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

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

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

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

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

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Speaker 1: today I want to share with you in this part

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Speaker 1: two on the subject of pivotal decisions. Pivotal decisions, I'm

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Speaker 1: going to Judges thirteen. I don't know if I'll get

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Speaker 1: there in the next few minutes. So if you don't

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Speaker 1: know where Judge is in is in the Bible, you're

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Speaker 1: gonna have a good head start. If you prefer to

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Speaker 1: just look at the screen, that's okay too. But I wonder,

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Speaker 1: as I get started, how many of you right now

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Speaker 1: are in the middle of making a big decision for

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Speaker 1: your life. Would you raise your hand if you're in

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Speaker 1: the middle of making a big decision for your life

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Speaker 1: and keep it up, keep it up. So what are

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Speaker 1: you going to do? How are you gonna You're gonna

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Speaker 1: do like pros and cons or you're gonna like flip

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Speaker 1: a coin if it comes to that. You gotta plan

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Speaker 1: for this. You're gonna you're gonna do, Like, ask a

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Speaker 1: lot of people till somebody tells you what you want

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Speaker 1: to hear, like, like we all do you know? Just

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Speaker 1: keep asking people till you get the answer that you

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Speaker 1: wanted so they can confirm the thing that you were

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Speaker 1: gonna do all along. Anyway, now you wasted everybody's time

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Speaker 1: just asking them stuff that you already knew what you

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Speaker 1: were gonna do. We're you gonna do? You're gonna like, uh,

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Speaker 1: just stress, eat and put it off to the last minute.

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Speaker 1: That's always a good plan. I like that. I like

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Speaker 1: to just watch Netflix instead personally, put it off to

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Speaker 1: the last minute, and then make the decision when the

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Speaker 1: pressure's on. The crazy thing is when I say that

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Speaker 1: a big decision. A lot of the decisions that you make,

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Speaker 1: you don't know if they're big or not when you're

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Speaker 1: making them. This is why God so much, because not

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Speaker 1: only can I not make the big decisions right without him,

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Speaker 1: but I don't even know which ones are big unless

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Speaker 1: he tells me. Because you know, big decisions, we get

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Speaker 1: caught up where we're gonna get married. That's me and

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Speaker 1: Holly spent so many weeks thinking about that, Like the

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Speaker 1: big decision of where we were going to have our wedding.

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Speaker 1: You know what, it didn't really matter as much as

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Speaker 1: some other things. What was important about our marriage was like,

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Speaker 1: how are we going to resolve conflict? Y'all don't want

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Speaker 1: to talk to me today. Y'all were singing so good,

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Speaker 1: and then I started preaching and y'all went to sleep.

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Speaker 1: And the big decisions, you know, it's not always the

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Speaker 1: ones that you think are big. And that's why I

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Speaker 1: prefer the term pivotal decisions, because a big decision is

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Speaker 1: not necessarily what city you're going to live in. That's

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Speaker 1: a big one, I get it. But a bigger decision

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Speaker 1: for us was what church are we going to go to?

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Speaker 1: Because out of the church that we attended, that's where

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Speaker 1: we made the relationships that were really instrumental, and the

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Speaker 1: will of God was accomplished in our life, not by

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Speaker 1: just what city we lived in. But and it's funny

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Speaker 1: how people will move for a job, or they'll move

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Speaker 1: for a school, but they'll put church at the bottom

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Speaker 1: of the list and then kind of find one. But

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Speaker 1: I think the pivotal things are sometimes not what we

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Speaker 1: consider to be the big things, and that's that's confusing pivotal,

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Speaker 1: you know what I mean? Like, I guess because it's

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Speaker 1: All Star weekend. I don't play basketball. I don't even

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Speaker 1: really like basketball. I was always terrible at it. I

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Speaker 1: wrestled a little bit, played a little baseball. But when

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Speaker 1: I watched basketball, I always see them pivot. I always

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Speaker 1: see that their ability to pass and you know, without traveling,

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Speaker 1: without getting called, it's all from this foot that they

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Speaker 1: pivot on. And I'm not going to demonstrate it for you,

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Speaker 1: because again I'm not very athletic, but when I watch

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Speaker 1: them pivot, I notice like, well, that's pretty important. And

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Speaker 1: the only way that they can pivot is if they're planted.

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Speaker 1: Now I'm going to preach that in about twenty eight minutes,

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Speaker 1: but hang on, I'm coming to judges thirteen. And I

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Speaker 1: notice that, you know, pivoting is not only for athletes.

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Speaker 1: It's also for politicians. And I'll be honest with you.

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Speaker 1: As a preacher, I get it because sometimes you get

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Speaker 1: asked the weirdest questions, the weirdest, most unanswerable, most non

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Speaker 1: germane questions. I'll sometimes be doing a Q and A

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Speaker 1: or something and someone will ask me, you know, what

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Speaker 1: kind of horse is Jesus coming back on. And there's

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Speaker 1: really no way to answer that without making them look

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Speaker 1: dumb or you know, because it is a dumb question.

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Speaker 1: But I love people and the sheep, and so I'm like,

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Speaker 1: I'm like, well, you know, that's a great question. And

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Speaker 1: regardless of what horse he comes on, I think what's

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Speaker 1: important is that we have a sense of urgency. See

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Speaker 1: how I just and now you don't feel dumb, and

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Speaker 1: I don't have to answer your question, and so we

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Speaker 1: all win because I know how to pivot. Touch somebody say,

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Speaker 1: the power is in the pivot. Let's go to Judges thirteen.

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Speaker 1: Are you ready? Because you got some big decisions you're making,

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Speaker 1: And then you've got some decisions that you don't think

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Speaker 1: are very big, but they're pivotal, Like how you start

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Speaker 1: your day. That's not a big decision, but it's pivotal

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Speaker 1: because how you start your day Watch, it's a directional decision.

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Speaker 1: Watch watch me. It's directional. So I'm not watch watch watch,

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Speaker 1: I'm not moving much. It's not a big move. I'm

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Speaker 1: still standing where I was. But I get a completely

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Speaker 1: different perspective when I pivot. The Lord has really been

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Speaker 1: speaking to me. I can tell you want them to

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Speaker 1: speak to you too. And it means that sometimes it's

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Speaker 1: the small moves that set the direction, the small moves

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Speaker 1: that set the direction. And frankly, a lot of the

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Speaker 1: biggest things about your life will be decided outside of

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Speaker 1: your volition and will. Anyway, God is so much bigger

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Speaker 1: than your decisions. I know you're very successful in your business,

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Speaker 1: but you and I both know that the culmination of

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Speaker 1: everything that happened to you was bigger than you just

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Speaker 1: made good decisions. I mean, because honestly, you made some

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Speaker 1: really bad ones too. And even if you didn't, even

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Speaker 1: if you only make good decisions, you wouldn't have know,

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Speaker 1: You wouldn't even had the opportunity to make those decisions

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Speaker 1: if God didn't position you where He positioned you. God

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Speaker 1: is bigger than my bad decisions. You know. It's not

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Speaker 1: like God is just a synonym for good decisions, you know,

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Speaker 1: being in the will of God the will of God.

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Speaker 1: And I want to ask you this question, is your

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Speaker 1: view of the will of God big enough to accommodate

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Speaker 1: even your bad decisions? And that's what I wanted to

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Speaker 1: look at. Judges thirteen is a passage of scripture that

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Speaker 1: you've never heard a single sermon on before I polled

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Speaker 1: at least thirty people this week. None of them had

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Speaker 1: heard it. And all of them went to vacation Bible

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Speaker 1: School and grew up going to Wednesday night church. So

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Speaker 1: if they didn't hear it, you didn't either. But the

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Speaker 1: Bible says in Judges thirteen, verse one, remember in a

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Speaker 1: pivotal time for the nation of Israel, A pivotal time

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Speaker 1: because they were in a cycle of sin, judgment and deliverance.

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Speaker 1: A pivotal time because they didn't have a king, and

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Speaker 1: they didn't really want God to be their king, so

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Speaker 1: God would keep having to raise up different people to

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Speaker 1: lead them and deliver them from the hands of their enemies,

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Speaker 1: the Canaanites and Parasites, and Hittites, and the Philistines, the

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Speaker 1: Phoenician people who were good at metal, so they always

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Speaker 1: had a lot of weapons, and they were moving in

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Speaker 1: on the coast, and they were ruling them, but very loosely.

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Speaker 1: Now this is the pivotal moment for the nation of Israel,

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Speaker 1: and the Bible says again, the Israelites did evil in

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Speaker 1: the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them

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Speaker 1: into the hands of the Philistines. Stop. You always hear

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Speaker 1: about God delivering us out of things, But here your

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Speaker 1: Bible says that God delivered them into the hands of

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Speaker 1: an enemy, and use their enemy. I don't know if

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Speaker 1: your theology is about to break wide open and something's

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Speaker 1: going to fall out on the floor. Let's get the

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Speaker 1: ushers ready in case your brain just melts right there.

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Speaker 1: But God didn't deliver them out of the hands of

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Speaker 1: their enemies. But the same God who is able to

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Speaker 1: deliver you out of the hands of your enemies. The

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Speaker 1: Bible says that at least the perspective of the writer

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Speaker 1: Samuel was, who we preached about last week, that God

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Speaker 1: delivered them into the hands of their enemies. That's interesting me.

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Speaker 1: I don't have a category for that. But God is

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Speaker 1: bigger than my categories. I'm learning that. I'm learning that.

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Speaker 1: So he did it for forty years, and a certain

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Speaker 1: man of Zorah named Manoah from the clan of the Danites,

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Speaker 1: had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth.

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Speaker 1: Remember that barrenness in antiquity was a signal or a

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Speaker 1: sign of the displeasure of God. It didn't mean the

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Speaker 1: displeasure of God. But they perceived it to mean that,

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Speaker 1: so it brought with it a great stigma. A certain

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Speaker 1: man of Zora named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites,

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Speaker 1: had a wife who was childless unable to give birth.

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Speaker 1: The Angel of the Lord appeared to her and said,

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Speaker 1: you are barren and childless, but you are going to

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Speaker 1: become pregnant and give birth to a son. Now see

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Speaker 1: to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink,

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Speaker 1: and that you do not eat anything unclean. You will

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Speaker 1: become pregnant and have a son whose head is never

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Speaker 1: to be touched by a razor. And my dad was

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Speaker 1: a barber, so that verse offends me because it would

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Speaker 1: have taken money out of my family's pocket. But anyway,

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Speaker 1: because here's the reason. The boy is to be a Nazarite,

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Speaker 1: and the Nazarites don't cut their hair, they don't drink alcohol,

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Speaker 1: they don't touch anything dead, as the basics of being

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Speaker 1: a Nazarite. In case you were thinking about doing it,

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Speaker 1: that's what you would do if you were going to

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Speaker 1: be a Nazarie. He is to be dedicated to God

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Speaker 1: from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering

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Speaker 1: Israel from the hands of the Philistines, which God delivered

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Speaker 1: them into so that he could deliver them from what

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Speaker 1: was in them that caused them to get in this

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Speaker 1: cycle to begin with. And he's going to use this

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Speaker 1: child to deliver them out. I love your word, Lord,

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Speaker 1: thank you for thank you for what you're showing me. Now.

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Speaker 1: Now this is where it gets really, really, really good,

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Speaker 1: because then everybody say, then, woman whose name we don't know,

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Speaker 1: who's talking to a man whose name isn't given. These

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Speaker 1: unnamed people have a conversation, and the woman went to

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Speaker 1: her husband and told him a man of God came

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Speaker 1: to me. He looked like an angel of God. Very awesome.

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna be like, hold up, a man come and

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Speaker 1: talking to my wife anyway, you know, because he didn't

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Speaker 1: have wings or heart how we think God shows up.

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Speaker 1: She's like, I think it was maybe like an angel.

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Speaker 1: It was kind of you know, because that's how it

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Speaker 1: is when you hear from God. It's kind of like,

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Speaker 1: I think this might be this maybe God. I don't know.

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Speaker 1: I mean it like it looked like it felt like

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Speaker 1: it was different. I don't know, it's just different. I

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Speaker 1: don't know. I'm not sure. And she's telling her husband

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Speaker 1: because it's always revealed in the context of relationship. I

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Speaker 1: didn't ask him where he came from. He didn't tell

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Speaker 1: me his name, but he said to me, you will

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Speaker 1: become pregnant. Uh huh. So this awesome looking man came

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Speaker 1: to my wife and said, what I love the Bible.

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Speaker 1: Though I love the Bible, he said, you will be

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Speaker 1: pregnant to have a son. Now, then drink no wine

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Speaker 1: or other ferm men to drink, and do not eat

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Speaker 1: anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazarite of

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Speaker 1: God from the womb until the day of his death.

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Speaker 1: Then Manoah name means resting place. Prayed to the Lord.

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Speaker 1: Pardon your servant, Lord. I don't mean to bother you.

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Speaker 1: I know you got a universe to run and all

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Speaker 1: that I beg you. Let the man of God you

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Speaker 1: sent to us because I didn't get to see him.

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Speaker 1: Let him come again, if you could just send him

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Speaker 1: back for a few minutes. I got a few questions

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Speaker 1: I need to ask him. I need him to teach

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Speaker 1: us how to bring up the boy who is to

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Speaker 1: be born. So I need you to speak to me,

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Speaker 1: because you know how you need God to speak to

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Speaker 1: you and show you how I want to talk about

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Speaker 1: the plan. That's the first thing I want to mention

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Speaker 1: is the plan, because I understand that God wants to

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Speaker 1: use me, but I need to know what that's going

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Speaker 1: to look like. You understand I need some details. I

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Speaker 1: need some specifics. I need some marching orders. I need

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Speaker 1: some dates some times, some instructions. So please Lord, if

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Speaker 1: it's not too much trouble, send that guy back. And

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Speaker 1: he said we were going to have a son that

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Speaker 1: was going to like change the world and stuff. But

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Speaker 1: I need to hear it for myself, and I need

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Speaker 1: to know the plan. Any planners in the house, any planners,

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Speaker 1: any planners, any planners, Thank God for you, Thank God

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Speaker 1: for you, because all the people without their hand up,

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Speaker 1: they always come late and make the worship leaders lead

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Speaker 1: to the first two rows and is empty and they

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Speaker 1: come crawling in the last minute. But I don't hate

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Speaker 1: you in the back. But I'm just saying that God

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Speaker 1: for the planners. But it can become a problem, and

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna show you why. I'm gonna show you why.

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Speaker 1: He said we need to know the plan if it's

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Speaker 1: going to be this big thing, you know, if you

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Speaker 1: gave us this promise, I need to know the plan,

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Speaker 1: because without a plan, the promise is just abstract rhetoric.

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Speaker 1: Without the plan, I can know God has for me.

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Speaker 1: He wants to use me. I'm spread the Gospel and

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Speaker 1: all that sounds good, but just send him back. If

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Speaker 1: I could get five minutes with this awesome looking man

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Speaker 1: who was talking to my wife and told her she

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Speaker 1: was about to get pregnant, I need to know the

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Speaker 1: plan now. I love the next phrase, God heard Manoah.

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Speaker 1: God heard Manoah, and interesting that the woman wasn't praying

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Speaker 1: to get pregnant when the angel said it was going

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Speaker 1: to happen. I don't know if she gave up. I

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Speaker 1: don't know if she did pray. I don't know if

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Speaker 1: she didn't pray. Bible doesn't say it doesn't matter. And

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Speaker 1: then Manoah's begging God to show up and speak to him.

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Speaker 1: You know, God initiates, we respond. God initiates, we respond.

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Speaker 1: But God heard Manoah. And when when Manoah prayed, God

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Speaker 1: didn't say figure it out yourself and trust me. Instead,

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Speaker 1: he obliged Manoah's need for more information. Let the person

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Speaker 1: next to you know something real quick, and it might

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Speaker 1: sound cocky, but tell him anyway, it's truth say. He

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Speaker 1: hears me. God hears me. He hears me better than

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Speaker 1: Siri and Alexa. He hears me. He hears me, he

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Speaker 1: knows my voice. He likes when I call him, When

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Speaker 1: I say help, he says yes before I can even

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Speaker 1: get out my mouth. He hears me. He hears my

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Speaker 1: groans where words don't come. He hears me. He hears

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Speaker 1: my heart and the secret petitions of things that people

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Speaker 1: don't know that I'm dealing with. He hears me. He

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Speaker 1: hears the unspoken. Did you go to youth group and

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Speaker 1: we used to say? I have an unspoken He hears

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Speaker 1: what I don't say, He hears what's behind what I

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Speaker 1: said that's really driving the behavior. He hears me. He

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Speaker 1: hears my secret frustration that I don't say around people,

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Speaker 1: because if I told him how frustrated I was, it

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Speaker 1: would scare him. But he hears me. He hears me

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Speaker 1: when I sing to him, when I tell him worthy

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Speaker 1: is the Lamb of God, he hears me. I know

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Speaker 1: there's better singers than me, and I know I don't

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Speaker 1: always sing on key, but he hears me. When I

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Speaker 1: sing thank you Jesus, he hears me. It blesses his

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Speaker 1: heart to hear me, and the angel of God came

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Speaker 1: again to the woman. Wait wait, wait, wait, wait to

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Speaker 1: the woman, Manoah asked for the visit, and this angel

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Speaker 1: is back out talking to his what because God is

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Speaker 1: not going to do it like you want him to

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Speaker 1: do it. He's gonna want to say see will you

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Speaker 1: trust him? So the angel God came again to the

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Speaker 1: woman while she was out in the field, but her husband, Manoah,

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Speaker 1: was not with her. No. Woman hurried to tell her husband,

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Speaker 1: he's here the man who appeared to me the other day.

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Speaker 1: Manoah got up and followed his wife, and when he

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Speaker 1: came to the man, he said, are you the man

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Speaker 1: who talked to my wife? Hold on, let me change

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Speaker 1: Manoah's accent. Are you the man who talked to my wife?

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Speaker 1: She said? An awesome looking man came and said that

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Speaker 1: she was gonna be pregnant? Was that you? Angel said?

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Speaker 1: I am so, Manoah asked him. When your words are fulfilled,

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Speaker 1: I don't doubt you're going to do it. I just

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Speaker 1: need to know the plan. What is to be the

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Speaker 1: rule that governs the boy's life and work? How do

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Speaker 1: we do this? How do we do this. We're in

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Speaker 1: a meeting this week about the church, and I know

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Speaker 1: what I want to see, but I don't know the

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Speaker 1: plan for it. And so a lot of times when

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Speaker 1: I get in that mode, I start trying to like

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Speaker 1: tweak stuff, and I start trying to manipulate stuff. I

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Speaker 1: know you don't do this, but I'm a control freak,

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Speaker 1: and so I'll be like, well, we could do this,

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Speaker 1: this and this, and it's all good. It's all good.

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Speaker 1: But I want you to watch what the Angel does

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Speaker 1: instead of giving Manoah the plan, which is what he

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Speaker 1: asked for, what do we do with this boy that

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Speaker 1: you said is going to be born that's going to

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Speaker 1: do something great? What do I do with this calling?

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Speaker 1: What do I do in this situation? I need to

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Speaker 1: know the plan. I need to know the details. I

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Speaker 1: need to know the agenda. And the Bible says that

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Speaker 1: the Angel verse thirteen answered your wife. So now the

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Speaker 1: Angel pivots from what Manoah asked to what he needed

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Speaker 1: to know right now. Now, sometimes when you pray to God,

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Speaker 1: he's going to pivot, and you're gonna be like, I

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Speaker 1: need the plan, but God will pivot. I mean, this

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Speaker 1: angel would have made a great politician or preacher or

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Speaker 1: basketball player. He could have been in the All Star

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Speaker 1: Game because watch how quick he pivots. We need to

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Speaker 1: know what to do when the boys moren what we're

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Speaker 1: gonna do? How many times you know, Manoah's full of questions?

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Speaker 1: Right of course he is. Do we need to put

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Speaker 1: him in a special school? Do we need to get

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Speaker 1: him a tutor? Do we need to see some karate?

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Speaker 1: Do we need to sea some juu? You know? Should

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Speaker 1: we be straight? Should we do what? Do we do it? How?

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Speaker 1: Let me do it? And the angel says, just tell

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Speaker 1: your wife right now, don't drink anything or eat anything unclean.

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Speaker 1: That's all you need to know right now. The pivot

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Speaker 1: from what you think you need to know to what

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Speaker 1: you really need to know. And God, just watch his footwork. See,

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Speaker 1: we always want to see God's hand, but sometimes you

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Speaker 1: gotta watch his feet because sometimes he wants to set

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Speaker 1: a different direction to say, you're not even looking at

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Speaker 1: the right side of this. Watch the pivot, and when

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Speaker 1: he pivots, you got to be quick to go with

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Speaker 1: him and say, God, I don't want your hand, I

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Speaker 1: want your face, I want to know you, I want

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

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Speaker 1: to feel you. I want to know you. I want

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Speaker 1: to have you. I want to I want to understand

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Speaker 1: what you know I need to understand. And I wonder,

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Speaker 1: is God trying to pivot your prayer life? Is God

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Speaker 1: trying to pivot? You're strategizing. Is God trying to pivot

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Speaker 1: because you're always trying to look for him in logic,

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Speaker 1: You're always trying to look for him in analysis and

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Speaker 1: in calculation. But God is spirit and you can't get

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Speaker 1: the spirit through strategy. You've got to come to God

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Speaker 1: like this. You've got to come to God with open arms,

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Speaker 1: open hands, and an open hearts. The pivot. It's funny

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Speaker 1: thing about a pivot. Though it's a small move, but

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Speaker 1: it sets a completely different direction. Man, Noah, you can't

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Speaker 1: handle the plan right now. You can't. My word is

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Speaker 1: a lamp unto your feet, a light into your path.

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Speaker 1: Funny thing about pivot. I've been doing this all week,

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Speaker 1: just studying this sermon. It's trying to get God to

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Speaker 1: show me different ways to see situations and to see

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Speaker 1: his will. And what I think is this will. What

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Speaker 1: I thought was his will, and I thought he was

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Speaker 1: always doing this, But sometimes he's doing that, and they

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Speaker 1: get this promises this is from the Lord. You know,

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Speaker 1: he didn't realize that at first, but he starts to sense.

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Speaker 1: He starts to sense that this may be God. This

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Speaker 1: may be God, because its too big to be anything

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Speaker 1: I could do. I don't plan for it. I don't

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Speaker 1: have a context for it. I don't know this maybe God.

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Speaker 1: This is the Lord. This is from the Lord. This

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Speaker 1: gift set that I have, this talent, this child that

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Speaker 1: I'm raising, this is from the Lord. Somebody say this

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Speaker 1: is from the Lord. And so since it's from the Lord,

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Speaker 1: then I need him to show me how to do it.

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Speaker 1: But sometimes he won't answer the question that I ask. Instead,

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Speaker 1: he will give me the wisdom that I need because

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Speaker 1: he knows a better question. My faith is not a formula,

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Speaker 1: and I'm not good at pivoting with my feet. I

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Speaker 1: don't do it a lot. That's so I had to

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Speaker 1: practice it, and I'm still not very good at it.

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Speaker 1: But I want to get good at it with my faith.

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Speaker 1: I want to learn to pivot. And this is where

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Speaker 1: it happens for Manah and his wife. And you're gonna

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Speaker 1: see it in the text. It's just gonna blow up

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Speaker 1: when you see it. It's gonna help you understand why

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Speaker 1: you've been trying to classify everything in your life. You know,

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Speaker 1: this is good and this is bad, and this is

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Speaker 1: God and this is the devil, and this is it

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Speaker 1: and this is that, and you keep trying to do that,

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Speaker 1: but it doesn't work. And here's why, he said. Manoah

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Speaker 1: said to the angel, we would like you to stay

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Speaker 1: until we prepare a young goat for you. We want

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Speaker 1: to cook you a goat. I make a delicious goat kebab,

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Speaker 1: and I'll like you to stay and eat it because

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Speaker 1: this hospitality is appropriate and we appreciate you coming by

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Speaker 1: to encourage us. So stay, We're gonna do it and

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Speaker 1: appreciate the worst and the Angel of the lure replot.

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Speaker 1: Even though you detain me, I will not eat any

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Speaker 1: of your food. I'm not gonna do it your way.

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Speaker 1: You're dealing with God now, so you're not gonna do

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Speaker 1: it like you do it with humans. It's gonna be different.

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Speaker 1: It's gonna be different, different terms. It's gonna be a

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Speaker 1: whole different thing this time. It's not going to be

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Speaker 1: all up here and what you think you should do.

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Speaker 1: It's gonna have to come from a different place. This

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Speaker 1: is the pivot. This is the pivot. And he said,

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Speaker 1: but if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to

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Speaker 1: the Lord. See the pivot. It's not about this. It's

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Speaker 1: about this. And I wonder if we would start deflecting

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Speaker 1: some of the stuff in our life and say, you know,

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Speaker 1: this is from the Lord. This is not from me.

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Speaker 1: So I need God to do it through me. I

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Speaker 1: cannot do it by myself. This is from the Lord.

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Speaker 1: Somebody shop, this is from the Lord. This is from

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Speaker 1: the Lord. But if you prepare a burn offering, offer

426
00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:38,440
Speaker 1: it to the Lord. I love this in parentheses. Manoah

427
00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:40,440
Speaker 1: did not realize it was the Angel of the Lord.

428
00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:46,040
Speaker 1: Maybe and maybe. And then Manoah inquired of the Angel

429
00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:47,600
Speaker 1: of the Lord, what's your name? So we may honor

430
00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:49,720
Speaker 1: your any word comes true? And he replied, this most

431
00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:53,600
Speaker 1: annointed verse I've read in the last five years. Why

432
00:24:53,600 --> 00:25:00,280
Speaker 1: do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding. That's

433
00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:07,119
Speaker 1: the pivot. That's where you find God, beyond what you

434
00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:11,960
Speaker 1: can understand. And so everything you can name that's not God.

435
00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:16,960
Speaker 1: Everything you can explain that's not God. Everything you can

436
00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:18,880
Speaker 1: figure out on your own, and you can make it work,

437
00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:20,560
Speaker 1: and you can do it. It worked for a little while.

438
00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:24,920
Speaker 1: But everything you can't name, that's God. And we've been

439
00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:27,200
Speaker 1: looking for a name for God. That's why we need

440
00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:29,280
Speaker 1: so many And that's why he had to tell Moses

441
00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:32,359
Speaker 1: in a very special way. I am because I need

442
00:25:32,359 --> 00:25:34,760
Speaker 1: to leave room for you to know that when you

443
00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:39,359
Speaker 1: get past the point of your ability to reconcile your situation,

444
00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:42,320
Speaker 1: when you get beyond your ability to work it out,

445
00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:46,639
Speaker 1: that's where I am. That's where I live. That's where

446
00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:51,000
Speaker 1: I dwell, in the mystery, in the uncertainty, in the tension,

447
00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:56,520
Speaker 1: beyond your understanding. And we keep trying to find God

448
00:25:56,680 --> 00:26:00,640
Speaker 1: in our logic, but he is not found with logic.

449
00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:07,159
Speaker 1: He is beyond your logic. Manoah took a young goat

450
00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:09,760
Speaker 1: and together with the grain offering and sacrificed it on

451
00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:13,040
Speaker 1: a rock to the Lord. And since the word came

452
00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:15,520
Speaker 1: from the Lord, I'm gonna make the offering to the Lord.

453
00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:18,280
Speaker 1: And since my breath came from the Lord, I'm gonna

454
00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:21,159
Speaker 1: offer it back to the Lord. And since this situation

455
00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:23,800
Speaker 1: came from the Lord, I'm gonna need the Lord to

456
00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:26,120
Speaker 1: deal with it. I can't do it on my own,

457
00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:30,639
Speaker 1: and the Lord did something amazing. While Manoah and his

458
00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:33,760
Speaker 1: wife watched as the flame blazed up from the altar

459
00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:35,919
Speaker 1: toward the heaven, the Angel of the Lord ascended in

460
00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:38,719
Speaker 1: the flame. He was not found in the logic. He

461
00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:45,240
Speaker 1: was found in the flame, not in figuring it out,

462
00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:49,400
Speaker 1: but in the fire of sacrifice and needing God. That's

463
00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:51,919
Speaker 1: where you're gonna find him. That's where you're gonna get it.

464
00:26:52,119 --> 00:26:55,119
Speaker 1: That's where you're gonna unlock it. That's where it'll be unleashed.

465
00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:00,760
Speaker 1: I wish I could preach about g Us for thirty

466
00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:04,760
Speaker 1: seconds right now, because see, all my hope is in

467
00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:09,040
Speaker 1: his blood, all my faith is in his cross, all

468
00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:15,120
Speaker 1: my righteousness is in his sacrifice. And when the flames

469
00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:21,639
Speaker 1: went off, the revelation came through and he was like

470
00:27:23,119 --> 00:27:26,760
Speaker 1: he was like Mineau was like, uh, I think we

471
00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:32,040
Speaker 1: just saw God. Because when the Angel of the Lord

472
00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:33,720
Speaker 1: did not show himself again Verse twenty one to know

473
00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:35,240
Speaker 1: and his wife, Manau realized that it was an Angel

474
00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:37,720
Speaker 1: of the Lord. We're gonna die. He said to his wife,

475
00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:39,840
Speaker 1: we've seen God. But his wife answered, if he meant

476
00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:44,560
Speaker 1: to kill us, if God was out to get you,

477
00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:48,840
Speaker 1: you'd be God. That's how I know he still has

478
00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:52,679
Speaker 1: mercy for my mistakes, because I already made enough. If

479
00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:55,639
Speaker 1: he was gonna squash me for screwing up, I'd be

480
00:27:55,720 --> 00:28:02,240
Speaker 1: a bug on this stage. If the Lord had meant

481
00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:04,119
Speaker 1: to kill us, he would have done it. He wouldn't

482
00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:06,600
Speaker 1: accepted the offering. He would he would he would have

483
00:28:06,600 --> 00:28:09,960
Speaker 1: wiped this out. He wouldn't have shown us all these things.

484
00:28:10,119 --> 00:28:11,879
Speaker 1: He wouldn't have shown you all these things. He wouldn't

485
00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:13,679
Speaker 1: have seen you through all these things. Look at all

486
00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:16,280
Speaker 1: he's shown you. Look at how many times you were

487
00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:18,920
Speaker 1: off the path and somehow he got you back. Look

488
00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:20,679
Speaker 1: at all the times you were going this way and

489
00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:23,560
Speaker 1: something just you know, he just turned stuff around. I mean,

490
00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:26,080
Speaker 1: just like you couldn't do it, and you were making

491
00:28:26,119 --> 00:28:28,600
Speaker 1: all these plans for it, but it was the pivot

492
00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:35,200
Speaker 1: that brought you back. And the woman gave birth twenty

493
00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:37,240
Speaker 1: four to a boy. Oh, I forgot to tell you

494
00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:42,160
Speaker 1: this and named him Samson. I forgot to tell you

495
00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:46,480
Speaker 1: it got the haircut. You remember, because we always want

496
00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:53,800
Speaker 1: to remember people by their worst decisions. But Samson, the

497
00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:56,640
Speaker 1: strong one who was bench pressing three oh five and

498
00:28:56,720 --> 00:29:01,640
Speaker 1: seventh grade Samson. This is how it started, and a

499
00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:03,400
Speaker 1: lot of people didn't know that because all they ever

500
00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:07,200
Speaker 1: saw was his head in Delilah's lap. But it was decisions.

501
00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:10,040
Speaker 1: It was decisions. It was decisions, and you have a destiny,

502
00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:13,920
Speaker 1: but you get to make decisions, and God is sovereign,

503
00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:19,880
Speaker 1: but you're responsible. And so how you process your desires

504
00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:24,880
Speaker 1: and your decisions right now is really critical. So she

505
00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:29,480
Speaker 1: has a baby. She names him Samson, and the Lord

506
00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:38,600
Speaker 1: blessed him. Grew biceps, triceps, laps and delts, and about

507
00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:42,240
Speaker 1: all the names of the quadriceps, calf muscles. It's about

508
00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:46,120
Speaker 1: all I know. And the Lord blessed them. In the

509
00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:49,120
Speaker 1: spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he

510
00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:52,400
Speaker 1: was in man. I pronounced that wrong. He was in

511
00:29:52,440 --> 00:30:01,880
Speaker 1: this place. Now he's growing up and it's going good.

512
00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:06,680
Speaker 1: And God's hand is on this boy's life. He's a

513
00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:13,640
Speaker 1: he's a he's a he's a star football player. He's

514
00:30:14,560 --> 00:30:17,920
Speaker 1: he learned to ride his bike at the age of three.

515
00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:26,800
Speaker 1: Good things have happened then. The pivot than the pivot. Now,

516
00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:30,360
Speaker 1: if you just if you just watch my feet and

517
00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:32,400
Speaker 1: don't think about it, you go like, well, what's the

518
00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:35,800
Speaker 1: big deal about the pivot? We'll see, you don't really

519
00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:40,280
Speaker 1: know how big the move is until you walk it out.

520
00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:43,960
Speaker 1: Because if I walk this way and if I kept

521
00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:48,880
Speaker 1: walking that way, it would be a different completely if

522
00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:51,800
Speaker 1: I but but if I if I walk this way

523
00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:58,400
Speaker 1: and all I did was this, it's a small move,

524
00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:03,200
Speaker 1: but it sets the direction. And that's what's happening in

525
00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:05,920
Speaker 1: your life. When you decide, like how to speak to people,

526
00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:08,840
Speaker 1: When you decide, like whether or not you're gonna whether

527
00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:11,000
Speaker 1: you're gonna come back next weekend to church. It's a

528
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:15,800
Speaker 1: small decision, but it sets a direction. When you decide,

529
00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:17,800
Speaker 1: am I gonna tie and put God first? Oh? Yeah,

530
00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:19,520
Speaker 1: I'm gonna put tithe Inn in the Sermons series. I'm

531
00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:21,440
Speaker 1: gonna put it in because it's a decision. It is

532
00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:23,080
Speaker 1: the will of God for you to put Him first.

533
00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:25,320
Speaker 1: And when you decide like I'm gonna do that, it

534
00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:29,480
Speaker 1: sets a direction to seek God first. When you decide,

535
00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:32,360
Speaker 1: like you know what, I'm I'm gonna text my I'm

536
00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:34,960
Speaker 1: gonna text my wife. I'm gonna text her and tell

537
00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:36,320
Speaker 1: her I'm gonna be home at a certain time and

538
00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:38,120
Speaker 1: I'm actually gonna be home at that time. It's a

539
00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:41,200
Speaker 1: little decision, but it sets a direction, because when you

540
00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:43,280
Speaker 1: set a direction, you know I can count on you,

541
00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:45,280
Speaker 1: and you're gonna do it. When you show up and

542
00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:47,800
Speaker 1: eat with your family, that's not a big decision. We

543
00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:51,080
Speaker 1: want big decisions, big things from God. No, No, it's

544
00:31:51,120 --> 00:31:54,520
Speaker 1: the pivotal decisions. It's just it's the little things that

545
00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:57,760
Speaker 1: you do that set the direction for your day and

546
00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:03,720
Speaker 1: for your decade and even for generations to come. Now,

547
00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:09,120
Speaker 1: it's all going good until one day. Chapter fourteen, verse

548
00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:15,120
Speaker 1: one says that Samson pivoted and went down to Timna,

549
00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:20,320
Speaker 1: went down to Timnah, not very far from where he

550
00:32:20,440 --> 00:32:24,240
Speaker 1: was living at the time. But when he got there,

551
00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:29,280
Speaker 1: he saw a young Philistine woman who was he supposed

552
00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:33,640
Speaker 1: to deliver his people from. So now he's in love

553
00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:40,760
Speaker 1: with what he's called to defeat, and he has a desire.

554
00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:44,600
Speaker 1: Have you got some desires that don't look anything like

555
00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:46,840
Speaker 1: Bible verses? Just at least one or two I do.

556
00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:53,040
Speaker 1: He saw this young woman. This is not Delilah. That's

557
00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:55,240
Speaker 1: the only woman we ever talked about in Samson's life.

558
00:32:55,280 --> 00:32:58,880
Speaker 1: You know, the combed his hair and set him up

559
00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:03,400
Speaker 1: and got his eyes gouged out. That's in chapter sixteen.

560
00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:06,320
Speaker 1: We're not even close to that. Yet this is just

561
00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:09,920
Speaker 1: his This is just his pivotal moment. Some of you

562
00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:13,320
Speaker 1: are in a pivotal moment right now deciding things. And

563
00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:17,440
Speaker 1: he came back and said to his father and mother

564
00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:19,600
Speaker 1: verse too, I have seen a philistine woman. Oh, by

565
00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:21,880
Speaker 1: the way, the key verse in the Book of Judges

566
00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:24,920
Speaker 1: says many many different times. I don't know how many,

567
00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:27,360
Speaker 1: but it says at least three times they did what

568
00:33:27,560 --> 00:33:30,400
Speaker 1: was right in their own eyes. And so Samson says,

569
00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:35,720
Speaker 1: I saw with my senses. I saw my senses, my feelings,

570
00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:39,200
Speaker 1: my emotions. I saw a philistine woman in Timna. Now

571
00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:43,480
Speaker 1: dinner for me is my wife. And his father and

572
00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:47,400
Speaker 1: mother replied, I think heartbreaking. This is he's on the path,

573
00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:50,000
Speaker 1: he's growing, he's being blessed, spirit of the Lord stirring him. Oh,

574
00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:52,400
Speaker 1: it's just like I thought it was gonna be. You know,

575
00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:55,280
Speaker 1: I graduated college, I got the job, I did the thing,

576
00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:58,560
Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden, life will just pivot

577
00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:03,920
Speaker 1: on you. And the kid was so cute, so cute

578
00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:13,959
Speaker 1: until they started saying words, so cute until they start

579
00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:17,319
Speaker 1: saying mine. You know, not just with children, but things

580
00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:19,040
Speaker 1: in our life that just all of a suddenly is

581
00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:21,239
Speaker 1: headed this way, is headed this way, just like I said, Oh,

582
00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:23,200
Speaker 1: trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not

583
00:34:23,239 --> 00:34:26,000
Speaker 1: on your own understanding. I hear you Proverbs three five

584
00:34:26,040 --> 00:34:28,839
Speaker 1: and six. In all your ways, acknowledge him. And you know,

585
00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:31,560
Speaker 1: I didn't drink the for a minute, drink like the

586
00:34:31,600 --> 00:34:33,799
Speaker 1: angel said. And I didn't eat the unclean food and

587
00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:35,759
Speaker 1: so and he's doing right. And all of a sudden,

588
00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:39,120
Speaker 1: Samson said, I saw something in tim whoa come back.

589
00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:43,839
Speaker 1: And now now watch this. The destiny of the nation

590
00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:50,760
Speaker 1: is threatened by Sampson's bad decision. And the parents are like, please,

591
00:34:51,360 --> 00:34:54,960
Speaker 1: please make a better decision. Please quit hanging out with

592
00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:58,839
Speaker 1: those friends. Please. I'm telling you it's dangerous. I'm telling

593
00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:02,680
Speaker 1: you it's wrong. Because the Philistines were known for child sacrifice,

594
00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:06,680
Speaker 1: the Philistines were known for worshiping other gods. The Philistines

595
00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:11,640
Speaker 1: were known for very abusive practices that were contrary to

596
00:35:11,760 --> 00:35:14,320
Speaker 1: the word of God. And his father and mother replied,

597
00:35:14,680 --> 00:35:18,040
Speaker 1: isn't there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among

598
00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:22,840
Speaker 1: all our people. Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines

599
00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:29,560
Speaker 1: to get a wife. Bus Sampson had already made his decision,

600
00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:35,920
Speaker 1: and now this child. I'm just thinking, as a parent

601
00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:42,920
Speaker 1: who had so much promise, so much potential, needs a haircut.

602
00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:50,360
Speaker 1: But even that's intentional. Now he's making the dumbest decision

603
00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:54,520
Speaker 1: he could possibly make, to run too what he's supposed

604
00:35:54,560 --> 00:35:59,520
Speaker 1: to be delivering the people from and they can't convince him. Now,

605
00:36:00,280 --> 00:36:02,239
Speaker 1: this is where it gets tricky, because it's hard enough

606
00:36:02,239 --> 00:36:07,240
Speaker 1: to make your own good decisions, but then you start,

607
00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:10,640
Speaker 1: you start throwing in the decisions that other people make

608
00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:15,560
Speaker 1: that you can't affect or control no matter how hard

609
00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:20,640
Speaker 1: you try. And everybody who writes parenting books, I want

610
00:36:20,680 --> 00:36:22,360
Speaker 1: to give them just one bad kid and see what

611
00:36:22,440 --> 00:36:24,759
Speaker 1: they still write it the same way, because all this

612
00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:27,640
Speaker 1: seven ways to raise your kid with the you know

613
00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:30,080
Speaker 1: from the Book of Ruth whatever, I'll give you one

614
00:36:30,160 --> 00:36:33,040
Speaker 1: demon child with a strong will, and you will burn

615
00:36:33,120 --> 00:36:35,400
Speaker 1: your own book. Get out of my face, because some

616
00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:44,239
Speaker 1: stuff you can't control. Hello, he was determined, he was determined,

617
00:36:44,320 --> 00:36:48,279
Speaker 1: he was already he was already gone, So they went

618
00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:54,120
Speaker 1: with him. And this is the pivotal moment of my message.

619
00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:57,919
Speaker 1: Is this is the part God showed me that got

620
00:36:57,960 --> 00:37:02,600
Speaker 1: me so excited, because everyone in here knows what it

621
00:37:02,719 --> 00:37:05,520
Speaker 1: is to have the plan that you made right in

622
00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:08,239
Speaker 1: your head, the model that you had that doesn't match

623
00:37:08,280 --> 00:37:10,840
Speaker 1: the life that you're living. And now, all of a sudden,

624
00:37:11,200 --> 00:37:16,360
Speaker 1: Samson whose name means son, Samson who's radiant, Samson who's blessed,

625
00:37:16,680 --> 00:37:20,440
Speaker 1: Samson who's strong, Samson who carries the expectation of the

626
00:37:20,440 --> 00:37:23,480
Speaker 1: deliverance of the nation on his shoulders, is making a

627
00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:25,759
Speaker 1: dumb decision. And it doesn't have to be a kid,

628
00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:28,000
Speaker 1: and it doesn't have to be a spouse, it doesn't

629
00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:30,120
Speaker 1: have to be a relationship at all. You are going

630
00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:33,480
Speaker 1: to go into some situations in your life that you

631
00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:36,960
Speaker 1: will pray about, plead about, and plan about, and none

632
00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:39,040
Speaker 1: of it will work, and you will be faced with

633
00:37:39,160 --> 00:37:41,960
Speaker 1: the question, now what do I do? I want to

634
00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:49,080
Speaker 1: suggest that when this happens, that you consider the parentheses.

635
00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:55,560
Speaker 1: There's a little thing that Samuel will put into the record.

636
00:37:56,719 --> 00:38:01,520
Speaker 1: And he was writing this record long after the events

637
00:38:01,560 --> 00:38:07,000
Speaker 1: had happened, and all Sampson's parents knew us this is trouble.

638
00:38:07,640 --> 00:38:10,160
Speaker 1: If he marries her, it's going to lead to all

639
00:38:10,239 --> 00:38:13,040
Speaker 1: kinds of clashing values if he goes through with this,

640
00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:15,200
Speaker 1: because that's all we know when we're in it is

641
00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:21,520
Speaker 1: our plan. But watch how the text pivots with a

642
00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:25,200
Speaker 1: parenthetical insert. Have you studied any grammar books lately? The

643
00:38:25,239 --> 00:38:28,720
Speaker 1: parentheses is when you want to put something in the sentence,

644
00:38:29,160 --> 00:38:32,200
Speaker 1: but the sentence makes sense without it, but you add

645
00:38:32,239 --> 00:38:36,000
Speaker 1: it in to give additional information that might be helpful

646
00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:38,759
Speaker 1: to the person reading it, but the sentence would make

647
00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:43,520
Speaker 1: sense without it, But the parentheses. In Judges, chapter fourteen,

648
00:38:43,640 --> 00:38:48,000
Speaker 1: verse four, says his parents did not know that this

649
00:38:49,960 --> 00:38:54,880
Speaker 1: was from the Lord. They knew Sampson was from the

650
00:38:54,920 --> 00:38:59,840
Speaker 1: Lord because the Angel spoke it and her wound was barren,

651
00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:03,319
Speaker 1: So the only way it could have happened was that

652
00:39:03,400 --> 00:39:06,080
Speaker 1: it was from the Lord. But now they've got to

653
00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:09,399
Speaker 1: look at a disappointment. Look, it's no problem to look

654
00:39:09,440 --> 00:39:11,680
Speaker 1: at your gifts, your blessings, and your strengths and say,

655
00:39:11,920 --> 00:39:14,680
Speaker 1: this is from the Lord. I praise you for another day,

656
00:39:14,880 --> 00:39:17,440
Speaker 1: how great and mighty you are, and I lift your

657
00:39:17,520 --> 00:39:22,520
Speaker 1: name on high. But this this, have you ever had

658
00:39:22,520 --> 00:39:25,320
Speaker 1: to walk through a situation where you thought, really, God,

659
00:39:25,600 --> 00:39:29,320
Speaker 1: this like I didn't drink any wine and I didn't

660
00:39:29,320 --> 00:39:32,160
Speaker 1: eat any unclean foods, and I did everything the Angel

661
00:39:32,239 --> 00:39:35,040
Speaker 1: told me. And now this you're really gonna let this

662
00:39:35,120 --> 00:39:37,600
Speaker 1: break out of my life. And the author said, yeah,

663
00:39:37,640 --> 00:39:43,000
Speaker 1: this was from the Lord because he was seeking an occasion.

664
00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:46,760
Speaker 1: The Hebrew really means he was picking a fight. God

665
00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:49,719
Speaker 1: wanted to set his people free from the Phoenicians, from

666
00:39:49,719 --> 00:39:52,239
Speaker 1: the Philistines, and he was gonna do it. But he

667
00:39:52,320 --> 00:39:55,000
Speaker 1: wanted to do it not through a good decision, but

668
00:39:55,040 --> 00:39:58,040
Speaker 1: through a bad decision. So watch what he does, because

669
00:39:58,080 --> 00:40:01,560
Speaker 1: he's sovereign and almighty. The Lord is his name, and

670
00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:04,920
Speaker 1: he is beyond understanding, and his ways no man can fathom.

671
00:40:05,160 --> 00:40:09,719
Speaker 1: Watch what he does. He uses Sampson's dumb decision to

672
00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:13,960
Speaker 1: deliver a nation. Now, if he did that for Samson,

673
00:40:14,680 --> 00:40:27,480
Speaker 1: won't he do it for you? Won't he use this too?

674
00:40:28,520 --> 00:40:31,000
Speaker 1: The more things that I can look at my life

675
00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:36,280
Speaker 1: and say, this is from the Lord. Look he didn't

676
00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:38,560
Speaker 1: give me my verse again, verse four. It's so good,

677
00:40:38,760 --> 00:40:41,279
Speaker 1: and it's in parentheses because the sentence will make sense

678
00:40:41,320 --> 00:40:43,200
Speaker 1: without it, but your life will not make sense without this.

679
00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:48,279
Speaker 1: Trying to make sense of it, you need to put

680
00:40:48,280 --> 00:40:52,200
Speaker 1: a parenthesis on it and be like, there's something that

681
00:40:52,239 --> 00:40:57,680
Speaker 1: the author knows that I don't know of yet. And

682
00:40:57,719 --> 00:41:02,600
Speaker 1: he who began I'm looking for, whoever God gave me

683
00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:04,799
Speaker 1: this sermon for because it couldn't have just been me.

684
00:41:06,200 --> 00:41:09,520
Speaker 1: Touch somebody say, put a purpose on it. Put a

685
00:41:09,560 --> 00:41:14,680
Speaker 1: purpose on it, because when you find yourself beyond your understanding,

686
00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:17,799
Speaker 1: you gotta pivot to the purpose God. I don't like

687
00:41:17,880 --> 00:41:20,680
Speaker 1: this right now. I don't get this right now. I

688
00:41:20,719 --> 00:41:24,360
Speaker 1: can't explain this right now. I can't rationalize it right now.

689
00:41:24,719 --> 00:41:27,640
Speaker 1: But if you started it, you'll finish it. There is

690
00:41:27,800 --> 00:41:31,480
Speaker 1: power in the pivot, there is power in praise, and

691
00:41:31,520 --> 00:41:37,440
Speaker 1: there is a purpose in your situation. There's a purpose

692
00:41:37,480 --> 00:41:41,440
Speaker 1: in it. There's a purpose in it. God's trying to

693
00:41:41,440 --> 00:41:43,719
Speaker 1: pick a fight with the devil, and he wants to

694
00:41:43,800 --> 00:41:47,120
Speaker 1: break some things free and shut some things down and

695
00:41:47,239 --> 00:41:50,239
Speaker 1: get some things through. And he's gonna use this to

696
00:41:50,800 --> 00:41:56,040
Speaker 1: This is from the Lord. I'm making a decision right now,

697
00:41:56,160 --> 00:41:59,600
Speaker 1: a pivotal decision. I'm gonna turn from facing this and

698
00:41:59,640 --> 00:42:03,200
Speaker 1: I'm face I'm gonna turn from what I don't understand

699
00:42:03,440 --> 00:42:06,920
Speaker 1: to the God who, according to the mystery of his will,

700
00:42:07,120 --> 00:42:10,920
Speaker 1: has predestined, according to his good pleasure, that all things

701
00:42:10,960 --> 00:42:14,799
Speaker 1: work together for his purpose. I'm serving the God who

702
00:42:14,800 --> 00:42:17,600
Speaker 1: could take an instrument of death called a Roman cross,

703
00:42:17,920 --> 00:42:20,080
Speaker 1: hang on it. And then get down in the ground

704
00:42:20,280 --> 00:42:24,040
Speaker 1: and come forward talking about I am resurrection power and

705
00:42:24,080 --> 00:42:26,600
Speaker 1: I have the keys of death, hell and the grave.

706
00:42:31,880 --> 00:42:34,680
Speaker 1: I hear the spirit of God saying, put a purpose

707
00:42:34,719 --> 00:42:37,200
Speaker 1: on it. I know you're going through some pain, and

708
00:42:37,239 --> 00:42:39,400
Speaker 1: I know your past was kind of rough and you

709
00:42:39,560 --> 00:42:45,719
Speaker 1: made a lot of mistakes. But put a purpose on it. God,

710
00:42:46,680 --> 00:42:51,000
Speaker 1: would you use even the dumb stuff that I did

711
00:42:52,640 --> 00:42:58,000
Speaker 1: to deliver your purpose. This is bigger than me. This

712
00:42:58,120 --> 00:43:00,400
Speaker 1: is bigger than what I feel right now. This is

713
00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:03,240
Speaker 1: bigger than what my mind can fathom. This is bigger

714
00:43:03,239 --> 00:43:06,680
Speaker 1: than what my heart can know. This is bigger than

715
00:43:06,680 --> 00:43:09,680
Speaker 1: my senses. This is bigger than my This is bigger

716
00:43:09,719 --> 00:43:12,560
Speaker 1: than this setback, This is this is bigger. This is bigger.

717
00:43:12,560 --> 00:43:15,560
Speaker 1: This is bigger. He called me, he chose me, and

718
00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:20,600
Speaker 1: I'm going to trust him that this is from the Lord.

719
00:43:22,160 --> 00:43:25,640
Speaker 1: With a parenthetical insert, the NIV Translation Committee decided to

720
00:43:25,719 --> 00:43:29,080
Speaker 1: let us know that there are some things that don't

721
00:43:29,120 --> 00:43:34,560
Speaker 1: make sense in your life, but the parentheses, that's where

722
00:43:34,600 --> 00:43:37,520
Speaker 1: you see the purpose. You just got to pivot and

723
00:43:37,560 --> 00:43:39,320
Speaker 1: trust that is there even when you can't fill it

724
00:43:39,400 --> 00:43:44,239
Speaker 1: in yet. I don't have to explain why people in

725
00:43:44,280 --> 00:43:48,239
Speaker 1: this room, had children die, husbands that left them, addictions

726
00:43:48,239 --> 00:43:50,120
Speaker 1: that were passed on to them. I'm not talking about

727
00:43:50,120 --> 00:43:52,400
Speaker 1: whether God did that or not. We know that humans

728
00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:57,879
Speaker 1: make decisions, but God is a bigger god then you've

729
00:43:57,880 --> 00:44:00,720
Speaker 1: given him credit for, and he's above every human decision.

730
00:44:00,760 --> 00:44:08,799
Speaker 1: God is bigger than human decisions. And if Samson didn't

731
00:44:08,840 --> 00:44:13,759
Speaker 1: marry that woman, the one that he wasn't supposed to marry, yeah,

732
00:44:13,800 --> 00:44:15,719
Speaker 1: I know it's crazy because we teach like, if you

733
00:44:15,800 --> 00:44:18,360
Speaker 1: make good choices, God can use your life. I'm saying

734
00:44:19,040 --> 00:44:23,680
Speaker 1: this too us from the Lord. He was looking for something.

735
00:44:25,160 --> 00:44:28,640
Speaker 1: He's looking for something that he can work through, and

736
00:44:28,680 --> 00:44:33,400
Speaker 1: he'll even use the dumb stuff. Because if he didn't

737
00:44:33,440 --> 00:44:36,799
Speaker 1: marry this woman right when he was going down to

738
00:44:37,040 --> 00:44:39,640
Speaker 1: get her and to pay the dowry for her with

739
00:44:39,760 --> 00:44:42,800
Speaker 1: his parents and killed the lion and ripped the lion apart,

740
00:44:43,080 --> 00:44:45,520
Speaker 1: and then came back by after he came back for

741
00:44:45,600 --> 00:44:48,040
Speaker 1: the wedding and saw honey in the lion's carcass and

742
00:44:48,080 --> 00:44:49,799
Speaker 1: gave the honey, which he wasn't supposed to do because

743
00:44:49,800 --> 00:44:51,759
Speaker 1: he wasn't supposed touch anything dead, and gave it to

744
00:44:51,800 --> 00:44:53,680
Speaker 1: his parents and licked some and then went to the

745
00:44:53,719 --> 00:44:56,080
Speaker 1: wedding and sat around the table with thirty boys talking

746
00:44:56,080 --> 00:44:57,600
Speaker 1: about I got a riddle for you. Out as strong

747
00:44:57,800 --> 00:44:59,239
Speaker 1: came something to eat, and out of the eater came

748
00:44:59,280 --> 00:45:00,840
Speaker 1: something to eat. Out of fr came something sweetf you

749
00:45:00,880 --> 00:45:04,040
Speaker 1: can solve my riddle, give you thirty sets of linen clothing.

750
00:45:04,080 --> 00:45:05,960
Speaker 1: But if you can't solve it, you're gonna get me

751
00:45:05,960 --> 00:45:07,719
Speaker 1: thirty sets of clothing. And the boys got to his

752
00:45:07,800 --> 00:45:09,360
Speaker 1: wife and they were like, tell us the riddle, or

753
00:45:09,360 --> 00:45:11,279
Speaker 1: we're gonna kill your whole family. And then she was like,

754
00:45:11,280 --> 00:45:12,960
Speaker 1: tell me the riddle, Sampson, tell me the riddle. And

755
00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:14,440
Speaker 1: then he said, oh, okay, well I'll tell it to you,

756
00:45:14,440 --> 00:45:15,640
Speaker 1: but don't tell it to them. But then she told

757
00:45:15,680 --> 00:45:16,840
Speaker 1: it to them, and then they solved the riddle, and

758
00:45:16,880 --> 00:45:18,840
Speaker 1: then he had to he had to go to Ashaakt

759
00:45:18,840 --> 00:45:20,560
Speaker 1: to kill thirty men and beat him up and kill

760
00:45:20,600 --> 00:45:22,200
Speaker 1: him to take their clothes to bring them back because

761
00:45:22,239 --> 00:45:24,120
Speaker 1: of his dumb decision. But that's what set him on

762
00:45:24,120 --> 00:45:25,960
Speaker 1: a course to be able to be able to have

763
00:45:26,200 --> 00:45:28,279
Speaker 1: an opportunity to then go back home. And after the wedding,

764
00:45:28,360 --> 00:45:29,640
Speaker 1: he went back home and he was so mad at

765
00:45:29,640 --> 00:45:31,600
Speaker 1: his wife for betraying him that he went back home

766
00:45:31,640 --> 00:45:32,960
Speaker 1: and didn't even stay with her, and by the time

767
00:45:33,000 --> 00:45:35,200
Speaker 1: he got back, she'd been married to another man because

768
00:45:35,239 --> 00:45:37,440
Speaker 1: his father in law betrayed him, because he figured, you

769
00:45:37,520 --> 00:45:38,839
Speaker 1: never want to marry her now after what she did

770
00:45:38,880 --> 00:45:40,279
Speaker 1: to you. But he came back and got so mad

771
00:45:40,320 --> 00:45:42,200
Speaker 1: that he took three hundred foxes and tied their tails

772
00:45:42,239 --> 00:45:44,120
Speaker 1: together in pairs, lit them on fire, sent them loose

773
00:45:44,120 --> 00:45:46,080
Speaker 1: in the Philistine fields, and when they tore up the fields,

774
00:45:46,080 --> 00:45:48,440
Speaker 1: the Philistines were mad. But Samson killed them because he

775
00:45:48,480 --> 00:45:50,520
Speaker 1: was strong. Now, he never would have killed them if

776
00:45:50,560 --> 00:45:52,319
Speaker 1: they hadn't hurt him, and he never would have been

777
00:45:52,360 --> 00:45:54,640
Speaker 1: hurt by them if he hadn't made the wrong decision.

778
00:45:54,840 --> 00:45:58,320
Speaker 1: And so it goes to show that God is using everything.

779
00:45:58,360 --> 00:46:00,280
Speaker 1: If he never would have set the foxes loosen everyone

780
00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:01,719
Speaker 1: to come to Judah and tied him up and tried

781
00:46:01,719 --> 00:46:03,360
Speaker 1: to deliver them so we could break them free and

782
00:46:03,440 --> 00:46:04,840
Speaker 1: kill a thousand of them with a job one of

783
00:46:04,840 --> 00:46:06,839
Speaker 1: a donkey. If it never would have happened the way

784
00:46:06,880 --> 00:46:09,480
Speaker 1: it happened, it couldn't be what it is. So stop

785
00:46:09,600 --> 00:46:12,640
Speaker 1: looking at what it was and ask God what he

786
00:46:12,719 --> 00:46:15,600
Speaker 1: wants it to be. God wants to use the dumb

787
00:46:15,680 --> 00:46:24,200
Speaker 1: stuff too. You can't control it anyway. The spirit of

788
00:46:24,239 --> 00:46:27,160
Speaker 1: the Lord is on you. The spirit of the Lord

789
00:46:27,280 --> 00:46:30,319
Speaker 1: is on you. If the lion comes to attack you,

790
00:46:30,680 --> 00:46:33,080
Speaker 1: he will give you the ability to rip it open

791
00:46:33,160 --> 00:46:38,719
Speaker 1: because the spirit of the Lord is on And it's

792
00:46:38,760 --> 00:46:43,880
Speaker 1: a pivotal decision that you make when you find yourself

793
00:46:44,640 --> 00:46:48,960
Speaker 1: in these disappointing situations where it seems like you can't win.

794
00:46:50,440 --> 00:46:52,440
Speaker 1: Whether I'm going to believe that there is a bigger

795
00:46:52,440 --> 00:46:56,480
Speaker 1: picture or if I'm going to minimize God's presence to

796
00:46:56,520 --> 00:47:04,560
Speaker 1: the level of my understanding. Right now, let's turn it around.

797
00:47:05,800 --> 00:47:09,439
Speaker 1: Let's turn it around and instead of trying to tell

798
00:47:09,480 --> 00:47:12,880
Speaker 1: God what's best for us, and instead of trying to

799
00:47:12,920 --> 00:47:16,760
Speaker 1: do what's right in our own eyes, let's turn it around.

800
00:47:17,800 --> 00:47:20,200
Speaker 1: Instead of groveling in the guilt of things that are

801
00:47:20,280 --> 00:47:25,080
Speaker 1: already over, I'm telling you God uses the weirdest things

802
00:47:25,160 --> 00:47:32,360
Speaker 1: about you. God uses that big nose that you hate

803
00:47:32,560 --> 00:47:35,960
Speaker 1: and that little habit that you have. He uses that

804
00:47:36,920 --> 00:47:38,960
Speaker 1: because when He delivers you from it, you could be

805
00:47:39,000 --> 00:47:41,640
Speaker 1: a testimony. And He's going to use that too. This

806
00:47:42,120 --> 00:47:46,919
Speaker 1: is from the Lord. How I don't know, I don't

807
00:47:46,960 --> 00:47:51,120
Speaker 1: know a plan. But when I don't know the plan,

808
00:47:51,160 --> 00:47:55,680
Speaker 1: I pivot to the purpose. And he's working it all in.

809
00:47:57,239 --> 00:47:59,799
Speaker 1: He's working it all in. God, help me make better

810
00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:03,839
Speaker 1: decisions in the future. But use the dumb stuff too.

811
00:48:05,680 --> 00:48:08,080
Speaker 1: That's maybe the best prayer I ever pray. God, use

812
00:48:08,160 --> 00:48:13,080
Speaker 1: the dumb stuff too. Father, I bless and honor your

813
00:48:13,080 --> 00:48:18,759
Speaker 1: great name today, as together your people offer you the

814
00:48:18,760 --> 00:48:25,000
Speaker 1: reverence of our attention and our affection. I don't know

815
00:48:25,040 --> 00:48:28,080
Speaker 1: what they did. I don't know what was done to them.

816
00:48:28,800 --> 00:48:30,839
Speaker 1: I don't know what they can't control. That's going down

817
00:48:30,920 --> 00:48:34,840
Speaker 1: to Timna today to make a dumb decision. I declare

818
00:48:34,880 --> 00:48:38,560
Speaker 1: over their life that this is from the Lord. Even

819
00:48:38,600 --> 00:48:43,000
Speaker 1: if you didn't cause it, there is nothing you can't

820
00:48:43,120 --> 00:48:52,480
Speaker 1: use with everyone standing, no one moving. You can pivot

821
00:48:52,480 --> 00:49:00,200
Speaker 1: when you're planted. You can pivot when you're planted. When

822
00:49:00,239 --> 00:49:06,320
Speaker 1: you know that he spoke it, you could be assured

823
00:49:06,320 --> 00:49:10,480
Speaker 1: he will perform it. God's trying to turn your attention

824
00:49:12,680 --> 00:49:21,799
Speaker 1: to something greater than your pain, greater than your insecurity.

825
00:49:21,960 --> 00:49:24,080
Speaker 1: This is from the Lord. It's easy to say that

826
00:49:24,120 --> 00:49:29,359
Speaker 1: when you're holding Samson, harder to say when you can't

827
00:49:29,360 --> 00:49:33,719
Speaker 1: control him. But Samuel will put it in parenthesis to

828
00:49:33,800 --> 00:49:37,200
Speaker 1: let us know this is what makes life make sense,

829
00:49:37,280 --> 00:49:41,600
Speaker 1: that this is from the Lord. There's something bigger. I

830
00:49:41,680 --> 00:49:44,279
Speaker 1: can't tell you what it is right now, but his

831
00:49:44,400 --> 00:49:51,400
Speaker 1: name is beyond understanding. Father, thank you for your sweet

832
00:49:51,440 --> 00:49:55,200
Speaker 1: holy spirit that gently reminds us of your love and

833
00:49:55,239 --> 00:50:00,840
Speaker 1: compassion and concern for us. Now than in this moment,

834
00:50:00,880 --> 00:50:05,239
Speaker 1: you would administer the gifts of healing, the portion of

835
00:50:05,320 --> 00:50:12,160
Speaker 1: joy that belongs to your children but has often been robbed. Well,

836
00:50:12,160 --> 00:50:15,759
Speaker 1: come against the thief now who has come to cause

837
00:50:15,800 --> 00:50:18,560
Speaker 1: them to face in the wrong direction. We turn our

838
00:50:18,560 --> 00:50:22,919
Speaker 1: eyes on you. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks

839
00:50:23,000 --> 00:50:25,560
Speaker 1: to those of you who give generously to this ministry.

840
00:50:25,880 --> 00:50:28,840
Speaker 1: Is because of you that this ministry is possible. You

841
00:50:28,840 --> 00:50:31,320
Speaker 1: can click the link in the description to give now,

842
00:50:31,840 --> 00:50:35,200
Speaker 1: or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for more

843
00:50:35,200 --> 00:50:39,000
Speaker 1: information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.

844
00:50:39,280 --> 00:50:41,359
Speaker 1: You can share it with your friends. You can click

845
00:50:41,360 --> 00:50:43,600
Speaker 1: the share button, take a screenshot and share it on

846
00:50:43,640 --> 00:50:46,520
Speaker 1: your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks

847
00:50:46,520 --> 00:50:52,960
Speaker 1: again for listening. God bless you