Real-Life Miracles and Faith Declarations

00:00 - Speaker 1
When Jesus taught us to pray and said give us this day our daily bread, he said the fresh bread, that fresh out of the oven, not yesterday's loaves, that stale and fresh bread. What's he speaking to you now? And, by the way, the rhema will never, ever contradict the logos. They flow hand in hand and you need a rhema for your own life.

00:27 - Speaker 2
Welcome to the City Light Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's Word and discover the hope and truth that he has for us. If you want to connect with City Light Church, feel free to visit us at citylightnyccom. That's citylightnyccom. Pastor Boyan Jancic and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by His grace and that he has a real hope and a future for you. That he has a real hope and a future for you.

01:06 - Speaker 1
Continuing from last Sunday, preaching part two on faith that breaks through barriers. Faith will bring breakthrough in your life. Faith will propel you to the next level. Faith will cause you to actualize and receive the promises of God. Amen, and it's good for us to get good with faith.

01:28
When it comes to faith, there are a lot of misunderstandings in the body of Christ and people confuse faith for hope. People don't really know how to use their faith. They really don't even know what faith is. They think, oh, have faith, oh, that just means like believe real strong, right, and it gets this like misty, wispy quality to it and faith is like a fog, that kind of just ah, faith is stuff. The Bible says faith is the substance. It's stuff. Faith is the stuff. It's the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith is the stuff. It's the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

02:08
Faith is a force. When I first got saved the person who led me to the Lord I asked him what's faith, 16 years old, and he gave me an answer that for many would seem crass. It seemed crass to me. I was saved one day and he kept talking about faith and I said what's faith? And he goes faith is money. And I thought in my head I knew it. I knew it. They were so nice to me, so kind to me. I was wondering when they'd go for my wallet. And he tells me faith is money and now is when he wants. No, what he meant was, he said faith is money. Faith is what goes out into the invisible realm and makes the promises of God materialize in this physical realm. Faith is the force, the substance, the currency that will cause the promises of God in the spirit realm to be actualized here on earth. That's why Jesus was the ultimate faith preacher, always provoking people to a place of faith, commenting on their faith.

03:22
Oh you of little faith. Where is your faith To some? Great is your faith? Oh you of little faith. Where is your faith To some, great is your faith? The Bible talks about having weak faith. It talks about having strong faith. That means we got to get good at using faith, because everything you'll ever receive from heaven, it's going to be by faith. So I want to be a Christian who knows how to use my faith, as opposed to how I was before, which was whenever I'd go to pray, it was always there was a lack of confidence and I was just kind of sort of hoping God would hear me and I didn't know the rules that govern faith.

04:01
Well, let's quickly just recap them from last week. Let's go to Romans 10 9, number one well, number one, it's called the ABCs of faith. For you to easily memorize ABCs A for acknowledge, b is believe and C is confess. Number one A you got to acknowledge the word. And guess what? You've got to acknowledge the word as God's word, not as the word of man, but as it is indeed the word of God. I've got to acknowledge the word, I've got to believe the word. And then I've got to confess the word. I've got to agree with the word.

04:39
That's what that song was about Confessing the word of God, I'm a child of God, I'm forgiven. Did you all catch that? We were singing that. And you see, that applied in Romans 10 9 as it pertains to your salvation that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. So you receive salvation by faith.

05:12
But when, when you out loud confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior, that means that faith is one half in your heart and one half in your mouth, and faith is released through your speaking. Your heart and one half in your mouth and faith is released through your speaking. Over and over again in the scriptures you see that faith is released through speaking. Don't be the Christian that has locked up faith in your heart, but release it by opening up your mouth. So you once upon a time saw the scriptures. Someone sat down and read them to you and told you the gospel, told you how Jesus died on the cross for your sins, how he was crucified, how he was buried in a tomb, how he was resurrected on the third day. And your heart leapt and you believe that in your heart and out loud you said Lord, I believe. I believe you took away all my sins. I confess that I am a sinner, but I also confess that you have now given me your righteousness in place of sin and I'm not guilty and I'm forgiven of all my sins. And you experienced a new birth. You were born again. You became a Christian. You got saved. Faith did that Hallelujah. Please note that this verse isn't only about salvation that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that he's the God of abundance and prosperity, you will experience abundance and prosperity in your life. That if you believe in your heart that God is good, and surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. That's what you're going to have in your life. That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus that by his stripes I was past tense, was healed, I'm going to live in divine health. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.

07:06
Let's take a look at a scripture verse, a sister scripture verse to this, found in Corinthians. This is why it's so important to know the word of God, to speak the word of God 2 Corinthians 4.13. And since we have the, the word of God 2 Corinthians 4.13. And since we have the same spirit of faith according to what is written, I believed and therefore I spoke. We also believe this is the Apostle Paul. We also believe, and because we believe, we, what we post online. We mull it on the insides only, we quietly journal it in our prayer journal. No, we speak it. Show me what you're speaking. I'll show you what you're believing.

07:57
And I asked you last week what are you believing God for? What you're believing God for is going to be coming out of your mouth. Now think about that and the people you hang out with and the stories you hear complaining. It's like always been in style, not in a good, fashionable way, but it's just always what's popular. Whenever people come together, it's immediately let's start complaining and let's get into this like unspoken competition of who has it worse right now, in this present moment. Oh yeah, you think you got it bad.

08:29
Happy Father's Day. Father's Day, you know how many kids I have. What are you believing for, like this year? You know you. You get to partner with God and you get to decide how we close out 2024. I'm believing, god, that God is going to multiply City Light Church. I'm believing, I'm believing that thousands will be added unto us. I also know that in order for thousands to be added unto us, hundreds of us that are already here have to get more solid in the word of God, have to get more on fire. I'm believing for that. I'm believing that leaders will rise up all over this congregation, that we'll have a strong foundation, a strong net to catch all the new believers that the Lord will be bringing in here. I see it.

09:12
I don't care what they say about New York City. Do you know what the rest of the country thinks of New York City? I mean, it's really what they've always thought of New York City. New York City is like anywhere else in the country it's the whack part of the country, the kooky part of the country, the part that you have to put up with but don't necessarily like. And then I witnessed this. Then 9-11 happened and then all of America came and, just like a mom, just grabbed us like a newborn infant and held us tightly in her arms and God bless America, america and we love New York. Remember that. And that was short-lived. And now again New York's. How was I talking about that? What was I saying right before about New York? Yeah, yeah, I know that part. I'm just wondering why I landed on that. Can you live? Edit this part right out, vlad. Just edit it right out. I was going somewhere with that. Let's let the Lord let me circle back. Oh, I was saying it's coming to me now as I look at the verse.

10:30
They don't have faith for New York. New York City is just kind of considered like the armpit of America. No, they think that the moment you land in New York City they're too much on social media. They think you're going to get mugged, stabbed. Too much on social media. They think you're going to get mugged, stabbed. But I believe and I speak, and we're going to see a mighty revival come through New York City Again.

11:00
I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't believe that with my whole heart. And I'm asking you what are you believing about your life? God's going to whisper to you and I'm going to use this word impregnate you, because that's what the Word of God does. It is a seed that goes into the fertile soil of your heart. And he's going to whisper to you about you and about the remainder of 2024 and beyond, and give you a promise to hang on to. That'll activate your faith.

11:32
Let's look at this verse please, in 1 Corinthians 15, 57. I'm giving you some faith basics right now, because in order for faith to work, you have to know the word of God. Faith only comes one way it comes by the word of God. Can I just repeat that again, because I did it in the first service and at the end I said how do you get faith? And half the people just looked at me like, look, faith can only come by the word of God. If you answer the altar, call for the ministry team to pray for you and you say, please lay hands on me. I need strong faith. It's not going to happen. You can't transfer faith through the laying out of hands. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. You can't ask for someone to pray for you to have more faith, you can't hope to have more faith. They came to Jesus and said Lord, increase our faith. They came to Jesus and said Lord, increase our faith, and you know what Jesus' response was he gave them the word of God. Oh, you want an increase in faith. Have some word. The word will increase your faith.

12:33
The biggest problem we run into, though, is that we are living in some of the most biblically illiterate times since, like the dark ages in America, which is crazy when you think about it, because we have more Bible now than we've ever had before. You got 600 translations right on your phone. You have the Greek, you have the Hebrew. I was saved back in the day where, even just to get a Bible, you could go to the local bookstore, and they only had the small print old King James for like $6. They didn't have any variety, or you could go far away to some Christian bookstore In New York City. We had two, two decent ones, and now you have it everywhere.

13:15
We used to have something called a concordance as a companion to your Bible and when I got saved, there was this thing. It was unspoken, but it was like the bigger your Bible, the more spiritual you are. So I had a giant yellow-pages-sized Bible that I would carry on the subway with me on the way to church. 16 years old, I was not ashamed. I wanted to let the world and the devil know I'm not playing around. Got my big Bible you could choke a donkey with. And the devil know I'm not playing around. Got my big Bible you could choke a donkey with.

13:49
But there is this disease of biblical illiteracy. Because there's so much Bible, people aren't as much into the Bible and back then you actually really needed the Bible. Back then, like I'm talking about, centuries ago, like 30 years ago, you read your Bible because the only time you were going to get preached to was on Sunday. But now people are listening to preachers and podcasts on the way to work, on the way back from work, on TikTok, on Instagram, and there's so many people talking to you about the word. There's a temptation to not get in the word yourself. So you can actually have people going to church for years and absolutely biblically illiterate. I've seen Bible school grads. They don't know the basics of the Bible. They'll quote to you what their preacher tweeted yesterday. They'll quote to you their isms. Well, you know what so-and-so says about that. I'm like I don't know the book of so-and-so, the first book that said that person is a great man of God. But it's not Bible. It's getting so quiet in here.

14:57
You receive the promises of God by faith, but in order for it to work, you got to get the word in you, hallelujah. So, for example, how to have faith this is just general stuff. Faith for victory example how to have faith, this is just general stuff. Faith for victory you ever have a bad season. No, just me, everyone freezes up. No, I mean a season where you are afflicted, where it seems like you're, just like I need this Lord. You know that prayer Lord, help me get out of bed and make it through. Another day Feels like nothing's popping. Through. Another day Feels like nothing's popping. Everything is dead, things are morose, nothing's moving. You're getting sullen. Faith seems weak. You need to release your faith for victory. Well, the first thing you need is God's word concerning victory. There's hundreds of scriptures on it. I'm using this one. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

15:48
Now, reading that once isn't going to do it. You just took a nibble. You're a spirit man. Are you catching this? I'm not preaching some theory or some philosophy. This is stuff. I wouldn't do that to you. This is stuff that I've seen, that works. It's worked in my life. I've seen it work in members' lives.

16:09
You take the verse and you let it sink in to your spirit. You read it once. You read it once. You read it twice. Read it again. Let the word be made flesh. How's the word made flesh?

16:22
By reading it and rereading it and merging with it, you got to acknowledge it, believe it, believe it as God's word. And you say thanks be to God who gives us the victory, gives us no, I'm going to personalize it God's word. And you say thanks be to God who gives us the victory, gives us no, I'm going to personalize it. Gives me Because it's for me. So now you're saying it out loud Thanks be to God who gives me the victory through my Lord Jesus Christ.

16:49
And then you say it again, and then you get a little swagger while you say it. You say it louder oh, in the name of Jesus, it doesn't matter what I'm seeing, it doesn't matter what I'm experiencing. God, I thank you. I have the victory. I have the victory in my home. I have the victory in my job. I have the victory in my finances. Socially, I have the victory.

17:12
Lord, I see your way in the Bible and your way is from glory to glory to glory, and I believe you're taking me to another place of glory right now. Oh God, I'm releasing my faith. I trust that I'm on the up and up because you're with me, you're inside of me. Are you catching this church? Faith is one half in your mouth and one half in your heart. That's why, when you're going through it, when you're going through a dark season, you'll notice that it's like Satan came and put some crazy glue, some super sticky glue, on your lips and shut it together. He doesn't want you speaking, because if you're not speaking, then you're not creating. Hallelujah, hallelujah, yeah. If you're not speaking, you're not creating.

18:01
So where's that in the scriptures? Right at the beginning, you know you were made in the similitude of God and right in the beginning, at creation, in Genesis 1, god spoke. When he spoke, you know what the Holy Spirit was doing. The Bible says hovering over the deep. That's the Hebrew word. Merhefeth, brooding like a hen would over its young. Really he was in the modern vernacular, he was chilling. He was just what was he doing? Really nothing. He was chilling, hovering. We don't even know how long that was, for that could have been a billion years and it's just Holy Spirit's hovering over the face of the deep. And then God said, god, the Father said, and the Word came forth. Who was the Word? Jesus, in the beginning, was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Without Him was not anything made that was made. So you see all three active at creation in Genesis 1. God, the Father, speaking the Word coming forth. But only when the Word came forth did the Holy Spirit get activated and good stuff happened, creation happened. That's how it is.

19:23
In your life, man, there's people they've never partnered with the word, agreed with the word and spoken the word and they're wondering why their life is just stalling like a bad engine. You have the choice right now. You get to decide. You get to decide how 2024 is going to finish. Hallelujah, hallelujah. I don't know.

19:53
There's a little as a pastor when the Lord begins to bless you, like he's always blessed me, but this last year, year and a half, he's just completely outdone himself. You say what happens next? I yearn for my kids, I yearn I kids, I yearn I was. You remember, just a year ago, I kept getting chronic flooding, chronic flooding in my Williamsburg condo. Just, I'd fix it and flood again, and then we saw the Lord, in a matter of months, provide finances, get us a brand new house in Long Island. Just too much. I've seen how this works.

20:45
When I say too much, I just mean where you get. Oh God, wow, you're overdoing it. Don't stop, though. But I just want to say it seems like you're overdoing it. You're doing exceeding, abundantly above what I'm asking or thinking, like I believe. So I'm. I'm beyond happy right now, and the Lord's got. The Lord's cooking up some stuff I haven't even shared with you yet, cause I want to share when I crossed the finish line Amen, and that's wise. By the way, don't always share when you're in the mix and in the process, but when you cross the finish line Amen. That's wise. By the way, don't always share when you're in the mix and in the process. When you cross the finish line, then look at what the Lord has done. But I want to hear some more of these stories from you.

21:24
You can begin by releasing your faith. That'll begin when you're getting in the Word of God and then you're agreeing with the Word of God Hallelujah, psalms 35, 27. Faith for finances I like this verse so much over 20 years ago. That's why we printed it on the offering envelope. Faith for prosperity Some people don't like prosperity.

21:48
That's fine, you can still keep coming. You can have faith for poverty. Enjoy that. I'll have faith for prosperity. You just make a decision and then really commit to that decision. Though which is always funny to me because you have people with multiple cars and houses In America I don't believe all that prosperity stuff. Okay, but if you don't, then you really gotta. I mean, get rid of the cars. You got shoes on your feet, get rid of those Clothes from Macy's, too prosperous. Put on a sackcloth, go live under a bridge and really commit to your theology. Let them shout for joy and be glad. See, I'll go around my house. I'll go around my house. I'll go around my house and I'll just shout.

22:39
I shared this once before and I'll just share it again. Sometimes I wonder if I shared too much. I am believing God to tithe $500,000 this year, yeah, and we're on our way. But in order for me to tithe $500,000, I did the math and I realized, oh, that means I have to increase by $5 million if it's just a tithe right? So throughout our house, even the kids little Vivian, five years old, and we just have a saying at least five. And we all know what that means, and we all lift our hands and say hallelujah, so randomly throughout the house. We'll just go at least five and say hallelujah, so randomly throughout the house. We'll just go at least five and you'll hear her at least five. And then Victor in another room at least five. And just throughout the day, jesus, thank you, at least five.

23:25
Some will call me crazy, but they're not going to be writing a $500,000 check by the end of the year. Amen, I believe, with all my heart. I will. At least five. And we just shout and be glad.

23:37
Who favor the Lord's righteous cause, and let them say Do you see the emphasis on say? Some of you will nod continually, mentally, assent continually, like the post continually. But you gotta say it, you gotta say it, and not in general. For you. Let them say continually let the Lord be magnified, who has pleasure in me, in the prosperity, in my prosperity, of his servant. Hallelujah, some of you, your faith for finances just went up just from hearing me say it. Imagine what happens when you start preaching to you in your house. There's a vibration happening, say whoo, what's that? That's faith. That's been sleeping and snoring inside your spirit for three years, actually waking up a little bit. Amen, matthew 8.

24:42
Thank you, jesus, just giving you some verses and showing you how this applies. Faith for healing, whatever you need, it's covered in the word. Now, of course, you know the scriptures are full of examples of God healing. Here's a good one. You know why it's good? In particular because typically Christians don't doubt God's ability to heal. Oh yeah, god can heal, he just won't heal me. They don't doubt his ability, they doubt his willingness. Healing is always for someone else. Not for me, though. No, it's for you. And the leper came with that kind of a complex to Jesus. Lord, you know, if you are willing, you can make me clean. And Jesus, in the next verse. He just said I am willing Be cleansed Immediately. His leprosy was cleansed. So if you're struggling in your body, this is what I had to speak.

25:42
I told you I couldn't even turn around in my bed a month ago. My back people say my back was out. No, my back was out. I couldn't turn over, I didn't even share. I went to. You know, our whole medical system is so messed up. Now I went to the chiropractor. It's so hilarious. It's changed so much in the last 10 years.

26:01
Well, now you got to go to urgent care. I'm like it hurts just looking at you You're sending me to. I got to go to urgent care and urgent care is hilarious. At least the ones in the city are full. They're actually busy. But out in Long Island our car was the only one in the parking lot and I can barely move.

26:20
And I get in the front and there's a woman who has me fill out all these forms. Thank God Emily's with me. She's filling out the forms. I'm just waiting. And then they send me to somebody else. And then they send me to somebody else. None of them are doctors.

26:30
There was actually, I found out, only one doctor in the place, but they put up this like this facade of we're like a mini hospital. No, that doctor could have seen me half hour ago. How do I know? Because as I was sitting down, one of my nerves just went out and I collapsed to the floor and I'm not too proud to say I howled. I mean, I howled, I shrieked. It was not, it was involuntary. You've never heard anything like it. It was like a bison being shot down. I said ahhhh, and I'm on the floor just collapsed. All of a sudden the doctor comes running. I'm like where were you this whole time? I'm sitting down? You're making me go through the whole rigamarole to appear like you have this big thing. He was chilling in the back, he was marihuffiting over some scripts. Chilling in the back, he was marahepithing over some scripts.

27:19
So while I'm in this state, pain is a very loud speaker. Pain is talking to you, even in a state of pain. I'm going, lord, I thank you. You're going to break me out of this, because you are the healer, because healing is the children's bread, because healing is already a part of salvation, it's a part of the sozo fullness of your deliverance. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Thank you, jesus.

27:46
Let's go to Romans, chapter 4, verses 17 through 21. Faith is coming alive here. You know, ooh, we got the Holy Ghost. I wait for that. It doesn't come all the time, but I said it before. The snortle chortle is the shofar blast of city light. And when the chortle snortle is the shofar blast of city light, and when the chortle snortle is released, whoo. Thank you, lord. Hallelujah.

28:31
Those of you, if this message is new to you, start with the little things in your life, partner with the Lord and his word and begin to release your faith by speaking and speaking the word of God and agreeing with the word of God. Let's take a look at the granddaddy of faith. This guy knew how to release his faith and actually receive the promises of God. Nothing is more depressing to me than to see Christians all their life and nothing's changing. I have some friends. It's like the same picture for 40 years. I joke with them. I'm like you're like the Lord. The Bible says I'm the Lord. I change not. That's good for the Lord, he doesn't have to change, but we should be changing Like. Our lives shouldn't be static. There should be some kind of dynamic activity in our lives.

29:24
As it is written, this is a promise to Abraham. I have made you a father of many nations In the presence of him, whom he believed. I have made you a father of many nations. There's God utilizing these same principles, because Abraham had zero children and God changed his name to Abraham Get this. His name means father of many nations. That made it very, very awkward. When Abraham had to meet new people. He would go into the marketplace and the guy filling his sack with wheat would say, hey, I'm Moshe. What's your name? Oh me, oh, I'm Abraham. Oh, wow, you know. That means father of many nations. Yeah, I know. How many kids do you got? Oh, zero. Yet he went around continually speaking the truth of God's word, ignoring the circumstances. I'm father of many nations. I'm father of many nations In the presence of him, who believed God.

30:34
Who gives life to the dead? Abraham needed that I'm not going to, it's too awkward the first service, because you know they didn't have pills back then and Abraham was 100 years old and he had entered a deep slumber below the waist. I'm just staring at the online camera. I'm waiting for the cringe to settle in real, good and deep. He gives life. Who gives life to the dead?

31:19
Now, this is a key and calls those things which do not exist as though they did. Do you know your salvation? It actually hasn't fully been culminated yet. It will be on that day. But you don't go around saying I'm half saved and then you know it'll be finally culminated, yet it will be on that day. But you don't go around saying I'm half saved and then it'll be finally culminated on that day where we're standing before him and it's all wrapped up. You say no, I'm saved right now, and that's accurate, that's correct, that's legal. You're calling the things which be not as though they are. That's what faith is.

31:57
Abraham got really good at releasing his faith because it was tucked away and hidden in his name. Let's go to the next verse. Who, contrary to hope in hope believed so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken. So shall your descendants be. And not being weak in faith, so you can be weak in faith. He did not consider his own body already dead, since he was about a hundred years old. Let me just also say this when you're believing God, for big things you have to have like a holy stubbornness to you where you consider not the natural.

32:35
God called me to plant City Light Church. I had no money and it came from a movement that didn't really help with church planting. So it was really no money. And I was 26 years old. I was, at the time, the youngest pastor in all five boroughs of New York City, completely wet behind the ears, and the only times I'd ever preached before was in children's church or at a maximum security prison. That was my preaching practice. That's the only two places that will allow me to come in and preach.

33:04
All right, what I'm trying to say is on paper. It didn't look good at all. Every Sunday I was shocked that people actually crossed the street to hear me preach, and it wasn't much, it was a couple of dozen people. That was a blowout crowd. Couple of dozen people. They stayed away by the thousands. So you know what I had to do.

33:19
I had to consider not. Consider not my age. Consider not my total lack of experience. Consider not that I'm trying to do something in one of the most expensive cities on planet earth and I have no money. Consider not. So right now there is a promise from the Lord for you and in the natural it doesn't look like it could ever be fulfilled. You have to consider not. That means don't even pay attention to it. This old, hundred year old man got a promise he was going to be a father and he said yes, I believe it and I'll receive the name change. And everywhere I go, I'll be mocked because I'll tell them I'm a father of many nations, even though in the natural I have zero children. Can you partner with this? Can you get in on this? Hallelujah, I'll consider not. You know one thing I didn't do when I blew out my back a month ago. I didn't go on Google at all, which is the exact opposite of most people. What they do is they go on WebMD. Do not go on WebMD. You will leave with the sickness you have and like 20 other sicknesses you will see like, oh, I have that, I have that. Oh, check, I have this symptom. No, don't give yourself more things to consider. Consider not. Consider not the natural, consider not that the chips are stacked against you. Don't consider your body already dead or the deadness. Did we finish 19? Verse 20,?

34:50
He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith. How did he go from not being weak in faith to being strengthened in faith? He gave glory to God. He praised the Lord and he was fully convinced that what he had promised he was also able to perform. Hallelujah, he was convinced that what he had promised he was also able to perform.

35:32
So what has he promised you For your life, hallelujah. Well, you can find out two ways what he's promised you. One is what his word says, his written word. That's the logos. He's promised to give you the victory. He's promised to be your father. You'll be his child. He's promised to give you the victory. Yeah, he's promised to be your father, you'll be his child. He's promised to see you through. He's promised to keep you from falling. Those are all nice, but they're rather general. Wouldn't you say? Like there is no promise in the Bible that says though you're young and dumb and inexperienced and only 26, I will lay my hand upon you and you will plant a church in New York City.

36:16
I couldn't find it. I needed one like that, but I couldn't find it in the Bible. That's when you need God to speak to your heart directly. If you get this man, it'll make all the difference. It'll make all the difference in how you pray and how you receive after you pray. There is the Logos, which is the written word of God. That does not change. There is the Rhema word of God. That's the now spoken word of God, that's the flowing word of God, the preceding word of God. When Jesus taught us to pray and said give us this day our daily bread, he said the fresh bread, that fresh out of the oven, not yesterday's loaves, that stale, fresh bread. What's he speaking to you now? And, by the way, the rhema will never, ever contradict the logos. They flow hand in hand and you need a rhema for your own life. Sometimes it'll come like for me.

37:16
Psalm 35, 27. I was just reading that. I'd read it a hundred times before you know you can read and not eat, and the Bible never says to read the Bible, it says to eat the Bible. So I've read it a couple of dozen times, but then one day I read it and it's like it leapt off the page and it hit my heart. What was that? That was God taking his logos and breathing on it, and the logos became rhema to me.

37:42
So now it's not just a generic verse on. God is going to make some 4,000 year old Hebrews wealthy in general. No, no, he takes pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. That wasn't just for back then, it's for now. And the rhema hit me when he said and this is what I'll do with you, trust me, take my hand, see where I take you. That's what I'm hearing in my spirit and I go yes, lord, I believe. And then I feel something. No, yes, lord, I believe. Whoo, yeah, lord, I take this for myself. And now the logos has become rhema and faith is exploding now because of the word of God for me, hallelujah, hallelujah, let's go to Psalm 25, 14, hallelujah, hallelujah. Let's go to Psalm 25, 14. Oh, thank you, jesus, your situation is only temporary. Yeah, yeah, and I can't really prove it, but I smell it into the air. I believe with all my heart.

38:56
God has something wonderful up his sleeve. I mean wonderful, wonderful, coming in as we close out 2024 and the elections, and the nonsense and the mess and the symbols clanging and all that. You know what he's really concerned with, who he's really concerned with his body, his bride, the church, and he's gonna release, release an anointing to exalt his people, to empower his people, so that our final stretch, our final run, is a glorious one. Somehow Christians got bad doctrine from funky movies and pulp fiction Christian novels and they feel like the church is going to be huddled and hiding in bunkers and in caves and with food rations up in the mountains waiting for the trumpet to blow. No, he's not coming for a bride that's cowering in a corner. He's coming for a glorified, spotless bride that's kicking butt and taking names on earth, that's going preaching the gospel, reaching the lost. Hallelujah. We'll be so busy experiencing the glory and we'll hear that trumpet blast and we'll go, oh, and the transition from what we're experiencing now to heaven won't be that great. Hallelujah, hallelujah.

40:13
So here's a great passage, great verse, because we're talking about how to hear the ramas of God, and I've preached just several weeks ago on hearing the voice of God, how to attune your spirit to hear the voice of God. But this is a special verse because it says the secret of the Lord is with those who fear him and he will show them his covenant. Now I was 19, 20 years old, on my dorm room floor in college. That's where I would study the Bible and I kept coming across this word secret, like in Psalms 91. It says that you have specific promises when you're in the secret place of the Most High. And then it says the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him. Well, what is the secret? What is the secret place? What is the secret of the Lord? These are good questions, right?

41:10
There's worship leaders who sing all about the secret place. You ask them what the secret place is and they're like well, you know, it's like that place, it's that place that I take you, to take you to that secret place. My pastor used to joke I can't tell you where the secret place is because it's a secret. I'm like that's funny but still doesn't help me out here. That word for secret is sad. It's where the Israeli secret service, mossad, gets its name from. Sad means clandestine, secretive, private. It's also a word that's used for a couch where you sit down and have a close, intimate conversation together.

41:59
Secret means friendship, intimacy. That's why some other Bible versions just show them they leave out the secret place, the secret part. By the way, the secret place you can call it the friendship place the secret place is the intimacy place. It's where your heart is connected with his. By the way, this is where a lot of faith people miss it. Can I just pause on this?

42:24
I found that a lot of people who study the principles of faith. They're divorced from a real, affectionate, intimate relationship with the Lord because they're so focused on the principles. It's like they've tried, it just happens over time and by accident they try to bring God down to a method and a formula. I have friends like this and their faith isn't working. By the way, it can't work like this. And the whole relationship with the Lord is like I thank you, god, right now, in the name of Jesus, I am blessed. And then that is kind of like a witch just saying a spell, because there's no intimacy, there's no, they're just saying it, but they're not spending any time with him, they're not opening up their heart. They, but they're not spending any time with him, they're not opening up their heart. They don't even know they're loved. Really, they'll say it, but faith here's what it says in Galatians. Faith works by love, not like how you love one another, that too but when you know his love for you, when you know all your sins are forgiven, when you know that he's crazy about you, he thinks about you, he has your best interest in his heart, he scanned your whole life over, from beginning to end, and he wants to bless every avenue of your life, then faith will work.

43:38
By the way, then, in this great field called Christianity, you have another camp and that's the prophetic charismatic camp. I got friends in that camp too. Awesome people. They love to roll around on the ground, kick their feet up in the air. Papa, god, daddy, god, love that stuff. What are you doing? I'm just soaking. What about your job? Well, you know the Lord. I'm living by faith. Now I just soak eight hours a day. Wonderful, great intimacy with the Lord.

44:06
But then I notice also a pattern there. Like your bill is due, you're in massive credit card debt. Like you have. No, there's a practical side to life and you're not receiving. Yeah, but Daddy God will provide, and then he does. But here's the thing You're not supposed to live from miracle to miracle, to miracle to miracle. That's like the worst, basest way to live. That means your butt needs rescuing every two weeks. Like you need a miracle when you're in danger. Well, the rest of the time he wants to take you up above the clouds, sorting at around 50,000 feet. So you don't need a miracle every two weeks, amen. So that's me just summing up two of the many camps we have in Christianity. You say what's a good balance.

44:51
Well, you see it in the scriptures, really, and you see it in Paul, who knew how to use faith and knew the word of God and released his faith and also knew the love of God and the heart of God. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Let's see those other verses. Same verse, different translations.

45:17
Let's see it out of the NLT Pastor James' version. He wrote that the Lord is a friend. The Lord is a friend. Faith will get popping when you receive the friendship of the Lord. Yeah, some of you have been smacked by the devil and when he smacked you he whispered in your ear God. And you have this wonky relationship with the Lord where you kind of love him but you fear him more and you never know when he's going to just pop you one for no reason. It's not God who popped you, it was Satan. The Lord's good, he's a friend. Just pop you one for no reason. It's not God who popped you, it was Satan. The Lord's good, he's a friend. The Lord is a friend to those who fear him. He teaches them his covenant. Let's see it out of the ESV Worship team. You can come on up. The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him and he makes known to them his covenant.

46:09
Why am I preaching this? Because in the friendship place, he's going to whisper to you about you. He's going to impregnate you with his word, his promises yeah, like right now in this service, or confirm what you heard the other week. He's going to show you what's around the corner, what's around the bend, and when he shows you, either through a picture or a movie, in your spirit or the still small voice, there's a simple thing that happened about 15 years ago when City Light was in a really bad place.

46:46
I was in a bad place. I asked my mom to pray for me. She said okay, she called up like 30 seconds later. She said I wanted to pray, just like every other time. But the moment I closed my eyes I saw, just for a few seconds, two giant God hands coming and City Light was this sphere and God's hands. Just. They just covered up City Light Church and I know that that meant everything was going to be fine and God is with you.

47:15
I'm like that's it. That's the word of the Lord, that's the rhema word of God, that's the word that's going to feed my faith. He says everything's going to be okay. Everyone else says you're going down like the Titanic. But let God be true and every man a liar, hallelujah. So during this song he's gonna speak to you. Don't push him away when he does you say is that possible? Yeah, zachariah, john the Baptist, dad, he was visited by an angel who told him hey, john the Baptist is coming supernaturally. Oh, this is a good story. He said. Oh, you know he had his doubts. So you know what the angel did. He struck a mute, like all right, if that's how you're going to be, if I'm going to give you a promise and you're going to abort that promise with your words, this thing we're doing here, with the Messiah coming, it's kind of important business, so we can't have you sabotaging that. So let's just eliminate all risks. You're mute now. So he wouldn't abort the promises of God.

48:33
Next chapter Mary is getting a visit by the same angel and Mary just says how can these things be? Seeing that I don't know a man physically. And the angel said well, the Holy Spirit will overshadow you. You'll be overshadowed by the power of the most high. And all you had to do was explain a little bit and she went oh, be it unto me, according to your word. See the difference. So God is going to come to you now. May your heart's response be with whatever you hear or see, be it unto me. In fact, lift your hands right now. Say this Lord Jesus, I am your child, you're my father. I believe you. Speak to me. You will give me the word to activate my faith for the weeks and months to come. I'm finishing 2024 strong, in a better place than how I started. So speak now, for your servant is listening. Be it unto me according to your word. Yes, holy Spirit, come Talk to your people In Jesus' name.

49:45 - Speaker 2
This is the City Light Church Podcast. If you've missed any part of today's message or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jancic and City Light Church, visit us at citylightnyccom. That's citylightnyccom. Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime. We would love to connect with you. We pray that you have been encouraged today, that you have been reminded how much God loves you and that you are surrounded by grace. Thank you for listening. Make sure that you subscribe to City Light Church Podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.