When You Just Can’t Win

0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:04.080 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.320 --> 0:00:06.560 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:06.600 --> 0:00:09.920 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:11.960 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:11.960 --> 0:00:14.680 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:22.119 Come on, clap those hands all over the house. God 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:30.600 bless you. Is so good to see you today. Welcome, welcome, Yeah, hey, hey, 0:00:32.400 --> 0:00:35.080 hello to you online. Our etham is joining us all 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:37.680 over the world. Can y'all get me just a second. 0:00:38.000 --> 0:00:41.840 As our EPAM tells us where they're watching from right 0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:44.159 there in the chat and the comments, I want to 0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:55.160 appreciate our worship team and the reason the reason I 0:00:55.200 --> 0:00:58.520 want to do it. You know, it can be easy, 0:00:58.800 --> 0:01:02.120 if you're a good singer, good musician, to just come 0:01:02.160 --> 0:01:06.360 for a performance and to lock into that. But when 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:08.720 you sense that your team is not just here for 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:14.800 performance but for presents. And I sense that today while 0:01:14.800 --> 0:01:17.160 each and every one of you were ministering, So thank 0:01:17.200 --> 0:01:26.040 you for showing up, for showing up, and while our 0:01:26.080 --> 0:01:29.679 e fam is joining in and telling us where they're 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:32.399 watching from right there in the comments, look at your 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:36.080 neighbor and say, you did good to show up today 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:42.840 driving through all that fog. Was it still foggy when 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:46.520 you came. See? I shouldn't say stuff like this because 0:01:46.560 --> 0:01:50.560 it localizes the message, but I was praying for you today. Lord, 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:55.200 help them to direct their paths. Lord, it is foggy. 0:01:56.560 --> 0:01:58.600 One thing about fog I just want to point out. 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:01.440 Remember year over my house the other day, Chunks, and 0:02:01.440 --> 0:02:03.480 I said, it's so foggy outside, and you said, no, 0:02:03.520 --> 0:02:07.280 it's not. You said, that's just on the windows. So 0:02:07.440 --> 0:02:13.519 sometimes it's not foggy you are. And what I noticed 0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:15.320 about the Lord. A lot of times when we come 0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:18.840 together and worship like this, it's like I'll go all 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:21.840 week long and just feel like I'm just stumbling around 0:02:21.840 --> 0:02:24.560 in the fog. You know, can't think straight. And I 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:26.799 don't know about you, but I get foggy. And it's 0:02:26.880 --> 0:02:32.800 amazing how worshiping wipes the windows. And I realized, like, 0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:37.280 oh wow, God really is still in charge. Oh wow, 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:42.320 somebody say, wow wow, it stands for wipe our windows. 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:49.480 I'm just freestylic I'm happy to be here. This year, 0:02:49.520 --> 0:02:52.440 I started praying a different prayer before I preached. I 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:54.840 still prayed that the Lord would help you. But I 0:02:54.880 --> 0:02:56.840 start praying every time that he would let me have fun. 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:01.640 Not that I wasn't having fun before, but I just 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:04.960 don't ever want these moments to pass by without appreciating them. 0:03:05.400 --> 0:03:07.560 I have a word for you today that I believe 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:10.639 will will hit you right in your heart and help 0:03:10.680 --> 0:03:13.600 you with some of your habits. I started last week 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:16.880 and by the way, the chat is going crazy was 0:03:16.960 --> 0:03:19.680 telling us where they're watching from. Everybody put a wow 0:03:19.720 --> 0:03:24.120 in the chat. Somebody say wow, wow, wow, wow wow. 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:32.720 And what was I saying? How last week I told 0:03:32.760 --> 0:03:37.360 you that in this year of your life, some of 0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:39.320 the greatest things that will happen in some of the 0:03:39.320 --> 0:03:41.080 hardest things that will happen, will not be in your 0:03:41.120 --> 0:03:46.000 strategic plan. So my challenge to you was this, to 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:51.280 make presence your plan this year. Somebody say presence is 0:03:51.280 --> 0:03:54.920 the plan. I don't know what all I'm walking into 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:58.080 this year, but I'm showing up for it. And to 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:01.280 do that, you'll have to show up from time to time. 0:04:01.320 --> 0:04:03.240 You have to show up hurting from time to time, 0:04:04.000 --> 0:04:06.880 and you have to show up sometimes when you wish 0:04:06.920 --> 0:04:10.000 you could pull up the covers and hide. But in 0:04:10.040 --> 0:04:13.040 this passage in Deuteronomy chapter twenty I want to read 0:04:13.040 --> 0:04:16.680 you verse one, and I want to pair it very 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:20.640 briefly with the scripture from Ephesians chapter six, verse thirteen. 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:26.320 And in Deuteronomy chapter twenty, verse one, Moses is giving 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:29.880 a speech to the people of Israel to prepare them 0:04:29.920 --> 0:04:33.839 for what God has positioned them for. So I think 0:04:33.839 --> 0:04:37.679 this might be relevant to us as well. Deuteronomy chapter 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:42.360 twenty verse one. When you go to war against your 0:04:42.480 --> 0:04:48.440 enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater 0:04:48.600 --> 0:04:55.880 than yours, do not be afraid of them, because this 0:04:55.920 --> 0:04:58.440 is where you got to be very careful if what 0:04:58.560 --> 0:05:02.800 you put after because is something that you can do. 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:09.400 Your courage will melt when you face opposition. But Moses said, 0:05:09.440 --> 0:05:12.040 when you face something and you know it's greater than you, 0:05:12.480 --> 0:05:14.880 do not be afraid of it. Do not be afraid 0:05:14.960 --> 0:05:20.039 of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you 0:05:20.279 --> 0:05:26.679 up out of Egypt, will be with you. He will 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:30.360 be with you. So touch your neighbor and say, He'll 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:34.640 be with me. Whatever it looks like, whatever it feels like, 0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:37.800 wherever it goes either way, He'll be with me. And 0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:42.159 now for Ephesians, chapter six, verse thirteen. Put it on 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:52.720 the screen. Please, you might have heard this one before. Therefore, 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:59.200 put on the full armor of God, so that when 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:02.680 the day of evil comes, you may be able to 0:06:02.760 --> 0:06:08.040 stand your ground, and after you have done everything to stand, 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:15.640 after you have done everything to stand, Sometimes standing is 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:23.040 the victory. Sometimes being here is the victory. So last 0:06:23.080 --> 0:06:25.719 week I talked to you about where you meet with God, 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:28.640 and this week my thought is a little bit different. 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:31.200 And uh, well hold on, let me read it to 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:34.520 you how I wrote it down. Yeah, I want to 0:06:34.560 --> 0:06:36.200 talk to you about something that you might be feeling 0:06:36.240 --> 0:06:41.000 in your heart when you just can't win, when you 0:06:41.360 --> 0:06:47.320 just can't win. And we'll talk about that for a moment. Father, 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:50.120 I thank you that I since, even as I look 0:06:50.120 --> 0:06:52.080 into the eyes of the people who are in this room, 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:53.919 that this message will not just live and die in 0:06:53.960 --> 0:06:58.039 this room. It's going forth, not only into our week, 0:06:58.080 --> 0:06:59.920 but it's going forth into the rest of our year. 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:06.920 We lean in now listening to you speak, Lord in Jesus' name. Amen, 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:15.640 you may be seated well for the next few weeks. 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:20.680 You'll probably hear me use illustrations from the sport of wrestling. 0:07:21.840 --> 0:07:24.480 It's not because I'm going through anything. Man Pastor's talking 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:27.400 about wrestling a lot lately, he must really be going 0:07:27.400 --> 0:07:30.720 through a battle. No, it's just because every Saturday I'm 0:07:30.720 --> 0:07:35.480 in a gym watching Graham and while I'm thinking about you, 0:07:35.520 --> 0:07:37.960 I'm watching him wrestle. And so this is usually January. 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:41.440 I usually use a lot of wrestling illustrations. Yesterday I 0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:44.200 got a really good one. See, when people come to 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:48.160 watch wrestling, it's really weird to them because it's, for 0:07:48.280 --> 0:07:51.600 most people, a sport that they're not very familiar with. 0:07:52.280 --> 0:07:54.560 And it's not like they're showing up to a basketball 0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:57.440 game or a football game. So often they have very 0:07:57.440 --> 0:08:01.200 little context for what they're watching. And I guess, because 0:08:01.240 --> 0:08:03.840 I've seen the sport of wrestling since i was a teenager, 0:08:04.480 --> 0:08:07.480 there are certain things about it that I think everybody 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:10.200 knows or understands. But it really takes somebody from the 0:08:10.240 --> 0:08:13.080 outside coming in to remind you how weird this is. 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:17.720 And yesterday we had a couple people with us who 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:20.400 had never seen wrestling, so they were just full of questions. Now, 0:08:20.400 --> 0:08:24.040 Holly is nicer than me, so she'll answer the questions 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:27.280 as they ask. I'll just kind of get frustrated, like, 0:08:27.400 --> 0:08:30.200 just watch, just watch and you'll figure it out. Sit 0:08:30.240 --> 0:08:32.200 here and watch and you'll figure it out. You some context, 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:34.360 because people come in and they ask the dumbest stuff 0:08:34.400 --> 0:08:36.760 like or is there going to be a DDT? Or 0:08:36.760 --> 0:08:39.040 are they going to jump off the top ropes? Can 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:41.800 you put them in a choke hold? And so I'm 0:08:41.800 --> 0:08:44.160 a little bit done with answering all the questions. But 0:08:44.320 --> 0:08:49.520 Holly's so patient. And yesterday somebody was asking her what's 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:52.840 her favorite thing about wrestling, and she said something that 0:08:52.920 --> 0:08:55.720 I thought was so deep. She said, what I love 0:08:55.760 --> 0:08:59.880 about wrestling, and I leaned in to listen. She said 0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:04.400 that even if the person is down by a wide 0:09:04.480 --> 0:09:08.240 margin of points, and even if there's not enough time 0:09:08.360 --> 0:09:11.520 left on the clock for them to come back, it's 0:09:11.640 --> 0:09:15.720 never really over because they can always get a pin. 0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:21.199 In other sports, it becomes mathematically impossible to come back. 0:09:22.080 --> 0:09:24.400 If you are down by forty in the fourth quarter 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:26.760 of a basketball game with a minute left, you will 0:09:26.760 --> 0:09:30.400 not score forty points in a minute, no matter how 0:09:30.520 --> 0:09:35.320 nbagm on fire you get. There is no amount of 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:38.559 on fire that can close the gap in that scenario. 0:09:38.640 --> 0:09:40.760 And the same is true with so many sports. But 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:45.640 in this sport, there is always the chance that, even 0:09:45.720 --> 0:09:49.360 if you have been beat the entire six minutes, in 0:09:49.400 --> 0:09:53.160 the last six seconds, it is possible, oh though not probable, 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:56.960 that if you can put your opponent on his back 0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:00.920 for just long enough for both shoulder black to touch, 0:10:01.800 --> 0:10:06.000 every point you were down by becomes irrelevant because of 0:10:06.080 --> 0:10:08.720 something that happened. When it looked like it was over. 0:10:10.400 --> 0:10:13.840 Everybody else may stop watching. But there's always a chance 0:10:15.000 --> 0:10:18.240 that even when it looks like you have been completely 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:21.960 dismembered and dismantled, even when it looks like you have 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:26.600 been completely outmatched and overwhelmed in that last minute, there 0:10:26.640 --> 0:10:30.920 is always a chance that something could happen. She said, 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:35.679 I love wrestling because a pin is always possible. And 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:39.000 when she said a pin is always possible, I thought, 0:10:39.040 --> 0:10:42.400 that is not just a wrestling lesson, that is a 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:46.560 praise lesson, because I imagine the people who have never 0:10:46.600 --> 0:10:49.600 been to a church like ours before it must look 0:10:49.679 --> 0:10:52.880 really weird to see us doing what we do. I mean, 0:10:52.960 --> 0:10:55.559 here we are, we've got our own hang ups and issues, 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:58.679 and yet our hands are lifted. And here we are 0:10:58.720 --> 0:11:02.040 with our own struggles, yet we're singing about the goodness 0:11:02.080 --> 0:11:05.320 of God. And here we are still dealing with things 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:08.160 that we've been dealing with for decades, and yet we 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:12.080 are proclaiming Jesus is our freedom. And I imagine if 0:11:12.120 --> 0:11:14.800 you just walked in, you might have a lot of questions. 0:11:15.200 --> 0:11:19.880 You might wonder, how are they praising God? I know them, 0:11:19.920 --> 0:11:22.040 but you would be mistaken to think that they are 0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:25.520 praising God because they are always ahead. You would be 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:28.520 mistaken to think they're praising God because they always get 0:11:28.520 --> 0:11:31.640 it right. You would be mistaken to think they're praising 0:11:31.720 --> 0:11:35.760 God because the outcome is scripted. I'm praising him because 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:42.600 anything is possible in his presence. Y'all slow down a little. 0:11:42.640 --> 0:11:45.240 We got a long way to go. But touch your 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:49.080 neighbors say. You can still win. I don't care what 0:11:49.160 --> 0:11:53.080 the enemy says about it. You can still win. In 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:57.200 the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses says in verse one, chapter twenty, 0:11:57.559 --> 0:12:00.240 call it back to the screen for me. Boys, when 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:04.240 you go to war. Not if when you go to war, 0:12:04.559 --> 0:12:08.719 it's guaranteed. When you go to war, it is assumed. 0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:12.719 So if spiritual battles are assumed by the Bible, why 0:12:12.720 --> 0:12:18.120 are they surprising to you when you go to war, 0:12:19.400 --> 0:12:22.760 and really you only have two options in the Christian life. 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:26.960 One is to stay in the wilderness and the other 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:31.400 is to go to war. Moses is speaking to a 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:36.440 generation that has spent years in the wilderness. Now God 0:12:36.480 --> 0:12:39.840 is bringing them out of that wilderness place and he 0:12:39.920 --> 0:12:44.280 is preparing them for a war. They've never seen war before. 0:12:45.160 --> 0:12:48.360 All they know is wilderness. And if you've never seen 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:52.800 war before, it might feel kind of weird. Some of 0:12:52.840 --> 0:12:55.040 you who are growing closer to God, the proof that 0:12:55.080 --> 0:12:57.480 you are growing closer to God right now is that 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:03.680 the temptation is intensifying in your life. I kind of 0:13:03.679 --> 0:13:10.880 have a problem with preachers who lie to you about 0:13:10.920 --> 0:13:15.480 what their life is like. And I hear their podcast, 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:21.959 but I know them personally. And if there is one 0:13:22.120 --> 0:13:24.120 promise I will make to you, it is not that 0:13:24.160 --> 0:13:27.520 I will always be perfect. If there is one promise 0:13:27.600 --> 0:13:29.120 I will make to you, it is not that I 0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:32.800 will always be polished. If there is one promise that 0:13:32.840 --> 0:13:34.400 I will make to you, it is not that I 0:13:34.440 --> 0:13:40.719 will always be making progress, but I'll be present. I'll 0:13:40.760 --> 0:13:46.079 be present. A fella came to me the other day 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:48.760 and said, I'm really sorry I've been out of church 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:51.040 for the last three years, and I apologize, I said, 0:13:51.040 --> 0:13:52.560 you don't know me an apology. You know where to 0:13:52.559 --> 0:13:56.079 find me when you need me. If you're drunken out 0:13:56.080 --> 0:13:58.360 of the church, I'll be here. If all you can 0:13:58.400 --> 0:14:01.839 watch is an Instagram clip, be here. If I'm not here, 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:05.160 I'll have a pretty good guest we'll be here. Somebody's 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:08.760 gonna be here preaching for you. And watch this. The 0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:12.000 promise of presence is so much greater than the promise 0:14:12.040 --> 0:14:18.959 of performance. You cannot guarantee your performance. You do not 0:14:19.200 --> 0:14:23.160 know what your response or ability will be in certain situations. 0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:26.040 And that's why I want us to start this year 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:29.640 with a plan. B. What did the Lord say in 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:35.000 Deuteronomy twenty When you go to war against your enemies 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:38.880 and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:42.080 do not be afraid of them, even if you did 0:14:42.160 --> 0:14:48.200 not anticipate them. Stay there for an Yes, Lord, do 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:50.680 not be afraid of them, even if you did not 0:14:50.840 --> 0:14:56.200 anticipate them. Don't be afraid of the ambush, because before 0:14:56.240 --> 0:15:03.800 the enemy got there, God did, Before the medical diagnosis 0:15:03.880 --> 0:15:10.680 was spoken, God's word was before the sea rage. The 0:15:10.720 --> 0:15:14.360 peace speaker was already on the boat. And this is 0:15:14.440 --> 0:15:17.440 our plan for the times in our lives this year 0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:19.880 when it looks like time is running out. When you 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:23.560 go to war and the enemy that surrounds you is 0:15:23.960 --> 0:15:27.280 greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because 0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:30.600 the Lord, your God, who brought you out of Egypt, 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:37.320 will be with you. So what is your plan? What 0:15:37.520 --> 0:15:41.400 is your strategy? It's a plan, be you see it. 0:15:41.920 --> 0:15:46.240 He said he will be with me, and he promised 0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:50.040 to show up if I would. He promised to show 0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:53.840 up if I would. Now, a lot of what keeps 0:15:53.920 --> 0:15:55.880 us from showing up is the feeling that we are 0:15:55.920 --> 0:16:00.360 not enough to show up. But if you show up enough, 0:16:01.200 --> 0:16:05.600 it will be. If you show up enough, it will 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:08.360 be if you show up enough in the word of 0:16:08.400 --> 0:16:10.600 God this year, the word of God will be enough 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:13.880 to empower you through your struggle. Tell them show up enough, 0:16:13.880 --> 0:16:15.960 your neighbor, just tell them real quick, show up enough. 0:16:17.480 --> 0:16:19.640 That's something that the Lord gave me personally. I was 0:16:19.720 --> 0:16:23.080 going into an intimidating situation recently, and he said, you 0:16:23.160 --> 0:16:25.480 keep thinking that you have to go into situations and 0:16:25.600 --> 0:16:28.720 prove yourself. But you don't have to bring proof, just 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:32.520 bring presence. So when you show up to that situation, 0:16:32.680 --> 0:16:34.920 look them right in the eyes, and show up, knowing 0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:37.400 if you weren't enough, God wouldn't have brought you into 0:16:37.440 --> 0:16:43.560 the situation. Is this helping anybody? Come on online, put 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:47.240 it in a chat, say show up enough. And the 0:16:47.280 --> 0:16:50.560 beautiful thing about bad odds are that is God's resting 0:16:50.640 --> 0:16:53.760 place for the Christian. When you go to war against 0:16:53.800 --> 0:16:57.240 your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army 0:16:57.360 --> 0:17:00.600 greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:03.320 the Lord, your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, 0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:07.439 will be with you. As the Lord is bringing his 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:10.239 people into the Promised Land, there are battles that they 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:14.040 are going to have to fight, which confuses some of 0:17:14.160 --> 0:17:17.040 us because we think that if God promised something, it 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:24.320 will be automatic. God's promises are guaranteed, but that doesn't 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:29.080 make them automatic. There are some things that God gave 0:17:29.160 --> 0:17:32.320 you that you didn't go for that are not in 0:17:32.359 --> 0:17:35.520 your possession now because you thought just the fact that 0:17:35.600 --> 0:17:39.920 it was promised made it automatic. And for everybody who's 0:17:39.960 --> 0:17:43.040 in a war today, and the chariots and horses are 0:17:43.080 --> 0:17:47.440 greater than yours, for everybody who's dealing with mental disorders, 0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:50.920 and that thing seems stronger in your mind than your 0:17:50.960 --> 0:17:54.119 will and resolve. For everybody who's dealing today with the 0:17:54.240 --> 0:17:56.800 challenge that has been going on so long, you have 0:17:56.920 --> 0:18:00.720 convinced yourself it is insurmountable. I want to give you 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:03.600 a word, and I want you to listen. Good. If 0:18:03.640 --> 0:18:09.560 the battle is really the lord's, if the battle is 0:18:09.640 --> 0:18:12.520 really the lords, now, we need to stop right there. 0:18:13.200 --> 0:18:20.080 Is it his battle or is it yours? Because when 0:18:20.080 --> 0:18:22.840 we are fighting to protect our pride and we are 0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:29.359 deflecting to keep our ego intact, then the battle is ours. 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:32.840 But see Moses is speaking to people who are taking 0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:34.920 land that God has promised to give to them under 0:18:34.920 --> 0:18:37.919 the leadership of Joshua. And so he says, as you 0:18:38.000 --> 0:18:39.680 take this new ground, and some of you are in 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:42.240 a season where God is giving you new ground, and 0:18:42.280 --> 0:18:45.359 you've never seen it before. So it feels weird to 0:18:45.400 --> 0:18:48.000 be at war. It feels weird to be fighting these 0:18:48.040 --> 0:18:50.680 battles that you're fighting at this stage of your life. 0:18:50.840 --> 0:18:53.240 But the Lord said, when you fight these battles that 0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:58.640 you've never fought before, if the battle is truly the Lord's, 0:18:58.960 --> 0:19:08.960 watch this, the math won't matter. The math won't matter. 0:19:09.800 --> 0:19:12.719 And this is good for everybody who's more of an 0:19:12.760 --> 0:19:18.320 English kind of person, that the math won't matter. I 0:19:18.400 --> 0:19:21.639 discovered in my life that when it's God's battle, the 0:19:21.680 --> 0:19:25.840 math doesn't matter. I discovered in studying God's word that 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:30.360 if it's his battle, the math doesn't matter. You can 0:19:30.400 --> 0:19:32.639 be five foot six like David, and he can be 0:19:32.760 --> 0:19:37.040 nine foot two like Goliath. If it's God's battle, the 0:19:37.080 --> 0:19:41.560 math won't matter. You can be a little boy with 0:19:41.640 --> 0:19:43.840 five loaves and two fish, and the crowd can be 0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:47.440 five thousand strong, just in the men department. But if 0:19:47.440 --> 0:19:49.600 it's God's battle and he wants to feed the crowd 0:19:49.640 --> 0:19:53.960 through you, the math won't matter. You can have been 0:19:54.040 --> 0:19:56.439 stuck in something thirty eight years at the pool of 0:19:56.440 --> 0:20:00.960 bethesa John chapter five, verses one through seven, and everybody 0:20:01.000 --> 0:20:03.600 around you might be quicker than you, and you might 0:20:03.600 --> 0:20:06.040 feel like I just can't win. I just can't get 0:20:06.080 --> 0:20:08.360 there when the water is stirred, I have no one 0:20:08.400 --> 0:20:11.320 to help me. But when Jesus shows up, if he 0:20:11.400 --> 0:20:14.280 wants to heal what's hurting in you, it doesn't matter 0:20:14.320 --> 0:20:16.680 how many people are in front of you that are 0:20:16.720 --> 0:20:21.159 faster than you. If it's God's battle. Hot five. Your 0:20:21.160 --> 0:20:25.639 neighbors say, the math don't matter, bad grammar, good preach, 0:20:25.680 --> 0:20:28.959 and the math don't matter. Don't care how long it 0:20:29.119 --> 0:20:33.160 was like that, One moment in his presence, one moment 0:20:33.200 --> 0:20:37.040 of his favor, one moment of his holy fire, can 0:20:37.080 --> 0:20:40.479 burn away all the dross. Because I'm coming out of 0:20:40.520 --> 0:20:44.560 this becaus the mad. Do you hear what I'm saying 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:48.760 to you? The prophet said, do not be afraid of them, 0:20:49.080 --> 0:20:51.879 for those with us or more than those with them. 0:20:52.359 --> 0:20:56.159 Stop looking at what's surrounding you, and stop looking at 0:21:00.600 --> 0:21:05.920 let's pace ourselves. Touch your neighbors say, I'm bad at math. 0:21:08.080 --> 0:21:12.160 I'm bad at math, but I'm good at faith. Oh, 0:21:12.240 --> 0:21:15.480 I'm bad at math, but I'm good at faith. I'm 0:21:15.480 --> 0:21:17.960 bad at math, but I'm good at faith. What do 0:21:18.000 --> 0:21:20.720 you mean I'm bad at math. I'm too old, but 0:21:20.840 --> 0:21:24.520 I got faith. I'm too young, but I got faith. 0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:28.440 Don't have money, but I got faith. If it's God's battle, 0:21:32.400 --> 0:21:34.359 I don't know who needs to hear this. Your kid 0:21:34.440 --> 0:21:37.480 is developmentally disslayd, but they are gonna bloom in a 0:21:37.600 --> 0:21:40.959 season that is just right for them. Let me tell 0:21:41.000 --> 0:21:45.159 you another one. Oh, I love this. Some of you 0:21:45.240 --> 0:21:47.479 think you aren't good at anything. That's not true. You 0:21:47.520 --> 0:21:50.120 are good at something. You just think it's a small thing. 0:21:53.520 --> 0:21:58.160 But one small thing you're good at. In the hands 0:21:58.200 --> 0:22:02.840 of God, who gave it to you, can make everything 0:22:03.000 --> 0:22:08.280 you're bad at irrelevant. Ask David what one stone can do. 0:22:08.920 --> 0:22:11.480 You can't fight a giant, Yeah, but I can kill 0:22:11.480 --> 0:22:18.480 a bear, and one one stone save the whole nation. Yeah. 0:22:18.520 --> 0:22:24.680 Because when it's God's battle, the math won't matter. You're 0:22:24.680 --> 0:22:27.120 gonna get there when you're supposed to get there. The 0:22:27.200 --> 0:22:30.399 math won't matter. God will make up for all the 0:22:30.520 --> 0:22:34.240 days that you called wasted, and the math won't matter. 0:22:34.760 --> 0:22:37.199 What you thought was a failure is gonna contain the 0:22:37.240 --> 0:22:41.320 seeds of your growth, and the math won't matter. The 0:22:41.400 --> 0:22:44.320 conflict was kind of developing your character so that when 0:22:44.359 --> 0:22:46.040 you get to a place, you'll have the fruit of 0:22:46.080 --> 0:22:51.080 the spirit called patience, and the math won't even matter. 0:22:53.000 --> 0:22:55.800 So when you go to war and you face an 0:22:55.880 --> 0:23:00.240 enemy that's bigger than you, remember your plan. B I 0:23:00.280 --> 0:23:02.199 want to give you three things today because sometimes I 0:23:02.200 --> 0:23:04.040 think when I preach, I get so excited I don't 0:23:04.080 --> 0:23:07.040 give you anything to write down. I feel bad about 0:23:07.080 --> 0:23:08.520 that that you would come all the way to church 0:23:08.560 --> 0:23:10.199 and not get a single note. So I'm gonna give 0:23:10.200 --> 0:23:14.960 you three notes words today for when you feel like 0:23:15.000 --> 0:23:18.000 you just can't win. Now, that phrase you just can't 0:23:18.040 --> 0:23:21.879 win can be taken two ways. Right In Deuteronomy twenty 0:23:21.920 --> 0:23:24.320 verse one, it says, when you face an enemy that 0:23:24.400 --> 0:23:27.880 you can't be I'll be with you. So you literally 0:23:27.920 --> 0:23:33.679 cannot win this, but God still will be with you 0:23:34.200 --> 0:23:37.800 and give you the ability and the way to connect 0:23:37.800 --> 0:23:42.320 to that is number one. Remember, just remember, just as 0:23:42.320 --> 0:23:46.080 simple as that, he said, when you face an enemy 0:23:46.119 --> 0:23:49.200 that is bigger than you, more chariots, more horses, when 0:23:49.240 --> 0:23:53.160 you face something that's absolutely beyond your comprehension or your 0:23:53.160 --> 0:23:56.000 ability to deal with, and you know exactly what that 0:23:56.119 --> 0:23:58.000 is in your life right now, and do not lie 0:23:58.080 --> 0:24:00.400 to the Holy Spirit. I'm not even making you say 0:24:00.400 --> 0:24:02.960 out loud what it is. Just acknowledge it in your heart. 0:24:03.320 --> 0:24:07.000 When you face that, remember that the Lord who brought 0:24:07.000 --> 0:24:09.520 you out of Egypt will be with you. And they 0:24:09.560 --> 0:24:11.360 keep taking my scripture down, but I need it one 0:24:11.359 --> 0:24:14.760 more time. I think they think, because it's just one verse, 0:24:14.760 --> 0:24:16.439 I read it and I'm done with it. But I 0:24:16.440 --> 0:24:19.920 can preach a verse for twelve weeks. When is this good? 0:24:22.200 --> 0:24:24.480 Because he said, I'm the Lord, your God who brought 0:24:24.520 --> 0:24:26.960 you out of Egypt, and I will be with you. 0:24:28.720 --> 0:24:31.720 One of those is what he did, and one of 0:24:31.720 --> 0:24:37.800 those is what he is. He's with you. So he said, okay, 0:24:37.800 --> 0:24:42.520 I'm done with it now, thank you. He said, just 0:24:42.720 --> 0:24:49.119 remember that thing that I did for you. Then, So 0:24:51.400 --> 0:24:53.359 why is that so simple? And I suck at it 0:24:53.400 --> 0:24:57.520 so bad? Why do I constantly get into states of 0:24:57.600 --> 0:25:00.679 mind that pretend like this. This is the first time 0:25:00.720 --> 0:25:05.040 I've ever had a problem like this, And I'm so 0:25:05.160 --> 0:25:07.600 grateful for perspective. You know, one thing I love about 0:25:08.119 --> 0:25:10.919 singing songs about God is it just gives me perspective. 0:25:11.000 --> 0:25:13.760 And I need that so much in my life because 0:25:14.520 --> 0:25:19.520 for me, songs of worship are like streams that flow 0:25:19.720 --> 0:25:22.560 to my heart when it's dry. And one of the 0:25:22.560 --> 0:25:24.800 things that it helps me access in that process when 0:25:24.840 --> 0:25:29.119 I begin to remember it, is like oh yeah, and 0:25:29.160 --> 0:25:31.200 I just have oh yeah moments in the presence of God, 0:25:31.320 --> 0:25:34.440 Like you can have an Aha moment where you realize 0:25:34.440 --> 0:25:36.000 something you never realized before, and then you can have 0:25:36.040 --> 0:25:38.919 a oh yeah moment where you remember something that you 0:25:39.000 --> 0:25:42.840 temporarily forgotten. Think about all the things that God has 0:25:42.840 --> 0:25:45.680 already done for his people by the time Deuteronomy chapter twenty, 0:25:45.720 --> 0:25:48.680 verse one is spoken through the mouth of Moses. Think 0:25:48.720 --> 0:25:51.480 about how many odds they've overcome to be in this moment. 0:25:52.600 --> 0:25:55.400 Think about how many enemies God drown in the Red 0:25:55.440 --> 0:26:00.240 Sea just to bring this generation to the wilderness. About 0:26:00.240 --> 0:26:02.679 how He rebuilt their self image to see themselves no 0:26:02.760 --> 0:26:06.160 longer as slaves but as settlers. And now as they 0:26:06.200 --> 0:26:09.160 stand on the precipice of a new season, they need 0:26:09.200 --> 0:26:15.320 to remember what God did. Say God did, I wrote 0:26:15.320 --> 0:26:20.480 a song that I released on Friday, so you can 0:26:20.520 --> 0:26:24.719 walk around your house and remember, so that when you 0:26:24.760 --> 0:26:29.280 face a war, you worship because you realize that you 0:26:29.320 --> 0:26:32.400 can have your back up against the wall and God 0:26:32.440 --> 0:26:36.719 can take one stick and split a whole sea and 0:26:36.760 --> 0:26:41.359 bring a whole nation through. You have seen God do 0:26:41.560 --> 0:26:45.119 that in your life. You have seen Him do things 0:26:45.160 --> 0:26:50.359 that were once unbelievable. You have seen him align opportunities 0:26:50.400 --> 0:26:55.480 and appointments and assignments. You have seen God, time after 0:26:55.600 --> 0:26:58.840 time do things for you that the devil is hoping 0:26:58.880 --> 0:27:03.119 you will forget as you go through this. You have 0:27:03.200 --> 0:27:06.680 seen God time and time again, provide with one jar 0:27:06.840 --> 0:27:10.000 of oil and feed your whole family. You have seen 0:27:10.080 --> 0:27:13.240 God time and time again. Just when you needed the 0:27:13.280 --> 0:27:17.560 strength to come, it came all of a sudden, shout, 0:27:17.600 --> 0:27:21.560 all of a sudden. And the temptation is is that 0:27:22.240 --> 0:27:25.439 we are expecting God sometimes to come like a flood, 0:27:26.080 --> 0:27:29.480 and when it comes like a trickle, we are tempted 0:27:29.520 --> 0:27:32.880 to displace our trust because our trust was in when 0:27:33.040 --> 0:27:36.360 it would happen, not who was going to do it. 0:27:37.520 --> 0:27:40.399 So it goes like this. If I was gonna get it, 0:27:40.440 --> 0:27:42.200 I would have it by now. If I was gonna 0:27:42.200 --> 0:27:44.000 be it, I would be it by now. This is 0:27:44.040 --> 0:27:46.960 why people stop coming to church. This is why people 0:27:47.040 --> 0:27:50.000 stop going to their counselor this is why people stop 0:27:50.080 --> 0:27:52.560 trying to eat better. Because I tried to eat better 0:27:52.600 --> 0:27:54.960 for three days and it tasted bad, and I was mad, 0:27:55.000 --> 0:27:57.359 and I wanted to kill everybody on road rage, and 0:27:57.440 --> 0:27:59.199 so I decided it was better for me to be 0:27:59.240 --> 0:28:02.200 fat than to kill somebody on road rage. And if 0:28:02.200 --> 0:28:08.600 that's not enough, watch this. Everybody in here is tempted 0:28:08.640 --> 0:28:12.320 to forget where you're winning because of where you currently 0:28:12.359 --> 0:28:20.280 feel weak. Yesterday, Holly came out and spoke for just 0:28:20.320 --> 0:28:23.120 about fifteen minutes to many of the leaders in our church. 0:28:23.160 --> 0:28:26.119 I think some of y'all stayed over I knew I 0:28:26.320 --> 0:28:38.400 thought something special over here. Are y'all serious? Wow? I 0:28:38.440 --> 0:28:41.200 should have come over here a long time ago. I 0:28:41.280 --> 0:28:45.720 wasted thirty minutes over there on the side of the room. 0:28:45.960 --> 0:28:47.840 When we got home, I said, that was so beautiful. 0:28:47.840 --> 0:28:49.200 I said, how did you even find the time to 0:28:49.240 --> 0:28:50.720 do that? Because I know the week that she's had, 0:28:51.240 --> 0:28:55.080 it's been insane. She was filming a study for our 0:28:55.120 --> 0:28:58.200 youth that's coming out. She filmed five sessions for that. 0:28:59.240 --> 0:29:02.720 She attended a wrestling match I already told you that, 0:29:03.200 --> 0:29:07.360 and a volleyball game. She made meals for our family. Now, 0:29:07.360 --> 0:29:08.960 I'm not up here just to get points. I'm up 0:29:09.000 --> 0:29:14.560 here to make one. But if you can do both 0:29:14.600 --> 0:29:20.560 at the same time, why not. And we just had 0:29:20.560 --> 0:29:22.000 a moment, and I want to teach you this in 0:29:22.000 --> 0:29:23.520 case you don't know how to do it. Where we 0:29:23.640 --> 0:29:28.600 listed her wins, the Lord said, to tell you list 0:29:28.640 --> 0:29:37.600 your wins. List your wins. List your wins. Ain't that bragging. 0:29:40.160 --> 0:29:48.680 It depends on who's behind it. Because when we went 0:29:48.720 --> 0:29:51.080 through all the things that she did that week. It 0:29:51.120 --> 0:29:52.840 was no doubt in my mind. Only God could have 0:29:52.880 --> 0:29:56.320 strengthened her to do all that. And then a little 0:29:56.320 --> 0:29:59.240 bit later that night, she said something kind of weird 0:29:59.280 --> 0:30:04.680 because we were talking, thinking about goals and my sermon. 0:30:05.640 --> 0:30:07.080 I was sharing a little bit of what I was 0:30:07.120 --> 0:30:09.080 thinking about preaching with her, but I didn't tell her. 0:30:09.680 --> 0:30:11.520 I was just working it out with her, but she 0:30:11.560 --> 0:30:15.160 didn't know it. And she said, you know one place 0:30:15.200 --> 0:30:19.720 I didn't win this week my workouts. Now here's where 0:30:19.720 --> 0:30:22.600 she's different than me. She has the ability to laugh 0:30:22.640 --> 0:30:30.200 at that and to rebalance it, and she realizes that 0:30:30.200 --> 0:30:33.280 that's probably not going to be the most significant defining 0:30:33.320 --> 0:30:36.040 event of her year, that she didn't get her number 0:30:36.040 --> 0:30:39.200 of workouts this week. Me, on the other hand, no, 0:30:39.200 --> 0:30:43.480 I'm gonna come to this side of the room if 0:30:43.520 --> 0:30:46.000 I miss the workout. If I miss a workout three 0:30:46.080 --> 0:30:49.080 days in a row, I don't feel saved. What does 0:30:49.120 --> 0:30:50.920 lifting weights have to do with lifting them up? I 0:30:50.920 --> 0:30:54.280 don't know. But it just spills over into every area 0:30:54.360 --> 0:30:58.120 of my life. I mean, it just gets it's so 0:30:58.360 --> 0:31:03.600 quick because I realize somewhere in my mind and in 0:31:03.640 --> 0:31:08.400 my soul, an expectation was planted that I'm supposed to 0:31:08.400 --> 0:31:14.440 be winning everywhere all the time. And when you live 0:31:14.440 --> 0:31:19.640 in that kind of captivity, everything feels overwhelming. You have 0:31:19.760 --> 0:31:23.440 no strength for the enemy in front of you because 0:31:23.480 --> 0:31:25.840 you gave God no praise for the victory behind you. 0:31:32.040 --> 0:31:34.760 But when you begin to integrate these things that God 0:31:34.800 --> 0:31:37.880 has brought you through and you draw from them not 0:31:37.920 --> 0:31:43.040 as pride but as strength, when you draw from them 0:31:43.440 --> 0:31:47.000 as a sense of knowing that God promised to be 0:31:47.080 --> 0:31:49.240 present with me. And the proof of that is that 0:31:49.280 --> 0:31:51.720 he was. The proof that he will is the fact 0:31:51.720 --> 0:31:53.680 that he was. The proof that he will is the 0:31:53.720 --> 0:31:55.800 fact that he was. The proof that he will is 0:31:55.840 --> 0:31:57.480 the fact that he was. When you begin to do 0:31:57.520 --> 0:32:00.840 these things in your week and in your day, I'm 0:32:00.840 --> 0:32:04.000 telling you, it's gonna make a big difference. The truth 0:32:04.040 --> 0:32:07.200 of the matter is you are winning somewhere right now. 0:32:07.840 --> 0:32:10.480 But where you are not winning is causing you to 0:32:10.560 --> 0:32:15.040 feel weak. And where you feel weak, you become susceptible. 0:32:15.800 --> 0:32:18.560 Now I'm right where I want to bring you. Number 0:32:18.560 --> 0:32:26.680 one is remember, and number two is resist. Resist. Moses says, 0:32:27.200 --> 0:32:29.440 when you go to war, and you will go to 0:32:29.560 --> 0:32:33.280 war to take new spiritual ground, even Paul said, you 0:32:33.360 --> 0:32:36.480 gotta put on the armor. Well, I'm not putting on 0:32:36.560 --> 0:32:40.120 the armor to take a nap. The only reason we're 0:32:40.160 --> 0:32:42.480 suiting up with the armor of God, you know, the 0:32:42.520 --> 0:32:46.120 breastplate of righteousness and the shoes of peace, and the 0:32:46.160 --> 0:32:48.560 sword of the Spirit and the belt of truth. The 0:32:48.600 --> 0:32:51.120 only reason that I'm getting dressed in this armor is 0:32:51.120 --> 0:32:55.120 something is going to attack me. So the provision of 0:32:55.160 --> 0:32:58.720 the armor is the prediction of the attack. So God 0:32:58.760 --> 0:33:01.240 gets you a really good when you're gonna go through 0:33:01.240 --> 0:33:05.840 a really big war. And when you get in that situation, 0:33:06.600 --> 0:33:10.640 Moses says, there are certain stipulations for how you are 0:33:10.720 --> 0:33:13.719 to fight God's battles, and I wish I could give 0:33:13.760 --> 0:33:17.280 you all of Deuteronomy twenty, but he talks about send 0:33:17.320 --> 0:33:21.040 the priests out before the people and send everybody home 0:33:21.080 --> 0:33:24.720 who doesn't really want to fight, because not everybody can 0:33:24.800 --> 0:33:28.760 go with you into everything. I'm gonna say it again, 0:33:29.520 --> 0:33:32.840 somebody in the back just needed to have a delete 0:33:32.880 --> 0:33:37.640 party on your phone. Not everybody, come on, delete them 0:33:37.720 --> 0:33:40.000 right now. You know exactly who they are. They're right 0:33:40.040 --> 0:33:43.440 there on the recess. Do it right now, Do not 0:33:43.560 --> 0:33:47.080 pass go delete their number right now, because not everybody 0:33:47.160 --> 0:33:51.400 can go with you into this. You don't have to 0:33:51.400 --> 0:33:52.960 hate them, you don't have to flash their tires, you 0:33:52.960 --> 0:33:54.200 don't have to cuss them out, you don't have to 0:33:54.200 --> 0:33:57.120 fire them as your friend. But he says, send the 0:33:57.160 --> 0:33:59.479 people home that can't go home. And when you come 0:33:59.520 --> 0:34:01.800 up on a city, now, this is really powerful here. 0:34:01.920 --> 0:34:03.239 And I don't want you to get tired of him, 0:34:03.240 --> 0:34:04.960 because we've already said a lot. But I want you 0:34:05.000 --> 0:34:08.040 to get this thing about resist. He says, when you 0:34:08.120 --> 0:34:10.319 get to the cities that God is calling you to 0:34:10.360 --> 0:34:13.640 take over the Hittites, to Parasites, the Canaanites, the Jebucides, 0:34:14.040 --> 0:34:17.040 all of these people who are in the places that 0:34:17.080 --> 0:34:19.720 God has promised you. Just because an enemy is there 0:34:19.960 --> 0:34:22.320 doesn't mean God isn't bringing you into it. Just because 0:34:22.320 --> 0:34:24.560 it's hard doesn't mean God isn't in it. Doesn't mean 0:34:24.600 --> 0:34:26.840 he didn't speak, doesn't mean he won't do it, doesn't 0:34:26.840 --> 0:34:28.840 mean he isn't doing it, doesn't mean he's not working. 0:34:29.000 --> 0:34:31.200 Doesn't mean you should turn back and go home. No, no, no. 0:34:31.480 --> 0:34:34.240 When you see the enemies there, offer them a condition 0:34:34.320 --> 0:34:37.399 of peace. But if they won't make peace with you, 0:34:37.400 --> 0:34:39.960 you will have to put everything to death that would 0:34:40.000 --> 0:34:43.399 teach you to follow anything other than God. And then 0:34:43.440 --> 0:34:48.200 we get to verse nineteen. Verse nineteen says something very 0:34:48.640 --> 0:34:52.800 strange to the people. He says, when you lay siege 0:34:52.880 --> 0:34:57.800 to a city for a long time, for a long time, 0:34:57.960 --> 0:35:01.800 when you lay siege to a city. Now, laying siege 0:35:01.840 --> 0:35:06.600 to a city meets, you can't beat them immediately. They 0:35:06.640 --> 0:35:10.440 don't just give up quick. So God gave you this land. 0:35:11.120 --> 0:35:13.680 So you come up on the land, because he tells Joshua, 0:35:14.040 --> 0:35:17.640 every place you set the soul of your foot, I'll 0:35:17.640 --> 0:35:20.799 give you. But when you get there, you'll still have 0:35:20.880 --> 0:35:24.359 to fight for it. But sometimes when you're fighting for it, 0:35:24.400 --> 0:35:26.440 you will have to lay siege to it. And you 0:35:26.520 --> 0:35:29.400 know what a siege is. I'm not insulting your intelligence, 0:35:29.440 --> 0:35:33.680 but this is when you have captured the enemy, but 0:35:33.760 --> 0:35:38.880 you haven't conquered the enemy. When you lay siege to 0:35:39.000 --> 0:35:42.799 a city and you fight them for a long time. Now, 0:35:42.840 --> 0:35:44.640 wait a minute, God, I thought you were going to 0:35:44.719 --> 0:35:47.600 give us the victory. God says, some of my gifts 0:35:47.640 --> 0:35:54.000 are gradual, and just because it's gradual doesn't mean he's 0:35:54.040 --> 0:35:59.000 not giving it. Sometimes it happens so slow you think 0:35:59.040 --> 0:36:04.759 it's not when you lay siege to a city and 0:36:04.800 --> 0:36:06.520 it takes you a long time, a little longer than 0:36:06.560 --> 0:36:10.080 you thought it was, and you just can't win. But 0:36:10.120 --> 0:36:13.440 you got them captured, but you don't have them conquered. 0:36:15.120 --> 0:36:19.400 Am I describing some of your sins today, some of 0:36:19.440 --> 0:36:26.000 your cities, some of your insecurities. I got them captured. 0:36:26.000 --> 0:36:28.560 I know what they are now, but I don't have 0:36:28.640 --> 0:36:32.960 them conquered yet. I got them identify I'm in the 0:36:33.040 --> 0:36:36.960 right place. And that's when you remember, I'm not in 0:36:37.000 --> 0:36:42.040 Egypt anymore. I'm not in Egypt yet, but I'm not 0:36:42.160 --> 0:36:45.319 fully settled in here yet either. And this is where 0:36:45.320 --> 0:36:48.440 you need a plan B he says, when you get 0:36:48.440 --> 0:36:51.240 in the city and you got it in a siege. 0:36:51.880 --> 0:36:54.440 It was so clear to me while I was studying 0:36:54.680 --> 0:36:57.040 that there are so many people who are no longer 0:36:57.400 --> 0:37:01.000 enslaved to sin. They're set free by Jesus, but they 0:37:01.040 --> 0:37:05.160 are no more free in Christ because they're in a 0:37:05.200 --> 0:37:11.160 siege season. A siege season is when you can see it, 0:37:12.480 --> 0:37:18.160 but you don't quite have it. You experience it momentarily peace, 0:37:18.360 --> 0:37:23.880 You experience it momentarily joy, You experience it momentarily selflessness. 0:37:24.080 --> 0:37:28.520 You experience it momentarily goodness, patience, self control, the fruit 0:37:28.640 --> 0:37:32.520 of the spirit. But you're not living in it yet. 0:37:33.160 --> 0:37:37.399 That's a siege season. You're not a slave anymore. You're 0:37:37.440 --> 0:37:41.080 out of Egypt, but you're not exactly free yet either, 0:37:41.120 --> 0:37:44.000 are you. It's a siege season. Now we have to 0:37:44.040 --> 0:37:48.120 be really careful. This is where my pastoral instinct kicks in, 0:37:48.360 --> 0:37:50.640 and I want to be protective of you in a 0:37:50.680 --> 0:37:53.960 siege season, because Moses says, when you are in a 0:37:54.040 --> 0:37:57.200 siege season, remember it's not them that are under siege, 0:37:57.239 --> 0:38:03.400 it's the enemy. You're right there. It's really happening for you. 0:38:03.400 --> 0:38:06.279 You really are breaking these chains. But you're in a 0:38:06.440 --> 0:38:10.080 siege season. And when you are, the man of God says, 0:38:10.680 --> 0:38:13.279 fighting against it for a long time to capture it. 0:38:14.920 --> 0:38:20.840 Do not destroy its trees by putting an axe to them, 0:38:20.880 --> 0:38:27.880 because you can eat their fruit. Don't cut them down. 0:38:29.480 --> 0:38:33.919 Are the trees people that you should be sieged them? 0:38:34.440 --> 0:38:38.239 Verse twenty. However, you may cut down trees that you 0:38:38.360 --> 0:38:41.160 know are not fruit trees and use them to build 0:38:41.160 --> 0:38:43.920 siege works until the city at war with you falls. 0:38:44.160 --> 0:38:49.280 Deuteronomy chapter twenty is over. Everybody, God bless Moses out, 0:38:49.480 --> 0:38:53.000 good night, don't chop down trees. Why'd you read that 0:38:53.040 --> 0:39:00.439 weird scripture? Because you're doing it. You're doing it when 0:39:00.480 --> 0:39:02.400 you go to war and you are in a siege 0:39:02.440 --> 0:39:06.160 season and you are frustrated because it's taking what a 0:39:06.320 --> 0:39:10.320 long time? What is your tendency when something is taking 0:39:10.400 --> 0:39:13.600 a long time, when you've been fighting something for a 0:39:13.680 --> 0:39:16.920 long time, what do you start doing? Deuteronomy twenty verse 0:39:17.000 --> 0:39:22.280 nineteen says you might start chopping down things that God 0:39:22.320 --> 0:39:29.799 wants you to leave for your future. When you are 0:39:29.840 --> 0:39:33.960 in a siege season. You might start bringing an acts 0:39:34.000 --> 0:39:37.440 to things that God is raising up to bless you 0:39:37.960 --> 0:39:41.600 at a later date. When you are in a siege season, 0:39:41.680 --> 0:39:45.680 you are frustrated and you are asking God for answers, 0:39:46.040 --> 0:39:48.600 and you are lashing out at the messengers that He 0:39:48.680 --> 0:39:52.120 sends to give you those answers, because it would be 0:39:52.239 --> 0:39:56.160 easy for you, if you're going through a siege season, 0:39:56.360 --> 0:39:59.560 to just start chopping down everything you see, because you 0:39:59.680 --> 0:40:04.000 need these trees in order to build ramps and towers 0:40:04.040 --> 0:40:07.640 and battering rams. So sometimes you get in a season 0:40:07.640 --> 0:40:10.719 in your life and well, just anything will work to 0:40:10.760 --> 0:40:13.560 make you feel better, Anything will work to knock down 0:40:13.560 --> 0:40:16.640 a door, anything will work to survive. I don't even 0:40:16.719 --> 0:40:18.879 care if it's right or wrong. I don't even care 0:40:18.920 --> 0:40:21.000 if it's good or bad. I don't even care if 0:40:21.000 --> 0:40:23.920 it benefits my future. I just want to feel good 0:40:24.000 --> 0:40:26.799 right now. But I want to tell you relief is 0:40:26.840 --> 0:40:35.080 not the same as freedom. God doesn't intend for you 0:40:35.160 --> 0:40:39.080 to stay in this siege season forever. Oh yeah, I 0:40:39.120 --> 0:40:43.000 said it. It's not always gonna be like this. It's 0:40:43.040 --> 0:40:46.200 not always gonna be like this, you know how I know. 0:40:46.680 --> 0:40:50.000 Verse twenty tells me everything I need to know. He said, 0:40:50.040 --> 0:40:52.200 you can cut down the trees that don't bear fruit 0:40:52.239 --> 0:40:57.320 and use them to build siege works until the city 0:40:58.120 --> 0:41:06.480 at war with you falls, until means it will. I'm 0:41:06.520 --> 0:41:16.160 gonna try that again until means it will. It will. 0:41:18.120 --> 0:41:21.239 It will fall, just not when you want it to. 0:41:22.640 --> 0:41:25.880 So the test for you now is this, what do 0:41:25.960 --> 0:41:30.759 you do until and God says it's important for you 0:41:31.640 --> 0:41:35.280 not to start cutting down stuff that I am bringing 0:41:35.280 --> 0:41:38.880 forth in your life to feed you for who I 0:41:38.920 --> 0:41:42.919 created you to be. And this is kind of difficult 0:41:43.320 --> 0:41:46.520 to describe if you've been in the wilderness since you've 0:41:46.560 --> 0:41:50.799 been born, because there's no fruit trees in the wilderness. 0:41:52.840 --> 0:41:55.399 The only thing this generation has ever seen God feed 0:41:55.440 --> 0:42:00.200 them with was manna. Look at Exitus sixteen. This is 0:42:00.239 --> 0:42:01.960 an annoying the scripture. The Lord gave it to me 0:42:01.960 --> 0:42:05.680 while Zeke was singing, thank you Zee. The Israelites ate 0:42:05.800 --> 0:42:12.719 Mana forty years until they came to a land that 0:42:12.880 --> 0:42:16.760 was settled. They ate Mana until they reached the border 0:42:17.000 --> 0:42:23.719 of Canaan. They ate something until the moment where God 0:42:23.760 --> 0:42:27.359 fed them something else. And I am concerned that God 0:42:27.440 --> 0:42:33.120 is trying to feed you something better, and you keep 0:42:33.160 --> 0:42:38.600 cutting it down. And I came to tell you, stop 0:42:38.719 --> 0:42:44.800 fighting what God is using to feed you. Stop fighting 0:42:44.840 --> 0:42:50.080 the processes that God is using to mature you. Stop 0:42:50.239 --> 0:42:53.560 fighting those corrective moments that God wants to sit with 0:42:53.600 --> 0:42:57.040 you in and say, see this, do it different next time, 0:42:58.360 --> 0:43:01.520 because he will. He He will bring about everything he 0:43:01.800 --> 0:43:05.319 accomplishes in your life. He will bring about everything that 0:43:05.360 --> 0:43:07.360 He assigned for your life. He will bring about everything 0:43:07.600 --> 0:43:11.520 that He imagines and plans for your life. It's his plans. 0:43:11.560 --> 0:43:13.680 He will be with you as you face the things 0:43:13.680 --> 0:43:17.360 that are too strong for you. But notice what Moses said, 0:43:18.080 --> 0:43:20.640 don't take an axe to the tree that's got your 0:43:20.680 --> 0:43:24.160 future fruit on it. And the thing about them was 0:43:24.880 --> 0:43:29.160 they didn't know much about trees. So they don't know 0:43:29.280 --> 0:43:31.480 that this tree is gonna bring me fruit because all 0:43:31.520 --> 0:43:35.840 I ever had was nana. When you never had good love, 0:43:37.320 --> 0:43:44.880 it's easy for you to settle for lust when you 0:43:44.960 --> 0:43:48.880 never had good friendship. It's easy for you to settle 0:43:48.880 --> 0:43:57.400 for codependency when you never had real fruit. It's tempting 0:43:57.440 --> 0:44:00.360 for you to become frustrated and you say it is 0:44:00.400 --> 0:44:03.520 taken too long. I'm gonna handle this. I'm gonna handle 0:44:03.560 --> 0:44:06.680 this another way. Yeah, I'm gonna lay hands on them. 0:44:06.800 --> 0:44:09.040 Isn't that in the Bible. I'm gonna handle this the 0:44:09.080 --> 0:44:11.360 way I used to handle this. I got a Bible 0:44:11.480 --> 0:44:15.560 verse for it. Be careful. You might be chopping down 0:44:15.800 --> 0:44:20.399 something God wanted you to chew on. Later. You might 0:44:20.440 --> 0:44:25.800 be taking down a tree that is capable of bearing 0:44:25.880 --> 0:44:29.879 much fruit. But watch this, it just isn't the season yet. 0:44:32.000 --> 0:44:36.759 It just isn't the season yet. Nobody's gonna chop down 0:44:36.800 --> 0:44:39.520 a tree that has fruit visible on it and use 0:44:39.560 --> 0:44:42.400 it for a battering ram. But what if the tree 0:44:42.520 --> 0:44:45.000 was bare, not because it didn't have the ability to 0:44:45.000 --> 0:44:48.800 bear fruit, but because it wasn't the season. For fruit. 0:44:51.000 --> 0:44:54.960 And what if you've got something in you, come on, 0:44:55.080 --> 0:44:58.200 use your holy imagination for a moment. And what if 0:44:58.239 --> 0:45:02.479 there is something working in your life that Jeremiah twenty 0:45:02.560 --> 0:45:05.080 nine to eleven really is true, that He knows the 0:45:05.120 --> 0:45:09.960 plans he has for you, plans to prosper you, not 0:45:10.160 --> 0:45:13.680 to harm you, plans to give you a hope and 0:45:13.840 --> 0:45:17.600 a future. What is this really in me? But it's 0:45:17.719 --> 0:45:21.640 just not my season yet? Blessed this a man who 0:45:21.680 --> 0:45:24.680 walks not in the path of the wicked, nor sits 0:45:24.719 --> 0:45:27.880 in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is 0:45:27.920 --> 0:45:29.560 in the law of the Lord, and on his law 0:45:29.600 --> 0:45:33.560 he meditates day and night. They will bear fruit in season, 0:45:33.920 --> 0:45:37.640 You will bear fruit in season. You will bear fruit 0:45:37.920 --> 0:45:46.239 in season. Do not eliminate in a season of frustration 0:45:46.440 --> 0:45:49.200 what God intends to use to bless you in the 0:45:49.239 --> 0:45:54.880 season of your favor. So then we have a question 0:45:55.040 --> 0:45:59.840 to ask, what am I attacking that God has actually 0:46:00.840 --> 0:46:05.239 to embrace. That's why I looked at you the other day. 0:46:05.280 --> 0:46:08.680 I said it happened for a reason, because I don't 0:46:08.680 --> 0:46:10.560 know why yet. But I'm not cutting down that tree. 0:46:10.640 --> 0:46:12.600 I'm gonna let God do what God wants to do. 0:46:14.160 --> 0:46:16.319 When I saw the picture, Holly, I was like, well, 0:46:16.360 --> 0:46:18.520 it makes sense if I tell them stop chopping down 0:46:18.560 --> 0:46:20.440 trees that are gonna bear your fruit for the future. 0:46:20.680 --> 0:46:22.880 And I was like, you know what, they'll know exactly 0:46:22.920 --> 0:46:26.600 what that tree is for them, because the whole Bible 0:46:26.640 --> 0:46:28.719 started when somebody didn't know what to do with a 0:46:28.800 --> 0:46:40.759 tree and Moses said, we gotta get this tree thing right. 0:46:42.560 --> 0:46:48.000 Eve Adam, y'all were buck naked all along. You're just 0:46:48.040 --> 0:46:49.600 now knowing that because you don't know what to do 0:46:49.640 --> 0:46:54.560 with the tree. We don't know how to do with 0:46:54.719 --> 0:47:04.680 a tree. Tell Jesus who took a tree and turned 0:47:04.760 --> 0:47:08.360 the instrument of death called the cross made from wood 0:47:09.719 --> 0:47:12.799 into the emblem of victory for the church that would 0:47:12.800 --> 0:47:20.520 bear his aim. You ever heard that part where Jesus said, 0:47:20.520 --> 0:47:22.200 I could call it do on legions of angels and 0:47:22.239 --> 0:47:26.759 back all of y'all up wouldn't be anything either. And 0:47:26.840 --> 0:47:29.440 at the moment where they thought he said it is 0:47:29.480 --> 0:47:36.600 finished because he lost, he was winning. What if you're winning. 0:47:37.440 --> 0:47:40.960 What if you're winning where it really matters. What if 0:47:41.000 --> 0:47:45.000 you're winning where it really counts. What if you gained 0:47:45.000 --> 0:47:47.239 twenty pounds but it's not because you're undisciplined. What if 0:47:47.239 --> 0:47:48.920 you've been running your kids around and that's going to 0:47:49.000 --> 0:47:50.960 last a lifetime and you can lose twenty pounds in 0:47:50.960 --> 0:47:56.920 three months. What if you're winning where it really matters. 0:47:59.000 --> 0:48:03.920 Resist the temptation to cut down something that God is 0:48:03.960 --> 0:48:09.120 growing because you don't have the patience to wait for 0:48:09.160 --> 0:48:11.799 it to become what it can be. I think I 0:48:11.800 --> 0:48:13.640 got to come on Coffee fam this week and break 0:48:13.640 --> 0:48:16.440 that down further. Chad, make space for me. I'm going 0:48:16.520 --> 0:48:20.640 to try, because the last thing I want to leave 0:48:20.680 --> 0:48:31.600 you with is remain, remain. Let that tree grow, Remain, remain. 0:48:33.000 --> 0:48:36.600 I just can't win. Man. If I'm making my family happy, 0:48:36.600 --> 0:48:40.040 I'm making my boss mad, I just can't win. If 0:48:40.080 --> 0:48:42.279 I'm making my boss happy, I'm making my wife mad. 0:48:42.320 --> 0:48:46.000 I just can't win. I haven't made my wife happy 0:48:46.000 --> 0:48:49.560 in twelve years. I just can't win. I've heard it all, 0:48:50.480 --> 0:48:53.399 I've thought it all, except that last thing. I make 0:48:53.400 --> 0:48:59.600 all it pretty happy all the time. But I came 0:48:59.600 --> 0:49:01.719 to you with the beginning of last year, and I 0:49:01.760 --> 0:49:05.560 taught you the power of what the one day when, 0:49:07.719 --> 0:49:11.120 and I taught you that faith is not something simply 0:49:11.160 --> 0:49:13.239 for the future. Faith is the recognition of what God 0:49:13.320 --> 0:49:16.000 is already doing right now. It's the one day, not 0:49:16.280 --> 0:49:20.600 wh e N, but the wi N of this day. 0:49:22.280 --> 0:49:23.960 And the Man of God said, when you go to war, 0:49:24.600 --> 0:49:28.040 and you will, you know you only got two choices, brother, 0:49:28.760 --> 0:49:33.120 the wilderness of wandering around in the same thing, or 0:49:33.160 --> 0:49:35.960 the war of trusting God to be with you as 0:49:35.960 --> 0:49:38.480 you go forward. And when you face that war, he said, 0:49:38.480 --> 0:49:42.560 I'll be with you. I will be with you. Now, 0:49:42.600 --> 0:49:47.439 that statement, as simple as it sounds, is really all 0:49:47.480 --> 0:49:50.280 you need to believe for what's next in your life. 0:49:51.760 --> 0:49:54.239 And there are trees growing right now in your life 0:49:54.239 --> 0:49:57.040 that if you don't cut them down, they will be 0:49:57.080 --> 0:50:03.440 your future food. They will be future food. Moses would 0:50:03.440 --> 0:50:07.040 not go into the Promised Land himself, but he sent 0:50:07.120 --> 0:50:10.640 a generation because some of the things that are happening 0:50:10.680 --> 0:50:14.000 in your life right now that feel like failure, they 0:50:14.000 --> 0:50:19.760 are actually just for your future. And the most beautiful 0:50:19.760 --> 0:50:24.440 thing about God's word in my life is that every time, 0:50:25.280 --> 0:50:31.080 every time I feel surrounded by the enemy, I have 0:50:31.160 --> 0:50:36.800 an opportunity to become even more connected to the vine. 0:50:37.400 --> 0:50:39.000 I read a scripture that helped me through one of 0:50:39.040 --> 0:50:41.879 the hardest seasons of my life in John fifteen, verse four, 0:50:41.920 --> 0:50:48.760 where Jesus said, remain in me as I also remain 0:50:49.719 --> 0:50:54.960 in you, because no branch can bear fruit by itself. 0:50:56.440 --> 0:51:00.480 Stop cutting yourself off from Christ when you struggle. Come 0:51:00.480 --> 0:51:04.800 to him quicker when you sin. Come to him quicker 0:51:04.880 --> 0:51:08.520 when you doubt. Come to Him before you start drowning, 0:51:08.560 --> 0:51:12.839 and say help. Ask Peter it works. Come to him 0:51:12.920 --> 0:51:15.600 quicker in this season, And no matter how long it takes, 0:51:15.600 --> 0:51:20.440 he says, remain in me as I also remain in you. 0:51:21.640 --> 0:51:23.600 As the worship team begins to play, I want to 0:51:23.640 --> 0:51:25.840 remind you that you can't bear fruit by yourself. You 0:51:25.920 --> 0:51:27.959 must remain in the vine, and neither can you bear 0:51:28.000 --> 0:51:33.520 fruit unless you remain in Jesus. There are some things 0:51:33.520 --> 0:51:35.440 in your life that are taken a little longer than 0:51:35.480 --> 0:51:38.799 you want them to take. I know. There are some 0:51:38.880 --> 0:51:41.759 victories in your life that, although promised, are not automatic. 0:51:41.840 --> 0:51:44.840 I know. And if you've never been to a wrestling 0:51:44.920 --> 0:51:48.239 match before, it looks kind of weird. If you've never 0:51:48.320 --> 0:51:50.840 worshiped through a storm before, it might feel kind of 0:51:50.840 --> 0:51:53.560 weird because you're so used to taking matters into your 0:51:53.560 --> 0:51:56.800 own hands. But I want to remind you what Holly 0:51:56.840 --> 0:52:01.839 told Khalia. She said, a pin can happen anytime. A 0:52:01.880 --> 0:52:09.320 pin is still possible. God can turn your entire life around, 0:52:09.560 --> 0:52:15.840 and every regret can become a blessing if you remain 0:52:17.520 --> 0:52:23.040 in Him. So let's stand all over the auditorium. Please, 0:52:23.120 --> 0:52:25.520 no one trying to get to the doors. Let's respect 0:52:25.560 --> 0:52:29.440 the Holy Spirit enough to give a moment in his presence. 0:52:31.880 --> 0:52:35.640 Presence is to plan this year. Presence is the plan 0:52:35.719 --> 0:52:38.759 this year. I'm showing up for stuff this year. I'm 0:52:38.760 --> 0:52:42.120 staying in the vine. I'm letting the things that God 0:52:42.120 --> 0:52:43.960 has planted in my life grow this year. And you 0:52:44.000 --> 0:52:47.400 know what, every bit of fruit that's not supposed to 0:52:47.400 --> 0:52:49.920 be on my tree anyway, somebody else can grow it. 0:52:51.120 --> 0:52:55.319 I'm done being busy just to be impressive. I'm done 0:52:55.360 --> 0:52:57.720 trying to post stuff to prove that I did stuff. 0:52:57.760 --> 0:53:00.759 Not this year. This year is going to be a 0:53:00.840 --> 0:53:04.400 root system year for me and Father. I thank you 0:53:04.440 --> 0:53:07.719 for the word. Oh it's so good to me. Lord. 0:53:07.719 --> 0:53:11.000 I could stay in it so much longer. But I 0:53:11.040 --> 0:53:15.040 thank you that long after I have stopped speaking, you 0:53:15.120 --> 0:53:19.319 will still continue to speak. Now, God, I want to 0:53:19.320 --> 0:53:22.880 partner with you in this process because what I said 0:53:23.480 --> 0:53:26.359 is what I said, But what you say is what 0:53:26.400 --> 0:53:31.200 only you could say to each person in this room today. 0:53:31.440 --> 0:53:35.600 This message will mean something very different. There's an area 0:53:35.640 --> 0:53:38.680 in their life where they feel like they just can't win. 0:53:39.920 --> 0:53:42.560 I get the victory for a little bit, it slips away. 0:53:43.719 --> 0:53:48.479 I do better. For a little bit, it goes away. God, 0:53:48.520 --> 0:53:51.160 may we realize that some of the greatest growth in 0:53:51.200 --> 0:53:56.359 our life happens underground. Some of the greatest cultivation will 0:53:56.400 --> 0:54:00.239 be of our character, and some of the fruit for 0:54:00.280 --> 0:54:03.719 our future. I pray that you would give them the 0:54:03.840 --> 0:54:07.360 armor of God today and that they would stand therefore, 0:54:08.560 --> 0:54:10.680 after they've done everything that they know to do, that 0:54:10.680 --> 0:54:15.800 they would stand like a tree planted, that they would 0:54:15.800 --> 0:54:19.200 not quit, not cut it off, and not stop, but 0:54:19.239 --> 0:54:22.720 that they would stand and a bye in the vibe, 0:54:23.480 --> 0:54:27.359 bearing much fruit. Father. I even pray for those right 0:54:27.400 --> 0:54:30.719 now who are going through a pruning season where your 0:54:30.719 --> 0:54:34.279 gardenershears have been cutting back in their lives, and they've 0:54:34.280 --> 0:54:37.080 been perceiving it as a loss. But it's not a loss. 0:54:38.120 --> 0:54:42.000 It is preparation for the next stage of their fruitfulness 0:54:42.000 --> 0:54:45.880 in you. They will bear more fruit, they will teach 0:54:45.960 --> 0:54:52.640 more truth, they will have more wisdom, They will share more. Peace. Father, 0:54:52.719 --> 0:54:57.759 we are just branches. We only can grow if we 0:54:57.800 --> 0:55:09.720 are in you. I thank you that they're in your hands. God. Amen. Amen, 0:55:14.040 --> 0:55:16.239 will you do the simplest thing in the world. I 0:55:16.280 --> 0:55:18.200 know it looks weird if you never did it, but 0:55:18.320 --> 0:55:21.600 just lift your hands in worship. And before one of 0:55:21.640 --> 0:55:26.920 the singers sings, I want you to open your mouth. Yeah, 0:55:27.040 --> 0:55:30.640 all over the room. Open your mouth and don't stop. 0:55:30.719 --> 0:55:35.240 Respond to the Lord. Tell him, Lord, I'm staying. I'm staying. 0:55:35.680 --> 0:55:37.799 I'm staying in faith in this seats. And God, I 0:55:37.840 --> 0:55:40.279 trust you in this seats, and just tell him what 0:55:40.320 --> 0:55:42.480 you need to tell him. I don't want to just 0:55:42.560 --> 0:55:44.160 leave you with my words. I want you to have 0:55:44.239 --> 0:55:49.120 his spirit. Lord, I trust you in this Seatson. I 0:55:49.160 --> 0:55:53.000 thank you that you're greater. Lord. I thank you that 0:55:53.040 --> 0:55:56.560 you're greater, greater than what I faith, greater than what 0:55:56.640 --> 0:56:01.719 I fear. I thank you Lord that the is mine. 0:56:02.160 --> 0:56:05.600 I thank you that the victory is already won. I 0:56:05.680 --> 0:56:08.240 thank you has already worked out as it is in heaven, 0:56:08.320 --> 0:56:12.680 shall it be on earth. In the name of Jesus. Now, 0:56:12.719 --> 0:56:15.160 let's begin to praise him, because we know anything could 0:56:15.200 --> 0:56:21.200 happen when we do anything is possible when we praise him. 0:56:21.440 --> 0:56:24.960 Might look weird if you never saw it before, but 0:56:25.080 --> 0:56:28.920 I'm praising him because it could turn around. I'm praising 0:56:29.000 --> 0:56:34.000 him because he's growing me by his grace. Thank you 0:56:34.040 --> 0:56:36.560 for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who 0:56:36.600 --> 0:56:39.600 give generously to this ministry. Is because of you that 0:56:39.640 --> 0:56:42.560 this ministry is possible. You can click the link in 0:56:42.600 --> 0:56:46.680 the description to give now or visit Elevationchurch dot org 0:56:46.760 --> 0:56:50.440 slash podcast for more information and if you enjoyed the podcast, 0:56:50.719 --> 0:56:53.440 you can subscribe. You can share it with your friends. 0:56:53.719 --> 0:56:56.000 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:56:56.080 --> 0:56:58.160 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:56:58.200 --> 0:57:00.719 Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.