The Power Of Provision

0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.800 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.320 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.040 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:13.560 gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:18.720 Enjoy the message now going over in your Bible the 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:23.079 Second King's thirteen fourteen through twenty. Yes, we're still in 0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:30.320 the same passage we started in and I'm gonna read 0:00:30.320 --> 0:00:36.880 it again Verses fourteen through twenty. Part A. Week one 0:00:37.040 --> 0:00:42.519 our study was on the power of precision. 0:00:43.880 --> 0:00:46.839 Was kind of a. 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:49.040 Double meaning to that. We were saying aim at something. 0:00:50.400 --> 0:00:53.440 Don't just waste all of your arrows and ammunition fighting 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:55.400 worthless battles that don't matter anyway. 0:00:56.280 --> 0:00:59.280 Have you ever just warned yourself out fighting over stuff 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:00.360 that was imagined. 0:01:02.240 --> 0:01:04.319 It either wasn't going to happen or was going to 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:07.399 happen no matter what you did about it. You were 0:01:07.400 --> 0:01:09.160 so worn out by the time you actually fought it 0:01:09.200 --> 0:01:11.959 that you lost because. 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:15.280 You were swinging, just wasting your energy. So we were. 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:20.800 Saying aim at the thing that God shows you, and 0:01:21.880 --> 0:01:24.040 that was Week one, But we were also saying, precide, 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:26.240 don't wait till you get discouraged to decide whether or 0:01:26.319 --> 0:01:30.039 not you're going to continue. Make a decision about it 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:34.920 a precision amen, decide before the battle begins that I'm 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:36.720 still going to be standing at the end of it. 0:01:37.600 --> 0:01:38.679 And I might be. 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:41.520 Bloody, and I might be bruised, and my body might 0:01:41.560 --> 0:01:44.240 be sore, but I won't stop. And that's what we 0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:46.600 were talking about in week one. We talked in week 0:01:46.600 --> 0:01:50.320 two about preparation, and we talked about those plowing seasons 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:53.480 that prepare the ground for the great things that God 0:01:53.520 --> 0:01:56.640 wants to do in your life. And then we talked 0:01:56.680 --> 0:02:01.120 about the power of potential. And that a really powerful 0:02:01.160 --> 0:02:04.840 message for me because I discovered that the pain of 0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:08.240 falling short is nothing compared to the shame of stopping short. 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:11.280 Touch your neighbors say, don't stop short, because there's nothing 0:02:11.280 --> 0:02:13.679 worse than to wonder what would have been, could have been. 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:16.720 And that's kind of why we're frustrated with this King 0:02:16.800 --> 0:02:21.520 Jehoesh in tewod Kings thirteen fourteen through twenty is because 0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:25.280 of what could have been, and we see the potential 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:27.480 that was unfulfilled in his life, and it reminds us 0:02:27.520 --> 0:02:30.840 of ourselves, and it makes us a little afraid, and 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:31.880 it challenges us. 0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:33.959 And so we've had a lot to think about. 0:02:34.360 --> 0:02:36.840 In this fourth installment, I want to speak about the 0:02:36.840 --> 0:02:41.840 power of provision, declaring over your life that God's got 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:45.640 what you need and it's a matter of you receiving 0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:50.280 it and opening yourself to it. Because in the scripture, 0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:56.359 the image of a window symbolizes both perspective because it's 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:58.799 what you look through, and sometimes what you're looking through 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:01.119 is just as in is what you're looking at. 0:03:03.040 --> 0:03:04.640 Okay, I can prove this. 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:06.240 I don't even need the Bible, and I will read 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:09.960 the Bible in a minute. But those are not my glasses. 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:15.679 If you give them to me right now, WHOA You 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:20.640 got problems? We need to pray for her miracles of 0:03:21.360 --> 0:03:24.600 recovery of sight to the blind man. You look funny 0:03:24.720 --> 0:03:27.560 now before I put these on you look, you looked awesome. 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:29.080 But what I was looking through. 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:33.240 Changed the dimensions of what I'm looking at because it 0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:33.960 wasn't meant for me. 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:38.440 Amen, I'm preaching all my recap. 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:47.960 But another thing that a window represents is provision. Like 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:52.200 in Malachi three, where God challenges his people if you 0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:54.840 will release what's in your hand. I will release what's 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:59.080 in my heart. I want to bless you. But the 0:03:59.120 --> 0:04:03.160 windows are close. And that's why we have these power windows. Okay, 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:07.680 the power of preparation. It opens the window of provision. 0:04:07.840 --> 0:04:12.600 God's provision often awaits our preparation. And so this week, 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:15.360 as we talk about provision and perspective, I want to 0:04:15.360 --> 0:04:21.640 ask the question, is it possible that provision and perspective 0:04:21.720 --> 0:04:24.840 are one and the same. I'll make the case as 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:26.760 we go here. But I'm excited about what God gave 0:04:26.800 --> 0:04:29.000 me to teach you today. And by the way, I 0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:32.480 always pray before I preach, Like I was writing up 0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:35.080 this morning to church, and I looked out my window 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:37.920 and before the first worship experience. 0:04:37.480 --> 0:04:39.239 There are people lined up to get to church. 0:04:39.320 --> 0:04:42.360 And I always get excited when I see that, just 0:04:42.480 --> 0:04:45.320 amazed at all the people who are coming. And I 0:04:45.360 --> 0:04:50.400 also get kind of terrified by it because my. 0:04:50.400 --> 0:04:52.480 Greatest fear in life is disappointing people. 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:55.560 I'm always scared I'm gonna be a disappointment, and then 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:58.560 people put a complex on me because when they meet me, 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:02.680 they say, you look coller on, like they're disappointed that 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:03.960 I'm short or something like that. 0:05:04.040 --> 0:05:06.560 So I stay in my house till Sunday, and. 0:05:10.520 --> 0:05:12.480 But I see the people lining up, and I always 0:05:12.480 --> 0:05:16.720 go through this conversation with God. God, you got to 0:05:16.760 --> 0:05:20.120 speak to these people that you sent because they need 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:24.200 something that I don't have. And furthermore, I don't even 0:05:24.200 --> 0:05:28.159 know exactly what they need. You do, God has a 0:05:28.200 --> 0:05:31.479 surveillance system on your situation. How many believe he can 0:05:31.520 --> 0:05:32.599 speak the specific thing. 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:34.000 That you need today. 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:38.160 I mean from the front of the room to the 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:40.320 back of the room to the overflow. 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:44.360 God has got what you need. 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:49.160 And I don't even worry about it anymore because I 0:05:49.240 --> 0:05:52.080 look at myself like an Amazon dot Com drone that 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:57.000 just drops it off at your doorstep and flies away, 0:05:57.760 --> 0:06:01.560 all right. So I always pray that God, they need 0:06:01.640 --> 0:06:04.200 something that I don't have. I feel like the disciples 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:06.520 who had five thousand men and women and children to 0:06:06.560 --> 0:06:10.720 feed and no bread, and yet God said, bring what 0:06:10.760 --> 0:06:12.240 you have to me, even if it seems to be 0:06:12.320 --> 0:06:13.720 too little, and. 0:06:13.760 --> 0:06:17.200 Watch what I will do through you. 0:06:17.920 --> 0:06:20.279 It's interesting, isn't it that to provide for the people, 0:06:20.360 --> 0:06:23.400 Jesus did not bypass the meager supply of the disciples. 0:06:23.400 --> 0:06:24.240 He multiplied it. 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:28.479 So the whole process of provision starts when you offer 0:06:28.560 --> 0:06:31.479 what you have, regardless of whether or not it seems 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:34.000 to be enough to you. The little bit of time 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:39.000 that you do have, that's the window the perspective of provision. 0:06:39.000 --> 0:06:43.440 I wonder if provision is a matter of perspective. Elisha 0:06:43.520 --> 0:06:47.159 seems to think. So, this great prophet is dying, and 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:51.240 this new king has one chance to get what he 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:53.640 needs from the mouth of the man of God. Let's 0:06:53.640 --> 0:06:56.720 see what happens. Tewod King's thirteen fourteen. Now Elisha had 0:06:56.720 --> 0:06:59.800 been suffering from the illness from which he died. Jehoesh, 0:06:59.839 --> 0:07:02.840 King of Israel, went down to see him and wept 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:03.360 over him. 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:04.680 It's one thing about pressure. 0:07:04.720 --> 0:07:07.480 Pressure will cause you to seek provision and get. 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:08.480 Your priorities in order. 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:12.960 There was no seeking of Elisha's advice until the Aramians 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:15.000 started to oppress the people of God. And when it 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:18.000 got to that point, the king went down to see 0:07:18.040 --> 0:07:19.680 the prophet. I don't know what brought you to church today, 0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:20.960 but I sure am glad you're here. 0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:21.360 Tush. 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:24.640 Your neighbors say, I'm glad you're here. Don't even care 0:07:24.680 --> 0:07:26.920 what brought you here. You might have heard there were 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:29.960 pretty girls of elevation. But I'm glad you came. Might 0:07:30.000 --> 0:07:31.680 get a valentine and a word from God. 0:07:31.720 --> 0:07:32.040 Amen. 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:36.400 All at the same time, God is good, supplies all 0:07:36.520 --> 0:07:39.800 my needs according to his glorious riches. That's not a 0:07:39.800 --> 0:07:45.440 pickup line, that's a scripture, all right. So he went 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:47.480 down and he wept over him, and I understand why 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:51.720 he's weeping. He's weeping because what he's losing is so significant. 0:07:51.800 --> 0:07:53.640 Elisha was more than just a preacher. 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:58.360 Elisha represented the entire defense system of the nation of Israel. 0:07:59.080 --> 0:08:02.160 He was their win, not only the window through. 0:08:02.000 --> 0:08:06.000 Which they saw the activity of God, but the window 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:08.880 through which God would give them many times the protection 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:10.640 from their enemies. 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:12.560 He had a unique. 0:08:12.240 --> 0:08:17.600 Ability to strategically cut off the enemy's advances, and he 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:19.640 would tell the kings where the enemy was going to 0:08:19.720 --> 0:08:22.400 attack so that they could be ready for it. Note 0:08:22.400 --> 0:08:25.320 that it did not prevent the attack from happening. It 0:08:25.360 --> 0:08:27.800 provided the strength to withstand the attack. 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:30.120 Sometimes we get. 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:33.240 Confused about the provision of God because we mistakenly believe 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:36.959 that the provision of God will mean the prevention of problems. 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:39.960 And when we ask God to provide for us what 0:08:40.040 --> 0:08:42.520 we're actually asking him to do, truth be told, is 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:45.240 to eliminate the need. In other words, God create a 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:49.200 life for me that will make you unnecessary, and. 0:08:49.120 --> 0:08:49.840 He won't do it. 0:08:53.120 --> 0:08:58.760 He's weeping over what's leaving, and Elisha is pointing to 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:01.559 what's left in every season. 0:09:01.200 --> 0:09:02.640 Of my life, I have the choice. 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:05.760 Watch this, my father, my father, the chariots and horsemen 0:09:05.800 --> 0:09:09.840 of Israel. Elisha is about to leave the building, but 0:09:09.960 --> 0:09:16.920 before he goes, he points to the provision. He points. 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:18.840 To the provision. 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:23.040 I believe God wants to point out the provision that 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:25.000 He's placed in front of you in your life today, 0:09:25.000 --> 0:09:26.640 and I've been asking him to do that. Watch this, 0:09:26.760 --> 0:09:28.920 Elishah said, verse fifteen, get. 0:09:28.720 --> 0:09:30.520 A bow and some arrows. 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:33.040 Now, the arrows did not magically appear at this point. 0:09:33.920 --> 0:09:35.720 The bow didn't fall down out of the sky. It 0:09:35.760 --> 0:09:39.440 had been there all along. He is simply instructing the 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:44.440 king to locate what has been there all along, what 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:48.040 was in the house when he came. Now he instructs 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:52.000 him to take it in his hands. And notice that 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:55.400 he does not tell the king to study the composition 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:58.560 of the bow in the arrow, or to browse a 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:02.160 catalog of bow and arrow, or to read the history 0:10:02.160 --> 0:10:03.920 of bows and arrows, because you know, sometimes when we 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:05.920 come to church, we want to learn stuff about trivial 0:10:06.000 --> 0:10:10.199 historical details that don't require us to do anything. But instead, 0:10:12.520 --> 0:10:17.720 after statement, get a bowt touch your neighbor, say do 0:10:17.840 --> 0:10:21.560 something with it, do something with this word. Make up 0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:24.880 your mind in advance. Even if I don't like that preacher, think, sir, 0:10:25.160 --> 0:10:27.840 if he says one thing that I can apply in 0:10:27.920 --> 0:10:35.400 my life today, I'm gonna use it. Get a bow 0:10:35.840 --> 0:10:38.680 and some arrows. And he did so. He was the 0:10:38.760 --> 0:10:40.880 original Nike advertisement. 0:10:41.000 --> 0:10:41.800 He did so. 0:10:42.960 --> 0:10:49.280 Just dude, take the boat in your hands, he said 0:10:49.840 --> 0:10:51.880 to the King of Israel. And when he had taken it, 0:10:52.280 --> 0:10:55.520 Elisha put his hands on the king's hands. This message 0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:57.520 is for somebody at gassed and today. Get ready, it's 0:10:57.520 --> 0:11:01.720 gonna come. And then verse seventeen is our theme verse 0:11:01.720 --> 0:11:08.000 where he says, open the east window, and he opened it, shoot, 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:14.240 Elisha said, and he shot, and then he declared, Wat's 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:18.840 his promise, the Lord's arrow of victory, the arrow of 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:19.880 victory over Aer. 0:11:21.080 --> 0:11:22.360 If Paul were writing, he. 0:11:22.320 --> 0:11:25.480 Would say that I am more than a conqueror through 0:11:25.559 --> 0:11:26.760 him who loved me. 0:11:27.880 --> 0:11:29.400 Yeah, if John were writing, he. 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:32.280 Would say, this is a victory that overcomes the world. 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:37.800 The arrow of victory, the Lord's arrow of victory. God 0:11:37.920 --> 0:11:42.200 is the source of my supply. God is the source 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:46.040 of my strength. It's the Lord's arrow of victory. 0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:47.880 But he put it in your hands. 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:55.960 God gave the victory, but you must take the shot. 0:11:57.920 --> 0:11:58.120 Now. 0:11:58.200 --> 0:12:00.480 Feel the spirit of Wayne Gretzky coming on me. I 0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:03.200 don't even like hockey. But he said, you miss one 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:08.440 hundred percent of the shots you don't take, and he 0:12:08.520 --> 0:12:12.000 shot the arrow. But what happened next This tragic because 0:12:12.040 --> 0:12:16.160 he had the opportunity of a lifetime to completely defeat 0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:18.719 the enemy that was oppressing him, and he missed it. 0:12:19.800 --> 0:12:25.280 He missed it. He missed it because he didn't do 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:29.800 Watch this verse eighteen. The prophet said, take the arrows, 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:33.320 and the king took them. Strike the ground, and he 0:12:33.400 --> 0:12:36.600 struck it three times and stopped. The Man of God 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:39.200 was angry with him and said, you only did half 0:12:39.240 --> 0:12:43.320 of what you should have done. You had more arrows 0:12:43.360 --> 0:12:45.640 that you didn't use. And this is where I want 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:47.840 to key in today. It is significant that it was 0:12:47.920 --> 0:12:52.720 not a lack of arrows or artillery that caused the 0:12:52.800 --> 0:12:57.760 King to miss the potential victory. It was not the 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:06.400 lack of weapons. It was the lack of will. If 0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:09.960 you would have used every arrow that you had, you 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:15.520 would have completely defeated this thing. And now you only 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:19.680 defeated three times the. 0:13:19.600 --> 0:13:22.439 Power of provision. 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:27.360 God has given me what I need for the season 0:13:28.160 --> 0:13:30.800 that I'm in, and I have a choice to make 0:13:30.840 --> 0:13:35.720 today and every day. Will I weep over what I'm losing, 0:13:36.960 --> 0:13:46.280 or will I wield the weapons that are left provision perspective. 0:13:47.559 --> 0:13:49.840 The two are connected. 0:13:49.880 --> 0:13:51.199 I'll tell you a story I didn't tell any of 0:13:51.200 --> 0:13:53.240 the other worship experiences because I'm kind of partial to 0:13:53.240 --> 0:13:58.280 you guys, because after you I'm done. 0:13:58.880 --> 0:13:59.839 Were a vacation this summer. 0:14:00.040 --> 0:14:02.240 I turned on the windshield wipers and Graham was sitting 0:14:02.280 --> 0:14:03.280 in the passenger seat. 0:14:03.640 --> 0:14:04.600 The windshield was dirty. 0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:08.160 That's what I noticed, he said, Daddy, when you turn 0:14:08.200 --> 0:14:10.000 on the windshield wipers, I pretend there's. 0:14:09.840 --> 0:14:12.839 A race, he said. 0:14:12.840 --> 0:14:15.800 The dirty triangle that the windshield wipers don't get to. 0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:17.960 That's the shark's fin. 0:14:19.880 --> 0:14:22.520 The part of the windshield that the wipers clean, that's 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:26.080 a whale. The wipers are the dolphin, and when you 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:27.240 turn them on they're jumping. 0:14:28.840 --> 0:14:31.160 Here's why I told you that story. 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:36.480 I was looking at a dirty windshield. He was looking 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:44.360 into the windshield. I saw a dirty window. He saw SeaWorld. 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:50.440 And here's my premise. It's about perspective. Repeat after me. 0:14:50.760 --> 0:15:01.080 What I see is up to me. Elisha was a seer, 0:15:01.160 --> 0:15:03.440 and when he saw something, he spoke, and he spoke 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:06.080 something and he saw something and the needs of the 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:11.560 people materialized because of Elisha's ability to see and to speak. 0:15:11.640 --> 0:15:15.440 There is a connection between your vision and your victory. 0:15:15.720 --> 0:15:22.840 Your perspective is connected to your provision. But my mind 0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:28.240 plays these tricks on me. I only see the dirty windshield. 0:15:29.800 --> 0:15:32.200 Here's the thing that my mind is always noticing. I'm 0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:35.000 always noticing and asking myself the question. And I have 0:15:35.040 --> 0:15:37.560 the ability to work in any situation, to walk in 0:15:38.160 --> 0:15:43.520 and I automatically notice what I'm missing. That's what my 0:15:43.560 --> 0:15:45.800 brain tends to think when I walk into a situation. 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:48.600 And I want you to pray for me, because this 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:50.800 is a terrible question just to walk in. Do you'll 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:51.880 have that question because I want. 0:15:51.720 --> 0:15:52.320 It on the screen. 0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:55.560 My brain is constantly asking the question walking into any 0:15:55.600 --> 0:15:56.840 situation flow with me. 0:15:57.200 --> 0:15:59.960 What am I missing? What am I missing. 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:05.160 I'm really good at weeping over what isn't there or 0:16:05.200 --> 0:16:09.400 worrying over what isn't there. My brain is trained to 0:16:09.520 --> 0:16:13.680 do it. It's almost as if I feel like somewhere 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:16.360 along in my life, I took a class on how 0:16:16.400 --> 0:16:21.840 to walk into any situation and notice what I'm missing, 0:16:23.280 --> 0:16:27.560 what I don't have, what I can't do, what I 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:30.680 can't control. Now, I'll give myself a little credit, because 0:16:30.720 --> 0:16:33.000 some people don't even notice the need. 0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:36.840 They just walk by it. 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:40.000 It amazes me sometimes what my children will not even 0:16:40.160 --> 0:16:42.440 see that needs to be done. 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:44.000 It's not that they didn't. 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:46.960 Do it, it's that they didn't even see that it 0:16:47.080 --> 0:16:49.640 needed to be done. One of my children asked Holly 0:16:49.680 --> 0:16:51.680 the other day, you mean I have to take a 0:16:51.760 --> 0:17:00.680 bath every day? He doesn't see the need because he 0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:05.080 doesn't smell the stitch. You know, you can get to 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:08.480 a place in your life where you've been in a 0:17:08.520 --> 0:17:12.440 situation and condition so long that everybody else smells it, 0:17:12.520 --> 0:17:21.479 but you, I mean, you can get to the place 0:17:22.600 --> 0:17:24.800 where you don't even see the need. I remember a 0:17:24.800 --> 0:17:27.040 few years ago, I took a whole group of staff 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:31.040 members and the trash cans and the office were just overflowing, 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:35.040 not kind of full overflowing. And I walked a group 0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:37.639 of staff around, and I said, to answer me a question, 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:42.040 did you not take this trash out because you didn't 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:43.320 you didn't want to. 0:17:43.280 --> 0:17:45.720 Take it out? Or did you not notice? 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:49.040 And you know what, honest to God, they didn't even 0:17:49.200 --> 0:17:51.320 notice the need, or at least that's what they told me. 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:57.040 And some people don't even notice. 0:17:58.880 --> 0:18:03.600 Worse yet, sometime don't see the need because all we 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:05.920 see is the symptom. Can I preach a little bit 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:13.120 in your body? This is called referred pain. It's when 0:18:13.200 --> 0:18:15.440 you have something wrong in your chest, but you feel 0:18:15.440 --> 0:18:17.359 it in your neck, so you're trying to fix it 0:18:17.400 --> 0:18:23.679 in a place that it is not coming from. And 0:18:23.720 --> 0:18:26.359 when David said the Lord is my shepherd, I shall 0:18:26.400 --> 0:18:29.719 not want, he is also implying that God is the 0:18:29.720 --> 0:18:33.240 only one who knows what I really need, what I 0:18:33.320 --> 0:18:37.359 really need when I pray, give me this day my 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:40.800 daily bread. As Jesus taught his disciples to pray, I 0:18:40.800 --> 0:18:43.160 no longer pray God give me what I think I need, 0:18:44.359 --> 0:18:47.720 but give me what you know I need. God is 0:18:47.760 --> 0:18:49.720 the only one who has been in my tomorrow. So 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:51.680 he's the only one who knows what I'm gonna need 0:18:51.720 --> 0:18:55.240 when I get there, and if he knows, I need 0:18:55.240 --> 0:18:57.520 to fight a lion, so I'll be ready for Goliath. 0:18:57.560 --> 0:18:59.959 I want to fight the lion. I don't want him 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:01.840 to prevent the fight. I want him to provide the 0:19:01.880 --> 0:19:07.840 faith so that I will because if I don't fight Goliath, 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:09.680 I can't get his sword. And if I don't get 0:19:09.680 --> 0:19:12.120 his sword, it won't be in storage when I need it. 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:19.680 God knows what I need. He is my source. Somebody shop, 0:19:19.760 --> 0:19:22.960 God is my source. Tell it to the person sitting 0:19:23.000 --> 0:19:28.600 next to you. You're not my source. My job is 0:19:28.640 --> 0:19:35.600 not my source. My boss is not my source. 0:19:37.760 --> 0:19:38.000 See. 0:19:38.040 --> 0:19:41.480 There are some things in life that are nice to have, 0:19:42.800 --> 0:19:46.440 but I don't really need them to survive. I love 0:19:46.480 --> 0:19:48.320 when Holly says this to me. And Valentine's Day is 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:51.560 coming up, so maybe she'll say this to me on Tuesday. 0:19:52.840 --> 0:19:55.960 She'll say, I appreciate everything you've given me because I 0:19:56.000 --> 0:19:58.960 try to take care of her. I really do, and 0:19:59.400 --> 0:20:02.879 always the best of my ability. Sometimes that meant water 0:20:03.000 --> 0:20:05.240 and we eat chips at the Mexican and share a 0:20:05.320 --> 0:20:06.320 speedy Gonzales. 0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:07.679 But sometimes that meant I. 0:20:07.640 --> 0:20:09.840 Could take her to Mortons, But whether it was Mexican 0:20:09.920 --> 0:20:12.439 or Mortons, it didn't matter. I was always giving her 0:20:12.480 --> 0:20:14.920 what I could. But every once in a while she'll 0:20:14.960 --> 0:20:18.520 tell me. She'll tell me something like this, it's not 0:20:19.359 --> 0:20:23.000 the things that you gave me, and I think she 0:20:23.080 --> 0:20:25.440 means it. It's not the things, because she was there 0:20:25.440 --> 0:20:26.800 with me when there weren't any things. 0:20:26.880 --> 0:20:27.880 It's not the things. 0:20:30.720 --> 0:20:34.880 She loved me in Juniper Terrorists Apartment C fifteen. She 0:20:34.920 --> 0:20:39.159 loved me in the Duplex. I don't love you for 0:20:39.240 --> 0:20:42.560 the Dnali, I love you in the duplex. It's not 0:20:42.720 --> 0:20:45.840 what you gave me. Our love is not contingent upon 0:20:45.880 --> 0:20:47.480 a material possession. 0:20:52.760 --> 0:20:53.600 And I wonder. 0:20:55.200 --> 0:20:57.280 Have I come to that place in my relationship with 0:20:57.359 --> 0:21:02.960 God that I really believe that if He didn't give it, 0:21:04.280 --> 0:21:08.439 I don't need it. My brain tells me differently. My 0:21:08.560 --> 0:21:14.480 brain tells me, even while I'm preaching this sermon, that 0:21:14.560 --> 0:21:20.800 I am not intelligent enough, articulate enough. When I go 0:21:20.880 --> 0:21:24.879 to tell my little jokes, I'm not comical enough because 0:21:24.880 --> 0:21:26.399 my brain picks out the people. 0:21:26.119 --> 0:21:28.080 Who look hateful in the crowd every time. 0:21:28.520 --> 0:21:30.320 I don't know how I find y'all, but I find 0:21:30.359 --> 0:21:38.200 you somehow. And my brain will pick out what's missing. 0:21:38.560 --> 0:21:40.960 There could be a thousand people standing. 0:21:40.640 --> 0:21:43.119 Up preach, pastor, but my little brain. 0:21:47.240 --> 0:21:47.600 You too. 0:21:48.600 --> 0:21:49.840 I mean, I can walk in a. 0:21:49.840 --> 0:21:55.120 Situation and find what's wrong in a minute. Notice who 0:21:55.240 --> 0:21:56.199 wasn't nice to me? 0:21:56.320 --> 0:21:59.719 In a minute. 0:22:00.200 --> 0:22:03.640 Always notice what I'm missing, Always notice what I lack, 0:22:04.160 --> 0:22:07.720 Always notice what I've lost. But if I only notice 0:22:07.760 --> 0:22:11.880 what I lack and what I've lost, I won't use 0:22:11.960 --> 0:22:15.239 what I have left. And what God wants to do 0:22:15.320 --> 0:22:18.680 through my life next is not contingent upon. 0:22:18.560 --> 0:22:20.960 What I lack or what I've lost. 0:22:20.960 --> 0:22:26.359 Come on, you better help me preach, Get a bow, 0:22:27.680 --> 0:22:31.640 get some arrows, punch your neighbor in the arm, and say, 0:22:31.640 --> 0:22:35.119 what you have is what you need. What you have 0:22:35.280 --> 0:22:38.119 is what you need. What you have is what you need. 0:22:38.800 --> 0:22:41.359 What you have is what you need. What you have 0:22:41.520 --> 0:22:44.240 is what you need. God should have made me taller. 0:22:44.920 --> 0:22:47.280 I didn't choose to be five foot nine. Five foot 0:22:47.400 --> 0:22:51.639 nine is all I need. That's all I need. I 0:22:51.680 --> 0:22:58.680 don't need any extra inches. Praise the Lord. One time 0:22:58.720 --> 0:23:00.600 I called a guid to thank him forgid contributing to 0:23:00.640 --> 0:23:02.520 the church, and he said, I appreciate your call. It's 0:23:02.600 --> 0:23:04.240 nice but I want you to know it's not needed. 0:23:06.560 --> 0:23:08.159 And I thought it was needed because he gave a 0:23:08.160 --> 0:23:10.160 million dollars to the church. I thought, if you gave 0:23:10.160 --> 0:23:11.840 a million dollars, you ought to get a phone. 0:23:11.600 --> 0:23:13.280 Call from the headman. 0:23:16.760 --> 0:23:19.640 He said, I appreciate it, and it's nice to hear 0:23:19.680 --> 0:23:21.600 from you, but it's not needed. 0:23:21.640 --> 0:23:22.760 I never forgot what he said. 0:23:22.800 --> 0:23:26.760 This was years ago, and this week I was reminded 0:23:26.800 --> 0:23:30.159 of one time when Paul he was in prison. 0:23:30.240 --> 0:23:32.640 Right he's writing to the church. 0:23:32.480 --> 0:23:36.840 At Philippi who just contributed toward his legal defense. And 0:23:36.920 --> 0:23:39.240 so Paul writes to them to thank them and express 0:23:39.280 --> 0:23:43.720 his gratitude. He says, hey, I got your gift, and 0:23:44.080 --> 0:23:47.040 I was happy for it. In fact, I rejoiced greatly. 0:23:47.080 --> 0:23:50.880 This is Philippians four, verse ten. That you renewed your 0:23:50.920 --> 0:23:57.159 concern for me at last. It took a while, but 0:23:57.240 --> 0:24:01.440 I know that you were concerned but had no opportunity 0:24:01.480 --> 0:24:05.240 to show it. Now that's important too, because Paul's problem 0:24:05.320 --> 0:24:11.119 created their opportunity. Sometimes we miss God's provision because it 0:24:11.200 --> 0:24:12.200 is disguised as. 0:24:12.119 --> 0:24:15.120 A problem, and we. 0:24:15.119 --> 0:24:18.800 Don't receive the provision because it's wrapped in a package 0:24:18.840 --> 0:24:27.520 that looks like a problem, and we keep sending back 0:24:27.600 --> 0:24:30.080 the gift that God is trying to bestow upon us 0:24:30.119 --> 0:24:35.600 because it doesn't feel good. Sometimes God will send correction 0:24:35.720 --> 0:24:37.639 into your life to make you better. You've been praying 0:24:37.640 --> 0:24:39.240 for God to make you better, but he didn't do 0:24:39.280 --> 0:24:41.320 it through somebody telling you how good you are. He 0:24:41.400 --> 0:24:43.399 sends somebody to correct you. But you don't like the 0:24:43.400 --> 0:24:46.960 way correction feels. So rather than receive the correction, which 0:24:47.000 --> 0:24:49.399 is a gift to take you where God is calling 0:24:49.440 --> 0:24:58.360 you to, you get offended and quit. And God's provision 0:24:58.440 --> 0:25:02.240 comes rapped in strange packages. And so for Paul, he's 0:25:02.280 --> 0:25:06.800 in prison and God provides for him through the church, 0:25:06.840 --> 0:25:08.880 and he's writing back to them, and he said, thank 0:25:08.920 --> 0:25:09.680 you for the gift. 0:25:10.000 --> 0:25:10.840 I received it. 0:25:11.200 --> 0:25:13.919 I was happy about it, and I appreciate it. But 0:25:13.920 --> 0:25:15.680 watch what he says in the next verse. He said, 0:25:16.160 --> 0:25:20.760 I'm not saying this because I'm in need for I 0:25:20.800 --> 0:25:26.360 have learned this is something that you are not born with. 0:25:28.680 --> 0:25:32.240 You don't know what you need. I mean, you are 0:25:32.280 --> 0:25:37.320 born just screaming. You don't know what you need. You 0:25:37.560 --> 0:25:42.120 just know that you need to eat. You don't understand 0:25:42.119 --> 0:25:46.760 the process. But life is the process of God teaching 0:25:46.840 --> 0:25:53.840 you that he is the one who feeds you. Sometimes 0:25:53.840 --> 0:25:56.920 he'll do it over here, Sometimes he'll do it over there. 0:25:57.320 --> 0:26:00.680 Sometimes he'll do it for nobody at all. Sometimes he'll 0:26:00.720 --> 0:26:03.240 do it when you're all alone. But when God is 0:26:03.320 --> 0:26:07.560 your source, you will never lack supply. Therefore, do not 0:26:07.720 --> 0:26:11.760 worry about tomorrow saying what shall we eat or what 0:26:11.920 --> 0:26:12.720 shall we drink? 0:26:13.080 --> 0:26:14.280 Or what shall we wear? 0:26:14.640 --> 0:26:17.320 For your father knows you need these things. 0:26:19.680 --> 0:26:20.920 He knows what I need. 0:26:22.520 --> 0:26:27.360 Paul says, it's nice, but I don't need it. 0:26:27.359 --> 0:26:30.280 It's nice, but I don't need it. 0:26:31.800 --> 0:26:36.399 I appreciate what you bought for me. Holly said, it's nice, 0:26:36.560 --> 0:26:39.600 but I don't need it. I like it, but I 0:26:39.600 --> 0:26:42.520 don't need it. Even let me tell you something right 0:26:42.600 --> 0:26:45.520 right here, to stay my cough. I appreciate your passion. 0:26:45.600 --> 0:26:47.720 I was watching you in worship and here I am 0:26:47.880 --> 0:26:50.199 preach it and you are standing up like you are 0:26:50.240 --> 0:26:53.440 ready to charge the devil with a nurse bow and arrow. 0:26:54.400 --> 0:26:56.640 And I love it. I love it. 0:26:58.440 --> 0:27:01.879 I love your response to the word to God. It's nice, 0:27:02.840 --> 0:27:06.440 but I want you to know I don't need it. Okay, 0:27:06.800 --> 0:27:09.800 I'm gonna preach this if you stand up and shout 0:27:09.880 --> 0:27:13.960 me down. I'm gonna preach it if you sit there 0:27:14.000 --> 0:27:18.080 and sleep, because I can't hold it in. 0:27:18.200 --> 0:27:20.680 It's my calling, it's my assignment. 0:27:22.920 --> 0:27:26.600 See if you want to respond, that's nice. But even 0:27:26.640 --> 0:27:30.760 if you don't respond, I gotta word from God and 0:27:30.880 --> 0:27:39.119 I gotta get it out. This is for all of 0:27:39.160 --> 0:27:42.680 you who have been underappreciated in the position you're in. 0:27:42.920 --> 0:27:45.320 You gotta come to the place where you say, you know. 0:27:45.400 --> 0:27:46.360 It's nice when. 0:27:46.200 --> 0:27:49.000 People think me, it's nice when people notice me. 0:27:49.400 --> 0:27:51.120 But God is my rewarder. 0:27:51.320 --> 0:27:52.639 God is my source. 0:27:53.119 --> 0:27:54.440 God is my supply. 0:27:54.800 --> 0:28:04.840 I don't need it. It'd be nice to have a 0:28:04.920 --> 0:28:07.920 date on Valentine's Day, but I don't need it. I'll 0:28:07.960 --> 0:28:17.760 take myself out of Bosta, buy my own shrimp. Okay, 0:28:18.880 --> 0:28:21.600 I find somebody to say I don't need it. If 0:28:21.640 --> 0:28:23.119 God didn't give it, I don't need it. 0:28:23.359 --> 0:28:25.960 If it's not in my reach, it's not for this season. 0:28:26.280 --> 0:28:35.920 And if he let it go, I will too, because 0:28:35.920 --> 0:28:36.560 I find out. 0:28:36.400 --> 0:28:39.880 The deeper the valley, the greener the grass, and He. 0:28:39.840 --> 0:28:41.440 Will never lead me to a place that he will 0:28:41.480 --> 0:28:44.840 not feed me, and he will never send me into 0:28:44.840 --> 0:28:48.160 a situation that he does not supply for so Elisha 0:28:48.280 --> 0:28:50.640 had the unique ability to go into the same situation 0:28:50.720 --> 0:28:52.400 that others had walked into and seen only. 0:28:52.320 --> 0:29:03.640 Shortage and see God's supply. Who is this for today? 0:29:04.120 --> 0:29:05.160 You know who I'm worried about. 0:29:06.480 --> 0:29:14.840 The one who pretends like they have no need, or 0:29:14.880 --> 0:29:17.440 the one who has become so calloused in your heart, 0:29:19.560 --> 0:29:23.280 the one who has become so dependent on dysfunctional systems 0:29:23.320 --> 0:29:27.240 that cannot feed you in a sustainable way that you 0:29:27.280 --> 0:29:28.440 have lost your ability to. 0:29:28.360 --> 0:29:32.440 Come before God and say I need you a broken 0:29:32.440 --> 0:29:33.360 in a contrite heart. 0:29:33.400 --> 0:29:35.440 He will not despise, but the arrogant and the proud 0:29:35.440 --> 0:29:36.320 he will cast down. 0:29:39.760 --> 0:29:42.440 The prerequisite for supply is that you know your need. 0:29:44.960 --> 0:29:51.479 I need you, God, I need you if I see you, 0:29:51.560 --> 0:29:55.320 if I seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness, all 0:29:55.360 --> 0:29:59.920 these things, these things, see, they're not needs, their things. 0:30:00.040 --> 0:30:04.720 All I need is Him and He will supply. 0:30:06.000 --> 0:30:06.560 Oh my needs. 0:30:06.640 --> 0:30:09.160 So I've been I've been switching my question a little 0:30:09.200 --> 0:30:13.560 bit instead of asking the question what am I missing? 0:30:13.680 --> 0:30:17.880 Because I can stay stuck there forever. I'm a broken person. 0:30:19.920 --> 0:30:23.240 There are skills I do not have, there are talents 0:30:23.280 --> 0:30:29.160 I cannot employ, there are resources I cannot access, and 0:30:29.200 --> 0:30:32.400 if I focus on that my whole life, it will 0:30:32.400 --> 0:30:34.360 feed my fear and starve my faith, and I will 0:30:34.360 --> 0:30:43.560 not receive what Jesus died to give me for every 0:30:43.600 --> 0:30:46.800 needy person in the place today, let me give you 0:30:46.800 --> 0:30:51.360 a better question. Instead of walking into the situation and 0:30:51.520 --> 0:30:57.240 asking the question what am I missing, walk into the 0:30:57.240 --> 0:31:00.720 same situation and, instead of asking the question, asked the 0:31:00.840 --> 0:31:09.400 question what am I missing? 0:31:09.880 --> 0:31:13.440 What am I not seeing? 0:31:16.040 --> 0:31:19.120 What is it that God has put in front of me? 0:31:19.200 --> 0:31:22.560 What are the weapons that are within my reach that 0:31:22.640 --> 0:31:23.120 I am not. 0:31:24.760 --> 0:31:31.160 Seeing? Pro vision in this. 0:31:31.080 --> 0:31:35.720 Message freedom, I'm telling you man, because you have been 0:31:35.760 --> 0:31:40.720 so stuck in what was weeping at the feet of Elisha. 0:31:41.000 --> 0:31:41.480 He's gone. 0:31:41.600 --> 0:31:46.240 Now you have been so stuck in what's not what 0:31:46.360 --> 0:31:47.720 you don't have, what you can't do. 0:31:49.040 --> 0:31:51.080 Sweetheart, If I would have made a list. 0:31:50.840 --> 0:31:53.080 Of everything I can't do and everything I'm bad at, 0:31:53.080 --> 0:31:54.760 there would not be an elevation Church. 0:31:56.880 --> 0:31:59.479 I'm serious, I'm serious. 0:31:59.480 --> 0:32:01.440 The Devil's gonna beat me up for preaching to you 0:32:01.520 --> 0:32:04.280 like this, because when it gets real like this, I 0:32:04.320 --> 0:32:08.120 open myself and sometimes it feels like I'm just opening myself. 0:32:08.120 --> 0:32:11.120 But there is so much I wish I could take 0:32:11.120 --> 0:32:13.560 some time and talk to you about my weaknesses. I mean, 0:32:13.600 --> 0:32:17.800 there are so many weaknesses that I have, but I 0:32:17.840 --> 0:32:24.640 have never allowed my weaknesses to prevent me from using 0:32:24.680 --> 0:32:29.760 my weapons. Who am I preaching to? I got a bow, 0:32:30.840 --> 0:32:34.840 I got an arrow. I intend to use every arrow 0:32:34.920 --> 0:32:35.720 in my quimper. 0:32:37.840 --> 0:32:42.920 I'm sorry. 0:32:44.400 --> 0:32:46.800 So Peter and John are going to the gate called Beautiful. 0:32:47.640 --> 0:32:50.840 They're just going to church one day, and along the 0:32:50.880 --> 0:32:55.200 way to church, because destiny will all often disguise itself 0:32:55.640 --> 0:33:02.280 as a distraction, that was too quick, they were walking 0:33:02.280 --> 0:33:04.560 to church and there was a beggar at the gate 0:33:04.640 --> 0:33:09.800 called Beautiful asking them for alms. He was shaking a 0:33:09.840 --> 0:33:14.040 cup in their face, asking them for some spare change. 0:33:15.600 --> 0:33:16.160 But how many. 0:33:16.200 --> 0:33:18.680 No, God doesn't always give you the kind of change 0:33:18.760 --> 0:33:24.160 that you ask for. See, God knows the need beneath 0:33:24.200 --> 0:33:29.000 the need, beneath the need, beneath the need, beneath the need, 0:33:29.360 --> 0:33:32.440 beneath the need. So this man has been lame since birth. 0:33:32.680 --> 0:33:35.880 He's never been able to walk. He's doing the best 0:33:35.960 --> 0:33:38.320 that he can. He's in the only place that he 0:33:38.360 --> 0:33:40.959 thinks he can get any kind of provision or assistance 0:33:41.000 --> 0:33:44.440 at all. And here comes Peter and here comes John, 0:33:44.920 --> 0:33:47.240 and apparently they look like the kind. 0:33:47.000 --> 0:33:48.320 Of people who would. 0:33:48.120 --> 0:33:50.720 Be willing to help a little bit, And so he 0:33:50.880 --> 0:33:53.920 asks him boldly. In fact, the Bible says in verse 0:33:53.960 --> 0:33:58.080 two that he saw Peter and John going up to 0:33:58.240 --> 0:34:00.960 the temple. Now, if he hadn't in the right place, 0:34:01.000 --> 0:34:04.000 he wouldn't have seen his provision. That's why I gotta 0:34:04.040 --> 0:34:06.320 come to church, because if I don't get in the 0:34:06.400 --> 0:34:10.120 right place, I might miss the provision. I might miss 0:34:10.200 --> 0:34:12.719 the word that God wants to give me to fight 0:34:12.800 --> 0:34:15.200 the battle that I don't even know about yet. So 0:34:15.280 --> 0:34:22.160 I gotta get there. And as he's sitting there, he 0:34:22.280 --> 0:34:28.720 sees he sees verse three, he sees Peter and John. 0:34:30.560 --> 0:34:35.000 He sees provision vision. 0:34:36.239 --> 0:34:42.400 I'm gonna stay right here, provision. And the wipers are 0:34:42.440 --> 0:34:45.840 the dolphins, and the dirt is the shark. What do 0:34:45.880 --> 0:34:49.479 you mean, boy, it's a dirty windshield. No, I see 0:34:49.520 --> 0:34:54.279 something in it. I see something. I see something. Maybe 0:34:54.280 --> 0:34:55.680 that's why he said we need to have faith like 0:34:55.719 --> 0:35:03.040 a child. I stopped being so blind to our supply. 0:35:03.760 --> 0:35:04.360 The enemy. 0:35:04.719 --> 0:35:08.359 If he can't keep you from seeing the need, then 0:35:08.400 --> 0:35:13.439 he will keep you blind to the supply. And when 0:35:13.440 --> 0:35:15.920 he saw Peter come and he said, hook a brother up. 0:35:18.120 --> 0:35:20.200 And Peter said, I got good news and bad news. 0:35:23.160 --> 0:35:27.279 The good news is I see you look at it. 0:35:27.600 --> 0:35:29.959 It says that not only did the man see Peter 0:35:30.000 --> 0:35:34.400 and John, but Peter looked straight at him. I wonder 0:35:34.440 --> 0:35:38.640 how many people had passed by him. I wonder how 0:35:38.680 --> 0:35:41.319 many people had stepped over him. I'm not saying that 0:35:41.320 --> 0:35:43.480 to make you feel bad. I mean, we all get 0:35:43.480 --> 0:35:45.480 in a hurry, and we're never going to be able 0:35:45.560 --> 0:35:46.640 to do everything for everyone. 0:35:46.680 --> 0:35:49.279 That's not my point. My point is. 0:35:49.200 --> 0:35:52.880 That in this particular passage, the miracle was sitting there 0:35:53.280 --> 0:35:56.040 in the form of something that everyone else walked past, 0:36:00.680 --> 0:36:01.600 and Peter looked. 0:36:01.440 --> 0:36:03.560 At him, and he was there. 0:36:04.560 --> 0:36:06.360 I don't think Peter was the first one to church, 0:36:07.160 --> 0:36:10.319 nor was he the last one. But he looked at 0:36:10.440 --> 0:36:16.239 him and he saw something. He saw an opportunity disguised. 0:36:16.239 --> 0:36:23.080 That's a problem. God is an optometrist. He wants to 0:36:23.080 --> 0:36:28.640 fix the way. You see. You've been asking will I 0:36:28.680 --> 0:36:32.040 have what it takes? And God is asking will you 0:36:32.120 --> 0:36:40.880 take what you've got? Get a bow, get some arrows. 0:36:42.480 --> 0:36:47.600 It's right there, it's right there. I mean, God will 0:36:47.680 --> 0:36:53.799 hide your provision in plain sight to cause you to 0:36:53.800 --> 0:37:00.600 seek for him. Sometimes, as men, we God to give 0:37:00.680 --> 0:37:03.440 us wisdom, and He hides it in our wives. 0:37:03.480 --> 0:37:04.080 If we'll listen. 0:37:07.400 --> 0:37:11.239 I thought I would get some female support and endorsement. 0:37:17.920 --> 0:37:22.600 Hidden provision, something you've been walking past. That's what Elisha 0:37:22.760 --> 0:37:26.040 was able to do. That's what the window is for, 0:37:26.360 --> 0:37:30.000 to see God is working. To see God at work 0:37:30.239 --> 0:37:36.120 beneath the surface. God, show me where you're working in 0:37:36.160 --> 0:37:39.359 this situation. That's my prayer. I assume that you are. 0:37:40.560 --> 0:37:45.040 You're always working. Now open my eyes to see the 0:37:45.160 --> 0:37:51.520 miracle already in progress. Touch my eyes so I can 0:37:51.640 --> 0:37:53.680 see some of y'all I see around this church have 0:37:53.760 --> 0:37:54.680 been with me a long time. 0:37:54.719 --> 0:37:57.000 I've never preached a more annointed sermon than this one. 0:37:57.080 --> 0:38:00.920 Right now, God is doing corrective eye surge. This is 0:38:01.000 --> 0:38:04.120 like lasick for the soul. Right now, God is trying 0:38:04.120 --> 0:38:07.439 to get you back. You've been looking at situations through 0:38:07.480 --> 0:38:11.040 the lens of limitation. But God said today, I'm not 0:38:11.120 --> 0:38:12.640 gonna change your situation. 0:38:13.080 --> 0:38:14.080 I'm gonna take off. 0:38:13.920 --> 0:38:19.440 Your spectacles so you can see your situation through the 0:38:19.600 --> 0:38:28.040 lens of my provision. I would have despaired unless I 0:38:28.080 --> 0:38:30.080 believe that I would see the goodness of the Lord 0:38:30.320 --> 0:38:31.480 in the land of the Living. 0:38:32.680 --> 0:38:33.600 You're looking at it wrong. 0:38:33.640 --> 0:38:40.160 It's not a dirty windshield of sheam MoU. You've been 0:38:40.160 --> 0:38:45.760 praying for patience God sent you preschoolers. Is provision wrapped 0:38:45.760 --> 0:38:49.000 in pampers. Y'all better talk to me. I'll preach all day. 0:38:49.360 --> 0:38:51.439 There ain't no parking lot for me to clear. Right now, 0:38:51.520 --> 0:38:55.680 I feel on fire with the word of God. Peter 0:38:55.800 --> 0:38:59.759 looked at the man, and where others saw an inconvenience, 0:38:59.800 --> 0:39:05.680 he an opportunity. And he looks straight at him. Open 0:39:05.760 --> 0:39:09.040 the east window, looks straight at the thing that's in 0:39:09.120 --> 0:39:09.960 your way. 0:39:10.320 --> 0:39:11.160 Don't divert your. 0:39:11.040 --> 0:39:15.040 Attention, don't distract yourself. Look at it, see it for 0:39:15.120 --> 0:39:17.719 what it is, see it for what it can be. 0:39:18.360 --> 0:39:21.080 And then he spoke to it. First he saw it, 0:39:21.560 --> 0:39:25.839 and then he spoke to it. And Peter looked at 0:39:25.840 --> 0:39:28.839 the man, and then Peter told the man, look at us. 0:39:29.520 --> 0:39:33.520 You see a common theme in this passage. Every good 0:39:33.520 --> 0:39:40.280 thing that happened happened by virtue of perspective provision for 0:39:40.560 --> 0:39:48.799 the vision, pro vision vocabulary lesson pro for vision sight. 0:39:49.200 --> 0:39:52.359 I want to see how God is working this for 0:39:52.440 --> 0:39:55.440 the good of those who love him. God is for me, 0:39:55.840 --> 0:39:58.840 not against me. I just got to open my eyes 0:39:58.880 --> 0:40:11.520 to see it. And the man was expecting something that 0:40:11.640 --> 0:40:13.759 was much less than what God was willing to give. 0:40:13.800 --> 0:40:21.919 Could that be you notice what happened? Man? 0:40:21.960 --> 0:40:23.680 This part got good to me when I was preaching 0:40:23.719 --> 0:40:25.160 it over at the nine point thirty. 0:40:25.160 --> 0:40:28.120 And I hope I can do it right now. I'm closing. 0:40:28.600 --> 0:40:30.600 I really am closing kind of, that's sort of in 0:40:30.640 --> 0:40:32.160 my own little way. 0:40:33.280 --> 0:40:35.839 Oh man, if I could get you. 0:40:35.800 --> 0:40:38.319 To see this, God, help me say it like I 0:40:38.360 --> 0:40:39.920 see it, because I see it. 0:40:39.960 --> 0:40:40.279 I see it. 0:40:40.320 --> 0:40:42.200 I see that he wanted to get something, but first 0:40:42.239 --> 0:40:46.040 he had to give something. Look at verse five, the 0:40:46.160 --> 0:40:56.560 man gave them his attention. What if it's not about 0:40:57.440 --> 0:41:01.239 what you're not getting that is causing you to live 0:41:01.239 --> 0:41:04.239 in a state of shortage. What if the windows are 0:41:04.280 --> 0:41:11.120 closed because you wouldn't open them. 0:41:11.160 --> 0:41:12.480 And God will test you on this. 0:41:13.920 --> 0:41:15.680 He will test you on this because He does not 0:41:15.840 --> 0:41:20.160 want you dependent on sources of energy or affirmation that are. 0:41:20.040 --> 0:41:21.200 Not connected to his heart. 0:41:23.480 --> 0:41:25.120 And he will let a brook dry up so that 0:41:25.160 --> 0:41:27.120 you'll move on and realize it wasn't the birds that 0:41:27.120 --> 0:41:28.239 were feeding you to begin with. 0:41:28.320 --> 0:41:30.759 It was him. 0:41:30.880 --> 0:41:33.800 It was him. He is my supply in every season 0:41:38.400 --> 0:41:41.120 for whoever the three people are that I'm preaching this to. 0:41:45.840 --> 0:41:53.680 When he gave them his attention, God exceeded his expectation. 0:41:56.200 --> 0:42:01.160 He expected to get something from them. And I don't 0:42:01.200 --> 0:42:03.160 know what you're expecting God to do in the season 0:42:03.200 --> 0:42:05.560 of your life that he won't do yet, because usually 0:42:06.160 --> 0:42:09.440 when we ask God for change, what we really want 0:42:09.480 --> 0:42:16.440 him to change is the situation, not ourselves. Sometimes when 0:42:16.440 --> 0:42:18.880 I preach, I don't feel anything. Sometimes I feel something. 0:42:19.760 --> 0:42:21.600 And the times when I didn't feel anything, I used 0:42:21.600 --> 0:42:23.719 to think something was wrong, and God spoke to me 0:42:24.239 --> 0:42:26.680 really very clearly. It's louder than out loud. It's not 0:42:26.719 --> 0:42:28.479 out loud, it's louder than that. You know what I'm saying. 0:42:28.640 --> 0:42:31.560 It's like the sense that you know. God said, the 0:42:31.600 --> 0:42:33.480 reason you don't feel anything is cause I want to 0:42:33.520 --> 0:42:35.560 set you free from the need to feel it. To 0:42:35.640 --> 0:42:43.239 do it, I don't need you to feel. I need 0:42:43.280 --> 0:42:46.719 you to preach. I want you to depend on the 0:42:46.719 --> 0:42:52.360 feeling of my presence. I want you to see it 0:42:52.360 --> 0:42:53.880 when you can't feel it. I want you to know 0:42:53.960 --> 0:42:59.120 it when the sensation of your emotions do not confirm it. 0:43:01.560 --> 0:43:05.080 And sometimes God will bypass. 0:43:06.200 --> 0:43:07.120 What you want. 0:43:08.520 --> 0:43:10.560 To give you what you need now in Him who's 0:43:10.560 --> 0:43:11.800 able to do measurably more. 0:43:11.640 --> 0:43:13.480 Than we ask or imagine. 0:43:14.239 --> 0:43:17.359 We always think that that versus pointing upward, he's able 0:43:17.400 --> 0:43:21.040 to do exceeding abundantly beyond all we ask or imagine. 0:43:21.080 --> 0:43:24.000 And I believe it is that the aral victory is 0:43:24.000 --> 0:43:27.360 flying over Aaron. But what if that verse works both ways? 0:43:27.400 --> 0:43:30.800 What if he wants to do something deeper than what 0:43:30.920 --> 0:43:36.040 I'm asking him to do? Deep work? I want to 0:43:36.080 --> 0:43:41.759 do a deeper work. I don't just want to give 0:43:41.800 --> 0:43:45.160 you people in your life to encourage you. I want 0:43:45.160 --> 0:43:46.680 to teach you how to encourage others. 0:43:53.840 --> 0:43:56.279 I learned how to fight the devil. If nobody texts. 0:43:55.960 --> 0:43:59.439 Me to encourage, I go to work on my own 0:43:59.440 --> 0:44:03.760 contacts and I start finding people. See I'm teaching the devil. 0:44:04.040 --> 0:44:07.640 Don't mess with me, because I'll cut off your head 0:44:07.680 --> 0:44:19.839 with your own sword. You discourage me, and I'll encourage them. 0:44:19.680 --> 0:44:21.560 And Peter said, I'm not going to give you what 0:44:21.600 --> 0:44:23.719 you want. I don't have it. 0:44:25.200 --> 0:44:29.080 I don't have what you think you need. But such 0:44:29.120 --> 0:44:34.960 as I have, I give unto you. In the name 0:44:35.640 --> 0:44:43.680 of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Get a bow, get some arrows, 0:44:44.400 --> 0:44:47.680 in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The name 0:44:47.719 --> 0:44:51.879 above every name, the name above every need. 0:44:52.200 --> 0:44:53.280 Who's this message? 0:44:53.320 --> 0:44:55.680 For God is reaching his hand. 0:44:55.480 --> 0:44:56.080 Out to you. 0:44:56.840 --> 0:44:58.640 God is reaching his hand out to you. 0:45:00.080 --> 0:45:00.960 Will you receive it? 0:45:01.080 --> 0:45:05.080 Right now? In the name of Jesus Christ, the Master. 0:45:06.719 --> 0:45:07.720 Get up and walked. 0:45:08.719 --> 0:45:11.560 The man wanted a meal, but he got a miracle. 0:45:11.920 --> 0:45:16.760 Now unto him who is able to do impassably walk 0:45:18.480 --> 0:45:33.200 it shall provide, shall supply all my needs, the ones 0:45:33.239 --> 0:45:38.239 I see, the ones I don't see. The Spirit of 0:45:38.239 --> 0:45:40.640 the Lord is in this place today to meet every need. 0:45:41.440 --> 0:45:41.799 I said. 0:45:41.800 --> 0:45:44.200 The Spirit of the Lord is in this place today. 0:45:44.840 --> 0:45:46.120 Rock Hill, the spirit of the Lord. 0:45:46.160 --> 0:45:48.480 Blaytney Balentide Matthews. 0:45:48.719 --> 0:45:50.880 The Spirit of the Lord is in this place. 0:45:59.320 --> 0:46:03.680 God's hand cannot bless your clenched fist. 0:46:10.160 --> 0:46:15.240 God, What am I walking past? What am I walking past? 0:46:16.040 --> 0:46:21.120 I keep talking about my limitation? What am I walking past? 0:46:21.160 --> 0:46:25.560 Silver and gold? Have I none? I keep weeping over 0:46:25.640 --> 0:46:28.760 the season that is behind me? What am I missing 0:46:28.800 --> 0:46:33.520 that's right in front of me? Can we flip it? 0:46:33.520 --> 0:46:34.680 This week? 0:46:35.760 --> 0:46:39.080 Faith flips the question to know that God has placed 0:46:39.120 --> 0:46:39.880 his provision. 0:46:39.920 --> 0:46:44.000 That's what it means, provision for before you even got there. 0:46:44.400 --> 0:46:48.680 He put the supply in the situation, and you have. 0:46:48.719 --> 0:46:52.880 To see it. I got a close. 0:46:52.960 --> 0:46:55.440 If you receive this message today, lift both your hands 0:46:55.440 --> 0:46:57.759 in the air. Just lift your hands to your Father, 0:46:58.440 --> 0:47:00.640 our Father who art in heaven. Halloween, be your name, 0:47:00.719 --> 0:47:03.200 your Kingdom. Come, Your will be done on earth as 0:47:03.200 --> 0:47:05.359 it is in heaven. And give us this stay, our 0:47:05.400 --> 0:47:08.120 daily bread. Give us this stay, our daily bread. We 0:47:08.200 --> 0:47:11.120 believe that you will feed us what we need for 0:47:11.280 --> 0:47:15.320 the season that we're in. Pray that after me, feed 0:47:15.400 --> 0:47:20.080 me what I need for the season that I'm in. 0:47:20.840 --> 0:47:22.680 God, we trust you in this moment. 0:47:24.360 --> 0:47:27.040 We receive in this moment the grace that we need 0:47:28.120 --> 0:47:30.840 for the calling that we have received. 0:47:34.520 --> 0:47:35.640 Thank you for joining us. 0:47:35.920 --> 0:47:38.400 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:47:38.440 --> 0:47:41.960 this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:47:42.400 --> 0:47:44.600 You can click the link in the description to give 0:47:44.680 --> 0:47:48.600 now or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for 0:47:48.680 --> 0:47:52.640 more information. And if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:47:52.920 --> 0:47:55.000 You can share it with your friends. You can click 0:47:55.040 --> 0:47:57.279 the share button. Take a screenshot and share it on 0:47:57.280 --> 0:47:59.839 your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. 0:48:00.000 --> 0:48:01.560 Thanks again for listening. God bless you.