The Devil In 3D

0:00:01.920 --> 0:00:04.480 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.720 --> 0:00:06.960 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.000 --> 0:00:10.280 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.320 --> 0:00:12.360 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:15.080 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.239 --> 0:00:19.439 Just to hit it real quick from first Peter five 0:00:19.520 --> 0:00:22.079 eight and nine, which serves as a theme. We won't 0:00:22.079 --> 0:00:24.520 preach from it today, but be alert and of sober mind. 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:29.200 Your enemy, the devil prows around like a roaring lion. 0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:32.199 See I always read it wrong. I thought he was 0:00:32.240 --> 0:00:34.720 a lion. I thought he was bigger than me and 0:00:34.800 --> 0:00:37.559 stronger than me. But I found out that he's just 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:41.360 loud like a lion. And the place where he roars 0:00:42.080 --> 0:00:46.440 is in my mind. That's where he's the loudest, in 0:00:46.479 --> 0:00:49.599 the thoughts that I have. And so he's looking for 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:54.520 someone to devour. Did you ever wonder why all those 0:00:54.840 --> 0:00:58.560 Twitter feeds and Instagram feeds and Facebook feeds, why they 0:00:58.560 --> 0:01:02.720 call him feeds is because they're eating your mind alive? 0:01:04.120 --> 0:01:09.000 Did you know that? And so he devours people in 0:01:09.040 --> 0:01:11.480 any way that he can. He's looking for someone. The 0:01:11.520 --> 0:01:16.800 command is resist him, But how many know it's hard 0:01:16.840 --> 0:01:22.440 to resist what you don't recognize, and if we're to 0:01:22.560 --> 0:01:25.880 resist the enemy, because I don't know about you, But 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:28.600 I don't intend to live the rest of my life 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:35.360 as a Christian and be a slave to my own imagination. Amen. 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:38.919 I don't intend to live the rest of my life 0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:43.720 forgiven by Christ as a prisoner to my past and 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:47.600 replaying memories of moments that have come and gone, but 0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:50.840 I can't escape them in my mind. And so I 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:53.600 really intend if it takes me the rest of my life, 0:01:53.640 --> 0:01:55.800 and it might, because it seems like sometimes I take 0:01:55.840 --> 0:01:59.040 two steps forward and three steps back. But I'm trying 0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:01.559 to get free. I'm trying to take my mind back 0:02:02.200 --> 0:02:05.080 so I can serve God with my mind and love 0:02:05.120 --> 0:02:06.800 the Lord my God with all my heart, with all 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:10.520 my soul, with all my mind, with all my strength. 0:02:11.160 --> 0:02:13.640 And I don't want to be drained, so I go 0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:18.520 into each day with no energy and broken focus. I 0:02:18.560 --> 0:02:21.079 really want to be able to see clear the way 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:24.200 ahead so I can follow Christ into my future. And 0:02:24.200 --> 0:02:27.560 that's the intention of this series. But in order to 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:31.680 resist the enemy, we've got to recognize him, or we'll 0:02:31.680 --> 0:02:37.520 spend our whole life, resisting all the wrong things, resisting 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:43.560 silence when sometimes that's where God speaks the loudest, resisting 0:02:43.639 --> 0:02:47.200 or trying to avoid awkward situations. And God's middle name 0:02:47.280 --> 0:02:50.760 is awkward. He'll run out of food on purpose to 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:53.280 see what you're going to do in an awkward situation. 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:57.520 He'll sit down next to a disreputable woman it all well, 0:02:57.600 --> 0:03:00.000 and make it awkward. So the disciples have to decide 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:04.200 if they really believe that this message is for everyone. 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:10.320 And so let's take a look today at this idea 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:15.600 of recognizing the enemy so we can see how he's 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:17.960 at work in our lives. And this may be a 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:20.880 weird title, but I want to call this message the 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:26.040 devil in three D. What does he look like in 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:30.320 real life, not our cartoon image of him, our coloring 0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:33.639 book devil. Once we get the cape off of him 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:39.000 and try to understand how he really operates to try 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:43.120 to master our minds and set up a seed of 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:46.360 influence and our souls through controlling our emotions, we can 0:03:46.400 --> 0:03:49.440 start to do battle. And you know, Paul said one time, 0:03:49.520 --> 0:03:58.200 we are not ignorant of Satan's devices, devices, Satan's devices, 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:02.280 and of course I don't think this is the devil, 0:04:02.320 --> 0:04:04.360 but I wanted to give you three things just to 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:08.480 make it memorable that start with the letter D. And 0:04:08.760 --> 0:04:11.680 rather than continue on talking about Peter this week, I 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:14.400 want to move into the Old Testament for a few 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:18.000 moments and tell you a story about a Bible character 0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:21.520 that I know you've heard of, named Moses, and I 0:04:21.560 --> 0:04:25.120 want to use this one example from his Life's probably 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:27.680 not the one that he would choose for us to evaluate, 0:04:27.800 --> 0:04:30.840 because he made a great mistake and it cost him dearly. 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:34.520 But hopefully, like First Corinthians ten says, we can use 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:37.880 him as an example so the same thing doesn't happen 0:04:37.920 --> 0:04:39.599 to us. How many of you want your kids to 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:42.760 learn some stuff from your experience that they don't have 0:04:42.800 --> 0:04:47.040 to learn through their own pain. And so let's look 0:04:47.040 --> 0:04:49.160 at this. I'll read it to you. I'll be honest 0:04:49.160 --> 0:04:51.279 with you. I never appreached on this passage before because 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:55.600 I was intimidated by it. And really it's a little confusing. 0:04:55.839 --> 0:04:59.120 You'll see that it seems a little harsh what happens 0:04:59.120 --> 0:05:02.599 in this passage. And honestly, I knew that if I 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:05.960 ever preached it, that God would probably speak something to 0:05:06.000 --> 0:05:09.240 me that I wouldn't want to hear because I relate 0:05:09.320 --> 0:05:11.920 to a little thing that happens in this Bible story. 0:05:11.960 --> 0:05:15.000 But I want to share it with you now as 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:17.159 we lean into this message. The devil in three D 0:05:17.960 --> 0:05:22.520 and of course Moses's devil was a little different than ours. 0:05:23.160 --> 0:05:27.040 He would have said Pharaoh, who was the ruler of Egypt, 0:05:27.360 --> 0:05:29.680 the one that he had to demand emancipation for the 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:32.799 people of God from. He never really asked for that assignment. 0:05:33.080 --> 0:05:36.919 He didn't seek that assignment. He wasn't looking for a 0:05:37.000 --> 0:05:40.840 life purpose. God just interrupted what he thought was his 0:05:42.480 --> 0:05:45.279 second half of life and gave him something different to 0:05:45.320 --> 0:05:49.000 do and wasn't terribly convenient. But now we're looking at 0:05:49.000 --> 0:05:51.880 Moses at the end of his life, and this is 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:54.800 what the Bible says Numbers chapter twenty, verse one. In 0:05:54.839 --> 0:05:57.760 the first month, the whole Israelite community arrived at the 0:05:57.760 --> 0:06:02.159 desert of Zenn and they stayed at Kadesh. Their Miriam 0:06:02.200 --> 0:06:05.760 died and was buried. Their Miriam died and was buried. 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:08.440 Now there was no water for the community, and the 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:12.279 people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron, and they 0:06:12.440 --> 0:06:15.800 quarreled with Moses and said, if only we had died 0:06:16.080 --> 0:06:19.920 when our brothers fell dead before the Lord. Why did 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:23.719 you bring the Lord's community into this wilderness that we 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:27.479 and our livestock should die here? Why did you bring 0:06:27.600 --> 0:06:31.360 us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It 0:06:31.400 --> 0:06:38.000 has no grain or figs, grape vines or pomegranates, Wi 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:43.080 Fi or Starbucks. It's trying to bring you into the text. 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:45.159 I don't want you bored trying to listen to this 0:06:45.240 --> 0:06:51.240 Bible story. And there is no water to drink. Moses 0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:53.680 and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:57.640 the tent of meeting and fell face down, and the 0:06:57.640 --> 0:07:00.920 glory of the Lord appeared to them. When God's glory 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:04.960 shows up when you've run out of answers, That's when 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:08.479 God's glory shows up when you admit God, I'm powerless 0:07:08.920 --> 0:07:11.840 to do this on my own. I need you God. 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:16.720 I've tried everything, and still these people are driving me crazy. 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:19.520 But I'm here at the entrance to the tent and 0:07:19.560 --> 0:07:21.960 I need you to speak. So for everybody who came 0:07:22.000 --> 0:07:25.080 into church with a cocky attitude today talking about I 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:26.960 wonder what this sermon is gonna be about. And he 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:29.040 better hurry up and get to it. Because I don't 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:30.920 really even want to be here, up here in that 0:07:31.000 --> 0:07:35.320 karate kid shirt looking like a Halloween costume, say something, 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:37.520 won't you. You're not gonna get it. But those of 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:40.320 you who came in here humbled under the mighty hand 0:07:40.320 --> 0:07:47.200 of God, he might just speak, because you're listening now. 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:52.720 Then the Lord said to Moses verse seven, take the staff, 0:07:53.800 --> 0:07:57.160 that same staff that you raised over the Red Sea, 0:07:57.280 --> 0:08:00.800 and it parted, that same staff that initially threw on 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:03.160 the ground. And I proved who I was to you 0:08:03.240 --> 0:08:06.800 because I turned the staff into a snake, and you 0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:09.480 picked it back up and it became a staff again. 0:08:09.560 --> 0:08:13.320 That same staff that turned the Nile River into blood 0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:16.280 until your enemy had no choice but to release you 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:20.320 from bondage. That same staff that when you raised it up, 0:08:20.520 --> 0:08:24.800 the Amalekites were no match for the Israelites. That same staff. 0:08:24.880 --> 0:08:30.840 Take it now. I want you to get erin and 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:35.880 get everybody together and speak to the rock before their eyes, 0:08:36.760 --> 0:08:39.520 and it will pour out its water, and you will 0:08:39.559 --> 0:08:41.480 bring water out of the rock for the community, so 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:43.599 they in their livestock and drink. So Moses took the 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:47.640 staff from the Lord's presence, just as he had commanded him. 0:08:48.040 --> 0:08:51.120 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of 0:08:51.160 --> 0:08:54.680 the rock, and Moses said to them, listen, you rebels. 0:08:55.520 --> 0:08:57.560 I'm gonna start saying that around my house. More to 0:08:57.600 --> 0:09:02.960 the kids. Do we bring you water out of this rock? 0:09:03.880 --> 0:09:08.240 Isn't anything I do enough for you. I've been leading 0:09:08.280 --> 0:09:13.720 you through this wilderness for thirty eight years, and it's 0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:17.800 never enough. It never stops. It never stops. Somebody shout, 0:09:17.800 --> 0:09:21.760 it never stops. I screamed that one day on vacation, 0:09:22.280 --> 0:09:24.839 top of my lungs. I'd been such a good dad 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:27.679 all day. I took my kids swimming, I went on 0:09:27.720 --> 0:09:30.000 a bike ride with the kids. We went in ate 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:33.400 Japanese food, and we sat with people we didn't know, 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:35.559 and I pretended to think it was funny when he 0:09:35.600 --> 0:09:38.200 flipped the bowl into his hat, like I never saw 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:41.000 it before. I was a good dad that day. I 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:43.280 was a great dad that day. I read to him 0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:45.760 at bedtime. And still at the end of the day, 0:09:46.040 --> 0:09:48.400 they were fighting, and all of a sudden, I heard 0:09:48.480 --> 0:09:51.320 myself screaming at my kids. Have you ever had an 0:09:51.360 --> 0:09:54.320 out of body experience screaming at your kids? And you 0:09:54.400 --> 0:09:57.080 were surprised what you said next? And you were thinking 0:09:57.120 --> 0:09:59.599 I might have to bleep myself at it myself. I 0:09:59.600 --> 0:10:01.960 don't know what what's coming out next. The Holy Ghost 0:10:02.120 --> 0:10:05.040 just left and something else took over. And now I'm 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:08.480 watching myself and I'm scaring of myself, and I shouted 0:10:08.520 --> 0:10:15.880 at the top of my lungs. It never stops. Now 0:10:15.880 --> 0:10:21.360 we can laugh about it. It It wasn't funny at the time. Listen, 0:10:21.480 --> 0:10:25.360 your rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock. 0:10:26.280 --> 0:10:29.120 We already did this one time, thirty eight years ago. 0:10:29.880 --> 0:10:33.760 This has happened before. God kept your shoes from wearing out. 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:39.360 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock, which 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:43.840 God did not instruct him to do, twice with his staff, 0:10:44.880 --> 0:10:50.160 and water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. 0:10:50.280 --> 0:10:55.120 So on the surface what Moses did worked, But just 0:10:55.240 --> 0:10:59.000 because it worked on the surface doesn't mean it was 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:03.840 wise and does not mean it will have a sustainable effect. 0:11:04.800 --> 0:11:07.120 And this is why when you control people with your 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:15.080 anger or your pouting or your manipulat see I can't 0:11:15.080 --> 0:11:18.079 even say the word is a foreign concept to me, manipulation. 0:11:20.120 --> 0:11:25.240 You end up very lonely because the cost of controlling 0:11:25.280 --> 0:11:28.880 people is to end up alone and I know I 0:11:28.960 --> 0:11:31.080 got you pinned up against your chair right now talking 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:34.400 about this sermons, so look confused and you get through this. 0:11:34.559 --> 0:11:39.480 But some of the stuff that works on the surface 0:11:40.360 --> 0:11:44.320 costs us in the end. And that's why it's so 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:48.240 important that we understand this. Because what everybody got water, 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:54.120 but it cost Moses what God had promised. And if 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:57.920 the passage ended at verse eleven, you'd say, well, what's 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:03.800 so hard about that scripture? Unfortunately, Verse twelve tell us 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:06.400 that even though the water came out of the rock, 0:12:07.480 --> 0:12:11.679 what came out of Moses's heart in that moment prevented 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:15.319 him from going further into God's promise. And even though 0:12:15.320 --> 0:12:18.800 all the people were happy and the people were impressed, 0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:21.800 and the people might not have even known anything was 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:25.320 wrong because they were all too busy drinking, the people 0:12:25.720 --> 0:12:29.920 got hydrated. The people got what they wanted, but Moses 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:34.200 lost what God had promised. Verse twelve, the Lord said 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:37.720 to Moses and Aaron, because you did not trust in 0:12:37.800 --> 0:12:42.000 me enough to honor me as holy in the sight 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:47.560 of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into 0:12:47.640 --> 0:12:55.319 the land I give them. These were the waters of Mirabah, 0:12:55.720 --> 0:12:58.840 where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord, and where he 0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:03.520 was proved holy among them. Makes me wish I would 0:13:03.559 --> 0:13:07.840 have paid more attention in my Hebrew class, because if 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:12.000 I knew that miraba means quarreling, I would understand that 0:13:12.040 --> 0:13:16.679 God does some great miracles in places of great conflict. 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:19.840 You know, it's funny all the little things we miss 0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:23.479 if we read the Bible in English because the interpretation. 0:13:23.679 --> 0:13:27.080 Sometimes the writers will put little humorous things in there 0:13:27.120 --> 0:13:31.920 that I wouldn't know to look for. But this particular 0:13:31.960 --> 0:13:33.920 word play, if you go back to verse two and 0:13:33.960 --> 0:13:35.520 I told you, I'm gonna give you three d's and 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:38.640 I am the first one is deficit because he is 0:13:38.679 --> 0:13:41.679 describing a deficit that the people of God are in. 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:43.680 It says in verse two there was no water for 0:13:43.760 --> 0:13:47.600 the community, and the people gathered. Now the Hebrew word 0:13:47.640 --> 0:13:51.319 forgathered here that he uses is a word that means 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:56.080 to come together for the purpose of conflict. And see, 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:59.560 I didn't even know Facebook was in the Bible. Talk 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:03.800 to me, they call it a community. But the community 0:14:03.880 --> 0:14:08.680 came together to quarrel in that a nice word to quarrel, 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:12.160 not to not to fight, not to argue, but to 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:16.920 quarrel and so they're they're fighting with each other and 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:18.880 they don't have patience. But they don't have patience because 0:14:18.880 --> 0:14:22.000 they don't have water. And before we're too hard on them, 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:26.320 these complaining Israelites, we need to consider that this was 0:14:26.360 --> 0:14:29.720 a matter of life and death. This is not the 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:33.720 barista messed up your order and forgot that you prefer 0:14:33.760 --> 0:14:37.800 almond milk. This is something different. This is we can't 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:41.280 live but a few days without water, and so we're desperate. 0:14:42.120 --> 0:14:45.560 And I've noticed that when people get desperate, they start 0:14:45.640 --> 0:14:48.920 doing things they wouldn't normally do. Have you noticed this 0:14:48.960 --> 0:14:52.480 about yourself, that that when you get desperate, you get edgy, 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:57.040 you get touchy, and sometimes you're lashing out at people. 0:14:57.120 --> 0:14:59.680 And it's not about the people. Like I had to 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:02.080 flaying to the kids about my road rage, it's not 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:05.280 really about the driving. It has nothing to do with 0:15:05.360 --> 0:15:08.160 the driving. It's just that Dad finds this a convenient 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:11.440 place to be shielded and an anonymous where I can 0:15:11.520 --> 0:15:15.560 let some stuff lie that's been building up. God, I 0:15:15.600 --> 0:15:18.240 don't want a real preacher, JJ. You preached next week. 0:15:18.280 --> 0:15:23.280 Thank them out. It's a whole thing because they came 0:15:23.360 --> 0:15:26.440 together to quarrel and what they didn't know couldn't know, 0:15:26.600 --> 0:15:29.760 is that they were on the border of Canaan. The 0:15:29.840 --> 0:15:33.480 land that God had promised them was just a few 0:15:33.600 --> 0:15:37.160 short months away. But in a time when they should 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:40.520 have been preparing to conquer, the enemy had them in 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:44.560 a state of conflict. Don't you understand that the reason 0:15:45.360 --> 0:15:48.640 that you've been fighting like you've been fighting, and even 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:51.440 the reason sometimes that the devil will get you focused 0:15:51.440 --> 0:15:55.040 on fighting against people, is because God is trying to 0:15:55.080 --> 0:15:59.320 bring you into what he spoke over your life and 0:15:59.360 --> 0:16:02.800 the promise of his inheritance and the saints. And now 0:16:02.840 --> 0:16:05.400 the closer you get to that promise, the greater the 0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:08.600 conflict is going to be. I think one of the 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:11.520 reasons that our church gets so divided is because the 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:14.440 enemy knows that if we would ever stop fighting and 0:16:14.560 --> 0:16:17.840 focus on the mission that we were given by our 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:20.800 captain and the savior of our souls, we would be 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:24.280 dangerous to the kingdom of darkness. But we can't come 0:16:24.280 --> 0:16:28.320 together because we quarrel too much. It never stops, we 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:31.760 never quit finding new things to fight about. It's not 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:35.840 only that Christians fight against other religions. We can subdivide 0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:40.400 on a multiplicity of different levels of Christianity, and we 0:16:40.440 --> 0:16:42.760 can get into little groups so that we no longer 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:45.320 come together to lift up the name of the Lord 0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:47.920 and to take this message to the ends of the earth. 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:51.200 But now we're fighting over a translation of the Bible, 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:54.280 or we're fighting over what you wear to worship, or 0:16:54.280 --> 0:16:57.400 we're fighting over what specific nuance you believe about the 0:16:57.440 --> 0:17:00.560 Holy Spirit. But I didn't come to quarrel, so I 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:03.280 don't need to fight with you. I came to conquer, 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:05.760 and I need you in my corner. And I don't 0:17:05.760 --> 0:17:09.080 have the energy to spend fighting against the people God 0:17:09.160 --> 0:17:11.920 called me to fight with. So if you're black, fight 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:14.720 with me. If you're a Hispanic, fight with me. If 0:17:14.720 --> 0:17:17.320 you're a woman, fight with me. If you're young, fight 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:21.080 with me. Let's get together, old heads, young people, let's 0:17:21.119 --> 0:17:37.040 fight this fight together. And there's no water in the wilderness. 0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:42.080 And when there is no water, when there is a deficit, 0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:50.920 you start reacting instead of responding. I'm apprecia this message, Hollie. 0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:56.800 I feel it happening right now, because what I want 0:17:56.840 --> 0:18:00.280 to say is, forget about the budget deficit. We got 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:02.320 a whole lot more than a budget deficit in our 0:18:02.400 --> 0:18:06.200 nation today. And it's a different deficit than they faced. 0:18:06.240 --> 0:18:09.040 It's not a lack of water. I feel like in 0:18:09.080 --> 0:18:13.880 our world today we are severely lacking in our ability 0:18:13.880 --> 0:18:18.879 to empathize with others because we've got a surplus of 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:25.399 opinions and a deficit of empathy. Let me try another one. 0:18:25.960 --> 0:18:31.320 They didn't like that very much. We have a surplus 0:18:31.320 --> 0:18:40.200 of information and a deficit of wisdom, because if we 0:18:40.240 --> 0:18:43.239 don't have insight into information, we will get caught up 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:47.679 in highlights and headlines and highlights and headlines and highlights 0:18:47.720 --> 0:18:53.159 and headlines and highlights and headlines, clicking on crazy stuff 0:18:53.160 --> 0:18:55.719 and not even bothering to read anything but the first sentence. 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:58.120 And then somebody wants to ask me, do you really 0:18:58.160 --> 0:19:01.400 have a water slide on your stage because you don't 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:10.720 want to come. I almost lost my faith in the 0:19:10.840 --> 0:19:18.040 human race over that water slide. It's a deficit, and 0:19:18.080 --> 0:19:20.960 I've been noticing about myself. Maybe this is why I 0:19:21.000 --> 0:19:23.760 wanted to preach the series that I'm having a hard 0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:30.880 time focusing because you know, the Devil's devices. I think 0:19:30.880 --> 0:19:35.159 it's I think I'm no neurologist, but I think when 0:19:35.200 --> 0:19:38.040 it's getting hard for me to read three sentences in 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:42.320 a book and now I'm trying to swipe paper. When 0:19:42.320 --> 0:19:47.520 I reached up to swipe a book the other day, 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:52.479 I thought, I got to take my mind back. Actually, 0:19:52.520 --> 0:19:54.840 next week, if the Lord will enable me and help me, 0:19:54.920 --> 0:19:57.360 I'm gonna try to preach on that very subject of focus, 0:19:59.000 --> 0:20:01.040 because I'm talking to more more people who feel like 0:20:01.080 --> 0:20:04.639 their mind is fragmented and can't hold a thought. And 0:20:05.240 --> 0:20:07.040 it's not just because you're getting old and fish oil 0:20:07.119 --> 0:20:09.679 won't help it. There's some principles in the Word of 0:20:09.720 --> 0:20:14.000 God about distraction that we need to look at. It's 0:20:14.080 --> 0:20:19.760 a deficit, a deficit where we have more ways to 0:20:19.880 --> 0:20:27.680 communicate and we're connecting less than ever. I think that's 0:20:27.680 --> 0:20:30.400 what the skyrocketing porn rates are about. I think that's 0:20:30.440 --> 0:20:33.520 what the skyrocketing sleep deprivation rates are about. We are 0:20:33.600 --> 0:20:39.440 desperate to connect, and we call ourselves connected and nothing 0:20:39.440 --> 0:20:43.920 could be further from the truth. And it's too much. 0:20:45.400 --> 0:20:49.000 Costa called it too much to live with, too little 0:20:49.040 --> 0:20:54.439 to live for. It's a deficit, a deficit of meaning, 0:20:56.200 --> 0:21:02.760 a deficit of insight. And when the deficit is left unaddressed, 0:21:02.840 --> 0:21:07.800 you know what happens next. Disappointment sets in And that's 0:21:07.800 --> 0:21:12.280 the second D is disappointment because I'm looking at how 0:21:12.320 --> 0:21:14.800 the Israelites are talking to Moses right, and I get it. 0:21:15.840 --> 0:21:17.879 I get it because when you don't have what you 0:21:17.920 --> 0:21:20.880 need to live, you start doing things that you would 0:21:20.920 --> 0:21:23.840 not normally do and it's not even you. And you 0:21:23.840 --> 0:21:25.800 also want to explain to people. Sometimes I don't even 0:21:25.800 --> 0:21:27.720 know who that was. I'm so sorry. Can we take 0:21:27.760 --> 0:21:31.520 back the last five minutes? And sometimes you can't. Sometimes 0:21:31.560 --> 0:21:34.960 you can undo it. And what the Israelites said to 0:21:35.040 --> 0:21:39.280 Moses here apparently hit that button. Now everybody has a button. 0:21:40.760 --> 0:21:42.560 All of you who are calm, we just haven't found 0:21:42.600 --> 0:21:48.760 yours yet. Really, everybody has a boiling point. Everybody has 0:21:49.320 --> 0:21:52.959 something that if you hit that, you will see a 0:21:52.960 --> 0:21:58.800 different version of them, and you will completely change their 0:21:58.880 --> 0:22:02.359 enneagram number. The right button, they go from a seven 0:22:02.440 --> 0:22:05.480 to a two, a peacemaker to a shooter, and it 0:22:05.520 --> 0:22:10.280 can happen so quick. Most is the man of God 0:22:10.920 --> 0:22:15.720 is violently striking a rock when God is trying to 0:22:15.720 --> 0:22:18.320 show his people grace. But the reason he did it, 0:22:18.359 --> 0:22:21.679 and this is why I can't figure out sometimes in 0:22:21.680 --> 0:22:23.840 my own life where it comes from, because I find 0:22:23.840 --> 0:22:26.440 things coming out of me, and I'm confused about where 0:22:26.440 --> 0:22:28.359 it came from, because i know I'm not mad about 0:22:28.400 --> 0:22:30.720 what I'm mad about, because it's not a big enough 0:22:30.760 --> 0:22:32.320 deal to make me as mad as I am about 0:22:32.320 --> 0:22:35.520 what I'm mad about. Please help me preach to you 0:22:36.760 --> 0:22:41.000 in this together. And they just got done telling him 0:22:41.040 --> 0:22:47.000 they wanted to die. And it's his fault. Because anytime 0:22:47.040 --> 0:22:49.719 you are facing a deficit in your own life, you 0:22:49.760 --> 0:22:55.920 start looking for someone to blame. Anytime you are confronted 0:22:55.960 --> 0:22:59.440 with your own barrenness or brokenness, you want to find 0:22:59.480 --> 0:23:02.560 somebody else or something else whose fault it can be. 0:23:03.840 --> 0:23:05.760 And the first thing we do when we run out 0:23:05.760 --> 0:23:09.480 of resource is to look for someone else to take responsibility. 0:23:10.400 --> 0:23:12.440 If only we had died when our brothers fell dead 0:23:12.480 --> 0:23:16.440 before the Lord. Why did you bring the Lord's community? 0:23:16.480 --> 0:23:19.480 Why didn't my mom? Why wasn't my dad around? All? 0:23:19.520 --> 0:23:22.440 These are reasonable things to say, but they don't really 0:23:22.440 --> 0:23:26.080 help the situation. They only make it worse. Why did 0:23:26.119 --> 0:23:28.840 you bring us out here into this wilderness that we 0:23:28.880 --> 0:23:32.680 should die here? They weren't actually about to die. God 0:23:32.760 --> 0:23:35.639 wasn't going to let him die. They were on the 0:23:35.920 --> 0:23:39.960 edge of destiny, about to take the land that God 0:23:40.040 --> 0:23:43.960 had promised for generations, and they want to die at 0:23:43.960 --> 0:23:48.760 the edge of destiny. Why'd you bring us up out 0:23:48.800 --> 0:23:54.600 of Egypt to this terrible place? There we had figs. There, 0:23:54.600 --> 0:23:59.480 we had grape funds. There we had pomegranates. There we 0:23:59.520 --> 0:24:07.040 had grain. I forget to mention the whips. They forget 0:24:07.080 --> 0:24:12.200 to mention the mud and the straw, and they begin 0:24:12.320 --> 0:24:20.560 to glamorize a past that really didn't even exist, well, 0:24:20.560 --> 0:24:30.159 the good old days. I get it, man, it's tempting 0:24:30.200 --> 0:24:31.920 to go back there in your mind. Just as long 0:24:31.960 --> 0:24:35.320 as you know is your version of the past is 0:24:35.359 --> 0:24:43.280 just as imaginary as your version of the future back 0:24:43.280 --> 0:24:46.000 in Egypt, the place that you were praying God to 0:24:46.040 --> 0:24:49.280 get you out of. Oh, I never forget this. One 0:24:49.320 --> 0:24:51.920 time a lady came to me. She said, you need 0:24:51.920 --> 0:24:53.760 to change some things in the church, very early in 0:24:53.800 --> 0:24:57.320 the church. And I was woo, I was cocky. I 0:24:57.359 --> 0:25:00.400 was twenty eight. So what I said, next to Homie responsible. 0:25:00.440 --> 0:25:04.720 There's statute of limitations. She listed everything she wanted me 0:25:04.760 --> 0:25:06.760 to change in the church, change this and change that, 0:25:06.800 --> 0:25:09.320 and change this and change that. And either the Lord 0:25:09.359 --> 0:25:12.080 or the devil prompted me to say what follows. I said, 0:25:12.119 --> 0:25:14.040 so you want me to recreate the church that you 0:25:14.119 --> 0:25:18.960 left to come to this one. I didn't mean it 0:25:19.000 --> 0:25:21.840 how it came out. I meant to say, I'll pray 0:25:21.880 --> 0:25:24.439 about it. I am, but a servant and a vessel 0:25:25.440 --> 0:25:30.600 just gushed out came out frustration. So you understand that 0:25:30.640 --> 0:25:36.959 frustration operates when your experience is different than your expectation. 0:25:38.960 --> 0:25:42.879 So when you are frustrated, it is not your life 0:25:42.880 --> 0:25:48.240 that you're frustrated with. It's your life compared to your 0:25:48.280 --> 0:25:53.600 expectation of your life. That's what makes you frustrated. It's 0:25:53.680 --> 0:25:57.920 that it normally takes me thirteen minutes to get there, 0:25:58.359 --> 0:26:01.200 and today it took me thirty. And I didn't plan 0:26:01.359 --> 0:26:04.199 for that. And so since I was already at a 0:26:04.240 --> 0:26:08.120 time deficit and a sleep deficit, and I didn't put 0:26:08.240 --> 0:26:12.160 margin on this trip, now I find myself frustrated. I'm 0:26:12.160 --> 0:26:15.800 not really frustrated at how long it's taking. I'm frustrated 0:26:15.800 --> 0:26:19.199 about how long it's taken compared to how long I 0:26:19.240 --> 0:26:21.800 thought it was gonna take. And one of the best 0:26:21.800 --> 0:26:24.399 things we can do for our peace of mind is 0:26:24.440 --> 0:26:30.240 to crucify our expectations of others. I mean, really just 0:26:30.359 --> 0:26:33.199 put it up there on the cross and get to 0:26:33.280 --> 0:26:37.159 the place where we no longer have an expectation of 0:26:37.280 --> 0:26:41.520 people to meet our needs, because we understand that our 0:26:41.560 --> 0:26:46.160 water flows from a different rock, that our joy flows 0:26:46.200 --> 0:26:50.240 from a different place. Come on, Epham, shout at the 0:26:50.240 --> 0:26:54.919 phone that I don't depend on people to provide for 0:26:55.040 --> 0:27:01.600 me what God has promised. It's already mine. And so 0:27:01.720 --> 0:27:05.639 they got really upset man. And then Moses got upset, 0:27:05.680 --> 0:27:07.240 and he went to God and he wanted God to 0:27:07.280 --> 0:27:10.560 be upset like he was upset. And Moses was mad 0:27:10.600 --> 0:27:16.359 because God wasn't mad. That's what happened here. He was disappointed. 0:27:17.720 --> 0:27:25.080 It never stops after all I've done for you. I've 0:27:25.080 --> 0:27:33.080 been here before. I have been here before, even even 0:27:33.119 --> 0:27:40.560 in high school when I was the athletic trainer water 0:27:40.680 --> 0:27:46.159 boy for the football team. Coach Meyer recruited me to 0:27:46.200 --> 0:27:49.400 be the athletic trainer. Said you could get a scholarship. 0:27:54.280 --> 0:27:57.159 And one day I was mixing that gatorade so sweet, 0:27:57.600 --> 0:27:59.920 and I thought, I don't think they give scholarships for that. 0:28:01.760 --> 0:28:05.359 I think he tricked me into this. You know, I 0:28:05.440 --> 0:28:07.240 kind of didn't like it anyway. It wasn't like I 0:28:07.280 --> 0:28:09.960 really cared too much about football. Football's fine, I'll turn 0:28:10.000 --> 0:28:13.280 it on. I'm not like some of y'all fantasy lineups 0:28:13.320 --> 0:28:15.880 and stuff. I got a real life. I'm skinding, I'm skinning. 0:28:15.880 --> 0:28:17.840 I'm scarting this fine as fine as fine. Fine, I'm skarting. 0:28:17.880 --> 0:28:23.520 I'm scarting this fine as fine as fine. But man, 0:28:24.680 --> 0:28:26.840 it was a relatively simple job. I did it for 0:28:26.920 --> 0:28:29.800 over a year, and the main part of the job, 0:28:29.840 --> 0:28:31.199 you know, every once in a while, they would let 0:28:31.240 --> 0:28:34.280 me tape a wrist or an ankle. I think it 0:28:34.320 --> 0:28:36.200 wasn't even really people that was hurt. I think they 0:28:36.280 --> 0:28:41.960 just sent cast members over because if anybody was really hurt, 0:28:42.000 --> 0:28:44.040 doctor Bowens came in. So I don't even think I 0:28:44.120 --> 0:28:46.400 was really taping anybody. I don't even think it was. 0:28:46.600 --> 0:28:49.960 But I did have one one job, and every time 0:28:50.000 --> 0:28:52.720 they would have a water break, it was my job 0:28:53.240 --> 0:28:59.719 to turn on the water. That's right, Bobby Bouche got 0:28:59.760 --> 0:29:06.640 nothing on me. Well, I did it like clockwork. They 0:29:06.640 --> 0:29:09.960 blow the whistle. I was positioned close enough to the 0:29:10.000 --> 0:29:12.840 spickett which was connected to the hose which went to 0:29:12.920 --> 0:29:16.360 the PVC pipe in Monk's Corner. It was fancy with 0:29:16.480 --> 0:29:20.240 a PVC pipe with the holes in it, trough of 0:29:20.320 --> 0:29:22.920 sorts with the water would come out of the pipe. 0:29:23.080 --> 0:29:25.160 But I was the man who turned it on, and 0:29:25.200 --> 0:29:28.400 I turned it on about three or four times every practice. 0:29:28.800 --> 0:29:31.080 And one day I went over there to turn it 0:29:31.120 --> 0:29:34.960 on and nothing came out. I don't know who forgot 0:29:34.960 --> 0:29:40.560 to pay the bill, but nothing came out. And those 0:29:40.560 --> 0:29:43.719 football players went to drink and they lined up at 0:29:43.720 --> 0:29:48.720 the PVC pipe and nothing happened. And they started yelling 0:29:48.720 --> 0:29:54.440 at me, like these rebellious Israelites started yelling at Moses, 0:29:55.160 --> 0:29:57.800 started yelling at me, calling me Steve. I don't even 0:29:57.840 --> 0:30:00.000 go by Steve. There's an N on my name. Now 0:30:00.240 --> 0:30:06.640 the consonant. This ain't will of fortune. Oh, I was 0:30:06.800 --> 0:30:10.480 mad yelling at me for the one time the water 0:30:10.560 --> 0:30:14.640 didn't come on. Hundreds of times the water came on. 0:30:14.640 --> 0:30:18.120 One time it didn't come on. And guess what, I'm 0:30:18.200 --> 0:30:21.560 not controlling the water. I'm just the one turning it on. 0:30:22.680 --> 0:30:26.600 So they were yelling at me. So I wasn't saved yet. 0:30:26.880 --> 0:30:29.400 Let me get that in. So I turned around and 0:30:29.440 --> 0:30:33.479 said God bless all y'all. Only instead of God bless 0:30:33.720 --> 0:30:38.000 I've said some different bce vocabulary that is not appropriate 0:30:38.240 --> 0:30:41.760 for this church setting and holy people such as yourself, 0:30:41.960 --> 0:30:44.600 And in that moment, I forgot they were bigger than me, 0:30:44.880 --> 0:30:47.240 because I do have a level of crazy that if 0:30:47.280 --> 0:30:50.360 it kicks in, I will stop caring how much bigger 0:30:50.440 --> 0:30:52.600 you are. And I would rather die than have you 0:30:52.680 --> 0:30:55.800 cussed me out. I got in my Toyota turch cell 0:30:55.840 --> 0:31:06.920 and I drove off. So oh just kind of came 0:31:06.960 --> 0:31:15.560 back to me. Man, I'm sorry because all these times 0:31:15.600 --> 0:31:20.600 I get Moses's disappointment. I really do, all these times, 0:31:21.800 --> 0:31:26.200 and this one time, all I've done for you, all 0:31:26.240 --> 0:31:32.160 the meals I've cooked, all the prayers I've prayed, all 0:31:32.200 --> 0:31:36.760 the compliments I gave, all the Christmas presents I bought, 0:31:37.680 --> 0:31:42.280 all the sacrifices I made, and you mean this one thing, 0:31:42.760 --> 0:31:45.560 this one time, and now you want to yell at 0:31:45.560 --> 0:31:50.920 me and disrespect me and ignore me. I figure Moses 0:31:51.000 --> 0:31:57.120 is tired of being taken for granted, tired of people 0:31:57.240 --> 0:32:00.400 just assuming that you're always gonna do it and it's 0:32:00.480 --> 0:32:05.000 just easy for you. Until I realized that Moses wasn't 0:32:05.040 --> 0:32:12.960 really disappointed with the people. Moses was still dealing with 0:32:14.400 --> 0:32:20.040 a fear that he had carried with him since the 0:32:20.080 --> 0:32:22.600 time God met him at the Burning Bush, impossibly before 0:32:22.640 --> 0:32:28.080 that forty years earlier, when he killed an Egyptian to 0:32:28.200 --> 0:32:31.760 try to rescue one of his fellow Hebrews. And he 0:32:31.880 --> 0:32:34.920 never really fit in because he was raised as an Egyptian, 0:32:36.400 --> 0:32:39.600 but he was by birth a Hebrew. And when he 0:32:39.720 --> 0:32:42.120 tried to defend the people that he was one of 0:32:43.480 --> 0:32:45.360 from the people that he had had to live with, 0:32:46.520 --> 0:32:49.280 Moses ended up having to run. That's why he ended 0:32:49.320 --> 0:32:51.520 up in the wilderness with the shepherd's staff to begin with. 0:32:51.680 --> 0:32:54.120 And that's why when God met him at the bush, 0:32:54.200 --> 0:32:59.280 Moses said, you got the wrong one. Picked somebody stronger, 0:33:00.600 --> 0:33:06.960 Pick somebody more capable, Pick somebody with more experience. Pick 0:33:07.040 --> 0:33:10.880 somebody who doesn't struggle with what I struggle with, because 0:33:10.880 --> 0:33:14.440 I'll let you down, God, and I'll let them down. 0:33:16.480 --> 0:33:20.400 And not only not only is Moses dealing with this moment, 0:33:21.520 --> 0:33:26.400 but he's dealing with forty years of frustration, forty years 0:33:26.400 --> 0:33:29.400 of frustration that you could argue were the result of 0:33:29.400 --> 0:33:32.000 his lack of faith when he didn't go in and 0:33:32.040 --> 0:33:37.360 fight and take the land God had promised. In a sense, 0:33:37.400 --> 0:33:39.600 what they're saying about Moses is true, and he knows it. 0:33:41.000 --> 0:33:44.560 It's not him, it's not them that he is disappointed in. 0:33:50.360 --> 0:33:54.680 So like for me realizing in my adult life that 0:33:54.760 --> 0:33:59.360 my core fear and a lot of the reasons that 0:33:59.400 --> 0:34:02.640 I withdraw and a lot of the reasons that I 0:34:03.680 --> 0:34:07.320 lash out. It really came to me one time early 0:34:07.400 --> 0:34:10.399 in my marriage to Holly, and it was a low 0:34:10.440 --> 0:34:12.319 key argument, but all of a sudden it just kind 0:34:12.360 --> 0:34:14.400 of erupted and I yelled at her, I'm not stupid, 0:34:15.960 --> 0:34:23.279 I'm not stupid. It never stops. I'm not stupid, she said. 0:34:23.320 --> 0:34:26.280 I didn't say you were stupid, But I wasn't responding 0:34:26.280 --> 0:34:27.920 to what she said. I was responding to what I 0:34:27.960 --> 0:34:35.600 felt somewhere in me was something that told me that 0:34:35.719 --> 0:34:40.359 I didn't know enough, probably back to my dad, in 0:34:40.360 --> 0:34:42.399 some ways he loved me. It wasn't that he didn't 0:34:42.440 --> 0:34:45.160 love me, but he kind of felt like it was 0:34:45.239 --> 0:34:47.040 him against the world and he didn't have a full 0:34:47.120 --> 0:34:49.240 deck to play with because of the way he was raised. 0:34:50.719 --> 0:34:54.840 And somewhere I probably started thinking that I was operating 0:34:54.840 --> 0:34:58.640 in life out of a deficit of intelligence. And so 0:34:58.719 --> 0:35:01.640 my first instinct when someone makes me feel stupid, what 0:35:01.680 --> 0:35:06.879 a phrase when they make me feel stupid. How much 0:35:06.960 --> 0:35:11.920 power are you giving away to other people when someone 0:35:12.000 --> 0:35:15.200 can make you feel stupid. That's a weak mind. But 0:35:15.239 --> 0:35:18.960 that's where that's where I find myself sometimes and that 0:35:19.000 --> 0:35:22.719 mental wilderness, that mental wilderness, do you know what I'm 0:35:22.719 --> 0:35:29.000 talking about? And I'm afraid. I'm afraid sometimes up here, 0:35:30.239 --> 0:35:31.920 not that I'm going to get the Bible wrong or 0:35:31.960 --> 0:35:36.319 that I'm going to dishonor God, but unfortunately that I 0:35:36.320 --> 0:35:42.400 will disappoint you. And every time we start a new series, 0:35:42.440 --> 0:35:45.799 I feel it, you know, because I try to create 0:35:45.880 --> 0:35:48.800 expectation this is going to be the best series ever. 0:35:50.800 --> 0:35:54.799 And then I hope Baby Jesus and Mother Mary and 0:35:54.880 --> 0:36:00.000 the Holy Ghosts will somehow help us, because I don't 0:36:00.080 --> 0:36:04.560 want to disappoint you. And I'm sharing this autobiographically, but 0:36:04.600 --> 0:36:08.560 I'm wondering, is like, do a lot of us function 0:36:08.680 --> 0:36:11.239 in this place that I don't want to disappoint you? 0:36:13.040 --> 0:36:15.160 And that's why I hide. And now I find myself 0:36:15.200 --> 0:36:16.600 I don't even want to pick up the phone when 0:36:16.640 --> 0:36:21.200 people call, because now if I can text them back, 0:36:21.280 --> 0:36:26.880 I can carefully craft my response. Even in the smallest ways. 0:36:27.080 --> 0:36:31.279 I see this fear, I see myself withdrawing. I see 0:36:31.320 --> 0:36:36.160 myself wanting to isolate, and it's a tendency that I 0:36:36.160 --> 0:36:40.120 don't fully understand because I do love people. I really 0:36:40.160 --> 0:36:43.239 do love people. I've always loved people. I was a 0:36:43.320 --> 0:36:46.120 dude that hugged everybody in his graduating high school class, 0:36:46.800 --> 0:36:49.440 the whole two one hundred and thirty of them, hug 0:36:49.600 --> 0:36:53.840 them all. But I find myself sometimes wanting to withdraw, 0:36:55.400 --> 0:36:58.279 find myself wanting to walk out, find myself wanting to 0:36:58.280 --> 0:37:01.920 get out, and I wonder why, you know, like, am 0:37:02.000 --> 0:37:06.080 I losing my love for people? It is all this 0:37:06.200 --> 0:37:08.759 getting to me, like lights and cameras and all that. 0:37:08.800 --> 0:37:12.279 But I realized I realized in the weirdest way one 0:37:12.320 --> 0:37:15.080 day what it was when a lady said to me, 0:37:15.440 --> 0:37:18.000 I've I've been going to your church seven years and 0:37:18.040 --> 0:37:20.000 I've never met you. And I said, I'm so sorry. 0:37:21.480 --> 0:37:23.680 I took it like an accusation, you know. She said, no, no, 0:37:23.719 --> 0:37:26.480 it's a big church. We love. The minister said, okay, good, 0:37:26.480 --> 0:37:30.000 I'm sorry. That's I'm really sorry, though, that's bad. I 0:37:30.120 --> 0:37:31.759 met your pastor in seven years. I'm sorry. She said, 0:37:31.760 --> 0:37:36.000 it's fine, it's fine. Stop apologizing now. It's awkward because 0:37:36.000 --> 0:37:38.960 I'm making it awkward. Then she made it awkward. She said, 0:37:38.960 --> 0:37:43.720 you're much taller on the screen. Well that helped you already. 0:37:43.719 --> 0:37:52.440 See I'm insecure woman, but I don't want to let 0:37:52.480 --> 0:37:58.359 you down, you know. So, So when Moses has this 0:37:58.520 --> 0:38:00.719 moment and I'm calling in a moment, but it's really 0:38:00.760 --> 0:38:05.920 not a moment because anytime something comes bursting to the surface, 0:38:06.040 --> 0:38:11.120 like Moses hitting that rock twice when God specifically spoke 0:38:11.160 --> 0:38:14.160 to him to speak to the rock, not to strike it. 0:38:15.400 --> 0:38:17.640 And I know why he struck the rock because this 0:38:17.680 --> 0:38:23.600 is the third issue. It's the issue of dependence. You know. 0:38:23.640 --> 0:38:27.840 This staff was the thing that he carried with him. 0:38:27.880 --> 0:38:32.320 Like Tom Hanks had a volleyball, Moses had a stick. 0:38:34.200 --> 0:38:37.840 And now in this moment where the community needs water 0:38:37.920 --> 0:38:39.880 and this is to be their last test, but they 0:38:39.880 --> 0:38:42.960 don't know it. This is to be their last test 0:38:43.000 --> 0:38:46.800 to see if they really trust God, and Moses fails 0:38:46.840 --> 0:38:51.680 the test. What I could not understand is why did 0:38:51.680 --> 0:38:54.880 God tell him to take the stick if he didn't 0:38:54.920 --> 0:38:59.879 want him to use it. Why did God tell mos 0:39:00.160 --> 0:39:06.120 us take the staff and then don't use it, just 0:39:06.160 --> 0:39:12.440 hold it and speak to the rock. Until I remember 0:39:13.800 --> 0:39:17.400 what Moses said to God when God first called Moses, 0:39:18.640 --> 0:39:29.919 I'm not good at speaking. And before God could let 0:39:30.040 --> 0:39:36.080 Moses lead his people into the promise, he had to 0:39:36.120 --> 0:39:42.920 know do you trust me enough? When God said Moses, 0:39:42.960 --> 0:39:46.040 you can't lead the people, it wasn't for punishment, it 0:39:46.080 --> 0:39:52.520 was for protection. If Moses would have led them in 0:39:52.520 --> 0:39:55.360 in the condition that his heart was in, with years 0:39:55.520 --> 0:39:59.480 and years and years and years of resentment building up, 0:39:59.520 --> 0:40:02.480 they would have all got killed the first time God spoken, 0:40:02.520 --> 0:40:06.720 they didn't do what he said because God needs someone 0:40:06.719 --> 0:40:13.200 who is not dependent on their staff. I know you 0:40:13.320 --> 0:40:16.080 struck the Red the Nile River, and the Red Sea, 0:40:16.360 --> 0:40:19.080 and I know that this staff has been used to 0:40:19.120 --> 0:40:21.600 perform great miracles, and I want you to hold it 0:40:21.640 --> 0:40:23.879 in your hand, but have the faith not to use it. 0:40:25.760 --> 0:40:29.640 I want you to speak to the rock, and he 0:40:29.719 --> 0:40:34.400 struck it instead. And God said, you don't trust me enough. 0:40:36.360 --> 0:40:40.120 You've allowed this resentment to build to a point that 0:40:40.239 --> 0:40:45.080 it has killed your potential. When we allow resentment to 0:40:45.160 --> 0:40:50.640 build and build and build and build, when we never 0:40:50.680 --> 0:40:53.359 really believe that we are what God said we are, 0:40:54.120 --> 0:40:58.200 when we are constantly taking people's assessment of us as 0:40:58.239 --> 0:41:03.680 the ultimate reality, it limits our participation in the promise 0:41:03.719 --> 0:41:07.719 of God. It doesn't keep God from loving you, but 0:41:07.840 --> 0:41:11.360 it keeps God from being able to lead you into 0:41:11.480 --> 0:41:15.759 the great and precious promises that have your name on them. 0:41:16.120 --> 0:41:20.399 God said, I just need you to trust me. I 0:41:20.480 --> 0:41:24.160 know you stutter, I know you stammer. I know you're 0:41:24.200 --> 0:41:28.680 afraid of letting me down. But it's never been about you, Moses. 0:41:29.040 --> 0:41:32.200 It was never about your mouth. It was about my 0:41:32.360 --> 0:41:36.840 mighty hand and my outstretched arm. It was never about 0:41:36.880 --> 0:41:44.920 your rod. It was about the rock. So what are 0:41:45.000 --> 0:41:51.239 you trusting in today, my friend, the rod or the rock? 0:41:53.760 --> 0:41:58.000 Because First Corinthians ten tells us plainly that this happened 0:41:58.040 --> 0:42:02.480 as an example for us, that the Israelites who wandered 0:42:02.480 --> 0:42:05.319 in the wilderness were an example for us, for you 0:42:05.400 --> 0:42:11.400 and me in our daily lives, in our efforts to 0:42:11.480 --> 0:42:16.680 trust God in the face of our own frailty, he said. 0:42:16.680 --> 0:42:23.440 The apostle Paul said verse four. They drank the same 0:42:23.560 --> 0:42:27.759 spiritual drink. They drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them. 0:42:27.880 --> 0:42:36.880 Here's the revelation, and that rock was Christ. It wasn't 0:42:36.880 --> 0:42:42.640 about Moses. It's not about me. It's not about you. Yes, 0:42:42.760 --> 0:42:45.960 I will let you down. Yes, I will disappoint you, 0:42:46.400 --> 0:42:49.480 But I'm not the rock. You know how good that 0:42:49.640 --> 0:42:53.360 makes me feel to know I'm not the rock. I 0:42:53.400 --> 0:42:56.440 don't have to force it, I don't have to fight it. 0:42:56.800 --> 0:42:59.800 I don't have to explode in anger when it doesn't 0:42:59.840 --> 0:43:02.799 go oh my way. I'm not the He is my 0:43:03.000 --> 0:43:07.960 stable place. He is my solid ground on Christ, the 0:43:08.160 --> 0:43:12.680 solid rock I stand. Whole other ground is sinking sand. 0:43:17.440 --> 0:43:23.160 Please stand, I'm closing, Please stand, I'm closing these Verse thirteen, 0:43:23.960 --> 0:43:29.799 where the waters of Miraba, where the Israelites quarreled with 0:43:29.920 --> 0:43:38.319 the Lord, they quarreled with the Lord. And verse two 0:43:38.360 --> 0:43:43.080 it said they quarreled with Moses. But really they were 0:43:43.160 --> 0:43:50.680 quarreling with the Lord. It wasn't even about Moses. It's 0:43:50.719 --> 0:43:56.799 not even about you. It's not even about me. We've 0:43:56.800 --> 0:44:02.200 been taking things personally, you know. Let it build and 0:44:02.239 --> 0:44:06.600 then it explodes. Not in church, Oh you look so 0:44:06.800 --> 0:44:10.680 fancy in here, your little boozy blessed self, come up 0:44:10.680 --> 0:44:13.360 in the House of God carrying a big, old, thick Bible. 0:44:15.560 --> 0:44:17.920 Explodes when you get home. It explodes when you're all 0:44:17.960 --> 0:44:24.080 alone and you find yourself crying out, desperate for connection 0:44:25.200 --> 0:44:30.520 and disappointed with your life. So you start striking rocks 0:44:32.640 --> 0:44:35.560 and you start trying to get You know, the water 0:44:35.640 --> 0:44:38.880 came out of the rock, and it worked on the surface, 0:44:40.600 --> 0:44:43.280 but Moses did not get to enter into the promise 0:44:43.320 --> 0:44:48.040 of God. Did God still love Moses? Absolutely? You see 0:44:48.080 --> 0:44:51.960 the God of second chances? I sure hope, so I 0:44:52.000 --> 0:44:56.400 know he is. I know He's not gonna punish me 0:44:56.440 --> 0:44:58.640 for one mistake. I can prove it. I can prove 0:44:58.680 --> 0:45:00.920 it to you. Give him that verse you earlier someone 0:45:01.000 --> 0:45:05.600 fourteen eight. When the Psalmist reflected on this event, he said, 0:45:06.440 --> 0:45:09.160 you got it one fourteen eight, the one I sent 0:45:09.200 --> 0:45:14.600 you earlier today? No is Psalm one fourteen verse A. 0:45:16.120 --> 0:45:17.840 What if I started yelling at the people on the 0:45:17.840 --> 0:45:25.000 screens to demonstrate Moses's frustration, But it said that God 0:45:25.040 --> 0:45:30.600 turned the rock into a pool, the hard rock into 0:45:30.680 --> 0:45:32.719 springs of water. And God spoke to me through that 0:45:32.840 --> 0:45:37.960 verse and said, if they'll let me, the place of 0:45:38.000 --> 0:45:42.000 their greatest mistake will become the place of my mercy 0:45:42.680 --> 0:45:53.120 and their greatest miracle. But for this to happen, we 0:45:53.200 --> 0:45:57.960 can't keep it all up inside and keep exploding in 0:45:58.080 --> 0:46:02.799 situations and exploding. It's not for everybody. Sometimes it's much 0:46:02.840 --> 0:46:06.399 more subtle than that. It's the little waste that you 0:46:06.440 --> 0:46:10.960 withdraw yourself from those that you love because I don't 0:46:11.000 --> 0:46:13.960 want to be disappointed again. I don't want to be 0:46:14.040 --> 0:46:18.759 a disappointment some living my whole life trying to avoid disappointment. 0:46:20.080 --> 0:46:25.560 I'm bringing my expectations down, down, down, down, down, down down, 0:46:25.719 --> 0:46:28.720 because now no one can disappoint me. And I'm bringing 0:46:28.760 --> 0:46:32.200 myself back back back back, because i don't want to 0:46:32.239 --> 0:46:38.320 disappoint you. It's not about you. This is the test. 0:46:38.520 --> 0:46:42.560 This is the test. With your rod in your hand, 0:46:43.360 --> 0:46:47.319 to remember all that God has done for you, and 0:46:47.400 --> 0:46:50.240 the rock in front of you, the presence of God. 0:46:51.920 --> 0:46:57.560 Speak to it, don't strike it, Speak to it, Confess 0:46:57.600 --> 0:47:03.400 it before God. Speak to your weakness, own your inadequacy. 0:47:04.440 --> 0:47:09.880 God said, I'm not looking for you to be what 0:47:10.000 --> 0:47:12.759 I need you to be. I'm looking for you to 0:47:12.800 --> 0:47:17.960 trust in what I already am. And so when Moses 0:47:18.000 --> 0:47:23.640 said I'm not, God said I am. When Moses said 0:47:23.719 --> 0:47:27.480 I'm not, God said I am. When Moses said I'm not, 0:47:27.640 --> 0:47:32.600 God said I am. When Moses said not, God said 0:47:33.680 --> 0:47:40.480 I am. Do you trust him enough to let him 0:47:40.480 --> 0:47:43.040 handle those who have hurt you? Do you trust him 0:47:43.120 --> 0:47:46.960 enough to allow him to use everything that's happened for 0:47:47.080 --> 0:47:50.719 your good and his glory? Lift your hands. If you do, 0:47:50.800 --> 0:47:56.400 the rock is in this place. When my heart is overwhelmed, 0:47:56.480 --> 0:48:00.040 Lead me to the rock that is higher than I 0:48:00.200 --> 0:48:04.480 meet us in this moment. God, pour out your spirit 0:48:04.520 --> 0:48:09.279 in a fresh way for your people. Now. I asked 0:48:09.320 --> 0:48:11.920 that you would speak to that weak place, broken place, 0:48:12.680 --> 0:48:21.200 discouraged place. Make that heart beat again for real water 0:48:21.280 --> 0:48:30.480 from a rock, so you are beauty from brokenness. Call 0:48:30.560 --> 0:48:37.000 to him, Call to him, speak to the rock. Unless 0:48:37.080 --> 0:48:43.719 you come, ask if you need me enter my decision 0:48:43.760 --> 0:48:47.600 making process. God, I need you well. I hope you 0:48:47.719 --> 0:48:50.040 enjoyed the podcast today, and if you did, there are 0:48:50.080 --> 0:48:52.160 just a couple of things I'd love for you to do. 0:48:52.400 --> 0:48:55.879 Number one, subscribe to our show. That way, the most 0:48:55.920 --> 0:48:59.160 recent episode will always be in your feed, waiting for 0:48:59.200 --> 0:49:02.720 you ready when you are. And secondly, if this ministry 0:49:02.760 --> 0:49:05.200 has impacted you and you'd like to help us continue 0:49:05.239 --> 0:49:07.279 to reach others, you can click the link in the 0:49:07.320 --> 0:49:10.120 description and you can give now and I'll see you 0:49:10.320 --> 0:49:12.800 next time on the Elevation Podcast.