Been Here Before

0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:06.120 Deuteronomy chapter nine. You'll want a little bit of chapter 0:00:06.160 --> 0:00:12.319 eight too, you do, Let's do chapter eight. Then let's 0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:17.280 do chapter eight, verse fifteen through Deuteronomy nine, verse five. 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:21.760 I studied all of it, and I just want to 0:00:21.800 --> 0:00:25.880 be faithful to share with you what God spoke to me. Hey, 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:30.360 congratulations today, You're like, what are you congratulating me for? 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:35.280 That you made it to the end of another year. 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:41.720 Congratulations that you came to church the Sunday before Thanksgiving. 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:45.320 What that means is God will give you an automatic 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:50.160 calorie deficit. So it's gonna be amazing because you're gonna 0:00:50.159 --> 0:00:54.240 eat everything you want at Thanksgiving, and none of it 0:00:54.280 --> 0:00:57.200 is gonna go to the fat cells. It's all gonna 0:00:57.240 --> 0:01:00.040 go to places where it is going to produce a 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:03.360 better physique. Okay, I'm a false prophet. I need to 0:01:03.400 --> 0:01:06.160 stop this and read the Bible. The Bible doesn't say 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:09.880 any of that. But I am glad you're here, and 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:13.480 I prophesied nobody's gonna fight at your Thanksgiving me all 0:01:14.360 --> 0:01:16.920 because you're gonna keep your mouth shut when they say 0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:22.679 stuff that makes you mad. A little tongue biting practice today. 0:01:23.560 --> 0:01:29.559 Deuteronomy chapter eight, verse fifteen, listen to this. What God did. 0:01:30.360 --> 0:01:35.160 He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, the 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:40.440 thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:44.920 He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:48.840 you manna to eat in the wilderness. None of y'all, 0:01:48.920 --> 0:01:52.760 God never fed any of you. I thought we were 0:01:52.800 --> 0:01:55.360 talking about some historic group, pastor Steve, and now I'm 0:01:55.360 --> 0:01:58.920 talking about you. What God did for you in seasons 0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:01.880 of your life. You didn't see a way, but He 0:02:02.040 --> 0:02:09.239 made a way. Okay, we're on the same page now, huh, 0:02:09.320 --> 0:02:11.639 Because we've all been in a wilderness, but we've seen 0:02:11.680 --> 0:02:15.320 God's provision in those hard places. So that's what we're 0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:18.639 talking about. He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, 0:02:19.280 --> 0:02:22.800 something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:25.280 you so that in the end it might go well 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:30.120 with you. You You may say to yourself, my power and 0:02:30.200 --> 0:02:35.320 strength have produced this wealth for me. But remember the 0:02:35.360 --> 0:02:37.240 Lord your God, for it is he who gives you 0:02:37.320 --> 0:02:41.239 the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:45.440 which he swore to your ancestors, as it is this day. 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:51.799 If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:54.040 other gods and worship and bow down to them. I 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:57.920 testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:02.400 like the nation's the Lord destroyed before you. So you 0:03:02.480 --> 0:03:05.600 will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God. 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:12.840 Now Verse one, chapter nine, Here Israel, you are now 0:03:13.680 --> 0:03:18.160 about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess 0:03:18.320 --> 0:03:23.320 nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that 0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:27.000 have walls up to the sky. The people are strong 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:33.040 and tall. Anekites. You know about them and have heard 0:03:33.040 --> 0:03:37.840 it said, who can stand up against the Anekites? But 0:03:37.960 --> 0:03:41.840 be assured today that the Lord your God is the 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:46.720 one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. 0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:51.200 He will destroy them. He will subdue them before you, 0:03:51.280 --> 0:03:56.200 and you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, 0:03:56.840 --> 0:04:02.320 as the Lord has promised you. After the Lord your 0:04:02.360 --> 0:04:05.720 God has driven them out before you, do not say 0:04:05.800 --> 0:04:09.080 to yourself, the Lord has brought me here to take 0:04:09.120 --> 0:04:14.600 possession of this land because of my righteousness. No, it 0:04:14.680 --> 0:04:18.120 is on account of the wickedness of these nations that 0:04:18.160 --> 0:04:20.760 the Lord is going to drive them out before you. 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:25.479 It is not because of your righteousness. Touch your neighbor 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:28.640 and say you're not that good. It is not because 0:04:28.680 --> 0:04:32.760 of your righteousness or your integrity. Don't be offended. They 0:04:32.839 --> 0:04:36.400 just said what the Bible said. It is not because 0:04:36.440 --> 0:04:40.760 of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:43.360 to take possession of their land. But on account of 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:46.520 the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:50.599 drive them out before you to accomplish what he swore 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:55.800 to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Let's say 0:04:55.800 --> 0:04:59.159 amen to the word of God. The title of this 0:04:59.320 --> 0:05:07.559 message is been here before, been here before. Speak your word, Lord. 0:05:07.600 --> 0:05:11.520 We're listening in Jesus' name. Amen. Touch somebody on your 0:05:11.520 --> 0:05:13.840 way to your seat, say this is not my first time, 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:29.599 been here before. Amen. Your kids sometimes tend to remember 0:05:29.640 --> 0:05:34.919 stuff you wish they would forget, forget stuff that you 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:39.000 really thought they would remember. There's this one thing that 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:41.799 happened on vacation, like eight years ago that my kids 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:44.880 will never let me live down. I lost a little 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:48.200 not an AirPod, but it was. It was called a 0:05:48.279 --> 0:05:51.120 j bird, a little headphone day, a little earphone thing. 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:55.400 I lost it, and I lost it. I lost my 0:05:55.600 --> 0:05:59.600 mind because I lost this little thing. So stupid I 0:05:59.640 --> 0:06:01.159 was fried. I didn't burn out. You know how it is. 0:06:01.200 --> 0:06:05.279 Sometimes you're like, why this is not about the jaybird, 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:09.599 this is about something else, and they remember it. I 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:13.360 didn't throw any of them across the room, but they 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:16.640 remember when Mom had to pull them aside and say, 0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:22.840 let's give dad some space. Wally works this out. They 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:25.920 remember that. They remember it comes up about once a week. 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:29.640 Remember that time with the j bird, not the time 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:31.919 we went to Singapore, the time with the J bird. 0:06:33.200 --> 0:06:36.039 This is crazy. And then one of my boys, I 0:06:36.040 --> 0:06:38.320 don't really remember which one would I would totally call 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:41.600 him out if I did. But we went to an 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:46.440 NFL game and somebody asked, is this your first NFL game? 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:49.400 First time going to an NFL game? And he goes, yeah, 0:06:49.960 --> 0:06:52.920 this is my first game, and I like, yank him 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:57.400 by the arm. I'm like, this is your third NFL game. 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:01.400 He'd been to two games before or two NFL games, 0:07:01.560 --> 0:07:04.479 went into the locker room of one and wrestled with 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:08.880 a wide receiver and met the quarterback. Yeah, this is 0:07:08.920 --> 0:07:12.120 my first game. I'm like, so this is how it's 0:07:12.160 --> 0:07:15.760 gonna be. I'm gonna just do crazy crap for you. 0:07:15.760 --> 0:07:19.480 Your whole life just amazing stuff that kids only dream of. 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:21.960 And you're gonna talk about the jay bird that I 0:07:22.000 --> 0:07:25.760 got freaked out about one time, and forget about meeting cam. Okay, Now, 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:28.840 the thing that I want to bring to our attention 0:07:29.280 --> 0:07:33.560 from this text is that God's kids do the same thing. 0:07:37.320 --> 0:07:39.640 Did they put niquill in a communion cup before y'all 0:07:39.680 --> 0:07:46.040 came in? Today? I feel kind of foggy. God's kids 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:55.600 tend to remember the wrong things forgetting his faithfulness and 0:07:55.720 --> 0:08:00.720 focusing on things that really, in the big scheme of things, 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:04.800 don't matter much. And this scripture Deuteronomy chapter nine, verse 0:08:04.840 --> 0:08:08.680 one is to me very bittersweet because you have the 0:08:08.680 --> 0:08:12.480 man of God, Moses, who of course has led them 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:16.480 this far, and he's preparing them to go into a 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:21.240 land that God has promised them, but he's not going 0:08:21.280 --> 0:08:24.080 with them. Two things I want you to notice from 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:27.400 Deuteronomy nine, verse one. Put it on the screen. Police 0:08:27.720 --> 0:08:31.160 here Israel. You are now about to cross the Jordan. 0:08:32.320 --> 0:08:37.360 In some ways, that's exciting, you are now about to 0:08:37.440 --> 0:08:40.880 cross the Jordan. But there's something about this that's very 0:08:40.960 --> 0:08:47.520 sad too. The word you and the word now. See 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:51.520 when he says you, he's not saying we because he 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:55.440 can't go, because he had the opportunity to go, but 0:08:55.520 --> 0:08:58.160 he didn't have the faith to go, because he had 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:01.160 the chance to step into it, but he didn't believe 0:09:01.200 --> 0:09:06.439 God enough to step into it. You are going, He's 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:09.960 telling the next generation. You're going into this land that 0:09:10.040 --> 0:09:13.480 God promised. You're going into this land that's flowing with 0:09:13.600 --> 0:09:18.000 milk and honey. You're about to see God do amazing things. 0:09:18.200 --> 0:09:22.160 You're about to witness miracle after miracle. You're about to 0:09:22.280 --> 0:09:26.440 settle into something that God spoke centuries before you were 0:09:26.480 --> 0:09:31.760 even born. You're about to go into the land. Now. 0:09:31.960 --> 0:09:34.320 See that word is said to me too. It's the 0:09:34.320 --> 0:09:37.120 word now because they could have been in the land 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:41.719 forty years earlier and in a terrible thing. To get 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:44.320 to a place in your life where you say, you know, 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:48.440 I had the chance to do that. I had the 0:09:48.480 --> 0:09:51.920 opportunity to do that. I remember talking to him, man 0:09:52.559 --> 0:09:55.080 who fell into deep sexual sin, and he said, I 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:58.440 remember the moment that God spoke the word to me, 0:09:58.720 --> 0:10:01.319 and I was standing right on the edge and God 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:04.080 was trying to snatch me from it, but I stepped 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:10.079 into it anyway. It was twelve years later after wrecking 0:10:10.160 --> 0:10:13.200 much of his life and family. That he stood at 0:10:13.240 --> 0:10:16.760 the place of regret, realizing God gave me that chance 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:20.280 and I didn't take it. God gave me that word, 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:23.640 but I wouldn't hear it. God opened that door, but 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:26.959 I wouldn't go through it. You know, the Bible says 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:29.040 that God will make a way of escape for you, 0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:33.640 but he won't push you through the hatch. God will 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:37.920 send people. God will send provision, God will send promises. 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:42.440 Everybody say promises. I'm thankful for the promises that God 0:10:42.480 --> 0:10:46.840 has spoken over my life. It's not just about land 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:50.800 and territory and geographical things like it is here in 0:10:50.840 --> 0:10:53.800 the Old Testament. But for me, I'm thankful that God 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:57.360 has promised me some things, and whatever he speaks, he 0:10:57.440 --> 0:11:02.640 intends to accomplish. And nothing can stop it. Nothing can 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:07.719 stop it. I mean nothing, No body, no devil, no 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:12.480 genetic nothing can stop it. No cancer, sell nothing can 0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:16.120 stop it. Nothing, not even the dumb thing I did, 0:11:16.200 --> 0:11:20.360 can stop it from coming to pass. If God promised 0:11:20.559 --> 0:11:25.520 that he will perform it. If God promise, he will 0:11:25.559 --> 0:11:30.040 bring it to pass. David said, delight yourself in the Lord, 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:33.800 and he will give you the desires of your heart. Now, 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:38.880 what does that mean? What does that mean? Because sometimes 0:11:38.920 --> 0:11:42.720 God has to show us that not everything we want 0:11:43.760 --> 0:11:50.400 is something that he promised. A lot of us lose 0:11:50.440 --> 0:11:56.840 our confidence in God because we confuse our want with 0:11:56.960 --> 0:12:00.640 this promise. This won't take long. But teach this part 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:03.320 and then I appreach so good. You'd be so inspired. 0:12:03.480 --> 0:12:05.240 But let me dig into this for just a moment. 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:07.679 I said something last week. I said it so quick, 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:10.000 and I moved so fast, and I was talking about weasels, 0:12:10.080 --> 0:12:12.200 and I was talking about the weasel and the word 0:12:12.400 --> 0:12:14.640 and the seed and the dead thing, and you're not 0:12:14.720 --> 0:12:17.200 dead yet, and God's seeds are still in you, and 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:19.240 don't give up on it. Just because something died on 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:21.480 you doesn't mean God isn't real in you. So I 0:12:21.520 --> 0:12:23.360 was preaching all that last week and I said something 0:12:23.400 --> 0:12:24.920 like the flash, and I don't know if you heard it, 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:27.600 but I thought it was really good. Okay, confidence in 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:30.280 God's promise? How many of you are confident in God's promise? 0:12:31.400 --> 0:12:34.880 I am setting you up, dude. I am about to 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:39.600 knock you out with this hook. Confidence in God's promise 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:51.000 without commitment to his process is not dependence. It is delusion. 0:12:52.920 --> 0:12:55.679 I want you to write that down. So it just 0:12:55.800 --> 0:12:59.439 came up on the movie screen. You're not going to 0:12:59.520 --> 0:13:02.120 do it. Huh, you're not going to write it down? 0:13:03.360 --> 0:13:07.079 Write it down? Yeah, for real, with on your phone 0:13:07.160 --> 0:13:10.480 or on your notes or whatever. Write it down, because 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:13.080 I want that to be ringing in your head the 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:17.360 next time you think, why didn't God do it? Why 0:13:17.360 --> 0:13:20.280 didn't he answer? Why didn't He do it? Why don't 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:27.280 I have it? Confidence in God's promise? Oh, Moses in 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:33.360 Deuteronomy is really reliving some of his own regrets. He 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:37.360 is reminding the people not only what God did while 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:40.960 they were in the wilderness, but how they disobeyed him. 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:44.320 And he is warning them that when God brings you 0:13:44.400 --> 0:13:48.040 into this land, be careful that the you that he 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:51.680 brings into this land doesn't think that you are the 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:57.760 reason that you're there, because you'll become arrogant, prideful, and 0:13:57.840 --> 0:14:01.720 the moment that you forget, you will lose the war. 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:06.080 Not because God isn't great, but because you forgot how 0:14:06.080 --> 0:14:09.559 to fight your battles, and you did it in your 0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:12.120 own strength. So the promises of God are sure. The 0:14:12.120 --> 0:14:14.800 promises of God are yes and amen, the promises of God, 0:14:14.840 --> 0:14:16.720 no matter how many of them he has spoken, he 0:14:16.760 --> 0:14:19.120 will bring them to pass. The promise of God can 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:21.640 come from a barren womb. The promise of God can 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:24.520 come from a stable in Bethlehem. The promise of God 0:14:24.560 --> 0:14:27.920 can come in the darkest season of your life. And 0:14:28.000 --> 0:14:31.760 yet there is so much of what God has promised 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:39.120 me that I don't possess yet. There's so much more 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:43.400 that God has promised me that I don't possess yet. 0:14:44.680 --> 0:14:48.400 I can make your list. Let's do it as an exercise. 0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:51.760 Do you believe God has promised to give you peace? 0:14:53.800 --> 0:14:55.560 Wave at me. If you believe God has promised to 0:14:55.560 --> 0:14:58.760 give you peace, So how are you gonna get it? 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:03.920 That's the question, right, God promised them this land. How 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:10.520 are you gonna get it? You're gonna start chanting peace, peace, peace, 0:15:10.560 --> 0:15:12.680 Give me peace, give me peace, Give me peace, Give 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:14.840 me peace. Pretty please give me peace, Give me peace, peace, peace. 0:15:14.840 --> 0:15:20.520 These these peace pieces. There is a process by which 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:24.680 God gives me peace, and it's found in Philippians chapter four. 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:26.440 Look at this on the screen. I want to bring 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:30.160 this into the New Testament from the Old Testament, where 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:32.880 the apostle Paul says, do not be anxious about anything, 0:15:32.920 --> 0:15:41.120 but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:46.080 present your requests to God and the peace of God. 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:50.160 The peace of God. Wait a minute, that's the verse. 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:53.120 I like. I don't like the first one because I 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:54.720 don't really feel like pray and I don't really feel 0:15:54.720 --> 0:15:58.080 like being thankful. I don't really feel like asking God. Okay, 0:15:58.560 --> 0:16:02.680 you do realize that in the original manuscripts of the Bible, 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:05.200 there was not a verse seven and a verse six. 0:16:05.400 --> 0:16:08.640 It was just all one thing. So what he says 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:11.120 in verse seven follows from what he said in verse six. 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:13.400 I know that sounds the basic, but I think sometimes 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:16.440 we forget that that he says, the peace of God, 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:20.680 which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:24.240 mind in Christ Jesus. So there it is, the promise, 0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:30.080 the peace, the process, prayer, petition, thanksgiving, not sitting around 0:16:30.240 --> 0:16:33.360 thinking about everything that could go wrong, would go wrong, 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:36.440 did go wrong, might go wrong, possibly could go wrong 0:16:36.560 --> 0:16:39.920 went wrong twenty three years ago. That process will not 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:43.120 get you peace. I don't care. You can't cancel out 0:16:43.160 --> 0:16:47.360 a bad thought life with a good prayer life and 0:16:47.440 --> 0:16:51.920 get peace just because you really really want it. Okay, 0:16:51.920 --> 0:16:53.240 how many have you been praying for God to give 0:16:53.240 --> 0:16:58.600 you peace? Are you doing the process that brings to peace? 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:03.320 That's the question. Go to verse eight. I'm a really 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:06.159 hammer to this home. I'm not playing with you all today. Finally, 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:10.600 brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:16.000 is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, 0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:19.640 if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:23.280 Then what happens. Whatever you learn received from me or 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:27.359 seeing in me, put into practice, and the God of 0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:31.680 Peace will be with you. Well wait, I thought God 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:33.960 was gonna be with me no matter what. That's a promise, right, Yeah, 0:17:34.000 --> 0:17:37.040 He'll be with you, But you will not receive his 0:17:37.280 --> 0:17:40.800 peace if you don't want to think his thoughts. You 0:17:41.000 --> 0:17:45.520 just won't. You can't fill your head with whatever and 0:17:45.560 --> 0:17:48.040 then faith your way out of what you filled your 0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:52.480 head with. You can't just binge whatever and then quote 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:55.360 a Bible verse on top of stuff that you binge 0:17:55.680 --> 0:17:58.639 and ask God to cancel it out because he can't 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:04.359 because it's a prime. It's not automatic. But God promise, 0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:06.240 but it's not a one time. I like to tell 0:18:06.280 --> 0:18:08.440 stories about my kids. They were they had their hands 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:10.600 under this faucet. This was when they were real little. 0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:12.760 I think it was Graham and he was waiting for 0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:15.600 the water to come on, and there was a knob 0:18:18.320 --> 0:18:20.280 and I stood there and watched him for a good 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:23.040 I don't know about thirty seconds, because I wanted to 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:25.199 see how long will you stand there and wait for 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:28.760 something to come out and not do anything to produce it. 0:18:32.560 --> 0:18:35.920 He could have concluded there's no water because a five 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:37.880 year old boy doesn't want to wash his hands anyway, 0:18:38.119 --> 0:18:40.399 so he could have walked away. The water doesn't work. 0:18:41.320 --> 0:18:44.040 I see people all the time who come to church 0:18:44.080 --> 0:18:50.000 and go that didn't work. That didn't work. You know what, 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:53.040 there's no water. That didn't work. I tried. I tried 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:56.320 to do it. You didn't try to do it. You 0:18:56.359 --> 0:19:00.600 took the promise out of context and pop like a 0:19:00.640 --> 0:19:04.520 pain pill. It made you feel better for four hours, 0:19:04.960 --> 0:19:07.560 but it didn't produce what it could have produced in 0:19:07.600 --> 0:19:10.240 your life. Because the Word of God is not a 0:19:10.359 --> 0:19:14.440 pill to be ingested. It is a seed to be planted, 0:19:14.800 --> 0:19:20.000 and if you planted, the process will begin of producing 0:19:20.080 --> 0:19:23.800 the potential of the seed now. But we give up 0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:27.600 too easily. The first time that we feel fear, we 0:19:27.760 --> 0:19:31.280 let go of faith. The first time that we get rejected, 0:19:31.600 --> 0:19:35.040 we start expecting more rejection. So now we don't want 0:19:35.040 --> 0:19:37.679 to go now, we don't want to try. Now, we 0:19:37.720 --> 0:19:40.640 don't want to do it now. It's just too hard. Now. 0:19:40.680 --> 0:19:43.440 I guess God didn't really say that. I guess God 0:19:43.480 --> 0:19:45.680 didn't really mean for me to have it. I guess 0:19:45.720 --> 0:19:48.280 I'm just never going to come into it. That's one 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:50.879 way of looking at it. But maybe another way of 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:53.840 looking at it is you have not fully allowed the 0:19:53.920 --> 0:19:57.879 process to complete its perfect work in your life, and 0:19:58.000 --> 0:20:05.359 if you get back in the process, you see the 0:20:05.400 --> 0:20:09.840 promise come to pass. Because what's crazy about it is 0:20:11.200 --> 0:20:15.000 nothing has changed about the promise in the forty years 0:20:15.040 --> 0:20:20.680 since Moses last spoke it. He's been here before, he's 0:20:20.680 --> 0:20:23.800 been in this exact spot. But now because he struck 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:26.160 the rock twice, instead of speaking to it like God 0:20:26.200 --> 0:20:28.760 told him to, God said, you don't trust me enough 0:20:28.760 --> 0:20:32.879 for me to take you in. It wasn't that he 0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:36.280 wasn't enough to go in. He did not trust God 0:20:36.400 --> 0:20:40.080 enough to go in. You see the difference. One is 0:20:40.400 --> 0:20:43.359 I just don't have it, and the other is I 0:20:43.440 --> 0:20:47.639 just won't do it. Now we're living in a time, 0:20:48.600 --> 0:20:54.200 because this scripture is not good for snowflake culture, where 0:20:54.200 --> 0:20:58.720 everybody wants God to bring everything that he spoke to them. 0:20:58.760 --> 0:21:01.240 And this is why the generational correction is appropriate in 0:21:01.280 --> 0:21:06.240 the scripture. This scripture is generationally appropriate because only those 0:21:06.320 --> 0:21:09.240 who were twenty years of age or younger get to 0:21:09.320 --> 0:21:12.360 go into the Promised Land. Everybody else either died off 0:21:12.359 --> 0:21:15.640 in the wilderness or is staying there. So Moses, this 0:21:15.680 --> 0:21:18.680 is so sad to me. He's preparing them for something 0:21:18.800 --> 0:21:22.200 that he won't get to participate in. And as he's 0:21:22.240 --> 0:21:25.560 doing it, you can hear that he's giving them words 0:21:25.600 --> 0:21:31.480 of faith, but I hear the tone of regret, resentment. 0:21:32.280 --> 0:21:36.880 He's mad at them. There's three different speeches recorded in Deuteronomy, 0:21:36.920 --> 0:21:39.080 and all of them he said all this stuff before, 0:21:39.520 --> 0:21:42.439 but he's saying it again, and now he's saying it 0:21:42.440 --> 0:21:44.680 to them to let them know that even though you've 0:21:44.720 --> 0:21:48.920 been at this place before, it's going to be different 0:21:49.000 --> 0:21:52.280 this time. You are going to do what we couldn't 0:21:52.280 --> 0:21:55.920 do because you are gonna believe what we wouldn't believe. 0:21:56.720 --> 0:22:01.040 So you're gonna see what we didn't see. But we 0:22:01.160 --> 0:22:05.080 had the same promise, but you're gonna do with the 0:22:05.119 --> 0:22:08.080 promise what we could not do with the promise, what 0:22:08.280 --> 0:22:11.520 we would not do with the promise. If you keep 0:22:11.920 --> 0:22:16.360 your eyes on God, and if you go forward believing 0:22:16.359 --> 0:22:19.159 that God is with you, you're gonna see it. In fact, 0:22:19.680 --> 0:22:22.320 he basically assumes that they're going to take the land. 0:22:23.119 --> 0:22:25.000 He just cautions them that when they do, they need 0:22:25.040 --> 0:22:28.600 to remember who brought them into it. I love it, 0:22:30.119 --> 0:22:33.199 he said. You've been in the wilderness for a long time. 0:22:34.800 --> 0:22:39.200 And it's funny about the wilderness because a wilderness is 0:22:39.240 --> 0:22:43.440 a place, like I said last week, between places where 0:22:43.440 --> 0:22:47.560 God teaches you things that you need to know for 0:22:47.640 --> 0:22:53.479 where you're going. The wilderness. The wilderness is the place 0:22:54.400 --> 0:22:56.640 where God gets you ready for what he has next 0:22:56.680 --> 0:23:02.199 for you. The wilderness where He brings you manna to 0:23:02.320 --> 0:23:07.040 your tent every morning because you don't have farmland yet. 0:23:08.000 --> 0:23:10.960 The wilderness where He brings you water out of a 0:23:11.040 --> 0:23:14.439 rock and there's not even a knob for the faucet. 0:23:15.240 --> 0:23:19.800 It just starts flowing out. The wilderness. There are wonderful 0:23:19.800 --> 0:23:23.800 things about the wilderness. There are wonderful things about loneliness. 0:23:25.000 --> 0:23:28.439 When you're lonely, God will feel closer to you. If 0:23:28.440 --> 0:23:33.159 you'll call on him than when you're real busy. Yeah, 0:23:33.320 --> 0:23:36.560 there are wonderful things about when people tell you no, 0:23:37.400 --> 0:23:40.439 Because when people tell you no, God has this way 0:23:41.040 --> 0:23:44.280 of putting a yes in your spirit that you can't 0:23:44.320 --> 0:23:47.679 even explain. It's a wonderful thing about certain tears that 0:23:47.760 --> 0:23:51.760 we cry because God drives them and you feel his 0:23:51.920 --> 0:23:54.600 touch like you never did before. It's a wonderful thing 0:23:54.680 --> 0:23:57.280 sometimes about you know, when you've done all that you 0:23:57.320 --> 0:24:01.760 can do and you can't figure anything, and God just says, 0:24:02.040 --> 0:24:06.119 I got this one. Watch this man, woo, open your tent. Whoo. 0:24:06.280 --> 0:24:09.679 Every morning it's gonna be there, brand new mercies with 0:24:09.800 --> 0:24:13.200 every rising of the sun. It's a wonderful thing. Have 0:24:13.320 --> 0:24:16.920 you ever been fed by the hand of God where 0:24:16.960 --> 0:24:20.000 God just dropped something off from you and you said, oh, 0:24:20.040 --> 0:24:23.560 this is wonderful. I didn't even know how, but God 0:24:23.640 --> 0:24:26.520 did that for me. I didn't even know that person. 0:24:26.800 --> 0:24:29.240 They paid for my gash at the pump. I didn't 0:24:29.240 --> 0:24:32.280 even know that person. They stopped me and encouraged me. 0:24:32.680 --> 0:24:36.920 It's some wonderful things that happen in the wilderness. God 0:24:37.080 --> 0:24:39.879 just drops stuff on you in the wilderness. God just 0:24:40.040 --> 0:24:43.080 gusts stuff for you. In the wilderness. God just makes 0:24:43.119 --> 0:24:46.840 sure that you have clothes to wear. In the wilderness, 0:24:46.960 --> 0:24:49.520 you don't outgrow it. It just keeps stretching with you. 0:24:49.880 --> 0:24:52.879 In the wilderness. He makes sure your feet don't swell. 0:24:52.920 --> 0:24:57.280 In the wilderness. It is a place of supernatural provision. 0:24:57.480 --> 0:25:08.160 But if you stay there too long, you will become passive, 0:25:11.040 --> 0:25:16.560 waiting for a promise that God wants to give you 0:25:17.240 --> 0:25:26.199 the power to possess by faith. I am gonna break 0:25:26.680 --> 0:25:29.840 that down, but first I need your help. Shot this 0:25:30.040 --> 0:25:36.880 God is bringing me into my promise, and that sounds selfish. 0:25:36.960 --> 0:25:39.080 I don't like talking about what God is doing for me, 0:25:39.440 --> 0:25:42.000 see becomes Pastor Stephen. I think that the Bible says 0:25:42.240 --> 0:25:45.320 that it's not about me, it's not about my desires. 0:25:45.320 --> 0:25:47.520 You were just saying a moment ago that it's not 0:25:47.600 --> 0:25:49.520 what I want that God promised, and so I would 0:25:49.560 --> 0:25:52.000 refer you back to earlier in your sermon, around nine 0:25:52.040 --> 0:25:54.720 minutes and thirty two seconds, and you're preaching really good, 0:25:54.760 --> 0:25:56.840 but you've gone off course now because now you're saying 0:25:56.960 --> 0:25:59.080 God is bringing me into my promise. And I'm not 0:25:59.080 --> 0:26:01.400 comfortable with that, because, after all, it is all for 0:26:01.520 --> 0:26:03.639 his glory, and I don't really like all these worship 0:26:03.760 --> 0:26:05.920 songs that are like me, me, me, and God's gonna 0:26:05.920 --> 0:26:07.320 do it for me. And that's one of the thing 0:26:07.359 --> 0:26:09.600 about God, how great he is and how awesome he 0:26:09.680 --> 0:26:11.600 is and all of the wonderful things that He has 0:26:11.600 --> 0:26:13.240 done in an abstract way, so that I don't have 0:26:13.240 --> 0:26:15.159 to bring the historical context into my life and make 0:26:15.200 --> 0:26:18.200 application and get better so that I can go forward. 0:26:24.000 --> 0:26:25.520 I just kind of zoned out for a minute. I 0:26:25.520 --> 0:26:31.640 don't know what I just said. It's it's a thing 0:26:31.680 --> 0:26:34.640 that you need to believe. You need to believe. God 0:26:35.640 --> 0:26:44.840 is bringing me into my promise, not her promise. She's 0:26:44.880 --> 0:26:49.680 got a different color hair, she's got a different family situation, 0:26:50.720 --> 0:26:52.760 she's got a different set of struggles that she does 0:26:52.760 --> 0:26:59.200 not show anybody on TikTok. God is bringing me into 0:26:59.359 --> 0:27:04.760 my promise. So I'm good with whatever God does for 0:27:04.880 --> 0:27:09.720 other people. I'm not jealous. I'm not envious. I'm not 0:27:09.800 --> 0:27:12.800 in a hurry. I am not gonna break my neck 0:27:12.920 --> 0:27:15.240 running in lanes that God did not clear for me. 0:27:15.760 --> 0:27:21.919 God is bringing me. Be careful, y'all. I might start preaching. 0:27:22.000 --> 0:27:25.040 I might start preaching. I just want to teach you 0:27:25.359 --> 0:27:29.080 this so you can know that God is bringing you 0:27:29.720 --> 0:27:32.840 through the wilderness season through the heart parts. And the 0:27:32.880 --> 0:27:39.239 wilderness is important because that's where God sifts you. The 0:27:39.280 --> 0:27:44.520 wilderness is where God sifts the wheat of his promise 0:27:45.280 --> 0:27:52.199 from the chaff of what I want. The wilderness is 0:27:52.240 --> 0:27:56.679 a threshing floor where God gets me really clear about 0:27:56.680 --> 0:28:00.359 what really matters. The wilderness is a place that He 0:28:00.440 --> 0:28:02.840 teaches me that I can do without a lot of 0:28:02.840 --> 0:28:06.760 the things that I think I need. The wilderness is 0:28:06.760 --> 0:28:08.920 there to teach me that if my mother and father 0:28:09.040 --> 0:28:12.840 forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. The 0:28:12.880 --> 0:28:15.639 wilderness is there to teach me that there might not 0:28:15.760 --> 0:28:18.960 be a fountain, but there's a rock, and God can 0:28:19.040 --> 0:28:22.920 bring water out of hard places, that God can bring 0:28:23.040 --> 0:28:27.439 blessings out of barren places. The wilderness is wonderful, but 0:28:27.520 --> 0:28:32.040 there is one problem with the wilderness. If you stay 0:28:32.080 --> 0:28:35.680 there too long, you will get so used to God 0:28:35.760 --> 0:28:42.160 bringing it to you that you might be tempted to 0:28:42.240 --> 0:28:49.000 forget that sometimes God brings it to you, and sometimes 0:28:49.760 --> 0:28:55.680 He brings you to it. This is for the five 0:28:55.800 --> 0:28:59.600 people who you have been wondering what in the world 0:28:59.720 --> 0:29:02.200 is going going on? In my life right now. I 0:29:02.240 --> 0:29:04.920 don't have the same friends I used to have. I 0:29:04.920 --> 0:29:07.600 don't feel the same I used to feel. I can't 0:29:07.600 --> 0:29:10.240 depend on what I used to depend on. It's not 0:29:10.400 --> 0:29:13.320 working like it used to work. And you've been tempted 0:29:13.360 --> 0:29:17.160 to lose confidence in God. But don't lose your faith 0:29:17.240 --> 0:29:21.240 over this, Nah, just switch your focus. It isn't that 0:29:21.400 --> 0:29:25.360 God left. He's just sifting you so and he brings 0:29:25.400 --> 0:29:28.680 you into the next thing that he wants you to do. 0:29:29.240 --> 0:29:37.080 You will be ready for it. It's preparation, baby. This 0:29:37.120 --> 0:29:40.680 is my training camp. This is my getting ready word. 0:29:41.120 --> 0:29:44.920 This is my getting ready season. This is my foundation 0:29:45.200 --> 0:29:51.360 building season. So something strong to stand on. Oh God, 0:29:51.440 --> 0:29:57.000 I feel it. I'm getting ready. I'm getting ready. Now. 0:29:57.120 --> 0:29:59.400 Here's my learn here's my learn. So when you don't 0:29:59.400 --> 0:30:01.040 get what you want from God, how many of you 0:30:01.040 --> 0:30:04.560 had that happen some point in twenty twenty two? Everybody else, 0:30:04.600 --> 0:30:06.080 come pray for me. You didn't raise your hand, you 0:30:06.080 --> 0:30:08.120 come pray for me. I need that annoyingt than you 0:30:08.160 --> 0:30:11.240 have of everything happens right, sales right goes on sale 0:30:11.280 --> 0:30:14.880 when you want to buy it. Oh God, but I'll 0:30:14.920 --> 0:30:18.000 tell you this. You have a choice to make like 0:30:18.040 --> 0:30:21.440 they had a choice to make. When it doesn't happen 0:30:21.520 --> 0:30:23.400 like you want it, raise your hand again. If there 0:30:23.480 --> 0:30:26.360 was something that you wanted God to do, something you 0:30:26.400 --> 0:30:31.400 wanted God to give, here's your options. You can either 0:30:31.440 --> 0:30:40.080 lose confidence or to a number two, you can either 0:30:40.120 --> 0:30:43.720 lose confidence. I love to play would you rather games 0:30:43.720 --> 0:30:46.360 for people. My rule of thumb is when I say 0:30:46.440 --> 0:30:49.080 would you rather? And I say the first thing, If 0:30:49.120 --> 0:30:51.160 they go with that before they hear what was coming next, 0:30:51.200 --> 0:30:54.320 I will make the second thing so horrible it'll be 0:30:54.400 --> 0:30:56.760 our rated man. I'll tell you, I will take it 0:30:56.800 --> 0:30:59.000 as far as I need to. So would you rather? 0:31:00.840 --> 0:31:04.880 Would you rather lose confidence in what God promised? Or 0:31:04.920 --> 0:31:15.680 gain clarity to really see? Oh? This is what matters. Oh, 0:31:15.800 --> 0:31:17.880 and a lot of people do it. They just there's 0:31:17.880 --> 0:31:21.880 no water. I'm out of here. Oh I don't have peace. 0:31:21.920 --> 0:31:25.280 I'm just going back. And I chose this text because 0:31:25.640 --> 0:31:29.360 a very unusual line, a very unusual line in verse two. 0:31:30.240 --> 0:31:33.120 You know, he says you're about to cross over. They're 0:31:33.160 --> 0:31:35.480 going to be greater and stronger than you. Look at this. 0:31:35.560 --> 0:31:39.040 How bad of a motivational speech. Moses gave no wonder 0:31:39.080 --> 0:31:42.280 he didn't go into the promised land. Man, this beech sucks. 0:31:43.640 --> 0:31:45.320 Let's do the whole speech. Let's just at least do 0:31:45.320 --> 0:31:47.360 the first three verses. Go to verse one. Listen, how 0:31:47.400 --> 0:31:52.160 bad this is. Moses is not a motivator. He not. 0:31:52.400 --> 0:31:55.640 He's a liberator. God used him. But he's always doubting himself. 0:31:55.920 --> 0:31:59.160 He's always mad at them. He's always like, God, these 0:31:59.200 --> 0:32:02.480 people that you won't do what you want them to do. 0:32:02.760 --> 0:32:05.040 And God's like, that's because I gave them you as 0:32:05.080 --> 0:32:06.920 a leader, so go get them to do it. And 0:32:06.960 --> 0:32:08.920 he doesn't do it. And that's why he's not going 0:32:08.960 --> 0:32:13.760 in and you have that option. So now he's telling 0:32:13.800 --> 0:32:16.440 them what they're going to do. Here Israel. You are 0:32:16.640 --> 0:32:20.640 now about to cross the Jordan, go in and dispossessinations. 0:32:20.680 --> 0:32:22.560 I thought we were going to eat grapes. You are, 0:32:22.920 --> 0:32:25.600 but before you eat grapes, you're gonna have to fight giants. 0:32:28.200 --> 0:32:33.000 No shouts Lord, did I pick the wrong verse? Or 0:32:34.960 --> 0:32:38.280 this is what? This is the process? You are about 0:32:38.320 --> 0:32:45.640 to crossover promise and you will dispossess nations process. That's 0:32:45.640 --> 0:32:48.120 where God's got you right now. Doesn't mean he isn't good, 0:32:48.280 --> 0:32:50.400 doesn't mean he didn't call you, doesn't mean he isn't 0:32:50.400 --> 0:32:53.480 with you, doesn't mean you don't have it. It just 0:32:53.560 --> 0:32:57.240 means that there are some problems that come with the promise, 0:32:59.200 --> 0:33:02.520 and God saw them all. We'll see I can't do 0:33:02.600 --> 0:33:04.400 it because see I have this thing in my life 0:33:05.080 --> 0:33:08.920 and God didn't know that. So God didn't know that 0:33:08.960 --> 0:33:12.360 you struggled with that. God did not know that you 0:33:12.400 --> 0:33:16.600 would succumb to that addiction. God didn't know that about you. 0:33:16.600 --> 0:33:18.720 You trust him or you don't. He knew it or 0:33:18.760 --> 0:33:21.560 he didn't. He's sovereign or he's not. He's God or 0:33:21.600 --> 0:33:26.040 he's not here. Israel, you are about to go in 0:33:26.880 --> 0:33:30.160 and dispossessinations. And watch what he said. They are greater 0:33:30.360 --> 0:33:36.080 and stronger than you. Wow. Imagine telling your team this 0:33:36.240 --> 0:33:42.480 before you went out. Large cities that have walls up 0:33:42.520 --> 0:33:46.680 to the sky. That's a little foreshadowing of Jericho. We're 0:33:46.720 --> 0:33:50.120 about to shout those walls down after seven days. But 0:33:50.160 --> 0:33:55.000 that's not yet. Verse two. The people are strong and tall. 0:33:55.120 --> 0:34:02.160 Now here's the message. Here's the message. Anna Kites. Just 0:34:02.160 --> 0:34:06.880 the name alone strikes fear into every Israelite's heart, like 0:34:06.920 --> 0:34:10.000 when they used to say Mufussa on the lion came. 0:34:11.600 --> 0:34:13.839 That's what that sounded like to them. They came from 0:34:13.880 --> 0:34:17.359 the Nephilum. Genesis six. Look it up as creepy as weird, 0:34:17.400 --> 0:34:19.799 as strain just twisted. It said that the sons of 0:34:19.840 --> 0:34:22.520 God came to the daughters of men, and the Nephelum 0:34:22.560 --> 0:34:26.040 were born, and the nephelm had descendants called the Anakites. 0:34:26.800 --> 0:34:28.799 And when they went into the land to spy it out, 0:34:29.000 --> 0:34:33.759 they came back forty years earlier saying there's Anakites. So 0:34:33.840 --> 0:34:37.719 as Moses says it, it is an accusation against his 0:34:37.840 --> 0:34:42.200 generation for what kept them out of what God was 0:34:42.239 --> 0:34:47.080 bringing them into. And he said they're still there, and 0:34:47.239 --> 0:34:53.640 that a shame. Those Anachites should be long gone. You 0:34:53.760 --> 0:34:57.600 should have killed them forty years ago. God would have 0:34:57.640 --> 0:35:00.640 helped you. He wanted to help you. He was helping you, 0:35:01.320 --> 0:35:04.080 but you wouldn't do it because you got in that moment, 0:35:04.120 --> 0:35:06.319 you got the wrong voices and the ten spies that 0:35:06.360 --> 0:35:09.600 said we can't do it, and you stayed in the wilderness. 0:35:10.200 --> 0:35:13.280 But look at this, this is the good part. Everything 0:35:13.320 --> 0:35:16.160 I said was so I could say this. Don't you 0:35:16.160 --> 0:35:18.040 hate when a preacher says that you're like did you 0:35:18.120 --> 0:35:20.680 just waste thirty five minutes of my life saying stuff 0:35:20.719 --> 0:35:22.040 that you didn't mean. No, no no, no, I want you 0:35:22.080 --> 0:35:28.080 to hear what they said. Anechet everybody say Anakites. That's 0:35:28.120 --> 0:35:30.840 thirty three percent participation. I need the whole community to 0:35:30.880 --> 0:35:36.960 say it. Anecheist say like you're scared anachees, lions and 0:35:37.000 --> 0:35:44.040 tigers and bears and ane geist. You know about them. 0:35:44.920 --> 0:35:48.840 That's what Moses said. You know about them and have 0:35:49.080 --> 0:35:59.200 heard it said. Who can stand up against the Anakites? 0:36:00.600 --> 0:36:02.680 Now that's a weird saying. When he says you have 0:36:02.760 --> 0:36:05.759 heard it said, that means it was in their vernacular. 0:36:06.760 --> 0:36:08.440 That doesn't mean you heard it once or twice. That 0:36:08.480 --> 0:36:11.520 means it's a common saying. My dad had a bunch 0:36:11.520 --> 0:36:13.200 of sayans growing up. My mom had a bunch of 0:36:13.239 --> 0:36:15.399 sayans growing up in the South. We have a bunch 0:36:15.400 --> 0:36:18.200 of sayings that we really can't explain to you exactly 0:36:18.280 --> 0:36:20.400 what they mean, but we've been hearing them all our life. 0:36:20.600 --> 0:36:23.000 My dad used to say when he saw somebody stuck up, 0:36:23.040 --> 0:36:25.880 he'd go, I wish I could buy them for what 0:36:26.000 --> 0:36:30.640 they're worth and sell them for what they think they're worth. Oh, 0:36:30.680 --> 0:36:36.799 that's cold. That's cold, that's coal. My mom used to 0:36:36.800 --> 0:36:39.800 rewatch the news and they'd be talking about injustice or 0:36:39.880 --> 0:36:42.880 murder or something. She'd say, God's gonna cut a hole 0:36:43.000 --> 0:36:45.640 in the middle of the earth and swallow this whole 0:36:45.680 --> 0:36:53.400 world up, and he's gonna start in California. Why y'all clapping? 0:36:55.320 --> 0:36:57.960 That's so funny. You said that all the time. God's 0:36:58.000 --> 0:37:03.520 gonna cut a hole. That's terrifying for us, old oh man. 0:37:03.560 --> 0:37:06.759 The first time I went to California Illow PTSD, I 0:37:06.800 --> 0:37:09.279 was thirty years old, and I was still scared. I 0:37:09.320 --> 0:37:10.680 heard all my life. I heard all my life. I 0:37:10.760 --> 0:37:13.480 heard all my life. Now, now, isn't that a weird 0:37:13.520 --> 0:37:17.120 thing to have as a saying? Who can stand up 0:37:17.160 --> 0:37:20.040 against the Anakites? Put it back on the screen, who 0:37:20.080 --> 0:37:24.040 can stand up against the Anakites? I guess you had 0:37:24.080 --> 0:37:27.560 to kind of be from there to get it, because 0:37:27.600 --> 0:37:31.600 this doesn't sound like something you just say unprovoked, you know, 0:37:31.680 --> 0:37:34.439 like we say what's up? Or how are you doing? 0:37:34.520 --> 0:37:36.680 Which doesn't mean how are you doing? I really don't 0:37:36.680 --> 0:37:39.320 want you to answer that question. I'm just saying something polite. 0:37:39.360 --> 0:37:41.000 I'm just saying how you're doing? But if you actually 0:37:41.080 --> 0:37:43.719 answer me, I'm gonna be bored. Okay, So I don't 0:37:43.719 --> 0:37:48.359 really mean how are you? This is not casual, and 0:37:48.400 --> 0:37:54.040 this is not unprovoked. This is an answer to a 0:37:54.160 --> 0:37:57.839 question that must have been asked at some point. Put 0:37:57.880 --> 0:38:00.799 it back up. It's so important. Have you seen this? 0:38:01.239 --> 0:38:06.840 Who can stand up against the Anakites? You don't just 0:38:07.000 --> 0:38:10.480 say that randomly? You know how you doing? Who can 0:38:10.520 --> 0:38:15.920 stand up against the Anakites? That's not something you say unprovoked? Right, 0:38:16.200 --> 0:38:20.400 like something came before that? What was it? Why is 0:38:20.440 --> 0:38:24.200 this such a common saying? That before Moses dies, y'all 0:38:24.320 --> 0:38:27.400 he's weeks away from dying. Well, he's gonna be buried. 0:38:27.440 --> 0:38:29.839 God's gonna take him up, hide him from the Israelites 0:38:29.960 --> 0:38:32.160 so they won't go back to where Moses was, so 0:38:32.200 --> 0:38:35.040 that they'll move forward. Because God will do whatever he 0:38:35.160 --> 0:38:37.080 has to do in your life to get you to 0:38:37.120 --> 0:38:41.839 move forward into what he is bringing you into. He'll 0:38:41.840 --> 0:38:46.520 do that. And Moses says, you have heard it said, 0:38:47.080 --> 0:38:50.880 who can stand up against the Anakites? Why would you 0:38:50.920 --> 0:38:58.600 say that unless you were asked, hey, why didn't we 0:38:58.640 --> 0:39:02.360 go into the Promised Land? Got to imagine that a 0:39:02.400 --> 0:39:06.239 conversation happened at some point between these children who were 0:39:06.320 --> 0:39:10.360 very little when they originally had the opportunity, and the 0:39:10.400 --> 0:39:12.680 generation that died in the wilderness because they did not 0:39:12.760 --> 0:39:16.359 have the faith to enter. And maybe you kid ask 0:39:16.440 --> 0:39:20.400 you one day, Hey, didn't God tell Abraham and Isaac 0:39:20.800 --> 0:39:22.640 and Jacob that he was going to bring us into 0:39:22.680 --> 0:39:26.160 a land flowing with milk and honey? Yes, he did, Son, 0:39:27.680 --> 0:39:35.560 Then why aren't we there Anakites? Well, why didn't you 0:39:35.560 --> 0:39:40.640 fight the Anakites? Isn't God greater than any other enemy? 0:39:42.440 --> 0:39:46.239 And maybe they would have said, who can stand up 0:39:47.480 --> 0:39:53.960 against the Anakites? It had become an ingrained answer for 0:39:54.040 --> 0:40:01.520 a faithless generation. It had been becomes such an embedded 0:40:01.760 --> 0:40:07.040 excuse that it was now a popular saying. Well, I mean, 0:40:07.760 --> 0:40:12.520 who can stand up against the Anakites? Who can stand 0:40:12.600 --> 0:40:16.480 up against these giants? It's too big, it's too strong, 0:40:17.520 --> 0:40:20.200 it's too crazy. Nobody can do it, y'all. I want 0:40:20.239 --> 0:40:22.520 to say something from a pastoral heart, so lean in 0:40:22.560 --> 0:40:24.319 when I say this, like if we were talking one 0:40:24.360 --> 0:40:29.759 on one. I'm very concerned that we slap labels on 0:40:29.880 --> 0:40:37.560 things to avoid having to work toward overcoming them, especially 0:40:37.640 --> 0:40:42.480 in this day we live in. It's like, just because 0:40:42.600 --> 0:40:46.759 we give it a name or a diagnosis, we give 0:40:46.800 --> 0:40:51.799 it permission to stop us from becoming the person God 0:40:51.840 --> 0:40:57.440 made us to be. And I apologize to you because 0:40:57.680 --> 0:41:00.720 many times in this pulpit I have refrained from saying 0:41:00.760 --> 0:41:03.759 things like what I'm about to say because of people 0:41:03.800 --> 0:41:06.360 who would say, well, you don't know what I'm struggling with. 0:41:07.680 --> 0:41:10.640 You know you preach about this, but you don't know 0:41:10.680 --> 0:41:12.960 that I'm going through that, So don't tell me this 0:41:13.040 --> 0:41:17.080 when I'm going through that. That's fine. There's no place 0:41:17.160 --> 0:41:19.520 in the family of God to shame people for what 0:41:19.560 --> 0:41:22.600 they struggle with, right. You know me better than that. 0:41:22.960 --> 0:41:25.480 I am not one of these preachers who teaches you 0:41:25.680 --> 0:41:27.279 that if you have a dark day, it's because there's 0:41:27.280 --> 0:41:30.359 an unconfessin in your life. If I appreach that to you, 0:41:30.400 --> 0:41:33.560 God would smack me. I fall off this stage and die. 0:41:33.600 --> 0:41:36.320 I'd have a cracked, open skull on the floor. Because 0:41:36.360 --> 0:41:39.040 God knows I've had dark days. God knows I've had 0:41:39.080 --> 0:41:42.239 seasons that I couldn't figure out. God knows sometimes I've 0:41:42.280 --> 0:41:44.439 done exactly what I thought He wanted me to do 0:41:44.640 --> 0:41:47.000 and it failed, and I wondered why so I will 0:41:47.040 --> 0:41:50.480 never do that to you. I will never accuse you 0:41:50.520 --> 0:41:53.640 of saying like, if you struggle with anxiety, you don't 0:41:53.640 --> 0:41:57.719 trust God. That's just not what I believe. I don't 0:41:57.719 --> 0:42:00.799 believe that if you struggle with anxiety, don't trust God. 0:42:01.160 --> 0:42:07.120 But I am concerned that you will accept anxiety as 0:42:07.239 --> 0:42:11.319 the norm of your life just because you can name 0:42:11.360 --> 0:42:16.200 it that. And it's becoming really popular for us to 0:42:16.320 --> 0:42:19.640 just say, oh, I have anxiety. I can't go there. Well, 0:42:19.680 --> 0:42:23.160 if you do have anxiety, let's get treatment, Let's get help, 0:42:23.480 --> 0:42:27.839 let's get therapy, let's learn mechanisms, let's start studying, let's 0:42:27.880 --> 0:42:30.960 get let's get through it, little by little, bit by bit. 0:42:31.160 --> 0:42:33.279 I'll be here for you. I'll talk you through it. 0:42:33.440 --> 0:42:35.600 You can cry to me about it, but that's not 0:42:35.600 --> 0:42:39.880 gonna stop me from possessing the peace that God promised me. 0:42:40.320 --> 0:42:46.520 Just because I can say I struggle with it, struggle 0:42:46.600 --> 0:42:50.239 is not surrender. Struggle me. I'm coming. I'm out of this. 0:42:50.719 --> 0:42:54.279 I'm moving forward from this. I'm gonna do this for 0:42:54.320 --> 0:42:58.000 my kids, for their kids. I'm gonna break it in 0:42:58.080 --> 0:43:04.719 the name of Jesus. That's where the power is in 0:43:04.760 --> 0:43:07.520 that process where you get down in it, and they say, no, 0:43:07.960 --> 0:43:10.920 I won't die in this. If God didn't bring it 0:43:11.000 --> 0:43:14.040 to me, he one must want to bring me to it. 0:43:14.360 --> 0:43:17.640 And in the neighbor of the living God, go down 0:43:17.760 --> 0:43:26.000 Goliath anarchist, Yeah, I got it. I got it. You're 0:43:26.080 --> 0:43:31.240 anointed for the Anakites. That's what the spirit is for, 0:43:31.719 --> 0:43:35.560 That's what the grace is for, that's what the prophecy 0:43:35.719 --> 0:43:48.719 is for. That's what the word is for. Surrender to 0:43:48.840 --> 0:43:51.600 something just because you struggle with it. I talked to 0:43:51.600 --> 0:43:55.840 a guy one time. He said, I just like Porn'll 0:43:55.880 --> 0:44:04.240 sit down, I just like it. Like who wouldn't begin 0:44:05.040 --> 0:44:09.000 to love something that was planted in their life they 0:44:09.080 --> 0:44:12.800 short circuited their brain to a pleasure center, tapped in 0:44:12.840 --> 0:44:17.360 to dopamine, unknown amounts of dopamine, and flooded with hormones. 0:44:17.520 --> 0:44:21.600 Who wouldn't. I just like it. That does not give 0:44:21.640 --> 0:44:24.920 you permission to lose to it for the rest of 0:44:24.960 --> 0:44:27.399 your life. You can beat it, you can do it. 0:44:27.560 --> 0:44:37.759 You can you can. There are certain things, man, we 0:44:37.920 --> 0:44:40.520 just give ourselves permission. Young couple was telling me, I'm 0:44:40.520 --> 0:44:41.719 just telling you what people tell me, but I won't 0:44:41.719 --> 0:44:43.200 tell you who they are, so it'd be it'd be 0:44:43.200 --> 0:44:46.920 all right, you know, I'll just protect the names to it. 0:44:47.000 --> 0:44:53.040 How does it say change the names to protect the guilty? 0:44:53.800 --> 0:44:59.880 Said said, uh? Preaching like this is old fashioned sexual purity. 0:45:00.200 --> 0:45:03.240 You can't stay sexually pure in this day and age. 0:45:03.880 --> 0:45:06.719 It's too much, you know, we see too much on 0:45:07.280 --> 0:45:09.640 TikTok and this and that, and it's just not even 0:45:09.760 --> 0:45:14.280 these values don't even apply anymore. Anach who can stand 0:45:14.400 --> 0:45:17.759 up against the Anakites? I mean, come on, you can't 0:45:17.800 --> 0:45:22.319 possibly expect me to stay sexually pure, can you? Well? 0:45:22.320 --> 0:45:30.279 That depends whose power are we tapping into? Is it 0:45:30.480 --> 0:45:36.960 you or is it him? Is he God or is 0:45:37.000 --> 0:45:42.719 he not? Is he faithful or is he not? Does 0:45:42.760 --> 0:45:47.200 he bright chayse or did he get tired? Does he 0:45:47.320 --> 0:45:52.799 make ways or does he stand still? He is still God. 0:45:54.520 --> 0:45:57.080 I don't care what culture says you can do it. 0:45:57.239 --> 0:45:59.759 I don't care what your parents said you can do it. 0:46:00.000 --> 0:46:02.279 I don't care what your friend said you can do it. 0:46:02.440 --> 0:46:05.280 I don't care what you've been saying to yourself. Sometimes 0:46:05.360 --> 0:46:19.239 you gotta stand up to yourself. Anakies Anakites who can 0:46:19.320 --> 0:46:22.879 stand against the Anakites? I asked to have you one 0:46:22.880 --> 0:46:27.480 time you won't remember this. You're very small, precocious as 0:46:27.480 --> 0:46:31.880 you are now, she said. Uh, I said, how'd you 0:46:31.880 --> 0:46:39.080 get so beautiful? She goes, Uh God? I almost wanted 0:46:39.120 --> 0:46:44.320 to call this message God because I was trying to 0:46:44.360 --> 0:46:49.200 answer that question that they had. Who can stand up 0:46:50.280 --> 0:47:00.839 against the Anakites? Uh? Try a real quick, try, real quick, 0:47:00.880 --> 0:47:05.040 try real quick? Who can set you free from this 0:47:05.239 --> 0:47:10.880 body of death? Uh God? Who can take the prejudices 0:47:10.920 --> 0:47:13.160 that have been in you all your life and show 0:47:13.200 --> 0:47:17.839 you a new way to be human? Uh God? Who 0:47:17.880 --> 0:47:22.799 can make sure, no matter what recession, depression, oppression is 0:47:22.840 --> 0:47:27.239 coming next, that God's people always have a place to eat. 0:47:27.880 --> 0:47:32.120 Uh God. I feel the spirit of a breakthrough coming 0:47:32.200 --> 0:47:35.640 through this room. You've been looking at Anakites, but you 0:47:35.760 --> 0:47:42.120 need to get back to the promise. God can do 0:47:42.280 --> 0:47:45.600 that for me. God can do that for me. God 0:47:45.680 --> 0:47:52.799 can do it through me. Yes, he can. You know. 0:47:53.280 --> 0:47:56.479 As a matter of fact, that's the wrong question, who 0:47:56.560 --> 0:48:00.200 can stand up against the Anakites? Especially when we have 0:48:00.400 --> 0:48:04.840 Romans chapter eight, verse thirty one, where the apostle Paul 0:48:05.160 --> 0:48:11.160 suggests an infinitely superior question. If God is for us, 0:48:11.760 --> 0:48:18.440 who can't be against us? If God is foot, who 0:48:18.480 --> 0:48:30.680 can stand against God? Who can fight against God? So 0:48:30.840 --> 0:48:33.880 that's why I'm going toward it, That's why I'm moving 0:48:33.960 --> 0:48:38.000 through it. That's why I'm progressing through this season because 0:48:38.040 --> 0:48:40.640 I have a better question, not who can stand against 0:48:40.640 --> 0:48:44.000 the anarchist? Who can stand against the purpose of a 0:48:44.120 --> 0:48:48.840 mighty God, who spoke nothing into something, who multiplied something 0:48:48.880 --> 0:48:52.359 into something else, and who is touching and redeeming every 0:48:52.440 --> 0:48:55.759 life that is surrendered to him today. Who can take 0:48:56.080 --> 0:48:59.920 five loaves and two fish and feed an entire Smorgasborg 0:49:00.360 --> 0:49:03.319 in the wilderness, Who can bring manna to the tent, 0:49:03.640 --> 0:49:11.719 who can bring water from the rock? Uh? God, here's 0:49:11.760 --> 0:49:13.600 what he said I'm gonna do. Here's what he said 0:49:13.640 --> 0:49:16.799 I'm gonna do. You're ready. You've been intimidated, You've been insecure. 0:49:16.960 --> 0:49:19.520 You've been going round and round in this wilderness, telling 0:49:19.520 --> 0:49:22.200 about well, who can possibly overcome this? How could I 0:49:22.280 --> 0:49:24.520 possibly do it? He said? It's not your righteousness that 0:49:24.560 --> 0:49:27.000 brought you here to begin with. It's never been about you. 0:49:27.200 --> 0:49:29.000 I didn't choose you. I didn't put my hand on 0:49:29.080 --> 0:49:31.520 you because of something good in you. I put my 0:49:31.600 --> 0:49:34.040 hand on you because of something that I purposed for 0:49:34.160 --> 0:49:37.880 your life, that you didn't even understand. See, this is 0:49:37.920 --> 0:49:40.680 your first time being here, but this is not God's 0:49:42.640 --> 0:49:46.160 for the Bible said that God will go before you. 0:49:47.640 --> 0:49:49.759 So when I wake up tomorrow morning, I got a 0:49:49.800 --> 0:49:52.080 lot of stuff I'm stressed about. I'm gonna be honest 0:49:52.120 --> 0:49:54.839 with you. I got some challenges I can't figure out. 0:49:54.960 --> 0:49:57.680 I got some questions I can't answer. I've got some 0:49:57.800 --> 0:50:02.000 difficulties that I haven't overcome yet. But God says, when 0:50:02.080 --> 0:50:05.080 you wake up tomorrow morning, don't think I'm waking up 0:50:05.080 --> 0:50:10.160 when you do, because the Bible says that he then watcheth. 0:50:10.239 --> 0:50:15.839 Israel does not sleep nor slumber. So when you wake up, 0:50:16.160 --> 0:50:20.719 God has been awake. God goes before you. Say it. 0:50:21.040 --> 0:50:26.640 God goes before me. So God doesn't follow me into challenges. 0:50:27.160 --> 0:50:31.759 God doesn't follow me into situations. God doesn't follow me 0:50:31.880 --> 0:50:35.520 into seasons. He says, when you get there, I've been 0:50:35.520 --> 0:50:38.719 waiting for you. I've been preparing a place for you. 0:50:39.200 --> 0:50:42.480 I will prepare the table for you in the presence 0:50:42.520 --> 0:50:45.520 of your enemies. Even if you walk through the valley 0:50:45.800 --> 0:50:49.560 of the Shadow of Death. When you got to church 0:50:49.600 --> 0:50:52.319 this morning, God was already here. You don't have to 0:50:52.400 --> 0:50:55.160 ask him to show up He was waiting to hover 0:50:55.520 --> 0:50:58.640 and break like a wave, and move like a wind 0:50:58.920 --> 0:51:02.440 and speak like a voice from the mountain. God was 0:51:02.480 --> 0:51:06.400 already here. When you get to this next season that 0:51:06.440 --> 0:51:09.440 you keep trying to plan, but you're worried about tomorrow, 0:51:09.640 --> 0:51:13.319 so you're not trusting today, realize God is already in 0:51:13.360 --> 0:51:18.600 your tomorrow. God is already in it. He said, I'm 0:51:18.640 --> 0:51:22.680 gonna go before you, and I'm gonna take those Anakites, 0:51:23.440 --> 0:51:27.040 and I'm gonna like a devouring fire. Watch this subdue them. 0:51:27.280 --> 0:51:29.759 Give me verse three. Verse three is the juice. Verse 0:51:29.800 --> 0:51:32.120 three is the juice. I gotta give you this juice 0:51:32.200 --> 0:51:36.360 right here. God said, I'm gonna go before you, across 0:51:36.640 --> 0:51:39.440 ahead of you, like a devouring fire. And WA's what 0:51:39.560 --> 0:51:45.839 God will do. He will destroy him who he who he? 0:51:45.840 --> 0:51:50.520 He will subdue them before you who he and you 0:51:54.760 --> 0:52:02.080 and you will drive them out. I thought you were 0:52:02.120 --> 0:52:06.720 going to do it. The word of the Lord says 0:52:07.600 --> 0:52:10.400 he will go before you, but he won't do it 0:52:10.480 --> 0:52:16.120 for you. You You will drive them out, not in your 0:52:16.120 --> 0:52:20.600 own strength, not in your own power, but in His process. 0:52:22.239 --> 0:52:26.759 I decree in the clare today, tonight, tonight, today. I 0:52:26.800 --> 0:52:30.120 don't know when you're watching this. Y'all watch my sermons 0:52:30.120 --> 0:52:32.440 in the middle of the night. Sometimes you can't get 0:52:32.440 --> 0:52:34.239 anything else going on. You plaus to play on that 0:52:34.320 --> 0:52:37.080 sermon and you listen to it, and I'll wake you 0:52:37.160 --> 0:52:44.040 up screaming after about twenty minutes, because God said, I'm 0:52:44.080 --> 0:52:49.439 not gonna always bring it to you. I will bring 0:52:49.480 --> 0:52:55.360 you to it. And now you must decide. You must 0:52:55.360 --> 0:53:00.480 decide whether to go forward. And when you're kids ask 0:53:00.560 --> 0:53:07.400 you about your anakites, how will you answer when your 0:53:07.440 --> 0:53:11.480 kids say, how did you stay alive and keep trusting 0:53:11.520 --> 0:53:14.560 God through what you went through? How will you answer 0:53:14.600 --> 0:53:18.520 the question about your anakites? Well, you know, I just 0:53:18.560 --> 0:53:22.680 gave up. It was too hard. I just quit going 0:53:22.680 --> 0:53:26.560 to church because they hurt me at that church. I 0:53:26.640 --> 0:53:31.360 just quit trying because I felt so unworthy. I just 0:53:31.560 --> 0:53:36.600 quit trying because everybody else was stronger and taller and 0:53:36.640 --> 0:53:39.839 better than me. Or are you going to tell him 0:53:39.880 --> 0:53:44.360 a story that he brought me manna in the wilderness 0:53:45.880 --> 0:53:48.960 water from a rock, and he led me to a 0:53:49.040 --> 0:53:53.600 promise And I had to fight for it. I had 0:53:53.640 --> 0:53:56.600 to fight for it. I had to fight every day 0:53:56.640 --> 0:53:59.560 to have joy. I had to fight to put food 0:53:59.600 --> 0:54:02.040 on the table. People. I had to fight to overcome 0:54:02.080 --> 0:54:04.640 what was spoken about me. I had to fight to 0:54:04.719 --> 0:54:08.399 overcome the diagnosis. I had to fight by the hospital bed. 0:54:08.640 --> 0:54:11.360 I had to fight for every inch we God go. 0:54:11.560 --> 0:54:15.200 We're living in it because if God is for you, 0:54:15.719 --> 0:54:24.680 who can be against you? For the giants that you're facing. 0:54:25.040 --> 0:54:28.799 There is a God who is greater. I impart the 0:54:28.840 --> 0:54:31.799 faith of the Living God to your soul today, Lift 0:54:31.840 --> 0:54:35.279 your hands and receive it. Who can stand against depression? 0:54:35.640 --> 0:54:38.200 Who can stand against the record of sin and shame? 0:54:38.560 --> 0:54:41.920 Who can stand against the grave, Who can stand against 0:54:41.960 --> 0:54:47.279 the feet? Who can stand? God can? And you can 0:54:47.320 --> 0:54:56.200 do all things through Christ, who strengthens you. Because you've 0:54:56.200 --> 0:55:00.520 been here before. Baby, You've been here before. You've had 0:55:00.560 --> 0:55:03.239 to trust God before, You've wondered if it would work 0:55:03.280 --> 0:55:07.480 out before, you felt this before, and your faith only 0:55:07.520 --> 0:55:14.480 God stronger. You're not dying in this. You've been here before. 0:55:15.760 --> 0:55:20.359 And when you get to your future, God is going 0:55:20.440 --> 0:55:26.239 to say I got here before you did, before He 0:55:26.360 --> 0:55:33.239 knows the plans he has for you. The Lord has 0:55:33.280 --> 0:55:34.920 directed me to pray for those who are in a 0:55:34.960 --> 0:55:40.960 wilderness season. It is a time of sifting from what 0:55:41.000 --> 0:55:45.200 you thought you wanted and what God really promised. It 0:55:45.320 --> 0:55:49.080 is a time that you learn to trust. It is 0:55:49.120 --> 0:55:52.839 a time that God gets you ready, or, as one 0:55:52.880 --> 0:55:57.600 preacher said, he prepares you for what He is preparing 0:55:57.680 --> 0:56:01.680 for you. Thank you, Lord for the tables that you've set. 0:56:03.440 --> 0:56:05.600 Thank you Lord for the victories that you've planned. You 0:56:05.600 --> 0:56:10.000 said you're gonna You're gonna drive them out quickly. Oh, 0:56:10.040 --> 0:56:12.160 it's been a long time since some of us quickened 0:56:12.160 --> 0:56:16.319 our faith. God. Today, I thank you that you gave 0:56:16.360 --> 0:56:22.799 me a word that you will go before him. You 0:56:22.880 --> 0:56:27.000 will go before her. Put your hand on the shoulder 0:56:27.040 --> 0:56:30.480 of the person on either side of you, and just say, 0:56:30.560 --> 0:56:37.960 very softly, God will go before you. Say it again, 0:56:38.040 --> 0:56:46.359 God will go before you. Tell him. Don't worry, He's 0:56:46.400 --> 0:56:52.000 already there. Oh. To believe this God, to believe it, 0:56:52.040 --> 0:56:53.759 to receive it, to live like it, to step in it, 0:56:53.880 --> 0:56:58.960 to walk in it. If I delight myself and you 0:56:58.960 --> 0:57:00.640 you will give me the desires of my heart, That 0:57:00.680 --> 0:57:04.200 means you'll put the new desires in the you desires in. 0:57:06.600 --> 0:57:10.320 So we thank you for the wilderness where you sifted 0:57:10.360 --> 0:57:15.080 some stuff. You sifted relationships, you sifted priorities, you sifted 0:57:15.080 --> 0:57:20.160 beliefs and We thank you for that, because if we 0:57:20.200 --> 0:57:24.160 didn't go through it, we wouldn't be ready. Now, Lord, 0:57:24.920 --> 0:57:27.320 as we stand on the precipice of the promises that 0:57:27.360 --> 0:57:31.280 you've made that we have not yet possessed in our life, 0:57:31.440 --> 0:57:34.200 we want you to have your good, imperfect work in 0:57:34.280 --> 0:57:41.320 us that we may trust you your promise, your word, 0:57:42.240 --> 0:57:47.560 it shall come to pass. Well. Thanks for joining us 0:57:47.560 --> 0:57:50.040 today for the message, and we trust that God spoke 0:57:50.080 --> 0:57:52.720 to you right where you are as we're in this 0:57:52.840 --> 0:57:55.840 year end season. If God is speaking to your life 0:57:55.840 --> 0:57:59.200 and you'd like to begin tithing or give above and beyond, 0:57:59.360 --> 0:58:02.479 we would invite you to head over to Elevationchurch dot org. 0:58:02.640 --> 0:58:05.360 There you'll find all of the information available for you 0:58:05.440 --> 0:58:07.880 to take part in the Year end Offering. If you 0:58:07.920 --> 0:58:11.120 haven't begun tithing, we would always encourage you to start there. 0:58:11.440 --> 0:58:13.840 Place God first in the air of your finances and 0:58:13.880 --> 0:58:17.000 begin tithing and make that a part of your every 0:58:17.440 --> 0:58:20.080 day life. If you already tie, then would like to 0:58:20.080 --> 0:58:22.600 go above and beyond and help expand the ministry here 0:58:22.640 --> 0:58:25.360 at Elevation Church, you can also do that through the 0:58:25.440 --> 0:58:27.280 Year End Offering. All you have to do is click 0:58:27.320 --> 0:58:30.560 the banner at Elevationchurch dot org. You can select the 0:58:30.600 --> 0:58:32.280 campus that you're a part of. If you're a part 0:58:32.320 --> 0:58:35.280 of our online community, select online, and if you're part 0:58:35.280 --> 0:58:37.480 of one of our physical locations, make sure that you 0:58:37.560 --> 0:58:40.320 select one of those campuses. Then you can select how 0:58:40.400 --> 0:58:42.600 much you'd like to give and be a part of 0:58:42.640 --> 0:58:46.120 all that God is doing right here at Elevation Church. Again, 0:58:46.160 --> 0:58:47.920 we thank you for being a part of the family 0:58:47.960 --> 0:58:50.560 here and we can't wait to see how God works 0:58:50.600 --> 0:58:52.600 in and through your life as you open up your 0:58:52.640 --> 0:58:55.760 hands and ask God to use you right where you are. 0:58:55.840 --> 0:58:57.520 Thanks for being a part of God bless