WEBVTT - Your Label Is Lying 0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:07.720 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. 0:00:08.080 --> 0:00:10.680 Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:13.080 Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving. 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:13.440 In your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:14.680 Enjoy the message. 0:00:18.480 --> 0:00:22.320 But if you've been redeemed and you know it. If 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:25.599 he dacked you out of the pit, then you know it. 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:30.640 If He brought you this farm, then you know it. 0:00:30.760 --> 0:00:38.960 Sank Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. 0:00:41.040 --> 0:00:41.559 Thank you. 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:48.479 We can sing it all day, we will sing it 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:53.840 all night, but we gotta stup cause it breathes it time. 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:07.400 The Word of the Lord is coming your way, whether 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:09.920 you're in this room or whether you're watching this later, 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:12.120 whether you're listening in a car. I hope you're not 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:14.400 watching in a car unless you're a passenger. 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:17.280 Just listen and watch the road. 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:19.720 The Lord has something he wants to show you today 0:01:20.160 --> 0:01:23.600 in his word. This is the final message in the 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:26.559 greatest series in the history of our church. 0:01:28.200 --> 0:01:30.320 Y'all don't like it. 0:01:30.480 --> 0:01:34.960 My favorite series in the history of our church, because 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:38.680 it's the one that I needed the most. Because it's 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:47.800 called same lies, new loops, same lies, new loops. And 0:01:47.840 --> 0:01:50.040 the Lord is giving you some new ways of thinking, 0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:54.200 some new ways of being, some new ways of talking, 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:59.600 some new ways of seeing, new loops. It's going to 0:01:59.600 --> 0:02:01.680 be a maze today because we're going to see a 0:02:01.720 --> 0:02:05.840 picture of somebody who had believed a lie for so 0:02:06.000 --> 0:02:08.280 long that to him. 0:02:08.919 --> 0:02:09.680 It was true. 0:02:09.919 --> 0:02:12.640 And when you have believed a lie long enough, is 0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:17.040 true to you even though everybody else can see that 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:20.800 it's not. Today, God wants to show you something about 0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:22.680 the way that he sees you. Go ahead and put 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:25.600 your name in the comments. And since you can't do 0:02:25.680 --> 0:02:28.000 that live, tell the person next to you your name. 0:02:28.040 --> 0:02:30.360 Tell them your full name, the one on your driver's license. Gohead, 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:34.000 give me your name real quick. Give me your driver's 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:40.000 license name. We're going to be spending a few moments today. 0:02:42.360 --> 0:02:46.119 Well that's a long name. I didn't say your eye 0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:48.440 color and your height. I didn't say tell them about 0:02:48.440 --> 0:02:54.920 your DUI either. Leave that part out. But we're going 0:02:54.960 --> 0:02:57.560 to be spending some time today together. In John chapter 0:02:57.560 --> 0:02:59.799 five remains standing, if you're able for the reading of 0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:03.200 God's word, And as I share this with you today, 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:06.640 the Lord wants to give us a picture. 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:09.960 Of what it means. 0:03:10.919 --> 0:03:15.600 To leave the lies behind. To leave the lies behind, 0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:18.560 that's what we come to church for. Right we want 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:20.160 to come to church and hear truth and just take 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:22.240 lies home with us like we didn't hear the truth. 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:25.000 We want to come to church, receive the truth of 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:28.320 God's word, and take it forward into the world that 0:03:28.360 --> 0:03:32.919 He's called us to change. John chapter five, verse one. 0:03:33.080 --> 0:03:36.240 I may just read all sixteen verses. I wasn't going 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:38.720 to stop around verse six seven, but I thought I 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:42.880 would go on down and read the whole thing. Now, 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:48.240 y'all listen, what's wrong with y'all? John chapter five, verse one. 0:03:49.520 --> 0:03:53.640 Sometime later Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of 0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:56.800 the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem, near the 0:03:56.840 --> 0:03:59.880 sheep Gate a pool which in Aramaic is called Bethesda. 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:03.920 That word means house of mercy. It's like Bethlehem means 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:08.960 house of bread. Bethe is house. And then sata from 0:04:09.040 --> 0:04:12.400 has said the word that means covenant, love or favor, 0:04:12.480 --> 0:04:14.760 or grace or mercy. It means all of those things. 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:17.400 It's the house of mercy. At least that's what is called. 0:04:18.600 --> 0:04:20.520 It's supposed to be a place where people can come 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:23.960 and get grace. But it isn't, and you'll see that 0:04:24.000 --> 0:04:29.599 in the passage. It's called Bethesda, and it's surrounded by 0:04:29.640 --> 0:04:34.839 five covered colonnades. And incidentally, since we're in John five, 0:04:35.200 --> 0:04:37.799 five in the Bible is often symbolic of grace. 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:40.720 It's the number of grace. So this is supposed to 0:04:40.720 --> 0:04:41.440 be a place. 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:43.560 Of grace, you know, can I say that about our church? 0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:48.400 This is supposed to be a place of grace where 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:53.000 anybody can come like they are and not leave that way. 0:04:54.560 --> 0:04:57.919 It was surrounded by five covered colonnades, and here are 0:04:57.920 --> 0:05:00.880 a great number of disabled people used to li the 0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:05.120 blind the lane. The paralyzed one who was there had 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:11.400 been an invalid for thirty eight years. When Jesus saw 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:14.400 him lying there and learned that he had been in 0:05:14.400 --> 0:05:17.960 this condition for a long time, he asked him. 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:20.599 Do you want to get well? Sir? 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:24.040 The invalid reply, I have no one to help me 0:05:24.240 --> 0:05:24.960 into the pool. 0:05:25.160 --> 0:05:26.280 When the water is stirred. 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:30.440 While I am trying to get in, someone else goes 0:05:30.520 --> 0:05:32.000 down ahead of me. 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:38.159 Then Jesus said to him, get up, pick. 0:05:38.080 --> 0:05:43.719 Up your mat and walk at Once the man was cure. 0:05:44.360 --> 0:05:50.080 He picked up his map and walked. But that's not 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:51.240 the end of the verse. 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:55.880 Is it. The day on which this took place was 0:05:55.960 --> 0:05:59.720 a sabbath. And so the Jewish leader said to the 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:02.920 man who had been healed, it is the. 0:06:02.800 --> 0:06:07.520 Sabbath the law forbids you to carry your mat. But 0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:11.440 he replied, well, I love this Bible verse right here. 0:06:12.440 --> 0:06:18.840 The man who made me well said to me, I 0:06:18.880 --> 0:06:22.000 hear what you're saying to me. But the one who 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:23.880 walked by me and told me I could walk to 0:06:24.080 --> 0:06:29.120 told me to do this. The man who made me 0:06:29.240 --> 0:06:33.719 well said to me, pick up your mat and walk. 0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:38.440 I got good news for you today. Church. The title 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:47.520 of my messages the word says otherwise. The word says otherwise. 0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:49.240 Tell your neighbor. 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:54.120 I know you feel kind of depressed. I know it 0:06:54.200 --> 0:07:00.920 looks like it's over. But the word says otherwise. Put 0:07:00.920 --> 0:07:02.880 it in all caps in the chat, put it in 0:07:02.920 --> 0:07:05.680 your language, put it in your native tongue, put it 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:06.400 in a mulojis. 0:07:06.480 --> 0:07:10.400 I don't care. The word says otherwise. And we're gonna 0:07:10.400 --> 0:07:15.240 give this message a subtitle. Also, we're gonna call it hmm. 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:22.680 See if I can explain this, your label is lying. 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:30.760 Your label is lying. You know how that thing said 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:33.120 it was it was a healthy food. 0:07:33.600 --> 0:07:37.440 Your label is lying. 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:40.640 You know how that guy said he was a Christian guy. 0:07:40.920 --> 0:07:43.119 You're labeled, and he wore a Christian shirt. 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:46.400 You're label is lying. 0:07:49.040 --> 0:07:50.680 You know how people say when you come to Christ, 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:55.040 everything will just be better all at once. Your label 0:07:55.720 --> 0:07:59.960 is lying. But God's word is true. Father, Thank you 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:04.160 for your word. In Jesus name, Amen be seated. Your 0:08:04.240 --> 0:08:10.640 label is lying. I'll share by way of anecdote what 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:14.720 I mean by this statement, but first write the statement down. 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:22.640 Don't label it until later. Don't label it until later. 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:27.200 Now you're gonna write that down. You don't even know 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:31.960 what I mean by that, but you will later. I 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:35.200 was in a songwriting session recently and we were just 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:37.440 starting to work on a song. We had really not 0:08:37.640 --> 0:08:41.120 identified the tempo of the song, the time signature of 0:08:41.160 --> 0:08:43.760 the song, or even the theme of the song. I 0:08:43.760 --> 0:08:46.120 didn't know yet whether it wanted to be a ballad 0:08:46.200 --> 0:08:49.920 or a bop. Sometimes you don't know. Sometimes a song. 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:52.640 Starts like really really worshipful. 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:53.600 And the next thing you know, you're dancing on a 0:08:53.640 --> 0:08:58.920 table and you don't know what happened. So the key 0:08:59.000 --> 0:09:04.280 to this is to be patient. Be patient, let the 0:09:04.400 --> 0:09:07.200 song tell you what it wants to be. Let the 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:09.000 spirit of God have his way. If you're writing a 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:12.400 worship song and we were just starting to write a 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:17.160 song and the producer who was recording the session and 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:20.280 needed to save the song on his computer, stopped and 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:20.959 asked a question. 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:23.160 He said, what is this song called? 0:09:24.920 --> 0:09:26.400 Well? I look back at him, and I knew that 0:09:26.440 --> 0:09:28.520 he needed to save the file so he could access 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:30.520 it and be organized. But I looked at him and said, 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:34.880 I can't name it. We haven't even made it yet. 0:09:36.480 --> 0:09:41.280 We need to make it before we name it. If 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:45.000 we name it before we make it, there may be 0:09:45.040 --> 0:09:47.920 something else that the song wants to be that we 0:09:47.960 --> 0:09:51.000 don't allow it to become because we already gave it 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:54.480 a name. So what we need to do is just 0:09:54.640 --> 0:09:58.880 save the file as a work in progress, and then 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:00.520 we can see what is going on to be by 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:05.240 the end of the day, because we'll label it later. 0:10:06.040 --> 0:10:10.760 We'll make it now and label it later. I'll know 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:13.240 who this is for. But maybe that's the word that 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:17.080 you came to get today. Make it now and name 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:20.880 it later. We're so specific in our time about trying 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:25.800 to diagnose everything. Even every child is diagnosed with all 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:29.280 of these conditions before they are seven years old, and 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:32.240 sometimes that can be helpful, but other times it can 0:10:32.280 --> 0:10:34.600 be a hurdle because. 0:10:34.280 --> 0:10:36.320 If I give a child a label. 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:38.880 Before that child has even had the chance to develop 0:10:39.040 --> 0:10:43.440 beyond those developmental limitations, I may limit what the child 0:10:43.480 --> 0:10:46.080 thinks that the child can be because I gave the 0:10:46.200 --> 0:10:50.720 child a label too soon that limited their potential mentally, 0:10:51.000 --> 0:10:53.640 even though their potential in God was unlimited. 0:10:54.160 --> 0:10:55.720 Label it later. 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:59.000 And I'm not talking about not going to doctors and specialists, 0:10:59.080 --> 0:10:59.720 you understand. 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:00.840 I'm using this. 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:03.479 As a way to get you to see that sometimes 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:06.679 you are trying to label your life as you are 0:11:06.720 --> 0:11:10.520 living your life, and it is causing you to misdiagnose 0:11:10.679 --> 0:11:13.319 some of the things about you that only God can 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:14.240 reveal in time. 0:11:14.760 --> 0:11:15.679 It is causing you. 0:11:15.679 --> 0:11:19.559 To name things and save things to the hard drive 0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:23.200 of your mind, and you call yourself things, and you 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:26.959 call situations things that they really aren't because you are 0:11:27.000 --> 0:11:28.280 trying to label. 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:30.120 It before you have even lived it. 0:11:30.640 --> 0:11:33.160 So you say things like this is the worst season 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:36.640 of my life. How do you know that? Yet the 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:38.880 seed hasn't even given the harvest for it. 0:11:39.480 --> 0:11:40.600 You have no idea. 0:11:40.720 --> 0:11:44.120 As a matter of fact, I would imagine that anytime 0:11:44.200 --> 0:11:47.480 the dirt is being plowed, it is hard for the dirt. 0:11:48.480 --> 0:11:50.880 But we understand that this is the part of the 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:56.120 process that is absolutely necessary for anything good to be cultivated. 0:11:56.360 --> 0:11:59.760 And so it is true in your heart that some 0:11:59.800 --> 0:12:02.680 of the hardest seasons you will go through, some of 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:05.800 the heartbreak seasons that you will go through, some of 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:07.920 the things that you would wish away if God came 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:09.120 down and asked you would. 0:12:08.880 --> 0:12:09.520 You like to skip? 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:13.160 Those stages will be the very stages that later you 0:12:13.200 --> 0:12:15.400 will look back and label it and you will say, 0:12:15.760 --> 0:12:18.280 that was the season where God taught me the most. 0:12:18.760 --> 0:12:21.320 That was the season, am I right, where God. 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:22.040 Got me out of that. 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:25.360 Relationship, and I'm so glad that he did. That was 0:12:25.400 --> 0:12:27.920 the season where God set me free from something I 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:30.400 thought I needed. And if He would have kept giving 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:32.440 me what I wanted, I would have never gotten what 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:35.679 I needed. And when I label my situation while I'm 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:38.200 still in it, I limit my situation to how I 0:12:38.280 --> 0:12:40.840 see it. And the problem with me is I can't 0:12:40.880 --> 0:12:43.560 see things like they are. I only see things as 0:12:43.679 --> 0:12:47.040 I am, and I am limited, and so if I 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:49.840 look at my situation and label it with my mind, 0:12:49.960 --> 0:12:53.040 I will always find a way to zoom into the 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:57.600 microscopically bad or maybe I'm just wanting this one thing 0:12:57.679 --> 0:13:00.679 to happen so bad, or maybe something happens in my 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:03.559 life and I don't like the package that it came in, 0:13:03.960 --> 0:13:06.360 so I don't receive the purpose that it came for. 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:09.679 I'm gonna stop and breathe for a minute. Clap your 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:13.680 hands and give God praise. Now, clap your hands and 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:17.880 give God praise for all of the gifts that he 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:21.680 gave you that you didn't know it was a gift 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:25.959 when he gave it. Praise God for all the gifts 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:28.840 that he gave you that you grumbled about when he 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:37.120 gave it to you. You got to remember, John wrote, John, Okay, 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:40.920 you know that. Okay, John, the disciple who Jesus loved. 0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:44.400 That's what he called himself. That's how he labeled himself. 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:45.920 That's wild to me. 0:13:46.520 --> 0:13:48.400 Who are you the one he loves? Not one of 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:52.839 the one he loves? V One he loves. John did 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:53.800 not write his. 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:59.880 Gospel as the ministry of Jesus was happening, though he 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:05.680 wrote it somewhere around fifty years after the events transpire. 0:14:06.920 --> 0:14:08.400 Now there's a reason I'm telling you this. 0:14:09.440 --> 0:14:12.120 Sometimes I think we read these stories in the Bible 0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:15.920 like they're coming from the journal of one of the disciples, 0:14:17.120 --> 0:14:19.440 and so we read a story like this and it's wonderful. 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:21.560 There was a man who couldn't move, and he got 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:24.360 up and he was healed, and it was amazed. 0:14:25.480 --> 0:14:27.720 And even the titles that are in the Bible, like 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:32.480 over John chapter five, it says the healing at the pool, 0:14:32.640 --> 0:14:37.200 that's what this story is called in retrospect. But in 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:40.800 real time, this was not a healing at the pool. 0:14:42.040 --> 0:14:45.960 In real time, this was a confrontation with the authorities. 0:14:47.680 --> 0:14:52.880 I'll explain that later, y'all see what I'm doing. I'm 0:14:52.920 --> 0:14:55.880 gonna say it now, I'm gonna explain it later. Jesus 0:14:56.000 --> 0:14:57.840 a lot of times, as he was doing things in 0:14:57.880 --> 0:15:01.480 his ministry, would not explain to his disciples. 0:15:01.800 --> 0:15:05.440 He would just do it, and as he would do it, 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:08.000 they might think about it. Boy, that was a really 0:15:08.040 --> 0:15:08.600 bad move. 0:15:09.280 --> 0:15:13.240 I mean, Jesus should have waited until Tuesday to heal 0:15:13.280 --> 0:15:16.120 this guy. Did you see it in the Texas said 0:15:16.360 --> 0:15:18.360 he healed him on a bad day. 0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:20.160 Now, let me ask you a question. 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:24.360 If you haven't walked for thirty eight years and you 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:28.240 have the opportunity to walk, is it ever a bad 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:32.680 time to do a good thing for somebody? And yet 0:15:32.720 --> 0:15:35.840 that's what the religious leader said. They said he should 0:15:35.840 --> 0:15:37.440 have done it on a different day. 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:38.640 And Jesus knew that. 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:41.920 But when John is writing the gospel, he's not writing 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:42.880 it later that night. 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:45.720 He's not taking what he saw happen. 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:48.920 And John's gospel was a little different because Matthew, Mark, Luke, 0:15:48.960 --> 0:15:53.760 and John are all written somewhat differently. Matthew, Mark, and 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:57.080 Luke are called synoptic gospel. It means, see with they 0:15:57.320 --> 0:15:59.560 kind of used the same source material, They refer to 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:02.240 the same events, and they just take them from different angles. 0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:04.080 John's gospel is wild. 0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:07.040 He just shows you stuff from the bonus footage from 0:16:07.040 --> 0:16:09.600 the cutting room that none of the other disciples showed you. 0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:12.320 Maybe it was the special way he felt about his 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:15.800 relationship with Jesus that he includes things that the others don't. 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:20.320 And this miracle is only included in John's gospel. That's 0:16:20.320 --> 0:16:22.160 the first thing I wanted to tell you. But the 0:16:22.200 --> 0:16:24.240 second thing I wanted to tell you is that it 0:16:24.280 --> 0:16:29.880 was included in John's Gospel after decades had passed, which 0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:35.480 means that sometimes it is better to evaluate your situation later. 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:39.320 If you look at it in the moment, all you 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:40.880 can see is, man, this is a. 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:41.440 Lot of trouble. 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:44.440 Jesus is about to get in. Man, Jesus really is 0:16:44.520 --> 0:16:47.680 wasting time. I mean, imagine this. They're setting out. 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:50.080 To go to the festival. They're on their way. 0:16:50.120 --> 0:16:52.600 The Bible doesn't mention which of the three festivals, but 0:16:52.600 --> 0:16:55.360 it's one of the major ones. And they get to Jerusalem, 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:59.200 and Jesus stops by this porch where look at verse three. 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:04.040 These these kinds of people are lying, the blind, the lame, 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:08.000 the paralyzed. Please circle those three words justin if you can. 0:17:08.320 --> 0:17:13.280 Verse three. The blind, the lame, the paralyze, the blind, 0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:17.960 the lame, the paralyzed. Jesus is stopping by to see somebody. 0:17:18.240 --> 0:17:21.600 He is the most important figure in human history. He 0:17:21.760 --> 0:17:25.600 is the centerpiece of civilization. He is the Rose of Sharon, 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:27.800 the lily of the Valley, the lion of the tribe 0:17:27.840 --> 0:17:30.199 of Judah, the Alpha and the Omega, the Master and 0:17:30.240 --> 0:17:32.679 the maker of the universe, the King of Kings, the 0:17:32.720 --> 0:17:35.080 Lord of lords, the shepherd of the Loss, the one 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:38.000 that the angels worship twenty four to seven around the throne, 0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:42.480 and he stops by to see about somebody that doesn't 0:17:43.119 --> 0:17:49.960 even have a name. Of course he has a name, 0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:58.720 but his name has been replaced by his label, so 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:01.280 we don't know who he is yes or what he 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:05.159 can do. The only thing we know about him is 0:18:05.200 --> 0:18:09.399 that for thirty eight years watch this, he has not. 0:18:09.440 --> 0:18:10.560 Been able to move. 0:18:11.040 --> 0:18:13.000 And there are some of you listening to me preached 0:18:13.000 --> 0:18:16.760 today who have been labeled so long by what you 0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:20.440 can't do, that you forgot your name. You have been 0:18:20.520 --> 0:18:23.560 labeled so long by what you don't have, that you 0:18:23.640 --> 0:18:27.159 have forgotten your true nature. You have been labeled so 0:18:27.359 --> 0:18:30.240 long by what life didn't give you that you have 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:34.480 forgotten your blessings. But the devil is a liar, I said, 0:18:34.480 --> 0:18:35.560 the devil is a liar. 0:18:36.600 --> 0:18:38.840 I'll preach this another ten weeks if I need to. 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:43.919 He's telling the same lies over and over and over 0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:45.280 and over again. 0:18:45.640 --> 0:18:47.320 And what he wants to get you to do. 0:18:47.280 --> 0:18:49.280 If he's effective at his job, and the devil is 0:18:49.320 --> 0:18:51.800 really sneaky at it, because he will try to. 0:18:51.760 --> 0:18:55.439 Convince you that your issue is you. 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:01.200 But I found out. 0:19:02.560 --> 0:19:08.160 That God is masterful at using situations that we would 0:19:08.200 --> 0:19:12.520 not wish to accomplish purposes for which we don't even 0:19:12.560 --> 0:19:14.840 know to pray. 0:19:14.920 --> 0:19:16.000 I'll give you an example. 0:19:16.960 --> 0:19:21.040 I can tell I'm kind of overwhelming you with information today. 0:19:21.960 --> 0:19:25.840 About five is the number of grace, and Bethesda means 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:29.240 house of Mercy and Synoptic Gospels. 0:19:28.720 --> 0:19:29.040 And all this. 0:19:29.080 --> 0:19:31.920 So let me just break it down like this. When 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:34.720 Holly gives gifts at our house, I. 0:19:34.640 --> 0:19:36.480 Will say that she is the best gift giver that 0:19:36.600 --> 0:19:38.720 I have ever known in my life. 0:19:39.200 --> 0:19:41.359 I also say she is the greatest gift that I 0:19:41.400 --> 0:19:43.480 have ever known in my life other than. 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:49.679 You, Lord, Amen. And I'll also say that I'm not 0:19:49.720 --> 0:19:51.800 even saying that just so you'll clap for it. I 0:19:51.880 --> 0:19:52.920 really feel that way. 0:19:53.720 --> 0:19:57.160 But she used to do something when she would give 0:19:57.200 --> 0:20:01.600 gifts that was so disappointing, and we finally got her 0:20:01.600 --> 0:20:03.080 to stop a few years ago. But let me tell 0:20:03.119 --> 0:20:04.800 what you're doing. I don't use this intentionally. I don't 0:20:04.800 --> 0:20:06.639 know if it was just something she did out of efficiency. 0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:09.480 I don't know what's you doing, Okay, al, I told 0:20:09.480 --> 0:20:10.560 you she gives great gifts. 0:20:11.040 --> 0:20:13.359 But let's say Christmas will roll around, right, and there's 0:20:13.520 --> 0:20:14.960 several gifts for each person. 0:20:14.720 --> 0:20:18.119 That Holly bought. Right, so she wraps some They're beautiful 0:20:18.160 --> 0:20:18.399 and all that. 0:20:18.480 --> 0:20:21.240 You take the wrapping paper off, and then there would 0:20:21.240 --> 0:20:24.520 be a box that she would put the gift in. 0:20:26.040 --> 0:20:30.239 But the box was absolutely no indication. 0:20:31.359 --> 0:20:32.800 Of the value of the gift. And here's what I 0:20:32.840 --> 0:20:36.040 mean by that. She would take the box from the 0:20:36.160 --> 0:20:38.920 nicest store. You can imagine, like picture your favorite store, 0:20:38.960 --> 0:20:42.520 your favorite brand, right, like the fanciest, nicest box. So 0:20:42.560 --> 0:20:46.240 you peel the paperback and you'd be like, oh, yeah, yeah, 0:20:46.280 --> 0:20:46.560 this is. 0:20:46.480 --> 0:20:49.800 Gonna be good. This is about to be good. 0:20:50.160 --> 0:20:52.800 And then when you would take the lid off the 0:20:52.840 --> 0:21:00.280 box she had put the worst gifts. The box would 0:21:00.320 --> 0:21:04.879 say Nordstrom and the gift would say Dollar Tree, and 0:21:04.920 --> 0:21:07.359 you'd be looking at the You'd be looking at the 0:21:07.359 --> 0:21:13.560 gift about what is this? Because she would put the 0:21:13.560 --> 0:21:23.000 worst gift in the best box. God does just the opposite. 0:21:23.119 --> 0:21:25.000 I'm sorry, Holly, but this is one time where you 0:21:25.040 --> 0:21:31.120 are nothing like God. Because God will take the worst box, 0:21:32.000 --> 0:21:36.080 the worst situation, the worst hell you've ever been through, 0:21:36.600 --> 0:21:38.439 the worst insult. 0:21:38.240 --> 0:21:39.600 The worst persecution. 0:21:40.320 --> 0:21:43.400 God will hand you a box, and the box will 0:21:43.440 --> 0:21:46.720 be so beat up, and the box will look so small, 0:21:47.040 --> 0:21:49.480 and the box will look like it's been rained on, 0:21:49.960 --> 0:21:52.520 and the box will look like the dog shoot it up, 0:21:52.720 --> 0:21:55.800 and the box will look like betrayal, and the box 0:21:55.880 --> 0:21:57.960 will look like God, I don't know what to do, 0:21:58.240 --> 0:22:00.480 and the box will look like there's no way out 0:22:00.520 --> 0:22:04.920 of this. But if you open that box and trust 0:22:04.960 --> 0:22:08.960 in God, not the box, I said, trust God, not 0:22:09.160 --> 0:22:13.919 the box, because my God is out the box and 0:22:14.160 --> 0:22:17.760 God will put the best stuff cannot reach. Like I'm 0:22:17.760 --> 0:22:21.800 in Saint Paul, Minnesota on a Tuesday night. God will 0:22:21.840 --> 0:22:25.720 take the worst box and put the best gift. And 0:22:25.840 --> 0:22:29.600 I'm saying this in case life dropped off a box 0:22:29.680 --> 0:22:32.720 on your doorstep and it doesn't look like what you 0:22:32.920 --> 0:22:36.080 prayed for, and it doesn't make any sense. 0:22:35.840 --> 0:22:37.000 With what you feel. 0:22:36.720 --> 0:22:39.240 Called to, and it doesn't line. 0:22:39.040 --> 0:22:40.880 Up with your expectations. 0:22:41.240 --> 0:22:45.040 But over that box, because God has a way of 0:22:45.200 --> 0:22:50.000 putting the best blessings in the ugliest boxes, so the 0:22:50.040 --> 0:22:53.520 box doesn't have to be beautiful for the gift to 0:22:53.560 --> 0:22:57.359 feed from him. I find somebody say open the box, 0:22:57.760 --> 0:23:01.600 open the box, open the box. God can do what 0:23:01.680 --> 0:23:05.879