WEBVTT - Beta Blessings 0:00:02.120 --> 0:00:04.680 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.960 --> 0:00:06.960 Church and this is our podcast and I wanted to 0:00:06.960 --> 0:00:09.880 thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. 0:00:10.320 --> 0:00:12.480 Hope it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:15.280 to see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.800 --> 0:00:20.800 This is very well known in church circles. I don't 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:23.160 know if you've ever heard it before. I hope some 0:00:23.200 --> 0:00:24.840 of you haven't, because we want to reach people who 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:28.160 have never gone to church before. And so don't feel 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:29.560 bad if you don't know what this means. When I 0:00:29.600 --> 0:00:32.000 read it and the church people all start shouting and 0:00:32.040 --> 0:00:35.400 you're like, what, that's all right? But look at the 0:00:35.400 --> 0:00:40.640 scripture in Revelation chapter twenty two, verse twelve. Look, I 0:00:40.680 --> 0:00:45.080 am coming soon. My reward is with me, and I 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:49.040 will give to each person according to what they have done. 0:00:49.400 --> 0:00:55.959 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and 0:00:56.080 --> 0:01:06.720 the last, the beginning and the end. I didn't give 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:08.640 them verse fourteen, but I bet they can put it 0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:12.760 in after. Blessed are those who wash their robes. Verse 0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:18.080 thirteen says I am the Alpha and the Omega, the 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:22.720 first and the last, the beginning, and the end blessed 0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:24.480 are those who wash their robes. And I want to 0:01:24.560 --> 0:01:27.760 preach about blessings today, but not just any kind of blessings. 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:29.680 There's all kind of blessings. I want to talk to 0:01:29.720 --> 0:01:34.919 you very specifically about beta blessings. That's my subject today. 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:41.480 Beta blessings, be eta beta blessings. And let's begin our 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:43.319 study of the Word of God. You may be seated 0:01:44.200 --> 0:01:49.800 beta beta blessings. Put it in the chat, Beta blessings. 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:54.800 Say it out loud, Beta blessings. Y'all in the room. 0:01:54.840 --> 0:01:56.480 When I say put it in the chat for y'all, 0:01:56.520 --> 0:01:58.440 you don't have a chat right now, so you could 0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:01.280 just say it all right, you can actual chat it. 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:03.760 It's a substitute for people who can't say it out loud, 0:02:03.760 --> 0:02:05.440 but y'all can do it for real. So everybody say 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:09.680 beta blessings. Some are using thumbs, some are using tongues. 0:02:09.720 --> 0:02:17.600 But beta, you know, Beta. I don't mean like a 0:02:17.639 --> 0:02:22.760 sorority or something like that, alpha beta gamma. I don't 0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:25.239 want to bring any flashbacks to the people of God. 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:31.320 I don't mean like blood pressure, like beta blockers. I 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:35.440 saw that on an infomercial. I don't mean that I 0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:40.079 don't mean like like in the stock market where where 0:02:40.120 --> 0:02:43.880 it measures the stock. Not that kind of beta. That's 0:02:43.880 --> 0:02:47.320 not what I'm thinking of. Not the beta club that 0:02:47.400 --> 0:02:49.520 I was in an eighth grade. How many y'all are 0:02:49.560 --> 0:02:51.440 in beta club? I was in beta club. But that's 0:02:51.440 --> 0:02:54.800 what I'm talking about. I'm talking like Chunks always does this. 0:02:55.320 --> 0:02:59.200 He always signs up for the beta versions of software. 0:03:00.200 --> 0:03:02.320 I guess he's like an early adapter. Which is so 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:05.160 funny because when he first started the church, he didn't 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:06.960 even know how to use a spreadsheet, and he was 0:03:07.000 --> 0:03:09.880 the CFO. He had a notebook with a golden Retriever 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:12.120 on the cover of the notebook, and all the church 0:03:12.200 --> 0:03:14.679 finances were in it, and there wasn't much to write down, 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:16.720 so it was all right. That was like the beta 0:03:16.800 --> 0:03:20.160 version of Elevation Church, right, the beta version of our bookkeeping. 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:23.200 Now there's all this audits and committees and subcommittees and 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:28.360 everything like that. But now he's like always telling me 0:03:28.360 --> 0:03:30.920 about the new software. Graham was laughing at me the 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:35.080 other day. He said, I needed the new iPhone. I 0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:37.880 don't even know which one this is? Which one do 0:03:37.920 --> 0:03:43.440 I have? The ten? The X? Do you call it 0:03:43.440 --> 0:03:45.960 the X? Or the ten, and he was like, you 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:47.360 need the twelve and I said, I didn't know that 0:03:47.400 --> 0:03:50.160 I missed eleven. He said, he said, you need the 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:57.000 twelve junior. What's it called? The mini MENI I love 0:03:57.040 --> 0:03:59.560 to make them cringe. That's why I do that. I 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:01.640 pick out stuff I can say to make them cringe. 0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:03.920 That's my favorite thing. It's just a privilege of being 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:07.240 the pastor and having your kids in church. The iPhone 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:13.960 twelve or they hated so much. I don't know. I'm 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:16.160 not a beta guy. Chunks will get all this new software. 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:18.800 It'll be the beta version, which means, of course it's 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:21.760 still being tested. And he likes it. And I'll be like, 0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:26.160 is that good that new operating system? And he's like, 0:04:26.400 --> 0:04:31.560 I don't know yet. This in the beta version. So 0:04:32.960 --> 0:04:34.840 I put this sermon in my phone. I was looking 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:42.760 at the note in my iPhone X Senior. I put 0:04:42.839 --> 0:04:46.479 this sermon in my phone beta blessings, and I checked 0:04:46.520 --> 0:04:48.960 on the info tab on my ever note and it 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:54.240 said I put it in twenty eighteen, and it's been 0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:57.800 that long in my phone. And then there comes a 0:04:57.880 --> 0:05:01.160 time when God will ought me to release it and 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:05.320 preach it. And when I put it in my phone 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:08.479 Beta blessings. I was thinking about the things that God 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:12.039 does in our lives in certain seasons that at first 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:18.719 we're not sure if it's a blessing because it's in beta. 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:23.520 When I wrote this sermon down in twenty eighteen and 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:26.440 couldn't figure out exactly how to preach it, I thought 0:05:26.480 --> 0:05:34.279 it was wasted. It wasn't wasted. It was in beta. 0:05:35.720 --> 0:05:37.800 Can I preach like I've been waiting to preach us 0:05:37.880 --> 0:05:42.600 for three years. We've been following the Israelites through the 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:46.960 wilderness and they are in between seasons. I read you 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:51.440 a scripture where Jesus said, I'm the Alpha and Omega. 0:05:52.480 --> 0:05:55.440 That is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, Alpha 0:05:56.120 --> 0:05:58.920 and the last letter Omega. That's why he says I'm 0:05:58.960 --> 0:06:01.200 the beginning and the end the last book of the Bible. 0:06:01.960 --> 0:06:06.200 He says, I am Alpha and Omega. I want you 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:07.680 to write this down. It's a little bit of a 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:14.880 long sentence, but Jesus is the Alpha and Omega. But 0:06:15.120 --> 0:06:19.880 I need a beta blessing for the spaces in between. 0:06:22.720 --> 0:06:27.599 Helped me. Holy Spirit. When the Israelites were in the wilderness, 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:30.640 God was with them. He never stopped being with you. 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:35.560 He's not waiting for you at some future destination. I 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:38.480 want to get closer to God this year. That doesn't 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:42.880 come five Bible books that you've memorized later and then 0:06:42.920 --> 0:06:45.480 a lot of times we'll be like, God, bring me 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:47.440 back to the love that I have when I first 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:51.599 met you, which is typically overrated in our imagination because 0:06:51.600 --> 0:06:53.640 we weren't as holy as we like to tell ourselves 0:06:53.680 --> 0:06:57.400 that we were when we first met him. So when 0:06:57.480 --> 0:06:59.840 you say he's the alpha and the Omega, you've got 0:06:59.839 --> 0:07:05.680 to also mentioned right that he is also beta, that's 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:09.520 in between alpha and omega, and that's where we need 0:07:09.600 --> 0:07:14.360 his presence the most. How many understand that when a 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:17.280 new year changes and a new year begins and there's 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:19.480 so much excitement, or when a new year ends and 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:22.520 there's so much desperation, we've kind of missed the point 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:29.080 that some of God's greatest blessings are beta. Some of 0:07:29.200 --> 0:07:34.080 God's greatest blessings are in the form of watch this Mana. 0:07:35.840 --> 0:07:37.640 I don't know if you've been watching the sermons or 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:41.400 slacking off, but I'll catch you up real quick that 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:44.360 I've been talking about Mana in the Wilderness that he 0:07:44.520 --> 0:07:47.960 gave them mana, which means what is it? In that 0:07:48.040 --> 0:07:51.280 cool they needed food and God gave them something, and 0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:57.200 they didn't recognize it as a blessing at first. What 0:07:57.440 --> 0:07:59.720 is it? That's what mana means. Everybody say what is it? 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:04.080 What is it? And then mana also means what it is? 0:08:05.360 --> 0:08:09.520 It is? And I don't yet know what it's going 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:13.320 to be. And that's true about your life. And that's 0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:15.400 true about the thing that you're praying about right now, 0:08:16.320 --> 0:08:19.280 and that's true about everything that God has put inside 0:08:19.320 --> 0:08:21.040 of you. I want to look at this real quick 0:08:21.440 --> 0:08:25.480 because it's so powerful. In Joshua chapter five, it gives 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:28.040 us a picture of this transition. Put it on the 0:08:28.040 --> 0:08:30.240 screen for me. Joshua chapter five, I could find it 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:32.080 in my Bible. We could do it quicker, it said 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:35.360 the day after the Passover, This is the Israelites, after 0:08:35.559 --> 0:08:40.240 going through the wilderness for forty years, after dealing with 0:08:40.400 --> 0:08:44.960 the situation for forty years. The Bible says that they 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:48.520 celebrated the passover and they ate some of the produce 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:51.760 of the land that God had promised. What kind of bread? 0:08:53.520 --> 0:08:56.800 What did I preach about last week? I'm not going 0:08:56.840 --> 0:08:58.520 to invite y'all back if y'all don't help me preach 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:03.760 about this last week, please tell me the sermons stuck 0:09:03.840 --> 0:09:07.920 that law. So they came out of Egypt with unleavened bread. 0:09:08.240 --> 0:09:11.160 They didn't have the time for it to rise, but 0:09:11.280 --> 0:09:14.240 they had to go. And sometimes you've got to set 0:09:14.320 --> 0:09:17.280 out with a word from God not knowing all of 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:24.360 the details. Even Abraham had to do this. God set 0:09:24.400 --> 0:09:27.640 in Genesis chapter twelve to Abraham. This was before he 0:09:27.720 --> 0:09:30.800 even had an h in his name. This was before 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:35.839 Vana White even sold him. This was before. This was 0:09:35.920 --> 0:09:38.400 back in the times when Vana White used to manually 0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:41.400 turn the letters. Some of y'all don't know, this was 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:44.800 a long time ago. This is back in the very beginning. 0:09:45.200 --> 0:09:47.920 Did I just preach wheel of fortune by accident? Yes? 0:09:48.000 --> 0:09:51.040 I did, Yes, I did. I did it on purpose too, 0:09:51.800 --> 0:09:57.559 for the real ones. And watch this. Before Abraham knew 0:09:57.800 --> 0:10:00.720 where he was going, he had to leave what he knew. 0:10:00.920 --> 0:10:03.720 Don't quit your job, don't sign a divorce paper. That's 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:06.920 not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about abandoning your 0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:13.360 way of thinking. And the Lord said in Genesis chapter twelve, 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:20.240 verse one, go from your country, your people, your father's household, 0:10:20.520 --> 0:10:22.760 to the land. I will show you you notice how 0:10:22.800 --> 0:10:26.839 specific God was about what he was leaving from, and 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:29.000 how vague God was about what he was going to. 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:38.080 That's where beta blessings are required. That's the beta version 0:10:38.120 --> 0:10:40.240 of the blessing of God. And follow it a verse further. 0:10:40.559 --> 0:10:44.360 This is God's original blessing to his people, coming through Abraham, 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:46.800 the father of our faith, to the nation of Israel. 0:10:46.840 --> 0:10:48.559 Would all come through this one man, but it was 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:52.600 still in beta. It would all come through one man, 0:10:52.679 --> 0:10:55.640 but it was still in beta. And the Lord had 0:10:55.679 --> 0:10:58.120 such a big vision for how he wanted to use 0:10:58.160 --> 0:11:01.000 Abraham as a blessing. I will make you into a 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:05.080 great nation. I'll bless you. I'll make your name great, 0:11:05.840 --> 0:11:08.400 and you will be a blessing. One more verse. Show 0:11:08.400 --> 0:11:10.400 you how big this is. Let me show you how 0:11:10.440 --> 0:11:13.599 big this is what God had in mind to do 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:16.559 through Abraham. Let me show you how big this is 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:19.319 what God had in mind to do when he created you. 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:22.040 Let me show you how big the picture is that 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:26.520 God sees while you're so zoomed in on the part 0:11:26.600 --> 0:11:31.160 of your life that you don't like. He said, I'll 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:33.120 bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse 0:11:33.160 --> 0:11:36.719 you in all people's own earth will be blessed through you. 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:42.160 You see how big that blessing was, But it was 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:47.240 still in beta. Correct me if I'm wrong, Tesla. But 0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:50.319 when they have it in beta, they don't release it 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:57.200 to everybody. You have to sign up for that. God 0:11:57.320 --> 0:12:01.000 was gonna bless the whole earth through Israel, not just them. 0:12:01.960 --> 0:12:04.199 But we encountered them the last few weeks in the 0:12:04.240 --> 0:12:08.920 wilderness while they were still in beta. The Lord told me, 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:10.719 I'm preaching to some people today who are in the 0:12:10.760 --> 0:12:16.199 beta version, the beta version, and when it's in the 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:26.520 beta version, they're usually working out some bugs. Ask somebody 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:33.640 next to you, got bugs. That's why I don't put 0:12:33.679 --> 0:12:37.760 it on my phone until later, because I want to 0:12:37.800 --> 0:12:41.559 wait till they get all the bugs out. And I 0:12:41.720 --> 0:12:46.719 wonder did God take his people through the wilderness for 0:12:46.960 --> 0:12:54.559 forty years, around and around in circles to get the 0:12:54.640 --> 0:12:58.120 bugs out? And I wonder has God left some of 0:12:58.200 --> 0:13:02.040 the things in our life in a holding pattern or 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:04.760 brought us into spaces where we're not getting what we're 0:13:04.800 --> 0:13:07.800 praying for, or it's not happening as fast as we 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:12.360 wanted to, because maybe He wants to get the bugs out. 0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:17.160 So I'm praying a prayer over my life this week. God, 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:20.760 get the bugs out, because I don't want to release 0:13:20.840 --> 0:13:24.800 a version to the world. See, before I preached this 0:13:25.000 --> 0:13:29.120 message to you, I preached it to myself so I 0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:32.760 could get the bugs out. Because before I release it, 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:37.199 before I put it out on YouTube where everybody with 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:41.040 the broadband connection and an opinion can judge it, I 0:13:41.120 --> 0:13:43.880 want to make sure it's what God wants to say. 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:48.160 I had it in my phone three years to preach 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:51.400 to you because God wanted you to have it right now. 0:13:52.080 --> 0:13:56.480 But it wasn't wasted. It was in beta. God said, 0:13:56.559 --> 0:14:00.120 there's some stuff you prayed for, there's some stuff you 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:08.480 asked for. There's some stuff I know you need. It's 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:14.239 in beta. It's in beta. It's in beta. This relationship 0:14:14.360 --> 0:14:18.720 isn't a bad relationship. It's in beta. It's in beta. 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:23.400 This song I'm working on isn't a bad song. It's 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:27.280 just in beta. That book I worked on last year 0:14:27.320 --> 0:14:29.800 that's not ready to be released yet, it wasn't a 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:33.920 waste of time. It's in beta. I put it in 0:14:34.000 --> 0:14:37.400 a box in my room to remind myself that Lazarus 0:14:37.480 --> 0:14:39.360 might go in a box for a minute, but he 0:14:39.440 --> 0:14:46.600 will rise again. What was the Lord telling me? I 0:14:46.640 --> 0:14:49.200 gotta remember he was saying something about boxes in beta. 0:14:50.440 --> 0:14:53.600 He was telling me, oh, when we get too attached 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:56.720 to the beta version, it puts God in a box. 0:15:01.720 --> 0:15:06.320 Let's go deeper. Sit down, look, I'm not even standing 0:15:06.400 --> 0:15:15.840 up well, and your step ahead. These aid Beta blessings, 0:15:17.040 --> 0:15:21.240 Beta blessings. The mana was not meant to be on 0:15:21.480 --> 0:15:30.320 the menu permanently. It was a seasonal provision. And when 0:15:30.360 --> 0:15:32.040 the mana went away. I don't know if you saw 0:15:32.080 --> 0:15:35.800 that in Joshua five. At first they thought this is 0:15:35.880 --> 0:15:39.480 really bad. This is really bad. How many of you 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:41.400 had something in your life last year that you go, 0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:46.360 this is really bad. This is really bad, y'all. There's 0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:48.600 three people in the church who had a storm last year. 0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:53.680 These are some Caribbean crews. Christians in here. Come. I'm 0:15:53.680 --> 0:15:55.840 looking for some pirates of the Caribbean that had to 0:15:55.920 --> 0:16:04.360 fight some battle. Beta. The manner was what God gave 0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:06.920 them in between. That's what I mean by Beta blessings. 0:16:08.720 --> 0:16:11.640 I'm someone who really fights for my relationships. I don't 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:15.360 throw people away. There's people in this room right now 0:16:16.120 --> 0:16:17.760 that are on my staff. I should have fired him 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:24.120 fifteen times. I'm not looking at anybody more, and they 0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:26.480 probably should have not, you know, been mad at me 0:16:26.560 --> 0:16:31.720 and left. But you know I'm loyal. I really am loyal, true, 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:42.320 you know me the whole time, all right. Sometimes in 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:45.000 that effort to be loyal, not necessarily to a person, 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:46.360 I always want to be good to people. If I'm 0:16:46.360 --> 0:16:52.200 your friend, I'm your friend. But sometimes I'm loyal to 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:57.160 something that the Lord used in one season at the 0:16:57.240 --> 0:17:01.400 expense of something that he's bringing in this season. And 0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:02.960 I want to take that off of people, and I 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:04.680 want to take that off of jobs. In all the 0:17:04.760 --> 0:17:07.200 ways that we use sermons as an excuse to not 0:17:07.320 --> 0:17:15.240 have perseverance, let us think in this is a This 0:17:15.400 --> 0:17:19.440 is not a confirmation for you to quit, but it 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:23.400 is a command for you to grow, grow, grow, grow, 0:17:23.960 --> 0:17:29.320 grow grow. Elevation church. They used to call it evolution church. 0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:31.280 And I'm like, well, both are right. And I'm not 0:17:31.280 --> 0:17:33.879 talking about Darwin or something like that, or from the 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:35.440 Goo to the Zoo to you or any of that. 0:17:36.960 --> 0:17:40.520 I'm saying like changeing. It always changes. But isn't there 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:44.120 a temptation? I read this thing from a rabbi wrote 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:48.800 this quote. He said that our wisdom is distinguishing between 0:17:48.840 --> 0:17:51.440 those things which must remain unchanging in our lives and 0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:54.680 those changes we should accept an embrace. I read it 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:56.280 over and over again. I wrote it out, I read it, 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:59.879 I wrote it, and I said, Lord, show me that 0:18:01.040 --> 0:18:05.200 because in Joshua five, once Moses had taken the people 0:18:05.200 --> 0:18:07.720 as far as they could go, he was I guess 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:09.639 you could say, in some ways beta, not like a 0:18:09.680 --> 0:18:11.560 beta male. I don't mean it like that, like not 0:18:11.680 --> 0:18:14.680 that he was passive. I'm saying he was what God 0:18:14.760 --> 0:18:19.200 gave them to get them to a certain place. God 0:18:19.280 --> 0:18:24.760 gives you that, He gives you instruments, He gives you provisions, 0:18:24.920 --> 0:18:29.680 He gives you manna. When Joshua led the people to 0:18:29.760 --> 0:18:31.960 the edge of God's promise, the man of stop, that 0:18:32.160 --> 0:18:38.639 was bad. No, it wasn't. It was beta. And I 0:18:38.680 --> 0:18:41.480 want you to shift your mind this week and see 0:18:41.520 --> 0:18:43.600 things in your life that are in development and be 0:18:43.680 --> 0:18:52.080 able to say, it's not bad. It's in beta. It's 0:18:52.160 --> 0:18:58.600 not bad. It's in beta. And when the real product 0:18:58.640 --> 0:19:04.720 gets finished, they updated. You don't keep the beta version 0:19:04.800 --> 0:19:08.600 on your phone forever. When they came to the edge 0:19:08.640 --> 0:19:10.760 of Canaan when God gave them the ability to sow 0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:13.399 and reap, they couldn't go out their tents and just 0:19:13.440 --> 0:19:15.560 collect the man anymore. Oh and by the way, this 0:19:15.720 --> 0:19:20.280 is underscored so brilliantly in I believe it's Exodus chapter sixteen, 0:19:20.560 --> 0:19:22.880 where it said they were to go out and get 0:19:22.920 --> 0:19:26.000 the manna they needed for that day. When they tried 0:19:26.040 --> 0:19:28.480 to keep the mana too long for the next day 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:30.320 and didn't have the faith that God would put it there, 0:19:30.840 --> 0:19:34.440 it would rot, it would stink, and there would be 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:40.399 maggots in the manna, maggots in the mana. That what 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:44.920 God gave them became infested with their lack of faith 0:19:49.240 --> 0:19:52.080 when they kept the mana too long, when they kept 0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:55.280 the beta too long, guess what got in it? Bugs? 0:19:57.720 --> 0:20:03.800 Bugs us, Do you see it? It said the maggots 0:20:03.840 --> 0:20:06.879 would eat the mana. But if they used what they 0:20:06.920 --> 0:20:09.320 were supposed to use, if they did what they were 0:20:09.359 --> 0:20:12.440 supposed to do, if they moved to the rhythm of 0:20:12.560 --> 0:20:16.119 the voice of God, there would always be more mana. 0:20:17.840 --> 0:20:19.720 And now, if we want to watch all of these 0:20:20.040 --> 0:20:22.400 economic predictors, and we want to watch all of these 0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:25.200 these social conclusions, and we want to watch all these 0:20:25.320 --> 0:20:29.520 talking heads who say the worst things to keep us watching. 0:20:30.680 --> 0:20:42.600 Then we will have maggots in our manna. God gave 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:48.400 us certain things for seasons, seasons, seasons, and it's time 0:20:48.480 --> 0:20:52.320 to grow up. Y'all. Didn't shout over that. Y'all like 0:20:52.359 --> 0:21:02.000 the magots better, y'all like the maggots better than the maturity. Oh, 0:21:02.040 --> 0:21:04.800 I'm the worst about this. I'll find something that works 0:21:06.080 --> 0:21:11.680 and I'll just keep doing it. I mean, when I 0:21:11.800 --> 0:21:14.840 used to preach sermons series. I mentioned this earlier. There 0:21:14.920 --> 0:21:16.920 came a time where that was that was a blessing. 0:21:17.280 --> 0:21:19.359 I told Holly the other day. I used to need 0:21:19.480 --> 0:21:22.959 to plan my sermon series twelve weeks in advance when 0:21:23.000 --> 0:21:24.760 I started, so I could have time to study. I 0:21:24.760 --> 0:21:27.560 didn't know what I was doing. You still don't, thanks 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:32.440 a lot. I just say what. I just say it 0:21:32.520 --> 0:21:37.159 so nobody else can't. It's a deeply embedded insecurity that 0:21:37.359 --> 0:21:40.920 manifested me being sarcastic on stage in front of thousands 0:21:40.960 --> 0:21:46.000 of people, and so I used that as a way 0:21:46.160 --> 0:21:48.080 to study. Okay, I'm going to preach on this and 0:21:48.200 --> 0:21:50.800 that and the other, and it let me study over 0:21:50.840 --> 0:21:53.320 the course of years. Though the way God began to 0:21:53.359 --> 0:21:55.439 speak to me, and I'm just using this as an example. 0:21:55.480 --> 0:21:58.280 You would have your own I would start to use 0:21:58.359 --> 0:22:02.560 that as a crutch, and it would keep me from 0:22:02.600 --> 0:22:05.920 speaking what God was saying to me right now and 0:22:06.040 --> 0:22:08.440 trusting Him in the moment, because I would rely on 0:22:09.320 --> 0:22:17.199 the structure, not the spirit. There's nothing wrong with sermons series, 0:22:17.240 --> 0:22:19.480 and maybe God will use that again one day, But 0:22:19.680 --> 0:22:21.440 right now, I've noticed that the Lord has me in 0:22:21.480 --> 0:22:26.680 a different place, and to do that takes trust. Do 0:22:26.720 --> 0:22:30.440 you remember Malachi three, Bring the tithe into the storehouse. 0:22:31.080 --> 0:22:35.560 Some of y'all have PTSD over that scripture. You know, 0:22:35.680 --> 0:22:38.040 bring the tithe or God's gonna curse you. Bring the tithether, 0:22:38.119 --> 0:22:40.080 God's gonna puncture your lung. Bring the tithe and you 0:22:40.200 --> 0:22:42.880 have flat tire. It's been all been done. I don't 0:22:42.880 --> 0:22:45.639 think that scripture is about just tithing ten percent. It 0:22:45.760 --> 0:22:51.439 is about that, but it's about trust. It's about trusting 0:22:51.480 --> 0:22:53.720 God to transform you. It's about trusting God to teach you. 0:22:53.760 --> 0:22:55.840 It's about trusting God and the transitions of your life. 0:22:56.119 --> 0:22:59.560 So He's saying to the nation, I couldn't believe when 0:22:59.560 --> 0:23:01.639 I saw this, this is what set it off for me. 0:23:02.800 --> 0:23:04.800 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may 0:23:04.840 --> 0:23:08.840 be food in my house. Test me in this test. 0:23:10.400 --> 0:23:15.400 That's an important word. Test. That's what they do in beta, 0:23:15.480 --> 0:23:19.560 they test the product. That's what God did in the wilderness. 0:23:19.640 --> 0:23:25.359 He tested his people, not because he didn't know. He 0:23:25.560 --> 0:23:29.200 wasn't trying to get information about him. He wasn't doing 0:23:29.320 --> 0:23:36.560 any at Graham on the Israelites. It's testing where the 0:23:36.600 --> 0:23:40.359 bugs get worked out, where I learned not to be petty, 0:23:41.400 --> 0:23:50.399 offended and paranoid, and to rely on God as my source. 0:23:52.280 --> 0:23:59.040 He said, test me, test me, test me, He said, 0:23:59.119 --> 0:24:01.560 test me. No, you test us. He's like, no, no, no, 0:24:02.320 --> 0:24:04.879 I'm not the one who has bugs to begin with. 0:24:06.680 --> 0:24:09.200 I'm just getting things out of you. Why why is God? 0:24:09.440 --> 0:24:11.080 Why is God getting the bugs out of me? Right 0:24:11.119 --> 0:24:13.400 now here? It is. See if I'm not throw open 0:24:13.400 --> 0:24:17.320 the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing. 0:24:19.400 --> 0:24:23.800 The test is to create space in my life, and 0:24:23.880 --> 0:24:26.320 I'll put so much blessing that there will not be 0:24:26.760 --> 0:24:35.760 room enough to receive it. Now, So Lord, I want 0:24:35.800 --> 0:24:39.120 to have room to receive anything you bring into my life. 0:24:39.280 --> 0:24:41.200 I want to have room to receive it. And I 0:24:41.359 --> 0:24:45.600 can't do that. I can't have room to receive what 0:24:45.720 --> 0:24:49.119 you're bringing in my life if every square inch of 0:24:49.240 --> 0:24:54.560 my mind is occupied. And then the next verse said 0:24:54.640 --> 0:24:57.880 something crazier. He said, test me. See if I won't 0:24:57.920 --> 0:25:00.840 bless you and I verse eleven, you're not gonna believe 0:25:00.880 --> 0:25:07.040 this will prevent pests. There's the bugs again. I'll get 0:25:07.160 --> 0:25:10.880 the pest out of your crops. I'll get the bugs 0:25:10.920 --> 0:25:14.480 out of your thinking. I'm working things out of you, see, 0:25:14.560 --> 0:25:18.240 because if I release it too soon, you won't be ready. 0:25:18.680 --> 0:25:26.000 So trust me. In this space called the wilderness, God's 0:25:26.040 --> 0:25:29.520 getting the bugs out. God's getting the bugs out. Some 0:25:29.720 --> 0:25:36.320 of you have really good kids, they're just buggy. I asked, Chunks, 0:25:36.560 --> 0:25:38.600 is that software good? Should I get it? He's like, 0:25:38.680 --> 0:25:41.639 I don't know yet. It's buggy right now. But just 0:25:41.760 --> 0:25:44.920 because it's buggy in beta doesn't mean it's not good. 0:25:48.440 --> 0:25:51.879 And when God gets done getting the bugs out of 0:25:51.960 --> 0:25:54.960 your kids, the things that you spank them over, the 0:25:55.040 --> 0:25:56.920 things that you put them in time out over, I'm sorry, 0:25:57.000 --> 0:25:59.040 this is very politically correct Culture twenty twenty one. I 0:25:59.040 --> 0:26:04.040 don't want to be canceled, uh, the things that you 0:26:04.280 --> 0:26:12.520 encouraging them strongly to modify in their behavior. See how 0:26:12.560 --> 0:26:14.720 many y'all raise your hand. We're just gonna do it. 0:26:14.800 --> 0:26:16.720 Have a strong willed kid, at least one in your family. 0:26:16.800 --> 0:26:19.520 Parents Fars Fars, Fars Fars fans, parents are how many 0:26:19.560 --> 0:26:22.280 would say they're even borderline stubborn, borderline stubbornlin? Can I 0:26:22.280 --> 0:26:23.639 get a stomer? Can I get a border lin stubber? 0:26:23.640 --> 0:26:25.399 Can I get a word line stubber online online stubborn 0:26:25.400 --> 0:26:28.120 stumber and stubborn, strong, wild strong one? Okay, okay, okay, 0:26:28.160 --> 0:26:30.159