1 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:23,720 Well, good evening. I am Pastor Danny. 2 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:26,080 If you guys don't know me, my husband and I are associate 3 00:00:26,080 --> 00:00:29,520 pastors here at Anchor Faith Church. 4 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:34,840 I have been here at Anchor Faith Church for a long time, since 5 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:39,120 the beginning in 2004. I was only a teenager then, but 6 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:41,520 that's actually what I really felt on my heart. 7 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:45,320 I wanted to share with you guys tonight is kind of my testimony. 8 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:48,800 And when you say testimony, a lot of times you think that's 9 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:51,240 got to be something that's like crazy that's happened to you and 10 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:52,320 the gods delivered you out of it. 11 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:55,920 But here's the thing, really, we all were in a crazy situation 12 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:58,040 and that was that we were separated from Him and there's 13 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:01,080 nothing that we could have done to get to him. 14 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:04,599 And he rescued it out of us all. OK, So tonight I want to talk to 15 00:01:04,599 --> 00:01:06,840 you guys about being planted, not potted. 16 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:10,400 OK, Being planted, not potted, the power to stay. 17 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:14,840 So it's kind of funny that I, you know, that got this title 18 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:16,880 because I have two very blocked thumbs. 19 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:21,640 I am not by any means an arborist or a farmer or anything 20 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:24,360 of the sort. I super appreciate all of those 21 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:26,480 people. I have a lot of friends who are 22 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:27,880 great at it. I also have a grandma Jackie, 23 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:29,200 who lives with me who's really great at it. 24 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:33,600 She gets my plants looking great and alive, but I am terrible at 25 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:35,400 it. However, I do understand the 26 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:37,120 concept, right? I grew up in a really small 27 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:39,400 farming town called High Springs. 28 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:41,760 Anybody. High Springs in Florida, it's 29 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:43,880 just north of Gainesville, small farming town. 30 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:46,280 So it was all around me all the time growing up. 31 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:47,640 I just didn't actually partake in it. 32 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:52,200 But anyways, being planted and not potted when I was thinking 33 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:54,600 about this, you know, these scriptures just kept coming up. 34 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:57,800 I want us to first turn to Psalms chapter one verse one 35 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:00,760 through 3 Psalms one, one through 3. 36 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:04,520 It says blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel 37 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:07,760 of the wicked nor stand in the path of sinners nor sit in the 38 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:11,120 seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the 39 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:13,400 Lord and on his law he meditates day and night. 40 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:17,240 He will be like a tree planted by streams of water which yield 41 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:19,640 its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither and 42 00:02:19,640 --> 00:02:23,680 whatever he does, he prospers. When I saw that whenever every 43 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:25,480 time I think about that Scripture, I think about where I 44 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:27,520 grew up because I actually grew up in the Florida. 45 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:29,840 That's not the beach Florida I grew up in like the springs 46 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:32,680 Florida, the river Florida. So I think a lot of you who are 47 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:35,200 native Floridians know like there's the beach Floridians and 48 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:37,440 then there's those of us who grew up like with the springs 49 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:38,840 and the rivers. And I grew up with the springs 50 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:40,760 and the rivers. And one of the biggest things 51 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:43,440 that I remember seeing growing up was Cypress trees. 52 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:46,560 In fact, my husband and IA long time ago, we used to do young 53 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:50,640 adults many, many moons ago. And I remember taking Chelsea, 54 00:02:50,640 --> 00:02:53,000 who was just leading praise and worship, who, you know, grew up 55 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:56,360 in like New York City to the springs for the first time. 56 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:59,520 And she's like, there's animals in trees. 57 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:02,040 I'm like, yes, there's animals and trees and there's alligators 58 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:03,440 and they're snakes. Yes, they that's true. 59 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:05,760 They're all here. It's I remember taking her in 60 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:07,640 anyways. I just remember that people who 61 00:03:07,640 --> 00:03:09,920 had never been before remember the Cypress trees. 62 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:14,200 And Cypress trees are these huge trees that grow beautifully in 63 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:16,520 the water. In fact, their roots can spread 64 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:19,000 out up to 20 feet away from the center of the tree. 65 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:22,320 The tree in diameter can grow up to 6 feet in diameter. 66 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:25,640 These are huge, massive trees. And the crazy thing is that they 67 00:03:25,640 --> 00:03:28,920 withstand all the flood water. They withstand all the hurricane 68 00:03:28,920 --> 00:03:30,720 winds. Very rarely do we see the 69 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:35,440 Cypress trees fall down and they have these big knobby roots that 70 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:38,480 go out in all directions. These are strong trees planted 71 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:40,280 by the water. So every time I read the script, 72 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:42,120 Scripture, the Lord always brought that back to my 73 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:43,560 remembrance. Those Cypress trees that were 74 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:46,840 strong, that could withstand any flood water and always stayed 75 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:49,440 exactly where they were supposed to be by the rivers, by the 76 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:53,600 springs, with their their roots. Not just not just that their 77 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:55,800 roots were spread deep, but their roots were spread far and 78 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:57,960 wide. They had a strong wide 79 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:00,840 foundation and it supported them as a tree. 80 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:03,440 And I know those of you who are familiar and you go into the 81 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:05,440 rivers and you are familiar with Florida, you know about the 82 00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:07,840 Cypress trees. Let's keep going in Psalms 83 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:13,120 chapter 52 verse 8, Psalms chapter 52 verse 8, it says, but 84 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:15,680 I am like a green olive tree in the House of God. 85 00:04:16,079 --> 00:04:19,760 I trust in and confident rely on the loving kindness and the 86 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:23,360 mercy of God forever and ever. I was curious what it meant by a 87 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:25,720 green olive tree. I'm like, is it a like green 88 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:27,000 olives? Like the type of tree? 89 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:28,720 I don't know. I like green olives, but I also 90 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:30,000 like black olives. Is there a difference? 91 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:32,520 But really that word green meant prosperous. 92 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,320 Like a prosperous tree, it actually means bare or naked. 93 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:39,960 So a bare or naked, a prosperous tree that's going to be able to 94 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:43,880 continue to grow and thrive in the House of God because we're 95 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:46,360 confidently relying on His loving kindness and mercy 96 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:49,520 forever. In Psalm chapter 92, verse 12 97 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:53,120 through 14. Psalm chapter 92, verse 12 98 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:56,240 through 14, it says the righteous man will flourish like 99 00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:58,920 a palm tree. He will grow like a cedar in 100 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:01,680 Lebanon, planted in the House of the Lord. 101 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:03,680 They will flourish in the courts of our God. 102 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:06,400 They will still yield fruit in old age. 103 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:09,200 They will be full of SAP and very green. 104 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:11,560 And I really wanted to look at this scripture for a minute 105 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:14,040 because it says the righteous man will flourish like the palm 106 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:16,600 tree and it says that he will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 107 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:18,360 But look at that next verse. What does it say? 108 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:22,080 It says planted in the House of the Lord, they will flourish in 109 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:25,240 the courts of our God. Not potted, but planted. 110 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:29,520 You know, when I think about a tree that's in a pot, I looked 111 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:30,880 it up. I'm like is again, you know, I 112 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:32,520 told you black thumbs. So I looked it up. 113 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:35,360 I'm like, what is the benefit of a tree that's planted in the 114 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:37,440 soil versus a tree that's planted in a pot? 115 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:40,240 You know, pots are great, especially you live in a big 116 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:41,680 city. Pots are great inside of my 117 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:43,160 house because I don't have soil inside of it. 118 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:47,320 But really a tree, the way that God designed it to be, it's 119 00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:51,000 natural intent is to be planted into soil because whenever it's 120 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:53,560 in a pot, it's confined, it's limited. 121 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:56,080 It isn't going to be able to get all the nutrients it needs. 122 00:05:56,280 --> 00:05:59,720 And then I was reading that whenever you put a plant or a 123 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:03,720 tree in a pot, then it's actually way more susceptible. 124 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:10,080 And it's easy for it to to, I guess, die to wither and die due 125 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:12,880 to temperature fluctuations because there's not as much soil 126 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:16,680 to be able to help absorb and help regulate the temperature of 127 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:18,240 the soil, whether it's hot or cold. 128 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:21,240 So even though a pot can be great, even though you can have 129 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:24,080 a tree in your house in a pot, it is not the same as putting it 130 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:26,840 in the actual environment that God created to be in, which is 131 00:06:26,840 --> 00:06:29,440 inside of the ground. And The thing is, is that every 132 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:33,080 time that a, a, a, a plant is in a pot and it starts to get root 133 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:36,080 bound, the roots have nowhere to go. 134 00:06:36,280 --> 00:06:38,160 They can't grow anymore. They're stuck. 135 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:41,520 You have to take it out of that pot and got to put it into a 136 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:43,280 bigger pot. But eventually, guess what's 137 00:06:43,280 --> 00:06:46,440 going to happen? It's going to continue to have 138 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:48,680 to be moved from pot to pot to pot. 139 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:51,440 But here in this Scripture and over and over again in the word, 140 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:56,560 it says that the trees will be planted in the House of the Lord 141 00:06:56,880 --> 00:06:58,840 and they will flourish in the courts of our God. 142 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:02,680 Planted, not potted. You're not moving from thing to 143 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:04,840 thing to thing and you're not going to say like, oh, well, my 144 00:07:04,840 --> 00:07:07,400 roots grew here. But now I'm just like, we're 145 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:09,000 kind of done with this pot. I think I'm going to go to 146 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:11,760 another pot and I'll let my roots grow a little bit, but 147 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:13,880 it's limited. It's not going to get the same 148 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:16,720 nutrients that it needs because that soil is not absorbing 149 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:18,800 nutrients. It's in a microplastic pot. 150 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:21,240 Come on, guys. It's like we wonder why, you 151 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:24,160 know, OK, I won't get started there, but trust me, the plant 152 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:26,000 is not getting the nutrients that it needs. 153 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:29,160 It's getting plastic. It's getting maybe at the most, 154 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:34,000 you know, one of the brown once called terracotta, but still 155 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:36,400 that's not the natural environment that God created it 156 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:38,640 to be in. When it's planted into soil, 157 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:41,360 when a tree is planted into soil, then it's able to absorb 158 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:44,520 nutrients from all. In fact, the nutrients will come 159 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:48,040 to the roots because that tree is like, hey, I need some 160 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:50,080 nutrients and that soils like, yeah, let's do this. 161 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:52,200 Let's do that. That's the way God created it to 162 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:53,960 be. He's the one who created in 163 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:56,400 Genesis chapter one. Hey, we're going to make all 164 00:07:56,400 --> 00:08:00,000 these trees with every fruit and seed bearing its own kind. 165 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:03,000 And they're going to go ahead and, and continue to grow. 166 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:05,040 And it's going to be this beautiful cycle over and over 167 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:06,520 again. And if we would do it the way 168 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:09,240 that God created us to and let the land rest and do all the 169 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:11,120 things that we should be doing, it's going to keep making 170 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:14,080 nutritious soil and it's going to continue to do exactly what 171 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:16,720 that tree and that plant needs. And The thing is that's amazing 172 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:19,200 about God is that those trees and plants, I talked about this 173 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:21,520 in kindergarten. If you guys don't know, my day 174 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:24,280 job is that I teach kindergarten at Washington Classical 175 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:29,000 Christian School and I love it. I've worked with children pretty 176 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:32,280 much from, you know, the beginning of like my career life 177 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:36,039 at 12 years old. But hey, babysitting jobs were 178 00:08:36,039 --> 00:08:39,840 real back then. So I, you know, I worked with 179 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:41,159 children. I love them, But I, we talked 180 00:08:41,159 --> 00:08:44,039 about that. I said God was so amazing that 181 00:08:44,039 --> 00:08:46,720 he gave us these trees and these plants and the soil. 182 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:48,760 And yes, God said they're food for you. 183 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:51,880 You need them for food, but it's not just that they're food. 184 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:56,160 The plants need us to breathe out the carbon dioxide and then 185 00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:59,600 the the tree takes that carbon dioxide and they give us oxygen. 186 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:02,720 It's just this beautiful cycle that God himself was like, I'm 187 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:05,440 going to make sure that these trees are helping these humans 188 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:08,000 on my Kingdom earth because we're supposed to come over and 189 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:09,280 have dominion. Amen. 190 00:09:09,560 --> 00:09:12,240 But the thing about these trees is that they should be planted, 191 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:14,720 not going from pot to pot to pot. 192 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:21,640 Because here's the thing, it's easy in our culture to say I'm 193 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:23,960 done with that. I'm over that. 194 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:25,560 I'm gonna move from this thing to the other. 195 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:28,880 I was looking it up because I thought, you know, I, I love 196 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:30,800 history. Not like my husband where he, 197 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:33,280 like, knows all the facts. I like to like, read historical 198 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:35,600 fiction. So tell me a story about the 199 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:37,400 history and then I'll get it to stick, right? 200 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:40,840 So I love history. And I was just thinking about 201 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:44,080 how much our nation has changed. I was born in the 1900s, which I 202 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:45,560 know because you guys are in here. 203 00:09:45,560 --> 00:09:49,520 So a lot of you were too. But then, you know, I just think 204 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:53,240 about, I think 1950s, fifty years ago, it's not, which is 205 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:56,480 crazy. But back in the 50s, you know 206 00:09:56,520 --> 00:09:59,320 that you, you got a job and you stayed at that job and you 207 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:02,040 finished at that job or that career for the rest of your 208 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:05,040 life. You bought a house, you stayed 209 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:08,200 in that house, you paid off that house and you wanted to give 210 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:10,080 that house to your children, whether they wanted it or not, 211 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:13,080 you had it. You know, when my husband and I 212 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:17,400 first got married, my in laws who are the amazing, I have 213 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:19,320 amazing in laws. They're such a blessing to us. 214 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:25,040 They had this beautiful bedroom furniture and it is like big 215 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:29,720 wood, heavy bedroom furniture. And you know, we're millennials. 216 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:33,240 We were like IKEA, you know, like cheap put it together 217 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:35,000 ourselves. But guess what? 218 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:38,880 It's real thin stays in place. They're like when you guys, you 219 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:40,120 know, one day you want to put it in your wheel. 220 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:41,080 Do you want our bedroom furniture? 221 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:42,560 And my husband's like, absolutely not. 222 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:44,120 We don't want your bedroom furniture. 223 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:46,960 But that 50 years ago, that's what you did. 224 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:49,600 You bought a house, you paid it off. 225 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:51,200 You gave it to your kids. You bought the bedroom 226 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:53,000 furniture, you paid it off. You gave it to your kids. 227 00:10:53,680 --> 00:10:58,800 You stayed. Unfortunately, in the United 228 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:00,680 States of America, our culture has shifted. 229 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:05,440 It shifted from the family and the community aspect to, well, 230 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:08,240 what about me? What about I'm an individual, I 231 00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:10,320 have preferences. I don't like your big furniture. 232 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:14,400 I want IKEA furniture. So we've changed me and my 233 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:17,320 individuality and what I want. And because of that, I was 234 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:19,000 looking it up. In the United States, it's 235 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:23,480 average and common for you to change your career 12 * 12 236 00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:25,880 times. That's a lot of career changes. 237 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:31,000 It's average for you to not buy a house and if you do, to sell 238 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:35,320 it a few years later, to move often to never really allow 239 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:38,280 roots to be put down in any place. 240 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:41,440 And I'm not saying God has not called people to go do that. 241 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:44,600 But the problem is, is that we're so used to that in United 242 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:47,840 States of America that we take that culture and that mindset 243 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:51,960 sometimes and we shift it over into the body of Christ. 244 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:55,760 Whenever God never intended that, he said I've empowered you 245 00:11:55,760 --> 00:12:00,040 to stay. And if anything, you know, I, I 246 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:02,880 always thank God when I look back on my life is that he's 247 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:04,840 kept me. I've always said that God, 248 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:07,480 you've kept me. And when I say he's kept me, 249 00:12:07,560 --> 00:12:11,760 he's kept me in one spot. I didn't if I was moved, it was 250 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:13,400 because I did it, not because he did it. 251 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:18,840 I stayed and you know, I'm so thankful that He kept me and 252 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:23,560 that I was able to stay because we need to understand that 253 00:12:23,560 --> 00:12:26,520 sometimes there is power, growth, and maturity in the 254 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:28,760 staying process. Let's keep going. 255 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:35,080 In Jeremiah chapter 17, verse 5 through 8, it says, Thus saith 256 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:38,440 the Lord, curses the man who trusts in man and makes flesh 257 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:40,800 his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord. 258 00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:44,160 For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see 259 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:46,880 when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in 260 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:49,840 the wilderness, and a salt land which is not inhabited. 261 00:12:50,560 --> 00:12:52,640 But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose 262 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:55,200 hope is in the Lord. For he shall be like a tree 263 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:58,120 planted by the waters, which spread out its roots by the 264 00:12:58,120 --> 00:12:59,760 river. And she will not fear when he 265 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:03,920 comes, but it's leaf will be green and will not be anxious in 266 00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:08,560 the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruits, but 267 00:13:08,560 --> 00:13:10,440 we'll continue to be yielding fruit. 268 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:13,200 I want to really quick. We're going to talk about that 269 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:15,240 yielding fruit. But back in Psalm 92, whenever 270 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:18,320 we were at Psalm 92, verses 12 to 14, I want to go back to 271 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:21,800 being planted in the House of the Lord, Not planted wherever 272 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:24,960 you wanted, but planted in the House of the Lord. 273 00:13:25,560 --> 00:13:27,680 As for me, in my house, we're going to serve the Lord and 274 00:13:27,680 --> 00:13:29,200 we're going to be in the House of the Lord. 275 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:32,280 You know, my husband and I, when we talked about raising our 276 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:35,040 children and whenever we started having kids, it was literally an 277 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:37,880 answer to prayer. You know, we weren't able to 278 00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:39,640 have children for about 2 1/2 years. 279 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:42,920 And the Lord supernaturally stepped in and miraculously gave 280 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:45,000 us Charlie. And I was like, well, I know 281 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:47,640 that Pastor Angie had given a testimony where she'd had some 282 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:49,840 struggles as well. And God told her, well, if he 283 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:51,920 did it once because she had Abby, then he'll do it again. 284 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:53,720 And then like, not even a year later, she had Coco. 285 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:55,160 So I was like, Lord, I'm going to take that. 286 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:56,280 If you did it for her, you'll do it for me. 287 00:13:56,280 --> 00:13:58,200 You're no respectable persons. And I have four children. 288 00:13:58,560 --> 00:14:01,880 So, you know, God did it. He, he worked it and he made a 289 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:05,520 miracle and health and healing happened and we're so thankful. 290 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:08,840 But when we were talking about having children, you know, we 291 00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:12,680 went back to what did God tell the children of Israel? 292 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:14,440 How did he tell them to raise them? 293 00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:17,920 When you wake up in the morning, talk about me. 294 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:21,160 When you, when you're in the kitchen washing dishes, talk 295 00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:23,200 about me. Whenever you're taking your kids 296 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:26,600 to school, talk about me. Whenever you're vacuuming the 297 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:29,840 floors, talk about me. Whenever you're cooking dinner 298 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:32,240 at night, hey, remind them of what I said. 299 00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:34,760 Hey, whenever you're put going to bed at night and you're 300 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:37,000 reading them stories, hey, tell them who I am. 301 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:40,680 It was think about his laws and his precepts in the morning, in 302 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:41,880 the afternoon and in the evening. 303 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:44,120 Not because we're weirdos and we're constantly going around 304 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:46,720 just quoting scriptures, but because we're able to say, hey, 305 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:49,280 you know why that happened and we bring it back to the word. 306 00:14:49,280 --> 00:14:51,680 Yeah, you know why this happened, we bring back to the 307 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:52,400 word. And you know what? 308 00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:55,440 We knew that for us and our household, we were going to stay 309 00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:57,320 planted in the House of the Lord. 310 00:14:57,720 --> 00:14:59,680 And you know, this is the Old Testament. 311 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:05,400 And I was just thinking about how the gentiles didn't have a 312 00:15:05,400 --> 00:15:10,040 right to be in that house. They were not of the Jewish, 313 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:11,160 they were not of the Jewish nation. 314 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:14,800 They were not a part of Israel. They, they had some laws and 315 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:16,840 rules like, oh, if a foreigner comes and lives among you, then 316 00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:18,480 make sure that they're following our customs and our laws. 317 00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:20,040 But they couldn't go into the House of the Lord. 318 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:23,200 In fact, if you weren't part of the Levitical priesthood, in 319 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:26,480 fact, if you weren't the high priest, but yet the House of 320 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:29,800 Lord has become so common to us in the United States of America 321 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:32,640 that we're like, I don't need to be planted anywhere. 322 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:35,040 I can go to that church, but that church is not really 323 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:37,240 serving me anymore. So I'm going to go to that 324 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:39,520 church instead. And we're just potting ourselves 325 00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:42,320 from pot to pot to pot. And our roots are getting bound 326 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:44,800 up and we're not getting the proper nutrients that we need. 327 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:48,080 And we're never, ever going to go back to our Scripture here 328 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:51,800 and Jeremiah never ceasing to yield fruit. 329 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:56,240 And people wonder sometimes like, well, why isn't this 330 00:15:56,240 --> 00:15:58,160 happening in my life? Well, God told me I was going to 331 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:00,200 do this. Or they're making it happen for 332 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:01,760 themselves. And they're wondering, why isn't 333 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:03,680 the fruit coming like I think it should? 334 00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:06,840 Well, did you plant yourself in the House of the Lord? 335 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:10,120 And did you stay? Because God has empowered us to 336 00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:13,840 stay so we don't have to be wishy washy and go from pot to 337 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:16,360 pot to pot, but we can be planted and stay. 338 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:19,240 Some of the Cypress trees are like 500 years old. 339 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:22,920 They're like really old trees, OK, Older than any of us in this 340 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:24,320 room. And some of us all put together. 341 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:27,800 These trees have history. And why are they still standing 342 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:30,440 there? Why are they still able to be 343 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:34,240 strong Cypress trees? When they started colonizing 344 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:38,120 Florida and everyone started coming here, they were like, oh, 345 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:40,880 that's really good wood. And they started chopping down 346 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:43,920 all the Cypress trees, destroyed the ecosystem, caused a lot of 347 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:45,400 problems because they didn't think things through. 348 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:47,320 We don't always still think through those things through, do 349 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:48,760 we? But they started causing a lot 350 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:50,120 of problems. But they're like, this wood is 351 00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:53,320 so good. It's old, but yet it's so Hardy. 352 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:54,400 We need to build our houses with it. 353 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:56,560 We need to do all these things. And they're like, oh, we should 354 00:16:56,560 --> 00:16:58,960 probably stop cutting down all the Cypress trees because now 355 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:00,920 we're destroying, you know, the rivers and the springs and all 356 00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:07,960 these things because these trees were so rooted for years, for 357 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:12,280 centuries, because they weren't being stuck in a pot. 358 00:17:12,839 --> 00:17:15,000 They're being planted into good soil. 359 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:21,839 Now In Colossians chapter 2, verse 7, Colossians chapter 2, 360 00:17:21,839 --> 00:17:26,400 verse 7, it says now having been firmly rooted and now being 361 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:29,760 built up in him and established in your faith just as you were 362 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:31,920 instructed and overflowing with gratitude. 363 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:35,600 Again, there's a firm root and when you're firmly rooted 364 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:38,360 somewhere, you're not going constantly and digging up your 365 00:17:38,360 --> 00:17:40,920 seed. I don't remember who it was. 366 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:43,600 I want to say maybe it was Rick Runner, but I heard in a 367 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:47,520 ministry one time tell a story about how they planted a seed. 368 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:48,960 They're really excited to see it grow. 369 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:51,000 And so they're like, woo, I'm going to see it grow. 370 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:52,840 And they kept checking every day because they were a kid, you 371 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:54,720 know, they kept checking every day, checking every day, 372 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:56,400 checking every day. And finally they're like, it's 373 00:17:56,400 --> 00:17:58,280 not working. I'm just going to go dig it up. 374 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:01,240 Whenever they dug it up, the seed had started to sprout, but 375 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:02,960 they didn't allow it enough time to come to the surface. 376 00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:05,480 And that's because it's a process. 377 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:08,520 It isn't like you just immediately start bearing fruit. 378 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:12,120 My husband and I, again, black thumbs. 379 00:18:12,120 --> 00:18:16,080 OK, so we bought a couple fruit trees because, you know, we live 380 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:20,000 in Florida, so citrus trees and I'm always like, you know, we 381 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:22,880 should really get the trees that are already producing fruit. 382 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:26,760 I know they're more expensive, but again, I'm not sure that 383 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:28,720 I'll ever get it to the point that producing fruit if we 384 00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:32,840 don't. And so these these trees look 385 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:34,240 great. But then, you know, I was 386 00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:37,200 thinking about like pineapples takes like 2 years for a 387 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:40,240 pineapple one to grow pineapple two years. 388 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:42,720 And then the avocado tree, it's like way longer. 389 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:45,200 I'm like, I don't have time for this. 390 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:48,160 I like I said, I really appreciate everybody else who 391 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:49,960 grows the avocados and the pineapples, but I'm like, I 392 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:51,080 don't know if that's going to be me. 393 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:54,040 I really need to buy the tree with the fruit already on it so 394 00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:55,800 that it's actually doing something. 395 00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:59,680 But the problem is, is that we're not seeing the fruit with 396 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:02,160 our eyes, which that sounds like the opposite of faith. 397 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:06,280 And so we are are wanting to uproot ourselves and put 398 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:08,400 ourselves somewhere else. Whenever God over and over in 399 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:11,560 his word you said, ye be planted, but be planted in the 400 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:17,760 House of the Lord. In Psalm chapter 27 verse 4 401 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:25,040 through 5, Psalm chapter 27 verse 4 through 5, it says one 402 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:28,880 thing I have asked from the Lord that I shall seek, that I may 403 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:32,280 dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life, to 404 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:35,400 behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in his temple. 405 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:38,160 For in the day of trouble he will conceal me in his 406 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:42,240 Tabernacle and the secret place of his tent He will hide me. 407 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:46,400 And again, guys, this is talking about, you know, where God dwell 408 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:49,880 and what his house was. And here's the thing, again, 409 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:52,680 back then, there was no right for them to be able to go in. 410 00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:54,800 It was holy. Now, are we the temple of the 411 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:56,480 Holy Ghost? Absolutely we are. 412 00:19:56,720 --> 00:20:00,560 God's presence dwells in us. But we became so individualized 413 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:03,680 about that. We became so mean when we 414 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:06,840 shifted, when the church allowed itself to shift and follow the 415 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:11,680 American culture. Then we no longer said, I want 416 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:14,720 to be in the house with you, Lord, and with everybody else 417 00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:16,880 who has your presence in with you too too. 418 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:18,040 It's OK. I got the presence in me. 419 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:20,720 I can go it by myself. Here's the thing about a lot of 420 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:22,880 fruit trees though. You can't just plant 1. 421 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:26,200 You can't just plant one fruit tree. 422 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:29,720 They have to have cross pollination or they're never 423 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:32,000 going to bear fruit. They have to have other trees 424 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:34,040 around it or they're never going to bear fruit. 425 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:37,320 One tree isn't good enough. You need to be around other 426 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:39,720 trees. And whenever you look out at 427 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:42,360 those Cypress trees, it's never just one random Cypress tree. 428 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:47,080 It's Cypress trees all over the river and there's their, their 429 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:50,080 roots all intertwine. I personally, because I'm, you 430 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:52,960 know, non arborist cannot tell which roots belong to which 431 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:55,120 Cypress tree. That's because they're all 432 00:20:55,120 --> 00:20:58,200 growing strong and keeping each other stable. 433 00:20:59,360 --> 00:21:02,160 OK, so you can't just have one fruit tree. 434 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:05,320 You have to have other trees around it to help pollinate, to 435 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:08,400 produce the fruit. And here's the thing, we have 436 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:14,080 the ability so freely, we are so freely able to go to the House 437 00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:18,320 of the Lord. But yet for some reason it's 438 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:21,080 become optional. And I think about these 439 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:23,280 psalmist, I think about David and the other people who wrote 440 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:29,120 these psalms and these proverbs, and they just so badly wanted to 441 00:21:29,120 --> 00:21:33,480 be with the Lord, these other people from other nations when 442 00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:36,560 they saw the goodness of God. I mean, I think about the kings, 443 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:38,400 you know, that started with Daniel whenever God proved 444 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:40,640 himself over and over again, they're like, wow, your God's 445 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:43,360 real. But they had no right to go into 446 00:21:43,360 --> 00:21:45,840 the House of the Lord. Yet God said, I'm making it to 447 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:47,160 where I'm putting my presence in you. 448 00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:49,680 And then I want you to gather together. 449 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:53,680 I want you to root yourself together so that your trees 450 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:57,640 stand strong, so you guys can pollinate each other, so that 451 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:00,000 you guys can continue to have fruit growing. 452 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:06,200 But we've made it optional and for some reason we don't stay. 453 00:22:08,360 --> 00:22:14,920 We want to go, go, go, go and not put down the roots that God 454 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:23,120 has caught us to put down. In Psalm 23, six, it says you 455 00:22:23,120 --> 00:22:26,280 prepare a table before me and the presence of my enemies. 456 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:32,240 You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over surely goodness 457 00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:35,120 and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will 458 00:22:35,120 --> 00:22:38,360 dwell in the House of the Lord forever. 459 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:40,760 I want to dwell in the House of the Lord forever. 460 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:43,560 And guys, I used to think as a kid because I just didn't know 461 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:45,720 that means I was like, do I have to go around the throne with 462 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:47,400 everybody else just singing holy, holy, holy, holy. 463 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:50,240 And then I didn't realize, oh, that was like 1 specific created 464 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:53,320 beings Job that God had a whole lot more planned for us and I 465 00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:55,920 was like, oh, you know, that makes a lot more sense, but I'm 466 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:58,840 still going to be in his household forever. 467 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:00,600 I want to dwell with him forever. 468 00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:03,720 But when I thought, what about Psalm 23, you know, I pulled up 469 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:05,680 that Scripture because it said I will do on the House of Lord 470 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:06,960 forever. But I thought about the table. 471 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:10,640 He prepares a table before me and the presence of our enemy, 472 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:13,240 and we sing that song, right? You prepare a table before me, 473 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:15,400 I'm not going to sing because that's not my gifting. 474 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:17,920 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemy. 475 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:20,200 But so many people get up from the table. 476 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:24,480 They didn't get excused. God did not excuse them, but 477 00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:25,680 they got up from the table anyways. 478 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:28,120 I'm full, I'm done. I don't like this food. 479 00:23:28,120 --> 00:23:30,200 You don't have any ketchup. I'm getting up out of this table 480 00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:33,440 thinking about my 4 year old. But here's the problem, stay 481 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:37,080 sitting at the table. Don't eat one small course and 482 00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:38,880 be like, I'm good, I'm out of here. 483 00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:43,560 Stay sitting at the table. God cannot prepare a table for 484 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:46,880 you if you don't sit down and stay seated. 485 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:49,640 We have to sit down and stay seated. 486 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:52,400 We have to be able to say I'm not getting up from this table. 487 00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:55,800 I know my enemies are around me, but I'm staying right where I'm 488 00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:57,680 at. I'm going to eat every course 489 00:23:57,680 --> 00:24:01,080 the Lord puts before me and I'm not going to get up and say I 490 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:03,680 don't like the tooth full. I don't eat gluten. 491 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:09,840 OK, listen, God is preparing a table for you. 492 00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:12,560 Stay seated. Stop getting up from the table. 493 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:17,120 He did not excuse you again, again, we've shifted culturally 494 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:20,160 where I get that some families don't even sit down at a table 495 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:21,520 anymore. They literally do not eat 496 00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:24,200 together at a table. That's something that you need 497 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:25,720 to do. You got to talk to your kids and 498 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:28,400 and get together as a family, but they don't even stay seated 499 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:29,880 at a table. And then kids just like get up 500 00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:32,240 whenever they want to. I'm like, what, what are you 501 00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:33,640 doing? Oh, I'm done. 502 00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:38,640 I'm like, you know, you got to be excused, but God's not 503 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:40,640 excusing you. He wants you to sit right where 504 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:42,320 you're at. He doesn't need you to get up 505 00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:44,440 and move. He needs you to stay right where 506 00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:46,480 you're at because you're going to miss something that he's 507 00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:49,960 prepared for you if you don't, If you get up from the table. 508 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:52,480 And here's the thing, if you get up from the table, then all of a 509 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:56,200 sudden those enemies that he was keeping at Bay because you were 510 00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:57,800 eating exactly what he told you to eat. 511 00:24:57,960 --> 00:24:59,800 You were doing exactly what he told you to do. 512 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:01,840 No longer can he continue to do that. 513 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:04,400 You're putting yourself in a position away from the table. 514 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:09,000 Stay rooted, stay seated. We have the power to stay. 515 00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:13,120 And again, in today's culture, we just don't. 516 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:16,880 We just make a lot of excuses of why we don't need to. 517 00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:21,000 Contracts don't matter. Commitments don't matter. 518 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:26,360 What I once thought was the best thing ever doesn't matter 519 00:25:26,360 --> 00:25:29,320 anymore because I'm done and I'm ready to go. 520 00:25:31,120 --> 00:25:35,440 Don't get up from the table. I think that a lot of times we 521 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:38,920 honestly just take the presence of God for granted. 522 00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:42,440 Again, we think that we can just get it ourselves. 523 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:47,960 I can get it by myself, it's no big deal, but God never called 524 00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:50,360 you just to get it by yourself. I want you to know that the 525 00:25:50,360 --> 00:25:54,240 table is not a one seater. It's a real long banquet table, 526 00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:57,720 and it has people next to you and beside you and sitting 527 00:25:57,720 --> 00:26:00,840 across from you who are there to help you at the table. 528 00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:05,240 Like, I know you don't like grits, but you can eat another 529 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:05,920 bite. Come on. 530 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:06,880 You got this grits. I don't know. 531 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:08,400 I pulled that out from my southern roots, I guess. 532 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:11,280 But, you know, I know you don't like tomatoes, but these 533 00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:12,880 tomatoes are good for you. Take another bite. 534 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:14,400 It's OK. They're here rooting for you 535 00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:16,840 because sometimes it just don't taste good. 536 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:19,520 But it's really good for you and you need to eat it anyways. 537 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:22,800 And you know what I tell my children that I do not make any 538 00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:25,400 poisonous food. 0 food do I poison. 539 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:30,640 You can try a bite. My oldest daughter, as a texture 540 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:35,200 thing, she does not like textures and she has a great 541 00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:38,840 ally in this. So squishy meat, basically all 542 00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:42,640 meat that's not like cooked to death or shredded is a no for 543 00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:44,680 her. She doesn't really like chicken 544 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:47,600 because like squishy parts. She doesn't really like steak 545 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:52,240 because squishy parts. OK, so I'm always like, I know 546 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:54,320 you don't like it, but you got to get some sort of protein in 547 00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:58,480 and plants are great. You got to get some more protein 548 00:26:58,480 --> 00:26:59,360 in. You need to have a balanced 549 00:26:59,360 --> 00:27:01,520 diet. OK, so I'm like, can we, she's 550 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:03,360 like, can we just cook the chicken a little longer? 551 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:05,040 So I cook the chicken a little longer. 552 00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:07,960 Then my husband's like, good, this is really dry. 553 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:10,520 I'm like, one child wants it really dry. 554 00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:12,040 One person wants it really moist. 555 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:14,720 You know, we got to meet in the middle here somewhere. 556 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:17,000 She has a texture thing, right? But I always tell her, I'm like, 557 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:20,040 I'm not poisoning you and I'm not going to make you eat a 558 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:22,520 whole plate of squishy chicken. I'm not going to do it. 559 00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:23,840 I'm not going to make you eat the fat. 560 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:27,680 I know it literally makes you gag, but you're going to eat a 561 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:29,960 couple bites of chicken. It's going to be OK because I'm 562 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:32,280 not here poisoning you. I know what's good for you. 563 00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:35,720 I know what needs to help you. I'm here to make you grow 564 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:37,640 strong. You know, she's in a lot of 565 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:39,120 sports now. I say a lot of sports, 566 00:27:39,120 --> 00:27:41,800 basketball, but it's like a lot of work every single day. 567 00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:44,280 And she's like running. And she's like, Mama hurts so 568 00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:47,000 bad. I'm like, well, you need to make 569 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:50,800 sure you're eating a good, healthy, balanced diet, getting 570 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:54,360 what you need to get in because it's going to help you grow. 571 00:27:54,360 --> 00:27:56,760 It's going to help your muscles. It's going to help you not feel 572 00:27:56,760 --> 00:27:58,080 quite so sore. You're going to feel you're 573 00:27:58,080 --> 00:27:59,440 going to be sore. That's a good thing. 574 00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:01,600 It's OK, you're going to be sore, but it's going to help you 575 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:04,680 not feel quite so sore if you continue to eat what I put 576 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:08,000 before you at the table and don't get up before you finish 577 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:09,360 eating what I put before you at the table. 578 00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:12,560 So we have to remember that God isn't poisoning us. 579 00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:15,440 He's not giving you anything that is bad for you. 580 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:21,400 Even if somebody says something you don't like, even if there's 581 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:25,160 correction and you don't like it, even if someone's like, 582 00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:26,520 well, you really need to adjust that. 583 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:28,640 And you're like, I don't really want to adjust that. 584 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:30,160 I think I'm going to do exactly what I'm doing. 585 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:31,800 Well, you really can't keep doing what you're doing. 586 00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:34,440 If you want to keep growing, if you really want those roots to 587 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:36,080 keep going, you're going to have to adjust. 588 00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:40,800 No, I don't like that. Well, no one's poisoning you. 589 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:43,680 God is not poisoning you. He's not making bad food for 590 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:45,560 you. Do you trust your Father? 591 00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:49,520 Gosh guys, he literally gave us life. 592 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:53,240 He literally plucked us out of the dominion of darkness and put 593 00:28:53,240 --> 00:28:56,640 us in to his Kingdom. He is a good, good father. 594 00:28:56,920 --> 00:29:00,120 He is a good, good king. And he doesn't burn his food. 595 00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:05,440 He seasons it really well. But sometimes you got to swallow 596 00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:07,040 something you just isn't your favorite. 597 00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:09,080 And you know what? It's good for you. 598 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:13,280 So don't get up from the table. We have to stay seated at the 599 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:16,160 table. I really wanted to look at some 600 00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:19,000 people in the word of God who stayed. 601 00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:20,840 We're going to first look at Samuel. 602 00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:24,400 We're 1st going to look at Samuel. 603 00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:29,360 Now, most of you guys know the story of Samuel, but I'm going 604 00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:30,640 to tell you anyways. Just real quick. 605 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:36,720 Obviously, Samuel was born to Hannah and she was super sad, 606 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:38,360 crying. Remember, the priest is like, 607 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:40,040 are you drunk, woman? Get out of the temple. 608 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:41,360 You cannot pray here if you're drunk. 609 00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:44,160 And she's like, no, no, no. I'm heartbroken. 610 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:46,280 I really want babies. I can't have them. 611 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:49,360 My husband has another wife. She's like bullying me every day 612 00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:50,960 because I don't have kids and she has kids. 613 00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:54,240 I'm distraught. And so the Lord hears her 614 00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:56,040 prayer. The priest is like, oh, then he 615 00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:58,760 prays for her, hears her prayer, gives her Samuel. 616 00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:03,760 And so whenever the son, the baby's born, her husband's like, 617 00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:07,000 hey, she said, oh, I'm going to take him to the House of the 618 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:08,200 Lord. Once he's weaned, he's like, I 619 00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:10,240 mean, that's what you really want to do. 620 00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:13,760 Now God blesses her and gives her many more children besides 621 00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:17,080 Samuel. But The thing is, Samuel, even 622 00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:19,760 as a boy got brought to the House of the Lord. 623 00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:23,640 So in first Samuel chapter 2 verses 18, it says now Samuel 624 00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:27,360 was ministering before the Lord as a boy, wearing a linen ephod. 625 00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:30,920 And then in verse 26 it says now the boy Samuel was growing in 626 00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:33,400 stature and in favor with the Lord and with men. 627 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:36,360 And here's the thing about Samuel, it's not like it came 628 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:38,600 from a super, you know, functional household. 629 00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:40,760 And the fact like, obviously there was like a big rift and 630 00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:43,720 conflict in the household between the two wives because 631 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:45,360 she constantly felt super bullied. 632 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:47,560 Her husband liked her better, but she didn't have kids. 633 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:50,240 And obviously in that culture back then, in that day and age, 634 00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:53,240 your children were your status as a woman. 635 00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:55,560 Like if you couldn't have children and now we still should 636 00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:58,400 desire that. God gave us as women a desire to 637 00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:00,880 want to, you know, invest in the children. 638 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:02,080 It's a great and wonderful thing. 639 00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:05,000 But she was distraught because she felt like she had nothing 640 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:08,200 whenever the other wife did so, there was dysfunction in the 641 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:10,880 household. And then Samuel gets brought to 642 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:15,120 the House of the Lord to Eli, the priest, who we know did not 643 00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:17,520 parent his children. And we're doing terrible things. 644 00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:19,640 And the word says did not correct them. 645 00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:21,360 And then he heard what they were doing. 646 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:23,080 And it was like, well, you're doing what? 647 00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:26,280 Yeah, you guys can't do that. They're like, whatever and do 648 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:28,480 whatever we want. And they all died. 649 00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:34,000 And so here is Samuel. He is serving God, you know, 650 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:36,160 away from his family. But he got brought into the 651 00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:38,280 House of the Lord from a young age. 652 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:40,280 He stayed in the House of the Lord. 653 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:43,320 He didn't say, well, should I go back home or is a little 654 00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:45,120 dysfunctional? Should I stay here with Eli the 655 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:48,880 priest, who he is not really doing what he's supposed to be 656 00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:50,200 doing either. Definitely not correcting, 657 00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:53,120 definitely not disciplining his sons who should be taking over 658 00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:56,760 the priesthood, but they're not. Or, you know, but he stayed. 659 00:31:56,760 --> 00:31:59,040 Samuel stayed. And it says that as he stayed, 660 00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:01,200 he found favor with both God and man. 661 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:03,000 And we know the story. What happens later. 662 00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:06,080 Samuel's asleep. And they said there was no 663 00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:09,720 common revelation in that day. That means that the Lord wasn't 664 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:12,320 really speaking because he wasn't going to continue to 665 00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:15,360 speak to a tainted vessel. He couldn't continue to speak to 666 00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:17,920 the people who were constantly in rebellion against him and 667 00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:21,360 against his law. So he, you know, started 668 00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:23,560 speaking to Samuel. And, you know, he went up to 669 00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:25,320 Eli. Yes, no, I didn't call you. 670 00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:28,200 Go back. And finally, Eli's like, oh, Oh 671 00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:30,600 yeah, God, that's God speaking to you. 672 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:32,960 Next time he calls, say, yes, Lord, your servant's listening. 673 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:35,840 And so Samuel was able to hear the word of the Lord, which was 674 00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:38,840 literally against Eli. But yet Samuel stayed. 675 00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:44,720 He served underneath Eli, who as a leader, not the best, but he 676 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:48,080 stayed in the House of the Lord and with the Lord he found favor 677 00:32:48,520 --> 00:32:51,560 with the man. He found favor because he stayed 678 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:54,200 in the House of the Lord. He stayed and he served and did 679 00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:57,720 what he was supposed to do. Even though there was grief, 680 00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:00,240 there was conflict. A man who failed, you know, 681 00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:04,840 underneath a man who failed to discipline his kids, he still 682 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:07,680 stayed. He did not waver and leave the 683 00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:10,200 House of the Lord because he saw people around him who weren't 684 00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:11,720 doing right. He stayed in the House of the 685 00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:14,920 Lord because he knew the Lord is good, He is righteous. 686 00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:17,400 And I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying exactly where he 687 00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:21,720 planted me to be and was used mightily by God in his life. 688 00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:25,200 Now, the next person I want to look at is King David. 689 00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:29,000 OK, this story is, you know, a favorite of my sons. 690 00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:31,760 If you know my son Titus, he loves King David. 691 00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:35,240 He has like a picture of David on his wall, Goliath's head like 692 00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:40,120 this, so he can tell you a lot about the story. 693 00:33:42,360 --> 00:33:47,360 First Samuel 16, we see where David's first anointed Saul 694 00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:50,440 disobeyed. He disobeyed and he rebelled and 695 00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:54,200 he lied to Samuel the prophet and lied to God and was like, 696 00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:56,360 oh, I'm good. Gaslighting God is never a good 697 00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:57,920 idea. You won't win. 698 00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:02,280 Just tell the truth. And so God's like, that's it. 699 00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:04,520 Your heart is literally far from me. 700 00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:06,960 And here's the interesting thing. 701 00:34:06,960 --> 00:34:10,360 To me, it seems like what Saul did wasn't that bad, but he 702 00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:11,920 disobeyed God. He was in rebellion. 703 00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:14,280 God knew his heart. And so the anointing was 704 00:34:14,280 --> 00:34:17,360 stripped from him. And now Samuel, you know, is 705 00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:21,199 crying and like upset. He's like, wow, I already told 706 00:34:21,199 --> 00:34:23,960 them don't get a king. They got a king. 707 00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:26,159 What happened? What I said was going to happen 708 00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:28,880 did happen. And now this King's terrible 709 00:34:29,480 --> 00:34:31,800 Lord, this is a terrible situation I'm in right now. 710 00:34:32,159 --> 00:34:33,840 And guess what? Everybody doesn't want to kill 711 00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:35,800 me whenever I say, hey, you can't be king anymore. 712 00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:36,960 And I'm about to go find a new king. 713 00:34:37,199 --> 00:34:40,440 God's like do it anyways. So he gets up, he goes, he goes 714 00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:42,080 to the town, like, do you come in peace or are you about to 715 00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:43,960 like curse us? He's like, I come in peace. 716 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:46,880 OK. So he goes to the House of Jesse 717 00:34:47,199 --> 00:34:50,760 and he says, you know, go through the sons. 718 00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:53,960 God reprimands them. Look, you're looking at the 719 00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:56,520 outside of the person. I'm looking at their heart. 720 00:34:57,080 --> 00:35:00,400 So, and any person, that's why it's so important that we walk 721 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:03,120 by faith and not by sight. Guys. 722 00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:06,760 Sometimes we just are too more sight LED than we think. 723 00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:10,000 Because even Samuel, after all the things that he'd been, after 724 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:13,240 all of the staying in the House of Lord and he did, he goes, 725 00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:16,240 surely it's this one. No, oh surely it's this one. 726 00:35:16,240 --> 00:35:18,520 And finally, God's like, stop, I'm looking at the person's 727 00:35:18,520 --> 00:35:19,920 heart. I need a man who's actually 728 00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:24,000 going to want to be with me. And so he finds David, and it 729 00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:26,680 says that David was between 12 to 15 years old at that time. 730 00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:29,640 Some, I've read some accounts, you know, 10 years old. 731 00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:30,840 I've read some up to 17 years old. 732 00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:33,280 But he was probably about 12 years old keeping his father's 733 00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:36,920 sheep. My son Titus just turned 11 on 734 00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:39,960 Monday. Have you guys met my son Titus? 735 00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:43,480 Probably most of you, right. You know, about yay big. 736 00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:47,040 And he sure loves a slingshot. Sure does. 737 00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:52,240 But, you know, imagining him fighting a lion or a bear, Wow, 738 00:35:52,560 --> 00:35:56,080 you know, that's crazy. But here's the thing about David 739 00:35:56,360 --> 00:35:57,960 is that he stayed with his father's sheep. 740 00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:00,800 Watching the sheep wasn't the most glamorous job. 741 00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:03,400 You know, it's like, hey, go pick up all the poop in the 742 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:04,720 yard. It's like that kind of chore, 743 00:36:04,720 --> 00:36:07,320 you know, hey, go clean up after the dog they just threw up. 744 00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:09,280 It's that kind of chore. Hey, go take care of the sheep. 745 00:36:09,280 --> 00:36:11,600 Stay over there in that field. Don't move, don't leave. 746 00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:13,760 Because, you know, sheep are a little bit like Bah, Bah, Bah. 747 00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:14,720 And they'll go over by themselves. 748 00:36:14,720 --> 00:36:16,560 You got to make sure they come back to the flock. 749 00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:18,120 You got to make sure they stay together. 750 00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:19,720 They'll keep doing it. You got to keep keeping them 751 00:36:19,720 --> 00:36:21,320 together. You got to make sure they know 752 00:36:21,320 --> 00:36:22,600 your voice. You got to make sure you protect 753 00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:24,960 them from the lions and the bears and you know, the coyotes 754 00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:28,680 and all the things. So watching the sheep was like 755 00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:31,800 the youngest kids Job, like you can go watch the sheep. 756 00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:34,560 But David did it faithfully. In fact, there were some of the 757 00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:37,440 Psalms and songs that he wrote while he was taking the sheep 758 00:36:37,440 --> 00:36:39,000 because he had a heart after God. 759 00:36:39,440 --> 00:36:41,600 He was praising him and worshipping him and he stayed 760 00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:44,440 faithful to his father. He said, sure, I'll watch the 761 00:36:44,440 --> 00:36:47,000 sheep so much, in fact, that they're like, surely it's not 762 00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:48,960 David. They were like, finally Samuel's 763 00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:52,040 like, do you have any more kids? Because you got to have at least 764 00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:54,680 one more. And he's like, oh, oh, yeah. 765 00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:56,720 I mean, like, you know, you mean David, the one that's watching 766 00:36:56,720 --> 00:36:58,480 the sheep. Oh, well, yeah, He's like the 767 00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:00,640 youngest. OK, fine. 768 00:37:00,640 --> 00:37:02,120 Bring him. And then Sam's like, no, no, no, 769 00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:04,080 don't even sit down. We're standing here to honour 770 00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:04,720 him. He's the king. 771 00:37:04,840 --> 00:37:06,680 I know it. So they bring him in and they 772 00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:09,720 anoint him as king. He's 12 to 15 years old. 773 00:37:10,120 --> 00:37:12,680 And here's the thing. He finds his purpose at a young 774 00:37:12,680 --> 00:37:13,880 age. Wow. 775 00:37:14,120 --> 00:37:16,760 I'm destined to be king. And then immediately goes back 776 00:37:16,760 --> 00:37:20,240 and watch the sheep. He immediately goes back, picks 777 00:37:20,240 --> 00:37:22,840 up the poop. He immediately goes back and 778 00:37:22,840 --> 00:37:27,480 does the lowest chore. He stays. 779 00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:30,800 He doesn't go. Wait a second, guys, I'm king. 780 00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:35,080 I don't know if you know, but Samuel came and anointed me and 781 00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:38,320 thank you, but here's my rod. I'm done. 782 00:37:38,320 --> 00:37:40,000 Peace, deuces. No, he said. 783 00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:44,240 I'm staying. I'm staying and I'm watching the 784 00:37:44,240 --> 00:37:48,280 sheep because my father told me to keep the sheep, so I'm going 785 00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:49,320 to stay. Now. 786 00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:51,600 Did he get called by Saul? Yes. 787 00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:53,640 To be his armor bearer, to play the heart, because then Saul 788 00:37:53,640 --> 00:37:55,440 started going crazy. Yes, he did. 789 00:37:55,600 --> 00:37:58,800 But he stayed with his father. He didn't immediately be like, 790 00:37:58,800 --> 00:38:00,920 all right, I know my purpose, I'm going to do it. 791 00:38:03,520 --> 00:38:08,640 He went back to the field and he allowed the Lord to work on him. 792 00:38:08,640 --> 00:38:11,480 He allowed the word Lord to prepare him for his purpose. 793 00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:13,720 He didn't try to rush and jump into it. 794 00:38:14,520 --> 00:38:16,880 He stayed right where he was supposed to be, which is 795 00:38:16,880 --> 00:38:19,960 watching the sheep. And in that process of watching 796 00:38:19,960 --> 00:38:23,640 the sheep, he was praising the Lord, singing about how good he 797 00:38:23,640 --> 00:38:25,240 is. The Lord was helping him, 798 00:38:25,240 --> 00:38:27,840 helping his character. He was growing into the mighty 799 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:30,120 man of valor that God destined him to be. 800 00:38:30,560 --> 00:38:33,720 And then one day his dad's like, hey, come here, I know you're 801 00:38:33,720 --> 00:38:35,200 watching the sheep, but I got another tour for you. 802 00:38:35,200 --> 00:38:37,680 I need you to be my errand boy. I need you to run and bring some 803 00:38:37,680 --> 00:38:40,000 groceries to your brothers. They're hungry. 804 00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:42,320 Bring him some lunch. They're out on the field now. 805 00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:46,320 Obviously they're at battle and again, back then they didn't 806 00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:49,400 have Mr. ES, you had to go bring them some food, make sure they 807 00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:51,360 were eating. And so he's like, I need you to 808 00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:53,480 bring your brother some lunch. They've been, you know, fighting 809 00:38:53,480 --> 00:38:55,360 the Philistines. It's like 30 day battle going 810 00:38:55,360 --> 00:38:57,680 on, nothing's really happening. But they're terrified. 811 00:38:57,680 --> 00:39:00,280 So go bring him some lunch. You know, maybe he went back and 812 00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:01,320 forth multiple times, I don't know. 813 00:39:01,320 --> 00:39:02,560 But he did go and bring them some food. 814 00:39:02,560 --> 00:39:05,680 And when he got there, he's like, wait a second, what's 815 00:39:05,680 --> 00:39:07,240 happening? Somebody tell me what's going 816 00:39:07,240 --> 00:39:11,040 on? Is this, wait, you guys are 817 00:39:11,040 --> 00:39:14,520 scared of this uncircumcised Philistine who would dare defy 818 00:39:14,520 --> 00:39:17,000 the armies of God? 17 years old. 819 00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:22,080 Now we know some 17 year olds in here and they might have grown 820 00:39:22,080 --> 00:39:25,920 to be like men, but that doesn't always mean the brains fully 821 00:39:25,920 --> 00:39:27,760 developed to be like a man yet. You know what I'm saying? 822 00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:30,800 I'd say 25 makes it a little better. 823 00:39:33,240 --> 00:39:36,360 That's science. But here's David saying no, no, 824 00:39:36,360 --> 00:39:38,360 no. I've stayed watching my father's 825 00:39:38,360 --> 00:39:41,240 sheep. I've defeated the lion and the 826 00:39:41,240 --> 00:39:44,840 bear because who dares come and gets my father's sheep? 827 00:39:45,480 --> 00:39:48,800 Not when I'm here. And so he says, you know who 828 00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:51,440 dares, comes and defies the armies of God? 829 00:39:51,680 --> 00:39:55,800 Not while I'm here. I know who my God is and I'm 830 00:39:55,800 --> 00:39:57,960 going to stay. I'm not running and hiding 831 00:39:57,960 --> 00:39:59,560 behind the rock. I'm staying. 832 00:40:00,600 --> 00:40:07,240 And so he defeats Goliath. And then Saul's like, realizes, 833 00:40:07,240 --> 00:40:08,960 right? Starts getting jealous. 834 00:40:11,080 --> 00:40:13,440 But here's the thing about David, he stayed. 835 00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:19,840 He stayed again 21 * 21 times. So I'll try to kill him 21 836 00:40:19,840 --> 00:40:22,480 times. Most of us in here have not had 837 00:40:22,480 --> 00:40:24,560 one of our bosses try to kill us ever. 838 00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:29,280 Surely not 21 times. Probably not with a spear saying 839 00:40:29,280 --> 00:40:31,400 I'm going to throw the spirit you so I can pin your body to 840 00:40:31,400 --> 00:40:34,480 that wall. Most of you have never 841 00:40:34,480 --> 00:40:36,960 experienced that. I'm not saying no one in here, 842 00:40:36,960 --> 00:40:40,880 but most of us have never experienced someone literally 843 00:40:41,200 --> 00:40:44,200 assassinating us, having a plot out to kill us, especially 844 00:40:44,200 --> 00:40:47,600 somebody who's, like, has all the power in your country. 845 00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:50,680 OK, I know we got a lot of conspiracy theories about the 846 00:40:50,680 --> 00:40:52,280 government, but they have not come against you. 847 00:40:52,280 --> 00:40:53,920 Stop it. Not 21 times. 848 00:40:55,680 --> 00:40:59,880 But yet David stayed. Yeah, but he ended up running 849 00:40:59,880 --> 00:41:02,040 and, you know, going over to this land for two years and 850 00:41:02,040 --> 00:41:04,960 having to hide in caves. How do I know that David stayed 851 00:41:04,960 --> 00:41:09,040 even though in order to save his life, finally Jonathan and God 852 00:41:09,040 --> 00:41:11,720 are like, go, gotta go. Yeah, he's really he's really 853 00:41:11,720 --> 00:41:12,880 going to kill you if he sees you got to go. 854 00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:18,040 How do we know that he stayed? We know because if we turn over 855 00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:25,640 to second Samuel, chapter 1, one through 16, Second Samuel 856 00:41:25,640 --> 00:41:26,840 chapter one, verse one through 16. 857 00:41:26,840 --> 00:41:31,880 And I just want you to know this is right after Saul. 858 00:41:32,280 --> 00:41:35,120 Instead of going to fight at the battle where he should have been 859 00:41:35,120 --> 00:41:36,760 because he was the king and supposed to be, like, leading 860 00:41:36,760 --> 00:41:41,080 the army, he went and chased David down to a mountain and 861 00:41:41,080 --> 00:41:43,520 literally had him cornered and was like, this close to killing 862 00:41:43,520 --> 00:41:44,840 him. And then they're like Saul. 863 00:41:44,840 --> 00:41:47,120 No, literally like, we're about to, like, get overturned. 864 00:41:47,120 --> 00:41:49,400 Like they're gonna come and we're gonna, they're about to 865 00:41:49,400 --> 00:41:50,720 take over our whole country. You got to go. 866 00:41:50,720 --> 00:41:53,560 And he's like, so he left. OK. 867 00:41:53,560 --> 00:41:56,960 So David was like, you know, this close to getting killed 868 00:41:56,960 --> 00:41:59,320 again. This is right after that in 869 00:41:59,320 --> 00:42:02,120 Second Samuel chapter one verse one through 16, it says, and now 870 00:42:02,120 --> 00:42:05,080 it came about after the death of Saul, when David had returned 871 00:42:05,080 --> 00:42:07,600 from the slaughter of the Amalekites, that David remained 872 00:42:07,600 --> 00:42:12,680 2 two days in Ziklag. On the third day, yeah, on the 873 00:42:12,680 --> 00:42:17,080 third day, behold, a man came out from Saul with his clothes 874 00:42:17,080 --> 00:42:22,320 torn and dust on his head. And it came about when he said 875 00:42:22,320 --> 00:42:24,360 to David, he came to him and fell to the ground and 876 00:42:24,360 --> 00:42:27,800 prostrated himself. Then David said to him, from 877 00:42:27,800 --> 00:42:30,040 where do you come? And he said to him, I've escaped 878 00:42:30,040 --> 00:42:32,040 from the camp of Israel. David said to him, how did 879 00:42:32,040 --> 00:42:33,480 things go? Please tell me. 880 00:42:33,800 --> 00:42:35,640 And he said the people have fled from the battle. 881 00:42:35,640 --> 00:42:38,520 And also so many of the people have fallen and are dead. 882 00:42:38,880 --> 00:42:41,440 And Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also. 883 00:42:42,520 --> 00:42:45,120 So David said to the young man who told him, how do you know 884 00:42:45,120 --> 00:42:46,720 that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead? 885 00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:50,560 The young man who told him said, By the chance I happened to be 886 00:42:50,560 --> 00:42:54,280 on the mount, that mount. And behold, Saul was leaning on 887 00:42:54,280 --> 00:42:56,120 his spear, and behold, the Chariots and the horsemen 888 00:42:56,120 --> 00:43:00,040 pursued him closely. When he looked behind him, he 889 00:43:00,040 --> 00:43:02,840 saw me and called to me. And I said, Here I am. 890 00:43:02,840 --> 00:43:05,440 He said to me, Who are you? And I answered him, I am an 891 00:43:05,440 --> 00:43:09,040 Amalekite. Then he said to me, please stand 892 00:43:09,040 --> 00:43:11,920 beside me and kill me, for agony has seized me because my life 893 00:43:11,920 --> 00:43:14,760 still lingers in me. So I stood beside him and killed 894 00:43:14,760 --> 00:43:18,280 him because I knew that he could not live after he had fallen. 895 00:43:18,520 --> 00:43:21,040 And I took the crown which was on his head and the bracelet 896 00:43:21,040 --> 00:43:24,040 which was on his arm. And I brought them here to the 897 00:43:24,040 --> 00:43:28,240 Lord. Now the kid was lying, like, you 898 00:43:28,240 --> 00:43:29,760 know that, right? Because really Saul ended up 899 00:43:29,760 --> 00:43:31,000 killing himself. The guy was like, I don't want 900 00:43:31,000 --> 00:43:32,520 to kill you. Like I know you're the king, I 901 00:43:32,520 --> 00:43:34,720 don't want to kill you. But then he's like, oh, wait, 902 00:43:35,320 --> 00:43:37,080 wait, this is the guy. Oh, this is the guy that's 903 00:43:37,080 --> 00:43:39,320 actually king. And Saul hated him. 904 00:43:39,320 --> 00:43:41,800 So maybe if I tell him I killed him, like I'll get some honor or 905 00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:43,480 something. So I better just like, save 906 00:43:43,480 --> 00:43:46,680 face, right? So then it says, then David took 907 00:43:46,680 --> 00:43:48,080 hold of his clothes and he tore them. 908 00:43:48,080 --> 00:43:50,720 And so also did all the men who were with him. 909 00:43:50,960 --> 00:43:53,560 They mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his 910 00:43:53,560 --> 00:43:56,160 son Jonathan, and were the people of the Lord and the House 911 00:43:56,160 --> 00:43:57,960 of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. 912 00:44:00,240 --> 00:44:02,640 David said to the young man who told him, Where are you from? 913 00:44:03,000 --> 00:44:05,960 And he answered, I am the son of an alien, an Amalekite. 914 00:44:05,960 --> 00:44:08,720 Then David said to him, How was it that you were not afraid to 915 00:44:08,720 --> 00:44:11,920 stretch you out your hand to destroy the Lord's anointed? 916 00:44:12,880 --> 00:44:15,280 And David called one of the young men and said, Go, cut him 917 00:44:15,280 --> 00:44:17,120 down. So he struck him, and he died. 918 00:44:17,120 --> 00:44:19,840 And David said to him, Your blood is on your head, for your 919 00:44:19,840 --> 00:44:22,360 mouth has testified against you, saying, I have killed the Lord's 920 00:44:22,360 --> 00:44:27,760 anointed. OK, so how do we know that David 921 00:44:27,760 --> 00:44:30,880 stayed? Even when he had to run and save 922 00:44:30,880 --> 00:44:37,080 his life, he stayed faithful. He stayed loyal to Saul, who 923 00:44:37,080 --> 00:44:40,960 hated him, who literally wanted him dead, to the one who had his 924 00:44:40,960 --> 00:44:46,000 job, the job that God gave him. But David stayed. 925 00:44:46,440 --> 00:44:49,240 It didn't matter that his boss was trying to kill him 21 times. 926 00:44:49,880 --> 00:44:53,920 It didn't matter that he kind of was like destroying the nation, 927 00:44:54,240 --> 00:44:56,640 the nation that he was going to have to go, like, fix and like, 928 00:44:56,840 --> 00:44:59,640 OK, now I'm taking over this nation that's like in shambles 929 00:44:59,640 --> 00:45:02,400 and like, everything's kind of destroyed and you've been in war 930 00:45:02,400 --> 00:45:03,480 and you've not been doing your job. 931 00:45:03,840 --> 00:45:07,800 David stayed. He didn't even allow the fact 932 00:45:07,800 --> 00:45:11,280 that the man was trying to kill him to say, yeah, I think I'm 933 00:45:11,280 --> 00:45:13,680 done. God, if you really want me, 934 00:45:13,680 --> 00:45:16,120 King, you're going to do that. But I got to go because, you 935 00:45:16,120 --> 00:45:18,560 know, I don't want to die. He stayed faithful. 936 00:45:18,560 --> 00:45:21,280 That's how I know David stayed. It doesn't matter that, yes, he 937 00:45:21,280 --> 00:45:23,840 had to go to The Cave and he had to go live somewhere else. 938 00:45:23,840 --> 00:45:28,840 He stayed faithful and he stayed loyal to a man who wanted to 939 00:45:28,840 --> 00:45:30,560 kill him. And in the United States of 940 00:45:30,560 --> 00:45:35,120 America, people won't stay faithful or loyal to a boss who 941 00:45:35,120 --> 00:45:38,080 asked him to work overtime or to stay late or to cover a shift. 942 00:45:38,400 --> 00:45:40,440 They won't stay faithful or loyal to someone who asked him 943 00:45:40,440 --> 00:45:42,880 to do anything other than what my job description, like right 944 00:45:42,880 --> 00:45:44,840 here, it's not in my job description. 945 00:45:44,840 --> 00:45:46,040 So I'm actually not going to do that. 946 00:45:46,640 --> 00:45:48,800 They won't stay faithful and loyal to someone because they 947 00:45:48,800 --> 00:45:51,360 get offered something better and looks better and and seems 948 00:45:51,360 --> 00:45:54,440 better and pays better and has better notoriety over here. 949 00:45:55,520 --> 00:45:58,640 Because we are no longer in a culture that chooses to stay. 950 00:45:59,680 --> 00:46:02,800 Instead, we're in a culture that just goes from pot to pot to pot 951 00:46:03,720 --> 00:46:05,480 and we're really limiting ourselves. 952 00:46:06,360 --> 00:46:09,640 Our roots are being bound up. We're not nutrition. 953 00:46:09,640 --> 00:46:12,160 We're not as as strong and healthy as we should think that 954 00:46:12,160 --> 00:46:14,640 we are because we're not getting the nutrients that we really 955 00:46:14,640 --> 00:46:17,480 should get because we don't choose to stay. 956 00:46:18,200 --> 00:46:20,480 The next person I wanted to look at that chose to stay was 957 00:46:20,480 --> 00:46:25,200 Elijah. Now Elijah did not serve us all. 958 00:46:26,400 --> 00:46:30,080 Elijah served Elijah and he was a good master to him. 959 00:46:31,320 --> 00:46:33,920 We know this story pretty familiar, but if we turn over to 960 00:46:33,920 --> 00:46:39,000 2nd Kings chapter 2 verse one through 14, Second Kings chapter 961 00:46:39,000 --> 00:46:42,120 2 verse one through 14, it says, and now it came about when the 962 00:46:42,120 --> 00:46:45,720 Lord was about to bring Elijah up by a whirlwind to heaven that 963 00:46:45,720 --> 00:46:49,000 Elijah left Gilgal with Elijah and Elijah said to Elijah stay 964 00:46:49,000 --> 00:46:51,240 here please, for the Lord has sent me out as far as Bethel. 965 00:46:51,640 --> 00:46:55,360 But Elijah said as surely as the Lord lives and as the and as you 966 00:46:55,360 --> 00:46:57,040 yourself live, I will not leave you. 967 00:46:57,520 --> 00:46:59,440 So he went to Bethel. Then the sons of the prophets 968 00:46:59,440 --> 00:47:01,760 who were at Bethel went out to Elijah and said to him, are you 969 00:47:01,760 --> 00:47:04,080 aware that the Lord will take away your master from you today? 970 00:47:04,080 --> 00:47:06,880 And he said, yes, I'm aware. Say nothing about it. 971 00:47:07,840 --> 00:47:10,440 And Elijah said to him, Elijah, just stay here, but the Lord has 972 00:47:10,440 --> 00:47:13,200 sent me to Jericho. But he said, as surely as the 973 00:47:13,200 --> 00:47:15,520 Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you. 974 00:47:16,240 --> 00:47:19,160 So they came to Jericho. Then the sons of the prophets 975 00:47:19,160 --> 00:47:21,760 who were at Jericho approached Elijah and said to him, Do you 976 00:47:21,760 --> 00:47:24,960 know that the Lord will take you away from your master today? 977 00:47:24,960 --> 00:47:27,120 And he answered, Yes, I know, say nothing about it. 978 00:47:27,120 --> 00:47:29,880 And Elijah said to him, Please stay here, for the Lord has sent 979 00:47:29,880 --> 00:47:32,000 me to the Jordan. But he said, As surely as the 980 00:47:32,000 --> 00:47:34,640 Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you. 981 00:47:35,000 --> 00:47:37,680 So the two of them went on. Now 50 men of the sons of the 982 00:47:37,680 --> 00:47:39,880 prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance, while the 983 00:47:39,880 --> 00:47:42,800 two of them stood by the Jordan. And Elijah took his coat, folded 984 00:47:42,800 --> 00:47:44,760 it, and struck the waters. And they were divided here and 985 00:47:44,760 --> 00:47:47,480 there, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground. 986 00:47:48,040 --> 00:47:51,000 When they crossed over, Elijah said to Elijah, Ask me what I 987 00:47:51,000 --> 00:47:52,800 should do for you before I'm taken from you. 988 00:47:53,240 --> 00:47:55,560 And Elijah said, Please let a double portion of your spirit be 989 00:47:55,560 --> 00:47:57,640 upon me. He said, You've asked a hard 990 00:47:57,640 --> 00:47:59,880 thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when 991 00:47:59,880 --> 00:48:02,680 I'm taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if not, it shall 992 00:48:02,680 --> 00:48:04,520 not be so. And as they were walking along 993 00:48:04,520 --> 00:48:07,560 and talking, behold, a chariot of fire appeared with horses of 994 00:48:07,560 --> 00:48:09,080 fire, and they separated the two of them. 995 00:48:09,440 --> 00:48:11,520 Then Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven, and Elijah 996 00:48:11,520 --> 00:48:13,440 was watching it, and he was crying out, my father and my 997 00:48:13,440 --> 00:48:15,680 father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen. 998 00:48:16,000 --> 00:48:18,320 And he did not see Elijah again. Then he took hold of to his own 999 00:48:18,320 --> 00:48:19,880 clothes and tore them into two pieces. 1000 00:48:20,160 --> 00:48:22,640 He also took up the coat of Elijah that had fallen from him 1001 00:48:22,920 --> 00:48:24,760 and went back and stood by the Bank of the Jordan. 1002 00:48:25,120 --> 00:48:27,200 Then he took the coat of Elijah that had fallen from him and 1003 00:48:27,200 --> 00:48:29,480 struck the waters and said, where is the Lord the God of 1004 00:48:29,480 --> 00:48:31,040 Elijah? And when he had struck the 1005 00:48:31,040 --> 00:48:33,040 waters, they were divided here and there and Elijah crossed 1006 00:48:33,040 --> 00:48:35,280 over. And if we look at the miracles 1007 00:48:35,280 --> 00:48:37,680 that happened in Elijah's ministry versus the miracles 1008 00:48:37,680 --> 00:48:39,320 that happened in Elijah's ministry, they were literally 1009 00:48:39,320 --> 00:48:41,720 double. I believe Elijah had like 16 and 1010 00:48:41,720 --> 00:48:45,400 Elijah had 32 and they literally were double the amount of 1011 00:48:45,400 --> 00:48:46,800 miracles. But here's the thing. 1012 00:48:46,800 --> 00:48:51,880 If Elijah chose not to stay, if he said no, you're right. 1013 00:48:51,880 --> 00:48:53,400 You know what? I'm I'm not going to go with 1014 00:48:53,400 --> 00:48:56,200 you. I'll, I'll stay over here, but 1015 00:48:56,200 --> 00:48:58,720 I'm not going to stay with you. If he chose not to stay to the 1016 00:48:58,720 --> 00:49:02,320 person he was assigned to, Elijah was literally assigned to 1017 00:49:02,320 --> 00:49:04,880 Elijah. Elijah came, Remember the story 1018 00:49:04,880 --> 00:49:07,800 of how he called him? Hey, he was out there just 1019 00:49:07,800 --> 00:49:10,440 working for his family and doing his job, doing his thing. 1020 00:49:10,440 --> 00:49:13,520 And he's like, hey, drop it. Come follow me. 1021 00:49:13,520 --> 00:49:14,840 Come on. God's got something for you to 1022 00:49:14,840 --> 00:49:16,760 do. And he went and he did it. 1023 00:49:16,960 --> 00:49:19,080 God literally assigned Elijah to Elijah. 1024 00:49:20,880 --> 00:49:24,040 And if he had chosen not to stay, then he wouldn't have had 1025 00:49:24,040 --> 00:49:26,520 a double anointing. And then Elijah said, hey, this 1026 00:49:26,520 --> 00:49:27,840 is a hard thing you've asked for. 1027 00:49:28,640 --> 00:49:32,560 Now, I did not look up what that meant that word hard meant, but 1028 00:49:33,040 --> 00:49:35,200 it wasn't necessarily easy. Think about what Elijah did. 1029 00:49:35,200 --> 00:49:36,840 Remember that time he sat underneath the tree and was like 1030 00:49:36,840 --> 00:49:39,040 crying, like, I'm the only one, Just kill me now. 1031 00:49:39,840 --> 00:49:42,640 And God's like, Oh my gosh, like you're being a little dramatic. 1032 00:49:42,640 --> 00:49:45,640 I've actually hit in people away in caves that you don't know 1033 00:49:45,640 --> 00:49:47,840 about. Then he like sent birds and, you 1034 00:49:47,840 --> 00:49:50,040 know, with food and had to send them the water and all the 1035 00:49:50,040 --> 00:49:53,320 things, right, because Elijah. But it was hard, you know, like 1036 00:49:53,480 --> 00:49:55,760 that's the one who had to call the fire down. 1037 00:49:55,880 --> 00:49:59,480 It wasn't easy what he asked them to do, but he said, but if 1038 00:49:59,480 --> 00:50:03,040 you'll stay with me, then the Lord's going to grant that to 1039 00:50:03,040 --> 00:50:06,520 you and your ministry will be double because you chose to stay 1040 00:50:07,080 --> 00:50:10,320 and not do the easy thing. But you chose to stay and do the 1041 00:50:10,320 --> 00:50:12,440 hard thing with the person I've assigned you to. 1042 00:50:13,400 --> 00:50:17,560 Gosh, that is something that I think a lot of believers miss. 1043 00:50:18,560 --> 00:50:20,520 God, yes, assigned you to a vision. 1044 00:50:21,040 --> 00:50:23,080 He assigned you and places you in the body that we're going to 1045 00:50:23,080 --> 00:50:25,000 read here in a minute where it pleases Him. 1046 00:50:25,480 --> 00:50:29,720 And he assigned you with people. Now, Pastor Earl, Apostle Earl 1047 00:50:29,720 --> 00:50:32,120 said it multiple times, if you're not assigned here, don't 1048 00:50:32,120 --> 00:50:34,200 stay here because you're never going to be fruitful and 1049 00:50:34,200 --> 00:50:36,880 prosperous like you should be. But if you are assigned here, 1050 00:50:37,400 --> 00:50:41,960 stay here because you're not just assigned to these walls, 1051 00:50:42,480 --> 00:50:46,960 you're not just assigned to this carpet, you're assigned to these 1052 00:50:46,960 --> 00:50:49,760 people. You're assigned to this five 1053 00:50:49,760 --> 00:50:52,600 fold ministry. We're assigned to each other. 1054 00:50:53,080 --> 00:50:56,960 And if you'll stay, then your ministry and your purpose will 1055 00:50:56,960 --> 00:51:00,400 double what it was going to be. But if you choose to go from pot 1056 00:51:00,400 --> 00:51:02,680 to pot, you're limiting yourself. 1057 00:51:03,800 --> 00:51:05,760 You're going to end up getting yourself root bound and you're 1058 00:51:05,760 --> 00:51:07,800 never going to accomplish all the things that God has for you 1059 00:51:07,800 --> 00:51:10,760 to do. There's a fourth person I want 1060 00:51:10,760 --> 00:51:13,720 to look at who stayed and that's Timothy. 1061 00:51:15,680 --> 00:51:19,160 Timothy was faithful. Timothy was faithful in service 1062 00:51:19,160 --> 00:51:24,080 in Philippians chapter 2 verse 19 through 22, it says Paul here 1063 00:51:24,080 --> 00:51:27,080 talking, but I hoped in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you 1064 00:51:27,080 --> 00:51:28,720 shortly. For I have no one else of 1065 00:51:28,720 --> 00:51:31,280 kindred spirit who would genuinely be concerned for your 1066 00:51:31,280 --> 00:51:33,160 welfare. For they all seek after their 1067 00:51:33,160 --> 00:51:35,440 own interests, not those of Christ Jesus. 1068 00:51:35,680 --> 00:51:38,360 But you know of his proven worth that he served with me in the 1069 00:51:38,360 --> 00:51:41,240 furtherance of the gospel, like a child serving his father. 1070 00:51:42,040 --> 00:51:45,640 And then in First Corinthians chapter 4 verse 17, it says for 1071 00:51:45,640 --> 00:51:48,960 this reason I sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and 1072 00:51:48,960 --> 00:51:51,880 faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways 1073 00:51:51,880 --> 00:51:57,440 which are in Christ. Timothy spoke like his father in 1074 00:51:57,440 --> 00:52:00,600 Christ, Paul. He said, I'm going to remind you 1075 00:52:00,600 --> 00:52:04,040 of what Paul taught us because Paul is speaking only straight 1076 00:52:04,040 --> 00:52:06,920 from the Lord. So here Timothy was faithful. 1077 00:52:06,920 --> 00:52:09,320 And then it says in Second Timothy chapter 3, verse 10 1078 00:52:09,320 --> 00:52:11,840 through 15, and Paul is literally talking to Timothy. 1079 00:52:12,520 --> 00:52:15,240 He says, now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, 1080 00:52:15,240 --> 00:52:20,040 faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions and 1081 00:52:20,040 --> 00:52:24,720 sufferings that the Lord rescued me from all, indeed all who 1082 00:52:24,720 --> 00:52:27,520 desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 1083 00:52:28,080 --> 00:52:31,320 It's going to happen. But you, however, continue in 1084 00:52:31,320 --> 00:52:34,640 the things you have learned, knowing from whom you have 1085 00:52:34,640 --> 00:52:37,800 learned them from, and that from childhood you have known the 1086 00:52:37,800 --> 00:52:41,280 sacred writings, but you're able to give you wisdom that leads to 1087 00:52:41,280 --> 00:52:44,000 salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 1088 00:52:44,280 --> 00:52:46,360 So here we see that even Timothy, from the time that he 1089 00:52:46,360 --> 00:52:49,800 was a child, desire to serve the Lord and wanted to serve the 1090 00:52:49,800 --> 00:52:51,040 Lord. And then the Lord's like, hey, 1091 00:52:51,040 --> 00:52:54,880 you're going to go be with Paul. And Paul says, hey, he's the 1092 00:52:54,880 --> 00:52:58,080 only one who hasn't forsaken me. I can only send you Timothy 1093 00:52:58,280 --> 00:53:00,320 because all the rest seek their own interests. 1094 00:53:01,120 --> 00:53:04,600 Timothy is the only one I got who is not being selfish, who is 1095 00:53:04,600 --> 00:53:06,680 not saying what's in it for me, who's not like this is an 1096 00:53:06,680 --> 00:53:08,480 individual thing. What about me? 1097 00:53:08,480 --> 00:53:10,840 What about my preferences? I really don't like that church. 1098 00:53:10,840 --> 00:53:13,480 I really don't like that steak. I really don't like eating that, 1099 00:53:13,800 --> 00:53:15,800 he said. No, it's not about me. 1100 00:53:17,480 --> 00:53:19,640 It's about furthering the gospel. 1101 00:53:21,400 --> 00:53:23,920 And it's funny because like I told you guys, I'm a class, I 1102 00:53:23,920 --> 00:53:27,440 teach at Washington Classical Christian School, and we learned 1103 00:53:27,440 --> 00:53:28,640 something called the timeline song. 1104 00:53:28,640 --> 00:53:30,680 If you have a child in Washington Classical Christian 1105 00:53:30,680 --> 00:53:32,960 School, I know you've heard the timeline song and you haven't 1106 00:53:32,960 --> 00:53:35,440 even heard all yet. Brian, it's 13 minutes song. 1107 00:53:35,440 --> 00:53:38,640 We've only 4 1/2 minutes in. OK. 1108 00:53:39,240 --> 00:53:42,440 But one of the things we learned this week was persecution spread 1109 00:53:42,440 --> 00:53:45,000 the gospel. And you know, in the United 1110 00:53:45,000 --> 00:53:47,040 States of America, we don't really like that word because 1111 00:53:47,040 --> 00:53:50,280 like, you know, we have freedom here. 1112 00:53:51,840 --> 00:53:53,520 And so we don't really like the word persecution. 1113 00:53:54,120 --> 00:53:56,680 But yet persecution furthered the gospel in that whole time. 1114 00:53:56,960 --> 00:53:59,160 And here Paul's talking to Timothy and like you've stayed 1115 00:53:59,160 --> 00:54:02,360 with me even through all the persecution because persecution 1116 00:54:02,360 --> 00:54:06,320 is going to happen. Jesus said, Hey Lord, I know 1117 00:54:07,000 --> 00:54:08,720 that persecution is going to happen. 1118 00:54:08,720 --> 00:54:10,400 I know things are going to happen, but I don't actually 1119 00:54:10,400 --> 00:54:13,440 take them out of the world, just protect them from the evil. 1 1120 00:54:13,880 --> 00:54:16,080 And when we choose to stay, we're protected. 1121 00:54:16,800 --> 00:54:19,880 But whenever we choose to uproot ourselves, we're causing 1122 00:54:19,880 --> 00:54:23,520 ourselves to just be like that tree, like that foundation 1123 00:54:23,520 --> 00:54:28,440 that's just wobbling in the wind, that when the storm comes, 1124 00:54:29,440 --> 00:54:32,160 it's not going to stand because the roots aren't deep. 1125 00:54:32,560 --> 00:54:34,520 They're not interconnected with other trees. 1126 00:54:34,840 --> 00:54:36,680 They're not interconnected with other roots. 1127 00:54:37,160 --> 00:54:38,560 They're just over here by themselves. 1128 00:54:38,800 --> 00:54:41,720 Even if they're planted in some soil, they're not planted with 1129 00:54:41,720 --> 00:54:44,160 other trees. They're not continuing to allow 1130 00:54:44,160 --> 00:54:45,760 themselves to strengthen each other. 1131 00:54:47,520 --> 00:54:50,760 So God in First Corinthians chapter 12 verse 18 through 25, 1132 00:54:52,800 --> 00:54:55,680 First Corinthians chapter 12 verse 18 through 25, it says now 1133 00:54:55,680 --> 00:54:58,640 God has arranged the parts, each one of them in the body just as 1134 00:54:58,640 --> 00:55:00,800 He desired. If they were all one part, where 1135 00:55:00,800 --> 00:55:04,080 would the body be? But now there are many parts, 1136 00:55:04,080 --> 00:55:05,640 but one body. And the I cannot say to the 1137 00:55:05,640 --> 00:55:07,640 hand, I have no need of you, or again, the head to the feet, I 1138 00:55:07,640 --> 00:55:09,800 have no need of you. On the contrary, it is much 1139 00:55:09,800 --> 00:55:12,440 truer that the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are 1140 00:55:12,440 --> 00:55:15,560 necessary, and those parts of the body which we consider less 1141 00:55:15,560 --> 00:55:17,520 honorable. On these we bestow greater 1142 00:55:17,520 --> 00:55:20,000 honor, and our less presentable parts become much more 1143 00:55:20,000 --> 00:55:22,840 presentable, whereas our more presentable parts have no need 1144 00:55:22,840 --> 00:55:25,040 of it. But God has so composed the 1145 00:55:25,040 --> 00:55:27,400 body, giving more abundant honor to that part which lacked. 1146 00:55:27,640 --> 00:55:30,720 So there may be no division in the body, and that the parts may 1147 00:55:30,720 --> 00:55:32,320 have the same care for one another. 1148 00:55:33,040 --> 00:55:35,640 It's funny because when we read the scripture, we kind of just 1149 00:55:35,640 --> 00:55:38,880 think about the parts that we see, but there's a whole lot 1150 00:55:38,880 --> 00:55:40,960 that happens in the whole body that we don't see. 1151 00:55:41,880 --> 00:55:43,600 When I was in high school, I took biology twice. 1152 00:55:43,800 --> 00:55:45,320 I don't know why I did that, but I did. 1153 00:55:45,320 --> 00:55:47,960 I took it twice. I took biology honors and I took 1154 00:55:47,960 --> 00:55:50,320 AP Bio. And so I learned a lot about 1155 00:55:50,320 --> 00:55:53,240 biology that, you know, I don't know how it's going to go for my 1156 00:55:53,240 --> 00:55:56,680 purpose, but I learned about it. And so in biology, you know, we 1157 00:55:56,680 --> 00:55:58,040 started learning about the parts of a cell. 1158 00:55:58,360 --> 00:55:59,840 You know, there's the mitochondria, it's the 1159 00:55:59,960 --> 00:56:01,760 powerhouse of the cell. You guys remember this, right? 1160 00:56:02,160 --> 00:56:04,320 You know, we learned about all these different parts of the 1161 00:56:04,320 --> 00:56:11,000 cell, the gold glide, something Golgi bodies. 1162 00:56:11,000 --> 00:56:12,080 See. Where's our doctors in the 1163 00:56:12,080 --> 00:56:13,160 house? Golgi bodies. 1164 00:56:13,640 --> 00:56:16,960 OK, those are parts of the. We don't really talk about them. 1165 00:56:16,960 --> 00:56:18,720 I'll be like, I hope my Golgi bodies are doing what they're 1166 00:56:18,720 --> 00:56:20,280 supposed to do today. I really hope so. 1167 00:56:20,280 --> 00:56:21,560 You don't wake up in the morning saying that. 1168 00:56:21,560 --> 00:56:23,400 You just know you got some stuffy nose. 1169 00:56:23,760 --> 00:56:27,720 Also, we think mucus is gross, but it's needed for a whole 1170 00:56:27,720 --> 00:56:30,840 bunch of reasons in our body. You know, ear wax, we need it. 1171 00:56:30,960 --> 00:56:33,280 We don't talk about it. You know, the little hairs that 1172 00:56:33,280 --> 00:56:35,720 are inside of our ears and the tiniest bones that we have, 1173 00:56:35,720 --> 00:56:38,080 which are inside of our ears need them or you'd fall on the 1174 00:56:38,080 --> 00:56:40,560 ground and not be able to walk. Best tubular system. 1175 00:56:40,600 --> 00:56:43,200 I know that one helps you stay balanced, right? 1176 00:56:43,440 --> 00:56:45,080 Nobody's talking about those parts of the body. 1177 00:56:45,320 --> 00:56:47,960 We don't think about our little tiny bone inside of our ear. 1178 00:56:47,960 --> 00:56:50,360 We don't think about little hairs, but helping us stay 1179 00:56:50,360 --> 00:56:53,240 balanced. They just seem like honorable 1180 00:56:53,240 --> 00:56:55,480 parts, but they're keeping the whole body exactly where it 1181 00:56:55,480 --> 00:56:56,920 needs to be. And here's the thing, God's 1182 00:56:56,920 --> 00:57:00,440 like, you know what? Tiny bone, tiny bone in the ear 1183 00:57:00,920 --> 00:57:03,760 right here, hairs right there. Why? 1184 00:57:04,040 --> 00:57:06,240 That way they can walk straight and not look like they're, you 1185 00:57:06,240 --> 00:57:08,000 know, literally falling on the ground. 1186 00:57:09,680 --> 00:57:11,320 When I was looking this up, what's interesting, I even found 1187 00:57:11,320 --> 00:57:14,800 about the hyoid bone. Hyoid bone, only freestanding 1188 00:57:14,800 --> 00:57:17,480 bone in your throat lets you swallow things and not choke. 1189 00:57:17,760 --> 00:57:19,480 OK, so we need these bones, right? 1190 00:57:19,480 --> 00:57:20,600 We need these bones. We need these parts. 1191 00:57:20,600 --> 00:57:22,680 But these aren't honorable. These aren't glamorous. 1192 00:57:22,680 --> 00:57:25,120 I'm not talking about my ear wax and my mucus because that's 1193 00:57:25,120 --> 00:57:27,280 gross. But yet they're needed parts of 1194 00:57:27,280 --> 00:57:30,280 the body that we need. And God's planted us here. 1195 00:57:31,160 --> 00:57:33,560 God says, you know, I put that bone there. 1196 00:57:33,960 --> 00:57:36,960 I put those hairs there. I put that mucus there. 1197 00:57:37,440 --> 00:57:40,520 You need that ear wax. Why are you trying to get rid of 1198 00:57:40,520 --> 00:57:41,920 it? Why are you trying to move it 1199 00:57:41,920 --> 00:57:44,440 around? Why aren't you allowing me to 1200 00:57:44,440 --> 00:57:46,200 place you in the body where it pleases me? 1201 00:57:46,880 --> 00:57:50,480 And, and I start thinking about biology and I remember learning 1202 00:57:50,480 --> 00:57:55,480 about translocation, right? Translocation of genes and if 1203 00:57:55,480 --> 00:57:58,840 they're not exactly where God designed them to be on your DNA 1204 00:57:58,840 --> 00:58:01,960 in the genome and it causes major problems. 1205 00:58:02,120 --> 00:58:05,000 There's balance, translocation. I learned how to look this up or 1206 00:58:05,000 --> 00:58:06,800 imbalanced. OK, I'm sure I learned it a long 1207 00:58:06,800 --> 00:58:09,840 time ago, but balance is where everything seems like it's right 1208 00:58:09,840 --> 00:58:11,760 on the outside. You can't look at person and 1209 00:58:11,760 --> 00:58:15,760 tell that they have something going on, but yet whenever they 1210 00:58:15,760 --> 00:58:19,560 try to have children one day, then those same things will be 1211 00:58:19,560 --> 00:58:23,560 passed on to their children. It causes fertility issues. 1212 00:58:23,920 --> 00:58:26,400 It causes generational things to start happening. 1213 00:58:27,680 --> 00:58:31,000 Now, unbalanced translocation is like very obvious, OK, there's 1214 00:58:31,000 --> 00:58:33,160 duplications, there's things that were moved in the wrong 1215 00:58:33,160 --> 00:58:36,480 spots and you can tell. But balance makes like, you can 1216 00:58:36,480 --> 00:58:39,800 look like you're right on the outside, but on the inside you 1217 00:58:39,800 --> 00:58:43,360 really allowed yourself to shift and you're not in the location 1218 00:58:43,360 --> 00:58:46,880 that God put you in. And so it seems like you're OK 1219 00:58:46,880 --> 00:58:50,000 because on the outside you seem OK, but then you start trying to 1220 00:58:50,000 --> 00:58:52,720 reproduce because that's what God created us to do, produce 1221 00:58:52,720 --> 00:58:55,720 ourselves into others. And something's just not right. 1222 00:58:56,080 --> 00:58:58,440 It's because you moved out of the location he put you in. 1223 00:58:58,680 --> 00:59:01,720 You didn't stay planted. And God never designed that. 1224 00:59:01,920 --> 00:59:05,320 Anytime we try to tweak and mess with what God's designed, we've 1225 00:59:05,320 --> 00:59:09,480 seen this in science, it never ends up good for us as humans. 1226 00:59:10,000 --> 00:59:13,720 It always causes problems because God planted us exactly 1227 00:59:13,720 --> 00:59:15,960 where he wants us to be. We should not be moving 1228 00:59:15,960 --> 00:59:18,880 locations. We should not be saying, oh, I 1229 00:59:18,920 --> 00:59:21,960 really don't like that spot. I'm just going to just get over 1230 00:59:22,000 --> 00:59:24,200 just a little bit. Scooting over a little bit is 1231 00:59:24,200 --> 00:59:26,480 causing disruption in the entire body. 1232 00:59:27,640 --> 00:59:30,520 So God determines our placement. God created us for 1233 00:59:30,560 --> 00:59:34,200 interdependence on each other. Not codependence, but 1234 00:59:34,200 --> 00:59:35,840 interdependence. Which means I need you and you 1235 00:59:35,840 --> 00:59:40,080 need me. I know you know the song My, 1236 00:59:40,080 --> 00:59:41,320 what's this head? What is it? 1237 00:59:41,320 --> 00:59:43,880 My, my funny, my bones connected to my head. 1238 00:59:43,880 --> 00:59:45,520 What is that song? You guys know what I'm talking 1239 00:59:45,520 --> 00:59:47,520 about, right? When we sang as kids, the knee 1240 00:59:47,520 --> 00:59:49,680 bones connected to the, I don't know, thigh bone. 1241 00:59:49,680 --> 00:59:51,760 You guys remember it? They're all connected to each 1242 00:59:51,760 --> 00:59:53,520 other. And then there's this stuff 1243 00:59:53,520 --> 00:59:56,360 called fascia. Fascia. 1244 00:59:56,360 --> 00:59:58,760 I listen to my chiropractors. There's this thing called fascia 1245 00:59:59,080 --> 01:00:02,640 that connects us together, that holds all of that stuff 1246 01:00:02,640 --> 01:00:04,160 together. So it's not just like wobbling 1247 01:00:04,160 --> 01:00:06,080 around inside of our bodies. And we need it. 1248 01:00:06,240 --> 01:00:08,760 We need each other. We need the fascia, we need the 1249 01:00:08,760 --> 01:00:11,520 bones, we need all of it. And if we try to get out of 1250 01:00:11,520 --> 01:00:15,080 alignment. Then something isn't going to 1251 01:00:15,080 --> 01:00:16,760 work right, and it doesn't matter how much you look like 1252 01:00:16,760 --> 01:00:17,960 you can do it right on the inside. 1253 01:00:18,160 --> 01:00:20,280 When you start reproducing, something's going to be off and 1254 01:00:20,280 --> 01:00:23,320 wrong and you're not going to be able to reproduce the way that 1255 01:00:23,320 --> 01:00:26,880 you're supposed to. OK, so this vision keeps us 1256 01:00:26,880 --> 01:00:28,640 planted. In Proverbs chapter 29, verse 1257 01:00:28,640 --> 01:00:32,760 18, it says where there's no vision that people perish. 1258 01:00:33,200 --> 01:00:37,280 But he that keepeth the law happy Is he joyful is he that 1259 01:00:37,280 --> 01:00:38,800 keepeth the law? Where there's no vision, that 1260 01:00:38,800 --> 01:00:41,440 people perish? When we decide to stay connected 1261 01:00:41,440 --> 01:00:45,680 to the vision and stay planted where we're supposed to be, then 1262 01:00:45,680 --> 01:00:49,320 we won't perish. In Habakkuk 2 chapter 2, 1263 01:00:50,080 --> 01:00:52,280 Habakkuk chapter 2 verses 2 through 3, it says, then the 1264 01:00:52,280 --> 01:00:54,800 Lord answered me and said, write the vision, make it plain on 1265 01:00:54,800 --> 01:00:56,960 tablets that he may run who reads it. 1266 01:00:57,240 --> 01:00:58,880 For the vision is yet for an appointed time. 1267 01:00:58,880 --> 01:01:00,960 But at the end it will speak and it will not lie. 1268 01:01:01,280 --> 01:01:03,800 Though it tarries, wait for it because it will surely come. 1269 01:01:04,120 --> 01:01:06,840 It will not tarry. The vision protects and directs 1270 01:01:06,840 --> 01:01:08,400 the believer, and it keeps you anchored. 1271 01:01:08,400 --> 01:01:10,480 When the season's delayed. When I say the season's delayed, 1272 01:01:10,680 --> 01:01:14,760 let me explain that when you plant a fruit tree, it isn't 1273 01:01:14,760 --> 01:01:17,280 immediately going to grow fruit the next day. 1274 01:01:17,720 --> 01:01:21,160 It might take years. It even will look like sometimes 1275 01:01:21,200 --> 01:01:22,920 it looks like it should definitely start having fruit, 1276 01:01:22,920 --> 01:01:25,160 but it's going to take a while. Are you going to stay through 1277 01:01:25,160 --> 01:01:27,360 the process? Are you going to allow the full 1278 01:01:27,360 --> 01:01:29,040 vision of that tree to come to life? 1279 01:01:29,040 --> 01:01:31,520 Are you going to be like, you know what, it's been a couple 1280 01:01:31,520 --> 01:01:33,040 years. I think I'm going to go because 1281 01:01:33,040 --> 01:01:35,640 there's no fruit yet on this tree, but you've not allowed the 1282 01:01:35,640 --> 01:01:38,680 fruit to mature. I remember Apostle Earl told us 1283 01:01:38,680 --> 01:01:40,320 that story one time. He had a banana tree, I think in 1284 01:01:40,320 --> 01:01:42,920 his yard and he was like, oh, I'm just going to eat one. 1285 01:01:42,960 --> 01:01:45,200 And he's like, my mouth literally turned inside out. 1286 01:01:45,200 --> 01:01:47,320 Nastiest thing I've ever had in my entire life because the 1287 01:01:47,320 --> 01:01:50,240 banana wasn't ready. And if you just say like, I'm 1288 01:01:50,240 --> 01:01:51,920 not going to go through this process, I'm not going to stay 1289 01:01:51,920 --> 01:01:53,960 with the vision of the tree. I'm not going to let it continue 1290 01:01:54,160 --> 01:01:59,440 to grow fruit and produce in my life, then the vision isn't 1291 01:01:59,440 --> 01:02:02,720 going to come to pass. But the vision needs you. 1292 01:02:04,520 --> 01:02:06,560 The orchard needs your fruit from your tree. 1293 01:02:07,920 --> 01:02:11,720 Don't uproot yourself and allow that fruit to not ever produce 1294 01:02:11,720 --> 01:02:15,280 or mature. I've had some really gross fruit 1295 01:02:15,800 --> 01:02:19,840 that was not ready and was not mature and it's because we 1296 01:02:19,840 --> 01:02:21,240 didn't let it go through the process. 1297 01:02:21,800 --> 01:02:24,520 But if you allow yourself to go through the process and produce 1298 01:02:24,520 --> 01:02:27,640 mature fruit, we just read earlier that you'll never cease 1299 01:02:27,640 --> 01:02:32,520 to continue yielding that fruit. But you have to choose to stay. 1300 01:02:33,120 --> 01:02:36,040 You have to choose to allow those roots to come and, and 1301 01:02:36,040 --> 01:02:41,200 state and stick together, You know, really quickly. 1302 01:02:41,200 --> 01:02:43,560 I know we'll be wrapping up here soon, but really quickly. 1303 01:02:43,960 --> 01:02:48,080 You know, I, I've talked about my testimony and guys, I've been 1304 01:02:48,080 --> 01:02:50,800 in two churches my whole life. When I was 2 years old, my 1305 01:02:50,800 --> 01:02:52,000 parents decided to get into church. 1306 01:02:52,000 --> 01:02:55,680 They had me very young and you know, they were like, we need to 1307 01:02:55,680 --> 01:02:56,920 do something. We're going to get to church. 1308 01:02:56,920 --> 01:02:59,440 I got into a Rhema church. My pastors were Rhema pastors. 1309 01:02:59,800 --> 01:03:01,880 And I'm so thankful. I grew up in that church until I 1310 01:03:01,880 --> 01:03:04,960 was 17 and God sent us to Anchor Faith Church. 1311 01:03:04,960 --> 01:03:06,400 It was my senior year of high school. 1312 01:03:06,920 --> 01:03:09,040 I was super involved in the town I grew up in. 1313 01:03:09,120 --> 01:03:11,920 You know, we had like maybe 5000 people in the town, 3 1314 01:03:11,920 --> 01:03:14,280 stoplights. They took one away, so we had 1315 01:03:14,280 --> 01:03:16,520 two. Small, tiny town. 1316 01:03:16,520 --> 01:03:17,520 We didn't even have a high school. 1317 01:03:17,520 --> 01:03:19,920 We had to go next door because it was too small of a town. 1318 01:03:20,160 --> 01:03:25,080 Hastings vibes. OK, small town, tiny town. 1319 01:03:25,080 --> 01:03:27,320 And you know, I was very involved in high school. 1320 01:03:27,320 --> 01:03:28,480 I was the manager of the basketball team. 1321 01:03:28,480 --> 01:03:30,000 I was going to be the editor of the yearbook. 1322 01:03:30,280 --> 01:03:32,320 I always invited my friends to church. 1323 01:03:32,320 --> 01:03:34,400 I followed the Lord. I wanted to follow the Lord. 1324 01:03:34,400 --> 01:03:37,120 I had a heart for the Lord and I wanted to serve him the best way 1325 01:03:37,120 --> 01:03:39,920 that I knew how. And then, you know, God called 1326 01:03:39,920 --> 01:03:43,000 us, Thank your faith church. And my parents said, well, you 1327 01:03:43,000 --> 01:03:44,080 choose. You can hear from the Holy 1328 01:03:44,080 --> 01:03:47,680 Spirit. I was like, the easy thing was 1329 01:03:47,680 --> 01:03:49,760 to not go where God was calling me to go. 1330 01:03:49,760 --> 01:03:51,960 So I was like, Lord, what do I do? 1331 01:03:52,920 --> 01:03:54,520 And I knew that he was calling me to Saint Augustine. 1332 01:03:54,520 --> 01:03:56,120 I knew he was calling me to this vision. 1333 01:03:56,440 --> 01:04:00,160 And so I came my 10 year of high school and God was just able to 1334 01:04:00,160 --> 01:04:01,760 really work. I prayed, I said, Lord, I just 1335 01:04:01,760 --> 01:04:03,960 need a friend. I need one friend because I'm 1336 01:04:03,960 --> 01:04:06,760 like I'm almost 18. It's kind of awkward for me to 1337 01:04:06,760 --> 01:04:10,040 be making like new friends now. So just one friend and he got 1338 01:04:10,040 --> 01:04:13,200 sent me a friend, a spirit filled girl who you know, had 1339 01:04:13,200 --> 01:04:15,440 grown up in the town and she befriended me on the 1st day. 1340 01:04:15,440 --> 01:04:17,000 She thought I was a freshman because I'm short. 1341 01:04:17,000 --> 01:04:19,320 I just never grew past 11 years old. 1342 01:04:19,480 --> 01:04:21,440 This is this is as tall as I got. 1343 01:04:21,720 --> 01:04:23,320 So you know, she's like you a freshman. 1344 01:04:23,320 --> 01:04:25,920 I'm like, no, I'm a senior. She's like, oh, you're new. 1345 01:04:26,040 --> 01:04:28,360 I said, yes, I am. And so she became my friend and 1346 01:04:28,360 --> 01:04:31,760 I was so thankful for that, that God took me and planted me here. 1347 01:04:32,360 --> 01:04:35,040 You know, I look back at the church I grew up in and all I 1348 01:04:35,040 --> 01:04:37,600 can say is I'm so thankful. I'm thankful for those pastors. 1349 01:04:37,920 --> 01:04:40,160 I'm thankful for the vision. I'm thankful for the word that 1350 01:04:40,160 --> 01:04:42,320 they put in me because they taught me who I was in Christ. 1351 01:04:42,640 --> 01:04:44,280 They taught me the authority of the believer. 1352 01:04:44,600 --> 01:04:47,280 They taught me that I should read my Bible. 1353 01:04:47,480 --> 01:04:50,640 They taught me that, you know, that I should go to church and 1354 01:04:50,640 --> 01:04:52,880 not miss. And so I'm so thankful for my 1355 01:04:52,880 --> 01:04:55,720 pastors there. But I knew God called me here 1356 01:04:55,920 --> 01:04:58,120 and wanted me to stay. And my husband said something 1357 01:04:58,120 --> 01:05:00,160 one time. He said, you know, the hardest 1358 01:05:00,160 --> 01:05:04,440 thing that I've ever done is also the easiest thing I've ever 1359 01:05:04,440 --> 01:05:06,320 done. And that's stay because it's not 1360 01:05:06,320 --> 01:05:09,800 that there's not been marvelous opportunities in the last 20 1361 01:05:09,800 --> 01:05:13,600 something years to leave. You know, when I was three, I 1362 01:05:13,600 --> 01:05:15,760 used to go around telling kids in the children's church and I 1363 01:05:15,760 --> 01:05:17,800 had a little bit of a lisp. Like when I grow up, I want to 1364 01:05:17,800 --> 01:05:19,520 be a preacher and a teacher and an author. 1365 01:05:20,000 --> 01:05:23,720 And I knew from a young age, you know, God had to continue to 1366 01:05:23,720 --> 01:05:26,640 confirm that to me and, and reveal that to me that I truly 1367 01:05:26,640 --> 01:05:29,600 felt called to the ministry. But I did feel that at a young 1368 01:05:29,600 --> 01:05:31,600 age. That doesn't mean that in my 1369 01:05:31,600 --> 01:05:35,200 brain I was like, well, Lord, I've served you, I've loved you. 1370 01:05:35,320 --> 01:05:38,920 I've I've kept your word, I've never gone out and done any of 1371 01:05:38,920 --> 01:05:40,920 these sins. I know you've saved me and I'm 1372 01:05:40,920 --> 01:05:44,600 so grateful, but surely I'm just going to like step right into 1373 01:05:44,600 --> 01:05:47,040 it, right? And he's like, no, no, you're 1374 01:05:47,040 --> 01:05:48,640 not. You got to get your character 1375 01:05:48,640 --> 01:05:50,280 developed. I'm like, oh, OK. 1376 01:05:50,680 --> 01:05:53,240 So I'm so thankful though, that I stayed because there were so 1377 01:05:53,240 --> 01:05:56,800 many opportunities to not stay. Plenty of opportunities to not 1378 01:05:56,800 --> 01:05:59,000 stay. Plenty of what I felt like was 1379 01:05:59,000 --> 01:06:02,840 valid reasons not to stay. But Lord, you know, I mean, do 1380 01:06:02,840 --> 01:06:06,920 you know what happened? But God said stay and I'm so 1381 01:06:06,920 --> 01:06:08,880 thankful that I can look back and say I stayed. 1382 01:06:09,640 --> 01:06:14,080 I did not allow myself to get uprooted and that I allowed 1383 01:06:14,080 --> 01:06:18,360 myself to go through the process to start bearing fruit because I 1384 01:06:18,360 --> 01:06:21,480 want to be a Cypress tree. I want to be strong. 1385 01:06:21,720 --> 01:06:25,160 I want to stay for centuries. I want my children to say we 1386 01:06:25,160 --> 01:06:28,040 stayed with the Lord and those children say we stayed with the 1387 01:06:28,040 --> 01:06:30,160 Lord. My testimony of staying in the 1388 01:06:30,160 --> 01:06:33,160 Lord keeping me is not better or worse than any of your 1389 01:06:33,160 --> 01:06:35,200 testimonies. Here's the thing, the world 1390 01:06:35,200 --> 01:06:40,800 likes to bond over trauma. They call it trauma bonding, but 1391 01:06:40,800 --> 01:06:42,880 God never called us to bond over trauma. 1392 01:06:43,360 --> 01:06:48,400 In fact, in Colossians, no, we're gonna Yeah. 1393 01:06:48,400 --> 01:06:50,560 In Colossians chapter 3, verse 14, it says beyond all these 1394 01:06:50,560 --> 01:06:53,400 things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 1395 01:06:53,960 --> 01:06:55,920 He told us to bond over love and unity. 1396 01:06:56,320 --> 01:06:59,480 And then in Ephesians chapter 4, verse one through 3, it says, 1397 01:06:59,480 --> 01:07:03,080 therefore, I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in 1398 01:07:03,080 --> 01:07:05,160 a manner worthy of the calling, which I've called you with all 1399 01:07:05,160 --> 01:07:08,120 humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for 1400 01:07:08,120 --> 01:07:10,520 another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the 1401 01:07:10,520 --> 01:07:14,960 Spirit and the bond of peace. So we cannot continue with this 1402 01:07:14,960 --> 01:07:18,920 mindset of, oh, the world's like, oh, you, you've been 1403 01:07:18,920 --> 01:07:20,000 through that. Yeah, I've been through that 1404 01:07:20,000 --> 01:07:21,680 too. And now we have the shared 1405 01:07:21,680 --> 01:07:23,720 experience and we can bond over that. 1406 01:07:23,920 --> 01:07:25,600 We're not bonding over our trauma guys. 1407 01:07:25,600 --> 01:07:28,720 We're bonding over the love and peace that God's put us in. 1408 01:07:28,920 --> 01:07:31,320 We're bonding over the vision that he's placed us in. 1409 01:07:31,480 --> 01:07:34,240 We're bonding over the people and community that he's put us 1410 01:07:34,240 --> 01:07:35,840 in. And if we'll stay and allow our 1411 01:07:35,840 --> 01:07:39,600 roots to grow, that's the bond that is unbreakable. 1412 01:07:39,760 --> 01:07:42,440 That's the bond that God says, I'm coming back for church. 1413 01:07:42,440 --> 01:07:43,880 That's what about spot or wrinkle? 1414 01:07:44,080 --> 01:07:46,200 That's the bond that's going to produce fruit that the world's 1415 01:07:46,200 --> 01:07:47,000 like. Wait a second. 1416 01:07:47,600 --> 01:07:50,240 What? So it's not that my testimony is 1417 01:07:50,240 --> 01:07:52,520 like some oh, well, you've never experienced any of these things. 1418 01:07:52,680 --> 01:07:56,480 No, I experienced separation from God, and then I experienced 1419 01:07:56,880 --> 01:08:01,120 me realizing I need Him and nothing else is better than Him. 1420 01:08:01,840 --> 01:08:05,320 And you experienced that too. So we can't bond over the trauma 1421 01:08:05,320 --> 01:08:07,480 that we've been to. We got to bond over the Kingdom 1422 01:08:07,480 --> 01:08:09,480 that we've been placed in. We're going to bond over the 1423 01:08:09,480 --> 01:08:11,720 vision that we've been placed in because God's put us in a 1424 01:08:11,720 --> 01:08:13,600 vision. He's placed us in a body where 1425 01:08:13,600 --> 01:08:17,760 it pleases Him. He is the true vine, and our 1426 01:08:17,760 --> 01:08:21,120 Father is the vine dresser, and He's pruning us so that we can 1427 01:08:21,120 --> 01:08:23,040 bear more fruit. But you got to stay on the vine. 1428 01:08:24,160 --> 01:08:26,479 You can't hop off of it and be like, Nah, this hurts. 1429 01:08:26,760 --> 01:08:28,680 That oof. I don't like being pruned like 1430 01:08:28,680 --> 01:08:29,960 that. That hurts. 1431 01:08:30,240 --> 01:08:33,560 We have to continue to stay. And whenever we continue to 1432 01:08:33,560 --> 01:08:39,439 stay, whenever we continue to say I am not going anywhere, I 1433 01:08:39,439 --> 01:08:43,960 am going to continue to allow God to produce fruit in me 1434 01:08:44,439 --> 01:08:46,319 because I'm going to continue to stay faithful. 1435 01:08:46,960 --> 01:08:48,920 And I'm going to continue to allow him to go through the 1436 01:08:48,920 --> 01:08:51,920 process of me, mature me, prune me. 1437 01:08:52,080 --> 01:08:55,520 And it's not just for me, it's for this whole community around 1438 01:08:55,520 --> 01:08:57,600 me. And it's not just about us as a 1439 01:08:57,600 --> 01:08:59,120 church. It's about us reaching out to 1440 01:08:59,120 --> 01:09:01,200 those who are hurt and who are lost. 1441 01:09:01,200 --> 01:09:05,399 Yes, because the Bible ministry is equipping the Saint to go do 1442 01:09:05,399 --> 01:09:07,680 the work. It's about you going to do the 1443 01:09:07,680 --> 01:09:10,080 work. It's about he's returning really 1444 01:09:10,080 --> 01:09:12,520 soon. And are we going to be bonded 1445 01:09:12,520 --> 01:09:16,040 together over the vision? Are we going to stay planted? 1446 01:09:16,600 --> 01:09:18,800 Are we going to choose not to waver? 1447 01:09:19,279 --> 01:09:22,640 Are we going to choose to allow ourselves to be in real soil, 1448 01:09:22,920 --> 01:09:26,920 not in a microplastic pot? Are we going to allow ourselves 1449 01:09:27,080 --> 01:09:30,200 to not get root bound? But I'll allow our roots to grow 1450 01:09:30,200 --> 01:09:34,279 so that we can be strong. I believe that we are, and I 1451 01:09:34,279 --> 01:09:37,000 hope this encouraged you tonight that we're going to stay. 1452 01:09:37,319 --> 01:09:41,000 Nothing's going to make me move. Not being killed almost 21 1453 01:09:41,000 --> 01:09:43,120 times, though again, I don't think you guys are experiencing 1454 01:09:43,120 --> 01:09:46,359 that. Not, not things not going the 1455 01:09:46,359 --> 01:09:49,080 way that I think it should go. Not my feelings being hurt. 1456 01:09:49,800 --> 01:09:51,760 Not someone saying something to me that I didn't like. 1457 01:09:52,359 --> 01:09:54,400 Not them doing that. The way that I'm like, Is that 1458 01:09:54,400 --> 01:09:56,200 the best way to do it? That's not going to move me. 1459 01:09:56,600 --> 01:09:59,120 I'm staying. I'm staying planted in soil. 1460 01:09:59,280 --> 01:10:02,960 I'm going to stand with all the rest of the trees around me so 1461 01:10:02,960 --> 01:10:05,560 that we can continue to allow our roots to grow out strong 1462 01:10:05,560 --> 01:10:06,880 with a strong foundation. Amen.