Sharing good news of great joy to all people.
Elation Church. Now the series is called Faith
Act. Faith Act. Everybody say Faith Act. And
I'll tell you what that picture has to do with
it. You think that baby can pick up that dumbbell
that weighs 300 pounds? How would that baby feel
if somebody big and strong walked up behind it
and just started picking up that bar? Like, yeah!
That's the way it'd feel. Look at the person
beside you and say, that's you. That's you. God
wants your hands on the bar so that he's going
to pick it up, right? It'll make more sense in
the next. Five to 15 weeks. It'll make a lot
more sense. I'm going to talk about faith. And
if you've been around Elation Church, you've
heard us talk about faith. And faith is important,
right? Ephesians 2 .8. I mean, actually, faith
is of ultimate importance because we're saved
by grace. Everybody say by grace. Through faith.
So if we are in Christ today, if we are born
again, if we are children of God, we came to
him with faith. That's the entry point, right?
Now we come to him based on what he's done. Everybody
say grace. Grace is God's acts of kindness and
favor towards you. That you didn't work for,
you didn't earn, you didn't deserve. I mean,
none of us deserved for Jesus to step down out
of the throne room of eternity and put on flesh,
live a perfect life, and then willingly lay down
His life and die for us on the cross. There's
not a person in this room who deserved that.
It was a demonstration of God's great love for
us, right? But just because Jesus did that, it
doesn't mean that everybody is now a child of
God. It doesn't mean that. It means that everybody
has the opportunity to be a child of God, but
we have to connect to God's grace with our faith.
I talk about that a lot, but it's easy to see
in salvation, isn't it? Hello? Nobody shook their
head. It's easy to see when it comes to salvation,
right? That we have to connect to God with our
faith. We have to believe that God loved us so
much that he laid down his life for us and died
in our place for our sin. We have to believe
that. We have to confess our sin to him. We have
to call on him as our Lord. We give ourselves
to him, right? That's our faith act in salvation.
And without that faith act, we're not in Christ.
There has to be that faith act attaching to God's
acts of kindness and favor towards us. Now, I
want you to look at the person beside you and
say, it works the same way. Everything else,
the Bible's filled with promises. That Jesus
has earned and worked for and deserved when he
came to this earth. And then now the Bible is
filled with promises. And his resurrection stamped
those promises as these are real promises. And
we can only have these promises come to fruition
in our lives when we attach to them by faith.
Just because there's a promise doesn't mean it's
going to be fulfilled. I have to attach to it
with my faith, just like salvation. Now, I haven't
known this my whole life. So there were a lot
of times when I was like, well, God, you promised
this, but I don't see it happening. And God's
like, well, you didn't attach your faith to it.
That's why it's not happening. But we live in
a world where nobody wants to take any responsibility
about anything, don't we? It's got to be your
parents' fault. It's got to be your ex's fault.
It's got to be, you know, your kid's fault. It's
got to be somebody's fault, your spouse's fault,
somebody's fault, but never me. It's got to be
God's fault. Hello? But we have to attach. To
His promises with our faith act to receive His
grace gifts. That's a lot. Let's keep going.
Let's keep going. Galatians 3 .11 says this,
No one is justified by the law. What does that
mean? No one is right with God by keeping a set
of rules. I've got something else to say. I'm
just letting that sit there a minute. No one
is justified by the law in the sight of God.
That's evident. For the just, those who have
been justified, those who have been made right
with God, are living by faith. Everybody say
faith. So we connect to justification and salvation
and righteousness. We connect to that with our
faith. 2 Corinthians 5, 7 says this, we walk
by faith. That means every aspect of our life.
That's what that word walk means. Everything
in the sphere of our life is done by faith, not
by sight. Not by sight. So if we're in Christ,
we're supposed to walk by faith. We're supposed
to live. By faith. Everything. Every day that
we encounter, faith needs to be part of it. Because
we're living our lives walking with God. We're
not just coming to visit Him for an hour and
a half on Sunday. No. It's life. Somebody smile.
Look at the person beside you and say, you need
to listen faster than you're listening because
any time we go over, it's because you were listening
slow and not listening. Because I'll just keep
saying it a hundred different ways until I think
you get it. 1 John 5, 4. This is just an introduction,
by the way. For every child of God who is a child
of God, who has come to Him by faith, received
His gift of eternal life, every child of God
defeats this evil world. My question is, does
that look like your daily experience? If not,
we have a faith problem. Every child of God defeats
this evil world and we achieve this victory.
How? Through our faith. Hebrews 11, 6. Does anybody
want to please God today or this week? Well,
guess what? It is impossible to please God without
faith. Hello? Anyone who wants to come to Him
must believe that God exists. He rewards those
who sincerely seek Him. Do you believe that God
exists? Everybody's quick on that one. Do you
believe that He rewards those who sincerely seek
Him? I didn't write this. I'm just reading it.
So if I was you, I'd believe it. So if we are
saved, through faith, if we're supposed to live
and walk by faith, if we can only experience
the victorious Christian life through our faith,
if we can only please God by our faith, then
faith must be pretty important. Three of you
are shaking your head. So, how does faith work?
Where does it come from? What is my response?
How does that look? I just talked to you about
it when it comes to salvation. Let's talk about
it when it comes to do with everything that we're
engaged in in our life. It says this, so then
faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word
of God. See, we don't just have faith in faith.
I mean, you can go to the trinket shop and buy
all these little plaques that say faith and hope
and love. But our faith is not in faith. Our
faith is in what God has said and what God is
saying. This isn't just talking about written
Word of God. It's talking about divine utterance.
Supernatural utterance. See, the Bible gives
us a whole lot of black and white about how to
live our lives and how to respond. Hey, the Bible's
filled with that, but the Bible don't necessarily
tell you where to work, who to marry, who to
date. Right? So we've got to be led by the Holy
Spirit of God who is in us. Are you with me?
If you don't know what I'm talking about, go
to YouTube and look at our series on spirit -led
that we did last year. Because we have to be
led by the Holy Spirit. Our body, when we're
in Christ, our body is the temple of the Holy
Spirit. God is alive on the inside of us. Not
just to give us warm fuzzies, even though that's
cool. Has anybody ever got warm fuzzies? Because
God's inside of you. Anybody know what I'm talking
about? It's not just the warm fuzzies. It's for
life. How would you like to always be able to
talk to someone who actually knows everything
about everything? Would anybody like some of
that advice? That's the Holy Spirit. That's the
Holy Spirit. He wants to lead you and guide you.
I mean, I can't tell you how many years I was
a Christian and didn't even understand that or
even have any concept of that because I just
thought it was about going to church on Sunday
and then doing the best I can the rest of the
week. Now, you might not have grown up like that,
but I'm just telling you how I grew up. Even
preaching. Hello? Even preaching. That's all
I had. Give God all I can on Sunday morning and
then just figure it out the best I can. Listen.
God is... God didn't stop speaking when he wrote
a book. But I'm going to give you a warning.
When God speaks, it's going to be in agreement.
With the written word of God. That's our foundation.
To know God's word and to discern. Everybody
say discern. Discern the voice of God. Because
there's a whole lot of things that can pop in
your mind that are not the Holy Spirit talking
to you. Do I need to give you examples or are
you good? One time I had a preacher tell me that
God told him that him and his wife needed to
separate from ministry. And I looked at him and
I said, oh, okay. So if God's telling you and
your wife to separate, to devote yourselves more
to ministry, that means that you'll never get
married again, right? Oh, no. We can get married
again to somebody else. And I looked at him and
I said, you know, I'm going to go ahead and tell
you this. God did not tell you to separate from
your wife. He puffed up. I mean, we were sitting
there with him and his wife, Gannon and I were.
Jeffrey was up playing with their two daughters.
And I said, God didn't tell you that. And boy,
he bowed up in me. I said, you want me to tell
you why God didn't tell you that? Because if
he did, he would have to rewrite a lot of the
Bible. He said, I think you need to leave now.
I said, if that's what you want, I'm just telling
you, God, you're not listening to God. Because
there was no even biblical grounds for anything.
It's just come to find out he was having an affair.
Because I caught him in Myrtle Beach. He was
from Charleston. I caught him in Myrtle Beach
with another woman not long after that. Somebody
say, uh -oh. Uh -oh. But you want some good news?
They couldn't afford to get a divorce. And their
parents called me and, you know, I'm just like,
good for you for not giving them the money to
get a divorce. Guess what? They're still together
today, pastoring a church in Anderson, South
Carolina. Everything is wonderful. They're working
together in ministry. They made it through. Hallelujah.
And if he was standing here today, he would say,
you know what? God didn't tell me to do that.
That's just what my flesh wanted to do and I
decided to put God's name on it. Hmm. See how
that works out for you. Faith comes by hearing
and hearing by the Word of God. Y 'all don't
need another example, do you? I got all kinds
of examples. But we got a lot to cover. Look
at the person beside you and say, listen fast.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word
of God. Hey, the Holy Spirit is speaking to us.
The Word of God is guiding us. We've got to hear
from God before we can say that we're standing
in faith. First step. Everybody say first step.
First step of faith is hearing a divine utterance
from God, knowing that this is what God says.
Okay? Let's keep going. Hebrews 11 .1. It's our
definition of faith in the Bible, just straight
up. I didn't write it. Here you go. Faith is
the confidence. Everybody say confidence. That
what we hope for, everybody say hope. Now, when
the Bible talks about hope, the Greek word is
elpo, and it means, you know, just you believe
it, you know it, you're expecting it to such
a point that you're already happy about it before
you see it. That's what the word means. It don't
mean hope so. It don't mean like shake dice and
roll, ooh, hope. Maybe needs a new pair of shoes
or whatever. I mean, that's not what it's talking
about. It's not hope so hope. It's a confident
expectation that you're going to see the goodness
of God and you're going to see the promises of
God revealed in your life. Somebody smile. I'm
about to get happy. It's a pitiful preacher that
can't preach himself happy. Faith is the confidence
that what we hope for will actually happen. It
gives us assurance. Everybody say assurance.
It gives us assurance about the things that we
cannot see. Because we're walking by faith and
not by sight. We're not walking by what we see.
Second step of faith is wholeheartedly believing
and having confidence in what God has said. And
you can't just hear it. And you can't just say,
well, you know, maybe, maybe not. No, you've
got to wholeheartedly believe what God has said
and have confidence in His Word, just like salvation,
right? I believed it. I have confidence that
I am a child of God, that I'm born again, that
I'm on my way to heaven, that I represent the
kingdom of God in this world. Hey, I've got confidence
in that. I don't wake up tomorrow morning and
say, well, I don't know if I'm saved or not.
Hello? Y 'all got to smile. Y 'all got to help
me. Somebody help me. Y 'all are thinking way
too hard. James 2 .26 Faith without works is
dead. Everybody say corresponding action. Because
when you hear and when you believe, let me tell
you something, you can hear, you can believe,
you can have confidence, but if there's never
a corresponding action, it's not complete. It's
not complete. You can hear and believe all you
want to and not receive the promise of God in
your life because, You didn't follow through
with the corresponding action. So the third step
of faith is acting. Everybody say acting. Acting
and obedience. The same Holy Spirit that gave
you that Word, that empowered the written Word
of God, where you can take it and say, it's mine,
because the Holy Spirit takes the things of God
and makes them real and reality in our lives.
That's what He does. That's what He is doing
and wants to do. But He's going to tell you something
to do in response to what you have heard and
what you believe. Sometimes those responses are
written in black and white in the Word and we're
trying to hold on to some kind of promise and
we haven't done our part of it yet. We haven't
acted in it yet. That's why this is called Faith
Act. We're going to focus on the acting part.
Not just the hearing part. Not just the good
note -taking part at church. Not just... Not
just the listening to it over and over again
to get it in your soul where you actually believe
it and have confidence in it, but we're talking
about the acting part. Everybody say acting part.
Here we go. We're going to Exodus 13 through.
Okay. This is where God's people have been slaves
in Egypt for 430 years. And we went through all
the plagues and all the different things. They
were released to go worship God in the wilderness.
They were actually going to the promised land.
Everybody say the promised land. God's great
promise for them. He had already given it to
them. He gave it to Abraham. Now he's like, now
you're going to get it in a good way. Because
I've been told now you're going to get it in
a bad way so many times. I had to clarify that
growing up. You're going to get it when you get
home. No, this is a good getting it. So they've
left Egypt. They go up to the Red Sea. In Exodus
13, 3, it says, this is a day to remember forever.
Everybody say remember. The day you left Egypt,
the place of your slavery, today the Lord has
brought you out by the power of His mighty hand.
They've seen the power of God. They've seen the
work of God. Now they experience freedom. They're
no longer slaves in Egypt, and they're experiencing
freedom, and they walk up to the Red Sea, and
guess what happens next? All of a sudden, a dust
cloud comes over the horizon behind them. Listen,
God's people left Egypt. They left Egypt celebrating.
I mean, they were free. I don't know if you've
ever read this or not, but God told them to go
ask the Egyptians for gold and silver and clothes
and all this stuff. I mean, they were loaded
up with gold and silver and everything they needed.
Hello? Get this. There's at least 1 .4 million
people. That's the most conservative estimate
that I can come up with. Some theologians say
as many as 4 to 6 million. So we're really backing
up to say 1 .4 million. There were 600 ,000 strong
men that were... Within like fighting range.
Age. Okay. Warrior kind of men. Even though they've
been slaves. So there were 600 ,000 of them.
That's not counting the women. That's not counting
the children. That's not counting the people
above that age. At least 1 .4 million. And guess
what? Every single one of them was strong and
healthy. There was not a single person feeble
among them. That in itself is a miracle. Hello?
Because sometimes if I've been sitting too long
and I get up, you might say the preacher's a
little feeble, you know, from three back surgeries
and all kind of stuff. Not a single one of them
were feeble. That'd be a time to celebrate, right?
You're free, you're rich, you're healthy and
strong. They were celebrating. Look what God
has done. All of a sudden, they see a dust cloud
on the horizon. And they hear horses and chariots
and a bunch of noise and there's dust. Right
in the middle of their celebration, here comes
the dust. You know what? They lost their victory
in one second. Somebody say, oh me. Because we're
not just talking about them. We're talking about
us too. How many times are we just walking in
the victory of what God has just done and then
a little dust cloud comes and then it's like,
oh no. What am I going to do? How am I going
to make it? What's happening? Oh, I'm going to
fail. Y 'all are thinking way too hard. Exodus
14 .10. As Pharaoh approached, The people of
Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the
Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to
the Lord, and they didn't cry out in faith. They
cried out in whining and complaining and just
lost it. One dust cloud, they immediately lost
their victory. Here's what they began to say
to Moses. Why did you bring us out here to die
in the wilderness? Weren't there enough graves
for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why
did you make us leave Egypt? I mean, just straight
out of their celebration, this is where they
went. Didn't we tell you this would happen while
we were still in Egypt? We said, leave us alone.
Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. They've been
praying for 400 years to not be slaves to the
Egyptians. It's better to be a slave in Egypt
than a corpse in the wilderness. Hello? Here's
the deal. If you think God has brought you here
to kill you, you don't know who God is. I'm saying
that to them and I'm saying that to you. If you
think that God, you've walked with God to this
point in your life and God just brought you here
to hurt you, to take from you, to kill still
and destroy you, You don't know God. You need
to get to know God. Because you don't know Him.
If you think He's brought you this far to take
you out. And I'll stand on that. God's a good
God. Jesus said that He came to give us life
and that we would have it to the fullest. I'm
not going into all that again. It's not talking
about stuff, even though God's not against stuff.
It's talking about life and hope and peace and
joy. Jesus came so that we could live that. He
said the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy.
Some people think that God has come to kill,
steal, and destroy, but they don't know God.
Just like these people. they didn't really know
him if they're saying that he's brought them
out here to kill them. And here's what we've
got to deal with. Our sight is real. Everybody
say, sight is real. I mean, they look back, they
saw the dust, they saw the chariots, they saw
Pharaoh's army, probably the greatest army on
the face of the earth at this time. What they
were seeing was real. It was not an illusion.
What you see, The things that you see in this
fallen, broken world that are headed your way,
that you're dealing with, it's real. What you
see is real. Their fear was real. Their fear
was real. Are you with me? The feelings that
they resulted, that resulted from what they were
seeing, Those feelings, it's like, they were
real. They were real. So we're not supposed to
deny that what we see is real, or what we fear
is real, or our feelings being real or not. We're
not supposed to just completely deny that. Like,
oh, that don't exist. Because it's real. Everybody
says it's real. Even though it's real. If we're
going to be people of faith, we can't be overwhelmed.
Can't be overwhelmed by what we see, by our feelings,
by our fear. We can't be overwhelmed. Now that's
what the story that we just read, that's the
picture that we're seeing. They're overwhelmed
by what they see, by what they fear, by what
they feel. And they yielded to that. And it threw
them, listen to me, it threw them into a loop
of fear -based words, of failure -based words,
of doubt -based words, of death -based words.
Is that a faith act? Some of you aren't sure.
Some of you aren't sure. Well, let's let God
answer it, because I didn't write it. 1 Timothy
6 .12 tells us this, to fight the good fight
of faith. See, faith is fighting. It's fighting.
When we are overwhelmed by what we see, by the
fear that's coming on us, by the feelings that
are overtaking us, we've got to fight. Somebody
say fight. We've got to fight. These people weren't
fighting. They were yielding and succumbing to
it. We've got to fight. Fight a good fight of
faith. How does that look? 2 Corinthians 10 and
5 tells us to bring every thought into captivity
to the obedience of Christ. So if what we see
brings thoughts, negative thoughts, thoughts
that are a result of our fear and our feelings,
you know what? We've got to bring those thoughts
into captivity because God has told us something.
God's told us something. And you might say, I
can't. I can't do it. Yes, you can. Yes, you
can. I want everybody to say this with me. My
mind is my mind. I don't have to think about.
Is everybody saying it? I don't have to think
about. I don't have to dwell on. Go ahead and
say it. Every thought. That pops into my head.
I can take them captive. You know why? Because
God's going to help me take them captive. If
y 'all could only see your faces right now, you'd
be smiling with me. Your mind is your mind. You
don't have to dwell on every thought that pops
into your mind. If it's going to take you into
some kind of loop of where you're just talking
failure and defeat and fear and all this, quit
thinking it. Quit. Take that thought captive.
Everybody say, smack it down. Smack it down.
And take hold of what God has said. Think on
that. Think about that. Think about what God
has said about the situation that you're going
through right now. Think about that. What I'm
telling you today will revolutionize your life.
But I can't make you do it. You have to want
to have victory. You have to want to have peace.
To the point that you're willing to fight for
it. Boy, I'm having fun. Everybody say this.
I'm in charge of my feelings. I have the power
to choose which ones I yield to. You do. All
feelings aren't bad. How many of you got some
good feels every once in a while? You got some
good feelings? Yeah. Well, choose to yield to
that. God talks about it. I mean, the kingdom
of God, I've said this the last several weeks,
the kingdom of God is not about rules. It's not
about what we eat or drink and acts. It tells
us the kingdom of God is about righteousness,
peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. We need to...
Have that feeling of confidence in what God has
done for us. We need to have that feeling of
peace because that's what Jesus has given us.
We need to have joy because the Holy Spirit is
in us. And there's no such thing as a sad, depressed
Holy Spirit. I'm about to start amening myself.
Hebrews 10 .23 Does it say let's hold on to our
fear -based words? Our sorrow -based words? Our
failure -based words? Is that the words that
we're supposed to hold on to? No, let us hold
fast the confession of our hope. Our hope is
our confident expectation that we're going to
see the goodness of God. Hold fast to what God
has said. Hey, when you see the dust cloud coming
over the hill, you say, boy, I've been seeing
my God do some amazing things in my life. And
you know what? I know that He didn't bring me
out here just to kill me and bury me in this
sand. I know that my God is going to see me through
because He made me a promise and I'm going to
the promised land. Boy, I don't normally get
this happy, but I like it when I do. Hold fast.
The confession of our hope without wavering.
For he who promised is faithful. Somebody say
God is faithful. Somebody say God keeps his promises.
He does. He does. That's a faith act. Everybody
say this. I take control of my mouth. Let's say
that again. I take control. of my mouth and speak
words in agreement with God with complete confidence
in His faithfulness. Hallelujah. Go back to the
story. Exodus 14, 13. Now we're going to see
God's response to them getting caught up in this
loop from their fear and their feelings and their
failure. They're just like, what are we going
to do? What are we going to do? Oh no, we're
going to die. Why did you bring us out here?
We didn't want to be out here. We'd rather be
slaves in Egypt than be in a corpse. You know,
they were in a loop. But then God's representative
said, don't be afraid. That's all in the Bible.
The Bible says in 2 Timothy 1 .7, is that where
it is? God hasn't given you a spirit of fear.
Anytime fear tries to overtake you, know that
it didn't come from God. Moses told the people,
faith acts. Don't be afraid. Everybody say, don't
be afraid. Next time you see something coming
over the horizon, And it looks like it's coming
to take you out. Don't be afraid. Stand still.
Has anybody ever been a parent of kids and it's
just like, there's just so much, you just say,
just be still a minute. Anybody know what I'm
talking about? You just need to be still a minute.
Stand still. What's this saying? Get out of this
loop. Just be still. Just be quiet. You know?
Your words aren't helping you. Your words are
hurting you. So just be still and watch. What
are we watching for? The goodness of God. Don't
be afraid. Stand still and watch the Lord rescue
you today. I mean, just think of all the miracles
that He had just done for them, and then now
they're in this fear loop. And then He's like,
don't be afraid. Stand still. Watch. I'm going
to do it again. The Egyptians you see today will
never be seen again. Listen, the Lord Himself
will fight for you. Faith act. Just stay calm.
Everybody say, stay calm. Everybody say, don't
be afraid. Stand still. Watch. Stay calm. Those
are faith acts. Then the Lord said to Moses,
this is where I got my title, even though I hadn't
talked about my title. Everybody say, quit crying
and move. The Lord said to Moses, why are you
crying out to me? Now, there's a difference between
crying out in faith, sometimes crying out in
faith. I mean, it's not like tear crying, like,
oh, pitiful me. Okay? There's a cry of faith.
It's a proclamation. A confident proclamation
can be called a cry. That's not the kind of cries
he's talking about. He said, why are you crying
out to me? Tell the people to get moving. Everybody
say faith act. I want to tell you something.
Don't get mad at me. Crying and begging will
never bring victory. It will never bring deliverance.
It will never bring breakthrough. It will never
bring salvation. Crying and begging. Oh, God,
please. I don't know if I can make it anymore.
I just need you to do something, God. We've all
done that. Doesn't move God. That's not faith.
Everybody say, not faith. That's not faith. Crying,
whining, begging. Those things don't move God.
Know what moves God? Say it louder so the people
in the back can hear you. Faith moves God. God's
a faith God. It's faith that pleases Him. We
just read all those verses. We've got to apply
them to our lives. It's faith. It's hearing.
It's believing. It's confidence. It's agreeing.
It's doing. That's how you're going to see results.
Not by begging. God said, quit crying and move.
And you might say, move where? Move where? Where
are we going to move? Well, you've got to get
moving. How many of you know it takes a little
while to get 1 .4 million people moving? It doesn't
happen just by a snap of the fingers. It takes
a little preparation, a little work to get 1
.4 to 6 million people moving all together. It
takes effort. Quit crying and move. Move where?
Go where? Get going. Where are we going? We got
the Red Sea here. We got the Egyptian army here.
Where are we going to go? Look at the person
beside you and say, where are we going to go?
Let's keep going. Verse 16. Pick up your staff.
Raise your hand over the sea. Everybody say faith
act. Say quit crying is a faith act. Get moving
is a faith act. Picking up your staff is a faith
act. Raising your hand over the sea is a faith
act. I mean, what's that going to do? Okay, so
I pick up a stick and I hold out my hand. It's
like that little baby on that dumbbell. What's
that going to do? Are you with me? Are you seeing
it? I want you to see it. It's like that little
baby holding that 300 -pound dumbbell. This baby
weighs, you know, 12 pounds. Pick up your staff,
raise your hand, divide the water so the Israelites
can walk through the middle of the sea on dry
ground. Somebody say, that don't make sense.
Don't make sense. What's that going to do? Listen,
here's what we're learning today. When God tells
you what to do, it's not time to pray. I'm not
against praying. But when God tells you to do
something, it's not time to have a prayer meeting.
Hello? Because sometimes when God tells us to
do something, I've got to pray about that. I
might have to spend a year praying about that
before I actually do that because that don't
make sense. When God tells you what to do, it's
not time to think about it and reason it and
say, well, how's that going to work? Because
a lot of times we want to try to figure out everything
in our mind, how it's going to work before we
act. Because we want to reason out if this is
something, just in case God doesn't show up,
because I'm not really expecting Him to, I've
got to just set my goal to what I can accomplish.
It's not time to overthink it. It's not time
to reason. It's not time to put out a post on
social media so that you can get everybody's
opinion. I thought that'd get more than two chuckles.
You know, I think God's asking me to do this.
What does 3 ,000 people that don't even know
God, what's their opinion? Because I need to
know if that makes sense or not. Depends on how
many likes I got on whether I'm going to do what
God told me to do or not because I hate to be
stepping out there. It's not time to do those
things. It's time to act. Everybody say, it's
time to act. It's time to act. When God tells
you what to do, it's time to act. Mark 11, 22.
Jesus said to the disciples, have faith. Everybody
say, have faith. In God. Everybody say, in God.
So what does this tell us? It's not all up to
God. A lot of people live their lives, que sera,
sera, whatever it will be, will be. It's just
whatever God has, you know. I'm just, whatever
God, if God wants to beat me up this week and
bless me next week, then that's just good because
it's all up to God. It ain't got nothing to do
with me. It's just all up to Him. This tragedy
that came into my life, you know, God brought
it to me for some kind of purpose. It's just
all up to God. Jesus said have faith in God.
Now, does God need your faith action for your
miracle to take place in your life? For your
victory to take place in your life? Does God
need your faith action to do it? Is God incapable
of doing it? Without your faith action. Remember
the picture. Does a muscle man picking up a 300
-pound dumbbell need that kid to hold on? Technically,
no. We're going to talk more about this in coming
weeks, but here's the deal. It's not all up to
God, but He's chosen to involve us. And here's
the deal. How can God do something in somebody
else's life when they're going through this situation,
and then somebody else is going through the same
situation, And God doesn't do the same thing
for them. I'm going to let you think on this
one all week. I'm going to let you chew on this
one. The difference is faith act. You can't ever
say that God is unfair. God is fair. God is just.
Hello? God is fair and God is just. So the outcomes
are the two different situations that look exactly
the same on the outside. I'm just going to toss
it up for you. Could it be a faith act and a
lack of a faith act? Think about it. Look to
the person beside you and say, think about it.
Think about it. Here's the deal. You can hear,
you can believe, you can speak in agreement with
God and still not receive if you don't act. If
you don't do what God told you to do. And you
know what? Sometimes what He tells you to do
seems so disconnected from what He's about to
do in your life. Really? Pick up a stick and
hold out your hand? Really? What's that going
to do? Well, it's an act of obedience in faith
to what God said. And then we see the Red Sea
split wide open. They walk across on dry land.
The Egyptian army is all drowned in the bottom
of the sea, never to be seen again. But without
the faith act that we looked at, it wouldn't
have happened. How do I know that? Because later,
when it's time to go into the promised land,
there was no faith act. Those same people that
God wanted to go to the promised land died in
the wilderness because of their lack of faith
and their unbelief. Well, I'm because God didn't
want them to go in. Are you with me? Well, I'm
because God didn't want them to go in. It's because
of a lack of faith, a lack of belief, and a lack
of acting and having confidence in what God had
told them. Oh, those giants. We can't have what
God said because we're reasoning it out now.
You know, we can't have it. Because they said
they couldn't have it, they didn't have it. God
will tell you to go here. God will tell you to
do that. God will tell you to give this. It might
seem unrelated to the work that He's about to
do in your life, but if you will obey Him in
faith, I'm telling you, you can confidently see
the goodness of God. This online worship experience
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