WEBVTT - When God Gives A Thought To You

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope

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<v Speaker 1>this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith.

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<v Speaker 2>Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving

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<v Speaker 2>in your life.

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<v Speaker 1>Enjoy the message.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm working on a sermon series and I'm going to

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<v Speaker 2>pick up this week with the momentum that we had

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<v Speaker 2>last week.

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<v Speaker 1>Now, last week was so good that if.

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<v Speaker 2>The person you're sitting next to wasn't here, tell them

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<v Speaker 2>I'm sorry, were you here last week? The title of

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<v Speaker 2>the series listen to this. That's what I thought. That's

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<v Speaker 2>the title of the series. And however, you say that

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<v Speaker 2>with whatever attitude you say it with. You might say

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<v Speaker 2>it like one of your kids was talking back to

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<v Speaker 2>you and you give them a look and then they

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<v Speaker 2>shut up, and then you say, that's what I thought.

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<v Speaker 2>Maybe like that, or maybe you're just confirming some things

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<v Speaker 2>in your life right now, just checking you know, Oh

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<v Speaker 2>that's what I thought. I just wanted to be sure.

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<v Speaker 2>But really the heart of what I want to teach about,

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<v Speaker 2>as you'll see today, is tracking back the actions in

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<v Speaker 2>our life to the thoughts that produce them, and then

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<v Speaker 2>bringing God into those thought processes, so that rather than

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<v Speaker 2>just always giving God our problems, we bring Him into

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<v Speaker 2>our thoughts. Clap your hands if you'd like to have

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<v Speaker 2>less problems to give God. And this series doesn't say

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<v Speaker 2>that we can always avoid the problems of life. But

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<v Speaker 2>I want to show you something today that I think

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<v Speaker 2>is really really easy to understand, but so difficult to apply.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm going to be reading from Psalm one thirty nine,

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<v Speaker 2>verses seven through seventeen. This will be the foundation, and

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<v Speaker 2>then I'll share a story from the Old Testament to

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<v Speaker 2>illustrate this.

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<v Speaker 1>Thought today that God gave me.

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<v Speaker 2>Every sermon starts as a thought, and so I want

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<v Speaker 2>to talk to you about thoughts from a thought that

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<v Speaker 2>God gave me, which is, by the way, why I

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<v Speaker 2>keep stacks of notebook paper all around my house in

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<v Speaker 2>case God gives me a thought.

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<v Speaker 1>I need to be ready to catch it, just in

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<v Speaker 1>case I can give it to you.

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<v Speaker 2>And this is so powerful. If you look at psalmone

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<v Speaker 2>thirty nine, David is speaking about the wonder of God.

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<v Speaker 2>I was going to read only verse seventeen to set

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<v Speaker 2>up my thought, but I feel like it'll be so

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<v Speaker 2>much more effective if I start at verse seven. So

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<v Speaker 2>listen to this. The Psalma says, everyone's standing please for the.

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<v Speaker 1>Word of God. If you're physically able, thank you.

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<v Speaker 2>Where shall I go from your spirit? Or where shall

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<v Speaker 2>I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven,

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<v Speaker 2>you're there. If I make my bed in shield, or

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<v Speaker 2>some translations say hell. If I make my bed in hell,

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<v Speaker 2>you are there. If I take the wings of the

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<v Speaker 2>morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

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<v Speaker 2>even there, your hands shall leave me, and your right

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<v Speaker 2>hand shall hold me. If I say surely, the darkness

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<v Speaker 2>shall cover me, and the light about me be night.

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<v Speaker 2>Even the darkness is not dark to you, the night

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<v Speaker 2>as bright as the day. For darkness is as light

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<v Speaker 2>with you. For you formed my inward parts. I heard

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<v Speaker 2>we had some mary Kay people here today, and we

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<v Speaker 2>celebrate you here. Mary Kay is good for the outward parts,

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<v Speaker 2>but I got something for the inward parts today. You

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<v Speaker 2>formed my inward parts. You knitted me together in my

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<v Speaker 2>mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and

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<v Speaker 2>wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works. My soul knows it

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<v Speaker 2>very well. My frame was not hidden from you. When

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<v Speaker 2>I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the

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<v Speaker 2>depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed substance.

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<v Speaker 2>In your book were written every one of them, the

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<v Speaker 2>days that were formed for me, when as yet there

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<v Speaker 2>were none of them, Verse seventeen, as our key today,

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<v Speaker 2>How precious to me are your thoughts?

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<v Speaker 1>Oh God? How vast is the sum of them?

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<v Speaker 2>Let's read that together, repeat after me, How precious to

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<v Speaker 2>me are your thoughts?

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<v Speaker 1>Oh God?

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<v Speaker 2>How vast is the sum of them? Today I want

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<v Speaker 2>to talk to you on this subject. When God gives

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<v Speaker 2>a thought to you, When God gives a thought to you,

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<v Speaker 2>could that be possible the Holy One of Heaven would

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<v Speaker 2>condescend and give a thought to little old me, little

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<v Speaker 2>old you. We're going to talk about that today. When

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<v Speaker 2>God gives a thought to you, this I recall to

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<v Speaker 2>my mind. Therefore I have hope. It is because of

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<v Speaker 2>your mercies that we are not consumed, Because your compassions

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<v Speaker 2>feel not they are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness,

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<v Speaker 2>Faithful God, I thank you that your word has spoken

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<v Speaker 2>through generations to.

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<v Speaker 1>Land at our doorstep. Today.

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<v Speaker 2>We receive it, we want it, we need it. It

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<v Speaker 2>is our necessary bread. It is our living water. Come

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<v Speaker 2>now like a flood, Come now like a fountain. Quench

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<v Speaker 2>every soul, give a thought to us in Jesus' name. Amen,

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<v Speaker 2>please be seated. Put the title in the comments, please,

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<v Speaker 2>if you're watching online, when God gives a thought to you? Lately,

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<v Speaker 2>I've been saying things in rooms full of people that

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<v Speaker 2>are younger than me, and they don't know what I'm

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<v Speaker 2>talking about, and it's making me feel awkward and uncomfortable.

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<v Speaker 1>Why.

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<v Speaker 2>Just the other day, I walked into a songwriting session

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<v Speaker 2>with some of our very own in house songwriters and

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<v Speaker 2>I said, last night I took Holly to a concert.

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<v Speaker 1>We went to see Counting Crows.

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<v Speaker 2>They all just looked at me, and I realized something

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<v Speaker 2>very sad in that moment. They had not heard of

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<v Speaker 2>the Counting Crows. How do you not hear of the

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<v Speaker 2>Counting Crows? How many of you have not heard of

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<v Speaker 2>the Counting Crows? See now, I just feel ostracized, abandon betrayed,

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<v Speaker 2>never heard of the Counting Crows.

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<v Speaker 1>I had to tell them about mister Jones.

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<v Speaker 2>And round here, and they didn't want to know about

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<v Speaker 2>Counting Crows. So we just wrote a song The other day,

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<v Speaker 2>I was riding in the car with Abbey. Now she's fourteen, right,

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<v Speaker 2>so she was kind of quiet, kind of doing that

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<v Speaker 2>fourteen year old thing that fourteen year old girls can

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<v Speaker 2>sometimes do, or unless she's talking sixty miles a minute,

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<v Speaker 2>she's totally quiet. And she was totally quiet, and I

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<v Speaker 2>looked over at her and said something I thought she

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<v Speaker 2>would understand. I said, a penny for your thoughts. Well,

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<v Speaker 2>she looked at me just as confused as the counting

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<v Speaker 2>crows just walked in the room. She said a what

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<v Speaker 2>I said, A penny for your thoughts? She said, what's that?

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<v Speaker 2>I said, it's a colloquialism. It's an idiom.

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<v Speaker 1>I think it has its roots somewhere in British origins.

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<v Speaker 2>But it's just a way of saying, tell me what

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<v Speaker 2>you're thinking. Like you're kind of quiet, I can tell

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<v Speaker 2>you're thinking about something. The wheel seemed to be turning,

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<v Speaker 2>A penny for your thoughts, and she goes, that's weird.

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<v Speaker 2>She's quiet for about ten more seconds, and then she goes,

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<v Speaker 2>A penny.

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<v Speaker 1>That's all.

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<v Speaker 2>I thought, Yeah, you're right, that's kind of cheap, isn't it?

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<v Speaker 2>A penny for your thoughts? She's like you at least

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<v Speaker 2>got to adjust this for inflation. If I'm gonna give

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<v Speaker 2>you a whole thought or plural thoughts, multiple thoughts, it

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<v Speaker 2>needs to be multiple pennies at least a dime for

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<v Speaker 2>your thoughts. Probably needs to be about five dollars for

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<v Speaker 2>your thoughts. But just to set it up as an

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<v Speaker 2>illustration and not to be silly. And I knew God

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<v Speaker 2>wanted me to use this illustration because I thought of

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<v Speaker 2>it last minute and there was a penny sitting by

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<v Speaker 2>my door today. So I want to hold it up

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<v Speaker 2>and talk about how sometimes we think too cheap, and

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<v Speaker 2>sometimes we undervalue our thoughts because we live in a

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<v Speaker 2>world that values things more than thoughts, things more than thoughts.

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<v Speaker 2>So if you have a nice pair of sneakers, you

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<v Speaker 2>would not dare wear them to a dirty Love Week event.

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<v Speaker 2>You would never wear your clean sneakers through a dirty atmosphere.

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<v Speaker 2>But let's talk about where your mind goes on a

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<v Speaker 2>daily basis. And the fact of the matter is some

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<v Speaker 2>of the places that we take our minds our place

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<v Speaker 2>is that we would never take our shoes because we

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<v Speaker 2>value things over thoughts. I did have a small victory

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<v Speaker 2>the other day usually I'm a catastrophizer.

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<v Speaker 1>I think of the worst scenarios.

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<v Speaker 2>And this is why I wanted to preach a series

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<v Speaker 2>called That's What I Thought, because God has helped me

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<v Speaker 2>so much to begin to label and identify the ways

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<v Speaker 2>of thinking that don't come from Him.

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<v Speaker 1>And I'm still a work in progress.

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<v Speaker 2>But I try to share with you every time that

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<v Speaker 2>I get it wrong, so that I can occasionally share

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<v Speaker 2>with you when I get it right. I lead mostly

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<v Speaker 2>by failing forward. But the other I was proud. I

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<v Speaker 2>had ordered a new guitar online. I went to the

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<v Speaker 2>post office to pick it up. It didn't quite fit

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<v Speaker 2>in the back seat. I put it in my jeep

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<v Speaker 2>with the roof down cheap way.

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<v Speaker 1>And I.

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<v Speaker 2>Was talking to Abby because she was in the front

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<v Speaker 2>seat and she had bow on her lap, and Bo

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<v Speaker 2>was kind of hanging out the window because he enjoys that.

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<v Speaker 2>And I had this vision right as we were pulling

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<v Speaker 2>down the driveway of Bo tumbling out the window and

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<v Speaker 2>I didn't want him to. So I've come a long

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<v Speaker 2>way since we first got the dog. I didn't want

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<v Speaker 2>him to. I said, have you got him securely? She said,

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<v Speaker 2>I got him, but just something about the fact of

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<v Speaker 2>me thinking about him falling out the window and then

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<v Speaker 2>pulling in the garage with the guitar still sticking out

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<v Speaker 2>the top of the jeep, and hearing the crunch of

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<v Speaker 2>a very expensive guitar, very expensive guitar.

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<v Speaker 1>And hearing the crunch and not cussing. It's a victory.

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<v Speaker 1>I did't cuss. I didn't cuss. Tell your neighbor. I

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<v Speaker 1>didn't cuss.

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<v Speaker 2>Now, I didn't speak in tongues. I didn't praise the Lord.

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<v Speaker 2>I just didn't cuss because I had a thought. And

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<v Speaker 2>here was the thought. It wasn't the dog. It was

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<v Speaker 2>just a guitar. I can get another one of those.

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<v Speaker 2>It's just a thing. Tell your neighbor, because they might

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<v Speaker 2>be stressed out whatever they're stressed about. Tell them it's

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<v Speaker 2>just a thing. It's just a thing. When it's just

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<v Speaker 2>a thing, it's just a thing. If it's a Boston Terrior,

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<v Speaker 2>it's a Boston Terrier. And if my Boston Terrior falls

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<v Speaker 2>out of the window of my jeep on my watch,

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<v Speaker 2>I might be divorced. Now. She loves me more than

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<v Speaker 2>she loves the dog. She would never do that to me.

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<v Speaker 2>But there was something about the contrast. It wasn't bo,

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<v Speaker 2>It wasn't Abby. I can't get another Abby. Abby didn't

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<v Speaker 2>go decapitated through the garage. And the Lord is a

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<v Speaker 2>rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

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<v Speaker 1>Because there was bubble wrap at the top of the

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<v Speaker 1>box and the guitar was fine, Thank you Jesus.

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<v Speaker 2>And then I did start praising God after I opened

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<v Speaker 2>the box and didn't cuss, and.

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<v Speaker 1>We were all fine.

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<v Speaker 2>But there have been so many times in my life,

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<v Speaker 2>no matter how much of your time I waste telling

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<v Speaker 2>you what seems to be random stories about guitars and

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<v Speaker 2>dogs falling out of windows hypothetically, or even telling you

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<v Speaker 2>about old sayings and old rock stars as I start

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<v Speaker 2>my sermon, there are times where we do not value

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<v Speaker 2>God's thoughts enough. David in psalmone thirty nine gives a

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<v Speaker 2>different perspective, and he helps us to understand two things.

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<v Speaker 1>One the value of a God thought.

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<v Speaker 2>I want to talk to you about that for a

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<v Speaker 2>few moments today, and you may want to write some

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<v Speaker 2>of this down.

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<v Speaker 1>Buddy.

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<v Speaker 2>God might give you a thought today and you won't remember.

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<v Speaker 2>You'll be thinking about your order at the pizza hut.

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<v Speaker 1>Write it down.

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<v Speaker 2>The value of a God thought, But I also want

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<v Speaker 2>to talk to you about what Abby said. She said

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<v Speaker 2>just a penny, that's all. I want to talk to

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<v Speaker 2>you about the cost of a wrong thought. So he

0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:21.640
<v Speaker 2>begins by saying, I can't escape your presence God, even

0:13:21.679 --> 0:13:22.839
<v Speaker 2>if I try.

0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:26.040
<v Speaker 1>I can take wings or scuba gear. Either way I go.

0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:29.640
<v Speaker 2>You're there, And after framing us in with that kind

0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:32.160
<v Speaker 2>of poetic language, which is very different than what we

0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:35.000
<v Speaker 2>read last week in Psalm seventy seven, which was a

0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:38.359
<v Speaker 2>psalm of lament where he thought God had abandoned him,

0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:40.959
<v Speaker 2>this song is the complete opposite. He saying, I can't

0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:44.839
<v Speaker 2>abandon God. He keeps showing up. And how many have

0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:48.920
<v Speaker 2>that testimony in your life? That God keeps showing up? Oh,

0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:51.280
<v Speaker 2>come on, in ways that you didn't even ask him to.

0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:58.079
<v Speaker 2>Sometimes God shows up and spoils your whole party. And

0:13:58.640 --> 0:14:02.640
<v Speaker 2>in this song, particularly verse seventeen, listen what he says,

0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:07.360
<v Speaker 2>How precious to me are your thoughts? Oh God, how

0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:10.080
<v Speaker 2>vast are some of them? So he gives us two distinctions. One,

0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:16.480
<v Speaker 2>God's thoughts are valuable. A God thought is valuable. That's

0:14:16.520 --> 0:14:19.480
<v Speaker 2>why I keep paper all around my house, because a

0:14:19.480 --> 0:14:20.960
<v Speaker 2>God thought is valuable.

0:14:21.360 --> 0:14:21.720
<v Speaker 1>Y'all.

0:14:21.840 --> 0:14:24.400
<v Speaker 2>What I do with my life from my calling is

0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:27.720
<v Speaker 2>preach God's word to you. So I can go from

0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:30.200
<v Speaker 2>thinking I have nothing to say and I don't feel

0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:31.880
<v Speaker 2>the Holy Spirit, And how am I going to preach

0:14:31.920 --> 0:14:32.760
<v Speaker 2>Sunday to like?

0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:35.560
<v Speaker 1>Can we gather them together even though it's already Friday.

0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:37.040
<v Speaker 2>I've got to tell them right now this thing is

0:14:37.040 --> 0:14:38.520
<v Speaker 2>on fire and I don't have a back burner.

0:14:38.680 --> 0:14:41.000
<v Speaker 1>Can they come over right now? There are times where

0:14:41.000 --> 0:14:41.480
<v Speaker 1>I wish I.

0:14:41.400 --> 0:14:44.520
<v Speaker 2>Could bat signal you or Bible signal you and call

0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:47.040
<v Speaker 2>all of us together to fight the devil, because the

0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:51.840
<v Speaker 2>Word comes through a thought and it can happen that quickly. Therefore,

0:14:51.880 --> 0:14:55.560
<v Speaker 2>I've learned that the thoughts of God are valuable. How

0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:58.960
<v Speaker 2>valuable is a God thought to you? Is it something

0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:01.120
<v Speaker 2>that if a Bible verse comes into your feed you

0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:03.920
<v Speaker 2>might read it, or is it something that you seek

0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:08.280
<v Speaker 2>out in your life? Because if the God thoughts are

0:15:08.320 --> 0:15:11.120
<v Speaker 2>just right there in your scrolling beside all of the

0:15:11.160 --> 0:15:15.240
<v Speaker 2>other thoughts, they're not very set apart. And if the

0:15:15.280 --> 0:15:17.040
<v Speaker 2>only way I ever hear from God is if I

0:15:17.120 --> 0:15:19.000
<v Speaker 2>trip over something that He says on my way to

0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:22.960
<v Speaker 2>going somewhere else, I'm missing out on some very valuable

0:15:23.520 --> 0:15:26.880
<v Speaker 2>God thoughts. God can give you one thought that will

0:15:26.920 --> 0:15:30.440
<v Speaker 2>help you parent that special needs child differently. God can

0:15:30.480 --> 0:15:32.920
<v Speaker 2>give you that one thought that can help you parent

0:15:32.960 --> 0:15:37.360
<v Speaker 2>that child that isn't diagnosed with special needs differently, because

0:15:37.400 --> 0:15:41.400
<v Speaker 2>we all have special needs, and God knows what that

0:15:41.520 --> 0:15:44.680
<v Speaker 2>child needs more than he knows what you want that

0:15:44.800 --> 0:15:47.920
<v Speaker 2>child to be. And one God thought can show you

0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:50.920
<v Speaker 2>something about your child. One God thought can show you

0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:53.480
<v Speaker 2>somebody to reach out to who's already been through what

0:15:53.560 --> 0:15:54.360
<v Speaker 2>you're going through.

0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:56.800
<v Speaker 1>And they know stuff that they can download on.

0:15:56.800 --> 0:16:01.040
<v Speaker 2>Bluetooth in two minutes that would have taken you two years.

0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:04.240
<v Speaker 1>One God thought, I'm telling you the power of what

0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:04.680
<v Speaker 1>I know.

0:16:05.120 --> 0:16:08.360
<v Speaker 2>God can flip something on you so fast that you

0:16:08.400 --> 0:16:12.560
<v Speaker 2>will wonder why didn't I think of that sooner? It's

0:16:12.600 --> 0:16:15.360
<v Speaker 2>a God thought. I did not come to church today

0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:17.440
<v Speaker 2>to have a PEP rally. I did not come to

0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:19.680
<v Speaker 2>church today to have a PEP talk. I did not

0:16:19.760 --> 0:16:22.280
<v Speaker 2>come to church today for a social occasion. I did

0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:24.440
<v Speaker 2>not come to church today like it's a country club.

0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:27.000
<v Speaker 2>I did not come to church today for a concert.

0:16:27.280 --> 0:16:29.600
<v Speaker 2>I did not come to church today for a handclap.

0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:31.920
<v Speaker 2>I did not come to church today to show off.

0:16:31.960 --> 0:16:33.960
<v Speaker 2>I did not come to church today in hopes that

0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:35.680
<v Speaker 2>I might get a date. Although, Lord, if you want

0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:37.520
<v Speaker 2>to do that too, you can throw it in. I

0:16:37.520 --> 0:16:39.200
<v Speaker 2>won't turn anything away for free.

0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:40.800
<v Speaker 1>Lord. You may pray if you're single.

0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:43.040
<v Speaker 2>But what I came here for more than a person

0:16:43.080 --> 0:16:45.200
<v Speaker 2>that I might meet, is a God that will meet

0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:48.240
<v Speaker 2>with me and in one meeting, one moment, one second,

0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:52.960
<v Speaker 2>one thought. I'm telling you you can think a thought,

0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:56.880
<v Speaker 2>which is what happened to the Sons of Asaff last

0:16:56.880 --> 0:16:59.640
<v Speaker 2>week when he said I thought that it was through

0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:03.400
<v Speaker 2>and then I thought it through because a God thought

0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:08.000
<v Speaker 2>is valuable. Not only is it valuable, LJ, but it's vast.

0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:11.640
<v Speaker 2>He says, how precious are your thoughts to me? Oh God,

0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:15.399
<v Speaker 2>and then put the verse up again, how vast is

0:17:15.440 --> 0:17:19.080
<v Speaker 2>to some of them? That means God doesn't just think

0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:24.439
<v Speaker 2>things about church things. God doesn't just have thoughts to

0:17:24.520 --> 0:17:29.600
<v Speaker 2>offer you about your spiritual life. His thoughts are vast.

0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:34.680
<v Speaker 2>God is very well connected. God is very integrated. God

0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:38.159
<v Speaker 2>is very well versed. God is very multifaceted. God is

0:17:38.320 --> 0:17:41.399
<v Speaker 2>very multi lingual. He can help you in areas you

0:17:41.400 --> 0:17:44.080
<v Speaker 2>haven't even thought to pray to him about. He can

0:17:44.119 --> 0:17:46.800
<v Speaker 2>help you with parts of you that the therapist can

0:17:46.840 --> 0:17:50.719
<v Speaker 2>dig at for five years. I'm saying, get the therapist,

0:17:51.000 --> 0:17:53.800
<v Speaker 2>but take God to the couch with you, because God

0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:56.560
<v Speaker 2>can whisper something that the therapist said in a way

0:17:56.600 --> 0:17:58.919
<v Speaker 2>that only he could say it, because He knows the

0:17:59.240 --> 0:18:03.680
<v Speaker 2>inward hearts, so it's vast. He can speak to me

0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:06.560
<v Speaker 2>about a situation. He can speak to me about a change.

0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:08.959
<v Speaker 2>He can speak to me about a physical decision. I

0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:10.840
<v Speaker 2>do not believe that God has to help you pick

0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:11.840
<v Speaker 2>out every outfit.

0:18:11.560 --> 0:18:12.800
<v Speaker 1>When you get dressed in the morning.

0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:15.240
<v Speaker 2>I think people who pray about which kind of toothpaste

0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:18.040
<v Speaker 2>to use are kind of weird personally. But I want

0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:22.159
<v Speaker 2>to say that God's thoughts are vast, They are valuable,

0:18:22.440 --> 0:18:25.840
<v Speaker 2>and they are vast. How much do you value the

0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:28.159
<v Speaker 2>God thought when he gives you a word?

0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:30.360
<v Speaker 1>Will you sit with it for a minute?

0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:33.280
<v Speaker 2>Will you seek out a word for him rather than

0:18:33.320 --> 0:18:35.679
<v Speaker 2>waiting for him to bring you one. Will you have

0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:38.439
<v Speaker 2>a place that you go to get a word from God?

0:18:39.760 --> 0:18:42.919
<v Speaker 2>Or are you going to think the thoughts that are

0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:49.520
<v Speaker 2>automatic and miss the promises that are attached to the

0:18:49.560 --> 0:18:54.119
<v Speaker 2>thoughts of God which the Psalmist has already said, are precious.

0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:59.119
<v Speaker 2>To illustrate this for you today, about the value of

0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:01.960
<v Speaker 2>a god thought and the cost.

0:19:03.200 --> 0:19:05.680
<v Speaker 1>The cost of a wrong thought.

0:19:06.680 --> 0:19:09.240
<v Speaker 2>I want to use a person in the Bible that

0:19:09.320 --> 0:19:13.600
<v Speaker 2>I bet you've heard of before. His name is Jonah,

0:19:16.280 --> 0:19:22.440
<v Speaker 2>the most unfairly villainized person in the Bible. The Lord

0:19:22.560 --> 0:19:26.400
<v Speaker 2>told the boy to go preach to terrorists, and he

0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:29.439
<v Speaker 2>didn't want to do that, and we preach to him, like,

0:19:29.480 --> 0:19:30.280
<v Speaker 2>what's wrong with you?

0:19:30.400 --> 0:19:34.080
<v Speaker 1>Jonah? Obey God? If God says go, you got to

0:19:34.119 --> 0:19:39.280
<v Speaker 1>go Jonah, Go Jonah, Go Jonah. Be obedient, Go Jonah.

0:19:39.600 --> 0:19:43.160
<v Speaker 2>And this is actually in the Bible, I think one

0:19:43.160 --> 0:19:46.399
<v Speaker 2>of the easiest to read stories and the hardest to

0:19:46.480 --> 0:19:50.360
<v Speaker 2>understand as it pertains to us, because in this story

0:19:50.680 --> 0:19:55.280
<v Speaker 2>is prejudice. In this story is revenge. In this story,

0:19:55.359 --> 0:19:59.359
<v Speaker 2>is self pity. In this story is assumption. In this

0:19:59.520 --> 0:20:03.359
<v Speaker 2>story is resentment. In this story is regret. All of

0:20:03.400 --> 0:20:06.399
<v Speaker 2>that is in the story. But there's one thing I

0:20:06.440 --> 0:20:08.560
<v Speaker 2>want to show you today in this book of the

0:20:08.560 --> 0:20:11.040
<v Speaker 2>Bible that you could probably read in eight minutes when

0:20:11.080 --> 0:20:15.640
<v Speaker 2>you went home. In Jonah, Chapter one, the Bible gives

0:20:15.680 --> 0:20:17.480
<v Speaker 2>us a frame and please try to pretend like, you

0:20:17.840 --> 0:20:20.600
<v Speaker 2>don't know that. Jonah gets swallowed by a fish and

0:20:20.680 --> 0:20:23.560
<v Speaker 2>spit out and preaches to Nineveh and they have a revival.

0:20:23.600 --> 0:20:26.040
<v Speaker 2>But even after they have a revival, he's not happy

0:20:26.040 --> 0:20:28.199
<v Speaker 2>because he didn't want God to forgive him, and he

0:20:28.280 --> 0:20:30.960
<v Speaker 2>secretly knew that God was merciful, and he didn't want

0:20:31.000 --> 0:20:33.159
<v Speaker 2>God to have mercy on them. He only wanted God's

0:20:33.160 --> 0:20:37.080
<v Speaker 2>mercy for him. Pretend like you don't know any of that,

0:20:38.480 --> 0:20:41.840
<v Speaker 2>and look with me for a moment at Jonah chapter one.

0:20:42.520 --> 0:20:44.840
<v Speaker 2>It's coming up on the screen, and this first phrase

0:20:44.920 --> 0:20:48.760
<v Speaker 2>is really important. Now, the word of the Lord came

0:20:48.800 --> 0:20:54.160
<v Speaker 2>to Jonah. Stop Now, the word of the Lord came

0:20:54.560 --> 0:20:58.480
<v Speaker 2>to Jonah? What did that look like? What did that

0:20:58.600 --> 0:21:03.240
<v Speaker 2>sound like? Was it a dream that he had? Because

0:21:03.280 --> 0:21:05.480
<v Speaker 2>God is about to give him an assignment. God's about

0:21:05.520 --> 0:21:08.520
<v Speaker 2>to give him a thought. God is about to plant

0:21:08.600 --> 0:21:12.879
<v Speaker 2>something in Jonah's mind that is relative to his purpose,

0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:19.919
<v Speaker 2>and not only his purpose, but it was beyond Jonah's scope. Now,

0:21:19.960 --> 0:21:23.480
<v Speaker 2>the word of the Lord came to Jonah. Was it

0:21:23.520 --> 0:21:25.399
<v Speaker 2>a vision that he saw while he was awake? Was

0:21:25.440 --> 0:21:26.640
<v Speaker 2>it an audible voice?

0:21:26.840 --> 0:21:29.879
<v Speaker 1>We don't know. And one thing that I'm glad that

0:21:29.920 --> 0:21:37.320
<v Speaker 1>we have that Jonah didn't have. Is this because I

0:21:37.359 --> 0:21:39.000
<v Speaker 1>got good news for you? If you feel like.

0:21:39.640 --> 0:21:41.600
<v Speaker 2>God isn't speaking to you right now, and you're like,

0:21:41.640 --> 0:21:43.760
<v Speaker 2>I don't have any God thoughts. I just have all

0:21:43.800 --> 0:21:46.800
<v Speaker 2>the worried thoughts and the fear thoughts and how am

0:21:46.800 --> 0:21:49.320
<v Speaker 2>I going to pay for this thoughts? And you know,

0:21:49.440 --> 0:21:51.720
<v Speaker 2>I wish they would just leave me alone thoughts and

0:21:51.760 --> 0:21:52.920
<v Speaker 2>when is this ever going to change?

0:21:52.920 --> 0:21:53.120
<v Speaker 1>Thoughts?

0:21:53.160 --> 0:21:56.240
<v Speaker 2>I don't have any God thoughts. The Bible says the

0:21:56.280 --> 0:22:01.040
<v Speaker 2>word of the Lord came to Jonah. But because we

0:22:01.320 --> 0:22:05.399
<v Speaker 2>have God's word, you don't have to wait for the

0:22:05.440 --> 0:22:06.879
<v Speaker 2>word of the Lord to come to you.

0:22:06.880 --> 0:22:11.200
<v Speaker 1>You can come to the word of the Lord. Isn't

0:22:11.240 --> 0:22:13.960
<v Speaker 1>that powerful? I'll try it again.

0:22:14.920 --> 0:22:17.040
<v Speaker 2>If you are in a situation where you don't know

0:22:17.080 --> 0:22:19.199
<v Speaker 2>what to do, you don't know where to go, you

0:22:19.200 --> 0:22:20.960
<v Speaker 2>don't know where to turn, you don't know how it's

0:22:20.960 --> 0:22:23.560
<v Speaker 2>gonna work out, you can't really get your mind around it,

0:22:23.640 --> 0:22:26.440
<v Speaker 2>and the enemy is tormenting you. You don't have to

0:22:26.560 --> 0:22:30.440
<v Speaker 2>wait for the word of the Lord to come to you.

0:22:30.440 --> 0:22:34.439
<v Speaker 1>You can come to the word of the Lord. And

0:22:34.560 --> 0:22:35.840
<v Speaker 1>everybody in church.

0:22:35.680 --> 0:22:39.080
<v Speaker 2>This morning clap because that's what you did when you came,

0:22:40.480 --> 0:22:44.840
<v Speaker 2>come on, clap. You got to celebrate sometimes, right. I

0:22:44.920 --> 0:22:48.679
<v Speaker 2>didn't cuss, And I came to church because I'm not

0:22:48.720 --> 0:22:50.520
<v Speaker 2>gonna wait for the word of the Lord to come

0:22:50.560 --> 0:22:50.720
<v Speaker 2>to me.

0:22:50.760 --> 0:22:53.480
<v Speaker 1>I'm not gonna wait for a goosebump. I came to.

0:22:53.520 --> 0:22:57.320
<v Speaker 2>Church today because I value the thoughts of God.

0:22:57.720 --> 0:23:00.920
<v Speaker 1>I value what God thinks about my real relationships.

0:23:01.160 --> 0:23:04.880
<v Speaker 2>I value what God thinks about my possessions. I value

0:23:04.920 --> 0:23:08.359
<v Speaker 2>what God thinks about my identity. I value what God

0:23:08.400 --> 0:23:11.879
<v Speaker 2>thinks about my career. I value what God thinks about

0:23:12.040 --> 0:23:16.719
<v Speaker 2>my emotions. I value the thoughts of God. And the

0:23:16.760 --> 0:23:20.000
<v Speaker 2>Word of the Lord came to Jonah. And we may

0:23:20.119 --> 0:23:21.760
<v Speaker 2>wonder sometimes, how.

0:23:21.560 --> 0:23:24.760
<v Speaker 1>Does God speak to me? Does God speak to me?

0:23:25.240 --> 0:23:26.760
<v Speaker 1>Is this God speaking to me?

0:23:27.119 --> 0:23:31.760
<v Speaker 2>And I have discovered three very specific and repeatable ways

0:23:31.800 --> 0:23:34.439
<v Speaker 2>that God seems to speak. I'll give them to you

0:23:34.560 --> 0:23:43.840
<v Speaker 2>right now. Number one, he speaks through impressions impressions. Number two,

0:23:43.880 --> 0:23:51.840
<v Speaker 2>he speaks through instructions instructions, and number three he speaks

0:23:51.840 --> 0:23:52.919
<v Speaker 2>through interruptions.

0:23:55.600 --> 0:23:58.840
<v Speaker 1>The Word of the Lord came to Jonah. The Word

0:23:58.840 --> 0:23:59.320
<v Speaker 1>of the Lord.

0:23:59.480 --> 0:24:01.480
<v Speaker 2>The Word of the Lord isn't always a preacher preaching

0:24:01.480 --> 0:24:03.760
<v Speaker 2>the word of the Lord isn't always at your devotional time.

0:24:04.040 --> 0:24:08.080
<v Speaker 2>Sometimes the Holy Spirit, if he lives in you, will

0:24:08.160 --> 0:24:12.680
<v Speaker 2>show you something that you shouldn't say, show you something

0:24:12.960 --> 0:24:14.920
<v Speaker 2>that you should say, show you a way you should

0:24:14.920 --> 0:24:17.160
<v Speaker 2>see the situation that you hadn't been seeing the situation.

0:24:18.240 --> 0:24:22.919
<v Speaker 2>It's an impression. Can't explain it, but it's an impression.

0:24:24.440 --> 0:24:27.720
<v Speaker 2>But then sometimes we get so heavy on that and

0:24:27.720 --> 0:24:31.199
<v Speaker 2>that I think we just run around just following whatever

0:24:31.280 --> 0:24:35.000
<v Speaker 2>impression we get. And the problem with my impressions is

0:24:35.040 --> 0:24:40.080
<v Speaker 2>that sometimes my impressions are imposters and they pretend to

0:24:40.119 --> 0:24:42.639
<v Speaker 2>be God, but they're really just what I want dressed

0:24:42.720 --> 0:24:45.840
<v Speaker 2>up as God. That's what we're going to talk about

0:24:45.880 --> 0:24:51.520
<v Speaker 2>from Jonah, because God gives impressions, but he also gives instructions.

0:24:52.760 --> 0:24:54.720
<v Speaker 2>And one thing I love about God is he will

0:24:54.760 --> 0:24:58.359
<v Speaker 2>never give you an impression that violates his clear instruction.

0:25:02.080 --> 0:25:04.520
<v Speaker 2>So I don't care how attracted to her you are,

0:25:05.200 --> 0:25:08.919
<v Speaker 2>if she is married, you have received an instruction on

0:25:08.960 --> 0:25:12.199
<v Speaker 2>that situation. And I don't care that her name is

0:25:12.240 --> 0:25:15.359
<v Speaker 2>Cindy and so was your grandmother's. That is irrelevant to

0:25:15.440 --> 0:25:19.120
<v Speaker 2>this situation. There is an instruction.

0:25:19.840 --> 0:25:20.040
<v Speaker 1>You know.

0:25:20.200 --> 0:25:23.080
<v Speaker 2>Sometimes I think we're waiting on God to give us

0:25:23.080 --> 0:25:25.000
<v Speaker 2>a feeling or a thought because we don't want to

0:25:25.040 --> 0:25:28.600
<v Speaker 2>obey what we clearly saw that he said. And I'm

0:25:28.600 --> 0:25:30.280
<v Speaker 2>gonna stand here and preach this like I've been a

0:25:30.320 --> 0:25:34.440
<v Speaker 2>pastor for twenty years. Y'all ain't going to timidate me today,

0:25:35.200 --> 0:25:37.720
<v Speaker 2>reading all up in the Book of Revelation, trying to

0:25:37.760 --> 0:25:41.080
<v Speaker 2>figure out which one is North Korea and which one

0:25:41.280 --> 0:25:44.040
<v Speaker 2>is Israel and which one is Iraq, and you're all

0:25:44.080 --> 0:25:47.480
<v Speaker 2>over there translating that, while meanwhile the Bible says in

0:25:47.520 --> 0:25:50.160
<v Speaker 2>First Corinthians something that you don't really want to read

0:25:50.200 --> 0:25:52.879
<v Speaker 2>in First Corinthians, chapter six, this's pretty clear. This is

0:25:52.920 --> 0:25:57.800
<v Speaker 2>an instruction flee from sexual immorality.

0:25:57.880 --> 0:26:00.840
<v Speaker 1>So we can read all the revelation we want, read.

0:26:00.640 --> 0:26:04.600
<v Speaker 2>It, Underline it, highlight it, circle it, star it, smell it,

0:26:04.840 --> 0:26:08.000
<v Speaker 2>sniff it, take it, eat it, whatever you want to do.

0:26:08.240 --> 0:26:11.560
<v Speaker 1>But you still gotta do this because this is an instruction.

0:26:11.960 --> 0:26:16.040
<v Speaker 2>And he is God, and he is not my buddy, He's.

0:26:15.840 --> 0:26:17.159
<v Speaker 1>Not an influencer.

0:26:17.560 --> 0:26:22.919
<v Speaker 2>He is alpha and Omega, God don't want me to preach.

0:26:23.600 --> 0:26:27.320
<v Speaker 2>I need to go back on break bust. Somebody high

0:26:27.400 --> 0:26:29.600
<v Speaker 2>five your neighbors, say, because he said so.

0:26:32.600 --> 0:26:39.480
<v Speaker 1>Because he said so. Because he said so, his definition,

0:26:40.280 --> 0:26:41.800
<v Speaker 1>his description.

0:26:43.800 --> 0:26:47.840
<v Speaker 2>Fleet So I need a word from the Lord. There's one.

0:26:48.560 --> 0:26:52.280
<v Speaker 2>Do that all week and check in with me. Take

0:26:52.400 --> 0:26:55.199
<v Speaker 2>seven days of that. Well, I don't really struggle with

0:26:55.240 --> 0:26:56.639
<v Speaker 2>the So what you got for me?

0:26:56.760 --> 0:26:57.120
<v Speaker 1>All right?

0:26:59.119 --> 0:27:02.439
<v Speaker 2>No? I looked up some scriptures because we said we

0:27:02.480 --> 0:27:07.000
<v Speaker 2>want a god thought. All right, there's another one in

0:27:07.160 --> 0:27:11.479
<v Speaker 2>Ephesians for thirty two. This one says, be kind to

0:27:11.480 --> 0:27:23.439
<v Speaker 2>one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ

0:27:23.520 --> 0:27:24.080
<v Speaker 2>forgave you.

0:27:26.000 --> 0:27:29.360
<v Speaker 1>Bo don't feel like forgiven. But this is not about

0:27:29.400 --> 0:27:30.280
<v Speaker 1>an impression.

0:27:31.040 --> 0:27:35.320
<v Speaker 2>This is about an instruction, because you have a father

0:27:35.359 --> 0:27:38.680
<v Speaker 2>who knows that you can never be free until you forgive.

0:27:39.720 --> 0:27:42.520
<v Speaker 2>So if he tells me to flee, I've got to go.

0:27:42.960 --> 0:27:45.640
<v Speaker 2>If he tells me to forgive, I've got to love.

0:27:45.760 --> 0:27:51.400
<v Speaker 2>It's an instruction. Those are just some of the things

0:27:51.760 --> 0:27:54.880
<v Speaker 2>that God will use to speak to you. But then

0:27:54.920 --> 0:27:58.160
<v Speaker 2>there is like Jonah, where God will give you an interruption,

0:27:58.240 --> 0:28:00.520
<v Speaker 2>an interruption to the way that you think and to

0:28:00.520 --> 0:28:02.480
<v Speaker 2>the way that you see the world, and interruption to

0:28:02.520 --> 0:28:04.560
<v Speaker 2>what you think is important, an interruption to the path

0:28:04.600 --> 0:28:07.040
<v Speaker 2>that you laid out for your own life, and so

0:28:07.160 --> 0:28:09.199
<v Speaker 2>Jonah is a prophet, and the Bible says that the

0:28:09.200 --> 0:28:11.120
<v Speaker 2>word of the Lord came to Jonah. And I got

0:28:11.119 --> 0:28:12.800
<v Speaker 2>to say this one more time in case you didn't

0:28:12.800 --> 0:28:14.919
<v Speaker 2>get it. The word of the Lord can come to you.

0:28:15.920 --> 0:28:19.159
<v Speaker 2>Do you come to the word of the Lord. I

0:28:19.160 --> 0:28:22.480
<v Speaker 2>will ask you that every week, do you come to

0:28:22.520 --> 0:28:24.359
<v Speaker 2>the word of the Lord, so that the word of

0:28:24.359 --> 0:28:26.720
<v Speaker 2>the Lord can come to you, because there he will

0:28:26.840 --> 0:28:30.960
<v Speaker 2>give you instructions that will then mold your impressions so

0:28:31.000 --> 0:28:33.280
<v Speaker 2>that they are in His image, not yours.

0:28:34.480 --> 0:28:35.160
<v Speaker 1>Praise the Lord.

0:28:37.080 --> 0:28:38.360
<v Speaker 2>Now, the word of the Lord came to Jonah, son

0:28:38.400 --> 0:28:43.360
<v Speaker 2>of AMATAI saying, here's the details of the conversation. Arise,

0:28:43.520 --> 0:28:48.080
<v Speaker 2>go to nineve that great city, and call out against it.

0:28:48.600 --> 0:28:52.640
<v Speaker 2>Nobody wants to preach against it. Nobody wants to go

0:28:52.760 --> 0:28:55.920
<v Speaker 2>to a place that is against them. Ninevah was the

0:28:55.920 --> 0:28:59.720
<v Speaker 2>capital city of Assyria. They were brutal. They wouldn't just

0:28:59.760 --> 0:29:01.840
<v Speaker 2>kill you, they would impel you to send a message.

0:29:01.880 --> 0:29:06.680
<v Speaker 2>That's what I thought, Come try us again. They were brutal, barbaric,

0:29:06.760 --> 0:29:10.920
<v Speaker 2>and unrepentant, and they had personally oppressed the people that

0:29:11.040 --> 0:29:14.080
<v Speaker 2>Jonah was identified with. So when the Lord said go

0:29:14.120 --> 0:29:17.080
<v Speaker 2>to Nineveh and preach against it, for their evil has

0:29:17.120 --> 0:29:22.080
<v Speaker 2>come up before me, the Bible says, But Jonah rose

0:29:22.160 --> 0:29:25.440
<v Speaker 2>to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

0:29:26.800 --> 0:29:29.200
<v Speaker 2>We know because we just read someone thirty nine that

0:29:29.240 --> 0:29:32.840
<v Speaker 2>what he is trying to do is impossible. He went

0:29:32.920 --> 0:29:37.440
<v Speaker 2>to flee from the presence of the Lord. And we

0:29:37.480 --> 0:29:40.520
<v Speaker 2>know because we have someone thirty nine that if you

0:29:42.640 --> 0:29:45.000
<v Speaker 2>ascend to the heavens, he's there, and if you descend

0:29:45.080 --> 0:29:47.720
<v Speaker 2>to Hell, he's there. And you can't flee from Jonah,

0:29:47.760 --> 0:29:51.120
<v Speaker 2>but he from God. But Jonah thought he could, and

0:29:51.200 --> 0:29:56.680
<v Speaker 2>so he arose. And uh, I won't break this all

0:29:56.720 --> 0:30:00.360
<v Speaker 2>down for you. But Ninevah was five hundred miles from

0:30:00.400 --> 0:30:05.719
<v Speaker 2>the port where he was supposed to go, and Tarsish,

0:30:05.800 --> 0:30:09.680
<v Speaker 2>where he tried to go, was twenty five hundred miles,

0:30:11.320 --> 0:30:13.640
<v Speaker 2>So it was going to take him five times longer

0:30:14.760 --> 0:30:16.640
<v Speaker 2>to get where he had decided to go than where

0:30:16.640 --> 0:30:19.280
<v Speaker 2>God told him to go. But he kind of thought

0:30:19.280 --> 0:30:25.120
<v Speaker 2>he could get around it. He thought, that's what I thought. Now,

0:30:25.560 --> 0:30:26.080
<v Speaker 2>let's talk.

0:30:27.480 --> 0:30:29.280
<v Speaker 1>There are some ways that you have tried to run

0:30:29.320 --> 0:30:33.080
<v Speaker 1>from some things in your life, and you thought, well,

0:30:33.480 --> 0:30:35.120
<v Speaker 1>if I just moved to a different city.

0:30:36.400 --> 0:30:38.120
<v Speaker 2>And it's not always bad to move to a different

0:30:38.160 --> 0:30:44.600
<v Speaker 2>city long as you realize you go with you get

0:30:44.640 --> 0:30:47.960
<v Speaker 2>at least a two bedroom apartment, because there's at least

0:30:47.960 --> 0:30:48.720
<v Speaker 2>two of you's.

0:30:52.360 --> 0:30:56.920
<v Speaker 1>He tried to go to Tarshish. He thought he would

0:30:57.000 --> 0:30:57.880
<v Speaker 1>run from the Lord.

0:30:58.320 --> 0:31:02.200
<v Speaker 2>And every word of this is so instructive, but just

0:31:02.280 --> 0:31:05.160
<v Speaker 2>for the sake of time, focus in with me. On

0:31:05.320 --> 0:31:10.560
<v Speaker 2>verses three through five, he went down to Joppa. Pastor

0:31:10.560 --> 0:31:12.440
<v Speaker 2>Mickey used to say, when you run from God, you

0:31:12.520 --> 0:31:13.600
<v Speaker 2>always go down.

0:31:14.800 --> 0:31:15.320
<v Speaker 1>I like that.

0:31:16.080 --> 0:31:20.480
<v Speaker 2>He went down to Joppa and found a ship going

0:31:20.520 --> 0:31:23.400
<v Speaker 2>to Tarsish. Pastor Mickey used to always say, if you

0:31:23.480 --> 0:31:25.640
<v Speaker 2>ever want to run from God, the devil will always

0:31:25.680 --> 0:31:26.640
<v Speaker 2>give your ride.

0:31:27.920 --> 0:31:28.280
<v Speaker 1>Anyway.

0:31:28.320 --> 0:31:30.640
<v Speaker 2>That's just old preacher stuff that I used to hear.

0:31:32.160 --> 0:31:36.600
<v Speaker 2>So he paid the fare and went on board. I'm

0:31:36.600 --> 0:31:40.360
<v Speaker 2>holding up my penny'll He paid the fair, went on

0:31:40.440 --> 0:31:43.719
<v Speaker 2>board to go with them to Tarsish, away from the

0:31:43.760 --> 0:31:45.000
<v Speaker 2>presence of the Lord.

0:31:45.200 --> 0:31:46.520
<v Speaker 1>Surprise verse four.

0:31:46.560 --> 0:31:52.479
<v Speaker 2>You can't You can't run from any of it. You

0:31:52.480 --> 0:31:55.800
<v Speaker 2>can't run from it. Well, you can run from it,

0:31:56.600 --> 0:32:00.360
<v Speaker 2>just not very long, especially if the Lord really you.

0:32:01.520 --> 0:32:06.680
<v Speaker 2>Because those he loves, he disciplines those he really loves.

0:32:06.760 --> 0:32:10.360
<v Speaker 2>He does what it takes to bring them back. Those

0:32:10.400 --> 0:32:13.440
<v Speaker 2>that He really has a purpose for. He will even

0:32:13.560 --> 0:32:18.800
<v Speaker 2>punish you short term to prevent you from something in

0:32:18.840 --> 0:32:21.240
<v Speaker 2>your future that would be worse than the pain of

0:32:21.280 --> 0:32:25.360
<v Speaker 2>the present. I am not saying that every bad thing

0:32:25.520 --> 0:32:29.920
<v Speaker 2>happens so God can teach you a lesson. Please understand

0:32:30.120 --> 0:32:32.240
<v Speaker 2>that the number of people who I have watched die

0:32:32.280 --> 0:32:34.600
<v Speaker 2>of cancer and the number of people that I've seen

0:32:34.680 --> 0:32:37.880
<v Speaker 2>have their lives senselessly taken from a drunk driver would

0:32:37.960 --> 0:32:40.040
<v Speaker 2>prohibit me from ever skewing.

0:32:39.640 --> 0:32:41.560
<v Speaker 1>That kind of nonsense from the pulpit.

0:32:41.960 --> 0:32:43.920
<v Speaker 2>But I need to point out to you that the God,

0:32:43.920 --> 0:32:49.800
<v Speaker 2>who speaks by instructions and impressions, also will sometimes come

0:32:49.880 --> 0:32:52.840
<v Speaker 2>into your situation through an interruption.

0:32:53.520 --> 0:32:55.320
<v Speaker 1>Because the Bible says that.

0:32:55.440 --> 0:33:00.560
<v Speaker 2>The Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and

0:33:00.600 --> 0:33:03.840
<v Speaker 2>there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the.

0:33:03.840 --> 0:33:05.480
<v Speaker 1>Ship threatened to break up.

0:33:06.000 --> 0:33:08.240
<v Speaker 2>It is not the fact that there was a storm

0:33:08.320 --> 0:33:09.920
<v Speaker 2>that made me bring this passage up.

0:33:10.480 --> 0:33:13.160
<v Speaker 1>It was who sent it that made it noteworthy.

0:33:13.960 --> 0:33:17.280
<v Speaker 2>I am used to God calming storms, I am not

0:33:17.520 --> 0:33:20.680
<v Speaker 2>used to God sending them. But there was something that

0:33:20.760 --> 0:33:24.120
<v Speaker 2>God wanted to do in this situation that was important

0:33:24.200 --> 0:33:27.680
<v Speaker 2>enough for him to send a storm to stop Jonah.

0:33:27.800 --> 0:33:31.360
<v Speaker 2>Somewhere along the way he thought he was going to Tarshish,

0:33:31.680 --> 0:33:34.000
<v Speaker 2>But before he could get where he thought he was

0:33:34.080 --> 0:33:37.440
<v Speaker 2>going to go, a storm was sent upon the sea.

0:33:38.000 --> 0:33:40.960
<v Speaker 2>Now we're ready for verse five, The Bible says. Then

0:33:41.000 --> 0:33:44.600
<v Speaker 2>the mariners or the sailors were afraid. Now remember, these

0:33:44.640 --> 0:33:47.720
<v Speaker 2>men don't know God, not Jonah's God. They call on

0:33:47.840 --> 0:33:52.160
<v Speaker 2>many gods. They're polytheus. They have gods for everything. They

0:33:52.160 --> 0:33:56.000
<v Speaker 2>have God's for feasting, God's for fasting, God's for droughting,

0:33:56.080 --> 0:33:57.200
<v Speaker 2>God's for storms.

0:33:57.480 --> 0:34:00.360
<v Speaker 1>And as they're calling on all their many gods.

0:34:00.120 --> 0:34:03.280
<v Speaker 2>Many little gene, many gods that can't do anything for

0:34:03.360 --> 0:34:05.920
<v Speaker 2>you when it really counts like some of the gods

0:34:05.960 --> 0:34:08.520
<v Speaker 2>that we worship and serve, only to find out that

0:34:08.600 --> 0:34:11.960
<v Speaker 2>they are so small in the face of a great storm.

0:34:12.280 --> 0:34:14.400
<v Speaker 2>And is this why God has brought you to this

0:34:14.560 --> 0:34:17.120
<v Speaker 2>point in your life, so that you can call out

0:34:17.160 --> 0:34:18.560
<v Speaker 2>for something bigger.

0:34:18.640 --> 0:34:20.560
<v Speaker 1>But the Lord hurled the wind on the sea.

0:34:20.960 --> 0:34:24.239
<v Speaker 2>Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to

0:34:24.360 --> 0:34:27.799
<v Speaker 2>his God, and they hurled the cargo that was in

0:34:27.920 --> 0:34:29.480
<v Speaker 2>the ship into the.

0:34:29.440 --> 0:34:31.200
<v Speaker 1>Sea to lighten it for them.

0:34:31.520 --> 0:34:36.600
<v Speaker 2>But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of

0:34:36.640 --> 0:34:39.080
<v Speaker 2>the ship and had lain.

0:34:39.000 --> 0:34:47.160
<v Speaker 1>Down and was fast asleep. So the captain get ready.

0:34:47.200 --> 0:34:51.560
<v Speaker 1>Luck In came and said to him.

0:34:52.760 --> 0:35:01.200
<v Speaker 3>What do you mean, you sleeper, arise, call out to

0:35:01.280 --> 0:35:08.279
<v Speaker 3>your God. Perhaps the God will give a thought to

0:35:08.520 --> 0:35:14.960
<v Speaker 3>us that we may not perish. I'm talking about when

0:35:15.040 --> 0:35:20.480
<v Speaker 3>God gives a thought to you. I know what he

0:35:20.560 --> 0:35:21.440
<v Speaker 3>meant when he said it.

0:35:22.120 --> 0:35:24.879
<v Speaker 2>Maybe if you call on God, he'll remember that we're

0:35:24.880 --> 0:35:28.040
<v Speaker 2>in this situation. Maybe if you call on your God,

0:35:28.080 --> 0:35:31.800
<v Speaker 2>he'll do something our gods can't do. When translation says

0:35:32.040 --> 0:35:36.600
<v Speaker 2>maybe he'll take notice, another translation says, maybe he'll throw

0:35:36.640 --> 0:35:41.479
<v Speaker 2>a thought our way. Maybe he'll give a thought to us.

0:35:42.160 --> 0:35:45.840
<v Speaker 1>But the phrase was so rich man, I couldn't just

0:35:45.960 --> 0:35:47.560
<v Speaker 1>take it at face value.

0:35:48.160 --> 0:35:53.000
<v Speaker 2>I realized when he said, perhaps your God will give.

0:35:52.800 --> 0:35:56.840
<v Speaker 1>A thought to us and this storm will stop.

0:35:57.600 --> 0:36:03.080
<v Speaker 2>That your God can give a thought to you that

0:36:03.239 --> 0:36:04.520
<v Speaker 2>will stop.

0:36:04.640 --> 0:36:07.080
<v Speaker 1>The storm in his tracks.

0:36:07.719 --> 0:36:10.520
<v Speaker 2>And he can do it today, and he can do

0:36:10.640 --> 0:36:13.920
<v Speaker 2>it right now, and he can do it even though

0:36:13.960 --> 0:36:16.840
<v Speaker 2>you're in your thirties, and he can do it even

0:36:16.880 --> 0:36:20.360
<v Speaker 2>while you're in your teens. Because what the captain said

0:36:20.360 --> 0:36:23.960
<v Speaker 2>that was so profound. He said, we need a thought

0:36:24.400 --> 0:36:27.520
<v Speaker 2>from God. I don't even know if you've got the

0:36:27.640 --> 0:36:31.440
<v Speaker 2>right one, but we need God in this situation. And

0:36:31.640 --> 0:36:34.080
<v Speaker 2>is it possible that you are in a storm right

0:36:34.120 --> 0:36:37.080
<v Speaker 2>now in your life? Not to be overly generic, but

0:36:37.280 --> 0:36:41.080
<v Speaker 2>everybody in here has some kind of storm or is

0:36:41.160 --> 0:36:44.680
<v Speaker 2>journeying with someone through a storm. And would it be

0:36:44.760 --> 0:36:47.160
<v Speaker 2>a good prayer for you to pray right about now,

0:36:47.560 --> 0:36:54.040
<v Speaker 2>God give a thought to me. See, because God's thoughts

0:36:54.280 --> 0:37:01.040
<v Speaker 2>are precious. God's works are wonderful, but his thoughts are

0:37:01.160 --> 0:37:05.680
<v Speaker 2>also precious. So it means that sometimes we're praying God

0:37:05.880 --> 0:37:09.360
<v Speaker 2>do something and God is speaking for us to think something,

0:37:10.000 --> 0:37:13.120
<v Speaker 2>because until we think something different than we've been thinking,

0:37:13.560 --> 0:37:17.680
<v Speaker 2>he can't do anything different than what he's been allowed

0:37:17.680 --> 0:37:21.000
<v Speaker 2>to do. For instance, the ship is not going to

0:37:21.040 --> 0:37:23.960
<v Speaker 2>turn around just because God wants Jonah in Nineveh.

0:37:24.480 --> 0:37:26.080
<v Speaker 1>God did not turn the ship.

0:37:26.480 --> 0:37:29.120
<v Speaker 2>God sent the storm, and in the middle of the

0:37:29.160 --> 0:37:30.960
<v Speaker 2>storm he had a decision to make.

0:37:31.400 --> 0:37:34.399
<v Speaker 1>Not will God give a thought to me. God had

0:37:34.400 --> 0:37:36.719
<v Speaker 1>his eye on this boat from the moment Jonah got

0:37:36.760 --> 0:37:39.000
<v Speaker 1>on it. The whole reason they were.

0:37:38.800 --> 0:37:42.279
<v Speaker 2>In this predicament was because of the sleeping prophet. And

0:37:42.320 --> 0:37:46.080
<v Speaker 2>now we've got some panic pagans, and now we've got

0:37:46.080 --> 0:37:50.040
<v Speaker 2>a self pitying prophet, and we've got a sovereign god

0:37:50.440 --> 0:37:53.959
<v Speaker 2>sending a storm on a raging sea, and we're used

0:37:53.960 --> 0:37:57.160
<v Speaker 2>to him calming storms. But the God of the calm

0:37:57.239 --> 0:38:00.560
<v Speaker 2>is the God of the chaos. And into the chaos,

0:38:00.600 --> 0:38:03.759
<v Speaker 2>the captain says something that the prophet should.

0:38:03.440 --> 0:38:06.200
<v Speaker 1>Have known for sure. We need a God thought.

0:38:06.600 --> 0:38:09.560
<v Speaker 2>We need God to do something in our family. We

0:38:09.600 --> 0:38:12.800
<v Speaker 2>need God to do something in this relationship. I need

0:38:12.840 --> 0:38:15.680
<v Speaker 2>God to do something in my business. I need God

0:38:15.719 --> 0:38:18.200
<v Speaker 2>to do something in my body. I need God to

0:38:18.280 --> 0:38:21.320
<v Speaker 2>walk in with me to this doctor. I need God,

0:38:21.600 --> 0:38:24.000
<v Speaker 2>and I'm not ashamed to cry.

0:38:23.760 --> 0:38:24.480
<v Speaker 1>Out to him.

0:38:24.760 --> 0:38:25.839
<v Speaker 2>And I can't.

0:38:25.480 --> 0:38:36.160
<v Speaker 1>Sleep down here. Get up and call on God and

0:38:36.239 --> 0:38:40.160
<v Speaker 1>maybe God will give a thought to us.

0:38:43.239 --> 0:38:46.000
<v Speaker 2>And Jonah said, yeah, I'm real sorry about this because

0:38:46.040 --> 0:38:51.960
<v Speaker 2>this is all my fall. See. I worship Yahweh, and

0:38:52.040 --> 0:38:54.040
<v Speaker 2>Yahweh told me to go to Nineveh, and I said,

0:38:54.080 --> 0:38:57.480
<v Speaker 2>no way. I'm just trying to keep it light because

0:38:57.480 --> 0:38:59.360
<v Speaker 2>it's kind of a hard sermon to preach if you

0:38:59.360 --> 0:39:02.720
<v Speaker 2>want to know the truth. But after he got done explaining,

0:39:02.760 --> 0:39:04.439
<v Speaker 2>and they cast lots which is kind of like drawing

0:39:04.440 --> 0:39:06.360
<v Speaker 2>a straw. And they realized it was Jonah's fault that

0:39:06.360 --> 0:39:07.760
<v Speaker 2>they were in this storm.

0:39:08.080 --> 0:39:10.399
<v Speaker 1>They realized, listen to this, that.

0:39:10.320 --> 0:39:13.479
<v Speaker 2>You can throw all the cargo overboard that you want,

0:39:14.239 --> 0:39:17.000
<v Speaker 2>but until you deal with the real thing that's going on,

0:39:19.560 --> 0:39:26.880
<v Speaker 2>it will stay chaotic. You can't fix chaos by losing cargo.

0:39:28.719 --> 0:39:32.040
<v Speaker 2>How much more stuff are you gonna throw overboard before

0:39:32.080 --> 0:39:35.399
<v Speaker 2>you realize Jonah has got to go?

0:39:37.480 --> 0:39:39.520
<v Speaker 1>What do you mean Jonah's gotta go?

0:39:40.000 --> 0:39:42.920
<v Speaker 2>I'm saying anything that is on your boat that is

0:39:43.000 --> 0:39:45.440
<v Speaker 2>keeping Jesus from being the captain of your peace and

0:39:45.480 --> 0:39:46.600
<v Speaker 2>your soul has.

0:39:46.440 --> 0:39:50.359
<v Speaker 1>Got to go. You can rearrange all the.

0:39:50.320 --> 0:39:53.280
<v Speaker 2>Deck chairs you want, it's still the Titanic. If Jonah

0:39:53.320 --> 0:39:56.759
<v Speaker 2>doesn't go, you can continue to throw things off and

0:39:56.800 --> 0:39:59.279
<v Speaker 2>spend money and waste money and buy stuff and buy

0:39:59.320 --> 0:40:02.000
<v Speaker 2>more square foot so y'all can sleep at opposite ends

0:40:02.040 --> 0:40:05.840
<v Speaker 2>of the bigger house. But until the attitudes that the

0:40:05.920 --> 0:40:11.920
<v Speaker 2>root of it change, nothing does until God gives a thought.

0:40:12.360 --> 0:40:15.120
<v Speaker 2>And it costs Jonah. Did you see how it said

0:40:15.160 --> 0:40:17.760
<v Speaker 2>he paid the fare. He paid more than a penny

0:40:17.840 --> 0:40:24.680
<v Speaker 2>for this. He paid his peace. He almost paid his purpose.

0:40:26.480 --> 0:40:27.480
<v Speaker 1>Because of a wrong thought?

0:40:27.560 --> 0:40:34.759
<v Speaker 2>How much have the wrong thoughts cost you? Because God,

0:40:35.440 --> 0:40:39.640
<v Speaker 2>your God, the God who speaks by impressions, instructions, and

0:40:39.719 --> 0:40:45.560
<v Speaker 2>even interruptions, might be using this storm to give a

0:40:45.600 --> 0:40:52.359
<v Speaker 2>thought to you, to you, to you, And don't try

0:40:52.400 --> 0:40:55.720
<v Speaker 2>to talk to your neighbor about this sermon after church

0:40:56.160 --> 0:41:01.920
<v Speaker 2>if they weren't really listening, don't try to explain it

0:41:01.960 --> 0:41:02.279
<v Speaker 2>to them.

0:41:02.520 --> 0:41:04.799
<v Speaker 1>When God gives a thought to.

0:41:04.880 --> 0:41:11.920
<v Speaker 2>You, Jonah, I just want to show you how merciful

0:41:11.960 --> 0:41:13.920
<v Speaker 2>God really is. Not only is he going to forgive

0:41:14.200 --> 0:41:17.600
<v Speaker 2>the barbaric Ninevites over there in chapter three when Jonah preaches,

0:41:17.719 --> 0:41:20.640
<v Speaker 2>and Jonah's not even that great of a preacher, the

0:41:20.680 --> 0:41:22.399
<v Speaker 2>only thing he says that they record in the Book

0:41:22.440 --> 0:41:24.920
<v Speaker 2>of Jonah is forty more days in Ninevah will be destroyed.

0:41:26.160 --> 0:41:32.040
<v Speaker 1>Can you imagine coming to church for that? Y'all got

0:41:32.040 --> 0:41:32.839
<v Speaker 1>it pretty good, man.

0:41:32.920 --> 0:41:35.480
<v Speaker 2>If Jonah was here, that'd be the whole sermon, and

0:41:35.600 --> 0:41:37.239
<v Speaker 2>he just say it over and over again and say

0:41:37.280 --> 0:41:41.040
<v Speaker 2>it louder. But God used it. God did something through Jonah.

0:41:41.040 --> 0:41:42.879
<v Speaker 2>He always wanted to do something through Jonah. He wants

0:41:42.880 --> 0:41:45.360
<v Speaker 2>to do something through you. But the question is do

0:41:45.480 --> 0:41:50.040
<v Speaker 2>you value the God thought because the cost of the

0:41:50.120 --> 0:41:53.120
<v Speaker 2>wrong thought. What you trade with the wrong thought is

0:41:53.160 --> 0:41:58.000
<v Speaker 2>the god thought that replaces it. So God calls you,

0:41:58.040 --> 0:42:01.919
<v Speaker 2>but you turn yourself into a castaway. So God calls

0:42:01.920 --> 0:42:03.640
<v Speaker 2>you righteous by the blood of Christ, but you keep

0:42:03.719 --> 0:42:07.320
<v Speaker 2>hiding in shame from even your own friends and family.

0:42:08.200 --> 0:42:10.400
<v Speaker 2>It's the cost of a wrong thought. Oh, he paid

0:42:10.440 --> 0:42:13.040
<v Speaker 2>the fare to get on the ship, but he paid

0:42:13.080 --> 0:42:16.719
<v Speaker 2>more than that. And as a matter of fact, it

0:42:16.840 --> 0:42:19.800
<v Speaker 2>got so bad that the sailors, after doing everything they could,

0:42:20.600 --> 0:42:21.839
<v Speaker 2>said what do you want us to do? And look

0:42:21.840 --> 0:42:23.880
<v Speaker 2>what he said in verse twelve. This is the cost

0:42:23.920 --> 0:42:27.920
<v Speaker 2>of the wrong thought. He said to them, pick me

0:42:28.000 --> 0:42:31.200
<v Speaker 2>up and hurl me into the sea. Then the sea

0:42:31.200 --> 0:42:32.400
<v Speaker 2>will quiet down for you. And now I'm going to

0:42:32.440 --> 0:42:34.000
<v Speaker 2>show you something. You've been in church all your life,

0:42:34.040 --> 0:42:35.640
<v Speaker 2>but I don't think you've ever seen this before.

0:42:35.760 --> 0:42:38.840
<v Speaker 1>God gave it to me. Fresh the sea will quiet

0:42:38.880 --> 0:42:43.439
<v Speaker 1>down for you. I know it's because of me. I'm

0:42:43.440 --> 0:42:45.040
<v Speaker 1>the problem. It's me.

0:42:47.480 --> 0:42:49.520
<v Speaker 2>I know it's because of me that this great tempest

0:42:50.120 --> 0:42:53.440
<v Speaker 2>has come upon you. Nevertheless, men wrote hard, try to

0:42:53.440 --> 0:42:55.200
<v Speaker 2>get back to the dry land. They tried everything they could,

0:42:55.200 --> 0:42:57.759
<v Speaker 2>they could not, for the sea grew more more tempestuous

0:42:57.760 --> 0:42:59.319
<v Speaker 2>against them. You're not going to row your way out

0:42:59.320 --> 0:43:02.440
<v Speaker 2>of this one. There's some situations you can strain as

0:43:02.520 --> 0:43:04.000
<v Speaker 2>much as you want to in the storm doesn't stop.

0:43:04.000 --> 0:43:07.440
<v Speaker 2>But watch this verse fourteen. Therefore they called out to

0:43:07.440 --> 0:43:08.920
<v Speaker 2>the Lord, Oh Lord, let us not perish for this

0:43:08.960 --> 0:43:11.600
<v Speaker 2>man's life, not on an instant blood for you.

0:43:11.640 --> 0:43:14.200
<v Speaker 1>A lord has done as it pleased you verse fifteen.

0:43:15.280 --> 0:43:18.279
<v Speaker 2>So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea,

0:43:18.960 --> 0:43:21.640
<v Speaker 2>and the sea ceased from its rage. And right about

0:43:21.680 --> 0:43:24.480
<v Speaker 2>now you're thinking, where are you going with this depressing,

0:43:24.520 --> 0:43:29.839
<v Speaker 2>weird series sermons series right now? Well, the Bible says

0:43:29.920 --> 0:43:31.640
<v Speaker 2>the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a

0:43:31.680 --> 0:43:33.040
<v Speaker 2>sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

0:43:33.080 --> 0:43:35.640
<v Speaker 1>So that's good, right, they knew he was God.

0:43:36.440 --> 0:43:40.040
<v Speaker 2>But the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah,

0:43:40.120 --> 0:43:42.600
<v Speaker 2>and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three

0:43:42.719 --> 0:43:48.399
<v Speaker 2>days and three nights. Now here's my favorite verse. Then

0:43:48.480 --> 0:43:56.520
<v Speaker 2>Jonah prayed. You see what I'm saying. I think you

0:43:56.600 --> 0:44:04.360
<v Speaker 2>know where I'm going with this. You're overstaying. You're welcome

0:44:05.600 --> 0:44:10.040
<v Speaker 2>in the belly of the fish because this didn't have

0:44:10.120 --> 0:44:14.760
<v Speaker 2>to happen in Jonah chapter two, verse one. This could

0:44:14.760 --> 0:44:19.839
<v Speaker 2>have happened in Jonah chapter one, verse six. And if

0:44:19.880 --> 0:44:22.239
<v Speaker 2>it had happened in Jonah chapter one, verse six, when

0:44:22.239 --> 0:44:23.680
<v Speaker 2>the captain came and said.

0:44:23.560 --> 0:44:26.280
<v Speaker 1>Wake up, man, what's wrong with you? We're all gonna die.

0:44:26.400 --> 0:44:29.280
<v Speaker 1>Get up, don't you care? Call on your God. Perhaps

0:44:29.320 --> 0:44:31.719
<v Speaker 1>he will give a thought to us. Perhaps he'll get

0:44:31.800 --> 0:44:34.200
<v Speaker 1>us out of this, perhaps he'll notice us, perhaps he'll

0:44:34.200 --> 0:44:34.520
<v Speaker 1>do something.

0:44:34.560 --> 0:44:37.480
<v Speaker 2>Perhaps he'll give a thought to us. And Jonah's thought was,

0:44:37.520 --> 0:44:40.719
<v Speaker 2>throw me overboard. What if his thought had been call

0:44:40.800 --> 0:44:47.560
<v Speaker 2>on God. What if he would have done this chapter two,

0:44:47.680 --> 0:44:51.640
<v Speaker 2>verse one, but didn't wait until he got in the

0:44:51.680 --> 0:44:53.000
<v Speaker 2>belly of the fish to do it.

0:44:55.160 --> 0:44:58.000
<v Speaker 1>What at the moment the captain would have said, wake up,

0:44:58.080 --> 0:45:00.960
<v Speaker 1>call on God, he can stop it. Jonah had prayed

0:45:01.000 --> 0:45:01.600
<v Speaker 1>to the Lord.

0:45:02.640 --> 0:45:05.680
<v Speaker 2>And I'm trying to say that some things you can

0:45:05.719 --> 0:45:09.680
<v Speaker 2>pray before you get in the belly.

0:45:11.560 --> 0:45:12.400
<v Speaker 1>Do you hear me?

0:45:12.600 --> 0:45:19.480
<v Speaker 2>Pray to this God word today? Then Jonah prayed with

0:45:19.719 --> 0:45:24.120
<v Speaker 2>seaweed around his neck. Then Jonah prayed, smelling like a

0:45:24.200 --> 0:45:28.200
<v Speaker 2>fish market. Then Jonah prayed in the belly of the whale.

0:45:28.920 --> 0:45:33.280
<v Speaker 1>And here's what I noticed, he said verse one.

0:45:33.560 --> 0:45:35.640
<v Speaker 2>He prayed to the Lord his God from the belly

0:45:35.640 --> 0:45:38.520
<v Speaker 2>of the fish, verse two, saying I called to the

0:45:38.560 --> 0:45:43.040
<v Speaker 2>Lord out of my distress, and he answered me out

0:45:43.040 --> 0:45:45.520
<v Speaker 2>of the belly of shield, I cried, and you heard

0:45:45.520 --> 0:45:47.759
<v Speaker 2>my voice. Leave it right there. God will hear you

0:45:47.840 --> 0:45:51.360
<v Speaker 2>when you cry to Him from the depths. But you

0:45:52.160 --> 0:45:54.200
<v Speaker 2>also do not have to go to the depths to

0:45:54.280 --> 0:45:57.560
<v Speaker 2>cry to him.

0:45:57.600 --> 0:45:59.920
<v Speaker 1>God will hear you if you cry.

0:45:59.640 --> 0:46:02.279
<v Speaker 2>To Him from the depths, but you do not have

0:46:02.320 --> 0:46:05.120
<v Speaker 2>to go all the way down to reach all the

0:46:05.160 --> 0:46:09.040
<v Speaker 2>way up, Because the Bible says, I called to the

0:46:09.040 --> 0:46:12.280
<v Speaker 2>Lord out of my distress. And there are two choices

0:46:12.320 --> 0:46:15.680
<v Speaker 2>you have to make. One you can call on God

0:46:16.000 --> 0:46:20.799
<v Speaker 2>in your distress, or you can bring God into your decisions.

0:46:29.840 --> 0:46:31.960
<v Speaker 2>And the other day I was praying about a problem,

0:46:31.960 --> 0:46:34.799
<v Speaker 2>like I mentioned at the beginning of the sermon, and

0:46:34.880 --> 0:46:37.360
<v Speaker 2>the Lord showed me something that was so kind and merciful.

0:46:37.719 --> 0:46:39.719
<v Speaker 2>Y'all think, when God gives your thought, it's always going

0:46:39.800 --> 0:46:41.080
<v Speaker 2>to feel like a precious moment.

0:46:42.560 --> 0:46:45.400
<v Speaker 1>But sometimes it feels like the pain of surgery.

0:46:45.960 --> 0:46:48.640
<v Speaker 2>And as I was praying about this problem, it was

0:46:48.680 --> 0:46:50.319
<v Speaker 2>as if the spirit of God said to me, not

0:46:50.320 --> 0:46:54.520
<v Speaker 2>not loud, just done on my spirit he said, you know,

0:46:55.760 --> 0:46:58.719
<v Speaker 2>you wouldn't have to bring me into this problem if

0:46:58.719 --> 0:47:04.040
<v Speaker 2>you would have brought me into those thoughts. Because the

0:47:04.120 --> 0:47:09.480
<v Speaker 2>problems are the wake of the thoughts. The behaviors are

0:47:09.520 --> 0:47:13.200
<v Speaker 2>the wake of the thoughts. And sometimes we are so

0:47:13.360 --> 0:47:16.480
<v Speaker 2>guilty over that's what I did that we don't go

0:47:16.560 --> 0:47:21.319
<v Speaker 2>back to That's what I thought. Jonah thought he could

0:47:21.400 --> 0:47:25.080
<v Speaker 2>run to Tarsish. Jonah thought he knew who was worthy

0:47:25.080 --> 0:47:29.000
<v Speaker 2>of God's love. Jonah thought he knew his calling. But

0:47:29.080 --> 0:47:32.480
<v Speaker 2>when Jonah prayed, God gave him mercy. And when he

0:47:32.600 --> 0:47:35.359
<v Speaker 2>prayed and made a vow to the Lord, and when

0:47:35.400 --> 0:47:38.600
<v Speaker 2>he prayed and remembered the hand of God, when he

0:47:38.719 --> 0:47:42.440
<v Speaker 2>prayed and asked God for forgiveness, and when he prayed

0:47:42.480 --> 0:47:45.480
<v Speaker 2>and looked to heaven, and when he prayed and recommitted

0:47:45.480 --> 0:47:48.319
<v Speaker 2>his life in his calling, and when you pray and

0:47:48.400 --> 0:47:51.319
<v Speaker 2>look to God. The problem isn't has God given a

0:47:51.360 --> 0:47:54.040
<v Speaker 2>thought to you? Have you given a thought to God?

0:47:55.840 --> 0:47:58.360
<v Speaker 2>Because you can give a thought to God before you

0:47:58.520 --> 0:48:01.080
<v Speaker 2>go into the belly of the prayers. You can give

0:48:01.120 --> 0:48:03.480
<v Speaker 2>a thought to God before you are spent. You can

0:48:03.520 --> 0:48:06.279
<v Speaker 2>give a thought to God before you are splinter. You

0:48:06.360 --> 0:48:09.000
<v Speaker 2>can give a thought to God before your life is wrecked.

0:48:09.280 --> 0:48:11.239
<v Speaker 2>You can give a thought to God when you're at

0:48:11.239 --> 0:48:14.160
<v Speaker 2>your lowest. You can give your thought to God before

0:48:14.200 --> 0:48:17.920
<v Speaker 2>you go all two thousand, five hundred miles. God can

0:48:18.040 --> 0:48:26.600
<v Speaker 2>interrupt it today with one God thought, with one God thought?

0:48:27.160 --> 0:48:29.960
<v Speaker 1>Why go all two thousand and five.

0:48:29.880 --> 0:48:32.880
<v Speaker 2>Hundred miles when God has a fish for you to

0:48:32.920 --> 0:48:36.440
<v Speaker 2>pray for today? But see, I'm a little different because

0:48:36.440 --> 0:48:38.360
<v Speaker 2>I believe that the same God who will hear you

0:48:38.520 --> 0:48:42.360
<v Speaker 2>from the fish watch. This is also saying, if you

0:48:42.440 --> 0:48:45.280
<v Speaker 2>will listen to me right now, if you will obey

0:48:45.320 --> 0:48:48.040
<v Speaker 2>me right now, if you will put your heart in

0:48:48.200 --> 0:48:51.440
<v Speaker 2>my hands, not other people's hands, right now, if you

0:48:51.480 --> 0:48:54.320
<v Speaker 2>will guard your heart, for from it flow the issues

0:48:54.360 --> 0:48:57.600
<v Speaker 2>of life, if you will resurrender this thing to me,

0:48:58.480 --> 0:49:03.280
<v Speaker 2>you can skip the fish. In other words, I feel

0:49:03.280 --> 0:49:06.440
<v Speaker 2>like fighting the devil today. You don't have to lose

0:49:06.520 --> 0:49:09.879
<v Speaker 2>everything to look up, and you don't have to keep

0:49:09.960 --> 0:49:12.320
<v Speaker 2>shedding stuff to turn to God.

0:49:12.920 --> 0:49:14.680
<v Speaker 1>You can skip the fish.

0:49:14.960 --> 0:49:18.080
<v Speaker 2>I'm saying to a teenager, you don't have to drink

0:49:18.160 --> 0:49:20.719
<v Speaker 2>until you're a drunk and it takes you ten years

0:49:20.760 --> 0:49:23.839
<v Speaker 2>of rehab to undo it. If God has to come

0:49:23.840 --> 0:49:26.920
<v Speaker 2>get you in rehab. He'll get you in rehab. But

0:49:27.040 --> 0:49:30.600
<v Speaker 2>let's try a little prehab. Want't you taste and see

0:49:30.920 --> 0:49:33.560
<v Speaker 2>that the Lord is good? And I don't need that

0:49:33.719 --> 0:49:36.240
<v Speaker 2>to go norm because I don't have to pray every

0:49:36.280 --> 0:49:39.319
<v Speaker 2>prayer from the belly. I can pray before I get

0:49:39.360 --> 0:49:46.319
<v Speaker 2>in the belly. High five three people say, I'm gonna

0:49:46.320 --> 0:49:47.960
<v Speaker 2>skip the fish.

0:49:48.440 --> 0:49:50.280
<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna do it different this time.

0:49:50.719 --> 0:49:53.000
<v Speaker 2>I'm gonna pray to the Lord before.

0:49:52.680 --> 0:49:53.640
<v Speaker 1>The pain is great.

0:49:54.120 --> 0:49:56.200
<v Speaker 2>I'm gonna pray to the Lord when I wake.

0:49:56.120 --> 0:49:56.880
<v Speaker 1>Up in the morning.

0:49:57.320 --> 0:50:00.200
<v Speaker 2>I'm gonna say stuff like this is the tast the

0:50:00.280 --> 0:50:03.000
<v Speaker 2>Lord has made order my death.

0:50:03.560 --> 0:50:05.000
<v Speaker 3>In your word, dear.

0:50:04.920 --> 0:50:08.600
<v Speaker 2>God, if I have said to Heaven, you are there.

0:50:09.080 --> 0:50:10.560
<v Speaker 2>And the same God.

0:50:10.360 --> 0:50:12.640
<v Speaker 1>That'll send a fish to get me out.

0:50:15.480 --> 0:50:17.719
<v Speaker 2>Is the God who will give me wings to get

0:50:17.760 --> 0:50:22.480
<v Speaker 2>me over. And I'm trying to say that God wants

0:50:22.520 --> 0:50:28.000
<v Speaker 2>to give a thought to you. Say it, God, give

0:50:28.040 --> 0:50:32.400
<v Speaker 2>a thought to me. I thought my thoughts long enough.

0:50:32.600 --> 0:50:36.200
<v Speaker 2>They cost too much. My thoughts lead to insecurity. My

0:50:36.320 --> 0:50:39.960
<v Speaker 2>thoughts lead to greed, My thoughts lead to selfishness, My

0:50:40.080 --> 0:50:42.880
<v Speaker 2>thoughts lead to despair. I thought, and I thought, and

0:50:42.920 --> 0:50:44.719
<v Speaker 2>I thought, and I thought and I thought if I

0:50:44.760 --> 0:50:46.520
<v Speaker 2>paid the fair, I could get the tartish and I

0:50:46.520 --> 0:50:47.440
<v Speaker 2>didn't have to do it.

0:50:47.680 --> 0:50:49.600
<v Speaker 1>God, I thought I knew what was best for me.

0:50:49.920 --> 0:50:52.400
<v Speaker 1>But I need you to give a thought to me.

0:50:53.200 --> 0:50:55.520
<v Speaker 2>And I'm not going to compare myself to my neighbor. God,

0:50:55.560 --> 0:50:59.399
<v Speaker 2>give a thought to me. Tell me how you think

0:50:59.440 --> 0:51:02.359
<v Speaker 2>of me, Tell me what you see in me. Tell

0:51:02.400 --> 0:51:02.920
<v Speaker 2>me what.

0:51:02.760 --> 0:51:05.480
<v Speaker 1>You've called me to do. How have you gifted me?

0:51:05.920 --> 0:51:07.279
<v Speaker 1>How have you anointed me?

0:51:07.840 --> 0:51:11.040
<v Speaker 2>What is my smooth stone that can bring down a giant?

0:51:11.520 --> 0:51:15.120
<v Speaker 2>What is my staff that can split a red sea?

0:51:15.719 --> 0:51:18.759
<v Speaker 2>Who have you called me to be saved again? God,

0:51:19.680 --> 0:51:24.960
<v Speaker 2>give a thought to me. How precious to me are

0:51:25.000 --> 0:51:25.680
<v Speaker 2>your thoughts?

0:51:26.120 --> 0:51:28.520
<v Speaker 1>Oh God, where can I go from your presence? If

0:51:28.560 --> 0:51:31.200
<v Speaker 1>I go to Tarshish, you were there. You cut me

0:51:31.239 --> 0:51:33.520
<v Speaker 1>off in the middle of the sea to swallow.

0:51:33.160 --> 0:51:35.600
<v Speaker 2>Me up, because you had a fish at the right

0:51:35.680 --> 0:51:38.600
<v Speaker 2>time to swallow me, and even the fish was mercy.

0:51:38.640 --> 0:51:41.680
<v Speaker 2>But I realized that if next time, instead of fleeing

0:51:41.760 --> 0:51:44.560
<v Speaker 2>with you, God, I will lean into you. God, I

0:51:44.640 --> 0:51:46.839
<v Speaker 2>may not have to go into the fish at all

0:51:46.960 --> 0:51:47.680
<v Speaker 2>to begin.

0:51:47.480 --> 0:51:53.640
<v Speaker 1>With, because God gave a thought to me.

0:51:56.239 --> 0:52:04.360
<v Speaker 2>And when God gives a thought to you, expect the

0:52:04.680 --> 0:52:11.560
<v Speaker 2>enemy to give an opposite thought. Sometimes you can tell

0:52:11.560 --> 0:52:14.440
<v Speaker 2>what God is speaking by what your mind is saying.

0:52:16.280 --> 0:52:18.440
<v Speaker 2>And if over and over again the enemy is telling

0:52:18.480 --> 0:52:22.280
<v Speaker 2>you something that's so diabolical, God is saying exactly the opposite.

0:52:23.600 --> 0:52:27.440
<v Speaker 1>So if it looks like quit, then stay.

0:52:28.560 --> 0:52:30.600
<v Speaker 2>I can point to so many times in my life

0:52:30.640 --> 0:52:33.399
<v Speaker 2>and I did not get here overnight, and I am

0:52:33.440 --> 0:52:34.400
<v Speaker 2>not perfect at it.

0:52:34.520 --> 0:52:37.120
<v Speaker 1>And next time my guitar almost breaks at the top

0:52:37.160 --> 0:52:39.040
<v Speaker 1>of the jeep on my cuss if that he's not

0:52:39.120 --> 0:52:39.680
<v Speaker 1>in the car.

0:52:43.480 --> 0:52:45.800
<v Speaker 2>But the number of times listen to me, listen to me,

0:52:46.840 --> 0:52:49.400
<v Speaker 2>the number of times that then Jonah prayed in my

0:52:49.480 --> 0:52:55.360
<v Speaker 2>life happened too late, taught me to lean into God sooner.

0:52:58.960 --> 0:53:01.640
<v Speaker 2>I don't want my kids to go through avoidable storms.

0:53:04.000 --> 0:53:08.200
<v Speaker 2>I don't want to create them. I want them to

0:53:08.200 --> 0:53:12.520
<v Speaker 2>skip some fish, you know what I mean. I feel

0:53:12.520 --> 0:53:15.480
<v Speaker 2>like that phrase right there is a God thought. Now

0:53:15.480 --> 0:53:17.799
<v Speaker 2>I'm ma skip the fish. I know where this goes.

0:53:17.960 --> 0:53:20.280
<v Speaker 2>The next time you go to through a little pity party, Now, Ima,

0:53:20.280 --> 0:53:24.279
<v Speaker 2>skip the fish. I don't like how it smells in there.

0:53:27.440 --> 0:53:29.480
<v Speaker 2>I don't want to go to my meeting Tuesday smelling

0:53:29.640 --> 0:53:32.040
<v Speaker 2>like fish. I'm not going to think like this, God

0:53:32.400 --> 0:53:36.759
<v Speaker 2>give a thought to me. Perhaps the God will give

0:53:36.800 --> 0:53:39.640
<v Speaker 2>a thought to us. He already gave a thought to you.

0:53:39.960 --> 0:53:42.239
<v Speaker 2>Have you given a thought to him? Or is this

0:53:42.360 --> 0:53:44.919
<v Speaker 2>just simply still all about you and what you want?

0:53:45.239 --> 0:53:49.719
<v Speaker 2>Because the cost is to give your thought for His thought,

0:53:49.920 --> 0:53:50.400
<v Speaker 2>and that's.

0:53:50.280 --> 0:53:51.839
<v Speaker 1>What happens when we come to His word.

0:53:53.560 --> 0:53:56.680
<v Speaker 2>How many times did God give me a thought that

0:53:56.800 --> 0:53:58.400
<v Speaker 2>was greater than anything.

0:54:00.000 --> 0:54:00.239
<v Speaker 1>I thought?

0:54:00.280 --> 0:54:02.200
<v Speaker 2>If I really wanted the church to shout, I could

0:54:02.239 --> 0:54:06.719
<v Speaker 2>preach when God gives a car to you, and there

0:54:06.719 --> 0:54:10.439
<v Speaker 2>would be shouts. When God gives a promotion to you,

0:54:10.960 --> 0:54:13.719
<v Speaker 2>and there would be shouts. Or I could go to

0:54:13.760 --> 0:54:16.279
<v Speaker 2>our young adult's chapel when God gives a spouse to you,

0:54:17.000 --> 0:54:20.719
<v Speaker 2>and there would be shouts. But the greatest gifts God

0:54:20.800 --> 0:54:22.600
<v Speaker 2>ever gave me came with thoughts. Because if I get

0:54:22.600 --> 0:54:25.120
<v Speaker 2>the things but not the thoughts of God to undergird them,

0:54:25.239 --> 0:54:26.960
<v Speaker 2>the things will be a burden, not a blessing.

0:54:30.520 --> 0:54:32.640
<v Speaker 1>Jonah did what God said and it worked, and he

0:54:32.760 --> 0:54:37.520
<v Speaker 1>was miserable. Why because you got to have the God thoughts?

0:54:38.239 --> 0:54:40.240
<v Speaker 2>Like the time she said to me after I preached,

0:54:40.840 --> 0:54:42.200
<v Speaker 2>I was having a pity party.

0:54:43.160 --> 0:54:45.360
<v Speaker 1>Little pity party, little preaching pity party.

0:54:46.200 --> 0:54:49.880
<v Speaker 2>And Holly just wisely says, I think you think you

0:54:49.960 --> 0:54:54.040
<v Speaker 2>failed in preaching today, but maybe you didn't fail.

0:54:54.960 --> 0:54:57.640
<v Speaker 1>Maybe you just didn't finish.

0:54:58.000 --> 0:55:01.319
<v Speaker 2>And that thought comes up here with me into this

0:55:01.400 --> 0:55:05.280
<v Speaker 2>pulpit every time I preached ever since she said it.

0:55:06.040 --> 0:55:08.719
<v Speaker 2>Every time I think, oh, man, I didn't say that

0:55:08.760 --> 0:55:09.360
<v Speaker 2>like I wanted to.

0:55:09.680 --> 0:55:11.560
<v Speaker 1>The Lord would just remind me. Then pick it back

0:55:11.640 --> 0:55:12.400
<v Speaker 1>up next week.

0:55:12.239 --> 0:55:16.759
<v Speaker 2>And say the rest bozo, skip the fish and the

0:55:16.800 --> 0:55:18.360
<v Speaker 2>whole thing of beating up on yourself.

0:55:18.360 --> 0:55:20.480
<v Speaker 1>You said it better than most of them could have anyway,

0:55:20.520 --> 0:55:25.040
<v Speaker 1>So tell them to get up there and try. Come on,

0:55:25.120 --> 0:55:26.439
<v Speaker 1>they'll still need you next week.

0:55:26.480 --> 0:55:35.239
<v Speaker 2>You got job security. One time I was frustrated with

0:55:35.280 --> 0:55:39.319
<v Speaker 2>some of our staff members. It was right before in

0:55:39.360 --> 0:55:43.960
<v Speaker 2>twenty twenty, when everything had totally shifted and all the

0:55:43.960 --> 0:55:46.799
<v Speaker 2>staff that had been doing one job started having to

0:55:46.840 --> 0:55:48.840
<v Speaker 2>do another one because obviously we weren't.

0:55:48.560 --> 0:55:49.640
<v Speaker 1>Having in person church.

0:55:50.480 --> 0:55:51.719
<v Speaker 2>We were on a zoom call, and I was like,

0:55:51.800 --> 0:55:53.279
<v Speaker 2>it's very important to me that we do this, and

0:55:53.320 --> 0:55:55.200
<v Speaker 2>we do that, and we do that. And the next

0:55:55.200 --> 0:55:57.000
<v Speaker 2>week I got on and I checked in and nobody

0:55:57.000 --> 0:55:59.560
<v Speaker 2>had done successfully what I asked. I said, I'm gonna

0:55:59.560 --> 0:56:01.799
<v Speaker 2>say this again, and it's very important that we do this,

0:56:01.880 --> 0:56:05.240
<v Speaker 2>and we do that, and we do that, and there again.

0:56:05.360 --> 0:56:07.560
<v Speaker 2>One more week goes by and I checked in and

0:56:07.560 --> 0:56:10.040
<v Speaker 2>it still hadn't been done. So the third week, I

0:56:10.120 --> 0:56:12.600
<v Speaker 2>was really angry and I kind of lost it. I

0:56:12.640 --> 0:56:13.280
<v Speaker 2>didn't cuss.

0:56:15.239 --> 0:56:20.920
<v Speaker 1>That's gonna be my memoir title, but I didn't cuss. Well,

0:56:22.520 --> 0:56:23.319
<v Speaker 1>I got so mad.

0:56:23.360 --> 0:56:25.600
<v Speaker 2>I kind of like lost my cool little bit, not

0:56:26.200 --> 0:56:28.840
<v Speaker 2>too bad, but just a little bit, and ended the

0:56:28.840 --> 0:56:32.840
<v Speaker 2>meeting abruptly, and when I was kind of closing the

0:56:32.920 --> 0:56:36.640
<v Speaker 2>laptop intentionally slammed the laptop shut.

0:56:38.719 --> 0:56:42.360
<v Speaker 1>I said, they don't care. They don't care enough to

0:56:42.360 --> 0:56:44.279
<v Speaker 1>do what I'm asking them to do. They don't care.

0:56:44.640 --> 0:56:46.440
<v Speaker 2>And the Spirit of the Lord gave me I thought.

0:56:46.480 --> 0:56:52.160
<v Speaker 2>He said, they care, they just can't. They don't know

0:56:52.320 --> 0:56:55.319
<v Speaker 2>how to do what you're asking them to do. This

0:56:55.400 --> 0:56:58.080
<v Speaker 2>is their first pandemic too. It was a God thought

0:56:59.520 --> 0:57:02.360
<v Speaker 2>because it took me from thinking that there was something

0:57:02.400 --> 0:57:05.400
<v Speaker 2>wrong with them and it was me against them, to

0:57:05.480 --> 0:57:08.279
<v Speaker 2>thinking it's us against it. You know, you can have

0:57:08.360 --> 0:57:16.959
<v Speaker 2>one God thought that's helped me so much. Even with y'all,

0:57:16.960 --> 0:57:20.800
<v Speaker 2>there are so many God thoughts that had to replace

0:57:20.880 --> 0:57:22.680
<v Speaker 2>wrong thoughts. Do you know when I used to preach

0:57:22.720 --> 0:57:25.680
<v Speaker 2>and people wouldn't get excited, I would feel like they

0:57:26.120 --> 0:57:27.760
<v Speaker 2>were almost like.

0:57:27.760 --> 0:57:30.360
<v Speaker 1>I would get mad at the people. I say something

0:57:30.400 --> 0:57:32.280
<v Speaker 1>good and they wouldn't say anything, and I would get mad.

0:57:33.200 --> 0:57:35.400
<v Speaker 1>Now I pretend to be mad. I'm like, y'all ain't

0:57:35.400 --> 0:57:36.720
<v Speaker 1>saying nothing. I don't care.

0:57:38.160 --> 0:57:39.840
<v Speaker 2>I always wonder if the crowd could talk back to

0:57:39.840 --> 0:57:42.120
<v Speaker 2>you know, y'all ain't saying nothing, and they'd go, you

0:57:42.200 --> 0:57:48.720
<v Speaker 2>aren't either. But the Lord dropped something in me so

0:57:48.800 --> 0:57:50.920
<v Speaker 2>profound it was a download. One day I was frustrated

0:57:50.920 --> 0:57:54.040
<v Speaker 2>about it, and he said, they're not here for you.

0:57:54.040 --> 0:57:58.800
<v Speaker 1>You're here for them. You serve them when you preach.

0:57:58.880 --> 0:58:01.640
<v Speaker 2>They're not your audience to make you feel good about

0:58:01.680 --> 0:58:03.600
<v Speaker 2>your amateur hour stand up comedy.

0:58:03.640 --> 0:58:08.200
<v Speaker 1>If they don't laugh, you keep preaching. You're here for them.

0:58:08.680 --> 0:58:12.160
<v Speaker 1>You're here as a servant. It changed my life. What's that?

0:58:12.160 --> 0:58:20.080
<v Speaker 1>That's the value of a god thought? And God wants

0:58:20.120 --> 0:58:25.840
<v Speaker 1>to give you one stand up? Please? No one leave

0:58:25.880 --> 0:58:31.040
<v Speaker 1>and pray it out loud. God give a thought to

0:58:31.160 --> 0:58:31.600
<v Speaker 1>my wife.

0:58:32.440 --> 0:58:40.280
<v Speaker 2>No, no, no, no, no, no.

0:58:38.800 --> 0:58:39.360
<v Speaker 1>Try it again.

0:58:39.400 --> 0:58:48.360
<v Speaker 2>Y'all weren't listening God, give a thought to me, Show

0:58:48.440 --> 0:58:53.520
<v Speaker 2>me how you think about me, Show me how you

0:58:53.560 --> 0:58:54.400
<v Speaker 2>think about others.

0:58:57.040 --> 0:59:02.440
<v Speaker 1>Put somebody on my mind that I can help, that

0:59:02.520 --> 0:59:06.120
<v Speaker 1>I can bless. Yes, yes, I'm gonna tell you this too.

0:59:07.560 --> 0:59:09.840
<v Speaker 1>In twenty ten, when I started Love Week, it was

0:59:09.880 --> 0:59:13.720
<v Speaker 1>a thought, what if everybody in this church served an hour,

0:59:15.560 --> 0:59:17.600
<v Speaker 1>we could serve five thousand hours.

0:59:19.160 --> 0:59:24.000
<v Speaker 2>Never would I have thought when God gave me that thought.

0:59:24.320 --> 0:59:30.400
<v Speaker 2>You gotta realize God's thoughts are vast. God's thoughts are vast.

0:59:31.440 --> 0:59:34.440
<v Speaker 2>So when I saw five thousand hours, how many have

0:59:34.520 --> 0:59:34.960
<v Speaker 2>we served?

0:59:35.000 --> 0:59:39.840
<v Speaker 1>Now? Over what? Over what?

0:59:41.560 --> 0:59:45.720
<v Speaker 2>Over a million hours of service from this church?

0:59:45.960 --> 0:59:50.440
<v Speaker 1>In outrage? Y'all ain't clapping. All right, I'm gonna give

0:59:50.440 --> 0:59:51.840
<v Speaker 1>you a million dollars.

0:59:51.520 --> 0:59:56.200
<v Speaker 2>Clap like that, over a million hours to our communities.

0:59:57.000 --> 1:00:05.000
<v Speaker 2>We're on God's mind. God, give a thought to me,

1:00:05.560 --> 1:00:07.680
<v Speaker 2>Show me how to do good, show me how to

1:00:07.720 --> 1:00:10.400
<v Speaker 2>make it. And really, sometimes the problem is that the

1:00:10.440 --> 1:00:13.800
<v Speaker 2>storm you're going through, it's the thoughts you're having about

1:00:13.800 --> 1:00:18.760
<v Speaker 2>the storm. Because in Mark chapter four, one time Jesus

1:00:18.800 --> 1:00:20.480
<v Speaker 2>was on the boat with his disciples and he said,

1:00:20.520 --> 1:00:22.400
<v Speaker 2>let's go to the other side. And the Bible says

1:00:22.400 --> 1:00:24.760
<v Speaker 2>when evening had come, he told them to cross over

1:00:24.800 --> 1:00:27.640
<v Speaker 2>to the other side, mark four thirty five. Come, let

1:00:27.720 --> 1:00:33.160
<v Speaker 2>us go over to the other side, next verse, and

1:00:33.280 --> 1:00:35.000
<v Speaker 2>leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the

1:00:35.000 --> 1:00:37.320
<v Speaker 2>boat just as he was, and the.

1:00:37.240 --> 1:00:39.520
<v Speaker 1>Other boats were with him, and.

1:00:39.520 --> 1:00:41.640
<v Speaker 2>A great wind storm arose and the waves were breaking

1:00:41.680 --> 1:00:44.640
<v Speaker 2>into the boat so that the boat was already filling.

1:00:45.560 --> 1:00:50.480
<v Speaker 1>But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion.

1:00:51.920 --> 1:00:56.200
<v Speaker 2>What is Jesus doing, acting like Jonah? Only he's not

1:00:56.320 --> 1:01:00.960
<v Speaker 2>running from God's will, He's rowing into it. And they

1:01:01.000 --> 1:01:05.520
<v Speaker 2>woke him up and said, teacher, do you not care

1:01:05.880 --> 1:01:10.120
<v Speaker 2>that we are perishing? Here was their thought, he doesn't care,

1:01:10.800 --> 1:01:13.880
<v Speaker 2>he's sleeping. And he awoke and rebuke the wind and

1:01:13.920 --> 1:01:17.120
<v Speaker 2>said to deceit, peace be still, And the wind ceased,

1:01:17.200 --> 1:01:20.800
<v Speaker 2>and there was a great calm, and he said to them,

1:01:20.800 --> 1:01:21.880
<v Speaker 2>why are you so afraid?

1:01:22.240 --> 1:01:24.160
<v Speaker 1>Have you still no faith?

1:01:24.520 --> 1:01:26.720
<v Speaker 2>And I want to talk to you before I close

1:01:26.840 --> 1:01:31.960
<v Speaker 2>My message about a sleeping Jesus, not a sleeping Jonah.

1:01:32.320 --> 1:01:36.240
<v Speaker 2>Because when the disciples saw Jesus asleep, they thought he

1:01:36.280 --> 1:01:40.880
<v Speaker 2>doesn't care. But they could have thought, wait, he is

1:01:40.960 --> 1:01:46.640
<v Speaker 2>God's son. If he is sleeping through the storm. Maybe

1:01:46.680 --> 1:01:51.560
<v Speaker 2>it's not that he doesn't care. Maybe we're cool and

1:01:51.640 --> 1:01:55.080
<v Speaker 2>I came to preach to somebody today. If God is

1:01:55.160 --> 1:01:58.320
<v Speaker 2>not doing it exactly like you want in your situation,

1:01:59.360 --> 1:02:04.040
<v Speaker 2>maybe it's not that he doesn't care. Maybe he's so confident,

1:02:04.640 --> 1:02:09.000
<v Speaker 2>Maybe he's so in control. Maybe he is so sovereign

1:02:09.160 --> 1:02:12.240
<v Speaker 2>over the storm that he will wake up when he

1:02:12.400 --> 1:02:13.480
<v Speaker 2>needs to wake up.

1:02:16.080 --> 1:02:18.320
<v Speaker 1>It's all in your thoughts.

1:02:19.920 --> 1:02:22.000
<v Speaker 2>So God, I pray right now that as high as

1:02:22.000 --> 1:02:25.640
<v Speaker 2>the heavens are above the earth, so are your ways

1:02:25.680 --> 1:02:27.000
<v Speaker 2>above our ways.

1:02:26.640 --> 1:02:30.360
<v Speaker 1>And your thoughts above our thoughts. How precious to me

1:02:30.480 --> 1:02:31.080
<v Speaker 1>or your thoughts.

1:02:31.080 --> 1:02:34.120
<v Speaker 2>So God, I pray for those who have been having

1:02:34.120 --> 1:02:38.040
<v Speaker 2>tormenting thoughts, tempting thoughts, I pray that they would be

1:02:38.080 --> 1:02:40.280
<v Speaker 2>replaced right now with the truth of your word.

1:02:40.920 --> 1:02:44.120
<v Speaker 1>I thank you for our Savior, Jesus, who loved and

1:02:44.200 --> 1:02:48.080
<v Speaker 1>died for us. Thank you for joining us.

1:02:48.400 --> 1:02:50.840
<v Speaker 2>Special thanks to those of you who give generously to

1:02:50.920 --> 1:02:54.400
<v Speaker 2>this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.

1:02:54.880 --> 1:02:57.040
<v Speaker 2>You can click the link in the description to give

1:02:57.160 --> 1:03:01.080
<v Speaker 2>now or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for

1:03:01.160 --> 1:03:05.120
<v Speaker 2>more information, and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.

1:03:05.400 --> 1:03:06.720
<v Speaker 1>You can share it with your friends.

1:03:07.000 --> 1:03:09.280
<v Speaker 2>You can click the share button, take a screenshot and

1:03:09.320 --> 1:03:11.440
<v Speaker 2>share it on your social stories and tag us at

1:03:11.480 --> 1:03:12.320
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1:03:12.400 --> 1:03:19.040
<v Speaker 1>Thanks again for listening. God bless you.