Work It Out (Daniel Floyd)

0:00:01.480 --> 0:00:04.840 Welcome to the Elevation Church Podcast. Today we have the 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:08.600 privilege of welcoming Pastor Daniel Floyd from Life Point Church 0:00:08.680 --> 0:00:12.560 in Fredericksburg, Virginia. This is Pastor Floyd's first time preaching 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:14.880 at Elevation and we're excited for you to hear what 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:18.200 he shared with our church. We hope you enjoy this message. 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:25.240 What's up, Elevation, Come on, give Jesus your very best, 0:00:26.160 --> 0:00:30.240 Come on. Great is the Lord. He's greatly to be praised. 0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:34.320 And it's an honor. It's an honor to be with 0:00:34.320 --> 0:00:36.200 you today. I want to welcome all of our locations. 0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:38.839 We're actually broadcasting back to Virginia as well at all 0:00:38.880 --> 0:00:43.960 of our campuses this weekend. And I kind of I 0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:46.640 tell you, it feels like home here, been here so 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:50.160 many times. I was a text Pastor Stephen yesterday and said, 0:00:50.200 --> 0:00:54.520 I was thinking about two thousand and seven. I was 0:00:54.760 --> 0:00:57.480 trying to plan a church. We didn't know what we 0:00:57.480 --> 0:00:59.440 were doing, really didn't know anything about anything, just knew 0:00:59.440 --> 0:01:01.279 we love people and love Jesus and wanted to make 0:01:01.280 --> 0:01:04.280 a difference. And so somebody said, you got to go 0:01:04.280 --> 0:01:07.640 to Charlotte. There's something happening in Charlotte, and I was like, 0:01:07.680 --> 0:01:09.319 all right, I'll go visit. I need to learn some 0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:13.679 things and walked into Providence High School and blew my 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:17.440 mind and somehow I ended up meeting Pastor Stephen, and 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:19.959 I knew then in that moment. I was like, my 0:01:20.000 --> 0:01:23.720 life needs to be aligned with this man, because how 0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:31.720 of you know that alignment comes before assignment? And I 0:01:31.760 --> 0:01:33.640 was saying, I never knew how much that moment would 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:36.560 impact my life. In this text to him yesterday, I 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:40.280 can turn back to almost every major turning point in 0:01:40.319 --> 0:01:43.680 our ministry. And it was some phone conversation we had. 0:01:43.800 --> 0:01:46.720 It was some message he preached, like this is the dream, 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:49.320 or take your seat at the gate. It was some 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:52.120 environment he created where God gave me a revelation I 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:55.440 needed for this season ahead for us. And here's what 0:01:55.520 --> 0:01:59.840 I know about environments like this is that when you're 0:01:59.880 --> 0:02:02.320 in them every week, they can become common to you. 0:02:03.320 --> 0:02:07.400 And if you don't know, common is the opposite of honor, 0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:11.600 and you don't intentionally dishonor something, it just becomes common. 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:14.240 And so can I just encourage you never let this 0:02:14.360 --> 0:02:19.639 environment become common. But more important, more important, never let 0:02:19.680 --> 0:02:23.800 your leaders. Pastor Stephen and Holly become common in your life. 0:02:24.200 --> 0:02:26.959 How you perceive someone is how you will receive them, 0:02:27.280 --> 0:02:29.280 and so I hope you'll always perceive them as the 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:31.440 gift that they are Fesis force that he gives gifts 0:02:31.440 --> 0:02:33.920 to the body one of those as pastors. God must 0:02:33.960 --> 0:02:35.480 love you because He gave you one of the best 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:37.760 gifts you could ever get in your leaders. Come on, 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:40.919 can we thank God for Pastor Stephen and Holly Man? 0:02:40.919 --> 0:02:47.040 We love them. Thank God for them. We're not gonna 0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:49.840 stand the whole time. I mean, I'll see you in 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:51.840 a moment, you know, if the message is good at points, 0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:53.840 if you feel like you can, you stand if you want. 0:02:53.840 --> 0:02:57.119 I don't care. But we are from Virginia. My wife 0:02:57.200 --> 0:03:01.200 Tammy is with me. She is pastor of the church. Together. 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:04.440 My little girl Faith is with us. She's ten and 0:03:05.520 --> 0:03:10.560 she's ten going on twenty one. We have four kids, though, 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:13.919 and it's we call it the greatest show. We don't 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:15.800 want to call it a circus. That's not very life giving. 0:03:15.880 --> 0:03:18.560 We call it the greatest show. But I have a 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:21.680 twelve year old son named Owen. Faith is ten. We 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:24.640 have a two year old named Abigail, which in Hebrew 0:03:24.639 --> 0:03:26.840 means Father's joy. And if you ever meet her, she 0:03:27.040 --> 0:03:29.400 just lights up every room she comes into. And she 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:32.120 wasn't a surprise. We did that on purpose. Don't ask 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:33.920 us why. We don't know why. We started over again. 0:03:34.639 --> 0:03:37.440 And then we just adopted. And we have a seventh 0:03:37.640 --> 0:03:43.480 month old little boy named Jonas, and yeah, he's he's sweep. 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:50.480 And you say, ah, but he's not sleeping, y'all. And 0:03:50.600 --> 0:03:52.760 so pray for that. Pray a spirit of sleep and 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:56.440 Slamber comes over him. If not, Benadrul may come over him. 0:03:57.440 --> 0:04:00.839 I'm I'm joking. Don't call anybody on me, don't call 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:04.360 social services or anything. I'm joking. Have you ready to 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:06.760 get into the word today? I know this is a 0:04:06.760 --> 0:04:10.120 house that loves the Word of God. Let me read 0:04:10.120 --> 0:04:12.280 one verse to you, give you the title the message. 0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:14.440 Then we're going to jump into it. James, Chapter two 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:17.279 be on the screen for you, beginning in verse twenty five. 0:04:17.279 --> 0:04:20.080 I'm me read verse twenty five and twenty six in 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:24.880 the same way. Was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous. 0:04:24.920 --> 0:04:26.360 That's the way you want to start your first time 0:04:26.400 --> 0:04:31.120 at elevation reading about a prostitute considered righteous. For what 0:04:31.160 --> 0:04:33.560 she did when she gave lodging to the spies and 0:04:33.640 --> 0:04:37.400 sent them off in a different direction. As the body 0:04:37.480 --> 0:04:43.719 without the spirit is dead. So faith without deeds is dead. 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:48.800 Some trains us and say so faith without works is dead. 0:04:48.920 --> 0:04:55.440 Faith without activity, faith without action, faith without works is dead. 0:04:55.760 --> 0:04:58.040 If you need a message title today, it's this, work 0:04:58.080 --> 0:05:00.960 it out. Work it out. Look at your neighbor and 0:05:01.000 --> 0:05:03.719 say work it out. On your way to your seat, 0:05:03.720 --> 0:05:06.440 look at your other neighbor and say, work it out, 0:05:06.839 --> 0:05:12.560 work it out. I came from a family of five. 0:05:12.680 --> 0:05:14.839 I have two older sisters. I'm the baby, I'm the 0:05:14.839 --> 0:05:20.120 baby boy. I'm the only boy. I'm the favorite. Come on, somebody, 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:23.120 mamas their baby boys, they're their favorites. They won't say it, 0:05:23.279 --> 0:05:25.440 they won't speak it, but I know it right here 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:28.440 in my heart. I'm the favorite. And have of you 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:32.400 know that. When you got siblings, there is conflict. Come on, somebody, 0:05:32.400 --> 0:05:34.919 there's conflict. And so there would often be conflict in 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:37.440 the Floyd household and we would go to mom, right 0:05:37.560 --> 0:05:40.880 because Mom's supposed to take sides and solve it. And 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:43.280 she would say this too, you guys need to go 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:46.520 learn to work it out. Oh you had that mom too, right, 0:05:46.920 --> 0:05:48.800 come on somebody, Yeah, you got to learn to work 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:51.880 it out right. And so some would happen at school, 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:53.680 and my mom was not one of those moms that 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:56.320 would run to the school and fix everything for me. 0:05:56.480 --> 0:05:58.120 She would go, Daniel, you need to go back to 0:05:58.160 --> 0:06:00.880 school tomorrow, and you need to learn to work it 0:06:01.480 --> 0:06:03.880 out right. And now that I have kids, I have 0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:06.120 for it. And now they come to me with arguments 0:06:06.120 --> 0:06:09.039 and I go, you two need to go work it out. 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:11.360 We just got back from vacation. We were away for 0:06:11.400 --> 0:06:13.240 two weeks and by the end of the week, I 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:16.560 was like, one get away from me. And I love 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:19.000 my kids, but like we've been in two close quarters 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:21.960 for too long. Come on, somebody, and I'm like, any argument. 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:24.440 You guys need to work it out. Why Because what 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:26.440 we're trying to teach them, what my mom was trying 0:06:26.480 --> 0:06:28.880 to teach me, is this is that there's a skill 0:06:28.960 --> 0:06:32.279 set gained, and there is a strength gained, an ability 0:06:32.320 --> 0:06:35.279 gain when you have to figure something out on your own. 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:37.560 And what my mom knew is that one day she 0:06:37.640 --> 0:06:39.240 wanted me to move out of the house. As much 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:40.720 as she loved me, and as much as I love 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:44.600 my four in you know, eighteen years, the last one 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:47.720 will be out of the house. Theoretically, parenthetically that will 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:50.680 move out. And I want them to have the ability 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:54.080 to be able to last in the real world, hello, 0:06:54.600 --> 0:06:56.760 on their own. I want them to have the skills 0:06:56.760 --> 0:06:58.680 to deal with conflict. I want them to have the 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:01.279 skills to how to reason all the situation. I don't 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:02.960 want them to have to run. I don't want them 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:04.919 to spend their life going with it was their fault. 0:07:04.920 --> 0:07:07.200 I didn't succeed, it was their fault that it didn't 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:09.320 come through. It was their fault. No, I want them 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:12.720 to take personal responsibility. I want them to learn to 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:17.160 work it out. Somebody shall work it out. And so 0:07:17.440 --> 0:07:20.400 what some we think, some of us think we should 0:07:20.400 --> 0:07:23.720 do is shelter our kids from that. But rather there 0:07:23.720 --> 0:07:27.480 are some situations we should send them back into. And 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:29.119 how many of you know that there are some things 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:31.800 in life as you grow up that you've got to 0:07:31.880 --> 0:07:35.920 learn to work out that there comes some challenging situations 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:38.960 in life. There comes some difficult things that we all face, 0:07:39.120 --> 0:07:41.440 no matter whether you're here at one of our locations. 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:44.240 And you believe in Jesus, don't believe in Jesus. We 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:48.800 all experience life, and I found that life can be difficult, 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:51.080 and I found that life can throw some things at 0:07:51.120 --> 0:07:53.400 you that are hard. And I found that it happens 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:56.000 from two different angles. One is, sometimes we do it 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:59.400 to ourselves. Hello, let's be honest. Sometimes we just make 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:02.320 some dumb choices and we do it to ourselves. And 0:08:02.360 --> 0:08:04.480 some things happened to us. We had no control over 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:06.800 the phone call that came and we had no control 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:09.160 over it. The person that walked out of our life 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:11.560 and we had no control over it. There's some things 0:08:11.600 --> 0:08:14.280 that happened because we had no control. But there's some 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:16.400 things that happened because we had control and we just 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:20.360 caused it. But in either situation, if we assume that 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:23.800 just because God is good, which he is, that he 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:26.920 will shelter us from everything, we are going to be 0:08:27.040 --> 0:08:31.680 sorely disappointed because God, instead of sheltering us, will often 0:08:32.440 --> 0:08:37.560 leverage that situation to develop something in us. See. I 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:40.480 found that whenever we face challenging in hard times in life, 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:43.400 there's usually three responses. We have one we try to 0:08:43.440 --> 0:08:46.480 fix it ourselves. Right, I can do this. I can 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:49.720 pull myself up by my own bootstraps. I can try harder. 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:52.560 I'm gonna do better. It's what we do in January, right, y'all. 0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:56.920 Remember that diet plan you had giving you a moment 0:08:56.960 --> 0:08:59.880 to think about it. Remember that workout. I'm gonna do keto, 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:02.040 I'm going to get I'm gonna hit the gym. Right. 0:09:02.120 --> 0:09:04.119 Some of you are like, oh, yeah, that's still automatically 0:09:04.160 --> 0:09:07.080 withdrawing from my account. I haven't been in three months. 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:09.400 Come on, so and so you get. But I can 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:11.960 do this myself, right. And here's the thing is that 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:14.120 you'll find is that there's some things in life that 0:09:14.200 --> 0:09:16.480 no matter how much effort you put into them, it 0:09:16.520 --> 0:09:20.240 will not resolve it. Some of us, the next step 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:21.920 is we go we go to find a solution from 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:26.520 everybody else around us, and so we we crowdsource counseling 0:09:26.600 --> 0:09:30.000 on social media. Please stop that, by the way, we 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:32.040 go to every person. In the Bible does say that 0:09:32.080 --> 0:09:35.559 in a multitude of counselors there is wisdom. But maybe 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:39.240 that shouldn't be step one. I found that some of us, 0:09:39.280 --> 0:09:40.719 if we don't go to ourselfs or we don't go 0:09:40.760 --> 0:09:43.480 to other people, we end up just saying, well, this 0:09:43.559 --> 0:09:46.040 is my lot in life. That I'm just gonna live 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:49.200 stuck that I've just got to live. I've got to 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:50.840 deal with this for I think for some of us, 0:09:50.880 --> 0:09:54.080 we somehow have twisted in our mind that maybe the 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:57.160 life I'm living now and the difficulties I'm facing now, 0:09:57.440 --> 0:10:00.920 I'm paying penance to God for some life that I 0:10:01.040 --> 0:10:04.439 lived previously, whenever I before Jesus. And so now I've 0:10:04.520 --> 0:10:06.680 just kind of deal with this, and I just I 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:08.760 love this about this house, and I love this about 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:11.719 Pastor Stephen Is. He is bent on letting you know 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:14.240 you don't have to live stuck in life, that God 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:16.360 does have a good plan for your life. Come on, 0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:18.679 that He does have a good purpose for your life, 0:10:18.760 --> 0:10:21.520 and you don't have to live stuck in your current situation. 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:24.680 Life does not have to be a merry go round 0:10:24.720 --> 0:10:26.760 where you feel like you're dealing with the same thing 0:10:26.920 --> 0:10:30.040 over and over and over and over. The name's changed, 0:10:30.080 --> 0:10:32.839 the situation's changed, but I just can't seem to get 0:10:32.880 --> 0:10:35.199 out of that. That is not God's plan for you. 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:38.960 And so if it's not, I'll fix it myself. And 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:41.800 it's not other people can fix it for me. And 0:10:41.840 --> 0:10:44.880 it's not that I'm just supposed to live less than 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:49.480 life than what is it? Then, these challenging situations, what 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:52.000 are their purpose? Why? I would say this that they 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:56.480 can be leveraged for God to increase the one thing 0:10:56.559 --> 0:11:01.120 that pleases him, and that is faith. The Bible says 0:11:01.160 --> 0:11:06.400 that without faith, it's impossible to please God. So the 0:11:06.440 --> 0:11:09.720 one thing that pleases God. Not your performance doesn't please God. 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:14.760 Not your best day, not trying harder, not I'll do better, 0:11:15.120 --> 0:11:17.720 Not God, Look at me, God, I did the right thing. God, 0:11:17.720 --> 0:11:20.680 I didn't. I didn't lay into that person. I didn't, 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:24.360 you know, I didn't tell my coworker what I really thought. God, 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:27.760 didn't I do a great job today? Hello, somebody, I 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:29.880 know you're also spiritual. Y'all don't do that. We were 0:11:29.920 --> 0:11:31.839 on vacation and I had my little two year old 0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:35.720 and she's a little swimming diaper, right, And there was 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:40.080 this individual, we'll call it that, by the pool at 0:11:40.120 --> 0:11:44.160 the resort, and evidently in the condos we were staying in, 0:11:44.200 --> 0:11:46.319 evidently there's a rule you can't wear swimming diapers in 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:50.400 this certain pool, and this one lady made sure the 0:11:50.440 --> 0:11:52.040 people in charge knew that, so they would come to 0:11:52.080 --> 0:11:53.480 us and tell us to get her out. Of the pool. 0:11:55.080 --> 0:12:01.640 So I deemed her the pool Nazi, and I knew 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:04.320 that I was not walking in the spirit enough to 0:12:04.360 --> 0:12:06.200 go over and have a conversation with her, so I 0:12:06.200 --> 0:12:11.760 asked my wife to I was like, go get her baby, 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:15.839 and Tammy's got like that southern sweet thing. Hey, how 0:12:15.840 --> 0:12:18.080 are you? What's your name? Like, introduce yourself. I didn't 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:19.720 went over there and been like, what's your problem? Are 0:12:19.720 --> 0:12:26.079 you trying to kill my joy? Kill my vacation? You 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:29.199 all with me? I know y'all don't face any days 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:32.520 like that, But maybe in those moments, God's trying to 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:34.640 develop something in me. And I heard the Holy Spirit 0:12:34.679 --> 0:12:37.320 go the fruit of me is self control. It's like, 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:40.400 all right, let's I may need a day or two 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:42.880 to work on this, Jesus, because if she's at the 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:46.840 pool tomorrow, I may not have self control. But in 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:49.280 that moment, God was like, I'm trying to do something 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:52.560 in you. I'm not trying to do something to you. 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:55.880 Just so you know the end of the story. I 0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:57.880 took her swimming dipper off. I was like, whatever she does, 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:10.160 she does, get in the pool, baby, shine, potty Trenia. 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:15.640 So I just want you to know that those challenging moments. 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:17.920 It's not that God is doing something to you. Sometimes 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:19.480 we can go God, what are you doing to me? 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:22.160 And God's going now, I'm not trying to do something 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:24.600 to you. I'm trying to do something in you so 0:13:24.640 --> 0:13:27.240 that i can do something through you. But I've got 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:29.520 to do something in you first before i can do 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:32.959 the thing through you. I'm trying to elevate your faith. 0:13:33.600 --> 0:13:36.440 And here's what I found is that faith does not 0:13:36.679 --> 0:13:41.880 grow in comfort. That if you want a comfortable life, 0:13:41.920 --> 0:13:44.240 then you may never have faith that has grown or 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:49.480 elevated to another level. It requires discomfort for faith to grow. 0:13:50.080 --> 0:13:53.240 And without faith, it's impossible to please God. So that 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:57.959 means God will allow some uncomfortable situations in your life 0:13:58.320 --> 0:14:00.800 so that he can elevate your faith to take you 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:04.360 to another level. So faith, the Bible says, is evidence 0:14:04.559 --> 0:14:07.040 or faith is substance. Are you with me, say, man, 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:10.720 faith is evidence. Faith is not a feeling. It's not 0:14:10.960 --> 0:14:14.160 the emotion that you get when elevation worship. Who has 0:14:14.200 --> 0:14:17.439 thankfully written the anthem of generation of a generation? Now, 0:14:17.520 --> 0:14:21.120 I mean amazing, But that's not faith. That feeling you 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:24.480 get that's wonderful, but that's not faith. It's it's not 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:26.720 when the hairs on the back of your neck stand 0:14:26.800 --> 0:14:29.600 up in the goosebunska. That's not faith. The Bible says 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:33.480 faith is evidence. Now I'm no attorney, but I understand 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:35.800 that evidence is what is required whenever you go into 0:14:35.840 --> 0:14:39.200 a courtroom, that you have to produce evidence to back 0:14:39.280 --> 0:14:42.400 up your case for what you are saying is true. 0:14:42.800 --> 0:14:48.400 So faith is evidence, meaning faith is seen, it's tangible, 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:53.000 it's observable in something of my behavior or in my speech. 0:14:54.040 --> 0:14:56.800 So I cannot say that I have faith if my 0:14:56.960 --> 0:15:01.680 behavior doesn't follow up what I'm saying. I believe it 0:15:01.800 --> 0:15:05.720 is the evidence. Are y'all following me? So faith without 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:09.560 let's say it this way works. Our faith without evidence 0:15:10.440 --> 0:15:14.600 is dead or isn't really faith at all. And so 0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:18.320 God will give me the opportunity to produce evidence in 0:15:18.440 --> 0:15:21.640 my life that I have faith so that I can 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:25.480 please Him. So the challenging situations in my life are 0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:27.800 not God doing something to me. They're God doing something 0:15:27.880 --> 0:15:30.440 in me, and it is strengthening my faith. And the 0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:36.280 muscle of faith does not grow in comfort. So if 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:38.360 you're in the middle of discomfort right now, you should 0:15:38.400 --> 0:15:45.480 rejoice because God is growing something in you, meaning God 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:51.920 is about to do something through you. Come on, somebody, 0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:57.120 So how do I work out my faith? Then? How 0:15:57.160 --> 0:15:59.600 do I work it out? Like that sounds all good 0:15:59.760 --> 0:16:02.840 and and that's great, But how do I work it out? 0:16:03.160 --> 0:16:05.600 What does it look like when God is working out 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:09.640 my faith so that I can grow this faith muscle 0:16:09.680 --> 0:16:12.440 to believe for greater things. And here's I want to 0:16:12.480 --> 0:16:15.080 put this caveat. If I could insert this caveat into 0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:17.640 the message so that you understand this clearly that I'm 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:21.720 not talking about working out faith for salvation. She need 0:16:21.760 --> 0:16:24.480 to make that clear for you. You are saved by 0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:28.080 faith alone, through grace alone. Are you following me? It 0:16:28.160 --> 0:16:29.800 is not of your work, so that you don't get 0:16:29.800 --> 0:16:32.360 the credit. It's the gift of God. So none of 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:34.920 us can boast in that. I'm talking about the faith 0:16:34.920 --> 0:16:37.840 to believe God for greater things in your life. Are 0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:39.560 you with me? All right? So I want us to 0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:41.840 look at the story in the Old Testament, Second Samuel 0:16:42.320 --> 0:16:45.120 chapter one, the story of Hannah, and I see a 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:48.160 couple of things in Hannah's life that helps us see 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:51.720 how God works out faith. I'm sorry. First Samuel chapter one, 0:16:51.920 --> 0:16:54.200 first Samuel chapter one. What you need to know real 0:16:54.240 --> 0:16:58.280 click cliff notes about Hannah is that she is married 0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:01.200 to a guy. He also has another wife. That's a 0:17:01.240 --> 0:17:06.000 whole nother day, Pastor Stephen, w'clear up all that. But 0:17:06.960 --> 0:17:10.320 he's and she is unable to have children, and she 0:17:10.320 --> 0:17:12.600 she very much desires to have children. So first Samuel 0:17:12.680 --> 0:17:15.160 chapter one, we're gonna start reading in verse three. Verse 0:17:15.200 --> 0:17:16.639 three to be on the screen, it says this, the 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:20.040 year after year, this man, being Hannah's husband, he went 0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:22.439 up from the town to worship and sacrifice to the 0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:25.760 Lord Almighty at Shiloh, where Hofni and Phineas not Phineas 0:17:25.760 --> 0:17:29.720 and ferb Hello I have little children. The two sons 0:17:29.720 --> 0:17:32.919 of Eli were the priests of the Lord. And whenever 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:36.160 the day came for Alcana to sacrifice, he would give 0:17:36.200 --> 0:17:39.200 portions of the meat to his wife Pannina and all 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:41.800 of her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave 0:17:41.840 --> 0:17:45.200 a double portion because he loved her and the Lord 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:48.280 had closed her womb. And because the Lord had closed 0:17:48.280 --> 0:17:50.679 her womb. Listen to this, the other wife, her rival, 0:17:50.760 --> 0:17:54.720 kept provoking her in order to irritate her. This went 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:57.760 on year after year, and whenever Hannah went up to 0:17:57.800 --> 0:18:01.080 the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her until 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:05.200 she wept, and she could not eat till she wept, 0:18:05.200 --> 0:18:06.719 and she could not eat. When if you've ever been 0:18:06.760 --> 0:18:09.480 in a place in life where you so desired something 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:14.240 but it seemed impossible to obtain it, you know, some 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:19.600 of life's challenges aren't just challenging, they're impossible. They look like, 0:18:19.760 --> 0:18:23.480 how could this ever happen? How could this ever come through? 0:18:23.600 --> 0:18:26.159 How could I ever find a solution to this? And 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:28.119 I would say today at all of our locations, that 0:18:28.160 --> 0:18:29.520 there's some of you that feel like you're in the 0:18:29.520 --> 0:18:34.000 middle of impossible situations. It's where Hannah was. Her womb 0:18:34.119 --> 0:18:37.680 was closed. She could not have a child. She could 0:18:37.720 --> 0:18:41.000 not control that outcome. You know, life is a lot 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:44.040 easier when you can control the outcome. She could not 0:18:44.200 --> 0:18:48.000 control the outcome. And not only that, but she had 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:52.320 an antagonist in the story that constantly was antagonizing her 0:18:52.359 --> 0:18:56.119 and provoking her. Hey, Hannah, you can't have kids. Hey Hannah, 0:18:56.119 --> 0:18:57.800 how's it feel? Hey Hannah, look at it? Could you 0:18:57.880 --> 0:19:02.400 mind the babysit my kids? While I go out constantly 0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:06.280 antagonizing and provoking her and So Hannah was living daily. 0:19:06.480 --> 0:19:09.080 Every day she woke up, she lived in the reality 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:11.560 of the deficit that was in her life. The deficit 0:19:11.600 --> 0:19:13.800 the gap between where she was and where she wanted 0:19:13.840 --> 0:19:16.080 to be, between what she currently had and what she 0:19:16.200 --> 0:19:20.119 was desperately wanting from God. And there was nothing she 0:19:20.119 --> 0:19:22.600 could do to change it. And I want you to 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:25.040 notice this that as we would learn to work out 0:19:25.080 --> 0:19:27.800 our faiths, we learned to work out our faith. If 0:19:27.840 --> 0:19:29.680 your note taker writing this down number one is this 0:19:30.200 --> 0:19:36.359 is that the deficit is faith's opportunity. The deficit is 0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:40.119 faith's opportunity. Many of us look at the deficits in 0:19:40.119 --> 0:19:42.240 our life and look at it as the obstacle. But 0:19:42.320 --> 0:19:45.000 it is not the obstacle. It is the opportunity for 0:19:45.080 --> 0:19:48.439 our faiths to grow. It's opportunity for the muscle of 0:19:48.440 --> 0:19:51.280 faith to get stronger so that we can carry the 0:19:51.320 --> 0:19:53.879 weightier thing that God wants to do in our life 0:19:54.040 --> 0:19:57.440 in the seasons ahead. Without the deficit, our faith would 0:19:57.480 --> 0:20:00.440 not grow. The deficit is required for ours, our faith 0:20:00.520 --> 0:20:04.800 to grow. I remember whenever my daughter Faith was Tammy 0:20:04.880 --> 0:20:07.240 was pregnant with her, we went for you know, you 0:20:07.280 --> 0:20:09.919 go for all the ultrasounds around twenty weeks, and so 0:20:09.920 --> 0:20:11.520 we were going for that. We're gonna find out boy 0:20:11.600 --> 0:20:13.440 or girl. We were all excited about that. My first 0:20:13.440 --> 0:20:16.120 one was a son, and everybody thought it was a girl. 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:17.479 And I told Tammy, I was like, I make men 0:20:17.520 --> 0:20:20.200 at least for the first one, and so it's gonna 0:20:20.240 --> 0:20:21.920 be a boy. First one's gonna be a boy, and 0:20:21.960 --> 0:20:23.359 the second one. I was like, I want of a 0:20:23.359 --> 0:20:25.520 little girl. There's nothing like daddy, and there's the little girls, 0:20:25.520 --> 0:20:26.960 you know, and so I was like, I want a girl. 0:20:27.119 --> 0:20:28.719 So we went in. We were all excited. Everything, all 0:20:28.760 --> 0:20:30.520 the all the visits up to this. We're all healthy, 0:20:30.640 --> 0:20:32.639 I know, everything's great. So they do this and then 0:20:32.640 --> 0:20:34.240 they calls back and they say we need to go 0:20:34.359 --> 0:20:38.439 for a more intense ultrasound. And so we were like, 0:20:38.440 --> 0:20:40.679 all right, that doesn't sound good. We haven't done this before. 0:20:41.200 --> 0:20:42.919 And so we went for that more intense thing. And 0:20:42.960 --> 0:20:44.399 they got done with that and set us down in 0:20:44.440 --> 0:20:48.240 that room and they were like, hey, we found a 0:20:48.240 --> 0:20:50.720 couple of abnormalities, a couple of spots on the brain. 0:20:53.400 --> 0:20:55.280 You know, in those moments where you get that kind 0:20:55.280 --> 0:20:57.600 of news, how it just there's like a rush that 0:20:57.640 --> 0:21:00.399 goes from your head to your feet like it's like 0:21:00.440 --> 0:21:05.119 a mixture of weight and heat and like anxiety, and 0:21:05.160 --> 0:21:10.160 then your mind begins to race, doesn't it? All? Right? 0:21:10.200 --> 0:21:15.480 The brain is pretty important. And so in my mind 0:21:15.520 --> 0:21:22.640 as a dad, I went from from zero to uh, 0:21:22.760 --> 0:21:24.240 will I ever be able to walk her down the 0:21:24.280 --> 0:21:29.680 aisle like that? From zero to will she be able 0:21:29.720 --> 0:21:35.160 to walk like that? There was a deficit that I 0:21:35.240 --> 0:21:40.760 could not control. I can't fix a brain. Yeah, So 0:21:40.800 --> 0:21:43.120 we went away from that appointment. And I'm not saying 0:21:43.160 --> 0:21:45.560 that I'm super spiritual and this always happens, because it 0:21:45.560 --> 0:21:47.560 doesn't always happen. And I'm not saying I got there 0:21:47.560 --> 0:21:50.919 that day. It took me a few days. But I 0:21:51.000 --> 0:21:53.600 just begin every night to put my hand on Tammy's stomach, 0:21:53.680 --> 0:21:57.000 and I just begin to pray and declare healing and 0:21:57.080 --> 0:22:00.760 believe God to touch this little girl's mind. And I 0:22:00.840 --> 0:22:04.560 begin to prophesy destiny over her and purpose over her 0:22:04.800 --> 0:22:07.680 and calling over her, and that God would use this 0:22:07.920 --> 0:22:10.000 and that He would perform a miracle in our life. 0:22:10.040 --> 0:22:12.320 And I just begin to pray and pray and pray 0:22:12.400 --> 0:22:15.440 and pray, and weep and cry and pray, and every 0:22:15.560 --> 0:22:17.520 night and sometimes Tammy be asleep, and I'd wake up 0:22:17.560 --> 0:22:18.880 in the middle of the night and I would put 0:22:18.880 --> 0:22:20.400 my hand on her stomach and I would just begin 0:22:20.480 --> 0:22:22.560 to pray that God, You're going to touch this. This 0:22:22.640 --> 0:22:24.920 is my inheritance, this is not going to go down 0:22:24.960 --> 0:22:27.760 this way. I just begin to decree and declare and 0:22:27.800 --> 0:22:30.040 pray over this over and over and over. But here's 0:22:30.040 --> 0:22:32.959 the deal. If I had not had the deficit, I 0:22:33.000 --> 0:22:36.240 would not have prayed that way. The deficit is what 0:22:36.440 --> 0:22:39.200 brought a new level of prayer up on the inside 0:22:39.200 --> 0:22:41.960 of me. The deficit brought a new level of faith 0:22:42.080 --> 0:22:44.639 up on the inside of me. The deficit in my 0:22:44.760 --> 0:22:47.359 life brought a new level of healing up on the 0:22:47.359 --> 0:22:49.840 inside of me. It caused me to speak as those 0:22:49.880 --> 0:22:52.920 those things that were not were in my life. It 0:22:53.000 --> 0:22:57.800 became the evidence. My prayer became the evidence that I 0:22:57.880 --> 0:23:00.679 believed that my God was a healer, that I believe 0:23:00.760 --> 0:23:02.840 that he would make a way where there was no way, 0:23:03.040 --> 0:23:05.359 that he could open doors that no man could open. 0:23:05.480 --> 0:23:08.359 Though the doctor may declare one thing, I believe my 0:23:08.520 --> 0:23:12.320 God would declare another thing. That prayer was the evidence. 0:23:12.600 --> 0:23:16.399 Because faith without works is dead. You gotta work it out. 0:23:20.920 --> 0:23:23.399 And now she sits on the front row completely fine, 0:23:23.960 --> 0:23:30.479 completely her mind. Okay, But the deficit I needed in 0:23:30.520 --> 0:23:34.480 my life. See, I'm trying to flip your perspective today 0:23:34.480 --> 0:23:37.680 to help you see that the deficit isn't God doing 0:23:37.760 --> 0:23:42.399 something to you. That the deficit isn't God trying to 0:23:42.760 --> 0:23:45.440 get you. No. God, it can leverage it in your 0:23:45.480 --> 0:23:48.640 life if you will allow him to grow a new 0:23:48.720 --> 0:23:53.440 muscle of faith on the inside of you. See. I 0:23:53.480 --> 0:23:58.280 think sometimes we pray counterproductive prayers in our life. God, 0:23:58.440 --> 0:24:04.720 use me, God, grow me. God. I want everything that 0:24:04.800 --> 0:24:07.920 you have for me. Some other good church things we say, God, 0:24:07.920 --> 0:24:10.240 I want to fulfill my purpose God, I want to 0:24:10.280 --> 0:24:13.120 fulfill my destiny in this life. And God's like, okay, 0:24:14.320 --> 0:24:17.560 at your current stage of faith, because we've all been 0:24:17.600 --> 0:24:20.080 given a measure of faith, and it's our responsibility in 0:24:20.119 --> 0:24:24.480 response to God to grow that faith. All right, at 0:24:24.480 --> 0:24:27.280 the certain measure of faith you have, you cannot handle 0:24:27.320 --> 0:24:29.000 the weight of the thing that I want to do 0:24:29.080 --> 0:24:33.000 in your life. So I need to strengthen you in 0:24:33.119 --> 0:24:36.320 your spirit man to prepare you for the thing that 0:24:36.400 --> 0:24:39.200 I have for you. So then all sudden trouble will 0:24:39.200 --> 0:24:42.399 come your way. I'm not trying to depress you on 0:24:42.480 --> 0:24:46.000 this first time with you. But the Bible says, in 0:24:46.040 --> 0:24:49.080 this world you will have trouble. David said this in 0:24:49.160 --> 0:24:52.040 the Psalm one nineteen. He said, I was glad that 0:24:52.119 --> 0:24:54.800 I was afflicted because I know you in a way 0:24:54.880 --> 0:24:57.520 I would not have known you otherwise. I believe you 0:24:57.640 --> 0:24:59.919 in a way I would not have believed you otherwise. 0:25:00.359 --> 0:25:03.119 I walk with an intimacy with you I would not 0:25:03.200 --> 0:25:06.480 have had otherwise. But we begin to pray God use me. 0:25:06.560 --> 0:25:10.760 So trouble comes our way, and then we begin to 0:25:10.800 --> 0:25:15.679 pray God removed the trouble. I rebuke it in the 0:25:15.760 --> 0:25:19.080 name of Jesus. I declare, this is not my day, 0:25:19.400 --> 0:25:24.360 not today, Devil and God's like hold up time out. 0:25:24.400 --> 0:25:27.560 I thought you wanted to be used. I thought you 0:25:27.600 --> 0:25:31.359 wanted destiny. I thought you wanted purpose. I found that 0:25:31.400 --> 0:25:35.280 purpose comes through the conduit of pain, because it is 0:25:35.320 --> 0:25:38.040 in the middle of pain and discomfort is where my 0:25:38.119 --> 0:25:41.560 faith grows. My faith doesn't grow on the mountaintop. My 0:25:41.680 --> 0:25:45.400 faith celebrates on the mountaintop, but my faith grows best 0:25:45.600 --> 0:25:48.399 in the valley moments of my life, where I learned 0:25:48.400 --> 0:25:50.840 that He walks with me and he talks with me 0:25:51.200 --> 0:25:53.840 and he tells me that I'm his own. I've learned 0:25:53.840 --> 0:25:56.560 that in the valley moments of my life, I develop 0:25:56.600 --> 0:26:00.119 an intimacy with the Father that I've never had before, 0:26:00.280 --> 0:26:04.320 so that I have the strength to stand whenever he 0:26:04.320 --> 0:26:08.040 puts me on the mountain. So the deficit is not 0:26:08.119 --> 0:26:12.040 the obstacle in your life. The deficit is faith opportunity 0:26:12.119 --> 0:26:15.960 in your life to grow to another level. If you're 0:26:16.000 --> 0:26:18.000 going to go to another level, you've got to grow 0:26:18.040 --> 0:26:22.320 your faith to another level because you don't want to 0:26:22.359 --> 0:26:24.720 get to a place where you can't handle the weightiness 0:26:24.760 --> 0:26:28.520 of what God wants to put on you. Hannah had 0:26:28.520 --> 0:26:32.360 a deficit. She was desperate for a child. She had 0:26:32.440 --> 0:26:36.080 no control, and so the Bible tells us that she 0:26:36.119 --> 0:26:38.200 would go and pray and she'd call out to the Lord. 0:26:38.240 --> 0:26:42.320 We see it in First Samuel, chapter one, verse twelve 0:26:42.400 --> 0:26:46.200 says this she said as she kept on praying. Notice 0:26:46.240 --> 0:26:50.280 she didn't pray one time. Sometimes we're like God, I 0:26:50.320 --> 0:26:54.480 prayed about that pray one time. And it says as 0:26:54.520 --> 0:26:59.359 she kept on praying, Eli observed her mouth and Hannah 0:26:59.400 --> 0:27:02.399 was praying heart and her lips were moving, but her 0:27:02.480 --> 0:27:05.720 voice was not heard. Can you imagine being so distraught 0:27:05.720 --> 0:27:08.239 over something that when you pray, you can't get your 0:27:08.320 --> 0:27:11.000 voice to engage. Only your lips can move, and your 0:27:11.000 --> 0:27:14.240 heart hurts. So this is where she is. And Eli 0:27:14.320 --> 0:27:17.360 thought she was drunk and said to her, how long 0:27:17.400 --> 0:27:19.440 will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine? 0:27:20.560 --> 0:27:23.200 Not so, my lord, Hannah replied, I'm a woman who's 0:27:23.200 --> 0:27:26.600 deeply troubled. I've not been drinking wine or beer. She's 0:27:26.600 --> 0:27:29.439 covering it all. I'm not classy, I ain't country, I 0:27:29.440 --> 0:27:37.160 ain't done all that way. I grew up in East Tennessee, 0:27:37.320 --> 0:27:45.880 where straight solo cups. That's it. I was pouring out 0:27:45.920 --> 0:27:47.840 my soul to the lord. Verse sixteen, she says, do 0:27:47.960 --> 0:27:49.919 not take your servant for a wicked woman. I've been 0:27:49.960 --> 0:27:54.800 praying here out of great anguish and grief. Eli answered, 0:27:54.840 --> 0:27:57.600 go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant 0:27:57.640 --> 0:28:00.080 you what you have asked of him. Listen to this. 0:28:00.080 --> 0:28:03.120 This verse is fascinating. She said, may your servant find 0:28:03.160 --> 0:28:06.240 favor in your eyes. And then she went her way 0:28:06.560 --> 0:28:12.320 and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast. 0:28:14.440 --> 0:28:20.359 She is distraught, she's weeping. She's praying to a point 0:28:20.400 --> 0:28:24.520 where her voice isn't even engaging, but her lips are moving. 0:28:25.680 --> 0:28:28.440 Eli says one sentence to her, the Man of God, 0:28:29.800 --> 0:28:36.840 and it says her countenance changes and she's hungry. If 0:28:36.880 --> 0:28:41.960 the deficit is face opportunity, the word is faith's foundation. 0:28:44.640 --> 0:28:48.800 If the deficit is face opportunity, then the word is 0:28:48.840 --> 0:28:54.960 face foundation. The only change in her circumstance from weeping 0:28:55.080 --> 0:29:01.480 and praying to eating and her countenance changing was a word. 0:29:02.840 --> 0:29:07.840 That's it. Now. Whenever you hear that a word, maybe 0:29:07.840 --> 0:29:09.360 you're not used to church and you're like, what do 0:29:09.400 --> 0:29:12.240 you mean a word like like an article D or 0:29:12.280 --> 0:29:15.360 a or like, what do you mean she got a word? Well, 0:29:15.720 --> 0:29:19.240 there's there's the word, God's word, the scripture. God will 0:29:19.240 --> 0:29:21.400 speak to you through. That's why it's that you read it. 0:29:22.360 --> 0:29:24.120 You don't want to just eat on Sundays, although you 0:29:24.120 --> 0:29:27.480 get served some good meals here. You got probably the 0:29:27.480 --> 0:29:32.240 greatest preacher of this generation serving up like file at Mignon, 0:29:32.720 --> 0:29:36.360 Hello every week. But then there's another way. There is 0:29:36.520 --> 0:29:38.120 a word called a ram a word or an en 0:29:38.240 --> 0:29:41.280 seasoned word that is a word. Let me say it 0:29:41.360 --> 0:29:44.520 like this. I know you've been to church here and 0:29:44.880 --> 0:29:48.160 you're like, uh, did Pastor Stephen bug my house, like 0:29:48.360 --> 0:29:50.320 was he following me around this week? Did he have people? 0:29:50.480 --> 0:29:53.200 Because everything he's saying is everything I dealt with that week. 0:29:53.800 --> 0:29:56.800 That is a word that is in season for you. 0:29:57.680 --> 0:30:00.880 That's how God takes the word and gives you a word. 0:30:01.480 --> 0:30:03.120 Are you following me? The difference in the two Are 0:30:03.160 --> 0:30:07.200 you with me? And so Hannah got a word in season? 0:30:07.200 --> 0:30:12.120 May God grant your request? And that word changed everything 0:30:12.200 --> 0:30:14.440 for her. Here's what I want you to notice. She 0:30:14.560 --> 0:30:19.600 didn't get a child, she got a word, and the 0:30:19.680 --> 0:30:22.920 word was enough to change her countenance and to make 0:30:22.960 --> 0:30:26.400 her want to go eat. If you're waiting on God 0:30:26.440 --> 0:30:29.120 to give you the answer to your prayer before you 0:30:29.200 --> 0:30:33.400 start walking out in faith evidence that you believe his word, 0:30:33.880 --> 0:30:35.920 then you may never get to the answer to the prayer. 0:30:36.280 --> 0:30:39.320 God is waiting for you to respond in faith to 0:30:39.400 --> 0:30:42.480 believe Him at his word before he gives you the 0:30:42.520 --> 0:30:44.560 answer to the prayer. Are you following me? She didn't 0:30:44.560 --> 0:30:46.480 get a child, she got a word. I think about Peter. 0:30:46.560 --> 0:30:49.640 Peter's one of my favorite disciples because I just think 0:30:49.680 --> 0:30:51.360 you can build a great church with Peter. He's like 0:30:51.400 --> 0:30:54.960 half hood, half saved, and he carries a knife, cutting 0:30:54.960 --> 0:30:57.880 people's ear off, kind of bold. I just like him. 0:30:58.040 --> 0:31:00.120 He's like, I'd rather ring somebody back than have to 0:31:00.120 --> 0:31:01.960 beat a Donkey'd rather rain back a stallion. Are you 0:31:02.120 --> 0:31:04.080 with me? Peter's like that, you got to rain him 0:31:04.080 --> 0:31:05.320 in a little bit, but you kind of want to 0:31:05.360 --> 0:31:07.320 let him go a little bit. See what he'll do, right, 0:31:08.280 --> 0:31:10.640 And so acts chapter three I think is first chapter three, 0:31:10.720 --> 0:31:13.440 Verse one. Peter is going up to the temple at 0:31:13.440 --> 0:31:15.360 the time of worship, and it says there's a lane man. 0:31:15.520 --> 0:31:17.320 That's how he's identified. We don't know his name. His 0:31:17.360 --> 0:31:19.840 identity is found in his sickness. And so there's a 0:31:19.920 --> 0:31:22.800 layeman at the city gate, called beautiful, and he says 0:31:22.840 --> 0:31:26.240 to him, can I have some money? Because that was 0:31:26.280 --> 0:31:28.920 his expectation. All everybody ever gave him was money. No 0:31:28.960 --> 0:31:30.960 one that could ever give him anything more, So he 0:31:31.040 --> 0:31:34.080 asked for money. Peter said, look at me, And the 0:31:34.120 --> 0:31:36.680 Bible says this fascinating, says the man looked at him 0:31:36.840 --> 0:31:41.680 expecting to receive something. Can I tell you your level 0:31:41.720 --> 0:31:45.520 of expectation will determine what you receive? Can I tell 0:31:45.560 --> 0:31:49.760 you something I hear people say, man? That man service 0:31:49.880 --> 0:31:52.120 was so good today. I'm like, it's good every week. 0:31:52.240 --> 0:31:55.560 Your level of expectation was better this week. Are y'all 0:31:55.600 --> 0:31:58.840 following me? What you expect come in and expecting is 0:31:58.880 --> 0:32:01.880 what you will receive? Said, expecting to receive them, Peter said. 0:32:02.040 --> 0:32:04.479 Look at me, He said, expecting to receive something to him. 0:32:04.520 --> 0:32:06.640 Peter replied to him silver and gold I do not have, 0:32:06.840 --> 0:32:09.280 but what I do have in the name of Jesus, 0:32:09.440 --> 0:32:12.560 rise up and walk. Now. Now, now I think about this. 0:32:12.960 --> 0:32:20.360 That man had been lame from birth, but at a 0:32:20.400 --> 0:32:26.640 word from the Man of God, he decided to put 0:32:26.720 --> 0:32:31.240 evidence to his faith and put his feet underneath him. 0:32:31.720 --> 0:32:36.360 He never done this, never done this, but he had 0:32:36.440 --> 0:32:39.800 to put action. If he'd laid there and said, thank 0:32:39.840 --> 0:32:44.360 you Peter for saying that. That's awesome. Guys, carry me 0:32:44.440 --> 0:32:48.400 back home. Here's what I'm concerned is there's too many 0:32:48.480 --> 0:32:52.360 Christians still laying at the city gate, not living out 0:32:52.360 --> 0:32:55.560 their inheritance because they won't act on they won't work 0:32:55.600 --> 0:32:58.840 out the word that God has given them. God has 0:32:58.920 --> 0:33:01.920 given you so much in Jesus, and all you have 0:33:02.000 --> 0:33:04.400 to do is begin to work it out. We're still 0:33:04.480 --> 0:33:07.240 laying by the gate going I know healing is mine. 0:33:07.400 --> 0:33:10.480 I know deliverance is mine. I know freedom is mine. 0:33:10.520 --> 0:33:13.040 But I'd rather lay by the gate begging for a 0:33:13.040 --> 0:33:16.280 little bit of change. Whenever my daddy owns the cattle 0:33:16.320 --> 0:33:19.040 on a thousand hills and I could have everything that 0:33:19.120 --> 0:33:23.720 Heaven has to offer, but we're still laying by the gate. 0:33:23.800 --> 0:33:26.960 So here's the deal. I don't wait to praise him 0:33:28.880 --> 0:33:33.320 until the baby is born. Hannah gets up and changes 0:33:33.360 --> 0:33:37.920 her She physiologically has changes because of the word. This 0:33:38.040 --> 0:33:40.200 is why it's so important you're in the house every 0:33:40.200 --> 0:33:43.200 week to get yourself in an atmosphere where you can 0:33:43.280 --> 0:33:46.200 receive a word that is on time, that is in 0:33:46.400 --> 0:33:49.760 season for what you're going through, because that word could 0:33:49.840 --> 0:33:56.920 save your life. That word could change your situation. So 0:33:57.000 --> 0:33:59.600 I didn't wait to praise him until faith was born 0:33:59.640 --> 0:34:02.480 in the doctor says everything is okay. I had to 0:34:02.520 --> 0:34:05.160 go in on the weekend, going, God, I thank you 0:34:05.200 --> 0:34:08.160 that she's healed. I thank you that everything is okay. 0:34:08.400 --> 0:34:11.000 I worship you right now. I don't think God is 0:34:11.040 --> 0:34:15.000 impressed when we can worship him when everything is going okay. 0:34:15.239 --> 0:34:18.479 I think he's impressed when I lip into church going 0:34:18.600 --> 0:34:21.680 I'm hurting, I'm not sure about how it's gonna turn out. 0:34:21.880 --> 0:34:25.560 But he's good anyways, and he's gracious anyways, and his 0:34:25.760 --> 0:34:29.520 mercies are new every morning. Great is his faithfulness at 0:34:29.520 --> 0:34:33.160 every location. Why don't you give him praise just because 0:34:33.200 --> 0:34:40.880 he's good? Come on, give him praise just because he's God, 0:34:41.800 --> 0:34:45.319 just because he's faithful, just because the grasp may with 0:34:45.440 --> 0:34:48.480 her and the flower fades. But the word of our 0:34:48.600 --> 0:35:01.560 God will last forever. Here's good. So the word is 0:35:01.640 --> 0:35:06.040 faith foundation. So you may know the story. Samuel was born, 0:35:07.600 --> 0:35:10.239 Hannah stayed with him for two years. Can you imagine 0:35:10.840 --> 0:35:15.120 two years of holding on to the baby. Then it 0:35:15.160 --> 0:35:17.920 says this that she went back to the same place 0:35:18.239 --> 0:35:21.520 where she prayed for him. She went to the Eli, 0:35:21.640 --> 0:35:24.440 the prophet who had gave her the word. That's what 0:35:24.480 --> 0:35:27.080 she said is she said to him, as surely as 0:35:27.080 --> 0:35:29.759 you live, my Lord, I'm the woman who stood here 0:35:29.760 --> 0:35:32.920 beside you praying to the Lord. I prayed for this child. 0:35:34.040 --> 0:35:37.200 Some of you been praying for some things, and the 0:35:37.239 --> 0:35:40.680 Lord has granted me what I ask of him. So 0:35:40.840 --> 0:35:45.560 now I give him to the Lord for his whole life. 0:35:45.719 --> 0:35:48.480 He will be given over to the Lord. And he 0:35:48.560 --> 0:35:54.040 worshiped the Lord there the deficit is face opportunity, and 0:35:54.080 --> 0:35:58.760 the word is faith foundation. Then the sacrifice is faith's test. 0:36:00.160 --> 0:36:03.920 Listen to me. The test was not could Hannah believe 0:36:04.040 --> 0:36:08.520 God for Samuel? The test was once Samuel was in 0:36:08.560 --> 0:36:15.279 her arms, be could she given back to God. The 0:36:15.320 --> 0:36:17.439 test is not whether or not you can believe God 0:36:17.480 --> 0:36:22.920 can put you something in your hand. God can do anything. 0:36:23.920 --> 0:36:25.919 The test is once He puts it in your hand. 0:36:26.000 --> 0:36:30.160 Can you still live with an open one? Can you 0:36:30.239 --> 0:36:32.360 still say the Lord gives and the Lord takes away? 0:36:32.400 --> 0:36:37.080 Blessed be the name of the Lord forever. Because see 0:36:37.120 --> 0:36:40.160 I have found that it is often the last blessing 0:36:40.200 --> 0:36:43.200 of God that is keeping you from receiving the next, 0:36:45.600 --> 0:36:47.719 because whatever is in your hand, God put it there, 0:36:49.360 --> 0:36:51.160 and too many times we get our grip on it, 0:36:52.400 --> 0:36:55.960 and God is going, no, if you'll release what I 0:36:56.000 --> 0:37:00.719 gave you before, I will give again. If you will give, 0:37:01.239 --> 0:37:05.799 I can give, press down, shaken together and running over, 0:37:06.760 --> 0:37:11.440 I can put it into your hand. And so the 0:37:11.520 --> 0:37:17.520 test isn't can I believe God? The test is once 0:37:17.600 --> 0:37:20.840 God gives it to me? Can I say, God, everything 0:37:20.880 --> 0:37:23.160 I have is from you and returns it back to you? 0:37:25.360 --> 0:37:32.719 Can I sacrifice, it the sacrifices faced test. Because see, 0:37:32.719 --> 0:37:38.400 God isn't moving me to just a place of one blessing. 0:37:39.400 --> 0:37:41.760 The Bible tells me He's moving me from victory to victory, 0:37:41.760 --> 0:37:45.239 glory to glory. So the last thing that God did 0:37:45.280 --> 0:37:47.120 in my life is not the last thing God wants 0:37:47.160 --> 0:37:50.120 to do in my life. Is it a series of 0:37:50.160 --> 0:37:54.480 events of things God wants to bless in my life. See, 0:37:55.400 --> 0:37:57.960 God wasn't doing something to Hannah as God doing something 0:37:58.000 --> 0:38:01.320 through Hannah, because it was Samuel that would annoy Saul. 0:38:02.160 --> 0:38:04.719 It was Samuel that would annoint David. It is through 0:38:04.800 --> 0:38:11.320 David Jesus would come. Can I take it a little deeper? 0:38:13.280 --> 0:38:19.920 The whole thing wasn't even about Samuel. Wasn't about Samuel. 0:38:20.560 --> 0:38:23.000 The thing you're going through right now isn't about that thing. 0:38:24.840 --> 0:38:27.279 It wasn't about Samuel. It was about God opening her 0:38:27.320 --> 0:38:30.799 womb because she wouldn't just have Samuel, she'd have five more. 0:38:32.160 --> 0:38:34.880 The thing you're going through right now isn't even about 0:38:34.960 --> 0:38:38.520 the thing you're going throughout through right now. It is 0:38:38.560 --> 0:38:41.160 about what God wants to do beyond the thing you're 0:38:41.160 --> 0:38:44.080 going through right now? Are you following me? The thing 0:38:44.120 --> 0:38:47.239 you're going through right now is the test to see 0:38:47.280 --> 0:38:49.680 if you can handle the blessing that is on the 0:38:49.719 --> 0:38:53.239 other side of the thing that you're going through right now. See. 0:38:53.280 --> 0:38:56.160 I came to declare over you today that the struggle 0:38:56.200 --> 0:38:58.640 you're facing right now, if you will work it out, 0:38:58.840 --> 0:39:01.000 if you will leave with an open hand, that God 0:39:01.080 --> 0:39:03.680 isn't just going to give you a blessing. God is 0:39:03.719 --> 0:39:07.959 going to open your womb where multiple, multiplied blessings will 0:39:07.960 --> 0:39:10.680 flow in and through your life. God is not the 0:39:10.760 --> 0:39:13.160 God of just one blessing. He is the God of 0:39:13.239 --> 0:39:18.440 exceedingly abundantly and above all that you can ask or imagine. 0:39:18.640 --> 0:39:20.920 And if you can live with an open hand, if 0:39:20.960 --> 0:39:23.520 you can say, God, whatever you put into my hand, 0:39:23.800 --> 0:39:26.400 I can release it back to you. God will open 0:39:26.520 --> 0:39:31.160 up your womb and send multiplied blessing after blessing after 0:39:31.239 --> 0:39:35.960 blessing after blessing. Somebody shall work it out. Come on, 0:39:36.120 --> 0:39:40.799 shall work it out, shout work it out. Thank you 0:39:40.840 --> 0:39:43.359 for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who 0:39:43.400 --> 0:39:46.400 give generously to this ministry. Is because of you that 0:39:46.440 --> 0:39:49.360 this ministry is possible. You can click the link in 0:39:49.400 --> 0:39:53.160 the description to give now or visit Elevation Church dot 0:39:53.280 --> 0:39:56.600 org slash podcast for more information and if you enjoyed 0:39:56.600 --> 0:39:59.600 the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share it with 0:39:59.640 --> 0:40:01.920 your friends. You can click the share button, take a 0:40:01.960 --> 0:40:04.520 screenshot and share it on your social stories and tag 0:40:04.600 --> 0:40:07.560 us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.