This Is Bigger Than Them

0:00:04.960 --> 0:00:06.200 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:06.240 --> 0:00:09.240 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. 0:00:09.440 --> 0:00:11.600 Be sure to subscribe so we can get you these 0:00:11.640 --> 0:00:16.560 new sermons every week. I hope you're blessed today. 0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:23.760 Raise the Lord, everybody. 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:25.119 Last. 0:00:25.239 --> 0:00:29.080 More life, that's more life. 0:00:29.640 --> 0:00:30.600 I'm glad that you're here. 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:33.120 If you're watching online, I'm so thankful that the Lord 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:36.400 saw it fit to put this message in your algorithm. 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:39.920 Oh it's not accidental. No no, no, no no. God 0:00:40.000 --> 0:00:42.880 is bigger than you, Tobe. God will make YouTube feed 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:45.360 this sermon to you so that he can feed you. 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:47.720 I just want to know right there in the comments 0:00:47.760 --> 0:00:50.400 where you're watching from. So if you're joining us, let 0:00:50.479 --> 0:00:52.240 us know how many of you were here last week 0:00:52.240 --> 0:00:59.040 to hear my message last week. The only reason I 0:00:59.080 --> 0:01:02.800 asked that is beacause us I want to keep going 0:01:02.840 --> 0:01:08.520 with it a little bit today. Turning your Bible to 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:13.400 Joshua chapter fourteen. You may remain standing as I read 0:01:13.440 --> 0:01:14.880 the Word of God. 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:31.119 Joshua chapter fourteen Versus six through thirteen. And by now 0:01:31.120 --> 0:01:34.840 they're all over YouTube telling us where they're joining from. 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:36.559 Y'all want to do a few shout outs on YouTube 0:01:36.560 --> 0:01:39.199 as you find scripture. You know you need an extra 0:01:39.240 --> 0:01:42.120 minute to find Joshua fourteen anyway. 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:45.040 Trying to hook you up. But let's see here we go, 0:01:45.080 --> 0:01:45.600 here we go. 0:01:46.200 --> 0:01:54.600 Here they are watching from Rochester, New York, California, Montgomery, Alabama. 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:59.880 See all different countries. We got palace. 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:05.520 I'm Miami, New Mexico, Ontario, Montreal. 0:02:05.960 --> 0:02:09.840 Aren't you from Ontario? L J Do you know this person? 0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:14.000 Lilian boot Read? 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:20.800 You know? Oh God News Waynesville, North Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina. 0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:22.880 Now you need to get to the Columbia campus. All right, 0:02:24.120 --> 0:02:27.720 you better have a cold or something this week watching 0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:28.600 online Brazil. 0:02:28.680 --> 0:02:30.320 Let's give it up for our e fam all over 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:37.560 the world. Thank you for joining me. I listened to 0:02:37.600 --> 0:02:40.800 this scripture and then I'll fill in the background after 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:41.560 I've read it to you. 0:02:43.440 --> 0:02:47.440 Now, the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal and 0:02:47.600 --> 0:02:52.680 Caleb son of Jeffina. This is one of those times 0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:55.320 where you're glad that your dad didn't name you Junior 0:02:56.560 --> 0:02:58.680 Caleb son of Jeffina Jr. 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:01.000 And what he would have Beene. So Caleb is a 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:06.320 much better name. Everybody say Caleb. Caleb is the character 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:07.639 that we want to talk about today. 0:03:08.760 --> 0:03:12.560 Caleb to kinneside and said to him, you know what 0:03:12.600 --> 0:03:15.160 the Lord said to Moses, the man of God at 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:18.360 Kate ash Barnea, about you and me. I was forty 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:20.519 years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent 0:03:20.560 --> 0:03:23.920 me from Kate ash Barnea to explore the land. And 0:03:23.960 --> 0:03:28.519 I brought him back a report according to my convictions, 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:33.680 not according to a committee, not a report according to 0:03:33.720 --> 0:03:38.960 the comments section, but a report according to my convictions. 0:03:40.040 --> 0:03:40.800 That's what he did. 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:44.680 I brought him a report according to my convictions. But 0:03:44.840 --> 0:03:48.200 my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:52.760 hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:54.400 the Lord my God wholeheartedly. 0:03:54.640 --> 0:03:55.119 Yeah. 0:03:55.480 --> 0:03:58.520 So on that day Moses swore to me, the land 0:03:58.600 --> 0:04:01.960 on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:06.560 and that of your children forever, because you have followed 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:08.440 the Lord my God wholeheartedly. 0:04:09.400 --> 0:04:13.880 Now then verse ten. Now then those two words right there. 0:04:14.160 --> 0:04:18.279 Now, Then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept 0:04:18.279 --> 0:04:21.680 me alive for forty five years since the time he 0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:26.520 said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. 0:04:27.080 --> 0:04:32.680 So here I am today, eighty five years old. I 0:04:32.720 --> 0:04:37.719 am still as strong today as the day Moses sent 0:04:37.839 --> 0:04:41.400 me out. I'm just as vigorous to go out to 0:04:41.520 --> 0:04:45.440 battle now as I was then. Now give me this 0:04:45.640 --> 0:04:49.640 hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You 0:04:49.640 --> 0:04:53.880 yourself heard then that the Anekites were there, and their 0:04:53.920 --> 0:04:56.560 cities were large and forty five. But the Lord helping me, 0:04:57.279 --> 0:05:00.919 I will drive them out, just as he said, let's 0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:02.080 camp in verse thirteen. 0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:08.159 As I give you my message today, then Joshua blessed Caleb. 0:05:08.320 --> 0:05:13.040 Son of Jafunah and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. 0:05:14.120 --> 0:05:16.800 I came with a reminder today. I want to remind. 0:05:16.440 --> 0:05:23.760 You that this is bigger than them. This is bigger 0:05:24.640 --> 0:05:28.040 than them. Lord, thank you for your word. We receive 0:05:28.080 --> 0:05:30.080 it before we even know what you. 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:33.720 Say, because it comes from you. Speak. Lord. Your servants 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:35.520 are listening. In Jesus' name. 0:05:36.200 --> 0:05:39.280 Amen, hit your neighbor on your way down and say 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:44.960 it's bigger than them, This is bigger than them. 0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:47.560 Yeah. 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:57.960 When I first opened this passage of scripture, I thought 0:05:58.000 --> 0:06:01.039 the main point of the passage was about Caleb's age. 0:06:01.760 --> 0:06:02.719 He's eighty five. 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:06.200 I thought maybe I shouldn't preach this, Lord, because my 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:10.839 church has a diversity of ages. I'm not just speaking 0:06:10.920 --> 0:06:13.359 to people who are older in life who need to 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:17.120 keep their motivation high. I'm preaching to people who are 0:06:17.120 --> 0:06:21.359 also inexperienced in life and are just getting started. But 0:06:21.400 --> 0:06:23.640 the Lord showed me something very powerful. If you give 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:25.280 me a second to break it down, I'm going to 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:27.600 tie it into what God has been speaking in. 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:29.000 Our church the past few weeks. 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:33.839 That this message isn't really about Caleb's age. It's a 0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:35.680 message about agency. 0:06:37.000 --> 0:06:37.600 Agency. 0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:42.160 Agency may be an unfamiliar word in church, but if 0:06:42.200 --> 0:06:45.279 you ever walk into a therapist's office, they will. 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:48.000 Eventually talk to you about agency. 0:06:49.200 --> 0:06:53.839 When I went to Bible school cemetery, I mean seminary, 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:58.839 they taught me about sovereignty. The sovereignty of God means 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:03.080 He's in charge. But I had to go to a 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:09.200 counselor's office to learn the word agency because agency means 0:07:09.240 --> 0:07:10.200 that God is. 0:07:10.160 --> 0:07:12.840 In charge, but I also get to choose. 0:07:14.880 --> 0:07:19.720 Agency means that I am not merely a reflection of 0:07:19.760 --> 0:07:23.800 my environment, but that my responses in life actually affect 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:26.200 my environment. So I guess you could say it's the 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:30.240 opposite of a victim. Mentality is to say I have agency. 0:07:30.320 --> 0:07:35.560 Everybody say agency. And what's amazing to me about Caleb's 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:39.240 story in Joshua be fourteen is that he is a 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:45.440 combination of understanding God's sovereignty and his agency. 0:07:45.840 --> 0:07:47.840 Now, I'm not just trying to use a therapy word 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:48.560 for the heck of it. 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:52.040 I think that's an important thing for you to understand 0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:56.880 that although you may have faith in God, you also 0:07:56.960 --> 0:08:01.000 need to own your ability to make the decisions in 0:08:01.040 --> 0:08:04.040 your life. And you would think this is common sense, 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:06.960 but sometimes we check our common sense when we become Christians, 0:08:08.320 --> 0:08:11.360 and we just confuse the fact that we have surrendered 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:14.559 all to God and put the results in his hand 0:08:15.480 --> 0:08:18.160 with the idea that we still have responsibility as we 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:22.640 live this life. Y'all aren't smiling at me. Y'all are 0:08:22.760 --> 0:08:25.520 smiling at me, but this is going to help you. 0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:29.880 Caleb stands as an example in the scriptures as a 0:08:29.920 --> 0:08:35.040 man who was unwilling to allow his life and his 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:37.920 path and the pen of his story to be in 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:40.960 the hands of another person. And so last week the 0:08:41.000 --> 0:08:44.199 message that I preached was called you can change the End. 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:47.280 I don't know what you thought when you heard that title, 0:08:47.320 --> 0:08:49.880 but I think some of us maybe we're a little 0:08:49.880 --> 0:08:52.680 resistant to that idea at first. You can change the end, 0:08:53.440 --> 0:08:55.800 because when I say you can change the end, you 0:08:55.920 --> 0:08:59.480 think about situations where you were not able to affect 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:02.120 the outcome and the way you wanted. The first thing 0:09:02.120 --> 0:09:04.040 that came to my mind as I was preparing the 0:09:04.040 --> 0:09:07.480 message called you could change the end, is how my 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:11.960 dad's life ended. He died of a sickness called als 0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:16.640 and he died of a sickness, but he also died 0:09:16.760 --> 0:09:20.880 surrounded by our family, And the reason that he died 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:23.760 of a sickness I will never understand on this side 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:27.680 of eternity. But the reason that he died surrounded is 0:09:27.720 --> 0:09:32.080 because of my mom. My dad had completely lost his 0:09:32.200 --> 0:09:35.480 mind when he received his diagnosis, to the point that 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:37.640 he became a danger to my mom, and for a 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:41.800 season of his sickness, they had to live separated. It's 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:44.000 a lot of details I won't get into right now, 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:46.640 but you better believe that we were all praying God, 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:48.840 heal him, God change him. 0:09:49.720 --> 0:09:52.960 God did not heal him. But that does not mean 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:55.000 that God was not with him. 0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:57.280 And I'm going to explain that in just a moment, 0:09:58.440 --> 0:10:01.960 my mom made a decision to forgive him and to 0:10:02.000 --> 0:10:05.800 bring him back. And for that reason, he died sick, 0:10:06.480 --> 0:10:10.480 but he died surrounded by his family. So what I'm 0:10:10.520 --> 0:10:13.800 trying to say is that in any given situation of 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:19.120 your life, you can't always change the result, but you 0:10:19.160 --> 0:10:21.119 can always choose your response. 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:22.560 That's what I'm saying. 0:10:23.600 --> 0:10:27.120 So when I said agency, what I mean is you 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:30.800 get to choose God is in charge, and I get 0:10:30.800 --> 0:10:33.800 to choose God is in charge. And I get to 0:10:33.880 --> 0:10:37.439 choose whether or not I cooperate with God, collaborate with God, 0:10:37.720 --> 0:10:41.640 partner with God, align with God, bow to God, submit 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:44.640 to God, or whether I spend all my energy fighting 0:10:44.679 --> 0:10:47.160 against God and then have no energy left to defend 0:10:47.160 --> 0:10:48.280 myself against the devil. 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:49.800 And you get to choose. 0:10:51.320 --> 0:10:53.760 So last week I gave you an illustration. I want 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:56.280 to hit it again real quick. I put two words 0:10:56.280 --> 0:10:59.160 on the board that said the end. Everybody say the end. 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:02.840 So we were talking about the Israelites coming to the 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:05.520 Red Sea. Their time in Egypt has ended, but their 0:11:05.520 --> 0:11:08.440 time and the promised land has not yet started. In 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:10.720 order to get to where God is bringing them to, 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:13.120 they have to leave where God is bringing them from, 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:14.160 and they have to go. 0:11:14.080 --> 0:11:16.280 Through something that they didn't expect. 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:19.280 They begin to cry out to God because they're like, 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:23.640 we can't get across this. Behind them are chariots, which 0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:28.480 represent the best technology that Egypt has to make against 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:31.560 a vagabond nation who has not yet even learned how 0:11:31.600 --> 0:11:33.880 to survive in a nomadic sense. 0:11:33.960 --> 0:11:36.559 And so the end is imminent. 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:39.360 And we talked about those seasons in our life where 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:43.120 the enemy says it's the end, When the enemy says 0:11:43.160 --> 0:11:44.440 that you can't recover from this. 0:11:44.520 --> 0:11:46.520 I'm appreaching, I'm appreciate, I'm appreciate it right to you. 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:49.520 Where the enemy says you'll always be an addict, where 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:51.760 the enemy says no one will ever be able to 0:11:51.800 --> 0:11:54.120 love you, where the enemy says you're not going to 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:56.880 be happy again there's too much trauma. Where the enemy 0:11:56.920 --> 0:11:59.640 says it's over the end, the end, And we talked 0:11:59.679 --> 0:12:04.240 about it very powerful word that comes after the end, 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:10.559 when the Bible says, watch this change it, Jared. Then, yeah, 0:12:11.240 --> 0:12:15.280 Moses stretched his hand and he stretched out his stick, 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:20.600 and something as small as a stick split something as 0:12:20.679 --> 0:12:24.520 big as a sea. Because we learned that big doors 0:12:24.559 --> 0:12:28.600 swing on little hinges. Do you remember, but it all 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:33.960 hinges on the word. Then then Moses stretched his hand. 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:37.280 If he had stayed planted in his fear, he would 0:12:37.320 --> 0:12:39.920 have died. And we talked about the fact that God 0:12:39.960 --> 0:12:42.319 has given you the pen in your life right now 0:12:42.679 --> 0:12:45.840 to write your next then that one day you will 0:12:45.880 --> 0:12:48.600 be telling a story of this season, and you will 0:12:48.600 --> 0:12:52.040 say And then I went back to church, and then 0:12:52.480 --> 0:12:56.240 I joined a recovery group, and then I prayed about it, 0:12:56.520 --> 0:12:59.800 and then I flushed the pills, and then I got 0:12:59.840 --> 0:13:03.720 some accountability. And then I decided I didn't need to 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:05.440 be with that man. If he was going to treat 0:13:05.480 --> 0:13:08.359 me that way, I'd rather be alone than the abused. 0:13:08.760 --> 0:13:11.760 And then I caused somebody to help me, who had 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:12.640 a pickup truck. 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:14.920 And then I moved out of the house. 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:18.200 And then I made face for God to move and 0:13:18.240 --> 0:13:19.240 then God send. 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:22.079 Me Jimmy, and Jimmy loved Jesus and me. 0:13:22.120 --> 0:13:25.160 And Jimmy and Jesus have been doing good for the 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:28.600 last thirty years. But it all hinges on a then, 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:30.840 and you don't know a then when you're in it, 0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:35.800 and sometimes you don't know how close you are to 0:13:35.880 --> 0:13:39.080 a turning point in your life. So if I were 0:13:39.160 --> 0:13:41.479 the devil, I would get you to give up before. 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:42.280 You get to your then. 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:46.760 I would convince you go back to the end that 0:13:46.880 --> 0:13:50.080 it was the end, so you would never get to 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:55.199 Then I would try to kill you in your frustration. 0:13:55.679 --> 0:13:57.680 I would try to get you to walk away from 0:13:57.720 --> 0:14:01.120 God because he's not answering your question. I would try 0:14:01.160 --> 0:14:04.880 to get you to confuse yourself so deeply about your 0:14:05.040 --> 0:14:07.560 identity in Christ that you give up on the fact 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:11.240 that there is a God at all, because I wouldn't 0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:15.360 want you to get to Then. Did you notice in 0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:20.520 the Bible when Caleb is coming to Joshua, he's coming 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:24.680 to somebody who he has a relationship of forty five 0:14:24.760 --> 0:14:30.600 years with, maybe longer. They were the two Spies. I 0:14:30.640 --> 0:14:33.800 don't know if you remember. They went into the Promised 0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:37.280 Land and there were ten spies, and we're going to 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:39.320 look at this in numbers chapter thirteen and fourteen in 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:42.600 a minute, but this is forty five years later, and 0:14:42.920 --> 0:14:45.200 Moses sent them in to see what the land was 0:14:45.280 --> 0:14:47.480 like so they could not only come out of Egypt, 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:49.280 but go into the Promised Land. You know how many 0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:52.120 people get delivered from something but never go to what 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:55.440 God has given them? Seriously, do you know how many 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:57.920 people get delivered from their sin because they accept Jesus 0:14:58.000 --> 0:14:59.760 Christ and his death on the cross, but they never 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:02.520 learn to live forgiven, so they stay shackled to shame. 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:05.600 So what good was it for. 0:15:05.640 --> 0:15:07.240 Jesus to hang and die for me if I'm going 0:15:07.320 --> 0:15:09.080 to hang my head and not ever receive who I 0:15:09.080 --> 0:15:11.960 am in him? And it's amazing how many of us 0:15:12.600 --> 0:15:15.880 we get delivered and then we don't. We don't never 0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:19.240 get to then we don't never see the story unfold. 0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:21.480 So I came out here for a reason. I came 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:23.600 over here for a reason. I wanted to tell you 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:26.280 about the two spies, Joshua and Caleb. Joshua is the 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:29.760 leader the book Joshua, Yeah he did that, and he 0:15:29.800 --> 0:15:32.000 didn't write it, but it's about his military campaign when 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:36.640 he led them to explore the land. Now, Joshua has 0:15:36.720 --> 0:15:40.400 conquered the land for the last seven years. Caleb has 0:15:40.400 --> 0:15:43.280 been a part of that conquest. And Caleb, at age 0:15:43.560 --> 0:15:48.160 eighty five, comes to Joshua, who was his partner, and says, hey, 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:54.640 remember what Moses said, I could have it's my time. 0:15:55.200 --> 0:15:57.920 At first, I thought he sounded selfish. 0:15:58.640 --> 0:15:59.920 I thought he sounded greedy. 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:02.960 I thought, well, now Caleb you should just be glad 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:06.320 that you're not in the wilderness anymore. But there is 0:16:06.360 --> 0:16:08.600 something about Caleb that, as I studied it over and 0:16:08.600 --> 0:16:12.080 over again, I saw it as an instruction that I 0:16:12.120 --> 0:16:14.400 want to break down into three points for you today. 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:17.640 I want to talk to you about belief, I want 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:20.680 to talk to you about bitterness, and I want to 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:21.800 talk to you about blessing. 0:16:23.080 --> 0:16:28.000 Those three things and then you can go get lunch. 0:16:29.720 --> 0:16:31.200 But before you do, I want to talk to you 0:16:31.280 --> 0:16:37.000 about belief, bitterness, and blessing. 0:16:39.280 --> 0:16:44.920 First, let's talk about belief. Did you notice that Caleb's. 0:16:43.840 --> 0:16:46.960 Speech started not with his preference, but with God's promise. 0:16:48.720 --> 0:16:51.040 A lot of times we are believing God to do 0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:55.120 things that he never said he would do. And one 0:16:55.160 --> 0:16:58.520 of these things is that God would give us blessings 0:16:58.600 --> 0:16:59.400 without battles. 0:17:01.240 --> 0:17:02.080 So let me give. 0:17:01.920 --> 0:17:05.760 You a little pointer or a little tip. Stop expecting 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:08.400 battleless blessings. 0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:10.800 Is battleless the word? 0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:14.119 Somebody asked chat is battleless the word? 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:16.480 I don't know if it's a word, but it's not 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:19.320 a thing. Look, this is what the Lord showed me. 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:25.280 There are battles that don't bring blessings, but there are 0:17:25.280 --> 0:17:26.880 no blessings that don't bring battles? 0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:29.920 Am I right? 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:35.760 I mean there are there are fights that you can 0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:41.800 get yourself in that bring no fruit. They happen online. 0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:44.600 You never saw a fruitful Facebook argument, did you? Never? 0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:44.960 Once? 0:17:45.600 --> 0:17:47.959 Never once did a testimony start with you know, I 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:50.240 was going back and forth with a troll on Facebook 0:17:50.560 --> 0:17:51.440 and the Lord just. 0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:58.879 Did something awesome. No, never, ever, ever. So there are battles. 0:17:58.480 --> 0:18:01.080 That don't bring blessings, but there are no blessings that 0:18:01.119 --> 0:18:05.920 don't bring battles. So stop praying for blessings and being 0:18:05.960 --> 0:18:10.480 surprised by battles, because every blessing you will ask God 0:18:10.520 --> 0:18:14.040 for will bring a battle with it. Every blessing you're 0:18:14.080 --> 0:18:16.800 asking God for, kids, get ready to yell at them 0:18:17.280 --> 0:18:18.280 about everything. 0:18:18.600 --> 0:18:19.879 Am I right about it? 0:18:20.720 --> 0:18:25.080 Because when God wants to bring a blessing into your life, 0:18:25.160 --> 0:18:31.399 guess what he uses a person? When the enemy wants 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:34.000 to block a blessing from your life, guess what he 0:18:34.119 --> 0:18:39.480 uses a person? And isn't it interesting that the same 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:42.400 thing that God will use to bless you a person 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:45.439 is the thing that the enemy will use to block 0:18:45.480 --> 0:18:50.280 you a person. The reason I wanted to preach this 0:18:50.359 --> 0:18:55.199 message and call it this is bigger than them is 0:18:55.240 --> 0:18:57.520 because I believe some of us get right up to 0:18:57.600 --> 0:18:59.760 the point, like the children of Israel got up to 0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:02.320 the point where God was bringing them into a promise. 0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:03.320 You get right up to. 0:19:03.240 --> 0:19:04.640 The point where God is doing something in your life. 0:19:04.640 --> 0:19:05.760 You get right up to the point where God is 0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:08.159 fulfilling what he has purpose concerning you. 0:19:08.040 --> 0:19:08.919 You get right up to. 0:19:08.920 --> 0:19:12.200 The point of of then, it's not the end, it's 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:14.960 then and and and and and. 0:19:14.840 --> 0:19:17.520 What what stops you? A lot of times? Watch this. 0:19:18.000 --> 0:19:25.280 We're gonna just change one letter, change the letter them, 0:19:25.320 --> 0:19:32.720 So somebody in here has some relational conflict. Did you 0:19:32.760 --> 0:19:35.960 see how they said that whoa? 0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:37.240 That was like a. 0:19:37.280 --> 0:19:44.119 Sixth note, whoa, run whoa? Because while we're shouting about 0:19:44.160 --> 0:19:48.040 then it would be easy to get to then if 0:19:48.080 --> 0:19:53.040 it wasn't for them. Look at me as sanctimonious as 0:19:53.040 --> 0:19:56.680 you please. But there is a them in your life 0:19:56.760 --> 0:20:01.480 right now that you are asking God to change. And 0:20:01.600 --> 0:20:04.400 my message last week was you can change the end, 0:20:04.960 --> 0:20:11.280 But my message is you can't change them. 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:13.680 So it lets me know am I preaching good? Yet? 0:20:14.600 --> 0:20:17.159 It lets me know that when God brings me to 0:20:17.680 --> 0:20:20.280 a then moment in my life, when God is doing 0:20:20.320 --> 0:20:22.480 a new thing in my life. When God is calling 0:20:22.480 --> 0:20:24.520 me to conquer, when God is calling me to go forth, 0:20:24.640 --> 0:20:27.760 when God is calling me to change, there will always 0:20:27.840 --> 0:20:32.320 be a VIM when I'm on the brink of a Then, 0:20:32.359 --> 0:20:34.320 now let's get away from wordplay for just a moment 0:20:34.520 --> 0:20:37.200 and use an example. A few years ago, I was 0:20:37.359 --> 0:20:39.840 coming home from church and my kids were in the 0:20:39.880 --> 0:20:43.880 back seat acting crazy. I've told you this story before. 0:20:43.960 --> 0:20:46.639 Let's see if you remember it. They were acting so 0:20:46.920 --> 0:20:49.800 crazy in the back seat of the car, and I'm 0:20:49.800 --> 0:20:53.160 telling you, at this exact moment, I was burned out. 0:20:54.520 --> 0:20:57.240 I was burned out back then. I used to preach 0:20:57.320 --> 0:21:01.680 three times every weekend. Was it was just awful. When 0:21:01.680 --> 0:21:03.640 I would get done, I would feel like I had 0:21:03.760 --> 0:21:07.560 gargled razor blades as I was preaching. My throat was sore, 0:21:07.920 --> 0:21:10.840 my head was hurting, and the kids were screaming in 0:21:10.880 --> 0:21:11.480 the back seat. 0:21:11.680 --> 0:21:13.320 Now, remember what I just told you. 0:21:13.520 --> 0:21:16.400 When God wants to bring a blessing into your life, 0:21:16.520 --> 0:21:19.040 he'll use a person. My kids are my greatest blessing 0:21:19.119 --> 0:21:21.640 other than Holly, and then when and then God used 0:21:21.680 --> 0:21:24.120 her to bring them, so it's all connected. But when 0:21:24.160 --> 0:21:26.840 God wants to bring a blessing into your life. He 0:21:26.880 --> 0:21:29.199 brings it through a person. When the enemy wants to 0:21:29.240 --> 0:21:31.720 block a blessing in your life, he blocks it through 0:21:31.720 --> 0:21:34.719 a person. At that exact moment, those kids were blocking 0:21:34.720 --> 0:21:37.520 my blessing, and not only blocking my blessing, but making 0:21:37.560 --> 0:21:39.520 me lose my absolute mind. I'm gonna get back to 0:21:39.560 --> 0:21:40.720 Caleb in a minute, but let me tell you about 0:21:40.720 --> 0:21:41.960 me for a minute. Let me tell you how different 0:21:41.960 --> 0:21:43.440 I am from Caleb. Let me tell you how much 0:21:43.440 --> 0:21:45.320 I did not want to preach this passage because I 0:21:45.320 --> 0:21:47.320 so often do the opposite. Last week I told you 0:21:47.359 --> 0:21:48.960 about a fight almost gotten in a movie parking lot, 0:21:49.000 --> 0:21:50.080 and this week I'm going to tell you about the 0:21:50.080 --> 0:21:52.480 time that Holly was driving me home from church on 0:21:52.600 --> 0:21:54.960 Providence Road and the kids were screaming so loud in 0:21:54.960 --> 0:21:56.720 the back, and I was so through, I was so done, 0:21:56.800 --> 0:21:58.639 I was so capable of homicide at that moment. 0:21:58.720 --> 0:21:59.920 I was so afraid of what I was going to 0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:01.800 say next if they didn't shut up, because I asked 0:22:01.840 --> 0:22:02.800 them to shut up three times. 0:22:02.840 --> 0:22:04.760 I'd asked them to be quiet. I didn't pray for him, 0:22:04.840 --> 0:22:06.600 I didn't read a scripture to him. I said shut 0:22:06.680 --> 0:22:08.760 up three times. They didn't shut up, I said. Holly 0:22:08.760 --> 0:22:10.600 stopped the car, and I did the only reasonable thing 0:22:10.640 --> 0:22:11.399 that I could think of to do. 0:22:11.440 --> 0:22:13.159 I got out the car. 0:22:14.000 --> 0:22:15.399 Now here's the good part of the story. 0:22:15.400 --> 0:22:16.960 Here's the good part of the story. Are you ready. 0:22:17.960 --> 0:22:21.160 I'm walking down Providence Road and we're still a mile 0:22:21.200 --> 0:22:22.359 and a half from the house. 0:22:22.520 --> 0:22:24.120 I didn't think this all the way through. 0:22:25.680 --> 0:22:30.240 And not only is the thought of like, not only 0:22:30.320 --> 0:22:33.000 is the thought of what example this is setting for 0:22:33.080 --> 0:22:33.600 my kids? 0:22:34.359 --> 0:22:37.880 But I'm also wondering what if people are driving home. 0:22:37.800 --> 0:22:39.680 From church and they see me walking down the road 0:22:39.760 --> 0:22:45.080 right now, looking like a hitchhiker. And I'm walking thinking 0:22:45.119 --> 0:22:49.560 these things. I know you remember this, And all of 0:22:49.600 --> 0:22:52.440 a sudden, I see Holly's car come back around. Now 0:22:52.440 --> 0:22:55.280 she had already drove off when I got out. She 0:22:55.359 --> 0:22:59.240 drove off, but then she came back. Now, now she 0:22:59.400 --> 0:23:04.920 came back. And I'm still not ready yet, I'm still 0:23:04.920 --> 0:23:09.399 not ready to face them again. But when she turned 0:23:09.400 --> 0:23:11.520 the car around and I opened the door, and I 0:23:11.560 --> 0:23:13.159 was getting ready to tell her I can't get back in. 0:23:13.520 --> 0:23:15.080 I'm just I can't deal. 0:23:14.920 --> 0:23:18.600 With this right now, I noticed that she was the 0:23:18.640 --> 0:23:21.640 only one in the car. 0:23:23.560 --> 0:23:28.920 It was just her. So I got in. 0:23:31.320 --> 0:23:33.639 And she looked at me and said something I'll never forget. 0:23:33.680 --> 0:23:35.560 She said, you know, I drove off that it didn't 0:23:35.560 --> 0:23:39.119 feel right. And I got halfway to the house and 0:23:39.280 --> 0:23:43.560 I had this thought, Wait a minute, you don't get 0:23:43.600 --> 0:23:52.399 out they do. Ain't that good did not choose a 0:23:52.440 --> 0:23:58.720 good wife? Isn't that a proverb? Thirty one woman? You 0:23:58.880 --> 0:24:04.200 don't get out, they do. I had this thing backwards. 0:24:05.000 --> 0:24:08.800 I bought the car, I put the gas in the car. 0:24:09.240 --> 0:24:13.080 I'm feeding your lunch. I'm the one who preach. Y'all 0:24:13.119 --> 0:24:17.720 has contributed nothing. You can walk, get some exercise, Call 0:24:17.760 --> 0:24:21.800 the cops, call chop protective services. I don't care build 0:24:21.840 --> 0:24:22.800 your testimony. 0:24:23.080 --> 0:24:25.760 I stand by it. I'm getting back in. 0:24:26.320 --> 0:24:29.080 That's what Caleb said about those giants. 0:24:29.520 --> 0:24:33.760 That's my mountain, that's my land. I'm not leaving what 0:24:33.920 --> 0:24:38.920 God gave me. I'm not getting up. They are sto 0:24:39.040 --> 0:24:40.000 I feel like preaching. 0:24:41.119 --> 0:24:43.639 Give me a full ban b three shot, give me 0:24:43.680 --> 0:24:48.240 a unch, give me a flat seven, give me a four, 0:24:49.600 --> 0:24:57.679 give me a one. Celebrate on the one. I gotta 0:24:57.680 --> 0:25:03.440 get focus here because Caleb set something so powerful. He 0:25:04.359 --> 0:25:08.120 said in verse twelve, the Lord helping me. I will 0:25:08.240 --> 0:25:11.880 drive them out, just as he said. Notice who he's 0:25:11.960 --> 0:25:16.359 talking about. He is talking about the giants, the fortified giants, 0:25:16.640 --> 0:25:19.560 the giants that were too big for the previous generation. 0:25:20.160 --> 0:25:23.080 But he understands in this moment that the promise that 0:25:23.160 --> 0:25:26.639 God has made him is bigger than the inhabitants of 0:25:26.680 --> 0:25:29.080 the land that oppose him. And I just came to 0:25:29.160 --> 0:25:31.679 remind you what Romans eight thirty one says. 0:25:31.960 --> 0:25:34.120 If God is for us, if. 0:25:34.000 --> 0:25:37.080 God is on our side, if God has purposed it, 0:25:37.400 --> 0:25:40.040 if God gave you a word, if God gave you 0:25:40.119 --> 0:25:42.960 an assignment, if God gave you something to do in 0:25:43.000 --> 0:25:44.160 the earth, if. 0:25:44.080 --> 0:25:49.280 God promised, this is bigger than them. Say it. This 0:25:49.920 --> 0:25:54.320 is bigger than them. This is bigger than them. That's 0:25:54.359 --> 0:25:57.359 what Holly realized. Wait, we're the adults here, We're the 0:25:57.359 --> 0:25:59.440 grown ups here. They're the kids here. 0:25:59.560 --> 0:26:02.960 Here's what Caleb realizes, in a very very similar sense. 0:26:03.200 --> 0:26:06.639 He realizes, if it's either me possessing what. 0:26:06.520 --> 0:26:09.600 God has promised, or the people that are there saying, 0:26:10.040 --> 0:26:14.280 God will help me drive them out. But I thought 0:26:14.359 --> 0:26:17.160 about that moment in the car, and I. 0:26:17.119 --> 0:26:20.520 Realized was the real issue. Who was in the car 0:26:20.840 --> 0:26:22.639 or was the real issue. What was in me? 0:26:28.359 --> 0:26:31.080 Is it that they needed to get out. 0:26:32.000 --> 0:26:34.520 Or is there something that needed to get out of me. 0:26:36.960 --> 0:26:40.439 That would keep my full forty three year old self 0:26:40.680 --> 0:26:43.680 from getting out of a moving vehicle. The car wasn't 0:26:43.680 --> 0:26:45.879 even at a complete stop. I forgot to tell you 0:26:45.960 --> 0:26:50.840 that part. What was in me that made me? Everybody say, 0:26:50.960 --> 0:26:55.480 made me? I'm talking about belief. Now, they made me. 0:26:55.640 --> 0:26:58.440 Notice what Caleb said when he's describing it back to 0:26:58.560 --> 0:27:02.240 Joshua before he possesses the land. He said, in verse eight, please, 0:27:02.400 --> 0:27:05.560 verse eight, please, verse eight please, he said, the Israelites 0:27:05.560 --> 0:27:08.280 who went up with me made the hearts of the 0:27:08.320 --> 0:27:11.360 people melt in fear. Now, this is the most practical 0:27:11.400 --> 0:27:13.320 thing I want to tell you about this message today. 0:27:14.480 --> 0:27:17.120 Be very careful of made. 0:27:16.880 --> 0:27:24.520 Me language, made me language. So I say, this is 0:27:24.560 --> 0:27:27.800 bigger than them. He said, again, this is bigger than them. 0:27:29.800 --> 0:27:34.000 I know that my kid's behavior was not a big 0:27:34.080 --> 0:27:36.080 enough reason for me to get out of a moving vehicle. 0:27:37.240 --> 0:27:40.600 So whatever I'm dealing with that made me get out 0:27:40.640 --> 0:27:43.440 the car is not a ten year old. 0:27:44.920 --> 0:27:48.480 What made me behave that way? Their behavior? No, no, no, no, no, 0:27:49.040 --> 0:27:51.560 be careful of made me language? 0:27:52.080 --> 0:27:56.720 Now, Caleb, here, on one hand, sounds cocky and self righteous. 0:27:57.760 --> 0:27:59.199 But on the other hand, I just see a man 0:27:59.240 --> 0:28:04.680 who's choosing what chapter he wants to live in. Did 0:28:04.680 --> 0:28:06.639 you know you can choose what chapter you live in? 0:28:08.080 --> 0:28:10.680 You can? And I know this flies in the face 0:28:10.720 --> 0:28:14.000 of everything that we teach as faith, because when we 0:28:14.040 --> 0:28:16.760 teach faith, we teach that the results are in God's hand, 0:28:16.840 --> 0:28:22.240 and they are He's sovereign, But the response is in 0:28:22.320 --> 0:28:27.440 my hand. So Caleb shows it. Can I break it down? 0:28:28.359 --> 0:28:31.679 Can I break it down? Why am I asking you 0:28:31.720 --> 0:28:33.639 for permission? Why don't I just do it? But my 0:28:33.680 --> 0:28:36.639 fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts 0:28:36.680 --> 0:28:37.400 of the people. 0:28:37.520 --> 0:28:40.400 That's them, made the hearts of. 0:28:40.320 --> 0:28:44.720 The people melt in fear. I, however, that's me, followed 0:28:44.720 --> 0:28:48.480 the Lord, my God wholeheartedly. And the reason that Caleb 0:28:48.560 --> 0:28:50.640 was able to receive what God had for him is 0:28:50.680 --> 0:28:52.760 because he realized this is bigger than them. 0:28:54.680 --> 0:28:59.080 He realized that nobody can make me. God made me. 0:29:00.680 --> 0:29:03.280 And when God made me, he gave me the power 0:29:03.360 --> 0:29:07.280 to respond. How many of you have said something like 0:29:07.360 --> 0:29:12.280 this recently? They made me late. How many of you 0:29:12.320 --> 0:29:14.720 got behind a slow driver at some point this week, 0:29:14.840 --> 0:29:18.680 They're gonna make me late, right, Okay, that is one 0:29:18.680 --> 0:29:19.320 way to see it. 0:29:19.560 --> 0:29:20.640 They're gonna make you late. 0:29:20.960 --> 0:29:22.440 Another way to see it is that you did not 0:29:22.440 --> 0:29:24.960 build sufficient margin into your schedule to account for the 0:29:25.000 --> 0:29:27.080 fact that there is always a slow driver on some 0:29:27.240 --> 0:29:29.320 road somewhere on the way to work. So before you 0:29:29.400 --> 0:29:33.960 say they made you, realize that made me is dangerous language. 0:29:35.000 --> 0:29:35.920 They made me late? 0:29:36.000 --> 0:29:37.959 Did they make you hits News seven times? Did they 0:29:37.960 --> 0:29:40.000 make you do that too? Did they take your finger 0:29:40.040 --> 0:29:43.480 and go ah ah ah? No, I don't think so. 0:29:43.640 --> 0:29:45.400 And I know it's silly, but I'm trying to give 0:29:45.440 --> 0:29:49.240 you a picture. When you are using made me language, 0:29:49.280 --> 0:29:51.480 it is the opposite of agency. 0:29:51.520 --> 0:29:53.560 It is the opposite of being. 0:29:53.400 --> 0:29:56.760 Able to move according to God's purpose. Here's another one, 0:29:57.000 --> 0:29:59.120 like me with the kids in the car. They made 0:29:59.160 --> 0:30:03.840 me so mad that I got out the car. They 0:30:03.840 --> 0:30:07.440 didn't make you so mad, you got you are so 0:30:07.760 --> 0:30:14.720 crazy and watch this. You were so burned out that 0:30:14.840 --> 0:30:17.120 their behavior triggered. 0:30:16.680 --> 0:30:18.640 Your exhausted emotional response. 0:30:19.520 --> 0:30:21.920 But just because they triggered it doesn't mean you had 0:30:21.920 --> 0:30:27.560 to choose it. Okay, I'm going to preach till I 0:30:27.640 --> 0:30:30.200 lose every single amen, and then I'll know that this 0:30:30.280 --> 0:30:34.720 message is heading home because when you say they made me, 0:30:35.520 --> 0:30:39.400 they made me hate them, they didn't make you hate them. 0:30:39.840 --> 0:30:40.680 Here's what I learned. 0:30:41.320 --> 0:30:44.560 There will always be events in our life that we 0:30:44.600 --> 0:30:48.320 can't control. But within every event that we can't control 0:30:48.440 --> 0:30:55.600 is a decision that we can Within every event that 0:30:55.640 --> 0:31:00.320 I can't control is a decision that I can. Could 0:31:00.320 --> 0:31:04.160 not heal my dad, she could not pray him to 0:31:04.200 --> 0:31:07.920 better health, but she forgave him back into the home, 0:31:08.360 --> 0:31:11.400 so that even though the result isn't what we wanted, 0:31:11.440 --> 0:31:12.760 the response was one that. 0:31:12.720 --> 0:31:13.680 We can be thankful for. 0:31:14.680 --> 0:31:18.960 That's what I'm trying to say. Somebody say, this is 0:31:19.000 --> 0:31:24.840 bigger than them. Everybody in here has them right now. 0:31:24.480 --> 0:31:28.600 Just like Caleb, he said, I will drive them out. 0:31:28.680 --> 0:31:31.960 That represents the enemies. But before he could even deal 0:31:32.760 --> 0:31:36.240 with them, he had to believe, believe that's the word 0:31:36.240 --> 0:31:39.040 of the Lord. To believe that what. 0:31:39.040 --> 0:31:42.320 God has spoken over my life is greater than what 0:31:42.480 --> 0:31:45.080 any person can prevent. I wrote it down this way 0:31:45.120 --> 0:31:48.400 in my office yesterday. No person can prevent what God 0:31:48.440 --> 0:31:52.400 has truly promised. No person can prevent what God has 0:31:52.400 --> 0:31:56.960 truly promised. People can definitely mess with your mind. People 0:31:56.960 --> 0:32:00.640 can definitely push your buttons, but they cannot prevent promise. 0:32:01.080 --> 0:32:03.760 If people could prevent a promise, God would not have 0:32:03.800 --> 0:32:07.760 sent ten plagues to tell Pharaoh when I say, let 0:32:07.840 --> 0:32:11.280 my people go, when I stretch forth my mighty hand 0:32:11.520 --> 0:32:14.400 and I came to preach to somebody today, it's bigger 0:32:14.440 --> 0:32:17.520 than them. The God that you serve is bigger than them. 0:32:17.840 --> 0:32:20.600 You don't have to get in this blame game. More 0:32:20.640 --> 0:32:24.240 people have been blocked from blessings by blame than any 0:32:24.320 --> 0:32:27.520 other contributing factor I can name. In fact, at one 0:32:27.600 --> 0:32:29.960 point in my life I was praying. I was saying, God, 0:32:29.960 --> 0:32:32.000 I need a breakthrough in this area. I need a 0:32:32.040 --> 0:32:34.920 breakthrough in this area. I need a breakthrough. But while 0:32:34.960 --> 0:32:38.320 I was praying for breakthrough, I was also blaming somebody 0:32:38.560 --> 0:32:41.280 and the Lord's folks. So clearly to me, you cannot 0:32:41.280 --> 0:32:44.280 claim breakthrough if you cling to blame. Not at the 0:32:44.320 --> 0:32:47.840 same time, because think about a church. 0:32:48.120 --> 0:32:50.320 Think about what Caleb could have said. 0:32:50.480 --> 0:32:53.080 Think about what Caleb would have said if he had 0:32:53.080 --> 0:32:56.360 not believed that God's purpose prevails, if he had not 0:32:56.480 --> 0:32:59.240 believed that God could still do it, if he had 0:32:59.280 --> 0:33:02.000 not believed that no weapon formed against me can prosper 0:33:02.320 --> 0:33:04.600 that if he had not believed that God brought me 0:33:04.640 --> 0:33:08.800 to this point not to leave me. Look what he said, Ah, I, however, 0:33:09.160 --> 0:33:15.200 followed the Lord, my God wholeheartedly. Now you can call 0:33:15.240 --> 0:33:18.600 it bragging if you want to. But when I heard 0:33:18.640 --> 0:33:23.680 Caleb say that, I saw something different. He said verse eight, 0:33:24.040 --> 0:33:27.760 my fellow Israelites, they made the hearts of the people 0:33:27.840 --> 0:33:32.000 meld in fear. I, however, followed my God. 0:33:32.720 --> 0:33:38.840 That's agency. Did you see it? Okay? Tried another way 0:33:40.480 --> 0:33:41.040 he's saying. 0:33:41.480 --> 0:33:46.080 In a sense, he's saying, what I have been through 0:33:46.120 --> 0:33:52.880 can't stop God from blessing me, and what others didn't 0:33:52.920 --> 0:33:53.800 do can't. 0:33:53.560 --> 0:33:54.760 Stop God from blessing me. 0:33:54.800 --> 0:33:56.840 Because I'm gonna tell you two things you can't control. Ready, 0:33:56.840 --> 0:34:01.880 write them down. The future and others. Neither one of 0:34:01.880 --> 0:34:07.480 those are in your control, but your decision to live 0:34:07.560 --> 0:34:10.080 by conviction in this season of your life. 0:34:10.120 --> 0:34:11.040 Who am I talking to? 0:34:11.600 --> 0:34:15.280 Your decision to say it is not going to get 0:34:15.440 --> 0:34:20.920 in me. Because if Caleb had lived through that wilderness experience, 0:34:21.320 --> 0:34:24.319 thirty eight years in the wilderness, seven years of. 0:34:24.320 --> 0:34:26.240 Conquest for the promised land. 0:34:26.239 --> 0:34:29.840 He said, I was forty years Old verse seven, when Moses, 0:34:29.920 --> 0:34:33.160 the servant of the Lord, sent me to explore the land, 0:34:33.400 --> 0:34:36.640 and I brought him back a report according to my convictions. 0:34:36.680 --> 0:34:38.600 But it died by committee. 0:34:38.920 --> 0:34:41.680 All of those fies died of a plague, all of 0:34:41.719 --> 0:34:45.360 those people over twenty died in the wilderness, but not Caleb. 0:34:45.400 --> 0:34:48.560 Look what he said, my fellow Israelites made the hearts 0:34:48.560 --> 0:34:52.160 of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord, 0:34:52.239 --> 0:34:53.359 my God, wholeheartedly. 0:34:54.640 --> 0:34:58.919 That's powerful and the verse ten. 0:35:00.440 --> 0:35:03.799 Now, then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept 0:35:03.800 --> 0:35:09.759 me alive for forty five years thirty eight in the wilderness. 0:35:10.280 --> 0:35:12.319 Eight of taking the promised land, or seven of taking 0:35:12.360 --> 0:35:15.320 the promised land, and still a mountain on his mind. 0:35:17.600 --> 0:35:19.919 I thought about calling the message. I got my mind 0:35:19.960 --> 0:35:21.360 on my mountain and my mountain on my mind, But 0:35:21.360 --> 0:35:28.120 I didn't want to confuse the authorship. But really that 0:35:28.360 --> 0:35:31.400 would preach, wasn't that? Because all the time he was 0:35:31.520 --> 0:35:36.680 moving through the wilderness, his mind was on his mountain. 0:35:38.920 --> 0:35:43.040 How do you keep your mountain on your mind when 0:35:43.040 --> 0:35:48.600 you are surrounded by wilderness conditions? How do you keep 0:35:49.239 --> 0:35:52.160 a better tomorrow on your mind when all. 0:35:52.040 --> 0:35:53.800 You can feel is the pressure of today. 0:35:55.640 --> 0:35:57.960 I thought what Caleb said was cocky, but then I 0:35:58.040 --> 0:36:00.640 realized what he could have said. Now, let's say that 0:36:00.719 --> 0:36:03.839 he was like you and me sometimes and he said, now, 0:36:03.880 --> 0:36:08.680 then the Lord verse ten has made me wait for 0:36:08.680 --> 0:36:12.719 forty five years. He could have said that, but he 0:36:12.760 --> 0:36:17.680 didn't see it that way. What a perspective when a 0:36:17.760 --> 0:36:23.440 person just decides that I trust that God is sovereign 0:36:23.480 --> 0:36:28.440 over my life. And that includes the timing. That includes 0:36:28.480 --> 0:36:31.680 what he allows others to do. That includes what he 0:36:31.719 --> 0:36:34.560 allows others not to do. That includes who shows up 0:36:34.560 --> 0:36:38.000 in my life. That includes who leaves my life. That 0:36:38.040 --> 0:36:40.480 includes the skills I have, the skills I don't have. 0:36:40.840 --> 0:36:45.640 Stop being so insecure about it. God will keep you alive. 0:36:46.120 --> 0:36:49.120 God will bring you into your promise. God will bring 0:36:49.160 --> 0:36:51.960 you into your destiny. God will open the door no 0:36:52.040 --> 0:36:54.120 man can shut, and shut doors. 0:36:53.800 --> 0:36:54.960 That nobody can open. 0:36:57.600 --> 0:37:01.040 Because Caleb said God kept me alone live. Now, he 0:37:01.080 --> 0:37:03.880 could have complained. He could have been bitter about it. 0:37:03.920 --> 0:37:05.640 That's the second thing I want to talk to you about. 0:37:05.840 --> 0:37:08.640 I want to talk to you about bitterness. Imagine if 0:37:08.680 --> 0:37:11.840 Caleb had gone through the wilderness for thirty eight years, 0:37:12.120 --> 0:37:15.400 replaying all of the bad decisions that others made to 0:37:15.400 --> 0:37:18.520 put him in this place. Imagine if Caleb had gone 0:37:18.560 --> 0:37:22.120 through the wilderness just getting more and more bitter, he 0:37:22.160 --> 0:37:26.480 would have never been able to say what he said in. 0:37:26.520 --> 0:37:30.200 Verse eleven, I'm still strong and see. 0:37:30.400 --> 0:37:33.360 The reason he was still strong enough for what God 0:37:33.400 --> 0:37:36.600 had next for him was because of what he said 0:37:36.640 --> 0:37:40.239 to himself when he was in the wilderness, and because 0:37:40.360 --> 0:37:43.520 he did not get bitter in the wilderness. I'm preaching 0:37:43.600 --> 0:37:47.160 to somebody today, you're getting bitter in the wilderness. You 0:37:47.239 --> 0:37:51.280 are allowing the isolation of this season to dominate your mind. 0:37:51.600 --> 0:37:53.480 I don't know who you are, but I see you 0:37:53.600 --> 0:37:56.880 just walking around the wilderness, and you keep blaming people, 0:37:57.160 --> 0:38:00.080 and you keep getting bitter about people, and every day 0:38:00.080 --> 0:38:03.040 that goes by, you're getting more and more mad about them. 0:38:03.239 --> 0:38:05.640 I wouldn't be in this dead if it wasn't for them. 0:38:05.880 --> 0:38:08.319 I wouldn't be in this dungeon if it wasn't for them. 0:38:08.520 --> 0:38:11.080 I wouldn't even be in this situation if it wasn't 0:38:11.120 --> 0:38:14.160 for them. But I came with a reminder that this 0:38:14.960 --> 0:38:17.000 is bigger than them. 0:38:17.320 --> 0:38:19.040 I said, this is. 0:38:19.080 --> 0:38:24.000 Bigger than them, three people giving praise. This is bigger 0:38:24.800 --> 0:38:29.200 than them, thirty people give in praise. This is bigger 0:38:30.160 --> 0:38:33.920 than them. And for every them that you could blame, 0:38:34.520 --> 0:38:36.359 I know a hamn you could praise if. 0:38:36.280 --> 0:38:37.600 You decided to today. 0:38:38.520 --> 0:38:41.320 Because the other way to say it is, he kept 0:38:41.360 --> 0:38:45.839 me alive forty five years. He kept me and let 0:38:45.960 --> 0:38:52.520 me through a very thirsty place. He kept me hot 0:38:52.600 --> 0:38:54.360 five your neighbors say, he kept me. 0:38:55.400 --> 0:38:56.120 He kept me. 0:38:56.520 --> 0:38:59.120 I went through some barren places, but he kept me. 0:38:59.600 --> 0:39:01.640 There was no water, but he made it come out 0:39:01.640 --> 0:39:04.759 of a rock. He kept me. There was no way, 0:39:04.800 --> 0:39:05.720 but he made away. 0:39:06.080 --> 0:39:06.759 He kept me. 0:39:07.120 --> 0:39:10.200 I was walking through a wilderness by my shoes. Never 0:39:10.280 --> 0:39:12.640 wore out, my clothes, never wore out. 0:39:13.040 --> 0:39:13.840 He kipt me. 0:39:14.400 --> 0:39:20.080 He kept me, He kept me, He kept me. And 0:39:20.239 --> 0:39:23.560 you keep focusing on who left you, But how about 0:39:23.600 --> 0:39:25.480 the God who kept. 0:39:25.200 --> 0:39:27.560 You through the night, who kept. 0:39:27.280 --> 0:39:34.439 You through the tile, who kept you through the adversity. 0:39:36.200 --> 0:39:37.320 I'm preaching too hard. 0:39:38.840 --> 0:39:41.560 I'm preaching to try to get you to see that 0:39:41.719 --> 0:39:45.960 if God is for you, who can be against you? 0:39:46.400 --> 0:39:50.879 This is bigger than them. 0:39:50.920 --> 0:39:56.560 But but, but the biggest battle that Caleb won was 0:39:56.680 --> 0:40:01.280 not against the enemies that inhabited Canaan. It was against 0:40:01.320 --> 0:40:08.120 the bitterness that could have inhabited him. Goodbye, everybody. 0:40:09.280 --> 0:40:10.920 Come back next week. I'll tell you what to do 0:40:10.960 --> 0:40:12.080 about this bitterness. 0:40:12.560 --> 0:40:15.719 It's the bitterness that blocks your blessing. It's the bitterness 0:40:15.719 --> 0:40:17.120 that blocks your creativity. 0:40:17.440 --> 0:40:20.360 Is feeling unappreciated, that wasn't fair. 0:40:20.560 --> 0:40:22.600 It might not be fair, But God. 0:40:22.360 --> 0:40:24.400 Has favor that is bigger than unfair. 0:40:24.560 --> 0:40:25.520 So the favor of. 0:40:25.440 --> 0:40:28.720 God will cancel out what was unfair. This is bigger 0:40:28.760 --> 0:40:30.560 than them. This is bigger than what. 0:40:30.560 --> 0:40:31.239 They could give you. 0:40:31.480 --> 0:40:33.680 This is bigger than what you could predict. This is 0:40:33.680 --> 0:40:35.799 bigger than how you could nap out your life. But 0:40:35.920 --> 0:40:40.120 if the bitterness had gotten into Caleb, the blessing would 0:40:40.160 --> 0:40:45.839 have never happened. So you have to choose now, bitterness 0:40:46.680 --> 0:40:52.680 or blessing. Because the Bible says in verse thirteen, then 0:40:53.760 --> 0:40:59.640 Joshua blessed Caleb, and he gave him the mountain, and 0:40:59.719 --> 0:41:02.200 he gave him the inheritance. And it would not be 0:41:02.320 --> 0:41:07.040 investment free, but it was his. But we would never 0:41:07.560 --> 0:41:08.960 get to them. 0:41:10.239 --> 0:41:10.920 But the verse of. 0:41:13.960 --> 0:41:20.120 If he had to become bitter because of them, there 0:41:20.120 --> 0:41:26.440 are seasons in your life where your insecurity has caused 0:41:26.440 --> 0:41:36.759 you to invent enemies that did not exist. That was 0:41:36.840 --> 0:41:39.520 the whole reason Moses never got to go into the 0:41:39.560 --> 0:41:45.759 Promised Land, because he was more focused on them than him. 0:41:45.920 --> 0:41:46.759 And that is the. 0:41:46.680 --> 0:41:50.840 Whole reason you keep giving your purity way to somebody, 0:41:50.920 --> 0:41:54.680 some pervert that's beneath you, because your focus is on. 0:41:54.920 --> 0:42:01.200 Them, not him. Who cares what they say? They didn't 0:42:01.480 --> 0:42:05.600 make me. They don't have the final say. 0:42:05.920 --> 0:42:09.520 And I will move it away from a temptation aspect 0:42:09.760 --> 0:42:13.200 and ask you the question, why do you keep inventing 0:42:14.000 --> 0:42:21.120 enemies because you will not deal with the insecurity. 0:42:23.040 --> 0:42:25.239 The whole reason Moses could not. 0:42:25.239 --> 0:42:28.480 Go into the Promised Land was because of his insecurity. 0:42:28.480 --> 0:42:29.759 Do you remember the first thing he said to God? 0:42:29.880 --> 0:42:30.359 Who am I? 0:42:31.920 --> 0:42:32.680 That I should go? 0:42:32.920 --> 0:42:35.120 It doesn't matter who you are, It matters who he. 0:42:35.120 --> 0:42:38.040 Is and what He's given you to do. This is 0:42:38.080 --> 0:42:38.759 bigger than him. 0:42:38.840 --> 0:42:41.200 Everybody who's raising a child and you don't feel like 0:42:41.280 --> 0:42:44.400 you know what you're doing, wave at me. Okay, is 0:42:44.520 --> 0:42:46.480 God's kid before it's your kid? 0:42:48.560 --> 0:42:51.800 So this is bigger than them. This is bigger than them. 0:42:51.719 --> 0:42:53.879 This is bigger than you, This is bigger than both 0:42:53.880 --> 0:42:56.920 of the y'all put together. God wants you to trust him. 0:42:58.200 --> 0:43:00.160 How many of you are moving into a season of 0:43:00.239 --> 0:43:04.000 your life where you have never felt more uncertain about 0:43:04.000 --> 0:43:10.040 your own competence. Do not miss getting your grapes because 0:43:10.080 --> 0:43:14.360 you see yourself as a grasshopper. I take this reference 0:43:14.440 --> 0:43:18.040 directly from Numbers, chapter thirteen. When the people of God 0:43:18.080 --> 0:43:20.920 could have gone into the land, they were carrying grapes 0:43:20.920 --> 0:43:22.719 on their shoulder, big grapes. 0:43:22.960 --> 0:43:24.000 Cluster of grapes. 0:43:24.200 --> 0:43:26.720 Took two of them to carry one poll. I believe 0:43:26.719 --> 0:43:29.400 it was Joshua and Caleb. I believe that's why Caleb 0:43:29.480 --> 0:43:32.080 came back to his great carrying partner when he said, 0:43:32.080 --> 0:43:35.640 it's time. It's time I survived the wilderness, and it's 0:43:35.680 --> 0:43:38.560 time I didn't die in the desert, and it's time. 0:43:38.719 --> 0:43:41.920 I'm still ready. I'm still strong, I didn't get bitter. 0:43:42.120 --> 0:43:44.680 And Caleb comes to Joshua and says, it's time for 0:43:44.719 --> 0:43:46.560 me to be blessed. But you know, they could have 0:43:46.640 --> 0:43:51.000 had the same blessing a generation earlier if they had 0:43:51.080 --> 0:43:56.600 seen themselves correctly, if they had seen themselves as blessed, 0:43:57.960 --> 0:44:00.400 they would have realized that there is no better that 0:44:00.520 --> 0:44:05.480 is too big for God. But instead they said in 0:44:05.560 --> 0:44:10.799 verse thirty one, we saw the Nephilom there, and we 0:44:10.840 --> 0:44:15.759 can't attack those people. We can't attack them. They are 0:44:15.800 --> 0:44:18.200 stronger than we are. Go back one verse before, please, Oh, 0:44:18.200 --> 0:44:22.520 you're gonna love this. Caleb silenced the people. Then Caleb 0:44:22.680 --> 0:44:28.560 silenced the people. Then forty five years earlier, he silenced 0:44:28.560 --> 0:44:30.200 the people, and he said, we should go up and 0:44:30.200 --> 0:44:31.040 take possession of the land. 0:44:31.080 --> 0:44:31.920 We can certainly do it. 0:44:31.960 --> 0:44:35.120 But the people said, we can't attack those people. 0:44:35.120 --> 0:44:36.120 They're stronger than we are. 0:44:37.080 --> 0:44:39.880 Next verse, and they spread among the Israel it's a 0:44:39.880 --> 0:44:41.880 bad report about the land they had explored. They said, 0:44:42.000 --> 0:44:45.759 the land we explored devours those living in it. All 0:44:45.800 --> 0:44:50.560 the people we saw there, they're big, They're of great size. 0:44:50.800 --> 0:44:51.440 Verse thirty three. 0:44:51.480 --> 0:44:52.319 We saw the nephil there. 0:44:52.360 --> 0:44:54.280 The sins they not come from the Nephilim. We seem 0:44:54.400 --> 0:44:59.400 like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the 0:44:59.480 --> 0:45:05.439 same to them. But what you fail to realize, man, 0:45:06.480 --> 0:45:11.040 is this is bigger than them. God promised you that land. 0:45:11.520 --> 0:45:16.560 God promised you freedom. God promised you tomorrow. God promised 0:45:16.600 --> 0:45:19.160 you a hope in the future. God promised you to 0:45:19.200 --> 0:45:20.680 break the generational curse. 0:45:21.080 --> 0:45:22.800 God promised you total freedom. 0:45:23.200 --> 0:45:28.440 God promised you righteousness, God promised you peace, God promised. 0:45:27.960 --> 0:45:30.120 You joy in the Holy Spirit. 0:45:30.640 --> 0:45:33.600 And I came with a reminder today that this is 0:45:33.680 --> 0:45:41.160 bigger than them. This is bigger than them. And if 0:45:41.160 --> 0:45:43.560 you can make it through this wilderness season of your 0:45:43.600 --> 0:45:48.880 life and not get bitter and not be insecure about 0:45:48.880 --> 0:45:53.120 what you don't have, God can take somebody who feels 0:45:53.120 --> 0:45:55.080 like a grasshopper and feed him something that looks like 0:45:55.120 --> 0:45:58.680 a grape. Now I'm telling you what I know about 0:45:59.480 --> 0:46:01.680 because every time I've done something in this church that 0:46:01.719 --> 0:46:04.520 seemed unusual, there was always somebody who said I couldn't 0:46:04.560 --> 0:46:08.759 do it. But it wasn't up to them, because it's. 0:46:08.680 --> 0:46:12.600 Bigger than them. This is bigger than them. 0:46:12.680 --> 0:46:15.359 Now, I'm coming up here for a reason because there 0:46:15.360 --> 0:46:17.719 are so many people in this church who do not 0:46:17.840 --> 0:46:21.000 look alike. In fact, there are people in this church 0:46:21.200 --> 0:46:23.080 who if they ever talk to one another, they get 0:46:23.080 --> 0:46:23.680 in a fist fight. 0:46:23.840 --> 0:46:24.359 That's all right. 0:46:25.360 --> 0:46:28.360 There are people in this church whose backgrounds are so different. 0:46:28.600 --> 0:46:31.360 Any educational background you want to mention is in this church. 0:46:31.640 --> 0:46:34.080 There are doctors in this church who hear every word 0:46:34.120 --> 0:46:37.640 that I mispronounce. People with PhDs and my grammar drives 0:46:37.680 --> 0:46:38.240 them crazy. 0:46:38.280 --> 0:46:39.120 But they come anyway. 0:46:39.560 --> 0:46:41.400 There are people in this church who can't even. 0:46:41.320 --> 0:46:42.839 Read, but they come to church and. 0:46:42.760 --> 0:46:45.160 God speaks to them anyway, because God is bigger than 0:46:45.160 --> 0:46:46.160 a reading disability. 0:46:46.360 --> 0:46:47.399 Now, I'm trying to think something. 0:46:47.920 --> 0:46:49.880 When I started this church, I said I want to 0:46:49.920 --> 0:46:52.680 have a church that is non traditional, but we preach 0:46:52.760 --> 0:46:54.239 the Word. And there was somebody who said, you can't 0:46:54.239 --> 0:46:56.279 do both. You can't reach lost people and. 0:46:56.239 --> 0:46:56.919 Preach the word. 0:46:57.239 --> 0:46:59.279 I already preached half the Bible today and I didn't 0:46:59.280 --> 0:47:01.400 see anybody walk out. And there are some people in 0:47:01.400 --> 0:47:03.080 here who already know the story and some people never 0:47:03.160 --> 0:47:07.600 heard it. But see, God is bigger than them. There 0:47:07.600 --> 0:47:10.319 have been people through the years that criticized us for 0:47:10.440 --> 0:47:14.600 being a church that would dare watch this, dare to 0:47:14.640 --> 0:47:17.880 not make political statements but be more oriented around the 0:47:17.920 --> 0:47:20.640 Cross of Christ than by a cultural position that is 0:47:20.680 --> 0:47:23.960 already so prevalent that it's divide in this country right 0:47:24.040 --> 0:47:27.480 down the middle. But this is bigger than them, because 0:47:27.480 --> 0:47:30.320 God did not call me to reach one subset of people. 0:47:30.600 --> 0:47:33.120 That's what I'm trying to say. This is bigger than them. 0:47:33.920 --> 0:47:36.279 One pastor took me out to lunch when I was 0:47:36.280 --> 0:47:38.799 first getting started. I said, we would really be in 0:47:38.840 --> 0:47:41.920 My heart is to have a church that is incredibly diverse. 0:47:42.000 --> 0:47:43.680 He said, what do you mean diverse? Do you mean 0:47:43.719 --> 0:47:45.360 like black people and white people together? 0:47:45.560 --> 0:47:46.120 I said yeah. 0:47:46.120 --> 0:47:47.600 He said, you better not go to Charlotte if you 0:47:47.600 --> 0:47:49.920 want to start a church like that, because Charlotte is 0:47:49.920 --> 0:47:52.600 too divided for a church like that. If you wanted 0:47:52.600 --> 0:47:54.759 a church that had black people and white people and 0:47:54.800 --> 0:47:57.600 people from all different backgrounds, there is no way that 0:47:57.760 --> 0:47:59.560 you can break through racism in Charlotte. 0:47:59.560 --> 0:48:01.279 I don't care how good your heart is. I don't 0:48:01.280 --> 0:48:03.839 care how much you pray. I've tried it before. 0:48:03.840 --> 0:48:06.040 I'm payment a pastor for thirty years, and they were 0:48:06.080 --> 0:48:08.080 telling me that they couldn't happen. But this is bigger 0:48:08.120 --> 0:48:10.160 than them, because if you look around you today, you 0:48:10.239 --> 0:48:13.000 will see very different types of people. 0:48:13.360 --> 0:48:14.799 And I just want to remind you. 0:48:15.239 --> 0:48:18.120 If God put something in your heart and they said 0:48:18.160 --> 0:48:21.960 it can never happen, you goll In Caleb, You're gone 0:48:22.000 --> 0:48:26.240 in eighty five years old. You're going in with a cain. 0:48:26.680 --> 0:48:30.880 You're going in with a suspended driver's license, You're going 0:48:31.040 --> 0:48:33.239 in on your second marriage. 0:48:33.440 --> 0:48:35.960 You're gone in and do what. 0:48:36.160 --> 0:48:44.120 God of you to do. Because this hot by fifteen 0:48:44.160 --> 0:48:50.480 people say, this is bigger than them. I tell myself 0:48:50.520 --> 0:48:54.000 when I preach, these cameras are putting me out all 0:48:54.040 --> 0:48:56.319 over the world. Now I'm back where they don't have 0:48:56.400 --> 0:49:00.239 any cameras. But I'm telling you that this service it's 0:49:00.280 --> 0:49:03.920 going out beyond this room. Because when God speaks, it 0:49:03.920 --> 0:49:07.320 has no limit. When God steaks, it has no border. 0:49:07.760 --> 0:49:12.120 I don't care how they diagnosed you. God's destiny does 0:49:12.200 --> 0:49:19.400 not consult man's diagnosis. This is bigger than them. This 0:49:19.560 --> 0:49:23.359 is bigger than them. This is bigger than fear. This 0:49:23.440 --> 0:49:26.640 is bigger than my past. This is bigger than shame. 0:49:27.280 --> 0:49:30.160 This is bigger than the nay sayer. This is bigger 0:49:30.200 --> 0:49:35.279 than the critic. It is bigger than. 0:49:33.760 --> 0:49:37.400 The stand up. 0:49:37.480 --> 0:49:42.920 I'm done. This is bigger than them. This is bigger 0:49:43.400 --> 0:49:47.440 than there. This is bigger than them. I dare you 0:49:47.520 --> 0:49:49.120 to let a person get in the way of what 0:49:49.239 --> 0:49:53.040 God promised you. This is bigger than them. 0:49:53.080 --> 0:49:55.000 And God's sacred God said to. 0:49:55.040 --> 0:49:59.960 Klab because you made a decision not to be defied 0:50:00.160 --> 0:50:06.439 by an event verse nine Joshua fourteen. This land where 0:50:06.480 --> 0:50:11.000 you put your feet, it's bigger than you. It will 0:50:11.000 --> 0:50:12.760 be your inheritancy. 0:50:12.719 --> 0:50:18.719 And that of your children forever. What we can never understand. Oh, 0:50:18.719 --> 0:50:26.439 I'm almost done, I'm almost done. I'm almost done. 0:50:28.760 --> 0:50:33.080 But when you are in the middle of event, you 0:50:33.120 --> 0:50:38.239 don't know what's on the other side of it. And 0:50:38.360 --> 0:50:41.799 there are no blessings that don't come with battles. But 0:50:41.880 --> 0:50:46.520 I promise you, I promise you that this battle that 0:50:46.560 --> 0:50:49.680 you're fighting right now, there is a blessing on the 0:50:49.719 --> 0:50:56.960 other side of it. Oh, Jesus said, pour you out 0:50:56.960 --> 0:50:59.240 a blessing that you won't have room enough to a seat. 0:51:00.080 --> 0:51:05.959 What did he say, press down, shaken together and running over? 0:51:06.760 --> 0:51:09.359 Because this is going to be bigger than your capacity. 0:51:09.719 --> 0:51:12.040 So you've got to grow your faith right now. What 0:51:12.120 --> 0:51:16.720 if God meets the need another way? This is bigger 0:51:16.719 --> 0:51:16.960 than that. 0:51:19.080 --> 0:51:21.359 Father, As your word has gone forth. 0:51:21.160 --> 0:51:25.560 Today, as your promise has been reinforced from the pages 0:51:25.600 --> 0:51:29.680 of your scripture, as your spirit has borne witness with 0:51:29.920 --> 0:51:33.600 our spirit that we are the children of God, I 0:51:33.760 --> 0:51:37.520 believe by faith that you have been doing an uprooting 0:51:37.560 --> 0:51:43.120 work in someone's heart. I thank you that, like Caleb, 0:51:45.000 --> 0:51:49.160 you are capable of blessing us on the other side 0:51:49.160 --> 0:51:52.480 of our wilderness. Father, you instructed me before I even 0:51:52.560 --> 0:51:56.920 hit this pulpit today to pray for the person whose 0:51:56.960 --> 0:52:03.640 bitterness is blocking out their blessings. You showed me clearly 0:52:04.680 --> 0:52:06.279 that if they don't get rid of that, if they 0:52:06.320 --> 0:52:09.200 don't get it out of them, they're going to keep 0:52:09.280 --> 0:52:13.040 responding the wrong way and blaming you for the result. 0:52:14.480 --> 0:52:19.360 Father, Today we come before you, like Caleb came before Joshua. 0:52:20.520 --> 0:52:22.120 We thank you that you've kept us alive. 0:52:23.680 --> 0:52:26.000 We thank you that our inheritance is not dependent on 0:52:26.040 --> 0:52:28.400 our obedience, but the obedience of Jesus. 0:52:29.760 --> 0:52:32.000 We thank you that he who gave his son for 0:52:32.120 --> 0:52:34.840 us will also freely give us all good. 0:52:34.680 --> 0:52:39.080 Things as an inheritance. So now, as an act of faith, 0:52:39.120 --> 0:52:40.120 we just want to take our. 0:52:40.040 --> 0:52:46.560 Hands and open them. Open them, just like this. 0:52:46.680 --> 0:52:49.920 Everybody in the house, do it, everybody watching online by yourself, 0:52:49.960 --> 0:52:56.200 do it. Open them, And whoever disappointed you in your life, 0:52:56.280 --> 0:53:03.279 release them so that you can receive him. Because this 0:53:03.400 --> 0:53:06.760 is bigger than them, This. 0:53:06.680 --> 0:53:07.880 Is bigger than them. 0:53:08.400 --> 0:53:11.840 God's Book to Abraham, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, all of 0:53:11.880 --> 0:53:14.239 these generations, all the way to Moses, all the way 0:53:14.280 --> 0:53:17.320 to Joshua, all the way to Caleb, all the way 0:53:17.400 --> 0:53:21.759 to you today. This is bigger than them, and I 0:53:21.760 --> 0:53:23.640 think of the story that you're writing in our lives. 0:53:23.680 --> 0:53:23.919 Lord. 0:53:24.000 --> 0:53:25.680 But I thank you also that the pin does not 0:53:25.760 --> 0:53:28.319 belong to the enemy, I said, I thank you that 0:53:28.400 --> 0:53:35.120 the pin does not belong to the enemy. 0:53:38.480 --> 0:53:41.040 Hey, I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and if you did, 0:53:41.600 --> 0:53:44.200 make sure to share it and subscribe so we can 0:53:44.239 --> 0:53:46.839 get you all of these new messages as soon as 0:53:46.840 --> 0:53:49.640 they're available. I also want to take a moment and 0:53:49.719 --> 0:53:51.480 thank all of you who are a part of Elevation. 0:53:52.000 --> 0:53:55.319 Whether you support us financially, or serve with us, or 0:53:55.760 --> 0:53:58.440 just share these messages, it's because of you that we're 0:53:58.480 --> 0:54:01.400 able to reach people all around the world. And if 0:54:01.440 --> 0:54:03.920 you want more information on how to be a part 0:54:03.960 --> 0:54:07.879 of Elevation, click the link in the description. Thanks again 0:54:07.920 --> 0:54:10.880 for listening. Make sure to leave a review, share the message, 0:54:10.920 --> 0:54:11.680 and subscribe. 0:54:12.040 --> 0:54:12.680 God bless you.