Hi there. My name is Richie Seltzer with Revivalist Culture, and I want to welcome you to God Today. I want to read you again a verse I’ve read in the past, Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” I want you to know that God knows you before you were ever in your mother’s womb. He knows how He created you. He knows His plans that he has for you. Plans to prosper you not to harm you, give you a hope, give you a future. He knows you. He has thoughts for you more than the sand on the seashore. Even as Psalm 139 says, He created you. You’re fearfully and you’re wonderfully made. You’re a divine design.
I want to share stories about my kids. Before, I had shared a story about my daughter, Abigail, how God spoke to my wife, that she would be a fire-breathing evangelist. And then she, the second baby we had, it was a boy and his name is Gabriel. And God spoke to my wife while he was in the womb. He said, “He’ll be a prophet to the nations.” Now we’ve never told we never told them that growing up or anything. But I remember one day I woke up and it, and it was as if God was speaking to me directly. Oftentimes God is speaking to us, He’s speaking to us all the time. But oftentimes it’s like, we’re hearing God or seeing what He’s saying through a cloudy glass. It’s like we see in part we know in part, but He speaks in a mystery. See, it’s the glory of God to conceal a matter, it’s the glory of kings to seek it out. So oftentimes God will speak in parables. He’ll speak in mystery, because He wants to draw us into intimacy. And it’s those who have a hunger or humility that will pursue the secret place to get understanding about what the mystery means. So sometimes, oftentimes God is speaking mysteriously, but this day I woke up and He was speaking almost directly. He told me what Bible verses to go to. I could see my whole history up to that point. What was happening currently in my life. And I could see everything that was going to happen, but this almost like revelation atmosphere that I was in, it was, only the way I could describe it. It was like, it was fleeting, like I wish I could stay in that forever.
Some of you have had encounters with the love of God, where in that moment you felt so loved and you just wished that you could live in that forever. That’s how that was that day. It felt fleeting like it was going away. And so I canceled everything on my schedule that day. And I asked my wife if she would fill in for a house church meeting that I had to be at that I couldn’t cancel, and to take our two kids with her. Now she graciously decided that she would do that for me. And she took those two kids. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to preach with toddlers at a house church past their bedtime, but it was wild and crazy. And she got through it and she came home and she was exhausted. And the whole day I’m just writing down everything God’s saying to me. She comes through that door at like nine o’clock at night. And she’s like, “I don’t care if you’re still in your encounter or not, tag you’re it, I’m going to go have a bath. And you’re going to put the kids in bed.” And I said, “Yes, ma’am.” ‘Cause this is good advice for those of you who are men, you always say, “Yes ma’am” to your wife when she says, “Put those kids to bed.” So I said, “Yes ma’am.”
I put my son to bed first and I’m praying over him that night like I always do. But as I start to pray for him, his eyes are getting kind of heavy and he’s starting to drink this milk. You know, like kids do. And all of a sudden his eyes get big and he looks behind me. He said, “Daddy, why is there fire behind you?” I turn around. I don’t see a fire, but he sees a fire. Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it ain’t there. See, Elisha had a servant and he could see the angels all around them, more with them than were against them. But the servant couldn’t see it. So Elisha prayed, “God open his eyes that he would see there are more with us than against us.” I said, Gabe, that’s probably an angel. Why don’t you ask him what his name is? My little two year old. He looks behind me. He said, “Fire, what’s your name?” And then he looks at me. He says, “He said his name is Gabriel.” In that moment, the fear of the Lord hit me. And I felt the presence of this angel. And I got down on my knees and I was crying out for mercy. A few minutes go by. My son said, “The fire, walking out the door to fire, walking down the hallway.” And I could feel it lift, lift, lift. I go down the hallway to my daughter’s room. And um, we’ve capped her. She’s only allowed to pray for three people at night, you know? But that night she said, “Would you pray first?” And so I said, “Sure.” And so I started praying for my neighbor and I said, “Father, I pray that those who don’t know you would know you.” She said, “Oh dad, you’re so silly. Don’t you know that God knows everyone?” I said, “You’re right, Abigail. God does know everyone, but not everyone knows God.” Compassion hit her heart in that tears filled her eyes. And I could see that for the first time she’s realizing there are people in this world who don’t know Jesus. A few minutes go by, and she looks at me and she says, “You know what, dad? I’m going to tell the whole world about Jesus.” My father heart was so proud. I tell you those stories because no one ever told my daughter, “You’re a fire-breathing evangelist,” or my son, “You’re a prophet to the nations.” They’re just being who they are. I want you to know, God created you for a purpose. He’s placed it inside of you. You don’t have to perform, just be who He’s created you to be.
Father, release grace today for everyone who’s watching to not perform, but to be who You’ve created them to be, in Jesus’ Name.