1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:04,560 Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 2 00:00:04,840 --> 00:00:07,040 Speaker 1: Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 3 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:10,400 Speaker 1: you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 4 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:12,440 Speaker 1: it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 5 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:17,239 Speaker 1: see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 6 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:25,360 Speaker 1: You ready? You sure? Ready for the work? My good 7 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:37,080 Speaker 1: catch y'all. Don't have confidence in me. You got nervous? Ready? 8 00:00:37,479 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 1: You ready? Josh better stick with the front row. It's 9 00:00:52,040 --> 00:01:01,960 Speaker 1: a very retigious society. Ready now, just like she did, 10 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:10,080 Speaker 1: we're about to do around the audience response to my 11 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:17,960 Speaker 1: best premium ministry. My brother look at somebody next to 12 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: you and say, I caught a thought. I caught a thought. 13 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 1: Chunks you ready, let's see caught it? Sorry about that, 14 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:51,280 Speaker 1: Collie caught something. By the way. This guy who just 15 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 1: threw me the Bible, it's like my best friend in 16 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:57,280 Speaker 1: the world. But he's the worst. He's always blaming people 17 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:02,160 Speaker 1: when he gets sick. He's always trying to track back 18 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:07,160 Speaker 1: to who had a running nose four months ago, blaming 19 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:13,359 Speaker 1: it on my kids. You know soon, So you came 20 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 1: back from the mission trip. I think I caught it 21 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:18,640 Speaker 1: from them it was food poisoning. You can't catch food poisoning. 22 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 1: Why are you trying to blame the missionary because you've 23 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:25,760 Speaker 1: got a stomach virus. He's magnum pi trying to investigate. 24 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:28,360 Speaker 1: It's a pop culture reference for the young people, very 25 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:34,799 Speaker 1: relevant and current. I caught it. Look at somebody and say, 26 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:39,360 Speaker 1: I caught a thought. Let me ask you something. Is 27 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:48,440 Speaker 1: it possible to catch an attitude? You got anybody just 28 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:55,520 Speaker 1: when you see their name on your phone. Y'all responding 29 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 1: a little too much to this, you might be giving 30 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:06,799 Speaker 1: yourself away. I caught a thought? Can you catch Can 31 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:15,520 Speaker 1: you catch faith? Can you catch fear? Can you catch 32 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:19,079 Speaker 1: an idea? Can you catch a dream? Can you catch 33 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:24,000 Speaker 1: a vision? Can you catch a word from God that 34 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 1: will cause you to worship from a deep place past 35 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:33,400 Speaker 1: the shallows of feelings and emotions? You're here today because 36 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:37,960 Speaker 1: you caught a thought. You thought you should come to church. 37 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 1: You caught a ride and you came. But before you 38 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:45,640 Speaker 1: caught a ride, you caught a thought I should go 39 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 1: to church. And because you caught a thought, you're about 40 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:56,080 Speaker 1: to look at twelve people. Ready, That's how we aught too. 41 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 1: I caught a thought. Now, I'm demonstrating this physically, but 42 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 1: I'm want to demonstrate it scripturally. Go in your Bible 43 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:10,080 Speaker 1: to Numbers, chapter thirteen, and I want to look at 44 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 1: a passage of scripture that has been really helpful to 45 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:19,080 Speaker 1: me so many times through the years when I am 46 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:24,080 Speaker 1: caught between two thoughts, and when one thought says you 47 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:29,240 Speaker 1: should and you can, and one thought says you can't, 48 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:34,240 Speaker 1: so don't try. This passage has often helped my perspective. 49 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:41,680 Speaker 1: And it's a familiar story for anybody who knows about 50 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 1: Father Abraham had many sons, and many sons had Father Abraham. 51 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:47,080 Speaker 1: I am one of them, and so are you. So 52 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:50,159 Speaker 1: let's just praise the Lord. That Bible school stuff. It 53 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:54,240 Speaker 1: works in grown up life too, because the children of 54 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:56,880 Speaker 1: Abraham are of course coming into the land that God 55 00:04:56,920 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: promised them, and in the Book of Numbers, have the 56 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:05,479 Speaker 1: opportunity to receive the gift, but they get more focused 57 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:09,800 Speaker 1: on the giants that oppose them than the gift that 58 00:05:09,839 --> 00:05:13,280 Speaker 1: God has given them. And that happens to us all 59 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 1: the time. So what we see in Numbers, chapter thirteen, 60 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:19,800 Speaker 1: verse thirty. And I'm so excited to show you this, 61 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:25,120 Speaker 1: I'm having to contain my excitement is that there will 62 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:28,960 Speaker 1: always be a thought that God will bring you to 63 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:32,200 Speaker 1: deliver you. There will always be a thought that the 64 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 1: enemy will bring to destroy you. And they're both right 65 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:39,920 Speaker 1: here in numbers Chapter thirteen. Let's study this together. The 66 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 1: Bible says, then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, 67 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:45,760 Speaker 1: we should go up and take possession of the land, 68 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:50,920 Speaker 1: for we can certainly do it. But the men who 69 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:54,800 Speaker 1: had gone up with him said, we can't attack those people. 70 00:05:55,279 --> 00:06:00,240 Speaker 1: They are stronger than we are. And they spread among 71 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 1: the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. 72 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:10,280 Speaker 1: They said, the land we explored devours those living in it. 73 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 1: All the people we saw there are of great size. 74 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:18,480 Speaker 1: We saw the Nephilim there, the descendants of Anak come 75 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:23,200 Speaker 1: from the Nephilum. We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, 76 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:27,520 Speaker 1: and we looked the same to them. Stop. There was 77 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:31,800 Speaker 1: no conversation between the giants and the spies about who 78 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 1: was bigger. That wasn't what they heard, that was what 79 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:41,040 Speaker 1: they thought. The nation never saw the promised land for themselves. 80 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:44,920 Speaker 1: They relied on the support or the report of the 81 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:48,440 Speaker 1: spies to give them a picture of the promise. Of 82 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:53,480 Speaker 1: God as well as give them a prediction about the outcome. 83 00:06:54,279 --> 00:06:57,719 Speaker 1: And it wasn't because they saw something, It was because 84 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:01,480 Speaker 1: they heard something. And what they heard was a result 85 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:05,719 Speaker 1: of something that the spies thought. So when it said 86 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:09,840 Speaker 1: in the scripture, they spread among the Israelites a bad report, 87 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:14,440 Speaker 1: and that report kept the Israelites from going into the 88 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: land that God had given them. I realized it is 89 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:23,120 Speaker 1: possible to be stopped not because of your giants, but 90 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:29,160 Speaker 1: because of your thoughts, not because of something that is 91 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:33,080 Speaker 1: actually bigger than you, but because of something that you 92 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:37,040 Speaker 1: have made bigger than you on the movie screen of 93 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: your mind. How many of you have an Imax screen 94 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:41,120 Speaker 1: in your mind, and you can blow things up all 95 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:46,400 Speaker 1: to all different proportions. The whole nation caught a thought 96 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 1: and it made their faith week. And God had given 97 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: them the land, and they could have had the land. 98 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:57,840 Speaker 1: In fact, the land was already theirs. Because the enemy 99 00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:03,440 Speaker 1: can't take away anything that God has given to you. However, 100 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:09,440 Speaker 1: if he can attack your faith through weakening your immune system, 101 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:14,400 Speaker 1: that faith immune system that is supposed to filter out 102 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:19,880 Speaker 1: those microscopic germs, those seeds of discontent that will cause 103 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:22,680 Speaker 1: you to walk away from what God has calling you 104 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:26,680 Speaker 1: to walk into although he can't take it away from you. 105 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 1: If he can get to your faith, if he can 106 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:34,720 Speaker 1: get to that part of you that believes God and 107 00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:37,280 Speaker 1: cause it to be disrupted by something that your eyes 108 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 1: see or your ears. Here, Holy Spirit, help me say 109 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: this the right way. He can't take it. So what 110 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:47,960 Speaker 1: he wants to do is to move you from a 111 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:51,880 Speaker 1: place of believing that He loves you, called you, qualified you, 112 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:55,520 Speaker 1: set you apart, put you there to do it. And 113 00:08:55,600 --> 00:09:00,720 Speaker 1: the issue with me is that I experience both thoughts, 114 00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 1: both voices simultaneously. Let me try to break this down. 115 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:11,880 Speaker 1: I got Caleb telling me this is one thought you 116 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:17,000 Speaker 1: should you can, and then I got ten other spies. 117 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:19,720 Speaker 1: You ever noticed how it seems to be more reasons 118 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:22,960 Speaker 1: why you shouldn't than that you should. You ever felt 119 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:27,200 Speaker 1: outnumbered in your thought life? Yeah? I got ten spies. 120 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:30,600 Speaker 1: Now the spies are going into the land. And the 121 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:34,079 Speaker 1: number one rule of being a spy is don't get caught, 122 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:39,240 Speaker 1: right yo with me? Yeah, it's the number one rule 123 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:42,240 Speaker 1: of being a spy. Whatever you do, sneak in. And 124 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:44,960 Speaker 1: Joshua told him, or Moses told him. Joshua was one 125 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:46,760 Speaker 1: of the two spies that saw it the right way, 126 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:49,280 Speaker 1: and he told him. Moses told Joshua and Caleb and 127 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:51,320 Speaker 1: the ten other spies. He said, when you go in there, 128 00:09:51,720 --> 00:09:55,800 Speaker 1: make sure, make sure that they don't see you. Okay, 129 00:09:56,600 --> 00:09:59,959 Speaker 1: But then they got caught. But they didn't get caught 130 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:07,679 Speaker 1: by their enemies. They got caught by their insecurities. I'm 131 00:10:07,720 --> 00:10:12,720 Speaker 1: a preaching to you. They got caught by a thought. 132 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:18,680 Speaker 1: And the thought was, we're not big enough. The thought 133 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:23,480 Speaker 1: was we don't have enough. The thought is, we can't 134 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:26,959 Speaker 1: they're bigger. And so then now all of a sudden, 135 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:31,240 Speaker 1: they are dominated not by their enemies, but by their thoughts. 136 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:34,720 Speaker 1: And God said that I was preaching to somebody today 137 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:39,840 Speaker 1: who is caught between two thoughts. One is telling you 138 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:42,840 Speaker 1: that God gave you everything you need to raise that child. 139 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:45,240 Speaker 1: The other is telling you that you're the one who 140 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:48,960 Speaker 1: screwed them up. I'm a preaching to your business today. 141 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:52,240 Speaker 1: One is telling you that it's all right. God can 142 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:55,800 Speaker 1: restore the years that the locusts have eaten. The other 143 00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:58,760 Speaker 1: is telling you you've wasted too much time and now 144 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:02,480 Speaker 1: nothing good can happen in life. So I'm caught between 145 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 1: two thoughts. And on one hand I see the size 146 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:08,640 Speaker 1: of the grapes. I see the size of the promise, 147 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:11,840 Speaker 1: and I know the size of my God. On the 148 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:14,959 Speaker 1: other hand, I hear all of the reasons why a great, 149 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:18,160 Speaker 1: big God could not use a little puny person like 150 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:22,080 Speaker 1: me from Monks Corner, South Carolina, a little puny person 151 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:25,120 Speaker 1: like me who never did this on this level before. 152 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:29,000 Speaker 1: Even as I preach to you, I'm caught between two thoughts. 153 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:32,360 Speaker 1: She looks like she's never heard a better sermon in 154 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:35,320 Speaker 1: her life. Somebody up there looks like they hate me 155 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:38,120 Speaker 1: and are contemplating how they can slip out. And how 156 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:39,880 Speaker 1: did I get stuck in the middle of this row 157 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:42,240 Speaker 1: for this sermon? And why is he yelling like that? 158 00:11:42,559 --> 00:11:45,360 Speaker 1: And that shirt is too bright and it hurts my eyes, 159 00:11:45,559 --> 00:11:47,680 Speaker 1: and I just want to get out of here. I'm 160 00:11:47,679 --> 00:11:50,360 Speaker 1: a preach to you. I'm a preach to the I'm 161 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:52,640 Speaker 1: a preach to the love in the room. I'm going 162 00:11:52,679 --> 00:12:07,800 Speaker 1: to preach to the faith. You're feeling better, LJ. He 163 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:09,920 Speaker 1: had to miss last Sunday. It's the first time he's 164 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:13,600 Speaker 1: missed playing behind me in three years. He's never missed. 165 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:21,080 Speaker 1: But he caught, and he caught a stomach bug and 166 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:22,520 Speaker 1: I'm not gonna lie to you. This may make me 167 00:12:22,559 --> 00:12:25,960 Speaker 1: a bad pastor. When I saw him Tuesday, I waved 168 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:29,679 Speaker 1: at him. I didn't wap him up. I don't love 169 00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:35,800 Speaker 1: him that much. I'm not going to spend the whole 170 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:40,760 Speaker 1: week throwing up just to tell you, hello, we can 171 00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:45,040 Speaker 1: do this virtually. I love you, man, praying for you 172 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:50,120 Speaker 1: from a distance, I'm not getting close enough to catch it. 173 00:12:51,360 --> 00:13:01,280 Speaker 1: M hm. And honestly, this is why I had to 174 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:07,880 Speaker 1: stop hanging out with some certain people, because I started realizing, 175 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:17,760 Speaker 1: you catch what you're close to. Now, if you need 176 00:13:17,800 --> 00:13:20,280 Speaker 1: to take out your phone at this point in my 177 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:24,920 Speaker 1: sermon and do some surgery with that, swipe left, delete, move. 178 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:29,120 Speaker 1: Some of y'all don't need to lift your hands to 179 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:34,800 Speaker 1: have more faith, you need to swipe your thumb because 180 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:44,480 Speaker 1: it is your contacts. I caught something. I catch something 181 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:50,880 Speaker 1: every time I'm around them, every time I scroll. I 182 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:53,600 Speaker 1: noticed this the other day. I get in a certain 183 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:57,160 Speaker 1: mood and I can't figure out how was I so 184 00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:02,600 Speaker 1: happy three minutes ago? And now have you ever had 185 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:06,440 Speaker 1: a switch that quick? Yeah? So I started studying it, 186 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:10,600 Speaker 1: and I realized that before I caught a feeling, I 187 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:15,000 Speaker 1: caught a thought. Now, sometimes that thought is just me 188 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:20,000 Speaker 1: going through my feed and I will see something that 189 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:22,800 Speaker 1: won't register. Now, here's what I noticed. You don't feel 190 00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:27,200 Speaker 1: it while you're scrolling. When I ate a whole bag 191 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:30,160 Speaker 1: of oreos one Thanksgiving after I'd already eaten three meals, 192 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:36,080 Speaker 1: I didn't feel sick while I was eating them. My 193 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:40,920 Speaker 1: taste buds didn't tell me to stop. So I'm scrolling 194 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:46,360 Speaker 1: and I don't feel sick until after I've stopped. What 195 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:49,280 Speaker 1: I realized about myself. And maybe you're more spiritually mature 196 00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:50,880 Speaker 1: than me, and you can find a church where the 197 00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:55,040 Speaker 1: pastor is whole, healthy and doesn't have these issues. But 198 00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:58,720 Speaker 1: for all of us who understand that, sometimes you are 199 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:02,000 Speaker 1: mad about something that you saw ten minutes ago on 200 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:05,320 Speaker 1: your phone because you were in everybody else's life but 201 00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:09,080 Speaker 1: your own, trying to figure out am I better than them? 202 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:13,080 Speaker 1: Are they better than me? And so what happened while 203 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:16,360 Speaker 1: I was scrolling? I saw them on vacation and I 204 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:19,440 Speaker 1: know they're in debt. So I caught a thought of judgment. 205 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:22,360 Speaker 1: Why should they be on vacation when I know they're 206 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:25,360 Speaker 1: in debt? And now I feel sick ten minutes later 207 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:28,280 Speaker 1: because of the thought that I caught while I scrolled 208 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:31,520 Speaker 1: through somebody else's situation that has nothing to do with 209 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:38,120 Speaker 1: my responsibility. Y'all gonna help me with this, or am 210 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:44,040 Speaker 1: I gonna? So what happened to me was I caught 211 00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:48,160 Speaker 1: a thought of offense, and then I reaped an attitude 212 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:53,600 Speaker 1: of frustration. I got offended the other day because I 213 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:57,080 Speaker 1: saw God blessing somebody that he wasn't supposed to bless 214 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:02,400 Speaker 1: Did you ever watch God just do something awesome for 215 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:11,920 Speaker 1: the wrong person? He didn't consult you? And so I 216 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:17,600 Speaker 1: found myself feeling insecure. The reason that I felt insecure 217 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:22,640 Speaker 1: in myself is because I caught a thought of offense 218 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:25,160 Speaker 1: about somebody else. Now here's what happens. You become a 219 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:29,880 Speaker 1: victim of your own judgment. When you judge others that way, 220 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:33,360 Speaker 1: you judge you that way. So when you catch a 221 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:37,800 Speaker 1: thought of judging others, don't be surprised when the judgment 222 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:42,880 Speaker 1: comes upon you. The less y'all say, amen, the more 223 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:48,840 Speaker 1: I know I'm preaching. So I caught a thought. I 224 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:53,480 Speaker 1: caught a thought, and I realized that the thought that 225 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:56,960 Speaker 1: I hold on to the thought that I you know, 226 00:16:57,040 --> 00:16:59,880 Speaker 1: like you can catch a wave, you could catch a 227 00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:03,920 Speaker 1: football for the game winning touchdown like Graham Fredick did yesterday, 228 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:11,280 Speaker 1: just this very yesterday. But I never knew I could 229 00:17:11,320 --> 00:17:14,520 Speaker 1: catch a thought. I knew you could catch a case. 230 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:21,280 Speaker 1: I had some relatives that did it. I knew you 231 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:24,560 Speaker 1: could catch a cold. But I found out you could 232 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:29,600 Speaker 1: catch a thought. And then I trace sometimes the weakness 233 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:34,679 Speaker 1: of my faith, and I ask myself the question, where 234 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:39,919 Speaker 1: did that thought come from? And it's important where it 235 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:44,960 Speaker 1: came from, because where it comes from determines where it 236 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:50,680 Speaker 1: leads to. My issue is that when I say I 237 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:54,920 Speaker 1: hear from God, I don't hear him out loud. God 238 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:58,320 Speaker 1: bless you if you do. I've never heard the audible 239 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:03,000 Speaker 1: voice of God. I mean, he speaks through my wife 240 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:07,280 Speaker 1: all the time. But other than that exception, I've never 241 00:18:07,359 --> 00:18:10,600 Speaker 1: heard the audible voice of God. If you have, I'm 242 00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:12,800 Speaker 1: not mad at you unless you start trying to use 243 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:15,640 Speaker 1: it to manipulate people by making up stuff that God 244 00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:17,560 Speaker 1: told you, because God has three way calling and he 245 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:19,680 Speaker 1: can tell us both. So don't tell me God spoke 246 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:21,240 Speaker 1: to you something that I'm not in agreement with and 247 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:22,520 Speaker 1: try to get me to do something you want to 248 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:24,399 Speaker 1: do by saying God told you to, especially if you 249 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:26,000 Speaker 1: say God told you to quit your job because you're 250 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:27,879 Speaker 1: just tired of dealing with frustrating people. I don't know 251 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:29,320 Speaker 1: if that's God or if you're just tired. Need to 252 00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:30,760 Speaker 1: get some sleep, and I have better attitude when you 253 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:35,679 Speaker 1: show up. I've never heard from God out loud. So 254 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:39,720 Speaker 1: one guy asked me one time. He was like, when 255 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:41,919 Speaker 1: you say God spoke to you, how do you know? 256 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:47,560 Speaker 1: Great question, because I don't hear God at an auditory level, 257 00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:51,320 Speaker 1: So when I say God spoke, that can be misleading. 258 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:57,199 Speaker 1: You know. When Peter said Jesus spoke to me, it 259 00:18:57,320 --> 00:19:01,960 Speaker 1: was literal. Jesus was a person. He spoke to me. 260 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:05,800 Speaker 1: I was fishing one night. I hadn't caught anything. I 261 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:09,720 Speaker 1: was frustrated, and Jesus said, let down your nets in 262 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:13,080 Speaker 1: the deep for a catch. And Peter would say, at first, 263 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:16,560 Speaker 1: I was frustrated because I thought you're a carpenter. I'm 264 00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:20,040 Speaker 1: a fisherman. You do your job, I'll do mine. You 265 00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:22,320 Speaker 1: wanted my vote to preach from. I didn't know you 266 00:19:22,359 --> 00:19:24,800 Speaker 1: were going to try to drive it. But watch this, 267 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:30,320 Speaker 1: because you say so, I will let down the nets. Now, 268 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:33,520 Speaker 1: when he let down the nets, he caught a great 269 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:37,320 Speaker 1: number of fish. But God was showing me that before 270 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:46,200 Speaker 1: he caught the fish, he caught you. Like this church, 271 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:53,320 Speaker 1: before there was a seat, there was a thought. Now 272 00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:57,879 Speaker 1: see the issue with this is I don't hear God 273 00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:02,040 Speaker 1: out loud like that, and so I connect with God 274 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:06,440 Speaker 1: not at an auditory or sensory level. I connect with 275 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:10,000 Speaker 1: God at the level of thought. Which would be fine 276 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:12,760 Speaker 1: if God spoke to me at the level of thought, 277 00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:16,320 Speaker 1: and he was the only one who spoke that way. 278 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:21,959 Speaker 1: But I got this other joker. They call him the devil. 279 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:24,119 Speaker 1: But when I say the devil tempts me or the 280 00:20:24,119 --> 00:20:27,879 Speaker 1: devil discourages me, I'm not talking about a guy in 281 00:20:27,920 --> 00:20:30,720 Speaker 1: a Halloween costume that he got on clearance at Target, 282 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:34,160 Speaker 1: walking up with a pitchfork and a cape and some horns. 283 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:36,320 Speaker 1: I never saw the devil like that. I just put 284 00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:39,480 Speaker 1: him off my shoulder. He's not on my shoulder when 285 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:43,159 Speaker 1: he comes to me. He comes to me through a thought. 286 00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:47,840 Speaker 1: So now I got God speaking to me through my thoughts. 287 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:52,000 Speaker 1: I've got the enemy trying to speak against what God 288 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:56,440 Speaker 1: spoke to me through my thoughts. I got two voices 289 00:20:56,640 --> 00:21:01,160 Speaker 1: on the same device, and I'm caught between a thought. 290 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:05,480 Speaker 1: One is telling me your greatest years are ahead of you. 291 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:08,680 Speaker 1: One is telling me you've already done all the good 292 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:11,359 Speaker 1: things you're gonna do. You better write it out because 293 00:21:11,359 --> 00:21:14,119 Speaker 1: it won't be much longer. One is telling me go 294 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:16,680 Speaker 1: ahead and speak it and say it and do it 295 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:19,240 Speaker 1: and step into it and believe for it. And the 296 00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:20,960 Speaker 1: other one is telling me, well, you better not go 297 00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:22,920 Speaker 1: too far out there. You know, if you go too 298 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:25,560 Speaker 1: far out there, you be embarrassed. And after off you 299 00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:28,600 Speaker 1: climb high, they can pull you down. And I'm caught 300 00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:42,520 Speaker 1: between Caleb we Can and the other spies. I'm caught 301 00:21:45,359 --> 00:21:53,439 Speaker 1: caught got a thought. I got caught. I got caught 302 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:58,040 Speaker 1: by a thought. I don't know how it happened, but y'all, 303 00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:02,320 Speaker 1: I got this thought that goes through my mind all 304 00:22:02,359 --> 00:22:08,520 Speaker 1: the time that says it doesn't matter, just all the time. 305 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:13,720 Speaker 1: I could be doing anything and it'll be like it's 306 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:18,600 Speaker 1: Almo the way the thought you know that eye roll 307 00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:22,560 Speaker 1: emoji that you yeah, that's that would be the face 308 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:25,720 Speaker 1: of it. But the thought behind it is like, you know, 309 00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:32,200 Speaker 1: who cares doesn't matter? You ever had that thought catch 310 00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:37,000 Speaker 1: you trying to do something? Mm hmm, Raise your hand again. 311 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:40,040 Speaker 1: If you've ever had that thought, why did y'all raise 312 00:22:40,119 --> 00:22:43,399 Speaker 1: y'all saying so much higher? The second time I asked her, 313 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:53,119 Speaker 1: oh oh, oh, you're not enough. I don't know if 314 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:56,640 Speaker 1: you say it exactly like that, but it's crazy how 315 00:22:56,640 --> 00:22:59,520 Speaker 1: many people I talked to. And I used to think 316 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:01,440 Speaker 1: it was deep who didn't have a lot of confidence, 317 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:07,760 Speaker 1: But then I realized professional athletes have this thought that 318 00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:13,840 Speaker 1: I'm not enough. They are the ones who are society worships, 319 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:18,520 Speaker 1: and still there's a thought. It's a thought that's going around. 320 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:21,200 Speaker 1: The reason is going around so much more now than 321 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:24,120 Speaker 1: it used to go around is because now we don't 322 00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:28,160 Speaker 1: judge ourselves or measure ourselves according to the calling God 323 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:34,480 Speaker 1: has given us. We compare ourselves to a fictionalized account 324 00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:39,040 Speaker 1: of somebody else's life. That's where you always get in trouble. Now, 325 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:41,840 Speaker 1: get this point. You always get in trouble when you 326 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:46,800 Speaker 1: start comparing your calling to somebody else's because when you 327 00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:52,679 Speaker 1: compare callings, you catch insecurity. When you compare callings, you 328 00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:56,840 Speaker 1: catch in sufficiency. When I think I'm not enough, you 329 00:23:56,880 --> 00:24:00,880 Speaker 1: know I'm not enough. Even the disciples, you know it's 330 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:03,320 Speaker 1: not enough food to go around Jesus, you need to 331 00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:06,800 Speaker 1: send them away. How many times have I sent away 332 00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:11,160 Speaker 1: something that God put in my life because I caught 333 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:17,600 Speaker 1: a thought that I'm not enough. They wandered around and 334 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:22,720 Speaker 1: around and around in the wilderness for forty years, not 335 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:29,399 Speaker 1: because of their enemy, but because of their thought. And 336 00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:33,000 Speaker 1: then even sometimes when things are going good, I got 337 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:36,520 Speaker 1: this thought. I don't know where it comes from. I 338 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:40,080 Speaker 1: don't think it's God. I don't think it is. Sorry 339 00:24:40,119 --> 00:24:45,560 Speaker 1: to tell sometimes because it's not like he talks like this. 340 00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:48,919 Speaker 1: I don't even know what that was. I'm glad he 341 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:50,920 Speaker 1: didn't talk like that. That was super weird. Yes, So, 342 00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:56,359 Speaker 1: like Morgan Freeman, it's just a thought. Come on, if 343 00:24:56,400 --> 00:25:01,520 Speaker 1: God sounded like Morgan Freeman, you could do it. If 344 00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:03,919 Speaker 1: you narrated your life like that, you could do it. 345 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:06,159 Speaker 1: You could make it. You would go to sleep and 346 00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:10,320 Speaker 1: wake up and just be ready for the day. But 347 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:14,400 Speaker 1: it comes like a thought. You know, even when it's 348 00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:21,760 Speaker 1: going good, it won't last. They'll leave you too. You 349 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:27,439 Speaker 1: can't count on them. Then you sabotage the gift because 350 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:31,280 Speaker 1: you're not securing it, because even while it's happening, you 351 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:39,400 Speaker 1: don't believe this real. This is my thoughts. I don't 352 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:42,840 Speaker 1: know where I caught them. I had a good mom, 353 00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:46,480 Speaker 1: good dad. I mean, they weren't perfect, don't get me wrong. 354 00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:50,960 Speaker 1: I wish I could trace it back to just one 355 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:55,120 Speaker 1: traumatic event. I think that would be easier, not enough. 356 00:25:56,119 --> 00:25:59,840 Speaker 1: Where that thought come from. I'm not sure where it 357 00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:06,080 Speaker 1: came from, but I know where it takes me. And 358 00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:09,200 Speaker 1: when I look back on the seasons of my life 359 00:26:09,359 --> 00:26:15,359 Speaker 1: that I was so deep in depression. Oh yeah, and 360 00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:19,439 Speaker 1: I know the Bible verses. Yeah, I know better than you. 361 00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:24,280 Speaker 1: Let's have a quote in contests, Rejoice in the Lord always. 362 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:28,439 Speaker 1: I will say it again, rejoice see my hand motions. 363 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:31,160 Speaker 1: I know the verse rejoicing the Lord Always. And then 364 00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:34,439 Speaker 1: Paul says, I will say it again, rejoice. Well, you 365 00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:37,160 Speaker 1: can say it as many times as you want to. Paul. 366 00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:40,760 Speaker 1: I'm sad right now and I can't find my way out, 367 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:44,000 Speaker 1: and so now I'm fighting on the level of my feelings. 368 00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:56,879 Speaker 1: But watch this before it became a feeling. And look, 369 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:02,439 Speaker 1: even Paul, it wasn't just like Moses was a bad leader. 370 00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:07,920 Speaker 1: Even Paul had to fight against opposing voices and thought 371 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:11,840 Speaker 1: systems that undermine the essence of the grace of God. 372 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:15,400 Speaker 1: In the gospel, even in the churches that he started, 373 00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:18,919 Speaker 1: even in the church at Corinth he would write to 374 00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:22,359 Speaker 1: that church, and what would happen to them was they 375 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:26,280 Speaker 1: would they would be led astray or the word he 376 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:30,680 Speaker 1: likes to use in Second Corinthians is deceived. He says, 377 00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:34,720 Speaker 1: I fear that you're being deceived by the power of suggestion. 378 00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:39,560 Speaker 1: He uses the example he says, like Eve was deceived 379 00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:43,320 Speaker 1: by the serpent. You remember that story when God said 380 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:46,560 Speaker 1: you can eat any of this, And then she caught 381 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:49,840 Speaker 1: a thought from a snake. She allows something that was 382 00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:57,320 Speaker 1: beneath her to speak to her, and she caught a thought. See, 383 00:27:57,320 --> 00:27:59,199 Speaker 1: I never had a snake slither up to me and 384 00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:02,560 Speaker 1: talk to me. I wish I did. I wish it 385 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:04,440 Speaker 1: was a snake that I could chop the head off 386 00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:06,920 Speaker 1: of it. It's a thought, and I have to live 387 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:09,159 Speaker 1: with this and I have to deal with it. And 388 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:12,320 Speaker 1: the serpent said to Eve, did God really say you 389 00:28:12,359 --> 00:28:16,479 Speaker 1: see it? He introduces a doubt into the possibility and 390 00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:22,240 Speaker 1: potential of faith, causing her to focus on what is 391 00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:26,200 Speaker 1: not available rather than what is. And Paul says, I'm 392 00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:33,120 Speaker 1: afraid that you will be deceived because there's these there's 393 00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:36,800 Speaker 1: these spies in the church at Corinth, and there they're 394 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:42,000 Speaker 1: leading the Christians astray. They're doing it by the power 395 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:44,600 Speaker 1: of thought. They are introducing the thought into the Church 396 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:48,200 Speaker 1: that you need something other than Christ to justify you. 397 00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:53,000 Speaker 1: He says, I fear that you have been led astray 398 00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:58,480 Speaker 1: from your pure devotion to Christ. And pure is the 399 00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:02,680 Speaker 1: right word. That's the important word. Pure. It's that uncontaminated 400 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:06,600 Speaker 1: place that you access occasionally where you know that God's 401 00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:08,480 Speaker 1: got you and everything is going to be all right. 402 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:11,600 Speaker 1: You ever just felt that, and you had no reason to, 403 00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:13,320 Speaker 1: and you didn't even have the facts to back it up. 404 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:17,760 Speaker 1: You ever just felt that, Like Wow, I just feel 405 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:20,080 Speaker 1: like I feel like I'm gonna make it and God's 406 00:29:20,120 --> 00:29:22,200 Speaker 1: gonna do it. And I just feel and I can't 407 00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:24,400 Speaker 1: even prove it on a flow chart or anything like that, 408 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:33,560 Speaker 1: but I just What happens is the enemy deceives you. 409 00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:36,720 Speaker 1: He can't take what God gave you. You know that, right. 410 00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:39,760 Speaker 1: I need to make sure you know that he can't 411 00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:43,120 Speaker 1: take what God gave you. But if he can get 412 00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:46,560 Speaker 1: you to catch a thought that opposes it, he can 413 00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:49,760 Speaker 1: keep you so weak that you will not walk into it. 414 00:29:56,960 --> 00:29:58,880 Speaker 1: And this is what he says to the church at 415 00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:03,760 Speaker 1: Corinth because they got spies running around introducing lies to 416 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:08,640 Speaker 1: the church. They got thoughts that oppose the knowledge of God. 417 00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:11,800 Speaker 1: In fact, that's how he phrases it in tewod Corinthians ten, 418 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:15,240 Speaker 1: verse four. He says, the weapons we fight with are 419 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:19,360 Speaker 1: not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they 420 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:25,720 Speaker 1: have divine power to demolish strongholds. What's a stronghold in 421 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:29,280 Speaker 1: military terms is a place that you go to seek refuge, 422 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:32,920 Speaker 1: a stronghold where you set up to do a battle 423 00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:36,480 Speaker 1: where the enemy can't get to you, or it can 424 00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:44,840 Speaker 1: become a place where the enemy traps you in. He says, 425 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:50,560 Speaker 1: what happens in a physical battle can happen mentally, spiritually, 426 00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:55,480 Speaker 1: emotionally to any one of us at any time. See, 427 00:30:55,520 --> 00:31:00,000 Speaker 1: because it is with the thought that I can experience God. 428 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:03,160 Speaker 1: Can catch a thought of Jesus and his grace for me, 429 00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:06,200 Speaker 1: and his love for me, and his mercy towards me, 430 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:10,120 Speaker 1: and that thought can move me to worship Him in 431 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:14,600 Speaker 1: the beauty of holiness, in the splendor of his magnificence. 432 00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:17,560 Speaker 1: In fact, I want to say this, one thought of 433 00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:22,000 Speaker 1: Jesus can lift you above any wave of worrying, one 434 00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:26,280 Speaker 1: thought of Jesus. Have you been having trouble breathing this week? 435 00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:29,320 Speaker 1: Get a thought on your mind of the goodness of God. 436 00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:32,760 Speaker 1: You see that battle he brought you through, You see 437 00:31:32,760 --> 00:31:35,800 Speaker 1: that way He made for you? And just one thought 438 00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:39,280 Speaker 1: of Jesus, how many no one thought can lift me 439 00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:50,360 Speaker 1: out of the pit one thought, But a stronghold can 440 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:57,080 Speaker 1: also Ensnare you a thought I'm not enough? A thought 441 00:31:57,840 --> 00:32:00,240 Speaker 1: I wonder what they're thinking about me right now. Not 442 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:08,280 Speaker 1: but that thought, that thought, this isn't gonna end well, 443 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:12,880 Speaker 1: that thought, I'm not what they think I am. Here's 444 00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:15,640 Speaker 1: one of my here's one of my strungolds. If they 445 00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:22,600 Speaker 1: really knew you, they wouldn't like you, if they really knew, 446 00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:31,640 Speaker 1: because all of us are bluffing. All of us are 447 00:32:31,760 --> 00:32:35,360 Speaker 1: faking it. All your little cool friends are faking it. 448 00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:38,920 Speaker 1: They all got acne, they all got his shoes, They 449 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:42,360 Speaker 1: all feel lonely, and none of y'all are cool. Everybody's 450 00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:46,800 Speaker 1: faking it, God expense, if your shoes are you ain't perfect. 451 00:32:55,080 --> 00:32:57,880 Speaker 1: But Paul, they were coming into the church like, oh, 452 00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:02,320 Speaker 1: he's an impostor he's not a real one. They were 453 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:05,800 Speaker 1: introducing a thought to rob them. You know, the devil 454 00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:09,680 Speaker 1: is a thief. Right, he can't take your promise, so 455 00:33:09,840 --> 00:33:13,400 Speaker 1: now he wants to steal your thoughts. Bob was reading 456 00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:15,240 Speaker 1: something in Proverbs. Can I show you this real quick? 457 00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:17,480 Speaker 1: I didn't get to show him last night. In Proverbs, 458 00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:21,400 Speaker 1: Chapter six, verse thirty, it says people do not despise 459 00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:24,160 Speaker 1: a thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger when 460 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:27,160 Speaker 1: he's starving. A thief is just a thief. You know, 461 00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:29,760 Speaker 1: the enemy is a thief. You can't blame him for 462 00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:32,040 Speaker 1: trying to steal what he doesn't want you to have. 463 00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:34,760 Speaker 1: But check the next verse. I love this verse thirty one. 464 00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:41,560 Speaker 1: Yet if he is caught. Yet, if he is caught, 465 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:46,880 Speaker 1: he must pay seven full. So today we came into 466 00:33:46,960 --> 00:33:51,040 Speaker 1: this service to catch a thief and to let him know. 467 00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:54,600 Speaker 1: Give me my joy back, give me my peace back, 468 00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:57,720 Speaker 1: give me my wisdom back, give me the joy of 469 00:33:57,760 --> 00:34:06,720 Speaker 1: my salvation, restore seven fall ik of thought. I kind 470 00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:10,879 Speaker 1: of thought, I realize that he loves me, and if 471 00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:13,680 Speaker 1: he loves me, it doesn't matter if you like me. 472 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:17,000 Speaker 1: I kind of thought. I'm bold about it. I'm form 473 00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:20,120 Speaker 1: for it, I'm made for it. I'm called to it. 474 00:34:24,640 --> 00:34:28,640 Speaker 1: I believe I'll walk right forward into my future holding 475 00:34:28,719 --> 00:34:31,480 Speaker 1: on to a thought of the favor of God. Some 476 00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:34,560 Speaker 1: of y'all need to catch this. Come on, catch this favor, 477 00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:39,160 Speaker 1: catch this word, catch this joy, catch this peace. You've 478 00:34:39,200 --> 00:34:41,960 Speaker 1: been hanging around Facebook, but you came in here for 479 00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:45,640 Speaker 1: some faith today, didn't you. Well? Catch this. God is 480 00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:49,279 Speaker 1: for you. He's more than the world against you. Kick 481 00:34:49,360 --> 00:34:53,240 Speaker 1: those ten spies out of your hand and listen to Caleb. 482 00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:58,160 Speaker 1: We can, we should, we will. He is I have. 483 00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:09,719 Speaker 1: I am Hi five of them and say, I caught 484 00:35:09,719 --> 00:35:13,640 Speaker 1: a thought. I caught a thought. I caught a thought, 485 00:35:14,360 --> 00:35:17,160 Speaker 1: just like I caught a cold last February. I caught 486 00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:20,880 Speaker 1: a thought. I found out that he is Avil. I 487 00:35:20,960 --> 00:35:23,560 Speaker 1: found out that he who began a good work in 488 00:35:23,719 --> 00:35:27,000 Speaker 1: me will be faithful to complete it. I found out 489 00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:30,000 Speaker 1: he is the bread of life. He is El Sadai, 490 00:35:30,520 --> 00:35:33,600 Speaker 1: He is more than enough. I caught a thought of God. 491 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:42,440 Speaker 1: A thought brought me into depression, and a thought is 492 00:35:42,520 --> 00:35:47,960 Speaker 1: gonna bring me out. When I surveyed the wondrous cross 493 00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:52,080 Speaker 1: on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain 494 00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:55,960 Speaker 1: I count but loss and poor contempt on all my pride. 495 00:35:56,120 --> 00:36:00,759 Speaker 1: What's he saying. I caught a thought the goodness of God, 496 00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:05,080 Speaker 1: and it lifted me out of the pit of my despair. 497 00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:11,680 Speaker 1: You can't keep the thought from coming. But what's what 498 00:36:11,719 --> 00:36:16,440 Speaker 1: Paul said? He said, we demolish strongholds. How do we 499 00:36:16,560 --> 00:36:21,880 Speaker 1: destroy it? Verse five is important? He said, we demolish 500 00:36:22,560 --> 00:36:29,239 Speaker 1: every spy that says we can't and every pretension that 501 00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:33,319 Speaker 1: sets itself up against the knowledge of God. How many 502 00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:35,560 Speaker 1: know something about God that is deeper than a feeling. 503 00:36:35,920 --> 00:36:37,800 Speaker 1: I mean, you've known it since you were a child. 504 00:36:37,960 --> 00:36:40,160 Speaker 1: You've known it in your soul, You've known it in 505 00:36:40,200 --> 00:36:47,000 Speaker 1: your spirit. Deep calls to deep. So when I have 506 00:36:47,120 --> 00:36:54,720 Speaker 1: a thought that opposes what I know about God, What're 507 00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:56,720 Speaker 1: you gonna do about it? I can't keep it from coming. 508 00:36:57,960 --> 00:37:05,719 Speaker 1: But he said, we take different every thought to make 509 00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:16,919 Speaker 1: it obey Christ. And so when they say you seem 510 00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:20,879 Speaker 1: different this week, you don't look so stressed this week, 511 00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:26,880 Speaker 1: tell them, oh, yeah, it's craziest thing. I caught a thought. 512 00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:34,880 Speaker 1: It was about this big I found out God is 513 00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:42,480 Speaker 1: about this. I caught a thought of his greatness. I 514 00:37:42,680 --> 00:37:47,040 Speaker 1: magnified him in my mind. I began to rejoice in 515 00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:55,280 Speaker 1: the rock of my salvation. This I recall to my mind. 516 00:37:56,480 --> 00:38:01,640 Speaker 1: Therefore I have hope. I caught a thought and it 517 00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:07,799 Speaker 1: led me to a hope. Now, the thought that you 518 00:38:07,880 --> 00:38:11,480 Speaker 1: hold on to the one that you allowed to dominate, 519 00:38:12,560 --> 00:38:16,600 Speaker 1: that will be the stronghold of your life. If the 520 00:38:16,640 --> 00:38:20,759 Speaker 1: Lord is your stronghold, if he is the place where 521 00:38:20,760 --> 00:38:25,600 Speaker 1: you hide, if you catch a thought, a glimpse of 522 00:38:25,640 --> 00:38:30,719 Speaker 1: your calling. Okay, here it is. There was a woman 523 00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:36,160 Speaker 1: who was bleeding on the inside. She heard Jesus coming 524 00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:40,640 Speaker 1: through her part of town. She had done everything to 525 00:38:40,680 --> 00:38:45,640 Speaker 1: fix it at the level of the symptom, but nothing worked. 526 00:38:46,640 --> 00:38:50,920 Speaker 1: The condition that she had was a deep one. It 527 00:38:50,960 --> 00:38:55,160 Speaker 1: was causing her to hemorrhage and lose blood, just like 528 00:38:55,280 --> 00:39:00,440 Speaker 1: many of us are hemorrhaging emotionally and losing energy and 529 00:39:00,480 --> 00:39:06,319 Speaker 1: losing hope. When she heard Jesus passing through, her desperation 530 00:39:06,480 --> 00:39:09,680 Speaker 1: for a change caused her to do something dramatic in 531 00:39:09,719 --> 00:39:13,520 Speaker 1: her life because she had gotten a second opinion, and 532 00:39:13,600 --> 00:39:16,279 Speaker 1: a third opinion, in a fourth opinion, and none of 533 00:39:16,320 --> 00:39:21,400 Speaker 1: that word. But here comes healing and here comes hope. 534 00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:26,439 Speaker 1: And the Bible says that she did what she had 535 00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:29,839 Speaker 1: to do to get through all of the people who 536 00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:35,160 Speaker 1: could have blocked her, and to grab a hole to 537 00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:38,480 Speaker 1: catch Jesus as he was passing by to heal somebody else. 538 00:39:39,560 --> 00:39:45,439 Speaker 1: And he's moving quickly, and Peter's backing everybody away. Don't 539 00:39:45,480 --> 00:39:49,439 Speaker 1: touch him. He's in a hurry. But she reaches out, 540 00:39:51,400 --> 00:39:55,480 Speaker 1: and the Bible says that she is this verse thirty seven. Yes, 541 00:39:56,200 --> 00:40:01,720 Speaker 1: she touched his cloak. She caught him. She caught his cloak. 542 00:40:03,680 --> 00:40:08,480 Speaker 1: She caught what could hear her? She caught a flow, 543 00:40:09,680 --> 00:40:15,000 Speaker 1: she caught a miracle, she caught a change verse thirty 544 00:40:15,040 --> 00:40:37,920 Speaker 1: eight because she thought before I caught the answer. I 545 00:40:37,960 --> 00:40:43,879 Speaker 1: caught a thought. Yeah, before I caught forgiveness. I caught 546 00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:48,400 Speaker 1: a thought before I caught bitterness. I caught a thought. 547 00:40:51,440 --> 00:40:55,280 Speaker 1: If I can catch a thought, I can catch his cloak. 548 00:40:56,560 --> 00:41:00,000 Speaker 1: And if I can touch him, he can make me well. 549 00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:07,040 Speaker 1: With everyone standing and your hands lifted to heaven like 550 00:41:07,080 --> 00:41:11,200 Speaker 1: you need to catch what Heaven has today, I declare 551 00:41:11,360 --> 00:41:19,480 Speaker 1: over your life that faith and favor are flowing from 552 00:41:19,520 --> 00:41:22,480 Speaker 1: the person of Jesus in the form of the Holy 553 00:41:22,520 --> 00:41:27,040 Speaker 1: Spirit in this moment, across every location and our epam 554 00:41:27,320 --> 00:41:33,440 Speaker 1: around the world. Catch this. You've been holding on to 555 00:41:33,560 --> 00:41:38,279 Speaker 1: thoughts of low self worth and low self esteem, all 556 00:41:38,400 --> 00:41:41,200 Speaker 1: to lead you to this moment in the presence of Jesus, 557 00:41:41,440 --> 00:41:45,200 Speaker 1: that if you can catch a thought, the woman was 558 00:41:45,239 --> 00:41:49,080 Speaker 1: made well because she touched his cloak. She touched his 559 00:41:49,120 --> 00:41:53,000 Speaker 1: cloak because she caught a thought. And there are great 560 00:41:53,040 --> 00:41:56,319 Speaker 1: opportunities for love and for joy, and for peace and 561 00:41:56,360 --> 00:42:02,360 Speaker 1: for provision. There is a great calling assignment on your life. 562 00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:07,920 Speaker 1: My sister. There is a tremendous promise in front of you. 563 00:42:08,320 --> 00:42:13,040 Speaker 1: And there's Caleb saying you should you can, And there's 564 00:42:13,080 --> 00:42:17,000 Speaker 1: ten other spies saying you can. And I don't care 565 00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:19,960 Speaker 1: if you're out number ten to two. If you will 566 00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:23,400 Speaker 1: follow Caleb into Canaan, you can eat the fruit of 567 00:42:23,440 --> 00:42:26,680 Speaker 1: the land. You can experience the joy of the Lord, 568 00:42:26,960 --> 00:42:30,400 Speaker 1: if you can catch this thought. This I recall to 569 00:42:30,560 --> 00:42:33,400 Speaker 1: my mind. I caught a thought, and it lifted me 570 00:42:33,480 --> 00:42:36,560 Speaker 1: from my despair. I caught a thought and it lifted 571 00:42:36,560 --> 00:42:39,520 Speaker 1: me from my addiction. I caught a thought of Jesus, 572 00:42:39,719 --> 00:42:42,479 Speaker 1: and it lifted me from my shame. And I begin 573 00:42:42,600 --> 00:42:47,080 Speaker 1: to rejoice and worship him with gladness because I caught 574 00:42:49,040 --> 00:42:58,640 Speaker 1: a thought. A victory for the battle belongs to the Lord. 575 00:42:59,600 --> 00:43:03,920 Speaker 1: He is my stronghold. He is the strength of my life, 576 00:43:04,840 --> 00:43:08,000 Speaker 1: and I will not be put to shame, for the 577 00:43:08,239 --> 00:43:12,080 Speaker 1: joy of the Lord is my strength. Come on, catch 578 00:43:12,120 --> 00:43:16,880 Speaker 1: this victory, catch this wind. Lift your sails and catch 579 00:43:16,960 --> 00:43:20,080 Speaker 1: this victory. Catch this wind. Sing it over the people, 580 00:43:20,280 --> 00:43:22,600 Speaker 1: Chris till they catch it. I'm gonna see it in 581 00:43:22,640 --> 00:43:25,480 Speaker 1: the land of the Living. I'm gonna see the goodness 582 00:43:25,600 --> 00:43:32,000 Speaker 1: of God. I'm gonna sing it. I'm gonna see till 583 00:43:32,040 --> 00:43:38,400 Speaker 1: I see it. I'm gonna see Tixie. Come on, touches God, 584 00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:47,040 Speaker 1: touch his resens touch his healing touch as I'm gonna 585 00:43:47,080 --> 00:43:52,640 Speaker 1: see you fixy for come on, you can catch them. 586 00:43:54,120 --> 00:44:02,520 Speaker 1: It's an importation. I'm gonna see your fixy. Thank you 587 00:44:02,560 --> 00:44:05,000 Speaker 1: for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who 588 00:44:05,080 --> 00:44:08,080 Speaker 1: give generously to this ministry. Is because of you that 589 00:44:08,160 --> 00:44:11,040 Speaker 1: this ministry is possible. You can click the link in 590 00:44:11,080 --> 00:44:15,200 Speaker 1: the description to give now, or visit Elevationchurch dot org 591 00:44:15,239 --> 00:44:18,920 Speaker 1: slash podcast for more information and if you enjoyed the podcast, 592 00:44:19,239 --> 00:44:21,920 Speaker 1: you can subscribe. You can share it with your friends. 593 00:44:22,239 --> 00:44:24,520 Speaker 1: You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 594 00:44:24,560 --> 00:44:26,680 Speaker 1: share it on your social stories and tag us at 595 00:44:26,680 --> 00:44:34,279 Speaker 1: Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening, God bless you.