WEBVTT - I Caught A Thought 0:00:02.000 --> 0:00:04.560 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:07.040 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:10.400 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:12.440 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.480 --> 0:00:17.239 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.960 --> 0:00:25.360 You ready? You sure? Ready for the work? My good 0:00:25.400 --> 0:00:37.080 catch y'all. Don't have confidence in me. You got nervous? Ready? 0:00:37.479 --> 0:00:52.040 You ready? Josh better stick with the front row. It's 0:00:52.040 --> 0:01:01.960 a very retigious society. Ready now, just like she did, 0:01:04.560 --> 0:01:10.080 we're about to do around the audience response to my 0:01:10.840 --> 0:01:17.960 best premium ministry. My brother look at somebody next to 0:01:18.000 --> 0:01:28.440 you and say, I caught a thought. I caught a thought. 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:43.720 Chunks you ready, let's see caught it? Sorry about that, 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:51.280 Collie caught something. By the way. This guy who just 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:53.920 threw me the Bible, it's like my best friend in 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:57.280 the world. But he's the worst. He's always blaming people 0:01:57.320 --> 0:02:02.160 when he gets sick. He's always trying to track back 0:02:02.200 --> 0:02:07.160 to who had a running nose four months ago, blaming 0:02:07.200 --> 0:02:13.359 it on my kids. You know soon, So you came 0:02:13.400 --> 0:02:15.200 back from the mission trip. I think I caught it 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:18.640 from them it was food poisoning. You can't catch food poisoning. 0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:20.520 Why are you trying to blame the missionary because you've 0:02:20.520 --> 0:02:25.760 got a stomach virus. He's magnum pi trying to investigate. 0:02:26.200 --> 0:02:28.360 It's a pop culture reference for the young people, very 0:02:28.440 --> 0:02:34.799 relevant and current. I caught it. Look at somebody and say, 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:39.360 I caught a thought. Let me ask you something. Is 0:02:39.400 --> 0:02:48.440 it possible to catch an attitude? You got anybody just 0:02:48.480 --> 0:02:55.520 when you see their name on your phone. Y'all responding 0:02:55.560 --> 0:02:57.320 a little too much to this, you might be giving 0:02:57.360 --> 0:03:06.799 yourself away. I caught a thought? Can you catch Can 0:03:06.840 --> 0:03:15.520 you catch faith? Can you catch fear? Can you catch 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:19.079 an idea? Can you catch a dream? Can you catch 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:24.000 a vision? Can you catch a word from God that 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:27.720 will cause you to worship from a deep place past 0:03:27.800 --> 0:03:33.400 the shallows of feelings and emotions? You're here today because 0:03:33.480 --> 0:03:37.960 you caught a thought. You thought you should come to church. 0:03:39.000 --> 0:03:42.960 You caught a ride and you came. But before you 0:03:43.040 --> 0:03:45.640 caught a ride, you caught a thought I should go 0:03:45.680 --> 0:03:49.080 to church. And because you caught a thought, you're about 0:03:49.120 --> 0:03:56.080 to look at twelve people. Ready, That's how we aught too. 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:03.040 I caught a thought. Now, I'm demonstrating this physically, but 0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:06.080 I'm want to demonstrate it scripturally. Go in your Bible 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:10.080 to Numbers, chapter thirteen, and I want to look at 0:04:10.120 --> 0:04:14.400 a passage of scripture that has been really helpful to 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:19.080 me so many times through the years when I am 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:24.080 caught between two thoughts, and when one thought says you 0:04:24.120 --> 0:04:29.240 should and you can, and one thought says you can't, 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:34.240 so don't try. This passage has often helped my perspective. 0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:41.680 And it's a familiar story for anybody who knows about 0:04:42.800 --> 0:04:45.880 Father Abraham had many sons, and many sons had Father Abraham. 0:04:45.880 --> 0:04:47.080 I am one of them, and so are you. So 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:50.159 let's just praise the Lord. That Bible school stuff. It 0:04:50.240 --> 0:04:54.240 works in grown up life too, because the children of 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:56.880 Abraham are of course coming into the land that God 0:04:56.920 --> 0:05:00.320 promised them, and in the Book of Numbers, have the 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:05.479 opportunity to receive the gift, but they get more focused 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:09.800 on the giants that oppose them than the gift that 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:13.280 God has given them. And that happens to us all 0:05:13.320 --> 0:05:17.120 the time. So what we see in Numbers, chapter thirteen, 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:19.800 verse thirty. And I'm so excited to show you this, 0:05:19.839 --> 0:05:25.120 I'm having to contain my excitement is that there will 0:05:25.120 --> 0:05:28.960 always be a thought that God will bring you to 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:32.200 deliver you. There will always be a thought that the 0:05:32.360 --> 0:05:36.400 enemy will bring to destroy you. And they're both right 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:39.920 here in numbers Chapter thirteen. Let's study this together. The 0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:43.640 Bible says, then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:45.760 we should go up and take possession of the land, 0:05:46.400 --> 0:05:50.920 for we can certainly do it. But the men who 0:05:50.920 --> 0:05:54.800 had gone up with him said, we can't attack those people. 0:05:55.279 --> 0:06:00.240 They are stronger than we are. And they spread among 0:06:00.320 --> 0:06:06.000 the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. 0:06:06.760 --> 0:06:10.280 They said, the land we explored devours those living in it. 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:14.960 All the people we saw there are of great size. 0:06:15.040 --> 0:06:18.480 We saw the Nephilim there, the descendants of Anak come 0:06:18.520 --> 0:06:23.200 from the Nephilum. We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:27.520 and we looked the same to them. Stop. There was 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:31.800 no conversation between the giants and the spies about who 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:35.440 was bigger. That wasn't what they heard, that was what 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:41.040 they thought. The nation never saw the promised land for themselves. 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:44.920 They relied on the support or the report of the 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:48.440 spies to give them a picture of the promise. Of 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:53.480 God as well as give them a prediction about the outcome. 0:06:54.279 --> 0:06:57.719 And it wasn't because they saw something, It was because 0:06:57.880 --> 0:07:01.480 they heard something. And what they heard was a result 0:07:01.720 --> 0:07:05.719 of something that the spies thought. So when it said 0:07:05.720 --> 0:07:09.840 in the scripture, they spread among the Israelites a bad report, 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:14.440 and that report kept the Israelites from going into the 0:07:14.520 --> 0:07:18.200 land that God had given them. I realized it is 0:07:18.320 --> 0:07:23.120 possible to be stopped not because of your giants, but 0:07:23.280 --> 0:07:29.160 because of your thoughts, not because of something that is 0:07:29.240 --> 0:07:33.080 actually bigger than you, but because of something that you 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:37.040 have made bigger than you on the movie screen of 0:07:37.080 --> 0:07:38.800 your mind. How many of you have an Imax screen 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:41.120 in your mind, and you can blow things up all 0:07:41.240 --> 0:07:46.400 to all different proportions. The whole nation caught a thought 0:07:47.640 --> 0:07:50.640 and it made their faith week. And God had given 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:53.320 them the land, and they could have had the land. 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:57.840 In fact, the land was already theirs. Because the enemy 0:07:57.880 --> 0:08:03.440 can't take away anything that God has given to you. However, 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:09.440 if he can attack your faith through weakening your immune system, 0:08:09.560 --> 0:08:14.400 that faith immune system that is supposed to filter out 0:08:14.840 --> 0:08:19.880 those microscopic germs, those seeds of discontent that will cause 0:08:19.920 --> 0:08:22.680 you to walk away from what God has calling you 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:26.680 to walk into although he can't take it away from you. 0:08:27.520 --> 0:08:31.440 If he can get to your faith, if he can 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:34.720 get to that part of you that believes God and 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:37.280 cause it to be disrupted by something that your eyes 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:41.000 see or your ears. Here, Holy Spirit, help me say 0:08:41.040 --> 0:08:45.000 this the right way. He can't take it. So what 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:47.960 he wants to do is to move you from a 0:08:48.000 --> 0:08:51.880 place of believing that He loves you, called you, qualified you, 0:08:52.080 --> 0:08:55.520 set you apart, put you there to do it. And 0:08:55.600 --> 0:09:00.720 the issue with me is that I experience both thoughts, 0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:06.880 both voices simultaneously. Let me try to break this down. 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:11.880 I got Caleb telling me this is one thought you 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:17.000 should you can, and then I got ten other spies. 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:19.720 You ever noticed how it seems to be more reasons 0:09:19.720 --> 0:09:22.960 why you shouldn't than that you should. You ever felt 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:27.200 outnumbered in your thought life? Yeah? I got ten spies. 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:30.600 Now the spies are going into the land. And the 0:09:30.720 --> 0:09:34.079 number one rule of being a spy is don't get caught, 0:09:35.200 --> 0:09:39.240 right yo with me? Yeah, it's the number one rule 0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:42.240 of being a spy. Whatever you do, sneak in. And 0:09:42.360 --> 0:09:44.960 Joshua told him, or Moses told him. Joshua was one 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:46.760 of the two spies that saw it the right way, 0:09:46.960 --> 0:09:49.280 and he told him. Moses told Joshua and Caleb and 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:51.320 the ten other spies. He said, when you go in there, 0:09:51.720 --> 0:09:55.800 make sure, make sure that they don't see you. Okay, 0:09:56.600 --> 0:09:59.959 But then they got caught. But they didn't get caught 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:07.679 by their enemies. They got caught by their insecurities. I'm 0:10:07.720 --> 0:10:12.720 a preaching to you. They got caught by a thought. 0:10:13.880 --> 0:10:18.680 And the thought was, we're not big enough. The thought 0:10:19.000 --> 0:10:23.480 was we don't have enough. The thought is, we can't 0:10:24.040 --> 0:10:26.959 they're bigger. And so then now all of a sudden, 0:10:27.240 --> 0:10:31.240 they are dominated not by their enemies, but by their thoughts. 0:10:31.800 --> 0:10:34.720 And God said that I was preaching to somebody today 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:39.840 who is caught between two thoughts. One is telling you 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:42.840 that God gave you everything you need to raise that child. 0:10:43.280 --> 0:10:45.240 The other is telling you that you're the one who 0:10:45.320 --> 0:10:48.960 screwed them up. I'm a preaching to your business today. 0:10:49.840 --> 0:10:52.240 One is telling you that it's all right. God can 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:55.800 restore the years that the locusts have eaten. The other 0:10:55.920 --> 0:10:58.760 is telling you you've wasted too much time and now 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:02.480 nothing good can happen in life. So I'm caught between 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:05.760 two thoughts. And on one hand I see the size 0:11:05.800 --> 0:11:08.640 of the grapes. I see the size of the promise, 0:11:09.000 --> 0:11:11.840 and I know the size of my God. On the 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:14.959 other hand, I hear all of the reasons why a great, 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:18.160 big God could not use a little puny person like 0:11:18.280 --> 0:11:22.080 me from Monks Corner, South Carolina, a little puny person 0:11:22.240 --> 0:11:25.120 like me who never did this on this level before. 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:29.000 Even as I preach to you, I'm caught between two thoughts. 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:32.360 She looks like she's never heard a better sermon in 0:11:32.400 --> 0:11:35.320 her life. Somebody up there looks like they hate me 0:11:35.600 --> 0:11:38.120 and are contemplating how they can slip out. And how 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:39.880 did I get stuck in the middle of this row 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:42.240 for this sermon? And why is he yelling like that? 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:45.360 And that shirt is too bright and it hurts my eyes, 0:11:45.559 --> 0:11:47.680 and I just want to get out of here. I'm 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:50.360 a preach to you. I'm a preach to the I'm 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:52.640 a preach to the love in the room. I'm going 0:11:52.679 --> 0:12:07.800 to preach to the faith. You're feeling better, LJ. He 0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:09.920 had to miss last Sunday. It's the first time he's 0:12:09.920 --> 0:12:13.600 missed playing behind me in three years. He's never missed. 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:21.080 But he caught, and he caught a stomach bug and 0:12:21.120 --> 0:12:22.520 I'm not gonna lie to you. This may make me 0:12:22.559 --> 0:12:25.960 a bad pastor. When I saw him Tuesday, I waved 0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:29.679 at him. I didn't wap him up. I don't love 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:35.800 him that much. I'm not going to spend the whole 0:12:35.840 --> 0:12:40.760 week throwing up just to tell you, hello, we can 0:12:40.800 --> 0:12:45.040 do this virtually. I love you, man, praying for you 0:12:45.120 --> 0:12:50.120 from a distance, I'm not getting close enough to catch it. 0:12:51.360 --> 0:13:01.280 M hm. And honestly, this is why I had to 0:13:01.400 --> 0:13:07.880 stop hanging out with some certain people, because I started realizing, 0:13:08.640 --> 0:13:17.760 you catch what you're close to. Now, if you need 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:20.280 to take out your phone at this point in my 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:24.920 sermon and do some surgery with that, swipe left, delete, move. 0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:29.120 Some of y'all don't need to lift your hands to 0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:34.800 have more faith, you need to swipe your thumb because 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:44.480 it is your contacts. I caught something. I catch something 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:50.880 every time I'm around them, every time I scroll. I 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:53.600 noticed this the other day. I get in a certain 0:13:53.640 --> 0:13:57.160 mood and I can't figure out how was I so 0:13:57.280 --> 0:14:02.600 happy three minutes ago? And now have you ever had 0:14:02.640 --> 0:14:06.440 a switch that quick? Yeah? So I started studying it, 0:14:06.440 --> 0:14:10.600 and I realized that before I caught a feeling, I 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:15.000 caught a thought. Now, sometimes that thought is just me 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:20.000 going through my feed and I will see something that 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:22.800 won't register. Now, here's what I noticed. You don't feel 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:27.200 it while you're scrolling. When I ate a whole bag 0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:30.160 of oreos one Thanksgiving after I'd already eaten three meals, 0:14:30.520 --> 0:14:36.080 I didn't feel sick while I was eating them. My 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:40.920 taste buds didn't tell me to stop. So I'm scrolling 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:46.360 and I don't feel sick until after I've stopped. What 0:14:46.480 --> 0:14:49.280 I realized about myself. And maybe you're more spiritually mature 0:14:49.320 --> 0:14:50.880 than me, and you can find a church where the 0:14:50.880 --> 0:14:55.040 pastor is whole, healthy and doesn't have these issues. But 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:58.720 for all of us who understand that, sometimes you are 0:14:58.800 --> 0:15:02.000 mad about something that you saw ten minutes ago on 0:15:02.040 --> 0:15:05.320 your phone because you were in everybody else's life but 0:15:05.440 --> 0:15:09.080 your own, trying to figure out am I better than them? 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:13.080 Are they better than me? And so what happened while 0:15:13.120 --> 0:15:16.360 I was scrolling? I saw them on vacation and I 0:15:16.440 --> 0:15:19.440 know they're in debt. So I caught a thought of judgment. 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:22.360 Why should they be on vacation when I know they're 0:15:22.400 --> 0:15:25.360 in debt? And now I feel sick ten minutes later 0:15:25.720 --> 0:15:28.280 because of the thought that I caught while I scrolled 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:31.520 through somebody else's situation that has nothing to do with 0:15:31.560 --> 0:15:38.120 my responsibility. Y'all gonna help me with this, or am 0:15:38.120 --> 0:15:44.040 I gonna? So what happened to me was I caught 0:15:44.080 --> 0:15:48.160 a thought of offense, and then I reaped an attitude 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:53.600 of frustration. I got offended the other day because I 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:57.080 saw God blessing somebody that he wasn't supposed to bless 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:02.400 Did you ever watch God just do something awesome for 0:16:02.440 --> 0:16:11.920 the wrong person? He didn't consult you? And so I 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:17.600 found myself feeling insecure. The reason that I felt insecure 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:22.640 in myself is because I caught a thought of offense 0:16:22.680 --> 0:16:25.160 about somebody else. Now here's what happens. You become a 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:29.880 victim of your own judgment. When you judge others that way, 0:16:30.080 --> 0:16:33.360 you judge you that way. So when you catch a 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:37.800 thought of judging others, don't be surprised when the judgment 0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:42.880 comes upon you. The less y'all say, amen, the more 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:48.840 I know I'm preaching. So I caught a thought. I 0:16:48.880 --> 0:16:53.480 caught a thought, and I realized that the thought that 0:16:53.560 --> 0:16:56.960 I hold on to the thought that I you know, 0:16:57.040 --> 0:16:59.880 like you can catch a wave, you could catch a 0:16:59.880 --> 0:17:03.920 football for the game winning touchdown like Graham Fredick did yesterday, 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:11.280 just this very yesterday. But I never knew I could 0:17:11.320 --> 0:17:14.520 catch a thought. I knew you could catch a case. 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:21.280 I had some relatives that did it. I knew you 0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:24.560 could catch a cold. But I found out you could 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:29.600 catch a thought. And then I trace sometimes the weakness 0:17:30.440 --> 0:17:34.679 of my faith, and I ask myself the question, where 0:17:34.680 --> 0:17:39.919 did that thought come from? And it's important where it 0:17:39.960 --> 0:17:44.960 came from, because where it comes from determines where it 0:17:45.040 --> 0:17:50.680 leads to. My issue is that when I say I 0:17:50.720 --> 0:17:54.920 hear from God, I don't hear him out loud. God 0:17:54.960 --> 0:17:58.320 bless you if you do. I've never heard the audible 0:17:58.400 --> 0:18:03.000 voice of God. I mean, he speaks through my wife 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:07.280 all the time. But other than that exception, I've never 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:10.600 heard the audible voice of God. If you have, I'm 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:12.800 not mad at you unless you start trying to use 0:18:12.840 --> 0:18:15.640 it to manipulate people by making up stuff that God 0:18:15.680 --> 0:18:17.560 told you, because God has three way calling and he 0:18:17.600 --> 0:18:19.680 can tell us both. So don't tell me God spoke 0:18:19.720 --> 0:18:21.240 to you something that I'm not in agreement with and 0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:22.520 try to get me to do something you want to 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:24.399 do by saying God told you to, especially if you 0:18:24.400 --> 0:18:26.000 say God told you to quit your job because you're 0:18:26.000 --> 0:18:27.879 just tired of dealing with frustrating people. I don't know 0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:29.320 if that's God or if you're just tired. Need to 0:18:29.320 --> 0:18:30.760 get some sleep, and I have better attitude when you 0:18:30.760 --> 0:18:35.679 show up. I've never heard from God out loud. So 0:18:37.480 --> 0:18:39.720 one guy asked me one time. He was like, when 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:41.919 you say God spoke to you, how do you know? 0:18:42.920 --> 0:18:47.560 Great question, because I don't hear God at an auditory level, 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:51.320 So when I say God spoke, that can be misleading. 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:57.199 You know. When Peter said Jesus spoke to me, it 0:18:57.320 --> 0:19:01.960 was literal. Jesus was a person. He spoke to me. 0:19:02.600 --> 0:19:05.800 I was fishing one night. I hadn't caught anything. I 0:19:05.880 --> 0:19:09.720 was frustrated, and Jesus said, let down your nets in 0:19:09.800 --> 0:19:13.080 the deep for a catch. And Peter would say, at first, 0:19:13.160 --> 0:19:16.560 I was frustrated because I thought you're a carpenter. I'm 0:19:16.600 --> 0:19:20.040 a fisherman. You do your job, I'll do mine. You 0:19:20.080 --> 0:19:22.320 wanted my vote to preach from. I didn't know you 0:19:22.359 --> 0:19:24.800 were going to try to drive it. But watch this, 0:19:25.400 --> 0:19:30.320 because you say so, I will let down the nets. Now, 0:19:30.560 --> 0:19:33.520 when he let down the nets, he caught a great 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:37.320 number of fish. But God was showing me that before 0:19:37.400 --> 0:19:46.200 he caught the fish, he caught you. Like this church, 0:19:47.760 --> 0:19:53.320 before there was a seat, there was a thought. Now 0:19:53.359 --> 0:19:57.879 see the issue with this is I don't hear God 0:19:58.040 --> 0:20:02.040 out loud like that, and so I connect with God 0:20:02.200 --> 0:20:06.440 not at an auditory or sensory level. I connect with 0:20:06.560 --> 0:20:10.000 God at the level of thought. Which would be fine 0:20:10.680 --> 0:20:12.760 if God spoke to me at the level of thought, 0:20:12.840 --> 0:20:16.320 and he was the only one who spoke that way. 0:20:17.480 --> 0:20:21.959 But I got this other joker. They call him the devil. 0:20:21.960 --> 0:20:24.119 But when I say the devil tempts me or the 0:20:24.119 --> 0:20:27.879 devil discourages me, I'm not talking about a guy in 0:20:27.920 --> 0:20:30.720 a Halloween costume that he got on clearance at Target, 0:20:30.960 --> 0:20:34.160 walking up with a pitchfork and a cape and some horns. 0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:36.320 I never saw the devil like that. I just put 0:20:36.400 --> 0:20:39.480 him off my shoulder. He's not on my shoulder when 0:20:39.480 --> 0:20:43.159 he comes to me. He comes to me through a thought. 0:20:44.520 --> 0:20:47.840 So now I got God speaking to me through my thoughts. 0:20:48.960 --> 0:20:52.000 I've got the enemy trying to speak against what God 0:20:52.080 --> 0:20:56.440 spoke to me through my thoughts. I got two voices 0:20:56.640 --> 0:21:01.160 on the same device, and I'm caught between a thought. 0:21:02.320 --> 0:21:05.480 One is telling me your greatest years are ahead of you. 0:21:06.240 --> 0:21:08.680 One is telling me you've already done all the good 0:21:08.680 --> 0:21:11.359 things you're gonna do. You better write it out because 0:21:11.359 --> 0:21:14.119 it won't be much longer. One is telling me go 0:21:14.160 --> 0:21:16.680 ahead and speak it and say it and do it 0:21:16.800 --> 0:21:19.240 and step into it and believe for it. And the 0:21:19.280 --> 0:21:20.960 other one is telling me, well, you better not go 0:21:21.040 --> 0:21:22.920 too far out there. You know, if you go too 0:21:22.920 --> 0:21:25.560 far out there, you be embarrassed. And after off you 0:21:25.600 --> 0:21:28.600 climb high, they can pull you down. And I'm caught 0:21:35.920 --> 0:21:42.520 between Caleb we Can and the other spies. I'm caught 0:21:45.359 --> 0:21:53.439 caught got a thought. I got caught. I got caught 0:21:53.480 --> 0:21:58.040 by a thought. I don't know how it happened, but y'all, 0:21:59.119 --> 0:22:02.320 I got this thought that goes through my mind all 0:22:02.359 --> 0:22:08.520 the time that says it doesn't matter, just all the time. 0:22:09.760 --> 0:22:13.720 I could be doing anything and it'll be like it's 0:22:13.760 --> 0:22:18.600 Almo the way the thought you know that eye roll 0:22:18.640 --> 0:22:22.560 emoji that you yeah, that's that would be the face 0:22:22.600 --> 0:22:25.720 of it. But the thought behind it is like, you know, 0:22:26.119 --> 0:22:32.200 who cares doesn't matter? You ever had that thought catch 0:22:32.240 --> 0:22:37.000 you trying to do something? Mm hmm, Raise your hand again. 0:22:37.000 --> 0:22:40.040 If you've ever had that thought, why did y'all raise 0:22:40.119 --> 0:22:43.399 y'all saying so much higher? The second time I asked her, 0:22:47.080 --> 0:22:53.119 oh oh, oh, you're not enough. I don't know if 0:22:53.160 --> 0:22:56.640 you say it exactly like that, but it's crazy how 0:22:56.640 --> 0:22:59.520 many people I talked to. And I used to think 0:22:59.520 --> 0:23:01.440 it was deep who didn't have a lot of confidence, 0:23:02.680 --> 0:23:07.760 But then I realized professional athletes have this thought that 0:23:07.880 --> 0:23:13.840 I'm not enough. They are the ones who are society worships, 0:23:15.400 --> 0:23:18.520 and still there's a thought. It's a thought that's going around. 0:23:18.760 --> 0:23:21.200 The reason is going around so much more now than 0:23:21.200 --> 0:23:24.120 it used to go around is because now we don't 0:23:24.200 --> 0:23:28.160 judge ourselves or measure ourselves according to the calling God 0:23:28.200 --> 0:23:34.480 has given us. We compare ourselves to a fictionalized account 0:23:34.840 --> 0:23:39.040 of somebody else's life. That's where you always get in trouble. Now, 0:23:39.080 --> 0:23:41.840 get this point. You always get in trouble when you 0:23:41.880 --> 0:23:46.800 start comparing your calling to somebody else's because when you 0:23:46.880 --> 0:23:52.679 compare callings, you catch insecurity. When you compare callings, you 0:23:52.760 --> 0:23:56.840 catch in sufficiency. When I think I'm not enough, you 0:23:56.880 --> 0:24:00.880 know I'm not enough. Even the disciples, you know it's 0:24:00.920 --> 0:24:03.320 not enough food to go around Jesus, you need to 0:24:03.359 --> 0:24:06.800 send them away. How many times have I sent away 0:24:07.160 --> 0:24:11.160 something that God put in my life because I caught 0:24:11.200 --> 0:24:17.600 a thought that I'm not enough. They wandered around and 0:24:17.720 --> 0:24:22.720 around and around in the wilderness for forty years, not 0:24:22.920 --> 0:24:29.399 because of their enemy, but because of their thought. And 0:24:29.440 --> 0:24:33.000 then even sometimes when things are going good, I got 0:24:33.000 --> 0:24:36.520 this thought. I don't know where it comes from. I 0:24:36.520 --> 0:24:40.080 don't think it's God. I don't think it is. Sorry 0:24:40.119 --> 0:24:45.560 to tell sometimes because it's not like he talks like this. 0:24:47.359 --> 0:24:48.919 I don't even know what that was. I'm glad he 0:24:48.920 --> 0:24:50.920 didn't talk like that. That was super weird. Yes, So, 0:24:51.119 --> 0:24:56.359 like Morgan Freeman, it's just a thought. Come on, if 0:24:56.400 --> 0:25:01.520 God sounded like Morgan Freeman, you could do it. If 0:25:01.520 --> 0:25:03.919 you narrated your life like that, you could do it. 0:25:03.960 --> 0:25:06.159 You could make it. You would go to sleep and 0:25:06.240 --> 0:25:10.320 wake up and just be ready for the day. But 0:25:10.400 --> 0:25:14.400 it comes like a thought. You know, even when it's 0:25:14.400 --> 0:25:21.760 going good, it won't last. They'll leave you too. You 0:25:21.800 --> 0:25:27.439 can't count on them. Then you sabotage the gift because 0:25:27.440 --> 0:25:31.280 you're not securing it, because even while it's happening, you 0:25:31.320 --> 0:25:39.400 don't believe this real. This is my thoughts. I don't 0:25:39.400 --> 0:25:42.840 know where I caught them. I had a good mom, 0:25:43.040 --> 0:25:46.480 good dad. I mean, they weren't perfect, don't get me wrong. 0:25:48.880 --> 0:25:50.960 I wish I could trace it back to just one 0:25:51.000 --> 0:25:55.120 traumatic event. I think that would be easier, not enough. 0:25:56.119 --> 0:25:59.840 Where that thought come from. I'm not sure where it 0:25:59.840 --> 0:26:06.080 came from, but I know where it takes me. And 0:26:06.119 --> 0:26:09.200 when I look back on the seasons of my life 0:26:09.359 --> 0:26:15.359 that I was so deep in depression. Oh yeah, and 0:26:15.400 --> 0:26:19.439 I know the Bible verses. Yeah, I know better than you. 0:26:20.480 --> 0:26:24.280 Let's have a quote in contests, Rejoice in the Lord always. 0:26:24.880 --> 0:26:28.439 I will say it again, rejoice see my hand motions. 0:26:28.440 --> 0:26:31.160 I know the verse rejoicing the Lord Always. And then 0:26:31.160 --> 0:26:34.439 Paul says, I will say it again, rejoice. Well, you 0:26:34.480 --> 0:26:37.160 can say it as many times as you want to. Paul. 0:26:37.560 --> 0:26:40.760 I'm sad right now and I can't find my way out, 0:26:41.040 --> 0:26:44.000 and so now I'm fighting on the level of my feelings. 0:26:44.080 --> 0:26:56.879 But watch this before it became a feeling. And look, 0:26:58.640 --> 0:27:02.439 even Paul, it wasn't just like Moses was a bad leader. 0:27:02.920 --> 0:27:07.920 Even Paul had to fight against opposing voices and thought 0:27:08.000 --> 0:27:11.840 systems that undermine the essence of the grace of God. 0:27:11.840 --> 0:27:15.400 In the gospel, even in the churches that he started, 0:27:15.960 --> 0:27:18.919 even in the church at Corinth he would write to 0:27:18.960 --> 0:27:22.359 that church, and what would happen to them was they 0:27:22.400 --> 0:27:26.280 would they would be led astray or the word he 0:27:26.400 --> 0:27:30.680 likes to use in Second Corinthians is deceived. He says, 0:27:30.720 --> 0:27:34.720 I fear that you're being deceived by the power of suggestion. 0:27:35.880 --> 0:27:39.560 He uses the example he says, like Eve was deceived 0:27:39.600 --> 0:27:43.320 by the serpent. You remember that story when God said 0:27:43.440 --> 0:27:46.560 you can eat any of this, And then she caught 0:27:46.560 --> 0:27:49.840 a thought from a snake. She allows something that was 0:27:49.920 --> 0:27:57.320 beneath her to speak to her, and she caught a thought. See, 0:27:57.320 --> 0:27:59.199 I never had a snake slither up to me and 0:27:59.240 --> 0:28:02.560 talk to me. I wish I did. I wish it 0:28:02.640 --> 0:28:04.440 was a snake that I could chop the head off 0:28:04.480 --> 0:28:06.920 of it. It's a thought, and I have to live 0:28:06.960 --> 0:28:09.159 with this and I have to deal with it. And 0:28:09.440 --> 0:28:12.320 the serpent said to Eve, did God really say you 0:28:12.359 --> 0:28:16.479 see it? He introduces a doubt into the possibility and 0:28:16.560 --> 0:28:22.240 potential of faith, causing her to focus on what is 0:28:22.280 --> 0:28:26.200 not available rather than what is. And Paul says, I'm 0:28:26.240 --> 0:28:33.120 afraid that you will be deceived because there's these there's 0:28:33.200 --> 0:28:36.800 these spies in the church at Corinth, and there they're 0:28:36.880 --> 0:28:42.000 leading the Christians astray. They're doing it by the power 0:28:42.000 --> 0:28:44.600 of thought. They are introducing the thought into the Church 0:28:44.640 --> 0:28:48.200 that you need something other than Christ to justify you. 0:28:49.800 --> 0:28:53.000 He says, I fear that you have been led astray 0:28:54.200 --> 0:28:58.480 from your pure devotion to Christ. And pure is the 0:28:58.560 --> 0:29:02.680 right word. That's the important word. Pure. It's that uncontaminated 0:29:02.720 --> 0:29:06.600 place that you access occasionally where you know that God's 0:29:06.640 --> 0:29:08.480