WEBVTT 00:00:01.419 --> 00:00:04.440 Sharing good news of great joy to all people. 00:00:04.860 --> 00:00:10.480 Elation Church. It's week number two in a series 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:14.199 that we began last week that I have entitled 00:00:14.199 --> 00:00:19.420 Faith Act. Everybody say Faith Act. See that 00:00:19.420 --> 00:00:21.420 little baby holding that dumbbell? It's like 00:00:21.420 --> 00:00:23.660 a 300 -pound dumbbell. You see that little baby? 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:27.260 That little baby's performing what I like to 00:00:27.260 --> 00:00:30.859 call a faith act. Right? How many of you know 00:00:30.859 --> 00:00:32.799 that baby can't pick up a 300 -pound dumbbell? 00:00:34.899 --> 00:00:38.119 Three of us, okay. Some of you think it's Super 00:00:38.119 --> 00:00:42.619 Baby, I guess. But how many of you know that 00:00:42.619 --> 00:00:46.200 if a weightlifter walked up behind that baby 00:00:46.200 --> 00:00:47.859 and picked up that dumbbell without that baby 00:00:47.859 --> 00:00:49.420 seeing it and all of a sudden it went up, how 00:00:49.420 --> 00:00:53.880 many of you think that baby would say, wow, wow? 00:00:56.039 --> 00:00:57.679 Look to the person beside you and say, hopefully 00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:02.100 that'll be you. Hopefully that'll be you. Hopefully 00:01:02.100 --> 00:01:06.120 that'll be you. So let's talk about faith a minute. 00:01:06.180 --> 00:01:08.840 We talk about faith here a lot at Elation Church, 00:01:09.019 --> 00:01:11.920 and we will continue to talk about faith here 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:14.819 a lot at Elation Church. The Bible says in Ephesians 00:01:14.819 --> 00:01:18.140 2 .8, it says, for by grace, everybody say grace. 00:01:19.079 --> 00:01:21.680 What is grace? You might say unmerited favor. 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:25.359 How many of you have that definition? It's unmerited 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:29.480 favor, but let's take it another step. It's actually 00:01:29.480 --> 00:01:33.599 God's grace is God's acts. Everybody say acts. 00:01:34.620 --> 00:01:41.379 God's acts of kindness and favor towards you. 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:45.340 And we can go ahead and add that we don't deserve 00:01:45.340 --> 00:01:49.519 it, right? And by we don't deserve it, we mean 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:52.040 we didn't work for it, we didn't earn it, we 00:01:52.040 --> 00:01:56.239 didn't pay for it. It's God's acts of kindness 00:01:56.239 --> 00:02:02.040 and favor. towards you and towards me. How many 00:02:02.040 --> 00:02:06.859 of you know God has done a lot of things to demonstrate 00:02:06.859 --> 00:02:11.280 his kindness and favor towards you and towards 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:16.460 me? I mean, salvation. Everybody say salvation. 00:02:17.800 --> 00:02:20.219 The only way that we are in Christ, the only 00:02:20.219 --> 00:02:22.060 way that we are born again, the only way that 00:02:22.060 --> 00:02:28.509 we are saved is because of what God did. Jesus 00:02:28.509 --> 00:02:31.349 coming down out of the eternal throne room to 00:02:31.349 --> 00:02:34.710 take on flesh and live a perfect life and then 00:02:34.710 --> 00:02:37.449 willingly lay down his life to die for your sin 00:02:37.449 --> 00:02:41.810 and my sin in our place. That's an act of kindness 00:02:41.810 --> 00:02:48.189 and favor towards us that we don't deserve. For 00:02:48.189 --> 00:02:52.229 by grace you have been saved. God's done a lot 00:02:52.229 --> 00:02:55.270 of great and wonderful acts of kindness and favor 00:02:55.270 --> 00:03:05.520 towards us. Everyone. But it says it's by God's 00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:07.919 acts of kindness and favor we have been saved 00:03:07.919 --> 00:03:12.099 through faith. Everybody say through faith. Just 00:03:12.099 --> 00:03:15.419 because Jesus died on the cross for sin doesn't 00:03:15.419 --> 00:03:18.879 mean that everyone is forgiven and everyone is 00:03:18.879 --> 00:03:29.960 going to heaven. Are you with me? It's only the 00:03:29.960 --> 00:03:35.759 people who reach out and take hold of what God 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:38.340 did in his acts of kindness and favor toward 00:03:38.340 --> 00:03:43.020 them, they reach out and take hold of that by 00:03:43.020 --> 00:03:50.000 faith. Everybody say faith. Right? If there has 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:52.259 been a time in your life before today where you 00:03:52.259 --> 00:03:54.520 realize that you were a sinner and you were separated 00:03:54.520 --> 00:03:59.080 from a holy God, If you have asked him to forgive 00:03:59.080 --> 00:04:02.039 you of your sin, if you have thanked him for 00:04:02.039 --> 00:04:04.460 dying on the cross for your sin, if you've called 00:04:04.460 --> 00:04:11.620 on the name of the Lord, then you're saved. Those 00:04:11.620 --> 00:04:18.160 are acts of faith. Everybody say acts. Acts of 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:22.019 faith. By grace you have been saved through faith. 00:04:23.139 --> 00:04:24.879 Look at the person beside you and say it takes 00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:36.660 a faith act. To be saved. Okay? Now, this may 00:04:36.660 --> 00:04:39.480 be a jump for some of you who've never been here 00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:44.379 or who aren't here much. How many of you know 00:04:44.379 --> 00:04:46.240 the Bible is filled with all kinds of wonderful 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:57.060 promises that are for us? They're for us. Hundreds. 00:05:00.300 --> 00:05:04.439 Just because those promises are available does 00:05:04.439 --> 00:05:07.439 not mean that they're going to be evidenced in 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:13.000 your life. Just like salvation, you have to reach 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:20.480 out by faith and receive them. You have to connect 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:26.079 to those promises by faith. Let's keep going. 00:05:26.740 --> 00:05:31.069 I lost half of you just then. Hang on. Galatians 00:05:31.069 --> 00:05:34.329 3 .11. No one is justified by the law in the 00:05:34.329 --> 00:05:37.649 sight of God. That's evident. That's evident. 00:05:38.670 --> 00:05:41.509 You can't be good enough to be right with God. 00:05:41.569 --> 00:05:45.250 You can't keep enough rules to be right with 00:05:45.250 --> 00:05:49.370 God. If you could, then Jesus died for nothing. 00:05:51.750 --> 00:05:54.829 No one's justified. No one's made right with 00:05:54.829 --> 00:05:57.730 God. No one is righteous because of what they 00:05:57.730 --> 00:06:05.339 did. or didn't do. It says the just, those who 00:06:05.339 --> 00:06:08.980 are right with God, those who have been justified, 00:06:09.300 --> 00:06:14.160 who God looks at them and says, you know, God 00:06:14.160 --> 00:06:19.480 receives us like we've never sinned at all. Has 00:06:19.480 --> 00:06:23.560 anybody ever heard that? Just as if. I'd never 00:06:23.560 --> 00:06:30.370 sinned, justified, just as if. The just shall 00:06:30.370 --> 00:06:37.069 live by faith. So not only are we saved by faith, 00:06:37.149 --> 00:06:42.509 we're supposed to live by faith. Live. Let's 00:06:42.509 --> 00:06:45.990 keep going. 2 Corinthians 5, 7 says this, we 00:06:45.990 --> 00:06:51.329 walk by faith. That word walk is the sphere of 00:06:51.329 --> 00:06:54.870 our lives. It's what it represents. It's not 00:06:54.870 --> 00:06:57.689 talking about physically walking, you know, like 00:06:57.689 --> 00:07:01.149 I'm walking right now. It's talking about our 00:07:01.149 --> 00:07:06.990 life. For our lives, we live our lives by faith, 00:07:07.009 --> 00:07:17.110 not by sight. Sounds simple, right? Sounds simple. 00:07:18.569 --> 00:07:27.170 Is it simple in practice? How many of us get 00:07:27.170 --> 00:07:30.550 caught up in what we see all the time and live 00:07:30.550 --> 00:07:34.089 our lives by what we see with our eyes, by what 00:07:34.089 --> 00:07:41.769 we feel with our feelings? Our lives are supposed 00:07:41.769 --> 00:07:44.089 to be lived by faith. When we're in Christ, we 00:07:44.089 --> 00:07:49.509 walk by faith and not by sight. Let's keep going. 00:07:49.730 --> 00:07:55.319 1 John 5, 4. Every child of God... How many people 00:07:55.319 --> 00:07:57.720 are in Christ today? You're a child of God. You've 00:07:57.720 --> 00:08:00.439 believed in Christ. You've asked Him to forgive 00:08:00.439 --> 00:08:02.199 you. You've surrendered your life to Him as your 00:08:02.199 --> 00:08:05.720 Lord. Every child of God defeats this evil world. 00:08:05.800 --> 00:08:12.040 Is that your experience? Are you living in victory 00:08:12.040 --> 00:08:20.279 every day? According to this verse, it's available. 00:08:22.379 --> 00:08:25.000 For every child of God defeats this evil world 00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:29.519 and we achieve this victory through our faith. 00:08:32.519 --> 00:08:37.620 If we're not experiencing the victorious Christian 00:08:37.620 --> 00:08:42.139 life day in and day out, it's not that God is 00:08:42.139 --> 00:08:52.330 holding out on us. It's because we're not connecting 00:08:52.330 --> 00:08:56.809 to what he has promised and what he has provided. 00:08:56.970 --> 00:09:02.149 We're not connecting to it by faith like we can, 00:09:02.309 --> 00:09:08.169 like is available for us. I did not write this. 00:09:10.149 --> 00:09:16.309 I'm just the messenger boy, okay? Does this say 00:09:16.309 --> 00:09:19.029 every once in a while those who are in Christ? 00:09:19.740 --> 00:09:23.600 Have a day of victory? Is that what the Bible 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:27.360 says? Is that what it says? Come on, somebody. 00:09:28.820 --> 00:09:31.259 It's like, well, maybe one out of ten will have 00:09:31.259 --> 00:09:37.200 a great victorious day. That's not what I read. 00:09:38.440 --> 00:09:42.240 It's not right. Right? See, this is a promise. 00:09:44.820 --> 00:09:49.759 This is a promise. Everybody say promise. God 00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:53.179 leads us, the Bible says, in triumphal procession. 00:09:53.440 --> 00:09:55.659 It's like we're supposed to live our lives in 00:09:55.659 --> 00:10:01.440 a victory parade. You might be sitting there, 00:10:01.539 --> 00:10:04.580 well, you must not live in this broken world. 00:10:04.679 --> 00:10:07.120 Yeah, I live in the broken world that you do, 00:10:07.220 --> 00:10:10.019 and everything doesn't always go my way, and 00:10:10.019 --> 00:10:13.159 sometimes it seems like it's all falling apart. 00:10:14.860 --> 00:10:18.440 And if I am focused on what I see and what I 00:10:18.440 --> 00:10:26.259 feel, I could be a very miserable person. I have 00:10:26.259 --> 00:10:29.000 the opportunity to be a very miserable person 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:33.580 almost every day. And I'm not the only one in 00:10:33.580 --> 00:10:37.580 the room. Because we all live in this same broken 00:10:37.580 --> 00:10:44.279 world. Here's the deal. Am I going to... Focus 00:10:44.279 --> 00:10:48.960 on what didn't go my way, what broke, what challenged. 00:10:49.059 --> 00:10:52.940 Am I going to focus on that? Or am I going to 00:10:52.940 --> 00:10:57.200 focus on my good God who's seen me through before 00:10:57.200 --> 00:11:01.179 and he's going to see me through again? I can 00:11:01.179 --> 00:11:05.980 live in victory in the middle of problems. I 00:11:05.980 --> 00:11:08.039 can live in peace in the middle of problems. 00:11:08.899 --> 00:11:11.580 I can have joy in the middle of my problems. 00:11:14.700 --> 00:11:18.919 If everything has to go my way for me to be filled 00:11:18.919 --> 00:11:21.700 with joy and filled with peace, then all I have 00:11:21.700 --> 00:11:27.019 is the world's joy and peace. Because anybody 00:11:27.019 --> 00:11:33.840 can experience that. Anybody. Hello. You're frowning 00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:35.340 at me now. You've got to quit frowning at me. 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:38.539 You've got to start smiling. I'm telling you, 00:11:38.600 --> 00:11:51.899 it's available. Do I always... Am I always setting 00:11:51.899 --> 00:11:53.940 my mind on the right thing, saying the right 00:11:53.940 --> 00:12:01.360 thing? No, I'm not always there. I'm just like 00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:06.899 you. Just like you. Have the same challenges, 00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:12.230 same feelings, same temptations. Might be different, 00:12:12.309 --> 00:12:17.470 but they're all temptations, right? So, but I'm 00:12:17.470 --> 00:12:23.990 telling you and I'm telling me, God's got more 00:12:23.990 --> 00:12:29.730 for us. God's got more for us. We achieve this 00:12:29.730 --> 00:12:32.049 victory, this victorious Christian life, we achieve 00:12:32.049 --> 00:12:35.169 it through our faith, not just faith in faith, 00:12:35.330 --> 00:12:38.539 but faith. connecting to God's promise, connecting 00:12:38.539 --> 00:12:41.659 to what God has done, connecting to God's grace. 00:12:43.059 --> 00:12:47.179 That's how we experience His victory. Hebrews 00:12:47.179 --> 00:12:50.759 11, 6, everybody say faith is important. You 00:12:50.759 --> 00:12:52.879 know why? Because the Bible says it's impossible 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:58.840 to please God without faith. Who wants to please 00:12:58.840 --> 00:13:02.799 God? Four people in the room want to please God. 00:13:03.860 --> 00:13:07.559 It's okay to... Raise your hand or smile or something. 00:13:07.720 --> 00:13:10.559 Who wants to please God? I want to please God. 00:13:12.779 --> 00:13:14.679 Well, without faith, I'm not going to please 00:13:14.679 --> 00:13:20.980 Him. So faith must be important. If we're saved 00:13:20.980 --> 00:13:23.220 through faith, we're supposed to live and walk 00:13:23.220 --> 00:13:26.179 by faith. If we can only experience victory through 00:13:26.179 --> 00:13:29.919 faith, if we can only please God by connecting 00:13:29.919 --> 00:13:36.490 to Him by faith, it's very important. And we've 00:13:36.490 --> 00:13:41.149 talked a lot about faith and what it is. Everybody 00:13:41.149 --> 00:13:44.409 say hearing. Faith comes by hearing and hearing 00:13:44.409 --> 00:13:46.289 by the word of God. We don't just have faith 00:13:46.289 --> 00:13:49.649 in faith. We have faith in what God has said. 00:13:49.929 --> 00:13:58.629 His divine utterance. Because, I mean, our secular 00:13:58.629 --> 00:14:00.870 world would talk about having, just have faith. 00:14:01.549 --> 00:14:06.269 Little faith, little pixie dust. Right? Hello? 00:14:08.850 --> 00:14:11.509 You can have all the faith and faith and pixie 00:14:11.509 --> 00:14:13.970 dust that you want to, but there's no substance. 00:14:16.990 --> 00:14:21.590 There's no substance to that. Everybody say substance. 00:14:25.350 --> 00:14:29.309 You need to connect your faith to substance, 00:14:29.490 --> 00:14:36.769 to God, who is more than able. Everybody say, 00:14:36.830 --> 00:14:41.629 God is able. God is able. He is almighty, all 00:14:41.629 --> 00:14:45.909 -powerful, all -knowing. That's who our faith 00:14:45.909 --> 00:14:55.950 needs to be connected to. Look at the person 00:14:55.950 --> 00:14:57.309 beside you and say, I'm glad you're here today. 00:14:58.629 --> 00:15:00.909 Because if you weren't here, I would think that 00:15:00.909 --> 00:15:05.960 he was picking on me. I'm not picking on you. 00:15:06.019 --> 00:15:07.659 I'm picking on that other person beside you. 00:15:08.340 --> 00:15:10.399 Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word 00:15:10.399 --> 00:15:12.059 of God, that's the divine utterance. Everybody 00:15:12.059 --> 00:15:14.740 say divine utterance. So the first step, everybody 00:15:14.740 --> 00:15:17.799 say first step. First step of faith is hearing 00:15:17.799 --> 00:15:27.299 a divine utterance from God. His Word and His 00:15:27.299 --> 00:15:32.740 Holy Spirit speaking to us. There are some things 00:15:32.740 --> 00:15:34.279 that are very black and white in the Word of 00:15:34.279 --> 00:15:39.200 God. There are some other things that... I never 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:44.340 found a Bible verse that said, Dean, you need 00:15:44.340 --> 00:15:53.879 to marry Gaina. I never found a Bible verse that 00:15:53.879 --> 00:15:56.980 said, Dean, you and your family need to leave 00:15:56.980 --> 00:16:00.629 South Carolina and move to Florida. and plant 00:16:00.629 --> 00:16:10.029 a church. I never found that Bible verse. But 00:16:10.029 --> 00:16:12.669 the Holy Spirit of God communicated those things 00:16:12.669 --> 00:16:17.750 to me. It's a divine utterance. Divine utterance. 00:16:20.350 --> 00:16:23.889 God's speaking to our hearts. Now, I've had some 00:16:23.889 --> 00:16:25.750 people tell me that God spoke some things to 00:16:25.750 --> 00:16:32.720 their hearts that it was obviously not God. And 00:16:32.720 --> 00:16:34.840 the reason why I tell you it's not God is because 00:16:34.840 --> 00:16:37.980 what they told me God was telling them was in 00:16:37.980 --> 00:16:41.779 contradiction to what was written in the Bible. 00:16:46.279 --> 00:16:48.279 And I've even looked at some friends. I talked 00:16:48.279 --> 00:16:49.820 about this last week. I looked at some friends 00:16:49.820 --> 00:16:52.460 and said, God didn't tell you that. They got 00:16:52.460 --> 00:16:54.500 mad. They got offended. Everybody say offended. 00:16:54.919 --> 00:16:56.860 They got offended because I told them that God 00:16:56.860 --> 00:16:59.659 didn't tell them that. They told me it was time 00:16:59.659 --> 00:17:05.299 for me to leave their house. Friends. I'm talking 00:17:05.299 --> 00:17:08.299 about friends for 10 years telling me that God 00:17:08.299 --> 00:17:11.240 told them to do something. I said, God didn't 00:17:11.240 --> 00:17:13.359 tell you that. I said, if God told you that, 00:17:13.460 --> 00:17:15.420 he would have to rewrite, he'd have to rip out 00:17:15.420 --> 00:17:18.000 some pages out of the Bible and rewrite some 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:19.980 of the things he's already said for God to tell 00:17:19.980 --> 00:17:28.099 you that. Hold me. So the first step is hearing. 00:17:28.200 --> 00:17:32.640 Everybody say hearing. Second step. Hebrews 11 00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:35.339 .1, faith is the confidence that what we hope 00:17:35.339 --> 00:17:38.319 for will actually happen. It gives us assurance 00:17:38.319 --> 00:17:43.460 about the things we cannot see. So the second 00:17:43.460 --> 00:17:46.799 step of faith is wholeheartedly believing. Everybody 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:50.119 say believing. And having confidence. Everybody 00:17:50.119 --> 00:17:53.720 say confidence. In what God has said, in that 00:17:53.720 --> 00:17:55.839 divine utterance. You've got to wholeheartedly 00:17:55.839 --> 00:17:59.319 believe it. And then you've got to believe it 00:17:59.319 --> 00:18:03.259 to the point that you have confidence. Everybody 00:18:03.259 --> 00:18:06.279 say confidence. Confidence. See, the Holy Spirit 00:18:06.279 --> 00:18:09.119 connects us to the Word of God and to the things 00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:13.099 of God. He makes them real in us, and as we hear 00:18:13.099 --> 00:18:17.180 His divine utterance, then we have to believe 00:18:17.180 --> 00:18:23.339 it and have confidence in it. Faith is the confidence 00:18:23.339 --> 00:18:28.359 that what we hope for, everybody say hope. A 00:18:28.359 --> 00:18:31.400 Bible. That word hope means a confident expectation. 00:18:32.180 --> 00:18:34.940 So we have confidence to the point that we are 00:18:34.940 --> 00:18:37.720 expecting that we are going to see the goodness 00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:41.480 of God and the promises of God fulfilled. Hallelujah. 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:53.279 James 2, 26 tells us this. Faith without works 00:18:53.279 --> 00:19:03.309 is dead faith. So the third step, everybody say 00:19:03.309 --> 00:19:07.769 third step. Third step faith. First is hearing. 00:19:07.829 --> 00:19:10.269 The second is believing and having confidence 00:19:10.269 --> 00:19:17.049 and expectation. The third step is an action. 00:19:18.210 --> 00:19:25.450 Everybody say an action. An action. Because if 00:19:25.450 --> 00:19:28.230 our... if what we have heard and what we believe 00:19:28.230 --> 00:19:31.049 and what we've had confidence in does not lead 00:19:31.049 --> 00:19:40.930 to a corresponding action, it's dead. We can't 00:19:40.930 --> 00:19:44.390 expect to see that promise fulfilled in our lives 00:19:44.390 --> 00:19:50.650 if we don't hear it, believe it to the point 00:19:50.650 --> 00:19:53.529 that it will cause us to act on what God has 00:19:53.529 --> 00:19:58.799 said. Some of the actions are already listed 00:19:58.799 --> 00:20:01.019 out. There's so many Bible verses that say, if 00:20:01.019 --> 00:20:07.779 you do this, God will do this. So there's some 00:20:07.779 --> 00:20:12.619 awesome promises in the Bible. And if you really 00:20:12.619 --> 00:20:15.759 believed it, if you really believed that that 00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:17.960 promise was for you and had confident expectation 00:20:17.960 --> 00:20:22.140 in that promise, then you wouldn't have any problem. 00:20:23.240 --> 00:20:26.339 doing your part on what God told you to do, and 00:20:26.339 --> 00:20:28.839 if you do this, then I will do this, God says. 00:20:30.440 --> 00:20:36.359 But so many times people get offended. People 00:20:36.359 --> 00:20:40.599 get offended. Can't believe the preacher said 00:20:40.599 --> 00:20:50.829 that I had to do something. Get mad at the preacher. 00:20:50.829 --> 00:20:58.730 Get mad at God because God said. Here's one. 00:20:58.950 --> 00:21:02.710 Here's one. Does anybody want favor with other 00:21:02.710 --> 00:21:06.490 people in this world? Does anybody want favor? 00:21:07.289 --> 00:21:11.869 Anybody? Well, the Bible says, I wish I had the 00:21:11.869 --> 00:21:14.250 verse, but this is just like God saying, give 00:21:14.250 --> 00:21:16.940 them this, so I'm giving them this. The Bible 00:21:16.940 --> 00:21:22.920 says if we will show ourselves friendly and loyal, 00:21:23.160 --> 00:21:32.140 that we'll have favor. God's promise is for us 00:21:32.140 --> 00:21:35.779 to be able to have favor with people, but the 00:21:35.779 --> 00:21:38.299 if part is we've got to be loyal and friendly 00:21:38.299 --> 00:21:47.509 ourselves. Can't be mean, ugly. Talk bad to people. 00:21:49.829 --> 00:21:54.430 Be a backstabber. Say one thing to somebody's 00:21:54.430 --> 00:21:56.069 face and then say something else when they're 00:21:56.069 --> 00:22:02.650 not around and expect to have favor. Don't get 00:22:02.650 --> 00:22:08.509 mad at me. I'm just a delivery boy. I mean, that's 00:22:08.509 --> 00:22:10.809 God's Word. That's what God says. Makes sense, 00:22:10.910 --> 00:22:18.400 right? Makes sense. isn't God just supposed to 00:22:18.400 --> 00:22:21.880 wave some kind of magic wand over me and say, 00:22:21.940 --> 00:22:31.900 poof, I give you favor? Can we give you another 00:22:31.900 --> 00:22:38.539 one some people get offended about? I've already 00:22:38.539 --> 00:22:41.779 shared it. God says if we will honor him with 00:22:41.779 --> 00:22:46.069 what he's already blessed us with, Boy, people 00:22:46.069 --> 00:22:47.569 get offended when the preacher starts talking 00:22:47.569 --> 00:22:52.009 about money. If we will honor him with what he's 00:22:52.009 --> 00:22:54.029 blessed us with, then we can live under an open 00:22:54.029 --> 00:22:55.930 heaven of blessing and we might say, boy, I want 00:22:55.930 --> 00:22:59.930 to live under an open heaven of blessing. But 00:22:59.930 --> 00:23:01.990 we refuse to honor God with what he's already 00:23:01.990 --> 00:23:09.390 blessed us with. Everybody say, faith act. See? 00:23:10.009 --> 00:23:13.380 Don't get mad at the preacher. Because I'll tell 00:23:13.380 --> 00:23:15.339 you like I tell you almost every week, if you 00:23:15.339 --> 00:23:17.420 ever feel pressure to give anything, don't give 00:23:17.420 --> 00:23:22.079 anything. No, don't. If it's pressure, don't 00:23:22.079 --> 00:23:28.579 give. But if you're giving in response to what 00:23:28.579 --> 00:23:32.039 God has said and what God's promises are, come 00:23:32.039 --> 00:23:36.519 on, somebody. Faith without works is dead. The 00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:39.559 third step of faith is acting in obedience. Everybody 00:23:39.559 --> 00:23:44.099 say, acting in obedience. Acting in obedience. 00:23:46.299 --> 00:23:49.279 That's the third step. Now last week we talked 00:23:49.279 --> 00:23:51.240 about, I hope you listened to last week. If you 00:23:51.240 --> 00:23:53.640 weren't here last week, now we have a podcast. 00:23:53.839 --> 00:23:56.779 Anywhere you can get podcasts, you can find that 00:23:56.779 --> 00:23:59.019 message. You can go to Facebook, Galatian Church, 00:23:59.099 --> 00:24:02.619 and see our live message. Also, I preach it and 00:24:02.619 --> 00:24:06.160 post it on Saturday for a lot of people who, 00:24:06.299 --> 00:24:09.119 friends of ours, you know, hundreds of people 00:24:09.119 --> 00:24:11.980 who use that as like a Bible study. Saturday 00:24:11.980 --> 00:24:17.599 morning, stuff like that. Last week we talked 00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:21.759 about, the sermon title was, Quit Crying and 00:24:21.759 --> 00:24:26.039 Move. And we took it straight out of a Bible 00:24:26.039 --> 00:24:28.400 verse, so that's what God told his people. He 00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:30.900 said, it's time to quit crying. When God's people 00:24:30.900 --> 00:24:34.140 were between the Egyptian army and the Red Sea, 00:24:34.220 --> 00:24:38.259 God said, quit crying and move. That's what he 00:24:38.259 --> 00:24:47.170 said. Look it up. So, I have a testimony of someone 00:24:47.170 --> 00:24:51.569 who was not in the room, but he wanted to share 00:24:51.569 --> 00:24:55.609 about something that God spoke to him. So, everybody 00:24:55.609 --> 00:24:58.650 listen up. Everybody put on your listening ears. 00:24:59.230 --> 00:25:01.569 I hadn't said that since I was in school, I don't 00:25:01.569 --> 00:25:05.130 think, or since I was doing vacation Bible school, 00:25:05.250 --> 00:25:10.769 but here we go. Everybody listen up. Good morning, 00:25:10.769 --> 00:25:16.009 Olathean Church. Happy Sunday. For those of you 00:25:16.009 --> 00:25:20.809 who may not know who I am, my name is PJ Crouch. 00:25:21.250 --> 00:25:25.630 I'm Buffy Crouch's son. So if she's sitting somewhere 00:25:25.630 --> 00:25:29.029 with a shot clock on her face, somebody please 00:25:29.029 --> 00:25:32.869 take a picture and send it to me because she 00:25:32.869 --> 00:25:38.740 had no idea I was doing this. I had emailed Pastor 00:25:38.740 --> 00:25:46.500 Dean a couple weeks ago asking him some advice 00:25:46.500 --> 00:25:53.920 on how to do some ministry stuff to surprise 00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:58.000 my mom at the same time. And through some conversation, 00:25:58.319 --> 00:26:03.220 this is what we came up with. This series, at 00:26:03.220 --> 00:26:09.250 least from what I've seen, is awesome. It worked 00:26:09.250 --> 00:26:15.829 in my life because I'm at a point in life where 00:26:15.829 --> 00:26:23.049 I'm going to have to make some decisions on where 00:26:23.049 --> 00:26:27.170 I think God wants me and how he wants to use 00:26:27.170 --> 00:26:32.089 what I know. But one thing he said in Sermon 00:26:32.089 --> 00:26:38.750 1 that stuck out to me was faith is basically 00:26:38.750 --> 00:26:43.509 two parts. One, we believe is what it says, but 00:26:43.509 --> 00:26:48.390 two, and two is the hardest part for me, is we 00:26:48.390 --> 00:26:54.569 have to put that belief in action. So, one of 00:26:54.569 --> 00:26:57.930 my favorite verses, especially in this chapter 00:26:57.930 --> 00:27:01.609 of my life, being an adaptive rock climber and 00:27:01.609 --> 00:27:05.349 CrossFit athlete, And hopefully by the time you 00:27:05.349 --> 00:27:08.630 guys watch this, I will have completed my first 00:27:08.630 --> 00:27:14.470 Tough Mudder. But one of my favorite verses is 00:27:14.470 --> 00:27:19.829 Philippians 4 .13. That I can do all things through 00:27:19.829 --> 00:27:25.930 Christ who strengthens me. So, I believe what 00:27:25.930 --> 00:27:31.690 it says. But how do I put that in action? So 00:27:31.690 --> 00:27:36.690 I started thinking. about my rock climbing. So 00:27:36.690 --> 00:27:41.109 I do belay, which is when rope coming down from 00:27:41.109 --> 00:27:44.150 the top of where you're wanting to climb, you're 00:27:44.150 --> 00:27:47.650 hooked into a harness. The harness is hooked 00:27:47.650 --> 00:27:52.410 to the rope by a deep cliff, and then you've 00:27:52.410 --> 00:27:58.190 got somebody at the bottom holding the rope so 00:27:58.190 --> 00:28:01.049 it doesn't get away from you if you come off 00:28:01.049 --> 00:28:04.900 the wall. either intentionally or unintentionally. 00:28:05.420 --> 00:28:09.980 And I started thinking, that has a lot of moving 00:28:09.980 --> 00:28:13.740 parts. I've got the rope, I've got my harness, 00:28:14.039 --> 00:28:17.119 I've got the D -clip, and I've got the person 00:28:17.119 --> 00:28:22.259 at the bottom. I believe that it all works. But 00:28:22.259 --> 00:28:25.819 until I actually clip in with that D -clip on 00:28:25.819 --> 00:28:29.380 that rope and start climbing the wall, does my 00:28:29.380 --> 00:28:37.200 belief mean anything? point in life right now 00:28:37.200 --> 00:28:42.759 where I'm kind of at a crossroads. I've got multiple 00:28:42.759 --> 00:28:48.940 ways I can go and be really, really good at whatever 00:28:48.940 --> 00:28:56.680 is at the end of that path, no matter which way 00:28:56.680 --> 00:29:01.279 I decide to go. Because I feel God's called me 00:29:01.279 --> 00:29:06.069 to multiple things. But until I step out I'm 00:29:06.069 --> 00:29:10.230 just waiting at the bottom of the mountain and 00:29:10.230 --> 00:29:17.250 this is a call to me as much as you whatever 00:29:17.250 --> 00:29:23.789 that mountain is God's your rope you gotta clip 00:29:23.789 --> 00:29:29.269 it and trust that he's gonna hold you till you 00:29:29.269 --> 00:29:36.180 get to the top so once again Thanks, Pastor Dean, 00:29:36.420 --> 00:29:42.279 for the opportunity. And Mom, I'm sorry I hid 00:29:42.279 --> 00:29:47.059 this from you. I love you. Hope to see you soon. 00:29:53.839 --> 00:29:59.220 What a surprise. Quit crying. If you start crying, 00:29:59.339 --> 00:30:02.259 I might start crying. All right, I'm just playing. 00:30:03.950 --> 00:30:06.710 So this week, all that was introduction. Everybody 00:30:06.710 --> 00:30:09.130 say introduction. Now it's time for the message. 00:30:09.450 --> 00:30:11.049 Look to the person beside you and say, listen 00:30:11.049 --> 00:30:14.210 fast. Listen fast. If this takes a long time, 00:30:14.230 --> 00:30:15.730 it's your fault because you weren't listening 00:30:15.730 --> 00:30:20.650 fast enough. 2 Kings 5, 1 through 14 is where 00:30:20.650 --> 00:30:25.089 we're focusing as we look at an act of obedience, 00:30:25.230 --> 00:30:30.769 a corresponding action that completes faith. 00:30:31.819 --> 00:30:35.059 2 Kings 5, 1 through 14. The king of Aram had 00:30:35.059 --> 00:30:38.200 great admiration for Naaman. Everybody say Naaman. 00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:41.519 The commander of his army, because through him, 00:30:41.519 --> 00:30:45.279 the Lord had given Aram great victories. But 00:30:45.279 --> 00:30:49.460 though Naaman was a mighty warrior, he suffered 00:30:49.460 --> 00:30:56.599 from leprosy. At this time, Aramian raiders had 00:30:56.599 --> 00:30:59.839 invaded the land of Israel, and among their captives 00:30:59.839 --> 00:31:03.309 was a young girl. who had been given to Naaman's 00:31:03.309 --> 00:31:07.789 wife as a maid. One day the girl said to her 00:31:07.789 --> 00:31:10.789 mistress, I wish my master would go see the prophet 00:31:10.789 --> 00:31:15.069 in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy. 00:31:16.130 --> 00:31:18.750 So Naaman told the king what the young girl from 00:31:18.750 --> 00:31:23.250 Israel had said. Go and visit the prophet, the 00:31:23.250 --> 00:31:26.369 king of Aram told him. I will send a letter of 00:31:26.369 --> 00:31:30.049 introduction for you to take to the king of Israel. 00:31:30.680 --> 00:31:35.099 So Naaman started out carrying as gifts 750 pounds 00:31:35.099 --> 00:31:39.799 of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and 10 sets of 00:31:39.799 --> 00:31:42.400 clothing. Everybody go, that's a pretty nice 00:31:42.400 --> 00:31:45.720 gift. That's a nice gift. I should have figured 00:31:45.720 --> 00:31:47.619 out how much money that would be in today's money, 00:31:47.700 --> 00:31:52.440 but it would be a whole lot. Since gold is like, 00:31:52.539 --> 00:31:55.839 what, $2 ,500 an ounce this week? I mean, it's 00:31:55.839 --> 00:32:01.109 crazy. Pounds. Okay. The letter to the king of 00:32:01.109 --> 00:32:04.269 Israel said, with this letter I present my servant 00:32:04.269 --> 00:32:07.910 Naaman. I want you to heal him of his leprosy. 00:32:09.390 --> 00:32:11.710 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore 00:32:11.710 --> 00:32:14.670 his clothes and this man said, this man sends 00:32:14.670 --> 00:32:17.529 me a leper to heal. Am I God that I can give 00:32:17.529 --> 00:32:21.390 life and take it away? I can see that he's just 00:32:21.390 --> 00:32:24.769 trying to pick a fight with me. So it scared 00:32:24.769 --> 00:32:28.430 the king of Israel. But when Elisha, everybody 00:32:28.430 --> 00:32:32.190 say Elisha. Everybody say a prophet. Someone 00:32:32.190 --> 00:32:35.690 who hears God and says what God told him to say. 00:32:36.430 --> 00:32:39.309 That's what a prophet is. Let's don't get too 00:32:39.309 --> 00:32:42.769 spooky with prophet. But when Elisha, the man 00:32:42.769 --> 00:32:45.750 of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn 00:32:45.750 --> 00:32:48.349 his clothes in dismay, he sent this message to 00:32:48.349 --> 00:32:52.670 him. Why are you so upset? Send Naaman to me. 00:32:54.069 --> 00:32:56.910 And he will learn that there is a true prophet 00:32:56.910 --> 00:33:02.309 here in Israel. So Naaman went with his horses 00:33:02.309 --> 00:33:06.829 and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha's 00:33:06.829 --> 00:33:13.509 house. But Elisha sent a messenger. Sent a messenger 00:33:13.509 --> 00:33:18.250 out to him with a message. Go and wash yourself 00:33:18.250 --> 00:33:23.630 seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin 00:33:23.630 --> 00:33:26.670 will be restored. You will be healed of your 00:33:26.670 --> 00:33:33.200 leprosy. Somebody say easy enough. But Naaman 00:33:33.200 --> 00:33:44.160 became angry and stalked away. Got mad. Here's 00:33:44.160 --> 00:33:46.619 what he says. I thought he would certainly come 00:33:46.619 --> 00:33:55.200 out to meet me. I came all this way. Come on. 00:33:55.839 --> 00:34:01.049 I came all this way. I'm standing in front of 00:34:01.049 --> 00:34:05.309 the prophet's house, and does he not know who 00:34:05.309 --> 00:34:12.050 I am? Does he not know how important I am? I 00:34:12.050 --> 00:34:15.210 mean, I'm the commander of the army. We've defeated 00:34:15.210 --> 00:34:18.710 them, and then now I'm here to talk with him, 00:34:18.750 --> 00:34:25.349 and then he just sends out a messenger. I thought 00:34:25.349 --> 00:34:30.710 he would certainly come out. Meet me. Here's 00:34:30.710 --> 00:34:36.789 the deal. You can't be offended by the word and 00:34:36.789 --> 00:34:44.769 receive the promise at the same time. That's 00:34:44.769 --> 00:34:48.909 so good, I'm going to say it again. You can't 00:34:48.909 --> 00:34:53.469 be offended by the word and receive the promise 00:34:53.469 --> 00:34:58.429 at the same time. How many of you know that the 00:34:58.429 --> 00:35:01.889 prophet sent him a word, and Elisha just didn't 00:35:01.889 --> 00:35:05.730 make this up. I mean, God told Elisha to tell 00:35:05.730 --> 00:35:11.630 him this. Right? He's coming to seek healing 00:35:11.630 --> 00:35:17.510 from God through God's prophet, and he gets a 00:35:17.510 --> 00:35:20.550 word. He gets a divine utterance. He gets a word. 00:35:21.570 --> 00:35:26.920 But he got offended. Why didn't he come out here 00:35:26.920 --> 00:35:32.340 to see me? And he got mad. It says he stalked 00:35:32.340 --> 00:35:35.699 away. I mean, he's just fuming. He's like, ain't 00:35:35.699 --> 00:35:37.739 no telling what he was saying as he was walking 00:35:37.739 --> 00:35:39.739 and getting back on his horse or in his chair. 00:35:39.820 --> 00:35:43.320 You know, we came all this way and the man wouldn't 00:35:43.320 --> 00:35:50.480 even come out and see me. There's somebody that 00:35:50.480 --> 00:35:57.989 lives right here that came one... Sunday to Elation 00:35:57.989 --> 00:36:04.429 Church. Had no idea they were coming. How many 00:36:04.429 --> 00:36:08.150 of you know that I talk about peace a lot? And 00:36:08.150 --> 00:36:10.309 it just so happened that the children's church 00:36:10.309 --> 00:36:16.989 message and our message was all about Jesus speaking 00:36:16.989 --> 00:36:23.389 peace, calming the storm. And then Jesus looked 00:36:23.389 --> 00:36:27.599 and said, Where's your faith? I mean, you were 00:36:27.599 --> 00:36:32.320 overcome with fear so you were not in faith. 00:36:32.500 --> 00:36:37.039 And I said, you can't be in fear and in faith 00:36:37.039 --> 00:36:39.380 at the same time because they're opposite of 00:36:39.380 --> 00:36:48.400 each other. We talked about the peace of God 00:36:48.400 --> 00:36:51.440 and God wanted you to have peace and not be just 00:36:51.440 --> 00:36:53.579 overwhelmed with fear and overcome with fear 00:36:53.579 --> 00:36:57.159 all the time. That's God's name. One of his names 00:36:57.159 --> 00:37:00.400 is Yahweh Shalom. He is the Lord, our peace. 00:37:00.480 --> 00:37:04.639 He is peace. Jesus came to give us peace and 00:37:04.639 --> 00:37:12.380 not like the world's peace. Hello? That same 00:37:12.380 --> 00:37:18.239 week, we got an email saying that I'm not coming 00:37:18.239 --> 00:37:21.480 to this church. I'll never be back at this church. 00:37:22.309 --> 00:37:25.309 And you know what? I'm not going to expose my 00:37:25.309 --> 00:37:34.369 family to somebody who says that, you know, God 00:37:34.369 --> 00:37:37.610 wants you to have peace. God don't want you to 00:37:37.610 --> 00:37:41.070 be overcome with fear. You want me to tell you 00:37:41.070 --> 00:37:43.449 what had happened in this person's life? I mean, 00:37:43.489 --> 00:37:48.289 they had come to the point where they embraced 00:37:48.289 --> 00:37:53.880 their fear. And they came to the point where 00:37:53.880 --> 00:37:57.699 they were comfortable with their fear. They want 00:37:57.699 --> 00:38:05.000 their fear. I don't know why somebody would embrace 00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:17.579 fear and anxiousness and want that. I've experienced 00:38:17.579 --> 00:38:23.000 it, but I didn't want it. I didn't embrace it 00:38:23.000 --> 00:38:29.659 like, this is who I am. Hello? Come on, somebody. 00:38:31.920 --> 00:38:33.860 Look at the person beside you and say, God wants 00:38:33.860 --> 00:38:42.780 us free. God wants us free. And his promises 00:38:42.780 --> 00:38:47.019 and his word are very clear that he wants us 00:38:47.019 --> 00:38:55.219 free. I mean, but it's like, how dare you tell 00:38:55.219 --> 00:38:57.960 me that God doesn't want me to live in fear the 00:38:57.960 --> 00:39:03.659 rest of my life? Everybody say offended. She 00:39:03.659 --> 00:39:11.079 got offended. Got offended. Because she loved 00:39:11.079 --> 00:39:15.679 her fear more than she would love her freedom. 00:39:23.340 --> 00:39:26.019 How many of you know that that works in a lot 00:39:26.019 --> 00:39:27.960 of people's lives? It might not be them embracing 00:39:27.960 --> 00:39:30.500 fear, but they're embracing something that's 00:39:30.500 --> 00:39:32.340 destroying their life, and they would rather 00:39:32.340 --> 00:39:35.980 hold on to that than grab freedom. You know what 00:39:35.980 --> 00:39:45.219 I'm talking about. Is anybody with me? I'll get 00:39:45.219 --> 00:39:49.559 off your toes. Here we go. Verse 11. I'm going 00:39:49.559 --> 00:39:51.119 to lighten up for a second. I'm going to read 00:39:51.119 --> 00:39:57.260 a verse. Here's Naaman. I expected him to wave 00:39:57.260 --> 00:40:00.420 his hand over the leprosy and call on the name 00:40:00.420 --> 00:40:05.440 of the Lord his God to heal me. So he'd already 00:40:05.440 --> 00:40:10.500 decided how this was going to work. Coming into 00:40:10.500 --> 00:40:15.679 it, right? I'm going to this prophet. He's going 00:40:15.679 --> 00:40:18.360 to wave his hand over me. He's going to call 00:40:18.360 --> 00:40:21.260 on the name of the Lord and I'm going to be healed. 00:40:21.380 --> 00:40:26.369 This is the way it's going to happen. Has anybody 00:40:26.369 --> 00:40:28.829 lived long enough to figure out God doesn't always 00:40:28.829 --> 00:40:33.110 do it the way we expect him to? Anybody? Anybody 00:40:33.110 --> 00:40:37.750 know what I'm talking about? If you haven't figured 00:40:37.750 --> 00:40:39.650 that out, I'm going to let you know. God doesn't 00:40:39.650 --> 00:40:42.769 always do things the way that you expect him 00:40:42.769 --> 00:40:46.610 to do it. He doesn't always do it like we expect. 00:40:48.750 --> 00:40:53.769 Let's continue in his offense. The display of 00:40:53.769 --> 00:40:58.510 his offense. Aren't the rivers of Damascus where 00:40:58.510 --> 00:41:02.849 I'm from? I mean, our rivers are a whole lot 00:41:02.849 --> 00:41:05.110 better than the Jordan. Jordan's pretty muddy, 00:41:05.269 --> 00:41:07.269 right? Most of the time, the Jordan's pretty 00:41:07.269 --> 00:41:11.110 muddy. Pam was just at the Jordan last year. 00:41:11.789 --> 00:41:14.170 Jordan's pretty muddy. I've never been, I've 00:41:14.170 --> 00:41:17.769 seen pictures. And he's saying, aren't the rivers 00:41:17.769 --> 00:41:20.889 of Damascus, the Abana and the Far Park, aren't 00:41:20.889 --> 00:41:24.889 they better than the rivers in Israel? Why shouldn't 00:41:24.889 --> 00:41:30.170 I wash in them and be healed? So Naaman turned 00:41:30.170 --> 00:41:34.769 away. He turned and went away in rage. He was 00:41:34.769 --> 00:41:40.469 so mad. Came all this way. You didn't come out 00:41:40.469 --> 00:41:42.889 to see me. And then you tell me to dip in the 00:41:42.889 --> 00:41:46.210 Jordan seven times. I could have stayed at home 00:41:46.210 --> 00:41:51.929 and did that. Makes no sense. Everybody say, 00:41:51.969 --> 00:41:57.119 makes no sense. Listen, if you don't act because 00:41:57.119 --> 00:42:01.519 you don't understand how the action connects 00:42:01.519 --> 00:42:10.840 to the promise, you won't receive. I don't know 00:42:10.840 --> 00:42:12.619 if you understood that by the look on your face. 00:42:13.619 --> 00:42:17.760 So I'm going to say it again. He had a word. 00:42:19.519 --> 00:42:24.610 Say, Naaman had a word. Naaman had a word. He 00:42:24.610 --> 00:42:26.309 was offended because he didn't get it personally 00:42:26.309 --> 00:42:28.090 and then all of a sudden he starts reasoning 00:42:28.090 --> 00:42:31.070 it and thinking about it. There's better rivers 00:42:31.070 --> 00:42:33.909 than Damascus. So why do I need to go dip in 00:42:33.909 --> 00:42:39.449 this muddy Jordan seven times? So he wasn't going 00:42:39.449 --> 00:42:43.650 to act because in his mind he couldn't understand 00:42:43.650 --> 00:42:46.590 how that action, dipping in the Jordan seven 00:42:46.590 --> 00:42:49.909 times, was connected to God's promise to heal 00:42:49.909 --> 00:42:57.809 him from the prophet. So he left mad. He left 00:42:57.809 --> 00:43:04.630 mad. Here's where we are in this series and we're 00:43:04.630 --> 00:43:08.429 going to be here every week because you can't 00:43:08.429 --> 00:43:11.190 just come to the preacher and say, what does 00:43:11.190 --> 00:43:13.030 God want me to do? What does God want me to do? 00:43:13.070 --> 00:43:20.090 What does God want me to do? Because if you are 00:43:20.090 --> 00:43:23.500 a Christian, if you're a Christ follower, God 00:43:23.500 --> 00:43:26.420 the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in you. 00:43:27.079 --> 00:43:29.119 Don't you know that your body is a temple of 00:43:29.119 --> 00:43:31.739 the Holy Spirit? That's what the Bible says in 00:43:31.739 --> 00:43:37.519 Corinthians. So God's in you, right? And He speaks 00:43:37.519 --> 00:43:42.360 to you. God didn't speak to anybody in this room 00:43:42.360 --> 00:43:49.800 to marry Ghana except me. God didn't speak to 00:43:49.800 --> 00:43:52.940 anybody in this room except me to... to move 00:43:52.940 --> 00:43:55.679 here and start a church called Elation Church, 00:43:55.920 --> 00:44:04.000 right? Did you know that before COVID that Dean 00:44:04.000 --> 00:44:07.539 and his family are coming to Four Corners to 00:44:07.539 --> 00:44:12.800 start Elation Church? Did you know that? Now, 00:44:12.860 --> 00:44:16.159 he could tell you and be like an affirmation 00:44:16.159 --> 00:44:19.480 of what he told me. I've experienced that in 00:44:19.480 --> 00:44:25.269 my life. But I didn't act on the affirmation 00:44:25.269 --> 00:44:28.230 until I had a word from God. Sometimes a word 00:44:28.230 --> 00:44:35.969 came later in my life. So I can't tell you, unless 00:44:35.969 --> 00:44:38.230 it's something black and white in the word of 00:44:38.230 --> 00:44:41.869 God that's written out like the things that we've 00:44:41.869 --> 00:44:44.590 talked about, I can't tell you what the action 00:44:44.590 --> 00:44:51.739 is. But I'm telling you. If the Holy Spirit of 00:44:51.739 --> 00:44:54.519 God has connected you to the Word of God and 00:44:54.519 --> 00:44:58.219 to the promise of God, and you have wholeheartedly 00:44:58.219 --> 00:45:01.119 believed it, and you have confidence and expectation 00:45:01.119 --> 00:45:03.960 in it, that there's going to be something that 00:45:03.960 --> 00:45:11.800 you're going to have to do. While you wait, I 00:45:11.800 --> 00:45:14.199 can tell you, I believe, from looking through 00:45:14.199 --> 00:45:16.320 the Scripture, something that you need to start 00:45:16.320 --> 00:45:19.019 doing immediately. It may be all that you have 00:45:19.019 --> 00:45:22.179 to do. It might just be one step in what you 00:45:22.179 --> 00:45:24.320 have to do. Like last week, we looked at so many 00:45:24.320 --> 00:45:27.380 different steps that God's people had to do. 00:45:27.460 --> 00:45:30.119 You know, not fear, take up the staff, hold out 00:45:30.119 --> 00:45:33.360 your hand. All those things didn't seem to connect 00:45:33.360 --> 00:45:37.760 to the miracle of parting the Red Sea. In my 00:45:37.760 --> 00:45:44.400 little brain, that didn't open the Red Sea. Those 00:45:44.400 --> 00:45:47.710 acts of faith. Doing what God told them to do. 00:45:47.750 --> 00:45:53.030 It didn't do the work. God did the work. But 00:45:53.030 --> 00:45:54.550 without their acts of faith, it wouldn't have 00:45:54.550 --> 00:46:05.030 happened. Hallelujah. So God may tell you to 00:46:05.030 --> 00:46:07.849 go here, do that, give this. We talked about 00:46:07.849 --> 00:46:11.010 it in our spirit -led series last year. I told 00:46:11.010 --> 00:46:13.349 you about times when God told me to give something 00:46:13.349 --> 00:46:16.550 and I didn't give it. And it was like... Should 00:46:16.550 --> 00:46:21.050 have gave that when God told me to. Went back 00:46:21.050 --> 00:46:23.190 to that Publix and tried to find that little 00:46:23.190 --> 00:46:25.929 girl with the red glasses. I mean, I went six 00:46:25.929 --> 00:46:27.989 or seven times trying to look for her. I still 00:46:27.989 --> 00:46:31.750 can't find her. Never seen her again. God told 00:46:31.750 --> 00:46:37.309 me to give her, at that time, I had a $100 bill 00:46:37.309 --> 00:46:40.030 in my wallet. God told me to give it to her and 00:46:40.030 --> 00:46:41.909 say that it was from him, but I didn't do it. 00:46:43.170 --> 00:46:48.440 I thought, she's going to think I'm crazy. I 00:46:48.440 --> 00:46:52.500 mean, she was probably late teens, early 20s. 00:46:52.519 --> 00:46:55.039 I mean, I just started reasoning and thinking, 00:46:55.139 --> 00:46:56.739 well, she's going to think I'm trying to hit 00:46:56.739 --> 00:47:01.380 on her or something. I mean, it's like this could 00:47:01.380 --> 00:47:05.199 go south in a lot of different ways. Are you 00:47:05.199 --> 00:47:14.599 with me? So I didn't do it. And here's the deal. 00:47:18.119 --> 00:47:22.280 I believe that that was connected to something 00:47:22.280 --> 00:47:28.360 in the spirit realm. Maybe God was trying to 00:47:28.360 --> 00:47:30.719 do something for Dean, and Dean didn't do what 00:47:30.719 --> 00:47:39.500 God told him to do. Hello? So, a few weeks later, 00:47:39.579 --> 00:47:44.079 I was in Dairy Queen. Probably shouldn't eat 00:47:44.079 --> 00:47:47.559 at Dairy Queen. I'm trying to not eat at Dairy 00:47:47.559 --> 00:47:51.719 Queen as much as I used to. Those chocolate -covered 00:47:51.719 --> 00:47:55.780 strawberry blizzards are hard to resist. But 00:47:55.780 --> 00:48:02.739 I was in Dairy Queen. I was obedient at that 00:48:02.739 --> 00:48:07.920 time. I don't know what it's connected to. Hello? 00:48:09.260 --> 00:48:14.639 And it's not always about giving this. Sometimes 00:48:14.639 --> 00:48:17.829 it's... Go here. Sometimes it's do that. Sometimes 00:48:17.829 --> 00:48:22.230 it's say this. Sometimes it's give this. See, 00:48:22.389 --> 00:48:24.590 the Holy Spirit's the one telling you what to 00:48:24.590 --> 00:48:30.530 do. But what he's telling you to do might be 00:48:30.530 --> 00:48:33.960 connected. You don't realize it. You can't figure 00:48:33.960 --> 00:48:36.139 it out with your brain how it could possibly 00:48:36.139 --> 00:48:38.820 connect. Just like Naaman couldn't figure out 00:48:38.820 --> 00:48:41.800 how Duncan and the muddy Jordan River was going 00:48:41.800 --> 00:48:44.019 to bring healing to him and there's a whole lot 00:48:44.019 --> 00:48:45.920 better rivers and the guy didn't even come out 00:48:45.920 --> 00:48:51.719 and talk to me. I mean, just like that. Something 00:48:51.719 --> 00:48:54.639 that he in his mind couldn't connect to his healing 00:48:54.639 --> 00:49:03.480 was connected to his healing. Selah. Think about 00:49:03.480 --> 00:49:08.559 that a minute. Look to the person beside you 00:49:08.559 --> 00:49:11.199 and tell them obedience is important. Obedience 00:49:11.199 --> 00:49:17.219 is important. It's very important. It might be 00:49:17.219 --> 00:49:18.880 that God's telling you something. I'm going to 00:49:18.880 --> 00:49:20.639 say it again. It might be that he's telling you 00:49:20.639 --> 00:49:22.519 to do something. You don't see how it connects 00:49:22.519 --> 00:49:25.559 to what you want him to do for you based on a 00:49:25.559 --> 00:49:27.980 promise in his word. You might not see how it 00:49:27.980 --> 00:49:37.179 connects, but trust me. It connects. Thank you, 00:49:37.179 --> 00:49:42.679 Jesus. Don't get offended or overthink or try 00:49:42.679 --> 00:49:50.139 to reason it. Act. Just go ahead and act. I'm 00:49:50.139 --> 00:49:52.179 glad Naaman had some people around him that tried 00:49:52.179 --> 00:49:55.340 to talk some sense into him. Verse 13 says, but 00:49:55.340 --> 00:49:57.199 his officers tried to reason with him and said, 00:49:57.260 --> 00:50:00.500 sir. If the prophet had told you to do something 00:50:00.500 --> 00:50:08.119 very difficult, wouldn't you have done it? Wouldn't 00:50:08.119 --> 00:50:16.019 you have done it? So you should certainly obey 00:50:16.019 --> 00:50:20.920 him when he says simply go and wash and be cured. 00:50:24.269 --> 00:50:27.090 When God tells you what to do, it's not time 00:50:27.090 --> 00:50:30.809 to pray about it. That day in Publix, it wasn't 00:50:30.809 --> 00:50:34.489 time, even though I did. I went home, I left, 00:50:34.570 --> 00:50:36.409 and I started praying about it. God, do you really 00:50:36.409 --> 00:50:42.630 want me to give that girl? I mean... And I went 00:50:42.630 --> 00:50:45.710 back and back and back and back, and I could 00:50:45.710 --> 00:50:50.389 never find her. Even talked to other employees. 00:50:50.610 --> 00:50:52.860 Even talked to the manager. Now, there was this 00:50:52.860 --> 00:50:55.079 little girl here, and I described her, and I 00:50:55.079 --> 00:50:59.539 said she had red glasses. And, you know, God 00:50:59.539 --> 00:51:01.079 wanted me to give her something, and I didn't 00:51:01.079 --> 00:51:04.320 do it. I mean, I was just fessing up to total 00:51:04.320 --> 00:51:07.880 strangers. And get this, nobody knew who she 00:51:07.880 --> 00:51:16.900 was. I mean, it looks like if she worked with 00:51:16.900 --> 00:51:18.800 the people, they'd know who she was. And not 00:51:18.800 --> 00:51:28.940 many people wear bright red glasses. Maybe I 00:51:28.940 --> 00:51:37.159 was the only one who saw her. When God tells 00:51:37.159 --> 00:51:38.940 you what to do, it's not time to pray about it. 00:51:41.380 --> 00:51:43.340 Oh, God, I'm going to have to pray about this 00:51:43.340 --> 00:51:45.420 for two weeks before I give somebody a $100 bill. 00:51:45.579 --> 00:51:49.980 I mean, this is serious, God. It's not time to 00:51:49.980 --> 00:51:52.960 overthink it or reason. God, what's she going 00:51:52.960 --> 00:51:54.519 to think? She's going to think I'm some kind 00:51:54.519 --> 00:51:57.130 of creeper, you know. Look and see if I've got 00:51:57.130 --> 00:52:04.869 a van out in the parking lot or something. It's 00:52:04.869 --> 00:52:06.849 not time to post on social media for opinions. 00:52:08.849 --> 00:52:10.630 You know, I feel like God's telling me this. 00:52:10.710 --> 00:52:15.510 What do y 'all think about it? It's time to act. 00:52:15.570 --> 00:52:18.130 Everybody say it's time to act. Say it again. 00:52:18.190 --> 00:52:20.670 It's time to act. When God tells you what to 00:52:20.670 --> 00:52:24.670 do, it's time to act. Act immediately. Don't 00:52:24.670 --> 00:52:30.059 question. as long, you know, again, it'll never 00:52:30.059 --> 00:52:37.400 be in contradiction to his written word. So if 00:52:37.400 --> 00:52:40.639 you have a check in your spirit, it's like, no. 00:52:42.619 --> 00:52:44.800 And it's not coming from your head, but it's 00:52:44.800 --> 00:52:48.039 coming from your spirit, then check the word, 00:52:48.260 --> 00:52:52.800 all right? Because the Holy Spirit will put up 00:52:52.800 --> 00:52:55.219 a big stop sign for you just as much as he'll 00:52:55.219 --> 00:52:59.980 tell you to do something. Everybody say discernment. 00:53:00.599 --> 00:53:02.800 See, that's why we've got to pray for discernment, 00:53:02.800 --> 00:53:07.019 for spiritual discernment. We've got to know. 00:53:11.280 --> 00:53:15.420 Here we go. Time to land this plane. So Naaman 00:53:15.420 --> 00:53:18.199 went down to the Jordan River, dipped himself 00:53:18.199 --> 00:53:23.750 one time. Two times. Seven times as the man of 00:53:23.750 --> 00:53:28.230 God had instructed him. And his skin became as 00:53:28.230 --> 00:53:33.650 healthy as the skin of a young child's. And he 00:53:33.650 --> 00:53:38.590 was healed. Everybody say faith act. Faith act. 00:53:40.070 --> 00:53:43.429 Everybody say seven times. Seven times Naaman 00:53:43.429 --> 00:53:47.889 dipped. One thing about leprosy is, I mean, it 00:53:47.889 --> 00:53:51.590 eats all the cartilage, you know, and it's like, 00:53:51.769 --> 00:53:54.309 you know, his nose is caved in, his skin has 00:53:54.309 --> 00:53:57.210 big sores all over it. He's going to be sent 00:53:57.210 --> 00:53:59.829 off to a leopard colony. If he was part of God's 00:53:59.829 --> 00:54:01.329 people, he would already be there and couldn't 00:54:01.329 --> 00:54:05.409 be around them. But he's the commander. Where 00:54:05.409 --> 00:54:09.110 he lives, they got different rules. But when 00:54:09.110 --> 00:54:14.110 he came up the seventh time, everybody say obedience. 00:54:15.190 --> 00:54:17.969 Everybody say faith act. When he came up the 00:54:17.969 --> 00:54:19.849 seventh time. It didn't happen on the sixth time. 00:54:21.829 --> 00:54:27.570 It didn't happen on the third time. It just happened 00:54:27.570 --> 00:54:31.050 on the seventh time when he came out of the water. 00:54:32.829 --> 00:54:35.590 I bet he was standing there just looking at it. 00:54:46.699 --> 00:54:49.699 Mark 11, 22, Jesus said to the disciples, have 00:54:49.699 --> 00:54:55.019 faith, everybody say have faith, in God. It's 00:54:55.019 --> 00:54:57.059 not just having faith, it's having faith in God. 00:54:58.360 --> 00:55:00.739 Having faith in God. It's not just acting, it's 00:55:00.739 --> 00:55:04.619 acting on what God has said. Have faith in God. 00:55:05.719 --> 00:55:14.280 So does God need your faith action? What you 00:55:14.280 --> 00:55:24.670 think about it? Did God need Naaman to dip in 00:55:24.670 --> 00:55:29.590 the Jordan seven times to be able to heal him? 00:55:37.570 --> 00:55:41.530 Think about this. If Naaman would not have dipped 00:55:41.530 --> 00:55:44.590 in the Jordan seven times, would he have been 00:55:44.590 --> 00:55:51.570 healed? No. So we think, you know, God can do 00:55:51.570 --> 00:55:54.750 anything God wants to do and He don't need my 00:55:54.750 --> 00:56:05.329 faith action. But guess what? He chose to do 00:56:05.329 --> 00:56:11.610 it this way. Just dipping in the Jordan seven 00:56:11.610 --> 00:56:17.659 times won't heal anybody. Unless God told you 00:56:17.659 --> 00:56:19.500 to and it was connected to your healing, like 00:56:19.500 --> 00:56:25.559 Naaman. And if God told you to do that, it would 00:56:25.559 --> 00:56:29.079 heal you every time if you did what God told 00:56:29.079 --> 00:56:33.920 you to do. God doesn't need our faith actions, 00:56:33.960 --> 00:56:40.420 but He's chose to connect what He does for us, 00:56:40.460 --> 00:56:43.420 His promises that are manifest in our lives. 00:56:43.519 --> 00:56:48.590 He has chosen to involve our actions with our 00:56:48.590 --> 00:56:51.309 blessing and with our provision and with our... 00:56:51.309 --> 00:56:58.050 See, He chose that. It's not just all up to God. 00:56:59.329 --> 00:57:03.309 He's chosen to involve you. And here's the deal. 00:57:03.429 --> 00:57:06.570 You can hear, you can believe, you can speak 00:57:06.570 --> 00:57:16.550 and still not receive if you don't act. If you 00:57:16.550 --> 00:57:22.849 don't act. For 25 years of me being a Christ 00:57:22.849 --> 00:57:26.809 follower, I thought faith was just hearing and 00:57:26.809 --> 00:57:29.909 believing. Then I got to the point where faith 00:57:29.909 --> 00:57:32.090 is hearing and believing. Then I've got to change 00:57:32.090 --> 00:57:34.329 my words, put my words in agreement with what 00:57:34.329 --> 00:57:38.090 God says about me. All those things are important, 00:57:38.289 --> 00:57:41.309 but we can do all those things and still not 00:57:41.309 --> 00:57:48.500 receive the promise. If we don't act. This online 00:57:48.500 --> 00:57:51.099 worship experience was brought to you by the 00:57:51.099 --> 00:57:53.099 friends and partners of Eulation Church.