WEBVTT - Do You See It Yet? – Part 2 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.920 Putting God at the center of your life opens your 0:00:02.920 --> 0:00:07.000 eyes to his presence, protection and purposes more in having 0:00:07.000 --> 0:00:09.760 a godly vision. Next, on bold steps. 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:13.120 Open up your eyes and see that the Lord of Lords, 0:00:13.119 --> 0:00:15.920 the King of Kings, the Almighty God of the universe, 0:00:15.920 --> 0:00:18.880 is on your side. It makes me get up with 0:00:18.880 --> 0:00:22.680 a new vision and say, yeah, we'll charge hell with 0:00:22.680 --> 0:00:25.759 a squirt gun if God is on our side. 0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:41.760 Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe, president of Moody 0:00:41.760 --> 0:00:44.839 Bible Institute and senior pastor of New Life Community Church 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:48.360 in Chicago. Today, we continue our look at Elisha and 0:00:48.360 --> 0:00:51.080 what it means to have open eyes and God's vision 0:00:51.080 --> 0:00:54.640 in the midst of a seemingly impossible situation. That's next. 0:00:54.640 --> 0:00:57.160 As we continue with part two of this powerful message. 0:00:57.360 --> 0:01:00.680 Do you see it yet? To listen again, visit our website. 0:01:00.720 --> 0:01:06.480 Bold steps bold steps.org. Now here is Mark Jobe with 0:01:06.480 --> 0:01:08.040 today's bold steps. 0:01:09.560 --> 0:01:12.280 Just this past week, I had an experience that reminded 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:15.440 me again I need to trust the voice of the spirit. 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:19.959 I was asked to speak in Vancouver so and so. 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:22.040 I was praying, God, I want to be encouragement to 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:24.640 these pastors. I want to speak life into them. I 0:01:24.640 --> 0:01:27.119 want to some of them are tired and discouraged. So 0:01:27.120 --> 0:01:29.679 help me, Lord. And so we gathered at this big 0:01:29.680 --> 0:01:32.920 church with several hundred pastors there, and I got up 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:35.440 to speak on stage. But before I got to speak 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:38.000 on stage, I felt like the Lord was saying to me. 0:01:38.040 --> 0:01:40.959 As I was praying for the pastors, I felt like 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:45.200 God was saying, I want you to pray for Jerry. 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:50.800 Like Jerry. Yeah, pray for Jerry. So I started praying, Lord, 0:01:50.800 --> 0:01:52.360 I pray for Jerry. I don't know who he is 0:01:52.360 --> 0:01:55.480 or what he's doing, but I pray for Jerry. I 0:01:55.480 --> 0:01:58.720 felt like this got a real clear word for Jerry. 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:03.050 A man 50 years or older. Older man 50 years 0:02:03.050 --> 0:02:08.410 or older. Name is Jerry. Clear word. Hey. He's moved 0:02:08.410 --> 0:02:11.290 into his calling, but he stepped back because of the 0:02:11.290 --> 0:02:14.090 fear of man. He needs to disregard the fear of 0:02:14.090 --> 0:02:17.250 man and pursue the call of God. A very clear word. 0:02:17.810 --> 0:02:20.929 So I kept thinking. I'll run into a Jerry. I'm 0:02:20.930 --> 0:02:25.130 saying hi. Hi. What's your name? Doesn't happen to be Jerry, 0:02:25.130 --> 0:02:27.410 does it? You kind of look like Jerry. I wanted 0:02:27.410 --> 0:02:29.490 to go, people. Hey, are you Jerry? Jerry and I 0:02:29.490 --> 0:02:32.410 couldn't run into any Jerry. So finally, it was kind 0:02:32.410 --> 0:02:34.330 of the last day of the conference I was supposed 0:02:34.330 --> 0:02:35.970 to be speaking. So I got up, and I kind 0:02:36.010 --> 0:02:38.330 of gave my message, gave it all people were being 0:02:38.330 --> 0:02:40.690 prayed for, and I just thought, all right, let me 0:02:40.690 --> 0:02:43.010 just throw it out there. I said, is there a 0:02:43.050 --> 0:02:46.610 Jerry in here 50 years or older? Because I, I 0:02:46.650 --> 0:02:49.170 need to talk to Jerry. I've been praying for Jerry. 0:02:49.210 --> 0:02:51.930 And I said, raise your hand if you are. No 0:02:51.930 --> 0:02:55.530 hand went up at all. So I went down and 0:02:55.530 --> 0:02:58.810 I was just kind of standing awkwardly standing there. Afterwards, 0:03:00.450 --> 0:03:02.410 some older man came up to me and said, you know, 0:03:02.450 --> 0:03:06.889 my middle name is Gerald. No one's ever called me Gerry, 0:03:06.889 --> 0:03:08.690 but I'm wondering if it was me. I said, no, 0:03:08.970 --> 0:03:11.250 God would have said, Gerald, no, no, go go go. 0:03:11.250 --> 0:03:16.410 Sit down. I think God knows he could call you 0:03:16.450 --> 0:03:19.329 Gerry if your name was Gerry. Don't say no. Don't 0:03:19.330 --> 0:03:24.810 make it up now. And some pastor came running up 0:03:24.810 --> 0:03:27.169 to me afterwards. Like agitation and a voice, he looked 0:03:27.169 --> 0:03:29.049 at me and he said, I know who this word is, 0:03:29.050 --> 0:03:31.450 for I know the Gerry. I said, good. Introduce him 0:03:31.450 --> 0:03:34.330 to me. He says, he's not here. I said, what 0:03:34.330 --> 0:03:35.730 do you mean he's not here? No. He was supposed 0:03:35.730 --> 0:03:38.610 to come. I invited him at the last minute. He 0:03:38.610 --> 0:03:41.170 cancelled out as soon as you said. Gerry, me and 0:03:41.170 --> 0:03:43.130 my friend looked at each other. We knew exactly who 0:03:43.130 --> 0:03:45.690 we were talking to. God is working in his life. 0:03:45.730 --> 0:03:47.890 What's your message for him? And so I told him. 0:03:47.890 --> 0:03:53.210 He said that's exactly. That's exactly it. He's a pastor, 0:03:53.210 --> 0:03:55.370 he said, I texted him and said the speaker from 0:03:55.370 --> 0:04:02.220 Chicago is calling out your name, dude. He texted me 0:04:02.220 --> 0:04:05.980 back and said, come on. So we went to the 0:04:05.980 --> 0:04:07.620 hallway and he said, I'm going to call him up. 0:04:07.620 --> 0:04:09.140 So he calls him up. He said, Jerry, I got 0:04:09.140 --> 0:04:11.740 the speaker from Chicago that's calling out your name. He's 0:04:11.740 --> 0:04:17.740 got a word from you. I'm like, hey, Jerry. My 0:04:17.740 --> 0:04:20.660 name is Mark. And I gave him my word and 0:04:20.660 --> 0:04:23.620 he said, pause at the end of the other line. 0:04:24.220 --> 0:04:27.700 And he said, I receive that. And his wife was 0:04:27.700 --> 0:04:30.220 on the other line. She said, thank you. We needed 0:04:30.260 --> 0:04:36.100 to hear that. Now, now, here's what I want to say. 0:04:36.700 --> 0:04:39.060 Early on in ministry, I probably wouldn't have said that 0:04:39.060 --> 0:04:40.740 up front. I would have probably said, I'm not. I'm 0:04:40.779 --> 0:04:43.500 not going to say that. But I've learned over the 0:04:43.500 --> 0:04:46.180 years that I don't want to. I don't want to 0:04:46.220 --> 0:04:49.140 leave a place without just dropping everything that God has 0:04:49.140 --> 0:04:51.060 put on my heart. I want to I want to 0:04:51.060 --> 0:04:54.060 release everything that's there. Even though it may seem crazy 0:04:54.060 --> 0:04:56.660 because I understand that God is the God of the universe, 0:04:56.660 --> 0:05:00.260 I understand that in this auditorium there are people here 0:05:00.260 --> 0:05:02.380 that I don't know. I don't know your name. I 0:05:02.380 --> 0:05:05.060 don't know your face. I don't know your story. You're 0:05:05.060 --> 0:05:07.100 sitting there and say, I don't even want to know you. 0:05:07.100 --> 0:05:10.100 I don't even like you. But I'm here. Someone dragged 0:05:10.100 --> 0:05:12.620 me here. But here's what I know. Listen. The spirit 0:05:12.620 --> 0:05:19.580 of the living God knows you deeply, powerfully. And if 0:05:19.620 --> 0:05:22.300 you open up your ears and eyes, God will speak 0:05:22.300 --> 0:05:29.580 to you even. Though you try to remain anonymous, because 0:05:29.580 --> 0:05:35.300 in God there is there is no anonymity in the 0:05:35.300 --> 0:05:42.179 presence of Almighty God. Secondly, write this down not only 0:05:42.180 --> 0:05:46.060 his presence, but his protection. So they got up in 0:05:46.060 --> 0:05:52.979 the morning and the servant of Elijah went outside, and 0:05:52.980 --> 0:05:58.460 he saw something that horrified him. The entire town was 0:05:58.460 --> 0:06:06.070 surrounded by chariots and warriors with spears, horses, shields. They 0:06:06.070 --> 0:06:11.630 were surrounded by the enemy. They woke up in the morning. 0:06:13.870 --> 0:06:16.870 And surrounded by the enemy, went to bed at night 0:06:16.870 --> 0:06:19.029 feeling like they were safe. Woke up in the morning 0:06:19.029 --> 0:06:24.550 and they were surrounded by the enemy. He says in 0:06:24.550 --> 0:06:26.430 verse 15, when the servant of the man of God 0:06:26.430 --> 0:06:28.590 got up and went out early the next morning, an 0:06:28.589 --> 0:06:31.470 army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city, and 0:06:31.470 --> 0:06:39.990 he said, oh, no! My Lord, what shall we do? 0:06:41.310 --> 0:06:45.150 Have you ever felt like that? You ever gone to 0:06:45.190 --> 0:06:47.390 bed at night feeling like everything was okay and woke 0:06:47.390 --> 0:06:48.990 up in the morning and you're hit by a ton 0:06:48.990 --> 0:06:52.830 of bricks? A crisis, a difficulty, something that you didn't expect. 0:06:52.830 --> 0:06:56.950 And you wake up and you say, oh no, my Lord, 0:06:57.990 --> 0:07:01.350 what shall we do? And you look around at your 0:07:01.350 --> 0:07:04.789 physical circumstances and you feel like I am surrounded like 0:07:04.790 --> 0:07:08.830 never before. There is no way out. This is going 0:07:08.870 --> 0:07:13.110 to end up in catastrophe. This is worse than I 0:07:13.110 --> 0:07:15.990 thought it was going to be. The news is bad. 0:07:16.030 --> 0:07:20.390 The circumstances are terrible. There's no way out. God, why 0:07:20.390 --> 0:07:25.110 have you let this happen? So the servant goes. The 0:07:25.110 --> 0:07:27.510 servant goes to Elijah, and he says, Elijah, have you 0:07:27.550 --> 0:07:29.550 seen it? Have you seen we're surrounded. We're going to die. 0:07:29.590 --> 0:07:32.470 Have you seen what's going on out there? Do something. 0:07:32.510 --> 0:07:41.110 What are we going to do, Elijah? Seems. Eerily tranquil. 0:07:42.070 --> 0:07:50.230 He's not threatened. He's not panicking. He's not pacing. Verse 16, 0:07:50.230 --> 0:07:53.350 he says, don't be afraid. Have you ever been in 0:07:53.350 --> 0:07:55.070 the middle of something and someone says, don't be afraid. 0:07:55.070 --> 0:07:57.910 And you're like, yeah. What do you mean? Don't be afraid? 0:07:58.310 --> 0:08:00.840 Are you seeing what I see? Do you understand what 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:04.960 I'm saying? Don't tell me to calm down. This situation 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:10.680 demands panic. Don't be afraid. By the way, can I 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:17.400 tell you that fear is the antithesis of faith? You 0:08:17.440 --> 0:08:21.400 cannot be filled with fear and faith at the same time. 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:24.800 One pushes out the other. Your faith will push out 0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:27.440 your fear, or your fear will push out your faith. 0:08:27.480 --> 0:08:30.360 You cannot be contained with both at the same time. 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:32.480 You have to decide what's going to fill you. Is 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:34.240 it fear that's going to fill you, or is it 0:08:34.240 --> 0:08:36.360 faith that's going to fill you because one will push 0:08:36.360 --> 0:08:37.199 out the other? 0:08:42.880 --> 0:08:45.320 You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. We'll continue 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:47.640 today's message in a moment. But first, Mark, I want 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:50.760 to talk about something that's become a growing concern within 0:08:50.760 --> 0:08:54.360 Christian leadership circles. Our world is going through a whirlwind, 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:57.800 pretty dramatic developments and changes, not just here in America, 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:00.319 but around the globe. And we need to remind ourselves, yourselves. 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:02.400 As Christians, we have a much higher calling than any 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:03.760 political movement, don't we? 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:08.440 Wayne, turn on the news. And there is drama all 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:09.360 over the place. 0:09:09.400 --> 0:09:14.760 From rumors of wars to economic crisis to actualization, to 0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:18.720 actual wars that are happening to bombings, and it is 0:09:18.720 --> 0:09:22.120 easy to get distracted by all this, worried by it, 0:09:22.160 --> 0:09:25.720 anxious by it, sort of sucked into it. But here's 0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:29.360 what I want to say. This is a great time 0:09:29.600 --> 0:09:32.520 for the good news of Jesus Christ and the hope 0:09:32.520 --> 0:09:35.320 of the gospel. Amen. There are a lot of people 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:38.200 coming to Christ throughout the world, and you may not 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:42.400 hear about it, because there's other news that is prominent 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:46.360 and is taking people's attention. But there is an undercurrent 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:50.280 of a harvest evangelism. And that's what we're all about 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:53.600 right now, is a moment where people are shaken, where 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:56.720 there's concern. But there are so many people that are 0:09:56.720 --> 0:10:00.450 turning to the heavens, and we at Bold Steps have 0:10:00.450 --> 0:10:04.650 determined we will not miss that moment. And so we 0:10:04.690 --> 0:10:07.410 are asking you to partner with us, help us out, 0:10:07.410 --> 0:10:11.330 because right now is a great time to be calling 0:10:11.330 --> 0:10:12.569 people to Jesus. 0:10:12.570 --> 0:10:15.730 We urge you to give online at Bold steps.org. Or 0:10:15.730 --> 0:10:19.209 you can call us. The number is 800 Moody. And 0:10:19.210 --> 0:10:24.410 that works out to be (800) 356-6639. And when you do give, 0:10:24.410 --> 0:10:26.210 we'll be sure to send you a special gift which 0:10:26.210 --> 0:10:28.969 will tell you more about later in the program today. Well, 0:10:28.970 --> 0:10:31.130 thank you for that, Mark. But now let's continue with 0:10:31.130 --> 0:10:33.570 the final part of our message titled do you see 0:10:33.570 --> 0:10:35.290 it yet? Here's Mark Jobe. 0:10:39.370 --> 0:10:41.090 Do you remember Peter when he was called out to 0:10:41.130 --> 0:10:44.050 walk on the water and he started to walk on 0:10:44.050 --> 0:10:48.770 the water because Jesus called him. And the Bible says, 0:10:48.809 --> 0:10:51.290 as soon as he took his eyes off Jesus and 0:10:51.290 --> 0:10:54.929 started seeing the waves, he was overcome with fear. And 0:10:54.929 --> 0:10:57.690 as soon as he was overcome with fear, he started 0:10:57.690 --> 0:11:00.170 to sink because his faith would no longer keep him 0:11:00.170 --> 0:11:02.970 them afloat. What happened is he had faith when he 0:11:02.970 --> 0:11:06.730 was walking, but his fear displaced his faith and he 0:11:06.730 --> 0:11:11.250 started to sink. So you have to decide what's going 0:11:11.290 --> 0:11:15.010 to fill you. Fear or faith? Because you can't be 0:11:15.010 --> 0:11:18.890 filled with both at the same time. One is going 0:11:18.929 --> 0:11:20.890 to push out the other. Have you ever played King 0:11:20.929 --> 0:11:25.010 of the Hill before when you were kids? God at 0:11:25.010 --> 0:11:26.370 the top of the mound and there had to be 0:11:26.370 --> 0:11:27.890 one king of the hill, and you would try to 0:11:27.890 --> 0:11:29.770 push the one guy out so you could get there. 0:11:31.210 --> 0:11:35.010 You're acting like you never played that game. You must 0:11:35.050 --> 0:11:37.130 have been on video games, I don't know. We played 0:11:37.130 --> 0:11:39.370 King of the Hill when I was growing up, and 0:11:40.050 --> 0:11:41.929 only one person could be at the top. It's like 0:11:41.929 --> 0:11:44.410 that with faith and fear. Only one can be the top. 0:11:44.410 --> 0:11:48.370 It's either faith or fear. You can't have both standing 0:11:48.370 --> 0:11:52.170 at the top of the hill. He said, don't be afraid. 0:11:52.770 --> 0:11:59.890 Oh come on. Verse 16, the prophet said, those who 0:11:59.890 --> 0:12:04.620 are with us are more than those who are with them. 0:12:09.140 --> 0:12:12.660 The servants looking out and saying, I don't get it. 0:12:13.780 --> 0:12:19.260 There's two of us and there's thousands of them. Don't 0:12:19.260 --> 0:12:24.819 get it. Elijah looks over at him. Oh man, this 0:12:24.820 --> 0:12:26.500 is going to hit some of you because some of 0:12:26.500 --> 0:12:31.380 you need exactly, exactly what happened to the servant needs 0:12:31.380 --> 0:12:34.300 to happen to you. Exactly what happened to the servant. 0:12:34.980 --> 0:12:38.220 Verse 17 down. Because some of you, God is speaking 0:12:38.220 --> 0:12:44.500 to you through verse 17. Verse 17 Elijah prayed over him, 0:12:45.980 --> 0:12:54.580 and this is what he prayed. Open his eyes. So 0:12:54.580 --> 0:13:00.140 that he may see. You say, well, pastor, I thought 0:13:00.140 --> 0:13:03.140 he could see the soldiers. Oh, yeah, he could see 0:13:03.140 --> 0:13:06.819 the soldiers of the enemy. But he needed to open 0:13:06.820 --> 0:13:10.420 up another set of eyes. Not the physical eyes. He 0:13:10.420 --> 0:13:12.540 needed to open up the spiritual eyes so he could 0:13:12.580 --> 0:13:18.740 see in the spirit world what was really happening. And 0:13:18.740 --> 0:13:21.500 as soon as Elijah prayed that his eyes would be open. 0:13:21.780 --> 0:13:24.780 There was a spiritual awakening that happened in the servant. 0:13:24.780 --> 0:13:28.300 And suddenly he saw in the realm of the spirit 0:13:28.300 --> 0:13:31.100 where he had never seen up until this point, because 0:13:31.100 --> 0:13:33.660 he was viewing life in the realm of the flesh 0:13:33.660 --> 0:13:36.580 and not in the realm of the spirit. And the 0:13:36.580 --> 0:13:39.420 Bible says that when he opened up his eyes again, 0:13:39.460 --> 0:13:45.780 he saw another army say, another army. Oh, you're surrounded 0:13:45.780 --> 0:13:48.860 by the enemy's army, but you haven't seen the other army. 0:13:49.540 --> 0:13:52.660 And he opened up his eyes. And there was another army. 0:13:52.660 --> 0:13:58.540 The army of God. Chariots of fire. Horsemen. The horsemen, 0:13:58.540 --> 0:14:03.110 like the horsemen of apocalypse, full of fire, full of strength. 0:14:03.110 --> 0:14:08.230 And the other army was surrounding the enemy's army. And 0:14:08.230 --> 0:14:13.990 they outnumbered the enemy by far. And that's why Elijah said, hey, 0:14:14.030 --> 0:14:16.910 those that are with us are greater than those that 0:14:16.910 --> 0:14:19.710 are with them, but you can't see it unless you 0:14:19.710 --> 0:14:22.310 open up your spiritual eyes and see what's really happening 0:14:22.310 --> 0:14:26.710 in the spiritual realm. Can I tell you something? Listen, 0:14:26.710 --> 0:14:28.510 some of you operate in the realm of the flesh. 0:14:28.510 --> 0:14:30.910 The Bible says flesh gives birth to flesh. Spirit gives 0:14:30.910 --> 0:14:35.430 birth to spirit. Some of you live your life in 0:14:35.430 --> 0:14:39.190 the realm of the flesh, the five senses, and you 0:14:39.190 --> 0:14:43.150 are very, very unaware of what's happening in the spirit realm. 0:14:44.430 --> 0:14:47.270 There's a round that you cannot see that's a real realm. 0:14:49.750 --> 0:14:53.510 Not just spiritual. I mean, there's stuff in the physical 0:14:53.510 --> 0:14:57.470 that you can't see. How many germaphobes do we have 0:14:57.470 --> 0:15:02.960 in the house here? How many have already put that little, 0:15:03.200 --> 0:15:07.280 that little bottle of hand sanitizer? You've already used it 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:08.840 a couple times. You said hi to your friends, hi 0:15:08.840 --> 0:15:10.200 to your friends. Out of your friends. You say he 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:18.800 looks sick. Come on now. I'm not a germaphobic, but 0:15:18.800 --> 0:15:24.080 my wife is on the borderline. She opens up all 0:15:24.080 --> 0:15:32.000 the doors like this. Salt and pepper. At the restaurant, 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:33.640 she gets a napkin and she says. You know how 0:15:33.640 --> 0:15:36.320 many nasty, dirty germs are in this salt and pepper? 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:41.360 And she does it like that. I mean, she's she's 0:15:41.360 --> 0:15:43.480 starting to get me worried about germs now. I'm like, 0:15:43.480 --> 0:15:46.120 I was never worried before. But she says, you know, 0:15:46.160 --> 0:15:48.600 I go to sign. I go to sign the little 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:50.760 thing on with your finger where it says sign. When 0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:52.640 you pay something, she says, you know how many people 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:55.680 have put their dirty fingers on that? That's full of germs. 0:15:55.720 --> 0:15:57.840 Now I'm starting to see germs all over. It's like, 0:15:57.880 --> 0:16:00.320 oh man, I never was worried about it, but I'm 0:16:00.320 --> 0:16:02.640 starting to see germs all over now. I saw that 0:16:02.640 --> 0:16:05.320 guy sniffling. I bet he's got the flu. And I'm. 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:08.000 I'm like, seeing germs all over. You know, the thing 0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:10.440 about germs is you can't see them, but they're there. 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:15.240 People for years didn't know why people were getting sick. 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:22.240 They didn't understand germs. This unseen little scientific in entity 0:16:22.240 --> 0:16:25.440 that can infect you and cause you to go down 0:16:25.440 --> 0:16:28.360 in a big flu and be out for a long 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:31.040 time because it's in the air. I'm. Some of you 0:16:31.040 --> 0:16:32.560 are saying I got to get out of here, pastor. 0:16:32.560 --> 0:16:34.720 You are. You're making me think about this. This guy 0:16:34.760 --> 0:16:37.480 next to me, that it's unseen world. But do you 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:40.120 realize that there's an unseen world out there called the 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:44.640 spirit world? Do you realize, just like if I were 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:47.880 to have a black light, to see all the germs 0:16:47.880 --> 0:16:50.040 and bacteria that are in this place, we would be 0:16:50.040 --> 0:16:54.200 surprised at how much bacteria and germs are in this place. 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:56.280 But if we were to have a spiritual light that 0:16:56.280 --> 0:17:00.000 would indicate what is happening in the spirit world, that 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:02.560 there is a lot happening in the spirit world in 0:17:02.560 --> 0:17:06.640 this place. Every single one of you has a spirit. 0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:09.160 That spirit part of you is the part that interacts 0:17:09.160 --> 0:17:11.879 with the spirit world. There's the Holy Spirit and there's 0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:14.760 the not so holy spirits out there as well. The 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:17.959 Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead empowering you, 0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:21.440 convicting you, drawing you, bringing you to the presence of God. 0:17:21.600 --> 0:17:23.800 Some of you in this place right now, the Holy 0:17:23.800 --> 0:17:26.359 Spirit is saying, you don't even know Jesus. You need 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:29.080 to come to. You're under conviction. You don't have a 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:31.040 life in God. And if I could see in the 0:17:31.040 --> 0:17:34.520 spirit world, I would see conviction coming upon you. What's 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:37.480 it feel like? It makes you want to run away 0:17:37.520 --> 0:17:40.600 or run to God? That's conviction. But you have to 0:17:40.600 --> 0:17:46.680 feel like changing. That's conviction drawing you. Some of you, 0:17:46.720 --> 0:17:48.679 you walk in a place like this, you feel the 0:17:48.680 --> 0:17:52.880 power of the Holy Spirit bringing about the release of 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:55.959 healing power, because God is a healer. And if I 0:17:55.960 --> 0:17:57.719 were to look out in the spirit world, there are 0:17:57.720 --> 0:18:00.609 some that are receiving the power of God to heal 0:18:00.609 --> 0:18:03.250 their emotions, to heal their body, to heal their life. 0:18:03.250 --> 0:18:05.890 Because you've been calling upon it. And in the presence 0:18:05.890 --> 0:18:09.330 of God, healing is released. Listen, I don't know. And 0:18:09.330 --> 0:18:11.330 if you were to see in the spirit world, there's 0:18:11.330 --> 0:18:16.250 some of you that are being tormented by spirits that 0:18:16.250 --> 0:18:23.890 are not of God afflicted, entrapped. There's a lot of 0:18:23.890 --> 0:18:27.090 spiritual activity that we don't see with the naked eye, 0:18:27.250 --> 0:18:32.090 but it's there. The Bible talks about angels. God is 0:18:32.090 --> 0:18:34.090 a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him 0:18:34.090 --> 0:18:43.129 in spirit and in truth. Can I tell you? Without 0:18:43.130 --> 0:18:44.930 the presence and the power of the Spirit of God 0:18:44.930 --> 0:18:48.489 in this place, if we were to show up to 0:18:48.530 --> 0:18:53.650 church and there was just a bald headed guy chatting. 0:18:56.050 --> 0:19:04.659 This would be a pathetic place. Place we convene in 0:19:04.660 --> 0:19:06.580 the name of Jesus. And the Bible says that where 0:19:06.619 --> 0:19:08.580 2 or 3 are gathered together in his name, he's 0:19:08.580 --> 0:19:12.300 in the midst of them. And lastly, let me close 0:19:12.300 --> 0:19:18.460 with this. And not only you open your eyes to 0:19:18.500 --> 0:19:21.619 his presence. You open his eyes to his protection, but 0:19:21.619 --> 0:19:27.260 you open your eyes to his purposes. You see, Elijah said, 0:19:27.260 --> 0:19:31.580 watch this. And as all the armies were around them, 0:19:31.580 --> 0:19:34.700 there was a an army greater than the army that 0:19:34.700 --> 0:19:38.219 was there surrounding them. And Elijah said, bring blindness upon 0:19:38.220 --> 0:19:41.260 this army. And in one instant the entire army of 0:19:41.260 --> 0:19:45.179 the enemy went blind. So when you're blind, when you 0:19:45.180 --> 0:19:49.220 can't see, you don't know where you're going. Vision either 0:19:49.740 --> 0:19:53.060 allows you to know where you're going, or vision, if 0:19:53.060 --> 0:19:56.580 it's taken away, causes you to not know where you're going. 0:19:59.060 --> 0:20:01.340 How many of you know that the enemy can be strategic? 0:20:01.340 --> 0:20:03.660 And sometimes God needs to bring confusion in the camp 0:20:03.660 --> 0:20:08.899 of the enemy. And so he brought blindness to the army, 0:20:10.020 --> 0:20:14.740 and this entire army's aimless, not knowing where they're going. 0:20:14.780 --> 0:20:19.860 And Elijah says, follow me, follow me. This army that 0:20:19.859 --> 0:20:21.899 had been so fierce, this army that had been so 0:20:21.940 --> 0:20:27.860 threatening suddenly was reduced to a little kid like kindergarten. 0:20:27.859 --> 0:20:33.220 Follow me. And he led them right into Samaria, right 0:20:33.220 --> 0:20:36.260 into the city, right into the place where the armies 0:20:36.260 --> 0:20:39.419 of Israel were at. And then when the armies of 0:20:39.420 --> 0:20:42.580 Israel surrounded him, he said, Now God opened their eyes, 0:20:42.619 --> 0:20:46.580 they opened up their eyes, and they were surrounded by Israel. 0:20:50.380 --> 0:20:53.540 And the King says, Elijah, what should we do? Should 0:20:53.540 --> 0:20:57.900 we kill him? He said, no, no, no, no. Give 0:20:57.900 --> 0:21:02.060 him something to eat. They gave him something to eat. 0:21:02.700 --> 0:21:05.900 He says, I want you to see what you have seen. 0:21:06.820 --> 0:21:10.140 I want your king to know there's a God in Israel. 0:21:10.619 --> 0:21:13.780 Now go back and tell your king. And the Bible says, Aram, 0:21:13.780 --> 0:21:17.420 no longer rated Israel man. Aaron was afraid of Israel 0:21:17.420 --> 0:21:20.899 now because they knew there was a God alive and well, 0:21:20.940 --> 0:21:24.740 and they had a purpose. It brought peace to Israel. 0:21:27.340 --> 0:21:31.300 Let me close with this. Listen, there have been times 0:21:31.300 --> 0:21:33.780 as your pastor that I've looked at the challenges of 0:21:33.780 --> 0:21:37.540 our city, the violence of our city, the bigotry, racism 0:21:38.020 --> 0:21:43.380 divide of our city, brokenness of our city, addiction where 0:21:43.380 --> 0:21:45.619 I've done the funeral of kids that have been shot 0:21:45.619 --> 0:21:48.379 open because they just lived on the wrong side of 0:21:48.380 --> 0:21:51.180 the block, or someone that overdosed on heroin, and it's 0:21:51.180 --> 0:21:57.980 brought overwhelming sense of God. We're so small, so limited. 0:21:58.380 --> 0:22:06.430 How can we ever, ever make a difference? In times 0:22:06.430 --> 0:22:09.949 like that that I've sensed the Holy Spirit say to me, 0:22:09.950 --> 0:22:15.910 open your eyes, because those that are for you are 0:22:15.950 --> 0:22:20.350 greater than those that are against you. Open up your 0:22:20.350 --> 0:22:22.270 eyes and see that the Lord of Lords, the King 0:22:22.310 --> 0:22:25.110 of kings, the Almighty God of the universe, is on 0:22:25.109 --> 0:22:27.429 your side. And if God be for you, who in 0:22:27.430 --> 0:22:30.350 the world can ever be against you? Remember, if God 0:22:30.350 --> 0:22:34.590 is on your side, it makes me get up with 0:22:34.590 --> 0:22:39.590 a new vision and say, yeah, we'll charge hell with 0:22:39.590 --> 0:22:46.390 a squirt gun if God is on our side. If 0:22:46.390 --> 0:22:50.190 he's on our side, let's do it in Jesus name. 0:22:57.190 --> 0:23:00.430 Mark that picture of Elisha's servants opening his eyes and 0:23:00.430 --> 0:23:02.909 seeing God's army surrounding the enemy that has such a 0:23:02.910 --> 0:23:05.390 powerful one. We don't often think about the spirit world, 0:23:05.390 --> 0:23:06.830 but it's very much a part of who we are. 0:23:06.869 --> 0:23:08.870 And God tells us that we're in a battle. 0:23:09.390 --> 0:23:13.270 It it's a powerful image. And Wayne, I think that 0:23:13.270 --> 0:23:17.990 so many of us are like Elisha's servant, that we 0:23:17.990 --> 0:23:22.710 see the physical world, we see the circumstances and we 0:23:22.710 --> 0:23:27.310 get overwhelmed. But we haven't had our eyes open to 0:23:27.350 --> 0:23:31.270 the spiritual realm. And I love the fact that Elijah says, 0:23:31.270 --> 0:23:34.510 greater are those who are for us than those who 0:23:34.510 --> 0:23:36.430 are against us. And I'm wondering if we're speaking to 0:23:36.430 --> 0:23:42.189 someone right now that you feel absolutely overwhelmed and under 0:23:42.190 --> 0:23:48.070 the circumstances, and you just are full of anxiety and panic. 0:23:48.070 --> 0:23:51.070 Could I tell you this? If God is for you, 0:23:51.070 --> 0:23:53.310 if God is for you, I want you to open 0:23:53.310 --> 0:23:56.550 up your spiritual eyes and realize that there is nothing. 0:23:56.550 --> 0:24:01.720 Nothing that is too hard or impossible for our God. 0:24:02.040 --> 0:24:05.720 Well, the message we heard today ends our series fully devoted. 0:24:05.720 --> 0:24:08.479 But remember to hear any message again or even the 0:24:08.480 --> 0:24:12.359 whole series. Just go to Bold steps.org. You can listen 0:24:12.359 --> 0:24:14.919 to it there online, and maybe pass this message series 0:24:14.920 --> 0:24:17.920 along to someone else by giving them the website. Again, 0:24:17.960 --> 0:24:21.720 it's bold steps dot while you're there, don't forget that 0:24:21.720 --> 0:24:23.919 today is the last day to receive our featured Bold 0:24:23.920 --> 0:24:27.000 Steps gift for the month of April. Doctor Heather Holloman's 0:24:27.000 --> 0:24:30.600 book The Six Conversations. If you've struggled in your life 0:24:30.600 --> 0:24:35.160 to build intimate, authentic relationships, this book offers practical strategies 0:24:35.160 --> 0:24:38.879 for meaningful communication and connection. This bold step gift will 0:24:38.880 --> 0:24:43.160 help you transform surface level interactions into life giving relationships 0:24:43.160 --> 0:24:45.480 no matter where you are, and we'd be happy to 0:24:45.520 --> 0:24:47.400 send it to you when you give a gift of 0:24:47.400 --> 0:24:50.840 any amount to support this ministry, just visit us online 0:24:50.840 --> 0:24:57.040 at Bold Steps. Org or call us at 800. That's 0:24:57.040 --> 0:25:02.200 803 Five six, 6639. And if you'd rather send your 0:25:02.200 --> 0:25:04.520 donation and request this book in the mail, you can 0:25:04.520 --> 0:25:09.480 write to us at bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, 0:25:09.520 --> 0:25:13.600 Illinois 606. Ten. Speaking of mail, we also want to 0:25:13.600 --> 0:25:15.840 encourage you to reach out to us with any biblical 0:25:15.840 --> 0:25:18.800 or spiritual question you may have for Mark. You can 0:25:18.800 --> 0:25:21.479 write to that same address, or simply click on the 0:25:21.480 --> 0:25:24.600 link on our website that says ask a question or 0:25:24.840 --> 0:25:31.320 email us at. I'm Wayne Shepherd, inviting you back tomorrow 0:25:31.320 --> 0:25:34.120 for the start of a message series titled Beyond Now. 0:25:34.400 --> 0:25:37.440 How are we ready ourselves for the end Times? Mark 0:25:37.440 --> 0:25:40.679 will start by answering the question how close are we? 0:25:41.040 --> 0:25:46.000 That's Thursday here on Bold Steps with Mark John. Bold 0:25:46.000 --> 0:25:49.000 steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of 0:25:49.000 --> 0:25:50.440 Moody Bible Institute.