You Didn't Lose It

0:00:02.160 --> 0:00:04.720 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.960 --> 0:00:07.200 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:10.560 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.560 --> 0:00:12.600 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:16.040 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.720 --> 0:00:21.840 Mark chapter nine, verse fourteen through twenty nine. I want 0:00:21.880 --> 0:00:24.720 to read this whole passage to you again, and let's 0:00:24.720 --> 0:00:29.080 look at this, this proclamation that God wants to make 0:00:29.760 --> 0:00:34.080 you didn't lose it. Say that to the person next 0:00:34.120 --> 0:00:37.559 to you, you didn't lose it, and put it in 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:40.159 the chat. Those of you that are on YouTube right 0:00:40.200 --> 0:00:45.120 now say I didn't lose it. Amen, Mark nine fourteen. 0:00:45.200 --> 0:00:48.120 When they came to the other disciples, they saw a 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:51.400 large crowd around them and the teachers of the law 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:55.440 arguing with them. As soon as all the people saw Jesus, 0:00:55.800 --> 0:00:59.120 they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him. 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:04.160 Y'all fighting about now. Jesus asked, I wonder if he's 0:01:04.200 --> 0:01:08.440 still asking that question. A man in the crowd answered 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:11.520 verse seventeen, Teacher, I brought you my son, who is 0:01:11.560 --> 0:01:14.960 possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:18.880 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. 0:01:19.400 --> 0:01:22.800 He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. 0:01:23.120 --> 0:01:26.039 I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:29.440 they could not. I listened to the phrase, Jesus uses 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:36.720 you unbelieving generation, How long shall I stay with you? 0:01:37.360 --> 0:01:40.880 How long shall I put up with you? Bring the 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:44.679 boy to me. So they brought him, and when the 0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:50.559 spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. 0:01:51.080 --> 0:01:53.640 So this thing that's been controlling this boy isn't going 0:01:53.640 --> 0:01:56.760 out without a fight. Is not going to go out 0:01:56.800 --> 0:02:00.440 just because he came to church one time. Is not 0:02:00.480 --> 0:02:04.320 going to happen just because you watched one YouTube sermon. 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:06.440 It's not going to happen because you listen to worship 0:02:06.480 --> 0:02:08.600 on the way to work for two days in a row. 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:14.840 And so the boy falls to the ground and rolls 0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:16.960 around and foams at the mouth. Then we said last week, 0:02:17.040 --> 0:02:21.680 let's don't get so caught up in the symptoms that 0:02:21.760 --> 0:02:25.320 we missed the spirit that was at work in the situation. 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:28.960 It's the devil. It's the evil one. He comes to 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:32.400 kill and steal and destroy, and in this boy's case, 0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:35.440 it was a physical manifestation. But in many of our 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:39.120 cases it doesn't manifest in this way, and manifest in 0:02:39.160 --> 0:02:43.280 different ways. You know, we all have we all have 0:02:43.320 --> 0:02:45.560 different ways that we experienced this. But Jesus asked the 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:48.079 boy's father, and I think this important question. How long 0:02:48.120 --> 0:02:52.200 has he been like this? From childhood? He answered? It 0:02:52.240 --> 0:02:55.040 has often thrown him in to fire or water to 0:02:55.120 --> 0:02:58.600 kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity 0:02:58.639 --> 0:03:01.240 on us and help us. And this is the part 0:03:01.240 --> 0:03:04.400 that stood out to us last week. If you can, 0:03:04.840 --> 0:03:10.280 said Jesus, everything is possible for the one who believes. Immediately, 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:14.240 the boy's father exclaimed, I do believe. Help me overcome 0:03:14.360 --> 0:03:17.560 my unbelief. So when Jesus saw that a crowd was 0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:21.120 running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit, you 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:24.720 death and mute spirit. He said, I command you come 0:03:24.800 --> 0:03:27.880 out of him and never enter him again. And the 0:03:27.919 --> 0:03:31.400 spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently, and came out. The boy 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:35.680 looked so much like a corpse that many said he's dead. 0:03:36.760 --> 0:03:43.160 Many said he's dead. Many said he's dead, But Jesus. 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:51.320 Many said, but Jesus, many said, but Jesus. Popular opinion 0:03:51.600 --> 0:03:57.280 never overrides God's purpose. Many said, But Jesus, y'all love 0:03:57.280 --> 0:04:01.360 the Bible. Many said, but Jesus, they don't have the 0:04:01.480 --> 0:04:06.360 last word. They don't have the last word. Many said, 0:04:06.800 --> 0:04:10.360 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:13.600 to his feet, and he stood up. Now here's where 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:16.760 we want to go today. After Jesus had gone indoors, 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:21.240 his disciples asked him privately, why couldn't we drive it out? 0:04:21.400 --> 0:04:25.839 And he replied, this kind can only come out by prayer. 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:32.839 Why couldn't we do it? My first instinct in reading 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:37.159 the text was to judge the disciples for their lack 0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:40.800 of faith to help this boy. And I even wanted 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:42.960 to tell them, you know, if you would have spent 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:46.680 less time arguing with the teachers of the law, maybe 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:49.520 you could have helped the boy. Now, I've got to 0:04:49.600 --> 0:04:53.200 be honest, I'm hard on myself, so maybe I'm reading 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:55.400 into the text how I feel about myself. And Holly 0:04:55.440 --> 0:04:59.120 helps me with this. Holly has helped me in so 0:04:59.240 --> 0:05:02.240 many ways, but one of the main things she helps 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:04.560 me with. And I'm telling you, man, people will come 0:05:04.600 --> 0:05:06.520 up to me all the time. It's like we like 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:08.800 you a lot. But we love Holly, and I'm like, 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:12.640 that's how I feel too. I only like me sometimes 0:05:12.720 --> 0:05:15.480 I love her. She's amazing and however amazing she looks, 0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:18.080 she's much more amazing up close, and not everybody's like that, 0:05:18.160 --> 0:05:20.520 but she really is like that. And she's got better 0:05:20.560 --> 0:05:23.880 every year, and she's taught me so much. She teaches 0:05:23.920 --> 0:05:27.800 me things, like she'll say after she she did a 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:29.919 Bible study for y'all, and we're gonna share this with 0:05:29.960 --> 0:05:33.320 our E groups. It's called Essentials, and she's gonna break 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:36.360 down the essentials, just getting back to basics, fundamental training, 0:05:36.400 --> 0:05:38.960 you know, coarse strength to put it in fitness terms, 0:05:39.360 --> 0:05:42.480 and we're gonna share it this fall with our E groups. 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:45.080 But when she came home from filming it, she said 0:05:45.080 --> 0:05:48.640 something I've never said after I preached, it was really good. 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:54.719 Never once have I put down the mic and walked 0:05:54.720 --> 0:06:00.880 off and gone that was really good. Never Ever, The 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:02.800 best it gets for me on the inside, because I'm 0:06:02.800 --> 0:06:04.279 really hard on myself and she helps me with this. 0:06:04.360 --> 0:06:06.599 The best it gets for me is I don't want 0:06:06.640 --> 0:06:11.320 to die, right. That would be my version of really good. 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:14.880 I don't want to quit and go get a job 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:16.680 at Guitar cent I'm really hard on myself and she 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:19.920 helps me with that. And my instinct is and I 0:06:19.920 --> 0:06:22.719 shouldn't be confessing all this. I always feel like I 0:06:22.720 --> 0:06:24.440 said too much after I preach too which is part 0:06:24.480 --> 0:06:26.160 of the reason that I never like it after I 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:28.280 preach it, because I open up my gaping wounds and 0:06:28.320 --> 0:06:30.560 bleed all over you, and then I walk back to 0:06:30.640 --> 0:06:35.280 stitch it together myself. But Holly helps me because I'm 0:06:35.320 --> 0:06:39.279 typically thinking like I'm thinking like that my best is 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:45.320 behind me. So for instance, if I preach a sermon 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:46.800 and I feel like I didn't say it like I 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:49.880 was supposed to, and I saw seven people yawn when 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:53.039 I was in only my first point, and wow, that 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:55.200 guy's asleep over there. If I see all that. When 0:06:55.240 --> 0:06:59.360 I'm preaching, my instinct is to think like I think 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:03.120 I've lost it. Or if I open my Bible and 0:07:03.800 --> 0:07:05.560 I'm looking for a sermon and this Monday and I 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:07.760 can't find one, that's fine. If I'm looking for a 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:18.600 sermon and this Tuesday, I know that's fine. Wednesday, I'm okay. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Saturday, 0:07:18.640 --> 0:07:23.680 I start repenting of every sin I committed from childhood 0:07:23.680 --> 0:07:25.760 stuff I did when I was sixteen. I start telling 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:28.240 the Lord, I'm sorry for everything, just in case, because 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:32.760 I'm like, where did you go? Lord? I think I 0:07:32.800 --> 0:07:38.600 lost it. Sometimes when I'm going to create, and Chris 0:07:38.640 --> 0:07:40.720 can tell you this, but a lot of times, if 0:07:40.760 --> 0:07:43.200 we go to write a song and we don't get 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:45.840 a good song that day, I'll I'll leave and I'll 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:47.880 be like, I don't know, maybe I'm just maybe my 0:07:47.960 --> 0:07:51.000 season of songwriting is over. Just it only takes one 0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:56.040 bad day, you know, I lost it. And Holly's really 0:07:56.080 --> 0:08:00.480 good because she will She'll get in there and she 0:08:01.040 --> 0:08:04.640 talks tough to me. She has a whole other gear, 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:08.600 a whole other demeanor that's not sweet. But at the 0:08:08.640 --> 0:08:13.400 same time, she's like, you didn't lose it, and she's 0:08:13.520 --> 0:08:16.280 really good about getting me to see like that a 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:20.480 bad day doesn't mean you're going backwards. In general, I'm 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:24.360 a catastrophizer. Right. If I walk in the room and 0:08:24.400 --> 0:08:26.960 the church is kind of only like there's not as 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:28.560 many people as there were the week before, I'm like, 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:37.400 it's over losing relevance, We're losing ground. It's terrible. I'm 0:08:37.440 --> 0:08:42.000 not bragging about this. I just relate to the disciples 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:45.080 because I think they're afraid. They go to cast out 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:47.720 this demon and they can't do it, and they're like, Jesus, 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:52.960 what happened? Did we lose it? Because they did this before, 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:55.120 they cast out demons before, and it isn't like they 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:57.079 never did it before. But they go to do it 0:08:57.320 --> 0:09:00.280 and it doesn't work. And then Bartholomew tries and it 0:09:00.320 --> 0:09:03.760 doesn't work, and Andrew tries and it doesn't work, and 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:06.560 then Julus tries, you know, it didn't work. And after 0:09:06.559 --> 0:09:09.720 they're all finished trying because Jesus. Now, now Jesus is 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:13.480 up on a mountain being transfigured. The voice of the 0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:16.760 Father is speaking over him. This is my son whom 0:09:16.800 --> 0:09:19.199 I love, and I am well pleased in him. That's 0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:21.800 what happened in Mark chapter nine, part ay. And he's 0:09:21.840 --> 0:09:24.719 got with him his favorite disciples, like you have your 0:09:24.720 --> 0:09:28.480 favorite kid, and Peter, James, and John come back down 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:31.280 the mountain only to find that the glory that they 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:33.680 experienced in the radiance that they experienced on the mountain 0:09:35.080 --> 0:09:37.240 is not exactly in full operation in the valley. And 0:09:37.360 --> 0:09:40.520 isn't life just like that to where you have to 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:45.920 get from the mountains of inspiration and encouragement and to 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:52.160 get into the valleys of these hardships. And I'm now 0:09:52.200 --> 0:09:54.679 more than ever, I'm kind of looking at the disciples 0:09:54.679 --> 0:09:58.520 in a new light because I'm a middle aged man 0:10:00.440 --> 0:10:02.120 and I know what it feels like to be like 0:10:03.360 --> 0:10:07.880 it isn't working like it used to work. Or I 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:09.920 go in the gym, I have to wrap up my elbow, 0:10:10.120 --> 0:10:15.160 my wrists, we're in headgear before I go in there. 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:23.360 Soon my son says, Dad, you look like a robot. 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:25.920 You're so wrapped up because stuff herst it doesn't work 0:10:26.040 --> 0:10:29.680 like it used to work, you know. And I think 0:10:30.559 --> 0:10:33.280 for a split second, here their disciples, they're asking Jesus, 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:34.959 and I want to point this out. Give me the 0:10:34.960 --> 0:10:38.160 scripture back on the screen. It said after Jesus verse 0:10:38.160 --> 0:10:43.040 twenty eight, had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, 0:10:43.679 --> 0:10:48.600 why couldn't we drive it out? Everybody say privately, they 0:10:48.679 --> 0:10:52.640 asked Jesus privately, And I wrote down a question, how 0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:55.880 much better off would we be if we asked Jesus 0:10:55.920 --> 0:11:06.480 some things privately instead of saying things publicly. Y'all don't 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:13.920 like that, because instead of blaming the teachers of the law, 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:20.199 they finally realize that we have to fix this internally privately, 0:11:20.240 --> 0:11:26.120 and Jesus said, this kind can come out only by prayer. 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:30.880 So now the disciples are asking Jesus privately, why couldn't 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:33.199 we drive it out in the Father. I don't know 0:11:33.240 --> 0:11:35.680 if you noticed this, but the Father in verse twenty four, 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:38.840 he says something that sounds like a contradiction on the 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:43.240 surface and the really spiritual over spiritual scratch and sniff. 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:46.959 Christians don't like this verse because it doesn't sound so concrete. 0:11:47.520 --> 0:11:49.920 It's a little too abstract. It's got too much tension 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:52.920 in it. He said, I do believe verse twenty four, 0:11:53.320 --> 0:11:57.880 help me overcome my unbelief. The father who brought his 0:11:57.920 --> 0:11:59.920 son to Jesus who needed healing and struggling with the 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:05.400 same thing that the disciples are struggling with, unbelief. He 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:09.680 immediately exclaimed, I do believe, help my unbelief. So the 0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:13.440 message last week was built around the idea that there 0:12:13.480 --> 0:12:17.440 is a difference between you and your feelings. There's a 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:20.400 difference between you and your thoughts. There's a difference between 0:12:20.400 --> 0:12:23.000 you and your emotions. There's a difference between you and 0:12:23.040 --> 0:12:25.760 your successes. There's a difference between you and your failures. 0:12:25.760 --> 0:12:29.680 You are not it. This boy is possessed by a 0:12:29.720 --> 0:12:32.280 spirit that's making him do all kinds of things to 0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:34.960 harm him. But he's still the son of the father, 0:12:35.640 --> 0:12:38.640 and the father still sees his son beneath the things 0:12:38.640 --> 0:12:42.000 that he struggles with, just like your father still sees you. 0:12:41.880 --> 0:12:45.080 Your heavenly father still sees you separate from the things 0:12:45.240 --> 0:12:47.960 that you struggle with. And now he dealt with the 0:12:48.000 --> 0:12:50.560 sin that stood against you on the cross, So he 0:12:50.559 --> 0:12:53.600 doesn't see your sin when he looks at you. He 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:56.240 doesn't see your successes. When he looks at you, he 0:12:56.280 --> 0:13:00.240 sees a son, he sees a daughter. You are not it. 0:13:01.520 --> 0:13:07.440 You are not it. We are so addicted to it 0:13:07.520 --> 0:13:09.880 in our culture that when we really want to compliment 0:13:09.960 --> 0:13:14.240 somebody that they're good at something, we'll say, you're a machine. Man, 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:17.960 you're a machine. Wow, you're just amazing. You're a machine. 0:13:18.200 --> 0:13:21.440 That's a downgrade. How did you take me out of 0:13:21.480 --> 0:13:26.559 the animal kingdom and make me a machine? How did 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:29.880 you demote me into what I just did? And so 0:13:30.000 --> 0:13:32.080 the trick is, you can't let people do that to you, 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:37.000 positively or negatively, right, You can't let people identify you 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:40.080 with your gift, because you're more than your gift. You 0:13:40.120 --> 0:13:43.160 can't let people identify you with your sin, because you're 0:13:43.160 --> 0:13:47.600 more than your sin. You are the righteousness of God 0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:51.080 in Christ Jesus. You are made in His image and 0:13:51.160 --> 0:13:55.360 in his likeness. And the Father said, this is my son, 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:58.160 just like God. The Father said over Jesus, this is 0:13:58.240 --> 0:14:01.240 my son. The Father in March after nine says, this 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:04.200 is my son. And he's got problems, but he is 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:09.920 not it. He is not it. And the disciples are 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:12.800 learning a valuable lesson, and the Father is learning a 0:14:12.880 --> 0:14:18.960 valuable lesson that in owning your doubts, you don't disqualify 0:14:19.000 --> 0:14:26.040 your faith. I do believe. Help me overcome my unbelief. 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:29.120 Now there's a couple miracles in this passage. One is 0:14:29.440 --> 0:14:32.400 that the boy gets healed of his condition, and two 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:37.320 is that the man asks for help. How many women 0:14:37.440 --> 0:14:42.760 know that for a man to ask for help is 0:14:42.800 --> 0:14:46.480 a miracle in hisself. Now, not me. I ask Colley 0:14:46.600 --> 0:14:50.400 for help all the time. I particularly this is one 0:14:50.440 --> 0:14:51.920 of the things in our marriage. I told you that 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:56.200 she helps me a lot. I am horrible about losing 0:14:56.280 --> 0:15:00.440 things and then freaking out and thinking it's gone forever, 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:04.240 and Holly's more calm. So every morning we start our 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:08.960 day with me losing my AirPods. Every morning. I know 0:15:09.080 --> 0:15:11.360 this is some real first world problems I'm telling you 0:15:11.400 --> 0:15:13.560 about up here, but every morning, this is the first 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:15.600 thing we do. I don't seek the Lord. I look 0:15:15.600 --> 0:15:18.200 for my AirPods because I have sleep issues, so I 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:20.840 always put something really boring in my AirPod to fall 0:15:20.840 --> 0:15:22.880 asleep to. And I spend the first ten minutes of 0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:25.640 the day looking for the AirPod, and then after five 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:27.800 minutes of looking for it, I ask you, I ask 0:15:27.880 --> 0:15:29.760 you for Holly to help me, and ask her to 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:32.000 help me, and she does. She's been doing this our 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:37.920 whole marriage. Because my first instinct is it's gone. It's gone. 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:45.440 It'll never be back again, whether it's sunglasses, AirPods, my anointing. 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:53.200 I told you, my first instinct is it's gone. It's gone. 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:56.880 I don't feel God's presence right now. I guess it's gone. 0:15:57.000 --> 0:15:59.080 I've been looking for my AirPods for thirty seconds. They're 0:15:59.080 --> 0:16:02.800 not here. They're gone. And she says, do you think 0:16:03.280 --> 0:16:07.520 they got up and walked away? You put them in 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:12.680 your ear seven hours ago. They are here. Somewhere. This 0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:15.000 is what she taught me. You don't know how to look. 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:24.840 Y'all shut up. She said, you don't know how to look. 0:16:25.200 --> 0:16:27.200 I said, I looked. She said you looked with your 0:16:27.240 --> 0:16:32.280 eyes to really look. You can't just use your eyes. 0:16:34.520 --> 0:16:36.760 She said. This was several years ago. She said, I'm 0:16:36.760 --> 0:16:41.480 gonna teach you how to look. She started picking stuff up. 0:16:43.840 --> 0:16:51.560 She said, See what I'm doing. I'm lifting while I'm looking. Whoa, 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:56.480 I'm lifting while i'm looking. See I'm looking underneath stuff. 0:16:56.760 --> 0:17:00.640 I'm moving the pillow, I'm peeling back the cup. And 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:02.760 God said, some of y'all look, but you don't lived. 0:17:05.440 --> 0:17:08.800 You don't know how to look. So in the past 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:11.800 six months you said stuff like this, I've lost my faith. 0:17:14.040 --> 0:17:19.359 You didn't lose it, You just don't know how to look. 0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:22.240 Why were y'all shouting so much when I was talking 0:17:22.240 --> 0:17:33.280 about me and Holly. When I talk to people, I 0:17:33.359 --> 0:17:36.280 noticed the way we phrase things. We say I lost 0:17:36.320 --> 0:17:42.320 my joy, I lost my peace. How many of y'all 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:48.719 have said in the last thirty days, I feel like 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:55.360 I'm losing my mind. How many of y'all didn't even 0:17:55.400 --> 0:17:59.280 get that specific? Just I feel like I'm losing it. 0:18:03.760 --> 0:18:07.880 You didn't lose it. You just have to learn how 0:18:09.080 --> 0:18:18.320 to look. And sometimes looking means lifting stuff, looking under stuff, 0:18:20.520 --> 0:18:25.119 not just walking. And it's gone. Well. I woke up 0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:29.919 in a good mood. But y'all, just the devil just 0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:32.800 stole my joy. I guess he did. You left it 0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:36.600 lion right out for him to take. You didn't lock 0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:38.760 the door, roll up the window. Now I'm preaching to 0:18:38.840 --> 0:18:45.000 me because I'll say I lost it, but I haven't 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:52.680 really even looked. I haven't even really looked. The man said, 0:18:52.720 --> 0:18:54.720 I do believe. That's why I brought my boy to you. 0:18:56.119 --> 0:18:59.679 I still have faith, But will you help me with 0:18:59.720 --> 0:19:03.240 my unbelief? Now? What I want to teach you today. 0:19:03.280 --> 0:19:07.000 There's the difference between having unbelief and being an unbeliever. 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:13.280 He did not say I'm an unbeliever. He said, I 0:19:13.320 --> 0:19:18.439 have unbelief. And when you have doubts about anything in 0:19:18.440 --> 0:19:20.480 your life, what God spoke to you, or even who 0:19:20.520 --> 0:19:24.280 God is, sometimes many of us doubt the existence of God. 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:28.840 That doesn't make you an unbeliever. There's a difference between 0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:35.080 having unbelief. Immediately, he exclaimed, Did you see that word? Immediately? 0:19:35.480 --> 0:19:40.880 He exclaimed, Immediately he exclaimed, I do believe, but help 0:19:40.920 --> 0:19:46.920 my unbelief. And we understand that although his explanation was immediate, 0:19:47.960 --> 0:19:53.200 his unbelief probably came over time because his boy has 0:19:53.240 --> 0:19:57.439 been in this condition since childhood, and perhaps at the 0:19:57.440 --> 0:19:59.720 first sign or symptom that his boy had something wrong 0:19:59.760 --> 0:20:05.320 with him, he believed. But life has a way of 0:20:05.440 --> 0:20:11.399 laying unbelief, and beneath the lairs of unbelief is still 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:16.320 you that trusts God. And we try to bring you 0:20:16.359 --> 0:20:20.080 into church sometimes and remove all of the doubts from 0:20:20.119 --> 0:20:24.359 the equation. And we do that sometimes through preaching cliches 0:20:24.480 --> 0:20:26.879 or by making vague promises that you're going to make 0:20:26.920 --> 0:20:28.919 it to the other side and things like that. And 0:20:28.960 --> 0:20:31.840 I preach those things too, and sometimes they have value. 0:20:32.440 --> 0:20:35.879 But sometimes I think we we think that God is 0:20:35.920 --> 0:20:40.320 going to decrease our doubts. The father in this passage 0:20:40.320 --> 0:20:46.200 prayed that Jesus would increase his faith, help me overcome 0:20:46.480 --> 0:20:50.760 my unbelief, And he's shifted now. When he first started 0:20:50.760 --> 0:20:54.840 talking to Jesus, your disciples couldn't do it, the first 0:20:54.880 --> 0:21:00.200 instinct was to blame. But now he's understanding that it's 0:21:00.240 --> 0:21:03.000 not going to get me anywhere to blame Jesus's staff. 0:21:04.520 --> 0:21:06.480 If I want my boy healed, I'm going to have 0:21:06.560 --> 0:21:10.840 to get beneath all the surface reasons that it didn't work, 0:21:11.680 --> 0:21:14.040 and I'm going to have to own this for myself. 0:21:14.480 --> 0:21:19.400 Help my unbelief. Would you have the guts to pray 0:21:19.440 --> 0:21:25.200 that out loud, help my unbelief. Now we pray help 0:21:25.240 --> 0:21:29.960 my bank account, we pray, help my husband act right, 0:21:31.560 --> 0:21:34.000 We pray all kinds of things. But when you say 0:21:34.200 --> 0:21:40.320 help my unbelief, power happens. That's the connection right there, 0:21:40.800 --> 0:21:45.120 Help my unbelief. And there are some things that we 0:21:45.280 --> 0:21:48.440 need to unbelieve before we can believe what we need 0:21:48.440 --> 0:21:52.160 to believe. Unbelief creeps in. It doesn't come in all 0:21:52.200 --> 0:21:54.200 at once. You don't wake up one day and talk 0:21:54.240 --> 0:21:57.760 about like I just don't believe anymore. As years go by, 0:21:57.920 --> 0:22:01.400 as disappointments accumulate. Here's a way of saying that faith 0:22:01.520 --> 0:22:09.000 doesn't disappear. It deteriorates, just it. Where's the way. I 0:22:09.040 --> 0:22:11.800 wrote a book in twenty ten in my Journey of 0:22:11.840 --> 0:22:17.800 faith called Sun Stands Still. Two people read that book, 0:22:18.000 --> 0:22:22.520 my mom and Israel. That's all I heard. But it's 0:22:22.520 --> 0:22:24.760 a good book. It was about believing God for the impossible. 0:22:24.800 --> 0:22:28.080 I watched my dad die of als a couple years later, 0:22:29.280 --> 0:22:32.280 and I had to go back and revisit do I 0:22:32.320 --> 0:22:35.800 still believe that God can do the impossible. My friend 0:22:35.840 --> 0:22:40.200 Levi Lasco prayed sunstands still over his five year old 0:22:40.280 --> 0:22:42.600 daughter and she died in his arms of an asthma 0:22:42.600 --> 0:22:47.080 attack as he tried to resuscitate her. And I had 0:22:47.160 --> 0:22:50.800 to go back in my life now and separate out 0:22:51.160 --> 0:22:54.800 the events that happened that cost me to doubt from 0:22:54.800 --> 0:22:59.439 the faith that I have to realize that sometimes we 0:22:59.520 --> 0:23:06.560 didn't really lose our faith. We misplaced it. Is this 0:23:06.560 --> 0:23:10.359 too deepbate. We misplaced it. It didn't get up and 0:23:10.400 --> 0:23:14.800 walk away. You didn't lose your faith, you misplaced it. 0:23:14.840 --> 0:23:18.000 In the Father's case, he said your disciples couldn't drive 0:23:18.040 --> 0:23:22.880 it out. Your disciples couldn't do it. The disciples weren't 0:23:22.920 --> 0:23:25.080 the ones that you needed to believe in to begin with. 0:23:26.720 --> 0:23:29.119 Many of us lost our faith in Jesus because we 0:23:29.160 --> 0:23:36.840 put our trust in people. So we lose our faith 0:23:36.880 --> 0:23:40.199 in God because somebody else let us down. Because the 0:23:40.280 --> 0:23:42.719 disciples couldn't do it, You're gonna walk away from what 0:23:42.760 --> 0:23:45.560 God has for you, I don't go to church anymore. 0:23:45.560 --> 0:23:48.960 I got burned. Have you ever had a bad meal? 0:23:50.760 --> 0:24:04.760 Do you still eat? My unbelief? I've watched my son 0:24:04.920 --> 0:24:07.280 like this so long, you know, when it's been so 0:24:07.560 --> 0:24:10.960 long like this, it just adds up over time to 0:24:11.000 --> 0:24:15.560 where his first instinct is, I do believe it. Will 0:24:15.640 --> 0:24:19.800 you help me overcome the part of me that doesn't. 0:24:22.160 --> 0:24:24.760 I'll never forget. When I was in Orangeburg, South Carolina, 0:24:24.840 --> 0:24:28.679 preaching on a Friday night, and I preached a sermon 0:24:28.720 --> 0:24:32.440 back in the day on Jonathan for Samuel fourteen Old 0:24:32.440 --> 0:24:35.600 Testament character he's the son of Saul the King, And 0:24:35.640 --> 0:24:39.359 I preached that thing for Samuel fourteen six so many times. 0:24:39.440 --> 0:24:41.719 I mean, I've preached it so many times. I used 0:24:41.760 --> 0:24:45.199 to talk about how Jonathan said, perhaps the Lord will 0:24:45.240 --> 0:24:47.440 act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving. 0:24:48.119 --> 0:24:51.840 And I talked about how that sounds kind of like he's, yeah, 0:24:51.840 --> 0:24:55.000 I'm quite made up his mind, nothing can hinder the Lord. 0:24:55.119 --> 0:24:59.040 Perhaps God will act, And I called it the perhaps paradox. Now, 0:24:59.200 --> 0:25:02.439 this was a little and I don't know was I 0:25:02.520 --> 0:25:05.320 nineteen years old that this guy drove me back to 0:25:06.480 --> 0:25:09.600 the host home where we were staying and the guy's 0:25:09.680 --> 0:25:13.080 name was Rodney. That was driving me and on the 0:25:13.119 --> 0:25:17.440 way home. You know, I'm insecure, So I said, how'd 0:25:17.480 --> 0:25:19.960 you like the sermon? Rodney? Well, I shouldn't ask that, 0:25:22.359 --> 0:25:25.919 he said. He said, I don't know if i'd call 0:25:26.000 --> 0:25:29.480 that a sermon. What you did up there, I'm not 0:25:29.560 --> 0:25:34.879 making this up. He said, there's no perhaps about it. 0:25:34.920 --> 0:25:38.200 If God said he'll do it, he'll do it. That 0:25:38.280 --> 0:25:40.720 stuff you're preaching up there isn't faith, it's doubt. I said, 0:25:40.720 --> 0:25:44.400 but I got it from the Bible, Rodney. I read 0:25:44.480 --> 0:25:46.639 the Bible. That's what Jonathan said in the Bible. I 0:25:46.680 --> 0:25:50.320 was preaching the Bible verse. He said, no, no, no, 0:25:51.119 --> 0:25:53.199 If God said he'll do it, he'll do it, and 0:25:53.240 --> 0:26:02.560 there's no if about it. Hold on, if you can 0:26:02.680 --> 0:26:04.840 do anything, take pity on us and help us. If 0:26:04.840 --> 0:26:06.760 you can. Everything is possible for the one who believes. 0:26:06.920 --> 0:26:10.840 And Jesus did it. Even though the man said if so, 0:26:10.880 --> 0:26:14.240 I start arguing with Rodney. I said, Rodney, there's a 0:26:14.240 --> 0:26:16.159 lot of people in the Bible, and I'm putting a 0:26:16.320 --> 0:26:19.480 substitute name in there is the real name with Rodney, 0:26:19.480 --> 0:26:20.960 I still remember what it was. I'm not going to 0:26:21.000 --> 0:26:25.560 say it. I won't get sued or canceled, the man said. 0:26:25.760 --> 0:26:28.760 The man said, well, real faith in the Bible. I said, 0:26:28.800 --> 0:26:31.160 Moses had doubts. He said God couldn't use him. God 0:26:31.160 --> 0:26:33.200 got so mad at Moses that the Bible said his 0:26:33.280 --> 0:26:34.959 anger burned against him, but he still used him, even 0:26:34.960 --> 0:26:36.720 though he had to give him Aaron to speak for him. 0:26:37.280 --> 0:26:41.840 You got more faith than Moses, I said. Abraham lied 0:26:41.880 --> 0:26:43.719 about his wife. I went through a whole list of 0:26:43.840 --> 0:26:46.680 people who doubted, but God still used him. I said, 0:26:46.680 --> 0:26:48.760 you got more faith than all of them. He said, well, 0:26:48.800 --> 0:26:51.880 I guess when it comes to that, I do. By 0:26:51.920 --> 0:26:53.600 the time we got to where he was dropping me 0:26:53.640 --> 0:26:56.439 off in the driveway, were about we were about to 0:26:56.440 --> 0:27:00.480 fist fight in the driveway, and the man whose home 0:27:00.480 --> 0:27:02.280 it was, he came running out the house. He said, 0:27:02.280 --> 0:27:04.680 what in the world's going on? And he kind of 0:27:04.720 --> 0:27:06.240 broke us up, and he took us in the house, 0:27:06.280 --> 0:27:09.240 and Rodney left and spun out the driveway and pick 0:27:09.320 --> 0:27:13.040 up Trump. And I sat down the house and I said, man, 0:27:13.040 --> 0:27:15.400 we were arguing about He said, if you have any doubt, 0:27:15.480 --> 0:27:17.320 you don't have real faith. And this is what the 0:27:17.440 --> 0:27:19.639 man said, to me. He said, if you teach that 0:27:20.720 --> 0:27:24.520 and preach that, you're gonna be broke, poor, and sick 0:27:24.720 --> 0:27:26.679 all your life, and so will all the people that 0:27:26.760 --> 0:27:30.320 you lead and your future children, if you have any. 0:27:31.160 --> 0:27:37.600 And I'm like, hey, man, leave my hypothetical future children 0:27:37.600 --> 0:27:40.640 out of this, and make fun of me if you want. 0:27:42.080 --> 0:27:45.640 But he really thought that. He really thought that, He 0:27:45.720 --> 0:27:49.159 really thought that the proof of faith is the absence 0:27:49.160 --> 0:27:53.280 of doubt. He had no room in his view of 0:27:53.320 --> 0:27:57.720 who God is for an if. But Jesus did what 0:27:57.840 --> 0:28:01.360 the men needed, even though the man isn't perfectly convinced 0:28:01.400 --> 0:28:05.840 he could do it, because the man invited Jesus into 0:28:05.920 --> 0:28:08.760 the place where he had the greatest doubt and the 0:28:08.800 --> 0:28:12.960 greatest pain. And now I think this might be my 0:28:13.160 --> 0:28:16.200 favorite prayer in the Bible, because I can get with this. 0:28:16.840 --> 0:28:18.680 I can get with this when I'm in a bad mood. 0:28:18.720 --> 0:28:20.359 I can get with this when I'm in a good mood. 0:28:20.480 --> 0:28:22.959 I can get with this when I'm riding high. I 0:28:22.960 --> 0:28:25.920 can get with this when when when the news is bad. 0:28:26.160 --> 0:28:28.200 I can get with this any any day of the week. 0:28:28.440 --> 0:28:31.840 I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief. I'm not 0:28:31.960 --> 0:28:34.640 asking God to just take it away. I'm asking God 0:28:34.880 --> 0:28:39.680 help me, overcome him, help me. My faith is not gone. 0:28:39.840 --> 0:28:43.120 I just have to learn where to look. And sometimes 0:28:43.240 --> 0:28:46.120 the greatest faith I need you to get this is 0:28:46.280 --> 0:28:49.800 right underneath that biggest doubt. Sometimes the greatest thing that 0:28:49.840 --> 0:28:52.680 God wants to show you. If you will start lifting 0:28:53.040 --> 0:28:56.880 and looking and lifting and looking, you see what I'm saying. 0:28:57.120 --> 0:29:01.640 Because we can't just cover over it. We can't just 0:29:01.760 --> 0:29:04.320 come to church for a fresh coat of paint over 0:29:04.360 --> 0:29:08.160 our problems. We can't just come to church for a 0:29:08.200 --> 0:29:11.800 three hour scriptural sugar boost to get us feeling good 0:29:11.840 --> 0:29:14.640 for a moment. It won't work, and we'll end up 0:29:14.640 --> 0:29:17.840 the like the disciples saying why did I shout and 0:29:17.920 --> 0:29:21.160 sing and listen and take notes in church? Because you 0:29:21.280 --> 0:29:24.640 didn't invite Jesus into the real place of your pain. 0:29:30.440 --> 0:29:34.440 You didn't lose your faith. You just stop looking at 0:29:34.440 --> 0:29:40.680 the surface. It's gone. It's gone. One boy broke up 0:29:40.720 --> 0:29:44.160 with you. I guess I'll never be loved. You're fourteen 0:29:45.800 --> 0:29:51.760 years old. I guess it's gone. I guess you can't 0:29:51.760 --> 0:29:55.640 trust anybody. See how we do it, It's gone. You 0:29:55.760 --> 0:29:58.880 have to know where to look. Can I ap preach 0:29:58.920 --> 0:30:04.760 something else. Sometimes you are so intimidated by it that 0:30:04.880 --> 0:30:12.240 you forget about him. When Jesus saw that a crowd 0:30:12.360 --> 0:30:14.960 was running to the scene, is this good, y'all? Because 0:30:15.000 --> 0:30:17.840 this is good to me. When Jesus saw that a 0:30:17.920 --> 0:30:20.840 crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. 0:30:21.000 --> 0:30:23.640 He didn't argue with the disciples. He didn't argue with 0:30:23.720 --> 0:30:28.040 the teachers. He didn't have to. He was bigger than it. 0:30:30.120 --> 0:30:32.600 So the disciples said, why couldn't we drive it out? 0:30:32.720 --> 0:30:36.840 He said, because you lost your focus. This kind can 0:30:36.840 --> 0:30:40.720 only come out through prayer. When we think about prayer, 0:30:40.720 --> 0:30:43.800 we think about maybe like a list of things that 0:30:43.840 --> 0:30:48.880 we say to God. But God is showing me lately 0:30:48.920 --> 0:30:53.400 that prayer is more about a lens than a list, 0:30:56.360 --> 0:30:59.760 and it's more about what I see than what I say. 0:31:00.880 --> 0:31:04.000 So if my prayer is always just let me just 0:31:04.120 --> 0:31:08.080 say my prayers. When Jesus said this kind can only 0:31:08.080 --> 0:31:11.800 come out by prayer, the King James says, and fasting, 0:31:12.160 --> 0:31:15.280 But the original manuscripts don't say by fasting. And even 0:31:15.320 --> 0:31:17.120 the fact, look, even the fact that he said this 0:31:17.200 --> 0:31:19.680 kind can only come out by prayer. He's letting you 0:31:19.760 --> 0:31:24.600 know you can't do it alone. You can't do it alone. 0:31:24.760 --> 0:31:27.440 I looked on my message last week and somebody said 0:31:27.440 --> 0:31:29.880 on a comment, I don't usually read the comments. Pray 0:31:29.920 --> 0:31:32.600 for me. I'll read them more. Nasha. They said you 0:31:32.720 --> 0:31:36.080 left out fasting. It said by prayer and fasting, they 0:31:36.120 --> 0:31:38.120 didn't get the demon out because they didn't fast. Isn't 0:31:38.120 --> 0:31:39.560 that just like us to think, if we'll just do 0:31:39.640 --> 0:31:43.680 one more thing, if we just do one more step. 0:31:45.680 --> 0:31:48.520 But it was their inability to rely on God's power 0:31:48.560 --> 0:31:51.240 in them that got them in the predicament to begin with. 0:31:51.680 --> 0:31:55.400 He said, it's only by prayer. I mean, it's intimidating. 0:31:55.520 --> 0:31:57.920 How dare we judge the Disciples that they couldn't cast 0:31:57.920 --> 0:32:02.200 out a demon like all the out of shape people 0:32:02.280 --> 0:32:07.280 watching these Olympic athletes, huh talking about well that was 0:32:07.320 --> 0:32:12.520 pretty good? I mean second place, it was all right. 0:32:14.720 --> 0:32:16.680 And I want to judge the disciples. Why couldn't you 0:32:16.760 --> 0:32:19.040 drive out the demon? You should have confessed the name 0:32:19.040 --> 0:32:22.680 of Jesus and prayed and fasted. I can't even give 0:32:22.720 --> 0:32:25.240 my kids to clean their room, y'all. And I'm going 0:32:25.320 --> 0:32:28.440 to judge the disciples for not casting out a demon. 0:32:28.680 --> 0:32:32.600 This is a demon that's been with this boy since childhood. 0:32:33.760 --> 0:32:37.400 How dare we judge them for that? It was intimidating. 0:32:39.760 --> 0:32:42.520 He said, this kind can only come out by prayer. 0:32:43.560 --> 0:32:45.000 This isn't going to be like one of your other 0:32:45.080 --> 0:32:51.239 problems that you can fix in your own strength. I 0:32:51.280 --> 0:32:55.320 wonder have you been have you been losing it because 0:32:55.360 --> 0:33:01.000 you've been fighting on the wrong level. One of my 0:33:01.040 --> 0:33:04.480 friends went into a business situation a few weeks ago, 0:33:05.320 --> 0:33:07.560 and he said when he pulled up to the person's 0:33:07.560 --> 0:33:11.320 house for the meeting, the house was so big and 0:33:11.400 --> 0:33:15.040 so beautiful that he lost his He lost his confidence. 0:33:15.920 --> 0:33:18.800 And he said, and I went in there and I thought, 0:33:20.600 --> 0:33:23.440 I can't do this. I can't do this. When he 0:33:23.480 --> 0:33:26.760 went in to meet with the people, after he left, 0:33:26.760 --> 0:33:30.080 they sent him a text and said, you are amazing. 0:33:30.960 --> 0:33:33.959 We have not stopped talking about how your spirit and 0:33:34.120 --> 0:33:36.960 he's a great Christian, he has an amazing Oh man, 0:33:37.000 --> 0:33:39.800 this this guy changes the atmosphere of every room that 0:33:39.840 --> 0:33:42.640 he walks into. And he said, afterward they were texting 0:33:42.680 --> 0:33:44.840 me how amazing the meeting was and how they were 0:33:44.840 --> 0:33:47.400 so impressed with me. He said, I couldn't believe it 0:33:47.440 --> 0:33:49.160 because I went in so scared and you know what 0:33:49.200 --> 0:33:52.600 I told him. I said, yeah, because you got so 0:33:52.680 --> 0:33:54.720 caught up in what you were walking into that you 0:33:54.800 --> 0:34:04.320 forgot what you were walking in with. You forgot what 0:34:04.480 --> 0:34:08.520 you were walking in with because you were so focused 0:34:08.760 --> 0:34:11.759 who is this for? You were so focused on what 0:34:11.800 --> 0:34:14.359 you were walking into. But God says, if you will 0:34:14.360 --> 0:34:17.520 get a focus on what you were walking in with 0:34:18.280 --> 0:34:21.440 the spirit of God, not just your abilities, not just 0:34:21.520 --> 0:34:25.240 your education, not just your knowledge, not just your wisdom, 0:34:25.440 --> 0:34:27.560 at some point that will fail you. But if you 0:34:27.600 --> 0:34:30.799 remember that you were walking in with the spirit of God, 0:34:31.080 --> 0:34:34.480 and this is a guarantee of your inheritance. This is 0:34:34.520 --> 0:34:40.360 not corruptible. It cannot perish, it cannot spoil, it cannot fade. 0:34:41.000 --> 0:34:44.359 Whatever it I'm walking into, come on, I'm walking in 0:34:44.480 --> 0:34:48.680 with something that is greater. Greater is he that is 0:34:48.760 --> 0:34:52.359 in me, then he that is in the world. And 0:34:52.440 --> 0:34:56.920 when Jesus confronted it, it had to back down, because 0:34:57.040 --> 0:35:01.799 greater is he that is in me, he that is 0:35:01.840 --> 0:35:04.960 in the world. I got a devil, I got the 0:35:05.040 --> 0:35:08.359 spirit of God, I got the calling of God. I've 0:35:08.400 --> 0:35:11.480 got the purpose of God, I've got the Word of God, 0:35:11.800 --> 0:35:15.080 I've got the assurance of God. I've got the anointing 0:35:15.160 --> 0:35:17.880 of God. I got a sling in a stone and 0:35:17.960 --> 0:35:26.840 a promise and a savior, and I still got faith. 0:35:27.680 --> 0:35:30.440 After all I've been through, and all it cost me, 0:35:30.800 --> 0:35:34.239 and all they took in roughed my speech, but it 0:35:34.280 --> 0:35:40.600 didn't take my thing. I do believe. I still believe. 0:35:44.840 --> 0:35:48.520 So let me give you a scripture. Lift before you look, 0:35:49.360 --> 0:35:52.120 Lift before you look. Stop looking at stuff on the 0:35:52.160 --> 0:35:56.279 surface and saying, oh, there's nothing there. Lift before you look. 0:35:56.400 --> 0:35:58.880 This is what Holly taught me, is not gone. You 0:35:59.040 --> 0:36:02.040 just haven't looked yet. You just haven't looked yet. You 0:36:02.080 --> 0:36:04.680 haven't looked, so you haven't seen the opportunity that's in 0:36:04.719 --> 0:36:07.319 this hardship. You haven't seen the blessing that's in this 0:36:07.440 --> 0:36:17.560 rejection yet because you haven't looked. I will lift my 0:36:17.719 --> 0:36:23.279 eyes to the hills. What did Dismist do? He said, 0:36:23.320 --> 0:36:27.160 I've got to lift before I look. They looked at 0:36:27.160 --> 0:36:30.600 the boy and he looked dead, but Jesus reached down 0:36:30.640 --> 0:36:36.000 and lifted him up. Why lifts before you look, before 0:36:36.040 --> 0:36:38.640 you look, at your schedule for the day, lift your 0:36:38.719 --> 0:36:42.040 eyes to the hills. You're gonna need help today, and 0:36:42.080 --> 0:36:45.440 you've got it on the inside. Don't look so much 0:36:45.480 --> 0:36:48.239 at what you're walking into that you forget what you're 0:36:48.239 --> 0:36:52.440 walking in with. Oh no, I'm a nobody with somebody 0:36:52.480 --> 0:36:56.000 on the inside of me. I gotta decrease so he 0:36:56.040 --> 0:37:04.640 can increase. I lift my eyes to the hills. I 0:37:04.719 --> 0:37:07.439 might be preaching for three people, but you haven't really 0:37:07.480 --> 0:37:10.880 looked yet. You've been saying, there's nothing special about me. 0:37:10.920 --> 0:37:13.319 I don't really have a gift. I'm not anointed like 0:37:13.360 --> 0:37:15.640 those other people. I'm not called I don't really see 0:37:15.640 --> 0:37:21.600 any benefit in this situation. You haven't really looked until 0:37:21.640 --> 0:37:26.200 you've lifted, and when you lift your eyes to the hills. 0:37:28.560 --> 0:37:32.600 The turning point for the Father is when he stopped 0:37:32.640 --> 0:37:36.880 looking at the crowd, stopped looking at the disciples, stopped 0:37:36.920 --> 0:37:44.759 looking at the symptoms, and he finally saw Jesus. I 0:37:44.840 --> 0:37:52.040 see Jesus, come in toward your unbelief, come in toward 0:37:52.120 --> 0:37:56.839 your struggle, come in toward your issue. Will you lift 0:37:56.880 --> 0:38:06.920 your eyes? Lift? Lift before you look, he said, I 0:38:07.000 --> 0:38:10.439 lift my eyes to the hills. From whence cometh my help. 0:38:10.440 --> 0:38:13.719 It's not going to come from the disciples. It's not 0:38:13.760 --> 0:38:16.520 going to come from my own flesh. It's not going 0:38:16.560 --> 0:38:20.759 to come from my own solutions. My help comes from 0:38:20.800 --> 0:38:26.640 the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. And he 0:38:26.719 --> 0:38:30.360 will not suffer your foot to be moll The Lord 0:38:30.760 --> 0:38:35.360 keep it thee He will not slumber nor sleep. For 0:38:35.440 --> 0:38:40.200 the Lord is thy keeper. The Lord is thy shade 0:38:40.280 --> 0:38:44.200 upon thy right hand. And the sun shall not smite 0:38:44.239 --> 0:38:48.880 you by day, nor the moon by night. He that 0:38:49.040 --> 0:38:57.000 keepeth Israel shall preserve your soul even forever more. Will 0:38:57.040 --> 0:39:01.520 you lift your eyes for a moment. You've been looking 0:39:01.560 --> 0:39:06.080 in the wrong places. You've been looking in the wrong 0:39:06.120 --> 0:39:12.319 places for your joy, for your peace. You didn't lose it. 0:39:14.120 --> 0:39:17.759 You didn't lose it. You just need somebody to help 0:39:17.800 --> 0:39:22.960 you look. And that's what the spirit of God does. 0:39:23.000 --> 0:39:25.000 He searches all things. He helps you look in the 0:39:25.040 --> 0:39:28.839 places where you haven't looked yet. You know, God has 0:39:30.840 --> 0:39:34.239 put his help on the inside of you, and I 0:39:34.320 --> 0:39:36.160 just want to help you look for a moment. Stand 0:39:36.200 --> 0:39:44.080 to your feet. One time, Paul prayed that the eyes 0:39:44.120 --> 0:39:48.319 of your heart might be open. The eyes of your 0:39:48.360 --> 0:39:55.600 heart might be open. Prayer isn't just about saying things 0:39:55.640 --> 0:40:04.960 to God. It's about seeing things. Ask God sees them. 0:40:05.080 --> 0:40:09.280 I do believe. Would you say that I do believe 0:40:11.719 --> 0:40:14.400 life has lered me with unbelief. But I'm not an unbeliever. 0:40:15.560 --> 0:40:19.400 I do believe. That's why I came today. I still believe. 0:40:21.000 --> 0:40:23.400 Sometimes my faith feels very weak and my joy feels 0:40:23.480 --> 0:40:28.719 very low, but I received this prophetic word today. I 0:40:28.760 --> 0:40:33.640 didn't lose it. I just need Jesus to help me 0:40:33.760 --> 0:40:40.920 look for it. I want you to pray like I 0:40:41.000 --> 0:40:43.160 asked Collie. I want you to ask God, say help me. 0:40:43.200 --> 0:40:49.080 Look Lord, because when I see things with my own eyes, 0:40:49.120 --> 0:40:52.520 I misjudge them. I see them from a human appearance. 0:40:54.200 --> 0:40:58.200 Show me what's really going on with my children, Show 0:40:58.239 --> 0:41:03.200 me what's really driving that behavior. Show me what's really 0:41:03.200 --> 0:41:06.840 beneath the fear that I feel. Show me what's lurking 0:41:06.880 --> 0:41:15.440 beneath that help me overcome my unbelief. Thank you for 0:41:15.520 --> 0:41:18.080 joining us special thanks to those of you who give 0:41:18.160 --> 0:41:21.040 generously to this ministry. Is because of you that this 0:41:21.160 --> 0:41:23.960 ministry is possible. You can click the link in the 0:41:24.000 --> 0:41:28.400 description to give now, or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash 0:41:28.440 --> 0:41:31.719 podcast for more information. And if you enjoyed the podcast, 0:41:32.040 --> 0:41:34.760 you can subscribe. You can share it with your friends. 0:41:35.040 --> 0:41:37.319 You can click the share button. Take a screenshot and 0:41:37.360 --> 0:41:39.480 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:41:39.480 --> 0:41:47.760 Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.