The Battle Made Me (Stephen Chandler)

0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.800 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.319 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.040 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:13.560 gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:17.400 Enjoy the message. 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:25.280 Yo, I'm at Elevation child. I know y'all, know y'all 0:00:25.520 --> 0:00:26.400 how good you have it. 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:29.240 But sometimes you can get so close to something that 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:31.159 you take it for granted and you're like, oh, this 0:00:31.320 --> 0:00:34.040 is church every Sunday, and you have no idea how 0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:37.479 blessed you are. People don't get to walk into places 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:40.400 like this all over the world every Sunday. You are 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:44.519 the favored of the Lord. Somebody say Amen. And one 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:46.599 of the reason why God favors you the way that 0:00:46.640 --> 0:00:49.560 he does is because of the phenomenal leadership that God 0:00:49.560 --> 0:00:52.640 has given you. And Pastor Stephen and Pastor Holly, come on, 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:55.840 can you put your hands to get come on with 0:00:55.880 --> 0:00:56.800 these golf collaps? 0:00:56.880 --> 0:00:57.640 Can you honor? 0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:04.520 If you know anything about us preachers, we're a little extra. 0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:07.800 And I was thinking about Pastor Stephen and us pastors. 0:01:07.800 --> 0:01:10.039 We have these terms that we use and we kind 0:01:10.040 --> 0:01:12.400 of delegate him for only a few type of people. 0:01:12.480 --> 0:01:15.839 But we'll say certain people are generals of the faith, 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:18.400 like you ever talk people about talking about like Billy 0:01:18.400 --> 0:01:21.000 Graham or whatever, generals of the faith. And when you 0:01:21.000 --> 0:01:24.080 think about a general, they're the one that gives the 0:01:24.240 --> 0:01:27.400 orders for the army to march out. And I don't 0:01:27.440 --> 0:01:29.399 know if y'all notice that I probably shouldn't say this 0:01:29.440 --> 0:01:32.680 from a platform, but there are bootleg elevation churches all 0:01:32.720 --> 0:01:36.600 over the world following what you guys do here, and 0:01:36.640 --> 0:01:37.880 it's not copycat. 0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:39.039 It's because God is. 0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:42.080 Giving you a general that is setting the pace for 0:01:42.200 --> 0:01:46.720 the Kingdom of God. And we are grateful, grateful, grateful. 0:01:46.800 --> 0:01:49.560 And I'm not just saying this. Pastor Holly is one 0:01:49.640 --> 0:01:51.240 of my favorite preachers. 0:01:50.800 --> 0:01:53.200 On the planet. Come on out. A lot of times 0:01:53.200 --> 0:01:54.639 when you think about preachers, you're. 0:01:54.520 --> 0:01:56.560 Like, oh, are they funny? You know, love how they 0:01:56.560 --> 0:01:59.200 tell stories or breakdown the word. But there's some preachers 0:01:59.240 --> 0:02:01.640 that when they preach, it's not the stories, it's not 0:02:01.720 --> 0:02:04.440 the word. It's the fact that you can tell that 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:07.920 person has been somewhere with God and they have proven 0:02:08.000 --> 0:02:10.720 God in their life, and it loses out of everything 0:02:10.760 --> 0:02:13.799 that she says. One last time, put your hands together, 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:14.800 Come on, get your honor. 0:02:16.800 --> 0:02:18.000 Ah thluyah. 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:20.400 Hey, before you take a seat, high five two people. 0:02:20.720 --> 0:02:25.680 Tell them I've got perfect church attendance this year. Come on, 0:02:25.880 --> 0:02:30.919 tell somebody I have not missed a Sunday in twenty 0:02:31.720 --> 0:02:35.160 twenty five. Hey, turn to your Bible to First Samuel 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:39.280 chapter twenty one, First Samuel chapter twenty one. And while 0:02:39.320 --> 0:02:41.600 you turn there, I want to show you why I 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:45.080 am more blessed that you are. And I know that 0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:48.160 sounds ignorant because blessings are not a competition. But it's 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:50.880 not a competition because I win and you lose. I 0:02:50.960 --> 0:02:53.760 am more blessed than you are because my family is 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:57.079 better looking than your family. 0:02:57.080 --> 0:02:58.360 Don't blame me, blame your mama. 0:02:58.800 --> 0:03:02.120 But uh, they're gonna throw up a picture of my 0:03:02.200 --> 0:03:06.919 beautiful family. Standing on my far left is my beautiful wife. 0:03:07.000 --> 0:03:10.760 I call her my African Queen. She hails from Cile On, 0:03:10.919 --> 0:03:14.240 West Africa. Her name is Zai Chandler. She is the 0:03:14.280 --> 0:03:17.760 preacher of the family. I am on the backup Standing 0:03:18.320 --> 0:03:20.720 next to me on my right is my son. He 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:23.200 is my twin. He's six years old. His name is Roman. 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:26.560 His rapper name is Roro. Sitting on the bench is 0:03:26.600 --> 0:03:29.960 my beautiful Queen, my oldest she's eight. Her name is Zoe. 0:03:30.320 --> 0:03:34.240 Her rapper name is Zozo. Then on my lap is 0:03:34.320 --> 0:03:37.400 my fallen angel, my three year old. Her name is 0:03:37.520 --> 0:03:40.960 Jade Mariah. Her rapper name is Jamo's. Somebody say Jamo. 0:03:41.760 --> 0:03:43.640 Can y'all do me a favorite? Can you pray for Jmo? 0:03:43.840 --> 0:03:47.720 She is not a Christian, she looks like an angel. 0:03:47.800 --> 0:03:50.040 She acts like a fallen angel. And we were praying 0:03:50.120 --> 0:03:52.400 for the salvation of that cutie pipe. 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:52.960 But I'm pumped. 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:56.400 I'm ready to preach because my children are in Maryland 0:03:56.520 --> 0:03:59.360 and I am in Charlotte, which means I got the 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:02.640 bestly last night I've had in a long time. Don't 0:04:02.640 --> 0:04:05.480 tell them, Mama, but I am pumped. I'm ready to go. 0:04:05.680 --> 0:04:07.920 Last thing before I preach. I've got a brand new 0:04:08.000 --> 0:04:13.040 book coming out in just two weeks. Relationship road Maps. 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:14.920 If you're single, come on, can you wave at me? 0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:15.800 Can you wave at me? 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:16.160 Put it? 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:19.359 Keep your hand up, keep a hand up, put it 0:04:19.400 --> 0:04:22.200 in the chat. One of the reasons you're single is 0:04:22.240 --> 0:04:24.920 because you run right to your car after church. 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:28.719 Linger in the lobby, look around the room. 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:32.039 There ain't a better place to get chose than in 0:04:32.120 --> 0:04:35.159 the House of God. But it's where everywhere where books 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:37.360 are sold. And I'm telling you it's gonna be a 0:04:37.360 --> 0:04:41.559 blessing to you. Are y'all ready to work today? Not preach? 0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:43.960 Preaching ain't my job, it's our job. But God's gonna 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:47.039 work through this text. It says this and for Samuel, 0:04:47.120 --> 0:04:49.400 chapter twenty one, verse six. And let me give you 0:04:49.400 --> 0:04:51.719 a little context before I preach it. This is the 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:56.800 period when David was running for his life. Saul had 0:04:56.920 --> 0:05:00.280 just thrown spears at his head, trying to kill him. 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:03.240 Jonathan said, let me test out my dad and see 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:06.280 if he's serious about these death threats. And Jonathan comes 0:05:06.320 --> 0:05:09.360 to David and said, no, no, he's serious. He's trying 0:05:09.400 --> 0:05:11.800 to kill you. You've got to run for your life. 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:15.880 So David leaves everything, brings no weapons, brings no food. 0:05:16.040 --> 0:05:19.559 And ah, I'm not preaching yet, but the first place 0:05:19.600 --> 0:05:22.760 he runs to is to the House of God as 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:25.440 he is running for his life. This ain't even the message, 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:26.840 but let me preach it already. 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:27.880 Hey, if you are. 0:05:27.880 --> 0:05:31.440 Running from something, don't run to gossip, don't run to friends, 0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:34.039 don't run to confusion, run. 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:36.520 To the house of God. 0:05:37.160 --> 0:05:39.520 This is in verse six says So the priest gave 0:05:39.640 --> 0:05:43.039 him holy bread, for there was no bread there but 0:05:43.160 --> 0:05:46.080 the showbread, which had been taken from before the Lord 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:49.440 in order to put hot bread in its place on 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:53.279 the day when it was taken away. Now a certain 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:55.560 man of the servants of Saul was there that day, 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:58.880 detained before the Lord, and his name was Doeg and 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:02.440 eat a mite, the chief of the herdsman who belonged 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:11.160 to Saul. Doeg worked for David's enemy, and not the message. 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:13.480 But just know that when you're in the presence of God, 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:16.359 the enemy is going to try to whisper to you 0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:20.160 opposite of what God has promised you. And you've got 0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:23.599 to develop the discipline of blocking out the thoughts and 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:26.640 the whispers of the enemy and being anchored in what 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:29.000 God has said over your life. 0:06:29.520 --> 0:06:30.080 Verse aid, and. 0:06:30.120 --> 0:06:34.080 David said him, is there not here on hand a 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:35.480 spear or sword? 0:06:35.960 --> 0:06:38.440 For I have brought neither my sword. 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:41.960 Nor my weapons with me because the king's business required hays. 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:44.080 Now he was lying, he ain't on no king's business. 0:06:44.160 --> 0:06:46.880 He's running for his life. So the priest said, the 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:51.880 sword of Goliath, the philistine whom you killed in the 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:54.360 value of Ela. There it is wrapped in a cloth 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:57.640 behind the ephought if you will take that, take it, 0:06:58.000 --> 0:07:01.719 for there is no other except that one here. And 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:04.839 David said, there is none like it. Give it to me, 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:08.680 somebody shout, give it to me. When David arose and 0:07:08.760 --> 0:07:11.800 fled that day from before Saul and went to Akish, 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:15.280 king of Gath, and the servants of Akish said to him, 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:19.120 is this not David, the king of the land. Did 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:22.400 they not sing of him to one another in dances 0:07:22.480 --> 0:07:28.880 saying Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands. 0:07:29.400 --> 0:07:30.720 Here's the message. 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:34.840 Now, David took these words to heart and was very 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:37.240 much afraid of. 0:07:37.320 --> 0:07:40.600 Akish, King of Gath. 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:44.960 Before we pray, can you give your neighbor my sermon title, 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:48.080 Look at your neighbor and tell them the battle made me. 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:51.239 Come on, tell somebody, tell somebody the battle. 0:07:51.760 --> 0:07:57.800 What you're looking at on battle orn? Father God, we're grateful, 0:07:57.840 --> 0:08:00.760 We're thankful for this moment. We say that we trust 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:06.360 in you. Got You're heired, healed, delivered, and transformed, open 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:08.120 eyes to move supernaturally. 0:08:08.680 --> 0:08:10.840 God, do what only you can do. 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:13.120 And God will be ever so careful to give you 0:08:13.120 --> 0:08:16.800 all the glory, honor, and praise in Jesus' name, we pray. 0:08:16.880 --> 0:08:18.800 Come on, shot at me like you shot at your kids. 0:08:19.080 --> 0:08:28.440 Somebody say amen and amen. I I'm not gonna lie 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:31.720 to you. I feel a little bit uncomfortable coming with 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:35.840 a message about David, and uh, don't judge me, but 0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:39.720 I feel like David, particularly David and Goliath, is like 0:08:40.040 --> 0:08:43.320 elementary preaching. I feel like when you get your trial 0:08:43.400 --> 0:08:45.680 sermon and it's like, this is my first time preaching 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:46.880 that you don't know what to preach. 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:49.160 David and Goliath is what you go for. 0:08:49.360 --> 0:08:53.080 Why, because you can't mess up David and Goliath. You 0:08:53.120 --> 0:08:55.960 get up there. The little guy was against the big guy. 0:08:56.000 --> 0:08:59.000 He took a stone. God helped them. Giants will fall 0:08:59.040 --> 0:09:01.800 in your life. Aim you fold up your Bible, you 0:09:01.920 --> 0:09:06.360 step down. You successfully accomplished your first message. But for 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:10.480 some reason, I get stuck on these biblical characters. And 0:09:10.520 --> 0:09:14.679 in this season, I'm just stuck on David because you see, 0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:18.800 as the Bible walks through his life, the hand of 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:23.840 God and God's favor on his life every single step 0:09:24.040 --> 0:09:27.280 of the journey, and it is impossible to see how 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:31.880 God's hand is on David's life and not also recognize 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:35.720 how God's hand has been on your life every single 0:09:35.920 --> 0:09:39.800 step of the journey. When we are introduced to David, 0:09:40.160 --> 0:09:43.720 we find him in the backside of a wilderness taking 0:09:43.760 --> 0:09:48.120 care of sheep that was a servant's responsibility, but yet 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:52.520 his father relegated him to something that honestly was beneath him. 0:09:52.559 --> 0:09:55.920 The priest showed up and said, God has anointed a 0:09:56.040 --> 0:09:58.360 new king, and it's none of these sons. 0:09:58.720 --> 0:09:59.840 Is there not another? 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:04.640 So we see God plucking David out of his family 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:07.760 that is not a called family, bringing him out of 0:10:07.800 --> 0:10:10.960 a place of wilderness to use him in a great way. 0:10:11.000 --> 0:10:12.120 And it doesn't take. 0:10:12.080 --> 0:10:15.280 Much to look at your story and realize that God 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:19.600 plucked you out of your family and annoying you for 0:10:19.720 --> 0:10:23.920 a particular reason. Here on earth, can somebody testify that 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:26.839 the part of the country I come from, my town, 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:31.240 my community, my family, it does not actually produce what 0:10:31.360 --> 0:10:35.600 God is producing through my life, but the favor of God. 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:39.480 We've got a church in Maryland. I get irritated every 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:41.160 time I tell people my church is in Maryland. 0:10:41.360 --> 0:10:46.920 Ooh, Baltimore. Is it like the wire. No. 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:52.120 But what they're saying is almost like Nazareth. Can anything 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:56.040 good come out of Baltimore? No, except for the hand 0:10:56.080 --> 0:10:59.560 of God plucking somebody out of a place that God 0:10:59.640 --> 0:11:03.040 is ready to do something. As we walk through David's story, 0:11:03.280 --> 0:11:05.079 not only do we see God pluck him out of 0:11:05.120 --> 0:11:08.120 a family, but we see God pour oil on his head, 0:11:08.240 --> 0:11:12.040 anoint David, and we see David get results out of 0:11:12.080 --> 0:11:15.160 his life that are not equal to the effort that 0:11:15.200 --> 0:11:15.960 he puts in. 0:11:16.520 --> 0:11:19.520 Just in case you were wondering what anointing is. 0:11:19.920 --> 0:11:23.200 Anointing is when you put in human efforts and you 0:11:23.320 --> 0:11:27.040 get back supernatural results. When you look at the results 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:29.640 you get back and you realize it is not equal 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:31.120 to the effort I put in. 0:11:31.440 --> 0:11:34.440 This was none other than the hand of God. 0:11:34.760 --> 0:11:37.120 And if you would be honest, and I'll be honest 0:11:37.160 --> 0:11:39.120 with you, ain't a lot of honest people in church. 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:43.960 You cannot take credit for everything that has happened in 0:11:44.000 --> 0:11:47.040 your life. I know you are edgumicated, I know you 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:47.800 worked hard. 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:48.760 I know you put that. 0:11:48.760 --> 0:11:51.880 Effort in, but the results you are seeing in your 0:11:51.960 --> 0:11:55.680 life are not comparable to the effort that you've put in. 0:11:55.800 --> 0:11:57.679 It is none other than. 0:11:57.520 --> 0:12:01.400 The hand of God on your life. 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:03.560 Be careful being. 0:12:03.440 --> 0:12:06.360 Jealous of what somebody else has because you have no idea. 0:12:06.440 --> 0:12:09.360 They didn't get it based on their effort. They got 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:14.680 it based on the favor you. Ever, we're family, y'all 0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:16.480 said it, so you're gonna get the family stuff. I 0:12:16.480 --> 0:12:19.199 get irritated when you run into certain people and they 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:21.640 begin to take credit for things that they should not 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:22.360 take credit for. 0:12:23.280 --> 0:12:24.520 You run into a married couple. 0:12:24.559 --> 0:12:27.080 I'm talking about real married couples, not like five years 0:12:27.160 --> 0:12:29.920 or ten years. I'm talking about thirty five years, thirty 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:31.360 seven years, forty years. 0:12:31.360 --> 0:12:31.640 Come on. 0:12:31.720 --> 0:12:34.079 Now, you run into some folks that have been married 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:35.160 for three or four decades. 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:38.520 Wow, how do I build a godly marriage? Like you? 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:40.840 And they've got the nerve to give you an answer? Whaw? 0:12:41.920 --> 0:12:42.160 You know? 0:12:42.360 --> 0:12:45.680 Yeah, just gotta be long suffering. You gotta keep knowing 0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:48.360 record of wrong. You gotta make sure that you for 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:51.080 a give and make sure that you come. I'm sure 0:12:51.120 --> 0:12:54.600 you communicated, I'm sure you forgave, but homicide was on 0:12:54.679 --> 0:12:57.800 your mind at least one night. You made it thirty 0:12:57.840 --> 0:13:02.320 five years because of the favor and and mercy of God. 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:06.559 When you look at David. You see him plucked out 0:13:06.559 --> 0:13:09.319 of his family. You see the anointing of God. You 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:15.200 also see outrageous victories that David won. And God just 0:13:15.280 --> 0:13:18.360 had a way of making David win in front of 0:13:18.400 --> 0:13:21.559 his haters. It wasn't just a victory in the backside 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:25.000 of nowhere, but the exact brothers that said, how dare 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:27.679 you leave those sheep? What are you doing here? Who 0:13:27.760 --> 0:13:30.439 do you think you are? They had to watch David 0:13:30.559 --> 0:13:34.840 defeat Goliath. They had to watch David be celebrated. If 0:13:34.880 --> 0:13:37.520 you would look back over your life, you would see 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:41.400 victories that God brought because of his hand of favor. 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:50.120 Somebody shout Amen in his play. The problem with David's story, 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:54.520 y'all know, preachers, all that was a setup is you 0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:59.040 don't just see God pluck David out of obscurity. You 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:03.040 don't just see anointed for the supernatural. You don't just 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:07.959 see massive victories in David's life. The Bible also shows 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:13.120 us the battles that David had to fight that David 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:17.240 wish he never had to fight. It doesn't just tell 0:14:17.320 --> 0:14:19.200 us about the anointing, and it tells us about the 0:14:19.240 --> 0:14:22.520 lion that jump on him, that he had to fight 0:14:22.600 --> 0:14:24.880 for the sheep and fight for his life. And it 0:14:24.960 --> 0:14:28.520 tells us about the bear, It tells us about Goliath, 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:31.240 it tells us about the time that he was in 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:36.000 battle against his own son. As you look over the 0:14:36.040 --> 0:14:38.640 life of David, you see the favor of God, but 0:14:38.720 --> 0:14:41.920 you see battles that David wish he had never fought. 0:14:42.160 --> 0:14:44.920 And if you look back over your own life, you 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:48.080 can see the favor of God. But we all see 0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:52.000 battles that we wish we never had to fight. Maybe 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:55.800 it was battles with depression, maybe it was battles with sickness, 0:14:56.000 --> 0:14:59.320 maybe it was battles with confusion, or relational battles. But 0:14:59.760 --> 0:15:03.880 we we all have battles in our stories that we 0:15:03.920 --> 0:15:07.520 would not wish on our worst enemy. And we sometimes 0:15:07.600 --> 0:15:10.720 ask God, why did I have to go through this? 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:14.360 And here's what I've discovered, That you can waste a 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:20.400 lot of time commiserating over all the battles that you've 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:24.040 been through, that you can actually forget all of the 0:15:24.080 --> 0:15:29.280 blessings and favor and open doors of what God has done. 0:15:31.440 --> 0:15:33.960 New Year twenty twenty five, let's go. 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:38.640 It is hard to find somebody that has something good 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:42.480 to say about twenty twenty four. Man, so glad that 0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:46.320 year was over. Believe in God has more for me 0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:48.560 in a new year. And yes, you may have had 0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:51.520 some rough things in twenty twenty four, but I'm telling 0:15:51.560 --> 0:15:54.040 you you had some miracles, and you had some favor, 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:56.920 and you had some open door. It is all based 0:15:57.040 --> 0:16:01.760 on what you choose to obsess over. And I'd like 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:04.240 to submit to you that, whether you realize it or not, 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:07.600 the battles that you wish you could have avoided, there 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:12.680 is a blessing in those battles because for some reason, 0:16:12.840 --> 0:16:19.160 God uses battles to make us. You are not just 0:16:19.200 --> 0:16:22.400 who you are because of the parents who raised you. 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:24.560 You are not just who you are because of the 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:25.720 effort that you put in. 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:26.880 You're not just who you. 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:29.680 Are because how have you educated yourself and developed you. 0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:33.040 There are some things that were developed through the battles 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:34.320 that you had to fight. 0:16:34.560 --> 0:16:37.520 There are parts of your personality. 0:16:36.680 --> 0:16:39.560 That you built based on the fights that you had 0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:40.120 to fight. 0:16:40.320 --> 0:16:42.920 And I'm telling you it is the battle. 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:47.160 That God allowed you to walk through that made you. 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:50.120 Three thoughts, Three Krik thoughts about the battles that we face. 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:53.880 The first one is this, Some battles come looking for me. 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:58.000 Some battles come looking for me. Pastor Steven a few 0:16:58.000 --> 0:17:02.720 weeks ago about how trying to avoid drama or battles 0:17:02.840 --> 0:17:06.040 is not a way to live in life. It doesn't 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:10.200 matter how safe you try to live, some battles will 0:17:10.240 --> 0:17:13.040 find you. Now. I wish I had a great story 0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:15.520 about how I grew up. I used to fight and 0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:17.800 all this other kind of stuff. But the reality is, 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:20.280 I'm not a fighter. I'm a pastor's kid. 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:20.639 Okay. 0:17:20.800 --> 0:17:22.960 And not only am I a pastor's kid, but I 0:17:23.000 --> 0:17:26.480 was homeschooled, so the only people to fight at school 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:29.399 were my siblings. So I don't have any like I 0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:32.280 got into fistfights growing up. I've got one story. It's 0:17:32.280 --> 0:17:34.159 the only story half about a fight ever. Actually, what 0:17:34.200 --> 0:17:36.359 happened is a kid came to my house and he 0:17:36.440 --> 0:17:38.840 rang the doorbell. It was one of those deals, you know. 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:41.040 Back in the nineties, parents used to live their kids 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:43.520 at home. Nowadays it's oh, you can't leave your kids. Well, 0:17:43.520 --> 0:17:45.639 they used to leave us at like six, seven, eight whatever. 0:17:47.320 --> 0:17:50.120 I think the statute of limitation is over. Sorry, dad, 0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:53.000 So my dad's at work, my mom's gone. You know 0:17:53.040 --> 0:17:55.879 how it is. Don't open the door for anybody. A 0:17:55.960 --> 0:17:57.800 kid comes to the door, and I didn't like this kid. 0:17:57.840 --> 0:17:59.439 The kid didn't like me. We knew we didn't like 0:17:59.480 --> 0:18:02.000 each other. Rings the doorbell, and because my mom said 0:18:02.000 --> 0:18:03.880 don't open the door, I do what every kid does. 0:18:03.920 --> 0:18:07.240 I open the door and I'm like, what do you want? 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:10.000 And he goes I came to borrow some. 0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:17.080 Cheese, He said, cheese. I don't got no cheese. 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:19.720 He said, then, why don't you scrape it off your 0:18:19.720 --> 0:18:20.480 mother's teeth. 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:30.000 That's what I said. 0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:35.680 Now, this pastor's kid, who's homeschooled and has never been 0:18:35.680 --> 0:18:38.280 in a fight in his life, it don't take a 0:18:38.359 --> 0:18:42.160 high IQ to understand you've got to protect your mother's honor. 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:45.720 So I said what I took off running out the door. 0:18:45.960 --> 0:18:47.560 He took off running. I don't know if my dad's 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:50.480 have heard the story. Sorry dad. Anyway, he goes running. 0:18:50.480 --> 0:18:52.960 I mean, we're running through the neighborhood, through people's backyards. 0:18:53.040 --> 0:18:56.480 I'm chasing him. I finally catch him. I tackle him. 0:18:57.400 --> 0:19:02.719 But remember I've never been in a fight before. I 0:19:02.720 --> 0:19:06.159 didn't think this far. I do, what do you do now, y'all? 0:19:06.200 --> 0:19:06.920 I hit him. 0:19:07.119 --> 0:19:10.359 It didn't cross my mind. So I went take it back, 0:19:14.119 --> 0:19:15.400 and he like, that's it. 0:19:16.600 --> 0:19:20.040 I take it back. I'm like, yeah, for it away. 0:19:20.119 --> 0:19:20.960 I walk home. 0:19:21.200 --> 0:19:29.000 You can't tell me, nah, some fights come and find you, 0:19:30.840 --> 0:19:32.720 no matter if you do everything. 0:19:32.359 --> 0:19:34.800 You possibly can in life to avoid drama. 0:19:35.040 --> 0:19:38.080 The Bible says in First Samuel seventeen thirty thirty four. 0:19:38.520 --> 0:19:42.280 But David said to Saul, your servant used to keep 0:19:42.320 --> 0:19:45.680 his father's sheet. And when a lion or a bear 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:48.720 came and took a lamb out of the flock, I 0:19:48.800 --> 0:19:52.119 went out after it and struck it and delivered the 0:19:52.240 --> 0:19:55.600 lamb from its mouth, And when it arose against me, 0:19:55.920 --> 0:20:01.040 I caught it by its beard and killed it. We're asking, David, 0:20:01.080 --> 0:20:03.399 why do you think you have what it takes to 0:20:03.560 --> 0:20:06.919 feat this nine foot giant? And David said, because this 0:20:07.040 --> 0:20:10.000 fight ain't my first fight. I didn't go looking for 0:20:10.080 --> 0:20:12.600 a fight. But a lion came and found me, and 0:20:12.640 --> 0:20:14.840 that lion bit off more than he could chew, and 0:20:14.880 --> 0:20:17.040 a bear came and found me. And because I fought 0:20:17.040 --> 0:20:19.600 the lion, and because I fought the bear, I am 0:20:19.680 --> 0:20:22.359 now prepared to fight this giant in front of me. 0:20:22.560 --> 0:20:27.080 Hear me, some fights come and find you. 0:20:27.440 --> 0:20:31.400 By the way, be careful judging people for what they're battling. 0:20:33.400 --> 0:20:37.560 Do you really think they picked that fight. They didn't 0:20:37.600 --> 0:20:41.680 pick that fight. That fight picked them. They didn't pick addiction. 0:20:41.880 --> 0:20:46.400 Addiction picked them. They didn't pick mental torment. Mental torment 0:20:46.440 --> 0:20:49.119 picked them. And hear me, just because the fight picks 0:20:49.160 --> 0:20:51.879 you does not mean you get to surrender. You have 0:20:52.119 --> 0:20:54.560 Almighty God on the inside of you. You've got to 0:20:54.680 --> 0:20:58.720 fight the fight that comes your way. But not all fights. 0:20:58.760 --> 0:21:01.679 We pick some of them like us. And here's what 0:21:01.840 --> 0:21:05.240 was wild. David gott in a fight with a lion 0:21:05.280 --> 0:21:10.200 and a bear and it wasn't even his sheep. He 0:21:10.359 --> 0:21:14.359 was taking care of his father's flock and God in 0:21:14.480 --> 0:21:17.800 a drama with an enemy because he was protecting something 0:21:17.840 --> 0:21:20.320 that does not belong to him. Some of you have 0:21:20.440 --> 0:21:23.880 been fighting for your life and you believe the lie 0:21:23.920 --> 0:21:27.480 of the enemy that you did something wrong, that maybe 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:30.240 I messed up some way and that's why I'm battling 0:21:30.240 --> 0:21:32.600 the way that I'm battling, or maybe because of the 0:21:32.640 --> 0:21:35.679 fight that you're facing. You're like, has God forgotten about me? 0:21:35.760 --> 0:21:38.199 Has he abandoned me? Has he left me? You're not 0:21:38.359 --> 0:21:42.240 fighting because you did something wrong. You are fighting because 0:21:42.280 --> 0:21:46.159 your Father's kingdom and purpose is on the inside of you, 0:21:46.480 --> 0:21:50.040 and the enemy is attacking the potential that God has 0:21:50.160 --> 0:21:53.280 placed on the inside of you. The fight has found 0:21:53.280 --> 0:21:58.400 you because there's destiny on your life. And by the way, 0:21:58.720 --> 0:22:02.320 the size of your fight is an indication of the 0:22:02.359 --> 0:22:05.520 size of the call of God on your life. You're wondering, 0:22:05.560 --> 0:22:08.439 why does it seem like I am fighting for my 0:22:08.560 --> 0:22:11.800 life because of the potential that God has placed on 0:22:11.880 --> 0:22:14.320 the inside of you. The enemy said, let me take 0:22:14.359 --> 0:22:16.760 you out before you even realize who God has called 0:22:16.760 --> 0:22:17.080 you to be. 0:22:17.320 --> 0:22:20.080 As you track through scripture, the enemy did it all 0:22:20.119 --> 0:22:20.560 the time. 0:22:21.160 --> 0:22:24.160 When he knew Moses, the Deliverer was coming, he tried 0:22:24.200 --> 0:22:27.159 to have all the Hebrew boys executed. Why because he 0:22:27.200 --> 0:22:31.160 will always attack in infancy. What he does not want 0:22:31.200 --> 0:22:34.520 to deal with immaturity with somebody elbow. Your neighbors say, 0:22:34.560 --> 0:22:37.280 but he failed. He failed. He should have taken me 0:22:37.320 --> 0:22:39.520 out when he got a chance. He should have taken 0:22:39.520 --> 0:22:41.240 me out when I did not know God and did 0:22:41.280 --> 0:22:43.480 not in my right mind. But I made it a 0:22:43.640 --> 0:22:46.359 church today. I made it into the house of God. Today, 0:22:46.520 --> 0:22:48.879 I made it into an atmosphere that is telling me 0:22:48.960 --> 0:22:49.600 who I am. 0:22:49.880 --> 0:22:54.000 And whose I am. The fight did not take me out. 0:22:59.520 --> 0:23:00.359 You've got Aha. 0:23:03.480 --> 0:23:06.440 I gotta get dramatic because I think sometimes we don't 0:23:06.480 --> 0:23:09.840 realize that that part of being a Christian means you're 0:23:09.880 --> 0:23:13.680 gonna take some shots. And it's not because of who 0:23:13.760 --> 0:23:17.640 you are, it's because of who your dad is. We 0:23:17.680 --> 0:23:20.560 are not living in a demilitarized zone. 0:23:20.680 --> 0:23:22.080 We are at war. 0:23:22.160 --> 0:23:24.760 And there is an enemy and he is trying to 0:23:24.880 --> 0:23:28.439 take out the Kingdom of God. And you've got to 0:23:28.560 --> 0:23:32.520 stand ten toes down saying I've got in a sick 0:23:32.600 --> 0:23:35.280 I know who my dad is, and I'm gonna fight 0:23:35.359 --> 0:23:38.200 for what he's One of the problems is we think 0:23:38.240 --> 0:23:42.560 what we're fighting over belongs to us. So I'm confused 0:23:42.600 --> 0:23:45.320 while I've got to battle so much over this marriage 0:23:45.560 --> 0:23:47.560 because this is my marriage. Can I put you on 0:23:47.680 --> 0:23:51.680 notice that ain't your marriage. That marriage belongs to God. 0:23:52.320 --> 0:23:54.879 God created marriage a husband loving a wife and a 0:23:54.880 --> 0:23:57.840 wife loving a husband as an example to the world 0:23:58.080 --> 0:24:00.399 of God's love for his church and his bride. 0:24:00.560 --> 0:24:02.720 And as you, guys, love each other. 0:24:02.560 --> 0:24:05.120 And build a family that God has called you to build, 0:24:05.200 --> 0:24:08.520 it is example to unbelievers of the hope and love 0:24:08.640 --> 0:24:11.480 and joy of God, you're not just fighting for love, 0:24:11.600 --> 0:24:16.080 you are fighting for the Kingdom. I get in trouble 0:24:16.080 --> 0:24:17.679 because I tell these stories about my family and then 0:24:17.760 --> 0:24:22.040 y'all start thinking my family was ratchet, and we were, 0:24:22.119 --> 0:24:26.080 but we were educated in love God too. I was 0:24:26.160 --> 0:24:27.600 driving with my mom when I was a kid, and 0:24:27.640 --> 0:24:31.240 this would happen quite often. And there's this one mall 0:24:31.359 --> 0:24:33.200 up in Maryland. If you're from Maryland, you know it. 0:24:33.200 --> 0:24:35.119 It's a massive, one of those, you know, kind of 0:24:35.160 --> 0:24:37.800 outlet malls. And there's like enough room in the mall 0:24:37.880 --> 0:24:40.880 for a million people, but they only have four parking spaces. 0:24:42.160 --> 0:24:44.160 I don't know if they want to have like Instagram 0:24:44.160 --> 0:24:46.199 fist fights. I don't know what it is, but you 0:24:46.359 --> 0:24:50.119 spend more time looking for parking that you spend in 0:24:50.160 --> 0:24:52.160 the mall. So I'd go to this mall my mom, 0:24:52.240 --> 0:24:54.359 my siblings in the car, and my mom would be 0:24:54.440 --> 0:24:57.439 driving up one aisle and she would see a parking 0:24:57.480 --> 0:25:00.679 space in the other aisle. You would look at me 0:25:00.760 --> 0:25:06.359 and she would say, Stephen, I love these moments and 0:25:06.440 --> 0:25:08.320 preach it because half of y'all, like my mama, did 0:25:08.400 --> 0:25:10.680 the same thing, and half of y'all light I. 0:25:10.680 --> 0:25:14.640 Don't know, and they say it's going. Hey, my mama said, 0:25:14.640 --> 0:25:15.560 get out the car. 0:25:16.440 --> 0:25:18.720 Y'all have to say mama and go stand in that 0:25:18.800 --> 0:25:21.360 parking space until I could drive around. 0:25:23.359 --> 0:25:25.440 So I come like, I'm like ten twelve, So I 0:25:25.520 --> 0:25:26.160 get out of the car. 0:25:26.320 --> 0:25:29.440 I go stand in that parking space and my mom, 0:25:29.680 --> 0:25:31.359 I mean, it would seem like it take her four 0:25:31.440 --> 0:25:33.919 hours to go up and come back down. And as 0:25:34.000 --> 0:25:36.800 I'm standing there, a car would come and try to 0:25:36.840 --> 0:25:39.639 park in the space and they go honk, honk, and 0:25:39.640 --> 0:25:42.040 they move a little closer, and I'm like, it's taken. 0:25:44.400 --> 0:25:46.680 And they'd be like, you're not a car. Honk honk, 0:25:46.840 --> 0:25:47.600 and they move a little. 0:25:47.840 --> 0:25:48.720 I'm like it's taken. 0:25:49.320 --> 0:25:52.800 And sometimes it would get a little dicey, and it's 0:25:52.840 --> 0:25:55.119 like almost like they're gonna hit me with their car. 0:25:55.840 --> 0:25:58.760 What they did not realize is you hitting me with 0:25:58.920 --> 0:26:02.840 your car not hurt as much as what my mama 0:26:02.920 --> 0:26:05.520 gonna do to me if I So, you do what 0:26:05.560 --> 0:26:07.880 you gotta do. But I'm gonna say it, I need 0:26:07.960 --> 0:26:11.080 some believers that know what God has promised them, And 0:26:11.200 --> 0:26:14.400 you are gonna stand ten toes down on the healing, 0:26:14.640 --> 0:26:18.159 on the hope, on the purpose, on the joy, devil. 0:26:18.240 --> 0:26:20.240 You can give it your best shot, but I know 0:26:20.320 --> 0:26:22.520 what my God has promised me, and I am not 0:26:22.840 --> 0:26:31.040 moving off of this. And you might not have picked 0:26:31.080 --> 0:26:34.359 the fight, the fight picked you. But you do not 0:26:34.480 --> 0:26:37.160 have the option of backing down. So there is a 0:26:37.440 --> 0:26:42.680 blessed scene in the battle. Do you realize that there 0:26:42.720 --> 0:26:45.119 are some things that you learned about yourself in the 0:26:45.200 --> 0:26:49.000 fight that you would have never learned about yourself if 0:26:49.000 --> 0:26:51.840 it had not been in that fight. You learn that 0:26:51.960 --> 0:26:55.960 you have more faith than you thought you did. You 0:26:56.080 --> 0:26:59.280 learn that you have more fortitude than you thought you 0:26:59.280 --> 0:27:02.680 You learn that you have more creativity. Who takes a 0:27:02.880 --> 0:27:08.679 stone and a sling against someone who has their back 0:27:09.000 --> 0:27:12.680 against the wall and knows who their God is? 0:27:14.880 --> 0:27:15.080 Man? 0:27:15.119 --> 0:27:17.080 The worst fight of my life was when my mom 0:27:17.160 --> 0:27:20.520 was battling cancer for thirteen years and ended up passing 0:27:20.560 --> 0:27:23.320 away after thirteen years. And by the way, you can't 0:27:23.359 --> 0:27:25.240 tell me my God is not a healer because the 0:27:25.320 --> 0:27:28.439 doctor gave her three months to live, said that we 0:27:28.440 --> 0:27:30.960 could do with you. Go home, make your peace with God, 0:27:31.119 --> 0:27:35.840 and God extended her life thirteen years. But hear me 0:27:36.119 --> 0:27:40.000 walking through that battle, watching her battle the faith that 0:27:40.040 --> 0:27:43.199 it built in me to still preach about healing and 0:27:43.280 --> 0:27:47.199 hope and purpose. There is something that battles develop on 0:27:47.280 --> 0:27:51.080 the inside of you that nothing else can. Some battles 0:27:51.520 --> 0:27:55.880 will find me, but some battles I go looking for. 0:27:56.840 --> 0:27:59.200 Here's what it says in First Samuel seventeen thirty two. 0:27:59.520 --> 0:28:03.560 Then he even said to Saul, let no man's heart 0:28:04.000 --> 0:28:08.679 fail because of him, your servant will go and fight 0:28:09.080 --> 0:28:16.040 with this philistine. So in one passage we find David 0:28:16.160 --> 0:28:19.320 fighting a lion and a bear that he did not 0:28:19.640 --> 0:28:23.760 want to fight. In just a few passages later, we 0:28:23.960 --> 0:28:28.520 find David running towards a battle that nobody else wanted 0:28:28.560 --> 0:28:28.920 to fight. 0:28:29.800 --> 0:28:32.520 What happened, well, what happened was. 0:28:34.080 --> 0:28:37.000 When you make it through a few battles and you 0:28:37.119 --> 0:28:40.640 realize that the victory belongs to the Lord, it brings 0:28:40.680 --> 0:28:43.480 a confidence on the inside of you that all of 0:28:43.520 --> 0:28:46.360 a sudden in your life. I'm not intimidated by a fight. 0:28:46.680 --> 0:28:49.440 Matter of fact, I'm looking for a fight. And instead 0:28:49.480 --> 0:28:52.760 of running from the enemy, I start running towards the enemy. 0:28:52.920 --> 0:28:54.040 I start picking a fight. 0:28:54.160 --> 0:28:57.320 I start looking for places to push back the forces 0:28:57.360 --> 0:29:00.000 of darkness. The Bible says in Matthew Chapter A Lie 0:29:00.160 --> 0:29:02.920 and Versuol that says the days of John the Baptist. 0:29:03.160 --> 0:29:07.320 The Kingdom of God has suffered violence, but the violent take. 0:29:07.120 --> 0:29:07.960 It by force. 0:29:08.240 --> 0:29:12.200 I believe this year, a supernatural violence is gonna begin 0:29:12.320 --> 0:29:14.480 to rise up in the people of God, and we 0:29:14.560 --> 0:29:17.040 begin to realize I'm no longer gonna be on the 0:29:17.200 --> 0:29:18.680 defense against. 0:29:18.320 --> 0:29:21.120 The enemy, but I'm going on the offense. 0:29:22.640 --> 0:29:27.320 Why did David run after Goliath because Goliath dared to 0:29:27.400 --> 0:29:30.400 defy who God was. 0:29:31.200 --> 0:29:32.240 Here's the battles. 0:29:32.280 --> 0:29:35.800 You need to start picking in your life anything that 0:29:35.960 --> 0:29:39.760 defies the promise that God has made over your life. 0:29:39.840 --> 0:29:40.520 You've got to. 0:29:40.600 --> 0:29:44.720 Stop allowing the enemy to occupy territory that does not 0:29:44.840 --> 0:29:47.600 belong to him, and begin to declare, this is what 0:29:47.640 --> 0:29:50.240 God has promised me, and I'm taking it back. I'm 0:29:50.280 --> 0:29:53.280 taking my joy back, I'm taking my peace back. I'm 0:29:53.320 --> 0:29:56.520 taking prosperity back. I will not lack, i will not 0:29:56.680 --> 0:29:59.840 have not enough. I'm taking my health back, no matter of. 0:30:00.280 --> 0:30:03.680 I'm taking back every unbelieving family member in my family. 0:30:03.920 --> 0:30:07.400 As for me and my house, we will serve the 0:30:07.480 --> 0:30:08.280 Lord Devil. 0:30:08.400 --> 0:30:10.960 Get your hands off my teenager, get your hands off 0:30:11.000 --> 0:30:14.040 of my spouse, get your hands of aunt, off my uncle, 0:30:14.280 --> 0:30:18.000 addiction is broken in my family in the name of Jesus. 0:30:18.320 --> 0:30:22.480 Divorce is canceled in my family in the name of Jesus. 0:30:22.840 --> 0:30:25.360 You've got to start attacking. 0:30:27.080 --> 0:30:28.720 What God has promised you. 0:30:31.240 --> 0:30:31.400 Here. 0:30:32.360 --> 0:30:38.360 Here's the problem. What happens when you're fighting. 0:30:38.840 --> 0:30:42.680 Is is sometimes you don't know how to calm down. 0:30:44.800 --> 0:30:46.000 And I see this a lot. 0:30:46.120 --> 0:30:50.600 Can I just be ignorant on social media? People fighting 0:30:50.640 --> 0:30:55.280 fights that they ain't got no business fighting. As you 0:30:55.560 --> 0:30:58.480 are running after the fights that God has for you, 0:30:58.600 --> 0:31:02.880 make sure you're not picking fights that don't stand between 0:31:02.920 --> 0:31:05.880 you and the destiny that God has for you. Because 0:31:05.880 --> 0:31:08.040 one of the things the enemy wants is to get 0:31:08.080 --> 0:31:11.280 you occupied in a fight that ain't got nothing to 0:31:11.360 --> 0:31:13.520 do with what God has called you to do. 0:31:14.080 --> 0:31:15.040 It happened to David. 0:31:15.200 --> 0:31:18.240 He's fighting a lion, he's fighting a bear, he's fighting Goliath. 0:31:18.400 --> 0:31:20.800 He don't know who Insaul's army he can trust. And 0:31:20.880 --> 0:31:22.960 next thing you know, him and his army they're marching 0:31:23.120 --> 0:31:26.160 and they go ask a man, Hey, we have no food. 0:31:26.480 --> 0:31:29.120 Can you feed us? The man said, I don't know 0:31:29.120 --> 0:31:31.040 who you are. Y'all could be thieves, y'all, y'all could 0:31:31.040 --> 0:31:33.240 be enemies. I'm not gonna feed you. You know what 0:31:33.320 --> 0:31:37.920 David said, We gonna kill him. And it took somebody 0:31:37.960 --> 0:31:43.040 talking David down. Of David, this ain't your fight. Leave 0:31:43.200 --> 0:31:44.800 that alone. Some of us men. 0:31:44.960 --> 0:31:47.080 People talk to you the wrong way. Say something. Oh, 0:31:47.080 --> 0:31:48.440 I'm gonna give you a peace. 0:31:48.280 --> 0:31:52.520 In my mind. First of all, you don't have much 0:31:52.560 --> 0:31:57.360 mind left. You can't be handing pieces out all willy nilly, Okay. 0:31:57.400 --> 0:31:59.920 You need to keep all the mind that you've got, 0:32:00.200 --> 0:32:05.480 keep your mind stayed on him, and you've just got 0:32:05.480 --> 0:32:06.400 to make a decision. 0:32:06.560 --> 0:32:07.800 I'm not going to fight a. 0:32:07.880 --> 0:32:12.600 Fight that doesn't have the ability to splock me from 0:32:12.640 --> 0:32:19.280 all that God has for me. Bible's Sysition, Chapter twenty one, 0:32:19.560 --> 0:32:23.080 verse eight. When David is in that temple, it says, 0:32:23.080 --> 0:32:26.560 then David said to a Himelek, is there not here 0:32:26.760 --> 0:32:31.480 on hand a spear or a sword? For I have 0:32:31.600 --> 0:32:35.520 brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me because 0:32:35.560 --> 0:32:40.120 the King's business required. Hayes, You've got to understand us, pastors. 0:32:40.160 --> 0:32:43.480 Our brains are like Rupek's cubes, and we write messages 0:32:43.520 --> 0:32:46.360 and then the message writes itself. Even as I'm reading this, 0:32:46.440 --> 0:32:49.240 I'm reminded when Jesus told his disciples when they went out, 0:32:49.400 --> 0:32:52.280 don't bother to take anything with you, because when you 0:32:52.400 --> 0:32:54.320 get to the place, it is going to give you 0:32:54.400 --> 0:32:57.480 the resources that you need to accomplish what you need 0:32:57.520 --> 0:33:03.040 to accomplish. The priest said, the sword of Goliath, the Philistine. 0:33:02.400 --> 0:33:05.000 Whom you killed. 0:33:05.280 --> 0:33:11.360 Watch this in a past battle, is now available in 0:33:11.400 --> 0:33:14.920 your moment of need, wrapped in a cloth behind the 0:33:15.000 --> 0:33:18.680 ephod if you will take that ticket, for there is 0:33:18.840 --> 0:33:23.200 no other except that one. Ear and David said, there 0:33:23.360 --> 0:33:27.920 is none like it. Give it to me. Come on, 0:33:28.120 --> 0:33:31.360 where's my bible scholars at You've already preached this to yourself. 0:33:31.600 --> 0:33:36.200 If I'm David and I'm fighting Goliath, the only thing 0:33:36.360 --> 0:33:41.600 I am thinking about is don't die. I ain't worried 0:33:41.640 --> 0:33:44.080 about being king. I'm not worried about the rest of 0:33:44.080 --> 0:33:46.760 the Philistines. I'm not worried about who talking about me. 0:33:47.000 --> 0:33:50.120 I'm just worried about don't die. I'm trying to take 0:33:50.160 --> 0:33:53.480 Goliath out now. While I'm trying to take Goliath out, 0:33:53.920 --> 0:33:57.360 God ain't even thinking about the battle that I'm in 0:33:57.520 --> 0:34:00.800 right now. He's already two three year ahead in in 0:34:00.880 --> 0:34:04.000 my future and knowing yeah, Goliah's a big battle when 0:34:04.000 --> 0:34:06.360 you're gonna need a win. But make sure, David, you 0:34:06.560 --> 0:34:10.120 snatch his sword at the end of this battle, because 0:34:10.160 --> 0:34:13.640 this battle is not about this battle. This battle is 0:34:13.680 --> 0:34:16.799 about equipping you for a battle that is coming on 0:34:17.000 --> 0:34:19.960 from your future. Hear me, Some of you are so 0:34:20.200 --> 0:34:23.319 consumed in this situation that you're in right now you 0:34:23.400 --> 0:34:25.880 can't see two three years down the road and not 0:34:26.040 --> 0:34:28.320 realize that this may be a battle to the enemy. 0:34:28.440 --> 0:34:30.399 But it's only training ground to God. 0:34:30.680 --> 0:34:33.640 This is a season where He is preparing you for 0:34:33.760 --> 0:34:36.000 what He is getting ready to take you to. 0:34:36.480 --> 0:34:38.120 Can anybody testify? 0:34:38.440 --> 0:34:40.600 I wouldn't want to go through that fight again, but 0:34:40.719 --> 0:34:43.080 I learned some things in that fight. 0:34:43.080 --> 0:34:45.480 That I'm telling you, baby, I'm using right now. 0:34:45.719 --> 0:34:47.759 I'm not happy that they walked out on me and 0:34:47.840 --> 0:34:50.480 stabbed me in my back, but I picked up desernment 0:34:50.640 --> 0:34:52.880 in that moment and ain't gonna get me twice. I 0:34:52.880 --> 0:34:56.480 can see it coming a myt somebody shout prove it. 0:34:57.719 --> 0:35:00.960 There was this passage in this Bible. The prophet came 0:35:01.040 --> 0:35:03.120 to this widow. It was just her and her son. 0:35:03.160 --> 0:35:05.319 There was a famine, you probably know the story, and 0:35:05.360 --> 0:35:07.680 they had nothing to eat. The prophet said, can you 0:35:07.800 --> 0:35:10.960 make me a cake? She said, bro, I ain't got nothing. 0:35:11.120 --> 0:35:12.799 We're gonna make a cake for me and my son. 0:35:12.920 --> 0:35:15.400 Then we're gonna die and that's it. He said, great, 0:35:15.560 --> 0:35:19.719 do that, but first make me a cake. She had 0:35:19.920 --> 0:35:23.160 enough faith to obey the word of God, even though 0:35:23.200 --> 0:35:26.040 it made no common sense. She made a cake for 0:35:26.080 --> 0:35:28.600 the prophet and then for her. And it said that 0:35:28.640 --> 0:35:33.160 the flour and the oil sustained her through the famine. 0:35:33.200 --> 0:35:34.800 Somebody say they survived the battle. 0:35:35.960 --> 0:35:38.200 The Holy Spirit showed me something that passage that blew 0:35:38.239 --> 0:35:40.520 my mind years later. Here's what it says. It says 0:35:40.600 --> 0:35:48.480 after they survived that famine. Later on her son died. Uh, oh, 0:35:48.560 --> 0:35:54.600 what's a bigger deal, hunger or death. But when her 0:35:54.640 --> 0:35:59.560 son died, it was not her first battle, and she 0:35:59.680 --> 0:36:03.280 knew who her God was. And she said, I wonder 0:36:03.719 --> 0:36:07.680 if the same God who can multiply flour and oil 0:36:08.080 --> 0:36:10.960 can breathe life back into my dead boy. Let me 0:36:11.080 --> 0:36:13.160 take him to the same place where God did the 0:36:13.280 --> 0:36:14.120 last miracle. 0:36:14.440 --> 0:36:16.160 Whole time, it was never. 0:36:16.000 --> 0:36:19.360 About the famine, never about the flower, never about the oil, 0:36:19.640 --> 0:36:21.200 all about building. 0:36:20.800 --> 0:36:21.960 That faith muscle. 0:36:22.200 --> 0:36:25.359 For when she actually needed it, she knew how to 0:36:25.480 --> 0:36:28.640 use it. Hear me, the battles that you fought in 0:36:28.680 --> 0:36:33.000 your past were only preparing you for the victory that 0:36:33.160 --> 0:36:36.959 God has a head of you. You may have called 0:36:37.000 --> 0:36:39.399 it a battle, but I'm telling you it was a 0:36:39.440 --> 0:36:43.279 blessing because it made you who you. 0:36:44.680 --> 0:36:44.839 Are. 0:36:48.200 --> 0:36:50.920 Some battles, come find me, some battles I go looking 0:36:51.000 --> 0:36:52.759 for the last thing? 0:36:52.840 --> 0:36:53.160 Is this? 0:36:54.280 --> 0:37:00.759 But running from battles is not an option? Says this 0:37:00.840 --> 0:37:04.239 in verse eleven, the end of that story. David eat 0:37:04.280 --> 0:37:06.680 the bread, he has the sword, and it says the 0:37:06.800 --> 0:37:11.040 servants of Acus said to him, is this not David 0:37:11.600 --> 0:37:14.120 the king of the land? By the way, y'all, he 0:37:14.160 --> 0:37:18.160 was anointed king, but he wasn't operating his king. Here 0:37:18.440 --> 0:37:24.959 was the enemy calling David by his future, even though 0:37:25.040 --> 0:37:28.040 nothing about his current situation looked like the future that 0:37:28.080 --> 0:37:31.160 God had promised him. They said, is this not David 0:37:31.160 --> 0:37:33.520 the King of the land? Did they not sing of 0:37:33.640 --> 0:37:36.520 him to one another and dances saying Saul has slain. 0:37:36.360 --> 0:37:38.640 His thousands and David his ten thousands. 0:37:38.880 --> 0:37:42.400 Now David took these words to heart and was watched 0:37:42.480 --> 0:37:49.319 this very much afraid. You would think, if people are 0:37:49.400 --> 0:37:52.719 reading your resume that your chest. 0:37:52.520 --> 0:37:54.799 Would go out. Yeah, that's me. That's me. 0:37:55.560 --> 0:38:01.840 I'm been killing for the days. Said fear came over David, 0:38:03.480 --> 0:38:08.520 and he says, watch this. So he changed his behavior 0:38:10.400 --> 0:38:16.080 and pretended madness in their hands, scratched on the doors 0:38:16.160 --> 0:38:20.480 of the gate, and let his saliva fall down. 0:38:21.400 --> 0:38:26.640 On his beard. You can play him done. Here's David. 0:38:28.000 --> 0:38:32.040 In the face of a new enemy with a resume 0:38:32.200 --> 0:38:38.080 of victory, and instead of standing ten toes down and saying, 0:38:38.120 --> 0:38:40.919 the God who brought victory in every season of my life, 0:38:40.920 --> 0:38:45.520 he will do it again, David started to pretend to 0:38:45.600 --> 0:38:50.000 be less than who God called him to be because 0:38:50.000 --> 0:38:54.880 he didn't want to fight another battle elevation. Hear me, 0:38:56.280 --> 0:39:01.879 there will be opportunities in your future if you do 0:39:01.960 --> 0:39:06.919 not have the right perspective to diminish who God has 0:39:06.960 --> 0:39:12.000 called you to be just to avoid another fight. Oh man, 0:39:12.000 --> 0:39:13.680 when I get around these people and I talk about 0:39:13.680 --> 0:39:15.200 all that God's going to do through my life. 0:39:15.000 --> 0:39:17.600 They get angries. So I'm just gonna stop talking. 0:39:19.000 --> 0:39:21.960 When when I when I walk in boldness and I'm 0:39:22.040 --> 0:39:24.920 actually moving that, I get pushed back, I get flack, 0:39:25.000 --> 0:39:27.719 I get attacked. So let me there are gonna be 0:39:27.840 --> 0:39:32.240 temptations of let me just shrink, let me just stop dreaming, 0:39:32.360 --> 0:39:35.280 let me just stop pushing, let me just stop pressing. 0:39:38.640 --> 0:39:42.200 And if you're not careful, you can look at the 0:39:42.200 --> 0:39:44.080 blessings that God is done in your life up to 0:39:44.080 --> 0:39:44.560 this point and. 0:39:44.560 --> 0:39:48.400 You can say this is good enough. The heat that 0:39:48.520 --> 0:39:53.680 I've had to take to get this far, I don't 0:39:53.680 --> 0:39:54.440 want to fight anymore. 0:39:58.640 --> 0:40:00.560 A lot of times people they passed me that message, 0:40:00.560 --> 0:40:05.359 which just for me. Sometimes I'm transparent, sometimes I'm not. 0:40:05.480 --> 0:40:07.239 But in this moment, I will be going. I tell you, 0:40:07.280 --> 0:40:08.879 this message ain't for you. This is for me. 0:40:10.680 --> 0:40:12.919 Because I'm walking out of a season where I just said, God, 0:40:13.239 --> 0:40:14.320 I don't want to fight anymore. 0:40:15.440 --> 0:40:17.480 This thinks I'm tired. I'm exhausted. 0:40:19.080 --> 0:40:21.439 Our church has been outrageously blessed, and God has moved 0:40:21.480 --> 0:40:23.839 it forward and leaps and bounds, and every time it's 0:40:23.880 --> 0:40:28.120 moved forward, there has been an insane attack prior. And 0:40:28.160 --> 0:40:29.920 I'm like, God, if this is what building your kingdom 0:40:29.960 --> 0:40:33.759 is like, count me out. And I'm not talking about 0:40:33.840 --> 0:40:36.680 like stupid attacks like people talking about you. How many 0:40:36.719 --> 0:40:38.600 people know people talking about you ain't got nothing to 0:40:38.640 --> 0:40:39.560 do with nothing. 0:40:41.360 --> 0:40:43.720 But it's tax like you know your children. 0:40:44.640 --> 0:40:46.799 Our church went through the season where we grew exponentially, 0:40:46.800 --> 0:40:48.880 and right before we grew exponentially, we sit down in 0:40:48.880 --> 0:40:51.480 the doctor's office and doctor tells me my seven year 0:40:51.520 --> 0:40:53.439 old is losing her hearing and she'll never be able 0:40:53.440 --> 0:40:56.600 to hear. Let's begin to start this process of figuring 0:40:56.640 --> 0:40:58.160 out how she's going to live without hearing. 0:41:00.080 --> 0:41:05.359 God, if this is I ain't signed up for this church. 0:41:05.440 --> 0:41:08.640 Crew on the other side got supernaturally healed her, no 0:41:08.760 --> 0:41:21.160 healing problems, whatsoever. Another season like that comes, church grows exponentially. 0:41:21.160 --> 0:41:22.960 Me and my wife are traveling at some conference or 0:41:22.960 --> 0:41:25.080 whatever may be. We get a phone call or two 0:41:25.160 --> 0:41:30.040 year old broke her femur and is in the hospital 0:41:30.040 --> 0:41:33.239 and we're in another city. I am you want to 0:41:33.239 --> 0:41:38.200 talk about naus just nauseousness, I said, God, if this 0:41:38.280 --> 0:41:43.120 is the fight, count me out those last year She's 0:41:43.200 --> 0:41:45.160 run around healthy, healed, perfect good. 0:41:45.200 --> 0:41:53.160 God's covered by the way. Pray for your pastors every time. 0:41:53.200 --> 0:41:53.799 God bless us. 0:41:53.800 --> 0:41:55.560 You have no idea the battles that they fought and 0:41:55.600 --> 0:41:58.240 they won, But there's such a temptation. 0:41:58.320 --> 0:41:59.200 I know that's my story. 0:41:59.239 --> 0:42:01.960 You've got your own story of man, I just can't 0:42:02.000 --> 0:42:04.960 handle another fight, Dave. I read this and I'm gonna it' 0:42:05.000 --> 0:42:06.920 Second Samuel eleven, verse one. It says this, it happened 0:42:06.920 --> 0:42:08.359 in the spring of the year, at the time when 0:42:08.480 --> 0:42:12.960 kings go out to battle, that David sent Job and 0:42:13.000 --> 0:42:16.040 his servants with him in all Israel, and they destroyed 0:42:16.040 --> 0:42:19.240 the people. If I'm on besiege watched this, but David 0:42:19.719 --> 0:42:22.480 remained at Jerusalem. 0:42:22.640 --> 0:42:24.680 Y'all Bible scholars, you know the story. You could preach 0:42:24.680 --> 0:42:25.280 it to yourself. 0:42:25.400 --> 0:42:27.839 David was supposed to be at war, and Steady stayed home, 0:42:28.080 --> 0:42:32.000 ran across this chick called Bathsheba, and wrecked the whole deal. 0:42:34.400 --> 0:42:37.719 If you look at the life of David, there's one 0:42:37.719 --> 0:42:42.440 thing that you might miss that the only times David 0:42:42.680 --> 0:42:48.759 nearly died was when he was in the palace, not 0:42:48.960 --> 0:42:53.240 when he was out on the battlefield. The safest place 0:42:53.320 --> 0:42:56.839 for David was out fighting the debt battles that God 0:42:56.880 --> 0:42:59.440 called him to fight. It was in the palace that 0:42:59.640 --> 0:43:02.200 sold tried to kill him. It was in the palace 0:43:02.200 --> 0:43:05.359 that Absalom created that q ku and tried to take 0:43:05.440 --> 0:43:07.719 him out. It was in the palace that he thought 0:43:07.719 --> 0:43:11.960 about Sheheba and ruined his legacy. David was safest when 0:43:12.000 --> 0:43:15.000 he was on the offense, going after all that God 0:43:15.040 --> 0:43:17.720 had called him to go after. But when David allowed 0:43:17.760 --> 0:43:21.080 the intimidation of the enemy to keep him blocked up 0:43:21.120 --> 0:43:24.160 in what he thought was a safe place, is when. 0:43:24.000 --> 0:43:25.840 He was not safe at all. 0:43:25.960 --> 0:43:29.760 Hear me, you are safest not when you're playing it safe, 0:43:29.880 --> 0:43:33.720 but when you are running forward in faith towards all 0:43:33.760 --> 0:43:36.879 that God has for you. And you may say, hey, 0:43:37.239 --> 0:43:39.600 I don't want to fight another battle, hear me, don't 0:43:39.600 --> 0:43:42.080 look at it as another battle. Look at it another 0:43:42.239 --> 0:43:44.920 victory on the other side of this battle that I'm 0:43:44.960 --> 0:43:47.960 gonna walk through. What in ten spies say, Hey, we 0:43:48.080 --> 0:43:51.080 can't take the city. There's giants in the land. What 0:43:51.200 --> 0:43:54.000 in two spies say, when we kill these giants, we're 0:43:54.000 --> 0:43:57.520 gonna sleep in giants' beds, and we're gonna live in giants' houses, 0:43:57.600 --> 0:44:00.600 and we're gonna have giant blessings on the other. 0:44:00.520 --> 0:44:01.279 Side of this. 0:44:01.440 --> 0:44:04.360 Hear me, I got bad news and I got good news. 0:44:04.480 --> 0:44:07.200 The bad news is there's some battles ahead of you. 0:44:07.200 --> 0:44:09.920 You cannot avoid them. Here's the good news. If you 0:44:09.960 --> 0:44:12.239 don't back up, if you don't quit, if you don't 0:44:12.239 --> 0:44:16.200 throw in the towel. Victory has your name on it, 0:44:16.480 --> 0:44:19.719 and the size of the blessing on the other side 0:44:19.760 --> 0:44:22.759 of the battle will be greater than any battle you 0:44:22.800 --> 0:44:23.799 can face. 0:44:23.640 --> 0:44:26.279 In your life. If you believe it. 0:44:26.760 --> 0:44:30.000 Somebody shot hallelujah. 0:44:30.280 --> 0:44:32.319 Come on, Can you hop up on your feet? Father God, 0:44:32.360 --> 0:44:33.120 We're grateful. 0:44:34.640 --> 0:44:38.839 God, We're thankful that you said, though the enemy comes 0:44:38.880 --> 0:44:41.719 in like a flood, that you will raise up a. 0:44:41.880 --> 0:44:42.920 Standard against him. 0:44:42.920 --> 0:44:43.120 God. 0:44:43.120 --> 0:44:46.000 I pray over every single person under the sound of 0:44:46.040 --> 0:44:49.600 my voice, God, that your victory will go before us, 0:44:49.600 --> 0:44:52.080 that you would cover us, that we would see your 0:44:52.160 --> 0:44:55.399 hand on everything that we do. Come on, right where 0:44:55.400 --> 0:44:56.839 you are, Can you close your eyes? Can you pray 0:44:56.840 --> 0:44:59.560 this prayer? Say, Holy Spirit, what are you. 0:44:59.520 --> 0:45:01.960 Saying to me? And just give God a moment to. 0:45:01.960 --> 0:45:04.239 Make this time to make this message personal to you. 0:45:04.320 --> 0:45:06.799 For some of you, you are in the fight of 0:45:06.840 --> 0:45:10.640 your life, and God's word to you, as you're not alone, 0:45:11.320 --> 0:45:14.880 this will end in victory. Your best days are ahead 0:45:14.880 --> 0:45:17.600 of you, not behind you. For some of you, if 0:45:17.600 --> 0:45:21.000 you'd be honest, you are fighting this fight by yourself 0:45:21.560 --> 0:45:24.480 because you've never asked God to be a part of 0:45:24.520 --> 0:45:28.040 your story. Well, if that's you, this is your moment 0:45:28.800 --> 0:45:30.919 where if you find yourself. If you say, pastor, I'm 0:45:31.040 --> 0:45:35.840 tired of fighting by myself. I need God to be 0:45:35.960 --> 0:45:38.759 my victory. Right where you're standing, pray this prayer. Say 0:45:38.800 --> 0:45:43.239 Lord Jesus, this is my moment. I surrender to you. 0:45:43.840 --> 0:45:47.520 I believe it was your cross, it was your blood 0:45:47.920 --> 0:45:49.240 that bought my freedom. 0:45:49.680 --> 0:45:53.640 And in this moment, I give you all of me. 0:45:54.239 --> 0:45:58.799 Be my Lord, be my savior, and use me for 0:45:58.920 --> 0:46:01.160 your glory in Jesus' name. 0:46:01.840 --> 0:46:03.279 Amen and Amen. 0:46:03.000 --> 0:46:06.479 Come on, Can you celebrate for every single person? God 0:46:06.480 --> 0:46:06.880 bless you. 0:46:09.760 --> 0:46:12.319 Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of 0:46:12.360 --> 0:46:15.319 you who give generously to this ministry. Is because of 0:46:15.360 --> 0:46:18.319 you that this ministry is possible. You can click the 0:46:18.320 --> 0:46:22.080 link in the description to give now or visit Elevationchurch 0:46:22.239 --> 0:46:25.480 dot org slash podcast for more information and if you 0:46:25.560 --> 0:46:27.920 enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:46:28.200 --> 0:46:29.520 You can share it with your friends. 0:46:29.800 --> 0:46:32.080 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:46:32.120 --> 0:46:34.239 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:46:34.280 --> 0:46:35.120 Elevation Church. 0:46:35.200 --> 0:46:36.200 Thanks again for listening. 0:46:36.239 --> 0:46:41.800 God bless you.