The Other Side Of The Promise (Larry Brey)

0:00:01.480 --> 0:00:05.600 Welcome to the Elevation Church podcast. Today, Larry Bride, the 0:00:05.720 --> 0:00:09.880 Elevation Matthew's campus pastor, shares a special message called the 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:14.120 Other Side of the Promise. We hope you enjoy this message. 0:00:14.200 --> 0:00:16.280 I want to speak today on the subject of promises. 0:00:16.400 --> 0:00:18.600 If you remain standing for just a few more seconds, 0:00:18.920 --> 0:00:20.880 I'm going to get to my text, and I specifically 0:00:20.880 --> 0:00:23.160 want to speak a message to anybody who feels like 0:00:23.200 --> 0:00:25.040 God's made you a promise and you're on the outside 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:28.160 of it looking at it. I just feel like there's 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:30.280 some people under the sound of my voice, maybe in Colombia, 0:00:30.800 --> 0:00:33.120 that are standing outside of something they feel like God 0:00:33.159 --> 0:00:36.080 called them into. I want to speak specifically to you today. 0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:38.040 The main text we're going to jump into is going 0:00:38.080 --> 0:00:40.760 to be in First Chronicles eleven, verses one through five. 0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:44.360 He says this. This says all Israel came together to 0:00:44.440 --> 0:00:47.240 David at Hebron and said, you are our own flesh 0:00:47.240 --> 0:00:49.760 and blood. In the past, even while Saul was king, 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:52.680 you were the one who led Israel under military campaigns 0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:54.680 and the lords. Your God said to you, you will 0:00:54.680 --> 0:00:58.080 shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler. 0:00:58.400 --> 0:01:00.160 When all the elders of Israel had come to King 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:02.280 David and Hebron. He made a covenant with them at 0:01:02.320 --> 0:01:06.240 Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel, 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:10.360 as the Lord had promised through Samuel. David and all 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:14.120 the Israelites marched to Jerusalem, that is Jeebus. The gb 0:01:14.280 --> 0:01:17.240 Sites who live there said to David, you will not 0:01:17.440 --> 0:01:23.360 get in here. Nevertheless, I love that word. Nevertheless. David 0:01:23.480 --> 0:01:28.120 captured the fortress of Zion, which is the city of David. 0:01:28.240 --> 0:01:31.440 The title for today's message is this the other side 0:01:31.520 --> 0:01:35.560 of the promise. Say to your neighbor, the other side 0:01:35.560 --> 0:01:39.200 of the promise. Look on the other side of your 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:43.120 neighbor and speak over them the other side of the promise. Hey, 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:44.920 why don't you high five at least three people on 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:50.920 your way to your seat? Think you worshiped team? And 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:55.080 I want to jump into this topic of promises today. 0:01:55.160 --> 0:01:57.240 And it's interesting the text we have going on in 0:01:57.280 --> 0:02:00.800 First Chronicles, there's actually two promises that God is fulfilling 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:02.840 in this moment. One of them is easy to read 0:02:02.880 --> 0:02:06.800 because it's said in the text. And the Lord fulfilled 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:10.440 his promise to David as he had spoken through Samuel. 0:02:10.760 --> 0:02:12.560 And so the first promise that was fulfilled in this 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:15.280 is the one that David was walking in. The other 0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:18.480 promise is a promise that God is fulfilling to nation Israel. 0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:21.240 Two promises going on in the same moment. Do we 0:02:21.280 --> 0:02:23.920 sometimes realize that as we're going through life, God is 0:02:23.919 --> 0:02:28.120 doing more than just me. Sometimes I'm going through life, 0:02:28.240 --> 0:02:30.560 I get so focused on me. I don't see the 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:33.680 bigger picture that God is drawing in the world. And 0:02:33.800 --> 0:02:36.320 all of us are individual threads that God is weaving 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:39.640 together to put together a beautiful tapestry of His glory 0:02:39.639 --> 0:02:42.360 to the world. And all of these promises are happening. 0:02:42.360 --> 0:02:44.840 One was in motion for twenty years, David. The other 0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:49.240 one four hundred and eighty years. On your row today 0:02:49.520 --> 0:02:52.840 is somebody who's walking in a promise today, somebody who's 0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:54.959 going to see a promise fulfilled, or something's being spoken 0:02:55.000 --> 0:02:57.160 over them. It might have been something that was spoken 0:02:57.200 --> 0:03:00.760 over them ten generations ago that will find fulfill film today. 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:03.639 All of God's promises are yes and amen in Christ. 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:06.520 I believe that, and some of us have forgotten the 0:03:06.520 --> 0:03:09.320 promises that God has spoken over our life today. And actually, 0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:10.960 actually the first word I want you to write down 0:03:11.120 --> 0:03:14.399 is the word promise. Write down the word promise. Say promise. 0:03:15.720 --> 0:03:18.760 I was thirty two percent participation here at Valentine. Let's 0:03:18.760 --> 0:03:21.840 try it again, say promise much better. You need to 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:23.840 get a little attitude about it, because you're blessed, you're 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:26.000 highly favored, and some of you are taking way too 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:28.440 much of a passive voice in the promises of God 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:30.640 and your standing back maybe if it no, no, no, 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:33.280 God's promises that you would step into something. And that's 0:03:33.320 --> 0:03:36.280 what I'm speaking over with you today. But this story 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:39.360 in First Chronicles eleven did not start in verse in 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:42.760 First Chronicles eleven. It actually started back in Exodus chapter three. 0:03:42.760 --> 0:03:44.560 I'm going to rewind a little bit to give you 0:03:44.600 --> 0:03:46.680 some context for the story we're going to look at today. 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:50.160 In Exodus three seventeen, it says, and I have promised 0:03:50.160 --> 0:03:52.920 to bring you out of your misery in Egypt, into 0:03:52.920 --> 0:03:55.800 the land of the Canaanites, of the Hittites, Amorites, Parizites, 0:03:55.880 --> 0:04:00.200 hip Bites, and Jebucides, a land flowing with milk and honey. God. 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:03.360 I heard the cries of Nation Israel as they were 0:04:03.440 --> 0:04:06.720 under the oppressive thumb of the Egyptian slave masters, and 0:04:06.760 --> 0:04:08.920 he heard their cry and he said, I'm gonna do 0:04:09.000 --> 0:04:11.280 something about it. I will take you from slavery and 0:04:11.320 --> 0:04:13.360 into the promised life. That is a promise that God 0:04:13.360 --> 0:04:15.600 has spoken over you. Over you too, He's gonna take 0:04:15.640 --> 0:04:18.000 you from those slave habits, those slave thoughts, and he's 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:21.159 gonna take you into promised land thinking and his promises. Yes, 0:04:21.200 --> 0:04:23.200 and they met, and He's spoken it over you, and 0:04:23.240 --> 0:04:27.720 it's flowing with milk and honey. I love that. When 0:04:27.760 --> 0:04:29.600 I first came to faith in Jesus, some of you 0:04:29.680 --> 0:04:33.160 career Christians would talk in ways that I would not understand. 0:04:33.480 --> 0:04:35.600 I would simply ask, how you doing today, blessed and 0:04:35.680 --> 0:04:39.359 highly favored brother, And I'm like, what understand the lingo? 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:41.360 What do you mean? And they would use things like 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:43.160 I just can't wait to get to the other side 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:46.560 milk and honey, baby, it's flowing with milk and honey. 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:49.520 I'm like, what on earth are you talking about? Flowing 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:54.120 with milk and honey. Oh, it's this thing of when 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:57.000 I get to the other side of this thing, life 0:04:57.080 --> 0:05:00.720 gets better over there. So if I to the other 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:03.880 side of this, life is better over there. And what 0:05:04.000 --> 0:05:06.240 I took that to mean for Christianity is it will 0:05:06.320 --> 0:05:10.839 just suck here until I get over there. This is 0:05:10.880 --> 0:05:13.880 just going to be miserable. No, that's not the life 0:05:13.920 --> 0:05:17.600 you are called to live under the authority of Jesus Christ. Oh. 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:22.120 I rechecked that thinking the other side of the promise. 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:24.080 If I can just get to the other side of 0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:26.640 the promise, life is going to get better over here. 0:05:27.160 --> 0:05:28.920 And what I would speak over every one of you 0:05:29.440 --> 0:05:32.080 is is to remind you that God has made you promises. 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:35.159 I want you to think very personally about a promise 0:05:35.160 --> 0:05:38.640 that God has made you. It might be some of 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:40.200 you are here today and the promise you feel that 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:42.040 God has made you that you will have that child, 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:46.679 but it's been fifteen years. Some of you, the promise 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:49.680 that God has made you is your marriage will be fruitful. 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:51.760 Some of you feel like the promise that God has 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:54.960 made you is that that son that's on that opioid 0:05:54.960 --> 0:05:58.120 addiction he will be freed from those things. Some of you, 0:05:58.160 --> 0:06:00.360 the promise is that when you lay your head down 0:06:00.400 --> 0:06:02.760 at night, you won't be dominated by the shame that's 0:06:02.760 --> 0:06:05.440 been this dark cloud over your life for all these years. 0:06:06.000 --> 0:06:08.719 And sometimes what happens is the longer we live outside 0:06:08.720 --> 0:06:10.680 of something, the more we believe we don't belong in 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:13.760 that thing. I want to remind you that the promises 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:16.080 of God are yes and Amen. He has spoken it 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:18.719 over you, and in fact Tewod Corinthians one twenty says, 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:21.120 for no matter how many promises God has made, they 0:06:21.160 --> 0:06:23.600 are yes in Christ, and so through him, Amen is 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:26.120 spoken to us by the glory of God. I want 0:06:26.120 --> 0:06:27.960 to remind you what is the promise that God has 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:30.480 made over your life? Is it joy? Is it peace? 0:06:30.839 --> 0:06:33.599 Is that He'll never leave you, never forsaken you. For me, 0:06:33.720 --> 0:06:35.600 the promise that God has spoken to me that I've 0:06:35.640 --> 0:06:38.240 been claiming for a long time in my life is forgiveness. 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:43.120 What's yours? What's your promise? And I want to remind 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:45.200 you today that you need to start getting an attitude 0:06:45.240 --> 0:06:47.640 about yourself that you will see that promise come to 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:49.760 pass in your life. You don't need to settle for 0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:53.120 second rate, second class Christianity. You are his first choice. 0:06:53.240 --> 0:06:55.840 You are not leftovers because of your choices. You are 0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:58.000 a first option because you are the bride of Christ. 0:07:00.440 --> 0:07:05.720 But milking honey, baby, milking honey. It's funny because if 0:07:05.720 --> 0:07:08.919 I teach you a very shallow version of Christianity. It 0:07:08.920 --> 0:07:11.320 wouldn't be that. It's just milking honey, come to Jesus 0:07:11.320 --> 0:07:16.120 and everything gets better. That's not real. It's mostly me 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:17.960 milking honey. And then you get slapped with a problem. 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:20.040 You're like, WHOA, what was that? I didn't It's kind 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:21.920 of like when I got married to my beautiful wife, Janet, 0:07:21.960 --> 0:07:25.160 almost nineteen years ago. I walk into this beautiful thing 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:28.119 and we became wedded, and I'm looking like, baby, milking honey, 0:07:28.200 --> 0:07:35.000 let's go, and then we got married. I'm like, oh, 0:07:35.320 --> 0:07:38.240 I didn't know that marriage came with some misery, like 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:44.280 not not you, But I didn't know that the promise 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:49.200 came with problems. And some of us walk away from 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:54.120 promises because you're expecting milk and honey and you get 0:07:54.160 --> 0:07:59.840 something that looks very different. Second word I want you 0:07:59.880 --> 0:08:04.640 to write down is possess. Say possess. God gives you 0:08:04.680 --> 0:08:08.160 the promise, but he wants you to possess it because 0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:11.840 there's another side of this promise. In Deuteronomy seven, what 0:08:11.920 --> 0:08:14.640 says when the Lord God brings you into the land 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:18.160 you are entering to possess and drives out before you 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:21.160 many nations now who's gonna drive him out? God will 0:08:21.560 --> 0:08:23.600 God said, he'll drive him out. Who needs to possess it? 0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:26.200 You and me, Our job is to possess. God's job 0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:28.040 is to drive out. But he said many nations, the 0:08:28.080 --> 0:08:31.840 hit sites, the Gergoshites, Amorites, Canaanites, Parasites, hit bites, Jebusites, 0:08:31.920 --> 0:08:39.600 seven nations larger and stronger than you. Time out. Now, God, 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:41.520 you said I'm gonna get into the Promised Land. But 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:44.240 there's a problem with the promise because the promised Land 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:47.840 is inhabited by nations larger and stronger than me. Oh, 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:49.720 I thought it was milk and honey. God, but you're 0:08:49.760 --> 0:08:52.840 telling me it's actually larger and stronger. And some of 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:56.000 the reasons I think we walk away from promises is 0:08:56.040 --> 0:08:58.800 because I'm expecting milk and honey, and I don't know 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:05.240 what to do when I get large and stronger. Because 0:09:05.240 --> 0:09:07.440 God said, this is the Promised Land, but you're standing 0:09:07.480 --> 0:09:13.040 in it. You're a big dude. This isn't what I 0:09:13.040 --> 0:09:14.800 thought it would look like. God. I thought I was 0:09:14.840 --> 0:09:16.560 looking at milk in the honey, but now I'm looking 0:09:16.559 --> 0:09:19.480 at larger and stronger. I'm like, I'm just to stand 0:09:19.520 --> 0:09:23.160 in that land, but there's a big problem in the land. 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:30.200 The other side of the promise is it's larger and stronger. 0:09:32.120 --> 0:09:34.040 And some of us that have been following Christ for 0:09:34.080 --> 0:09:37.479 a while know that when you get into this new opportunity, 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:42.319 it comes with a new opponent. It's got seven nations 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:45.360 larger and stronger than you. And actually, the way that 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:51.360 the text is written, it goes from big, it's a 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:56.880 bigger and it's like, God, I just got done with him, 0:09:56.880 --> 0:09:59.440 and now he's bigger than the last one seven nations, 0:09:59.520 --> 0:10:02.960 like oh, I'm exhausted before I even show up who 0:10:03.200 --> 0:10:05.000 and some of us are defeated. And that's why we 0:10:05.040 --> 0:10:07.840 don't move towards possession, is because we're looking at the 0:10:07.960 --> 0:10:11.319 enemy rather than the promise. We're looking at what's inhabiting 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:13.120 it rather than the one who gave it to me. 0:10:14.080 --> 0:10:21.200 Seven nations and each one he's big, like he's real big. 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:33.160 And then oh God, and now I'm up here praising 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:35.959 on Sunday the Lord is and then like, I'm good, 0:10:35.960 --> 0:10:38.559 where's my defl like the enemy, look, I got you. 0:10:38.600 --> 0:10:40.960 But then the closer you get and you're like, oh snap, 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:45.000 he's a lot bigger. The closer you get to it. 0:10:45.559 --> 0:10:47.640 And some of the reasons we don't possess the promises. 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:50.000 We're intimidated by the inhabitants that are in the land. 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:58.560 And God says, this land is yours. I've promised it 0:10:58.600 --> 0:11:00.600 to you, but there's a problem with it. It's not 0:11:00.880 --> 0:11:04.079 yes it's flowing with milk and honey, but yes, they're 0:11:04.160 --> 0:11:07.040 larger and stronger than you. That's why the Israelites where 0:11:07.040 --> 0:11:09.320 they got into problems. They came out of Egyptian slavery 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:11.080 and they were going to go towards the promised land. 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:14.640 Moses dispatches twelve spies, all twelve of them came back 0:11:14.640 --> 0:11:17.640 after surveying, and I say, yep, milk and honey, absolutely 0:11:17.640 --> 0:11:19.240 milk and honey. Only two of them thought they could 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:21.440 actually inhabit the land. God said, I didn't ask you 0:11:21.480 --> 0:11:23.360 all that. I told you you were gonna get in. 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:26.079 Quit telling me what you can't do, and start realizing 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:28.920 what have already done for you, because your job is 0:11:28.960 --> 0:11:31.400 not to drive them out. I will take care of that, 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:33.839 because our pastor taught us that if it's bigger than me, 0:11:33.880 --> 0:11:38.520 it's not my battle, that's the Lord's. This is my land, 0:11:39.160 --> 0:11:45.400 and I'm gonna possess it. I know you're big, and 0:11:45.480 --> 0:11:47.280 I need to teach you to size up your opponent 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:51.920 because every level is a new opponent and at this level, 0:11:52.320 --> 0:11:55.920 with this opponent, this opponent will develop things in me 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:59.959 that can only be developed in this level. At this level, 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:06.600 there is a level. How do you size up your opponent? Now, 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:09.080 Once upon a time, I'm a fighter, I'd be like, 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:10.360 all right, how do I size how? How How am I 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:13.040 gonna take him? I can't take him. I can't give 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:15.120 me four other guys. That dude's like bigger than the sun. 0:12:15.160 --> 0:12:20.440 He's like shot. He's like, ah, it's not my job 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:23.439 to fight him, but to size him up. The size 0:12:23.440 --> 0:12:25.560 of my opponent shows me the size of my promise. 0:12:26.360 --> 0:12:28.760 Whoo if you're that big, oh, I can't wait to 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:30.560 see the size of the promise that's waiting for me 0:12:30.640 --> 0:12:35.400 right there. Thank you, guys, And some of you have 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:37.679 walked away and you're not possessing the promise because you've 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:42.680 been intimidated by the inhabitants. We get this in video games. 0:12:43.800 --> 0:12:46.800 We understand that in video games, every level gives you 0:12:46.880 --> 0:12:49.679 a new opponent, each one's tougher than the last. The 0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:53.040 greatest video game of all time. Mike Tyson Punch Out, 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:59.760 Oh My Soul, absolutely amazing. Level one Glass Shoe. He's 0:12:59.800 --> 0:13:03.560 one ninety nine pop out step back, pop out step, 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:05.800 And that's how you beat him, really easy, thirty two seconds. 0:13:05.840 --> 0:13:08.839 You can do it every time you get into the 0:13:08.880 --> 0:13:12.560 second level. Ah now I'm von Kaiser. Then I'm gonna 0:13:12.600 --> 0:13:15.199 move up to Piston, Honda, bald Bull. I'm working through 0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:18.000 all fourteen fourteen of these levels just to get to 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:21.920 Mike Tyson. But I had played this game the other 0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:24.640 day with my son, and I let him know a 0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:27.360 secret that all of us gamers know about that if 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:29.400 you've ever played the game before, they have these codes, 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:35.400 these cheat codes. There's a cheat code in in Mike 0:13:35.440 --> 0:13:38.400 Tyson punch Out zero zero seven three seven three five 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:43.480 nine sixty three that if you type that code in, 0:13:44.040 --> 0:13:46.680 it will cheat you through fourteen levels and take you 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:49.400 right to Mike Tyson. So I had this dad moment 0:13:49.440 --> 0:13:50.840 the other day and I'm like, boy, type in the 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:53.880 cheat code, and he did, and he's standing there ding 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:56.360 ding ding. The round starts one punch three seconds He's 0:13:56.480 --> 0:14:00.400 knocked out flat, Like there are no cheat to the 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:04.079 promises of God, you cannot bypass levels. You gotta go 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:10.360 through every one of them. Deuteronomy seven twenty two says this, 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:13.520 The Lord, your God, will drive out those nations before you. 0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:16.160 He's repeating it again. It's not your job to fight it, 0:14:16.160 --> 0:14:18.320 but it is your job to possess it. He will 0:14:18.400 --> 0:14:23.600 drive them out before you, little by little. You will 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:28.120 not be allowed to eliminate them all at once. How 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:35.640 do we possess the land little by little, little by little? 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:37.880 Because the Lord said, if I allow you to eliminate 0:14:37.920 --> 0:14:39.880 them all at once, you don't develop the gifts that 0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:42.680 can only be developed through that opponent. And if you 0:14:42.680 --> 0:14:44.520 bypass that opponent, You're going to miss a gift that 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:47.960 I'm gonna bring to you. And some of you get 0:14:47.960 --> 0:14:51.320 confused because you think, when I get to the other side, 0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:53.520 then I'm standing in the promise. No no, no, no, 0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:55.720 no no no. The very fact that I start playing 0:14:55.760 --> 0:14:58.680 the game facing my first opponent means I'm already in 0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:01.720 the promised baby, and I go from promise to glory, 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:05.000 to glory to glory, strength to strength. That's what it 0:15:05.040 --> 0:15:07.200 means to grow in the promise of God. I don't 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:10.080 get to the promise, I grow in the promise I 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:13.160 grow in it. It's not when you get to the 0:15:13.200 --> 0:15:17.040 other side. You're standing in in now. I got to 0:15:17.120 --> 0:15:23.000 understand milk and honey, larger and stronger, But every one 0:15:23.040 --> 0:15:27.600 of these builds a dependence upon the Lord. The greatest 0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:30.640 gift that God can give you is dependence upon Him. 0:15:31.400 --> 0:15:32.840 Third word I want you to write down is the 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:37.640 word persevere. Say persevere. First word was promise, Say promise. 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:43.760 Second word is possessed, say possess, say persevere. Really, well 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:47.560 done here, Valentiner. I like that Hebrews ten thirty six. 0:15:47.640 --> 0:15:50.960 It says you need to persevere so that when you 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:53.720 have done the will of God, you will receive what 0:15:53.840 --> 0:15:57.440 he has promised. Because what I've realized in my own 0:15:57.480 --> 0:15:59.960 life is sometimes if it's not looking like I expect 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:02.040 did I'm expecting milk and honey, but I get larger 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:05.520 and stronger. I will stand over here and say, God, 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:10.320 did you forget your side of the deal? Here? Where 0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:12.920 are my promises? At you forgot? And I'm trying to 0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:16.520 remind him of the other side of the promise. And 0:16:16.520 --> 0:16:18.320 I get this picture in my head that God is 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:21.280 standing over here and he's looking back at me saying 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:23.800 I have now forgotten mine, because it is yes and amen, 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:26.280 and it is always available to you, he says, I 0:16:26.360 --> 0:16:28.320 think you've forgotten. You're a part of the promise, and 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:30.800 you're a part of the promises. Perseverance, You're part of 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:34.760 the promises. To keep moving towards the possession of the promise. 0:16:35.360 --> 0:16:41.800 But how do we persevere? Little by little, little by little. 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:46.680 Perseverance is one of the greatest gifts. And I'm praying 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:49.160 a spirit of perseverance would bust out in this place today. 0:16:49.960 --> 0:16:54.240 Perseverance towards the promises of God, by the saints of God. Perseverance, 0:16:54.480 --> 0:16:58.240 because when I start interpreting the promises based upon the scenery, 0:16:58.320 --> 0:17:02.480 I stop moving towards the possession. I start holding my 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:05.560 finger up. The winds have promise, where are they flowing today? Well, God, 0:17:05.560 --> 0:17:07.359 I guess you're just not really in my favor today. 0:17:07.840 --> 0:17:10.080 No no, no, no no, no no no no no. God's 0:17:10.080 --> 0:17:13.520 promises are yes and m and in spite of in 0:17:13.640 --> 0:17:17.400 place of irregardless of what circumstances are going on around you. 0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:20.399 And some days when it looks like milk and honey, 0:17:20.400 --> 0:17:22.920 you're just skipping towards the promises of God. You're just 0:17:23.000 --> 0:17:27.879 woo and some days, when it's larger and stronger, you 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:34.320 just stop moving. Possession is not a passive experience. It 0:17:34.400 --> 0:17:38.760 is an active participation. The other side of the promise 0:17:39.840 --> 0:17:44.200 is my perseverance. How do I persevere when I don't 0:17:44.200 --> 0:17:47.679 even want to keep moving? How do I persevere when 0:17:47.720 --> 0:17:50.680 I feel like I've been forgotten? I got knocked down God, 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:54.280 and he says, get back up? He said, I've been 0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:56.520 down for very long. He said, then roll forward. You 0:17:56.640 --> 0:18:01.320 just gotta keep moving towards possession. And for me, I 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:02.919 think one of the things that that I get real 0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:05.840 confused with with perseverance is I think I've got always 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:09.240 got to have the greatest motives and motivations in life, 0:18:09.760 --> 0:18:12.359 because imbalanced teaching will just say, well, you just do 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:17.040 it all for the glory of God, brother, And I 0:18:17.080 --> 0:18:18.960 don't know, do you know how some of you might 0:18:19.000 --> 0:18:22.120 struggle with this, Like you ever get in a situation 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:23.919 that you start telling a lie, and you tell it 0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:25.720 long enough you just start to believe it is the truth, 0:18:26.359 --> 0:18:29.439 like you might do that. I struggle with that and 0:18:29.480 --> 0:18:32.320 the other side of it. Sometimes I will pray about 0:18:32.359 --> 0:18:35.159 something so long that I'll just assume it's a promise. 0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:39.120 That God has made. I get promises, I get prayers, 0:18:39.160 --> 0:18:42.760 and I get my preferences all mixed up, and sometimes 0:18:42.800 --> 0:18:45.240 I get in a world that I cannot discern between 0:18:45.240 --> 0:18:48.280 my preferences and his promises. Here's what I do know. 0:18:48.640 --> 0:18:51.440 If he promised it, and if it came from his mouth, 0:18:51.600 --> 0:18:53.960 it has the potential to be experienced in my life 0:18:54.000 --> 0:18:56.560 because it is yes and amen, and it is available 0:18:56.600 --> 0:18:59.359 for me to possess. But the promise he spoke that 0:18:59.400 --> 0:19:03.000 can be possess, I must persevere towards it. I gotta 0:19:03.080 --> 0:19:06.240 move towards If it's a prayer. Does He answer prayers 0:19:06.480 --> 0:19:09.040 sometimes like I want, sometimes not like I want, But 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:11.920 none of those prayers will be experience unless you persevere 0:19:12.240 --> 0:19:16.600 to possess it. Preferences I don't know. Does he answer 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:19.120 some of those? Maybe, Like I'm sure there's some young 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:22.040 lady watching who's like, my preference would be a guy 0:19:22.040 --> 0:19:27.000 who's like six foot four and you know, loves Hallmark Channels, 0:19:27.080 --> 0:19:30.560 yet still manly enough to cut his own trees for 0:19:30.640 --> 0:19:34.600 Thanksgiving in the woods and you know, make six figures 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:37.360 and loves my cat. You know, Like, I don't know, 0:19:37.440 --> 0:19:39.960 Maybe God will give you that. Maybe the promise will 0:19:40.000 --> 0:19:44.040 come bald in five foot seven. I don't know. I 0:19:44.200 --> 0:19:47.359 do know this that my God, who's big enough to 0:19:47.440 --> 0:19:50.240 save me and redeem the world and bring Jesus back 0:19:50.280 --> 0:19:53.160 from the dead, is also good enough to purify my motives. 0:19:53.160 --> 0:19:55.720 If I just keep moving towards him. He is good 0:19:55.840 --> 0:19:59.399 enough and he's big enough, and he'll do that. I 0:19:59.520 --> 0:20:02.679 just gotta keep moving because there is some guy. The 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:05.479 only reason you came to church today is some pretty 0:20:05.480 --> 0:20:11.919 girl invited you. Praise God. Wooh. I don't care what 0:20:12.000 --> 0:20:14.960 guy you here. He's gonna meet you here. And maybe, 0:20:15.040 --> 0:20:18.880 just maybe, even if I'm moving forward towards my preferences, 0:20:19.200 --> 0:20:22.119 I see God's promise and he upgrades my preferences to 0:20:22.160 --> 0:20:24.439 what he would prefer for my life. Maybe God is 0:20:24.480 --> 0:20:27.480 just big enough to do all that too. Maybe he can. 0:20:27.960 --> 0:20:29.879 And that's one of the reasons I think I love David. 0:20:29.920 --> 0:20:33.479 The character of David, I so resonate with him because 0:20:33.600 --> 0:20:36.240 in First Chronicles eleven, this is actually the third time 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:39.439 he's being anointed. The first time he's anointed is in 0:20:39.520 --> 0:20:43.480 his teenage years, because at that point, about twenty years earlier, 0:20:43.840 --> 0:20:46.760 Saul had made some bad choices. Who was King of Israel. 0:20:47.000 --> 0:20:50.480 God's like, yo, we have picking somebody else. He's gone crazy, 0:20:50.640 --> 0:20:53.280 and so he tells his prophet Samuel go to Jesse's 0:20:53.320 --> 0:20:56.640 house and one of his sons, I'm going to anoint king. 0:20:57.040 --> 0:21:00.679 So Samuel shows up at uncle jesse house and Bo 0:21:00.800 --> 0:21:06.240 and Luke walk out. Different Jesse. Samuel shows up and 0:21:06.320 --> 0:21:11.800 actually Jesse's oldest son, Elieb, is outside mowing the lawn 0:21:12.680 --> 0:21:16.320 and the prophet sees him and he says, God, look 0:21:16.320 --> 0:21:19.440 at that guy. He's tall, he's good looking, he's muscular, 0:21:19.560 --> 0:21:24.399 he's amazing. Let's use him. And God says, nope, I 0:21:24.440 --> 0:21:28.160 don't pick based upon your criteria. I'm looking at the heart. 0:21:28.320 --> 0:21:29.920 I know you're looking for who could play the part, 0:21:30.040 --> 0:21:32.280 but I'm looking at the heart. That's great dating advice 0:21:32.320 --> 0:21:34.160 for some of you. You're looking for somebody who could 0:21:34.160 --> 0:21:38.080 play the part rather than at the heart. Anyway, he says, nope, 0:21:38.080 --> 0:21:41.239 not him. And so now the prophet has all of 0:21:41.280 --> 0:21:45.720 these seven brothers parade by the prophet, all seven brothers, 0:21:45.840 --> 0:21:48.080 and God's like, nope, nope, nope, and he says it 0:21:48.119 --> 0:21:49.840 seven times and they get to the end and the 0:21:49.880 --> 0:21:52.640 Dad's like, hey, this is all I got. And Samuel's like, sure, 0:21:52.680 --> 0:21:54.680 you got anybody else? Oh yeah, I got one boy. 0:21:56.000 --> 0:21:58.560 He's out in the back forty he's with the he's 0:21:58.600 --> 0:22:01.919 with the sheep. Bring him here and he comes up. 0:22:01.920 --> 0:22:04.119 He's a teenage boy that hadn't even been invited to 0:22:04.160 --> 0:22:06.399 the party. And God says, that's the one I've picked. 0:22:06.880 --> 0:22:09.360 He anoints him king over Israel, and he is king 0:22:09.400 --> 0:22:11.359 at that point, but he's still a teenage boy who's 0:22:11.359 --> 0:22:14.080 tending flocks. He had stepped into the promise, but for 0:22:14.119 --> 0:22:15.400 the rest of his life he was going to grow 0:22:15.440 --> 0:22:19.280 into the promise. And the next scene you see from 0:22:19.400 --> 0:22:22.680 David is he delivers bread and cheese basically a cheese 0:22:22.760 --> 0:22:26.800 pizza from Papa John's to his brothers on the battle lines. 0:22:27.040 --> 0:22:29.600 And he drops off the pie and he hears this 0:22:29.720 --> 0:22:35.280 giant haunting nation Israel. He's like, wha punk me this 0:22:35.320 --> 0:22:41.280 Old Testament translation. And most people don't preach this story 0:22:41.280 --> 0:22:48.639 correctly because as David starts running towards his promise, he says, hey, 0:22:49.280 --> 0:22:52.440 what will be done for the guy who kills him? 0:22:53.080 --> 0:22:56.760 It is what's in it for me? The whole motivation 0:22:57.000 --> 0:23:00.800 was selfish, is what's in it for me? And then 0:23:00.800 --> 0:23:03.360 the guy standing around, We're like, yo, you're gonna get 0:23:03.400 --> 0:23:05.600 a lot of money, a really pretty girl to marry, 0:23:05.640 --> 0:23:08.280 and you'll never have to pay taxes. So basically, this 0:23:08.400 --> 0:23:12.919 is a millennial's dream job right here. And he's like, 0:23:12.960 --> 0:23:16.080 I'll sign up for that. And his oldest brother, Eliab, 0:23:16.359 --> 0:23:18.280 remember the one that he thought he was gonna be king, 0:23:18.359 --> 0:23:20.919 He's already practicing his wave, the one who didn't get picked. 0:23:22.480 --> 0:23:24.800 He overhears what's happening with his Brother's like, I can't 0:23:24.800 --> 0:23:26.800 believe you're up here? How dare you do that? You 0:23:26.840 --> 0:23:29.399 look little punk and little and David, it says in 0:23:29.440 --> 0:23:33.160 the scriptures, he says, can I even talk? He turned 0:23:33.160 --> 0:23:35.800 his back to his brother and he said, again, what 0:23:35.920 --> 0:23:39.800 will be done for the guy who kills him? And 0:23:39.880 --> 0:23:43.080 the only reason, the primary motivation for him going to 0:23:43.160 --> 0:23:46.920 fight Goliath was selfish. It was all about what he 0:23:46.960 --> 0:23:48.919 was gonna get, and it was about his promise, and 0:23:48.960 --> 0:23:52.280 God blessed him. And if you're moving with bad motives today, 0:23:52.400 --> 0:23:55.320 God will upgrade those. As you keep moving forward, God's 0:23:55.320 --> 0:23:57.280 gonna meet you right where you're at. That's why I 0:23:57.320 --> 0:24:00.280 love David. He was just moving. You might not have 0:24:00.280 --> 0:24:02.600 been the best motivation. But at least he was moving. 0:24:03.400 --> 0:24:06.000 That's the thing I'm trying to speak over you. Perseverance 0:24:06.119 --> 0:24:09.639 keeps moving. It might be selfish, I don't care. God's 0:24:09.640 --> 0:24:13.000 gonna Upbrade as you go that as a teenager. The 0:24:13.080 --> 0:24:16.080 second time he's anointed is easy. In his twenties, about 0:24:16.080 --> 0:24:19.480 ten years have passed. What had happened at that point, Saul, 0:24:19.520 --> 0:24:23.120 who had been king, dies. There were the twelve tribes 0:24:23.119 --> 0:24:25.800 of Israel all decided, each one of them just figure 0:24:25.800 --> 0:24:27.720 out who they wanted to be their king. So they 0:24:27.800 --> 0:24:30.040 have an election in their state to see who they 0:24:30.040 --> 0:24:33.199 want to be their king. And only two of the 0:24:33.280 --> 0:24:38.920 twelve picked David. Ten of them picked one of Saul's sons. 0:24:39.640 --> 0:24:41.880 Sounds a lot like the spies in the Promised Land, 0:24:41.920 --> 0:24:46.080 doesn't it. Ten of them got it wrong. And here's 0:24:46.119 --> 0:24:49.199 what I want to speak over you today. Some of 0:24:49.240 --> 0:24:52.119 you are standing on the outside of a promise because 0:24:52.200 --> 0:24:55.359 you didn't get picked. I want to speak over you. 0:24:55.440 --> 0:24:57.960 Just because they didn't pick you means that God changed 0:24:57.960 --> 0:25:01.280 his decision about you. God's promised are still available to you, 0:25:01.520 --> 0:25:04.320 even if you've been overlooked. Even if you didn't get picked, 0:25:04.400 --> 0:25:08.520 they are still yes and Amen in him, and he 0:25:08.640 --> 0:25:12.560 is faithful. He's taking all of these small steps. Little 0:25:12.760 --> 0:25:15.320 by little. He is in his promise, but he's growing 0:25:15.320 --> 0:25:18.920 towards his promise little by little. And it brings us 0:25:19.160 --> 0:25:23.200 to First Chronicles eleven. He's in his thirties right now, 0:25:23.240 --> 0:25:25.439 some twenty years of past between the first time he's 0:25:25.480 --> 0:25:29.159 anointed and this third time he's anointed. And what you 0:25:29.200 --> 0:25:33.400 see is the fulfillment of the promise. But what's interesting 0:25:33.440 --> 0:25:37.000 about this In First Chronicles eleven, Verses three and four says, 0:25:37.000 --> 0:25:39.520 when all the israel the elders of Israel, had come 0:25:39.520 --> 0:25:42.560 to David at Hebron, he made a covenant with them 0:25:42.800 --> 0:25:46.720 at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed King David 0:25:46.880 --> 0:25:53.840 over Israel, as the Lord had promised through Samuel. David, 0:25:53.880 --> 0:25:59.160 and all the Israelites marched to Jerusalem. That is jeebus. 0:26:00.080 --> 0:26:02.000 And what you start to see happening in the life 0:26:02.560 --> 0:26:05.400 of David, as you start to see him come to realize, 0:26:05.720 --> 0:26:10.320 is the only reason that God fulfilled his promise was 0:26:10.359 --> 0:26:12.360 so that the promise that God had made Israel could 0:26:12.400 --> 0:26:16.480 be fulfilled through him. God blessed David to be a 0:26:16.520 --> 0:26:20.400 blessing to Israel. And the very first time he's anointed, 0:26:20.600 --> 0:26:29.400 he goes running towards his promise. Third time, he knows 0:26:29.440 --> 0:26:33.359 it's not about him any longer, and he walks and 0:26:33.400 --> 0:26:41.520 he marches with the Israelites towards theirs. He starts to realize, 0:26:41.560 --> 0:26:44.000 I know I'm on the other side of the promise 0:26:44.720 --> 0:26:50.000 when I'm not at the center. In Christ, we know 0:26:50.080 --> 0:26:52.720 we're on the other side of the promise when it's 0:26:52.760 --> 0:26:56.159 not about us. Why do I put myself at the 0:26:56.200 --> 0:27:00.199 center of every single promise? I struggle with that. And 0:27:00.240 --> 0:27:04.399 as David is leading the Israelites towards gIBIS, now the 0:27:04.400 --> 0:27:08.680 context of the story is seven nations larger and stronger 0:27:08.680 --> 0:27:11.200 than you, David Israel. You can't defeat them, but I 0:27:11.240 --> 0:27:14.320 will drive them out. Little by little, four hundred and 0:27:14.400 --> 0:27:17.359 eighty years have passed from Exodus three to this moment. 0:27:18.400 --> 0:27:23.560 Little by little, twelve generations had passed bye. And God 0:27:23.640 --> 0:27:26.639 is faithful to fulfill his promises. Maybe, just maybe some 0:27:26.720 --> 0:27:28.439 of the promises I feel like God has given me 0:27:28.480 --> 0:27:31.320 will be experienced in the next generation coming after me. 0:27:31.359 --> 0:27:33.960 That's what David's realizing. Maybe it's for the nation, or 0:27:33.960 --> 0:27:36.159 maybe it's for the next generation. They don't all have 0:27:36.240 --> 0:27:40.920 to center around me. And he goes to Jeebis. Seventh, 0:27:41.840 --> 0:27:44.000 This seventh nation larger and stronger. And if you look 0:27:44.000 --> 0:27:48.280 at the map, each one of these seven nations held 0:27:48.320 --> 0:27:54.000 a different part of the town. The sixth, the Gurgoshites, 0:27:54.040 --> 0:27:56.800 the Amorites, the Pariziites, the Hivites, the hit Sites, all 0:27:56.840 --> 0:27:59.280 of them had been defeated. There's only one nation, larger 0:27:59.320 --> 0:28:02.480 and stronger, waiting to be displaced out of the Promised Land. 0:28:02.960 --> 0:28:06.600 And it is smack dab in the center of Israel. 0:28:07.320 --> 0:28:12.040 It's Jeebus. This is the hardest enemy to get out. 0:28:12.600 --> 0:28:17.040 They had been there for generations, thick fortified walls, never 0:28:17.080 --> 0:28:19.639 been defeated before. They had been there so long. The 0:28:19.680 --> 0:28:22.399 israel Lites, as they're marching towards the city are probably 0:28:22.440 --> 0:28:24.360 telling David, like, you know, David, you know they've been 0:28:24.359 --> 0:28:27.160 here forever, right, Like you know that your mama's mama's 0:28:27.200 --> 0:28:30.119 mama's mama's mama struggle with this too. You know that 0:28:30.200 --> 0:28:31.960 this one you're gonna be just like your daddy. This 0:28:32.000 --> 0:28:34.600 one's been here forever, This one you'll never get rid of. 0:28:36.280 --> 0:28:38.600 And David just he didn't really listen to all that 0:28:39.720 --> 0:28:43.000 It's funny because the picture of the physical land really 0:28:43.040 --> 0:28:45.360 represents the spiritual condition of a lot of our hearts. 0:28:46.920 --> 0:28:50.000 Is because there's one space right in the center of 0:28:50.040 --> 0:28:54.560 the promised land that's still enemy held parts of my heart, 0:28:56.000 --> 0:28:59.479 parts of my mind, parts of my relationships that are 0:28:59.520 --> 0:29:03.360 still enemy held territory. And God is saying enough, that 0:29:03.520 --> 0:29:06.160 is my promised land I've made available for you. I 0:29:06.200 --> 0:29:08.720 know nobody in fourteen generations has lived in it, but 0:29:08.840 --> 0:29:10.560 you're going through. It's time for us to deal with 0:29:10.600 --> 0:29:15.400 that jeebus, that that thing. I'm talking about, that thing 0:29:15.600 --> 0:29:17.720 because the first six had been defeated and they're moving 0:29:17.760 --> 0:29:20.000 on towards the seventh. I think they listened to Pastor 0:29:20.000 --> 0:29:22.720 steven sermon, don't stop on six, because they're going right 0:29:22.760 --> 0:29:29.880 in to number seven, and it's fascinating. Seven means complete, 0:29:31.240 --> 0:29:36.920 it means whole. God's greatest promises that He will fulfill 0:29:36.920 --> 0:29:39.960 in your life for not the ones you drive, not 0:29:40.040 --> 0:29:42.720 the ones you cash, not the ones you live in, 0:29:42.880 --> 0:29:47.320 but they're the ones that make you whole. The enemy 0:29:47.360 --> 0:29:51.720 has been stealing your joy too long because there's enemy 0:29:51.720 --> 0:29:54.400 held territory that's right in the center, and nobody will 0:29:54.440 --> 0:29:57.640 see it. Because this one. Looking from the outside, no 0:29:57.640 --> 0:29:59.560 one would even know. You look like you got it 0:29:59.600 --> 0:30:03.360 all together. You roll up in a nice car, dressed 0:30:03.400 --> 0:30:08.360 in the nicest things, but inside you're dying. Inside, you 0:30:08.400 --> 0:30:12.040 feel like you're leaking. Inside, You're doubting whether or not 0:30:12.240 --> 0:30:17.000 God even exists. I'm talking about that place. God wants 0:30:17.040 --> 0:30:20.920 to make you whole. That's his desire. In this place, 0:30:21.080 --> 0:30:25.840 he wants to make you whole. And I identify with 0:30:25.920 --> 0:30:28.080 this because I think all of us have those battles 0:30:28.080 --> 0:30:31.080 we've been facing for a long time. Earlier, I mentioned 0:30:31.080 --> 0:30:33.840 that one of the promises I'm believing God for is 0:30:33.840 --> 0:30:38.000 is this promise of forgiveness, very specifically forgiveness for the 0:30:38.040 --> 0:30:41.480 relationship with my father. You see, my dad was handed 0:30:41.520 --> 0:30:46.400 a generational thing of alcoholism because his dad and his 0:30:46.520 --> 0:30:48.240 dad's dad, and you go back as far as we 0:30:48.280 --> 0:30:50.960 can look, there was this thing that when you see 0:30:50.960 --> 0:30:53.720 somebody living an alcoholic lifestyle, often the choices and the 0:30:53.800 --> 0:30:56.640 chaos and the calamity come with it. I grew up 0:30:56.640 --> 0:31:00.160 in a world that was extremely chaotic and abusive, grew 0:31:00.240 --> 0:31:02.720 up a lot of my young adulthood hating my father. 0:31:02.760 --> 0:31:05.160 If I'm being really honest, with you, this isn't sugarcoated. 0:31:05.720 --> 0:31:08.280 And I grew up being so angry, and most of 0:31:08.320 --> 0:31:10.520 my adult life I was working on trying to forgive 0:31:10.560 --> 0:31:12.840 my dad, and I was a desire of my heart 0:31:12.920 --> 0:31:14.360 and it really felt like God had made me a 0:31:14.400 --> 0:31:16.400 promise to forgive my dad. But it had to go 0:31:16.440 --> 0:31:19.880 through these levels, these opponents of forgiveness, because forgiveness is 0:31:19.920 --> 0:31:23.000 not a moment, it is a process. It is something 0:31:23.040 --> 0:31:27.000 you walk out little by little, and it's taken me 0:31:27.040 --> 0:31:29.560 forty years because it started at this level of just 0:31:29.800 --> 0:31:32.480 being angry at my dad. Then it moved into another 0:31:32.560 --> 0:31:34.920 level of lovel just being angry at everybody, and I 0:31:35.000 --> 0:31:36.960 was like, that's not fun for anybody, because now you're 0:31:36.960 --> 0:31:39.080 just angry at everybody, you don't even know why you're angry. 0:31:39.600 --> 0:31:41.120 And then slowly you start to deal with your own 0:31:41.160 --> 0:31:43.040 anger issues. That's a level, and then there's a level 0:31:43.080 --> 0:31:45.360 of actually admitting that it wasn't right, And then there's 0:31:45.360 --> 0:31:47.800 a level of actually saying to your dad, this isn't right. 0:31:48.040 --> 0:31:49.920 But then there's a level of saying, Dad, because of 0:31:49.960 --> 0:31:52.120 your choices, I actually can't see you. So I went 0:31:52.160 --> 0:31:53.720 for about a four year period where I didn't talk 0:31:53.720 --> 0:31:56.080 to my dad or see them because I said, because 0:31:56.120 --> 0:31:58.560 of the destructive behaviors you're choosing to live in, I 0:31:58.560 --> 0:32:00.320 can no longer let there be a part of my life. 0:32:00.320 --> 0:32:02.120 And it was a level. And then God said, no, 0:32:02.200 --> 0:32:03.720 you got to advance out of that level because there's 0:32:03.720 --> 0:32:05.920 another level after that, and you actually have to forgive 0:32:05.920 --> 0:32:08.480 your father. You just can't pretend like it didn't exist 0:32:08.480 --> 0:32:12.560 and separate. That's not forgiveness. That's forgetting. Forgetting will never 0:32:12.600 --> 0:32:15.840 get you into the Promised land. Little by little, and 0:32:15.840 --> 0:32:18.240 then I had to actually ask my dad for forgiveness. 0:32:20.400 --> 0:32:23.000 But then God said, now you need to ask him 0:32:23.040 --> 0:32:26.720 for forgiveness because I built up these walls and it 0:32:26.760 --> 0:32:29.120 was punishing everybody else around. And I had to say 0:32:29.120 --> 0:32:34.000 to my dad, would you forgive me for building up 0:32:34.000 --> 0:32:39.840 these It's a process. It's little in his heart. And 0:32:39.880 --> 0:32:44.400 my dad got some bad diagnosis a year ago and 0:32:44.400 --> 0:32:45.720 he went into some ill health and I went to 0:32:45.720 --> 0:32:48.000 see him last November. And this is a picture of 0:32:48.000 --> 0:32:52.120 me with my father. His name is Leon Charles Brye. 0:32:52.160 --> 0:32:55.760 We share the same middle name. And that's the first 0:32:55.760 --> 0:32:58.640 picture that I've ever taken with my dad that actually 0:32:58.640 --> 0:33:02.480 felt like I've forgot given him. It's the first photo 0:33:02.480 --> 0:33:05.760 I've ever taken where I actually love him. I wasn't 0:33:05.760 --> 0:33:09.280 embarrassed by him, and I wasn't ashamed of him. And 0:33:09.320 --> 0:33:11.280 God really showed me in that photo. You're on the 0:33:11.320 --> 0:33:14.680 other side of the promise, the thing, the promise that 0:33:14.720 --> 0:33:18.480 made you. You're on the other side of it was 0:33:18.520 --> 0:33:21.640 a process, and they're on the other side of it. 0:33:22.440 --> 0:33:24.880 And I said, moment, I treasure And I was at 0:33:24.880 --> 0:33:29.800 noon that day. Six hours later at dinner, we're sitting 0:33:29.800 --> 0:33:32.800 at my mom's kitchen table and we're looking through this book. 0:33:32.840 --> 0:33:34.880 This is a book my cousin put together of my 0:33:34.960 --> 0:33:40.680 grandma's journals. Grandma Agnes, my dad's mom. It's her recipe book. 0:33:41.000 --> 0:33:45.240 It's a journalist started back in nineteen fifty nine, did 0:33:45.240 --> 0:33:48.120 it all the way into the nineties when she passed away. 0:33:48.360 --> 0:33:51.360 Simple farm woman from Minnesota, I mean, didn't get into 0:33:51.360 --> 0:33:55.160 her plumb until the late eighties. You know, some days 0:33:55.160 --> 0:33:58.680 the entries would be it's thirteen below, we picked the eggs, 0:33:59.240 --> 0:34:02.200 build the hay, things like that, and it was just fun. 0:34:02.200 --> 0:34:05.080 I'm sitting there going through this story with my mom 0:34:05.160 --> 0:34:08.840 and it's just incredible. Just you know live in that 0:34:08.880 --> 0:34:12.400 promised land. And I come across this entry from November 0:34:12.440 --> 0:34:15.759 of nineteen seventy eight. I would have been eight years 0:34:15.800 --> 0:34:20.040 old at that time, and it says Dorothy calls at 0:34:20.040 --> 0:34:24.600 about four o'clock in the morning, Dorothy's my mom, Like, Mom, 0:34:24.600 --> 0:34:26.840 what's this? Like? What was that about? She goes, you 0:34:26.840 --> 0:34:30.600 don't remember. I'm like, Mom, No, I don't what are 0:34:30.600 --> 0:34:32.720 you talking about? She goes, I can't believe you don't remember. 0:34:33.960 --> 0:34:36.399 I'm like, Mom, Now you're kind of freaking me out. 0:34:36.440 --> 0:34:39.359 Like she goes, that was when your dad was having 0:34:39.360 --> 0:34:44.560 the affair. Oh. And as she said those words, it's 0:34:44.600 --> 0:34:47.160 like a flood of memories just downloaded, and it started 0:34:47.160 --> 0:34:49.400 to remember all of the chaos that was around that moment. 0:34:49.800 --> 0:34:51.879 God had covered it so that I wouldn't see it 0:34:52.160 --> 0:34:55.040 until forty years later. His grace covered me until I 0:34:55.080 --> 0:34:58.600 was ready to see it. But in that moment, if 0:34:58.640 --> 0:35:03.560 you don't understand the struggle, you won't possess the promise. 0:35:05.040 --> 0:35:07.600 In that moment, I felt like I forfeited all of 0:35:07.600 --> 0:35:11.400 this promised land territory and I'm back at level one. 0:35:11.520 --> 0:35:14.319 And God says, no, no, no, you have forgiven your 0:35:14.320 --> 0:35:16.680 father and you've walked it out and it's been a 0:35:16.719 --> 0:35:18.919 little bitter little and I know it's been forty years, 0:35:18.920 --> 0:35:21.479 but you have forgiven him. And I'm not telling you 0:35:21.480 --> 0:35:24.600 you lost all that territory. I'm just showing you more 0:35:24.680 --> 0:35:33.719 territory you can possess. It's little by little, And I 0:35:33.760 --> 0:35:37.719 felt God speaking into my spirit saying this, this is 0:35:37.760 --> 0:35:41.720 a jeebus. This is a generational thing that's been there forever. 0:35:42.280 --> 0:35:44.320 And he says, this one is about the next generation. 0:35:44.400 --> 0:35:47.520 It has nothing to do with you. And God spoke 0:35:47.560 --> 0:35:50.879 into my spirit says, if you face this unforgiveness issue. 0:35:50.880 --> 0:35:53.280 Because I didn't want to face it, my dad passes 0:35:53.280 --> 0:35:56.279 away two months later after that photo. I didn't get 0:35:56.320 --> 0:35:58.839 a chance to talk to him about like why this happened. Dad. 0:35:58.960 --> 0:36:01.040 I didn't get a chance to make that resolution with him. 0:36:01.360 --> 0:36:03.160 But God's working on me, and I didn't want to. 0:36:03.400 --> 0:36:06.600 And God said, listen, this isn't about you. This is 0:36:06.640 --> 0:36:10.600 about your kids. And he says, if you face this one, 0:36:10.800 --> 0:36:21.239 they'll never have to. And so what it means is 0:36:21.239 --> 0:36:23.200 you got to take your kids back through all of 0:36:23.239 --> 0:36:27.560 these levels. Don't just pretend like it didn't happen. You 0:36:27.640 --> 0:36:30.279 walk them through that so that you can show them 0:36:30.280 --> 0:36:33.200 the next level they get to stand in. And I 0:36:33.280 --> 0:36:35.319 realized that I'm on the other side when I'm not 0:36:36.120 --> 0:36:40.920 at the center. That's what David realized with the Israelites, 0:36:41.560 --> 0:36:45.279 and he moves towards Jeebus and the Jebisides who live 0:36:45.320 --> 0:36:49.239 there said to David, you will not get in here. 0:36:50.040 --> 0:36:51.719 And that's what the devil has been telling you for 0:36:51.719 --> 0:36:54.319 a long time. You'll never stand in that promise. You'll 0:36:54.360 --> 0:36:56.600 never get there. And I'm so glad that David was 0:36:56.600 --> 0:36:59.360 there in that moment because his response is our response. 0:36:59.520 --> 0:37:01.640 It is the attitude of perseverance, and it's the word 0:37:01.640 --> 0:37:03.560 that I speak over you. And this next word is 0:37:03.600 --> 0:37:06.600 the word that absolutely can change your life. This next 0:37:06.600 --> 0:37:08.240 word is the word that when you come up against 0:37:08.280 --> 0:37:10.760 opposition and you don't think it's ever going to happen, 0:37:10.960 --> 0:37:19.160 you speak to the thing as David did. And David said, nevertheless, nevertheless, Nevertheless, 0:37:19.840 --> 0:37:24.040 I know it doesn't look like you should be successful. Nevertheless, 0:37:24.520 --> 0:37:28.279 I know you're tired and exhausted and frustrated. Nevertheless, I 0:37:28.320 --> 0:37:32.160 will move forward. Nevertheless. It's the sound of perseverance. It 0:37:32.280 --> 0:37:34.919 is the attitude of a follower of Christ. Who's going 0:37:34.960 --> 0:37:37.520 to move into the promised land, who will possess the 0:37:37.560 --> 0:37:40.479 promises that God made for you? But you will never 0:37:40.560 --> 0:37:46.480 possess it if you don't persevere toward it. Thank you 0:37:46.520 --> 0:37:49.000 for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who 0:37:49.080 --> 0:37:52.080 give generously to this ministry. Is because of you that 0:37:52.160 --> 0:37:55.040 this ministry is possible. You can click the link in 0:37:55.080 --> 0:37:58.879 the description to give now or visit Elevation Church dot 0:37:58.960 --> 0:38:02.280 org slash podcast for more information and if you enjoyed 0:38:02.280 --> 0:38:05.319 the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share it with 0:38:05.400 --> 0:38:07.640 your friends. You can click the share button, take a 0:38:07.640 --> 0:38:10.200 screenshot and share it on your social stories and tag 0:38:10.320 --> 0:38:18.279 us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.