What It Means Is Up To Me

0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:04.600 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:07.080 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.120 --> 0:00:10.440 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:12.520 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:15.200 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:19.919 Now for those of you who are watching online, just 0:00:19.920 --> 0:00:22.200 so you can know what I'm up against. In a minute, listen, 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:26.680 how excited these people already hear God's work today. Let's 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:31.480 see what I'm dealing with. Right for me, it's a mess. 0:00:32.680 --> 0:00:43.280 Not get a loud I gotta stop screaming. I still 0:00:43.320 --> 0:00:53.760 got a freak Praise the Lord. Amen. So we're continuing 0:00:53.800 --> 0:00:56.920 this week. Be seated. That's not a suggestion, it's command. 0:00:57.880 --> 0:01:04.480 Be seated. Let me look at you. See if you've 0:01:04.520 --> 0:01:06.759 been reading your Bible or not. Some of these people 0:01:06.800 --> 0:01:08.720 hadn't seen. In a minute, see if you've been drinking 0:01:08.840 --> 0:01:12.959 or you know, to see if you've been on the 0:01:13.000 --> 0:01:15.039 cable channels late at night or in the word of God. 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:18.640 I gotta check y'all out it. What's the state of 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:26.679 the flock? I want to I want to go into 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:30.280 One person was saying on YouTube. It's not a laughing time, 0:01:30.319 --> 0:01:32.680 don't you know what's going on in the world around me? 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:35.480 And I had to restrain myself not to comment back. 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:39.360 The joy of the Lord is my strength if I 0:01:39.400 --> 0:01:43.480 don't find something to rejoice about, like Paul in that 0:01:43.520 --> 0:01:47.039 prison cell. You know, Paul, this is not the time 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:50.760 to be rejoicing. This is the time to be repenting. Well, 0:01:50.800 --> 0:01:54.520 repent means change your mind. That's what he's teaching us 0:01:54.520 --> 0:01:57.800 how to do right in this season. Last week we 0:01:57.840 --> 0:02:03.080 talked about take control of your mind. Take it. Somebody 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:06.920 say take it. And we're really looking at three questions 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:11.360 from Philippians, one that are so powerful that they are 0:02:12.320 --> 0:02:15.600 pretty much running your emotions, whether you know it or not, 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:21.440 like how software runs your phone or whatever. I don't 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:23.480 know how it works, but I do know this these 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:26.560 three questions, and I'll give them to you again. What 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:31.639 does it matter? What shall I choose? And what does 0:02:31.680 --> 0:02:36.960 it mean? Those are questions that your mind is always answering. 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:41.480 How you answer those determines whether or not you live 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:45.920 in a state of defeat or freedom. And that's not 0:02:46.040 --> 0:02:50.679 my opinion. That's the teaching that Paul gives us in 0:02:50.720 --> 0:02:53.960 Philippians I should warn you up front. I had to 0:02:53.960 --> 0:02:58.960 bring two Bibles to preach the sermon today. Do not 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:03.040 be afraid. But I got something to say and God 0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:05.679 gave it to me, so I'm confident about it. One 0:03:05.720 --> 0:03:09.800 is in the New Testament from Philippians chapter one, where 0:03:09.800 --> 0:03:12.720 we were last week. And then I also want to 0:03:12.720 --> 0:03:18.120 show you something in Genesis fifty in Philippians one, and 0:03:18.160 --> 0:03:20.000 we'll just pick up right where we left off last 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:24.800 week where he says, but what does it matter? Remember 0:03:24.840 --> 0:03:30.040 that how that question can eliminate a lot of the 0:03:30.080 --> 0:03:33.519 things that we pray about if we get the right priorities, 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:37.960 and how it also can keep us from, you know, 0:03:37.960 --> 0:03:42.080 giving our resources to things that we'll regret later. One 0:03:42.120 --> 0:03:43.600 of the things God has been doing in this season, 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:45.600 whether you realize it or not, as helping you redirect 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:50.720 your resources. Because when He eliminates things from your life 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:53.040 in a way that is that is a gift, the 0:03:53.040 --> 0:03:58.080 gift of elimination. And one author said that trials tightly 0:03:58.160 --> 0:04:02.680 focus your life. So that's been happening, and it was 0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:06.400 happening for Paul because he's like, well, if I focus 0:04:06.560 --> 0:04:11.080 on the things I'm uncertain about, I'm probably going to 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:14.120 get I'm going to get in so much confusion that 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:16.839 I will start to doubt what God is doing through me. 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:19.800 But I'm going to choose to write off the things 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:22.400 I can control. And remember when he said what does 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:24.880 it matter? He was talking about the motives of people 0:04:25.279 --> 0:04:29.840 who were preaching about Jesus for the wrong reasons. And 0:04:29.839 --> 0:04:32.200 that perplexed me because I thought, well, it does matter 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:36.719 what people's motives are when they're preaching. And Paul said, well, 0:04:37.000 --> 0:04:40.320 it doesn't matter as much. Somebody say that in the 0:04:40.400 --> 0:04:45.320 Chat as much. Their motive doesn't matter as much as 0:04:45.360 --> 0:04:52.359 God's mission. So while my mind is constantly fighting the 0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:55.480 battle of what matters, this matters and that matters, it 0:04:55.520 --> 0:04:59.520 brings me back to the realization that some things matter more. 0:05:00.960 --> 0:05:05.159 He's saying, what matters more is that in every way, 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:08.599 whether from false motives or true. Okay, and this is 0:05:08.600 --> 0:05:11.440 going to be really parallel with the Genesis fifty passage, 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:13.960 So underline that, ob so you can rip it off 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:17.680 in three months, whether from false motives or true, with 0:05:17.800 --> 0:05:21.680 my full permission, I will make it better to Christ 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:26.479 is preached. The important thing is what matters more? What 0:05:26.520 --> 0:05:31.719 matters most to Paul, not to us other stuff matters 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:35.600 more to us, no matter what we say with our lives, 0:05:35.600 --> 0:05:38.120 sometimes we demonstrate that other stuff matters more. But to Paul, 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:40.880 it was like the Gospel, the good News about Jesus, 0:05:41.000 --> 0:05:45.359 what he's doing his kingdom. You know all these things 0:05:45.360 --> 0:05:49.559 that we can say. But the substance of Paul's faith 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:54.640 was that the mission the purpose of God mattered more 0:05:54.839 --> 0:05:57.960 for him than his preference or either other people's motives, 0:05:58.360 --> 0:06:02.600 which he could not control. So he said, I've chosen 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:07.960 to focus. I have chosen watch this to rejoice. Make 0:06:08.000 --> 0:06:14.000 the choice to rejoice. All right, it rhymes it must 0:06:14.040 --> 0:06:21.320 be true, yes, and I will continue to rejoice. I'm 0:06:21.320 --> 0:06:25.440 gonna keep doing it. I did it, I am doing it, 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:30.200 and I will continue to do it. Somebody said I 0:06:30.240 --> 0:06:34.080 did it, I am doing it, and I will continue 0:06:34.120 --> 0:06:37.680 to do it. Tell the devil, I did it, I 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:40.800 am doing it, and I will continue to do it. 0:06:41.960 --> 0:06:44.880 I will continue to rejoice for I know that through 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:47.919 your prayers and God's provision resource of the Spirit of 0:06:48.000 --> 0:06:53.559 Jesus Christ, what has happened to me resistance the Spirit 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:57.760 of Jesus Christ resource provision, you see it, the provision 0:06:57.839 --> 0:07:01.080 of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Resource, what has happened 0:07:01.120 --> 0:07:05.000 to me? Prison? Sentence? Resistance? Write it down. The resource 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:10.880 is greater than the resistance. And I need you to 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:14.040 know that. Child of God, I need you to know that. 0:07:14.080 --> 0:07:16.000 He said, I know this. I don't know what they're 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:17.960 gonna do with me. I'm still waiting to find out. 0:07:18.840 --> 0:07:20.880 I don't know. In fact, it was so bad for Paul. 0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:22.600 He wasn't like, I don't know if they were going 0:07:22.640 --> 0:07:24.360 to keep me on furlough. He's like, I don't know 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:28.640 if they're going to keep me on earth. Festus handed 0:07:28.680 --> 0:07:30.920 me over to Caesar's I'm not even in control of this, 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:36.240 but he sounds remarkably in command of the condition of 0:07:36.280 --> 0:07:38.800 his soul, and I want to learn how to do that, 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:43.520 he said Verse twenty. No, no, I can't leave this behind. 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:45.920 We'll turn out for my deliverance. I don't want to 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:50.000 leave that out. Deliverance is a major theme in the scripture, 0:07:50.040 --> 0:07:53.560 all the way from Moses and the Exodus to Jesus 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:56.680 on the Cross to Paul in this prison. And yet 0:07:56.680 --> 0:07:59.520 it's not so much for Paul about God bringing him out. 0:08:01.200 --> 0:08:09.520 It's about God's spirit getting in inward deliverance. So he said, 0:08:09.560 --> 0:08:12.240 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:17.560 way be ashamed that's internal, but will have sufficient courage 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:21.760 that's internal, so that now, as always, Christ will be 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:31.400 exalted in my body. That's internal. External can't control internal. 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:40.240 I will continue to rejoice. This is the distinction, he said, 0:08:40.800 --> 0:08:44.800 whether by life or by death, yell all right if 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:48.920 I teach the Bible, because this weather or construct means 0:08:48.960 --> 0:08:54.360 I'm okay either way. And so he's not talking about 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:56.280 I'm okay if I have to park at the front 0:08:56.360 --> 0:08:58.360 or the back of Target's talking about I'm okay if 0:08:58.360 --> 0:09:01.000 I go to heaven or if I stay here. I'm 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:03.920 not there yet. I am not there yet. I want 0:09:03.920 --> 0:09:06.960 to stay around. But Paul's like, I'm okay either way. 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:12.040 Now say it by faith, I'm okay either way. This 0:09:12.080 --> 0:09:15.400 is the spirit of Paul's faith. It wasn't manipulation. It 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:21.000 was acceptance. It was embracing what God is doing in 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:28.640 this moment, not escaping, embracing, Thank you Jesus. So I'm 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:33.000 counting on courage, not counting on circumstances. I'm counting on courage. 0:09:33.080 --> 0:09:36.080 I'm counting on Christ to me, And this was the 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:37.920 only verses that I really meant to read, but I 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:40.520 got all caught up there in the other ones. For 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:44.360 to me, somebody say to me, For to me, to 0:09:44.480 --> 0:09:49.280 live is Christ and to die is Gain. If I'm 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:52.839 to go on living, if they don't cut my head off, 0:09:53.640 --> 0:09:56.480 if they let me have a few more years, not sure. 0:09:56.520 --> 0:09:59.400 But if I am to go on living in the body, 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:03.840 this will mean fruitful labor for me. So you saw 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:07.120 what does it matter? And now Paul is showing us 0:10:07.200 --> 0:10:10.760 what does it mean? Wdim, what does it mean? He said, 0:10:10.880 --> 0:10:14.360 If I am to go on living, this will mean 0:10:15.080 --> 0:10:19.680 fruitful labor for me. If I am to go on living, 0:10:20.240 --> 0:10:23.599 this will mean And we'll focus there today. But I 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:25.840 got to put this with it. He said, Yet, what 0:10:26.000 --> 0:10:30.840 shall I choose? I do not know. Now go to 0:10:30.880 --> 0:10:39.640 Genesis fifty, Genesis fifty. Somebody say, what does it matter? 0:10:41.080 --> 0:10:47.680 What does it mean? What shall I choose? Genesis fifty, 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:51.080 verse nineteen. But Joseph said to them, do not fear, 0:10:51.679 --> 0:10:55.560 for am I in the place of God. As for 0:10:55.640 --> 0:11:01.719 you you meant evil against me, but God meant it. 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:08.319 You have permission to shout. You have permission to shout. 0:11:08.400 --> 0:11:13.200 I mean, you have permission to shout, just as Joseph said, 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:16.920 as for you, you you meant evil against me, but God 0:11:17.440 --> 0:11:22.079 meant it for good to bring it about. Yeah. There 0:11:22.080 --> 0:11:26.120 it goes when you realize that that purpose of God 0:11:26.120 --> 0:11:29.200 in every situation is very powerful. He said, you meant 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:32.800 it for evil, but God meant it for good to 0:11:32.880 --> 0:11:35.960 bring it about. That many people should be kept alive 0:11:36.360 --> 0:11:39.200 as they are today, So do not fear. I will 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:43.240 provide for you and your little ones. Thus he comforted 0:11:43.240 --> 0:11:46.320 them and spoke kindly to them. So Joseph remained in 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:49.400 each he and his father's house. Joseph lived one hundred 0:11:49.440 --> 0:11:52.319 and ten years. That's too long, Lord, I don't want 0:11:52.360 --> 0:11:55.040 all that. How many agree that's too long, Lord, put 0:11:55.080 --> 0:11:58.160 it in the chat. That's too long, Lord, But look 0:11:58.200 --> 0:12:01.760 at this, and Joseph saw evil from children of the 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:06.040 third Generation. As for you, you meant it for evil, 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:13.679 but Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation. I 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:15.200 don't know if this is a title, but this is 0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:17.199 what I want you to get today, and I want 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:18.719 you to say it out loud one more time. I'll 0:12:18.720 --> 0:12:21.240 stop making you repeat stuff, I promise, But look at 0:12:21.240 --> 0:12:24.079 somebody next to you, or just type it to nobody 0:12:24.120 --> 0:12:28.360 in particular and say, what you do is up to you. 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:44.880 But what it means. You thought I was done. I 0:12:44.920 --> 0:12:48.240 got you good start over. What you do is up 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:50.760 to you. Joseph looked at his brother and said, you 0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:53.920 meant it for evil. What you do is up to you, 0:12:55.920 --> 0:13:04.560 but what it means is up to me. What it 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:09.120 means is up to me. What does it mean? It's 0:13:09.160 --> 0:13:13.520 up to me. So, like, one of the hardest things 0:13:13.520 --> 0:13:17.199 about being a parent is teaching your kids what words mean, 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:22.120 because they honestly think you're Google when they're little, and 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:24.240 then they think you're an idiot when they get bigger. 0:13:26.480 --> 0:13:29.320 But I write these things down because Levi Lusco taught 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:31.760 me something cool. He said, put everything that your kids 0:13:31.760 --> 0:13:34.480 say that's kind of cute down in your phone and 0:13:34.520 --> 0:13:36.080 then you can read it to them later and they'll 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:38.520 like it. And so I've been doing that for a 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:42.440 few years because Levi. Levi told me to. He also 0:13:42.480 --> 0:13:45.280 told me to try sarracha and wear common projects. He's 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:47.760 just the ultimate salesman. But I was like, okay, Levi, 0:13:47.920 --> 0:13:50.000 I'll do it. It's really cool. I'm glad I did it. 0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:52.040 And I found this note because I was thinking about 0:13:52.080 --> 0:13:54.240 how kids asked the best questions, which I think is 0:13:54.240 --> 0:13:56.800 one of the reasons that God wants us to have 0:13:56.800 --> 0:14:02.480 faith like a child, not to beldildish and immature, but 0:14:02.600 --> 0:14:08.120 to be childlike and to be curious about God, to 0:14:08.120 --> 0:14:10.479 be curious about what He can do in the world. 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:13.240 And so kids have no problem with that. So we 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:15.720 were watching this show and one of the characters said, 0:14:15.880 --> 0:14:17.920 the only reason I remember this Abby was poored. She's 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:19.720 almost ten now. The only reason I remember it is 0:14:19.720 --> 0:14:24.040 because Levi Lusco and she said. One of the characters said, 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:28.800 with this plan, we can't fail, and Abby goes, what 0:14:28.880 --> 0:14:34.600 does fail mean? So then I answered her it means 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:39.080 that you don't succeed. Well, then you know what she 0:14:39.440 --> 0:14:47.240 asked next, right, what does succeed mean? And answering that 0:14:47.320 --> 0:14:50.880 was really tough because I was like, well, it means 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:52.160 that you do what you set out to do. But 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:53.720 then I was like, well, not really. In God's kingdom, 0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:55.240 sometimes what you set out to do was the wrong thing, 0:14:55.240 --> 0:14:56.680 and then you end up realizing that what you set 0:14:56.680 --> 0:14:58.160 out to do wasn't the right thing. And God was 0:14:58.200 --> 0:14:59.760 trying to, you know, kind of lead you in Toto 0:14:59.760 --> 0:15:01.360 one pl but you thought you were supposed to do this, 0:15:01.400 --> 0:15:02.760 and then it turned out you're supposed to do that. 0:15:04.560 --> 0:15:08.560 You know, I I start having an existential crisis watching 0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:11.560 The Simpsons with my family. I'm like, I shouldn't have 0:15:11.560 --> 0:15:12.920 told you it was the Simpsons and she was four, 0:15:12.960 --> 0:15:26.000 But y'all pray for me. Hello, I'm sitting there going, 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:28.440 you know, like I'm not saying this out loud, but 0:15:28.520 --> 0:15:31.640 I'm like, that's so deep. Well, to succeed? Mean, what 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:34.160 is it profit a man to gain the whole world 0:15:34.200 --> 0:15:37.320 and lose his soul? She's asking for a little definition. 0:15:37.400 --> 0:15:43.840 You know, I'm having this midlife crisis, but it did 0:15:43.920 --> 0:15:46.840 hit me that you know, you really can't answer the 0:15:46.840 --> 0:15:49.320 first question what is failure? If you don't answer the 0:15:49.320 --> 0:15:51.840 second definition? What is success? And really can make a 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:57.080 word mean anything you wanted to mean? Yes, you know, 0:15:57.280 --> 0:16:04.000 short term success times is the ultimate failure. Have you 0:16:04.000 --> 0:16:06.640 ever seen somebody that got in really good physical shape 0:16:06.640 --> 0:16:09.720 but they did it the wrong way and then it 0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:12.800 ended up just creating the cycle to where they just 0:16:12.880 --> 0:16:16.640 keep losing weight and taking weight off, And it's like, well, man, 0:16:16.680 --> 0:16:18.600 if you do if you do a good thing the 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:23.120 wrong way, that becomes its own problem. So you can 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:24.840 have a short term success in a long term failure. 0:16:24.840 --> 0:16:28.360 You have a short term failure in long term success, right, 0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:32.360 and many of you have experienced that in your life. 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:35.200 How many y'all had to break up that was a blessing? 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:39.520 Let me ask it like this, how many of y'all 0:16:39.520 --> 0:16:41.600 would be living with somebody who would make you want 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:44.080 to move out if God would have answered your prayers 0:16:44.120 --> 0:16:48.920 like Garth Brooks said, some of God's greatest gifts. I 0:16:48.960 --> 0:16:51.600 saw Garth on the Billboard Awards last night. Did you 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:54.040 see him? And start making me feel like a failure? 0:16:55.200 --> 0:16:59.040 Because sometimes I feel successful when I'm like comparing myself 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:02.040 because this is all relevan, you know, I'm comparing myself. 0:17:02.080 --> 0:17:04.680 I'm like, you know, we wrote these songs that are 0:17:05.280 --> 0:17:10.000 big songs. And then Garth Brooks is Chason Whiskey and 0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:14.600 you know drowned diamond albums. I got a platinum album 0:17:14.720 --> 0:17:16.800 last year. I gave it to my mom, put it 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:20.800 up on her wall. Platinum album Garth has they said 0:17:20.800 --> 0:17:24.160 on the thing, I think he had ten diamond albums. 0:17:25.280 --> 0:17:28.320 Now I got my little pitiful platinum album. Let me 0:17:28.359 --> 0:17:32.879 take this down. Garth's got a diamond album, Unanswered Prayers, Lord, 0:17:33.040 --> 0:17:35.800 what's my life even worth? You know? And all of that. 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:38.640 I was listening to one thing the other day where 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:42.359 the guy was talking about he won a Grammy, and 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:44.920 then he wanted to win a Oscar, so he start 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:49.320 putting being in movies. Then he started wanting to win 0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:53.960 on an Emmy, so he did a TV show and 0:17:54.000 --> 0:17:57.200 he said the only thing left for him to achieve 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:00.680 that was driving him crazy was to win a Tony 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:05.800 for a Broadway play. So he said, that's called an egot. 0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:09.000 When you get an Emmy. Not many people do it. 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:11.359 I don't know how many, because I'm not in it 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:18.920 for these worldly pleasures. But he said, Emmy, a Grammy, 0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:22.160 and an Oscar. But then he said, but I don't 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:31.680 have a Tony. He said, right now, it's just ego. Now, 0:18:31.760 --> 0:18:38.160 how many things that the world calls success, how many 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:42.880 things that the devil uses to get you to think, 0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:47.639 remember last week that my life doesn't matter. It's just ego. 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:54.920 He said, I gotta get an egot, and then I'll 0:18:54.960 --> 0:18:59.000 start thinking about what I got. Somebody say I got 0:19:00.200 --> 0:19:03.760 oh put it in all caps in the worldwide e 0:19:03.880 --> 0:19:10.920 fam said. Somebody say I got mercy. I got grace, 0:19:12.000 --> 0:19:17.119 I God, love, joy, peace, thanxious, kindness, goodness, thankfuless, gentleness, 0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:20.840 and self control. I got the fruit of us fear. 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:28.679 I got it. I got it. I didn't learn it, 0:19:28.720 --> 0:19:34.000 but I got it, Okay. So Paul is like, I 0:19:34.119 --> 0:19:39.920 don't yet. I got loyalty and royalty and all of that. 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:42.439 Paul said, I got it in sight of me. I 0:19:42.520 --> 0:19:46.040 got courage to make it no matter the outcome. I 0:19:46.160 --> 0:19:51.000 got it. I got it pressing towards the mark to 0:19:51.040 --> 0:19:53.119 take hold of the price for which Christ Jesus has 0:19:53.160 --> 0:19:58.760 already taken hold of me. I already got it. And 0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:01.400 the guy was talking about all those Grammys and Tony's 0:20:01.440 --> 0:20:02.879 and he said, I don't know why I think the 0:20:02.880 --> 0:20:04.920 next one is going to make me feel any better. 0:20:07.000 --> 0:20:09.480 It didn't do what I thought it was gonna do. 0:20:10.119 --> 0:20:11.640 Have you ever had that before? I know, I mean 0:20:11.760 --> 0:20:13.520 I don't want a Grammy or anything like that either, 0:20:13.640 --> 0:20:20.479 But have you ever got it? Have you ever got it? 0:20:22.320 --> 0:20:28.080 And when you get it and it's empty, it's a 0:20:28.119 --> 0:20:31.280 really weird feeling. It's almost worse than never getting it. 0:20:32.840 --> 0:20:35.720 But Paul is showing us something here. And remember, coming 0:20:35.760 --> 0:20:40.640 back to this theme, are you in control. You are control, 0:20:40.880 --> 0:20:45.880 in control of what success means to you, and if 0:20:45.920 --> 0:20:50.679 you align that with the worldly definition of success, you 0:20:50.760 --> 0:20:55.440 can expect at some point an emptiness that comes when 0:20:55.480 --> 0:21:02.679 we try to give our own definitions to God's concepts. 0:21:04.440 --> 0:21:08.560 I found out you can really make anything mean anything 0:21:08.560 --> 0:21:11.960 you want it to me. Even in the Bible. It's like, 0:21:12.080 --> 0:21:14.480 if we're talking to Paul and we were talking about 0:21:14.520 --> 0:21:16.480 what is failure and what a success, it would be 0:21:16.480 --> 0:21:20.000 a very confusing class because right here he's saying in 0:21:20.040 --> 0:21:23.520 Philippians one, what's happening right now, the Gospel is succeeding 0:21:23.960 --> 0:21:26.600 even though I'm in prison, and he uses the word 0:21:26.640 --> 0:21:28.520 I don't know if you noticed it. He said fruitful. 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:33.000 This means more fruitful labor. So he says it's working 0:21:34.160 --> 0:21:37.680 in me. It's working in me, even though the work 0:21:37.720 --> 0:21:41.600 that he could do was limited. And sometimes I say 0:21:41.600 --> 0:21:44.200 things like this and I don't break it down because 0:21:44.240 --> 0:21:46.919 I know you're not in prison physically, you're watching this. 0:21:47.800 --> 0:21:51.000 I know that you're not necessarily a preacher apostle of 0:21:51.040 --> 0:21:53.520 the gospel like Paul would. I understand that. I know 0:21:53.560 --> 0:21:55.840 you're not sitting there thinking maybe about oscars or Tony's 0:21:55.880 --> 0:21:58.360 or anything like this. But I think the dynamic applies 0:21:58.359 --> 0:22:00.080 to everybody listening to me, and I want to know, well, 0:22:00.359 --> 0:22:05.280 if I'm right, is that like how Solomon said meaningless meaningless? 0:22:05.600 --> 0:22:11.119 Everything is meaningless. Everything is meaningless until you give it 0:22:11.280 --> 0:22:17.560 a meaning. And so where we get it backwards is 0:22:17.640 --> 0:22:22.920 we're searching for meaning and stuff, but everything is meaningless 0:22:23.119 --> 0:22:26.639 until you give it meaning. And I want to talk 0:22:26.680 --> 0:22:31.679 about that a little bit. She said, what's failure? And 0:22:31.680 --> 0:22:34.919 then I had to think about, well, what's success? And 0:22:34.960 --> 0:22:37.040 then I didn't really know how to answer her. Now, 0:22:37.240 --> 0:22:42.359 of course, certain things change meaning over time, and since 0:22:42.359 --> 0:22:45.080 we're talking about what does it mean today, you know, 0:22:45.200 --> 0:22:48.280 we can all agree that from generation to generation. It's 0:22:48.280 --> 0:22:52.320 funny because when you're first raising your kids, you have 0:22:52.359 --> 0:22:54.440 to tell them what words mean, and then when they 0:22:54.480 --> 0:22:57.200 turn to teenagers, they have to tell you what words mean. Right, 0:22:57.680 --> 0:22:59.719 how many got teenagers? Are you used to have them? 0:22:59.800 --> 0:23:03.720 Or something like that. Well, they sometimes save you a 0:23:03.760 --> 0:23:07.920 lot of trouble. Elijah is my sermon, really my sermon collaborator. 0:23:08.160 --> 0:23:10.840 I don't want him to, you know, really hear this, 0:23:10.880 --> 0:23:13.720 because he'll start wanting a royalty or something like that. 0:23:14.160 --> 0:23:16.560 But he helps me on multiple levels. And one thing 0:23:16.560 --> 0:23:18.719 that he'll do sometimes is he'll say, Dad, don't say that. 0:23:19.920 --> 0:23:21.439 One time I was telling him all I was going 0:23:21.520 --> 0:23:23.200 to preach, and I just was going on and on 0:23:23.280 --> 0:23:24.960 about how we don't need to waste our life and 0:23:24.960 --> 0:23:27.040 we need to make the most of our time. And 0:23:27.240 --> 0:23:29.760 I said, some of y'all just want to Netflix and chill. 0:23:29.800 --> 0:23:32.760 And he said, oh, whoa, whoa, Dad, this a couple 0:23:32.800 --> 0:23:34.960 of years ago. I just heard somebody say it Netflix 0:23:35.000 --> 0:23:36.879 and chill. I thought it meant be lazy sit around. 0:23:37.000 --> 0:23:44.440 He said, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa whoa. That that doesn't 0:23:44.480 --> 0:23:50.760 mean what you're thinking means. And I was thankful. And 0:23:50.800 --> 0:23:55.680 I wonder how many times God Wow sits up there 0:23:57.160 --> 0:24:01.360 looking at our lives, who wishing we could hear him 0:24:01.359 --> 0:24:10.040 say that doesn't mean what you think it means. Even 0:24:10.080 --> 0:24:11.640 if you just go through this one letter that Paul 0:24:11.680 --> 0:24:14.560 wrote to the Philippian Church, which highly organized beautiful Bible study. 0:24:14.600 --> 0:24:15.920 And I hope many of our e groups I heard 0:24:15.920 --> 0:24:19.879 there's tens of thousands of people enjoyed it. But if 0:24:19.920 --> 0:24:21.800 you'll just notice some of the things he says to 0:24:21.840 --> 0:24:23.840 the Philippian Church, see this church meant a lot to 0:24:23.920 --> 0:24:26.280 him because he found it in the midst of persecution. 0:24:26.560 --> 0:24:28.720 And anything that you birth in the midst of great 0:24:28.760 --> 0:24:33.639 pain means more to you. He called them partners in 0:24:33.680 --> 0:24:37.600 the Gospel, and he loved them like that. He loved 0:24:37.600 --> 0:24:40.560 them like that. So when he told them that every 0:24:40.600 --> 0:24:43.080 need will bow and every tongue confessed that Jesus Christ 0:24:43.160 --> 0:24:48.399 is Lord. I just wonder when we say Jesus's Lord, 0:24:49.400 --> 0:24:52.159 if Paul hears us kind of quoting that in a 0:24:52.160 --> 0:24:57.320 cultural way eight pounds six ounce Jesus, what was he 0:24:57.480 --> 0:25:00.359 eight pounds and six ounces, and he's like, when I 0:25:00.400 --> 0:25:03.040 say Jesus Christ is Lord. See, that was a costly 0:25:03.080 --> 0:25:06.119 confession when Paul wrote it, because it was it was saying, 0:25:06.359 --> 0:25:14.119 Caesar isn't Lord. So he was rejecting the empire to 0:25:14.200 --> 0:25:17.960 embrace the kingdom. When we say Jesus is Lord, for 0:25:18.000 --> 0:25:20.120 a lot of us, that means I grew up Baptist, 0:25:23.720 --> 0:25:27.639 but for Lord was his favorite thing to call Jesus curios. 0:25:27.640 --> 0:25:30.200 He loved that title lord. It meant to him I 0:25:30.280 --> 0:25:33.439 do what he says. And for a lot of us, 0:25:33.440 --> 0:25:35.200 when we call on the Lord is to get him 0:25:35.240 --> 0:25:43.800 to do what we say. And That's why when Paul says, 0:25:45.280 --> 0:25:49.680 whether I live or die, that's up to God. He's Lord. 0:25:51.040 --> 0:25:54.840 That's not that's not what means. It doesn't mean what 0:25:54.880 --> 0:25:57.880 you think think. It means Jesus is Lord. That means 0:25:57.880 --> 0:26:01.240 that that I trust him with what I can't control. 0:26:03.480 --> 0:26:05.760 Or here's another one. I know you know this one 0:26:05.800 --> 0:26:08.840 because I mentioned it earlier. Rejoice in the Lord. We 0:26:08.960 --> 0:26:12.760 think that means seeing I asked five people to get 0:26:12.800 --> 0:26:14.159 ready for this sermon. I said, what comes to your 0:26:14.200 --> 0:26:18.040 mind when you hear rejoice? They said, clap, singing, shall well, 0:26:18.400 --> 0:26:25.200 Paul's not shaking the tambourine in his imprisonment. When Paul's 0:26:25.240 --> 0:26:30.560 talking about rejoice, he's talking about the remembrance of the 0:26:30.600 --> 0:26:35.200 reason that he was called for. Paul, rejoicing is far 0:26:35.240 --> 0:26:40.200 more than just an external expression. It's an internal decision, y'all. 0:26:40.240 --> 0:26:44.960 Hear me, It's a decision. Rejoice and again I say rejoice, 0:26:45.000 --> 0:26:47.199 he says in Philippians four. But here's the best one 0:26:47.240 --> 0:26:49.199 where I bet Paul. I bet when he hears US 0:26:49.280 --> 0:26:51.680 quote this one, he's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa whoa. 0:26:52.640 --> 0:26:55.360 That doesn't mean what you think. It means. I can 0:26:55.520 --> 0:27:01.919 do This is Philippians four thirteen, All things through Christ, 0:27:02.840 --> 0:27:08.720 who strengthens me. Paul's like, that does not mean that 0:27:08.800 --> 0:27:11.960 you can play in the NBA. You are five to 0:27:12.160 --> 0:27:17.600 six and uncoordinated. That doesn't you know how many people 0:27:17.680 --> 0:27:21.520 tried out for American Idol because they thought Philippians four 0:27:21.680 --> 0:27:25.040 thirteen meant something that didn't mean. You see them on 0:27:25.080 --> 0:27:30.359 the audition. Daves is terrible. Paul's not talking about doing 0:27:30.400 --> 0:27:34.080 something beyond your God given capacity. He's talking about living 0:27:34.080 --> 0:27:39.880 with contentment. So that's context. I want to talk about context. 0:27:40.720 --> 0:27:45.480 Success requires context, so does failure. And sometimes if you 0:27:45.520 --> 0:27:48.240 can see it in the right context, you can see 0:27:48.280 --> 0:27:51.800 that what you call a failure, what you call the waste, 0:27:52.119 --> 0:27:55.800 what you call a set back, was really the grace 0:27:56.240 --> 0:28:06.719 of God. I got it. Yeah, so so, So it 0:28:06.760 --> 0:28:10.879 doesn't mean what you think it means. What does it mean? 0:28:11.240 --> 0:28:14.359 It doesn't mean what you think it means. Church doesn't 0:28:14.359 --> 0:28:26.520 mean building worship doesn't mean the slow songs, and success 0:28:26.520 --> 0:28:33.240 doesn't mean Egot false said I got a reason to rejoice. 0:28:33.359 --> 0:28:36.480 This dude was used to accomplishing so much. This dude 0:28:36.560 --> 0:28:39.040 was used to being on top, and he's still saying 0:28:39.400 --> 0:28:44.400 I will choose. What shall I choose? Now? I thought 0:28:44.600 --> 0:28:46.720 that I was going to do three weeks on this 0:28:46.840 --> 0:28:49.920 because I thought there's three questions. What does it matter priorities, 0:28:50.320 --> 0:28:53.880 what does it mean? Interpretation? And what shall I choose? Decision? 0:28:54.200 --> 0:28:56.560 But then the Lord showed me dummy. He didn't call 0:28:56.640 --> 0:28:59.160 me that. I just talked to myself. Means sometimes, the 0:28:59.200 --> 0:29:06.720 Lord said, my son, my beloved, He said, those two 0:29:06.800 --> 0:29:18.960 go together. What does it mean? Depends on what you choose? Okay, yes, Lord, 0:29:19.040 --> 0:29:22.160 put it back up one two Philippians one twenty two, 0:29:22.160 --> 0:29:23.720 just so you can see it. If I am to 0:29:23.760 --> 0:29:27.320 go on living in the body, that's up to you. Lord, 0:29:30.480 --> 0:29:34.280 this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet, what shall 0:29:34.320 --> 0:29:37.720 I choose that all goes together? It's really one question. 0:29:39.720 --> 0:29:41.960 He's praying, all right, Lord, what you do is up 0:29:41.960 --> 0:29:43.920 to you. And I feel like he probably even say 0:29:43.960 --> 0:29:49.040 that to his jailer. What you do is up to you, 0:29:50.800 --> 0:29:55.600 But what it means is up to me. See, they 0:29:55.640 --> 0:29:59.760 would chain a prisoner to a guard. Paul said, you 0:29:59.800 --> 0:30:03.960 can shame me to you if you want to. But 0:30:04.080 --> 0:30:06.760 all that means to me is I've got a captive 0:30:06.800 --> 0:30:11.760 audience to preach to. Let me button up this flannel 0:30:11.800 --> 0:30:15.720 and wait for y'all to get it. Because I hear 0:30:15.800 --> 0:30:20.760 God saying, I'm not shame to it. It's same to me. 0:30:22.400 --> 0:30:28.560 So what you do, it's up to you. But what 0:30:28.640 --> 0:30:32.360 it means, somebody shouts up to me, it's up to 0:30:32.440 --> 0:30:36.440 me what it means. It's up to me what it means. 0:30:37.080 --> 0:30:40.880 It means, Paul said, fruitful labor. I am choosing to 0:30:41.000 --> 0:30:44.560 work with God, labor work. I am going to work 0:30:44.640 --> 0:30:49.680 with God, not against God. So I hear the Lord saying, 0:30:49.920 --> 0:30:54.040 work with me, work with me. Do not fight against 0:30:54.200 --> 0:30:57.520 what I am bringing into your life. Work with me. 0:30:57.840 --> 0:31:00.800 Cooperate with the grace that I have given you in 0:31:00.840 --> 0:31:05.320 this season of your life. And you've been confused about 0:31:05.320 --> 0:31:08.440 what this season means, haven't you. Some of you have 0:31:08.480 --> 0:31:13.840 felt like you were in a losing season. A losing season. 0:31:14.120 --> 0:31:18.520 You've lost a lot, you really have. This is not 0:31:18.640 --> 0:31:21.960 some moment for a doctor SEUs. What he means is 0:31:22.040 --> 0:31:23.840 up to me. What you do is up to you. 0:31:24.160 --> 0:31:28.400 This is a theological thing that is from the beginning 0:31:28.440 --> 0:31:31.160 of Scripture to the end to show you what to 0:31:31.240 --> 0:31:36.200 do in a losing season. Back to Genesis fifty after 0:31:36.280 --> 0:31:40.360 Joseph has lost a lot. First, he had to lose 0:31:40.400 --> 0:31:46.560 his coat and it was Gucci. That coat was so colorful. 0:31:47.120 --> 0:31:49.480 Listen to me when I say the coat was the 0:31:49.560 --> 0:31:54.160 least thing that he lost. He lost his sense of 0:31:54.160 --> 0:31:57.880 connection because we've talked about context, but now let's talk 0:31:57.920 --> 0:32:03.200 about connection. What it means is up to me. And 0:32:03.240 --> 0:32:06.960 now Joseph is going through this series and this series 0:32:07.000 --> 0:32:10.000 of I won't even call it unfortunate events like the 0:32:10.000 --> 0:32:12.640 book called it. I'm going to say this series of 0:32:12.680 --> 0:32:20.280 events from Joseph's standpoint, were disconnected. How could the Bible 0:32:20.320 --> 0:32:23.400 say in Genesis thirty seven through fifty that God was 0:32:23.440 --> 0:32:29.400 with Joseph when he went through so much because most 0:32:29.480 --> 0:32:34.480 of us to say that we have God's presence means 0:32:34.480 --> 0:32:39.400 that we are in situations that confirm his favor. And 0:32:39.520 --> 0:32:42.000 usually what we mean when we say God is blessing 0:32:42.040 --> 0:32:44.920 me is things are going like I wanted them to 0:32:45.120 --> 0:32:50.600 or better. Right, So for the Bible to say, and 0:32:50.640 --> 0:32:52.680 this is what I was thinking about, for the Bible 0:32:52.680 --> 0:32:56.280 to say that the Lord was with Joseph doesn't necessarily 0:32:56.320 --> 0:32:59.440 mean that that's how he felt while he was walking 0:32:59.520 --> 0:33:04.960 through his life. That was written after the fact, and 0:33:05.000 --> 0:33:08.120 it is always a mistake to try to figure out 0:33:08.320 --> 0:33:14.680 what this season means while I'm still in it. Paul says, 0:33:14.800 --> 0:33:17.400 this will mean fruitful labor to me. So I'm looking 0:33:17.440 --> 0:33:21.120 forward to the future with expectation, but while I'm in it, 0:33:21.160 --> 0:33:24.480 I'm having to choose to see it that way. How 0:33:24.480 --> 0:33:31.200 do you interpret the losing season of your life? So 0:33:31.240 --> 0:33:38.080 we assume, well, this went wrong, So God must be 0:33:38.120 --> 0:33:42.680 punishing me, because the thing is, you know some secrets 0:33:42.680 --> 0:33:49.680 about yourself, some things that you're not doing exactly right, 0:33:51.120 --> 0:33:55.160 some things that would make you not a candidate for 0:33:56.760 --> 0:33:58.840 God's mercy and Grayson, because we kind of live on 0:33:58.920 --> 0:34:05.560 an egosystem of achievement, to earn it, to get it 0:34:05.600 --> 0:34:08.200 in our own strength, we kind of go, well, God 0:34:08.239 --> 0:34:13.320 must be punishing me. But I saw something. I saw something. 0:34:13.360 --> 0:34:16.040 I saw two things. One was in John and one 0:34:16.120 --> 0:34:17.719 was in Genesis. And then I'll bring it back to 0:34:17.719 --> 0:34:23.800 Philippians where Jesus said something, I'm gonna do this backwards. 0:34:23.800 --> 0:34:26.200 Go to the second verse of John fifteen first, where 0:34:26.280 --> 0:34:29.800 Jesus says, I don't know if you've heard this before, 0:34:30.160 --> 0:34:32.719 but he says he cuts off every branch in me 0:34:32.840 --> 0:34:38.200 that bears no fruit while every branch that does bear fruit, 0:34:38.400 --> 0:34:43.360 he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 0:34:45.520 --> 0:34:47.279 Now I'm going to ask you something. Who is he? 0:34:47.719 --> 0:34:53.279 Put it back up? Who is he? If you don't 0:34:53.320 --> 0:34:57.560 know the answer to that, you will misinterpret the pain 0:34:57.640 --> 0:35:03.560 in your life. Every time look at it again, he prunes? 0:35:04.000 --> 0:35:07.360 Who is he? We love to give credit to the devil. 0:35:10.400 --> 0:35:16.160 So I'm really glad for the context of verse one 0:35:16.360 --> 0:35:20.120 because the context of verse one lets me know the 0:35:20.160 --> 0:35:23.600 motive of the one who is performing the task in 0:35:23.680 --> 0:35:28.040 verse two. If you always think it's the devil attacking you, 0:35:28.800 --> 0:35:32.720 everything that is the devil attacking me, you will miss 0:35:32.760 --> 0:35:36.640 the opportunity to bear fruit. But I love verse one. 0:35:36.719 --> 0:35:43.560 Put it on the screen. I Jesus said, I I 0:35:43.600 --> 0:35:46.880 am the true vine. I'm the one you gotta stay 0:35:46.880 --> 0:35:50.799 connected to. I'm the one who's in control. I'm the 0:35:50.800 --> 0:35:53.359 one who gives you sap. I'm the one who gives 0:35:53.360 --> 0:35:56.200 you life. I'm the one who gives you strength. I'm 0:35:56.239 --> 0:35:59.600 the one who gives you the ability to grow. And 0:35:59.800 --> 0:36:05.839 my watch this, my father, my father, Abby said, what 0:36:05.880 --> 0:36:08.600 does sale mean? She figured she needed to get that 0:36:08.680 --> 0:36:14.640 definition from her father. I hear God saying, ask me 0:36:15.440 --> 0:36:18.719 about your life. Ask me what this sea, Ask me 0:36:18.920 --> 0:36:22.319 what it means. See, here's what I know. Here's what 0:36:22.440 --> 0:36:26.200 I know. Even if life is cutting on me, God 0:36:26.320 --> 0:36:33.239 is holding the scissors. Even if a virus wrecked my plans. 0:36:33.760 --> 0:36:38.360 God is in charge of my life. He is curios, 0:36:39.000 --> 0:36:44.360 Lord in control, in charge, on the throne, my father. 0:36:46.200 --> 0:36:48.799 So you know what. I don't have a lot of answers. 0:36:48.960 --> 0:36:51.040 I don't have a lot of wisdom. I don't have 0:36:51.080 --> 0:36:54.319 a lot of knowledge. But I got a father. Somebody say, 0:36:54.400 --> 0:36:59.040 I got a father, You're ready for this? And if 0:36:59.080 --> 0:37:04.200 I got a father, that means fruit. This means fruit. 0:37:04.600 --> 0:37:08.879 This means he is bringing something out of this situation 0:37:09.280 --> 0:37:19.000 that is beyond my ability to predict or perform. Come 0:37:19.040 --> 0:37:21.280 get me off the stage, Holly, I feel too annoying. 0:37:24.200 --> 0:37:29.560 I don't even know who God loves so much that 0:37:29.640 --> 0:37:31.960 he wanted me to say this whole message to you. 0:37:33.200 --> 0:37:44.239 The proof is in the pruning. Oh I'm hurting right now. 0:37:44.280 --> 0:37:46.120 That that must mean that God is not with me. 0:37:46.160 --> 0:37:48.440 Oh oh, my kids are acting up. That must mean 0:37:48.440 --> 0:37:50.920 I'm a bad parent. You see how we do? That 0:37:51.000 --> 0:37:56.640 must mean Oh, that must mean they didn't call me. 0:37:56.680 --> 0:38:00.680 They must they must not love me. No, maybe they 0:38:00.680 --> 0:38:06.160 have a headache. We interpret these things all the time. 0:38:06.320 --> 0:38:12.359 We interpret our seasons, we interpret silence. I know I've 0:38:12.360 --> 0:38:15.279 told you all the story before about our honeymoon, not 0:38:16.480 --> 0:38:19.680 the whole story, this one part. When I took Holli 0:38:20.080 --> 0:38:23.640 on a cruise and it was a princess cruise, which 0:38:23.680 --> 0:38:25.960 to me is a pretty I'm not doing an endorsement here, 0:38:26.080 --> 0:38:29.160 but to me, it was about the best I could do, right. 0:38:30.320 --> 0:38:31.719 And when we were on the second day of the 0:38:31.760 --> 0:38:34.719 cruise and she was so quiet, I got angry. I 0:38:34.760 --> 0:38:40.120 was like, this cruise isn't good enough for you. She's like, no, 0:38:41.239 --> 0:38:44.239 When I get happy and relaxed, I get quiet. I'm 0:38:44.280 --> 0:38:47.640 the exact opposite, right, So when I get relaxed and happy, 0:38:47.800 --> 0:38:51.200 I'm jumping on the bed. I'm right. I mean, when 0:38:51.239 --> 0:38:55.480 I get happy, I'm annoying. I'm obnoxious, I'm ridiculous. I 0:38:55.920 --> 0:38:58.160 drive everybody in the family to want to go camping 0:38:58.200 --> 0:39:01.800 without me in the backyard. And when I get relaxed. 0:39:02.000 --> 0:39:10.040 But see, how I interpret silas comes from how I 0:39:10.120 --> 0:39:17.920 understand myself when the kids were real little, when they 0:39:17.920 --> 0:39:21.200 were quiet, let me tell you what that did not mean. 0:39:22.440 --> 0:39:27.040 That did not mean they were praying. That did not 0:39:27.200 --> 0:39:31.919 mean that they were napping. I learned with little kids, 0:39:31.960 --> 0:39:38.360 with little kids that quiet means chaos, y'all hear me, 0:39:40.400 --> 0:39:45.440 Quiet means chaos with little kids. And I had to 0:39:45.520 --> 0:39:48.719 learn about God that just because I don't hear him 0:39:48.800 --> 0:39:59.839 saying much doesn't mean he isn't doing much. So how 0:39:59.840 --> 0:40:03.799 do you you interpret silence? I told Holly, you two 0:40:03.920 --> 0:40:06.120 stuck up for this. This a cruise isn't good. I 0:40:06.160 --> 0:40:09.040 wasn't mean like that, but that's what I'm thinking. First 0:40:09.040 --> 0:40:10.600 time I've ever told her that. I was thinking all 0:40:10.680 --> 0:40:16.600 that right here in this holy moment with you. But 0:40:16.640 --> 0:40:18.680 you see this question, what does it matter? That's a 0:40:18.680 --> 0:40:21.680 big one, But what does it mean? You're always putting 0:40:21.680 --> 0:40:24.480 meaning on things and you don't even know you're doing it. 0:40:25.640 --> 0:40:28.200 So if you're in a good state of mind, you're like, oh, 0:40:28.400 --> 0:40:30.120 birds showed up on my door, and that made me 0:40:30.120 --> 0:40:36.279 think of Matthew six, consider the sparrows. If you're in 0:40:36.320 --> 0:40:38.799 a bad state of mind, saying bird can show up? 0:40:39.480 --> 0:40:41.880 You know, I heard birds mean death in some cultures. 0:40:41.920 --> 0:40:45.319 You know, it's just you're putting meaning on things, and 0:40:45.360 --> 0:40:47.040 I know that's kind of an extreme one or as 0:40:47.080 --> 0:40:50.000 dumb or whatever. But the other day I think that 0:40:50.080 --> 0:40:51.560 I don't know, I didn't tell you this. I didn't 0:40:51.560 --> 0:40:53.360 tell you this son when I took when me and 0:40:53.440 --> 0:40:58.040 Jet went to eat barbecue, and Jet's father, Lashawn, was 0:40:58.080 --> 0:41:00.000 a part of our church April, Jet and Lashawn moved 0:41:00.239 --> 0:41:01.319 to be a part of the church, and we lost 0:41:01.400 --> 0:41:05.200 him last year. And it's been just over a year. 0:41:05.600 --> 0:41:07.480 And we were talking about some of these things, and 0:41:07.560 --> 0:41:11.360 Jets a musician, and his dad was a great songwriter 0:41:11.440 --> 0:41:15.160 and a great producer. He wrote for Brandy when I 0:41:15.200 --> 0:41:17.880 heard them talking about the Boy is Mine. That was 0:41:17.960 --> 0:41:21.000 Lashan's song on the billboards last night. And he did 0:41:21.080 --> 0:41:25.640 get a Grammy. And but we lost him so suddenly, 0:41:26.000 --> 0:41:28.000 and it was horrible. But Jet would show me how 0:41:28.000 --> 0:41:31.439 he's still writing songs. And I was sitting there thinking, oh, man, 0:41:31.480 --> 0:41:35.120 that's Lashawn, that's Lashan, you know, that's still living in 0:41:35.200 --> 0:41:37.839 Jet and and and he's gonna be even better than 0:41:38.440 --> 0:41:40.480 she has ever was. And I'm thinking all this, you know, 0:41:40.880 --> 0:41:44.160 in between eating my barbecue, and and I'm telling Jet, 0:41:44.200 --> 0:41:46.640 I'm like, hey, you know, God's hand is on you 0:41:46.680 --> 0:41:49.240 this and that and the other. And he goes pastor, pastor, 0:41:49.239 --> 0:41:51.160 and he's very respectful. So he's interrupted me. I'm like, 0:41:51.200 --> 0:41:53.640 this is weird. He never would do that. He goes, 0:41:55.200 --> 0:41:58.319 do you hear that? And it was the song on 0:41:58.360 --> 0:42:02.160 the TV and the barbecue joint that his dad had 0:42:02.160 --> 0:42:04.480 put on his album. I can't wait that He's simple. 0:42:06.480 --> 0:42:08.080 And we didn't even have to say anything. We knew 0:42:10.760 --> 0:42:17.279 that she just wanted to eat barbecue with us. I said, Jed, 0:42:17.320 --> 0:42:20.759 do you think he goes Yeah, That's all we had 0:42:20.800 --> 0:42:30.960 to say. So when you're looking for loss, you'll you'll 0:42:30.960 --> 0:42:34.600 find him. When you're looking for the love of God, 0:42:34.640 --> 0:42:39.880 even in the worst loss of your life. Every branch 0:42:39.880 --> 0:42:48.319 in me I have a father who prunes. What you do, 0:42:48.440 --> 0:42:55.279 Lord is up to you. I can't control. That's that's 0:42:55.320 --> 0:42:57.320 where I do believe in the sovereignty of God. And 0:42:57.360 --> 0:42:59.719 Paul did too right Philippians three twenty one. Looking up 0:42:59.719 --> 0:43:02.040 it said He's able to bring everything under his control 0:43:02.200 --> 0:43:06.000 the phrases in the book. But I don't think that 0:43:06.040 --> 0:43:10.399 means what we think it means. I think we think 0:43:10.440 --> 0:43:14.040 that means that things in our life come with meaning. No, 0:43:14.120 --> 0:43:17.239 they don't. One time I taught a session to the 0:43:17.239 --> 0:43:19.800 campus fastor is called BYO and bring your own meaning. 0:43:22.600 --> 0:43:24.719 And the thing I just keep confessing over my life 0:43:24.719 --> 0:43:27.239 because you can really misunderstand things. I keep saying, this 0:43:27.320 --> 0:43:34.279 means more, This means more, even when something is going away. 0:43:35.000 --> 0:43:38.040 The proof of his love is in the pruning, every 0:43:38.080 --> 0:43:42.280 branch that bears fruit. Paul said, if I go on living, 0:43:42.320 --> 0:43:50.640 this means more fruitful labor. You're looking for his love 0:43:51.920 --> 0:43:54.000 or you're looking for the losses. Now, whichever one you 0:43:54.040 --> 0:43:56.040 look for, you'll find a meaning to back it up. 0:43:58.480 --> 0:44:00.440 And a lot of pictures. I like to do the 0:44:00.880 --> 0:44:03.239 I love you sign when I take the picture. Y'all 0:44:03.239 --> 0:44:07.319 should see my Instagram account. The trolls that come on there. 0:44:07.840 --> 0:44:10.960 Why are you making Illuminati signals or devil signals or 0:44:11.000 --> 0:44:13.880 something like that. It's the esl or I love you, 0:44:16.080 --> 0:44:19.640 that's what it means. Somebody said that's what it means. 0:44:20.680 --> 0:44:23.440 But they said I was making devil rock concert hands, 0:44:25.040 --> 0:44:27.120 and I guess when you don't use the thumb or something, 0:44:27.160 --> 0:44:28.759 that's the devil or something. I didn't know. I thought 0:44:28.760 --> 0:44:30.960 it meant rock on. I thought it meant Motley Crue, 0:44:31.200 --> 0:44:33.879 bon Jovi, Mega Death. I didn't know that's what it meant, 0:44:35.719 --> 0:44:41.759 isn't it crazy? How I mean love? And they're on 0:44:41.800 --> 0:44:44.440 there saying, why are you putting the devil on your picture? 0:44:46.080 --> 0:44:51.680 What does it mean? Has God been trying to show 0:44:51.760 --> 0:44:58.839 you his love even in the things like, oh well, well, 0:44:58.880 --> 0:45:00.879 I'm not that great at this, So I guess got 0:45:00.880 --> 0:45:03.680 to know. Maybe that means God wants to use you 0:45:03.760 --> 0:45:09.440 a different way. I told somebody when when Elijah turned thirteen, 0:45:09.480 --> 0:45:12.440 I said, he's having some trouble in this and that, 0:45:12.520 --> 0:45:14.480 and it was a bumpy spot and I said, I 0:45:14.560 --> 0:45:17.040 must That must mean I'm a bad dad. That must 0:45:17.040 --> 0:45:18.960 mean I'm doing it wrong, he said. And the person 0:45:19.160 --> 0:45:22.040 saying back to me was older. They said, it means 0:45:22.080 --> 0:45:27.600 he's thirteen. You see what I'm saying. You're misinterpreting the season. 0:45:28.840 --> 0:45:31.839 He's supposed to differ, they said. They said, listen, they said. 0:45:31.920 --> 0:45:34.920 They said, if he didn't start making you mad, you 0:45:34.920 --> 0:45:39.520 would never let him leave the house. You gotta make 0:45:39.560 --> 0:45:40.960 you mad a little well, and then you love him 0:45:41.040 --> 0:45:43.759 again and you make you mad again. That's what it means. 0:45:43.800 --> 0:45:49.520 He's thirteen. It means you're growing. Paul said, it means 0:45:49.520 --> 0:45:54.560 God wanted to do something in this prison. See how 0:45:54.600 --> 0:45:57.359 we bring meaning, we bring the meaning we make it 0:45:57.400 --> 0:46:01.880 mean what we want to make it mean. You minted 0:46:02.040 --> 0:46:09.960 for evil, but God? How many believe we could spend 0:46:09.960 --> 0:46:15.520 an hour talking about but God? But God? And your 0:46:15.640 --> 0:46:22.320 life is not controlled by the intention of your enemy, 0:46:23.239 --> 0:46:27.880 and your life is not limited to the scope of 0:46:27.960 --> 0:46:33.279 your circumstances. Somebody say, I got a father, I got 0:46:33.440 --> 0:46:44.160 faith afacaradopia, and I eagerly expect. Let me tell you something. 0:46:44.719 --> 0:46:47.880 Paul had such a great faith that he had to 0:46:47.920 --> 0:46:51.040 make up a word out of other Greek words to 0:46:51.200 --> 0:46:56.560 explain his expectation. Somebody say, I can't explain it, but 0:46:56.680 --> 0:47:00.360 I got it. Say it again. I can't explain it, 0:47:00.440 --> 0:47:03.760 but I got it. Paulson, I got peace in this person. 0:47:04.000 --> 0:47:07.480 I know I shouldn't. I can't explain it, but I 0:47:07.560 --> 0:47:11.560 got it. You can't make me panic, you can't make 0:47:11.600 --> 0:47:14.680 me hate, you can't make me bitter. What you do 0:47:15.120 --> 0:47:21.480 is up to you. What it means, it's up to me. 0:47:23.239 --> 0:47:28.719 It's not even up to God what it means. He 0:47:28.800 --> 0:47:35.720 has left that responsibility to you. And that's why Joseph 0:47:35.760 --> 0:47:40.319 was able to see rejection as direction. I hope you 0:47:40.400 --> 0:47:43.759 caught that. I hope that soft piano didn't make you 0:47:43.760 --> 0:47:45.799 think he's closing. Let me pack up my stuff and 0:47:46.480 --> 0:47:49.880 get ready to watch another church service. Skip over. You 0:47:49.960 --> 0:47:57.719 listen to me. Joseph said, you meant, but God meant 0:48:05.640 --> 0:48:14.359 so what the enemy meant for evil? Now I hear 0:48:14.440 --> 0:48:20.120 him saying that all things work together for the good 0:48:20.160 --> 0:48:27.919 of those who. When love is your lens, you see 0:48:27.960 --> 0:48:36.319 God in everything. He must love me so much. When 0:48:36.400 --> 0:48:39.120 Lady was special needs child, said, I figure God loved 0:48:39.160 --> 0:48:42.719 that child so much that he gave me the compliment 0:48:44.719 --> 0:48:47.680 of having the opportunity to raise that child. I thought 0:48:48.880 --> 0:48:52.120 she made it mean that. She could have said, well, 0:48:52.160 --> 0:48:54.680 God is punishing me. She could have said, well, why me. 0:48:56.120 --> 0:49:00.440 I thought that was beautiful. I really did what it 0:49:00.520 --> 0:49:05.040 means he said, if I get to keep if I die, 0:49:05.040 --> 0:49:07.560 I'll go be with Christ. So for Paul, death didn't 0:49:07.560 --> 0:49:12.160 mean the end. What it means is up to me. 0:49:14.760 --> 0:49:18.360 That's why I told y'all from John twelve that before 0:49:18.400 --> 0:49:21.480 the seed multiplies, remember verse twenty four on the Remember 0:49:21.520 --> 0:49:24.759 it was just yesterday. I'm super vocal that before the 0:49:24.800 --> 0:49:30.520 seed multiplies, it dies. So from the perspective of Jesus, 0:49:30.600 --> 0:49:33.640 remember when he's dying on the cross. He says it 0:49:33.719 --> 0:49:39.360 is finished. His enemies thought that meant it had failed. 0:49:45.239 --> 0:49:49.040 But I hear the spirit of God saying, whoa, whoa, whoa. 0:49:49.200 --> 0:49:56.520 It doesn't mean what you think it means. I know 0:49:56.600 --> 0:49:58.480 what's been pruning. I know they meant it for evil, 0:50:00.200 --> 0:50:04.560 but what the enemy means for evil? This can't just 0:50:04.600 --> 0:50:07.000 be a cliche people. We can't just make it something 0:50:07.000 --> 0:50:10.080 that we say just to feel better and to escape 0:50:10.080 --> 0:50:13.080 our agony for a few minutes. When a preacher is preaching, 0:50:13.440 --> 0:50:17.520 you gotta walk around your life. This we looking for food, 0:50:18.960 --> 0:50:21.919 looking for fruit. God, show me what you're doing, Show 0:50:21.960 --> 0:50:27.760 me what it means. God. And I almost stopped at twenty. 0:50:28.000 --> 0:50:30.840 I almost stopped at twenty. I almost stopped at twenty. 0:50:31.040 --> 0:50:33.480 But something told me to keep reading. Something told me 0:50:33.520 --> 0:50:36.560 to keep reading. And after Joseph said, you meant it 0:50:36.600 --> 0:50:39.600 for evil, but God meant it for good. In verse 0:50:39.600 --> 0:50:42.400 twenty one, it says something that would be insignificant, but 0:50:42.480 --> 0:50:45.480 it has great significance in this context. Do not fear. 0:50:45.760 --> 0:50:48.120 I will provide you for you and your little ones. 0:50:48.120 --> 0:50:50.080 And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them verse 0:50:50.360 --> 0:50:54.080 verse fifty two. So Joseph remained in Egypt lived one 0:50:54.120 --> 0:50:56.839 hundred and ten years, and here's twenty three. And if 0:50:56.840 --> 0:50:58.319 this is your word, I want you to grab it 0:50:58.480 --> 0:51:00.880 and squeeze it and live on it all this week, 0:51:01.080 --> 0:51:03.719 every single time you're walking around looking at circumstances in 0:51:03.760 --> 0:51:05.840 your life wondering, well, why did they leave me? And 0:51:05.880 --> 0:51:08.120 why is this happening? And why is that happening? And 0:51:08.160 --> 0:51:10.400 why is it raining? And why is it Sonny? Watch 0:51:10.400 --> 0:51:18.600 what it said. And Joseph saw Ephraim's children and their children. 0:51:20.560 --> 0:51:22.279 And I know that doesn't mean much to you, but 0:51:22.320 --> 0:51:26.160 it means a lot to Joseph because he was in 0:51:26.200 --> 0:51:30.840 Egypt suffering as a prisoner. But he says something in 0:51:30.880 --> 0:51:33.799 Genesis forty one, before his brothers ever came and showed up, 0:51:33.840 --> 0:51:37.239 and before he forgave them, and before he provided for them, 0:51:37.239 --> 0:51:40.120 and before he saw the purpose that God was accomplishing 0:51:40.200 --> 0:51:42.200 in Genesis fifty twenty. And a lot of you are 0:51:42.200 --> 0:51:48.319 there right now with the ability to see what God 0:51:48.400 --> 0:51:50.440 is doing and to realize that all things work together. 0:51:51.880 --> 0:51:54.960 Is to do what Joseph did. Look at Genesis forty one, 0:51:55.840 --> 0:51:59.600 verse fifty. Before the year of famine came to sons 0:51:59.600 --> 0:52:04.440 were born to Joseph as an Ath, daughter of Potipharah, 0:52:05.320 --> 0:52:08.960 priest of an bore them to him. And now look 0:52:09.000 --> 0:52:12.600 at this verse. Joseph called the name of his firstborn Nassa, 0:52:13.800 --> 0:52:16.279 for he said, God has made me forget all my 0:52:16.320 --> 0:52:20.560 hardship in my father's house. You know what Manasa means forget. 0:52:25.239 --> 0:52:29.040 And yet he didn't forget. When his brothers came to 0:52:29.120 --> 0:52:32.400 him a few chapters later, he was weeping, he was hurting. 0:52:33.880 --> 0:52:35.560 He didn't forget that. They put him in a pity. 0:52:35.560 --> 0:52:39.920 He didn't forget. It wasn't gone from his memory. So 0:52:40.000 --> 0:52:41.880 I thought, well, how can he name his son forget? 0:52:42.920 --> 0:52:44.640 Even the fact that he mentions it means he hadn't 0:52:44.640 --> 0:52:47.920 really forgotten it. God didn't called me to forget what 0:52:47.960 --> 0:52:53.879 I've been through. Some things you never forget. But here 0:52:54.000 --> 0:52:57.000 was the thing in verse fifty two, the name of 0:52:57.040 --> 0:53:01.840 the second he called Ephraim. That's the one we just 0:53:01.920 --> 0:53:05.879 read about that he saw Ephraim, for God has made 0:53:05.960 --> 0:53:15.200 me fruitful. Manassa means forgetphram means fruitful. For God has 0:53:15.239 --> 0:53:22.640 made me fruitful in the land of my affliction, fruitful 0:53:22.640 --> 0:53:28.960 in my failure. What does failure mean? It's only over 0:53:29.040 --> 0:53:35.280 if you quit In fact, Ephraim doesn't just mean fruitful, 0:53:36.640 --> 0:53:44.319 it means twice fruitful. So then I realized that it 0:53:44.360 --> 0:53:47.960 wasn't Joseph forgetting what he had been through. It was 0:53:48.000 --> 0:53:52.560 that God gave him so much fruit that what he 0:53:52.640 --> 0:54:03.799 went through what's worth it. Now I considered, thank you, lady, 0:54:04.239 --> 0:54:10.239 because I know it's been a pruning season. But those 0:54:10.360 --> 0:54:18.040 he loves he prunes. God must really love me. Look 0:54:18.080 --> 0:54:22.320 at all that he helped me to overcome. God must 0:54:22.400 --> 0:54:26.520 really have a great plan for me. You say that 0:54:26.560 --> 0:54:29.600 the enemy's attack is the proof that God has left me. 0:54:30.960 --> 0:54:35.360 I say, the enemies attack, it's the proof of how 0:54:35.640 --> 0:54:47.800 much God has put it inside me. What is it matter? 0:54:50.000 --> 0:54:56.439 What does it mean? What shall I choose? You know, Lord, 0:54:57.480 --> 0:54:59.239 come on, lift your hands with your palm's face, and 0:54:59.520 --> 0:55:02.920 like you received from your father, not only are you 0:55:03.000 --> 0:55:06.680 my father, you're my Lord. Now. I believe that sometimes 0:55:06.760 --> 0:55:09.359 I rebel, and sometimes I like to be my own God. 0:55:10.840 --> 0:55:13.240 But like Joseph said, am I in the place of God. 0:55:15.480 --> 0:55:18.440 I thank you that any tree that stays planted by 0:55:18.520 --> 0:55:21.160 living water will yield fruit in season. And I declare 0:55:21.200 --> 0:55:23.880 that over the lives of those that you've called me 0:55:23.960 --> 0:55:28.760 to lead. You've given me and Holly the wonderful privilege 0:55:28.760 --> 0:55:32.000 to be the pastors of Elevation Church. When we started, 0:55:32.040 --> 0:55:36.359 that was just a group of one group of people meeting, 0:55:36.400 --> 0:55:39.040 and now it's a ministry that spans the globe and 0:55:39.040 --> 0:55:41.840 there's so much fruit in it. We never imagined that 0:55:43.320 --> 0:55:47.160 hundreds of thousands, whatever it is, numbers of people that 0:55:47.200 --> 0:55:50.400 would be so impacted. Never imagine that people wake up 0:55:50.400 --> 0:55:53.120 in the middle of the night to watch and to 0:55:53.239 --> 0:55:57.400 stream just to get the word. We just never imagine. 0:55:57.400 --> 0:55:59.400 We never imagined that we'd have to close our buildings 0:55:59.400 --> 0:56:02.680 for a little while. But all through this season, Lord, 0:56:02.719 --> 0:56:10.279 I've seen you bringing forth fruit. Lord. When I heard 0:56:10.280 --> 0:56:13.640 that we would have to not meet for a little while, 0:56:13.680 --> 0:56:17.960 I thought that we couldn't minister, And now I realized 0:56:17.960 --> 0:56:23.000 that it really meant you wanted to do more ministry. 0:56:23.680 --> 0:56:26.120 That there were people who never would have heard the gospel, 0:56:27.120 --> 0:56:30.279 never would have heard this word if you hadn't shut 0:56:30.320 --> 0:56:34.160 it down. And what has been true of this ministry 0:56:34.719 --> 0:56:37.720 over these last few months. I just want to speak 0:56:37.760 --> 0:56:46.000 it over the lives of each teenager, everybody who's walking 0:56:46.040 --> 0:56:49.840 through a pruning, losing season in their marriage or their business, 0:56:50.760 --> 0:56:55.839 or or it's been emotionally weird, whatever, whatever, whatever, to 0:56:55.880 --> 0:57:01.880 know that I got a father, to know that what 0:57:01.920 --> 0:57:05.759 you choose to allow in our lives, that's what makes 0:57:05.760 --> 0:57:11.200 you Lord. But how we choose to use it as 0:57:11.239 --> 0:57:16.200 your children is what moves us forward. And now, God, 0:57:16.240 --> 0:57:20.720 I declare more fruit, more fruit, more fruit over their lives. 0:57:22.160 --> 0:57:26.560 If it's a season of cutting back, if it's a 0:57:26.560 --> 0:57:29.560 season that seems like a setback, if it's a season 0:57:29.600 --> 0:57:32.560 that seems silent, I thank you that you're up to 0:57:32.640 --> 0:57:37.240 something right now upstairs. I thank you that just because 0:57:37.240 --> 0:57:42.040 you're quiet doesn't mean you're not close. And so, Lord, 0:57:44.200 --> 0:57:48.720 would you do it? Would you make them fruitful in 0:57:48.760 --> 0:57:54.160 that frustrating place? Bring forth fruit? Only you can do that. 0:57:55.360 --> 0:57:57.400 We plan our lives and the soul of your purpose. 0:57:58.920 --> 0:58:02.080 What you do is up to you. You You are in control. 0:58:03.960 --> 0:58:08.479 But what it means, it's up to me. The Lord says, 0:58:08.520 --> 0:58:13.760 I set before you life and death. This day, choose 0:58:15.200 --> 0:58:20.360 life in Jesus' name. All of you who received this 0:58:20.400 --> 0:58:25.440 word with a glad heart, put your hands together and 0:58:25.560 --> 0:58:30.840 give God the praise. Come on, if he's still God 0:58:30.920 --> 0:58:36.200 in the brunic, give him the phrase. Paul said, He's 0:58:36.240 --> 0:58:40.919 still God in this prison. He's still God in this thing. 0:58:42.440 --> 0:58:48.600 Give it the prise. Come on, omit no now, omitten 0:58:48.600 --> 0:58:53.760 on now, prid the wont open your now, Valentine, abt 0:58:53.800 --> 0:59:00.760 no now and give in the prise, the prise. You're 0:59:00.840 --> 0:59:07.720 proud of that. I come, not decide that they on Jesus, 0:59:08.840 --> 0:59:15.080 everreaday dobou and everreath not come ess, Come on getting 0:59:15.320 --> 0:59:24.560 Christ that Jesus chris es glory, get glory to the Father. 0:59:25.760 --> 0:59:30.520 You've got a father. You've gotta You've got a father. 0:59:33.360 --> 0:59:37.560 More fruit, more fruit, more fruit. That's what God is 0:59:37.600 --> 0:59:42.880 doing in your life, bringing forth the fruit of the spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, 0:59:42.880 --> 0:59:47.640 faithfulness is genderness. Self control isn't that crazy? Self control? 0:59:47.720 --> 0:59:50.600 God is in control, but he's given us self control. 0:59:50.640 --> 0:59:53.960 Are you in control? You're in control of your focus. 0:59:54.000 --> 0:59:56.800 So I want you to focus on the goodness of God, 0:59:57.080 --> 0:59:59.560 all the ways he's blessed you, all the things he's 0:59:59.600 --> 1:00:01.960 given you. I want you to really put this to 1:00:02.000 --> 1:00:04.480 work in your life, Paul said, fruitful labor. That means 1:00:04.520 --> 1:00:07.560 you've got to put it to work. All things work 1:00:07.600 --> 1:00:09.400 together for good. You don't need to hear me repreach 1:00:09.440 --> 1:00:12.120 the sermon. You heard it, but I just can't stop 1:00:12.160 --> 1:00:14.560 by it. I feel like God gave me that message 1:00:14.560 --> 1:00:18.840 for people who feel forgotten and yet got made Joseph fruitful. 1:00:19.640 --> 1:00:21.680 So what's the fruit that God is bared in your life? 1:00:21.680 --> 1:00:23.680 What's He doing in your life? I'd just like to 1:00:23.840 --> 1:00:25.480 talk to you a little bit after each message and 1:00:25.520 --> 1:00:28.800 thank you. But also I want to thank you for giving. 1:00:29.240 --> 1:00:30.840 I want to thank all the people who are part 1:00:30.840 --> 1:00:34.160 of our local church for making this global ministry possible. 1:00:34.600 --> 1:00:36.400 And for those of you who are part of our Etham, 1:00:36.960 --> 1:00:39.920 thank you for being connected to us through the power 1:00:39.960 --> 1:00:43.040 of God's Word, the Gospels going forth bearing fruit all 1:00:43.080 --> 1:00:46.120 over the world. So share it with somebody. Share it 1:00:46.160 --> 1:00:48.840 with somebody. Don't just eat, plant the seed of God's 1:00:48.840 --> 1:00:52.400 word in somebody else's life. So hit, share, hit subscribe. 1:00:52.480 --> 1:00:56.240 Thank you forgiving, Thank you for being connected to this ministry. 1:00:56.480 --> 1:01:00.520 You will bear much fruit. I love you. Just see 1:01:00.520 --> 1:01:00.640 su