Why I Went Off

0:00:02.080 --> 0:00:04.640 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:07.120 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.120 --> 0:00:10.480 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.480 --> 0:00:12.520 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:15.240 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.360 --> 0:00:20.400 The series is called Triggered. This is week four and 0:00:20.560 --> 0:00:23.200 I just trust that you can expecting today for God 0:00:23.200 --> 0:00:27.200 to speak to you. Let's look at Second King's chapter five. 0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:32.200 I'm gonna give you my title right up front. Title 0:00:32.240 --> 0:00:37.880 of this message is why I went off touch Somebody 0:00:37.960 --> 0:00:43.959 tell him. It's a long story. When I first decided 0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:46.960 to preach on this topic of triggered, I figured that 0:00:47.000 --> 0:00:50.680 it would help me personally and then we could do 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:53.479 group therapy. But I wanted to do it from the 0:00:53.520 --> 0:00:56.480 Word of God because I am not a psychologist, certainly 0:00:56.920 --> 0:01:01.560 not a neuroscientist or anything like that. I interviewed a 0:01:01.560 --> 0:01:04.760 neuroscientist a few days ago and that is now on 0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:08.240 the Elevation Church YouTube, so you can go and watch that. 0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:12.000 I asked her questions related to the clinical reasons that 0:01:12.040 --> 0:01:14.240 sometimes we do the things that we do, and had 0:01:14.280 --> 0:01:18.479 a conversation with her about not just understanding things with 0:01:18.600 --> 0:01:21.600 cliches and jargon that we sometimes used to cover up 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:26.440 our lazy thinking, and sometimes we spiritualize issues that are 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:29.640 practical in the same time sometimes try to sell things 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:32.200 practically that are spiritual. And so it's just a great 0:01:32.240 --> 0:01:34.240 talk that's on the Elevation Chirch YouTube and you can 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:36.959 check that out. But this week I want to share 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:41.480 a character study on a Bible character who is so 0:01:41.600 --> 0:01:46.080 familiar to me. And by that I mean not only 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:49.560 have I read this story quite a few times, but 0:01:50.760 --> 0:01:54.800 I feel like I know this guy. I feel like 0:01:54.840 --> 0:01:59.840 I've met him one time in the mirror, and certain 0:01:59.880 --> 0:02:03.160 things about him really spoke to me, And so I 0:02:03.320 --> 0:02:06.040 just pray that the same will happen for you today 0:02:06.760 --> 0:02:09.160 as I read this text. I want to just tell 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:12.919 you the spoiler alert right up front. Naman in Second 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:17.120 King's Chapter five has leprosy and gets healed. But that's 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:21.080 just the headline, and so there's a lot to learn 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:23.440 in the midst of it, and I want to read 0:02:23.440 --> 0:02:26.639 a few verses and kind of drop in and explain 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:30.240 and move along in this narrative. The Bible says in 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:34.400 Second King's Chapter five, verse one. Now, Nayman was commander 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:37.200 of the army of the King of Aram. He was 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:39.760 a great man in the sight of his master, and 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:44.840 highly regarded because through him the Lord had given victory 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:50.880 to aerm It's interesting the way that is phrased, because 0:02:50.919 --> 0:02:54.600 it says it wasn't by him that the victory was one, 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:57.600 it was through him. And I think understanding that is 0:02:57.800 --> 0:03:00.520 very critical if you were to have any hope of 0:03:00.520 --> 0:03:03.280 remaining sane in your life, just to know that God's 0:03:03.320 --> 0:03:07.520 going to do it through you. You know, half of 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:09.520 the time that I'm messed up is because I'm trying 0:03:09.520 --> 0:03:11.040 to do it for God, and He's trying to do 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:12.520 it through me. But he can't do it through me 0:03:12.560 --> 0:03:15.160 when I'm trying to do it for him, and so 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:18.240 I just start forcing situations and then I'm frustrated and 0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:21.120 irritated and agitated, and I'm mad at everybody and everything 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:23.360 because I'm trying to do stuff for people and for 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:25.640 God that God would like to do through me if 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:29.760 I would yield myself and yield my will. And this 0:03:29.800 --> 0:03:33.200 is even more interesting because Maemon is not an Israelite. 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:37.119 He's not one of these chosen people, as they understood 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:40.680 it at the time, he's actually a commander of an 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:46.080 enemy army from Arim that would consistently raid the Israelites 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:49.320 and not only do damage to their crops, but many 0:03:49.400 --> 0:03:52.040 times take their people away in bondage. At the end 0:03:52.080 --> 0:03:55.160 of one of these raids. Bible says he was a 0:03:55.200 --> 0:03:58.360 great man in the sight of his master, and highly 0:03:58.400 --> 0:04:05.080 regarded because through him, he was highly regarded because of 0:04:05.120 --> 0:04:08.400 what he did. He was highly regarded because of the 0:04:08.440 --> 0:04:11.640 results that he achieved. He was highly regarded because of 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:14.200 the outcomes that were brought about through his skill set. 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:17.920 And so he was a great man in the sight 0:04:18.000 --> 0:04:21.800 of his master, and highly regarded because through him. I'm 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:23.719 reading it over and over on purpose, because it's so 0:04:23.839 --> 0:04:26.599 profound that if we skim the surface we will miss 0:04:26.640 --> 0:04:30.320 the meaning. He was a great man in the sight 0:04:30.400 --> 0:04:34.080 of his master, and highly regarded because through him the 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:36.680 Lord had given victory to aerm and he was a 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:44.880 valiant soldier. But he had leprosy and incurable skin disease, 0:04:45.760 --> 0:04:48.039 a non lethal form of it in this case, but 0:04:48.480 --> 0:04:55.880 a problem. Nonetheless, he was great. But and depending on 0:04:55.920 --> 0:04:58.240 when you see someone in the setting that you meet 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:01.520 them in, you might be he sometimes more acquainted with 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:06.000 their victories than their vulnerabilities. That's why I advocate just 0:05:06.040 --> 0:05:09.560 a little bit of time dating, just a little bit 0:05:09.600 --> 0:05:13.839 of time to see them in pressure filled situations, just 0:05:13.920 --> 0:05:15.880 a little bit of time out of the candlelight, under 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:19.960 the harsh neon glow of some of the trials of life. 0:05:20.880 --> 0:05:22.479 Just a piece of advice. But I can't prove it 0:05:22.480 --> 0:05:25.039 in the Bible. But I think you know, depending on 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:29.080 where you see someone determines what you see. And I 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:33.480 realize this more and more now because I think people 0:05:33.480 --> 0:05:36.120 think that they should behave in front of a pastor. 0:05:36.200 --> 0:05:38.400 So when I meet people, a lot of times I 0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:42.240 realize I might not be meeting the truest version of them, 0:05:42.640 --> 0:05:44.040 do you know what I mean? They might not always 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:48.960 speak in Hebrew and Greek, they might sometimes speak in 0:05:49.000 --> 0:05:52.159 other tongues. But when when I really want to know 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:55.400 about somebody, especially on staff, I don't go off of 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:58.279 my first impression, because I don't really trust my first 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:02.240 impression of people any more. I used to I used 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:07.120 to say I have discernment. Now I realize that a 0:06:07.160 --> 0:06:09.719 lot of what I thought was discernment was really me 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:12.320 just vibing off of somebody or maybe they reminded me 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:14.400 of somebody, and I didn't like some people that were 0:06:14.560 --> 0:06:16.960 really cool, consistent people, but I thought they were boring. 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:19.040 But the reason they were boring is because they're not 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:21.480 always having to create drama in their life. And I 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:23.719 found out that drama works good in movies, but in 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:26.239 real life, I don't want the ticket to that show. 0:06:26.960 --> 0:06:31.000 So now am my preaching already? This is just the 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:34.680 first verse. And what I learned about myself is I 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:37.320 need to ask others. I need to get references. And 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:40.120 at times i'll meet somebody on our staff and it's 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:42.320 not a small staff, and I don't know everybody on 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:44.360 the staff anymore. I used to. I used to hand 0:06:44.400 --> 0:06:47.520 select people, and oh man, when I hired the first 0:06:47.520 --> 0:06:50.400 staff member, I got the opportunity to spend just hours 0:06:50.440 --> 0:06:52.800 and hours getting to know him, so I knew his 0:06:52.960 --> 0:06:57.200 strengths and weaknesses pretty well. But now I will ask 0:06:57.240 --> 0:07:02.280 someone about someone, ask somebody that works with them and 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:05.520 has had to work with them in a pressure hopefully 0:07:05.600 --> 0:07:07.240 if I can, if I can get somebody that has 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:09.120 had to work with them when there was a deadline involved, 0:07:09.760 --> 0:07:11.960 or has seen how they managed a disappointment, you know, 0:07:12.480 --> 0:07:15.360 and how they treat others and things like that. So 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:19.600 I will ask how is so? And so let's say 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:21.880 that I wanted to know about JT. I would ask. 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:25.160 I would be like, hey, how's JT? And I would 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:28.280 wait for the person who knows them, not the person 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:31.560 who met them, but the person who knows them to 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:34.240 I would wait for them and see how long they 0:07:34.280 --> 0:07:38.200 hesitate before they answer the question, because I want to 0:07:38.200 --> 0:07:41.440 see how long they're going to scroll through, you know. 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:44.960 And sometimes people will say the right thing, but it's 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:47.600 the inflection in their voice they say it with that 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:50.480 lets you know there's something else. I'd be like, hey, 0:07:50.720 --> 0:07:53.400 I've noticed JT on our staff. He seems like he 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:55.800 seems like a great guy. And if the person's voice 0:07:55.800 --> 0:07:59.240 goes up when they answer, you got pay attention to that. 0:07:59.760 --> 0:08:03.200 And so it's like how's JT? And they'll go, oh, 0:08:03.240 --> 0:08:09.160 he's great. And when they hit that falsetto like unnatural 0:08:09.240 --> 0:08:13.000 soprano note, he's great, it's the sounds like axel rose, 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:21.320 you know. Up there. I'm like, but what everybody say? 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:26.600 But what? Because one thing that has really helped me 0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:29.360 in ministry and in life is to realize that everybody 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:40.040 has two eyes, two ears, one nose, one neck, most 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:46.760 people two arms, two legs, and everybody has at least one. 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:55.880 But he was a great man. But it's in the Bible, people, 0:08:56.840 --> 0:08:59.880 I'm not making it up. It said that this great man, 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:05.679 he's great. But the problem with being a preacher is 0:09:05.720 --> 0:09:09.160 I can see your eyes. I can see your ears, 0:09:10.280 --> 0:09:12.560 I can see whether or not you're taking notes, and 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:14.200 if you don't have a pin out, I'm judging you 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:16.520 so hard right now. I hope you feel the vibrations 0:09:16.559 --> 0:09:26.680 of the flames of hell. The issue with this arrangement 0:09:26.760 --> 0:09:31.720 is I can't see your but and it's probably better 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:35.839 that way. It's been a lot of my ministry preaching 0:09:35.920 --> 0:09:42.800 to people's heads, preaching to people's intellect. And I messed 0:09:42.840 --> 0:09:45.440 around and pastored this church now for over twelve years. 0:09:45.440 --> 0:09:48.440 And I messed around and got a few stray grays 0:09:48.440 --> 0:09:50.840 in my beard, and I messed around and got involved 0:09:50.840 --> 0:09:53.360 in a few people's lives. And I messed around and 0:09:53.400 --> 0:09:55.839 found out that everybody has a butt. And the only 0:09:55.840 --> 0:09:57.600 way I knew it is that a few people showed 0:09:57.640 --> 0:10:04.400 me there there. I know it's awkward, and you know, 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:07.240 half the reason that sermons don't really register more than 0:10:07.280 --> 0:10:10.640 two hours. Sometimes is because we're all trying to cover 0:10:10.720 --> 0:10:14.960 our butt. That's the strategy most people come to church with. 0:10:15.240 --> 0:10:18.800 See why b cover your butt? You cover it behind 0:10:18.800 --> 0:10:21.040 a big smile and appraise the Lord in a Chand 0:10:28.240 --> 0:10:35.680 you know I could do that? Do you know what 0:10:35.720 --> 0:10:39.160 I'm saying? He was a great man, but he had 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:43.200 a skin issue, and nobody can see that on the 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:49.160 battlefield because on the battlefield I got armor. We all 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:56.120 have something that we use to cover a spot in 0:10:56.160 --> 0:10:59.960 our life. Let's be honest, we're not talking about human anatomy. 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:13.000 You have multiple bucks, You are great with people, but 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:16.800 you don't take care of yourself. You see what I'm saying. 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:21.719 You are really good at succeeding and really bad at 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:34.800 being content. So I'm successful, but I'm miserable. I'm killing 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:39.560 it at work, but my fifteen year old do I 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:47.559 even have to finish this? I got a great marriage, 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:52.120 I'm great, but I'm not making any money right now. 0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:56.440 And I'm a good emotional provider, but financially, you know, 0:11:56.520 --> 0:12:01.000 I never learned how to do that. And the thing 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:03.880 about a really good encounter with God, you can tell 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:15.040 when you've encountered God it will expose your and the 0:12:15.080 --> 0:12:18.760 way it happens, it'll often be an unlikely way. Let's 0:12:18.800 --> 0:12:21.360 talk about this in three stages. The first is exposure. 0:12:21.800 --> 0:12:25.120 Nayman is perhaps changing one day in his own home, 0:12:25.640 --> 0:12:28.839 and verse two says, bends of raiders from aarm Remember 0:12:28.920 --> 0:12:33.480 he's a captain, he's a commander of these armies from Aram, 0:12:33.760 --> 0:12:38.440 which would often go out and take different people captive. 0:12:38.520 --> 0:12:42.280 And on one particular such occasion, the raiders from Aram 0:12:42.960 --> 0:12:45.800 had gone out and had taken captive a young girl 0:12:45.800 --> 0:12:51.160 from Israel. And she served Nayman's wife. And she said 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:55.600 to her mistress, if only my master would see the 0:12:55.600 --> 0:13:00.080 prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:05.200 his leprosy. And so the Bible says something really important 0:13:05.240 --> 0:13:08.880 in verse four. Because you are not blessed based on 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:11.960 the word of God that you hear or the word 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:15.720 of God that you understand, you are base blessed, and 0:13:15.800 --> 0:13:18.160 your life is changed in accordance with the word of 0:13:18.200 --> 0:13:24.040 God that you apply, obey, and act on. That's why 0:13:24.080 --> 0:13:26.720 you can hear thirteen years of teaching and still be 0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:30.960 mean as the serpent in the garden of Eden. No, 0:13:31.080 --> 0:13:33.720 that's why you can hear a lot of teaching about love, 0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:35.840 but if you don't make the decision to forgive, the 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:38.720 teaching about love will be snatched up by the birds 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:40.480 of the air and will not take root in your heart. 0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:44.280 So verse four becomes really important if we really want 0:13:44.320 --> 0:13:46.880 to change, if we really want to get beneath the surface, 0:13:46.920 --> 0:13:50.640 and you know, not just have a skin deep spirituality 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:53.520 and a skin deep relationship with God where we can 0:13:53.559 --> 0:13:55.880 fake it for a little while, and we create stages 0:13:55.920 --> 0:13:58.160 to impress people, and we have armor that we put 0:13:58.200 --> 0:14:00.280 on to go out into our job, but we come 0:14:00.320 --> 0:14:03.960 home and feel like miserable, miserable people to live with, 0:14:04.120 --> 0:14:06.440 or we feel like we don't know how to be intimate, 0:14:06.440 --> 0:14:08.400 but we know how to be impressive. And so as 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:10.560 long as people only see us from a distance, they 0:14:10.559 --> 0:14:13.440 don't really notice we're starting to cover our skin and 0:14:13.520 --> 0:14:15.760 cover our souls and things that are just leaping out 0:14:15.800 --> 0:14:19.760 of us at all the wrong time. Verse four says 0:14:19.800 --> 0:14:25.480 that Naman went to his master and told him what 0:14:25.520 --> 0:14:30.280 the girl from Israel had said. And this took courage, 0:14:31.360 --> 0:14:35.160 and it took humility for Naming to go to his 0:14:35.240 --> 0:14:41.960 master and show his butt, to show his vulnerability when 0:14:43.400 --> 0:14:46.040 he was a man with so many victories. I just 0:14:46.040 --> 0:14:49.320 want to stay there for a minute, because sometimes I 0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:52.600 feel like we use prayer as an opportunity to read 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:58.840 God our resume, you know. And while I think it's 0:14:58.840 --> 0:15:01.640 great to celebrate all the gol Elias that we killed, 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:05.160 sometimes the giants in us are kicking our butt and 0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:08.160 we don't say anything about it until it's too late. 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:13.200 And I'm getting bolder every year I passed her, as 0:15:13.320 --> 0:15:17.800 I commit more and more to preaching to the part 0:15:17.840 --> 0:15:22.160 of you that you would just as soon hide and 0:15:22.240 --> 0:15:25.440 never mention, because I think that's where real help is found. 0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:29.240 And Naman went to his master and told him what 0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:31.400 the girl from Israel had said. I mean, this is 0:15:32.240 --> 0:15:36.160 a servant girl. And Naman is what a great man? 0:15:36.560 --> 0:15:39.840 A great man. He's a great man. But he's got 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:42.880 these spots that are starting to spread, and if he 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:48.240 doesn't do something soon, there's no telling what might happen next. 0:15:48.720 --> 0:15:51.800 And since there are no essential oils for this particular 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:55.440 form of leprosy at this point in antiquity, Naman has 0:15:55.480 --> 0:15:58.440 to take the advice of a little girl. And now 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:01.760 we have a great man going to an enemy nation 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:05.720 in Israel, because of the advice of a little girl. 0:16:06.120 --> 0:16:08.400 Are you willing to obey God even if he speaks 0:16:08.400 --> 0:16:15.480 through something that seems smaller than you, because I notice 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:19.040 a lot of us won't. A lot of teenagers will 0:16:19.040 --> 0:16:21.240 listen to me preach and roll their eyes at their parents. 0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:24.760 And I don't understand that because I'm not paying for 0:16:24.840 --> 0:16:28.320 your college or your bracest. I'm not even buying you 0:16:28.400 --> 0:16:34.240 ramen noodles. And sometimes I've noticed that men will listen 0:16:34.280 --> 0:16:36.520 to me preach, but their wife knows them better than 0:16:36.560 --> 0:16:38.600 I do and could say some things that would actually 0:16:38.640 --> 0:16:42.560 help them. It's getting quiet, and even the women left 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:47.000 me out on that one. It's like that, I'm ana 0:16:47.040 --> 0:16:52.000 cancel reflective, y'all, don't help me with this sermon. It's 0:16:52.080 --> 0:16:55.880 something about exposure and when a spot in your life 0:16:55.920 --> 0:17:01.040 everybody says spot a leprous spots, something that is consuming 0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:04.560 you that others can't see when it is exposed by 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:08.080 an experience. That's the second stage I wanted to mention 0:17:08.200 --> 0:17:11.800 is experience, because things will happen in your life and 0:17:12.119 --> 0:17:15.679 you'll come up upon situations that will expose something that 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:17.720 you would prefer to hide. And what you do next 0:17:17.720 --> 0:17:23.600 determines whether you get healed. So Naman went to his 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:25.600 master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:28.360 Verse five says that the king said, by all means go, 0:17:28.840 --> 0:17:31.320 I will send a letter to the King of Israel. 0:17:32.040 --> 0:17:37.000 So Naman left, taking with him ten talents of silver 0:17:38.000 --> 0:17:41.040 six thousand shekels of gold. That's like seventy five pounds 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:45.600 of each. So Naman is going to Israel with his 0:17:45.720 --> 0:17:53.960 resources to attain healing. He's gonna he's gonna deal with 0:17:54.000 --> 0:17:56.520 this like he always deals with things, because he's a 0:17:56.520 --> 0:18:01.719 great man. He's a persistent man, prepared man. He's a 0:18:01.760 --> 0:18:04.640 powerful man. These other things that start with the letter 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:08.480 P as well and the letter that he took to 0:18:08.520 --> 0:18:11.480 the King of Israel read with this letter, I am 0:18:11.560 --> 0:18:17.040 sending my servant naming to you so that you may 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:19.120 cure him of his leprosy. There's all kinds of stuff 0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:22.080 wrong with that sentence. It's like the telephone game we 0:18:22.160 --> 0:18:23.879 used to play when you pass a message along to 0:18:23.920 --> 0:18:26.960 somebody and it starts out We're having jo chicken for lunch, 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:29.119 and it ends with I'm dying of cancer, and you 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:31.680 pass it down and it only takes three people. This 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:36.960 chain of communication has polluted the message itself because number one, 0:18:37.080 --> 0:18:39.239 the servant girl didn't say the king can heal him. 0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:43.240 It said the prophet can. And sometimes we run to 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:45.880 the wrong people because we have our own ideas about 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:51.680 where our help comes from. Talk to me, and it's 0:18:51.720 --> 0:18:53.760 not the king that is going to have the faith 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:55.880 to get him healed. It's the prophet. His name is Elisha. 0:18:56.720 --> 0:19:00.800 But the king sends the commander to the king because 0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:04.880 you know, this is to me, the most logical way 0:19:04.920 --> 0:19:06.600 to get him healed. We'll go straight to the top. 0:19:07.600 --> 0:19:09.480 But watch the king's response. And this is kind of 0:19:09.480 --> 0:19:12.919 interesting because when the king gets the letter and Naman 0:19:13.000 --> 0:19:18.159 shows up with all of the accumulated wealth that he 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:20.760 believes it's gonna take to get him healed. You know how, 0:19:20.760 --> 0:19:22.800 we have our own ideas about what it's gonna take 0:19:22.840 --> 0:19:25.160 to make a change in our life. And I'm gonna 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:26.760 do it. I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna go back, 0:19:26.760 --> 0:19:28.439 I'm gonna get my degree. I'm gonna go back. I'm 0:19:28.680 --> 0:19:31.040 get my degree. I'm gonna eat. I'm gonna eat so 0:19:31.160 --> 0:19:32.960 much Kal it's gonna be coming out of my nose. 0:19:33.040 --> 0:19:36.400 I'm not eating gluten again until twenty twenty four. I'm 0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:39.480 gonna do hot yoga and cold yoga and powerlifting, and 0:19:39.800 --> 0:19:41.560 I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do it all. Mariema Bible. 0:19:41.640 --> 0:19:44.080 I'm gonna delete every social media off my phone. I'm 0:19:44.119 --> 0:19:45.879 never going on Facebook again. I've got my face in 0:19:45.920 --> 0:19:51.359 the book. And he shows up with a lot of 0:19:51.359 --> 0:19:53.880 stuff that he thinks he canna need to get healed. 0:19:53.880 --> 0:19:56.119 But as soon verse seven, as the King of Israel 0:19:56.240 --> 0:19:58.800 read the letter, he tore his robes and said, am 0:19:58.840 --> 0:20:03.400 I God, you want me to do what? I got? 0:20:03.400 --> 0:20:05.320 This friend, y'all, his name is Alex Early. He was 0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:08.080 my college roommate and he used to make prank phone 0:20:08.119 --> 0:20:11.840 calls in college and they were hilarious. Most of them 0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:14.920 were clean. We were Christians, but he had the ability 0:20:14.960 --> 0:20:16.960 to push people to their breaking point. He was a 0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:18.199 big fan of a guy at the time who did 0:20:18.240 --> 0:20:21.119 prank calls named roy D Mercer, and this guy was 0:20:21.119 --> 0:20:23.320 famous for taking people right to the edge, and so 0:20:23.400 --> 0:20:25.600 we would laugh. And we still have these phone calls 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:27.760 recorded and one day I'm going to release them on SoundCloud. 0:20:28.240 --> 0:20:30.400 And these phone calls to me just bring me joy 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:33.320 At times in my life, because everybody's reaction was the same. 0:20:33.320 --> 0:20:36.320 He make up a million scenarios. You know. He would 0:20:36.600 --> 0:20:42.760 use this name, this alias duw Wane McGraw, Duwaine, and 0:20:42.800 --> 0:20:44.960 put a thing over the e because it's French. My 0:20:45.040 --> 0:20:48.879 name is Dewane McGraw. And he'd say, my boy Bobby 0:20:48.960 --> 0:20:51.960 is throwing up all over the shag carpet because I 0:20:52.000 --> 0:20:54.080 came to the grocery store and I bought bad milk. 0:20:55.160 --> 0:20:57.400 And they would always say this, no matter what scenario 0:20:57.440 --> 0:20:59.280 he made up. One time it'd be Bobby's throwing up 0:20:59.280 --> 0:21:01.080 on the shag carpet. One time it'd be I took 0:21:01.119 --> 0:21:04.159 my trousers to your laundromat and they shrunk up and 0:21:04.200 --> 0:21:05.920 now they're coming up around my thighs and I look 0:21:06.000 --> 0:21:10.520 like a European and you know, but whatever scenario he 0:21:10.560 --> 0:21:15.920 would bring up, their response was generally the same. What 0:21:15.960 --> 0:21:25.800 do you want me to do about it? The king? 0:21:26.840 --> 0:21:30.919 The king is like, you brought me a leopard? Do 0:21:31.000 --> 0:21:35.840 you think I'm God? I'm not a doctor, I'm a king. 0:21:36.320 --> 0:21:39.159 Have you ever felt like life brought you something that 0:21:39.200 --> 0:21:43.920 was above your pay grate to handle? God? They're doing 0:21:43.960 --> 0:21:45.480 that thing again where they sit there and look at 0:21:45.520 --> 0:21:47.520 me like they always have it together and they have 0:21:47.640 --> 0:21:50.639 all the answers. Because I looked at my kids the 0:21:50.720 --> 0:21:55.800 other day and said, I am not Google. I am 0:21:55.840 --> 0:21:58.560 not a search engine. I do not know. Furthermore, I 0:21:58.600 --> 0:22:00.840 do not care. Get out of my face. Sometimes I 0:22:00.880 --> 0:22:03.320 wake up in the middle of the night and replay 0:22:03.400 --> 0:22:06.000 things that I've said to my kids and feel so 0:22:06.240 --> 0:22:09.439 bad that I have to get up and baptize myself 0:22:09.680 --> 0:22:13.119 in the bathtub and get saved again, just as I 0:22:13.200 --> 0:22:17.760 am without one plead, O Lamb of God, what do 0:22:17.800 --> 0:22:25.440 you want from me? I'm only a man, And the 0:22:25.520 --> 0:22:30.240 King says, I know what this is, this man, watch 0:22:30.440 --> 0:22:33.680 can I kill and bring back to life. He's triggered 0:22:34.040 --> 0:22:37.960 because he is confronted with a situation that he is 0:22:38.040 --> 0:22:42.479 unable to transform. And whenever life presents you with something 0:22:42.520 --> 0:22:45.080 that you were not equipped for. So you got to 0:22:45.119 --> 0:22:47.639 be a dad and you didn't have a dad. You 0:22:47.720 --> 0:22:49.919 got to pay a bill, but God didn't give you 0:22:50.000 --> 0:22:52.680 a job. You've got to step into something that you've 0:22:52.720 --> 0:22:55.000 never seen before with the faith to believe that it's 0:22:55.040 --> 0:22:59.200 already done. And it can be exasperating to the point. 0:22:59.200 --> 0:23:05.200 Watch this that you allow your past experience to contaminate 0:23:05.240 --> 0:23:10.960 your perspective of the present moment. Remember what I said. 0:23:11.400 --> 0:23:16.080 The King of Aaron, Benedett the second would often go 0:23:16.359 --> 0:23:19.720 and invade Jehoram's land jahormas king of Israel. And so 0:23:20.040 --> 0:23:22.440 when he gets the letter saying, hey, can you help 0:23:22.480 --> 0:23:26.840 my guy name in can you heal my guy naming? 0:23:28.240 --> 0:23:35.520 It triggered within him a traumatic memory of the last 0:23:35.520 --> 0:23:40.919 time he was attacked, and so he goes off, not 0:23:41.080 --> 0:23:45.840 because of the situation that he's experiencing, but because of 0:23:45.880 --> 0:23:49.800 past experiences. Do you ever wonder why you go off? 0:23:49.800 --> 0:23:56.240 And it's inexplicable, like the level of the offense does 0:23:56.320 --> 0:23:59.760 not match the level of the outrage, And you wonder 0:23:59.760 --> 0:24:05.560 why what was that all about? Hell? You ever with 0:24:05.640 --> 0:24:07.960 the elevation church sticker on your car said some words 0:24:07.960 --> 0:24:09.879 that weren't blessed the Lord, Oh my soul? And wonder 0:24:12.400 --> 0:24:15.679 you know how y'all think Holly is so sweet? What 0:24:15.840 --> 0:24:18.680 time in college she was singing a worship song in 0:24:18.720 --> 0:24:22.080 her Ford contour, and the song said I was there, 0:24:22.480 --> 0:24:25.679 I was in the passenger seat. The song said, you 0:24:25.800 --> 0:24:31.399 are so patient with me? Lord. She didn't get to 0:24:31.520 --> 0:24:36.760 Lord before she was screaming at the at the dodge 0:24:36.880 --> 0:24:40.119 ram that pulled out in front of her, and she's loud. 0:24:41.240 --> 0:24:43.080 Holly is like when she's up here a reflect she 0:24:43.280 --> 0:24:45.320 be smiling. But I'm gonna tell you something about Hollyford. 0:24:50.640 --> 0:24:55.959 What what is that all about? Where did that voice 0:24:55.960 --> 0:24:59.719 come from? We? And then the devil starts telling you all, well, 0:24:59.760 --> 0:25:04.760 you know, not a real Christian, you're hypocrite. Some of 0:25:04.840 --> 0:25:06.840 y'all are gonna lose it before the day is over 0:25:09.840 --> 0:25:15.600 because of your fantasy football lineup. No, not because of 0:25:15.680 --> 0:25:18.840 anything significant to anything having to do with real life 0:25:18.840 --> 0:25:23.719 in any way, because of other men that have absolutely 0:25:23.720 --> 0:25:26.400 no effect on you other than one hundred dollars at 0:25:26.400 --> 0:25:30.920 the end of the season. And you wonder why did 0:25:30.960 --> 0:25:35.280 I go off like that? It's understandable because we live 0:25:35.320 --> 0:25:37.520 in not only the age of anxiety, but if you noticed, 0:25:37.520 --> 0:25:42.800 we live in the age of outrage too. How trendy 0:25:42.880 --> 0:25:47.399 it is now to just get mad about anything that 0:25:47.480 --> 0:25:51.680 you don't like the first time you hear it. Well, 0:25:51.720 --> 0:25:53.200 you'll aren't going to like this part of the sermon. 0:25:53.280 --> 0:25:57.000 I don't think too much, but can I be honest 0:25:57.040 --> 0:25:59.080 with you, I don't really care what shoes you were 0:25:59.119 --> 0:26:07.520 to church today. No, maybe my perspective is different, but 0:26:07.560 --> 0:26:13.120 I spend too much time seeing people's butts to care 0:26:13.160 --> 0:26:16.960 about what you have on your feet today. So I 0:26:16.960 --> 0:26:21.400 don't have time when teen suicide is in an all 0:26:21.440 --> 0:26:25.480 time high to check and see if you're wearing Adidas 0:26:26.480 --> 0:26:30.560 or Nike, if you got yeezes, or you want to 0:26:30.680 --> 0:26:34.280 just do it. I don't really have time to debate 0:26:34.359 --> 0:26:38.480 with you about a sluice or a commercial or getting 0:26:38.560 --> 0:26:41.760 mad about I really don't have time for it up 0:26:41.800 --> 0:26:45.200 here when people's lives are on the line. I really 0:26:45.200 --> 0:26:47.720 don't have time for it in here, when people are 0:26:47.760 --> 0:26:51.480 on antidepressants in a rate that's making them more depressed, 0:26:51.720 --> 0:26:53.880 but they don't know where else to turn, and we're 0:26:53.920 --> 0:26:57.120 run into all kinds of places that are leaving us empty, 0:26:59.320 --> 0:27:04.960 but we want to. There will be at least one 0:27:05.000 --> 0:27:08.560 comment on this YouTube video about the holes in my jeans? 0:27:11.880 --> 0:27:17.080 Are you for real right now? But it triggers something. 0:27:17.359 --> 0:27:19.800 You're not fighting me over shoes, You're not fighting me 0:27:19.840 --> 0:27:24.639 over jeans. One moment told me until you save your beard, 0:27:24.920 --> 0:27:35.080 I can't watch you anymore. This is psychotic, she said. 0:27:35.080 --> 0:27:37.919 I'm praying for you. I want to say, I'm praying 0:27:37.960 --> 0:27:40.560 for you. I'm a fast forty days. If you're that 0:27:40.800 --> 0:27:51.399 messed up, I don't know why I went off. I 0:27:51.400 --> 0:27:53.680 think like for me, this is just what I'm working through, 0:27:53.680 --> 0:27:55.600 and so this makes you think I'm crazy. You're right, 0:27:56.200 --> 0:28:00.240 but I'm going through this season of my life where 0:28:00.320 --> 0:28:07.160 I don't want to keep blaming my environment or consulting 0:28:07.520 --> 0:28:09.720 things that happened in my life, because the cross of 0:28:09.800 --> 0:28:14.680 Jesus Christ gives me a new reality and it really 0:28:14.800 --> 0:28:17.880 changes everything in the sense that all of my life 0:28:17.920 --> 0:28:20.040 has to be viewed through that lens of what He 0:28:20.080 --> 0:28:22.800 did for me and who he says I am. If 0:28:22.800 --> 0:28:26.880 I'm not careful, I'll be like the King who, when 0:28:26.920 --> 0:28:30.240 confronted with an impossible situation that reminded him of a 0:28:30.320 --> 0:28:35.840 past hurt, he inflicted the opportunity of his present moment 0:28:36.480 --> 0:28:38.720 with the pain of his past. Do you see what 0:28:38.720 --> 0:28:43.800 I'm saying He projected. See every time he dealt with aerm, 0:28:44.040 --> 0:28:47.120 it was an attack. And now it's an opportunity for 0:28:47.160 --> 0:28:49.760 this man to be healed and see what God can do. 0:28:50.440 --> 0:28:53.719 But if what you went through isn't healed by what 0:28:53.800 --> 0:28:57.920 Christ did for you, you will treat the opportunity like 0:28:57.960 --> 0:29:01.360 an attack. And I've noticed that, like I spend a 0:29:01.360 --> 0:29:05.120 lot of my time fighting stuff that God is actually 0:29:05.160 --> 0:29:08.360 sending into my life. I spent a lot of my 0:29:08.480 --> 0:29:11.920 time fighting against people that I'm not really mad at. 0:29:12.320 --> 0:29:14.440 It's really not them. Tell the person next to you, 0:29:14.520 --> 0:29:21.440 it's not you, it's me. It's me. I'm a perfectionist, 0:29:22.520 --> 0:29:25.360 and so sometimes when things aren't just like I want 0:29:25.400 --> 0:29:28.560 them to be, or here's what really happens, it really 0:29:28.560 --> 0:29:32.160 happens with my expectation. Put that word up there, because 0:29:32.440 --> 0:29:34.600 when I expect it to be one way and it's 0:29:34.640 --> 0:29:39.200 the other. Like when I went off on my dad 0:29:39.200 --> 0:29:42.800 a few years ago, it was because I rented him 0:29:42.800 --> 0:29:48.160 a house. I moved him and my mom to Charlotte. Well, 0:29:48.840 --> 0:29:52.080 I didn't move him, I hired movers and then they 0:29:52.720 --> 0:29:56.120 got fired because my dad was crazy and it was 0:29:56.200 --> 0:29:59.200 so funny. It really wasn't funny. It's funny now, can 0:29:59.240 --> 0:30:04.920 we laugh about it? Ah? Okay? But the day I 0:30:04.960 --> 0:30:08.440 went to see him, and the story has a happy ending, 0:30:08.440 --> 0:30:10.760 and then we ended up being together and it was 0:30:10.800 --> 0:30:12.960 good and all that. But in between remember name and 0:30:13.080 --> 0:30:14.960 gets healed at the end of this story. But there's 0:30:15.000 --> 0:30:16.200 some stuff in the middle that I want to talk 0:30:16.200 --> 0:30:18.760 to you about, because in the middle of that, that 0:30:18.800 --> 0:30:21.640 whole messy situation with my dad, I remember going over 0:30:21.760 --> 0:30:23.840 to check on them one day and I was so 0:30:23.960 --> 0:30:25.920 proud of the house that Holly had found that we 0:30:26.040 --> 0:30:28.320 rented for them, and my mom liked it and she 0:30:28.480 --> 0:30:30.320 was happy. And my dad. The first thing he said, 0:30:30.320 --> 0:30:31.720 I walke through dough. He said, this ain't gonna work, Bo. 0:30:36.240 --> 0:30:38.320 And I know honor your father and mother and the Lord. 0:30:38.360 --> 0:30:41.920 I know that Bible verse, I promise you, I know it. 0:30:41.960 --> 0:30:44.440 I even know that that honor is Cavat and Hebrew, 0:30:44.440 --> 0:30:48.480 and it can also be translated glory and wait. But 0:30:48.560 --> 0:30:51.840 the only thing I wanted in that moment, I'm gonna 0:30:51.920 --> 0:30:55.120 just be honest with you. I don't like to be disrespected, 0:30:56.480 --> 0:31:00.200 and it felt disrespectful to me, and so I went off. 0:31:01.160 --> 0:31:02.880 And it really wasn't what he said, because really what 0:31:02.920 --> 0:31:04.840 he wanted was just a few small tweaks. But I 0:31:04.840 --> 0:31:09.959 couldn't hear that anymore, you know, because my expectation was 0:31:10.280 --> 0:31:12.320 that he was going to meet me at the door 0:31:13.320 --> 0:31:17.040 and give me a big ol' hug and say, my 0:31:17.240 --> 0:31:21.880 son and whom I am, well pleased and the duff 0:31:21.960 --> 0:31:27.960 with the sin, But he didn't read my script. What 0:31:28.000 --> 0:31:31.720 do you do when people don't read your script? Meet 0:31:31.720 --> 0:31:35.440 your expectation? And here's where the story gets good, because 0:31:36.080 --> 0:31:39.800 I want you to notice that the same event that 0:31:39.920 --> 0:31:42.800 triggered the king and made him go into fear mode, 0:31:43.520 --> 0:31:46.880 which is usually what's happening when we're lashing out or withdrawing, 0:31:46.880 --> 0:31:50.400 because not everybody fights outwardly. Some of us bobble it 0:31:50.480 --> 0:31:52.959 up inwardly, and then we never go off. One day, 0:31:53.000 --> 0:31:56.240 we just tap out, and you wonder, how did they 0:31:56.320 --> 0:31:59.920 drop like that? Well, it's usually a series of un 0:32:00.040 --> 0:32:04.040 met expectations. In this case, the King of Israel, jehosh 0:32:04.440 --> 0:32:08.280 he's traumatized to the point that he thinks that everything 0:32:08.360 --> 0:32:11.040 is a fight. It says it in the text. See 0:32:11.080 --> 0:32:13.280 how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me. 0:32:13.320 --> 0:32:17.920 That's verse seven. See how they're looking at me. See 0:32:18.120 --> 0:32:21.480 they didn't even wave at me. See I told this 0:32:21.640 --> 0:32:24.400 is a Southern thing. You're supposed to wave at people 0:32:24.440 --> 0:32:27.000 when you drive by them. The town I grew up in, 0:32:27.080 --> 0:32:30.640 you waived at everybody. And the first time that we 0:32:30.640 --> 0:32:33.400 were driving through the neighborhood and Holly didn't wave at people. 0:32:33.480 --> 0:32:35.680 I corrected her. I was like, what is wrong with you? 0:32:36.200 --> 0:32:41.640 She's not from Monks Corners, She's from Miami, and it's 0:32:41.640 --> 0:32:51.000 a different culture. It's an inferior culture of rudeness. And 0:32:51.120 --> 0:32:55.960 so anytime that you've been used to in your life, 0:32:56.000 --> 0:32:58.320 you've been used to fighting. If life has really been 0:32:58.360 --> 0:33:00.000 a fight for you, if you've had to fight for 0:33:00.080 --> 0:33:01.720 your mental health, or you've had to fight for your 0:33:01.720 --> 0:33:03.800 emotional health, or if you've had to fight through issues 0:33:03.840 --> 0:33:06.640 of bitterness and forgiveness because of abuse, if you've had 0:33:06.680 --> 0:33:08.960 to fight for your own and fight to make it, 0:33:09.040 --> 0:33:11.080 or if you had to fight your own family, when 0:33:11.160 --> 0:33:13.200 you've had to fight over and over again, everything looks 0:33:13.240 --> 0:33:16.720 like a fight. Everything looks like a threat. Everything sounds 0:33:16.720 --> 0:33:19.480 like an insult. Every time somebody doesn't check on you, 0:33:19.520 --> 0:33:24.120 it feels like abandonment. It's the trauma that's being triggered. 0:33:24.280 --> 0:33:26.840 But what's encouraging to me and what I got up 0:33:26.880 --> 0:33:28.760 here to tell you about today, because this is pretty 0:33:28.800 --> 0:33:33.680 depressing so far. But the same stimulus that triggered fear 0:33:34.320 --> 0:33:39.479 in the King's heart triggered faith in Elisha's. The Bible 0:33:39.480 --> 0:33:42.360 says in verse eight. When Elisha, the man of God, 0:33:42.440 --> 0:33:45.320 heard that the King of Israel had torn his robes, 0:33:46.040 --> 0:33:49.040 he sent him this message. Now watch this king. The 0:33:49.120 --> 0:33:53.360 king said, who do you think I am? You think 0:33:53.400 --> 0:33:56.960 I can? You think I'm a healer? Elisha said, I 0:33:57.000 --> 0:34:01.120 know God is a healer. So watch this. Have the 0:34:01.160 --> 0:34:05.800 man come to me, and he will know that there 0:34:05.880 --> 0:34:11.440 is a prophet in Israel. This man said, where you see, 0:34:12.680 --> 0:34:18.240 where you see opposition, I see opportunity. And the same 0:34:18.280 --> 0:34:20.840 thing that triggered you to tear your robes and freak 0:34:20.880 --> 0:34:24.520 out and fall down in fear triggered Elisha to rise 0:34:24.640 --> 0:34:28.600 up in faith. Elisha said, send him to me, because 0:34:28.640 --> 0:34:31.799 the word of God is with me. Now Elisha has 0:34:31.920 --> 0:34:36.280 an experience to build this expectation on. Elisha has healed 0:34:36.320 --> 0:34:40.320 the waters at Jericho. Elisha has multiplied the widow's oil. 0:34:40.600 --> 0:34:43.879 Elisha has spoken to parent wounds, and when that child died, 0:34:44.160 --> 0:34:47.480 spoke life and it resurrected from the dead. Elisha has 0:34:47.600 --> 0:34:50.440 dug ditches in dry valleys and seen God bring water 0:34:50.480 --> 0:34:53.560 from the direction of edom. Elisha has seen God do 0:34:53.680 --> 0:34:56.000 things that only God can do. And so when an 0:34:56.000 --> 0:34:59.640 impossible situation that is beyond him shows up. Elisha knows 0:34:59.640 --> 0:35:02.840 what thed. Bring him here to me. I got something 0:35:02.920 --> 0:35:06.920 for nameMan. I heal lepers for breakfast. Bring him to me, 0:35:07.320 --> 0:35:09.759 and he will know not how great I am, but 0:35:09.880 --> 0:35:15.920 how great God is. And so watch verse nine. I 0:35:15.960 --> 0:35:21.600 love this story. Namon went with his horses and chariots 0:35:22.560 --> 0:35:27.000 and his expectations and his leprosy and his greatness and 0:35:27.040 --> 0:35:31.520 his butt, and he brought it all because he wanted 0:35:31.560 --> 0:35:35.680 to be healed. I know you want to be healed 0:35:36.280 --> 0:35:38.440 of something today, even though you've been covering it up. 0:35:39.800 --> 0:35:43.240 And I know you use your charisma to cover your cracks. 0:35:44.840 --> 0:35:46.960 And I know that nobody knows how dark the thoughts 0:35:46.960 --> 0:35:49.799 can really get for you sometime. But I've been doing 0:35:49.800 --> 0:35:52.040 this too long to sit there and preach to your armor. 0:35:57.480 --> 0:36:01.520 Because a business leader walked up to me and told 0:36:01.560 --> 0:36:04.040 me that he had to kick his teenager out of 0:36:04.080 --> 0:36:07.800 his house. He said, we almost got in a fistfight, 0:36:09.400 --> 0:36:12.920 he said. I swung at him and missed. I realized 0:36:12.960 --> 0:36:15.879 this has gone way too far. And the man had 0:36:15.920 --> 0:36:21.000 on khakis while he was telling me. Pleaded khakis, double 0:36:21.040 --> 0:36:28.600 pleated khakis, no tattoos, but didn't look like the kind 0:36:28.640 --> 0:36:32.279 of guy that would swing on his kid. But I 0:36:32.320 --> 0:36:37.080 don't even really think you've seen your own butt until 0:36:37.080 --> 0:36:43.879 you've been through certain things. And then the weird thing 0:36:44.000 --> 0:36:49.080 is we all have short term memory loss if we 0:36:49.160 --> 0:36:51.480 have one devotion and read our Bible one morning. Now 0:36:51.480 --> 0:36:56.279 we start judging other people when they flip out. And 0:36:56.320 --> 0:37:01.160 so naming is on the verge of some travel a 0:37:01.160 --> 0:37:03.240 long way to get here. It's like a ninety mile trip. 0:37:04.440 --> 0:37:06.440 And he's got a big crew with him, and he 0:37:06.480 --> 0:37:11.600 needs a miracle, and we admire him because he went. 0:37:12.640 --> 0:37:15.640 I do, at least I think to even get to 0:37:15.680 --> 0:37:20.000 this point takes faith. And maybe one of the reasons 0:37:20.000 --> 0:37:22.600 I don't put a lot of condemnation or I try 0:37:22.600 --> 0:37:25.800 not to in my preaching, is because I'm pretty proud 0:37:25.840 --> 0:37:30.000 of you who decided to show up anyway. I know 0:37:30.080 --> 0:37:32.360 how many things could have kept you from being here, 0:37:33.040 --> 0:37:34.920 and I'm pretty proud that you made the decision to 0:37:34.920 --> 0:37:40.440 bring your butt to church. Give yourself a hand for 0:37:40.560 --> 0:37:44.680 bringing your butt to church. And if you're watching online, 0:37:44.680 --> 0:37:52.120 you don't get to clap'stif. So Namemn went his horses 0:37:52.160 --> 0:37:55.920 and cheriots stopped at the door of Elicia's house, and 0:37:55.920 --> 0:37:59.959 Elciaus and a messenger, Oh, this is not gonna go well, 0:38:01.239 --> 0:38:04.680 because Naming is a great man. And when a great 0:38:04.719 --> 0:38:06.520 man comes to your doorstef, you give him a great 0:38:06.560 --> 0:38:12.840 greeting and you welcome him by name. Man. I'm a 0:38:12.920 --> 0:38:18.319 retired This is my last sermon. Y'all enjoy it. He 0:38:18.400 --> 0:38:21.680 sent a messenger to say to him, go wash yourself 0:38:21.840 --> 0:38:25.000 seven times in the Jordan. In the what in the Jordan? 0:38:25.400 --> 0:38:28.400 You mean that muddy little excuse for a river that 0:38:28.520 --> 0:38:31.640 y'all like to celebrate so much in this nation of Israel, 0:38:31.880 --> 0:38:34.759 which I don't even like anyway. And he didn't even 0:38:34.800 --> 0:38:39.319 come to the door and name. It went off. No, 0:38:39.400 --> 0:38:43.239 he literally went off, not in the figurative sense. He 0:38:43.400 --> 0:38:47.680 literally decided, I would rather go home with my leprosy. 0:38:48.280 --> 0:38:51.680 I'd rather go home and my arm fall off. I 0:38:51.719 --> 0:38:55.240 would rather go I would rather die than be disrespected 0:38:55.400 --> 0:38:59.799 like this. And when he heard this ridiculous command, he says, 0:38:59.800 --> 0:39:03.640 some very important in the instruction. It was a simple instruction. 0:39:04.040 --> 0:39:07.400 It was a stupid instruction. It didn't make much sense, 0:39:07.880 --> 0:39:10.200 just like it doesn't make much sense when God tells 0:39:10.239 --> 0:39:13.640 you to forgive somebody so that you can be forgiven, 0:39:13.920 --> 0:39:15.759 and you want to say well, God, if they ask 0:39:15.880 --> 0:39:18.040 for it, I'll give it. And God says to you, 0:39:18.120 --> 0:39:21.320 I'm not talking about what they deserve. I'm talking about 0:39:21.360 --> 0:39:25.640 your deliverance. I'm talking about your clean heart. I'm talking 0:39:25.640 --> 0:39:30.440 about your clear mind. So if you want to get cleansed, 0:39:31.080 --> 0:39:33.680 I need you to do something that makes no sense, 0:39:33.760 --> 0:39:37.800 because there is no cure for leprosy. It can't be cured. 0:39:37.840 --> 0:39:40.440 It's got to be cleansed, and it can only be 0:39:40.560 --> 0:39:45.400 cleansed if you obey this command. And verse eleven starts 0:39:45.440 --> 0:39:52.479 so sad, But there it is again. I'm gonna preach 0:39:52.480 --> 0:39:56.600 a whole series one day on the butts of the Bible. 0:40:00.560 --> 0:40:05.800 Stand in front a miracle standing. I mean, the guys 0:40:05.840 --> 0:40:11.880 around him are like, Okay, that's all we gotta do. Nayan. 0:40:11.960 --> 0:40:14.840 You could keep the seventy five pounds of silver and 0:40:14.920 --> 0:40:18.479 the seventy five pounds of gold, and you can pass 0:40:18.520 --> 0:40:22.000 out the ten sets of clothing and we could go home. 0:40:22.680 --> 0:40:25.960 We can start back home. That's easy. Somebody start running 0:40:25.960 --> 0:40:27.759 the water naming. You want it hot, you want an 0:40:27.800 --> 0:40:29.960 extra hot naming. You want a rubber ducky, get the 0:40:30.000 --> 0:40:40.000 towel ready. You want some sunscreen. But it's a funny 0:40:40.000 --> 0:40:46.520 thing about pride. It's a funny thing about the small things. 0:40:46.520 --> 0:40:48.799 It's a funny thing about something that seems beneath you. 0:40:49.960 --> 0:40:52.640 Remember the King was triggered because of something that seemed 0:40:52.640 --> 0:40:56.719 beyond him. Am I God? And naming is triggered because 0:40:56.760 --> 0:40:59.880 of something that seems beneath me. You want me to 0:40:59.880 --> 0:41:12.200 do what? Uh? Huh uh I'm not doing that. Huh huh. No. See, 0:41:12.239 --> 0:41:14.279 because when your heart is filled with pride, you try 0:41:14.280 --> 0:41:19.160 to write your own prescriptions. This is how I want 0:41:19.160 --> 0:41:20.640 God to bless me. This is how I want God 0:41:20.640 --> 0:41:21.880 to come through. This is how I want God to 0:41:21.880 --> 0:41:23.520 heal me. This is how I wanted to respond this 0:41:23.600 --> 0:41:32.400 opportunity I want. This is so Naman went away angry, said, 0:41:32.520 --> 0:41:35.120 this is two very dangerous words. By the way, this 0:41:35.200 --> 0:41:37.880 is this is maybe the two most dangerous words for 0:41:37.920 --> 0:41:45.359 you to interpret your life through. I thought, I thought, 0:41:48.440 --> 0:41:51.719 maybe those two words are the two words that are 0:41:51.760 --> 0:41:56.719 standing between me and peace today. I thought I thought 0:41:56.719 --> 0:41:58.640 my dad was going to be grateful for the house. 0:42:00.239 --> 0:42:03.040 Now he's telling me about getting somebody over here to 0:42:03.080 --> 0:42:08.120 fix the Huh. I thought I thought you'd say thank you. 0:42:11.120 --> 0:42:14.480 I thought you'd grow up and play piano and put 0:42:14.520 --> 0:42:20.480 you in lessons, I thought, I thought. I thought he 0:42:20.480 --> 0:42:25.600 would surely come out to me and stand and call 0:42:26.440 --> 0:42:27.960 on the name of the Lord is God. See, nay 0:42:27.960 --> 0:42:29.799 men had it all planned out, because that's what great 0:42:29.800 --> 0:42:35.680 men do. Great men make great plans, and when those 0:42:35.760 --> 0:42:38.400 plans don't go the way that they were supposed to go, 0:42:38.520 --> 0:42:44.480 great men go off, great women go off. Because I 0:42:44.480 --> 0:42:47.680 had this family picture, and here's where you were supposed 0:42:47.719 --> 0:42:50.440 to stand, and here's where you were supposed to smile, 0:42:50.760 --> 0:42:53.080 and here's where you were supposed to and here's where 0:42:53.120 --> 0:42:57.160 you were. I thought, could those two words be standing 0:42:57.200 --> 0:43:02.600 between you and healing today? I thought, God says, my 0:43:02.640 --> 0:43:05.880 thoughts are not your thoughts, and my ways are not 0:43:05.960 --> 0:43:08.919 your ways. For as high as the heavens are above 0:43:08.960 --> 0:43:10.799 the earth, so are my thoughts above your thoughts, and 0:43:11.880 --> 0:43:18.200 my ways above your ways. But Naman went away angry 0:43:18.200 --> 0:43:21.000 and said, I thought that I thought he'd come out 0:43:21.000 --> 0:43:25.040 to me. I thought, I thought he would see because 0:43:25.080 --> 0:43:27.840 I had this worked out. He comes to me, and 0:43:27.880 --> 0:43:31.520 then I give him the gifts and I get the healing. 0:43:31.680 --> 0:43:34.320 This is how this works. Not this time, name it, 0:43:35.880 --> 0:43:40.200 not this time. This transformation is not going to happen 0:43:40.239 --> 0:43:46.319 on your terms. God's not going to do it like 0:43:46.360 --> 0:43:50.880 you expected. He's not going to be held hostage to 0:43:50.920 --> 0:43:55.640 what you thought. So I thought that he would surely 0:43:55.680 --> 0:43:57.640 come out to me and stand and call him the 0:43:57.680 --> 0:44:00.800 name of the Lord is God, and way his hand. 0:44:03.320 --> 0:44:06.319 See he's supposed to wave, he's supposed to wave his 0:44:06.480 --> 0:44:10.000 hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 0:44:10.160 --> 0:44:12.440 He doesn't like the place God told him to get healed. 0:44:12.640 --> 0:44:15.080 Are not Abna and far part of the rivers of 0:44:15.160 --> 0:44:18.160 Damascus better than all the waters of Israel. I didn't 0:44:18.160 --> 0:44:20.160 have to come here for this. Couldn't I watching them 0:44:20.160 --> 0:44:25.719 and be cleansed. So he turned and went off in 0:44:25.800 --> 0:44:30.759 a rage. And one of his servants, this guy needs 0:44:30.760 --> 0:44:35.560 a raise, by the way, went to him. Notice how 0:44:35.560 --> 0:44:39.120 beautiful the story is told. It's chronicled like this. Namon 0:44:39.239 --> 0:44:41.640 went to his master and said, I need permission to 0:44:41.680 --> 0:44:44.640 go to Israel. So he went to the king, and 0:44:44.680 --> 0:44:46.680 the king said I can't do it. Then he went 0:44:46.760 --> 0:44:50.360 to Elisha with his chariots and horses. And now Namon 0:44:50.480 --> 0:44:52.799 went off in a rage, and he's about to He's 0:44:52.880 --> 0:44:56.200 about to miss the opportunity to be healed. Because he 0:44:56.360 --> 0:44:59.240 is going off. And here's why he went off, because 0:44:59.280 --> 0:45:05.719 he didn't go in, and he went off because he 0:45:05.800 --> 0:45:09.040 made his decision about what he thought about it, but 0:45:09.120 --> 0:45:11.439 he didn't go in. You know, I've noticed something about 0:45:11.480 --> 0:45:14.400 myself when I don't go into the presence of God, 0:45:15.200 --> 0:45:17.120 when I don't go in and ask God, what are 0:45:17.120 --> 0:45:20.240 you doing in this situation? When I don't go into 0:45:20.280 --> 0:45:23.279 myself and seek for the spirit of God to leave me, 0:45:23.960 --> 0:45:26.280 I start going off, and then I spend the next 0:45:26.320 --> 0:45:29.239 week fixing stuff that if I would have taken one 0:45:29.320 --> 0:45:32.360 moment and worshiped, if I would have taken one moment 0:45:32.400 --> 0:45:35.359 and sought God's wisdom, if I would have taken one 0:45:35.400 --> 0:45:37.400 moment and said, you know what, I don't want to 0:45:37.400 --> 0:45:40.200 fight about this. I don't want to be right. I 0:45:40.280 --> 0:45:42.560 want to be healed. I don't want to prove my 0:45:42.640 --> 0:45:52.239 own power. I want to receive your power God. And 0:45:52.320 --> 0:45:54.719 what happens next is really beautiful because some of you 0:45:54.760 --> 0:45:57.880 are going to do it today. Stand with me. The 0:45:57.960 --> 0:46:00.200 servant came to Namen and says something that I think 0:46:00.280 --> 0:46:02.200 is very prophetic, and I hope you can hear it 0:46:02.280 --> 0:46:05.239 on the level which it is intended. The servant Chase 0:46:05.360 --> 0:46:09.400 naming down Naman is on his way back to Damascus. 0:46:09.760 --> 0:46:13.879 He's gonna walk ninety miles back home with leprosy still 0:46:13.960 --> 0:46:16.400 on his skin because of something that seemed too small 0:46:16.400 --> 0:46:18.440 and insignificant for a great man like him to do. 0:46:19.920 --> 0:46:22.480 He's gonna spend the rest of his life with this 0:46:22.640 --> 0:46:26.520 disease because he didn't want to do what he was 0:46:26.840 --> 0:46:35.240 told to do. And the servant said, hey man, sir nayman, 0:46:37.360 --> 0:46:40.160 if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, 0:46:41.880 --> 0:46:45.680 would you not have done it? Well, of course I would, 0:46:46.680 --> 0:46:53.040 because I'm a great man. Well, if you're a great man, 0:46:54.480 --> 0:46:58.319 how much more should you be able to do a 0:46:58.360 --> 0:47:04.400 small thing? So when he tells you washouldn't be cleansed, 0:47:05.719 --> 0:47:09.439 why not give it a try? You know, you've been 0:47:09.480 --> 0:47:14.319 fighting so hard justifying your side of the story and 0:47:14.560 --> 0:47:18.839 justifying yourself and why is all right? And why is okay? 0:47:18.320 --> 0:47:24.719 But hey man, why not if we already came ninety miles, 0:47:25.080 --> 0:47:28.400 if we already came this far, and that profit is 0:47:28.440 --> 0:47:30.719 telling you that if you dip in the Jordan you 0:47:30.760 --> 0:47:40.760 can be cleansed, isn't it worth a try? You already 0:47:40.800 --> 0:47:44.600 went to your master and got the letter. You already 0:47:44.640 --> 0:47:50.359 went with your horses and chariots. Now you now you're 0:47:50.400 --> 0:47:53.520 going off in a rage. But verse fourteen is the 0:47:53.560 --> 0:47:56.680 happy ending, and I believe it's a new beginning for 0:47:57.120 --> 0:47:59.600 many of us today. The Bible says, so he went 0:47:59.680 --> 0:48:07.000 down and dipped himself in the Jordan. I'm glad after 0:48:07.239 --> 0:48:11.640 Naman went off, he went in, and he went in 0:48:11.680 --> 0:48:14.640 not just once, not just twice, not just three times, 0:48:14.680 --> 0:48:17.680 not just four times, not just five times, not just 0:48:17.719 --> 0:48:22.799 six times, but all seven. Often, when you're in the 0:48:22.840 --> 0:48:27.440 process of obeying God, you see no immediate effects of change. 0:48:29.080 --> 0:48:30.920 It's not like your skin gets healed a little bit 0:48:31.000 --> 0:48:39.680 with every dip. Woo woo woo. You got to have 0:48:39.719 --> 0:48:45.160 the faith to go through the motions even when you 0:48:45.320 --> 0:48:50.040 see no evidence. Go am I talking to him? You 0:48:50.160 --> 0:48:54.800 gotta have the faith to go down and pray again, 0:48:56.280 --> 0:48:58.480 to lift up your hands and worship and say, I 0:48:58.520 --> 0:49:01.279 don't feel a thing right now. But God is with me, 0:49:01.600 --> 0:49:04.520 and God is for me, And who can be against me? 0:49:04.880 --> 0:49:07.720 And I will not fear though a host of enemies 0:49:07.760 --> 0:49:11.000 and camps upon me. I will not be afraid. The 0:49:11.080 --> 0:49:14.520 Lord is my helper. I lift my eyes to the hills. 0:49:15.920 --> 0:49:21.560 My help comes from the Lord. By your head and 0:49:21.600 --> 0:49:24.400 close your eyes for a moment. I believe this is 0:49:24.440 --> 0:49:29.120 a significant word for someone in the room who is 0:49:29.160 --> 0:49:33.279 about to go off. Maybe you've been going off, maybe 0:49:33.280 --> 0:49:37.840 you already went off. I don't just mean temper tantrums, 0:49:37.880 --> 0:49:42.000 breaking stuff, throwing pictures around the room. I mean that 0:49:42.040 --> 0:49:43.960 there is something that God has given you to do 0:49:44.080 --> 0:49:49.680 in your life that seems so ridiculous that you, like naymen, 0:49:50.680 --> 0:49:53.160 are at the point of frustration. I want to speak 0:49:53.160 --> 0:49:57.080 a word over your life today that in this moment, 0:49:57.120 --> 0:50:01.480 the only way to receive healing is through your surrender. 0:50:03.880 --> 0:50:05.400 As long as you want to stay in control of 0:50:05.400 --> 0:50:09.600 those situations, they will continue to consume you. And that's 0:50:09.640 --> 0:50:11.480 what the presence of God is for. This is the 0:50:11.560 --> 0:50:16.560 Jordan river that you can dip in seven times. The 0:50:16.600 --> 0:50:18.360 Bible says that when he did it, his flesh was 0:50:18.400 --> 0:50:23.200 restored like a young boy. Isn't that amazing that the 0:50:23.239 --> 0:50:28.320 great man became like a young boy and he was healed? 0:50:30.640 --> 0:50:35.399 And isn't it interesting that God's greatest golden Nayman's life 0:50:35.520 --> 0:50:41.839 was not to heal his skin, but to produce faith 0:50:41.840 --> 0:50:43.879 in his heart lift your hands in this moment, Father, 0:50:43.960 --> 0:50:46.799 I thank you for every person, and I thank you 0:50:46.840 --> 0:50:50.560 for every problem. I thank you for the great things, 0:50:51.840 --> 0:50:54.120 and I thank you for the butt. Somebody in this 0:50:54.239 --> 0:50:57.960 room has an addiction. Somebody in this room has an illness. 0:50:59.040 --> 0:51:05.640 Somebody in this room has a heavy depression, and they 0:51:05.680 --> 0:51:11.200 see no signs of change, and they have really, really 0:51:11.920 --> 0:51:17.480 attractive armor, and so nobody can see but you what 0:51:17.520 --> 0:51:21.080 they're fighting with on the inside, and they keep pushing 0:51:21.120 --> 0:51:25.920 people away that you send to help them. In this moment, God, 0:51:27.480 --> 0:51:31.520 may this be the first dip in the process of 0:51:31.560 --> 0:51:35.680 their deliverance. And thank you for the Cross of Jesus 0:51:35.800 --> 0:51:39.920 Christ that we stand under and look to today for 0:51:39.960 --> 0:51:42.960 our healing and forgiveness and redemption has already been accomplished. 0:51:44.080 --> 0:51:46.480 I thank you that we are not healed, cleansed, or 0:51:46.560 --> 0:51:50.520 cured by achieving, but by receiving. Stretch your hands high 0:51:50.520 --> 0:51:53.719 as you can stretch them. We receive your grace in 0:51:53.760 --> 0:52:03.319 this moment. Your mercy in this moment waters wash over 0:52:03.400 --> 0:52:10.080 our soul. Well. I hope you enjoyed the podcast today. 0:52:10.239 --> 0:52:12.359 If you did, there are just a couple things I'd 0:52:12.440 --> 0:52:15.759 love for you to do. Number One, subscribe to our show. 0:52:15.840 --> 0:52:18.879 That way, the most recent episode will always be in 0:52:18.920 --> 0:52:23.000 your feed, waiting for you ready when you are. And secondly, 0:52:23.040 --> 0:52:25.520 if this ministry has impacted you and you'd like to 0:52:25.520 --> 0:52:27.920 help us continue to reach others, you can click the 0:52:27.960 --> 0:52:30.360 link in the description and you can give now and 0:52:30.560 --> 0:52:33.920 I'll see you next time on the Elevation podcast