WEBVTT - The Power Of Precision 0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.320 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.040 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:13.600 gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:14.720 Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:21.040 The scripture I want to use for this series as 0:00:21.040 --> 0:00:25.000 a window into the principles that I believe God wants 0:00:25.040 --> 0:00:28.320 to teach us is in Second King's thirteen. I don't 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:30.639 know if you've ever heard this Bible story. It's a 0:00:30.640 --> 0:00:33.559 little bit obscure, but sometimes it's in the stuff that 0:00:33.600 --> 0:00:35.760 you skip over in the Bible that God can speak 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:38.120 to you in a fresh way because you don't think 0:00:38.120 --> 0:00:40.920 that you know it already. And this would be a 0:00:40.920 --> 0:00:43.360 little story that I bet a lot of us have. 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:44.360 Never really studied. 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:47.239 And it's going to give us, as I said, a 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:51.240 window into the way God works in our lives over 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:52.519 the next few weeks. 0:00:52.520 --> 0:00:53.640 And I'm excited about it. 0:00:53.680 --> 0:00:57.160 I preached this passage in the year twenty thirteen around 0:00:57.200 --> 0:00:57.640 the world. 0:00:58.000 --> 0:00:59.400 I never preached it in our church. 0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:02.000 I'm glad I didn't, because when I was preaching it 0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:05.280 in other places, I was skimming the surface. But as 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:08.319 I've been studying it, I've been seeing some things that 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:11.760 are very significant and relevant to our lives and the 0:01:11.840 --> 0:01:15.920 season that we're in and the opportunities that God is 0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:19.039 calling us to seize. So I want to share the 0:01:19.040 --> 0:01:22.679 scripture with you. In tewod King's thirteen, verse fourteen, rock Hill, 0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:27.679 y'all doing okay today, Matthews, I saw our university city location, 0:01:27.920 --> 0:01:35.560 Lake Norman, Melbourne, Florida, Roanoke, Virginia, Raleigh, North Carolina, Toronto, Canada, 0:01:35.680 --> 0:01:49.520 Uptown Charlotte, Gaston County, Concord, Blakeney, and Ballentine. We had 0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:52.480 a full house at Valentine. And when I say full house, 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:55.000 I don't just mean no empty seats. I mean this 0:01:55.160 --> 0:02:03.800 place is full of expectation. Y'all weren't too convincing. I said, 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:06.400 this place is full of expectation. 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:12.600 There it is there, it is there, It is amen. Now. 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:16.799 Elisha had been suffering from the illness from which he died. 0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:20.880 Jeho Ash, King of Israel, went down to see him. 0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:24.200 He went down to see him because he wouldn't be 0:02:24.240 --> 0:02:25.120 around much longer. 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:26.440 The window was closing. 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:31.720 Elisha was the seer for the nation of Israel, and 0:02:31.800 --> 0:02:36.040 it was his sight, his insight, his divine insight, that gave. 0:02:35.880 --> 0:02:36.720 Them their victories. 0:02:37.280 --> 0:02:40.959 And he's dying, and the king, who has just newly 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:43.920 been crowned, wants to see the prophet, to see the 0:02:44.000 --> 0:02:47.920 seer one more time before the window of opportunity closes. 0:02:48.160 --> 0:02:53.240 How many knowe all opportunities are not created equal, and 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:57.520 every opportunity has an expiration day. And he wants to 0:02:57.520 --> 0:02:59.600 hear the word of the Lord from Elisha one time 0:02:59.639 --> 0:03:02.400 before the window closes. And so we went down to 0:03:02.480 --> 0:03:04.560 see him, which was uncommon for kings to do, but 0:03:04.639 --> 0:03:07.640 he was in a desperate situation. And sometimes it takes 0:03:07.639 --> 0:03:09.919 a desperate situation to drive you. 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:13.240 To God for guidance. And we haven't heard. 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:15.800 From Elijah the Prophet in a couple of decades. But 0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:20.040 the window is closing, and he's weeping over the loss 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:21.040 of this. 0:03:21.280 --> 0:03:23.400 Great prophetic figure, and. 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:26.560 He cries out, my father, my father, the chariots and 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:28.800 horsemen of Israel. 0:03:28.680 --> 0:03:30.840 What are we going to do without you? He seems to. 0:03:30.800 --> 0:03:33.720 Be saying, it wasn't our troops that won the battles, 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:36.160 It was the word of God threw you that brought 0:03:36.240 --> 0:03:36.920 us the victory. 0:03:37.160 --> 0:03:39.320 And we don't know what we'll do without you. But 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:43.680 Elijah said, get a bow and some arrows. 0:03:44.560 --> 0:03:50.080 God is about to teach you how to fight, how 0:03:50.120 --> 0:03:53.760 to fight battles on a spiritual level. You've been fighting 0:03:53.760 --> 0:03:56.119 on a physical level. That's why you've been losing. That's 0:03:56.120 --> 0:03:59.680 why you've been tired. But the prophet said, get a 0:03:59.720 --> 0:04:02.120 bow and some arrows. And he did so. And then 0:04:02.120 --> 0:04:05.000 he told him take that bow in your hands. And 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:07.840 he said to the King of Israel, to take a 0:04:07.840 --> 0:04:09.800 bow and some arrows. And when he had taken it, 0:04:09.840 --> 0:04:12.720 Elisha put his hands on the king's hands. He gave 0:04:12.800 --> 0:04:17.440 him guidance, divine guidance from the man of God. And 0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:21.760 verse seventeen is our key verse for the series. He said, 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:28.599 open the east window. There's our word. Open the east window. 0:04:28.760 --> 0:04:32.560 Notice the prophet didn't open it for him. He told 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:36.640 him to open it. We've been asking God to give 0:04:36.720 --> 0:04:39.560 us opportunities. God is waiting for us to seize the 0:04:39.680 --> 0:04:43.360 opportunities that are right in front of our own eyes. 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:49.680 I feel like preaching today. I feel like preaching. Open 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:52.320 the east window, he said, and he opened it. Shoot, 0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:56.680 Elisha said, and he shot the Lord's arrow of victory, 0:04:57.000 --> 0:04:59.680 the arrow of victory over Iram. 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:02.120 Elisha declared, the arrow. 0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:06.320 Of victory over depression, the arrow of victory over addiction, 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:10.480 the arrow of victory over rebellion, the arrow of victory 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:14.239 over doubt, the arrow of victory over bitterness, the arrow 0:05:14.320 --> 0:05:23.680 of victory. I see a victory in this house. You 0:05:23.760 --> 0:05:29.000 will completely destroy the Aramians at affect And I want 0:05:29.040 --> 0:05:31.400 to use for installment one of this series. 0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:37.560 Work your window, the power of precision. On your way to. 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:39.839 Your seat, Touch your neighbors. Say I'm aiming at something 0:05:39.880 --> 0:05:43.000 this year. I'm aiming at something this year, the power 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:52.320 of precision. You may be seated. I'm gonna talk to 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:55.920 this guy. He's leaning forward, he looks interested. I feel 0:05:55.960 --> 0:06:01.560 real sorry for King Jehoash because I understand and his predicament, 0:06:01.640 --> 0:06:04.320 because I was studying what would bring him to Elisha 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:05.760 in such a desperate state. 0:06:06.760 --> 0:06:08.200 And to really. 0:06:08.240 --> 0:06:12.080 Understand his plight, you have to understand the patterns that 0:06:12.120 --> 0:06:14.960 he inherited all the kings that had gone before him. 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:18.599 The examples that he had seen set in his lifetime 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:23.240 were negative examples of half hearted kings who tried to 0:06:23.400 --> 0:06:28.000 fulfill their God given role their own way, and when 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:32.400 you're stuck in a pattern. When you're stuck in a 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:37.599 predictable pattern, the feet becomes automatic, and victory is a 0:06:37.640 --> 0:06:43.320 strange sight. Now, so much oppression has besieged God's. 0:06:43.040 --> 0:06:45.200 People that not only is. 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:48.800 Jeho Ash, the king that I mentioned in tewod King's thirteen, 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:55.760 trying to deal with this transitional responsibility shift. Now he's 0:06:56.200 --> 0:06:58.320 wearing a crown that's a little big for his head. 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:01.200 Have you ever had the step into a situation that you. 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:02.760 Didn't feel quite prepared for? 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:06.920 If you are a father or a mother, you ought 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:10.360 to raise your hand. You were so cocky when you 0:07:10.360 --> 0:07:17.160 were reading baby books. And not only is he transitioning 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:19.120 into a new role, but he's going to have to 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:26.200 do it without Elisha because the window is closing. And 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:30.200 before the window closes, he goes to the prophet and 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:36.760 he receives some final instructions. He wants to know what 0:07:36.960 --> 0:07:44.200 to do next. He's weeping, probably because of Elisha's lost, 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:47.560 but also because of the pressure he was under. And 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:51.360 it wasn't just pressure coming from one enemy. It was 0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:54.840 pressure coming from the north and the south, and. 0:07:54.800 --> 0:07:56.600 The east and the west. 0:07:57.040 --> 0:08:00.160 And if you never felt that kind of pressure, you 0:08:00.160 --> 0:08:03.520 won't relate to joho Ash's predicament. But he feels it 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:06.960 closing in from every side, and it seems like he's 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:11.400 being attacked over here and attacked over there, and he's 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:13.480 having a hard time at work, and then he goes home, 0:08:13.520 --> 0:08:16.080 and he is hard at home. And sometimes it'd be 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:17.760 easier to be at work than it would be to 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:20.520 be at home. And it's one thing when you've got 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:23.600 pressure coming from one direction, but when it's coming from 0:08:23.600 --> 0:08:27.120 every side, it can get a little overwhelming to be 0:08:27.200 --> 0:08:30.560 pressured from every side, to be pressured from every direction. 0:08:30.960 --> 0:08:32.120 No wonder he's weeping. 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:35.080 No wonder he's made the trek as uncommon as it 0:08:35.120 --> 0:08:38.160 would be for a king to condescend to a dying profit. 0:08:38.480 --> 0:08:40.960 No wonder he showed up to kneel down at his 0:08:41.120 --> 0:08:44.840 bedside and cry, my father, my father, What do I do. 0:08:44.920 --> 0:08:47.480 I'm attacked on the right, I'm attacked on the left. 0:08:47.640 --> 0:08:50.760 I'm attacked in my finances, I'm attacked in my family. 0:08:50.800 --> 0:08:55.040 I'm under attack internally externally. Seems like I can't get 0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:55.760 any relief. 0:08:56.120 --> 0:08:57.079 What do I do? 0:08:57.160 --> 0:09:00.480 He needs some comfort, but Elisha does and give him 0:09:00.520 --> 0:09:01.160 any comfort. 0:09:01.200 --> 0:09:03.040 He gives him an instruction. 0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:08.559 Because God is a god of action, touch somebody. 0:09:08.200 --> 0:09:11.559 And say work your window, work your window. 0:09:11.640 --> 0:09:14.360 He doesn't tell him everything's going to be all right, 0:09:14.559 --> 0:09:17.040 or sing him the fourth Stanza of amazing Grace when 0:09:17.040 --> 0:09:19.679 we've been there ten thousand years. Instead, he gives him 0:09:19.720 --> 0:09:25.160 a simple instruction. Get a bow, get an arrow. You 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:29.120 are not going to experience victory weeping over what is dying. 0:09:33.000 --> 0:09:36.400 You are not going to see victory in this season 0:09:36.480 --> 0:09:38.840 if you are stuck in a memory of the last one. 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:43.320 Who am I preaching to today? Get your bow, Get 0:09:43.400 --> 0:09:48.760 your bow and your arrows, because everything you need for 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:54.880 victory in this season is within your reach. You have 0:09:54.920 --> 0:10:01.120 a window of opportunity now. Leonard Ravenhill said that the 0:10:01.160 --> 0:10:07.360 opportunity of a lifetime must be seized in the lifetime 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:15.760 of the opportunity. Trouble doesn't last always, and neither does opportunity. 0:10:16.600 --> 0:10:19.960 Trying to teach this to my children, trying to teach 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:23.840 them that their brain has plasticity right now, and there 0:10:23.880 --> 0:10:25.719 are things they can learn while they're young that will 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:28.560 be difficult if they wait until they're older. 0:10:29.720 --> 0:10:31.720 So that's why you got to go to piano lessons. 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:32.600 I know you hate it. 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:36.160 But you will thank your mom one day because your 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:39.800 fingers will memorize it better with your brain right now 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:45.800 than they will later. So seize this opportunity. Learn stuff 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:50.720 in school so you won't be stupid later on googling 0:10:50.800 --> 0:10:53.280 stuff that you could have found out in fifth grade. 0:10:56.040 --> 0:10:59.040 You got a window. You got a window. That's why 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:01.920 I don't understand any of y'all that are texting while 0:11:01.960 --> 0:11:05.360 I'm preaching. Can't you give God fifty solid minutes to 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:08.280 speak to you out of a whole twenty four seven, 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:17.240 three sixty five, this is your window? And he comes 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:19.720 to the prophet. Now it's an old prophet and a 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:21.600 young king, and he says, show me what to do. 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:25.600 And the prophet put his hands on his hands, and 0:11:25.640 --> 0:11:28.680 he showed him three things that will kind of set. 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:30.240 The course for I want this series to go. 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:33.640 I pray to the Lord of Heaven and Earth that 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:36.760 you will give me more than one week to preach 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:41.280 this word to you, because as it unfolds, it's going 0:11:41.320 --> 0:11:45.479 to become very practical. But before we get to the practicality, 0:11:45.520 --> 0:11:47.400 I want to show you the power in it. There's 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:50.480 three things. It's a very simple parable inaction. 0:11:50.200 --> 0:11:51.040 That we see here. 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:56.320 It is highly symbolic, and see in Eastern literature you'll 0:11:56.360 --> 0:11:59.920 see this often. We as Western minds, we like lists. 0:12:02.000 --> 0:12:03.880 But God is a god of action. 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:08.840 So often when the prophets would prophesy, they would work 0:12:08.920 --> 0:12:12.600 the word rather than just speaking the word. And so 0:12:12.640 --> 0:12:15.360 it's not a surprise to me that Elijah says, get 0:12:15.400 --> 0:12:21.880 a bow, get some arrows, stop crying, take action. Push 0:12:21.880 --> 0:12:23.079 your neighbors say, take action. 0:12:24.520 --> 0:12:25.079 Take action. 0:12:25.600 --> 0:12:27.880 You are not blessed according to the word of God 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:30.120 that you hear, but according to the word of God 0:12:30.160 --> 0:12:31.920 that you apply and act upon. 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:33.640 Take action. 0:12:35.800 --> 0:12:39.880 God doesn't give a biology lesson about healing. 0:12:39.920 --> 0:12:43.600 He heals. He's not just a god of instruction. 0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:47.359 He is a god of implementation and execution is everything. 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:51.720 So instead of instructing him about what to do, he shows. 0:12:51.480 --> 0:12:53.560 Him how to do it. That's what my mom used 0:12:53.559 --> 0:12:57.000 to say. She would say, I can show you better 0:12:57.679 --> 0:13:00.840 than I can tell you. And that's what God is saying. 0:13:01.160 --> 0:13:04.600 He's saying, get your bow, get your arrow, let's get 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:06.360 to work. I want to work on this word for 0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:08.559 the next six weeks. And the first thing I want 0:13:08.559 --> 0:13:12.520 to encourage you to do in accordance with this little perihope. 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:14.840 That's a seminary word. You got to bust out that 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:16.560 education every once in a while. 0:13:17.200 --> 0:13:20.240 Just a fancy word that means story. This little story 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:23.640 is highly symbolic, but is highly instructive. And the first 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:28.880 thing God told me to tell you is view the victory. 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:34.760 He told him to open the window. Open the window. 0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:41.600 You've been staring at your walls long enough. Open the window. 0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:45.600 You've been looking at your limitations long enough. 0:13:46.559 --> 0:13:47.480 Open the window. 0:13:49.559 --> 0:13:51.600 And after he had opened the window, he told him 0:13:51.600 --> 0:13:54.720 to do something strange. He told him to shoot an 0:13:54.840 --> 0:13:59.880 arrow in the direction of aarm. Aarm was a loose 0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:02.840 federation of nations that would only assemble together to fight 0:14:02.880 --> 0:14:05.880 a common enemy. You might know it better as Syria. 0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:09.319 You probably never heard of King jase L, but he 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:09.760 would be. 0:14:09.720 --> 0:14:10.600 Similar to Hitler. 0:14:11.360 --> 0:14:14.560 The way he had oppressed God's people, the way he 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:18.280 had decimated the fighting forces of Israel. 0:14:18.360 --> 0:14:19.400 He seemed unbeatable. 0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:23.920 And the man of God tells the newly minted king, 0:14:24.560 --> 0:14:29.240 open the window, the one that faces your enemy and 0:14:29.280 --> 0:14:34.480 gets your bow and gets your arrow, and shoot your 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:40.800 arrow over Aram. This is important because the battle hasn't 0:14:40.840 --> 0:14:41.840 even begun yet. 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:44.800 But the prophet wants the king to see. 0:14:44.600 --> 0:14:53.080 The victory before the fight starts. This is why I 0:14:53.120 --> 0:15:00.920 love being a Christian, because I don't fight for victory. 0:15:02.040 --> 0:15:05.280 I fight from victory. 0:15:08.040 --> 0:15:12.440 I need you to see this year the arrow a 0:15:12.600 --> 0:15:18.800 victory over Aram before you fight the battle. And I 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:24.760 certain I certainly as a. 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:25.400 Pastor, want to encourage. 0:15:25.000 --> 0:15:29.720 You to review your victories as regularly as possible. I 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:31.960 told Grahama on Monday night, I said, you watch all 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:35.680 the highlights you can of this Clemson National championship because 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:38.200 they might not be Bama like this again, this might 0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:41.000 be once in a lifetime. The opportunity of a lifetime 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:43.920 must be seized in the lifetime of the opportunity. In fact, 0:15:43.920 --> 0:15:46.040 my son Graham has no frame of reference. Last year 0:15:46.080 --> 0:15:49.280 the Clemson Tigers and the Carolina Panthers were in the 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:51.640 championship and I had to explain to him this is 0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:56.800 not normal. This is like a lunar eclipse. Man, this 0:15:56.880 --> 0:16:00.160 might not happen much. So enjoy it why you can. 0:16:00.280 --> 0:16:03.000 And you know, when God gives you a victory, you 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:05.800 gotta ce you gotta you gotta celebrate your wins where 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:09.680 you can get them. Even if God does small things 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:12.840 in your life don't just climb to the top of 0:16:12.880 --> 0:16:15.360 the mountain and climb back down. Do a little dance 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:18.840 while you're there. I mean, if you're gonna climb, why 0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:23.920 not celebrate. Graham has been watching all the highlights of 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:29.320 uh of, of Dabbo Sweeney's Clemson Tigers and Deshaun Watson's 0:16:29.400 --> 0:16:35.360 championship game, and I'm glad that he's doing it. I 0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:40.320 I want my son to learn how to review victories. Yeah, 0:16:40.440 --> 0:16:43.800 because there's gonna be enough hard stuff in life for 0:16:43.880 --> 0:16:48.080 you to replay your regrets and not review your victories. 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:49.840 Amen. 0:16:51.240 --> 0:16:54.760 I'm gonna tell you I have to do this. Occasionally, 0:16:54.800 --> 0:16:57.000 something good will happen to me, and if I'm not 0:16:57.120 --> 0:17:01.760 quick to celebrate it, I'll forget it. We released a 0:17:01.840 --> 0:17:04.600 song this week on iTunes, Quick Little plug. 0:17:05.080 --> 0:17:05.760 I wanna. 0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:08.760 Take a moment and tell you about There is a 0:17:08.800 --> 0:17:12.480 Cloud released in March seventeen, twenty seventeen. You could download 0:17:12.480 --> 0:17:14.680 it on iTunes or wherever music and sold. 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:18.320 Sorry about that. We're my window, my plug in. 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:23.040 And we released a single this week, There is a Cloud. 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:26.240 We released a single and I logged onto iTunes and 0:17:26.280 --> 0:17:33.959 I saw it was number one on the Christian charts. 0:17:32.640 --> 0:17:35.359 And I'll tell you what I did. I got my phone. 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:38.320 I took my phone, and as quick as I could, 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:41.040 I took a screenshot. 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:42.000 Of that chart position. 0:17:43.000 --> 0:17:46.040 Because I might not be number one for long, but 0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:48.760 I was number one for a minute. Come on, somebody, 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:52.119 Every once in a while, you gotta take a screenshot 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:55.400 and say, I don't know what I have to fight next, 0:17:55.760 --> 0:18:04.440 but right now I'm happy. 0:18:02.680 --> 0:18:07.240 Got that screen shot. I don't know, Hillsong might knock 0:18:07.320 --> 0:18:10.120 us off the top, but I got a screen shot. 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:14.200 Touch your neighbors, say I got a screenshot. Yeah, you 0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:18.200 gotta take a screenshot because your next battle might be tough. 0:18:18.240 --> 0:18:20.720 So you gotta get your victories really embedded in your 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:23.399 spirit to give you the strength and the courage to fight. 0:18:23.800 --> 0:18:26.720 But Elisha was not telling the king to look back 0:18:26.760 --> 0:18:27.440 on a battle. 0:18:29.000 --> 0:18:30.680 He was telling him to look. 0:18:30.600 --> 0:18:34.680 Forward to a battle as if it had already been won. 0:18:37.880 --> 0:18:43.240 View your victory. You gotta see it before you can 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:49.960 seize it. You gotta see it before you can seize it. 0:18:50.000 --> 0:18:51.840 And to see it before you can seize it, you 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:53.199 got to see it before you see it. 0:18:54.680 --> 0:18:58.680 That sounded kind of confusing, didn't it? All right? 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:02.960 He Bruce eleven says that faith is the substance of 0:19:03.040 --> 0:19:12.359 things hope for and the evidence of things not seen. 0:19:14.040 --> 0:19:15.959 So close your eyes real quick. Will you do this. 0:19:16.000 --> 0:19:17.960 I promise nobody's gonna take your purse. This is a 0:19:17.960 --> 0:19:23.080 safe place. We've got great security. Close your eyes. And 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:25.320 I know that this concept has been abused and people 0:19:25.400 --> 0:19:25.760 use it. 0:19:25.720 --> 0:19:26.800 For all kinds of purposes. 0:19:26.800 --> 0:19:32.480 But I want you to visualize, visualize your victory this year. 0:19:34.080 --> 0:19:39.720 I want you to see yourself according to what God 0:19:40.440 --> 0:19:42.320 has spoken over your life. I want you to see 0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:51.080 yourself healed, see your hearthole, See yourself passionate, See yourself 0:19:51.160 --> 0:19:56.200 fulfilling your purpose. See yourself powerful and mighty in God. 0:19:57.440 --> 0:20:03.040 See yourself pulling down strongholds. See yourself free from pornography, 0:20:03.560 --> 0:20:08.280 free from drugs, free from alcohol, See your self loving, 0:20:08.720 --> 0:20:12.760 See your self kind, see your marriage in a different light. 0:20:13.400 --> 0:20:17.800 See you gotta see it before you see it. You 0:20:17.880 --> 0:20:21.960 gotta see it before you see it. And we should 0:20:22.080 --> 0:20:27.000 understand as Christians how to see the unseen. We should 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:30.719 understand more than anybody the hope of an empty grave. 0:20:31.720 --> 0:20:35.960 Sometimes you gotta see resurrection while you're still hanging. 0:20:35.680 --> 0:20:36.520 On a cross. 0:20:37.359 --> 0:20:41.560 Sometimes you gotta see liberty while you're still in bondage. 0:20:41.800 --> 0:20:46.240 Sometimes you gotta see joy while you're still weeping over 0:20:46.280 --> 0:20:50.880 the dying body of Elisha. My faith is the substance 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:56.320 of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. 0:20:56.800 --> 0:20:59.760 I see an aerrow flying over an arrow. 0:21:00.359 --> 0:21:03.200 I am more than a conqueror for a hand O 0:21:03.440 --> 0:21:07.320 love me wats it takes seventeen seconds, and give God 0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:12.800 a pre praise for every victory it's gonna break to pass. 0:21:12.640 --> 0:21:23.040 In your life this year by a swear. This is 0:21:23.119 --> 0:21:24.520 called a preview praise. 0:21:26.280 --> 0:21:30.159 This is when you see yourself in the future stronger 0:21:30.160 --> 0:21:33.280 than you've ever been, why ser than you've ever. 0:21:33.200 --> 0:21:37.800 Been, and you rejoice in it. Dance I guess already done. 0:21:38.280 --> 0:21:40.040 I gotta pray you I win. 0:21:46.960 --> 0:21:52.680 I see an arrow flying over aarrow. Everybody's got an 0:21:52.840 --> 0:21:55.440 rob everybody's. 0:21:54.840 --> 0:21:56.080 Got something oppressing you. 0:21:56.800 --> 0:22:02.960 State of mind, situation in life, emotional dysfunction. I could 0:22:03.000 --> 0:22:06.960 spend three minutes with you and guess your erum. I've 0:22:06.960 --> 0:22:10.120 been pastoring people a long time. I know I look 0:22:10.200 --> 0:22:15.000 twenty three, but I got experience. I met crazy people, 0:22:15.840 --> 0:22:21.200 rich crazy people, skinny crazy people, poor crazy people, fat 0:22:21.280 --> 0:22:27.040 crazy people, black crazy people, like crazy people Latino crazy people. 0:22:27.400 --> 0:22:29.639 I know crazy when I see it, and I'm. 0:22:29.520 --> 0:22:32.760 Looking at twenty seven thousand crazies in the church today. 0:22:33.200 --> 0:22:36.119 Everybody has an AERM. Why are you cheering about that? 0:22:36.280 --> 0:22:37.520 It's awkward. 0:22:39.760 --> 0:22:42.879 Cheering because you're crazy. 0:22:43.480 --> 0:22:44.280 It's that thing. 0:22:44.400 --> 0:22:50.880 Watch this view of the victory, but focus the fight. 0:22:52.119 --> 0:22:57.760 He told him which window to open, which signified. 0:22:57.200 --> 0:23:01.160 Which battle he needed to fight. A lot of us aren't. 0:23:00.960 --> 0:23:04.480 Winning anywhere because we're trying to win everywhere. 0:23:13.600 --> 0:23:14.760 Y'all don't remember the scene. 0:23:14.760 --> 0:23:19.800 But Rocky told Polly, he said, I three, I see 0:23:20.080 --> 0:23:21.440 I see three of them out there. 0:23:21.440 --> 0:23:22.480 He was fighting. 0:23:22.600 --> 0:23:26.159 Drago in Russia on Christmas Day. You need to know 0:23:26.200 --> 0:23:32.960 your history, and Polly told him, Ray, I think I 0:23:33.000 --> 0:23:35.560 think it's a word for somebody. He said, hit the 0:23:35.560 --> 0:23:40.760 one in the middle. I got it coming from the 0:23:40.800 --> 0:23:42.840 north and the south and the east and the west, 0:23:45.080 --> 0:23:47.439 and I don't I don't know where to fight first. 0:23:51.800 --> 0:23:55.879 Any IT department will tell you that you can't do 0:23:55.920 --> 0:23:57.840 any work if you've got too many windows open. 0:24:05.560 --> 0:24:11.320 I'm gonna help you this year. Open one window at 0:24:11.359 --> 0:24:11.720 a time. 0:24:13.960 --> 0:24:19.000 View your victory, but clarify the conflict. God, here's a 0:24:19.040 --> 0:24:24.440 prayer to pray, pray this prayer, God, show me where 0:24:24.480 --> 0:24:29.960 to shoot. See because action without aim leads to exhaustion. 0:24:33.720 --> 0:24:35.680 And a lot of people go into a new year 0:24:38.080 --> 0:24:43.240 not with a sense of apathy, but with a sense 0:24:43.280 --> 0:24:47.760 of activity that is aimless, and they are out of 0:24:47.960 --> 0:24:59.360 arrows before February starts. Seventeen resolutions. Can't keep one too 0:24:59.400 --> 0:25:06.040 many windows. Oh, I could preach on the power of priority. 0:25:06.840 --> 0:25:10.160 It's not just that the prophet showed him the victory. 0:25:10.440 --> 0:25:13.840 He showed him which one needed to be next. And 0:25:13.880 --> 0:25:17.119 you know God wants to speak to you if you 0:25:17.119 --> 0:25:20.840 will get with him. The king went down to the prophet, 0:25:22.000 --> 0:25:25.119 and the prophet pointed, not only at the victory, the 0:25:25.320 --> 0:25:28.920 arrow flying over aarm. Everybody in here has an arm, 0:25:29.920 --> 0:25:31.200 and everyone has an arrow. 0:25:32.760 --> 0:25:36.160 Are you more focused on your aram or your arrow? 0:25:38.000 --> 0:25:40.440