Just A Little Bit (Joyce Meyer)

0:00:04.920 --> 0:00:07.360 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:07.600 --> 0:00:10.480 Church and this is our podcast. Be sure to subscribe 0:00:10.520 --> 0:00:13.640 so we can get you these new sermons every week. 0:00:13.760 --> 0:00:30.120 I hope you're blessed today. 0:00:30.960 --> 0:00:40.360 Good morning, Wow, what more times for the Lord? All right, 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:44.880 praise God, you can be seated. I love you too. 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:48.800 You know, we we tell each other we love each 0:00:48.800 --> 0:00:55.960 other all the time, but I really really do love Halloween, Stephen. 0:00:57.000 --> 0:01:00.400 And it's kind of funny you have connections with certain 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:02.760 people and I met him, I don't know how many 0:01:02.840 --> 0:01:08.240 years ago at a Hillsong conference in Australia and there 0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:12.920 was just like an immediate bond. And so it's an 0:01:12.920 --> 0:01:15.680 honor for me to be here today. And I want 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:21.320 to teach you something that will you'll enjoy have fun with, 0:01:21.400 --> 0:01:23.840 but it will also make you come a pyre because 0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:27.720 we're living in a day that really, to be honest, 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:33.080 we talk about how hard it is, but God shows 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:37.800 us for this time. We didn't just end up here 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:44.520 in twenty twenty five accidentally. We're here for a purpose 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:49.440 and the world is very dark, but we have the 0:01:49.480 --> 0:01:57.120 privilege of being lights in a dog for it. And 0:01:58.600 --> 0:02:00.600 I think we need to shine a lot little brighter 0:02:00.640 --> 0:02:05.920 than what we are. Amen. And you know, everybody, you 0:02:06.320 --> 0:02:09.560 all have a pulpit. Maybe it's not this one. It 0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:12.120 might be your backyard fence or your desk at work, 0:02:12.440 --> 0:02:17.360 but you've all got a pulpit. And most people that 0:02:17.400 --> 0:02:21.560 will come to the Lord will come through somebody like you. 0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:26.960 Your influence, because the ones that really need it aren't 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:33.240 here today. But they are different places in your world. 0:02:33.520 --> 0:02:35.400 And really we're not supposed to be doing all the 0:02:35.400 --> 0:02:40.760 work anyway, Paul said. You train them up so they 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:47.280 go out and do the work of the ministry. You know. Well, 0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:50.040 first of all, I'll tell you I have four grown children, 0:02:50.240 --> 0:02:54.160 and my baby will be forty five in December. My 0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:57.320 oldest son will be sixty. I don't know how that 0:02:57.360 --> 0:03:03.600 all worked out, since I'm only fifty's that's an odd thing. 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:08.560 But we have four grown children. Dave actually ended up 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:10.960 with some kind of virus and couldn't come this weekend. 0:03:11.320 --> 0:03:15.919 And we have four grown children. We have twelve grandchildren 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:21.840 and twelve great grandchildren. And so I feel like all 0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:26.800 I do is write checks all year, don't take them 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:30.000 very long, and all they wants money, like five or 0:03:30.040 --> 0:03:33.440 six years old, they got their hand out for the cash. 0:03:33.639 --> 0:03:40.360 Dave and I in January will be married fifty nine years, 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:44.520 and we are not alike at all. So don't tell 0:03:44.560 --> 0:03:46.920 me that you can't get along with somebody that's different 0:03:46.960 --> 0:03:50.280 than you are, because you can if you want to. 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:57.640 And I've actually had the great privilege. I can't. I 0:03:57.640 --> 0:04:01.040 can't think of having the privilege of doing anything greater 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:07.200 than actually handling and teaching the Word of God, the 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:10.480 most important thing that we have. And I've been teaching 0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:18.640 for fifty years, and i want to talk to you 0:04:18.680 --> 0:04:23.640 today about well. I actually put two titles on it. 0:04:23.680 --> 0:04:30.480 The first one was acceptable Sins, which I think that 0:04:30.560 --> 0:04:34.040 we think there are some of those, and I think 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:36.360 there are things that are sin that we have forgotten 0:04:36.360 --> 0:04:42.520 our sin. But I decided to change the title to 0:04:42.720 --> 0:04:46.839 just a little bit, because you know, that's the biggest 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:49.640 lie the devil tells people. It's just a little bit, 0:04:50.720 --> 0:04:54.640 that's not a big deal, that doesn't matter. I think 0:04:54.920 --> 0:05:00.119 the hardest thing for a sincere Christian to do is 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:09.159 to keep the balance between holiness and legalism, because see, 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:11.560 I've been legalistic, and I don't want to be legalistic. 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:13.000 I don't want to feel like I can never do 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:16.200 anything or never have any fun, you know, but all 0:05:16.240 --> 0:05:22.120 I can do is spiritual things. However, if I have 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:26.800 to choose to lean toward holiness, I'm going to always 0:05:27.080 --> 0:05:31.960 lean toward holiness. And some people will call that legalism, 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:35.320 but it's not. And God has called us to be 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:40.560 a holy people. And we live in a more casual 0:05:40.640 --> 0:05:45.960 society today, and I don't know that I think it's good. 0:05:46.000 --> 0:05:48.080 But maybe that's because I'm older. I don't know, but 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:55.080 it seems like the more casual our society gets, the 0:05:55.080 --> 0:05:59.839 more casual our morals get. And I think we have 0:05:59.839 --> 0:06:04.359 to be really careful because we are a unique generation 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:07.400 that has been called far such a time as this. 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:11.520 Do you know that Jesus actually really could come back 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:18.120 in our lifetime? I mean, he really could call the 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:22.520 church home at any day. And I don't ever want 0:06:22.560 --> 0:06:27.279 to be ashamed when I stand before him. When fifty 0:06:27.360 --> 0:06:30.640 years ago, just as I was starting to teach home 0:06:30.680 --> 0:06:34.000 Bible studies, I was going to a Walgames drug store 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:37.800 one day, and I remember I was walking down the 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:40.680 street to get there, and I saw a penny laying 0:06:41.040 --> 0:06:42.680 on the street and I just kind of kicked it. 0:06:42.800 --> 0:06:45.280 Walked over it, and I got about this far, and 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:47.440 the Lord spoke very clearly to me, and he said, 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:51.800 if you pick up pennies, you'll always be blessed. But 0:06:51.880 --> 0:06:53.560 I knew it had nothing to do with the penny. 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:56.200 What he was saying to me was, if you pay 0:06:56.200 --> 0:07:02.920 attention to little things, I'll always bless your life. And 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:06.679 he has. And We've picked up many pennies in our life. 0:07:06.800 --> 0:07:10.040 I will dig them out of the dirt. I won't 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:13.520 leave them there because they have a very special meaning 0:07:13.920 --> 0:07:18.840 to me. And we've tried the best we can to 0:07:18.920 --> 0:07:26.680 run our ministry with integrity and excellence. But I think 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:28.800 it's time to tighten our belt of truth just a 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:33.160 little bit tighter. You know Ephesians six, when it talks 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:35.640 about warfare, one of the first things that says is 0:07:35.720 --> 0:07:39.440 tighten the belt of truth. Tighten it so you may 0:07:39.520 --> 0:07:42.200 know the word, but God wants us to lean in 0:07:42.280 --> 0:07:45.360 on it a little bit more. Make sure we're living it, 0:07:45.520 --> 0:07:48.840 not just not just talking about it. And so I 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:55.120 think that there are things that we do that we 0:07:55.160 --> 0:07:59.120 shouldn't do, but we do them because the devil says 0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:05.880 it's just a little bit. Everybody does it. I mean 0:08:10.320 --> 0:08:14.200 maybe you're not here because I know their integrity. But 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:18.960 there are pastors I know that do things that God 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:23.560 won't let me do, and I used to. I went 0:08:23.600 --> 0:08:25.520 to God complaining about it one time because there was 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:28.600 a movie that was out that I really wanted to see, 0:08:28.960 --> 0:08:33.080 and I just knew God didn't want me to go 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:36.040 see it. But I mean, my pastors were seeing it. 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:38.440 Everybody was seeing it, and I got a little miffed. 0:08:38.480 --> 0:08:40.760 I thought, why is it that everybody else can do 0:08:40.800 --> 0:08:43.240 stuff and I can't do anything? And you know what 0:08:43.280 --> 0:08:45.640 he said to me. Look, Joyce, you asked me for 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:53.240 a lot. Do you want it or not? So you know, 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:56.280 everybody wants everything that you here talked about, but not 0:08:56.360 --> 0:08:59.319 everybody's willing to live the lifestyle they need to live 0:09:00.160 --> 0:09:05.720 to get it. I want to read your story. It's 0:09:05.760 --> 0:09:10.160 by a woman named Annette Nee. Many parents are working 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:12.600 hard to explain to their children and teens why some 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:17.280 video games, music, movies, books, and magazines are not acceptable 0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:20.839 material for them to see or bring into their homes. 0:09:21.559 --> 0:09:24.520 One parent came up with an original idea that's hard 0:09:24.559 --> 0:09:27.560 to refute. He listened to all the reasons his children 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:31.079 gave for wanting to see a particular PG thirteen movie. 0:09:31.280 --> 0:09:33.840 It had their favorite actors. Everyone else was seeing it. 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:37.440 Even church members said it was great. It was only 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:40.679 rated PG thirteen because of the suggestion of sex. They 0:09:40.720 --> 0:09:44.040 never really showed anything. The language was pretty good. They 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:46.240 only used a large name in vain three times in 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:50.040 the whole movie. The video effects were fabulous, The plot 0:09:50.120 --> 0:09:56.200 was power packed. Video effects were fabulous. Yes, there was 0:09:56.240 --> 0:09:59.400 those this one scene where they blew up a bunch 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:02.600 of people in kill them, But you know, not violence 0:10:02.600 --> 0:10:05.760 as normal stuff today. It wasn't really that bad. Even 0:10:05.800 --> 0:10:08.480 after all these explanations for the rating, the father would 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:11.520 not give in. He didn't even give them a satisfying 0:10:11.559 --> 0:10:15.240 explanation for saying no. He just said no. A little 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:19.160 later that evening, the father said to his teens, if 0:10:19.200 --> 0:10:24.079 you'd like some brownies, I've made some fresh. He explained 0:10:24.120 --> 0:10:27.280 he'd taken the family's favorite recipe and added a little 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:32.160 something new. They said, what is it, and he calmly 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:35.000 replied that he had added just a little bit of 0:10:35.120 --> 0:10:46.160 dog poop. He said, but it's just a little as 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:49.600 in this whole batch of brownie. You won't even taste it, 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:56.480 But all the other ingredients or gourmet quality. He had 0:10:56.520 --> 0:10:58.840 taken great care to bake the brownies at the precise 0:10:58.920 --> 0:11:02.439 temperature at the exact time. He was sure they'd be superb. 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:06.240 Even with all the explanations of the perfect attributes of 0:11:06.280 --> 0:11:12.520 the brownies, the teens, not one teen would even try one. 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:18.560 The father acted surprised. Well, there's only one little element 0:11:19.200 --> 0:11:25.960 in there that I don't know. Why you actually stubborn? 0:11:27.280 --> 0:11:30.079 He said, I assure you you won't notice it, you 0:11:30.160 --> 0:11:33.280 won't taste it, if at all. But they all held 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:37.120 firm and not one would even try the brownies. He 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:39.320 then explained that the movie they wanted to see was 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:42.839 just like those brownies. Stand enters our minds and our 0:11:42.840 --> 0:11:45.600 homes by deceiving us into believing that just a little 0:11:45.600 --> 0:11:53.120 bit won't matter, just a little bit won't make any difference. 0:11:56.000 --> 0:11:58.440 So now when the father's children want to do something 0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:06.360 they shouldn't do, he just says, would you like a brownie? Now? 0:12:06.720 --> 0:12:08.600 I have one main thing that I want to get 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:11.480 out today, and so I'll have to just kind of 0:12:11.480 --> 0:12:14.560 give you a little dust over so we all have 0:12:14.640 --> 0:12:18.160 a good idea. Okay, I doubt that any one of 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:21.920 you is going to rob a bank next week. I 0:12:22.000 --> 0:12:27.920 doubt that anybody here is planning to rob the local 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:32.120 mini march. I doubt that anybody here is planning a murder. 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:35.520 But there are some of you here this morning that 0:12:36.480 --> 0:12:46.120 harbor jealousy. Oh yeah, it is a sin. Bible says, 0:12:46.200 --> 0:12:51.640 Jealousy rots the bones. You know, it's amazing to me 0:12:52.960 --> 0:12:56.400 that we don't see this center. Everything that God tells 0:12:56.480 --> 0:12:58.880 us to do or not to do is not for 0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:04.320 his benefit, it's for ours. He just tells us to 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:06.240 do what will make us happy, and what will make 0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:09.240 us better, and what will that make us healthier and 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:13.679 make us live long. Jealousy rots the bones. It has 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:17.920 an actual effect on your health. But let's just say 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:24.120 that there's a woman at work that is not a believer, 0:13:25.360 --> 0:13:30.640 and there's an office that's opened up. There weren't enough 0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:34.920 offices for everybody, but certain people got offices and somebody 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:37.760 had quit, and so now this office was open. And 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:45.839 you're a Christian and you prayed for that office. You 0:13:45.880 --> 0:13:48.160 even gave a little extra that week in the offering 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:52.600 because you wanted that office. But this girl who wasn't 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:59.199 even a Christian got it. Now, all of a sudden, 0:13:59.240 --> 0:14:03.800 you can't like her anymore, because as soon as you 0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:10.080 become jealous of somebody, you can no longer have a 0:14:10.120 --> 0:14:13.720 loving right relationship with him. Or maybe let's say it's 0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:20.520 a sibling rivalry. Maybe just somebody here today maybe or 0:14:20.520 --> 0:14:29.680 somebody watching on television. Maybe you have a brother or 0:14:29.840 --> 0:14:36.080 sister that's smarter than you are. I had one son 0:14:36.160 --> 0:14:39.000 that got straight a's and never had to crack a book, 0:14:41.040 --> 0:14:49.040 and another another one that a girl's. She got good grades, 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:52.040 but I mean she studied so hard. That was all 0:14:52.120 --> 0:14:54.880 the girl did. And then I had two who didn't care. 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:10.600 And one of those two the ministry now. And because 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:14.760 he wasn't a book guy, he was a hands on guy. 0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:19.600 And everybody has gifts, and you should never be jealous 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:26.760 of somebody else's because what happens if you're jealous of 0:15:26.840 --> 0:15:31.600 somebody else's gifts. It causes you not to see your own, 0:15:32.080 --> 0:15:36.600 and then we end up being robbed. Because God put 0:15:36.720 --> 0:15:39.880 that gift in them for you. The gift that's in 0:15:39.920 --> 0:15:47.480 me makes me work. You get to enjoy it, right, 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:52.040 and so I need your gift and you need mine. 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:55.640 But if we get jealous of each other, then it 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:59.200 doesn't happen. What if my eyes said, you know, I'm 0:15:59.200 --> 0:16:02.880 really tired of just looking at that ring. I've looked 0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:06.200 at that ring all my life and I'm just tired 0:16:06.200 --> 0:16:09.840 of it, and I want my own ring. Now. What 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:13.160 if God said, oh, okay, well there you have it. 0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:23.160 So now I've just messed up everything. I got my ring, 0:16:23.200 --> 0:16:26.080 I got my way, but now I can't see what 0:16:26.120 --> 0:16:31.160 I'm doing or or where I'm going in life? Amen? 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:38.840 Or what about unforgiveness? And you know, I know you 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:42.560 hear a lot about unforgiveness, but it's the single biggest 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:48.320 problem in the church. You would be absolutely astonished at 0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:51.400 how many people are in here today that are angry 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:56.480 with someone and you don't forgive them because you don't 0:16:56.520 --> 0:17:00.640 think they deserve it, or you know, it's it's funny 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:04.240 when somebody does something that hurts us, how well we 0:17:04.440 --> 0:17:08.240 remember it, but how quickly we forget the things that 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:09.280 we do to other people. 0:17:09.880 --> 0:17:10.120 Wow. 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:18.359 Wow. Amen. And you want to forgive some of you, 0:17:18.480 --> 0:17:20.959 some of you don't. But if you want to forgive, 0:17:23.119 --> 0:17:26.240 people get mixed up because they think forgiveness is a feeling. 0:17:27.040 --> 0:17:29.280 So you pray to forgive and you don't feel any 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:31.560 different about that person when you see them, you still 0:17:31.560 --> 0:17:36.879 want to knock them down. But forgiveness is not a feeling. 0:17:36.920 --> 0:17:41.520 It's a decision you make about how you will treat someone. Now, 0:17:41.560 --> 0:17:44.040 I want you to get that, so that'll help so 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:49.560 many of you. The Bible says that we are to 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:53.879 do three things. Pray for our enemies. So if you 0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:55.960 want to forgive somebody, you pray for them. You pray 0:17:56.000 --> 0:17:57.879 for them to be blessed. And you think, well, I 0:17:57.880 --> 0:18:01.280 don't want them to be blessed. Well, you pray for 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:04.000 them to be blessed anyway. And that doesn't mean God's 0:18:04.040 --> 0:18:07.199 going to give them a new house. Maybe He'll give 0:18:07.240 --> 0:18:10.920 them some revelation about how they treat people. You pray 0:18:10.960 --> 0:18:15.040 for them to be blessed, you bless and do not 0:18:15.200 --> 0:18:20.199 curse them, And that means in that way that you 0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:24.000 speak well of them, you don't speak evil of them, 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:27.320 so you don't run around telling everybody else what they did. 0:18:28.320 --> 0:18:33.760 And Thirdly, if they have a need, who that's the 0:18:33.800 --> 0:18:39.399 out you one. If they have a need, you meet 0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:43.600 that need. Now, forgiveness doesn't necessarily mean that you have 0:18:43.640 --> 0:18:47.560 to be around the person. You don't have to have 0:18:47.600 --> 0:18:52.320 a reconciliation of the relationship. But how you feel about 0:18:52.359 --> 0:18:57.280 them in your heart, you release them in your heart, 0:18:58.119 --> 0:19:01.920 You release them into God's hands, and you do yourself 0:19:01.960 --> 0:19:06.359 a favor when you do that, not them you because 0:19:06.400 --> 0:19:10.640 you can't. It messes your love life up if you're 0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:12.280 mad at people. And I tell you, I want to 0:19:12.320 --> 0:19:15.400 be so good at forgiveness that I'm forgiving somebody while 0:19:15.400 --> 0:19:21.040 they're still trying to offend me. So that's I just 0:19:21.080 --> 0:19:23.440 wanted to give you an idea, But I got to 0:19:23.440 --> 0:19:28.120 get going here to get to the real stuff. One 0:19:28.160 --> 0:19:32.160 I want to mention is lying. There are a lot 0:19:32.160 --> 0:19:37.119 of Christian liars, because any time you don't keep your word, 0:19:37.280 --> 0:19:45.679 you're lying. Now we're gonna get down to the little stuff, 0:19:45.680 --> 0:19:49.760 because I think God cares about the pennies. If you 0:19:50.040 --> 0:20:00.320 tell somebody, I'll call you back this afternoon. And and really, 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:02.359 if the truth were told, you already know when you 0:20:02.400 --> 0:20:04.440 say that you're not going to call him back this afternoon. 0:20:06.000 --> 0:20:11.159 You've just found a way to get rid of them. 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:14.920 I tell you how God cured me of that. We 0:20:14.920 --> 0:20:22.359 were in Florida, Jacksonville, Florida, ministering several different churches and 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:25.679 we kind of really hooked up with this one couple 0:20:25.680 --> 0:20:28.840 that were pastors, and so we said to them. I 0:20:28.880 --> 0:20:32.119 said to them, hey, you guys ought to come to 0:20:32.160 --> 0:20:36.560 Saint Louis sometime and stay for about a week, and 0:20:36.600 --> 0:20:39.080 we'll take you to the arch and you know, we'll 0:20:39.119 --> 0:20:43.960 do all these things. Well, I don't even know why 0:20:43.960 --> 0:20:47.120 I said it. I didn't really say it. I didn't 0:20:47.160 --> 0:20:51.800 really say it because I wanted them to come. I 0:20:52.000 --> 0:20:56.480 just was trying to be nice. Well, about a month 0:20:56.520 --> 0:20:59.520 went buying the man calling, he said, well, we're ready. 0:21:00.000 --> 0:21:07.840 I said, ready for what? He said, We're ready to 0:21:07.840 --> 0:21:14.880 come to Saint Louis. And I thought, oh, And I said, 0:21:14.880 --> 0:21:16.600 to god, God, what am I going to do? I 0:21:17.400 --> 0:21:19.840 can't have company for a week right now. I'm just 0:21:20.359 --> 0:21:22.440 up to my eyeballs and work. And he said, I'll 0:21:22.440 --> 0:21:24.640 tell you exactly what you're gonna do. You're gonna tell 0:21:24.680 --> 0:21:27.119 them to come, and you're going to put them in 0:21:27.160 --> 0:21:30.200 a good hotel and you're going to spend the week 0:21:30.240 --> 0:21:33.960 with them. And that's going to teach you not to 0:21:34.040 --> 0:21:43.359 say things that you really don't mean. And ma'am, don't 0:21:43.400 --> 0:21:46.040 tell people. I'll pray for you, and then don't pray 0:21:46.040 --> 0:21:49.400 for them. I'll pray for you as a good way 0:21:49.440 --> 0:21:52.880 to get rid of people too. Sometimes I'm gonna pray 0:21:52.920 --> 0:21:55.360 for you about that. Well, then you pray for them 0:21:55.359 --> 0:21:57.879 about that. If you tell somebody you're going to call 0:21:57.920 --> 0:22:00.760 them back, you call them back. If you say I'll 0:22:00.800 --> 0:22:02.600 call you in a few weeks and we'll go to lunch, 0:22:03.240 --> 0:22:09.200 call them and take them to lunch. We expect God 0:22:09.280 --> 0:22:15.240 to keep his word, and God expects us to keep 0:22:15.400 --> 0:22:22.400 our word. Amen. I mean these to me are areas 0:22:22.440 --> 0:22:27.240 where you could lean a little toward legalism and it 0:22:27.240 --> 0:22:35.080 wouldn't hurt I honestly try before God, anything that I 0:22:35.200 --> 0:22:40.080 tell somebody I'm going to do to the best of 0:22:40.080 --> 0:22:44.119 my knowledge, I do it. And if there's anything I've forgotten, Lord, 0:22:44.160 --> 0:22:47.920 please remind me. But the thing I actually want to 0:22:47.960 --> 0:22:53.040 talk to you about today is a big sin, but 0:22:53.200 --> 0:22:56.000 one that people I don't think you even think it's 0:22:56.040 --> 0:23:08.520 a sin, and that's complaining. I don't know if you 0:23:08.560 --> 0:23:11.840 know who Madam Guyan is, but she lived in the 0:23:11.880 --> 0:23:18.600 sixteen hundreds and some of her books have really helped me. 0:23:20.359 --> 0:23:25.280 Pretty strict, but they've really helped me. And she said 0:23:25.320 --> 0:23:27.639 something is just like God, You've got to be kidding. 0:23:28.000 --> 0:23:33.680 She said, even if you sigh, it's a sign of discontentment. 0:23:35.600 --> 0:23:37.160 So let me just tell you I've got a ways 0:23:37.200 --> 0:23:43.560 to go, because I still do sigh. In numbers twenty one, 0:23:43.680 --> 0:23:46.400 verses four through seven, the Bible says, and they journeyed 0:23:46.400 --> 0:23:49.119 from Mount Horror by way to the Red Sea to 0:23:49.200 --> 0:23:53.240 go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient, depressed, 0:23:53.680 --> 0:23:57.040 much discouraged because of the trials of the way. And 0:23:57.080 --> 0:24:00.879 the people spoke against God and against Moses. Why have 0:24:00.960 --> 0:24:03.720 you brought us out of Egypt to die in this wilderness. 0:24:04.160 --> 0:24:07.000 There's no bread here, neither is there any water. And 0:24:07.160 --> 0:24:22.000 we loathe this light, contemptible, unsubstantial manna. Then the Lord 0:24:22.119 --> 0:24:26.200 sent fiery burning serpents among the people, and they bit 0:24:26.320 --> 0:24:30.120 the people, and many Israelites died. It was twenty three 0:24:30.160 --> 0:24:34.280 thousand exactly. And so they went to Moses and said, 0:24:34.520 --> 0:24:42.680 we have sinned. Duh. Sometimes it takes us a long 0:24:42.760 --> 0:24:48.840 time to get the idea that God's trying to get 0:24:48.880 --> 0:24:52.840 something across to us and we're just not paying any attention. 0:24:54.480 --> 0:25:00.880 Oh joyce, does the Bible really say complaining is sin? Well, 0:25:00.920 --> 0:25:03.159 it says give thanks in all things, no matter what 0:25:03.200 --> 0:25:06.520 the circumstances. Might be be thankful and give thanks for 0:25:06.600 --> 0:25:08.239 this is the will of God for those of you 0:25:08.240 --> 0:25:14.240 who are in Christ Jesus. Well, that was a lousy clap, 0:25:16.480 --> 0:25:26.600 that was Pye. And then over in the New Testament 0:25:27.440 --> 0:25:32.520 in First Corinthians eight through eleven, it repeats that whole 0:25:32.560 --> 0:25:39.280 thing again, that's in numbers, and Paul said these things 0:25:39.320 --> 0:25:42.680 befell them by way of a figure as an example 0:25:42.760 --> 0:25:49.480 and a warning to us, a warning. You know, everything 0:25:49.560 --> 0:25:51.920 that you hear in church is not supposed to make 0:25:51.960 --> 0:25:56.800 you feel great. And that's one of the problems we 0:25:56.880 --> 0:26:00.760 have today. People just go to get their blessing and 0:26:01.280 --> 0:26:07.000 they want to feel good. Tell me how wonderful I am, 0:26:07.080 --> 0:26:08.960 Tell me all the good things that the Bible has 0:26:08.960 --> 0:26:12.360 to say about me. Well, you know, I just went 0:26:12.359 --> 0:26:14.400 through a season of doing that. I spent about six 0:26:14.440 --> 0:26:17.320 weeks telling the whole world how wonderful they were. Now 0:26:17.359 --> 0:26:26.480 I feel led to go in another direction. I feel 0:26:26.480 --> 0:26:31.160 a new annoying coming on me for a season. One 0:26:31.200 --> 0:26:40.040 of those Mama's thinkings, we must not gratify evil desire 0:26:40.080 --> 0:26:43.680 and indulge in immorality, as some of them did. God 0:26:43.720 --> 0:26:47.840 called what they were doing immorality. They were crabbing and 0:26:47.880 --> 0:26:52.639 complaining about this miracle that God's raining down out of 0:26:52.640 --> 0:26:57.480 the sky. You think miracles would keep you happy, They 0:26:57.520 --> 0:27:03.479 really won't because we get too used to things. I 0:27:03.480 --> 0:27:05.480 bet they were excited about that Man of the first 0:27:05.560 --> 0:27:12.520 few days, But you know, we get familiarity with things. 0:27:12.560 --> 0:27:15.240 I remember saying to the Lord once, why don't you 0:27:15.320 --> 0:27:19.959 do the things that you used to do? When I 0:27:20.000 --> 0:27:22.040 was first baptized in the Holy Spirit? I mean, I 0:27:22.080 --> 0:27:24.600 had so many supernatural things happening. It was just like 0:27:26.000 --> 0:27:28.879 I'd ask God for an answer to something and open 0:27:28.960 --> 0:27:35.680 my Bible and that would be the answer. Why don't 0:27:35.680 --> 0:27:38.520 you do the things you used to do? And boy 0:27:38.560 --> 0:27:41.120 did he shock me? He said, Oh, I still do them. 0:27:41.160 --> 0:27:52.760 You've just gotten used to them. How many amazing things 0:27:52.880 --> 0:27:56.359 is God doing in your life every day that you 0:27:56.359 --> 0:28:04.920 don't even recognize as amazing anymore? Do you know how 0:28:04.960 --> 0:28:07.199 amazing it is just to have a church like this 0:28:07.359 --> 0:28:17.560 to go to? I mean, really amazing. There's so many 0:28:17.600 --> 0:28:20.840 amazing things that God does for us. But we have 0:28:21.000 --> 0:28:30.080 gotten Yes, God's our friend, but he's also sovereign, and 0:28:30.119 --> 0:28:33.399 he means what he says, and when he says to 0:28:33.440 --> 0:28:36.840 do something, if we don't do it. We're going to 0:28:36.880 --> 0:28:40.400 feel it in our own life. Remember what I say. 0:28:40.560 --> 0:28:43.480 I think if you get this, it'll really help you. 0:28:44.960 --> 0:28:47.479 Everything that God tells us to do or not to 0:28:47.520 --> 0:28:51.880 do is for our benefit. It's not for his. It's 0:28:51.920 --> 0:28:56.920 for our better. He's telling us what will make us happy, 0:28:57.080 --> 0:28:59.480 what will make us powerful, what will put us in 0:28:59.520 --> 0:29:03.880 a position where the devil can't touch us. He's telling 0:29:03.960 --> 0:29:07.000 us how to live a life that is so far 0:29:07.200 --> 0:29:13.920 superior that you can't hardly believe it. And we have 0:29:14.040 --> 0:29:21.400 the audacity to obey him. Yes, but just a little bit. 0:29:23.240 --> 0:29:28.440 There's just a little bit that we You know, Saul, 0:29:28.520 --> 0:29:34.240 when God told him to go in and kill all 0:29:34.280 --> 0:29:38.360 the women, the men, the babies, the cattle, don't leave anything. 0:29:40.080 --> 0:29:45.800 And Saul did a little too much thinking, and instead 0:29:45.840 --> 0:29:47.840 of just doing what God told him to do, he 0:29:48.800 --> 0:29:53.680 killed everybody, kept got rid of everything except the good stuff. 0:29:56.080 --> 0:29:59.120 And when Saul confronted him about it, the prophet Saul, 0:29:59.440 --> 0:30:02.400 he said, well, I just kept the good things to 0:30:02.520 --> 0:30:07.960 sacrifice them to the Lord. Now you're really getting light. 0:30:11.280 --> 0:30:16.360 I just did it for you. Lord. Well, I desire sacrifice. 0:30:16.360 --> 0:30:20.479 I desire obedience, not sacrifice. And I think Sometimes we 0:30:20.560 --> 0:30:23.600 don't obey God in something, and then we will do 0:30:23.680 --> 0:30:28.960 something like give extra money in the offering, and I 0:30:29.000 --> 0:30:31.080 think it just happened so fast. Sometimes we don't even 0:30:31.080 --> 0:30:34.320 realize what we're doing. We're trying to make up for 0:30:34.400 --> 0:30:39.240 something else that we should have done and we didn't do. 0:30:40.760 --> 0:30:43.400 Wonder how happy it would make the Lord if everybody 0:30:43.440 --> 0:30:49.920 that's a Christian never complained. I'd be happy if I 0:30:49.920 --> 0:30:54.320 could make it through one whole day. And I mean, 0:30:54.400 --> 0:30:58.440 I really try to do this. I'll tell you what 0:30:58.480 --> 0:31:04.280 we don't do very well is inconvenience. We are just spoiled, 0:31:04.400 --> 0:31:14.480 rotten inconvenience. Well, my electric went off for two hours. 0:31:17.040 --> 0:31:20.800 None of my electronics would work. I couldn't use my epad, 0:31:20.880 --> 0:31:27.720 you paid epad, whatever they are, there's too many, too 0:31:27.760 --> 0:31:38.200 many things. It's YouTube and whatever the pad is. I forget. 0:31:44.040 --> 0:31:47.120 I mean, we can't live if we don't have all 0:31:47.160 --> 0:31:51.280 of our electric stuff. I mean, I left my phone 0:31:51.320 --> 0:31:54.840 at home on this trip, and I was kind of 0:31:54.840 --> 0:31:56.400 proud of myself. I thought, I'm gonna see how I 0:31:56.400 --> 0:31:57.840 do without it. But they figured out a way to 0:31:57.840 --> 0:32:02.080 get it to me and I got I had it 0:32:02.080 --> 0:32:08.840 by the time I got here. Okay, listen to what 0:32:08.880 --> 0:32:13.360 Poe says in First Corinthians. First Corinthians ten eight. We 0:32:13.440 --> 0:32:17.600 must not gratify evil desire and indulge in immorality, as 0:32:17.640 --> 0:32:21.040 some of them did, and twenty three thousand suddenly fell 0:32:21.120 --> 0:32:28.800 dead in a single day. Wow. We should not tempt 0:32:28.800 --> 0:32:32.680 the lord try his patience, become a trial to him 0:32:34.560 --> 0:32:39.440 by critically appraising him and exploiting his goodness, as some 0:32:39.520 --> 0:32:44.440 of them did and were killed by poisonous serpents. Nor 0:32:44.520 --> 0:32:49.920 should we discontentedly complain, as some of them did, and 0:32:50.000 --> 0:32:53.280 were put out of the way entirely by the destroyer. 0:32:54.640 --> 0:32:57.200 Now these things befell them by way of a figure, 0:32:57.280 --> 0:33:01.720 as an example and a warning to us. They were 0:33:01.720 --> 0:33:05.280 written to admonish and fit us for right action by 0:33:05.320 --> 0:33:10.920 good instruction, we in whose days the ages have reached 0:33:10.920 --> 0:33:13.920 their climax. You know, the Bible doesn't say that we 0:33:14.000 --> 0:33:17.160 are just to be encouraged, Paul told Timothy. Preach the 0:33:17.200 --> 0:33:30.920 word encourage, urge, warn, and rebuke. So we need a 0:33:30.920 --> 0:33:34.080 healthy diet of all of it in order to be balanced. Yes, 0:33:34.160 --> 0:33:37.280 we need to be encouraged. There are times when we 0:33:37.320 --> 0:33:41.600 need to be rebuked. There's times when the sermon needs 0:33:41.600 --> 0:33:45.719 to make you squirm just a little bit in your seats. 0:33:45.760 --> 0:33:47.800 And you know, I mean, if we're not going to 0:33:47.960 --> 0:33:52.120 learn anything, you got to learn something when you go 0:33:52.160 --> 0:33:55.640 to church. I mean it's great, the worship is great, 0:33:55.640 --> 0:33:57.840 and it's great to jump around and be happy, and 0:33:58.160 --> 0:34:01.880 we all need that. But you need to listen to 0:34:01.960 --> 0:34:10.319 every word that Stephen says. Don't ever be the kind 0:34:10.320 --> 0:34:12.920 of person if somebody asks you what did Stephen preach 0:34:12.960 --> 0:34:16.759 on the day, say it was good? I know it 0:34:16.800 --> 0:34:21.400 was good. I want you to know. Well into the 0:34:21.400 --> 0:34:24.000 middle of next week, if somebody asks you, oh, I 0:34:24.000 --> 0:34:25.600 heard Joyce is at your church. On you what does 0:34:25.640 --> 0:34:27.960 she preach on? I want you to be able to 0:34:28.040 --> 0:34:31.920 tell them that we have to stop just letting a 0:34:32.040 --> 0:34:35.600 little bit of sin into our lives because a little 0:34:35.600 --> 0:34:42.600 bit doesn't matter. And when you have something inconvenient, I 0:34:42.680 --> 0:34:46.720 want you to when you start to complain, to remember, oops, 0:34:47.080 --> 0:34:52.520 that's something I'm not supposed to do. Yeah, go on, 0:34:52.520 --> 0:34:56.640 how many of you complain? Everybody in the whole church 0:34:56.680 --> 0:35:03.920 is sinning. Let me ask you a sincere question. Do 0:35:04.840 --> 0:35:07.440 you believe that little things like this make a difference, 0:35:10.880 --> 0:35:12.880 so it's not the big things that we're guilty of. 0:35:16.360 --> 0:35:21.840 It's all the little stuff. A man that I knew, 0:35:24.160 --> 0:35:29.920 his wife had divorced him and he had met another 0:35:29.960 --> 0:35:36.000 guy and they both claimed to be Christians. And this 0:35:36.120 --> 0:35:39.560 other guy was living with his girlfriend, had been for 0:35:39.640 --> 0:35:42.440 quite some time. And he says to the guy that 0:35:42.520 --> 0:35:46.759 I know, I've got a good idea. Why don't we 0:35:47.040 --> 0:35:55.920 fast once a week and pray together for God to 0:35:55.920 --> 0:36:00.120 do these certain things they wanted him to do. Nay, 0:36:00.239 --> 0:36:12.560 excuse me, but that's just stupid. I mean, why even bother? Yeah, 0:36:12.800 --> 0:36:15.520 but you know, somehow or another, he had himself convinced 0:36:15.520 --> 0:36:18.440 that what he was doing wasn't wrong. And that's the 0:36:18.480 --> 0:36:22.600 scary part. The Bible says that the heart is deceitful 0:36:22.719 --> 0:36:28.200 above all things. Who can know his own heart? That's 0:36:28.239 --> 0:36:33.680 why we got to have some meetings with ourselves. I mean, 0:36:33.719 --> 0:36:35.680 at least once a week. You used to have a 0:36:35.680 --> 0:36:40.440 meeting with yourself and just really ask God, am I 0:36:40.520 --> 0:36:44.200 doing okay? Here? Is there something you need to remind 0:36:44.239 --> 0:36:47.520 me of? Do I need a little kick in the rear? 0:36:52.840 --> 0:36:56.480 And See, this doesn't mean that you have to live 0:36:56.520 --> 0:37:00.279 this rigid, legalistic life where you can never do any 0:37:00.320 --> 0:37:04.600 things or have never have any fun. But how about 0:37:04.600 --> 0:37:06.800 if I throw this out? What if you start listening 0:37:06.840 --> 0:37:13.080 to your conscience. That's one of the best things that 0:37:13.120 --> 0:37:16.640 God has given us as a conscience, it's part of 0:37:16.680 --> 0:37:25.680 our spirit. Conscience comes from their intuition revelation. So I 0:37:25.719 --> 0:37:27.719 can sit and talk to your head all day, but 0:37:27.840 --> 0:37:30.160 I want it to fall from your head to your 0:37:30.160 --> 0:37:34.160 spirit and become a revelation. We have got so much information, 0:37:36.719 --> 0:37:40.320 but we needed to become revelation because when it's revelation, 0:37:40.520 --> 0:37:51.560 that's when you start really doing it. One of the 0:37:51.600 --> 0:37:57.120 definitions I found for complain, to complain means to remain. 0:38:01.520 --> 0:38:05.160 So the Israelites remained in the wilderness forty years, trying 0:38:05.160 --> 0:38:10.040 to make an eleven day trip, and one of the 0:38:10.040 --> 0:38:14.080 reasons found. I have found ten reasons why they stayed 0:38:14.120 --> 0:38:19.719 out there, but one of them was just complaining. They 0:38:19.800 --> 0:38:24.360 just complained every time it was inconvenient. Now it's God's fault, 0:38:24.400 --> 0:38:26.759 it's Moses's fault, and we wish we would have stayed 0:38:26.800 --> 0:38:31.560 in Egypt where we had those onions and leaks and garlic. Whew. 0:38:34.040 --> 0:38:36.120 I might rather try a brownie than that. I don't 0:38:36.120 --> 0:38:47.640 know if we could just understand what we give up 0:38:50.840 --> 0:38:52.919 in an effort to try to get what we think 0:38:53.000 --> 0:39:04.440 we want. God doesn't answer complaints, He answers prayers. Philippians 0:39:04.440 --> 0:39:12.279 four six Philippians for six. Do not fret or have 0:39:12.360 --> 0:39:17.719 any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, 0:39:17.840 --> 0:39:25.680 by prayer and petition, definite request with thanksgiving. Now, you know, 0:39:25.719 --> 0:39:27.400 the Lord says a lot of stuff to me that 0:39:30.840 --> 0:39:32.719 I just don't get by with much. Not that I'm 0:39:32.760 --> 0:39:37.960 trying to, but I don't. And I was praying for 0:39:38.000 --> 0:39:41.560 something one time, and the Lord said, why should I 0:39:41.600 --> 0:39:45.480 give you that? You're already complaining about what you've got. 0:39:46.680 --> 0:39:48.720 Why should I give you something else to complain about. 0:39:53.320 --> 0:39:59.240 We're supposed to be thankful. People I love be thankful 0:39:59.280 --> 0:40:04.160 and say so. It's not enough to say, well, I'm 0:40:04.200 --> 0:40:08.640 a thankful person. Well, how many people are in your 0:40:08.680 --> 0:40:11.240 life that are blessings to you that you haven't thanked 0:40:11.280 --> 0:40:16.440 in a long, long, long long time. You know, if 0:40:16.440 --> 0:40:18.799 the word thank you was around your house as more 0:40:18.920 --> 0:40:29.560 marriages would last a lot longer. Dave told me the 0:40:29.600 --> 0:40:33.840 other day to get him something, and I said, say please, 0:40:38.640 --> 0:40:40.400 and he didn't say it. I said, you're not getting it. 0:40:40.400 --> 0:40:49.919 Till you say please. Don't take me for granted. Even 0:40:49.960 --> 0:40:52.200 in your home, you need to say please and thank you. 0:40:54.920 --> 0:41:03.000 It's amazing. I mean, if we just had better manners. See, 0:41:03.040 --> 0:41:04.960 how can you be a light in a dark world? 0:41:05.280 --> 0:41:07.480 Get out there and you know, you don't really have 0:41:07.560 --> 0:41:12.000 to preach to everybody. I forget the famous person that 0:41:12.080 --> 0:41:14.239 said it, but somebody said preach at all times and 0:41:14.280 --> 0:41:20.719 if necessary, use words. Who was it, Mike Saint Francis 0:41:20.719 --> 0:41:26.080 of Assissi. He's like my brain when mine gives out. 0:41:30.560 --> 0:41:32.680 I say, there's so much stuff I forget. Now it's 0:41:32.719 --> 0:41:37.600 just gotten to be hilarious. I don't even argue with 0:41:37.640 --> 0:41:39.680 my kids anymore when they tell me you told us 0:41:39.680 --> 0:41:45.040 that last week. I just said, okay, if you say so, 0:41:46.680 --> 0:41:48.880 I don't remember it. But if you say so, but 0:41:49.000 --> 0:41:51.520 I tell you. You know, when you don't remember things as good. 0:41:51.560 --> 0:41:58.120 It's great for movies because I can watch a movie 0:41:58.120 --> 0:42:00.000 and not see it for two months and go back 0:42:00.080 --> 0:42:07.080 watch it again, just like a brand new movie. You 0:42:07.120 --> 0:42:11.520 know what, You're gonna get old, and you better make 0:42:11.520 --> 0:42:13.080 your mind up now. I just made up my mind. 0:42:13.120 --> 0:42:16.600 I'm gonna be a funny old person. I'm I'm not 0:42:16.719 --> 0:42:21.120 gonna be cranky and crabby and hard to get along with. 0:42:24.760 --> 0:42:27.960 I just I just want to be funny, and my 0:42:28.040 --> 0:42:32.840 kids think I'm hilarious. So I don't know what I 0:42:32.920 --> 0:42:36.719 was saying before I got off on that. See there 0:42:36.760 --> 0:42:51.959 you go, mm hmm, it's in there. It comes back. 0:42:54.320 --> 0:42:56.439 So how can you be a light in a dark world? 0:42:57.000 --> 0:42:58.640 You know? I think a lot of people they get 0:42:58.680 --> 0:43:02.759 they get real can when somebody says you need to witness, 0:43:04.200 --> 0:43:06.959 because we automatically think that means we got to back 0:43:07.000 --> 0:43:11.839 somebody into a corner and preach to him. When I 0:43:11.880 --> 0:43:17.279 wanted to be used of God, I didn't know yet 0:43:17.320 --> 0:43:19.160 that God wanted me to preach, and so I just 0:43:20.560 --> 0:43:22.920 anything they asked us to do at church. I tried it. 0:43:23.000 --> 0:43:26.880 And one of the first things I did was it 0:43:26.960 --> 0:43:29.480 was in a season when passing out tracks was a 0:43:29.480 --> 0:43:34.160 big thing, and so our church would take a group 0:43:34.200 --> 0:43:38.000 of people on Saturday morning to downtown Saint Louis and 0:43:38.520 --> 0:43:43.560 pass out tracks. So I tried street preaching. 0:43:44.560 --> 0:43:50.560 I hated it, did not like it, And that doesn't 0:43:50.600 --> 0:43:59.120 make God mad for me to say that. 0:43:54.560 --> 0:43:57.879 That didn't fit. You know, if you don't know what 0:43:58.239 --> 0:44:00.520 you believe, God wants you to do. Act like a 0:44:00.560 --> 0:44:09.600 woman buying a new outfit. You just keep trying on 0:44:09.680 --> 0:44:18.080 stuff till something fits, and then we're too afraid of 0:44:18.080 --> 0:44:25.200 being wrong, and it just paralyzes us. It doesn't matter 0:44:25.239 --> 0:44:27.560 if you try something and it's not the right thing 0:44:27.600 --> 0:44:30.000 for you. Your heart's right. You're just trying to find 0:44:30.000 --> 0:44:33.880 out what God wants you to do. And it's not 0:44:34.080 --> 0:44:40.160 that hard. You find something you're good at. Everybody's good 0:44:40.200 --> 0:44:47.320 at something. You just keep trying on stuff till it fits. 0:44:47.360 --> 0:44:50.680 So I tried street ministry and didn't like that. I 0:44:50.760 --> 0:44:52.600 tried working in the nursery and me and are the 0:44:52.680 --> 0:44:59.600 kids like that? I got over that in two weeks. 0:45:04.920 --> 0:45:09.280 But when I finally got around to try to teach, 0:45:11.320 --> 0:45:13.799 I had led a girl to the Lord in the 0:45:13.840 --> 0:45:20.040 bathroom at work, and when we started to go back 0:45:20.040 --> 0:45:22.080 to our desks, the Lord simply said to me, what 0:45:22.080 --> 0:45:23.319 are you going to do with her? And I said, well, 0:45:23.360 --> 0:45:26.040 what do you want me to do with her? He said, 0:45:26.040 --> 0:45:30.439 teach her. I don't know how to do that, he said, 0:45:30.480 --> 0:45:38.799 I do. Whoever says God's going to call you to 0:45:38.800 --> 0:45:45.440 do something, you know how to do. That's the fun 0:45:45.520 --> 0:45:50.080 part is stepping out blindly and watching God work through you. 0:45:50.760 --> 0:45:52.759 Why is He called the weak and the foolish things 0:45:52.760 --> 0:45:55.240 of the world to confound the wise, so we can't 0:45:55.280 --> 0:45:58.440 take the credit. I mean, I am the least likeliest 0:45:58.480 --> 0:46:01.000 person on the earth to be doing what I'm doing. 0:46:06.160 --> 0:46:08.800 I mean, right, this message that I'm preaching here today 0:46:09.480 --> 0:46:12.640 will go around the world in one hundred and seven 0:46:12.680 --> 0:46:23.920 different languages. And that's that's amazing. It's amazing. I don't know. 0:46:24.000 --> 0:46:25.360 I don't know. I don't know how I've written one 0:46:25.440 --> 0:46:28.920 hundred and fifty books. I thought one day, how did 0:46:28.920 --> 0:46:30.279 I do that? I don't know how I did that? 0:46:31.200 --> 0:46:33.920 And people say to me, how have you done all this? 0:46:34.120 --> 0:46:41.719 I don't know. I don't know. If you're willing, God 0:46:41.760 --> 0:46:46.600 will use you. But don't don't get all torn up 0:46:46.680 --> 0:46:48.840 if the first thing you try doesn't work or the 0:46:48.880 --> 0:46:51.719 second thing doesn't work. You're not a failure until you 0:46:51.800 --> 0:47:03.120 quit trying. A man, be happy in your faith and 0:47:03.200 --> 0:47:08.640 rejoice and be glad hearted continually. One of the things 0:47:08.719 --> 0:47:10.640 we can do to be enlighten in a dark world 0:47:11.000 --> 0:47:18.279 is just smile. Seriously, just don't get out in the 0:47:18.280 --> 0:47:23.920 world and be a crank, be friendly. High How are 0:47:23.920 --> 0:47:33.000 you today, smile and be one of the very unusual 0:47:33.120 --> 0:47:43.160 people that don't complain. You're complaining everywhere you go. Next 0:47:43.200 --> 0:47:50.520 time you feel like complaining about waiting in traffic, just 0:47:50.600 --> 0:47:52.680 be glad you're not one of the people that have 0:47:52.800 --> 0:47:59.560 no legs and can't even walk. The next time, you 0:48:03.000 --> 0:48:04.640 just for the ladies. The next time you want to 0:48:04.640 --> 0:48:11.160 complain about your husband, there's a lot of lonely people 0:48:11.160 --> 0:48:26.359 that will take him off your hands. Well, that's going 0:48:26.360 --> 0:48:34.759 over better than my thoughts. Maybe I better say something 0:48:34.760 --> 0:48:42.279 to the men too. Own you. I mean, really, once 0:48:42.320 --> 0:48:45.040 your eyes are open to it, you see how ridiculous 0:48:45.080 --> 0:48:51.279 it is to complain. God does so much for us. 0:48:53.560 --> 0:48:56.279 And you know, part of the reason why there's so 0:48:56.320 --> 0:49:02.879 many divorces is people forget about the good stuff, and 0:49:02.920 --> 0:49:07.080 they laser in on the one or two things that 0:49:07.200 --> 0:49:14.919 aggravates them, and that's all they think about. One time, 0:49:14.960 --> 0:49:18.320 I was having a hard time with Dave over something, 0:49:18.800 --> 0:49:24.000 and God put on my heart to make two lists, 0:49:24.040 --> 0:49:26.520 one everything I liked about him and everything I didn't 0:49:26.600 --> 0:49:31.040 like about him. And the list of stuff I liked 0:49:31.120 --> 0:49:33.840 was so much longer than the list of stuff that 0:49:33.920 --> 0:49:36.560 I didn't like. And that's usually what it comes down to, 0:49:36.880 --> 0:49:41.040 people will get divorced over a couple of little things 0:49:41.040 --> 0:49:44.040 that they don't like and forget about all the things 0:49:44.040 --> 0:49:50.000 that you love about them. The Bible says that love 0:49:50.160 --> 0:49:53.160 covers a multitude of sins. And I'll tell you something 0:49:53.200 --> 0:49:57.719 that will help you in your homes. Stop every time 0:49:57.800 --> 0:50:08.600 somebody makes a mistake, telling them they did. We have 0:50:08.800 --> 0:50:12.719 lived in our home for twenty years, and for at 0:50:12.880 --> 0:50:19.200 least eighteen of those twenty years sometimes I'm slow. Eighteen 0:50:19.239 --> 0:50:23.600 of those twenty years. Every time Dave left his closet 0:50:23.640 --> 0:50:28.719 light on, which is all the time, I would say 0:50:28.760 --> 0:50:33.320 you left your closet light on? Again, I finally decided 0:50:33.320 --> 0:50:37.239 to shut up and just turn it off, because if 0:50:37.280 --> 0:50:39.040 I tell him you left your closet light on, you 0:50:39.120 --> 0:50:41.160 know what he says. Do you know what he says? 0:50:41.680 --> 0:50:44.600 He says, I didn't leave it on. You must have 0:50:44.680 --> 0:50:48.719 turned it on. Now, why would I go to his 0:50:48.800 --> 0:50:53.760 closet and turn on the light. The man has three 0:50:53.960 --> 0:50:57.120 different kinds of hearing aids, and he won't wear any 0:50:57.160 --> 0:51:01.279 of them. He won't wear any of them, and he 0:51:01.360 --> 0:51:06.080 says that he's not hard at hearing that I'm mumble. Now, 0:51:06.160 --> 0:51:08.359 let me ask have you heard me mumble one time 0:51:08.400 --> 0:51:16.759 here today? But you know what, you know what I 0:51:16.800 --> 0:51:20.120 really love about Dave. He lets me do anything I 0:51:20.160 --> 0:51:26.359 want to just anything I want to do, he lets 0:51:26.360 --> 0:51:30.680 me do it. Well, that's worth turning off a closet 0:51:30.760 --> 0:51:35.160 light and keeping your mouth shut. If I went home 0:51:35.200 --> 0:51:37.279 and said, you know, honey, I feel like I need 0:51:37.320 --> 0:51:41.840 to spend some time alone, I'm gonna I'm gonna just 0:51:41.920 --> 0:51:43.719 leave for a couple of weeks and spend some time 0:51:43.760 --> 0:51:52.839 with the Lord, he said, okay, okay, So see, look 0:51:52.840 --> 0:51:56.200 at the good things in people. Look at the good 0:51:56.239 --> 0:51:58.960 things about your job. Instead of complaining about your job, 0:51:59.040 --> 0:52:01.680 be glad you've got it. There's so many people that 0:52:01.760 --> 0:52:08.520 don't even have a job. Amen. Let's appreciate everything good 0:52:08.560 --> 0:52:12.280 that God does for us, and let's just not complain 0:52:12.320 --> 0:52:17.439 about anything. Amen. How many of you if we pray 0:52:17.480 --> 0:52:21.880 together today, how many of you We'll just make a 0:52:21.920 --> 0:52:24.920 commitment to just try to tighten your belt just a 0:52:24.960 --> 0:52:32.640 little bit and then let's all stand up together. I 0:52:32.680 --> 0:52:35.319 really forgot to ask how they like to close services here, 0:52:35.320 --> 0:52:36.960 But I'm going to pray for you and then give 0:52:36.960 --> 0:52:42.280 it back to Stephens. Now this has been very serious 0:52:42.320 --> 0:52:46.760 to me today. I never go anywhere and preach without 0:52:46.960 --> 0:52:50.759 feeling like I've got the word of the Lord. And 0:52:50.920 --> 0:52:55.200 so this is very simple. You're not going to forget it, 0:52:55.280 --> 0:53:02.200 but at the same time very profound. Don't it's just 0:53:02.239 --> 0:53:08.200 a little bit now, And don't do it because everybody 0:53:08.200 --> 0:53:11.680 else is doing it. You're only going to have to 0:53:11.680 --> 0:53:17.319 answer for yourself. You do what's right if everybody else 0:53:17.320 --> 0:53:20.960 in the world wants to do it wrong. Amen, Father, 0:53:21.040 --> 0:53:24.719 we love you so very much, and we're so appreciative 0:53:24.960 --> 0:53:30.279 that you love us. And I want to thank you 0:53:30.360 --> 0:53:33.160 for reminding us that we need to pay attention to 0:53:33.200 --> 0:53:38.040 little things, because it is the little foxes that spoiled 0:53:38.040 --> 0:53:44.400 the vine. So we're all making a fresh commitment today 0:53:46.560 --> 0:53:48.520 to always be sure that we do what we say 0:53:48.560 --> 0:53:55.040 we're going to do, not harbor things like jealousy and 0:53:55.840 --> 0:54:01.920 petty things, a little hang on, little anger issues, but 0:54:02.440 --> 0:54:09.080 to just let that stuff go. Let it go and 0:54:09.200 --> 0:54:14.280 help us to appreciate everything you do for us. And God, 0:54:14.360 --> 0:54:17.440 put a watch over our mouth lest we sin against 0:54:17.440 --> 0:54:21.920 you with our tongue by complaining. And let the words 0:54:21.960 --> 0:54:24.120 of our mouth and the meditation of our heart be 0:54:24.239 --> 0:54:29.839 acceptable in your sight in Jesus's name, Amen, thank you 0:54:29.880 --> 0:54:30.840 for having me today. 0:54:33.400 --> 0:54:36.000 Hey, I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and if you did, 0:54:36.520 --> 0:54:39.120 make sure to share it and subscribe so we can 0:54:39.120 --> 0:54:41.719 get you all of these new messages as soon as 0:54:41.760 --> 0:54:44.560 they're available. I also want to take a moment and 0:54:44.640 --> 0:54:46.400 thank all of you who are a part of Elevation. 0:54:46.920 --> 0:54:50.279 Whether you support us financially, or serve with us, or 0:54:50.680 --> 0:54:53.359 just share these messages, it's because of you that we're 0:54:53.400 --> 0:54:54.240 able to reach. 0:54:54.040 --> 0:54:57.080 People all around the world. And if you want more 0:54:57.120 --> 0:54:58.560 information on how. 0:54:58.400 --> 0:55:01.080 To be a part of Elevation, click the link in 0:55:01.160 --> 0:55:03.920 the description. Thanks again for listening. Make sure to leave 0:55:03.960 --> 0:55:16.280 a review, share the message, and subscribe. God bless you.