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Speaker 1: Well, we're gonna get to the message in just a moment,

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Speaker 1: but I wanted to make sure you knew about Elevation Nights.

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Speaker 1: It's gonna be amazing eight cities October twenty sixth through

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Speaker 1: November fourth. You gotta go to Elevation Nights dot com

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Speaker 1: to see if we're coming to a city near you.

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Speaker 1: It's gonna be me Elevation Worship, a few friends and you.

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Speaker 1: I want to see you there. I want to see

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Speaker 1: you and everybody that you know there. Go to Elevation

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Speaker 1: Nights dot com. I can't wait to see you soon.

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Speaker 1: Here's the message. Right now, all over the world, people

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Speaker 1: are joining in with this ministry. We want to welcome

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Speaker 1: our epam, our extended family all over the world. Right now,

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Speaker 1: we're flaking the doors open, man, the digital doors come

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Speaker 1: on in the the church is open. The spirit is here,

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Speaker 1: So God bless you. Just turn to the person next

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Speaker 1: to you and say, if Pastor Stephen knew you would

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Speaker 1: be a Sabor Church member, just tell them that, and

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Speaker 1: I believe that. Woo who Now, some of us are

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Speaker 1: glad to be here. We have learned that there is

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Speaker 1: bread in the House of the Lord. I'm gonna do

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Speaker 1: I'm going to do a no, no, I'm going to

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Speaker 1: use the same scripture I used last week. Sit down,

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Speaker 1: y'all leave, let's study. I came home last week and

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Speaker 1: I told Holly, I don't know how good that went.

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Speaker 1: She said it was amazing, and I was frustrated. I said,

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Speaker 1: I don't think I did it the way that I

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Speaker 1: was supposed to she and Holly said, maybe you didn't fail.

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Speaker 1: Maybe you just weren't finished turning your Bible to Second Corinthians,

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Speaker 1: cause you'll believe she back talks me like that. The

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Speaker 1: Bible says, submit to your husband. Not supposed to be

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Speaker 1: quoting scriptures at the man of God. I'm kidding, but

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Speaker 1: this good Second Corinthians, chapter twelve. And I want to

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Speaker 1: talk a little more about your thorn that was the

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Speaker 1: subject last week. So this might be uncomfortable. You won't

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Speaker 1: tell about your thorn for a moment or two, but

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Speaker 1: I want to read this context. And I just want

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Speaker 1: to remind you that usually when God speaks, he speaks

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Speaker 1: in sentences and paragraphs, and you know, like a lot

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Speaker 1: of times, what we'll take is we'll take a single

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Speaker 1: sentence from the Word of God. And that's cool. It's

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Speaker 1: better than nothing. But to really get the full impact

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Speaker 1: of what God speaks, it's better if you understand the

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Speaker 1: context of when he spoke it. And I don't know

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Speaker 1: if we sometimes read scripture versus Bible versus like their

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Speaker 1: captions on Instagram or something like that, they're not. This

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Speaker 1: was a letter Paul wrote to a church that he

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Speaker 1: loved that he was incredibly frustrated with. Oh, you can

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Speaker 1: definitely feel that way about one person, one church you

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Speaker 1: can really love and be really frustrated with. And I

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Speaker 1: made the case one time in this Pope that a

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Speaker 1: lot of people disagree. You can't really be truly good

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Speaker 1: and frustrated with somebody that you don't really truly love.

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Speaker 1: You'll feel the most intense feelings of I want to

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Speaker 1: kill you if you are a parent, the person that

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Speaker 1: came from your very body. And it goes the other

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Speaker 1: way too with kids and parents. But this is the

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Speaker 1: lesson that Paul is giving. And if I had outlined

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Speaker 1: the message last week the way I should have, where

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Speaker 1: you could take notes and all of that, I would

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Speaker 1: have used three points. A mentor, a metaphor, and a

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Speaker 1: therefore intour a metaphor, and that therefore and I forgot

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Speaker 1: to tell you that last week because I was so

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Speaker 1: busy preaching about Paul as a mentor to the church,

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Speaker 1: not an advice column. That's not a broke cousin who

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Speaker 1: tells you where you need to invest your money and

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Speaker 1: what kind of digital currency you need to invest in.

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Speaker 1: But he's not one of these advice given fools. He's

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Speaker 1: got real authority. What surprised us about Paul, though, was that,

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Speaker 1: with such great apostolic authority and such intellectual brilliantess, instead

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Speaker 1: of taking the opportunity to exceed his authority, he opened

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Speaker 1: himself up with personal vulnerability. And what was amazing about

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Speaker 1: it was, and I'm going to read it to you

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Speaker 1: in just a moment in case you missed it, his

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Speaker 1: vulnerability did not compromise his authority. His being real about

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Speaker 1: what he struggled with didn't keep him from being powerful

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Speaker 1: and being called. And it doesn't for you either. And

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Speaker 1: you don't have to fake it. You have to go

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Speaker 1: through life pretending because the people that you pretend to

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Speaker 1: be somebody that you're not to in order to get

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Speaker 1: them to like you, they don't really like you. When

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Speaker 1: they like you, they like the you that you showed them.

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Speaker 1: That you concoct it just to get their approval, So

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Speaker 1: it's worthless anyway. And if you got it, you got it.

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Speaker 1: And if you know, you know, And if God is

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Speaker 1: with you, God is with you. And nobody can do

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Speaker 1: anything to change it, not even the devil, not even

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Speaker 1: the devil. Oh, I feel a no weapon formed against

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Speaker 1: me shall prosper rising up in my spirit. But in

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Speaker 1: tewod Corinthians twelve, Paul says, in verse six, even if

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Speaker 1: I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool,

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Speaker 1: because I would be speaking the truth. So Paul's the

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Speaker 1: opposite of most of us. He has everything to brag about,

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Speaker 1: but he doesn't a lot of us have nothing to

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Speaker 1: boast about, but plenty to about. Y'all ought to say amen,

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Speaker 1: let the church say ours. He said, I'm not even

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Speaker 1: going to tell you about my trip to heaven. I

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Speaker 1: went to the third Heaven. But don't worry about that,

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Speaker 1: because what I want to actually tell you about, And

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Speaker 1: he uses a metaphor. He says, because of these surpassingly

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Speaker 1: great revelations, Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited,

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Speaker 1: I was given a thorn. That's the metaphor. He says

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Speaker 1: it was a thorn. Why scholars have centuries trying to

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Speaker 1: identify what the thorn was when Paul clearly did not

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Speaker 1: want us to know, or he would have spelled it

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Speaker 1: out if he would have wanted us to know whether

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Speaker 1: it was a physical issue because it could have been that,

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Speaker 1: or a spiritual issue because it could have been that,

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Speaker 1: or an emotional issue. It could have been that, or

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Speaker 1: an opponent of the gospel. Because he was an ambassador

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Speaker 1: of Christ. See, Paul was responsible for del livering the

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Speaker 1: theology that we still study today to millennia later. Justification

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Speaker 1: by faith is a doctrine that we would not know

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Speaker 1: about as we know about it if it had not

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Speaker 1: been for Paul. Yet, maybe the greatest gift that Paul

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Speaker 1: ever gives to those of us who struggle with stuff,

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Speaker 1: those of us who are confused sometimes about the way

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Speaker 1: God is working in our life, those of us who

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Speaker 1: are not quite sure if we're going to be in

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Speaker 1: the VIP section of heaven or whether we're going to

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Speaker 1: have to sneak in past the security in the back

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Speaker 1: door and hope God doesn't call us out. This is

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Speaker 1: what I want you to know about that Paul. He

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Speaker 1: gives us the gift of showing us that there is

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Speaker 1: a thorn. Now, everybody say this, there is a thorn.

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Speaker 1: There is a thorn. The people who don't say it,

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Speaker 1: they're probably lost in the metaphor. So let me break

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Speaker 1: it down. The thorn is that thing that you don't

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Speaker 1: talk about on the first night of the group. The

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Speaker 1: thorn is the thing that you don't tell somebody in

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Speaker 1: the grocery checkout line, and you really shouldn't. I mean,

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Speaker 1: it's not wise to share everything with everybody. And we

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Speaker 1: kind of live in a culture where everybody is boasting

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Speaker 1: and posting so much. It's refreshing that Paul has the

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Speaker 1: discretion to say, I had this thing, this thorn, it

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Speaker 1: came from It came from Satan. Look at this. It

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Speaker 1: was a messenger of Satan to torment me. And that's

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Speaker 1: why I flipped last week that God showed me. He

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Speaker 1: showed me torment. And if you flip that, it's mentor right.

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Speaker 1: Just if you say torment and you say it the

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Speaker 1: other way, you weren't here last week. That's why I

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Speaker 1: did last week. Yeah, no' go, i'm'na catch you off.

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna catch up. I want you to get this,

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Speaker 1: He said, the thing that is tormenting you, if you'll

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Speaker 1: submit it to my throne, this is what you got

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Speaker 1: to learn to do. Take that thorn to the throne.

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Speaker 1: Don't take that thorn to people, because people don't have

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Speaker 1: the power to turn it around. So Paul did something

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Speaker 1: so wise. He said, God, would you take this away?

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Speaker 1: God said nothing. Paul said, God, I don't know if

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Speaker 1: you're busy doing something for Peter over there, but Paul, Paul,

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Speaker 1: I need you over here, take this thorn away. What

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Speaker 1: was it? We found out last week? It was his mentor.

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Speaker 1: Because some things you can only learn through what you

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Speaker 1: are afflicted by. And yet the warning is so clear

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Speaker 1: in my spirit that the Lord wants me to tell

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Speaker 1: you today it's not really about the thorn. It's not

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Speaker 1: really about the thorn. That's not the real thing, the

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Speaker 1: thing that we bring to God. Fix this, change this,

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Speaker 1: or if you're like me and you're control freaking, you

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Speaker 1: think everybody else needs to get it, get on the

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Speaker 1: same page with you. Fix them. Some of y'all's thorn

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Speaker 1: weighs one hundred and ninety seven pounds and is sitting

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Speaker 1: next to you. God, would you and this, this is

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Speaker 1: the This is the message that Paul gives us, and

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Speaker 1: watch this. Get read shall get Ray y'all, Get Rey, y'all,

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Speaker 1: get Red. Yeah, get Ray, y'all, Get Rey, shop gear reh, y'all.

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Speaker 1: If God doesn't remove it, you can expect him to

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Speaker 1: use it. So whatever you bring before the Lord, I

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Speaker 1: don't care if it's an addiction of propensity. And you say, well, God,

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Speaker 1: make me not want to do this anymore. I don't

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Speaker 1: want to want that anymore. I don't want this desire anymore.

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Speaker 1: I don't want this darkness anymore. I don't want the

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Speaker 1: feeling anymore. Well, sometimes God will take it away. I

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Speaker 1: have some things in my life that I prayed about

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Speaker 1: and God got me through them. I have other things.

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Speaker 1: These are the thorns that God said, I'm not going

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Speaker 1: to remove it. So then Paul says, all right, all right,

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Speaker 1: all right. If God is not going to take the

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Speaker 1: thorn away, that is tormenting me. You've been tormented by

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Speaker 1: it long enough. You ask God three times. Because amazing

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Speaker 1: how Paul gives us this contrast action and acceptance. I

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Speaker 1: ask God to do it. I believe God could do it,

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Speaker 1: because when I first read this, I'm like Paul, you

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Speaker 1: needed to just have more faith, you know now unto

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Speaker 1: him who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask.

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Speaker 1: Or imagine Paul's like I wrote that verse, dummy, s

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Speaker 1: Ephesians three twenty. This is tewod Corinthians twelve. Tell them

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Speaker 1: about the things that God chooses, not to remove the

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Speaker 1: things God gives you grace for in the place of change.

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Speaker 1: This won't change, but I've got grace for it. Make

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Speaker 1: the confession by faith right now with your mouth. I

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Speaker 1: got grace for it. I got grace for it. They

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Speaker 1: had an ad campaign when I was a little boy

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Speaker 1: called gotten Milk, and I'm revising it right now to

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Speaker 1: say God grace. And the Lord told me to tell

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Speaker 1: you today. I hear the Lord saying, I hear so clear.

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Speaker 1: I can't get I can't get it out of my spirit.

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Speaker 1: There's no shortage, there's no shortage. Put it in the

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Speaker 1: chat right now, or say it with your vocal cords,

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Speaker 1: if you've got breast, say it. There's no shortage because

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Speaker 1: when I asked the Lord to take the thorn away.

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Speaker 1: And you know, we're living in a time where you

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Speaker 1: you haven't you haven't heard very much about no shortage.

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Speaker 1: I mean when it started out, and I know, the

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Speaker 1: word global pandemic just makes your mouth dry even to

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Speaker 1: hear it, because we don't really want to talk about

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Speaker 1: it erebody anymore. And I try not to talk about

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Speaker 1: it too much in the pulpit because God knows you

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Speaker 1: hear it everywhere else. But I knew it was bad.

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Speaker 1: You know, we were scared when when COVID came because

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Speaker 1: God didn't take it away. And then they didn't even

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Speaker 1: have enough masks for us to wear because there was

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Speaker 1: a mask shortage. Then the people who ended up in

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Speaker 1: the hospital, there's a ventilator shortage, and then there's a

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Speaker 1: staff shortage, and then there's test shortage, so we can't

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Speaker 1: even know now. So there was shortage. But then it

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Speaker 1: started getting crazy, like the things we were short on

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Speaker 1: because of the supply chain that seemed to have nothing

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Speaker 1: to do with sickness. I went to buy my oldest

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Speaker 1: a used car the other day, and the price is

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Speaker 1: like sixty percent more right now for a used car,

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Speaker 1: because the dude was telling me, oh, well there's a

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Speaker 1: chip and chip there's a chip shortage of new cars.

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Speaker 1: So the used cars were more expensive because blah blah,

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Speaker 1: and all I heard is you're ripping me off. This

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Speaker 1: is the worst time to black car. I don't even

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Speaker 1: want him to drive. I'm scared to death to put

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Speaker 1: him on the road. And now it's expensive to two

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Speaker 1: because there's a global chip shortage. But I knew it

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Speaker 1: was bad. I knew it was bad when Holly came

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Speaker 1: home from Chick fil A one day. This is when

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Speaker 1: I knew I'm a suboctane. My god, by have you

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Speaker 1: forsaken of when Chick fil A had a sauce shortage.

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Speaker 1: If there is one restaurant God loves, it's the one

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Speaker 1: that's closed on Sunday when Chick fil A is running

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Speaker 1: out of Polynesian? Oh God, where is your promise? The pa,

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Speaker 1: the glorious, the party, she said, And we love Chick

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Speaker 1: fil A. So then we say that on the record.

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Speaker 1: If you want to send me some goods, just want

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Speaker 1: to say, sit up, I'll be your shirt, she said.

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Speaker 1: Holly said, they they said, welcome to Chick fil A.

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Speaker 1: You know, all happy late they do it Chick fil A.

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Speaker 1: And then she said, I want to grilled chicken sandwich.

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Speaker 1: She said. He said, we don't have any chicken. And

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Speaker 1: I said, chick fil A didn't have the chicken. I

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Speaker 1: think y'all might see where I'm going with this if

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Speaker 1: you work ahead a little bit, and she ended up

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Speaker 1: ordering something she didn't even want. But that's not the point,

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Speaker 1: because I'm not really talking about Chick fil A or

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Speaker 1: how they didn't even have wrench dressing or kale for

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Speaker 1: a kale salad. Y'all think Holly's first choice was kale?

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Speaker 1: That girl, that girl is she She loves waffle fries

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Speaker 1: more than she loves worship. Thinks she wanted to get

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Speaker 1: They didn't even have a kale salad. She just had

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Speaker 1: to make the She just had to make it, make

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Speaker 1: it work. And to me, it's kind of crazy when

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Speaker 1: Chick fil a doesn't have grilled chicken. But what would

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Speaker 1: be crazier than that? If you can imagine a thing

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Speaker 1: like that, if you can imagine something crazier than that,

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Speaker 1: here's what it might be for you to think, as

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Speaker 1: a Christian that you're going to need grace from your

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Speaker 1: father in heaven and he's gonna sum for some reason,

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Speaker 1: there's like a global supply chain issue in heaven where

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Speaker 1: there's not enough angels to staff because we can't get

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Speaker 1: any angels to come in and work. Look, so here's

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Speaker 1: one thing. There's no shortage of angels in heaven to

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Speaker 1: praise God. So the Bible even says this, if you

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Speaker 1: don't praise him, the rocks will cry out. Jesus said that.

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Speaker 1: So for everybody who's like I don't like all of that,

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Speaker 1: when he tells us, you know, praise the Lord and

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Speaker 1: give God glory, I don't really feel like it. Only

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Speaker 1: got three hours of sleep. That's fine, you don't have to.

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Speaker 1: There's no shortage of glory to God in heaven. There's

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Speaker 1: an angel right now saying, Holy, Holy, Holy is the

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Speaker 1: Lord God, Almighty, Holy, Holy. So if you don't want

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Speaker 1: to say he's holy, there's an angel saying it. You

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Speaker 1: can take a break. You can take the day off.

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Speaker 1: Goglola always have a break, Doug Lalla, always have a break,

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Speaker 1: dog l La always haven't work. The first God doesn't

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Speaker 1: command you to praise him because he needs it. He's

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Speaker 1: not an ego maniac. You need it. You need it,

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Speaker 1: and when you give him glory, it releases grace. Something

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Speaker 1: about it. Once you realize that he's able to do

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Speaker 1: him measurably more than you ask for. Imagine there is

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Speaker 1: no shortage in heaven of what you're hurting for. On earth,

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Speaker 1: there's no shortage. There's no shortage. In fact, I love

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Speaker 1: people who come to church and they're like pastor. If

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Speaker 1: you preach, it's good. If you don't preach, it's good.

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Speaker 1: I don't really care. I brought my own sauce. I

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Speaker 1: have my own relationship with God. I want you all

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Speaker 1: to start bringing your bibles back to church. I want

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Speaker 1: you all to start a leather bound Bible, a big

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Speaker 1: fat leather bound Bible, a holy Bible, back to church

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Speaker 1: with a pen and a highlighter, so you can go

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Speaker 1: through that thing. And when I'm not there, because I'm

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Speaker 1: not going to follow you to work tomorrow, be weird.

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Speaker 1: They probably wouldn't let me in anyway. Security. But when

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Speaker 1: you have your own word from God, are you so

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Speaker 1: focused on your thorn watch this that you are missing?

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Speaker 1: You're Therefore, Now, I'm gonna make you a little scripture,

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Speaker 1: grilled grilled chicken scripture sandwich real quick. All right, I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna give you this little scripture sandwich real quick. In

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Speaker 1: Second Corinthians twelve, verse seven. I love the Word of God.

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Speaker 1: I love it more the more I the more I

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Speaker 1: study it, the more ignorant I realize. I am so

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Speaker 1: uh I would have missed something like this. Second Corinthians

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Speaker 1: twelve seven. He said, I had these great revelations. I

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Speaker 1: saw this amazing glory in my life. Paul saying this,

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Speaker 1: I was gifted by God in a unique way. I

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Speaker 1: studied under ga melee. Check my resume. I come from

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Speaker 1: good stock, a Hebrew of Hebrews, tribe of Benjamin. That's me,

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Speaker 1: your apostle to the gentiles, Paul. But because of how

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Speaker 1: good God had been to me, what he had shown me,

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Speaker 1: here comes to teaching. Therefore, in order to keep me

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Speaker 1: from becoming con seated, in order to keep me grounded

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Speaker 1: in grace? Are you grounded in grace? Are you grounded

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Speaker 1: in your giftedness? If you're grounded in your giftedness and

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Speaker 1: you fail, your faith falls apart. Are you grounded in grace?

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Speaker 1: Or are you grounded in your feelings? Are you grounded

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Speaker 1: in grace? Are you grounded in the latest blessing God

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Speaker 1: gave you? Are you grounded in grace? Are you grounded

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Speaker 1: in your goal? Because you're not going to reach all

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Speaker 1: of them, Paul said elsewhere in Philippians I pressed toward

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Speaker 1: the mark, toward the goal. Paul's still pressing, and I'm thinking,

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Speaker 1: I'm going to reach the goal. You're not going to

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Speaker 1: reach the goal. So he said, to keep me grounded

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Speaker 1: in grace, God gave me a gift I didn't ask

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Speaker 1: for and has no gift exchange program. But God delivered

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Speaker 1: it in an unusual way. And this is what we

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Speaker 1: studied last week, the same verse back of everybody say, therefore,

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Speaker 1: in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was

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Speaker 1: given a thorn in my flesh. And angelos, same word

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Speaker 1: that we take angel from in Greek, it's angelos. It

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Speaker 1: could say an angel of Satan. We've never heard of

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Speaker 1: that before to us. Angels touched by them and Thomas

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Speaker 1: Kincaid and light and all this. But he said, no,

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Speaker 1: it came through an angel, and I hated the angel.

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Speaker 1: It was a messenger. That's all angel means, messenger, That's

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Speaker 1: what the word means. It's the same word. He said.

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Speaker 1: The messenger that God brought it through was my enemy.

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Speaker 1: So God gave me a gift through my enemy. That's

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Speaker 1: the context of this great verse where he said, my

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Speaker 1: grace is sufficient for you. There's no shortage of grace?

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Speaker 1: Can I tell yall something as a pastor who's pastored

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Speaker 1: through the last two years right now? They might be

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Speaker 1: short right now on masks, they might be short right

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Speaker 1: now on staff. And I'm sure in your industry you

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Speaker 1: could tell me a shortage that's affecting you, because I

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Speaker 1: know that you have some to in your industry. In

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Speaker 1: my industry, there's no shortage of thorns right now. Wow,

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Speaker 1: I think the last twenty months have been some of

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Speaker 1: the thorniest that I've ever pastored people through. Yep, there

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Speaker 1: is no shortage of the things that Paul lists. There's

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Speaker 1: no shortage. I said that a minute ago, and y'all shouted.

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Speaker 1: But when I said there's no shortage of thorns, you

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Speaker 1: didn't shout, And you shouldn't shout about that. After all,

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Speaker 1: Paul said, nobody in their right mind asks God for

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Speaker 1: a thorn. There's no shortage of marriage problems in my

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Speaker 1: church today. There is no shortage of things that can

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Speaker 1: make you feel so bad about yourself if you wanted

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Speaker 1: to right now. Look, because one of the things that

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Speaker 1: the last almost those two years now has done to

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Speaker 1: a lot of people is it put them in isolation

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Speaker 1: in the season, and then things grew in the dark

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Speaker 1: that are now coming forth and growing, and they're not good.

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Speaker 1: There's no shortage of thorns right now. Like in some

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Speaker 1: ways I want to thank all of you who are

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Speaker 1: honest enough about your thorns to come to church. In

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Speaker 1: some ways, I feel like I owe every big sinner

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Speaker 1: in here a big thank you, because you give me

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Speaker 1: job security. As long as you have thorns, I have

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Speaker 1: a job. Don't ever get your life fully together, because

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Speaker 1: then you won't need me, and I need to be needed.

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Speaker 1: I don't preach for the praise of men. Amen. Amen.

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Speaker 1: There's no shortage of thorns. There's just those that are

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Speaker 1: at hiding them than others. All you see is the

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Speaker 1: lilies in the life of the person next to you.

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Speaker 1: I am so thankful that Paul taught me the theology

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Speaker 1: of the thorn, the theology of the thorn, and this

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Speaker 1: is the theology of the thorn. When I am weak,

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Speaker 1: then I am strong. I need that one. I'm thankful

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Speaker 1: for everything that Paul taught me, but above all, maybe

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Speaker 1: the greatest lesson that he taught me was to look

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Speaker 1: for the Therefore, have you been more thorn conscious than

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Speaker 1: grace conscious in your life lately, the devil would love

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Speaker 1: to do that to you. In fact, here's what I

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Speaker 1: think about this passage. Okay, I don't know if you

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Speaker 1: care what I think about it, but this is what

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Speaker 1: I think about it. I don't think it matters as

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Speaker 1: much what Paul's thorn was as it matters how Paul

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Speaker 1: thought about his thorn. And likewise, I don't believe the

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Speaker 1: most important thing about your life it's the challenge that

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Speaker 1: you're facing, or the insecurity that you have, or the

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Speaker 1: mistake that you made, or the thing that you do

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Speaker 1: that nobody knows that you do, or the thoughts that

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Speaker 1: you think that people would be shocked. Me and Elijah

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Speaker 1: were talking the other day how much would we pay

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Speaker 1: to keep all of our thoughts from being broadcast on

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Speaker 1: a screen in front of the whole world. And we

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Speaker 1: both decided everything we have, every dollar I have there

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Speaker 1: could not be too great of an amount. So, even

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Speaker 1: if it's just in your thought life, those thorns, Paul

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Speaker 1: is convincing you today, and you need to lean into

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Speaker 1: this word because this is bigger than a Sunday lesson,

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Speaker 1: This is bigger than a YouTube clip, This is bigger

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Speaker 1: than an Instagram post. What God is saying today. He

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Speaker 1: is saying, if you keep looking at this thorn. Because

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Speaker 1: Paul doesn't talk about the thorn for seven verses. Paul

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Speaker 1: doesn't give a whole chapter to the thorn, like we do.

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Speaker 1: We get so stuck about what's wrong with us? We

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Speaker 1: get so stuck. Is that why he called it a thorn?

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Speaker 1: This is the thing that you get stuck by and

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Speaker 1: stuck with and stuck in. But Paul doesn't talk about

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Speaker 1: the thorn. He talks about the Therefore, did you see

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Speaker 1: it in the text? Come on, did you see it

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Speaker 1: in the text? It's in the text. Class, it's in

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Speaker 1: the text. We are not going to recess until y'all

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Speaker 1: get this lesson, he said. Therefore, this is the important thing.

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Speaker 1: What is your thorn? Therefore, some people never find out.

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Speaker 1: They get so stuck in what's wrong with them? What

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Speaker 1: they can't do, what others can do that they can't do,

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Speaker 1: what other God that they didn't get. But Paul said

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Speaker 1: it was in order to keep me from becoming conceited.

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Speaker 1: What a thing to admit, Paul said, I would have

425
00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:12,800
Speaker 1: had such a big head, I couldn't have fit through

426
00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:15,320
Speaker 1: the church door if God didn't give me this storm.

427
00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:22,600
Speaker 1: What is it? Therefore? I could preach all day. When

428
00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:25,080
Speaker 1: we title this message on YouTube, we may call it

429
00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:31,359
Speaker 1: the power of Therefore, the power of Therefore when you

430
00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:34,480
Speaker 1: find out not only what has been tormenting you, but

431
00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:38,440
Speaker 1: what is it there? For? Is this here to teach

432
00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:41,840
Speaker 1: me something? And notice people can't tell you this. They

433
00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:43,880
Speaker 1: mean well, but they'll say, well, the reason your kid

434
00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:46,320
Speaker 1: is misbehaving is because you should have told them to

435
00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:48,520
Speaker 1: the other school. The other school there. You see, we

436
00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:51,359
Speaker 1: homeschool are kids, brother Steve, and that's why our kids

437
00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:54,600
Speaker 1: don't struggle with any of those kids sometimes are the

438
00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:59,080
Speaker 1: biggest crackheads at age twenty one. Sometimes nothing against homeschooling,

439
00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:04,000
Speaker 1: nothing against not. But Paul did not ask Silas about

440
00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:07,639
Speaker 1: his thorn. And I'm not saying don't get input from people.

441
00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:10,000
Speaker 1: But some things only God can show you what it's

442
00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:14,800
Speaker 1: there for. Only God can show you why he gave

443
00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:17,840
Speaker 1: you that gift. That's why, a beautiful young girl, you

444
00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:21,359
Speaker 1: gotta make sure you go to your fopper to find

445
00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:24,600
Speaker 1: out what your beauty is there for. It is not

446
00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:27,320
Speaker 1: for some boy to put his hands all over something

447
00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:30,720
Speaker 1: that he doesn't own. That's not why God gave you

448
00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:33,959
Speaker 1: that beauty, so you can spread it around until you

449
00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:40,640
Speaker 1: feel empty. No, No, you gotta ask God what is

450
00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:43,880
Speaker 1: my gift there? For I don't just get to do

451
00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:48,320
Speaker 1: whatever I want with my life. It's borrowed. I don't

452
00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:50,480
Speaker 1: just get to do whatever I want with my gift.

453
00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:54,480
Speaker 1: It's borrowed. It's a loan. It belongs to God. I'm

454
00:28:54,520 --> 00:29:00,640
Speaker 1: a servant of him. It's so powerful the power of Therefore,

455
00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:02,920
Speaker 1: put it in the chat, put it in your mouth,

456
00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:06,880
Speaker 1: put it in your spirit. Say therefore, therefore, therefore, and

457
00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:11,600
Speaker 1: some of us we so glorify the thorn. Oh my thorn. Oh,

458
00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:15,080
Speaker 1: I'll tell you right now. Oh man, if you knew

459
00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:21,840
Speaker 1: about my thorn. But Paul said, therefore it was there

460
00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:24,800
Speaker 1: for a reason, and only God can show you what

461
00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:30,800
Speaker 1: that is. Therefore my favorite Therefore in scripture, I looked

462
00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:33,440
Speaker 1: at twenty of them, but I only want to give

463
00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:37,760
Speaker 1: you two. The first one comes from Roman's aid, where

464
00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:39,760
Speaker 1: Paul said, what the lawless powers doing? That was eaking

465
00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:41,640
Speaker 1: by simple nature. God did by sending his own sun

466
00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:44,160
Speaker 1: likeness a simple man to be as an offering. There

467
00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:51,040
Speaker 1: is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in

468
00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:59,920
Speaker 1: Christ Jesus that's my second favorite, therefore my first favorite.

469
00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:02,400
Speaker 1: I don't know if I should break it out right now,

470
00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:05,560
Speaker 1: because I'm just not sure. I'm just not sure. If

471
00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:09,520
Speaker 1: you no, I'm not sure yet. I'm not convinced yet.

472
00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:16,080
Speaker 1: Should I show him Lord? Should I take him to

473
00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:20,959
Speaker 1: my secret stash over here in Lamentations? Now? How are

474
00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:24,120
Speaker 1: you gonna how are you gonna preach about Lamentations? And

475
00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:27,200
Speaker 1: you're talking about therefore, Well, this is the perfect place

476
00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:30,960
Speaker 1: to look at it, because see, Lamentations was a very

477
00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:35,200
Speaker 1: sad book in the Bible. Is sadder than a Nirvana song.

478
00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:38,480
Speaker 1: I mean, this is really sad stuff and it can

479
00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:41,360
Speaker 1: really bring you down. And Jeremiah the prophet was ministering

480
00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:44,080
Speaker 1: in a very hard time. He wasn't seeing much fruit, alterorance.

481
00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:47,600
Speaker 1: I listen to how he starts in Lamentations three nineteen. Actually,

482
00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:49,360
Speaker 1: let's go to verse eighteen. Did I give you eighteen?

483
00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:51,120
Speaker 1: I think I gave you eighteen right before I came out,

484
00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:54,000
Speaker 1: just in case. Yeah, yeah, So I say, my splendor

485
00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:57,120
Speaker 1: is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord.

486
00:30:57,240 --> 00:31:00,440
Speaker 1: What a place to start. I remember my affliction and

487
00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:03,920
Speaker 1: my wandering, the bitterness and the gall so I'm stuck

488
00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:06,720
Speaker 1: in the thorns. I well remember them, and my soul

489
00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:13,400
Speaker 1: is downcast within me. That's a prophet saying that. That's

490
00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:17,080
Speaker 1: a prophet saying that. He said, the memories haunt me.

491
00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:21,600
Speaker 1: The bitterness I taste it right now while I'm talking

492
00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:25,040
Speaker 1: is still on my tongue. You can smell it on

493
00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:36,480
Speaker 1: my breath. I'm still stuck in that. Twenty one says, Uh,

494
00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:44,640
Speaker 1: Yet this I called to mine, and therefore that's my

495
00:31:44,840 --> 00:31:54,480
Speaker 1: favorite word in the Bible today. Therefore I have hope

496
00:31:54,760 --> 00:31:59,080
Speaker 1: it is go on. That's not the good part. This

497
00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:03,400
Speaker 1: is the good part. Because of the Lord's great love,

498
00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:10,480
Speaker 1: we are not consumed. For His compassions never fail. Here's

499
00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:14,560
Speaker 1: the verse. You might know. They are new every morning.

500
00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:22,280
Speaker 1: There's no shortage. There's no shortage. There's no shortage. If

501
00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:25,520
Speaker 1: you screwed up three days ago, there's grace for it

502
00:32:25,600 --> 00:32:30,000
Speaker 1: right now. There's no shortage. They might not have sausage,

503
00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:34,600
Speaker 1: sick filet, but there's no shortage of mercy. In the

504
00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:42,280
Speaker 1: house of God. They are new every morning. So so

505
00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:44,160
Speaker 1: so watch this, watch us, watch this, watch us. We

506
00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:46,880
Speaker 1: passed Stephen. I can't praise God. You don't know what

507
00:32:46,880 --> 00:32:49,160
Speaker 1: what I've been doing. You'll know what I've been struggling with.

508
00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:54,400
Speaker 1: What do you think is mercy? Is there for? Amazing grace?

509
00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:58,520
Speaker 1: How sweet the sound that saved the wretch like me?

510
00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:03,400
Speaker 1: When he hung up on that cross and he didn't

511
00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:06,960
Speaker 1: come down. What do you think he was there for?

512
00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:18,920
Speaker 1: That's what his grace is. Therefore, your weakness, that's what

513
00:33:19,760 --> 00:33:26,040
Speaker 1: his grace is. Therefore, the insults, that's what his grace

514
00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:32,720
Speaker 1: is there for the persecution, that's what his grace is

515
00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:41,200
Speaker 1: there for, the hardship, the difficulty, the thorn is what

516
00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:50,800
Speaker 1: grace is there for. And see Paul had to pray

517
00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:56,680
Speaker 1: about that thing three times, three seasons. You think he

518
00:33:56,800 --> 00:34:01,040
Speaker 1: wasn't fasting, You think he wasn't keeping a journal, a

519
00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:07,040
Speaker 1: foreign journal. You think Paul wasn't You think Paul wasn't

520
00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:09,680
Speaker 1: doing everything in his power to get that thing to

521
00:34:09,680 --> 00:34:11,520
Speaker 1: go away. And you have been to and that's good

522
00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:14,279
Speaker 1: because we don't want to glory in our thorn. Some

523
00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:18,080
Speaker 1: of people will pervert any message you preach. You know, well, lord,

524
00:34:18,120 --> 00:34:21,680
Speaker 1: I'm gonna just go over here on this pornographic website.

525
00:34:21,719 --> 00:34:23,640
Speaker 1: But hey, lord, that's what grace is there for him.

526
00:34:23,640 --> 00:34:26,160
Speaker 1: Who's gonna go on over here and and just do

527
00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:32,560
Speaker 1: it thornographic website. I should have said where you just

528
00:34:32,640 --> 00:34:37,520
Speaker 1: keep recreating the weakness by not dealing with it. But

529
00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:39,600
Speaker 1: grace is there to change you too, So it's there

530
00:34:39,640 --> 00:34:41,200
Speaker 1: for you when you fail, but it's also there to

531
00:34:41,200 --> 00:34:43,719
Speaker 1: build you up so you can get stronger. When I am,

532
00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:51,120
Speaker 1: we some of us, we worship our weakness. Just going

533
00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:54,239
Speaker 1: off on people. That's how I am, not just the way,

534
00:34:54,680 --> 00:34:56,719
Speaker 1: that's just my thorn in the flesh. You heard old

535
00:34:56,719 --> 00:34:59,879
Speaker 1: Pastor Furnick over there at the elevation. He said, it'll

536
00:34:59,920 --> 00:35:02,239
Speaker 1: be grace for it. Now, you need to put the

537
00:35:02,239 --> 00:35:04,840
Speaker 1: grace on me. Well, they're not God. They might slap

538
00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:07,720
Speaker 1: you across your face if you act thorny out there.

539
00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:09,960
Speaker 1: So it's not like, oh well, let's just all be

540
00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:13,400
Speaker 1: you know, just everybody, just everybody, just let's have a

541
00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:16,680
Speaker 1: let's have a thorn party. Let's all tell our thorn stories.

542
00:35:17,239 --> 00:35:20,719
Speaker 1: My thorn is bigger than your thorn. That's how we

543
00:35:20,760 --> 00:35:25,560
Speaker 1: came to church. You want to be transformed. I want

544
00:35:25,560 --> 00:35:30,160
Speaker 1: to receive grace for what we struggle with, he said.

545
00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:34,320
Speaker 1: I prayed, raise your hand if you want me to

546
00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:36,799
Speaker 1: go deeper in this or you can raise it on

547
00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:39,959
Speaker 1: the chat and just put in the chat right now,

548
00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:44,600
Speaker 1: I've got grace for this and the beautiful thing. You

549
00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:46,520
Speaker 1: don't even have to specify what this is to the

550
00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:48,560
Speaker 1: other people in the chat. It's none of their business,

551
00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:51,080
Speaker 1: it's none of mine. You take it to God and

552
00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:53,200
Speaker 1: you get the grace that you need for the season.

553
00:35:54,840 --> 00:35:57,080
Speaker 1: And and don't don't take it to so many other

554
00:35:57,120 --> 00:35:58,880
Speaker 1: people either to tell you what they would do if

555
00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:03,319
Speaker 1: they were you. They're not the God who knows your

556
00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:08,440
Speaker 1: thorn knows the grace that you need. Now, this is

557
00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:10,960
Speaker 1: pretty beautiful. How many of y'all like actually really love

558
00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:12,759
Speaker 1: the Bible? And you're not even a little bit bored

559
00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:21,040
Speaker 1: right now? All right for you, that's not the only

560
00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:24,000
Speaker 1: Therefore in the passage he said three times, Verse eight

561
00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:26,400
Speaker 1: is back, I said Corinthian's twelve. I don't even think

562
00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:28,960
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get to the other scripture today. That's all right.

563
00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:33,200
Speaker 1: Three times I've pleaded with the Lord to take it away. Okay.

564
00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:38,120
Speaker 1: Is he the lord of your thorn? Does he get

565
00:36:38,160 --> 00:36:40,360
Speaker 1: to decide what to leave in your life? Who to

566
00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:43,560
Speaker 1: leave in your life, and what to remove? Is he

567
00:36:43,719 --> 00:36:48,360
Speaker 1: the lord of your thorn? He says, I was given

568
00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:53,120
Speaker 1: a thorn. The messenger was Satan, but the master was

569
00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:59,759
Speaker 1: the Lord. So whatever the devil is doing in your life,

570
00:37:00,160 --> 00:37:05,520
Speaker 1: he doesn't get the ultimate authority. It's not about the thorn.

571
00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:11,359
Speaker 1: It's the story you tell yourself about the thorn. Now,

572
00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:15,120
Speaker 1: Paul could have just as easily come to the conclusion

573
00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:17,319
Speaker 1: because he said it was a messenger of Satan to

574
00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:20,880
Speaker 1: torment me. But verse nine, God said to me, my

575
00:37:20,920 --> 00:37:22,960
Speaker 1: grace is sufficient for you, for my power has made

576
00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:26,000
Speaker 1: perfect in weakness. I read that so many times this week.

577
00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:27,520
Speaker 1: I felt there was something in it for us, and

578
00:37:27,560 --> 00:37:31,799
Speaker 1: there is. But he said to me, okay, back to

579
00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:37,400
Speaker 1: verse eight. Three times I pleaded with the Lord verse nine,

580
00:37:37,560 --> 00:37:44,440
Speaker 1: but he said to me, so Paul asked three times,

581
00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:46,480
Speaker 1: and God said, my grace is sufficient for you, for

582
00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:48,640
Speaker 1: my power has made perfect in weakness. And then what's

583
00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:54,360
Speaker 1: the next word in verse nine? Therefore that's the sandwich. Therefore,

584
00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:57,480
Speaker 1: to keep me from becoming conceited, there was given to

585
00:37:57,520 --> 00:37:59,239
Speaker 1: me a challenge that I could not handle in my

586
00:37:59,239 --> 00:38:01,960
Speaker 1: own strength, something that made me realize, I don't have

587
00:38:02,080 --> 00:38:05,200
Speaker 1: enough IQ to do this. I don't have enough I

588
00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:08,879
Speaker 1: don't have enough physical stamina to do this. I don't

589
00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:11,240
Speaker 1: I don't have enough experience to do this. He said,

590
00:38:11,520 --> 00:38:14,239
Speaker 1: That's what it was there for, because I had so

591
00:38:14,360 --> 00:38:17,520
Speaker 1: many things going for me in my life that there

592
00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:20,759
Speaker 1: had to be this thing. It was said one way

593
00:38:20,800 --> 00:38:23,800
Speaker 1: by one preacher. He said, the thorn took him to

594
00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:31,600
Speaker 1: the throne. It reminded him he wasn't in charge. But

595
00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:35,000
Speaker 1: then after he says that, he says, he said, to me,

596
00:38:35,080 --> 00:38:37,400
Speaker 1: my grace is sufficient for my powers made perfect a weakness.

597
00:38:37,719 --> 00:38:44,279
Speaker 1: Therefore I will not post but boast all the more

598
00:38:44,400 --> 00:38:49,040
Speaker 1: gladly about my weakness, so that Christ power me rest

599
00:38:49,080 --> 00:38:52,000
Speaker 1: on me. Not so I can just stay complacent, stay selfish,

600
00:38:52,080 --> 00:38:55,600
Speaker 1: stay mean, stay hateful, just stay sick, stay in this

601
00:38:55,680 --> 00:39:00,160
Speaker 1: bad physical condition. That's not what I'm glorying in. But

602
00:39:00,239 --> 00:39:06,400
Speaker 1: he said, therefore, therefore I realized what the thorn was

603
00:39:06,440 --> 00:39:10,360
Speaker 1: there for. And he could have taken this anyway, because remember,

604
00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:14,880
Speaker 1: Paul persecuted the same church that he ultimately helped to build.

605
00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:18,960
Speaker 1: So now if this had been your thorn, whatever it was,

606
00:39:19,120 --> 00:39:22,120
Speaker 1: is it Paul's eyesight? Who knows? Was Paul a little short?

607
00:39:22,200 --> 00:39:24,880
Speaker 1: Who knows? Was Paul talking about the people who followed

608
00:39:24,960 --> 00:39:27,200
Speaker 1: him around in every city trying to run him out.

609
00:39:27,320 --> 00:39:29,520
Speaker 1: Was he talking about the people who threw actual stones

610
00:39:29,560 --> 00:39:33,440
Speaker 1: at him, trying to persecute him for the Gospel? We go? Oh, persecution.

611
00:39:33,560 --> 00:39:36,720
Speaker 1: I relate with Paul. You don't relate with Paul because

612
00:39:36,760 --> 00:39:39,120
Speaker 1: one atheist on your Facebook said they didn't like your

613
00:39:39,120 --> 00:39:41,600
Speaker 1: Bible verse. That is not what he's preaching about here.

614
00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:49,879
Speaker 1: But Paul could have just as easily told himself this

615
00:39:50,200 --> 00:39:54,760
Speaker 1: thorn story you ready, Well, this is what I get.

616
00:39:55,480 --> 00:39:57,279
Speaker 1: This is God punishing me for all the bad things

617
00:39:57,320 --> 00:40:02,160
Speaker 1: I did. I guess it doesn't matter how much I change,

618
00:40:02,200 --> 00:40:08,960
Speaker 1: God's never gonna really accept me. I do happen to

619
00:40:08,960 --> 00:40:12,560
Speaker 1: know that Paul studied, struggled with He studied, but he

620
00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:18,799
Speaker 1: also struggled with an inferiority complex because one time he

621
00:40:18,840 --> 00:40:21,879
Speaker 1: called himself the least of the Apostles as one abnormally

622
00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:25,439
Speaker 1: born because he didn't physically walk with Jesus like Peter did.

623
00:40:27,400 --> 00:40:32,759
Speaker 1: He could have just as easily told himself this story

624
00:40:33,239 --> 00:40:38,600
Speaker 1: about the thorn, Well, I guess, I guess if God's

625
00:40:38,600 --> 00:40:40,560
Speaker 1: not going to take this thorn away from me, it's

626
00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:45,759
Speaker 1: really not worth serving him. He could have just as

627
00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:48,360
Speaker 1: easily told God, well, if you would have wanted to

628
00:40:48,440 --> 00:40:50,200
Speaker 1: use me more than you should have made me more whole.

629
00:40:52,640 --> 00:40:54,520
Speaker 1: And I tell the Lord these kinds of things all

630
00:40:54,560 --> 00:40:57,000
Speaker 1: the time, just to be honest with you, because I

631
00:40:57,040 --> 00:40:59,280
Speaker 1: can get in this thing of comparing myself to people

632
00:41:00,760 --> 00:41:03,960
Speaker 1: whose thorns I don't see. I'm not saying they don't

633
00:41:04,000 --> 00:41:08,880
Speaker 1: have them. I just don't get a viewing party. And

634
00:41:11,120 --> 00:41:15,400
Speaker 1: I don't think it's as important what your thorn is.

635
00:41:15,520 --> 00:41:20,480
Speaker 1: You could name it if you wanted to in your heart.

636
00:41:21,840 --> 00:41:24,080
Speaker 1: I think the story you tell yourself about the thorn,

637
00:41:25,800 --> 00:41:29,680
Speaker 1: because Paul says, the Lord said to me, show him

638
00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:33,279
Speaker 1: again in the text he said to me, he said

639
00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:37,759
Speaker 1: to me, he said to me, I don't think he

640
00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:41,240
Speaker 1: heard God out loud, and I don't think God's voice

641
00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:46,400
Speaker 1: was the only one speaking to him about that thorn. Remember,

642
00:41:46,480 --> 00:41:50,640
Speaker 1: he said, a messenger of Satan was sent to torment me.

643
00:41:52,160 --> 00:41:54,440
Speaker 1: So at the same time Paul's trying to do ministry,

644
00:41:54,520 --> 00:41:56,439
Speaker 1: or you're trying to raise your kids, or you're trying

645
00:41:56,440 --> 00:41:59,319
Speaker 1: to grow up in a really weird, wicked world and

646
00:41:59,360 --> 00:42:03,480
Speaker 1: have some integrity about you, there's two voices going on. Really,

647
00:42:05,040 --> 00:42:08,360
Speaker 1: there's two stories being told. He said, there's a messenger

648
00:42:08,400 --> 00:42:13,840
Speaker 1: of Satan that's tormenting me. And then there's the voice

649
00:42:13,840 --> 00:42:20,000
Speaker 1: of Grace that's coming forth to strengthen me. If I

650
00:42:20,080 --> 00:42:22,880
Speaker 1: listened to the first voice, the messenger of Satan, in

651
00:42:22,920 --> 00:42:25,920
Speaker 1: this season of my life, I will not have the

652
00:42:25,920 --> 00:42:29,959
Speaker 1: strength to get up and face myself in the mirror tomorrow.

653
00:42:30,600 --> 00:42:32,920
Speaker 1: If I listen to the message of Satan in my life,

654
00:42:33,200 --> 00:42:37,040
Speaker 1: I'm gonna wind up like Elijah the Prophet, not my son, Elijah,

655
00:42:37,080 --> 00:42:41,960
Speaker 1: the prophet, Elijah, who had the power. You talk about strong,

656
00:42:42,239 --> 00:42:45,200
Speaker 1: you talk about a mentor, you talk about somebody who

657
00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:48,759
Speaker 1: had the sauce, who had the glory of God. Elijah

658
00:42:48,760 --> 00:42:52,000
Speaker 1: Eli Yahoo, my God is they ah Wad called down

659
00:42:52,120 --> 00:42:55,600
Speaker 1: fire on the prophets of Bail, called down fire on

660
00:42:55,680 --> 00:42:58,640
Speaker 1: the prophets of Ashra. Eight hundred and fifty died in

661
00:42:58,680 --> 00:43:01,920
Speaker 1: the valley that day. The nation was turning back to God.

662
00:43:02,200 --> 00:43:05,160
Speaker 1: Spoke and the rain stop spoke again, and it rained

663
00:43:05,160 --> 00:43:08,040
Speaker 1: to cloud the size of a man's head. Then how

664
00:43:08,120 --> 00:43:13,680
Speaker 1: in the world did Elijah wind up standing at the

665
00:43:13,719 --> 00:43:20,320
Speaker 1: mouth of a cave in one kings nineteen. Strong people

666
00:43:20,400 --> 00:43:31,239
Speaker 1: have weak moments. Strong Christians have sharp thorns. Every believer

667
00:43:31,520 --> 00:43:34,960
Speaker 1: has places of brokenness. I need you to know this

668
00:43:35,360 --> 00:43:39,759
Speaker 1: so you don't quit, So you don't stop coming to

669
00:43:39,920 --> 00:43:43,759
Speaker 1: church because you think God doesn't have enough grace for you,

670
00:43:45,120 --> 00:43:47,640
Speaker 1: or because you stopped showing up for the rule God

671
00:43:47,719 --> 00:43:51,279
Speaker 1: gave you, because you don't think you're smart enough. You're not.

672
00:43:52,520 --> 00:43:56,040
Speaker 1: And the thorn is there for you to realize. I

673
00:43:56,160 --> 00:43:59,440
Speaker 1: need your wisdom God. I don't look to the north,

674
00:43:59,680 --> 00:44:04,120
Speaker 1: the east, or the west for my wisdom. My health

675
00:44:04,200 --> 00:44:10,560
Speaker 1: comes from the Lord, so God has given it to me.

676
00:44:10,680 --> 00:44:12,640
Speaker 1: Like this, Turn to somebody next to you. Turn to

677
00:44:12,640 --> 00:44:14,959
Speaker 1: somebody next to you him say the thorn came from

678
00:44:14,960 --> 00:44:20,279
Speaker 1: the enemy, but the grace came from God. I'm gonna

679
00:44:20,280 --> 00:44:23,920
Speaker 1: say it again. The thorn came from the enemy. That

680
00:44:24,120 --> 00:44:26,719
Speaker 1: was the lessnger. I hated the angel that brought it.

681
00:44:26,920 --> 00:44:29,040
Speaker 1: You don't have to like what's happening in your life.

682
00:44:29,360 --> 00:44:31,279
Speaker 1: You don't have to like the people that are in

683
00:44:31,320 --> 00:44:33,880
Speaker 1: your life. You don't have to like the challenge. You

684
00:44:33,920 --> 00:44:36,560
Speaker 1: don't even have to like your personality, but you do

685
00:44:36,680 --> 00:44:43,280
Speaker 1: have to realize that it must be submitted to God's purpose.

686
00:44:52,880 --> 00:44:54,520
Speaker 1: Stand up. I want to show you something, and we're

687
00:44:54,520 --> 00:45:07,680
Speaker 1: out of here. Of your therefore is greater than the

688
00:45:07,719 --> 00:45:25,080
Speaker 1: power of your thorn. God's purpose will prevail, he said.

689
00:45:26,120 --> 00:45:31,600
Speaker 1: Paul said three times. That's a significant number. In scripture,

690
00:45:32,760 --> 00:45:36,920
Speaker 1: three represents perfect unity. You know, Jesus prayed three times

691
00:45:36,920 --> 00:45:39,680
Speaker 1: in the garden of gussemone. He said, nevertheless, I'm gonna

692
00:45:39,680 --> 00:45:42,520
Speaker 1: take this cup, even though I don't want it. I'm

693
00:45:42,520 --> 00:45:45,600
Speaker 1: gonna do this what I came to do. This is

694
00:45:45,640 --> 00:45:49,200
Speaker 1: what I came for. Don't you see it. You are

695
00:45:49,400 --> 00:45:54,560
Speaker 1: running from the stuff that God put you. Therefore, you

696
00:45:54,600 --> 00:45:58,320
Speaker 1: are not praying about the things that God's grace is. Therefore,

697
00:46:01,520 --> 00:46:03,960
Speaker 1: you don't just get to bring God your praise. You

698
00:46:04,000 --> 00:46:11,040
Speaker 1: get to bring your pain too. That's what the grace is. Therefore,

699
00:46:12,719 --> 00:46:16,560
Speaker 1: three times I asked the Lord to take it away,

700
00:46:17,320 --> 00:46:22,080
Speaker 1: but he said to me, hey, here to allow. My

701
00:46:22,160 --> 00:46:27,719
Speaker 1: grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made

702
00:46:27,719 --> 00:46:32,560
Speaker 1: perfect in weakness for us as acute scripture. For Paul,

703
00:46:33,000 --> 00:46:35,400
Speaker 1: that was a story that he had to tell himself

704
00:46:36,200 --> 00:46:40,040
Speaker 1: every time that thorn pressed into his flesh. God's power

705
00:46:41,080 --> 00:46:45,400
Speaker 1: is made perfect every time it presses your flesh. I

706
00:46:45,440 --> 00:46:49,120
Speaker 1: want you to tell yourself a different story. You don't

707
00:46:49,120 --> 00:46:57,440
Speaker 1: get to choose your thorn. You get to choose your story.

708
00:46:57,920 --> 00:47:03,440
Speaker 1: He said, there's no shortage of grace. There's no shortage now,

709
00:47:05,680 --> 00:47:09,640
Speaker 1: he said. Three times I asked, and one time he answered,

710
00:47:11,320 --> 00:47:14,560
Speaker 1: you know what that means. That means the first two

711
00:47:14,600 --> 00:47:20,719
Speaker 1: times that Paul prayed about his storm, silence, some of

712
00:47:20,800 --> 00:47:25,040
Speaker 1: us are standing in the silence right now asking God

713
00:47:25,080 --> 00:47:26,799
Speaker 1: to do stuff. And he didn't say yes, but he

714
00:47:26,840 --> 00:47:33,800
Speaker 1: didn't say no either. That waiting place, that's what grace

715
00:47:33,880 --> 00:47:40,400
Speaker 1: is there for that silence, And it's the story you

716
00:47:40,480 --> 00:47:44,200
Speaker 1: tell yourself about that silence that determines whether or not

717
00:47:44,239 --> 00:47:48,920
Speaker 1: you walk in grace or whether you give up the

718
00:47:49,080 --> 00:47:55,080
Speaker 1: story in the silence. Three times I asked, one time

719
00:47:55,120 --> 00:48:06,920
Speaker 1: he answered, My grace is sufficient. Silence. I don't know

720
00:48:06,920 --> 00:48:15,200
Speaker 1: if this is going to get better, Silence. I'm waiting

721
00:48:15,239 --> 00:48:21,400
Speaker 1: for this to come through. Silence. I have no idea

722
00:48:21,400 --> 00:48:23,160
Speaker 1: if my kid's life is going to turn around, they're

723
00:48:23,200 --> 00:48:28,680
Speaker 1: going to come back to God. Silence. I don't know

724
00:48:28,719 --> 00:48:33,719
Speaker 1: if I ever be in a loving relationship again. Silence.

725
00:48:35,920 --> 00:48:44,120
Speaker 1: I'll know if I'll ever feel better. What story are

726
00:48:44,160 --> 00:48:49,160
Speaker 1: you telling yourself in the silence? Satan wants to use

727
00:48:49,200 --> 00:48:53,319
Speaker 1: that silence and plant a seed. See God doesn't love you.

728
00:48:54,280 --> 00:48:57,360
Speaker 1: See God isn't with you. See the whole thing is

729
00:48:57,400 --> 00:49:00,359
Speaker 1: a bunch of fairy tales and myths. See you'll never

730
00:49:00,400 --> 00:49:03,759
Speaker 1: be good enough. See you can't change everybody else can. See.

731
00:49:04,040 --> 00:49:06,799
Speaker 1: You knew this church thing wouldn't work. See there's no way.

732
00:49:06,960 --> 00:49:11,080
Speaker 1: You never stick to it, you never do it. But

733
00:49:11,200 --> 00:49:17,560
Speaker 1: I believe the spirit wants to plant a different story

734
00:49:17,719 --> 00:49:22,880
Speaker 1: in the silence, so you can know. That's where grace lives,

735
00:49:25,600 --> 00:49:30,080
Speaker 1: the story in the silence. And then he said to me,

736
00:49:30,360 --> 00:49:34,120
Speaker 1: and he'll say it to you too if you let him.

737
00:49:34,120 --> 00:49:41,719
Speaker 1: My grace is sufficient for what you struggle with. My

738
00:49:41,840 --> 00:49:46,960
Speaker 1: grace is sufficient for your mistakes. My grace is sufficient

739
00:49:47,000 --> 00:49:51,279
Speaker 1: for your inexperience. My grace is sufficient for your sin.

740
00:49:51,640 --> 00:49:54,800
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, where sin abound it, there did grace abound

741
00:49:54,880 --> 00:49:59,640
Speaker 1: that much more. I praise God for grace that is

742
00:49:59,719 --> 00:50:06,879
Speaker 1: gre later than oh my sin. And I spent all

743
00:50:06,920 --> 00:50:10,879
Speaker 1: week thinking about the silence. You know, I asked God,

744
00:50:11,080 --> 00:50:14,560
Speaker 1: he didn't answer. I tried that it didn't work. I

745
00:50:14,800 --> 00:50:17,160
Speaker 1: waited for it. I don't even see a sign of

746
00:50:17,200 --> 00:50:20,520
Speaker 1: it coming. I have no idea what that was there for.

747
00:50:23,480 --> 00:50:26,120
Speaker 1: And I saw Elijah, God's great prophet, see Paul wasn't

748
00:50:26,120 --> 00:50:28,120
Speaker 1: the only preacher who had to deal with the silence.

749
00:50:28,920 --> 00:50:33,200
Speaker 1: You're not the only one either, the great prophet who

750
00:50:33,239 --> 00:50:38,560
Speaker 1: called down fire from heaven. In One Kings nineteen, verse thirteen,

751
00:50:40,080 --> 00:50:43,560
Speaker 1: the Bible says that God was passing by Elijah. He

752
00:50:43,600 --> 00:50:46,320
Speaker 1: was depressed. Now, he was discouraged. Now he was tired,

753
00:50:46,400 --> 00:50:50,880
Speaker 1: Now he was exhausted. Now the nation had rebelled against God.

754
00:50:50,920 --> 00:50:53,400
Speaker 1: And he had been suffering from the ramifications of a

755
00:50:53,480 --> 00:50:55,840
Speaker 1: drought for so long, and he was considered by many

756
00:50:55,880 --> 00:50:59,439
Speaker 1: to be the troublemaker who started it all. And even

757
00:50:59,480 --> 00:51:02,840
Speaker 1: after call down fire from heaven, he still felt something

758
00:51:02,880 --> 00:51:06,879
Speaker 1: in his soul. It was the isolation of the draft

759
00:51:06,920 --> 00:51:10,960
Speaker 1: that landed him in this place. And Elijah says something

760
00:51:12,920 --> 00:51:16,319
Speaker 1: in One Kings nineteen that you may have said a

761
00:51:16,320 --> 00:51:21,799
Speaker 1: few times this past week. I have had enough, Lord,

762
00:51:23,239 --> 00:51:28,200
Speaker 1: I'm sick of this. A woman named Jezebel, who was

763
00:51:28,200 --> 00:51:31,400
Speaker 1: the wife of Ahab the King, was chasing Elijah. She

764
00:51:31,560 --> 00:51:36,920
Speaker 1: sent a messenger to threaten him, which lets me know

765
00:51:37,040 --> 00:51:39,920
Speaker 1: there was really nothing she could do to him. She

766
00:51:40,120 --> 00:51:43,080
Speaker 1: was just trying to intimidate him to the point that

767
00:51:43,160 --> 00:51:45,520
Speaker 1: he would leave the place where God had assigned him.

768
00:51:46,680 --> 00:51:48,799
Speaker 1: That is what Satan is trying to do to you

769
00:51:49,000 --> 00:51:52,239
Speaker 1: right now, is trying to run you off from the

770
00:51:52,280 --> 00:51:55,200
Speaker 1: place where God's greatest grace is about to be released

771
00:51:55,200 --> 00:51:58,080
Speaker 1: in your life. That place of weakness, that's where the

772
00:51:58,160 --> 00:52:04,960
Speaker 1: grace is coming. That's where the grace is coming. So

773
00:52:05,320 --> 00:52:09,000
Speaker 1: let me preach this for every Jezebel, for every thorn

774
00:52:09,239 --> 00:52:12,080
Speaker 1: that has been threatening you, that has been tormenting you,

775
00:52:12,320 --> 00:52:15,239
Speaker 1: that has been pressing into you, that has been causing you.

776
00:52:15,400 --> 00:52:18,760
Speaker 1: Pain in your spirit is worse than pain in your body.

777
00:52:19,000 --> 00:52:21,440
Speaker 1: Is a pain in your spirit you can't shake, and

778
00:52:21,520 --> 00:52:24,640
Speaker 1: God won't remove it. And the Bible says when Elijah

779
00:52:25,200 --> 00:52:28,360
Speaker 1: heard the voice of God, by the way, God didn't

780
00:52:28,440 --> 00:52:35,240
Speaker 1: shout to Elijah, he whispered, and Elijah pulled his cloak

781
00:52:36,640 --> 00:52:41,319
Speaker 1: over his face and went out and stood at the

782
00:52:41,360 --> 00:52:46,040
Speaker 1: mouth of the cave. I know it's just a figure

783
00:52:46,040 --> 00:52:49,480
Speaker 1: of speech, but knowing that it's called the mouth of

784
00:52:49,520 --> 00:52:54,360
Speaker 1: the cave makes sense to me. That was the place

785
00:52:54,360 --> 00:52:58,080
Speaker 1: where he had holed up, waiting to die. That was

786
00:52:58,120 --> 00:53:00,279
Speaker 1: the place where he had shut himself in because he

787
00:53:00,280 --> 00:53:03,680
Speaker 1: didn't want to take it anymore. That was the place

788
00:53:03,680 --> 00:53:06,279
Speaker 1: where he was all by himself with nothing but the

789
00:53:06,360 --> 00:53:09,359
Speaker 1: movies in his mind to watch of how bad his

790
00:53:09,360 --> 00:53:13,680
Speaker 1: life was. So now he's standing at the mouth of

791
00:53:13,719 --> 00:53:17,040
Speaker 1: the cave, and so are you. The only voice you

792
00:53:17,080 --> 00:53:20,719
Speaker 1: hear in the cave is an echo the thoughts that

793
00:53:20,760 --> 00:53:26,680
Speaker 1: bounce around your head, the thoughts that torment you. You've

794
00:53:26,880 --> 00:53:30,719
Speaker 1: already thought those enough that if those thoughts could bring

795
00:53:30,760 --> 00:53:34,400
Speaker 1: you out, they would have by now. So when he

796
00:53:34,480 --> 00:53:37,680
Speaker 1: stood at the mouth of the cave watched this, he

797
00:53:37,680 --> 00:53:41,880
Speaker 1: heard the voice of the Lord. And the voice said,

798
00:53:43,200 --> 00:53:48,440
Speaker 1: what are you doing here? Elijah? I could ask you

799
00:53:48,480 --> 00:53:55,840
Speaker 1: the same question, What are you there for in the cave?

800
00:53:58,360 --> 00:54:02,000
Speaker 1: When God has a great ministry for you, when God

801
00:54:02,040 --> 00:54:05,920
Speaker 1: has a great future for you? Remember, Jeremiah said this

802
00:54:06,080 --> 00:54:11,319
Speaker 1: I recall to my mind. Therefore I have hope. What

803
00:54:11,440 --> 00:54:13,840
Speaker 1: are you doing in the place of shame when there's

804
00:54:13,920 --> 00:54:18,880
Speaker 1: so much mercy with your name on it? What are

805
00:54:18,880 --> 00:54:22,000
Speaker 1: you doing running around the people to get what can

806
00:54:22,160 --> 00:54:27,600
Speaker 1: only come from God? So God said to Elijah, I've

807
00:54:27,640 --> 00:54:29,960
Speaker 1: still got an assignment for you if you want it.

808
00:54:30,360 --> 00:54:33,080
Speaker 1: I've still got a job for you if you want it.

809
00:54:33,440 --> 00:54:36,359
Speaker 1: I still got grace for you if you want it.

810
00:54:36,680 --> 00:54:39,440
Speaker 1: I still got a hope for you. If you want it.

811
00:54:39,719 --> 00:54:42,719
Speaker 1: I still got a future for you. If you want it,

812
00:54:43,160 --> 00:54:52,120
Speaker 1: I got joy for you. There's no sortish, It's the

813
00:54:52,200 --> 00:54:55,759
Speaker 1: power of a Therefore, lift your hands. The Lord is

814
00:54:55,800 --> 00:55:00,520
Speaker 1: passing by. The mountains were ripped apart. That was God.

815
00:55:01,239 --> 00:55:04,960
Speaker 1: The wind came sweeping through. That wasn't God. The fire

816
00:55:05,120 --> 00:55:09,280
Speaker 1: came sweeping through. That wasn't God. The earth started shaking.

817
00:55:09,360 --> 00:55:15,080
Speaker 1: That wasn't God. It was in the whisper that Elijah

818
00:55:15,160 --> 00:55:22,080
Speaker 1: heard is voice. Lord, I thank you for a new story.

819
00:55:22,120 --> 00:55:28,399
Speaker 1: In the silence, we come against every false belief and

820
00:55:28,480 --> 00:55:31,800
Speaker 1: every messenger of Satan that was sent to torment on us.

821
00:55:31,960 --> 00:55:36,560
Speaker 1: Today we flip it in Jesus' name, in Jesus's name,

822
00:55:37,160 --> 00:55:41,359
Speaker 1: in Jesus's name. No, no, not in our strength, in

823
00:55:41,560 --> 00:55:47,200
Speaker 1: Jesus's name. What tormented you before is going to bring

824
00:55:47,280 --> 00:55:50,520
Speaker 1: you to the throne of God for a greater release

825
00:55:50,560 --> 00:55:54,880
Speaker 1: of grace. I speak, greater anointing over your life, Greater

826
00:55:55,000 --> 00:56:00,239
Speaker 1: anointing over your leadership, Greater anointing over your relationships, later

827
00:56:00,360 --> 00:56:04,800
Speaker 1: annoint over your mind. Here comes your peace, Here comes

828
00:56:04,800 --> 00:56:09,160
Speaker 1: your joy, Here comes your provision. There is no shortage

829
00:56:09,200 --> 00:56:13,959
Speaker 1: in heaven for a heart that is open to God,

830
00:56:15,520 --> 00:56:22,560
Speaker 1: So lift your hands, because if he dress the lilies,

831
00:56:24,440 --> 00:56:32,440
Speaker 1: it's beauty and slender. How much they come? How much?

832
00:56:35,920 --> 00:56:47,719
Speaker 1: If he waw much? Does he know you? All right?

833
00:56:48,280 --> 00:56:50,960
Speaker 1: Hang out one second? So here it is. This is

834
00:56:51,040 --> 00:56:52,960
Speaker 1: the new story I want you to tell yourself in

835
00:56:53,040 --> 00:57:02,799
Speaker 1: the silence. The more thorns you're dealing with, the more

836
00:57:03,000 --> 00:57:12,960
Speaker 1: grace you are to expect. Holy is your name, God.

837
00:57:13,880 --> 00:57:17,960
Speaker 1: Glory to your name. God. We worship your great name. God.

838
00:57:18,400 --> 00:57:22,120
Speaker 1: We worship your great name God. Glory to your name, God.

839
00:57:22,480 --> 00:57:26,200
Speaker 1: Release your glory in this place. Release your glory on

840
00:57:26,280 --> 00:57:31,680
Speaker 1: every location. Release your glory. Lake Norman, release your glory.

841
00:57:31,800 --> 00:57:35,520
Speaker 1: Release your glory right now, all over the world. Through

842
00:57:35,560 --> 00:57:39,560
Speaker 1: this broadcast, through this sermon, through this worship moment, I

843
00:57:39,680 --> 00:57:43,920
Speaker 1: pray a great release of grace, a great release of glory.

844
00:57:44,200 --> 00:57:53,720
Speaker 1: We give you glory, We give you glory, a new

845
00:57:53,840 --> 00:57:59,720
Speaker 1: story for the silence. Father, we bring those storms right

846
00:57:59,760 --> 00:58:05,080
Speaker 1: now to the throne. You are the Lord of the thorn,

847
00:58:06,360 --> 00:58:11,080
Speaker 1: and you are the God of all grace. When I

848
00:58:11,120 --> 00:58:15,280
Speaker 1: stood up today to preach, Lord, I had no idea

849
00:58:15,800 --> 00:58:18,919
Speaker 1: whose thorn I would be preaching to, But you did.

850
00:58:20,760 --> 00:58:23,240
Speaker 1: I had no idea who would take the time to

851
00:58:23,280 --> 00:58:28,400
Speaker 1: come to church to log on, but you did. And

852
00:58:28,440 --> 00:58:31,800
Speaker 1: they didn't even know what they came for, but you did.

853
00:58:35,360 --> 00:58:41,160
Speaker 1: So now I know what I was here for. God

854
00:58:41,200 --> 00:58:47,440
Speaker 1: wanted me to receive this grace, and I receive it

855
00:58:49,360 --> 00:58:55,280
Speaker 1: right now in the name of Jesus. Pray that I lod.

856
00:58:55,320 --> 00:59:00,080
Speaker 1: I receive it right now in the name of Jesus.

857
00:59:01,680 --> 00:59:07,840
Speaker 1: I receive grace right now, in the name of Jesus.

858
00:59:08,880 --> 00:59:14,680
Speaker 1: I receive healing right now, in the name of Jesus.

859
00:59:15,680 --> 00:59:21,480
Speaker 1: I receive joy right now in the name of Jesus.

860
00:59:22,440 --> 00:59:26,160
Speaker 1: And I celebrate your grace. God. I celebrate your grace

861
00:59:26,640 --> 00:59:34,640
Speaker 1: for my thorny, I celebrate your grace. Come on, we

862
00:59:34,680 --> 00:59:37,040
Speaker 1: didn't come to have a pity party about our thorn.

863
00:59:37,440 --> 00:59:41,840
Speaker 1: This is a celebration of grace, A celebration of grace.

864
00:59:43,120 --> 00:59:50,320
Speaker 1: Sing that song again. Sing that song. There's no shortage.

865
00:59:51,360 --> 01:00:27,160
Speaker 1: My God will supply on your Jesus. Therefore I will

866
01:00:27,240 --> 01:00:30,600
Speaker 1: both stall the more gladly in the things I used

867
01:00:30,600 --> 01:00:36,800
Speaker 1: to complain about. You know what, when Paul was locked

868
01:00:36,800 --> 01:00:40,120
Speaker 1: in prison at Philippi, when God opened the prison doors

869
01:00:40,120 --> 01:00:43,720
Speaker 1: because he sang a song at midnight, Paul didn't even leave.

870
01:00:44,720 --> 01:00:47,680
Speaker 1: He wanted to lead the jailer to Christ. He said,

871
01:00:47,720 --> 01:00:50,320
Speaker 1: I'm not coming out until I find out what I

872
01:00:50,400 --> 01:00:53,320
Speaker 1: was there for. And do you not know that the

873
01:00:53,440 --> 01:00:58,320
Speaker 1: Church at Philippi was born out of that situation. So

874
01:00:58,480 --> 01:01:02,560
Speaker 1: tell the devil, I'm not until I find out what

875
01:01:02,640 --> 01:01:07,360
Speaker 1: God has for me in this spiritualation. I talk too far,

876
01:01:07,880 --> 01:01:17,120
Speaker 1: I turn around. Whoo. So campus pastors, y'll take the service.

877
01:01:17,520 --> 01:01:25,120
Speaker 1: I'm done officially right now in the name of Jesus.

878
01:01:27,160 --> 01:01:29,560
Speaker 1: And here at Valentine, clap your hands and give God break.

879
01:01:34,040 --> 01:01:40,480
Speaker 1: All right, all right, there's what I'm gonna do in

880
01:01:40,560 --> 01:01:42,760
Speaker 1: this room. There's somebody God wanted me to give you

881
01:01:42,800 --> 01:01:47,760
Speaker 1: the invitation to receive Christ by your head. You didn't

882
01:01:47,760 --> 01:01:49,520
Speaker 1: come to church today because your girlfriend wanted you to.

883
01:01:51,360 --> 01:01:55,160
Speaker 1: That's just who God used. God brought you here for

884
01:01:55,400 --> 01:01:59,920
Speaker 1: this moment, all right, That's what God brought you here for.

885
01:02:00,960 --> 01:02:03,240
Speaker 1: Because as I've been preaching today, God's been speaking to you,

886
01:02:03,400 --> 01:02:05,560
Speaker 1: calling you out of the cave, calling you out of

887
01:02:05,600 --> 01:02:07,960
Speaker 1: your sin, calling you out of your shame, calling you

888
01:02:08,000 --> 01:02:11,120
Speaker 1: out of your self reliance. Just the voice of the Lord.

889
01:02:11,160 --> 01:02:13,400
Speaker 1: And he's whispering to you right now. He's not going

890
01:02:13,440 --> 01:02:16,760
Speaker 1: to force you. He's not going to make you. But

891
01:02:16,800 --> 01:02:18,880
Speaker 1: if you want to surrender your life to God, the

892
01:02:18,920 --> 01:02:21,080
Speaker 1: Bible says it's by faith we are saved. Is by grace.

893
01:02:21,120 --> 01:02:24,240
Speaker 1: We are saved through faith. It is the gift of God,

894
01:02:24,760 --> 01:02:26,880
Speaker 1: not work, so that no one can boast about it.

895
01:02:27,480 --> 01:02:30,560
Speaker 1: So you have the same right to receive grace as

896
01:02:30,640 --> 01:02:33,040
Speaker 1: anybody in this room. And if you need a new

897
01:02:33,040 --> 01:02:35,840
Speaker 1: start with God and to know you have a relationship

898
01:02:35,880 --> 01:02:38,400
Speaker 1: with Him, whether you're coming to Jesus for the first

899
01:02:38,480 --> 01:02:41,360
Speaker 1: time or coming back to Him, I want to give

900
01:02:41,360 --> 01:02:45,280
Speaker 1: you that opportunity. In this moment. You pray with me

901
01:02:45,360 --> 01:02:48,680
Speaker 1: out loud and repeat after me this prayer. And God

902
01:02:48,720 --> 01:02:51,840
Speaker 1: will hear you from heaven. If you place your faith

903
01:02:51,840 --> 01:02:54,760
Speaker 1: in Him, He'll forgive you of all your sins. There

904
01:02:54,920 --> 01:02:59,720
Speaker 1: is a grace in this moment. Repeat after me out loud.

905
01:02:59,720 --> 01:03:02,240
Speaker 1: For everybody who's coming to God today, let's pray as

906
01:03:02,240 --> 01:03:08,800
Speaker 1: a church heavenly Father. Today today is by days of salvation. Salvation.

907
01:03:09,080 --> 01:03:14,000
Speaker 1: I am a sinner in need of the grace of God.

908
01:03:14,080 --> 01:03:17,960
Speaker 1: I believe. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son

909
01:03:18,040 --> 01:03:22,360
Speaker 1: of God and the Savior of the world. And today

910
01:03:23,120 --> 01:03:27,120
Speaker 1: I make Jesus the Lord of my life. I believe

911
01:03:27,160 --> 01:03:31,680
Speaker 1: he died that I would be forgiven and rose again

912
01:03:32,560 --> 01:03:37,600
Speaker 1: to give me life. I receive this new life. This

913
01:03:37,800 --> 01:03:41,240
Speaker 1: is my new beginning. If you pray that shoots your

914
01:03:41,240 --> 01:03:44,040
Speaker 1: hand up right now on the count of three, two three,

915
01:03:44,200 --> 01:03:50,120
Speaker 1: put it up. Bless your man, blessed, bless it. Come

916
01:03:50,160 --> 01:03:53,480
Speaker 1: on and celebrate like you know what it means to

917
01:03:53,480 --> 01:03:57,640
Speaker 1: get a second chance. Let's celebrate the grace of God.

918
01:03:58,840 --> 01:04:11,360
Speaker 1: How many are breaks? Yeah? What ah? It is all right,

919
01:04:11,800 --> 01:04:14,680
Speaker 1: I gotta dismiss you now. You know we gotta go.

920
01:04:15,840 --> 01:04:19,720
Speaker 1: You know we gotta go. But you better leave here

921
01:04:19,720 --> 01:04:26,400
Speaker 1: more focused on your therefore than your thorn. Every time

922
01:04:26,440 --> 01:04:29,960
Speaker 1: you feel that thorn this week, there's a therefore. Oh

923
01:04:30,040 --> 01:04:32,360
Speaker 1: God's about to bring me into every time you see

924
01:04:32,400 --> 01:04:35,320
Speaker 1: a Goliath this week, Oh God must have a sword

925
01:04:35,360 --> 01:04:38,200
Speaker 1: that I'm gonna need in the future. Goliath has got

926
01:04:38,240 --> 01:04:41,320
Speaker 1: your sword. Y'all better stop, stop, stop, don't encourage me.

927
01:04:43,480 --> 01:04:47,520
Speaker 1: And he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you,

928
01:04:48,680 --> 01:04:54,320
Speaker 1: for my power is made perfect in weakness. On your

929
01:04:54,320 --> 01:04:57,080
Speaker 1: way out, touch three people and say I got my

930
01:04:57,160 --> 01:05:02,280
Speaker 1: own sauce. I see y'all next. I love you well.

931
01:05:02,320 --> 01:05:04,400
Speaker 1: If you enjoyed Today's podcast, there are a couple of

932
01:05:04,440 --> 01:05:08,120
Speaker 1: things I'd love for you to do. Make sure to subscribe, rate,

933
01:05:08,400 --> 01:05:11,400
Speaker 1: and review this podcast. You can also help us reach

934
01:05:11,440 --> 01:05:15,280
Speaker 1: others by investing today at Elevationchurch dot org, slash give

935
01:05:15,720 --> 01:05:18,520
Speaker 1: and thanks again for joining us on the Elevation Podcast