WEBVTT - When God Goes In 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:08.000 Hey, this is Stephen Fernick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:10.760 and this is our podcast. Be sure to subscribe so 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:13.920 we can get you these new sermons every week. I 0:00:14.000 --> 0:00:21.640 hope you're blessed today. With hands lifted all over this 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:36.200 room listening to him. God is more. Oh, God is 0:00:39.960 --> 0:00:42.360 put on your mind? What your love? It's too hard 0:00:42.479 --> 0:01:02.200 for him? God is mony. God who went by to 0:01:02.440 --> 0:01:10.559 the gun. What the Let the way back then through, 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:21.400 Let the light back on through. That's somebody's watch the 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:30.040 story shouts. Let them pull through. Let the way they 0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:32.679 may come through. Why you made me knowing what they 0:01:32.800 --> 0:01:39.840 want to. Let the way make him through shore then 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:49.680 Dunny the said they can't do it him. Let the 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:57.640 way Hager through. Let awad I got you to. That's 0:01:57.720 --> 0:02:05.200 how you kinda know that's somebody's due. This star Chad 0:02:05.480 --> 0:02:27.040 out come through? Who did not? When let's go. I 0:02:27.120 --> 0:02:30.360 want to tell you right now that God is able 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:37.480 to do immeasurably more. Can you ask, think, or think 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:44.280 or imagine according to his power? Somebody sud his power. 0:02:45.840 --> 0:02:47.840 That's what I want to preach about today. I want 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:52.120 to breach about his power. The title of this message 0:02:52.160 --> 0:03:01.720 are you ready. When God goes in, Gary cor conset 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:12.839 lead you. Jacob come heracle worker. God goes in. Thank 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:16.840 you Lord for your spirit. Thank you for your anointing 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:23.200 to break chains, liberate those who are captive, to raise 0:03:23.320 --> 0:03:26.880 up those who are broken, to heal those who are hurting, 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:30.960 to save those who are lost, to free those who 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:34.760 are addicted. That anointing is in this house right now, 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:37.880 and we release you to do what you want to do. 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:41.800 Mighty God, miracle Worker, have your way in this place. 0:03:42.320 --> 0:03:47.720 You are more than able. In Jesus' name. Somebody's shout, Amen, 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:56.400 come here. I'll start my sermon this way. I'll just 0:03:56.480 --> 0:03:58.360 go right in. You're ready to go right in, Let's 0:03:58.360 --> 0:04:02.000 go right in. This one of my favorite songwriting partners 0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:05.880 in the world, Chandler More. We have an enterprise called 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:13.720 Morphurdic Enterprises. I kissed his sweaty cheek because he has 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:17.720 brought so many wonderful gifts to my life and to 0:04:17.839 --> 0:04:19.560 our church. We have a long story. You could go 0:04:19.680 --> 0:04:22.960 back and watch me telling those stories. They're all online. 0:04:24.000 --> 0:04:27.240 One thing that makes us good songwriting partners is that 0:04:27.520 --> 0:04:31.760 we both respect one another's strengths, and we have different strengths. 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:36.080 And I've never met anybody more intuitive than Chandler. So 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:38.680 what I do to get him to sing? Now, hold on, 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:39.920 let me tell you what I do a little trick, 0:04:39.920 --> 0:04:41.320 Because you ever want to write a song with Chandler, 0:04:42.400 --> 0:04:44.440 get him to think you're done writing the song, and 0:04:44.520 --> 0:04:46.440 then he'll do something more amazing than he did while 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:48.360 you're writing the song, and then take that and write 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:53.120 the song around that little trick. The songwriting trick true Christian, 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:57.040 very true. One of the things that makes us good 0:04:57.080 --> 0:05:02.000 in collaboration, I think, is at he is very strong 0:05:02.080 --> 0:05:05.360 where I'm not as strong, and I'm very cool to 0:05:05.400 --> 0:05:07.840 be vulnerable in the way to say, hey, that's better, 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:10.280 or he might say to me, oh that's better. And 0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:15.800 that's very important in a creative partnership. But you are 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:21.200 in a partnership with God to bring about his purpose 0:05:21.279 --> 0:05:24.680 in the earth. Even if you're a single mom, you're 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:29.120 in a partnership with God raising your child. You're not alone. 0:05:32.240 --> 0:05:35.680 And just like Chandler has strengths that I don't think 0:05:35.720 --> 0:05:39.920 about God and you, and what makes you and God 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:44.120 good partners is that he's really good at what you're 0:05:44.200 --> 0:05:48.800 not good at. And that's a lot of stuff I've 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:51.480 been checking on y'all. That's a lot of things that 0:05:51.640 --> 0:05:54.839 he can do that you can't do. And so today 0:05:54.839 --> 0:05:56.360 I want to preach about that, and I want to 0:05:56.360 --> 0:05:58.679 share continue We've been preaching off the song that we wrote, 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:02.120 more than Able. It's out now, you can go download it. 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:04.560 How many of you have already been riding around singing 0:06:04.600 --> 0:06:08.200 it with the windows down? It's been warm, Charlotte Weather. 0:06:08.440 --> 0:06:11.359 I'm scared people are hearing you sing that thing loud, 0:06:11.400 --> 0:06:13.640 and I'm scared you can't sing. And I'm scared you're 0:06:13.720 --> 0:06:17.960 scaring them. You're right around, and you start thinking you 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:24.120 sound like Chandler to sounds just like him. Sounds just 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:27.320 like him. But I've been preaching off of a thought 0:06:27.360 --> 0:06:30.000 in that song that said, there's so much more to 0:06:30.120 --> 0:06:33.600 the story. And I'm believing that in faith for everybody 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:35.520 who might have been tempted to give up in the 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:38.120 last few years, or even in the last few weeks, 0:06:38.160 --> 0:06:40.040 for the last few days. You know. I met a 0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:43.640 lady this weekend. She said, I was sitting in the 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:48.200 hospital parking lot trying to decide whether I needed to 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:50.440 check myself in. She was standing there with her son. 0:06:50.560 --> 0:06:52.680 She said, I was trying to decide whether to check 0:06:52.720 --> 0:06:55.680 myself into the hospital because lately I feel like I'm 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:59.080 going crazy, and I've made an appointment to see about that. 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:01.279 But she said, but I was sitting in the parking 0:07:01.320 --> 0:07:04.120 lot listening to your sermons all day. I sat there 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:07.040 for two hours. When I finished, I said, God, I 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:09.200 need another sign that it's going to be all right. 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:12.920 And then she saw me in the thing, and I 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:15.760 was like, I think this counts as a sign, don't you? 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:20.320 Don't you? I don't believe God has to bring me 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:23.280 or any other individual in your life to give you 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:25.680 a sign that he's with you. The fact that you've 0:07:25.720 --> 0:07:29.160 survived all that you've survived, and that he brought you 0:07:29.280 --> 0:07:31.400 to this point and that you still have breath in 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:34.160 your lungs, he's not done with you yet. Say it. 0:07:34.240 --> 0:07:37.040 He's not done with me yet. He's not done with 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:41.200 me yet. So let's go. You go dry off or something. 0:07:41.240 --> 0:07:45.320 You got me soaking wet. Now that was disgusting, And 0:07:46.160 --> 0:07:48.200 I'm going to give one scripture while you're standing. I'll 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:49.760 let you sit down in just a moment, but I 0:07:49.840 --> 0:07:53.840 want to share one scripture from Judges, chapter six, verse fourteen, 0:07:54.840 --> 0:07:57.360 and then out of this verse. This will be a 0:07:57.400 --> 0:07:59.320 two week sermon. How many of you will commit to 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:02.600 come back next next week? If I can get fifty 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:04.440 percent of you to say you'll come back next week, 0:08:04.480 --> 0:08:06.320 I won't have to keep you here till three pm. 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:09.520 Raise your hand. If you commit to come back next week, 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:12.840 that's good. And then we'll be at Easter. And then 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:15.800 we got to come on Easter. Even if we don't 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:17.679 come any other time, we got to come to Easter. 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:20.520 Go to hell, you go to double hell if you 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:26.120 don't come on Easter. You know I'm teasing. Judges Chapter six, 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:29.080 verse fourteen says something very powerful, and it's going to 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:31.440 get more and more powerful as I preach it today 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:33.319 and then as I preach it again next week. And 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:35.400 it's just going to build momentum in your spirit. And 0:08:35.480 --> 0:08:38.520 you're going to see a breakthrough on Easter Sunday. And 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:43.960 it's going to start right now. Judges, Chapter six, verse fourteen. 0:08:44.200 --> 0:08:52.160 The Lord turned to him and said, go in the 0:08:52.280 --> 0:08:57.800 strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand? 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:10.200 Am I not sending you when God goes in and Father, 0:09:10.320 --> 0:09:13.640 have your way in Jesus' name, Hey man, touch somebody, 0:09:13.679 --> 0:09:16.839 say he's coming in. He's coming in. Let the way 0:09:16.920 --> 0:09:22.640 maker through. He's coming in. He's coming in to your home, 0:09:22.880 --> 0:09:25.920 to your heart, to your brokenness, to your questions, to 0:09:26.040 --> 0:09:29.240 your weeping. Right now, just make that confession online in 0:09:29.320 --> 0:09:32.800 the chat, say he's coming in. Come through. Lord, do 0:09:32.960 --> 0:09:40.480 what you want to do. When you think about the Bible. 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:43.880 I want you to think about all of the strange 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:49.160 elevations in the Bible. This is not the first strange 0:09:49.280 --> 0:09:53.040 elevation in history. This church. I know we're a little weird. 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:55.760 I know it's a little different. How many of you 0:09:55.880 --> 0:09:57.880 the first time you came here, we scared you a 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:01.520 little bit. Just raise your hand, even like they're too happy. 0:10:01.640 --> 0:10:08.400 This can't be real. This feels culted. Why because everybody 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:11.319 seems really into it. Oh yeah, God forgive we be 0:10:11.480 --> 0:10:16.840 into Jesus and this kingdom. That would be weird make 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:19.240 much more sense. It felt like a funeral when God 0:10:19.320 --> 0:10:23.959 is alive. I digress. My point is not that. My 0:10:24.040 --> 0:10:26.360 point is not about our church being strange. Although we 0:10:26.480 --> 0:10:32.040 are proudly strange and getting stranger every day. We hadn't 0:10:32.040 --> 0:10:34.440 even gotten weird yet. Let me tell you how weird 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:37.000 it's gonna get we're gonna release a whole album on 0:10:37.200 --> 0:10:44.439 May nineteenth, Holly's birthday. It's called Can You Imagine? And 0:10:44.720 --> 0:10:47.760 on that night that we released those songs, we're gonna 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:53.480 record eight more and I'm announcing it now because that's weird, 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:57.000 but that's what we're gonna do, because we got to 0:10:57.040 --> 0:10:59.600 get the word of God out into as many hearts 0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:01.960 as we can. And if God gives it, we can't 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:04.959 be stingy. We got to give it and release it 0:11:05.320 --> 0:11:07.959 so we can receive it and repeat it and do 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:11.480 it again. So that's how weird we are. And we're 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:13.760 weird in other ways too. We're not divided in ways 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:17.319 that some churches are divided, and we don't have black 0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:21.720 songs and white songs. We just have songs songs about God. 0:11:24.679 --> 0:11:27.000 We don't do ministry to rich people or poor people. 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:34.280 We just do ministry everybody needs Jesus. One thing that 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:38.040 encourages me in my study of God's word is all 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:41.360 of the people that God raised that from a human 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:45.240 perspective wouldn't have been recognized as likely candidates to be 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:49.080 vessels for the purpose of God. Clap on that. If 0:11:49.120 --> 0:11:55.520 you're an unlikely candidate too, Yeah, that's good. I called 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:59.319 it a strange elevation because definitely, if you want to 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:02.559 see that, look at what Paul says in First Corinthians one, 0:12:03.320 --> 0:12:06.400 verse twenty three. Check this out. Might be twenty four. 0:12:06.440 --> 0:12:09.040 I don't remember, but whatever scripture it is, put it 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:13.440 up because I'm stolen. But to those whom God has 0:12:13.800 --> 0:12:17.880 called touch your neighbors, say, that's me he's talking about. 0:12:18.720 --> 0:12:21.199 Paul never met me, but he's describing me right there. 0:12:21.559 --> 0:12:25.960 But to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, 0:12:26.600 --> 0:12:32.640 Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:38.960 next verse. For the foolishness of God is wiser than 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:44.640 human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:49.439 human strength. More, brothers and sisters, think of what you 0:12:49.559 --> 0:12:51.920 were when you were called. Don't flash back too far. 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:53.640 I might not get you back to church today. If 0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:55.839 you think about where you were, what you were, and 0:12:55.920 --> 0:12:59.160 where you were. Think of what you were when you 0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:01.920 were called. Many of your wives by human standards, not 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:05.680 many were influential, Not many were of noble birth. Next verse. 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:10.360 But God chose the foolish things of the world to 0:13:10.520 --> 0:13:15.000 shame the wise. Don't clap too hard. They might think 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:19.160 you're the foolish one. I'm past the point of caring, ma'am. 0:13:20.200 --> 0:13:22.959 I'd rather somebody think I was foolish than actually be 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:27.600 a fool. And the fool has said in his heart 0:13:27.640 --> 0:13:31.559 there is no God, but God shows the weak things 0:13:31.679 --> 0:13:36.360 of the world to shame the strong. So the subject 0:13:36.400 --> 0:13:38.760 I want to talk to you today about revolves kind 0:13:38.800 --> 0:13:42.079 of around this thought. The problem that you're having in 0:13:42.160 --> 0:13:45.079 your life right now, to align with what God spoke 0:13:45.160 --> 0:13:50.120 about you, has a very discernible diagnosis from the word 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:51.920 of God. I'm going to give it to you upfront 0:13:52.080 --> 0:13:56.959 and then we'll unpack it together. It's that sometimes you 0:13:57.160 --> 0:14:04.840 get who you are confused with where you are. That's 0:14:04.920 --> 0:14:09.000 a lot of what you've been having severe and even 0:14:09.120 --> 0:14:13.319 crippling anxiety about is that you keep getting who you 0:14:13.520 --> 0:14:18.640 are confused with where you are, and God knows the 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:22.800 difference even when you don't. I'm not going to fill 0:14:22.880 --> 0:14:25.640 this sermon with anecdotes from people that I met, but 0:14:25.720 --> 0:14:28.200 it just so happened going through Krispy Kreme the other night. 0:14:28.600 --> 0:14:30.400 I wasn't eating them, I was getting them for the 0:14:30.600 --> 0:14:32.480 sleepover gram. What's happened. Just want to tell you that 0:14:32.640 --> 0:14:36.320 right now because I can't eat one of those. And 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:38.160 I pulled through, and I felt like it was a 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:41.480 good test for me against temptation to have two dozen 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:44.560 Krispy Kreme donuts in the car and just drive home 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:46.800 and not touch them. And I did it, and I 0:14:46.920 --> 0:14:52.160 got a quest cookie and I called it even it 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:54.000 took me a while to get to that place, or 0:14:54.080 --> 0:14:55.920 I could do that, So don't give up. There's hope 0:14:55.960 --> 0:14:59.320 for all of us. Anyway, the guy said, hey, man, 0:14:59.360 --> 0:15:00.840 I know who you are. You are? I said, cool, 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:03.320 what's your name? He said, I used to go to elevation. 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:05.560 I said, great, what's your name? He said, no, I 0:15:05.560 --> 0:15:08.000 don't go anymore. I said, what does that have to 0:15:08.080 --> 0:15:11.960 do with what's your name? I didn't ask where you 0:15:12.080 --> 0:15:21.520 go to church? I asked who you are. In Judges 0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:26.920 chapter six, we meet a man who is being raised 0:15:27.040 --> 0:15:31.920 up by God, who is unlikely, being that he's from 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:36.600 the tribe of Manassa, which is looked down upon among 0:15:36.680 --> 0:15:39.720 the nation of Israel in some ways for good reason. 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:45.720 They were kind of messy tribe, but also within that designation, 0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:49.000 he saw himself as being the youngest in his family 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:53.120 because he was biologically but God had chosen him for greatness. 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:55.760 If you go through the Book of Judges, you'll see 0:15:55.800 --> 0:16:00.280 all kinds of strange elevations. What I mean is God 0:16:00.320 --> 0:16:04.280 will reach down and raise up somebody who no one 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:08.400 else had noticed, and do something really great through them 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:13.480 while nobody's looking. One of the stories is about Ehud, 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:16.800 who was a left handed judge, and the good thing 0:16:16.880 --> 0:16:19.720 about him being left handed was he reached over to 0:16:19.840 --> 0:16:23.440 his right thigh and stabbed a fat king, and the 0:16:23.520 --> 0:16:26.160 attendants were outside thinking the king was in the bathroom, 0:16:26.200 --> 0:16:28.840 but he actually had a blade sucked into his cellulight, 0:16:29.320 --> 0:16:32.160 and he snuck out and saved the nation because he 0:16:32.320 --> 0:16:35.960 was left handed. Now, the tribe that he was from Benjamin. 0:16:36.320 --> 0:16:38.520 That means son on my right hand. So he was 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:42.160 a left handed dude in a right handed tribe. But 0:16:42.400 --> 0:16:46.360 God raised him up at just the right time. Humble 0:16:46.480 --> 0:16:49.600 yourself under the mighty hand of God, that He may 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:58.200 lift you up in due time. Of course, you never 0:16:58.240 --> 0:17:01.400 heard of Ehud because it's kind of nasty scriptures, so 0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:04.280 they don't teach it over there in Sunday school class 0:17:04.440 --> 0:17:08.760 very much. However, you have heard of Gideon, who I 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:11.040 read about in Judges Chapter six. I think you have. 0:17:12.480 --> 0:17:17.119 I think you've heard about what he did, how he 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:19.880 saved the nation with just three hundred men. My plan 0:17:20.040 --> 0:17:23.200 is to attack that next week and to show you 0:17:23.680 --> 0:17:26.760 how everything that has left your life is not needed 0:17:26.840 --> 0:17:29.040 for the next season that God is bringing you into. 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:32.800 If you got him, you're going to do great things 0:17:33.040 --> 0:17:37.520 and greater things in the future. Yeah, I see it, 0:17:37.880 --> 0:17:44.120 got you now. Gideon is the least likely. He calls 0:17:44.200 --> 0:17:46.760 himself that in just a moment which we'll see his 0:17:46.880 --> 0:17:51.440 conversation with God. He calls himself the least, and he 0:17:51.520 --> 0:17:56.960 calls himself the weakest. He calls himself the least, and 0:17:57.080 --> 0:17:59.879 he calls himself the weakest. In fact, he calls the 0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:02.399 plan that he's from within his family the least, and 0:18:02.480 --> 0:18:04.480 he calls himself, well, he calls them the weakest, and 0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:08.000 he calls himself the least within that family. So the 0:18:08.080 --> 0:18:13.400 weakest in the least, and he goes on to save 0:18:13.520 --> 0:18:16.879 the nation. But before he does, before we talk about 0:18:17.800 --> 0:18:21.680 what Gideon did, or before we even talk about who 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:26.359 Gideon is, I think we need to remember where he was, 0:18:27.960 --> 0:18:29.840 because I think that's where a lot of us are. 0:18:31.359 --> 0:18:34.600 I know it's where I've been and I spent a 0:18:34.640 --> 0:18:39.080 lot of my time in life in this place where 0:18:39.160 --> 0:18:43.280 Gideon was when God called him to do something amazing 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:47.840 and raised him up. It's a strange elevation. It's God 0:18:47.960 --> 0:18:52.920 raising up an imperfect person. As Paul said, the foolish 0:18:53.040 --> 0:18:57.040 things of the world to shame the strong and the 0:18:57.119 --> 0:19:02.359 weak things to confound the wise. The Bible says in 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:07.080 Judges chapter six, verse seven, when the Israelites cried out 0:19:07.119 --> 0:19:10.480 to the Lord because of Midian, he sent them a 0:19:10.640 --> 0:19:13.520 prophet who said, this is what the Lord, the God 0:19:13.560 --> 0:19:18.600 of Israel, says. I brought you up out of Egypt elevation, 0:19:19.760 --> 0:19:23.960 out of the land of slavery. I rescued you from 0:19:24.040 --> 0:19:28.600 the hand of the Egyptians, and I delivered you from 0:19:28.640 --> 0:19:33.080 the hand of all your oppressors. I drove them out 0:19:33.880 --> 0:19:38.200 before you and gave you their lamb. I said to you, 0:19:38.520 --> 0:19:41.720 I am the Lord your God. Do not worship the 0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:46.760 gods of the emrits. Do not worship the gods of comparison. 0:19:47.440 --> 0:19:51.520 Do not worship the gods of status. Do not worship 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:55.639 the worship the gods of sexual expression at the expense 0:19:55.960 --> 0:19:59.840 of addiction and entanglement and bondage. I said to you. 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:04.800 You don't do it, don't become like where you are. 0:20:08.520 --> 0:20:14.000 Don't confuse who I made you to be with what 0:20:14.200 --> 0:20:20.000 you see in the place where I put you. The 0:20:20.080 --> 0:20:24.600 prophet said that, he said that. We don't even know 0:20:24.720 --> 0:20:29.399 his name, but he said that. But you have not 0:20:29.560 --> 0:20:33.680 listened to me. Now, I promise I'm gonna raise you 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:36.760 up first. I got gonna start where we gotta start. Okay, 0:20:37.600 --> 0:20:45.760 because that's true about a lot of us. How hard 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:47.720 you make me work is how deep I'm gonna go. 0:20:47.920 --> 0:20:51.920 So just let's make a deal. You've been there before. 0:20:53.040 --> 0:20:59.200 I call it predictable misery. You know it's not where 0:20:59.280 --> 0:21:01.760 you need to go to get what you need to have, 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:08.760 But you do it. Predictable misery, predictable pleasure. You do 0:21:08.920 --> 0:21:11.240 the thing, you get the thing, you lose the thing. 0:21:11.440 --> 0:21:14.040 Now you got nothing, and you cry out to God. Now, 0:21:14.160 --> 0:21:18.680 what I love about him is that he still lifts me. 0:21:22.520 --> 0:21:25.720 That's what I love about him is that he still 0:21:25.800 --> 0:21:29.080 lifts me. The question isn't will he lift you out 0:21:29.160 --> 0:21:33.800 of it? The question is how long do you insist 0:21:34.440 --> 0:21:37.639 on staying in it before you ask him to do 0:21:38.359 --> 0:21:43.719 what he said he would do. Now, for the Israelites, 0:21:43.880 --> 0:21:47.600 It was a seven year cycle, this time seven years 0:21:47.640 --> 0:21:51.240 of being oppressed by the Midianites. It would get really 0:21:51.359 --> 0:21:54.480 bad when they tried to plant. When they tried to plant, 0:21:54.840 --> 0:21:58.080 the Midianites would come, and the Bible says they came 0:21:58.160 --> 0:22:01.359 on camels, and the Bible says they were like swarms 0:22:01.400 --> 0:22:05.800 of locusts. That's how many there were. It was overwhelming, 0:22:06.240 --> 0:22:10.560 like swarms of locusts. They would come and raid and invade. 0:22:11.040 --> 0:22:14.720 Every time the Israelites got ready to grow and do 0:22:15.000 --> 0:22:20.000 something forward thinking and progress and put something in the ground, 0:22:20.480 --> 0:22:25.800 here came the Midianites. The Bible says, like swarms of locusts. 0:22:26.119 --> 0:22:29.920 Every time they went to sew into their future, here 0:22:30.000 --> 0:22:33.760 came a swarm of enemies to drive them back into 0:22:33.880 --> 0:22:40.080 their past. Every time they went to sew, here came 0:22:40.119 --> 0:22:44.320 a swarm. I'm setting this up so when I tell 0:22:44.400 --> 0:22:48.680 you where Gideon was, you won't judge him, because you 0:22:48.760 --> 0:22:51.480 will judge him if you just meet him where he is. 0:22:53.320 --> 0:22:57.680 But if you know what he's been warring against, maybe 0:22:57.760 --> 0:23:00.440 you can relate to this guy a little bit. Maybe 0:23:00.520 --> 0:23:03.280 you won't call him a whimp if you see why 0:23:03.359 --> 0:23:06.800 he's hidden. Maybe if you realize that every time he's 0:23:06.960 --> 0:23:10.240 tried to plant, every time he's tried to read, every 0:23:10.320 --> 0:23:13.320 time I tried to go for a job interview, every 0:23:13.400 --> 0:23:16.560 time I tried to move forward, every time I tried 0:23:16.640 --> 0:23:19.080 to get my feet under me, every time I tried 0:23:19.160 --> 0:23:23.119 to talk to him, every time I tried to apologize. 0:23:24.680 --> 0:23:30.200 So now we have Gideon who is hidden but he's 0:23:30.240 --> 0:23:34.880 a hero. But he's hidden but he's a hero. Which 0:23:35.000 --> 0:23:41.480 one It's both, And so it is with you. I'm 0:23:41.560 --> 0:23:46.240 preaching today to a hidden hero. I'm preaching today to 0:23:46.400 --> 0:23:50.760 somebody who is stronger than your life has been suggesting 0:23:50.880 --> 0:23:54.600 that you are. I'm preaching today to somebody who has 0:23:54.760 --> 0:23:59.119 more potential than you've been given yourself credit for. And 0:23:59.320 --> 0:24:02.960 God said, I'm coming in to show you who I am. 0:24:03.440 --> 0:24:09.560 I am the Lord, your God. Now let's go. Here 0:24:09.600 --> 0:24:13.920 comes the Angel. In verse number eleven, the Angel of 0:24:14.040 --> 0:24:17.639 the Lord came and sat down under the oak in 0:24:18.280 --> 0:24:22.200 uh Orfra. This is before she had her talk show. 0:24:22.240 --> 0:24:24.760 I like to point that out, she'd been doing it 0:24:24.840 --> 0:24:27.160 a long time. I always throw that joke in there 0:24:27.160 --> 0:24:32.200 because that's really good, really good little preature joke. Sorry 0:24:32.200 --> 0:24:35.440 about it. The Angel of the Lord came and sat 0:24:35.520 --> 0:24:39.560 down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to joe 0:24:39.600 --> 0:24:45.399 Ash the abbys right, shock of shock, horrors of horrors. 0:24:47.040 --> 0:24:51.159 Where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine 0:24:51.240 --> 0:24:56.160 press to keep it from the Midian eyes. And when 0:24:56.200 --> 0:24:58.879 the Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, 0:24:59.600 --> 0:25:04.680 the Lord word is with you, mighty warrior. Now somebody's lying. 0:25:08.680 --> 0:25:15.680 These cannot coexist. You cannot be threshing wheat in a 0:25:15.760 --> 0:25:20.280 wine press and be a warrior while you're in a 0:25:20.359 --> 0:25:24.880 wine press threshing wheat hiding from the big bad Midianites. 0:25:26.040 --> 0:25:32.840 Somebody's lying, somebody's wrong, somebody is not seeing something correctly. 0:25:33.840 --> 0:25:37.800 One is an angel and one is Gideon. One is 0:25:37.920 --> 0:25:41.520 the messenger of God, and one is Gideon, a human 0:25:41.600 --> 0:25:44.440 from the tribe of Nnassa. So I'm asking you a question. 0:25:45.240 --> 0:25:50.800 If it's God and Gideon saying two different things about 0:25:50.840 --> 0:25:56.680 the same situation, which one is wrong? That is not 0:25:56.760 --> 0:26:00.960 a trick question. Shout this out loud. God is not wrong, 0:26:03.560 --> 0:26:06.760 So why are you hiding? If God is not wrong? 0:26:11.480 --> 0:26:16.240 So why are you worried about tomorrow? If God said 0:26:16.280 --> 0:26:23.080 He's already there? So why have you given up on yourself? 0:26:23.600 --> 0:26:27.560 When he didn't give up on you yet. So why 0:26:27.640 --> 0:26:31.159 do you talk to yourself like your trash when he 0:26:31.320 --> 0:26:38.920 spilt his blood for you, like your treasure. Why do 0:26:39.040 --> 0:26:41.879 you keep going into a dark place. I'll tell you 0:26:42.040 --> 0:26:46.760 why you are hiding, Because you've been hit hard. I 0:26:46.840 --> 0:26:49.479 understood the more I studied about the Midianites. They were 0:26:49.560 --> 0:26:53.920 hit harder than any other tribe. When the Midianites, or 0:26:53.960 --> 0:26:56.760 excuse me, the tribe of Manassa, they were hit harder 0:26:56.840 --> 0:26:59.320 than any of the other tribes. When the Midianites would 0:26:59.320 --> 0:27:03.200 come in on their camels like locust. They hit midian 0:27:03.640 --> 0:27:07.879 the hardest. And and so Gideon has this little spirit 0:27:07.960 --> 0:27:12.159 on him. Why is everybody always picking on me? And 0:27:12.280 --> 0:27:18.320 that's because the enemy only picks on what he perceives 0:27:18.400 --> 0:27:24.080 to be powerful. You see why it's gonna take me 0:27:24.160 --> 0:27:28.600 two weeks to do this the right way. But he's 0:27:28.640 --> 0:27:32.520 in a wine press threshing weed. Nothing wrong with wine press. 0:27:32.560 --> 0:27:35.679 He's not down there getting drunk. He's not down there 0:27:35.800 --> 0:27:43.560 making making meth. Mister White, it's not that it's not 0:27:44.800 --> 0:27:48.320 it's not exactly that he's in the wrong place. It's 0:27:48.400 --> 0:27:52.480 that he's he's doing the thing that he's doing in 0:27:52.560 --> 0:27:55.760 a place that is not most appropriate for who he is. 0:27:57.760 --> 0:28:00.280 When you thresh wheat, and trust me, I've done it lot. 0:28:01.920 --> 0:28:04.879 Never thresh weet, but I understand from people who have 0:28:04.960 --> 0:28:08.359 done these things. When you thresh weet, the goal is 0:28:08.520 --> 0:28:13.280 to thresh it up on a hill in an elevated place, 0:28:14.560 --> 0:28:17.960 as high as you can get. Because if you thresh 0:28:18.000 --> 0:28:20.600 your wheat in a high place, and let's again remember 0:28:20.640 --> 0:28:25.920 what threshing is is separating what's useful the wheat, from 0:28:26.000 --> 0:28:30.520 what's useless, the chaff. And when you're threshing wheat, they say, 0:28:30.880 --> 0:28:33.400 if you throw it up and the wind is there, 0:28:34.000 --> 0:28:39.360 then the wind will take what's invaluable and blow it away. Well, 0:28:39.360 --> 0:28:42.120 I can appreciate this about the Holy Spirit. The wind 0:28:42.200 --> 0:28:44.360