Cutting Corners

0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:02.840 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.880 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:07.800 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:10.719 Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:13.120 Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving. 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:14.720 In your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:18.200 --> 0:00:21.279 One of my friends was saying to me, I don't 0:00:21.320 --> 0:00:24.279 want this series to end, and I was like, man, 0:00:25.440 --> 0:00:30.320 it's fine. We haven't even got David to the throne yet. Okay, 0:00:30.360 --> 0:00:32.960 we're just getting started. He's not even a king yet, 0:00:33.479 --> 0:00:35.519 and we're looking at his life and we're taking our 0:00:35.560 --> 0:00:41.880 time so we can understand where he came from and 0:00:41.920 --> 0:00:46.200 what he was called to and how God brought him 0:00:46.880 --> 0:00:50.800 from where he was to where God ultimately wanted him 0:00:50.840 --> 0:00:51.120 to be. 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:53.239 And it's a model for our lives. 0:00:53.600 --> 0:00:56.520 And we're looking at it from two perspectives, and hopefully 0:00:56.520 --> 0:01:00.200 the contrast over time will begin to show you some 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:03.640 things about how God works in your own life. Because 0:01:04.040 --> 0:01:07.720 I don't read the Bible really like a history lesson 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:11.200 For me, the Bible is at its best in my 0:01:11.240 --> 0:01:13.800 life when it's living and active, and so it's more 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:18.320 like heart surgery, not just to learn about a character 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:21.200 that existed long ago, but so that God can shape 0:01:21.400 --> 0:01:24.920 his character in my heart. And so I have a 0:01:24.959 --> 0:01:26.640 long way to go. Touch somebody and say you've got 0:01:26.680 --> 0:01:29.920 a long way to go. I can tell you really 0:01:30.000 --> 0:01:34.959 need this series. I want to look at something today 0:01:37.280 --> 0:01:40.840 concerning David and the way I want to set it up. 0:01:41.880 --> 0:01:45.400 I just want to look at one verse from Psalm 0:01:45.440 --> 0:01:48.440 fifty seven to something that David wrote, a declaration that 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:51.080 he made, and then, as we've been doing each week, 0:01:51.720 --> 0:01:54.960 give you a little bit of the background behind what 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:57.200 was going on in his life when he wrote it, 0:01:58.000 --> 0:02:00.000 and we'll see what God will speak to us today. 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:03.559 How many expect God to speak to you today? That's 0:02:03.600 --> 0:02:07.680 so important? That is so important that that you don't 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:10.079 come to hear me preach. What am I going to 0:02:10.160 --> 0:02:13.799 tell you? What good can I do you? But if 0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:16.320 you come expecting God's Spirit to speak to you, you 0:02:16.360 --> 0:02:17.639 will not leave disappointing. 0:02:19.600 --> 0:02:22.200 I'm serious, I'm serious. 0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:25.480 Even if my sermon is boring, God can say something 0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:27.960 to you through a boring sermon that can change your life. 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:29.680 So don't depend on me. 0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:31.679 I might not get much sleep on Saturday night and 0:02:31.720 --> 0:02:35.520 I show up, I'm off but God has never sleep deprived, 0:02:35.600 --> 0:02:38.560 and he knows just what you need for your situation. 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:41.800 But I'm excited about this today because David said in 0:02:42.000 --> 0:02:46.320 Psalm fifty seven, verse two, something that really. 0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:49.120 Ministers to me. 0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:51.240 It might be one of my favorite things that he 0:02:51.280 --> 0:02:55.720 ever said. He said, I cry out to God most High, 0:02:56.520 --> 0:03:02.840 to God who fulfills his purpose for me. If you 0:03:02.880 --> 0:03:04.760 really listened to what I just said and thought about 0:03:04.800 --> 0:03:07.040 the content of it, it'll make your blood pressure go down. 0:03:07.160 --> 0:03:07.880 Let me read it again. 0:03:08.880 --> 0:03:16.040 I cry out to God most High, to God who 0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:23.680 fulfills his purpose for me. If you listen to that 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:26.480 and really get it, let me try one more time. 0:03:28.520 --> 0:03:34.840 I cry out to God most High. That means that 0:03:34.920 --> 0:03:38.040 he has all authority in my life. And no matter 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:41.800 what people do to me, or no matter what life 0:03:41.800 --> 0:03:46.120 has handed me, God is above it, working through it 0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:52.320 to accomplish Watch this his purpose for me. And that's 0:03:52.360 --> 0:03:56.040 one thing that David shows us. He shows us again 0:03:56.120 --> 0:04:01.200 and again the importance of serving the purpose of God. 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:04.640 He shows us how to serve the purpose. 0:04:04.960 --> 0:04:09.800 Go over to First Samuel twenty four, verse one, because 0:04:09.800 --> 0:04:11.440 this gives us the context in. 0:04:11.360 --> 0:04:15.040 Which David wrote those words. I cry out to God 0:04:15.120 --> 0:04:16.520 Most High, to. 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:21.520 God who fulfills his purpose for me. David wrote these 0:04:21.560 --> 0:04:26.320 words not from a beach or from a hammock, because 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:29.760 it's easy to write, or to talk, or to believe 0:04:29.800 --> 0:04:33.360 about God fulfilling his purpose for you. When you are 0:04:33.400 --> 0:04:37.400 moving toward what you consider to be your purpose. It 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:40.800 is one thing to pin those words when you are 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:45.159 headed toward what you believe to be your destiny. It's 0:04:45.200 --> 0:04:48.680 another thing to say that when everything is headed in 0:04:48.720 --> 0:04:49.520 the wrong direction. 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:51.760 When we catch up with David and first Samuel twenty four, 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:53.920 verses one through eight, is they're about to see. 0:04:53.839 --> 0:05:01.839 Everything is moving away from what David is ultimately headed toward. 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:04.320 But he's able to see something in this, and I 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:06.680 want to share it with you today. For Samuel twenty four, 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:10.120 verse one, after Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:14.560 was told David is in the desert of Hingeti. So 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:18.320 Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel 0:05:18.760 --> 0:05:21.680 and set out to look for David and his men 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:23.520 near the crags. 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:25.960 Of the Wild Goats. By the way, when God has 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:26.880 purposed for. 0:05:26.920 --> 0:05:30.000 You to do something significant, expect the enemy to send 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:33.520 out his special forces That might be why your life 0:05:33.520 --> 0:05:35.960 has been so hard, Not because God is not with you, 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:39.359 but maybe God is so distinctively with you. Maybe his 0:05:39.480 --> 0:05:41.960 plan for your life is so intimidating and threatening to 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:44.160 the devil that there's no way he's going to let 0:05:44.200 --> 0:05:45.920 you ascend to your purpose. 0:05:45.760 --> 0:05:46.679 Without an attack. 0:05:47.000 --> 0:05:56.000 That might be why you're fighting right now. And so 0:05:56.360 --> 0:05:58.839 David is on the road to royalty, but it will 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:02.240 not be an easy road. David is on the road 0:06:02.720 --> 0:06:07.479 to influence. David is on the road to purpose, but 0:06:07.680 --> 0:06:14.039 it will not be It will not be easy for 0:06:14.160 --> 0:06:20.040 David or for you. And he's running as a refugee, 0:06:20.040 --> 0:06:23.200 although he's anointed as a king, and the circumstance he 0:06:23.240 --> 0:06:26.359 finds himself in completely contradicts the calling that he believes 0:06:26.400 --> 0:06:32.120 he's walking in. Have you ever been there? Looking verse three, 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:34.479 He came to the sheep pins along the way, and 0:06:34.560 --> 0:06:37.440 a cave was there, and Saul went in. 0:06:37.880 --> 0:06:38.920 To relieve himself. 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:42.640 Now, when the Bible says relieve himself, it means relieve himself. 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:44.600 Can we leave it at that? 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:48.720 People of God, you can do the Hebrew and the Greek, 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:54.160 and the Latin and the Spanish. 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:55.719 I'm gonna resist. 0:06:55.560 --> 0:06:58.039 There's some things that I want to say right now. 0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:04.680 I'm gonna save it. I'm gonna save those things. This 0:07:04.760 --> 0:07:08.360 is the spiritual service. This is all the people who 0:07:08.400 --> 0:07:10.360 really love God. So if I say what I want 0:07:10.400 --> 0:07:16.560 to say about that verse, because anyway, don't do it. 0:07:16.520 --> 0:07:17.040 Don't do it. 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:19.800 If you knew what I was fighting back, watch David 0:07:19.840 --> 0:07:21.280 and his men were far back in the cave. 0:07:21.320 --> 0:07:28.360 The men said, holy crap, I told you. 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:35.400 The men said, this is the day the Lord spoke 0:07:35.520 --> 0:07:38.360 up when he said to you, I will give your 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:41.120 enemy into your hands for you to deal with as 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:46.960 you wish. And then David crept up, unnoticed and cut 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:49.920 off a corner of Saul's rove. I want to talk 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:56.360 to you today about cutting corners because the scripture promises 0:07:56.400 --> 0:08:03.000 that God will fulfill his purpose for you. David said that, 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:06.800 and then he demonstrated that. 0:08:08.640 --> 0:08:11.640 I wonder if you really. 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:14.880 Believe that God will fulfill his purpose for you, or 0:08:15.280 --> 0:08:18.320 are you stressed out because you are trying to fulfill 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:21.640 God's purpose for someone else. You know, we live in 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:24.120 a day in time where we're only one click away 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:27.680 from seeing how someone else raises their kids, and before 0:08:27.720 --> 0:08:31.720 long you can start to compare your purpose to their purpose. 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:33.720 But touch somebody and say, God didn't call me to. 0:08:33.720 --> 0:08:34.600 Fulfill your purpose. 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:38.600 So please do not judge me according to the standards 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:42.120 of what God gave you, because my stewardship is not 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:45.640 of your purpose. So I don't have to feel bad 0:08:45.679 --> 0:08:47.560 about the gifts that God did not give me. If 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:52.120 I am fully maximizing the ones that He did. All 0:08:52.200 --> 0:08:56.240 I gotta do this will set you so free. All 0:08:56.280 --> 0:08:59.640 I've got to do is completely commit my heart to 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:03.960 god purpose for me. Now it's a funny thing because 0:09:04.400 --> 0:09:10.280 what my podium understands and my microphone understands, I, as 0:09:10.320 --> 0:09:13.760 a preacher, have a hard time understanding. I've been preaching 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:17.720 at this church for about twelve years, and never once 0:09:18.280 --> 0:09:22.199 have I seen my podium try to do my microphone's 0:09:22.280 --> 0:09:28.240 job and amplify my voice. Nor have I seen my 0:09:28.400 --> 0:09:36.360 microphone try to hold my Bible. But we walk around 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:39.600 all the time, frustrated. 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:48.920 And fearful, trying to do something. All custom testure, why 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:49.880 isn't this working? 0:09:50.480 --> 0:09:54.240 Because you have a purpose, and when you put the 0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:58.319 pressure on yourself to fulfill a purpose that God did 0:09:58.360 --> 0:10:01.840 not intend for your life, of course you're stressed out 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:05.080 of course you can't sleep. Of course you feel like 0:10:05.160 --> 0:10:09.040 a failure. But God said, what I'm putting you is 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:14.040 for you, and you are not responsible for anybody else's results. 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:24.400 I feel Jame's falling off of somebody. Serve the purpose 0:10:25.160 --> 0:10:27.120 that God has given you. 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:30.560 That's what David did. 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:35.640 Notice that he never sought the position of king, never once. 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:38.960 We live in a world that talks a lot about 0:10:39.800 --> 0:10:44.000 finding your purpose. But I wonder if what we're really 0:10:44.040 --> 0:10:49.960 doing is seeking a position and confusing position with purpose. 0:10:50.640 --> 0:10:51.679 Can I preach a little bit. 0:10:52.640 --> 0:10:54.800 When Paul talked about the body of Christ, he said, 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:57.320 sometimes the ushers in the church are more important than 0:10:57.320 --> 0:11:00.120 the preacher. He didn't say it just like that, that 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:03.640 we are many members one body, and the parts that 0:11:03.720 --> 0:11:08.360 you cannot see are the ones that sustain the life 0:11:08.400 --> 0:11:09.320 function of the body. 0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:10.440 The parts that you can. 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:14.679 See you can do without your pinky. Sometimes the preacher 0:11:14.760 --> 0:11:17.240 is like the pinky. You see it, but if it 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:20.760 wasn't there, it could still happen. But sometimes it is 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:25.120 the stuff that is unseen. David understood how to serve 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:27.600 the purpose of God. 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:30.760 So if we ever get to hang out and you 0:11:30.840 --> 0:11:31.319 ask me. 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:35.240 How will I know what God's purpose for my life 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:37.600 is I won't have an answer to give you because 0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:38.680 only you can discover that. 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:41.000 But I can tell you how to discover it. Serve. 0:11:46.360 --> 0:11:50.920 That's all that David ever had to do was to 0:11:51.040 --> 0:11:57.720 serve the purpose of his current assignment. And when you 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:01.439 serve the purpose God, we'll give the promotion. 0:12:01.760 --> 0:12:02.520 Let me tell you something. 0:12:02.920 --> 0:12:08.000 You don't want a promotion that God doesn't give you. 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:08.839 You really don't. 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:11.200 You don't want a husband, that God doesn't give you 0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:14.280 a wife, That God doesn't give you a job, that 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:17.880 God doesn't give you a responsibility, that God doesn't give you. 0:12:20.160 --> 0:12:25.360 All I want to do is serve the purpose of God. 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:29.880 That's what David did. There's one song I really love it. 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:32.320 It's kind of got a vibe. 0:12:32.320 --> 0:12:34.080 Do you remember that song from like one hundred years 0:12:34.080 --> 0:12:36.920 ago that Drake did called Started from the Bottom. It 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:40.559 has that kind of vibe from that song. It's talking 0:12:40.559 --> 0:12:42.640 about David. This is Psalm seventy eight. I didn't get 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:44.800 to it last night, but y y'all again, this is 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:46.719 the advanced service, So I'm going to. 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:47.079 Do it with y'all. 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:52.920 But God, the Bible says, shows David his. 0:12:54.600 --> 0:12:55.040 Servant. 0:12:58.200 --> 0:13:04.280 God shows did his servant. This is how David came 0:13:04.280 --> 0:13:11.120 into the kingship. Not by standing in line for an opportunity, 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:17.120 but God took David, his servant, chose him and took 0:13:17.200 --> 0:13:19.400 him from the sheep pins. 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:22.600 What was David doing. 0:13:22.440 --> 0:13:27.280 In the sheeppin serving his purpose in a minimum waste job. 0:13:27.600 --> 0:13:32.480 David served his purpose. And when you serve purpose, you 0:13:32.520 --> 0:13:39.920 don't have to search for purpose. Purpose will find you. 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:41.560 You don't have to seek the position. 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:46.120 When you are in the position where God has placed you. 0:13:46.520 --> 0:13:49.480 God knows where to look. God knows where to find you. 0:13:49.880 --> 0:13:52.640 God knows when to raise you. God knows when to 0:13:52.640 --> 0:13:55.880 promote you. You don't have to worry about the platform. 0:13:56.320 --> 0:13:57.360 Serve your purpose. 0:13:57.760 --> 0:14:00.800 God took David from the sheep pins and made him 0:14:00.800 --> 0:14:04.560 a king, not because David sought the position, but because 0:14:04.679 --> 0:14:12.199 David served the purpose. Serve the purpose. Then you can 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:18.880 have confidence in the promise. God has given you a promise. 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:22.440 But you've got to number two. I only got three points. 0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:29.200 We're making excellent time guard the promise. I really want 0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:32.480 to minister this deeply. Holy Spirit, help me get this across. 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:35.760 I think sometimes we assume that when God makes us 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:39.040 a promise, that the promise is automatic. 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:42.040 Because the word of the Lord is sure. 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:47.120 But I've learned that the promises of God often in 0:14:47.200 --> 0:14:53.440 our lives get perverted. I noticed another thing sometimes is that, well, 0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:56.320 we'll take something and call it a promise, but it 0:14:56.400 --> 0:15:01.800 is only a partial promise. And so we take things 0:15:01.840 --> 0:15:04.000 that we like the way they sound in the Bible. Sometimes, 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:06.360 at least I do this. You probably don't. But every 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:08.640 once in a while I will. I will take something 0:15:08.680 --> 0:15:11.320 that I like from the Bible, and I'll cut it 0:15:11.400 --> 0:15:17.080 up into slices, and I'll take a certain slice that 0:15:17.120 --> 0:15:20.440 I like, a certain verse that I like, a certain 0:15:20.480 --> 0:15:24.400 concept that I like, and I'll cling to that and 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:29.080 call it a promise. But it's a partial promise. It's 0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:34.280 a partial promise. Okay, a few examples of this. My 0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:36.560 God shall supply all of your needs according to his 0:15:36.640 --> 0:15:40.920 glorious riches in Christ. I like that helps me know 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:43.680 that God's going to help me whatever situation again and 0:15:43.680 --> 0:15:45.400 give me what I need for wherever I am. So 0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:48.080 I like that part of the promise. But it's a 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:51.720 partial promise. I don't mean that the promise is partial. 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:56.160 I mean that to really understand that promise, you have 0:15:56.240 --> 0:15:58.320 to understand the context. 0:15:57.760 --> 0:15:58.480 Of the promise. 0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:02.160 Where Paul was right, a church of people who had 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:05.880 learned to be generous, and in their learning to be generous, 0:16:06.920 --> 0:16:12.560 it released the abundance of God to their situation. Because 0:16:12.600 --> 0:16:15.760 when you learn to live with open hands, you live 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:16.800 under an open heaven. 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:21.160 The context of the. 0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:24.920 Promise is that God will supply all of your needs 0:16:25.040 --> 0:16:28.920 if you are living in accordance with His priorities. But 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:32.720 in order for God to release his provision, you have 0:16:32.840 --> 0:16:41.400 to submit to his priorities. Yeah, it is good. It's 0:16:41.440 --> 0:16:44.040 good because it works. This other stuff doesn't work when 0:16:44.040 --> 0:16:45.840 you take a little piece of a promise. If you 0:16:45.880 --> 0:16:47.400 ever want to take a little piece of a promise, 0:16:48.120 --> 0:16:49.800 a little piece of a promise, like I like that. 0:16:50.480 --> 0:16:52.720 I want to pray that God will bless America and 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:54.560 that I love stand beside her and God her. You 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:57.640 know that Bible verse that says he God will bless America. Well, 0:16:57.760 --> 0:17:01.480 the Bible does say if my people who are called 0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:05.160 by my name, and it tells us a few things 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:08.040 to do. It says we need to be humble and 0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:11.400 stop clinging to our own opinions of what is right 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:14.680 and wrong, and be humble and stop going on Facebook 0:17:14.720 --> 0:17:18.640 and spewing our ignorance all over each other. It does 0:17:18.720 --> 0:17:21.360 say that if we will turn from our wicked ways 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:27.520 and our crazy ways of interacting with people, then will 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:30.320 I hear from heaven, Then will I heal their land. 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:37.600 But we cannot claim a promise that we. 0:17:37.560 --> 0:17:38.480 Don't even understand. 0:17:38.520 --> 0:17:40.080 What's just see first the Kingdom of God and his 0:17:40.160 --> 0:17:42.840 righteous us, and all these things will be added to you. 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:50.199 But the promise is contingent upon the process that produces it. 0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:54.600 This is why I understand that David had to be 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:56.400 very careful. Let's go back to the scene. 0:17:56.440 --> 0:18:01.199 He said, he will fulfill his purpose for me. 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:04.120 That's what David believed, and he believed that so. 0:18:04.240 --> 0:18:07.560 Much that he served his purpose even when his purpose 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:11.800 seemed small, even when his purpose seemed insignificant, even if 0:18:11.800 --> 0:18:13.919 it was just leaving the sheep with the keeper of 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:17.239 sheep and running running to the battle lines with the 0:18:17.280 --> 0:18:21.120 supplies for his brothers. David was willing to serve purpose 0:18:21.400 --> 0:18:24.600 because he had a promise. Somebody shout, I got a promise. 0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:27.520 You need to shout that thing. I got a promise. 0:18:28.640 --> 0:18:31.439 But you've got to guard the promise. You've got to 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:34.200 grasp it for what it is and not what you 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:36.840 want it to be, and not let the enemy come 0:18:36.880 --> 0:18:39.880 in and try to pervert the promise of God until 0:18:39.920 --> 0:18:43.240 you're expecting something from God that is separate from the 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:44.920 process by which God. 0:18:44.720 --> 0:18:48.480 Can do it in your life. 0:18:49.520 --> 0:18:53.520 So David's hiding Indicave from Saul because Saul is coming 0:18:53.960 --> 0:18:59.520 for his life, and Saul represents the promise that God 0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:03.320 made to do when David was just a kid, that 0:19:03.400 --> 0:19:08.240 he was going to be a king. Saul represents what 0:19:08.359 --> 0:19:12.080 David is called to. And in a scene that you 0:19:12.080 --> 0:19:13.879 wouldn't put in the Bible if you wanted to make 0:19:13.880 --> 0:19:16.400 the Bible an impressive book, the first King of Israel 0:19:17.400 --> 0:19:24.480 is squatting in a cave and somehow he slipped his 0:19:24.880 --> 0:19:29.520 secret service and thought he was all by himself. Now 0:19:29.520 --> 0:19:31.600 you got to get this picture, because I know how 0:19:31.600 --> 0:19:32.840 it is. You came and kind of tired, and you 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:36.680 missed it when I read it. The guy that has 0:19:36.920 --> 0:19:42.400 chased them into the cave is now vulnerable to them, 0:19:43.080 --> 0:19:46.120 and David's voice they're kind of rough, so they don't 0:19:46.119 --> 0:19:51.320 pray about it. They're like, this is it? Do it now? 0:19:52.800 --> 0:19:56.520 If you kill him now we can stop running. If 0:19:56.560 --> 0:19:59.240 you kill him now, we can leave this cave and 0:19:59.400 --> 0:20:02.800 establish kingdom. After all, isn't that what God told you 0:20:02.840 --> 0:20:03.720 when you were a little boy. 0:20:04.320 --> 0:20:09.679 And see what they're saying, it's partially true, kind of 0:20:09.720 --> 0:20:16.159 like the news that you watch. It's some truth in 0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:20.280 it somewhere. Maybe let's look at the verse. 0:20:20.160 --> 0:20:21.960 Together and you can decide if this is what God 0:20:22.000 --> 0:20:22.640 promised David. 0:20:22.720 --> 0:20:23.120 Verse four. 0:20:23.440 --> 0:20:25.520 This is the day the Lord spoke of when he 0:20:25.680 --> 0:20:29.680 said to you, I will give your enemy into your hands. 0:20:30.440 --> 0:20:34.359 So far, so good. That's exactly what God wanted. 0:20:34.119 --> 0:20:34.840 To do for David. 0:20:34.880 --> 0:20:38.280 But the next part, the next part is the part 0:20:38.400 --> 0:20:42.320 that I have searched Old Testament. I searched books about 0:20:42.320 --> 0:20:47.560 the Old Testament. I searched history of commentary, all these 0:20:47.680 --> 0:20:50.000 boring books that I was supposed to read in seminary, 0:20:50.119 --> 0:20:51.960 but I didn't read them. And now I'm having to 0:20:52.000 --> 0:20:54.120 read them because I actually need to know that stuff. 0:20:57.119 --> 0:21:00.960 And I couldn't fight anywhere in any book. God ever 0:21:01.119 --> 0:21:02.800 said this to David. 0:21:03.920 --> 0:21:08.399 To deal with as you wish. 0:21:08.880 --> 0:21:10.960 Wow, you see what's happening. 0:21:12.560 --> 0:21:18.240 Here comes an opportunity for David to get what God 0:21:18.280 --> 0:21:23.159 has promised him. For God to make it happen. I 0:21:23.280 --> 0:21:26.119 must squat down like Saul, just so you can get 0:21:26.160 --> 0:21:30.280 the picture, just so you can get the picture. 0:21:31.240 --> 0:21:37.720 Of how vulnerable he was. And Saul was a sitting duck. 0:21:41.040 --> 0:21:43.679 You remember week one, I was talking about duck David 0:21:43.760 --> 0:21:45.600 when Saul was throwing spears at David. 0:21:46.040 --> 0:21:48.720 Now now Saul is the duck. 0:21:49.840 --> 0:21:52.240 And David can do whatever he wants to do. He 0:21:52.320 --> 0:21:55.160 got something strange, and. 0:21:55.080 --> 0:21:59.120 It's strange because number one, he doesn't kill him. 0:22:00.640 --> 0:22:04.959 Number Two, we've never seen him do this before. David 0:22:04.960 --> 0:22:08.920 did something that he's never done before. 0:22:10.200 --> 0:22:12.440 He cut a corner. 0:22:14.080 --> 0:22:17.440 And I see to understand why this is so strange, 0:22:17.640 --> 0:22:22.280 you got to remember that whatever David did, he did. 0:22:22.080 --> 0:22:24.040 It with his whole heart. 0:22:25.920 --> 0:22:32.159 David was not one to cut corners. David was not 0:22:32.359 --> 0:22:36.160 one to skip stages. David was not one. 0:22:36.840 --> 0:22:40.840 David was not the kind David was not the kind 0:22:40.880 --> 0:22:45.199 of person who would try to do God's thing his 0:22:45.280 --> 0:22:45.760 own way. 0:22:47.840 --> 0:22:49.440 But now the. 0:22:49.400 --> 0:22:53.400 Bible says, in the face of this opportunity, this unexpected opportunity, 0:22:53.640 --> 0:22:55.560 Because you don't know what's in your heart. 0:22:55.440 --> 0:22:59.320 Until you have an opportunity, you. 0:22:59.320 --> 0:23:02.560 Can theorize a lot about what you would do if 0:23:02.880 --> 0:23:05.879 but now is the moment where David has to prove 0:23:06.240 --> 0:23:10.160 do I really believe the promise of God? Or am 0:23:10.200 --> 0:23:13.840 I going to take this into my own hands and 0:23:13.960 --> 0:23:18.000 do it my way? And so he sneaks up and 0:23:18.359 --> 0:23:20.480 he has a sword with him. It's the same sword 0:23:20.520 --> 0:23:23.680 he killed Goliath with, probably because he took it from 0:23:23.720 --> 0:23:26.399 the temple at Knob, and he took it from the priest, 0:23:26.560 --> 0:23:28.600 and he took it and killed some Philistines with it. 0:23:28.720 --> 0:23:30.679 But now he's got that sword in the cave, and 0:23:30.760 --> 0:23:33.840 the same sword that he cut off Goliath's head with. 0:23:34.880 --> 0:23:39.639 He now cuts off a corner of Saul's robe. He 0:23:39.680 --> 0:23:44.280 doesn't kill him, but he cuts a corner. He doesn't 0:23:44.400 --> 0:23:44.920 kill him. 0:23:45.200 --> 0:23:47.120 But the Bible says in verse five. 0:23:47.240 --> 0:23:49.600 That when he did it, when he cut the corner, 0:23:49.760 --> 0:23:50.120 when he. 0:23:50.080 --> 0:23:52.200 Took matters into his own. 0:23:52.040 --> 0:23:58.200 Hands, the Bible says afterward, David was conscience stricken. 0:24:00.080 --> 0:24:02.720 For cutting off a corner of his role. 0:24:04.640 --> 0:24:12.600 Why Why would David feel bad about killing somebody who 0:24:12.680 --> 0:24:17.080 was trying to kill him. Why would David in his 0:24:17.280 --> 0:24:21.880 conscience feel bad about avenging himself from a king. 0:24:22.280 --> 0:24:24.040 Who was dangerous to the entire nation. 0:24:25.480 --> 0:24:29.560 You know what I believe, I believe that what was 0:24:29.600 --> 0:24:35.760 happening inside the cave can only be understood by remembering 0:24:36.280 --> 0:24:41.639 what was outside the cave. If you noticed when I 0:24:41.720 --> 0:24:46.440 was reading in verse three, it described the exact physical 0:24:46.480 --> 0:24:50.760 location of this cave. It says that the cave was 0:24:50.800 --> 0:24:54.879 situated just behind put the verse up the sheep pens. 0:24:56.440 --> 0:25:02.080 That's where David came from. 0:25:02.280 --> 0:25:08.119 Follow me, please, Now inside the cave. Here's Saul with 0:25:08.200 --> 0:25:13.800 a robe that represents what David is called to. David 0:25:14.359 --> 0:25:19.600 is in between where he came from and what he's 0:25:19.640 --> 0:25:22.680 called too. Now, how many know that what you are 0:25:22.760 --> 0:25:26.320 called to is more important than where you came from? 0:25:26.600 --> 0:25:27.680 Do you believe God. 0:25:27.560 --> 0:25:29.800 Can raise you up, call your name. 0:25:29.840 --> 0:25:33.879 Call you out, clean you up, turn you around, and 0:25:34.119 --> 0:25:37.880 use you for his glory. God need somebody in rock 0:25:37.960 --> 0:25:38.600 Hill to shout. 0:25:38.640 --> 0:25:41.879 If you believe, it doesn't matter where you started from. 0:25:42.119 --> 0:25:44.880 When God calls you, he can pick you up from 0:25:44.880 --> 0:25:48.159 the sheep pins, still smell like Tom and bring you 0:25:48.280 --> 0:25:51.399 into a destiny. 0:25:52.040 --> 0:25:53.840 But your eyes have not seen, in your ears have 0:25:53.960 --> 0:25:54.399 not heard. 0:25:56.920 --> 0:25:59.919 What you are called to matters more than where you 0:26:00.200 --> 0:26:02.600 came from. Turn to the verses next to you and 0:26:02.600 --> 0:26:06.520 tell him where you came from. 0:26:06.560 --> 0:26:08.480 What did you tell him? 0:26:08.600 --> 0:26:10.520 You didn't tell him the whole thing. You told him 0:26:10.520 --> 0:26:13.000 the name of a town. I came from the corner 0:26:13.280 --> 0:26:16.159 Monk's Corner, to be exact. You want to mess with 0:26:16.280 --> 0:26:19.120 me Monk's Corner mafia. But you don't know about that, 0:26:19.240 --> 0:26:21.280 and we don't have time to discuss it, because I 0:26:21.320 --> 0:26:22.840 gotta get the next service in here. 0:26:26.119 --> 0:26:27.600 David came from the sheep pen. 0:26:27.920 --> 0:26:31.040 Now the sheep pin is outside, and Saul is inside, 0:26:31.240 --> 0:26:33.800 and Saul is what he's gonna be, and the sheeppin 0:26:33.960 --> 0:26:36.159 is what he was. And he cuts the corner of 0:26:36.200 --> 0:26:39.120 the row, and his conscience is stricken because. 0:26:38.800 --> 0:26:43.520 He realized, I'm not that kind of king. 0:26:49.760 --> 0:26:51.960 What I'm called to is more important than where I 0:26:52.040 --> 0:26:55.840 came from. But you know what, there's something more important 0:26:55.840 --> 0:27:00.399 than where you started, and there's something more important then 0:27:00.400 --> 0:27:11.040 where you're going, and it's how you get there. I 0:27:11.119 --> 0:27:13.680 found out that how you make money means more than 0:27:13.680 --> 0:27:19.280 how much you have and the priority that it has 0:27:19.320 --> 0:27:21.520 in your life. If it becomes your god while you're 0:27:21.560 --> 0:27:23.280 getting it, it will. 0:27:23.080 --> 0:27:23.760 Not serve you. 0:27:23.600 --> 0:27:27.040 You will serve it, and you will wonder why am I. 0:27:27.119 --> 0:27:31.000 Rich and miserable? Oh there's miserable. Rich people in the house. 0:27:33.960 --> 0:27:36.400 They feel bad about it too, because they thought if 0:27:36.440 --> 0:27:39.720 they got it, if they got it. 0:27:40.320 --> 0:27:44.440 There's a certain expectation attached if I if I get it, 0:27:44.720 --> 0:27:47.199 if I get it, if I get it, I'll be 0:27:47.440 --> 0:27:50.120 But when you get it in a way that is empty, 0:27:50.320 --> 0:27:53.240 when you get it in a when you cut corners 0:27:53.320 --> 0:27:58.080 to get it. If you miss your kids growing up 0:27:58.520 --> 0:28:01.960 to be successful at your job, you will have the 0:28:02.040 --> 0:28:05.320 success that you sacrificed for, But what you will have 0:28:05.440 --> 0:28:13.560 sacrificed to get it will make you wonder if any 0:28:13.600 --> 0:28:18.520 of it was worth it. David had a moment. It 0:28:18.560 --> 0:28:22.080 says that he was conscience stricken and he remembered who 0:28:22.119 --> 0:28:27.000 he was. He remembered, this is not the way I'd 0:28:27.000 --> 0:28:30.440 do it. Sorry, montell Jordan, this is not. 0:28:32.960 --> 0:28:33.640 He picked up. 0:28:35.160 --> 0:28:37.679 He picked up with a motivational speech to his men. 0:28:37.760 --> 0:28:42.840 Now remember these men are an army information. But he 0:28:42.880 --> 0:28:46.520 turns to his men and says verse six, the Lord 0:28:46.600 --> 0:28:52.800 forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, 0:28:52.920 --> 0:28:56.600 the Lord's anointed, or lay my hand on him, for 0:28:56.760 --> 0:28:58.320 he is the anointed of the Lord. 0:28:58.560 --> 0:29:02.840 And I don't cut corners. 0:29:04.520 --> 0:29:07.560 That's not who I am. That's not how I do it. 0:29:07.760 --> 0:29:10.480 I will not become something that I'm not in the 0:29:10.520 --> 0:29:16.400 pursuit of what I want. And yes, I'm called to 0:29:16.440 --> 0:29:19.680 be a king, but not like this. I didn't get 0:29:19.720 --> 0:29:23.000 here cutting corners. I started as a shepherd. I did 0:29:23.120 --> 0:29:25.720 start at the bottom. But I will not climb to 0:29:25.800 --> 0:29:29.200 the top on the back of my principles and my morals. 0:29:29.400 --> 0:29:33.000 If I do this myself, I'm going to be responsible 0:29:33.040 --> 0:29:35.720 for the outcome. But if I leave it up to God, 0:29:36.040 --> 0:29:48.400 if I don't cut corners, David said, I'm. 0:29:46.400 --> 0:29:52.400 I'm better than this, not like this, Not like this. 0:29:52.480 --> 0:29:54.680 Sometimes what you want isn't the problem. 0:29:54.320 --> 0:29:55.880 It's the way you go about getting it. 0:29:56.760 --> 0:29:59.600 There was nothing wrong with David's desire to be king. 0:29:59.760 --> 0:30:06.360 God gave him that promise, but David knew that God 0:30:06.400 --> 0:30:10.120 can't honor the promise if I don't honor the process. 0:30:14.160 --> 0:30:18.480 My applause is dying out. Boy. When I was preaching. 0:30:18.200 --> 0:30:21.200 About promises, we were about to take off, we were 0:30:21.200 --> 0:30:24.560 going somewhere, and I just shut the whole thing down 0:30:24.560 --> 0:30:26.120 because we had to go back to the sheep pin 0:30:27.240 --> 0:30:30.680 and remind ourselves of who called us to begin with, 0:30:31.920 --> 0:30:35.200 and if he called me and if he made the promise. 0:30:36.080 --> 0:30:37.200 That means that it's not. 0:30:37.120 --> 0:30:40.760 Just important where I end up, but how I get there. 0:30:42.480 --> 0:30:44.240 It's not just important if. 0:30:44.080 --> 0:30:46.480 I get it, it's how I get it, because the 0:30:46.520 --> 0:30:49.040 way that I get it will determine who I am 0:30:49.080 --> 0:30:51.840 when I get there. I'm not this kind of king. 0:30:52.160 --> 0:30:54.560 I can't do it like this. I want it, but 0:30:54.640 --> 0:30:57.360 there are certain things I won't do to get what 0:30:57.480 --> 0:31:01.400 I want. Those of you who are single need to 0:31:01.400 --> 0:31:06.000 make this a part of your pre dating relationship speech. Okay, 0:31:06.960 --> 0:31:09.600 tell the next guy that you enter into a relationship with, 0:31:09.840 --> 0:31:13.520 Tell him right off the jump, before anything gets too serious, 0:31:13.720 --> 0:31:16.760 before you get lost in love, before you start naming 0:31:16.840 --> 0:31:19.680 babies together at Ruby Tuesday or. 0:31:19.720 --> 0:31:21.200 Any of that. Tell him this. 0:31:21.640 --> 0:31:24.240 I just need you to know because I think you're cute, 0:31:24.320 --> 0:31:26.960 and I need you to know because you might be special. 0:31:27.160 --> 0:31:29.480 I need you to know. I enjoy spending time with you. 0:31:29.880 --> 0:31:32.760 But I don't cut corners. So we're gonna do this 0:31:33.000 --> 0:31:36.080 God's way because I tried some other ways. 0:31:36.120 --> 0:31:39.520 And I watch what happens when I do God's will 0:31:39.720 --> 0:31:40.800 my way. 0:31:45.040 --> 0:31:47.920 Oh, I'm preaching this thing. Tell somebody say I don't 0:31:47.920 --> 0:31:53.040 cut corners. I don't cut corners. It's not just important 0:31:53.120 --> 0:31:55.440 to me that I get there. I want to get there. 0:31:55.360 --> 0:31:57.360 The right way. 0:31:58.200 --> 0:32:01.400 I suck at this sometimes I try to get the 0:32:01.480 --> 0:32:05.080 right thing the wrong way. I want to fight with 0:32:05.200 --> 0:32:06.960 people on Facebook. 0:32:06.560 --> 0:32:08.480 And I'm right and they're wrong. 0:32:15.320 --> 0:32:20.560 I've got this thing in me to where there. 0:32:20.000 --> 0:32:21.880 Are times where I just want to. 0:32:26.280 --> 0:32:29.320 Say some things, some things that you would say too. 0:32:29.400 --> 0:32:32.000 But I can say I'm real good because I do 0:32:32.080 --> 0:32:39.520 words professionally. It's my job. It's my job. So what 0:32:39.640 --> 0:32:40.080 I do. 0:32:40.320 --> 0:32:45.760 I go on and write comments back to people. I 0:32:45.800 --> 0:32:49.600 cut corners, and then while I'm writing it, I know 0:32:49.680 --> 0:32:54.200 I got to delete it, but I still complete it, and. 0:32:54.120 --> 0:32:55.000 Then I delete it. 0:32:56.280 --> 0:32:59.480 And then I realize, you know, you can't respond to 0:32:59.520 --> 0:33:01.920 critics with the same hate that you despise in them 0:33:01.920 --> 0:33:06.640 and expect to change anything. Not like this, not like 0:33:06.680 --> 0:33:11.640 this to somebody saying not like this. Yeah, God wants 0:33:11.640 --> 0:33:14.720 you to have it, but not like this. That's why 0:33:14.760 --> 0:33:17.440 we need to be so careful church. There's a lot 0:33:17.480 --> 0:33:20.520 of hatred in the world. There's a lot of bigotry. 0:33:20.040 --> 0:33:20.560 In the world. 0:33:20.720 --> 0:33:23.040 There's a lot of ignorance in the world. But we 0:33:23.120 --> 0:33:27.120 can't fight ignorance with ignorance. We can't fight hate with hate. 0:33:27.360 --> 0:33:30.520 There has to be a higher law called love. I 0:33:30.640 --> 0:33:33.200 want justice, but if I have to sink to the 0:33:33.280 --> 0:33:36.120 same level of the people I'm trying to change. 0:33:36.480 --> 0:33:41.720 Not like this, Not like this, I feel God on that. 0:33:42.240 --> 0:33:54.200 Not like this, I honor process. I put my sword 0:33:54.320 --> 0:33:57.480 away because the kingdom will not be established by me 0:33:57.600 --> 0:34:02.360 cutting off Malcus's ear is established with a cross. 0:34:03.240 --> 0:34:04.440 When Jesus went to. 0:34:04.480 --> 0:34:07.320 Die, all his disciples could say, is not like this. 0:34:08.160 --> 0:34:10.560 We got to take over, We got to make it happen. 0:34:11.239 --> 0:34:17.799 And Jesus said, not like that. I did. 0:34:24.880 --> 0:34:31.040 You got the right robe, but the wrong way. You 0:34:31.120 --> 0:34:33.200 got the right desire. Is nothing wrong with your desire. 0:34:34.360 --> 0:34:37.920 There is nothing wrong with your desire. What you want 0:34:38.120 --> 0:34:40.080 is from God. But it is what you will do 0:34:40.200 --> 0:34:43.200 to get it that will determine whether or not you 0:34:43.239 --> 0:34:45.200 can keep it and walk in it. When you do, 0:34:49.040 --> 0:34:54.160 I cry out to God Most High. 0:34:52.360 --> 0:34:55.360 He fulfills his purpose for me. You know what that means. 0:34:55.800 --> 0:34:56.320 I don't. 0:34:58.160 --> 0:35:01.960 I'm not saying that I don't plan, that I don't strategize, 0:35:02.760 --> 0:35:10.880 but I recognize that every opportunity is not God, and 0:35:11.040 --> 0:35:13.919 I want what God wants me to have when God 0:35:13.960 --> 0:35:16.680 wants me to have it how God wants me to 0:35:16.719 --> 0:35:17.080 get it. 0:35:17.239 --> 0:35:25.799 That's it. Not like this. I don't cut corners. I 0:35:25.800 --> 0:35:31.120 don't do it my way. I don't retaliate, not like this. 0:35:32.520 --> 0:35:34.799 Sometimes I find myself parenting my kids and I'm trying 0:35:34.800 --> 0:35:37.040 to get the right behavior by demonstrating the exact behavior 0:35:37.080 --> 0:35:40.560 I'm trying to correct. 0:35:40.880 --> 0:35:42.360 Shut up, elige it, I'll say him into that. 0:35:45.680 --> 0:35:48.440 I'm screaming at my kids to get their emotions under control. 0:35:48.520 --> 0:35:51.360 Figure that one out at the top of my voice, 0:35:51.640 --> 0:35:58.759 contry yours out. Not like this, because now the very 0:35:58.800 --> 0:36:02.440 behavior that I'm trying to is the spirit I'm exemplifying. 0:36:04.160 --> 0:36:06.799 And I found out something. I found out you can 0:36:06.800 --> 0:36:07.160 do it. 0:36:07.480 --> 0:36:10.560 You can actually control an environment with anger. 0:36:12.880 --> 0:36:14.960 You can actually shut an. 0:36:15.000 --> 0:36:19.120 Argument down just by being the loudest one. You can 0:36:19.160 --> 0:36:22.160 actually manipulate people into going where you want to go 0:36:22.480 --> 0:36:26.759 by pouting. But what will you have when you get 0:36:26.800 --> 0:36:29.200 your way. 0:36:30.800 --> 0:36:31.960 You'll be lonely. 0:36:33.320 --> 0:36:36.920 And you feel guilty, and you'll have a corner of 0:36:36.920 --> 0:36:38.719 a robe when God wanted to give you the whole thing. 0:36:40.600 --> 0:36:43.399 Come on, come on, not like this. 0:36:45.560 --> 0:36:47.600 I honor the process. 0:36:47.600 --> 0:36:52.200 And here's the promise. If I honor the process. God 0:36:52.239 --> 0:36:52.920 will honor me. 0:36:53.360 --> 0:36:56.160 If I honor the process, God will. 0:36:56.000 --> 0:36:56.960 Honor the promise. 0:36:57.360 --> 0:37:00.840 If I honor the process, he will be again a 0:37:01.000 --> 0:37:04.640 good work in you will be faithful to performing. 0:37:06.320 --> 0:37:09.680 I do cut corners. 0:37:13.760 --> 0:37:20.400 I want God's will, God's way. I want God's will, 0:37:21.440 --> 0:37:25.440 God's way, and if I try to make it happen, 0:37:25.840 --> 0:37:30.440 I'm responsible for it. But the scripture didn't say I 0:37:30.480 --> 0:37:33.640 have to fulfill my purpose for God. It said he 0:37:33.719 --> 0:37:43.240 fulfills his purpose for me. Switch the position. Switch the position. 0:37:44.200 --> 0:37:47.040 You've been trying to do it for God. Let him 0:37:47.080 --> 0:37:49.919 do it for you. You've been trying to work it out 0:37:50.160 --> 0:37:53.160 in your own strength, in your own power, with your 0:37:53.160 --> 0:38:00.919 own mind. He wants to fulfill this purpose. 0:38:02.239 --> 0:38:02.640 For you. 0:38:04.000 --> 0:38:07.040 I want you to stand because I believe that many 0:38:07.120 --> 0:38:09.560 of us are at a point of decision like David was. 0:38:09.719 --> 0:38:21.520 And the decision is, am I going to trust God 0:38:22.800 --> 0:38:27.040 for the outcome with obedience. Am I going to let 0:38:27.080 --> 0:38:30.680 God do his job? Am I going to let God 0:38:30.800 --> 0:38:34.640 decide when the time is right? Or Am I going 0:38:34.719 --> 0:38:39.360 to manipulate my situation to resemble something that looks like 0:38:39.440 --> 0:38:41.279 God's will but it's really not. 0:38:44.560 --> 0:38:47.960 Oh, I prayed about this message. I pray about all 0:38:47.960 --> 0:38:48.640 my messages. 0:38:49.560 --> 0:38:51.719 One of my friends told me one time, he said, 0:38:51.760 --> 0:38:53.439 you do realize you don't have to work so hard 0:38:53.440 --> 0:38:56.840 on your sermons. He said, nobody would know the difference, 0:39:00.160 --> 0:39:04.839 but I would. That's not the kind of preacher I. 0:39:04.800 --> 0:39:05.360 Want to be. 0:39:06.840 --> 0:39:08.759 That's not the kind of preacher I want to be. 0:39:09.120 --> 0:39:10.920 That's not the kind of person I want to be. 0:39:11.480 --> 0:39:15.680 I don't cut corners. 0:39:17.400 --> 0:39:19.839 I want to do it with all my heart. I mean, 0:39:19.880 --> 0:39:22.000 I've got to when I remember where. 0:39:21.840 --> 0:39:24.800 He brought me from. I didn't get here cutting corners. 0:39:25.120 --> 0:39:27.959 I didn't get here being fake. I didn't get here 0:39:28.000 --> 0:39:29.840 trying to control situations. 0:39:32.040 --> 0:39:38.680 He will fulfill his purpose for me. 0:39:38.800 --> 0:39:44.160 The only way he won't is if I don't let him. 0:39:44.200 --> 0:39:45.160 If I cut corners. 0:39:45.160 --> 0:39:47.120 And God has got you in the process right now 0:39:48.040 --> 0:39:50.880 of something that he's bringing to pass in your life. 0:39:51.680 --> 0:39:53.359 I want you to make a commitment right now. If 0:39:53.360 --> 0:39:54.799 you want to lift your hands, you can, you don't 0:39:54.800 --> 0:39:56.160 have to. But if you want to lift your hands, 0:39:56.280 --> 0:39:58.479 it's a sign of surrender. And that's what David did 0:39:59.440 --> 0:40:01.960 in a situation where he could have made something happen, 0:40:04.320 --> 0:40:06.719 in a situation where he could have rushed the process 0:40:06.719 --> 0:40:08.680 in a situation where he could have claimed that he 0:40:08.840 --> 0:40:11.440 was doing the right thing and done it the wrong. 0:40:11.200 --> 0:40:16.160 Way, he positioned himself with surrender. 0:40:19.080 --> 0:40:25.320 If I honor the process, God will honor the promise. 0:40:26.360 --> 0:40:28.640 Have you got a promise today? 0:40:28.960 --> 0:40:30.360 Have you got a promise today? 0:40:31.320 --> 0:40:33.560 Have you got a promise from him who said I 0:40:33.600 --> 0:40:36.200 will never leave you nor forsake you. Have you got 0:40:36.200 --> 0:40:39.560 a promise today? 0:40:40.360 --> 0:40:41.400 Stay in the process. 0:40:42.960 --> 0:40:46.360 It took five more years before Saul died and David 0:40:46.400 --> 0:40:50.880 became king. But you know what, when Saul died, David 0:40:51.000 --> 0:40:56.840 was ready. When you honor the process, God will schedule 0:40:57.320 --> 0:40:57.920 the promise. 0:41:00.120 --> 0:41:00.400 Father. 0:41:00.440 --> 0:41:04.280 We thank you today for your exceeding, great and precious promises. 0:41:04.320 --> 0:41:06.719 That's what your word calls them. We thank you for 0:41:06.800 --> 0:41:10.080 your incorruptible word. We thank you for everything that you 0:41:10.120 --> 0:41:15.480 have spoken over our lives. And we confess before you 0:41:15.600 --> 0:41:18.240 today that there have been times where we have taken 0:41:18.280 --> 0:41:22.840 shortcuts and cut corners. But we have our hands lifted 0:41:22.880 --> 0:41:25.040 in your presence to surrender our lives and our will 0:41:25.120 --> 0:41:29.920 to you, and we declare no more shortcuts. Whatever you 0:41:29.960 --> 0:41:31.799 want to do in our lives, whatever you need to 0:41:31.840 --> 0:41:33.320 do in our lives, whatever junk. 0:41:33.360 --> 0:41:34.080 You need to move out. 0:41:34.160 --> 0:41:36.600 We're gonna stop moving the pieces around and getting all 0:41:36.680 --> 0:41:38.680 up in your way. We're gonna stop trying to do 0:41:38.719 --> 0:41:41.319 it in our own strength. We're gonna stop responding in 0:41:41.360 --> 0:41:45.719 the flesh to spiritual principalities. Here before you today, God, 0:41:45.960 --> 0:41:48.680 we don't even want the shortcut. Have your way in 0:41:48.760 --> 0:41:51.320 our lives. We want to get there in your timing. 0:41:51.600 --> 0:41:54.359 We want what you want us to have. Do your thing, 0:41:54.800 --> 0:41:57.759 have your way. You are God, and we are not. 0:41:58.200 --> 0:42:01.000 As we look to the guilture, we look with great faith. 0:42:01.880 --> 0:42:09.720 Come on, Brace is not your fast. Brace your last 0:42:09.800 --> 0:42:18.040 phrase fase. Thank you for joining us. 0:42:18.360 --> 0:42:20.799 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:42:20.880 --> 0:42:24.360 this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:42:24.840 --> 0:42:27.319 You can click the link in the description to give now, 0:42:27.920 --> 0:42:31.239 or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for more 0:42:31.280 --> 0:42:34.880 information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:42:35.360 --> 0:42:36.680 You can share it with your friends. 0:42:36.960 --> 0:42:39.239 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:42:39.320 --> 0:42:41.439 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:42:41.440 --> 0:42:42.279 Elevation Church. 0:42:42.360 --> 0:42:43.360 Thanks again for listening. 0:42:43.400 --> 0:42:44.000 God bless you