WEBVTT - A Lesson In Letting Go 0:00:02.000 --> 0:00:04.560 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:07.040 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:10.400 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:12.440 it builds your faith. Hope it gives you perspective to 0:00:12.440 --> 0:00:15.160 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.360 --> 0:00:20.720 We prophetically declare that the favor of the Lord is 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:25.520 upon you and your household. We declare it over not 0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:29.280 only you, but your children, and not just them, but 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:35.320 your children's children one thousand generations, the blessing of the Lord. 0:00:35.880 --> 0:00:39.320 We bless you today in the name of Jesus. We 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:43.080 bless you in the mighty name of Jesus. We bless 0:00:43.120 --> 0:00:46.240 you in the name that is above every name. Come on, 0:00:46.360 --> 0:00:49.959 lift your hands right where you're at and receive this blessing. 0:00:51.080 --> 0:00:54.680 You are blessed in the city, in the field. You 0:00:54.760 --> 0:00:58.160 are blessed. In your coming. You're going, you are blessed. 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:01.480 You are above and not beneath. You're gonna make it 0:01:01.520 --> 0:01:05.400 because you're blessed. You can smile through the storm because 0:01:05.440 --> 0:01:13.240 you're blessed. Allelujah. I just want to minister this to 0:01:13.319 --> 0:01:16.319 you because it's not like a greeting card. Man. That 0:01:16.480 --> 0:01:20.480 is the eternal word of God that we're speaking over 0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:25.319 your life today. Now you receive them. You push all 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:28.640 that unbelief to the side. You push all of that 0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:32.440 distraction to the side, and you receive it. Put your 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:36.400 bowl of cereal down and receive it. Those frosted flakes 0:01:36.440 --> 0:01:39.919 are blocking you from receiving the favor of God. Somebody, 0:01:40.000 --> 0:01:43.679 but I'd rather have favor than frosted flakes. Tell Tony, 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:47.280 I said that too. I'm so excited about it because 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:50.680 right now as we put the blessing on you, I 0:01:50.800 --> 0:01:53.680 do this for my kids almost every night, and you 0:01:53.720 --> 0:01:57.120 can ask them, they're here, come here, Abbi every night. 0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:00.840 Is that true? Can you see her in the camera? 0:02:01.160 --> 0:02:04.760 Put the camera on. Have you real quick? Come here? 0:02:06.320 --> 0:02:09.360 Do I? Is it true or not that at least 0:02:09.400 --> 0:02:12.720 five out of seven nights, because kids will call you 0:02:12.800 --> 0:02:16.120 out like every night they do not every night, not 0:02:16.240 --> 0:02:20.600 every night. Kids will expose you five out of seven nights. 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:25.560 We put that blessing on you. We declare that over you, 0:02:25.639 --> 0:02:28.360 that the Lord bless you and keep you, make his 0:02:28.480 --> 0:02:32.080 face shine upon you, and be gracious to you. The 0:02:32.120 --> 0:02:35.440 Lord turned his face toward you and give you Shalon 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:40.000 it's more than it's not the kind of peace that 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:43.720 means I don't have any problems, because you're gonna have problems. 0:02:44.720 --> 0:02:47.720 Jesus said, in the world you will have trouble. But 0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:54.160 take heart, I have overcome the world peace. I give 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:57.480 you my peace. I leave with you, and I do 0:02:57.600 --> 0:03:00.920 not give as the world gives peace. And since the 0:03:00.960 --> 0:03:05.079 world didn't give peace, the dal Jones can't take it away. 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:08.960 Since my job didn't give me peace, I'm preaching Lucia's 0:03:09.080 --> 0:03:12.160 I'm preaching. I'm preaching. I say, preach your dad, preaching 0:03:12.280 --> 0:03:17.400 march preach of daddy. Anyway, Come here, boy, don't I 0:03:17.480 --> 0:03:20.120 put that blessing on you every single every single night, 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:23.400 two things we go. Don't go to bed without Rick 0:03:23.480 --> 0:03:25.440 Biotto and the blessing. Now, y'all get out of here. 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:28.320 I gotta preach. Hey where you going? Hey, Hey, Hey, 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:34.040 come back, leve you. That's swiggy Lish right there, shwiggy 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:38.640 Lish and fou flush. That's their code names. What's your nickname? 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:40.800 Have you got a nickname? If you got a nickname, 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:44.080 put it in the chat. So I want to I 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:46.600 want to say also happy while you're putting your nickname 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:49.560 in the chat, there's like a twenty second delay. Happy 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:53.680 birthday to my brother today. He turns thirty seven years old. 0:03:55.560 --> 0:03:59.520 His government name. Yeah, come on, guys, they're like pastors 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:01.680 kind of filter. Let's bring the table and maybe he'll 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:03.960 read a scripture and settle down. That's right, Thank you 0:04:04.000 --> 0:04:08.560 so much. Amazing, And he turned thirty seven. He is 0:04:08.600 --> 0:04:12.040 about to be a dad, and we're sending love to 0:04:12.520 --> 0:04:19.200 Matthew Lyles Ferdick. His nickname is Maxwell Murder. I call 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:22.800 him that because of Rancid, but that's not in the Bible. 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:26.560 You know. Jesus changed names too, but he usually didn't 0:04:26.600 --> 0:04:28.960 do it after punk rock songs. But I call him 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:33.080 Maxwell Murder, killing him. So happy birthday to my brother. 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:37.240 I would wish you a happy birthday too. Just let 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:38.920 me know when it is. I'll get you a gift 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:41.080 in the mail. What do you want for your birthday? Hey? 0:04:41.160 --> 0:04:44.640 I got another question? And are we welcome in your home? 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:46.560 This is kind of intrusive. We just showed up in 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:48.560 your home here. We are just all up in your 0:04:48.560 --> 0:04:50.160 living room, all up in your kitchen. Some of y'all 0:04:50.200 --> 0:04:52.680 are still in bed. It's kind of close quarters for 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:55.919 coming up in your bedroom. It's kind of unless you 0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:58.680 welcome us. So if we're welcome, let's see, I'm seeing 0:04:58.680 --> 0:05:02.080 some nicknames in here. Some of them look kind of sketchy. 0:05:03.160 --> 0:05:04.960 I'm not going to say these out loud. This could 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:07.200 get out of hand. In the chat forget, I asked 0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:10.440 that here's the question after we preach today. After we 0:05:10.520 --> 0:05:13.200 preach today, Normally i'd welcome you to church. You're not 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:15.880 welcome in the church building right now. Never thought i'd 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:18.440 say that you're not welcome here. You are absolutely not 0:05:18.440 --> 0:05:22.240 welcome in this church. But we're bringing church to you today. 0:05:22.320 --> 0:05:25.320 If that's all right, If you make a little space, 0:05:25.400 --> 0:05:27.960 we want to come in and bring you the Word 0:05:28.000 --> 0:05:32.080 of God. Come on. The grass withers, the flower fades, 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:37.520 viruses come, things change, things close, but the Word of 0:05:37.560 --> 0:05:40.880 God stands forever. So if you will open your home 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:43.039 today and your heart, what I want to know is 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:46.159 what are we having to eat after I preach? What 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:50.960 are you cooking? If you were here in the South Charlotte, 0:05:51.000 --> 0:05:55.120 North Carolina, where I preach from, or Monk's Corner, South Carolina, 0:05:55.160 --> 0:05:58.080 where you saw an awesome outreach segment, shout out Pastor 0:05:58.120 --> 0:06:01.720 Shawnwood and Freedom Church, All the saints and believers there 0:06:02.480 --> 0:06:05.919 the church in Monk's Corner. But we would cook you 0:06:06.000 --> 0:06:10.920 some boiled peanuts, some chicken bog. It wouldn't be low 0:06:10.960 --> 0:06:14.320 car but it would be a blessing to your intestines. 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:18.200 So what would you cook if we were coming over, 0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:23.039 if Tiffany was coming over, if Dom was coming over 0:06:23.080 --> 0:06:25.440 with his drum kit and setting up in your living room, 0:06:25.640 --> 0:06:28.080 what would you cook for us? Pot roast eggs sounds good, 0:06:28.080 --> 0:06:34.040 brought sounds good, steaking bread holds post real quick. It's 0:06:34.120 --> 0:06:36.880 coming fast. I'm getting a little sick to my stomach. 0:06:36.880 --> 0:06:40.440 I'm eating too much too fast. Bacon, eggs, hash browns, 0:06:40.440 --> 0:06:44.680 and pancakes. Pasta with homemade Marinera sauce. Amanda says, keep going, 0:06:44.760 --> 0:06:46.760 let's see some more. What else is on the menu. 0:06:47.040 --> 0:06:50.360 I'm going to decide whose house to come to, Zachiah, 0:06:50.400 --> 0:06:54.520 I'm coming to your house. Indonesian noodles. That sounds delicious, 0:06:55.000 --> 0:06:58.480 bow tie pasta, what you want to eat? Ale? We're 0:06:58.480 --> 0:07:03.920 getting many invitations. Cracker barrel, Holly said, is what I've 0:07:03.920 --> 0:07:07.520 got today. Hey, I'm so glad you're in quarantine that 0:07:07.600 --> 0:07:10.560 the Lord gave me a wife that can cook we've 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:15.400 been eating good. We've been eating good at lockeh Haven. 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:21.520 Nothing to complain about their barbecue. Now, y'all can't cook 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:24.720 barbecue like we can cook barbecue. If you don't have 0:07:24.720 --> 0:07:28.400 a mustard based barbecue, I'm not coming. I am not coming. 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:30.640 Just forget about it. I don't care how much you 0:07:30.640 --> 0:07:34.600 love Jesus. If your barbecue is in mustard bass, your 0:07:34.640 --> 0:07:38.000 experience with the Holy Spirit is limited. I'm not coming. 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:46.320 Steak tacos, ramen noodles on a budget. Okay, okay, Lord 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:50.280 bless their bank account. They're offering me the cheapest possible food. 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:56.320 Sloppy Joe's crab salad. You ever had crab salad skinner? 0:07:56.560 --> 0:08:02.880 Did they make that in Minnesota? Sounds like a delicacy? Gone, 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:04.960 We'll just do this all day. I was gonna read 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:11.120 the scripture. But is this making you hungry? Oh? Man? Well, 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:14.080 I don't know what we're gonna eat in the physical, 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:19.680 But man, do I have a meal? I got food 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:26.239 to eat? You know? Not Ally give us the mena 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:30.480 that comes from heaven. God, give us your words, feed 0:08:30.600 --> 0:08:35.680 us till we want no more. In Jesus' name, I'm 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:39.640 excited about it. This is part two of a series 0:08:39.679 --> 0:08:43.080 that we started last week. Last week was just the appetizer, 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:47.560 and here comes the main dish. This new teaching is 0:08:47.600 --> 0:08:53.480 called looking forward to Normal, And no, I didn't get 0:08:53.480 --> 0:08:55.840 it wrong, because I know we're supposed to be getting 0:08:55.920 --> 0:08:59.520 back to normal when they lift the restrictions, or they 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:03.199 let us go back to work, or let our kids 0:09:03.320 --> 0:09:06.320 go back to school so that they can actually learn 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:09.000 something instead of pretending to learn something while the door 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:12.960 is closed, like I'm sure mine are doing. But one 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:15.120 of the things that's so important for us is that 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:19.360 we learned the lessons of this season in preparation for 0:09:19.400 --> 0:09:22.200 the next. And I don't know about you, but God 0:09:22.240 --> 0:09:25.040 has really been teaching me some things in this season 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:28.560 and I can't wait to share the next installment today. 0:09:29.760 --> 0:09:31.959 If you would take your Bible real quick, and if 0:09:31.960 --> 0:09:34.480 you have a physical copy of the Bible, grab that. 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:37.680 The reason I'm saying that is probably you're watching this 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:41.000 on your phone, so I don't want you to multitask 0:09:41.080 --> 0:09:44.320 on the same device. Get your physical copy of God's Word. 0:09:44.480 --> 0:09:46.160 If you can't, I'm going to put it on the 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:47.920 bottom of the screen for you in just a moment. 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:50.480 But what I'd really like you to do is to 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:53.560 have your own copies so you can underline and write 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:57.520 in it, and we bless you today and we speak 0:09:57.559 --> 0:10:02.040 this word over your life. All right, I'll be calm 0:10:02.120 --> 0:10:07.199 down now. Elbe's really happy to be here. He's been 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:12.160 cooped up in the house. You know what's funny about it. 0:10:12.200 --> 0:10:14.199 I think some people would pay to come to church 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:22.040 right now. My oldest son, Elijah, he's a business minded guy. Apparently, 0:10:22.080 --> 0:10:23.720 he was like, Dad, I think you could charge for 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:27.120 tickets when church starts back. He said, that might be 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:29.480 the new ways. Well, we're not going to do that, 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:32.400 but certainly is a privilege. I feel like it's a 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:34.920 privilege to minister to you, and I'm so thankful for it, 0:10:34.960 --> 0:10:36.400 and I want to make the most of the time. 0:10:36.760 --> 0:10:38.800 And even when somebody said, come on, man, get to 0:10:38.840 --> 0:10:41.560 the word. What else do you have to do? Let's 0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:45.199 hang out for a minute. I was actually driving yesterday 0:10:45.480 --> 0:10:47.600 just to get somewhere point A to point B. Don't worry. 0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:50.440 I had my you know, my hasmat suit on and 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:53.400 I was trying to get to somewhere and people were 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:56.640 driving crazier than ever, and I was kind of like, 0:10:56.679 --> 0:10:59.600 where are y'all going in such a hurry people riding 0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:03.199 up on me. I'm like, where are you going right now? 0:11:03.360 --> 0:11:05.360 What are you in a hurry for? Unless you are 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:08.760 a first responder slowed down? The world is over. You 0:11:08.800 --> 0:11:12.360 don't have to speed anymore. But it's just something about 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:15.679 the pace and the patterns, and it's really hard to 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:18.480 let go of something that you've never known any different then. 0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:22.719 So like, if you're used to a certain pace, or 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:25.840 if you're used to a certain set of priorities, or 0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:29.480 you're used to certain principles that you have assumed to 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:31.240 be true all of your life, it can be very, 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:35.560 very difficult to embrace something new. And what I was 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:37.760 saying last week, you'll sit down because I'm going to 0:11:37.880 --> 0:11:41.360 read a lot of scriptures today. But I was saying, 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:45.760 how when God's people left Egypt in the Exodus, And 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:49.280 I'm going to pick right up there in Exodus fourteen, 0:11:50.679 --> 0:11:51.959 and then I'm going to go right back over to 0:11:52.080 --> 0:11:56.599 Romans twelve. You're like, that's the same scriptures as last week. Absolutely, 0:11:56.720 --> 0:12:01.640 revelation requires repetition if it's going to become real in 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:04.000 your life. They say in marketing, you need to hear 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:09.199 it seven times. So I want to reinforce this message. 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:12.720 But actually I want to give even more context than 0:12:12.760 --> 0:12:14.360 I did last week, and I want to back up 0:12:14.400 --> 0:12:19.960 to Exitus fourteen, verse five, as God's people were coming 0:12:20.080 --> 0:12:22.640 out of Egypt, and somebody put it boldly in the 0:12:22.720 --> 0:12:27.800 Chat in all calves, I'm leaving Egypt. I'm leaving Egypt. 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:31.440 You know, Egypt was the place where they went to 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:35.440 be fed for a little while, but then they needed 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:38.960 to be freed from the place they were fed in. 0:12:40.080 --> 0:12:43.200 And I think that's a powerful picture, is that for 0:12:43.320 --> 0:12:48.240 certain seasons in our life, certain things meet needs. The 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:54.000 process of growing in God is the process of releasing 0:12:54.080 --> 0:13:00.120 something in order to receive something. And while that sounds 0:13:00.160 --> 0:13:01.960 really cool because I made it all start with the 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:06.679 letter are, it is very difficult to do. And that's 0:13:06.679 --> 0:13:09.120 why we really need to walk through this with the Israelites, 0:13:09.200 --> 0:13:13.120 because we're like, come on, Moses led you out of Egypt, 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:19.040 aren't you grateful? Well, not exactly totally grateful. I'm kind 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:24.240 of fearful. I'm kind of fearful. And Exodus fourteen, verse 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:27.079 five gives us some detail. After the people of God 0:13:27.280 --> 0:13:30.480 have left Egypt, remember how many plagues were their Graham 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:37.560 in the Bible. In Egypt, you had the frogs, remember 0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:41.480 the gnats, all the plagues that God used. Remember, okay, 0:13:41.480 --> 0:13:45.200 it's the same number as the commandments. How many commandments? 0:13:45.280 --> 0:13:48.920 Ten commandments, ten plagues? And God did all of that 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:53.280 because he said, unless I force Pharaoh to let you go, 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:59.959 he won't. Certain changes are not embraced. They must be forced. 0:14:03.200 --> 0:14:07.760 They must be forced certain changes. If you want your 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:11.360 muscles to grow, you can't nicely ask them to grow. 0:14:13.360 --> 0:14:16.600 That has to be forced. And the only way you 0:14:16.679 --> 0:14:19.440 can force a muscle to grow is to bring it 0:14:19.480 --> 0:14:23.320 to the point of failure so that the fibers break down. 0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:27.000 Am I getting this right? Chunks and grow back stronger. Now, 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:28.720 I'm going to tell you an illustration of that that 0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:30.880 I put on Instagram this week. But after I read 0:14:30.880 --> 0:14:34.840 my scripture, the Bible says in Exodus fourteen, verse five, 0:14:34.920 --> 0:14:38.040 are you ready for the word? I've already started preaching it. 0:14:39.040 --> 0:14:41.440 When the King of Egypt was told that the people 0:14:41.480 --> 0:14:46.320 had fled, that his entire workforce had left the building, 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:53.680 Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds. Underline, that changed 0:14:53.960 --> 0:14:57.920 their minds. They changed their minds about them because remember, 0:14:58.160 --> 0:15:00.800 Pharaoh didn't want to let them go. But then there 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:04.920 was one plague, two plagues, three plagues, four plagues, five plagues, six, seven, eight, nine, 0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:09.600 ten plagus. And after the first borns died, the people 0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:13.640 of God left. And I will point this out. It's 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:16.240 not my message, but I will point it out. What 0:15:16.480 --> 0:15:24.440 represented death to Pharaoh represented freedom to God's people. It 0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:29.400 was the same event, but Pharaoh's plagues became their freedom. 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:32.960 And the reason I point that out is I think 0:15:33.000 --> 0:15:37.120 we have a choice how we viewed certain things. I 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:39.880 think we have a decision which side we live on, 0:15:40.840 --> 0:15:44.640 to work with God or to work against God, to 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:47.560 cooperate with the things that He allows in our lives. 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:51.200 And someone may ask, well, did God send COVID nineteen? 0:15:51.240 --> 0:15:54.520 Did God send coronavirus? I'll know you have to ask him. 0:15:55.160 --> 0:15:59.600 I am not God's PR department. They'll always ask preachers, well, 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:02.600 where is God and all this preacher, and they're confused 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:06.920 because that's not my job. Here's one way that it 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:10.240 came to me. I don't work in God's PR department 0:16:11.120 --> 0:16:14.160 where I'm trying to spend stuff like, oh, well, you know, well, 0:16:14.200 --> 0:16:15.880 the Lord sent this, so the Lord did that. I 0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:18.160 don't know what the Lord did. He didn't consult me 0:16:20.040 --> 0:16:22.320 on any of this. If he had it, we would 0:16:22.440 --> 0:16:25.240 be a lot different. And he consult you either before 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:27.200 you get all high and mighty. I don't think God 0:16:27.200 --> 0:16:29.200 puts you on a zoom call either to check with 0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:32.200 you about the last six weeks. Did he. If he did, 0:16:32.280 --> 0:16:33.760 let me know, because we want to get a message 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:35.240 to you to tell him some other stuff that we 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:36.640 want him to do instead of the stuff he's doing 0:16:36.720 --> 0:16:38.960 right now. But watch this. Here's the thing I found out. 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:47.720 I found out that it really doesn't matter who causes it, 0:16:48.600 --> 0:16:52.080 if it's from God or if it's not from God. 0:16:52.360 --> 0:16:55.080 And I don't really know the difference. Sometimes. What I 0:16:55.120 --> 0:17:00.960 know is that through God, through it's kind of like 0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:04.159 his hands. Whatever happens in our lives, it has to 0:17:04.240 --> 0:17:08.480 pass through his hands. So whether it came from his 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:11.639 hand or whether it was from the enemy is not 0:17:11.720 --> 0:17:16.320 the most consequential thing. The most consequential thing is will 0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:19.280 I partner with what God is doing, even if it's 0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:23.520 not what I prefer? Or will I resist it, or 0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:26.480 will I push against it? Or will I go with it? 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:31.600 And so the Israelites are being set free from Pharaoh, 0:17:31.640 --> 0:17:34.720 and just about the time that freedom is in sight, 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:37.760 just about the time that it looks like they're going 0:17:37.840 --> 0:17:40.240 to make it to this landfloon with milk and honey, 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:42.480 the land of the Canaanites and Parasites and Hittites and 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:46.280 Jebuzides and Cellulites and all these enemies that we have 0:17:46.359 --> 0:17:50.400 to fight in this modron. That's a real enemy. That's 0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:52.760 a real enemy, the cellulits. Some of y'all are fighting. 0:17:53.280 --> 0:17:58.800 You're fighting the virus of overeating right now. But listen 0:17:58.840 --> 0:18:01.120 to what happened when they got there. It's a serious moment, people, 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:05.000 you'll quick making light of the word of God. Pharaoh 0:18:05.080 --> 0:18:07.560 changed his mind and said, what have we done? Now? 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:11.400 Listen to this verse five. We have let the Israelites 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:16.320 go and have lost their services. We have let the 0:18:16.440 --> 0:18:22.000 Israelites go and have lost their services. So we had 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:24.520 his chariot made ready and took his army with him. 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:30.720 He took six hundred of the best chariots. The enemy 0:18:30.880 --> 0:18:34.960 uses the heaviest artillery on the people who are carrying 0:18:35.000 --> 0:18:38.399 the greatest purpose. Y'all won't shout, y'all won't put a 0:18:38.440 --> 0:18:42.760 fire emoji in the chat. And so if a lot 0:18:42.800 --> 0:18:46.480 is coming against you, that means God has put a 0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:50.240 lot in you. And one of the things that God 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:53.200 is showing us in this season is what he put 0:18:53.280 --> 0:18:56.040 in us. And you know how He's doing that by 0:18:56.080 --> 0:19:00.680 shutting down everything around us. Because sometimes the only way 0:19:00.720 --> 0:19:03.399 for you to see what is within you is that 0:19:03.520 --> 0:19:08.239 everything that is not within you. I put it like this. 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:13.560 When I preach to a crowd, I sometimes get carried 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:16.920 by their energy. But when I'm preaching and there's only 0:19:16.960 --> 0:19:21.920 three people in the room, Alejandro on camera two and 0:19:22.040 --> 0:19:23.960 Eric's sitting there like he's doing a job, but he 0:19:24.040 --> 0:19:25.760 really just wanted to get away from his kids for 0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:35.760 a few minutes. Something different has to kick in. Something 0:19:35.840 --> 0:19:38.320 different has to kick in, And so we think a 0:19:38.320 --> 0:19:40.160 lot of the times, y'all stop with the fire emoji's 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:41.840 calm down for a minute. You're gonna turn down the chat. 0:19:43.880 --> 0:19:49.920 But sometimes the Lord allows something around us to shut down, 0:19:51.280 --> 0:19:54.840 to die, so that something within us can come alive. 0:19:56.320 --> 0:20:00.960 And Pharaoh said, I changed my mind about letting them go. 0:20:02.760 --> 0:20:06.359 The message titled today is called a lesson in letting go, 0:20:09.680 --> 0:20:13.240 a lesson in letting go, And I just want you 0:20:13.280 --> 0:20:15.760 to put that right there in the comments. If you're 0:20:15.800 --> 0:20:18.720 watching this later on YouTube, just put this is a 0:20:18.800 --> 0:20:21.840 lesson in letting go, because there's so much we're learning 0:20:21.920 --> 0:20:27.720 right now. We may not know we've learned it until way. 0:20:27.760 --> 0:20:31.800 On the other side of it, you don't really realize 0:20:32.040 --> 0:20:36.200 life lessons until later. You know that, right, it's later 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:38.080 that you say, oh, it was good for me that 0:20:38.119 --> 0:20:40.880 I was afflicted because this taught me that. Oh, it's 0:20:40.960 --> 0:20:43.520 good for me that they told me no because I 0:20:43.560 --> 0:20:45.159 didn't want to date them anyway. If I would have 0:20:45.160 --> 0:20:48.080 married them, I would be in therapy right now. And 0:20:49.040 --> 0:20:51.840 it's later that we see the lessons. A lot of 0:20:51.880 --> 0:20:55.560 times it's later that we see the lessons. And now 0:20:55.560 --> 0:20:58.359 we can read about Exodus fourteen. You know, the children 0:20:58.359 --> 0:21:00.320 of Israel while they should have trusted God through the 0:21:00.320 --> 0:21:02.119 Red Sea, and God was going to make away. But 0:21:02.320 --> 0:21:06.160 it's easy to say that. On the other side of it, 0:21:06.160 --> 0:21:08.440 it's so easy to look back and say, well, you know, 0:21:08.560 --> 0:21:12.760 he made away where there was no way. But you know, 0:21:12.960 --> 0:21:16.800 that's when you're looking back. What really takes faith is 0:21:16.840 --> 0:21:20.760 to look forward at something and to believe that he's 0:21:20.800 --> 0:21:23.560 going to make away when you can't see it. A 0:21:23.640 --> 0:21:27.520 lesson in letting go. And God told Moses from the 0:21:27.560 --> 0:21:32.080 beginning that freedom is not going to come easy. Certain 0:21:32.119 --> 0:21:37.520 freedoms in our life have to be forced. That sounds bad, right, 0:21:37.640 --> 0:21:41.080 but it's true. The only way that God sets us 0:21:41.160 --> 0:21:44.159 free from certain things, so he has to take them away. 0:21:46.280 --> 0:21:50.119 And sometimes what God allows to be removed from our 0:21:50.160 --> 0:21:52.439 life is just as important as what He allows to 0:21:52.440 --> 0:21:55.280 be brought into our life. And yet this is a 0:21:55.320 --> 0:21:57.320 season where a lot of us are having to learn 0:21:57.400 --> 0:22:02.000 to appreciate things. Remember, like I said last week, the 0:22:02.000 --> 0:22:05.520 things you were complaining about in February you would be 0:22:05.560 --> 0:22:10.479 praising God for in April, all of the annoying people. 0:22:10.680 --> 0:22:13.000 You just wish you could have a different cast of 0:22:13.119 --> 0:22:16.119 characters than the four you're stuck inside with. And I 0:22:16.119 --> 0:22:19.080 figured out how much people are saying that they're finding 0:22:19.119 --> 0:22:22.200 a rhythm in quarantine is depending on how big their 0:22:22.200 --> 0:22:28.040 house is it's like, oh yeah, man, this is kind 0:22:28.040 --> 0:22:33.480 of cool, or how grown their kids are, or some 0:22:33.520 --> 0:22:36.960 people it's do they have any human interaction? And so 0:22:37.000 --> 0:22:40.119 I've been thinking a little bit about the fact that 0:22:40.200 --> 0:22:43.480 a lot of times in my life, the lesson God 0:22:43.560 --> 0:22:48.359 is teaching me is to appreciate something. Here's what I 0:22:48.400 --> 0:22:49.960 want to ask you and maybe you can answer it 0:22:50.880 --> 0:22:53.080 on chat. What is God teaching you to appreciate in 0:22:53.119 --> 0:23:00.960 this season? Very simple but maybe worth some reflection. And 0:23:01.000 --> 0:23:04.000 I'm going to wait for you to respond, and we say, well, 0:23:04.000 --> 0:23:08.960 God is teaching me to appreciate my livelihood. You know, honestly, 0:23:09.040 --> 0:23:11.720 I had really gotten so caught up in what I 0:23:11.720 --> 0:23:15.960 didn't like about my job that I forgot the fact 0:23:15.960 --> 0:23:18.680 that having one is a blessing that I can't take 0:23:18.720 --> 0:23:25.000 for granted. Sometimes the only way that God gets us 0:23:25.040 --> 0:23:27.639 to appreciate something is to allow it to leave for 0:23:27.640 --> 0:23:32.760 a little while. That doesn't mean that this global pandemic 0:23:32.840 --> 0:23:34.560 is a plague sent by God, but I think God 0:23:34.600 --> 0:23:36.680 can use it to teach us to appreciate some things, 0:23:36.720 --> 0:23:39.640 don't you. I wish they would let us get back 0:23:39.640 --> 0:23:42.800 in this church and sing rattle. I wish they would 0:23:42.920 --> 0:23:45.680 the first time. I'm telling you, the first time Elevation 0:23:46.080 --> 0:23:48.640 Church gets to come back and sing Rattle in person, 0:23:48.960 --> 0:23:51.399 because I've been watching y'all online. Y'all are losing your 0:23:51.440 --> 0:23:53.840 minds online. When we get in a building and sing it, 0:23:54.240 --> 0:23:58.400 you better wear a motorcycle helmet. I wish they would 0:23:58.480 --> 0:24:00.159 let us get I wish they would let us le's 0:24:00.160 --> 0:24:03.199 get back together. Man, we're going to We're gonna really 0:24:03.240 --> 0:24:04.960 have a good time. But you know what, the very 0:24:05.000 --> 0:24:08.880 same thing that we long for today is something that 0:24:08.920 --> 0:24:12.920 we had been living in for so long that God 0:24:12.960 --> 0:24:16.800 is teaching me to appreciate some things. How about you. 0:24:17.520 --> 0:24:20.639 He's teaching me to appreciate some things that I had 0:24:20.680 --> 0:24:25.920 become so accustomed to, accustomed to used to. You get 0:24:26.000 --> 0:24:29.280 used to the things that God gives you to the 0:24:29.320 --> 0:24:33.560 point that you can become used to the people that 0:24:33.600 --> 0:24:38.160 God gives you. You can get used to simple moments, 0:24:38.680 --> 0:24:40.960 things that used to be annoying, You learn to appreciate. 0:24:41.240 --> 0:24:44.359 Don't you What is God teaching me to appreciate in 0:24:44.400 --> 0:24:48.640 this season? Isn't its interesting how the children of Israel, 0:24:49.080 --> 0:24:51.000