to me prophetically about what they thought God was going to do in my life later. He called me up, put the microphone in my hand and said you got something to say preach. I'm here to tell you, if you will just keep a clean heart and a right spirit. Even sometimes if you got to break it out of yourself, God just has a way. He just has a way of bringing the thing full circle and reminding you I got this, just stay humble, stay pure. I don't know if this helps you. First time I've shared that story all day. And none of you act like you understand it. So I'll just. Just look at somebody and tell him God wants your heart. God

wants your heart. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

So bow your heads and give Him your heart. Give Him your heart. Like whatever you're wrestling with, what have you going through. I mean some of you maybe you feel like right now I feel like God's already got my heart, that's awesome. That is absolutely awesome. Just invite Him to keep that right spirit in you. Maybe some of you, you feel a little distant from God. you’re kind of like I just I don't know what's going on with all this, what God's up to in my life. Just remember faithful over a few things, He’ll make you ruler over many. Just stay humble, stay pure. Keep that right spirit.

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Lord, I thank you, I thank you. I thank you that sometimes you just know when we need a mop, and we thought we needed a mic. Sometimes God, you just know when we need a cubicle in the back corner and we thought we needed a corner office. Sometimes God you just know. You always know, Lord, when we thought we deserved that thing that we so aspired to, and you just reminded us, you had something better for us all along, if we could just keep our heart pure, our spirit right. And so Lord today, we invite you to clean our heart. Maybe we've even had moral failures and sinful mistakes. And God we just ask you to clean our heart. Places in our life where that we've not yielded to grace, and we've not totally surrendered to the cross. God today we just give you our heart. We thank you for the sacrifice of Jesus and what he exemplifies about washing feet. Lord, I remember that day in that gym, washing those floors. How I feel like I saw the feet washing of Jesus in a way I've never seen it before. And I've reflected on it years and years later, and God so many times it's impacted me. I pray God that many of us would have that kind of an experience, which is something we live out, and it becomes an indelible mark on our life, where that we realize this is what God has for me. And this is why he's unfolding it the way he's unfolding it. Thank you, God. Thank you God for your plans.