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Elevation with Steven Furtick - He Hasn’t Forgotten You (Stephen Chandler) · TAKEN TV Podcasts

0:05
Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Furtick.
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Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast.
0:09
Speaker 2: Be sure to subscribe so we can get you these
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Speaker 2: new sermons every week. I hope you're blessed today.
0:21
Speaker 1: Y'all, I'm struggling because I'm trying to pull myself together.
0:24
Speaker 1: I was sitting on this front row crying my eyes out,
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Speaker 1: and I don't want y'all to see me cry because
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Speaker 1: thugs don't cry, but I'm telling you, I'm so grateful
0:33
Speaker 1: for the presence of God. Come on, anybody can testify.
0:37
Speaker 1: Who am I? If you knew my story, if you
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Speaker 1: knew my journey, if you knew my detours, if you
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Speaker 1: knew my mistakes, but God has been faithful. Can anybody
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Speaker 1: testify that God... has been faithful. Well, I'm pumped. I'm excited. Y'all,
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Speaker 1: I'm at the Elevation Church, y'all. I'm ready to jump
0:56
Speaker 1: out of my skin. It is such a privilege and
0:59
Speaker 1: an honor to be in this house. And as you
1:03
Speaker 1: guys know, y'all are just the most blessed people on
1:05
Speaker 1: the planet because you have some of the greatest leaders
1:08
Speaker 1: on the planet. Can you honor Pastor Stephen and Pastor
1:12
Speaker 1: Holly Furtick? We love you. Pastor Stephen has been a
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Speaker 1: giant in my life, a general in my life, a
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Speaker 1: role model, and has become a mentor and a friend.
1:22
Speaker 1: And his impact on this generation, his name will go
1:26
Speaker 1: down with the Spurgeons and the Wesleys and those that
1:29
Speaker 1: have shifted the course of our faith in the kingdom
1:32
Speaker 1: of God. I couldn't decide which message to preach, so
1:37
Speaker 1: I'm going to preach both. Is that all right? I'm
1:40
Speaker 1: going to give you the first one in 30 seconds
1:43
Speaker 1: to honor your pastor, and then I'll give you the
1:44
Speaker 1: long one. I was reading Exodus chapter 15. In Exodus
1:48
Speaker 1: chapter 15, you don't got to turn their way. This
1:50
Speaker 1: ain't the real preach. This is just Exodus 15. Watch this.
1:53
Speaker 1: It's the first song ever recorded in Scripture. They sang
1:59
Speaker 1: and worshiped God, but it's the first song that was
2:02
Speaker 1: ever recorded in Scripture that we could sing after the
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Speaker 1: writer wrote it. And it was Moses saying, who is
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Speaker 1: like our God? There is no other God like our God.
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Speaker 1: He has defeated the horse and the rider. He's defeated
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Speaker 1: the Egyptians. This was Moses, watch this, on the other
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Speaker 1: side of the Red Sea. Somebody say it's time to preach.
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Speaker 1: It took crossing through a death valley to be able
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Speaker 1: to pen a song that a nation can sing to
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Speaker 1: honor the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
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Speaker 1: Somebody say amen. And as I was thinking about this
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Speaker 1: house and the songs that your pastor has penned and
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Speaker 1: the worship that has come out of this place, This
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Speaker 1: isn't just a song. There's been a crossing over of battles.
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Speaker 1: There's been victories. There's been travailing. And one of the
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Speaker 1: things I love about your pastor is he has walked
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Speaker 1: through some things that we will never have to walk
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Speaker 1: through and has written songs on the other side that
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Speaker 1: can give us faith and give us hope and give
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Speaker 1: us inspiration of who is like our God. So Pastor Stephen,
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Speaker 1: we thank you for what you've walked through, that you
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Speaker 1: can see a side of God and give us words
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Speaker 1: to describe our gratitude.
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Speaker 3: Amen.
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Speaker 1: Y'all ready to preach for real? Hey, before you grab
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Speaker 1: your seat, high five three people. Tell somebody buckle up.
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Speaker 1: It's going to be a bumpy ride.
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Speaker 3: Hallelujah.
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Speaker 1: Turn your Bible to the book of Psalms, Psalm chapter 105,
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Speaker 1: Psalm chapter 105, verse 16. While you turn, normally I
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Speaker 1: would show you a picture of my family. I am
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Speaker 1: married to my beautiful wife, Zai, of 13 going on
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Speaker 1: 14 years. And we have three amazing... Come on, can
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Speaker 1: you give it up for my wife? And we have
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Speaker 1: three amazing children, a 10, an 8, and a 5.
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Speaker 1: And I always say, I don't have three kids because
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Speaker 1: I like kids. I have three kids because I like
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Speaker 1: my wife. And that's what happens. You know, when pastors travel,
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Speaker 1: they have their spiel and they all deal. So I
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Speaker 1: usually do this whole deal and I'll show you a picture.
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Speaker 1: And I tell you, my kids are back in Maryland
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Speaker 1: and I'm well rested. So it's going to be a
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Speaker 1: three hour message because I haven't slept like this in
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Speaker 1: 10 hours. The only problem is this time I didn't
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Speaker 1: leave them home. I actually brought my children with me.
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Speaker 1: All of them are sitting right here. Come on. Can
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Speaker 1: you honor my family? I'm grateful. So here's the difference.
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Speaker 1: I am not resting. I'm exhausted. Somebody might have got
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Speaker 1: whooped last night. So if that message feels a little aggressive,
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Speaker 1: just understand I've been persevering all night. Psalm chapter 105
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Speaker 1: verse 16. If you have it, somebody say yeah. It
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Speaker 1: says this. Moreover, he called for a famine in the land.
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Speaker 1: He destroyed all the provision of bread. He sent a
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Speaker 1: man before them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
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Speaker 1: They hurt his feet with fetters. He was laid in irons.
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Speaker 1: Until the time, here's the whole message, until the time
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Speaker 1: that his word came to pass, the word of the
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Speaker 1: Lord tested him. Come on, look at your neighbor and say,
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Speaker 1: God's word will test you. Oh, I know it's not
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Speaker 1: great to say there's certain things that I don't like
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Speaker 1: about the Bible. But one of the things I don't
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Speaker 1: like about the Bible is it does not just encourage you.
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Speaker 1: It will encourage you. It doesn't just convict you. It
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Speaker 1: doesn't just give you wisdom. God's word will also test you.
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Speaker 1: So the king sent and released him. The ruler of
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Speaker 1: the people let him go free. He made him lord
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Speaker 1: of his house and ruler of all his possessions to
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Speaker 1: bind his princes at his pleasure and teach his elders wisdom.
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Speaker 1: I have a message today entitled, and I'm going to
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Speaker 1: need you to look at your neighbor and give them
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Speaker 1: the title of the message. And you may not want
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Speaker 1: to talk to your neighbor. You may be an introvert. Pastor,
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Speaker 1: I didn't come for all of that. I'm telling you,
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Speaker 1: somebody sitting next to you, their life depends on what
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Speaker 1: you're getting ready to tell them. Look at your neighbor.
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Speaker 1: Pick your favorite neighbor, not either neighbor. Just pick one neighbor,
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Speaker 1: the one you like the most, and tell them, he
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Speaker 1: hasn't forgotten you. Come on. Come on. You have no
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Speaker 1: idea how much they need to hear that today. Pick
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Speaker 1: that neighbor and tell them, he hasn't... We're God's in you.
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Speaker 1: Father God, we're grateful. We're overwhelmed that you would meet
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Speaker 1: with us, speak with us, encounter us. God, you're here today,
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Speaker 1: and because you're here, miracles are going to break out
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Speaker 1: in this place. So we say, have your way, heal, deliver, transform,
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Speaker 1: do what only you can do, and we will be
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Speaker 1: ever so careful to give you all the glory, all
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Speaker 1: the honor, and all the praise. In the matchless name
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Speaker 1: of Jesus, we pray. Come on, somebody shout. Amen and
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Speaker 1: amen and amen. Anybody, I'm sure everybody in the room has,
7:01
Speaker 1: grew up playing hide and go seek in college. Come on,
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Speaker 1: wave at me. Y'all remember that old school stuff, hide-and-go-seek?
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Speaker 1: This was before tablets. This was before YouTube. When kids
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Speaker 1: were kids, we had to play without electronics, without Wi-Fi.
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Speaker 1: My favorite place growing up to play hide-and-go-seek was my
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Speaker 1: grandmother's house. We live in Maryland. My grandmother lived in
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Speaker 1: New Jersey, and we would go up for the holidays,
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Speaker 1: for Thanksgiving, for Christmas. And my grandmother's house was, I mean,
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Speaker 1: it was like a movie. Think about this stereotypical 100-year-old
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Speaker 1: creepy house that you were terrified to go down in
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Speaker 1: the basement because you saw one of your uncles go
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Speaker 1: down there one time and he never came back up.
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Speaker 1: And we haven't seen him since. And we're like, what happened?
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Speaker 1: And she had the front porch out front that creaked
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Speaker 1: and every stair in the house made noises. And you
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Speaker 1: were hearing, it was terrifying. Come on now. The best
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Speaker 1: place to play hide-and-go-seek and I grew up in a
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Speaker 1: massive family. I had a million one cousins So every
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Speaker 1: time Christmas or Thanksgiving would come around. Hey, let's play
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Speaker 1: hide-and-go-seek and I never wanted to be the seeker. I
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Speaker 1: always wanted to be the one who hides. Now I
8:09
Speaker 1: was prepping this message I gotta figure out how I'm
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Speaker 1: gonna preach this because my family's watching this and I'm
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Speaker 1: getting in trouble for what I'm about to say next
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Speaker 1: but I knew which family member in that house was
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Speaker 1: the dirtiest one. That's the statement that's gonna get me
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Speaker 1: in trouble. So I knew which bedroom to go in
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Speaker 1: and hide because there was going to be clothes piled
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Speaker 1: up to the roof. There was going to be VHS
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Speaker 1: cassette tapes, I mean, eight feet tall. And I knew
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Speaker 1: I'd go in the room, in the closet. They would
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Speaker 1: never find me behind all of that junk. So they said,
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Speaker 1: go hide. You know, one, two, three, four. And I'd
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Speaker 1: run up right to the room in the closet. Got
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Speaker 1: all the dresses. That'll let me know who it is too.
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Speaker 1: And all the VHS cassette tapes. And I'm sitting in
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Speaker 1: the closet. And I'm just like, they're never going to
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Speaker 1: find me. Then I'd hear my cousin say, here I come.
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Speaker 1: He'd go creaking up the stairs. And I'd hear my
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Speaker 1: brother get found. I'd hear a cousin get found. I
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Speaker 1: found you. And I'm sitting there like, they can't find me.
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Speaker 1: Two minutes will go by. Five minutes. Eight minutes, 10 minutes, 15.
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Speaker 1: I don't hear any screams anymore. There's no creaks on
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Speaker 1: the steps. No one's laughing, no one's screaming. I said, oh,
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Speaker 1: I think I won. They'll never find me. And this
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Speaker 1: always happens when you play hide and go seek. You
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Speaker 1: got to tinkle every single time. And I'm sitting there
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Speaker 1: doing the pee-pee dance in the closet just... I got
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Speaker 1: to go, but I don't want to be found. And
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Speaker 1: 20 minutes goes by until I realize, hold on. I
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Speaker 1: think they forgot me. There were so many cousins. It's
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Speaker 1: like you find eight of them and then you just
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Speaker 1: quit because it's too many. And I'm sitting there in
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Speaker 1: turmoil saying, have they found everybody else and forgot to
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Speaker 1: find me?
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Speaker 3: Me?
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Speaker 1: I'll be your neighbor and say, the message just started.
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Speaker 1: Have you ever felt like God found everyone else and
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Speaker 1: forgot to find you? Have you ever been in the
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Speaker 1: position where you said, God, I'm hiding. I'm in the
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Speaker 1: secret place. I'm seeking you. I'm praying. I'm living a
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Speaker 1: life that's honorable to you. I ain't out in these streets.
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Speaker 1: I'm not hanging out with people who are out in
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Speaker 1: these streets. God, I'm following you, but yet it seems
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Speaker 1: like you've forgotten me. It seems like you have not
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Speaker 1: looked for me lately. It seems like you're never going
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Speaker 1: to find me. Have you ever felt Like not only
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Speaker 1: God has forgotten you, but he's found everyone around you
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Speaker 1: and forgot to find you. You're going to hear me
10:58
Speaker 1: say I get irritated a lot. I do. And I
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Speaker 1: promise you, I love God. I honor God. But I
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Speaker 1: get so irritated when I pray for something and God
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Speaker 1: gives it to my friend. Has that ever happened to you?
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Speaker 1: You pray for an open door. You pray for a miracle.
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Speaker 1: You pray for this. You pray for that. And I
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Speaker 1: know God is faithful. I know he's going to do it.
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Speaker 1: And next thing you know, your friend calls you and says,
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Speaker 1: you won't believe what God just did for me. And
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Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, wow. I'm so happy for you. I
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Speaker 1: don't know how it is where you live. Up in Maryland,
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Speaker 1: I'm going to get in trouble for everything I say today.
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Speaker 1: We got some ghetto delivery people. I don't want to
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Speaker 1: call any companies like Amazon or DoorDash or anything like that,
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Speaker 1: but folks in Maryland, they're not really committed to delivering
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Speaker 1: your package to your front door. So we'll have a
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Speaker 1: delivery coming. You know how they take the picture and
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Speaker 1: they put it on the app of where you could
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Speaker 1: find your package. Multiple times they have taken a picture
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Speaker 1: of our neighbor's house three houses down with our package
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Speaker 1: on their front step saying package delivered.
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Speaker 3: No.
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Speaker 1: Wrong address. I paid for it. I don't live over there.
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Speaker 1: There was one time we had a.
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Speaker 3: Food delivery driver who left my food three blocks away
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Speaker 3: on a curb on a main road and had a
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Speaker 3: nerve to take a picture.
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Speaker 1: And say, here's where you can find your food. And
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Speaker 1: you know what I did because I was hungry. I
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Speaker 1: got in my car. I drove three blocks away. I
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Speaker 1: grabbed my food. I heated it up and I still
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Speaker 1: canceled the order. Pray for me. Have you ever felt,
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Speaker 1: that one's going to get me. Have you ever felt
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Speaker 1: like God was a disgruntled delivery driver who couldn't be
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Speaker 1: bothered to deliver your miracle where you asked it to
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Speaker 1: be and yet delivered it three friends away? And it's like, God,
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Speaker 1: have you forgotten about me? You may be familiar with
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Speaker 1: the story of Joseph. Psalm 105 is the same story,
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Speaker 1: just a different vantage point or different lens. If you're
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Speaker 1: not familiar with the story of Joseph, Joseph was one
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Speaker 1: of 11 brothers, 11 sons. He unfortunately was declared to
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Speaker 1: be his father's favorite child. And like any father who
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Speaker 1: wants to ruin all of his children's lives, he said, hey,
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Speaker 1: let me tell everybody who my favorite is and let
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Speaker 1: me buy him a Gucci coat so everybody knows That
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Speaker 1: may not be in your translation, but it's definitely in
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Speaker 1: my translation. So everybody knows who my favorite son is.
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Speaker 1: So he puts this coat on Joseph and now all
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Speaker 1: of his brothers hate him. To make matters worse, God
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Speaker 1: gives Joseph a dream that one day he would be
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Speaker 1: a prime minister and all of his brothers, his mother,
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Speaker 1: his father would all bow down and worship him. And
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Speaker 1: Joseph was immature enough to tell his brothers the dream.
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Speaker 1: Strike number one, I'm dad's favorite and you can see
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Speaker 1: it on me. Strike number two, apparently I'm God's favorite
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Speaker 1: and you can see that on me as well. There's
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Speaker 1: only so much the brothers could take. So they took Joseph.
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Speaker 1: They thought they were going to kill him, but they said, no, no, no, no,
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Speaker 1: we're Christians. We can't be murderers. Let's sell him into
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Speaker 1: slavery because that's so much better. By the way, if
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Speaker 1: you think your family is dysfunctional, just read the Bible
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Speaker 1: and you're going to realize we are doing a lot
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Speaker 1: better than we thought we were. So long story short,
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Speaker 1: Joseph gets sold into slavery. He gets sold into a
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Speaker 1: house by the name of Potiphar, a noble, the Egyptian royalty.
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Speaker 1: And he serves there for a number of years and
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Speaker 1: got caught up on false charges. I won't waste time
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Speaker 1: with that. But then he ends up in prison. In prison,
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Speaker 1: he is in prison with the king's cupbearer and baker.
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Speaker 1: And he says, hey, God has forgotten about me. Let
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Speaker 1: me take matters into my own hands. And he says, hey,
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Speaker 1: when you guys get out, could you remember a brother?
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Speaker 1: Could you put a word in for a homie that
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Speaker 1: does not deserve to be here? And I love how
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Speaker 1: the Bible gives you details that may not seem relevant,
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Speaker 1: but it's God trying to make a point. The Bible
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Speaker 1: says the cupbearer and the baker got out of prison.
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Speaker 1: Here's what the Bible says. But they forgot God. About Joseph.
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Speaker 1: God feels vindictive at this point. He's like, not only
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Speaker 1: will I not remember you, but I'm going to make
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Speaker 1: sure that nobody is able to remember you. And I'm
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Speaker 1: sitting here saying, okay, 13 years from when God gave
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Speaker 1: Joseph the dream and when he brought him out on
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Speaker 1: the other side, God, why did you make him wait
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Speaker 1: so long? And the writer of Psalm tells us, until
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Speaker 1: the time that the word came to pass, that word
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Speaker 1: tested him. You may not want to hear this message.
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Speaker 1: There's not going to be much more to laugh at
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Speaker 1: for the rest of the day. But let me just
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Speaker 1: tell you this. If there's something that you are waiting
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Speaker 1: on from God, there's a miracle, there's an open door,
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Speaker 1: and sometimes it's heavy things like a couple waiting to
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Speaker 1: have their first child, I'm waiting for a healing, I'm
16:14
Speaker 1: waiting for a marriage, I'm waiting for a breakthrough, for
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Speaker 1: a business to take off, whatever it is. If there's
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Speaker 1: something that God has for you and you are waiting
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Speaker 1: on it, hear me, it is because he is preparing
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Speaker 1: you He is equipping you. He is testing you to
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Speaker 1: be prepared for what he is getting ready to bring
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Speaker 1: in your life. God has not forgotten you. Now, I
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Speaker 1: know nobody was going to say amen or applaud there.
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Speaker 3: Why?
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Speaker 1: Because nobody likes to be tested. Nobody likes to be equipped.
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Speaker 1: Nobody likes to be built up. As I was preparing this,
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Speaker 1: I felt like the Holy Spirit gave me the analogy
16:52
Speaker 1: of a boxer. I don't know if you are boxing
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Speaker 1: fans or anything like that, but you know they've got
16:56
Speaker 1: these boxing matches, these pay-per-views at night, and millions of
16:59
Speaker 1: people all over the world are watching. Tens of millions
17:03
Speaker 1: of dollars are on the light, on the match. But
17:06
Speaker 1: here's the deal. They don't wait for the night of
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Speaker 1: the match to prepare. As I was looking at it,
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Speaker 1: 10 three-minute rounds, they are only in that ring for
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Speaker 1: 30 minutes max. And that's assuming they don't get knocked out.
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Speaker 1: But prior to that 30-minute fight, eight to 12 months prior,
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Speaker 1: they are in a gym training. Eight to 12 weeks prior,
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Speaker 1: they go into fight camp. And I've never fought in
17:37
Speaker 1: my life, but I saw the movie Creed, so I
17:39
Speaker 1: know how it works. Come on now, they're pushing cars.
17:42
Speaker 1: They're sledgehammering on tires. I'm sure they don't do any
17:45
Speaker 1: of those things, but it looked cool in the movie.
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Speaker 2: Why?
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Speaker 1: They are preparing. The main emphasis is on the preparation. Yes.
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Speaker 1: not the actual fight. Mom's preparing for a 30-minute bout. Why?
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Speaker 1: Because that 30 minutes could forever transform that boxer's life.
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Speaker 1: Here's what you need to understand. The longer God delays you,
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Speaker 1: the longer he's preparing you. The longer God is preparing you,
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Speaker 1: the greater it is what he has for you on
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Speaker 1: the other side. If we could just focus flip our
18:16
Speaker 1: frustration of being delayed and waiting into anticipation of, God,
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Speaker 1: if you've waited this long, if I've prayed this long,
18:25
Speaker 1: it must be bigger than I thought it was. Y'all
18:29
Speaker 1: want some useless information? It's literally useless information. A cat
18:36
Speaker 1: is pregnant with kittens for eight weeks, and those kittens
18:42
Speaker 1: come out at about three to four ounces. An elephant,
18:47
Speaker 1: I told you it was useless information. An elephant is
18:50
Speaker 1: pregnant for 22 months, almost two years. And every woman
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Speaker 1: in this room said, oh God, no. And when that
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Speaker 1: baby elephant comes out, it comes out at about 250 pounds.
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Speaker 1: Hear me, the smaller what you're birthing, the less lime
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Speaker 1: it takes. But when you are trying to birth something massive,
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Speaker 1: come on now. It takes time. It takes a process.
19:17
Speaker 1: And what a lot of people do not realize is
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Speaker 1: what God is trying to birth out of your life.
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Speaker 1: It's not small. It's not inconsequential. It's not insignificant. God
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Speaker 1: is looking to do something massive through your life. The
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Speaker 1: Bible says in Jeremiah chapter 1 verse 5, I knew you.
19:36
Speaker 1: Before you were formed in your mother's womb, before you
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Speaker 1: were born, I sanctified you and appointed you as a
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Speaker 1: spokesman to the world. Oh, if I could take the
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Speaker 1: rest of the message, which I want to convince you,
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Speaker 1: you're not small. you're not insignificant you're not overlooked God
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Speaker 1: has an earth shaking calling and destiny on your life
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Speaker 1: and he's got to prepare you for it here's the
20:05
Speaker 1: problem a calling with no preparation will crush you The
20:12
Speaker 1: first thing we have to catch is that God has
20:14
Speaker 1: a massive call, a massive purpose on our life. But
20:18
Speaker 1: hear me, if we're not prepared for it, we will
20:22
Speaker 1: forfeit it. It will crush us. This is where it
20:26
Speaker 1: gets awkward because I use an analogy and a specific
20:29
Speaker 1: person comes to your mind. But look straight ahead. Don't
20:31
Speaker 1: act like you know who I'm talking about. But have
20:33
Speaker 1: you ever seen someone walk into something that they're not
20:36
Speaker 1: prepared for? It's pretty tragic to see. Maybe you had
20:41
Speaker 1: a friend walk into a marriage and they were not
20:43
Speaker 1: ready to be married. And you saw them not steward
20:47
Speaker 1: it well, not manage it well. Maybe someone stepped into
20:49
Speaker 1: a business and they were not ready for it and
20:52
Speaker 1: you saw it forfeited. Hear me, it's not just to
20:55
Speaker 1: have a great call, but God, I want to be prepared.
20:58
Speaker 1: I want to be positioned to maximize that call. And
21:02
Speaker 1: when I understand the magnitude of the call, hear me,
21:05
Speaker 1: without preparation, there's a temptation to perform. When I see
21:11
Speaker 1: the call of God on my life, but I haven't
21:13
Speaker 1: been properly prepared, I am now intimidated by man, and
21:17
Speaker 1: I don't want them to know that I don't know
21:20
Speaker 1: what I'm doing. So the temptation to now perform and
21:23
Speaker 1: pretend like I have it all together is now there
21:27
Speaker 1: waiting for me. Not only is performance a temptation, but
21:30
Speaker 1: hear me, premature launching is a temptation. So many of us,
21:36
Speaker 1: here's what I've discovered about God. He will tell you
21:39
Speaker 1: what he's called you to do before he's called you
21:40
Speaker 1: to do it. And I'm like, dude, you could have
21:45
Speaker 1: kept that to yourself. If it's three years from now,
21:50
Speaker 1: tell me three years from now. Don't tell me. I'm
21:54
Speaker 1: going to get in trouble for this. Me and my
21:56
Speaker 1: wife always get in arguments because, you know, our three kids.
21:58
Speaker 1: And we try to do special things for our kids,
22:00
Speaker 1: you know, take them to see a little mouse in
22:01
Speaker 1: Orlando or whatever it may be. And we just parent differently.
22:05
Speaker 1: I'm the type of parent that says don't tell them
22:07
Speaker 1: until the day before.
22:09
Speaker 3: Why?
22:09
Speaker 1: Because they're going to talk about it for the weeks
22:11
Speaker 1: leading up and they're going to get on my nerves.
22:13
Speaker 1: And the other thing is this, if I don't like
22:15
Speaker 1: their attitude, I want to be able to change my
22:17
Speaker 1: mind and they'll never know what was on the table.
22:21
Speaker 1: My wife, on the other hand, she's like, as soon
22:23
Speaker 1: as I hear it, they hear it. My wife is
22:27
Speaker 1: more like God because God says, as soon as I
22:29
Speaker 1: see it, as soon as I'm going to tell you,
22:31
Speaker 1: because I want to see how you're going to steward
22:35
Speaker 1: the word before you step into it. So what I
22:39
Speaker 1: want to do over the next three hours of this message,
22:41
Speaker 1: I want to give you just three quick thoughts, three.
22:42
Speaker 1: I want to give you three lessons you need to
22:48
Speaker 1: learn in that season of waiting, that season of preparation.
22:52
Speaker 1: The first lesson is this, write this down. Rejection is
22:56
Speaker 1: a teacher. The first thing that God is going to
22:59
Speaker 1: teach you in this season of waiting is that rejection
23:04
Speaker 1: is a teacher. And hear me, if you do not
23:07
Speaker 1: have a tolerance for rejection in your life, If you
23:11
Speaker 1: don't have an immunity to people not liking you, you
23:16
Speaker 1: will never walk out the call of God on your life.
23:20
Speaker 1: Hear me. You cannot walk out all that God has
23:23
Speaker 1: for you and have everybody like you and everybody believing
23:28
Speaker 1: you at the same time if rejection paralyzes you. If
23:33
Speaker 1: someone doesn't like you and it keeps you from walking
23:37
Speaker 1: out all that God has for you, you will forfeit
23:40
Speaker 1: the call of God on your life. Here's what the
23:42
Speaker 1: Bible says. The Bible says 13 years before there was
23:47
Speaker 1: a famine in Egypt, God sent Joseph because Joseph was
23:53
Speaker 1: going to make sure there was enough provision for the
23:55
Speaker 1: entire region to eat through the famine. Somebody say 13 years. Before. Before.
24:03
Speaker 1: One more time, 13 years before. So imagine Joseph rolls
24:10
Speaker 1: up in Egypt and says, hey y'all, there's about to
24:13
Speaker 1: be a famine. Fields full, Chick-fil-A stopped, food everywhere. And
24:23
Speaker 1: he's saying, hey guys, there's a famine coming. Watch this.
24:26
Speaker 1: They would have laughed him out of town. Why? Because
24:31
Speaker 1: his calling was sent ahead of the problem. The problem
24:36
Speaker 1: did not yet exist. So nobody was going to understand
24:40
Speaker 1: the call of God on his life because the problem
24:42
Speaker 1: he was sent to be a solution to. had not
24:45
Speaker 1: yet existed. Here's why your mama don't understand the path
24:49
Speaker 1: that God is leading you on. Here's why the people
24:51
Speaker 1: around you don't understand the path that God is leading
24:53
Speaker 1: you on. Because God has sent you before the problem
24:57
Speaker 1: and they don't see your calling because they don't see
24:59
Speaker 1: the problem yet. You can't wait for them to understand.
25:04
Speaker 1: for you to walk out all that God has for you,
25:06
Speaker 1: 1 Corinthians 2, 9. But as it is written, eye
25:09
Speaker 1: has not seen, nor ear heard, nor is it entered
25:13
Speaker 1: into the heart of man, the things which God has
25:17
Speaker 1: prepared for those who love him. Those around you will
25:23
Speaker 1: always misunderstand the call of God on your life because
25:27
Speaker 1: you are before your time. And people just have a
25:32
Speaker 1: tendency to reject God what they don't understand. Can I
25:37
Speaker 1: mess with you just a little bit? Not only will
25:40
Speaker 1: they not understand the path that God is taking you on,
25:42
Speaker 1: sometimes you won't even understand the path that God is
25:46
Speaker 1: taking you on. I grew up in church. My dad
25:49
Speaker 1: was a pastor my entire life. So like all pastors' kids,
25:52
Speaker 1: I said, God, I'll do everything but be a pastor.
25:56
Speaker 1: So I went to the greatest university on the planet,
25:57
Speaker 1: University of Maryland, College Park, Fear the Turtle. Graduated graduate
26:04
Speaker 1: college and I got I got I got two solid
26:07
Speaker 1: job offers One of the jobs paid me $ 42, 000. It
26:11
Speaker 1: was in Maryland. The other job the sally was $ 90, 000
26:16
Speaker 1: with a $ 15, 000 signing bonus. I didn't even know they
26:19
Speaker 1: gave non-athletes signing bonuses Yeah, when I tell you I
26:23
Speaker 1: was praising God. I'm Lord. You're good Jehovah Jireh my
26:27
Speaker 1: provider And I go to sign the $ 90, 000 job offer
26:35
Speaker 1: and the Holy Spirit, you know how you just feel,
26:37
Speaker 1: I don't feel good about this. And I've been walking
26:40
Speaker 1: with God long enough to know that that check was
26:41
Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit. God said, don't take that job. I said,
26:44
Speaker 1: what you talking about, Willis? I know you've been in
26:49
Speaker 1: heaven so long, you probably forget how numbers work, but
26:52
Speaker 1: 90 plus 15 is more than 42. Clearly, God, you
26:57
Speaker 1: want me to walk in abundance. And every time I
27:02
Speaker 1: went to take the job, I felt this check of, no,
27:05
Speaker 1: that's not what I have for you. Have you ever
27:07
Speaker 1: tried to convince God to let you do what you
27:09
Speaker 1: want to do? I'm shady, y'all. I tried to convince
27:13
Speaker 1: him by telling him I would tithe. God, I'm going
27:16
Speaker 1: to give 10% of my income to the kingdom of God.
27:19
Speaker 1: Don't you want 10% of 105 instead of... I'm trying
27:22
Speaker 1: to negotiate with God. Let me... And the check never left.
27:28
Speaker 1: Here was the problem with the $ 90, 000 job. It was
27:31
Speaker 1: causing me to leave Maryland. And what the Holy Spirit
27:34
Speaker 1: said is, I need you to stay in Maryland. Now
27:36
Speaker 1: watch this. I had not yet even accepted the call
27:39
Speaker 1: of God into ministry on my life. I had no
27:41
Speaker 1: idea I'd be pastoring in Maryland for the rest of
27:44
Speaker 1: my life. And I'm saying, God, this is not my path.
27:47
Speaker 1: And he said, your path is out of alignment with
27:49
Speaker 1: the calling on your life. You may not understand it,
27:52
Speaker 1: but if you would allow me to lead you, you're
27:56
Speaker 1: going to end up where you're supposed to be. You
27:59
Speaker 1: can't expect people around you to understand what God is
28:04
Speaker 1: doing in your life. And when they don't understand, they
28:06
Speaker 1: will laugh, they will mock, they will manipulate, they will lie.
28:09
Speaker 1: And it's all a lesson. God is trying to figure
28:11
Speaker 1: out whose voice do you listen to? If people around
28:16
Speaker 1: you not understanding what God has called you to do
28:18
Speaker 1: causes you to question what God has caused you to do,
28:21
Speaker 1: that means they've become your idol. Because it means their
28:26
Speaker 1: voice is drowning out the voice of almighty God. Now here,
28:31
Speaker 1: Joseph's father gets involved in verse 10. It says this
28:33
Speaker 1: of chapter 37 of Genesis. He told it to his
28:36
Speaker 1: father and his brothers. His father rebuked him and said
28:38
Speaker 1: to him, what is this dream that you have dreamed?
28:42
Speaker 1: Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come
28:45
Speaker 1: to bow down to the earth before you? Not only
28:52
Speaker 1: is God trying to develop people rejection, immunity in your life.
28:58
Speaker 1: But God is also trying to develop the parts of you.
29:01
Speaker 1: I don't want to be mean and call you a jerk,
29:03
Speaker 1: but I just did. He's trying to develop the parts
29:07
Speaker 1: of you that are repulsive to other people. Hear me.
29:12
Speaker 1: When we get rejected, we always blame the other person.
29:16
Speaker 1: We always assume there's something wrong with them and there's
29:19
Speaker 1: nothing wrong with me. Matter of fact, we have this,
29:21
Speaker 1: I'm going to get in trouble for this. So many
29:23
Speaker 1: people now, I just got to protect my peace. I
29:25
Speaker 1: have to cut them out of my life because they were,
29:27
Speaker 1: I've got to protect my peace. I've got, yeah, yeah, yeah.
29:30
Speaker 1: Some people you've got to cut off because you've got
29:32
Speaker 1: to protect your peace. Some people were not challenging your peace.
29:35
Speaker 1: They were challenging your pride and they were causing you
29:38
Speaker 1: to grow up and develop. And you said, no, no, no, no.
29:41
Speaker 1: I don't want to grow. I don't want to change.
29:42
Speaker 1: I got to cut you off. Hear me. They didn't
29:45
Speaker 1: just reject Joseph because they were jealous. They rejected him
29:48
Speaker 1: because he was arrogant. God gave you a dream. So what?
29:54
Speaker 1: Keep it to yourself. God never told you to declare
29:58
Speaker 1: that to everybody, to rub it in their face. Here's
30:00
Speaker 1: what rejection will teach you. It will teach you to
30:04
Speaker 1: incubate a word from God. How are you telling the world,
30:09
Speaker 1: and you're not even convinced it was the voice of
30:10
Speaker 1: God yet. It could have just been that bad movie
30:13
Speaker 1: and the bad pizza you ate last night. You're trying
30:15
Speaker 1: to figure out, is this God speaking? But you're, God is,
30:19
Speaker 1: keep it to yourself. God, give me signs. God, lead me. God,
30:24
Speaker 1: guide me. Don't blurt it. I just needed to tell
30:27
Speaker 1: my group. I just needed accountability partners. No, no, no, no, no.
30:33
Speaker 1: You need to be accountable to the Holy Spirit before
30:37
Speaker 1: you can be accountable to anybody else. It's rejection that
30:41
Speaker 1: teaches you to incubate a word from God. Watch this.
30:44
Speaker 1: Rejection will teach you to celebrate other people. Here's what
30:49
Speaker 1: God is trying to teach you in that season. Don't
30:51
Speaker 1: just talk about what God is doing in your life.
30:54
Speaker 1: Can you learn how to celebrate what God is doing
30:57
Speaker 1: in somebody else's life? We know the story of Joseph.
31:00
Speaker 1: Watch this. Do you know after Joseph led them through
31:03
Speaker 1: the famine, it's the last time in scripture we heard
31:05
Speaker 1: about Joseph? Joseph was not even the most significant brother
31:09
Speaker 1: of the 11. It was Judah that Jesus came through
31:12
Speaker 1: centuries later. There was God's work in every brother's life. Joseph,
31:17
Speaker 1: don't just make it about you. Learn how to celebrate
31:23
Speaker 1: other people. Second thing God's going to teach you in
31:26
Speaker 1: this season of delay is faithfulness precedes promotion. In a
31:33
Speaker 1: season of delay, we've got to learn, watch this, to
31:36
Speaker 1: be fruitful outside of our calling. Before God puts me
31:43
Speaker 1: where I want to be, can I wane where I
31:46
Speaker 1: have to be? In Genesis 39, verse three, it says this,
31:49
Speaker 1: and his master saw the Lord was with him and
31:51
Speaker 1: that Joseph made all he did prosper in his hand.
31:54
Speaker 1: So Joseph found favor in his sight and served him.
31:56
Speaker 1: Then he made him overseer of his house and all
31:58
Speaker 1: that he had put under his authority. Genesis 39, 22,
32:02
Speaker 1: and the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand.
32:05
Speaker 1: All the prisoners who were in the prison, whatever they
32:07
Speaker 1: did there, it was his doing. The keeper of the
32:11
Speaker 1: prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph's
32:15
Speaker 1: authority because the Lord was with him and whatever he did,
32:19
Speaker 1: the Lord made it prosper. Everywhere Joseph went, he maximized
32:26
Speaker 1: the moment even though he was not in the center
32:30
Speaker 1: of what God ultimately had for him. As long as
32:35
Speaker 1: you are complaining, about what's not fair in your situation.
32:42
Speaker 1: You are not yet ready to step in to all
32:46
Speaker 1: that God has for you. God is trying to teach you.
32:50
Speaker 1: Can you be faithful with a disadvantage before I give
32:56
Speaker 1: you the kingdom advantage that I have? Here's the problem.
32:59
Speaker 1: Most people can't even be faithful at what they're passionate about.
33:05
Speaker 1: Most people can't even stay focused on what they feel
33:08
Speaker 1: called to. It is even a smaller minority of people
33:12
Speaker 1: that can be faithful in something that, this isn't my calling,
33:15
Speaker 1: this isn't my gifting, this isn't my skill set, this
33:17
Speaker 1: isn't my gift mix, but it's where God has me
33:20
Speaker 1: for this season of my life, and I'm going to
33:23
Speaker 1: be faithful. faithful where I am because there's something he
33:27
Speaker 1: has called me to do. So here's Joe up in
33:29
Speaker 1: Potiphar's house. And Joe said, guess what? I'm going to
33:31
Speaker 1: be the best slave they've ever had. You're going to
33:33
Speaker 1: put me in here?
33:34
Speaker 3: All right.
33:34
Speaker 1: Watch me work. Watch God's hand of favor on my life.
33:38
Speaker 1: And his promotion was false charges in a prison. He
33:41
Speaker 1: now is in prison. He said, I'm going to be
33:43
Speaker 1: the valedictor prisoner of all. I'm going to be the
33:46
Speaker 1: best prisoner that you've ever had. I'm going to win
33:49
Speaker 1: wherever God has placed me. I have a question for you.
33:53
Speaker 1: Can you win as a slave? Can you win as
33:55
Speaker 1: a prisoner? Can you win as an employee before you
33:58
Speaker 1: become the CEO? Can you win in the background before
34:01
Speaker 1: God puts you in the foreground? So many people are like, boy,
34:05
Speaker 1: when my door opens, I can't wait to say, listen,
34:08
Speaker 1: if you can't win when the door is closed, Why
34:14
Speaker 1: would you expect to be able to win when the
34:16
Speaker 1: door is open? It's behind closed doors that God builds
34:19
Speaker 1: your confidence. When you are at a disadvantage, watch this,
34:26
Speaker 1: in Potiphar's house, and you still see God blessing you,
34:30
Speaker 1: You see miracles breaking out. You still see favor all around.
34:35
Speaker 1: And then somebody lies on you. You lose your job,
34:38
Speaker 1: end up in a worse situation, and you're still blessed.
34:40
Speaker 1: You're still favored. You're still anointed. Do you know the
34:44
Speaker 1: confidence that comes on you? Wait, hold on. It don't
34:47
Speaker 1: matter what they do to me. God is still with me.
34:49
Speaker 1: He's still for me. He still is going to make
34:52
Speaker 1: a way where there is no way. Hear me. It
34:55
Speaker 1: is in the prison that God builds a confidence. Push
35:01
Speaker 1: your neighbor and say, don't skip it, don't skip it,
35:02
Speaker 1: don't skip it. It's easier to preach than it is
35:06
Speaker 1: to live. I would love to skip a prison. I
35:10
Speaker 1: would love to skip those moments of tears crying at night,
35:13
Speaker 1: but it's in those moments of disadvantage that God proves,
35:18
Speaker 1: I don't need a perfect environment. Amen. to be able
35:21
Speaker 1: to bless you and open doors for you and favor you.
35:24
Speaker 1: All I need is a broken and a contrite heart.
35:27
Speaker 1: In Luke chapter 16, verse 12, it says this. If
35:30
Speaker 1: you have not been faithful in what is another man's,
35:34
Speaker 1: who will give you what is your own? One of
35:39
Speaker 1: the things I learned is God will test you by
35:41
Speaker 1: seeing what you will do with somebody else's dream. I've
35:46
Speaker 1: been the senior pastor of Union Church in Maryland for
35:47
Speaker 1: the last 15 years. but I've been a member of
35:51
Speaker 1: that church for 30 years. Because before I was the
35:55
Speaker 1: senior pastor, I was the pastor's son. So for 15 years,
35:59
Speaker 1: I woke up at 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning,
36:02
Speaker 1: drove down to the church and turned all the lights
36:04
Speaker 1: on and put all the batteries in the microphone and
36:07
Speaker 1: made sure the screens were on. Y'all don't remember church
36:09
Speaker 1: back in the day. Ain't no screens, ain't no light.
36:12
Speaker 1: This was that overhead projector, y'all. Come on, you remember?
36:15
Speaker 1: Where they would have the hymn with the four verses,
36:17
Speaker 1: but we never sang all four verses and you gotta
36:19
Speaker 1: sit there and only slide it up as they would sing.
36:22
Speaker 1: And don't judge me, I can't sing. I led worship.
36:26
Speaker 1: for seven of those years. Year after year after year. Monday,
36:30
Speaker 1: I would lead Bible study. Wednesday, I drive 45 minutes
36:33
Speaker 1: up from college to be a part of the leadership meeting.
36:36
Speaker 1: Get back to school 11 o'clock that night. Friday night,
36:38
Speaker 1: I drive back up to lead student night. Saturday morning,
36:41
Speaker 1: I'm leading prayer in the morning. Back on Sunday, leading
36:44
Speaker 1: for 15 years. Now, let me be petty and get
36:49
Speaker 1: in trouble, but that's all right. So when I became
36:51
Speaker 1: the pastor at 23 years old, People start to grow.
36:53
Speaker 1: I don't think he deserves to be a pastor. I
36:56
Speaker 1: don't know. This seems to be nepotism. You're just mad
36:59
Speaker 1: because your dad didn't leave you anything. I'm just saying.
37:04
Speaker 1: I'm not saying I have a right to hold a
37:06
Speaker 1: microphone in my hand, but it's not wrong because before
37:08
Speaker 1: I ever held it, I put batteries in these things
37:11
Speaker 1: for two decades straight, building somebody else's dream and somebody
37:15
Speaker 1: else's vision and somebody else's. Here's what I've learned. When
37:19
Speaker 1: I serve somebody else's dream, God will give me my own.
37:22
Speaker 1: When I serve somebody else's kingdom, somebody else's business, somebody
37:26
Speaker 1: else's car, watch you be faithful with somebody else's dream
37:30
Speaker 1: and watch God give you your own. I always worry
37:34
Speaker 1: because my church is used to me. Y'all don't know
37:35
Speaker 1: me like that. I really love you. But sometimes I
37:38
Speaker 1: come across a little cranky. Everybody got a business card.
37:42
Speaker 1: Everybody's an entrepreneur. Everybody's a CEO. But you've never been
37:45
Speaker 1: a W-2. And I'm not saying God hasn't called you
37:50
Speaker 1: to own a business. I'm not saying God hasn't called
37:52
Speaker 1: you to employ thousands of people. But maybe before you
37:55
Speaker 1: start your own, you should serve somebody else. Amen. How
38:03
Speaker 1: I steward what is not mine prepares me to steward
38:09
Speaker 1: what God has for me. So this isn't a part
38:12
Speaker 1: of it. I'm just being petty. How are you going
38:14
Speaker 1: to live in your mama's house and not do the dishes?
38:21
Speaker 1: How are you going to borrow somebody's car and not
38:22
Speaker 1: put gas in it before you return it? I'm just
38:26
Speaker 1: being petty to be petty. But how about I learn
38:30
Speaker 1: how to steward what does not belong to me so
38:34
Speaker 1: that God can trust me with what does. Last thing
38:36
Speaker 1: is this, write this down and we out. Delay is
38:41
Speaker 1: a multiplier. The three things God's trying to teach me,
38:45
Speaker 1: he's trying to teach me how to be immune to rejection.
38:49
Speaker 1: He's trying to teach me, watch this, how to be
38:51
Speaker 1: faithful when I don't feel like it. God's trying to
38:57
Speaker 1: teach me how to manage disappointment. In Proverbs 13, verse 12,
39:03
Speaker 1: it says this, hope deferred makes the heart sick. But
39:09
Speaker 1: when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.
39:14
Speaker 1: This is why sermons need so much laughter. Because a
39:18
Speaker 1: lot of people understand the pain of disappointment. It's easy
39:24
Speaker 1: to laugh about delay, but when you've been in it
39:29
Speaker 1: for three years, years, four years, five years, saying, God, why, when,
39:33
Speaker 1: where have you forgotten? And hear me, God knows the
39:37
Speaker 1: pain of hoping for something and not seeing it come
39:41
Speaker 1: to pass. One theologian said this, long delayed expectations cause
39:48
Speaker 1: emotional mental, and spiritual pain? Can you deal with the
39:56
Speaker 1: emotional turmoil of a calling? Can you deal with the
40:01
Speaker 1: disappointment of delay? Watch this. And yet not have your
40:08
Speaker 1: faith diminish even though your heart is broken. Romans chapter four,
40:17
Speaker 1: verse 19, it says this, without weakening in his faith,
40:20
Speaker 1: slow down, Stephen. Without weakening in his faith. Sometimes you
40:27
Speaker 1: don't gotta preach, you just gotta read the Bible. Without
40:31
Speaker 1: weakening in his face, he faced the fact that his
40:37
Speaker 1: body was as good as dead since he was about
40:40
Speaker 1: 100 years old and that Sarah's womb was also dead.
40:45
Speaker 1: Watch this. Yet he did not waver. through unbelief regarding
40:51
Speaker 1: the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith
40:55
Speaker 1: and gave glory to God. I love this phrase, being
40:59
Speaker 1: fully persuaded that God had power to do what he
41:05
Speaker 1: had promised to do. Here's why God keeps delaying you,
41:08
Speaker 1: because he's waiting for you to be fully persuaded that
41:13
Speaker 1: God will do what he said he will do. Delayed
41:19
Speaker 1: dreams either kills dreams or it develops faith. You decide.
41:27
Speaker 1: The longer it takes, I either come to the conclusion
41:31
Speaker 1: God's not gonna do it, or I come to the conclusion,
41:35
Speaker 1: oh man, this must be an elephant type of miracle.
41:39
Speaker 1: This must be a lot bigger than I thought it
41:41
Speaker 1: was going. No wonder it's taking so long. God is
41:44
Speaker 1: cultivating something. That's bigger and greater than I could ever
41:48
Speaker 1: ask for or imagine. Earlier this year, as you know,
41:54
Speaker 1: there's a little bit of drama in our great nation.
41:57
Speaker 1: Earlier this year, TSA was trying to figure out funding
42:01
Speaker 1: and all that other good stuff. And the TSA workers
42:03
Speaker 1: of Maryland said, hey, well, y'all figure it out. We
42:05
Speaker 1: gonna be home. We ain't coming. We ain't coming. So
42:08
Speaker 1: you know the delays and the long, not all airports,
42:11
Speaker 1: but airport in Maryland, the delays got pretty long. At
42:14
Speaker 1: one point, it was three to four hours wait to
42:18
Speaker 1: get through security check to get on your flight. Now,
42:22
Speaker 1: I don't know how much faith you have. You probably
42:23
Speaker 1: have a lot more faith than I do. If I
42:25
Speaker 1: have to wait four hours to get on my flight,
42:29
Speaker 1: I ain't coming. I'm not driving. I'll see y'all next.
42:33
Speaker 1: We'll figure it out. I'm not getting on a plane.
42:35
Speaker 1: Lines were three to four hours long and people went
42:39
Speaker 1: to the airport and stood in that line being delayed
42:43
Speaker 1: four hours, sometimes for a two-hour flight. They waited in
42:48
Speaker 1: line to check bags longer than they were going to
42:50
Speaker 1: be on the plane itself. You might have seen it
42:52
Speaker 1: became this big national thing all over the news and
42:54
Speaker 1: all that. So news stations started to go down to
42:56
Speaker 1: the airport to interview people that were in line waiting.
43:00
Speaker 1: They ain't got nothing better to do, so we might
43:01
Speaker 1: as well talk to them. And they went up to
43:04
Speaker 1: the first person. They said, why in the world would
43:07
Speaker 1: you wait four hours to take this flight? This young
43:11
Speaker 1: lady looked in the camera. She said, if you knew
43:16
Speaker 1: How much I paid for this trip and how much
43:22
Speaker 1: it costs me, there is no way I'm gonna let
43:27
Speaker 1: a little inconvenience keep me from my destination. It might
43:33
Speaker 1: take me longer than I wanted it to, but based
43:37
Speaker 1: on what I've had to sacrifice to go to it,
43:39
Speaker 1: I am not going to forfeit it based on this
43:41
Speaker 1: little inconvenience. Here's what happens. When God doesn't delay you,
43:46
Speaker 1: you are cavalier with the miracle. When God doesn't develop you,
43:50
Speaker 1: you act entitled like I deserve it. And I'm this
43:53
Speaker 1: smart and this intelligent and this much charisma. But when
43:56
Speaker 1: I've been through something before God gives, if you knew
44:00
Speaker 1: what I had to walk through, if you knew what
44:02
Speaker 1: it cost me to get here, a little delay won't
44:07
Speaker 1: deter me. They go to the next gentleman. They said,
44:10
Speaker 1: how long have you been waiting? He said, five hours.
44:13
Speaker 1: Smile on his face. These people had more Holy Spirit
44:15
Speaker 1: than I do. They said, so you got here five
44:19
Speaker 1: hours before your flight. He said, I sure did. They said,
44:22
Speaker 1: why in the world would you get here that early
44:25
Speaker 1: for your flight? He said, let me tell you about
44:28
Speaker 1: my destination. I'm going to the Caribbean and here's the
44:31
Speaker 1: hotel I'm staying at. It's all inclusive. And he began
44:34
Speaker 1: to tell them how beautiful the destination he was getting
44:37
Speaker 1: ready to go to. And he said, I spent so
44:40
Speaker 1: much time planning. planning and preparing and envisioning where I
44:44
Speaker 1: was going, even this moment of inconvenience is not enough
44:48
Speaker 1: to keep me from the amazing destination on the other side.
44:52
Speaker 1: This message is for that person that's getting ready to
44:55
Speaker 1: give up, that you're discouraged, that you're overwhelmed, that you're like, God,
44:59
Speaker 1: why me? Have you forgotten about me? If you can
45:02
Speaker 1: just get a glimpse of the destination on the other side.
45:06
Speaker 1: If you could just see what God is getting ready
45:09
Speaker 1: to take you through, your whole story would change. You
45:12
Speaker 1: begin to say, you know what? I'll wait. You know what?
45:15
Speaker 1: It's no big deal. You know what? They can walk
45:17
Speaker 1: away from me. You know what? It doesn't even matter
45:20
Speaker 1: because I've got a glimpse. what God is getting ready
45:24
Speaker 1: to do on the other side and whatever he takes
45:27
Speaker 1: me through it's worth it it's worth it it's worth
45:31
Speaker 1: it hear me you may cry but don't you quit
45:34
Speaker 1: you may be discouraged but don't you throw away your
45:37
Speaker 1: faith you may be overwhelmed but you keep putting one
45:40
Speaker 1: foot in front of the other because in due season
45:45
Speaker 1: It will come to pass. And I'm telling you, no
45:47
Speaker 1: eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind can
45:50
Speaker 1: conceive what God is getting ready to take you through.
45:53
Speaker 1: It will be above and beyond all that you can
45:58
Speaker 1: ever ask, think, or imagine. If you believe it, can
46:02
Speaker 1: you take about 10 seconds? Can you celebrate God as
46:06
Speaker 1: if you are on the other side? Can you thank
46:08
Speaker 1: him that he is faithful to his word? If he
46:12
Speaker 1: said it, He will do it. Somebody shout hallelujah in
46:18
Speaker 1: this place. God, we bless you. God, we reference you. Hey,
46:26
Speaker 1: I hope you enjoyed the podcast.
46:28
Speaker 2: And if you did, make sure to share it and
46:30
Speaker 2: subscribe so we can get you all of these new
46:33
Speaker 2: messages as soon as they're available. I also want to
46:36
Speaker 2: take a moment and thank all of you who are
46:38
Speaker 2: a part of Elevation. Whether you support us financially or
46:42
Speaker 2: serve with us or just share these messages, it's because
46:45
Speaker 2: of you that we're able to reach people all around
46:48
Speaker 2: the world. And if you want more information on how
46:51
Speaker 2: to be a part of Elevation, Click the link in
46:53
Speaker 2: the description. Thanks again for listening. Make sure to leave
46:56
Speaker 2: a review, share the message, and subscribe.
46:59
Speaker 1: God bless you.