Come Out Of The Cave (Daniel Floyd)

0:00:05.040 --> 0:00:06.280 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:09.360 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:10.000 Be sure to. 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:13.720 Subscribe so we can get you these new sermons every week. 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:20.079 I hope you're blessed today. 0:00:20.360 --> 0:00:23.959 So good to be in church today. My wife is 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:26.479 with me, two of the four or with me. We 0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:33.400 have four kids sixteen, fourteen, six and four and yeah, 0:00:33.479 --> 0:00:40.440 same wife, so we think us too. No same and 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:43.280 we just took a break and took a long break 0:00:43.280 --> 0:00:46.920 in between there. And the two little ones they don't 0:00:46.920 --> 0:00:50.720 sit still long enough to get traveling rights, so they're 0:00:50.760 --> 0:00:53.519 at home. But we're just honored to be here. If 0:00:53.520 --> 0:00:57.240 you're ever in the Fredericksburg Richmond area of Virginia, come 0:00:57.280 --> 0:00:59.920 say hello to us sometime. We would love to host you, 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:03.040 and I'd love to have you visit sometime. Honored to 0:01:03.080 --> 0:01:05.720 be here, I would be remiss if I didn't say 0:01:05.760 --> 0:01:11.080 at the onset that this house and the leaders of 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:16.240 this House have made such a difference in our lives, 0:01:16.280 --> 0:01:20.959 as I think all of us can testify to. Moments 0:01:21.400 --> 0:01:25.280 setting over there, hearing a message called take your seat 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:30.080 at the gate that marked me at an inside elevation 0:01:31.319 --> 0:01:36.759 a moment before service praying together at Providence High schools. 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:41.280 We all remember Providence that marked me just moments throughout 0:01:41.319 --> 0:01:45.200 where something Pastor Stephen said in a phone call, something 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:49.000 in a message. I think we'd all have the testimony 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:52.360 some lyric that carried us through a moment of a song. 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:55.240 And I just want to say how much we love 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:58.840 your pastor's pastor Stephen, Pastor Holly. What a gif they 0:01:58.880 --> 0:02:00.000 are to you, but what a g if they are 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:02.560 to the body of Christ. Come on, can we put 0:02:02.560 --> 0:02:04.840 our hands together and thank God for our leaders today? 0:02:06.600 --> 0:02:10.160 What an incredible gift. Well, are you ready for the 0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:13.160 Word today? Come on? I know this is a house 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:16.000 that loves the Word of God. And so if you 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:18.640 have a Bible with you. Judges, chapter six, We're gonna 0:02:18.639 --> 0:02:21.920 get to it and get to work. And I'm believing 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:26.280 that God wants to say something to you today. Judges 0:02:26.360 --> 0:02:31.360 Chapter six. Start in verse one. Read to about verse six. 0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:35.480 It says again the Israelites did evil in the eyes 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:39.679 of the Lord. It's a great verse to start with, right, Hey, 0:02:39.680 --> 0:02:44.280 welcome de elevation. Eve Israel did evil. I'm not smart. 0:02:44.280 --> 0:02:48.840 Guest speaker guy says in for seven years he gave 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:52.080 them into the hands of the Midianites. Everybody shout Midianites. 0:02:53.600 --> 0:02:56.880 And because the power of midian was so oppressive, the 0:02:56.960 --> 0:03:02.720 Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:07.880 And whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalakites 0:03:08.440 --> 0:03:12.640 and other Eastern peoples invaded the country and they camped 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:15.120 on the land, and they ruined the crops all the 0:03:15.120 --> 0:03:17.960 way to Gaza. They did not spare a living thing 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:22.360 for israel neither sheep, nor cattle, nor donkeys. And they 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:25.639 came up with their livestock and their tents like swarm 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:29.040 of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:31.799 their camels. They invaded the land and they ravaged it. 0:03:32.840 --> 0:03:38.520 Midians so impoverished the Israelites. One translation says they reduced 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:43.240 them to starvation that they cried out to the Lord 0:03:43.280 --> 0:03:45.920 for help. I want to bring a message today. If 0:03:45.960 --> 0:03:47.960 you're a note taking typewrite this down. If you're not, 0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:52.680 go ahead and write it down. Called come out of 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:56.880 the cave. Come out of the cave. Let's pray together, Father. 0:03:57.560 --> 0:04:01.440 Our hearts and minds are open to hear from heaven today. 0:04:01.480 --> 0:04:05.120 We haven't come to do some religious ritual, but we 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:08.680 believe the Word of God is powerful and alive and 0:04:08.760 --> 0:04:12.600 can change our lives today. So do that, do what 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:14.560 only you can do in our hearts and our minds. 0:04:14.640 --> 0:04:20.440 We pray this in Jesus' name. Everybody said a big amen. Amen. 0:04:21.520 --> 0:04:24.839 So not too long ago, my oldest owen who's with us, 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:27.880 he's sixteen, starts driving next month. Everybody pay for my 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:30.480 insurance bill. Please say a prayer. Add that to your 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:32.840 prayer list. He comes up to me out of the 0:04:32.839 --> 0:04:34.599 balloon and he says, hey, Dad, did you ever pull 0:04:34.640 --> 0:04:37.680 an all nighter? And I was like, yeah, there were 0:04:37.680 --> 0:04:40.800 several times in college that I pulled all nighters. Anybody 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:42.600 else in the house, come on, every campus, e fam, 0:04:42.800 --> 0:04:45.680 you pulled a nine nighter. Okay. I don't know if it's, 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:50.760 you know, justification for my procrastination, but I just kind 0:04:50.760 --> 0:04:53.479 of like to say that I enjoyed all nighters. I 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:55.520 had all nighters back in the day where you went 0:04:55.560 --> 0:04:58.560 to the computer lab. Come on, somebody, you didn't have 0:04:58.560 --> 0:05:01.080 no laptop in your room with you? Talking about spoiled 0:05:02.120 --> 0:05:06.320 went to a computer lab with my disc Can I 0:05:06.320 --> 0:05:09.200 get an amen in the House of God today, my 0:05:09.360 --> 0:05:12.560 disc put that in the slot, had to wait for 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:15.839 a spot for all the other procrastinators that were in 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:18.160 the computer lab, and then I'd work on that thing 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:21.560 until about seven in the morning, run and get some breakfast, 0:05:22.080 --> 0:05:25.080 head to class, acting like I had that thing done 0:05:25.120 --> 0:05:29.080 for two weeks. So he was like I said, yeah, 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:31.440 I pulled several all nighters. And at the same time, 0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:34.000 in my mind, I'm trying to calculate weight. I think 0:05:34.040 --> 0:05:38.480 he's trying to get approval for waiting until the last minute. 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:40.400 Come on, have you know your sins will catch up 0:05:40.440 --> 0:05:42.080 to you at some point in your life and your 0:05:42.120 --> 0:05:45.480 parenting usually trying to get justifications so at some point 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:47.680 he can put things off till the last moment. But 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:52.320 I kind of liked the pressure. I kind of enjoyed 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:55.279 the pressure. Actually I fed off of it. I thrived 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:57.440 off the pressure, honestly a little bit. I kind of 0:05:57.480 --> 0:05:59.839 think that I'm a little more creative when I'm under pressure. 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:02.440 I think I write a little better when I'm under pressure. 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:05.680 I think I perform a little better. Anybody else with me, 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:08.200 like you kind of like the pressure the rest of you, 0:06:08.320 --> 0:06:10.520 Like I've just triggered something on the inside of you, 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:12.640 Like you're gonna go to in therapy this week. We 0:06:12.680 --> 0:06:15.040 all need some therapy. You're gonna be talking about how 0:06:15.360 --> 0:06:17.800 like it brought up things of you. You know, some 0:06:17.920 --> 0:06:20.080 of you dream that you showed up to class without 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:25.080 a paper and it was the nightmares. But I kind 0:06:25.080 --> 0:06:28.200 of like the pressure. And you know, pressure is really 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:30.240 interesting in life because we all face it, do we not. 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:33.520 We all go through some pressure. Some of you get 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:38.000 under immense pressure right now in this moment, the pressure 0:06:38.040 --> 0:06:41.919 to perform. We all face pressure. We face the pressure 0:06:42.000 --> 0:06:45.760 to to to act like we've got it all together 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:49.400 when we're falling apart on the inside, face the pressure 0:06:49.520 --> 0:06:53.760 of how will my kids turn out? We all face pressures, 0:06:53.800 --> 0:06:58.599 financial pressures, relational pressures. But we all face pressure in life. 0:06:58.640 --> 0:07:01.640 And whether you're tuning in today and you believe in 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:04.560 Jesus and God and the Bible and all those things, 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:08.520 or you don't, the commonality of the human experience is 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:13.440 that we all face pressure. Somebody shall pressure. And I 0:07:13.480 --> 0:07:15.760 found that pressure usually comes from a couple of different 0:07:15.760 --> 0:07:18.160 places in our life. How many of you know, life 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:21.920 just happens that sometimes it's the choices of other people 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:24.880 that cause pressure in your life that sometimes it's just 0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:27.560 life circumstances. Just out of the blue. You didn't wake 0:07:27.600 --> 0:07:29.600 up and plant it, you didn't wake up that day 0:07:29.600 --> 0:07:34.160 hoping for it, but just out of nowhere, pressure came 0:07:34.280 --> 0:07:36.440 on you. And how may you know that, if we're 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:39.360 real honest, sometimes the pressures in our life come because 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:42.840 of the choices that we made, that we did something, 0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:48.760 we said something, we sewed something so many years ago 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:52.680 and we're reaping that thing now. And sometimes pressure is 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:56.400 just let's be real, God didn't do it, your mama 0:07:56.440 --> 0:08:00.760 didn't do it. I did it. Are y'all? Track it 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:04.600 with me? Comes from a couple of different places. But 0:08:04.640 --> 0:08:07.080 when we read in this story right now, the Israelites 0:08:07.200 --> 0:08:11.360 under immense pressure, and they're under immense pressure from this 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:15.520 group called the Midianites, this group of people that have 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:18.520 put the full force and the full weight of themselves 0:08:18.640 --> 0:08:24.040 on Israel. And pressure can be debilitating, it can be overwhelming. 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:26.040 It can back you into a corner and make you 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:28.280 feel like I have no other option and I have 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:31.680 no other way out. This is what pressure will do 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:34.559 to you. And I have found in life that pressure 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:36.480 will do one of two things to you. It will 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:41.720 either refine you or it will confine you. Are y'all 0:08:41.720 --> 0:08:44.760 following me so far, We're going somewhere, we're just building. 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:51.560 It'll either refine you or it will confine you. You know, 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:55.160 pressure can be powerful to refine something. I was reading 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:59.720 this week, Not that I'm a scientist whatsoever. Those all 0:08:59.800 --> 0:09:04.760 nights were not scientific papers. But I found that whenever 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:08.080 carbon atoms are put under seven hundred and twenty five 0:09:08.120 --> 0:09:11.440 thousand pounds of pressure per square inch and the right temperature, 0:09:11.480 --> 0:09:17.920 they produce a diamond. Seven hundred and twenty five thousand 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:20.960 pounds of pressure per square inch. That's a whole lot 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:25.680 of pressure. So that pressure is refining a little carbon atom. 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:28.559 Now that little carbon atom isn't going. This is awesome. 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:32.160 I don't know how carbon atom's sake. I just see 0:09:32.280 --> 0:09:35.040 my mind. You know, this is wonderful. I just love 0:09:35.120 --> 0:09:37.400 this person. I love that I'm under pressure and that 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:39.760 I'm hidden, that nobody can see me, and that I'm 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:42.080 down in this dirt and all this pressure is on 0:09:42.160 --> 0:09:44.520 top of me. I'm just loving this right now. Thank 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:48.280 you Jesus for your faithfulness. But I'm under the pressure 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:52.040 right now. But that pressure is refining to produce something. 0:09:53.800 --> 0:09:55.439 How may you know that? I found that whenever I'm 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:58.080 under pressure, it feels like I'm hidden because whatever is 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:01.240 weighing down on me is high me. It feels like 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:03.720 no one. Whenever you're under pressure, you can feel like 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:06.200 no one sees you, that no one knows you. You 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:08.360 wonder if God is even in the building with you 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:11.160 in the moment? Does God even know what I'm going through? 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:13.840 But I would propose to you that there are some 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:18.480 things in your life that can only be developed under pressure. 0:10:20.679 --> 0:10:23.920 I'm not saying that God sends the Midianites into your life, 0:10:23.920 --> 0:10:25.679 but I'm just saying that He has a way of 0:10:25.720 --> 0:10:29.319 working all things together and that if you will allow him, 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:32.920 the pressure can refine that there are some character traits, 0:10:33.120 --> 0:10:35.320 that there are some faith that needs to be built. 0:10:35.520 --> 0:10:38.480 That you don't see the diamond in you, but God 0:10:38.600 --> 0:10:41.520 sees the diamond in you. And on the other side 0:10:41.559 --> 0:10:44.920 of the pressure. I wonder if I got anybody that's 0:10:44.960 --> 0:10:47.319 been through some pressure in your life, and you can 0:10:47.440 --> 0:10:51.280 testify today that on the other side of the pressure 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:54.360 there's some greater faith that on the other side of 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:57.600 the pressure you learn to worship Him like you've never 0:10:57.640 --> 0:11:04.160 worshiped him before that on the other side, because pressure 0:11:04.240 --> 0:11:11.160 will either refine you ord we'll confine you. Pressure has 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:13.480 a way of molding something on the inside of you. 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:17.280 Pressure has a way of working out some of the 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:19.520 things in you that need to get out of you. 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:32.920 Pressure can refine you. Somebody shout pressure, but pressure can 0:11:33.040 --> 0:11:39.959 also confine you. And this is what's happening to Israel. 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:43.720 In the text that we just read, the Bible says 0:11:43.920 --> 0:11:49.160 that again Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord. 0:11:50.520 --> 0:11:54.280 Somebody shout again. If you want a store, if you 0:11:54.320 --> 0:11:56.280 want to overview the Old Testament, can we go to 0:11:56.480 --> 0:12:00.120 Sunday School real quick? Let me give you Old Testament survey. 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:05.880 God chooses Israel. Israel's happy and worshiping God blesses Israel. 0:12:06.320 --> 0:12:09.240 Israel's living in the blessing of God. Israel's like we 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:12.680 bless I don't know we need God anymore. And Israel 0:12:12.679 --> 0:12:15.600 walks away from God and starts doing life on their own, 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:18.040 and they face all the consequences of it, and not 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:20.080 because God is beating them up. Because when you choose 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:21.760 your own, God's let go ahead. I'll leave the light 0:12:21.800 --> 0:12:24.680 on for you. I'll be right here waiting when you 0:12:24.720 --> 0:12:27.120 get back, when you figure out this don't work your way, 0:12:27.320 --> 0:12:29.240 when you figure out doing life your way, when you 0:12:29.320 --> 0:12:33.160 figure out having any bad attitudes, living degative unforgiveness, when 0:12:33.200 --> 0:12:34.760 you figure out it don't work that way, I'll leave 0:12:34.800 --> 0:12:37.120 the light on. I'm right here waiting on you. They 0:12:37.160 --> 0:12:39.400 cry out to God, what does God do? Because he's 0:12:39.440 --> 0:12:42.640 a good god, he rescues Israel, then he blesses Israel, 0:12:42.800 --> 0:12:44.240 and then Israel is like, I don't know that we 0:12:44.280 --> 0:12:46.400 need God anymore. I'll start doing in my own way. 0:12:47.040 --> 0:12:50.720 And then they get the consequences of it. Repeat, repeat, 0:12:51.240 --> 0:12:53.760 Are y'all tracking with me? And this is where we 0:12:53.800 --> 0:12:56.160 are in the story right now. It says that Israel 0:12:56.240 --> 0:12:58.920 again again, Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord, 0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:04.160 And so they're in one of these cycles. Man, this 0:13:04.280 --> 0:13:07.319 kind of sounds like us sometimes, doesn't y'all? Remember the 0:13:07.400 --> 0:13:11.680 old hymn, This is my story, this is my song, 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:18.000 praising my save. I'm not your pastor out. I can't 0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:23.640 write lyrics. Ain't nobody like him, says praising my Savior 0:13:24.000 --> 0:13:30.920 all the day long. I'm like, no, that's not my story. 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:34.160 Some days it's praising them all day long. Some days 0:13:34.160 --> 0:13:37.839 it's I think I could do it on my own. Oh, 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:41.720 we got the saints in the house today, Well just 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:44.760 for me, for anybody that ain't wearing the saint halo today, 0:13:44.800 --> 0:13:47.600 for me, it's like, no, this sounds like my story 0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:51.560 sometimes Israel that sometimes I'm going all in for God, 0:13:51.600 --> 0:13:54.400 and sometimes I got days where it's like I thank God, 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:56.800 I can do it on my own. And this is 0:13:56.800 --> 0:13:59.959 the cycle that Israel's in. And so when Israel decides 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:02.720 to do it on their own, God's like, okay, do 0:14:02.840 --> 0:14:07.200 it your way. And as a result, Midian comes in. 0:14:07.240 --> 0:14:12.040 These Midianites, they come in and they begin to attack Israel, 0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:19.080 and they begin to confine Israel. Because pressure will either 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:25.320 refine you or it will confine you. You know, what 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:29.120 I found this week that I'd never seen before is 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:33.440 that Midian was a thorn in the flesh to another 0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:39.520 follower of God by the name of Joseph. I don't 0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:41.880 know if you know this Genesis chapter thirty seven, it 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:43.480 won't be on the screen for you. I'm just gonna 0:14:43.520 --> 0:14:45.080 tell you. Have to trust me that I'm giving you 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:50.600 the correct Bible verse. But the Bible says that Joseph's brothers. 0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:52.280 If you remember this, the cot of mini colors. They 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:54.120 didn't like him. They threw them into the pit. You'll 0:14:54.120 --> 0:14:55.840 track him with me. They put him into the pit. 0:14:56.160 --> 0:14:59.280 And then whenever there was some Ishraelites came along, but 0:14:59.320 --> 0:15:05.480 they were israel that were Midianite traders. So same group 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:14.560 of people, same pressure. Joseph determines that no matter the 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:17.880 circumstance or the situation, whether I'm in the pit, or 0:15:17.920 --> 0:15:20.560 I'm in Potiphar's house, or i am in the prison, 0:15:21.800 --> 0:15:24.120 the Bible says the hand of the Lord was with him, 0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:26.440 and that he rows to the top in the middle 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:31.000 of every situation because pressure will either refine you or 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:33.920 it will confine you. Now we get over here to 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:36.480 Judges chapter six, and we see the Midianites as a 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:39.600 thorn in their flesh again. And what happens is that 0:15:40.440 --> 0:15:45.880 Israel begins to retreat because when pressure confines you, it 0:15:45.920 --> 0:15:51.360 will shrink you. And when the pressure of life comes 0:15:51.400 --> 0:15:54.480 on you will either say, okay, God can work all 0:15:54.480 --> 0:15:56.800 this together for my good, or you will begin to 0:15:56.840 --> 0:16:01.040 shrink back. And the Bible tells us that physically, geographically, 0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:06.960 the Israelites begin to shrink back. They begin to shrink back. 0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:09.960 It says they they made shelters in caves and in 0:16:10.000 --> 0:16:14.720 the clefts and in strongholds. They physically shrink back. I 0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:16.720 think it's a metaphor for what you and I do. 0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:20.560 Whenever pressure comes on our life, they begin to shrink back. 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:24.600 They begin to make themselves small. They begin to limit 0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:28.480 their thinking. They begin to limit the possibilities in their life. 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:32.160 They begin to settle in for what they thought could happen. 0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:35.040 They begin to settle in for what they thought was 0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:38.600 the right solution. In the middle of this difficulty in pressure, 0:16:38.800 --> 0:16:43.600 they begin to shrink themselves. And whenever pressure comes on us, 0:16:43.760 --> 0:16:47.560 we will begin to shrink our dreams. We'll begin to 0:16:47.600 --> 0:16:51.920 shrink our faith down. We'll begin to shrink the possibilities 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:55.040 down in our life. We'll begin to settle in for 0:16:55.240 --> 0:16:58.640 less than our inheritance as children of the living God. 0:16:59.560 --> 0:17:01.680 We'll begin to believe the lie of the enemy, that 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:04.239 it's always gonna be this way. We'll never get out 0:17:04.320 --> 0:17:08.000 of this situation, will never be moved beyond this circumstance. 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:11.880 We begin to shrink ourselves. I wonder, not out loud, 0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:14.520 but if you wouldn't answer inside, what part of your 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:18.600 life have you shrunk down, because here's the deal. The 0:17:18.760 --> 0:17:22.040 enemy doesn't have to steal your confidence. He just has 0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:24.359 to put enough pressure on you, and you'll give it 0:17:24.440 --> 0:17:29.439 up yourself. The enemy doesn't have to rob you of joy. 0:17:29.720 --> 0:17:33.200 He just has to put enough pressure, enough financial pressure, 0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:37.639 enough relational pressure, enough parenting pressure on you. He doesn't 0:17:37.640 --> 0:17:40.160 have to get The enemy can't come and take anything 0:17:40.200 --> 0:17:45.920 from you. We give it up ourselves because of the pressure. 0:17:47.600 --> 0:17:52.760 And it shouldn't be this way. Israel forgot who they were. 0:17:55.720 --> 0:18:00.879 Shouldn't be this way. The Bible says that they made 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:08.680 shelters for themselves in caves. It didn't say Minian built 0:18:08.720 --> 0:18:14.040 shelters for them in the caves. When the pressure comes on, 0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:19.160 we will build our own shelters in caves. Israel should 0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:22.320 have been living in wide open spaces. They're the children 0:18:22.359 --> 0:18:25.520 of promise. They're the nation God's chosen people. They're all 0:18:25.520 --> 0:18:31.080 following me. They are God's people. They shouldn't have been withdrawing, 0:18:31.680 --> 0:18:35.760 living below their level, getting up and putting themselves in caves. 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:39.320 It shouldn't have been that way. But we will make 0:18:39.440 --> 0:18:44.160 caves for ourselves. We will make our own prisons. When 0:18:44.240 --> 0:18:46.560 the pressure comes on in our life. This is what 0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:52.200 Israel's doing, and it shouldn't have been this way. They're 0:18:52.240 --> 0:18:55.880 the children of the Most High God. I mean, how 0:18:55.960 --> 0:19:01.240 much previous in their story. They're a They're a narrative, 0:19:01.280 --> 0:19:06.600 they're a storytelling culture. This is how they're passing down 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:10.760 things from generation to generation. So this group of people, 0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:15.960 you know, heard about the Red Sea crossing. This group 0:19:16.000 --> 0:19:18.720 of people you know, had to hear about the cloud 0:19:18.760 --> 0:19:21.520 by day and the fire by night. They had to 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:26.040 hear about the plagues that allowed Pharaoh calls him to go. No, no, no, 0:19:26.080 --> 0:19:27.720 you guys, go ahead and go. I want you to leave. 0:19:28.280 --> 0:19:31.119 Like they had heard the stories of how God was 0:19:31.200 --> 0:19:37.480 working among them. But yet they're making shelters for themselves 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:41.560 in caves, and it shouldn't have been that way. They 0:19:41.800 --> 0:19:45.400 limited the God that they served, because when you see 0:19:45.560 --> 0:19:49.320 your self as small, you see God as small. And 0:19:49.359 --> 0:19:52.280 they saw themselves as only able to live in caves 0:19:52.359 --> 0:19:55.639 and to back up and to shrink themselves down. And 0:19:55.680 --> 0:19:58.040 when you look at God through the lens of you, 0:19:58.040 --> 0:20:03.200 you always limit God. Let me say that again, when 0:20:03.240 --> 0:20:06.919 you look at God through the lens of you, you 0:20:06.960 --> 0:20:12.320 will limit God. I think about naming, naming The Bible 0:20:12.320 --> 0:20:14.840 says that he went, you know the story, and he 0:20:14.920 --> 0:20:16.640 was going to dip seven times. But when he went 0:20:16.680 --> 0:20:20.480 to the prophet. This verse always gets me. He got 0:20:20.520 --> 0:20:23.280 angry when the prophet said go to the Jordan and 0:20:23.320 --> 0:20:30.160 dip in it seven times, he got angry. And then 0:20:30.200 --> 0:20:35.000 the text says this. It says, I thought he would 0:20:35.040 --> 0:20:39.240 come out, wave his hand over me and speak over me, 0:20:39.359 --> 0:20:43.600 and then I would be healed. The first two words 0:20:43.640 --> 0:20:52.200 in that sentence are his problem, I thought, I thought. 0:20:53.640 --> 0:20:56.200 And then he said how God would do it? And 0:20:56.240 --> 0:21:02.160 what God would do. When we limit God by what 0:21:02.400 --> 0:21:06.720 we think can happen, we bring God down to our level. 0:21:08.359 --> 0:21:10.800 In other words, we limit God to the level of 0:21:10.840 --> 0:21:15.880 our imagination. We limit God to the level of can 0:21:15.920 --> 0:21:18.600 I think it up? Can I dream it up? Can 0:21:18.640 --> 0:21:21.520 I design it up? Can I scheme it up? And 0:21:21.560 --> 0:21:24.000 then go God, can you do this? But I think 0:21:24.000 --> 0:21:26.240 the apostle Paul is the one who wrote, but my 0:21:26.359 --> 0:21:29.280 God is able to do himmeasurably more than I can 0:21:29.400 --> 0:21:36.119 ask think or or what or what or imagine that 0:21:36.200 --> 0:21:39.040 we serve the God that is outside of our imagination, 0:21:39.400 --> 0:21:41.359 and if he's the God that can part the Red 0:21:41.440 --> 0:21:43.920 Sea and if he is the cloud by day and 0:21:43.960 --> 0:21:46.880 fire by night. If he's the God of the Ten Plagues, 0:21:47.080 --> 0:21:49.240 if he's the God that met Moses on top of 0:21:49.280 --> 0:21:51.520 the mouth Sia and I. If he's the God that 0:21:51.600 --> 0:21:54.800 took down Goliath through the Rock of David. If he 0:21:54.960 --> 0:21:57.640 is that God, then why would we limit him by 0:21:57.640 --> 0:22:00.679 the level of what we can think, what we can imagine. 0:22:02.080 --> 0:22:07.080 Israel was limiting God because they had forgotten who their 0:22:07.160 --> 0:22:12.960 God was. In any time we distance ourself from God, 0:22:13.720 --> 0:22:19.880 we forget who God is anytime we put diance. This 0:22:19.920 --> 0:22:21.720 is why it's so important to be in the House 0:22:21.760 --> 0:22:25.200 of God every Sunday. This is why it's so important 0:22:25.240 --> 0:22:28.800 to connect Epam every single Sunday. Why because you don't 0:22:28.840 --> 0:22:31.760 what distance between you and God. This is why time 0:22:31.800 --> 0:22:34.720 and the world is so important every day. This is 0:22:34.760 --> 0:22:37.080 why being on a team, being in an e group. 0:22:37.119 --> 0:22:40.040 Why because it's so important to be around the family 0:22:40.080 --> 0:22:42.520 of God and the people of God that are gonna 0:22:42.560 --> 0:22:46.440 help you seek God whenever it's clouded in your perspective. 0:22:46.640 --> 0:22:48.880 You need some people in your life that no no, no, no, 0:22:48.880 --> 0:22:51.119 no no no. He is the God that brought you 0:22:51.160 --> 0:22:54.480 out before. Then he's the God that did the miracle before. No, 0:22:54.600 --> 0:22:57.119 he's no. Let me remind you. So you've got a 0:22:57.119 --> 0:23:05.560 little bit of amnesia right now, because you'll turn caves 0:23:05.600 --> 0:23:14.120 into prisons. And the Midianites didn't lock them up. They 0:23:14.240 --> 0:23:26.560 locked themselves up. They made for themselves shelters in the caves. 0:23:28.400 --> 0:23:30.280 Midian doesn't need to do it when we'll do it 0:23:30.320 --> 0:23:35.320 for ourselves. We give the devil too much credit. The 0:23:35.359 --> 0:23:39.760 devil didn't do it, just the pressure was great enough. 0:23:40.760 --> 0:24:00.359 Sometimes we do it caves into prisons and stay in 0:24:00.359 --> 0:24:04.120 a cave long enough. Not only he does it turn 0:24:04.160 --> 0:24:09.119 into a prison, it turns into a tomb. The text 0:24:09.200 --> 0:24:14.320 said that in the in the King James, that's what 0:24:14.400 --> 0:24:16.200 I grew up. I'm a church kid. I grew up 0:24:17.280 --> 0:24:22.479 on the King Jimmy somebody the Yea's and the thou Ford, 0:24:22.600 --> 0:24:26.760 and there shall too. If you really get preaching, you 0:24:26.840 --> 0:24:29.119 quote the King James, you feel a lot more spiritual. 0:24:32.080 --> 0:24:37.800 It ain't true, but you feel it. Come on, it 0:24:37.840 --> 0:24:44.160 says it reduced them to starvation. Reduce them to starvation. 0:24:44.240 --> 0:24:46.480 I don't think it does any disservice to this text 0:24:46.520 --> 0:24:48.400 to say that there's a good chance that people died 0:24:48.440 --> 0:24:53.400 in the caves. If you're starving and everything is getting plundered, 0:24:55.760 --> 0:25:00.760 it's it doesn't stretch too much. I don't think to 0:25:00.800 --> 0:25:03.119 say that some people probably died in the caves. And 0:25:03.200 --> 0:25:07.800 I'll be honest with you, I kind of understand. I 0:25:07.880 --> 0:25:12.800 kind of understand because the Bible says that they would 0:25:12.840 --> 0:25:16.600 go out and they would sew crops, and then the 0:25:16.640 --> 0:25:21.040 Midianites would come and wipe the crops out, and then 0:25:21.080 --> 0:25:24.760 they back in the caves, and then they go out 0:25:24.760 --> 0:25:26.920 and try to sew again over this seven year period, 0:25:27.040 --> 0:25:29.199 and then the Midianites would come and the Amelekites and 0:25:29.240 --> 0:25:31.560 all the other Eastern peoples and everybody would come in 0:25:31.600 --> 0:25:33.320 and bring all the caves. And so then they just 0:25:33.359 --> 0:25:38.960 back up again. Why try? Why do it again? It's 0:25:39.000 --> 0:25:43.560 just more comfortable in the cave. I wonder if you've 0:25:43.600 --> 0:25:46.879 ever felt that way, like I'm gonna try to re 0:25:46.960 --> 0:25:52.679 engage that relationship and then you're met with rejection. You 0:25:52.720 --> 0:25:54.760 feel like you get slapped again, and why try? Just 0:25:54.800 --> 0:25:56.520 get back and I just get back to the cave. 0:25:56.640 --> 0:26:00.320 The cave is comfortable. It's not where I'm met to be. 0:26:00.920 --> 0:26:03.520 It's not the purpose of God for my life. It's 0:26:03.520 --> 0:26:05.560 not the calling of God on my life. But it's 0:26:05.640 --> 0:26:08.359 much easier to isolate than it is to try again 0:26:08.680 --> 0:26:12.240 and get disappointed again. So you begin to be generous again, 0:26:12.480 --> 0:26:15.119 and then you're met with some unexpected spence out of 0:26:15.119 --> 0:26:17.200 the blue, and you're like, why am I even trying 0:26:17.240 --> 0:26:19.000 to be Have you ever noticed that that the moment 0:26:19.040 --> 0:26:22.560 you start to really lean into faith and lean into God, 0:26:22.760 --> 0:26:25.600 it's like, where in the world is all this battle 0:26:25.680 --> 0:26:28.840 coming from around me? It's because there are some minionites 0:26:28.920 --> 0:26:31.639 in your life that want you to go back to 0:26:31.680 --> 0:26:34.280 the cave, that the moment you begin to step out, 0:26:34.480 --> 0:26:36.040 the enemy's like, no, no, let me see if I 0:26:36.080 --> 0:26:38.520 can put enough pressure, if I can just push them 0:26:38.560 --> 0:26:41.080 back to the cave. I'm not saying that he can. 0:26:42.200 --> 0:26:45.200 This is into salvation issue, are y'all? Tracking you're saved 0:26:45.200 --> 0:26:47.119 by grace through faith. It's a gift of God, not 0:26:47.400 --> 0:26:48.919 but man, so we can boasts. We don't get the 0:26:48.920 --> 0:26:51.320 credit for you. I'm talking about living life to the 0:26:51.320 --> 0:26:53.840 fullness that Jesus said, I've come to give you life 0:26:53.840 --> 0:26:56.000 and life to the full. And the enemy will put 0:26:56.080 --> 0:26:58.639 enough pressure on you so that you back up into 0:26:58.680 --> 0:27:01.119 a cave and you don't live out the calling of 0:27:01.160 --> 0:27:03.560 God on your life and the purpose of God on 0:27:03.600 --> 0:27:06.240 your life, and you don't experience the blessing of God 0:27:06.280 --> 0:27:08.200 in your life if he can get you to stay 0:27:08.240 --> 0:27:10.199 in the cave. And some of us we got out 0:27:10.240 --> 0:27:12.399 of him, we're so a little seed. We begin to 0:27:12.400 --> 0:27:15.800 restare that we try to step into purpose, We begin 0:27:15.880 --> 0:27:18.679 to move out into gifts and colleingues and exploring what 0:27:18.720 --> 0:27:20.760 God has in our life. And then we feel like 0:27:20.920 --> 0:27:25.159 pressure comes back on us, so we go back to 0:27:25.200 --> 0:27:29.800 the cave. So I get it. I get why they 0:27:29.800 --> 0:27:33.199 would live in the cave. The moment they try it 0:27:33.240 --> 0:27:37.240 gets ruined. The moment they step forward, they get pushed 0:27:37.280 --> 0:27:44.080 back again. And so these caves that became prisons can 0:27:44.119 --> 0:27:48.480 become tombs. And it's easier to stay in the cave 0:27:48.560 --> 0:27:53.000 when you're surrounded by everybody else in the cave. All 0:27:53.000 --> 0:27:59.480 of Israel was in the caves. It's easy to stay 0:27:59.480 --> 0:28:02.679 in the cave when you surround yourself with cave creatures. 0:28:08.000 --> 0:28:12.919 That's what I call them, cave creatures. If you're sitting 0:28:12.960 --> 0:28:17.000 by one, look this way, don't say men right now, 0:28:19.080 --> 0:28:27.960 just keep it forward. Get surrounded by cave creatures. Cave 0:28:27.960 --> 0:28:32.879 creatures are always looking back, never looking forward. Cave creatures 0:28:32.920 --> 0:28:36.320 are always talking about what used to be, never what 0:28:36.400 --> 0:28:41.040 could be. Come on, cape creatures. Those are people in 0:28:41.080 --> 0:28:43.360 your life that the moment you begin to take some 0:28:43.440 --> 0:28:46.680 kind of step, they want to pull you right back. 0:28:48.480 --> 0:28:50.200 Come on the moment that you begin to go, Oh 0:28:50.240 --> 0:28:53.840 you think you're too good. Now, oh y'all know some 0:28:53.880 --> 0:28:58.280 of them, Oh you thank you, too big for your breeches. Now, 0:28:58.680 --> 0:29:01.920 oh you better than everybody else. Now, oh you don't 0:29:01.920 --> 0:29:05.360 go into that church. Now, oh you just oh you 0:29:05.480 --> 0:29:08.520 holier than thou. Now you're a holy roller. They want 0:29:08.520 --> 0:29:10.760 to keep it. Cave creatures are the ten spies that 0:29:10.880 --> 0:29:13.680 came back and spad a bad report all throughout the land. 0:29:14.840 --> 0:29:19.120 Twelve went in Joshua and Caleb came back and said, 0:29:20.200 --> 0:29:24.800 ten said they're too big Joshua Caleb basically, he said 0:29:24.840 --> 0:29:30.560 they're too big to miss. And the other ten, the 0:29:30.560 --> 0:29:34.000 Bible says, spread a bad report throughout the entire land. 0:29:34.040 --> 0:29:37.040 Millions of the people affected by the negativity of ten people. 0:29:38.480 --> 0:29:48.360 Be careful the voices you lead in your life. Ten 0:29:48.400 --> 0:29:54.040 people spread a report. Ten people exaggerated the circumstance. Ten 0:29:54.080 --> 0:29:56.160 people made it look like the Bible says, if you 0:29:56.200 --> 0:29:57.840 go back and read the story, the Bible says that 0:29:57.880 --> 0:30:00.440 they come back and they said, the people are too big, 0:30:00.480 --> 0:30:03.480 and the walls are built to the sky. Ain't nobody 0:30:03.520 --> 0:30:09.400 built a wall to the sky. Because cave creatures exaggerate 0:30:09.480 --> 0:30:13.160 the circumstance. You can never get out of that situation. 0:30:13.520 --> 0:30:16.680 You'll never amount to that. Why even believe for that? 0:30:16.880 --> 0:30:19.200 God would never do that in that way in your life. 0:30:19.280 --> 0:30:21.880 You'll never break through this thing. You'll never come out 0:30:21.920 --> 0:30:25.800 of this generational dysfunction. You'll never break this addiction you'll have. 0:30:25.880 --> 0:30:28.560 Cave creatures just want to keep you in the cave, 0:30:28.800 --> 0:30:31.120 and they want to turn your cave into a tomb 0:30:31.280 --> 0:30:34.720 where dreams die in there, and visions die in there, 0:30:35.040 --> 0:30:38.720 and hopes die in there, and aspirations die in the cave. 0:30:38.920 --> 0:30:41.080 They just made me fine if you stayed in the cave, 0:30:41.280 --> 0:30:45.320 because the moment you step out, they get uncomfortable. Because 0:30:45.360 --> 0:30:48.520 your faith shines a light on their lack of faith. 0:30:50.240 --> 0:30:53.880 Your hope shines a light on their lack of hope. 0:30:54.200 --> 0:30:57.440 Your passion shines a light on their lack of passion. 0:30:58.320 --> 0:31:03.280 Your forward progress signs a light on their inaction, and 0:31:03.360 --> 0:31:05.800 They want you to stay back, not for you, but 0:31:05.920 --> 0:31:10.160 for them, because you are making them uncomfortable because of 0:31:10.200 --> 0:31:14.840 the steps that you are taking. And I believe the 0:31:14.880 --> 0:31:17.160 Spirit of God send me here today to look at 0:31:17.160 --> 0:31:20.880 somebody and say, let me shout over the voice of 0:31:20.960 --> 0:31:24.440 every cave creature in your life and say, get out 0:31:24.440 --> 0:31:29.960 of that cave. I know it ain't looking the way 0:31:30.000 --> 0:31:32.600 you thought it should, but come out of the cave. 0:31:33.240 --> 0:31:35.760 I know it feels like a season, but it's not 0:31:35.880 --> 0:31:39.480 a life sentence. Come out of the cave. I know 0:31:39.640 --> 0:31:43.120 you wanted it to turn out different, but come out 0:31:44.240 --> 0:31:50.960 of the cave. The Midianites are big, but come out 0:31:51.000 --> 0:31:54.680 of the cave. Every seed you sow, they seem to 0:31:54.720 --> 0:31:58.280 wipe it out. But come out of the cave. You 0:31:58.360 --> 0:32:00.480 feel like you've been there for years. Come out of 0:32:00.520 --> 0:32:02.880 the cave. You set up house in the cave. You've 0:32:02.920 --> 0:32:06.040 painted the walls, you've decorated it, you hung pictures of 0:32:06.080 --> 0:32:08.640 the children on it. But it's time to move out. 0:32:08.720 --> 0:32:12.000 Get your U haul ready, crank up the engine. The 0:32:12.040 --> 0:32:14.320 spirit of God is saying, get out of the cave. 0:32:14.680 --> 0:32:17.160 The spirit of God is saying it's time to get out. 0:32:17.280 --> 0:32:20.320 It's time to dream. Again. It's time to believe again. 0:32:20.720 --> 0:32:24.280 It's time to hope again, it's time to build faith again. 0:32:24.680 --> 0:32:27.000 It's time to say I may have been stuck in 0:32:27.040 --> 0:32:30.120 the cave, but this isn't my story, it's not my 0:32:30.240 --> 0:32:35.000 life sentence. I'm coming out of the cave. I wish 0:32:35.040 --> 0:32:51.360 you'd sount if you're coming out of the cave. A 0:32:51.400 --> 0:32:55.320 few weeks ago, I think it was in the message 0:32:55.360 --> 0:33:01.120 cover the spread with every sinny needs to play. It 0:33:01.200 --> 0:33:09.080 was a masterpiece on preaching. Who but pastor said, he said, hallelujah? 0:33:09.120 --> 0:33:14.160 But how I don't know if you remember that, he said, 0:33:14.200 --> 0:33:16.560 Pastor Harley's like, hallelujah? But how do I do that? 0:33:18.640 --> 0:33:20.920 And so I want to give you the hallelujah? But 0:33:21.040 --> 0:33:25.680 how moment? How do I do this? Have you ever 0:33:25.840 --> 0:33:28.560 left church? I know I've left church. You never left 0:33:28.560 --> 0:33:32.360 it here, but I've left church at the time going man, 0:33:32.400 --> 0:33:34.320 I'm fired up, and I have no idea what to do. 0:33:38.160 --> 0:33:39.920 I'm ready to charge hell. I just don't know where 0:33:39.960 --> 0:33:42.640 hell is like, I don't know what to do, but man, 0:33:42.680 --> 0:33:48.600 I'm inspired. I want to give you the how is 0:33:48.640 --> 0:33:52.640 that all right? The how hallelujah? But how? I love 0:33:52.680 --> 0:33:55.640 that I'm stealing that. After I say it three times, 0:33:55.720 --> 0:33:59.160 I came up with it. That's the way preachers work. 0:34:00.200 --> 0:34:02.640 Pastor Stephens said, I once heard somebody say, as I 0:34:02.720 --> 0:34:06.560 always say, just say, y'all know, that's how it works. 0:34:07.320 --> 0:34:14.920 It's a code among preachers. It's okay. Verse seven, it 0:34:15.000 --> 0:34:18.000 says this, When the Israelites client cried to the Lord 0:34:18.040 --> 0:34:22.560 because of Midian, he sent them a prophet. Oh, when 0:34:22.560 --> 0:34:27.200 you need God, he'll send you a word. Let me 0:34:27.239 --> 0:34:30.960 just park here for a one second. This is free. 0:34:33.600 --> 0:34:40.520 You pray and want a solution. But when you pray, 0:34:40.600 --> 0:34:45.520 God sends a word, and when you obey that word, 0:34:45.600 --> 0:34:54.520 it'll produce the solution. There you go, says. This is 0:34:54.520 --> 0:34:57.520 what the Lord, the God of Israel says. God's like, 0:34:57.920 --> 0:35:00.760 let me remind you how we got here. I brought 0:35:00.760 --> 0:35:03.000 you up out of the land of Savory. I snatched 0:35:03.040 --> 0:35:04.839 you from the power of Egypt, from from the hand 0:35:04.920 --> 0:35:07.640 of all the oppressors. I drove them from before you 0:35:07.680 --> 0:35:09.279 and gave you their land. I said to you, I 0:35:09.280 --> 0:35:11.120 am the Lord your God. Do not worship the God 0:35:11.120 --> 0:35:14.319 of the Emirates in whose land you live. But you've 0:35:14.320 --> 0:35:17.319 not listened to me. God's like let's just get this 0:35:17.360 --> 0:35:22.839 straight now. He's like, let's move on to solutions, says 0:35:22.880 --> 0:35:25.000 the Angel. Lord came and sat down under the oak 0:35:25.040 --> 0:35:29.319 of Urfre that belonged to joe Ash the abs A 0:35:29.400 --> 0:35:32.319 bezright where his son Gideon was threshing meat in a 0:35:32.320 --> 0:35:34.759 wine press to keep it from the Midian. I so 0:35:34.920 --> 0:35:38.879 Midian's Gideon is hiding. And when the Angel the Lord 0:35:38.880 --> 0:35:41.000 appeared to Gideon and he said, the Lord is with you, 0:35:41.040 --> 0:35:47.640 a mighty warrior. He's hiding, I mean, just the are 0:35:47.680 --> 0:35:50.240 y all with me. The analogy of this picture, He's hiding, 0:35:50.320 --> 0:35:52.520 and God's like, He's with you, mighty warrior. That's because 0:35:52.560 --> 0:35:54.400 how you see you isn't always how God sees you. 0:35:56.000 --> 0:35:58.120 But Sir Gideon replied, if the Lord is with us, 0:35:58.120 --> 0:35:59.759 why has all this happened to us? Where all the 0:35:59.760 --> 0:36:03.239 one that our fathers told us about when they said, 0:36:03.239 --> 0:36:05.200 did not the Lord bring us out out of Egypt? 0:36:05.200 --> 0:36:07.520 But now the Lord has abandoned us and has put 0:36:07.600 --> 0:36:12.400 us into the hand of Midian and the angel the 0:36:12.480 --> 0:36:15.720 Lord doesn't answer this, but the obvious answer is because 0:36:15.239 --> 0:36:19.719 you chose to do what you wanted to do. And 0:36:19.800 --> 0:36:22.120 the Lord turned to him and said go in the 0:36:22.160 --> 0:36:24.919 strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. 0:36:25.160 --> 0:36:28.439 Am I not sending you? But the Lord getting asked, 0:36:28.440 --> 0:36:30.880 how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest, 0:36:30.920 --> 0:36:35.240 so we're the runt of all the clans in Manassa, 0:36:35.320 --> 0:36:37.799 and I am the least in the family, so I'm 0:36:37.840 --> 0:36:41.600 the run of the runt. I have no gains, I 0:36:41.640 --> 0:36:44.640 don't drink creatine. I've never worked out a day in 0:36:44.680 --> 0:36:49.480 my life like I'm the run. And then the Lord answered, 0:36:49.480 --> 0:36:51.839 I will be with you and you'll strike down all 0:36:51.880 --> 0:36:57.520 the Midianites together. All right, let me give you three 0:36:57.600 --> 0:36:59.440 thoughts real quick. I asked the worship team to come 0:36:59.520 --> 0:37:03.680 join me, because these will sound much more spiritual with 0:37:03.719 --> 0:37:07.360 a keyboard. How many of you know the keyboard advice 0:37:07.400 --> 0:37:15.360 the Holy Ghost does? He spoke to him and said, 0:37:18.320 --> 0:37:21.840 called a mighty warrior. So number one, listen to the 0:37:21.920 --> 0:37:27.319 voice of God. These aren't rocket science. Everybody can do these. 0:37:27.360 --> 0:37:30.239 Listen to the voice of God. The Lord's with you, 0:37:30.320 --> 0:37:34.920 mighty warrior. But let me say this to you. To 0:37:34.960 --> 0:37:36.960 hear God's voice, you're gonna have to turn down a 0:37:36.960 --> 0:37:42.359 lot of other voices. And I don't know what that 0:37:42.360 --> 0:37:45.799 looks like for you. And I don't know how that 0:37:45.840 --> 0:37:49.719 plays out in your life, but there are seasons in 0:37:49.760 --> 0:37:52.839 my life. I'm in one of those right now where 0:37:52.880 --> 0:37:58.200 I'm just if it's not worship or preaching or college football, 0:38:00.239 --> 0:38:03.759 I ain't gonna lie to you up here, it's not 0:38:03.880 --> 0:38:09.520 coming in through this gate or this gate. I'm not 0:38:09.560 --> 0:38:12.200 saying that's for you. I'm just saying you gotta find 0:38:12.200 --> 0:38:15.960 ways to turn down. If the voice of Facebook is 0:38:16.000 --> 0:38:21.920 louder than the voice of God. Okay, just saying you 0:38:22.000 --> 0:38:28.680 may have to turn some voices down. God's with you, 0:38:28.760 --> 0:38:35.680 Mighty Warrior. Number two. You have to start with what 0:38:35.719 --> 0:38:40.839 you got, he says, go in the strength that you have. 0:38:42.760 --> 0:38:46.160 He didn't say wait to get more strength. He didn't 0:38:46.160 --> 0:38:48.879 say wait till you got it all together. He didn't 0:38:48.880 --> 0:38:51.640 say wait to all the stars aligned and you feel 0:38:51.640 --> 0:38:54.200 like you got the and you got the money set up, 0:38:54.200 --> 0:38:56.520 and you got the thing and all that's in place, 0:38:56.560 --> 0:38:58.080 and you've met the people you need to play and 0:38:58.120 --> 0:38:59.840 you got distract. Now, he said, just go in this 0:38:59.840 --> 0:39:02.239 strength to you have. Sometimes you've got to start where 0:39:02.239 --> 0:39:04.520 you are. You just got to take the step where 0:39:04.560 --> 0:39:06.200 you are. I don't know what that step is today. 0:39:06.239 --> 0:39:08.319 But whatever that is, you just got to take the 0:39:08.440 --> 0:39:11.760 step towards towards freedom. You got to take the step 0:39:11.800 --> 0:39:14.080 towards out of the cave. You got to take the 0:39:14.160 --> 0:39:17.120 step towards just go with what you got. God was like, 0:39:17.560 --> 0:39:19.600 just going to strength me, and he goes, I'm the 0:39:19.600 --> 0:39:21.400 weakest of the weakest of Like I'm the run of 0:39:21.440 --> 0:39:23.760 the run of the runt, Like I have no strength, 0:39:25.080 --> 0:39:26.759 and he goes, that's okay, go in the strength that 0:39:26.840 --> 0:39:29.200 you have. I think God wants you to go in 0:39:29.239 --> 0:39:31.000 the strength that you have. So you know it's wasn't 0:39:31.040 --> 0:39:32.480 you that did it, but it was God that did 0:39:32.520 --> 0:39:40.880 it through you. And then finally, trust that God is 0:39:40.880 --> 0:39:45.120 with you. He goes, I will be with you. I 0:39:45.160 --> 0:39:49.600 will be with you. And so at the end of 0:39:49.640 --> 0:39:53.080 the day, it's trusting that God is going with us 0:39:53.080 --> 0:39:55.560 and walking with us, no matter how fearful we are, 0:39:55.600 --> 0:39:59.160 and no matter how trepidations that may feel, and no 0:39:59.160 --> 0:40:02.200 matter how no matter how much out of the comfort 0:40:02.280 --> 0:40:04.319 zone it may feel, it's trusting that God will be 0:40:04.360 --> 0:40:06.560 with us. Our trust is where our faith and God's 0:40:06.560 --> 0:40:11.399 faithfulness converge, and it's at that point that we feel 0:40:11.440 --> 0:40:14.080 the strength of God to help us walk out of 0:40:14.120 --> 0:40:17.799 the cave that we have shrunk ourselves back into. And 0:40:17.840 --> 0:40:20.400 not because we are great, but because God is great. 0:40:21.719 --> 0:40:24.360 And so I'm not saying trust in yourself. I'm saying 0:40:24.360 --> 0:40:28.399 trust in the faithfulness of a faithful God who has 0:40:28.520 --> 0:40:31.439 brought you thus far and will not leave you at 0:40:31.440 --> 0:40:33.920 this moment. He goes, I'm gonna be with you. Can 0:40:33.960 --> 0:40:36.239 I speak to you right now and say God will 0:40:36.239 --> 0:40:38.160 be with you. Can I speak to some of you 0:40:38.200 --> 0:40:40.399 that your heart is pounding and you're like, I got 0:40:40.440 --> 0:40:43.120 some steps to take, but I'm scared. I'm saying go 0:40:43.239 --> 0:40:46.239 scared anyways, But I don't know about the outcome. I'm saying, 0:40:46.320 --> 0:40:48.200 go anyways. I don't know how this is going to 0:40:48.239 --> 0:40:51.480 turn out. I'm saying, trust God anyways. Because the God. 0:40:51.560 --> 0:40:54.800 Can we revisit something that brought the children of Israel 0:40:54.880 --> 0:40:57.359 out of Egypt, the God that was the cloud by 0:40:57.440 --> 0:41:00.000 day and the fire by night, and the God that will, 0:41:00.280 --> 0:41:03.200 the God of the mouse sin I experience, and the 0:41:03.239 --> 0:41:06.719 God that took down GOLLI is the same God that 0:41:06.880 --> 0:41:09.359 is with you in this moment. And can I tell 0:41:09.400 --> 0:41:12.200 you that our God, even if your cave is turned 0:41:12.239 --> 0:41:17.360 into a tomb. He specializes in turning tombs into testimonies, 0:41:17.680 --> 0:41:19.880 if you'll let him. I don't know if you remember, 0:41:20.120 --> 0:41:23.600 but Lazarus had been dead for four days, and Jesus 0:41:23.640 --> 0:41:26.640 walked up on the sea and said, move that stone. 0:41:27.000 --> 0:41:29.400 And he says to you today what he said to 0:41:29.520 --> 0:41:34.240 Lathrius on that day, Lazarus, come out of that cave. 0:41:34.840 --> 0:41:37.880 I'm calling you today, Come out of that cave. 0:41:38.320 --> 0:41:42.040 The same God is speaking to you. The same God 0:41:42.239 --> 0:41:46.120 will be with you, and the same God will sustain you. 0:41:46.640 --> 0:41:49.239 If you've got faith in your heart, why don't you. 0:41:49.239 --> 0:41:53.600 Lift up a shout of praise. Oh, we believe in 0:41:53.680 --> 0:41:57.239 the name. Come on, somebody, shout up coming out of 0:41:57.280 --> 0:42:01.240 the cave. Go shout it, coming out of the cave. 0:42:01.880 --> 0:42:06.880 Let every title in hand. I'm coming out of the cave. 0:42:11.040 --> 0:42:16.520 Not tomorrow, not next week, not when you figure it 0:42:16.560 --> 0:42:24.400 all out. Today, Today's the moment. This is a divine 0:42:24.400 --> 0:42:29.239 moment for you. God puts you here. Somebody shared this 0:42:29.320 --> 0:42:34.120 worship experience with you because it's your day to get 0:42:34.400 --> 0:42:37.880 out of the cave. Will you lift your hands to 0:42:37.920 --> 0:42:42.320 Heaven all over this place in the presence of God Father, 0:42:42.360 --> 0:42:44.720 I pray for every person at our campus is today 0:42:44.800 --> 0:42:49.160 at pray for over our Epham. Today they know in 0:42:49.200 --> 0:42:55.640 their heart that they have shrunk themselves back and limited 0:42:55.719 --> 0:42:58.919 their thinking and their life into a place you never 0:42:58.960 --> 0:43:03.000 meant for them to be. And so today, by the 0:43:03.040 --> 0:43:05.280 spirit of God, we say, come out of the cave. 0:43:07.000 --> 0:43:10.040 May they take the steps in this moment they need 0:43:10.080 --> 0:43:15.680 to take. May your voice rise above the voice of 0:43:15.760 --> 0:43:19.560 doubt and fear of any other voice in their life. 0:43:19.920 --> 0:43:22.240 May they go in the strength they have, not waiting 0:43:22.280 --> 0:43:24.760 for some other day, some other time, some other moment, 0:43:26.360 --> 0:43:30.400 but even in their weakness. May they step out, and 0:43:30.440 --> 0:43:33.640 may they trust that the faithfulness of God will prove 0:43:33.719 --> 0:43:41.160 faithful once again. We'd love you, we honor you. We 0:43:41.239 --> 0:43:44.040 pray this in Jesus's name. Come on, everybody, set a 0:43:44.040 --> 0:43:48.520 big amen. Amen. Amen. Hey. 0:43:48.640 --> 0:43:51.000 I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and if you did, 0:43:51.520 --> 0:43:54.120 make sure to share it and subscribe so we can 0:43:54.120 --> 0:43:56.719 get you all of these new messages as soon as 0:43:56.719 --> 0:43:59.560 they're available. I also want to take a moment and 0:43:59.600 --> 0:44:01.400 thank all all of you who are a part of Elevation. 0:44:01.920 --> 0:44:05.239 Whether you support us financially, or serve with us, or 0:44:05.640 --> 0:44:08.359 just share these messages, it's because of you that we're 0:44:08.400 --> 0:44:09.240 able to reach. 0:44:09.040 --> 0:44:10.840 People all around the world. 0:44:11.040 --> 0:44:13.560 And if you want more information on how to be 0:44:13.600 --> 0:44:16.760 a part of Elevation, click the link in the description. 0:44:17.280 --> 0:44:18.280 Thanks again for listening. 0:44:18.280 --> 0:44:21.600 Make sure to leave a review, share the message and subscribe. 0:44:21.920 --> 0:44:31.360 God bless you.