The God Of Already

0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:06.280 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:09.360 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:10.000 Be sure to. 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:13.720 Subscribe so we can get you these new sermons every week. 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:16.640 I hope you're blessed today. 0:00:25.079 --> 0:01:03.480 How this song the way? 0:01:10.440 --> 0:01:10.720 Come on? 0:01:10.800 --> 0:01:29.360 Lift your hands like this. God, we receive you in 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:35.479 this place. King of kings and Lord of lords, exalted 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:43.200 and lifted high, ever present, always faithful. Anything you want 0:01:43.200 --> 0:01:52.760 to do today, Lord, whoever you want to heal, whoever 0:01:52.800 --> 0:01:58.320 you want to set free, whoever you want to change. 0:01:58.000 --> 0:02:03.200 Do it again. You've done it before, Do it again. 0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:08.519 Do it again and again and again. 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:12.480 We give you glory and we rejoice in your presence 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:14.399 in Jesus' name. 0:02:15.600 --> 0:02:19.600 Amen, Glory to God. 0:02:28.440 --> 0:02:29.880 I don't think I have to tell you what to do, 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:32.000 but just in case, high five to seven people and 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:32.800 tell him he's going. 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:33.360 To do it again. 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:42.800 Oh yeah, God is so faithful. 0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:46.600 How many know He's a faithful God. 0:02:56.000 --> 0:03:00.280 You know I've been preaching this series about God, and yeah, 0:03:00.280 --> 0:03:02.680 I mean hopefully all the things we preach here are 0:03:02.680 --> 0:03:06.480 about God. But in a very unique way, God has 0:03:06.520 --> 0:03:12.359 been downloading to us that there's so much about him. 0:03:12.520 --> 0:03:13.079 There are so. 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:14.880 Many ways that He desires to show up in our 0:03:14.919 --> 0:03:19.080 lives that we haven't recognized yet. And so I started 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:22.320 Week one, I talked about how he's the God of also. 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:26.720 That message really meant a lot to me because it 0:03:26.840 --> 0:03:31.560 reminded me that, you know, we haven't met all of 0:03:31.639 --> 0:03:38.280 God yet. God isn't changing or morphing or expanding. He can't. 0:03:38.320 --> 0:03:42.280 He's immutable, he can't change. But we, certainly, as we 0:03:42.320 --> 0:03:45.320 moved through the different seasons of our lives, need to 0:03:45.360 --> 0:03:47.480 see Him in different ways. And so he's the God 0:03:47.520 --> 0:03:53.080 of also. Last week we preached on how he's the 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:53.520 God of. 0:03:53.480 --> 0:04:00.680 Again and again and again and again, because if. 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:05.520 He's other, stop stop, because I got to move on 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:06.200 to part three. 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:10.760 God gave me a part three, And today I want 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:12.760 to talk to you about how he's not only the 0:04:12.760 --> 0:04:16.160 God of also, and not only the God of again, 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:25.119 but he's the God of already, the glory of the terms. 0:04:30.160 --> 0:04:32.520 So real, quick, shake three hands and say it's on 0:04:32.680 --> 0:04:34.320 the way, and you may be seated. 0:04:35.600 --> 0:04:49.279 The God have already. You may be seated. You're here 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:55.640 for a reason today. You're here for a reason. Today. 0:04:56.480 --> 0:04:59.680 God has something for you today. 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:01.800 The spirit of Thank you so much, in the spirit 0:05:01.839 --> 0:05:04.360 of last week's message about the God of again, I'm 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:07.839 going to use the same passage from last week again, 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:12.440 John twenty one, Verses four through nine. Will select a 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:15.360 little different passage this time, but from the same story 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:20.160 and time permitting, I want to also hit that Luke 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:25.080 fifteen again from the Prodigal Sun. One was the story 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:27.760 of Jesus told a parable to teach, and one was 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:30.640 a miracle that he performed, but they share a similar 0:05:30.720 --> 0:05:38.120 lesson the God of already verse four. Early in the morning, 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:42.760 Jesus stood on the shore, but his disciples did not realize. 0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:43.800 That it was Jesus. 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:46.640 He called out to them, friends, haven't you any fish? No, 0:05:46.800 --> 0:05:49.080 they answered, and he said, throw your net on the 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:52.520 right side of the boat and you'll find some. And 0:05:52.560 --> 0:05:56.040 when they did, they were unable to haul in the 0:05:56.080 --> 0:06:00.719 net because of the large number of fish. The disciple, 0:06:00.880 --> 0:06:03.360 whom Jesus loved, said to Peter, it is the Lord. 0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:06.280 And as soon as Simon Peter heard him say it 0:06:06.320 --> 0:06:09.920 is the Lord, he wrapped his outer garment around him, 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:12.719 for he'd taking it off, and jumped into the water. 0:06:13.480 --> 0:06:18.200 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net 0:06:18.320 --> 0:06:20.680 full of fish, for they were not. 0:06:21.600 --> 0:06:27.680 Far from shore. They were not far. 0:06:27.800 --> 0:06:30.240 Put it in the chat, not far, and tell your 0:06:30.240 --> 0:06:33.640 neighbor not far, not far from shore. About one hundred 0:06:33.680 --> 0:06:36.760 yards makes me get ready for football season. 0:06:37.600 --> 0:06:38.680 About one hundred yards. 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:46.800 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:51.800 there with fish on it and some bread. When they landed, 0:06:51.800 --> 0:06:55.080 they saw fire burning coals there with fish on it 0:06:56.000 --> 0:07:00.800 and some bread. The god of already and this message 0:07:00.839 --> 0:07:11.360 has a subtitle, let him cook. I thought, I'll tell 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:14.160 you a little story. I couldn't remember. If I shared it. 0:07:14.440 --> 0:07:17.040 My oldest son said he had never heard it. When 0:07:17.040 --> 0:07:19.440 I was in high school, right after I got really 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:22.720 fired up for Jesus Christ, I was running around telling 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:25.320 everybody that they needed to be saved and they were going. 0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:31.040 To hell and I wasn't, and so be like me. 0:07:31.160 --> 0:07:33.400 I was burning all my Motley Crew and Guns n' 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:37.600 Roses CDs and listening to Striper and burned my Pantera 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:40.920 and went over to Petra. If you're in the subculture, 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:42.360 you know, if you don't know, you don't know. 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:46.880 You don't need to know. And so I just tell 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:47.720 people all the time. 0:07:47.840 --> 0:07:53.560 I was very very bold, some would say zeal without knowledge, 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:58.720 but I was. I was excited, fired up my dad. 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:01.080 He was in church at the time. He'd been in 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:02.559 church when I was a little boy. My mom always 0:08:02.560 --> 0:08:04.240 took us to church, but my dad wasn't in church 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:06.440 at the time. He would go out and play golf 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:08.560 on Sundays, a little part three golf course, get drunk 0:08:08.600 --> 0:08:11.360 with my uncle, and I think that sort of an atonement. 0:08:11.480 --> 0:08:13.000 When I was getting ready to go to church, he 0:08:13.000 --> 0:08:16.200 would wake up early and cook us breakfast, and so 0:08:16.240 --> 0:08:17.720 he'd be over there making. 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:20.480 Some scrambled eggs and grits. 0:08:21.520 --> 0:08:23.640 If you don't like grits, I don't need you as 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:34.000 a member Elevation Church. And then he would make on 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:38.880 occasions some corn beef hash. 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:40.680 Some fried baloney. 0:08:42.040 --> 0:08:43.840 But it was all because he felt bad because he 0:08:43.920 --> 0:08:45.960 wasn't going to church, so'd wake up early and cook 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:48.000 for us, and then he'd go off to the golf 0:08:48.040 --> 0:08:49.240 course and we go to church. 0:08:50.240 --> 0:08:52.040 And that was going on for a little while. 0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:55.960 One Sunday morning, I remember really clearly whatever came over me. 0:08:56.320 --> 0:08:59.760 I looked at him and said, Dad, this breakfast is great, 0:08:59.800 --> 0:09:01.160 thank you for making it. But I want to tell 0:09:01.200 --> 0:09:03.680 you something now. I'm only sixteen, seventeen years old something 0:09:03.679 --> 0:09:07.080 like that. I said, it's not going to be long 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:10.120 before God's going to get a hold of your life. 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:13.160 I've been praying for you, and God answers my prayers, 0:09:14.559 --> 0:09:19.200 and pretty soon you're gonna turn to the Lord, and 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:21.400 it's gonna be crazy, and you're gonna be reading the 0:09:21.400 --> 0:09:22.600 Bible all the time and going to church and not 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:24.280 gonna be just cooking breakfast and going off. You can 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:27.840 cook this breakfast today, but eventually, soon and very soon, 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:29.640 you'll be going. 0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:30.520 Church with us. 0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:34.640 And I don't remember if he said anything. He didn't 0:09:34.640 --> 0:09:38.960 go to church that day. He kept cooking, and I 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:42.160 ate and went to church. It was about a year 0:09:42.280 --> 0:09:44.880 or more later when I had gone off to college 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:48.920 and I came back home to preach at Santi Circle 0:09:48.920 --> 0:09:52.960 Community Church for a weekend. And after I preached the sermon, 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:55.959 my dad came down for the altar call, and when 0:09:55.960 --> 0:09:57.400 I went down to pray with him, he said, never 0:09:57.400 --> 0:10:04.599 stop preaching. Well, you know, we had many bumps and 0:10:04.640 --> 0:10:07.000 bruises after that. He wasn't raptured up to heaven. He 0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:10.040 didn't become the next Pope, Billy Graham or Bill Gates 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:13.960 for that matter, But it really was a change in 0:10:13.960 --> 0:10:16.720 his life. He started memorizing the Bible and stuff like that. 0:10:16.840 --> 0:10:20.880 He told me something, He said, remember that day when 0:10:21.080 --> 0:10:23.480 you told me when I was cooking breakfast that God 0:10:23.559 --> 0:10:25.000 was going to get ahold of my life and all 0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:27.600 this stuff you were saying to me. I said, yeah, 0:10:28.080 --> 0:10:30.560 because I was proud of my prophecy having come to pass. 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:35.560 He said, what I didn't tell you is I felt 0:10:35.559 --> 0:10:37.760 so sorry for you when you were saying all that, 0:10:37.760 --> 0:10:39.439 because I thought He's going to be so disappointed. 0:10:39.559 --> 0:10:40.320 He has no idea. 0:10:41.559 --> 0:10:44.600 And I felt so sorry for you that you didn't 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:47.080 know how low I was and how far I was 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:49.240 from God. And I was standing in the shower every 0:10:49.280 --> 0:10:51.360 morning before I go open the barber shop and just think, God, 0:10:51.400 --> 0:10:52.720 if you give me the strength to get through this day, 0:10:52.760 --> 0:10:56.280 I promise I'll change. But I couldn't change. And so 0:10:56.320 --> 0:10:58.160 I sat there and listened to you, and I felt 0:10:58.160 --> 0:11:02.880 so bad that you were that crazy and that naive 0:11:04.600 --> 0:11:07.640 to think that I could change because you didn't know 0:11:07.679 --> 0:11:10.360 how far away I was. 0:11:12.400 --> 0:11:13.080 We're doing me a favor. 0:11:13.040 --> 0:11:14.360 Will you look at your neighbor real quick and say 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:24.200 you're not as far as you think you are. That's 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:29.560 what God knows that you don't. That's what the devil 0:11:29.640 --> 0:11:34.520 knows that you don't. That from that life that God 0:11:34.559 --> 0:11:36.600 has called you to live, and from that victory that 0:11:36.640 --> 0:11:40.360 He's called you to accomplish in his name, from that 0:11:40.440 --> 0:11:44.280 freedom that to you feels like some sort of dream. 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:48.600 Right now, you're not as far as. 0:11:48.440 --> 0:11:54.200 You think you are, because the God of already is 0:11:54.200 --> 0:12:01.440 in the house. I tell you that story not to 0:12:01.480 --> 0:12:03.920 impress you, but as the motivational speakers would say, to 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:08.280 press impress upon you, or rather to reflect myself on 0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:11.640 these moments that we have in our life, like I 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:15.400 had with my dad, where you know something you don't 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:19.319 know how you know it, You sense it, even though 0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:20.359 your senses. 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:23.120 Are telling you different, your spirit says it. 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:25.559 It actually just came to me this morning to tell 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:28.520 you that story as I was asking God, how can 0:12:28.559 --> 0:12:31.679 I bring them into this text, which is a story 0:12:31.720 --> 0:12:33.760 about a fisherman named Peter who was called to be 0:12:33.800 --> 0:12:37.400 a shepherd and had to make a transition because he 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:40.320 had been through an experience where he'd let himself down, 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:43.600 and he thought, let Jesus down. Now he's out there 0:12:43.640 --> 0:12:46.000 fishing and Jesus is on the shore and. 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:49.760 I was wondering, like, what was happening in that moment 0:12:49.800 --> 0:12:50.920 with my dad? 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:54.520 What's happening in those moments of our life where. 0:12:55.800 --> 0:12:59.400 One thing is seen to be already in progress. 0:12:59.400 --> 0:13:02.800 Do you remember when they used to interrupt your regularly 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:05.000 scheduled programming to give you a news report or a 0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:08.720 weather report. Used to be watching Family Matters on Friday night, 0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:13.480 watching Arkle try to get Laura Winslow one more time 0:13:13.480 --> 0:13:17.120 on Friday night, and the news would come on, there's 0:13:17.120 --> 0:13:20.240 a storm. They just interrupt your regularly scheduled program. And 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:22.480 then when they would get back to the program, after 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:24.400 they had said whatever they needed to say and just 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:27.320 broke in on your program, they say, we now return 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:33.640 to your regularly scheduled programming already in progress, and then 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:36.320 it would just go right back. No DVR, you can't rewind, 0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:40.520 so you know, Erkele still isn't with Laura like like always, 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:43.679 and you just drop right back in in the middle 0:13:43.679 --> 0:13:47.920 of it because it's already in progress. Now that's the 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:49.839 challenge with the text I read you, because I just 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:52.680 jumped right into something where you know, Peter has denied 0:13:52.800 --> 0:13:56.480 Jesus three times, he's out fishing, who knows how bad 0:13:56.520 --> 0:13:58.840 he felt, who knows how far he felt. He's already 0:13:58.840 --> 0:14:04.600 seen Jesus. But Jesus shows up again. And I loved 0:14:04.679 --> 0:14:09.000 verse four. This really touched me because I related to it. 0:14:09.000 --> 0:14:12.599 It said early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, 0:14:12.720 --> 0:14:18.000 but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. 0:14:19.080 --> 0:14:20.720 You know, kind of far off in the distance. 0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:23.680 They're tired, they've been fishing all night, caught nothing, frustrated, 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:27.480 probably a little discouraged, and they did not realize it 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:34.080 was Jesus. But that doesn't mean he wasn't there. In Seminary, 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:36.400 they taught me this term that stuck with me. It's 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:40.560 called the already not yet view of scripture. And it 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:43.560 sounds like a contradiction, but it's not. It's just the 0:14:43.600 --> 0:14:48.040 tension that we all live in. Everybody say already, now, 0:14:48.120 --> 0:14:54.200 say not yet this side. You can be already already. 0:14:55.200 --> 0:15:00.160 Y'all don't sound ready. How about y'all be already. I'll 0:15:00.200 --> 0:15:01.359 get to be not yet. 0:15:03.640 --> 0:15:09.880 Already. Ah. Yeah. They taught me that in Seminary. 0:15:10.720 --> 0:15:13.800 The Kingdom of God came when Jesus came to earth, 0:15:14.200 --> 0:15:15.800 and he said, the Kingdom of God is at hand. 0:15:15.840 --> 0:15:19.040 And he inaugurated that kingdom with miracles, signs, and wonders. 0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:20.040 He did amazing things. 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:23.840 He was crucified, dead and buried, risen from the dead, 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:25.400 He's send it to the right hand of God, and 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:28.960 he's coming again to establish his kingdom once and for all. 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:31.760 He already died for the sins of all who will 0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:32.440 believe on him. 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:34.720 He already rose to life, and he's risen with all 0:15:34.760 --> 0:15:37.360 power in the keys of death, hell and grave are 0:15:37.360 --> 0:15:42.040 in his hand. He's interceding for you right now. He's 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:48.040 already paid the price, he's already won the victory. But 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:51.800 as the Bible talks about these realities, there is a 0:15:52.200 --> 0:15:56.000 sense in which they are already fulfilled and a sense 0:15:56.040 --> 0:16:03.720 in which they are y'all still aren't ready. Maybe next 0:16:03.720 --> 0:16:07.120 week I'll do it again again, and you can try 0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:11.760 it again. But the picture here is that if the 0:16:11.800 --> 0:16:15.840 Bible says you are saved, it will also say you 0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:19.800 will be saved. And so it's talking about something that 0:16:19.840 --> 0:16:25.200 happened and something that will happen. And it's like, I 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:27.960 am saved right now from the penalty of. 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:29.880 My sin, but I. 0:16:29.800 --> 0:16:32.880 Am still not completely set free from the pattern of sin, 0:16:34.760 --> 0:16:38.520 and That's why I can say I'm already a child 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:43.360 of God, but I'm not yet well behaved. I'm not 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:46.360 yet grown up like I want to be. It's the 0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:49.760 already not yet. And I think if you'll look at 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:52.520 the Bible that way, it'll help you understand why sometimes 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:55.200 you see things in the Bible and you're like, oh am, 0:16:55.200 --> 0:16:57.720 I even a Christian Hugh pray without ceasing. 0:16:57.720 --> 0:16:58.600 I don't live that way. 0:16:58.920 --> 0:17:03.360 Well, you already praise, but though without ceasing part that's 0:17:03.440 --> 0:17:06.359 the not yet. Or the Bible even says that we 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:09.879 have been adopted into God's family, and then it says 0:17:09.920 --> 0:17:12.520 that we are awaiting our adoption. 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:13.399 Which one is it? 0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:19.800 Well, it's already technically true, but I have not yet 0:17:20.000 --> 0:17:23.560 fully understood all of the implications of it. 0:17:23.560 --> 0:17:25.760 It'd be like if they switched cameras right now. 0:17:26.200 --> 0:17:28.959 You know there's somebody back there that's on the other camera, 0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:29.880 let's just. 0:17:29.800 --> 0:17:30.600 Switch to this one. 0:17:31.080 --> 0:17:35.760 And he had to be ready to do it, and 0:17:35.800 --> 0:17:37.760 I gave him no preparation. That's why I had to 0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:46.440 be there. He was already there waiting for a word 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:50.760 in order to do what he was there to do. 0:17:56.600 --> 0:17:59.920 So you find yourself in moments in your life. 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:01.640 You get the sense that. 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:07.959 You are dealing with the not yetness of you, and 0:18:08.000 --> 0:18:12.920 you're hearing about the alreadiness of God, and it can 0:18:12.960 --> 0:18:15.560 be hard to reconcile. So I think that's the scene 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:19.640 here with Peter and Jesus having breakfast on the shore. 0:18:19.680 --> 0:18:22.119 I think that was the scene that day with me 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:23.560 having breakfast with my dad. 0:18:23.600 --> 0:18:24.760 I think that's the scene in. 0:18:24.680 --> 0:18:27.560 Your life as well, and I invite you into it 0:18:27.600 --> 0:18:29.320 for all of your not yetness. 0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:32.680 One scripture that I really love. 0:18:33.160 --> 0:18:36.000 I honestly had never really paid attention to it, just 0:18:36.000 --> 0:18:38.679 skimmed right over it. But Paul is describing this in 0:18:38.720 --> 0:18:42.280 Second Corinthians six ' ten, So he kind of describes 0:18:42.320 --> 0:18:44.720 it and it sounds a little schizophrenic, but I think 0:18:44.720 --> 0:18:47.440 he's just being real. He says, second Corinthian six ' ten. 0:18:47.760 --> 0:18:56.520 We are sorrowful yet always rejoicing. Then that sounds Paul, 0:18:56.560 --> 0:18:58.800 you need some medicine or something. Man, You kind of 0:18:58.800 --> 0:19:03.560 can't decide. I'm serious, sorrowful yet always rejoicing. And then 0:19:03.680 --> 0:19:06.359 it gets better. He says, poor yet making many rich, 0:19:07.080 --> 0:19:17.600 having nothing yet possessing everything. He's showing us this shift, 0:19:17.640 --> 0:19:21.920 just a little shift. He's like we're sorrowful, yeah, rejoicing, 0:19:23.359 --> 0:19:27.719 we're poor, recounting poor, but out of our poverty. 0:19:27.720 --> 0:19:30.800 It's creating a spiritual richness in the earth. And I'm 0:19:30.840 --> 0:19:31.680 glad about that. 0:19:32.400 --> 0:19:34.280 And then that last part really got me because I 0:19:34.280 --> 0:19:35.600 taught you this last week, and I want to go 0:19:35.640 --> 0:19:38.600 a little deeper, he said, having put it back up, 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:45.359 having nothing yet possessing everything. 0:19:46.400 --> 0:19:48.680 So this is where I showed you my trick last week. 0:19:49.119 --> 0:19:52.480 When I start getting entitled, when I start getting petty, 0:19:53.280 --> 0:19:57.080 when I start forgetting what God has given me, it's 0:19:57.119 --> 0:19:59.520 a little trick that I've learned to do to realize 0:19:59.760 --> 0:20:03.119 that I have everything. Oh yeah, you're looking at a 0:20:03.160 --> 0:20:06.800 blessed man, A very blessed man. 0:20:07.920 --> 0:20:08.760 I got it all. 0:20:09.760 --> 0:20:12.679 I have everything, And here's how I get everything. I'm 0:20:12.680 --> 0:20:15.000 gonna teach you how to get everything in five seconds, 0:20:15.920 --> 0:20:20.919 all right, because I can really convince myself. Nobody loves me, 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:25.439 everybody hates me. I guess I'll go eat worms. I 0:20:25.440 --> 0:20:27.760 guess I'll just go over in my corner write one 0:20:27.760 --> 0:20:29.720 of my other little sermons, and nobody loves me. 0:20:30.119 --> 0:20:32.000 And then I go, no, oh, this is ridiculous. 0:20:32.040 --> 0:20:33.080 What are you talking about? 0:20:33.400 --> 0:20:35.440 Not only have I been blessed with so many things. 0:20:35.480 --> 0:20:41.560 But I do an exercise where I imagine the loss 0:20:42.160 --> 0:20:46.600 of someone that I love the most. I imagine the loss. 0:20:46.640 --> 0:20:48.720 You're like, that's very negative. No, watch where it's gonna 0:20:48.760 --> 0:20:52.720 get me, because it's very very powerful. I imagine what 0:20:52.840 --> 0:20:57.800 if I lost Holly? What would I give to have 0:20:57.880 --> 0:21:08.800 her back? Two hundred dollars? Come on, man, everything, I'll 0:21:08.880 --> 0:21:10.720 kill you in take yours if I have to to 0:21:10.760 --> 0:21:16.880 get her back, everything, whatever it takes. I'll be uh, 0:21:17.000 --> 0:21:19.600 what's the movie ransom. I'll be Mel Gibson. I'll be 0:21:19.720 --> 0:21:23.760 Liam Neeson. I will storm through the gates of hell. 0:21:24.000 --> 0:21:26.600 I would do I would give everything to have. 0:21:26.640 --> 0:21:32.600 Her back, and I have her now, So what do 0:21:32.680 --> 0:21:37.840 I have everything? See how quick that was. 0:21:38.960 --> 0:21:42.080 I went from like being annoyed, being perturbed, just being 0:21:42.119 --> 0:21:45.000 all you know, how stupid we can get when we 0:21:45.480 --> 0:21:50.800 get adjusted to something that we've had access to too long. 0:21:53.400 --> 0:21:57.679 We get acclimated to what's available, and then. 0:21:57.560 --> 0:21:59.720 We become unaware of. 0:21:59.640 --> 0:22:03.359 How valuable it is because we become too acclimated to 0:22:03.440 --> 0:22:04.240 what's available. 0:22:05.200 --> 0:22:07.400 So when it says in verse four, oh, I got 0:22:07.400 --> 0:22:08.439 to give you a little bit more about this. 0:22:08.600 --> 0:22:10.119 Early in the morning Jesus done on the shore, but 0:22:10.160 --> 0:22:13.480 the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. I 0:22:13.560 --> 0:22:17.879 realized that their awareness had not caught up with his. 0:22:19.040 --> 0:22:25.080 Theareness yet he was there. They weren't aware. 0:22:25.160 --> 0:22:30.359 Yet he was no less there because they weren't aware 0:22:30.400 --> 0:22:35.440 of it. He's standing on the shore, cooking fish, getting 0:22:35.480 --> 0:22:37.480 ready for them to haul in some more fish. 0:22:37.480 --> 0:22:39.919 They'ven have plenty of fish. It's gonna be fished today. 0:22:40.359 --> 0:22:43.320 But the one thing they couldn't know in that moment 0:22:44.480 --> 0:22:49.520 was that he was already there where they were headed for. 0:22:49.680 --> 0:22:51.920 But there was something he wanted to show them before 0:22:51.920 --> 0:22:56.920 they got there too. And so I look at Jesus 0:22:56.960 --> 0:23:00.000 in this passage and I realized that it's one. 0:22:59.800 --> 0:23:01.320 Thing to look back over my life. 0:23:01.359 --> 0:23:04.080 I feel like teaching and preaching and shouting and praising today, 0:23:05.119 --> 0:23:10.080 and I see almost like a sign hanging over every 0:23:10.160 --> 0:23:15.359 open door in my life, Jesus was here, you know, 0:23:15.480 --> 0:23:17.800 like almost I think of Jesus as a graffiti artist. 0:23:17.840 --> 0:23:19.920 You know how they have a tag and they tag 0:23:20.359 --> 0:23:22.480 when they do it, and Jesus does it legally, but 0:23:23.600 --> 0:23:24.280 they tag it. 0:23:24.600 --> 0:23:25.960 I read, I studied a little. 0:23:25.800 --> 0:23:28.159 Bit the first graffiti artist that was recognized for his 0:23:28.240 --> 0:23:31.520 tag was named Cornbread and he was really cool. 0:23:31.560 --> 0:23:32.480 He was in Philadelphia. 0:23:32.520 --> 0:23:35.080 He hopped over the fence at the Philadelphia Zoo one 0:23:35.080 --> 0:23:37.840 time when he was seventeen and spray painted the side 0:23:37.840 --> 0:23:41.600 of an elephant and he tagged it Cornbread Lives. 0:23:42.920 --> 0:23:44.120 And I look back over. 0:23:43.960 --> 0:23:47.760 My life now and I see all these tags over 0:23:48.400 --> 0:23:51.440 not just the open doors and the opportunities God gave me, 0:23:52.600 --> 0:23:54.879 but even some of the closed doors that God didn't 0:23:54.960 --> 0:23:55.840 let me go through. 0:23:56.920 --> 0:23:57.800 And now I look. 0:23:57.640 --> 0:24:01.920 Back and I see a tag that he says, Jesus 0:24:02.040 --> 0:24:05.960 was here. I look back over some of the relationships 0:24:07.040 --> 0:24:14.800 that God brought into my life and some of the 0:24:14.800 --> 0:24:18.520 ones that I asked him for and he said not yet, 0:24:19.640 --> 0:24:23.080 not yet. I look back over some of the already 0:24:23.240 --> 0:24:26.640 blessings in my life, and I see that, hey, God 0:24:26.720 --> 0:24:29.200 has already been working on this for a long time 0:24:29.240 --> 0:24:32.399 for me. I mean, He's already done so much for me. 0:24:33.680 --> 0:24:38.919 And the more that I access the already blessings in 0:24:39.000 --> 0:24:44.760 my life, the more aware I am no takers get ready. 0:24:45.680 --> 0:24:52.720 The more aware I am of the already blessings, the 0:24:52.800 --> 0:25:00.359 better I can deal with the not yet questions. Reach 0:25:00.520 --> 0:25:10.399 verdeck I already am in this good to get in 0:25:10.480 --> 0:25:13.480 a space where you go, wait a minute, wait a minute. Yeah, 0:25:13.480 --> 0:25:15.760 there are some things that I want God to add 0:25:15.800 --> 0:25:19.240 to my life, but being blessed. 0:25:18.840 --> 0:25:21.359 Is not about what he might or might not add. 0:25:22.440 --> 0:25:30.919 It's about what I access that I already have, and 0:25:31.080 --> 0:25:34.720 learning to access what I already have is the process 0:25:35.359 --> 0:25:40.480 of gratitude, and gratitude is the access point to joy. 0:25:41.480 --> 0:25:42.200 That's why I. 0:25:42.119 --> 0:25:46.600 Love my little exercise, because when I am unaware of 0:25:46.640 --> 0:25:49.040 a blessing, I feel like it's not there, even though 0:25:49.080 --> 0:25:49.440 it is. 0:25:50.160 --> 0:25:52.960 Read the scripture, Jesus was on the shore. 0:25:53.440 --> 0:25:57.159 They didn't know it. He's there. They're not aware he 0:25:57.240 --> 0:26:00.320 can be there. But until you are aware that he 0:26:00.440 --> 0:26:02.320 is there, it will feel as if he's not. 0:26:03.720 --> 0:26:06.119 So the challenge of this. 0:26:06.119 --> 0:26:09.720 Season of my life as a grown man is not 0:26:09.800 --> 0:26:14.160 to look back and say Jesus was there, but to 0:26:14.240 --> 0:26:20.400 stand in the middle of my not yet and declare. 0:26:20.440 --> 0:26:23.280 Jesus is here. 0:26:26.119 --> 0:26:27.880 I've got to tag it while. 0:26:27.680 --> 0:26:31.359 I'm going through it so I can hold to the 0:26:31.440 --> 0:26:35.160 truth in this situation that what I will look back 0:26:35.240 --> 0:26:37.719 on in my life in the next season and say 0:26:38.119 --> 0:26:43.320 God was there, He's here in it right now, but 0:26:43.480 --> 0:26:47.080 his thearness always outpaces your awareness, which is how you 0:26:47.119 --> 0:26:47.720 end up like my. 0:26:47.760 --> 0:26:52.119 Dad, and you go. I felt sorry for you, You 0:26:52.160 --> 0:26:55.560 felt sorry for me. I feel sorry for you. 0:26:56.880 --> 0:26:59.560 God was working on your dumb butt and you were 0:26:59.600 --> 0:27:00.720 too mind to say it. 0:27:01.920 --> 0:27:05.320 God sent it, arrogant little seventeen year old punk. Were 0:27:05.440 --> 0:27:06.880 some Doc Martin's. 0:27:08.640 --> 0:27:10.280 To tell you God's going to turn your life around, 0:27:10.320 --> 0:27:11.159 and you couldn't see it. 0:27:12.880 --> 0:27:20.240 He was there, you just weren't aware of it. How 0:27:20.280 --> 0:27:22.080 mean y'all got something you're worried about this week coming 0:27:22.160 --> 0:27:23.360 up in your life. And I mean this week. 0:27:23.400 --> 0:27:26.000 I'm not talking about when you turn ninety four and 0:27:26.040 --> 0:27:29.320 will there still be Social Security and will Biden still 0:27:29.320 --> 0:27:30.919 be president or somebody older. 0:27:31.760 --> 0:27:38.639 But this week, this week, all right. 0:27:39.160 --> 0:27:46.760 God's going to beat you to it. Let me get 0:27:46.760 --> 0:27:58.520 more specific. Jesus is already there. Oh that's so nice. 0:27:59.520 --> 0:28:02.800 Imagine Jesus is already there. This is the problem with 0:28:02.840 --> 0:28:05.800 you Christians. You just have this imaginary friend named Jesus 0:28:05.840 --> 0:28:07.640 that you think is going to work everything. 0:28:07.320 --> 0:28:07.840 Out for you. 0:28:09.720 --> 0:28:17.639 It's not imaginary. It's not imaginary for me. And I 0:28:17.680 --> 0:28:20.159 don't know if you can say the same thing. I 0:28:20.320 --> 0:28:22.960 have more proof that He has been there for me 0:28:24.440 --> 0:28:26.120 than almost any other person. 0:28:25.840 --> 0:28:27.520 In my life. 0:28:32.200 --> 0:28:35.840 So if you wanted to convince me that God wasn't real, 0:28:36.840 --> 0:28:39.840 you should have done that a long time ago, because 0:28:39.880 --> 0:28:43.560 you're a little late, because I've already seen the ways 0:28:43.560 --> 0:28:47.520 that He's made for me. I've already seen the things 0:28:47.560 --> 0:28:51.280 that he's brought me through. I have already seen him 0:28:51.320 --> 0:28:56.280 bring water from a rock. I have already seen him. Now, 0:28:56.360 --> 0:29:00.440 high five somebody and say I already know. So you 0:29:00.560 --> 0:29:01.360 can't make. 0:29:01.200 --> 0:29:08.120 Me doubt him because I know too much about him. 0:29:09.360 --> 0:29:13.880 I already know. I'm not studying a book to find 0:29:13.880 --> 0:29:16.520 out if he's real. I'm not waiting on. 0:29:16.480 --> 0:29:18.160 A scientist to bust stop in. 0:29:18.200 --> 0:29:21.400 A molecule or splinting at him to tell me if 0:29:21.520 --> 0:29:27.160 Christ lives. I got the tag over my life, said, jeez, 0:29:27.360 --> 0:29:28.200 I lives. 0:29:29.720 --> 0:29:42.560 If you know he's alive, shout up, Come on, give him. 0:29:42.480 --> 0:29:48.800 An already praise. What's it already praise? 0:29:50.280 --> 0:29:53.400 It's when I praise him in a. 0:29:53.480 --> 0:29:59.880 Not yet situation for a blessing that he's all right. 0:30:00.000 --> 0:30:04.560 I need pressed down, singing together. 0:30:10.760 --> 0:30:11.320 Whoever I. 0:30:18.200 --> 0:30:20.760 Need to teach, but high five at least three people. 0:30:24.800 --> 0:30:26.400 But you didn't tell me what to tell him. 0:30:34.440 --> 0:30:39.760 See ah, I think we need to recognize the connection 0:30:40.560 --> 0:30:47.080 between appreciating our already as we. 0:30:47.040 --> 0:30:49.880 Anticipate are not yet. 0:30:52.800 --> 0:30:56.320 This is the greatest skill that God can give you 0:30:56.880 --> 0:31:04.360 to help you fight depression, distraction, discouragement, temptation. See when 0:31:04.400 --> 0:31:08.880 you stay in not yet and forget you're already, you 0:31:09.040 --> 0:31:14.720 go running after stuff that is less than you because 0:31:14.760 --> 0:31:18.800 you got tired of waiting on something that was not 0:31:18.920 --> 0:31:33.040 yet ready for you. But when you know who you are, 0:31:35.120 --> 0:31:39.040 when you know what you've already gotten, when you know 0:31:39.160 --> 0:31:41.200 who's already chosen. 0:31:40.800 --> 0:31:46.120 You to be His called you by name, seal you with. 0:31:46.160 --> 0:31:51.680 His spirit, adopted you as his child, you can stand 0:31:51.760 --> 0:31:56.240 in your already and say, like Paul, I don't have 0:31:56.320 --> 0:31:57.720 it yet. 0:32:00.680 --> 0:32:01.560 I love that word. 0:32:04.000 --> 0:32:06.160 I went to therapy and my therapist taught me how 0:32:06.160 --> 0:32:07.000 to say that word. 0:32:07.720 --> 0:32:09.440 I'm serious. It helped me. 0:32:09.760 --> 0:32:12.240 I say I just can't figure it out, and the 0:32:12.240 --> 0:32:16.760 therapist will interrupt and say, ah, yet, I got. 0:32:16.560 --> 0:32:19.440 All my nerves. I said, I'm not paying you to 0:32:19.520 --> 0:32:20.040 correct me. 0:32:20.280 --> 0:32:22.440 I said I can't figure it out and I hadn't 0:32:22.480 --> 0:32:27.640 figured it out, and the therapist will say yet, And 0:32:27.760 --> 0:32:31.640 every time they said, yet, it took me back to 0:32:31.680 --> 0:32:35.200 how many things God had already done for me. 0:32:37.520 --> 0:32:41.800 I see, My already gave me the balance for my 0:32:41.920 --> 0:32:42.360 not yet. 0:32:44.280 --> 0:32:47.080 That's why I want you to imagine things being out 0:32:47.160 --> 0:32:48.640 of your life that are in your life, so you 0:32:48.680 --> 0:32:50.960 can get back in your already. I drove up to 0:32:50.960 --> 0:32:54.040 the church today and I was like, oh man, this church, 0:32:54.200 --> 0:32:55.520 it got so much debt. 0:32:55.560 --> 0:32:57.760 We just got to pay off all our debt. Oh wait, no, 0:32:57.880 --> 0:32:59.880 God already paid off our debt. 0:33:05.240 --> 0:33:06.760 That made me want Now you'll see why I'm in 0:33:06.800 --> 0:33:08.080 such a good mood preaching today. 0:33:09.120 --> 0:33:11.160 I preach real good with no debt on my back. 0:33:12.720 --> 0:33:15.480 It didn't get paid off in those five minutes before 0:33:15.520 --> 0:33:18.120 I came out to preach to you. I just recalled 0:33:18.120 --> 0:33:23.240 it to my mind, and I accessed thee already, so I. 0:33:23.160 --> 0:33:24.680 Can move ahead into the not yet. 0:33:27.920 --> 0:33:29.880 You ever thought about how many things in this passage 0:33:29.880 --> 0:33:34.920 of scripture that Jesus asked the disciples that he. 0:33:36.400 --> 0:33:40.960 Already knew. It's kind of funny. Please hear me. 0:33:41.000 --> 0:33:43.280 I'm not disrespecting Jesus when I say this. I'm just 0:33:43.360 --> 0:33:46.880 using a current term to describe something that's in the text. 0:33:47.880 --> 0:33:51.720 Jesus was trolling these boys. I don't mean like troll 0:33:51.720 --> 0:33:53.040 the motor on the boat. I mean like troll of 0:33:53.120 --> 0:33:55.600 messing with them. 0:33:56.120 --> 0:33:58.520 Us. Jesus said, uh, okay. 0:33:58.560 --> 0:34:01.360 First of all, I did a sermon that made him 0:34:01.360 --> 0:34:04.280 mad one time, called sneaky Jesus. They thought I meant 0:34:04.280 --> 0:34:06.800 that he was deceptive. I didn't mean deceptive. I mean 0:34:06.840 --> 0:34:10.560 he'll sneak up on you. He snuck up on the shore. 0:34:11.719 --> 0:34:15.279 Didn't tell him it was him, all right, So they 0:34:15.320 --> 0:34:18.200 don't recognize him. He's there, they're not aware. That's just 0:34:18.200 --> 0:34:20.440 like you right now. He is there in ways you're. 0:34:20.239 --> 0:34:21.600 Not aware of right now. 0:34:23.520 --> 0:34:25.120 And you'll look back and see the tag and it 0:34:25.160 --> 0:34:29.960 won't say Cornbread lives. It'll say Jesus lives. But you 0:34:29.960 --> 0:34:33.480 got to see it now. So he's on the shore 0:34:34.200 --> 0:34:36.919 and they don't know he's there. And then verse five, 0:34:37.840 --> 0:34:42.640 he said, friends, haven't you any fish? 0:34:43.200 --> 0:34:46.719 So the one who created fish doesn't know if they've 0:34:46.719 --> 0:34:47.440 caught any. 0:34:49.280 --> 0:34:53.880 I think I speculate that he already knew, because he's 0:34:53.880 --> 0:34:57.200 sovereign and he's God, so I think he knew. So 0:34:57.239 --> 0:35:01.680 they say no, and then he says, okay, throw your 0:35:01.680 --> 0:35:03.120 nets over to the right side of the boat, and 0:35:03.160 --> 0:35:03.759 you'll find something. 0:35:05.040 --> 0:35:05.239 Now. 0:35:05.400 --> 0:35:07.440 The other thing that he knew is where the fish were. 0:35:08.760 --> 0:35:12.399 He already knew that. And the other thing he knew 0:35:12.400 --> 0:35:14.319 is that their nets were going to break and they 0:35:14.320 --> 0:35:17.279 couldn't haul him in without some help. But then because 0:35:17.280 --> 0:35:19.960 the nets didn't end up breaking. But the disciple whom 0:35:20.000 --> 0:35:21.360 Jesus lost said to Peter is the Lord. As soon 0:35:21.400 --> 0:35:22.800 as Simon Peter hurt and say is the Lord, he 0:35:22.840 --> 0:35:25.040 wrapped the telagramerun and jumped into the water. 0:35:26.360 --> 0:35:27.600 And what I really. 0:35:28.000 --> 0:35:30.960 Couldn't get over about this passage, and I don't know 0:35:30.960 --> 0:35:35.319 if you noticed it, is that it said they were 0:35:35.400 --> 0:35:40.920 not far from the shore, about one hundred yards. 0:35:42.560 --> 0:35:43.879 Wait, so. 0:35:45.440 --> 0:35:50.480 Let's do some math. They're in the boat fishing, catching nothing. 0:35:50.760 --> 0:35:53.200 Jesus is on the shore one hundred yards away. I 0:35:53.239 --> 0:35:56.160 don't know the exact dimensions of Peter's boat. It is 0:35:56.200 --> 0:36:00.200 Peter's boat. That's why Jesus chose Peter to be his disciple, 0:36:00.719 --> 0:36:02.200 because Jesus needed transportation. 0:36:04.000 --> 0:36:06.000 I heard all these deep things. He chose Peter because 0:36:06.000 --> 0:36:09.320 he was no. It wasn't his boldness, it was his boat. 0:36:09.360 --> 0:36:10.520 That's why Jesus chose him. 0:36:10.560 --> 0:36:12.760 I'm settling it once in for all and his boldness, 0:36:12.840 --> 0:36:15.240 but mostly his boat because he needed to travel around. 0:36:15.400 --> 0:36:17.680 So now Peter's back in that boat and he's fishing. 0:36:17.960 --> 0:36:20.000 And I don't know the exact dimensions of the boat, 0:36:20.000 --> 0:36:23.360 but I do know one thing. No matter how big 0:36:23.400 --> 0:36:26.040 this boat was, is there anybody here who has a boat? 0:36:27.000 --> 0:36:27.520 Got a boat? 0:36:28.480 --> 0:36:30.040 Come on, God's not going to strike you for having 0:36:30.040 --> 0:36:33.880 a boat. You have a boat in tithe and go 0:36:33.920 --> 0:36:39.520 to heaven, all right? How big could the boat be? 0:36:40.200 --> 0:36:42.200 If it was, let's say it was like a pretty 0:36:42.200 --> 0:36:45.840 big fishing boat, but just a singular boat. Some research 0:36:45.920 --> 0:36:47.800 that I accessed, it doesn't say it in the text. 0:36:48.000 --> 0:36:51.040 It said it might have been about eight feet wide max. 0:36:51.800 --> 0:36:52.600 That's not about right. 0:36:54.000 --> 0:36:56.440 Is it conceivable that it would have been eight feet wide? 0:36:57.160 --> 0:37:00.239 Okay, So you mean to tell me. 0:37:01.840 --> 0:37:06.160 They have been fishing all night and they are about 0:37:06.200 --> 0:37:11.520 to row in one hundred yards to the shore and 0:37:12.200 --> 0:37:15.960 from one side of the boat to the other. Is 0:37:16.000 --> 0:37:23.360 the difference between we're starving and we're stuffed. 0:37:25.840 --> 0:37:26.399 You mean to. 0:37:26.360 --> 0:37:31.520 Tell me that they've been out there all night and 0:37:33.040 --> 0:37:36.160 at just the moment they're about to give up. I'm 0:37:36.160 --> 0:37:40.600 prophesying to somebody prophesying to somebody at just the moment 0:37:40.640 --> 0:37:43.360 they're about to row the boat ashore one hundred yards. 0:37:44.440 --> 0:37:47.799 What they don't know in that moment. 0:37:48.800 --> 0:37:51.640 Is that if they take the nets from the left 0:37:51.680 --> 0:37:55.719 side of the boat to the right side of the boat, 0:37:57.320 --> 0:38:01.719 and if the boat is only eight feet and the 0:38:01.920 --> 0:38:09.200 shore is one hundred yards away, that means it's easier 0:38:09.760 --> 0:38:12.600 for them to keep fishing than. 0:38:12.480 --> 0:38:13.680 It is for them to give up. 0:38:16.920 --> 0:38:21.640 Follow me, you gotta go one hundred yards to give up, 0:38:23.000 --> 0:38:25.120 but you only gotta go eight feet. 0:38:27.120 --> 0:38:28.240 For a great catch. 0:38:31.800 --> 0:38:36.560 And the fish aren't on the way when you drop 0:38:36.600 --> 0:38:37.120 the nets. 0:38:40.160 --> 0:38:42.240 The fish are. 0:38:44.480 --> 0:38:52.560 Already the fish at the moment you drop the nets. 0:38:53.000 --> 0:38:55.640 The fish don't start to swim. Nah. 0:38:55.960 --> 0:39:00.319 That's what Jesus got to the shore early, because it's oh. 0:39:00.320 --> 0:39:04.239 The fish to swim, and they did. So. When you 0:39:04.320 --> 0:39:09.719 drop your nets in your not yet season, you need. 0:39:09.480 --> 0:39:13.600 To know that what's your fishing for is not far 0:39:13.880 --> 0:39:16.480 from you. 0:39:16.480 --> 0:39:20.840 You might be eight feet away from. 0:39:20.640 --> 0:39:27.400 A new day, eight feet away from restoration, eight feet 0:39:27.440 --> 0:39:33.400 away from freedom from your addiction, eight feet away from 0:39:33.440 --> 0:39:36.520 a relationship that will take you out. 0:39:36.320 --> 0:39:40.000 Of the loneliness and bring you into fruitful union. 0:39:40.560 --> 0:39:45.520 Hey, feet away when you hate to miss your harvest 0:39:46.840 --> 0:39:53.120 and find out it was only eight feet away. 0:39:54.520 --> 0:39:58.000 It's gonna be big, baby, It's gonna be big. 0:39:59.120 --> 0:40:01.000 It's gonna be big. You're gonna make a difference. You're 0:40:01.000 --> 0:40:02.880 gonna tell others. You're gonna help others. You're not just 0:40:02.920 --> 0:40:06.000 gonna be selfish. You're gonna serve others. God already knows 0:40:06.040 --> 0:40:06.560 what he's. 0:40:06.360 --> 0:40:09.480 Called you to do, and the devil wants you to 0:40:09.520 --> 0:40:11.520 pull that boat in and give up because he knows 0:40:12.200 --> 0:40:17.560 you're eight feet away. See, it is the principle that 0:40:17.719 --> 0:40:21.839 sometimes a small shift can make a big difference. A 0:40:21.880 --> 0:40:26.120 small shift just to make a small shift. Today, you're 0:40:26.120 --> 0:40:31.920 not as far as you think you are. Whoever this 0:40:32.120 --> 0:40:35.640 word is for, it is burning like a fire in 0:40:35.719 --> 0:40:39.759 my bones. You're not as far as you think you are. 0:40:43.520 --> 0:40:44.040 I wish I. 0:40:44.040 --> 0:40:46.160 Could muster the faith I had when I told my 0:40:46.280 --> 0:40:48.919 dad that you're not as far as you think you are. 0:40:50.320 --> 0:40:53.200 God can snatch you with his pinky finger. He's strong, 0:40:54.920 --> 0:40:58.879 his hand is not slack. I don't care how far 0:40:59.000 --> 0:41:01.120 you are. You're not as you think you are. Not 0:41:01.200 --> 0:41:07.000 from God. He's God who told the sun when to rise, 0:41:07.640 --> 0:41:09.600 and he did he's God. 0:41:09.719 --> 0:41:11.000 I'm talking about. 0:41:10.719 --> 0:41:15.360 God who told the storm to be still and it did. 0:41:15.800 --> 0:41:19.440 I'm talking about God who told the walls when to 0:41:19.560 --> 0:41:20.439 fall and they did. 0:41:20.760 --> 0:41:23.600 I'm talking about God who told the bones. 0:41:23.160 --> 0:41:27.640 Come alive and they did. I'm gonna have another one. 0:41:27.719 --> 0:41:31.680 And if he told the fish when to swim and 0:41:31.800 --> 0:41:32.600 they did. 0:41:33.160 --> 0:41:34.000 He will again. 0:41:34.440 --> 0:41:38.600 And if he told the fish when to swim and 0:41:38.800 --> 0:41:40.920 they did, he will again. 0:41:41.320 --> 0:41:42.280 It's a remix. 0:41:42.800 --> 0:41:47.600 We hadn't even released him original. Yes, and we're already 0:41:47.680 --> 0:41:48.960 working on the remix. 0:41:49.640 --> 0:41:50.560 Because he's God. 0:41:51.440 --> 0:41:52.240 Her, He's God. 0:41:53.160 --> 0:41:54.160 Hardy's stay bo. 0:41:54.880 --> 0:41:59.000 Did you hear any devil? Cause he's God's how Handy's God? 0:42:00.040 --> 0:42:00.680 Dad? He saith? 0:42:00.840 --> 0:42:06.640 Who man, it's all away, it's all away, it's all away. 0:42:07.480 --> 0:42:08.359 It's on the way. 0:42:08.520 --> 0:42:09.720 Let your dad's gown. 0:42:13.960 --> 0:42:16.960 WHOA? 0:42:18.080 --> 0:42:20.120 So I see a picture right now? Stay with me, 0:42:20.160 --> 0:42:22.280 Stay with me, Stay with me. I want to minister 0:42:22.360 --> 0:42:25.360 to somebody. You think you are so far from God. 0:42:25.680 --> 0:42:26.120 Watch this. 0:42:26.719 --> 0:42:30.719 Not only was Jesus only one hundred yards away and 0:42:30.800 --> 0:42:33.879 they had no idea that he was. And not only 0:42:33.920 --> 0:42:36.160 were the fish only eight feet away and they had 0:42:36.200 --> 0:42:45.279 no idea that they were. But Peter, you have already 0:42:45.360 --> 0:42:52.080 been restored in God's eyes. Now it's time for you 0:42:52.200 --> 0:42:58.680 to be restored in your eyes. Receive it, Receiver it, 0:43:04.320 --> 0:43:08.880 Paul said, you can go from having nothing to possessing everything. 0:43:10.200 --> 0:43:18.680 Having nothing yet possessing everything. Your nets are empty. You 0:43:18.719 --> 0:43:19.800 don't have it yet. 0:43:19.880 --> 0:43:24.160 That doesn't mean it's not there. So the gift you 0:43:24.239 --> 0:43:29.759 have is real. It just isn't fully grown yet. The 0:43:29.800 --> 0:43:31.960 forgiveness that you have is real. 0:43:32.320 --> 0:43:35.960 You're just not fully acquainted and familiar with your freedom 0:43:35.960 --> 0:43:40.000 in Christ yet. I'm saving your money on a therapy bill. 0:43:40.080 --> 0:43:41.160 This is what they're going to do if you go 0:43:41.239 --> 0:43:41.640 over there. 0:43:41.760 --> 0:43:43.759 I'm trying to save you some money on a therapy bill. 0:43:43.960 --> 0:43:48.680 Drop a little something in the bucket for your therapist today. 0:43:49.480 --> 0:43:52.320 I want you to see the power of your yet, 0:43:54.000 --> 0:43:58.239 and to believe in the God of already is to 0:43:58.320 --> 0:44:04.520 trust the God of Yet with every step to take, 0:44:05.920 --> 0:44:10.080 with every habit that you implement. A lady told me 0:44:10.080 --> 0:44:13.560 at elevation nights. She was standing there, and I did 0:44:13.600 --> 0:44:15.120 the thing that y'all hate when I do. And I said, 0:44:15.120 --> 0:44:16.759 turn to your neighbor and say And she said, I 0:44:16.840 --> 0:44:19.640 rolled my eyes, and you made me say something to 0:44:19.640 --> 0:44:22.760 my neighbor and he was tall, and I was single, 0:44:23.560 --> 0:44:24.640 and he was sending. 0:44:26.400 --> 0:44:29.239 And she wrote me a letter and said, today he 0:44:29.400 --> 0:44:30.200 is my husband. 0:44:30.960 --> 0:44:33.719 I'm not making it up. I'm not making it up. 0:44:33.719 --> 0:44:36.200 I'll print the email. I'll put it on Twitter's faces 0:44:36.200 --> 0:44:37.560 and my Space. 0:44:48.239 --> 0:44:50.720 I mean because something as simple as turned to your neighbor. 0:44:55.040 --> 0:44:59.480 Turn to your neighbor real quick and tell him not yet, 0:44:59.520 --> 0:45:04.360 not yet yet, not yet. I thought he was finished. 0:45:04.360 --> 0:45:04.719 Not yet. 0:45:06.440 --> 0:45:09.520 Hey, hey, so so imagine. 0:45:10.120 --> 0:45:11.600 Yeah, you could stay and softly LJ. 0:45:12.360 --> 0:45:13.880 I'm done teaching, but I want to give you the 0:45:13.880 --> 0:45:17.160 picture from Luke fifteen, because I would hate not to 0:45:17.160 --> 0:45:20.080 give you this. You remember how I told you there 0:45:20.080 --> 0:45:24.640 are two stories here, and Jesus taught one and then 0:45:24.680 --> 0:45:27.879 the other one he actually acted out, and they're both 0:45:27.920 --> 0:45:30.319 saying the same thing, that you're not as far as 0:45:30.360 --> 0:45:35.040 you think you are. There were two sons and one 0:45:35.040 --> 0:45:36.320 son to his father. I want my share of the 0:45:36.400 --> 0:45:39.960 inheritance now, Luke fifteen. So he set up to a 0:45:40.000 --> 0:45:44.279 distant country. What kind of country? Say it again? A 0:45:44.320 --> 0:45:47.680 distant country. While he was there, he spent all that 0:45:47.719 --> 0:45:50.839 he had on riotous living. For a little while went good, 0:45:50.840 --> 0:45:53.120 but then eventually he came to a point where nobody 0:45:53.200 --> 0:45:54.959 knew how bad it was, and he longed to fill 0:45:55.000 --> 0:45:57.279 his stomach with the husk that the swine ate. He 0:45:57.400 --> 0:46:02.280 was that low. Finally, Bubble says, he came to himself. 0:46:03.480 --> 0:46:08.560 He came to himself. I believe somebody's coming to yourself today. 0:46:10.200 --> 0:46:14.480 And God is already there. God already sees you like 0:46:14.520 --> 0:46:17.680 you really are. You just don't yet. Came to himself 0:46:17.680 --> 0:46:20.520 and he said, how many of my father's hired servants 0:46:20.560 --> 0:46:22.399 have food to spair, and here I am starving to death. 0:46:22.440 --> 0:46:24.600 I will arise and go to my father, and perhaps 0:46:24.640 --> 0:46:26.680 he will make me like one of his hired servants. 0:46:27.200 --> 0:46:29.040 So verse twenty is where it really picks up for 0:46:29.080 --> 0:46:30.360 our purpose as we close today. 0:46:30.360 --> 0:46:39.520 It said that he got up and went to his father, but. 0:46:41.880 --> 0:46:44.839 While he was still a long way off, his father 0:46:44.960 --> 0:46:51.920 saw him. How many times did I read this story 0:46:51.920 --> 0:46:58.880 and never really notice what was happening, Because just before this. 0:46:57.360 --> 0:46:59.160 This boy is making a story that he's going to 0:46:59.200 --> 0:46:59.800 tell his dad. 0:47:00.000 --> 0:47:01.880 He's making his plan to get back in good graces 0:47:01.880 --> 0:47:04.520 with his dad, to reconcile, to get back where he belongs. 0:47:04.760 --> 0:47:05.880 And a lot of you are like that. You're like, OK, 0:47:05.960 --> 0:47:07.160 I'm gonna get my life together. I'm gonna do this. 0:47:07.160 --> 0:47:08.360 I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna join a gym, and 0:47:08.360 --> 0:47:11.759 then I'm gonna drink smoothie and then I'm gonna I 0:47:11.760 --> 0:47:12.680 don't want to smooth. 0:47:12.400 --> 0:47:12.879 Want milk shake. 0:47:12.880 --> 0:47:14.560 I'm gonna drink a milkshake. And then I'm gonna join 0:47:14.600 --> 0:47:18.680 a gym and I'm gonna join that gym where they 0:47:18.719 --> 0:47:20.320 have milkshakes at the gym and pizza. 0:47:20.440 --> 0:47:23.760 I like that gem. 0:47:23.800 --> 0:47:26.120 So he's playing it all out, but he's tired, he's exhausted, 0:47:26.160 --> 0:47:28.839 he's a shame. And not to make light of the story, 0:47:28.880 --> 0:47:31.399 I mean, he really doesn't know. Am I even gonna 0:47:31.400 --> 0:47:33.319 be welcome back? Is this even gonna work? And I 0:47:33.360 --> 0:47:37.600 don't just mean this for people y'all who are I mean, 0:47:37.640 --> 0:47:39.520 I certainly mean this for people who don't know God, 0:47:39.560 --> 0:47:41.120 but for those of us who do. There are times 0:47:41.120 --> 0:47:45.440 in our life where we think, I feel sorry for you, preacher. 0:47:45.440 --> 0:47:48.239 You're telling me all this, but you don't know how 0:47:48.280 --> 0:47:49.560 far I am. 0:47:51.800 --> 0:47:55.560 You don't know what's going on with me and my wife. 0:47:56.920 --> 0:47:58.719 One guy finally told me the other day, he said, 0:47:58.760 --> 0:48:01.040 I've been faking you out for five months. I keep 0:48:01.640 --> 0:48:04.080 telling you everything's good, but because I don't want you 0:48:04.120 --> 0:48:05.400 to think bad of me, because you're a preacher. 0:48:05.400 --> 0:48:07.359 But I hain't had a job for five months. 0:48:07.360 --> 0:48:09.280 I've been leaving the house every day just going to Panera, 0:48:09.320 --> 0:48:10.600 so my kids would think I had a job. 0:48:10.640 --> 0:48:11.440 And I don't know what I'm gonna do. 0:48:11.440 --> 0:48:14.719 I'm running out of money, and all over the room 0:48:14.760 --> 0:48:20.759 there are not yet empty nets. 0:48:22.280 --> 0:48:23.040 All over the world. 0:48:23.120 --> 0:48:27.320 So you get this strategy in your mind and you think, Okay, 0:48:28.000 --> 0:48:29.120 here's how I'm gonna get it together. 0:48:29.160 --> 0:48:32.360 Here's sow I'm gonna fix it. And you know that 0:48:32.400 --> 0:48:33.320 could be exhausting. 0:48:34.400 --> 0:48:36.480 It can stop you from even taking the first step. Really, 0:48:38.800 --> 0:48:41.080 I gotta imagine with every step that the boy is taking, 0:48:42.280 --> 0:48:45.960 he's thinking, God, I hope, I hope Dad will have 0:48:46.120 --> 0:48:50.279 me back, even if he'll just let me sleep outside. 0:48:51.000 --> 0:48:53.920 I'll prove myself. I'll work my way back. I'll get there. 0:48:53.960 --> 0:48:57.640 I'll get there. It may take me years, I'll get there. 0:48:59.160 --> 0:49:01.759 So I'm gonna make a each to him. Remember it's 0:49:01.760 --> 0:49:05.040 a distant country. So he's got a long walk. 0:49:04.800 --> 0:49:06.399 Ahead of him. 0:49:06.520 --> 0:49:09.000 And at some point along this long walk, as he's 0:49:09.040 --> 0:49:11.680 rehearsing his speech, father, I'm no longer worthy making me 0:49:11.680 --> 0:49:12.440 a hired servant. 0:49:12.680 --> 0:49:13.960 I've disgraced you, I've shamed you. 0:49:13.960 --> 0:49:17.120 I've sinned, and I'm sorry. Maybe I should put the 0:49:17.120 --> 0:49:19.600 first part first. So I'm sorry, I have sinned. 0:49:20.320 --> 0:49:21.440 I sinned. I'm sorry. 0:49:21.480 --> 0:49:23.600 And every step he's working this out and rehearsing it 0:49:23.640 --> 0:49:24.120 in his mind. 0:49:24.400 --> 0:49:26.160 Here's how many get back, here's how many to do it. 0:49:26.200 --> 0:49:28.720 I'm gonna I'm gonna say to my father. I'm gonna 0:49:28.719 --> 0:49:31.360 say to my father. I'm gonna say to my father. 0:49:32.480 --> 0:49:39.600 And while he's rehearsing his speech, somehow, someway, his father 0:49:41.280 --> 0:49:45.320 is already running toward. 0:49:45.160 --> 0:49:54.759 Them, and you look up and you realize, oh, he's 0:49:54.800 --> 0:49:55.439 already here. 0:49:58.680 --> 0:50:03.680 While he was still a long way off, well, he 0:50:03.800 --> 0:50:06.000 still thought I have so far to go. 0:50:08.200 --> 0:50:10.200 And the one that he was planning to gravel to. 0:50:11.760 --> 0:50:14.680 Grabs him with grace. 0:50:16.280 --> 0:50:20.840 And pulls him in. You're not as far as you 0:50:20.920 --> 0:50:21.400 think you are. 0:50:23.320 --> 0:50:25.440 It takes a while to put your life back together, 0:50:27.080 --> 0:50:29.279 but it only takes a moment to be right with God. 0:50:31.800 --> 0:50:32.680 That's all it is. 0:50:36.440 --> 0:50:41.319 He already decided it, he already paid for it. 0:50:43.719 --> 0:50:50.560 You were always his, you always will be his, always 0:50:50.680 --> 0:50:54.640 have been welcomed in his presence, always will be loved. 0:50:59.160 --> 0:51:04.359 The God have already is the God of every Not yet. 0:51:05.840 --> 0:51:09.560 We stand in the middle today, and I want to 0:51:09.600 --> 0:51:11.480 tell you save your speech. 0:51:13.480 --> 0:51:15.800 God doesn't need you to tell them twenty five reasons 0:51:15.800 --> 0:51:20.000 you're sorry. Just come to them and say, Father, I'm yours, 0:51:22.200 --> 0:51:28.080 and I trust that everything I'm worried about. And tomorrow 0:51:28.719 --> 0:51:36.080 you're already there. You're already on the shore. You're not far, 0:51:38.440 --> 0:51:47.120 so I'm not far. I'm already loved. I'm already Choseph. 0:51:47.239 --> 0:51:51.360 I know who I am. I'm a child of God. 0:51:52.080 --> 0:51:57.480 Nothing can change that. I know what you've spoken. I'm 0:51:57.520 --> 0:52:02.680 already loved more than I could imagine. 0:52:04.200 --> 0:52:12.840 That is enough, mon. 0:52:15.640 --> 0:52:27.239 Moy, I know who lied, I know what's useful. I'm moready, 0:52:29.920 --> 0:52:39.680 more than doggety Marger, the bloody isinglady. 0:52:41.080 --> 0:52:53.400 I'm bracial, and though who lied, I know what's useful 0:52:53.440 --> 0:53:00.160 locking more already, boy the dog be. 0:53:00.360 --> 0:53:04.160 Mad body. 0:53:07.920 --> 0:53:21.360 Seem already. I'm already Jos, I know who. I know 0:53:21.520 --> 0:53:24.239 what you say? 0:53:26.200 --> 0:53:26.640 One thing? 0:53:27.160 --> 0:53:41.880 Pay is he not? Ham already already. 0:53:41.600 --> 0:53:46.680 Joe, Joe, who. 0:53:49.400 --> 0:53:55.480 I know what you come more than I paid? 0:53:58.440 --> 0:53:59.440 Hurdy is he. 0:54:06.840 --> 0:54:07.000 Hey? 0:54:07.080 --> 0:54:09.319 I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and if you did, 0:54:09.960 --> 0:54:12.520 make sure to share it and subscribe so we can 0:54:12.600 --> 0:54:15.160 get you all of these new messages as soon as 0:54:15.200 --> 0:54:17.920 they're available. I also want to take a moment and 0:54:18.080 --> 0:54:19.840 thank all of you who are a part of Elevation. 0:54:20.360 --> 0:54:23.640 Whether you support us financially, or serve with us, or 0:54:24.120 --> 0:54:26.799 just share these messages, it's because of you that we're 0:54:26.840 --> 0:54:29.759 able to reach people all around the world. And if 0:54:29.800 --> 0:54:32.279 you want more information on how to be a part 0:54:32.320 --> 0:54:36.200 of Elevation, click the link in the description. Thanks again 0:54:36.280 --> 0:54:39.160 for listening. Make sure to leave a review, share the message, 0:54:39.280 --> 0:54:40.040 and subscribe. 0:54:40.400 --> 0:54:40.960 God bless you.