Look Forward Not Far

0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.320 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.040 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:13.560 gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:14.920 Enjoy the message. 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:29.720 I think they'll be praising God like that in Fort Worth, Texas, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Toronto, Canada, Detroit, Michigan, Hartford, Connecticut, Newark, 0:00:29.760 --> 0:00:31.360 New Jersey, and Washington, DC. 0:00:32.000 --> 0:00:34.440 Elevation Nights is just a few weeks away. 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:39.919 Go to Elevation Nights dot com and get your tickets. 0:00:41.640 --> 0:00:42.360 It'll be good. 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:45.839 We'll be there worshiping God together. We can't wait to 0:00:45.880 --> 0:00:48.839 worship God with you. Also, thank you to all of 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:50.800 the amazing men and women who have signed up to 0:00:50.880 --> 0:00:54.600 lead an e group over this next semester. Thank you 0:00:54.640 --> 0:00:58.320 for opening your home, your heart. Thank you for saying 0:00:58.400 --> 0:01:01.000 yes to God. Pray that God is going to bring 0:01:01.120 --> 0:01:03.120 just the right people in those groups who can help 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:07.000 each other. I pray that God would make connections, divine connections, 0:01:07.480 --> 0:01:08.240 that God would be. 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:10.119 Like a spiritual matchmaker. 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:13.880 I'm not necessarily talking about a romantic match, although if 0:01:13.920 --> 0:01:14.679 the Lord wants to do that. 0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:17.040 Through an E group, he's God. Amen. 0:01:18.040 --> 0:01:20.080 But just that God would help you find somebody where 0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:22.479 they can say, oh, I went through that, and here's 0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:26.760 something God gave me. When theologian said that Christianity is 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:34.480 one beggar telling another beggar where they found bread. And 0:01:34.560 --> 0:01:37.760 sometimes God gives somebody something. 0:01:37.400 --> 0:01:39.200 That you need in the season that you're in. 0:01:40.000 --> 0:01:42.000 And so when you walk through those E group tents 0:01:42.000 --> 0:01:43.760 today or when they come online in a little while 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:46.160 and say hey, sign up, don't put it off and 0:01:46.200 --> 0:01:48.400 don't tell fifteen excuses why you're too busy. 0:01:48.880 --> 0:01:51.320 I'm tell you that's the problem with you. You're too busy. 0:01:51.920 --> 0:01:55.040 You're too busy, and sometimes you don't slow down enough, 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:56.520 so you spend a lot of effort, but you don't 0:01:56.520 --> 0:01:57.800 get a lot of result. 0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:00.920 It's going to come through a line in this season 0:02:00.920 --> 0:02:01.680 of your life. 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:05.600 So this is an amazing opportunity. Holly, You've written an 0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:08.280 amazing study. Brit the whole team. I'm so proud of you. 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:11.559 I'm so excited about the change that will be experienced. 0:02:11.960 --> 0:02:12.360 That's on. 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:15.040 Just go to Elevisionchurch dot Org and join an negrew. 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:16.840 Right now, it's time for the Word of God. 0:02:17.240 --> 0:02:17.680 Let's go. 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:25.320 The Book of Philippians, Chapter one. The Book of Philippians, 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:30.720 Chapter one, verse twenty through twenty six. No, no, no, 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:32.800 let's go all the way back to verse eighteen. I 0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:35.640 was going to speed it up for time, but I 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:36.919 want to read from verse eighteen. 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:39.320 So I'm going to read from verse eighteen. And then. 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:42.840 The Lord gave me this scripture, and then he gave 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:44.840 me a picture. And I want to give both of 0:02:44.840 --> 0:02:52.440 you today. 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:53.480 But what does it matter. 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:57.320 The important thing is that in every way, whether from 0:02:57.320 --> 0:02:59.800 false motives or true, Christ is preached. 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:04.160 And because of this I rejoice. 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:08.840 Yeah, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:12.320 that through your prayers and God's provision of the Spirit 0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:15.079 of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn 0:03:15.120 --> 0:03:16.960 out for my deliverance. 0:03:17.080 --> 0:03:18.560 Verse twenty says. 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:22.920 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no 0:03:23.080 --> 0:03:27.640 way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that 0:03:27.800 --> 0:03:31.720 now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, 0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:36.960 whether by life or by death. For to me, to 0:03:37.080 --> 0:03:40.360 live is Christ and to die is Gain. If I 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:42.720 am to go on living in the body this will mean. 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:47.240 Fruitful labor for me. Yet, what shall I choose? 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:52.320 I don't know. I'm torn between the two. I'm torn 0:03:52.360 --> 0:03:54.240 between the two. I'm trying to make a decision. I 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:57.200 don't know which to choose. I'm torn between the two. 0:03:57.400 --> 0:03:59.840 I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:03.440 or by far? But it's more necessary for you that 0:04:03.520 --> 0:04:07.240 I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know 0:04:07.360 --> 0:04:11.640 that I will remain. Tell your neighbor you're gonna make it. 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:16.200 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain. Now. 0:04:16.200 --> 0:04:18.799 I will continue with all of you for your progress 0:04:18.880 --> 0:04:22.039 and joy in the faith, so that through my being 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:25.440 with you again, you're boasting in Christ. Jesus will abound 0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:28.039 on account of me. I know you've been standing for 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:30.279 a long time, but stay on your feet one more moment, 0:04:31.120 --> 0:04:32.880 because the Lord told me to give you an instruction 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:35.160 today that will be very specific for you. 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:39.400 Goes like this, look forward, not far. 0:04:42.320 --> 0:04:47.479 Okay, been distracted, overwhelmed, feel like you're kind of going 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:49.640 crazy sometimes coming from every direction. 0:04:49.720 --> 0:04:53.240 The Lord said, look forward, not far. 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:58.880 Tell your neighbor look forward, not far, And now on 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:00.800 your way to your seat. How your neighbor one thing 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:02.640 you're looking forward to this week. Just go ahead and 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:04.400 tell them real quick, one thing you're looking forward to 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:08.240 this week. I'm looking forward to Pastor Steven finishing the 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:09.799 sermons so I can go to Chipotlet. 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:11.680 I know how y'all are. 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:15.440 I'm looking forward to the sermon that the Man of 0:05:15.440 --> 0:05:20.360 God is about to preach. I'm looking forward to. Put 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:21.880 it in the comments too. I'm gonna read a few 0:05:21.920 --> 0:05:25.920 from online. Somebody shout out something appropriate that you're looking 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:30.239 forward to this week, real quick. In the room, looking 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:35.880 forward to it, looking forward to it. Everybody in the 0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:37.800 chat put I'm looking forward to it, and then tell 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:38.520 me one thing you're. 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:42.760 Looking forward to forward not far. 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:47.240 It really helped me because when I walk out to preach, 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:48.560 it's always a little unpredictable. 0:05:48.600 --> 0:05:52.120 I never really know how it's going to go, and so. 0:05:52.279 --> 0:05:54.000 I do a little trick. And this is a little 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:55.640 bit squeamish for me to tell you about. You might 0:05:55.680 --> 0:05:57.240 roll your eyes. And Abby's going to cringe on the 0:05:57.240 --> 0:05:59.160 front road because she hates when I say romantic things 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:00.520 in front of thousands of people. 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:00.839 About her mother. 0:06:02.480 --> 0:06:06.279 Bowis squeeze Holly's hand before I go back to get 0:06:06.320 --> 0:06:07.080 ready to preach. 0:06:07.560 --> 0:06:11.719 If she's not like deep and rapturous worship, if she's. 0:06:11.520 --> 0:06:13.800 In the Chicaina glory, I just just walk out and 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:15.520 let her have a moment with Jesus. I want to 0:06:15.520 --> 0:06:19.400 cut in, but if she's halfway aware, I'll just squeeze 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:22.599 her hand. And it's my reminder that in a few minutes, 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:24.520 however long it takes me to preach this sermon, in 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:28.680 about three and a half hours, no matter what happens 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:33.160 up here, I'm going home with her. Here's what that's 0:06:33.200 --> 0:06:39.200 called psychologically anticipatory pleasure. And I don't mean what you 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:42.840 think I mean by that. The chances are all we're 0:06:42.880 --> 0:06:44.640 going to do is eat, take a nap. If there's 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:46.600 something we're watching, we might watch it and probably fall 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:51.240 asleep trying to watch it, but something to look forward 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:56.800 to after it's over. It somehow fortifies me for what 0:06:56.839 --> 0:07:00.719 I need to do up here. And reminding myself in 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:04.920 a role as preacher or pastor does not exist the 0:07:05.080 --> 0:07:08.200 entire definition of who I am as a person. It 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:11.920 takes the performance anxiety off, because whether you love it 0:07:12.040 --> 0:07:15.160 or hate it, I'm going home with her. And she 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:16.840 never told me I preached a bad sermon. 0:07:17.080 --> 0:07:18.760 I know she probably thought it, but she never said 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:19.360 it out loud. 0:07:21.480 --> 0:07:23.840 And on the chat right now, there's all kinds of 0:07:24.280 --> 0:07:27.760 people say and I'm looking forward to the chiefs winning today. 0:07:27.840 --> 0:07:31.240 I'm looking forward to seek him more this week. See 0:07:31.280 --> 0:07:33.800 you got spirit and flesh, Spirit and flesh all in 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:34.440 the comments. 0:07:35.520 --> 0:07:37.880 I'm looking forward to teach my students. Well that's cool. 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:40.640 I thought that was cool. Just when I read it, 0:07:40.680 --> 0:07:41.480 I thought, well, that's not. 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:43.680 You're looking forward to somebody doing something for you as 0:07:43.720 --> 0:07:45.960 you're doing something for somebody. What a cool way to think. 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:47.360 I don't know if you've teln the truth or not, 0:07:47.360 --> 0:07:51.440 but might as well frame it that way. Looking forward 0:07:51.520 --> 0:07:55.280 to closing a door, looking forward to a few days 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:58.280 off work, looking forward to. 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:03.840 My I won't say that out loud, looking forward to. 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:10.559 Feeling better. I'm looking forward to. Yeah, it's going too fast. 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:12.880 I don't know how to slow it down, but I 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:16.280 think it's important always in your life to have something. 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:16.720 To look forward to. 0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:19.240 It's real dangerous if you ever get in a place 0:08:19.280 --> 0:08:22.960 where you can't look forward to anything and feel joy, 0:08:23.120 --> 0:08:23.560 you need. 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:27.080 To talk to somebody. That's a dangerous place for you 0:08:27.160 --> 0:08:27.440 to stay. 0:08:27.440 --> 0:08:29.200 And I don't just mean for a moment where you're 0:08:29.240 --> 0:08:31.400 tired or overwhelmed and you just want everybody leave you alone. 0:08:31.560 --> 0:08:33.120 But if you ever get to a place where there 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:37.920 is a prolonged sense of the postponement of joy, do 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:40.800 you know what I mean by postponing joy? Where you're like, well, 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:44.080 I might be happy one day, but I can't see 0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:46.920 anything in my immediate future that I look forward to. 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:49.200 That is a dangerous way to live. Now. 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:51.040 It doesn't mean that everything you do every day has 0:08:51.080 --> 0:08:56.200 to be something that you enjoy, Snowflake, but it does 0:08:56.280 --> 0:08:59.000 mean that there ought to be something, even within the 0:08:59.040 --> 0:09:01.439 most challenging seasons of your life, that you can go. 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:03.319 I look forward to that. 0:09:03.320 --> 0:09:05.840 That's why I want every married couple doing date nights. 0:09:06.720 --> 0:09:08.640 I want you to do it so you can look 0:09:08.679 --> 0:09:11.440 forward to that time and you can understand that even 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:13.200 if we've been busy all week, I mean, and then 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:15.600 I'd be an expensive date night, make a sandwich. But 0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:18.960 set aside a time that you can look forward to 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:21.040 that you can know, you know, especially if you have 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:23.839 kids or little kids or something like that. Set it 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:26.840 up where you know, Okay, we are so busy managing 0:09:26.880 --> 0:09:28.640 this corporation, called our kids. 0:09:29.600 --> 0:09:34.360 Excuse me, this terrorist organization called our kids. 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:38.800 That we need a time set aside that I can 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:42.360 look forward to connecting with my girlfriend, my boyfriend, the 0:09:42.360 --> 0:09:44.160 one that I used to spend hours on the phone with. 0:09:44.200 --> 0:09:47.640 And I think that's really important that you put something 0:09:47.960 --> 0:09:49.800 that you can look forward to, even if it's. 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:50.320 A little thing. 0:09:51.240 --> 0:09:54.240 That's why I got the fridge stock with fair Life shakes, 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:57.880 because after I've done all my squats and all my curls, 0:09:57.880 --> 0:10:00.360 I know there is the taste of artificial sweetener waiting, 0:10:01.160 --> 0:10:03.439 just something to trigger my tongue to let me know you. 0:10:03.400 --> 0:10:09.320 Did good today. Well done, now, good and faithful servant again. 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:11.440 I'm taking a moment to set this up because if 0:10:11.440 --> 0:10:14.200 I don't set it up practically, if we jump straight 0:10:14.240 --> 0:10:17.400 to what Paul said from prison, you will think that 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:20.240 this message only applies when you're going through the hardest 0:10:20.320 --> 0:10:24.440 situation in your life. But I saw a principle this 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:28.439 week that was so practical that it reminded me about 0:10:28.440 --> 0:10:31.559 something that Brendan Manning said in one of his books. 0:10:32.240 --> 0:10:33.120 When a man went to. 0:10:33.200 --> 0:10:36.439 Visit Mother Teresa at the House of the Dying in Calcutta, 0:10:37.280 --> 0:10:39.959 and this brilliant ethicist John Kavanaugh went to see her 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:41.800 for three months, and on the first day he met 0:10:41.800 --> 0:10:44.600 Mother Teresa, and the report goes that he was trying 0:10:44.600 --> 0:10:46.360 to figure out what to do with the rest of 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:49.520 his life and he felt foggy about it. Now stop 0:10:49.559 --> 0:10:52.599 right here. You might feel the same way today. You 0:10:52.679 --> 0:10:54.920 might not be going to see Mother Teresa. She came 0:10:54.960 --> 0:10:57.559 Delevation Church, or you clicked on the link and you're 0:10:57.559 --> 0:10:59.760 feeling like, what do I do with the rest of 0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:01.440 the mine life? Or what do I do in this 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:03.120 next week? Or what do I even do for my 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:07.360 next step? Well, Mother Teresa, upon meeting the man, said 0:11:07.720 --> 0:11:10.120 what can I do for you? And he said, I 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:12.920 would love for you to pray for me. And she said, 0:11:13.240 --> 0:11:15.720 what would you like for me to pray for you? 0:11:16.240 --> 0:11:19.079 And he said, pray that God will give me clarity, 0:11:20.320 --> 0:11:23.920 that God will give me clarity. And she said, I 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:30.760 won't do it. I won't do it. I've never had clarity. 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:34.960 And he said, but you always seem to have clarity. 0:11:35.679 --> 0:11:39.480 And Mother Teresa said, I've never had clarity. What I've 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:44.960 had is trust. So I will pray that you will 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:54.160 trust in God. The apostle Paul, writing to the church 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:56.679 that he founded, which was the first church in Europe 0:11:56.920 --> 0:11:59.400 incidentally was founded when he was in. 0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:03.240 Prison an other time. Is now writing to spend eight 0:12:03.320 --> 0:12:05.920 hundred miles from Rome, where. 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:08.760 He is sitting awaiting a verdict of his current imprisonment 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:11.559 for preaching the gospel to the church that he loves, 0:12:11.559 --> 0:12:15.560 and he's worried about them and burdened for them. Yodean 0:12:15.640 --> 0:12:19.160 SYNIKEI are arguing there seems to be within the Philippian 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:21.360 church a since that when the teacher left class, we 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:24.319 can do whatever we want. He checks in to let 0:12:24.360 --> 0:12:26.040 them know I'm proud of you, but you need to 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:27.679 keep making progress. 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:30.400 And in doing that, he shares with them an update 0:12:30.440 --> 0:12:32.679 about his situation. As well. 0:12:34.320 --> 0:12:38.200 As we are expecting Paul to give the exact details 0:12:38.200 --> 0:12:40.600 of whether or not he will be released to continue 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:44.040 to preach the gospel or whether he will continue to 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:48.800 be restrained by his chains, he does something very interesting 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:49.559 and different. 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:54.160 He begins to share with them not about the conclusion. 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:56.640 Of his trial, but about the courage that God has 0:12:56.679 --> 0:12:59.839 given him to face it. Y'all missed your chance to 0:12:59.840 --> 0:13:03.240 say say, amen, I've been pastoring this church almost twenty 0:13:03.320 --> 0:13:05.440 years and y'all still know when I said something good, 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:06.520 I don't. 0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:09.200 Have to get loud for it to be good. I said. 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:12.720 Sometimes God won't give you the conclusion. He will just 0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:17.880 give you courage. And the people like Mother Teresa and 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:20.600 the Apostle Paul who are really confident, it is not 0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:24.000 because they have so much clarity. It's not because they 0:13:24.000 --> 0:13:27.280 always know what to do next. It's just that they're 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:30.800 always focused on what God has called them to do now. 0:13:32.040 --> 0:13:34.120 And this is a great distinction for all of us 0:13:34.160 --> 0:13:37.560 who are overwhelmed. From a man who had every right 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:40.199 to be depressed and despondent, for a man who had 0:13:40.200 --> 0:13:43.360 every right to feel and communicate his sense of total 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:48.160 utter despair comes a book like Philippians, where he says, yes, 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:53.960 I will continue to rejoice. Why are you rejoicing, Paul? 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:55.760 Did you just get good news that they're going to 0:13:55.880 --> 0:13:59.520 let you out in a week? Why are you rejoicing, Paul? 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:02.200 Did Andy Dufrain just take a rock hammer and crack 0:14:02.280 --> 0:14:05.640 halfway through the Shawshank wall Is Morgan Freeman narrating your 0:14:05.720 --> 0:14:06.760 last night in prison? 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:11.160 Why are you rejoicing? He said, because everybody say because. 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:13.880 Now one day I want to do a whole series 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:15.760 when I get the opportunity on. 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:16.800 Why you need a better? 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:22.040 Because a better because verse eighteen, Please again, he says, 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:27.800 I'll continue to rejoice because verse nineteen. Oh no, that's 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:31.560 not where he says it. He says in verse eighteen, yeah, yeah, 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:33.200 And because of this, I rejoice. 0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:33.760 There it is. 0:14:34.040 --> 0:14:37.960 I went too far. I went too far. I'm looking 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:40.600 for that word, but I went too far. I went 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:42.160 too far. I dropped down to the end of it. 0:14:42.360 --> 0:14:44.920 I went too far. I meant to show you that 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:48.640 word because circle because back there for me, in the back, 0:14:48.800 --> 0:14:54.200 justin if you can. And because of this, I rejoice. 0:14:54.880 --> 0:15:01.360 Now whatever this is controls you're rejoicing. Paul's this was 0:15:01.400 --> 0:15:04.480 the purpose of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ, what 0:15:04.560 --> 0:15:08.240 he was sent to do. And since that was still happening, 0:15:08.560 --> 0:15:12.280 and happening at an accelerated rate, Paul said, I have 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:15.200 a cause to rejoice because my calling is being fulfilled. 0:15:17.200 --> 0:15:19.000 If your cause to rejoice is your. 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:24.680 Comfort being satisfied, then any moment you are uncomfortable, you will. 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:27.400 Not have the ability to rejoice. 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:31.760 You need a better because some of us need a better, 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:36.280 because when we come to worship, some of us only. 0:15:36.000 --> 0:15:38.520 Praise God on the weeks where we feel grateful. 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:43.160 What a small god you serve that you need a 0:15:43.240 --> 0:15:47.720 feeling of gratitude to prompt an act of faith called worship. 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:51.640 Your worship in a god. You can't see your worship 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:51.880 in a. 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:53.680 God who's not made by human hands. 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:57.240 You're worshiping a God who does not exist to serve you. 0:15:57.240 --> 0:15:58.320 You exist to serve him. 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:02.480 So if the reason that I worship is tied to 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:05.520 the work that he does on my behalf or the 0:16:05.560 --> 0:16:09.360 wishless that he fulfilled based on my preferences, that is 0:16:09.400 --> 0:16:11.120 a limited lens. 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:15.240 Through which to see the God that I worship. Sometimes 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:16.560 it's good for us to lift our. 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:21.680 Hands because he's great, because he's holy, because he's awesome, 0:16:22.240 --> 0:16:28.440 because he's sovereign, because he's God all by himself, because 0:16:28.480 --> 0:16:32.560 before Abraham was, he was, because he is the great 0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:36.240 I am, because he is perfect in all of his ways, 0:16:36.960 --> 0:16:40.560 because I'm created to do it, because I love him, 0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:45.080 because he first loved me, because he forgave me, because 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:47.520 he sent his son to die for me, because he 0:16:47.600 --> 0:16:50.560 gave me breath and my lungs, because I'm living on 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:55.320 borrowed breath, because tomorrow is not promised because God brought 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:58.120 me this far, and if he never does anything else, 0:16:58.160 --> 0:17:07.840 he's gone enough to be worthy of the next one. 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:13.560 And Paul is playing games with the devil in this 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:17.160 letter because at the moment that he has every right 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:20.480 to be discouraged, despondent, and at the dead end of 0:17:20.520 --> 0:17:24.119 his own despair, he turns his attention outward and begins 0:17:24.160 --> 0:17:26.399 to think about that church that God has called him 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:32.000 to serve. He turns his attention outward and he begins 0:17:32.000 --> 0:17:36.040 to focus on their future. And it's almost like he's 0:17:36.080 --> 0:17:38.520 setting up an appointment. Walk slow with me here, I 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:40.600 want to meet you. In this text, you can see Paul, 0:17:40.800 --> 0:17:44.280 who's about fifty five years old at this point in 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:48.120 his life, saying I don't know when, but I'll see 0:17:48.160 --> 0:17:48.560 you again. 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:49.960 What's he doing. 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:56.760 He's creating a sense of anticipatory joy even though the 0:17:56.800 --> 0:18:03.320 timeline is uncertain. He doesn't have clarity, but he trusts God. 0:18:04.800 --> 0:18:07.919 And you can see in this wrestling match that is 0:18:07.960 --> 0:18:10.560 written on the page and preserved for us through the 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:15.840 passage of time, as Paul is wrestling with his own 0:18:16.000 --> 0:18:18.960 volition and will because there's so much about the situation 0:18:19.080 --> 0:18:23.240 that he can't control. It's not as if when he says, 0:18:24.000 --> 0:18:27.720 what shall I choose, he gets a vote in whether 0:18:27.840 --> 0:18:28.919 or not he's executed. 0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:31.000 Now, just to make sure you understand. 0:18:30.680 --> 0:18:34.040 The situation, Paul is about to be put on trial, 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:36.560 and they have the power to decide does he live 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:39.879 or does he die. Paul does not have the power 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:43.760 to decide whether he lives or dies, but he still 0:18:43.760 --> 0:18:47.200 has the power to choose how he lives in the meantime, 0:18:48.640 --> 0:18:51.040 and so here he is wrestling with the decision that's 0:18:51.080 --> 0:18:53.560 really not his to make. And I thought it was 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:56.160 kind of funny. And maybe there's even a little swagger 0:18:56.200 --> 0:18:59.720 on what Paul's doing here, because he's telling the devil. 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:03.680 I haven't decided yet. I haven't decided. 0:19:03.280 --> 0:19:06.000 Yet whether I'm going to let them kill me so 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:07.600 I can just be done with this and go get 0:19:07.600 --> 0:19:11.200 all my crowns from Jesus. I hadn't decided yet whether 0:19:11.240 --> 0:19:12.840 I just want to get out of here and see 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:15.399 his face, the one who died for me, the one 0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:18.040 who knocked me off my horse on the Damascus Road. 0:19:18.440 --> 0:19:21.000 I hadn't decided yet whether I want to be done 0:19:21.040 --> 0:19:23.720 with all these trifling pharisees that I used to be 0:19:23.760 --> 0:19:26.080 one of that keep running me from. 0:19:25.920 --> 0:19:28.320 City to city. I hadn't decided yet, or do I 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:31.600 want to be done with the storms and the shipwrecks. 0:19:31.080 --> 0:19:33.720 And the stonings and just see him and be known 0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:36.679 as I am known. I hadn't decided yet. Do I 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:39.520 just want to leave? Or do I want to stay? 0:19:39.600 --> 0:19:43.160 And he is an interesting term. He said, I'm torn 0:19:44.400 --> 0:19:45.120 between the two. 0:19:46.080 --> 0:19:46.760 What a picture. 0:19:47.960 --> 0:19:53.520 I'm torn between the two? Recap He's in prison. But 0:19:53.600 --> 0:19:56.320 when it came to describing his condition, he didn't say 0:19:56.359 --> 0:19:57.040 I'm trapped. 0:19:58.600 --> 0:20:02.399 He said, I'm torn. Two things could happen here, and 0:20:02.440 --> 0:20:04.280 I don't know which one God's gonna do yet. 0:20:05.440 --> 0:20:09.080 Either my life could be over in a matter of weeks, months, 0:20:09.119 --> 0:20:13.040 even days, and I could be with Christ. Or I 0:20:13.080 --> 0:20:16.080 could stay here and keep serving Christ longer. 0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:21.320 And I'm torn. Everybody say it, I'm torn. 0:20:21.480 --> 0:20:25.480 I'm torn for everybody today who is feeling torn in 0:20:25.520 --> 0:20:26.600 an area of your life. 0:20:27.160 --> 0:20:31.280 Let the Apostle Paul administer to you these words of encouragement. 0:20:31.280 --> 0:20:33.639 He says, if I am to go on living in 0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:36.240 the body, this will mean fruitful labor. Yet what shall 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:41.520 I choose? I do not know. And write this down 0:20:41.560 --> 0:20:43.600 and put it on your mirror. It's okay to not know. 0:20:45.640 --> 0:20:49.879 It's okay to not know. It's okay to not have clarity. 0:20:50.880 --> 0:20:54.520 It's okay to not have a five year plan. It's 0:20:54.560 --> 0:20:56.720 okay to not know how you're going to get out 0:20:56.720 --> 0:20:57.440 of this exactly. 0:20:57.520 --> 0:21:01.680 It's okay not to know. If Paul, who said. 0:21:01.920 --> 0:21:04.840 And we know that in all things God works together 0:21:04.840 --> 0:21:05.960 for the good of them that love him and call 0:21:06.000 --> 0:21:08.760 according to his purpose, said I don't know about this one. 0:21:09.520 --> 0:21:11.880 You have I don't know moments. 0:21:12.000 --> 0:21:14.280 That you have been hiding because you think that somehow 0:21:14.320 --> 0:21:17.439 means you don't have faith. And it is okay to 0:21:17.600 --> 0:21:22.080 say I don't know. In fact, just say it right now. 0:21:22.200 --> 0:21:23.520 It'll feel like one hundred pounds lifted off. 0:21:23.600 --> 0:21:24.199 Say I don't know. 0:21:25.640 --> 0:21:27.280 She Just gonna say it proper. I do not know, 0:21:28.640 --> 0:21:31.000 I have not the information. Don't say it formal, Just 0:21:31.000 --> 0:21:35.359 say I don't know. Paul says, I don't know which 0:21:35.400 --> 0:21:38.440 one I want yet. I kind of want to get 0:21:38.480 --> 0:21:41.320 out of here, but I kind of think I need 0:21:41.359 --> 0:21:44.800 to stay. It'd be awesome if I never had to 0:21:44.840 --> 0:21:47.560 deal with the opposition that I'm dealing with. 0:21:47.600 --> 0:21:55.480 Again, it's hard out here for a preacher, but. 0:21:55.520 --> 0:21:57.159 I kind of think you need me because you all 0:21:57.200 --> 0:21:58.320 are fighting back home. 0:22:00.119 --> 0:22:02.080 I kind of think you need me because I've heard 0:22:02.119 --> 0:22:03.360 some rumors about you. 0:22:04.240 --> 0:22:06.960 And I don't know if I want to get out 0:22:06.960 --> 0:22:09.919 of here or if I need to stay in this 0:22:10.080 --> 0:22:13.480 for a little while. And he's acting like he gets 0:22:13.520 --> 0:22:16.480 to choose, like he won the coin toss, but nobody's 0:22:16.520 --> 0:22:19.560 coming to ask him. So what is he really wrestling with. 0:22:21.520 --> 0:22:26.960 Paul is wrestling with detention, of looking forward into a 0:22:27.040 --> 0:22:33.639 future that is uncertain, with unwavering confidence in Christ. Everybody 0:22:33.640 --> 0:22:36.919 in this room is facing the same challenge. Your future 0:22:37.040 --> 0:22:41.679 is not certain and your hope is Christ. I just 0:22:41.760 --> 0:22:44.840 hit everybody in the room. 0:22:45.040 --> 0:22:47.280 How do you preach to so many backgrounds of people? 0:22:47.320 --> 0:22:49.840 And there's rich people and poor people, and there's young people, 0:22:49.840 --> 0:22:52.560 and there's old people, and there's religious people, and there's 0:22:52.880 --> 0:22:54.919 people whose eyes look like they just that, you know, 0:22:55.000 --> 0:22:57.840 right before they came to church, they may have something 0:22:57.880 --> 0:22:59.800 they went in the Holy Spirit. And how do you 0:23:00.160 --> 0:23:01.919 to all those people? Because every single one of you, 0:23:01.920 --> 0:23:05.280 your future is uncertain and your hope is Christ. And 0:23:05.320 --> 0:23:08.439 in this way you are no different than Paul. And 0:23:08.480 --> 0:23:13.400 so he says, I don't know, I'm torn I kind 0:23:13.400 --> 0:23:17.359 of want to just see Jesus gotta be nice that 0:23:17.440 --> 0:23:21.439 this was all over. I guess because I was preaching 0:23:21.480 --> 0:23:23.720 on prison I was doing research and I mentioned Shaw 0:23:23.760 --> 0:23:28.199 Shank redemption and then turn off the TV, all of 0:23:28.240 --> 0:23:30.240 you that are real religious. We watched The Green Mile 0:23:30.280 --> 0:23:35.600 this week too with John Coffey, and The Green Mile 0:23:35.640 --> 0:23:37.640 is trippy. I'm gonna give you spoiler alert. The movie 0:23:37.720 --> 0:23:39.320 is like forty years old, so if you haven't seen 0:23:39.359 --> 0:23:42.800 it by now, you deserve to have it spoil But 0:23:42.920 --> 0:23:46.080 at the end you find out that the man, the 0:23:46.119 --> 0:23:50.720 prison guard, he can't die. Well he's gonna die, but 0:23:50.760 --> 0:23:52.199 he's like one hundred and two and he doesn't know 0:23:52.200 --> 0:23:53.320 how long he's going to have to live. 0:23:53.320 --> 0:23:54.440 And that's the end of the movie. 0:23:54.560 --> 0:23:56.960 And me and Graham were watching it together and he goes, well, 0:23:57.000 --> 0:23:58.320 that was kind of anti climactic. 0:23:58.359 --> 0:23:59.479 I thought it was going to be scary. 0:23:59.520 --> 0:24:03.280 I said, son, that is the scariest thing I've ever 0:24:03.320 --> 0:24:07.960 seen in a movie. You don't understand now, but you 0:24:08.080 --> 0:24:11.840 will that the thought that this is gonna go on 0:24:12.000 --> 0:24:14.919 forever like this. I said, that sounds cool to you. 0:24:15.000 --> 0:24:15.520 Right now. 0:24:15.640 --> 0:24:19.679 You're seventeen. I'm forty four. Trust me, this is a 0:24:19.680 --> 0:24:24.520 horror movie. That was the scariest scene I've ever seen it. 0:24:24.600 --> 0:24:26.520 I've never seen anybody jump out the bushes. 0:24:26.560 --> 0:24:29.640 That was scarier. I've never seen a chainsaw that was scarier. 0:24:29.880 --> 0:24:32.720 The fact that I don't know how long I'm gonna 0:24:32.760 --> 0:24:38.720 be here. In fact, they've even done studies. They did 0:24:38.720 --> 0:24:41.280 a surgery on people and they told them, now. 0:24:41.200 --> 0:24:44.800 The surgery, after six months, the condition might be reversible. 0:24:45.280 --> 0:24:47.080 And then they did other people and they said it's 0:24:47.119 --> 0:24:47.800 not reversible. 0:24:47.840 --> 0:24:49.160 You're just gonna have to live with this. 0:24:49.920 --> 0:24:52.320 The people that they told in six months, will check 0:24:52.400 --> 0:24:53.639 and it might be reversible. 0:24:53.680 --> 0:24:56.120 You might get better, come back in six months. They 0:24:56.160 --> 0:25:00.240 were less happy. Then the people who were told it's 0:25:00.280 --> 0:25:01.719 this way forever get used to it. 0:25:02.800 --> 0:25:04.960 Because the people who were told this is how it's 0:25:05.000 --> 0:25:07.960 going to be, they began to adapt. 0:25:10.840 --> 0:25:11.920 And when they begin to. 0:25:12.000 --> 0:25:14.760 Adapt, they started to see that I can live with this. 0:25:15.800 --> 0:25:17.840 It's not what I wanted, but I can live with this. 0:25:18.800 --> 0:25:20.159 It's not what I asked for. 0:25:20.080 --> 0:25:22.639 But I can live with this. It's not what I 0:25:22.640 --> 0:25:24.639 would have chosen, but I can live with this. 0:25:25.560 --> 0:25:28.400 The people who were told it might be reversible, they 0:25:28.400 --> 0:25:32.280 were living in a suspended state of anticipation that. 0:25:32.240 --> 0:25:34.600 It might get better and it might not. 0:25:35.560 --> 0:25:38.240 And what was worse than the pain they were suffering 0:25:39.200 --> 0:25:42.639 was the deferred hope that it might get better. Because 0:25:42.640 --> 0:25:44.560 if you just tell me this is the way it's 0:25:44.600 --> 0:25:47.480 going to be, then I'll make arrangements around the way 0:25:47.520 --> 0:25:51.479 that it is. But to give me the possibility that 0:25:51.520 --> 0:25:54.800 it could change, but I'm not sure when or how 0:25:54.880 --> 0:26:00.000 it might is the most painful hope at all. 0:26:00.000 --> 0:26:02.159 I want to talk about the ache of faith for 0:26:02.240 --> 0:26:02.639 a moment. 0:26:04.680 --> 0:26:07.080 I want to talk about when you know there's something 0:26:07.160 --> 0:26:09.800 more in you, but it can't express itself because of 0:26:09.840 --> 0:26:12.800 what's blocking you. I want to talk about when you 0:26:12.920 --> 0:26:15.600 know you have love to give but no one to 0:26:15.680 --> 0:26:18.160 trust to give it to. I want to talk about 0:26:18.200 --> 0:26:21.480 the ache of faith today when you know that God 0:26:21.520 --> 0:26:23.879 brought you through this for a reason, but you can't 0:26:23.880 --> 0:26:25.280 see what it is yet. 0:26:25.560 --> 0:26:29.800 Paul said, I'm torn right now. I'm aching in faith 0:26:29.880 --> 0:26:30.439 right now. 0:26:30.680 --> 0:26:32.560 A part of my heart wants to be with you, 0:26:33.119 --> 0:26:35.120 but a part of my heart says this is hard, 0:26:35.200 --> 0:26:36.520 and I don't know. 0:26:37.040 --> 0:26:39.359 Which one is better. 0:26:41.080 --> 0:26:44.639 On one hand, he says, I think it's better to 0:26:44.680 --> 0:26:48.480 be with Christ. In fact, he says something interesting in 0:26:48.480 --> 0:26:53.160 twenty three. I desire to depart. I want to get 0:26:53.160 --> 0:26:57.040 out of this. It's better by far. 0:27:02.320 --> 0:27:06.080 But let's go. 0:27:06.240 --> 0:27:09.600 Real slow, so everybody can apply this in their life 0:27:09.600 --> 0:27:10.199 how they need to. 0:27:11.320 --> 0:27:14.000 It would be better for me if go back to 0:27:14.040 --> 0:27:15.560 verse twenty three. 0:27:15.680 --> 0:27:18.520 And I'm torn about it, and I think it would 0:27:18.520 --> 0:27:21.120 be better for me if by far. 0:27:22.480 --> 0:27:26.800 But okay, so notice what he's doing. 0:27:27.880 --> 0:27:31.159 He's setting it up that my preference would be that 0:27:31.280 --> 0:27:33.960 I go to Jesus now and get my reward. And 0:27:34.000 --> 0:27:36.159 I'm not saying anybody in here just wants to die. 0:27:36.240 --> 0:27:38.760 I'm just setting that up as a metaphor. I would 0:27:38.840 --> 0:27:44.159 like for this to be over, but I would like 0:27:44.240 --> 0:27:50.840 for this to end. But twenty four it is more 0:27:50.920 --> 0:27:54.399 necessary for you that I remain in the body. 0:27:55.520 --> 0:27:56.080 Twenty five. 0:27:57.680 --> 0:28:00.719 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and 0:28:00.760 --> 0:28:03.240 we'll continue with all of you for your progress and 0:28:03.320 --> 0:28:05.400 joy in the faith. I want to do the whole 0:28:05.440 --> 0:28:06.720 sweeping thing again. 0:28:06.760 --> 0:28:07.720 From twenty three on. 0:28:08.359 --> 0:28:11.840 I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is 0:28:12.040 --> 0:28:16.359 better by far. So there is something drawing Paul. He says, 0:28:16.520 --> 0:28:19.200 to live is Christ, to die is gain. I could 0:28:19.200 --> 0:28:21.399 just go to heaven. That would be easier for me. 0:28:22.520 --> 0:28:26.919 It would be easier for me twenty four. But you 0:28:27.080 --> 0:28:32.560 need me, and this would be easier, but this would 0:28:32.560 --> 0:28:39.160 be needed, and I'm torn. It would be easier for 0:28:39.280 --> 0:28:41.720 me just to let go and surrender and ask God 0:28:41.760 --> 0:28:45.719 to take me now. But you need me here, and 0:28:45.800 --> 0:28:49.000 because you need me, I'm gonna let go of what 0:28:49.080 --> 0:28:53.480 would be easy, And Paul says, I'm gonna let my 0:28:53.600 --> 0:28:59.400 purpose pull me. Wow, come here, Graham, come here, Gavin 0:29:00.880 --> 0:29:03.000 Grahama on my left arm, right over here, all the 0:29:03.040 --> 0:29:04.960 way down the stairs, Gavin on my right arm. 0:29:05.080 --> 0:29:09.160 Real, gentle Gavin is going to be with God. 0:29:09.200 --> 0:29:11.440 Graham has stay here and help us pull me a 0:29:11.440 --> 0:29:11.840 little bit. 0:29:13.560 --> 0:29:19.800 I want, I want to be easier. You need me. 0:29:20.280 --> 0:29:23.320 And at some point during Paul's wrestling match, because what 0:29:23.400 --> 0:29:25.480 he's doing here is modeling for you what to do 0:29:25.760 --> 0:29:27.840 when you are caught in a space where you don't 0:29:27.880 --> 0:29:32.200 have clarity but you need courage, where you don't know 0:29:32.240 --> 0:29:35.280 how to handle this, but you need his help and 0:29:35.320 --> 0:29:37.720 you can't really figure out what to set in front 0:29:37.760 --> 0:29:40.080 of you. For some of you, you don't even know 0:29:40.120 --> 0:29:43.800 what to look forward too, so it is difficult to 0:29:43.960 --> 0:29:48.240 attach faith to a future that you can't even articulate. 0:29:48.840 --> 0:29:50.960 So you don't even really know what you're asking God 0:29:51.000 --> 0:29:53.440 to do. And it would be easier just for you 0:29:53.520 --> 0:29:56.880 to give up, but the need started pulling out. Graham 0:29:56.880 --> 0:29:59.240 pulled me like you're stronger than Gavin. And at some 0:29:59.360 --> 0:30:05.440 point the need keep going. The need became strong enough 0:30:06.400 --> 0:30:11.280 to release Paul from what he wanted so that he 0:30:11.280 --> 0:30:16.200 could respond to what was needed. I am teaching the Bible. 0:30:16.360 --> 0:30:20.160 I guess my last day in Valentine. 0:30:20.840 --> 0:30:21.760 You see what I'm doing. 0:30:23.080 --> 0:30:27.360 I'm pulled by purpose. So watch this come here. One 0:30:27.400 --> 0:30:28.240 thing is pulling me. 0:30:28.520 --> 0:30:30.400 To give up. Oh, it'll be easier to go up 0:30:30.440 --> 0:30:33.320 to heaven in the suite. 0:30:32.920 --> 0:30:37.120 By and by fly away, Oh glory. 0:30:37.160 --> 0:30:38.920 But just by the time he's ready to fly away, 0:30:39.880 --> 0:30:40.920 something's pulling him back. 0:30:41.800 --> 0:30:44.440 And he said, this would be easy, but this is 0:30:44.440 --> 0:30:48.040 what you need. And so at some point, Christians, we 0:30:48.120 --> 0:30:51.479 got to decide. Are we just going to be driven 0:30:51.560 --> 0:30:53.160 by decisions of what's easy. 0:30:54.160 --> 0:30:56.360 Are we going to be pulled by purpose into what 0:30:56.520 --> 0:30:57.440 is necessary? 0:30:58.560 --> 0:31:01.760 And I came to let you know that there is 0:31:01.800 --> 0:31:04.080 a necessary next in your life. 0:31:05.000 --> 0:31:08.480 Help me Hamm in Oregon. There is a necessary next 0:31:09.440 --> 0:31:12.400 if the brook dried up, there's a widow in Zarapat 0:31:12.440 --> 0:31:13.720 down to her last. 0:31:13.480 --> 0:31:17.560 Meal, and God is positioning you in this season for 0:31:17.680 --> 0:31:21.720 a need you don't even know about yet. So it's 0:31:21.840 --> 0:31:25.040 very important right now that as we look at the 0:31:25.080 --> 0:31:27.240 example of Paul, which to me I told you was 0:31:27.280 --> 0:31:30.840 a picture, it's a picture of somebody being pulled. 0:31:31.320 --> 0:31:33.680 It's a picture of everybody. 0:31:33.120 --> 0:31:36.160 In this room who is being pulled the easy thing 0:31:36.480 --> 0:31:41.000 and the needed thing, the easy thing and the needed thing, 0:31:42.360 --> 0:31:44.000 the thing that you want. 0:31:45.320 --> 0:31:46.560 Let's see. 0:31:46.800 --> 0:31:55.760 Sometimes when you get old, you get far sighted. You 0:31:55.840 --> 0:31:59.760 get far sighted. Holly, start looking me funny. 0:31:59.760 --> 0:32:00.160 The other. 0:32:02.360 --> 0:32:04.200 We were in a restaurant and she was looking at me, funny. 0:32:05.120 --> 0:32:07.000 I was paying the bill and she was looking at me, funny, 0:32:07.840 --> 0:32:09.960 What are you looking at it? I thought she was 0:32:09.960 --> 0:32:13.720 looking because I tip bigger than her. I thought she 0:32:13.800 --> 0:32:17.120 was scrutinizing my tip percentage because y'all pray for her, 0:32:17.120 --> 0:32:22.920 because I'm generous. And I thought she was scrutinizing the bill. 0:32:23.680 --> 0:32:25.440 But then later that night she was looking at me funny. 0:32:25.440 --> 0:32:26.640 I was in bed reading the book and she was 0:32:26.680 --> 0:32:29.360 looking at me, funny. She was looking at me funny. 0:32:30.320 --> 0:32:33.040 And a few days later I came home and she said, 0:32:33.360 --> 0:32:36.120 I left something for you in the bedroom beside the bed. 0:32:36.160 --> 0:32:38.880 I'm like, oh, She's like, no, it's still something that 0:32:39.520 --> 0:32:54.120 I think you need. And that woman looked at me 0:32:56.280 --> 0:32:59.880 stone cold ice in her veins and said, it's time. 0:33:02.480 --> 0:33:03.840 I watched it at the restaurant. 0:33:06.040 --> 0:33:09.040 I'm not gonna sit there while you pull out your flashlight. 0:33:08.520 --> 0:33:10.680 For fifteen minutes trying to read is it a five 0:33:10.760 --> 0:33:14.560 or a seven? They keep it so dark in the restaurants. 0:33:14.880 --> 0:33:16.080 Can I preach about. 0:33:15.840 --> 0:33:24.000 How the devil is busy with the light dimming ministry. 0:33:22.240 --> 0:33:29.959 The Prince of darkness? She said, it's time. I said, no, No, 0:33:30.520 --> 0:33:31.280 I got more year. 0:33:31.480 --> 0:33:33.600 I can make the font seventy two, and I'll use 0:33:33.680 --> 0:33:34.880 my iPad when I preach. 0:33:35.320 --> 0:33:37.560 She said, no, you might want to use a paper bible. 0:33:37.560 --> 0:33:40.560 It's time. And you're far sighted. 0:33:41.880 --> 0:33:44.080 I said no, I'm actually close sighted or whatever the 0:33:44.120 --> 0:33:46.760 other one, because I can I can see it at 0:33:46.760 --> 0:33:48.360 this far. I just can't see it at it's close. 0:33:48.400 --> 0:33:52.840 She said, that's what far sighted means, means you can 0:33:52.880 --> 0:33:56.400 see far, not close. She said, there's another name she 0:33:56.440 --> 0:33:58.120 had done researched. She said, there's another name for it 0:33:58.160 --> 0:34:03.280 when you get over forty, it's called aging eyes. Soft 0:34:03.360 --> 0:34:07.600 way to say getting old, aging eyes, aging eyes. There 0:34:07.640 --> 0:34:10.080 was even some Greek words she used for I don't 0:34:10.120 --> 0:34:13.720 even remember. It had presby something in it. Somebody can 0:34:13.760 --> 0:34:17.319 Optimologists can send us a text about this message and 0:34:17.360 --> 0:34:18.799 correct everything I'm saying this wrong. 0:34:20.440 --> 0:34:23.239 But she said, it's time. Y'all can't even take me 0:34:23.280 --> 0:34:24.840 seriously with those own things. 0:34:25.440 --> 0:34:28.840 You're gonna have to get used to it, because I 0:34:28.880 --> 0:34:32.799 need to see what's right in front of me in 0:34:32.880 --> 0:34:37.239 this season, and I'm afraid that if I can only 0:34:37.280 --> 0:34:42.759 see what's far away. Paul said, I want to be 0:34:42.800 --> 0:34:46.080 in heaven with Jesus. But God said that's too far. Paul. 0:34:47.480 --> 0:34:52.080 One day, one day, I'll give you a well done, 0:34:52.200 --> 0:34:52.680 but not to. 0:34:52.760 --> 0:34:57.719 Day, because I still got stuff. 0:34:57.440 --> 0:34:59.960 For you to do that's right in front of you. 0:35:00.760 --> 0:35:05.359 And convinced of this process, I decided that I'm going 0:35:05.400 --> 0:35:08.680 to make what's right in front of me that I 0:35:08.680 --> 0:35:12.160 could miss if I was too far sighted my focus. 0:35:14.239 --> 0:35:17.600 So the word of the Lord is whatever is right 0:35:17.719 --> 0:35:20.360 in front of you that God has given you to do. 0:35:21.360 --> 0:35:25.480 That is your focus in this season, and all you 0:35:25.600 --> 0:35:27.680 have to do with the parts you don't know about 0:35:27.719 --> 0:35:30.560 God's plan for your life, because you know Jeremiah twenty 0:35:30.600 --> 0:35:32.799 nine to eleven is a wonderful scripture, for I know 0:35:32.960 --> 0:35:36.360 the plans I have for you, plans to prosser you, 0:35:36.920 --> 0:35:38.680 not the harm you plans to give you hope in 0:35:38.680 --> 0:35:42.040 a future that was spoken to prepare them for their 0:35:42.080 --> 0:35:47.600 captivity in Babylon, which would last seventy years. And he said, 0:35:47.640 --> 0:35:50.920 in the meantime, while you're in Babylon, you need these 0:35:52.400 --> 0:35:55.120 because while you are waiting for the future that you 0:35:55.239 --> 0:35:57.680 believe God has for you, I don't want you to 0:35:57.719 --> 0:36:03.840 get far sighted and miss what's right in front of you. 0:36:03.880 --> 0:36:05.719 Put it in the comments. I don't want to miss it. 0:36:06.640 --> 0:36:09.440 Tell your neighbor, I don't want to miss it. And 0:36:09.480 --> 0:36:12.040 sometimes the reason I miss it is because it's right 0:36:12.040 --> 0:36:13.080 here and I'm looking. 0:36:12.800 --> 0:36:13.600 Out there now. 0:36:13.640 --> 0:36:17.400 This is for all of the worriers that call themselves planners. 0:36:19.120 --> 0:36:21.480 You do know that every time God gives a gift, 0:36:21.520 --> 0:36:22.800 the enemy attacks. 0:36:22.440 --> 0:36:23.360 It with a perversion. 0:36:24.560 --> 0:36:29.200 Planning is God's gift to you. Worry is the perversion 0:36:29.360 --> 0:36:33.080 of God's gift called planning, And people who are good 0:36:33.120 --> 0:36:34.160 at planning. 0:36:33.760 --> 0:36:36.080 Are also world class warriors. 0:36:36.880 --> 0:36:40.240 So worrying is watch this when I don't have clarity 0:36:40.280 --> 0:36:42.319 about the situation because. 0:36:42.040 --> 0:36:43.080 I'm looking so far. 0:36:43.120 --> 0:36:45.400 And I'll illustrate this one other way because I'm passionate 0:36:45.400 --> 0:36:47.400 that you get the picture. Because I don't want to 0:36:47.440 --> 0:36:49.880 just preach these messages. And when they say Tuesday, do. 0:36:49.920 --> 0:36:50.640 You go to church? Yeah? 0:36:50.640 --> 0:36:54.799 What he preaches by own God. I want you to 0:36:54.880 --> 0:36:57.839 have something that you can remember. And what I see 0:36:57.880 --> 0:37:03.200 you doing is this going forward? Right, God direct my past. 0:37:03.600 --> 0:37:07.360 But you are looking so far. I promise you I 0:37:07.360 --> 0:37:10.719 will not take one more step. Get a white shot 0:37:10.760 --> 0:37:12.719 so they can see what I'm saying, y'all. I will 0:37:12.760 --> 0:37:16.160 not take one more step. It's too risky for. 0:37:16.160 --> 0:37:18.839 Me to go forward looking that far. 0:37:21.320 --> 0:37:25.440 I mean, maybe I could do it. 0:37:23.960 --> 0:37:25.200 It's way, it's way. 0:37:25.320 --> 0:37:29.520 Remember I'm forty four. It's way too risky for me 0:37:29.600 --> 0:37:34.560 to take that step. If I'm gonna go forward, that's 0:37:34.560 --> 0:37:39.279 what I'm gonna look at next. Now, somebody who wants 0:37:39.320 --> 0:37:40.359 me to come up there and give them a hug, 0:37:40.400 --> 0:37:42.239 wave at me real quick. Okay, I'm coming for you 0:37:42.280 --> 0:37:43.640 in the back row right there. I see who I'm 0:37:43.640 --> 0:37:45.800 coming to. Everybod else, put your hand out I'm coming. 0:37:45.600 --> 0:37:49.400 All the way to you. That's my future. But I 0:37:49.440 --> 0:37:51.399 am not coming to. 0:37:51.360 --> 0:37:53.200 Give you that hug, which I'm going to give you 0:37:53.360 --> 0:37:55.040 in just a few moments. 0:37:55.719 --> 0:37:58.520 I am not I'm gonna come that far. I'm gonna 0:37:58.520 --> 0:38:00.839 I'm gonna. I'm gonna come toward you. That is the. 0:38:00.800 --> 0:38:04.319 Future, But I am not going to look that far, 0:38:06.360 --> 0:38:06.960 because if. 0:38:06.800 --> 0:38:08.440 I look that far, I'll fall. 0:38:12.920 --> 0:38:18.040 That's the definition of anxiety. That's why Peter didn't make 0:38:18.080 --> 0:38:21.200 it all the way to Jesus, because he saw. 0:38:20.960 --> 0:38:24.000 The wind in the waves. And when you look too far, 0:38:24.560 --> 0:38:25.200 you fall. 0:38:25.960 --> 0:38:29.480 But if you take this next step by faith and 0:38:29.719 --> 0:38:33.359 say to the devil, my purpose is pulling me. Now. 0:38:33.400 --> 0:38:36.160 This is the next sandwich I need to make. This 0:38:36.360 --> 0:38:38.200 is the next bill I need to pay. 0:38:38.719 --> 0:38:41.560 I'm not gonna think about the other eighteen thousand dollars 0:38:41.560 --> 0:38:46.160 in debt right now. This bill, this baby step, this 0:38:46.360 --> 0:38:52.080 phone call, this workout, this breath disappointment, this phone call, 0:38:52.560 --> 0:38:56.640 this day, this hour, this minute. And I'll tell you 0:38:56.680 --> 0:39:01.640 what I found out that the word of God I'm coming, Sis, 0:39:01.719 --> 0:39:04.560 I'm coming. I found out give me my camera before 0:39:04.600 --> 0:39:06.480 I come, that the word. 0:39:06.320 --> 0:39:09.200 Of God is like headlights on a car. 0:39:10.680 --> 0:39:12.839 When you're driving at night, you can only see as 0:39:12.880 --> 0:39:15.960 far as your head lights, but you can make the 0:39:16.000 --> 0:39:23.759 whole trip that way three feet at a time. I 0:39:23.880 --> 0:39:28.120 promise you, I'm gonna look here while I'm walking there, 0:39:29.040 --> 0:39:32.400 And this, to me is the balancing act of great faith. 0:39:35.000 --> 0:39:39.160 Look forward, but not far. Look forward now, No, watch, 0:39:39.160 --> 0:39:43.360 I'm not gonna do this. I'm definitely not gonna do that. 0:39:43.400 --> 0:39:44.279 I got that much down. 0:39:45.400 --> 0:39:47.279 But if the enemy can't get you to look back 0:39:47.320 --> 0:39:50.120 on your past, he will try to get you to 0:39:50.200 --> 0:39:52.320 go so far into your future. 0:39:55.400 --> 0:39:57.759 Okay, what's u that? 0:40:00.239 --> 0:40:02.480 It is just as dangerous for me to look at 0:40:02.520 --> 0:40:04.799 where I'm going all the way up there as it 0:40:04.840 --> 0:40:09.080 is for me to look back at where I came from. 0:40:09.120 --> 0:40:13.160 So it's dangerous not to look forward. It's dangerous not 0:40:13.160 --> 0:40:15.000 to have anything to look forward to. It's dangerous for 0:40:15.040 --> 0:40:16.600 you not to have a plan for this year of 0:40:16.640 --> 0:40:18.440 your life. It's dangerous for you to not have structure 0:40:18.440 --> 0:40:20.360 around your day. It's dangerous for you to not have 0:40:20.360 --> 0:40:21.920 a budget. It's dangerous for you to not have an 0:40:21.920 --> 0:40:23.880 eating plan. It's dangerous for you not have a Bible 0:40:23.880 --> 0:40:26.440 reading plan, because you will need a plan to produce 0:40:26.480 --> 0:40:30.719 what you're called to produce. It's dangerous not. 0:40:30.760 --> 0:40:31.480 To look forward. 0:40:32.800 --> 0:40:36.279 It is just as dangerous to look too far forward, 0:40:38.000 --> 0:40:40.120 to try to control things that only God can control. 0:40:42.239 --> 0:40:44.360 To start thinking about the product while you're still in 0:40:44.400 --> 0:40:45.400 the process. 0:40:44.960 --> 0:40:45.560 Of making it. 0:40:47.080 --> 0:40:49.239 You don't know what it's going to be. And if 0:40:49.280 --> 0:40:52.080 you look too far and go, Okay, I'm going. 0:40:52.000 --> 0:40:54.120 To be sober the rest of my life. 0:40:54.400 --> 0:40:59.320 Too far, too far. That can be where you're headed, 0:41:01.040 --> 0:41:04.000 that can be where you're going. But what I want 0:41:04.000 --> 0:41:07.719 you focused on right now is that the presence of 0:41:07.760 --> 0:41:09.440 God is enough to keep me out. 0:41:09.320 --> 0:41:13.920 Of these chains. Today. I'm not drinking it today. 0:41:14.680 --> 0:41:19.000 I'm not doing it today. 0:41:20.560 --> 0:41:25.040 I'm never eating sugar again. That's too far. Don't eat 0:41:25.040 --> 0:41:27.319 it this week? Can we do this week? 0:41:27.320 --> 0:41:27.440 Who? 0:41:27.880 --> 0:41:30.120 Big old jump? Just like that? Can we do it 0:41:30.160 --> 0:41:35.440 for a week? And in this way, your faith is 0:41:35.480 --> 0:41:40.000 like headlights? Paul said in verse twenty. I eagerly expect 0:41:40.239 --> 0:41:44.840 you're taking my video. You could do it. I a 0:41:44.960 --> 0:41:47.960 preached this just to you. Paul used the term that 0:41:48.080 --> 0:41:49.360 you can tell them it too. I want you to 0:41:49.360 --> 0:41:52.359 remember it. Oh, this is amazing. You're getting a hug 0:41:52.360 --> 0:41:59.440 on the way to the hug. Ooh, that's awesome. You 0:41:59.440 --> 0:42:02.279 don't even know what you just did for me. You 0:42:02.400 --> 0:42:03.080 preached the sermon. 0:42:03.160 --> 0:42:04.520 You see how much that meant to him that I 0:42:04.560 --> 0:42:07.680 hugged him. You see how much that meant that didn't 0:42:07.680 --> 0:42:10.319 even what I came up here to do. What if 0:42:10.360 --> 0:42:12.200 God wants to use you on the way to where 0:42:12.239 --> 0:42:14.040 you think you're going in a greater way than you 0:42:14.040 --> 0:42:15.719 could ever be used when you get there. 0:42:23.120 --> 0:42:24.680 What if I had been far sighted? 0:42:27.040 --> 0:42:30.280 What if I couldn't see where I was supposed to stop? 0:42:31.960 --> 0:42:39.120 You? Like the glasses, I feel dignified with these. I 0:42:39.160 --> 0:42:40.520 feel theological with these. 0:42:42.200 --> 0:42:44.000 I feel like I need God to hand me these 0:42:45.000 --> 0:42:46.680 for the times of my life when I can't see 0:42:46.680 --> 0:42:49.200 what's right in front of me. 0:42:52.560 --> 0:42:59.919 Soap here this is not back forward, but not far 0:43:01.280 --> 0:43:03.080 What is there along the way that God wants to 0:43:03.080 --> 0:43:04.759 show you? What is there along the way that God 0:43:04.760 --> 0:43:09.320 wants to do? Paul was so good at glasses. 0:43:10.440 --> 0:43:12.160 He looked and saw, Oh, these chains that are on 0:43:12.160 --> 0:43:13.799 my wrists are going to be a testimony so that 0:43:13.840 --> 0:43:15.360 the guards can get saved. Because I want to have 0:43:15.360 --> 0:43:17.000 a bigger church when I leave this prison. Then I 0:43:17.000 --> 0:43:20.239 did cool. I'm going to have a prison campus That's 0:43:20.239 --> 0:43:23.560 how Paul thought about it. That's what happens when God 0:43:23.560 --> 0:43:25.480 gives you a glasses. God give me the glasses this 0:43:25.520 --> 0:43:27.840 week to see what's right in front of me. And 0:43:27.840 --> 0:43:31.959 then along the way, I see some things. I learned 0:43:31.960 --> 0:43:32.319 some things. 0:43:32.320 --> 0:43:35.279 We'll have some moments, but I'm gonna get there. 0:43:36.960 --> 0:43:40.960 I'm gonna do what I promised to do, what I 0:43:40.960 --> 0:43:44.560 set out to do. And I'm hug the one that 0:43:44.719 --> 0:43:45.120 I thought. 0:43:46.120 --> 0:43:50.479 God bless you, God bless you. You're like my. 0:43:55.239 --> 0:44:00.640 Holly, gave me this set his time, at his time, 0:44:01.080 --> 0:44:04.879 and God wants to give you these because you are 0:44:04.920 --> 0:44:09.040 missing what's right in front of you. I have one 0:44:09.040 --> 0:44:11.239 more thing I want to show you. Are you full? 0:44:11.320 --> 0:44:14.000 I can save it until next week, or I can 0:44:14.000 --> 0:44:16.239 bring the whole thing and break it down right now 0:44:16.239 --> 0:44:21.640 in case you don't feel bad. You know, I can't 0:44:21.640 --> 0:44:23.719 trust you to come back every week. I got to 0:44:23.760 --> 0:44:24.839 give it to you while you're here. 0:44:27.239 --> 0:44:27.399 Now. 0:44:27.440 --> 0:44:29.360 Listen as I make my way back down, Notice what 0:44:29.360 --> 0:44:35.720 I'm doing. I'm going far. I'm not looking far right. 0:44:36.040 --> 0:44:37.960 I'm going far, but I'm not looking far. 0:44:38.800 --> 0:44:39.680 That's what God. 0:44:39.480 --> 0:44:43.200 Wants you to see. I eagerly expect and hope Verse twenty. 0:44:43.440 --> 0:44:46.160 It's a Greek word that Paul used, not for glasses. 0:44:46.200 --> 0:44:49.440 But he makes this word apple carudokia, or any of 0:44:49.440 --> 0:44:51.120 you in the church the first year that I preached 0:44:51.200 --> 0:44:52.800 that apple carldokia. 0:44:53.239 --> 0:44:57.560 It means to stretch the head forward, apple carudokia. 0:44:57.960 --> 0:45:00.120 When he says, I eagerly expect and hope that I 0:45:00.120 --> 0:45:01.960 will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient 0:45:01.960 --> 0:45:04.400 courage so that whatever happens, Christ will be exalted in 0:45:04.440 --> 0:45:07.800 my body, he says, apple carldoki. He says, I stretch 0:45:07.920 --> 0:45:13.520 my head forward, but not far, because I'm in chains 0:45:13.560 --> 0:45:20.480 right now, forward, not far, little steps, little things, little 0:45:20.520 --> 0:45:26.960 moments forward, but not far. And not to make this negative, 0:45:28.239 --> 0:45:32.320 but I want to give you the antithesis of Paul's perspective. 0:45:32.719 --> 0:45:33.640 Late to so much. 0:45:35.080 --> 0:45:37.080 See, when the children of Israel had the opportunity to 0:45:37.200 --> 0:45:39.759 enter the Promised Land under the leadership of Moses, they 0:45:39.800 --> 0:45:43.759 forfeited that. They forfeited that it was theirs, and they 0:45:43.800 --> 0:45:47.120 forfeited that it was what God wanted them to have, 0:45:47.320 --> 0:45:51.279 and they forfeited that. So the account is pretty well known, 0:45:51.320 --> 0:45:53.239 but I don't know that the details have ever really 0:45:53.280 --> 0:45:57.359 been looked at up close. When the spies that went 0:45:57.400 --> 0:45:59.080 to check out the land where they would have to 0:45:59.080 --> 0:46:01.560 fight the battles to win the promise. 0:46:01.840 --> 0:46:03.520 You have to fight the battles to win the promise. 0:46:04.000 --> 0:46:05.640 You have to fight the battles to win the promise. 0:46:06.520 --> 0:46:09.640 And when they came back and said, you know, it's 0:46:09.640 --> 0:46:13.040 pretty amazing in there in numbers, chapter thirteen, go ahead 0:46:13.040 --> 0:46:15.560 and put that scripture on the screen, please, They gave 0:46:15.640 --> 0:46:16.640 Moses this account. 0:46:16.800 --> 0:46:20.279 We went into the land to which you sent us, and. 0:46:20.600 --> 0:46:22.640 I'm gonna stop on the sentence for a moment. It 0:46:22.719 --> 0:46:26.040 does flow with milk and honey. Here is its fruit? 0:46:26.760 --> 0:46:27.640 Where is its fruit? 0:46:28.239 --> 0:46:28.479 Here? 0:46:29.000 --> 0:46:31.200 They brought it back on a pole. Two of them 0:46:31.239 --> 0:46:34.480 carried the fruit of Canaan. These people had never eaten 0:46:34.560 --> 0:46:35.440 the fruit of the land. 0:46:36.120 --> 0:46:37.719 Many of them had only. 0:46:37.480 --> 0:46:41.360 Existed in Egypt, and so they had never had this kind. 0:46:41.160 --> 0:46:42.160 Of fruit before. 0:46:42.800 --> 0:46:45.560 Well, just about the time that they're looking at the 0:46:45.600 --> 0:46:48.880 fruit and seeing a picture, catch this phrase of what 0:46:48.920 --> 0:46:55.040 their tomorrow could taste like, what they're tomorrow could taste like. 0:46:55.239 --> 0:46:57.239 Sometimes God will give you a taste of what your 0:46:57.280 --> 0:47:00.839 tomorrow could be like, what it could be like if 0:47:00.840 --> 0:47:02.680 you were open and free of what it could be like, 0:47:02.719 --> 0:47:04.719 if you were focused and not distracted of what it 0:47:04.760 --> 0:47:08.080 could be like if you were a servant, rather than 0:47:08.120 --> 0:47:12.080 seeing yourself as a continual chaser of status. God will 0:47:12.120 --> 0:47:16.240 give you a glimpse and a taste of what tomorrow 0:47:16.280 --> 0:47:16.759 could be like. 0:47:16.800 --> 0:47:17.640 Here is it's. 0:47:17.480 --> 0:47:23.719 Fruit, But the people who live there are powerful and 0:47:24.440 --> 0:47:27.200 are fortified and very large. 0:47:27.440 --> 0:47:28.520 We even saw. 0:47:29.840 --> 0:47:33.480 Descendants of anak there. Go back to verse twenty seven. 0:47:34.000 --> 0:47:39.800 Here is its fruit. It's fruitful, it's beautiful, it's amazing. 0:47:39.840 --> 0:47:42.440 We saw it with our own eyes. It's fruitful and 0:47:42.520 --> 0:47:47.200 it flows. But watch this verse twenty eight. It's fortified 0:47:48.560 --> 0:47:49.640 and we're going to have to fight. 0:47:50.920 --> 0:47:51.160 Now. 0:47:51.360 --> 0:47:55.920 Fortified means that it's protected. Some of you will remember 0:47:55.920 --> 0:48:00.680 that the first city that they thought was Jericho. Significance 0:48:00.680 --> 0:48:02.880 about Jericho was not the size of the city. 0:48:02.920 --> 0:48:04.240 It was the height of the walls. 0:48:05.560 --> 0:48:08.239 So when they said it's fortified, they said, it's got 0:48:08.280 --> 0:48:14.560 really big walls. Right, it's fortified. It's fruitful, but it's fortified. 0:48:15.360 --> 0:48:18.600 Now here comes the decision. Paul said, what shall I choose? 0:48:18.960 --> 0:48:21.759 One is pulling me toward purpose, one is pulling me 0:48:21.840 --> 0:48:24.360 toward what is easy. I'm gonna go with the purpose 0:48:24.400 --> 0:48:27.120 of God in this season of my life, Apple Caradoki, 0:48:27.160 --> 0:48:30.440 I'm stretching my head forward, and that. 0:48:30.880 --> 0:48:33.680 Just the moment that the people of God could have 0:48:33.760 --> 0:48:37.160 gone forward, they got far sighted. 0:48:39.200 --> 0:48:41.400 They started thinking about who they were gonna have to 0:48:41.520 --> 0:48:43.879 fight when they got there. 0:48:45.080 --> 0:48:46.680 But here's the bad thing about. 0:48:46.480 --> 0:48:49.600 Forecasting a fight before you are even on site to 0:48:49.640 --> 0:48:53.400 fight it. You don't realize that God is going to 0:48:53.440 --> 0:49:01.080 give you the backup when you show up. You don't 0:49:01.120 --> 0:49:04.359 know the future that when you look at those fortified 0:49:04.480 --> 0:49:08.280 Jericho walls, those hard things in your life, those tall things, 0:49:08.280 --> 0:49:11.080 those strongholds in your life, you don't realize that as 0:49:11.120 --> 0:49:14.239 you think about them in the future, they are fortified. 0:49:14.600 --> 0:49:17.719 But when you get there, God's gonna give you a 0:49:17.760 --> 0:49:22.880 trumpet to blow, and when you blow that trumpet, something 0:49:23.120 --> 0:49:27.279 supernatural is going to happen that only God could do. 0:49:27.440 --> 0:49:28.319 You couldn't do it. 0:49:28.840 --> 0:49:32.880 I like shaking my glasses at you feel like a 0:49:33.040 --> 0:49:37.959 wise old man full of passion and insight, because when 0:49:37.960 --> 0:49:40.799 you get there you will have to strength for there. 0:49:43.280 --> 0:49:47.560 You've got to go forward, but not too far. You 0:49:47.640 --> 0:49:49.680 gotta go forward and don't start thinking about what is 0:49:49.719 --> 0:49:51.640 this gonna be in three years? What is it gonna 0:49:51.640 --> 0:49:54.279 be at three minutes. When we first start tech. 0:49:54.200 --> 0:49:55.719 I don't know if you remember this trunk, but people 0:49:55.800 --> 0:49:58.480 used to always meet with us. The church grew so fast, right, 0:49:58.800 --> 0:50:00.920 and we would meet with people. And at the time, 0:50:01.160 --> 0:50:03.960 most of people coming to the church were teenagers and 0:50:04.000 --> 0:50:07.480 their parents. There was no in betweens. And I figured 0:50:07.480 --> 0:50:09.560 out what happened. The teenagers came, they thought it was cool. 0:50:09.840 --> 0:50:11.680 The parents came to see if it was a cult, 0:50:13.280 --> 0:50:15.799 and that exactly what happened. And we just grew both 0:50:15.840 --> 0:50:18.600 ways there and then the parents came there like not 0:50:18.640 --> 0:50:20.839 a cult, but it is pretty cool, you know. And 0:50:20.920 --> 0:50:23.640 everybody stayed and we preached Christ and God did amazing miracles. 0:50:23.640 --> 0:50:25.360 But when we sat down for the first time to 0:50:25.360 --> 0:50:28.200 meet with many of the couples that were coming, they 0:50:28.200 --> 0:50:29.719 would ask a question, and I think three in a 0:50:29.800 --> 0:50:30.239 row asked this. 0:50:30.360 --> 0:50:32.000 They said, well, what's the plan. 0:50:31.840 --> 0:50:35.280 For Elevation Church if you get hit by a bus pastor? 0:50:37.120 --> 0:50:38.440 And when the first person asked it, I was like, 0:50:38.520 --> 0:50:41.040 oh no, Second person asked them like, I don't know, 0:50:41.880 --> 0:50:43.799 third person asked them like, do you know something about 0:50:43.840 --> 0:50:45.120 a bus driver that is there? 0:50:46.760 --> 0:50:48.840 I mean bus phobia. 0:50:49.560 --> 0:50:51.480 Still kind of cringe when I see a bus kids 0:50:51.480 --> 0:50:56.560 just traumatizing. What is the church going to do without you? 0:50:56.840 --> 0:50:59.920 They would ask, And I finally looked at the third ones. 0:51:00.040 --> 0:51:01.480 I don't even know what church gonna do with me. 0:51:02.920 --> 0:51:03.880 I never did this before. 0:51:04.920 --> 0:51:06.320 What happens if you get hit by the bus? What 0:51:06.360 --> 0:51:09.440 happens if I don't. I don't even know the second one. 0:51:09.440 --> 0:51:10.640 How could I know the first one? 0:51:12.200 --> 0:51:15.440 And I believe in a succession plan, and I believe 0:51:15.480 --> 0:51:19.759 in contingencies, and I believe in plan beasts. But I 0:51:19.760 --> 0:51:27.080 also believe that you need to trust God, that you 0:51:27.120 --> 0:51:32.840 need to trust God, trust him so you don't trip. 0:51:36.280 --> 0:51:39.719 Trust him, so you don't trip trust him. 0:51:39.800 --> 0:51:42.760 Right now, Paul says, so that now as always, Christ 0:51:42.800 --> 0:51:45.120 will be exalted in my body. So there are two 0:51:45.160 --> 0:51:48.040 groups of people in here. The first one is like 0:51:48.080 --> 0:51:52.120 the Israelites and when they thought about what was ahead 0:51:52.160 --> 0:51:53.640 of them in the fight and the expense of it. 0:51:53.680 --> 0:51:55.919 And those of us who live in states of mind 0:51:55.920 --> 0:51:58.040 that are always forecasting the fights in the future. This 0:51:58.080 --> 0:52:01.640 is what happens in Fen of Exodus. I think this 0:52:01.719 --> 0:52:03.520 is one of the or in numbers. This is one 0:52:03.520 --> 0:52:06.000 of the saddest scriptures that you will ever see. The 0:52:06.040 --> 0:52:08.200 people of God who were poised in promise to be 0:52:08.239 --> 0:52:11.840 possessors of the land. They start questioning, God, why is 0:52:11.880 --> 0:52:14.040 the Lord bringing us to this land only to let 0:52:14.120 --> 0:52:17.399 us fall by the sword our wives and children will 0:52:17.400 --> 0:52:19.960 be taking as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us 0:52:19.960 --> 0:52:25.360 to go back to Egypt? And you can't go forward 0:52:25.400 --> 0:52:29.520 looking back like that, and you can't go forward trying 0:52:29.520 --> 0:52:31.759 to forecast what's going to happen with a wall that 0:52:31.800 --> 0:52:33.480 God is going to knock down that you don't even 0:52:33.520 --> 0:52:34.239 know about yet. 0:52:36.040 --> 0:52:38.520 Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt? 0:52:38.560 --> 0:52:41.759 First four? And they said to each other, we should 0:52:42.160 --> 0:52:47.680 choose a leader and go back to Egypt. Paul does 0:52:47.880 --> 0:52:52.160 just the opposite. In the moment of uncertainty. He says, 0:52:52.440 --> 0:52:54.320 I'm not going back anywhere. 0:52:54.880 --> 0:52:58.719 I'm going forward, and I'm going to focus on what's 0:52:58.880 --> 0:53:01.879 right in front of me at this moment, and I'm 0:53:01.960 --> 0:53:05.200 letting go of what I can't control. Is this your word, man, 0:53:05.560 --> 0:53:08.160 because there is somebody in here who is being. 0:53:08.040 --> 0:53:14.279 Pulled back, dragged back, pimpted back, distracted back. And the 0:53:14.320 --> 0:53:18.799 word of the Lord is forward, not far, not far. 0:53:19.840 --> 0:53:22.480 This is going to be a step by step miracle. 0:53:22.760 --> 0:53:25.240 This is going to be a breath by breath miracle. 0:53:25.480 --> 0:53:28.080 This is going to be a day by day, moment 0:53:28.200 --> 0:53:33.200 by moment miracle. And God is doing it in your life. 0:53:33.600 --> 0:53:36.720 Just so long as you know that you can stretch 0:53:36.760 --> 0:53:41.680 your head forward in faith. You can only see three feet, 0:53:42.280 --> 0:53:46.839 but you can make the whole trip that way. And 0:53:46.880 --> 0:53:50.840 by the way, Holly, they were one hundred and fifty 0:53:50.880 --> 0:53:56.839 miles from Egypt, only fifty miles from Canaan. It would 0:53:56.840 --> 0:53:59.200 have been closer for them to keep going forward than 0:53:59.200 --> 0:54:03.080 it would to go back. I came to tell somebody, 0:54:03.280 --> 0:54:04.799 You're closer than you think you are. 0:54:05.200 --> 0:54:09.880 You cannot go back now. No, No, listen to me. 0:54:10.120 --> 0:54:12.960 You have come too far, you hear me. 0:54:13.320 --> 0:54:18.399 You have come too far to forfeit this. After all 0:54:18.440 --> 0:54:23.359 that He's done, after all that you've seen, after all 0:54:23.440 --> 0:54:24.880 that he brought you through. 0:54:25.400 --> 0:54:28.239 Don't you want to run on and see what the. 0:54:28.440 --> 0:54:29.640 End is going to be? 0:54:31.080 --> 0:54:40.800 Somebody say, I will go. I sall go, and Father, 0:54:40.920 --> 0:54:45.080 I thank you for your prevailing word. All flesh is 0:54:45.120 --> 0:54:48.080 like the grass of the field. It pales and it withers, 0:54:48.080 --> 0:54:50.040 and it fades and it dies. 0:54:50.120 --> 0:54:52.800 But the word of the Lord stands forever. 0:54:53.880 --> 0:54:57.080 God, I thank you for the great faith of the 0:54:57.120 --> 0:55:01.400 Apostle Paul, who gives us a picture today of what 0:55:01.480 --> 0:55:04.000 it means to be in a space that never would 0:55:04.080 --> 0:55:07.520 have been his choice. But I thank you Lord that 0:55:07.600 --> 0:55:10.839 he gave us a picture of what to do when 0:55:10.880 --> 0:55:14.960 the situation that is surrounding us does not correspond to 0:55:15.000 --> 0:55:17.080 the promise that is inside of us. 0:55:17.480 --> 0:55:18.960 I'm stretching forward. 0:55:20.120 --> 0:55:22.400 If all I can stretch forward is my head, I 0:55:22.480 --> 0:55:25.440 stretch my head forward. If all I can stretch forward 0:55:25.480 --> 0:55:29.280 is a weak prayer, I stretch that forward too, because 0:55:29.320 --> 0:55:33.359 I know that you did not bring me this far 0:55:34.280 --> 0:55:34.840 to leave me. 0:55:37.760 --> 0:55:39.360 I thank you God that you do have. 0:55:39.280 --> 0:55:46.440 Plans, a hope, a future for each and everyone that 0:55:46.480 --> 0:55:50.680 you sent me to minister to today. I thank you 0:55:50.680 --> 0:55:55.840 that this week they're going to get your glasses. I 0:55:55.920 --> 0:55:58.680 pray God this week that when parents are starting to 0:55:58.719 --> 0:56:02.319 worry too much, teenagers would hand them some glasses. I 0:56:02.400 --> 0:56:05.000 pray that when teenagers are starting to get too distracted 0:56:05.000 --> 0:56:06.640 by what's out in the front, that a parent will 0:56:06.640 --> 0:56:07.719 hand them some glasses. 0:56:08.840 --> 0:56:10.440 I pray that when we're all alone in. 0:56:10.400 --> 0:56:14.080 The secrecy of our own self sabotage and the thoughts. 0:56:13.800 --> 0:56:15.800 That we think that torment us. 0:56:16.360 --> 0:56:19.200 That you would give us your glasses so that we 0:56:19.200 --> 0:56:22.799 would go forward and realize that you are not far. 0:56:24.440 --> 0:56:27.600 Thank you for drawing near to us today. God, it's 0:56:27.640 --> 0:56:30.759 amazing how you meet with us. Thank you for the 0:56:30.760 --> 0:56:32.359 promise that when we draw near to you, you will 0:56:32.440 --> 0:56:34.160 draw near to us, and that if we humble ourself 0:56:34.560 --> 0:56:36.720 under your mighty hand, you'll lift us up in due time. 0:56:37.920 --> 0:56:41.000 I pray for each person today who is experiencing a 0:56:41.040 --> 0:56:44.920 prison sentence of sorts. I pray that they would not 0:56:46.280 --> 0:56:52.720 have clarity, but that they would trust in God. 0:56:54.520 --> 0:57:04.400 I pray that you would trust in God. I trust 0:57:04.440 --> 0:57:08.840 in God. Singing myself. 0:57:10.680 --> 0:57:21.880 Will never fail. That's my prayer for you. That's what 0:57:21.920 --> 0:57:24.400 Paul said, Trust God. 0:57:25.120 --> 0:57:30.880 Ye see, that's for me. In my house, we trust 0:57:30.920 --> 0:57:37.920 in God. We will serve the Lord. Serving win is cloudy. 0:57:40.480 --> 0:57:41.520 Serving Winn is tight. 0:57:42.680 --> 0:57:48.920 Trust in God serving winness confusing. My purpose is pulling 0:57:48.920 --> 0:57:53.680 me forward. Right now, come on, let the word think in. 0:57:55.520 --> 0:57:58.800 Respond in worship, and the word will go deeper. The 0:57:58.880 --> 0:58:02.840 word will go deeper. You worship hard, trusted. 0:58:04.360 --> 0:58:05.200 You must sa. 0:58:15.760 --> 0:58:19.400 I want that bridge. Now lift your hands a head 0:58:19.480 --> 0:58:20.320 the f Come. 0:58:20.200 --> 0:58:42.960 On, sap my the mine. 0:58:35.240 --> 0:58:35.959 Have the bye. 0:58:37.800 --> 0:58:46.240 I gotta read, I gotta read. 0:58:48.480 --> 0:58:49.600 Thank you for joining us. 0:58:49.880 --> 0:58:52.360 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:58:52.400 --> 0:58:55.920 this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:58:56.360 --> 0:58:58.560 You can click the link in the description to give 0:58:58.640 --> 0:59:02.800 now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more 0:59:02.800 --> 0:59:06.600 information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:59:06.880 --> 0:59:08.200 You can share it with your friends. 0:59:08.520 --> 0:59:10.800 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:59:10.840 --> 0:59:12.960 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:59:12.960 --> 0:59:13.800 Elevation Church. 0:59:13.880 --> 0:59:15.560 Thanks again for listening. God bless you