Reputation Rehab

0:00:02.000 --> 0:00:04.519 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdik. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:06.800 Church and this is our podcast and I wanted to 0:00:06.840 --> 0:00:09.800 thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. 0:00:10.160 --> 0:00:12.360 Hope it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:15.240 to see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.200 --> 0:00:21.439 Are you excited for the Word of God today? I 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:24.919 sure am grateful to preach and share this with you. 0:00:25.520 --> 0:00:27.880 Thank you worship team. If you want to look at 0:00:27.960 --> 0:00:31.840 Joshua chapter two today with me for a moment, very 0:00:31.840 --> 0:00:35.680 interesting story in scripture. Those of you at our Uptown 0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:38.959 location and our Melbourne campus, you heard me share from 0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:44.520 this scripture right. You heard me share from the scripture 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:47.400 at our Vision nights over the last few weeks. And 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:50.479 I want to share this with the church today and 0:00:51.000 --> 0:00:53.320 it's a subject that I think will be relevant for 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:55.680 each of us. And I pray that you'll hear this 0:00:56.000 --> 0:01:01.760 personally for yourself. By the way, what an awesome advantage 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:05.520 it is when everyone in the church is leaned in 0:01:06.480 --> 0:01:09.560 to hear the word of God. I was telling one 0:01:09.560 --> 0:01:11.800 of the people who helps me on the weekend how 0:01:11.840 --> 0:01:15.199 exhausting it is when preaching feels like mixed martial arts, 0:01:15.800 --> 0:01:17.080 you know, And I don't want to be like Connor 0:01:17.160 --> 0:01:23.920 McGregor up here. And it's not like that, you know, 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:28.920 it's not even a performance. When we do this, God speaks. 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:34.400 And when everybody comes with that attitude and that perspective, 0:01:34.920 --> 0:01:37.880 we realize that it is our responsibility to receive the 0:01:37.920 --> 0:01:41.080 word of God. And we don't put all this pressure 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:44.520 on some guy with a microphone as if somehow I 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:48.720 could fix your life. I can't. My opinion is empty. 0:01:48.760 --> 0:01:51.880 But God's word is powerful. And so when you bring 0:01:51.960 --> 0:01:55.160 that expectation to the Word of God, it really makes 0:01:55.200 --> 0:01:58.960 it dynamic and explosive. So all that just to say, 0:01:59.000 --> 0:02:00.960 look at your neighbor and say, wake up, pay attention. 0:02:03.760 --> 0:02:07.320 I know you're ready. Joshua Chapter two, verse one. Then 0:02:07.440 --> 0:02:12.920 Joshua's Son of None secretly sh secretly. You don't have 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:16.280 to tell everybody everything you're doing secretly. You don't have 0:02:16.280 --> 0:02:18.519 to post every time you pray on Instagram. You don't 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:21.280 have to put a coffee mug post for every devotion. 0:02:23.120 --> 0:02:25.639 You know, I'm talking about the coffee mug. And the 0:02:25.720 --> 0:02:27.919 Bible is spread open, and then you highlight a few 0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:29.920 extra verses before you take the picture and make it 0:02:29.919 --> 0:02:36.160 look like then Joshua's son of none shh, don't tell everybody, 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:40.840 but just secretly sent two spies from shiite them. And 0:02:40.919 --> 0:02:45.760 that's a long eye when you pronounce shi them. You 0:02:45.800 --> 0:02:48.280 want to be careful when you pronounce shy them if 0:02:48.320 --> 0:02:54.440 you ever preach from Joshua Chapter two, verse one, go 0:02:54.560 --> 0:02:58.520 look over the land, he said, especially Jericho. Notice he 0:02:58.560 --> 0:03:01.800 didn't tell them to look at every city, because you 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:03.880 can get overwhelmed if you think about all the battles 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:06.839 you have to fight. This is just the first one, 0:03:07.639 --> 0:03:11.720 the next one. And when we get so focused on 0:03:11.960 --> 0:03:15.280 everything that we have to overcome, it SAPs our strength 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:18.160 and we can't take our next step because we're thinking 0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:21.480 fourteen steps ahead, and you can wreck looking at your 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:28.400 GPS instead of keeping your eyes on the next turn. Okay, 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:33.880 So they went and entered the house of a prostitute 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:39.080 ooh named Rahab and stayed there. Why there there was 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:44.920 nothing else available on Airbnb, so they they stayed in 0:03:45.000 --> 0:03:48.720 the house of a prostitute named Rehab. King of Jericho 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:50.920 was told, look, some of these relights have come here 0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:53.600 tonight to spy out the land. So the King of 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:57.280 Jericho sent this message to Rehab. Bring out the men 0:03:57.320 --> 0:03:59.840 who came to you and entered your house, because they 0:03:59.840 --> 0:04:03.600 have come to spy out the whole land. But the 0:04:03.760 --> 0:04:07.600 woman had taken the two men and hidden them. Now, 0:04:07.640 --> 0:04:12.320 if there's one thing that Rahab's profession has taught her, 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:16.000 it is discretion. I'm saying she might not have lived 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:19.160 the most holy life. The Bible says she was a prostitute, 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:23.159 but she knew how to hide men. And so I 0:04:23.240 --> 0:04:25.360 point that out to let you know. God is going 0:04:25.440 --> 0:04:29.960 to use everything, even the stuff that you're not proud of, 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:33.880 if you offer it to him. He'll use even the 0:04:33.920 --> 0:04:38.320 things that you want to hide. And Rahab hid the 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:42.080 men because that's something she knew how to do. I 0:04:42.080 --> 0:04:43.920 won't say any more about that, because y'all are looking 0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:48.600 at me so angelic. She said, Yeah, the men came 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:50.160 to me, but I did not know where they had 0:04:50.160 --> 0:04:53.359 come from. At dusk, when it was time to close 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:56.000 the city gate, they left. I don't know which way 0:04:56.000 --> 0:04:59.240 they went. By the way. All of this is a lie. 0:04:59.440 --> 0:05:01.760 All of this so we got a lying prostitute that 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:04.279 God uses to fulfill his purpose and demonstrate his glory 0:05:04.279 --> 0:05:06.919 in the earth. Put that in your theological pipe and 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:19.080 toke that vape. That So she's lying, and she's hiding 0:05:19.600 --> 0:05:23.280 the men, and then she uses misdirection. TuS can go 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:25.919 after them quickly. You may catch up with them parentheses. 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:28.200 But she had taken them up to the roof and 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:31.320 hidden them under the stalks of flax she'd laid out 0:05:31.360 --> 0:05:33.839 on the roof. This was not her first time hiding 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:36.280 a man in her house. So the men set out 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:38.560 in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:41.040 to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as 0:05:41.040 --> 0:05:43.560 the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut. Before 0:05:43.920 --> 0:05:46.520 the spies laid down for the night, she went up 0:05:46.560 --> 0:05:50.599 on the roof and said to them, I know that 0:05:50.680 --> 0:05:53.480 the Lord has given you this land, and that a 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:58.000 great fear of you has fallen on us, so that 0:05:58.160 --> 0:06:02.280 all who live in this country are melting in fear 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:04.800 because of you. These are the same enemies that the 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:08.000 Israelites were so afraid of forty years earlier that they 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:12.120 wouldn't go in. But what they were running from was 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:17.120 actually afraid of them. You realize sometimes you're running from 0:06:17.160 --> 0:06:21.480 a defeated foe. You realize sometimes you're running from stuff 0:06:21.520 --> 0:06:24.080 God has already dealt with, if you would move forward. 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:29.000 And so she says, we've heard about you versetin. We've 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:30.960 heard how the Lord dried up the water of the 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:33.919 Red Sea. That was four decades ago, they're still talking 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:36.839 about it. We heard how the Lord dried up the 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:38.320 water the Red Sea for you when you came out 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:40.239 of Egypt. And what you did to Sion in Augu, 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:42.960 the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, 0:06:43.320 --> 0:06:46.880 whom you completely destroyed. And when we heard of it, 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:53.719 our hearts melted in fear, and everyone's courage failed because 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:56.760 of you. For the Lord, your God, is God in 0:06:56.839 --> 0:07:01.400 heaven above and on the earth. So turn to the 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:03.600 person next to you and tell them what Rehab told. 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:07.599 The spies say, you got a reputation. The title of 0:07:07.640 --> 0:07:11.680 this message is reputation rehab. You didn't just come to 0:07:11.800 --> 0:07:15.600 church today. You came to reputation Rehab. How many realized 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:18.440 that everything people called you is not something you should 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:21.600 respond to at this stage in your life. You got 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:24.480 to move past some things and see yourself in a 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:27.800 new light. At least that's what God told Joshua when 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:30.440 he stated him as the new leader of Israel. After 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:33.440 Moses left, he said, it's a new day, and you 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:36.360 are the leader I have chosen and appointed to lead 0:07:36.480 --> 0:07:40.560 these people into the land that I promised their ancestors. 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:46.280 And God in Joshua Chapter one reminds Joshua of his reputation, 0:07:47.360 --> 0:07:52.160 not the reputation of Joshua, the reputation of Jehovah. He said, 0:07:52.160 --> 0:07:55.840 I am the God who spoke to the forefathers of 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:58.920 this faith tradition, which you are a continuation of. But 0:07:58.960 --> 0:08:02.400 it didn't start with you. God says, I have a reputation. 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:05.960 And when you face the resistance, when you go into 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:08.920 this new land that I've called you to conquer, I 0:08:08.920 --> 0:08:12.560 want you to remember my reputation. God said, I have 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:17.280 a reputation of picking people out that are obscure and 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:22.239 unknown and using them to accomplish my purpose in the earth. 0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:25.840 I have a reputation. I have a reputation for calling 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:30.120 men like Abraham and taking him from her of the Chaldeans. 0:08:30.160 --> 0:08:33.040 And even though he's too old to have babies and 0:08:33.280 --> 0:08:38.200 there's no prescriptions available to help him pro create, I 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:41.679 have a reputation for doing what cannot be done in 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:44.320 the flesh, for it's not by might, nor by power, 0:08:44.360 --> 0:08:47.320 but by my spirit, says the Lord. I have a reputation, 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:51.040 and sometimes we need to be reminded of God's reputation. 0:08:51.640 --> 0:08:53.400 You know, we need to be reminded every once in 0:08:53.400 --> 0:08:55.120 a while that the wind and the waves know who 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:58.559 he is. They know that voice. To you, my sheep, 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:02.760 know my voice. I'm the one who dried up the 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:05.160 red sea. I just want you to remember my reputation. 0:09:05.360 --> 0:09:08.920 That's why I mentioned Bible stories in church, like Daniel 0:09:08.960 --> 0:09:12.640 and the Lions den because the lions knew that when 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:16.280 God speaks, their mouths had to stay shut. They knew 0:09:16.720 --> 0:09:22.040 that voice, they knew that voice. I'm encouraged to know 0:09:22.160 --> 0:09:27.800 that God's reputation is the basis of my faith, not mine, 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:37.520 not mine. I think it's really funny sometimes how much 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:41.800 time we spend trying to build our reputation with people 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:47.040 whose opinions don't ultimately matter. You know, when I first 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:49.880 started the church, a well meaning minister gave me a 0:09:49.920 --> 0:09:56.160 piece of advice. He said, protect your reputation. You only 0:09:56.200 --> 0:10:02.120 get one. I wish that were true, you know, I 0:10:02.160 --> 0:10:05.400 wish you could protect your reputation and that if you 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:07.800 always did the right thing, people would always say the 0:10:07.880 --> 0:10:11.120 right things about you. The fact is we live in 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:13.240 a world that doesn't know the difference between a rumor 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:19.360 and a reputation anymore, and to spend all of your 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:23.079 energy trying to protect your reputation. The Lord really spoke 0:10:23.120 --> 0:10:24.760 to me and dealt with me the first time that 0:10:24.800 --> 0:10:28.080 I would defend myself against people who were critical of 0:10:28.120 --> 0:10:31.520 my ministry. And you know, you can spend so much 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:35.400 time trying to protect your reputation, which is really ego 0:10:36.559 --> 0:10:39.480 wanting people to have a certain image of you, that 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:41.600 you start preaching to the people who don't like you, 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:48.360 and you're angry at people who are smiling at you 0:10:48.400 --> 0:10:51.600 because you're not really talking to them. It happened to 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:53.560 me early in ministry, and the Lord spoke to me. 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:56.920 He spoke to me very specifically. He said, why don't 0:10:56.920 --> 0:11:01.280 you worry about protecting your integrity and let me protect 0:11:01.280 --> 0:11:08.800 your reputation. When you stop to think about it, even 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:12.439 the premise that you only have one reputation is faulty. 0:11:13.679 --> 0:11:17.280 I mean, really, you have as many reputations as you 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:22.120 have relationships in that room. What I mean is some 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:26.840 people at work think you're quiet because you are around them, 0:11:27.280 --> 0:11:31.400 because you don't trust them or like them, or have 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:34.880 anything to say to them. But if we ask your 0:11:34.920 --> 0:11:38.160 family like I will never forget when our middle child, Graham, 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:41.480 first went to school and the teacher emailed us how 0:11:41.520 --> 0:11:44.920 he talked too much in class, and it was so 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:47.560 funny because we could not get him to talk at home. 0:11:48.440 --> 0:11:50.800 He was so quiet at home. And the teacher said, 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:54.600 he will not shut up in class. He's a wonderful child, 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:56.480 but could you just talk to him about talking out 0:11:56.520 --> 0:11:58.319 of turn in class? I said, well, could you talk 0:11:58.320 --> 0:12:00.840 to him about talking intern at home? Because we can't 0:12:00.840 --> 0:12:03.240 get him to say anything. And now he's eleven and 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:08.160 he talks all the time. But I remember thinking how 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:12.080 strange it was that he could be known as the 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:15.480 talkative kid in class. But maybe the birth order or 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:17.880 something at home. Maybe we won't shut up long enough 0:12:17.960 --> 0:12:19.880 to give him a chance at home. And you know, 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:23.000 it's really true, because sometimes we only get to know 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:32.120 church you. I wonder how big is the gap between 0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:37.600 your reality and your reputation, because it's never been easier 0:12:37.960 --> 0:12:42.400 to develop a virtual reputation. You know, where I see 0:12:42.440 --> 0:12:45.840 people online and in their profile it says life coach, 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:51.319 and they're thirteen I don't understand how you're going to 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:54.720 coach me, and you've never been on the field. It 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:57.440 says public figure, and you got a private account with 0:12:57.960 --> 0:13:02.120 twelve followers. I don't understand it, but I do because 0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:04.760 we are living in a world that wants watch this 0:13:05.120 --> 0:13:11.120 reputation without repetition, and a true reputation is not built 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:13.520 by what you occasionally do or wish that you were, 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:15.679 or want people to see you as. It's not something 0:13:15.679 --> 0:13:22.280 that you project or perfect. Your real reputation comes from 0:13:22.960 --> 0:13:29.439 relationship and repetition, and relationship and repetition. And I had 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:32.080 to come to the point where I realized it is 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:35.600 not what people who don't know me think about me, 0:13:35.840 --> 0:13:37.960 or what I can convince them of that brings me 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:43.920 peace in my heart and fulfills my calling. I want 0:13:43.960 --> 0:13:48.920 to focus my life on developing a reputation that is 0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:55.160 based on repetition and relationship, that I would do the 0:13:55.880 --> 0:13:58.640 right thing over and over and over and over and 0:13:58.679 --> 0:14:01.240 over again, and when I don't, I'll apologize and I'll 0:14:01.440 --> 0:14:03.800 get back on and do it over and over and over. 0:14:03.920 --> 0:14:06.800 Isn't that how God built his reputation in your life, 0:14:06.840 --> 0:14:10.000 because he helped you over and over and over and 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:13.040 over again, and he gave you mercy over and over 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:16.040 and over and over again. And he made ways over 0:14:16.120 --> 0:14:18.760 and over and over and over again. And he heard 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:21.520 your cry over and over and over again, and he 0:14:21.600 --> 0:14:25.240 forgave you for that same sin that you committed over 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:28.360 and over and over again. But when you needed grace, 0:14:28.400 --> 0:14:31.400 you found it over and over and over again. And 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:34.480 he woke you up over and over and over again. 0:14:34.760 --> 0:14:37.440 And he lets you see another day over and over 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:40.840 and over again. So I will braise him over and 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:45.080 over and over again. Because God has a reputation with me. 0:14:45.560 --> 0:14:50.840 I know him as faithful, and watch this. I don't 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:54.280 let anybody else build my belief about who God is. 0:14:55.360 --> 0:14:59.120 I don't need to believe somebody else's report about God. 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:04.520 I have a personal relationship with Him, and God's reputation 0:15:04.920 --> 0:15:08.640 with me is based on his faithfulness in my life. 0:15:09.280 --> 0:15:11.640 I don't go off of what I heard about. I 0:15:11.680 --> 0:15:15.640 go off what I know. Don't ever let somebody else 0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:20.720 misrepresent God and run you away from church. You ought 0:15:20.720 --> 0:15:28.440 to know God for yourself. It's a relational thing. So 0:15:28.520 --> 0:15:30.760 we're losing that, and we're so quick to tear people down. 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:33.560 And God forgive us for all the times where we've 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:36.320 believed a report about someone that we didn't even know. 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:39.960 In a day where it is so easy to project 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:45.640 a false reputation and so easy to destroy a reputation, 0:15:46.800 --> 0:15:50.480 you can destroy your own reputation with two hundred and 0:15:50.560 --> 0:15:56.280 eighty characters. Am I right? I don't call names from 0:15:56.320 --> 0:15:59.600 this pulpit, but you know what I'm talking about. And 0:15:59.680 --> 0:16:03.240 yet we stand between the reality of who we are 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:05.360 and kind of who we think we need to be. 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:12.520 And into that gap God speaks and it's the most 0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:15.280 amazing thing. I can't get over this, and it doesn't 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:18.800 seem like a smart strategy, but God chooses over and 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:29.600 over again. The faithful God entrusts his reputation to faithless people, 0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:36.240 and so for forty years the Israelites will wander in 0:16:36.240 --> 0:16:40.160 the wilderness because they believed a bad report, even though 0:16:40.200 --> 0:16:44.160 they had a history with God. Now, Joshua does something interesting. 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:46.840 After he calls the people together and tells them prepare 0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:49.720 and consecrate yourselves for what God is going to do, 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:53.040 and reminds them of what God has already done. He 0:16:53.160 --> 0:16:59.080 sends back to verse one two spies two spies instead 0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:03.280 of twelve. When Moses got ready to check out Canaan 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:07.480 four decades ago. He sent twelve spies and ten came 0:17:07.560 --> 0:17:11.240 back with a fear report. So it's almost as if 0:17:11.359 --> 0:17:15.399 Joshua has learned from that exploit, being one of the 0:17:15.400 --> 0:17:18.240 two spies who said, if God is with us, we 0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:21.600 can't fail, and he made up his mind this time. 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:25.480 I only need to, somebody shout, I only need to 0:17:26.920 --> 0:17:28.480 look at the person on either side of you and 0:17:28.520 --> 0:17:32.440 tell both of them I only need to. I don't 0:17:32.480 --> 0:17:35.120 need too many opinions in this stage of my life. 0:17:35.920 --> 0:17:39.040 I'm out of middle school now, and I can't live 0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:42.600 by what everybody else thinks or does not anymore. I 0:17:42.640 --> 0:17:45.719 only need too, somebody say, I only need to. And 0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:48.440 I read in my Bible that surely goodness and mercy 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:52.840 will follow me all the days of my life. So 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:55.960 I got goodness and I got mercy. I only need 0:17:56.000 --> 0:17:59.000 to say it again. I only need to, and I 0:17:59.040 --> 0:18:03.520 can't afford to consult everybody's opinion and every cable news channel. 0:18:03.560 --> 0:18:06.680 I got goodness and I got mercy. I don't need Fox, 0:18:06.880 --> 0:18:10.080 I don't need CNN. I don't need Twitter, I don't 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:13.560 need Facebook, I don't need Instagram. I don't need my 0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:16.720 past to consult. I don't need to consult too many people. 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:19.479 You know, we start calling people and asking them for advice. 0:18:19.520 --> 0:18:21.720 You really don't want advice anymore after you've called the 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:29.679 third person. You want affirmation and attention. I have a 0:18:29.720 --> 0:18:32.720 shortcut now as a pastor. When people say I'd like 0:18:32.800 --> 0:18:39.320 your advice on whatever they say next, I don't respond 0:18:39.359 --> 0:18:45.800 to I say what do you want, because I'll just 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:49.720 say what you want to hear and save you the 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:54.359 time from calling the next person and the next person 0:18:54.480 --> 0:18:57.080 until somebody will finally tell you what you want to hear. 0:18:59.080 --> 0:19:02.959 Because a lot of us, maybe not you, maybe somebody 0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:07.520 you know, a lot of us live our whole life 0:19:07.720 --> 0:19:13.560 consulting opinions. And when you get too many opinions, it 0:19:14.240 --> 0:19:17.040 really crowds out the voice of God. And you know 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:19.720 what's funny about people. You got to be so careful 0:19:20.840 --> 0:19:24.960 because people will a lot of times and situations will 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:28.560 a lot of times feel they will categorize stuff. Look, 0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:32.680 the Bible says they went into Jericho and entered the 0:19:32.720 --> 0:19:38.199 house of a prostitute named Rahab. Why would you go 0:19:38.280 --> 0:19:42.480 into the house of a prostitute in order to discern 0:19:42.560 --> 0:19:45.199 the promise? Of God. Let me tell you a little secret. 0:19:46.080 --> 0:19:51.879 God uses who he wants to use. I'm losing amens 0:19:51.960 --> 0:19:54.600 by the minute. You must be from out of town. 0:19:56.960 --> 0:20:01.240 God uses who he wants to use. And so isn't 0:20:01.240 --> 0:20:05.760 it fascinating that the God, who has a spotless reputation, 0:20:06.520 --> 0:20:10.000 when he gets ready to bring his people into the promise, 0:20:11.000 --> 0:20:16.520 uses a woman with a reputation, not a reputation like 0:20:16.600 --> 0:20:20.800 we think God can use, not a reputation of perfection. 0:20:21.359 --> 0:20:26.480 But God uses someone with a reputation, and furthermore, someone 0:20:26.520 --> 0:20:32.320 who the spies would consider an enemy. Technically, Rehab was 0:20:32.359 --> 0:20:37.760 an enemy of Israel, and yet God used their enemy 0:20:38.480 --> 0:20:48.119 to show them who they were. She said, I know 0:20:48.200 --> 0:20:51.800 who you are, and I know that God has given 0:20:51.840 --> 0:20:58.280 you the victory. Is it possible that your enemy knows 0:20:58.359 --> 0:21:04.800 more about who you are than you do? And is 0:21:04.880 --> 0:21:08.639 that why he's been fighting you like he's been fighting you. 0:21:10.359 --> 0:21:14.560 It's just a question, saints. Is it possible, just a 0:21:14.640 --> 0:21:18.840 little bit possible, that the trial that you're going through 0:21:19.520 --> 0:21:23.800 is actually a testament to the power that lives within you. 0:21:25.080 --> 0:21:30.040 The devil doesn't waste bullets if he's leaving you alone. 0:21:30.119 --> 0:21:42.200 He knows you aren't anything worth fighting against. God used 0:21:42.440 --> 0:21:47.680 their enemy to show them who they were. God, you, 0:21:47.880 --> 0:21:56.840 God used their struggle to confirm his word. It's crazy, 0:21:56.960 --> 0:22:02.560 how I said, Now let me teach you. It's crazy 0:22:02.640 --> 0:22:04.800 how we have set up a false expectation that the 0:22:04.800 --> 0:22:07.080 proof of God's favor in our life will always be 0:22:08.320 --> 0:22:15.920 that our fights will decrease and our comfort will increase. 0:22:19.280 --> 0:22:23.840 But when God was revealing himself in the Book of Job, 0:22:26.400 --> 0:22:32.000 the devil was going all through the earth trying to 0:22:32.040 --> 0:22:38.400 look for somebody he could tamper with. And when the 0:22:38.400 --> 0:22:42.280 devil presented himself before the throne with the angels, because 0:22:42.359 --> 0:22:48.480 the enemy can't do anything without God's permission, I'm afraid 0:22:48.520 --> 0:22:50.480 in a lot of our churches we've given the devil 0:22:50.760 --> 0:22:53.680 a reputation that he is an equal power with God. 0:22:53.720 --> 0:23:00.439 He's not. He's not. And God asked a question Satan. 0:23:00.480 --> 0:23:04.000 He said, have you considered my servant job? Have you 0:23:04.040 --> 0:23:08.040 thought about picking on him because he's my guy? Now, 0:23:08.160 --> 0:23:10.240 whatever you have to do to get on that list 0:23:10.280 --> 0:23:12.320 where God tells the devil he can mess with you, 0:23:13.280 --> 0:23:16.480 I don't want to be that holy. I want to 0:23:16.520 --> 0:23:28.040 find that mark a slipping men. But God said, have 0:23:28.280 --> 0:23:31.040 at his stuff. You can touch him, his family, you 0:23:31.080 --> 0:23:34.160 can't touch him. And when the devil came back and said, 0:23:34.160 --> 0:23:36.919 I tried it and you were right, he didn't curse you. 0:23:37.440 --> 0:23:41.120 But if you let me hurt him, it's one thing 0:23:41.200 --> 0:23:44.119 for everything around him to be affected. But if you 0:23:44.240 --> 0:23:48.359 let me hurt his body, he'll curse you. And God said, 0:23:48.359 --> 0:23:51.720 you can do it, but you can't kill him. And 0:23:51.800 --> 0:23:56.680 after that period of testing had been completed, after Job 0:23:56.840 --> 0:23:59.119 survived all of the rounds. Now, this means he lost 0:23:59.160 --> 0:24:03.680 not only his not only his business, not only his belongings, 0:24:03.720 --> 0:24:07.879 but his children. And the only person who stayed alive 0:24:07.960 --> 0:24:14.920 with Job was his wife. And if you read about her, 0:24:16.160 --> 0:24:18.320 he'd probably praying God would go ahead and wipe her 0:24:18.320 --> 0:24:20.920 out too, because she wasn't a very good wife. She said, 0:24:20.960 --> 0:24:23.280 go ahead and curse God and die. Let's get it 0:24:23.320 --> 0:24:25.520 over with. You're really gonna put up with this and 0:24:25.600 --> 0:24:29.439 still serve God. But Job would not charge God with wrongdoing. 0:24:29.880 --> 0:24:32.159 And yes, at the end of God's at the end 0:24:32.200 --> 0:24:36.240 of Job's life, he was doubly blessed. But I don't 0:24:36.240 --> 0:24:37.800 think the point of the book of Job is that 0:24:37.880 --> 0:24:40.119 Job got double for his trouble. That's nice for a 0:24:40.119 --> 0:24:43.960 bumper sticker, but he still lost his children. What's the point. 0:24:44.160 --> 0:24:47.800 The point is that the devil didn't mention Job's name. 0:24:47.840 --> 0:24:54.679 God did. Job had a reputation with Heaven, and Heaven 0:24:54.720 --> 0:24:59.240 knew about Job. He can be trusted with trouble, he 0:24:59.320 --> 0:25:03.440 won't break beneath the weight of a burden. Heaven knows 0:25:03.480 --> 0:25:08.480 about you. You can raise those ADHD kids, those abcd 0:25:08.880 --> 0:25:12.919 fghijk elemento pea kids. God knew he could give you 0:25:13.000 --> 0:25:16.520 the whole alphabet and you wouldn't kill him. God knew 0:25:16.560 --> 0:25:19.720 he could trust you with sorrow. God knew he could 0:25:19.720 --> 0:25:23.000 trust you with trial and with tribulation. He knew that 0:25:23.119 --> 0:25:28.840 about you. And if the devil isn't messing with you, 0:25:28.880 --> 0:25:35.760 maybe he doesn't even know you're here. Like one time 0:25:35.760 --> 0:25:37.679 in the Book of Acts, these seven sons of a 0:25:37.760 --> 0:25:42.639 Jewish priest, they saw Paul laying hands on people, and 0:25:42.680 --> 0:25:47.200 they were like, oh, that's cool. Huh. Maybe we say 0:25:47.200 --> 0:25:49.119 what he says, we can do what he does, and 0:25:49.160 --> 0:25:51.280 maybe we can make money off of it. All right, 0:25:51.720 --> 0:25:57.159 in the name of Jesus. Come out. And when they 0:25:57.200 --> 0:26:05.040 said it, the demons folk and said, I heard you 0:26:05.080 --> 0:26:11.080 say Jesus, and we know him. I heard you say Paul, 0:26:12.160 --> 0:26:16.520 and we know him. We hate him. We're an assignment 0:26:16.560 --> 0:26:21.400 against him. We send snakes to bite him. We put 0:26:21.440 --> 0:26:25.400 Paul through shipwrecks. We stir up people and create contentions 0:26:25.440 --> 0:26:28.760 so that stones are thrown at Paul. We've heard of Jesus, 0:26:29.480 --> 0:26:36.120 We've heard of Paul. But who are you? Look at 0:26:36.119 --> 0:26:38.240 somebody next to you and say it in that falsetto 0:26:38.320 --> 0:26:40.359 voice like I said it, like prince, say who are you? 0:26:41.840 --> 0:26:52.760 Who are you? Who are you? I'm concerned. I'm concerned 0:26:52.760 --> 0:26:57.640 that a lot of times we are convinced that our 0:26:57.920 --> 0:27:02.640 trouble is an indication of the absence of God's resence, 0:27:04.880 --> 0:27:07.720 when more times than not, in the scripture you can 0:27:07.760 --> 0:27:14.000 find that trouble accompanies God's presence. He is an ever 0:27:14.200 --> 0:27:17.880 present help in the time of trouble. So if you're 0:27:17.920 --> 0:27:31.879 in trouble, you're in God. Who are you? Who are you? 0:27:31.960 --> 0:27:33.679 The Devil's looking at some of y'all, Who are you? 0:27:34.800 --> 0:27:36.359 I don't even have to I don't even have to 0:27:36.359 --> 0:27:38.479 mess with your life. You're doing a good job by yourself. 0:27:38.480 --> 0:27:44.280 Who are you? Who are you? I'll get paid to argue, 0:27:44.320 --> 0:27:56.359 would you No? So they go to the house of Rehab, 0:27:57.400 --> 0:28:01.240 the prostitute. And y'all our problem. Would not preach about 0:28:01.240 --> 0:28:07.000 a prostitute if she were only mentioned in Joshua chapter two, 0:28:08.000 --> 0:28:12.919 because I would figure that's the Old Testament. But a 0:28:12.960 --> 0:28:18.879 funny thing happened in the Book of Matthew when the 0:28:18.920 --> 0:28:23.720 writer started listening the genealogy of Jesus and all of 0:28:23.760 --> 0:28:28.000 the generations that he came through. It's like fourteen generations, 0:28:28.040 --> 0:28:32.880 and then fourteen more, and then fourteen more. And this 0:28:32.920 --> 0:28:35.560 is the stuff that we skip over sometimes when we're 0:28:35.560 --> 0:28:39.000 reading the Christmas story because it's all these names that 0:28:39.040 --> 0:28:42.720 we don't recognize, and so and so begot so, and 0:28:42.760 --> 0:28:45.840 so begot so, and so begot so and so, And really, 0:28:45.920 --> 0:28:47.840 all I want to do is get to verse eighteen. 0:28:47.920 --> 0:28:51.080 Then came Jesus. But some of the stuff you skip 0:28:51.200 --> 0:28:54.640 is some of the places where God speaks. I said, 0:28:54.680 --> 0:28:57.520 some of the stuff you skip is some of the 0:28:57.520 --> 0:29:01.040 stuff God speaks through. And Matthew said, Matthew one verse five, 0:29:01.080 --> 0:29:04.200 I feel like preach him Salmon the father of Boas, 0:29:04.800 --> 0:29:10.400 whose mother was Rayhab, whose mother was Rehab. Now to 0:29:10.520 --> 0:29:14.480 get to Jesus in the genealogy, you gotta go through Rehab, 0:29:14.560 --> 0:29:19.400 the prostitute. God works through who he wants to work through, 0:29:20.160 --> 0:29:24.000 and all things work together for the good of him 0:29:24.000 --> 0:29:28.960 and loved the Lord whose mother was Rayhab. Stop being 0:29:29.080 --> 0:29:33.080 so stuck up. Stop categorizing people and casting them out 0:29:33.400 --> 0:29:41.480 like you don't have issues. You gotta be glad to 0:29:41.520 --> 0:29:46.160 see Rehab's name in there. Hope for me too. If 0:29:46.240 --> 0:29:49.640 Rahab made it, maybe I can by faith shout it 0:29:49.640 --> 0:29:53.160 out by faith by faith. So then you get to 0:29:53.200 --> 0:29:57.760 Hebrews eleven, and not just once, but for the second 0:29:57.760 --> 0:30:02.760 time in the New Testament, gets an honorable mention in 0:30:02.800 --> 0:30:06.480 the Hall of Faith where they're inducting all of the 0:30:06.600 --> 0:30:12.280 Sunday School heroes. All of the classic events on which 0:30:12.400 --> 0:30:17.360 redemptive history hinged are mentioned in Hebrews chapter eleven. By 0:30:17.480 --> 0:30:21.040 faith twenty nine. The people passed through the Red Sea 0:30:21.800 --> 0:30:25.440 on dry land, but when the Egyptians tried to do so, 0:30:25.800 --> 0:30:28.640 they were drowned. Side note. God doesn't bring you into 0:30:28.640 --> 0:30:31.400 deep waters to kill you. He brings you into deep 0:30:31.480 --> 0:30:35.080 water to drown your enemies. He knows they can't swim, 0:30:35.720 --> 0:30:38.320 And in deep waters that's where you deal with your dallas. 0:30:38.840 --> 0:30:41.080 And in deep waters that's where you come face to 0:30:41.080 --> 0:30:43.920 face with your dysfunction and have to lean and rely 0:30:44.040 --> 0:30:47.720 on the grace of God. So the Egyptians drowned by faith. 0:30:47.960 --> 0:30:51.080 The walls of Jericho fell not because they fought so well, 0:30:51.360 --> 0:30:54.280 but because the faith that they had enabled them to 0:30:54.320 --> 0:30:57.200 do what made no sense naturally. And by faith, the 0:30:57.240 --> 0:31:00.800 walls of Jericho fell after the army had marched around 0:31:00.840 --> 0:31:05.200 them for seven days. And here comes Rehab by faith 0:31:06.000 --> 0:31:10.479 the prostitute Rayhab, because she welcomed the spies, was not 0:31:10.680 --> 0:31:14.440 killed with those who are disobedient. And what more shall 0:31:14.480 --> 0:31:21.240 I say? I don't have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jefta, 0:31:22.040 --> 0:31:26.400 David Samuel, the prophets. You mean you don't have time 0:31:26.480 --> 0:31:30.520 to talk about David, the greatest king that Israel ever knew, 0:31:31.040 --> 0:31:34.200 a man after God's own heart, But you had time 0:31:34.240 --> 0:31:38.600 to mention Rayhab. God says, I don't look at people 0:31:39.240 --> 0:31:43.400 based on your standard of importance. I don't look at 0:31:43.480 --> 0:31:48.480 people based on your standard of significance. God doesn't check 0:31:48.680 --> 0:31:51.760 your followers to see how much favor he gives you. 0:31:52.680 --> 0:32:00.440 God is looking at your faith. And then James jumps 0:32:00.440 --> 0:32:05.920 in and for the third time, this Harlot is mentioned 0:32:05.960 --> 0:32:12.400 alongside the heroes of scripture. Hero Harlot, Harlot hero, And 0:32:12.480 --> 0:32:16.280 now I can't tell the difference because God calls someone 0:32:16.360 --> 0:32:19.720 that I call a Harlot a hero, and I know 0:32:19.760 --> 0:32:21.800 you don't like it, and I know it doesn't go 0:32:21.880 --> 0:32:23.800 down easy, and I know we can't eat it with 0:32:23.840 --> 0:32:26.520 vanilla wafers and put it on a flannel graph because 0:32:26.560 --> 0:32:28.959 the story of Rayhab is r rated and it doesn't 0:32:29.000 --> 0:32:34.200 teach very well in e kids. But James said in 0:32:34.280 --> 0:32:37.200 the same way till twenty five, in the same way, 0:32:37.840 --> 0:32:43.680 was not even Rayhab the prostitute considered righteous for what 0:32:43.800 --> 0:32:45.480 she did when she gave lodgend to the spies and 0:32:45.560 --> 0:32:49.480 sent them off in a different direction. And keep calling 0:32:49.480 --> 0:32:58.000 her that Rahab the prostitute, keep labeling her. It's crazy. 0:32:58.000 --> 0:33:12.040 God didn't change her before he used her. You know 0:33:12.080 --> 0:33:14.440 how we think God can't use me because I currently 0:33:14.480 --> 0:33:18.840 struggle with It's not like she was a prostitute and 0:33:18.880 --> 0:33:22.400 then she became a prophet. She was still a prostitute. 0:33:22.920 --> 0:33:26.280 This doesn't excuse bad behavior, but it helps me to 0:33:26.320 --> 0:33:28.760 see that the love of God is not the reward 0:33:28.800 --> 0:33:32.240 for change. It is the resource by which I am changed. 0:33:33.840 --> 0:33:37.480 That revelation of the love of God is so powerful. 0:33:39.280 --> 0:33:41.360 And you know, I was telling you my son Graham, 0:33:41.760 --> 0:33:44.440 he talks a lot more now and he actually says 0:33:44.520 --> 0:33:47.640 some really funny stuff. I'm praying that he will not 0:33:47.680 --> 0:33:52.280 become a stand up comic. I'm praying that, you know, 0:33:52.320 --> 0:33:55.280 he'll well, I'm not praying that he'll be a preacher either. 0:33:55.320 --> 0:33:57.560 I really don't. I really don't care if my kids 0:33:57.320 --> 0:34:00.400 take on this profession or not. Like that might even 0:34:00.400 --> 0:34:02.520 tell him, you know, do something else if you can, 0:34:02.600 --> 0:34:05.520 because you got to be called to do this. But 0:34:05.680 --> 0:34:07.719 all my kids have heard so many sermons. They come 0:34:07.760 --> 0:34:10.600 up with funny little questions about the Bible that I 0:34:10.680 --> 0:34:13.200 never thought of before, but just from a child's mind 0:34:13.280 --> 0:34:15.839 is so funny. And Graham asked me the other day, 0:34:17.440 --> 0:34:19.960 he said, I hear people say all the time when 0:34:20.000 --> 0:34:23.200 I get to Heaven, I want to see Jesus. And 0:34:23.239 --> 0:34:25.120 he said, but have you ever thought about how long 0:34:25.160 --> 0:34:30.040 the line is going to be? And we had just 0:34:30.080 --> 0:34:32.200 been to Disneyland, so he had that in his mind, 0:34:32.280 --> 0:34:36.600 like the you know, and he said, it's going to 0:34:36.680 --> 0:34:39.040 be a long line to see Jesus. I wonder if 0:34:39.080 --> 0:34:41.680 you could get somebody to hold your place in line 0:34:41.719 --> 0:34:44.360 to see Jesus and then go see some of the 0:34:44.360 --> 0:34:50.640 other characters in the Bible. So I kind of played 0:34:50.640 --> 0:34:53.879 it out, and I was thinking, you know, you probably could. 0:34:53.960 --> 0:34:56.680 There are probably some characters in the Bible that no 0:34:56.719 --> 0:34:58.640 one will want a selfie with, and you could probably 0:34:58.680 --> 0:35:02.000 just walk right up to him. Like joone Uh, who 0:35:02.040 --> 0:35:06.440 wants to meet Jonah. He's the most dysfunctional, discouraging prophet 0:35:06.440 --> 0:35:09.000 in the Bible. He preached and God sent a revival, 0:35:09.000 --> 0:35:13.080 and he went outside and wanted to die. So Jonah's available. 0:35:13.080 --> 0:35:14.799 You could go see Jonah for a few minutes, a 0:35:14.800 --> 0:35:16.920 few hundred years while you wait to see Jesus, you know, 0:35:17.360 --> 0:35:20.000 turn it as long and then you could probably go 0:35:20.040 --> 0:35:26.080 see You could probably go see Bartholomew. Apostle Paul might 0:35:26.120 --> 0:35:29.680 be unavailable, and John the disciple who Jesus loved. He 0:35:29.760 --> 0:35:32.960 might he might have a little wait list, but you 0:35:33.000 --> 0:35:42.560 can probably see Bartholomew. Jewish legend says that Rahab was 0:35:42.600 --> 0:35:45.080 one of the most four beautiful women who ever lived. 0:35:46.480 --> 0:35:48.920 I don't know if that's true, but maybe you want 0:35:48.960 --> 0:35:53.120 to see for yourself, you know, get to heaven. There's 0:35:53.160 --> 0:35:59.680 Samson walk over to the front desk. There's Peter got 0:35:59.680 --> 0:36:05.600 his eye pad and you say, hey, I'm in line 0:36:05.640 --> 0:36:08.120 to see Jesus. I'm number fifteen million, nine hundred and 0:36:08.160 --> 0:36:11.600 seventy three, two hundred and twenty three. While I'm waiting. 0:36:12.920 --> 0:36:14.759 That was kind of stranger class. Could I see? Ah, 0:36:15.960 --> 0:36:22.520 I see Rahab the prostitute. You know feeders loud, Rayab 0:36:22.600 --> 0:36:35.359 the prostitute. Let me check sounds bad man, Keep it down. Oh, 0:36:35.400 --> 0:36:42.880 I'm sorry. We do have a rehab up here, But 0:36:42.960 --> 0:36:48.719 you said Rehab the prostitute. There's nobody here by that 0:36:48.840 --> 0:36:59.799 name because up here we don't call people what they were. 0:37:02.760 --> 0:37:08.200 We don't call people what they did. We don't call 0:37:08.280 --> 0:37:13.360 people what they were labeled. Up here, she doesn't go 0:37:13.480 --> 0:37:17.840 by that name. So you can see ray Have, but 0:37:18.000 --> 0:37:21.080 make sure you call her by her new name. Up here, 0:37:21.400 --> 0:37:25.320 we call her Rayhaf the righteous. There is a righteousness 0:37:26.280 --> 0:37:30.279 that comes from God by faith. I said, there is 0:37:30.360 --> 0:37:34.399 a righteousness that is not of works, so that no 0:37:34.440 --> 0:37:37.880 one can boast. And I don't know about Zoo, but 0:37:38.000 --> 0:37:42.120 I'm grateful for the blood of Jesus that covered my pants. 0:37:43.640 --> 0:37:46.799 I'm not what I did, and I'm not what I was, 0:37:47.320 --> 0:37:50.040 and I'm not what I think, and I'm not where 0:37:50.080 --> 0:37:53.439 I'm broken, and I'm not what they said. I got 0:37:53.480 --> 0:38:03.879 a new name. I got a new name, I got 0:38:03.880 --> 0:38:08.759 a new reputation. I am a child of God. I 0:38:08.800 --> 0:38:14.399 am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, look at somebody, say, 0:38:14.480 --> 0:38:17.959 don't call me that you don't know me like that. 0:38:18.239 --> 0:38:21.000 Don't call me according to how you memorized me in 0:38:21.040 --> 0:38:28.040 my past. God is doing a new thing in my life. 0:38:30.400 --> 0:38:33.360 And when condemnation comes in, you know, to remind you 0:38:34.360 --> 0:38:36.920 of all of those reasons that God can't use you. 0:38:37.360 --> 0:38:45.080 Remember Rehab. Remember Rehab who had nothing to offer except faith, 0:38:47.320 --> 0:38:58.919 And God said, even she was considered righteous. Because that's 0:38:58.960 --> 0:39:02.399 what church is. It's a place for you to come 0:39:04.080 --> 0:39:07.759 and leave all of the labels that you've accumulated in 0:39:07.800 --> 0:39:11.799 your life because of your behaviors. Oh yeah, some of 0:39:11.800 --> 0:39:16.200 the stuff people said about you is facts. It's not 0:39:16.239 --> 0:39:19.640 always that they were lying. It's just that there is 0:39:19.680 --> 0:39:25.480 a greater truth that supersedes whatever they can say about you. 0:39:25.680 --> 0:39:32.080 And every weakness is potential strength. But when I was 0:39:32.120 --> 0:39:36.319 writing this message, I made a critical mistake. I was 0:39:36.360 --> 0:39:40.239 typing so fast in my phone I kept misspelling rehab's name, 0:39:41.600 --> 0:39:46.759 and I kept spelling it our eh ab because I 0:39:46.800 --> 0:39:53.000 was writing fast, not because my IQ is low. And 0:39:53.080 --> 0:39:55.400 after writing it down ten times, I noticed I keep 0:39:55.480 --> 0:40:01.239 spelling it rehab. And God said, you got to right, 0:40:01.360 --> 0:40:03.399 because what I want you to tell the people when 0:40:03.400 --> 0:40:06.920 you preach it is that I am in the business 0:40:07.920 --> 0:40:14.759 of rehabilitating. In my title again on the screen, you 0:40:14.840 --> 0:40:19.439 did not come to a religious service today. You came 0:40:19.480 --> 0:40:25.520 to rehab. And the place it starts is not with 0:40:25.719 --> 0:40:28.120 what others think of you. We spend so much time 0:40:28.160 --> 0:40:32.560 on that and we fail to realize that really the 0:40:32.600 --> 0:40:38.200 issue is how you see you. The greatest place my 0:40:38.280 --> 0:40:41.960 reputation needs repair is within myself because I've let myself 0:40:42.040 --> 0:40:45.600 down so many times, and I've made promises to myself 0:40:45.640 --> 0:40:48.080 and others over and over again. And I'm really going 0:40:48.160 --> 0:40:50.440 to have a better attitude this time, and I'm really 0:40:50.520 --> 0:40:52.760 good at this time, and I'm really good at this time. 0:40:53.120 --> 0:40:56.800 And some of you have developed a reputation with yourself 0:40:56.840 --> 0:41:01.000 that does not reflect your reputation with Heaven. God doesn't 0:41:01.040 --> 0:41:07.160 see you like that and see you like that, and 0:41:07.200 --> 0:41:10.760 the gap between your reality and your reputation with yourself 0:41:11.200 --> 0:41:15.600 could cost you the opportunity to see God use you 0:41:15.680 --> 0:41:17.960 in the future. If if you don't deal with that, 0:41:18.880 --> 0:41:22.319 it costs the spies. Ten of the twelve said we 0:41:22.360 --> 0:41:25.920 can't go in. That's eighty three points sixty sixty six 0:41:26.080 --> 0:41:29.000 sixty six percent of the people that went into the 0:41:29.040 --> 0:41:32.120 land came back with the wrong report. And I think 0:41:32.280 --> 0:41:34.920 eighty three point sixty sixty sixty sixty six percent of 0:41:34.920 --> 0:41:39.759 stuff I tell myself is probably wrong at least at 0:41:39.880 --> 0:41:43.600 least And if I don't deal with that, I can 0:41:43.600 --> 0:41:47.360 have a new reality, a new nature. I could be 0:41:47.480 --> 0:41:51.319 chosen by God, loved by God, accepted by God, and 0:41:51.360 --> 0:41:53.880 He can even have an assignment for me. He can 0:41:53.960 --> 0:41:57.000 even want to use my house to bring forth a promise. 0:41:58.040 --> 0:42:03.400 If I don't see myself that I'll be like those spies. 0:42:05.120 --> 0:42:07.640 The reason they didn't go into the land wasn't how 0:42:07.640 --> 0:42:13.719 they saw God, was how they saw themselves. And the 0:42:13.760 --> 0:42:16.640 reason they saw themselves as small is because they had 0:42:16.680 --> 0:42:21.040 spent four hundred and thirty years enslaved, and sometimes you 0:42:21.160 --> 0:42:24.800 carry that with you. The Bible actually says that before 0:42:24.840 --> 0:42:28.200 they could go into the land, God had to roll 0:42:28.239 --> 0:42:33.960 away the reproach of Egypt, their past, their shackles their 0:42:33.960 --> 0:42:38.160 former condition. And when you carry forward with you the 0:42:38.239 --> 0:42:41.720 reproach of different things that you struggled with or currently 0:42:41.760 --> 0:42:44.359 struggle with, it will always keep you from realizing your 0:42:44.440 --> 0:42:50.359 righteousness in Christ, always always, and you see your life 0:42:50.360 --> 0:42:52.879 through the lens of self. It's very small. That's what 0:42:52.880 --> 0:42:54.919 the spies came back and said they had totally lost 0:42:54.920 --> 0:42:58.479 sight of God's reputation because they were so concerned about 0:42:58.480 --> 0:43:03.600 their own numbers. Thirteen thirty three says that they gave 0:43:03.640 --> 0:43:05.759 the men of God Moses this report. They said, we 0:43:05.800 --> 0:43:12.200 saw the Nephilim there. The nephilom were giants. It might 0:43:12.200 --> 0:43:14.799 represent anything in your life that's too powerful for you 0:43:14.840 --> 0:43:19.840 and your own strain. It might represent your fear, your insecurity, 0:43:21.040 --> 0:43:26.320 that chronic thing keeps creeping into your life, taking you down. Thought. 0:43:26.360 --> 0:43:29.799 Pattern doesn't have to be a physical giant or a 0:43:29.800 --> 0:43:32.799 physical enemy. In fact, the Bible says we wrestle not 0:43:32.840 --> 0:43:35.080 against flesh and blood. There's a good chance that your 0:43:35.160 --> 0:43:40.520 Nephilim has a different name. And we saw the giants, 0:43:41.719 --> 0:43:47.160 and we seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes. Why 0:43:47.160 --> 0:43:51.000 were you comparing yourself to the giants You were supposed 0:43:51.000 --> 0:43:54.560 to be comparing your giants to your God. But you 0:43:54.600 --> 0:43:59.880 lost sight of that, didn't you, And you start thinking, 0:44:01.200 --> 0:44:03.799 what's wrong with me is more powerful than what's right 0:44:03.840 --> 0:44:09.720 with God. We look like grasshoppers in our own eyes, 0:44:10.640 --> 0:44:14.040 and we look the same to them. Because when you 0:44:14.120 --> 0:44:16.600 don't know who you are, you depend on the rest 0:44:16.600 --> 0:44:19.600 of the world to tell you. And now you're empty, 0:44:20.719 --> 0:44:24.480 and now you're projecting, and now you're trying to perfect 0:44:24.520 --> 0:44:29.040 this reputation. But God brought you here for rehabit. God 0:44:29.080 --> 0:44:32.120 brought you here for a reminder of who he is. 0:44:33.960 --> 0:44:37.600 The Lord, the Lord, slow to anger, abounding in love, 0:44:37.680 --> 0:44:40.839 maintaining faithfulness to a thousand generations. That's who he is. 0:44:41.320 --> 0:44:44.960 He has a reputation. He's picked up people like you 0:44:45.760 --> 0:44:49.880 and like me at our lowest point. He's picked up 0:44:49.920 --> 0:44:53.560 people like you and me on our highest mountaintop. He 0:44:53.680 --> 0:44:57.520 specializes in imperfection. But you stand to your feet, no 0:44:57.560 --> 0:45:01.360 one leaving, no one moving. I'd like to pray for you, please. 0:45:04.200 --> 0:45:09.239 If this word has ministered to you today, and there 0:45:09.280 --> 0:45:12.560 is a reproach that you have been carrying forward into 0:45:12.600 --> 0:45:17.840 your future that needs to be rolled into your past, 0:45:18.520 --> 0:45:21.680 I would like to pray for you today. That God 0:45:21.680 --> 0:45:27.320 would remind you of his reputation. He's never lost a battle, 0:45:30.440 --> 0:45:36.040 He's never met a need that he couldn't meet. He 0:45:36.120 --> 0:45:38.319 never created a life he did not intend to use. 0:45:40.280 --> 0:45:45.200 And so we find hope today in this story of Rahab, 0:45:48.560 --> 0:45:53.040 that God is rehabilitating our eyes, that we could see 0:45:53.080 --> 0:45:57.239 him as he really is. Father. I pray that not 0:45:57.440 --> 0:46:03.560 one of your children would brush this message off. I 0:46:03.560 --> 0:46:05.320 pray that it would not fall on death fears, and 0:46:05.360 --> 0:46:07.399 I pray that our pride would not keep us from 0:46:07.440 --> 0:46:10.239 receiving it, because probably we could think, well, I'm not 0:46:10.280 --> 0:46:16.000 that bad, I'm not some prostitute. We all have broken places, 0:46:17.040 --> 0:46:22.840 we all have many reasons why we feel useless, so unworthy, 0:46:24.760 --> 0:46:30.000 and yet you call us righteous by faith. Speak over 0:46:30.040 --> 0:46:35.759 your people today, Lord, in direct contradiction to every lie 0:46:35.880 --> 0:46:38.520 that the enemy has planted in their mind, it is 0:46:38.560 --> 0:46:41.920 not so, and it will not prevail. Whatever has been 0:46:41.960 --> 0:46:44.880 spoken over their life by others or by themselves that 0:46:44.920 --> 0:46:47.920 does not align with your word. We come against it 0:46:47.960 --> 0:46:49.480 now in the name that is above every name, the 0:46:49.560 --> 0:46:53.400 name of Jesus, the name that is able to heal, saved, deliver, 0:46:53.520 --> 0:46:56.239 and set free. In the name of Jesus, the name 0:46:56.280 --> 0:46:58.319 that is above every name, the name that is above 0:46:58.360 --> 0:47:01.040 every nephilum, the name that is above every dysfunction, the 0:47:01.160 --> 0:47:04.080 name that is above all shame and sin. And we 0:47:04.160 --> 0:47:08.320 ask you that in this moment of worship, we would 0:47:08.360 --> 0:47:18.080 remember who you say. We already are chosen, not forsaken. 0:47:19.560 --> 0:47:23.480 I am who you say I am. You are for me, 0:47:24.640 --> 0:47:28.160 not against me. I am who you say I am, 0:47:28.239 --> 0:47:32.239 saying I am who you say I am. Lift your 0:47:32.239 --> 0:47:35.640 hands to your father, say I am who you say 0:47:35.680 --> 0:47:41.000 I am. Well, I hope you enjoyed the podcast today, 0:47:41.080 --> 0:47:43.000 and if you did, there are just a couple things 0:47:43.080 --> 0:47:46.200 I'd love for you to do. Number one, subscribe to 0:47:46.239 --> 0:47:49.400 our show. That way, the most recent episode will always 0:47:49.440 --> 0:47:52.560 be in your feed, waiting for you ready when you are. 0:47:53.040 --> 0:47:56.200 And secondly, if this ministry has impacted you and you'd 0:47:56.239 --> 0:47:58.520 like to help us continue to reach others, you can 0:47:58.520 --> 0:48:00.759 click the link in the description and you can give 0:48:00.840 --> 0:48:04.200 now and I'll see you next time on the Elevation 0:48:04.320 --> 0:48:11.200 podcast m