I Thought It Was Through

0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.320 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:10.680 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 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:13.560 in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:14.680 Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.840 --> 0:00:19.360 I want to let you know if you don't live 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:22.560 near Charlotte, but you've always wanted to come to Elevation Church, 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:24.159 we figured out a way to come to you. 0:00:24.720 --> 0:00:27.840 Elevation Nights Fall Tour twenty. 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:32.800 Twenty five coming up October twenty first through October thirtieth. 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:37.839 Saint Paul, Minnesota, Omaha, Nebraska, Saint Louis, Missouri, Louisville. 0:00:37.479 --> 0:00:39.360 Kentucky, Dluf, Georgia. 0:00:39.520 --> 0:00:42.159 We might as well say Atlanta, And if some of 0:00:42.200 --> 0:00:45.400 you from Charlotte want to drive to Atlanta, that'll be great. 0:00:45.440 --> 0:00:50.519 There will be no traffic. There never is any traffic 0:00:51.320 --> 0:00:54.960 on I eighty five. It'll take you nine hours to 0:00:55.080 --> 0:00:58.480 drive there, but you should do that. Tampa, Florida, Miami, Florida, 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:00.760 where my beautiful I grew up. 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:05.440 Y'all give it up for Holly and Orlando, Florida. Go 0:01:05.480 --> 0:01:08.000 to Elevation Nights dot com. 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:11.000 Happy eleventh anniversary to our Raleigh campus. 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:13.959 Help me celebrate them better than that. 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:22.960 Come on, Happy eleventh anniversary Raleigh, Raleigh Campus. 0:01:23.319 --> 0:01:25.800 We're praying for a great next year of ministry. 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:28.640 It's our twentieth year of ministry as a church, and 0:01:29.040 --> 0:01:32.280 just we'll continue the celebration all year. Thank you to 0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:36.040 all the wonderful guest preachers who filled this pulpit and preached, 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:37.840 and all of our home team that preached. 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:44.480 But my middle son Graham looked at me the other 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:46.880 day he said, it is time. We want you back. 0:01:46.920 --> 0:01:49.200 All these speakers have been great. We want you back. 0:01:51.720 --> 0:01:52.240 I'm back. 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:56.360 I want to share with you today a scripture that 0:01:56.400 --> 0:01:58.080 the Lord gave me during our break. 0:01:58.080 --> 0:01:59.760 Our break was very unusual this year. 0:02:00.560 --> 0:02:03.280 Part of the time is just rest, part of the 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:05.040 time is study, songwriting and all of that. 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:07.400 The first half we spent in an unusual way. 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:10.639 Our oldest son, Elijah had a surgery and he was 0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:13.200 recovering from that. It was a pretty major surgery, and 0:02:13.240 --> 0:02:17.160 then he got infected and we ended up back into ICU. 0:02:16.480 --> 0:02:18.560 For quite a while after that, and he's doing all 0:02:18.600 --> 0:02:19.000 better now. 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:21.720 In fact, the Lord healed him, and he's clipping my 0:02:21.760 --> 0:02:24.240 sermon for TikTok right now as I preach it in 0:02:24.280 --> 0:02:26.480 a back room somewhere. So let's give God phrase for that. 0:02:31.800 --> 0:02:33.359 I told him before I came to preach us. I'm 0:02:33.360 --> 0:02:36.000 going to be very clippable today. I must say good stuff. 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:39.520 I'll make your job easy. But in our Bible reading, 0:02:39.560 --> 0:02:41.360 as we were going through some of that for the 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:44.160 better part of a month as a family, we came 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:46.079 across Psalm seventy seven and there was a verse I 0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:47.400 knew I wanted to share with you when I got 0:02:47.440 --> 0:02:48.959 back with you, and it's going to lead us into. 0:02:48.840 --> 0:02:49.680 A series today. 0:02:49.919 --> 0:02:52.680 So remain standing for just when I read this one verse, 0:02:53.400 --> 0:02:56.839 just one verse? Can you stand for one verse? It's 0:02:56.840 --> 0:02:59.640 in Psalm seventy seven, verse nineteen, And I'll read this 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:01.640 and then work backward from there to give you the 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:04.320 message for today. And the Lord's going to help us 0:03:04.360 --> 0:03:10.960 in some remarkable ways. Psalm seventy seven, verse nineteen. The 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:14.880 Psalmist says to God, your path led through the sea, 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:20.959 your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:26.560 not seen, and had a beautiful scripture. And the Lord 0:03:26.600 --> 0:03:30.200 really used that in my life. I believe he wants. 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:34.640 To use it in yours really underrated scripture too. Maybe 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:35.520 it'll be your favorite. 0:03:36.000 --> 0:03:39.360 At the end of today, he says, your path led 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:43.839 through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though 0:03:43.840 --> 0:03:48.080 your footprints were not seen. And just turn to the 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:49.520 person next to you and tell them, even if you 0:03:49.520 --> 0:03:55.200 don't see it, God is working, tell him even if 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:55.920 you don't feel it. 0:03:57.440 --> 0:03:58.320 God is working. 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:01.440 Let's put our hands together and praise the way Maper 0:04:01.480 --> 0:04:05.080 in this place. Come on, praise the way Maper in 0:04:05.120 --> 0:04:07.240 this place. God. 0:04:07.320 --> 0:04:09.080 I thank you for every mountain. 0:04:08.800 --> 0:04:11.360 You've brought me over, every valley you've brought me through. 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:15.680 It was nobody but you, and I praise you today. 0:04:16.160 --> 0:04:17.360 Speak now through your word. 0:04:17.440 --> 0:04:20.360 Use me as a vessel. I'm willing and available and open. 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:23.920 Give me the courage, give me the clarity, the confidence 0:04:23.960 --> 0:04:26.800 to speak to your children today. And may they receive 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:29.120 it and obey it. For it is in Jesus name 0:04:29.160 --> 0:04:31.799 that I pray and believe and call it done. Amen, 0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:38.080 you may be seated. Well, boys, bring out my teaching screen. 0:04:40.760 --> 0:04:45.359 Let's get this series started properly. As I announced to 0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:49.599 you our title for the next six weeks at least, 0:04:50.120 --> 0:04:52.359 and maybe even beyond that, because this is such a 0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:57.919 big topic that we're going to talk about, and the 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:03.560 title of the series it doesn't come exactly from the 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:04.839 verse that I read you, but I'll. 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:06.279 Show you where it did come from in a moment. 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:11.000 And before you judge my handwriting, just know that Abby 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:14.040 has made fun of my handwriting so much. And today 0:05:14.080 --> 0:05:15.920 I made her try to write on the screen before 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:16.400 we came. 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:18.760 Out here, and she said, this is harder than it 0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:19.279 looks like. 0:05:20.080 --> 0:05:23.159 I'm so sorry for how I spoke of you, father, 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:28.240 But what I want to talk to you about for 0:05:28.279 --> 0:05:29.040 the next few weeks. 0:05:29.040 --> 0:05:32.360 The title of the series is and you're gonna like 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:35.880 this phrase because you could say it with attitude. Okay, 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:54.320 we're gonna talk about that's what I thought. 0:05:56.120 --> 0:05:57.680 You know, you got to look at your neighbor and 0:05:57.720 --> 0:05:59.400 say it like you were just right and they were 0:05:59.440 --> 0:06:01.039 just wrong, and you tried to tell them but they 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:01.760 wouldn't listen. 0:06:01.800 --> 0:06:05.880 Tell them, that's what I thought. That's what I thought. 0:06:07.360 --> 0:06:10.160 Like you were certain and you were proved to be correct. 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:14.680 There is no better feeling. Then, that's what I thought. 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:17.760 Or that phrase is so elastic that we use it 0:06:17.800 --> 0:06:20.920 also to mean that our bias was confirmed, like. 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:22.800 Well, that's what I thought. Let's check it out. Mean, sure, 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:23.480 that's what I thought. 0:06:24.200 --> 0:06:26.080 But we want to really use that phrase today to 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:30.680 deal with the thoughts that we think, because honestly, not 0:06:30.720 --> 0:06:35.440 only pastorally but personally, ninety percent of the problems that 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:38.400 I have faced in my life have not come from 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:39.680 what the devil did to me. 0:06:41.440 --> 0:06:44.080 Or from what others said about me. 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:47.760 The biggest problem that I have over and over again 0:06:48.520 --> 0:06:53.120 trying to do what God wants, or the biggest obstacle 0:06:53.120 --> 0:06:55.400 to God doing what he wants in my life over 0:06:55.400 --> 0:06:58.479 and over again seems to be this tricky little thing 0:06:58.520 --> 0:07:08.080 called my bracelets are catching the screen. Oh Lord, that's 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:13.120 like for this, let me try it over here. Yeah. 0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:13.440 Yeah. 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:16.120 The biggest problem for me over and over again it 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:19.320 just happens over and over again, is that I get. 0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:25.880 Trapped in what I thought. This is gonna drive me crazy? 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:35.840 Over here, Welcome back Verdick who sabotaged my screen while 0:07:35.880 --> 0:07:36.560 I was on brick? 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:39.280 Was it Robert Madu did he mess up my screen? 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:43.760 Was it Torn Wells who messed up my screen? The 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:44.920 biggest obstacle? 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:47.400 And somebody shout, if you know what I'm talking about 0:07:47.400 --> 0:07:49.480 when I say that the biggest problem that I seem 0:07:49.520 --> 0:07:52.800 to have over and over again, it's not necessarily the 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:55.560 enemies that I face, but it's. 0:07:55.440 --> 0:07:56.280 What I thought. 0:07:56.360 --> 0:07:59.600 It's not necessarily what my life is at this moment 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:01.000 that's making me sad. 0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:03.520 It's what I thought my life was going to be 0:08:04.040 --> 0:08:04.840 at this season. 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:08.960 It's not necessarily who I am as a person that 0:08:09.080 --> 0:08:12.320 makes me insecure. It's what I thought I was supposed 0:08:12.360 --> 0:08:15.280 to be based on what I saw that other people 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:18.440 showed me from who they are, but I didn't see 0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:21.920 their flaws, and so now I'm comparing my future to 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:24.400 somebody whose flaws I have never seen. And now I'm 0:08:24.440 --> 0:08:28.200 frustrated about where I am, not because of where I am, 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:33.160 but because of what I thought. I'm not frustrated because 0:08:33.200 --> 0:08:36.160 I'm not married at this age. I'm frustrated because I 0:08:36.200 --> 0:08:42.160 thought I would be. I'm not frustrated because I'm dealing 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:45.760 with this situation. I'm frustrated because I didn't have the 0:08:45.880 --> 0:08:47.720 chance to prepare for it. And over and over again, 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:51.559 in my life, the biggest enemy to what God wants 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:55.600 to do is what I thought he was going to do. 0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:57.040 Now, I want you to get a. 0:08:56.960 --> 0:08:59.880 Time in your mind where you were what I like 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:05.559 to call confidently wrong, and I don't know if you 0:09:05.600 --> 0:09:07.200 can think of one, or. 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:09.920 If you've blocked all of that out selective memory. 0:09:10.760 --> 0:09:12.920 I asked everybody in my family, and if y'all know 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:14.880 any way to fix that while I'm not using the. 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:16.199 Screen, that would be awesome. 0:09:16.280 --> 0:09:18.680 If not, we'll all work around it and all of 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:21.280 the OCD people will ignore that part of the screen 0:09:21.559 --> 0:09:23.400 that is not supposed to be like that. 0:09:24.200 --> 0:09:27.120 Now, listen, I asked everybody in my family. 0:09:27.200 --> 0:09:29.240 I said, I need an opening illustration for my new 0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:31.559 series called That's what I thought, And I need you 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:34.320 to tell me a time when you were so wrong 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:37.400 and you were so sure you were right. And everybody 0:09:37.400 --> 0:09:41.720 in my family said, can't think of one. Everybody in 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:43.840 my family, I'll have to get back with you, And 0:09:43.920 --> 0:09:47.080 none of them got back to me with you. The 0:09:47.120 --> 0:09:49.720 means they can't remember one time where they were completely 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:52.840 wrong and assured that they were completely right, or it 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:57.079 means that there's nothing really harder in life than to 0:09:57.200 --> 0:10:02.520 going back and admitting remembering when you were wrong. You 0:10:02.559 --> 0:10:04.760 just hit the lead on those times in your life 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:06.560 like don't want to remember them, And the problem with 0:10:06.640 --> 0:10:08.480 that is then you can't grow from. 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:10.800 Them as you go forward in the future. 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:14.040 Now, when we say that Jesus takes away our shame 0:10:14.080 --> 0:10:16.000 and our sin, that doesn't mean that he wants to 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:18.720 cancel out the lessons that we learned from our mistakes. 0:10:19.640 --> 0:10:21.840 It means that he frees us from the penalty of 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:25.319 it and the bondage to it. But it doesn't mean 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:27.760 that Jesus wants us to live our lives just to 0:10:27.800 --> 0:10:30.200 continue to be wrong in all the ways that we 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:33.600 were wrong a year ago, five years ago, ten years ago. 0:10:33.720 --> 0:10:38.840 And there's almost nothing more difficult than remembering and admitting when. 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:41.720 You were just so wrong. 0:10:42.960 --> 0:10:46.080 I had one this week. I have fresh examples of 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:49.240 being confidently wrong. I did it at the dinner table. 0:10:49.280 --> 0:10:51.800 One of our kids said something, and I just came 0:10:51.880 --> 0:10:54.720 back with something, and I didn't listen to the rest 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:57.000 of their sinence and I completely missed the spirit of 0:10:57.000 --> 0:10:58.120 what they were trying to say. 0:10:58.600 --> 0:11:00.000 Just confidently wrong. 0:11:00.360 --> 0:11:05.160 Now I have about a twelve hour expiration dosage cycle 0:11:05.880 --> 0:11:08.840 on the dumb things I do. It takes that long 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:12.760 for me to digest my dumb and then apologize. So 0:11:12.880 --> 0:11:15.600 twelve hours later, I found myself saying I was so. 0:11:15.720 --> 0:11:18.439 Wrong for that. Now that's hard, isn't it. 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:22.920 That's hard, isn't it to say I was wrong to 0:11:23.000 --> 0:11:26.000 talk to you like that. I was wrong to assume 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:28.560 that about you. I was wrong to judge you like that. 0:11:28.800 --> 0:11:30.960 I was wrong to put you in that position. I 0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:33.640 was even to admit dumb things like I was wrong 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:35.720 when I said that song sucked. The first time I 0:11:35.720 --> 0:11:37.559 heard it, I thought it sucked. Now I realize it's 0:11:37.559 --> 0:11:39.120 a bop, and I feel dumb because I like it, 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:40.880 But I can't admit I like it because the first 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:42.360 time I heard it, I thought it was silly. That 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:45.160 actually is a banger. I've been wrong about songs that 0:11:45.200 --> 0:11:47.160 I've written before. We wrote a song in this church 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:48.480 one time, and I thought it was good, and then 0:11:48.520 --> 0:11:50.200 we went to record it. And after the recording, I 0:11:50.200 --> 0:11:51.600 turned to Holly and I said, well, I thought that 0:11:51.679 --> 0:11:52.920 song was good, but it's not good. 0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:54.840 She said, I thought it was pretty good. I said, 0:11:54.840 --> 0:11:55.319 it wasn't good. 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:56.840 You could tell the people didn't like it, that people 0:11:56.840 --> 0:11:58.520 didn't care about it, and it's not going to go 0:11:58.559 --> 0:11:59.959 anywhere after we record. 0:12:00.400 --> 0:12:01.440 Oh, come to the altar. 0:12:03.559 --> 0:12:07.040 That's how wrong I can be about a song, and 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:09.679 I'm glad I was wrong because it means there might 0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:12.480 be something else in my life right now that I 0:12:12.520 --> 0:12:16.240 think sucks, but it's actually going to be an amazing thing. 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:19.880 If I'm wrong about that, then I might be wrong 0:12:19.920 --> 0:12:20.720 about this. 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:23.359 It is the utter relief. 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:27.760 Of realizing that you were wrong and admitting it and 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:33.160 growing from it. But the only thing more difficult then 0:12:33.480 --> 0:12:37.760 remembering when you were wrong and admitting you were wrong, 0:12:38.200 --> 0:12:40.120 which I know is in a very good way to 0:12:40.160 --> 0:12:42.600 start a sermon. None of us want to talk about that. 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:47.120 The only thing more difficult than remembering and admitting I 0:12:47.280 --> 0:12:56.760 was wrong is to realize I am wrong. If it's 0:12:56.840 --> 0:13:00.720 that hard for everybody in my family and everybody watching 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:04.880 this sermon to go back and remember I was so wrong, 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:08.880 how could I have been so wrong to think what 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:11.040 I thought, or to say what I said, or to 0:13:11.040 --> 0:13:13.600 believe what I believed, or to assume what I assumed. 0:13:14.360 --> 0:13:17.800 The only thing more difficult than remembering it because it 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:21.480 doesn't feel good, is realizing. 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:22.480 That I am wrong. 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:25.960 Right now, If we don't even want to admit that 0:13:26.040 --> 0:13:28.880 we were wrong, how much less do we want to 0:13:28.920 --> 0:13:33.880 realize that we are wrong or might be wrong or 0:13:33.960 --> 0:13:36.640 could possibly be wrong. Just see if you can get 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:38.679 it out out of your mouth. I may be wrong 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:42.240 about that. And when you get to that point in 0:13:42.280 --> 0:13:45.000 your life, you realize that a lot of us in 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:46.960 here we have iPhones. 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:48.359 How many of you have iPhones? 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:51.840 Hold up your iPhone right here at this part of 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:54.120 the sermon iPhones. 0:13:54.600 --> 0:13:56.280 I want you to realize that not only do you 0:13:56.320 --> 0:14:03.240 have iPhones, but you also have I thoughts. 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:10.040 And it's possible that the devil has you trapped in 0:14:10.120 --> 0:14:12.520 an eye thought right now in your life. 0:14:14.160 --> 0:14:16.640 And I thought in the. 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:21.000 Psalm we just read, the Psalmist says something so incredibly 0:14:21.680 --> 0:14:27.000 miraculous and wonderful. He says God's path led through the 0:14:27.040 --> 0:14:30.480 sea and his way through the mighty waters, though his 0:14:30.520 --> 0:14:32.400 footprints were not seen. 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:34.880 But to understand the process. 0:14:34.680 --> 0:14:37.480 By which he arrived at that thought, I want to 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:38.960 take you all the way back to the beginning of 0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:41.720 Psalm seventy seven, and journey with me now for a 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:45.360 moment while I build this thought out for you. That's 0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:49.400 what I thought. The Psalmist is lamenting here. There are 0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:52.840 four different types of psalms in your Bible. There are 0:14:52.880 --> 0:14:57.720 psalms of praise, songs of thanksgiving, psalms of wisdom, and 0:14:57.760 --> 0:14:58.680 psalms of lament. 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:02.760 The mint is where they're just telling God their trouble. 0:15:03.560 --> 0:15:06.680 Lament is where they are being honest with God, realizing 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:08.440 that why would you hide it from him? It's not 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:11.800 like he didn't see the whole thing, Realizing that you 0:15:11.840 --> 0:15:14.400 can say something to God and He's big enough to 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:18.760 handle your brokenness. This is a psalm of lament, but 0:15:18.840 --> 0:15:20.640 I want to show you how it goes from a 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:25.400 psalm of lament to a psalm of wisdom, and over 0:15:25.400 --> 0:15:26.920 the course of the next several weeks, I want to 0:15:26.960 --> 0:15:30.320 help you with your thoughts because some of your eye 0:15:30.360 --> 0:15:36.280 thoughts are wrong. Some of your eye thoughts about people 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:40.960 are wrong, some of your eye thoughts about what is 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:44.600 still ahead of you in your life are wrong. And 0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:49.760 you could be confidently wrong, and you can be completely trapped. 0:15:50.560 --> 0:15:53.680 That's the situation for the psalmist in Psalm seventy seven. 0:15:54.320 --> 0:15:56.040 It's not David writing this time. 0:15:56.160 --> 0:15:58.760 It's one of the sons of Asaf, the musical leaders, 0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:01.120 and he's poor out his heart to God. 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:04.120 He says, I cried out to God for help. 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:07.960 I cried out to God to hear me when I 0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:12.800 was in distress. Circle the word distress please, I sought 0:16:12.840 --> 0:16:16.280 the Lord at night. I stretched out untiring hands, and 0:16:16.320 --> 0:16:20.240 I would not be comforted. I remembered you, God, and 0:16:20.320 --> 0:16:23.800 I groaned. What a strange thing to say. I thought 0:16:23.800 --> 0:16:26.800 it was. I remember you, God, and I was grateful. 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:30.800 I remember you God, and I praised. I remembered you God, 0:16:30.880 --> 0:16:34.280 and I was encouraged. I remembered you God, and I rejoiced. 0:16:34.320 --> 0:16:37.080 He said it was so bad. I remembered you and 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:40.800 I groaned. The reason Psalm seventy seven is special and 0:16:40.880 --> 0:16:43.080 you might want to study it is because a lot 0:16:43.120 --> 0:16:46.200 of times when they wrote psalms, they were asking God 0:16:46.240 --> 0:16:50.640 to deal with external enemies. We've got this giant facing us, 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:54.520 this army coming against us, this sickness that we're dealing with, 0:16:54.800 --> 0:16:57.720 and it was an external enemy. Or in the case 0:16:57.760 --> 0:17:00.720 of Psalm fifty one, David is praying about his own sin. 0:17:01.240 --> 0:17:03.360 He's saying, creating me a clean heart, O God, I 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:06.160 did something horrible, and I need you to make me new, 0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:08.199 and I need you to raise me up, and I 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:10.640 need you to give me a second chance. But this 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:13.520 is not a psalm about enemies, and this is not 0:17:13.600 --> 0:17:17.000 even a psalm about sin. In this psalm, the primary 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:20.199 problem for the psalmist is not an external enemy or 0:17:20.240 --> 0:17:21.280 even his own sin. 0:17:21.760 --> 0:17:28.200 His problem is God. His problem is God. 0:17:28.200 --> 0:17:31.440 And more specifically, his problem is God, Where did you go? 0:17:33.640 --> 0:17:38.280 His problem is God? When are you going to help 0:17:38.359 --> 0:17:40.160 me feel something again? 0:17:40.200 --> 0:17:40.400 God? 0:17:40.440 --> 0:17:42.959 When are you going to answer this? 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:45.520 I'm holding out my arms to you, and you seem 0:17:45.600 --> 0:17:49.120 to be standing at a distance. I'm not even sure 0:17:49.119 --> 0:17:51.080 you're in the room. I'm not even sure you hear this. 0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:53.439 And so as he's recounting this, I want you to 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:56.760 understand the heaviness of it, so that when I encourage 0:17:56.760 --> 0:17:59.199 you in just a few moments, like I plan to 0:17:59.240 --> 0:18:01.840 do with God's health, you will understand the place this 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:06.879 psalm starts at he has a problem with God. And 0:18:06.920 --> 0:18:09.840 when you have a problem with bills, somebody can pay 0:18:09.840 --> 0:18:12.479 them for you. When you have a problem in your body, 0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:15.159 you can go to a doctor about that. When you 0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:17.560 have a problem even in your mind, you can have 0:18:17.600 --> 0:18:20.000 a therapist for that. But what do you do when 0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:24.040 your problem is with the one. 0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:23.959 Who has no boss? 0:18:25.160 --> 0:18:27.240 What do you do when your problem is with the 0:18:27.240 --> 0:18:28.800 one who has no supervisor? 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:30.119 That you may ask to speak to. 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:34.040 What do you do when you're in a situation where 0:18:34.080 --> 0:18:37.960 what God did is so much different than what you 0:18:38.160 --> 0:18:40.280 thought he should do. 0:18:41.040 --> 0:18:43.280 That is Psalm seventy seven. 0:18:44.240 --> 0:18:47.280 I remembered you God, and I've grown, not shouted, grown, 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:49.879 not clap, grown, not danced grown. 0:18:50.119 --> 0:18:54.200 I remembered you God, and I growned, I meditated, and 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:56.359 my spirit grew faint. 0:18:56.480 --> 0:18:58.840 People will tell you all the time how much they've grown, 0:18:58.920 --> 0:19:01.200 but they won't tell you how much they groaned so 0:19:01.240 --> 0:19:04.320 they could grow into the place where they are today. 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:07.840 This is the process of becoming a person that God 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:11.480 can use, and it is not easy. He said, my 0:19:11.560 --> 0:19:15.760 spirit grew faint. You kept my eyes from closing. I 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:20.640 was too troubled to speak. And then verse five gives 0:19:20.720 --> 0:19:23.439 us the entire problem, not only with the Psalmists, but 0:19:23.520 --> 0:19:33.960 with ourselves. I thought, everybody say I thought, I thought. 0:19:34.800 --> 0:19:37.879 About the former days. Justin do I even have to 0:19:37.880 --> 0:19:38.600 say it? Circle? 0:19:38.680 --> 0:19:42.760 I thought, Circle it for everybody in here who's having 0:19:42.800 --> 0:19:45.480 doubtful thoughts. Circle it for everybody in here who's having 0:19:45.520 --> 0:19:48.680 fearful thoughts. Circle it for everybody in here who's having 0:19:48.800 --> 0:19:54.919 jelly pettis, petty jealous, petty jelly thoughts, jelly thoughts were. 0:19:54.760 --> 0:19:55.600 Calling them right now. 0:19:56.200 --> 0:19:59.399 Circle it for everybody in here who is dealing not 0:19:59.560 --> 0:20:02.560 within that external threat and maybe not even. 0:20:02.400 --> 0:20:09.600 A personal sin, but with a eye thought. Now, when I. 0:20:09.600 --> 0:20:11.960 Read this at first, you're gonna be like, he did 0:20:11.960 --> 0:20:12.480 the right thing. 0:20:12.560 --> 0:20:13.679 This is what you're supposed to do. 0:20:13.800 --> 0:20:15.840 This is what we teach in church that you're supposed 0:20:15.840 --> 0:20:18.439 to go back and remember. If you're in a season 0:20:18.520 --> 0:20:21.000 right now where you don't know what God is gonna do, 0:20:21.040 --> 0:20:22.080 just remember what he did. 0:20:22.200 --> 0:20:24.320 And that's what it sounds like on the surface. But 0:20:24.359 --> 0:20:25.679 I want to dig a little bit. 0:20:25.840 --> 0:20:29.000 Because I've been leaping two months to preach this message. 0:20:28.720 --> 0:20:29.800 And I'm gonna preach it today. 0:20:30.240 --> 0:20:34.120 I thought about the former days when my genes fit 0:20:34.160 --> 0:20:37.120 a little looser. I thought about the former days when 0:20:37.160 --> 0:20:39.919 my hamstrings weren't so I thought about the former days 0:20:40.280 --> 0:20:42.560 when I didn't need these readers to look at my 0:20:42.640 --> 0:20:46.240 Bible and this size sixty seven font in order to 0:20:46.280 --> 0:20:47.000 preach it to you. 0:20:47.320 --> 0:20:50.760 I thought about the former days, the years of long ago. 0:20:51.080 --> 0:20:53.080 I remembered my songs in the night. 0:20:53.320 --> 0:20:56.119 My heart meditated, and my spirit asked, what's wrong with 0:20:56.200 --> 0:20:56.760 any of this? 0:20:58.520 --> 0:21:03.119 It's an eye thought. 0:21:03.320 --> 0:21:08.600 I remember verse six, please my songs in the night. 0:21:09.880 --> 0:21:14.040 My heart meditated, and my spirit asked, now, watch what 0:21:14.119 --> 0:21:15.359 happens when it starts with me. 0:21:16.640 --> 0:21:17.240 Verse seven. 0:21:17.320 --> 0:21:20.800 This is what you get back when you send out 0:21:20.800 --> 0:21:23.480 an eye thought. This is what you get back. And 0:21:23.560 --> 0:21:26.760 you know what, You can't block an eye thought, not 0:21:26.840 --> 0:21:27.600 with your fingers. 0:21:28.640 --> 0:21:33.159 You have to deal with it. And the Psalmist is putting. 0:21:32.920 --> 0:21:34.639 It all out there for us today, which gives us 0:21:34.720 --> 0:21:37.720 permission to know that we can feel emotionally confused and 0:21:37.840 --> 0:21:44.320 still get spiritually strong. Watch what he says. It gets 0:21:44.359 --> 0:21:47.560 worse before it gets better. Will the Lord reject forever? 0:21:48.600 --> 0:21:52.879 Will he never show his favor again? Has his unfailing 0:21:52.960 --> 0:21:57.560 love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? 0:21:58.320 --> 0:22:02.119 Has God forgotten to be mercif? Has he, in anger 0:22:03.000 --> 0:22:07.880 withheld his compassion? I thought, and that's what came back, 0:22:09.359 --> 0:22:11.439 and what I heard the psalm is saying today. And 0:22:11.480 --> 0:22:15.240 I wonder if it's true of you, he says. I 0:22:15.320 --> 0:22:31.000 thought I suffered, and I thought I thought it was through. 0:22:34.560 --> 0:22:37.400 I thought back over the best days of my life, 0:22:37.640 --> 0:22:42.439 and I thought they're behind me. I thought about the 0:22:42.480 --> 0:22:43.960 things that I would love to see God do for 0:22:44.000 --> 0:22:45.560 me that he's done for others. And I thought, well, 0:22:45.600 --> 0:22:47.119 I guess he just doesn't want to do it for me. 0:22:47.160 --> 0:22:53.800 I thought, I thought. I thought it was through. I 0:22:53.840 --> 0:22:59.040 thought that my experience of God had completely dried up. 0:22:59.320 --> 0:23:02.280 I thought he didn't love me anymore. The Psalmas said 0:23:02.280 --> 0:23:04.840 that I didn't. So, if you've ever felt that, you're 0:23:04.880 --> 0:23:09.960 in the Bible. I thought that God had taken his 0:23:10.119 --> 0:23:13.639 hand off my life. I thought he had just given 0:23:13.720 --> 0:23:15.600 up on me because others did. 0:23:16.600 --> 0:23:18.359 I thought it was through. 0:23:19.000 --> 0:23:21.639 And you see in this passage what they call the 0:23:21.800 --> 0:23:24.080 three peas of negative thinking. I'm going to be talking 0:23:24.119 --> 0:23:26.600 to you over the next six weeks about I thought, 0:23:26.680 --> 0:23:28.960 I'm gonna be talking to you about three ways of 0:23:29.160 --> 0:23:31.640 negative thinking that you may recognize in your life. They're 0:23:31.640 --> 0:23:34.399 all here in the psalm and we'll come back to 0:23:34.480 --> 0:23:36.960 them a few times, but I just want to point 0:23:37.000 --> 0:23:41.240 them out to you. He says, Will the Lord reject forever? 0:23:42.400 --> 0:23:47.119 Will he never show his favor again? Has his unfailing 0:23:47.160 --> 0:23:50.880 love vanished forever? I thought it was through. I thought 0:23:50.880 --> 0:23:55.960 it was gone. I didn't see his footprints in the sand. 0:23:56.880 --> 0:23:59.800 Y'all ever seen that little poster on the thing, did 0:23:59.800 --> 0:24:01.320 you ever see butt prints in the sand. 0:24:02.760 --> 0:24:04.560 That's another one. You can look that up another time. 0:24:05.600 --> 0:24:07.480 He says, I felt rejected. 0:24:09.000 --> 0:24:11.600 I thought it was never gonna come again. Now that's 0:24:11.640 --> 0:24:16.159 strong saying never. That's strong when you think that he 0:24:16.240 --> 0:24:19.320 will never show you favor again. And he said, I 0:24:19.320 --> 0:24:22.480 thought his love had vanished. And they call these the 0:24:22.560 --> 0:24:25.600 three piece of negative thinking because they're traps. And it's 0:24:25.600 --> 0:24:28.119 when you take something that happens to you and you 0:24:28.200 --> 0:24:40.080 make it personal rejection. It's when you make it permanent never, 0:24:41.640 --> 0:24:50.040 and it's when it becomes pervasive, vanished everywhere. It took 0:24:50.200 --> 0:24:52.600 everything away. It's completely ripping through. 0:24:52.480 --> 0:24:52.960 Your whole life. 0:24:53.000 --> 0:24:54.640 Because one thing to have a problem, and you've got 0:24:54.640 --> 0:24:56.320 it in a corner. And this is the one thing 0:24:56.320 --> 0:24:58.600 that I'm dealing with in my life. But you know, 0:24:58.880 --> 0:25:01.960 the enemy has you in an I thought when it 0:25:02.040 --> 0:25:06.320 becomes personal, the Lord rejected me, there's something wrong with me. 0:25:06.800 --> 0:25:10.119 It's fine to be disappointed because somebody didn't want to 0:25:10.119 --> 0:25:13.200 be your friend. It is another thing to assume that 0:25:13.240 --> 0:25:16.560 they are worthy to be the Olympic figure skating judge 0:25:16.960 --> 0:25:17.639 of your life. 0:25:17.960 --> 0:25:19.000 And then you stop. 0:25:18.760 --> 0:25:21.920 Putting yourself out there because you think that somehow they 0:25:21.960 --> 0:25:24.800 have the stamp of approval to give the human race, 0:25:25.160 --> 0:25:27.520 and that they know just from their virtue, of their 0:25:27.520 --> 0:25:29.720 own goodness, whether or not you're worthy. 0:25:30.000 --> 0:25:30.800 And now you've. 0:25:30.600 --> 0:25:33.840 Got yourself isolated because you took it personal. And there 0:25:33.840 --> 0:25:35.600 may have been something that they were going through that 0:25:35.720 --> 0:25:37.240 was so dark that if you would have known that, 0:25:37.280 --> 0:25:38.760 you would have given them a hug and said, I'll 0:25:38.760 --> 0:25:43.119 send you a Christmas card. But now you've got it personal, permanent, 0:25:43.440 --> 0:25:47.160 it's never coming back. It's always going to be this way. 0:25:47.400 --> 0:25:50.359 It will never change. I'm never going to be able 0:25:50.359 --> 0:25:52.720 to go a week without doing this. I am never 0:25:52.760 --> 0:25:55.640 going to find anybody who gets me. It's permanent, it's 0:25:55.640 --> 0:25:58.760 going to stay this way forever, and it's pervasive. It's 0:25:58.800 --> 0:26:01.240 when you can't celebrate the kid that's doing good because 0:26:01.240 --> 0:26:03.439 of the one that you're worried about. It's when you 0:26:03.480 --> 0:26:06.159 can't celebrate the health in your body because. 0:26:05.920 --> 0:26:08.560 Of the hell in your mind. It's because you're in. 0:26:08.560 --> 0:26:17.000 An eye thought. He said, I thought it was through. 0:26:18.320 --> 0:26:20.520 I thought the dream was through. I thought the vision 0:26:20.640 --> 0:26:22.760 was through. I thought the relation. I thought my joy, 0:26:22.800 --> 0:26:27.640 I thought my very joy in life was through. 0:26:28.640 --> 0:26:31.920 It's an eye thought. And if you're there today, let's 0:26:31.960 --> 0:26:32.480 start there. 0:26:33.320 --> 0:26:37.119 I thought it was through. There are some things in 0:26:37.160 --> 0:26:39.480 your life that may very well be through. That's why 0:26:39.520 --> 0:26:40.280 you can't dwell on. 0:26:40.880 --> 0:26:42.760 I thought about the former days. 0:26:43.119 --> 0:26:46.080 That's why you can't watch Andy Griffith reruns and wish 0:26:46.160 --> 0:26:49.119 again for wholesome entertainment, and curse this Love Island. That 0:26:49.160 --> 0:26:51.919 this crap these kids are watching and the devil is 0:26:51.960 --> 0:26:53.280 taking over a generation. 0:26:53.960 --> 0:27:02.439 This is an I thought. But the Lord y'all are 0:27:02.480 --> 0:27:04.000 laughing like y'all been watching it too. 0:27:06.280 --> 0:27:09.080 I thought it was true. I thought the best days 0:27:09.119 --> 0:27:12.480 were behind me, I thought. And I want to show 0:27:12.480 --> 0:27:15.320 you something this really helped me. Is something that he 0:27:15.359 --> 0:27:20.800 said in verse two, and yeah, yeah, yeah, he said 0:27:20.960 --> 0:27:27.119 when I was in distress. Everybody say distress. Distress is 0:27:27.160 --> 0:27:29.440 a normal part of the Christian life, just like it's 0:27:29.480 --> 0:27:33.320 a normal part of the human experience. Distress in and 0:27:33.320 --> 0:27:36.560 of itself is not a problem. When I was in distress. 0:27:37.359 --> 0:27:39.760 The promise that God makes is not to protect us 0:27:39.760 --> 0:27:42.879 from distress. The promise that God makes is not to 0:27:42.960 --> 0:27:45.520 keep all pressure from coming on our lives. The promise 0:27:45.560 --> 0:27:47.960 that God makes is not to make sure that He 0:27:48.040 --> 0:27:50.600 always takes us the long way around any problem. 0:27:51.800 --> 0:28:00.000 The problem is when the distress becomes despair. There's a difference. 0:28:01.840 --> 0:28:08.800 Distress is this hurts, but I have hope. Despair is 0:28:09.840 --> 0:28:12.800 this hurts and I have no hope. 0:28:13.240 --> 0:28:14.840 Despair is dangerous. 0:28:15.440 --> 0:28:21.439 Despair is hurt minus hope. Despair is looking at the 0:28:21.480 --> 0:28:29.040 situation saying never vanished, rejection, personal, permanent, pervasive. 0:28:29.600 --> 0:28:32.040 I thought the psalmist said. 0:28:31.680 --> 0:28:33.800 Not that this is just a difficult season and I 0:28:33.840 --> 0:28:35.919 got to get through it, because we all have those. 0:28:36.320 --> 0:28:37.840 Not this is just a bad day. 0:28:37.720 --> 0:28:39.520 And if I can make it till five o'clock without 0:28:39.560 --> 0:28:41.840 cussing anybody out, I can keep bringing home a paycheck 0:28:42.080 --> 0:28:43.800 and not get kicked out of this house that I'm 0:28:43.800 --> 0:28:44.560 behind a month on. 0:28:44.640 --> 0:28:47.719 Anyway, It's not if I can get through this, it 0:28:47.800 --> 0:28:50.040 is is this all there is? 0:28:51.080 --> 0:28:56.360 Despair is it's never going to get better. 0:28:57.840 --> 0:28:59.160 That's where the devil wants you. 0:29:00.040 --> 0:29:03.840 It's never going to get better, and you'll always lose 0:29:03.880 --> 0:29:07.920 your temper. It's never going to get better, and you 0:29:07.960 --> 0:29:12.040 will always be a failure. It's never going to get better, 0:29:12.240 --> 0:29:14.680 and you are always gonna be too loud, and you 0:29:14.720 --> 0:29:17.360 are always gonna be too quiet, and you were always 0:29:17.440 --> 0:29:20.040 gonna be too short. Did you ever think maybe God 0:29:20.080 --> 0:29:22.160 made you short so you could fit through little doors? 0:29:23.000 --> 0:29:30.920 Okay, now, if this is where the psalmist starts, we 0:29:31.080 --> 0:29:31.760 have got to. 0:29:31.760 --> 0:29:37.200 Do something today to get you out of this. If 0:29:37.240 --> 0:29:41.600 despair is dangerous, and distress is and dangerous, you can 0:29:41.680 --> 0:29:44.520 go through a lot of things. You've been through a 0:29:44.560 --> 0:29:47.600 lot of things. You've put up with a lot of things. 0:29:48.000 --> 0:29:52.080 Tell your neighbor, I'm tougher than I look. Tell them again, 0:29:52.080 --> 0:29:53.080 I'm tougher than I look. 0:29:54.640 --> 0:29:54.840 To love. 0:29:54.920 --> 0:29:57.120 I'm pretty smileful of you. I'm tougher than I look. 0:29:58.440 --> 0:29:59.600 I'm tougher than I look. 0:30:00.040 --> 0:30:00.520 I took a. 0:30:00.600 --> 0:30:03.600 Licking and kept on ticking. I'm tougher than I look. 0:30:03.960 --> 0:30:06.600 I'm like a weevile. I wabbled, but I didn't go down. 0:30:07.000 --> 0:30:11.480 I'm tougher than I look. I've had some challenges to 0:30:11.560 --> 0:30:13.960 my faith. I've had some questions about God. 0:30:14.360 --> 0:30:16.400 I'm still here praising in. 0:30:16.280 --> 0:30:19.320 Fact, that's my two word testimony when I can't think 0:30:19.360 --> 0:30:20.960 of anything else to praise him for. 0:30:21.720 --> 0:30:28.160 Still here, somebody shouts, still here in a funk, still here, 0:30:28.800 --> 0:30:32.440 down in it, still here, wondering about it, Still here. 0:30:32.960 --> 0:30:35.080 Piece isn't all. 0:30:38.920 --> 0:30:41.640 So what you've got to do, child of God is 0:30:41.800 --> 0:30:48.240 never allowed distress, which is temporary, to become despair, which 0:30:48.280 --> 0:30:54.360 says forever. And the devil specializes in turning distress into 0:30:54.440 --> 0:30:58.560 despair to get you so clouded by one conflict that 0:30:58.600 --> 0:31:00.080 you have forgotten your call. 0:31:00.680 --> 0:31:02.440 Who am I preaching to today? 0:31:02.960 --> 0:31:07.680 God sent this word to disrupt your despair? 0:31:08.760 --> 0:31:09.160 Hear me? 0:31:09.760 --> 0:31:14.120 God sent this word to disrupt your despair. Every I 0:31:14.360 --> 0:31:16.760 thought that has been telling you you will not make it, 0:31:17.000 --> 0:31:19.240 every I thought that has been telling you you are 0:31:19.240 --> 0:31:21.760 not worthy of God's love. The Cross made you worthy. 0:31:22.000 --> 0:31:24.000 What does it have to do with your behavior? What 0:31:24.120 --> 0:31:26.360 did it ever have to do with your behavior? It's 0:31:26.400 --> 0:31:29.080 about his blood. I call you worthy in the name 0:31:29.120 --> 0:31:32.160 of Jesus. I call you healed by his stripes. I 0:31:32.200 --> 0:31:35.760 call you forgiven. And His favor is coming to your 0:31:35.880 --> 0:31:41.160 situation right now, into your room, into your home, into 0:31:41.200 --> 0:31:45.800 your wound, into your family, into your business, into that. 0:31:45.880 --> 0:31:53.880 Thing that the devil told you is through is through. 0:31:53.960 --> 0:31:57.120 Give up is through. Quit fighting is through. Don't go 0:31:57.160 --> 0:31:59.160 back to rehab is through. Give up on it. Just 0:31:59.280 --> 0:31:59.840 manage the ad. 0:32:01.360 --> 0:32:04.880 It's through. It's through, Just walk away from it is through. 0:32:05.160 --> 0:32:07.480 Just move to another city and start over the same 0:32:07.520 --> 0:32:08.760 stuff all over again, till. 0:32:08.680 --> 0:32:11.360 It catches up with you. Is through leave is through. 0:32:13.400 --> 0:32:15.760 Well. I found something for the trap. I found a 0:32:15.960 --> 0:32:22.200 truth for the trap for everybody who has been in 0:32:22.240 --> 0:32:26.360 an I thought, and I know you know the one 0:32:26.400 --> 0:32:31.240 I'm talking about. Don't make me start prophesying it, tee. 0:32:31.280 --> 0:32:34.680 I thought, the one that starts with you and ends 0:32:34.680 --> 0:32:36.400 with misery. You know, every thought that it starts with 0:32:36.440 --> 0:32:39.640 me ends in misery eventually if it doesn't involve God. 0:32:41.920 --> 0:32:44.480 So what I noticed from what I read from Brugemont 0:32:44.520 --> 0:32:47.160 and some of the other theologians that I was looking up, 0:32:47.920 --> 0:32:51.520 he said, I thought about the former days, and I 0:32:51.560 --> 0:32:56.680 thought it was personal, permanent, pervasive. I would ask God 0:32:56.720 --> 0:32:58.720 to help me with the problem, but God was the problem. 0:33:00.000 --> 0:33:00.960 I didn't know where to go. 0:33:03.280 --> 0:33:06.160 Now. I kind of lied to you when I set 0:33:06.160 --> 0:33:06.719 the sermon up. 0:33:07.280 --> 0:33:08.680 I said, I was going to share a verse that 0:33:08.720 --> 0:33:10.120 I read that meant a lot to me right after 0:33:10.160 --> 0:33:12.640 alleged got out of the hospital, and I am, but 0:33:12.680 --> 0:33:14.080 it wasn't the one I read you when I started 0:33:14.080 --> 0:33:22.800 a servant. It's one it's a little sniper verse. It's 0:33:22.800 --> 0:33:26.760 a little sniper scripture. It's like you could just gloss 0:33:26.840 --> 0:33:28.440 right over it. But remember how bad of a state 0:33:28.480 --> 0:33:30.920 this guy was in. What's going to turn it around 0:33:30.960 --> 0:33:32.840 for you? What's going to turn it around for us? 0:33:32.880 --> 0:33:36.360 What's going to break us out of these patterns and 0:33:36.400 --> 0:33:40.400 traps of thinking that the devil says never all? What's 0:33:40.400 --> 0:33:42.560 going to break us out of this limited view of 0:33:42.560 --> 0:33:44.880 your situation that can't find God in it because you 0:33:46.200 --> 0:33:46.960 have gotten so. 0:33:48.800 --> 0:33:50.920 Blurry in the battle. 0:33:52.800 --> 0:33:54.560 And so I told my mom, I said, I'm going 0:33:54.600 --> 0:33:57.400 to be reading from Psalm seventy seven to preach this week. 0:33:58.560 --> 0:33:59.960 And she likes I give a little headstart. 0:34:01.120 --> 0:34:02.920 Well, she send me like a picture of her Bible 0:34:03.600 --> 0:34:05.600 open to Psalm seventy seven. 0:34:06.400 --> 0:34:11.879 She's like, already beat you to it, preacher. I'm trying 0:34:11.920 --> 0:34:12.520 to do her voice. 0:34:12.520 --> 0:34:14.240 When I do that, I already beat It was a text, 0:34:14.239 --> 0:34:15.319 but that's how she would have said it. 0:34:17.320 --> 0:34:18.759 And I said, bring that Bible because I want to 0:34:18.760 --> 0:34:20.840 show you something. I give my camera. 0:34:22.360 --> 0:34:25.359 This is not Psalm twenty three. Everybody knows Psalm twenty three. 0:34:25.400 --> 0:34:27.359 The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want It's 0:34:27.360 --> 0:34:30.960 a relatively obscure Psalm. You see how she had that circled. 0:34:38.400 --> 0:34:41.719 Sometimes it takes a minute to see it. That's like 0:34:41.760 --> 0:34:48.319 the Lord, Well, this illustration isn't really working too well either. 0:34:51.200 --> 0:34:52.680 But what I wanted to show. 0:34:52.480 --> 0:34:54.400 You that I can show you direct me, man, do 0:34:54.440 --> 0:34:55.439 I need to stand somewhere different? 0:34:55.480 --> 0:34:57.359 I do whatever, and you do that's better. 0:34:59.640 --> 0:35:04.000 She has that Psalm seventy seven circled like a serial killer. 0:35:05.480 --> 0:35:08.520 That's like a. 0:35:07.520 --> 0:35:10.840 Right and I realized why she's got it all underlined. 0:35:10.880 --> 0:35:12.520 I said, bring the Bible to church. I got to 0:35:12.520 --> 0:35:17.320 show the people something. She's circling everything in this Bible 0:35:17.960 --> 0:35:22.560 all the way down to has his unfailing love vanished forever? 0:35:22.600 --> 0:35:25.520 Has his promise failed for all time? And then on 0:35:25.560 --> 0:35:30.000 her Bible that's the part where that page ends. I 0:35:30.000 --> 0:35:30.319 told her. 0:35:30.360 --> 0:35:33.520 I was like, that's not the best part of Psalm 0:35:33.560 --> 0:35:36.919 seventy seven. She's said, yeah, that's what I was reading 0:35:37.000 --> 0:35:40.040 right after your dad died. Thanks a lot. I was like, 0:35:40.160 --> 0:35:42.000 you know, that's a good part of Psalm seventy seven too, 0:35:42.040 --> 0:35:45.600 obviously when you're going through things. But I said, read 0:35:45.640 --> 0:35:47.440 the rest and hit me a couple hours later. Now, 0:35:47.440 --> 0:35:52.000 my dad died of als. It was over ten years ago, 0:35:52.200 --> 0:35:57.319 and it was in June of twenty thirteen, and this 0:35:57.400 --> 0:35:59.600 psalm meant a lot to her during that low. 0:35:59.440 --> 0:36:00.360 Time of her life. 0:36:00.800 --> 0:36:02.920 And so she was reading it like we do, and 0:36:03.320 --> 0:36:05.560 we come to this place. I thought it was through. 0:36:05.560 --> 0:36:08.799 And she had just lost her husband. She had just 0:36:08.840 --> 0:36:11.439 lost him after caring for him. It was an atrocious, 0:36:11.520 --> 0:36:16.160 atrocious disease. But what I want to show her and 0:36:16.239 --> 0:36:21.960 you today from Psalm seventy seven is in verse ten, 0:36:22.840 --> 0:36:27.880 May this change your life, made this break your pattern? 0:36:28.200 --> 0:36:30.560 May this bring you out of the trap. Because he 0:36:30.640 --> 0:36:34.920 said I was stuck in. I thought, watch this. Then 0:36:35.680 --> 0:36:43.480 I thought, that's the whole sermon. Then I thought, circle 0:36:43.520 --> 0:36:47.840 it on the screen, justin. Then I thought, no circle. 0:36:47.880 --> 0:36:52.480 Then I thought, because the first thought wasn't the right thought. 0:36:53.239 --> 0:36:59.160 Then I thought, I thought, I thought, I thought, and 0:36:59.200 --> 0:37:02.000 I got stuck in a loop of I thoughts. 0:37:02.680 --> 0:37:04.280 Then I thought. 0:37:05.160 --> 0:37:09.320 Verse ten is the hinge where everything changes for this Psalmist. 0:37:09.880 --> 0:37:12.600 Verse ten is the hinge where everything can change for 0:37:12.680 --> 0:37:15.960 you and I. Verse ten is the hinge that depression 0:37:16.000 --> 0:37:17.160 doesn't want you to know about. 0:37:17.880 --> 0:37:19.760 Verse ten is the hinge that. 0:37:19.640 --> 0:37:21.879 The devil wants to hide and delete off of your 0:37:21.880 --> 0:37:22.520 Bible lap. 0:37:22.920 --> 0:37:24.680 Verse ten is the hinge that the. 0:37:24.640 --> 0:37:27.680 Devil doesn't want you to turn to because after all 0:37:27.760 --> 0:37:30.800 of that which is real, after all of that which 0:37:30.840 --> 0:37:33.520 is a part of being you, after all of. 0:37:33.400 --> 0:37:37.319 That, I thought it was through. After all of that, 0:37:37.560 --> 0:37:38.080 he says. 0:37:38.800 --> 0:37:44.480 Then I thought, let's see what he thought next to this, 0:37:45.160 --> 0:37:48.560 I will appeal the years when the Most High stretched 0:37:48.560 --> 0:37:52.200 out his right hand. I will remember the deeds of 0:37:52.200 --> 0:37:55.839 the Lord. Yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. 0:37:56.840 --> 0:38:01.880 I will consider all your works and meditate on all 0:38:02.280 --> 0:38:04.880 your mighty deeds. Go back to verse ten. Then I 0:38:05.000 --> 0:38:08.359 thought to this, I will appeal the years when the 0:38:08.360 --> 0:38:11.040 Most High stretched out his right hand. 0:38:11.600 --> 0:38:12.600 Go back to verse two. 0:38:13.239 --> 0:38:15.720 When we started with these eye thoughts, he was saying, 0:38:16.040 --> 0:38:19.080 when I was in distress, I sought the Lord at night. 0:38:19.560 --> 0:38:27.800 I stretched out untiring hands, who stretched out I stretched out. Ah, 0:38:28.280 --> 0:38:31.520 I can't do this much longer. I don't care how 0:38:31.520 --> 0:38:34.960 many interior raises you do in the gym for your shoulders. 0:38:35.520 --> 0:38:37.560 You can only do this so long. 0:38:38.280 --> 0:38:41.680 And is it possible that the reason you are so 0:38:42.080 --> 0:38:45.680 faint in your faith, and so weary in your worship, 0:38:46.040 --> 0:38:49.080 and so discouraged about your destiny. 0:38:48.800 --> 0:38:51.200 And the reason that you think that it's through. 0:38:51.880 --> 0:38:55.479 Is because you have been so focused on this God, 0:38:55.520 --> 0:38:56.720 I can't give any more. 0:38:56.960 --> 0:39:00.239 I can't do anymore. I already feel so stretched God, 0:39:00.320 --> 0:39:01.000 I feel. 0:39:00.760 --> 0:39:05.640 So empty, I feel so unseen, I feel so uncelebrated. 0:39:05.960 --> 0:39:09.560 I keep stretching out my hands, I keep putting myself forth, 0:39:09.880 --> 0:39:13.160 I keep taking my next step, but you're not there. 0:39:13.320 --> 0:39:16.319 Then verse ten, then verse ten. 0:39:16.400 --> 0:39:20.760 Then I thought, I'm gonna appeal to a higher court 0:39:21.440 --> 0:39:25.440 instead of thinking about how I'm doing this, let me 0:39:25.600 --> 0:39:31.440 think about the years when God stretched his hand. And 0:39:31.520 --> 0:39:35.680 when I start thinking about how he's stretched his hand, 0:39:35.920 --> 0:39:40.719 and I forget about my hands. Suddenly my hands go 0:39:40.880 --> 0:39:43.239 up in worship because. 0:39:43.000 --> 0:39:48.160 I remember that the bow is not mine, but it 0:39:48.239 --> 0:39:50.480 belongs to the Lord. 0:39:53.400 --> 0:39:58.520 Fifteen seconds of praise for everybody who needs a. 0:39:58.600 --> 0:40:09.960 Then I thought, Then I thought, well that's annoying. Yeah, 0:40:10.719 --> 0:40:12.000 high five your neighbors say. 0:40:12.040 --> 0:40:16.560 Then I thought, I thought over and over, I thought, 0:40:17.080 --> 0:40:21.680 Then I thought, oh yeah. Then I thought I thought 0:40:21.719 --> 0:40:29.960 it was through. Then I thought I might as well 0:40:30.000 --> 0:40:30.920 throw in the towel. 0:40:32.160 --> 0:40:36.400 Then I was very focused on all the reasons I 0:40:36.560 --> 0:40:37.080 had not. 0:40:37.160 --> 0:40:41.560 To go forward. Y'all, slow, y'all are real, slow, y'all, 0:40:41.560 --> 0:40:43.240 slow like molasses in the south. 0:40:44.280 --> 0:40:48.719 Then I thought, let me think about his hand, let 0:40:48.719 --> 0:40:50.120 me remember his deeds. 0:40:50.520 --> 0:40:51.800 He does it in a quartet. 0:40:52.120 --> 0:40:54.600 He talks about the mighty deeds of God, the works 0:40:54.640 --> 0:40:57.960 of God, the awesome deeds of God, the deeds of God. 0:40:58.040 --> 0:41:01.319 He lists them off and wrap them off. Because he said, 0:41:01.360 --> 0:41:02.959 I thought it was through. 0:41:03.560 --> 0:41:06.920 And then after I had gotten done with all of 0:41:06.920 --> 0:41:10.839 my questions. Then after I had poured out all my complaints, 0:41:11.200 --> 0:41:14.120 then after I had considered all the reasons that I 0:41:14.200 --> 0:41:15.760 had to be afraid. 0:41:15.640 --> 0:41:24.760 I thought it was through. But then I thought it through. 0:41:38.160 --> 0:41:42.279 I thought about saying, all right, devil, I quit. Then 0:41:45.120 --> 0:41:49.400 I thought it was through. But then. 0:41:51.160 --> 0:41:56.960 I thought it through, and I decided I would have 0:41:57.080 --> 0:42:03.799 despair unless I have to leave. Then I what see 0:42:04.480 --> 0:42:05.160 the good this? 0:42:06.239 --> 0:42:10.040 I'm the lord in the land of the livings. 0:42:14.719 --> 0:42:17.399 Hot five seven people say, I thought it through. 0:42:18.680 --> 0:42:23.440 I thought it through. I thought it through. I thought 0:42:23.440 --> 0:42:23.839 it through. 0:42:25.360 --> 0:42:26.200 I thought it through. 0:42:28.960 --> 0:42:30.680 Now let me tell you what I mean. 0:42:31.760 --> 0:42:34.879 In verse nineteen, let's go right back to the top 0:42:34.920 --> 0:42:37.839 of the sermon. He said, when I thought about the 0:42:37.880 --> 0:42:39.319 way God works, don't sit down. 0:42:39.360 --> 0:42:41.480 You're about to shout again. You might as well just 0:42:41.520 --> 0:42:44.279 save yourself a calorie burn. You might as well just 0:42:44.320 --> 0:42:46.680 save yourself a cardio. Just go ahead and. 0:42:46.680 --> 0:42:49.200 Jump up now by faith and get ready to celebrate. 0:42:49.600 --> 0:42:53.120 He said, your path lead. 0:42:55.960 --> 0:42:57.160 Circle the word through. 0:42:57.280 --> 0:43:00.480 Let's do Bible study. I wanted you to take me 0:43:00.560 --> 0:43:04.160 around it. I wanted you to carry me over it. 0:43:04.840 --> 0:43:08.239 I wanted you to give me a boat. But instead 0:43:08.280 --> 0:43:11.239 of a boat, I got a mighty hand. 0:43:11.440 --> 0:43:21.080 And an outspread farm. Your path, your path led through. 0:43:22.640 --> 0:43:27.200 Tell your neighbor, I thought it through, your way through 0:43:27.280 --> 0:43:33.080 the mighty waters, through the mighty waters. Though your footprints 0:43:33.120 --> 0:43:37.319 weren't seen. Why didn't I see God's footprints? Because he 0:43:37.480 --> 0:43:40.880 was working with his hand at a higher level. He 0:43:41.040 --> 0:43:44.320 was driving back waters that I didn't know. He needed 0:43:44.400 --> 0:43:48.279 depart so he could drown Egyptians that were chasing me 0:43:48.880 --> 0:43:52.080 and trying to bring me back into captivity. What am 0:43:52.120 --> 0:43:56.560 I trying to say? Think it through? You just keep 0:43:56.600 --> 0:43:59.759 thinking the same eye thoughts and you're like, I. 0:43:59.760 --> 0:44:03.040 Do think it through. I'm an overthinker. Just because you 0:44:03.120 --> 0:44:13.680 think it again doesn't mean you thought it through. You underthinker. 0:44:13.840 --> 0:44:19.200 You you think like this, Oh, well, the devil's attacking me. 0:44:19.280 --> 0:44:22.759 I guess God's not with me. What if you thought 0:44:22.760 --> 0:44:30.000 that through God must be so with me. This is 0:44:30.000 --> 0:44:31.080 how you think it through. 0:44:32.719 --> 0:44:33.160 God. 0:44:34.080 --> 0:44:38.160 I went to my in laws fiftieth wedding anniversary the 0:44:38.200 --> 0:44:38.640 other day. 0:44:38.960 --> 0:44:39.800 Clap your hands for that. 0:44:43.360 --> 0:44:47.719 And it survived betrayal, and it survived addiction, and it 0:44:47.800 --> 0:44:51.520 survived special needs, and there were times where they thought 0:44:51.560 --> 0:44:56.040 it wouldn't make it. Then I thought, the challenge is 0:44:56.120 --> 0:45:00.439 you can't see the path in the present. W it's 0:45:00.480 --> 0:45:03.760 only in retrospect that the Red Sea looks like a blessing. 0:45:05.440 --> 0:45:06.480 I'll show you what I mean. 0:45:07.080 --> 0:45:10.360 Go to Exodus fourteen when the Israelites came up on 0:45:10.360 --> 0:45:13.240 the Red Sea. You know the story. You know the story. 0:45:13.920 --> 0:45:15.840 They came up on the Red Sea. They were leaving Egypt. 0:45:15.880 --> 0:45:17.759 They had been slaves for four hundred and thirty years, 0:45:17.800 --> 0:45:18.759 and God was leading them out. 0:45:18.800 --> 0:45:20.799 They were happy, They were ready to dance. They even 0:45:20.920 --> 0:45:22.120 pecked their tambourines. 0:45:22.400 --> 0:45:25.520 And as the tambourines are jingling in their suitcase, oh no, 0:45:25.600 --> 0:45:26.480 here comes trouble. 0:45:26.680 --> 0:45:28.560 What is the sound of that very hot pitch. 0:45:28.600 --> 0:45:31.640 It doesn't sound like a tambourine, It's an Egyptian chariot. 0:45:31.840 --> 0:45:34.120 Oh no, the Egyptians are coming after us. 0:45:34.120 --> 0:45:36.719 So watch what they thought, because I'm trying to get 0:45:36.760 --> 0:45:40.680 you to see that you might be wrong. You might 0:45:40.719 --> 0:45:44.640 think the attack means it's through. That's an I thought 0:45:44.760 --> 0:45:48.480 they thought. Watch this Exited fourteen, the Lord said, Moses, 0:45:48.800 --> 0:45:50.000 the stretch your hand over the sea, that the waters 0:45:50.040 --> 0:45:51.279 going to go to full back over the Egyptians and 0:45:51.280 --> 0:45:54.279 their cheers and horsemen most stretches hand over see day break. 0:45:54.440 --> 0:45:56.439 The justians of fleetwary, the Lord swipped them into the sea. 0:45:56.440 --> 0:45:58.440 Oh so the Israelites didn't die. The Egyptians did go 0:45:58.480 --> 0:46:01.239 to verse twenty eight to flow back and cover all 0:46:01.360 --> 0:46:04.680 the chariots and horsemen. Now that all sounds so wonderful. 0:46:04.719 --> 0:46:06.600 God drowned their enemies, right, And I know I'm rushing this. 0:46:06.600 --> 0:46:07.160 I don't have time. 0:46:07.200 --> 0:46:07.360 You go. 0:46:07.480 --> 0:46:11.719 Come back next week for part two of this. But 0:46:11.840 --> 0:46:13.719 what's crazy to me about. 0:46:13.400 --> 0:46:17.840 This scripture is the scripture says that when they got 0:46:17.920 --> 0:46:22.360 to the edge of their escape route in Exodus chapter fourteen, 0:46:24.200 --> 0:46:32.920 verse eleven, they said to Moses, was it because there 0:46:32.920 --> 0:46:35.000 were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to 0:46:35.040 --> 0:46:40.680 the desert to die? They thought that water was going 0:46:40.760 --> 0:46:47.239 to kill them. That's what they thought, now, look at 0:46:48.000 --> 0:46:49.919 chapter fifteen, verse one, when they got to the other 0:46:50.000 --> 0:46:53.000 side and the Egyptians were all dead behind them, and 0:46:53.040 --> 0:46:55.440 the thing they thought was gonna kill him Exitus fifteen, 0:46:55.520 --> 0:47:01.040 verse one. Exitus fifteen, verse one, and circle the word. 0:47:01.160 --> 0:47:05.640 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song. 0:47:05.480 --> 0:47:07.120 To the Lord. I will sing to the Lord. 0:47:07.160 --> 0:47:10.200 That's fine, But you got to sing that same song 0:47:10.200 --> 0:47:13.520 on the other side so you can get through this. 0:47:18.000 --> 0:47:19.560 Somebody say, then, I thought. 0:47:20.960 --> 0:47:21.680 It is the. 0:47:21.640 --> 0:47:24.480 Hinge of the scripture for the people of God. 0:47:24.520 --> 0:47:25.960 They remembered their exodus. 0:47:25.960 --> 0:47:29.600 This deliverance motif sets the entire story for Jesus, who 0:47:29.640 --> 0:47:31.960 would be the greater Moses, who would bring us out 0:47:31.960 --> 0:47:34.359 of the slavery to sin. It's all set up here, 0:47:34.360 --> 0:47:36.920 and the Psalmist is looking back and saying, when I 0:47:37.000 --> 0:47:41.279 could not see your footprints, I remembered that your hand 0:47:41.400 --> 0:47:46.759 was working in the night. And you've been looking at 0:47:46.800 --> 0:47:50.200 the wrong level, and you have been thinking at the 0:47:50.200 --> 0:47:55.279 wrong level. And God's thoughts are not our thoughts, and 0:47:55.320 --> 0:47:59.400 his ways are not our ways. And what if the 0:47:59.480 --> 0:48:02.400 attack is against you is actually sent to remind you 0:48:02.520 --> 0:48:06.560 how valuable what you carry actually is. Think it through 0:48:07.920 --> 0:48:11.720 think it through. The devil is not omnipresent. The devil 0:48:11.760 --> 0:48:14.839 does not have unlimited ammunition. So if there is an 0:48:14.880 --> 0:48:17.680 attack against your life, if there is an attack against 0:48:17.719 --> 0:48:20.560 your family, if there is an attack against your mind, 0:48:20.880 --> 0:48:24.240 there is something in your future that Hell has recognized. 0:48:24.680 --> 0:48:25.320 Think it through. 0:48:25.360 --> 0:48:25.920 What is it? 0:48:27.360 --> 0:48:30.279 What is it that Hell knows about my family that 0:48:30.440 --> 0:48:32.160 I forgot about my family? 0:48:32.640 --> 0:48:33.919 Then I thought it through? 0:48:39.200 --> 0:48:43.400 And even more, what is it that God knows I 0:48:43.440 --> 0:48:45.640 need to learn that He would let me go through this? 0:48:47.440 --> 0:48:49.160 And if you really want to get out of the 0:48:49.200 --> 0:48:52.319 I thought, what is it that He's going to use 0:48:52.360 --> 0:48:56.920 this for in somebody else's life? Did I really suffer 0:48:56.960 --> 0:48:59.719 this much to stay silent about what he taught me 0:48:59.760 --> 0:49:00.600 as as a student. 0:49:04.640 --> 0:49:07.840 So the word of the Lord is think it through. 0:49:09.640 --> 0:49:10.239 Think it through. 0:49:12.000 --> 0:49:15.000 It never comes like you thought it would come, not 0:49:15.080 --> 0:49:18.319 when it comes from God, because if it came like 0:49:18.360 --> 0:49:19.840 you thought it would come, then your thoughts would be 0:49:19.880 --> 0:49:20.680 God right. 0:49:22.920 --> 0:49:24.799 And he says, my ways are not your ways. Neither 0:49:24.840 --> 0:49:26.040 are my thoughts your thoughts. 0:49:27.560 --> 0:49:29.360 And it just blessed me to think about all of 0:49:29.400 --> 0:49:34.160 the people in here who, instead of giving up on 0:49:34.200 --> 0:49:37.600 this pursuit of Jesus instead of giving up on your purity, 0:49:37.640 --> 0:49:38.840 instead of giving up. 0:49:38.680 --> 0:49:40.480 On the impact God has called you to make. 0:49:40.840 --> 0:49:45.200 Instead of thinking it was through, You're going to think 0:49:45.239 --> 0:49:49.400 it through today so that the song you have to 0:49:49.440 --> 0:49:54.760 sing on the other side reflects the faithfulness of the. 0:49:54.640 --> 0:49:58.080 God who split the sea. 0:49:58.680 --> 0:50:02.120 One moment, it looked like the sea was going to 0:50:02.239 --> 0:50:07.280 kill them. The next minute they realized, Wait, God didn't 0:50:07.280 --> 0:50:11.239 bring us this far to drown us. He didn't bring 0:50:11.360 --> 0:50:14.799 us out here to leave us. He didn't bring us 0:50:14.840 --> 0:50:18.640 out here because He's not with us. He brought us 0:50:18.680 --> 0:50:26.960 out here because the enemy can't swim. 0:50:27.080 --> 0:50:28.200 Thank you for joining us. 0:50:28.520 --> 0:50:30.960 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:50:31.040 --> 0:50:31.760 this ministry. 0:50:32.120 --> 0:50:34.520 Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:50:34.960 --> 0:50:37.520 You can click the link in the description to give now, 0:50:38.040 --> 0:50:41.920 or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more information 0:50:42.480 --> 0:50:45.240 and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:50:45.520 --> 0:50:46.840 You can share it with your friends. 0:50:47.120 --> 0:50:49.400 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:50:49.440 --> 0:50:51.560 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:50:51.600 --> 0:50:52.439 Elevation Church. 0:50:52.520 --> 0:50:59.160 Thanks again for listening. God bless you