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Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation

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Speaker 1: Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank

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Speaker 1: you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope

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Speaker 1: it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to

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Speaker 1: see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message.

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Speaker 1: Come on, clap those hands all over the house. God

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Speaker 1: bless you. Is so good to see you today. Welcome, welcome, Yeah, hey, hey,

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Speaker 1: hello to you online. Our etham is joining us all

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Speaker 1: over the world. Can y'all get me just a second.

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Speaker 1: As our EPAM tells us where they're watching from right

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Speaker 1: there in the chat and the comments, I want to

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Speaker 1: appreciate our worship team and the reason the reason I

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Speaker 1: want to do it. You know, it can be easy,

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Speaker 1: if you're a good singer, good musician, to just come

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Speaker 1: for a performance and to lock into that. But when

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Speaker 1: you sense that your team is not just here for

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Speaker 1: performance but for presents. And I sense that today while

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Speaker 1: each and every one of you were ministering, So thank

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Speaker 1: you for showing up, for showing up, and while our

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Speaker 1: e fam is joining in and telling us where they're

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Speaker 1: watching from right there in the comments, look at your

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Speaker 1: neighbor and say, you did good to show up today

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Speaker 1: driving through all that fog. Was it still foggy when

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Speaker 1: you came. See? I shouldn't say stuff like this because

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Speaker 1: it localizes the message, but I was praying for you today. Lord,

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Speaker 1: help them to direct their paths. Lord, it is foggy.

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Speaker 1: One thing about fog I just want to point out.

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Speaker 1: Remember year over my house the other day, Chunks, and

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Speaker 1: I said, it's so foggy outside, and you said, no,

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Speaker 1: it's not. You said, that's just on the windows. So

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Speaker 1: sometimes it's not foggy you are. And what I noticed

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Speaker 1: about the Lord. A lot of times when we come

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Speaker 1: together and worship like this, it's like I'll go all

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Speaker 1: week long and just feel like I'm just stumbling around

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Speaker 1: in the fog. You know, can't think straight. And I

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Speaker 1: don't know about you, but I get foggy. And it's

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Speaker 1: amazing how worshiping wipes the windows. And I realized, like,

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Speaker 1: oh wow, God really is still in charge. Oh wow,

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Speaker 1: somebody say, wow wow, it stands for wipe our windows.

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Speaker 1: I'm just freestylic I'm happy to be here. This year,

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Speaker 1: I started praying a different prayer before I preached. I

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Speaker 1: still prayed that the Lord would help you. But I

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Speaker 1: start praying every time that he would let me have fun.

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Speaker 1: Not that I wasn't having fun before, but I just

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Speaker 1: don't ever want these moments to pass by without appreciating them.

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Speaker 1: I have a word for you today that I believe

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Speaker 1: will will hit you right in your heart and help

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Speaker 1: you with some of your habits. I started last week

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Speaker 1: and by the way, the chat is going crazy was

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Speaker 1: telling us where they're watching from. Everybody put a wow

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Speaker 1: in the chat. Somebody say wow, wow, wow, wow wow.

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Speaker 1: And what was I saying? How last week I told

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Speaker 1: you that in this year of your life, some of

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Speaker 1: the greatest things that will happen in some of the

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Speaker 1: hardest things that will happen, will not be in your

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Speaker 1: strategic plan. So my challenge to you was this, to

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Speaker 1: make presence your plan this year. Somebody say presence is

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Speaker 1: the plan. I don't know what all I'm walking into

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Speaker 1: this year, but I'm showing up for it. And to

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Speaker 1: do that, you'll have to show up from time to time.

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Speaker 1: You have to show up hurting from time to time,

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Speaker 1: and you have to show up sometimes when you wish

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Speaker 1: you could pull up the covers and hide. But in

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Speaker 1: this passage in Deuteronomy chapter twenty I want to read

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Speaker 1: you verse one, and I want to pair it very

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Speaker 1: briefly with the scripture from Ephesians chapter six, verse thirteen.

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Speaker 1: And in Deuteronomy chapter twenty, verse one, Moses is giving

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Speaker 1: a speech to the people of Israel to prepare them

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Speaker 1: for what God has positioned them for. So I think

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Speaker 1: this might be relevant to us as well. Deuteronomy chapter

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Speaker 1: twenty verse one. When you go to war against your

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Speaker 1: enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater

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Speaker 1: than yours, do not be afraid of them, because this

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Speaker 1: is where you got to be very careful if what

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Speaker 1: you put after because is something that you can do.

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Speaker 1: Your courage will melt when you face opposition. But Moses said,

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Speaker 1: when you face something and you know it's greater than you,

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Speaker 1: do not be afraid of it. Do not be afraid

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Speaker 1: of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you

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Speaker 1: up out of Egypt, will be with you. He will

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Speaker 1: be with you. So touch your neighbor and say, He'll

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Speaker 1: be with me. Whatever it looks like, whatever it feels like,

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Speaker 1: wherever it goes either way, He'll be with me. And

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Speaker 1: now for Ephesians, chapter six, verse thirteen. Put it on

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Speaker 1: the screen. Please, you might have heard this one before. Therefore,

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Speaker 1: put on the full armor of God, so that when

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Speaker 1: the day of evil comes, you may be able to

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Speaker 1: stand your ground, and after you have done everything to stand,

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Speaker 1: after you have done everything to stand, Sometimes standing is

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Speaker 1: the victory. Sometimes being here is the victory. So last

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Speaker 1: week I talked to you about where you meet with God,

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Speaker 1: and this week my thought is a little bit different.

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Speaker 1: And uh, well hold on, let me read it to

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Speaker 1: you how I wrote it down. Yeah, I want to

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Speaker 1: talk to you about something that you might be feeling

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Speaker 1: in your heart when you just can't win, when you

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Speaker 1: just can't win. And we'll talk about that for a moment. Father,

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Speaker 1: I thank you that I since, even as I look

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Speaker 1: into the eyes of the people who are in this room,

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Speaker 1: that this message will not just live and die in

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Speaker 1: this room. It's going forth, not only into our week,

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Speaker 1: but it's going forth into the rest of our year.

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Speaker 1: We lean in now listening to you speak, Lord in Jesus' name. Amen,

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Speaker 1: you may be seated well for the next few weeks.

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Speaker 1: You'll probably hear me use illustrations from the sport of wrestling.

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Speaker 1: It's not because I'm going through anything. Man Pastor's talking

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Speaker 1: about wrestling a lot lately, he must really be going

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Speaker 1: through a battle. No, it's just because every Saturday I'm

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Speaker 1: in a gym watching Graham and while I'm thinking about you,

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Speaker 1: I'm watching him wrestle. And so this is usually January.

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Speaker 1: I usually use a lot of wrestling illustrations. Yesterday I

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Speaker 1: got a really good one. See, when people come to

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Speaker 1: watch wrestling, it's really weird to them because it's, for

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Speaker 1: most people, a sport that they're not very familiar with.

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Speaker 1: And it's not like they're showing up to a basketball

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Speaker 1: game or a football game. So often they have very

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Speaker 1: little context for what they're watching. And I guess, because

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Speaker 1: I've seen the sport of wrestling since i was a teenager,

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Speaker 1: there are certain things about it that I think everybody

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Speaker 1: knows or understands. But it really takes somebody from the

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Speaker 1: outside coming in to remind you how weird this is.

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Speaker 1: And yesterday we had a couple people with us who

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Speaker 1: had never seen wrestling, so they were just full of questions. Now,

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Speaker 1: Holly is nicer than me, so she'll answer the questions

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Speaker 1: as they ask. I'll just kind of get frustrated, like,

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Speaker 1: just watch, just watch and you'll figure it out. Sit

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Speaker 1: here and watch and you'll figure it out. You some context,

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Speaker 1: because people come in and they ask the dumbest stuff

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Speaker 1: like or is there going to be a DDT? Or

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Speaker 1: are they going to jump off the top ropes? Can

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Speaker 1: you put them in a choke hold? And so I'm

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Speaker 1: a little bit done with answering all the questions. But

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Speaker 1: Holly's so patient. And yesterday somebody was asking her what's

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Speaker 1: her favorite thing about wrestling, and she said something that

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Speaker 1: I thought was so deep. She said, what I love

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Speaker 1: about wrestling, and I leaned in to listen. She said

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Speaker 1: that even if the person is down by a wide

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Speaker 1: margin of points, and even if there's not enough time

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Speaker 1: left on the clock for them to come back, it's

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Speaker 1: never really over because they can always get a pin.

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Speaker 1: In other sports, it becomes mathematically impossible to come back.

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Speaker 1: If you are down by forty in the fourth quarter

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Speaker 1: of a basketball game with a minute left, you will

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Speaker 1: not score forty points in a minute, no matter how

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Speaker 1: nbagm on fire you get. There is no amount of

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Speaker 1: on fire that can close the gap in that scenario.

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Speaker 1: And the same is true with so many sports. But

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Speaker 1: in this sport, there is always the chance that, even

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Speaker 1: if you have been beat the entire six minutes, in

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Speaker 1: the last six seconds, it is possible, oh though not probable,

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Speaker 1: that if you can put your opponent on his back

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Speaker 1: for just long enough for both shoulder black to touch,

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Speaker 1: every point you were down by becomes irrelevant because of

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Speaker 1: something that happened. When it looked like it was over.

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Speaker 1: Everybody else may stop watching. But there's always a chance

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Speaker 1: that even when it looks like you have been completely

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Speaker 1: dismembered and dismantled, even when it looks like you have

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Speaker 1: been completely outmatched and overwhelmed in that last minute, there

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Speaker 1: is always a chance that something could happen. She said,

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Speaker 1: I love wrestling because a pin is always possible. And

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Speaker 1: when she said a pin is always possible, I thought,

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Speaker 1: that is not just a wrestling lesson, that is a

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Speaker 1: praise lesson, because I imagine the people who have never

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Speaker 1: been to a church like ours before it must look

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Speaker 1: really weird to see us doing what we do. I mean,

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Speaker 1: here we are, we've got our own hang ups and issues,

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Speaker 1: and yet our hands are lifted. And here we are

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Speaker 1: with our own struggles, yet we're singing about the goodness

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Speaker 1: of God. And here we are still dealing with things

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Speaker 1: that we've been dealing with for decades, and yet we

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Speaker 1: are proclaiming Jesus is our freedom. And I imagine if

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Speaker 1: you just walked in, you might have a lot of questions.

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Speaker 1: You might wonder, how are they praising God? I know them,

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Speaker 1: but you would be mistaken to think that they are

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Speaker 1: praising God because they are always ahead. You would be

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Speaker 1: mistaken to think they're praising God because they always get

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Speaker 1: it right. You would be mistaken to think they're praising

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Speaker 1: God because the outcome is scripted. I'm praising him because

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Speaker 1: anything is possible in his presence. Y'all slow down a little.

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Speaker 1: We got a long way to go. But touch your

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Speaker 1: neighbors say. You can still win. I don't care what

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Speaker 1: the enemy says about it. You can still win. In

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Speaker 1: the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses says in verse one, chapter twenty,

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Speaker 1: call it back to the screen for me. Boys, when

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Speaker 1: you go to war. Not if when you go to war,

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Speaker 1: it's guaranteed. When you go to war, it is assumed.

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Speaker 1: So if spiritual battles are assumed by the Bible, why

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Speaker 1: are they surprising to you when you go to war,

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Speaker 1: and really you only have two options in the Christian life.

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Speaker 1: One is to stay in the wilderness and the other

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Speaker 1: is to go to war. Moses is speaking to a

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Speaker 1: generation that has spent years in the wilderness. Now God

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Speaker 1: is bringing them out of that wilderness place and he

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Speaker 1: is preparing them for a war. They've never seen war before.

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Speaker 1: All they know is wilderness. And if you've never seen

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Speaker 1: war before, it might feel kind of weird. Some of

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Speaker 1: you who are growing closer to God, the proof that

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Speaker 1: you are growing closer to God right now is that

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Speaker 1: the temptation is intensifying in your life. I kind of

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Speaker 1: have a problem with preachers who lie to you about

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Speaker 1: what their life is like. And I hear their podcast,

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Speaker 1: but I know them personally. And if there is one

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Speaker 1: promise I will make to you, it is not that

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Speaker 1: I will always be perfect. If there is one promise

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Speaker 1: I will make to you, it is not that I

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Speaker 1: will always be polished. If there is one promise that

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Speaker 1: I will make to you, it is not that I

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Speaker 1: will always be making progress, but I'll be present. I'll

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Speaker 1: be present. A fella came to me the other day

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Speaker 1: and said, I'm really sorry I've been out of church

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Speaker 1: for the last three years, and I apologize, I said,

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Speaker 1: you don't know me an apology. You know where to

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Speaker 1: find me when you need me. If you're drunken out

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Speaker 1: of the church, I'll be here. If all you can

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Speaker 1: watch is an Instagram clip, be here. If I'm not here,

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Speaker 1: I'll have a pretty good guest we'll be here. Somebody's

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Speaker 1: gonna be here preaching for you. And watch this. The

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Speaker 1: promise of presence is so much greater than the promise

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Speaker 1: of performance. You cannot guarantee your performance. You do not

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Speaker 1: know what your response or ability will be in certain situations.

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Speaker 1: And that's why I want us to start this year

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Speaker 1: with a plan. B. What did the Lord say in

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Speaker 1: Deuteronomy twenty When you go to war against your enemies

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Speaker 1: and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours,

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Speaker 1: do not be afraid of them, even if you did

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Speaker 1: not anticipate them. Stay there for an Yes, Lord, do

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Speaker 1: not be afraid of them, even if you did not

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Speaker 1: anticipate them. Don't be afraid of the ambush, because before

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Speaker 1: the enemy got there, God did, Before the medical diagnosis

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Speaker 1: was spoken, God's word was before the sea rage. The

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Speaker 1: peace speaker was already on the boat. And this is

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Speaker 1: our plan for the times in our lives this year

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Speaker 1: when it looks like time is running out. When you

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Speaker 1: go to war and the enemy that surrounds you is

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Speaker 1: greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because

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Speaker 1: the Lord, your God, who brought you out of Egypt,

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Speaker 1: will be with you. So what is your plan? What

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Speaker 1: is your strategy? It's a plan, be you see it.

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Speaker 1: He said he will be with me, and he promised

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Speaker 1: to show up if I would. He promised to show

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Speaker 1: up if I would. Now, a lot of what keeps

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Speaker 1: us from showing up is the feeling that we are

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Speaker 1: not enough to show up. But if you show up enough,

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Speaker 1: it will be. If you show up enough, it will

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Speaker 1: be if you show up enough in the word of

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Speaker 1: God this year, the word of God will be enough

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Speaker 1: to empower you through your struggle. Tell them show up enough,

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Speaker 1: your neighbor, just tell them real quick, show up enough.

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Speaker 1: That's something that the Lord gave me personally. I was

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Speaker 1: going into an intimidating situation recently, and he said, you

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Speaker 1: keep thinking that you have to go into situations and

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Speaker 1: prove yourself. But you don't have to bring proof, just

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Speaker 1: bring presence. So when you show up to that situation,

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Speaker 1: look them right in the eyes, and show up, knowing

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Speaker 1: if you weren't enough, God wouldn't have brought you into

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Speaker 1: the situation. Is this helping anybody? Come on online, put

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Speaker 1: it in a chat, say show up enough. And the

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Speaker 1: beautiful thing about bad odds are that is God's resting

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Speaker 1: place for the Christian. When you go to war against

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Speaker 1: your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army

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Speaker 1: greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because

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Speaker 1: the Lord, your God, who brought you up out of Egypt,

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Speaker 1: will be with you. As the Lord is bringing his

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Speaker 1: people into the Promised Land, there are battles that they

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Speaker 1: are going to have to fight, which confuses some of

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Speaker 1: us because we think that if God promised something, it

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Speaker 1: will be automatic. God's promises are guaranteed, but that doesn't

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Speaker 1: make them automatic. There are some things that God gave

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Speaker 1: you that you didn't go for that are not in

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Speaker 1: your possession now because you thought just the fact that

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Speaker 1: it was promised made it automatic. And for everybody who's

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Speaker 1: in a war today, and the chariots and horses are

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Speaker 1: greater than yours, for everybody who's dealing with mental disorders,

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Speaker 1: and that thing seems stronger in your mind than your

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Speaker 1: will and resolve. For everybody who's dealing today with the

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Speaker 1: challenge that has been going on so long, you have

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Speaker 1: convinced yourself it is insurmountable. I want to give you

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Speaker 1: a word, and I want you to listen. Good. If

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Speaker 1: the battle is really the lord's, if the battle is

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Speaker 1: really the lords, now, we need to stop right there.

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Speaker 1: Is it his battle or is it yours? Because when

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Speaker 1: we are fighting to protect our pride and we are

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Speaker 1: deflecting to keep our ego intact, then the battle is ours.

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Speaker 1: But see Moses is speaking to people who are taking

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Speaker 1: land that God has promised to give to them under

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Speaker 1: the leadership of Joshua. And so he says, as you

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Speaker 1: take this new ground, and some of you are in

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Speaker 1: a season where God is giving you new ground, and

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Speaker 1: you've never seen it before. So it feels weird to

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Speaker 1: be at war. It feels weird to be fighting these

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Speaker 1: battles that you're fighting at this stage of your life.

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Speaker 1: But the Lord said, when you fight these battles that

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Speaker 1: you've never fought before, if the battle is truly the Lord's,

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Speaker 1: watch this, the math won't matter. The math won't matter.

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Speaker 1: And this is good for everybody who's more of an

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Speaker 1: English kind of person, that the math won't matter. I

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Speaker 1: discovered in my life that when it's God's battle, the

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Speaker 1: math doesn't matter. I discovered in studying God's word that

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Speaker 1: if it's his battle, the math doesn't matter. You can

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Speaker 1: be five foot six like David, and he can be

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Speaker 1: nine foot two like Goliath. If it's God's battle, the

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Speaker 1: math won't matter. You can be a little boy with

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Speaker 1: five loaves and two fish, and the crowd can be

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Speaker 1: five thousand strong, just in the men department. But if

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Speaker 1: it's God's battle and he wants to feed the crowd

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Speaker 1: through you, the math won't matter. You can have been

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Speaker 1: stuck in something thirty eight years at the pool of

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Speaker 1: bethesa John chapter five, verses one through seven, and everybody

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Speaker 1: around you might be quicker than you, and you might

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Speaker 1: feel like I just can't win. I just can't get

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Speaker 1: there when the water is stirred, I have no one

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Speaker 1: to help me. But when Jesus shows up, if he

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Speaker 1: wants to heal what's hurting in you, it doesn't matter

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Speaker 1: how many people are in front of you that are

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Speaker 1: faster than you. If it's God's battle. Hot five. Your

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Speaker 1: neighbors say, the math don't matter, bad grammar, good preach,

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Speaker 1: and the math don't matter. Don't care how long it

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Speaker 1: was like that, One moment in his presence, one moment

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Speaker 1: of his favor, one moment of his holy fire, can

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Speaker 1: burn away all the dross. Because I'm coming out of

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Speaker 1: this becaus the mad. Do you hear what I'm saying

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Speaker 1: to you? The prophet said, do not be afraid of them,

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Speaker 1: for those with us or more than those with them.

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Speaker 1: Stop looking at what's surrounding you, and stop looking at

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Speaker 1: let's pace ourselves. Touch your neighbors say, I'm bad at math.

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Speaker 1: I'm bad at math, but I'm good at faith. Oh,

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Speaker 1: I'm bad at math, but I'm good at faith. I'm

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Speaker 1: bad at math, but I'm good at faith. What do

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Speaker 1: you mean I'm bad at math. I'm too old, but

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Speaker 1: I got faith. I'm too young, but I got faith.

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Speaker 1: Don't have money, but I got faith. If it's God's battle,

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Speaker 1: I don't know who needs to hear this. Your kid

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Speaker 1: is developmentally disslayd, but they are gonna bloom in a

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Speaker 1: season that is just right for them. Let me tell

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Speaker 1: you another one. Oh, I love this. Some of you

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Speaker 1: think you aren't good at anything. That's not true. You

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Speaker 1: are good at something. You just think it's a small thing.

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Speaker 1: But one small thing you're good at. In the hands

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Speaker 1: of God, who gave it to you, can make everything

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Speaker 1: you're bad at irrelevant. Ask David what one stone can do.

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Speaker 1: You can't fight a giant, Yeah, but I can kill

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Speaker 1: a bear, and one one stone save the whole nation. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Because when it's God's battle, the math won't matter. You're

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Speaker 1: gonna get there when you're supposed to get there. The

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Speaker 1: math won't matter. God will make up for all the

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Speaker 1: days that you called wasted, and the math won't matter.

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Speaker 1: What you thought was a failure is gonna contain the

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Speaker 1: seeds of your growth, and the math won't matter. The

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Speaker 1: conflict was kind of developing your character so that when

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Speaker 1: you get to a place, you'll have the fruit of

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Speaker 1: the spirit called patience, and the math won't even matter.

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Speaker 1: So when you go to war and you face an

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Speaker 1: enemy that's bigger than you, remember your plan. B I

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Speaker 1: want to give you three things today because sometimes I

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Speaker 1: think when I preach, I get so excited I don't

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Speaker 1: give you anything to write down. I feel bad about

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Speaker 1: that that you would come all the way to church

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Speaker 1: and not get a single note. So I'm gonna give

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Speaker 1: you three notes words today for when you feel like

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Speaker 1: you just can't win. Now, that phrase you just can't

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Speaker 1: win can be taken two ways. Right In Deuteronomy twenty

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Speaker 1: verse one, it says, when you face an enemy that

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Speaker 1: you can't be I'll be with you. So you literally

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Speaker 1: cannot win this, but God still will be with you

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Speaker 1: and give you the ability and the way to connect

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Speaker 1: to that is number one. Remember, just remember, just as

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Speaker 1: simple as that, he said, when you face an enemy

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Speaker 1: that is bigger than you, more chariots, more horses, when

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Speaker 1: you face something that's absolutely beyond your comprehension or your

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Speaker 1: ability to deal with, and you know exactly what that

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Speaker 1: is in your life right now, and do not lie

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Speaker 1: to the Holy Spirit. I'm not even making you say

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Speaker 1: out loud what it is. Just acknowledge it in your heart.

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Speaker 1: When you face that, remember that the Lord who brought

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Speaker 1: you out of Egypt will be with you. And they

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Speaker 1: keep taking my scripture down, but I need it one

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Speaker 1: more time. I think they think, because it's just one verse,

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Speaker 1: I read it and I'm done with it. But I

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Speaker 1: can preach a verse for twelve weeks. When is this good?

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Speaker 1: Because he said, I'm the Lord, your God who brought

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Speaker 1: you out of Egypt, and I will be with you.

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Speaker 1: One of those is what he did, and one of

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Speaker 1: those is what he is. He's with you. So he said, okay,

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Speaker 1: I'm done with it now, thank you. He said, just

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Speaker 1: remember that thing that I did for you. Then, So

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Speaker 1: why is that so simple? And I suck at it

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Speaker 1: so bad? Why do I constantly get into states of

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Speaker 1: mind that pretend like this. This is the first time

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Speaker 1: I've ever had a problem like this, And I'm so

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Speaker 1: grateful for perspective. You know, one thing I love about

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Speaker 1: singing songs about God is it just gives me perspective.

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Speaker 1: And I need that so much in my life because

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Speaker 1: for me, songs of worship are like streams that flow

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Speaker 1: to my heart when it's dry. And one of the

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Speaker 1: things that it helps me access in that process when

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Speaker 1: I begin to remember it, is like oh yeah, and

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Speaker 1: I just have oh yeah moments in the presence of God,

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Speaker 1: Like you can have an Aha moment where you realize

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Speaker 1: something you never realized before, and then you can have

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Speaker 1: a oh yeah moment where you remember something that you

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Speaker 1: temporarily forgotten. Think about all the things that God has

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Speaker 1: already done for his people by the time Deuteronomy chapter twenty,

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Speaker 1: verse one is spoken through the mouth of Moses. Think

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Speaker 1: about how many odds they've overcome to be in this moment.

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Speaker 1: Think about how many enemies God drown in the Red

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Speaker 1: Sea just to bring this generation to the wilderness. About

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Speaker 1: how He rebuilt their self image to see themselves no

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Speaker 1: longer as slaves but as settlers. And now as they

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Speaker 1: stand on the precipice of a new season, they need

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Speaker 1: to remember what God did. Say God did, I wrote

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Speaker 1: a song that I released on Friday, so you can

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Speaker 1: walk around your house and remember, so that when you

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Speaker 1: face a war, you worship because you realize that you

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Speaker 1: can have your back up against the wall and God

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Speaker 1: can take one stick and split a whole sea and

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Speaker 1: bring a whole nation through. You have seen God do

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Speaker 1: that in your life. You have seen Him do things

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Speaker 1: that were once unbelievable. You have seen him align opportunities

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Speaker 1: and appointments and assignments. You have seen God, time after

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Speaker 1: time do things for you that the devil is hoping

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Speaker 1: you will forget as you go through this. You have

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Speaker 1: seen God time and time again, provide with one jar

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Speaker 1: of oil and feed your whole family. You have seen

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Speaker 1: God time and time again. Just when you needed the

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Speaker 1: strength to come, it came all of a sudden, shout,

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Speaker 1: all of a sudden. And the temptation is is that

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Speaker 1: we are expecting God sometimes to come like a flood,

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Speaker 1: and when it comes like a trickle, we are tempted

429
00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:32,880
Speaker 1: to displace our trust because our trust was in when

430
00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:36,360
Speaker 1: it would happen, not who was going to do it.

431
00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:40,399
Speaker 1: So it goes like this. If I was gonna get it,

432
00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:42,200
Speaker 1: I would have it by now. If I was gonna

433
00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:44,000
Speaker 1: be it, I would be it by now. This is

434
00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:46,960
Speaker 1: why people stop coming to church. This is why people

435
00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:50,000
Speaker 1: stop going to their counselor this is why people stop

436
00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:52,560
Speaker 1: trying to eat better. Because I tried to eat better

437
00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:54,960
Speaker 1: for three days and it tasted bad, and I was mad,

438
00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:57,359
Speaker 1: and I wanted to kill everybody on road rage, and

439
00:27:57,440 --> 00:27:59,199
Speaker 1: so I decided it was better for me to be

440
00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:02,200
Speaker 1: fat than to kill somebody on road rage. And if

441
00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:08,600
Speaker 1: that's not enough, watch this. Everybody in here is tempted

442
00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:12,320
Speaker 1: to forget where you're winning because of where you currently

443
00:28:12,359 --> 00:28:20,280
Speaker 1: feel weak. Yesterday, Holly came out and spoke for just

444
00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:23,120
Speaker 1: about fifteen minutes to many of the leaders in our church.

445
00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:26,119
Speaker 1: I think some of y'all stayed over I knew I

446
00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:38,400
Speaker 1: thought something special over here. Are y'all serious? Wow? I

447
00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:41,200
Speaker 1: should have come over here a long time ago. I

448
00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:45,720
Speaker 1: wasted thirty minutes over there on the side of the room.

449
00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:47,840
Speaker 1: When we got home, I said, that was so beautiful.

450
00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:49,200
Speaker 1: I said, how did you even find the time to

451
00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:50,720
Speaker 1: do that? Because I know the week that she's had,

452
00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:55,080
Speaker 1: it's been insane. She was filming a study for our

453
00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:58,200
Speaker 1: youth that's coming out. She filmed five sessions for that.

454
00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:02,720
Speaker 1: She attended a wrestling match I already told you that,

455
00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:07,360
Speaker 1: and a volleyball game. She made meals for our family. Now,

456
00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:08,960
Speaker 1: I'm not up here just to get points. I'm up

457
00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:14,560
Speaker 1: here to make one. But if you can do both

458
00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:20,560
Speaker 1: at the same time, why not. And we just had

459
00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:22,000
Speaker 1: a moment, and I want to teach you this in

460
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:23,520
Speaker 1: case you don't know how to do it. Where we

461
00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:28,600
Speaker 1: listed her wins, the Lord said, to tell you list

462
00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:37,600
Speaker 1: your wins. List your wins. List your wins. Ain't that bragging.

463
00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:48,680
Speaker 1: It depends on who's behind it. Because when we went

464
00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:51,080
Speaker 1: through all the things that she did that week. It

465
00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:52,840
Speaker 1: was no doubt in my mind. Only God could have

466
00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:56,320
Speaker 1: strengthened her to do all that. And then a little

467
00:29:56,320 --> 00:29:59,240
Speaker 1: bit later that night, she said something kind of weird

468
00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:04,680
Speaker 1: because we were talking, thinking about goals and my sermon.

469
00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:07,080
Speaker 1: I was sharing a little bit of what I was

470
00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:09,080
Speaker 1: thinking about preaching with her, but I didn't tell her.

471
00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:11,520
Speaker 1: I was just working it out with her, but she

472
00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:15,160
Speaker 1: didn't know it. And she said, you know one place

473
00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:19,720
Speaker 1: I didn't win this week my workouts. Now here's where

474
00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:22,600
Speaker 1: she's different than me. She has the ability to laugh

475
00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:30,200
Speaker 1: at that and to rebalance it, and she realizes that

476
00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:33,280
Speaker 1: that's probably not going to be the most significant defining

477
00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:36,040
Speaker 1: event of her year, that she didn't get her number

478
00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:39,200
Speaker 1: of workouts this week. Me, on the other hand, no,

479
00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:43,480
Speaker 1: I'm gonna come to this side of the room if

480
00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:46,000
Speaker 1: I miss the workout. If I miss a workout three

481
00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:49,080
Speaker 1: days in a row, I don't feel saved. What does

482
00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:50,920
Speaker 1: lifting weights have to do with lifting them up? I

483
00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:54,280
Speaker 1: don't know. But it just spills over into every area

484
00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:58,120
Speaker 1: of my life. I mean, it just gets it's so

485
00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:03,600
Speaker 1: quick because I realize somewhere in my mind and in

486
00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:08,400
Speaker 1: my soul, an expectation was planted that I'm supposed to

487
00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:14,440
Speaker 1: be winning everywhere all the time. And when you live

488
00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:19,640
Speaker 1: in that kind of captivity, everything feels overwhelming. You have

489
00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:23,440
Speaker 1: no strength for the enemy in front of you because

490
00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:25,840
Speaker 1: you gave God no praise for the victory behind you.

491
00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:34,760
Speaker 1: But when you begin to integrate these things that God

492
00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:37,880
Speaker 1: has brought you through and you draw from them not

493
00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:43,040
Speaker 1: as pride but as strength, when you draw from them

494
00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:47,000
Speaker 1: as a sense of knowing that God promised to be

495
00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:49,240
Speaker 1: present with me. And the proof of that is that

496
00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:51,720
Speaker 1: he was. The proof that he will is the fact

497
00:31:51,720 --> 00:31:53,680
Speaker 1: that he was. The proof that he will is the

498
00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:55,800
Speaker 1: fact that he was. The proof that he will is

499
00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:57,480
Speaker 1: the fact that he was. When you begin to do

500
00:31:57,520 --> 00:32:00,840
Speaker 1: these things in your week and in your day, I'm

501
00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:04,000
Speaker 1: telling you, it's gonna make a big difference. The truth

502
00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:07,200
Speaker 1: of the matter is you are winning somewhere right now.

503
00:32:07,840 --> 00:32:10,480
Speaker 1: But where you are not winning is causing you to

504
00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:15,040
Speaker 1: feel weak. And where you feel weak, you become susceptible.

505
00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:18,560
Speaker 1: Now I'm right where I want to bring you. Number

506
00:32:18,560 --> 00:32:26,680
Speaker 1: one is remember, and number two is resist. Resist. Moses says,

507
00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:29,440
Speaker 1: when you go to war, and you will go to

508
00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:33,280
Speaker 1: war to take new spiritual ground, even Paul said, you

509
00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:36,480
Speaker 1: gotta put on the armor. Well, I'm not putting on

510
00:32:36,560 --> 00:32:40,120
Speaker 1: the armor to take a nap. The only reason we're

511
00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:42,480
Speaker 1: suiting up with the armor of God, you know, the

512
00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:46,120
Speaker 1: breastplate of righteousness and the shoes of peace, and the

513
00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:48,560
Speaker 1: sword of the Spirit and the belt of truth. The

514
00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:51,120
Speaker 1: only reason that I'm getting dressed in this armor is

515
00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:55,120
Speaker 1: something is going to attack me. So the provision of

516
00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:58,720
Speaker 1: the armor is the prediction of the attack. So God

517
00:32:58,760 --> 00:33:01,240
Speaker 1: gets you a really good when you're gonna go through

518
00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:05,840
Speaker 1: a really big war. And when you get in that situation,

519
00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:10,640
Speaker 1: Moses says, there are certain stipulations for how you are

520
00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:13,719
Speaker 1: to fight God's battles, and I wish I could give

521
00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:17,280
Speaker 1: you all of Deuteronomy twenty, but he talks about send

522
00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:21,040
Speaker 1: the priests out before the people and send everybody home

523
00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:24,720
Speaker 1: who doesn't really want to fight, because not everybody can

524
00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:28,760
Speaker 1: go with you into everything. I'm gonna say it again,

525
00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:32,840
Speaker 1: somebody in the back just needed to have a delete

526
00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:37,640
Speaker 1: party on your phone. Not everybody, come on, delete them

527
00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:40,000
Speaker 1: right now. You know exactly who they are. They're right

528
00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:43,440
Speaker 1: there on the recess. Do it right now, Do not

529
00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:47,080
Speaker 1: pass go delete their number right now, because not everybody

530
00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:51,400
Speaker 1: can go with you into this. You don't have to

531
00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:52,960
Speaker 1: hate them, you don't have to flash their tires, you

532
00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:54,200
Speaker 1: don't have to cuss them out, you don't have to

533
00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:57,120
Speaker 1: fire them as your friend. But he says, send the

534
00:33:57,160 --> 00:33:59,479
Speaker 1: people home that can't go home. And when you come

535
00:33:59,520 --> 00:34:01,800
Speaker 1: up on a city, now, this is really powerful here.

536
00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:03,239
Speaker 1: And I don't want you to get tired of him,

537
00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:04,960
Speaker 1: because we've already said a lot. But I want you

538
00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:08,040
Speaker 1: to get this thing about resist. He says, when you

539
00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:10,319
Speaker 1: get to the cities that God is calling you to

540
00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:13,640
Speaker 1: take over the Hittites, to Parasites, the Canaanites, the Jebucides,

541
00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:17,040
Speaker 1: all of these people who are in the places that

542
00:34:17,080 --> 00:34:19,720
Speaker 1: God has promised you. Just because an enemy is there

543
00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:22,320
Speaker 1: doesn't mean God isn't bringing you into it. Just because

544
00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:24,560
Speaker 1: it's hard doesn't mean God isn't in it. Doesn't mean

545
00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:26,840
Speaker 1: he didn't speak, doesn't mean he won't do it, doesn't

546
00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:28,840
Speaker 1: mean he isn't doing it, doesn't mean he's not working.

547
00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:31,200
Speaker 1: Doesn't mean you should turn back and go home. No, no, no.

548
00:34:31,480 --> 00:34:34,240
Speaker 1: When you see the enemies there, offer them a condition

549
00:34:34,320 --> 00:34:37,399
Speaker 1: of peace. But if they won't make peace with you,

550
00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:39,960
Speaker 1: you will have to put everything to death that would

551
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:43,399
Speaker 1: teach you to follow anything other than God. And then

552
00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:48,200
Speaker 1: we get to verse nineteen. Verse nineteen says something very

553
00:34:48,640 --> 00:34:52,800
Speaker 1: strange to the people. He says, when you lay siege

554
00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:57,800
Speaker 1: to a city for a long time, for a long time,

555
00:34:57,960 --> 00:35:01,800
Speaker 1: when you lay siege to a city. Now, laying siege

556
00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:06,600
Speaker 1: to a city meets, you can't beat them immediately. They

557
00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:10,440
Speaker 1: don't just give up quick. So God gave you this land.

558
00:35:11,120 --> 00:35:13,680
Speaker 1: So you come up on the land, because he tells Joshua,

559
00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:17,640
Speaker 1: every place you set the soul of your foot, I'll

560
00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:20,799
Speaker 1: give you. But when you get there, you'll still have

561
00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:24,359
Speaker 1: to fight for it. But sometimes when you're fighting for it,

562
00:35:24,400 --> 00:35:26,440
Speaker 1: you will have to lay siege to it. And you

563
00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:29,400
Speaker 1: know what a siege is. I'm not insulting your intelligence,

564
00:35:29,440 --> 00:35:33,680
Speaker 1: but this is when you have captured the enemy, but

565
00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:38,880
Speaker 1: you haven't conquered the enemy. When you lay siege to

566
00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:42,799
Speaker 1: a city and you fight them for a long time. Now,

567
00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:44,640
Speaker 1: wait a minute, God, I thought you were going to

568
00:35:44,719 --> 00:35:47,600
Speaker 1: give us the victory. God says, some of my gifts

569
00:35:47,640 --> 00:35:54,000
Speaker 1: are gradual, and just because it's gradual doesn't mean he's

570
00:35:54,040 --> 00:35:59,000
Speaker 1: not giving it. Sometimes it happens so slow you think

571
00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:04,759
Speaker 1: it's not when you lay siege to a city and

572
00:36:04,800 --> 00:36:06,520
Speaker 1: it takes you a long time, a little longer than

573
00:36:06,560 --> 00:36:10,080
Speaker 1: you thought it was, and you just can't win. But

574
00:36:10,120 --> 00:36:13,440
Speaker 1: you got them captured, but you don't have them conquered.

575
00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:19,400
Speaker 1: Am I describing some of your sins today, some of

576
00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:26,000
Speaker 1: your cities, some of your insecurities. I got them captured.

577
00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:28,560
Speaker 1: I know what they are now, but I don't have

578
00:36:28,640 --> 00:36:32,960
Speaker 1: them conquered yet. I got them identify I'm in the

579
00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:36,960
Speaker 1: right place. And that's when you remember, I'm not in

580
00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:42,040
Speaker 1: Egypt anymore. I'm not in Egypt yet, but I'm not

581
00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:45,319
Speaker 1: fully settled in here yet either. And this is where

582
00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:48,440
Speaker 1: you need a plan B he says, when you get

583
00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:51,240
Speaker 1: in the city and you got it in a siege.

584
00:36:51,880 --> 00:36:54,440
Speaker 1: It was so clear to me while I was studying

585
00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:57,040
Speaker 1: that there are so many people who are no longer

586
00:36:57,400 --> 00:37:01,000
Speaker 1: enslaved to sin. They're set free by Jesus, but they

587
00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:05,160
Speaker 1: are no more free in Christ because they're in a

588
00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:11,160
Speaker 1: siege season. A siege season is when you can see it,

589
00:37:12,480 --> 00:37:18,160
Speaker 1: but you don't quite have it. You experience it momentarily peace,

590
00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:23,880
Speaker 1: You experience it momentarily joy, You experience it momentarily selflessness.

591
00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:28,520
Speaker 1: You experience it momentarily goodness, patience, self control, the fruit

592
00:37:28,640 --> 00:37:32,520
Speaker 1: of the spirit. But you're not living in it yet.

593
00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:37,399
Speaker 1: That's a siege season. You're not a slave anymore. You're

594
00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:41,080
Speaker 1: out of Egypt, but you're not exactly free yet either,

595
00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:44,000
Speaker 1: are you. It's a siege season. Now we have to

596
00:37:44,040 --> 00:37:48,120
Speaker 1: be really careful. This is where my pastoral instinct kicks in,

597
00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:50,640
Speaker 1: and I want to be protective of you in a

598
00:37:50,680 --> 00:37:53,960
Speaker 1: siege season, because Moses says, when you are in a

599
00:37:54,040 --> 00:37:57,200
Speaker 1: siege season, remember it's not them that are under siege,

600
00:37:57,239 --> 00:38:03,400
Speaker 1: it's the enemy. You're right there. It's really happening for you.

601
00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:06,279
Speaker 1: You really are breaking these chains. But you're in a

602
00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:10,080
Speaker 1: siege season. And when you are, the man of God says,

603
00:38:10,680 --> 00:38:13,279
Speaker 1: fighting against it for a long time to capture it.

604
00:38:14,920 --> 00:38:20,840
Speaker 1: Do not destroy its trees by putting an axe to them,

605
00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:27,880
Speaker 1: because you can eat their fruit. Don't cut them down.

606
00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:33,919
Speaker 1: Are the trees people that you should be sieged them?

607
00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:38,239
Speaker 1: Verse twenty. However, you may cut down trees that you

608
00:38:38,360 --> 00:38:41,160
Speaker 1: know are not fruit trees and use them to build

609
00:38:41,160 --> 00:38:43,920
Speaker 1: siege works until the city at war with you falls.

610
00:38:44,160 --> 00:38:49,280
Speaker 1: Deuteronomy chapter twenty is over. Everybody, God bless Moses out,

611
00:38:49,480 --> 00:38:53,000
Speaker 1: good night, don't chop down trees. Why'd you read that

612
00:38:53,040 --> 00:39:00,439
Speaker 1: weird scripture? Because you're doing it. You're doing it when

613
00:39:00,480 --> 00:39:02,400
Speaker 1: you go to war and you are in a siege

614
00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:06,160
Speaker 1: season and you are frustrated because it's taking what a

615
00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:10,320
Speaker 1: long time? What is your tendency when something is taking

616
00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:13,600
Speaker 1: a long time, when you've been fighting something for a

617
00:39:13,680 --> 00:39:16,920
Speaker 1: long time, what do you start doing? Deuteronomy twenty verse

618
00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:22,280
Speaker 1: nineteen says you might start chopping down things that God

619
00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:29,799
Speaker 1: wants you to leave for your future. When you are

620
00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:33,960
Speaker 1: in a siege season. You might start bringing an acts

621
00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:37,440
Speaker 1: to things that God is raising up to bless you

622
00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:41,600
Speaker 1: at a later date. When you are in a siege season,

623
00:39:41,680 --> 00:39:45,680
Speaker 1: you are frustrated and you are asking God for answers,

624
00:39:46,040 --> 00:39:48,600
Speaker 1: and you are lashing out at the messengers that He

625
00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:52,120
Speaker 1: sends to give you those answers, because it would be

626
00:39:52,239 --> 00:39:56,160
Speaker 1: easy for you, if you're going through a siege season,

627
00:39:56,360 --> 00:39:59,560
Speaker 1: to just start chopping down everything you see, because you

628
00:39:59,680 --> 00:40:04,000
Speaker 1: need these trees in order to build ramps and towers

629
00:40:04,040 --> 00:40:07,640
Speaker 1: and battering rams. So sometimes you get in a season

630
00:40:07,640 --> 00:40:10,719
Speaker 1: in your life and well, just anything will work to

631
00:40:10,760 --> 00:40:13,560
Speaker 1: make you feel better, Anything will work to knock down

632
00:40:13,560 --> 00:40:16,640
Speaker 1: a door, anything will work to survive. I don't even

633
00:40:16,719 --> 00:40:18,879
Speaker 1: care if it's right or wrong. I don't even care

634
00:40:18,920 --> 00:40:21,000
Speaker 1: if it's good or bad. I don't even care if

635
00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:23,920
Speaker 1: it benefits my future. I just want to feel good

636
00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:26,799
Speaker 1: right now. But I want to tell you relief is

637
00:40:26,840 --> 00:40:35,080
Speaker 1: not the same as freedom. God doesn't intend for you

638
00:40:35,160 --> 00:40:39,080
Speaker 1: to stay in this siege season forever. Oh yeah, I

639
00:40:39,120 --> 00:40:43,000
Speaker 1: said it. It's not always gonna be like this. It's

640
00:40:43,040 --> 00:40:46,200
Speaker 1: not always gonna be like this, you know how I know.

641
00:40:46,680 --> 00:40:50,000
Speaker 1: Verse twenty tells me everything I need to know. He said,

642
00:40:50,040 --> 00:40:52,200
Speaker 1: you can cut down the trees that don't bear fruit

643
00:40:52,239 --> 00:40:57,320
Speaker 1: and use them to build siege works until the city

644
00:40:58,120 --> 00:41:06,480
Speaker 1: at war with you falls, until means it will. I'm

645
00:41:06,520 --> 00:41:16,160
Speaker 1: gonna try that again until means it will. It will.

646
00:41:18,120 --> 00:41:21,239
Speaker 1: It will fall, just not when you want it to.

647
00:41:22,640 --> 00:41:25,880
Speaker 1: So the test for you now is this, what do

648
00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:30,759
Speaker 1: you do until and God says it's important for you

649
00:41:31,640 --> 00:41:35,280
Speaker 1: not to start cutting down stuff that I am bringing

650
00:41:35,280 --> 00:41:38,880
Speaker 1: forth in your life to feed you for who I

651
00:41:38,920 --> 00:41:42,919
Speaker 1: created you to be. And this is kind of difficult

652
00:41:43,320 --> 00:41:46,520
Speaker 1: to describe if you've been in the wilderness since you've

653
00:41:46,560 --> 00:41:50,799
Speaker 1: been born, because there's no fruit trees in the wilderness.

654
00:41:52,840 --> 00:41:55,399
Speaker 1: The only thing this generation has ever seen God feed

655
00:41:55,440 --> 00:42:00,200
Speaker 1: them with was manna. Look at Exitus sixteen. This is

656
00:42:00,239 --> 00:42:01,960
Speaker 1: an annoying the scripture. The Lord gave it to me

657
00:42:01,960 --> 00:42:05,680
Speaker 1: while Zeke was singing, thank you Zee. The Israelites ate

658
00:42:05,800 --> 00:42:12,719
Speaker 1: Mana forty years until they came to a land that

659
00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:16,760
Speaker 1: was settled. They ate Mana until they reached the border

660
00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:23,719
Speaker 1: of Canaan. They ate something until the moment where God

661
00:42:23,760 --> 00:42:27,359
Speaker 1: fed them something else. And I am concerned that God

662
00:42:27,440 --> 00:42:33,120
Speaker 1: is trying to feed you something better, and you keep

663
00:42:33,160 --> 00:42:38,600
Speaker 1: cutting it down. And I came to tell you, stop

664
00:42:38,719 --> 00:42:44,800
Speaker 1: fighting what God is using to feed you. Stop fighting

665
00:42:44,840 --> 00:42:50,080
Speaker 1: the processes that God is using to mature you. Stop

666
00:42:50,239 --> 00:42:53,560
Speaker 1: fighting those corrective moments that God wants to sit with

667
00:42:53,600 --> 00:42:57,040
Speaker 1: you in and say, see this, do it different next time,

668
00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:01,520
Speaker 1: because he will. He He will bring about everything he

669
00:43:01,800 --> 00:43:05,319
Speaker 1: accomplishes in your life. He will bring about everything that

670
00:43:05,360 --> 00:43:07,360
Speaker 1: He assigned for your life. He will bring about everything

671
00:43:07,600 --> 00:43:11,520
Speaker 1: that He imagines and plans for your life. It's his plans.

672
00:43:11,560 --> 00:43:13,680
Speaker 1: He will be with you as you face the things

673
00:43:13,680 --> 00:43:17,360
Speaker 1: that are too strong for you. But notice what Moses said,

674
00:43:18,080 --> 00:43:20,640
Speaker 1: don't take an axe to the tree that's got your

675
00:43:20,680 --> 00:43:24,160
Speaker 1: future fruit on it. And the thing about them was

676
00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:29,160
Speaker 1: they didn't know much about trees. So they don't know

677
00:43:29,280 --> 00:43:31,480
Speaker 1: that this tree is gonna bring me fruit because all

678
00:43:31,520 --> 00:43:35,840
Speaker 1: I ever had was nana. When you never had good love,

679
00:43:37,320 --> 00:43:44,880
Speaker 1: it's easy for you to settle for lust when you

680
00:43:44,960 --> 00:43:48,880
Speaker 1: never had good friendship. It's easy for you to settle

681
00:43:48,880 --> 00:43:57,400
Speaker 1: for codependency when you never had real fruit. It's tempting

682
00:43:57,440 --> 00:44:00,360
Speaker 1: for you to become frustrated and you say it is

683
00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:03,520
Speaker 1: taken too long. I'm gonna handle this. I'm gonna handle

684
00:44:03,560 --> 00:44:06,680
Speaker 1: this another way. Yeah, I'm gonna lay hands on them.

685
00:44:06,800 --> 00:44:09,040
Speaker 1: Isn't that in the Bible. I'm gonna handle this the

686
00:44:09,080 --> 00:44:11,360
Speaker 1: way I used to handle this. I got a Bible

687
00:44:11,480 --> 00:44:15,560
Speaker 1: verse for it. Be careful. You might be chopping down

688
00:44:15,800 --> 00:44:20,399
Speaker 1: something God wanted you to chew on. Later. You might

689
00:44:20,440 --> 00:44:25,800
Speaker 1: be taking down a tree that is capable of bearing

690
00:44:25,880 --> 00:44:29,879
Speaker 1: much fruit. But watch this, it just isn't the season yet.

691
00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:36,759
Speaker 1: It just isn't the season yet. Nobody's gonna chop down

692
00:44:36,800 --> 00:44:39,520
Speaker 1: a tree that has fruit visible on it and use

693
00:44:39,560 --> 00:44:42,400
Speaker 1: it for a battering ram. But what if the tree

694
00:44:42,520 --> 00:44:45,000
Speaker 1: was bare, not because it didn't have the ability to

695
00:44:45,000 --> 00:44:48,800
Speaker 1: bear fruit, but because it wasn't the season. For fruit.

696
00:44:51,000 --> 00:44:54,960
Speaker 1: And what if you've got something in you, come on,

697
00:44:55,080 --> 00:44:58,200
Speaker 1: use your holy imagination for a moment. And what if

698
00:44:58,239 --> 00:45:02,479
Speaker 1: there is something working in your life that Jeremiah twenty

699
00:45:02,560 --> 00:45:05,080
Speaker 1: nine to eleven really is true, that He knows the

700
00:45:05,120 --> 00:45:09,960
Speaker 1: plans he has for you, plans to prosper you, not

701
00:45:10,160 --> 00:45:13,680
Speaker 1: to harm you, plans to give you a hope and

702
00:45:13,840 --> 00:45:17,600
Speaker 1: a future. What is this really in me? But it's

703
00:45:17,719 --> 00:45:21,640
Speaker 1: just not my season yet? Blessed this a man who

704
00:45:21,680 --> 00:45:24,680
Speaker 1: walks not in the path of the wicked, nor sits

705
00:45:24,719 --> 00:45:27,880
Speaker 1: in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is

706
00:45:27,920 --> 00:45:29,560
Speaker 1: in the law of the Lord, and on his law

707
00:45:29,600 --> 00:45:33,560
Speaker 1: he meditates day and night. They will bear fruit in season,

708
00:45:33,920 --> 00:45:37,640
Speaker 1: You will bear fruit in season. You will bear fruit

709
00:45:37,920 --> 00:45:46,239
Speaker 1: in season. Do not eliminate in a season of frustration

710
00:45:46,440 --> 00:45:49,200
Speaker 1: what God intends to use to bless you in the

711
00:45:49,239 --> 00:45:54,880
Speaker 1: season of your favor. So then we have a question

712
00:45:55,040 --> 00:45:59,840
Speaker 1: to ask, what am I attacking that God has actually

713
00:46:00,840 --> 00:46:05,239
Speaker 1: to embrace. That's why I looked at you the other day.

714
00:46:05,280 --> 00:46:08,680
Speaker 1: I said it happened for a reason, because I don't

715
00:46:08,680 --> 00:46:10,560
Speaker 1: know why yet. But I'm not cutting down that tree.

716
00:46:10,640 --> 00:46:12,600
Speaker 1: I'm gonna let God do what God wants to do.

717
00:46:14,160 --> 00:46:16,319
Speaker 1: When I saw the picture, Holly, I was like, well,

718
00:46:16,360 --> 00:46:18,520
Speaker 1: it makes sense if I tell them stop chopping down

719
00:46:18,560 --> 00:46:20,440
Speaker 1: trees that are gonna bear your fruit for the future.

720
00:46:20,680 --> 00:46:22,880
Speaker 1: And I was like, you know what, they'll know exactly

721
00:46:22,920 --> 00:46:26,600
Speaker 1: what that tree is for them, because the whole Bible

722
00:46:26,640 --> 00:46:28,719
Speaker 1: started when somebody didn't know what to do with a

723
00:46:28,800 --> 00:46:40,759
Speaker 1: tree and Moses said, we gotta get this tree thing right.

724
00:46:42,560 --> 00:46:48,000
Speaker 1: Eve Adam, y'all were buck naked all along. You're just

725
00:46:48,040 --> 00:46:49,600
Speaker 1: now knowing that because you don't know what to do

726
00:46:49,640 --> 00:46:54,560
Speaker 1: with the tree. We don't know how to do with

727
00:46:54,719 --> 00:47:04,680
Speaker 1: a tree. Tell Jesus who took a tree and turned

728
00:47:04,760 --> 00:47:08,360
Speaker 1: the instrument of death called the cross made from wood

729
00:47:09,719 --> 00:47:12,799
Speaker 1: into the emblem of victory for the church that would

730
00:47:12,800 --> 00:47:20,520
Speaker 1: bear his aim. You ever heard that part where Jesus said,

731
00:47:20,520 --> 00:47:22,200
Speaker 1: I could call it do on legions of angels and

732
00:47:22,239 --> 00:47:26,759
Speaker 1: back all of y'all up wouldn't be anything either. And

733
00:47:26,840 --> 00:47:29,440
Speaker 1: at the moment where they thought he said it is

734
00:47:29,480 --> 00:47:36,600
Speaker 1: finished because he lost, he was winning. What if you're winning.

735
00:47:37,440 --> 00:47:40,960
Speaker 1: What if you're winning where it really matters. What if

736
00:47:41,000 --> 00:47:45,000
Speaker 1: you're winning where it really counts. What if you gained

737
00:47:45,000 --> 00:47:47,239
Speaker 1: twenty pounds but it's not because you're undisciplined. What if

738
00:47:47,239 --> 00:47:48,920
Speaker 1: you've been running your kids around and that's going to

739
00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:50,960
Speaker 1: last a lifetime and you can lose twenty pounds in

740
00:47:50,960 --> 00:47:56,920
Speaker 1: three months. What if you're winning where it really matters.

741
00:47:59,000 --> 00:48:03,920
Speaker 1: Resist the temptation to cut down something that God is

742
00:48:03,960 --> 00:48:09,120
Speaker 1: growing because you don't have the patience to wait for

743
00:48:09,160 --> 00:48:11,799
Speaker 1: it to become what it can be. I think I

744
00:48:11,800 --> 00:48:13,640
Speaker 1: got to come on Coffee fam this week and break

745
00:48:13,640 --> 00:48:16,440
Speaker 1: that down further. Chad, make space for me. I'm going

746
00:48:16,520 --> 00:48:20,640
Speaker 1: to try, because the last thing I want to leave

747
00:48:20,680 --> 00:48:31,600
Speaker 1: you with is remain, remain. Let that tree grow, Remain, remain.

748
00:48:33,000 --> 00:48:36,600
Speaker 1: I just can't win. Man. If I'm making my family happy,

749
00:48:36,600 --> 00:48:40,040
Speaker 1: I'm making my boss mad, I just can't win. If

750
00:48:40,080 --> 00:48:42,279
Speaker 1: I'm making my boss happy, I'm making my wife mad.

751
00:48:42,320 --> 00:48:46,000
Speaker 1: I just can't win. I haven't made my wife happy

752
00:48:46,000 --> 00:48:49,560
Speaker 1: in twelve years. I just can't win. I've heard it all,

753
00:48:50,480 --> 00:48:53,399
Speaker 1: I've thought it all, except that last thing. I make

754
00:48:53,400 --> 00:48:59,600
Speaker 1: all it pretty happy all the time. But I came

755
00:48:59,600 --> 00:49:01,719
Speaker 1: to you with the beginning of last year, and I

756
00:49:01,760 --> 00:49:05,560
Speaker 1: taught you the power of what the one day when,

757
00:49:07,719 --> 00:49:11,120
Speaker 1: and I taught you that faith is not something simply

758
00:49:11,160 --> 00:49:13,239
Speaker 1: for the future. Faith is the recognition of what God

759
00:49:13,320 --> 00:49:16,000
Speaker 1: is already doing right now. It's the one day, not

760
00:49:16,280 --> 00:49:20,600
Speaker 1: wh e N, but the wi N of this day.

761
00:49:22,280 --> 00:49:23,960
Speaker 1: And the Man of God said, when you go to war,

762
00:49:24,600 --> 00:49:28,040
Speaker 1: and you will, you know you only got two choices, brother,

763
00:49:28,760 --> 00:49:33,120
Speaker 1: the wilderness of wandering around in the same thing, or

764
00:49:33,160 --> 00:49:35,960
Speaker 1: the war of trusting God to be with you as

765
00:49:35,960 --> 00:49:38,480
Speaker 1: you go forward. And when you face that war, he said,

766
00:49:38,480 --> 00:49:42,560
Speaker 1: I'll be with you. I will be with you. Now,

767
00:49:42,600 --> 00:49:47,439
Speaker 1: that statement, as simple as it sounds, is really all

768
00:49:47,480 --> 00:49:50,280
Speaker 1: you need to believe for what's next in your life.

769
00:49:51,760 --> 00:49:54,239
Speaker 1: And there are trees growing right now in your life

770
00:49:54,239 --> 00:49:57,040
Speaker 1: that if you don't cut them down, they will be

771
00:49:57,080 --> 00:50:03,440
Speaker 1: your future food. They will be future food. Moses would

772
00:50:03,440 --> 00:50:07,040
Speaker 1: not go into the Promised Land himself, but he sent

773
00:50:07,120 --> 00:50:10,640
Speaker 1: a generation because some of the things that are happening

774
00:50:10,680 --> 00:50:14,000
Speaker 1: in your life right now that feel like failure, they

775
00:50:14,000 --> 00:50:19,760
Speaker 1: are actually just for your future. And the most beautiful

776
00:50:19,760 --> 00:50:24,440
Speaker 1: thing about God's word in my life is that every time,

777
00:50:25,280 --> 00:50:31,080
Speaker 1: every time I feel surrounded by the enemy, I have

778
00:50:31,160 --> 00:50:36,800
Speaker 1: an opportunity to become even more connected to the vine.

779
00:50:37,400 --> 00:50:39,000
Speaker 1: I read a scripture that helped me through one of

780
00:50:39,040 --> 00:50:41,879
Speaker 1: the hardest seasons of my life in John fifteen, verse four,

781
00:50:41,920 --> 00:50:48,760
Speaker 1: where Jesus said, remain in me as I also remain

782
00:50:49,719 --> 00:50:54,960
Speaker 1: in you, because no branch can bear fruit by itself.

783
00:50:56,440 --> 00:51:00,480
Speaker 1: Stop cutting yourself off from Christ when you struggle. Come

784
00:51:00,480 --> 00:51:04,800
Speaker 1: to him quicker when you sin. Come to him quicker

785
00:51:04,880 --> 00:51:08,520
Speaker 1: when you doubt. Come to Him before you start drowning,

786
00:51:08,560 --> 00:51:12,839
Speaker 1: and say help. Ask Peter it works. Come to him

787
00:51:12,920 --> 00:51:15,600
Speaker 1: quicker in this season, And no matter how long it takes,

788
00:51:15,600 --> 00:51:20,440
Speaker 1: he says, remain in me as I also remain in you.

789
00:51:21,640 --> 00:51:23,600
Speaker 1: As the worship team begins to play, I want to

790
00:51:23,640 --> 00:51:25,840
Speaker 1: remind you that you can't bear fruit by yourself. You

791
00:51:25,920 --> 00:51:27,959
Speaker 1: must remain in the vine, and neither can you bear

792
00:51:28,000 --> 00:51:33,520
Speaker 1: fruit unless you remain in Jesus. There are some things

793
00:51:33,520 --> 00:51:35,440
Speaker 1: in your life that are taken a little longer than

794
00:51:35,480 --> 00:51:38,799
Speaker 1: you want them to take. I know. There are some

795
00:51:38,880 --> 00:51:41,759
Speaker 1: victories in your life that, although promised, are not automatic.

796
00:51:41,840 --> 00:51:44,840
Speaker 1: I know. And if you've never been to a wrestling

797
00:51:44,920 --> 00:51:48,239
Speaker 1: match before, it looks kind of weird. If you've never

798
00:51:48,320 --> 00:51:50,840
Speaker 1: worshiped through a storm before, it might feel kind of

799
00:51:50,840 --> 00:51:53,560
Speaker 1: weird because you're so used to taking matters into your

800
00:51:53,560 --> 00:51:56,800
Speaker 1: own hands. But I want to remind you what Holly

801
00:51:56,840 --> 00:52:01,839
Speaker 1: told Khalia. She said, a pin can happen anytime. A

802
00:52:01,880 --> 00:52:09,320
Speaker 1: pin is still possible. God can turn your entire life around,

803
00:52:09,560 --> 00:52:15,840
Speaker 1: and every regret can become a blessing if you remain

804
00:52:17,520 --> 00:52:23,040
Speaker 1: in Him. So let's stand all over the auditorium. Please,

805
00:52:23,120 --> 00:52:25,520
Speaker 1: no one trying to get to the doors. Let's respect

806
00:52:25,560 --> 00:52:29,440
Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit enough to give a moment in his presence.

807
00:52:31,880 --> 00:52:35,640
Speaker 1: Presence is to plan this year. Presence is the plan

808
00:52:35,719 --> 00:52:38,759
Speaker 1: this year. I'm showing up for stuff this year. I'm

809
00:52:38,760 --> 00:52:42,120
Speaker 1: staying in the vine. I'm letting the things that God

810
00:52:42,120 --> 00:52:43,960
Speaker 1: has planted in my life grow this year. And you

811
00:52:44,000 --> 00:52:47,400
Speaker 1: know what, every bit of fruit that's not supposed to

812
00:52:47,400 --> 00:52:49,920
Speaker 1: be on my tree anyway, somebody else can grow it.

813
00:52:51,120 --> 00:52:55,319
Speaker 1: I'm done being busy just to be impressive. I'm done

814
00:52:55,360 --> 00:52:57,720
Speaker 1: trying to post stuff to prove that I did stuff.

815
00:52:57,760 --> 00:53:00,759
Speaker 1: Not this year. This year is going to be a

816
00:53:00,840 --> 00:53:04,400
Speaker 1: root system year for me and Father. I thank you

817
00:53:04,440 --> 00:53:07,719
Speaker 1: for the word. Oh it's so good to me. Lord.

818
00:53:07,719 --> 00:53:11,000
Speaker 1: I could stay in it so much longer. But I

819
00:53:11,040 --> 00:53:15,040
Speaker 1: thank you that long after I have stopped speaking, you

820
00:53:15,120 --> 00:53:19,319
Speaker 1: will still continue to speak. Now, God, I want to

821
00:53:19,320 --> 00:53:22,880
Speaker 1: partner with you in this process because what I said

822
00:53:23,480 --> 00:53:26,359
Speaker 1: is what I said, But what you say is what

823
00:53:26,400 --> 00:53:31,200
Speaker 1: only you could say to each person in this room today.

824
00:53:31,440 --> 00:53:35,600
Speaker 1: This message will mean something very different. There's an area

825
00:53:35,640 --> 00:53:38,680
Speaker 1: in their life where they feel like they just can't win.

826
00:53:39,920 --> 00:53:42,560
Speaker 1: I get the victory for a little bit, it slips away.

827
00:53:43,719 --> 00:53:48,479
Speaker 1: I do better. For a little bit, it goes away. God,

828
00:53:48,520 --> 00:53:51,160
Speaker 1: may we realize that some of the greatest growth in

829
00:53:51,200 --> 00:53:56,359
Speaker 1: our life happens underground. Some of the greatest cultivation will

830
00:53:56,400 --> 00:54:00,239
Speaker 1: be of our character, and some of the fruit for

831
00:54:00,280 --> 00:54:03,719
Speaker 1: our future. I pray that you would give them the

832
00:54:03,840 --> 00:54:07,360
Speaker 1: armor of God today and that they would stand therefore,

833
00:54:08,560 --> 00:54:10,680
Speaker 1: after they've done everything that they know to do, that

834
00:54:10,680 --> 00:54:15,800
Speaker 1: they would stand like a tree planted, that they would

835
00:54:15,800 --> 00:54:19,200
Speaker 1: not quit, not cut it off, and not stop, but

836
00:54:19,239 --> 00:54:22,720
Speaker 1: that they would stand and a bye in the vibe,

837
00:54:23,480 --> 00:54:27,359
Speaker 1: bearing much fruit. Father. I even pray for those right

838
00:54:27,400 --> 00:54:30,719
Speaker 1: now who are going through a pruning season where your

839
00:54:30,719 --> 00:54:34,279
Speaker 1: gardenershears have been cutting back in their lives, and they've

840
00:54:34,280 --> 00:54:37,080
Speaker 1: been perceiving it as a loss. But it's not a loss.

841
00:54:38,120 --> 00:54:42,000
Speaker 1: It is preparation for the next stage of their fruitfulness

842
00:54:42,000 --> 00:54:45,880
Speaker 1: in you. They will bear more fruit, they will teach

843
00:54:45,960 --> 00:54:52,640
Speaker 1: more truth, they will have more wisdom, They will share more. Peace. Father,

844
00:54:52,719 --> 00:54:57,759
Speaker 1: we are just branches. We only can grow if we

845
00:54:57,800 --> 00:55:09,720
Speaker 1: are in you. I thank you that they're in your hands. God. Amen. Amen,

846
00:55:14,040 --> 00:55:16,239
Speaker 1: will you do the simplest thing in the world. I

847
00:55:16,280 --> 00:55:18,200
Speaker 1: know it looks weird if you never did it, but

848
00:55:18,320 --> 00:55:21,600
Speaker 1: just lift your hands in worship. And before one of

849
00:55:21,640 --> 00:55:26,920
Speaker 1: the singers sings, I want you to open your mouth. Yeah,

850
00:55:27,040 --> 00:55:30,640
Speaker 1: all over the room. Open your mouth and don't stop.

851
00:55:30,719 --> 00:55:35,240
Speaker 1: Respond to the Lord. Tell him, Lord, I'm staying. I'm staying.

852
00:55:35,680 --> 00:55:37,799
Speaker 1: I'm staying in faith in this seats. And God, I

853
00:55:37,840 --> 00:55:40,279
Speaker 1: trust you in this seats, and just tell him what

854
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Speaker 1: you need to tell him. I don't want to just

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Speaker 1: leave you with my words. I want you to have

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Speaker 1: his spirit. Lord, I trust you in this Seatson. I

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Speaker 1: thank you that you're greater. Lord. I thank you that

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Speaker 1: you're greater, greater than what I faith, greater than what

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Speaker 1: I fear. I thank you Lord that the is mine.

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Speaker 1: I thank you that the victory is already won. I

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Speaker 1: thank you has already worked out as it is in heaven,

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Speaker 1: shall it be on earth. In the name of Jesus. Now,

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Speaker 1: let's begin to praise him, because we know anything could

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Speaker 1: happen when we do anything is possible when we praise him.

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Speaker 1: Might look weird if you never saw it before, but

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Speaker 1: I'm praising him because it could turn around. I'm praising

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Speaker 1: him because he's growing me by his grace. Thank you

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Speaker 1: for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who

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Speaker 1: give generously to this ministry. Is because of you that

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Speaker 1: this ministry is possible. You can click the link in

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Speaker 1: the description to give now or visit Elevationchurch dot org

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Speaker 1: slash podcast for more information and if you enjoyed the podcast,

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00:56:50,719 --> 00:56:53,440
Speaker 1: you can subscribe. You can share it with your friends.

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00:56:53,719 --> 00:56:56,000
Speaker 1: You can click the share button, take a screenshot and

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00:56:56,080 --> 00:56:58,160
Speaker 1: share it on your social stories and tag us at

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00:56:58,200 --> 00:57:00,719
Speaker 1: Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.