He Took The Manna Off The Menu

0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.800 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:07.760 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. 0:00:08.080 --> 0:00:10.680 Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:12.840 Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving 0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:13.560 in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:14.680 Enjoy the message. 0:00:16.760 --> 0:00:18.760 I want you to stay standing while I read the scripture, 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:20.960 and I promise you after that. It's your prerogative as 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:22.640 to whether or not you want to sit down or 0:00:22.680 --> 0:00:25.279 stand up for the whole time that I've preached, but 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:27.120 I'd like you to stand while I read this. Just 0:00:27.120 --> 0:00:30.280 give your attention to Philippians, chapter four, verse ten through nineteen. 0:00:30.800 --> 0:00:35.199 And this message ministered on the subject of needs and 0:00:35.240 --> 0:00:37.479 the needs in our life in a powerful way when 0:00:37.479 --> 0:00:40.600 I preached it last night. So I'm expectant that it'll 0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:43.640 even go to a higher level today because God has 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:46.440 been speaking to me throughout the night and even this 0:00:46.479 --> 0:00:49.159 morning about how to share this with you, and I 0:00:49.240 --> 0:00:52.760 believe that it's going to be effective in your life. Now. 0:00:52.840 --> 0:00:54.800 I want to put a scripture from the New Testament 0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:58.080 up alongside a scripture in the Old Testament, and in 0:00:58.120 --> 0:01:01.320 that space between that there's something God wants to reveal 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:04.520 to you today. Philippians, Chapter four, verse ten. The apostle Paul, 0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:08.920 writing from house arrest in Rome, says, I rejoiced greatly 0:01:09.040 --> 0:01:11.640 in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern 0:01:11.760 --> 0:01:14.560 for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:17.840 opportunity to show it. I'm not saying this because I'm 0:01:17.880 --> 0:01:20.840 in need, for I have learned touch. 0:01:20.680 --> 0:01:22.119 Somebody say it's a process. 0:01:23.120 --> 0:01:27.080 I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:30.160 We know that this is true. 0:01:30.000 --> 0:01:35.000 Of Paul, and it's not just a Christian cliche because 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:36.119 he's writing it. 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:39.960 While he's in the middle of a trial. 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:43.920 Yet this letter, which was written to the Philippian Church 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:47.240 was the first church he established in Europe, is called 0:01:47.240 --> 0:01:50.320 by many the happiest book in the Bible. It is 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:56.120 proof that your surroundings don't have to dominate your spirit. 0:01:56.840 --> 0:02:00.480 Your spirit, and I'm. 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:04.280 Saying, is proof that my state of affairs doesn't have 0:02:04.360 --> 0:02:07.400 to determine my state of mind. And Paul is talking 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:09.960 about that very thing, and he's not only saying it, but. 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:11.400 He's living it as he writes it. 0:02:11.520 --> 0:02:13.680 He says, I know what it is to be in need, 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:16.280 and I know what it is to have plenty. I 0:02:16.360 --> 0:02:22.560 have learned the secret of being content in any and 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:28.280 every situation, whether well fed, whether hungry, whether living. 0:02:28.040 --> 0:02:29.440 In plenty or in wan. 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:33.680 I can do all this through Him who gives me strength. Yet, 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:36.600 it was good of you to share in my troubles. 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:40.760 Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:44.680 your acquaintance with the Gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, 0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:49.000 not one church shared with me in the matter of 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:54.560 giving and receiving except you only, for even when I 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:57.840 was in Thessalonika, you sent me aid more than once 0:02:57.880 --> 0:03:00.640 when I was in need. 0:03:01.200 --> 0:03:02.680 Not that I desire your. 0:03:02.600 --> 0:03:04.720 Gifts touch somebody say I'm good, I'm. 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:05.519 Good, I'm good. 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:13.680 What I desire is that more be credited to your account. 0:03:14.280 --> 0:03:17.800 I have received full payment and have more than enough. 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:24.280 I am amply supplied now that I have received from Epaphroditis. 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:26.960 Baby name anybody, anybody pregnant looking for something to name 0:03:27.000 --> 0:03:33.480 your kid a Paphroditis. Paphroditis, join it out there for suggestion. 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:36.200 Name that kid a Paphroditis. None of the kids in 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:38.560 kindergarten will be raising their hand when the teacher calls 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:39.520 that name, except. 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:41.000 Yours, epatrid you call them pappy for short. 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:43.880 It's kind of hard to spell the paphridies, he said, 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:45.480 now that I have received. 0:03:45.160 --> 0:03:46.920 From Epaphroditis the gifts you sent. 0:03:47.080 --> 0:03:51.760 They are a fragrant offering and acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. 0:03:52.080 --> 0:03:56.880 And My God will meet all your needs. 0:03:56.880 --> 0:03:58.680 This is one of the coolest verses in the Bible. 0:03:59.320 --> 0:04:02.480 This is one of the most misunderstood versus in the Bible. 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:05.160 And My God will meet all your needs. 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:07.880 We're gonna work on this today, according to the riches 0:04:08.000 --> 0:04:10.400 of His glory in Christ, Jesus. 0:04:10.440 --> 0:04:12.760 Amen, say a louder, Amen. 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:16.680 Now look at Joshua chapter five, verse twelve, just one verse. 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:22.919 The mana stopped the day after they ate this food 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:27.200 from the land. There was no longer any manna for 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:32.520 the Israelites. But that year they ate the produce of canaan. 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:36.880 Test nobody say this is the year. This is the year. 0:04:37.960 --> 0:04:41.520 That year they ate the produce of canaan. The man 0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:45.200 of stopped the day after they ate this food from 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:48.599 the land. I want to preach to you today from 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:55.880 this title, this subject. He took the mana off the menu. 0:04:57.680 --> 0:05:04.640 Come on, somebody he took the mana off the menu. 0:05:04.920 --> 0:05:08.120 And he did it for a reason. Father, illuminate your word. 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:10.839 Drive it deep in our hearts to a place where 0:05:10.839 --> 0:05:13.440 we couldn't get it out without acting on it if. 0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:13.840 We wanted to. 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:16.880 In Jesus' name, everybody shout eight men one more time. 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:27.599 He may be seated in the presence of God. Took 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:30.880 the man off the menu. Key took the man off 0:05:30.880 --> 0:05:34.599 the menu. Stephen Webb, he took the mana off the menu. 0:05:34.680 --> 0:05:35.480 Are turkhursed? 0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:39.040 It's like chicken nuggets coming off the menu at Chick 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:39.320 fil a? 0:05:39.440 --> 0:05:43.400 What's he doing? Do you know this phrase? 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:45.520 Supply side economics? 0:05:45.680 --> 0:05:46.600 Have you heard this phrase? 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:49.560 I was a I'm not trying to brag, but I 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:53.080 was a business administration minor in college. I'm minored in 0:05:53.120 --> 0:05:57.360 business administration, So if you ever want my expert advice 0:05:57.839 --> 0:06:00.760 on any of your business plans, I'll be in available 0:06:00.880 --> 0:06:04.680 to advise you. I do have a minor in business administration, 0:06:05.440 --> 0:06:09.880 and they taught me an economics class about supply side economics, 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:14.920 very controversial theory, macroeconomic theory. And I could read your 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:18.320 technical definition, but let me make it a little simpler 0:06:18.320 --> 0:06:20.279 than that, because I'm not an economist, and that's not 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:25.640 my goal here today. But it's really a theory that 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:29.960 tries to explain the phenomena based on explanations. It's been 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:35.200 called trickle down policy or Reaganomics. It's controversial, to say 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:39.160 the least, but the single idea behind the pillars of 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:45.480 supply side economics is that the production or the supply 0:06:46.400 --> 0:06:50.479 of the goods and the services is most important in 0:06:50.600 --> 0:06:54.440 determining economic growth. In other words, by investing in capital 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:58.920 and breaking the barriers, whether through tax cuts or other measures. 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:03.120 The more goods are available to more consumers at a 0:07:03.200 --> 0:07:05.640 cheaper rate, the better off an economy will be. Again, 0:07:05.880 --> 0:07:08.800 this is a controversial economic theory, and I'm not here 0:07:08.839 --> 0:07:11.320 to espouse it or to contradict it, but I bring 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:14.680 it up as a sort of analogy for the kind 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:18.720 of spirituality that Paul is a proponent of in Philippians 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:22.320 chapter four, where he states that. 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:28.240 I have needs, but I'm not needy. I have needs, 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:31.760 but I'm not needy. 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:34.520 And in the Book of Philippians you get perhaps the 0:07:34.520 --> 0:07:38.600 most personal glimpse of Paul. It seems that this letter 0:07:38.680 --> 0:07:42.560 is not marred with some of the corrective measures, say 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:45.480 when Paul is addressing the Corinthian Church. There's so much 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:47.800 he has to straighten out with them, he's not able 0:07:47.840 --> 0:07:50.520 to really let his guard down. You know, there are 0:07:50.560 --> 0:07:54.720 certain people that you can't share certain components of yourself 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:57.800 with because you can't trust them in that way. And 0:07:57.840 --> 0:08:02.680 the Philippian Church, after once again supporting Paul in a 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:06.400 practical way, have warmed the affection of his heart so 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:09.240 that he writes them in a way that we really 0:08:09.240 --> 0:08:12.920 get to see the apostle share. I believe some of 0:08:12.960 --> 0:08:15.239 the secrets that he won't share it with anybody else 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:18.400 to the way that he has lived his life that 0:08:18.680 --> 0:08:21.040 have enabled him to be so faithful. I think you 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:23.240 hear it even in his language. He said, I'm going. 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:24.560 To tell you this secret. 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:27.240 Did you hear him say, I've learned the secret of 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:30.800 being content. You don't tell secrets to anyone who's not 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:36.040 your friend. And these people, by renewing their concern for 0:08:36.120 --> 0:08:39.439 Paul in a difficult time in his life, have earned 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:40.840 his trust to the point where. 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:42.480 He said, I'm gonna let you in on something. 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:45.120 I'm not only going to let you in on how 0:08:45.160 --> 0:08:47.000 I do it, but I'm going to let you in 0:08:47.280 --> 0:08:50.640 on a little bit on the need side. I'm going 0:08:50.679 --> 0:08:52.280 to tell you a little bit of what it's. 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:53.439 Been like to be me. 0:08:54.320 --> 0:08:57.320 And he's not afraid with this group of people to 0:08:57.640 --> 0:09:00.840 express his needs, to make his needs known. 0:09:02.120 --> 0:09:03.720 He makes his needs known. 0:09:03.720 --> 0:09:06.520 And he says to the church at Philippi, who he's 0:09:06.559 --> 0:09:09.400 been estranged from through circumstances, he would like to be 0:09:09.480 --> 0:09:11.800 with them in person, but says he can't. He just says, 0:09:11.960 --> 0:09:15.520 you know, it meant a lot that you sent something 0:09:15.520 --> 0:09:18.920 to help me out. It meant a lot. You can 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:23.040 almost hear him saying I needed that. I needed that. 0:09:23.960 --> 0:09:25.520 I realized recently that. 0:09:25.520 --> 0:09:29.160 The number one thing that people say about Twitter, Instagram, 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:31.320 different social media posts that we try to put out 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:34.720 to inspire people, that just put needed that, because you 0:09:34.760 --> 0:09:37.240 never know what somebody's going through in their life and 0:09:37.280 --> 0:09:39.000 it can just hit them at a certain time where 0:09:39.000 --> 0:09:41.560 they're like, I was just thinking about that. I was 0:09:41.679 --> 0:09:44.400 just I was just praying about that. I was just 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:46.160 wondering how that was going to work out. And it's 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:48.320 like wow, And the only thing that can say is 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:56.200 needed that needed that. And Paul seems to take a 0:09:56.280 --> 0:10:01.840 supply side view of spirituality. That is see he seems 0:10:02.120 --> 0:10:06.959 less focused on the needs, though they're great than the supply, 0:10:07.720 --> 0:10:08.560 because it's greater. 0:10:09.120 --> 0:10:11.920 Talk to me, somebody. You've got to decide. 0:10:12.120 --> 0:10:14.720 Are you going to live your life from the need 0:10:14.880 --> 0:10:22.880 side or the supply side? This is faith's greatest question. 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:29.360 Do I see my needs through my supply? Or am 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:33.280 I always missing my supply because all I see is 0:10:33.360 --> 0:10:39.520 my needs. God wants to invite you over today to 0:10:39.679 --> 0:10:44.560 the supply side of spirituality. But when you pray, he says, 0:10:45.040 --> 0:10:47.640 I'm hearing you talk so much about your needs. And 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:50.599 I don't mind hearing about your needs. But if you 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:54.800 would devote at least as much time to acknowledging my 0:10:54.960 --> 0:10:58.640 supply as you do to listing your needs, I could 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:02.720 release my supp lie through the portal up your faith 0:11:02.840 --> 0:11:08.679 and your brains. We seem to operate from this philosophy 0:11:09.480 --> 0:11:12.280 that God's greatest goal is to put us in a 0:11:12.360 --> 0:11:18.240 place of no need. That God wants to get us 0:11:18.280 --> 0:11:21.880 to the place where we don't have any needs. But 0:11:21.960 --> 0:11:24.559 he's not going to do it. He's not going to 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:28.000 do it because if you didn't have any needs in 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:29.439 your life, it would be just a matter of time 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:34.360 before you thought you didn't need him talk back to me. 0:11:35.000 --> 0:11:36.720 You know, you would get so prideful. 0:11:37.559 --> 0:11:40.680 People wouldn't even be able to be around you. You'd 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:42.719 be so cocky, you'd be so. 0:11:42.840 --> 0:11:46.880 Judgmental, you would solve everybody's problem. So the need that 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:50.120 you're asking God to eliminate in your life is the 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:53.600 very space that he wants to show his supply. 0:11:54.679 --> 0:11:57.040 Now, once you see it that way, once. 0:11:56.840 --> 0:11:59.920 You see it from the supply side, everybody shall cross over. 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:04.960 This puts you in a state of contentment. I have 0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:12.120 learned the secret of being content in any and every situation. 0:12:13.000 --> 0:12:15.600 I know what it is to be in need, Paul says, 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:16.280 and I. 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:17.680 Know what it is to have plenty. 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:20.400 Now. I used to think that Paul was describing two 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:23.720 different seasons of his life, and perhaps he is. He's saying, 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:26.040 you know, I've had times when I was up. I've 0:12:26.040 --> 0:12:28.400 had times when I was down. I've had times when 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:30.280 I had to pay a lot of taxes, and I've 0:12:30.320 --> 0:12:31.680 had times when I couldn't. 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:33.319 Pay the rent. I've had times where I. 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:35.520 Had so many people to call back that I didn't 0:12:35.520 --> 0:12:37.480 know who to start with. And I've had times where 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:40.480 I was so lonely. I wondered that everybody forgotten about me. 0:12:40.800 --> 0:12:44.480 This is the essence of the emotional core of Philippians four. 0:12:44.600 --> 0:12:47.760 And you missed this. If you just hit thirteen and nineteen, 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:51.840 I can do all things through prist too. Gives me strength, 0:12:51.880 --> 0:12:54.600 like Paul was about the bench press three oh five before. 0:12:54.640 --> 0:12:57.640 He said that, talking about how strong he was. But 0:12:57.720 --> 0:13:00.800 it is against the backdrop of his great struggle that 0:13:00.920 --> 0:13:04.360 he declares the supply and the strength of God, so 0:13:04.480 --> 0:13:06.920 that by the time he gets to nineteen. 0:13:06.880 --> 0:13:08.320 He says, I've been in need. 0:13:08.840 --> 0:13:13.320 I've been flat level, I've been a pandon, I've been betrayed, 0:13:13.640 --> 0:13:17.960 I've been forgotten about. I've been depressed, I've been accused, 0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:20.480 I've been broke, I've been sick. 0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:26.520 But my God is still joholfa Chira. He'll still supply. 0:13:32.040 --> 0:13:34.360 I told you we were gonna have some good church today. 0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:36.920 I figure, if you're gonna make the effort to come, 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:40.280 I'm not gonna short change you. High five three people 0:13:40.320 --> 0:13:41.120 tell him God. 0:13:41.000 --> 0:13:45.359 Is my supplier. God is my supplier. God is my supplier. 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:50.360 He's my need meeter, he's my weightmaker, he's my streaming 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:50.960 the tesser. 0:13:51.480 --> 0:13:54.600 He's my rock and a trying, weary lamb. He is 0:13:54.720 --> 0:13:56.280 my water, my God. 0:14:02.600 --> 0:14:06.320 But I had some needs. Now I had some needs, 0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:13.880 and I have learned how to meet those needs in 0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:17.400 an appropriate way. That's what marriage is, by the way, 0:14:18.400 --> 0:14:27.120 is it's a combination of needs between two people from 0:14:27.160 --> 0:14:30.640 different planets. Now, if you understand that context for marriage, 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:33.880 your expectations will be set. They write books about this. 0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:36.840 It's called his Needs, Her Needs. By the book, put 0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:40.160 it on Amazon, and the Amazon thing on your iPhone, 0:14:40.200 --> 0:14:43.320 down a little walk preaching his needs, her needs, five 0:14:43.400 --> 0:14:46.640 love languages, all these ways to say that. You know, 0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:50.160 you could actually be trying to meet somebody's needs, but 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:53.280 meeting them in a way that they can't receive because 0:14:53.320 --> 0:14:53.840 you don't. 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:54.640 Know what they really need. 0:15:00.480 --> 0:15:04.280 You can wreck a whole marriage trying to meet needs 0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:11.120 that you have in another person. You can ruin a 0:15:11.160 --> 0:15:15.720 whole friendship projecting your needs on another person and trying. 0:15:15.440 --> 0:15:16.800 To give them what you would want. 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:21.880 Understanding the needs of your wife is critical. 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:25.720 Understanding the needs of your husband. 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:29.560 I can talk to you about that on another series. 0:15:29.600 --> 0:15:31.960 Sometimes when the well send to make sure none of 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:34.200 the kids get in here, and we'll talk about his needs. 0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:37.800 It won't take me long. It'll be the shortest sermon 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:42.160 at elevation, shirts be out in time for breakfast. 0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:45.480 Watch this needs everybody, say needs Now. 0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:46.760 I need you to turn the person next to you 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:48.280 and tell them something you're not gonna want to tell them, 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:50.080 especially if you're married to him, because it's not like 0:15:50.080 --> 0:15:51.880 an insult, but you need to tell them because it's 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:52.960 something you need to understand. 0:15:53.040 --> 0:16:00.960 Tell your neighbor you can't meet my needs. You can't, 0:16:02.200 --> 0:16:04.280 You can't, you can't. 0:16:06.120 --> 0:16:11.800 Another problem people make going into relationships is expecting that 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:16.880 you're going to meet my needs, expecting that you are 0:16:16.920 --> 0:16:19.760 going to be y'all just got married. Caroline and Sina. 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:22.560 I'm not saying that you can't be a conduit in 0:16:22.600 --> 0:16:25.520 meeting her needs. I'm not saying you can't be her 0:16:25.560 --> 0:16:30.760 superman in some ways. I'm not saying that there aren't 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:34.360 some of her needs, but she has some needs that 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:38.240 if she doesn't learn how to let God meet those needs. 0:16:38.240 --> 0:16:41.240 Caroline works in my office and see. One of the 0:16:41.280 --> 0:16:43.880 things about having people who are in your life on 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:46.400 a day to day basis is you can fall into 0:16:46.440 --> 0:16:49.200 the trap of expecting one person to meet all of 0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:49.800 your needs. 0:16:50.040 --> 0:16:51.600 Then you violate the nature of the. 0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:55.120 Relationship because you're trying to get somebody to deliver something 0:16:55.120 --> 0:16:58.960 to your doorstep that they're not authorized to carry. So, 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:05.720 quite honestly, as your pastor, there are certain needs that 0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:07.760 I will be able to meet for you that she 0:17:07.840 --> 0:17:10.680 can't meet. I'm gonna tell you the flip side of that, 0:17:10.720 --> 0:17:13.720 which is much more important. There are certain needs that 0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:17.160 I am never gonna meet of yours. I'm not even 0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:20.400 gonna think about them. This is a gross illustration. Everybody 0:17:20.400 --> 0:17:25.720 shall needs and learning who God has put in your 0:17:25.760 --> 0:17:30.800 life to meet certain needs, and learning how God sends 0:17:30.960 --> 0:17:33.440 what you need in your life. See, people will say 0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:36.520 all the time, God is all I need, and God 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:40.080 is shaking his head in Heaven saying no, I'm not, No, 0:17:40.200 --> 0:17:40.520 I'm not. 0:17:42.000 --> 0:17:43.280 I have all that you need. 0:17:43.720 --> 0:17:45.679 But the only way I can get you what you 0:17:45.800 --> 0:17:48.840 need is to distribute it through the people that I 0:17:48.960 --> 0:17:52.560 put in your life. So when you isolate yourself and. 0:17:52.520 --> 0:17:55.360 Call it spirituality, that's why I. 0:17:55.040 --> 0:17:57.440 Worry about people who don't come to church. I don't 0:17:57.480 --> 0:17:59.320 need to come to church. I just have my own 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:00.560 relationship with God. 0:18:00.880 --> 0:18:05.280 That's fine. But the church is the trucks and the 0:18:05.320 --> 0:18:08.240 funnels and the tracks through. 0:18:08.080 --> 0:18:12.960 Which God gets his supply to your life. So before 0:18:13.000 --> 0:18:16.639 you cut yourself off from church, you better realize that 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:21.760 God is the need meeter, but the church is the distribution. 0:18:21.280 --> 0:18:24.360 System through which God meets needs. 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:24.639 In the world. 0:18:27.960 --> 0:18:34.480 My God will meet all your needs, and Paul is heard. 0:18:34.800 --> 0:18:36.600 You can hear him hurt if you listen for it. 0:18:36.800 --> 0:18:38.199 If you just go, I can do all things through 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:40.560 Christ strengthens me. If you just go, my God will 0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:42.359 meet all your needs. If you don't read all that 0:18:42.440 --> 0:18:46.040 other stuff that I read, you miss the essence of 0:18:46.080 --> 0:18:50.040 Paul speaking of God's supply from a place of great need. 0:18:50.080 --> 0:18:53.879 He said, no other church helped me, but you, a 0:18:53.920 --> 0:18:57.119 man who gave his life for the Gospel, and in 0:18:57.119 --> 0:18:58.560 his time of need, he says. 0:18:58.359 --> 0:18:59.520 You are the only ones there. 0:19:00.640 --> 0:19:03.359 You can hear him fighting self pity if you listen 0:19:03.400 --> 0:19:07.639 for it. You can hear him processing through all of 0:19:07.680 --> 0:19:10.720 the other lists of churches, the places where he served 0:19:10.760 --> 0:19:13.440 for free. And he was bivocational because he didn't want 0:19:13.440 --> 0:19:15.919 to burden them. But when he got in trouble, and 0:19:16.240 --> 0:19:19.879 when he was appealing to Caesar under house arrest and 0:19:20.000 --> 0:19:22.880 no longer able to function in the same ways, he's 0:19:22.920 --> 0:19:27.359 wondering Where are all the people that I invested in 0:19:27.640 --> 0:19:29.639 at the time where I need dividends. 0:19:31.560 --> 0:19:37.240 That's a painful thing, he said, But you were there 0:19:37.240 --> 0:19:40.160 for me. They sent him a little money. 0:19:40.960 --> 0:19:45.639 They sent a paphroditis along with the little money to 0:19:45.680 --> 0:19:49.960 meet his needs, and Paul said, I appreciate that. That's 0:19:50.000 --> 0:19:53.399 going to be a big help. My trial is very expensive. 0:19:54.680 --> 0:19:56.680 I'm mounting a legal defense and I don't know how 0:19:56.680 --> 0:19:58.280 long this is going to drag on, and so this 0:19:58.320 --> 0:20:03.720 will come in very usefully. But it's not even the 0:20:03.800 --> 0:20:06.840 money that meant the most to me. What meant the. 0:20:06.800 --> 0:20:08.920 Most to me is that you shared in my troubles. 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:17.639 Sometimes people don't want your solutions, they just want solidarity 0:20:17.680 --> 0:20:19.960 with someone who can be there for them. Paul said, 0:20:20.160 --> 0:20:22.399 I appreciate the money that you sent me. I'm going 0:20:22.480 --> 0:20:27.600 to use it. But what really mattered to me was 0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:29.920 that you were there for me. I'll tell you there 0:20:29.960 --> 0:20:32.639 is something about people who are there for you in 0:20:32.680 --> 0:20:36.080 your time of need that you will never ever forget them. 0:20:37.800 --> 0:20:41.360 I can tell you to a person, to a person 0:20:42.400 --> 0:20:44.719 who came to my dad's funeral that I didn't expect 0:20:44.720 --> 0:20:47.919 to see there, and when I saw him, I was like, 0:20:48.359 --> 0:20:50.560 you didn't have to come, but inside. 0:20:50.240 --> 0:20:54.359 I was thinking, I'm sure glad you did. The people 0:20:54.359 --> 0:20:57.320 who canceled vacations to be there, I'll never forget them. 0:20:58.200 --> 0:21:01.000 I'll never forget Buck sitting at my mom's house and 0:21:01.080 --> 0:21:03.000 my dad's house for four days. 0:21:03.160 --> 0:21:04.120 I don't think he left. 0:21:04.119 --> 0:21:06.520 He was like chained like a junkyard dog to the 0:21:06.520 --> 0:21:09.800 front porch for four days while my dad died, while 0:21:09.800 --> 0:21:13.320 hospice was in and out. I'll never forget that, never 0:21:13.400 --> 0:21:15.800 forget the team that was there in the early days 0:21:15.800 --> 0:21:18.440 of the church. I appreciate everybody who's calm sence then, 0:21:18.680 --> 0:21:20.879 but you know, the people who were there when we 0:21:20.960 --> 0:21:23.639 needed it the most. 0:21:23.880 --> 0:21:24.720 Let me tell you a secret. 0:21:24.760 --> 0:21:29.000 If you really want to invest in relationships by low. 0:21:31.280 --> 0:21:31.800 By low. 0:21:32.400 --> 0:21:34.720 When you invest in the stock market, they teach you 0:21:34.920 --> 0:21:35.920 don't always try. 0:21:35.760 --> 0:21:38.240 To invest in something that's like way up here. 0:21:39.280 --> 0:21:41.800 The time you want to buy in is when it's low, 0:21:42.880 --> 0:21:45.600 because then when it shoots up, you have a good 0:21:45.920 --> 0:21:46.680 stake in it. 0:21:47.440 --> 0:21:49.440 Relationships are a lot like that. 0:21:49.800 --> 0:21:52.679 If you will be the kind of person who says, 0:21:52.920 --> 0:21:54.159 I'm gonna be there with you. 0:21:54.160 --> 0:21:56.040 What did Oprah say? I always like to quote Oprah 0:21:56.040 --> 0:21:56.560 once a month. 0:21:56.800 --> 0:21:59.199 What did Oprah say, anybody will ride with you in 0:21:59.240 --> 0:22:02.400 the limousine. What I need is somebody to ride with 0:22:02.440 --> 0:22:05.359 me when the limousine breaks down and we got to 0:22:05.400 --> 0:22:06.280 take the bus. 0:22:06.600 --> 0:22:10.600 I'm looking for some bus friends. I'm looking for some people. 0:22:10.440 --> 0:22:12.800 Who will be on my side when I. 0:22:12.760 --> 0:22:16.080 Don't have anything to give. I'm looking for some people 0:22:16.359 --> 0:22:17.280 who are it. 0:22:24.280 --> 0:22:28.480 So Paul says, I appreciate that. I appreciate that you 0:22:28.520 --> 0:22:31.000 couldn't be here with me. So you did what you could. 0:22:31.240 --> 0:22:33.560 And you know, you've got to value I know this 0:22:33.600 --> 0:22:35.399 is a practical teaching, but I want to get it 0:22:35.400 --> 0:22:37.480 across to you because God has really been speaking to me. 0:22:37.720 --> 0:22:39.919 You got to value what people can give you and 0:22:39.960 --> 0:22:50.160 not resent what they can't. You can't hold people hostage 0:22:50.400 --> 0:22:52.600 to the needs that you have that they can't meet. 0:22:53.960 --> 0:22:57.359 So he says, I appreciate what you're doing for me. 0:22:58.200 --> 0:22:59.800 I appreciate it, and I appreciate you. 0:23:00.000 --> 0:23:06.000 And then Pappy over, but we need to talk about Pappy. 0:23:07.200 --> 0:23:11.800 Because Pappy, Pappy was kind of sickly And the heart 0:23:11.840 --> 0:23:14.600 of my message is really derived from a scripture I 0:23:14.600 --> 0:23:17.160 didn't get to read you over in two twenty five, 0:23:17.280 --> 0:23:20.160 go to the screen. He said, I think now it's 0:23:20.200 --> 0:23:25.960 necessary to send back to you a paphroditis. He's my brother, 0:23:26.920 --> 0:23:30.719 he's my coworker, he's my fellow soldier. I bet he is. 0:23:31.000 --> 0:23:34.159 I bet you do appreciate him. He traveled eight hundred miles. 0:23:34.200 --> 0:23:36.000 If Paul was in prison where we think he was, 0:23:36.280 --> 0:23:38.520 over eight hundred miles to bring the. 0:23:38.520 --> 0:23:41.240 Gift to him, I bet you do appreciate him. This 0:23:41.320 --> 0:23:43.879 guy came a long way to help me. 0:23:44.160 --> 0:23:47.399 You sent me a messenger, not only with money, but 0:23:47.480 --> 0:23:50.680 you send me a messenger with encouragement. You sent him 0:23:50.960 --> 0:23:55.320 to take care of my Say it again, my. 0:23:57.760 --> 0:23:59.280 You sent a. 0:23:59.200 --> 0:24:01.840 Paphroditis to take care of my needs. But I got 0:24:01.840 --> 0:24:05.880 to send him back for he longs for you all. 0:24:06.600 --> 0:24:11.440 He's homesick, and he's distressed because you heard that he 0:24:11.520 --> 0:24:13.240 was ill. 0:24:13.520 --> 0:24:15.959 He's in trouble, and he needs you. 0:24:17.640 --> 0:24:21.240 And that really touched me because I thought, here's Paul 0:24:22.359 --> 0:24:27.879 awaiting what would eventually be a verdict of death, and 0:24:27.920 --> 0:24:31.280 his very life is in the balance, and yet he's 0:24:31.320 --> 0:24:34.159 developed enough spiritually where he still has the presence of 0:24:34.200 --> 0:24:37.679 mind to consider the needs of the church that he 0:24:37.720 --> 0:24:43.080 started above his own. That touched me because in that 0:24:43.200 --> 0:24:47.240 I realized that the secret that Paul spoke of to 0:24:47.320 --> 0:24:51.320 being content, the secret to saying God can meet all 0:24:51.320 --> 0:24:56.400 my needs, is that even when I have a great need. 0:24:56.480 --> 0:24:58.480 My focus is on yours. 0:25:02.760 --> 0:25:08.320 What a perspective that Paul would say, A Paphroditis misses you, 0:25:08.800 --> 0:25:11.560 and I know you miss him, And here I am 0:25:11.600 --> 0:25:13.640 in need, and I know you send him to take 0:25:13.680 --> 0:25:17.120 care of me. And he did and it was helpful 0:25:17.280 --> 0:25:20.000 and I got what I needed from a Paphroditis. 0:25:20.080 --> 0:25:24.600 But now I'm sending him back. See, Paul understood something. 0:25:24.440 --> 0:25:27.480 About the provision of God. And this is where Joshua 0:25:27.640 --> 0:25:30.639 comes in because Joshua centuries earlier. 0:25:30.680 --> 0:25:33.680 Now this is centuries earlier. This is in the Old Testament. 0:25:34.040 --> 0:25:38.080 Joshua is leading the people of God into Canaan. Canaan 0:25:38.200 --> 0:25:41.600 is the land that God promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, 0:25:41.720 --> 0:25:44.679 and Jacob. Canaan is the land that God was leading 0:25:44.680 --> 0:25:47.000 the Israelites toured through Moses. 0:25:47.359 --> 0:25:48.480 Moses brought them. 0:25:48.280 --> 0:25:49.120 Out of Egypt. 0:25:49.440 --> 0:25:53.920 Joshua took them trans Jordan, across the Jordan into the land. 0:25:54.160 --> 0:25:56.560 And the day that they're on the border, the Bible 0:25:56.600 --> 0:26:01.000 says something interesting happened. God served an appetite. God brought 0:26:01.040 --> 0:26:04.280 some edemamee out to the table. God brought some chips 0:26:04.320 --> 0:26:05.320 and SAUCEA what do you like? 0:26:05.320 --> 0:26:05.879 What do you like? 0:26:06.240 --> 0:26:09.520 God brought some hot bread from Canaan. God brought a 0:26:09.560 --> 0:26:12.719 fruit tray from Canaan, and he said, eat this. And 0:26:12.760 --> 0:26:16.480 in Joshua five, verse twelve, after the men were standing 0:26:16.520 --> 0:26:18.840 on the border of their promise, I need you to 0:26:18.880 --> 0:26:19.240 get this. 0:26:19.240 --> 0:26:21.720 This is so powerful. This is where some of you are. 0:26:21.840 --> 0:26:24.879 And you've been asking questions, and you've been feeling needy, 0:26:25.040 --> 0:26:28.280 and you've been wondering why certain sources of supply have 0:26:28.400 --> 0:26:29.200 been cut off. 0:26:29.000 --> 0:26:29.760 In your life. 0:26:29.920 --> 0:26:32.960 The Bible says that the day they eat ate of 0:26:33.119 --> 0:26:37.400 the fruit of the land of Canaan, the manna stopped. 0:26:40.760 --> 0:26:51.439 The mana stop. Well, now, Pastor Stephen, I know what 0:26:51.560 --> 0:26:53.520 mana is, But why don't you just tell me what 0:26:53.560 --> 0:26:55.040 you think it is so I can make sure we're 0:26:55.040 --> 0:26:57.400 on the same page. 0:26:58.520 --> 0:27:03.240 Everybody shall what is it? What it is? 0:27:07.200 --> 0:27:11.359 No, that's what manna means. That's what it means. So 0:27:11.640 --> 0:27:13.359 the Israelites come out of Egypt. Can I take you 0:27:13.359 --> 0:27:14.120 through a history lesson? 0:27:14.160 --> 0:27:14.560 Real quick? 0:27:15.800 --> 0:27:18.480 They come out of Egypt. That's where they were slaves, 0:27:19.720 --> 0:27:22.800 and they come into the wilderness, that's where they were survivors. 0:27:23.720 --> 0:27:27.080 You do understand that when you were a slave to sin, 0:27:27.720 --> 0:27:29.760 there were certain pleasures that you enjoy. 0:27:30.840 --> 0:27:33.399 There were certain ways that you got your needs met. 0:27:34.520 --> 0:27:37.640 Come on, talk to me now, don't start looking at 0:27:37.640 --> 0:27:38.040 me like that. 0:27:38.480 --> 0:27:39.680 I will get so direct. 0:27:39.720 --> 0:27:42.560 I will make you and your mom blush that you 0:27:42.640 --> 0:27:44.560 brought the church with you. The best thing to do 0:27:44.640 --> 0:27:47.080 is nod at me. There are certain ways that you 0:27:47.160 --> 0:27:48.240 got your needs. 0:27:48.400 --> 0:27:49.720 Man. But when they. 0:27:49.640 --> 0:27:53.719 Left Egypt, they started missing the types of meals that 0:27:53.760 --> 0:27:56.840 they got in Egypt. Now, they didn't miss the whips 0:27:56.880 --> 0:28:00.879 of their slave masters, they didn't miss the labor of 0:28:00.960 --> 0:28:02.959 brickmaking with not enough mortar. 0:28:03.160 --> 0:28:05.240 In fact, they had cried out to God to get 0:28:05.240 --> 0:28:07.359 them out of the land. But watch what happened when 0:28:07.400 --> 0:28:08.000 they got out. 0:28:08.080 --> 0:28:14.160 In Edjudus sixteen, verse three, because freedom is an acquired taste, 0:28:14.359 --> 0:28:20.240 they said, Moses, it would have been better if only 0:28:20.600 --> 0:28:25.320 we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt, because 0:28:25.359 --> 0:28:29.280 there we sat around pots of meat and ate all 0:28:29.359 --> 0:28:30.520 the food we wanted. 0:28:32.640 --> 0:28:35.760 You brought us out in this desert, starved to death 0:28:37.560 --> 0:28:41.080 and they see, here's here's what happens. Here's what happens. 0:28:41.520 --> 0:28:46.240 He let him out and they got to a new place. 0:28:47.480 --> 0:28:51.440 But they were addicted to the means. 0:28:55.440 --> 0:28:59.800 So when they got here and they felt hungry, they 0:29:00.000 --> 0:29:03.720 it is the place they used to eat from, and 0:29:03.800 --> 0:29:07.360 so their assumption was God must have brought us here 0:29:07.680 --> 0:29:08.400 to die. 0:29:08.760 --> 0:29:10.479 I have this restaurant that I like to take call 0:29:10.560 --> 0:29:10.680 it to. 0:29:10.800 --> 0:29:13.680 It's a very nice restaurant, very proper, and I like 0:29:13.760 --> 0:29:14.880 to take her there as much. 0:29:14.680 --> 0:29:15.120 As I can. 0:29:15.240 --> 0:29:17.000 There was a time we couldn't go there, you know, 0:29:17.040 --> 0:29:19.720 we couldn't afford to go there. But now we can 0:29:19.760 --> 0:29:21.440 go there, and so I like to go there. And 0:29:21.480 --> 0:29:22.960 I like to not even look at some of the 0:29:22.960 --> 0:29:25.760 prices sometimes, just order whatever you want, just to do 0:29:25.840 --> 0:29:28.320 it just because I like her, just because she's my girlfriend, 0:29:28.440 --> 0:29:29.040 just because I'm. 0:29:28.920 --> 0:29:31.320 Trying to impress her. Just act like it's the prom 0:29:31.600 --> 0:29:33.640 Just act like this is my one shot to make 0:29:33.680 --> 0:29:34.160 her like me. 0:29:34.360 --> 0:29:36.440 And so we go in and order and they have 0:29:36.520 --> 0:29:39.040 this squash soup that I like, this squash soup. And 0:29:39.080 --> 0:29:40.920 I never thought I would like squash soup, but you 0:29:40.960 --> 0:29:43.360 haven't tasted it, this squash soup. This is a different 0:29:43.440 --> 0:29:46.040 kind of squash soup and it's got bacon in it. 0:29:46.200 --> 0:29:47.960 And so that's all I had. You had me at 0:29:48.000 --> 0:29:49.800 bacon and so it's. 0:29:49.680 --> 0:29:52.160 A squash soup with the bacon in it, and I 0:29:52.280 --> 0:29:53.880 like it. I went to order it the other day 0:29:54.080 --> 0:29:56.520 and I said, I said, I'll have the squash soup. 0:29:56.520 --> 0:29:57.920 Because we go in there quite a bit, as I 0:29:57.960 --> 0:30:00.240 was saying, and the people know me in there, hip 0:30:00.280 --> 0:30:03.000 will and everything. So I get good service and kind 0:30:03.000 --> 0:30:05.440 of importing around there. And so I walk in, I said, 0:30:05.920 --> 0:30:08.000 I have the squash soup and he shook his head. 0:30:08.040 --> 0:30:15.240 He said, oh, pastor is off the menu, he said, 0:30:15.720 --> 0:30:28.240 he said, that's a seasonal item. That's a seasonal item. 0:30:28.280 --> 0:30:33.440 There are some things in your life that God provided 0:30:34.920 --> 0:30:38.680 and now they're not there anymore. And you've been walking 0:30:38.720 --> 0:30:42.840 around worried because you think now you're gonna starve. But 0:30:42.960 --> 0:30:46.160 God said, no, no, no, it's just a new season. 0:30:47.360 --> 0:30:53.320 And that's what new season means, lose the why my God. 0:30:56.920 --> 0:31:00.840 So so you gotta know, you gotta I know some 0:31:00.880 --> 0:31:03.920 things about God's provision. I'm a hasten to a close, 0:31:04.080 --> 0:31:06.800 but I gotta give you a quick outline God's provision 0:31:06.880 --> 0:31:07.600 is seasonal. 0:31:07.640 --> 0:31:11.040 Everybody say seasonal. Write these down real quick. 0:31:11.200 --> 0:31:13.880 So the next time you're leaving Egypt and you feel 0:31:13.880 --> 0:31:16.920 those hunger pangs and you wish you were back over here, 0:31:17.280 --> 0:31:18.920 and you feel like, oh, I don't know what God 0:31:19.040 --> 0:31:21.440 is doing and I'm trying to do his will, but 0:31:21.560 --> 0:31:24.960 I'm gravitating back over here, you can say, no, devil, 0:31:25.200 --> 0:31:28.239 the provision of God is to give me what I 0:31:28.400 --> 0:31:30.360 need in this season. 0:31:30.840 --> 0:31:34.800 The day they left, the menu changed. 0:31:38.200 --> 0:31:43.320 For forty years in the wilderness. God promised his provision 0:31:43.360 --> 0:31:46.960 to the Israelites. He did it in a supernatural way. 0:31:47.800 --> 0:31:54.280 He rained down mena from the heavens, and they saw it, 0:31:55.640 --> 0:31:56.680 and they said, what is it? 0:31:57.160 --> 0:31:59.520 Mana? That's what the word mana means. What is it? 0:31:59.600 --> 0:32:02.000 That's what some of y'all said about your husband when 0:32:02.000 --> 0:32:03.120 God brought him into your life. 0:32:03.160 --> 0:32:05.000 It took you a minute to realize, Oh, this is 0:32:05.040 --> 0:32:05.560 my husband. 0:32:07.240 --> 0:32:08.960 I think Holly kind of felt that about me the 0:32:09.000 --> 0:32:10.280 first time I was No. 0:32:10.360 --> 0:32:11.000 I think she did. 0:32:11.160 --> 0:32:13.440 I was kind of a pump rock guy, and the 0:32:13.960 --> 0:32:16.400 way I dressed and everything. I had this whole style 0:32:16.440 --> 0:32:18.400 that she wasn't really into. I think the first time 0:32:18.440 --> 0:32:25.120 she met me, she said what is it? 0:32:25.240 --> 0:32:33.120 Told me a while to show her what it is. Hey, 0:32:33.960 --> 0:32:42.680 but watch this. Forty years, they got so used to it. 0:32:42.680 --> 0:32:45.240 At one point they started yelling at Moses. They were like, Man, 0:32:45.360 --> 0:32:47.040 all we ever get is this. Man. 0:32:47.480 --> 0:32:50.400 Do you know you can become so accustomed to blessing 0:32:50.440 --> 0:32:53.320 in a prolonged season that you begin to complain about 0:32:53.320 --> 0:32:54.520 the very thing you prayed for. 0:33:04.520 --> 0:33:05.720 And they wanted. 0:33:06.040 --> 0:33:10.040 They wanted something different than mana mana falling down. 0:33:10.120 --> 0:33:12.920 Oh it was sweet too, The Bible says it was sweet. 0:33:13.040 --> 0:33:17.320 This was not a gluten free food item from Heaven's 0:33:17.320 --> 0:33:21.520 culinary cuisine, and they ate it. 0:33:21.160 --> 0:33:24.160 For forty years. Now, watch this. They crossed the Jordan. 0:33:25.240 --> 0:33:29.480 Joshua was circumcises to people who haven't been circumcised yet. 0:33:34.160 --> 0:33:36.720 So it's kind of bad timing for anything to change. 0:33:38.480 --> 0:33:41.360 They're still recovering for the circumcision, getting ready to fight 0:33:41.400 --> 0:33:44.800 the Battle of Jericho, and the Bible says that when 0:33:44.800 --> 0:33:47.360 the mana would come, it would just fall, and all 0:33:47.400 --> 0:33:50.240 they had to do to get it was gathering millions 0:33:50.240 --> 0:33:52.680 of pounds of mana every day, and all they had 0:33:52.720 --> 0:33:55.600 to do to get it was to gather it. All 0:33:55.600 --> 0:33:57.840 they had to do was walk out of their tents 0:33:58.880 --> 0:34:05.200 their buckets, bring in their manna. And then mama cooks 0:34:05.280 --> 0:34:08.640 up the mana. Maybe she boils it, maybe she broils it, 0:34:08.880 --> 0:34:11.880 maybe she bakes it, maybe she fries it, maybe she 0:34:12.040 --> 0:34:15.040 roasts it. Maybe she gets creative. Maybe they eat some 0:34:15.160 --> 0:34:18.280 mana sushi. Maybe you can eat it raw. But they 0:34:18.440 --> 0:34:22.800 had eaten mana for forty years. One day, Jimmy comes 0:34:22.800 --> 0:34:25.239 out of his tent to gather his manna, because that's 0:34:25.280 --> 0:34:28.120 his job. You know, men have jobs around the houses sometime. 0:34:28.320 --> 0:34:30.960 And so Jimmy gets up to gather the mana, and 0:34:31.000 --> 0:34:33.400 he's kind of walking kind of slow because of what 0:34:33.560 --> 0:34:36.360 just happened that I told you about. So he's walking 0:34:36.360 --> 0:34:36.919 out the tent. 0:34:37.000 --> 0:34:38.759 I was trying to make the Bible come alive for you. 0:34:39.120 --> 0:34:42.560 So he's walking out the tent, still rubbing his eyes, 0:34:44.400 --> 0:34:49.319 and he looks for his manna, and it's not there. 0:34:51.800 --> 0:34:55.239 Have you ever showed up to a place where there 0:34:55.239 --> 0:34:58.040 has been provisions so long that you took it for granted. 0:35:00.040 --> 0:35:00.719 And it's not there. 0:35:02.400 --> 0:35:04.839 Sometimes it takes somebody even dying in our life before 0:35:04.880 --> 0:35:09.640 we appreciate what they brought. Sometimes it takes losing a 0:35:09.719 --> 0:35:11.239 job to appreciate employment. 0:35:14.600 --> 0:35:16.800 And they come. They come out of tent. Jimmy. 0:35:17.000 --> 0:35:20.239 Jimmy looking for his manna. And now he went from 0:35:20.239 --> 0:35:25.280 what is it? To where is it? Come on, where 0:35:25.320 --> 0:35:33.279 is it? So Jimmy goes over to Johnny's tent and 0:35:33.320 --> 0:35:36.600 he comes over to Johnny. He said, hey, Johnny, man 0:35:36.680 --> 0:35:38.680 the angel got mixed up. I think he dropped off 0:35:38.719 --> 0:35:41.399 my mana and yours too at your door today. It'd 0:35:41.400 --> 0:35:44.120 be all right if I and Johnny said no, Jimmy, 0:35:44.120 --> 0:35:46.239 I was just about to come over to your your 0:35:46.320 --> 0:35:48.319 place and ask you can I have some of your 0:35:48.320 --> 0:35:54.799 manna because I didn't get any either. Now can you 0:35:54.840 --> 0:35:57.279 imagine the fear if this is the only way God 0:35:57.280 --> 0:36:02.960 has fed you for forty years. God has been dropping 0:36:03.000 --> 0:36:06.040 stuff out of the sky for forty years, and all 0:36:06.120 --> 0:36:08.720 you had to do was gather it. In many ways, 0:36:09.120 --> 0:36:11.800 God will allow seasons of your life where your faith 0:36:11.920 --> 0:36:18.560 is the weakest to be the most miraculous. I remember 0:36:19.280 --> 0:36:22.160 Ron Spivey chased my car down when I was going 0:36:22.200 --> 0:36:25.640 back to college one semester. And Ron loved the Lord 0:36:25.719 --> 0:36:28.479 and he loved me, and he chased after my car. 0:36:28.719 --> 0:36:30.760 I remember I chased after my car. He said, Steeze, 0:36:30.840 --> 0:36:31.600 Steez Steve. 0:36:31.719 --> 0:36:33.960 Call me Steve. Nobody calls me Steve. That knows me, 0:36:34.040 --> 0:36:36.440 but he knew me, called me Steve. Stee stee Steve. 0:36:36.960 --> 0:36:38.520 It just dropped the in off my name, like his 0:36:38.560 --> 0:36:40.480 wheel of fortune or something like he didn't want to buy. 0:36:40.320 --> 0:36:42.160 An in, but it's Steez Steve. 0:36:43.640 --> 0:36:46.400 He goes here, man, God loves you, and threw a 0:36:46.520 --> 0:36:48.560 hundred dollar bill at me in my window. Got me 0:36:48.560 --> 0:36:49.839 a rolled out my when I threw a hundred dollar 0:36:49.880 --> 0:36:53.160 bill and ran the other way. You know how long 0:36:53.200 --> 0:36:55.440 it's been since somebody threw a hundred dollars bill. 0:36:56.800 --> 0:37:00.720 At me. But see. 0:37:02.520 --> 0:37:08.480 Now I'm the thrower. I'm not a college student anymore. 0:37:10.239 --> 0:37:17.560 I'm I don't need that anymore. I don't need that anymore. 0:37:18.080 --> 0:37:21.360 There was a season, everybody say season when Holly and 0:37:21.440 --> 0:37:23.520 I were starting the church, and it was growing that 0:37:23.680 --> 0:37:26.959 every restaurant we went in, somebody paid for our meal. 0:37:27.200 --> 0:37:29.960 In Charlotte, every restaurant. How many restaurants in a row? 0:37:30.040 --> 0:37:32.400 I think one time we counted seven. It got so 0:37:32.560 --> 0:37:35.760 predictable we almost stopped bringing our wallet and our purse 0:37:35.960 --> 0:37:36.960 into the restaurant. 0:37:37.160 --> 0:37:39.960 It was awesome. You know, it's been a couple of years. 0:37:44.560 --> 0:37:47.879 But see, I don't take that like a sign that 0:37:47.920 --> 0:37:51.120 God doesn't love me. I take it as a sign 0:37:51.200 --> 0:37:53.440 now it was time for me to look around the 0:37:53.480 --> 0:37:58.800 restaurant and see whose meal I can find cut on somebody, 0:37:59.200 --> 0:37:59.880 are you doing. 0:38:01.480 --> 0:38:02.479 Or a need meter? 0:38:05.320 --> 0:38:12.640 Need meeter, need meter, need meeter? Touch somebody say, I'm 0:38:12.640 --> 0:38:16.960 a need meter. I'm blessed to be a blessing. I'm 0:38:17.040 --> 0:38:21.480 made in the image of God. I give encouragement, I 0:38:21.680 --> 0:38:25.440 give blessing. I'm looking for somebody to help. 0:38:29.719 --> 0:38:30.720 I'm in a new season. 0:38:32.000 --> 0:38:34.160 Some of you have been stuck in a survival season 0:38:34.200 --> 0:38:37.480 where you've always had your handout, needing somebody to encourage 0:38:37.480 --> 0:38:40.440 you or serve you. And God says, in this season, 0:38:40.719 --> 0:38:45.200 the manna is off the menu. This is your season 0:38:45.600 --> 0:38:49.960 to learn how to sew, and your season to learn 0:38:50.040 --> 0:38:57.399 how to water. And you will starve in your new 0:38:57.440 --> 0:38:59.920 season if you don't learn how to access your new supply. 0:39:04.920 --> 0:39:07.920 If you keep longing for Egypt and keep looking for 0:39:08.040 --> 0:39:11.160 manna and don't learn how to farm in Canaan. 0:39:11.640 --> 0:39:12.720 You're going to start to death. 0:39:14.160 --> 0:39:17.960 If you keep waiting for those old friends to call you. See, 0:39:18.000 --> 0:39:22.120 God has to cut you off. From some things. God 0:39:22.160 --> 0:39:25.920 has to cut you off from some things. The manna stopped, 0:39:26.040 --> 0:39:29.319 and the assumption could be, well, I guess God has 0:39:29.400 --> 0:39:32.120 left us, But Joshua said. 0:39:31.920 --> 0:39:37.440 No, that means we're on the border of Canaan. 0:39:37.640 --> 0:39:40.959 And this is a fertile land, and so we need 0:39:41.000 --> 0:39:44.799 to learn how to work this new crowd. Can I 0:39:44.840 --> 0:39:47.359 stay right here for a minute? Can I stay right here? 0:39:47.440 --> 0:39:49.400 How many of you will give me seven minutes to 0:39:49.440 --> 0:39:49.840 finish this? 0:39:50.719 --> 0:39:53.400 I must stay right here. I must stay right here. 0:39:53.560 --> 0:39:54.759 I must stay right here. 0:39:54.920 --> 0:39:58.560 It's a new season, it's a new strategy. It's a 0:39:58.600 --> 0:40:02.640 new season, it's new supply, it's a new season. 0:40:03.000 --> 0:40:04.440 It's the same source. 0:40:05.040 --> 0:40:07.960 But God knows how to feed you what you need 0:40:08.280 --> 0:40:10.160 for every season that you're in. 0:40:11.200 --> 0:40:12.280 I'm gonna say that again. 0:40:12.760 --> 0:40:15.760 God knows how to feed you what you need. 0:40:15.440 --> 0:40:17.680 For every season that you're in. 0:40:18.120 --> 0:40:20.759 So if you win outside of your tent and the 0:40:20.880 --> 0:40:24.120 manna wasn't there, it doesn't mean God left you. 0:40:24.480 --> 0:40:26.960 It just means that the way He's gonna feed you 0:40:27.360 --> 0:40:28.759 has changed forms. 0:40:29.040 --> 0:40:30.320 You're in a new season. 0:40:31.600 --> 0:40:33.200 Come on shout about as somebody. 0:40:35.440 --> 0:40:37.920 Come on, black people, teach my white people how to 0:40:38.040 --> 0:40:41.239 have church, teach him how to shout, Teach him how 0:40:41.280 --> 0:40:44.600 to praise God, Teach him how to respond to say God, 0:40:44.880 --> 0:40:45.880 I'm not starving. 0:40:46.160 --> 0:40:48.960 I'm in a new season, and whatever I don't have, 0:40:49.440 --> 0:40:53.120 I don't need it in this season. It's a new season. 0:41:00.080 --> 0:41:00.840 From season A. 0:41:02.440 --> 0:41:10.719 Seasonal is seasonal is seasonal is seasonal. It's not that 0:41:11.040 --> 0:41:14.840 you're not blessed anymore. It's just that it's not going 0:41:14.920 --> 0:41:17.479 to fall down out of the sky anymore. That year 0:41:17.560 --> 0:41:21.200 they hate the produce of Canaan Paul said, I used 0:41:21.239 --> 0:41:26.319 to get my supply from circumstances, but I have learned. 0:41:26.320 --> 0:41:31.799 The secret in any season is that when I cross over. 0:41:32.120 --> 0:41:36.480 And the supply that I'm used to isn't there, God's. 0:41:36.160 --> 0:41:38.200 Leading me to what's next. 0:41:38.239 --> 0:41:39.280 This a new season. 0:41:41.600 --> 0:41:48.640 God's provision is seasonal, and it's unusual. It's unusual. Everybody 0:41:48.719 --> 0:41:53.399 shall what is it? God hides his provision for your 0:41:53.520 --> 0:41:59.879 secret needs in unexpected places. 0:42:00.239 --> 0:42:03.000 Nayman who had leprosy, are y'all bored? 0:42:11.360 --> 0:42:14.960 You may be praying for wisdom and walking right past 0:42:15.200 --> 0:42:19.880 the source of the wisdom. There may be a little 0:42:19.880 --> 0:42:22.759 boy who has your five loaves and two fish, and 0:42:22.800 --> 0:42:25.880 you don't even recognize him because he doesn't seem important 0:42:25.920 --> 0:42:30.600 to you. Nayman had leprosy, and it was a little 0:42:30.640 --> 0:42:34.160 servant girl from Israel that told him to go to Elisha. 0:42:34.600 --> 0:42:37.759 If he had ignored that girl, his hidden needs would 0:42:37.760 --> 0:42:40.520 have remained unmet because he didn't know how to look 0:42:40.560 --> 0:42:44.680 for God's supply in unusual places. Elijah, go to the 0:42:44.680 --> 0:42:47.400 brook at the Karrath Ravine. There, I have ordered the 0:42:47.480 --> 0:42:49.920 ravens to feed you. You're not gonna get it in 0:42:50.000 --> 0:42:52.879 this season from the places you expect. God said, I'm 0:42:52.880 --> 0:42:56.239 gonna bless you in this season in unusual ways, in 0:42:56.360 --> 0:43:00.319 unexpected ways, through people that you used to discount. I'm 0:43:00.360 --> 0:43:03.080 gonna give you wisdom. I'm gonna give you supply. But 0:43:03.320 --> 0:43:08.840 stop walking by your supply because it looks like a seed. 0:43:14.160 --> 0:43:21.719 God stores his provision in unusual places, unusual places. I 0:43:21.719 --> 0:43:26.080 can't understand why men don't listen to their wives. If 0:43:26.120 --> 0:43:29.200 anybody is going to help you avoid disaster, wouldn't it 0:43:29.239 --> 0:43:31.880 be the one who has invested their life in your success. 0:43:34.040 --> 0:43:36.680 I thought a women's conference shout might break out right there. 0:43:41.880 --> 0:43:44.040 Some of you women are missing your husband because you're 0:43:44.040 --> 0:43:48.520 looking for a body type. God might give you a 0:43:48.560 --> 0:43:50.200 good man that doesn't have a six pack. 0:43:50.400 --> 0:43:54.279 Hello, So. 0:43:57.040 --> 0:44:00.680 His supply is going to be it's going to be seasonal, 0:44:01.640 --> 0:44:07.560 is gonna be unusual, and it's gonna be proportional. God 0:44:07.640 --> 0:44:11.080 is going to give you what you need for this season. 0:44:14.640 --> 0:44:17.520 Whatever manner they didn't gather. That they gathered, that they 0:44:17.520 --> 0:44:20.680 didn't eat that day, it went to waste, its spoiled. 0:44:21.120 --> 0:44:24.239 They couldn't need it. Why give us this day our 0:44:24.360 --> 0:44:28.680 daily bread? Give me this day my daily bread. You 0:44:28.719 --> 0:44:31.480 know why some of you have ulcers because you're trying 0:44:31.520 --> 0:44:34.360 to fight tomorrow's battles with today's strength. 0:44:40.560 --> 0:44:45.640 So God said, I'm gonna give you what you need. 0:44:45.680 --> 0:44:50.360 I'm gonna supply all your needs according to my riches, 0:44:50.560 --> 0:44:52.960 but I'm gonna measure it out according to your need, 0:44:53.200 --> 0:44:56.320 and I know what you really need. I have learned 0:44:56.480 --> 0:44:59.680 in my life not to ask God too much for 0:44:59.760 --> 0:45:03.600 an opportunity, because I might get more persistent than I 0:45:03.640 --> 0:45:06.319 am ready. And if I get more persistent than I 0:45:06.360 --> 0:45:09.319 am ready, I'll have weight on me that I was 0:45:09.360 --> 0:45:17.040 not built to carry in this season. So I learned 0:45:17.040 --> 0:45:19.239 how to worship God for what he gave me and 0:45:19.280 --> 0:45:22.960 for what he withheld for me, because he will bless 0:45:23.040 --> 0:45:25.400 me in a way that is proportional to my purpose 0:45:26.360 --> 0:45:27.040 and my teaching. 0:45:27.080 --> 0:45:30.239 God is just getting down deep in you. Come on, 0:45:30.320 --> 0:45:32.799 I want to feed you today. God's gonna feed you. 0:45:33.080 --> 0:45:36.080 He's gonna feed you in a way this proportional, and 0:45:36.120 --> 0:45:38.719 in a way this personal write it down is personal. 0:45:38.920 --> 0:45:41.799 God's provision is personal. That means you don't have to 0:45:41.920 --> 0:45:44.840 envy me. I don't have to envy you. God's gonna 0:45:44.840 --> 0:45:49.040 supply all of my needs, my needs. God give me 0:45:49.160 --> 0:45:52.239 what I need to do, what you called me to do. 0:45:52.520 --> 0:45:55.520 I don't have to envy anybody else's gift. I don't 0:45:55.560 --> 0:45:58.400 have to envy anybody else's family. I don't have to 0:45:58.520 --> 0:46:02.000 envy anybody else's back. I don't have to envy anybody 0:46:02.040 --> 0:46:06.120 else's skill set. God is a personal god. He's numbered 0:46:06.160 --> 0:46:09.000 the hairs on my head. He fastened me in my 0:46:09.160 --> 0:46:13.080 mother's womb. He created me for a purpose. He's set 0:46:13.080 --> 0:46:15.960 the exact time I was supposed to be born, for 0:46:16.120 --> 0:46:20.480 the exact purpose. How many are glad? He's a personal god. 0:46:20.880 --> 0:46:24.640 He's up close and personal. He numbered the hairs on 0:46:24.680 --> 0:46:33.320 my head. He knows what I mean. And Elisha, Elijah 0:46:33.360 --> 0:46:36.320 asked the woman in the second king, spot said, said 0:46:36.600 --> 0:46:38.920 what do you need? She said, they're coming to take 0:46:39.000 --> 0:46:41.759 my sons away and I don't have anything to pay. 0:46:42.000 --> 0:46:44.640 And she said, I don't have anything to give them. 0:46:44.680 --> 0:46:48.560 And Elisha asked, what is in your house? So that 0:46:48.719 --> 0:46:58.000 means that God's provision is local. That means God's provision 0:46:58.280 --> 0:47:03.000 for your life is within your grasp. He didn't cut 0:47:03.000 --> 0:47:05.520 off the manna until they were close to Canaan. God's 0:47:05.560 --> 0:47:12.120 provision awaits your next step of faith. Please receive this word. 0:47:12.239 --> 0:47:14.960 I'm not preaching this just to be entertaining. I'm not 0:47:15.000 --> 0:47:17.440 preaching this to be your hype man. I'm trying to 0:47:17.480 --> 0:47:20.759 get you to see that often we overlook what is 0:47:20.840 --> 0:47:24.600 right in front of us in praying about what's ahead 0:47:24.640 --> 0:47:32.359 of us. God, help me see the supply that you've 0:47:32.400 --> 0:47:34.400 put in my life through new eyes. 0:47:34.800 --> 0:47:37.759 Maybe it's not that I need God to give me 0:47:38.440 --> 0:47:39.440 something I don't have. 0:47:39.760 --> 0:47:41.680 Maybe it's said, I need to learn how to use 0:47:41.719 --> 0:47:47.880 what He's already given. You have it, you have it 0:47:47.920 --> 0:47:51.360 in your house, you have it in your heart, you 0:47:51.440 --> 0:47:53.480 have it in your grass. 0:47:54.200 --> 0:48:02.000 It's provision. What is it and what is it? 0:48:02.000 --> 0:48:05.120 It's local. I want to review the whole sermon. Now 0:48:05.600 --> 0:48:10.200 I'm closing. Stand up, Stand up, and I'll close. Stay 0:48:10.200 --> 0:48:12.520 sitting there. I'll preach another thirty five minutes. I'll preach 0:48:12.560 --> 0:48:15.160 through the Panthers game. I'll preach through the Super Bowl, 0:48:15.200 --> 0:48:23.400 I'll preach through the playoffers. God's provision is seasonal. I 0:48:23.480 --> 0:48:27.560 have what I need for now. If I have what 0:48:27.640 --> 0:48:30.480 I need for now, and I use it, and it'll lead 0:48:30.520 --> 0:48:33.360 me into what's next. The day they reached the border 0:48:33.360 --> 0:48:35.040 of Canaan, the man of stopped. 0:48:35.239 --> 0:48:38.040 It was a sign that you're in a new season. 0:48:39.560 --> 0:48:40.480 It's unusual. 0:48:40.800 --> 0:48:44.680 God, teach me how to not walk past the fountains 0:48:44.680 --> 0:48:46.839 of blessing that you placed in my life this week. 0:48:48.040 --> 0:48:51.839 Help me to look for your provision and unusual places. 0:48:52.320 --> 0:48:55.520 Help me not to get so caught up in praying 0:48:55.560 --> 0:48:58.520 for one thing that I miss the real thing that 0:48:58.560 --> 0:48:59.759 you were trying to do. 0:49:00.239 --> 0:49:01.760 Help me fix my eyes. 0:49:05.200 --> 0:49:11.000 And it's uh proportional and it's personal, and it's local, 0:49:12.239 --> 0:49:13.600 and it's yours. 0:49:15.200 --> 0:49:20.439 And it's yours. I said, it's yours. I'm not even 0:49:20.440 --> 0:49:22.920 gonna shout. I'm gonna let you shout. It's yours. 0:49:23.360 --> 0:49:23.680 Shout. 0:49:23.719 --> 0:49:28.879 If you on a shout, it's yours. Somebody shout his mind. 0:49:30.000 --> 0:49:34.359 Come on, somebody shout his mind, And. 0:49:34.440 --> 0:49:41.160 My God shall he show what he shout? What he 0:49:41.400 --> 0:49:48.360 shout what? And my God shall suppli? Oh goody a 0:49:48.600 --> 0:49:50.600 coming till it's riches. 0:49:51.640 --> 0:49:57.960 Somebody give him a brase, Somebody give him a blame brad, Somebody. 0:49:57.480 --> 0:49:58.840 Give him bread. 0:50:01.600 --> 0:50:02.719 Thank you for joining us. 0:50:03.000 --> 0:50:05.480 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:50:05.520 --> 0:50:09.040 this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:50:09.480 --> 0:50:11.680 You can click the link in the description to give 0:50:11.760 --> 0:50:15.920 now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more 0:50:15.920 --> 0:50:19.720 information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:50:20.000 --> 0:50:21.360 You can share it with your friends. 0:50:21.640 --> 0:50:23.920 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:50:23.960 --> 0:50:26.080 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:50:26.080 --> 0:50:33.600 Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.