Sharing good news of great joy to all people.
Elation Church. Everybody hold up one finger
and say one thing. One thing. Now if you've missed
the first two weeks, I encourage you to take
some time this week and go to our podcast or
go to YouTube and watch those services. Because
it builds. I mean, I can't re -preach everything
over the last two weeks. Because then I'd have
to preach for about three hours. And you probably
don't want me to preach for three hours today.
Even though I would have a good time. I'm not
sure that you would have a good time. Okay. Everybody
say one thing. We began the series by looking
at the account of Martha inviting Jesus into
her home. That's found in Luke chapter 10. So
let's look at that together. As Jesus and the
disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem,
they came to a certain village where a woman
named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her
sister, Mary, sat at the Lord's feet, listening
to what he taught. But Martha was distracted.
Everybody say distracted. Martha was distracted
by the big dinner she was preparing. She came
to Jesus and said, Lord, doesn't it seem unfair
to you that my sister just sits here while I
do all the work? Tell her to come help me. But
the Lord said to her, My dear Martha. Most English
translations say Martha, Martha. Everybody say
Martha, Martha and shake your head. Martha, Martha.
But the Lord said to her, Dear Martha. You are
worried and upset over all these details. There's
only one thing. Everybody say one thing. One
thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered
it. And it will not be taken away from her. So
there was one thing worth being concerned about.
One thing necessary. One thing needed. One thing
not to be left undone. Does anybody have a to
-do list? I haven't completed my to -do list
in about 12 years. Some of you are looking like,
I've tried. It's not because I haven't worked
at it. But there's just always things that...
We feel need to be done. Every Monday, Jeffrey
and I sit down and we write out our to -do list
for the week. And that's just for the church
stuff, not for personal stuff. And most weeks,
there's still things on the list. We've had some
things on the list since before Thanksgiving.
But we have to decide what's most necessary,
what's most important. What is needed? Look,
all of us have to decide what we're going to
do and what we're going to leave off the list.
What we're going to not do. And I just want you
to look at this story this way, because if you're
going to leave something undone, don't leave
this one thing undone. This needs to be top priority.
If Jesus said one thing is necessary, then each
one of us need to... Sit up and pay attention.
Would you agree with me? He said one thing is
necessary. Here's what was necessary. Here's
what Mary chose. Mary sat at Jesus' feet and
heard his word. The most distinguishing characteristic
of Jesus was his words. The Bible says that when
people would hear him speak, they would just
say, wow. They never heard anyone teach or speak
with that kind of authority and even use those
words. Sometimes he used words that other people
would say and other teachers would say, but there
would be something a little different about it.
Like in the story that we're looking at today,
the next story that we're looking at. But Mary
sat at Jesus' feet and she heard His word. The
Koine Greek word heard, here's the definition,
there's a word, a kuo, you can pronounce it however
you want to, it doesn't matter. None of us walk
around talking in Koine Greek. Here's what it
means, to hear, to listen. I shared this last
week. We have a friend named Ken from Texas and
he preaches. He does a lot of school assemblies
and all that kind of stuff. And this is what
he always says. If you're listening, say I am.
And then he goes, I know you can hear me, but
there's a difference between hearing and listening.
So when people start daydreaming and wandering
off, He'll say, if you listen and say, I am.
And he'll keep saying it until everybody says,
I am. But this is more than just hearing. It's
listening, and it's more than just hearing and
listening. It's understanding. It includes both
the physical act of hearing and the deeper understanding
of what is heard. It's beyond just noise. It's
beyond just auditory reception. It's also an
attentive and obedient response to what is heard.
That's the one thing. That's the one thing that
you need. That's the one thing that I need more
than anything else. That's what we do not need
to leave on our to -do list undone. How many
of you know that the Word of God can make a difference
in your life? It really can. I mean, I'm not
just talking about just some kind of religious
duty to come here, the preacher preach, so that
you can rub a little bit of Jesus on your week,
like rubbing on some sunscreen or something if
the sun's out. That's not what we're doing. We're
not just rubbing a little Jesus on our week because
if that's all we're doing, then our lives aren't
going to be transformed. We're here to meet.
With the living God. We're here to hear a word
from him. One thing is necessary. To spend focused,
intentional, intimate time with God. And receive
a word from him. Now. There's a difference between
proximity and intimacy. You can have 14 Bibles
on your coffee table. You can even go through
the motions. Oh, got to pray. I'm about to eat,
so I have to pray. So I just spit off this memorized
thing that really means nothing to me. It's just
rehearsed repetition. Oh, the preacher said we're
supposed to read one chapter a day out of the
Bible five days a week. I got to read it as fast
as I can and get to my business. You know, preacher
said, try to come to church every Sunday. So,
you know, got to get up and go to church. You
can do all those things and still just be in
proximity and not have intimacy with God. That's
a good place to start. If you've never experienced
intimacy with God, it's a good place to start.
But you need to be desiring and expecting more
than what you've been experiencing. One thing
is necessary. The difference is desire. Everybody
say desire. The difference is expectation. Everybody
say expectation. God will meet you. Let me tell
you something. God will meet you at the point
of your desire and the point of your expectation.
He will. So here's the question. Do you really
desire to actually spend focused, intentional,
intimate time with God? If you don't desire it,
you're not going to do it. Because something
else is going to distract you, just like... Hey,
and it can be a good thing. Everybody say good
thing. Good things can distract us. Good things
can distract us. How many of you have been distracted
by something good? Doesn't have to be some kind
of evil thing to distract us. How many of you
know that the fried chicken and banana pudding
that Martha was fixing was a good thing? Hallelujah.
It was a good thing. But it wasn't the most important
thing, the necessary thing. See, Martha was working
in the house. She could hear Jesus' voice, just
the noise of His voice. But she wasn't receiving
what He was saying. She was distracted. But Mary
sat at His feet. And intently listened. She was
expecting something. Martha invited Jesus and
some of the disciples into her home. If you are
in Christ today, you have invited the Holy Spirit
to tabernacle in you. Your body is the temple
of the Holy Spirit. He's there. He's here. He's
here. Just because he's here doesn't mean that
I'm spending intimate time with him. It's just
proximity. We need to spend focused, intentional
time, intimate time with God. You have to desire
that. And here's the deal. If you understood
what a difference it would make in your life
to have that desire, I believe. your desire would
increase. Expectation. Do you expect? Did you
come to this place expecting today to experience
the manifested presence of God? If you're not
expecting it, see, here's the strange thing.
The person sitting beside you could have come
expecting it, and you come not expecting to encounter
God? that person beside you can walk out and
say, I didn't get anything out of this. And if
they told you that, you would say, what do you
mean? That was an amazing experience and encounter
with God. How did you miss it? Expectation. Expectation.
When you read your Bible, do you expect God to
speak to you? Do you ask Him to speak to you?
If you need some help, last week we focused in
on a prayer from Ephesians 1 where Paul was praying
for the believers in Ephesus and he was praying
that they would have spiritual insight and understanding,
revelation. And I talked about how important
that revelation is to our lives. So that paper
is still back there on the back. That'd be a
good place to start is praying that prayer for
yourself before you even open up God's Word.
Okay? Now, today we're going to look at a very
familiar story. And when the preacher starts
reading a very familiar story, sometimes you
just check out because you've probably heard
ten good sermons on this story. I've preached
a couple of them since we've been here. How many
of you know God's Word is living and powerful?
God can speak to our hearts today. Jesus gives
us an illustration. He gives us a parable. And
in this parable, see, it's an earthly story,
but it has a heavenly meaning. And here's what
He's wanting us to see. He's wanting us to see
who God is, who the Father is. And he's wanting
us to see, get this, who we are prone to be.
Just our natural bent. Who we're prone to be.
Now, we're only going to look at one of the sides
of who we are prone to be because that's the
one that fits in with the message today. But
I ask you to go home and read the rest of the
story and see. who else we might be prone to
be. Luke 15, verse 11. A man had two sons. The
younger son told his father, I want my share
of your estate now before you die. So his father
agreed to divide his wealth between his two sons.
A few days later, The younger son packed all
his belongings and moved to a distant land. And
there he wasted all his money in wild living.
Now, I want to point this out because normally
when we look at this story, we don't think of
it this way. But this son's desire, you can see
it easily in the story, his desire. was to get
all his father would give him. Right? That's
what he wanted. Give me all you can give me.
He didn't desire to be with his father. That
wasn't his desire. He desired to experience all
the world had to offer. Think about that a minute.
How many times do we want everything that God
has made available to us, everything that He
wants to give us? We want all of His stuff. We
want all of His blessings. We really don't want
to be with Him. We just want His stuff. What
we really want, what we really desire is all
the world has to offer. But we want everything
of God to give us just so we can experience everything
the world has to offer. Because life is short.
Eternity is forever. I'm just going to throw
that in there. That's that son. Sometimes that's
who we're prone to be. Now when we come to church
and we're sitting here at church talking about
it, you're like... Everybody puts on their little
Sunday school halo and it's like, oh no, not
me, never. Not me. Might be some of these other
heathens sitting around me, but it's not me.
Right? What you talking about, preacher? Let's
keep going. About the time his money ran out,
a great famine swept over the land and he began
to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire
him, and the man sent him to his fields to feed
the pigs. That's low. That's low. For a good
Jewish boy to have to feed pigs is lower than
low. And get this, the young man became so hungry
that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked
good to him. But no one gave him anything. Has
anybody ever had pigs before? Anybody ever had
a slop bucket under the sink and you throw all
the leftovers that you don't want to eat anymore
in a slop bucket and then you take it out to
the pigs and put it in a trough? Have any of
you ever said, Boy, I'm so hungry. I would love
to get a ladle and scoop something out of this
pig trough. I mean, you've got to be hungry for
that, right? You've got to be hungry. You've
got to be real hungry. That's how hungry this
boy was. When he finally, everybody say finally.
When he finally came to his senses, he said to
himself, at home, even the hired servants, Have
food enough to spare. And here I am dying of
hunger. He came to his senses. And he realized
something. Being with his father. Was what he
needed most. Now it took him to get to the bottom.
Before he got to the point where he realized.
That if I was with my father. I wouldn't be experiencing
everything I'm experiencing right now. Have any
of you ever got to a point in your life where
you seem like you are at the lowest low and it's
like you come to your senses and say, I need
God. Has anybody ever been there? See, it's who
we're prone to be. His desire changed. Here's
what he said. I will go home to my father and
say, Father, I have sinned against both heaven
and you. And I am no longer worthy of being called
your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.
So he returned home to his father. And while
he was still a long way off, his father saw him
coming. Listen. Listen to who God is. Filled
with love and compassion. That's God. Filled
with love and compassion, he ran to his son,
embraced him, and kissed him. Let me give you
a little side information here. The Pharisees
used to tell this story, but at this point in
the story, the Pharisees would say, how mad the
father was. And it's like he punished him. Yeah,
you know, I'm not bringing you back in because
you ran away. That's not God. That's who the
Pharisees told people who God was. Don't be messing
up because God will get you. God will get you.
I've heard some preachers say things like that.
Bless their hearts. One guy's whole message was,
God will set your fields on fire. It's not God.
Jesus is telling us who God is. The boy came
to his senses. Came back home. His father saw
him coming. I bet you this wasn't the first day
that the father walked out on his property and
looked at the horizon saying, it's today the
day that my son's coming home. It's today the
day that he comes to his senses. If the one thing
is not the one thing that you're after. This
is who God is. I wonder when my kids are going
to come to their senses. I wonder when they're
going to realize how good I am. I wonder when
they're going to realize how much I love them.
I wonder when they're going to realize how much
I've done for them. I wonder when they're going
to realize All the promises that I've made to
them. I wonder if today's the day that they're
going to come home. That their desire is going
to change. That their desire is going to be about
me. For me. I wonder when they're going to realize
how awesome and how much better Their situation
can be that they've been going through, if they
will just come to me, I wonder if today's the
day. The father, filled with love and compassion,
he ran to his son, he embraced him, and he kissed
him. See, his father desired that relationship
all along. He wanted to be with his son. But
he didn't force that relationship with his son.
It had to be, From his son's heart. Because if
you force love. It's not really love. That's
why God will let us go our own way. If we want
to. But he desires. For intimate fellowship with
you. His son said to him. Father. I have sinned
against both heaven and you. I'm no longer worthy
to be called your son. See, he just wanted to
be in a servant relationship, a hired hand relationship.
Because of all the things that he had done, he
ran away, wasted his inheritance. Listen to what
the father said. His father said to the other
servants, Quick, bring the robe. Everybody say
the robe. Bring the finest robe in the house.
There's so much picture here. It's the family
robe. It's not just a robe that any of the servants
would wear. This is like the robe that shows
who my boy is. See, he said, you know, I've messed
up. Just make me a hired servant. Daddy's saying,
no, put the family robe on him. Because I want
to restore him. I want to bless him. Did he do
wrong? Yeah. But that's okay. That's all forgiven.
In your case, in my case, you know, my son, Jesus,
died on the cross for that. Bring the finest
robe in the house. Put it on him. Get a ring.
Ring symbolizes authority. Bring a ring for his
finger. Signet ring. During this time, you know,
the government officials and even the family
would have a ring and they could seal something
with that ring by putting that symbol on it.
This boy's being restored. Get a ring for his
finger and sandals for his feet. Kill the calf
we've been fattening up for a good party. We
must celebrate with a feast. For this son of
mine was dead. He wasn't physically dead, but
he might as well have been dead because he was
completely separated from a relationship with
his father. His father had no idea if he was
alive or dead. This son of mine was dead. He
has now returned to life. He was lost, but now
he's found. So the party began. That's God. Jesus
wants you to know who the Father God is. Most
of the time we look at the story to see how bad
the boy did and all that kind of stuff, but I
believe we find out more about God in this than
we do ourselves, but I do believe we can see
a picture of ourselves. And then just to give
you a heads up, the other brother got all jealous
and mad. Because he hadn't ran away. He's been
there the whole time. He's been serving, but
he's had no parties. Sometimes we're prone to
get a little self -righteous, right? I did better
than they did. Why are they getting blessed?
Why does it seem like they're getting blessed
and I'm not getting blessed? Here's the Father.
It's all yours. It's always been all yours. It's
all yours. If you wanted to take a calf and have
a party for you and your friends, it was always
here and always available. But you didn't take
hold of what I had made available. So sometimes
we're prone to that. We're not taking hold of
the great and precious promises that God has
made for us. We're not reaching out by faith
and taking hold of it. So the Father says, that's
on you, that ain't on me. Look, he's talking
to his older boy. He says, basically he's saying,
I haven't held out on you. God's telling you
today, I haven't held out on you. You think I'm
holding out on you? You missed it. Because it's
all yours. I'm about to take off running. Here's
the deal. Being with his father, abundantly provided
everything the son would ever need or want. I
need to say that again. Being in relationship
with his father, being with his father, abundantly
provided everything the son would ever need or
want. Matthew 6, 33. Jesus said this, but seek
first. Everybody say first. Seek first. Everybody
say seek. Seek first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness. And all these things shall be
added to you. Doesn't that fit just right with
that story that we just said? Seek first. You
can't seek the kingdom of God without seeking
God. It's God in His eternal rule and reign.
Seek that first. His righteousness. It doesn't
mean that you need to bump it up a notch in the
flesh to try and try and try and try and try
again. You are the righteousness of God in Christ
Jesus is what the Bible says. If you're in Christ,
you're right with God. If the boy was back with
his father, he was fully restored. You're right
with God. I spent so many years in my relationship
with God just beating myself up every day because
I just couldn't be good enough. Talked about
that last week. I rededicated and rededicated
and rededicated so much that my rededicator wore
out. Because I thought it was about my ability
to keep the rules and to be good. And if I didn't
do it, then God was going to be disappointed
in me. Here's the deal. God knew you couldn't
do it. That's why Jesus... came and died for
your sin in your place on the cross. That's why
Jesus came and died for you, because you couldn't
do it. Some people might say, well, preacher,
when you talk like that, people think that they
can just do whatever they want to do and live
their own way and live their own life. Listen,
if that's what you get out of what I just said,
you don't even know what grace is. Seek first.
I didn't write down the Greek words, but I wrote
down the definitions. Seek. It means to seek.
It also means to worship. It means desire. Everybody
say desire. Everybody say aha. Aha. To seek.
To worship. To desire. First. First in time,
first in place, first in order, first in importance.
Before you desire anything else, this should
be your one desire, the one thing. Jesus told
Martha the same thing. He said, Mary chose the
one thing that was most needed, most important.
Jesus told us a few more parables that hopefully
will inspire you and me to understand just how
important the kingdom of God is. We live in this
earth and it's like we think everything else
is more important. Good things, sometimes bad
things. We think it's... We think they're more
important. Here's what Jesus said. The kingdom
of heaven is like a treasure. Everybody said
treasure. Does anyone want to find the treasure
of the kingdom of heaven? Well, the one thing's
important. The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure
that a man discovered hidden in a field in his
excitement. He hid it again. He sold everything
he owned to get enough money to buy the field.
Because when he bought the field, he got the
treasure. Here's another one. Matthew 13, 45.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered
a pearl of great value, the most amazing pearl
that he had ever seen in his life, he sold everything
he owned and bought it. You might say, well,
now you're talking about treasures and talking
about pearls and what's that have to do with
anything that you're talking about. Please don't
miss it. Please don't miss it. This one thing,
spending focused, intentional, intimate time
with God. I want you to see that as a treasure.
I want you to see that as this pearl. It's the
one thing, the most important. We need to seek
first. Seek first. When being with the king is
your priority, all the benefits of the kingdom
will be available to you. It was an old hymn
that I grew up singing. Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full in his wonderful face. Listen, and
the things of earth will grow strangely dim in
the light of his glory. His glory is his manifested
presence. Have you ever experienced the manifested
presence of God? The glory means... The heaviness,
not a bad heavy, but a good heavy. It's like
the manifested presence of God just like sits
down. When being with the king is your priority,
the benefits of heaven will be yours. Another
story. I'm going to turn to Moses. Moses grew
up in Egypt. Do you remember the story? Are you
familiar with the story? Moses grew up in Egypt.
He was a Hebrew, but he was part of Pharaoh's
family. He got adopted into part of Pharaoh's
family. He saw the Egyptian guards and taskmasters
beating up. some of the Hebrew slaves. He could
look at himself and see that he was a Hebrew.
He didn't look like his brothers and sisters
and his adopted dad and adopted mom. He didn't
look like them. He knew he was Hebrew. He saw
him beating some of the Hebrew slaves. He intervened
and wound up killing one of the Egyptians. Then
he ran off. Now that... What I just described
to you was part of his first 40 years. Everybody
say 40 years. His second 40 years, he was out
in the wilderness taking care of what became
his father -in -law's sheep and goats. So this
is where we're going to pick up on the story.
Moses was focused on the details of his everyday
life. Everybody say, just like Martha. He was
focused on the details of his everyday life,
taking care of his father -in -law's flock, and
that word flock in the Hebrew can mean sheep
or goats. I don't know what he was taking care
of that day or if they were all mixed together.
I don't know. And as he was out there just minding
his own business, going through his daily routine,
the angel of the Lord, everybody say Christophany.
I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time on
this, but there are times in the Old Testament
where theologians have discovered that this wasn't
just a regular angel. It wasn't just a messenger
angel. This was actually a pre -incarnate visit
of Christ. The angel of the Lord appeared to
him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush.
I'll go ahead and tell you this. The main reason
they say that is because sometimes when you see
the angel of the Lord, he received worship. And
angels don't receive worship. Shouldn't receive
worship. And the angel of the Lord appeared to
him in a flame of fire from the midst of the
bush. Have you heard this story? Listen, so he
looked, and behold, the bush was burning with
fire, but the bush was not consumed. It wasn't
being burned up like a normal little campfire.
Then Moses said, I will now turn aside. Everybody
say, turn aside. I will now turn aside. I want
to turn aside from my sheep and my goats and
my task of everyday life. I'm going to turn aside
and see this great sight. Why the bush does not
burn. Listen very closely to the next verse.
So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to
look. It's just exploded in me, I hope. Now he
turned aside, but then when the Lord saw that
he turned aside to look, when the Lord saw that
Moses turned away to turn aside to look, when
he did it, God spoke to him. Do you see the connection?
Or do I have to just like type it all out for
you again? I hope you're with me. When the Lord
saw that he turned aside to look, God called
to him from the midst of the bush and said, Moses.
Moses. And he said, here I am. When God saw Moses
turn aside from his routine tasks and concerns,
God spoke to him. And I'm here today to tell
you that when you turn aside, when you realize
that turning to God and turning aside and having
that first priority to seek first, to have that
intimate fellowship with God, to spend... Quality
focused time with God. He's going to speak to
you. But you have to desire it. And you have
to expect it. This word from God. Changed Moses'
life. It led. To his becoming. And if you weren't
here last week. That was the focus of the message
last week. When God spoke to Samuel, that led
to him becoming. I want to tell you that a word
from God can lead to your becoming. Becoming.
Who God wants you to be. One word from God can
change your life. Let's continue in Exodus 3
.5. Then he. Angel of the Lord. Said this. Do
not draw near this place. Take your sandals off
your feet. For the place where you stand. His
holy ground. Everybody say manifested presence.
Manifested presence of God. His holy ground.
He encountered the glory of God. This encounter
with God and his manifested presence opened up
the next 40 year season of Moses' life. And out
of everyone in the Bible, I'm going to make a
statement. I want you to try to prove me wrong,
if you can. But out of every character in the
Bible, we probably have recorded, documented
words of encounters with God, with Moses. So
this was the first time. And now we have a 40
-year season of Moses' life where he's spending
focus. I mean, he went up on the mountain for
40 days. He spent time with God. I mean, he just
turned us out of everything and went up on the
mountain. Everybody's at the bottom of the mountain
going, well, is he alive? There are throughout
Scripture where after they leave Mount Sinai,
Moses would go to the tent of meeting and everybody
would come outside and watch as the cloud, the
glory cloud would come and rest. Everybody was
excited because Moses was talking with God and
he was about to let them know what God was saying.
Listen, now you can go directly to God yourself.
You don't have to go through a priest. You have
access. You have access. Come boldly. As a child
of the Most High God, come boldly. Not like that
son. I'm so unworthy. So unworthy. I've messed
up. I've done wrong. Please, please, please,
please, please. Don't come begging. Moses became
somebody. The deliverer of God's people. This
word from God led to his becoming. One word from
God can lead to your becoming. I mentioned a
part of this last week. This morning as I was
studying again, I just have to tell you more
details to the story. If you were here last week,
you heard me talk about a day in my life that
was probably the darkest day of my life. You
know, Gannon and I were pulling out the Atlas.
Some of you have never seen an Atlas. An Atlas
is a paper book with a state on each page with
all the roads. It's a map. It didn't have GPS.
Pulled out the Atlas. There were three options.
In my mind, three options. I was either going
to be an evangelist to the nation of Canada,
an evangelist to the nation of Mexico, or I was
going to start a prison ministry. It was a bad
day. And it was a result of doing good things,
you know. Signed a bunch of contracts. Had a
youth conference. You know, I had 1 ,600 seats
at that first conference. All I needed was about
1 ,000 of my friends. I mean, I had friends in
20 states. Friends with pastors and youth pastors
in 20 states. All I needed was about 1 ,000 people
to show up. Less than 300 people showed up. It's
like, I'm not telling anybody in the room to
write a faith check because that was probably
not, you know what a faith check is? A faith
check, everybody's had a faith check. That's
writing a check when you don't have the money
in the bank to cover it. By the way, that's illegal
in all 50 states. But I've been walking with
God and I was like, God, every decision I made,
I was led by the Spirit and I was led by God.
And then now, I owe more money than I borrowed
to build my first house. There was no way I could
pay for it. Called the banker. Said, I wrote
some checks. They're going to be coming. Please
don't return them without talking to me. Had
a great guy working with me at the bank. I started
working. I called the bank, too, and I said,
can I borrow this money? And the guy that was
holding the checks for me said, Dean, I believe
you're good for the money, and I believe that
you'll pay it, but... I might lose my job if
I let you borrow this money because you live
in a motor home. How could I even find you? Well,
finally one day he called and he said, Dean,
all the checks are here. I'd just been, I'd talked
to other people asking for co -signers. It was
a bad day. And I know some of you are saying,
you should have never done that. Well, I was
in trouble. Has anybody ever been in trouble
before? I was in big trouble. I'm going to be
a Canadian or a Mexican evangelist or start a
prison ministry. He said, they're all here and
we've got to do something in the morning. Now,
how many of you know that I was having a bad
day at that point? Over $50 ,000, bad day. God.
Don't drop your teeth. So I went to bed. Tossing
and turning. What are we going to do? Terrible.
Terrible night. Just tossing and turning. Could
not go to sleep. Trying to go to sleep. So worried.
Had so much fear. Fear and worry was just overwhelming
me. It was dark. You think I'm crazy? I'm going
to tell you this story. About 3 o 'clock in the
morning, all of a sudden, it wasn't an audible
voice, but all of a sudden, just, you need to
go outside. Go to the beach. And we were on the
front row of a campground. There was a walkover.
And then the beach was just right there. Three
o 'clock in the morning. I mean, it's cold outside.
You need to get out of bed and go to the beach.
I've been saying, God, where are you? I mean,
I've been walking with you this whole time. I've
been following you this whole time. And now it's
just silent. Where did you go? Why did you leave
me now? I'm in trouble, God. Where are you? Go
to the beach. Can you believe I was so, I'm not
supposed to say stupid, but I'm talking about
myself. Can you believe that I was so stupid
that I was saying, I don't need to get out of
bed. It's cold. At least I'm warm here. I know
I can't sleep. Just over and over again. You
need to get up and go to the beach. This is God
talking to me. So finally. After arguing with
God, I've been saying, why? Where are you? Why
did you quit? What's going on? Now he's talking
to me and I'm arguing. Not very bright. Finally
get up, get dressed, go outside. The fog is so
thick. I've never seen fog that thick before.
It was so dark and the fog was so thick, I could
look at my hand and not see it. I could see a
little speck because there was a street light
right where the walkover goes. I could see just
a little round dot, but it wasn't putting any
light around me. I could just see that dot in
the distance. So I walk in this thick fog, can't
see anything. I walk up the steps. There's a
wood walkover over the dunes, and I get to the
top, and then that same still small voice says,
Stop. And then God asked me a question. He said,
where's the ocean? So now I'm just standing out
there. If anybody would have been looking, I'm
just talking to myself. It's right there. I even
point it. It says right there. God said, how
do you know it's there? He said, you can't see
it. I said, I know it's there because I've stood
on this bridge before and I know where it is.
I've seen it before. It's right there. I can
hear the waves crashing. It's there. He says,
yeah, but you can't see it. And then in a still
small voice that was louder than anybody's ever
spoken to me, God said, I'm here. One word. Everybody
say one word. One word. Now there's so many Bible
verses that say, I will never leave you or forsake
you. Right? So many times God says that. And
I knew those verses. But I was in a bad place.
When he said, I'm here, that's all I needed.
I walked back to the RV, and I went back to the
back, and I got in bed, and I went to sleep as
soon as my head hit the pillow. I want to ask
you a question. Did I still have a problem? Had
anything changed? No. Still had the same terrible
problem. That it had me overcome with fear and
worry to the point that I didn't know what I
was going to do. But now I had a word from God.
That one word from God immediately changed the
situation that I was facing. Now I had peace
that surpassed understanding. Because still in
my understanding, I was still in bad trouble.
But now I had the peace of God that surpassed
that understanding because I had a word from
God. The next thing I heard was a telephone ringing.
Somebody on the other end of the phone said,
Dean, God told me this morning to call you and
ask you if you needed anything. I promise you.
God told me to call you and ask you if you needed
anything. See, I was still at the point where
I thought that nobody could help me. This was
too big. Too big. So I hemmed all around, and
then he said this, and I'm glad he said this.
He said, If you have too much pride to tell me
what you need, I'm going to hang up and you better
not call me back. So I swallowed real hard and
told him. Listen, within one hour, everything
I needed was wired into our ministry bank account.
With another thousand dollars on top of that.
So that me and my family could eat that month.
I've got some other words from God. But I'm supposed
to share that one with you today. Because when
I say one word from God can change your situation.
And one word from God can change your life. I've
experienced what I'm telling you about. You might
not think spending focused, quality, intimate
time with God is what you really need, but I'm
going to tell you, that's what you really need.
More than anything else, that's what you need.
And Jesus said, one thing is necessary. James
4 says, if you'll come close to God, He'll come
close to you. If you'll turn aside and turn to
Him, He will come to you. Just like that Father
running with love and compassion and restoration
and deliverance and freedom and life. My, my,
my. The church gave me this button last year
for my birthday. That's some of the people in
this room saying amen. I just had to have some
amen right there. I wasn't getting any. When
turning aside becomes your priority, you'll encounter
God and experience His manifested presence. When
you experience His manifested presence, you will
discover that everything you need is available
to you in Christ. It's available. Everybody say
one thing. One thing is necessary to spend focused,
intentional, intimate time with God and receive
a word from him. This online worship experience
was brought to you by the friends and partners
of Elation Church.