- 2 years ago
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00:00Well hi y'all. It is a privilege to be with you. It is a gift to my husband and
00:06I. We came in from Dallas where we live and just had a privilege to be able to
00:10meet your pastors and leaders, the people who we've heard so much about. We've
00:16heard so much about your church and what God is doing in this city and in this
00:21state and even beyond through this church. I don't know if you know that or
00:24not but the reputation of God's people here and what God is doing through you.
00:27It really does seep well beyond the walls of this this community and so we
00:32have heard about you for so long to have to have the privilege to come and to
00:36serve you in this way on this Sunday morning as a gift to us. I'm excited to
00:40be able to do it too because I believe in the power of the Word of God. Anybody
00:44believe in the power of the Word of God? Y'all it really is living and active and
00:50sharper than any two-edged sword. I'm telling you the blood of Jesus saves you
00:54from your sins. The Word of God saves your mind. It changes your mind and your
01:00soul and it makes you a different person and so every single time we open up the
01:06book together corporately like this or just alone when you're at home you know
01:10at your kitchen table and you have your quiet time, every single time you open up
01:15the Word of God you ought to feel the warm breath of God brushing across your
01:18cheeks as God speaks a now word into your life and so the reason why you were
01:25here today as this series starts for your church this whole next level going
01:28to the next step the next place the next dimension in your relationship with God
01:32the reason why he would have us here today at the beginning of this is it
01:37could only be if he has a next level up his sleeve for you and he fully intends
01:43for you to be prepared to get there so even if you you just happen to come here
01:47your first time visiting on this Sunday you need to know that this is a divine
01:50setup my friend. The only reason he wanted us here is if he had something
01:55for us he was trying to prepare us for and so I'm fully expecting that God is
01:59going to speak to you and to me personally through this very simple word
02:03from scripture that if we apply it to our life it will change us forever so
02:06let's pray. Lord thank you so much for your Word. Thank you that in these next
02:10few moments we're about to spend together you can take this one little
02:14message you can multiply it thousands of different ways so that every single
02:19person hears a direct personal word straight from the mouth of God. Lord
02:24nobody needs to hear me they need to hear you so I'm praying that you will
02:27speak we need a word from you we are your servants we are listening we are
02:32sitting on the edge of our seat because we cannot wait to hear what the Spirit
02:37will say to the church in Jesus name everybody said amen. Jerry and I have
02:43three little boys. I say little boys I always say that because obviously they're
02:48my sons but they are not little boys. I have an 11 year old who wears a size 11
02:54men's shoe. Somebody help me feed these kids. Got an 11 year old, a nine year old
03:01and a five year old. Our five year old is our surprise baby we still don't even
03:05know how he got here. We got Jackson he's our oldest Jerry Jr. we named him we call
03:10him JC our second and then Jude is our baby boy he's five years old now we call
03:16named Jude Jude because that is as close as I could get to Revelation because it
03:21is finished it is the end of the line. We done. So I got these three boys and they
03:30are they love sports so whatever sport happens to be in season at that
03:33particular time that is the sport that we are playing so football football
03:36season and basketball basketball season baseball season has just begun. Our
03:41second son really does enjoy baseball and it kind of is his niche it's his
03:45thing he's a pretty big nine-year-old he has a lot of power behind him so he can
03:49already hit a ball over a fence line and he's great at first base he stops a lot
03:54of balls and great stops great catches at first base so we're pretty proud of him
03:58and we think that's his niche baseball and any of you that have children that
04:02are involved in baseball you know that it's so great when the season starts
04:06because it starts in the spring so you're out there during practice and
04:10games on Saturday and the weather is still particularly conducive to you
04:14being out there and enjoying yourself but you know after a couple months the
04:17summer rolls in and we got that hot Texas Sun that starts to beat down on us
04:23and the sweat is rolling from our brow and and you can still kind of handle it
04:28when you're just in the regular season because it's just one game on a Saturday
04:31that you've got to be out there for but then towards the end of the season the
04:35series starts so you're in a tournament and if you have children in Little League
04:40you know what I mean that means you go out early in the morning on one Saturday
04:43and basically you might play three or four games in one day until your team
04:48loses and then your team is disqualified and I don't know if there is ever a point
04:53where it gets to be okay that you pray your kid loses so you can go home can I
04:59get one witness come on somebody tell me I'm not alone but you're out there and
05:05you're sweating bullets and it's just ridiculous and we were last summer in
05:09the Little League World Series by World Series they mean all the teams that live
05:14right here in your neighborhood are gonna get together for a tournament and
05:18so we were out there for the World Series and we were about at that point
05:22when I was ready to pray that prayer I mean it was hot we still had more games
05:26to play for the day the team was doing pretty good so they were winning and
05:28kept going from game to game just about that time we had a little bit of a break
05:31went out for lunch sat in the air-conditioned cooled off for a little
05:35while came back to the field got all of his gear out so that we could head over
05:39to the field and put his stuff in the dugout and get ready for the next game
05:44and as we walked over I noticed something about my second son as he
05:49prepared for his game my second son is normally a very gregarious outgoing
05:53confident young man he believes in himself he's got a good level of
05:57confidence he normally walks with his head held high he looks forward to games
06:01looks forward to the challenge but I noticed as we approach or approach the
06:05diamond for the next game he he changed his countenance changed his head started
06:13to hang down a little bit and I saw him start to wring his hands he looked
06:16insecure and nervous I looked around to try to figure out what was going on as
06:19we were walking over towards the field I watched him looked over and realized
06:24that he was seeing the team he was about to play they were all seated underneath
06:28they were kind of sprawled out on the grass underneath the shade of a big tree
06:32getting ready for the game and as I looked at this team I immediately knew
06:35what the problem was this team had played my boys team earlier in the
06:39season they had met up with this team before and with this team had played my
06:43kids team they had annihilated my boys team I mean it had been an embarrassment
06:48these boys on this other team are serious baseball players you know the
06:53kind that when their parents gave birth to them they put a mitt on one hand and
06:57a baseball on the other and they've been playing every day serious serious
07:01serious players serious parents you know those kind of parents the serious parents
07:05so this team was a serious team my boy was getting nervous we had to walk past
07:11this group laying on the grass as we went over to the dugout and as we walked
07:14past them we overheard a few of the team members whispering to each other they
07:18thought they were quiet but we could hear them and this is what we heard
07:21there's that kid from the other team you know the one that that hit that ball
07:25over the fence the last game you know yeah he was the one at first base that
07:29made all the the outs that we got remember he was the one catching the
07:32ball then one of them leaned over and said yeah that's that Shire boy when my
07:38son heard his name pass the lips of the opposing team team members all of a
07:44sudden that head that had been hung down all of a sudden it was back up in there
07:47again that little insecure walk he had all of a sudden he got his swag back
07:53because it's amazing how your countenance changes how your insecurity
07:59will fade when you really understand what the enemy thinks about you I don't
08:04know what battle you're up against or what it is you are facing or the
08:07difficulty that's ahead of you but this I do know if you and I could just
08:11discover what the enemy thinks about us we wouldn't be insecure or fearful or
08:16lack courage anymore because listen even if you don't believe it the enemy
08:19believes the Word of God he knows that you have been forgiven the enemy knows
08:23for sure that your guilt and shame has been removed he knows for sure that
08:27there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus what
08:31he knows for sure is that 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 says you have been
08:35made competent by the Spirit of God what he knows for sure is that you and I have
08:40been given access to a power and an authority that he will never ever have
08:45access to what he knows my friend is that he can form a weapon against you
08:49but that it will never prosper what he knows for sure what he knows for sure is
08:57that in the end you win what a travesty it would be for the enemy to believe
09:06more about your potential than you do for him to be fully convinced about
09:11everything that God says and by the way he's convinced he knows he knows and he
09:16knows if we ever get around to knowing he'll be in trouble so the attempt of
09:21the enemy is to keep you from knowing for sure who you are in Christ as you
09:27and I go to the next level the next dimension take the next step in our
09:31relationship with God the reality is that there are going to be some hurdles
09:35that you have to cross there are going to be some Giants that you have to slay
09:38there are going to be some things that you have to traverse there's going to be
09:41something that could potentially stand in your way if you allow it to but it
09:45occurs to me and I want to tell you this morning in fact I woke up with this
09:48morning with this thought on my mind so I want to share it with you that some
09:52challenges are less about the enemy being against you and more about God
09:57wanting you to see what it looks like when he is for you that's some things
10:02that you might be facing right now it's all about the fact that God has allowed
10:06that situation to be in your life because he wants you to know what it
10:09looks like for him to be God in your experience so the children of Israel
10:13they've got a message for us today because they were on a journey with God
10:17they were trying to go to the next level out of slavery in Egypt into the
10:20promised land the place that represents the favor the provision the grace of God
10:25in their experience on a daily basis but on the way there was this obstacle they
10:30could not figure out how to get across just like for you there may be a
10:35situation you're figuring out how to traverse in your life a marriage
10:39struggle a financial struggle problem with this particular child or on your
10:43job there's an issue or in your ministry or just even in your own mind and in
10:48your own heart you're just struggling with with something that is keeping you
10:51from getting to the next place in God the children of Israel know how you feel
10:55because when they left Egypt they came upon this situation they had to deal
11:00with called the Red Sea they're gonna teach us how to get across it today if
11:06you have your Bible with you and you want to turn with me to Exodus chapter
11:0914 that's where we find the story if you actually still use a Bible with paper
11:13pages like I do or you could just use your thumb and flip on over there with
11:18your iPhone your iPad any manner of Iness just get to Exodus chapter 14 or I
11:23think they'll put it on the screens and you can read it there Exodus chapter 14
11:27verse 13 and 14 says this Moses said to the people do not fear stand by and see
11:38the salvation of the Lord which he will somebody say he will which he will
11:44perform for you today for the Egyptians who've you seen today you will never see
11:49them again forever the Lord will fight for you while you keep silent I want to
11:58read that again listen Moses said to the people do not be afraid ain't nobody got
12:05time for that stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which he's gonna
12:12accomplish for you today it's already done the Egyptians which you've seen
12:17today you will never ever see them again forever the Lord is gonna fight
12:21for you if you'll just be silent tucked within these two verses you'll see it
12:30there there is a promise of victory he says to the children of Israel you don't
12:34have to figure out or strategize or contemplate or maneuver your way through
12:39this Red Sea God's gonna do the hard work no sweat equity necessary all you
12:43have to do is obey these four commands to claim the victory God has already
12:48given you the victory is yours you just have to claim that victory and so he
12:55tells them four things that you that they needed to do the Holy Spirit's
12:58gonna teach us those four things today so that as you go to the next level the
13:02next step across that Red Sea you will be able to claim victoriously all that
13:07God has planned for you he says to the children of Israel these four things he
13:12says be fearless do not fear he says be still stand by he says be watchful see
13:21the salvation of the Lord and he says shh be quiet the first thing that he
13:30said to the children of Israel was we got to deal with this fear issue he says
13:34you need to be fearless now it makes sense to me that he would need to tell
13:38the children of Israel this because the Israel the children of Israel the
13:41Hebrews there were approximately two million of them that came out of Egypt
13:44all of them having the opportunity to go to Canaan of those two million do you
13:49know that there were only actually ever of the original two million there was
13:54actually only two of them that actually made it to Canaan Joshua and Caleb two
13:58out of two million that's one in a million that got to experience the
14:03promises of God now I don't know about you but if there's only gonna be a
14:05handful of people that actually get to walk in the promised land experience all
14:10that God has for them I would like to be one of them Moses says I'm gonna tell
14:14you how to get there you cannot be afraid you can't allow your fear to
14:18control you they needed to be told this because it made absolute sense that they
14:22would be the Red Sea was in front of them an enormous body of water that
14:26looked quite intimidating they kept that could not see one end from the other
14:30they could not see across the other side to dry ground and to make matters worse
14:35Pharaoh and his army didn't stay comfortably tucked away in Egypt just
14:39allowing them to leave Pharaoh's heart was hardened again he decided to come
14:43after them there were thousands upon thousands upon thousands probably
14:48millions of people that were with Pharaoh that day that were coming after
14:52Israel scholars say that the the army would have been so broad that they
14:56didn't just come up behind the children of Israel they would have spread out
14:59around the east and around the west so in essence Israel was completely
15:05surrounded a body of water in front of them and enemies all around them some of
15:09you know exactly how that feels because right now you're not just seeing a
15:13problem in front of you when you look to the right there's still a problem when
15:16you look to the left there's another problem when you look behind you there's
15:19another problem you feel like you are completely surrounded and just like for
15:23the children of Israel it makes absolute sense that in a situation like that you
15:27would be afraid it makes it our human tendency our natural frailty is prone
15:32towards fear which is why the Holy Spirit needs to tell us today exactly
15:38the same thing that Moses had to stare in the faces of the Israelites and tell
15:42them do not be afraid doesn't mean you won't feel it it means don't entertain
15:50it it doesn't mean you won't be prone to it that you won't have a tendency toward
15:54it it means don't engage it don't rehearse it don't nurse it don't go over
15:59it it means to separate yourself in the name of Jesus from your tendency to be
16:04afraid which means listen you got to do battle against that thing listen I have
16:10a friend of mine she was struggling with fear in the area of her life she
16:13literally found promises in the Word of God that has specifically had to do with
16:17her situation and with fear she wrote them down on three by five cards and
16:21posted them in her house in her car and on the wall of the cubicle in her office
16:25space she put them everywhere she was so that everywhere she went she had an
16:29opportunity to quote that thing out loud and to tell the enemy you're not gonna
16:33mess with me today cuz I'm not gonna be afraid I'm going to use the sword of the
16:37Spirit which is the Word of God and do battle against my tendency toward fear
16:43scripture says he has not given us a spirit of fear listen listen he doesn't
16:52give fear which means if you have a spirit of fear attached to your life in
16:58regards to something specific then you know God didn't give it which means if
17:03he didn't the enemy did the only reason why the enemy has ever given gifts if
17:09it's because he is trying to give you something to steer you away from God's
17:13best for you the only reason why he gives gifts so one of the reasons are
17:18the ways I am able to kind of detect God leading in my life when I'm trying to
17:21discern the voice of God I gotta make a decision or something if there is one
17:25decision let's say I've got to make a decision between two things if there's
17:28one option that I really don't want to choose and when I boil down all the
17:32reasons why I don't want to choose it the bottom line of it is I'm afraid of
17:36it or I'm fearful of it I automatically assume that that option is probably God's
17:41option for me because if the enemy is gonna work so hard to make me afraid of
17:46something he must know there is something in that that he doesn't want
17:49me to have that my destiny is wrapped up in that thing that the promised land
17:53for my life is wrapped up in that thing if he's gonna work that hard to paralyze
17:58me with fear so that I don't entertain that option then that's probably the
18:02option that is God's best for me is there something in your life you were
18:06afraid of you're intimidated by my friend fight against fear the enemy is
18:10trying to steer you away from that which represents God's best for you
18:15Moses says do not be afraid Philippians 4 6 puts it like this it says be anxious
18:23for nothing but in everything look at that contrast be anxious for nothing but
18:29in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let those requests
18:34just be made known to God and then that peace that you're looking for the peace
18:38that will surpass all understanding and comprehension it will guard your heart
18:43and your mind in Christ Jesus that basically says when you feel a fear like
18:47when you feel fear rising on the inside of you don't entertain it don't engage
18:52it exchange it for an opportunity to pray I remember when my boys first fell
18:59in love with baseball I remember that day because it was Christmas Day my
19:03husband had bought the boys this little toy baseball machine it's the kind of
19:06machine that catapulted out these little plastic balls at a certain frequency in
19:11a certain velocity and then you know my little three-year-old standing up there
19:14with that little plastic bag getting ready to at least swing at as many of
19:17those as he could they open that up early on Christmas morning you know how
19:20your kids get up early on Christmas morning it's supposed to be a holiday
19:25but it's kind of not for you you know how that is and they open up that gift
19:28and they immediately want you to go to work they want you to put it together
19:31they want you to take them outside at 630 in the morning and help them to play
19:37with this and so there we were outside cold outside we had our fluffy bath
19:41robes on we're letting the boys play with this little game and at the time we
19:45only had our two big boys so the little one was three then the older one was
19:49five and that confident gregarious one I told you about man he put on that little
19:54plastic helmet three years old took that little plastic bat he was at least
19:58swinging it every single ball that came out of that shoot he could not wait all
20:02the while my five-year-old Jackson was standing off to the side watching this
20:06man he saw those balls coming out and he got more and more nervous with every
20:10single one of them he's a little bit more cautious a little bit more insecure
20:14sometimes about his abilities and he stood there he wasn't sure he was like
20:18mama I don't think I can do that I said baby you got it you can do it I was just
20:22encouraging him you can do it he's like no mom I can't I said yes you can and
20:26you're gonna do it cuz we bought this toy for you and it's early in the
20:28morning you gonna do it so finally it's his turn he stood in front of the
20:35machine and he was a little bit uncomfortable and insecure waiting on
20:38that first ball to come out how I wished I could get that little five-year-old
20:42brain to understand something that I knew what I knew was that Jerry his dad
20:46who loves him had gone behind the back of that machine had opened up a little
20:49flap that reveals some gears he had manipulated those gears because they
20:54control the frequency and the velocity of all the balls so so the bottom line
20:58is the frequency and the velocity of the balls was set up to suit Jackson's
21:03ability so Jackson could stand there in front of that machine with complete
21:07confidence because he had somebody who loved him who had gone behind the scenes
21:11to manipulate everything to his benefit the reason why you don't have to be
21:15afraid my friend is because you got a daddy who loves you he's already gone
21:19behind the scenes he's already manipulated events and people and put
21:22folks in the right place at the right time and he has set up the scenario so
21:26that somebody with courage can stand up to the plate and be obedient to God and
21:31when we do it we'll be set up to win Moses says don't you be afraid God's
21:37gonna park this red seat for you second thing he says not only is to be
21:42fearless he also says be still some translations read stand by others say
21:50stand firm someone the one I read today says stand still notice the two parts of
21:58that command the standing part and the stillness part both of those sound like
22:04very passive commands they sound like the command you don't want to hear when
22:08you're facing a problem because I'd rather be strategizing and planning and
22:11maneuvering and trying to figure out seems like there's something so much
22:15more active that I need to be doing in this scenario but Moses says don't do
22:18anything except stand stand still sound so passive and like you're disengaged
22:23from the reality but I want you to think about this for just a moment when
22:29you come home from a long day at work when I do when I'm working or out with
22:32the kids all day and I come home and I'm tired the last thing I want to do is
22:36stand anywhere I take off my shoes you know you loosen up your tie when you
22:40come home from the office you getting something to relax and what do we do we
22:44sit down find the most comfortable chair we can and we take a load off we sit
22:50down which means the responsibility for carrying our weight is no longer on us
22:54it's on something else we have completely relaxed ourselves into the
22:59control of something else on the contrary standing is not passive at all
23:04standing requires a resolve of your mind a decision of your will it requires
23:10muscles that you might not otherwise use to plant your feet firmly and stand and
23:16control your own decision to to firmly be rooted somewhere as opposed to
23:21relaxing it to the control of something else Moses says God's part is to fight
23:26your battle your part not a passive part your very necessary active part of
23:33crossing your Red Sea is to stand firmly on the promises of God to not be relaxed
23:40to not allow yourself to be swayed with our crazy culture that is redefining
23:45family and redefining philosophies and trying to come up with their own
23:48standard of truth to our world truth is subjective but really there was only one
23:53objective standard of truth by which there has to be a remnant called the
23:58Church of Jesus Christ that says it don't matter what y'all do we don't
24:01stand firmly on the promises of God and believe that God is who he says he is
24:05and that he does not change with the culture he can still accomplish what he
24:09says that he can accomplish you got to decide am I gonna do my part of this
24:14battle am I gonna stand am I gonna believe that whatever God is teaching
24:19me applies to my life and I'm supposed to stand on it I'm not just supposed to
24:24clap about it or wave my hand to it or say amen to it when I'm hearing it on
24:28Sunday that's just supposed to be a prerequisite to how I live Monday
24:31through Friday see it's a waste of time y'all if we meet here on Sunday your
24:38pastor meets with you every single week and and you gather here and you hear the
24:43truths of Scripture it is a waste of time if everybody hears it and
24:45celebrates and then everybody goes home and lives like they didn't hear anything
24:48on Sunday what has to happen is there are a group of people called called the
24:53family of God the Church of Jesus Christ what Paul called in Ephesians 3 this
24:57mystery race of people that live by a different standard that don't adhere to
25:01the standard of society they hear to a different truth they plant their feet
25:05firmly on it and they stand having done all to stand Ephesians 6 stand firm
25:14plant your feet and stand now I was thinking about this because we had a
25:21friend of ours named Katie she was traveling with us and Katie's from
25:26Baton Rouge Louisiana she came to Dallas to intern with us for about three months
25:32and we traveled with her quite a bit during those three months and I got to
25:35tell you the Baton Rouge Louisiana Airport is a little bit different than
25:39Dallas Fort Worth Airport a little bit different she had never been to DFW
25:44Airport if you've been there you know what I mean when I say it is it's a
25:47monster when you want to get to your flight you first have to just know what
25:52terminal you're going to we got five you either going to A or B or C or D or E so
26:00you got to know where you're even headed first then when you get there there's
26:03about 30 to 35 gates inside each terminal you got to know which gate then
26:08some of the gates have a part a and a part B so you might be going to terminal
26:13D gate 22 a which we were on this occasion all five of us my boys me and
26:20Jerry we'd normally traveled all together we were traveling with Katie we
26:24got to the airport terminal D to catch our flight we went into the airport and
26:28began to take off all of our clothes so we could go through security five of us
26:34were in one line me and the family and Katie was in another line and we went
26:38through some reason our line went through really fast and her line was
26:41having trouble you know it was just going kind of slow and stopping and
26:43starting so all five of us got through to the other side and Katie was still
26:47back there waiting to go through security so Jerry said you know what
26:50let's just go ahead and go to the go to our gate and we'll just wait there for
26:54Katie and so he sent her a text over through security and said we'll meet you
26:57at gate 22 a she gave us the thumbs up she got the message so gate 22 a was
27:04literally when you came through security it was right to the left of security you
27:07could literally see the gate from the outside of security so we walked over we
27:11sat down for a while waiting for Katie she hadn't shown up yet so we thought
27:14you know when they started boarding we'll go ahead and board and take our
27:17seat and we'll wait for Katie on the plane we boarded everybody boarded the
27:21whole flight was boarded Katie was still nowhere to be found we're worried we're
27:25texting her we're trying to figure out where she is she's not texting us back I
27:28mean literally they are getting ready to close the door of this plane they call
27:31her name over the loudspeaker you know you late when they start calling your
27:34name we cannot find Katie and we're like this girl's gonna miss this flight
27:39finally right before they close the plane close the door of the plane Katie
27:44rushes onto the plane she rushes down that little aisle way she's sweating her
27:49hair is plastered to her face I mean she has been through an ordeal she finally
27:53takes her seat and when she comes to herself and gets her composure she looks
27:57up to find me and Jerry looking at her like this we said what happened she said
28:07I saw when Jerry sent me a text that said gate 22 a but I just assumed he
28:11meant a 22 so I got on the airport tram that takes you from one terminal to
28:19another terminal I went all the way around the entire airport from Terminal
28:24D all the way to Terminal A went down to gate 22 before I realized I'm at the
28:29wrong gate so I had to get back on the tram go all the way around the entire
28:33airport to come back here I honestly didn't think I was gonna make the flight
28:36Jerry looked back at her and said something I'll never forget he said oh
28:40Katie if you would have just believed that what I wrote was exactly what I
28:46meant I would have saved you so much time and so much energy and so much
28:51effort and so much sweat if you would have just believed me can I just say
28:57that some of us are too smart for our own good we read what God says and then
29:01rationalize ourselves out of believing that what he wrote is what he meant
29:08would you take him at his word if he says you're free you're free if he says
29:13you're forgiven you're forgiven if he says there is no condemnation there's no
29:17condemnation if he says let us go over to the other side he means let us go
29:22over to the other side so my friends tend your feet on the promises of God
29:27and don't allow yourself to be swayed to the left or the right Moses says you
29:31want to get across this body of water you want to go to the next level well
29:34then you be fearless and then you be still and then he says be watchful he
29:43put it this way he said see the salvation of the Lord see it open your
29:50eyes and take all the details now this is an interesting command that he gives
29:56them because I'll tell you about myself and maybe some of you can relate to this
30:01when I have a Red Sea situation in front of me when I've got something I'm
30:05dealing with that is a difficulty in my life that I've got to traverse through
30:07honestly I don't want to look at it I don't want to see it I want to close my
30:13eyes and sleep through it until God gets me out of here I don't want to be
30:16engaged with it at all I want to distance myself from it and not see the
30:21details of it Moses says don't do that your natural tendency is gonna be to
30:25want to ignore the problem hurry up God get me out of this he says that's the
30:29wrong thing to do he says open your eyes even before the whole Red Sea is divided
30:34part that's a big miracle we're gonna see later we'll see that too but don't
30:37close your eyes every day until you get there open your eyes up every single day
30:42because there are little miracles God's performing right now you don't want to
30:46miss all the little details of how God is causing events to come together and
30:51people in the right place at the right time you don't want to miss the
30:54fingerprints of God and the footprints of God working in your life and in your
30:58circumstances we'll see the big thing later but up until then keep your eyes
31:02open and be watchful there's stuff God is doing even right now and I don't know
31:07about you but if God is moving I don't want to miss any of it I want to see all
31:12of it so he says to the children of Israel keep your eyes open keep your
31:15eyes open keep your eyes open he knew that they needed to see when Moses
31:20lifted up that simple staff and stretched out his hand he didn't want
31:23them to miss that they needed to see when the angel of the Lord that was a
31:27cloud in front of them all this time moved behind them and became a rear
31:31guard between them and the Egyptians they needed to remember what it felt
31:35like when that east wind started blowing across their cheeks slowly at
31:39first but then began to build in intensity so much so that it was able to
31:43part that body of water they need to see the look of awe and disbelief on the
31:48faces of their family members and loved ones as they saw this miracle occur he
31:53wanted them to look down and see that their sandals weren't collecting any mud
31:57because they weren't on wet ground they were on dry ground he wanted to make
32:01sure that they saw how when Pharaoh and his army came after them the waters
32:06were gonna collapse over them and swallow them up he says listen I don't
32:09want you to just wait for the big thing to see what God is doing I want you
32:13every single day to keep your eyes open for all the little miracles God is
32:17weaving together on your behalf so listen yes you get down on your knees
32:26you close your eyes long enough to pray and ask God to divide your Red Sea but
32:30as soon as you pray that prayer make our requests known to God he says we
32:33can as soon as you do that you get up off your knees and then you open your
32:38eyes and you say Lord yeah I want to see that too but today I don't want to miss
32:43anything you're gonna do on my behalf he says you open your eyes and you be
32:50watchful to see what God's intention is one of our favorite restaurants at
32:55Dallas is called Babes do y'all know Babes anybody ever been to Babes okay
33:02you got one hand that was raised here you need to go to Babes the anointing of
33:05God is at Babes it's the kind of place where they just bring hot biscuits fresh
33:12out of the oven and set it in front of you and not just with you know a cold
33:16pat of hard butter mm-hmm they bring it out with some honey so that you can
33:20drizzle that honey on that warm biscuit this is the kind of place where you
33:23order what any kind of meat you want and they will fry it for you just
33:26anything you can get anything fried and they bring all the sides out family
33:29style it's a great place where we take our family we love it and when we were
33:33there several years ago we've been lots since but this particular occasion I
33:37remember because one of my boys ordered for his meal a fried fillet of catfish
33:42off the kids menu fried catfish when our food came she sat down that fried piece
33:47of catfish in front of my boy he sweetly innocently looked up at her to ask her a
33:53question ma'am can I ask you a question yes young man what is it he said
33:58innocently as he knew how ma'am um could you just tell me is this made out of
34:03real cat
34:11as you can imagine we laughed and giggled and were completely stunned that
34:16he asked that question and he started to get so frustrated he's like why is
34:20everybody laughing at me I want to know the answer to my question and I finally
34:24stopped giggling long enough to say babe I'm so sorry we don't mean to laugh at
34:27you but we can't answer your question because you actually haven't asked the
34:31right question like it's not even the ballpark of the right question to ask so
34:37we get frustrated with God because we're praying and praying and praying it seems
34:40like he's not answering our question seems like he's not answering us
34:44sometimes I think God is looking at us and said I'm not answering you because
34:47you're not asking the right thing you're asking me to take you out of this
34:51situation instead of saying Lord will you open my eyes while I'm in it instead
34:55of saying Lord while I'm here I'm a quick I'm a quick begging honest I'm
34:59gonna ask you yes you say I can ask you to park this Red Sea I'm gonna ask you
35:03but until you choose to I'm gonna ask you Lord to make sure my spiritual eyes
35:08are open and my spiritual ears are keen that my spiritual senses that the radar
35:13is up so that every time you're moving I pick up on your presence every time
35:18you're speaking I pick up on your voice every time you're near I'm aware of the
35:23little miracles occurring in my life every single day ask the Lord to give
35:28you the courage to be watchful to open his eyes and celebrate everything he's
35:33doing every single day and finally Moses says to them the most difficult of the
35:41four commands he says be quiet he has to tell the children of Israel to be
35:50quiet because these folks were just days from being delivered they were just
35:57celebrating the ten incredible miracles that their Yahweh had done on their
36:01behalf just days into the journey at the first sign of difficulty the same mouths
36:06that other praises to God are the same mouths that are now complaining against
36:11God so he says to them exactly what my mama told me growing up if you don't
36:16have anything good to say don't say anything at all train yourself against
36:25complaining oh man I'm talking to myself right now you have to make a decision of
36:31your will that if I do not have a positive comment to make about this
36:36scenario yes it is difficult yes it is Trump troublesome yes I cannot figure
36:39out how I'm gonna get over this Red Sea but unless you have a positive statement
36:43to utter out of your mouth it's better to be quiet than to speak complaint
36:47while the Lord fights for you guard yourself against complaining it is our
36:52natural human tendency to get complacent with the blessings we were just overjoyed
36:56to receive and to begin to complain against the same God who gave us those
37:01blessings train yourself to be quiet not to allow your mouth to open in arrogance
37:06or in complaint the Israelites trusted him for their deliverance but not for
37:10them for their circumstances so here they are just a few days out of the
37:14journey onto the journey and they are all ready complaining you have to choose
37:19to be quiet I was talking to a friend of mine about a difficulty I was having in
37:27my life and as I just tried to tell her the details of the circumstances so she
37:32could pray with me give me some wise counsel apparently some of what I was
37:36saying was coming across as complaining some of the statements I was using the
37:40word choice it sounded like complaining and my friend Lisa wouldn't wouldn't
37:45have none of that she stopped me in my tracks and said oh hold on hold on hold
37:49on we can keep talking but I'm gonna need you to more carefully choose your
37:52words she said the words that you use are the substance that the enemy uses to
38:01form the weapons against you before you say that negative statement he actually
38:08doesn't have the artillery that he needs to bring you down when the words of
38:12negativity come out of your mouth he grabs them right out of the atmosphere
38:16and he begins to construct a weapon to help demolish you so she says you got to
38:21watch your words because until you use those negative words the enemy doesn't
38:24even have anything to hang his head on guard yourself stop yourself silence
38:30yourself against complaining in fact you should just ask for accountability
38:34your spouse your friends just tell them listen if you hear stuff coming out of
38:38my mouth that sounds like complaint would you stop me because I don't want
38:40the enemy to have anything to use against me and then a fearless steadfast
38:51watchful silent bunch of Hebrews saw the miracle of a lifetime they crossed
38:58safely on dry ground in the movie the Ten Commandments it took Hollywood 18
39:04months to figure out how to simulate what God did in a split second and that
39:09same God can and will work work work miracles for you as you go to the next
39:13level your part is to be fearless be still be watchful and be quiet
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