sharing good news of great joy to all people.
Elation Church. Welcome to week number seven
in our series we've entitled, Hello, My Name
is God. And we've been looking at the names of
God and their significance and importance to
us, okay? Are you excited? I'm excited. If you've
been here and the Word has blessed you and God's
name has blessed you, raise your hand. It's been
really good. I've gotten so much out of it. I
know it's so impacting when we get a hold of
who God is and how he can transform our lives,
right? It's so good. So let's talk about a name
real quick, try to catch everyone up. Like I
said, this is week seven. If you haven't been
here with us and would like to catch up, I just
want to remind you, you can be like YouTube,
you can go on podcasts, Apple podcasts, anywhere
you stream it, Spotify, whatever, all of the
different ones. You can go back and just listen
to an edited version of the sermon to catch up.
and be a part of what's going on here in that
word. So what's in a name? Names signify identity.
Everybody say identity. You can be a little bit
louder than that. Say identity. I'm going to
have you talking to me today. I want you focusing.
So identity. Now my full name, a lot of people
don't know this, but my full name is Jeffrey
Nathaniel Forrest. Now, you know, most people
just call me Jeffrey, but if I ever heard these
three names, it meant something. It meant something.
It wasn't just like, oh, Jeffrey, you know, that's
on your birth certificate, but if I hear someone
call me three names, I'm running. You know what
I'm saying? All right. Yeah, I was always in
trouble if I got all three names. Jeffrey Nathaniel
Forrest, what's going on? But yeah, everyone
calls me Jeffrey. If you notice, it's spelled
a little different. Some people call me Joffrey.
Some people like to call me Jeff. Don't call
me that. I just go by Jeffrey, okay? Jeffrey's
my name, and that's what I go by. Another identity
name is Christian. It's not just something that
I do. It's not just something that I practice.
It's my identity. It's my self -identity of what
God has done for me, and that's who I am, okay?
Everybody say amen. Christian is my identity,
not just something that I do and practice. It's
who I am, okay? Names also signify, so they signify
identity. Everybody say identity. Then say relationship.
Names signify relationship. I'm a cousin. I'm
a nephew. I'm a son. This is my dad. My mother
was singing up here earlier. She's helping out
with the kids. But my mom, she never called me
just son. I was always her favorite son. Now,
being the only child, that was kind of weird,
right? But I'd still take it as a compliment.
Right? You're like, you're my favorite son. And
I'm like, yeah, I'm the favorite. All right.
I'm also a husband. My beautiful wife, Caitlin,
she's usually keeping the kids. She's over here,
so I'm a husband. But she don't call me husband.
She calls me usually Jeffrey, just by my name.
We don't really do the whole pet name. Sometimes
she calls me honey, though. Sometimes, you know,
she says, oh, honey, can you do this? She don't
call me, you know, husband. That would be kind
of weird. But like, oh, husband, would you? you
know, change the air filter today or something
like, you know, she wouldn't say that. Sometimes
she would say, honey. We test drove, she test
drove one time Pookie. And that, thankfully,
that one didn't stick. Thankfully, I was like,
no, we're not doing that. I just kind of looked
at her and I was like, no, we're not doing that.
So names signify identity, names signify relationship,
and also names signify activity. Everybody say
activity. Activity, what a person does. Sometimes
you're known by a name. Like I've been a student
part of my life. I've been a musician. I started
playing bongos when I was like seven years old.
And then I moved to like a djembe and then drums
and then acoustic guitar. And I just started
playing anything, guitar, bass, or whatever,
anything that would go along with that. So I'm
a musician. I was a recording artist. I traveled
around. Even apart from my family, people would
book me in. I wrote songs and sang. Traveled
around, people would have me in, and I would
sing the music that God gave me to sing. And
so I was a part of who I was for a while. I was
a sound man. I ran sound. Got paid to run sound
and things. Got paid to be a sound engineer sitting
in studios and help produce records, things like
that. Worship leader. And then when we spent
time in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, we were
associated with a resort there. I was taking
pictures with my, just my iPhone for like the
longest time. And all of a sudden the owner one
day reached out to me and they said, hey, would
you mind running like social media? We just want
pictures for our account, things like that. So
I started doing that. And then it went from just
posting to that to all of a sudden, okay. We'll
get you a camera. So I got a camera. And then
we're shooting website photos and pictures to
hang around the resort. Then a picture is in
magazines. And then all of a sudden billboards
start popping up. So that was really cool. So
my professional photographer career, it was short
-lived, about three or four years. I finally
made some, like, family portrait money on the
side. You know, once you get everybody, let's
wear white and khaki and go stand out on the
dune and take a picture. If you know, you know,
okay? I was also, something interesting about
me, I was a senior citizen's aerobics instructor.
I kid you not. Yeah, a lot of people don't know
this about me. It's a good time. So what is it?
It was good money. I about said something I shouldn't.
Anyways. It was good money at the time, and we
did like circuit training. It was a part of like
a Weight Watchers program, and you would do like
a minute at each station, and I kind of facilitated
that class. Also, I was a DJ for a short period
of time. I'd set up sound on the beach. I'd play
top 40 hits and all the fun dance music that
you hear at weddings. We'd have 200 or 300 people
out there dancing every Saturday night. It was
good money. I was, when we moved here, I was
a custodian for Disney, coordinator and trainer
for a while. And then I've been an evangelist,
been a chaplain at that same resort, preacher,
and now the associate pastor here at Alation
Church. Everybody go, glad that's over. That
was a lot. Enough about me, though. It's 16 names
I just gave you. 16 names, but I'm just one person.
Everybody say one person. And one thing that
I just want to be clear about, like when we're
talking about the names of God, there's only
one God. When we hear these different names,
they're not talking about different gods or lesser.
No, we're just talking about one God. Everybody
say one God. One God. And what's in a name? Again,
because this wasn't about me, this is about who
God is and God's name. So in a name is identity,
it's relationship, it's activity, what a person
does. Come to God when we learn these names as
a church, as we're learning these names, let's
keep these things in mind, that this is who he
is. This name reveals his identity. It reveals
the relationship that he wants to have with each
one of us. And then his activity, the things
that he wants to do in our lives, through our
lives, in our world around us. Okay? Our main
text is Psalms 910. It says this. And those who
know your name will put their trust in you. For
you, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
So when we seek God by his name, right, we can
put our trust in who he is, in that relationship
that he wants to have with us, in that activity.
We can trust that he will do those things in
our lives. And he will not forsake us when we
seek him according to who he is. He won't turn
his back on us is what that word means. He'll
never leave you. He'll never forsake you. Ain't
that such a blessing? Isn't that such a promise?
And as we've been looking at each one of these
names of God, there's a promise connected to
his person. There's a promise connected to his
identity. There's a promise connected here that
we can take a hold of by faith. Amen? Amen. The
name of God we're looking at is El Shaddai. El
Shaddai. This has just been like stirring in
my heart. I'm really jacked up and excited about
it. Might have had a little too much coffee too,
but we're going for it. El Shaddai. Everybody
say El Shaddai. Now in the first week, we've
looked at Elohim and Yahweh. This is another
compound word, Hebrew word here. So the first
El, short for Elohim, means great, mighty. Supreme
God, okay? And then Shaddai is usually translated
in your English Bible as Almighty. As you're
going through, it's translated as Almighty God,
okay? It's derived from that word. It's actually
two different words put together. It's derived
from the word breast, Shadd, and it implies something
physical nourishment, satisfaction, and supply.
I want to say that again, because I think we
need to take a hold of this. It implies physical
nourishment, so the physical, satisfaction, the
emotional, and the supply, the material, okay?
So listen, die, so shad means breast, die meant
enough in the language, in Hebrew. So when we
put these... Names together, it means the one
who is mighty to completely nourish, completely
satisfy, and completely supply. That's who God
is. If you're having trouble taking a hold of
this, this is just the direct translation of
what this name means, okay? So it's going to
be a long morning. You've got to bear with me.
Come on. El Shaddai means the one who is mighty.
Everybody say, God is mighty. God is mighty to
completely nourish me. Say this again. Don't
worry about the phone. God is mighty. Come on,
say it with me. God is mighty to completely nourish,
satisfy, and supply me. Do we believe that? That's
who he says he is. That's who the word says he
is. El Shaddai means, and a lot of you may have
heard this, it also means... God is, and it gives
us this picture in the Septuagint of being all
-sufficient. And this kind of sticks out to me
a little bit because he's not just sufficient
to meet these things. It's not just sufficient.
It's not just enough. He's more than enough.
He's all -sufficient, all -encompassing, sufficiency,
supply, nourishment. Come on. That's good. That's
who God is. That's who God is. He is more than
enough. That's the God that we serve. To get
this image, how many of you like buffets? Have
you liked buffets? Yeah, we like some buffets.
There's a buffet in Plant City, Florida. I encourage
you to go there. This is a shameless plug for
them. It's called Fred's Market. And if you go,
it's like country cooking. You know, I'm from
the Carolinas, and sometimes it's hard to get
country cooking. In Florida, for some reason,
even though we're farther south, we have less
country cooking. So anyways, I found this place.
And if you go down there, it doesn't matter how
hungry I am. It doesn't matter how much, you
know, how much I want to eat. I walk in the door.
I eat everything that I wanted. I get completely
full. And then I eat a little bit more than I
intended to eat. And then there's still. There's
still more, so I've got to go back and eat that
dessert that I missed out on because I was still
full. And then still, there's more than enough.
I can't eat it all. There's just more. A thousand
people will walk through that door, and there's
just more. There's just always food. I don't
know if it ever shuts down. There's just food
there. I imagined it in my sleep, like in my
dreams. It's just 24 hours a day, this endless
country cooking buffet. More than enough. Okay,
come on, come on. It's okay to laugh in church.
It's okay. It's kind of like a power line. The
power line up and down 27, it has the power within
it, listen, has the power within it to supply
the needs of my house so that when I plug in
my vacuum cleaner, I don't go, I wonder if it's
going to work today. I wonder if I have enough
power today, right? I plug it in, and so it supplies
the power to my house and everything that it
needs. But then it also has more within it than
I could possibly ever draw from it. More than
I would ever need. It's available to me. And
that's who God is. He's trying to give us this
picture of I am more than enough. I am all sufficient.
I am mighty. It reminds me of a few verses. We
have a lot of scripture coming at you today.
So sit up on the edge of your seat. Listen, Philippians
4 .19 says this, And this same God who takes
care of me will supply all your needs from his
glorious riches which have been given to us in
Christ Jesus. I want you to see that his riches
far exceed your need. Who he is far exceeds anything
that you need in your person. And this is a promise
connected to his person of who he is. Amen? His
supply is way more than my need, than my want.
Ephesians 3 .20, I love this. Now to him who
is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above.
I just want to stop there. Not just sufficient.
Not just enough. exceedingly, abundantly, above
all I can ask or think. I can think about a lot.
I can ask for a lot. And it's interesting to
think about this in the context of prayer and
God knowing in his omniscience, him knowing what
I pray before I ask it. And he's able to supply
that need because everything that you need is
already found in him. It's already available
to you in Christ. According to the power that
what works in us. Exceedingly, abundantly, above.
And is that your image of who God is? When you
think of God in your life and what that means
to you. Your relationship with him. His activity
in your life is a descriptor of that, him being
exceedingly, abundantly above. God's identity
reveals that his ability is above our perception.
It's above our perception. His provision is beyond
our perceived needs and wants being met. It's
beyond that. So let's look now, let's turn in
our Bibles to Genesis, Genesis 17. We're going
to be looking at when this first, when God revealed
himself as El Shaddai, okay? Genesis 17, 1, listen.
When Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord appeared
to him and said, I am El Shaddai, God Almighty.
I want you to take note of... The order in which
these things are given. I am El Shaddai, God
Almighty. Serve me faithfully and live a blameless
life. I will make a covenant with you by which
I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.
At this, Abraham fell face down on the ground.
Then God said to him, this is my covenant with
you. I will make you the father of a multitude
of nations. What's more, I'm changing your name.
It will no longer be called Abram. Instead, you
will be called Abraham, for you will be the father
of many nations. He could have just said, you're
going to be the father of Isaac, and that would
have been miraculous. But here we're seeing him
being more than enough. He's like, you're not
going to be just the father of Isaac. You're
going to be the father of nations. Anywhere your
feet will tread, you'll have, lead you into the
land of Canaan, all those things. I will make
you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will
become many nations and kings will be among them.
And I just want to point out something. The order
of events is that God reveals to Abram. that
he is El Shaddai, the God who is more than enough.
And then he gives him a vision, which is a vision
that he had already given him, and he keeps expanding
on it, keeps counting it to him. But he wanted
Abram to get it. He wanted Abraham to see it,
just like God wants you and I to see it. He wants
you and I to see. Not it, excuse me, but the
person of who God is. Because once we see that,
we can have faith that the vision and the destiny
and the call of God on your life will come to
pass. But first and foremost, you have to see
God as I am, El Shaddai. So he tells him who
he is. God tells Abram who he is. He gives him
the vision of what that's going to look like
in his life, what God being El Shaddai is going
to play out. It's his high calling, you could
say, as the father of our faith. Then something
special happens. God changes his name. Have you
ever thought about it? God changes his name.
There's a lot of significance in a name. But
he changes him from just Abram to now all of
a sudden Abraham, which was more in line with
his vision and his promise that he had called
him to. God wanted Abraham to know him, to believe
his word of blessing, and to see himself standing
in those promises to the degree that his identity
changed. to align with his God -given destiny.
God is El Shaddai. He's more than enough. He's
not just the father of Isaac. He's also the father
of nations. But listen, this is so big. God,
help us to take a hold of this. Help it to be
planted in good soil. Give us eyes to see, ears
to hear what your word is speaking. Listen, for
you to become who God wants you to be, you must
believe God is who he says he is. Not just mentally
agree with. Not just intellectual. This is not
an intellectual pursuit. That's religion. You
must believe, know, trust that God is who he
says he is. And you must believe you are who
God says you are. If we could get a hold of this
church, that's all we need. This is it. This
is what you need. You think I'm missing, I'm
coming up short, I need to go deeper with God.
No, you need to believe him more. You need to
know who he is and believe that God is who he
says he is and that you are who God says you
are. As a Christian, what does that look like?
That means seated with God in heavenly places.
You're raised up in him. You're made alive in
him. Because in him, through him, we have our
being. We have life to the fullest in excess
until it overflows when we are in Christ. And
if we can see ourselves like God sees us, not
with all this weight of self -condemnation, if
we can see ourselves the way God sees us instead
of the lies that the enemy tells us, if we value
what he speaks to us over the value of the enemy
trying to speak to us, if we value who he is
and what he says to us, man, if that was the
most important thing, it would change your life.
Believe who God says he is. and believe you are
who God says you are. In the New Testament, it
talks about Abraham too, and it's very important
what it says here. Let's listen. Romans 4, verse
16. Therefore, it is of faith, everybody say
faith, faith that it might be according to grace,
so that the promise might be sure to all the
seed, not only to those who are of the law, but
also those who are of the faith of Abraham. who
is the father of us all. As it is written, I
have made you a father of many nations in the
presence of him who believed, God, who gives
life to the dead and calls those things which
do not exist as though they did, who contrary
to hope and hope believed, so that he, Abram,
became the father of many nations according to
what was spoken. so shall your descendants be.
And get this, in not being weak in faith, he
did not consider, I want to pause there, he did
not consider the natural. He did not consider
the limitations in the natural. And in order
for you to be who God wants you to be and step
into, The high calling of God that he has on
each one of your lives, which is all unique to
you individually. The destiny, the high calling
that he has given you, that he has for you. In
order for you to step into that place, listen,
you cannot consider the natural. Your eyes cannot
be on your ability in the natural. What I can
do in the natural. He did not consider his own
body already dead, since he was about 100 years
old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb. He did
not waver. This is so hard for us to do. We're
so bad about wavering at the promise. One day
we see it, one day we take a hold of it, and
then the next, with our words and our actions,
we do otherwise. But Abram... There was a point
in time in his life that all of a sudden he believed
that God is El Shaddai. It was settled in his
life. And it can be settled in your life. By
faith, you can be settled. You can say, God,
this is who you are no matter what I see, no
matter what I feel, no matter what I face. God,
I know who you are. He did not waver at the promise
of God through unbelief, but was strengthened
in faith, giving glory to God. In being fully
convinced that what he had promised, he was also
able to perform. Amen. What he had promised,
he was able to perform. God is more than enough.
Amen. What he promises in his word, he's able
to perform in your life. God's name was given
as a promise for Abraham to trust. Because remember,
we don't have faith in faith. We have faith in
God. So without knowing who God is and standing
upon that, you can't have faith. If you have
faith in the vision, maybe God's given you. some
kind of direction or heading in your life, you
can't put your faith in that and see that reality
become your reality. You have to ground, settle
your faith in who God is, in his person, to see
the promise revealed in your life. God wants
you to see yourself the way he sees you, seeing
yourself as if the promises of God have already
been fulfilled. What are some things, I just
want to ask you this, what are some things in
your life, because it's important to remember,
we talked about this in life group, it's important
to remember the things that he's brought you
through. Those help strengthen you individually
when you recognize that God was at work in my
life. And I think it's important to realize that
things that have come to pass in your life may
be something that you've prayed about, and then
all of a sudden you're in it today, and that
thought might be a million miles away, but I
think it's important for us to remember. That
you can live in and see yourself as if the promise
of God has already been fulfilled. An example
of that, here's, listen. An example of that is
before we moved here. I feel like I need to say
this. Before we moved here, I was in a single
wide trailer. My wife and I got married and I
was praying for a house. We were moving down
here. And I said, God, you know, wouldn't it
be great to have a house to do things in? That'd
just be such a blessing. God, I'm such a baby.
Some have, I don't know. But it's amazing to
wake up in an answered prayer. It's amazing to
live in the place that God has for me. Because
when I followed him, I stepped into the promise
that he had made me. And I saw myself here. I
saw Caitlin and I in a house. I saw it. And now
I'm in it. I can't tell you how many things in
my life I've prayed for and it happens. But I
have to see it in order for me to know that it's
going to take place. I've got to see me having
it. That's just a part of how it works. God is
the revealer. Everybody say, God is the revealer.
He's the revealer of, in his word, we gain knowledge,
we gain information. He's also the revealer by
the Holy Spirit, special revelation in our lives,
giving us day -to -day direction, guidance, plan,
illuminating our path, illuminating our minds
to the truth of the word, of the written word.
He's also the supplier. And then here at Alation
Church, we talk about God being our source. And
that's such a strong image to take a hold of,
is that God is the source of my provision. But
I want you, in this study today, in this lesson,
a lot of my life, I looked at God being my source
of enough. And I looked at... His ability in
the box of my natural understanding. But God
is the God who is not just enough. He is the
God who is more than enough. And he is the sustainer.
He sustains you by a life lived in faith. By
standing upon. His word, by knowing it, agreeing
with it. We all face situations and circumstances
where our natural abilities, our natural abilities
are not enough to take care of our need, our
present need, right? We all face that. I'll run
into those situations where I'm like, you look
at it. Think about it. You go, I don't know.
What I can do in my flesh is not enough to take
care of me, to supply for my family, to supply
for anything. We face those situations and circumstances,
and I want to look at two different stories today,
one in the Old Testament, one in the New Testament,
that I feel like really demonstrate and give
us better clarity on who God is. When we face
these trials and tribulations, what has happened,
okay, and how we can expect God to move in our
lives. 2 Kings 4, 1 through 7, if you're reading
along. One day, the widow of a member of the
group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out,
My husband who served you is dead, and you know
how he feared the Lord. But now a creditor has
come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.
It was a bad situation. But what can I do to
help you, Elisha asked. Tell me, what do you
have in the house? Nothing at all, except a flask
of olive oil, she said, she replied. And Elisha
said, borrow as many empty jars as you can from
your friends and your neighbors. Then go into
your house with your sons and shut the door behind
you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the
jars, setting it each one aside when it is filled.
So she did. She acted on the word from God, from
the prophet. She did. She acted. And just as
she was told. So she not only did what she was
supposed to do, she obeyed and did it just like
she was told to do it. Another day, another time.
Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled
one after another. Soon every container was full
to the brim. Bring me another jar, she said to
one of her sons. There aren't any more, he told
her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing.
This is who God is. God's the same yesterday,
today, and forever. And this is who God is. And
often we just expect him to be just enough. This
lady, it would have been great to just even give
her enough for her sons not, you know, to be
sold as slaves. That would have been enough.
That would have been huge. That would have been
a huge miracle in her life. But it didn't stop
there. Why didn't it stop there? Look at this.
Let's go back to it. Now sell all the olive oil,
pay your debts, and you and your sons can what?
Live on what is left over. More than enough.
God is El Shaddai. Mark 6, another great story.
Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the
boat. And as he did compassion on them, as he,
okay, excuse me. And he had compassion on them
because they were like sheep without a shepherd.
So he began teaching them many things. Late in
the afternoon, his disciples came to him and
said, this is a remote place and it's already
getting late. Send the crowds away so they can
go to nearby farms and villages and buy something
to eat. But Jesus said, You feed them. If you
look at Jesus' responses, this is great. You
feed them. You feed them. And they said, with
what? They asked. We'd have to work for months
to earn enough money to buy food for all these
people. Everybody say natural. Natural. And Jesus
asked, how much bread do you have? Go and find
out. They came back and reported, listen to what
they said, we have five loaves of bread and two
fish. Five loaves of bread and two fish. Everybody
say, not enough. Not enough to feed 5 ,000. It's
not enough. But to the little boy, as we know
in different accounts of this same story, the
little boy, The mother had packed the lunch,
and to the little boy it was just enough. Verse
39, Jesus told the disciples to have the people
sit in groups on the green grass. So they sat
down in groups of 50 or 100. Jesus took the five
loaves and two fish. Everybody say, not enough.
He did something. He did something. What did
he do? He looked up. It's interesting that these
things are included in Scripture. Why would we
notate that? Is Jesus not the living example
how we're supposed to live our lives? And when
we face situations and circumstances that look
not enough, You have a choice. You can look down
at what's in your hand, which will always be
not enough. You can look up. Church, it's time
to look up. Time to stop messing around. You
either believe God or you don't. Lukewarm Christianity
is puke Christianity. It's time to look up and
see not what's in your hand, but look up into
the realities of who God is. Jesus is looking
up to the Father. He's not looking at the bread
and the loaves of not enough. He's looking up
to the Father and he keeps his eyes on El Shaddai.
Saying, God, you are more than enough. Not just
in his spiritual, but no, he's more than enough
physical. He's more than enough emotional. He's
more than enough material. It goes beyond just
money. He's more than enough joy, more than enough
peace. Come on. And Jesus looks up into heaven
as our example and looks up to God as El Shaddai.
And it never says that he takes his eyes off
of looking up. And I can just kind of see it.
All of a sudden, he just starts. Breaking the
bread. Eyes are on heaven. Eyes into the supernatural
realm, the spirit realm, where God is, where
there's always enough. Heaven doesn't run out,
folks. God's not going to look around one day
and be like, oh, God, you know, there's not enough
food here to eat. There's not enough, you know.
He is more than enough. Then breaking the loaves
into pieces. He kept giving the bread to the
disciples so they could distribute it to the
people. Listen, he also divided the fish for
everyone to share. That just seems really messy
to me. I've always wondered about that. That'd
be nasty. They all ate as much as they wanted.
All their wants, all their need, their greatest
need in that moment was to be fed. It was all
satisfied. And afterward, the disciples picked
up, get this, could have just been enough. It
could have just ran out. Have you ever thought
about this? If you've heard this story before,
have you ever like really thought about why the
disciples pick up 12 baskets of leftover bread
and fish? Why? Seems like a waste. Uh -uh. It's
not a waste. Because when God gets involved,
there's more than enough. Come on. Come on, church.
Are you dead or alive? How long? How long do
we got to keep sharing these truths and sharing
this until we take a hold of it by faith? Wake
up. Come on. We're not called to stay sheep.
We're called to be an army. Fighting the good
fight of faith. Soldiers. Mighty. Strong. Not
in muscle, but in faith. I'm strong. Unwavered.
Unwavering. I don't say, oh, God, you're barely
enough for me today, and then now you're, oh,
now you're this, you know, and oh, now you're
enough, and no, and then, you know. On Sunday
morning, we're like, oh, yeah, praise Jesus,
bless the Lord. You're so good. You're everything.
Monday, you're going, what do I do? What do I
do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do
about my family? What do I do about my kids?
What do I do about my mind? What do I do about
the finance? What do I do about the car? What
is the car? We all do it. You're not alone. If
the enemy can tell you you're alone, you've already
listened to him. You've already lost. What you
face is no different. what everyone else faces,
you're not alone. For with God, he doesn't forsake
you. He'll never leave you. He'll never forsake
you. His promises are yes and amen. He doesn't
have to manufacture things. God doesn't manufacture
things. Who he is is more than enough. And God
doesn't want to just meet your need. He wants
to exceed your expectation. Twelve baskets left
over. A total of 5 ,000 men and their families
were fed from those loaves. God is El Shaddai
more than enough. I'm almost done. This is a
reality of who God is that I believe you and
I, we often lose sight of. No matter what's going
on in the natural, listen, your outcome is dependent
upon who you believe God is and what he will
do, what he is able to do in your life. In every
circumstance or situation, you have a choice.
Let's apply this. Let's apply this to our lives.
In every situation, in every circumstance you
and I face, you have a choice to believe. We
have free will. Choice to believe that God is
not enough. Choice to believe God is just enough.
Or to take hold of who God is. Being more than
enough. And what do these three areas look like?
Not enough is lack. It's complaining. It's characterized
by complaining and talking about the things that
you don't have. Talking about the things that
you wish you did. Always without. Never satisfied.
Never at peace. Never full of this joy that we
sing about at church. Always seems so distant,
like I might try to chase it, I might try to
have it, but I lose it so easily. It's misplaced
dependency. What does that look like? A lot of
us are dependent upon other things. We'll say
things like, well... You know, if this works
out well, then I'll be good, right? Like if the
stock market does good this year, I'll be, you
know, my family will be fine. If, I'm sorry,
if my job does good this quarter, then my raise
will go up and everything will be okay. And so
we start. When you're in the land of not enough
and God's not sure enough, you start processing
things a little different. You start depending
on the outside world. And you really think that
you can pray to manipulate the outside world
to be, and you think you're doing the right thing
because you think you're like manipulating the
world around you to be because this is what God
has for me. You're going to give me a mean face,
I'll give you a mean face. We try to use our
prayers as for God to somehow come in and swoop
in and rearrange people's minds and hearts and
manipulate their will so that I will all of a
sudden live in the blessings of God. We laugh,
but it's true. Misplaced dependency. And I would
categorize this as no faith. You know, just because
you might have mental knowledge of who God is.
Maybe you spent time in church. Maybe, like,
you have these things, but we can enter into
seasons where we just, you know, we're so dependent
on everybody else and everything around us and
all lining up, thinking that... That has to happen
in order for God to bless us. When the Bible
says this in Matthew 6, 25 and 30, that is why
I tell you not to worry about everyday life.
You know, you can tell if someone's in faith
or not based upon if they're in worry or not.
Can't be in faith and in worry. Cannot coexist.
If you believe it can, you're in, it's just,
you're believing the lie of the enemy. You can't
be in worry and can't be in faith. What you're
in faith for, you're most excited about. Worry
is often categorized in fear, what you're most
fearful of. That's why you worry. Don't worry
about everyday life, whether you have enough
food or drink or enough clothes to wear. Thankfully,
I don't think anyone in this room is worried
about those things. But I think all of us have
worried about material things at one point in
life or another. Don't worry about it. Don't
look to the material things of this world. Whether
you have enough clothes to wear. Isn't life more
than food? Isn't your body more than clothing?
Look. Tells us where to look. Look at the birds.
They don't plant, harvest, or store food in barns.
Think about that. They don't plant, harvest,
or store food in barns. For your heavenly Father
feeds them. Aren't you far more valuable to him
than they are? Can all your worries add a single
moment to your life? And why worry about your
clothing? Look, again, at the lilies of the field
and how they grow. They don't work or make their
clothing, yet Solomon in all of his glory was
not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if
God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that
are here today, Thrown into the fire tomorrow.
He will certainly care for you. Listen to what
he says. Why do you have so little faith? It
means faith is on a scale. You can have little
faith. You can have no faith. You can have great
faith. And again, there's these three areas.
God is either not enough, just enough, or more
than enough. to you and your outcome, your outcome
is dependent upon your faith. Getting ahead of
myself. If we do not have faith in God's promises,
listen, look this way, we will live beneath our
divine privilege. If we do not have faith in
God's promises, if the reality of who he is is
not bigger than the realities of your natural
world. You will live beneath your divine privilege.
What does just enough look like? I believe all
of us, you know, kind of sit here for given times.
What does just enough look like? It means being
unsettled about God's will. We've talked about
that a little bit. Sometimes question his ability.
We're wavering. Basic needs are met. Often we
go through seasons, I would say, of faith. And
we see miracles even happen. But we get to this
place of, God, where are you at? And how are
you going to provide? I don't know. And so God
does some things in your life to show you who
he is. And in this area, even though you're wavering,
God is still merciful and he still does some
miraculous things. But that's not who he wants
to be and that's not all of who he is. That's
not what he wants for you. Not his will for you.
It's to just have just enough. Again, this is
not just, This is not some good message on prosperity
or something like that. This is talking about
faith. Because without faith, it's impossible
to please God. You might believe, well, I have
just enough joy today to make it through. To
have just enough peace today to make it through.
Self -condemnation means like, you know, maybe
you doubt his righteousness enough. for me for
the sins that i've committed you don't know what
i've done you know like you don't know what i've
thought you don't know what i've said and his
and is his grace and you know who he is is it
enough to cleanse me is his righteousness enough
covering so that when god looks at me he sees
Jesus, he sees the blood of Jesus. We often want
to limit God's work to our natural understanding.
This is how we pray. This is how we process reality.
And a key indicator, you can always tell when
you're in it or you hear you're talking to someone
and they're in this mindset of God just being
just enough because the focus is all on self.
and personal needs. And if all you are in this
life, if the world just revolves around you,
every word that you say, every thought that you
think, and you're just preoccupied with you,
listen, you're ineffective for the kingdom of
God. You're ineffective. It's not about you.
The kingdom of God is not about you. And if all
you're focused on is on yourself, guess what?
Your outcome is just going to be what you can
perform in your natural ability. If it's based
on my works and my effort, all on my need. I
need this. I need this. It's like a selfish child.
God doesn't want us to be that. He wants us to
grow up. He wants us to look up. And what does
it look like when God is, you're more than enough?
It's a confidence in El Shaddai. That's who he
is. And it's characterized by living in his promise
by faith. Every need generously provided for
with what? Plenty left over to share with others.
It's a focus on God and his kingdom work in the
earth and others. The measure of your faith in
God, and this is what we've been saying, the
measure of your faith in God is the measure your
reality will mirror God's perfect will and plan
for your life. We receive not according to God's
ability, but according to our faith in who He
is and what we are confident He will do. More
verses on who God is. 1 Corinthians 2 .9, we
just read it. No eye has seen and no ear has
heard. No mind has imagined what God has prepared
for those. God has prepared some things for you.
Just like he had a plan and a purpose for Abraham,
and he calls him to go stand in the promises.
There's a place of provision for you. There's
a place, spiritual place, that God wants you
to enter into, full of his life, full of his
joy, the abundant life of Christ. Not based on
your circumstances, but based and grounded in
faith of who he is. And it's greater than you've
ever seen. It's greater than you've ever heard.
His plans for you are greater than you can wildest
dreams imagine. I can imagine a lot. But he has
something for each and every person in this room
that's as unique and as identical, as unique
and special as your fingerprint. And he is waiting
for you, his children, the called out ones, the
church, to believe him, to see him, to know him,
and see yourself living in those promises and
start moving out in faith, marching forward as
an army of the living God and stepping into his
life of promise. Stepping into that promised
land that he has for you. Because in that season,
without complaining, right? If you're just stuck
in the land of just enough, you're never going
to make it to the promised land. If you're just
complaining about God, we don't have it out.
I have manna, I have quail, I might have, but
it's not, you know. You're going to wander in
the wilderness, church. God's either, you're
more than enough and you... take hold of it today
and you walk out this door different and changed,
or you will keep wandering around in the wilderness.
You will keep not having what God wants you to
have, and your life won't look like what God
wants you to have and live in. Jeremiah 29, 11.
Very popular verse, but I want you to see it
in this light. For I know the plans I have for
you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and
not for disaster, to give you a future and a
hope. The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy.
What does he try to steal, kill, and destroy?
Your hope. Your confident expectation of who
God is. He's wanting to kill, steal, and destroy
that. If he can make you doubt the promise, he
can take any promise away from you. If he can
make you doubt who you are in Christ, you've
lost the battle. You have to be confident in
who God is and who he says you are. 2 Corinthians
9 .8 And God will generously provide all you
need. He cares about your need. We learned last
week, the Lord is our shepherd, I shall not want.
Powerful. Then, you will always have everything
you need and plenty left over to share with others,
every good work. I put every good work in there,
other translations. Translated different. I like
what the Amplified says. It's just amplifying
those Greek words. Kind of carries them out into
their extent. Sometimes it's hard to read, though.
But it says, abundance for every good work and
charitable donation. That's when we're useful
to the kingdom of God. And that's what his promises
of him being El Shaddai, that's what that looks
like in your life. Self -sufficiency is not self
-worth, self -action, my abilities and my things.
It's being satisfied physically, emotionally,
materially. satisfied, seated in, unwavering
in the knowledge. Listen, and I'm done. Psalms
910, those who know your name, what does that
mean? To know fully, to recognize, intellectual
awareness, experiential knowledge, intimate familiarity,
deep personal relational knowledge, activity,
relationship, identity. Those who seek you. What
does seek mean? Inquire. Require. Investigate.
Demand. Diligently search with the intent of
obtaining information and understanding. As received
by the Holy Spirit, bringing the truth of Scripture
alive to you. him speaking to you in fellowship
with him, daily communion with him, will put
their trust, remember, confident expectation,
for you, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek
you. My God is El Shaddai. God completely nourishes,
satisfies, and supplies me. All my needs are
taken care of. And I have more than enough to
give to every good work. I want us to say it
together. I think it's important to confess this.
You can take a picture of it. Take a picture
of it. Say it until you believe it. Until you
take a hold of it. Let's say it together. One,
two, three. My God is El Shaddai. God completely
nourishes. satisfies and supplies me. All my
needs are taken care of, and I have more than
enough to give to every good work. That promise
is connected in his person, who he is. When you
know him, when you seek him accordingly, you
will experience it in your life. This online
worship experience was brought to you by the
friends and partners of Elation Church.