Sharing good news of great joy to all people,
Elation Church. This week we are having Caleb
and John for our live church service in Davenport,
Florida. And I know that many of you can't make
it to that live service, so I've decided to record
this message especially for those of you who
are unable to attend. Now, we begin this year.
talking about God's plan for us. And since this
is the first Sunday of June, I want to ask you
something. Are you thriving? Yeah, this week's
message is really going to be a recap of our
first message of the year, which we entitled
How to Thrive in 2025. But since we're already
five months complete into this year, I want to
ask you something. Are you thriving? And maybe
you remember what thriving means. I mean, it
means that you're growing, that you're developing,
that you're being successful, that you're being
fulfilled, that you are flourishing, that you
are prospering. You see, that's God's plan for
you and for me. is that we thrive. You might
say, well, where do you get this at in the Bible?
Well, Jeremiah 29 11, many of you have memorized
this verse or heard this verse hundreds of times.
It says this, 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. So God tells us, that his plans for us
are for our good. They're good plans. They're
not disastrous plans, right? They're good. God's
plan for you is for your good. Now, we look at
this word and that word good in the Hebrew language
is a word that you may be familiar with. That
word good that translated in English is actually
the Hebrew word Shalom. Maybe you've heard that
word. I mean, it's actually part of one of God's
names that we've recently gone through. You know,
a lot of the different names of God. God is Yahweh
Shalom. So God's plan for us is Shalom. Most
of us recognize that word and we would say, well,
the definition. of shalom is peace. And you would
be correct in saying that. So God's plan for
you is peace. Well, it means peace, but it means
more than peace. When you look at the Hebrew
word and look at the strong definition of the
Hebrew words in that particular word, it means
more than peace. It also means safety. It means
well -being. It actually means happiness. It
means health. It means prosperity. And it means
peace. So as I look at those words, I mean, I
say that that's the definition of us thriving,
right? That we're walking in safety and we're
in well -being and we're happy and we're healthy
and we're prosperous and we have the peace of
God. So do you have those things? Is that plan,
is God's good plan for you being fulfilled in
your life right now? See, there's something that
could be stopping God's good plan for us, and
it's not that God is holding out on us. So let's
take a look. In the Bible, not just thoughts
out of my head, but direction coming from Scripture,
from the Holy Spirit. Let's take a look in the
Bible at what could be stopping God's plan for
our peace, for our safety, for our well -being,
for our happiness, for our health, and for our
prosperity. I'd like to call your attention to
Mark chapter 6, verses 1 through 6. Very early
in Jesus' ministry, it says this, Then he went
out from there and came to his own country, and
his disciples followed him. And when the Sabbath
had come, he began to teach in the synagogue.
And many hearing him were astonished, saying.
And they were astonished and then they said something.
Now this word saying is the Greek word lego.
The Greek word lego. And here's what it means.
It means to lay forth in words. So they were
astonished and then they began to establish something.
They began to systematically say something and
have a set discourse. They're building something
and establishing something with their words.
That's what the word saying in our English Bibles
means. It comes from that Greek word Lego. So
what are they saying? What are they establishing
with their words? Verse two, they're picking
up in verse two. Where did this man get these
things? And what wisdom is this which is given
to him, that such mighty works are performed
by his hands? Listen to what they said. Is this
not the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother
of James, Joseph, and Judas, and Simon? And are
not his sisters with us? So they were offended
at him. But Jesus said to them, A prophet is
not without honor except in his own country,
among his own relatives, and in his own house.
Listen to verse 5. It says, Now he, Jesus, could
do no mighty work there, except that he laid
his hands on a few sick people and healed them.
And he marveled because of their unbelief. So,
I've got a question for you. Did Jesus want to
do more in his own hometown? I mean, he went
about doing wonderful miracles and multitudes
of people were healed. But in his own hometown,
it says that he could only lay hands on a few
sick people and heal them, and he couldn't do
any mighty work there, is what the Bible says.
So, did Jesus want to do more? I believe he did
because he wound up doing more everywhere else.
The question is, was Jesus able to do more? Now,
you might say, Jesus is God. He can do what he
wants to do. No, the Bible tells us specifically
that Jesus marveled at their unbelief and their
unbelief that was built up and established through
the words that they said. It hindered Jesus.
It stopped Jesus. from being able to do more,
from being able to do the things that he wanted
to do. See, they systematically built and established
unbelief with their words. And we need to be
reminded. I mean, I know it's only been five
months, but if we truly grasp what the scriptures
are telling us, then our answer to are we thriving
would be yes, in every area of our lives. So
if you say, yes, I am thriving in every area
of my life, then maybe you don't need to listen
to this again. But if not, we need to apply what
we hear. You see, our words, your words, my words,
and our unbelief can limit what God is able to
do for us. Let's take a look at Mark chapter
5, verse 25. Says this, now a certain woman had
a flow of blood for 12 years and had suffered
many things from many physicians. She had spent
all that she had and was no better, but rather
grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came
behind him in the crowd and touched his garment.
For she said, that's that same Greek word, lego.
Only I may touch his clothes, I shall be made
well. Immediately the fountain of her blood was
dried up, and she felt in her body that she was
healed of the affliction. And Jesus immediately,
knowing in himself that power had gone out of
him, turned around in the crowd and said, Who
touched my clothes? But his disciples said to
him, You see the multitudes thronging you, and
you say, Who touched me? And he looked around
to see her who had done this thing. But the woman,
fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened
to her, came and fell down before Jesus and told
him the whole truth. And Jesus said to her, daughter,
your faith has made you well. Go in peace and
be healed of your affliction. Now, in this case,
we see. That Jesus healed this lady, but listen,
it wasn't all up to Jesus. But we also have to
consider that it wasn't just all up to her either.
I mean, she believed, she said, and she acted
in faith. But the healing came from God, just
like all healing, right? God is Yahweh Raphael.
He is our healer. All healing ultimately comes
from God. But this lady did something. She systematically
built and established her faith with her words.
You see, when the scripture uses that word Lego,
when she said, if I can touch the hem of his
garment, I'll be made whole. That doesn't mean
that she said it one time. See, just knowing
the definition of that word. It tells us something
that she had been saying that a lot. She had
said it over and over and over again. She heard
that Jesus was healing people. She most likely
believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah
because the scriptures foretold that the Messiah,
when he came, he would have healing in his wings.
And that word wings is translated edge. It could
be the edge of a garment. It could be a wing
on a bird even. It translates to the hem or the
edge of his garment. And so she was saying, she
was establishing over and over again, if I can
get to Jesus, if I can touch the hem of his garment,
I will be made whole. I will be made well. And
she said it and she said it and she said it and
she said it because that's what this Greek word
lets us know. Now, if we just read it in English,
we might think she just said it one time, right?
But the word means that she systematically said
it. She built something. She established something.
And that was her faith. And she did it with her
words. See, our words are very important. If
we want to thrive, if we want to experience God's
good plan for us, then we have to participate.
Our words come into play. If we're going to experience
it, Our words have to line up with it. Jesus
goes on to say this in Mark 11, verses 22 and
23. It says, so Jesus answered and said to them,
because his disciples were talking to him about
faith and they had seen him speak to a tree and
the tree withered up. So now the disciples are
saying, hey, what's going on here? Jesus answered
them and said to them, have faith in God. or
have God faith. You see, we need to have faith.
That's our part. It's not all up to God. It's
up to us believing, hearing, believing, acting,
saying. It's up to us too if we're going to receive
the things of God by faith. It says have faith.
In God, is what Jesus said. So what does that
tell us? It's not all up to God. And it's not
all up to us. Our part is faith. And his part
is God. He does the God things. He does the supernatural
things. But we play a part with our faith. Verse
23, Jesus said, For assuredly, I say to you,
whoever says to this mountain, be removed. and
be cast into the sea and does not doubt in his
heart but believes that those things he says
and this word says is again that word lego if
you don't doubt in your heart and believe the
things that you say will be done jesus said he
will have whatever he says so god's playing for
us It's for our good. It's for our safety. It's
for our well -being. It's for our happiness.
It's for our health. It's for our prosperity.
And it's for our peace. So if you look at your
life today and you don't seem to be thriving,
you don't look and say, wow, it's obvious that
God's good plan is happening in my life right
now. We need to remember it's not all up to God.
See, we have to do our part. It's up to us. It's
up to me. It's up to you to systematically build
and establish faith with our words. We're going
to have to speak against the things that are
keeping us from the promises and blessings of
God, that are keeping us from God's good plan
for us. We've got to speak against those things,
and we've got to speak in agreement with the
promises and blessings of God. All the things
in his word that he promises to us, this good
plan that he promises to us, we need to put our
words in agreement with it. We don't need to
say things that contradict God's good plan in
our lives. You know, if God's good plan is safety,
we don't need to talk fear. We need to talk that
we're trusting God, that he is going to keep
us safe. If God's plan is for our well -being,
and it is a good plan for our well -being, you
know, we need to talk in agreement with that,
not talk against it. If God's good plan for us
is for our happiness, we need to set our words.
on things in agreement with that, right? We don't
need to talk about that we're sad and we're down
and all those kind of things. If God's good plan
for us as far as health, we don't need to talk,
you know, well, you know, I've just got this
summer cold and I get it every year and I'm going
to keep it and it'll stay with me all the way
through. I mean, we don't talk against health,
right? God's plan is for our prosperity. We don't
talk lack. If God's plan is for our peace, we
don't talk fear. We talk in agreement with what
God said. And that's how we work with him. And
that's how we see his good plan come about in
our lives is when we begin to systematically
build and establish. Faith in God. Have faith
in God, Jesus says. So we need to put our words
in agreement with God's promises. Put our words
in agreement with God's good plan. And then we
can see it take place in our lives. Let's pray.
God, thank you for your word. Thank you for your
promises. God, I pray that we would take hold
of this. It wouldn't just be... something that
we listen to, but it will be planted in our hearts
and it'll grow and produce a harvest in us, a
harvest of faith. Help us to tame our tongues
and speak your truth and not waver, not doubt,
but know that you're a good God and you keep
your promises and your plan and promises for
us are for our good. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
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