Latest / Max Lucado Daily Sermons / Minister Max Lucado – Call on Your Commander When Life Gets Tough
Transcript
- 0:01Speaker 1: So so Thank you.
- 1:02Speaker 2: God is the God of fresh starts and new beginnings
- 1:05Speaker 2: and second chances. God is the God of glory days.
- 1:10Speaker 2: And if you're in need of some glory days, then
- 1:12Speaker 2: welcome to this study of the life and the book
- 1:16Speaker 2: of Joshua. God gave Joshua and the Hebrews a second
- 1:20Speaker 2: chance at the promised land. And they took it. And
- 1:24Speaker 2: if you're ready to enter your promised land, then this
- 1:27Speaker 2: story and this study is for you. We're going to
- 1:30Speaker 2: make our Glory Days Declaration. The words are going to
- 1:33Speaker 2: appear on the screen. I invite you to fill your
- 1:36Speaker 2: lungs with air and what? Your hearts with hope. Say
- 1:41Speaker 2: it like you mean it. Here we go. These days
- 1:43Speaker 2: are glory days. My past is past. My future is bright.
- 1:48Speaker 2: God's promises are true. His word is sure. With God
- 1:53Speaker 2: as my helper. Have mercy now, Lord, upon the speaker.
- 2:08Speaker 2: You know his sins are many. Grant that we could
- 2:11Speaker 2: see Christ and just Christ. Through Christ we pray. Amen.
- 2:20Speaker 2: Joy Verone was all alone in her hotel room. She
- 2:24Speaker 2: had no feeling in her legs or mobility in her
- 2:26Speaker 2: lower body. Her spine had been snapped when she saved
- 2:31Speaker 2: the lives of her three children. The family SUV had
- 2:37Speaker 2: slipped out of gear and careened toward the edge of
- 2:40Speaker 2: a steep Colorado mountain ravine. She ran and placed herself
- 2:46Speaker 2: in front of the automobile, slowing it down enough for
- 2:50Speaker 2: her father to open the door and press start. the brakes.
- 2:55Speaker 2: That was October of 1999, and her children can still
- 3:01Speaker 2: remember the expression on the face of their mother as
- 3:06Speaker 2: the car pulled her under. Her children were saved, but
- 3:11Speaker 2: Joy's back was broken and the internal damage was severe.
- 3:18Speaker 2: Emergency rescue airlifted Joy to a hospital in Farmington, New Mexico.
- 3:23Speaker 2: Her condition was so fragile that the doctors worked for
- 3:27Speaker 2: 12 days just to stabilize her before surgery. She emerged
- 3:32Speaker 2: from the operation with a dangerously high fever. Her medical
- 3:37Speaker 2: team struggled to get the fever under control. For seven days,
- 3:41Speaker 2: the temperature raged. And while the temperature raged, so did
- 3:46Speaker 2: her fears. Her doctors tried to comfort her, but there
- 3:51Speaker 2: was no comfort to be had. She feared living. Then
- 3:56Speaker 2: she feared dying. Joy pleaded with her mom for help.
- 4:02Speaker 2: Her mom had been maintaining a bedside vigil. And at
- 4:07Speaker 2: one point, her mom said, I'm going to go call
- 4:09Speaker 2: some friends to pray. And she said, I'll be right back.
- 4:12Speaker 2: And so she stepped out of the room. So Joy
- 4:15Speaker 2: was all alone in her hospital room. But not for long.
- 4:20Speaker 2: A man appeared. He opened the door. and walked in.
- 4:26Speaker 2: Joy did not recognize him. Per her request, all of
- 4:29Speaker 2: her nurses were females. If this man was a doctor,
- 4:35Speaker 2: he was not one of her doctors. He had a
- 4:39Speaker 2: striking appearance, a tall man with high cheekbones. He was
- 4:44Speaker 2: dressed in white. He had silver hair that was parted
- 4:48Speaker 2: in the middle and ran right down the middle of
- 4:51Speaker 2: his back in a ponytail. And his eyes, those eyes,
- 4:58Speaker 2: so striking that 14 years later when Joy described them
- 5:03Speaker 2: to me, her face lit up. They were crystal blue,
- 5:08Speaker 2: she said, and bright. I've never seen such beautiful eyes before.
- 5:16Speaker 2: The visitor stepped toward her bed and he lifted her
- 5:18Speaker 2: chart and he casually flipped through the pages, though Joy
- 5:22Speaker 2: had the distinct impression that he was not reading anything.
- 5:28Speaker 2: After a few moments, he spoke to her with a smoothing,
- 5:31Speaker 2: a soothing voice. And he said, Joy, you are going
- 5:36Speaker 2: to be all right. You will get through this. He
- 5:43Speaker 2: looked at her and then just as quickly as he
- 5:46Speaker 2: had entered, he left. Joy instantly believed him. She said,
- 5:51Speaker 2: had the doctor, a nurse or a family member said
- 5:55Speaker 2: those words, I would have doubted them. But when this
- 5:58Speaker 2: stranger spoke, there was a knowing in my inner person.
- 6:03Speaker 2: He knew me and I believed him and I knew
- 6:07Speaker 2: I was going to be okay. When her mom reentered
- 6:11Speaker 2: the room, Joy immediately told her about the man. Mom,
- 6:15Speaker 2: the man told me that everything is going to be fine. Well,
- 6:20Speaker 2: Joy's mom ran out into the hall to find the visitor,
- 6:23Speaker 2: but he was nowhere to be seen. She described him
- 6:25Speaker 2: to the hospital staff. They had never seen such a man.
- 6:29Speaker 2: They searched the hospital. No one could find him. And
- 6:33Speaker 2: Joy believes she knows why. She believes that the visitor
- 6:38Speaker 2: wasn't from earth. That he was a guest from heaven.
- 6:46Speaker 2: That visit was a turning point for joy. The years
- 6:50Speaker 2: have brought pain and difficulty. And a life in a wheelchair.
- 6:56Speaker 2: But she often turns to the memory of that blue
- 6:59Speaker 2: eyed guest. For some strength. He told her you're going
- 7:04Speaker 2: to be all right. You're going to get through this.
- 7:07Speaker 2: And she has. Who was this visitor? From where did
- 7:15Speaker 2: he come? And dare we believe what joy believes? That
- 7:20Speaker 2: an emissary from heaven was sent her way. Joshua would
- 7:27Speaker 2: like to weigh in on this discussion. He has a
- 7:29Speaker 2: testimony of his own. He was facing a challenge every
- 7:33Speaker 2: bit as daunting. If you like to fill in the blanks,
- 7:36Speaker 2: here's your first one. Let's talk about the challenge. The challenge.
- 7:40Speaker 3: The story.
- 7:41Speaker 2: The story. In Joshua chapter 5 and verse 1 begins
- 7:44Speaker 2: with this phrase. Joshua was near Jericho. Jericho. The ancient
- 7:53Speaker 2: city of Jericho. It sat five miles north of the
- 7:57Speaker 2: Dead Sea and six miles west of the Jordan River.
- 8:02Speaker 2: The ruins of this city cover some 13 acres. Successive
- 8:06Speaker 2: walls encircled the stone houses surrounding and the outer wall
- 8:10Speaker 2: was seven feet wide and 16 feet high. On top
- 8:14Speaker 2: of this wall, a second wall was built, this one
- 8:17Speaker 2: eight feet tall. A citadel guarded the north end. A
- 8:23Speaker 2: thick forest of palm trees, eight miles long and three
- 8:26Speaker 2: miles wide, stood immediately east of the city. Steep hills
- 8:31Speaker 2: protected the western wall. It was elevated. It had high walls.
- 8:36Speaker 2: It had protected sides. It must have been an imposing
- 8:40Speaker 2: sight to Joshua. Not a difficult thing to imagine the
- 8:45Speaker 2: commander's concerns as he looked toward the fortress. Here he was.
- 8:50Speaker 2: Apparently he was all alone. There's no reference to anyone else.
- 8:54Speaker 2: Why was he here? Joshua was near Jericho. He had
- 8:59Speaker 2: left the encampment at Gilgal and traveled alone to Joshua. Why? Why?
- 9:07Speaker 2: To gather intel? I can't help but think it was
- 9:12Speaker 2: to gather something else. To gather his courage. He had
- 9:17Speaker 2: never faced such a challenge. He and his men had
- 9:21Speaker 2: fought battles in the wilderness, always on their terms and
- 9:24Speaker 2: on their turf. They had never gone against a fortified city.
- 9:30Speaker 2: They had never passed this way before. And you haven't either.
- 9:34Speaker 2: You're facing a Jericho unlike any you've ever faced. You're
- 9:38Speaker 2: facing a challenge that looms out of the horizon and
- 9:42Speaker 2: blocks your view of your future. It's big. It's imposing.
- 9:50Speaker 2: It's a fortress. It's a stronghold. And it stands between
- 9:54Speaker 2: you and your glory days. It stands between you and
- 9:59Speaker 2: the promised land. You can't move forward without facing it.
- 10:03Speaker 2: Like Joshua, you sure can see it. And like Joshua,
- 10:09Speaker 2: you must face it. But like Joshua, you don't have
- 10:13Speaker 2: to face your Jericho all alone. Look at the appearance.
- 10:21Speaker 2: The appearance. What a story. Now when Joshua was near Jericho,
- 10:26Speaker 2: he looked up and he saw a man standing in
- 10:28Speaker 2: front of him with a drawn sword in his hand.
- 10:33Speaker 2: Joshua went up to him and asked, Are you for
- 10:35Speaker 2: us or for our enemies? Neither, he replied. But as
- 10:41Speaker 2: commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come.
- 10:44Speaker 2: Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence
- 10:47Speaker 2: and asked him, What message does my Lord have for
- 10:51Speaker 2: his servant? The commander of the Lord's army replied, take
- 10:56Speaker 2: off your sandals for the place where you are standing
- 11:00Speaker 2: is holy. You know, the Bible's famous for its surprise encounters,
- 11:06Speaker 2: isn't it? Abram and the angelic guests who visited him,
- 11:13Speaker 2: Moses in the burning bush, Mary and the angels. The
- 11:20Speaker 2: disciples on their way to Emmaus and the stranger who
- 11:23Speaker 2: appeared to walk with them. The Bible seems full of
- 11:26Speaker 2: these stories of unusual experiences and strange encounters. But no
- 11:32Speaker 2: visit is more mysterious than this one. The man with
- 11:35Speaker 2: the upraised sword and the confident air. Who was this man?
- 11:43Speaker 2: And why was he appearing to Joshua near Jericho? Well,
- 11:48Speaker 2: let's eliminate some options, shall we? He wasn't an apparition.
- 11:54Speaker 2: He wasn't a vision. He wasn't a spirit, a ghost
- 11:57Speaker 2: or a dream. There's nothing in the language that would
- 11:59Speaker 2: lead us to believe that the person was anything less
- 12:02Speaker 2: than flesh and bone. I mean, he had muscles. He
- 12:05Speaker 2: could hold up a sword. He had vocal cords. He
- 12:09Speaker 2: could vocalize a voice. He wasn't a figment of Joshua's imagination.
- 12:18Speaker 2: Nor was he an angel, though we're awfully tempted to
- 12:21Speaker 2: think he was, aren't we? Angels hold up swords. Angels
- 12:25Speaker 2: can take on fleshly form. But here's the difference. Angels
- 12:30Speaker 2: do not accept worship. We know this because of passages
- 12:36Speaker 2: like in the book of Revelation. When John, the apostle,
- 12:39Speaker 2: attempted to worship an angel, and the angel said to him,
- 12:43Speaker 2: see that you do not do that. I am your
- 12:47Speaker 2: fellow servant and of your brethren who have the testimony
- 12:51Speaker 2: of Jesus. Worship God. Angels do not accept worship. Well,
- 12:55Speaker 2: this person accepted worship. He not only accepted it, he
- 12:59Speaker 2: encouraged it. He told Joshua to remove his sandals. He
- 13:02Speaker 2: was standing on holy ground. Maybe this was just a
- 13:06Speaker 2: human being, a big strong fellow. Well, if so, Joshua
- 13:13Speaker 2: sure needed some new glasses. Because everything about him makes
- 13:20Speaker 2: us believe that Joshua thought this was someone special. He
- 13:25Speaker 2: fell at the man's feet. He removed his sandals out
- 13:27Speaker 2: of respect. No, this wasn't a mere mortal. This wasn't
- 13:34Speaker 2: an apparition. It wasn't an angel. It really leaves only
- 13:37Speaker 2: one option. This was God incarnate. This was Jesus Christ.
- 13:49Speaker 2: What Jesus did in Bethlehem for us, Jesus did near
- 13:54Speaker 2: Jericho for Joshua. He became flesh. And for a moment,
- 13:59Speaker 2: for a time, was in the presence of Joshua. The
- 14:05Speaker 2: commander spoke to the commander. Do you find this to
- 14:09Speaker 2: be an odd thought? Are you thinking, Lakato, what were
- 14:13Speaker 2: you smoking when you studied this week? Jesus B.C.? Does
- 14:22Speaker 2: that work? Let me challenge you to stretch your imagination
- 14:28Speaker 2: and remember that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
- 14:35Speaker 2: He was chosen before the creation of the world. So
- 14:38Speaker 2: the normal restrictions of time and place and physics do
- 14:43Speaker 2: not apply to our kingdom. I think we would be
- 14:46Speaker 2: wrong to limit his corporal ministry, his incarnate ministry to
- 14:53Speaker 2: 33 years in Palestine. Long before Jesus ate with Zacchaeus
- 14:59Speaker 2: in Jericho, Jesus appeared to Joshua near Jericho. And what
- 15:08Speaker 2: a moment it was. He said, I am the commander
- 15:12Speaker 2: of the army of the Lord. You see, the human
- 15:16Speaker 2: eye saw two armies, the Canaanites and the Israelites. But
- 15:22Speaker 2: in actuality, there was a third army, the army of
- 15:26Speaker 2: the Lord, the angels. This is the heavenly hosts referred
- 15:31Speaker 2: to in Psalms 103, 19 through 21. Bless the Lord,
- 15:35Speaker 2: you mighty angels of his who carry out his orders,
- 15:39Speaker 2: listening for each of his commands. Yes, bless the Lord,
- 15:42Speaker 2: you armies of angels who serve him constantly. Angels. You
- 15:47Speaker 2: like to think about angels. Two words describe angels as
- 15:54Speaker 2: portrayed in the Bible. Many and mighty. Many and mighty.
- 16:02Speaker 2: They are mighty. Don't think of those little toy angels
- 16:07Speaker 2: you see in gift stores. Those little cherubs. Cherubs. That
- 16:13Speaker 2: fit on a desk or hang from a rear view
- 16:15Speaker 2: mirror with chiffon wings and rosy cheeks. God's angels are mighty.
- 16:22Speaker 2: They're strong enough to close the mouths of lions. According
- 16:27Speaker 2: to the book of Revelation, it will take only one
- 16:30Speaker 2: angel to bind up the devil, the fallen angel, and
- 16:34Speaker 2: cast him into the bottomless pit. Just one angel can
- 16:38Speaker 2: destroy the devil. Imagine what thousands can do. And there
- 16:44Speaker 2: are that many. Hebrews 12, 22 refers to thousands of
- 16:50Speaker 2: angels in joyful assembly. When John was given a glimpse
- 16:57Speaker 2: into the heavens, I suppose he tried to count the angels.
- 17:02Speaker 2: Here's what he wrote. The number of them was 10,000
- 17:04Speaker 2: times 10,000 and thousands and thousands. That's like saying, I
- 17:12Speaker 2: don't know how many, there are a lot of them.
- 17:15Speaker 2: Enough to fill Angel Stadium several times. When God opened
- 17:19Speaker 2: the eyes of Elisha's servant, the young man saw that
- 17:22Speaker 2: the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire
- 17:26Speaker 2: all around Elisha. Mighty and many angels, mighty in power,
- 17:33Speaker 2: many in number, and Jesus, the commander of them all,
- 17:38Speaker 2: The message to Joshua is simply this. Joshua, Jericho may
- 17:42Speaker 2: have its walls, but you have more. You have the
- 17:45Speaker 2: armies of God and they have come to fight for you.
- 17:50Speaker 2: Don't you think that's what Joshua needed? He needed the
- 17:54Speaker 2: reminder that he was not alone and that God was
- 17:57Speaker 2: with him and that God would stay with him. And
- 18:00Speaker 2: that's the reminder we all need when we're afraid. That
- 18:06Speaker 2: God is with us. When my daughters were small, they
- 18:10Speaker 2: would occasionally be awakened in the middle of the night
- 18:12Speaker 2: by some noise. Maybe a branch because of the wind
- 18:17Speaker 2: would bump up against the wind or there would be
- 18:19Speaker 2: some car out in the street. They would wake up
- 18:22Speaker 2: and they would cry out just down the hallway. They'd
- 18:25Speaker 2: cry out. I could hear them, Daddy, Daddy. And when
- 18:29Speaker 2: they did, when I woke up, I did what every
- 18:31Speaker 2: daddy does. I woke up their mother and No, I
- 18:38Speaker 2: went down the hall and I would walk into their
- 18:42Speaker 2: room and I noticed that just by walking into their room,
- 18:48Speaker 2: the atmosphere changed. They felt better. Before I even said
- 18:53Speaker 2: a word, just something about the presence of the Father
- 18:58Speaker 2: calmed them. Joshua just needed the presence of his Father.
- 19:07Speaker 2: There's no Solution to the problem. At the end of
- 19:10Speaker 2: this story. Jericho is still standing. Joshua still has his challenges.
- 19:16Speaker 2: But there was something about God's presence. Just reminding Joshua.
- 19:22Speaker 2: That Joshua did not have to face this Jericho alone.
- 19:28Speaker 2: The message that God gave joy in New Mexico. The
- 19:32Speaker 2: message that God gave Joshua near Jericho. Is the message
- 19:39Speaker 2: he gives you today. This is the promise. He's with you.
- 19:49Speaker 2: He's still the commander of hosts. He's still in charge
- 19:52Speaker 2: of it all. He has the final word on everything.
- 19:55Speaker 2: He still sustains everything by the mighty power of his command.
- 19:59Speaker 2: And all authority in heaven and on earth has been
- 20:02Speaker 2: given to him. He needs only to lift a finger today.
- 20:05Speaker 2: And thousands upon thousands of angels will respond to his call.
- 20:11Speaker 2: He will come to you. In the form of a
- 20:17Speaker 2: hospital caregiver. In the form of a friend. In the
- 20:24Speaker 2: form of a phone call. In the form of a dream.
- 20:27Speaker 2: I do not know. He may even come to you
- 20:30Speaker 2: in the form of a sermon like this one. But
- 20:34Speaker 2: he will come to you. Because he cares about you.
- 20:42Speaker 2: And he is for you. This is the message. From
- 20:46Speaker 2: the dialogue. This curious dialogue. Between Joshua. And the commander.
- 20:51Speaker 2: Joshua asked him. Are you for us? Or for our adversaries?
- 20:56Speaker 2: What a great question. But then this curious reply. Neither.
- 21:01Speaker 3: Neither.
- 21:04Speaker 2: See, God doesn't take sides. He does not take sides.
- 21:10Speaker 2: He is never against his people. He's never against anyone.
- 21:19Speaker 2: Even these hard-hearted Canaanites who had long since turned to
- 21:23Speaker 2: worshiping idols and, yes, sacrificing babies in worship. God was
- 21:28Speaker 2: not against them. They had turned against him. But had
- 21:32Speaker 2: they chosen this day to turn as Rahab did and
- 21:39Speaker 2: return to God, he would have received them just as
- 21:43Speaker 2: he received Rahab. He wasn't against them. He's not against you.
- 21:52Speaker 2: He's for you. And if God is for us, Who
- 22:00Speaker 2: can be against us? So here you are facing a
- 22:04Speaker 2: Jericho level challenge. You're facing walls that are too high
- 22:10Speaker 2: for you to climb. You're facing walls that are too
- 22:14Speaker 2: thick for you to break. And as you look into
- 22:17Speaker 2: your future, it seems like all you can see is
- 22:20Speaker 2: that diagnosis or that change or that difficulty or that
- 22:27Speaker 2: broken heart. Or that discouragement. And you don't know what
- 22:34Speaker 2: to do. Joshua sure can help us here. Here's what
- 22:38Speaker 2: he did. And I encourage you to do the same.
- 22:41Speaker 2: Look up. Don't stare at Jericho. Look at the story.
- 22:47Speaker 2: When Joshua was by Jericho, what did he do? He
- 22:51Speaker 2: lifted up his eyes and looked. And behold, a man
- 22:54Speaker 2: stood opposite him. When did Joshua see Jesus? When Joshua
- 23:03Speaker 2: lifted up his eyes. As long as our eyes are
- 23:08Speaker 2: on Jericho. We will not see Jesus. We must shift
- 23:17Speaker 2: our focus. We must lift up our eyes. I lift
- 23:21Speaker 2: up my eyes to the hills. The psalmist said. From
- 23:23Speaker 2: whence comes my help. My help comes from the Lord.
- 23:28Speaker 2: Who made heaven and earth. The Bible's full of stories
- 23:34Speaker 2: of people who did this. One of my favorite is
- 23:36Speaker 2: a story of Paul and Silas in the New Testament,
- 23:40Speaker 2: in the book of Acts. These were two missionaries who
- 23:43Speaker 2: had been imprisoned in the town of Philippi in a
- 23:46Speaker 2: Roman prison. They had been placed down in the bowels
- 23:49Speaker 2: of the prison, in the innermost part of the prison.
- 23:53Speaker 2: They had no recourse, no means of escape. But rather
- 23:57Speaker 2: than look at their prison cell, they looked to God.
- 24:02Speaker 2: At midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns
- 24:06Speaker 2: to God. And the prisoners were listening to them. Midnight.
- 24:11Speaker 2: That's the darkest hour. And they were in the darkest
- 24:14Speaker 2: place in the deepest hole of the jail. The doors
- 24:19Speaker 2: were locked. The guards were on duty. Yet, what were
- 24:22Speaker 2: Paul and Silas doing? Singing and praying. Lifting up their eyes.
- 24:29Speaker 2: Looking to God. Like Joshua, they received help dramatically. Suddenly
- 24:36Speaker 2: there was a great earthquake. So that the foundations of
- 24:40Speaker 2: the prison were shaken. Everything was shook up. And immediately
- 24:46Speaker 2: all the doors were opened. And everyone's chains were loosed.
- 24:54Speaker 2: When did help come for Paul and Silas? After they
- 24:59Speaker 2: lifted up their chains. eyes. This is when help came
- 25:04Speaker 2: to my friend Tammy Trent. She and her husband were
- 25:10Speaker 2: celebrating their 11th anniversary in Jamaica. Her husband, Trent Linderink,
- 25:18Speaker 2: was a diver. He loved to dive. And not long
- 25:22Speaker 2: before the end of their trip, he wanted to visit
- 25:24Speaker 2: the Blue Lagoon. But he did not bring his diving equipment. Still,
- 25:29Speaker 2: he could free dive. He could hold his breath for
- 25:32Speaker 2: as long as five minutes and so he told Tammy
- 25:36Speaker 2: not to worry that he would be back soon and
- 25:38Speaker 2: he went to the blue lagoon a few minutes passed
- 25:42Speaker 2: and he didn't come back 15 minutes 20 minutes 25
- 25:48Speaker 2: minutes passed no signs of her husband 30 minutes 35
- 25:52Speaker 2: she began to worry 40 45 minutes she called for
- 25:56Speaker 2: help divers went to the blue lagoon and they began
- 25:59Speaker 2: to search for her husband They searched for three hours.
- 26:04Speaker 2: They never found him. It got dark. They had to
- 26:07Speaker 2: suspend the search. They resumed it the next morning. And
- 26:10Speaker 2: that's when Tammy received a phone call. Her husband had drowned.
- 26:16Speaker 2: She and her husband had been best of friends since
- 26:19Speaker 2: high school. And now she was all alone in a
- 26:24Speaker 2: foreign country. She called her parents. Immediately her parents set
- 26:29Speaker 2: about coming to see her. The next available flight was
- 26:32Speaker 2: the next day. The next day just happened to be
- 26:35Speaker 2: September 11th, 2001. The day terrorists attacked the United States.
- 26:43Speaker 2: Everything shut down. Her parents couldn't get to her and
- 26:48Speaker 2: Tammy could not leave Jamaica. She was alone in her
- 26:52Speaker 2: hotel room. That's when she began to cry out to God. God,
- 26:58Speaker 2: she prayed.
- 26:59Speaker 3: God.
- 27:00Speaker 2: If you are up there anywhere, please send somebody to
- 27:03Speaker 2: help me, somebody to hold me and let me know
- 27:05Speaker 2: that you care and that you see me. A few
- 27:09Speaker 2: short minutes after that prayer, there was a knock at
- 27:14Speaker 2: her door. It was a housekeeper, an older Jamaican woman.
- 27:22Speaker 2: I don't mean to bother you, she told Tammy, but
- 27:25Speaker 2: I couldn't help but hear you crying. And I was
- 27:28Speaker 2: trying to get to you. Could I just come in
- 27:31Speaker 2: and hold you and pray for you? Tammy broke down
- 27:36Speaker 2: in tears and she told the woman what had happened
- 27:39Speaker 2: and that kind Jamaican lady put her arm around Tammy
- 27:43Speaker 2: and held her close and kept her company. Jesus used
- 27:50Speaker 2: a Jamaican housekeeper to comfort an American daughter. Look to
- 27:57Speaker 2: Jesus for your comfort. Lift up your eyes off of Jericho.
- 28:03Speaker 2: I know you've been looking at this Jericho for a
- 28:05Speaker 2: long time. I mean, you've counted the bricks in the wall.
- 28:11Speaker 2: You know how many bricks have cracks. You know where
- 28:14Speaker 2: the grass is growing. Your focus has been on this Jericho.
- 28:20Speaker 2: Healing happens when we lift our eyes off the Jericho
- 28:24Speaker 2: and set our eyes on our Heavenly Father. Look up
- 28:31Speaker 2: and then do something else. Joshua fell on his face,
- 28:34Speaker 2: fell on his face to the earth and worshiped him.
- 28:38Speaker 2: As you look up, take time to bow down. Joshua
- 28:41Speaker 2: fell on his face. This is a five-star general. Two
- 28:46Speaker 2: million people look up to him. 40,000 soldiers salute when
- 28:50Speaker 2: he walks past. His tent is the equivalent of an
- 28:53Speaker 2: oval office. And yet here's a man with a humility
- 28:58Speaker 2: enough To fall on the ground. On his face. Before God.
- 29:03Speaker 2: In worship. We are never so strong. Never so mighty.
- 29:11Speaker 2: That we do not need to worship. It is in worship.
- 29:14Speaker 2: It is in submitting ourselves. And making ourselves low. That
- 29:18Speaker 2: God can lift us high. So lift up your eyes.
- 29:22Speaker 2: And look at him. Bow your knees before him. In worship.
- 29:26Speaker 2: Call out to your commander. Never will I leave you.
- 29:30Speaker 2: Never will I forsake you. This is God's promise to you.
- 29:34Speaker 2: Receive it today. And when you call on your commander,
- 29:38Speaker 2: you just keep your eyes open. because who knows who's
- 29:43Speaker 2: going to show up amen and so Lord we receive
- 29:47Speaker 2: this promise today all of us are facing Jericho's to
- 29:51Speaker 2: one degree or another there's no one in here that
- 29:55Speaker 2: is leading a challenge free life But Lord, we all
- 29:59Speaker 2: have you to turn to. Enough of this looking at Jericho.
- 30:03Speaker 2: We're going to quit focusing on the problem and we're
- 30:06Speaker 2: going to start looking to you, our provider. Grant us, Father,
- 30:11Speaker 2: fresh eyes to see you, fresh energy to pray. And Lord,
- 30:15Speaker 2: stir some hope where we have felt nothing but discouragement
- 30:20Speaker 2: and despair. This is our prayer made through the name
- 30:23Speaker 2: of Christ and all who agreed with it.
- 30:26Speaker 4: Said, Thank you.
- 31:28Speaker 1: Thank you. so so.
- 33:07Speaker 2: Thank you.
- 34:46Speaker 1: Thank you.
- 36:30Speaker 3: Everything I used to live for Faded slowly out of
- 36:35Speaker 3: sight Now my days just circle around you Like I'm
- 36:41Speaker 3: lost without a light All.
- 36:44Speaker 5: The noise just turns to silence When your memory comes
- 36:49Speaker 5: through And the world I once was chasing Now feels small.
- 36:56Speaker 2: And shaped like you My whole world is.
- 37:01Speaker 6: Only you Every thought keeps breaking through You're so close
- 37:08Speaker 6: inside my mind But so far in real life.
- 37:13Speaker 3: I can feel you everywhere In the things we never
- 37:18Speaker 3: shared All this love I'm.
- 37:21Speaker 6: Going through Never reaches you.
- 37:30Speaker 5: Every image feels so real now, like you're standing next
- 37:35Speaker 5: to me. But the truth is in the silence, you
- 37:40Speaker 5: were never.
- 37:43Speaker 3: Meant to see.
- 37:44Speaker 6: My whole world is only you. Every thought keeps breaking
- 37:51Speaker 6: through You're so close inside my mind But so far
- 37:58Speaker 6: in real life I can feel you everywhere In the
- 38:03Speaker 6: things we never shared All this love I'm going through
- 38:10Speaker 6: Never reaches you If you felt it for a moment
- 38:17Speaker 6: Would it change.
- 38:18Speaker 3: The way you stay Or would I still be the
- 38:22Speaker 3: shadow that just fades away?
- 38:28Speaker 7: My whole world.
- 38:40Speaker 6: Is only you But your world's a different view I'm
- 38:47Speaker 6: just someone passing by In your open sky Still I
- 38:53Speaker 6: hold on to what's true Every heartbeat calls for you
- 39:00Speaker 6: All this love I always knew Will never reach you
- 39:05Speaker 6: Ooh
- 39:07Speaker 3: Ooh