 Okay. Good morning everyone. Welcome to the session. Let's begin this time with a word of prayer and then we get into our teaching and learning together. Let's pray. Father we thank you so much once again for giving us this beautiful day Lord where we can come together and learn from your word and even as we learn on how to be, how our personal spiritual life must be as a leader as I pray God that you will Lord minister and speak to our hearts and God and teach us, help us to grow from strength to strength. Thank you for this time. We suffer this day in the audience. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Alright. So the last class we looked at chapter 15, the said leaders, personal spiritual life. So point number one we looked at maintain a personal, a strong personal walk with God. So you and I as believers have to maintain a walk that is strong. You know, as leaders we will go through, you know, ups and downs. So we need to maintain our own spiritual walk with God, right? That's that's priority before you minister to others. We talked about it. We can only what we do, we have to do each and we have to what we have in our hearts is what we can give to others. So maintain a spiritual or personal walk with God. And then we looked at also maintain a life that is consecrated to God. You know, the word consecration needs to be separated. So we're saying, God, these are areas in my life that I mean, we these are areas in my life that I need your help. So God, as a believer, we need to constantly consecrate meaning to surrender to to know just let go and let go and work in our lives. That's all consecration. So you're saying, God, I consecrate my words I consecrate my mind, my thoughts, my actions my family. So you consecrate everything that you do at Ephesians 427. We look at it, you know, the devil is like a roaring light and he's trying to look for just a small step and then he's going to come in. So we got to always be on our guard. So let's get into that point. This is where we stop. Get rid of demonic strongholds in our life. And this is interesting. Ephesians 612, let's read Ephesians 612. If you have it with you, shall we just read that Ephesians 6 and verse 12. And even as you find the words, let me just share this. And what is a stronghold? Strongholds are thoughts and patterns in our mind where we have become tolerant to sin where we have compromised and replaced the truth with the light. That's giving a place giving Satan a place of influence and a place of defense in our minds. Look at that. So this is like a the most, I would say one of the most accurate definitions of what a stronghold is are patterns in the mind thoughts patterns in the mind where we have become tolerant to sin and we have compromised replacing the truth with the light and the moment we do that, we are giving Satan influence in that area. And when we keep giving the enemy influence in that area over time becomes a bondage or becomes a stronghold. Let me give you an example that one of you can read Ephesians 612. So for example, there's a believer. And here's another interesting point. See this. It says they can be strongholds in a believer's life areas in the soul that are occupied and controlled by demonic spirit. So let's look at two areas. One is look at a non-believer. He doesn't know he or she doesn't know they're just living a worldly life and the enemy is already in their working in their lives their thoughts and he continues to work. But when you look at a believer and the moment we become a believer the Holy Spirit comes and stays with us. How can they be strongholds in a believer's life when the Holy Spirit is in us? A spirit is new but our thinking, our words and our soul needs to be transformed needs to be renewed. Just because I've become a believer I don't get any temptations. That's a pro-right to the Lord. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So for a believer, say for example there's a believer, he's 10 years in the Lord. And he thinks for example he's had an addiction of let's take an example of alcohol alcohol addiction. So it's been 10 years that he's a believer. But there are still these temptations that keep coming in. Or this person as a believer has gone, he has involved in alcohol, he's drinking but nobody knows. Only he knows it. Nobody knows it. And not his wife, not his children, not his colleagues, not his family, nobody knows. But it's their insight, he knows it. Now if this believer does not go back to the Lord and confess their sins, the devil will take a photo. He will make that stronghold even more stronghold. It's like he will grip that area of your life and he will keep suppressing and pressing and trying to bring every kind of worldly attack to that area of his life. Because that's his weakness. And that becomes a stronghold. Look at this, through these strongholds sinful activities actually defended within us because of the thought patterns we have embraced in our mind. So this person, 10 years in the Lord, but he drinks. So he keeps telling himself, he's defending what he's doing, saying it's okay. It's okay, I'm going to ask God to confess and God will heal my, you know, God will forgive my sins. And he keeps defending it. Okay, I'm not like others. I have a good family. I'm looking after my family, I'm doing what I have to do as a believer. This is just something in my life which nobody knows what happens to a stronghold. Instead of bringing that into light, going to God, going to the cross, asking for forgiveness, changing ways, if we keep embracing those lies, instead of submitting to the truth of God's work, these are areas where Satan has us power. Let's read Ephesians 6 verse 12. Ephesians 6 verse 12. Go ahead. Ephesians chapter 6 verse 12. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of the sage, against the spiritual host of the darkness in the heavenly faces. Yes. So we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. So you and I have this responsibility of getting rid of strongholds. Remember that as Christians, we cannot be possessed by demons. There's a difference between possession and oppression. Possessed is to be controlled by demons. Because you and I have the Holy Spirit inside of us. The enemy oppresses us. He brings us into a bondage. He harasses us simply in our mind and our body. And all of this is because we have given entrance through our thoughts and our behaviors. Areas of uncontrollable, habitual sin, uncontrollable lust, compulsive behavior are areas that are demonically energized. Now, what we are also saying is we are not going to blame the devil for our sinful behavior. We must understand that God has given us the wisdom. And if there are things that you and I have to do in the practical, we have to do it. We must understand the seriousness of an immoral lifestyle. The more we keep living in immorality, the more the doors are open for the enemy. Basically, we are saying we are opening the doors wide. We are allowing the enemy to come and effect our mind and our body. Think of it this way. The door is open. It's not like we are closing the door and then the devil is trying to open the door and come in. The door is just open. The devil will say, you open the door. We have to be very careful. Keep all those shut as believers, as leaders. Keep all those shut. Understand that Satan uses these strongholds to keep us believers from being effective in ministry. It is true that he can lead on an entire ministry just by one area is enough. It could be weakness in money, it could be weakness in morality, it could be anything. We have to be very careful. One of the books that I really enjoyed reading initially was Ling the Axe to the Roots. You may have read it already. Keep reading. Everything is from the scriptures. It helps us to look deep into our hearts and see what are the areas that I must ask God for feeling and forgiveness. Ling reacts to the root. Let's get to point number 15. Feeling for offences, hurts and wounds. Life is full of challenges. We are going to hurt people. People are going to hurt us. We are going to offend people. People will offend us. There will be wounds. It's a natural thing. It will happen. Somebody comes up to you and says, I'm very thought by what this person says. That's how life is. He will. Luke 17.1, then he said under his disciples, it is impossible but that offences will come. But more on to him through whom they come. To be effective ministers, we must not carry offences, hurts and wounds in our inner being. These will hinder the work of God and what God wants to release. Look at that. It's so important. These offences, hurts and wounds can be something very small or can be something very big. Somebody may have come and said to you, hey, you are preaching. You need to change your style. You can be early offending. How can this person come 10 years in ministry? And how to preach? Or hurts could be something that somebody said to you. They may have looked at your appearance or looked at your studies when you were small. These are hurts. These are wounds that can last for a very long time. I've heard of people where they are early. They are the 30s working out of family. But they still don't know what happened as friends when they were kids in school. My friends used to call me this. I felt low. I felt that I'm nothing. I'm not capable of doing this. I'm still holding on to those offences and hurts and wounds. But remember to be effective in ministry, to be effective in what God has called us to do. To let go of offences. There is absolutely no use of holding on to offences. It is not going to do anything to us. It's not going to bring us any strength. But it's only going to affect our body. It's going to affect our mind and our spirit and soul. It will just affect us. So let go. The best example is Jesus. I'm sure when he was on the cross the cross itself is an offense. The hurts and the wounds and not just the physical but the emotional pain that he went through. It was too much for him to bear. And there was no one standing with him. None of his disciples were there. No one there to console him and say, this picture was on the cross and Peter and all the disciples were there. Lord, you are doing it for us. I'm just encouraging him on the cross. I'm sure it will... I don't know what Jesus may have felt. But I'm sure when he came back he could have said, hey, you all didn't stand with him. You are not even there. But there was no offense. He just let go of everything. And so we also must follow that. Hebrews 12, 14 and 15. Follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Look diligently, lest any man fail with the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you. And thereby many be defied. Bitterness can defile us. It can... you know, we are consecrated to God but defile our life. It's a sin which can... you know, we continue to walk in that root of bitterness, anger and hatred. It's a sin to hate someone is to give them too much importance. Don't think about what people have done for you. Giving them too much importance. Let me tell you this world, I was just talking to a believer recently and we were just talking and saying, hey, you know, we have what we can live for 80 years, like 85 years. We cannot hold on to bitterness and resentment for years and years together and live with it. Life is not meant for that. It's like you're giving importance to something very small when God has got so much that's open and available that he wants to use. So renounce every feeling of hatred, ill-feel and resentment. And those goons, you know, the Bible says in Jeremiah, he says he will heal all our wounds. He will bind up all our wounds. So you... right? When we surrender to God, he will bind those wounds. Right? So remember to do this. We must learn to do this. No, and maintain your priorities. What are my priorities? Your personal work of God, your family, your job, your work, then your ministry. Now, sometimes, especially now, people have got this all the way wrong. They put point number four as one. That is, ministry is one. Then personal work, then job now. Know your priorities. Of course, this is not an order. But, you know, it's like this. You are in the center and everything is surrounded. Your personal work with God, your family, your work, your ministry, your finances, everything is around you. And so you need to maintain those priorities. One of the things to consider is activity does not mean accomplishment. Just because you're doing something doesn't mean you'll accomplish something. Remember the story of the people of Israel? They came out of Egypt. What were they doing? They were going around one mountain. That's all they were doing. And if you think of it, there was Mount Seer in Egypt. And they're going around the mountain. It looked like they were gaining ground and reaching the promised number. They were not. They were just going in circles. Right? So, activity does not mean accomplishment. Work smarter, not harder. Organize or agonize. Evaluate or stagnate. Schedule your priorities. And say no to little things. Now, remember as leaders, this is something that we must do. There will be come a time where, as leaders, people will call you. People will ask you to do certain things. People will have suggestions. People will have a lot of ideas. And we cannot say yes to everyone. If we say yes to everyone, we will end up doing 100 things, not effectively. So, as leaders, we must develop the ability to say no. And when we say no, so we say gracefully. We're not saying no to the person. They're saying no to the idea. Now, this is an area which I really struggled with when I was starting off in ministry. Because I started off quite young and so I was okay. Whatever people say, I say, okay, yes, let's do it. Let's go. Yes, yes. It is just this habit of saying yes. And as leadership responsibilities came during, I realized that I kept saying yes to everything. Which people will say, hey, can we do this? Can we do this? Can we? I kept saying yes to everything. And I realized that I was doing too many things and it was like becoming a burnout for me. So, over time, I realized, hey, I need to say no. I need to learn how to say no to gracefully. The first initial times I was quite afraid. How do I say no? But I realized I'm not saying no to the person. I'm saying no to the idea. Right? And when you talk to the person, you're saying, okay, you're not just saying no, but you're also giving an alternative. So, that could be a good time for an alternative. So, I remember for example, somebody comes up to you and say, hey, let's have worship evening in church on Friday. Don't just say no. No on Friday. It's not a good day. That won't be the right thing. That's a good idea. We need to do worship evenings. We need to get the church together. But don't you feel that Friday is a working day? So, people come back from work. They come back late. They may be tired. They may not be able to come. How about we do it on a Saturday? Do you think Saturday at the evening is something that we can do? So, what are you doing? You're coming up with an alternative. Oh, no. On Saturdays, people, families want to rest. They want to do their work. Things to get done at home. Okay, then what we can do is we can have worship evening in people's homes. That can come up. That's a good idea. So, when you say no, you say it, come up with an alternative and let the person know that you're not just throwing the idea away, but you're coming up with some alternatives. And that way they will feel encouraged as well. And then be an example. We talked about this, right? Be an example. First Timothy 412, let no man despise thy youth. But be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, and in purity. And so, yeah. So, the greatest message you and I can preach is the life we live. Sometimes we don't need preaching. We live the life. So, the apostle Paul says, you follow me like I have followed. I follow God. This being an example, right? A genuine leader is consistent with what he says and what he does. Underline the word consistent, meaning just put it in your spirit. Consistent. For example, you look at any sports map, football or any sports activity. Just an example. They probably start off only with children. Nowadays we have all these sports and training centers and clubs and all of that. So, children start off from the age of 6, 7. But what is it that makes a person get up to the highest level in that spirit? Many of them are starting at 6 and 7, 7 years of age. Why is it that they are, you know, it's only 2 or 3 out of the, you know, maybe hundreds and thousands. Only 2 or 3 reach up to the highest place of the world. That is because they are consistent. Consistency will bring productivity. They don't give up. Failure will not bring them down. Just because a 400 meter runner has been training for 10 years and he loses a race doesn't mean he will give up. If he gives up then I would say he's not consistent. But you would always see, I'm going to get back and run the next year and try to do it better. That's called consistency. Not changing your words, not changing your actions just because of situations that are happening. As a leader, situations will happen. Right now, you've got to be consistent in what you said and what you're doing. Your character or our character is the foundation on which our ministry stands. I always say this. Gifts and skills can take place up the ladder. It can really reach high. But it's a character that keeps us there. Otherwise, that character will fall off the ladder in a second. We've heard of ministries. We've heard of people who have gone right up to the top. But because of that character they crashed down in no time. Our character is the foundation of our ministry. Our ministry stands on that. Of course, Jesus is our cornerstone and we build ministry on that. But he expects us to work. Jesus is not going to come and say, okay, this is your calendar for ABC 2025 calendar. So your church do these events now. We've got to do it. So remember, we always reproduce after our own kind. Brave, bold, passionate and strong leaders will reproduce the same kind of leaders. So be brave, be bold, be passionate about what you're doing. The moment you lose your passion for something, go back to God. It's not wrong to lose passion. Sometimes doing ministry just gets you tired. You may get weary. You may feel God. Where are you? Just feel alone. Just go back to God. Go back under the shadow of His face and say, God, I want to receive from you. Give me that strength again, that passion, that desire to serve you and to serve your people. Now it's not wrong to, remember, it's not wrong to lose passion during the journey. When God is merciful, that He will help us and we continue to speak to us to be better leaders. Okay, any questions? Any thoughts before we go to the next section? Any questions? Yes, any questions? So first of all, good pastor. Sorry? So first of all, good sir. Okay, so shall we continue? Okay. Okay, let's get into the next. The heart of a leader. The heart of a leader. Being a leader in God's kingdom is definitely not easy. You look at the scriptures and you look at the Old Testament, especially, being a leader or a prophet of the Old Testament was a heavy load to carry. Picture this. Picture Moses standing there out of about 2 million people. He's brought his people out of Egypt. He's standing at the, you know, God directed them to the Red Sea. Okay, excellent. God directed the people. If you look back, you can hear the sounds of Pharaoh and his army. You look in front, you got the Red Sea. What did they want to do? What did they say? Moses, why did you bring us here? Didn't we have enough, the other known graves in Egypt that you brought us here? Now, this is probably one month after coming out of Egypt. They've seen miracles already. They've seen that the plagues didn't touch them. Moses, why did you bring us here to die when we could have died in Egypt itself? And you know, it's such a sad thing to read through that Exodus, right? But God was so faithful. That's why he keeps saying, if you read Exodus, he keeps saying, how long do I deal with these people? How long do I keep telling them? They part of the season to do, they went, they crossed, oh, praise God. You know, they're all singing songs and they go a little further. A few days later, there's no water. Why did you bring us into the desert to kill us? It's not easy. People are wired differently. Dealing with people is not easy. Leadership brings great responsibility. Let's look at a few points. Number one, leadership is a life of 730. Now, here's very important. There is a balance. When you talk about servitude, there's humility, there's authority. Right? So it's not a, oh, I'm a servant of God, you know, inferior, nobody say anything to me. No, I'm not inferior. Nor am I superior. Not a superiority complex. Oh, I'm a servant of God. I can do whatever I want to do. Look at Jesus. We know the story in John 13 and 3 to 17. I'll just summarize it and then we can read it later. Look at Jesus. Was he humble? He was. Did he walk in authority? He did. When the demons came, did he say, oh, no, I'm humble. So can you come back later? He used his authority, his superiority. He said, hey, demons get out. He gone is what he said. When he brought healing upon people, he did it not out of pride, but out of compassion, out of love for the people. But he knew that he was greater than what the Christians. But he also walked in authority. Where he washed the disciples' feet, this passage John 13 and 3. Can you picture this? He got this man who calms the storms with his hand, who walked on the waters, who did these great miracles. And now he's washing the feet of the disciples, the same feet he walked on water. He did these great miracles. The demons are afraid of him. This man of great authority, great wisdom is washing the disciples' feet. Look at what he says in this verse. Verse 13 He called me master and lord and you shall say well, for so I am a master. If I then master have washed your feet, you also ought to wash another's feet. But I've given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. 7 is not greater than his lord. Neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If you know these things, happy or glad are you with them. If I then, the Lord Jesus is saying no, he's not saying I'm not your master. He's saying you know I'm your master. You know that I'm the son of God. You know what I've done and you've seen the miracles. You've seen me taking five loads of bread and nutrition, feeding thousands of people. You've seen me coming this time. You've seen the devils run away. I am your master. I am your lord. I am the son of God. But being the son of God, I'm humbling myself to wash your feet. This is an example that you must do the same. And what a powerful example that you and I as leaders must maintain this balance. You know, there's a saying, right? When you kneel and pray before God, you will be able to stand because you'll be able to fight every deal because you've humbled yourself at me. Kneel before God. You know, this saying, God, these reports, Lord, I'm not, I cannot do it on my own. I'm not self-sufficient. Lord, I am not, whatever I have is not because of work. It's not my greatness. It's not my powers or my strength. Without you, I'll be nothing. And you'll be powerful. Right? Saying, Lord, I'm in control over everything. We are not in control of anything. I love what Psalms 139 says. And I read it every time. This it just brings such a peace in our hearts, especially really times of trauma. Right? Psalms 139, I knit you together in your mother's womb even before a day came to you. I have written all the days of your life. We cannot add a single day extra into our life just because we may feel we are powerful. We cannot. We cannot do that. Right? So when we understand the magnitude of who we are, our thought process changes. That's what you say, God, whatever you call me for, help me to be faithful, fulfill this and to finish the work which you have done. Right? So these three are temptations we must avoid. Saying, God, I can do the my own thing. I'll do it on my own to be spectacular. Saying, Okay, these miracles, these wonderful things that I'm seeing is because of my hard work and my ability or the thing to saying that I'm in charge of everything and there'll be an in charge of nothing. The Bible says he falls the sun and the moon and stars in his hand. He is in control of everything in our life. Christ like servant leaders are motivated by love to serve others. We are not, ministry is not just for people to look at us. It is to serve. When we, you know, I would say this, the greatest joy for a leader is to see someone who is just maybe immature and Christ and all of us, you know, you're working with them and you see them become leaders in the ministry, preaching the word, ministering to people and driving out demons, healing the sick. That is the greatest motivation for a leader. Right? Even if it's, you got an example, you got a church of 50 people and that 50 people, you got five people who are doing this, casting out demons cleansing the lepers, cleaning, you know, praying and for healing and just destroying the works of the devil. That is the greatest motivation that you and I can have as leaders. Okay. Now it's not wrong to have big churches. More people come into church. But church is about people. We are the church and we need to love and serve others. Possess a security that allows them to minister to others. Security is the prerequisite to great undertakings. Which means, when you talk about prerequisite, that means when we are secure in our heart, you say, okay, what will happen if people, if this pastoral or leadership role is taken off from under you? I always have this picture when I say there's a carpet under you and you're standing under that carpet. And you're very happy, okay, I'm standing under this carpet. Now suddenly the carpet is pulled off from under you. Will you stop when it falls or will you continue to stand saying big changes? I think we should come to that, please. We have titles, we have pollings for ulcers, bastards, evangelists, we have talked about the five-fold ministry of God. That's there. But our security is not on that, not on our titles, not on what we have, what we have done, what we are going to do, but our security isn't Christ. Even if everything is taken away, we can stand still and know that God is with us. When God looks at us, he's not going to look at us and say hello, pastor. It doesn't matter to him. So our security, what do we, when we are secure about who we are, about our position, we begin to minister to people on that security, knowing that you're doing it as a service to others. Three, initiate serving ministry to others, teach your people, teach your leaders, teach the people who are under you what to serve in ministry all about. Would you see serving ministry from others? People are serving you. Receive that ministry and receive it through the humble heart. Okay, no, you have to do what you're doing is right because I've been 10 years in ministry or 20 years in ministry, so good. What you're doing is receiving. Look at the disciple. They said, no, God, don't do this. How can you do this? We know who you are. How can you wash our feet? They were not stretching their legs and saying, go ahead, Jesus. No, I can see that the humility is there. Teach servanthood by example, like we were talking about those people do what they see. So it could be small things. Say, for example, like church, you know, coming in church or you're doing as a minister, as a leader, you won't water. You go fill your water bottle or your glass of water and you drink it. You don't have to have one assistant to go and get it for you. Simple. Just being lazy. If you want to you know, do something and for your family, you do it. Don't get people from outside. Your family is family and ministry is ministry. Always learn to keep them separate. Okay. Anyone with me? Okay, let's get into the next point. Keep a constant examination on your heart attitudes. Okay, we talked about this. Heart attitudes. Meaning leadership begins with an attitude. Biblical principles or biblical attitudes is my attitude as a beginner task will affect its outcome more than anything else. So we've got a whole list. Remember, our attitude is contagious. My attitude, not my achievements will give me happiness. My attitude to something will change when I choose to change it. You know, especially when you're starting a ministry, you get leadership roles. Initially, you're excited. We are excited. We want to do everything that we can. We put in 200%. But over time, that 200% becomes lesser and lesser and lesser. Why? Because my attitude towards the leadership has changed. We need to ensure that, hey, I'm going to change my attitude. This is what I'm doing. Maybe the same thing I'm doing. But remember that I'm doing something that is making an impact for the kingdom of God. My attitude needs continual adjustments. My attitude can turn my problems into blessings because I'm just choosing and picking a few. My attitude towards others determines my attitude, their attitude towards me. If I'm able to have a good attitude and to others, that's what I will get back. That's what will specify that. So just build on your attitudes, biblical attitudes. Yes, there will be attitudes that we may have to change over time. So do that right now. And then God will continue to help us. Next one, be a dreamer. Acts chapter 2, 17 and 18. Does anyone would like to read? And we also read a patient state, right? Acts chapter 2, sorry, 2, 17 and 18. Anyone like to read this? Acts chapter 2, this is 17 and 18. And it shall come to pass in the last days, says that I'll pour out my spirit on all flesh, your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And my men servants and all my mates, I'll pour out my spirit in those days and they shall prophesy. So God does not give dreams and alias to entertain us. It is given to us to accomplish something or not. And God given vision, it has a purpose into our life. But we have a vision as a purpose. We say, okay, this is what I have to do. It could be not only in ministry but in anything. It could be business, it could be an absolute family. When you have a God given vision it has a purpose. And that purpose has to be pursued by us. The vision is given by God. We have to pursue it. Sometimes these God given visions and dreams are much bigger than in what we are. Because now listen, God does not look at our capabilities and how we get up to accomplish them. Did you ever think let's look at two examples. Moses, a person who could not talk, 80 years old will bring out 2 million people out of Egypt. So I can't talk. Okay, take attitude. But when God saw Moses, he said, no, I know you're going to do it. It doesn't matter whether you're 80 or 100. God saw Abraham. He said, I want to make you the father of many nations. So in God's mind it's already set. He doesn't look at our capabilities. Abraham was as dead as can be. So was said as well. He was too old. God does not look at those capabilities. When he says something, he will do it. All he needs is eternal presence. That's why Ephesians 3 20 is powerful. Now to him who's able to do exceedingly abundantly, more than we can pass, more than we can think, more than we can imagine according to the power that is his power working in us. When you and I receive provision from God, he wants to do it for you. He wants to do it in you and he wants to accomplish it through you. Look at Peter. Then you did Peter ever think that he's going to lead a ministry of thousands of people. After Jesus who took on the whole ministry a fisherman who was fearful, who denied God, who was, you know, very weary, short tempered without saying, no, I don't see all of that. All that may be there. But I see Peter as a leader. So God gives you a vision. You go along to it and you begin to work on it. Don't say, okay, God has given the vision. So whatever skills he wants, he will make me get it. We have to learn. Okay, God, this is the vision. So I have to learn all of this. Learn how to, if it's a church God has given you a vision to start a church. There's a lot of things that we need to learn. How to build a church, how to organize, how to lead people, how to raise leaders, so much to learn. So we learn. Be totally committed. Mediocre commitment will not produce much. It will produce, but not much. And be positive. God has never failed. There will be ups and downs, optimistic attitude, energizes and transforms those around us. This is a powerful word. Let's just quickly read this. So David and his men came to the city and it was burned with fire. So David and his men went for a war. And when they came back, they saw all of this. The city was burned. Their wives and their sons and daughters were taken captive. And David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept up to, they had more power to lead. Imagine. And David's two wives also were taken captives. And David was greatly distressed for the people of stoning him because the soul of all the people were grieved. Obviously, right? Their family, their children, everyone have been taken. But David encouraged himself in the Lord, his God. Look at this. What a powerful word. They've gone for war. They've got victory. They've come back. They've seen that the soul of all the captives, people have come. The enemy has come and taken everyone. Wives, children, everyone. It's an empty place. The army is crying out about war. Why did you allow this to happen? David himself also was greatly distressed. Wow. David encouraged himself in the Lord. And David said to the priest, I pray that you bring me the effort and bring me the effort to David. And David inquired in the Lord, shall I purse you after this truth? Shall I overtake them? And he answered, purse you for thou shalt surely overtake them and without fail to cover them. And that's what happened. David was distressed. He encouraged himself in the Lord. He inquired of the Lord. God said, David, go back. By the time you go, you will bring me. All your people will come back. Don't worry. I'm there with you. You will overtake them and you will bring your people back. Always maintain a strong, positive, triumphant attitude. The enemy will come with sudden news. You hold on for the promises of God. He will always cause us to cry. We overcome fear with faith. We overcome adversity with death. We overcome negativity by being positive. You and I, we are designed, we may fail but remember that God will help us. God will definitely help us. He encouraged us. We'll stop here. We'll get into Chapter 17, the next session. Thank you so much. Have a great weekend. I'll see you. God bless. Thank you, Pastor. Thank you.