Take The Lid Off A Little

0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:04.600 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdik. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:07.080 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.120 --> 0:00:10.440 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:12.520 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:16.560 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.200 --> 0:00:21.120 Hey Siri, are you ready for the word? Hey, tif 0:00:21.120 --> 0:00:23.079 are you ready for the word? Hey Joey, are you 0:00:23.120 --> 0:00:25.959 ready for the word? Hey? Fam are you ready for 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:35.760 the word? Stay standing? Stand up? Stay standing or stand up? 0:00:35.840 --> 0:00:39.000 Just make sure you're standing. I want to read to 0:00:39.000 --> 0:00:43.920 you from One King seventeen. There's something that the Lord 0:00:43.960 --> 0:00:45.760 was showing me today that I think is really going 0:00:45.840 --> 0:00:48.760 to speak to your situation. Please take a moment and share. 0:00:49.360 --> 0:00:51.320 If you're just joining us, make sure to let us 0:00:51.320 --> 0:00:54.040 know in the chat where you're watching from. It was 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:56.400 so cool last week that after the sermon was posted, 0:00:56.440 --> 0:00:59.520 everybody who watched the sermon went and said, here's where 0:00:59.520 --> 0:01:01.760 I'm watching from, and they said, I'm here for it. 0:01:02.400 --> 0:01:04.759 And it was so cool to see all the places. 0:01:05.040 --> 0:01:07.319 And our team then gets to go through and they 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:09.400 get to pray for you by name that God would 0:01:09.440 --> 0:01:11.960 speak to you. So put it in the chat. But also, 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:15.800 don't just be blessed today, be a blessing. Be a blessing. 0:01:16.480 --> 0:01:18.440 What if you took a moment right now to share 0:01:18.480 --> 0:01:22.480 this experience with someone and it lifted them out of depression. 0:01:23.680 --> 0:01:25.280 What if you took a moment to share this with 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:29.880 someone right now and it helped them to breathe deeply 0:01:30.440 --> 0:01:33.760 and not have a panic attack later this week. What 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:36.240 if you shared this message with someone right now and 0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:38.759 God spoke a word that kept them from doing something 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:42.120 stupid that was going to mess up their life. I'm 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:44.479 telling you the Word of God is powerful and you're 0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:47.080 going to see that in the text. But by faith, 0:01:47.200 --> 0:01:51.360 right now, share it. Hit the share button or text somebody. 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:53.320 You know how to do it, and you know who 0:01:53.320 --> 0:01:55.760 God puts on your heart. And let's move into the 0:01:55.760 --> 0:01:58.400 Word of God together. We've already had an awesome time 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:02.320 of worship. We've already praised God, We've already been singing 0:02:02.320 --> 0:02:05.880 to Him. We spent this week serving and now let's 0:02:05.920 --> 0:02:08.520 go to the Word and see what God will give 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:11.440 us to sustain us for these crazy days we live 0:02:11.480 --> 0:02:17.840 in One Kings chapter seventeen. Now Elijah the tishbite from 0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:22.360 Tishby in Gilead said to ahab As the Lord, the 0:02:22.400 --> 0:02:26.280 God of Israel, lives whom I serve, there will be 0:02:26.639 --> 0:02:31.760 neither do nor reign in the next few years except 0:02:31.760 --> 0:02:35.399 at my word. Then the word of the Lord came 0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:42.280 to Elijah. Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the 0:02:42.360 --> 0:02:47.200 Careth Ravine east of the Jordan. You will drink from 0:02:47.240 --> 0:02:51.360 the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply 0:02:51.480 --> 0:02:57.360 you with food there. We talked last week about unschedulable blessings. 0:02:57.440 --> 0:03:01.800 Unschedulable blessings. It's a word I made of It's a 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:04.440 thing you can't put on your calendar. But God is 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:07.200 going to come through for you. He's going to come 0:03:07.240 --> 0:03:11.360 through for you sometimes after you've given up. But this 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:15.040 is an unusual way for God to provide for his servant. 0:03:15.680 --> 0:03:19.200 It's an unusual source. So he did what the Lord 0:03:19.240 --> 0:03:21.679 had told him verse five, and he went to the 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:26.000 Karath Ravine east of the Jordan and stayed there. The 0:03:26.120 --> 0:03:28.480 ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and 0:03:28.520 --> 0:03:31.400 bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:36.080 the brook. Sometime later, the brook dried up because there 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:39.200 had been no rain in the land. Then the word 0:03:39.240 --> 0:03:41.840 of the Lord came to him. Go at once to 0:03:41.960 --> 0:03:45.680 Zerapath in the region of Sidon, and stay there. I 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:49.040 have directed a widow there to supply you with food, 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:53.040 and I watch this. So he went to Zarapath, and 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:56.440 when he came to the town gate, a widow was 0:03:56.480 --> 0:04:01.880 there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, would 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:06.920 you bring me a little water in a jar? Just 0:04:06.920 --> 0:04:12.120 slow water? Uh uh uh uh oh, hang on, let's 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:15.960 see if we can get that fixed, little water. Isn't 0:04:15.960 --> 0:04:19.800 it weird? Come on out, tech support, How many out 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:21.400 real quick? Because I know we can get this fixed. 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:27.440 Isn't it weird? Come check this out? I'm broadcasting right now. 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:33.080 Can you can you fix it? Isn't it weird? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, no, 0:04:33.080 --> 0:04:36.400 no no, yeah. See if we get fixed, you can't 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:39.200 fix it. No, fix it in the back and bring 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:41.520 it back in the weird. Look, look, we're broadcasting to 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:43.960 the whole world. Why can't you don't leave me hanging 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:48.039 in We're broadcasting to the whole world. Isn't it weird? 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:54.760 How something so little, I mean, we're broadcasting all over 0:04:54.800 --> 0:05:00.240 the world. Isn't it weird? How something so little can 0:05:00.279 --> 0:05:04.200 control something so big. Bring that back to me on stone. 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:06.559 We see if we can fix it. He said, bring 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:11.719 me a little water? How much water? A little? So 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:13.679 let me have a dream. And as she was going 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:17.040 to get it, he called, and bring me, please a 0:05:17.080 --> 0:05:21.960 piece of bread. As surely as the Lord, your god lives. 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:26.000 She replies, I don't have any bread, only a handful 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:32.080 of flour in a jar, and a little how much 0:05:34.120 --> 0:05:39.440 a little olive oil in a jug. A little flour 0:05:39.480 --> 0:05:42.200 in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. 0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:45.359 I am gathering a few sticks to take home and 0:05:45.400 --> 0:05:47.560 make a meal for myself and my son, that we 0:05:47.680 --> 0:05:51.360 may eat it and die. Now here's the word of 0:05:51.400 --> 0:05:55.479 the Lord. Elijah said to her. Don't be afraid. Go 0:05:55.560 --> 0:06:00.120 home and do as you have said, But first to 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:03.680 make a small loaf of bread for me from what 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:07.720 you have, and bring it to me, and then make 0:06:07.800 --> 0:06:10.480 something for yourself and your son. For this is what 0:06:10.760 --> 0:06:14.200 the Lord, the God of Israel, says. The jar of 0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:17.440 flower will not be used up, and the jug of 0:06:17.480 --> 0:06:21.320 oil will not run dry until the day the Lord 0:06:21.960 --> 0:06:25.240 sends rain on the lands. So she went away and 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:28.640 did as Elijah had told her. So there was food 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:31.839 every day for Elijah, and for the woman and her family, 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:36.719 For the jar of flour was not used up, and 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:40.160 the jug of oil did not run dry. In keeping 0:06:40.640 --> 0:06:45.479 with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah, a 0:06:45.560 --> 0:06:50.960 little olive oil in a jug, A little olive oil. 0:06:51.640 --> 0:06:53.720 Here's what the Lord sent me to tell you today. 0:06:54.680 --> 0:07:02.840 Take the lid off a little, you ready, Father, We 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:06.480 stand under an open heaven, thanking you for your blessings. 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:10.040 We thank you for rain in due season. We thank 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:12.240 you that you speak what we need when we need it. 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:14.520 And when you speak, there's nothing the enemy can do 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:17.840 to snatch what has sown. Our hearts are good soil. 0:07:18.120 --> 0:07:20.760 We are open to your word. We are open to 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:23.880 the possibility that in this season you are leading us 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:27.280 like never before into a place that you prepared for 0:07:27.360 --> 0:07:30.600 us before the world began. We give you praise for 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:34.960 it in Jesus' name. Everybody who receives this word, clap 0:07:35.000 --> 0:07:40.680 your hands. Amen, you may be seated. Take the lid 0:07:40.680 --> 0:07:44.720 off a little. That's crazy, Zach, how a little thing 0:07:45.040 --> 0:07:49.040 you'll be seated. How a little thing, something so little 0:07:50.160 --> 0:07:55.320 can affect something so big. I mean, this word I 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:58.800 just told you is going all over the world, and 0:07:58.880 --> 0:08:03.320 one little wire wires. We were in a church one 0:08:03.360 --> 0:08:06.800 time and the sound guy said, quit on hooking my wires. 0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:08.760 We had our little sound system we were setting up 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:11.560 that he said, quit messing with my wires, my wires. 0:08:11.920 --> 0:08:16.480 Isn't it weird? One little, one little thing? And in 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:18.920 the text I was reading, they're gonna think we worked 0:08:18.920 --> 0:08:20.680 this out ahead of time, but we did it. Isn't 0:08:20.680 --> 0:08:23.720 it crazy? In the text we read, the Bible says 0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:28.440 it didn't rain for three years because of the word 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:33.760 that came from Elijah's mouth. How can the word from 0:08:33.800 --> 0:08:38.680 one man's mouth control the weather? How can something so 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:43.920 little affect something so big? What happens all the time 0:08:43.960 --> 0:08:48.679 in your life, I mean, the littlest thing in your 0:08:48.800 --> 0:08:52.960 day can set you in a direction that you don't 0:08:53.000 --> 0:08:58.199 even realize until it is so depressing. I mean, my 0:08:58.440 --> 0:09:02.559 die and didn't even realize something so little. That's why 0:09:02.600 --> 0:09:05.800 I have to be so very careful. What the first 0:09:05.880 --> 0:09:08.400 thing I look on my phone for when I get 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:13.280 up in the morning. Because it doesn't take much. It 0:09:13.320 --> 0:09:15.240 doesn't take much. And I don't care who you follow 0:09:15.280 --> 0:09:17.280 on Instagram, they find a way into your feed. The 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:19.960 people you unfollowed, they find a way back in. The 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:23.240 algorithm will attack you. Somebody said. The devil is a 0:09:23.320 --> 0:09:26.400 Lauren Ryan Lyon. So is the Instagram algorithm. It is 0:09:26.440 --> 0:09:29.040 looking for someone to devour. That's why they call it 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:35.360 a feed. I figured this out. He's looking to eat 0:09:35.400 --> 0:09:40.079 you alive. Ah, something so little. It said that the 0:09:40.120 --> 0:09:46.360 word from Elijah's mouth controlled the weather system. How could 0:09:46.480 --> 0:09:51.360 something so small? How could how could a wet market 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:55.400 on the other side of the world have you shut 0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:59.360 down and grounded from traveling. There's never been a better 0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:00.880 time for me to p this message that I want 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:04.839 to appreciate today because everybody has to agree in this moment. 0:10:04.840 --> 0:10:09.520 If you've never agreed before that the littlest thing in 0:10:09.559 --> 0:10:13.480 your life or the littlest thing in someone else's life 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:17.640 can affect you in a way, I'm telling you right 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:21.079 now that the littlest things in your life right now, 0:10:21.960 --> 0:10:24.640 if you can receive this word from the Lord today, 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:29.200 are controlling the things. And maybe we can help make 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:33.000 this connection through studying Elijah little bit controlling the things 0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:34.800 that you have no control over, And I'll do my 0:10:34.880 --> 0:10:37.800 best to break it down as we move. I've always 0:10:37.920 --> 0:10:42.760 read Romans eight twenty eight with a very specific categorization. 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:47.199 Romans eight twenty eight is my favorite Bible verse because 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:50.400 it gets me through anything. It says that all things 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:54.559 work together for the good of those that love God 0:10:55.000 --> 0:10:58.800 and are called according to His purpose. How could I 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:02.760 have quoted it for so long and only seen it 0:11:03.040 --> 0:11:06.920 through the lens of good things and bad things. I 0:11:07.000 --> 0:11:11.400 always read Romans eight twenty eight that all things, whether 0:11:11.520 --> 0:11:16.480 good or bad, work together for the good for those 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:22.000 who are called according to God's purpose. Now I realize 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:25.000 that Romans eight twenty eight doesn't just apply to good 0:11:25.000 --> 0:11:29.680 things and bad things. It applies also to big things 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:33.679 and little things. Turn the lights on and wake them up. 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:35.360 I can't get I can't get any help out here. 0:11:35.640 --> 0:11:37.880 It said all things turn the lights on and wake 0:11:37.920 --> 0:11:39.560 them up. Do something, pull the lights up because it's 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:41.280 sleep Yeah, yeah, yeah, yah, that's better. I need to 0:11:41.320 --> 0:11:44.160 see y'all sleeping. Y'all are sleeping on me. I'm about 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:46.319 to clear out the whole room. It doesn't just mean 0:11:46.679 --> 0:11:50.800 good things and bad things. It means that the big 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:54.760 things and the little things. And that's why you cannot 0:11:54.800 --> 0:12:01.840 despise the day of small beginnings, because everything little leads 0:12:01.920 --> 0:12:08.360 to something big. That's how you got here. I'm gonna 0:12:08.360 --> 0:12:11.360 give y'all a minute for the for the YouTube delay. 0:12:12.440 --> 0:12:15.840 That's how you got That's how everything you see got here. 0:12:16.120 --> 0:12:21.000 It started with somebody's thought, an impulse in the brain 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:25.120 that you cannot even see with the human eye. A 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:29.559 virus has shot down the world. Show me a coronavirus. 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:32.840 You can't show me the effects of it. You can't 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:38.680 get away from it. How can something so little affect 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:43.719 something so big? How can something that happened to you 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:46.959 when you were twelve still be haunting you when you're 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:54.040 forty two? How can something so little control something so big? 0:12:55.520 --> 0:12:58.240 And that's the lens at which I was looking at 0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:01.800 the prophet Elijah's life. I was say he controlled the 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:07.400 weather with his word, And I thought about how our 0:13:07.600 --> 0:13:13.360 words control the weather. How when we speak things, when 0:13:13.400 --> 0:13:17.360 we say things, when we say them, not even out loud, 0:13:17.400 --> 0:13:23.400 but to ourselves, it affects the weather of our heart. Yeah, 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:27.240 how can a little thing like a thought lead you 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:30.680 down the track? I mean, it's such a little thing. 0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:38.560 By little things lead the big things. Little things lead 0:13:38.600 --> 0:13:43.959 the big things. So the prophet Elijah prophesies at drought, 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:46.680 and it's a wonderful story, and we could elaborate on 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:49.079 it for days, but we just want to talk about 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:51.600 this little instruction that God gave them in verse to 0:13:52.080 --> 0:13:55.400 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah, leave here, 0:13:56.240 --> 0:13:59.800 turn eastward and hide in the care of Ravine east 0:13:59.800 --> 0:14:05.960 of the Jordan. Okay, that verse right there. It kind 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:09.280 of sounds on the surface like like God will tell 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:11.680 you everything that you need to do in your life. 0:14:11.679 --> 0:14:14.480 But I want to show you something very interesting about 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:17.160 how God spoke to Elijah. One time someone asked me, 0:14:17.520 --> 0:14:19.560 what do you mean when you say God spoke to me? 0:14:20.520 --> 0:14:23.200 And he asked it very innocently. He said, I hear 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:24.920 you preaching and say God spoke to me. I'm not 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:26.440 sure God ever spoke to me. What do you mean 0:14:26.480 --> 0:14:29.840 when you say God spoke to me? And the challenging 0:14:29.880 --> 0:14:33.400 thing about it was he was hearing that as a voice, 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:36.600 but really I meant it as a thought. I don't 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:42.800 experience God through my ears. I experienced him through my thoughts, 0:14:43.520 --> 0:14:45.640 and then I call it God spoke to me, but 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:48.640 I didn't hear a voice. And here's what's interesting about 0:14:48.640 --> 0:14:50.680 how how God was leading Elijah. Because you got to 0:14:51.160 --> 0:14:53.200 you got to pay attention to the small things in 0:14:53.240 --> 0:14:56.560 the text, because the little things matter. It said he 0:14:56.600 --> 0:14:59.400 told him leave here, turn eastward and hide into care 0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:02.200 of Thravinis to the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, 0:15:02.480 --> 0:15:05.400 and I have directed the ravens to supply you with 0:15:05.560 --> 0:15:11.560 food there. Whoe? Can we stop for a minute and 0:15:11.680 --> 0:15:20.200 talk about how ridiculous? How's this gonna work? We just 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:22.320 read it, right, we just skip right past it. Yeah, yeah, 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:24.880 you go down there in the birds, bring him the birds. 0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:31.360 Get ready for God to explode your box of how 0:15:31.400 --> 0:15:37.360 you think He's going to provide for you. Huh. We 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:39.880 have all these limitations on ways that we think God 0:15:39.920 --> 0:15:42.680 can take care of us. We have all these limitations 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:44.640 on ways that we think that God can take care 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:47.440 of our family. We have all these limitations on ways 0:15:47.480 --> 0:15:49.560 that we think God can use us. We have all 0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:51.960 these limitations on ways that we think that God can 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:55.320 order our life and ways that we think. But God said, 0:15:55.600 --> 0:15:58.600 get ready for me to take the lid off and 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:03.920 start blessing you through birds. And not just birds, not 0:16:04.040 --> 0:16:07.440 just any kind of birds. But I'm gonna use ravens, 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:14.680 unclean birds, dirty birds. Have you ever had God bless 0:16:14.760 --> 0:16:17.280 you through a dirty bird. I need you to put 0:16:17.280 --> 0:16:19.880 a dirty bird bless it in the chat. If you 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:23.920 ever had God use something just ridiculous, didn't make sense, 0:16:24.160 --> 0:16:27.240 didn't see it coming, didn't even like it. God has 0:16:27.360 --> 0:16:30.480 used people I didn't even like to bless me before 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:38.400 dirty birds. The ravens were dirty birds. God said, I'm 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:42.120 gonna I'm gonna use a dirty bird to feed you 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:47.560 by the charath ravine. And he does this for a while. 0:16:47.800 --> 0:16:49.400 He does this for a while. If I could tell 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:51.960 you the whole story, I would, because Ahab Now he 0:16:52.040 --> 0:16:54.280 needs to see that God controls the rain, not bail. 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:57.760 He needs to see that God controls the rain, not bail. 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:03.000 He needs to know that that God is in control, 0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:07.360 that God is not only in control of the big 0:17:07.359 --> 0:17:09.560 things in our life, but the small things in our life. 0:17:09.880 --> 0:17:12.360 Follow me, I promise you. This is a powerful, profound 0:17:12.400 --> 0:17:14.679 word for those who can receive it. And so he 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:19.040 takes Elijah to a place where he feeds him what 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:23.280 he needs in that season. Now, E've been in a 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:27.000 season lately where God hasn't been feeding you the same 0:17:27.000 --> 0:17:30.919 way he used to feed you. And the word is 0:17:30.960 --> 0:17:33.919 so relevant right now because up until now you had 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:36.399 a certain way of how you thought it had to be. 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:41.080 I had a certain way I thought church was supposed 0:17:41.119 --> 0:17:44.159 to be. I thought in order to have church, you 0:17:44.200 --> 0:17:48.400 had to let people in the building. But God took 0:17:48.400 --> 0:17:52.480 the lid off of that. Come on, God is trying 0:17:52.520 --> 0:17:54.640 to take the lid off of that just to show 0:17:54.680 --> 0:17:57.399 me that church is not just going to be contained 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:02.760 to a physical location. And now I'm setting you up. 0:18:03.560 --> 0:18:05.359 God is trying to show you the same thing. In 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:11.000 your life. You've had some people leave you because God 0:18:11.040 --> 0:18:14.280 wanted to show you that you don't need them to 0:18:14.320 --> 0:18:19.480 make it less. Claps, y'all were clapping when I talked 0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:23.000 about closing the church. That was weird. You just left 0:18:23.000 --> 0:18:26.320 me because what's what the Bible says. It says that 0:18:26.480 --> 0:18:30.959 every day the birds brought him bread in the morning 0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:34.520 and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank 0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:39.199 from the brook. But in verse seven, verse seven, it 0:18:39.280 --> 0:18:43.760 says that sometime later the brook dried up because there 0:18:43.800 --> 0:18:46.120 had been no rain in the land. Let's talk about 0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:49.200 cause and effect. The brook dried up because there had 0:18:49.240 --> 0:18:51.400 been no rain in the land. Why had there been 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:54.280 no rain in the land, Because Elijah spoke, there will 0:18:54.320 --> 0:18:56.560 be no rain in the land. So now he is 0:18:56.600 --> 0:19:04.600 the victim of the consequence of his own obedience. It's 0:19:04.640 --> 0:19:08.160 causing effect. And every day he goes out to get 0:19:08.240 --> 0:19:10.440 some water from the brook, there's a little bit less. 0:19:11.160 --> 0:19:12.800 And every day he goes out to get water from 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:15.320 the brook, it's a little bit less. And every day 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:16.840 he goes out to get water from the brook is 0:19:16.880 --> 0:19:19.600 a little bit less. And you gotta be wondering right 0:19:19.600 --> 0:19:23.600 about now, when is God gonna stop it from going down? 0:19:24.040 --> 0:19:26.640 Have you been wondering that lately? Like when is God 0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:29.520 gonna stop it from decreasing? And this is not a 0:19:29.520 --> 0:19:32.080 message for everybody. If you're living in a time of overflow, 0:19:32.200 --> 0:19:34.840 it's wonderful. I'll see it next week. I'll preach next week, 0:19:34.880 --> 0:19:37.159 I'll live it in the overflow. But this message is 0:19:37.200 --> 0:19:41.480 about the little bit every time he came to the brook. 0:19:41.560 --> 0:19:43.280 This did happen all at once. It's just a little 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:46.840 bit less, a little bit less, a little bit less, 0:19:47.480 --> 0:19:51.600 a little bit less until the point where one day 0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:56.479 it comes to the brook and there's nothing there and 0:19:56.560 --> 0:20:04.560 he has to move to the next mealracle. So how 0:20:04.560 --> 0:20:08.679 does God move you to your next miracle? Let me 0:20:08.720 --> 0:20:12.359 ask you a question. It's a conversation. Now, do you 0:20:12.440 --> 0:20:20.040 want God to lead you? How did God lead Elijah 0:20:20.680 --> 0:20:26.160 from the brook to the widow's house. How does God 0:20:26.200 --> 0:20:29.920 get us from where we are to where he's taking us? 0:20:30.280 --> 0:20:33.040 How does he get us from the good work he 0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:35.280 began to the good work he wants to finish. It 0:20:35.280 --> 0:20:38.320 may not be the way that you think, because the 0:20:38.359 --> 0:20:45.280 Bible says that God led Elijah to his next assignment 0:20:45.800 --> 0:20:52.600 through a limitation, give him a teaching stool. We often 0:20:52.640 --> 0:20:56.399 say things like, where God guides, he provides, and he does. 0:20:57.320 --> 0:20:59.200 He'll put a dirty bird to feed you by a brook. 0:20:59.840 --> 0:21:03.040 He'll show you a secret stash that nobody else in 0:21:03.040 --> 0:21:05.520 the neighborhood even knows about. How many know I'm right 0:21:05.520 --> 0:21:08.000 about it. God will encourage you in ways that are 0:21:08.040 --> 0:21:12.040 specific to you. But just as sure as that is true, 0:21:12.080 --> 0:21:17.880 this is also true. Sometimes God will lead you through 0:21:17.880 --> 0:21:24.840 what you lose. And this is the more painful thing 0:21:24.920 --> 0:21:29.040 to talk about, but I think it's very important. Is 0:21:29.119 --> 0:21:36.160 God trying to lead you by limitations? And is God 0:21:36.240 --> 0:21:39.480 trying to lead you just as much by the doors 0:21:39.520 --> 0:21:45.240 that he closes as the doors that he opens. If 0:21:45.240 --> 0:21:49.520 the brook had kept flowing, miraculously, Elijah never would have 0:21:49.600 --> 0:21:54.520 left that spot. If Elijah never would have left that spot, 0:21:54.920 --> 0:21:58.760 he never would have met that widow. If he never 0:21:58.800 --> 0:22:02.600 would have met that widow, that widow and her family 0:22:02.760 --> 0:22:06.080 would have died of starvation. If he never would have 0:22:06.160 --> 0:22:09.439 gone to Zaraphath, which was right in the heart of 0:22:09.560 --> 0:22:12.760 Bail territory, he never would have got to Mount Carmel, 0:22:12.880 --> 0:22:16.000 where he called down fire and the whole nation repented. 0:22:17.280 --> 0:22:20.959 Isn't it crazy how a little thing can lead to 0:22:21.000 --> 0:22:24.679 a big thing. Isn't it weird how something can go 0:22:24.800 --> 0:22:27.640 all over the world but start with one little connection. 0:22:28.119 --> 0:22:31.240 Isn't it crazy how God can can use something in 0:22:31.280 --> 0:22:34.000 your life that you thought it was bad, but later 0:22:34.080 --> 0:22:36.720 you look back and say, no, it wasn't a bad thing. 0:22:37.040 --> 0:22:39.520 It was just a thing that led to a thing. 0:22:41.160 --> 0:22:43.719 It's just a thing that leads to a thing. So 0:22:44.040 --> 0:22:48.639 all things work together for the good. So if the 0:22:48.680 --> 0:22:53.520 brook doesn't dry up, Elijah doesn't move on. If they 0:22:53.560 --> 0:22:56.840 didn't break your heart, you wouldn't have learned the lesson 0:22:56.880 --> 0:23:01.199 that you learned. If you didn't go through Goliath, you 0:23:01.240 --> 0:23:04.280 wouldn't have been ready to be a king. If you 0:23:04.320 --> 0:23:06.960 hadn't been thrown in a pit, you wouldn't have been 0:23:07.000 --> 0:23:11.119 positioned in eg to feeds the aerations. You met it 0:23:11.200 --> 0:23:17.679 for evil, but God used it for good. Put it 0:23:17.680 --> 0:23:20.720 in the chat. Take the lid off. Take the lid off. 0:23:21.320 --> 0:23:23.800 You know we have all of these lids, or I 0:23:23.800 --> 0:23:26.720 could call it all of these limitations on the ways 0:23:26.800 --> 0:23:29.560 that we think God can move. And if it feels good, 0:23:29.600 --> 0:23:31.720 we think it's God. And if it feels bad, we 0:23:31.760 --> 0:23:34.199 think it's the devil. But God is calling us to 0:23:34.280 --> 0:23:40.639 recategorize in this season of our life. I prove it 0:23:40.680 --> 0:23:45.200 to you. David came to Goliath and saw him as 0:23:46.000 --> 0:23:48.800 a meal ticket. The rest of the nation saw him 0:23:48.840 --> 0:23:54.359 as an enemy. The king said, if you kill Goliath, 0:23:54.880 --> 0:23:57.199 you never pay taxes again, and you can marry my 0:23:57.240 --> 0:24:03.479 heart daughter, the hot one. David said, what now, let 0:24:03.520 --> 0:24:07.920 me do the math on this. Okay, how big is he? 0:24:08.000 --> 0:24:17.880 It doesn't matter. What's this because a little thing I'm 0:24:17.880 --> 0:24:21.000 waiting on. I'm to catch up. You look like you 0:24:21.480 --> 0:24:24.200 look like you know the power of a little thing. 0:24:25.040 --> 0:24:28.760 A little thing. Saul said, you're only a boy. You 0:24:28.800 --> 0:24:33.760 can't fight him. He's nine feet tall. You think somebody 0:24:33.840 --> 0:24:36.720 as little as you can kill somebody as big as him, 0:24:36.920 --> 0:24:39.679 and David said, no, no, no, I only look little. 0:24:40.720 --> 0:24:44.080 See the reason I look little is because I have 0:24:44.200 --> 0:24:48.679 to be hidden. I'm a secret weapon. A secret weapon 0:24:48.720 --> 0:24:53.240 can't be real. Big. God had to sneak me to 0:24:53.400 --> 0:24:56.160 the battle line. And how did he get there? How 0:24:56.160 --> 0:24:59.960 did he get there through bringing a lunch to his brother? 0:25:00.200 --> 0:25:03.000 That's a little thing. What did he see when he 0:25:03.040 --> 0:25:06.400 got there? A nine foot tall giant? That's a big thing. 0:25:07.119 --> 0:25:11.040 Isn't it crazy how a little thing can lead to 0:25:11.080 --> 0:25:17.000 a big thing? How you coming through Monk's Corner South 0:25:17.040 --> 0:25:23.000 Carolina could lead to lead me to Christ? Isn't that 0:25:23.040 --> 0:25:26.199 crazy that I went to North Greenville and met my 0:25:26.240 --> 0:25:28.879 wife because you came through Monk's Corner, because you signed 0:25:28.960 --> 0:25:35.240 up for the ministry and you obedience, little thing, Take 0:25:35.240 --> 0:25:39.760 the lid off a little, because I found out that 0:25:39.800 --> 0:25:41.440 what you call little might be the thing that God 0:25:41.520 --> 0:25:48.280 leads you to. What is exceeding abundantly above or beyond 0:25:48.280 --> 0:25:51.480 what you could ask her imagine? So he gets there, 0:25:51.640 --> 0:25:54.159 Let's look at this a little deeper, y'all want to 0:25:54.240 --> 0:25:57.639 keep going? Man, the Lord has been speaking to me. 0:25:58.720 --> 0:26:02.080 It says that when he got there, he saw a 0:26:02.080 --> 0:26:07.320 widow who was working on her last meal. She was 0:26:07.320 --> 0:26:09.320 made the final arrangements for her and her son to eat. 0:26:09.680 --> 0:26:11.679 And I think the reason Lord led me to this 0:26:11.720 --> 0:26:15.080 text is because so many of us are worried about 0:26:15.119 --> 0:26:19.400 our families these days, you know, on every level. And 0:26:19.960 --> 0:26:22.120 I'm hearing it from people who have young children, I'm 0:26:22.119 --> 0:26:25.719 hearing it from people who have elderly parents. We're worried. 0:26:25.840 --> 0:26:31.320 It's it's hard for us right now to trust God 0:26:32.000 --> 0:26:36.639 with the things that we can't control. And as some 0:26:37.000 --> 0:26:39.040 of the parents here in Charlotte are getting ready to 0:26:39.320 --> 0:26:42.160 try to figure out how am I going to homeschool 0:26:42.160 --> 0:26:45.760 my kids another year? You know, when I barely got 0:26:45.800 --> 0:26:51.000 out of high school myself, and and we're all in 0:26:51.080 --> 0:26:54.040 this thing together. In a sense, the whole nation was 0:26:54.080 --> 0:26:57.239 going through a drop. But now, notice Elijah was not 0:26:57.400 --> 0:27:00.560 led to somebody that was likely, and he was not 0:27:00.680 --> 0:27:04.240 led to somebody who was rich or wealthy. He was 0:27:04.320 --> 0:27:07.320 led to somebody that, in the world's eyes, was little. 0:27:10.480 --> 0:27:14.720 Be careful what you labeled little. When you label it little, 0:27:14.760 --> 0:27:19.399 it becomes a lid. And some of us have so 0:27:19.560 --> 0:27:24.840 compartmentalized how God works in some of us have even 0:27:24.920 --> 0:27:28.760 belittle ourselves. Now you're going to see the woman coming 0:27:28.800 --> 0:27:31.440 to Elijah and she needs a big miracle. How many 0:27:31.480 --> 0:27:34.040 would agree that for God to provide for you in 0:27:34.040 --> 0:27:37.200 a time of famine, that's a big miracle. And I'm 0:27:37.200 --> 0:27:38.720 just going to take it one step further, if you 0:27:38.720 --> 0:27:41.120 don't mind being honest. How many of you need God 0:27:41.160 --> 0:27:42.880 in a big way in this season of your life, 0:27:42.920 --> 0:27:46.280 whether it's direction or comfort or energy or any of that. 0:27:46.359 --> 0:27:48.320 Raise your hand. I need God in a big way 0:27:48.320 --> 0:27:52.720 in this season of my life. So I was surprised 0:27:52.720 --> 0:27:57.960 when God led me to preach on little in a pandemic. 0:27:59.080 --> 0:28:05.359 It felt obscene to preach about a little when some 0:28:05.440 --> 0:28:10.440 of us need a lot right now. And the prophet 0:28:10.440 --> 0:28:15.560 comes up to the woman and asks her for a 0:28:15.640 --> 0:28:23.960 little everybody say little, say it in falsetto a little 0:28:25.480 --> 0:28:29.320 little water. And as she was going to get it, 0:28:29.359 --> 0:28:33.320 he called and a piece of bread, and that triggered 0:28:33.320 --> 0:28:43.080 her because she has a little. When you feel limited, 0:28:43.720 --> 0:28:47.120 you operate in fear. This took me a while to 0:28:47.160 --> 0:28:53.040 realize because I thought people sometimes were being selfish. Beneath 0:28:53.600 --> 0:28:57.280 what appeared as selfish behavior was really that they were scared. 0:29:00.040 --> 0:29:05.720 And it's easy to mistake. Scared for selfish. The woman 0:29:05.840 --> 0:29:10.480 sounds selfish on the surface because instead of giving hospitality 0:29:10.480 --> 0:29:13.120 to the man of God, she says, I don't have 0:29:13.400 --> 0:29:16.440 any bread verse twelve, only a handful of flour and 0:29:16.480 --> 0:29:22.440 a jar and a little olive oil. So watch this, 0:29:22.600 --> 0:29:25.480 she says, I don't have any bread. I only have 0:29:27.000 --> 0:29:30.640 a little bit. And notice what the prophet tells her 0:29:30.720 --> 0:29:35.040 to do. He says, take the little that you have, 0:29:36.880 --> 0:29:39.479 and if you'll make something out of what you have, 0:29:41.160 --> 0:29:45.880 God will make sure that you have enough. Okay, this 0:29:46.320 --> 0:29:51.040 is the word of the Lord. Take the lid off, 0:29:51.040 --> 0:29:57.239 a little little bit of oil, all right, take the 0:29:57.280 --> 0:30:00.760 lid off a little because you say this a little. 0:30:02.080 --> 0:30:08.880 But the thing about God is God likes little. He does. 0:30:09.000 --> 0:30:12.800 How did he send his son to the earth as 0:30:12.800 --> 0:30:18.760 a what you mean, not as a superhero, but as 0:30:18.760 --> 0:30:23.520 a baby? Say it? God likes little? Wait, joy, this 0:30:23.600 --> 0:30:29.480 is your word. God likes little. Come on, God likes little. 0:30:30.560 --> 0:30:32.400 I'll prove it to you. I'll prove it to you. 0:30:32.760 --> 0:30:36.840 Who does God choose to start a nation with one man? 0:30:38.400 --> 0:30:42.479 Yell and believe me, yell, don't believe me. God likes little. Okay, 0:30:43.080 --> 0:30:46.520 how about this? He wants to deliver the nation from 0:30:46.600 --> 0:30:50.400 Midianite oppression. Who does he come to Gideon? Look it 0:30:50.480 --> 0:30:53.840 up in Judges chapter six in the Holy Bible. In 0:30:53.920 --> 0:30:57.080 Judges chapter six, he comes to Gideon. And who is 0:30:57.120 --> 0:31:03.600 Gideon the smallest in the least? Why God likes little? 0:31:04.880 --> 0:31:08.480 Oh no, I'm just I'm sorry. I'm just I'm sorry. 0:31:08.520 --> 0:31:12.760 I'm just over here. God likes little. I'll prove it 0:31:12.760 --> 0:31:15.360 to you. When get and got ready to fight, he 0:31:15.480 --> 0:31:18.600 had a big army. God took him from twenty two 0:31:18.640 --> 0:31:22.920 thousand to ten thousand. Why did God do that? God 0:31:23.360 --> 0:31:28.080 likes little? Then God sets something really crazy. You still 0:31:28.120 --> 0:31:31.760 got too much. You still will take credit if I 0:31:31.880 --> 0:31:34.520 do it with ten thousand, you'll think it was you. 0:31:35.120 --> 0:31:37.960 So God had to take Giddy in all the way down. 0:31:38.160 --> 0:31:41.600 Get ready to shout to three hundred. This message is 0:31:41.680 --> 0:31:45.360 for somebody who has been reduced. You don't have what 0:31:45.440 --> 0:31:48.560 you used to have. You don't feel strong and sure. 0:31:48.960 --> 0:31:51.600 You used to know so much. Now you don't know 0:31:51.720 --> 0:31:54.560 as much. But God likes it when you come to 0:31:54.640 --> 0:31:57.400 him with a little bit. It gives him something to fill, 0:31:57.760 --> 0:32:00.560 It gives him something to prove, It gives him something 0:32:00.600 --> 0:32:03.280 to work with. It gives him a canvas to pain on. 0:32:03.840 --> 0:32:06.000 God said, I want to get you down to the 0:32:06.080 --> 0:32:15.880 point he must become greater, I must become less. Take 0:32:15.880 --> 0:32:17.959 your little get, your little get, your little get, your 0:32:17.960 --> 0:32:20.320 little I feel God on this. Get your little get, 0:32:20.320 --> 0:32:24.239 your little get, your little get, your little praise, and 0:32:24.280 --> 0:32:27.800 give it to God right now. Yeah, that's a little praise. 0:32:28.000 --> 0:32:32.880 That's a little praise exactly because some people right now 0:32:33.720 --> 0:32:36.120 you can't give God a big praise. Give him a 0:32:36.160 --> 0:32:39.080 little praise, Give him a little praise, Give him a 0:32:39.080 --> 0:32:42.800 little under your breath. Uh you give a little thank you, Jesus, 0:32:42.800 --> 0:32:44.960 Give me a little thank you, Jesus with the attitude, 0:32:45.080 --> 0:32:49.040 because God likes little despise. Not the day of small beginnings. 0:32:49.080 --> 0:32:51.280 Because I'm telling you what's gonna happen. If you start 0:32:51.320 --> 0:32:56.040 getting grateful, if you start magnifying what God means to you, 0:32:56.440 --> 0:32:59.640 if you start giving God a little praise, watch out, 0:33:00.040 --> 0:33:03.080 it's about the snowball. It's about to get Come on 0:33:03.160 --> 0:33:05.760 and try it. Some of you have not praised God 0:33:06.200 --> 0:33:09.920 all week, So right now, give him a little praise 0:33:10.400 --> 0:33:14.680 in your little apartment watching me preache on your little iPhone. 0:33:15.240 --> 0:33:20.560 God likes little give sim something to expend, give him 0:33:20.680 --> 0:33:24.560 something to grow, get zim something to get glory. F 0:33:26.840 --> 0:33:31.160 take the lid off a little. Come on, come on, 0:33:31.560 --> 0:33:34.040 just a little, just a little, just a little, just 0:33:34.080 --> 0:33:36.160 a little, just a little, take the lid off just 0:33:36.200 --> 0:33:37.880 a little. Come on. You don't have to run around 0:33:37.920 --> 0:33:39.920 the house or anything like that, just a little. Just 0:33:39.960 --> 0:33:42.000 take the lid off a little. Just look up a little. 0:33:42.160 --> 0:33:44.160 Just give God a little praise. Just lift your hands 0:33:44.240 --> 0:33:46.480 right here, just to right here. Just lift your fingers, 0:33:46.600 --> 0:33:49.520 lift your thumb, lift your pinky, give God a pinky praise. 0:33:49.800 --> 0:33:53.720 I promise you God likes little. God likes when you 0:33:53.880 --> 0:33:56.480 take your little bit and take the lid off and 0:33:56.600 --> 0:34:01.040 start pouring out praises and dry places. God said, I'm 0:34:01.080 --> 0:34:06.840 gonna visit you, but you gotta take the lid off 0:34:08.000 --> 0:34:12.640 a little. Will you give them a little? Will you 0:34:12.680 --> 0:34:16.080 give God a little faith? You have to have a great, 0:34:16.120 --> 0:34:19.520 big faith. You don't have to. You know, we get 0:34:19.520 --> 0:34:23.000 so caught up on big things. God doesn't need you 0:34:23.040 --> 0:34:25.960 to have such a big faith. He said, if you 0:34:26.000 --> 0:34:31.440 have faith like a like a little seed, like a 0:34:31.480 --> 0:34:35.439 little seed. You see how high my voice is. That's 0:34:35.480 --> 0:34:40.319 how little of a seed is. No no, no, no, no, 0:34:40.360 --> 0:34:43.560 He said, don't be afraid take the little that you have. 0:34:44.280 --> 0:34:47.200 I'm not saying this a little, but I'm saying take 0:34:47.200 --> 0:34:52.120 the lid off a little, take the lid off a little, 0:34:53.200 --> 0:34:57.239 and take the lid off a little. Why do we 0:34:57.360 --> 0:35:03.520 belittle what God gave us? Why do we do that? What? 0:35:05.120 --> 0:35:09.399 Why do we see ourselves as grasshoppers when God has 0:35:09.440 --> 0:35:15.200 given us a promised land called Canaan. You ever thought 0:35:15.239 --> 0:35:18.200 about the reason that the nation didn't go into Canaan 0:35:19.680 --> 0:35:25.319 was because they made themselves small. We're too little, We're 0:35:25.360 --> 0:35:31.719 too little. Okay, all right, let's sit down. Let me 0:35:31.760 --> 0:35:33.000 tell you a story. I got in a fight with 0:35:33.040 --> 0:35:38.359 Holly yesterday. My fault wasn't a huge fight, but we 0:35:38.400 --> 0:35:41.520 don't even fight that much. I mean, it's been it's 0:35:41.560 --> 0:35:45.520 been a minute. But she was trying to encourage me 0:35:45.600 --> 0:35:48.880 yesterday and I couldn't receive it. That's the bottom line, 0:35:49.560 --> 0:35:51.000 you want to know the bottom line. This is what 0:35:51.080 --> 0:35:52.439 I had to go back and tell her an hour 0:35:52.560 --> 0:35:55.959 later because the Holy Spirit, you know how the Holy 0:35:56.000 --> 0:35:59.719 Spirit will speak to you in that little voice. He's 0:35:59.719 --> 0:36:05.080 not real loud, just a little voice told me. Now 0:36:05.080 --> 0:36:08.359 you know that she was trying to help you, and 0:36:08.400 --> 0:36:10.200 you know that the reason that you really got angry 0:36:10.280 --> 0:36:13.719 is because you were really afraid. I'm gonna tell you 0:36:13.719 --> 0:36:17.600 the story behind it. This will be my marriage therapy 0:36:17.680 --> 0:36:27.640 for the I've been writing for a few months. I've 0:36:27.680 --> 0:36:30.799 been working on a book, but I won't call it 0:36:30.840 --> 0:36:33.640 a book. I haven't called it a book. All I'll 0:36:33.680 --> 0:36:37.480 say is I'm writing, and I've been writing and revising 0:36:37.480 --> 0:36:40.560 and writing and revising. And it's been about five years 0:36:40.560 --> 0:36:44.520 since I've put a book out. The reason it's been 0:36:44.520 --> 0:36:47.399 five years since I put a book out is because 0:36:47.400 --> 0:36:49.240 something got in my head and say, you're not an author, 0:36:52.920 --> 0:36:57.279 you know, And isn't it crazy how a little thought 0:36:57.280 --> 0:37:03.239 can get in your head? And then something little little 0:37:03.239 --> 0:37:06.640 and five years later then I hadn't put a book out. 0:37:06.760 --> 0:37:11.000 And turning forty this year got me thinking, Like we 0:37:11.000 --> 0:37:13.120 were talking about this the other day, I felt some urgency. 0:37:14.360 --> 0:37:16.760 And when we were creating songs for our last album, 0:37:16.800 --> 0:37:19.520 they just kept coming, they kept flowing, kept flowing just 0:37:19.600 --> 0:37:22.560 right till the last minute, and I decided I was 0:37:22.600 --> 0:37:25.200 going to try to write a book this year. And 0:37:25.360 --> 0:37:31.600 yesterday I took the book through its second revision and 0:37:32.160 --> 0:37:36.520 with my finger shaking. I put it, put the mouse 0:37:36.560 --> 0:37:39.680 over sind on an email and sent it to the editor, 0:37:42.360 --> 0:37:46.919 and Holly was trying to tell me congratulations. I didn't 0:37:46.960 --> 0:37:52.000 want to hear it because if I acknowledged that it's 0:37:52.040 --> 0:37:55.560 a big deal, then it means that it could fail. 0:37:58.920 --> 0:38:02.680 I shouldn't be telling you all lot all this. Yeah, y'all, y'all, 0:38:02.680 --> 0:38:04.719 really y'all, really, y'all really don't deserve to know all 0:38:04.719 --> 0:38:07.880 this about my marriage and all this is this is ridiculous. 0:38:10.120 --> 0:38:16.000 And I got mad angry because really I was afraid, 0:38:17.680 --> 0:38:24.160 and in the process of analyzing why, I was basically 0:38:24.200 --> 0:38:29.480 telling her, don't try to encourage me. She said, she said, 0:38:29.760 --> 0:38:32.640 congratulations on sending your book off. I said, it's not 0:38:32.680 --> 0:38:37.160 a book yet, It's just a document. You see what 0:38:37.200 --> 0:38:41.800 I'm doing. Belittle it because the moment I call it 0:38:41.840 --> 0:38:45.239 a book, the moment I call it a book, that 0:38:45.280 --> 0:38:46.880 means others are going to read it. If others read it, 0:38:46.880 --> 0:38:50.200 that means they can judge it. So as long as 0:38:50.239 --> 0:38:53.920 I keep it little, it's a fear move. It's just 0:38:54.000 --> 0:38:58.919 a little oil, right, what she was trying to get 0:38:58.960 --> 0:39:02.160 me to do, and she was right, you hear that 0:39:02.440 --> 0:39:15.640 you were. You're right, she said. At some point you 0:39:15.800 --> 0:39:20.960 have got to start speaking what you want to see. 0:39:21.520 --> 0:39:25.240 She said, it's a whole chapter in your book. Speak 0:39:25.280 --> 0:39:29.520 what you want to see. I'm not even doing the 0:39:29.640 --> 0:39:33.799 chapter I wrote because if I speak it, that makes 0:39:33.840 --> 0:39:36.680 it real. But if I make it little, I can 0:39:36.760 --> 0:39:40.120 hide it. Now, do you see why you put yourself down? 0:39:41.040 --> 0:39:42.960 Because if you, if you, if you ever come out 0:39:43.000 --> 0:39:46.920 and say you know God can do this. I'm walking 0:39:47.000 --> 0:39:49.960 on the water, say the word Jesus and I'll come. 0:39:50.480 --> 0:39:58.799 But if I come, that means I can slip. So 0:39:58.840 --> 0:40:00.480 I'd rather know. It's more than a good word, this 0:40:00.640 --> 0:40:02.279 power of God coming through right now. This is a 0:40:02.280 --> 0:40:06.080 great word, because this word is helping you to see 0:40:06.080 --> 0:40:08.759 sometimes why you talk to yourself the way you talk 0:40:08.800 --> 0:40:12.760 to yourself only got a little oil. Take the lid 0:40:12.800 --> 0:40:20.600 off a little. God likes little. God. God likes little 0:40:20.640 --> 0:40:24.720 so much that when he wanted Naming to be healed 0:40:25.560 --> 0:40:29.200 of leprosy, he used a little servant girl in his 0:40:29.280 --> 0:40:34.240 house to send him to the prophet. God likes little. 0:40:36.040 --> 0:40:38.600 And I'm gonna tell you something, if you take the 0:40:38.640 --> 0:40:41.600 lid off the little bit that you have, it won't 0:40:41.600 --> 0:40:49.360 be little for long. Baby praises grow into big, groom big, 0:40:49.800 --> 0:40:53.319 just wopping praises. I dare you to say it, by faith, 0:40:53.320 --> 0:40:56.239 it won't be little long. It won't be little long. 0:40:56.880 --> 0:41:01.040 I see a cloud the size of a man's I 0:41:02.200 --> 0:41:05.319 see a cloud the size of a man's hand. Now 0:41:05.360 --> 0:41:08.920 see At first, Elijah heard the sound of rain. Right, 0:41:09.080 --> 0:41:11.759 this is first King's chapter eighteen. I moved on from 0:41:11.840 --> 0:41:15.279 chapter seventeen. I'm moving to chapter eighteen. He said, I 0:41:15.320 --> 0:41:18.200 hear the sound of the abundance of rain, but I 0:41:18.239 --> 0:41:21.640 can't see it yet. I can't see it yet. And 0:41:21.680 --> 0:41:23.840 then when the servant went to look for it, he said, 0:41:24.239 --> 0:41:27.479 I see it now, but it's little. But Elijah knows. 0:41:27.560 --> 0:41:34.239 God likes little. God likes little. God likes it when 0:41:34.280 --> 0:41:38.120 you're untrained. God likes it when you're the when you 0:41:38.160 --> 0:41:41.000 feel like you're the only one. God likes it when 0:41:41.000 --> 0:41:43.719 you need him. God likes it when you're not arrogant. 0:41:43.920 --> 0:41:47.440 God likes it when you humble yourself under his mighty hand. 0:41:49.840 --> 0:41:53.160 Would you take the lid off a little, just go 0:41:53.280 --> 0:41:55.400 look again, and say, God, you know, I know I 0:41:55.400 --> 0:41:57.680 don't have much strength right now, but you have given 0:41:57.719 --> 0:41:59.960 me some strength. God, I know I don't have every game, 0:42:00.239 --> 0:42:02.760 but you have given me some gift. It's only little 0:42:03.239 --> 0:42:07.520 if you look at it next to something bigger. By 0:42:07.560 --> 0:42:13.040 the way I found this out flying on airplanes, everything 0:42:13.080 --> 0:42:20.520 looks little if you get up above it, high enough everything. 0:42:22.120 --> 0:42:25.680 If you get up high enough above it, everything looks little. 0:42:27.960 --> 0:42:29.640 Some of the things that look so big to you 0:42:29.719 --> 0:42:31.440 today that you don't see how you're going to overcome 0:42:31.480 --> 0:42:37.239 them when you get the altitude, when you begin to 0:42:37.280 --> 0:42:42.080 worship God, when you begin to trust Him in this moment, 0:42:42.120 --> 0:42:45.200 and take the lid off. Come on, put it in 0:42:45.200 --> 0:42:46.880 the chat. Take the lid off, Take the lid off, 0:42:46.920 --> 0:42:49.800 take the little If you get up high enough, that's 0:42:49.840 --> 0:42:53.200 what worship does. That's what coming too, the word of 0:42:53.239 --> 0:42:57.120 God does. It takes the lid off. And if you 0:42:57.160 --> 0:43:00.520 get up high enough, I promise you you're the problems 0:43:00.560 --> 0:43:02.520 are not going to look as big as they look 0:43:02.640 --> 0:43:05.960 right now. And I'm speaking by the spirit of the 0:43:06.000 --> 0:43:09.960 Lord to somebody who is about to run out. I mean, 0:43:09.960 --> 0:43:12.560 you're about to run out of ideas to save your business, 0:43:13.040 --> 0:43:14.959 You're about to run out of ways to get through 0:43:14.960 --> 0:43:18.360 to your kid, You're about to run out of patience, desire, 0:43:18.760 --> 0:43:22.200 passion you're about to run out. Here's the miracle. It 0:43:22.320 --> 0:43:24.840 does not say that when the woman did what Elijah 0:43:24.920 --> 0:43:27.799 told her to do, that she got more flower and 0:43:27.880 --> 0:43:30.960 more oil. It says that what she had didn't run out. 0:43:32.800 --> 0:43:36.480 So here's what God showed me. It'll always look little, 0:43:37.040 --> 0:43:45.920 but it will never run out. As I close this message, 0:43:46.680 --> 0:43:49.600 I want to know, are you willing to take the 0:43:49.640 --> 0:43:57.279 lid off of your little and stop putting limitations on 0:43:57.360 --> 0:44:00.480 what God can do through you? Right now? I know 0:44:00.600 --> 0:44:03.080 it looks little. I know the little bit that you 0:44:03.200 --> 0:44:06.239 have to offer seems so insignificant in the face of 0:44:06.280 --> 0:44:11.720 the challenge that you're up against. But God likes little. 0:44:14.080 --> 0:44:17.080 In fact, the scripture says that the sufferings of this 0:44:17.120 --> 0:44:19.520 present time are not worthy to be compared with the 0:44:19.560 --> 0:44:23.400 glory that will be revealed. What God is going to 0:44:23.440 --> 0:44:26.520 do through your life in this season is going to 0:44:26.640 --> 0:44:30.280 lead to something that will outweigh everything you've been through 0:44:31.280 --> 0:44:35.160 to get through. Stand on your feet in the room 0:44:35.160 --> 0:44:38.400 as I close. The Lord sent me here today to 0:44:38.400 --> 0:44:42.040 get your altitude up higher so that you can see 0:44:42.080 --> 0:44:47.080 things like he seesed. And what that woman had wasn't much, 0:44:47.120 --> 0:44:50.560 but it was enough and This is the tension that 0:44:50.640 --> 0:44:55.840 we live in. It's not much, but it's still enough. 0:44:57.920 --> 0:45:02.160 And if you can hold those two tensions, then you 0:45:02.160 --> 0:45:08.440 can live by truth and not by sight. Father, your 0:45:08.480 --> 0:45:13.560 word is powerful. Your word controls the weather. And not 0:45:13.640 --> 0:45:17.920 only that, but your word commands birds to feed us 0:45:17.960 --> 0:45:21.799 in places along the way. We stand before you right 0:45:21.840 --> 0:45:24.640 now as a global community in the middle of a 0:45:24.680 --> 0:45:28.840 situation that we have no frame of reference for. Not 0:45:29.000 --> 0:45:32.520 only is that true of our nations, that's true of 0:45:32.560 --> 0:45:37.160 our households, that's true of our plans. And as we 0:45:37.200 --> 0:45:40.719 stand before you in this place, God, what we have 0:45:40.920 --> 0:45:46.880 seems so little in comparison to what we need. But 0:45:46.960 --> 0:45:50.040 I hear you say and take the lid off, and 0:45:50.080 --> 0:45:53.120 I think that means you want to exceed our expectations 0:45:53.120 --> 0:45:55.800 in this season. And I want you to know the 0:45:55.880 --> 0:45:59.640 Lord that I'm open to it. And for everybody who 0:45:59.640 --> 0:46:03.000 will come into agreement with this word, I join my 0:46:03.120 --> 0:46:07.399 faith with them that it may look little, but it'll 0:46:07.400 --> 0:46:13.320 always be enough. It will always be enough. The miracle 0:46:13.440 --> 0:46:17.080 is not that it overflowed all at once. The miracle 0:46:17.160 --> 0:46:20.520 is that it never ran out. And I speak over 0:46:20.600 --> 0:46:24.040 your life, and I speak over your family and I 0:46:24.120 --> 0:46:28.799 speak over your finances. It will always be enough. I 0:46:28.840 --> 0:46:31.640 know it doesn't look like much, feel like much, and 0:46:31.760 --> 0:46:34.120 seem like much, But come on up here and get 0:46:34.160 --> 0:46:37.920 abuffet for a minute, Come on get up here above 0:46:37.920 --> 0:46:41.600 it for a minute where we are seated in heavenly 0:46:41.760 --> 0:46:50.239 places with Jesus. God always uses little things to lead us. 0:46:51.920 --> 0:46:54.000 And I'm going to stay in this moment, Father, because 0:46:54.960 --> 0:46:58.879 I feel you telling me too. For somebody who has 0:46:58.960 --> 0:47:03.200 just a a little bit of faith, a little bit 0:47:03.239 --> 0:47:09.880 of strength, a little bit of hope, I got a 0:47:09.880 --> 0:47:15.000 little bit left. The woman said. Elijah said, all right, 0:47:16.239 --> 0:47:22.480 take the lid off of your little and watch God 0:47:23.120 --> 0:47:30.839 keep supplying. And that's exactly what God did. God has 0:47:30.920 --> 0:47:37.360 been using our problems to position us for his purpose. 0:47:38.600 --> 0:47:42.040 We are not here by accident, and we are not 0:47:42.200 --> 0:47:51.440 in sufficient Thank you Lord for the little. As I 0:47:51.480 --> 0:47:55.560 go through my week this week, I want to see 0:47:55.600 --> 0:47:59.880 the little miracles You're doing. How am I going to 0:48:00.160 --> 0:48:04.640 around and wait when something be When these little miracles 0:48:04.680 --> 0:48:09.000 just keep happening all around me, even right now? What 0:48:09.120 --> 0:48:13.000 a wonder that I could reach around the globe and 0:48:13.080 --> 0:48:16.960 speak a word that could reach somebody right in the 0:48:17.000 --> 0:48:20.400 middle of what they're going through. Somebody right now is 0:48:20.440 --> 0:48:24.160 hearing this word in the darkest season of their life. 0:48:24.320 --> 0:48:26.920 Somebody in the midst of their confusion. Somebody just needed 0:48:27.080 --> 0:48:30.080 in encouragement to keep going today. And your word controls 0:48:30.120 --> 0:48:34.120 the weather. Thank you, Jesus, Your word controls the weather. 0:48:35.320 --> 0:48:42.799 Help us to help us to speak and see like 0:48:42.880 --> 0:48:47.840 you speak, and like you see. We might feel like 0:48:47.880 --> 0:48:51.680 Moses sometimes I just got a little staff in my hand. 0:48:53.080 --> 0:48:56.959 What am I against so many? But Lord, I believe 0:48:57.000 --> 0:49:00.680 you like little things. I really believe you little things. 0:49:01.120 --> 0:49:02.600 I think you like it when we do the little 0:49:02.600 --> 0:49:06.160 things with excellence. I believe you are pleased with the 0:49:06.200 --> 0:49:09.440 people who are doing the little things. You who could 0:49:09.440 --> 0:49:13.160 be faithful with little will be faithful and much. We 0:49:13.280 --> 0:49:16.799 thank you for it. Right now, in this moment, God, 0:49:16.800 --> 0:49:21.480 I believe you're drawing somebody to yourself. God. I pray 0:49:21.520 --> 0:49:24.439 for those who have felt far away from You during 0:49:24.440 --> 0:49:28.320 the season. I pray for those who have felt dislocated 0:49:29.239 --> 0:49:31.799 and maybe even in their spirit, they have felt like 0:49:31.920 --> 0:49:35.080 giving up on themselves. They still believe in You, but 0:49:35.120 --> 0:49:39.840 they don't believe in them. They feel little, be little. 0:49:40.880 --> 0:49:43.080 The voice inside of them is telling them so much 0:49:43.120 --> 0:49:47.080 they've started to believe it. But now, God of all Grace, 0:49:48.160 --> 0:49:52.040 we invite you to come into those places and fill 0:49:52.120 --> 0:49:55.279 those spaces that are empty with your glory. You can 0:49:55.320 --> 0:49:59.120 do that as we lift our hands in your presence today. 0:49:59.160 --> 0:50:02.520 Go ahead and get them up. We're taking the lid off. 0:50:03.640 --> 0:50:08.280 We're taking the lid off. You can come through the ceiling, 0:50:08.360 --> 0:50:10.960 you can come through the internet, you can come through YouTube. 0:50:11.080 --> 0:50:13.920 We're taking the lid off. You can bless us through 0:50:13.960 --> 0:50:15.799 a bird, you can bless us through a widow. You 0:50:15.800 --> 0:50:18.360 can bless us in zero fat. You can do anything. 0:50:19.000 --> 0:50:20.880 You can do all things. The only thing you can't 0:50:20.880 --> 0:50:24.240 do is fail. So God, we have faith to believe 0:50:24.360 --> 0:50:27.840 that the flower won't run out and the oil won't 0:50:28.040 --> 0:50:32.000 run dry until the day you sin rain. God, you 0:50:32.080 --> 0:50:34.840 control the weather. We obey the word. Where you speak 0:50:34.880 --> 0:50:37.880 will go. I thank you, Lord. This is a turning 0:50:37.920 --> 0:50:41.600 point for somebody. This is a turning point for someone's heart. 0:50:42.880 --> 0:50:47.680 And we worship you in this moment. We worship you 0:50:47.719 --> 0:50:51.000 for who you are. We thank you that according to 0:50:51.040 --> 0:50:56.000 your word, it will be done in Jesus' name. Come 0:50:56.000 --> 0:51:03.320 on and give God the praise wherever you are. Wow, 0:51:04.520 --> 0:51:07.680 take the lid off a little. I might need to 0:51:07.719 --> 0:51:11.160 do a part two on that. I pray you received it. 0:51:11.120 --> 0:51:14.400 It's so important right now that we open ourselves to 0:51:14.480 --> 0:51:16.960 all the ways that God wants to bless us and 0:51:17.040 --> 0:51:19.880 all the ways that God wants to use us. And 0:51:19.920 --> 0:51:24.520 I just pray, like He provided for Elijah with the birds, 0:51:24.560 --> 0:51:28.040 like he provided for the lady in's air fat through Elijah, 0:51:28.440 --> 0:51:30.799 that He would just meet every need in your life 0:51:30.840 --> 0:51:35.280 right now. I don't know whether that's emotional or physical, 0:51:35.400 --> 0:51:37.719 but I know that God is the one who can 0:51:37.760 --> 0:51:41.160 control the weather. And I just pray this week that 0:51:41.280 --> 0:51:45.840 you would see God's provision all around you in unusual ways, 0:51:46.480 --> 0:51:50.000 coming from unusual sources. Maybe God's going to speak a 0:51:50.040 --> 0:51:52.440 word of encouragement through you this week to somebody, but 0:51:52.520 --> 0:51:55.719 whatever it is, just know that we love you. Thank 0:51:55.760 --> 0:51:57.600 you for doing the little things. You know, those of 0:51:57.640 --> 0:52:00.759 you who give, that's no little thing. We're able to 0:52:01.160 --> 0:52:03.760 continue to preach the gospel. Man. The world is dark 0:52:04.320 --> 0:52:07.680 and times are uncertain, but Jesus Christ never changes. And 0:52:07.719 --> 0:52:09.200 I want to thank you for those of you who 0:52:09.320 --> 0:52:13.280 tied regularly and give to this ministry. You're the reason 0:52:13.320 --> 0:52:16.719 that the Word is going for thank you, we love you. 0:52:17.320 --> 0:52:19.640 I'll see you next time. Take the lid off.