WEBVTT - Making Moves 0:00:01.600 --> 0:00:02.840 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.880 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.960 --> 0:00:07.800 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:10.720 Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:12.920 Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving 0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:13.520 in your life. 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:18.640 Enjoy the message. Do you ever hear a recording of 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:23.880 yourself and you think is that me? He said? Oh? 0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:27.080 I sound Should I only send texts from now on? 0:00:30.040 --> 0:00:31.840 And like I walk around even I walk around the 0:00:31.840 --> 0:00:36.479 house preaching, and my kids know sometimes, like Abby is 0:00:36.520 --> 0:00:40.440 the most attuned, and she's only six, but she knows 0:00:41.360 --> 0:00:44.160 when I have left the room, but my body's still 0:00:44.159 --> 0:00:47.600 there and I'm thinking about a sermon, and she'll even 0:00:47.600 --> 0:00:50.199 called me out. She looked at me the other day 0:00:50.240 --> 0:00:52.519 and said, are you working on a sermon. 0:00:53.640 --> 0:00:54.760 In your head? 0:00:56.120 --> 0:00:57.960 And I was so busted because we were supposed to 0:00:58.000 --> 0:01:02.200 be watching this kids show together, this boring, awful television 0:01:02.240 --> 0:01:05.080 show that Abby enjoys, and I was trying to pretend 0:01:05.160 --> 0:01:06.720 to be watching. 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:06.800 It with her. 0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:09.040 But I was working on something in my head and 0:01:09.280 --> 0:01:11.199 two things at once, And she said, are you working 0:01:11.280 --> 0:01:15.679 on a sermon in your head? And I said, Okay, yeah, 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:19.479 how did you know? And she said, I watch your mouth. 0:01:21.280 --> 0:01:24.080 I said, so, I talked to myself when I work 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:25.039 on sermons. 0:01:24.640 --> 0:01:25.119 In my head. 0:01:25.640 --> 0:01:32.119 She said, ish, you make moves, and she started showing 0:01:32.160 --> 0:01:35.000 me how I didn't even realize it. But when I'm 0:01:35.040 --> 0:01:39.800 preaching to myself, I start, I start making moves. 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:41.720 Did you know that when God is about. 0:01:41.440 --> 0:01:48.280 To speak something, the people who really know Him who 0:01:48.320 --> 0:01:50.280 came to help me preach today, I'm looking for you, 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:56.680 the people who really know their Father can see when 0:01:56.760 --> 0:01:58.960 God is up to something. Tell your neighbor, God is 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:02.400 up to something. I know it, not because I feel it, 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:03.080 but because I. 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:03.760 Know my Father. 0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:07.320 And there is this unique ability that God will give 0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:09.560 you through his Holy Spirit, the sense when He is 0:02:10.320 --> 0:02:13.959 making moves. That's what I would like to talk to 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:18.040 you about in this installment of Bars and Battles. I 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:22.280 want to talk to you about making moves because for me, 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:27.079 it's interesting to study the contrast between. 0:02:26.840 --> 0:02:29.440 David's destiny and his decisions. 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:33.720 Have you ever thought about that how in a sense, 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:37.560 he was anointed as a sixteen year old kid, and 0:02:37.600 --> 0:02:40.760 so he had no choice but to become king because 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:45.320 God spoke it. So it had to happen. Wouldn't that 0:02:45.360 --> 0:02:49.160 be a good sermon? It had to happen. But there 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:55.160 was a sense in which David's decisions either supported or 0:02:55.240 --> 0:02:59.720 sabotaged his destiny. And we've talked about shortcuts, but today 0:02:59.720 --> 0:03:03.800 I want to talk about decisions. I think it's important 0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:07.560 that we look at David's decisions. One thing that he 0:03:07.639 --> 0:03:10.200 said at the end of his life in Psalm thirty 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:14.480 seven twenty three gives us some insight as. 0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:19.320 To how he looked at his decisions. And I want 0:03:19.360 --> 0:03:20.840 to give this to you. In the King James version 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:21.359 of the Bible. 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:27.320 Well, it's not necessarily a better translation, it's just the 0:03:27.320 --> 0:03:29.680 one that I've first heard it in. It says, the 0:03:29.720 --> 0:03:32.400 steps of a good man, this is twenty three Psalm 0:03:32.400 --> 0:03:38.200 thirty seven are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:42.600 in his way. I love that scripture. How many of 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:48.240 you love that scripture? I love it because I do 0:03:48.360 --> 0:03:52.920 believe that my life is destined, that there is an 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:56.040 outcome that God intends, or he wouldn't have put me 0:03:56.080 --> 0:04:00.480 on this earth. I believe that not only when it 0:04:00.520 --> 0:04:03.640 seems like that, but I believe it when all. 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:05.960 Evidence is to the contrary. 0:04:07.240 --> 0:04:10.280 And you know in a court of law, you present 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:12.920 the evidence and then the judge. 0:04:12.720 --> 0:04:13.680 Delivers the verdict. 0:04:14.680 --> 0:04:20.640 Well, faith actually works in the exact opposite direction. It 0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:26.560 is that God has already established a verdict an outcome 0:04:27.600 --> 0:04:30.880 for your life, and now, as a child of God, 0:04:31.279 --> 0:04:36.120 you gather evidence to support the verdict of God's goodness. 0:04:37.000 --> 0:04:40.400 Touch somebody say, the verdict is in. I already know 0:04:40.560 --> 0:04:43.960 God is good. I already know He's for me. I 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:47.279 already know I'm more than a conqueror. I already know 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:52.960 that God is with me. And I found out that 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:58.640 usually you will collect evidence to support whatever verdict you've 0:04:58.680 --> 0:05:03.240 already decided to believe in your heart. So David says 0:05:03.360 --> 0:05:06.960 at the end of his life, the steps of a 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:13.040 good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth 0:05:13.600 --> 0:05:17.200 in his way. What's interesting about the verse is that 0:05:17.360 --> 0:05:22.360 everything in David's early life seems to contradict the conclusion 0:05:22.360 --> 0:05:25.799 that he came to at the end of his life. 0:05:25.880 --> 0:05:31.160 If you think about David's early life after God anointed 0:05:31.240 --> 0:05:34.800 him to be king, he didn't step right into his 0:05:35.360 --> 0:05:40.200 appointment as king. There's always a space between something that 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:43.200 God shows you and the experience of it. 0:05:44.800 --> 0:05:45.919 And for fifteen years. 0:05:45.960 --> 0:05:49.320 We've been following David over the last several weeks, and 0:05:49.680 --> 0:05:54.839 it doesn't seem like his steps are very ordered. In fact, 0:05:54.920 --> 0:05:58.320 it seems more like Saul is determining his next move 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:02.440 than God is determining his next move. In fact, it 0:06:02.480 --> 0:06:05.600 seems like he's moving away from the throne that God 0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:10.040 told him he would ultimately occupy. And we find him 0:06:10.040 --> 0:06:14.120 in Second Samuel, chapter two, verse one, in a place 0:06:14.160 --> 0:06:16.719 called zick Lag. It's a surprising place to find a 0:06:16.720 --> 0:06:21.800 future king of Israel because it's Philistine territory. You may 0:06:21.839 --> 0:06:26.760 remember that Goliath was a Philistine warrior. 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:30.880 How could David be living in the territory of the 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:32.640 enemy that he defeated. 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:39.280 But he's on this border between Felicitia and Israel, waiting 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:41.320 to see what God will do next. 0:06:41.040 --> 0:06:41.719 In his life. 0:06:42.600 --> 0:06:46.080 And he just received news while in zick Lag that 0:06:46.200 --> 0:06:51.840 Saul is dead, which, I gotta be honest, would make 0:06:51.880 --> 0:06:55.320 me want to throw a party, because this is the 0:06:55.360 --> 0:06:59.080 guy who was coming at David's head with spears while 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:01.680 David wasn't trying to do anything but give him some 0:07:01.720 --> 0:07:05.120 mood music in the palace. This is the guy who 0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:09.159 told him I won't mess with you anymore. And even 0:07:09.240 --> 0:07:11.640 while he was telling him, I'm gonna leave you alone, 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:12.560 was heading him. 0:07:12.440 --> 0:07:13.480 Off at the next pass. 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:16.840 And so while we are expecting David to celebrate the 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:19.440 news of the death of Saul, not only has Saul 0:07:19.760 --> 0:07:22.200 fallen on his own sword and taken his own life. 0:07:22.200 --> 0:07:24.560 Because I got news for you. You don't even have to 0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:28.200 worry about fighting against what comes against you. God will 0:07:28.280 --> 0:07:30.640 kill it when the time is right. Some of the 0:07:30.640 --> 0:07:33.960 stuff you spend your whole life fighting against God is 0:07:34.000 --> 0:07:36.800 gonna kill it on its own sword when the time comes. 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:44.320 So they tell David Saul is dead, but instead of celebration, 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:49.840 David goes into a period of sorrow and mourning, and 0:07:49.880 --> 0:07:53.320 he writes a song of lament for his enemy, King 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:57.360 Saul and his sons, one of whom was Jonathan. 0:07:57.400 --> 0:07:58.920 Who was David's best friend. 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:02.040 It should have been his rival, but it ended up 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:03.280 being his partner. 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:05.240 And when he received the news. 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:07.800 That Jonathan had died, who was his friend and Saul 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:09.800 had died, who was his oppressor. 0:08:10.120 --> 0:08:11.680 Because usually if. 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:14.480 You look right past good news, bad news is right 0:08:14.560 --> 0:08:16.960 behind it, and they come at the same time. Have 0:08:17.080 --> 0:08:19.200 you notice this, I mean, I've gotten to the place 0:08:19.200 --> 0:08:23.240 where I am suspicious of good days. I don't know 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:25.600 if that's a good thing or a bad thing. But 0:08:25.720 --> 0:08:29.440 for David, it's not a very sweet moment or an 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:32.960 announcement that brings him joy. And he writes what's known 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:37.440 in Hebrew poetry as a lament. It becomes a national 0:08:37.559 --> 0:08:40.400 lamit because after he writes it, he teaches all the 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:42.600 people to sing it. Look at just a few verses, 0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:45.320 a few bars, if you will. In Second Samuel, Chapter one, 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:47.920 verse twenty five, he says, upon hearing the news of 0:08:47.960 --> 0:08:48.800 Saul's death. 0:08:48.880 --> 0:08:51.000 How the mighty have fallen in battle. 0:08:52.520 --> 0:08:57.840 He's not celebrating good times, come on, he is despairing 0:08:58.800 --> 0:09:03.600 over the death of someone who was trying to kill him. 0:09:03.720 --> 0:09:05.320 That's kind of strange. 0:09:05.720 --> 0:09:08.400 Jonathan lies slain on your heights. 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:10.720 Remember Jonathan was his guy. 0:09:11.280 --> 0:09:14.319 I grieve for you twenty six Jonathan. 0:09:14.240 --> 0:09:14.800 My brother. 0:09:16.040 --> 0:09:18.800 You were very dear to me. Your love for me 0:09:19.400 --> 0:09:21.760 was wonderful. It's kind of hard with you not around. 0:09:22.160 --> 0:09:24.880 Know you in heaven smiling down watching us as we 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:27.600 pray for you. Every day. We pray for you till 0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:29.959 the day where we meet again. In my heart is 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:32.200 where I keep you, friend, members, there's something different on 0:09:32.240 --> 0:09:32.720 the screens. 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:35.080 I must have switched out of. 0:09:35.120 --> 0:09:37.400 Second Samuel and went into second Puff. 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:38.199 But that's all right. 0:09:38.320 --> 0:09:42.480 Stay with me, because there comes a shift. Everybody say 0:09:42.520 --> 0:09:47.840 shift where David knows I've got to stop mourning and 0:09:48.000 --> 0:09:48.360 move on. 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:51.640 And there comes a time in your. 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:54.480 Life when you must stop mourning. 0:09:54.840 --> 0:09:56.800 Nobody can tell you when that is. 0:09:57.440 --> 0:10:01.520 Only God can tell you when you've cried over Saul 0:10:02.120 --> 0:10:06.560 long enough. That's what the prophet Samuel had to come 0:10:06.600 --> 0:10:07.280 to terms with. 0:10:07.800 --> 0:10:07.959 Then. 0:10:08.000 --> 0:10:10.520 I know you believed in Saul, and I know you 0:10:10.640 --> 0:10:13.320 prayed for Saul, and I know you wanted more out 0:10:13.360 --> 0:10:17.400 of Saul. But it's time to fill your horn with 0:10:17.640 --> 0:10:21.640 oil and beyond your way because your Plan. 0:10:21.480 --> 0:10:24.400 B is God's Plan A. I found a. 0:10:24.440 --> 0:10:27.720 Man after my own heart, and his name is David. 0:10:31.080 --> 0:10:34.000 I think we might have a good time in church today. 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:36.839 Touch somebody say there's a shift. 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:39.720 There's a shift that happens. 0:10:41.440 --> 0:10:46.600 When now David has to decide to step into what 0:10:46.679 --> 0:10:51.160 God set him apart for. I'm hesitant to preach stuff 0:10:51.200 --> 0:10:53.960 like this because people will take and twist my words 0:10:54.000 --> 0:11:01.720 and quit their job. This is not a license for irresponsibility. 0:11:02.720 --> 0:11:05.520 I have received so many emails from people who started 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:07.880 a bagel shop because they like bagels, and I talked 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:10.480 about Peter stepping out of the boat. That's not what 0:11:10.520 --> 0:11:19.760 the passage is for. Why are you looking at me 0:11:19.840 --> 0:11:27.440 like that. I've seen so many people blame God for 0:11:27.600 --> 0:11:34.080 bad decision making habits, and I get it, but I 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:39.360 think if God, if God would be it's just a 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:41.120 theory that I have. Let me read you the scripture 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:45.400 when David needed to know what to do next, and 0:11:45.480 --> 0:11:47.079 I just want to take a poll at Valentine. I 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:49.800 wish I could do this at all the campuses. Do 0:11:49.840 --> 0:11:51.360 you have a decision you need to make right now? 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:55.079 Raise your hand. It won't be as big as David's 0:11:55.080 --> 0:11:57.440 decision to be king. I get it, You're not that epic. 0:11:58.760 --> 0:12:02.640 I'm not that epic. We're not that epic. But don't 0:12:02.679 --> 0:12:05.839 you believe that the principles that governed his epic rise 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:10.440 and his dynasty are the same principles that God would 0:12:10.520 --> 0:12:14.080 use to govern your everyday life. The principles aren't different, 0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:17.800 the stakes aren't as high, but the principles are no different. 0:12:18.679 --> 0:12:20.800 And I want to watch what David did when it 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:24.920 came time for him to decide saught was dead. Now, 0:12:25.480 --> 0:12:30.160 how do I step into what God set me apart 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:35.040 for so many years ago? That's the issue, how to 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:40.160 get there, when to get there? And any conversation about 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:45.800 trust must involve a conversation about timing. Trust and timing 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:55.920 are inseparable. Trust takes time. Trust takes time. Stop giving 0:12:55.960 --> 0:12:59.120 your first state your family history. They have not earned 0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:03.360 that information at this point in the relationship. Keep it 0:13:03.440 --> 0:13:07.600 real guarded for about six months, and then tell them 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:09.520 about your crazy step mom. 0:13:09.520 --> 0:13:16.160 But not on the first date. Because trust takes time. 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:20.360 Trust takes time. 0:13:20.640 --> 0:13:24.079 That's why Drake said, no new friends, because trust. 0:13:26.240 --> 0:13:28.200 Takes time. 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:31.400 Let's get back to the Bible carnality coming on the church. 0:13:32.480 --> 0:13:36.160 The Bible says in this is Second Samuel, chapter two, 0:13:36.240 --> 0:13:40.880 verse one, in the course of time, even that phrase 0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:41.440 would preach. 0:13:41.960 --> 0:13:43.000 I'm not gonna preach it. 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:48.280 But it's a strange phrase that is used throughout the 0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:52.800 narrative of David's life to signify a shift in the 0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:56.160 course of time. We don't know how long, we don't 0:13:56.200 --> 0:13:58.800 know exactly what period it's referring to, but it's a 0:13:58.840 --> 0:14:03.440 significant phrase because us it took David some time to 0:14:03.559 --> 0:14:07.880 shift and to figure out what God wanted him to 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:12.520 do next. But in the course of time, David inquired 0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:17.160 of the Lord. Shall I go up to one of 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:18.200 the towns of Judah? 0:14:18.679 --> 0:14:19.240 He asked? 0:14:20.240 --> 0:14:23.240 And the Lord said, go up? And David said, where 0:14:23.280 --> 0:14:28.400 shall I go? To Hebron, The Lord answered, So David 0:14:28.400 --> 0:14:33.240 went up there, and I'm like, well, yeah, if God 0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:35.680 would speak to me that specifically, I would do it too. 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:41.240 Wouldn't that be cool? If God would talk to you 0:14:41.320 --> 0:14:45.240 like that. Let's read it again. Shall I go up. 0:14:45.080 --> 0:14:47.520 To one of the towns of Judah, he asked? 0:14:47.880 --> 0:14:49.760 And the Lord said yep. 0:14:52.320 --> 0:14:54.680 And David asked where shall I go? 0:14:55.800 --> 0:14:59.480 And God said to Hebron. Will you love to have 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:01.480 that kind. 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:07.800 Of clear insight on who to marry? Would that be 0:15:07.880 --> 0:15:10.360 cool if you were single, sitting over in this section 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:13.120 and you could look over at that section and say, God, 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:17.760 should I ask one of them out to lunch today? 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:22.520 And God would say go ahead, and you could say 0:15:22.920 --> 0:15:26.400 which one? And God would say the cute one five 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:27.840 four brown hair. 0:15:29.720 --> 0:15:33.840 Would that be amazing if God would speak. 0:15:33.560 --> 0:15:37.040 To you so specifically like this. I think I could 0:15:37.240 --> 0:15:37.560 be a. 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:39.720 Man after God's own heart too, if he would give 0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:41.560 me this kind of direct information. 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:43.680 It'd be amazing. 0:15:44.600 --> 0:15:46.760 God would speak to you about the important things in 0:15:46.800 --> 0:15:49.320 your life with this specificity. 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:52.800 God, should I start. 0:15:52.600 --> 0:15:56.280 Aaron Rodgers and God would just show you the important things. 0:15:58.640 --> 0:15:59.760 Life. 0:16:00.920 --> 0:16:07.240 Write down the word strategy because David is asking God 0:16:07.280 --> 0:16:10.440 for his next strategic move. 0:16:10.320 --> 0:16:14.760 Because he wants to take the right next step. 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:19.640 I've been running for fifteen years. I don't want to 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:24.160 waste any more time. But God, I need to know 0:16:25.080 --> 0:16:30.760 my next step. I need to know is the marriage 0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:33.760 over or should I give it a little more time? 0:16:34.600 --> 0:16:40.520 Because I need to know my next step. I hear 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:43.400 the doctor saying that my kids should be on this medicine, 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:45.640 but I'm not so sure if that's. 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:45.960 The right thing. 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:48.480 And wouldn't it be nice if God would say yep 0:16:48.840 --> 0:16:52.760 lexapro and just tell you yep, ridling. 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:54.320 How easy would it be. 0:16:54.520 --> 0:16:57.280 You'd go fill the bottle and you'd pop the pills, 0:16:57.480 --> 0:16:59.560 and you'd go to Hebron and you'd be a king. 0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:05.000 But most of us don't enjoy this specificity of connection 0:17:05.119 --> 0:17:08.359 with God, and the people who say they do are weird. 0:17:10.920 --> 0:17:15.480 They're weird. The people who tell. 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:19.119 You that God told them which color shirt to wear 0:17:19.359 --> 0:17:22.480 to church that day, and they were purple because it's 0:17:22.520 --> 0:17:23.760 the color of royalty. 0:17:24.000 --> 0:17:30.600 Are weird, and they will often. 0:17:30.320 --> 0:17:33.720 Do something that contradicts the written word of God and 0:17:33.880 --> 0:17:36.640 blame it on an impression and call it the. 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:39.720 Holy Spirit, which messes it up for the rest of us. 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:42.880 Because now I don't even want to say God told 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:44.800 me to do something, because I've heard so many people 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:47.560 use that phrase to pimp their own decision and put 0:17:47.600 --> 0:17:49.680 it on God because now they don't have to deal 0:17:49.680 --> 0:17:55.840 with the outcome. I'm just trying to say that I 0:17:55.880 --> 0:18:00.480 wish it could be this specific. I wish God could 0:18:00.480 --> 0:18:03.879 be more like Google, just being honest with you. Because 0:18:03.920 --> 0:18:07.159 I have a great relationship with Google. Google knows what 0:18:07.240 --> 0:18:11.280 I want to ask it before I finish the word 0:18:11.880 --> 0:18:15.760 the first three letters. Now, Google also knows so much 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:18.760 about my life. Google also knows my blood type and 0:18:18.800 --> 0:18:21.600 the color of my urine. But that's beside the point 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:23.560 about information secrecy. 0:18:23.800 --> 0:18:25.040 What I like about. 0:18:24.760 --> 0:18:28.600 Google is Google seems to anticipate what I need to know, 0:18:29.000 --> 0:18:32.159 and God seems to be the opposite. Because I'm begging 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:35.359 him sometimes to let me know what to do about 0:18:35.359 --> 0:18:38.200 this relationship, about this decision. What did you can invest 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:40.280 your money with the kind of knowledge with which David 0:18:40.320 --> 0:18:42.840 went to hebrin, What if God would tell you which stock? 0:18:43.119 --> 0:18:45.560 What if God would tell you how to balance the portfolio? 0:18:45.840 --> 0:18:48.400 What if God would tell you which position to apply for? 0:18:48.640 --> 0:18:56.240 Wouldn't that be amazing? If God would order your steps 0:18:58.760 --> 0:19:03.560 like that? What's that Amazon? What's it called Echo? 0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:11.560 Somebody sent us an Amazon Echo recently. I would suggest 0:19:11.560 --> 0:19:14.960 putting it on your Christmas list. It's an amazing device. 0:19:16.560 --> 0:19:24.000 This is not a product endorsement, but it's amazing. 0:19:24.119 --> 0:19:26.480 Do any of you have it? 0:19:26.480 --> 0:19:29.960 It's voice activated because sometimes you can't be bothered to 0:19:29.960 --> 0:19:31.080 have to use your thumbs. 0:19:34.280 --> 0:19:37.040 So I like Alexa. That's her name, Alexa. 0:19:37.200 --> 0:19:40.760 I have a relationship with Alexa where I say her name. 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:44.000 I say Alexa and she lights up, kind of like Holly. 0:19:44.359 --> 0:19:49.320 When I say her what she's not. 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:56.159 And I can tell her what song to play, what 0:19:56.320 --> 0:19:59.800 tasks to perform Alexa and she lights up. 0:20:00.800 --> 0:20:05.200 She answers me, she hears me when I call. She's 0:20:05.320 --> 0:20:07.320 like the Lord. 0:20:07.440 --> 0:20:11.040 Well, yesterday I walked in and Graham was doing his homework. 0:20:12.119 --> 0:20:13.359 But I want you to see something. 0:20:13.359 --> 0:20:15.520 I caught it on my video camera because I've never 0:20:15.560 --> 0:20:16.919 seen anything like this before. 0:20:18.600 --> 0:20:26.560 If eighty eight mine is ed equals all right, Alexa, 0:20:27.480 --> 0:20:31.160 what is nineteen plus nine? 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:36.080 The sum of nineteen and nine is twenty eight? Are 0:20:36.080 --> 0:20:42.600 you kidding me right now? Are you kidding me? Are 0:20:42.640 --> 0:20:45.240 you kidding me right now? About what? How you're doing 0:20:45.280 --> 0:20:52.960 your homework? I am checking, he's checking, checking, check in. 0:20:53.920 --> 0:20:57.280 Tell your neighbors, say, I'm checking, I'm checking. I'm checking. 0:20:58.640 --> 0:21:01.639 I already did the work. I'm just checking. 0:21:03.560 --> 0:21:04.480 I see. I have a feeling. 0:21:04.480 --> 0:21:09.240 When David inquired of the Lord, where do I go next? 0:21:09.840 --> 0:21:14.040 He was already on his way. He was just checking. 0:21:14.960 --> 0:21:19.040 Because when you walk in God's ways, you will know 0:21:19.320 --> 0:21:20.199 God's will. 0:21:20.880 --> 0:21:24.840 All you gotta do is check. Jesus said, if. 0:21:24.720 --> 0:21:27.879 I leave, I'll send you the spirit of truth, and 0:21:27.960 --> 0:21:33.000 he'll show you the ways to walk in. I'm checking, 0:21:34.160 --> 0:21:37.560 I'm checking, I'm checking. See. 0:21:37.600 --> 0:21:40.760 I don't have to ask God about every decision. I 0:21:40.800 --> 0:21:44.000 don't have to stress about God's will. When I live 0:21:44.119 --> 0:21:48.159 my life in God's ways, I have the confidence that 0:21:48.320 --> 0:21:50.359 my steps are ordered. 0:21:50.359 --> 0:21:54.719 Where's my organ My steps are ordered by the Lord, 0:21:54.960 --> 0:21:57.000 because I delight in his way. 0:21:57.000 --> 0:21:58.440 Why aren't you all on your feet? 0:21:58.600 --> 0:22:00.520 I'm trying to tell you. 0:22:00.000 --> 0:22:00.560 I don't have to. 0:22:00.520 --> 0:22:03.440 Worry so much about what when you get throw why 0:22:03.640 --> 0:22:08.080 right when you walk in the ways of God, when 0:22:08.119 --> 0:22:16.679 you submit to him, Because God's strategy is submission. 0:22:18.720 --> 0:22:20.320 And now you can sit down, because you're not going 0:22:20.400 --> 0:22:25.840 to like this part. The other s word is submission. 0:22:27.320 --> 0:22:31.080 And in all of the steps that David took away 0:22:31.119 --> 0:22:34.679 from the throne for fifteen years, into the land of 0:22:34.720 --> 0:22:39.159 the Philistines, into the place of zick Lad, while it 0:22:39.240 --> 0:22:43.040 looked like he was moving away from the promise God 0:22:43.040 --> 0:22:54.280 had made him, he was moving into submission. Submission. The 0:22:54.320 --> 0:23:01.639 steps of a good man are ordered. That's what they 0:23:01.720 --> 0:23:05.240 do in the military. 0:23:06.119 --> 0:23:10.200 Ordered. And I found out a lot. 0:23:10.000 --> 0:23:14.879 Of people will rejoice over the sovereignty of God but 0:23:15.080 --> 0:23:23.520 resist submission. And to believe in sovereignty without embracing submission 0:23:24.560 --> 0:23:25.160 is not faith. 0:23:25.200 --> 0:23:26.000 It's fairy tale. 0:23:28.920 --> 0:23:32.800 If I say my steps are ordered by the Lord 0:23:33.080 --> 0:23:38.760 as a way of excusing my decisions, I have misunderstood 0:23:39.000 --> 0:23:42.760 the implication of Psalm thirty seven twenty three. 0:23:42.960 --> 0:23:43.840 I wonder how. 0:23:43.760 --> 0:23:48.240 Much differently we would respond to Psalm thirty seven twenty. 0:23:48.000 --> 0:23:50.720 Three if we considered the word ordered. 0:23:52.840 --> 0:23:56.520 Because when God David went to God, David didn't give 0:23:56.560 --> 0:23:57.400 God his opinion. 0:23:58.520 --> 0:23:59.919 He asked God for his next order. 0:24:02.480 --> 0:24:06.360 Now, when you live like that, you can have complete 0:24:06.359 --> 0:24:11.399 and total confidence in every move you make, every breath 0:24:11.400 --> 0:24:17.120 you take, and whether you're moving away from your goal 0:24:17.280 --> 0:24:18.679 or toward your goal, you can know. 0:24:18.920 --> 0:24:24.800 I'm in submission, so I'm at peace. Submission brings peace. 0:24:26.240 --> 0:24:27.000 When you try to. 0:24:27.000 --> 0:24:32.959 Get the strategy before submission, you're out of order, and 0:24:33.000 --> 0:24:37.800 it doesn't work. When you say God orders your steps, 0:24:37.880 --> 0:24:41.200 understand what you're saying is not that God will take 0:24:41.240 --> 0:24:44.320