Knocking Through The No

0:00:02.120 --> 0:00:03.400 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:03.400 --> 0:00:06.439 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:08.920 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:11.640 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.640 --> 0:00:14.160 gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life. 0:00:14.440 --> 0:00:15.880 Enjoy the message. 0:00:18.120 --> 0:00:18.480 Today. 0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:21.520 I'm going to do exactly what I said I would 0:00:21.520 --> 0:00:24.000 do last week, and I'm going to continue in the 0:00:24.079 --> 0:00:26.920 stream of teaching that we started. And I'd like to 0:00:26.960 --> 0:00:29.960 read you a scripture and then I'll sit you down 0:00:31.000 --> 0:00:33.680 and then I'll tell you a story. And then you 0:00:33.760 --> 0:00:36.520 get excited, you'll stand up, You'll be shouting, throwing stuff 0:00:36.560 --> 0:00:44.640 at the stage, and the Lord will be glorified. Now, 0:00:44.680 --> 0:00:48.000 I'm not going to exegete this verse, but just to 0:00:48.040 --> 0:00:54.760 set the table. From Revelation, chapter three, Verse twenty, Jesus said, 0:00:54.880 --> 0:01:00.400 here I am. I stand at the door and knock. 0:01:01.560 --> 0:01:06.960 If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I 0:01:07.000 --> 0:01:11.000 will come in and eat with that person, and they 0:01:11.959 --> 0:01:15.720 with me. I want to teach you a skill today 0:01:16.120 --> 0:01:18.120 that I know is going to help you to pursue 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:20.360 everything that God has put in your heart in the 0:01:20.400 --> 0:01:23.679 coming year. In the days ahead, and it's something that 0:01:23.680 --> 0:01:26.560 I've had to apply to my life. So such as 0:01:26.600 --> 0:01:28.160 I have, I give unto you. I want to teach 0:01:28.160 --> 0:01:34.920 you about the skill of knocking through the know. 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:40.120 Knocking through the know. 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:43.839 And let's pray one more time that God would saturate 0:01:43.840 --> 0:01:44.880 our hearts with his word. 0:01:44.880 --> 0:01:50.080 Today you said you were here. Lord, We take you 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:50.680 at your word. 0:01:51.960 --> 0:01:55.560 Whatever mountain we're standing on, whatever valley we're going through, 0:01:56.280 --> 0:01:57.640 you're with us. 0:01:58.480 --> 0:01:59.040 We thank you. 0:01:59.120 --> 0:02:03.280 Emanuel made flesh, make this word flesh. 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:06.680 Today. I offer myself to you. Now. 0:02:06.720 --> 0:02:08.320 I'm just five foot eight and a half and I 0:02:08.320 --> 0:02:11.560 don't know that much, but you can have my vocal cords, 0:02:12.040 --> 0:02:14.320 my lips, my tongue, my mind. I offer it to you. 0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:18.240 I prayed that every person who logged on today or 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:23.000 came to church would get exactly what they need from you, 0:02:23.960 --> 0:02:26.959 maybe not even what they asked for, but what they 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:30.000 need from you. I trust you to do it. I 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:34.760 thank you in advance in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen, you 0:02:34.800 --> 0:02:42.160 may be seated one day when I finished my preaching 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:46.040 ministry and go to take my rest with Moses and 0:02:46.080 --> 0:02:50.280 Elijah and Charles Spurgeon and Billy Graham. 0:02:51.000 --> 0:02:53.400 I know that probably I won't be in all. 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:56.760 These books as a preacher where they're quoting my sermons 0:02:56.800 --> 0:02:59.600 one hundred years from now. I don't even really feel 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:04.000 like that's my intention. I'm satisfied, honestly, as a preacher, 0:03:04.639 --> 0:03:05.960 not if they put me in a book for one 0:03:06.040 --> 0:03:08.480 hundred years from now. I'm not saying anything that deep 0:03:08.560 --> 0:03:11.119 up here, and I'm not making any of this up 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:14.279 up here before people have already said it. I'm satisfied 0:03:15.360 --> 0:03:16.720 just if I can get you to put it on 0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:19.880 a sticky note and put it on a mirror in 0:03:19.919 --> 0:03:24.040 your house and it can get you through Monday. And 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:25.920 I know that might sound like a low goal, but 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:29.080 let's be honest, with all the voices, opinions and insights, 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:33.200 insights that are flooding our phones and our minds and 0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:36.440 our lives, even if we could just get a word 0:03:36.480 --> 0:03:39.800 to get us through the week, that's a powerful thing. 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:43.480 And last week I did something that was so simple 0:03:43.880 --> 0:03:48.320 it felt almost silly. I did notice, though, that the 0:03:48.440 --> 0:03:53.280 simpler stuff is stickier sometimes so in order to get 0:03:53.280 --> 0:03:56.000 the message to stick sometimes not because I don't respect 0:03:56.000 --> 0:03:58.480 your intelligence. There's nothing I hate more than a preacher 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:01.800 who will just pander to the audience, trying to get 0:04:01.840 --> 0:04:04.160 a laugh or a shout and really not saying anything 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:07.040 of substance. I'm not aiming to be that either, trust me. 0:04:07.440 --> 0:04:09.560 But just so we can have a handle to carry 0:04:09.600 --> 0:04:12.600 the suitcase out with, I'll try to give you something 0:04:12.640 --> 0:04:15.520 to think about. Last week I was getting you to 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:19.000 think about where in your life have you been saying 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:23.159 one day when and I held up this very note card, 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:28.720 one day when I get a bigger house, We're gonna 0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:31.520 have some people over. We're gonna make some friends one 0:04:31.600 --> 0:04:34.240 day when we get a bigger house, because we don't 0:04:34.240 --> 0:04:36.720 have a big enough house right now for them. But 0:04:36.720 --> 0:04:38.640 one day when we get we're gonna entertain. One day 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:40.480 when we get these kids out the house, that's when 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:43.000 we're gonna start making some friendships and everything. And then 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:48.000 you die lonely and with a clean house, a small one, 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:51.520 and because you have to step out in order to expand, 0:04:52.839 --> 0:04:54.039 and you have to start with what you have in 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:57.719 order to see what it can be. I am preaching already. 0:04:58.320 --> 0:04:59.760 Let he who have an ear to hear hear what 0:04:59.800 --> 0:05:03.479 the to saying to the church. I want you to 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:05.640 have a vision for your life beyond today and so 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:08.200 does God. That's why he said in Jeremiah twenty nine 0:05:08.200 --> 0:05:10.440 to eleven, I know the plans I have for you, 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:14.840 plans to give you a hope and the future. So 0:05:14.839 --> 0:05:18.680 it's wonderful to dream about that bigger house, or the 0:05:18.760 --> 0:05:21.599 resources to really be able to do the things God 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:23.200 has put in your heart, or the things you would 0:05:23.279 --> 0:05:26.800 enjoy doing, or create the experiences that you want your 0:05:26.880 --> 0:05:30.600 family to have to send them to college and they 0:05:30.600 --> 0:05:32.719 don't have to pay it off until they're ninety seven, 0:05:34.360 --> 0:05:36.280 to be able to step into a season of your 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:38.560 life that's not just such a struggle to survive all 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:41.480 the time. I join my faith with yours for all 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:44.000 the things you're believing God, for all of them that 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:46.880 He put in your heart, in accordance with Psalm thirty 0:05:46.920 --> 0:05:51.080 seven to four. May He give you the desires of 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:56.840 your heart as you delight yourself in Him. I am 0:05:56.920 --> 0:06:00.839 convinced that the way we will get to this one 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:05.039 day when you are free of the addiction, This one 0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:10.000 day when you are capable of expressing yourself with greater clarity, 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:12.719 This one day when you will feel a closeness and 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:16.560 a nearness to God that is unencumbered by the demonic 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:20.400 oppression that has been haunting you these last six months. 0:06:21.000 --> 0:06:22.920 That the way we will get to the one day 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:29.720 when is through the power of the one day win. 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:33.480 Everybody who woke up this morning with a new twenty 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:39.000 four makes some noise a new twenty four, you know, 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:42.279 like an offensive rebound in basketball, and the shot clock 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:44.880 would go all the way back to twenty four. Well, 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:47.279 that's what happened when you woke up this morning. You 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:51.000 got a new twenty four. Yeah, but I really messed 0:06:51.000 --> 0:06:55.520 it up yesterday. We're not here praising the God of yesterday. 0:06:56.400 --> 0:07:00.160 Jesus said, here I am. I stand at the door 0:07:00.160 --> 0:07:03.320 in knock. Did not just read you the scripture Revelation 0:07:03.400 --> 0:07:07.000 three twenty He said, here I am. Not there I was. 0:07:07.080 --> 0:07:08.360 You should have been there. You missed it. 0:07:08.960 --> 0:07:12.040 Not there I'm gonna be one day when. But here 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:18.480 I am. Somebody shout, God is here. Tell your neighbor, 0:07:18.520 --> 0:07:20.120 elbow them a little bit, say give me some room. 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:24.640 God is here, Give me some room. Scoot over a 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:27.239 little bit. God is with me in this seat. God 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:29.640 is with me in this marriage. God is with me 0:07:29.680 --> 0:07:32.520 in this singleness. God is with me in this transition. 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:35.200 God is with me in this tent. God is with 0:07:35.280 --> 0:07:39.000 me in this custody battle. God is with me. Tell 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:42.840 him I need some room. God is with me. So 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:47.320 building upon that concept of the one day win, just 0:07:47.360 --> 0:07:50.080 to let you know that God has given you the 0:07:50.160 --> 0:07:54.239 strength you need for today and the faith you need 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:59.000 for tomorrow, let's go a little deeper into this principle. 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:02.480 Are you ready all right? If you'd like to take notes, 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:03.720 you might want to write this down. 0:08:07.080 --> 0:08:15.400 The doors of tomorrow's opportunity swing on the hinges of 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:16.680 today's obedience. 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:26.160 Shall I repeat it for those in the back, The 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:34.760 doors of tomorrow's opportunity hinge on today's obedience. 0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:38.160 Let's talk about that for a little bit. 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:41.040 Not from my life or your life, but lessen them 0:08:41.120 --> 0:08:44.000 all the way out and go to a place called 0:08:44.160 --> 0:08:47.960 shoon Him. Shun Them is a city in the Old 0:08:48.000 --> 0:08:52.640 Testament where the prophets would stop by and often receive 0:08:52.720 --> 0:08:55.760 their word from God. If you were a prophet in 0:08:55.800 --> 0:08:58.480 the Old Testament, it was different than being a preacher today. 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:01.640 You weren't just trying to stand up in a sermon, 0:09:02.160 --> 0:09:05.480 holding up some note cards and hoping people will remember 0:09:05.520 --> 0:09:06.359 what you preached. 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:07.439 About on Tuesday. 0:09:08.240 --> 0:09:12.320 You spoke a word from God, and it could literally 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:15.560 rout the enemy in another direction, the military enemy, not 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:20.000 the enemy like sadness or something like that. Elisha is 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:21.440 a prophet. I want to tell you about it, because 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:24.280 he would speak to the king and tell the king 0:09:25.520 --> 0:09:28.520 where the enemy had set up camp, so that the 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:32.120 king could avoid it or prepare for it and obliterate him. 0:09:32.120 --> 0:09:37.800 He was a very valuable He was an MVP. He 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:42.440 was a most valuable prophet. And for that reason he 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:44.640 lived a lonely life. Now when he would get to 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:46.840 shun him. The Bible says the Second Kings chapter four, 0:09:46.920 --> 0:09:52.200 verse eight through seventeen, that there was a woman in Shunham. 0:09:52.200 --> 0:09:54.319 In fact, let's pick up the story right there, Second 0:09:54.360 --> 0:09:56.360 King's four, verse eight on the screen. 0:09:56.400 --> 0:09:56.720 Please. 0:09:57.679 --> 0:09:59.560 He went to shun him one day, and a well 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:03.359 to do woman was there who urged him. 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:05.160 To stay for a meal. 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:08.560 And I urge you pay every bit of attention you've 0:10:08.559 --> 0:10:10.840 got to every word that comes up here, because all 0:10:10.920 --> 0:10:12.920 of them matter. Some of these little words in this 0:10:13.120 --> 0:10:16.600 text are hinges for you to understand what God wants 0:10:16.679 --> 0:10:17.360 to do in your heart. 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:19.800 So I'm gonna start that verse over so you can 0:10:19.800 --> 0:10:20.319 really listen. 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:26.679 One day Elisha went to shun him, and a well 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:30.080 to do woman was there who urged him to stay 0:10:30.800 --> 0:10:34.920 for a meal, So whenever he came by, he stopped 0:10:34.920 --> 0:10:38.680 there to eat. She said to her husband, I know 0:10:38.800 --> 0:10:41.160 that this man who often comes our way is a 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:43.360 holy man of God. 0:10:43.400 --> 0:10:45.680 That's what Holly says about me. When you'll learn around. 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:49.120 Let's make verse ten. 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:50.559 I got an idea. 0:10:51.240 --> 0:10:56.440 Let's make hey, let's make go down to Ikea. It 0:10:56.440 --> 0:10:59.600 doesn't have to be fancy, but let's make a small 0:10:59.720 --> 0:11:05.400 room on the roof. We don't need more square footage 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:13.040 to do this. We just need more simple faith. We 0:11:13.080 --> 0:11:16.559 don't need more square footage to do this. We already 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:19.840 have room for it on the roof. We just need 0:11:19.840 --> 0:11:23.440 to take the roof we already have and turn it 0:11:23.600 --> 0:11:27.560 into a room. Why well, I want to put a 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:32.600 bed and the table and the chair and the lamp. 0:11:32.640 --> 0:11:34.719 That's getting expensive, and. 0:11:34.679 --> 0:11:39.000 I want to put this room together for this prophet, Elisha. 0:11:40.000 --> 0:11:45.560 Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us. 0:11:48.200 --> 0:11:50.240 This is a different day, so the technology would not 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:53.800 enable Elisha to give them a heads up. She said, 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:57.439 I believe in what this man is speaking so much, 0:11:58.880 --> 0:12:02.200 and I feel compared well to do something for him. 0:12:02.679 --> 0:12:04.120 I can't preach like him. 0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:07.280 I don't have a whole lot of space. But there 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:11.560 is a room on the roof, and what I'd like 0:12:11.679 --> 0:12:15.040 to do is for simple things. I like a chair 0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:17.720 and a bed, and a table and a lamp. 0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:20.920 And I just want to set it up so. 0:12:20.800 --> 0:12:27.200 That whenever he comes, however he comes, for whatever. 0:12:26.440 --> 0:12:30.400 He comes, he can stay there. 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:37.440 And she did that. Bible says in verse eleven. One 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:46.600 day when I've been holding this since last week, y'all, 0:12:47.840 --> 0:12:53.360 I'm hungry for it. One day when it was blocking 0:12:53.360 --> 0:12:58.680 it down, there wasn't it. I do my own special effects. 0:12:58.720 --> 0:13:02.480 I might not be a profit, but I say word 0:13:02.480 --> 0:13:06.320 of the Lord. One day when Elisha came, he went 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:12.319 up to his room. Whose room? 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:22.280 A few days ago it was her roof. But now with. 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:26.880 The power of an idea, the power of an initiative, 0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:31.920 the simple response of a woman and a trip to 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:36.280 the store, it's his room. And one day when everybody say, 0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:40.440 one day, when one day when he came to shun 0:13:40.480 --> 0:13:42.560 him and he was doing whatever he was doing. 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:45.440 Remember, he's already eaten several of her meals. 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:48.760 Now she has expanded the offer and given him an 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:51.720 open door policy to be able to say whenever you 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:55.120 stop by, whenever you need to rest, whenever your travels 0:13:55.120 --> 0:13:57.359 bring you through Shunam. We know that you have options, 0:13:57.559 --> 0:14:00.160 but there will always be. You don't need an airbn be, 0:14:00.559 --> 0:14:04.199 you don't need a uh, what's the other one called VRBO? 0:14:05.840 --> 0:14:09.440 You can you when you when you pass through, you 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:12.560 can stay here. And I wonder does Jesus have that 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:17.880 kind of open invitation in your life, that Lord, when 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:24.040 you're looking to encourage someone, when you're looking to make 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:27.280 a difference, when you're looking to right or wrong, when 0:14:27.280 --> 0:14:31.040 you are looking to meet a need, whenever you want 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:34.640 to come through, you can stay here. 0:14:36.280 --> 0:14:39.520 I made a room for you now for all of 0:14:39.560 --> 0:14:40.239 the things. 0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:41.680 That you want God to do in your life this year, 0:14:41.680 --> 0:14:43.040 and all the things I want him to do in mind, 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:47.480 because I got my list too. The question is have 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:53.040 you made room for him to do it? And whatever 0:14:53.080 --> 0:14:55.960 the answer is to that, it's okay. That's where we're 0:14:56.000 --> 0:15:01.040 going to start. Remember it started as a room and 0:15:01.080 --> 0:15:03.240 it turned into a room. And I think that's a 0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:08.280 revelation in itself, don't you that the roof can become 0:15:08.360 --> 0:15:11.920 a room? And I think it's significant that a roof 0:15:12.560 --> 0:15:15.800 is the highest part of the house. And I think 0:15:15.840 --> 0:15:18.320 it is significant that if she had looked all around 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:20.840 in the house, she would not have had a place 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:24.000 for the prophet to stay. But how many knows, sometimes 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:28.360 you have to go higher in order to see the 0:15:28.440 --> 0:15:30.320 opportunity that God has given you. 0:15:30.320 --> 0:15:34.480 You've got to go higher. Somebody say higher. 0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:41.920 Tell your neighbor, I appreciate your opinion, but sometimes I 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:46.040 got to go higher. I know you don't think I 0:15:46.040 --> 0:15:48.400 can do it, but you don't have to think I 0:15:48.440 --> 0:15:51.440 can do it. I know I don't look capable of it, 0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:55.040 but I don't have to look capable of it. Man 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:58.360 looks at the outward appearance. God looks at the heart. 0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:01.800 So for everybody who is still dealing with the root 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:05.680 of rejection from somebody who didn't see your potential or 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:08.840 an opportunity that wasn't extended to you because you didn't 0:16:08.840 --> 0:16:12.200 fit the bill, I came with a word, go higher. 0:16:13.880 --> 0:16:16.600 There's a room on the roof. 0:16:17.800 --> 0:16:21.520 I almost preached the whole message called there's room on 0:16:21.560 --> 0:16:26.080 the roof. And what is impossible with man is possible 0:16:26.160 --> 0:16:30.480 with God because his ways are not your ways, and 0:16:30.560 --> 0:16:34.600 his thoughts are not your thoughts. So I'm going higher 0:16:34.680 --> 0:16:40.200 this year, going to the top floor in twenty twenty four. 0:16:43.320 --> 0:16:46.360 On the spot LJ all right. 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:51.120 And one day when Elisha came, he went up to 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:53.520 his room and lay down there. 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:55.040 The room that she. 0:16:55.040 --> 0:17:00.840 Built for him with no ulterior motive motives matter, the 0:17:00.920 --> 0:17:03.720 room that she built with him for him because it 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:07.439 was the right thing to do. The room that she 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:11.560 built for him, completely fat flexible to the schedule of 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:14.280 the purpose of God, and when the purpose of God 0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:18.720 would pass through. Some of us cannot be used by 0:17:18.800 --> 0:17:22.360 God because we want to stipulate all of the times 0:17:22.359 --> 0:17:24.240 that He can do the things that He wants to 0:17:24.280 --> 0:17:26.760 do in our life for when we are ready and 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:30.919 refreshed and reset. But she had a different kind of 0:17:30.960 --> 0:17:33.840 obedience to God. And the very first thing, I've got 0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:36.320 three things for you to take notes on. The very 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:38.639 first thing that you are going to have to be 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:42.000 to be the kind of person who can see the 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:45.000 kind of things that you are dreaming about God doing 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:47.920 in your spirit, not in your flesh, in your heart 0:17:47.960 --> 0:17:50.600 of hearts, not in your habits. But the first thing 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:56.080 is you're going to have to be obedient. I didn't 0:17:56.119 --> 0:18:00.160 expect a shout on that and you didn't deliver one 0:18:02.680 --> 0:18:06.960 good thing. We were on the same page. I expected 0:18:07.000 --> 0:18:10.920 your stank face and you gave me one, so we're good. 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:13.040 I was ready for that response. 0:18:16.680 --> 0:18:18.920 Yet there's nothing in the text that says God told 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:19.880 her to build the room. 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:24.000 The Lord didn't say build a room. Please build a room, 0:18:24.000 --> 0:18:25.000 which please build a room. 0:18:25.760 --> 0:18:27.280 I'm to tell you why God didn't tell her build room, 0:18:27.280 --> 0:18:32.000 because God had options. Anybody could have built that room. 0:18:33.640 --> 0:18:42.680 It's a privilege to obey God. Sometimes when I stand 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:44.439 up and greet you, I want to say thank you 0:18:44.440 --> 0:18:46.280 for coming to church, But then that doesn't even feel 0:18:46.359 --> 0:18:49.000 right because on a human behalf, I am thankful because 0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:50.760 I'm really glad you're here. Don't get me wrong, like 0:18:51.320 --> 0:18:55.040 so thank you. But we know we didn't do God 0:18:55.040 --> 0:18:59.160 a favor when we came today, right, we know that, right, 0:19:00.200 --> 0:19:03.360 just so we know that God wasn't Like, if Teresa 0:19:03.400 --> 0:19:08.360 would worship me today, I could have all power. Man, 0:19:08.400 --> 0:19:11.080 if Jimmy would just give me the praise today, I 0:19:11.119 --> 0:19:13.040 could really get it done into word. I just need 0:19:13.040 --> 0:19:16.080 a Jimmy praise today. If Peter would pray, No, God 0:19:16.080 --> 0:19:19.320 doesn't need any of that. And so the kind of 0:19:19.320 --> 0:19:23.120 obedience that I'm talking about in your life is very 0:19:23.160 --> 0:19:27.720 different than the human definition of obedience, and words do 0:19:27.840 --> 0:19:30.919 change over time. Phone used to mean something that you 0:19:31.000 --> 0:19:34.520 talk to somebody else on when I was a kid. Now, 0:19:34.560 --> 0:19:36.520 if my phone rings for somebody to call me, I'm 0:19:36.520 --> 0:19:41.840 annoyed because they interrupted the video I was watching on 0:19:41.920 --> 0:19:44.560 the phone. Phone is very different now. Now listen to me, 0:19:45.240 --> 0:19:52.280 you follow me. Obedience was different back then. Obedience to 0:19:52.320 --> 0:19:57.600 the word of God was different back then. We don't 0:19:58.119 --> 0:20:02.600 do well with obedience to God in our culture. We 0:20:02.640 --> 0:20:10.719 are drowning in too many opinions to respect the power 0:20:10.960 --> 0:20:15.960 of simple obedience to God. I will not lie to 0:20:16.040 --> 0:20:19.200 you and tell you that I always know what God 0:20:19.760 --> 0:20:22.920 is telling me to do. I will say that every 0:20:22.960 --> 0:20:26.360 time I know he's telling me to do it and 0:20:26.400 --> 0:20:30.520 I don't do it, it blocks me up inside and 0:20:30.560 --> 0:20:34.600 I start blaming everything around me. But what I'm blaming 0:20:34.760 --> 0:20:38.200 on the outside is usually a result of what I'm 0:20:38.200 --> 0:20:41.880 blocked from on the inside. Help me preach the word. 0:20:41.960 --> 0:20:48.760 If there are three Pentecostals in this room, identify yourself. Ah, 0:20:50.720 --> 0:20:55.000 I need to establishe that this obedience that the woman 0:20:55.080 --> 0:20:58.520 demonstrated was not to the word of a man or 0:20:58.600 --> 0:21:03.600 the suggestion of a TikTok influence, Sir. Her obedience was 0:21:03.680 --> 0:21:09.160 directed by her inner compulsion for what God was calling 0:21:09.560 --> 0:21:13.720 her to do. And she says to her husband, now 0:21:13.720 --> 0:21:17.159 he's the real obedient one, right, go get a table, 0:21:17.880 --> 0:21:20.280 Go get a chair. We always preach about wives, obey 0:21:20.320 --> 0:21:23.400 your husband's Well hear the husband obeyed the wife and they. 0:21:23.320 --> 0:21:31.960 All got blessed. I'll preach this a reflect next year. Anyway, 0:21:32.920 --> 0:21:35.000 she said, let's just do it. 0:21:36.080 --> 0:21:38.639 But the word that unlocked it for me wasn't that 0:21:38.720 --> 0:21:44.640 God said, you know, on January what's today's date, January fourteenth, 0:21:44.760 --> 0:21:46.000 or whatever time you have to be watching this in 0:21:46.000 --> 0:21:49.760 the future. On January fourteenth, I want you to start 0:21:49.800 --> 0:21:52.840 new business and fill the papers of incorporation. On January fourteenth, 0:21:53.000 --> 0:21:54.720 when you'd ask her out see her third row in 0:21:54.760 --> 0:21:56.200 the back. I want you to join the welcome team 0:21:56.240 --> 0:21:58.320 next year and give her a special welcome with your 0:21:58.320 --> 0:22:05.959 phone number. There's there's no specific there's no specific word 0:22:06.160 --> 0:22:10.920 from God that tells her to do this. She did 0:22:10.960 --> 0:22:13.480 it to accommodate the purpose of God. And you're about 0:22:13.520 --> 0:22:15.840 to be very impressed with this woman. If you're not already, 0:22:16.480 --> 0:22:22.000 because she said verse ten, he can stay there whenever 0:22:23.000 --> 0:22:30.560 he comes. That's an open door invitation for the prophet 0:22:30.560 --> 0:22:33.600 who preached the Word of God with power and rain 0:22:33.840 --> 0:22:37.440 came to the valleys in Second King's three, the prophet 0:22:37.440 --> 0:22:40.840 of God who spoke the word and a widow's oil. 0:22:40.680 --> 0:22:44.120 Flowed in Second King's four, and she. 0:22:44.320 --> 0:22:47.119 Says to the prophet, Hey, I want you to stay, 0:22:47.359 --> 0:22:49.720 and I want you to eat something, and I want. 0:22:49.640 --> 0:22:52.480 You to know that whenever somebody shout. 0:22:52.160 --> 0:22:57.160 Whenever, stop trying to tell God the timeline. 0:22:57.040 --> 0:22:58.600 Stop trying to tell God when. 0:22:58.480 --> 0:23:02.640 It should have happened by, stop trying to control the timeline, 0:23:02.960 --> 0:23:07.320 and start trusting the eternal God who sits on a throne. 0:23:07.800 --> 0:23:11.320 Here I am, said Jesus, I stand at the door 0:23:11.359 --> 0:23:11.800 and knock. 0:23:13.320 --> 0:23:14.359 Yeah. 0:23:14.600 --> 0:23:18.960 Yeah. What God has been teaching me lately in my 0:23:19.119 --> 0:23:26.040 life is that closed doors are important too, because sometimes 0:23:26.320 --> 0:23:30.280 what was behind that door that he closed would have 0:23:30.400 --> 0:23:31.960 killed me if he would. 0:23:31.760 --> 0:23:42.320 Have opened it before I was ready for it. 0:23:42.359 --> 0:23:45.800 Is this your word today? Is the Lord taking you 0:23:45.920 --> 0:23:50.199 up on the roof of your resources, the roof of 0:23:50.240 --> 0:23:53.639 your relationships. Well, I don't have anybody in my life 0:23:53.880 --> 0:23:59.080 and so I feel very lonely, and I feel very lonely. 0:23:59.560 --> 0:24:01.640 Can I check your whole. 0:24:01.440 --> 0:24:07.440 Text thread for everybody that you asked and reached out. 0:24:07.240 --> 0:24:11.400 To, or did you not even reach out and call 0:24:11.440 --> 0:24:11.960 it rejection? 0:24:20.400 --> 0:24:25.000 If I understand this text correctly, she opened the room. 0:24:25.560 --> 0:24:30.520 She said it apart. It wasn't apparent on. 0:24:30.440 --> 0:24:35.040 The surface, but she took the space she had. God 0:24:35.320 --> 0:24:38.879 will not hold you accountable for what he didn't give you. 0:24:41.720 --> 0:24:47.000 God will not hold me accountable to preach Billy Graham's servants. 0:24:48.200 --> 0:24:52.800 God will not hold you accountable to raise somebody who 0:24:52.840 --> 0:24:53.680 goes to Harvard. 0:24:53.920 --> 0:24:56.399 If your kid is just supposed to graduate high school. 0:24:57.680 --> 0:25:03.680 He knows the plans he has for you and for them. 0:25:03.720 --> 0:25:05.960 And I believe one of the reasons we can't see 0:25:06.000 --> 0:25:07.919 God do what he wants to do in our life 0:25:08.520 --> 0:25:09.919 is there's no room for him. 0:25:09.800 --> 0:25:13.240 To do it because our hearts are so crowded with. 0:25:13.119 --> 0:25:17.040 What we think he should be doing, because of what 0:25:17.160 --> 0:25:22.760 we've seen him do through others. I was impressed by 0:25:22.800 --> 0:25:26.520 her obedience, but I was also impressed. This is the 0:25:26.560 --> 0:25:29.000 second thing you got to be I was impressed because 0:25:29.040 --> 0:25:33.320 not only was she obedient, but she was open. Are 0:25:33.359 --> 0:25:38.959 you open? Are you open if God wants to do 0:25:39.000 --> 0:25:41.800 it through you? And I know I'm being vague because 0:25:41.840 --> 0:25:45.960 in this woman's specific situation, we're about to see. 0:25:45.640 --> 0:25:46.720 What was that thing. 0:25:48.240 --> 0:25:51.399 That she needed that she didn't even know how to 0:25:51.520 --> 0:25:56.080 articulate anymore, I feel that way. I know I need 0:25:56.119 --> 0:25:58.600 something right now, and I would reach out and I 0:25:58.680 --> 0:26:00.600 hear you on that I don't even know how to 0:26:00.720 --> 0:26:04.720 articulate it. In besides that, when I came into church 0:26:04.760 --> 0:26:08.119 today and I walked through those doors, you couldn't see it, 0:26:08.160 --> 0:26:13.320 Pastor Stephen, but I was dragging disappointments behind me a 0:26:13.359 --> 0:26:16.960 mile long, from every time I've had a new year 0:26:17.000 --> 0:26:19.240 and thought it was going to be different than it wasn't. 0:26:20.880 --> 0:26:23.240 From every time I told my friends I'm gonna get clean, 0:26:24.040 --> 0:26:25.520 and now they kind of laugh at me when I 0:26:25.560 --> 0:26:28.679 say it, Yeah, we'll catch up with you in February 0:26:29.400 --> 0:26:33.560 and see how you're doing. For every time that I 0:26:33.640 --> 0:26:37.440 promised God, no, I'm really gonna read my Bible this year. 0:26:37.480 --> 0:26:40.320 I'm in Pastor, I hadn't made it past Genesis twelve, 0:26:40.400 --> 0:26:42.840 and I've been saying that every year, and Genesis is 0:26:42.840 --> 0:26:44.239 the first book in the Bible. In case you were 0:26:44.240 --> 0:26:48.080 slow catching onto that that would be twelve days. In 0:26:48.119 --> 0:26:50.879 case that's where you are today, let me give you 0:26:50.920 --> 0:26:53.919 this woman's story is an encouragement. It's amazing story for 0:26:54.040 --> 0:26:57.040 those of you who are holding a disappointment in your 0:26:57.040 --> 0:26:59.000 heart as I speak to you right now. And I 0:26:59.080 --> 0:27:01.119 never can tell what you carried with you when you 0:27:01.160 --> 0:27:05.760 came to church. I never can tell what you really have. 0:27:05.920 --> 0:27:08.199 I really don't know what happens when you close the 0:27:08.240 --> 0:27:09.879 doors at home. I can't tell that when you come 0:27:09.920 --> 0:27:13.439 in my doors on Sunday. I don't know what the 0:27:13.520 --> 0:27:16.199 conversations are like in your house. I don't know what 0:27:16.240 --> 0:27:18.399 the thoughts are like in your mind. I don't know 0:27:18.440 --> 0:27:20.880 what the doubts are like in the darkness. I don't 0:27:20.880 --> 0:27:25.119 know any of that. But this woman who was so 0:27:25.320 --> 0:27:30.080 great and so generous, and so wealthy and so proactive, 0:27:31.000 --> 0:27:35.399 the Bible says in verse eleven, one day, when Elisha came, 0:27:36.280 --> 0:27:37.120 he went up to his. 0:27:37.080 --> 0:27:39.840 Room and laid down there. Verse twelve. 0:27:39.880 --> 0:27:48.640 Please, he said to his servant Geheesi, hmm, call the Shunamite. 0:27:49.880 --> 0:27:53.160 That's the woman who built the room. You don't even 0:27:53.160 --> 0:27:53.680 know her name. 0:27:54.920 --> 0:27:58.120 She apparently wasn't in it for the credit. She wasn't 0:27:58.119 --> 0:28:00.680 in it for the glory, wasn't in it for the 0:28:00.720 --> 0:28:03.479 approval of people. She was in it for the purpose 0:28:03.520 --> 0:28:07.000 of God. But how many know even if they don't 0:28:07.040 --> 0:28:10.960 call your name, God can Even if they don't say 0:28:11.040 --> 0:28:15.120 thank you, God can fill you with a blessing, good measure, 0:28:15.480 --> 0:28:20.960 pressed down, shaking together and running over. God doesn't need 0:28:21.000 --> 0:28:23.280 them to call your name to know where to drop 0:28:23.320 --> 0:28:27.760 the package. He knows your name, he knows your neighborhood, 0:28:27.920 --> 0:28:30.840 he knows your zip code. What he has for you, 0:28:31.200 --> 0:28:34.320 it is for you, and nothing in heaven or Hell 0:28:34.480 --> 0:28:38.320 can hold it back. When he says it's tod I'm 0:28:38.360 --> 0:28:40.120 gonna show you that. Now I'm gonna prove it to 0:28:40.160 --> 0:28:42.320 you from the text. Don't take my word for it. 0:28:42.640 --> 0:28:47.640 Listen to this, he said, call the Shoonomite. So he 0:28:47.720 --> 0:28:52.400 called her, and she stood before him. Elisha said, tell her, 0:28:53.360 --> 0:28:57.520 you've gone to all this trouble for us. Appreciate chair, 0:28:57.520 --> 0:29:02.920 appreciate lanp, appreciate the bed, appreciate table. Now what can 0:29:02.960 --> 0:29:07.000 be done for you? Now that you did all of 0:29:07.040 --> 0:29:12.440 this for us? What can be done for you? Help 0:29:12.520 --> 0:29:14.440 me say this right, Holy Spirit, because I feel like 0:29:14.480 --> 0:29:16.040 the whole message is going to hinge on this for 0:29:16.120 --> 0:29:20.040 somebody that question. Put verse twelve up again that question 0:29:20.280 --> 0:29:23.760 or verse thirteen, what can be done for you? 0:29:25.160 --> 0:29:26.080 That question? 0:29:26.400 --> 0:29:30.160 And the answer to it hinges on what she did 0:29:30.600 --> 0:29:35.360 in verses eight and nine. What God can do for 0:29:35.440 --> 0:29:40.760 you is not limited to who he is, because he's infinite. 0:29:41.080 --> 0:29:45.080 There's nothing he can't do for you because he's God. 0:29:45.880 --> 0:29:50.080 There's nothing he can't accomplish because he's God. So the 0:29:50.160 --> 0:29:53.280 question is never can he do it for you? The 0:29:53.400 --> 0:29:56.960 question becomes have you given him room to do it? 0:29:59.360 --> 0:30:05.920 Or is your roof so cluttered with past hurts and expectations? 0:30:06.200 --> 0:30:09.760 Are you even hearing me preach this message today? Or 0:30:09.800 --> 0:30:12.360 are you so bitter about the last church where you 0:30:12.440 --> 0:30:15.160 got your feelings hurt that you can't even receive the 0:30:15.160 --> 0:30:18.040 word of the Lord because somebody hurt you in church 0:30:18.120 --> 0:30:21.040 one time? And yet I know you ate at a 0:30:21.080 --> 0:30:24.160 bad restaurant once in your life and you still eat. 0:30:25.560 --> 0:30:28.800 So are you really never going to enter Heaven's. 0:30:28.320 --> 0:30:32.280 Restaurant again because of something that happened back then? 0:30:35.200 --> 0:30:36.800 Now, talk about disappointment. 0:30:37.440 --> 0:30:40.160 I want you to differentiate in your life that there 0:30:40.280 --> 0:30:49.440 is a big distinction between disappointment and bitterness. Disappointment does 0:30:49.480 --> 0:30:53.880 not stop God from producing in your life. Bitterness will. 0:30:55.880 --> 0:30:58.560 Bitterness will choke the seed of the Word of God 0:30:58.920 --> 0:31:02.960 before it has been Bitterness will choke the seed of 0:31:03.000 --> 0:31:06.200 your hope and your potential before it has been developed. 0:31:06.640 --> 0:31:08.640 So I want you to watch a picture of this woman, 0:31:08.720 --> 0:31:10.000 because this is what I want you to. 0:31:09.960 --> 0:31:11.080 Be in twenty twenty four. 0:31:11.400 --> 0:31:15.600 Whatever happens, whatever doesn't happen, whatever, yes you get, whatever 0:31:15.680 --> 0:31:18.880 no you get, Whoever likes you, whoever can't stand you, 0:31:19.080 --> 0:31:21.720 whoever likes you that you think can't stand you because. 0:31:21.520 --> 0:31:22.920 You read too much into people. 0:31:23.360 --> 0:31:28.280 Whatever happens this year, whenever it happens, watch this woman 0:31:29.280 --> 0:31:34.720 who is disappointed but not bitter. Watch what happens to 0:31:34.800 --> 0:31:41.560 this woman who is disappointed but not bitter. Can you 0:31:41.640 --> 0:31:47.080 forgive it? Can you move past it? Can you give 0:31:47.160 --> 0:31:50.560 God room to move through it? 0:31:56.120 --> 0:31:58.400 What can we do. 0:32:00.440 --> 0:32:08.600 For you? And he even has a specific idea. How 0:32:08.600 --> 0:32:11.920 about I talked to the king for you. He owes 0:32:12.000 --> 0:32:15.480 me one the king had just been in a drought, 0:32:15.880 --> 0:32:19.440 and Elishah said, you hear no wind and you'll see 0:32:19.440 --> 0:32:21.920 no rain. But dig these ditches in the valleys, and 0:32:21.960 --> 0:32:24.400 your troops will drink and they did. He owes me one. 0:32:24.440 --> 0:32:27.560 I just saved his butt. Let me go talk to 0:32:27.560 --> 0:32:31.600 the king for you what you need? And he said, 0:32:31.680 --> 0:32:34.560 you know, essentially, do you need anything? And she said no. 0:32:35.640 --> 0:32:38.360 Look at verse thirteen. I have a home among my 0:32:38.400 --> 0:32:42.040 own people. I don't need anything from you. You need 0:32:42.040 --> 0:32:43.200 something from me, And I go back up to your 0:32:43.240 --> 0:32:44.600 room and lay down and take a nap and sleep 0:32:44.640 --> 0:32:47.960 at all. I'm good. You know how guarded you are. 0:32:49.520 --> 0:32:51.880 You know how you won't let anybody give you any encouragement. 0:32:53.040 --> 0:32:54.760 The next time they start telling you you're good at it, 0:32:54.840 --> 0:32:58.560 just shut up and say thank you. Oh no, I'm 0:32:58.600 --> 0:32:59.240 not that good. 0:32:59.320 --> 0:32:59.800 I'll tell you. 0:33:00.080 --> 0:33:02.960 I can't stand to compliment a singer in church. You say, 0:33:03.080 --> 0:33:05.520 you sound it so great. It wasn't me, it was 0:33:06.280 --> 0:33:09.760 the Lord, And I just want to say, it wasn't 0:33:09.800 --> 0:33:12.640 that good, honey. If it was the Lord, it would 0:33:12.640 --> 0:33:18.640 have been a little bit better. Well that's good. Now 0:33:20.320 --> 0:33:22.280 we're about to find out why she wouldn't let him, 0:33:22.280 --> 0:33:23.480 and you're about to find out why you. 0:33:23.400 --> 0:33:24.160 Won't let it in either. 0:33:24.200 --> 0:33:30.080 Because I hear God standing at the door of somebody's 0:33:30.120 --> 0:33:36.600 twenty twenty four and he's knocking here I am. I 0:33:36.800 --> 0:33:40.200 stand at the door and knock. I stand at the 0:33:40.240 --> 0:33:42.920 door and knock. I always heard that verse preached when 0:33:42.920 --> 0:33:45.680 people were about to get saved. If you want to 0:33:45.680 --> 0:33:49.240 bring Jesus in your heart, here he is. He stands 0:33:49.280 --> 0:33:52.640 at the door and knocks. But that verse was actually 0:33:52.680 --> 0:33:57.760 written not to sinners who didn't know Jesus. It was 0:33:57.840 --> 0:34:02.240 written to a church who had forgotten how powerful he 0:34:02.280 --> 0:34:06.720 really was. And God said, I'm standing at the door 0:34:07.000 --> 0:34:11.040 of your religious heart, your scripture quoting heart, your good 0:34:11.160 --> 0:34:14.880 doing hard. I don't need anything hard. You're barely getting 0:34:14.920 --> 0:34:17.759 by just surviving. It's another day, it's another year. What 0:34:17.800 --> 0:34:20.120 are you gonna do about it? He said, I stand 0:34:20.200 --> 0:34:24.879 at the door and I knock. That's God knocking. That's 0:34:24.920 --> 0:34:28.080 your heart beating in your chest. That's God knocking to 0:34:28.160 --> 0:34:30.920 let you know that if you are not in fact 0:34:31.040 --> 0:34:34.640 dead and sleeping in the grave, he is not in 0:34:34.680 --> 0:34:38.080 fact done with you yet. And you would be accurate 0:34:38.160 --> 0:34:42.239 to say that if I'm not dead, God's not done. 0:34:42.560 --> 0:34:44.960 And you would be accurate if you said. 0:34:44.920 --> 0:34:46.080 That this is my year. 0:34:46.520 --> 0:34:48.839 And you would be accurate if you were to say 0:34:49.239 --> 0:34:51.759 that this is the day that the Lord has made. 0:34:51.680 --> 0:34:54.680 That all things are possible to the lives. 0:34:57.200 --> 0:35:02.040 Who believes. Are you open. 0:35:03.200 --> 0:35:07.480 The doors of tomorrow's opportunity? You want to tell your 0:35:07.560 --> 0:35:11.520 kids a testimony and leave a legacy to your children's children. 0:35:11.719 --> 0:35:16.960 The doors of tomorrow's opportunity swing on the hinges of 0:35:16.960 --> 0:35:18.560 today's obedience. 0:35:18.800 --> 0:35:24.400 Are you open? Are you open? She said no? 0:35:25.840 --> 0:35:26.560 How are you like this? 0:35:27.000 --> 0:35:30.239 A prophet says you want a blessing? And she says no. 0:35:31.400 --> 0:35:36.080 Everybody say no, I need nothing. Dinner's ready at thirty minutes. 0:35:36.160 --> 0:35:42.400 Lay down, I make the room, I make throws. I 0:35:42.400 --> 0:35:44.640 don't think she was arrogant at all. I think she 0:35:44.760 --> 0:35:51.640 was disappointed. I learned something about God's opportunities, about the 0:35:51.640 --> 0:35:54.760 love he'll bring into your life, about the blessings, about 0:35:54.760 --> 0:35:58.279 the extensions that He will give to you of a 0:35:58.320 --> 0:36:00.759 new season of purpose. I learned something. I learned that 0:36:01.719 --> 0:36:12.080 hope and disappointment swing on the same hinges. And this 0:36:12.120 --> 0:36:15.960 is why you're guarded. To open your door to hope 0:36:16.600 --> 0:36:25.160 is to open your door to disappointment. But let me 0:36:25.200 --> 0:36:30.120 give you this, Like a friend, okay, are we friends? Okay? 0:36:30.480 --> 0:36:33.560 I want to be a friend from a man. Avoiding 0:36:33.880 --> 0:36:40.279 disappointment is not a strategy for happiness. It's a recipe 0:36:40.680 --> 0:36:47.640 for resentment. Avoiding disappointment is not a strategy for happiness. 0:36:47.800 --> 0:36:50.040 Now, maybe this is just for all the middle aged 0:36:50.080 --> 0:36:50.719 men like me. 0:36:52.120 --> 0:36:54.480 Maybe the youth can take a nap while I preach this, 0:36:55.200 --> 0:36:59.239 But for everybody who dragged two or three disappointments through 0:36:59.280 --> 0:37:01.640 the door with you today, I need you to know 0:37:01.960 --> 0:37:04.839 that the way to deal with the disappointments is not 0:37:04.920 --> 0:37:08.480 to close the door of hope. It is not just 0:37:08.560 --> 0:37:11.880 to accept that I'm always going to be an addict. 0:37:12.080 --> 0:37:14.640 It is not just to accept that I guess I 0:37:14.719 --> 0:37:17.920 ruined that relationship and I don't deserve another one. It 0:37:18.000 --> 0:37:19.640 is not to accept. 0:37:19.280 --> 0:37:22.040 That my family has always been treading water. I'm just 0:37:22.200 --> 0:37:23.280 lucky not to drown. 0:37:23.560 --> 0:37:26.320 The grace of God is here, and Jesus is standing 0:37:26.360 --> 0:37:28.600 at the door and knocking, And you think Jesus is 0:37:28.680 --> 0:37:31.359 knocking on the door just so your house won't burn down. 0:37:31.680 --> 0:37:32.839 He wants to come in. 0:37:33.239 --> 0:37:35.840 He wants to eat with you, he wants. 0:37:35.600 --> 0:37:38.319 To cook for you. He wants to create with you. 0:37:38.719 --> 0:37:42.120 He wants to collaborate with you. He wants to guide you, 0:37:42.520 --> 0:37:46.080 he wants to fill you. He wants to reconcile you. 0:37:46.480 --> 0:37:50.520 He wants to make you a masterpiece according to his blueprint. 0:37:50.840 --> 0:37:55.360 He wants to do it. Are you open? 0:37:57.040 --> 0:38:00.000 And she said, Noah, I don't, I don't, I don't. 0:38:00.160 --> 0:38:03.240 My door is always open to you if you want something, 0:38:04.520 --> 0:38:06.560 but my door is closed if you want to do 0:38:06.640 --> 0:38:13.120 something for me. And Elisha gives us a picture of 0:38:13.200 --> 0:38:19.560 the persistence of God, the persistence of this presence. Here 0:38:19.640 --> 0:38:23.759 I am, I stand at the door and knock a 0:38:23.800 --> 0:38:26.920 scripture that was written to disobedient lukewarm churches. 0:38:28.480 --> 0:38:32.720 Here I am, I'm still here. Boom boom. 0:38:32.760 --> 0:38:37.120 Your heart beat is telling you he's still here. Boom boom. 0:38:37.239 --> 0:38:41.560 This word is telling you he's still here. Boom boom. 0:38:41.600 --> 0:38:43.360 That person that came into. 0:38:43.160 --> 0:38:46.359 Your life last week and you already tried to shut 0:38:46.400 --> 0:38:46.960 him out. 0:38:47.080 --> 0:38:48.480 That was God at the door. 0:38:49.440 --> 0:38:53.439 That was God knocking. That thing inside of you that 0:38:53.480 --> 0:38:56.319 flutters a little bit and flickers a little bit when 0:38:56.400 --> 0:38:59.120 you get under a good word and you put Facebook 0:38:59.200 --> 0:39:02.319 off of your phone for fifteen minutes and let this 0:39:02.400 --> 0:39:07.600 word come into your heart, that's God knocking. He still is? 0:39:08.280 --> 0:39:11.880 He still is? Somebody say, he still is? He is 0:39:11.920 --> 0:39:16.560 the Alpha and the Omega, he who was and is 0:39:17.040 --> 0:39:20.880 and is to come and Eli Chalai's there for a 0:39:20.960 --> 0:39:24.080 minute and she tells him, no, I don't want anything. 0:39:25.239 --> 0:39:26.800 And that's like those of you who have said. 0:39:26.640 --> 0:39:28.560 I don't make resolutions, I don't make plans, I don't 0:39:28.600 --> 0:39:29.120 set goals. 0:39:29.120 --> 0:39:31.839 I don't do anything. I don't leave me alone. 0:39:32.560 --> 0:39:34.600 I went to the dental hygienis ten years ago and 0:39:34.640 --> 0:39:35.840 I said, I need you to know something about me 0:39:35.880 --> 0:39:37.759 before you start working on my teeth. You can say 0:39:37.760 --> 0:39:39.120 anything you want to say. You can give me anything 0:39:39.160 --> 0:39:40.239 you want to give me. You can knock me out 0:39:40.239 --> 0:39:41.440 and put me to sleep. But when I go home, 0:39:41.440 --> 0:39:53.000 I'm not flossing. You could give me a sponsorship for flossing, 0:39:53.360 --> 0:39:54.400 and I'm not flossing. 0:39:55.520 --> 0:39:57.640 I'd rather bring my teeth to you in an ash. 0:39:57.440 --> 0:39:59.440 Tray and ask you to put them back in and 0:39:59.560 --> 0:40:07.120 floss in. Amazing what we already decided we won't do 0:40:07.320 --> 0:40:13.040 before the word even went forth today, And we're not 0:40:13.080 --> 0:40:17.640 talking about a lazy lady. She already built a room. 0:40:17.840 --> 0:40:19.560 Yet there is one thing in her life. There's one 0:40:19.560 --> 0:40:21.960 thing in your life that she will not mention, and 0:40:22.040 --> 0:40:24.239 Unlessa's about to find out about it. Now, that's the 0:40:24.280 --> 0:40:26.759 thing that God is looking for today in your heart. 0:40:27.840 --> 0:40:30.080 That's the thing that God is looking for in your heart. 0:40:31.120 --> 0:40:36.719 Elisha said, man verse fourteen, What can be done for her? 0:40:36.800 --> 0:40:40.840 Persistent little prophet, isn't he I'm not a free loader. 0:40:41.400 --> 0:40:45.239 I won't do something for her. Well, hey, they can 0:40:45.360 --> 0:40:46.839 do it for She built her a room. 0:40:46.840 --> 0:40:47.800 I don't even live here. 0:40:48.719 --> 0:40:55.640 I can't cook for a nigga Gehzi. The servant said, well, 0:40:55.719 --> 0:40:58.480 she has no son and her husband is old. I mean, 0:40:58.520 --> 0:41:00.000 did you see him carrying the table up the store? 0:41:00.280 --> 0:41:06.080 That was sad? And Elia said, all right, now this 0:41:06.120 --> 0:41:08.480 is the turning point of the text. We got to 0:41:08.480 --> 0:41:09.120 get here together. 0:41:09.520 --> 0:41:13.760 Elija said, call her. 0:41:13.760 --> 0:41:16.280 You're like he already called her no, no, no the first 0:41:16.280 --> 0:41:21.200 time she came to Geheese. But this time he called 0:41:21.239 --> 0:41:24.759 her back. And I believe God is calling somebody back 0:41:24.800 --> 0:41:29.879 today because last year this time you had some things 0:41:29.880 --> 0:41:32.279 in your heart. You thought they would have happened by 0:41:32.320 --> 0:41:36.600 now they didn't. You have allowed your timeline to cause 0:41:36.640 --> 0:41:37.680 your faith to die. 0:41:38.120 --> 0:41:41.160 You have allowed your timeline to become the throne at 0:41:41.200 --> 0:41:41.960 which you worship. 0:41:42.320 --> 0:41:45.279 You have allowed your heart to become so crowded with 0:41:45.360 --> 0:41:49.400 disappointment that you cannot receive what God is doing today. 0:41:49.719 --> 0:41:54.920 And Elisha says, and God says, call her, tell her, 0:41:55.000 --> 0:41:59.200 I want her to come back. So he called her. 0:41:59.680 --> 0:42:02.879 And all the years I've been preaching this scripture, since 0:42:02.920 --> 0:42:08.720 I was seventeen years old, since I was seventeen years old, 0:42:09.160 --> 0:42:12.360 I have preached about what that woman did, how she 0:42:12.520 --> 0:42:16.359 was obedient. I have preached about when she did it, 0:42:16.560 --> 0:42:20.720 just whenever he came by. But I have never preached 0:42:20.719 --> 0:42:25.480 about where she stood when he spoke the word that 0:42:25.600 --> 0:42:29.880 changed her life. And I saw it this week like 0:42:30.000 --> 0:42:34.040 it was a word for each and every one of us, 0:42:34.280 --> 0:42:39.000 on every continent, in every county, wherever life finds you. Today, 0:42:39.360 --> 0:42:42.759 the Bible says he called her, and she came and 0:42:42.800 --> 0:42:50.080 put the verse on the screen. She stood in the doorway. Now, 0:42:50.160 --> 0:42:53.240 just a few months ago, this was not a room 0:42:53.440 --> 0:42:57.600 at all. It was just an open space on the roof. 0:42:58.600 --> 0:43:03.560 But one day somebody out one day, one day she decided, 0:43:04.200 --> 0:43:09.000 one day she committed. One day she intended and did it, 0:43:09.360 --> 0:43:13.080 and she built a room. And now she is standing 0:43:13.400 --> 0:43:16.399 not in the room that she built, but in the 0:43:16.440 --> 0:43:20.120 doorway of the room that she built. And I believe 0:43:20.239 --> 0:43:25.239 somebody is standing in the doorway. Today, you are standing 0:43:25.360 --> 0:43:29.760 between two things, and there is a voice calling you forth. 0:43:30.160 --> 0:43:32.000 It is the voice of the Lord. 0:43:32.080 --> 0:43:36.480 Calling you forward into freedom, calling you forward into movement, 0:43:36.840 --> 0:43:41.520 calling you forward into legacy, calling you forward into purity, 0:43:41.880 --> 0:43:46.800 calling you forward into abundance, calling you forward into generosity, 0:43:47.280 --> 0:43:47.959 calling you. 0:43:48.080 --> 0:43:50.720 Forward into your future. 0:43:51.239 --> 0:43:55.000 And the hinges of the door that swing open to 0:43:55.080 --> 0:44:00.359 Elicia's chamber were on the same little hinges that were 0:44:00.520 --> 0:44:01.760 just a simple. 0:44:01.440 --> 0:44:04.520 Act of obedience days earlier. 0:44:05.840 --> 0:44:08.080 I'm trying to get you to see that you keep 0:44:08.120 --> 0:44:12.200 waiting for God to open a door. Maybe He wants 0:44:12.239 --> 0:44:21.400 you to make your own door. Hallelujah, hallelujah. This is 0:44:21.440 --> 0:44:25.000 going to help somebody from dying in the wilderness of 0:44:25.040 --> 0:44:28.480 one day, when, oh, when God opens the door. There 0:44:28.520 --> 0:44:30.560 was no door at the beginning of Second King's four 0:44:31.560 --> 0:44:34.560 There was no room at all. There was just a 0:44:34.600 --> 0:44:39.600 woman with a heart for God to do something, for him, 0:44:40.080 --> 0:44:43.840 to be obedient and to be open. Can God have 0:44:43.920 --> 0:44:48.279 your heart? We keep saying, I surrender it to God. 0:44:48.320 --> 0:44:53.400 But surrenders shouldn't keep you from taking initiative. Surrenders should 0:44:53.440 --> 0:44:56.880 give you initiative to find a way to be a 0:44:56.880 --> 0:45:00.319 blessing to find a way to be free to all 0:45:00.400 --> 0:45:03.319 one of the counselors whose cards you've been looking at 0:45:03.600 --> 0:45:09.560 for years, there was no door. I wish I could 0:45:09.600 --> 0:45:11.200 preach this message, I'm happy to be here. 0:45:11.320 --> 0:45:12.440 I wish I could preach. 0:45:12.200 --> 0:45:16.800 It at the Matthews campus that literally used to be 0:45:16.920 --> 0:45:21.960 a shopping center. And when we went to least forty 0:45:21.960 --> 0:45:25.680 two thousand square feet circa two thousand and seven, two 0:45:25.719 --> 0:45:28.319 thousand and eight, we were told by one of the 0:45:28.360 --> 0:45:34.080 tenants in the strip mall no. Everybody shout no, no. 0:45:34.280 --> 0:45:38.640 Can't put a church here. No, can't have a religious 0:45:38.640 --> 0:45:43.319 institution here. It'll strike business down. So for a minute 0:45:43.360 --> 0:45:45.239 I thought, well, maybe we can't put a church there, 0:45:46.120 --> 0:45:49.120 because when you are told no from the outside or 0:45:49.160 --> 0:45:50.279 the inside, and. 0:45:50.239 --> 0:45:52.480 Everything you try to do to move it forward doesn't 0:45:52.560 --> 0:45:56.120 work or makes it worse. You get to a place. 0:45:56.400 --> 0:45:59.319 Watch she's standing in the doorway verse sixteen. I gotta 0:45:59.320 --> 0:46:00.400 give you this. I gotta give you this. 0:46:00.520 --> 0:46:03.279 And Elisha calls her and says, about this time next year, 0:46:05.040 --> 0:46:06.719 where do you want to be this time next year? 0:46:07.840 --> 0:46:10.560 What are you looking forward to having the victory over, 0:46:10.840 --> 0:46:13.959 or at least incremental leverage over this time next year? 0:46:14.560 --> 0:46:16.800 Do you want to know a few scriptures you can quote? 0:46:17.160 --> 0:46:18.279 Do you want to be able to. 0:46:18.239 --> 0:46:20.799 Say, I'm leading a group of middle school boys now 0:46:21.000 --> 0:46:23.400 and helping them not to be as dumb as I was? 0:46:24.400 --> 0:46:27.560 Where you want to be this time next year? And 0:46:27.600 --> 0:46:30.480 Elisha says, I know you didn't ask, and I know 0:46:30.520 --> 0:46:35.520 you said no, but about this time next year, you 0:46:35.600 --> 0:46:39.960 will hold a son in your arms. And her response, 0:46:40.120 --> 0:46:41.600 this woman of great faith. 0:46:42.400 --> 0:46:45.080 Was no, No. 0:46:46.880 --> 0:46:52.000 The devil didn't say no, she did. The devil isn't 0:46:52.000 --> 0:47:09.000 blocking you. You are, thanks mom. No, no, because I've 0:47:09.000 --> 0:47:10.320 been here before. 0:47:12.560 --> 0:47:14.040 Me and Holly had a real big fight. And my 0:47:14.080 --> 0:47:15.040 third point is. 0:47:18.000 --> 0:47:20.440 You gotta be obedient, you gotta be open, and you 0:47:20.520 --> 0:47:21.839 gotta be obnoxious. 0:47:21.880 --> 0:47:24.919 Me and Holly had a fight. Oh y'all are paying 0:47:24.960 --> 0:47:25.600 attention now. 0:47:25.680 --> 0:47:29.920 You want to see where is he going with this pastor? 0:47:29.920 --> 0:47:32.319 Stephen might be sleeping on a room in the roof 0:47:32.360 --> 0:47:35.799 in my house just tonight. Holly's gonna kick him out. 0:47:37.040 --> 0:47:40.680 We had a fight at the end of last year, 0:47:41.200 --> 0:47:44.320 not twenty twenty three. Twenty twenty three, we had no fights. 0:47:46.520 --> 0:47:51.399 Twenty twenty two. It was a fight about her. Oh God, 0:47:51.440 --> 0:47:52.960 I can't believe I'm sharing this witch. 0:47:55.120 --> 0:47:58.640 Trying to get me to see that God input more 0:47:58.719 --> 0:47:59.920 in me than I was getting. 0:48:01.920 --> 0:48:04.640 Not in a nagging way, not in a way that 0:48:04.719 --> 0:48:06.640 was saying like you're not doing enough making me feel bad. 0:48:06.640 --> 0:48:11.080 It wasn't shame based. There was something that I because 0:48:11.120 --> 0:48:13.080 we're talking in the text about a woman who couldn't 0:48:13.080 --> 0:48:18.520 have a baby, but it could represent anything that you 0:48:18.560 --> 0:48:20.799 can't have that is a. 0:48:20.680 --> 0:48:21.520 God given desire. 0:48:21.520 --> 0:48:22.719 I am not talking about all the stuff you want 0:48:22.719 --> 0:48:26.080 because you spend too much time shopping. I'm talking about 0:48:26.120 --> 0:48:27.840 the stuff that you can't have, but it is a 0:48:27.880 --> 0:48:29.760 part of your future and you can't have it yet. 0:48:30.080 --> 0:48:30.440 And so. 0:48:33.600 --> 0:48:36.360 While I'm doing this, go get that box out of 0:48:36.360 --> 0:48:39.239 my office. It's on the where the counter in my 0:48:39.280 --> 0:48:42.719 little Go get it, Josh, Thank you just as quick 0:48:42.760 --> 0:48:45.200 as you can, because I want to show you something 0:48:45.440 --> 0:48:48.640 to help you understand what I'm talking about. One of 0:48:48.680 --> 0:48:51.239 the things that she was getting me was she was 0:48:52.080 --> 0:48:54.759 kept telling me there are more messages in you now. 0:48:54.840 --> 0:48:55.880 The thing that you don't know. 0:48:55.920 --> 0:48:57.799 We keep promoting and we're going to promote it even 0:48:57.800 --> 0:48:59.279 more that I'm putting a book out in a couple 0:48:59.280 --> 0:48:59.640 of weeks. 0:49:00.000 --> 0:49:01.000 A week before my birthday. 0:49:01.080 --> 0:49:11.440 I appreciate your enthusiasm. And Holly was trying to get 0:49:11.440 --> 0:49:15.840 me to see reveal it too soon, mess up my 0:49:15.880 --> 0:49:22.600 illustration of the boxes open officer. When she was yelling 0:49:22.640 --> 0:49:26.120 at me, I mean, when she was exhorting me, she 0:49:26.239 --> 0:49:28.239 wasn't yelling no, Holly. 0:49:28.880 --> 0:49:32.879 Holly can yell in a whisper. It's annoying, it's obnoxious. 0:49:34.200 --> 0:49:36.680 But she was just speaking to the part of me 0:49:36.760 --> 0:49:38.720 that knew that I was supposed to put out a book. 0:49:38.719 --> 0:49:41.759 But I wrote a book in twenty twenty, and when 0:49:41.800 --> 0:49:44.919 I went to publish it, even my own agent said no, 0:49:46.680 --> 0:49:50.359 wasn't it. And for nine months of writing a book 0:49:50.400 --> 0:49:52.040 and then for it to just sit there to bind her, 0:49:52.520 --> 0:49:57.040 I told the Lord, I will preach for THEE, and 0:49:57.080 --> 0:50:01.640 I will post Instagram clips for THEE, and I will 0:50:02.320 --> 0:50:04.160 be a blessing to those that you've called me to 0:50:04.200 --> 0:50:05.120 intersect in life. 0:50:06.280 --> 0:50:07.280 I'm not writing another boat. 0:50:09.120 --> 0:50:13.000 And so I was preparing this message, and I wasn't 0:50:13.000 --> 0:50:15.759 thinking about me. I was thinking about the thousands of 0:50:15.760 --> 0:50:21.080 people who will hear this message. And you're holding a 0:50:21.120 --> 0:50:27.239 disappointment that's so heavy that you have no room to 0:50:27.280 --> 0:50:30.640 receive the thing that God is speaking in your life. 0:50:30.680 --> 0:50:33.600 What is that thing for you? Would you identify it? 0:50:33.640 --> 0:50:35.560 Because the Holy Spirit will do a whole lot better 0:50:35.640 --> 0:50:40.600 job than I could that thing. And while I was 0:50:40.640 --> 0:50:43.720 getting this message ready, and I read what the prophet 0:50:43.800 --> 0:50:47.040 said to the woman verse sixteen, Please, about this time 0:50:47.120 --> 0:50:52.239 next year, you will hold a son in your arms. 0:50:53.640 --> 0:50:57.080 And she said no, Please, Man of God, don't mislead 0:50:57.120 --> 0:50:57.560 your servant. 0:50:57.880 --> 0:51:00.800 You think maybe that's because she'd inc a few false 0:51:00.840 --> 0:51:05.680 prophets before. You think maybe some other prophets had stopped 0:51:05.680 --> 0:51:09.160 by and ate her food and slept in her guest 0:51:09.239 --> 0:51:14.080 room and made her promises. We've all been disappointed. We've 0:51:14.080 --> 0:51:17.480 all been let down, and now life has let you 0:51:17.600 --> 0:51:20.000 down so many times you won't even let hope in 0:51:20.080 --> 0:51:25.560 when it comes to avoid the disappointment. But I love God, 0:51:26.320 --> 0:51:29.440 and I treasure him, and I honor Him as the 0:51:29.520 --> 0:51:33.600 God of my life. Because of Revelation three point twenty 0:51:33.760 --> 0:51:38.120 is true. That means that while my voice is saying no, 0:51:39.560 --> 0:51:46.440 his hand keeps knocking. The Bible says in verse seventeen 0:51:47.800 --> 0:51:51.000 that even though she said no, and even though in 0:51:51.040 --> 0:51:53.719 this area of her life she didn't believe it was possible. 0:51:54.840 --> 0:51:58.520 The woman became pregnant. And I read that text over 0:51:58.560 --> 0:52:02.160 and over. I was looking for the point where she said, 0:52:02.440 --> 0:52:06.759 I believe you, but she never even said it. And 0:52:06.880 --> 0:52:10.160 even though she didn't believe it was possible, the Bible 0:52:10.200 --> 0:52:15.799 says she became pregnant. Why because she didn't have the 0:52:15.880 --> 0:52:20.239 faith to become pregnant, but she had the faith to 0:52:20.320 --> 0:52:23.520 build a room. And I came to say to you 0:52:23.600 --> 0:52:26.480 today that you don't have to know how God is 0:52:26.520 --> 0:52:29.759 going to do it. You don't even have to completely 0:52:29.800 --> 0:52:32.640 believe that He will do it. You don't have to 0:52:32.760 --> 0:52:35.520 quote all of the right responses back to God. 0:52:36.360 --> 0:52:39.200 But God keeps knocking through your no. 0:52:40.360 --> 0:52:43.359 And God is faithful even if you're faithless. 0:52:43.920 --> 0:52:46.000 And I declare and decree over. 0:52:45.840 --> 0:52:49.479 Your life this day that about this time next year, 0:52:50.400 --> 0:52:54.400 I said, about this time next year, I said, about 0:52:54.400 --> 0:52:59.120 this time next year, I said, January twenty twenty five, 0:53:00.080 --> 0:53:05.239 I set about this time next here you will. 0:53:07.520 --> 0:53:15.120 Hold a promise in your arms and in the cool 0:53:15.840 --> 0:53:18.319 how Holly was right, and there was. 0:53:18.280 --> 0:53:19.279 Another book in me. 0:53:19.920 --> 0:53:23.279 And the book came in the mail this week as 0:53:23.320 --> 0:53:28.880 an announcement to you. Then whatever disappointment weighed you down, 0:53:29.680 --> 0:53:34.520 drop it, God said, I got another box with your 0:53:34.680 --> 0:53:39.279 name on it, and if you'll give me some room 0:53:39.360 --> 0:53:44.760 on the roof. Come on, we're knocking through the note. 0:53:45.640 --> 0:53:49.200 We're knocking through the doe. We're knocking through the note. 0:53:49.320 --> 0:53:52.800 I feel a stir of good, like a flood, raising 0:53:52.960 --> 0:53:57.680 up a standard against the enemy. 0:53:58.520 --> 0:53:59.960 He's knocking through your note. 0:54:00.120 --> 0:54:03.960 Oh. One voice is calling you forward, one voice is 0:54:04.040 --> 0:54:06.680 pulling you back. One voice is saying. 0:54:06.600 --> 0:54:07.440 Yes and amen. 0:54:08.000 --> 0:54:11.440 One voice is saying no. And you're standing in the 0:54:11.480 --> 0:54:18.200 doorway deciding. It is truly a matter of life and death. 0:54:18.560 --> 0:54:22.400 You are standing in the doorway deciding. 0:54:24.880 --> 0:54:25.680 And the door. 0:54:27.080 --> 0:54:33.160 Was there because she made room. She didn't even say yes, 0:54:34.560 --> 0:54:38.759 but because she said yes yesterday. I'm telling you what, 0:54:39.840 --> 0:54:42.360 when we talk a year from now, and I know 0:54:42.440 --> 0:54:44.080 all of y'all are gonna still be in this church 0:54:44.120 --> 0:54:45.920 a year from now, because you're not a church hopping 0:54:46.200 --> 0:54:48.400 little baby bottle tote and Christian. 0:54:48.560 --> 0:54:50.920 You're gonna be right here a year from now, and 0:54:51.000 --> 0:54:53.239 you're still gonna and you're gonna be stronger in the 0:54:53.280 --> 0:54:56.359 faith a year from now, and you're gonna have Holkogan 0:54:56.440 --> 0:55:00.279 biceps in the spirit. A year from now, they're going 0:55:00.360 --> 0:55:02.759 to be secure and people aren't going to be able 0:55:02.800 --> 0:55:04.480 to tell you no and put you. 0:55:04.480 --> 0:55:07.759 In depression for a week. A year from now, you 0:55:07.840 --> 0:55:15.720 are going to be holding something because you decided today 0:55:18.200 --> 0:55:22.840 to let hope in the door. I know the devil 0:55:22.880 --> 0:55:26.520 has a way of getting you down and discouraged, and 0:55:26.560 --> 0:55:28.480 I know you have good reasons that you said no. 0:55:28.840 --> 0:55:33.480 But let me bring you back to my title. God 0:55:33.560 --> 0:55:40.840 is knocking through the no. And at our Matthew's campus 0:55:40.880 --> 0:55:47.279 today where they told us no, everybody say no. And 0:55:47.360 --> 0:55:50.439 we went out there and prayed in the bargain lot, 0:55:50.880 --> 0:55:55.520 Oh yeah, businessmen and khaki pants in the parking lot, 0:55:55.960 --> 0:55:59.560 littling the loading dock of that building. And not only 0:55:59.560 --> 0:56:02.440 did we end up getting those forty two thousand square feet, 0:56:03.360 --> 0:56:05.680 but eventually we knock down all the walls. 0:56:08.960 --> 0:56:12.280 Because God is known for knocking. 0:56:12.600 --> 0:56:18.400 Through the n You will be sitting in tomorrow what 0:56:18.600 --> 0:56:27.880 you will open your heart to God for today? Agisa 0:56:28.040 --> 0:56:33.880 here I am. 0:56:34.000 --> 0:56:36.760 I stand at the door. You are standing in a doorway. 0:56:37.160 --> 0:56:40.360 Do I go back to it? Or do I go forward? 0:56:41.480 --> 0:56:44.120 Do I go back to these familiar patterns another year? 0:56:45.520 --> 0:56:51.880 Or do I go forward into uncomfortable freedom? Do I 0:56:51.960 --> 0:56:54.839 go back to that horrible relationship, just so I can 0:56:54.920 --> 0:56:59.320 pretend like I have somebody, or do I go forward 0:57:00.560 --> 0:57:02.560 into learning what it means to have a friend that 0:57:02.640 --> 0:57:03.920 sticks closer than a brother. 0:57:06.080 --> 0:57:06.560 I see you. 0:57:06.600 --> 0:57:08.440 I saw you when I was studying, so I know 0:57:08.520 --> 0:57:10.520 the word is right. I see you standing in the 0:57:10.560 --> 0:57:14.960 door like the woman. And there's one door, and there's 0:57:14.960 --> 0:57:21.160 two voices. Which one will win. That's the decision of 0:57:21.200 --> 0:57:23.880 the day, isn't it. God's gonna put an open door 0:57:23.920 --> 0:57:28.520 before you every day. Maybe the tiny door might be 0:57:28.560 --> 0:57:31.760 a great big door. But I know this the doors 0:57:31.800 --> 0:57:37.680 of what God is calling you into, hinge on your 0:57:37.720 --> 0:57:42.200 obedience to Him. Today, I like you to bow your 0:57:42.200 --> 0:57:45.280 head because I don't want you to look around. I 0:57:45.280 --> 0:57:47.800 want you to look inside for the answers to what 0:57:47.840 --> 0:57:57.160 I'm about to ask you. In what area of your 0:57:57.200 --> 0:58:05.520 life have you told God no? In what area of 0:58:05.560 --> 0:58:09.760 your life have you told God no? I would suggest 0:58:09.800 --> 0:58:12.760 to you that it often has to do with who 0:58:12.840 --> 0:58:15.120 he calls us to become, not even just what he 0:58:15.160 --> 0:58:18.720 calls us to do, and the way that works. Just 0:58:18.760 --> 0:58:20.640 like He called the shot of mite and said come here, 0:58:20.640 --> 0:58:23.120 and she stood in the door. God will call you 0:58:23.240 --> 0:58:26.400 something and then you will stand in the door, and 0:58:26.440 --> 0:58:31.520 the decision is, will you believe that voice when he 0:58:31.560 --> 0:58:32.360 calls you holy? 0:58:33.480 --> 0:58:34.400 Will you receive that? 0:58:34.480 --> 0:58:36.320 Now? I want to minister to somebody who's been dealing 0:58:36.400 --> 0:58:37.320 with crippling guilt. 0:58:37.520 --> 0:58:41.200 He called you holy, and every. 0:58:40.960 --> 0:58:42.960 Time that thing inside of you says, no, I'm not, 0:58:43.120 --> 0:58:45.200 I'm not, I'm not, I'm just a piece of trash. 0:58:45.240 --> 0:58:48.040 I'm just You don't even know you're talking to that 0:58:48.080 --> 0:58:50.920 thing that gets on you, that tells you that stuff 0:58:50.960 --> 0:58:54.560 to drag you out of the doorway and back into 0:58:54.560 --> 0:58:59.920 the past. I come against that spirit of condemnation today 0:59:00.840 --> 0:59:04.200 in the name of Jesus and buy his blood to 0:59:04.280 --> 0:59:09.880 tell you that there is therefore now no condemnation for 0:59:09.920 --> 0:59:13.320 those who are in Christ. Jesus he is the door. 0:59:14.200 --> 0:59:19.520 Don't you see it? That everything you need is in Him? 0:59:19.600 --> 0:59:21.160 And today you're in his presence. 0:59:24.320 --> 0:59:27.640 And I leave you now with exactly where we begin 0:59:27.720 --> 0:59:32.680 this message. Here, I am. I stand at the door 0:59:33.480 --> 0:59:38.680 and knock. And if you'll open the door, that's just 0:59:38.720 --> 0:59:40.560 as simple as I know how to make a church, 0:59:40.920 --> 0:59:45.080 if you will open the door. I don't know if 0:59:45.080 --> 0:59:46.920 that's a Bible reading plan. I don't know if that's 0:59:46.920 --> 0:59:48.800 a support group. I don't know if that's to tell 0:59:48.840 --> 0:59:50.200 somebody what's really going on. 0:59:50.400 --> 0:59:51.160 If you will. 0:59:51.000 --> 0:59:55.640 Open the door and make room on the roof, I'm 0:59:55.640 --> 0:59:59.360 believing a year from now you're going to hold something awesome. 1:00:00.120 --> 1:00:04.840 Your arms come on, You're going to accommodate something amazing. 1:00:04.760 --> 1:00:06.320 In your life. 1:00:07.160 --> 1:00:10.520 And Father, we thank you in Jesus's name that for 1:00:10.600 --> 1:00:15.040 all the times we told you no, you knocked again. 1:00:17.360 --> 1:00:20.120 At this moment, I want to give an invitation for 1:00:20.200 --> 1:00:23.280 all of those who need to receive Jesus Christ into 1:00:23.320 --> 1:00:26.560 your life and have a new beginning with him. 1:00:27.760 --> 1:00:30.520 The Bible says that it is by grace we're saved 1:00:30.560 --> 1:00:32.920 through faith is the gift of God, not of word, 1:00:33.000 --> 1:00:35.720 so that no one can boast that if you confess 1:00:35.800 --> 1:00:37.800 with your mouth that Jesus's Lord, and believe in your 1:00:37.800 --> 1:00:41.000 heart God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 1:00:41.400 --> 1:00:44.920 This is an open invitation to anyone who says today. 1:00:44.720 --> 1:00:45.120 Was for me. 1:00:45.960 --> 1:00:49.680 I'm giving my life to God today. I'm not living 1:00:49.760 --> 1:00:52.280 another year my own way. I'm not going to be 1:00:52.360 --> 1:00:55.760 half in, half out. Today. I'm walking through this door 1:00:56.000 --> 1:00:58.600 to make Jesus Christ the lord of my life and 1:00:58.760 --> 1:01:02.240 receive his provision for my life and receive His forgiveness. 1:01:02.360 --> 1:01:04.440 If that's you and this is your word, I'm going 1:01:04.520 --> 1:01:06.440 to pray a prayer with you, and we'll pray it 1:01:06.480 --> 1:01:09.160 out loud for the benefit of those who are coming 1:01:09.200 --> 1:01:11.720 to God for the first time or back to. 1:01:11.720 --> 1:01:12.919 God as a rededication. 1:01:13.280 --> 1:01:15.680 And I want you to repeat this after me with 1:01:15.760 --> 1:01:20.720 confidence in your voice. Say, Heavenly Father, today is my 1:01:20.960 --> 1:01:27.520 day of salvation. I believe that Jesus Christ died for 1:01:27.640 --> 1:01:32.120 my sin that I could be forgiven and rose again 1:01:33.080 --> 1:01:38.040 to give me life. I receive this new life. This 1:01:38.240 --> 1:01:41.720 is my new beginning. On the counter of three, raise 1:01:41.760 --> 1:01:44.520 your hand if you pray that one, two three, I 1:01:44.560 --> 1:01:47.400 want to celebrate with you. I want to celebrate with you. 1:01:48.880 --> 1:01:53.240 The doors are open. Welcome in, man, Welcome in to 1:01:53.400 --> 1:01:56.080 all those online. Just put it in the comments. I 1:01:56.280 --> 1:01:57.440 receive Jesus. 1:01:58.160 --> 1:02:00.240 Today is my day. 1:02:00.280 --> 1:02:01.280 This is my door. 1:02:02.560 --> 1:02:04.240 Hallylujah. 1:02:04.360 --> 1:02:07.320 Let's give God the greatest twenty four seconds of praise. 1:02:07.400 --> 1:02:13.560 We can thank you piesus God Lord, how many no praise? 1:02:13.600 --> 1:02:20.320 Open prison doors play? Why have you heavenly cakes got The. 1:02:20.440 --> 1:02:29.080 King of lowry Man turns, hallylujah, you got seven seconds 1:02:29.120 --> 1:02:42.840 last six five. I pray that you are open to 1:02:42.880 --> 1:02:45.440 what God said today. Hey, y'all with dismiss in a minute, 1:02:45.800 --> 1:02:49.680 Thank you, thank you so much, close the doors. 1:02:54.240 --> 1:02:55.920 If that word had your name on it, let me 1:02:55.960 --> 1:02:56.360 know right. 1:02:56.280 --> 1:03:06.520 Now, if that box had your name on it, I 1:03:06.560 --> 1:03:10.320 know it's tricky. I told God I didn't want to 1:03:10.320 --> 1:03:12.280 preach a message of hype, but a message of hope, 1:03:13.960 --> 1:03:17.800 and not a hopepothetical message either, because I don't know 1:03:17.800 --> 1:03:19.520 if it's going to happen just like you want it. 1:03:20.360 --> 1:03:26.600 But about this time next year, about this time next year, 1:03:28.920 --> 1:03:32.720 if we win one day at a time, I believe 1:03:32.760 --> 1:03:34.480 you're carrying something awesome. 1:03:35.160 --> 1:03:36.920 I believe He has something amazing for you. 1:03:37.560 --> 1:03:39.600 Would you stand and give God praise as our campus 1:03:39.600 --> 1:03:47.800 pastors come to close us. I love you, Thank you 1:03:47.840 --> 1:03:50.360 for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who 1:03:50.400 --> 1:03:53.360 give generously to this ministry. Is because of you that 1:03:53.440 --> 1:03:56.360 this ministry is possible. You can click the link in 1:03:56.400 --> 1:04:00.880 the description to give now or visit Elevation Church Slash 1:04:00.920 --> 1:04:04.240 podcast for more information and if you enjoyed the podcast, 1:04:04.520 --> 1:04:07.240 you can subscribe. You can share it with your friends. 1:04:07.520 --> 1:04:09.800 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 1:04:09.840 --> 1:04:11.960 share it on your social stories and tag us at 1:04:11.960 --> 1:04:12.840 Elevation Church. 1:04:12.920 --> 1:04:19.560 Thanks again for listening. God bless you.